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Show page 30 shaded by white oaks. He crept forward to one of the trees and leaned against it and waited. He x<7as undoubtedly tense. He had never fired the gun before, according to his s i s t e r Cora. He was knocked flat on his back by the gun's r e c o i l . The rabbit, a dark sx^amp variety, tumbled half under a nearby plum bush. John Greene jumped for i t in wild Indian fashion, snatched i t up, picked up his gun and retraced h i s steps to the cabin. Cora was in the doorway. "Here comes John Greene!" she shouted to her mother. "He's got a rabbit!" "Glory be, did my boy get a rabbit!" said the mother. "Get some wood, s t a r t a f i r e , I ' l l clean i t , " Cora said. John Greene flung himself about the yard, snatching at sticks, and nieces of plank from the unused hogpens. Cora had the rabbit skinned and cut up, into a pot of water, when John Greene raised from blowing the f i r e . He peered into the pot. " I t ' s a big buck, a i n ' t i t , " he said. "John Greene won't never be 12 years old again," said his mother. "My boy's got new muscles in his arms and legs." Cora dropped cornmeal dumplings into the pot and John Greene scavenged for more wood, and no one in the cabin thought of the f a t h e r ' s return, though Willie was only a half mile away, stumbling along the powdery road, cursing the barren land, beached frogs, and t h i r s t y , strident insects of the t w i l i g h t . The smell of the stewinp- rabbit reached him and he stumbled f a s t e r . He came into the cabin at a half run and bleary-eyed leaned against the closed door. "Istfthat you, W l i r r ^ " asked the mother. |
