"I didn't dare even to wait long enough to quiet Mrs. Bunny, but off I ran through the hallway, which is very long in our house, as you may suppose, and before reaching the door I could smell Mr. Foxy Fox as plainly as I smell you this minute. Frightened? It seemed as if I couldn't put one paw before another, and for two or three minutes it looked as if I'd go home for supper with Mr. Fox. How he got out of the sc.r.a.pe with the 'Squire and Mr. Weasel I couldn't guess, except that those two were so busy with each other that he contrived to slip off quietly; but it didn't make very much difference to me just how it happened, for I had troubles of my own to look after.

"One thing was certain: that rascally old fox would have to do some digging before he could get at us, and I ran back to Mrs. Rabbit, who had pulled herself together a bit, holding her gently by the ears as I explained what was going on."

At this point Bunny stopped as if overcome by sad thoughts, and stroked his whiskers softly with one paw. To have broken in on his train of thought just then would have been downright cruelty; therefore it seemed necessary to wait until he was ready to continue the painful story.

CHAPTER V

A MEETING OF THE CLUB

Mr. Bunny Rabbit remained silent a long while, as if occupied with painful thoughts, although in view of what he said later, it was difficult to understand why he should have been sad, for there have been but few of his family who, having received a visit from Mr. Fox, live to tell the tale.

Then he continued:

"Mrs. Bunny was so frightened by what I told her that it looked very much as if she would die of fright; but Sonny Bunny and I rubbed her ears hard, until we finally brought her around to that point where she was able to look danger in the face as one of our kind should, but, I am sorry to say, seldom does.

"'If you could prevent the old robber from getting in for a time, Sonny and I might be able to dig out at the other end,' she said at length, and I fancied her idea was a good one; but how it might be possible to keep Mr. Foxy Fox back was a hard question to answer.

"However, it was a case of putting my best foot forward, and I crept back down the hallway, so frightened that I had the hardest kind of work to walk straight. The murdering old scoundrel was scratching dirt at a lively rate when I came as near the front door as I dared, and it didn't take more than half an eye to see that he'd soon be able to get considerably more than his nose inside.

"Then the idea came to me that I might do a little scratching, and, turning around until my tail was pointed straight for the front door, I kept my hind feet at work till Foxy began to cough and choke at a rate that made me feel as if I were doing a pretty good job.

"'Look here, you long-eared old hopper, you! Stop kicking up so much dust, or I'll chew you into shoe-strings when I get at you!' he cried, and I knew from the sounds that he was trying to wipe the dirt from his eyes.

"'Yes, and that's what you count on doing whether I kick up a dust or not,' I said, speaking as if I were as brave and big as Senator Bear.

'If you eat rabbit stew for supper to-night, you'll have to work for it, that's what!'

"It was quite a spell before he went to work again, and I sat there ready to use my hind feet the minute he had his nose anywhere near the door, knowing all the while that Mrs. Bunny and Sonny were working for dear life at the other end of the house.

"I hadn't much more than begun to scratch gravel again when I heard the sharpest kind of a yelp from Mr. Fox, and I couldn't help laughing out loud, for I thought I'd most likely sent a stone into his eye; but I soon found out that wasn't the cause of it.

"Now what do you think had happened? Why, Mr. Man's boy Tommy's dog Towser had happened along just in the nick of time, so far as I was concerned, and dear me! how he was jumping into Mr. Foxy Fox! Talk about fighting! I never heard such a row. As I afterward learned, nearly every member of our club was awakened by the racket, and you might have searched them all without finding anything like pity for Foxy.

"We never had any love for Mr. Towser before; but now it seemed as if he were the very nicest kind of animal that ever lived. I knew Mr. Fox was bound to get the worst of it, so back I ran to tell Mrs. Bunny.

When she heard the good news, instead of sitting down with me to laugh, she said real sharp-like:

"'Don't get to feeling good too soon, Bunny. n.o.body knows how many wicked animals will come around to see what is going on, and when Mr.

Towser finishes the job we may find ourselves nearer to a stew than before. Sonny and I have nearly finished making another door, and the best thing you can do is to close up the front one while Mr. Foxy Fox and Mr. Towser are so busy. Then we'll go over and visit your cousins till we can build a new house, for I wouldn't stay in this one another night.'

"When Mrs. Bunny really sets her mind on anything, the easiest way for me is to give in to her, and back I went, scratching the dirt against the door the best I knew how, though I was aching to listen, so's to know how long Mr. Fox held out.

"I hadn't more than done my part of the work in good shape when Mrs.

Bunny came to tell me that she and Sonny Bunny had fixed things at the other end, so I went with her because she was dragging me by one ear in a way that wasn't comfortable. We found my cousins hopping around outside their home listening to the row, for Foxy was taking on at such a rate that you might have heard him half a mile away, and none of us went to bed until the sudden stillness told that Mr. Foxy Fox wouldn't steal another chicken, nor ever disturb a member of our family.

"It wasn't more than daybreak next morning when Mr. Crow sent one of Cheeko's brothers around to tell the members of the club that there was to be a meeting, on important business, as soon as the sun came out strong enough to prevent any of the 'Squire's family from showing themselves.

"I didn't stop for breakfast, but started right off, and on arriving at the big oak found almost everybody I knew, except those club members who don't care to meet at meal time. Mr. Crow was perched on the very tiptoppest branch of the tree, looking as if he had so much business on hand that he couldn't speak without forgetting some of it, and I asked little c.o.c.ky Robin if he knew why the meeting was to be held.

