le moving. So when enemies chance together, the one who first
sees the other can keep--himself unseen by 'freezing' and thus have all
the advantage of choosing the time for attack or escape. Only those who
live in the woods know the importance of this; every wild creature and
every hunter must learn it; all learn to do it well, but not one of them
can beat Molly Cottontail in the doing. Rag's mother taught him this
trick by example. When the white cotton cushion that she always carried
to sit on went bobbing away through the woods, of course Rag ran his
hardest to keep up. But when Molly stopped and 'froze,' the natural wish
to copy made him do the same.

But the best lesson of all that Rag learned from his mother was the
secret of the Brierbrush. It is a very old secret now, and to make it
plain you must first hear why the Brierbrush quarrelled with the beasts.

Long ago the Roses used to grow on bushes that had no thorns. But the
Squirrels and Mice used to climb after them, the Cattle used to knock
them off with their horns, the Possum would twitch them off with his
long tail, and the Deer, with his sharp hoofs, would break them down.
So the Brierbrush armed itself with spikes to protect its roses and
declared eternal war on all creatures that climbed trees, or had horns,
or hoofs, or long tails. This left the Brierbrush at peace with none but
Molly Cottontail, who could not climb, was hornless, hoofless, and had
scarcely any tail at all.

In truth the Cottontail had never harmed a Brierrose, and having now so
many enemies the Rose took the Rabbit into especial friendship, and when
dangers are threatening poor Bunny he flies to the nearest Brierbrush,
certain that it is ready with a million keen and poisoned daggers to
defend him.

So the secret that Rag learned from his mother was, "The Brierbrush is
your best friend."

Much of the time that season was spent in learning the lay of the land,
and the bramble and brier mazes. And Rag learned them so well that he
could go all around the swamp by two different ways and never leave the
friendly briers at any place for more than five hops.

It is not long since the foes of the Cottontails were disgusted to find
that man had brought a new kind of bramble and planted it in long lines
throughout the country. It was so strong that no creatures could break
it down, and so sharp that the toughest skin was torn by it. Each year
there was more of it and each year it became a