Therewas great excitement at the Old Barn Yard. A big mistake had been made. Whose fault it was no one could tell; but the fact was that Henny Penny had hatched out a brood of ducklings.
At first nobody thought anything was wrong, except that, perhaps, her little brood had very large bills and feet, much larger than those of any little chicks at the farm.
But one day when the whole brood waddled off down to the Old Duck Pond and jumped in everybody knew that Henny Penny had little ducks and not little chickens.
Poor little Henny Penny! She stood upon the bank and clucked and clucked to them to come back.
"You'll be drowned, my darlings!" she cried. But the little ducks threw out their great brown feet as cleverly as if they had taken swimming lessons all their lives and sailed off on the Old Duck Pond, away, away among the ferns, under the pink azaleas, through reeds and rushes and arrowheads and pickerel weed, the happiest ducks that ever were born. And soon they were quite out of sight.
Poor little Henny Penny. She didn't know how to swim, so she sat down on the bank and waited for her little ducks to come back. Now and then she wiped her eyes on her downy breast feathers.
"Don't cry," said Cocky Doodle kindly.
"Don't worry," said Rosy Comb. "Your children seem to know how to swim as well as Ducky Waddles."
Just then across the Old Duck Pond came a chorus of quacks, and at a distance was seen the little brood swimming home, their feathers gleaming in green and gold.
"Such a splendid time we've had," they all cried as they waddled up the bank. "And we know now how to get our own living, for there are lots of little fish and flies out there on the Old Duck Pond. We can take care of ourselves, so don't worry any more about us, Mother Henny Penny."
"They are little ducks, not chickens," said Ducky Waddles.
"Are you sure?" asked Henny Pennytearfully, wiping her eyes with a tiny yellow handkerchief.
"Of course I am," replied Ducky Waddles. "Don't I know a duck's foot when I see it?"
"Dear, Oh dear!" sighed the poor little hen, "there has been a dreadful mistake!"
But whose mistake it was no one could tell, for the Kind Farmer never confessed that he put duck eggs in Henny Penny's nest.
TheBubbling Brook was slowly drying up. Everyone on the Sunny Meadow was worried, and the little people who lived in the water were even more worried.
It was just like having one's house pulled down while living in it. You see, as the water became more shallow there were places in the little brook that were hardly covered with water, and it was only in the deep holes that the fish and crabs could swim at all.
And the cause of all this was Busy Beaver. Yes, sir. Busy Beaver was building a dam across the Bubbling Brook.
Somehow he knew that winter was coming, when it would be all frozen over. But he knew that if he built a dam across it, a little pond would form where the water would be too deep to freeze clear down to the bottom.
"I'll leave a little opening in the dam to let the water run out when it gets high enough," said Busy Beaver to himself as he laid mud and stones on top of a log.
If the Little People of the Sunny Meadow had only heard him they wouldn't have been so worried. Little Jack Rabbit did, though, as he came hopping down the Shady Forest Path.
"Good morning," said the little bunny.
Busy Beaver looked up from his work. He had almost finished a mighty good job. First, he had cut down a tree, and thensawed it with his sharp teeth into logs. These he had rolled into the water, weighting them down with stones and mud until gradually he had built up a splendid dam from the bottom of the pond.
"It's almost finished," said Busy Beaver. "It took me quite a long time, for sometimes the logs would bob up and drift away, and I'd have to begin all over again. But I kept at it, and now I've got a nice dam to hold back the water."
"Why do you want deep water?" asked the little rabbit.
"Come over here and I'll show you," answered Busy Beaver, leading Little Jack Rabbit around to the end of the dam nearest the Shady Forest. "There, you see my house. Now the water must be deep enough so that when it freezes my front door willalways be below the ice. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to swim in and out."
"How soon will the Bubbling Brook start running again?" asked the little bunny.
"Pretty soon—maybe tonight," answered Busy Beaver.
"Hurrah! I'll tell my friend the little Fresh Water Crab!" and away hopped the little rabbit to the Sunny Meadow.
Alreadythe water was beginning to trickle over the pebbly bottom of the Bubbling Brook.
All of a sudden a voice overhead shouted, "Good morning!" and there sat Chatterbox, the Red Squirrel, in the Big Walnut Tree. "Why are you in such a hurry?"
