Some lettuce I’d eat,’
And straightway a whole head of lettuce would grow up before him.”
“Oh, my,” cried all the rabbits together, “how I wish that would happen to me!” And story-teller and all turned a somersault at the very thought of it. After this they sat up again to hear the rest of the story.
But their pink eyes almost burst out of their heads and their ears stood straight up toward the sky. There in front of each was a large leaf of lettuce.
“Why, the story’s coming true,” cried the story-teller, and he tasted the lettuce. “Yes,” said he, “this is real lettuce.”
The others were sure of it. They were eating theirs as fast as they could.
Now the dog, who kept the yard, hadn’t turned a somersault, so he knew about it. He saw Fred, hiding behind the fence, throw down the lettuce leaves.
“Ha, ha,” he barked, “the silly things don’t know that to-day is April Fool’s Day. Of course,” said he, thoughtfully, “they have eaten juicy lettuce leaves. That’s not foolish. Fred and I have eaten nothing.”
“That story had a happy ending,” said the rabbits, as they scampered off to play.
Which do you think was April-fooled?