Omaha daily bee., 1895-10-13

too, that the Moon had shrunk considerably,
and seemed to be in a very bad way. 1t
could hardly hold up its head.
But the Moon managed to look up when
1t heard the fuss at the fence, and in a very
shaky voice told the oldest of the Rabbits
howdy.
What is the trouble?' says the Oldest
Rabbit. Says he, Can l do anything to help
your
I'm afraid not, says the Moon. You are
not nimble enough
MAYBE I'm nimbler than you think,
says the Oldest Rabbit.
Well says the Moon, I'll tell you
: what the trouble is. I want to get a mes
sage to Mr.. Man, who lives in the world down
yonder. I've been shining on him at night,
and I've caught a bad cold by being out after
dark. My health is breaking down, and II |
don't put out my lights for awhile and take
a rest I'll have to go out altogether. Now,
it's like this: I've been shining on Mr.. Man
SO long that IL l don't send him some word
he'll think something serious has happened.
1 must take a rest, but / want to send him
a message telling him that l won't be gone
long
Well says the Oldest Rabbit Il don't
mind going If you'll show me the way, and
tell ne what to say
80 the Moon pointed out the way, and
showed him how to put his fingers In his
ears and hold his breath when he took the
long jump. Then 1t gave him this mes
sage;
I'm growing weak to gather strength.
I go into the shadows to gather light
'The Oldest Rabbit said this message over
to himself many times, and then he got
ready for the journey. Everything went well
until he came to the long jump. But he
braced himself and shut his eyes. and put his
fingers in his ears, and held his breath.
Now, the jump was a long one, sure enough.
1t was so long that the oldest Rabbit opened
one eye, and then got the notion that he was
In ataa 80 t,Nns- ,-l
both eyes so wide that they have been that
way ever since. This scared him terribly,
and by the time he landed on the world he
had forgotten what he came for. He wasn't
hurt a bit, but he was badly scared.
sat on the ground and tried to re-
member. and then he got up and walked
about. Finally, he looked up and saw the
Moon winking one eye at him. Then he
thought about the message, and he ran off
TO Mr.. Mans house and knocked at the door.
Mr.. Man had gone to bed, but he got up and
opened the door, and asked what was
wanted.
WELL says the Oldest Rabbit. I've lust
come from the Moon with a message for
you
"'What is ito says Mr.. Man.
1.-The Moon told me to tell you this:
I'm growing weak and have no strength.
I'm going off where the shadows are dark.
Mr.. Man scratched his head. He couldn't
mako the message out. Then he said, Take
this message back:
Seldom seen and soon forgot;
When a moon dies her feet get cold.
1.-THE oldest Rabbit bowed politely and
started back home. He came to the jump
ing off place. and then he took the long
jump. He was soon at home, and went at
once to the Moons house, and gave the mes
sage that Mr.. Man had sent, This made the
Moon very mad. Ii declared that the Oldest
Rabbit had carried the wrong message. Then
10 grabbed the shovel and struck him In the
face This made the Oldest Rabbit very mad
and he jumped at the Moon and used his
claws. The fight was a hard one, and you
can see the marks of II to this day. All the
Rabbits have their upper lips split. and the
Moon still has the marks on its face where
the oldest Rabbit clawed II.
The way Of 1t was this" continued Mr..
Rabbit, seeing that the children had hardly
caught the drift Of the story: The Moon
had been shining constantly for many year.
and was growing weak. II wanted to take
a rest, and II was afraid Mr.. Man would get
scared when he failed to see II at night.
Since that time the Moon has been taking a
res. about every two weeks. Al least Il used