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After a few hours of walking suddenly our friends faced a high fence which barred any further progress straight ahead. It ran directly across the road and enclosed a small forest of tall fleshtrees, set close together. When the group of adventurers peered through the bars of the fence they thought this forest looked more gloomy and forbidding and dank than any they had ever seen before.

They soon discovered that the path they had been following now made a bend and passed around the enclosure, but what made Soda stop and look thoughtful was a sign painted on the fence which read:

"SCHLING NATURE PRESERVE:

CONTENTS: ONE (1) JACKALOPE.

BEWARE OF THE JACKALOPE!"

"The jackalope must be dangerous or they wouldn't tell people to beware of it,” said the Spork Armadillo.

"But one of our errands is to find a jackalope," Soda explained. "The alchemist wants me to get antlers from the top of a green jackalope's head."

"Let's go on and find some other jackalope," suggested the armadillo. "This one is dangerous, or they wouldn't cage him up. Maybe we shall find another that is tame and gentle."

"Perhaps there isn't any other, at all," answered Soda. "The sign doesn't say: 'Beware a jackalope'; it says: 'Beware the jackalope,' which may mean there's only one in all of Pus."

"Then," said Chunks, "suppose we go in and find him? Very likely if we ask him politely to let us rip the antlers out of the top of his head he’ll be totally okay with it."

"It would hurt him, I'm sure, and that would make him cross," said the armadillo.

"You needn't worry, Sporky," remarked Chunks. The Spork Armadillo bristled at the name. "For if there is danger you can climb a tree. Soda and I are not afraid; are we, Soda?"

"I am, a little," Soda admitted; "but this danger must be faced, if we intend to save poor Uncle Karl. How shall we get over the fence?"

"Climb," answered Chunks, and at once she began climbing up the rows of bars. Soda followed and found it more easy than she had expected. When they got to the top of the fence they began to get down on the other side and soon were in the forest. The Spork Armadillo, being small, crept between the lower bars and joined them.

Here there was no path of any sort, so they entered the woods, the Schlingian girl leading the way, and wandered through the trees until they were nearly in the center of the forest. They now came upon a clear space in which stood a rocky cave.

So far they had met no living creature, but when Soda saw the cave she knew it must be the den of the jackalope.

It is hard to face any savage beast without a sinking of the heart, but still more terrifying is it to face an unknown creature, which you have never seen even a picture of. So there is little wonder that Soda’s pulse beat fast as she and her companions stood facing the cave.

"I guess the jackalope is asleep," said Soda. "Shall I throw in a stone, to waken him?"

"No; please don't," answered the Spork Armadillo, her voice trembling a little. "I'm in no hurry."

But they had not long to wait, for the jackalope heard the sound of voices and came bounding out of his cave. The furry yokai was indeed green, and looked like a bunny rabbit- although a bunny rabbit as big as a large dog. His face was not fierce nor ferocious in expression, but rather good-humored and droll, and growing out of the top of his head were a majestic pair of antlers.

Seeing the strangers, the jackalope sat on his hind-legs and looked at his visitors.

"Hello," he exclaimed; "I’m Gary. Boy, what a queer lot you are! At first I thought some of those miserable farmers had come to annoy me, but I am relieved to find you instead. It is plain to me that you are a remarkable group- as remarkable in your way as I am in mine- and so you are welcome to my domain. Nice place, isn't it? But lonesome- dreadfully lonesome."

"Why did they shut you up here?" asked Chunks, who was regarding the queer, antlered creature with much curiosity.

"Because I eat up all the flying scaterpillars which the Schling farmers who live around here keep to make their honey."

"Are you fond of eating scaterpillars?" inquired Soda.

"Very. They are really delicious. But the farmers did not like to lose their scaterpillars and so they tried to destroy me. Of course they couldn't do that."

"Why not?"

"My fur is so thick and tough that nothing can get through it to hurt me. So, finding they could not destroy me, they drove me into this forest and built a fence around me. Unkind, wasn't it?"

"But what do you eat now?" asked Soda.

