"What did he want of him?"
Well, I s'pect it was about the same as the wolf wanted of Red Riding Hood, and Jack Rabbit was so far away from home and getting so tired that there's no telling what might have happened if it hadn't been for Mr. Turtle. Mr. Turtle was a good friend to Jack Rabbit, 'cause once he beat him in a foot race by playing a trick, and he'd always felt a little sorry for it. So when Mr. Dog came along he got right in the way and said:—
"HI, THERE! HOLD ON, MR. DOG!"
"Hi, there! Hold on, Mr. Dog, or you'll get there before Mr. Rabbit is ready for you. He just passed, and said he had to clean up before you came. I s'pose he wants to get up a fine dinner, too."
Well, that settled it. Mr. Dog stopped and said he wasn't in any hurry at all, but was just running a little because it was a nice morning and he felt well. Of course, he said, he didn't want to get there before Mr. Rabbit was ready for him, and then he trotted along comfortably, thinking how he would eat the Rabbit's fine dinner first, and then there would be time enough for Mr. Rabbit himself afterward.
So, when he got to Jack Rabbit's house he straightened his vest and his necktie a little, and then he knocked and turned around and whistled while he was waiting for Mr. Rabbit to come to the door. But Jack Rabbit didn't come to the door. He opened an upstairs window and said:—
"Why, it's Mr. Dog! Sit right down on the porch, Mr. Dog, till I get my house ready and the dinner cooked."
