The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1914-08-25
,c.s.s.ssEsEe:eE.E.2.E.s.s.s.3.2.E.:s...,.Na...S
LYING IN AMBUSH
BY CARL JENKINS.

There were eight tame rabbits-just
eight
When girl nineteen years old in
sists on keeping even two tame rab-
bits around the family country home,
that family Is in for trouble.
A family cat can be seated" a
family dog can be hit with the broom
stick; a family goat can be Drained
with the ak and then argued with
But what can be done with tame rab-
bits?
cooks feet. They are TO be found up
stairs under or on the beds. They
gnaw the tender bark from young
trees Their presence attracts pass
ing dogs, and then there Is a wild
skurry and squealing.
Those rabbits must be guarded and
fed
They must be hunted up at shutdown
and cooped. When they get to fight
ing among themselves at midnight and
wake up the family and cause the man
of the house to swear by the whis-
kers of his father and the girl-owner
to scream to them from her window
when the rabbit named Caesar fights
with the rabbit named Tom, and
causes a succession of shrieks, no one
can blame the man of the house from
calling out to his daughter through
the darkness,
By thunder. young lady, this is the
last night those varmints will raise
row around this housed"
They are not varmtntsl" Games the
reply.
They are worse, and I'll wiring their
blamed necks the first thing In the
morning!"
And the girl steals softly down
stairs and tells Caesar that he must
amend his conduct or be turned loose
to shift for himself, and after time
the row is quieted, and the moon goes
back to her Job of sailing around the
earth. When morning comes there Is
no wringing of necks. It's mean
man that will twist rabbits head
of.
And so the incident is forgotten I'M
til next time, and Miss Viola keeps
right on with the nuisance. and de-
votes more time to those eight rabbits
than would make 10 young men very
happy.
There was a change on the way,
however. Miss Viola Rathbone got up
one morning to. discover that two OF
her rabbits had escaped. No, they
had not escaped. They had been taken
from the hutch by human hands and
the door carefully closed again. She
ran into the houge to give the alarm
and to add in hysterical voice:
Father, I want that negro Sam
arrested"
"For what?"
Because he took the rabbits"
Uni"
when he was working here ne
was always telling how nice rabbit
stew VAS
Did he leave his old hat behind to
show that he was the thiefr'
"Of course not, but he got the rab-
bits"
Perhaps So"
Perhaps it is so. and want yen to
| telephone the constable to come over
here right away"
81 never mix up in rabbit cases"
But l do" and away she went to
the telephone and ordered the officer
to appear forthwith.
He came and listened.
why do you think 1t was Sam p
he asked.
because he knew about the rab-
bits"
But so do l."
"And he just loves rabbit soup"
Ditto"
"But If you arrest him you can
scare him into confessing."
But / can't arrest him. He is
working a hundred miles away"
'@Then, If he didn't take the rabbits,
who did," demanded the indignant
girl.
"Tramps, l guess"
Yes, you guess, and that is to be
the end of it,"
II guess it is. Three tramps went
into camp down the road last night
This morning spied around a bit, and
/ found fur and bones"
"And you didn't make an arrestl'
Can you swear that they were the
fur and bones of your rabbits?"
"Of course, / canl"
"All right, then. You go before the
Justice of the peace and swear out a
warrant and I'll overhaul the fellows
before noon"
Miss Viola didn't go. She decided
that other creatures had fur and bones
besides her rabbits, and that the JUS
tee would SO hold. She reasoned,
however, that If one gang of tramps
had come along and stolen two of her
rabbits a larger gang might be looked
! for any time who would steal four.
and maybe the whole of the flock.
Her father had no interest nor care.
and her mother no words Of condol-
ence, but she was old enough and big
enough to protect her own Her
brother was away at college. but he
had left his shotgun behind
The rabbit hutch was below and not
far from her bedroom window. II any
one came spooking around she would
fill them with bird shot and aches and
pains. From eleven O'Clock till two
for four successive nights she was on
| guard at her window, and then she
reape,i her reward.
Bef ore relating what that rewar,
was, it is stated that about a mile be-
low tive Rathbone place lived widow.
er named Danforth. He had a son
named Robert who had a place In
bank In the city, and usually came
down to stay over Sunday. Old Dan
forth, as he was usually referred IN.
was rich and eccentric. He was also
domtneerfng and stubborn.
The fourth night OF Miss Viola's
watch was Saturday night and the
son did not get down until hours after
the usual time. The father was
grumpy over this, and about nine
O'Clock in the evening discovered that
his old dog was missing. 1t wasn't
much OF dog. but his master went
! out and took long hunt for him, and
then came back to say to his son:
You sit here as If 1t was Of no In
terest to You whether that dog Ia ltv-
ing or dead"
Why. father, nothing has happened
to old Buck" was the reply.
You don't know, you don't care!"
But do care, father. If the old
dog isn't home in an hour I'll go out