reflecting thing and stayed
there."

[Illustration: "'NONSENSE!" SAID THE RABBIT.]

"Nonsense!" said the Rabbit.

ON THE EDGE OF THE WORLD

MR. RABBIT HAS SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT THE MOON, DURING WHICH HE EXPLAINS
THE SPOTS ON IT

This is the story that Mr. Jack Rabbit told to Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum
when they sat together on the edge of the world and hung their feet over
and looked at the moon. After Mr. 'Possum had finished his story, the
Rabbit leaned back and swung his feet over the Big Nowhere awhile,
thinking. Then he began.

"Well," he said, "my folks used to live in the moon."

"Humph!" said the 'Coon.

"Nonsense!" said the 'Possum.

"Yes," said Jack Rabbit, "they did. The moon is a world, away over on
the other side of the Big Nowhere, and it doesn't stand still and stay
top side up like this world, but keeps moving about and turning over, so
that you have to look sharp and hang on tight to keep from falling off
when it tips bottom side up, or is standing on its edge as it is
to-night. My folks used to live there and Mr. Dog's folks used to live
there, too. That was a long time ago, before Mr. Dog ever went to live
with Mr. Man, and he was big and savage and had no more manners than he
has now.

"My folks never could and never did get along with Mr. Dog's folks worth
a cent, but they could mostly beat Mr. Dog's folks running, so they
didn't have to associate with him unless they wanted to."

[Illustration: "USED TO HIDE AND WATCH FOR US."]

"Of course Mr. Dog's family didn't like that, for they thought they were
just as good as we were, and they used to hide and watch for us, and
when we came by jump out and try to keep up with us for as much as two
or three miles sometimes, just as Mr. Dog tried to keep up with me the
other day, which you may remember."

The 'Possum and 'Coon grinned to themselves and nodded.

"Well," continued Mr. Rabbit, "there are some laws of etiquette--which
means politeness--up there in the Moon, and they are very strict. The
Old Man in the Moon makes these laws, and when one of them is broken he
makes the one that breaks it just go right on doing whatever it is for
nine hundred and ninety-nine years, and sometimes a good deal longer
when it's a worse break than usual.

"Now the very strictest of all these laws used to be the one about Mr.
Dog trying to keep up with our folks. It was called the 'Brush Pile
law.' It didn't say that he couldn't keep up with us