The Seventeen Little Bears took cold when they fell through the ice into the water, so they had to stay in bed all day. They cried, "Tell us a story, please tell us a story."
Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes danced this way, and that way, before the mirror and cried out together,
"Who is so ugly? Nobody knows."
The mirror answered,
"Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes."
The Seventeen Little Bears clapped their little paws and cried, "Tell it again, tell it again!"
Then Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes danced this way, and that way, before the mirror and asked,
"Who took cold when they fell through the ice?"
The mirror would not answer this time.
The Seventeen Little Bears wept and wailed. Bunny and Susan came upstairs to see what was the matter.
Bunny said, "Never mind, I will tell you a story about my reading by candle-light."
Then the Seventeen Little Bears cried, "Oh, Bunny, tell us a new story, please."
Now, Bunny could not think of a new story to tell to save his life, soSusan said, "I will tell you about the Circus cookies that came alive."
Then, the Seventeen Little Bears shouted, "We know that story by heart, we know every word of it."
They took out their seventeen little red pocket handkerchiefs and cried and cried.
All this time Grandpa Grumbles was sitting in an easy chair by the fire. He grumbled,
"'Tis silly to make such a dreadful noise,You are worse than seventeen girls and boys."
Then he took his green cotton umbrella and went upstairs.
As soon as the Seventeen Little Bears caught sight of Grandpa Grumbles they set up a shout, "A story, a story, do tell us a story."
Grandpa Grumbles shook his green cotton umbrella fiercely and shouted,
"Every one must keep as still as a mouse,So you can hear a pin drop in the house."
Then, will you believe it? The Seventeen Little Bears were so still you could hear a pin drop.
Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes were so still they did not wink an eyelash.They sat on two little stools in the corner.
Grandpa Grumbles said, "You can guess all day and you can guess all night, but you cannot one of you guess what kind of a shop I am going to open."
Then the Seventeen Little Bears begged for Bunny Cotton-Tail's thinking-cap. They put it on in turn and guessed and guessed what kind of a shop Grandpa Grumbles would open.
Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes said, "Will it be a candy-shop?"
Grandpa Grumbles shook his green cotton umbrella fiercely and grumbled, "I told you, you could not guess. I am going to open a Toy Shop!"
"A Toy Shop!" shouted the Seventeen Little Bears at the top of their lungs. "A Toy Shop!"
"Who is telling this story?" asked Grandpa Grumbles. He began to tell the story in real earnest. He said, "I am going to open a Toy Shop in the woods."
"Not a real Toy Shop," said Snubby Nose. "You don't mean a real ToyShop," said Tippy Toes.
Grandpa Grumbles shook his green cotton umbrella and grumbled, "Now, I shall have to start all over again."
So he began once more, "I am going to open a Toy Shop in the woods."
"Will you make a rocking-horse?" asked the First Little Bear.
"Will you make drums?" asked the Second Little Bear.
"Will you make horns? Toot, toot, toot!" said the Third Little Bear.
Now, will you believe it? All the Seventeen Little Bears put their paws to their mouths as though they had horns and cried, "Toot, toot, toot!"
Grandpa Grumbles shook his umbrella fiercely and shouted,
"I will not tell the story to-day,I will take my umbrella and go away."
Then the most surprising thing happened!
Grandpa Grumbles held fast to the handle of the umbrella and sailed out through the open window!
"Oh," and "Ah," said Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes, "that was rather sudden!"
"Oh," and "Ah," said the Seventeen Little Bears, "how fast he went!"
Then they were as merry as you please. Whenever any one would cough or sneeze the other ones would say, "Let us talk about Grandpa Grumbles' Toy Shop! Can you hear him hammer away? Can you hear him saw?"
Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes put on their hats and coats and danced this way, and that way, and said, "We will go and, visit Grandpa Grumbles' Toy Shop."
At this very minute, to the surprise of all, Grandpa Grumbles came sailing in through the window. He said,
"If I were little and young and gay,I'd sail away for a year and a day."
The Seventeen Little Bears shouted, "Please tell us about the ToyShop!"
