Chapter 1

Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.

BILLY BUNNY

AND

UNCLE BULL FROG

BY

DAVID CORY

Author of "Billy Bunny and Daddy Fox," "Billy Bunny and The Friendly Elephant," "Billy Bunny and Uncle Lucky Lefthindfoot"

ILLUSTRATIONS BY

HUGH SPENCER

BILLY BUNNY BOOKS

BY DAVID GORY

Large 12 mo. Illustrated

1. BILLY BUNNY AND THE FRIENDLY ELEPHANT

2. BILLY BUNNY AND DADDY FOX

3. BILLY BUNNY AND UNCLE BULL FROG

4. BILLY BUNNY AND UNCLE LUCKY LEFTHINDFOOT

Other Volumes in Preparation

1920

CONTENTS

I. BILLY BUNNY AND MR. BLACKSNAKE

II. BILLY BUNNY AND THE FRESHWATER CRAB

III. BILLY BUNNY AND THE SORROWFUL JAY BIRD

IV. BILLY BUNNY AND THE TING-A-LING TELEPHONE

V. BILLY BUNNY AND THE RUNAWAY DOG

VI. BILLY BUNNY AND MR. O'HARE'S ESCAPE

VII. BILLY BUNNY AND THE POLICEMAN CAT

VIII. BILLY BUNNY AND THE GRAY MOUSE

IX. BILLY BUNNY AND RED ROOSTER

X. BILLY BUNNY AND MRS. COW

XI. BILLY BUNNY AND THE BIG BEAR

XII. BILLY BUNNY AND THE RABBITVILLE "GAZETTE"

XIII. BILLY BUNNY AND MR. MOLE

XIV. BILLY BUNNY AND THE WATER SNAKE

XV. BILLY BUNNY AND THE PEACOCK

XVI. BILLY BUNNY AND THE MARBLE DEER

XVII. BILLY BUNNY AND THE FOREST DANCE

XVIII. BILLY BUNNY AND RAGGED RABBIT

XIX. BILLY BUNNY AND TAILOR BIRD

XX. BILLY BUNNY AND PARSON CROW

XXI. BILLY BUNNY AND JACK-IN-THE-BOX

XXII. BILLY BUNNY AND MR. DUCK

XXIII. BILLY BUNNY AND THE FRETFUL PORCUPINE

XXIV. BILLY BUNNY AND DANNY BILLYGOAT

XXV. BILLY BUNNY AND THE WHALE

XXVI. BILLY BUNNY AND THE MERMAID.

XXVII. BILLY BUNNY AND THE BEANSTALK

XXVIII. BILLY BUNNY AND SCATTERBRAINS

XXIX. BILLY BUNNY AND MRS. BLACK CAT

XXX. BILLY BUNNY AND BIG YELLOW DOG

XXXI. BILLY BUNNY AND A HAPPY BIRTHDAY

XXXII. BILLY BUNNY AND THE LOST RING

XXXIII. BILLY BUNNY AND THE GREAT NEWS

XXXIV. BILLY BUNNY AND JENNY MUSKRAT

XXXV. BILLY BUNNY AND THE MILLER'S DOG

XXXVI. BILLY BUNNY AND THE WOODCHUCK

XXXVII. BILLY BUNNY AND LITTLE PEEWEE

XXXVIII. BILLY BUNNY AND OLD MOTHER MAGPIE

STORY I.

BILLY BUNNY AND MR. BLACKSNAKE.

Rain, rain, go away, Billy Bunny wants to play.

This is what Willy Wind sang one morning. Oh, so early, as the raindrops pitter-pattered on the roof of the little rabbit's house in the Old Brier Patch.

And then of course he woke up and wiggled his little pink nose a million times less or more, and pretty soon he was wide awake, so he got up and looked into the mirror to see if his eyes were open, as he wasn't quite sure he was wide awake after all, for the raindrops made a drowsy noise on the old shingles and the alarm clock wouldn't go off, although it was 14 o'clock.

Well, after a little while, not so very long, his mother called to him, "Billy Bunny, the stewed lollypops are getting cold and the robin's eggs will be hard boiled if you don't hurry up, or hurry down, or something."

"I'll be ready in a jiffy," answered the little rabbit, and then he brushed his whiskers and parted his hair in the middle with a little chip, and after that he was ready for breakfast and dinner and supper, for rabbits are always hungry, you know, and can eat all the time, so I've been told, and I guess it must be true, for why should an old rabbit have told me that if it isn't the truth, I should like to know, and so would you, I'm sure.

