cordially with Tommy Brock, who
was passing through the wood with

a sack and a little spud which he
used for digging, and some mole

traps. He complained bitterly
about the scarcity of pheasants'

eggs, and accused Mr. Tod of
poaching them. And the otters had

cleared off all the frogs while he
was asleep in winter--"I have not

had a good square meal for a fort-
night, I am living on pig-nuts. I

shall have to turn vegetarian and
eat my own tail!" said Tommy

Brock.
It was not much of a joke, but it

tickled old Mr. Bouncer; because
Tommy Brock was so fat and

stumpy and grinning.
So old Mr. Bouncer laughed; and

pressed Tommy Brock to come inside,
to taste a slice of seed cake

and "a glass of my daughter Flopsy's
cowslip wine." Tommy Brock

squeezed himself into the rabbit
hole with alacrity.

Then old Mr. Bouncer smoked
another pipe, and gave Tommy

Brock a cabbage leaf cigar which
was so very strong that it made

Tommy Brock grin more than ever;
and the smoke filled the burrow.

Old Mr. Bouncer coughed and
laughed; and Tommy Brock puffed

and grinned.
And Mr. Bouncer laughed and

coughed, and shut his eyes because
of the cabbage smoke ..........

When Flopsy and Benjamin came
back old Mr. Bouncer woke up.

Tommy Brock and all the young
rabbit babies had disappeared!

Mr. Bouncer would not confess
that he had admitted anybody into

the rabbit hole. But the smell of
badger was undeniable; and there

were round heavy footmarks in the
sand. He was in disgrace; Flopsy

wrung her ears, and slapped him.
Benjamin Bunny set off at once

after Tommy Brock.
There was not much difficulty in

tracking him; he had left his foot-
mark and gone slowly up the wind-

ing footpath through the wood.
Here he had rooted up the moss

and wood sorrel. There he had dug
quite a deep hole for dog darnel;

and had set a mole trap. A little
stream crossed the way. Benjamin

skipped lightly over dry-foot; the
badger's heavy steps showed

plainly in the mud.
The path led to a part of the

thicket where the trees had been
cleared; there were leafy oak

stumps, and a sea of blue hyacinths
--but the smell that made Benjamin

stop was NOT the smell of flowers!
Mr. Tod's stick house was before

him; and, for once, Mr. Tod was at
home. There was not only a foxy

flavor in proof of it--there was
smoke coming out of the broken

pail that served as a chimney.
Benjamin Bunny sat up, staring,

his whiskers twitched. Inside the
stick house somebody dropped a

plate, and said something. Benjamin
stamped his foot, and bolted.

He never stopped till he came to
the other side of the wood. Apparently

Tommy Brock had turned the
same way. Upon the top of the wall

there were again the marks of
badger; and some ravellings of a

sack had caught on a briar.
Benjamin climbed over the wall,

into a meadow. He found another
mole trap newly set; he was still

upon the track of Tommy Brock. It
was getting late in the afternoon.

Other rabbits were coming out to
enjoy the evening air. One of them

in a blue coat, by himself, was busily
hunting for dandelions.--

"Cousin Peter! Peter Rabbit, Peter
Rabbit!" shouted Benjamin Bunny.

The blue coated rabbit sat up
with pricked ears--"Whatever is

the matter, Cousin Benjamin? Is it
a cat? or John Stoat Ferret?"

"No, no, no! He's bagged my
family--Tommy Brock--in a sack

--have you seen him?"
"Tommy Brock? how many,

Cousin Benjamin?"
"Seven, Cousin Peter, and all of

them twins! Did he come this way?
Please tell me quick!"

"Yes, yes; not ten minutes since
.... he said they were CATERPILLARS;

I did think they were kicking rather
hard, for caterpillars."

"Which way? which way has he
gone, Cousin Peter?"

