Little Jack Rabbit and Chippy Chipmunk Part 5

And then she rang her little bell over and over again, just to make a noise, I guess, and after that the little rabbit hopped down to the Old Duck Pond to talk to Granddaddy Bullfrog.

Now Granddaddy Bullfrog was a wise old gentleman frog. He knew lots and lots of things, but like a good many wise people he never said much. He was usually too busy catching flies.

But when he saw the little rabbit he took off his yellow rimmed spectacles and said:

"How are you this lovely spring day, little rabbit?" and then he swallowed a fly that came too near, and after that he blinked his eyes and then he closed them to fool some other foolish fly who might happen along.

But of course he didn't close them tight shut, for then he wouldn't be able to see anything, you know. And after that the little rabbit said, "I'm very well, thank you, Granddaddy Bullfrog.

"I manage to keep very well And hop up with the rising bell.

My appet.i.te is very keen Because I never eat between

"My meals; and that's the reason why I can digest green apple pie, And ice cream cones and lollypops And Tootsie Wootsie chocolate drops.

"Now, if _you're_ hungry, hurry on-- But don't make a mistake-- You'll find a bag of peanuts on Page number 88!"

HAPPY DAYS

Well, you remember in the last story little Jack Rabbit was making a call on Granddaddy Bullfrog at the Old Duck Pond. And I guess the little rabbit might have stayed until half-past thirteen o'clock if, all of a sudden, Old Sic'em, the farmer's dog, hadn't come along. Now, of course, Old Sic'em was too old to run very fast, but just the same the little bunny wasn't going to give him a chance to catch him, so off he went, clippity clip, hippity hip, and by and by he came to the Shady Forest, where all the little four-footed folk and the feathered people were busy making homes for the Summer.

Old Squirrel Nutcracker sat outside his doorstep while Mrs. Nutcracker hung out the rugs and beat the sofa cus.h.i.+ons. And Chippy Chipmunk chattered on the top of the Old Rail Fence at Bobbie Redvest, who had flown over from the Orchard to stretch his wings.

"Tra la la, tra la la!

Where's the little Twinkle Star?

Mr. Merry Sun's on high In the meadows of the sky, And the dandelions wink All along the river's brink."

You see, Bobbie Redvest loved to sing all sorts of songs, and that's why all the little people of the Shady Forest loved him so. For we all love to hear a song if it's not too slow and long.

"c.o.c.k-a-doodle-doodle-do, Clouds are white and skies are blue, And the little bugs and flies Are a dinner that we prize,"

sang c.o.c.ky Doodle, for he wasn't going to have Bobbie Redvest be the only one who could sing a song, let me tell you.

And just then Old Professor Jim Crow flew by with his little Black Book under his wing, and as soon as he saw the little bunny, he perched himself on a stump and turned to page forty-three:

"When you're young it's time to learn, When you're older you must earn."

And the Old Gentleman Crow took off his spectacles and said: "Do you hear that?" and then he cawed three times and a half and put his spectacles back into the case and closed his little Black Book.

"Yes, sir," answered the little rabbit. "Every day I learn something.

Only this morning I found out that my last Summer's straw hat won't do for this Summer," and then he hopped away as fast as he could for he knew that Professor Crow would think it was very ex-trav-a-gant not to wear last year's hat, no matter how shabby it was.

"Clean your last year's panama, Wear your last year's suit, Don't replace a single thing Except a worn-out boot."

Now who do you suppose sang that little verse? You'll never guess, so I'll tell you right away. Grandmother Magpie!

"I'm sorry I can't wait," said the little rabbit, and off he hopped for the Old Bramble Patch to ask his mother if she were going to clean her last year's panama bonnet.

THE HOUSE IN THE WOOD

"I wonder where I'm going to stay to-night," said Little Jack Rabbit to himself one late afternoon, after traveling all day with his knapsack on his back and his striped candy cane in his right paw, and just then he came in sight of a little wooden house. So he stopped and tapped on the door, rat-a-tat-tat, very softly, you know. And when the door opened a little monkey dressed in a red cap and a green coat said, "What do you want?"

"I beg your pardon," answered the little rabbit, "but, you see, it's getting late and I'm looking for a place to sleep."

"Well, come right in," said the little monkey, and after Little Jack Rabbit had hung his knapsack and striped candy cane on the hatrack in the hall he followed the monkey into the sitting room.

Well, after a little while he told the monkey all about the Old Bramble Patch and Danny Fox and Mr. Wicked Weasel, and lots of other things, too, which I haven't room in this story to mention. And when he had finished the monkey said he had once belonged to a man who owned a hand organ and went about the country playing music for pennies, and sometimes for nothing.

"But that was long ago," said the little monkey, "for one day my master beat me so cruelly that I ran away to the wood, and by and by I built this little house, where I have lived ever since." Just then a knock came at the door and who do you suppose was outside? Why, the Yellow Dog Tramp, the little rabbit's friend, you remember.

"Come in," said the monkey, for the Yellow Dog Tramp had stopped at his house lots of times, you know.

"Goodness me," said the Yellow Dog Tramp, after he had hung up his old tattered hat in the hall. "I was nearly arrested to-day by a policeman cat. They don't allow tramping any more. Everybody must work, so I stopped in to see if you didn't want a handy man about the place." And this made the little monkey laugh like everything, and pretty soon the Yellow Dog Tramp got dreadfully sulky. He dropped his ears and hung his tail, and then he began to whine,

"Now just because I've been a tramp Through suns.h.i.+ne and through fog, You needn't laugh, nor joke and chaff 'Cause now I want a job; For Uncle Sam says to each man, 'Now that the war is over, Each do your part with willing heart, And we shall be in clover!'"

"That's the way," shouted Little Jack Rabbit, and on the next page you shall hear what happened after that.

THE YELLOW DOG TRAMP

Well, after the monkey learned that the Yellow Dog Tramp wanted to go to work to help Uncle Sam and Aunt Columbia, as I mentioned in the story before this, he said:

"You can whitewash the back fence if you want to. It may take you a week or it may take you a month, for I don't know how fast you can work."

"Well, I'll start right in," said the Yellow Dog Tramp bravely, and he stood up on his hind legs and wagged his tail.

"You'd better wait until to-morrow morning," said the monkey. "It's too late now, and you couldn't see in the dark."

"I should think one could whitewash in the dark," said the tramp dog.

"But just as you say," and he went over to the kitchen stove and lay down on the little rag rug and went sound asleep, for he was very tired, because he had tramped all day long.

"Let him sleep," said the little monkey in a whisper. "He looks tired out." And after that the monkey got the supper ready and when everything was nice and hot and on the table the Yellow Dog Tramp opened his eyes and yawned and pretty soon he was wide awake enough to sit down to eat.

Well, by and by it was time to go to bed, so they all went to sleep, and just about midnight a big owl looked in through the window and saw by the light of the silvery moon Little Jack Rabbit and the monkey sound asleep on the bed.

"Ha, ha," said the big owl to himself, "I must get that little bunny."

So he perched himself on the roof and pondered how to get inside the little house.