een some stones and a big kettle full of
brown stuff, which he was stirring with a long stick. He seemed to be
feeling pretty well, for he kept singing,

"Fire and stir, and grease and lye--
Soap to scrub with by and by."

"Ho!" said the Little Lady. "Do they make soap like that?"

They used to in old times. They made what they called a lye by running
water through new wood ashes, and then they put grease in it and boiled
it in a big kettle. It was very strong soap, and people didn't wash
their hands with it, because it got into sore places and burnt and stung
like fury. But they used it a good deal to scrub with, and Jack Rabbit
made it himself because he was smart and knew how.

Well, the Crow told him all about what Mr. Dog had said, and Mr. Rabbit
kept stirring and singing kind of soft like to himself, and smiling a
little, and by and by, when the Crow was done, he said that of course
Mr. Dog wasn't very polite, and that some lessons would certainly do him
good. As for dancing, he said that if Mr. Dog would promise to do just
as he told him he would be able to dance as many as three different
steps in less than five minutes after he got there.

Mr. Crow said that Mr. Dog had promised anything, and that he would send
him over that very afternoon. And, sure enough right after dinner, here
comes Mr. Dog, lickety split, to take lessons. Jack Rabbit had his door
locked and his window open, and was sitting by it and looking out when
Mr. Dog got there. He told Mr. Dog to sit right down and catch his
breath a little, and then the lessons would begin. His kettle of soap
was all done, and he had taken it off of the fire, but the fire wasn't
out yet, though it looked as if it was, because it had burned down to
coals and white ashes.

Mr. Rabbit had his new soap in the house, and he spread some of it on a
cloth and tossed it down to Mr. Dog.

"That's a dance plaster," he said, "but you don't put it on quite yet.
The first thing will be some lessons in politeness. You must look
straight at me and do just as I tell you."

[Illustration: BOWED POLITELY, AS IF HE WERE MEETING LADIES.]

Mr. Dog said that he would do that, and took a seat facing Mr. Rabbit
and paid close attention. Then Jack Rabbit got up and bowed politely, as
if he were meeting ladies, and, of course, took a step or two backward
as he bowed, and then Mr. Dog bowed and took some steps backward, too.
And then he sat down, and Mr. Rabbit told him just