Chapter 4

So the little rabbit opened his knapsack and took out another fresh, juicy apple pie and placed the beautiful present for his mother carefully in the knapsack, and after that he ate a lollypop and Uncle Lucky drank a bottle of ginger ale, and then they said good-by and got aboard the Whaleship and sailed away.

And would you believe it? Dear, kind Uncle Lucky almost cried! You see, he had never seen a mermaid before, and he thought she was lovely, and I guess she was, for Uncle Lucky couldn't make a mistake, I'm sure, for he had travelled abroad and had seen lots and lots of beautiful lady bunnies.

"And now where are we going?" asked the little rabbit, but Uncle Lucky was too busy trying to find his other blue polka-dot handkerchief with which to wipe his eyes to answer.

And then he couldn't find it, and the reason was because he had given it to a Chinaman the day before, but he didn't remember that, for he was so miserable at leaving the beautiful mermaid.

"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" sighed the old gentleman rabbit,

"'Tis sad to part. My poor old heart Is nearly, nearly breaking; Alas! alas! that mermaid lass Has set my head a-shaking!"

And after that his old wedding stovepipe hat almost fell off his head, and it would have, I'm sure, if it hadn't been for the blue polka-dot handkerchief which he had tied over the top of it.

And just then, all of a sudden, the Whaleship bumped into a motor boat, and nearly upset it.

"What's the matter with your pilot?" screamed the man who was in the motor boat, and when Uncle Lucky looked over the side of the Whale he saw it wasn't a man at all, but the old Billygoat who owned the Ferryboat I told you about some umpty-leven stones ago.

"Excuse us, please," said the kind old gentleman rabbit, but what the Billygoat said I'll have to tell you in the next story, for there's no more room in this one.

STORY XXVII.

BILLY BUNNY AND THE BEANSTALK.

Seeing it's you," answered the Billygoat, who, you remember in the last story, had gotten very angry because Billy Bunny and Uncle Lucky had bumped into his motor boat with their whaleship.

"I'll forgive you," and then he raced the Whale all the way to the shore and would have beaten him, too, if he had gone faster.

And as soon as the whaleship ran up on the beach, the two little rabbits hopped off and got into their automobile and drove away, and the Whale went back and told the Mermaid that the two little rabbits had a beautiful Luckymobile, and she felt dreadfully sorry that she hadn't gone with them.

Well, after a little while, not so very far, they came across a wonderful beanstalk, which was growing up so high that you couldn't see the top, and if Billy Bunny had only known the story about "Jack and the Beanstalk," I guess he would have thought that the story had come true.

"My gracious!" exclaimed Uncle Lucky. "My lima beans at home grow pretty high but never as high as this," and he took out of his waistcoat pocket his spyglass and tried to find the top of the beanstalk; but he couldn't, for it was hidden in the clouds. Just think of that!

"I'm going to climb up that beanstalk," said the little bunny. "Maybe I'll find my fortune at the top."

"And I'll go with you," said the old gentleman rabbit, for he wasn't going to let his small nephew go up a strange beanstalk and perhaps get lost in the clouds, you know.

Not good, kind Uncle Lucky. No, sireemam; so they hopped out of the Luckymobile and started up the beanstalk, and by and by, after a pretty long time, they came to the top and the first thing they saw was their friend American Eagle and his wife, and she was sitting on her nest hatching out the big eggs which she had laid.

"We'll need lots of eagles now that we've gone to war," said the big bird, and he flapped his wings and sang "Yankee Doodle Dandy" three times over and then once more. And this made the old gentleman rabbit so excited that he stood up and made a speech, and then he threw his old wedding stovepipe hat up into the air and gave three cheers and half a dozen tigers and two or three bears.

And after that Billy Bunny opened his knapsack and took out an American flag and put it on the top of the beanstalk so that all the people in the aeroplane could see it and say "Hip-hur-ray for the U. S. A.!"

"When the little eagles come out of their shells you must bring them to call on me," said good, kind Uncle Lucky to Mrs. Eagle. "I have some popcorn and lollypops at home, and I know how children like those things."

And this made Mrs. Eagle very happy and Mr. Eagle very proud, and he helped the two little rabbits to climb down the beanstalk in time for me to write what they did in the next story, which will be about an adventure in the Friendly Forest.

STORY XXVIII.

