The Story of a Candy Rabbit | Page 7

the Sawdust Doll.
"Oh, dear me, he certainly is going to carry me off!" thought the Doll. "I wish I dared scream!"
But the cat was not after the Doll. With another jump Tom landed on the table beside the bowl of goldfish.
"Goodness sakes alive! my time has come," thought the poor frightened Candy Rabbit. "The cat is going to eat me!"
But Tom was not after a Candy Rabbit. His greedy eyes were on the swimming goldfish in the open glass bowl. Dorothy and Madeline sat with their backs to the little table on which stood the bowl of fish and the Candy Rabbit. The little girls were busy talking.
All of a sudden Tom stood up on his hind legs and put his forepaws on the edge of the bowl. As he did this the fish began swimming around swiftly, very much frightened, indeed, just as you may have seen a canary bird flutter in a cage when some cat came too close.
"Oh, he isn't after me--he's after the fish!" thought the Candy Rabbit. "Oh, the poor fish! I wish I could save them!"
Tom was switching his tail to and fro, as cats always do when they are about to catch a bird, a fish or anything alive. The fish were swimming about faster and faster inside their bowl of water. They could make no noise. Some fish, such as catfish, can make a little sound out of water, and so can the fish called grunters, but I never heard of any other fish making any noise. Though of course they may be able to talk among themselves, for all I know.
Standing with his forepaws on the edge of the glass bowl, Tom dipped one paw down toward the water to get a fish. His tail kept on switching to and fro, and, all at once, it switched against the Candy Rabbit and tilted the Bunny over toward the glass bowl.
"Tinkle-tinkle! Tink!" went the hard ears of the Candy Rabbit against the glass, making a noise like the ringing of a little bell.
"What's that?" suddenly cried Madeline, turning from the table where she sat with Dorothy eating cookies.
Dorothy also turned and looked. The two little girls saw Tom up on the goldfish table.
"Oh, you bad cat, get down from there!" cried Madeline, and she looked for something to throw at Tom. "Get away from our fish!" she cried.
The cat paused a moment, and then, seeing he would be caught if he tried to get a fish, down he jumped, with a last, angry switch of his tail at the Candy Rabbit.
"That was all your fault!" hissed the cat to the Bunny in a whisper. "If you hadn't made a noise they wouldn't have seen me. I'll fix you for that, Mr. Candy Rabbit!"
CHAPTER IV
UP IN THE AIR
Madeline and Dorothy were so surprised at first at seeing the bad cat in the room that they did not know what to do, except that Madeline called "Scat!" to him.
But when the cat jumped down and started to run out of the room, the little girls began to talk very fast.
"Oh, wasn't he a bold thing!" cried Madeline.
"Did he get any of your goldfish?" Dorothy asked.
She and Madeline hurried over to the bowl and counted the swimming fishes.
"No, there are five there, and that's all we had," said Madeline. "The naughty cat didn't get any."
"What do you suppose made that noise like the ringing of a bell?" asked Dorothy.
"It was the Candy Rabbit," answered Madeline. "Look! He fell over against the glass bowl, and, lots of times, when I've been feeding the fish and have struck the bowl, it has rung like a bell. The Candy Rabbit did that, and that's what made me look around."
"Wouldn't it have been funny if the Rabbit had made the bowl tinkle all by himself?" asked Dorothy, with a laugh.
"Yes. But he couldn't," said Madeline.
And, now I come to think of it, maybe the Candy Rabbit did topple over by himself, to strike against the bowl and so cause Dorothy and Madeline to turn around in time to stop the bad cat from getting the goldfish. Mind you, I am not saying for sure that this happened. The cat's tail certainly brushed against the Candy Rabbit, but the sweet chap may have tinkled against the glass globe himself. He surely wanted to save the fish from being eaten.
During the rest of Easter Sunday the children played quietly with their toys. Mirabell and Arnold, the other little boy and girl, came over to Madeline's house with their gifts and every one had a happy time.
The Candy Rabbit was looked at over and over again, but, though he liked this and was glad and happy he had come to live with Madeline, yet he could not help worrying about what the