"I never saw an animal who didn't get into trouble when he thought he
knew everything," Mrs. Mouser went on thoughtfully, giving no heed to
the fact that your Aunt Amy was on the point of interrupting her. "Now
there is Sonny Bunny Rabbit, he got it into his head that he was the
greatest ever lived; that he could do just as he wanted to around this
neighborhood, because he led Mr. Fox into a trap one day.
"Why, that foolish little rabbit used to sit out in the field at night,
and tell me, who am old enough to be his grandmother at the very least,
that he could do anything he pleased; that there was no animal around
here who could get the best of him.
"Well, Sonny Bunny kept that idea in his mind, and one day Mr. Hawk came
sailing along just when Sonny Bunny was talking with Redder Squirrel,
and Redder he screamed:
"'Run, Sonny Bunny! Run for your life!'
"'You don't catch me running away from any old hawk,' Sonny Bunny said,
as bold as a lion. 'I'm going to stay right here, and kick dirt in his
face if he comes where I am.'
"'Run, Sonny Bunny, run!' Redder Squirrel cried, and for once he showed
more sense than usual.
"But Sonny Bunny was so puffed up with what he thought he could do, that
he stood still, and got ready to kick dirt, while old Mr. Hawk came
sailing round, and round, and round, making ready to light on him. If
you'll believe it, that foolish rabbit stayed right there until down
came Mr. Hawk, and then, oh me, oh my, how Sonny did kick dirt!
[Illustration: When Sonny Bunny was an Invalid.]
"I'm willing to admit that part of his plan was all right. He blinded
Mr. Hawk, but at the same time didn't save all of his own skin, for the
old fellow's claws went into Sonny Bunny's back so far, as his mother
told me, that you could almost see the bones, and the foolish rabbit
laid in bed three or four weeks before he was fit to go out of doors
again."
"It seems to me as if I had heard something like that before," your Aunt
Amy said, and Mrs. Mouser replied:
"Very likely you've heard the same story, for all the animals around
here know about it."
"But what was it you said about Mr. Fox's father meeting a crab?" your
Aunt Amy asked.