"Don't forget your rubber boots," said Mrs. Bunny after the morning meal was over, as Billy Bunny started to hop outdoors. So, like a good little bunny boy, he came back and put them on, and then before he went he polished the brass door knob on the front door and swept the leaves off the little stone walk.

And after that he was ready to do whatever he liked, so out he went on the Pleasant Meadow to eat some clover tops so as not to feel hungry for the next ten minutes.

And just then Mrs. Cow came along with her tinkle, tinkle bell that hung at her throat from a leather collar.

"Where are you going?" she asked, but the little rabbit didn't know. He was only looking around. He hadn't had time to make up his mind what to do, and just then, all of a sudden, just like that, Mr. Blacksnake rose out of the grass.

"Look out!" cried Mrs. Cow. "Maybe he's going to eat you," but whether he was I'm sure I don't know, for Billy Bunny didn't wait to see. He didn't care whether Mr. Blacksnake wanted his breakfast, but hopped away as fast as he could and pretty soon, not so very far, he came to the Babbling Brook, and there sat the little fresh water crab on the sand, and when he saw Billy Bunny he said:

"It's raining, Billy Bunny, But you and I don't care, For raindrops make the flowers Grow and blossom fair."

And this is what every little boy and girl should say on rainy days.

STORY II.

BILLY BUNNY AND THE FRESHWATER CRAB.

Let me see. It was raining in the last story when we left off, wasn't it? Billy Bunny and the little freshwater crab were talking together, weren't they?

That's it, and now I know where to begin, for it's stopped raining since then and Mr. Happy Sun is shining in the sky and the little clouds are chasing each other over the blue meadows like little lambs.

"I like that little piece of poetry you just said," cried the little rabbit. "Please say another." So the freshwater crab wrinkled his forehead, and then he began:

"And when the sun is shining, And all is bright and gay, Just keep a little sunshine To help a rainy day."

"I will," said the little bunny, for he was a cheerful little fellow, and then he hopped away and by and by he came to the Old Mill Pond.

But Uncle Bullfrog was nowhere to be seen.

There stood the old log, but there was nobody on it but a black snail. It seemed strange not to see the old gentleman frog sitting there, his eyes winking and blinking and his white waist-coat shining in the sun, and it made the little rabbit feel lonely.

"Where is Uncle Bullfrog?" he asked a big bluebottle fly, who was buzzing away at a great rate. But he didn't know, and neither did a big darning needle that was skimming over the quiet water.

"I wonder if that dreadful Miller's Boy has taken Uncle Bullfrog away," thought Billy Bunny, and just then Mrs. Oriole flew down from her nest that swung in the weeping willow tree and said:

"Are you looking for Uncle Bullfrog, little rabbit?"

"Yes, ma'am. Do you know where he is?"

"He's down by the mill dam," answered the pretty little bird, and then she flew back to her nest that looked like an old white cotton stocking at Christmas time because it was all bulgy and full, only, of course, hers had little birds inside and a Christmas stocking has all sorts of toys, with an orange in the toe and a Jack-in-the-Box sticking out of the top.

So off hopped the little rabbit, and pretty soon he saw the old gentleman bullfrog catching flies, and undoing his waistcoat one button every time a fly disappeared down his throat.

"I thought at first that dreadful Miller's Boy had taken you away," said Billy Bunny, "and I was very sad, for I like you, Uncle Bullfrog, and I've never forgotten how you found the letter I lost a long time ago."

"Tut, tut," said the old gentleman frog. "How's your mother?" and then he swallowed another fly and unbuttoned the last button, and if he takes off his waistcoat I'll tell you so in the next story.

STORY III.

BILLY BUNNY AND THE SORROWFUL JAY BIRD.

Well, Uncle Bullfrog didn't take off his waistcoat, as I thought he might in the last story, so I'm not going to tell you anything more about him.

We'll just leave him in the old Mill Pond and go along with Billy Bunny, who is hopping away toward the Friendly Forest.

By and by, after he had gone into the shady depths for maybe a million and two or three hops, he came across his old friend the jay bird, who had sold him the airship, you remember, and then bought it back again.

"I wish you'd kept your old flying machine," said the jay bird sorrowfully. "But you wanted to buy it back," said the little rabbit, "so it's not my fault."

"Perhaps not," replied the sorrowful jay bird, "but that doesn't make matters any better."

"Why, what's the trouble?" asked the little rabbit, sitting down and taking a lollypop out of his knapsack.

"I had an accident," answered the jay bird.

