23: Chapter 25. The Raid 

23.1 Burrowkeeping  

Returning to the Lost Paragraph, I have now found two places in the book where Bigwig calls Hazel 'Hazel-rah' before the ending, where, in an edition  with the Lost Paragraph, he does not. In the puffin edition, these occur on pages 225, at Nuthanger Farm, and 374, on the River Test. Thank you to Amber Rizzi for helping me find that second example. 

This means that the manuscript that omits the Lost Paragraph was also edited in detail in order to ensure that Bigwig does use Hazel's title, more than once, before the end.  

23.2 Chapter 25. The Raid 

This chapter possibly represents the low point for the Warren on WD. And yet, within it, lie all the seeds of their future success. 

The opening quotation relates to the coming of age of a leader and is taken from 'The King must Die' by Mary Renault.  

Hazel and Pipkin don't get back to the Warren until it is nearly dark. Hazel has missed the news that Holly and the rest of the expedition had reached the other warren the previous evening, as reported by Kehaar. Fiver is less than impressed with him when he outlines his plan. The raid has to be put off as the rain settles in. Fiver talks to Hazel again about the Raid, asking him not to go. He agrees not to enter the farm itself. 

The next day is dry. Bigwig and Hazel decide to go to the farm at sunset. As Hazel waits just outside the farm the raiding party sets off. 

Bigwig meets a cat almost straight away. This is not the cat that chased Fiver and Pipkin. Bigwig and Dandelion attack it immediately, with Speedwell following up. They quickly find the shed with the hutch. Bigwig and Blackberry set about opening the hutch while the others keep watch. 

In the hutch, the buck Boxwood speaks first, asking if that is Hazel who has come back to let them out. Blackberry sets about getting the hutch open. It is slow work. Blackberry suggests pushing the door from outside, which produces a twisting that wears the hinge off its final nail. The hutch is open. 

In the yard outside the cat is still watching them, though it won't attack. Boxwood and Clover seem to understand the urgency of the need to get away, but Laurel and Haystack are a lot slower. The cat begins to circle them. The cat Hazel and Pipkin met also emerges. 

And then the dog wakes up. It sees the rabbits and begins to bark. 

Bigwig orders them all to run. Clover and Boxwood do, but the other two stay where they are. Hazel gives some of the party the job of getting Clover and Boxwood back to WD, while he and Dandelion will go and get the other two hutch rabbits.  

Joining Hazel, Dandelion finds him taking to Haystack. An odd light becomes apparent. Adams' introduction of the car arriving at the farm, with its headlights on, is pure genius, as we experience it completely from a rabbit's point of view. 

Hearing human voices, Hazel snaps out of it and tells them all to close their eyes and run. Dandelion and Haystack do so, but the buck Laurel has to be left behind. 

The men are searching for them with the torch. Hazel creates a diversion so they can get away. They keep the torch on him. And he is shot. 

Hazel manages to drag himself into a land-drain just in time to avoid being found. They all wait for Hazel just in case. Then Bigwig and Dandelion go looking for him. They see blood and obviously get very close to where he is. But Hazel is unconscious and they can't see him. 

An advance party reaches the Down at first light. Fiver comes to meet them and is told what has happened by Blackberry. But he already knows. As they approached, he saw a rabbit following them, limping and blood-soaked, and then it disappeared. 

Later that morning, the party who went to the other Warren return with no does. Of the four of them, only Silver is okay. 

We have truly reached a low point in the story. 

23.3 Next episode 

Next time, Fiver has a vision...and we learn about the other Warren.