Can you guess what Lightfoot was trying to do ? He was trying to get behind the hunter so that the Merry Little Breezes would bring to him the dreaded man-scent . So long as Lightfoot could get that scent , he would know where the hunter was , though he could neither see nor hear him . If he had remained where Sammy Jay had found him , the hunter might have come within shooting distance before Lightfoot could have located him . So the hunter with the terrible gun walked noiselessly through the Green Forest , stepping with the greatest care to avoid snapping a stick underfoot , searching with keen eye every thicket and likely hiding-place for a glimpse of Lightfoot , and studying the ground for traces to show that Lightfoot had been there . CHAPTER VII : The Merry Little Breezes Help Lightfoot Could you have seen the hunter with the terrible gun and Lightfoot the Deer that morning on which the hunting season opened you might have thought that Lightfoot was hunting the hunter instead of the hunter hunting Lightfoot . You see , Lightfoot was behind the hunter instead of in front of him . He was following the hunter , so as to keep track of him . As long as he knew just where the hunter was , he felt reasonably safe . The Merry Little Breezes are Lightfoot 's best friends . They always bring to him all the different scents they find as they wander through the Green Forest . And Lightfoot 's delicate nose is so wonderful that he can take these scents , even though they be very faint , and tell just who or what has made them . So , though he makes the best possible use of his big ears and his beautiful eyes , he trusts more to his nose to warn him of danger . For this reason , during the hunting season when he moves about , he moves in the direction from which the Merry Little Breezes may be blowing . He knows that they will bring to him warning of any danger which may lie in that direction . Now the hunter with the terrible gun who was looking for Lightfoot knew all this , for he was wise in the ways of Lightfoot and of the other little people of the Green Forest . When he had entered the Green Forest that morning he had first of all made sure of the direction from which the Merry Little Breezes were coming . Then he had begun to hunt in that direction , knowing that thus his scent would be carried behind him . It is more than likely that he would have reached the hiding-place of Lightfoot the Deer before the latter would have known that he was in the Green Forest , had it not been for Sammy Jay 's warning . When he reached the tangle of fallen trees behind which Lightfoot had been hiding , he worked around it slowly and with the greatest care , holding his terrible gun ready to use instantly should Lightfoot leap out .
Presently he found Lightfoot 's footprints in the soft ground and studying them he knew that XXXXX had known of his coming .
Deer Forest Jay Lightfoot VII first hiding-place man-scent morning scents