ree and tore the bark with their claws, and waved their tails
back and forth. But this didn't do any good. Mr. Man just sat up
there and swung his feet and laughed at them.

"Brother Lion and his blood-kin soon found that if they intended to
capture Mr. Man they'd have to do something else besides caper around
the foot of the tree. So they talked it over, and Brother Lion fixed
up a plan. He said that he would stand at the foot of the tree and
rear up against the trunk, and one of his blood-cousins could climb on
his back and rear up, and then another cousin or uncle could climb up,
and so on until there was a ladder of bloodthirsty Lions high enough
to reach Mr. Man.

"Brother Lion, mind you, was to be at the bottom of the Lion ladder,"
remarked Mr. Rabbit, with a chuckle, "and he had a very good reason
for it. He had had dealings with Mr. Man, and he wanted to keep as far
away from him as possible. But before they made the Lion ladder,
Brother Lion looked up at Mr. Man and called out:--

"'What are you doing up there?'

"'You'll find out a great deal too soon for your comfort,' replied Mr.
Man.

"Brother Lion said, 'Come down from there.'

"Mr. Man answered, 'I'll come down much sooner than you want me to.'

"Then Brother Lion, his uncles, and his blood-cousins began to build
their ladder. Brother Lion was the bottom round of this ladder, as you
may say," continued Mr. Rabbit. "He reared up and placed his hands
against the tree, and one of his uncles jumped on his shoulders, and
put his hands against the tree. Then a cousin, and then another uncle,
and so on until the ladder reached a considerable distance up the
tree. It was such a high ladder that it began to wobble, and the last
uncle had hard work to make his way to the top. He climbed up very
carefully and slowly, for he was not used to this sort of business. He
was the oldest and the fiercest of the old company, but his knees
shook under him as he climbed up and felt the ladder shaking and
wobbling.

"Mr. Man saw that by the time this big Lion got to the top of the
ladder his teeth and his claws would be too close for comfort, and so
he called out in an angry tone:--

[Illustration: THE LADDER OF LIONS]

"'Just hold on! Just stand right still! Wait! I'm not after any of you
except that fellow at the bottom there. I'm not trying to catch any
of you but him. He has bothered me before. I let him go once, but I'll
not let him get away this time. Just st