Photographer Crane Got Ready to Take the Picture.
But, good gracious me! Just then something dreadful happened. And it just spoiled that lovely picture, for through the fence jumped Danny Fox and Mr. Wicked Weasel, and there was nobody left on the Sunny Meadow except the Crane Photographer. And maybe he won't be there on the next page.
PHOTOGRAPHER CRANE
Now, wasn't it too bad that Danny Fox and Mr. Wicked Weasel broke up the May Party! You remember they were all having their pictures taken by the Crane Photographer, who had just pushed his head under the big black cloth and was telling them all to look pleasant and not to giggle, when that dreadful fox and that cruel weasel jumped through the Old Rail Fence.
Well, of course, the Crane Photographer at first didn't know why everybody was running away, but when he pulled his head out from under the big black cloth, he knew. Oh, my, yes! When he saw Danny Fox and Mr. Wicked Weasel he didn't have to ask a single question.
"Now you can take our pictures," they said, "and if you don't we'll eat you up!"
So the poor Crane Photographer stuck his head under the cloth, but, oh, dear me! He was so frightened that his great long legs knocked together and spoiled the picture.
"Look here, Mr. Crane," growled Danny Fox, "you take a good picture or you'll never take another," and that wicked old fox grinned and showed all his long white teeth.
"Oh, please don't bite me, Danny Fox.
I'll make a picture with my box,
And have it framed in plush and gold,
So let me live till I am old."
"All right," answered the two bad robbers, Danny Fox and Mr. Wicked Weasel, and as soon as the poor crane had taken their pictures, he folded up his camera and started back for Rabbitville.
"When will those pictures be finished?" asked Mr. Wicked Weasel, and he crept up behind that poor frightened crane and tickled his bare knee.
"Just as soon as I can get them done," he answered, and he tripped over a stone and almost dropped his camera box.
Well, after that Danny Fox went back to his den on the hillside and Mr. Wicked Weasel went home, but, of course, the May party was all over. Nobody wanted to come back that day.
"Oh, dear me," said Little Jack Rabbit, "I wish the Miller's Boy would shoot Danny Fox and Mr. Wicked Weasel."
"Don't say such things," said Mrs. Rabbit. "You must keep your ears and eyes open, and be ever on the lookout for these two bad robbers. But you mustn't wish that somebody will kill them," and the good lady rabbit bustled about and pretty soon she took out of the oven some nice hot cookies and gave two or three, and maybe four to the little rabbit, and after that the little canary bird in her cage began to sing:
"I'm safe from every harm,
In my golden house.
Black Cat cannot catch me
Like a little mouse."
DR. QUACK
Yes, Bobbie Redvest sang to me
Just now a little song,
Which, if you'll wait, I will relate
For it's not very long.
He told me that the apple tree
Is pink and white with flowers,
And that the bees are buzzing there
All through the sunny hours.
And, do you know, I don't think there's anything so lovely as an apple tree in bloom. For when I was a little boy I loved to lie on the grass and look up into the tree where the blossoms, pink and white, made it seem just like a big nosegay of flowers.
"Tell me, little Robin," I said, "are you never worried about anything?" And the little red-breasted bird said no. "I'm as happy as the day is long," and then he flew off to the orchard to sing to Mrs. Robin.
So I closed the window and went outside to see what Granddaddy Bullfrog was doing, for I had just heard him go "honk, honk, honk!" like an auto horn.
Well, sure enough, there was the old gentleman frog, and who do you suppose was after him? You'd never guess, so I might as well tell you right away.
Why, it was Dr. Quack, the wise old duck doctor. He was on his way to see Little Jack Rabbit, who had the whooping cough, and of course his mother, the dear old lady rabbit, was dreadfully worried.
Well, pretty soon Dr. Quack stopped at the Old Bramble Patch, and with his little black bag, went inside to see the little sick bunny boy.
And of course Mrs. Rabbit was dreadfully upset. She couldn't think of anything but her little bunny boy, and the tea kettle had burned a great hole in its bottom and she couldn't make a cup of tea for the doctor, although he was very fond of carrot coffee.
"Let me see your tongue," said Dr. Quack. So the little rabbit put out his tongue, and then the wise duck doctor took out some little pills and three little white powders and told Mrs. Rabbit to give them to her little bunny every other minute and even oftener if he kept on coughing.
And then Dr. Quack said good-by and went over to the old barnyard to see Henny Penny, who had the chickenpox.
