The Story of a Candy Rabbit | Page 7

not far from the
goldfish. Then the two little girls began to eat the cookies.
While this was going on a bad cat had sneaked into the room. The cat
was a big fellow, and he often got into mischief. He sometimes chased
birds, and, more than once, Patrick, the gardener at Dick and Dorothy's
house, had driven him away from the coops where the little chickens
lived with the old hen.

"Goodness, I hope that cat isn't after me!" thought the Candy Rabbit.
"Mercy! I hope the cat doesn't carry me off, the way the dog Carlo once
did," thought the Sawdust Doll.
But the bad cat was paying no attention to either the Doll or the Rabbit.
The cat's eyes were on the live goldfish in the glass bowl, and, when I
tell you that cats are very fond of fish, you can guess what is going to
happen.
With a quick, silent spring, making no noise on his soft, padded paws,
the cat first jumped into the chair beside 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