"I ran into a thunder cloud and spilled out all the lightning, and, oh dear, oh dear. I just hate to talk about it, but I will. The lightning jumped all around and then struck the old tower clock and broke the main spring, so that it wouldn't go any more, and now nobody in Rabbitville can tell the day of the month, or when it will be Thanksgiving or Fourth of July."

"Let's go to the clock maker and ask him to fix it," suggested the little rabbit, and this so delighted the sorrowful jay bird that he smiled and flew after Billy Bunny, and pretty soon they came to the old clock maker, who was an old black spider.

"Certainly I'll fix it," he said, "but it will cost you nine million and some billion flies."

"All right," said Billy Bunny. "I'll go down to the 3 and 1-cent store and buy a fly catcher." So off he went and pretty soon he came back with a great big fly catching box, and after he had set it down, they stood and watched the flies go in until it was so full that not another one could even poke in his nose.

"Now, Mr. Spider," said Billy Bunny, "there are maybe a trillion flies in that box, for the storekeeper told me it was guaranteed to hold that many, so please fix the town clock, for it would be too bad if the little boys and girls didn't know it was Christmas when it really came."

So the spider got out his little tool bag and climbed up the steeple and fixed that old town clock so well that it began to play a tune, which it had never done before, and all the people in Rabbitville were so delighted that they gave the spider a little house to live in for the rest of his days.

STORY IV.

BILLY BUNNY AND THE TING-A-LING TELEPHONE.

Ting-a-ling went the telephone bell in Uncle Lucky Lefthindfoot's house, the kind old gentleman rabbit who was the uncle of Billy Bunny, you know.

And I only say this right here in case some little boy or girl should read this story without having seen all the million and one, or two, or three that have gone before.

So Uncle Lucky jumped out of the hammock where he had been swinging up and down on the cool front porch of his little house in Bunnytown, corner of Lettuce avenue and Carrot street, and hopped into the library and took down the receiver and said "Helloa! This is Mr. Lucky Lefthindfoot talking."

"Is that you, Uncle Lucky?" answered a voice at the other end of the wire. "This is Billy Bunny, and I'm lost in the Friendly Forest." "What!" cried the old gentleman rabbit, and he got so excited that he put the wrong end of the receiver to his left ear and got an awful electric shock that nearly wiggled his ear off. "Where are you now?"

"I don't know," replied his small nephew. "I'm lost, don't you understand?"

"Gracious, goodness mebus!" exclaimed the old gentleman rabbit, "then how am I to find you?"

"I don't know, but please do," said Billy Bunny sorrowfully, "for I'm dreadfully hungry, and I haven't got a single lollypop or apple pie left in my knapsack."

"Well, you just stay where you are and I'll get into the Luckmobile and find you," replied the old gentleman rabbit as cheerfully as he could, although he didn't know how he was going to do it, and neither do I, and neither do you, but let's wait and see.

So pretty soon, in a few short seconds, Uncle Lucky was tearing along the dusty road toward the Friendly Forest, and by and by he came to the house where his cousin, Mr. O'Hare, lived. So he stopped the automobile and knocked on the door, and as soon as Mr. O'Hare opened it, he said: "Jump in with me, for my little nephew is lost and I want you to help me find him."

So away they went into the Friendly Forest, and they looked all around, but, of course, there was no little rabbit that looked like Billy Bunny anywhere in sight. So Uncle Lucky and Mr. O'Hare got out, and after tying the automobile to a tree, they set out in different directions to find the little bunny. And Uncle Lucky went along a little path and Mr. O'Hare followed a small brook, and after a while the old gentleman rabbit heard a bird singing:

"I saw a little rabbit A-sitting by a tree, And I should say he'd lost his way-- That's how he looked to me."

"Where did you see him?" asked Uncle Lucky excitedly. But what the little bird replied you must wait to hear in the next story.

STORY V.

BILLY BUNNY AND THE RUNAWAY DOG.

You remember in the last story just as Uncle Lucky asked the little bird to tell him where Billy Bunny was I had to leave off for there was no more room in the story for me to add another word? Well, what the little bird said was:

"Follow the path, Mr. Lucky Lefthindfoot, 'till you come to a bridge, and then turn to your right, and pretty soon, if the little bunny hasn't hopped away, you'll find your lost nephew."

So Uncle Lucky started right off. He didn't wait to even dust off his old wedding stovepipe hat, and by and by he came to the bridge. But oh dear me! Right in the middle of it stood a big dog, and when he saw the old gentleman rabbit he gave a loud bark and ran at him.