BILLY BUNNY AND SCATTERBRAINS.

After Billy Bunny and Uncle Lucky reached the ground, for they had climbed down the beanstalk, you remember, as I told you in the last story, they jumped into the Luckymobile and drove off toward the Friendly Forest, and when they had gone maybe a mile in and out among the trees, for there wasn't really any automobile road to go on, you know, they came across Scatterbrains, the gray squirrel.

Now Uncle Lucky knew Old Squirrel Nutcracker very well, and as the old gentleman squirrel was very nice and well behaved it made Uncle Lucky provoked to think that his son should be such a scatterbrains. So Uncle Lucky stopped the automobile and said:

"Well, young squirrel, have you been troubling your father lately?" and Scatterbrains answered, "No, Mr. Lucky Lefthindfoot, not lately. Not since yesterday."

"What!" exclaimed the old gentleman rabbit, "do you mean to say you troubled him yesterday? Why didn't you wait until to-morrow?" and then Uncle Lucky winked at Billy Bunny and then scowled at Scatterbrains.

And just then they heard a dreadful noise. It sounded just as if the trees were snapping to pieces and, all of a sudden, a tornado struck them and up in the air went the Luckymobile with the two little rabbits, but what happened to the little squirrel I really don't know, unless it took him up, too, and hid him in a cloud.

And perhaps it did, for I've often seen clouds that looked exactly like squirrels, haven't you, and other animals, too, like bears and cats?

"Gracious me!" cried Uncle Billy. "Hang on, Billy Bunny, and don't let the cushions slip or the electricity run out of the cabaret, for if we ever get back to earth, I'd like to get home and stay home forever. Oh, home, sweet home," and the old gentleman rabbit took off his automobile goggles, for they were full of tears and he couldn't see anything.

Well, by and by, the tornado let go and the automobile fell on top of a clothesline and balanced there as nicely as a tight-rope dancer, and when the two little rabbits looked about them, they found they were in Mrs. Bunny's backyard in the Old Brier Patch. Wasn't that lucky? Well, I guess it was!

And just then Mrs. Bunny came out of the kitchen door to hang up some of Billy Bunny's little shirts on the line, for it was Monday morning, you know.

And when she saw the Luckymobile on her clothesline she gave a scream, and then she began to laugh, and after that she ran back into the house and brought out her scissors and cut the rope and the automobile came down with a bang, and out tumbled the two little rabbits.

"Well, well, well," said Mrs. Bunny, and she sat down on the clothespin basket and laughed, but, of course, there weren't any clothespins, or any other kind of pins, in it, you see, for then she wouldn't have laughed.

And in the next story, if my umbrella doesn't open and stand over my bed to keep off the mosquitoes, I'll tell you another story to-morrow night.

STORY XXIX.

BILLY BUNNY AND MRS. BLACK CAT.

Awake, awake, 'tis early morn. The cow is climbing the stalks of corn, The little bird is beating an egg, And the rooster is dancing about on one leg, And the pig is trying on her new bonnet, With a little blue bow and a red cherry on it.

Uncle Lucky rolled over in bed and then he got up and wiggled his nose and his left ear, and after that he was so wide awake that he didn't want to get back into bed, as I did, when I woke up this morning.

And just then the breakfast bell rang and Mrs. Bunny put on the coffee and the baked lollypops and the stewed prunes, and, oh, dear me! I really can't remember what rabbits eat every day, for I'm sure they don't eat the same old thing, for if they did they wouldn't be jolly and gay and hop about merrily all through the day, but would sit in a corner and sulk and be sad, and maybe get angry and maybe get mad.

So always remember to have something new, for no one can always enjoy a prune stew. There! I've gone and written another piece of poetry and my typewriter wouldn't print it properly. Isn't that too bad?

Well, after breakfast the old gentleman rabbit went out for a walk in the Pleasant Meadow, and he went all alone, too, for Billy Bunny had to stay home and polish the front door knob and sweep the piazza and feed the canary and bring in the wood, for Mrs. Bunny had to hurry up with the breakfast dishes so as to be able to go over and see Cousin Cottontail, who had just had a new baby rabbit.

Well, as I was saying, Uncle Lucky hopped along the Pleasant Meadow until he came to the Old Farm Yard where Cocky Docky and Henny Jenny and all the other Barn Yard Folk lived with the good-natured farmer.

