II
Sammy came skipping down the path.
He was singing a gay little tune:
"One, two, three, four, five, six,
"I'll watch out for April tricks."
Just then he saw the acorn lying on the ground near his door.
"Look at that!" he said. "Bobby Gray Squirrel must have been here.
"Something frightened him, and made him drop that nut near my door."
Now Sammy was very fond of big acorns and he had not had one for a long time.
So he pounced on the acorn.
But it was not there! Bunny had given the string a quick pull.
Sammy put his hand down on a rock. There was no acorn to be seen.
"April fool!" shouted Bunny.
"April fool!" shouted Billy and Bobtail.
The three rabbits hopped out from their hiding places.
They laughed and laughed, and Sammy laughed, too.
"That was a good trick," he said.
"We are going to play it on Bobby Gray Squirrel, now," said Bunny.
"May I go with you?" asked Sammy.
"Oh, yes!" said the three rabbits.
So off through the woods they all went.
"Bobby often comes to the big oak tree," said Billy. "I think that will be a good place to play the trick."
Bunny put the acorn on the ground, and then they all hid behind the tree.
They did not wait very long before they saw Bobby coming.
And in another minute Bobby saw the acorn.
"Ho, ho!" he said. "Sammy Red Squirrel must have dropped that big acorn. I will pick it up."
He ran along the ground toward the oak tree.
Bunny held on to the string.
He was going to wait until Bobby took hold of the acorn and then pull it away.
It was so still that the rabbits could hear Bobby's feet as they pattered on the ground.
Then all at once it was not still in the woods.
Jip, the dog, came bounding along the little path.
"Bow-wow, bow-wow!" he barked. "Look out for me. I am coming."
What a scampering there was!
Bobby forgot all about the acorn and skipped up the oak tree.
Sammy skipped up the tree after him.
The three little rabbits put their ears down on their heads, and hopped away out of sight.
"Bow-wow, bow-wow!" said Jip. "Where has every one gone?
"I thought I saw some one under this tree as I came along the path."
The acorn lay on the ground where Bunny had left it.
Four little bright eyes watched Jip from the oak tree.
Sammy wished he could call out "April fool," to Jip.
But he was afraid of dogs, so he kept very still.
Bobby kept still, too, and the three little rabbits hopped along towards home.
After a while Jip went home.
Then there was a quick scampering down the tree.
One of the squirrels had that big acorn for his dinner.
Was it Sammy or Bobby?
MRS. DUCK'S SECRET
I
Mrs. Duck had a secret.
Bunny knew she had a secret, but she would not tell him what it was.
Bobtail knew she had a secret, and so did Billy.
Bunny saw Bobby Gray Squirrel and asked him if he knew Mrs. Duck's secret.
But Bobby did not know it, and Sammy Red Squirrel did not know it.
Every day Bunny saw Mrs. Duck walking along the little path that led through the field.
Sometimes she was going to the barn.
Sometimes she was coming from the barn.
She was always alone. And she was always in a hurry.
