ad
before adding. "He'd raise an awful howl, I suppose, if he knew you were
here. You'd better go home now. You can get through the backyard without
Toby seeing you."

"Let him see me if he likes," retorted Edith, shaking her red curls and
tilting her freckled nose upward. "I won't let him have the rabbit. Aunt
Helen ought to spank him. That's what he deserves."

Mary walked ahead down the stairs to see if Toby was around, and then when
they reached the kitchen Edith climbed through an open window into the
backyard. There was a thick hedge around the yard, and back of that
another yard which smelt so sweet with flowers and green lawn that Bumper
raised his head and sniffed.

My, what a whiff that was! There was a vegetable garden hidden back of the
rose bushes, filled with crisp lettuce, golden carrots, emerald-green
cabbages, blood-red beets, blanching celery, peas, beans, corn, potatoes,
and green grass everywhere. It was a whiff from Rabbit Arcady, and Bumper
forgot all the dangers he had been through.

"No, no, you mustn't jump out of my arms!" warned Edith when he struggled
to get down and roll around in the green grass. "Toby might be looking."

There was an opening in the thick hedge, and through this the red-haired
girl crawled into the second garden. If anything, this was a more
wonderful garden than the first. The odors were intoxicating. There were
flowers and birds and trees as well as succulent vegetables. A most
wonderful elm tree spread out like an umbrella and shaded the whole lawn.
Beneath this the girl stopped a moment, and let Bumper nibble at the green
grass.

For a city rabbit who had never seen green grass growing, and had only
tasted of vegetables several days or a week old, this visit to the garden
was like a foretaste of what all rabbits must consider heaven. Nothing
Bumper had ever eaten tasted quite so good as that grass, and when the
girl picked a fresh, crisp carrot from the garden he couldn't believe it
was anything but a magic carrot. It was so sweet and juicy that it made
his mouth water.

"Now you must come in the house," Edith said after he had eaten so much
that he was in danger of exploding like an over ripe tomato. "I'm going to
keep you right in my bedroom to-night. Then daddy will make a house for
you in the morning."

[Illustration: He couldn't believe it was anything but a magic carrot]

Bumper spent the night in a box lined with fresh, green grass at the foot
of the l