Well, after swallowing two powders and three and a half pills the little rabbit felt perfectly well. Wasn't that wonderful medicine the old duck doctor gave him? Well, I just guess it was, and if you ever get the whooping cough you call him up on the telephone, "Oh, oh, oh. Come quick, Duckville!" and he'll cure you in less than five hundred short minutes.
BY THE BUBBLING BROOK
Up at the Old Farm Yard there was a great bustle. Yes sireebus. And the reason was that Henny Penny had a brood of fluffy little chickens. Cocky Doodle hardly knew what to make of them. You see, he was so used to big chickens that when he came to look at these fluffy balls of yellow down he didn't know what to do. So he just stood on his tiptoes and crowed, "Cock-a-doodle-do!" and the big farmer thought he was singing because he was a proud father. But that wasn't the reason at all.
"Come, my dears," said Henny Penny to her little chicks, "let us take a walk in the Sunny Meadow." So all the little chickens followed after her and by and by they came to the Bubbling Brook where swarms of flies darted over the water. And every time a fly came anywhere near Henny Penny she snapped him up and divided him among the brood.
Well, pretty soon along came Little Jack Rabbit with his knapsack on his shoulder and his striped candy cane in his right paw. For it was a lovely day in May and the little rabbit was as happy as two sticks and maybe three or four.
Just then Teddy Turtle crawled by, with his little shell house on his back, and although it was the first of May, Teddy Turtle wasn't going to move out of his house. No sireebus. But his house was moving with him. But that's another matter, you see.
"Wherever I go my house goes, too,
And I never pay any rent.
My little shell house goes ever with me,
No matter how far I am sent."
"Ha, ha," laughed the little rabbit, "you're a lucky fellow." And then Henny Penny clucked to her little brood and said, "Look at Teddy Turtle with his house on his back. Isn't he lucky?"
After a while Mrs. Cow with her tinkling bell came by, singing a song:
"Oh, the grass is nice and green,
And in the Bubbling Brook
I see a very nice kind face
Most every time I look."
And then she rang her little bell over and over again, just to make a noise, I guess, and after that the little rabbit hopped down to the Old Duck Pond to talk to Granddaddy Bullfrog.
Now Granddaddy Bullfrog was a wise old gentleman frog. He knew lots and lots of things, but like a good many wise people he never said much. He was usually too busy catching flies.
But when he saw the little rabbit he took off his yellow rimmed spectacles and said:
"How are you this lovely spring day, little rabbit?" and then he swallowed a fly that came too near, and after that he blinked his eyes and then he closed them to fool some other foolish fly who might happen along.
But of course he didn't close them tight shut, for then he wouldn't be able to see anything, you know. And after that the little rabbit said, "I'm very well, thank you, Granddaddy Bullfrog.
"I manage to keep very well
And hop up with the rising bell.
My appetite is very keen
Because I never eat between
"My meals; and that's the reason why
I can digest green apple pie,
And ice cream cones and lollypops
And Tootsie Wootsie chocolate drops.
"Now, if you're hungry, hurry on—
But don't make a mistake—
You'll find a bag of peanuts on
Page number 88!"
HAPPY DAYS
Well, you remember in the last story little Jack Rabbit was making a call on Granddaddy Bullfrog at the Old Duck Pond. And I guess the little rabbit might have stayed until half-past thirteen o'clock if, all of a sudden, Old Sic'em, the farmer's dog, hadn't come along. Now, of course, Old Sic'em was too old to run very fast, but just the same the little bunny wasn't going to give him a chance to catch him, so off he went, clippity clip, hippity hip, and by and by he came to the Shady Forest, where all the little four-footed folk and the feathered people were busy making homes for the Summer.
Old Squirrel Nutcracker sat outside his doorstep while Mrs. Nutcracker hung out the rugs and beat the sofa cushions. And Chippy Chipmunk chattered on the top of the Old Rail Fence at Bobbie Redvest, who had flown over from the Orchard to stretch his wings.
"Tra la la, tra la la!
Where's the little Twinkle Star?
Mr. Merry Sun's on high
In the meadows of the sky,
And the dandelions wink
All along the river's brink."
You see, Bobbie Redvest loved to sing all sorts of songs, and that's why all the little people of the Shady Forest loved him so. For we all love to hear a song if it's not too slow and long.
"Cock-a-doodle-doodle-do,
Clouds are white and skies are blue,
And the little bugs and flies
Are a dinner that we prize,"
sang Cocky Doodle, for he wasn't going to have Bobbie Redvest be the only one who could sing a song, let me tell you.
