by David Cory
"Come out of there," cried Old Barney, in a screechery, teacheryvoice, but you just bet the little bunny didn't. He knew what wouldhappen if he did.
Well, by and by, after a long while, he looked around, and, would youbelieve it, he found a little pair of stairs. So down he hopped untilhe came to a door on which was painted in red letters: "Mr. Mole,Subway Contractor."
Then the little rabbit knocked on the door and pretty soon it wasopened and there stood Mr. Mole himself.
"What do you want?" he asked, trying to squint out of his little tinyeyes that were hidden all over with hair.
"It's me--Billy Bunny," replied the little rabbit. "Mr. Owl tried tocatch me and I hopped into your hollow stump entrance, but I haven'tgot a ticket for the subway."
"Well, you can come in anyway," said the kind old mole; "my subwayisn't finished yet and the trains won't be running for some time. Comein." So Billy Bunny hopped inside and sat down on a chair close to alittle brass railing, behind which stood Mr. Mole's desk.
Then Mr. Mole sat down and looked at Billy Bunny as much as to say,"And now what can I do for you?" So Billy Bunny said, "I would like toget up on the ground again. Can you show me a new way, because I don'twant to go back the way I came?"
Then Mr. Mole pressed a little bell, and in came a mole with overallson and a little pickaxe. "Show my friend, Mr. Billy Bunny, through thetunnel to the Moss Bank entrance."
"Thank you," said the little rabbit, and he hopped after the workmanmole until they came to an opening. And when the little rabbit gotoutside once more he found himself on a mossy bank where blossomed alovely bed of violets.
So he picked a bouquet for himself and stuck it in his buttonhole, andafter that he hopped away singing a song. And if Robbie Redbreasthadn't heard it I never would have been able to tell it to you. Wasn'tit lucky that the little robin sang it to me this morning while I wasstill in bed? Because, if he hadn't, how would I have ever learned it?
Over the clover and over the grass Hoppity, hop, I go; Over the leaves from the autumn trees And over the soft white snow, With a whistle and song I go hopping along, I'm Billy Bunny, you know.
STORY XIV.
BILLY BUNNY AND THE WATER SNAKE.
"Over the grass or over the snow, Fast as a little white breeze I go. I'm Billy Bunny, Billy Bunny, you know."
Thus sang the little rabbit even after I left off in last night'sstory. Isn't it strange? Maybe I dreamed it. Anyhow, that's what Ithink he did, and after a while, when he had stopped singing, youknow, he came to a little hill on the top of which was a high whitepole with an American Flag flying from it.
And underneath was a whole regiment of little Boy Bunny Scouts,dressed in khaki, with guns and caps and brass buttons and guns anddrums and a captain and a fife, and I guess there were three or fourfifes, and as soon as they saw the little rabbit, they all shouted,"Here comes Billy Bunny. Let's get him to join our regiment."
"I belong to the Billy Bunny Boy Scouts of Old Snake Fence Corner,"replied the little rabbit. "I can't join your regiment." So he hoppedalong and by and by he came to a big white swan that was sailing upand down on a pond.
"Would you like to take a sail?" she asked, coming up close to thebank. "Because if you would, just hop on my back and I'll take youaround the pond two times and maybe a half if you'll give me alollypop."
So the little rabbit opened his knapsack and gave her one and then hehopped on her back and went for a lovely sail in and out among thepond lilies and little green grass islands.
Well, everything was going along beautifully when, all of a sudden,just like that, a big water snake came swimming by.
"Oh, don't let him swallow me," cried the little rabbit, and he tookhis popgun out of his knapsack and stuck the cork in the end.
"I'll shoot you on the tail if you touch me," he cried just as bravelyas he could, but he nearly slipped off the swan's back just the same,he was so frightened.
"Don't you come any nearer," said the swan with a fierce hiss, but thesnake didn't care. He swam around and around until the little rabbitgot so dizzy that he had to hold on to the swan's neck.
"Please swim around the other way," pleaded the little rabbit, "youmake me dreadfully dizzy." But the bad water snake said he wouldn't,because that's just what he wanted Billy Bunny to be--so dizzy that hewould fall into the water and then that dreadful water snake couldswallow him and maybe a pond lily besides.
