that--blip! he hit the tar baby with the other hand. That stuck fast,
too.

"Listen to me, you rascal!" cried Brother Rabbit. "If you don't let me
go, I'll kick you!"

The tar baby said nothing.

Bim! Brother Rabbit's right foot stuck fast.

"See here, you imp!" he shrieked. "If I kick you with my left foot,
you'll think the world has come to an end!"

The tar baby said nothing.

Bom! the left foot stuck fast.

"Look out, now!" Brother Rabbit screamed. "Let me loose, or I'll butt
you into the well with my head! Let me go, I say!"

The tar baby said nothing.

Buff! Brother Rabbit's head stuck fast.

And there was Brother Rabbit with both hands, and both feet, and his
head stuck fast.

The next morning Brother Fox came out to see how the tar baby was
getting along. He saw Brother Rabbit, and he laughed to himself until
his sides ached.

"Hey, Brother Rabbit!" he called. "What are you doing? How do you like
my tar baby? I thought you drank dew from the grass and the flowers! I
have you now, Brother Rabbit, I have you now."

"Let me go, Brother Fox!" cried Brother Rabbit. "Let me go! I am your
friend. Don't hurt me!"

"Friend? You are a thief," said Brother Fox. "Who wants a thief for a
friend?" Then he ran quickly to his home in the woods and built a big
fire.

Soon Brother Fox tore Brother Rabbit loose from the tar baby, threw him
over his shoulder, and started for the fire.

"Roast rabbit is good," said Brother Fox.

"Roast me! Burn me! Anything!" said Brother Rabbit, "Only don't throw me
into the brier patch."

"I've a mind to throw you into the well," said Brother Fox, as he turned
and looked back.

"Drown me! Kill me! Anything! Only don't throw me into the brier patch,"
said Brother Rabbit. "The briers will tear my flesh and scratch my eyes
out. Throw me into the fire! Throw me into the well!"

"Ah, ha, Brother Rabbit!" said Brother Fox. "So you don't like briers?
Then here you go!" and he threw Brother Rabbit away over into the brier
patch.

As soon as Brother Rabbit touched the ground, he sat up and laughed, and
laughed, and laughed.

"Ha, ha, ha! Brother Fox!" said Brother Rabbit. "Thank you, dear Brother
Fox, thank you! I was born and reared in a brier patch."

Then Brother Rabbit ran off in great glee, chuckling over the trick he
had played on Brother Fox.

[O] From "Evening Tales," by Frederic Ortoli; used by
permission of the publishers, Charles Scribner's Sons.

THE