Omaha daily bee., 1917-03-18
Twilight Amimal Stories
"Bumper the White Rabbit"
By George Ethelbert Walsh

Copyright. 1917. by George b. Walsh)
The way back to the garden seemed
a long one, and Bumper soon began
to entertain doubts about the kind
ness OF Mr.. Sewer Rat. 1t was an
old abandoned sewer, with plenty of
room in it for whole colony OF rab.
bits, but it was terribly dirty and
damp. The musty odor was so diff.
ferent from the pleasant fragrance OF
the, garden he had recently left.
II must have travelled miles and
miles" he thought after while,
stopping to clean off some of the dirt
that chung to his white fur. Either
that Rat didn't know what he was
talking about or he told a whopping
fib. They always are sneaky animals,
the Sewer Rats, and ! shouldn't have
listened to him."
He stopped to consider whether he
shouldn't turn around and retrace his
steps; but he was disturbed by the
fear that he would never recognize
the mouth of the drain pipe he had
come through. He had passed a
number of these black holes on his
way, all looking alike.
II should have counted them, and
then I'd know which one was mine"
he reflected.
But there was no good crying over
split milk. He was in the abandoned
sewer. and he had to find his way out
somehow. Meanwhile, he was get
ting desperately hungry. Oh, for a
mouthful of the succulent grass that
grew in the garden, or cabbage leaf
or piece of celery-anything, in fact,
that would satisfy that gnawing at the
stomach!
"Ah, wellp he sighed. 81 must keep
going until l find something to eat.
There must be other gardens. and this
sewer must lead somewhere"
In a little while he became so
thirsty that a drink of water seemed
even more desirable than bite of
food. He tried to lick some of the
moisture from the sides of the sewer,
but that was only aggravating. 1t
seemed to increase rather than dimin-
ish his thirst.
One hopeful feature of his adven-
ture was that the big sewer seemed
to grow lighter as he proceeded, and
he was sure he was coming near the
end. But before this hope was real
lied he stumbled upon something that
gave him a shock.
Just ahead of him something long
and black hung from-the roof of the
sewer, reaching down almost to the
bottom. Bumper stopped to gaze
critically at it, his little heart beating
with apprehension. Was this the
shadow of some strange animal, or
was it simply an innocent log Of
wood that had got wedged in the
sewer?
As it didn't move, and was per-
fectly noiseless, Bumper concluded
that it was harmless, and so he APP
preached it, and after shifting at i
began nibbling the lower part. Sud-
denly there was loud squeak, and
the big shadow seemed to part in the
middle and fly in every direction. = II
took wings so strangely that Bumper
was more astounded than frightened
The sewer was filled with black
shadows that fitted all around him
Then followed babel of noisy
squeaks. Some came so close to his
ears that he lodged and ducked III
fear. One pair of sharp beaks caught
him on the tip Of his nose and made
him squeal and another nipped the
back Of his head. He was too sur.
prised and frightened by this time tc
run, and he tried to defend himself
with his two front paws.
"Its the Sewer Ratl Bite him
| Tweak his nosel Snap his tall Teal
| out his eyes"