"Look here," said the swan, "if you don't stop making snakery circlesall around me, I'll bite your head off with my big, strong beak." Andthen what do you think the little rabbit did? Why, he managed somehowto lift up his gun and shoot it off, and the cork hit the water snakeon the end of the tail and gave him such a headache that he swam overto the long grass and ate watercress salad and a piece of lemon pie.
And while he was doing that the swan took the little rabbit to theother side of the pond and he hopped away so fast that he didn't tellme what he was going to do in to-morrow's story.
STORY XV.
BILLY BUNNY AND THE PEACOCK.
Well, if it hadn't been for Robbie Redbreast who saw little BillyBunny hopping away from the lily pond, as I told you in the laststory, I never would have found out what he did after that, and sothere would have been no story to-night. So the next time you seeRobbie Redbreast, please thank him.
And now this is what he told me. After the little rabbit had hoppedalong for maybe a mile or three, he came to a high stone wall. "Iwonder what's on the other side?" he said to himself, and then abeautiful peacock looked over and said: "I'll tell you, little rabbit.
"It's a beautiful garden where a fountain plays all day and thebreezes sing all night and the flowers whisper and bow their heads."
"How can I get in?" asked the little bunny, "for I love flowers and Inever heard a fountain play. What does it play?"
"Oh, all sorts of waterfall music," said the peacock, and he spreadhis beautiful tail out like a fan and brushed a little green fly offhis nose. "It plays trills and rills and cascades and ripples anddipples."
And this made the little rabbit so curious that he hunted all aroundto find a gate in the high stone wall. And pretty soon, not so verylong, he came to one, with big iron rods and curiously carved imagesof lions and dragons and animals with wings.
So he squeezed through and hopped up to the beautiful fountain wherelots of little gold and silver fish swam around and around and thewater fell in diamonds and rubies and emeralds, but he didn't knowthat it was Mr. Happy Sun who colored the water drops to make themlook like precious stones.
"Please play me a tune," said the little rabbit. And then thebeautiful peacock said, "What tune would you like?" and the littlerabbit answered:
"Sprinkle, sprinkle, little star, Just a water drop you are. Twinkle, twinkle, drops of dew, With the sunlight shining through."
So the beautiful fountain played this little song while Billy Bunnysat there listening and the beautiful peacock spread his tail to catchthe sparkle from the glittering drops of water. And then all the rosesbegan singing:
Roses white and roses red, And roses yellow too, instead, And pretty lilies white as snow, And every other flower you know.
And after that Billy Bunny asked the peacock to sing a song, but whenhe started to sing, oh dear, oh dear. For you know just because a birdhas beautiful feathers he may not have a beautiful voice, and thesounds the peacock made were dreadful.
Yes, indeed. And if the little rabbit hadn't skipped away he wouldhave had to hold his paws over his ears, and then maybe he couldn'thave stopped them up, for he had very large ears and very small feet.
STORY XVI.
BILLY BUNNY AND THE MARBLE DEER.
In the story before this I told you how the beautiful peacock sang asong which was dreadful, so very dreadful that little Billy Bunny hadto hold his ears and run away from the lovely fountain.
Well, after he had hopped along for maybe a million hops or
less, hecame to a little deer on a smooth lawn. So he stopped and spoke tohim, but the pretty little animal never said a word. He didn't evenlook at the little rabbit, so Billy Bunny touched him on the nose,but, oh, dear me! It was cold and hard, not at all like the nose of areal little deer.
But the little bunny didn't know it was a marble deer. He just thoughtit was alive, you see, and he was puzzled and didn't know what to doAnd then a lovely white dove flew down and said:
"He can't speak. He's only a statue."
"What is that?" asked the little rabbit, for he had never seen onebefore.
"Why, a statue is a figure carved out of marble or stone," answeredthe dove, and then she began to coo and comb her feathers with herbill.
"Well, I'll just hop along then," said Billy Bunny, and he said good-by.And after a while he came to a little house all covered with redrambler roses, so he looked inside to see who lived there, for hethought perhaps it might be a fairy who owned this beautiful gardenwith the lovely fountain and the wonderful peacock.