And just as he was going through the gate, who should bounce out at him but a big black cat. And, oh, dear me. Her claws were sticking out of her feet like pins and her eyes were yellow as fire and her teeth glittered and her whiskers stood out like bayonets, and her tail was as big as a rolling pin and her back was humped up worse than a camel's.

If you can think of anything worse than the way that cat looked I wish you would write me a letter and tell me so that I can scare Uncle Lucky, for, would you believe it, he wasn't the least big frightened. No, sireemam.

He just took off his old wedding stovepipe hat and bowed most politely to Mrs. Black Cat, and she was so surprised that she turned around and went back to her three little kittens who never wore mittens because they didn't have any.

And after that the old gentleman rabbit hopped into the barn and ate some corn and had a talk with Mr. Sharptooth Rat. And maybe he would have been talking there yet if something hadn't happened. And when you don't expect it, something very often, and sometimes most always, does happen. The Miller's dog ran into the barn and made a grab for the old gentleman rabbit, but Uncle Lucky was too quick for him.

He hopped to one side and then out of that barn so that he hopped right into to-morrow night's story. Wasn't that wonderful?

STORY XXX.

BILLY BUNNY AND BIG YELLOW DOG.

Let me see. Didn't I say that Billy Bunny hopped out of the Old Barn so fast in last night's story that he jumped right into this one? Well, he did, and here he is saying, "I'm ready for another adventure!"

And no sooner had he said this than along came a big yellow dog with a muzzle on his nose, and when the little rabbit saw him he laughed out loud, "Oh, ho! Mr. Yellow Dog! Did you put your nose into a mouse trap?"

"No, I didn't," replied the Yellow Dog. "It's a muzzle to keep me from biting little rabbits," and then he gave a dreadful growl and tried to pull off the muzzle with his front paws.

"I won't wait until you get it off," said Billy Bunny, and he hopped away as fast as he could, for he wasn't the least bit curious to see whether that muzzle was tied on tight!

And by and by he came to a hollow stump where lived an old rabbit named Hoppity-hop.

"Helloa, my little friend," said the old rabbit, and then he wriggled his nose a million times or less, for I guess he smelt the lettuce sandwich which Billy Bunny had in his knapsack.

"Good morning," said Billy Bunny, but he didn't open his knapsack. No, sir! It wasn't fourteen o'clock, which is the luncheon hour in Rabbitville, so I've been told. And this, of course, made the old rabbit very sad. "Oh, dear me," he cried, "I'm so hungry, and if there is anything I love more than a lettuce sandwich it's apple pie!"

"How do you know I've got an apple pie?" asked Billy Bunny, and he took out his gold watch and chain to see what time it was, for he began to feel hungry all of a sudden. But, oh, dear me!

It wasn't fourteen o'clock, or anywhere near it, so he twisted the stem of his watch until the hands pointed at the luncheon time, and then he took out the lettuce sandwich and the apple pie and he and the old rabbit ate them up right then and there, and after that they felt ever so much better.

"Now I'll tell you a secret," said the old rabbit. "There's a carrot candy shop not very far from here, and if you've got any money in your knapsack I'll take you there."

Wasn't that kind of that old rabbit? So off they hopped and pretty soon, not so very far, they came to the candy shop, and the old lady woodchuck who kept it was awfully kind and generous, for she filled up a paper bag right to the top for a lettuce dollar bill, which I think was a very cheap price to pay for all that candy, don't you?

And when it was all gone, Billy Bunny said good-by and hopped away singing at the top of his voice:

"Oh, who is so merry and who is so gay As a rabbit who always has money to pay For candy and popcorn and nice apple pie And other sweet things that you're longing to buy."

And in the next story, if Billy Bunny does eat any more carrot candy and get so dizzy he can't hop in a circle, I'll tell you some more about the little rabbit.

STORY XXXI.

BILLY BUNNY AND A HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

It very often happens You don't know what to do, And then's the time the Mischief Man Comes smiling round to you. He whispers something in your ear You know you shouldn't stop to hear, And then's the time for you to say, "Oh, Mischief Man, please go away!"

This is what dear good Uncle Lucky wrote in Billy Bunny's album, for it was the little rabbit's birthday, you know, and Uncle Lucky thought he ought to warn him against the Mischief Man.

