for! This time it was the hollow branch of a giant tree hanging down, with
one end still attached to the trunk.

Bumper was in the hollow branch like a flash. Mr. Fox reached it just a
moment too late, and to vent his anger at losing the rabbit the second
time he clawed and snapped at the branch as if he would rip it asunder.
But the limb, with a decayed heart, had a stout shell, and the fox soon
gave it up in disgust.

Now, the hollow branch, as you know, had one end on the ground, and the
other still attached to the trunk where the wind had broken it off. So
Bumper found his hole slanting upward, and as he crawled through to the
other end he was actually climbing a tree. Perhaps you have heard that
rabbits can't climb trees, but Bumper did in this instance.

When he reached the upper end, he found himself ten feet from the ground,
with Mr. Fox below and unable to reach him. It was such an unusual sight
to see a rabbit up a tree that the fox was more puzzled than ever. "Could
white rabbits climb trees?" he asked himself.

Between his discouragement at being twice outwitted, and his amazement at
finding a white rabbit with pink eyes that could climb a tree, Mr. Fox
finally dropped his tail between his legs and trotted away. Bumper watched
him go, and sighed with relief. The blue jays were equally relieved in
mind, and once more returned to their home to guard it against invasion.

When Bumper stuck his head out of the upper end of the big tree branch, he
noticed that he was up among the birds which had been singing a lively
concert until he interrupted them. There were birds which Bumper had never
seen before, some with startling plumage, and others with voices that