At night, most of the rabbits slept or lay up among the long grass of the meadow alongside the marsh. The fine weather continued without a hint of rain, and the only rabbits to do any digging were two or three does who knew themselves to be pregnant and going to give birth to litters. The loose earth and other signs of their digging, in the bank leading down to the marsh, were clearly to be seen and added to El-ahrairah's anxiety. He noticed, too, that Burdock and Celandine did not seem to like his company as much as formerly, and he had little doubt of the reason. Even if he did not actually talk about the vegetable garden, his manner had become constrained by the constant thought of it, whereas every other rabbit except Rabscuttle lived in a state of almost riotous high spirits and well-being.
One afternoon, as he was lying in the sun, El-ahrairah saw two rabbits nearby setting off with a purposeful air in a direction opposite to that leading to the vegetable garden. He wondered what they might be up to, and followed them with as unconcerned an air as he could assume. He saw them go down the further end of the bank and make their way into the cherry orchard. He waited for a time and then went in himself, by a way different from theirs. He soon caught sight of them again and saw what they were doing. They were stripping the bark low down on one of the cherry trees. One or two trees nearby had been stripped already. And that was not all. At the far end of the orchard, two men were talking together as they walked slowly among the trees.
El-ahrairah went back to the meadow and began asking every rabbit he met where he could find Burdock. At length he came upon him asleep in one of the nestlike refuges the rabbits had made in the long grass. He woke him up and told him what he had seen.
"Well," said Burdock, "what do you expect me to do? I couldn't stop them even if I wanted to. They wouldn't leave the trees alone just because I told them."
"But don't you realize," said El-ahrairah, "that barking kills the trees and that the men are bound to notice and do everything they can to--"
Burdock stood up and faced El-ahrairah. He had clearly lost his temper. "Do you think I'm going to be ordered about by the likes of you, a ragamuffin hlessi who's lost his tail and ears and works himself into a fright about every single thing he sees? You're nothing but a continual nuisance. You'd better take care I don't tell Celandine to have you set upon and finished with. You think because you led the way through the marsh you can tell us all what to do and lay down the law about everything."
"Very well," replied El-ahrairah quietly. "I won't bother you anymore."
When El-ahrairah said this he meant it, but that was before the cat.
The cat, black-and-white and short-furred, made its first appearance about two days later, in the early evening. It came wandering slowly down from the vicinity of the farmhouse, pausing from time to time and looking here and there at anything which attracted its momentary attention. Soon it reached the edge of the field of long grass and began walking along the verge, evidently with no particular purpose, for it went slowly and almost paw by paw. It wore a thin leather collar and had a sleek, well-fed appearance. It was certainly not hunting.
El-ahrairah and Rabscuttle were dozing together on the bank above the marsh when they became aware of the cat's approach. They both grew alert and held themselves in readiness for instant flight. The cat, however, passed within a few yards without paying them the least attention. All the same, thought El-ahrairah, it might be as well to move a little further away. He was just about to do so when he found Celandine beside him.
Celandine was holding himself tensely. He was breathing fast and watching the cat with a vigilant, aggressive air. After a little, he said to El-ahrairah, "Do you see that damned pest out there?"
"Yes, of course," replied El-ahrairah.
"We're going to kill it," said Celandine.
"This year or next?" asked El-ahrairah, joining in what he took to be some kind of game.
"You don't believe me?" replied Celandine. "You may as well know that it won't be the first time our Owsla have killed a cat."
"I've never heard of rabbits attacking a cat," said El-ahrairah, "except perhaps a doe defending her litter."
"When we were living in the warren where you first joined us," said Celandine, "There was a cat which used to come hunting about and making a nuisance of itself, and after a bit our Owsla set upon it and killed it. That was when Betony was captain of Owsla and I was still quite young."
"And what happened?" asked El-ahrairah.
"What d'you mean, what happened?" answered Celandine.
"Did any human beings come looking for it? Did any of them take the body away?"
"No, nothing like that," said Celandine. "Rats disposed of the body, I suppose. Something did, anyway."
"And you want to show you're as good as Betony, and kill that cat?"
"Certainly. Three or four of my Owsla are mad keen."
"Well," said El-ahrairah, "I beg you, I implore you, to listen to me before you do anything else. From all you've told me, the cat your Captain Betony killed must have been a stray. It didn't belong to any human beings. It was just wandering on its own. But that cat out there belongs to the farmhouse. It's wearing a collar and it obviously gets plenty to eat. And it reeks of human beings. I could smell it from here when it went past just now. Drive it away by all means if you want to, but if you kill it the farmhouse human beings will come after you with everything they've got. As far as they're concerned, it'll be the last straw. You've ruined the vegetable garden and done a lot of damage in the cherry orchard. I'm surprised they haven't done their best to wipe you out already. Do take my advice, Celandine. Let the cat alone, for Frith's sake."
"I'll think about it," replied Celandine. "But the cat's asking for trouble, you must admit."
During the next two or three days, Celandine and three of his Owsla waited patiently in the long grass for the black-and-white cat, but it did not reappear. It was not until early evening several days later that it came sauntering along the verge and pausing to look here and there, as it had before.
From Celandine's point of view, the opportunity could not have been a better one. The cat lay down in the sun almost opposite where they were concealed, turned on its back and began washing its stomach. When the four rabbits leaped upon it, it was taken completely by surprise.
It fought, however, miawling and biting savagely. Its claws were more effective than the rabbits', and it was more used to using them. If it had not been for the reckless audacity of Celandine, it would almost certainly have got away. But lying on its back when he attacked it, it offered him the chance to use a rabbit's strongest weapon, its back legs. Leaping, Celandine landed on its chest, drove one of his back legs into its belly and kicked backward. This was decisive. Ripped open, horribly wounded, its guts trailing, it still struggled, scratching fiercely and clenching its teeth on Celandine's throat until he lay virtually at its mercy. But at this moment its strength failed. Gasping, it rolled over on its side and a few moments later lay dead. Celandine and his rabbits, covered with its blood and a great deal of their own, made off into the long grass.
It was almost dark before a girl from the farm found the body and, weeping bitterly, carried it away, all bloody as it was.
El-ahrairah did not himself see Celandine and his rabbits kill the cat; but Rabscuttle, who did, told him, and he also saw the weeping girl carry the body away.