LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND
MR. WICKED WOLF
_LITTLE JACK RABBIT BOOKS_
(Trademark Registered)
BY
DAVID CORY
LITTLE JACK RABBIT’S ADVENTURES
LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND DANNY FOX
LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE SQUIRREL BROTHERS
LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND CHIPPY CHIPMUNK
LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE BIG BROWN BEAR
LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND UNCLE JOHN HARE
LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND PROFESSOR CROW
LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND OLD MAN WEASEL
LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND MR. WICKED WOLF
LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND HUNGRY HAWK
[Illustration: “Here Are Some Christmas Presents,” Said the Little
Bunny.
_Little Jack Rabbit and Mr. Wicked Wolf. Frontispiece_--(_Page 9_)]
_LITTLE JACK RABBIT BOOKS_
(Trademark Registered)
LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND
MR. WICKED WOLF
BY
DAVID CORY
Author of
LITTLE JACK RABBIT BOOKS
THE ICEBERG EXPRESS
THE MAGIC SOAP-BUBBLE
THE CRUISE OF THE NOAH’S ARK
THE WIND WAGON
ILLUSTRATED BY
H. S. BARBOUR
NEW YORK
GROSSET & DUNLAP
PUBLISHERS
Made in the United States of America
COPYRIGHT, 1923, BY
GROSSET & DUNLAP
CONTENTS
PAGE
THE LITTLE FIR TREE 7
XMAS EVE 11
XMAS DAY 15
MR. WICKED WOLF 19
THE THINKING CAP 23
BRAVE YELLOW DOG TRAMP 27
SANTA’S REINDEER 31
PHOTOGRAPHER CRANE 35
THE MILKY WAY 40
HOME AGAIN 45
RESOLUTIONS 49
LONELY TIMES 54
THE BUNNYSNOBILE 58
THE OLD WEDDING STOVEPIPE HAT 62
THE POLICEMAN DOG 66
THE OLD HOLLOW STUMP 70
MR. MINER MOLE 74
PRECIOUS STONES 78
THREE GUESSES 82
POOR LADY LOVE 86
MR. MERRY SUN 90
BOBBIE REDVEST 94
THREE OLD RASCALS 98
A PRISONER 102
THE RABBITVILLE TROLLEY 106
FARMER DADDY LONGLEGS 110
ACORN COTTAGE 114
JENNY WREN’S PENNY 118
HUNGRY HAWK 122
CANDY CATS AND CHOCOLATE MICE 126
LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND MR. WICKED WOLF
THE LITTLE FIR TREE
The little fir tree in the wood
All through the year has been so good,
That now the winter time is here
And Xmas day so very near,
The birds have chosen it to be
A happy little Xmas tree.
“Little rabbit,” said Professor Jim Crow as he opened his little Wisdom
Book, “let me read you something, for this is the season of good cheer
and happy hearts and Xmas stockings and cranberry tarts.” And then that
wise old bird turned to page 23 and began:
“When you hang up your stocking
Along the chimney place
In hope that Santa Claus will fill
Up every little space,
Oh, don’t forget the beggar child
Who wanders on the street,
And looks with longing eyes upon
The window’s Xmas treat.”
“Do you suppose he’d like some of my last year’s toys?” asked Little
Jack Rabbit.
“Of course he would,” answered Professor Jim Crow, and he smiled to
himself as he shut his book, for he knew he had sowed a good seed for a
kindly deed in the little rabbit’s heart. And then that old black bird
flew away, and Little Jack Rabbit hopped home to the Old Bramble Patch
and up to his little room. And after he had looked over all his toys he
packed some in a box and took them downstairs.
“Mother, I’m going to the village to see the little ragged bunny boy.”
“What for?” asked Lady Love. And if you haven’t guessed what, I’ll tell
you. He was going to give that little ragged rabbit boy the toys so
that he would have a merry Xmas, too.
“Look out for Mr. Wicked Wolf,” said Lady Love, and then she gave the
little bunny a lollypop and kissed him good-by, and after that away he
hopped, and by and by, after a while, he came to a shabby little house
near Rabbitville. So he knocked on the door and pretty soon it opened
and there stood the little ragged rabbit’s mother.
