The Tale of Jimmy Rabbit

by Arthur Scott Bailey

  "Why don't you answer me?" Mrs. Rabbit asked. "You'd better speak up atonce. Where have you been?"

  "But the sign said 'No questions asked'!" Jimmy reminded her.

  When she heard that, Mrs. Rabbit gasped.

  "Yes!" Jimmy went on. "And it said 'A reward will be paid for hisreturn'!"

  Mrs. Rabbit gasped again. She saw that Jasper Jay had got her intotrouble. It seemed to her that it would be very hard to have to pay areward to her own son. But Mrs. Rabbit was a person who always kept herword.

  "Well," she said, "what do you want?"

  "I think," Jimmy told her, "that I would like something to eat."

  "Then the gypsies didn't give you your dinner," Mrs. Rabbit said.

  "No, Mother!" Jimmy answered, before he thought. So you see that Mrs.Rabbit found out where he had been, after all, even though she asked noquestions.

  It is very hard to keep anything from one's mother.

  15 Telling Fortunes]

  15

  Telling Fortunes

  At the gypsies' camp Jimmy Rabbit had seen something that was veryinteresting. He had watched the gypsies telling fortunes. And he saw noreason why he should not become a fortune-teller himself. It looked easyenough. All you had to do was to hold the hand of the person whosefortune you were telling and say anything that came into your head. Andyou were paid for it, too! That was the best part of it all.

  As soon as he had eaten the lunch that his mother gave him, Jimmyskipped away to ask everyone he met if he wanted his fortune told. Andthere wasn't a single person who didn't say "Yes!" at once.

  "All right!" Jimmy told everybody. "It will cost you one cabbage.... Andyou can find me under the big willow near the brook."

  "I'll come along with you now," said Fatty Coon. "You can tell myfortune. And afterward I'll go down to Farmer Green's and get a cabbagefor you."

  "That won't do!" said Jimmy. "You'll have to give me the cabbage first."

  So Fatty hurried down the hill. Never before had he seen so many of hisneighbors in Farmer Green's garden. And they were all looking forcabbages. It was quite clear that Jimmy Rabbit was going to be verybusy.

  Those who could run the fastest had their fortunes told first, for theywere the ones that reached the big willow the soonest. And Mr. Fox wasthe quickest of all.

  Jimmy Rabbit looked at Mr. Fox's paw. He wouldn't hold it, as he hadseen the gypsies hold the hands of the people who visited them, for henever liked to get too near Mr. Fox. But Mr. Fox didn't know thedifference.

  "First I'll tell your _past_," Jimmy said.

  But Mr. Fox thought there was no sense in doing that. "I know all aboutmy past," he said.

  "Well, I'll tell your present, then," said Jimmy Rabbit.

  "Oh, that's silly!" Mr. Fox sneered. "You're telling myfortune--_that's_ what my present is."

  "Your future, then!" Jimmy continued. "I'll tell your future."

  "Good!" said Mr. Fox. "That's just what I want."

  So Jimmy Rabbit looked at his paw again.

  "Beware of a dark man!" he said. "He'll make trouble for you if he can."

  "That must be Farmer Green," Mr. Fox remarked. "I shall have to becareful."

  "And I see a spotted person chasing you," said Jimmy.

  Mr. Fox shuddered.

  "Old dog Spot!" he said. "Hurry and finish! I must be running along."And he glanced over his shoulder as if he half expected to see Spot comebounding towards him.

  "You are going on a journey," Jimmy Rabbit told him. "You are going tothe other side of Blue Mountain. Beneath the great oak near the lake"(everybody had heard of the great oak) "when the moon comes up to-night,you will find the surprise of your life.... That's all!" Jimmy said.

  Mr. Fox thought it was well worth one cabbage. And he went off wonderingabout that surprise.

  Jimmy Rabbit told many fortunes that day. And the last one of all wasHenry Skunk's, because Henry was so slow in coming up the hill from thegarden.

  By the time he had reached Henry Skunk, Jimmy could think of nothing newto say. So he began at the beginning again and told Henry Skunk exactlywhat he had said to Mr. Fox.

  And Henry seemed just as pleased as Mr. Fox had been.