"He had a sack with something
'live in it; I watched him set a mole

trap. Let me use my mind, Cousin
Benjamin; tell me from the beginning,"

Benjamin did so.
"My Uncle Bouncer has displayed

a lamentable want of discretion for
his years;" said Peter reflectively,

"but there are two hopeful
circumstances. Your family is alive and

kicking; and Tommy Brock has had
refreshments. He will probably go

to sleep, and keep them for breakfast."
"Which way?" "Cousin Benjamin,

compose yourself. I know
very well which way. Because Mr.

Tod was at home in the stick house
he has gone to Mr. Tod's other

house, at the top of Bull Banks. I
partly know, because he offered to

leave any message at Sister Cottontail's;
he said he would be passing."

(Cottontail had married a black
rabbit, and gone to live on the hill.)

Peter hid his dandelions, and
accompanied the afflicted parent,

who was all of atwitter. They
crossed several fields and began to

climb the hill; the tracks of Tommy
Brock were plainly to be seen. He

seemed to have put down the sack
every dozen yards, to rest.

"He must be very puffed; we are
close behind him, by the scent.

What a nasty person!" said Peter.
The sunshine was still warm and

slanting on the hill pastures. Half
way up, Cottontail was sitting in

her doorway, with four or five half-
grown little rabbits playing about

her; one black and the others
brown.

Cottontail had seen Tommy
Brock passing in the distance.

Asked whether her husband was at
home she replied that Tommy

Brock had rested twice while she
watched him.

He had nodded, and pointed to
the sack, and seemed doubled up

with laughing.--"Come away,
Peter; he will be cooking them;

come quicker!" said Benjamin
Bunny.

They climbed up and up;--"He
was at home; I saw his black ears

peeping out of the hole." "They live
too near the rocks to quarrel with

their neighbors. Come on, Cousin
Benjamin!"

When they came near the wood
at the top of Bull Banks, they went

cautiously. The trees grew amongst
heaped up rocks; and there,

beneath a crag, Mr. Tod had made
one of his homes. It was at the top

of a steep bank; the rocks and
bushes overhung it. The rabbits

crept up carefully, listening and
peeping.

This house was something between
a cave, a prison, and a tumbledown

pigsty. There was a strong
door, which was shut and locked.

The setting sun made the window
panes glow like red flame; but

the kitchen fire was not alight. It
was neatly laid with dry sticks, as

the rabbits could see, when they
peeped through the window.

Benjamin sighed with relief.
But there were preparations

upon the kitchen table which made
him shudder. There was an immense

empty pie dish of blue wil-

• cabbage [´kæbidʒ] n.卷心菜；洋白菜 (初中英语单词)
• rabbit [´ræbit] n.兔子，野兔 (初中英语单词)
• disgrace [dis´greis] n.耻辱 vt.玷辱；贬黜 (初中英语单词)
• lightly [´laitli] ad.轻微地，稍微 (初中英语单词)
• meadow [´medəu] n.草地；牧场 (初中英语单词)
• plainly [´pleinli] ad.平坦地；简单地 (初中英语单词)
• sunshine [´sʌnʃain] n.日光，阳光 (初中英语单词)
• doorway [´dɔ:wei] n.门口 (初中英语单词)
• pointed [´pɔintid] a.尖(锐)的；中肯的 (初中英语单词)
• alight [ə´lait] a.燃着的 vi.下；降落 (初中英语单词)
• shudder [´ʃʌdə] n.&vi.震颤；发抖 (高中英语单词)
• cordially [´kɔ:djəli] ad.热诚地；亲切地 (英语四级单词)
• scarcity [´skeəsiti] n.缺乏；不足；稀少 (英语四级单词)
• discretion [di´skreʃən] n.谨慎；判断(力) (英语四级单词)
• setting [´setiŋ] n.安装；排字；布景 (英语四级单词)
• lamentable [´læməntəbl, lə´mentəbl] a.可悲的 (英语六级单词)