"Would you like to see a rabbit dance?" asked Father Wa-poose one day in
September.
"Indeed, I should," replied little Luke.
"Come out to-night then," said Wa-poose, "and sit down in the shadow of
the stone wall in the corner of the clover field. There you will see
something you have never seen before."
"I'll be there," said the boy.
That night little Luke went up to his room early. He took off his shoes
and threw them heavily upon the floor, and blew out the light. Then he
jumped upon his bed, so that it creaked loudly. Without taking off his
clothes, he got under the blankets, and when Aunt Martha looked in, he
seemed to be sound asleep. She did not look into the closet to see
whether his clothes were hanging up there or not.
When he thought Aunt Martha had gone to bed, the little boy got up
quietly, took his shoes in his hand, and slipped softly down the back
stairs. Silently he unlocked and opened the kitchen door, and went out
into the moonlight.
He did not feel that he was doing quite right, but he was afraid to ask
Aunt Martha. You see he was afraid that she might ask questions, which
he could not answer without telling about the Magic Flower and his wild
friends.
He went over to the clover field and sat down in the corner of the stone
fence where some bushes hid him from view.
For some time nothing happened. Pretty soon he heard a queer thump!
thump! thump! He looked up and there was old Father Wa-poose close
beside him. He had come into the field so quietly that little Luke had
not heard a sound.
"Hi! hi! there you are, Man-cub," said the old rabbit. "Now you sit
very still, and you'll see something worth seeing. Of course we are not
really afraid of you, but if some of the young folks should see you,
they might get nervous. I'll just go out and get my supper, and when the
fun begins I'll come back and keep you company. I don't care much for
dancing. I leave that mostly to the young people."
Soon from all sides, rabbits came leaping over the fence into the field.
There were young rabbits and old rabbits, big rabbits and little
rabbits.
Sometimes one of them would stop and thump the ground with his hind
feet. This seemed to be a signal; for when one thumped, another would
come hopping toward him. The two would touch noses and then turn to on
the sweet, young clover, that had grown up since the July mowing.
Their feast lasted for an hour or more. Then the fun began. Several
of them would hop close together in the centre of the field. Then they
would skip slowly about in a sort of stately dance. Little by little the
movement became faster and faster until they were spinning around like
a pinwheel in a brisk breeze. Round and round they went until it made
little Luke's head dizzy to watch them.
Suddenly a rabbit stamped with his hind feet,--thump! thump! thump!
Instantly every rabbit squatted motionless. It was a danger signal, but
a false one. Nothing happened.
Soon the fun began again. Several of the rabbits had a game of tag.
Round and round they went, leaping ten feet or more at each bound.
Sometimes in the midst of their race, one of them would take a sky-hop.
Up straight into the air he would go as if he were trying to reach the
moon.
"Why do they do that?" asked little Luke of Father Wa-poose, who had
come back and was sitting quietly beside him.
"They do that," answered the old rabbit, "to get a clear look all
around them. You know we always have to be on the lookout for our foes."
Not far from little Luke two rabbits were having a boxing match. They
stood up to each other just like men. Little Luke could hear a soft
spat, spat, spat, as the blows went home. Their paws were so soft that
the blows did not hurt and it was great fun.
Suddenly thump! thump! thump! sounded the danger signal again. Not for
nothing this time! Ko-ko-ka the Great Owl came sailing over the clover
field as silently as a ghost. But for all his great eyes, the old owl
could not see a single rabbit. Neither could little Luke.
"Where have they all gone to?" he asked Father Wa-poose.
"Oh," said he, "they're all there. So long as they sit perfectly still
old Ko-ko-ka can't see them."
"Why didn't they run away?" asked little Luke.
[Illustration]
"What's the use?" replied the old rabbit; "so long as we know he is
coming, we aren't afraid of Ko-ko-ka. If he should swoop at one of them,
he'd just give a bound and get out of danger. Old Ko-ko-ka can't catch
a rabbit who knows he's coming. It's the way he comes that makes us fear
him. His wings are covered with down and do not make a sound. That's the
reason we all dread him so. Ugh! I fairly shiver when I think of him. He
nearly got me once. His sharp claws scratched my ears."
Ko-ko-ka was very hungry. He knew the rabbits were in that meadow, and
hated to go off without one. While Wa-poose had been talking, he had
been sailing slowly round the field. Now he was coming back again.
As he flew over little Luke's head he looked down. Perhaps he saw a
slight movement as little Luke tried to look up at him. Instantly he
swooped and his sharp claws struck the little boy's hat.
"Hi, there!" said little Luke in astonishment. It was Ko-ko-ka's turn to
be astonished now. He dropped the hat, flapped his great wings, and
floated off towards the woods.
Little Luke left his hat where it fell and waited to see what the
rabbits would do. After a short time the fun began again. There were two
young ones that little Luke noticed in particular. They began their race
in the middle of the field. Round and round they went and each time
round their circles became larger.
Now on the other side of the clover field there was an open gap in the
fence. All at once the danger signal sounded again. Thump! thump! thump!
Again every rabbit squatted, with ears and eyes alert to catch sound or
sight of an enemy.
It was too late. Through the gate bounded a ball of reddish, yellow fur.
Snap! And the teeth of Kee-wuk the Red Fox had seized one of the young
rabbits by the neck. Swinging the limp body over his shoulders, he
trotted quietly off through the gap.
That ended the fun. As they saw the Red Fox every rabbit sprang to his
feet, and with a hop, skip, and jump went over the fence and out of the
clover field. And little Luke saw them no more that night.