  Then Jimmy waited for some time, because Fatty Coon had not appeared atall. You see, Fatty had been trying and trying to bring a cabbage up thehill, to pay for having his fortune told. But before he was half way uphe always grew so hungry that he had to eat the cabbage, and then therewas nothing to do but go back for another. So poor Fatty never had hisfortune told at all.

  The next day Jimmy Rabbit heard that Mr. Fox and Henry Skunk had had aterrible battle on the other side of Blue Mountain, just as the mooncame up. It was said that each thought the other was spying on him.

  Jimmy Rabbit was the only person who knew how it had come about. And_he_ wouldn't tell.

  The Night of the Rabbit's Ball]

  16 Red Leggins]

  16

  Red Leggins

  It was winter. And you would naturally think that Jimmy Rabbit would behappy, there was so much snow to play in. But he wasn't. I am sorry tosay that he was sulking in the house, while all his friends were out ofdoors, having a good time in the snow.

  The trouble was this: Mrs. Rabbit wouldn't let Jimmy play in thesnowdrifts unless he wore his red leggins. And Jimmy just hated them.None of the other youngsters had to wear red leggins. And they made allmanner of fun of Jimmy, and called him names, whenever he appeared inthose bright red things.

  The worst name that they called him was one that Fatty Coon made up. Itwas "Red Legs." And it was a little more than Jimmy could bear. So Jimmysaid he would rather not go out at all, than wear those horrid leggins.

  "Very well!" his mother said.

  But all the time Jimmy kept wishing he was out there with the others. Hecould hear them laughing and shouting.

  "Mayn't I go out without my leggins if I stay in my own yard?" he askedhis mother.

  "Yes!" she said, "if you won't step in the deep snow." So Jimmy wentoutside and watched his friends.

  "Come on, Jimmy!" they cried. "Tommy Fox has taught us a new game. It'sfox-and-geese!"

  But Jimmy Rabbit shook his head.

  "I can't!" he said. "I'm too busy."

  "Ho! Jimmy Rabbit has to work!" somebody cried.

  But Jimmy Rabbit smiled.

  "Maybe _you'd_ call it work," he said. "But _I_ call it a good deal offun.... I'm forming a club," he told them.

  "A club? What's that?" asked Frisky Squirrel.

  "It's a jolly band of fellows," Jimmy told him. "Sort of a secretsociety, you know. We'll have all kinds of fun."

  "Who's in your club?"

  "That's one of the secrets," Jimmy answered. "We don't tell."

  "I'd like to join," Frisky told him. And the others all said that theywould like to be members, too.

  "Well, everything has to be very private," Jimmy said. "Anybody whowants to belong to the club has to come and ask me. And I'll tell himwhat to do, if I want him to belong.... One at a time, now! Don'tcrowd!" Jimmy said. For everybody was coming inside his yard.

  He stood at one side and wouldn't talk above a whisper. And to each ofhis friends he said:

  "You have to have a uniform, you know.... The name of the club is TheScarlet Spies. And everyone who is in it must wear a pair of scarletleggins."

  Just as soon as they learned that, the whole troop hurried away. And byafternoon the woods seemed to have turned red, there were so many pairsof scarlet leggins twinkling almost anywhere you looked.

  In fact, there was only one of Jimmy's young neighbors who hadn't beenable to get a pair. And that was Fatty Coon. Goodness knows he wantedsome scarlet leggins. But his mother simply would not buy him any, inspite of all his teasing.

  "Why are we called The Scarlet Spies?" Frisky Squirrel asked Jimmy.

  "Because we _spy_ on everybody who doesn't wear the uniform," JimmyRabbit explained. "Now, there's Fatty Coon! We'll follow him wherever hegoes, and wat
ch everything he does. But we mustn't have anything to dowith him, because he's what is called an 'outsider'."

  Fatty Coon didn't like it at all when he found that The Scarlet Spieswere following him about, hiding behind trees, and peeping at him.

  "Shucks!" he cried. "Those are nothing but _red leggins_! Jimmy Rabbithas played another trick on you."

  But Jimmy Rabbit didn't mind what he said. He could play in the snow nowwithout being called names. And that was enough for him.

  17 The Rabbits' Ball]

  17

  The Rabbits' Ball

  The Rabbits' Ball (that was a dancing party, you know) was something towhich Jimmy Rabbit had looked forward for a long time.

