ied
Mrs. Sparrow.

"Could I reach them, I wonder! I might drown before I could get ashore."

"Wait!" exclaimed Mrs. Sparrow. "Why not escape on a raft? Here comes a
big board down the river. You could hop on it, and not even get wet. Yes,
you could do it. It's floating close to the shore."

"Where is it?" exclaimed Bumper, eagerly.

"Right here! Now get ready for a long jump."

Bumper was not only ready, but very anxious, and when the floating board
appeared a yard or more from the mouth of the sewer he crouched for a
spring. It was a long jump, and Bumper had some doubts about making it;
but he put all his strength in it, and hopped high in the air, and landed
safely on the raft.

"Hi! How was that for a jump!" he exclaimed, when he stood upright on the
board.

"Fine!" said Mrs. Sparrow. "I wish you a good voyage! Good-bye!"

Bumper wagged his ears in reply, and shouted back a hearty farewell. Then
he turned to look down the river. He had escaped from the sewer, but
evidently he had adventures still ahead, for the river was broad and long,
and very swift in places.

STORY X

BUMPER SEES HIS FIRST BLACK CROW

When Bumper floated away from the mouth of the sewer on his raft, he felt
quite jubilant, and a little proud of his achievement. He had escaped the
bats successfully, and now he had found a way out of the sewer itself. He
was so puffed up by these exploits that he wasn't a bit afraid of what
might happen to him on the river.

"This is really much better than being cooped up in the old woman's
backyard," he reflected. "Not even Jimsy or Wheedles ever dreamed of such
adventures as I've had. My! I feel like a great traveler already."

But when the current of the river began to draw his raft away from the
shore into the middle, his enthusiasm was not quite so great. The stream
grew rougher, and little white caps appeared ahead. His raft began to bob
up and down, and pretty soon a wave washed over it and wet Bumper's feet.

This made him very uncomfortable, for a rabbit doesn't like wet feet any
more than a cat does. He tried to sit up on his hind legs and dry his
front paws, but other waves washed over the raft and wet his haunches. He
couldn't very well stand on his front paws, and dry his hind ones, so he
had to endure the wet and cold.

The river passed through a beautiful field all aglow with flowers and
green grass, but the shore was too far away for Bumper to swim to it.
"I'll leave wel