After leaving Buster the Bear, Bumper did not have far to go before he
stumbled upon the rock under which the wild rabbits had their burrow. It
was a big, towering rock right in the middle of the woods, with trees
trying to grow on top of it, and under it, as if they were determined to
lift it and roll it away.
When the white rabbit first saw it his heart beat high with expectation.
This was to be the end of his journey. When he found it impossible to get
back to the garden where the red-headed girl lived, he concluded the best
he could do was to join the wild rabbits and live with them. They would
teach him the ways of the woods, and perhaps, in time he would be happy
and content as a member of their family.
In spite of the dangers and ventures that had marked his progress, he was
greatly pleased with the woods, and the freedom he enjoyed appealed to
him. But to make his happiness complete he needed companions and friends
of his own kind.
The friendship of the birds was all right, but they had their own families
to look after, and besides, he could not always depend upon having them
near.
It was natural that he should be a bit homesick and lonely without other
rabbits to associate with. He often thought of Jimsy and Wheedles, and of
his mother and of Topsy. Any one of them would be welcome. In his
newly-acquired knowledge of the woods and its inhabitants, he felt that he
could give Jimsy and Wheedles pointers that would make their eyes open.
When he reached the big rock, he hopped all around it, looking for the
entrance to the rabbit burrow, and sniffing the ground expectantly. There
were many signs that rabbits had recently been there, but he could find
nothing that looked like a burrow. Around and around the big rock he
hopped, sniffing, pounding with his hind feet, and calling to his cousins.
But there was no response.
"Perhaps they're all out," he reflected finally, "and I'd better rest on
the top of the rock until they return."
He scrambled to the summit of the rock and sprawled out full length to
watch and wait. From his high position, he could see any one approaching
from any direction. The sun found its way down through the trees and lit
up the top of the rock, and, feeling very tired, Bumper fell asleep.
He was aroused from this suddenly by the breaking of a twig near-by. He
raised his head and looked around. Not a dozen feet away from him was a
wild rabbit, one of his country cousins. Now, Bumper had never met a wild
rabbit before, and this one certainly looked very dirty and uncouth
compared to himself. The only white he had was under his throat and belly.
The rest of him was a dull gray and brown.
"Hello, Cousin!" Bumper called softly.
The approaching rabbit stopped and looked around, his two ears raised
straight up in the air. Then his quick eyes saw Bumper on the top of the
rock. Whether he took him for a ghost or some strange, dangerous animal,
no one could say; but he turned swiftly and disappeared in the bushes.
"Don't be afraid, Cousin!" Bumper called loudly. "I'm Bumper the White
Rabbit, and I've come to visit you!"
But this had no effect whatever on the wild rabbit. Bumper could hear him
scurrying away in the bushes. Then all was quiet. For a long time Bumper
watched and waited. Once he caught a glimpse of his cousin on the right of
the rock, then on the left, then behind, and again in front. The amazing
rapidity with which the wild rabbit changed his position surprised Bumper.
It was not until after he had caught sight of two heads simultaneously
peeping above the bushes did he realize that the rabbit was not alone.
Then he caught sight of a third head, then of a fourth, and of a fifth.
The whole burrow of rabbits was circled around him, watching him either in
fear or curiosity. Bumper thought it was a good time to make a speech.
"Cousins," he began, rearing upon his hind legs, "I've come a long
distance to visit you. I've always lived in the city, but I got lost, and
if it hadn't been for the birds and Buster the Bear I would never have
found my way here. I hope you will welcome me, and let me live with you.
I'm lonesome and homesick for friends and companions."
He supposed this speech would have a good effect, and he waited eagerly
for one of the wild rabbits to respond. But they were quiet for so long
that he felt despondent. Then, to his surprise, a big rabbit rose near-by,
and turned to his companions.
"Beware!" he said. "It's a trick of Mr. Fox! We must run for it
altogether!"
Bumper didn't know just what the speaker meant by this last sentence. But
he soon found out. There was a rush and scramble in the bushes all around
him, and then a dozen or more rabbits appeared. They came toward the rock
like an army closing in upon the enemy, leaping over bushes or crawling
through the underbrush.
For a moment Bumper was startled. He had a vision of being attacked on all
sides by his country cousins and driven ignominiously from the woods. But
his anxiety was of short duration. The rabbits reached the side of the
rock, and disappeared as if by magic.
Then Bumper understood. They had made a simultaneous rush for their
burrow, knowing that this was the safest place for them. When the last
rabbit had disappeared, Bumper hopped down, and began looking for the
entrance. There was certainly an entrance to the burrow, or his cousins
couldn't have disappeared so quickly.
Bumper searched on every side for over an hour, but so artfully concealed
was the entrance to the burrow that he was unsuccessful. There was no
noise under the rock--nothing to indicate that there were rabbits there.
Discouraged and down-hearted, he was nearly ready to give up when he
happened to poke his head in the hollow end of a tree whose roots were
pinioned down by the huge rock. The small heart of the trunk had decayed,
offering an entrance just large enough for a rabbit to squeeze through.
Bumper thought this would be a safe place for him to spend the night, and
he began crawling through. The hole followed the trunk of the tree
downward for some distance. Then suddenly it turned sharply to the right.
At this point Bumper met an unexpected challenge. A big, gray rabbit at
the other end of the hollow trunk thumped hard with his two hind feet, and
instantly there was an uproar. Bumper had accidentally found his way into
the burrow through the hollow tree trunk!
"Stop where you are!" the rabbit guarding the hole shouted. "What do you
want in here?"
"I want to greet my cousins. If you don't let me come in Mr. Fox will
catch me after dark. I have no other home."
"You're not a rabbit!" replied the other. "We have no white cousins.
There're no white rabbits in the world."
"But I'm one," returned Bumper, amused by the same cry that had been made
by the crow and birds.
There was silence inside, followed by a buzz of many voices. Finally a
weak, trembling voice said authoritatively:
"Admit him! It can't be Mr. Fox in disguise, for he could never crawl
through that hole. Admit him so I can talk to him."
Evidently the speaker was one in authority, for the other instantly
obeyed, and Bumper was allowed to hop through the hole into the burrow.