Bumper, The White Rabbit | Page 8

me have him!"
"Be careful, Toby, you'll tear my dress."
"Let me have him! He's mine."
"No, no, Toby, don't touch him. Wait! I'll show him to you!"
But Toby was much too spry for Mary or Aunt Helen. He darted
around back of them, and caught Bumper by the tail--and you know a
rabbit's tail is the smallest part of him--and began pulling it. Bumper let
out a squeal, and pulled the other way with all his might.
"I got him!" shrieked Toby gleefully. "I got him by the tail."
"Toby! Toby!" cried Mary, catching his hand. "Let go of him this
instant."
"I won't! I won't! He's mine!"
Between Toby pulling at one end, and Mary holding the other, Bumper
felt as if he would part somewhere in the middle. He kicked with his
hind legs, and scratched Toby's hands, but the boy would not release
his hold. He gave a sharp jerk, and Bumper let out a squeal.

"You cruel, wicked boy!" exclaimed Mary, as Toby pulled the rabbit
from her arms, and swung him around by his hind legs. "Let me have
him this minute. You'll kill him!"
"No, I won't! He's mine! Isn't he, Aunt Helen? You brought him to me,
didn't you? There now, Mary, she nodded her head! I'm going to keep
him."
"But, dear, you must be very gentle with him," said Aunt Helen. "You'll
hurt him carrying him that way."
"That's the way to carry rabbits, by their hind legs," replied Toby. "I
saw them in the market the other day--a whole bunch of them--hanging
by their hind legs."
"But they were dead rabbits, Toby, and not live, white ones. Now let
me show you how to hold him."
But Toby was more interested in the experiment of making Bumper
squeal than in listening to his aunt's instructions. It was better than the
squeaking camel he had or the girl's doll that said mamma every time
you squeezed it. All he had to do was to squeeze the legs or swing the
rabbit around to make him squeal. Each time he laughed and shouted
with joy.
Mary could stand this cruel torture no longer. She made a dive for
Bumper, and caught him by the fore paws. In the struggle that followed
Bumper was likely to be pulled apart. What might have happened no
one could tell if the door had not suddenly opened, and a young girl,
with red hair and freckles on her nose, entered. She was humming some
tune to herself or to the doll she carried in her hands; but she stopped
singing, and stared at Toby and Mary pulling at the white rabbit.
Then she dropped her doll, and sprang forward to Bumper's rescue. "Oh,
that's my rabbit, cousin Mary!" she cried. "It's the one I wanted to buy
from the old woman, but I didn't have the money. Let go of him, Toby!
You're hurting him!"

"I won't! He's mine!" came the reply. "You let go of him!"
"He's not! He's mine!"
"He ain't! He's mine!"
"Stop that!" cried the girl, when Toby squeezed the legs so hard
Bumper whimpered with pain.
"I won't! I'll squeeze him all I want to."
To make good his word he gave the rabbit a harder squeeze. Then
something happened that surprised every one. The girl raised a hand,
and boxed Toby's ears so hard that it made him howl.
"Now, take that, and see how it feels to be hurt!"
Toby clapped both hands to his ears, and in a flash the red-headed girl
seized Bumper in her arms and ran pell-mell from the room. Toby
started after her, but when the door slammed in his face he flopped
down on the floor to howl and kick just like a baby who had eaten
pickles instead of good milk for breakfast.

STORY V
BUMPER AND THE RED-HEADED GIRL
The red-headed girl, with the freckles on her nose, and a dimple in her
chin, didn't stop until she was on the top floor of the big house where
Toby's howls couldn't be heard. She opened the door of a dark room,
and went in, slamming and locking the door after her.
"There, now I guess he can't find us!" she exclaimed.
Then to Bumper, she turned and began crooning: "You poor little rabbit!
Did Toby hurt you? Don't be frightened now. I won't let him have you
again. I'll buy you if it takes all my Christmas money. You're mine

now!"
You can never imagine how these words soothed Bumper's ruffled
feelings. It was like being rescued from a terrible giant who intended to
dash out your brains and eat you for supper. Bumper's heart began to
beat slower and slower until pretty soon it wasn't going any faster than
the