HOW NIBBLE THE BUNNY WAS CAUGHT
Meanwhile, Nibble was busy comforting the lady mouse. “There, there!
Don’t squeal any more. You’re not hurt a bit. But really, this gets
more and more curiouser. Now Silvertip would certainly have eaten you.
But I don’t see yet why folks are so scared of a Man, if that’s all he
can do to you.”
“You’d know if he sh-sh-shook you!” sobbed the lady mouse.
But Nibble didn’t pay any attention. “I’m going to sneak up close to
the Sparrows’ Tree and ask Chirp about it,” he announced.
Off went he, so fast he didn’t notice where he was putting his foot
own.
He came to the fence—and the picture-wire. Zing! Now he knew what a
trap was, for sure and certain. For the pegs let go, the sapling
snapped back, and the wire caught him just behind his little fore legs
and whipped him high up in the air.
He squirmed and flounced like a fish on the end of a line. He kicked
harder and harder; and the wire pulled tighter and tighter, until he
screamed.
From way up there in the air he could see Tommy Peele turn around and
hurry toward him, swinging his red mittens as he ran. And he knew
Tommy had something to do with it. “This,” thought he, “is why Man is
dangerous. How awfully slow he flies. Now he’ll eat me!” And the wire
was squeezing him so dreadful, he didn’t much care. But Tommy just cut
that terrible loop, and took the rabbit gently into his arms.
“Poor little bunny! I didn’t know that was going to hurt you,”
whispered the little boy. And he put a very sorry finger on the place
where the picture wire had been.
But Nibble still kicked and struggled so hard that Tommy would have
lost him if he hadn’t kept a tight hold of the bunny’s long ears. And
Tommy did keep a tight hold, for the more he saw of Nibble the more he
wanted him.
In ten minutes Nibble was locked in a cage. It really was a very nice
one—for a rabbit who had been born there. But for Nibble it was as
cramped as Ouphe the Rat’s narrow black tunnels under the haystack. It
was only half a leap long and three creeps across. There was one dark
corner in it where he could hide behind some hay when the humans came
to look at him—and they did come, all sizes and colours and noises,
just as Gimlet the Woodpecker had said. When they went away again he
snubbed his nose trying to take the kinks out of his legs where he had
been sitting on them.
And more than the humans came to call on him. For the minute they
turned their backs a great big beast, much bigger than Silvertip, put
his forepaws up on the front of the cage and sniffed at him. He was
nearly the same colour as Silvertip, only his back was more grizzled
and he had a white collar as well as a white shirtfront like most wild
things wear. But this beast didn’t have a hungry look; he was only
curious—like Nibble is himself when he isn’t scared. All the same,
Nibble was afraid of him.
Just about sundown all these visitors went away. This was the chance
Chirp Sparrow was looking for. He flew down and perched on the cage.
Then he cheeped very softly, to make Nibble look at him.
Nibble pricked up an ear. Then he jumped so hard that he hit the front
of the cage and bounced back again, but he picked himself up and
thumped and wriggled his puffy tail trying to show Chirp how glad he
was to see him. “Mr. Chirp, Mr. Chirp!” he exclaimed. “You’ll know how
to help me. You know everything!”
“Well, not everything,” answered Chirp. But he preened the feathers on
his shoulders and cocked his head on one side the way birds do when
they’re pleased about anything. For he was immensely flattered. “I
don’t know everything,” he repeated, “but I’ll call a sparrow council,
and we’ll see what can be done about it.” And something’s pretty apt
to happen when the sparrows put their minds to anything.
“Now you listen to me,” he went on. “You eat what they feed you and
keep strong. You aren’t in any danger right away. And you try to make
friends with that Dog.”
“What Dog?” asked Nibble. He was puzzled.
“He was here just a minute ago,” said Chirp. “That big foxy-looking
beast. He’s a great friend of ours. He has a big dish by the back door
that’s always full of delicious things. And he pretends to go to sleep
while we pick up the crumbs. You be just as polite as you can to him.
I’ll be back in the morning.” And Chirp flitted off to the sparrow
roost, leaving Nibble almost cheerful again. He couldn’t help feeling
that all this excitement was rather interesting.