Chapter 3

"I must have caught cold," Mr. Fox replied. "I've been chilly all the morning."

"You'd better go home," Jimmy Rabbit advised him. But Mr. Fox wouldn't have left for anything.

"Now he's choking!" Mr. Crow said. "I declare, I can't have my picture painted with such goings-on." And he started to fly away.

But Jimmy Rabbit begged him to stand still just a little longer.

"The picture is almost done," he said. "There!" he added, a bit later. "It's finished. And I know you'll be pleased."

It was clear that Mr. Fox was pleased, for he was actually beaming. Jimmy thought he had never seen him look so pleasant. Mr. Crow had to ask him to stand aside, so _he_ could have a look.

"I should think I might gaze on my own picture," he grumbled.

At first Mr. Crow was delighted. Then he seemed somewhat puzzled.

"The face is good," he said. "And no one could ask for a better picture of a hat. But there's something that doesn't look quite right." And all at once Mr. Crow saw what was the matter. And he flew at the picture and ran his bill through it in a dozen places. "The idea!" he said. "I've never been so insulted in all my life!" And without another word he flew out of sight.

It was no wonder that he was angry. For in the picture Jimmy Rabbit had painted him with four legs!

"Well," said Jimmy, "he needn't be so cross about it. It was his own fault. He wanted to hold his hat. And I just _had_ to give him more than one leg to stand on."

14

Boy Lost!

Poor Mrs. Rabbit didn't know what to do. Her son Jimmy had not been home since early morning; and she was sure he was lost. She hurried through the woods, looking for him everywhere. But not a trace of him could she find. No one had seen him.

At last Mrs. Rabbit happened to meet Jasper Jay.

"Have you seen Jimmy?" she asked.

"Yes!" he said. "Right after breakfast I saw him hurrying along the road by the river. The gypsies have a camp there. And I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they had stolen him," he added very cheerfully.

When Mrs. Rabbit heard that she was terribly upset.

"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" she cried. "Whatever shall I do?"

"The usual thing," Jasper Jay told her, "is to offer a reward."

"Is that so?" said Mrs. Rabbit. "I've never done anything like that. Will you help me?"

"Why, certainly!" said Jasper. And he set to work and painted a big sign, which looked like this:

LOST, STRAYED, OR STOLEN!

A boy in a checkered suit, with a short tail and long ears. He answers to the name of Jimmy Rabbit. A reward will be paid for his return, and no questions asked. MRS. RABBIT, Near the Big Pine Tree.

"There!" said Jasper Jay, proudly. "That ought to fetch him, if anything will." And he and Mrs. Rabbit took the sign down to the road and hung it on a fence-post.

"Why do you say 'No questions asked'?" she inquired.

"That's the way it's always done," said Jasper.

Now, it was almost as Jasper Jay had thought. Jimmy Rabbit was at the gypsies' camp. But he hadn't been stolen. He was skulking about, as near the gypsies as he dared to go. And he was so interested in what he saw that he had entirely forgotten to go home to dinner. But late in the afternoon he began to have such a queer feeling in his stomach that he remembered then that he had had nothing to eat since breakfast. And he started off up the road, towards home.

You can imagine how surprised he was when he stopped and read Jasper Jay's sign. As soon as he had read it a second time he decided that he had better hurry home a little faster. For he could see that his mother was worried.

So Jimmy jumped through the fence and went hopping across the meadow. Soon he was home again; and Mrs. Rabbit was hugging him and asking him where he had been and what he had been doing.

Jimmy was just going to tell her. But he happened to think that when his mother learned that he had been at the gypsies' camp all day she might not be pleased. And then he remembered that sign.

"Why don't you answer me?" Mrs. Rabbit asked. "You'd better speak up at once. Where have you been?"

"But the sign said 'No questions asked'!" Jimmy reminded her.

When she heard that, Mrs. Rabbit gasped.

"Yes!" Jimmy went on. "And it said 'A reward will be paid for his return'!"

Mrs. Rabbit gasped again. She saw that Jasper Jay had got her into trouble. It seemed to her that it would be very hard to have to pay a reward to her own son. But Mrs. Rabbit was a person who always kept her word.

"Well," she said, "what do you want?"

"I think," Jimmy told her, "that I would like something to eat."

"Then the gypsies didn't give you your dinner," Mrs. Rabbit said.

"No, Mother!" Jimmy answered, before he thought. So you see that Mrs. Rabbit found out where he had been, after all, even though she asked no questions.

