12 Sporting Sketches 



yelling, or trying a hitch-kick at the ceiling, or any 

 old thing that would let off steam. After one swift 

 glance, the Rabbit betrayed a sudden fierce deter- 

 mination to mix matters in a final rough-and-tumble, 

 but he side-stepped and repeated his warning. 



" A prize indeed ! " exclaimed the Rabbit, and, 

 with an arch look, she added: " A prize to the Lady, 

 and a Sir-prize to the Gentleman is but fair. Won't 

 your Majesty enter the Royal Chamber? " 



" Same as ever, I s'pose ? " he queried, though well 

 he knew that nothing in that room ever was dis- 

 arranged, nor would it be so long as the Rabbit 

 bossed the burrow. " Come, let's go see ! " he 

 suddenly exclaimed, and as he spoke his long arms 

 shot out in a way that only boxing can teach. The 

 terrified Rabbit had been hoping for, yet dread- 

 ing, this very movement; for, womanlike, at that 

 instant, she was wondering if he had forgotten. 

 Not a bit of it ! Up in the air she rose until she 

 was seated on his shoulder ; then all she could do 

 was to bury her small fingers in his thick hair and 

 hang on, quivering a bit, yet glorying in his supple 

 strength. The stairs he found easy, as of yore, and 

 the room precisely as he had left it ; but on the army 

 cot lay a long, narrow, boxlike package. 



The marks on the package told of a sea-trip, and 

 he promptly got rid of the wrappings. " English 

 oak brass-bound," he muttered. " Must have cost 

 Why! you little dev I mean darling 

 this thing c-c-cost a hundred pounds !" 



" What of it ? " philosophically remarked the Rab- 

 bit. "This thing that I got cost years of hard 

 work!" 