Well, as soon as the ink was dry so that the little rabbit could put the album away in Uncle Lucky's desk, the kind old gentleman rabbit said: "Let us take a ride in the Luckymobile. Maybe we can go some place where we will have a good time."

So they got into the automobile and started off, and by and by they came to a shady spot in the woods. And there right under a big spreading chestnut tree, was a little table covered with a clean white cloth and in the middle was a lovely birthday cake with candles and big frosted letters, which read, "A Happy Birthday to Billy Bunny!"

And oh, my, wasn't he delighted and so were all the little forest folk, for they were all there, let me tell you, from Old Squirrel Nutcracker to the Big Brown Bear.

And so were the little people from the Pleasant Meadow, Dicky Meadow Mouse and Robbie Redbreast and many others. And pretty soon along came the barnyard folk, Cocky Docky, Henny Jenny and Duckey Daddies. Even Mrs. Cow wasn't too busy to be there, and if you'll wait a minute I'll tell you the names of some more of Billy Bunny's friends:

Turkey Purky, Danny Beaver, Old Mother Magpie, Timmy Chipmunk, Scatterbrains, the gray squirrel, and Shadow Tail, his brother. Daddy Fox would like to have been there, only Uncle Lucky hadn't sent him an invitation. The only friend who wasn't there was Uncle Bullfrog. He couldn't leave his log in the Old Mill Pond, so he sent his regrets by little Mrs. Oriole, who lived in the willow tree by the Old Mill.

"Now we'll cut the cake," said kind Uncle Lucky, and he went over to the Luckymobile to get the big carving knife which he had hidden under the cushions.

"There's a little gold ring hidden away somewhere," he said as he cut the cake very carefully so as not to topple over the pretty candles and get the pink and green melted wax all over the white frosting.

And then everybody ate up his piece of cake as fast as he could to find the little gold ring. "I've got it! I've got it!" screamed Timmy Chipmunk. But, oh, dear me. It wasn't the ring at all. It was only a hard nut.

And the little chipmunk was so disappointed that he ran home to tell his mother all about it, and she gave him one she had found when she was a little girl in the toe of her stocking one happy Christmas morning. And in the next story you'll be surprised to hear who got the ring after all.

STORY XXXII.

BILLY BUNNY AND THE LOST RING.

Something's going to happen; I feel it in the air. But what it is you soon shall know, So hold your breath and stare.

You remember in the last story I told you about Billy Bunny's birthday party and promised to tell you who found the little gold ring in the frosted cake.

Well, just as the little rabbit said, "I've found it!" Daddy Fox sprang from behind a bush and grabbed the piece of cake right out of the little rabbit's paw.

And then he jumped over the Luckymobile and ran off to his den to give it to Slyboots or Bushy Tail, his two little sons, you know, but which one got it I can't remember, for everybody was so excited that they forgot to ask the naughty old fox before he got away.

"That's too bad," said kind Uncle Lucky; "I'll have to get you another one," so he said good-by to everybody and took Billy Bunny down to the 3 and 10 cents store, where they bought a lovely gold ring with a big ruby in it. Wasn't that nice?

And then they came back to the woods, but everybody had gone home and there was no more birthday cake anywhere to be seen, not even a little piece of candle.

"Well, what shall we do now?" said the kind old gentleman rabbit, and he poured some lettuce oil into the cabaret and took out his blue polka-dot handkerchief and wiped his ear, and then he dusted off his old wedding stovepipe hat and honked the automobile horn and blew up a tire and turned a cushion upside down to hide a grease spot. And after that he put on his goggles and started off again, and by and by, not so very long, they came to a signpost on which was written:

"Which road shall I take?"

"Goodness, gracious me!" exclaimed the old gentleman rabbit, "what's the matter with my goggles?" and he took them off and looked at the signpost again.

"It says the same old thing," he said with a sigh, and he took off his old wedding stovepipe hat and dusted the top, and after he had put it on his head again he heard a voice saying:

"Take the road that leads to the left, And not the one to the right, For if you don't you will get left And you won't get home till night."

"Who's speaking?" said Billy Bunny. And the reason he hadn't said anything before was because he had been sound asleep.

And then who should come out from behind that funny signpost but a great roaring bull with two horns and about ten feet long and big red, snorting nostrils.

