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DOWN THROUGH THE CEILING DROPPED DADDY FOX.</div>
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<em>Billy Bunny Books</em></div>
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<span class="x-large">BILLY BUNNY</span></div>
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<cite>AND</cite></div>
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<span class="x-large">DADDY FOX</span></div>
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BY</div>
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<span class="large">DAVID CORY</span></div>
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AUTHOR OF “BILLY BUNNY AND UNCLE BULL FROG,”</div>
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“BILLY BUNNY AND THE FRIENDLY ELEPHANT,”</div>
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“BILLY BUNNY AND UNCLE LUCKY LEFTHINDFOOT”</div>
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ILLUSTRATIONS BY</div>
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HUGH SPENCER</div>
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NEW YORK</div>
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CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY</div>
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BILLY BUNNY BOOKS</div>
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BY DAVID CORY</div>
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<em>Large 12 mo. Illustrated</em></div>
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1. BILLY BUNNY AND THE FRIENDLY ELEPHANT.</div>
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2. BILLY BUNNY AND DADDY FOX.</div>
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3. BILLY BUNNY AND UNCLE BULL FROG.</div>
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4. BILLY BUNNY AND UNCLE LUCKY LEFTHINDFOOT.</div>
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<em>Other Volumes in Preparation</em></div>
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CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, NEW YORK</div>
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COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY</div>
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CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY</div>
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<em>Billy Bunny and Daddy Fox</em></div>
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Printed in U. S. A.</div>
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<div class="contents level-2 section" id="id1">
<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
<ul class="simple">
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-ibilly-bunny-and-the-jail-house" id="id2">STORY I—BILLY BUNNY AND THE JAIL HOUSE</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-iibilly-bunny-and-lady-hornet" id="id3">STORY II—BILLY BUNNY AND LADY HORNET</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-iiibilly-bunny-and-photographer-crane" id="id4">STORY III—BILLY BUNNY AND PHOTOGRAPHER CRANE</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-ivbilly-bunny-and-the-organ-grinder" id="id5">STORY IV—BILLY BUNNY AND THE ORGAN GRINDER</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-vbilly-bunny-and-mr-tootie-owl" id="id6">STORY V—BILLY BUNNY AND MR. TOOTIE OWL</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-vibilly-bunny-and-billy-goat" id="id7">STORY VI—BILLY BUNNY AND BILLY GOAT</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-viibilly-bunny-and-the-head-of-lettuce" id="id8">STORY VII—BILLY BUNNY AND THE HEAD OF LETTUCE</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-viiibilly-bunny-and-the-scarecrow" id="id9">STORY VIII—BILLY BUNNY AND THE SCARECROW</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-ixbilly-bunny-and-mr-drake" id="id10">STORY IX—BILLY BUNNY AND MR. DRAKE</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-xbilly-bunny-and-the-frog-king" id="id11">STORY X—BILLY BUNNY AND THE FROG KING</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-xibilly-bunny-and-the-turkey-gobbler" id="id12">STORY XI—BILLY BUNNY AND THE TURKEY GOBBLER</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-xiibilly-bunny-and-the-donkey" id="id13">STORY XII—BILLY BUNNY AND THE DONKEY</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-xiiibilly-bunny-and-the-little-sugar-pills" id="id14">STORY XIII—BILLY BUNNY AND THE LITTLE SUGAR PILLS</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-xivbilly-bunny-and-the-billy-goat" id="id15">STORY XIV—BILLY BUNNY AND THE BILLY GOAT</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-xvbilly-bunny-and-mrs-bruin" id="id16">STORY XV—BILLY BUNNY AND MRS. BRUIN</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-xvibilly-bunny-and-the-bear-cubs" id="id17">STORY XVI—BILLY BUNNY AND THE BEAR CUBS</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-xviibilly-bunny-and-the-squirrel-innkeeper" id="id18">STORY XVII—BILLY BUNNY AND THE SQUIRREL INNKEEPER</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-xviiibilly-bunny-and-the-tailor-bird" id="id19">STORY XVIII—BILLY BUNNY AND THE TAILOR BIRD</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-xixbilly-bunny-and-robbie-redbreast" id="id20">STORY XIX—BILLY BUNNY AND ROBBIE REDBREAST</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-xxbilly-bunny-and-the-babbling-brook" id="id21">STORY XX—BILLY BUNNY AND THE BABBLING BROOK</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-xxibilly-bunny-and-mrs-wildcat" id="id22">STORY XXI—BILLY BUNNY AND MRS. WILDCAT</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-xxiibilly-bunny-at-windy-cave" id="id23">STORY XXII—BILLY BUNNY AT WINDY CAVE</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-xxiiibilly-bunny-and-the-wild-canary" id="id24">STORY XXIII—BILLY BUNNY AND THE WILD CANARY</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-xxivbilly-bunny-and-the-little-sparrows" id="id25">STORY XXIV—BILLY BUNNY AND THE LITTLE SPARROWS</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-xxvbilly-bunny-and-robin-redbreast" id="id26">STORY XXV—BILLY BUNNY AND ROBIN REDBREAST</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-xxvibilly-bunny-and-mrs-quail" id="id27">STORY XXVI—BILLY BUNNY AND MRS. QUAIL</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-xxviibilly-bunny-and-the-theater-play" id="id28">STORY XXVII—BILLY BUNNY AND THE THEATER PLAY</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-xxviiibilly-bunny-and-mrs-weasel" id="id29">STORY XXVIII—BILLY BUNNY AND MRS. WEASEL</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-xxixbilly-bunny-and-the-policeman-dog" id="id30">STORY XXIX—BILLY BUNNY AND THE POLICEMAN DOG</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-xxxbilly-bunny-and-the-circus-elephant" id="id31">STORY XXX—BILLY BUNNY AND THE CIRCUS ELEPHANT</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-xxxibilly-bunny-and-the-cheerful-little-bird" id="id32">STORY XXXI—BILLY BUNNY AND THE CHEERFUL LITTLE BIRD</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-xxxiibilly-bunny-and-the-millers-boy" id="id33">STORY XXXII—BILLY BUNNY AND THE MILLER’S BOY</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-xxxiiibilly-bunny-and-old-mother-magpie" id="id34">STORY XXXIII—BILLY BUNNY AND OLD MOTHER MAGPIE</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-xxxivbilly-bunny-and-dickey-meadow-mouse" id="id35">STORY XXXIV—BILLY BUNNY AND DICKEY MEADOW MOUSE</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-xxxvbilly-bunny-and-big-brown-bear" id="id36">STORY XXXV—BILLY BUNNY AND BIG BROWN BEAR</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-xxxvibilly-bunny-and-professor-crow" id="id37">STORY XXXVI—BILLY BUNNY AND PROFESSOR CROW</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-xxxviibilly-bunny-and-mrs-grouse" id="id38">STORY XXXVII—BILLY BUNNY AND MRS. GROUSE</SPAN></li>
<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><SPAN class="reference internal pginternal" href="#story-xxxviiibilly-bunny-and-the-carload-of-lettuce-leaves" id="id39">STORY XXXVIII—BILLY BUNNY AND THE CARLOAD OF LETTUCE LEAVES</SPAN></li>
</ul></div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-ibilly-bunny-and-the-jail-house">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id2">STORY I—BILLY BUNNY AND THE JAIL HOUSE</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">Daddy Fox was very irregular in his
habits about coming home, so, when
the Bunny Boy Scouts captured him,
after his escape from the Circus Cow Boy, and
put him in the Jail House at Lettuceville, no one
became uneasy for two or three days. After that
time, Mrs. Fox said to Sly Boots and Bushy
Tail, her two little sons: “Something has happened
to your father. I know it, for he never
stays away like this without telephoning or
sending a message home. We’d better go out
to-night and look for him.”</p>
<p class="pnext">So when the big, round, silver moon was
shining in the middle of the sky and the
twinkle, twinkle star was peeping into the bedroom
windows of little boys and girls, who
were sound asleep and dreaming of lollypops
and ice cream cones and other things, Mrs. Fox
put on her bonnet and started out with her two
little foxes.</p>
<p class="pnext">And by and by they came to the Jail House.
And while they were walking around it, smelling
here and there to find out where their
Daddy Fox was, they heard him singing in a
sorrowful voice:</p>
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“I wonder if my two little boys</div>
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Are thinking of Daddy Fox;</div>
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If mother would only find me here</div>
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She’d open this old jail box.</div>
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She’d find the key to the iron door,</div>
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Which is hid in the crack outside in the floor</div>
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Of the little porch, and she’d get me out.</div>
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Oh, dear, I wonder what they’re about!”</div>
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</blockquote>
<p class="pfirst">And of course when Mrs. Fox heard that, she
looked on the floor of the little porch; and,
sure enough, there was the big iron key almost
hidden from sight in a little, tiny crack.</p>
<p class="pnext">Wasn’t that lucky? Well, I guess it was, and
in a jiffy and a half she unlocked the iron door
and set Daddy Fox free.</p>
<p class="pnext">My! But he was thin and miserable. They
had shaved his head and put a striped suit of
clothes on him and he didn’t look anything like
their dear, kind father, thought Sly Boots and
Bushy Tail, although they didn’t say so.</p>
<p class="pnext">They just hugged him nearly to death, for
they loved him, because he was their father,
and they didn’t know it was wicked to steal
chickens, because all foxes do, and if you don’t
know a thing is wicked and then go and do it
it’s not nearly so bad as when you know a thing
is wrong and then go and do it. So please remember
this, for it’s very important and will
help you keep out of lots of trouble.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Come home at once,” said Mrs. Fox; “I
have a nice stewed duck for supper, although
it’s past supper time.” So Daddy Fox hurried
as fast as he could so as not to let the duck stew
get cooked too much, and by and by they came
to their den.</p>
<p class="pnext">And Mrs. Fox had the table set and the supper
ready in less than a wink and everybody
was happy as could be. And perhaps Daddy
Fox will be good until the next time, that is if
he doesn’t see a chicken before the chicken sees
him.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-iibilly-bunny-and-lady-hornet">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id3">STORY II—BILLY BUNNY AND LADY HORNET</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">“Early to rise, early to rise,
Will make little bunny boys win the
first prize,” sang Mrs. Bunny at the foot of the stairs. And
then Billy Bunny lifted up his left hind leg and
his right ear, and he wiggled his nose forty
times less once, and after that he was wide
awake.</p>
<p class="pnext">And when he had washed his face and whiskers,
and parted his hair down his back nice
and smooth, he went down to eat his breakfast
of carrot mush and raspberry juice which his
kind mother had made from the fruit that
grew in the old bramble patch. And then, oh
yes, oh yes! he polished the brass knob on the
front door, and after that he went down to the
postoffice to see if a new spring mattress had
come by parcel post.</p>
<p class="pnext">But it hadn’t, and the postmistress, who was
a nice Lady Hornet, said it was a bit early in
the season for spring mattresses, but she thought
by next month it would come along, that is, if
the weather kept nice and warm.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, anyway, she had something for the
little rabbit. It was a letter with two carrot
cents postage due, which the little bunny paid.</p>
<p class="pnext">And then he opened his letter, and what do
you think he found inside? Why, a beautiful
tinted photo of his circus elephant friend, and
on the back was written in purple ink, “To
Billy Bunny, from Elly, the circus elephant.”</p>
<p class="pnext">“Now, isn’t that nice of him,” said Billy
Bunny. “I must send him mine right away,”
so he hopped away to the nearest photographer,
who was a nice Crane and had his place in Rabbitville
about 450 hops away.</p>
<p class="pnext">By and by Billy Bunny reached the picture
gallery, and after he had told the Crane photographer
what he wanted he sat down on a
little green mossy rock in front of a big canvas
painted like the ocean with big green waves and
white foam.</p>
<p class="pnext">And all around the rock was sprinkled sand
so that when the picture was taken it looked
just as if the little bunny had been to Newport
for the summer.</p>
<p class="pnext">“How many do you want?” asked the Photographer
Crane, who was certainly a splendid
picture man, for his legs were just the right
length so that he could look into the back of the
camera without standing on a stool.</p>
<p class="pnext">And, wasn’t it funny, you couldn’t tell his legs
apart from the legs of the camera, only the
camera had three and the Crane only two.</p>
<p class="pnext">“I’ll take seven,” said the little rabbit.
“That’s my lucky number. I want to send one
to Mr. Lucky Lefthindfoot; he’s my Uncle
Lucky.”</p>
<p class="pnext">“And one to my friend, the circus elephant,
for he’s my best friend. It will make Daddy
Fox mad to think he wasn’t here at the same
time, for he’s always trying to catch me.”</p>
<p class="pnext">And just then who should peep in through
the window but Daddy Fox himself. And in
the next story you shall hear what happened
after that.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-iiibilly-bunny-and-photographer-crane">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id4">STORY III—BILLY BUNNY AND PHOTOGRAPHER CRANE</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">You remember in the last story Daddy
Fox was peeping in through the window
just as Billy Bunny was having his
picture taken, don’t you?</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, no sooner did the little rabbit see him
than he hopped quicker than a lightning bug to
the door and closed it, and the Photographer
Crane pulled down the window shade to make
it dark inside so that Daddy Fox couldn’t see
them.</p>
<p class="pnext">After that he stuffed the fireplace full of sofa
cushions for fear the crafty fox might slide
down the chimney. But, oh dear me! he forgot
all about the skylights—the windows in the
roof, you know, and the next moment down
through the ceiling dropped Daddy Fox.</p>
<p class="pnext">Oh, my! What a scramble there was in that
photo parlor. The Crane flew up on the mantelpiece
and the little rabbit crept into the
waste basket and pulled a photograph album
on top of him.</p>
<p class="pnext">And, of course, it was so dark that Daddy
Fox didn’t see them do all this, so he had to
play hide-and-seek and there was nobody to
call out, “You’re getting hotter and hotter”
when he stood near the mantelpiece, nor
“You’re burning up!” when he passed close to
the waste paper basket, so after a while he sat
down on a pincushion (excuse me, I mean a
sofa cushion), and listened with both ears
cocked up.</p>
<p class="pnext">But the Crane never breathed and Billy
Bunny held his breath, so by and by Daddy Fox
started to hunt around the room again. First
he pulled all the cushions out of the fireplace
and then he pulled up the shades and unlocked
the front door.</p>
<p class="pnext">And this was very foolish of him, for he
should have known that the Crane and the little
rabbit hadn’t had time to get out. Then he
went out on the little porch and peeped into the
woodbox, and while he was doing that the
Crane flew down the mantelpiece and locked
the door.</p>
<p class="pnext">And then he pulled the strings to close the
skylight and stuffed the cushions back into the
fireplace, and lifted the album off the little rabbit,
for it was so full of pictures of fat people
that it was dreadfully heavy.</p>
<p class="pnext">After this Billy Bunny opened his knapsack
and took out his gun and peeked out through a
hole in the window shade. And right there by
the window stood the dreadful fox trying to
open it. Bang! went the little rabbit’s gun and
the cork hit the fox on the tip of his nose and
made him sneeze so badly that he had to run
into the woods to find his handkerchief.</p>
<p class="pnext">And he hunted all day long for it, and when
evening came he remembered he had sent it to
the laundry, so he had to go out and buy one at
the three and one cent store.</p>
<p class="pnext">Of course, Billy Bunny didn’t have any more
pictures taken that day. He hopped home as
fast as he could, and the Crane telephoned
down to the police station and told them to send
up a man to guard the studio, and if the Twinkle
Twinkle Star to-night sings me to sleep, I’ll tell
you another story of Billy Bunny and the sheep.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-ivbilly-bunny-and-the-organ-grinder">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id5">STORY IV—BILLY BUNNY AND THE ORGAN GRINDER</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">Well, the Twinkle Twinkle Star didn’t
sing me to sleep and so I can’t tell
you about Billy Bunny and the woolly
sheep as I said I would in the last story, but I
will tell you something else if you’ll only wait
five hundred short seconds. And this is what
it’s going to be about:</p>
<blockquote><div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
The organ grinder’s monkey</div>
<div class="line">
Who wears a little cap,</div>
<div class="line">
Is always kept so busy</div>
<div class="line">
He cannot take a nap.</div>
<div class="line"></div>
<div class="line">
He’s dancing to the music,</div>
<div class="line">
And picking up the dimes;</div>
<div class="line">
But oftener it’s nickels.</div>
<div class="line">
And pennies most the times.</div>
</div></div>
</blockquote>
<p class="pfirst">As soon as Billy Bunny heard the “Star-Spangled
Banner,” for that was the tune which
the old organ grinder was playing, he pricked
up his ears and hopped out of the Old Briar
Patch, and by and by he came up to the monkey,
who held out his little red cap.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Here’s a carrot cent for you,” said the little
rabbit, but the organ grinder scowled a deep,
gloomy scowl and said:</p>
<p class="pnext">“Me no lika da mun!” But what could Billy
Bunny do? And as the organ grinder kept on
scowling a deep, gloomy scowl, the little rabbit
opened his knapsack and looked through it.
