'He scratches most awfully sometimes,' cried Winifred in excitement.
'Oh do look at him, isn't he wonderful!' The rabbit tore round the
hutch in a hurry. 'Bismarck!' cried the child, in rousing excitement.
'How DREADFUL you are! You are beastly.' Winifred looked up at Gudrun
with some misgiving in her wild excitement. Gudrun smiled sardonically
with her mouth. Winifred made a strange crooning noise of unaccountable
excitement. 'Now he's still!' she cried, seeing the rabbit settled down
in a far corner of the hutch. 'Shall we take him now?' she whispered
excitedly, mysteriously, looking up at Gudrun and edging very close.
'Shall we get him now?-' she chuckled wickedly to herself.
They unlocked the door of the hutch. Gudrun thrust in her arm and
seized the great, lusty rabbit as it crouched still, she grasped its
long ears. It set its four feet flat, and thrust back. There was a long
scraping sound as it was hauled forward, and in another instant it was
in mid-air, lunging wildly, its body flying like a spring coiled and
released, as it lashed out, suspended from the ears. Gudrun held the
black-and-white tempest at arms' length, averting her face. But the
rabbit was magically strong, it was all she could do to keep her grasp.
She almost lost her presence of mind.
'Bismarck, Bismarck, you are behaving terribly,' said Winifred in a
rather frightened voice, 'Oh, do put him down, he's beastly.' Gudrun stood for a moment astounded by the thunder-storm that had
sprung into being in her grip. Then her colour came up, a heavy rage
came over her like a cloud. She stood shaken as a house in a storm, and
utterly overcome. Her heart was arrested with fury at the mindlessness
and the bestial stupidity of this struggle, her wrists were badly
scored by the claws of the beast, a heavy cruelty welled up in her.
Gerald came round as she was trying to capture the flying rabbit under
her arm. He saw, with subtle recognition, her sullen passion of
cruelty.
'You should let one of the men do that for you,' he said hurrying up.
'Oh, he's SO horrid!' cried Winifred, almost frantic.
He held out his nervous, sinewy hand and took the rabbit by the ears,
from Gudrun.
'It's most FEARFULLY strong,' she cried, in a high voice, like the
crying a seagull, strange and vindictive.
The rabbit made itself into a ball in the air, and lashed out, flinging
itself into a bow. It really seemed demoniacal. Gudrun saw Gerald's
body tighten, saw a sharp blindness come into his eyes.