"'Don't you know what happened last night?' he asked, looking as if he thought something was wrong in my head.

"'I've got good reasons to know, seeing's how I was right in the thick of it,' I said, bristling up my fur so's to make me look mighty fierce. 'If it hadn't been for me Mr. Towser wouldn't have had such a chance at Mr. Fox.'

"'What did you have to do with it?' he asked, c.o.c.king his head in what I always thought a most impudent manner. Do you know, he puts on more airs and graces than a peac.o.c.k, simply because he's the only bird that has a red vest to go with a brown coat? Of course I told him the whole story, though there wasn't any need for me to say that I'd been frightened nearly out of my wits, and before I'd finished Mr. Crow called the meeting to order.

"You know how well the old fellow loves to talk, and it seemed on this morning as if his tongue ran on wheels. He began by telling all about the row which Mr. Weasel kicked up with the 'Squire, and it seems, according to his story, that the head of the Owl family had been killed, as he had a good right to be after Mr. Weasel got a grip on his neck. Then he spoke about the trouble Mr. Foxy Fox had caused us members of the club, and announced that the long-tailed villain was dead, too, with his skin, most likely, nailed up on Mr. Man's barn that very minute.

"Never a word did Mr. Crow say about what I'd done toward fixing Foxy so he couldn't do any more mischief, and try as I might, I couldn't get in a word edgewise in the way of explaining that if it hadn't been for me Mr. Man's boy Tommy's dog Towser wouldn't have had a chance to get the best of Mr. Foxy Fox.

"All hands of us were pretty well tired out before Mr. Crow got right down to the business of the meeting, and I was seriously thinking of hopping off home without waiting to hear why we had been called together, when he came to the point.

"'There's no more influential club in the big woods than the Fur and Feather a.s.sociation,' he said, speaking in a dreadfully hoa.r.s.e voice because of having talked so long that his throat was dry. 'It is time we took an active part in outside affairs, else we may expect to lose many a night's sleep by such a rumpus as was kicked up last night.'

"'What do you count on doing about it?' Mr. Blue Jay, who had come in late, asked with a laugh. 'If Mr. Weasel meets 'Squire Owl when he's out on one of his killings, how can we stop him from murdering the pompous old bird who has done some harm to nearly every one of us?

And if Mr. Man's boy Tommy's dog Towser comes across Mr. Foxy Fox when he's up to mischief, how can we lend a hand, even if we want to? It seems to me that last night's work was a good thing for us members of the Fur and Feathers, and we're the last who should be mourning over it.'

"Mr. Crow looked at Mr. Jay savagely; but it takes more than a hard look to disturb that blue-coated fellow, and instead of being frightened, he actually laughed in the president's face.

"'We haven't come together to mourn because the 'Squire and Mr. Foxy Fox got themselves killed,' Mr. Crow said, ruffling up his feathers till he looked a good deal like Mr. Porcupine. 'Our duty is to take such measures as will prevent people like Mr. Weasel and Mr. Man's boy Tommy's dog Towser from disturbing the peace. This part of the big woods belongs by rights to this club, and we must take such steps as will prevent evilly disposed people from jumping down on those of us who mind our own business without working harm to any one else.'

"Now do you know that seemed to sound very comical to Mr. Jay, and he didn't have any better manners than to laugh right out in meeting, making such a racket with that shrill voice of his that you'd have thought more than a dozen birds were trying to see which could make the most noise.

"Mr. Crow waited till the ill-mannered Jay had quieted down a bit, and I could see that the old fellow had all he could do to keep his temper, which is not to be wondered at when you consider that the president of the club was only trying to protect the members against those who had no business in that part of the big woods. Then he said, turning to some of us of the Fur section, who were not so impudent as to interrupt:

"'There is no reason why we should not forbid certain birds and animals from venturing on these premises, and once that has been done we shall live in peace, to say nothing of being able to sleep the whole night through without interruption.'

"There was so much good sense in this remark that I clapped my paws to show my appreciation of it, when suddenly we heard a dreadfully rough voice cry:

"'Are you foolish creatures really thinking it'll do any good to forbid our doing this or that?'

"Looking up quickly, whom should I see but the Professor, who was slowly circling around the tree as if trying to make up his mind which of us he would invite to breakfast. Oh me! oh my! what a scurrying there was to get under cover! I went into the thorn bushes head first, nearly scratching my eyes out, and Cheeko's brother followed close at my heels, while as for Mr. Jay, he flew off with a screech, for more than one member of his family had gone to dinner with the Professor and never come back.

"Then, if you'll believe it, that miserable hawk lighted on the very lowest branch of the tree, where he could have an eye on all of us who had taken to cover, and Cheeko's brother said to me, his teeth chattering with fear so badly that I could hardly understand a word:

"'Now we're in the soup for certain! If one of us makes the littlest kind of move that villainous old Professor will pounce down. I wish Mr. Crow had attended to his own private matters instead of calling us together where, rather than protecting ourselves, we're likely to give that old scoundrel a breakfast.'

"'Keep under the sharpest thorns, no matter how badly your coat may be torn,' I whispered, and the Professor c.o.c.ked his eye at me in a way that told he was figuring how he could best get his claws in my back."

At this moment Mr. Bunny chanced to see a particularly tempting bunch of clover, and he leaped toward it, without seeming to consider that it would have been more polite first to bring his story to a close.

CHAPTER VI

MR. MAN'S BOY TOMMY