ough the underbrush, taking
mighty good care not to show myself in the open for a single minute,
until I found poor Cheeko, who looked as if all he needed in this
world was a deep, deep hole where he could die in peace.

"'Have you found out that you can't do pretty much as you please,
Cheeko?' I asked, and he answered with a groan:

"'I suppose you think it is funny to talk that way when a fellow is
dying,' and he tried to swing his tail a bit, but couldn't move a
single hair. I can't begin to tell how badly off he was.

"Of course I couldn't help pitying him, even though he had called me a
bob-tailed fraud, and after doing my best to show him that the animal,
or the bird, for that matter, who boasts of what he can do, and sticks
his nose into danger simply to show that he isn't afraid, is the
silliest thing alive, I promised to have Mrs. Bunny fix him up the
same kind of herb tea she always makes for me when I've been handled
roughly by some of the wood bullies.

"He declared he couldn't get into his own house, and that even though
it was possible for him to move about as lively as before the
Professor hit him, he wouldn't dare go up a tree for at least two
weeks, all of which showed that he realized how foolish he had been. I
hunted around until I found snug quarters under the roots of an old
pine, and helped him move in; but I tell you the tears came to his
eyes more than once before he settled down, for his back was so sore
that the least movement caused him pain. Then I started for home,
little dreaming that by trying to help Cheeko I was at the same time
laying a trap for my own little Sonny Bunny, which, as you shall see,
I found out that I really was doing.

"Cheeko made me agree to come back as soon as possible, and,
remembering that I had promised my wife some nice fresh lettuce from
Mr. Man's garden that night for supper, I agreed with him that if I
didn't get my chores done up early, I'd send Sonny Bunny with the herb
tea.

"Now it seems that some of the neighbors had told my wife of all that
happened at the club, and she was nearly frightened out of her wits
because I had stayed away so long. When I told her of my promise to
Cheeko, she said flatly that she wouldn't lift a paw to help an idle
fellow who was always finding fault with everybody instead of getting
in his winter's supply of nuts; but after hearing how badly off he
was, she took it all back and set about making the herb tea.

"'If I do