"But what can we do?" asked his brothers and sisters.
So the little rabbits followed Frisky to a pile of tar and pitch that some men had left; and out of it they made a black tar baby, which they set up on a rock close by the edge of the brook, with a piece of gingerbread in its mouth; and when night came, and the moon shone bright, they all hid behind a tree to see what would happen.
Pretty soon the old fox smelled the gingerbread, and spied the baby on the rock.
Then he came up close and said, "Little girl, little girl, give me a piece of your gingerbread, or I'll box your ears."
The baby did not answer, so the old fox climbed up on the rock, and boxed her on the ear; and his paw stuck so fast he could not pull it away again.
Then he said, "Little girl, little girl, give me a piece of your gingerbread, or I'll box you on the other ear."
The baby did not say a word, so he boxed her on the other ear, and his other paw stuck fast.
Then he said, "Little girl, little girl, give me a piece of your gingerbread, or I'll bite off your nose." Still the baby would not answer, so the fox bit at her nose; and his teeth stuck tight in the pitch, and he was almost choked with the tar.
The little rabbits then all came out and danced around the wicked old fox, saying, "Now you can't choke the pretty brook, for your own mouth is choked with tar!"
At last Frisky asked, "Now what shall we do with him?"
"Leave him to starve," said one. "Set fire to his tail," said another. And they all proposed something, except Snowflake, the youngest and prettiest of the family, who said nothing until Frisky turned to her and asked, "And what would you do?"
"I should let him go," replied Snowflake, "if he would promise not to trouble the water again."
"Snowflake is right," said Frisky; "he has been punished enough. We will let him go."
So they first loosened his mouth, and rubbed his teeth with butter to take off the tar, and when he had said three times, "Hope my tail may drop off if I ever hurt you or the brook again," they set his paws free, and he scampered off, and hid himself in his den in the wood.
And the little rabbits lived happy forever after.
I am a teacher in one of the public schools of this city. I take HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE to school with me, and my pupils enjoy it very much.