attack me single-handed. I am thankful 

 that after all my wanderings from the 

 solitudes of the Indian Territory moun- 

 tains, I have found this comparatively 

 safe retreat among these sandhills and 

 plum thickets. Calves, and pigs, and 

 chickens — and rabbits — have been abun- 

 dant ; so I have no cause to complain of 

 poor living. Kansas would be paradise 

 if it contained neither dogs nor men." 

 He ground out the last sentence with a 

 growl which would have caused both 

 dogs and men to tremble if they had 

 heard it, then lay down and resumed his 

 nap beneath the bushes. 



A respectful silence had fallen over the 

 assembly; for "Who shall follow the 

 king?" 



As soon as the jackrabbit had gotten 

 over that terrible reference to rabbits 

 enough to steady his voice, he called upon 

 the coyotes for remarks. Both sprang 

 briskly to their feet, and as neither one 

 would give way to the other, they ad- 

 dressed the assembly in alternate barks : 

 "I am thankful that I am so swift a 

 runner that no dog can catch me." 



"And I am thankful because I can 

 scare almost any dog that tries to catch 

 me. How they do run and howl when I 

 turn on them !" 



"Chickens and ducks and geese are 

 plentiful; and though the chickens learn 

 to fear us and roost high, ducks and geese 

 are always on the ground and can neither 

 fly nor run." 



"This has been a fine season for young 

 pigs, and I also caught several lambs that 

 made tender eating." 



"There are such delightful thickets 

 along the rivers and streams, that coyotes 

 have plenty of safe hiding places. I have 

 made good burrows beside the Ninnescah 

 and Arkansas rivers, the Cowskin and 

 Honey creeks, and I go back and forth at 

 pleasure. Yes, Kansas is a pretty good 

 country for coyotes — barring the dogs 

 and men." 



"Yes, barring the dogs and men." 

 Both coyotes sat down and the little 

 cotton-tail spoke: 



"Life is hard and dangerous for a rab- 

 bit at best. There are so many enemies to 

 fear, and even our swift flight often fails 

 to save us. I have fared well this year. 

 I found a place where the farmer keeps 

 no dogs and owns no gun. To be sure, 



he had woven-wire fences around his gar- 

 den and his young orchard, but I found a 

 cunning little hole in the fence behind 

 one of the grapevines that was just made 

 for a door for a poor little rabbit, and I 

 tell you I have lived high. Such peas and 

 lettuce and cabbage as that man did have ! 

 Enough for twenty rabbits like me. Then 

 for a change I nibbled the tender shoots 

 on the grapevines, and now am expecting 

 to get my Hving this winter by gnawing 

 the bark from several hundred young 

 fruit trees which he has set out. I have 

 already found a hole under the fence. So 

 I have cause to be thankful to-day." 



The little prairie dog sat up stiflly and 

 tried to look dignified as he addressed the 

 assembly. 



"Life has been full of ups and downs for 

 me and for my friends, the rattlesnakes 

 and owls. We had made a fine burrow in 

 a broad pasture, and all last year we lived 

 there in peace. This year the man who 

 owned it concluded to plow it up for a 

 cornfield; and the first thing he did, he 

 turned the water from a slough right into 

 our beautiful prairie dog town and flood- 

 ed all our carefully dug homes. Many 

 of my brothers and cousins were drowned 

 or rushed out of their holes only to be 

 slain by the dreadful dogs and men. 



"I was more fortunate, because L had 

 run one of my tunnels in an uphill direc- 

 tion for fear that water might some time 

 trouble us. When the flood came I re- 

 treated to this high point and saved my- 

 self, altho the water almost reached me, 

 and I was obliged to stay there for several 

 days before I could make my way out. 



"Now I have a pleasant home here 

 among the sandhills, and I have been 

 careful to dig a good upper story with an 

 opening through which I can escape in 

 time of need. The rattlesnake and the 

 owl share my humble home, and we live 

 in peace together." 



The owl nodded his wise head, and the 

 snake shook his rattles in approval of this ' 

 address which included themselves, and 

 made it unnecessary for them to add their 

 voices to the speechmaking. 



A little green lizard roused himself 

 from his warm ^lace in the 3un and add- 

 ed his squeaky voice to the general con- 

 ference : 



"I know nothing about dogs and men. 

 My brothers and I live here uoon the 



162 



