The San Francisco call., 1901-11-17

afraid at all when they held me in their
hands. but the minute they turned me
loose l was wild again. and they would
have to run me down or get me in a
corner to catch me. l suppose it was
my nature to be wild.
When l had been a pet rabbit for about
two weeks two other little rabbits were
brought to the house and put in my box
with me- They were named Bunny and
Fitz. Bunny belonged to the little boy.
and Fitz, who was the youngest and
smallest of US, was partnership rab-
bit. Then it was that they saw how
had changed in color as [ had grown
older. 1 was now "a light, notified brown
ish gray color, and the white spot on
my forehead was all gone. My eyes,
that had been all dark, were black in
the center and had brown ring around
the black. They made pen for us out
in the yard and put us into it to sleep.
They said wild rabbits slept out of doors
and we must sleep out of doors, too
Poor little Fitz was not as strong as
Bunny and l were, and in the morning
there he lay fat on his side. He was
cold and stiff, and 1 thought he was dead.
The children came to give us our break.
fast, and took us around on the front
porch in the sun. They took on a great
deal over poor Fritz. They rubbed his
legs and head and tried to put milk in
his mouth. The little girl said: His
eyes are set" She said it very sorrow
fully, and l could see there were tears
in her ewes.
Its no use.'' said the little boy, 'hes
giving his last kick. Well make a cof-
fin and bury him.
They laid him in the sun and went
away. They were gone a good while.
When they came back they had a pretty
box with lid to it. They sat the box
on the porch and went away without
looking at me or Bunny or Fitz 1 saw
them go to the big locust tree that was
by the side of the road close to the
almond orchard. The almond trees were
white with blossoms. They sat down
under the locust tree and began to dig.
l knew they were digging Fitz's grave.
When they came back to the porch again
the boz said
arrangements for the funeral are all
made
laid it on the porch, and went to get Fitz.
I laughed to myself at the sight of their
faces. There sat Fritz in a very natural
way, and when they stopped to pick him
up he hoped off the porch, and they ran
after him and grabbed him by the hind
legs just as he was going under the
floor
They laughed and screamed. and the 1T
tie @irl called:
"Oh. Aunt Jen! Aunt Jen! the rabbit
has come tor
The woman she called came to the door
and the boy said to her:
''Fitz disappointed u.s."
WELL" said she, you are not sorry,
are your"
He smiled a funny little smile and
said: mo; but it was a great disap-
pointment.''
few days afterward 1 got out OF the
place they had for us in the corner of the
yard and hid The children hunted me
and called me and called me, and the lit
tie girl cried because 1 would not come
back. heard the little boy say to her:
Never mind, Morris; you can have my
half of Fitzsimmons."
When they gave up looking for me I
slipped out from my hiding place and ran
away. 1 had very hard time for many
days, and sometimes 1 was cold and hun
CRY; and I was very lonesome. But ]
learned to gnaw the bark of the orchard
trees and the young vines, and to eat
wheat and do many other Of the things
that make men want to kill jackrabbits
Once dog took after me. 1 put my ears
fat down on NY shoulders and ran low
and very fast-I ran for my life He was
a lean, hungry-looking greyhound He
was just overtaking me; could hear his
breathing; I could almost feel his teeth
in my body. when 1 tumbled heels over
head into a badgers hole, and the dog
ran right over the top of me. The badger
was not at home, and when the dog was
gone 1 came out into the sunshine again,
very glad to find myself alive.
A year passed away. I was a full-grown
jackrabbit. I was talking one day with
very old 1ackrabbit, who was telling me
about the country where we lived. He
said II was called Fresno County, and
was the most dangerous place a jackrab-
bit could try to live in. was just on tho
point Of asking him why, when he sprang
up on his hind legs and stood his long
ears straight up; 1t made him look very
tall 1 sprang upon my hind legs and put
my ears up. too. but 1 could not see any,
thing to be afraid of. Then heard guns
firing away off somewhere and heard peo-
pie shouting. Just then some rabbits
came Looping by US; their ears were all
thrown forward and they jumped 80 high
I thought they were playing a new game.
/ asked the old rabbit what the noise was
about and what the rabbits were doing.
He did not answer, and then I saw that
he was trembling all over, like one in a
chill. looked the way his eyes were
fixed and saw a great many men and boys
strung out in a line. They were about a
rod apart and each one had a club in his
handsome OF them had two clubs A