Evening star., 1914-12-10

Hold your breath, and hold it hard,
AS Mrs Grouse and Jumper did,
And learn how close the hunter came
To where a-shake with fear they hid.
1t was very trying. My, my. my. I
should say so! It was very trying. in
deed. Peeping out from under thick,
low-growing branch of a hemlock tree,
Mrs Grouse and Jumper the Hare
watched a man with a terrible gun
coming nearer and nearer. Now, If it
had been Reddy Fox or Old Man Co.
vote coming, Mrs. Grouse would have
felt sure that she could trust to her
strong wings to take her out of dan
ger, and Jumper the Hare that he could
depend upon his long legs in case they
were discovered. But man with a
terrible gun was a very different mat
ter. Shot from that terrible gun could
go SO much faster than Mrs. Grouse
could fly or Jumper could run that they
would have very little chance of get
ting away unhurt. and they knew it.
Jumper had whispered to Mrs. Grouse
to sit perfectly STILL and this was the
hunter didn't know that they were
there, and if he didn't happen to look
under that hemlock branch he might
go right past without ever knowing
that they were anywhere near. So in
sitting perfectly still they were doing
the very wisest and best thing.
But it was hard work, the very hard
est kind of hard work. With every ap-
preaching step of the hunter it became
harder. Mrs. Grouse set herself to
spring in the air If they should be dis
covered, shut her mouth tightly and
held her breath. Jumper the Hare set
his long hind legs under him, ready Tor
a sudden jump, laid his long ears back
and held his breath.
Nearer and nearer came the hunter.
his terrible gun across the hollow of
one arm. He looked this way and that
way and the other way. He was look
ing for Mrs. Grouse. and she knew it.
1t seemed to her as If he must hear
the humping of her heart Her bright
eyes grew dark with fear as She
watched him. 1t seemed to her that
she must. she simply must, fly. She
BILE for that great man to look SO
happy. for he did look happy, when he
was filing others with such awful fear.
She almost wished that a great giant
would come hunting him just for fun,
and make him hide and shiver and
shake with fear. so that he might know
just how she and Jumper were feeling
that very minute.
But, frightened as she was. little
bit OF gladness crept into her heart.
The hunter wasn't Farmer Browns
boy. and she was glad of that. Ever
since the terrible time when she was
frozen under the icy crust which
formed over the snow one night last
winter and Farmer Browns boy had
found her and fed her and been good
to her she had had a kindly feeling for
him. and somehow, no matter what
others said. she had q. feeling way
down in her heart that never again
would he hunt her with his terrible
gun, as he once had done.
The hunter was so close now that he
actually brushed the. tip OF the hem
lock branch under which they were
hiding. Would he look under? Mrs
Grouse held her breath and Jumper
held his breath. and both felt as if they
must scream. He was half turning
now. Would he look under? If he did
would he be able to kill both of them?
Why didn't he go on? But he didn't.
He stood still, right in front of their
hiding place, with his back to them,
and rested the butt of his terrible gun
on the ground.
Il Gel tainly ought to find that grouse
somewhere around here" said the man,
talking aloud to himself