He tried to pull his paw loose, but could not. He was caught, and was held fast.
CHAPTER V
SHARP EYES MEETS DON
After the first pain felt on being caught, and when he found he could not pull his paw loose, Sharp Eyes lay quietly on the ground, partly covering up the chicken. He did not howl, which was his way of crying when he was hurt, though he wanted to do so very much. But foxes and other wild animals do not make much noise in the woods, for they like to keep quiet so no larger animals, or hunter-men with their dogs, may know where to find them.
“Something terrible has happened to me,” thought Sharp Eyes, as once more he tried to pull loose his paw. But he could not, and each time he pulled the pain was worse.
“If I make too much noise,” thought Sharp Eyes, “Bruin, the bear, may hear me and come to bite me. Or the hunters may come with their dogs, and I could not get away.”
There were bears in the North Woods where Sharp Eyes lived, and hunters and dogs often came to the forest.
“And, now that I am caught fast, I can’t get away if they should come up close to me,” thought the little fox boy. “I must keep quiet and not make too much noise, though I would like to call and ask my father or mother to come to help me.”
Sharp Eyes whined a little from the pain, and then he tried to be brave and not mind it.