"I meant that it was."
"But you said--"
"Oh, what I _said_ was, of course, untrue."
"Do you mean you tell stories?" Ann looked very much shocked, and so
did the others.
"Certainly," said the Hare, "that's my business, I'm a False Hare, you
know. Oh, dear, yes, I tell heaps and heaps of stories, as many as I
possibly can, only sometimes I forget and then something true will
slip out of me. Oh, it's a hard life, it is, to be thoroughly
untruthful every single day from the time you get up in the morning
till the time you go to bed at night--round and round the clock, you
know! No eight-hour day for me. Ah, it's a sad, sad life!" He sighed
very mournfully, at the same time winking at Rudolf in such a funny
way that the boy burst out laughing. "Take warning by me, young man,"
he continued solemnly, "and inquire very, _very_ carefully concerning
whatever business you go into. If I had known what the life of a False
Hare really was, I doubt if I should have ever--But, dear me, this
will never do--you're getting me into mischief! I've hardly done so
much as a fib since we met."
"Oh, you mustn't mind _us_," said Rudolf, trying hard not to laugh,
as he and Ann and Peter marched along beside the False Hare. "You
mustn't let us interfere with your--your business, you know. We
sha'n't mind, at least we'll try not to.
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