THE RABBIT CHASE
"Well, what shall we play tonight?" asked Henny, the Dutch doll, whenthe house was quiet and the dolls all knew that no one else was awake.
Raggedy Andy was just about to suggest a good game, when Fido, whosometimes slept in a basket in the nursery, growled.
All the dollies looked in his direction.
Fido was standing up with his ears sticking as straight in the air asloppy silken puppy dog ears can stick up.
"He must have been dreaming!" said Raggedy Andy.
"No, I wasn't dreaming!" Fido answered. "I heard something go, 'Scratch!Scratch!' as plain as I hear you!"
"Where did the sound come from, Fido?" Raggedy Andy asked when he sawthat Fido really was wide awake.
"From outside somewhere!" Fido answered. "And if I could get out withoutdisturbing all the folks, I'd run out and see what it might be! PerhapsI had better bark!"
"Please do not bark!" Raggedy Andy cried as he put his rag arm aroundFido's nose. "You will awaken everybody in the house. We can open a dooror a window for you and let you out, if you must go!"
"I wish you would. Listen! There it is again: 'Scratch! Scratch!' Whatcan it be?"
"You may soon see!" said Raggedy Andy. "We'll let you out, but pleasedon't sit at the door and bark and bark to get back in again, as youusually do, for we are going to play a good game and we may not hearyou!"
"You can sleep out in the shed after you have found out what it is,"said Raggedy Andy.
As soon as the dolls opened the door for Fido, he went running acrossthe lawn, barking in a loud shrill voice. He ran down behind the shedand through the garden, and then back towards the house again.
Raggedy Andy and Uncle Clem stood looking out of the door, the rest ofthe dolls peeping over their shoulders, so when something came jumpingthrough the door, it hit Uncle Clem and Raggedy Andy and sent themflying against the other dolls behind them.
All the dolls went down in a wiggling heap on the floor.
It was surprising that the noise and confusion did not waken Daddy andthe rest of the folks, for just as the dolls were untangling themselvesfrom each other and getting upon their feet, Fido came jumping throughthe door and sent the dolls tumbling again.
Fido quit barking when he came through the door.
"Which way did he go?" he asked, when he could get his breath.
"What was it?" Raggedy Andy asked in return.
"It was a rabbit!" Fido cried. "He ran right in here, for I could smellhis tracks!"
"We could feel him!" Raggedy Andy laughed.
"I could not tell you which way he went!" Uncle Clem said, "Except Ifeel sure he came through the door and into the house!"
None of the dolls knew into which room the rabbit had run.
Finally, after much sniffing, Fido traced the rabbit to the nursery,where, when the dolls followed, they saw the rabbit crouching behind therocking horse.
Looking out of the door]
Raggedy Andy and the rabbit]
Fido whined and cried because he could not get to the rabbit and bitehim.
"You should be ashamed of yourself, Fido!" cried Raggedy Ann. "Just seehow the poor bunny is trembling!"
"He should not come scratching around our house if he doesn't care to bechased!" said Fido.
"Why don't you stay out in the woods and fields where you reallybelong?" Raggedy Andy asked the rabbit.
"I came to leave some Easter eggs!" the bunny answered in a queer littlequavery voice.
"An Easter bunny!" all the dolls cried, jumping about and clapping theirhands. "An Easter bunny!"
"Well!" was all Fido could say, as he sat down and began wagging histail.
"You may come out from behind the rocking horse now, Easter bunny!" saidRaggedy Andy. "Fido will not hurt you, now that he knows, will you,Fido?"
"Indeed I won't!" Fido replied. "I'm sorry that I chased you! And Iremember now, I had to jump over a basket out by the shed! Was thatyours?"
"Yes, it was full of Easter eggs and colored grasses for the little girlwho lives here!" the bunny said.
When the Easter bunny found out that Fido and the dolls were hisfriends, he came out from behind the rocking horse and hopped across thefloor to the door.
"I must go see if any of the eggs are broken, for if they are, I willhave to run home and color some more! I was just about to make a nicenest and put the eggs in it when Fido came bouncing out at me!"
And with a squeeky little laugh the Easter bunny, followed by Fido andall the dolls, hopped across the lawn towards the shed. There they foundthe basket. Four of the lovely colored Easter eggs were broken.
"I will run home and color four more. It will only take a few minutes,so when I return and scratch again to make a nest, please do not bark atme!" said the Easter bunny.
The Easter bunny]
"I won't! I promise!" Fido laughed.
"May we go with you and watch you color the Easter eggs?" Raggedy Andybegged.
"Indeed you may!" the Easter bunny answered. "Can you run fast?"
Then down through the garden and out through a crack in the fence theEaster bunny hopped, with a long string of dolls trailing behind.
When they came to the Easter bunny's home, they found Mama Easter bunnyand a lot of little teeny weeny bunnies who would some day grow up to bebig Easter bunnies like their Mama and Daddy bunny.
The Easter bunny told them of his adventure with Fido, and all joined inhis laughter when they found it had turned out well at the end.
The Easter bunny put four eggs on to boil and while these were boilinghe mixed up a lot of pretty colors.
When the eggs were boiled, he dipped the four eggs into the prettycolored dye and then painted lovely flowers on them.
When the Easter bunny had finished painting the eggs he put them in hisbasket and, with all the dolls running along beside him, they returnedto the house.
"Why not make the nest right in the nursery?" Raggedy Andy asked.
"That would be just the thing! Then the little girl would wonder andwonder how I could ever get into the nursery without awakening the restof the folks, for she will never suspect that you dolls and Fido let mein!"
So with Raggedy Andy leading the way, they ran up to the nursery andthere, 'way back in a corner, they watched the Easter bunny make alovely nest and put the Easter eggs in it.
And in the morning when Marcella came in to see the dolls you canimagine her surprise when she found the pretty gift of the Easterbunny.
"How in the world did the bunny get inside the house and into this roomwithout awakening Fido?" she laughed.
And Fido, pretending to be asleep, slowly opened one eye and winked overthe edge of his basket at Raggedy Andy.
And Raggedy Andy smiled back at Fido, but never said a word.
How did the bunny get into this room?]
Looking out the window]
Raggedy Andy under the quilt]
Raggedy Andy Stories Page 6