THE BROWN HARE

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 86, 2 July 1927, Page 27

THE BROWN HARE

Leaper, the brown hare, lay in a contented heap on a patch of dried grass. From the soft bed which he had made for himself on the hillside, he could see all over the country. His paws were doubled under him. and his long ears laid flat along his back, so that even their black tips were hidden. You would have thought he was just a hunimock of brown grass, except for the little twitches which he kept giving his nose—and the great brown eyes which bulged out from each side of his head. Then suddenly Leaper sat up. His great ears stood erect, his shining eyes seemed to bulge more than ever, and his nose twitched violently. “That’s a strange noise I can hear in the distance!” he said to himself. “I don’t like it. It means danger.” Leaper waited, alert, ready to leap if those ears of his told him that the noise which meant danger was coming nearer. He tried to remember whether his mother had ever told him what kind of enemy made noises like those which were coming up the hillside behind him. It wasn’t a fox-noise. It wasn’t a man-noise. It wasn’t a stoat . . . “Ugh!” Leaper shuddered as he thought of a stoat. He would never forget the day when he was a baby hare and was playing with his brother and sister, and how a' stoat with sharp, white teeth had leaped on to them! It had nearly caught Leaper; but he had given a great bound sideways and the wicked stoat had killed his brother instead. And Leaper never forgot, either, the stern lecture given him and his sister about stoats. No- it wasn’t a stoat that was coming now. But it was danger. Leaper trembled all over with excitement, for the soft thuds were coming in his direction. Without waiting another second, the hare sprang a yard or two into the air and made off down the hill at a gallop.

He was soon far away below the snug resting-place where he had been dozing all day. But the danger was not past. For now he could see the “thing” that was sniffing along his tracks and he saw it was a dog. What is more, the dog, a greyhound, saw him, and leav-ing the trail he was following, leaped sideways toward Leaper. Taking a short cut, he flew over the turf with his long tongue dangling between those pointed white teeth.

Leaper fled on at a tearing gallop, but the dog was fresh and was gaining on him. Leaper made for the hedge of a field on his left and sprang through a hole in it. He doubled on his track, then crossed it again and gave three great leaps into the air to check the scent. Then it was that his sharp nose picked up scents beyond the hedge on the right, scents which told him of a colony of his second-cousins, the Rabbits. He had no sort of opinion of his cousins—but they might be useful to him now. He bounded toward the hedge and disappeared through it. The ground beyond was heavily laid over with scents, rabbit scents, sufficiently like his own to confuse a dog, thought the panting hare.

The greyhound was baulked for a minute by the first hedge; but soon a crash showed it was through. By now the hare was out of sight beyond the second hedge, and the dog wasted a few minutes in picking up the scent. It was found again, however, and away crashed the greyhound through the second hedge into the middle of the rabbit warren. Now it was thoroughly confused: it yapped with excitement, racing over the ground this way and that, followed one line with its nose and then trying another.

Meanwhile Leaper was three or four fields away, having criss-crossed his track so that even the wily greyhound couldn’t pick up bis scent 'now. And when the disappointed dog lolloped home in disgust, Leciper was sitting among the golden bracken fronds, washing himself. When evening came, Leaper thought it was time to go and look for a meal. He twitched his nose toward the west.

“Trefoil and wild thyme,” he purred, “and dandelions, and a few blackberries ripe already! A very nice supper! ” And off he went.

But someone else was looking for his supper, too. Young Fox saw Leaper racing across the grass, and he licked his lips.

The hare soon knew that an enemy was on his track again, and his beating heart said “Fox!” He shot ahead like an arrow from a bow, and the fox went swinging after him. Leaper had now to set all. his wits to work: he dodged and crossed his track, leaping in circles, and making a network of trails on the ground to confuse the nose of Young Fox. But still that hungry shadow came gliding over the grassland after him. Leaper suddenly saw a little stream ahead. He flew for it, raced down beside it for some way, then returning on his tracks, took a flying leap across. “Young Fox isn’t cunning enough to know just where I jumped that stream,” thought Leaper proudly. And after another series of leaps, he disappeared under a gate which led into a cornfield. Here was corn for supper! And Leaper’s nose smelt dandelions, too, and even crab-apples. And when the big moon showed its face above the horizon, it saw Young Fox on the far side of the stream following a trail which led to nowhere! At last, he curled his lip angrily and swung off to look for a different kind of supper. But Leaper had almost forgotten him; he was bounding along in wonderful skips and jumps, twirling round in the air, and even rolling on his back, at the thought of the fine supper he was having. TO LET House “To Let” in Toadstool Town, Roof a lovely golden-brown; Walls of yellow, tinged with red. Parlour, kitchen, bathroom, bed: Special hole in bathroom wall, To allow the dew to fall: If trod on. picked, or hurt by rain, Guaranteed to grow again! Vacant now, so don’t delay. Buy your house, and move to-day. Teacher: Tommy, can you tell the name of the largest river in Africa? Tommy: The Nile, sir. Teacher: And please name the tributaries. Tommy: Er—juveniles, sir!

THE GOOD SCRIBES Nola Craig, Peggy Brady, Jessie Milne, Audrey Reid, Jean Mclndoe. Jack Johnston, Jean Eyre, Fitzies Morris, Fanny Birch, Rita Moore, Patricia Andrews, Iris White, Rewa Cunningham.