72 FLUFF-BUTTON THE RABBIT 
love for his master, and only listened to the voice 
which whispered that it would be good to chase 
the silly, woolly things in front of him and leap 
upon them and worry them. But for the moment 
he stood hesitating, for all his life it had been his 
duty to care for the sheep. 
It was well for the sheep that they stood firm. 
Had they broken and run, the scales, which were 
now evenly weighted, would have turned. The 
dog would have dragged them down from the sheer 
lust of killing ; and after that night he would have 
developed into what every farmer hates and fears 
a sheep-killing dog. But a weight dropped into the 
other scale, and that weight was Fluff-Button. He 
lay right in the path, and his presence decided the 
matter. Cur Dog forgot those strange impulses 
which bade him kill the sheep, and only remembered 
that here was a rabbit which was lawful prey. 
Fluff-Button doubled away nimbly from his 
rush, but even so the dog's jaws snapped together 
just behind his scut. Away they went down the 
field, the rabbit leading by a few bare yards. He 
had no time to double back into the gorse, and 
here there was no covert but a few bushes, therefore 
he headed for the wood. 
Cur Dog had won many a Sunday's coursing, and 
had something of the greyhound strain mingled 
