"'By Jiminy! Now I've got two rabbits! Come on, fellers, the woods are full of 'em!'
"Of course we knew by the words that there was more than one boy out with slings, and I was so tired that it didn't seem as if I could run another inch! When I was knocked into the brook I somehow was turned around, so that I was headed away from home, and we had a long, long distance to go before there was the littlest kind of a show for safety. It seemed as if matters were just as bad as they could be; but it appears that they were not, for just then who should pop out of some tall grass but my poor little Sonny Bunny, and those dreadful boys so close behind that I could almost hear them breathe."
At this point Mr. Bunny ceased speaking, and began to chew a straw, as if seeing in his mind's eye the picture of that wild race for life.
CHAPTER VII
CHEEKO'S CURIOSITY
Mr. Bunny remained silent a long while, and not until he was reminded that he had broken off his story at a very exciting point did he continue. Then it was to say:
"Even at this day I am surprised that all three of us were not captured by that army of boys, each of whom was armed with one of those disagreeable sling-shots, pea-shooters, or whatever you choose to call them. I was panting from long running, and my wife so excited as hardly to know whether she was on her feet or her ears, while poor little Sonny Bunny was so confused by seeing us in such a state that he actually quivered.
"Of course I had sense enough to know that we hadn't a single second to spare in that neighborhood, and it was up to me to save the family, or go down into the stew with them. I don't like to boast, as do the Squirrels; but yet I must say that, except when we come face to face with Mr. Weasel, we Rabbits can do a powerful lot of thinking in a short time when we are in a hole—or, perhaps I should say, when we want to get into our own particular hole.