“Don’t just stand there!” came a shrill cry from beside him. It was his mother who was running at a full gallop. “Run!” she called, “Run as fas as you can!.” She did not stop, but rushed on, and her command pulled Bambi along with her. He ran with all his strength.
“What is that, mother?” he asked. “What was that, mother?”
His mother, gasping for breath, answered, “That ... was ... Him!.”
Bambi shuddered, and they ran on.
Finally, out of breath, they stopped.
“What do you say? Please, what do you say?” called a thin voice from above them. Bambi looked up and saw the squirrel hurrying down to them through the branches of the tree. “I jumped all the way here beside you” he called. “No, it’s terrible!”
“Were you there when it happened?” asked Bambi’s mother.
“Well of course I was there” the squirrel replied. “I’m still shaking from it, all my limbs are shaking.” He sat upright, his magnificent flag against his back, showing his slender, white breast and pressing both his front paws against his body to reassure himself. “I’m quite beside myself with fear.”
“I’m afraid too, and it’s made me quite numb” said Bambi’s mother. “I can’t understand it. None of us saw anything.”
“Really?” The squirrel became excited. “You’re wrong there, you know. “I’d been watching him for a long time!”