they also
stopped, and again stood upon their haunches, and peered at him over the
tops of the weeds. Master Donkey did not try again to go to them, but
expostulated with them upon their ill-breeding and unkind behavior,
called them cousins, told them he was tired and hungry, and asked for
food and shelter. This touched their tender little hearts, and they
cautiously drew near, and made the acquaintance of their supposed
cousin.

On a close scrutiny, however, they doubted his claim to relationship,
and flatly told him so. But they good-naturedly said if he was hungry,
it was no more than common humanity to first relieve his wants, and
discuss the question afterward. Even murderous man would do as much as
that, so they brought him carrots and other vegetables in abundance from
a farm garden near by, from which they were accustomed to supply their
own wants.

When his appetite was satisfied, his humility, such as it was, oozed
out, and he became as arrogant as ever, and stoutly claimed that he was
their big cousin, though, he said, he was not particularly anxious to be
acknowledged by such a pack of little dwarfish thieving creatures as
they were, who would steal through the farmer's fence to purloin
vegetables for a cousin whom they impudently refused to recognize.

Their spokesman retorted, and said they claimed a right to a share,
sufficient for their needs, of whatever grew upon the earth. To be sure,
they were obliged to obtain it stealthily at night, as man claimed it
all for himself, and it would be almost certain death to be found by him
within his inclosure. Indeed, many of their unfortunate fellows had
already suffered death for the exercise of this natural right. If,
however, he regarded their act as a crime, he was himself a criminal,
inasmuch as he had accepted the fruits, and profited by the act, knowing
how the food had been obtained. To this the donkey could make no answer;
at least he did not think it prudent to try, as night was still before
him, and the question of shelter still unsolved.

Good-nature was soon restored, and the discussion renewed. The rabbits
could see many points of difference, but two only of resemblance. It
certainly could not be denied that the ears were remarkably like, and
the complexion was very nearly the same; but the hard feet were so
widely different from their own soft paws! And the tail, too, long and
dangling like a cow's--what a tail for a rabbit! Then, again, they ha