And pretty soon he found an apple pie, and
when the organ grinder saw it he stopped grinding
the music and put out his hand.</p>
<p class="pnext">And in a very few minutes there wasn’t any
pie to be seen anywhere around for miles and
miles, and the organ grinder had a lovely smile
on his face! And then he played that pretty
song called “In this sweet pie and pie there are
apples fresh and dry,” and after that he swung
the organ over his back and the monkey jumped
on top and off they went to grind out more
tunes for money.</p>
<p class="pnext">But the little rabbit didn’t go with them.
No, siree. For if he had to pay a whole apple
pie for a tune he’d rather go another way, even
if he couldn’t hear the lovely music, for you
can’t grind out apple pies the way you can
tunes.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, by and by, after a while, not so very
long, he came to a river and he couldn’t get
across, so he looked all about him to find a little
horse; but there wasn’t any horse and there
wasn’t any boat, so the little rabbit said, “Well,
I guess I’ll have to float” So what did he do
but find an old plank and then floated over on it
to the other bank.</p>
<p class="pnext">Now I don’t know what is the matter with
my typewriter that it didn’t make a verse out
of all these rhymes, but it didn’t—it just went
along in a prosy way, and so you’ll have to make
a poem out of them yourself, for I have no
more room in this story.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-vbilly-bunny-and-mr-tootie-owl">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id6">STORY V—BILLY BUNNY AND MR. TOOTIE OWL</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">Let’s see, I left off in the last story just
where Billy Bunny landed on the bank
of the river. Well, now I’m going to
tell you what happened after that.</p>
<p class="pnext">“I was lucky to get across on that old board,”
thought the little rabbit, as he hopped up the
bank to look about him. The field was covered
with daisies and in the distance a black cow
stood flicking off the flies with her long tail.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Helloa!” cried the little rabbit. “Why
don’t you eat the flowers?” The black cow
looked up and said:</p>
<p class="pnext">“Why don’t you stand on your head?” And,
would you believe it, Billy Bunny did. Yes,
sir. He stood first on his right ear and then on
his left ear, and then he turned two somersaults
and a handspring backward, and this made the
cow laugh so hard that she got her tail twisted
around a fence rail and couldn’t get away.</p>
<p class="pnext">“What shall I do?” she cried, anxiously.
“It’s almost milking time, and when I don’t
come home they’ll wonder where I am. Oh,
dear! Oh, dear!”</p>
<p class="pnext">“Don’t worry,” said Billy Bunny, and he
opened his knapsack and took out his little
hatchet and chopped the tail—I mean the rail—off
the fence so that she could get home, although,
of course, she had to drag the rail all
the way back to the farm, and the farmer
scolded her for breaking down his fence, which
was too bad, for she couldn’t help it, you know.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, after that the little rabbit hopped
away, and by and by, just as it was getting quite
dark, he came to a big pile of wood. “Now
this will be a good place for me to sleep,” he
said to himself, and looked about for a hole to
squeeze into. But, oh dear me, and oh dear
you!</p>
<p class="pnext">A big owl flew out and hooted and tooted
three times and a half, and then winked his eyes
at the little rabbit until he was so scared he
could hardly stand up.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Oh, please, Mr. Owl, don’t hooty-tooty me
so. I don’t mean any harm.”</p>
<p class="pnext">“What are you doing in my woodpile?”
asked the blinky old bird fiercely. “Trying to
steal my wood, eh?”</p>
<p class="pnext">“Oh, no, Mr. Owl,” cried Billy Bunny. “I
was only looking for a place to sleep.”</p>
<p class="pnext">“I don’t believe you,” screeched the blinky
winky bird, and he made a grab for the little
rabbit with his hooked feet. And he would
have caught Billy Bunny, too, and eaten him
for supper that very night, I guess, if the little
rabbit hadn’t pulled his popgun out of his knapsack
and hit the wicked owl on the tail with the
cork bullet, which so scared the ugly old bird
that he flew into the forest. After that Billy
Bunny crept into the woodpile and went to sleep
and dreamed that it caught on fire and the sparks
flew up into the air and covered the whole sky
with twinkling stars.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-vibilly-bunny-and-billy-goat">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id7">STORY VI—BILLY BUNNY AND BILLY GOAT</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">It was a bright and beautiful sunshiny morning
as Billy Bunny hopped out of the woodpile
where he had slept all night and started
off on his journey of adventure.</p>
<p class="pnext">He had only gone a little ways when all of a
sudden from behind a bush out jumped a big
Billy Goat. He had a long goatee and he
looked very fierce, and when he lowered his
head and pointed his horns at the little rabbit,
how do you suppose Billy Bunny felt?</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, he felt just like a piece of paper all
crinkled up, he was so scarified. And so would
you, for that goat’s horns were as sharp as
needles.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Stop! Stop!” cried the little rabbit. “Don’t
you know who I am? Billy Bunny’s my name,
from Old Brier Patch, Snake Fence Corner,”
and then he handed his card to the angry Billy
Goat, who ate it up without even reading it.
Wasn’t that rude in him?</p>
<p class="pnext">“I don’t like your card a bit,” said the Goat.
“It tastes like peppermint.” Of course it did,
for the little rabbit carried his striped candy
cane in his front paws, and some of the candy
came off on them and got on to the card when
he handed it to the Billy Goat.</p>
<p class="pnext">“If you had read it you wouldn’t have tasted
the peppermint,” said Billy Bunny politely, not
wishing to make the Goat feel badly.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, by this time the Goat had raised his
head and so his sharp horns didn’t point at Billy
Bunny, which made him feel lots better. Then
he opened his knapsack and took out an apple-pie
and gave it to the Goat, who ate it up in two
and a half bites, and then asked for more.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Sorry, but that’s all I have,” said the little
rabbit. “Would you like a lollypop?” And
when that was all gone, the little rabbit brought
out a chocolate cake and the Goat ate that up
just as fast.</p>
<p class="pnext">“What else have you?” asked the Goat, wiping
the crumbs from his goatee and peeking
over Billy Bunny’s shoulder.</p>
<p class="pnext">“I’ve got a pair of rubber boots,” said the
little rabbit. And would you believe it, that
Goat ate those rubber boots up too and then
asked for more.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Oh, dear! Oh, dear!” sighed Billy Bunny,
and he hunted all through his knapsack again
until he found a policeman’s whistle. “That’s
all I’ve got left, Mr. Billy Goat.”</p>
<p class="pnext">“Well, I’ll eat that for dessert,” and the
hungry, starving goat commenced to eat that
whistle as though he hadn’t tasted any kind of
food for a year and five minutes. But would
you believe me again? That whistle began to
whistle and this so scared the Billy Goat that he
ran away.</p>
<p class="pnext">And if that whistle doesn’t keep me awake
all night so that I’ll have to sleep all day tomorrow
I’ll tell you in the next story how Billy
Bunny went to see his kind Uncle Lucky.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-viibilly-bunny-and-the-head-of-lettuce">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id8">STORY VII—BILLY BUNNY AND THE HEAD OF LETTUCE</SPAN></h2>
<blockquote><div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
Oh, it’s dreadful to be lonely,</div>
<div class="line">
Even when you’re not alone,</div>
<div class="line">
And you may be dreadful mournful</div>
<div class="line">
Though you have a happy tone.</div>
<div class="line">
And your lips may keep a-smiling</div>
<div class="line">
Though the tears are in your eyes.</div>
<div class="line">
Have you never seen it raining,</div>
<div class="line">
When the sun is in the skies?</div>
<div class="line">
If the one you want to be with</div>
<div class="line">
Isn’t all the time with you,</div>
<div class="line">
There is nothing that will make you</div>
<div class="line">
Feel anything but blue.</div>
</div></div>
</blockquote>
<p class="pfirst">And this was the way little Billy Bunny
felt. You see, he hadn’t seen his dear,
kind Uncle Lucky for so long that the
gold watch and chain which the old gentleman
rabbit had given him needed winding.</p>
<p class="pnext">So after the little rabbit had wound up the
chain and put the watch back in his pocket, he
started out to see his uncle, Mr. Lucky
Lefthindfoot, who lived on Carrot street, near Lettuce
Avenue, Bunnybridge, U. S. A.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, after Billy Bunny had hopped and
hopped and then some more, he came to a cross
road, and the sign on the post said, “5,281½
hops to Bunnybridge.”</p>
<p class="pnext">“Well, I’m glad I’m on the right road,” said
the little rabbit, and he took half a hop so as to
start out even, you know, because he never did
like fractions, and by and by he came to Lettuce
avenue. But just then something happened.
Something usually does happen when
you least expect it, and that’s what’s going to
happen now if my typewriter doesn’t get balky
and throw my hands off the keyboard.</p>
<p class="pnext">Yes, sir! Just as that dear little bunny
stepped on Lettuce avenue something big and
soft hit him between his left ear and his left
hind foot and knocked the breath right out of
him. And so of course he couldn’t say “Oh,
dear; oh, dear!” so I’m going to make the typewriter
say it for him.</p>
<p class="pnext">And that will give him time to get his breath
so that he can say it if he wants to. Well, after
that he looked around to find out what had hit
him, and what do you suppose it was that had
knocked the “Oh, dear me!” out of him! I’ll
tell you right away—a great big head of lettuce.
There it lay on the ground. So the little rabbit
picked it up and was just going to put it in his
knapsack for his Uncle Lucky, when a cross
voice called out:</p>
<blockquote><div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
“Don’t you touch that lettuce,</div>
<div class="line">
For it belongs to me,</div>
<div class="line">
And I am going to take it</div>
<div class="line">
Home with me for tea.”</div>
</div></div>
</blockquote>
<p class="pfirst">“Who are you?” asked the little rabbit, dropping
the lettuce and looking all around. But
he couldn’t see anybody, and neither can I, so
I’m going to let Billy Bunny look again. And
this time he saw a Scarecrow in the field close
by.</p>
<p class="pnext">And if the old clothes man doesn’t throw another
head of lettuce and hit my typewriter so
it won’t talk to the paper I’ll tell you another
story to-morrow.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-viiibilly-bunny-and-the-scarecrow">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id9">STORY VIII—BILLY BUNNY AND THE SCARECROW</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">As soon as Billy Bunny saw the Scarecrow—who
had thrown the head of lettuce
at the little rabbit in the last story,
but he shan’t do it again in this story! I’ll
promise you that right now—the little rabbit
said:</p>
<p class="pnext">“Did you hit me just now between my left
ear and my left hind leg with this lettuce?”</p>
<p class="pnext">“I did,” replied the Scarecrow, in a sort of
scarecrowey voice.</p>
<p class="pnext">As soon as the little rabbit heard that he
picked up that head of lettuce and threw it right
at the head of that Scarecrow and knocked off
his stovepipe hat. And when Billy Bunny
looked at the hat he saw two gold letters pasted
inside the crown, and what do you think they
were? I don’t know why I asked you, for I’ve
got to tell you, anyway. Well, they were the
letters U. L.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Uncle Lucky!” cried the little rabbit. “It’s
Uncle Lucky’s wedding stovepipe hat! Oh,
how glad he’ll be to get it back!” And Billy
Bunny picked it up and put the lettuce inside
and then hopped away as fast as he could for his
kind old uncle’s house. And after he had gone
for maybe three miles or less, he came to the old
gentleman rabbit’s house. And there was dear,
kind Uncle Lucky swinging in the hammock on
the front porch. And when he saw his little
nephew, he fell out—excuse me, I mean, he
hopped out—of the hammock and opened the
front gate and said:</p>
<p class="pnext">“That looks like my old wedding stovepipe
hat,” and the old gentleman rabbit put it on his
head without even taking the head of lettuce
out first, but that didn’t matter, for there was
plenty of room in that old stovepipe hat for two
heads.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, as soon as Uncle Lucky got over his excitement,
he asked his bunny nephew where he
had found his hat, and when Billy Bunny told
him, the old gentleman rabbit took it off and
took out the head of lettuce and he and Billy
Bunny ate it all up—not the hat, but the lettuce,
you know—and some apple pie and carrot ice
cream besides, for Uncle Lucky always had his
pantry just full of the nicest things to eat you
ever saw or ever heard of. And that’s one reason
why all the bunny boys and girls loved the
old gentleman rabbit, for when they were
coming home from school he would stand on his
front porch and say:</p>
<blockquote><div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
“Come in and get some apple pie,</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
An ice cream cone or two;</div>
</div>
<div class="line">
A lollypop with jam on top,</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
Some sweet prunes à la stew,</div>
</div>
<div class="line">
Some lemonade—don’t be afraid.</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
For I’m inviting you.”</div>
</div></div>
</div></blockquote>
<p class="pfirst">And I hope with all my heart that if you ever
pass by Uncle Lucky’s house on Carrot street
he’ll ask you, too. And in the next story, if the
pepper box doesn’t fall into the ice cream
freezer so that the little mouse in the pantry
sneezes his head ’most off. I’ll tell you another
story to-morrow.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-ixbilly-bunny-and-mr-drake">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id10">STORY IX—BILLY BUNNY AND MR. DRAKE</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">The next day after Billy Bunny arrived
at Uncle Lucky’s house the good, kind
old gentleman rabbit said: “Let’s go out
for a ride in the Luckymobile, for that was the
name of Uncle Lucky’s new car, you know.”</p>
<p class="pnext">So off they started, and this time you can well
believe the old gentleman rabbit filled his lamps
full of electricity oil, for he hadn’t forgotten the
time some million stories ago he had been
caught without any lights on his automobile.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, as I was just going to say when my
typewriter had to go and explain all about how
poor Uncle Lucky had once been arrested for
not having his lamps lit, they started off—not
the lamps, but Billy Bunny and Uncle Lucky,
and by and by they came across an old Drake.</p>
<p class="pnext">And if you don’t know what a Drake is, I’ll
tell you; he’s the husband of a duck and spends
most of his time swimming on the pond while
she stays at home to look after the little ducks.
