182 WOODLAND CREATURES 



anxious cat in pursuit. Once the younger cat 

 tried to pick up a runaway rabbit and bring it 

 back by the scruff of the neck, as she would have 

 done with a kitten, but the rabbit did not under- 

 stand, and kicked so much she had to drop it. 

 Such experiments on the cat's part always made 

 me anxious, as I was afraid that she might one 

 day find out what manner of animal she really 

 had to do with. To make matters worse, both 

 the cats were inveterate poachers who had slain 

 many rabbits. However, I at length got some 

 photographs taken without any mishap having 

 occurred, but in hardly any is the group complete, 

 as it was so exceedingly difficult to get them all 

 into the picture ; a rabbit or a kitten was sure to 

 dodge out of sight just as one was going to press 

 the shutter release, for they were on the run the 

 whole time. 



As the rabbits grew older they became very 

 sweet little creatures, and were perfectly tame. 

 They and the kittens throve and flourished, they 

 all played together, and seemed the best of good 

 comrades. People who had talked about the 

 cats " having rabbits for supper " forgot their 

 remarks, and only said, " How wonderful ! " 

 However, I did begin to get a little uneasy when 

 I saw the kittens having " rough and tumbles " 

 with the rabbits, especially as the former were 

 getting quite big ; still, the hint was not taken, 

 nor the coming tragedy anticipated. One morning 

 on coming downstairs I found the two old cats 

 in a frantic state ; they were mewing most 