It is very hard to keep anything from one's mother.

15

Telling Fortunes

At the gypsies' camp Jimmy Rabbit had seen something that was very interesting. He had watched the gypsies telling fortunes. And he saw no reason why he should not become a fortune-teller himself. It looked easy enough. All you had to do was to hold the hand of the person whose fortune you were telling and say anything that came into your head. And you were paid for it, too! That was the best part of it all.

As soon as he had eaten the lunch that his mother gave him, Jimmy skipped away to ask everyone he met if he wanted his fortune told. And there wasn't a single person who didn't say "Yes!" at once.

"All right!" Jimmy told everybody. "It will cost you one cabbage.... And you can find me under the big willow near the brook."

"I'll come along with you now," said Fatty Coon. "You can tell my fortune. And afterward I'll go down to Farmer Green's and get a cabbage for you."

"That won't do!" said Jimmy. "You'll have to give me the cabbage first."

So Fatty hurried down the hill. Never before had he seen so many of his neighbors in Farmer Green's garden. And they were all looking for cabbages. It was quite clear that Jimmy Rabbit was going to be very busy.

Those who could run the fastest had their fortunes told first, for they were the ones that reached the big willow the soonest. And Mr. Fox was the quickest of all.

Jimmy Rabbit looked at Mr. Fox's paw. He wouldn't hold it, as he had seen the gypsies hold the hands of the people who visited them, for he never liked to get too near Mr. Fox. But Mr. Fox didn't know the difference.

"First I'll tell your _past_," Jimmy said.

But Mr. Fox thought there was no sense in doing that. "I know all about my past," he said.

"Well, I'll tell your present, then," said Jimmy Rabbit.

"Oh, that's silly!" Mr. Fox sneered. "You're telling my fortune--_that's_ what my present is."

"Your future, then!" Jimmy continued. "I'll tell your future."

"Good!" said Mr. Fox. "That's just what I want."

So Jimmy Rabbit looked at his paw again.

"Beware of a dark man!" he said. "He'll make trouble for you if he can."

"That must be Farmer Green," Mr. Fox remarked. "I shall have to be careful."

"And I see a spotted person chasing you," said Jimmy.

Mr. Fox shuddered.

"Old dog Spot!" he said. "Hurry and finish! I must be running along." And he glanced over his shoulder as if he half expected to see Spot come bounding towards him.

"You are going on a journey," Jimmy Rabbit told him. "You are going to the other side of Blue Mountain. Beneath the great oak near the lake" (everybody had heard of the great oak) "when the moon comes up to-night, you will find the surprise of your life.... That's all!" Jimmy said.

Mr. Fox thought it was well worth one cabbage. And he went off wondering about that surprise.

Jimmy Rabbit told many fortunes that day. And the last one of all was Henry Skunk's, because Henry was so slow in coming up the hill from the garden.

By the time he had reached Henry Skunk, Jimmy could think of nothing new to say. So he began at the beginning again and told Henry Skunk exactly what he had said to Mr. Fox.

And Henry seemed just as pleased as Mr. Fox had been.

Then Jimmy waited for some time, because Fatty Coon had not appeared at all. You see, Fatty had been trying and trying to bring a cabbage up the hill, to pay for having his fortune told. But before he was half way up he always grew so hungry that he had to eat the cabbage, and then there was nothing to do but go back for another. So poor Fatty never had his fortune told at all.

The next day Jimmy Rabbit heard that Mr. Fox and Henry Skunk had had a terrible battle on the other side of Blue Mountain, just as the moon came up. It was said that each thought the other was spying on him.

Jimmy Rabbit was the only person who knew how it had come about. And _he_ wouldn't tell.

16

Red Leggins

It was winter. And you would naturally think that Jimmy Rabbit would be happy, there was so much snow to play in. But he wasn't. I am sorry to say that he was sulking in the house, while all his friends were out of doors, having a good time in the snow.

The trouble was this: Mrs. Rabbit wouldn't let Jimmy play in the snowdrifts unless he wore his red leggins. And Jimmy just hated them. None of the other youngsters had to wear red leggins. And they made all manner of fun of Jimmy, and called him names, whenever he appeared in those bright red things.

The worst name that they called him was one that Fatty Coon made up. It was "Red Legs." And it was a little more than Jimmy could bear. So Jimmy said he would rather not go out at all, than wear those horrid leggins.

"Very well!" his mother said.

But all the time Jimmy kept wishing he was out there with the others. He could hear them laughing and shouting.