"I must tell all my friends in the Sunny Meadow the good news," replied the little rabbit. "I can't wait a minute."
"I'll go with you," said Chatterbox, running down the tree. "Tell me, what's the news?"
"The Bubbling Brook will be runningagain tonight," answered the little bunny, and he explained all about Busy Beaver's dam.
"Well, I declare," exclaimed Chatterbox, "Busy Beaver has a lot of nerve to stop the water running in the Bubbling Brook. He doesn't own the water rights. The Bubbling Brook belongs to everyone alike."
"So it does," answered Little Jack Rabbit, "but Busy Beaver has to look out for himself. If he doesn't build a dam his little house will be frozen up this winter."
Just then the water rose almost to the ferns that grew on the edge of the Bubbling Brook. "Everything's all right now," said the little rabbit, "I won't bother to go over to the Sunny Meadow. The fishes and the little fresh water crabs will learn the newsbefore I can get there," and he sat down to talk things over with Chatterbox.
"You just ought to see Busy Beaver use his tail as a trowel to lay on the mud," said the little rabbit, who couldn't keep from talking about what he had just seen. "He carries the mud and stones between his chin and forepaws and knows just how to put them in the cracks between the logs to keep back the water."
"Well, we all must prepare for the long, cold winter," said Chatterbox. "Brother Tip Top and I have been gathering nuts for many a day and have our storehouse nearly full."
While the Autumn days are hereMake things snug for Winter drear;Storehouse filled with everythingTo last until again it's Spring.
"Goodnessgracious me!" exclaimed Little Jack Rabbit, all of a sudden, "the Clover Patch is all dried up. What shall I do when winter comes?"
"Hunt for old turnips and carrots in the field," laughed Chatterbox.
"I think I'll leave you," answered Little Jack Rabbit thoughtfully, "I'm beginning to worry about what's going to happen to me," and away he hopped, leaving the little red squirrel sitting beneath his tree.
"'Most everybody I know," thought the little rabbit as he hopped along, "curls up and goes to sleep for the winter. I wonderif I could? I'm going home to ask Mother."
But Mrs. Rabbit was too busy putting up carrot jelly to answer questions. "Don't bother me," she said, "I haven't got a minute to spare." So the only thing for the little bunny to do was to go to somebody else.
The very first person he met was Hedgy Hedgehog. He was just coming out of his hole, which he had been busily lining with grass and dry leaves, some of which were still sticking to his spikes, for he hadn't had time to brush himself.
"What are you doing?" asked the little bunny.
"Getting ready for winter. I've fixed up my place nice and warm, and when the cold weather comes I'll creep in and sleep till Spring."
"What do you eat?" asked Little Jack Rabbit, who could eat all the time, and sometimes oftener, like all rabbits.
"Don't eat—can't eat when you're asleep, you know."
"Gracious me!" exclaimed the little bunny, "that would never do for me!" and he hopped away.
By and by he came to the Old Duck Pond. There sat Granddaddy Bullfrog on a log, winking and blinking in the light of Mr. Merry Sun.
"Granddaddy Bullfrog, what do you do when winter comes?"
"Why, bless you, my little bunny," answered the old gentleman frog, "I go to sleep in the mud at the bottom of the pond."
"Oh, dear, I can't do that!" sighed the little rabbit.
"Of course not," laughed Granddaddy Bullfrog. "Do what your mother says, and stop worrying!"
"Well, I guess Granddaddy Bullfrog is right," thought Little Jack Rabbit, as he hopped back home to the Old Bramble Patch. "What's the use of worrying about winter? I'll take Granddaddy Bullfrog's advice and leave it all to Mother."
After that he felt much better. Pretty soon he saw Timmy Meadowmouse looking out of his little round house of grass, no larger than a cricket ball, which was fastened to three or four stiff stalks of grass about a foot above the ground.
"Good morning. Do you know, I've been dreadfully worried about winter; butnow I'm going to take Granddaddy Bullfrog's advice and leave it all to mother."
You see, this little rabbit just couldn't stop talking about his troubles, although he was going to leave them all to mother!
"There! She's waving to you from the Old Bramble Patch," cried Timmy Meadowmouse. Away went the little bunny without another word and in less than five hundred hops he was home.
"Hop over to the field and bring me a turnip. Your father will be home for lunch in a few minutes," said Mrs. Rabbit.
