"'Oh, but that's just a joke,' says Mr. 'Coon, laughing.
"'I know it's just a joke, of course, but it's a pretty old joke, and I'm tired of it,' says Jack Rabbit.
"'How did it get started anyway?' asked Mr. 'Possum.
"Then Mr. Rabbit took his pipe out of his mouth and leaned forward a little, so he could talk better.
"'I tell you how it got started,' he says, 'and after that I don't want to hear any more of it. This is how it happened:—
"'Once upon a time, as much as twenty grandmothers back, I should think, there was a very nice family of Rabbits that lived in a grassy place on a hillside back of a big farmyard. There was quite a hole in the ground there, and they had a cosy home in it, and a soft bed for their little folk."
A FEW LESSONS IN RUNNING AND HIDING.
IT WAS A NICE BLUE EGG WHEN SHE GOT THROUGH.