Part 4

And when Mr. Wicked Wolf heard that he turned around and ran home as fast as he could, and maybe faster.

“Come with me, little rabbit,” said the kind Yellow Dog Tramp. So they went into the wood and turned down a little path until they came to a tiny house under a big oak tree. And right over the front door was a sign:

“Acorn Cottage.”

“Who lives there?” asked Little Jack Rabbit.

“Wait and see,” said the Yellow Dog Tramp, and then he knocked three times and pretty soon a little Green Snake opened the door. She had on a little pink bonnet and a white apron and on the end of her tail was a pretty gold watch.

“What do you want?” she asked, for she was a very timid little snake, let me tell you, and was dreadfully afraid of tramps and burglars.

“My little rabbit friend would like to find his fortune,” said the Yellow Dog Tramp, “and I hear you are very wise and know how to tell fortunes better than a gypsy. So please tell my little bunny friend where his fortune is.”

“Come in,” said the little Green Snake. So Little Jack Rabbit and the Yellow Dog Tramp went into the little house, and pretty soon she told Little Jack Rabbit to sit down.

“You have two Liberty Bonds and three War Saving Stamps,” she said, after she had looked at the lines in his little paw, “and in three days and a half you will find a bright penny under a stone on the Shady Forest Trail. That will be the beginning of your fortune.” And then she coiled herself up and began to sway back and forth, and in the next story you shall hear what happened after that.

JENNY WREN’S PENNY

You remember in the last story as the little Green Snake coiled herself in a ring and swayed back and forth, she began to sing:

“Under a stone on the Forest Trail Close to the home of a little black snail, Is a bright new penny, so stop to-day And pick it up on your homeward way.”

“I will,” said Little Jack Rabbit, and then he and Yellow Dog Tramp set out, and by and by they saw a little stone just ahead of them. And close beside it was a black snail in her little house which she always carries around with her, rain or shine.

“Hurrah,” cried the little rabbit, “now I will find my fortune,” and he pushed aside the stone and was just going to pick up the bright penny when a voice said:

“Don’t you touch that penny, For it belongs to Jenny, To pretty little Jenny Wren Who lives down in the shady glen.”

“Oh, dear me,” sighed Little Jack Rabbit, “I thought I could take it.”

“Who are you?” asked the Yellow Dog Tramp, looking all around to see who had spoken, but there was no one in sight. And just then, all of a sudden, out jumped Chippy Chipmunk in his little striped jacket. “That penny belongs to Jenny Wren. She lost it this morning.”

“Then why don’t you take it to her?” said the Yellow Dog Tramp.

“I’m keeping watch till she comes back,” answered Chippy Chipmunk. “I don’t know where she went.” And then the little chipmunk laughed and picked up a nut and stuffed it into the little pocket in his left cheek.

“Well, there’s no use waiting here,” said Little Jack Rabbit. “I must get back to the Old Bramble Patch before sundown or mother will worry.” And off he started, lipperty lip, clipperty clip, but just then who should come by but little Jenny Wren herself. She wasn’t flying. Oh, my, no. She was walking slowly over the ground and looked here and there and everywhere.

“Did you see a bright penny?” she asked.

“It’s by that stone,” said Little Jack Rabbit. “Close by the snail in her little shell house.”

So Jenny Wren hopped over to the stone and picked up her lost penny, and if she doesn’t spend it for a lemon lollypop I’ll tell you what happened after that.

A lollypop’s a lovely thing, Just like a flower in the spring. It grows upon the Lolly Tree Beside the winding river Dee.

HUNGRY HAWK

“I must leave now,” said the Yellow Dog Tramp, who, you remember in the last story, had found the lost penny for little Jenny Wren.

“Come and see me soon again, If it doesn’t chance to rain,”

said Little Jack Rabbit, as he watched his good friend run away.

Well, after that, the little bunny hopped along, and by and by he saw Timmy Meadowmouse near his little house in the Sunny Meadow. And if you’ve forgotten what Timmy Meadowmouse’s house looks like I’ll tell you. It’s like a little ball, made out of grass, woven together on the top of two or three stiff stalks of meadow grass.

