"Right you are!" exclaimed Grandfather much pleased. "They're baby rabbits—and in one of the prettiest little nests I ever found. I'm glad you were along to see."
"Were they what you were hunting, Grandfather?" asked Mary Jane as she half timidly bent over the little bundle of gray and white fur. "They wouldn't steal your garden, would they?"
"No, not those pretty little things," replied Grandfather, "but their father would. Can't say as I blame him though," continued Grandfather, laughing, "with such a family to feed he'd naturally have to get whatever he could. Usually the rabbits don't bother my garden. Well, Pussy, what shall we do with them?"
"Do with them?" asked Mary Jane. "What is there to do?"
Grandfather looked down at the little girl; by this time she was on her knees beside the nest, and bending over the little rabbits as though she'd like to touch them but didn't feel quite well enough acquainted. "Shall we leave them out here or—"
But Mary Jane didn't give him a chance to finish his sentence.
"Oh, Grandfather!" she exclaimed, "could we take them home?"
"I guess we could if you wanted to," he said. "Your mother was always a great hand for pet rabbits and I believe that the very house I once built for her, is up in the loft to this day. Let's cover them over again and go find it."
"Will they stay here while we're gone?" asked Mary Jane as he tenderly laid the leaves back over the little creatures.
"They will till their mother gets a chance to take them away," answered Grandfather. "If she thinks we'll hurt them, she'll carry them to some other hiding place. But if we hurry, we'll get them first."