_(Some way after "Alice in Wonderland.")_
"The work of Major MORANT is headed _Profitable Rabbit Farming.
(Laughter.)_ Yes, that is a subject for merriment, probably, on
account of its comparative novelty, but it is also a subject of
satisfaction, which is akin to merriment, because this rabbit-farming
appears to be a very good and promising description of pursuit....
That is the raising of tame rabbits."--_Mr. Gladstone at the Hawarden
Floral and Horticultural Society's Show._
_These were the verses the Tame Rabbit recited_:--
The Grand Old Man was on the stir;
MORANT named me to him;
He gave me a good character;
I thought his meaning dim.
He held me up; they thought it fun!
And laughed; he chid their glee.
If he should push this matter on,
What will become of Me?
He said I was a paying game,
Commending me as such.
That's the result of being tame,
And living in a hutch.
My notion is that it is vain
For you, you Grand Old Fella,
To rave of rabbits in the rain,
Beneath a big umbrella.
Don't let them know _we_ fatten best,
For this should ever be
A secret kept from all the rest,
Between yourself and me!
* * * * *
[Illustration: AMONG THE BUNNIES.]
* * * * *