“Here are some Xmas presents,” said the little bunny. “They are my
last year’s best toys, but I want your little ragged rabbit to have
a happy Xmas.” And then he hopped away as fast as he could, for he
was afraid the rabbit lady was going to cry. And maybe she did, for
sometimes people cry when they are happy, although I never heard of
their laughing when they were sad.
XMAS EVE
To-morrow will be Xmas.
Oh, what a happy day,
For Santa Claus will empty all
The presents from his sleigh.
And every little girl and boy
Will have some candy and a toy.
This is the song the little canary bird sang in her gold cage while
Little Jack Rabbit polished the front door knob and Lady Love made the
stuffing for the big turkey. And just then the telephone bell rang and
Uncle John Hare, the old gentleman rabbit, said, “Hello! I want to
speak to Little Jack Rabbit.”
“Wait a minute,” said the little Black Cricket who had answered the
telephone because Lady Love was busy and Little Jack Rabbit couldn’t
leave the door knob all covered with wet polish, and she ran out to the
front porch and said:
“Uncle John wants to speak to you on the ’phone.” Well, by this time,
the door knob was polished nice and dry, so the little rabbit hopped
inside.
“Hello, it’s me,” said the little bunny, although my teacher always
told me to say, “It’s I,” but never mind, Uncle John knew what the
little rabbit meant, just the same.
“What do you want for Xmas?” asked the dear, kind, old gentleman
rabbit. “Tell me a thousand things, and then you can’t guess what I’m
going to get.”
So the little rabbit thought and thought, and by and by, after a while,
and maybe a little longer, he thought of 999. But, oh dear me, he
couldn’t think of just one more. Wasn’t that too bad?
“Well, never mind,” laughed Uncle John. “That’s enough. And now I’ll go
down to the Three-in-one-cent Store, and to-morrow you’ll see what I
bought.” And then he hung up the receiver and went out to the garage,
hitched up the Bunnymobile, and pretty soon, not so very long, he
reached the Three-in-one-cent Store in Rabbitville, on the corner of
Lettuce Avenue and Popcorn Street.
“I guess I’d better go over to the bank and get some money first,”
thought the old gentleman rabbit. So he hopped across the street and
wrote a check and then the paying teller gave him a lot of money for
it--lettuce dollar bills and carrot cents and a ten-carrot gold piece,
and after that he hopped back to the Three-in-one-cent Store and went
inside. And what do you suppose was the first thing he saw? Why, a
lovely book all about Little Jack Rabbit. “I’ll take that book,” said
the old gentleman bunny as quick as a twinkle. And then he bought a
pair of roller skates and a pair of ice skates and a red sled and a bag
of candy and a box of lead soldiers and a big red apple and a magic
lantern. And a lot more things besides, but, goodness me, I haven’t got
room enough in this story to put them in, so we’ll have to wait and
call up on Christmas morning and ask him. And if you don’t know his
telephone it’s “O, O, O, Ring Happy Bell, Old Brier Patch!”
XMAS DAY
“Merrie Xmas!” Hear the cry
From every house beneath the sky;
And every child is up so soon
That he can see the silver moon,
Who’s had not time to tell the sun
That Xmas Day has just begun.
Well, the Old Grandfather Clock in the hall had just struck thirteen
o’clock when Little Jack Rabbit woke up, and before he even jumped out
of bed he called out, “Merrie Xmas, Mother.” And then, of course, Lady
Love woke up, and the alarm clock couldn’t make up its mind whether it
would say anything or not. But after a little while it began to sing:
“Awake, awake; it’s Xmas morn,
Don’t linger in your bed;
I see a pair of roller skates,
A dandy coasting sled;
A stocking full as full can be,
And a lovely little Xmas tree.”
And then the little Black Cricket came out of her crack in the warm
hearth and looked in her stocking, for she believed in Santa Claus just
the same as she always did when she was a little young cricket and
played hop, skip and jump in the Sunny Meadow grass.