Little Jack Rabbit hopped through the Old Rail Fence, across the road and into the field where the Old Scarecrow flapped his arms every time Billy Breeze whistled through the cornstalks. But the Old Clothes Man couldn't frighten the littlebunny. Oh, my no! It took more than that, although he was a scary little chap. You see, he knew all about the Old Scarecrow, for he had watched the Kind Farmer put him up in the early Spring.
Picking up a nice looking turnip, he turned about and started back again. But, Oh dear me! All of a sudden out from behind a cornstack jumped the Farmer's Boy.
The little rabbit didn't stop to say sorry to have met you. No siree. He hopped away as fast as he could, but not fast enough. Before he had gone maybe thirteen hops a stone hit his left hind leg.
"Ha, ha!" yelled the Farmer's Boy. "Wait till I hit you again, Mr. Cottontail." But he didn't, for the little rabbit went faster on three legs than he had on four, andthe next minute popped safely into the dear Old Bramble Patch.
"Where's the turnip?" asked Mrs. Rabbit.
"Goodness me! I guess that's what the Farmer's Boy hit me with," answered the little bunny.
Everybodyin the Shady Forest was having a dreadful time. Old Parson Owl was nearly coughing his head off, Professor Jim Crow's voice was so hoarse his scholars could hardly understand him, and Little Jack Rabbit's eyes looked as if he had been crying for a week.
The reason for all this was that the smoke from the Farmer Boy's big bonfire had drifted into the forest until every chink and corner was filled.
At first no one knew what was the matter. Of course the air smelled queer and made one's eyes smart. But after a while whenthe smoke grew so thick that it seemed like night-time and Mr. Merry Sun couldn't be seen at all, the Forest Folk thought it time to hold a meeting to consider what was best to do. They all decided to ask Billy Breeze to help them, and you can imagine how grateful they were when he agreed to blow the smoke out of the Shady Forest. Before Mr. Merry Sun went down behind the hills that night Billy Breeze had cleared the smoke away and everything was clean and sweet again.
Now, before all this had taken place, a handful of burning leaves had drifted along the Old Rail Fence, setting fire to the long, dry grass, and in a short time there was quite a fire close to the Old Bramble Patch.
It didn't take Little Jack Rabbit long toborrow some sweet potatoes from his mother, and while he was roasting them Chippy Chipmunk climbed through the fence with a bagful of chestnuts.
Pretty soon along came Jimmy Crow, and when he saw what was going on, he was mighty anxious to have some fun, too. So off he went to get some bittersweet berries, for he likes them much better than sweet potatoes.
After a while Mrs. Rabbit came out to see whether they were up to any mischief. She was worried for fear they might burn up the Old Rail Fence or set fire to the Old Bramble Patch. But no, nothing was wrong. All three were quietly sitting around a small fire, the little rabbit peeling a hot sweet potato, the little chipmunk shelling a smoking hot chestnut and the littlecrow picking out the nice browned bittersweet berries.
"Well, well!" exclaimed the lady rabbit with a sigh of relief, "I expected to see the Old Rail Fence in ashes and the dear Old Bramble Patch in flames."
"Ting-a-ling!ting-a-ling!" went Mrs. Cow's bell. Mrs. Cow seemed mighty anxious to get away from somebody. Yes, sir! she kept right on running, although every now and then she'd turn her head to look behind her.
By and by Little Jack Rabbit came hopping over the top of the hill with a tin pail in his paw. But, goodness me! Mrs. Cow didn't have to run away from him. No indeed. He wasn't going to milk her. He didn't have a milk pail at all, but a little dinner pail, and Mrs. Cow was mistaken and had run away for nothing.
The truth of the matter was that the littlerabbit was going berrying down in the Cranberry Marsh on the other side of the Old Duck Pond, but of course Mrs. Cow didn't know that.
But she did know it wasn't time to be milked, and, anyway, she wasn't going to have anybody milk her but the Kind Farmer.
"Mrs. Cow! Mrs. Cow!" cried the little rabbit, "I'm going cranberrying, not milking. Don't run away!"
"Honest Injun?" said Mrs. Cow, halting at the Bubbling Brook. "Cross your heart?"
"Yes, cross my heart," answered the little rabbit.
"Well, I'm glad to hear you say so," replied Mrs. Cow. "I might have sprained my ankle jumping over the Bubbling Brook."Then she trotted along by the little rabbit's side.
