Doctor Rabbit and Brushtail the Fox | Page 7

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 grasshoppers."
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