The hare was sitting nervously beside the path toward the hideaway.

“Oh, my soul and whiskers!” he stuttered when he saw them coming. “The fox has finally driven me quite out of my head. I’m seeing things, I swear I am!”

Gurri, trotting by, cried, “Greetings!”

“Greetings,” he replied faintly. “Oh, my goodness me, I’m hearing things, too!”

Faline was wakeful in the clearing. Her ears tensed by anxiety caught quickly the sound of hoof-beats on the path.

“Here we are, home again!” Bambi cried cheerily.

An instant hush succeeded in the glade. Hundreds of intent and interested eyes peered from every vantage point of tree and hillock.

“Gurri!” Faline faltered uncertainly.

Geno gave three bucking leaps. “Gurri!”

The silence all around was like a benediction.