When Mrs. Brushtail and the four little Brushies ran into the hole in
the thicket and Father Brushtail ran away through the woods with Yappy
in hot pursuit, Doctor Rabbit decided he had better be going. He had
discovered a great deal anyway, and now he wanted to find some of his
friends and tell them about it.
Doctor Rabbit decided first to go over to the Wide Prairie and see his
friend Jack Rabbit. Doctor Rabbit was not much afraid to cross the
Wide Prairie, now that Ki-yi Coyote was gone and Brushtail the Fox was
busy, for the time at least.
Doctor Rabbit had not been over to see Jack Rabbit's family for a long
time, and he was considerably surprised to find Jack Rabbit laid up
with a sprained foot. Jack Rabbit said he had sprained his foot the
day before while running from some terrible creature that looked
somewhat like Ki-yi Coyote and just a little like a dog, but not
exactly like either of them.
"He had a large, bushy tail," Jack Rabbit explained, "and his coat was
a reddish-brown color. He jumped out from behind some bunch grass and
came at me so swiftly that I jumped and turned quickly. And that was
how I sprained my foot. He certainly is a fierce and dangerous
creature, and I wondered if any of the rest of you had seen him," Jack
Rabbit concluded.
"Indeed we have," Doctor Rabbit replied. "I'll bandage your foot now,"
he continued, "and then we can talk about this new enemy. Mrs. Jack
Rabbit," Doctor Rabbit said looking at her over his gold glasses,
"I'll thank you for that bottle of chloroform liniment I left here
some time ago."
Mrs. Jack Rabbit brought out the bottle of liniment, and after Doctor
Rabbit had bathed Jack Rabbit's foot with some of the liniment he
bandaged it quite snugly.
"That feels fine!" said Jack Rabbit, getting right up and standing on
all four feet. "I'm so glad you came over, Doctor. That foot feels so
good I know I can dance a little jig!"
And Jack Rabbit started to dance a little, but he said, "Ouch!" right
away, and everybody laughed, even Jack Rabbit. His foot was not quite
well enough for dancing.
Then Doctor Rabbit said, "I told you some of the rest of us had seen
that same animal that chased you, Jack Rabbit. I am sure it was the
same animal, from the way you describe him. It is Brushtail the Fox.
He has just lately moved into the Big Green Woods, and intends to make
his home there right along. What makes the matter worse for all of us
is that not only has Mr. Brushtail come, but he has brought his whole
family!"
"Oh, dear me!" exclaimed Mrs. Jack Rabbit. "I thought _one_ of them
was enough. But all of them--well, that makes it pretty serious for
us."
"But it might be worse," said Doctor Rabbit, who always sees the
bright side of everything. "You see," he continued, "four of those
foxes are so small that they are harmless. Besides, Farmer Roe and his
boy are on the lookout for that whole Fox family, and they may get rid
of them in a very short time. I thought once," Doctor Rabbit
continued, "of letting Yappy run me right to that thicket where the
Fox family lives. But if I did, Brushtail or Mrs. Brushtail would
surely be right there to lead Yappy away off into the woods. No, if
Farmer Roe or his boy doesn't stumble onto their den, I'll have to
think up some way myself to get rid of that Fox family. I'll bring my
imagination into play," said Doctor Rabbit smilingly, and somewhat
proudly, too.
"What does 'magination' mean, sir?" little Billy Rabbit asked
wonderingly.
"It means," said Doctor Rabbit, "that you must think and think and
think until you think out something quite new."
Then Doctor Rabbit patted all the little rabbits on the head, except
Billy Rabbit whom he chucked under the chin, as he bade them all a
very pleasant good morning.
"Keep a sharp lookout, and don't worry," Doctor Rabbit said with a
smile as he left. "If Farmer Roe does not get rid of that Fox family,
I'll think out some way myself."
And he ran like a gray streak back across the Wide Prairie toward the
Big Green Woods.