"How's your Ma these days?" she asked in a little while.
"She's going to make cranberry jelly when I get back," replied the little rabbit. "Father's very fond of it. How's Mr. Bull?"
"He's very well," answered Mrs. Cow. "He was up when Cocky Doodle sang his Sun Song this morning."
"So was I," laughed the little rabbit. "Mother says Cocky Doodle is better than an alarm clock, for you don't have to wind him."
Just then they came to the end of the meadow, so the little rabbit hopped through the fence and down to the Cranberry Patch to fill his pail with the bright red berries.
Allof a sudden, just like that, he saw something shining in the grass. And what do you think it was? You'll never guess, so I'll tell you right away. A sugar-coated carrot. But before he could put it in his pocket along came little Katie Cottontail, swinging her sunbonnet in her paw.
"Wiggle your ear and shut your eye,Twinkle your nose and say 'Oh my!'"
shouted Little Jack Rabbit, "and I'll give you something to make you laugh."
"What is it?" asked little Katie Cottontail,but just the same she didn't wait for an answer, but closed her eyes and twinkled her nose up and down, and then sideways.
But, Oh dear me. Just then the little rabbit dropped the sugar-coated carrot and couldn't find it. He hunted high and low, and so did little Katie Cottontail, but the candy carrot was gone. Yes, sir. It certainly was. And I'll tell you where it went. Into a little hole in the ground where a snake had his home.
"Well, we'll make some cranberry juice soda when we get home," said Little Jack Rabbit, and off they hopped to the Cranberry Patch. In a little while he had filled his pail and Katie Cottontail her apron, and then they started for home.
Katie Cottontail Went Clippety-Clap Up the Path.Katie Cottontail Went Clippety-Clap Up the Path.Little Jack Rabbit's AdventuresPage 81
"I must be careful not to squash 'em, orMother'll give me a scolding," she said, as they climbed up the bank where the railroad track cut through. But, Oh dear me! Just as they were about to hop through the Old Rail Fence, along came a train.
"Ding, dong!" went the bell. "Toot-toot-toot!" shrieked the whistle. Poor little Katie Cottontail gave a shiver and dropped her apron. Then clipperty-clip, lipperty-lip she went up the Cow Path to the Old Brush Heap on the hillside.
Mrs. Cow looked up and, seeing the little bunny girl hopping home all out of breath, thought something must be the matter and ran back to the Big Red Barn. The bell on her collar didn't make nearly as much noise as the one on the locomotive, but it made her hurry, just the same.
"Goodness me! What scary things girls are!" said the little rabbit. "Mrs. Cow's ten times as big as Katie Cottontail, but she's just as scary."
After picking up the cranberries which the little frightened girl rabbit had spilled from her apron, the bunny boy hopped home to the Old Bramble Patch.
His mother was standing in the kitchen doorway, her right paw shading her eyes as she looked anxiously over the Sunny Meadow.
"Goodnessme! I'm dreadfully worried," cried Mrs. Rabbit, "I just saw the Kind Farmer's Black Cat cross the path from right to left, and that means bad luck, you know."
"I guess he's hunting for little Timmy Meadowmouse," answered Little Jack Rabbit. "It will be bad luck for Timmy to be caught."
"Why don't you run over and tell him," said Mrs. Rabbit. "Black Cat may be hiding near his house. You'd better hurry."
So away hopped the little rabbit to find Timmy Meadowmouse, who lived in a littleround house made of twisted grass on the Sunny Meadow. Pretty soon he saw the little meadowmouse peeking out of his front door.
"Oh, it's you, is it, Little Jack Rabbit," he said with a sigh of relief, "I thought I heard some one creeping around my house. But if it was you, it's all right."
"Maybe it isn't all right," answered the little rabbit, and he told how his mother had seen Black Cat cross the path from right to left. "And that means bad luck, you know."
"If he crosses your path from left to right, what does that mean?" asked the little meadowmouse.
"Good luck," answered Little Jack Rabbit.
"I don't know," said Timmy Meadowmouse with a shiver, "if he saw me first, itwould be bad luck no matter which way he crossed the path."
Just then Little Jack Rabbit saw something move in the tall grass. "Look out," he shouted.