Grandpa Grumbles shook his umbrella. Out fell a little rocking horse.He shook it again. Out fell a horn. He shook it again. Out fell a drum.
The Seventeen Little Bears shouted, "Hurrah, hurrah! It is really true,Grandpa Grumbles, you are going to open a Toy Shop."
Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes and the Seventeen Little Bears did not know whether Grandpa Grumbles was teasing or not. They did not know if he meant to open a real Toy Shop.
The Seventeen Little Bears said, "Will you tell us the whole story to-morrow?"
The Seventeen Little Bears still had to stay in bed next day. Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes danced about the room and cried, "Grandpa Grumbles, do tell us the story of the Toy Shop!"
Grandpa Grumbles came upstairs leaning on his green cotton umbrella. He coughed six times and then he sat down in the rocking-chair by the Window. He said, "The story of the Toy Shop begins with a question."
The Seventeen Little Bears clapped their paws and shouted, "Hear, hear, the story is going to begin!"
Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes danced this way, and danced that way, and cried, "Hear, hear, the story is going to begin!"
Then the most surprising thing happened!
Grandpa Grumbles pointed his green cotton umbrella at Snubby Nose and asked, "Which of your toys did you break first at Christmas?"
Snubby Nose could not remember, so he cried and he screamed and he howled!
Grandpa Grumbles said, "I cannot begin this story until I have nineteen questions answered."
Tippy Toes said, "Grandpa Grumbles, I can tell you which toy I broke first, I broke my little rocking-horse."
Then Snubby Nose shouted, "I broke my rocking-horse too."
Grandpa Grumbles pointed to the First Little Bear and said, "Which toy did you break first?"
The First Little Bear said, "I broke my little red drum."
Then the Seventeen Little Bears all held up their paws and said, "Let me tell, let me tell next which toy I broke at Christmas!"
Now, will you believe it? They all made such a noise that Grandpa Grumbles could not sit still another minute. He went downstairs shaking his green cotton umbrella, fiercely, and grumbling to himself as he went.
The Seventeen Little Bears cried, "Oh, come back and tell the story! We will be good."
Then Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes danced downstairs and said. "We will, be good, indeed we will be good."
Grandpa Grumbles still looked very cross. He grumbled,
"Speak into my other ear,'Tis very hard indeed to hear."
Then Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes shouted into his other ear, "Please come back upstairs and tell us about the Toy Shop. We will be good, indeed we will."
Grandpa Grumbles said,
"Speak a little louder, please,If you do not want to tease."
Bunny and Susan saw that something must be done to make GrandpaGrumbles happy again, so Susan made a bowl of fine soup for him, andGrandpa Grumbles drew up to the table. He said,
"In cooking you can never fail,Thank you, dear Susan Cotton-Tail."
Then Bunny went upstairs and said to the Seventeen Little Bears, "You may get up and put on your little red wrappers and sit by the fire downstairs."
So the Seventeen Little Bears got up and put on their little red wrappers and crept downstairs. They crept down so softly that Grandpa Grumbles never heard a sound.
By and by when Grandpa Grumbles went back into the sitting-room there sat the Seventeen Little Bears on their seventeen little stools by the fire. Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes sat on the arm of Grandpa Grumbles' chair. He was surprised you may be sure.
He began to tell his story quite as if nothing had happened. He said, "Last Christmas I went about and picked up all the broken toys I could find and I said I would open a Toy Shop and mend them so you could not tell them from new toys!"
"Hear, hear!" cried the Seventeen Little Bears softly.
"Hush, hush!" said Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes, "Grandpa Grumbles is talking."
Grandpa Grumbles went on, "On long winter evenings I sat and mended and glued and pasted the toys and soon they looked as good as new."
"Rap-a-tap," sounded on the door, "Rap-a-tap."
Bunny took the candle and went to the door. There stood DoctorCotton-Tail.
He said, "Good evening, how are the Seventeen Little Bears? I heard they fell in the water!"
The Seventeen Little Bears stuffed their little paws into their mouths to keep from laughing, for they felt as well as ever, sitting before the fire in their little red wrappers.
