“Time enough to think about it when he comes,� said the old muskrat comfortably. “No wonder you tumbled off your perch, if you had a dream like that.�

And that was the very minute when the baby bunny came bounding in. “Daddy Rabbit,� she squealed, “there’s a strange beast down by the pond!�

“There! Maybe you think she’s dreaming, too!� cheeped Chaik triumphantly. “It’s Killer, sure as sure! What did he look like?�

Now you remember how Killer fixed himself all up, the way the owl’s wife had told him to, when he tried to make friends with the Woodsfolk. “Eh?� said Nibble, when the bunny finished telling about him, “that’s never Killer.�

“Then who is it?â€� asked the sensible muskrat. “There’s no such animal as that in all the woods—not that I ever heard tell of.â€�

“Run for your lives, everybody. Killer has come to the pond!�

But before even Chaik could answer him, in galloped Stripes Skunk. “Hey! Where are my kittens?� he gasped. “Call your bunnies, Nibble! Run for your lives, everybody. Killer has come to the pond!�

And Doctor Muskrat and Nibble Rabbit and Nibble’s mate and all her bunnies, and Stripes’s own kittens, who came gliding through the tunnels under the Pickery Things, looked at each other with their eyes as big and round as so many thorn apples, they were so scared.

Chaik Jay was the first to speak. “Poor me!� he wailed. “He’ll eat me before sunset. My wing simply won’t fly. I can’t make it.