"Mayn't I go out without my leggins if I stay in my own yard?" he asked his mother.

"Yes!" she said, "if you won't step in the deep snow." So Jimmy went outside and watched his friends.

"Come on, Jimmy!" they cried. "Tommy Fox has taught us a new game. It's fox-and-geese!"

But Jimmy Rabbit shook his head.

"I can't!" he said. "I'm too busy."

"Ho! Jimmy Rabbit has to work!" somebody cried.

But Jimmy Rabbit smiled.

"Maybe _you'd_ call it work," he said. "But _I_ call it a good deal of fun.... I'm forming a club," he told them.

"A club? What's that?" asked Frisky Squirrel.

"It's a jolly band of fellows," Jimmy told him. "Sort of a secret society, you know. We'll have all kinds of fun."

"Who's in your club?"

"That's one of the secrets," Jimmy answered. "We don't tell."

"I'd like to join," Frisky told him. And the others all said that they would like to be members, too.

"Well, everything has to be very private," Jimmy said. "Anybody who wants to belong to the club has to come and ask me. And I'll tell him what to do, if I want him to belong.... One at a time, now! Don't crowd!" Jimmy said. For everybody was coming inside his yard.

He stood at one side and wouldn't talk above a whisper. And to each of his friends he said:

"You have to have a uniform, you know.... The name of the club is The Scarlet Spies. And everyone who is in it must wear a pair of scarlet leggins."

Just as soon as they learned that, the whole troop hurried away. And by afternoon the woods seemed to have turned red, there were so many pairs of scarlet leggins twinkling almost anywhere you looked.

In fact, there was only one of Jimmy's young neighbors who hadn't been able to get a pair. And that was Fatty Coon. Goodness knows he wanted some scarlet leggins. But his mother simply would not buy him any, in spite of all his teasing.

"Why are we called The Scarlet Spies?" Frisky Squirrel asked Jimmy.

"Because we _spy_ on everybody who doesn't wear the uniform," Jimmy Rabbit explained. "Now, there's Fatty Coon! We'll follow him wherever he goes, and watch everything he does. But we mustn't have anything to do with him, because he's what is called an 'outsider'."

Fatty Coon didn't like it at all when he found that The Scarlet Spies were following him about, hiding behind trees, and peeping at him.

"Shucks!" he cried. "Those are nothing but _red leggins_! Jimmy Rabbit has played another trick on you."

But Jimmy Rabbit didn't mind what he said. He could play in the snow now without being called names. And that was enough for him.

17

The Rabbits' Ball

The Rabbits' Ball (that was a dancing party, you know) was something to which Jimmy Rabbit had looked forward for a long time.

Now, only rabbits were invited. And everybody that came was expected to wear fancy clothes, and a mask.

Jimmy Rabbit had decided that he would go to the Ball dressed like one of his sisters. He thought that he could have a good deal of fun in that way. And as it happened, he was not disappointed.

The night of the great Ball had come; and Jimmy Rabbit had a delightful time dancing with friends of his who thought he was a girl. But after a while almost everybody knew almost everybody else--in spite of the masks they wore. But there were two dancers whom nobody seemed to know.

One was dressed as a giant-dwarf, and the other as a dwarf-giant. And they looked a good deal alike, except that one of them (that was the gentleman) was tall and thin; and the other (that was the lady) was short and fat. They didn't appear even to know each other. But they both enjoyed the Ball--at least they told everyone that they did.

Before the Ball was over the tall, thin stranger invited Jimmy Rabbit to dance with him--supposing, of course, that Jimmy was a girl.

It struck Jimmy that the stranger was very, very tall for a rabbit. Only rabbits were invited to the party, you remember.

Well, as the stranger walked away, after the dance was done, Jimmy Rabbit caught a glimpse of a bushy red tail beneath his coat. And he knew right away who it was. It was Tommy Fox! And, of course, he had no business to be there, at the Rabbits' Ball!

That set Jimmy to thinking. And he wasn't long in making up his mind that the short, fat lady was no other than Fatty Coon. When Jimmy looked sharply he could see where Fatty's tail was hidden beneath the dress he was wearing. And, of course, he had no business there, either.

Pretty soon Jimmy Rabbit thought of a plan. And he hurried up to the tall stranger and said:

"We are now going to have a new sort of dance. And knowing you to be a fine dancer, I would suggest that you ask that shortish, stoutish lady to be your partner. I should say that next to you, she is the most graceful dancer at the Ball."

