how nibble tricked a foe—and made a friend

tommy peele had tried to make his cage a comfortable one for nibble to sleep in. but he didn’t know that a proper rabbit hole has fresh air blowing into it from above. the cage had only one dark, stuffy corner to hide in, or the open part behind a wire front. and there nibble crouched in the hay tommy had given him. but he kept cheerful. chirp had said, “we’ll see what can be done about it,” and nibble knew the clever sparrow. so he just made a little song of the words until he sang himself to sleep with them.

way ’long late toward the morning he woke up. his furry feet were tickling. so were his ears. and presently his shoulders tickled, too, where the fur stood straight up on them. something was gnawing the floor of his cage.

“who’s there?” he called softly. and oh, how he did pray it might be the field-mouse who had shown him the way through ouphe’s tunnels! he could see the haystack where the wicked rat lived, but it was so dark that that was all he could see.

“it’s i,” said the honey voice of ouphe. “i’ve come to show you what can be done about it. i’m sorry to be late, but i had to attend to a little business with chirp sparrow.” the words were all right, but the way he said them was enough to make your skin crawl.

“what are you going to do?” demanded nibble.

“i’m going to have breakfast with you,” said ouphe. “i’m going to make a nice little door so i can come in and we’ll have a cozy time. i love little rabbits, i do.” and nibble knew very well the way he loved them—like slink the weasel. for no wild beast needs to be warned against any one who has the horrid musky, flesh-eater’s smell about him. and nibble smelled ouphe.

“i’ll fasten my teeth right in your nose,” said nibble, “the minute you poke it through my floor.”

“what good will that do?” sneered ouphe. “you’ll hurt me almost as much as chirp sparrow. he pecked my ear, he did—the bold, bad bird! all the same, i ate him.”

“you didn’t!” sobbed nibble. he just couldn’t believe it.

“didn’t i just?” jeered ouphe. “you can smell him on my whiskers when you bite me. sparrow for supper and rabbit for breakfast. mmn!” and he smacked his lips.

but nibble almost forgot to be scared, he was so angry. he thumped his feet.

“stop that!” snarled ouphe. “do you want the dog to eat you?”

“thump, thump, thump!” went nibble. he was bound to do whatever ouphe didn’t want him to.

“arrh!” cursed the bad rat. kerflip, kerflop, he jumped down and shuffled off to his haystack. sure enough, there came the dog, calling, “what’s the matter here?” and nibble was too scared to answer.

“what’s the matter here?” repeated the dog. he was standing in front of the cage wagging his long, plumy tail. but all nibble could look at was the great teeth he showed when he smiled.

“please,” said nibble very faintly, “please, mr. dog, ouphe the rat ate chirp sparrow for supper to-night. i thought i ought to tell you because chirp said you were friends.”

“he did, did he?” laughed the dog. and he ran out his pink tongue, which scared nibble more than ever. “and who brought you the news?”

“ouphe did. he’s been trying to get into my cage.”

“you don’t say?” the dog sniffed carefully. “great bones, bunny!” he exclaimed, “why didn’t you call me an hour ago. i’ll hate to show that to tommy. he’ll think i wasn’t watching.”

“ouphe said you’d eat me,” whispered nibble.

“eat you?” repeated the dog. “lies! all lies! and ouphe knew it. i’ll tell you, bunny, don’t believe a word that creature says. he never tells the truth, even by accident. and he’s always up to some devilment.”

somehow nibble knew he could believe the things the dog said in his rough but friendly voice. all the same, he wanted to be pretty careful. “why wouldn’t you want to eat me?” he asked.

“why, because you belong to my tommy. i’m not saying what i might do if you didn’t,” answered the dog, wagging his tail harder than ever because he was so amused at nibble. “though i guess i’m too old and fat to catch you. but as long as you live in my man’s barns and have my man’s smell about you i’ll never touch you. my job is to take care of my man’s things and see that nobody hurts them.”

now it was queer, but just the way that nice, big, growl dog said he might possibly try to catch him if he wasn’t tommy peele’s rabbit made nibble feel better. he felt the dog wasn’t pretending like ouphe the rat did after he’d been shouting horrid things at chirp sparrow. he gave a little laugh—a sniffly one, because he wasn’t quite over being afraid. “please, mr. dog,” he murmured, “chirp said i was to make friends with you.”

“well, then, my name is watch,” the dog continued; “it’s my job to watch this farm and see that things don’t go wrong on it. and that’s why you should have called me the minute ouphe put his ugly teeth into this.” he sniffed the gnawed spot on nibble’s cage.

“yes, sir.” nibble apologized. “chirp didn’t tell me that. he just said you were once a wolf, like silvertip—only much more clever.”

“urr!” remarked watch, cocking an ear. “so chirp’s been going into my family history? he’s a gossipy bundle of feathers.”

“no,” insisted nibble honestly.

“just about how the wolves ate the cows in the very first-off beginning.”

“all right,” answered watch. “then i’ll finish it for myself.”