The Story of a Candy Rabbit | Page 5

which he could do now, as there were no human
eyes to see him. "It's just like perfume!"
"It is perfume!" a voice suddenly said, and the Candy Rabbit was very
much surprised.
"Who are you?" he asked.
And then he saw, standing on the shelf near him, what seemed to be a
little doll made of glass. On her head was a funny little cap, ending in a
point, like the cap a dunce wears in school in the story books, and as
the Candy Rabbit hopped nearer this Glass Doll the sweet smell of
perfume became stronger.
"Where is all the nice smell?" asked the Candy Rabbit.
"I am it," answered the Glass Doll. "I am made hollow, and inside I am
filled with perfume. There is a hole in the top of my head and up

through my pointed cap, and whenever the lady stands me on my head
and jiggles me up and down some perfume spills out on her
handkerchief."
"Stands you on your head!" cried the Candy Rabbit. "I shouldn't think
you would like that!"
"Oh, well, I'm used to it by this time," said the Glass Doll. "But tell me,
who are you, and what are you doing here?"
"I am a Candy Rabbit, and I guess I am going to be an Easter present,"
was the answer. And, surely enough, he was.
Later that night Madeline's mother opened the closet door. The Candy
Rabbit saw her take down the Glass Doll, tip her upside down and
sprinkle a little perfume on her fingers, which she rubbed on her hair.
"And now we shall hide the Easter baskets, so Madeline and Herbert
may hunt for them and find them to-morrow morning," said the lady. "I
must hide this Rabbit extra well, so Madeline will have a lot of fun
searching for him."
"Put him behind the piano," said a man. He was the children's father.
"I will," said Mother, and that is where the Candy Rabbit was hidden.
Near him was placed a little basket filled with Easter eggs. Some of
them were made of candy, and others were like those in the store--filled
with pretty scenes.
"Those are the places I thought were Fairyland," said the Candy Rabbit
to himself, as he looked at the basket of eggs. "I wish some Chicken or
Duck were here for me to talk to. Eggs can't say very much."
And of course that was true. Not until an egg turns into a chicken can it
move about and say things by cackling--or crowing, if it's a rooster
instead of a hen.
"I suppose I might hop around the room and find some one to talk to,"

thought the Candy Rabbit to himself, when he noticed that he was left
alone behind the piano with the basket of eggs. "But perhaps it would
be better to wait, since I am a stranger here."
So the Candy Rabbit kept very still and quiet all night, and in the
morning it was Easter Sunday.
Herbert and Madeline were up early, for it was one of the joys of their
lives to hunt for Easter eggs. Eagerly they ran about the rooms, looking
under chairs, on mantels, behind the phonograph and beneath the sofa.
"Oh, I've found one basket!" cried Herbert, as he saw a large one, filled
with green curled wood and eggs, under the library table.
"And I've found another!" shouted Madeline, as, after rather a long
search, she looked behind the piano. "I've found a basket and--and--Oh,
Herbert! look what a lovely Candy Rabbit. Oh, I'm so glad!" and the
little girl picked up the Candy Rabbit and fairly hugged him. The
Candy Rabbit was very happy. He had now found some one to love
him--some one to whom he could belong, as the Sawdust Doll
belonged to the little girl Dorothy.
As Madeline took up her Easter basket and the Rabbit, Herbert, who
was eating some of his candy eggs, called:
"Here come Dorothy and Dick over to show us their Easter baskets."
"And I'm going to show Dorothy my Candy Rabbit!" cried Madeline.
Running to the window, Madeline held up the Rabbit, and he, looking
out of his glass eyes, saw a sight that gladdened his heart. In Dorothy's
arms was the Sawdust Doll--the same Sawdust Doll who had lived in
the store whence the Candy Rabbit had come.
As Dorothy and Dick came laughing into the room where Madeline and
Herbert were, the children called to one another:
"Happy Easter! Happy Easter!"

CHAPTER III
THE BAD CAT
"What a pretty Candy Rabbit!" said Dorothy to Madeline. "Where did
you get him?"
"He's one of my Easter presents," answered Madeline. "Herbert and I
have just finished hunting for our baskets."
"Did you find them all, and all