But there was no one inside, so he hopped in and sat down on a smallwicker chair and rocked back and forth. For it was a rocking chair,you know. And, by and by, he fell asleep and dreamed that thebeautiful peacock was flying around the fountain and scattering thewater drops all about with his mag-nif-i-cent tail. And then, all of asudden, the little rabbit woke up, for somebody was saying:
"Isn't this a dear little bunny?" And Billy Bunny opened his eyes andsaw a little girl with yellow curls leaning over him.
"Give him to me," said a boy's voice. And there stood a small boydressed in a sailor suit and a big sailor hat on which was written,"Battleship Uncle Sam."
And then Billy Bunny knew it was time to be going. So he gave one bighop and maybe two million and a half little skips and jumps, and soonhe was far away, and if he hadn't maybe that little boy would have puthim in a cage or a big box and kept him shut up for a long time.
"Goodness!" said the little rabbit, "I must be more careful nexttime." And then something happened. A little hard ball hit him on theleft hind foot, and a man's voice called out, "If it hadn't been forthat pesky little rabbit I would have made that hole."
And the big man put his golf stick in the bag and watched Billy Bunnylimp away to hide in the woods close by.
STORY XVII.
BILLY BUNNY AND THE FOREST DANCE.
When the moon is big and bright Little bunnies dance at night. How they hop and skip and go On their lucky left hind toe.
Well, sir, that's what Billy Bunny was doing. It was a lovelymoonlight night in August, and the big, round moon was gleaming downon the Pleasant Meadow just like an electric lamp, only it was up inthe sky, you know, and not on the ceiling.
And Mrs. Bunny was there, too, and so was Cousin Cottontail, and allthe little rabbits for miles around.
Now it's a dangerous thing to be dancing, even if the moon is bright,for owls and hawks fly by night, and if they happen to see a bunnydance, they always fly down and break it up. They don't say a word;they just fly away with one of the little bunny dancers and he neverdances any more. No, sireemam.
Well, on this particular night little Billy Bunny was doing the foxtrot with a nice little lady bunny, when all of a sudden from out ofthe Friendly Forest came Slyboots and Bushy Tail, the small sons ofDaddy Fox, you remember.
And the reason they were out so late at night was because their fatherhad sprained his foot jumping over a stone fence to get away from apack of hounds who had chased him for a thousand and one miles andfourteen feet.
Now Billy Bunny had forgotten all about Daddy Fox. He was thinkingonly about Robber Hawk or Old Barney the Owl, and so he never saw thetwo foxes until they were so close to him that they almost stubbedtheir whiskers on his powder puff tail.
And if it hadn't been for the lady bunny who was dancing with himmaybe Slyboots, or maybe Bushy Tail, would have caught the littlebunny. But the lady rabbit saw them just in time and she gave a screamand hopped into a hollow stump and Billy Bunny after her, and then allthat the two foxes could do was to stand close by and say:
"Isn't that a shame, To spoil their little game, To stop their dancing And their prancing, Who do you think's to blame?"
"You are, you two bad foxes," said Billy Bunny, but he didn't come outof that hollow stump. No, sireemam, he staid inside and so did thelittle lady rabbit, and by and by the two bad foxes went away and toldtheir father, Daddy Fox, all about it, and he said, "Don't make anyexcuse.
"You are very poor hunters if you can't catch a rabbit when he'sdancing the Fox Trot." And I guess he was right, for Slyboots andBushy Tail were so ashamed that they didn't dare look in theirmother's looking-glass for two days and three nights.
And in the next story if Billy Bunny gets out of that hollow stumpbefore I see him, I'll ask Robbie Redbreast to tell me what he does sothat I can write to-morrow's story for you to read.
STORY XVIII.
BILLY BUNNY AND RAGGED RABBIT.
Robbie Redbreast told me this morning he saw Billy Bunny hop out ofthe hollow stump where he had hidden with the little lady bunny, youremember in the last story, to escape from the two bad foxes.
Well, after he had looked all around to make sure they were gone, hesaid good-by to Miss Rabbit. And then, so Robbie Redbreast told me, helooked at his gold watch and chain, which his dear, kind Uncle Luckyhad given him for a birthday present, and it was just thirteeno'clock.
