Whitefoot the Wood Mouse

Whitefoot the Wood Mouse

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Whitefoot the Wood Mouse
by Thornton W. Burgess (#7 in our series by Thornton W. Burgess)
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Title: Whitefoot the Wood Mouse

Author: Thornton W. Burgess
Release Date: November, 2003 [EBook #4698] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on March 3,
2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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WHITEFOOT THE WOOD MOUSE
BY THORNTON W. BURGESS

CHAPTER I

: Whitefoot Spends A Happy Winter
In all his short life Whitefoot the Wood Mouse never had spent such a
happy winter. Whitefoot is one of those wise little people who never
allow unpleasant things of the past to spoil their present happiness, and
who never borrow trouble from the future. Whitefoot believes in
getting the most from the present. The things which are past are past,
and that is all there is to it. There is no use in thinking about them. As
for the things of the future, it will be time enough to think about them
when they happen.
If you and I had as many things to worry about as does Whitefoot the
Wood Mouse, we probably never would be happy at all. But Whitefoot
is happy whenever he has a chance to be, and in this he is wiser than
most human beings. You see, there is not one of all the little people in
the Green Forest who has so many enemies to watch out for as has
Whitefoot. There are ever so many who would like nothing better than
to dine on plump little Whitefoot. There are Buster Bear and Billy
Mink and Shadow the Weasel and Unc' Billy Possum and Hooty the
Owl and all the members of the Hawk family, not to mention Blacky
the Crow in times when other food is scarce. Reddy and Granny Fox
and Old Man Coyote are always looking for him.
So you see Whitefoot never knows at what instant he may have to run
for his life. That is why he is such a timid little fellow and is always
running away at the least little unexpected sound. In spite of all this he
is a happy little chap.
It was early in the winter that Whitefoot found a little hole in a corner
of Farmer Brown's sugar-house and crept inside to see what it was like
in there. It didn't take him long to decide that it was the most delightful
place he ever had found. He promptly decided to move in and spend the
winter. In one end of the sugar-house was a pile of wood. Down under
this Whitefoot made himself a warm, comfortable nest. It was a regular
castle to Whitefoot. He moved over to it the store of seeds he had laid
up for winter use.
Not one of his enemies ever thought of visiting the sugar-house in
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