FLUFF-BUTTON THE RABBIT 131 
scrunch on the snow the other side of the wall, and 
then he found the hole. He lay down on his side 
and thrust his head into the opening ; and when 
he snorted, Cuni felt his hot breath on her whiskers. 
He began to whimper eagerly, and scrape at the 
loose stones and mortar. He worked his shoulders 
further and further in, and the little chamber was 
filled with dust. Presently he drew back his 
cunning wits had told him of a better way. Just 
here the wall was too high to leap, but further down 
it was lower, and there he could climb over. Cuni 
heard his footsteps tiptoe away, and then her 
Guardian Angel whispered that her teeth were 
sharp and pointed out a way to freedom but not 
the cost. She listened to the counsel, for the desire 
to live burnt fiercely within her and her leg was 
twisted and useless now, a mere encumbrance. 
There was a short, sharp struggle, and the snare and 
its captive were parted indeed. Stiff and numbed, 
she crept away among the trees. 
Twenty yards further on there was a clearing 
where the snow lay soft and deep. Here Fluff- 
Button's trail could be seen plainly, and the wide 
tracks showed that he had crossed it at full gallop. 
Cuni set out to follow it, plodding along in the 
muffling snow, and stumbling into drifts at every 
step. The woods were dead neither Fur nor 
