As the end of the two days of truce declared by the animals in the woods drew near, Bumper was pleased to find that all of his friends had new homes and were contentedly settled in them. Pink Nose, Rolly Polly, Crooked Ears and Brindley the Lame had found burrows carefully hidden in the heart of the forest for their families. Mr. Beaver had constructed a new dam and a run-way from it to a house in the middle of the stream. Billy the Mink and Browny the Muskrat had burrowed under the river’s embankment a most elaborate system of tunnels for their hiding places.
The birds had likewise found nests for their little ones, some swinging from the top branches of tall trees, and others hidden under the leaves on the ground. White Tail the Deer had retired to a lonely part of the forest for his home; Bobby Gray Squirrel and Stripe the Chipmunk had made their nests in secret holes in the trees. Even Spotty the Chameleon was settled, and Lazy the Snail was safe in the mud.
“Everything’s all right now—just as it was before the fire,” remarked Bumper as he hopped through the woods toward his own burrow, after making a round of the woods to see if any of his friends were still homeless. He had made so many friends now that it took him a long time to visit them in turn, and he was very tired.
When he came to a wide clearing stretching across his path, he stopped at the edge to look around. He had never been there before, and he was a little cautious. It might be a trap set for him by the Hunters, and he sniffed the air to see if the Hounds were near.
Then he hopped across it until he came to a deep hole or pit in the middle. He wondered what this was for, and stopped at the brink of it to look down. It was a bare, empty pit, with no sign of a trap near it.
Suddenly from behind there came a rush of small feet, and Mr. Fox shouted aloud, “Now I’ve got you, Bumper!”
So swiftly had Mr. Fox jumped out of the bushes that Bumper had merely a second to think. He couldn’t retreat, for Mr. Fox was immediately behind him. There seemed to be only one thing to do. He took a flying leap across the pit, hoping to reach the other side in safety.
But it was a wide pit. No rabbit could hop across it. Bumper would never have tried it if he hadn’t been excited. He missed the other side by a yard, and tumbled straight into the pit. He landed on the bottom with a thump, and then looked up. Mr. Fox was grinning down at him.
“I thought you’d do that,” he said. “That’s why I waited until you were looking in the pit. Your curiosity will cost you dearly, Bumper.”
“But Mr. Fox, the truce isn’t up yet,” pleaded Bumper. “Surely you won’t break your word of honor.”
“No,” grinned the Fox, “I won’t break my word, but I’ll keep you here until morning, and then breakfast off you. That wouldn’t be breaking my word.”
“I don’t intend to stay in here until morning,” replied Bumper.
“How’ll you get out?” laughed the Fox.
Bumper tried jumping up the side of the pit, but every time he failed Mr. Fox rolled over and laughed. He couldn’t jump up the sides any more than he could leap across the pit, and Mr. Fox knew it.
But in one corner Bumper spied a small hole which the water had made in the soft earth. The pit was drained through this hole, and Bumper immediately saw a way of escape.
What he should have done was to race for the hole the moment he discovered it, but he hesitated until Mr. Fox’s keen eyes saw it too. With a snarl of rage, the Fox reared on his hind feet, and when Bumper started for the mouth of the hole he leaped into the pit. He reached the corner first, and blocked the hole.
“Ho! Ho!” he laughed. “You thought you’d get out that way. Well, I’m going to watch at this hole until morning. Then I’ll catch you and eat you for breakfast.”
Bumper retreated to the other side of the pit. He looked all around for another way out, but not finding any he squatted down in a corner to think. Mr. Fox sat down in front of the hole, and licked his chops. He could afford to keep his word and not attack Bumper until the two days were up, for Bumper was a prisoner.
But pretty soon along came Sneaky the Wolf. He sniffed around and smelling Mr. Fox came and looked down the pit. “Good morning, Mr. Fox,” he said politely. “What are you doing down there?”
Now the sight of Sneaky alarmed the Fox. He dreaded the Wolf as much as Bumper feared the Fox. He had an unpleasant idea that he would have great difficulty in getting out of the pit.
“I was taking a nap, Mr. Wolf,” he replied in a trembling voice.
“Then I think I’ll come down and take one with you, Mr. Fox.”
“Oh, no, please don’t,” pleaded Mr. Fox. “You know the truce isn’t up yet, Sneaky.”
“No, but it will be in the morning. I can afford to wait until then for my breakfast.”
And with that Sneaky leaped down into the pit. He trotted around, grinning and nodding his head. “What’s behind you, Mr. Fox?” he asked, coming closer. “Oh, a hole! You thought you could escape through that. If you don’t mind I’ll watch there until morning.”
Mr. Fox took the hint, and jumped away. He ran around the pit, and made a few desperate efforts to leap out of it, but he couldn’t more than reach three-quarters of the way up. Bumper watched him in silence, and Sneaky grinned at every failure, and shouted with glee:
“Try it again, Mr. Fox! If you don’t succeed at first, try, try again.”
The jeering of Sneaky alarmed Mr. Fox so that he tried again and again to scramble out of the pit. Then he sneaked off in a corner to think.
Right then, when Sneaky was so sure of his morning’s breakfast, Loup the Lynx came along. One glance down the pit brought a horrid grin to his ugly face. His eyes glowed, and his tail lashed with delight.
“Ah! Ha!” he cried. “How’d you get down there, Sneaky?” he called. “Fell in, and can’t get out?”
“No, indeed,” replied Sneaky boldly, as his heart beat rapidly. “I can leap out any time I want to.”
“Let me see you do it.”
“No, thank you, I’m satisfied where I am.”
“Well, then,” added Loup, “I think I’ll come down and keep you company until morning. I’m going to be very hungry then. I’ve fasted for two days now.”
And Loup the Lynx dropped into the pit. Sneaky made a desperate effort to leap out, but he too failed. What Bumper and Mr. Fox failed in doing was beyond his reach. He fell back repeatedly, while Loup doubled up with glee and laughed until the forest rang with echoes of it.
“You can’t do it, Sneaky,” he shouted. “And in the morning I’ll have a fine breakfast A pleasant night to you.”
Sneaky ran away and sat down in a corner to think, while Loup closed one eye in sleep, but kept the other wide open. What happened to them in the pit will follow in the next story.