VII
VII
VII
VII
The next morning as Mr. Bunnikins-Bunny was rather stiff and chilly, Mrs. Bunnikins insisted that he should lie in his hammock in the sunshine, and be very lazy.
While she was talking to him, she suddenly gave a terrified squeak,and started as fast as she could run towards the hollow tree, fairly tumbling up the little ladder, into the safety of the nest.
How Mr. Bunnikins-Bunny and Mr. Gray-Squirrel laughed, when they saw what had frightened her—just Mr. and Mrs. Brown Bruin and their three children, come to make a pleasant morning call. They had brought a big jar of golden honey (the delight of bears) as a present to Mr. Bunnikins, and a lot of ripe nuts and wild celery for the children.
[Bears]
[Bear & Bunny]
They begged the Bunnies and the Squirrels to come and make them a visit very soon, Mr. Bruin offering to carry them to and fro on his broad back; he even persuaded Rosamund to take a little ride with her father then and there.
That evening at supper-time Bobtail was missing, and for some time he could not be found. Finally Ruddy Squirrel spied him, hidden away in the play-house near the brook.
[Bunnies]
When his father pulled him out he was a sorry-looking bunny. He had been told not to touch the honey,but he was so anxious to have a little taste, that he had tried to get a pawful out of the bear’s big jar, and, leaning over too far, he had lost his balance and fallen in.
From the tip of his ears to the end of his short tail he was a mass of sweet sticky honey, and when Mr. Bunnikins took hold of him to shake him, his paw stuck fast to poor Benjamin’s long ear.
The only thing to do was to soakhim in the brook until the honey melted out of his fur, which took such a long time that Bobtail caught a fearful cold, and did nothing but cough and sneeze for a week after.
He ate no more honey for a long, long time, and did not even like to see it.