“‘After this,’ said Santa Claus, ’I can make rabbits without having you for a pattern; but if you like you may stay a few days longer in my castle and amuse yourself.”

“I thanked him and decided to stay.  So for several days I watched him making all kinds of toys, and I wondered to see how quickly he made them, and how many new things he invented.

“‘I almost wish I was a child,’ I said to him one day, ’for then I too could have playthings.’

“’Ah, you can run about all day, in summer and in winter, and enjoy yourself in your own way,’ said Santa; ’but the poor little children are obliged to stay in the house in the winter and on rainy days in the summer, and then they must have toys to amuse them and keep them contented.”

“I knew this was true, so I only said, admiringly, ’You must be the quickest and the best workman in all the world, Santa.’

“‘I suppose I am,’ he answered; ’but then, you see, I have been making toys for hundreds of years, and I make so many it is no wonder I am skillful.  And now, if you are ready to go home, I ’ll hitch up the reindeer and take you back again.’

“‘Oh, no,’ said I, ’I prefer to run by myself, for I can easily find the way and I want to see the country.’

“‘If that is the case,’ replied Santa, ’I must give you a magic collar to wear, so that you will come to no harm.’

“So, after Mother Hubbard had given me a good meal of turnips and sliced cabbage, Santa Claus put the magic collar around my neck and I started for home.  I took my time on the journey, for I knew nothing could harm me, and I saw a good many strange sights before I got back to this place again.”

“But what became of the magic collar?” asked Dorothy, who had listened with breathless interest to the rabbit’s story.

“After I got home,” replied the rabbit, “the collar disappeared from around my neck, and I knew Santa had called it back to himself again.  He did not give it to me, you see; he merely let me take it on my journey to protect me.  The next Christmas, when I watched by the road-side to see Santa, I was pleased to notice a great many of the toy rabbits sticking out of the loaded sleigh.  The babies must have liked them, too, for every year since I have seen them amongst the toys.

“Santa never forgets me, and every time he passes he calls out, in his jolly voice,

“’A merry Christmas to you, Bun Rabbit!  The babies still love you dearly.’”

The Rabbit paused, and Dorothy was just about to ask another question when Bunny raised his head and seemed to hear something coming.

“What is it?” enquired the girl.

“It ’s the farmer’s big shepherd dog,” answered the Rabbit, “and I must be going before he sees me, or I shall shall [both shalls in original] have to run for my life.  So good bye, Dorothy; I hope we shall meet again, and then I will gladly tell you more of my adventures.”