It was winter. And you would naturally think that Jimmy Rabbit would be
happy, there was so much snow to play in. But he wasn't. I am sorry to
say that he was sulking in the house, while all his friends were out of
doors, having a good time in the snow.
The trouble was this: Mrs. Rabbit wouldn't let Jimmy play in the
snowdrifts unless he wore his red leggins. And Jimmy just hated them.
None of the other youngsters had to wear red leggins. And they made all
manner of fun of Jimmy, and called him names, whenever he appeared in
those bright red things.
The worst name that they called him was one that Fatty Coon made up. It
was "Red Legs." And it was a little more than Jimmy could bear. So Jimmy
said 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. He
could hear them laughing and shouting.
"Mayn't I go out without my leggins if I stay in my own yard?" he asked
his mother.
"Yes!" she said, "if you won't step in the deep snow." So Jimmy went
outside and watched his friends.
"Come on, Jimmy!" they cried. "Tommy Fox has taught us a new game. It's
fox-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 of
fun.... 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 secret
society, 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 they
would like to be members, too.
"Well, everything has to be very private," Jimmy said. "Anybody who
wants to belong to the club has to come and ask me. And I'll tell him
what to do, if I want him to belong.... One at a time, now! Don't
crowd!" Jimmy said. For everybody was coming inside his yard.
He stood at one side and wouldn't talk above a whisper. And to each of
his friends he said:
"You have to have a uniform, you know.... The name of the club is The
Scarlet Spies. And everyone who is in it must wear a pair of scarlet
leggins."
Just as soon as they learned that, the whole troop hurried away. And by
afternoon the woods seemed to have turned red, there were so many pairs
of scarlet leggins twinkling almost anywhere you looked.
In fact, there was only one of Jimmy's young neighbors who hadn't been
able to get a pair. And that was Fatty Coon. Goodness knows he wanted
some scarlet leggins. But his mother simply would not buy him any, in
spite 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," Jimmy
Rabbit explained. "Now, there's Fatty Coon! We'll follow him wherever he
goes, and watch everything he does. But we mustn't have anything to do
with him, because he's what is called an 'outsider'."
Fatty Coon didn't like it at all when he found that The Scarlet Spies
were following him about, hiding behind trees, and peeping at him.
"Shucks!" he cried. "Those are nothing but _red leggins_! Jimmy Rabbit
has played another trick on you."
But Jimmy Rabbit didn't mind what he said. He could play in the snow now
without being called names. And that was enough for him.
[Illustration: 17 The Rabbits' Ball]
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