And what do you think the dear old bunny did? He honked on his automobile horn, which he had in his paw, and this frightened the dog so dreadfully that he turned around and ran away so fast that he would have left his tail a thousand miles behind him if it hadn't been tied on the way dogs' tails are, you know.

And after that Uncle Lucky crossed the bridge and turned to his right and pretty soon he saw Billy Bunny under a bush looking very miserable and unhappy. But when he heard his Uncle Lucky's voice, for the old gentleman rabbit gave a cry of delight as soon as he saw him, the little rabbit looked as happy as he had before he was lost.

"Here's an apple pie for you," said the dear, kind old gentleman rabbit, taking a lovely pie out of his pocket. "I knew you'd rather have something to eat than a million carrot cents."

And of course the little rabbit would, for he was so hungry he could have eaten brass tacks, or maybe iron nails.

"Now come along with me," said Uncle Lucky. "We'll go back to the Luckymobile. Your cousin, Mr. O'Hare, went the other way to look for you, so I suppose we'll have a dreadful time to find him. But, never mind, I've found you." And dear, affectionate Uncle Lucky hugged his small nephew, he was so glad to be with him once more.

Well, after they reached the automobile they honked and honked on the horn hoping Mr. O'Hare would hear them. But I guess he didn't, for he never came back, although they waited until it was almost 13 o'clock.

"We'll have to go home without him," said Uncle Lucky at last. And I guess he was wise not to wait any longer, for it was growing dark, and to drive an automobile through a forest is not an easy thing to do at night. And just then, all of a sudden, Willie Wind came blowing through the tree tops. When he saw the two little bunnies he said:

"Your cousin, Mr. O'Hare, has fallen into a deep hole over yonder." And Willie Wind pointed down the Friendly Forest Trail. In the next story you shall hear how Uncle Lucky and Billy Bunny found their cousin, Mr. O'Hare.

STORY VI.

BILLY BUNNY AND MR. O'HARE'S ESCAPE.

You remember in the last story how Willie Wind whispered to Billy Bunny and Uncle Lucky that their cousin, Mr. O'Hare, had fallen into a deep hole? Well, it didn't take the two little rabbits more than five short seconds and maybe five and a half hops to reach the spot, and then they looked over the edge, but very carefully, you know, for fear they might fall in, and there, sure enough, way down at the bottom was Mr. O'Hare looking very miserable indeed.

"Keep up your courage!" cried Uncle Lucky in as cheerful a voice as he could muster, and then he looked around to find a rope or a ladder. But of course there were not any ropes and ladders lying about, so that kind old gentleman rabbit peeped over the edge of the hole and called down again, "Keep up your courage! We'll get you out!"

Although he didn't know how he was going to do it, and neither do you and neither do I and neither does the printer man.

Well, after a while, and it was quite a long while, too, Billy Bunny found a wild grapevine which he let down into the hole. "Make a loop and put it around your waist and Uncle Lucky and I will haul you out," he called down, and then Mr. O'Hare did as he was told, and after the two little rabbits had pulled and pulled until their breath was almost gone, Mr. O'Hare's head appeared at the top of the hole.

And then with one more big pull they brought him out safely, although his waist was dreadfully sore because the grapevine had cut into his fur and squeezed all the breath out of him.

"I'm going to complain to the street cleaning department or the first policeman I see," said Mr. O'Hare. "It's a dreadful thing to have a hole like this right in the middle of the Friendly Forest Trail."

"Never mind that," said Billy Bunny, "let's go back to the Luckymobile. It will be late before we get out of the woods and maybe the electricity will all be gone and then we can't light the lamps, and maybe we'll be arrested."

And this is just what happened. They had only gone a little ways when they heard a voice say:

"Stop your motor car, I say, You have no lamps to light the way. Come, stop your car and get right out! Listen, don't you hear me shout? Stop your car or I will shoot. Don't try away from me to scoot!"

"We don't intend to," said Uncle Lucky, and he put on the brake and the Luckymobile came to a standstill. And there in the road stood a big Policeman Cat, with a club and gold buttons on his coat and a big helmet, and his number was two dozen and a half.

"Get out of your car," he commanded, which means to say something sternly, but before the two little rabbits obeyed, something happened, but what it was you must wait to hear in the next story.

STORY VII.

BILLY BUNNY AND THE POLICEMAN CAT.

Well, I'm glad to say it was something nice that happened just as I left off in the last story. You remember the Policeman Cat had arrested Billy Bunny and his Uncle Lucky.

Well, just as that Policeman Cat lifted his club to tickle Uncle Lucky's left hind foot, a big elm tree began to bark and of course the Policeman Cat was nearly scared to death. He thought it was a dog, you see, and instead of tickling dear, kind Uncle Lucky with his club, he turned tail and ran off down the road.

