bit the second
time he clawed and snapped at the branch as if he would rip it asunder.
But the limb, with a decayed heart, had a stout shell, and the fox soon
gave it up in disgust.

Now, the hollow branch, as you know, had one end on the ground, and the
other still attached to the trunk where the wind had broken it off. So
Bumper found his hole slanting upward, and as he crawled through to the
other end he was actually climbing a tree. Perhaps you have heard that
rabbits can't climb trees, but Bumper did in this instance.

When he reached the upper end, he found himself ten feet from the ground,
with Mr. Fox below and unable to reach him. It was such an unusual sight
to see a rabbit up a tree that the fox was more puzzled than ever. "Could
white rabbits climb trees?" he asked himself.

Between his discouragement at being twice outwitted, and his amazement at
finding a white rabbit with pink eyes that could climb a tree, Mr. Fox
finally dropped his tail between his legs and trotted away. Bumper watched
him go, and sighed with relief. The blue jays were equally relieved in
mind, and once more returned to their home to guard it against invasion.

When Bumper stuck his head out of the upper end of the big tree branch, he
noticed that he was up among the birds which had been singing a lively
concert until he interrupted them. There were birds which Bumper had never
seen before, some with startling plumage, and others with voices that
sounded like flutes.

They did not renew their singing, but perked their heads sideways and
watched this strange thing popping out of the hollow limb. Finally one of
them, Mrs. Oriole, clad in a suit of gold, streaked with black and gray,
spoke.

"It's Mr. Rabbit's ghost, I do believe. Mr. Fox must have caught him after
all."

"If it's a ghost, I'd like to have some of his white fur for my nest,"
remarked Rusty the Blackbird. "I think I'll steal some."

"He's a pretty lively ghost," warned Piney the Purple Finch. "I wouldn't
venture too near."

Bumper blinked his pink eyes at them, and smiled.

"I'm not a ghost yet," he said. "I'm quite alive and well, but very
hungry. If you don't mind I'll eat a few of these delicious green leaves."

The birds watched him in silence. They were as curious and puzzled as the
Crow had been. Finally, Mr. Pine Grosbeak plucked up courage to approach
nearer.

"If you're really alive," he said, "let me pluck some of those beautiful
white hairs as souv