Free Man of the Family by Ralph Moody

do.”
    â€œWell, what can I do, then?”
    â€œHmmm,” Mother said. “Dutch Gunther has rabbits, doesn’t he? Did his come from Mrs. Lenheart’s stock?”
    â€œNo,” I said, “he got his from Floyd Hornbuckle; they’re kind of reddish brown instead of gray like Mrs. Lenheart’s.”
    â€œWhy, that’s fine!” Mother said. “Why don’t you swap one of your rabbits with Dutch? Then you’d have one of each kind, wouldn’t you?”
    â€œBut I don’t want one of each kind,” I said. “Mine are prettier than Dutch’s, and, besides, they’re fatter.”
    â€œMmmm, yes,” Mother said, “I know. Well, maybe you could just borrow one of Dutch’s to come over and visit yours for a few days till they get over being lonesome. Do you think that would be all right?”
    â€œI guess it would, but isn’t borrowing a rabbit almost like borrowing a horse?”
    â€œWell . . . not exactly . . . in this case,” Mother said. “I think it would be the right thing to do. Now you come in while I scribble a note to Mrs. Gunther. I’m certain she would be glad to help you boys pick out just the right one.”
    Dutch had seven rabbits, counting the one that had the litter, but there was only one his mother would let me borrow. That was a scrawny-looking old one that was so mean he had to be kept in a tin-lined box or he’d gnaw out. When I picked him up, he nearly tore my shirt sleeve off with his hind toenails. After that I didn’t want to borrow him at all. I was afraid he’d make my rabbits more upset than ever, but Mrs. Gunther seemed to want me to take him, so I did. I carried him home in an old onion sack, and put him in the top pen in the hutch, but he didn’t like it. He raced around it like a loco horse in a box stall, and banged his hind feet down on the floor boards so hard it sounded as though somebody might be hitting them with a hammer.
    Mother must have heard him clear in the house, because she put her shawl on again and came out to the hutch. We stood there looking at him for a minute or two. Then Mother said, “I believe you could raise us some awfully good meat at very little expense. That is, if you knew just how to take care of these rabbits.”
    â€œI do know just how to take care of them,” I said. “My rabbits are the biggest ones in town for their age, and I took care of them all by myself.”
    â€œYes, I know,” she said, “but now you need to get more little rabbits, don’t you?”
    â€œIt would be easier,” I told her, “if I had Lady so I could take Mrs. Lenheart on more trips. But I can earn some money from Mr. Wilke and buy little ones for a quarter apiece from Floyd Hornbuckle. Or, for seventy-five cents, I can get one that’s going to have a litter, like Dutch did.”
    â€œMmmm . . . hmmm . . . you could,” Mother said; “but aren’t these two sister rabbits of yours about old enough to be married? Maybe this old fellow would make them a good husband.”
    â€œNo, I don’t think so,” I said. “He’s mean. He nearly tore my shirt sleeve off, and he chewed his own pen half to pieces before Dutch put tin on it. He’d kill ’em both the first thing he did.”
    â€œOh, I don’t think he’d harm them a bit. I think he’d make them a good husband.”
    â€œWell, he can be their husband if you want him to,” I said, “but he’ll have to stay in his own pen. I know he’d kill them if he ever got a chance. You don’t know how mean he is.”
    Mother put her arm around my shoulder, and led me over by the barn door. We both sat down on the sill, and Mother said, “Do you remember how Father planted the beans?”
    â€œSure, I do,” I said. “I helped him. Father plowed the field while I was at