Raggylog 



The stranger stopped at one of Rag's rubbing, 

 trees— that is, a tree against which he used to 

 stand on his heels and rub his chin as far up as 

 he could reach. He thought he did this simply 

 because he liked it ; but all buck-rabbits do so, 

 and several ends are served. It makes the tree 

 ? rabbity, so that other rabbits know that this 

 fi r ' swamp already belongs to a rabbit family and 

 is not open for settlement. It also lets the 

 next one know by the scent if the last caller 

 was an acquaintance, and the height from the 

 ground of the rubbing-places shows how tall 



the rabbit is. 



Now to his disgust Rag noticed that the new- 

 comer was a head taller than himself, and a 

 big, stout buck at that. This was a wholly new 

 experience and filled Rag with a wholly new 

 feeling. The spirit of murder entered his 

 heart ; he chewed very hard with nothing in 

 his mouth, and hopping forward onto a smooth 

 piece of hard ground he struck slowly : 



'Thump— thump— thump,' which is a rabbit 

 telegram for, * Get out of my swamp, or fight.' 



The new-comer made a big V with his ears, 

 sat upright for a few seconds, then, dropping on 



128 