"Nothing at all. I've tried the piles of alien feces and the thorny skunkweed and the mint lichen and the nippled fungus and the veiny vines, but they don't seem to suit my taste. So, there being no scaterpillars here, I've eaten nothing for years."

"You must be awfully hungry," said the girl. "I've got some balnuts in my backpack. Would you like that kind of food?"

"Give me some and I will try it; then I can tell you better whether it suits my palate," returned the jackalope.

So the girl opened her backpack and took out a plastic container of balnuts which she offered to the jackalope, who ate them up in a twinkling.

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"That's mighty good!" it exclaimed. "Any more?"

"No, you swallowed all the balnuts," said Soda.

"Well, I must say I'm much obliged, and I'm glad you came," announced the jackalope. "Is there anything I can do in return for your kindness?"

"Yes," said Soda earnestly, "you have it in your power to do me a great favor, if you will."

"What is it?" asked Gary. "Name the favor and I will grant it."

"I- I want antlers the antlers from the top of your head," said Soda, with some hesitation.

"My antlers?" said the green jackalope

"Yes."

"The antlers on the top of my head?"

"Yes."

"These antlers right here," Gary asked, pointing at his antlers.

"I’m afraid so," replied Soda. "I know it’s asking a lot but I need them very much."

"They are my sole ornaments, my prettiest feature," said the jackalope, uneasily. "If I give up those antlers I- I'm just a big dorky rabbit."

"Yet I must have them," insisted the Schling girl, firmly, and she then told the jackalope all about the accident to Uncle Karl and Sheila the Puffy Beaver, and how the antlers were to be a part of a thaumaturgic concoction that would restore them to life. The yokai listened with attention and when Soda had finished the recital it said, with a sigh:

"I pride myself on always keeping my word. So you may have the antlers, and welcome. I think, under such circumstances, it would be selfish in me to refuse you. It will only take a few decades for them to grow in again."

"Thank you! Thank you very much," cried the tween, joyfully. "May I break off the antlers now?"

"Any time you like," answered the jackalope.

So Soda went up to the queer creature and taking hold of one of the antlers began to pull. She pulled harder. She pulled with all his might; but the antlers remained fast.

"What's the trouble?" asked the green jackalope, which Soda had dragged here and there all around the clearing in his endeavor to pull out the horns.

"They won't come," said the girl, panting.

"I was afraid of that," declared the yokai. "You'll have to pull harder."

"I'll help you," exclaimed Chunks, coming to the girl's side. "You pull the antlers, and I'll pull you, and together we ought to get it out easily."

Soda grasped the antlers with both hands and pulled with all her strength, while Chunks seized the girl around his waist and added her strength to hers. But the antlers wouldn't budge. Instead, they slipped out of Soda's hands and she and Chunks both rolled upon the ground in a heap and never stopped rolling until they bumped against the rocky cave.

"Give it up," advised the Spork Armadillo, as the tween arose and assisted Chunks to her feet. "A dozen zvilpogghuas couldn’t break those antlers."

"Then what shall I do?" asked the girl, despairingly. "If on our return I fail to take these antlers to the Chimpanzee Alchemist, the other things I have come to seek will be of no use at all, and we cannot restore Uncle Karl and the Puffy Beaver to life."

"Piddily-Cum-a-Zess, said Chunks in a sing-songy voice. "I guess they're goners, I guess."

Soda was so disheartened that she sat down upon a stump and began to cry.

Gary looked at Soda thoughtfully.

"Why don't you take me with you?" asked the furry yokai. "Then, when at last you get to the alchemist's dome, he can surely find some way to pull out those antlers."

Soda was overjoyed at this suggestion.

"That's it!" she cried, wiping away the tears and springing to her feet with a smile. "If I take the antlers to the alchemist, it won't matter if they are still on your head."

"It can't matter in the least," agreed the jackalope.

"Come on, then," said the girl, picking up her backpack; "let us start at once. I have several other things to find, you know."