Doctor Cotton-Tail took a seat by the fire and began to warm his paws, first one paw and then the other.
"Chilly spring weather, but most time to make garden," he said.
"Chilly weather," said Bunny Cotton-Tail.
"Chilly weather," said Susan.
Then the most surprising thing happened!
Grandpa Grumbles shook his green cotton umbrella and out came flower seeds falling everywhere. The Seventeen Little Bears scrambled to pick them up.
"Who will make your garden?" asked Doctor Cotton-Tail, looking at Bunny and Susan.
Bunny and Susan said, "We do not know, we are too old and stiff to make a garden."
"You will miss the turnips and cabbages," said Doctor Cotton-Tail.Then he added,
"I came in a wagon, and as the Seventeen Little Bears are quite well,I can take them home."
Then the Seventeen Little Bears began to weep loud and long. They wept into their seventeen little pocket handkerchiefs.
Bunny and Susan said, "Never mind, dears, you can come to visit us again."
Soon the Seventeen Little Bears were tucked safely into the wagon andDoctor Cotton-Tail took them home.
"Bless my buttons," said Susan, "you did not finish your story GrandpaGrumbles."
"My fur and whiskers," said Bunny, "I should like to visit your ToyShop!"
Grandpa Grumbles said,
"At night I always shake my head,'Tis time for all to go to bed."
The Cotton-Tail family knew that it was no use to tease, so they went merrily to bed.
Snubby Nose set his little alarm clock. He set it at four o'clock in the morning. He said, kissing Tippy Toes good night, "We must get up early in the morning and make a garden for Bunny and Susan."
"Tinkle, tinkle" went the alarm clock next morning. Snubby Nose put his paw on it so it would not ring too loudly. He whispered to Tippy Toes, "Get up, it is time to make the garden."
They took the seeds Grandpa Grumbles had thrown from his umbrella. They planted the seeds in even rows. They worked so fast, they had the garden planted and were back in bed by eight o'clock.
Grandpa Grumbles woke up next. He went downstairs and out of doors. He saw a little garden all planted in even rows. He shook his green cotton umbrella and said,
"Radishes it is time to grow,For spring has come again you know."
Then the most surprising thing happened!
The radishes began to peep up and show their little green heads.
Grandpa Grumbles shook his green cotton umbrella again and said,
"Young cabbage heads, all in a row,Wake up, wake up, it's time to grow."
The cabbages came up as big and round as you please. Then GrandpaGrumbles shook his green cotton umbrella again and said,
"Turnips come, wake up, 'tis clearMerry, merry spring is here."
The turnips came up nodding in the sunshine, and Grandpa Grumbles said,
"Open green umbrella and sail away,They were magic seeds, good day, good day."
He opened the green cotton umbrella and sailed away, and away, and away.
Bunny Cotton-Tail woke up and looked out of the window. "My fur and whiskers, look at the garden," he shouted.
Susan woke and looked out the window and said, "Bless my buttons there is a real little garden."
Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes woke up again and said, "Hurrah, hurrah, how fast the seeds grow! We must ask Grandpa Grumbles if they were magic seeds that he gave us."
But Grandpa Grumbles had sailed away, and away, and away!
At that very minute the Postman brought two letters. The letters were for Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes. They were from their Mothers asking them to come home.
When Snubby Nose read his letter he cried and he screamed and he howled!
When Tippy Toes read his letter he said, "Never mind, Snubby Nose, we can go together to the bend of the road."
Before they had breakfast, Susan got out her rolling-pin and flour and sugar and said, "I will make you some cookies to take with you."
Bunny said, "My fur and whiskers, I have two neat little baskets. I will pack them with your lunch."
So Susan made cookies and Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes packed their little traveling bags and Bunny packed their lunches in the little baskets.
Bunny said, "I will take you in my wheelbarrow to the bend in the road, then Snubby Nose goes east and Tippy Toes goes west."
Snubby Nose cried and he screamed and he howled! He did not want to go home. Tippy Toes did not want to go home either, but he said, "Thank you Bunny for the ride."
Soon Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes were ready to go. They stood before the mirror and danced this way and that way and sang,
"Tell us, good mirror, whom shall we meet?"
