caution to lie quiet and still. She is not often 

 surprised with her young, but lingers near on 

 guard. You can easily tell if you are in the 

 neighborhood of her nest by the way she thumps 

 and watches you, and refuses to be driven off. 

 Here she waits, and if anything smaller than a 

 dog appears she rushes to meet it, stamping the 

 ground in fury. A dog she will intercept by 

 leaving a warm trail across his path, or, in case 

 the brute has no nose for her scent, by throwing 

 herself in front of him and drawing him off on a 

 long chase. 



One day, as I was quietly picking wild straw- 

 berries on a hill, I heard a curious grunting down 

 the side below me, then the quick thud ! thud ! of 

 an angry rabbit. Among the bushes I caught 

 a glimpse of rabbit ears. A fight was on. 



Crouching beside a bluish spot, which I knew 

 to be a rabbit's nest, was a big yellow cat. He 

 had discovered the young ones, and was making 

 mouths at the thought of how they would taste, 

 when the mother's thump startled him. He 

 squatted flat, with ears back, tail swelled, and 

 hair standing up along his back, as the rabbit 

 leaped over him. It was a glimpse of Molly's 

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