But you can run where you like--can you not?"

"Oh, dear no; all the hares have different roads, Sir Bevis, and if I
were to run along one of theirs that did not belong to me, to-night they
would bite me and thump me with their paws till I was all bruised."

"I can't see any path," said Bevis, "you can run where you like in the
field, I'm sure."

"No, I can't, dear; I shall have to go a quarter of a mile round to come
to you, because there are three paths between you and me, and I shall
have to turn and twist about not to come on them."

While Bevis was thinking about this, and how stupid it was of the hares
to have roads, the hare ran off, and in two or three minutes came to him
through the cowslips. "Oh, you pretty creature!" said Sir Bevis,
stooping down and stroking her back, and playing with the tips of her
long ears. "Oh, I do love you so!" At this the hare was still more
pleased, and rubbed her head against Bevis's hand.

"Now," she said, "you must come along quickly, because I dare not stay
on this short grass, lest some dog should see me. Follow me, dear." She
went on before him, and Bevis ran behind, and in a minute or two they
went over the rising ground, past the tall stone (put there for the cows
to rub their sides against), and then the hare stopped and showed Bevis
the great oak tree, where he once went to sleep. She told him to look at
it well, and recollect the shape of it, so that another time he could
find his way home by the tree. Then she told him to walk straight to the
tree, and on his way there he would find the arrow, and close by the
tree was the gap in the hedge, and when he got through the gap, he would
see the house and the ricks, and if he followed the ditch then he would
presently come to the place where he dropped his bow. "Thank you," said
Bevis, "I will run as fast as I can, for I am sure it must be nearly
dinner time. Good-bye, you pretty creature;" and having stroked her ears
just once more, off he started. In a few minutes he found his arrow, and
looked back to show it to the hare, but she was gone; so he went on to
the oak, got through the gap, and there was the house at the other side
of the field. He could hear Pan barking, so he felt quite at home, and
walked along the ditch till he picked up his bow. He was very hungry
when he got home, and yet he was glad when the dinner was over, that he
might go to the cupboard and get his brass cannon.

When he came to examine the canno