How fast she did jump out of the box, and run to the door! Tiny Hare saw her long tail, and her big wild eyes. He shut his eyes; and how he _did_ wish he was at home! But CAT did not eat him. She took him in her soft lips, and laid him in the box by the fire. "_Now_ she will eat me," said Tiny Hare; and how he _did_ wish he was at home! Then MAN and DOG came in. MAN was wet, and had much mud on him. He took the box away from the fire to put fresh hay in it, and then he saw Tiny Hare. Then MAN went near the fire to get warm and dry, and DOG ran to CAT to look at her baby cat. When he saw Tiny Hare he gave a loud bark, "Bow-wow-wow-wow!" and his tail did not wag any more. But just as he was to JUMP on Tiny Hare, CAT put a claw on his nose. "Wow!" said DOG, and MAN made DOG lie down, and he came once more to look at CAT in her box. "Well, well," said he, "a hare for a baby cat! Do you mean to eat it, Puss?" "Purr, purr, purr," said CAT, and Tiny Hare did not like to hear her purr, and he said: "She _will_ eat me now"; and how he _did_ wish he was at home! CAT did not want to eat Tiny Hare, but she did want to wash him, and play that he was her own baby cat. And she did wash him, oh, _so_ hard, and _so_ much, from head to feet, and from feet to head, over and over and over. She gave him a wee bite now and then when she felt a knot in his wet fur. "Wee! Wee! Wee!" said Tiny Hare, very loud and high, when she hurt him too much, but CAT did not care, and did not stop. By and by when Tiny Hare was warm and dry, and his fur was like silk, MAN and DOG went out to tea; and CAT saw that the eyes of Tiny Hare were shut, so _she_ went out to tea. When CAT was gone, oh, how fast did Tiny Hare _jump_ out of the box, and _run_ out of the door, and _skip_ up the long road, and _leap_ past the wet wood, home to his Mama. The rain was over, and the sun was warm, so he was now dry, and his fur was like silk. "I _will_ be good now, Mama." "Oh, dear," said his Mama. "This is a CAT." "Oh, no, no, no, no, NO!" said Tiny Hare. "I _am_ your Tiny Hare." "Is it our Tiny Hare?" said Mama Hare to wise Papa Hare. "Yes," said Papa Hare, "it is, but he is too much like CAT." Tiny Hare was not glad, and he did not want to play, so he sat near his home till the dark came. Then his Mama grew too sad for his sake, and she came out to him. How she _did_ rub him with moss and hay, and how she _did_ wash him, from his head to his feet. Tiny Hare did not like it, but he did not say one word. "_Now_, you _are_ like my dear Tiny Hare," she said at last, and she took him home. When it grew dark, Tiny Hare said: "I am your Tiny Hare, and I _will_ be good now," and Papa Hare said, "Yes, I am _sure_ you will," and gave the ear of Tiny Hare a wee bite for love. Then Mama Hare put _her_ ears down, and Papa Hare put _his_ ears down, and Tiny Hare put _his_ ears down, and they all took a long, long nap till the dawn. [Illustration: TINY HARE AT HOME.]