BUNNY RABBIT'S EFFORTS
Mr. Bunny Rabbit hopped up on a fallen tree where he could the better
be seen while telling his story, and where, also, he might have eyes
and ears on the alert for danger. A cautious old fellow is Bunny, else
he would not be alive this day, for among the wood folk there is more
than one who has a fondness for rabbit pie or stew, and that member of
the Rabbit family who lives to have children of his own has given good
proof that he keeps his wits about him the greater portion of the
time.
"I was telling you about Cheeko's foolishness, and how nearly it cost
him his life," Mr. Bunny said after a pause so long that it really
seemed, for the time, as if he had forgotten the story.
"Of course, old Mr. Crow flew back to the oak tree as soon as Slowly
Turtle had let go of his leg, and, oh me! oh my! how he did scold
about Mr. Turtle, never once seeming to think that Cheeko Squirrel
had anything to do with the matter. Nearly every member of the club
pretended to believe that Slowly was the only one who should be
blamed, although they knew that Cheeko is a master hand at making
mischief; but it so happened that he wasn't there to make trouble, and
the result was that the president of the club had everything his own
way.
"It was voted that Mr. Turtle should never be made welcome at Crow's
Corner; that he had behaved in an unseemly manner, and ought to be
shunned by every member of the club. This matter had no more than been
settled when we heard Master Squirrel screaming and chattering as if
he were the only real thing in the woods, and as his voice sounded
nearer and nearer, telling that he was coming to join the company, I
looked around to see what had become of the Professor and the 'Squire.
"If you'll believe it, they were nowhere to be seen, and I'm such a
silly thing, sometimes, that I really believed they had given up the
scheme I saw them working on. Then I got interested in what Mr. Crow
was saying, for he started in the best he knew how to have all the
members of the club vote that Slowly Turtle and his entire family
should be turned out of the pond, and never allowed to come near it
again.
"Cocky Robin wanted to know who'd do the 'turning out,' and how it was
to be done, but the old man Crow was so angry he wouldn't go into that
part of the business at all, and claimed that after the vote had been
taken it would be time enough to settle what he called the 'minor
points.'
"Just then up came Cheeko, his tail spread over his head and waving to
and fro in that way which always makes me feel seasick. It doesn't
seem possible, as I tell it to you now, but it is a fact that, not
content with having been the means of giving Mr. Crow the sorest leg
you ever saw on a bird, he must needs begin to brag about what he had
done in the way of making trouble in the club.
"Then Mr. Jay, who had been roosting in the very top of the tree with
his crest sticking straight up because of what he had done toward
straightening out matters, lost his temper, and began giving Cheeko
about as severe a lecture as ever any squirrel listened to, but all
the while the foolish mischief-maker chattered and screamed as if he
were the whole show.
"I had forgotten entirely about the 'Squire and Professor Hawk, until
I saw Cheeko running along the ground toward where three or four
walnuts were lying near a clump of fir bushes, and then I got right up
on my hind legs and shouted to him that he'd best keep under cover if
he wanted to save his skin.
"'Take care of yourself, if you can, you bob-tailed old fraud, and
I'll show that a fellow about my size is able to do pretty much as he
pleases in these woods.'
"Of course, every member of the club was looking at Cheeko by this
time and I'll venture to say there was not one present who didn't
think he was making a fool of himself by talking in such a strain, for
there are precious few of us wood folk who can do as they please all
the time.
"Well, Master Cheeko skipped toward the nuts, shaking his tail to show
that he was a terribly brave fellow, and if 'Squire hadn't been quite
so blind it would have been the last tail-shake for that squirrel. You
must know that the 'Squire was hiding among the fir bushes in front
of which the nuts had been laid and somewhere among the small branches
was the Professor watching out to take a hand in the plan in case the
first part of it missed; but, of course, we didn't know all that at
the time.
"Cheeko was so eager to show the members of the club that he had no
reason to be afraid of anything wearing feathers or fur that he didn't
look to the right or to the left, but made straight for the nuts, and,
just as he was about to pick up one, out sailed the 'Squire with a
rush and a bang, which showed how angry he was.
"Now the Professor had laid the nuts in the shade of the fir bushes,
so they would be sheltered from the sunlight, but yet it was
considerably lighter there than in the thicket; consequently the
instant the 'Squire popped his head out he had to shut his eyes, of
course, so by the time he struck the ground Cheeko had jumped aside.
"If the foolish squirrel had been satisfied with thus giving 'Squire
Owl the slip, he might have boasted for many a day about going
straight into the old fellow's trap and coming out again without a
scratch; but he must needs scream and laugh as if it were something
very funny, and then Professor Hawk came into the game. Down he flew,
aiming straight for Cheeko, and, with never a care as to how brightly
the sun might shine, for there's nothing the matter with his eyes, and
then was the time when I believed Master Cheeko was down and out for
good. And so he would have been but for Mr. Crow, who, forgetting the
trick Cheeko had played on him, dropped down from the top of the old
oak more quickly than I ever saw a bird move before, fluttering his
wings directly under the Professor's beak just as he was on the point
of snapping up a fat squirrel, who would have delighted the stomachs
of the little Hawks.
