Stubby Woodchuck said. "I wonder what they were after?"

"They were after Brushtail," Doctor Rabbit explained. "I heard them talking and I heard them say they were trying to find out where he lives."

"Dear me! I hope they'll run him away so he'll never come back!" said Cheepy Chipmunk, with a troubled look.

"They'll probably have to find out first where he lives," said Doctor Rabbit, "and I believe that is going to be pretty hard for them to do.

But still, Yappy has a very sharp nose, and in time he may find Brushtail's den."

It was dinner time, so Doctor Rabbit and Stubby Woodchuck and Cheepy Chipmunk separated, each slipping home as quietly as he could.

WHAT DOCTOR RABBIT SAW

Doctor Rabbit did not see Brushtail the Fox again for several days.

Then one morning when the sun came up warm and bright and all the little creatures of the Big Green Woods were feeling very happy, Doctor Rabbit decided that he would try again. He made up his mind to slip over to that thicket where he had last seen Brushtail, and see what he could discover with his sharp eyes.

There were a good many briar patches along the way, and Doctor Rabbit kept as near these as possible, so he was safe, even though the way _was_ a little longer. You can be very sure, too, that Doctor Rabbit kept his eyes wide open all the time. But he did not see the least sign of Brushtail the Fox, and decided that he was probably somewhere in that dense thicket.

"Perhaps," thought Doctor Rabbit, "old Brushtail is in there right now eating a chicken he has stolen from Farmer Roe."

Now the very thought of getting any nearer that thicket made Doctor Rabbit tremble with fear. Still, there was a fine big briar patch close to the thicket, and Doctor Rabbit decided he would run for this.

He had hidden in that briar patch several times from various enemies, and was familiar with every inch of it. He knew he would be safe from Brushtail in the briar patch, and all Brushtail could do if he saw Doctor Rabbit hiding there would be just to wait outside. But he would have to give up in the end, because Doctor Rabbit never would come out of a briar patch so long as an enemy was waiting for him.

Doctor Rabbit got all ready, and then he ran for that briar patch. He ran as hard as he could and dived into the briar patch just as if Brushtail were very close behind him, because, you see, it might be that Brushtail _was_ very close. Then Doctor Rabbit crept to the center of the briar patch and sat down. He decided that if necessary he would stay in the briar patch all day and watch. He knew Brushtail the Fox had some kind of a secret in that thicket--a den or something--else he never would have been so careful about getting into it.

Doctor Rabbit waited for about two hours, and he was already getting tired when all of a sudden he sat as still as a stone. In fact, he sat so perfectly still that I doubt if you could have seen him even if you had been looking right at him.

The reason why Doctor Rabbit sat still so quickly was that he saw a movement in the leafy thicket. Presently the bushes parted, and who do you suppose came out? No, it was not Brushtail--it was Mrs.

Brushtail! And now Doctor Rabbit knew exactly why Brushtail had been so careful about getting into that thicket. It was Mr. and Mrs.

Brushtail's home. And it was here, of course, that Farmer Roe's hens were disappearing, and this was where Doctor Rabbit and Stubby Woodchuck and all their friends would go if they didn't watch out!

Yes, sir! This was where a great many of the little creatures of the Big Green Woods would disappear if Mr. and Mrs. Brushtail did not leave. While Doctor Rabbit was looking at Mrs. Brushtail she yawned, showing all of her long, sharp teeth. Although he was safe in the briar patch, Doctor Rabbit trembled. He was a little too close to old Mrs. Brushtail to feel quite comfortable.

MRS. BRUSHTAIL GETS A HEN

Of course Doctor Rabbit was greatly surprised to see Mrs. Brushtail in the thicket. And still, after he thought about it, he was not so surprised either. You see, it was spring and just the time of year for Mr. and Mrs. Brushtail to find themselves a new home if they needed one.

Mrs. Brushtail stood there looking about in every direction with her sharp eyes. Then she gave a great spring and landed on the limb of the fallen tree. She walked along the limb until she came to the end of it, and then jumped, as Brushtail had done, as far out as she could, only Mrs. Brushtail did not jump _toward_ the thicket, she jumped away from it. She stood again looking all around and listening for a minute, then trotted away through the woods toward Farmer Roe's, and was soon out of sight.

Doctor Rabbit thought to himself, "Mrs. Brushtail is going over to the edge of the woods nearest to Farmer Roe's. She's going to hide there and see if some foolish hen doesn't come out into the woods to hunt bugs and gra.s.shoppers."

And he made up his mind that as long as he was safe he would just wait where he was and see if Mrs. Brushtail would come back.

Well, he did not have to wait very long. As he sat in the briar patch listening, he heard a terrible cackling over toward the edge of the woods nearest Farmer Roe's. It sounded as if chickens were very much frightened and were running in every direction. In a short time Doctor Rabbit saw Mrs. Brushtail coming through the woods. And sure enough, she had one of Farmer Roe's big white hens in her mouth.

Mrs. Brushtail held the hen by the neck, and after making a wide circle and jumping to one side as far as she could she came to the fallen tree. When she looked up at the high limb she seemed puzzled.