Well, if Uncle Lucky hadn’t stopped the
automobile just where he did, Mrs. Duck would
have been a widow.</p>
<p class="pnext">“What do you mean by not seeing where
you’re going?” shouted Uncle Lucky, getting
very red in the face.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Why didn’t you toot your horn?” said Mr.
Drake with an angry quack, and then he waddled
into the water and swam away.</p>
<p class="pnext">“What can you expect from an old ferryboat
like that?” laughed Uncle Lucky, watching Mr.
Drake paddle away. “He’s an old-fashioned
side-wheeler. Let him go!” and the kind old
gentleman rabbit leaned out of the automobile
and handed a stick of candy to a little goose who
had stood by listening with eye and bill wide
open to all he had said.</p>
<p class="pnext">Then the old gentleman rabbit took off his
wedding stovepipe hat and bowed to Mrs. Duck,
who stood in the doorway of her house, and
tooted his horn and drove off.</p>
<p class="pnext">And by and by Billy Bunny asked Uncle
Lucky to let him run the automobile, so the old
gentleman rabbit changed seats with his little
nephew, and after that he fell asleep. For the
road was very smooth and the wind was soft and
warm, and Billy Bunny didn’t talk all the time
the way some boys do.</p>
<p class="pnext">And as Billy Bunny didn’t want to wake him
up, he kept on going farther and farther away
from home until after a while he found himself
in a thick woods. And then the automobile
came to a stop and Uncle Lucky, of course,
woke up with a bump.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Gracious me! Have I been asleep?” he exclaimed,
rubbing his right eye with his left hind
foot. And just then a little flower struck 4
o’clock, just like a little clock, and that’s the
reason they call this little flower “Four o’Clock”
I guess. “Gracious me! I have been asleep!”
cried Uncle Lucky, and then he took out the
lunch basket and he and Billy Bunny ate a lot
of nice things.</p>
<p class="pnext">But, goodness me, it’s so late that I must stop
now, for there isn’t time for the two little rabbits
to get home. But I guess they’ll cuddle up
in the Luckymobile and sleep until to-morrow
morning.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-xbilly-bunny-and-the-frog-king">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id11">STORY X—BILLY BUNNY AND THE FROG KING</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">Well, when Billy Bunny and good, kind
Uncle Lucky woke up the next morning,
for they had slept all night in the
Luckymobile as I told you in the last story, they
ate their breakfast and then they started off and
by and by they had an adventure.</p>
<p class="pnext">A gypsy camp stood close to the roadside and
just as they came up, an old woman walked out
of a tent and said, “Don’t you want your fortunes
told?” Well, as Billy Bunny had never
had his fortune told and Uncle Lucky had forgotten
whether he had or not, they got out of
the automobile and sat down on a log while the
old gypsy woman looked at their paws.</p>
<p class="pnext">“You have a very long life line, Mr. Lucky
Lefthindfoot, and lots of money,” she said with
a grin, “and you’re going to have lots more.”</p>
<p class="pnext">“That’s very nice,” said the old gentleman
rabbit, “for I want to build a library in Rabbitville
where all the little bunnies can read nice
stories and grow very wise.”</p>
<p class="pnext">“And you will grow up to be a great soldier,”
she said to Billy Bunny, and then Uncle Lucky
gave her two carrot nickels and said good-by.</p>
<p class="pnext">“I wonder where all that money is coming
from,” said the good, kind old gentleman rabbit,
and then they heard a deep voice singing:</p>
<blockquote><div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
“Oh, I am king of the Bullfrog Pond,</div>
<div class="line">
Ker-plunk, ker-chunk, ker-plunk!</div>
<div class="line"></div>
<div class="line">
And I’ll never stir a foot beyond,</div>
<div class="line">
Ker-plunk, ker-plunk, ker-plunk!</div>
<div class="line"></div>
<div class="line">
For it’s cool and nice in the water here,</div>
<div class="line">
And the cat-tails wave in the atmosphere,</div>
<div class="line">
And this old dead log is a throne for me.</div>
<div class="line">
Oh yes, I’m as happy as I can be!”</div>
</div></div>
</blockquote>
<p class="pfirst">Then Uncle Lucky stopped the automobile
and he and Billy Bunny got out to make the
acquaintance of this happy frog king. And
weren’t they surprised to find that he was the
brother of Uncle Bullfrog, who lived in the Old
Mill Pond. He had heard all about the two
rabbits, and was delighted to see them.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Sit down on the bank and I’ll get you a
watercress sandwich and some pond-lily milk,”
cried the Frog King, and he waved a bullrush
wand up and down and whistled through his
fingers, and then a dozen tadpoles swam up.</p>
<p class="pnext">And then they swam off again and when they
came back they had watercress sandwiches and
pond-lily milk enough to go around and some
besides to give to the Luckymobile, only automobiles
don’t drink anything but gasoline, so
they gave what was left to a nice friendly duck
who happened to pass by.</p>
<p class="pnext">And then Uncle Lucky took off his stovepipe
hat and bowed to the Frog King and Billy
Bunny took a chocolate éclaire out of his knapsack
and said, “Give this to your Queen with
my compliments,” which tickled the Frog King
so he fell off his log throne into the water with
a terrible splash.</p>
<p class="pnext">And if the lawn mower doesn’t run over our
white poodle dog and cut off all his hair, I’ll
tell you to-morrow another story about Billy
Bunny and Uncle Lucky.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-xibilly-bunny-and-the-turkey-gobbler">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id12">STORY XI—BILLY BUNNY AND THE TURKEY GOBBLER</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">Well, as I was saying in the last story,
Billy Bunny and his good, kind Uncle
Lucky said good-by to the Frog King.
And the frog was very sorry to see them go, for
although he was a king, his kingdom was only
a frog pond.</p>
<p class="pnext">But then, when you come to think of it, he
couldn’t have his kingdom any place else, so of
course he was contented, and that’s the chief
thing in life, whether you’re a king or a poor
man.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Now what are we going to do?” said Uncle
Lucky as he and his rabbit nephew rolled along
as nicely as you please in the Luckymobile.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Oh, just roll along,” answered the little
bunny, slipping his knapsack off his shoulder
and laying his striped candy cane down on the
bottom of the automobile, “I’m just glad to be
riding with you, dear Uncle Luck.”</p>
<p class="pnext">And this so tickled the old gentleman rabbit
that he turned to smile at Billy Bunny, and then
of course he didn’t see where he was going, and
the first thing you know and the first thing he
knew, the Luckymobile ran right into a baker’s
shop and knocked over the counter, which was
full of pies and cakes.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Oh, please excuse me!” cried kind Uncle
Lucky to the bakerman, who was a big, red-faced
Turkey Gobbler. But, oh, dear me! As
soon as that Turkey Gobbler saw Uncle Lucky’s
red tie he made a rush at the old gentleman rabbit,
for turkeys, you know, get terribly mad
when they see anything red, and if Uncle Lucky
hadn’t jumped out of the way that Turkey Gobbler
would have picked the diamond pin right
out of the tie.</p>
<p class="pnext">Yes, sir, I’m sure he would, and Uncle Lucky
was very fond of his diamond pin because little
Billy Bunny had given it to him, you remember,
some seventeen or more stories ago.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, while the ugly red-faced turkey was
chasing dear Uncle Lucky all around the back
yard, Billy Bunny backed the automobile out of
the bake shop, and after he had scraped custard
pie off the cabaret and lemon pie off the left
front wheel and squash pie off the right front
wheel and a dozen other kinds of pie off the two
front lights, Uncle Lucky came hopping around
the corner of the bake shop with the ugly red-faced
turkey gobbler baker close behind him.</p>
<div class="figure">
<div class="align-center container image-wrapper">
<ANTIMG alt="images/illus-032.jpg" src="images/illus-032.jpg"/></div>
<div class="caption">
THE TADPOLE CAME BACK WITH WATERCRESS SANDWICHES AND POND-LILY MILK.</div>
</div>
<p class="pfirst">“Start her up! Start her up!” yelled the old
gentleman rabbit. And Billy Bunny did, and
Uncle Lucky jumped into the automobile just
in time, too, for the Turkey Gobbler almost had
him by the tail.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Here’s some money to pay for your pies,”
cried the honest old gentleman bunny, and he
threw twenty or less carrot cents at the turkey
gobbler, who gobbled them up, I mean picked
them up, in a hurry for fear they might take
root in the ground and grow into plain ordinary
carrots if he let them lie there a minute.</p>
<p class="pnext">And by this time of course the two rabbits
were far away in their automobile, and if the
next story has to be written to-night, as I know
it must, I’ll stop right here and wish you pleasant
dreams and happy wakening.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-xiibilly-bunny-and-the-donkey">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id13">STORY XII—BILLY BUNNY AND THE DONKEY</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">“That certainly was a lucky escape,”
said Uncle Lucky to Billy Bunny as
they sped away in their Luckymobile
after overturning all the pies in the bake shop,
as I told you in the last story.</p>
<p class="pnext">“I shall be more careful the next time and see
where I’m going,” and the old gentleman rabbit
settled his stovepipe hat firmly on his head and
held on tighter to the steering wheel, and then
he honked the horn three times and a half to
let everybody hear him coming before he ran
over them; and then, all of a sudden, quicker
than a lightning bug, a little gray donkey ran
right in the middle of the road and kicked up
his heels and brayed, which is the way a donkey
talks, you know.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Get out of the way!” yelled Uncle Lucky,
and he put on the brake, but, oh dear me, and
oh dear donkey! the brake wouldn’t work.
It just got obstinate, I guess, when it saw that
donkey’s heels, or else it thought the donkey
would stop the automobile just as well, which
he did, I’m sorry to say.</p>
<p class="pnext">Yes, Siree, and Yes, Siree Man! That donkey
kicked his shoes right off and the Luckymobile
stopped and Uncle Lucky and Billy Bunny
got out so quickly that they rolled over and over
on the ground for maybe a block and a half and
then they wouldn’t have stopped, only a policeman
grabbed them.</p>
<p class="pnext">But he let the little rabbits go just as soon as
they told him what had happened.</p>
<p class="pnext">“I’m getting tired of always having an accident,”
said the old gentleman rabbit when they
reached the Luckymobile.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Don’t be a grumbler,” said the donkey.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Well, then, don’t you be a kicker,” replied
the old gentleman rabbit angrily, for Uncle
Lucky had a temper, only he seldom used it because
he was so kind and good. “If you hadn’t
kicked, there would have been no accident, and
as I said before, I’m getting sick and tired of accidents.”</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, this made the donkey so ashamed he
said he was sorry he had kicked the Luckymobile,
and then dear Uncle Lucky told him to
climb in and he would take him down to the seashore
to pick up pretty shells. So off they went
again, the two little rabbits on the front seat
and the donkey in the back, and by and by they
came to the seashore.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Let’s all go in bathing,” said Billy Bunny,
so they went up to the bathing houses and put
on bathing suits.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, after they were all dressed, I mean undressed,
they hopped into the water and swam
out to the raft. And Uncle Lucky stood on
Billy Bunny’s shoulders and dived into the
water and then the donkey stood on Uncle
Lucky’s shoulders and slipped and fell onto the
raft and sprained his tail, so that they all had to
hurry out and get dressed and then go for the
doctor.</p>
<p class="pnext">And in the next story you shall hear how the
doctor cured the donkey with a little sugar pill.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-xiiibilly-bunny-and-the-little-sugar-pills">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id14">STORY XIII—BILLY BUNNY AND THE LITTLE SUGAR PILLS</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">I wonder if you remember where we left
off in the last story? Well, in case you
don’t, I’ll tell you. Billy Bunny and Uncle
Lucky were taking the donkey to the doctor, for
the donkey had sprained his tail while in bathing
with the two little rabbits, you know.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, when they reached the doctor’s house
he wasn’t in, but his wife was. So Uncle Lucky
thought he’d tell her what was the matter with
the donkey, for the donkey was feeling pretty
miserable and wouldn’t get out of the automobile,
but just sat there braying every once in a
while in a mournful way.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Why don’t you give him a sugar pill?” asked
the kind doctor’s wife. “I haven’t got any sugar
pills,” said Uncle Lucky, and neither had Billy
Bunny, although he looked all through his knapsack
and in the cabaret of the Luckymobile.</p>
<p class="pnext">“I’ll get you some,” said the doctor’s wife,
and presently she brought out a little round box
just full of sugar pills.</p>
<p class="pnext">“The directions are on the cover,” she said,
handing the box to Billy Bunny, who ran back
to the automobile to give some to the poor donkey,
who was braying dreadfully just then.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, the little rabbit gave him one at once
and then he read over the directions.</p>
<p class="pnext">“One every minute until the patient feels
worse and then one every second until the box
is empty!”</p>
<p class="pnext">“Gracious me!” exclaimed the little rabbit,
“that’s enough to cure one of ever getting sick
again,” and I guess you’d have thought the same
thing if you had bitten one of those little sugar
pills, for they were dreadfully bitter inside.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, Uncle Lucky and Billy Bunny took
turns giving those pills to that obstinate braying
donkey. Uncle Lucky held the watch and Billy
Bunny held the donkey. You see, it took almost
a minute to get a pill down that obstinate donkey
so that as soon as one was down it was time
to start with another, and as Uncle Lucky said
it was dangerous not to follow directions exactly
when giving medicine, it was just about all the
two little rabbits could do to take care of that
obstinate donkey.</p>
<blockquote><div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
“Oh, let me go, I humbly bray.</div>
<div class="line">
I’ll never be sick again, I say.</div>
<div class="line">
Don’t make me take another pill;</div>
<div class="line">
They’re only sugared on the sill.</div>
<div class="line"></div>
<div class="line">
“Inside they’re bitter as can be.</div>
<div class="line">
You’ll surely end in killing me.</div>
<div class="line">
Oh, let me go, I humbly bray,</div>
<div class="line">
I’ll never be sick again, I say.”</div>
</div></div>
</blockquote>
<p class="pfirst">“Well, if you’ll promise,” said Uncle Lucky,
“you may go.” And would you believe it, that
donkey jumped out of the automobile and
whisked his tail and started for home as fast as
you please, just as though he had never been
sick. Wasn’t that wonderful? And if I can get
that pill box from Billy Bunny, I’ll tell you the
name of those pills in the next story.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-xivbilly-bunny-and-the-billy-goat">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id15">STORY XIV—BILLY BUNNY AND THE BILLY GOAT</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">I’m sorry, but Billy Bunny threw away
the pill box after the donkey was cured,
so I can’t tell you the name of those little
sugar coated pills, but if you call up Dr. Quack,
one, two, three, down goes she, I’m sure he will
prescribe for you over the wire, and perhaps
then you won’t have to take any medicine at all.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, it’s time now to tell about Billy Bunny
and Uncle Lucky Lefthindfoot, his dear, kind,
generous rabbit uncle.</p>
<p class="pnext">“I’m never going to give anybody any medicine
as long as I live,” said the old gentleman
rabbit, taking out his blue polka-dot handkerchief
and wiping his spectacles and then the
back of his neck and the tip of his nose.</p>
<p class="pnext">“You never even get thanked for it.” And
then Uncle Lucky put his handkerchief on his
nose and his spectacles in his pocket. Oh, dear
me! I mean he did just what I didn’t say he
did, and after that he climbed into the Luckymobile
beside Billy Bunny and drove away.</p>
<blockquote><div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
“Hip hurrah! Hip hurray!</div>
<div class="line">
I’m going to join the colors to-day.</div>
<div class="line">
Maybe I’ll be a soldier gay,</div>
<div class="line">
Or a sailor boy on the ocean spray.</div>
<div class="line">
It all depends what they’re going to say</div>
<div class="line">
When I tell them I want to join the fray.”</div>
</div></div>
</blockquote>
<p class="pfirst">“Who’s singing?” asked Uncle Lucky, holding
his right paw behind his left ear and wiggling
his nose up and down and sideways so fast
that it made a little fly dizzy to look at it. And
just then they came across a Billy Goat standing
outside a tent dressed in khaki with a gun over
his shoulder.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Halt! Who goes there?” cried the sentry.
