"Oh, Grandfather!" she exclaimed, "could we take them home?"

"I guess we could if you wanted to," he said. "Your mother was always
a great hand for pet rabbits and I believe that the very house I once
built for her, is up in the loft to this day. Let's cover them over
again and go find it."

"Will they stay here while we're gone?" asked Mary Jane as he tenderly
laid the leaves back over the little creatures.

"They will till their mother gets a chance to take them away," answered
Grandfather. "If she thinks we'll hurt them, she'll carry them to some
other hiding place. But if we hurry, we'll get them first."

"Won't she know that we'll take good care of them?" asked Mary Jane.

"She won't know it at first," replied Grandfather, "but she'll soon
find out. We'll fix them up in a comfortable box and they'll be as
safe and happy and perhaps even better fed than if they'd stayed out
here in the woods where stray dogs might hurt them. Come on, now,
Pussy; let's hurry for the box."

Mary Jane took hold of his hand again and they hurried back through the
pasture and the cornfield to the barn.

It didn't take Grandfather long to find the little rabbit house he had
made for Mary Jane's mother years ago. "The box part is good as new,"
he said, "and I'll get some fresh screening from the attic to cover
over this open side."