caped."

"Then you know something how I feel. The country's very strange to me, and
I feel a bit lonesome. Could you tell me where my country cousins
live--the wild rabbits?"

"Yes," replied Buster, "but I'm not sure they'll welcome your coming.
However, you can find them by following that trail a little further until
you come to a big rock. They live under it where Mr. Fox can't get them."

"Thank you," replied Bumper. "I think I'll be going, then. I must find
them before night."

STORY XV

BUMPER FINDS HIS COUNTRY COUSINS

After leaving Buster the Bear, Bumper did not have far to go before he
stumbled upon the rock under which the wild rabbits had their burrow. It
was a big, towering rock right in the middle of the woods, with trees
trying to grow on top of it, and under it, as if they were determined to
lift it and roll it away.

When the white rabbit first saw it his heart beat high with expectation.
This was to be the end of his journey. When he found it impossible to get
back to the garden where the red-headed girl lived, he concluded the best
he could do was to join the wild rabbits and live with them. They would
teach him the ways of the woods, and perhaps, in time he would be happy
and content as a member of their family.

In spite of the dangers and ventures that had marked his progress, he was
greatly pleased with the woods, and the freedom he enjoyed appealed to
him. But to make his happiness complete he needed companions and friends
of his own kind.

The friendship of the birds was all right, but they had their own families
to look after, and besides, he could not always depend upon having them
near.

It was natural that he should be a bit homesick and lonely without other
rabbits to associate with. He often thought of Jimsy and Wheedles, and of
his mother and of Topsy. Any one of them would be welcome. In his
newly-acquired knowledge of the woods and its inhabitants, he felt that he
could give Jimsy and Wheedles pointers that would make their eyes open.

When he reached the big rock, he hopped all around it, looking for the
entrance to the rabbit burrow, and sniffing the ground expectantly. There
were many signs that rabbits had recently been there, but he could find
nothing that looked like a burrow. Around and around the big rock he
hopped, sniffing, pounding with his hind feet, and calling to his cousins.
But there was no response.

"Perhaps they're all out," he reflected finally,