kite down, fellows."

"All right."

Down came the kite when the string was wound up, and slowly the Candy
Rabbit floated back to earth. Madeline stood under the tail with her
dress held out to catch the Bunny in it. And down he came, not being
hurt a bit. Quickly Madeline loosened her Easter toy from the kite tail,
and she nestled him in her arms.

"You poor little Bunny!" she murmured. "I guess he was scared half to
death away up there in the air."

She and the other girls looked at the toy. He did not seem to be harmed
in the least.

"But he's got a green grass stain on one ear," said Mirabell.

"That only makes him look more stylish," said Dorothy.

"And green goes well with the pink color of his ribbon," added Madeline.
"Oh, I'm so glad to get my Rabbit back."

Madeline took her Candy Rabbit back to the house. There she and the
girls had some fun, and the boys kept on flying the kite. They used a
bunch of weeds as a weight on the tail, instead of the Rabbit, as they
had done at first.

And of course neither Madeline nor any of the others knew that the cat
had carried the Bunny away and had dropped him in the grassy field. They
all thought Carlo had done it, but of course there was no way of finding
out for sure, except by reading this book. In this the true story of the
Candy Rabbit is told for the first time.

Madeline tried to get the green grass-stain off her Rabbit's ear, but
it would not come out.

"Why don't you scrape it off?" asked Herbert.

"Why, I might scrape off half his ear! No, indeed!" Madeline said.

"Well, wash it off," suggested Dick, who had come over to play with
Herbert. "Take him up to the bathroom and wash his ear. My mother washes
my ears."

"Pooh! your ears aren't made of candy," said Madeline.

"No. And I'm glad they're not, or the fellows would be biting pieces off
all the while," laughed Dick.

"Well, I guess I won't wash my Candy Rabbit--at least not just yet,"
said Madeline. "I'll wait until he gets a few more stains on him."

Several days passed. The bad cat did not again try to catch the
goldfish. He seemed to have been frightened away when Dorothy threw the
Sawdust Doll at him. And, I am glad to say, the Doll was not hurt in the
least. In fact, she rather liked scaring cats.

One day Madeline took her Candy Rabbit out into the kitchen where the
cook was making a cake. She had just put the cake into the oven to bake,
and there were several dishes on the table--d