allowed,'" she said to herself sorrowfully, and she ran off to tell her
Mother of this latest tragedy.

"Yes, I know, Tattine dear," said Mrs. Gerald, in the first pause;
"there is neither pity nor mercy in the heart of a setter when he is on
the scent of a rabbit, alive or dead--but, Tattine, don't forget they
have their good sides, Doctor and Betsy; just think how fond they are
of you and me. Why, the very sight of us always makes them beat a tattoo
with their tails."

"Yes, I know, Mamma, but I can't feel somehow that tattoos with their
tails make up for killing rabbits with their teeth."

CHAPTER II. A MAPLE-WAX MORNING

A team came rushing in between the gate-posts of the stone wall, and it
looked like a run-away. They were riderless and driverless, and if there
had been any harness, there was not a vestige of it to be seen; still,
they kept neck and neck, which means in horsey language side by side,
and on they came in the maddest fashion. Tattine stood on the front
porch and watched them in high glee, and not a bit afraid was she,
though they were coming straight in her direction. When they reached
her they considerately came to a sudden stop, else there is no doubt
whatever but she would have been tumbled over.

"Well, you are a team," laughed Tattine, and they laughed back, "Yes, we
know we are," and sat down on the step on either side of her. Of course,
that would have been a remarkable thing for some teams to do, but not
for this one, for, as you can guess, they were just two little people,
Mabel and Rudolph, but they were a perfect team all the same; everybody
said so, and what everybody meant was this--that whatever Rudolph "was
up to," Mabel was "up to" also, and vice versa. They traveled together
finely, right "up on the bit" all the time. It would have been easier
for those who had charge of them if one or the other had held back now
and then, and set a slower pace, but as that was not their nature and
could not be helped, everybody tried to make the best of them, and
everybody loved them. Tattine did not see how she could ever have lived
without them, for they were almost as much a brother and sister to her
as to each other. This morning hey had come over by invitation for what
they called a Maple-wax morning, and that was exactly what it was, and
if you have never had one of your own, wait till you read about this one
of Tattine's, and then give your dear Mamma no peace until you have had
on