And just then Old Professor Jim Crow flew by with his little Black Book under his wing, and as soon as he saw the little bunny, he perched himself on a stump and turned to page forty-three:
"When you're young it's time to learn,
When you're older you must earn."
And the Old Gentleman Crow took off his spectacles and said: "Do you hear that?" and then he cawed three times and a half and put his spectacles back into the case and closed his little Black Book.
"Yes, sir," answered the little rabbit. "Every day I learn something. Only this morning I found out that my last Summer's straw hat won't do for this Summer," and then he hopped away as fast as he could for he knew that Professor Crow would think it was very ex-trav-a-gant not to wear last year's hat, no matter how shabby it was.
"Clean your last year's panama,
Wear your last year's suit,
Don't replace a single thing
Except a worn-out boot."
Now who do you suppose sang that little verse? You'll never guess, so I'll tell you right away. Grandmother Magpie!
"I'm sorry I can't wait," said the little rabbit, and off he hopped for the Old Bramble Patch to ask his mother if she were going to clean her last year's panama bonnet.
THE HOUSE IN THE WOOD
"I wonder where I'm going to stay to-night," said Little Jack Rabbit to himself one late afternoon, after traveling all day with his knapsack on his back and his striped candy cane in his right paw, and just then he came in sight of a little wooden house. So he stopped and tapped on the door, rat-a-tat-tat, very softly, you know. And when the door opened a little monkey dressed in a red cap and a green coat said, "What do you want?"
"I beg your pardon," answered the little rabbit, "but, you see, it's getting late and I'm looking for a place to sleep."
"Well, come right in," said the little monkey, and after Little Jack Rabbit had hung his knapsack and striped candy cane on the hatrack in the hall he followed the monkey into the sitting room.
Well, after a little while he told the monkey all about the Old Bramble Patch and Danny Fox and Mr. Wicked Weasel, and lots of other things, too, which I haven't room in this story to mention. And when he had finished the monkey said he had once belonged to a man who owned a hand organ and went about the country playing music for pennies, and sometimes for nothing.
"But that was long ago," said the little monkey, "for one day my master beat me so cruelly that I ran away to the wood, and by and by I built this little house, where I have lived ever since." Just then a knock came at the door and who do you suppose was outside? Why, the Yellow Dog Tramp, the little rabbit's friend, you remember.
"Come in," said the monkey, for the Yellow Dog Tramp had stopped at his house lots of times, you know.
"Goodness me," said the Yellow Dog Tramp, after he had hung up his old tattered hat in the hall. "I was nearly arrested to-day by a policeman cat. They don't allow tramping any more. Everybody must work, so I stopped in to see if you didn't want a handy man about the place." And this made the little monkey laugh like everything, and pretty soon the Yellow Dog Tramp got dreadfully sulky. He dropped his ears and hung his tail, and then he began to whine,
"Now just because I've been a tramp
Through sunshine and through fog,
You needn't laugh, nor joke and chaff
'Cause now I want a job;
For Uncle Sam says to each man,
'Now that the war is over,
Each do your part with willing heart,
And we shall be in clover!'"
"That's the way," shouted Little Jack Rabbit, and on the next page you shall hear what happened after that.
THE YELLOW DOG TRAMP
Well, after the monkey learned that the Yellow Dog Tramp wanted to go to work to help Uncle Sam and Aunt Columbia, as I mentioned in the story before this, he said:
"You can whitewash the back fence if you want to. It may take you a week or it may take you a month, for I don't know how fast you can work."
"Well, I'll start right in," said the Yellow Dog Tramp bravely, and he stood up on his hind legs and wagged his tail.
"You'd better wait until to-morrow morning," said the monkey. "It's too late now, and you couldn't see in the dark."
"I should think one could whitewash in the dark," said the tramp dog. "But just as you say," and he went over to the kitchen stove and lay down on the little rag rug and went sound asleep, for he was very tired, because he had tramped all day long.
"Let him sleep," said the little monkey in a whisper. "He looks tired out." And after that the monkey got the supper ready and when everything was nice and hot and on the table the Yellow Dog Tramp opened his eyes and yawned and pretty soon he was wide awake enough to sit down to eat.
Well, by and by it was time to go to bed, so they all went to sleep, and just about midnight a big owl looked in through the window and saw by the light of the silvery moon Little Jack Rabbit and the monkey sound asleep on the bed.
"Ha, ha," said the big owl to himself, "I must get that little bunny." So he perched himself on the roof and pondered how to get inside the little house.
