The Rabbits' Ball (that was a dancing party, you know) was something to
which Jimmy Rabbit had looked forward for a long time.
Now, only rabbits were invited. And everybody that came was expected to
wear fancy clothes, and a mask.
Jimmy Rabbit had decided that he would go to the Ball dressed like one
of his sisters. He thought that he could have a good deal of fun in that
way. And as it happened, he was not disappointed.
The night of the great Ball had come; and Jimmy Rabbit had a delightful
time dancing with friends of his who thought he was a girl. But after a
while almost everybody knew almost everybody else--in spite of the masks
they 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. And
they looked a good deal alike, except that one of them (that was the
gentleman) was tall and thin; and the other (that was the lady) was
short and fat. They didn't appear even to know each other. But they both
enjoyed the Ball--at least they told everyone that they did.
Before the Ball was over the tall, thin stranger invited Jimmy Rabbit to
dance with him--supposing, of course, that Jimmy was a girl.
It struck Jimmy that the stranger was very, very tall for a rabbit. Only
rabbits were invited to the party, you remember.
Well, as the stranger walked away, after the dance was done, Jimmy
Rabbit caught a glimpse of a bushy red tail beneath his coat. And he
knew right away who it was. It was Tommy Fox! And, of course, he had no
business to be there, at the Rabbits' Ball!
That set Jimmy to thinking. And he wasn't long in making up his mind
that the short, fat lady was no other than Fatty Coon. When Jimmy looked
sharply he could see where Fatty's tail was hidden beneath the dress he
was wearing. And, of course, he had no business there, either.
Pretty soon Jimmy Rabbit thought of a plan. And he hurried up to the
tall stranger and said:
"We are now going to have a new sort of dance. And knowing you to be a
fine dancer, I would suggest that you ask that shortish, stoutish lady
to be your partner. I should say that next to you, she is the most
graceful 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 a
toadstool and made a speech.
"The new dance," he said, "will be like this: Everybody must be
blindfolded." So every dancer pulled out his pocket-handkerchief and
tied it over his eyes. "The new dance will be _without_ music," Jimmy
added. "You will dance until the music _begins_, instead of dancing
until it _stops_."
Everyone said that that was a queer sort of dance. But Jimmy Rabbit paid
no attention to such remarks.
"All ready!" he called. "One, two, three--dance!" he cried in a loud
voice.
Among all that crowd, Jimmy Rabbit was the only one who was not
blindfolded. But no one else knew that, for nobody could see him--except
the musicians. And as soon as Jimmy whispered something to them they
tucked their corn-stalk fiddles under their arms and ran away.
But everybody kept dancing--because, you remember, it was to be a dance
without music. Jimmy Rabbit had said that they weren't to stop dancing
till the music began. And with the fiddlers gone, you might think they'd
be dancing yet.
But it was not so.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: 18 A Dance Without Music]
18