“Why, I was a wabbit, and lived all by myself in a hole froo de bottom of a tree. An’ sometimes uvver wabbits came to see me, an’ we all sat down on our foots an’ bowled our ears to each uvver. Dogsh came to see me sometimes, but I dzust let dem wing de bell an’ didn’t ask ’em to come in. An’ den a dzentleman came an’ asked me to help him make little boysh laugh in a circus. So I runned around de ring, and picked up men an’ fings wif my tchunk——”
“Rabbits don’t have trunks, Toddie.”
“I know it, but I tyned into a ephalant. An’ I got lotsh of hay an’ fings wif my tchunk, an’ folks gave me lotsh of cakes an’ candies to see me eat ’em wif my tchunk, an’ I was so big I could hold ’em all, an’ I didn’t have any mamma ephalant to say, ‘Too muts cake an’ candy will make you sick, Toddie.’”
“Anything more?” asked Mr. Burton. “We can stand almost anything.”
“Well, I gotted to be a lion den, and had to roar so much dat my froat gotted all sandy, so I got turned into a little boy again, an’ I was awful hungry. I guesh ’twas djust now.”
“Can you resist that hint, my dear?” Mr. Burton asked. His wife, with a sigh, opened a basket and gave a piece of cake to Toddie, who remarked:
“Dish izh to pay me for tellin’ de troof about all dem fings, izhn’t it?”
About this time the party reached Little Falls, and Budge said:
“I suppose lunch’ll be the first thing?”
“No,” said Mrs. Burton; “we won’t lunch until our usual hour.”