Shuddering, Hazel clawed at Fiver's side.
'Wake! Fiver, wake!'
But Fiver was lying in a deep stupor.
In Hazel's mind, green branches were straining in the wind. Up and down they swayed, thresh and ply. There was something - something he could glimpse between them. What was it? Water he sensed; and fear. Then suddenly he saw clearly, for an instant, a little huddle of rabbits on the bank of a stream at dawn, listening to the sound of yelping in the wood above and the scolding of a jay.
'If I were you, I shouldn't wait until ni-Frith. I should go now. In fact, I think you'll have to. There's a large dog loose in the wood. There's a large dog loose in the wood.'
The wind blew, the trees shook their myriads of leaves. The stream was gone. He was in the Honeycomb, facing Bigwig in the dark, across the motionless body of Fiver. The scratching from above was louder and closer.
'Bigwig,' said Hazel, 'do as I say at once, there's a good fellow. We've got hardly any time. Go and get Dandelion and Blackberry and bring them to me at the foot of Kehaar's run, quickly.'
At the foot of the run Buckthorn was still in his place. He had not moved at Fiver's cry, but his breath was short and his pulse very quick. He and the other three rabbits gathered about Hazel without a word.
'I've got a plan,' said Hazel. 'If it works, it'll finish Woundwort for good and all. But I've no time to explain. Every moment counts now. Dandelion and Blackberry, you come with me. You're to go straight up out of this run and through the trees to the down. Then northwards, over the edge and down to the fields. Don't stop for anything. You'll go faster than I shall. Wait for me by the iron tree at the bottom.'
'But, Hazel -' said Blackberry.
'As soon as we've gone,' said Hazel, turning to Bigwig, 'you're to block this run and get everyone back behind the wall you've made. If they break in, hold them up as long as you can. Don't give in to them on any account. El-ahrairah has shown me what to do.'
'But where are you going, Hazel?' asked Bigwig.
'To the farm,' said Hazel, 'to gnaw another rope. Now, you two, follow me up the run: and don't forget, you stop for nothing until you're down the hill. If there are rabbits outside, don't fight - run.'
Without another word he dashed up the tunnel and out into the wood, with Blackberry and Dandelion on his heels.
45. Nuthanger Farm Again
Cry Havoc! And let slip the dogs of war.
Shakespeare Julius Caesar
At that moment General Woundwort, out on the open grass below the bank, was facing Thistle and Ragwort in the chequered, yellow moonlight of the small hours.
'You weren't put at the mouth of that run to listen,' he said. 'You were put there to stop anyone breaking out. You had no business to leave it. Get back at once.'
'I give you my word, sir,' said Thistle, querulously, 'there's some animal down there that is not a rabbit. We both heard it.'
'And did you smell it?' asked Woundwort.
'No, sir. No tracks or droppings either. But we both heard an animal and it was no rabbit.'
Several of the diggers had left their work and were gathered nearby, listening. A muttering began.
'They had a homba that killed Captain Mallow. My brother was there. He saw it.'
'They had a great bird that turned into a shaft of lightning.'
'There was another animal that took them away down the river.'
'Why can't we go home?'
'Stop that!' said Woundwort. He went up to the group. 'Who said that? You, was it? Very well, go home. Go on, hurry up. I'm waiting. That's the way - over there.'
The rabbit did not move. Woundwort looked slowly round.
'Right,' he said. 'Anyone else who wants to go home can get on with it. It's a nice long way and you'll have no officers, because they'll all be busy digging, including myself. Captain Vervain, Captain Groundsel, will you come with me? You, Thistle, go out there and fetch Captain Campion. And you, Ragwort, get back to the mouth of that run you had no business to leave.'