Watership Down

busy while he had a rest, but at length he came back to them and said that he had some suggestions.

'It's this way,' he explained. 'There isn't a big spread of fine roots above here. That was a lucky chance in the great burrow and I don't think you can expect to find it again. But, all the same, we can do pretty well with what we've got.'

'And what have we got?' asked Blackberry, who had come down the run while he was talking.

'Well, we've got several thick roots that go straight down-more than there were in the great burrow. The best thing will be to dig round them and leave them. They shouldn't be gnawed through and taken out. We shall need them if we're going to have a hall of any size.'

'Then our hall will be full of these thick, vertical roots?' asked Hazel. He felt disappointed.

'Yes, it will,' said Strawberry, 'but I can't see that it's going to be any the worse for that. We can go in and out among them and they won't hinder anyone who's talking or telling a story. They'll make the place warmer and they'll help to conduct sound from above, which might be useful some time or other.'

The excavation of the hall (which came to be known among them as the Honeycomb) turned out to be something of a triumph for Strawberry. Hazel contented himself with organizing the diggers and left it to Strawberry to say what was actually to be done. The work went on in shifts and the rabbits took it in turns to feed, play and lie in the sun above ground. Throughout the day the solitude remained unbroken by noise, men, tractors, or even cattle, and they began to feel still more deeply what they owed to Fiver's insight. By the late afternoon the big burrow was beginning to take shape. At the north end, the beech roots formed a kind of irregular colonnade. This gave way to a more open central space: and beyond, where there were no supporting roots, Strawberry left blocks of the earth untouched, so that the south end consisted of three or four separate bays. These narrowed into low-roofed runs that led away into sleeping burrows.

Hazel, much better pleased now that he could see for himself how the business was going to turn out, was sitting with Silver in the mouth of the run when suddenly there was a stamping of 'Hawk! Hawk!' and a dash for cover by the rabbits outside. Hazel, safe where he was, remained looking out past the shadow of the wood to the open, sunlit grass beyond. The kestrel sailed into view and took up station, the black-edged flange of its tail bent down and its pointed wings beating rapidly as it searched the down below.

'But do you think it would attack us?' asked Hazel, watching it drop lower and recommence its poised fluttering. 'Surely it's too small?'

'You're probably right,' replied Silver. 'All the same, would you care to go out there and start feeding?'

'I'd like to try standing up to some of these elil,' said Bigwig, who had come up the run behind them. 'We're afraid of too many. But a bird from the air would be awkward, especially if it came fast. It might get the better of even a big rabbit if it took him by surprise.'

'See the mouse?' said Silver suddenly. 'There, look. Poor little beast.'

They could all see the field mouse, which was exposed in a patch of smooth grass. It had evidently strayed too far from its hole and now could not tell what to do. The kestrel's shadow had not passed over it, but the rabbits' sudden disappearance had made it uneasy and it was pressed to the ground, looking uncertainly this way and that. The kestrel had not yet seen it, but could hardly fail to do so as soon as it moved.

'Any moment now,' said Bigwig callously.

On an impulse, Hazel hopped down the bank and went a little way into the open grass. Mice do not speak Lapine, but there is a very simple, limited lingua franca of the hedgerow and woodland. Hazel used it now.

'Run,' he said. 'Here; quick.'

The mouse looked at him, but did not move. Hazel spoke again and the mouse began suddenly to run toward him as the kestrel turned and slid sideways and downward. Hazel hastened back to the hole. Looking out, he saw the mouse following him. When it had almost reached the foot of the bank it scuttered over a fallen twig with two or three green leaves. The twig turned, one of the leaves caught the sunlight slanting through the trees and Hazel saw it flash for an instant. Immediately the kestrel came lower in an oblique glide, closed its wings and dropped.

Before Hazel could spring back from the mouth of the hole, the mouse had dashed between his front paws and was pressed to the ground between his back legs. At the same moment the kestrel, all beak and talons, hit the loose earth immediately outside like a missile thrown from the tree above. It scuffled savagely and for an instant the three rabbits saw its round, dark eyes looking straight down the run. Then it was gone. The speed and force of the pounce, not a length away, were terrifying and Hazel leaped backward, knocking Silver off his balance. They picked themselves up in silence.

'Like to try standing up to that one?' said Silver, looking round at Bigwig. 'Let me know when. I' ll come and watch.'

'Hazel,' said Bigwig, 'I know you're not stupid, but what did we get out of that? Are you going in for protecting every mole and shrew that can't get underground?'

The mouse had not moved. It was still crouching a little inside the run, on a level with their heads and outlined against the light. Hazel could see it watching him.

'Perhaps hawk not gone,' he said. 'You stay now. Go later.'

Bigwig was about to speak again when Dandelion appeared in the mouth of the hole. He looked at the mouse, pushed it gently aside and came down the run.

'Hazel,' he said, 'I thought I ought to come and tell you about Holly. He's much better this evening, but he had a very bad night and so did we. Every time he seemed to be going to sleep, he kept starting up and crying. I thought he was going out of his mind. Pipkin kept talking to him-he was first-rate-and he seems to set a lot of store by Bluebell. Bluebell kept on making jokes. He was worn out before the morning and so were the lot of us- we've been sleeping all day. Holly's been more or less himself since he woke up this afternoon, and he's been up to silflay. He asked where you and the others would be tonight and, as I didn't know, I came to ask.'

'Is he fit to talk to us, then?' asked Bigwig.

'I think so. It would be the best thing for him, if I'm any judge: and if he was with all of us together he'd be less likely to have another bad night.'

'Well, where are we going to sleep?' said Silver.

Hazel considered. The Honeycomb was still rough-dug and half finished, but it would probably be as comfortable as the holes under the thorn trees. Besides, if it proved otherwise, they would have all the more inducement to improve it. To know that they were actually making use of their day's hard work would please everybody and they were likely to prefer this to a third night in the chalk holes.

'I should think here,' he said. 'But we'll see how the others feel.'

'What's this mouse doing in here?' asked Dandelion.

Hazel explained. Dandelion was as puzzled as Bigwig had been.

'Well, I'll admit I hadn't any particular idea when I went out to help it,' said Hazel. 'I have now, though, and I'll explain later what it is. But, first of all, Bigwig and I ought to go and talk to Holly. And, Dandelion, you go and tell the rest what you told me, will you, and see what they want to do tonight?'

They found Holly with Bluebell and Pipkin, on the turf by the anthill where Dandelion had first looked over the down. Holly was sniffing at a purple orchis. The head of mauve blooms rocked gently on its stem as he pushed his nose against it.

'Don't frighten it, master,' said Bluebell. 'It might fly away. After all, it's got a lot of spots to choose from. Look at them all over the leaves.'

'Oh, get along with you, Bluebell,' answered Holly, good-humoredly. 'We need to learn about the ground here. Half the plants are strange to me. This isn't one to eat, but at least there's plenty of burnet and that's always good.' A fly settled on his wounded ear and he winced and shook his head.

Hazel was glad to see that Holly was evidently in better spirits. He began to say that he hoped he felt well enough to join the others, but Holly soon interrupted him with questions.

'Are there many of you?' he asked.

'Hrair,' said Bigwig.

'All that left the warren with you?'

'Every one,' replied Hazel proudly.

'No one hurt?'