LXXir.—The Fate of ''The Demon Rabbir 



THE demon rabbit is no more, and the man- 

 ner of his passing is as mysterious as any- 

 thing else in his enchanted life. As nearly 

 I can determine he died of heart disease 

 or from rupturing an artery through sudden fright. 

 This is how it happened. A couple of days after 

 my last futile shot at him I was driving to the 

 village. After turning out of the lane I came to 

 the spot haunted by the rabbit, and there he was 

 "as big as life and twice as natural." He was sitting 

 under a branch that had been blown from an apple 

 tree about a rod from the road. The three younger 

 children were with me, and as soon as they saw him 

 they began to yell, but he never wiggled an ear. 

 Pulling up the horse I looked at him carefully, and 

 seeing that he showed no signs of moving I yelled 

 at the top of my voice for a boy to come with the 

 rifle. Still the rabbit did not stir. I had to yell 

 four or five times before the boy heard me, and 

 though I made a noise that roused the echoes over 



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