XVI
FATTY COON PLAYS ROBBER
After Fatty Coon played barber-shop with Jimmy Rabbit and his brother it was a long time before he met them again. But one day Fatty was wandering through the woods when he caught sight of Jimmy. Jimmy dodged behind a tree. And Fatty saw Jimmy's brother peep from behind another. You see, his ears were so long that they stuck far beyond the tree, and Fatty couldn't help seeing them.
"Hello!" Fatty called. "I'm glad to see you." And he told the truth, too. He had been trying to find those two brothers for weeks, because he wanted to get even with them for cutting off his moustache. Jimmy and his brother hopped out from behind their trees.
"Hello!" said Jimmy. "We were just looking for you." Probably he meant to say, "We were just looking AT you." He was somewhat upset by meeting Fatty; for he knew that Fatty was angry with him.
"Oh, ho! You were, were you?" Fatty answered. He began to slide down the tree he had been climbing.
Jimmy Rabbit and his brother edged a little further away.
"Better not come too near us!" he said. "We've both got the pink-eye, and you don't want to catch it."
Fatty paused and looked at the brothers. Sure enough! their eyes were as pink as anything.
"Does it hurt much?" Fatty asked.