“Halt!” and of course Uncle Lucky put on the
brakes and made the Luckymobile stop right
then and there.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Friend or foe?” asked the sentry, looking
into the automobile and lifting the cushions off
the seats and opening the cabaret and lighting
the lamps and honking the horn, and, oh, dear
me! doing anything and everything he could
to annoy good, kind Uncle Lucky.</p>
<p class="pnext">“What do you think we are?” asked Billy
Bunny. “We are U. S. A. Bunnies. Don’t you
make any mistake about that!”</p>
<p class="pnext">“I beg your pardon,” said the sentry, saluting
the two rabbits most respectfully, “I only
wanted to make sure. These are war times, you
know, and we must be on the lookout every
minute of the day and every second of the
night!”</p>
<p class="pnext">And then he saluted again and turned away.
And then, all of a sudden, the band began playing,
but it must have been off in the woods,
somewhere, for the little bunnies couldn’t see
it.</p>
<blockquote><div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
Hurrah for Uncle Samuel,</div>
<div class="line">
King of the U. S. A.</div>
<div class="line">
Three cheers for the Blue,</div>
<div class="line">
And the Red and White, too,</div>
<div class="line">
And the Silver Stars, I say.</div>
<div class="line">
And here’s to the sailor lad in blue</div>
<div class="line">
And the soldier boy in brown,</div>
<div class="line">
From the farm and the mine,</div>
<div class="line">
And the big steel mills,</div>
<div class="line">
Or the little old home town.</div>
</div></div>
</blockquote></div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-xvbilly-bunny-and-mrs-bruin">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id16">STORY XV—BILLY BUNNY AND MRS. BRUIN</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">In the last story I left off very suddenly
while the band was playing, you remember,
and I will tell you the reason why.</p>
<p class="pnext">My typewriter got so excited over the song
about the sailor lad in blue and the soldier boy
in town, I mean in brown, that it began dancing
to the music and of course then I couldn’t write
another word.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, anyway, you remember that Billy
Bunny and his good, kind Uncle Lucky were
just leaving the Billy Goat Sentry who had
stopped them in their automobile, to continue
their journey of adventure. So off they started
down the road and by and by they came across
a big black bear with two little cubs.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Now there’s going to be more trouble, I
know it,” said little Billy Bunny, but good, kind
Uncle Lucky didn’t think so. You see, he was
always looking on the bright side of things, so
he called out to Mrs. Bruin, which was the lady
bear’s name, I believe, “Won’t you get into the
Luckymobile and we’ll take you to town?” and
of course the little bears said yes right away,
for they had never ridden in an automobile in
all their lives.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, in they climbed and after Uncle Lucky
had leaned over and closed the door, for the
bears were so excited they had forgotten to do
it, he started up the automobile and away they
went to Rabbitville, for that was the nearest
town.</p>
<p class="pnext">And pretty soon the two little bears began to
sing:</p>
<blockquote><div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
“Uncle Lucky is so kind</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
To take us for a drive,</div>
</div>
<div class="line">
That we will get some honey</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
From out the big beehive.</div>
</div>
<div class="line">
We’ll put it in a little box,</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
To keep it clean and neat,</div>
</div>
<div class="line">
And then the flies won’t eat it</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
Nor touch it with their feet.”</div>
</div></div>
</div></blockquote>
<p class="pfirst">And after that Mrs. Bruin said: “Mr. Lucky
Lefthindfoot, if you will stop at the next cross
road I’ll get out and see if I can’t find the honey
for you.” Well, when they came to the place,
Mrs. Bruin climbed out and went into the
woods. But before she left she told the two
little bears not to move and not to annoy Uncle
Lucky nor Billy Bunny, but to be quiet until
she came back.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, I don’t know exactly what happened
in the woods, but pretty soon Mrs. Bruin came
tearing back with the whole swarm of bees after
her. Some had got under her bonnet and were
stinging her ears and some had crawled inside
her silk mitts and were stinging her hands, and
oh, dear me, it was just dreadful!</p>
<p class="pnext">And when Uncle Lucky saw what was the
matter he told her to hurry up and get into the
automobile. And then he made it go so fast
that one of the bees lost his stinger because he
couldn’t keep up with it, and he didn’t have time
to take it out of Mrs. Bruin’s ear.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, wasn’t it too bad? And in the next
story I’ll tell you how Mrs. Bruin said good-by
to Billy Bunny.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-xvibilly-bunny-and-the-bear-cubs">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id17">STORY XVI—BILLY BUNNY AND THE BEAR CUBS</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">You remember in the last story what a
dreadful time Mrs. Bruin had to get
away from the stinging bees, and how if
it had not been for dear, kind Uncle Lucky she
never would have gotten away?</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, the bees were soon left far behind, for
the automobile went very fast, and by and by
they came to Mrs. Bruin’s cave. So she invited
the two little rabbits in, for by this time everybody
was hungry, and the two little bears were
almost starved.</p>
<p class="pnext">Now, Mrs. Bruin had a big closet where she
kept all sorts of nice things to eat and before
long cake and milk and lettuce leaves and apple
pie were on the table and the feast commenced.</p>
<p class="pnext">And after that they wound up the graphophone
and heard a lovely song, which I’m going
to tell to you because it was so pretty. And
this is the way the words went and you can make
up any kind of music to go with it, if you wish:</p>
<blockquote><div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
By-o-by, little bear cub,</div>
<div class="line">
In your cave on the windy hill.</div>
<div class="line">
Safe in the care of dear mother bear</div>
<div class="line">
Cuddle up tight and be still.</div>
<div class="line">
Father is out in the woods, and soon he</div>
<div class="line">
Will be coming home safe to baby and me.</div>
<div class="line">
So cuddle up tight for the shadows of night</div>
<div class="line">
Are creeping o’er meadow and lea.</div>
</div></div>
</blockquote>
<p class="pfirst">And do you know, those dear little Bear cubs
went sound to sleep and were put to bed without
waking up. Wasn’t that nice? And that’s
the way little boys and girls should behave.</p>
<p class="pnext">Never give mother a worry or care, but be
good like a dear little fuzzy wool bear. Goodness
me! I’m making up poetry myself only
my typewriter didn’t make the lines go just the
way they should.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, after this Billy Bunny and Uncle
Lucky got into the automobile and drove away,
and by and by the stars came out and the big
round moon, and they were still far from home.
But they didn’t care. No, sirreemam.</p>
<p class="pnext">Billy Bunny hopped out and lighted the
lamps, and Uncle Lucky turned up his coat collar
for the night wind was chilly, and then they
started off again. And by and by, not so very
long, they came to a little hotel called “Cuddle
Inn.” “That’s the place for your uncle,” said
the kind old gentleman rabbit. “Let’s inquire,”
which means to find out, “if they will take us
for the night.”</p>
<p class="pnext">So Billy Bunny hopped out and went into the
hotel office, and the landlord, who was a nice-looking
squirrel, with a beautiful gray bushy
tail, said, “I have a nice room with two beds,”
and then he put the Luckymobile in the barn
and the two little rabbits went to sleep before
they took off their watches; they were so tired,
and if the old cow doesn’t blow her horn to wake
me up before it’s morn, I’ll tell you in the next
story what happened after that.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-xviibilly-bunny-and-the-squirrel-innkeeper">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id18">STORY XVII—BILLY BUNNY AND THE SQUIRREL INNKEEPER</SPAN></h2>
<blockquote><div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
Wake up! Wake up! It’s early morn,</div>
<div class="line">
The cock is tooting his little tin horn.</div>
<div class="line">
The morning wind is singing a tune</div>
<div class="line">
About the roses that bloom in June.</div>
<div class="line">
It’s time to be up, for the day is here,</div>
<div class="line">
And the sky is shining bright and clear.</div>
</div></div>
</blockquote>
<p class="pfirst">So out of bed hopped Billy Bunny and
Uncle Lucky, and then they wound their
watches, for they were so tired the night
before that they had gone to bed with them on,
as I told you in the last story.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, when they got downstairs they found
the squirrel who owned “Cuddle Inn” already
up and dressed. A most delicious smell of hot
coffee and rolls came from the kitchen, so the
little rabbits went into the dining room and read
the menu card.</p>
<p class="pnext">And what do you think they ordered? Lettuce
leaves, with cream all over them, and carrot
candies, with maple syrup, and corn flake
muffins and warm milk, and, let me see, oh,
yes! oh, yes! apple pie! For Uncle Lucky
loved apple pie, and Billy Bunny loved it just
as much, although he couldn’t eat as many as
the old gentleman rabbit could, for the reason
that he ate so many candy carrots!</p>
<p class="pnext">“And now that we are through breakfast,”
cried little Billy Bunny, “let’s go fishing, for I
heard a boy say outside the window that the
trout in the forest brook were nibbling at pieces
of cheese, they were so hungry.” Just think of
that!</p>
<p class="pnext">So the kind Squirrel Innkeeper got out two
fishing poles and Billy Bunny and Uncle Lucky
started off.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, by and by they came to the trout stream
and commenced to fish, and in a little while they
had three big trout. Then they put them in a
basket with nice wet leaves and after that they
sat down for lunch. And then they fell asleep.
And while they were dreaming that a big whale
had swallowed both hooks and was pulling them
into the water a tramp cat came by and stole the
basket of trout.</p>
<p class="pnext">Yes, sir! As soon as she smelt fish she walked
right up and without making a sound lifted up
the basket and tiptoed away, and of course
when the two little rabbits woke up they couldn’t
find the basket of fish.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Well, that’s a nice howdy-do,” exclaimed
Uncle Lucky ruefully, which means even worse
than sadly, you know. “What shall we tell the
Squirrel Innkeeper? It’s his basket, you know,
although the fish belonged to us?”</p>
<p class="pnext">And while they were wondering what to do,
an old basket maker came by with a pack of
baskets. So Uncle Lucky took out his purse and
bought one, and then he and Billy Bunny began
again to fish. But, oh, dear me! I guess
the trout had all gone away, for they never got a
bite, except from a mean old mosquito, who
stung dear Uncle Lucky on the little left hind
toe.</p>
<p class="pnext">And in the next story, if the Tailor Bird
doesn’t sew up the bottoms of my trousers so that
I can’t get my collar on in the morning, I’ll tell
you more about Uncle Lucky Lefthindfoot and
his little nephew, Billy Bunny.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-xviiibilly-bunny-and-the-tailor-bird">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id19">STORY XVIII—BILLY BUNNY AND THE TAILOR BIRD</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">Well, the Tailor Bird didn’t sew up
the bottoms of my pantaloons so that
I couldn’t get on my collar, as I told
you I was afraid he would in the last story.</p>
<p class="pnext">But he did something else. He sent in his
bill—I mean he pushed his bill in through the
open window—and asked me if I was ready to
try on my new spring suit. But I told him I
didn’t have time because I had to write a Billy
Bunny story. So he flew away with his bill
without another twitter.</p>
<p class="pnext">And after he had flown for three hundred
thousand short flutters he came to where Billy
Bunny and Uncle Lucky were fishing.</p>
<p class="pnext">“There’s no use to fish any more, my friends,”
said the Tailor Bird, “for the trout have gone
to a dance and they don’t bite when they dance.”</p>
<p class="pnext">“That’s very kind of you to tell us that,” said
Uncle Lucky, and he pulled his hook out of the
water. But would you believe it, he had a ten-dollar
bill on the end of it! Yes, sir! He did.</p>
<p class="pnext">And if I thought there were any more
ten-dollar bills in that trout stream I’d go right off
now without finishing this story and fish there
for the rest of my life.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Hip, hurray!” cried Billy Bunny, and then
he pulled in his hook and line, and would you
believe me again, even if I don’t believe it myself,
he had a twenty-dollar bill on his hook!
Well, the little rabbit was so excited that he said
“Hip, hurray!” three times and a half without
stopping, and then he put the money in his
pocket, and so did Uncle Lucky, and after that
they said good-by to the Tailor Bird and went
back to the hotel and told the Squirrel Innkeeper
all about it. But he only laughed and
said that was the best fish story he had ever
heard.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Well, then,” said Uncle Lucky, “as long as
you don’t believe us, we’ll be going.” So he and
Billy Bunny got into the Luckymobile and drove
away, and by and by they came to a poor little
mouse who had on a ragged skirt and a torn sunbonnet.</p>
<p class="pnext">And what do you think dear, kind Uncle
Lucky did? Why, he stopped the automobile
and gave her his ten-dollar bill.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Now run home to your mother,” said the
generous old gentleman rabbit, “and tell her to
buy you a new dress and something for herself.”
And didn’t she run!</p>
<p class="pnext">That is, after she got over her surprise, for at
first she could hardly believe her eyes, for I
guess she’d never seen a ten-dollar bill before.</p>
<p class="pnext">“The next poor person I see I’m going to give
my twenty-dollar bill to,” said Billy Bunny.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Well, you’ll have plenty of chances,” said
his Uncle, who of course had seen a good
deal of the world and knew there were a few
poor people left, although there were lots of
money in banks and old stockings in farm-houses.</p>
<p class="pnext">Now, I haven’t room to-night to tell you who
Billy Bunny gave his money to, but if you’ll
wait until to-morrow night you shall hear all
about it—that is, unless some poor person sees
Billy Bunny before I do.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-xixbilly-bunny-and-robbie-redbreast">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id20">STORY XIX—BILLY BUNNY AND ROBBIE REDBREAST</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">Well, it was two or three days before
Billy Bunny came across a poor person
to whom he might give his twenty-dollar
bill, and then Uncle Lucky wouldn’t let him.
Wasn’t that strange?</p>
<p class="pnext">But the reason, you see, was because it was a
tramp, and Uncle Lucky said: “A tramp is a
man who hates work, and anybody who hates
work is his own worst enemy.”</p>
<p class="pnext">And then he told Billy Bunny that if the
tramp got the twenty dollars he’d hate work
even more, so Billy Bunny put the money back
into his pocket and later on he gave it to his dear
mother. Which, I think, was the nicest thing he
could have done.</p>
<p class="pnext">“And now, my dear nephew,” said the kind
old gentleman rabbit, “let’s go back to the Old
Briar Patch, for I know your mother is lonely.
