After bolting the front door, Little Jack Rabbit took Timmy Meadowmouse
into the kitchen where Mrs. John Rabbit was paring carrots for supper.
It was nice and warm, and Mrs. Rabbit looked so motherly in her big
pink gingham apron that the little meadowmouse couldn’t help saying to
the little rabbit, “I think your mother’s too sweet for anything.”
Although he said it in a whisper, Mrs. Rabbit heard him just the same.
She must have, for she leaned right down and gave him a little piece of
carrot.
By and by the kitchen door flew open and in hopped Mr. John Rabbit and
Brother Bobby Tail. They couldn’t speak for a few minutes they were so
out of breath. At last Mr. Rabbit said, “Danny Fox chased us all the
way home!”
Mrs. Rabbit nearly dropped the dish of carrots on the nice clean floor.
“Mercy me! It was only about two hours ago he chased Timmy Meadowmouse
into the Old Bramble Patch. My! but that old fox must be hungry!”
“I guess he is,” replied Mr. Rabbit, hanging his fur cap on a peg
behind the door. Then he began to sing:
“The chickens they stay
In the Henhouse all day;
And the bunnies don’t go
Very far in the snow.
“Mr. Fox, you can’t snatch
From the Old Bramble Patch
A bunny or mouse.
We’re safe in the house;
“We’ve fastened the latch
On our Old Bramble Patch!”
That night Timmy Meadowmouse had a dreadful dream about Danny Fox. You
see, he couldn’t forget how that old robber had nearly caught him. As
long as he was awake, he knew he was perfectly safe in Little Jack
Rabbit’s house. But when he dropped off to sleep he didn’t dream about
being safe in the Old Bramble Patch. Oh, my, no! He dreamed that Danny
Fox was still chasing him, which, of course, was simply dreadful.
All of a sudden, he rolled out of bed with a scream, which woke up the
whole Rabbit Family. Yes, it even gave Mr. John Rabbit a shiver, and
poor Mrs. Rabbit nearly fainted.
By and by, however, they all went to sleep again, and everything was
quiet until morning, when Cocky Doodle over at the Big Farmyard woke
them up with his early Cock-a-doodle-do.
After breakfast Little Jack Rabbit and Timmy Meadowmouse hopped over to
the edge of the Old Bramble Patch, where they cautiously peeped through
the tangled stalks to see if Danny Fox were around. But he was nowhere
in sight.