Tattine | Page 5

not admit of indirectness.
"Yes, Tattine; Tadjie would. She was trained to hunt before ever she
was given to Papa, and so were her ancestors before her. That is why
Doctor and Betsy, who have never been trained to hunt, go wild over
the rabbits. They have inherited the taste."
"Trained to hunt," said Tattine thoughtfully. "Do you mean that men
just went to work to teach them to be so cruel?"
"Well, I suppose in a way setters are natural hunters, Tattine, but then
their training has doubtless a great deal to do with it, but I want to tell
you something that I think will give you just a grain of comfort. I read
the other day that Sir John Franklin, the great Arctic explorer, who
almost lost his life in being attacked by some huge animal--it must have
been a bear, I think--says that the animal when he first gets you in his
teeth gives you such a shake that it paralyzes your nerves--this is, it
benumbs all your feelings, so, that, strange as it may seem, you really
do not suffer. So let us hope that it was that way with this little rabbit."
"But there's a little blood here on one side, Mamma."
"That doesn't always prove suffering, either, Tattine. Soldiers are
sometimes wounded without ever knowing it until they see a little sign
of blood somewhere."
Tattine listened attentively to all this, and was in a measure comforted.
It seemed that Mamma was still able to better things, even though not
able to set everything perfectly right. "Now," Tattine said,--with a little
sigh of relief, "I think I will try and see what I can do for Bunny.
Perhaps he would first like a drink," so downstairs she went, and
putting some milk in a shallow tea-cup, she dipped Bunny's nose in it,
and it seemed to her as though he did take a little of it. Then she
trudged up to the garret for a box, and, putting a layer of cotton-batting
in the bottom, laid Bunny in one corner. Then she went to the garden
and pulled a leaf or two of the youngest, greenest lettuce, and put it
right within reach of Bunny's nose, and a little saucer of water beside it.
Then she went down to tell the gardener's little boy all about the
sorrowful thing that had happened.
The next morning Bunny was still breathing, but the lettuce was
un-nibbled; he had not moved an inch, and he was trembling like a leaf.
"Mamma," she called upstairs, "I think I'll put BUN in the sun" (she

was trying not to be too down-hearted); "he seems to be a little chilly."
Then she sat herself down in the sun to watch him. Soon Bunny ceased
to tremble. "Patrick," she called to the old man who was using the lawn
mower, "is this little rabbit dead?"
"Yes, miss, shure," taking the little thing gently in his hand.
"Very well," she answered quietly. Tattine used those two little words
very often; they meant that she accepted the situation, if you happen to
know what that means. "Now I think I will not trouble Mamma about
it," she said to herself thoughtfully, so she went to the closet under the
stairs, got a little empty box she knew was there, and, taking it out of
doors, she put the little rabbit in it, and then trudged down to the
tool-house for her spade and rake.
"Bunny is dead, Joey," she called to the gardener's little boy as she
came back. "Come help me bury him," and so Joey trotted behind her
to the spot already selected. "We must make this hole good and deep,"
she explained (Joey stood looking on in wide-eyed wonder), "for if
Doctor and Betsy would kill a little live rabbit, there is no telling but
they would dig up a dead one." So the hole was made at least four
inches deep, Bunny was buried in it, and the earth, with Joey's
assistance, stamped down hard, but afterwards it was loosened
somewhat to plant a little wild-wood plant atop of the tiny grave. "Now,
Joey, you wait here till I go bring something for a tombstone," Tattine
directed, and in a second she was back again with the cover of a box in
one hand and a red crayon in the other. Sitting flat upon the grass, she
printed on the cover in rather irregular letters:--
BORN--I don't know when. DIED June 17th. LAVERACK SETTERS
NOT ALLOWED.
This she put securely into place, while Joey raked up a little about the
spot, and they left the little rabbit grave looking very neat and tidy. The
next morning Tattine ran out to see how the little wild-wood plant was
growing, and