You have been away so long.”</p>
<p class="pnext">And then they turned the automobile toward
Old Snake Fence Corner and by and by they
saw Mrs. Bunny hanging out the clothes on the
line, for it was Monday morning, which is wash-day
in Rabbitville, just as it is in Newport and
Hoboken.</p>
<p class="pnext">And when Mrs. Bunny saw them she was so
excited that she pinned her thumb by mistake to
the clothesline with a clothespin, and couldn’t
get away until Uncle Lucky pulled down the
clothesline and Billy Bunny pulled off the
clothespin.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Where have you two been?” she asked when
she had finished hugging her little bunny boy.
But I won’t tell you what Billy Bunny told her,
for you know it already and, anyway, it would
take maybe two hundred and forty-nine and a
half stories to do it. So we’ll leave Billy Bunny
alone for a little while with his dear mother and
go across the Pleasant Meadow to the Old Farm
Yard to see how Cocky Docky and Henny
Jenny are.</p>
<p class="pnext">And maybe we’ll hear something nice about
Ducky Doodles and Turkey Purky and Mrs.
Cow, unless you’ve forgotten all about these old
friends.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, it’s strange how news travels. Robbie
Redbreast had seen Billy Bunny and Uncle
Lucky drive up to the Old Brier Patch, and had
flown over to tell the Weathercock on the Old
Barn, who told Cocky Docky and then, of
course, all the Barn Yard Folk knew that Billy
Bunny was back again at the Old Brier Patch.</p>
<p class="pnext">Then Ducky Doodle said he thought he’d go
for a swim, and off he waddled to the Old Mill
Pond. And as soon as he got there he told Uncle
Bullfrog. But he didn’t tell the Miller’s Boy.
No, siree! He didn’t want him to know, you
may be sure.</p>
<p class="pnext">And then, pretty soon, not so very long, Robbie
Redbreast flew into the Friendly Forest and
told Old Mother Magpie the news, and after
that everybody knew that Mr. William Bunny
had returned home from his travels. And that
night the twinkle twinkle star shone right over
the little rabbit’s room and sang:</p>
<blockquote><div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
The twinkle twinkle star will peep</div>
<div class="line">
At Billy Bunny fast asleep,</div>
<div class="line">
And send to him a pretty dream</div>
<div class="line">
Of silver fishes in a stream.</div>
</div></div>
</blockquote></div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-xxbilly-bunny-and-the-babbling-brook">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id21">STORY XX—BILLY BUNNY AND THE BABBLING BROOK</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">The next morning after Billy Bunny and
Uncle Lucky had returned to the Old
Brier Patch, as I told you in the last
story, it rained and poured, and, of course, nobody
could go out.</p>
<p class="pnext">If it had been a gentle shower it wouldn’t
have made any difference, but it rained so hard
that I really believe Billy Bunny would have
been drowned if he had even hopped out of the
front door and back again.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Now the best thing for you to do,” said Mrs.
Bunny after breakfast, “is to go up into the garret
and play with all your old toys. You’ve been away
so long they’ll all seem just like new.”</p>
<p class="pnext">So Billy Bunny hopped upstairs
and Uncle Lucky sat down and read the Bunnyville
“Bugle,” and Mrs. Bunny washed up the
breakfast dishes, and, of course, they all had a
lovely time in spite of the rain.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, it turned out just as Mrs. Bunny had
said. The toys in the garret all seemed just like
new and some Billy Bunny had forgotten all
about, so that he had a lovely time till lunch, and
then the sun came out and dried up the wet
places, and the Pleasant Meadow looked twice
as green and lovely as before.</p>
<p class="pnext">Now whenever it rained Uncle Lucky’s leg
hurt him—the leg you remember that was shot
by the Miller’s Boy—so he said to his little
nephew, “You run out on the meadow and play
and I’ll stay home with your mother, for my leg
hurts me and I don’t want to do any hopping
to-day.”</p>
<p class="pnext">Then the little rabbit hopped away by himself
and by and by he came to the Babbling
Brook. So he looked into the water and when
he saw his face he began to laugh.</p>
<p class="pnext">For Billy Bunny hadn’t looked at himself for
so long he had forgotten how he looked, and,
anyway, he had grown so large that he wouldn’t
have known himself if he hadn’t been sure that
there was nobody else looking into the water
at the same time.</p>
<p class="pnext">And while he was laughing Mrs. Cow came
along, the little bell tinkling at her throat and
making such pretty music it seemed to say to the
little rabbit:</p>
<blockquote><div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
“I’m just a tiny tinkling bell,</div>
<div class="line">
But everywhere I go</div>
<div class="line">
The people say I am so gay,</div>
<div class="line">
They love to hear me so.</div>
<div class="line">
Tinkle, tinkle, dinkle, dell,</div>
<div class="line">
Oh, I’m a happy little bell!”</div>
</div></div>
</blockquote>
<p class="pfirst">“Did you hear what the little bell was saying?”
asked Billy Bunny, but Mrs. Cow shook
her head.</p>
<p class="pnext">“It didn’t say anything but tinkle, tinkle, did
it?” But the little rabbit felt sure it did say just
what he thought it did, so he asked the little bell
to tinkle again, and it did, and the tinkles said
the same thing all over again, and this made
Billy Bunny very happy, even if Mrs. Cow
didn’t understand.</p>
<p class="pnext">And in the next story you shall hear how Billy
Bunny made a call at the Old Farm.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-xxibilly-bunny-and-mrs-wildcat">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id22">STORY XXI—BILLY BUNNY AND MRS. WILDCAT</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">Well, after Billy Bunny had said good-by
to Mrs. Cow he hopped across the
Pleasant Meadow till he came to the
Old Barn Yard. And as soon as the Weathercock
saw him you should have heard him crow.
Yes, sireemam.</p>
<p class="pnext">He crowed like a regular old-fashioned everyday
rooster, and this made all the hens and
chickens look up, and then, of course, they saw
Billy Bunny. And they were so glad to see the
little rabbit they forgot to wonder how the
Weathercock could grow.</p>
<p class="pnext">I guess the only person who wasn’t glad to see
little Billy Bunny was Mr. Sharptooth Rat. He
peeked out of his hole and scowled, but the little
rabbit didn’t care, for nobody liked Mr. Sharptooth
Rat, anyway.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, by and by, just as little Billy Bunny
was looking in Henny Jenny’s nest to see what a
lot of lovely eggs she had, who should come
along but the Miller’s Boy, and as soon as he saw
the little rabbit he gave a yell and tried to catch
him.</p>
<p class="pnext">The chickens tried to get in his way, and
Cocky Docky even tried to trip him up, but the
Miller’s Boy didn’t stumble a bit. No, siree!
He almost caught Billy Bunny, but as long as
he didn’t it’s all right, although he scared the
little rabbit nearly to death.</p>
<p class="pnext">If the Miller’s Boy had had his gun with him,
or even his dog, I’m afraid there would have
been no more Billy Bunny stories.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Oh, pshaw!” said the Miller’s Boy, as the
little rabbit squeezed through a hole in the hen-house
and hopped away. “I should like to have
caught that little rabbit!” Then Cocky Docky
began to crow, he was so glad he hadn’t.</p>
<p class="pnext">But Billy Bunny didn’t stop for anything, he
was so scared, and pretty soon he found himself
in the Friendly Forest under the tree where Parson
Owl lived. It was a long time since Billy
Bunny had seen the old gentleman owl, so he
stopped and looked up into the branches.</p>
<p class="pnext">But oh, dear me! Instead of seeing the blinky-winky
friendly face of old Parson Owl he saw
a pair of yellow eyes and a big red mouth with
sharp teeth. And then down from the tree
jumped a wildcat and meowed in a dreadful
way.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Oh, please, Mrs. Wildcat, let me go,” cried
the little rabbit, and he looked around for a hollow
stump to hide in or a hole to crawl into,
but there wasn’t anything like that in sight. So
he turned to the cruel wildcat and said, “Please
don’t bite me!” And then he opened his knapsack
and took out a big, round doughnut, the
kind with a big hole inside, you know, and gave
it to the wildcat.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Take it home to your wild kittens instead of
me, won’t you please, Mrs. Wildcat?” And
would you believe it, she said she would, for it
pleased her to think that little Billy Bunny
would give her a doughnut for her kittens, for
no one else had ever done that before, you see.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-xxiibilly-bunny-at-windy-cave">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id23">STORY XXII—BILLY BUNNY AT WINDY CAVE</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">You remember in the last story that Billy
Bunny gave the Wildcat a doughnut to
take home to her little wild kittens, and
that was why she didn’t take the little rabbit.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, as she walked off with the doughnut,
Billy Bunny said to himself, “I’ll never, never
be without a doughnut in my knapsack!” And
I guess you would have said the same thing, too,
if a doughnut had saved you from a wildcat!</p>
<p class="pnext">After that the little rabbit hopped along
through the Friendly Forest, and by and by he
came to the Windy Cave. Now I know I’ve
never told you about this cave before because
Billy Bunny never happened to visit it, but now
that he has I’ll tell you that it was strange sort
of a place.</p>
<p class="pnext">If you stood at the opening you could hear the
winds moan and groan, and every once in a
while a great gust would come out of the mouth
of the great cave and almost blow you off your
feet.</p>
<div class="figure">
<div class="align-center container image-wrapper">
<ANTIMG alt="images/illus-064.jpg" src="images/illus-064.jpg"/></div>
<div class="caption">
DOWN FROM THE TREE JUMPED THE WILDCAT.</div>
</div>
<p class="pfirst">Well, sir, that’s just what happened to Billy
Bunny. He no sooner stood right in front of the
cave than a great blast of air knocked him off
his feet and rolled him over thirty-three times
and a half, and he would have rolled over thirty-four
times even if a big log hadn’t been in the
way.</p>
<p class="pnext">And it was mighty lucky for the little rabbit
that the log was there, for if it hadn’t been he
would have rolled right over the edge of the
mountain. Just think of that!</p>
<p class="pnext">And just then a voice began to sing:</p>
<blockquote><div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
Oh, I’m the king of the windy cave</div>
<div class="line">
Where I have my windy throne.</div>
<div class="line">
And there I rule where it’s nice and cool</div>
<div class="line">
’Mid the glitter of precious stone.</div>
<div class="line">
And when the autumn days are come</div>
<div class="line">
I come forth with a lusty shout,</div>
<div class="line">
And strip the trees of their whispering leaves</div>
<div class="line">
And strew them all about.</div>
</div></div>
</blockquote>
<p class="pfirst">And then all the trees began to shiver and
shake, but the wind king only laughed, as he
whispered to the little rabbit: “Don’t be afraid,
Billy Bunny. I won’t hurt you. Come into my
cave and I’ll give you a present!”</p>
<p class="pnext">“What kind of a present?” asked the little rabbit,
for he wasn’t going to be fooled, no sireemam!</p>
<p class="pnext">“A big ruby pin!” said the wind king.</p>
<p class="pnext">So the little bunny went inside the cave with
the wind king, but he didn’t go in very far, for
he was afraid.</p>
<p class="pnext">“What’s the matter?” asked the wind king.
“You’re not frightened, are you?”</p>
<p class="pnext">“Not exactly,” said Billy Bunny, trying to
keep his teeth from chattering. “I guess I’m
cold!”</p>
<p class="pnext">Then the king opened a door and, oh my!
wasn’t it beautiful inside! The sides of the cave
were diamonds and rubies and emeralds, and
little gold and silver bells swung back and forth
making a sweet kind of music.</p>
<p class="pnext">“The little breezes are ringing the bells,” said
the wind king, and then he took out of a moss
cushion a beautiful ruby scarfpin and handed it
to Billy Bunny. “Put it in your tie,” said the
king, “and don’t you ever lose it.”</p>
<p class="pnext">And in the next story if the dogwood tree in
our yard doesn’t catch cold to-night and lose its
bark, so it can’t scare the the pussy cat when she
tries to climb up and catch the little robin in the
nest, I’ll tell you about Billy Bunny and the
Canary bird.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-xxiiibilly-bunny-and-the-wild-canary">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id24">STORY XXIII—BILLY BUNNY AND THE WILD CANARY</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">Well, the Dogwood Tree in our yard
was all right this morning. It hadn’t
taken cold, and it was covered with
lovely flowers, so I’m going to tell you some more
about Billy Bunny, as I promised to in the last
story.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, as soon as the wind king placed the
beautiful ruby scarfpin in the little rabbit’s cravat
he opened the door of his cave and gave a
big puff, and away went Billy Bunny just like
a bullet from a gun.</p>
<p class="pnext">But he didn’t care, for he landed as nicely as
you please on a mossy bank, and then he looked
in the brook to see if the ruby scarfpin was still
in his cravat, and then he looked around to see
what he would do next. And just then a little
wild canary began singing this song:</p>
<blockquote><div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
“I wouldn’t live within a cage,</div>
<div class="line">
I’d rather be wild and free;</div>
<div class="line">
Wherever I roam I’m always at home,</div>
<div class="line">
In forest or grassy lea.”</div>
</div></div>
</blockquote>
<p class="pfirst">“And so am I,” cried Billy Bunny. “I’m a
traveler; yes, I am.” And then the little canary
flew down from the tree and said to the little rabbit:
“I have a little yellow brother who has always
lived in a cage. But he can’t get me to
live with him. I love the trees and the tall
grasses too much.”</p>
<p class="pnext">“Where do you live?” asked the little rabbit.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Come and see,” said the little canary, and he
flew off, and by and by he pointed to his tiny
nest.</p>
<p class="pnext">“If I had a pair of wings,” laughed the little
rabbit, “I’d be able to look inside and see what
kind of furniture you have. But I’m only a four-footed
little rabbit. Good-by!” and he hopped
away, and by and by he came to a field of corn.
But it was too early for the corn to be ripe, so
the little rabbit opened his knapsack and took
out an apple pie, for it was lunch time. And just
as he was going to bite off a nice, big, juicy piece
a big black crow flew down and snatched the pie
away.</p>
<p class="pnext">And this made Billy Bunny very angry. Oh,
my, but he was mad. And then he opened his
knapsack and took out his gun and before the
thieving crow had flown off more than a mile he
dropped that apple pie. Yes, sireemam. The
cork bullet hit him right on the end of his bill,
and then of course he couldn’t hold on to the pie
any longer. And before he could fly down to
pick it up the little rabbit was there.</p>
<blockquote><div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
“Oh, ho! Mr. Crow,</div>
<div class="line">
Do you like apple pie?</div>
<div class="line">
If so, better go</div>
<div class="line">
And buy one by and by.”</div>
</div></div>
</blockquote>
<p class="pfirst">And this made the crow so angry that he flew
over to a colored man who did whitewashing
and asked him to paint him white. And in the
next story you shall hear how Billy Bunny was
fooled by three little sparrows.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-xxivbilly-bunny-and-the-little-sparrows">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id25">STORY XXIV—BILLY BUNNY AND THE LITTLE SPARROWS</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">Well, as soon as Billy Bunny finished
eating the apple pie which he had just
gotten away from the bad crow who
had stolen it, as I told you in the last story, he
shouldered his knapsack and picked up his
striped candy cane and then he set off once more
on his journey of adventure.</p>
<p class="pnext">And by and by he came to a telegraph pole
where three little sparrows were swinging back
and forth. And when they saw the little rabbit
they cried out all together: “Helloa, Billy
Bunny!”</p>
<p class="pnext">“Who’s telephoning to me?” asked the little
rabbit, for he hadn’t looked up, you see, and, of
course, didn’t know that the little sparrows were
sitting on the wires.</p>
<p class="pnext">And when the three little birds saw that he
didn’t know who was talking to him, they
thought they’d have some fun and make believe
some one was telephoning to the little rabbit.
