But when Mr. Woodp.e.c.k.e.r, who had been rapping on the dead trees of the woods, appeared, b.u.mper decided it was time for him to call a halt.
"That"s all I can spare," he said, and darted back into the hollow branch.
He was glad to make friends with the birds, but he didn"t want to be robbed of all the clothes he had.
STORY XIII
b.u.mPER NEEDS A DOCTOR
It was necessary for b.u.mper to show a certain amount of firmness with his newly-made friends, and when he finally emerged from the hollow branch again he made a little speech to the birds.
"If you don"t mind, dear friends," he said, "I must ask you to stop plucking me any more. I really can"t afford to lose my fur. It"s all the protection I have from the rain, and when winter comes I"ll need it to keep me warm."
"But a few hairs to line my nest with won"t hurt you," pleaded Mrs.
Phbe Bird.
"No," replied b.u.mper firmly, "if I let you have some I must do the same to all the others, and I don"t want to offend Towhee the Chewink or Mr.
Crested Flycatcher or any of the others. I want to be friends with all of you."
The justice of this was recognized by all the birds, and they decided not to press the question; but they were voluble with their expressions of admiration.
"I never saw such beautiful pink eyes before," remarked Piney the Purple Finch.
"Nor such snow-white fur," added Mr. Pine Grosbeak.
"I never knew there was such a thing as a white rabbit in the world," said Rusty the Blackbird.
b.u.mper could not feel other than puffed up by such remarks, but he tried to hide it from his new friends.
"Are all the rabbits in the woods brown or gray, then?" he asked. "I should like to see them. Do they live around here?"
"Yes," replied the Purple Finch, "but they"re very much frightened and keep to their burrows since Mr. Fox came here to live."
"I should like to find them," sighed b.u.mper. "The fact is, I"m lonesome, and a little bit homesick. I"m not used to the woods, and I should dearly like to find some of my brown cousins so they could teach me things."
"I shouldn"t think you needed much teaching," laughed the Red-Headed Woodp.e.c.k.e.r, tapping the limb with his powerful bill. "Any rabbit that can escape from Mr. Fox and climb a tree as you did must know a great deal."
The other birds nodded their heads at this remark, and b.u.mper looked pleased at the compliment to his shrewdness.
"Still," he said, "I"d like to meet my country cousins."
"If I see any of them," Rusty the Blackbird replied, "I"ll tell them about you. They"ll be surprised to know of your coming."
The rest agreed to carry the news to the wild rabbits when they saw them, and b.u.mper knew that he would soon find his country cousins. He felt that he would be welcome, and safer with them. There were so many puzzling things about the woods that, in spite of his self-confidence, he was often embarra.s.sed.
This conclusion was further impressed upon him very forcibly a few hours later. When he was certain that the fox had left the vicinity for good, he crawled through his tunnel to the ground, and began feeding on the wild gra.s.ses, leaves and strange plants that grew so thickly in the woods.
Most of the plants were new to him. He hardly recognized any of them. Some were sweet and juicy, and others were so bitter that one taste was enough.
No one could help him in the selection of his food, and he had to trust to his instinct.
But instinct isn"t always a safe guide when one is not familiar with his surroundings. Now just what plant it was that disagreed with him b.u.mper never knew. His little stomach was so full of leaves and plants that when he first began to feel sick and giddy he thought it was due to overeating.
"I"ll just lie down in the shade now and rest," he said. "Then when I feel better I"ll hop around and find a place to spend the night."
This was a wise decision, but it wasn"t a cure. Something he had eaten clearly disagreed with him. Instead of growing better he felt worse the longer he rested. In time he was feeling so sick and giddy that if Mr. Fox had appeared he would have made short work of b.u.mper. His groans soon attracted the birds, and they flew to where he was lying and asked him the trouble.
"I"m dying, I think," moaned b.u.mper. "I must have eaten some poisonous plant, and I know I"m dying."
The birds were startled by this information, and they held an immediate consultation.
"It"s perhaps true what he says," remarked Mrs. Phbe Bird. "He"s eaten some poisonous plant."
"If we only knew what it was," added the Pine Grosbeak, "we might help him. There"s an antidote for every poison."
"Yes," a.s.sented the Purple Finch, "but not knowing the kind of poison, we can"t prescribe the antidote."
"Why not," suggested the Crested Flycatcher, "give him all the antidotes, and then we"re sure to give him the right one."
Rusty the Blackbird laughed out loud at this suggestion. "Why," he said, "we"d stuff him so full of antidotes that he"d die anyhow. No, I think we"d better see Mr. Crane."
"What could he do? He"s no kind of a doctor," indignantly remarked Mrs.
Phbe Bird. "The idea of calling him in!"
Rusty, who was a jolly, rollicking bird, winked, and added: "No, he isn"t much of a doctor, it"s true, but he"s got one medicine that nearly always works. I"ll go fetch him."
During the dispute that followed, Rusty slipped away, and before the argument had reached a climax, he returned, accompanied by Mr. Crane.
"Now, Dr. Crane," said Rusty, smiling and winking, "see what you can do with the White Rabbit. I told you what ailed him. He"s eaten too much of something that disagrees with him."
"Then I can cure him," gravely replied Dr. Crane, approaching b.u.mper"s side. The other birds crowded around to see what he would do. The appearance of Mr. Crane in the role of a doctor was a new one to them, and they were curious to see how well he would acquit himself.
"Let me see your tongue," Mr. Crane said solemnly.
b.u.mper stuck out his tongue obediently, for he felt so sick that he didn"t care what happened to him.
"That"s good! Now I must look down your throat. Open it wide."
b.u.mper readily complied, and Mr. Crane looked down it.
"Now hold it open," Mr. Crane continued. "Don"t close it until I tell you.
I won"t hurt you."
Then to the surprise of b.u.mper and all the birds, he inserted his long, slender bill down the throat as if he intended to pull something out of it. But he had no such intention. He simply twisted the bill around gently.
b.u.mper felt a tickling sensation in his throat, and he wanted to gag, but the bill prevented him. The tickling went on for some time until b.u.mper, in spite of himself, began to gag and retch. Then, as suddenly as Dr.