You see, she could not jump so high with the hen. But she was pretty wise. She laid the hen upon the trunk of the tree, then jumped upon the limb above, and reaching down, picked up the hen and walked out along the limb toward the leafy thicket. Then she sprang into the thicket and disappeared.

How Doctor Rabbit did want to see the inside of that thicket! And what made him all the more curious was that he was certain he heard a number of growls after Mrs. Brushtail disappeared in there. And the growls did not sound like Mrs. Brushtail's voice, or like Brushtail's either.

Yes, sir, there was something very interesting going on in that thicket, and Doctor Rabbit made up his mind he must see what it was, if possible. He wondered where Brushtail was. Doctor Rabbit disliked to go any nearer the thicket unless he knew where that sly old fox was.

"But," he said to himself, "likely enough Mr. Brushtail is in the thicket with Mrs. Brushtail and is helping her eat that chicken.

Anyway, it's only a little distance to that tree with a hole in the base and a lot of p.r.i.c.kly vines around it. I'm going to run for it!

The distance is so short that Brushtail would not have time to get me even if he saw me. I'll get to the tree, and if Brushtail should come after me I'll run into the hole at the base of the tree. I'll find out about old Brushy before he knows it. And the first thing they know they will be going out of these woods in a hurry. But I must be very, very careful. I should say I must! I must watch every second. My, how those animals in that thicket do growl! It sounds almost as if they were quarreling."

BRUSHTAIL THE FOX FINDS SOME PIECES OF CHEESE

Doctor Rabbit was just ready to run to the tree with the p.r.i.c.kly vines around it when he crouched low and sat very still again. He heard somebody coming through the woods. Pretty soon he saw that it was Farmer Roe.

The farmer stopped when he got close to the briar patch and muttered to himself, "Every spring I have to rid these woods of a fox or two. I guess I'll just put out a little bait for them and see how that will work."

As soon as Doctor Rabbit heard Farmer Roe coming through the woods he noticed that everything in the thicket grew very quiet. I should say it did! There was not the least sound in there--not a single growl.

And there Farmer Roe stood within twenty feet of the home of Mr. and Mrs. Brushtail without ever dreaming of it.

Farmer Roe had gloves on, and he held a number of pieces of cheese on one hand. He put several of these pieces of cheese under the fallen tree. Right near the thicket he placed some more cheese, partly under some dead leaves. Then Farmer Roe went around placing the cheese here and there where he thought the fox would be most likely to find it.

After a time he put the last piece of cheese under an old log.

Then he straightened up and said, "There, now! That ought to fix him, or both of them, if there are two instead of one. I'm glad Yappy has been trained not to eat anything he finds out in the woods," he added, "for this bait would be the end of him, too! And that would never do."

And Farmer Roe walked back through the woods toward his house. After a while the sound of his heavy footsteps died away.

Everything in the thicket was perfectly still. There was not a sound.

Doctor Rabbit waited and listened. Then he heard a movement inside the thicket. Presently Mrs. Brushtail came out, sat down, and looked in the direction Farmer Roe had taken. While she sat there Mr. Brushtail came trotting up from somewhere out in the woods. Doctor Rabbit heard the two talking very rapidly and excitedly, but they talked so low he could not understand what they said. He wanted very much to know what they said, but what interested him still more was that he again heard those growls in the thicket. He wondered who it could be, since neither Brushtail nor Mrs. Brushtail was in there now.

Well, after Mr. and Mrs. Brushtail had talked for a while, Brushtail went right up to the old dead log where Farmer Roe had placed some of the cheese. Doctor Rabbit was delighted, for he thought this would be the end of Brushtail the Fox. And we can't blame Doctor Rabbit or think him cruel, either, for hoping so. You see, Doctor Rabbit, being a doctor, knew at once that Farmer Roe had poisoned that cheese. Yes, sir, he had put poison in it for Mr. Fox. And if Mr. and Mrs.

Brushtail should eat just one of those pieces of cheese it would certainly cause their death.

But Doctor Rabbit was certainly surprised at what happened. Brushtail took the piece of cheese carefully in his mouth and carried it to a small hole a little distance away. Then he hunted around until he found every piece of poisoned cheese Farmer Roe had put out. And each time he found a piece of cheese he did just what he did with the first piece: he carried it to that hole and dropped it in. When he had finished he stood and looked down at all those pieces of cheese. Then he began scratching leaves and dirt into the hole. Once in a while he would turn around and look down into the hole and laugh. Then he would turn his back again, and just make the leaves and dirt fly into that hole.

Well, he scratched and scratched and scratched until there was not a bit of cheese anywhere to be seen. The hole was full of leaves and dirt, so you never could have found it. Mrs. Brushtail came out and smiled at Brushtail, and both of them looked at Farmer Roe's house and laughed and laughed.

But Doctor Rabbit was not pleased. I should say he wasn't pleased, and he wondered how these two terrible creatures would ever be driven away from the woods. And he wondered more than ever who it was that kept growling in the thicket.

THE GROWLERS COME OUT OF THE THICKET