One winter morning, Bennie and Bunny Rabbit woke up and found their nice white fur coats beside their beds.
“Oh, goody!” exclaimed Bennie. “There must be snow in the woods, else mother would not have put out our white fur coats.”
Up jumped Bunny and looked out of the window, and, sure enough, there was snow all over the ground.
It did not take them long to dress and eat their breakfast, for they could think of nothing else but the fun they would have playing in the snow.
“Now, children,” said Mrs. Rabbit, “don’t let me catch you throwing snowballs at anyone. If you do, into the house you come and put on your gray coats again.” Of course, that meant that they could not go outdoors while the snow lasted, for no rabbit would think of going out while snow was on the ground with a gray coat on because the hunters could see them so plainly.
Bennie and Bunny Rabbit intended to obey their mother, and so they promised to throw snowballs only at the trees and rocks, and for a while, all went well.
They made a pile of snowballs and a wall of snow, and back and forth, they threw the snowballs at each other, dodging behind their white walls. And then Bennie espied Mr. Jack Rabbit and his wife and Jackie, their son, all dressed up in their Sunday best clothes going out for a walk.
Jackie Rabbit had on his white fur coat, but on his head, he wore a high hat with a feather stuck in the band on one side.
Jackie felt very proud, and as he went past Bennie and Bunny, he tossed his head proudly and strutted along.
This was too much for Bennie and Bunny. They rose up from behind their snow walls and threw a hard snowball right at Jackie Rabbit’s high hat.
“Bang, bang!” and off went the hat on the ground.
Jackie turned around, and two more snowballs struck him — this time right in the face.
My! how he did scream with rage, and out came Mrs. Rabbit to see what it was all about.
“Bennie and Bunny snowballed me!” howled Jackie.
“He is a proud-cat rabbit, and he made faces at us,” said Bennie and Bunny.
“You come right into this house and take off your white coats,” said Mrs. Rabbit.
Mrs. Jack Rabbit and her husband went to Mrs. Rabbit’s door. “I don’t think your children were all to blame,” said Mrs. Jack. “Jackie did toss his head, and he is altogether too proud, I am sure. What are you going to do to punish your children, Mrs. Rabbit?”
“They have got to take off their white fur coats and put on their gray ones,” replied Mrs. Rabbit.
“I think that would be a good punishment for Jackie, too,” said Mrs. Jack Rabbit. “He won’t be so proud another year if he has to wear his old coat all winter. Come right home with me and take off your white fur coat and hat, Jackie.”
Oh, how Jackie did cry, and how Bennie and Bunny cried, too, but their mothers were firm, and off came the white fur coats, and on went the old gray ones again. Most of the winter, they had to stay in the house and look out at the snow. Only once in a while after sunset could they run in the woods, and if, someday, you should happen to see a little rabbit in the woods when the snow is on the ground, with a gray coat on, you may be pretty sure it is Bennie or Bunny or Jackie Rabbit. And if it should be neither of those three, you may be sure it is some little rabbit who is wearing his old coat because his mother has taken away his white one for punishment.