So one little sparrow said, in a deep, far-away
kind of voice:</p>
<p class="pnext">“Helloa! Helloa! Is this Billy Bunny of
Snake Fence Corner?”</p>
<p class="pnext">“Yes, this is Billy Bunny,” cried the little rabbit,
getting all excited and wiggling his little
pink nose so fast that one of the little sparrows
got so dizzy looking at him that she had to hold
on with her bill. Pretty soon he hopped up
close to the telegraph pole and leaned his ear
against it.</p>
<blockquote><div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
“Helloa! Helloa! Who’s calling me?</div>
<div class="line">
Please give the name, for I cannot see.</div>
<div class="line">
Who’s at the other end of the wire, please?</div>
<div class="line">
Excuse me a minute—I’m going to sneeze.”</div>
</div></div>
</blockquote>
<p class="pfirst">And then Billy Bunny almost sneezed his head
off, for the telegraph pole trembled so that it
tickled his ear. And when you tickle a rabbit’s
ear you are very likely to make him sneeze.</p>
<p class="pnext">Just then the three little sparrows began to
laugh and twitter, and this, of course, made the
little rabbit look up. And when he saw them he
knew, at once, they were playing a joke.</p>
<p class="pnext">“So you were calling me on the telephone,
were you?” he asked, trying not to get angry.
For he was a very good-natured little bunny, as
you well know by this time.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Yes, we were,” said the littlest sparrow, “but
please don’t feel badly about it. We were only
in fun.”</p>
<p class="pnext">“I thought perhaps it was my mother, that is
all,” answered the little rabbit, “and I was worried
for fear she might be anxious about me.”</p>
<p class="pnext">“Oh, she isn’t worried,” said the largest sparrow.
And the middling-sized sparrow—the one,
you know, who hadn’t said a word as yet—spoke
up:</p>
<p class="pnext">“Your Uncle Lucky is, though. I was at his
house this morning and the little sparrow who
lives on his front porch told me that the old gentleman
rabbit was wondering what had become
of you.”</p>
<p class="pnext">“Well, I’ll go right off now and make him a
call,” said Billy Bunny. And in to-morrow
night’s story I’ll tell you what happens next.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-xxvbilly-bunny-and-robin-redbreast">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id26">STORY XXV—BILLY BUNNY AND ROBIN REDBREAST</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">In the last story I left off just where Billy
Bunny was setting out to make a call on his
good kind Uncle Lucky, you remember, and
if you have forgotten, please take my word for
it, for I keep a scrapbook of all these little stories
and I’m sure I’m right, for I just looked to
see.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, as the little rabbit hopped along with
his knapsack on his back and his striped candy
cane in his right paw, he heard a robin redbreast
singing in her nest, and this is what she sang:</p>
<blockquote><div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
“Some day you’ll be old enough</div>
<div class="line">
To leave the dear home nest,</div>
<div class="line">
But till that day just grow and say</div>
<div class="line">
I’ll try to do my best</div>
<div class="line">
To make my wings grow big and strong</div>
<div class="line">
And learn to sing the whole day long,</div>
<div class="line">
For some day when I’m big and free</div>
<div class="line">
I’ll build a nest in an apple tree.”</div>
</div></div>
</blockquote>
<p class="pfirst">And then the robin flew down to the ground
and pushed back the pink sunbonnet on her head
so that she could see the little rabbit without
standing up on her toes.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Well, here is my dear little friend, Billy
Bunny,” she twittered. “How is he to-day?”</p>
<p class="pnext">“Very well, thank you, ma’am,” replied the
little rabbit, opening his leather knapsack to
give her a piece of sponge cake for her little
birdies. “That won’t hurt them a bit,” said he,
“for my mother made it and it’s very simple.”</p>
<p class="pnext">And then the little robins peeped over their
nest and cried, “Oh, hurry, mother dear, and
give us the cake,” for they were just as fond of
sponge cake as Billy Bunny was of lollypops,
and while they were eating the cake he took a
lollypop out of his knapsack and ate it, for he
was hungry too, for it was half-past noon, and
that’s the hungry hour for rabbits, I am told.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, after that he said good-by and started
off again for Uncle Lucky’s house. “I must get
there before sundown,” he said to himself, “for
I don’t want to sleep out of doors to-night if I
can help it.”</p>
<p class="pnext">So he hopped along as fast as he was able, but
Mr. Happy Sun was in a hurry, too, and pretty
soon he went down behind the purple hills and
it began to grow dark. “Oh, dear! oh, dear!”
sighed the little rabbit, “where am I going to
sleep if I don’t get to Uncle Lucky’s house
pretty soon?” And just then a sleepy voice exclaimed:</p>
<blockquote><div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
“Under this bush is a soft pile of leaves,</div>
<div class="line">
Come and sleep on it if you please.”</div>
</div></div>
</blockquote>
<p class="pfirst">So Billy Bunny hopped under the bush and
there he saw a little ruffed grouse, who is often
called a quail and sometimes a pheasant. “Oh,
thank you, Mrs. Quail,” said Billy Bunny, “you
are very kind,” and then he made a soft bed for
himself and went to sleep, and if he wakes up
early enough in the morning I’ll tell you in the
next story how he reached dear kind Uncle
Lucky’s house.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-xxvibilly-bunny-and-mrs-quail">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id27">STORY XXVI—BILLY BUNNY AND MRS. QUAIL</SPAN></h2>
<blockquote><div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
“Get up, get up, you lazy folks,</div>
<div class="line">
I’m shining in the sky.</div>
<div class="line">
Awake, awake, your breakfast take,</div>
<div class="line">
Before the noon is nigh.</div>
<div class="line">
No time for lazy folks I think,</div>
<div class="line">
So don’t lie still and blink and blink,</div>
<div class="line">
But jump up with a laugh and smile</div>
<div class="line">
And sing a little all the while.”</div>
</div></div>
</blockquote>
<p class="pfirst">SO up jumped Billy Bunny from his bed of
leaves where he had slept all night, as I
told you in the last story, and after he had
combed his fur with a little chip and dusted off
his knapsack he opened it and took out his breakfast.</p>
<p class="pnext">And what do you suppose he had? Well, first
he ate some nice fresh lettuce leaves, with powdered
sugar carrots, and then a piece of apple
pie, and when kind Mrs. Quail saw what a nice
breakfast he had, she said:</p>
<p class="pnext">“I like pie, Mr. William Bunny.” Now the
reason the little rabbit hadn’t offered her some
was because he hadn’t seen her. You see, she had
gone to sleep on the other side of the bush.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Here is some pie,” said Billy Bunny, and he
gave her a big piece and some cracker crumbs
and some birdseed and then a drink of lemon
soda. Pretty soon Mrs. Quail didn’t feel a bit
hungry, and neither did the little rabbit.</p>
<p class="pnext">And after that he buckled on his knapsack
and started off to find his dear Uncle Lucky, but
first he thanked Mrs. Quail for her kindness in
letting him sleep under her bush all night and
part of the early morning.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, sir, that little rabbit hopped along almost
all day, and still he didn’t reach his Uncle
Lucky’s house. “I wonder if I have lost the
way?” he said aloud, and, all of a sudden, a voice
answered: “I guess you have. Lots of people
do,” and a kind-looking old mooley cow pushed
her head over the fence and smiled at him. And,
oh, my, she had a big, beautiful smile, and this
made the little rabbit laugh and forget how tired
he was.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Do you know where my Uncle Lucky lives——Mr.
Lucky Lefthindfoot?” he asked.</p>
<p class="pnext">“To be sure,” replied the mooley cow. “He
lives over yonder,” and she pointed across the
meadow. “Hop under the fence, little rabbit,
and then hop across the meadow, over the
daisies and buttercups, and you’ll find the place,
never fear.”</p>
<p class="pnext">So the little rabbit did as she told him, and
when he came to the fence on the other side he
saw his uncle’s house not very far away. But,
oh, dear me! The fence was not at all like the
fence on the other side. There wasn’t any room
between the woven wires to crawl through, and
so Billy Bunny didn’t know what to do.</p>
<p class="pnext">But he didn’t wonder very long. No, sireemam.
He started right in to dig a tunnel under
that wire fence, and pretty soon he was on the
other side, hopping away toward Uncle Lucky’s
house, and in about five hundred and a half hops,
skips and jumps he came to the front gate.</p>
<p class="pnext">And there on the porch sat the kind old gentleman
rabbit, with the big diamond pin which
his nephew had given him shining like a star
in his red tie. And in to-morrow’s story I’ll tell
you what a good time the little rabbit had at his
uncle’s house.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-xxviibilly-bunny-and-the-theater-play">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id28">STORY XXVII—BILLY BUNNY AND THE THEATER PLAY</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">As Billy Bunny hopped up the steps of
Uncle Lucky’s house, the old gentleman
rabbit, who was lying in the hammock,
as I told you in the last story, jumped up and
said, “I’m glad to see you. Where have you
been all this time?”</p>
<p class="pnext">And then when he saw the beautiful ruby
scarfpin in the little rabbit’s tie—the ruby pin
which the King of the Windy Cave had given
Billy Bunny, you remember—he said: “And
where did you get that mag-nif-i-cent pin?”</p>
<p class="pnext">And of course the little rabbit told the old
gentleman rabbit all about it, and when he finished
the story it was time for supper. So Uncle
Lucky opened the screen door just a little so
that the flies wouldn’t get in, and he and Billy
Bunny squeezed through the crack and went into
the dining room.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, after supper was over, they decided to
go down to the village and see if there was a show
at the Opera House that night. And sure
enough there was, and the name of the play was
“The Tortoise and the Hare.”</p>
<p class="pnext">“That sounds interesting,” said Uncle Lucky
and he bought two box seats for two carrot dollars,
and he and his little nephew went inside.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Mr. Hare is a first cousin,” he said to Billy
Bunny as they sat down in the box and leaned
over the railing to look at the people.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, pretty soon the music started and then
the curtain went up and the play commenced.
I suppose you all have read the fable—how the
tortoise and the hare ran a race and the hare
got so far ahead that he lay down to take a nap,
but the slow old tortoise kept right on all the
time, and when the hare woke up it was too late,
for the tortoise had won the race.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, anyway, I’ve told you the story, but I
haven’t told you what happened when the hare
went to sleep. You see, he lay down near the
box where Billy Bunny and kind Uncle Lucky
were seated, and by and by, after he had been
asleep for quite a long time, Uncle Lucky grew
very nervous.</p>
<p class="pnext">“My gracious!” he exclaimed to Billy Bunny,
“if that silly cousin of ours does not wake up
pretty soon he might as well sleep there all
night, for the race will be won and the opera
house closed up and we’ll be home in bed.”</p>
<p class="pnext">And then Billy Bunny began to get very nervous,
too, and he wiggled about in his seat and
made funny little noises to wake up the hare.
But the hare slept on, and I believe he even
snored.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, sir, try as the two little rabbits might,
they couldn’t wake him up, until, at last, Billy
Bunny took the automobile horn, which he had
brought in with him so that nobody could blow
on it, and blew a dreadful loud blast.</p>
<p class="pnext">And this woke up the hare and one of the
ushers, who ran up to the box and begged Uncle
Lucky not to let Billy Bunny blow on the horn
again. “For,” said the usher, “it’s only a play
and the hare mustn’t wake up until the tortoise
wins the race.”</p>
<p class="pnext">“Well, I won’t see my cousin beaten by an old
tortoise,” said Uncle Lucky.</p>
<p class="pnext">And he and Billy Bunny hopped out of the
Opera House and went home.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-xxviiibilly-bunny-and-mrs-weasel">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id29">STORY XXVIII—BILLY BUNNY AND MRS. WEASEL</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">As soon as Billy Bunny and Uncle Lucky
got home after leaving the Opera House,
as I told you in the last story, they heard
a loud noise in the back yard.</p>
<p class="pnext">“What’s that?” said Uncle Lucky, and he
peeked around the corner of the porch while
Billy Bunny took his popgun out of his knapsack
so as to be ready in case it was a burglar.</p>
<p class="pnext">“I don’t see anything,” whispered the old
gentleman rabbit; “you take a look.” So Billy
Bunny peeped around the corner and then he
hopped backward, almost knocking Uncle
Lucky head over tail.</p>
<p class="pnext">And before you could say “Jack Rabbit!”
Old Man Weasel jumped from behind the house
and glared at the two rabbits with his wicked
eyes.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Good evening, Mr. Weasel,” said Uncle
Lucky, pushing Billy Bunny behind him, for
he was a brave old rabbit, was Uncle Lucky,
and he was going to save his little nephew from
being eaten up by the wicked weasel, if he could.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Good evening, gentlemen,” replied Old Man
Weasel, licking his lips and glaring at them
with his fierce little eyes. “You look sweet and
tender to me.”</p>
<p class="pnext">“Your eyesight is pretty poor,” said Uncle
Lucky bravely, “and I don’t feel very sweet just
now, and I’m too old to be tender,” and he wriggled
his nose so fast in the moonlight that it
made Old Man Weasel dizzy to look at it, and
he had to turn away, and while he wasn’t looking,
Billy Bunny lifted his gun to his shoulder
and pulled the trigger.</p>
<p class="pnext">And when the cork hit the wicked weasel
it made him jump right up into the air, and
when he came down he sprained his right foot
on a big stone so that he cried:</p>
<blockquote><div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
“Oh, dear! oh, dear! And woe is me!</div>
<div class="line">
I’ve sprained an ankle and a knee.</div>
<div class="line">
I cannot walk, I cannot run!</div>
<div class="line">
Plague take that little rabbit’s gun!</div>
<div class="line">
Oh, won’t you call an am-bu-lance,</div>
<div class="line">
My home is such a great dis-tance!”</div>
</div></div>
</blockquote>
<p class="pfirst">“If you’ll promise not to come here again,”
said kind Uncle Lucky, “I’ll call up the hospital.
