It was a mighty good thing that Doctor Rabbit kept a sharp lookout on
his way home from the Woodchuck house. If he had not been watching he
might have run right into Mr. and Mrs. Brushtail, who stood talking
behind a large elm tree.
Doctor Rabbit heard them and saw them at the same time. He was so
close that he was afraid even to run. So he crept noiselessly under a
dense leafy thicket near at hand. Doctor Rabbit was pretty badly
scared, because there was not a briar patch anywhere near. So he did
the safest thing. He crouched down on the ground, kept still, and
listened.
Mr. and Mrs. Brushtail, talking behind the tree, never dreamed, of
course, that there was anybody close by listening. They talked pretty
softly, but Doctor Rabbit was so near that he could hear every word
they said. Brushtail was talking. "Yes," he said, "that dog has a very
sharp nose, and he is bound to find our den sooner or later. So I
think, Mrs. Fox, we had better move you and the children clear out of
these woods. I'll take you to a new den in the woods away off up the
river. There is not much in the way of rabbits and woodchucks and
chickens up there, but I'll keep on spending most of my time down
here. You see, I can catch the rabbits and woodchucks and chickens,
and carry them up to you."
"Very well, dear," said Mrs. Brushtail, "I think that is an excellent
plan. When shall we move?"
"This very day," Brushtail said. "We'll get the young foxes right away
and start off with them. The sooner we get them out of here, the
better it will be for all of us."
Mr. and Mrs. Brushtail trotted off toward the thicket in which they
had their den. Doctor Rabbit was still a little scared, but he
believed he would follow at a distance and see for himself whether Mr.
and Mrs. Brushtail actually did move the little foxes.
Mr. and Mrs. Brushtail went into the thicket, and in a very short time
came out again. And sure enough, each of them carried a little fox by
the back of its neck.
They walked across the shallow Murmuring Brook and laid the two little
Brushies down on the other side in a thicket. Then they came back and
carried the other two little Brushies over in the same way.
As they went past him this last time Doctor Rabbit heard Brushtail say
to Mrs. Brushtail, "You can just wait with them in the thicket on the
other side of Murmuring Brook until I carry two of them up the river
to the new den. When I come back we can carry the other two."
You see, foxes can carry their baby Foxes by the back of the neck and
not hurt them at all.
Well, Doctor Rabbit was glad and hungry at the same time. He now
hurried right over to the nice, tender blue grass under the big
sycamore tree. There he found Chatty Red Squirrel, Cheepy Chipmunk,
and quite a number of his other friends, who all wanted to know at
once if Doctor Rabbit had found out anything more about Mr. Fox.
Doctor Rabbit did know a great deal, as you know, and he told his
friends he would tell them. But he added that he was so hungry he
would have to eat while he talked. Doctor Rabbit is a great person to
eat grass, anyway.
"It seems as though I never can get enough!" he said every now and
then.