GLIMPSES OF WILD LIFE 133 



and then to nibbling sweet apples and early 

 pears. It grew rapidly, and was one of the soft- 

 est and most harmless-looking pets I had ever 

 seen. For a month or more the little rabbit 

 was the only company I had, and it helped to 

 beguile the time immensely. In coming in from 

 the field or from my work, I seldom failed to 

 bring it a handful of red clover blossoms, of 

 which it became very fond. One day it fell 

 slyly to licking my hand, and I discovered it 

 wanted salt. I would then moisten my fingers, 

 dip them into the salt, and offer them to the 

 rabbit. How rapidly the delicate little tongue 

 would play upon them, darting out to the right 

 and left of the large front incisors, the slender 

 paws being pressed against my hand as if to 

 detain it ! 



But the rabbit proved really untamable; its 

 wild nature could not be overcome. In its large 

 box-cage or prison, where it could see nothing 

 but the tree above it, it was tame, and would at 

 times frisk playfully about my hand and strike 

 it gently with its forefeet ; but the moment it 

 was liberated in a room, or let down in the grass 

 with a string about its neck, all its wild nature 

 came forth. In the room it would run and hide ; 

 in the open it would make desperate efforts to 

 escape, and leap and bound as you drew in the 



