I was wide awake in a moment, sitting
up straight to listen. A few minutes passed by in intense stillness;
then, _thump! thump! thump!_ just outside the tent among the ferns.
I crept slowly out; but beyond a slight rustle as my head appeared
outside the tent I heard nothing, though I waited several minutes and
searched about among the underbrush. But no sooner was I back in the
tent and quiet than there it was again, and repeated three or four
times, now here, now there, within the next ten minutes. I crept out
again, with no better success than before.
This time, however, I would find out about that mysterious noise
before going back. It isn't so pleasant to go to sleep until one knows
what things are prowling about, especially things that make a noise
like that. A new moon was shining down into the little clearing,
giving hardly enough light to make out the outlines of the great
evergreens. Down among the ferns things were all black and uniform.
For ten minutes I stood there in the shadow of a big spruce and
waited. Then the silence was broken by a sudden heavy thump in the
bushes just behind me. I was startled, and wheeled on the instant; as
I did so, some small animal scurried away into the underbrush.
For a moment I was puzzled. Then it flashed upon me that I was camped
upon the rabbits' playground.
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