<h2><SPAN name="AT_THE_FARM" id="AT_THE_FARM"></SPAN>AT THE FARM</h2>
<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">Across the Sunny Meadow grass<br/></span>
<span class="i0">The little breezes love to pass,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">They tickle all the cattails till<br/></span>
<span class="i0">They almost fall into the rill.<br/></span>
<span class="i0">And every now and then they tell<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Old Mrs. Cow to ring her bell.<br/></span></div>
</div>
<p>Now before I go on with this story I'll explain right away that the
"rill" is the Bubbling Brook, and the only reason I used "rill" is
because it rhymes with "till."</p>
<p>"Ha, ha," laughed Little Jack Rabbit, as Mrs. Cow shook her head till
the bell on her collar made so much noise that her little calf came
running toward her, "I heard what the little breezes said." And then
Mrs. Cow gave a long "Moo!" which meant something I'm sure, for after
that the little rabbit hopped away and by and by he came to the Barnyard
where Cocky Doodle every morning sang his cock-a-doodle-do song to wake
up Mr. Merry Sun, who goes to sleep in the West and gets up every
morning in the East. I wonder how he does it, don't you? I guess you and
I would feel very funny if some morning after having gone to sleep in
our own bed we should wake up in another!</p>
<p>"Helloa," said Henny Penny, as the little rabbit hopped through the Old
Rail Fence. "Where have you been all this time?"</p>
<p>"Oh, lots of places," he replied. "Chippy Chipmunk and I have been
sight-seeing, and the Old Red Rooster has sprained his left leg and the
Old Brown Horse has a new collar, and Grandmother Magpie has gone away
to visit in Birdville, U. S. A."</p>
<p>Just then Ducky Waddles came waddling by, after a swim in the Old Duck
Pond, where Granddaddy Bullfrog lived.</p>
<p>"I saw Teddy Turtle a minute ago," said the little duck; "he's very
proud because Mrs. Turtle has just laid some eggs in a hole in the
ground and covered them with dirt. He says pretty soon they'll hatch
into little turtles!"</p>
<p>"Ha, ha," laughed the little rabbit, "don't tell that to Peter Possum;
he just loves turtle eggs." So Ducky Waddles promised he wouldn't, and
after that the little rabbit hopped away, although the Weathercock on
the Old Red Barn had asked him to stay a little longer.</p>
<p>"No, I can't," replied the little bunny. "I'm afraid Old Sic'em might
chase me." But even if that old dog had, the little rabbit could have
slipped away, for Old Sic'em had the rheumatism and could hardly run.</p>
<p>Well, after a while, not so very long, the little rabbit saw Professor
Jim Crow.</p>
<p>"Wait a minute," said the good professor, "I want to read you
something." So the old gentleman crow turned to page 23 of his little
Black Book, after putting on his spectacles, of course, for he couldn't
see to read without them, and then he cleared his throat and said, "Caw,
caw," two or four times, and looked at the little rabbit, but what he
read out of his little Black Book I'll tell you in the next story.</p>
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