XXVI. MOTHER WA-POOSE AND OLD KLAWS THE HOUSE CAT

A few days after little Luke saw something that gave him a new feeling of respect for Mother Wa-poose.

He was going up to make her another visit. As he came near the brush pile, he heard a thump! thump! thump! "That's Mother Wa-poose," said he to himself, "and she's angry about something. I wonder what can be the matter."

He went around to the other side of the brush pile and then he knew.

There was Old Klaws the House Cat, his tail twitching and his round eyes shining hungrily.

Just as the boy caught sight of the old cat, Mother Wa-poose sprang out of the thicket. She sprang straight at Old Klaws. The cat snarled and shrank to one side. But Mother Wa-poose was too quick for him. As she went over, she struck him a sounding thwack with her hind feet. It fairly made the old cat's ribs crack, and he rolled over and over down the slope. In a second he sprang up, snarling and spitting. Again Mother Wa-poose sprang at him. This time she hit him squarely on the side of the head. Old Klaws went down, rolling over several times before he could right himself. The last thwack took all the fight out of him. He scrambled to his feet and went flying down the hillside at his best speed.

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"There," said old Mother Wa-poose, "I guess he'll know enough to keep away from here after this."

"Why, Mother Wa-poose," said the little boy, "I didn't know that you were such a fighter."

"Well," said Mother Wa-poose, "we of the Wa-poose family never fight if we can help it. We'd rather run. But we aren't really afraid of anything our size. And this time I couldn't run. If I had, Old Klaws would surely have carried off one of my babies. He got one of them this spring. You remember the one you took away from him. He is grown up and has gone out into the world for himself now. You know we Wa-pooses have three or four families each year."

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XXVII. THE RABBIT DANCE

"Would you like to see a rabbit dance?" asked Father Wa-poose one day in September.

"Indeed, I should," replied little Luke.

"Come out to-night then," said Wa-poose, "and sit down in the shadow of the stone wall in the corner of the clover field. There you will see something you have never seen before."

"I'll be there," said the boy.

That night little Luke went up to his room early. He took off his shoes and threw them heavily upon the floor, and blew out the light. Then he jumped upon his bed, so that it creaked loudly. Without taking off his clothes, he got under the blankets, and when Aunt Martha looked in, he seemed to be sound asleep. She did not look into the closet to see whether his clothes were hanging up there or not.

When he thought Aunt Martha had gone to bed, the little boy got up quietly, took his shoes in his hand, and slipped softly down the back stairs. Silently he unlocked and opened the kitchen door, and went out into the moonlight.

He did not feel that he was doing quite right, but he was afraid to ask Aunt Martha. You see he was afraid that she might ask questions, which he could not answer without telling about the Magic Flower and his wild friends.

He went over to the clover field and sat down in the corner of the stone fence where some bushes hid him from view.

For some time nothing happened. Pretty soon he heard a queer thump!

thump! thump! He looked up and there was old Father Wa-poose close beside him. He had come into the field so quietly that little Luke had not heard a sound.

"Hi! hi! there you are, Man-cub," said the old rabbit. "Now you sit very still, and you'll see something worth seeing. Of course we are not really afraid of you, but if some of the young folks should see you, they might get nervous. I'll just go out and get my supper, and when the fun begins I'll come back and keep you company. I don't care much for dancing. I leave that mostly to the young people."

Soon from all sides, rabbits came leaping over the fence into the field.

There were young rabbits and old rabbits, big rabbits and little rabbits.

Sometimes one of them would stop and thump the ground with his hind feet. This seemed to be a signal; for when one thumped, another would come hopping toward him. The two would touch noses and then turn to on the sweet, young clover, that had grown up since the July mowing.

Their feast lasted for an hour or more. Then the fun began. Several of them would hop close together in the centre of the field. Then they would skip slowly about in a sort of stately dance. Little by little the movement became faster and faster until they were spinning around like a pinwheel in a brisk breeze. Round and round they went until it made little Luke's head dizzy to watch them.

Suddenly a rabbit stamped with his hind feet,--thump! thump! thump!

Instantly every rabbit squatted motionless. It was a danger signal, but a false one. Nothing happened.

Soon the fun began again. Several of the rabbits had a game of tag.

Round and round they went, leaping ten feet or more at each bound.

Sometimes in the midst of their race, one of them would take a sky-hop.

Up straight into the air he would go as if he were trying to reach the moon.

"Why do they do that?" asked little Luke of Father Wa-poose, who had come back and was sitting quietly beside him.

"They do that," answered the old rabbit, "to get a clear look all around them. You know we always have to be on the lookout for our foes."

Not far from little Luke two rabbits were having a boxing match. They stood up to each other just like men. Little Luke could hear a soft spat, spat, spat, as the blows went home. Their paws were so soft that the blows did not hurt and it was great fun.

Suddenly thump! thump! thump! sounded the danger signal again. Not for nothing this time! Ko-ko-ka the Great Owl came sailing over the clover field as silently as a ghost. But for all his great eyes, the old owl could not see a single rabbit. Neither could little Luke.

"Where have they all gone to?" he asked Father Wa-poose.

"Oh," said he, "they're all there. So long as they sit perfectly still old Ko-ko-ka can't see them."

"Why didn't they run away?" asked little Luke.

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"What's the use?" replied the old rabbit; "so long as we know he is coming, we aren't afraid of Ko-ko-ka. If he should swoop at one of them, he'd just give a bound and get out of danger. Old Ko-ko-ka can't catch a rabbit who knows he's coming. It's the way he comes that makes us fear him. His wings are covered with down and do not make a sound. That's the reason we all dread him so. Ugh! I fairly shiver when I think of him. He nearly got me once. His sharp claws scratched my ears."

Ko-ko-ka was very hungry. He knew the rabbits were in that meadow, and hated to go off without one. While Wa-poose had been talking, he had been sailing slowly round the field. Now he was coming back again.

As he flew over little Luke's head he looked down. Perhaps he saw a slight movement as little Luke tried to look up at him. Instantly he swooped and his sharp claws struck the little boy's hat.

"Hi, there!" said little Luke in astonishment. It was Ko-ko-ka's turn to be astonished now. He dropped the hat, flapped his great wings, and floated off towards the woods.

Little Luke left his hat where it fell and waited to see what the rabbits would do. After a short time the fun began again. There were two young ones that little Luke noticed in particular. They began their race in the middle of the field. Round and round they went and each time round their circles became larger.

Now on the other side of the clover field there was an open gap in the fence. All at once the danger signal sounded again. Thump! thump! thump!

Again every rabbit squatted, with ears and eyes alert to catch sound or sight of an enemy.

It was too late. Through the gate bounded a ball of reddish, yellow fur.

Snap! And the teeth of Kee-wuk the Red Fox had seized one of the young rabbits by the neck. Swinging the limp body over his shoulders, he trotted quietly off through the gap.