Well, by and by, after he had flown around and peeked through all the windows, he looked down the chimney. And then he carefully stepped over the edge and, spreading out his wings, jumped right down to the bottom.
But, goodness me. When he rolled from the hearth into the sitting room he looked just like a crow, he was so covered with soot, and it would have taken the Gold Dust Twins twenty-three days and one night to clean him.
"What's that noise?" barked the Yellow Dog Tramp, and he ran in from the kitchen and looked all around. At first he didn't see the owl, for he was so black with soot, you know. But what that Yellow Dog Tramp said when he did see that bad Owl I'll tell you in the next story, unless,
The Gold Dust Twins with a scrubbing brush
Should scour that old Sooty Owl,
All through the night until he was bright
And clean as a snow-white fowl.
PRICKLY THORNS
"What kind of a blackbird are you?" asked the Yellow Dog Tramp when he saw the bad owl who had flown down the chimney of the little monkey's house, as I mentioned in the last story.
"I'm not any kind of a blackbird—I'm an owl," answered this dreadful old bird, and he shook himself till the soot flew all over the room, and some of it got in the Yellow Dog Tramp's eyes and made him blink. And of course all this noise woke up the little monkey and Little Jack Rabbit, who were sleeping upstairs, you remember.
"I wonder what's going on," whispered the little monkey, and he leaned over the banisters. And just then the Yellow Dog Tramp said, "Well, you get out of here!" and he took hold of that sooty old tooty owl and threw him, tail first, out of the door. And then he threw a milk bottle after him.
When the little rabbit and the little monkey heard what had happened, they were very grateful to the Yellow Dog Tramp, and told him he could sleep all next day in the sun instead of whitewashing the back fence.
Well, after a while, after breakfast, you know, the little bunny set off again on his travels, and by and by, not so very far, he came to a place where so many wild roses grew that it looked like a lovely garden.
"Now here is a nice place to rest," he thought, and he sat down and opened his knapsack and took out a lollypop and was just going to bite off the lemon top, when somebody took it right out of his paw.
"Ha, ha, ho, ho," laughed a trumpety kind of a voice, and when the little bunny looked around he saw his old friend the Circus Elephant with a bouquet of roses in his long trunk. "Here's your lollypop," said the elephant, and he dropped the bunch of roses, for he only meant to tease the little rabbit for a minute, you know.
And then he came over and sat down. But, oh dear me. He jumped up in an awful hurry, for he had sat on the bunch of roses.
"Oh, dear and oh dear again," he cried, "why do lovely roses have thorns?" and he wiped a tear from his eye with the end of his ear, and then he sang this song:
"Oh, why should roses red have thorns
And pears have prickly prickles,
And Mr. Dill his glass jars fill
With sour little pickles?"
And after that my typewriter says you must wait a little while to hear what happened next, because
The Circus Elephant took so long
To finish this beautiful pickle song,
The clock struck twelve before he was through,
The Old Red Rooster woke up and blew
Twice six times on his big tin horn,
And nearly deafened the ears of corn.
BAGS OF PEANUTS
Well, as soon as the Circus Elephant had finished the song in the last story he took a silk handkerchief out of his trunk and wiped his eyes, and then he said: "Do you suppose, if I kneel down you can hop up on my back?"
"I'll try," answered the little rabbit. So the big circus animal squatted down on the ground, till with a hop, skip and jump the clever little bunny landed right in the middle of his back.
"Now hold on tight," said Elly, for that was the Circus Elephant's name, and off he went and by and by he came to a place where there were many peanut vines.
"Well, this is lucky," said the elephant. "We can take them to Chippy Chipmunk. I'll dig the vines and you can pick out the peanuts and fill your knapsack." So the elephant started in, and in less than thirteen minutes he had plowed up the whole field of peanuts. And in less than thirteen seconds the little rabbit had his knapsack full, but then he didn't know what to do with all the rest of the peanuts.
And while he was looking around to find a bag or a box, who should come by but the old dog with his stage coach and team of billy-goats.
"Plenty of peanuts," said the old dog driver, jumping down from his high seat and walking over to the Old Rail Fence. Then he put his old pipe back in his mouth and puffed out a cloud of smoke.
"Load up your stage coach," said the Circus Elephant, "and we'll take them to Chippy Chipmunk!"
"All right," answered the old dog, and he went back and brought over fourteen empty mail bags, and when they were brim full he put them back in the stagecoach, and then the elephant and Billy Bunny got on top, and away went the Billy Goat team.
Over the hills and through the dells
Till the peanuts rattled inside of their shells.