The mirror answered,
"Circus Cotton-Tails in the street."
Then Snubby Nose held his breath and Tippy Toes held his breath.
Snubby Nose said, "I was one of the Circus Cotton-Tails once myself."
They went downstairs and kissed Susan good-bye.
Then they jumped into the wheelbarrow and Bunny wheeled them to the turn in the road. He kissed them good-bye and Snubby Nose cried and he screamed and he howled! Tippy Toes said, "Never mind, we shall meet again some day and my nose is as ugly as yours is!"
Snubby Nose said, "I beg you not to talk about noses," and he cried and he screamed and he howled, louder than ever.
Tippy Toes saw something must be done, so he said, "Oh, never mind, I will go home with you. It will be a long walk around then to my house."
They both went east.
Snubby Nose said, "Listen, what is that? It sounds like a band!"
Tippy Toes said, "What is that? It sounds like the roar of a Lion."
They did not know whether to go east any longer or not. They hid behind some bushes by the roadside, and all the while the sound of the band came nearer and nearer. All the while the lion roared louder and louder. They peeped through the branches. Soon the Circus Cotton-Tails came in view.
[Illustration: "SOON THE CIRCUS COTTON-TAILS CAME IN VIEW"]
Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes danced out of their hiding places and cried,"Hurrah for the Circus Cotton-Tails! They have formed a real littleCircus!"
There was the band wagon. There were the elephants and camels. There were the animals in cages.
The Circus Cotton-Tails cried, "Hurrah, hurrah! Here are Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes. Come and join the Big Parade."
Bunny Bright Eyes said, "Can you walk a tight rope?"
Tippy Toes said he did not know, but Snubby Nose said he had walked a tight rope off and on all his life!
Tippy Toes drew a little mirror out of his pocket and said,
"Who will walk the tight rope? Whom do you suppose?"
The mirror answered,
"Two cunning little Bunnies, Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes!"
Bunny and Susan sat quietly by the cheerful fire warming their paws.
Bunny said, "My fur and whiskers, I hope Snubby Nose got home safely."
Susan said, "Bless my buttons, I was thinking of Tippy Toes this very minute. Those two cunning little Bunnies are as much alike as two peas! We could not tell them apart if Snubby Nose did not cry so much."
Bunny said, "I suppose we shall have no visitors for some time now."
"Don't be too sure of that," said a gruff old voice, "Here I am standing now." There stood Grandpa Grumbles in the doorway. He had never looked so happy in all his life. He struck the floor fiercely with his green cotton umbrella and said,
"The Circus Cotton-Tails will come,A-rat-a-tat, just hear the drum."
Bunny and Susan listened. Sure enough, they heard the "rat-a-tat," of a drum. Soon they heard the Lion roar in his cage. They all went out as fast as they could.
There came the Circus Cotton-Tails on parade!
Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes danced in front beating a drum.
Bunny and Susan and Grandpa Grumbles cried, "Hurrah, hurrah, for theBig Parade!"
Grandpa Grumbles waved his green cotton umbrella and shouted, "Have you a merry-go-round?"
The Circus Cotton-Tails stood still. They cried "Hurrah, Bunny! Hurrah,Susan! Of course we have a merry-go-round."
Then the real little Circus Parade stopped. The Circus Cotton-Tails cried, "Hurry, hurry! Help us unpack."
They went to one of the wagons and began to unpack the merry-go-round.Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes helped and Bunny and Susan helped too.Grandpa Grumbles cried,
"One for the money, ten for the show,Put up the tent, and away we go."
He forgot to grumble. He had never been so happy before in all big life.
It took the Circus Cotton-Tails and Bunny and Susan just exactly one hour and sixteen minutes to put up the merry-go-round, and Grandpa Grumbles bossed the job.
"Will it go?" asked Bunny and Susan under their breath.
Grandpa Grumbles was the first to get in. He cried,
"I'm the first to get inside,Come one and all and have a ride."
Susan said, "Oh, dear! I have lost my spectacles."
