He knew Butcher had
not forgotten that he had chased a badly frightened Mouse into a
hole in that tree. Once he saw Whitey the Snowy Owl and so knew
that Whitey had not yet returned to the Far North. Once Reddy Fox
trotted along right past the foot of the old stub in which Whitefoot
lived, and didn't even suspect that he was anywhere near. Twice he
saw Old Man Coyote trotting past, and once Terror the Goshawk
alighted on that very stub, and sat there for half an hour.
So Whitefoot formed the habit of doing just what Timmy the Flying
Squirrel did; he remained in his house for most of the day and came
out when the Black Shadows began to creep in among the trees. Timmy
came out about the same time, and they had become the best of friends.
Now Whitefoot is not much given to envying others, but as night
after night he watched Timmy a little envy crept into his heart in
spite of all he could do. Timmy would nimbly climb to the top of a
tree and then jump. Down he would come in a long beautiful glide,
for all the world as if he were sliding on the air.
The first time Whitefoot saw him do it he held his breath.
Pages:
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69