In a panic of fear , Lightfoot bounded away again . As he crossed an old road , the Green Forest rang with the roar of a terrible gun . Something tore a strip of bark from the trunk of a tree just above Lightfoot 's back . It was a bullet and it had just missed Lightfoot . It added to his terror and this in turn added to his speed . So Lightfoot ran and ran , and behind him the voices of the hounds continued to ring through the Green Forest . CHAPTER XXI : How Lightfoot Got Rid Of The Hounds Poor Lightfoot ! It seemed to him that there were no such things as justice and fair play . Had it been just one hunter at a time against whom he had to match his wits it would not have been so bad . But there were many hunters with terrible guns looking for him , and in dodging one he was likely at any time to meet another . This in itself seemed terribly unfair and unjust . But now , added to this was the greater unfairness of being trailed by hounds . Do you wonder that Lightfoot thought of men as utterly heartless ? You see , he could not know that those hounds had not been put on his trail , but had left home to hunt for their own pleasure . He could not know that it was against the law to hunt him with dogs . But though none of those hunters looking for him were guilty of having put the hounds on his trail , each one of them was willing and eager to take advantage of the fact that the hounds were on his trail . Already he had been shot at once and he knew that he would be shot at again if he should be driven where a hunter was hidden . The ground was damp and scent always lies best on damp ground . This made it easy for the hounds to follow him with their wonderful noses . Lightfoot tried every trick he could think of to make those hounds lose the scent .
`` If only I could make them lose it long enough for me to get a little rest , it would help , '' panted XXXXX , as he paused for just an instant to listen to the baying of the hounds .
CHAPTER Forest Lightfoot XXI ground guns hounds left unfairness voices