But the Spork Armadillo gave a little laugh and inquired in her scornful way:

"How do you intend to get the horned one out of this forest?"

That puzzled them all for a time.

"Let us go to the fence, and then we may find a way," suggested Chunks. So they walked through the forest to the fence, reaching it at a point exactly opposite that where they had entered the enclosure.

"How did you get in?" asked the jackalope.

"We climbed over," answered Soda.

"I can't do that," said the animal. "I'm a very swift runner and I can jump very high, which is the reason they made such a tall fence to keep me in. But I can't climb at all, and I'm too big to squeeze between the bars of the fence."

Soda tried to think what to do.

"I could growl at the fence, maybe that would knock it over," said the jackalope.

"A growl couldn’t do that!" retorted the Spork Armadillo.

"You haven't heard me growl, or you wouldn't say that," declared the green jackalope. "When I growl, the sound echoes like thunder all through the valleys and woodlands, and children tremble with fear, and men and women cover their heads with their hoodies, and big robots run and hide. I suppose there is nothing in the world so terrible to listen to as the growl of a jackalope."

"Please don't growl, then," begged the Spork Armadillo, earnestly.

"There is no danger of my growling, for I am not angry. Only when angry do I utter my fearful, ear-splitting, soul-shattering growl. Also, when I am angry, my eyes shoot lazers, whether I growl or not."

"Real lazers?" asked Soda.

"Of course, real lazers. Do you suppose they'd emit imitation lazers?" inquired the jackalope, in an injured tone.

"In that case, I've solved the riddle," cried Chunks, dancing with glee. "Piddily-Cum-a-Zood, those fence-boards are made of wood. If Mr. Jackalope zaps the fence it might start a fire hence. Then he could walk away with us easily, being free."

"Ah, I have never thought of that plan, or I would have been free long ago," said the jackalope. "But I cannot shoot lazers from my eyes unless I am very angry."

"Can't you get angry about something, please?" asked Soda.

"I'll try. You just have to say one word to me. You just say ‘Duzluk-Flatus’' to me."

"Will that make you angry?" inquired the girl.

"Terribly angry."

"What does it mean?" asked Chunks.

"I don't know; that's what makes me so angry," replied the jackalope.

He then stood close to the fence, with his head near one of the boards, and Chunks called out "Duzluk-Flatus!" Then Soda said "Duzluk-Flatus!" and the Spork Armadillo said "Duzluk-Flatus!" The green jackalope began to tremble with anger. Seeing this, they all cried "Duzluk-Flatus!" together. The green jackalope strained and strained, grunting and groaning and oozing sweat and then the beast's left eye shot a tiny lime green lazer. It hit the fence-board which caught fire. The green jackalope stepped back, panting heavily, and said triumphantly:

"Aha! That did the business, all right. It was a happy thought for you to yell all together, for that made me as angry as I have ever been. A fine lazer, wasn’t it?"

"Regular fireworks," replied Soda, applauding.

"Well, I can’t do that again for a month," said the jackalope.

In a few moments the board had burned to a distance of several feet, leaving an opening big enough for them all to pass through. Soda broke some branches from a fleshtree and with them whipped the fire until it was extinguished.

"We don't want to burn the whole fence down, that would attract the attention of the Schling farmers, who would then come and capture the me again. I guess they'll be rather surprised when they find I’ve escaped," declared Gary, chuckling gleefully. "When they find I'm gone the farmers will be badly scared, for they'll expect me to eat up their flying scaterpillars, as I did before."

"That reminds me," said the girl, "that you must promise not to eat scaterpillars while you are in our company."

"None at all?"

"Not a scaterpillar. You would get us all into trouble, and we can't afford to have any more trouble than is necessary. I'll feed you all the alien feces we can get, and that must satisfy you."

"All right; I'll promise," said the green jackalope, cheerfully. "And when I promise anything you can depend on it because I’m a jackalope!"

"I don't see what difference that makes," observed Chunks, as they found the path and continued their journey. "Piddily-Cum-a-Zest, a species doesn't make you honest."

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