There is nothing quite so terrible as being continually hunted . It was getting so that Lightfoot half expected a hunter to step out from behind every tree . Only when the Black Shadows wrapped the Green Forest in darkness did he know a moment of peace . And those hours of safety were filled with dread of what the next day might bring . Early one morning a terrible sound rang through the Green Forest and brought Lightfoot to his feet with a startled jump . It was the baying of hounds following a trail . At first it did not sound so terrible . Lightfoot had often heard it before . Many times he had listened to the baying of Bowser the Hound , as he followed Reddy Fox . It had not sounded so terrible then because it meant no danger to Lightfoot . At first , as he listened early that morning , he took it for granted that those hounds were after Reddy , and so , though startled , he was not worried . But suddenly a dreadful suspicion came to him and he grew more and more anxious as he listened . In a few minutes there was no longer any doubt in his mind . Those hounds were following his trail . It was then that the sound of that baying became terrible . He must run for his life ! Those hounds would give him no rest . And he knew that in running from them , he would no longer be able to watch so closely for the hunters with terrible guns . He would no longer be able to hide in thickets . At any time he might be driven right past one of those hunters .
Lightfoot bounded away with such leaps as only XXXXX can make .
Bowser Forest Fox Lightfoot Reddy first hours minutes morning right