io8 R<^ggy^^i 



Swamp and to clear up the wreck of the old 

 barbed-wire hog-pen just below the spring. 

 But it was none the less hard on Rag and his 

 mother. The first were their various resi- 

 dences and outposts, and the second their 

 grand fastness and safe retreat. 



They had so long held the Swamp and felt it 

 to be their very own in every part and suburb 

 — including Olifant's grounds and buildings — 

 that they would have resented the appearance 

 of another rabbit even about the adjoining 

 barnyard. 



Their claim, that of long, successful occu- 

 pancy, was exactly the same as that by which 

 most nations hold their land, and it would be 

 hard to find a better right. 



During the time of the January thaw the 

 Olifants had cut the rest of the large wood 

 about the pond and curtailed the Cottontails' 

 domain on all sides. But they still clung to 

 the dwindling Swamp, for it was their home 

 and they were loath to move to foreign 

 parts. Their life of daily perils went on, bu- 

 they were still fleet of foot, long of wind, anc 

 bright of wit. Of late they had been some- 

 what troubled by a mink that had wandered 

 up-stream to their quiet nook. A little judi- 

 cious guidance had transferred the uncomfort- 



