l the others in growth.
This soon became a very amusing pet, but he always protested when
handled, and always objected to confinement. I should mention that the
cat had a kitten about the age of the chuck, and, as she had more milk
than the kitten could dispose of, the chuck, when we first got him, was
often placed in the nest with the kitten, and was regarded by the cat as
tenderly as her own, and allowed to nurse freely. Thus a friendship
sprang up between the kitten and the woodchuck, which lasted as long as
the latter lived. They would play together precisely like two
kittens,--clinch and tumble about and roll upon the grass in a very
amusing way. Finally the woodchuck took up his abode under the floor of
the kitchen, and gradually relapsed into a half-wild state. He would
permit no familiarities from any one save the kitten, but each day they
would have a turn or two at their old games of rough-and-tumble. The
chuck was now over half grown, and procured his own living. One day the
dog, who had all along looked upon him with a jealous eye, encountered
him too far from cover, and his career ended then and there.

In July the woodchuck was forgotten in our interest in a little gray
rabbit which we found nearly famished. It was so small that it could sit
in the hollow of one's hand. Some accident had probably befallen its
mother. The tiny creature looked spiritless and forlorn. We had to force
the milk into its mouth. But in a day or two it began to revive, and
would lap the milk eagerly. Soon it took to grass and clover, and then
to nibbling sweet apples and early pears. It grew rapidly, and was one
of the softest and most harmless-looking pets I had ever seen. For a
month or more the little rabbit was the only company I had, and it
helped to beguile the time immensely. In coming in from the field or
from my work, I seldom failed to bring it a handful of red clover
blossoms, of which it became very fond. One day it fell slyly to licking
my hand, and I discovered it wanted salt. I would then moisten my
fingers, dip them into the salt, and offer them to the rabbit. How
rapidly the delicate little tongue would play upon them, darting out to
the right and left of the large front incisors, the slender paws being
pressed against my hand as if to detain it!

But the rabbit proved really untamable; its wild nature could not be
overcome. In its large box-cage or prison, where it could see nothing
but the tree above it, it was