. "Brother Rabbit," Great Bear
asked, "what do you think about this matter?"

Brother Rabbit did not answer. His eyes were shut, and he seemed too
sleepy to think about anything.

Great Bear asked again, "What do you think about it, Brother Rabbit?
Shall we go to the place the ducks and geese have found, where there is
plenty of water?"

"Oh," answered Brother Rabbit, "I do not mind the drought. I drink the
dew on the grass in the early morning; I do not need to go where there
is more water."

And he shut his eyes again.

"Well," said Red Deer, "if there is dew enough for Brother Rabbit every
morning, there is dew enough for us. We need not go to another country."

"Those are wise words, my brother," said Brown Terrapin.

All the others said, "Those are wise words, my brother," and the council
was over. The animals were happy because they thought they need not go
away from their homes.

Days passed, and still it did not rain. The animals found that the dew
did not keep them from suffering from thirst. They were afraid that,
after all, they would have to go to another country.

Still the Rabbit looked sleek and fat. He declared that he got all the
water he needed from the dew on the grass in the early morning.

"You sleep too late," he said. "By the time you get up, the sun has
dried the dew."

II

After that, the animals came out earlier than before, but they could not
get water enough from the morning dew. They did not understand why the
Rabbit looked so well.

One day Gray Wolf said to Wild Cat, "Let us watch the Rabbit and see
where he gets so much dew that he is never thirsty."

That night they stayed in the woods near Rabbit's wigwam, so as to
follow him on the trail. They kept awake all night for fear that they
might sleep too late.

Very early in the morning, Brother Rabbit came out of his wigwam and ran
swiftly down the hill. Wild Cat and Gray Wolf followed as fast and as
quietly as they could.

The dew was on the grass and leaves, but Brother Rabbit did not stop to
get it. Instead, he ran down the hill and pushed away a heap of brush.
Wild Cat and Gray Wolf hid behind some bushes and watched him.

Brother Rabbit drank from a little spring. Then he filled a jar with
clear, fresh water, piled the brush over the spring again, and went up
the hill to his wigwam.

Ah! now Gray Wolf and Wild Cat knew why Brother Rabbit did not mind the
drought; and they made a plan to punish him for being