n6 FLUFF-BUTTON THE RABBIT 
into the woods, which was a dangerous thing to do 
in daylight. The robin was reciting his marriage 
vows to his mate under a holly bush ; and the 
pigeons, recklessly bold, flapped lazily from tree to 
tree. The White Rabbit scraped enthusiastically 
for a few minutes, for she felt impelled to unaccount- 
able energy that day, but when she had dug a few 
inches she broke off, for she could not remember 
what to do with the hole when she had finished it. 
Near at hand a buck rabbit stamped, and presently 
another, larger than he, came out of the bushes and 
fought him. The White Doe hopped towards them, 
but being stranger rabbits they broke off their 
tournament, and fled at the sight of her whiteness. 
She saw many rabbits that day, and half of them 
ran away, and the other half were indifferent. The 
White Rabbit had never felt so lonely before not 
even when her mother had been taken from her. 
Presently she came upon a luckless rabbit which 
had been killed by a stoat an hour before. The 
White Rabbit did not know this, and went up to 
sniff at him. Here at last was something which 
would not run from her ; but when she smelt the 
fresh blood and saw the wound behind his ear, she 
turned and galloped away. There was fear every- 
where. She was feared by her own kind ; and 
she again feared the blood-hunters. A wren caught 
