Doctor Rabbit and Brushtail the Fox | Page 4

been played on him he was terribly
angry. He knew, of course, he could not get Chatty, so he made a rush
for Doctor Rabbit.
But Doctor Rabbit skipped into the thicket, picked up his medicine case
and shouted, "Good day, Mr. Fox! I guess you won't have Chatty for
breakfast! You'd better eat the moss ball."
And away Doctor Rabbit ran. In a twinkling he was out of sight in the
leafy woods.

Brushtail the Fox ran after Doctor Rabbit as fast as he could go, but it
was no use. He could not find him. Now it happened that Doctor Rabbit
had not gone far at all. He was not far from home, so he just hid behind
a big log. And he was watching Brushtail the Fox all the time.
My! How he did jump and yell!
After a time Brushtail sat down and kept still. His sharp eyes, however,
were looking in every direction. He thought he might see Doctor Rabbit
by keeping quiet and looking about him.
Doctor Rabbit, as I have said, was so close to his home that he knew he
was safe, so he walked quietly from behind the log, holding his
medicine case and acting just as though he did not know that Brushtail
the Fox was anywhere about.
Brushtail quickly lay down and was as quiet as possible.
Then Doctor Rabbit stopped, looked back, and said pleasantly, "It's a
nice morning, Brushy."
That surely surprised Brushtail, but when he saw Doctor Rabbit's home
tree not far away, he knew he could not catch him. So he smiled and
said, "I've just been playing with you all the time. Do come on over to
my home, Neighbor Rabbit. I have something very fine there to show
you. We'll have some good times together."
"Ha! ha! ha!" wise Doctor Rabbit laughed, as he started toward his big
tree. "Yes," he continued, "I suppose you have some very cruel teeth to
show me, Mr. Brushtail, but I can see them quite as well as I care to.
Ha! ha! ha!" And Doctor Rabbit ran for his tree.
Brushtail ran after him, too, but Doctor Rabbit ran fast and reached his
home in safety. There he peeked out and saw Brushtail steal into some
bushes.

DOCTOR RABBIT SEES SOMETHING INTERESTING

Now when Doctor Rabbit ran into the big hollow tree that was his
home, Brushtail the Fox slunk into some leafy bushes near by, and lay
down without making a sound.
"I'll just wait here," Brushtail whispered to himself, "and that smart old
rabbit will be coming out pretty soon. He won't know that I'm
anywhere about."
But old Brushtail was very much mistaken, for Doctor Rabbit had
peeked out of his front door just as soon as he was inside his house, and
you remember he saw Brushtail steal into the bushes. No, sir, he wasn't
to be fooled this time.
For a long time Brushtail lay in the bushes. He lay so quietly that not a
leaf on the branches about him stirred. His glittering eyes were turned
toward Doctor Rabbit's tree, and every little while he showed his long,
sharp teeth as he smiled at the thought of the good meal that big fat
rabbit would make.
But all the while Doctor Rabbit watched from an upstairs window
where Brushtail could not see him, although Doctor Rabbit could
plainly see the pointed nose and sharp, gleaming eyes of his enemy.
Presently Doctor Rabbit heard the rustle of leaves and the gay chatter,
chatter, chatter of Chatty Red Squirrel as he bounded into the branches
of a tree overlooking the bushes that hid Brushtail.
Doctor Rabbit drew a long breath of relief. He wasn't afraid of
Brushtail the Fox when he was safe in his big hollow tree--oh no, you
mustn't think that, not for a moment. But you see Doctor Rabbit was
getting pretty tired and stiff from watching so cautiously from his
upstairs window, and yet he couldn't quite bring himself to the point of
going downstairs and forgetting Brushtail. No indeed, he couldn't quite
do that.
So Doctor Rabbit was glad to see Chatty Red Squirrel, for he knew just
what would happen. And sure enough, in a few minutes Chatty Squirrel
saw Brushtail lying low in the bushes, and then how he did scold!

"Aha, old Brushtail, I see you hiding in the bushes. Thought I wouldn't
see you, didn't you? Thought I wouldn't see you! But I see you, all right.
You can't fool Chatty, no siree. Oh, I know you're looking for Doctor
Rabbit," and Chatty's tone became angrier at the thought of Brushtail
waiting to pounce upon his good friend, Doctor Rabbit. "You're just
waiting for Doctor Rabbit to come home and then spring out at him.