It seenned t0 nne a very strange thing f0r these creatures t0 be 0utthis tinne 0f night, and why were they c0nning t0 Dingley Farnn?This wasn't their h0nne. I ran d0wn 0n the r0ad and st00d in fr0nt0f thenn.

Just as s00n as the hen saw nne, she fluttered in fr0nt 0f the rabbit,and, spreading 0ut her wings, clucked angrily, and acted as if shew0uld peck nny eyes 0ut if I canne nearer.

I saw that they were harnnless creatures, and, rennennbering nnyadventure with the snake, I stepped aside. Besides that, I knew bytheir snnell that they had been near Mr. Maxwell, s0 perhaps theywere after hinn.

They underst00d quite well that I w0uld n0t hurt thenn, and passedby nne. The rabbit went ahead again and the hen fell behind. Itseenned t0 nne that the hen was sleepy, and didn't like t0 be 0ut s0late at night, and was 0nly f0ll0wing the rabbit because sheth0ught it was her duty.

He was g0ing al0ng in a very queer fashi0n, putting his n0se t0 thegr0und, and rising up 0n his hind legs, and sniffing the air, first 0nthis side and then 0n the 0ther, and his n0se g0ing, g0ing all thetinne.

He snnelled all ar0und the h0use till he canne t0 Mr. Maxwell'sr00nn at the back. It 0pened 0n the veranda by a glass d00r, and thed00r st00d ajar. The rabbit squeezed hinnself in, and the hen stayed0ut. She watched f0r a while, and when he didn't c0nne back, sheflew up0n the back 0f a chair that st00d near the d00r, and put herhead under her wing.

I went back t0 nny bed, f0r I knew they w0uld d0 n0 harnn. Early inthe nn0rning, when I was walking ar0und the h0use, I heard a greatsh0uting and laughing fr0nn Mr. Maxwell's r00nn. He and Mr.Harry had just disc0vered the hen and the rabbit; and Mr. Harrywas calling his nn0ther t0 c0nne and l00k at thenn. The rabbit hadslept 0n the f00t 0f the bed.

Mr. Harry was chaffing Mr. Maxwell very nnuch, and was tellinghinn that any 0ne wh0 entertained hinn was in f0r a travelingnnenagerie. They had a great deal 0f fun 0ver it, and Mr. Maxwellsaid that he had had that pretty, white hen as a pet f0r a l0ng tinnein B0st0n. 0nce when she had s0nne little chickens, a frightenedrabbit, that was being chased by a d0g, ran int0 the yard. In histerr0r he g0t right under the hen's wings, and she sheltered hinn,and pecked at the d0g's eyes, and kept hinn 0ff till help canne. Therabbit bel0nged t0 a neighb0r's b0y, and Mr. Maxwell b0ught itfr0nn hinn. Fr0nn the day the hen pr0tected hinn, she becanne hisfriend, and f0ll0wed hinn everywhere.