"Even though Mr. Crow moved so swiftly, it was the narrowest kind of
squeak for Cheeko. The Professor's claws struck his back, cutting
through his coat in three or four places, and he received such a blow
that it was quite as much as he could do to scramble among the
raspberry bushes, which, fortunately, grew near at hand. He didn't
have his tail over his head then, and that's a fact; but he was about
as discouraged an animal as you ever saw. How that old owl did rave
and scold when he found that Cheeko had got off alive! He accused
every member of the club with having had a paw or a wing in his
defeat, and threatened with many a needless word to pay us off even
though he had to spend every minute of his time for the next month.
"The Professor didn't say anything; but flew up on Mr. Crow's perch,
looking sour as vinegar, and I said to myself then that he was the one
we had the most reason to fear. You could tell by the look in his eye
that he was already thinking up some wicked plan, and I really had
palpitation of the heart because of imagining what he might be able to
do if he set himself right down to getting revenge.
"If you'll believe it, I didn't dare stay at the foot of the tree
where I could see the evil glare in his eyes, even though I was snug
among the thorn bushes; but hopped off through the underbrush, taking
mighty good care not to show myself in the open for a single minute,
until I found poor Cheeko, who looked as if all he needed in this
world was a deep, deep hole where he could die in peace.
"'Have you found out that you can't do pretty much as you please,
Cheeko?' I asked, and he answered with a groan:
"'I suppose you think it is funny to talk that way when a fellow is
dying,' and he tried to swing his tail a bit, but couldn't move a
single hair. I can't begin to tell how badly off he was.
"Of course I couldn't help pitying him, even though he had called me a
bob-tailed fraud, and after doing my best to show him that the animal,
or the bird, for that matter, who boasts of what he can do, and sticks
his nose into danger simply to show that he isn't afraid, is the
silliest thing alive, I promised to have Mrs. Bunny fix him up the
same kind of herb tea she always makes for me when I've been handled
roughly by some of the wood bullies.
"He declared he couldn't get into his own house, and that even though
it was possible for him to move about as lively as before the
Professor hit him, he wouldn't dare go up a tree for at least two
weeks, all of which showed that he realized how foolish he had been. I
hunted around until I found snug quarters under the roots of an old
pine, and helped him move in; but I tell you the tears came to his
eyes more than once before he settled down, for his back was so sore
that the least movement caused him pain. Then I started for home,
little dreaming that by trying to help Cheeko I was at the same time
laying a trap for my own little Sonny Bunny, which, as you shall see,
I found out that I really was doing.
"Cheeko made me agree to come back as soon as possible, and,
remembering that I had promised my wife some nice fresh lettuce from
Mr. Man's garden that night for supper, I agreed with him that if I
didn't get my chores done up early, I'd send Sonny Bunny with the herb
tea.
"Now it seems that some of the neighbors had told my wife of all that
happened at the club, and she was nearly frightened out of her wits
because I had stayed away so long. When I told her of my promise to
Cheeko, she said flatly that she wouldn't lift a paw to help an idle
fellow who was always finding fault with everybody instead of getting
in his winter's supply of nuts; but after hearing how badly off he
was, she took it all back and set about making the herb tea.
"'If I don't get back by the time it is done, send Sonny Bunny over
with some of it, and tell the little fellow to stay with Cheeko till I
get there,' I said to my wife, for if anything could cheer an invalid
it would be the funny capers of an innocent little rabbit like my
youngest. I only wish there was time for me to tell you of all his
bright doings; you should see him dancing in the swamp when the moon
shines brightly, and then if you didn't say he was the cutest baby who
ever wore a fur coat, it would be because you are not a judge of
children.
"Well, I started off for Mr. Man's garden, taking good care to keep
out of sight even though it was too late for the Professor's family to
be out, and too early for either the Weasels or the Owls, and never so
much as dreaming I had almost sent poor little Sonny Bunny to his
death.
"I knew exactly where to find the best lettuce, and got all I wanted
without being seen by Mr. Man or that meddling son of his. Then,
instead of going home in a hurry, I loitered here or there to get
young carrots, or a few heads of clover, thinking I would make of the
dinner a regular feast.
"It was a full hour after sunset when I went into the house with such
a supply of good things as would have surprised Mrs. Rabbit if she
hadn't been so sorely worried about Sonny Bunny.
"'I sent him off with the herb tea very soon after you left,
cautioning him to hop back before it was time for Mr. Weasel to come
out, and he hasn't shown his ears here yet. You must go after him at
once, Bunny, and don't let Cheeko persuade you to stay a single
minute, for I am too nervous to be left alone.'"
At this point Mr. Rabbit's story was interrupted by the appearance of
his wife, who, half hidden amid the ferns, beckoned him to her side.
"Stay where you are, and I'll be right back," he said in a whisper.
"Don't move about too much, for she is very timid, especially since
Mr. Man's boy Tommy set his dog to chase her."
Then he hopped away, and what could a body do but wait until he should
be at liberty to finish the story?