  Now, only rabbits were invited. And everybody that came was expected towear fancy clothes, and a mask.

  Jimmy Rabbit had decided that he would go to the Ball dressed like oneof his sisters. He thought that he could have a good deal of fun in thatway. And as it happened, he was not disappointed.

  The night of the great Ball had come; and Jimmy Rabbit had a delightfultime dancing with friends of his who thought he was a girl. But after awhile almost everybody knew almost everybody else--in spite of the masksthey wore. But there were two dancers whom nobody seemed to know.

  One was dressed as a giant-dwarf, and the other as a dwarf-giant. Andthey looked a good deal alike, except that one of them (that was thegentleman) was tall and thin; and the other (that was the lady) wasshort and fat. They didn't appear even to know each other. But they bothenjoyed the Ball--at least they told everyone that they did.

  Before the Ball was over the tall, thin stranger invited Jimmy Rabbit todance with him--supposing, of course, that Jimmy was a girl.

  It struck Jimmy that the stranger was very, very tall for a rabbit. Onlyrabbits were invited to the party, you remember.

  Well, as the stranger walked away, after the dance was done, JimmyRabbit caught a glimpse of a bushy red tail beneath his coat. And heknew right away who it was. It was Tommy Fox! And, of course, he had nobusiness to be there, at the Rabbits' Ball!

  That set Jimmy to thinking. And he wasn't long in making up his mindthat the short, fat lady was no other than Fatty Coon. When Jimmy lookedsharply he could see where Fatty's tail was hidden beneath the dress hewas wearing. And, of course, he had no business there, either.

  Pretty soon Jimmy Rabbit thought of a plan. And he hurried up to thetall stranger and said:

  "We are now going to have a new sort of dance. And knowing you to be afine dancer, I would suggest that you ask that shortish, stoutish ladyto be your partner. I should say that next to you, she is the mostgraceful dancer at the Ball."

  Tommy Fox hurried over at once to claim a dance with the strange lady,who was really Fatty Coon--only Tommy didn't know it.

  As soon as everyone was ready, Jimmy Rabbit climbed on top of atoadstool and made a speech.

  "The new dance," he said, "will be like this: Everybody must beblindfolded." So every dancer pulled out his pocket-handkerchief andtied it over his eyes. "The new dance will be _without_ music," Jimmyadded. "You will dance until the music _begins_, instead of dancinguntil it _stops_."

  Everyone said that that was a queer sort of dance. But Jimmy Rabbit paidno attention to such remarks.

  "All ready!" he called. "One, two, three--dance!" he cried in a loudvoice.

  Among all that crowd, Jimmy Rabbit was the only one who was notblindfolded. But no one else knew that, for nobody could see him--exceptthe musicians. And as soon as Jimmy whispered something to them theytucked their corn-stalk fiddles under their arms and ran away.

  But everybody kept dancing--because, you remember, it was to be a dancewithout music. Jimmy Rabbit had said that they weren't to stop dancingtill the music began. And with the fiddlers gone, you might think they'dbe dancing yet.

  But it was not so.

  18 A Dance Without Music]

  18

  A Dance Without Music

  As soon as Tommy Fox began to dance with the strange lady (she wasreally Fatty Coon, you know), he saw very quickly that she was not agood dancer at all. She kept stepping on Tommy's feet, and tripping him.And Tommy kept wishing that the music would begin, so he could stopdancing. You remember that Jimmy Rabbit had said that this was to be adance _without_ music, and that everybody had to be blindfolded, too.

  At first, Tommy Fox and his partner kept bumping into other dancers.That was natural enough, too, because how could anyone see, with apocket-handkerchief tied over his eyes?

  After a while Tommy noticed that they bumped into fewer and fewerpeople, until at last they never ran into any others at all. But henever stopped to wonder at that. He was only glad that it was so.

  Being blindfolded, he had not seen what was going on. But Jimmy Rabbitwas very busy. He kept going up to all the rabbit dancers, andwhispering to them, and telling them to take their pocket-handkerchiefsoff their eyes and run away, because Tommy Fox and Fatty Coon had cometo the Rabbits' Ball, without being invited. So two by two the dancersstole off, until there were only three of the merrymakers left. Two ofthose were Tommy Fox and Fatty Coon, who were still dancing, stillblindfolded, and each still thinking that the other was a rabbit. Thethird was Jimmy Rabbit himself. But he was not dancing. He was peepingout from behind a tree, and wondering what was going to happen.