Tommy Fox hurried over at once to claim a dance with the strange lady, who was really Fatty Coon--only Tommy didn't know it.

As soon as everyone was ready, Jimmy Rabbit climbed on top of a toadstool and made a speech.

"The new dance," he said, "will be like this: Everybody must be blindfolded." So every dancer pulled out his pocket-handkerchief and tied it over his eyes. "The new dance will be _without_ music," Jimmy added. "You will dance until the music _begins_, instead of dancing until it _stops_."

Everyone said that that was a queer sort of dance. But Jimmy Rabbit paid no attention to such remarks.

"All ready!" he called. "One, two, three--dance!" he cried in a loud voice.

Among all that crowd, Jimmy Rabbit was the only one who was not blindfolded. But no one else knew that, for nobody could see him--except the musicians. And as soon as Jimmy whispered something to them they tucked their corn-stalk fiddles under their arms and ran away.

But everybody kept dancing--because, you remember, it was to be a dance without music. Jimmy Rabbit had said that they weren't to stop dancing till the music began. And with the fiddlers gone, you might think they'd be dancing yet.

But it was not so.

18

A Dance Without Music

As soon as Tommy Fox began to dance with the strange lady (she was really Fatty Coon, you know), he saw very quickly that she was not a good dancer at all. She kept stepping on Tommy's feet, and tripping him. And Tommy kept wishing that the music would begin, so he could stop dancing. You remember that Jimmy Rabbit had said that this was to be a dance _without_ music, and that everybody had to be blindfolded, too.

At first, Tommy Fox and his partner kept bumping into other dancers. That was natural enough, too, because how could anyone see, with a pocket-handkerchief tied over his eyes?

After a while Tommy noticed that they bumped into fewer and fewer people, until at last they never ran into any others at all. But he never stopped to wonder at that. He was only glad that it was so.

Being blindfolded, he had not seen what was going on. But Jimmy Rabbit was very busy. He kept going up to all the rabbit dancers, and whispering to them, and telling them to take their pocket-handkerchiefs off their eyes and run away, because Tommy Fox and Fatty Coon had come to the Rabbits' Ball, without being invited. So two by two the dancers stole off, until there were only three of the merrymakers left. Two of those were Tommy Fox and Fatty Coon, who were still dancing, still blindfolded, and each still thinking that the other was a rabbit. The third was Jimmy Rabbit himself. But he was not dancing. He was peeping out from behind a tree, and wondering what was going to happen.

And all the time Tommy Fox was wishing the music would begin. Of course, he didn't know that Jimmy Rabbit had sent the fiddlers away.

Now, the longer they danced, the oftener the fat lady stepped on Tommy's feet. And he grew so angry that he finally said:

"Do be careful where you step!"

That remark did not please Fatty Coon.

"Don't tell _me_ how to dance!" he said. "You're a great, clumsy creature!"

"I'm not!" Tommy retorted. "I'm the best dancer at the Ball. But _you_ can't dance any better than a coon!"

That was enough for Fatty. He tore the handkerchief off his eyes. And Tommy Fox was just as quick. He saw that he had made an unwise speech. And he snatched the bandage from his own face.

"You've played a trick on me!" Tommy Fox cried, when he saw that all the other dancers--and the fiddlers, too--had gone.

"You've played one on me!" Fatty Coon shouted. And he pulled the mask off Tommy Fox's face.

And again Tommy Fox was just as quick. He reached out and twitched away Fatty Coon's mask.

For one second they stared at each other. And then they jumped at each other.

Jimmy Rabbit didn't wait to see anything more. He felt that it would be much safer somewhere else. And besides, the Rabbits' Ball had come to an end.

That was the last time that Fatty Coon and Tommy Fox ever went to a party to which they were not invited. Jimmy Rabbit had taught them a lesson.

19

Jimmy Grows Too Cheeky

Mrs. Rabbit always tried to teach her children good manners. It was no easy matter, either, with four girls and three boys. But she was glad that she hadn't four boys and three girls, because her boys always stuffed their mouths when they ate.

One day at dinner Mrs. Rabbit said:

"Jimmy! Don't fill your mouth so full! If you could see how you look, with your cheeks sticking out, you'd be more careful."

The first thing Mrs. Rabbit knew, Jimmy burst into tears.

"I haven't eaten a thing!" he said. "There's nothing in my mouth at all. I'm not a bit hungry."

