第12章 THE TALE OF MR TOD(5)

"I will wash the tablecloth and spread it on the grass in the sun to bleach.And the blanket must be hung up in the wind; and the bed must be thoroughly disinfected, and aired with a warming-pan; and warmed with a hot-water bottle.""I will get soft soap, and monkey soap, and all sorts of soap; and soda and scrubbing brushes; and persian powder; and carbolic to remove the smell.I must have a disinfecting.Perhaps I may have to burn sulphur."He hurried round the house to get a shovel from the kitchen-- "First I will arrange the hole-- then I will drag out that person in the blanket..."He opened the door....

Tommy Brock was sitting at Mr.Tod's kitchen table, pouring out tea from Mr.Tod's tea-pot into Mr.Tod's tea-cup.He was quite dry himself and grinning; and he threw the cup of scalding tea all over Mr.Tod.

Then Mr.Tod rushed upon Tommy Brock, and Tommy Brock grappled with Mr.Tod amongst the broken crockery, and there was a terrific battle all over the kitchen.To the rabbits underneath it sounded as if the floor would give way at each crash of falling furniture.

They crept out of their tunnel, and hung about amongst the rocks and bushes, listening anxiously.

Inside the house the racket was fearful.The rabbit babies in the oven woke up trembling; perhaps it was fortunate they were shut up inside..

Everything was upset except the kitchen table.

And everything was broken, except the mantelpiece and the kitchen fender.The crockery was smashed to atoms.

The chairs were broken, and the window, and the clock fell with a crash, and there were handfuls of Mr.Tod's sandy whiskers.

The vases fell off the mantelpiece, the canisters fell off the shelf; the kettle fell off the hob.Tommy Brock put his foot in a jar of raspberry Jam.

And the boiling water out of the kettle fell upon the tail of Mr.Tod.

When the kettle fell, Tommy Brock, who was still grinning, happened to be uppermost; and he rolled Mr.Tod over and over like a log, out at the door.

Then the snarling and worrying went on outside; and they rolled over the bank, and down hill, bumping over the rocks.There will never be any love lost between Tommy Brock and Mr.Tod.

As soon as the coast was clear Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny came out of the bushes--"Now for it! Run in, Cousin Benjamin! Run in and get them while I watch at the door."But Benjamin was frightened-- "Oh; oh! they are coming back!" " No they are not."" Yes they are!"

"What dreadful bad language! I think they have fallen down the stone quarry."Still Benjamin hesitated, and Peter kept pushing him--"Be quick, it's all right.Shut the oven door, Cousin Benjamin, so that he won't miss them."Decidedly there were lively doings in Mr.Tod's kitchen!

At home in the rabbit hole, things had not been quite comfortable.

After quarrelling at supper, Flopsy and old Mr.Bouncer had passed a sleepless night, and quarrelled again at breakfast.Old Mr.Bouncer could no longer deny that he had invited company into the rabbit hole; but he refused to reply to the questions and reproaches of Flopsy.The day passed heavily.

Old Mr.Bouncer, very sulky, was huddled up in a corner, barricaded with a chair.Flopsy had taken away his pipe and hidden the tobacco.She had been having a complete turn out and spring- cleaning, to relieve her feelings.She had just finished.Old Mr.Bouncer, behind his chair, was wondering anxiously what she would do next.

In Mr.Tod's kitchen, amongst the wreckage, Benjamin Bunny picked his way to the oven nervously, through a thick cloud of dust.He opened the oven door, felt inside, and found something warm and wriggling.He lifted it out carefully, and rejoined Peter Rabbit.

"I've got them! Can we get away? Shall we hide, Cousin Peter?"Peter pricked his ears; distant sounds of fighting still echoed in the wood.

Five minutes afterwards two breathless rabbits came scuttering away down Bull Banks, half carrying half dragging a sack between them, bumpetty bump over the grass.They reached home safely and burst into the rabbit hole.

Great was old Mr.Bouncer's relief and Flopsy's joy when Peter and Benjamin arrived in triumph with the young family.The rabbit- babies were rather tumbled and very hungry; they were fed and put to bed.They soon recovered.

A long new pipe and a fresh supply of rabbit tobacco was presented to Mr.Bouncer.He was rather upon his dignity; but he accepted.

Old Mr.Bouncer was forgiven, and they all had dinner.Then Peter and Benjamin told their story--but they had not waited long enough to be able to tell the end of the battle between Tommy Brock and Mr.Tod.

THE END