If you don’t promise I’ll call the Policeman
Dog and ask him to tickle you with his club,”
and the old gentleman rabbit hopped down to
the front gate and pretended to call a policeman,
which frightened Old Man Weasel nearly
to death. He’d rather have a sprained knee
than be tickled by a policeman’s club any day in
the week.</p>
<p class="pnext">“I’ll promise! I’ll promise!” he cried, and
then Billy Bunny went to the telephone and
called up the hospital and they sent an ambulance
around. And the doctor—the man in
white, you know, who sits on the back seat of
the ambulance—tied up the weasel’s knee so he
couldn’t bend it, and his ankle so he couldn’t
wiggle it, and then he placed him in the ambulance,
while the Policeman Dog stood by to
keep the crowds away, only of course there
wasn’t any crowds there, for it was midnight,
you know.</p>
<p class="pnext">And in the next story I will tell you more
about the two little rabbits if they only get up
in time, for they’ve stayed up pretty late to-night
and may not hear the alarm clock in the
morning.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-xxixbilly-bunny-and-the-policeman-dog">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id30">STORY XXIX—BILLY BUNNY AND THE POLICEMAN DOG</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">“Well, that’s a great relief,” exclaimed
Uncle Lucky, as the ambulance drove
away with Old Man Weasel, who had
tried to eat up Billy Bunny and his kind uncle
in the story before this, and would have swallowed
them both if the little rabbit hadn’t hit
him with a cork bullet from his popgun, you
remember.</p>
<p class="pnext">Of course, it was very kind of Billy Bunny to
call up the ambulance to take away the wicked
weasel, after he had sprained his ankle, but it
was also very wise. For who wants a wicked
weasel around, even if he has a sprained ankle
and can’t do you any harm?</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, after everything was quiet and the Policeman
Dog had taken a drink of cider and a
cigar, the two little rabbits sat down on the front
porch, for it was too late to go to bed, or maybe
it was too early, for the first faint streaks of daylight
were spreading over the sky, and by the
time Uncle Lucky could unlace his shoes and
untie his red cravat and wind his gold watch,
it would be time to get dressed again.</p>
<p class="pnext">So he and Billy Bunny sat down and waited
for breakfast, and by and by the Japanese cook
came out to sweep off the front porch, and when
he saw Mr. Lucky Lefthindfoot and his nephew,
Billy Bunny, sitting there, he ran back into the
kitchen and dropped two eggs on the floor and
put the tea into the coffee grinder and the salt
into the sugar bowl, he was so excited because
he thought it must be ’way past breakfast time.</p>
<p class="pnext">And then the old gentleman rabbit began to
sing:</p>
<blockquote><div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
“Never hurry—makes worry;</div>
<div class="line">
Worry makes you thin.</div>
<div class="line">
If you’re clever you’ll endeavor</div>
<div class="line">
Never to begin.”</div>
</div></div>
</blockquote>
<p class="pfirst">And I guess the Japanese cook heard him, for
in a few minutes breakfast was ready, and this
time the eggs were dropped on toast instead of
the floor.</p>
<p class="pnext">By and by, after Uncle Lucky had smoked his
cigar, he and Billy Bunny went out to the garage
and cranked up the Luckymobile and went
for a ride. And when they had gone for a mile
or less they came across their old friend the Circus
Elephant.</p>
<p class="pnext">But, oh, dear me! He was an awful sight.
His left eye had a bandage over it and his trunk
was rolled up in cotton and his left hind foot
had an old carpet slipper on and his tail was
done up in splints and he was weeping great big
tears, for he felt dreadfully miserable.</p>
<p class="pnext">“What is the matter?” asked Billy Bunny, as
Uncle Lucky stopped the automobile.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Oh, dear! Oh, dear!” sobbed the big animal.
“I was in a Fourth of July celebration and
the roman candles got mixed up with the sky-rockets
and the cannon crackers with the pin
wheels, and the first thing I knew I was hit in
two million, nine hundred and a few dozen
places, and if it hadn’t been for a pink cross
nurse I’d be a dead elephant by this time.”</p>
<p class="pnext">“Get into the automobile,” said Uncle Lucky,
“and we’ll take you home with us,” and in the
next story, if the catbird doesn’t scratch the dogfish,
I’ll tell you who broke the springs in the
automobile, unless you guess who did before to-morrow
night.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-xxxbilly-bunny-and-the-circus-elephant">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id31">STORY XXX—BILLY BUNNY AND THE CIRCUS ELEPHANT</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">Let me see. I left off in the last story
when the Circus Elephant stepped into
the Luckymobile, didn’t I? You remember
he had been injured in a Fourth of July
celebration, and good, kind Uncle Lucky offered
to take him home.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well as soon as he sat down the tires burst
and then, of course, the automobile wouldn’t
go, for the cabaret wouldn’t work and the engine
wouldn’t whistle. So Billy Bunny got out the
sticking plaster and fixed the tires and then he
made the elephant blow them up with his trunk,
but he wouldn’t let him get in again.</p>
<p class="pnext">No, sir. He said, “Now look here, Elly.
You’re too heavy for the Luckymobile, so you’ll
have to walk, but you can put your trunk in the
back seat if that will help any.” So the Circus
Elephant lifted his trunk into the automobile
and ran along behind until they came to Uncle
Lucky’s house.</p>
<p class="pnext">And wasn’t he tired when they reached the
front gate! He was so tired that he lay down
in the hammock and went sound to sleep and
snored so loud that everybody thought the janitor
had put on the steam, although it was July.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Goodness me!” exclaimed the kind old gentleman
rabbit, “that elephant makes so much
noise that nobody will be able to sleep to-night!”
And Uncle Lucky scratched his left ear with
his right hind leg and tried to think what was
best to do, for he just hated to wake up that
poor tired elephant.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, just then, who should come along but
a man with a piano organ, and as soon as Uncle
Lucky saw him he asked him to play the loudest
tune and play it just as fast as he could.</p>
<p class="pnext">Of course the poor, tired Circus Elephant
woke up, and when he saw that organ man, he
jumped out of the hammock and ran down the
front walk and grabbed the piano and threw
it clear across the road into a pond.</p>
<p class="pnext">And when the organ man saw that he started
off as fast as he could and never came back, for
he had always been dreadfully afraid of elephants,
because when he was a boy he had given
one a piece of chewing gum instead of a peanut,
and he never forgot what the elephant did
to him when he found it out.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Look here, Elly,” said Uncle Lucky, “if
you’ll promise not to snore I’ll let you sleep in
my bed to-night; but if you don’t, you’ll have
to sleep out in the field, for nobody can stand
the noise you make.”</p>
<p class="pnext">“Well, I can’t stay all night, anyway,” said
the elephant, “for the circus comes to town to-day
and I’ll be in the performance this evening.
Thank you, just the same.” And then he said
good-by to Billy Bunny and Uncle Lucky and
walked down the road, but before he left he
gave them each two tickets with his compliments.</p>
<p class="pnext">And if the trolley car doesn’t swim across the
river and splash the conductor so that he can’t
ring up the fares, I’ll tell you next time whether
Uncle Lucky and Billy Bunny went to the circus.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-xxxibilly-bunny-and-the-cheerful-little-bird">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id32">STORY XXXI—BILLY BUNNY AND THE CHEERFUL LITTLE BIRD</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">You remember in the last story that the
Circus Elephant gave Uncle Lucky and
Billy Bunny tickets to go to the show.
Well, I’m awfully sorry to tell you they didn’t
go, and the reason was because the tent caught
fire, and before the firemen in Bunnytown
could put out the flames the spangles were all
burnt off the circus queen’s dress and the ice
cream cones were all melted and the peanuts
roasted blacker than a coal, and the lemonade
boiled over and burnt the alligator’s tail so that
he wouldn’t stand on his head.</p>
<p class="pnext">And oh, dear me! The circus folk all had
to sleep with the animals, and the fat lady
couldn’t get into the monkey cage, so she had
to lie down on the grass underneath for the
night, and she caught an awful cold and almost
had the chickenpox.</p>
<p class="pnext">Of course Billy Bunny and his good, kind
uncle were dreadfully disappointed, and when
they got home they played on the victrola a new
song called: “If you want to borrow money
don’t you ever come to me,” and after that they
went to bed, and when they woke up they heard
the little sparrow singing on the front porch:</p>
<blockquote><div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
Sing a song of summer,</div>
<div class="line">
And the happy flowers;</div>
<div class="line">
Sing a song of sunshine</div>
<div class="line">
Through the golden hours</div>
<div class="line"></div>
<div class="line">
Always sing of gladness</div>
<div class="line">
Through the live-long year</div>
<div class="line">
Even in December,</div>
<div class="line">
When it’s cold and drear.</div>
</div></div>
</blockquote>
<p class="pfirst">“I’m going to take some crumbs out to that
cheerful little bird,” and kind Uncle Lucky
sprinkled sponge cake crumbs all over the porch,
and the sparrow and her little birdies had a
scrumptious feast.</p>
<p class="pnext">And after that the telephone rang and Mrs.
Bunny called up to find out how Billy Bunny
was. And when Uncle Lucky said he was very
well she said she was glad, because if he had
been sick she would have wanted him brought
home im-me-die-ate-ly.</p>
<p class="pnext">But as long as he wasn’t she wanted him back
anyway, because she was so lonely without him.
And then of course the little rabbit had to say
good-by to his dear kind uncle and start right
oft for the Old Brier Patch.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, sir! He hadn’t gone for more than a
million hops, and maybe a few skips and jumps,
when he came across his old friend the Brown
Horse. “Hello, there!” said the good-natured
animal; “how is your Bunny Highness?”</p>
<p class="pnext">“I’m all right,” said the little rabbit, “but
what are you doing here in the woods?”</p>
<p class="pnext">“Ssh!” whispered the Brown Horse. “I ran
away to-day and I’m afraid the policeman will
catch me for exceeding the speed limit.”</p>
<p class="pnext">“So I’m hiding here.” And just then they
heard a whistle, but you’ll have to wait to find
out whether it’s a policeman or a locomotive engine
until the next story, for I’ve no more room
in this one.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-xxxiibilly-bunny-and-the-millers-boy">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id33">STORY XXXII—BILLY BUNNY AND THE MILLER’S BOY</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">As soon as the Brown Horse heard that
whistle which I mentioned in the last
story, but couldn’t tell you what kind of
a whistle it was because I had no more room,
he jumped clear across the brook which was
close by and never stopped running until he
found himself once more in his own stable.</p>
<p class="pnext">And then before Billy Bunny could even say
“Call me up on the telephone,” or “Won’t you
lunch with me to-morrow,” of course the Brown
Horse was out of sight. So the little rabbit
waited a minute to see if he could hear the
strange whistle again, and sure enough he did,
and it was right close to him this time, and when
he looked around there stood the Miller’s Boy.</p>
<p class="pnext">And before Billy Bunny could hop away
something hard hit him on the head and he
rolled over on the ground and didn’t wake up
until he found himself rolled up in the Miller
Boy’s jacket, and oh, dear me! The Miller’s
Boy was walking home as fast as he could and
there was our dear little Billy Bunny wrapped
up like a Christmas present so that he couldn’t
even wiggle his left ear.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Oh, mercy me!” cried the little rabbit, “I’m
a goner now as sure as Monday comes after Sunday
and sunshine after rain and a stomach ache
after eating green apples!”</p>
<p class="pnext">And then he tried to squirm about, but the
Miller’s Boy squeezed all the harder, so Billy
Funny decided to keep quiet, for he didn’t want
to have all his breath squeezed out of him, you
know.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, by and by, as the Miller’s Boy walked
along, the jacket slipped a little under his arm,
and then Billy Bunny saw a little light through
the arm sleeve. And before you could say
“Jumping cats!” he pushed through the sleeve
and down to the ground and hopped away, free
as a bird in the air or a fish in the ocean.</p>
<p class="pnext">And I’m so glad that I’m going to say “Hip,
hip, hurrah!” just as loud as I can, for if there
is anybody I hate it is that Miller’s Boy. Ever
since I started to tell you about Billy Bunny he
has been trying to catch this dear little rabbit
and this time I certainly thought he had. And
now that Billy Bunny is safe I’m so happy I
could shout again.</p>
<blockquote><div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
Go home you horrid Miller’s Boy,</div>
<div class="line">
Who’s always trying to annoy</div>
<div class="line">
The Friendly Little Forest Folk</div>
<div class="line">
By trying every kind of joke.</div>
<div class="line">
Go home and tie the bags of meal</div>
<div class="line">
And never try again to steal</div>
<div class="line">
A little rabbit on his way,</div>
<div class="line">
Who’s always cheerful all the day.</div>
</div></div>
</blockquote>
<p class="pfirst">Well, after the little rabbit had hopped for
maybe a mile or three, he thought he was safe,
and so he stopped to rest, and I would tell
you right now what he did, only I must stop so
as to get this story in the paper in time for tonight,
so pleasant dreams and happy wakening.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-xxxiiibilly-bunny-and-old-mother-magpie">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id34">STORY XXXIII—BILLY BUNNY AND OLD MOTHER MAGPIE</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">As I told you in the last story, little Billy
Bunny stopped to rest after escaping
from the Miller’s Boy, and while he
stood on his hind legs and looked around, who
should fly down from a tree but Old Mother
Magpie. And the very first thing she said to
the little rabbit was, “My goodness, what a
dirty little bunny you are.”</p>
<p class="pnext">And this of course made Billy Bunny very
angry, for he didn’t think he was dirty. So he
opened his knapsack and took out a little mirror
which a lady bunny had dropped one day in the
Friendly Forest and looked at himself, and
sure enough there was a great black smudge
right across his face.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Ha! Ha!” laughed Old Mother Magpie.
“You wouldn’t believe me, would you?” And
then she laughed again.</p>
<p class="pnext">“No, I wouldn’t believe anything you said,”
answered the little rabbit, “for you’ve told more
untruths about people than anybody I know,
and that’s the reason they call you ‘Old Mother
Mischief.’”</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, sir! This made her so mad that she
flew at the little rabbit, and maybe she would
have pecked his eyes out if he hadn’t put on a
pair of goggles that belonged to his dear, kind
Uncle Lucky.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Please go ’way,” said the little rabbit, “I
can’t help being rude to you because you’re so
rude to other people,” and he hopped away as
fast as he could before she could say another
unkind word, and by and by he came across
Squirrel Nutcracker.</p>
<p class="pnext">Now the old gentleman squirrel had grown
pretty old and was very hard of hearing, and
when Billy Bunny said “Good morning” he
never heard him at all, but just sat there on the
old log and ate a peanut which he had saved
from the last circus.</p>
<p class="pnext">So Billy Bunny hopped up behind him and
leaned over and called out quite loud right in
his left ear, “Good morning!” And this so
startled Old Squirrel Nutcracker that he swallowed
the peanut shell, and then he began to
choke until he got black and blue in the face.</p>
<p class="pnext">And, of course, this frightened the little rabbit,
too, for he felt it was his fault, so he patted
Old Squirrel Nutcracker on the back, and by
and by the old gentleman squirrel stopped
coughing, although he was dreadfully mad to
think that he had swallowed the circus peanut
without even tasting it.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Look here, young rabbit,” he said with a
scowl, “don’t you ever again shout in my ear!
If you do I’ll pin back both your ears with a
pine needle and send you home to your mother!”
Wasn’t that a dreadful thing for him to
say?</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, sir, after that Billy Bunny thought it
was time to be going, so he bowed to the old
squirrel and hopped away, and after maybe a
million hops, skips and jumps, he reached the
Old Brier Patch, where he found his dear
mother standing in the doorway of her little
house waiting for her bunny boy.</p>
<p class="pnext">And that’s a good place to leave him for to-night,
don’t you think so? For we’ll know he’s
safe and sound with his own dear mother, so go
to sleep and to-morrow I’ll tell you another
story; yes, I will, if you are good.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-xxxivbilly-bunny-and-dickey-meadow-mouse">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id35">STORY XXXIV—BILLY BUNNY AND DICKEY MEADOW MOUSE</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">Ting-a-ling! went the rising bell,
and Billy Bunny opened his left eye
and twinkled his nose and stretched his
right hind leg, and then he was wide awake.</p>
<p class="pnext">But before he got out of bed he pulled out
his gold watch and chain, the watch which his
kind Uncle Lucky Lefthindfoot had given him,
you remember, from under his pillow, for he
was so sleepy he wondered if his mother hadn’t
made a mistake. But, no, she hadn’t.</p>
<p class="pnext">It was half past fourteen o’clock and Mr.
