"'Look out for your hide, Jimmy Hedgehog, for here comes Mr. Man with a gun and a dog!'
"Then of course I remembered what Mrs. Bunny had told me and although I was so frightened that my teeth chattered I couldn't help creeping out a bit to see what Jimmy was doing. I had just got into a place where it was possible to have a full view of the barn, when whom should I see but that foolish Jimmy standing on his hind legs looking from one side to the other, but never behind him where was Mr. Man creeping along as if he were making ready to shoot.
"Oh me! oh my! how I tried to scream for him to turn around, but my lungs are not very strong, as you know, and I couldn't have made him hear me if he hadn't been half as far away, but Mr. Crow was on the watch and he screamed as he flew down almost directly across Jimmy's face:
"'Can't you see an inch behind your back, silly beast? I've been telling you over and over again that Mr. Man was out looking for such as you!'
"You never saw a hedgehog jump as Jimmy did then! He hadn't paid any attention to anything except what the boys were doing, and now he made up for lost time. It seemed to me as if he turned more than four somersaults before he struck the ground, and even while he was leaping bang! went Mr. Man's gun. I couldn't see whether my friend had been hit or not—dear, dear, you'll have to excuse me a minute more, for there is Mrs. Bunny shaking her ears at me. Now, what do you suppose she has got on her mind?"
Then Mr. Bunny jumped off the log hurriedly running toward a bunch of ferns which were swaying to and fro, although there was not a breath of wind stirring and there was nothing to be done save wait until he should be at liberty to conclude the story.