Of course the Red Cow was pleased to see him, and full of talk. But Nibble was getting curious again. After a while he said, “Red Cow, I can see the trees moving outside, but there isn’t any wind in here. Why is that?”
“Why, I never thought about it,” said the Red Cow. You remember she was always a little bit stupid.
“I’m going to find out,” said Nibble. He hopped carefully along the partition to the window. And if ever a rabbit looked foolish, it was Nibble when he snubbed his twitchy nose against it. He was puzzled. None of the Woodsfolk could imagine such a thing as window glass.
“What is it?” asked the Red Cow, wagging her big ears.
“Ice,” guessed Nibble. “No, it’s not, either.” He was trying to taste it with his licky little tongue that he uses to wash his shirt front. “It doesn’t taste like the drops that freeze into my fur and it isn’t wet. But it’s cold——”
And right then he learned some more about it. For you know Silvertip had seen the bunny’s footprints. “Chickens are all right,” thought the bad fox to himself as he trotted along, “but I’d a great deal rather have a nice tasty mouthful of rabbit.” So he hid the pullet and came galloping back to find Nibble.
It wasn’t long before he saw the bunny’s trail going into the door of the milking barn, and he could smell plainly on the dry wood floor exactly where Nibble had gone. So Silvertip went sniffing quietly down the long aisle behind the row of cows. But they smelled him. “Help! Watch! Wolves! Wolves! Help!” they bawled. And they all tried to kick him.
Now Silvertip was afraid to run out past their heels, so he had to follow Nibble’s trail under the door into the barn, where the box stalls were. And there he saw Nibble, perched on top of the partition, sniffing at the window with his back turned.
Up jumped Silvertip on to the straw bale. Down jumped Nibble into the stall beside the Red Cow. “Arh,” whimpered Silvertip excitedly, and jumped after him.
You never heard such a commotion. For the Red Cow began to roar and aim her horns at the fox. And Silvertip had to do some lively dodging. He’d just managed to scramble back on the partition when Watch came squeezing under the door. There wasn’t another place for the fox to turn so he ran straight for the window.