And he ran so fast that he left his number behind and Uncle Lucky picked it up and put it on the automobile, and after that they asked two little fireflies to sit inside the lamps and make them shine, for you remember the electricity had all burned up.

Well, after a while, they came to a turn in the road and, goodness gracious! before they could stop the automobile they ran into a milk wagon. And, oh, dear me! there was whipped cream all over the place, and Billy Bunny and Uncle Lucky looked like two little cream puffs.

And I suppose you are wondering where the driver of the milk wagon was all this time. And so were Uncle Lucky and Billy Bunny, and if you'll wait a minute I'll tell you, as soon as my typewriter behaves itself, for it got so excited when Luckymobile ran into the milk wagon that it caught my thumb and pinched it.

Well, pretty soon, after Uncle Lucky had looked behind the moon and Billy Bunny into all the empty milk cans and one full one, they found the driver up in a weeping willow tree.

"I'll come down if you'll promise not to run over me," he said, for he was nearly frightened to death and looked dreadfully funny, for one of the milk can covers had fallen on his head.

"I thought he would be mad as a hornet," whispered Billy Bunny to his rabbit uncle.

"But where's my horse?" said the milkman when he reached the ground. So they all looked around and everywhere else, but they couldn't find him until they looked up into another weeping willow tree. And there was the poor horse high up in the branches.

"Oh, I'll come down from this willow tree, If you'll promise me just one thing, And that is never again to say: 'Gid-ap' as you drive me along the way, For I always go the best I can; I'm a faithful friend to every man, So please don't hurry me so, For I'm not trying to go too slow."

"All right, my good old horse," said kind Uncle Lucky. "Your master shall give me his word." So the horse jumped down and the willow tree stopped weeping right away, for it was so glad that the poor old milk horse was never again to be hurried on his way. And in the next story I'll tell you why.

STORY VIII.

BILLY BUNNY AND THE GRAY MOUSE.

You remember in the last story how the Luckymobile had run into a milk wagon? Well, after Billy Bunny had helped the milkman hitch up his horse and Uncle Lucky had filled the milk cans with ice cream and soda water from a near-by candy store, so as not to have all the little boys and girls disappointed at breakfast when they didn't get their milk, our two little rabbit friends got into the Luckymobile and started off again.

Well, it was still evening, you know, and the little fireflies who had crawled into the lamps made them as bright as possible, so it wasn't hard to steer the automobile. And, after a while, maybe a mile, they came to a house, where lived a gray mouse, all alone by herself in a hole near a shelf, where cake and mince pies made her open her eyes, for they looked, oh, so good, as a pie or cake should.

Now I didn't know I was going to write poetry or I should have let my hair grow long like a poet instead of going to the barber for a shave.

Well, anyway, the two little rabbits stopped the automobile right in front of mousie's door and when she heard the horn go honk, honk, she came to the window and looked out.

"Why, it's Mr. Lucky Lefthindfoot," she squeaked, and then she opened the door and asked the two little rabbits in and gave them some pie and cake.

"You can put the automobile in the barn if you like," she said, "and spend the night here, for it's getting very dark and maybe you'll run into something." So Billy Bunny took the Luckymobile around to the barn, and just then an old owl began to toot:

"I'm very fond of little gray mice, And little white rabbits, too, are nice."

And down flew that old gray owl and made a grab for Billy Bunny. But he didn't catch him. No, sireemam! For the little rabbit hopped into the henhouse through the little round door, and the big red rooster began to crow:

"Look here, Mr. Owl, if you come inside I'll hurt you with my spur. Don't you dare get funny with Billy Bunny, Or muss his pretty white fur."

And then he flew down from his perch and said, "Cock-a-doodle-do" three times and a half, and after that the owl flew away. "That was very kind of you," said the little rabbit. "Oh, don't mention it," said the red rooster, "but there is one thing you can do for me." "What's that?" asked Billy Bunny. "Take me Luckymobiling," laughed the red rooster.

"All right. To-morrow Uncle Lucky and I will invite you for a nice drive," said the little rabbit, and if the Luckymobile doesn't get sick maybe Uncle Lucky will ask some little boy or girl to go, too, and maybe it might be you.

STORY IX.

BILLY BUNNY AND RED ROOSTER.

Well, the next morning when the little rabbits woke up the sun was shining brightly through their bedroom window and Mrs. Mousie was singing a song down in the kitchen below as she made hot muffins for breakfast. And this is what she sang: