Billy Breezehad kicked up an awful racket all night around the Old Briar Patch, but Little Jack Rabbit hadn't heard him. No, sir. The little bunny had been too sound asleep to hear anything, but when he looked out in the morning, goodness me! how he shivered.
The ground was all covered with a white mantle, but he didn't know it was snow. This was the first snow he had ever seen. It made everything look strange, and the ground was as smooth as Mrs. Rabbit's best linen tablecloth.
Pretty soon he hopped down to the BubblingBrook, but it, too, had changed. It was smooth, like glass. So the little rabbit leaned over the bank to listen, but just then Billy Breeze made a dreadful racket and whirled the snow about in great clouds. But the little rabbit didn't care; he just kept on listening, and by and by he heard the Bubbling Brook singing softly:
"Underneath the ice and snowVery gently still I flowTill I reach the Old Duck PondAnd the ocean far beyond."Billy Breeze may whistle loudToss the snow up in a cloud,Underneath the ice and snowVery gently still I flow."
"Dear me," said the little rabbit to himself, "I never would know that this was the Old Duck Pond if it weren't for the OldMill yonder. No wonder Granddaddy Bullfrog hid himself deep down in the mud before all this happened."
Yes, the whole earth seemed quiet and still. The mill wheel moved no more; great icicles hung from the paddles and long snowdrifts lay piled against the dam.
I don't know how long the little rabbit would have stood there wondering at the sudden change if something hadn't happened. Whiz! went a snowball past his ear. The Farmer's Boy leaned over and picked up some more snow. But the little rabbit didn't wait to see what sort of a snowball he would make this time. No, siree. He hopped back to the dear Old Bramble Patch as fast as he could.
TheOld Farm Yard was a very comfortable sort of a place. Little Jack Rabbit liked to go there, for all the Barnyard Folk were very nice to him, especially Henny Penny and Cocky Doodle, who always gave him some of their corn.
Then, too, it was great fun playing about the High Haystack. Here they all gathered after a snow storm, for the snow soon melted on the sunny side.
Another reason, too, why the little rabbit came so often was because many of his friends were tucked away for a long winter's nap.
Busy Beaver was safe in his little house under the ice in the Forest Pool. Squirrel Nutcracker and his family came out only on warm, sunshiny days. The rest of the time they spent sleeping in their warm little houses. As for Granddaddy Bullfrog, he never showed up—he was sound asleep in the soft mud at the bottom of the Old Duck Pond.
The little rabbit's mother had told him not to go too often to the Old Farm Yard for fear the Kind Farmer might not like it. "Henny Penny and Cocky Doodle are your friends," she told him, "but I'm not so sure about Mr. Farmer."
"Oh, he's all right, mother," answered the little rabbit. "He's very kind. He feeds all the Barn Yard Folk with such nicefood. I'm sure he's very good and kind."
"Don't be too sure," answered the little rabbit's mother, with a knowing wag of her head.
One day when the little bunny hopped into the Old Farm Yard he heard Cocky Doodle say:
"It's a beautiful sleigh!" And just as Little Jack Rabbit was going to ask what he meant, the Kind Farmer came out of the Big Red Barn with Betsy, the Old Gray Mare, and hitched her up to a beautiful dark green sleigh.
"Git ap!" he said, snapping the whip over her back.
"Oh, Oh!" cried the little rabbit, "Maybe mother is right. I guess he's not such a kind farmer after all!" But of coursethe little bunny didn't know that the Kind Farmer hardly touched Old Betsy, although the whip made a loud crack and she threw out her heels and ran off at a great rate.
"Jingle bells, jingle bells,On the nice new sleigh.Oh what fun it is to run!"Sang dear Old Betsy Gray.
It isn't always easyTo do the things you must.Some people if they stay at homeSay they will surely rust.But you will find the longerYou live from day to dayThat you must do the little thingsThat daily come your way.
"I'm So Tired of Polishing This Doorknob.""I'm So Tired of Polishing This Doorknob."Little Jack Rabbit's AdventuresPage 117
"Oh, dear!" sighed Little Jack Rabbit one lovely spring morning, "I'm so tired of polishing this doorknob every day and every day. I wish it would drop off."
"Goodness me, little rabbit," said Grandmother Magpie, who just then happened along, "you are a disagreeable bunny boythis morning." And the old lady magpie looked at him out of her little black eyes as much as to say: "I wish I had that bunny boy to bring up, I'd make him toe the mark."
And perhaps she would, and perhaps she wouldn't, for some people can bring up other people's children ever so much better than their own, or even themselves. Isn't that strange? Well, maybe it is and maybe it isn't.
"What are you saying to my little bunny boy?" asked Mrs. John Rabbit, putting her head out of the kitchen window and scowling at Grandmother Magpie.
"Oh, nothing much," said that meddlesome old lady bird.
"Well, you'd better not," said Mrs. Rabbit. "It's all you can do to gossip aboutgrown-up people's affairs." And then Mrs. Rabbit shook her dusting rag up and down, and maybe once sideways, and after that she shut the window. So Grandmother Magpie flew away without another word.
"I'm glad she's gone," said the little rabbit to himself, and just then Bobbie Redvest began to sing:
"Every day a little work,Every day a song,Every day a kindly wordHelps us all along."
And after that he picked up a crumb and said:
"Good morning, little rabbit. Don't forget to feed the canary."
"Gracious me!" exclaimed the little bunny, "I almost forgot!" And wouldn'tit have been dreadful if he had, for little Miss Canary couldn't get out of her gold cage and look for worms like all the wild birds can, you know.
Well, when the little rabbit had finished his work, he hopped out to the Sunny Meadow where Mr. Merry Sun was making the buttercups grow more yellow every day, and the daisies whiter.
Oh, Mrs. Cow has a little bellTied to her neck with a string,And every time she shakes her headIt gives a ting-a-ling-ling.
"Helloa, little rabbit," said Ducky Waddles. "I guess I'll go down to the Old Duck Pond and take a swim." So off he went, wabbly, wabbly, on his big yellow feet, and pretty soon he saw Granddaddy Bullfrog on his log. The old gentleman frog was feeling very fine this lovely spring morning, for he had just eaten thirty-three flies, and that's a pretty good breakfast, let me tell you, even if the advertisements say you musteat shavings and cream to be perfectly well.
"Good morning, Ducky Waddles," said Granddaddy Bullfrog. "Have you heard the news?"
"What news?" asked Ducky Waddles, taking off his collar and his blue necktie before jumping into the water.
"Why, the Farmer's Boy has gone to the city to see his old maid aunt," said Granddaddy Bullfrog with a grin. "He won't throw stones at me now for maybe a week."
"Well, that's good news," said Ducky Waddles. "Now I can take a swim without worrying about my new necktie." And he flopped into the water with a splash that almost frightened to death a little tadpole who was swimming close by.
"Gracious me!" said the Little Tadpole,whose name was Tad, "if that old duck had seen me he would have gobbled me up as quick as a winkerty blinkerty." And then he hid behind a water lily stem until Ducky Waddles was far away.
Well, Ducky Waddles hadn't gone very far before Mrs. Oriole, who had a nest like a long white stocking on a branch of the weeping willow tree, began to sing:
"Swing high, swing low,Swing to and froFrom the branch of the willow tree.But whenever I lookIn the Bubbling BrookAnother bird looks at me."
"Ha, ha!" laughed Professor Jim Crow, who happened to come by just then. "What sort of a bird lives in the Bubbling Brook?"
"Well, I can tell you one thing," saidMrs. Oriole, "she doesn't keep her feathers well combed."
And then you should have heard that wise old blackbird laugh.
"Well, when you look in the Bubbling Brook again," he said, "comb your feathers, Mrs. Oriole, and perhaps that other bird will do the same."
And would you believe it, that's just what happened? But how Professor Jim Crow knew it I'm sure I don't know, unless his wife had a vanity bag with a little mirror in it, as all the ladies do nowadays who don't vote, I'm told.
Well, all of a sudden, as Mrs. Oriole combed her yellow curls—beg pardon, I mean feathers—Little Jack Rabbit heard a voice say, quite close to his ear, "Hello!" And when he looked around he saw his friend the Jay Bird perched on a bramble branch.
"How did you get here?" asked the little rabbit.
"In my airship," replied the little bird. "Don't you want to take a ride?"
"Will you wait till I finish cleaning my gold watch?" and the little rabbit set to work, and before long he could see his facein it and the Jay Bird's too, for Mr. Merry Sun made that little gold watch shine like a ball of fire.
Then away went the little rabbit and the Jay Bird, and pretty soon they were flying over the Sunny Meadow, over the treetops and over the steeples, and over the houses and over the peoples!
Well, sir, it wasn't very long before they were far, far away from the Shady Forest, and then the little rabbit said: "Don't go too far, Mr. Jay Bird, for mother will worry if I don't get home in time for supper." And just then up came the American Eagle with a big flag in his beak and seven silver stars on the tips of his tail feathers.
"O come with me and I'll show you whereI've a nest on the mountain high in the air;It's a lonely place, but it's home for me,With Mrs. Eagle and children three."
"Show us the way and we'll follow," said the Jay Bird, and he steered his airship after the great American Eagle, and by and by they came to his nest high up on the mountain's rocky crest.
The little rabbit hopped out and went over to say how do you do to the little eaglets, and when they showed him their Thrift Stamp Books, what do you think this generous little rabbit did? Why, he opened his knapsack and gave them each a War Saving Stamp. Wasn't that kind of him?
Then Mrs. Eagle went to the ice box for ice cream cones, and everybody had a feast, and after that the Jay Bird said it was time to go. So he and the little rabbit got into the airship and went away, and by and by theywere just above the Bramble Patch. Mrs. Rabbit was looking out of the window, and as soon as she saw them way up high in the clear blue sky, she rang the supper bell, and Cocky Doodle sang:
"Home again, my little rabbit,That's the place to be.Only there true love and restWaits for you and me."
(Trademark Registered)ByDAVID CORYAuthor of "Little Journeys to Happyland"———————————Colored Wrappers With Text Illustrations.———————————
A new and unique series about the furred and feathered little people of the wood and meadow.
Children will eagerly follow the doings of little Jack Rabbit, and the clever way in which he escapes from his three enemies, Danny Fox, Mr. Wicked Wolf and Hungry Hawk will delight the youngsters.
LITTLE JACK RABBIT'S ADVENTURESLITTLE JACK RABBIT AND DANNY FOXLITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE SQUIRREL BROTHERSLITTLE JACK RABBIT AND CHIPPY CHIPMUNKLITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE BIG BROWN BEARLITTLE JACK RABBIT AND UNCLE JOHN HARELITTLE JACK RABBIT AND PROFESSOR CROWLITTLE JACK RABBIT AND OLD MAN WEASELLITTLE JACK RABBIT AND MR. WICKED WOLFLITTLE JACK RABBIT AND HUNGRY HAWKLITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE POLICEMAN DOGLITTLE JACK RABBIT AND MISS MOUSIELITTLE JACK RABBIT AND UNCLE LUCKYLITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE YELLOW DOG TRAMP
GROSSET & DUNLAP,Publishers, NEW YORK
By DAVID CORYAuthor of "The Little Jack Rabbit Stories" and "LittleJourneys to Happyland"———————————Handsomely Bound. Colored Wrappers. Illustrated.Each Volume Complete in Itself.———————————
To know Puss Junior once is to love him forever. That's the way all the little people feel about this young, adventurous cat, son of a very famous father.
THE ADVENTURES OF PUSS-IN-BOOTS,Jr.FURTHER ADVENTURES OF PUSS-IN-BOOTS,Jr.PUSS-IN-BOOTS,Jr. IN FAIRYLANDTRAVELS OF PUSS-IN-BOOTS,Jr.PUSS-IN-BOOTS,Jr., AND OLD MOTHER GOOSEPUSS-IN-BOOTS,Jr., IN NEW MOTHER GOOSE LANDPUSS-IN-BOOTS,Jr., AND THE GOOD GRAY HORSEPUSS-IN-BOOTS,Jr., AND TOM THUMBPUSS-IN-BOOTS,Jr., AND ROBINSON CRUSOEPUSS-IN-BOOTS,Jr., AND THE MAN IN THE MOON
GROSSET & DUNLAP,Publishers, NEW YORK
Transcriber's Notes:Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
Obvious punctuation errors repaired.