II
II
II
II
Mr. and Mrs. Bunnikins-Bunny had invited their great friends Mr. and Mrs. Gray-Squirrel and their two children, Ruddy and Chippy, to spend the summer with them; and one beautiful morning they started off, bright and early, for the mountains.
[Bunny]
They had a cart, drawn by Neddy, a nice fat donkey, which the Gray-Squirrels and the Bunnikins family had loaded with all sorts of things which they would need, and many others which they would never want, but which Mr. Bunnikins-Bunny had insisted on stuffing in. At the last moment, he brought out a large feather-bed, which he felt sure he would need if he had rheumatism, and a foot-bath for Rosamund, incase she had the croup or whooping-cough.
[Donkey]
Mrs. Bunnikins, however, refused, quite sternly, to put another single thing in the cart, which was already top-heavy, and might tip over, or else break down.
Besides, Neddy was very particular, and might liedown on the way, if he thought the load too big.
Since his marriage Mr. Bunnikins had become, not only more particular than ever about his beautiful clothes, but also very fussy about himself, and was constantly imagining that he had some new complaint.
He had brought a fine silk hammock to sleep in, when the nights were warm, and a soft woolly sleeping-bag, if it were cold. As for socks,hats, and fancy waistcoats, he would have brought dozens, had not Mrs. Bunnikins limited him to half a dozen of each.
[Bunny]
Having had a cold in one of his long ears, he had tied his gray felt hat, with its green feathers, tightly down under his chin.
On his feet he wore green-and-white stripedsocks, because he said they looked spring-like, and his coat was green-and-white striped linen, to match.
He carried a green parasol to protect his eyes from the sun, and on his back was strapped a cunning little knapsack.
[Knapsack Contents]
In this he carried a bottle of Dr. Possum’s “Ready Relief,” a hair-brush, a small bottle ofcayenne pepper, which by making you sneeze would cure a cold; an extra pair of socks; a smelling-bottle; some toothpicks; half a dozen acorns for luncheon; a pair of rubber shoes to keep his toe-toes dry if it rained; a piece of maple sugar for his little Rosamund; a couple of cabbage-leaves to put on his head if the sun was too hot; and, lastly, a tiny folding umbrella.
[Bunny]
After a good many delays, they finally started; but when they had gone about a mile, Mr. Bunnikins-Bunny suddenly stopped, and insisted that he had forgotten somethingmostimportant. What it was,he refused to tell, but back to the house hemustand would go.
“Very well,” said patient Mrs. Bunnikins-Bunny, “it is already so late that we might as well have our luncheon here. By the time you come back, we shall be ready.”
[Squirrel]
Then Mrs. Bunnikins and the Gray-Squirrels unloaded the baskets,and set the table for luncheon.
[Donkey]
The table was a nice flat stone, and the table-cover was made of pretty ferns and flowers, which the little bunnies and squirrels picked. Mr. Neddy, the donkey, had his dinner under a shady tree, while the others waited patiently for Mr. Bunnikins-Bunny.
Pretty soon they saw him in the distance, puffing and panting along, and dragging behind him some large object. When he came nearer, his wife saw that he was bringing a life-preserver.
“My dear,” she called, “whatcanyou want that for?”
[Bunny]
[Bunny]
“For Bobtail,” Mr. Bunnikins shouted back. “If weshouldcamp near a pond, he wouldsurelyfall in, and then, as he can’t swim, he would be drowned, unless we had a life-preserver.”
“But how can we carry it?” protested his wife. “The cart is already so full that Neddy can scarcely pull it.”
“Oh! I have thought all that out,” replied Mr. Bunnikins. “Wewill hang it around Neddy’s neck, where he can carry it easily, and it will look quite ornamental.”
They had soon finished their luncheon of carrot and lettuce salad and walnut pie, and after harnessing the donkey into the cart, and persuading him, much against his will, to let them hang the life-preserver around his neck, they started off once more.