Into his house popped Timmy Meadowmouse, and none too soon, for Black Cat landed on the very spot where he had stood talking to the little rabbit.
"So it was you who warned Timmy Meadowmouse, was it?" he hissed, humping up his back and waving his long tail back and forth. Oh my, but he looked ugly.
"Yes, it was I," answered Little Jack Rabbit bravely, and then he did what his mother had taught him to do when in a tight place. He suddenly turned his back on Black Cat and struck out with his stronghind legs. Thump! they went against Black Cat's ribs, knocking him over. Then away hopped the little rabbit back to the Old Bramble Patch.
If you do what mother saysYou'll grow tall and strong.On your lips a happy smile,In your heart a song—If you do what mother saysYou will not go wrong.
Cocky Doodlestood by the Big Red Barn and clapped his wings. Then digging his feet well into the ground, he began his morning cock-a-doodle-do.
Mr. Merry Sun lifted his head from his crimson pillows and looked over the misty hilltop.
"Time for me to get up," he yawned. "Cocky Doodle is calling."
Teddy Turtle crawled along the Old Cow Path to the Old Duck Pond. He didn't see Little Jack Rabbit hopping over the grass. Teddy is so slow that he neverthinks any one can go faster. So it was only when the little rabbit stubbed his toe on the little turtle's hard shell house that he woke up. Of course he wasn't really asleep, but he might just as well have been.
"You ought to know better than to go to sleep right in the Old Cow Path," said the little bunny, rubbing his toe. "Why don't you keep your head out to see where you're going if you walk in your sleep?"
"I pulled my head inside my shell when you hit me, as all well-trained turtles do in time of danger," answered Teddy Turtle.
"Goodness, I wouldn't be afraid of anything if I had a strong shell house like yours to creep into."
"Well, I'm not afraid of anybody except the Miller's Boy," said Teddy Turtle."But when he turns me over on my back I'm helpless."
"Where are you going?" asked the little rabbit.
"Down to the Old Duck Pond. I'm going to sleep in the soft mud for the winter," answered Teddy Turtle.
"Well, goodby," said the little rabbit, hopping off to the Old Farm Yard.
"Cock-a-doodle-do," sang Cocky Doodle. "I hope everybody is awake. There comes Mr. Merry Sun up the sky. Cock-a-doodle-do. Everybody gets up when I call. Don't you hear Billy Breeze singing over the Sunny Meadow? I wake the Little People of the Shady Forest and the Sunny Meadow every morning. Cock-a-doodle-do."
Yes, sir. This little rooster was better than an alarm clock, for you didn't have to wind him. He crowed every morning his cheerful song to help the old world wag along.
TheMud Turtles were having a fine time on the banks of the Old Duck Pond. What is more fun I should like to know than making mud pies and forts, and these little turtles had been busy for several days until they had built a mud city, with bridges and houses, towers and castles.
Goodness me! It was muddy, and the Farmyard Folk were all complaining, except Ducky Waddles. He just loved mud, and found it great fun waddling over the mud bridges. And if they broke down, he didn't mind a muddy splashing! No, indeed he didn't. So, of course,he and the Mud Turtles were great friends.
One day Mr. Merry Sun, seeing how things were going on, said to himself: "I guess I'll dry up all the Turtle Mud Houses." So he set to work, shining down from the bright blue sky, and before evening the mud palaces and castles were hard as bricks.
"Hurrah!" he said, just before he went to sleep on the crimson pillows of the West, "I've finished Mud Turtle Town!"
Of course, all this was more or less of an accident, for the Mud Turtles hadn't asked Mr. Merry Sun to help them. But when they saw what he had done, they were delighted, and at once sent out invitations to all the Barnyard Folk to spend a week in Turtle Town.
Cocky Doodle and Henny Penny accepted at once; so did Goosey Lucy; and as soon as they had packed their things, they set out for the Old Duck Pond.
"I don't think I shall lay an egg while I'm there," said Henny Penny—"I'm not used to Mud Nests."
"Suit yourself," said Cocky Doodle.
"Henny Penny is right," said Goosey Lucy. "It will be a little vacation for us. I, for one, shall be glad to forget all about home duties."
Just then there was a great flapping of wings and Ducky Waddles came wabbling after them. "Why don't you wait for a fellow," he panted. "I'm all out of breath trying to catch up to you. I almost had to fly."
