FLUFF-BUTTON THE RABBIT 81 
steps. The man, standing knee-deep in briars, 
saw the grass stir. ' Here ! good dog ! ' he called ; 
and motioned with his hand. There was a rush, 
a wild scuffle, and Cuni bolted down the hedge. 
It was well for her that the dog started in pursuit, 
otherwise the gun would have cracked before she 
had gone a dozen yards ; but as it was the man 
dared not fire for fear of hitting his dog, and when 
he did so the shot merely buried itself harmlessly 
two feet in front of Cuni's nose. 
Now began a long chase. The dog was young 
and headstrong, and the temptation to chase the 
rabbit was too much for him ; but afterwards he 
wished that he had obeyed his master's whistle 
and left her alone. For first of all Cuni led him 
through laurels against which he stubbed his nose 
at every turn ; and then she took him through some 
brambles where he tore his ears ; and last of all she 
raced for the Lower Wood. Here she increased her 
lead a little, and then, looping back upon her trail, 
she ran under a fallen fir tree, and went to ground 
thirty yards further on. The dog went down the 
blind lead first, then had to turn back along the true 
one to the fir tree. It took three minutes for him 
to convince himself that his game was gone, and then 
he returned, panting, to an interview with his irate 
master, after which he was a sadder and wiser dog. 