When Mrs. Rabbit looked at his plate she knew at once that there must be something the matter with him, for she saw that Jimmy hadn't touched his dinner. And usually he was the first to ask for more.

"That boy is not well!" she told her husband. "I wish you would go and ask Aunt Polly Woodchuck to step over here." Aunt Polly, you know, was a famous doctor.

Well, Mr. Rabbit hurried away as soon as he had finished his meal. And it wasn't long before old Aunt Polly hobbled up to Mrs. Rabbit's door.

"Come right in!" Mrs. Rabbit said. "It's Jimmy! I want you to look at him. He wouldn't eat any dinner, and his cheeks stick out very queerly."

Old Aunt Polly gave Jimmy a sharp pinch on one of his puffed-out cheeks.

"Ouch!" he said.

"Did that hurt?" Aunt Polly asked him.

"Yessum!" he answered.

"Hm--I thought so!" she said. You see, Aunt Polly was a good doctor. She generally knew what was what.

Then she reached into her basket and drew out a green apple, and gave it to Jimmy Rabbit.

"Here!" she said. "Take a big bite!"

Jimmy did just as she told him to. And then he cried "Ouch!" again.

"Did it hurt?" she asked him.

"Yessum!" he said.

"I thought so!" Aunt Polly replied. And turning to Mrs. Rabbit, she said, "This boy has mumps."

"You don't say so!" Mrs. Rabbit exclaimed.

"I do, indeed!" Aunt Polly declared. "Give him a cup of catnip tea and put him to bed. And let him have a hot-water bottle at his feet. And if everything isn't all right, just send for me again." So she went away. And Jimmy went to bed.

He kept his mother busy for a few days, for he was always asking her to fill his hot-water bottle with hotter water. But she was glad to do that for him. And she was pleased to see that he was improving.

Then one day Mrs. Rabbit discovered that the hot-water bottle was full of small holes. The water ran out of it almost as fast as she poured it in.

Mrs. Rabbit was surprised. She was worried, too, for it was no easy matter to get a new hot-water bottle where she lived.

"Aunt Polly said to send for her again if everything wasn't all right," she said to Mr. Rabbit. "So you'd better go and tell her to come over at once."

20

A Queer Cure

When that famous doctor, Aunt Polly Woodchuck, reached Mrs. Rabbit's house, she said:

"Is Jimmy worse? He ought to be almost well by this time; for mumps don't last long, as a rule."

"It isn't Jimmy," Mrs. Rabbit told her. "It's the hot-water bottle! I find that it's full of holes; and I can't think how they came there."

Aunt Polly put on another pair of spectacles.

"Let me see it!" she said. "Aha!" she exclaimed, as she looked at the hot-water bottle closely. "I thought so!" she said.

"What is it?" Mrs. Rabbit inquired. "I hope it's nothing catching. For just think what a fix we'd be in if all the children should have that same trouble!"

Aunt Polly told her not to worry.

"You'd better get a new bottle," she said, "for this one can't be cured. But I'll show you what to do to prevent the new hot-water bottle from getting full of holes like this one.... Get me a piece of string!" said Aunt Polly.

Now, for some reason or other, Jimmy Rabbit began to feel very uncomfortable. He was no longer in bed. And when he heard Aunt Polly ask for a piece of string he started to sneak out of the room.

But Aunt Polly saw him.

"Come back here!" she said. "I want you!" And she made Jimmy sit at her feet and wait until his mother returned.

"Here!" Mrs. Rabbit said when she came back at last. "Is this string what you need? It's a very strong piece."

"Just the thing!" Aunt Polly told her. And she took hold of Jimmy Rabbit.

He began to howl. And he squirmed. And he would have kicked, if he had dared.

Aunt Polly Woodchuck did a strange thing then. She hung the hot-water bottle from Jimmy's neck.

"There!" she said. "Just let him wear that for a few days! I don't think you'll have any more trouble with holes in hot-water bottles."

"Have you known cases like this before?" Mrs. Rabbit asked her.

"A few!" said Aunt Polly. "And this is by far the best way to treat them. I've never known it to fail."

"It seems to me it's rather hard on Jimmy," Mrs. Rabbit said.

"Don't you worry about him!" Aunt Polly told her. "It will do him a world of good."

Jimmy Rabbit hung his head. He hated to have that hot-water bottle dangling from his neck. And he made up his mind that he would never prick another pin-hole in anything else so long as he lived.

But he was glad of one thing. He was glad Aunt Polly hadn't told his mother what he had done.