It took the Circus Cotton-Tails one hour and sixteen minutes to find Susan's spectacles. There they were safe and sound upon her forehead all the time! Then Bunny went in-doors and burned his paw again by candle-light and it took one hour and sixteen minutes to get his paw well.
Grandpa Grumbles did not grumble a bit. He only sat patiently in the merry-go-round and said to Susan,
"Now, the spectacles are found,All jump in the merry-go-round."
Then he called good-naturedly to Bunny,
"If you'll use a lamp dear Bunny,It will save you time and money."
Bunny and Susan got into the merry-go-round, and the CircusCotton-Tails got in too.
They were all ready for a ride when Grandpa Grumbles said,
"Some are absent, whom do you suppose?"
The Circus Cotton-Tails shouted in one breath,
"Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes!"
Snubby Nose was so little he could not climb up into the merry-go-round without help. He cried and he screamed and he howled! Tippy Toes was so little he could not climb in either but he waited patiently below.
Grandpa Grumbles saw what was the matter. He lowered his green cotton umbrella and helped Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes up into the merry-go-round. Now they were ready to start. They all cried,
"Give three cheers, away we go,The Circus Cotton-Tails, ho, ho!"
The merry-go-round would not start. They all got out to see what was the matter.
Then the most surprising thing happened!
Doctor Cotton-Tail jumped out from under the merry-go-round and said,
"A-riding, too, I'd like to go,Though I may take a nap or so."
Grandpa Grumbles said cheerfully,
"You'll take no nap when with us you go,We may ride too fast, but never slow!"
Doctor Cotton-Tail took a seat in the merry-go-round.
The music began to play and they went round, and round, and round, faster and faster. Bunny began to talk about his fur and whiskers. Susan began to talk about her buttons. Grandpa Grumbles shouted,
"I'm just as happy as I can be,The Circus life is the life for me."
Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes jumped down from the merry-go-round and danced this way and danced that way, and for all I know they are dancing yet!
More Cotton Tail Stories
Bunny Cotton-Tail and Susan were sitting by the fire, warming their paws.
[Illustration: "BUNNY AND SUSAN WERE SITTING BY THE FIRE"]
"The evenings are growing cold," said Bunny Cotton-Tail. "It feels like snow to-night."
"Oh, joy!" cried Bunny Boy, "how I do love snow!" Then he began to jump around the room so fast that Susan was afraid he would upset the table.
"I am going to play that the sofa is a hill, and slide down!" he cried.
Then Susan said if Bunny Boy did not sit down in his little red rocking chair and be good, she would put him in a bag!
So Bunny Boy sat down, but he began to cry. There is no telling what would have happened just then if a soft "tap, tap," had not been heard on the window.
Susan looked out. There stood Bushy Tail with his traveling bag in his hand!
Susan was a little afraid to let him in, but there was nothing else to do, so she opened the door, and whisk! bound! Bushy Tail was in, hugging Bunny Cotton-Tail!
"Who is the youngster!" asked Bushy Tail, pointing to Bunny Boy.
Then Bunny Boy made himself as small as possible. He did not care forBushy Tail.
Bushy Tail said he must tell about his trip. Besides, he had something for Bunny and Susan in his bag.
It had begun to snow, and Bushy Tail was very wet. He stood by the fire and warmed his paws. Susan whispered to Bunny that she had never seen so handsome a fox in her life.
All the time Bushy Tail had a cunning look in his eyes. After his fur was dry, and he had had a bowl of soup, he opened his bag, and my! what fine things he took out!
There was dried fruit for Susan. There was fresh cabbage for Bunny. And there were oranges, and peaches, and pears! They had a fine feast, but the greatest fun of all was just before they went to bed, when Bushy Tail took from his bag a little telephone. He hung it on the wall and fooled the rabbits with it for nearly an hour.
It had a little bell and a receiver, and one could call "hello" into it.
Perhaps Bunny and Susan would never have known the joke about the telephone if it had not been for Bunny Boy. Bunny Boy crept out from under the sofa, where he had been hiding, and climbed up in a chair and pulled the receiver hard. Then, bang! the top of the telephone came off, and showed that it was only a candy box!
