"This year Mr. Bixby hired me. At first I liked the work. I had to do a few chores, milk the cow and take the milk to the few families that bought it. But the other day he did something I didn't like and so to-day after I found the hole in the cow stable that leads to this cave, I ran away."
"What did he do to you?" asked Bunny. "Did he beat you?"
"No, he stuck pins and needles in me."
"Stuck pins into you?" cried Sue. "How horrid! I never heard of such a thing! How did you get them out?"
"That was the funny part of it," said the boy. "They weren't real pins. He'd make me take hold of some shiny brass knobs, and then pins and needles would shoot all over me. Then, all of a sudden, he'd pull 'em out and I wouldn't feel 'em until he did it again."
"That was funny," said Bunny Brown, thinking very hard. "Could you see the needles?"
"No, but I could feel 'em, and that was enough. I got away as soon as I could, when he wasn't looking, and I made for the hole I'd found in the cow shed. But from there I got into the cave, and I thought I was lost, for I couldn't find my way back and I didn't know what to do when I saw your light. And then I didn't know whether to go and meet you or hide in the dark."
"Well, it's a good thing you came on," said Sue, "'cause we were getting scared ourselves, weren't we Bunny?"
"Oh no, not much. I wasn't scared."
"But I was," admitted Sue. "And I think Splash was too, for he was sort of whining in his throat."