There was an opening in the thick hedge, and through this the red-haired
girl crawled into the second garden. If anything, this was a more
wonderful garden than the first. The odors were intoxicating. There were
flowers and birds and trees as well as succulent vegetables. A most
wonderful elm tree spread out like an umbrella and shaded the whole lawn.
Beneath this the girl stopped a moment, and let Bumper nibble at the green
grass.

For a city rabbit who had never seen green grass growing, and had only
tasted of vegetables several days or a week old, this visit to the garden
was like a foretaste of what all rabbits must consider heaven. Nothing
Bumper had ever eaten tasted quite so good as that grass, and when the
girl picked a fresh, crisp carrot from the garden he couldn't believe it
was anything but a magic carrot. It was so sweet and juicy that it made
his mouth water.

"Now you must come in the house," Edith said after he had eaten so much
that he was in danger of exploding like an over ripe tomato. "I'm going to
keep you right in my bedroom to-night. Then daddy will make a house for
you in the morning."

[Illustration: He couldn't believe it was anything but a magic carrot]

Bumper spent the night in a box lined with fresh, green grass at the foot
of the little girl's bed, but not until after he had met another person
whom he feared and disliked almost as much as the bad boy called Toby. She
was a cross old nurse, who looked after Edith, and she didn't like
rabbits--not live ones. She admired Bumper's soft, white hair, and
remarked: