We was just goin' ter scarperWhen along comes Bill 'Arper,So we never done nuffin' at allMusic Hall SongBigwig wavered gradually up from sleep, like a bubble of marsh gas from thebed of a still stream. There was another rabbit beside him in the burrow -- a buck.
He started up at once and said, "Who is it?""Avens," replied the other. "Time for silflay, Thlayli. Larks have gone up.
You're a sound sleeper.""I dare say," said Bigwig. "Well, I'm ready." He was about to lead the way downthe run, but Avens' next words brought him to a halt.
"Who's Fiver?" said Avens.
Bigwig grew tense. "What did you say?""I said, who's Fiver?""How should I know?""Well, you were talking in your sleep. You kept saying, 'Ask Fiver, ask Fiver.' Iwondered who he was.""Oh, I see. A rabbit I knew once. He used to foretell the weather and so on.""Well, he could do it now, then. Can you smell the thunder?"Bigwig sniffed. Mixed with the scents of grass and cattle came the warm, thicksmell of a heavy cloud mass, still far off. He perceived it uneasily. Almost allanimals are disturbed by the approach of thunder, which oppresses them with itsmounting tension and breaks the natural rhythm by which they live. Bigwig'sinclination was to go back to his burrow, but he had little doubt that no meretrifle like a thundery morning would be allowed to interfere with the timetable ofan Efrafan Mark.
He was right. Chervil was already at the entrance, squatting opposite Blackavarand his escort. He looked round as his officers came up the run.
"Come on, Thlayli," he said. "Sentries are out already. Does the thunder worryyou?""It does rather," replied Bigwig.
"It won't break today," said Chervil. "It's a long way off yet. I'd give it untiltomorrow evening. Anyway, don't let the Mark see it affects you. Nothing's to bealtered unless the General says so.""Couldn't wake him up," said Avens, with a touch of malice. "There was a doein your burrow last night, Thlayli, wasn't there?""Oh, was there?" said Chervil. "Which one?""Hyzenthlay," replied Bigwig.
"Oh, the marli tharn,"* said Chervil. "Funny, I didn't think she was ready.""She wasn't," said Bigwig. "I made a mistake. But if you remember, you askedme to do what I could to get to know the awkward squad and bring them a bitmore under control, so I kept her talking for a time, just the same.""Get anywhere?""Hard to say, really," said Bigwig, "but I'll keep at it."He spent the time while the Mark went out in deciding upon the best andquickest way to enter the hole and attack Blackavar's escort. He would have to putone of them out of action in no time at all and then go straight for the other, whowould be that much less unprepared. If he had to fight him, it would be better toavoid doing it between Blackavar and the mouth of the hole, for Blackavar wouldbe as bewildered as the rest and might bolt back down the run. If he was going tobolt anywhere he must bolt outward. Of course, with any luck, the second guardmight make off underground without fighting at all, but one could not count onthat. Efrafan Owslafa were not given to running away.
As he went out into the field, he wondered whether he would be spotted byKehaar. The arrangement had been that Kehaar would find him whenever hemight come above ground on the second day.
He need not have worried. Kehaar had been over Efrafa since before dawn. Assoon as he saw the Mark come up, he alighted a little way out in the field, halfwaybetween the undergrowth and the sentry line, and began pecking about in thegrass. Bigwig nibbled his way slowly toward him and then settled down to feedwithout a glance in his direction. After a while, he sensed that Kehaar was behindhim, a little to one side.
"Meester Pigvig, I t'ink ees not goot ve talk much. Meester 'Azel, 'e say vat youdo? Vat you vant?""I want two things, Kehaar -- both at sunset tonight. First, our rabbits must bedown by the big arch. I shall come through that arch with the does. If we'repursued, you and Hazel and the rest must be ready to fight. The boat thing, is itstill there?""Ya, ya, men no take heem. I tell Meester 'Azel vat you say.""Good. Now listen, Kehaar, this is the second thing, and it's terribly important.
You see those rabbits out beyond us, in the field? They're the sentries. At sunset,you meet me here. Then I shall run back to those trees and go down a hole. Assoon as you see me go in, attack the sentries -- terrify them, drive them away. Ifthey won't run, hurt them. They must be driven off. You'll see me come out againalmost at once and then the does -- the mothers -- will start running with me andwe'll go straight down to the arch. But we may very well be attacked on the way. Ifthat happens, can you pile in again?"&qu............