And by and by, pretty soon, not very long, they came to the old Chestnut Tree, where the little chipmunk lived. "Now you keep these peanuts till the circus comes," said Little Jack Rabbit. "Then all the little people in the Shady Forest can have all they want. Maybe by that time I can get lollypopade from the Big Brown Bear!"
The Big Brown Bear made Lollypopade
From the fruit of the Lollypop Tree in the glade.
Sometimes it was yellow, and often bright pink,
But never the color of purple green ink.
Perhaps some fine day when out walking with me
We may happen to come to this Lollypop Tree.
In that case, my dear little friends, no excuse
Shall keep us from tasting this Lollypop juice.
THE MUSICAL ALARM CLOCK
Chippy Chipmunk sat on the Old Rail Fence, his little eyes shining like bright glass beads, looking over toward the Old Bramble Patch.
Chippy Chipmunk felt very fine this particular morning. Mr. Merry Sun shone down on the little chipmunk's back with its beautiful smooth shining stripes of reddish brown and black, over which his little tail was thrown like a ruffle.
"Helloa, helloa!" he shouted, for I guess the Little Jack Rabbit had overslept himself that morning. "Helloa, Helloa!"
"Here I am," answered the little bunny, hopping up to the Old Rail Fence. "What do you want?"
"Oh, nothing in particular," answered Chippy Chipmunk. "Only I was wondering why you weren't around, that's all."
"I guess I'm late. You see, my Alarm Clock didn't wake up either," and the little rabbit laughed. And just then they heard it ring, "Cling, cling, cling, cling cling!" And then it began to sing:
"The dew is shining on the grass
'Tis time to be awake.
The Morning Glory on her vine,
The Lily on the lake,
Have lifted up a dewy head,—
So hurry, tumble out of bed."
"Come on, Chippy Chipmunk," said the little rabbit when the Alarm Clock stopped singing, "Let's go for a walk up the Shady Forest Trail." So off they started together and after a while, not so very far, they came to the tree where Squirrel Nutcracker lived with his family. But Old Squire Nutcracker wasn't at home, and neither was Mrs. Nutcracker, and of course the two Squirrel Brothers were away. So the little rabbit and the little chipmunk went along until they came to the Forest Pond in the middle of which on a little island stood the big chestnut tree where Old Barney Owl had his home.
"He sleeps all day," laughed the little bunny, "so he's at home!"
"But how are we to get over to the island?" asked Chippy Chipmunk. But the little rabbit didn't answer. He was too busy pushing a log into the water.
"Get aboard," he said to the little chipmunk, and then with a shove he hopped on and pretty soon they reached the island, when they hopped off and up to the big chestnut tree to knock on Old Barney Owl's front door.
"Oh, Mr. Owl, pray do not scowl
Because we've called on you.
It's just a surprise, so open your eyes.
Please, Mr. Barney, do."
Now of course Little Jack Rabbit and Chippy Chipmunk knew that Old Barney Owl couldn't see in the daytime, otherwise they wouldn't have called on him. For Mr. Barney Owl loved to eat little rabbits and chipmunks.
MORE ADVENTURES
Now when Old Barney Owl heard Little Jack Rabbit and Chippy Chipmunk knock on his front door, he winked and blinked. But he didn't open it, for the light hurt his eyes, you know, and all day long he kept the shades pulled down.
"Who are you and what do you want?" he asked in a sleepy voice.
"It's me and Little Jack Rabbit," answered the little chipmunk.
"Come 'round this evening," replied the wise old owl.
"No, thank you," laughed Little Jack Rabbit. "We don't make calls in the evening," and he and the little chipmunk hurried away for they thought, maybe or perhaps, Old Barney Owl might open the front door and catch them.
"He, he," said Chippy Chipmunk, "he asked us to call this evening, did he? Not if my name is Chipendale Chipmunk!"
Well, after they had called on Mrs. Water Rat, who lived nearby in a lovely garden of water lilies, they hopped on board the log and after a shove, away it went over the water to the other bank, where these two little four-footed sailors hopped off and then, all of a sudden, just like that, a voice said:
"Don't you go another inch
Or your noses I will pinch."
"Who said that?" inquired the frightened little rabbit.
"Who are you?" asked trembling Chippy Chipmunk.
And then Teddy Turtle crawled out from behind some bulrushes and began to laugh. And the little rabbit and the little chipmunk would have been frightened if it hadn't been Teddy Turtle, let me tell you, for some turtles are dreadful snappers, you know.
