Then, seeing us
follow at undiminished speed, it would straighten out
again and dart away like an arrow. At the end of its
first straight run it apparently made up its mind that
it was time to employ somewhat different tactics in order
to escape. So it jumped slantways across the soft, central
cushion of the trail into the other track. Again it ran
straight ahead for a matter of four or five hundred yards,
slowing down three or four times to reconnoitre in its
rear. After that it ran in a zigzag line, taking four or
five jumps in one track, crossing over into the other
with a gigantic leap, at an angle of not more than thirty
degrees to its former direction; then, after another four
or five bounds, crossing back again, and so on. About
every tenth jump was now a high leap for scouting purposes,
I should say. It looked breathless, frantic, and desperate.
But it kept it up for several miles. I am firmly convinced
that rabbits distinguish between the man with a gun and
the one without it. This little animal probably knew that
I had no gun. But what was it to do? It was caught on
the road with us bearing down upon it.
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