FLUFF-BUTTON THE RABBIT 91 
impression that they had mn against an enemy. 
Rabbits are like sheep : let one lose his head and the 
rest will follow suit. 
Suddenly there was a sonorous ' thump/ and 
Fluff-Button, king of the burrow, came out of his 
dormitory, to be nearly carried off his legs by a pair 
of rabbits who jostled past him. All at once, in 
the narrowest part of the tunnel, he came upon a 
party of rats. They were all draggled and wet, 
and crowded into the burrow for shelter, for the 
brook had risen and drowned them out of their 
homes. Fluff-Button backed into a hide-up, and 
the rats crowded after him. A rabbit cannot fight 
his best in cramped quarters, but a grown buck has 
plenty of courage when pushed into a corner, and 
his sharp claws are weapons not to be despised. 
One rat nipped Fluff-Button's shoulder, and in an 
instant the latter buried his teeth in the aggressor's 
quarters. The rat yelled, for they cut like chisels, 
and his companions came on eagerly. Like a 
schooner among a fleet of herring boats, Fluff- 
Button ploughed through the band, jostling them 
right and left, and sprang into the wider chamber,,, 
further on where a herd of frightened doe rabbits 
crouched. Here he had more space, and when he 
heard the invaders coming, he kicked out with his 
strong hind claws. The foremost rat rolled back 