"That's my lucky number," exclaimed the little rabbit; "maybe I'llfind my fortune to-day." And he looked all about him, under a stone andbehind a bush, but there wasn't any fortune in sight, not even atwenty-dollar gold piece. So he wound his watch and started off again;and by and by, not so very far, he came to a castle where lived agiant bunny whose name was "Ragged Rabbit" because he always wore tornand tattered clothes.
And when he saw Billy Bunny hopping along, he said, "Ha, ha. Ho, hum,I'll eat that little bunny as sure as I'm a foot high!" And as he wastwenty-one feet high less or more, he surely thought he would.
"What did you say?" asked Billy Bunny, for his quick ears had caughtthe sound of the Ragged Rabbit's voice, but not the words.
"Oh, never mind," answered the Ragged Giant Rabbit. "Come and I'llshow you my castle." And, oh, dear me. Billy hopped in and the bigGiant Rabbit closed the door with a bang, and all the pictures on thewalls almost fell down and the chandelier rattled like a milk wagonfull of empty cans. But the little rabbit wasn't frightened. And couldyou guess what he did if I let you guess until to-morrow night?
Well, sir, that brave little bunny took his popgun out of his knapsackand shot it off, and it made a dreadful loud pop, and the big RaggedRabbit said, "Oh, my! Was that a cannon?"
And then he laughed so loud that he broke a window pane and had totelephone right away to the plumber to have one put in.
"That's my pop-gun, Mr. Giant," said Billy Bunny, "and if you try tohurt me I'll shoot you." And then the Ragged Giant Rabbit laughedagain, and this time the picture of his grandfather fell down and madea big dent in the floor.
"If you don't stop laughing," said the little rabbit, "you'll deafenme. Please only giggle." So the Giant Rabbit grew very polite indeedand only smiled, and then of course nothing was broken.
"Tell me who you are and where you are going and what time it is," hesaid, "and then I'll give you something to eat."
But before the little rabbit could reply a loud knocking came at thedoor, and so you'll have to wait to hear who was there until to-morrow,for I've no more room in this story.
STORY XIX.
BILLY BUNNY AND TAILOR BIRD.
You remember in the last story somebody was knocking at the door ofthe Ragged Rabbit's castle, don't you? The Giant Rabbit, who alwayswore torn and tattered clothes because he had no wife to mend them andwouldn't pay his tailor's bills?
Well, who do you suppose was on the other side of that door? Just waituntil the Giant Rabbit opens it and you shall see. Now open your eyes,if you ha
ve shut them, and see Uncle Lucky, as sure as I am writingthis story and you are reading it.
Yes, sir. There stood the dear old gentleman rabbit, and oh, dear me,didn't he look worried? I suppose he thought he'd find Billy Bunnyinside the giant. But when he saw Billy Bunny standing there, safe andsound and happy, with his popgun in his hand and a smile on his face,he began to laugh.
"Whew!" exclaimed the old gentleman rabbit, greatly relieved, whichmeans to feel much better. "I'm glad to see you, my dear nephew. Andalso to make your acquaintance, Mr. Ragged Rabbit Giant. My name isMr. Lucky Lefthindfoot. Howdy!" and he put out his right front paw andshook hands with the giant, who had to lean way down to reach UncleLucky's paw.
"But, goodness me!" said the old gentleman rabbit after looking at thegiant for some moments, "you need a tailor. Let me call the TailorBird to mend your clothes. You are too nice a rabbit not to be welldressed."
And kind Uncle Lucky went to the telephone and told the Tailor Bird tobring a spool of thread a mile long and a needle as big as a spear forhe had a giant customer for him with holes in his clothes as big as acircus ring. The Tailor Bird said he'd try to, but wouldn't promiseunless he could send in a bill as big as a newspaper spread out flat.
"Will that be all right?" asked Uncle Lucky after he had explainedmatters to the ragged Giant Rabbit.
"Certainly," said the Giant Rabbit with a grin, "and tell him I'll payhim with a dollar bill as big as a Turkish rug or a crex carpet."
