What did Bunny Cotton-Tail do then, do you suppose? He felt so sorry
about Susan that he cried nearly all day, and he was so afraid of
Farmer Jones now, that he did not dare to come out of the flower pot!
The flower pot had rolled over on one side, so he was quite hidden.
Now it happened that Marie had a nice flower-bed in front of the house,
and a friend had given her a new plant to set out. So she began to look
for a flower pot to cover it. Of course, you can guess what happened.
Marie found Bunny Cotton-Tail, the flower pot and all! “Oh, papa, here
is another bunny! They must be twins,” she cried.
Farmer Jones came up, and when he saw how scared poor little Bunny
looked, he laughed. He said if they put the two rabbits together, they
could soon tell whether they knew each other or not. So Marie carried
Bunny into the house.
Susan Cotton-Tail had fallen asleep in the doll’s bed, so Marie slipped
Bunny in beside her, and he pretended to go to sleep, too. Farmer
Jones said this proved that they knew each other; for if they had been
strange rabbits, they would have fought.
Night came on, and the big clock in the hall struck twelve, and Susan
woke up. She was so delighted to find Bunny beside her, that she almost
screamed for joy, but Bunny put one little soft paw over her mouth, for
he was afraid she would waken some one, and he was already planning how
they could get away from Farmer Jones’s house.
He told Susan that he had heard the cook say she would leave the pantry
window open to keep her preserves cool, so, if they could only find the
pantry, they might escape.
Susan listened so eagerly that her ears flopped on the side of the
doll’s bed as though she were keeping time to a tune.
Bunny stole out of bed, and began to search for the pantry. He told
Susan to wait until he came back for her.
The moon was not shining, and it was very dark. Bunny felt his way
along carefully, till he came to the sitting-room. Here he saw a big
black box, beside a window, and it looked to him as though the window
were open. Up he jumped on the box, to make sure, and crash! he fell
on something that played a tune! The quicker he ran up and down, the
louder the tune was, and the louder the tune was, the more scared Bunny
was, and the more he ran up and down.
Farmer Jones waked up and could not think what all the noise meant.
He jumped out of bed and ran down stairs two steps at a time, with a
candle in his hand. He found Bunny dancing about on the piano keys, and
he laughed till he cried.
Then he called the whole family down stairs to see the strange sight.
Everybody laughed and petted Bunny, and the more they laughed, the more
scared he was, until he saw Susan peeping around a curtain at him.
Then he gave one bound for the open window. Susan followed him, quick
as a flash, and whisk! the two frightened little rabbits were racing
away down the road before one of the family could say, “Jack Robinson.”
What Farmer Jones and the family thought about it I cannot say, but I
can tell you that Susan and Bunny were very careful never to go into
his garden again.
[Illustration:
Little Bunny Cotton-Tail
Should have gone to school to-day.
He cried so hard he could not see,
And went the other way!]