“Hurrah! Hurrah! I’ve got everything I asked for!” shouted Little Jack
Rabbit. So you see, dear, kind Uncle John Hare must have spent all his
money at the Three-in-one-cent Store!
Well, by and by, after a while, they heard sleigh bells outside in the
Old Bramble Patch, and pretty soon Uncle John Hare jumped out of his
Bunnymobile and came into the house to give Lady Love a lovely gold
vanity bag and a pair of lorgnettes, a kind of lollypop eyeglass, you
know.
And, oh, yes, oh, yes! I forgot to say he gave the little Black Cricket
a new fur piece and the Canary Bird a bushel of bird seed. And after
that every one was happy as could be. And just as they were all sitting
down to their Xmas dinner a knock came at the kitchen door.
“Come in if you’re not Mr. Wicked Wolf,” said Uncle John Hare, and
who do you suppose walked in? Why, the Yellow Dog Tramp, with a large
package in his front paws.
“Merrie Xmas to you all,
And many of them, too.
I’d love to stay awhile
And have a feast with you.”
“Sit right down and make yourself at home, and a Merrie Xmas to you,
Mr. Yellow Dog Tramp,” said the little rabbits.
“But you mustn’t bark,” added Lady Love, the little rabbit’s mother,
“the fairies might come and carry away the Xmas tree.”
MR. WICKED WOLF
Well, the Xmas tree didn’t run back to the friendly forest as I feared
it might in the last story. It stayed right in the little house in
the Old Bramble Patch, and the night after Xmas when the little Black
Cricket came out on the hearth, that dear little Xmas tree began to
sing:
“Oh, I have had my heart’s delight,
I’ve been a Xmas tree,
All hung with candles shining bright
And tinsel fair to see.
I do not miss the shady wood,
The music of the breeze,
For I have found my heart’s delight
A little child to please.”
Well, in the morning Little Jack Rabbit took his skates and went down
to the old mill pond, and so did Uncle John Hare, for he could skate
mighty well, let me tell you, even if he did have gray whiskers and a
pink waistcoat. Why, he could do the grapevine twist and the letter S
and maybe the whole alphabet, for all I know.
Well, anyway, off they went, Little Jack Rabbit and his kind Uncle John
Hare, and when they came to the pond they put on their skates, and then
off they went over the ice as fast as the wind, and maybe faster, and
by and by, after a while, who should come by but Mr. Grouse. He had on
his snowshoes which kind Mother Nature had given him.
“Ha, ha,” said Uncle John Hare. “You can’t go over the snow as fast as
I can on the ice, my man.” You see, Uncle John Hare knew how to make up
poetry and had once written some in a beautiful birthday album.
“No, but I can slide over the snow just as well as if I were on a
toboggan.” And maybe he would have shown Uncle John Hare just what he
could do, if all of a sudden, something hadn’t happened. And isn’t it
too bad that something always has to happen just when these two dear
little rabbits are having a nice time?
And now I suppose you are wondering what did happen, so I’ll tell you
right away. Mr. Wicked Wolf jumped out from behind a snow drift, and
said: “Ha, ha. What shall I eat first--rabbit or grouse?” Wasn’t that
a dreadful thing to hear? Well, I just guess it was. And then what do
you think Uncle John Hare did. Why, he just picked up a piece of ice
and hit that wicked old wolf right on the end of his nose. And then,
of course, Mr. Wicked Wolf had to wipe his eyes, for they were full of
tears, and while he was doing that the two little rabbits skated away,
and Mr. Grouse snowshoed away, and if the skates don’t come off and the
snowshoes, too, I’ll tell you some more in a day or two.
THE THINKING CAP
Oh, dear me. I just hate to start this story, for I must tell you
something very unpleasant. You remember in the last one Little Jack
Rabbit and Uncle John Hare were skating away as fast as they could from
Mr. Wicked Wolf. But, oh, dear me. All of a sudden, just like that,
Uncle John Hare’s skate came off. And of course that wasn’t lucky, let
me tell you. Oh, my, no. It was simply dreadful. And when Mr. Wicked
Wolf saw the predicament, which means a dreadful fix, you know, which
the dear old gentleman rabbit was in, he kicked up his heels and pretty
soon he was so close that even if Uncle John Hare could have fastened
on his skate again he never would have been able to get away.
“Ha ha, ho ho, now I’ve got you two,
And I’ll skate you both till you’re black and blue,
And then I’ll take you home for a stew.
For Mrs. Wolf knows how to make
A rabbit stew and a big pancake.”
And, oh, dear me again, and maybe once more, for I don’t know what’s
going to happen, and maybe it will happen before I can write it, and
then what will we all do, I should like to know? Maybe there won’t be
any more stories.
“Wait just a minute, Mr. Wicked Wolf,” said the old gentleman rabbit,
and he took out his gold watch and chain. “It’s just 13 o’clock, and
that’s a very unlucky number.” Mr. Wicked Wolf scratched his head, for
he didn’t know what to do, and neither would I and neither would you
if we had been there.
“I’ll wait till five minutes past 13,” said the wicked old wolf with
a grin, which showed all his white teeth, and the gold one which Dr.
Dentist Duck had put in after the railroad accident, which I’ll tell
you about some day if I don’t forget it.
“Now put on your thinking cap,” said Uncle John Hare. So Little Jack
Rabbit opened his knapsack and took out a little pink worsted thinking
cap and put it on his head and pretty soon, not so very long, before
the five minutes were up, of course, he said:
“Mr. Wolf, if I were you
I wouldn’t eat a rabbit stew;
I’d rather have a chicken pie
If I were you and you were I.”
“I never thought of chicken pie,” answered Mr. Wicked Wolf, and the
more he thought about it the more he wanted it. So pretty soon he said:
“I’ll let you off this time if you’ll motor me to the Farmyard.” But,
oh, dear me! Those two little rabbits didn’t want to do that. No,
sireemam.
“Hurry up and decide,” growled Mr. Wicked Wolf with a dreadful grin.
“Wait a minute if you please,
I’m so worried I shall sneeze,”
said Uncle John Hare. I guess he would have said ’most anything to gain
time.
Just then, all of a sudden, who should come along but the Yellow Dog
Tramp. Wasn’t that lucky? So the little rabbits started off in their
Bunnymobile without Mr. Wicked Wolf.
BRAVE YELLOW DOG TRAMP
Now if the brave Yellow Dog Tramp had been a minute later perhaps and
maybe the two little rabbits would have been eaten up in the last
story. For just as he came along Mr. Wicked Wolf grew impatient and
with a dreadful growl jumped out from behind the Bunnymobile.
And, oh, dear me. Didn’t his eyes look fierce, and didn’t his mouth
look red and his teeth white?
And if you can think of anything worse at night than a wolf’s face,
please tell me, for I’d like to know if there is anything that really
can scare that brave Yellow Dog Tramp.
“Stop, or I’ll bite one of your rubber tires,” screamed Mr. Wicked
Wolf, and he took hold with his teeth. And then what do you think that
brave Yellow Dog Tramp did?
Why, he leaned out of the automobile and hit that wolf on the head
with a monkey wrench, and that wolf saw three million five hundred and
ninety-nine and a half stars, and then he rolled over on the snow and
began to cry, and then the tire which he had bitten burst and all the
air came out--Oh, dear me, now I’m saying something which isn’t true,
for the Bunnymobile had runners in the winter and not wheels.
So how could air come out of a steel runner? No, sir, that wasn’t what
happened at all. It was this way.
The old gentleman rabbit got out the air pump and blew snow all over
that wolf till he was covered with a drift as high as the Old Rail
Fence and it took him all night to dig himself out.
Well, after that Uncle John Hare started off for home, but just before
he reached the corner of Lettuce Avenue and Carrot Street, he came
across the Policeman Dog, who, when he saw the Yellow Dog Tramp,
shouted:
“Stop the car,” and this made Uncle John Hare angry, for he knew that
Policeman Dog wanted to arrest the Yellow Dog Tramp. So Uncle John Hare
made the Bunnymobile go so fast that the Policeman Dog’s whistle fell
out of his mouth.
