looked all around her.

"What puzzles me," she said finally, "is how you ever got in there without
swimming. You can't fly."

Bumper smiled, and shook his head. "No, but I wish I could. I wouldn't
stay here arguing with you about this leaf but fly away and get a good
breakfast of a lot of them."

"Are you really so hungry, Mr. White Rabbit?"

"Indeed, I am nearly famished."

And then he told Mrs. Sparrow of his adventures in the drain-pipe of the
garden and the big abandoned sewer. Mrs. Sparrow was evidently affected by
his recital, for she immediately flew away and soon returned with another
green leaf.

"Now eat that, and I'll get you another," she said. "I know what it is to
go without breakfast and dinner. I've had to do it many times. Now eat
your full."

Bumper devoured the leaf so quickly that it seemed as if he must have
swallowed it without chewing it. "You see, Mrs. Sparrow," he remarked,
"you couldn't feed me enough. I have a very big appetite. Why, I could eat
leaves much faster than you could bring them to me."

"So it seems," murmured the sparrow in a little surprised voice. "I never
realized how much some animals can eat at once. I don't think I can do
more than just take the edge of your appetite off."