Happy Sun was laughing through the little
window. So up jumped Billy Bunny and
combed his fur and parted it in the middle
down his back, and after that he was almost
ready for breakfast, except to brush his teeth
with a new toothbrush which he had bought at
the Three-in-one-cent store.</p>
<p class="pnext">After breakfast he started right out to play
on the Pleasant Meadow, and the first person
he saw was little Dickey Meadow Mouse. He
had just come out of his little grass ball house
and was looking around to see what he would
do.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Good morning,” said Billy Bunny, “how
are you this lovely day?”</p>
<p class="pnext">And of course Dickey Meadow Mouse said
he was well, for the little people of the Pleasant
Meadow are never ill unless some enemy
injures them, for they know how to take very
good care of themselves, you know, and kind
Mother Nature always provides them with
enough to eat, and sometimes more.</p>
<p class="pnext">And while they stood there laughing and
talking Tommy Turtle passed by with his little
shell house on his back, which always goes with
him, rain or shine. Isn’t it nice not to have to
move out of your house, but always have it go
with you?</p>
<p class="pnext">“Come with me, Billy Bunny,” cried Tommy
Turtle, “I’m going down to the Old Mill Pond
for a swim.” So the little rabbit said good-by
to Dickey Meadow Mouse and went with
Tommy Turtle, and by and by they came to the
pond where Old Uncle Bullfrog sat all day on
his log and caught flies until he grew so fat
that his white waistcoat bulged out till the buttons
nearly popped off.</p>
<blockquote><div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
“Kerchunk! Kerchunk! Kerplunk! Kerplunk!</div>
<div class="line">
I’m king of this Old Mill Pond.</div>
<div class="line">
I never care to go anywhere,</div>
<div class="line">
Not even a foot beyond.</div>
<div class="line"></div>
<div class="line">
For I’m contented to stay right here</div>
<div class="line">
Where the cattails wave in the at-mos-phere,</div>
<div class="line">
And the Darning Needles and Bottle Flies</div>
<div class="line">
Dart and skim ’neath the summer skies.”</div>
</div></div>
</blockquote>
<p class="pfirst">And then the old frog blinked his eyes and
swallowed a foolish fly that came too near.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Top of the morning to you, Uncle Bullfrog,”
said little Billy Bunny. “Does the Miller’s
Boy throw stones at you nowadays?”</p>
<p class="pnext">“Sometimes,” said the old gentleman frog,
“but not so often of late, for his father is away
and he doesn’t have the time. He has to look
after the Old Mill, you know.”</p>
<p class="pnext">And just then a stone splashed in the water,
but I’ll let you guess who threw it until the
next story.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-xxxvbilly-bunny-and-big-brown-bear">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id36">STORY XXXV—BILLY BUNNY AND BIG BROWN BEAR</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">If you haven’t guessed who threw the stone
at Old Uncle Bullfrog in the last story, I’ll
tell you right now. It was that bad Miller’s
Boy.</p>
<p class="pnext">Yes, siree. There he stood, not very far away,
and he was just going to throw another, when
the old gentleman frog thought it was time to
take a dive and the little rabbit thought it was
time to take a hop, and Tommy Turtle to take
a swim and soon Uncle Bullfrog was deep down
on the muddy bottom where he ate his breakfast
without a thought of the Miller’s Boy.</p>
<p class="pnext">Well, after a few short hops Billy Bunny
found himself in the Friendly Forest close to
Timmy Chipmunk’s little store, where he sold
candy carrots and lettuce sandwiches and lemon
soda.</p>
<p class="pnext">So the little rabbit opened his knapsack and
took out a handful of carrot pennies and bought
a lovely apple pie, which the little chipmunk’s
mother had baked that very morning. And as
soon as the pie was all gone Billy Bunny hopped
away and by and by he came to the cave where
the Big Brown Bear sold honey.</p>
<p class="pnext">Now Mr. Bear was very cross this particular
morning, for the day before while he was looking
over a bees’ nest some of the bees had been
very rude and had stung him on the nose.</p>
<p class="pnext">And now it was all swollen up so that he
couldn’t find a pocket handkerchief big enough
to tickle it with, and so of course he was very
miserable.</p>
<p class="pnext">“I don’t feel at all sociable,” which means
friendly, you know, he said to the little rabbit.
“So you had better be on your way and leave a
crusty old bear to himself.” But do you think
Billy Bunny did this? No siree, and a no sireemam.</p>
<p class="pnext">He just opened his knapsack and took out
some lettuce cold cream and rubbed it gently
over the bear’s nose and pretty soon it felt so
well that Mr. Bear said, “Come with me, Billy
Bunny, and we’ll go down to the Three-and-one-cent
store to buy a handkerchief, for now that
my nose is well again, I don’t care if I spend all
my money to buy a handkerchief.”</p>
<p class="pnext">So off they started, and when they reached
the store the bear forgot all about his nose and
bought a little blue tin whistle instead. Wasn’t
that fine, for it’s lots more fun to blow on a
whistle than on a handkerchief, don’t you think
so?</p>
<p class="pnext">“Well, now that you are happy again,” said
the little rabbit, “I’ll go my way, for I’m seeking
adventures, you know, and I want to see the
wide, wide world so as to grow up a learned
rabbit,” and he hopped off down the Friendly
Forest trail.</p>
<p class="pnext">And in the next story, if the ink-well on my
desk doesn’t stub my quill pen when I sign my
name to this story, I’ll tell you more about little
Billy Bunny.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-xxxvibilly-bunny-and-professor-crow">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id37">STORY XXXVI—BILLY BUNNY AND PROFESSOR CROW</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">Let me see. I left off in the last story
just as little Billy Bunny was hopping
down the Friendly Forest path. Well,
he hadn’t gone very far when he saw old Professor
Crow.</p>
<p class="pnext">Now, the professor wasn’t very busy, you
know, for school was over and there were no
little people to teach how to crow—I mean how
to read and write—so he had plenty of time to
himself, and as soon as he saw the little rabbit
he flew down from the tree and began to talk.
“I’m sorry to have to tell you,” he began, “that
my little boy, Blackie Crow, has the measles.”</p>
<p class="pnext">And you know that’s a dreadfully uncomfortable
kind of a thing to have, for you have to
be so careful of your eyes. Now, when an owl
gets the measles it doesn’t make so much difference,
for they don’t want to go out in the sunlight,
but with a crow, oh dear me and oh dear
you! it’s the hardest thing in the world to keep
in the dark, and Professor Crow gave a tremendous
sigh and looked very sad.</p>
<p class="pnext">“I’m very sorry for Blackie Crow,” said the
little rabbit. “Won’t you tell him I’m sorry?”
and then the generous little rabbit took a lollypop
out of his knapsack and told Professor
Crow to take it home to his little boy.</p>
<p class="pnext">Wasn’t that nice? I think I know a little boy
who would be glad to have the measles every
day if he could get a lollypop.</p>
<p class="pnext">And after that Billy Bunny shut up his knapsack
and swung it over his shoulder and hopped
away, and by and by, not so very long, he heard
a little bird singing:</p>
<blockquote><div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
“Up in my nest I’ve five little birds,</div>
<div class="line">
Waiting for mother to feed them.</div>
<div class="line">
What would I do if I should lose two?</div>
<div class="line">
I’d be too unhappy to heed them.</div>
<div class="line">
So that is the reason I look everywhere</div>
<div class="line">
When I fly from my nest in the bright morning</div>
<div class="line">
air.”</div>
</div></div>
</blockquote>
<p class="pfirst">And then she looked down at little Billy
Bunny with his striped candy cane in his right
paw and his knapsack over his shoulder.</p>
<p class="pnext">And then she laughed out loud, and her
laugh sounded just like music, for it was a
mother bird’s laugh, you know, and that always
has the music of love in it.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Good morning, Mrs. Bird,” said the little
rabbit. “I won’t hurt your little ones.”</p>
<p class="pnext">“I know that,” said the mother bird, “for you
are a kind little rabbit. But there are lots of
four-footed little animals who are very unkind
to birds, so that is the reason I sing this song to
let them know that I am always watching over
my nest.”</p>
<p class="pnext">And after that Billy Bunny hopped away, but
before he went he left a big piece of chocolate
cake on a clean white stone for Mrs. Bird to
crumble up for her little ones. Wasn’t that nice
of the little rabbit, for he was very fond of
chocolate cake, I know, for he once told me so.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-xxxviibilly-bunny-and-mrs-grouse">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id38">STORY XXXVII—BILLY BUNNY AND MRS. GROUSE</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">Well, before I go any further, I’ll tell
you that the little birds were so delighted
with the chocolate cake which
the little rabbit left for them on the clean white
stone, as I told you in the last story, that they
went right to sleep after eating it and dreamed
of a little white candy bunny and a big birthday
cake with seven pink candles in it.</p>
<p class="pnext">And after that little Billy Bunny hopped
away, lippity, lip, clippity clip, and by and by
he came to the Old Brush Heap where Cousin
Cottontail lived before she moved next door
to his mother in the Old Brier Patch at Snake
Fence Corner.</p>
<p class="pnext">And just as he reached the little patch that
led into the Old Brush Heap he met Mrs.
Grouse with her brood of little brown birdies.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Good morning, Billy Bunny,” she said,
while her small brood hid themselves in the
dry leaves that strewed the ground. “Come
here, children,” she called, “Billy Bunny won’t
hurt you. He’s a friend.” So the little brown
birds came out from their hiding places and
stood in a row and bowed as nicely as you
please, and the little rabbit opened his knapsack
and gave them each a candy carrot.</p>
<p class="pnext">Wasn’t that kind of him? And after that he
said a little poem, and how I came to hear it
was because a little wild canary, who was sitting
close by, told it to me.</p>
<p class="pnext">And this is the way it went:</p>
<blockquote><div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
“I am Billy Bunny from Old Snake</div>
<div class="line">
Fence Corner Town,</div>
<div class="line">
So don’t be worried, don’t be hurried,</div>
<div class="line">
Little birds of brown.</div>
<div class="line">
Mother knows I will not harm you;</div>
<div class="line">
I’m no cruel snake to charm you,</div>
<div class="line">
So be merry; here’s a cherry</div>
<div class="line">
From the Circus Clown.”</div>
</div></div>
</blockquote>
<p class="pfirst">And then he gave them a big red cherry, a
candy cherry, you know, which his friend the
Clown at the circus had given him a long time
ago.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Well, I must be hopping along,” said the
little rabbit after the little birds had picked the
cherry candy all to pieces until there was nothing
left but the stone.</p>
<p class="pnext">So away he went again to seek more
adventures, and after a little while, not so very long
ago, he came to the railroad bridge where you
remember he and his brother, Bobby Tail, had
taken a ride one day, oh, so long ago, maybe
one hundred stories back, in a big empty freight
car. And just then a train came by, and when
the engineer saw Billy Bunny he stopped the
train, for I suppose he thought the little rabbit
wanted to get aboard.</p>
<p class="pnext">And the brakeman helped him on and away
went the train, over the rails that went clunkity,
clunk, clunkity clunk, while the smoke from the
engine trailed out behind, like a long gray feather.
And the train didn’t stop until the brakeman
called out Lettuceville, where a thousand
little rabbits raised lovely green lettuce in a big
field.</p>
<p class="pnext">And in the next story you shall hear how the
little rabbit scratched his ear and had some lettuce
salad, too, all covered o’er with sugar dew.</p>
</div>
<div class="level-2 section" id="story-xxxviiibilly-bunny-and-the-carload-of-lettuce-leaves">
<h2><SPAN class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id39">STORY XXXVIII—BILLY BUNNY AND THE CARLOAD OF LETTUCE LEAVES</SPAN></h2>
<p class="pfirst">You remember in the last story I left off
just as Billy Bunny got out of the train
at Lettuceville, where there was a big
family of rabbits who raised lettuce leaves for
all the bunnies in the big U. S. A.</p>
<p class="pnext">And the first person he saw was an old gray-haired
rabbit, who said: “Glad to see you, Mr.
William Bunny. Do you want to buy a car-load
of lettuce leaves?”</p>
<p class="pnext">“How much?” asked the little rabbit.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Five million carrot cents,” replied the old
gentleman bunny, “and that’s very cheap, for
the leaves are big and juicy and will keep all
winter if you put them in the ice house.”</p>
<div class="figure">
<div class="align-center container image-wrapper">
<ANTIMG alt="images/illus-112.jpg" src="images/illus-112.jpg"/></div>
<div class="caption">
THE RABBITS JUMPED INTO THE CUPBOARD AND CLOSED THE DOOR.</div>
</div>
<p class="pfirst">Well, sir, this was a very cheap price, don’t
you think so? And Billy Bunny thought so, too,
for he opened his knapsack and took out five
million carrot cents and gave them to the old
gray-haired bunny, and after that all the farmer
bunnies loaded a big freight car just full of
lettuce leaves and marked on the outside in
chalk:</p>
<blockquote><div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
“MR. WILLIAM BUNNY,</div>
<div class="line">
Brier Patch, Old Snake Fence Corner, U. S. A.”</div>
<div class="line"></div>
<div class="line">
“RUSH! Fast Freight.”</div>
</div></div>
</blockquote>
<p class="pfirst">And then it was time for lunch, so the old
rabbit said to his new customer, which was Billy
Bunny, of course:</p>
<p class="pnext">“Come with me to my home and we’ll have
something to eat.” And as Billy Bunny had a
great big appetite by this time, and I might say
right here that rabbits always are hungry, he
hopped away with the lettuce rabbit farmer,
and by and by they came to a little green house
in a raspberry patch with a lovely clover field
on one side and a peach orchard on the other.</p>
<p class="pnext">“I’ve brought my friend, Billy Bunny, home
to lunch,” said the old gray-haired bunny to a
nice-looking lady rabbit whose gray hair was
parted in the middle and held down on each
side by two red coral combs.</p>
<p class="pnext">“Why, it’s Billy Bunny,” she said. “I know
his mother and his cousin, Mrs. Cottontail.”
And she led them into the little green house.
After they had eaten all they wanted she made
the pianola play this song:</p>
<blockquote><div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">
“The clover patch is in full bloom</div>
<div class="line">
With juicy red-topped clover.</div>
<div class="line">
Across the lea the honey bee</div>
<div class="line">
Looks like a golden rover.”</div>
</div></div>
</blockquote>
<p class="pfirst">And it might have kept on playing some
more, only just then who should look into the
door but Daddy Fox. As soon as the pianola
saw him it stopped right then and there, and the
rabbits jumped into the cupboard and closed the
door and turned the key on the inside before
you could say “Jack Rabbit.”</p>
<p class="pnext">“Ha! ha!” laughed Daddy Fox. “I’ll stay
here till you get so tired of that cupboard prison
that you’ll come out. And when you do, you
know what will happen, for I don’t like lettuce
leaves and I just love rabbits.”</p>
<p class="pnext">Wasn’t that a dreadful thing to hear? But,
never mind. I’m not going to let that wicked
fox get the best of Billy Bunny and his friends.
No, sir. Not if I have to go there myself to-morrow
and scare him away with a gun.</p>
<p class="pnext">But this book won’t hold any more, and I’ll
have to tell what happened further to our animal
friends in the next one, which is entitled “Billy
Bunny and Uncle Bull Frog.”</p>
<p class="align-center pnext">THE END</p>
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