“That’s very kind of you,” said the Yellow Dog Tramp, and he began to
bark, and just then a little deer came by.
“Can you tell me if Santa Claus is around? I have a brother who helps
pull his sleigh and I want to see him.”
“I guess you’re too late, my little deer,” said Uncle John Hare, “Xmas
is over and Santa Claus won’t come again for another year.” And then
the little deer began to cry:
“Oh, dear, it is so long to wait
’Till Xmas comes around,
What shall I do until the time
When Xmas bells will sound.”
“Jump into my Bunnymobile,” said kind Uncle John Hare. “You come home
with us. I have a little barn right next to my garage where it’s nice
and warm. You shall have some hay to eat.”
So the little deer jumped into the Bunnymobile and the kind old
gentleman rabbit took him home, and on the next page you shall hear
what happened after that.
SANTA’S REINDEER
In the story before this I promised to tell you what happened to the
little reindeer.
Well, after kind Uncle John Hare had put the Bunnymobile in the garage,
he led the little reindeer into the barn and gave him some nice hay to
eat, and then he closed the door so that Mr. North Wind couldn’t get
in, and after that the kind old gentleman bunny went into the house,
with Little Jack Rabbit and the Yellow Dog Tramp who was with him, you
remember, in the last story.
Pretty soon the old gentleman rabbit made the graphophone play a tune,
and this is what it was:
“Meet me at the fountain when the syrups are in bloom,
And the lollypops are blushing like roses red in June,
And the fizzy soda water comes sparkling in the glass,
And the ice cream cones are dancing like fairies in the grass.”
“Oh, dear me! I wish the good old summer time were here once more, I
do, for that’s the time a Yellow Dog has something nice to do,” and the
Yellow Dog Tramp sighed a great big sigh and lay down in front of the
open fire and fell asleep. So Uncle John Hare blew out the electric
lights and pulled down the shades and went to bed, and then he had a
dream.
And then he had a nightmare, and then he woke himself up with a
dreadful yell, for he thought a crocodile was just going to swallow his
old wedding stovepipe hat. I suppose the crocodile thought it was a big
chocolate drop.
Well, after that, the old gentleman rabbit looked at his gold watch and
chain, and as it was nearly fourteen o’clock, and Mr. Merry Sun was
just getting up, Uncle John Hare dressed himself and went downstairs
to tell his Japanese servant to have breakfast as soon as possible,
and then he went out to the barn to see how the little reindeer was
getting along. And, oh, dear me! Wasn’t he surprised to find three more
reindeer in the barn.
“Why, where did you come from?” asked the old gentleman rabbit, and he
scratched his left ear with his right hind foot, for he couldn’t think
how they ever got into the barn.
“We are Santa Claus’s deer,” they answered, “and if you’ll hitch us up
to your old sleigh we’ll be glad to give you a ride.”
So the old gentleman rabbit hitched them up to his old-fashioned
sleigh, and then he put on his fur overcoat and gloves and told Little
Jack Rabbit and the Yellow Dog Tramp to get in, too, and away they went
to the Old Bramble Patch.
And how those beautiful reindeer did go! They tossed their long horns
and threw out their heels and the bells on the sleigh made beautiful
music. Well, by and by, pretty soon, not so very long, they drove up in
front of the Old Bramble Patch.
The next minute Lady Love, the little rabbit’s mother, hopped out of
the house. And wasn’t she surprised? She hadn’t seen Santa Claus’s
reindeer for a long time, and neither have I, not since I was a little
boy and stayed awake all Xmas eve night.
PHOTOGRAPHER CRANE
Well, sir! by this time if ever a little bunny was crazy to go sleigh
riding it was Little Jack Rabbit as he looked at the four reindeer
hitched up to the old sleigh. And wouldn’t you love to go sleigh riding
behind four of Santa Claus’s reindeer?
Well, I just guess you would, and so would I and so would the Czar of
Russia if he hadn’t lost his throne.
