Browny was so surprised by this apology that he sat there a moment in silence and stared at the White Rabbit. Never before had a rabbit apologized to him. Indeed, whenever words passed between them, they were harsh and unfriendly. Then, instead of accepting the apology in a friendly spirit, he laughed, and said:
“Oh! Ho! You’re getting very polite all of a sudden, Bumper! Well, you can’t make friends with me that way. I don’t take any stock in soft words. Actions count with me more than polite words. No, I don’t think you will do it again. If you do you know what will happen to you!”
Bumper withdrew before the angry retort that rose to his lips could escape. He was very indignant. Browny was an ungrateful fellow. Well, he’d have nothing more to do with him or any of his tribe. Some day he might find a chance to get even with him. No, that would never do! He had decided to make friends and not enemies. He would forget it, but—
Suddenly he hopped about a foot in the air, so quickly that his sentence was never finished. What was it in the marshy ground at his feet? He had touched something hard and cold that jangled when he tripped against it. For a moment he stood ready to fly, but on second thought he decided he would investigate, for the thing, whatever it was, hadn’t moved. It still lay coiled up in the grass.
Bumper approached it carefully and smelt of it, and then laughed at his fright. It was a long chain, which for a moment had seemed to him like Killer the Snake coiled up in the grass. One end was fastened to a stake, and the other—
Horror of Horrors! It was attached to a trap, a steel spring trap, concealed right in the mouth of Browny’s hole. Some one had set the trap there to catch Browny or one of his family. Forgetting all his anger, Bumper ran back, and shouted.
“Browny! Browny!” he cried. “I’ve found something!”
“Well, leave it where it is,” replied Browny, stroking his whiskers. “Findings aren’t keepings around here.”
“But it’s a trap, Browny,” added Bumper. “I thought you’d want to know.”
“Oh, traps don’t bother me. The Hunters have been setting them for me as long as I can remember. But I’m too shrewd for them. They can’t catch me.”