“Well,” said Mr. Rabbit, after a pause; “I remember I went to your house one day and I carried my fiddle. When I got there, who should I see but old Brother Terrapin sitting up on the shelf. I expected to find the girls by themselves, but there was Brother Terrapin. So I began to joke him.
“‘Howdy, Brother Terrapin?’ says I. ‘If you had a ladder handy you could come downstairs and shake hands, couldn’t you?’
“He began to get sullen and sulky at once. He wouldn’t hardly make any reply. But I didn’t care for that. Says I: ‘Cross your legs and look comfortable, Brother Terrapin; don’t be glum in company. I’ve got my fiddle with me, and I’m going to make your bones ache if you don’t dance.’
“Then I whirled in,” said Mr. Rabbit, “and played the liveliest tunes I could think of,—‘Billy in the Low Grounds,’ ‘’Possum up the Gum-Stump,’ ‘Chicken in the Bread-Tray,’ and all those hoppery-skippery, jiggery-dancery tunes that make your feet go whether or no. But there Brother Terrapin sat, looking as unconcerned as if the fiddle had been ten miles away. He didn’t even keep time to the music with his foot. More than that, he didn’t even wag his head from side to side.”
“I always knew Brother Terrapin had no ear for music,” remarked Mrs. Meadows. “If that was a fault, he certainly had more than his share of it.”
“I ought not to talk about people behind their backs,” Mr. Rabbit continued, trying to shake a fly out of his ear, “but I must say that Brother Terrapin was very dull about some things. Well, I played and played, and the girls danced and seemed to enjoy it. I believe you danced a round or two yourself?” Mr. Rabbit turned to Mrs. Meadows inquiringly.
“I expect I shook my foot a little,” said Mrs. Meadows with a sigh. “I was none too good.”
“They danced and danced until they were tired of dancing,” Mr. Rabbit resumed; “but there sat Brother Terrapin as quiet as if he were asleep. Well, I was vexed—I don’t mind saying so now—I was certainly vexed. But I didn’t let on. And between tunes I did my best to worry Brother Terrapin.