  And all the time Tommy Fox was wishing the music would begin. Of course,he didn't know that Jimmy Rabbit had sent the fiddlers away.

  Now, the longer they danced, the oftener the fat lady stepped on Tommy'sfeet. And he grew so angry that he finally said:

  "Do be careful where you step!"

  That remark did not please Fatty Coon.

  "Don't tell _me_ how to dance!" he said. "You're a great, clumsycreature!"

  "I'm not!" Tommy retorted. "I'm the best dancer at the Ball. But _you_can't dance any better than a coon!"

  That was enough for Fatty. He tore the handkerchief off his eyes. AndTommy Fox was just as quick. He saw that he had made an unwise speech.And he snatched the bandage from his own face.

  "You've played a trick on me!" Tommy Fox cried, when he saw that all theother dancers--and the fiddlers, too--had gone.

  "You've played one on me!" Fatty Coon shouted. And he pulled the maskoff Tommy Fox's face.

  And again Tommy Fox was just as quick. He reached out and twitched awayFatty Coon's mask.

  For one second they stared at each other. And then they jumped at eachother.

  Jimmy Rabbit didn't wait to see anything more. He felt that it would bemuch safer somewhere else. And besides, the Rabbits' Ball had come to anend.

  That was the last time that Fatty Coon and Tommy Fox ever went to aparty to which they were not invited. Jimmy Rabbit had taught them alesson.

  19 Jimmy Grows Too Cheeky]

  19

  Jimmy Grows Too Cheeky

  Mrs. Rabbit always tried to teach her children good manners. It was noeasy matter, either, with four girls and three boys. But she was gladthat she hadn't four boys and three girls, because her boys alwaysstuffed their mouths when they ate.

  One day at dinner Mrs. Rabbit said:

  "Jimmy! Don't fill your mouth so full! If you could see how you look,with your cheeks sticking out, you'd be more careful."

  The first thing Mrs. Rabbit knew, Jimmy burst into tears.

  "I haven't eaten a thing!" he said. "There's nothing in my mouth atall. I'm not a bit hungry."

  When Mrs. Rabbit looked at his plate she knew at once that there must besomething the matter with him, for she saw that Jimmy hadn't touched hisdinner. And usually he was the first to ask for more.

  "That boy is not well!" she told her husband. "I wish you would go andask Aunt Polly Woodchuck to step over here." Aunt Polly, you know, was afamous doctor.

  Well, Mr. Rabbit hurried away as soon as he had finished his meal. Andit wasn't long before old Aunt Polly hobbled up to Mrs. Rabbit's door.

  "Come right in!" Mrs. Rabbit said. "It's Jimmy! I want you to look athim
. He wouldn't eat any dinner, and his cheeks stick out very queerly."

  Old Aunt Polly gave Jimmy a sharp pinch on one of his puffed-outcheeks.

  "Ouch!" he said.

  "Did that hurt?" Aunt Polly asked him.

  "Yessum!" he answered.

  "Hm--I thought so!" she said. You see, Aunt Polly was a good doctor. Shegenerally knew what was what.

  Then she reached into her basket and drew out a green apple, and gave itto Jimmy Rabbit.

  "Here!" she said. "Take a big bite!"

  Jimmy did just as she told him to. And then he cried "Ouch!" again.

  "Did it hurt?" she asked him.

  "Yessum!" he said.

  "I thought so!" Aunt Polly replied. And turning to Mrs. Rabbit, shesaid, "This boy has mumps."

  "You don't say so!" Mrs. Rabbit exclaimed.

  "I do, indeed!" Aunt Polly declared. "Give him a cup of catnip tea andput him to bed. And let him have a hot-water bottle at his feet. And ifeverything isn't all right, just send for me again." So she went away.And Jimmy went to bed.

  He kept his mother busy for a few days, for he was always asking her tofill his hot-water bottle with hotter water. But she was glad to do thatfor him. And she was pleased to see that he was improving.

  Then one day Mrs. Rabbit discovered that the hot-water bottle was fullof small holes. The water ran out of it almost as fast as she poured itin.