“Perhaps it would be a good thing for one of us to watch,” suggested Running Fox.
“No, I do not believe we are in any danger here,” said Spotted Deer. “We have not seen or heard anything to trouble us.”
“That is true,” agreed Running Fox. “Well, we will not do anything about it.”
They had not been long asleep when Running Fox awakened with a feeling that all was not well. He raised himself cautiously upon his elbow, and spent many moments looking and listening for signs of danger. Spotted Deer was slumbering soundly, and Running Fox determined not to awaken him unless he discovered something to verify his uneasiness.
“This is a strange thing,” Running Fox whispered to himself. “I do not see anything, and I do not hear anything, but I feel something wrong. I believe we are in some kind of danger. Well, I will watch.”
For a long time, however, he found no reason for his suspicions. Still the peculiar premonition of danger persisted. It troubled him. He believed it was a warning from Getanittowit, and yet he did not know how to interpret it. Then he thought he heard something moving through the ferns. He held his breath to listen, but the silence was unbroken. At last, convinced that his fears were groundless, Running Fox again lay down to sleep. He had barely closed his eyes, however, when he was roused by the same stealthy sound in the ferns.
“Now I know that something is wrong,” Running Fox told himself.
As he sat up and stared anxiously into the night he again heard the gentle rustling of the ferns. For a moment he wondered if it might not be the wind. All was still, however, and even the murmurs in the tree-tops had died away. Running Fox felt that he was being watched. A few moments later his suspicions were verified, as a pair of glowing eyes shone from the darkness. Aware that they were threatened by some savage prowler of the wilderness, Running Fox leaned over and touched Spotted Deer.
“Do not make any noise,” cautioned Running Fox, as Spotted Deer awakened.
“What has happened?” Spotted Deer inquired, anxiously.