As they crossed the Old Cow Path they met Little Jack Rabbit hopping home to the Old Bramble Patch.
"We're going to make a visit in Turtle Town," said Henny Penny. "Why don't you come, too?"
"Haven't time," answered the little bunny. "Mother sent me over to Cousin Cottontail for lollypop frosting. She must have it in time to cover the carrot cake for supper."
Mr. John Rabbithad been a great jumper in his youth, and Little Jack Rabbit wished to learn to jump as far as his father, and even farther.
So every day he practiced jumping in the Sweet Clover Field near the Old Rail Fence until by and by he could jump over the second rail.
"Pretty good," said Mr. Rabbit. "Don't believe I did any better when I was your age. How is Bobby Tail getting along?"
Now Little Jack Rabbit's brother was called Bobby Tail, because his tail was so short. Yes, siree, it was so short that itlooked exactly like a white powder puff. And his eyes were just like little pink beads. But they weren't any pinker than his nose.
But, I'm sorry to say, there was something wrong with Bobby Tail. He was too lazy for anything. That was what was the matter with him. He didn't want to learn to jump—he'd rather spend his time eating clover tops. By and by he grew to be dreadfully fat.
And a fat bunny can't run fast nor jump far. Bobby Tail found this to be true when one day Sic'em, the Farmer's Dog, chased him across the Sunny Meadow.
The Bunny Brothers had hopped down to the Old Duck Pond to see Granddaddy Bullfrog, when all of a sudden Sic'em saw them. Goodness me! What a chase he gave them! Over the Sunny Meadow, throughthe Shady Forest, and along the Old Rail Fence! At first Bobby Tail was able to keep up with brother, but after a while he fell behind.
"Hurry up!" shouted Little Jack Rabbit. But, Oh dear me! Bobby Tail was so fat and so short of breath that he couldn't. Closer and closer came Sic'em till the little bunny could almost feel his hot breath.
"If I ever get back to the Old Bramble Patch," he thought, "I'll practice running and jumping every day in the week."
Just then, he reached the Old Rail Fence. Another jump landed him in the dear Old Bramble Patch, leaving Sic'em barking and growling outside the prickly bushes.
"You've had a narrow escape," said Mr. Rabbit, looking up over his evening paper, "I hope it will teach you a lesson!"
And it did. The very next day Bobby Tail practiced jumping with Little Jack Rabbit, and kept it up until he became almost as good a jumper as his brother.
But Old Sic'em never knew how this came to pass. He was too busy keeping watch over the Old Farmyard to bother his head about Bobby Tail, for Danny Fox, who was always prowling around, hunting for a stray chicken, kept the old dog forever on the lookout.
"Wheredid you get your red coat?" asked Little Jack Rabbit, looking up from the Old Bramble Patch.
"Oh, that's my secret," answered Red Bird from the Old Rail Fence. "There's been a legend in our family about it ever since the Flood."
"You don't say so," exclaimed the little rabbit.
"You've heard of the Great Flood, I suppose, that happened hundreds and hundreds of years ago?"
Little Jack Rabbit nodded. "I hope we don't get another to wash away the Old Bramble Patch."
"Well," continued Red Bird, "the legend is that one day, after it had been raining ever so long, when there was nothing but water all around and everybody in the ark was feeling very miserable, Mother Noah wrung her hands and said, 'Oh, dear! We'll all be lost. We'll never get ashore!'
"Just then my ancestor began to whistle, and the next minute a beam of sunshine broke through the clouds and settled upon him.
"'My dear, we are reproved,' said Father Noah. 'The little bird has more courage than we have. Hear him whistle.'
"Then everybody turned to look at the brave little whistler. He was so embarrassed that he BLUSHED—we were gray before that time, they say—blushed so verydeeply that our feathers have never lost their bright red from that day to this."
"Well, well," exclaimed the little rabbit. "When do you go away for the winter?"
"I'm not going away—I'm going to stay right here," answered Red Bird.
"You'll find it pretty breezy up there," said Little Jack Rabbit with a twinkle of his pink nose.
"Oh, I don't know. I've got on my double-breasted red coat."
"But what will you find to eat when the berries are all gone?" asked the little rabbit.
"I'll pick up crumbs at the Old Farm House," replied Red Bird cheerfully.
