Dorothy’s Sawdust Doll was propped up in a chair not far from the goldfish.  Then the two little girls began to eat the cookies.

While this was going on a bad cat had sneaked into the room.  The cat was a big fellow, and he often got into mischief.  He sometimes chased birds, and, more than once, Patrick, the gardener at Dick and Dorothy’s house, had driven him away from the coops where the little chickens lived with the old hen.

“Goodness, I hope that cat isn’t after me!” thought the Candy Rabbit.

“Mercy!  I hope the cat doesn’t carry me off, the way the dog Carlo once did,” thought the Sawdust Doll.

But the bad cat was paying no attention to either the Doll or the Rabbit.  The cat’s eyes were on the live goldfish in the glass bowl, and, when I tell you that cats are very fond of fish, you can guess what is going to happen.

With a quick, silent spring, making no noise on his soft, padded paws, the cat first jumped into the chair beside the Sawdust Doll.

“Oh, dear me, he certainly is going to carry me off!” thought the Doll.  “I wish I dared scream!”

But the cat was not after the Doll.  With another jump Tom landed on the table beside the bowl of goldfish.

“Goodness sakes alive! my time has come,” thought the poor frightened Candy Rabbit.  “The cat is going to eat me!”

But Tom was not after a Candy Rabbit.  His greedy eyes were on the swimming goldfish in the open glass bowl.  Dorothy and Madeline sat with their backs to the little table on which stood the bowl of fish and the Candy Rabbit.  The little girls were busy talking.

All of a sudden Tom stood up on his hind legs and put his forepaws on the edge of the bowl.  As he did this the fish began swimming around swiftly, very much frightened, indeed, just as you may have seen a canary bird flutter in a cage when some cat came too close.

“Oh, he isn’t after me—­he’s after the fish!” thought the Candy Rabbit.  “Oh, the poor fish!  I wish I could save them!”

Tom was switching his tail to and fro, as cats always do when they are about to catch a bird, a fish or anything alive.  The fish were swimming about faster and faster inside their bowl of water.  They could make no noise.  Some fish, such as catfish, can make a little sound out of water, and so can the fish called grunters, but I never heard of any other fish making any noise.  Though of course they may be able to talk among themselves, for all I know.

Standing with his forepaws on the edge of the glass bowl, Tom dipped one paw down toward the water to get a fish.  His tail kept on switching to and fro, and, all at once, it switched against the Candy Rabbit and tilted the Bunny over toward the glass bowl.

“Tinkle-tinkle!  Tink!” went the hard ears of the Candy Rabbit against the glass, making a noise like the ringing of a little bell.

“What’s that?” suddenly cried Madeline, turning from the table where she sat with Dorothy eating cookies.