“Well, the first thing in the play,” said Polly briskly, “the Little White Rabbit is fast asleep under the tree, and old Mister Fox comes stealing up behind her, and says very softly, ‘My dear Miss Rabbit;’ and she opens her eyes and wakes up.
“‘Oh!’ she says, ‘is that you, Mister Fox?’ and he says, ‘Yes; and won’t you come home with me and see my little teenty wee foxes?’”
“Oh! were there little foxes, Polly Pepper?” cried the Whitney boys delightedly.
“Yes, indeed, there were,” said Polly quickly; “there were two little foxes in a hole a little way off; they were Joel and David, you know; they were spectators with me while Little White Rabbit was asleep, and Mister Fox was waking her up. Then when he invited her to go and see his little foxes, why, the boys scampered off and got into their hole.”
“Where was the hole, Polly?” asked Percy.
“Oh! we had scooped a place under the bank where the grass grew high,” said Polly, “and it made a splendid cave whenever we wanted wild beasts. Only to-day it was the house of the teenty wee little foxes. Well, so then, [Little White Rabbit] said she would go with [Mister Fox] and see his little foxes; and he gave her his hand and off he led her.”
[The Little White Rabbit and Mister Fox.]
“O Polly! the Little White Rabbit didn’t really go with Mister Fox, did she?” exclaimed little Dick in horror.
“Oh, yes she did, Dicky!” said Polly. Then seeing his face, she made haste to add, “But it was Ben, you know, so she wasn’t afraid.”