“What do you think it is?” asked Nan. “A bird, an animal or what?”
“It’s an animal. I don’t know whether it’s wild or not. I only saw its eyes and they were lovely.”
“Well, I’ll come, but I won’t promise to go very near. We don’t want to be too much in a hurry to rescue wildcats or things like that, you know. This is properly Mary Lee’s province. She’d march right up to the creature, yank it out and be clawed for her pains. Come on, Jo, let’s go see what the thing is. Perhaps it’s your friend the porcupine, Jack. He may have come to call on you.”
“Oh, porcupines don’t have big eyes like these. This is something much bigger.”
“Oh, is it? So much the more dangerous, I should judge. However, there’s no harm in looking. Where is it?”
“Just in that clump of bushes over there.”
The three proceeded cautiously. At their approach the imprisoned animal struggled wildly to free itself, and the girls stood still, fearing lest it should suddenly become disentangled and pounce upon them. After a few moments the struggling ceased and they could see only two great, soft, startled eyes peering through the thicket. “They look to me like the eyes of a deer,” Nan said at last. “It certainly is not a wildcat nor a fox. I tell you what to do, Jack; go back to camp, hunt up ’Lish and tell him about it. He will know as soon as he sees it. The poor thing is in trouble anyway. It probably came to the lake for a drink and has become tangled up in all those wild grape-vines and brambles. Probably it heard us coming and was startled so it didn’t notice where it was going. Run on, now, Jack. We’ll wait here till you get back.”
Jack was ready enough to obey and was not long in reappearing with ’Lish. Nan and Jo meanwhile had donned shoes and stockings and had slipped on waterproofs while they waited to see what would happen next.
’Lish, stooping and squinting and shading his eyes from the sun, which was by now fully risen, at last declared: “It’s a young deer for sartin. Poor crittur, I’ll go down and git it loose.” He approached the bushes, the girls drawing nearer as he did so, and as he parted the leaves they saw distinctly the graceful head and frightened eyes of a little fawn. It struggled madly and was almost dead with fear when ’Lish finally lifted it out. One leg was evidently injured in the violent struggle.
“Don’t let it go,” begged Jack. “It couldn’t walk well and some beast might get it.”