Now Bumper's heart nearly stopped beating when he heard the lady ask this
question, for had not his mother told him that he cost too much money for
most people to buy? Did this lady have plenty of money, or did she put it
all on her back and starve her stomach? She was beautifully dressed, and
her cheeks were not very plump and fat--not a bit like those of the
red-headed girl with a freckle on the end of her nose.

"Two dollars, ma'm, an' he's cheap at that! You don't find rabbits like
him once in a year."

Bumper's hopes took a sudden drop. Two dollars! Why, Jimsy had been sold
for one dollar, and Wheedles for seventy-five cents, while Topsy, who was
old and fat, brought only fifty cents. My, two dollars was an awful lot of
money!

"Two dollars!" repeated the lady, fumbling in her dress with one hand.
Then, to Bumper's surprise and delight, she added: "I think I'll take him.
I want him for my nephew. Toby's hard to suit, but I think he'll be
pleased with a rabbit. What did you say you called him?"

"Bumper, ma'm!"

"That's a queer name, but I like it."

"It was because he was always bumping his nose when he was a tiny mite,"
the old woman explained, taking the two dollars from the lady. "His mother
named him first, and then his brothers and sisters took it up, and, of
course, I had to follow 'em. Rabbits don't like to be called by two
different names, and if I was you, ma'm, I'd keep on calling him Bumper.