"Forget it," said Bill, "and go on with the story. You stopped in an interesting place. I don't believe much happened, anyhow, except the cow, and you've told us about that."
"I don't like to tell the rest. It will make you walk in your sleep and that will hurt your foot. But I'm willing to risk it if you are."
You see, when Skinny started toward home from Savoy, he made up his mind that he would lasso a deer, or know the reason why, because it would look fine to have one stuffed and standing in front of our cave at Peck's Falls. So, when he had found a place that looked wild and sort of scary, he left the road and, getting his rope in shape to throw, made his way in through the brush, as still as he could, so as not to frighten the deer away.
He didn't see any deer, but after a while he found a big patch of wild strawberries, so thick he couldn't step without tramping on some. That made him forget all about his deer for 'most an hour.
Then, all of a sudden, he heard a crackling in the bushes on the other side of a clearing, and he felt sure that his chance had come.
Skinny dropped on his hands and knees and crawled toward the sound. It was slow work because he had to be careful not to make any noise, and he grew more excited every moment.
At last he was crouching down behind some big bushes, and on the other side he could hear the deer real plain, tramping around like a horse.
"Gee!" thought he. "It's a big one and will look great up by our cave."
He didn't say it out loud because he knew that although the deer could not smell him on account of the wind blowing the other way, he would hear him, unless he was very careful.
Then, getting the rope ready to throw, with the slip noose working easily, he parted the bushes gently and crept through.