"Don't let us disturb you," which means bother or something like that, said Uncle Lucky, and he honked the horn with all his might, and, would you believe it, the bull was so frightened that he ran away and never stopped till he got home and covered himself with the crazy quilt on his old four-poster bed.

STORY XXXIII.

BILLY BUNNY AND THE GREAT NEWS.

Once upon a time, So I've heard tell, There lived a little rabbit In a shady dell. And on one side a clover patch, Where red-topped clovers grew, And 'tother side was lollypops Of red and white and blue.

This is the song Mrs. Bunny sang one morning as she set to work to wash her little rabbit's white duck trousers, for it was Monday, and that is washday in Rabbitville, so they tell me.

And just as she was hanging them out on the line who should fly up but Old Mother Magpie, and, my! wasn't she excited. Why, she was so disturbed that her bonnet had fallen off her head and was hanging by the strings.

"Have you heard the news?" she asked, and she rolled off one of her black silk mitts and turned her wedding ring around three times and a half.

"Heard what?" asked Mrs. Bunny, putting the clothespin in her mouth instead of on the clothesline.

"Why, the Miller's boy has gone off to the war."

"Hurray!" shouted little Billy Bunny, who was polishing the brass door knob on the back door. "Hurray!"

"You ought to be ashamed of yourself," said Old Mother Mischief. "His poor mother is nearly crazy with grief."

"I'm sorry for her," said Mrs. Bunny, and she thought how thankful she ought to be that her little rabbit didn't have to shoulder a musket.

"Well, I'm glad he's going," said Billy Bunny. "He can shoot at something else now besides little rabbits."

Old Mother Magpie ruffled her feathers. "Well, if I had a boy like you I'd teach him not to glory over another person's grief," and then she flew away.

"I'm sorry for his mother," said Mrs. Bunny, "but the Miller boy will never be missed," and the clothespin fell out of her mouth and stood up in the grass like a little wooden soldier.

"Do you want anything at the store?" asked the little rabbit, after he had finished cleaning the door knob. "If you do, tell me, for I'm going by there."

"You can order a pound of carrot tea and some lollypops," answered his mother, and then Billy Bunny picked up his striped candy cane and set off for the village, and by and by he came to the post office and the nice lady postmistress called to him that there was a letter there addressed to Billy Bunny, Old Brier Patch, but what was written in it I'm not going to tell you now, for I must stop and play a game of pinochle with dear, kind Uncle Lucky, who just telephoned me to come over to his house and have a game with him this evening, and I mustn't keep him waiting another minute.

STORY XXXIV.

BILLY BUNNY AND JENNY MUSKRAT.

Well, I played pinochle with Uncle Lucky Lefthindfoot last evening and it was so late when I got home that I overslept myself this morning.

And maybe I'd have slept all day if Robbie Redbreast hadn't come to my window and told me that Billy Bunny was reading a letter which I told you about in yesterday's story and that every time he turned a page he laughed harder than ever.

Well, I was so curious to know what he was laughing at that I told Robbie Redbreast to fly back to him and look over his shoulder and see what was in the letter while I hurried and dressed as fast as I could, and when I was all ready to go into the Friendly Forest where the little rabbit was, I saw him coming toward me with the letter in his hand and the little robin perched upon his knapsack.

"Good morning," he said and handed me the letter, and now you shall hear what was written to Mr. William Bunny, Brier Patch, Old Snake Fence Corner, U. S. A., care of Uncle Sam!

"My dear Billy Bunny:

"Just a few lines from your old friend the Circus Elephant to tell you that he is coming to see you as soon as he gets over the measles. If you've never had the measles, dear Billy Bunny, don't get them, for they are dreadful things for there's so many of them.

"Please give my love to Mr. Lucky Lefthindfoot and tell him as soon as I'm well, I'll be back in his circus.

"Your friend,

"Elly."

And as soon as I'd read the letter the little rabbit put it in his pocket and hopped away and by and by he came to a little stone house by a river. And before I go any farther I'll just whisper to you how I know all this.

You see, the little robin told me all about it, for he and I are great friends and his nest is in the old apple tree just under my window.

Well, pretty soon, after looking all around, Billy Bunny knocked on the door of the little stone house and in a few minutes it was opened by a nice lady muskrat, whose name was Jenny Eva.