After a while the little boys went back to where the other children were and all began to play games. Madeline set her Candy Rabbit on the table near Dorothy's Sawdust Doll, and the two toys looked at each other.

All sorts of games were played. One was "hide the thimble," and when it was Madeline's turn to hide it she put it right between the front legs of her Candy Rabbit as he sat on the table. Not one of the boys or girls thought of looking there for it, so they had to give up, and it was Madeline's turn to hide it again.

This time she put the thimble on top of the head of Dorothy's Sawdust Doll, who had on a new blue ribbon in honor of the party.

It was a gold thimble that the children were playing with, and the Sawdust Doll, catching sight of her reflection in the gla.s.s over one of the pictures in the room, noted this fact.

"That golden gleam against the blue of my ribbon is certainly very pretty and becoming," she thought. "I hope Dorothy will notice it and will get a gold ornament for my hair. I like to be a toy, but sometimes it is a great nuisance not to be able to tell your little girl and boy parents what you would like to have them do."

All this time the children were hunting for the thimble, and, though it was in plain sight, it was not until some time afterward that Mirabell saw it.

After the thimble game the children played "Blind Man's Buff," "Puss in the Corner" and "Going to Jerusalem."

Pretty soon it was time to eat ice cream and cake. That is one of the nicest times at a party, I think; and d.i.c.k, Arnold and Herbert, as well as the other boys and girls, thought the same thing, I am sure. While they were in another room, eating the good things, the Candy Rabbit and the Sawdust Doll were left to themselves.

"I have been wanting to talk to you for the longest time!" said the Sawdust Doll.

"And I have so many things to tell you," said the Candy Rabbit. "Such remarkable adventures!"

He started to hop across the table, to get nearer to the Sawdust Doll, but he did not see the thimble which the children had been playing with, and which had been left on the table. The Candy Rabbit jumped on the thimble, which rolled out from under his paws.

"Oh, look out! You're going to fall!" cried the Sawdust Doll.

And down fell the Candy Rabbit.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Candy Rabbit Has a Tumble.

_Page_ 107]

CHAPTER X

IN A BOY'S POCKET

"Are you hurt?" asked the Sawdust Doll anxiously, looking with sympathy at the Candy Rabbit. "Let me help you up!"

"Oh, thank you, I can get up myself," answered the sugary chap. "And I am not at all hurt. The table cloth was soft."

He was just going to get up and hop over to the Doll when, all at once, the Sawdust toy exclaimed:

"Be quiet! Here come the children back!"

And into the room trooped the boys and girls, having finished eating the ice cream and cake.

"Oh, look at my Bunny!" cried Madeline. "Somebody jiggled him over on his side."

She set him up straight again, near the Sawdust Doll, and then she helped the other children have fun in more games. After a while d.i.c.k and Arnold went off in a corner by themselves, and began playing with Arnold's Bold Tin Soldier. While they were doing this a boy named Tom saw them.

"I wonder what they are doing?" thought Tom. "I wonder what they are looking at? It's something Arnold has in his pocket. I wish I had something in my pocket to play with. Maybe I can find something!"

I am sorry to say Tom was not always a good boy. Sometimes he was cross and unpleasant. He would pull the hair of little girls, though I hardly believe he meant to hurt them. He only did it to tease them.

Tom saw Madeline's Candy Rabbit on the table, and, as the other boys and girls were just then in another room, no one saw what Tom did. Sneaking up to the table, Tom reached over, took the Candy Rabbit, and put him in his pocket.

"Now I have something to play with," whispered Tom to himself.

Tom had many other things in his pocket. There was a small rubber ball, some pieces of string, a broken knife, two or three nails, some round, shiny pieces of tin, a whistle that wouldn't whistle, a red stone, a yellow stone, and many other odds and ends. Down among these objects the Candy Rabbit was pushed and jammed.

The only ones who saw Tom hurry away with the Candy Rabbit were the little girls' dolls. The Sawdust Doll, a Celluloid Doll belonging to Mirabell, and an old snub-nosed Wooden Doll, that Madeline had brought down from the attic, were on the table when Tom took the Candy Rabbit away in his pocket.

"Oh-oo-o-oh!" exclaimed the Sawdust Doll. "Look at him!"

"Isn't he terrible!" said the Wooden Doll.

"If we could only do something to stop him!" sighed the Celluloid Doll.

But they could do nothing.

Watching his chance, Tom hurried out of Madeline's house, carrying with him the Easter present. And as for the poor Candy Rabbit, he did not know what to do. He could not get out of that boy's pocket, no matter how hard he tried.

"I'll show this Candy Rabbit to Sam and Pete," said Tom to himself, as he hurried down the street. "We'll have some fun with it."

Sam and Pete were two boys with whom Tom played. Tom looked for them as he ran down the street, the Candy Rabbit jiggling around among the things in his pocket.

"I hope my ears aren't broken off," sighed the poor Bunny. "This is the most dreadful and cramped place I was ever in."

Suddenly Tom spied his two chums.

"Hi there!" he called to them. "Look what I got!"

"What?"

He took the Candy Rabbit from his pocket and held him up.

"That's a dandy!" exclaimed Pete.

"Where'd you get him?" asked Sam.

"Oh, I borrowed him at a party," Tom answered.

"Let's see it closer," begged Sam, and Tom handed over the Candy Rabbit.

"Why, he's good to eat!" cried Sam, when he had the Rabbit in his hands.

"He's made of sugar, and he's good to eat!"

Tom looked at Sam and then at Pete. Then all three of the boys looked at each other.