[Illustration: He put one foot in the water.]
"Oh, dear!" he said, "the water is so wet."
"You can't swim on dry land," said Mrs. Duck. "Jump in, and you will like it, I know."
"Jump in!" said Mr. Green Frog.
Bunny went a step nearer and put two feet in the water.
"Oh, dear!" he thought to himself. "I never can learn to swim. I wish I were back under the tree, fast asleep."
Splash, splash! Mr. Green Frog jumped into the water close to Bunny's feet.
It frightened the poor little rabbit and he slipped into the water, too.
"Paddle your feet, paddle your feet!" Mrs. Duck called to him.
But, of course, Bunny did not know how to paddle his feet.
He kicked and kicked and scrambled and splashed around in the brook.
The water ran into his eyes and he could not see.
The water ran into his ears and he could not hear.
The water ran into his mouth and he could not speak.
He kicked and splashed and scrambled until at last he felt his feet touch the ground.
Then he scrambled up on the bank and threw himself on the soft grass.
"You did not paddle your feet," said Mrs. Duck.
"Watch us," said all the little ducks. "Do it the way we do."
"Oh, oh!" laughed Mr. Green Frog. "Do try it again. It was the funniest sight I ever saw."
"It may have been funny for you," said Bunny. "But it was not funny for me.
"I am so wet, that I shall never be dry again. And I am afraid I have spoiled my fur coat."
But Mr. Sun shone down brightly and Bunny was soon dry and warm.
Then he hopped along home by the little path through the woods.
"Swimming may be easy for ducks," he said to himself.
"And flying may be easy for birds.
"Rabbits and squirrels can run and hop and jump. And that is easy for them."
THE CLOVER PATCH
I
It was a lovely day in June.
Bunny had been playing all the morning with Billy and Bobtail.
They had played tag, and hide-and-seek, and ever so many other games.
At last they were all tired and hungry.
"I know where there is a great big patch of clover," said Bunny.
"Oh, Bunny!" begged Bobtail, "show us where it is. I have not had a taste of clover for ever so long."
"I like clover, too," said Billy. "Is it very far from here?"
"Oh, no," said Bunny. "It is down beside the brook."
The three little rabbits hopped off to find the big patch of clover.
They hopped down to the brook, but they could not see any clover there.
"Perhaps it was in the meadow," said Billy.
"The brook runs through the meadow."
"Yes," said Bobtail, "and then it runs through the woods."
"Clover would not grow under the trees," said Bunny. "It grows in the fields where the sun shines."
"The sun shines in the meadow," said Billy. "Let's go down there and look for the clover patch."
So the three little rabbits hopped off through the field.
They hopped along beside the brook all the way.
"Oh, look!" said Bunny. "See the fishes swimming in the water."
Billy hopped very close to the brook.
Splash, splash! went something right under his feet.
Billy hopped back and looked all around to see what had happened.
"What was that?" he asked.
"That was old Mr. Green Frog," said Bunny. "There he is now, sitting on a rock laughing at you."
"Ho, ho!" laughed Mr. Green Frog. "I frightened you that time."
"I frightened you, too," said Billy. "That was why you jumped into the water."
"Well," said Mr. Green Frog, "you almost hopped on my back.
"Of course I was frightened. I jumped into the water without looking to see what was the matter."
"Come, come," said Bunny. "We must find that clover patch. I am as hungry as a bear."
So the three little rabbits hopped off across the meadow.
They could not hop so near the brook now because the ground was soft and wet.
And the rabbits did not like to wet their feet.
They hopped along, and at last Bunny called out, "Here it is. Here it is."
Billy and Bobtail hopped up close to Bunny.
Sure enough, there was the biggest patch of clover they had ever seen.
And how green every leaf was!
The clover was all in blossom, too.
The white blossoms held their heads up to the sun.
The sun smiled to see the pretty white flowers among the green leaves.
Many bees were flying over the clover patch.
They were asking the blossoms for nectar to make sweet honey.
"Buzz, buzz!" sang the bees, as they flew from flower to flower.