“Hello, Timmy Meadowmouse. What are you doing?”

“Keeping a lookout for Hungry Hawk,” he answered. “It was only a few minutes ago he flew by, way up in the sky. Oh, ever so high. But I don’t want to be caught in his cruel claws,” and the little meadowmouse shivered at the thought.

“Neither do I,” said Little Jack Rabbit. “I won’t wait, but hurry home to the Old Bramble Patch.” And it was a good thing he did, for just then Hungry Hawk came sailing by and if he had seen the little rabbit maybe he would have stooped down and caught him then and there and maybe some other place.

“What has kept you so late?” asked Lady Love as her little bunny son hopped up the garden walk to the kitchen door, where the good lady bunny stood shading her eyes with her left hind paw. She said nothing when she learned how he had almost been caught by Mr. Wicked Wolf and that the Yellow Dog Tramp had come by just in time. But when he said he had found a penny, she exclaimed: “Where is it?”

“Oh, dear,” answered the little rabbit, “it belonged to Jenny Wren. She lost it this morning, so I had to give it to her.”

And just then the telephone rang.

“Hello,” said Little Jack Rabbit. “Is it you?”

“It surely is,” said the old gentleman rabbit. “What do you suppose is the matter?” But Little Jack Rabbit couldn’t guess, and I don’t believe you can, so I’ll tell you right away.

“My Sonora won’t stop singing,” said the old gentleman rabbit, “and the three grasshoppers and the black cricket on the hearth can’t sleep. So what shall I do?”

“Call in the Old Red Rooster. He used to work in a talking machine factory before he came to you.”

And that’s just what Uncle John Hare did, and the next day he came over in his Bunnymobile and took Little Jack Rabbit out for a long drive.

CANDY CATS AND CHOCOLATE MICE

After the Old Red Rooster had repaired the Sonora, he went back to the barn to dust off the cobwebs. But, oh, dear me! All of a sudden, he brushed down a little black spider who had her web in the northeast corner.

“You’re a very mean rooster to pull down my web, For now I must spin me another, If things must be clean you’ve no right to be mean, I’ve a notion to tell your good mother.”

“Please don’t,” begged the Old Red Rooster. “She’s a very old hen and it might worry her so she couldn’t lay an egg.”

Just then Little Jack Rabbit and Uncle John Hare drove up in the Bunnymobile, so the little black spider began to spin a new web and the Old Red Rooster commenced to dust off the top of the buggy.

“Well, here we are, home again,” said the old gentleman rabbit, and he took off his old wedding stovepipe hat and wiped his forehead with his blue silk polkadot handkerchief, and after that he looked at his gold watch and chain and fixed the diamond horseshoe pin in his red necktie. You see, there was a little old broken mirror which he kept in the barn so that in case his stovepipe hat wasn’t on straight he could fix it before going out automobiling.

As soon as the Bunnymobile was safe in the garage he and Little Jack Rabbit went into the house and wound up the graphophone. And this is the song it sang:

“The candy cat ate a chocolate mouse, O dearie, dearie me. And the little toy dog chased the little toy cat, Till she climbed up a cinnamon tree.”

Dear, dear me! Here we are at the end of the book. I wonder why the pages turn over so quickly; perhaps it is because Little Jack Rabbit hops so fast. But never mind, dear little reader, I am going to tell you some more about this little bunny boy in another book entitled “Little Jack Rabbit and Hungry Hawk.”

Yours for a story, DAVID CORY, The Jack Rabbit Man.

The three Little grasshoppers bowed to Uncle Lucky.

Cocky Doodles and Henny Jenny take a walk.

“Hold up Yours,” said the Policeman Dog.

Mr. Wicked Wolf had to shut his eyes.

“I saw Little Jack Rabbit last night, my dear,” said the Fox.

This made Mrs. Cow laugh.

“Goodness me! Where has that little bunny gone?” he said.

The little rabbit said goodbye.

Transcriber’s Notes:

Italics are shown thus: _sloping_.

Small capitals have been capitalised.

Variations in spelling and hyphenation are retained.

Perceived typographical errors have been changed.