Raggylug 



it spread over the whole sky, shut out all light 

 and left the world a very gloomy place indeed. 

 Then another mischief-maker, the wind, taking 

 advantage of the sun's absence, came on the scene 

 and set about brewing trouble. The weather 

 turned colder and colder; it seemed worse than 

 when the ground had been covered with snow. 

 "Isn't this terribly cold ? How I wish we 

 had our stove-pipe brush-pile," said Rag. 



"A good night for the pine -root hole," re- 

 plied Molly, " but we have not yet seen the 

 pelt of that mink on the end of the barn, and 

 it is not safe till we do." 



The hollow hickory was gone — in fact at this 

 very moment its trunk, lying in the wood-yard, 

 was harboring the mink they feared. So the 

 Cottontails hopped to the south side of the pond 

 and, choosing a brush-pile, they crept under and 

 snuggled down for the night, facing the wind 

 but with their noses in different directions so as 

 to go out different ways in case of alarm. The 

 wind blew harder and colder as the hours went 

 by, and about midnight a fine icy snow came 

 ticking down on the dead leaves and hissing 

 through the brush heap. It might seem a poor 



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