It was a cruel, cold-blooded thing to do, and the other rabbits who had seen the whole thing from the shore came scurrying to the rescue, shouting: “Shame! Shame on you, Spotted Tail!”
But, of course, this didn’t help Bumper any. The water was very deep where he had fallen in, and there wasn’t the sign of anything that could be used as a raft. Could he swim? Not much! By frantic efforts he could keep his head above water. Nearly every wild animal can do this even when a tiny baby. But that wouldn’t get him to the shore until he was exhausted.
But just when he was beginning to feel that he would drown his hind feet touched something. It was a big rock in the middle of the stream which could not be seen from the spring-board or the shore. Bumper found that by standing on his two hind feet on the rock, he could just keep his head and neck above the surface. This gave him sudden courage, and a thought. He stood stock still on the rock, and turned to the one who had thrown him in.
“It is much more dignified for a king to float upright, Spotted Tail,” he said, “than to swim. Can you stand in the water like this?”
Spotted Tail and the others were amazed by the sight of Bumper standing perfectly still in the deep water, with his head and neck just above the surface.
“Come now, Spotted Tail, you have challenged me to everything you could think of,” continued Bumper. “Now it is your turn to accept my challenge. Either show me that you can stand in the deep water, or desist from further attempts to humiliate me. You must do one or the other, or I shall hold your challenges in contempt hereafter.”
Of course, Spotted Tail knew he could never perform this miracle, and he was at a loss to understand how Bumper could do it. “Then,” continued Bumper when he showed no intention of coming in, “you are disgraced before all of your people.”
All the while Bumper had been watching for a way to get ashore. He had been feeling with his hind legs for other rocks in the deep river. To his joy he found one, and quickly stepped to it. There was a series of stepping-stones, which hunters used to cross the river when it was shallow. They were hidden from view now by the flood. Bumper made his way cautiously from one to the other until he reached shallow water, and then he hopped gracefully ashore, much to Spotted Tail’s chagrin.
STORY VIII
SPOTTED TAIL STIRS UP REVOLT
Spotted Tail was in disgrace. Not only had he wickedly thrown Bumper into the deep water in full view of all the others, but he had refused to accept the first challenge made to him. He knew that he could never live down both. One was enough to bring him into contempt, but the two together practically robbed him of all further influence among his people.