Bushy Tail did not like this, but Bunny Cotton-Tail said he would rather have it a candy-box, after all, as he was a little afraid of telephones!
Then they shook one another's paws, and went to bed.
Bushy Tail slept on a sofa in the parlor. About eleven o'clock he got up and began, to stir around. There was the same cunning look in his eyes.
First he went and looked at Susan Cotton-Tail, and thought, "I have half a mind to eat you up." Then he went and looked at Bunny Cotton-Tail and thought, "I have half a mind to eat you up." Then he saw Bunny Boy out in the kitchen, wide awake, eating mince pie! Bushy said, "I have you, and I will eat you up!"
But Bunny Boy was too quick for him. He ran down the stairs, into the cellar, and had hopped through the cellar window in less than no time.
Then Bushy Tail took a mince pie and put it in his right-hand coat pocket. He took a currant pie and put it in his left-hand coat pocket. He hid an apple pie in his hat, and he went slyly out of the door with a piece of blueberry pie in his mouth!
Next morning, when Bunny and Susan awoke, they saw that their pies were gone, and they saw that Bushy Tail and Bunny Boy were gone too!
Susan Cotton-Tail cried, and Bunny Cotton-Tail whistled.
Why do you suppose Susan Cotton-Tail had made so many pies? There was going to be a fair, and Susan had been asked to make pies for it. All the animals were going to the fair.
"We cannot go when we have no pies to sell," said Susan.
"All the animals will come to find out why we are not there," saidBunny.
Now Bunny Cotton-Tail was a very clever rabbit, even though he was getting old. He put on his overcoat and took a card and a hammer, and went out.
He was out a long time, tacking something up on the front door.
When he had finished, he asked Susan to come out and get a breath of air.
They walked up and down in front of the house. Then Susan began to laugh, and then she began to sneeze, and then she laughed and sneezed together, and what do you suppose was the matter?
Bunny Cotton-Tail had put up this sign on the house,
"Well," said Bunny, "if you don't want to go anywhere or have any one come to see you, just put up a sign like that, and see how well it will work!"
Bunny and Susan went back into the house and peeped out their front window to see how the animals would act when they saw the sign.
First came Bushy Tail, big as life, trotting along. When he saw the sign he waved his beautiful tail in the air and ran down the road as fast as his legs could carry him!
Next came Mr. Owl. He read the sign aloud, and flew away.
So all day long, animals came to ask why Bunny and Susan did not come to the fair, and all were frightened and ran away.
Early in the evening old Grizzly came. He had followed Bushy Tail fromCalifornia.
"What a beautiful bear!" said Susan.
"He looks kind," said Bunny.
Old Grizzly read the sign. He did not pass by as the other animals had done. He went straight up to the front door and knocked.
"Perhaps he can't read," said Bunny, so he shouted, "Scarlet Fever here!"
Old Grizzly nodded his head. He said he had had scarlet fever three times, and he was not afraid to have it again.
So they opened the door and let old Grizzly in. Then they all had a jolly time, and Bunny told why he put up the sign on the house.
"You may have a new kind of scarlet fever," said Old Grizzly, "maybe I shall catch it!" and they all laughed.
Old Grizzly had been in a circus, and had traveled in the East and in the West. He could tell lovely stories, so he stayed a long time and told stories, and Susan Cotton-Tail went out in the kitchen and came back with a mince pie in each hand. (These pies had been hidden away in a tin.)
They all enjoyed the pies, and then Bunny asked old Grizzly to spend the night with them. Old Grizzly said, "No, thank you." The house next door was vacant and he was going to live there.
Susan held the candle at the door and old Grizzly went to his new home.
"I like him, but I am glad he went out for the night," said Bunny. "Just think!" Susan said, "he has promised to come in every night and tell us a story!"
When old Grizzly came next evening he had a book tucked under his arm.
"What have you there?" asked Bunny and Susan together.
It was some time before old Grizzly would tell. Then he coughed and said he had one story that every one liked so well that he had written it down, and drawn pictures for it.
