A Different Game of Hide and Seek explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Love and Courtship

  Lightfoot's longing and pursuit of the beautiful stranger reflects the courtship theme, as he seeks to find and make friends with her.

• Friendship and Cooperation

  The forest creatures, who previously helped Lightfoot, now withhold aid and enjoy the game, highlighting a shift in cooperation.

Characters to notice

• Lightfoot the Deer

  Now the seeker in a game of hide and seek, driven by longing and impatience to find the beautiful stranger.

• Sammy Jay

  Mischievously warns the stranger when Lightfoot approaches, enjoying the game.

• Buster Bear

  Lightfoot almost runs into him and threatens to fight, but Buster grins good-naturedly.

• Miss Daintyfoot

  The beautiful stranger Lightfoot seeks; she watches him with admiration from hiding.

Key passages

• “Instead of the dreadful fear which had filled him in that other game, he was now filled with longing—longing to find and make friends with the beautiful stranger of whom he had just once caught a glimpse, but of whom every day he found tracks.”

  Unlike the earlier life-threatening game, Lightfoot now feels a deep desire to discover and befriend the mysterious stranger he briefly saw and whose tracks he finds daily.

  Contrast between the two hide and seek games.

• “Mischievous Sammy Jay even went so far as to warn the stranger several times when Lightfoot was approaching.”

  Sammy Jay playfully alerted the stranger whenever Lightfoot came near.

  Sammy's role in the game.