The Story of a Candy Rabbit | Page 9

as the cat carried him along. The Rabbit was not hurt any,
because the ribbon was not tied very tightly about his neck. And of
course the cat's teeth did not touch him. But, for all that, the Candy
Rabbit was very angry and somewhat alarmed.
"What are you going to do with me?" he asked the cat.
"You'll see!" was the answer. "I'm going to fix you for spoiling my
chance of getting a goldfish dinner! I'm going to lose you, and then I'll
go back and get a fish."
Carrying the Candy Rabbit a little way farther into the tall grass, the cat
suddenly let go of the ribbon. The Rabbit fell down, but as the grass
was soft, like a cushion, he was not hurt. He gave a little grunt as he
fell down.
"Now you stay here a while and see how you like it," said the bad cat,
and away he trotted, hoping to get a meal of goldfish this time. And
there came to the poor Candy Rabbit from the distance the sound of the
Cat's voice as he laughed, "Ha-ha," and snarled, "I've fixed you all right!
Ha-ha!"
"Dear me!" thought the poor Candy Rabbit, "I wonder what will
happen to me. I must try to get out of here. I can hop, as long as no
human eyes see me. Maybe I can get back in time to warn the goldfish
of their danger."
The Rabbit tried to hop, but, being made of candy as he was, with
rather stiff legs that were not very long, he could not go very fast. And
when he had made a few hops he was very tired.
"Dear me! I shall have to stay here forever, perhaps," he sighed. "And,
if it rains and I get wet, I'll melt and there will be nothing left of me!
Oh, what trouble I am in!"
The Candy Rabbit crouched down in the grass, and pretty soon he
heard some voices talking. He knew they were the voices of boys, and,

in a little while, he heard one say:
"Now, Herbert, you hold the kite and I'll run with it."
"All right, Dick," said some one else. "I hope it flies away up high in
the air."
"I'll keep the tail clear of the weeds," said another boy.
"That's the way, Dick," said the first boy.
The Candy Rabbit, down in the grass, heard this.
"They must be Dick, Herbert and Arnold," he thought. "They have
come here to fly their kite. I hope they find me and take me home in
time to save the goldfish from the cat."
There was more talk and laughter among the boys, but the Candy
Rabbit could not see what they were doing. All at once, though, one
boy said.
"The tail of the kite is not heavy enough. We've got to tie something to
it. And, oh, here is the very thing!" he went on. "We'll give him a ride
up in the air!"
"Give who a ride?" asked Dick, for it was Herbert who had spoken.
"Give Madeline's Candy Rabbit a ride on the end of the kite tail," went
on Herbert. "Here's her Rabbit down in the grass."
"How did he get here?" asked Arnold.
"I don't know. Maybe my sister carried him over the fields to show to
some girl and dropped him. But we'll give the Candy Rabbit a ride in
the air. He will be just heavy enough for the kite tail. I'll tie him on."
And then, before the Candy Rabbit could hop away, even if he had
been allowed to do so (which he was not) Herbert began tying him on
the end of the kite tail by means of the pink ribbon.

A moment later the Rabbit felt himself sailing through the air.
CHAPTER V
THE ORGAN GRINDER
Since the Candy Rabbit had left the toy store, after having been put on
the Easter novelty counter, so many things had happened that he was
beginning to get used to them. But sailing through the air on the tail of
a kite was something he had never done before.
Up he went, higher and higher, as the wind blew the kite. The Candy
Rabbit looked down toward the ground. It seemed a long way off--very
far from him.
"If I should fall now, as I fell when the lady dropped me in the toy
store," thought the Candy Rabbit, "I think it would be the end of me.
There is no soft rubber ball here on which to land."
Dick, Arnold and Herbert, the three boys who had been flying their kite
when they found the Candy Rabbit in the grass, were laughing and
shouting as they saw the tail switching to and fro, with