The two rabbits begged so hard to see the pictures that old Grizzly opened the book and showed them all the pictures before he began to read. And this is the story he read:
Once there was a gentleman who wrote stories. He had a fine large cat called Whiskers.
One day Whiskers thought he would see the man write his story, so he sat up on the desk beside him.
The man started to write a story about an elephant. It was to be a long story with big words in it.
Whiskers wanted to be petted just then, and as the man did not notice him, he gave the pen a little slap, and it made a funny mark down the page.
"Never mind," said the man, "that will do for the path along which the elephant walked."
The man's pen was a lovely thing to play with, but Whiskers had a nicer plaything himself. He began to go round and round after his own tail. Round and round he went, until he upset the ink. Then he was so scared that he ran and hid.
The man only laughed, and said he would draw funny little figures where the blots of ink were.
He called Whiskers back and went on with his story. He was just wondering how he would draw the seats inside the circus tent, when Whiskers put his paw down on the wet page, and the man said:
"Why, Whiskers, you certainly are an artist."
Then he began to wonder how he could show what a big space the elephant covered when he walked, and just then the cat walked over the paper, to show him!
The man was so pleased then, that he laid down his pen and gaveWhiskers a big hug.
"Pooh!" said Whiskers, "that was nothing. I could write a better story than you can, any day!"
You see, Whiskers was not a polite cat.
"Did Whiskers write the story?" asked Bunny.
Susan winked at Bunny and said:
"Old Grizzly, that is the best story of all, and I believe you made it up yourself!"
Then old Grizzly blushed under the fur on his cheeks, and Bunny ran and got a big bouquet and stuck it in his paw!
Old Grizzly went home feeling very happy indeed.
The next evening Susan begged old Grizzly to tell her another story about Whiskers. Grizzly said he knew one, but he kept it in the back of his head and he could not find it. So he told them the story of Carlo, instead.
Carlo was a fine dog. He had but one fault. He liked to suck eggs.
Day after day the cook went out into the hen-house to get eggs, and day after day there were no eggs to be found.
At first she thought it must be a rat that stole her eggs, and she set a trap. A clever old rat came and ate the cheese, but he never got caught.
One day the cook saw Carlo sucking an egg. Whisk! she was after him with a broom, and gave him a sound beating! But this did not cure Carlo of his bad habit. He went into the hen-house and stole eggs whenever he pleased.
The cook said she was not going to allow this, so one day she called the dog to her in a most friendly way, and held out half an egg in her hand.
Carlo thought that the cook had made up her mind to let him eat all the eggs he wanted, so he took the egg in his mouth, and swallowed it quickly.
Then he began to behave very strangely. He yelped with pain, and ran out into the yard and rolled over and over in the snow.
"Good! Now you will steal no more eggs," said the cook.
What do you suppose was the matter with Carlo? The egg the cook had given him was full of red pepper, and his mouth burned as though on fire. There is no telling what the poor dog would have done if a little girl had not come along just then.
The little girl had found out what the cook had done. She crept out of the house and said:
"Poor Carlo, poor doggie, come to me!" and then she took snow and washed out Carlo's mouth and patted him on the head until he felt all right again.
Carlo never forgot the little girl's kindness, and he never stole eggs any more.
Just as old Grizzly stopped speaking, "Tap, tap," was heard on the window. They looked up and saw Bushy Tail outside.
"Let him in. I'll see that he does no harm," said old Grizzly. They opened-the door, and Bushy Tail jumped in.
Now, Bushy Tail would not have come if he had not had something to say, for he felt a little ashamed about the pies.
What do you suppose Bushy Tail had come to say? He had heard of a big gold mine in the West, and he wanted Grizzly Bear and the Cotton-Tail family to go west with him to buy the gold mine.
Old Grizzly was delighted with the idea, but Bunny and Susan said they would rather stay at home. As they were talking, "Tap, tap," was heard on the window again, and there stood Bunny Boy. He had come home from his travels!
Bunny Boy's head was tied up and he looked as though he had had a hard time. Susan asked if he would like to go west and look for gold, but Bunny Boy only shook his head.
End of Project Gutenberg's Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes, by Laura Rountree Smith