"You've got a sunshiny disposition," said Little Jack Rabbit admiringly. "I guess your ancestors handed down something besidesa red coat—some of that sunshine that turned his feathers red must have crept into his heart."
"I don't know," replied Red Bird.
"Maybe it doesn't make much difference how you got it, as long as you keep it," said the little bunny as he hopped back into the Old Bramble Patch to tell his mother all about it.
Turkey Timin his turban-colored comb strutted about the Old Farmyard, spreading his tail like a Japanese fan to the bright light that Mr. Merry Sun sent down from the Big Blue Sky.
"I wonder what makes Turkey Tim so proud?" asked Henny Penny.
Little Jack Rabbit wiggled his pink nose, but said nothing.
"Is it because the Kind Farmer is buying chestnuts for him from Chippy Chipmunk?"
Still the little rabbit made no reply.
"Please tell me," begged Henny Penny. "You can whisper in my ear."
"Turkey Tim thinks the Kind Farmer is fond of him, but that's not the reason," answered the little rabbit.
"What is the reason?" asked Henny Penny, who you see by this time was a very curious little hen.
"Turkey Tim wouldn't believe me if I told him," said the little rabbit.
"Wouldn't he?" exclaimed the little hen, her feathers ruffled with excitement and curiosity.
"It's a big secret," whispered the little bunny.
"Tell me quick," coaxed Henny Penny.
"Thanksgiving!" whispered Little Jack Rabbit. "Haven't you heard of chestnut-fed turkeys for Thanksgiving?"
"Do you mean they are going to kill Turkey Tim?" cried the little hen.
"I certainly do," answered the little rabbit. "But he's so proud he wouldn't believe me. Why, he thinks he's more wonderful than Cocky Doodle."
"Well, he isn't," said Henny Penny. "Cocky Doodle's the most wonderful of all the Feathered Folk, for he's the one who wakes up Mr. Merry Sun. Cocky Doodle is the cock-a-doodle-do clock of the whole wide world. Why, if it weren't for him Mr. Merry Sun might stay in bed all day."
Just then along came Turkey Tim, but he didn't look so proud when the little hen told him about Thanksgiving.
"Who told you?" he asked in a trembling voice.
"Little Jack Rabbit," answered Henny Penny, pointing to the truthful little bunny.
"I guess I'll make a visit in the Friendly Forest," said Turkey Tim in a low voice, and off he went as fast as his legs would take him.
But, Oh dear me! No sooner was he there than Billy Breeze began to sing:
"Look out, look out for Danny Fox!He sneaks about in his woolen socks,You never can tell where he is at,For he creeps around like a tip-toe cat."
LittlePhoebe Pheasant's dew-wet feet hurried along the edge of the Sunny Meadow. Mr. Merry Sun hadn't been up long enough to dry the grass, for it was very early in the morning.
In some places the dew had turned to frost, but the little pheasant didn't mind that in the least, for she is a hardy bird, and not a bit afraid of cold weather.
The weather is about the only thing she isn't afraid of, for she is very timid. Although she sometimes went to the Old Farmyard for breakfast, at the slightest noise she would fly away.
As she hurried along through the dewy frost she caught sight of Little Jack Rabbit. And as he was the one person she wished to see that morning, it didn't take her long to reach the Old Bramble Patch.
"Good morning, Phoebe Pheasant," said the little bunny. "You seem in a hurry."
"Yes, I'm in a dreadful hurry to ask you something," replied the little pheasant.
"Well, what is it?" laughed the little bunny.
"You remember Turkey Tim left the Old Farmyard before Thanksgiving?"
"Of course I do," answered the little rabbit.
"He wants to know whether the Kind Farmer has been looking for him?" whispered Phoebe Pheasant. "He doesn't dare go back himself to find out."
"I should say not," answered the little rabbit. "The Kind Farmer's dreadfully put out. He had to go without his Thanksgiving turkey!"
"Then you think it would be dangerous for Turkey Tim to go back to the Old Farmyard?"
"Yes, just now," replied the little bunny. "He'd better wait until everybody has forgotten Thanksgiving."
"It's dreadfully hard on him, all alone in the Shady Forest," sighed the little pheasant. "He's not a Wild Turkey, you know."
"Never mind if he isn't," answered Little Jack Rabbit. "He'll be a Roast Turkey if he goes back now to the Old Farmyard."