“Now hurry up and get on your fur overcoat,” said the old gentleman
rabbit, while the reindeer pawed the snow and tossed their antlers,
which are their horns, you know--until the bells on the harness began
chiming:
“Down from the North come the reindeer a-flying,
Silver bells tinkle as onward they go,
Faster and faster their fleet hoofs are trying
To race with the North Wind that blows o’er the snow,
Tinkle, tink, tinkle, and crinkle, crink, crinkle,
Swift through the snowflakes they dash in a row.”
And pretty soon out came Little Jack Rabbit with his fur overcoat, and
jumping into the sleigh sat down beside dear, kind Uncle John Hare.
“On, Dixon and Blixon! On, Bullet and Arrow!” cried the old gentleman
rabbit, and away went the reindeer, while Lady Love waved her calico
apron from the window and smiled to see how happy was her little bunny
boy.
Well, after a while, or maybe a mile, Little Jack Rabbit said:
“Let’s go down to the photographer and have our picture taken.”
“All right,” said Uncle John Hare, and the Yellow Dog Tramp said he’d
never had his picture taken in his life and would be tickled to death
to have one to send home to his old mother who lived in New Hampshire
and hadn’t heard from him since he’d left home.
Well, when they came to the picture place the photographer, who was a
long-legged crane--as I told you once upon a time some fifty stories
ago, or maybe more--came out of his little picture gallery.
And, oh, my! he shivered so that he almost spoilt the picture, for
he had to bring his camera outside because the four reindeer and the
sleigh and the two little rabbits and the Yellow Dog Tramp couldn’t
get into his little shop.
You see, the crane didn’t have any stockings on and his great long legs
got dreadfully cold.
“Now, look pleasant, if you please,
Excuse me while I take a sneeze!”
and Photographer Crane almost sneezed his head off, as he stood on one
leg and pulled the other one out of the snow way up under his feathers.
Then he sneezed again.
But, by and by, the pictures were taken, and Uncle John Hare paid for
them all, and the Yellow Dog Tramp took his over to the Postoffice and
sent it to his mother, way up in New Hampshire, and on the back he
wrote:
“Oftentimes I’m thinking,
Mother dear, of you,
Some day when I’ve made my pile
I’ll come home in grand old style,
So be patient just a while,
Keep for me your same old smile,
Mother dear, won’t you?”
I guess when that hobo dog’s mother received his picture she
smiled,--or maybe she cried, for sometimes we cry when a happy sadness
comes into our heart.
THE MILKY WAY
Now let me see where we left off in the last story. Sometimes I get all
mixed up, and perhaps I’d never get things right if I hadn’t made a
book out of these stories, so that I can look back and see whether it
was Uncle John Hare or the Big Brown Bear, or the Yellow Dog Tramp, or
Aunt Columbia who had to stop doing something because I didn’t have any
more room.
[Illustration: Little Jack Shook Paws With the Great Bear.
_Little Jack Rabbit and Mr. Wicked Wolf._ _Page 45_]
Well, here we are. The Yellow Dog Tramp had just posted his photograph
to his dear old mother way up in New Hampshire, and after he had
thanked the postoffice lady, who was an old maid duck, he jumped into
the sleigh and said:
“Hurry on, you Reindeer,
Make the snowflakes fly,
Faster, faster, faster,
Don’t you balk or shy!”
And then you should have seen how those Reindeer went. Well, sir, they
went so fast that pretty soon their feet hardly touched the earth, and
then they didn’t touch at all, and then, oh, me, oh, my! They rose
right up in the air just like a low sailing rocket, over the treetops
and over the steeples, over the houses and over the peoples. Goodness
me!
There goes my typewriter again making up poetry and not putting it into
verses, and if it does it again I’m going to change the ribbon and get
one that is red, white and blue. My typewriter must show its color as
well as a man!
Well, pretty soon, the old gentleman rabbit began to get uneasy, for he
wasn’t used to sailing through the sky in a sleigh drawn by reindeer.
“What do you think’s going to happen!” he asked anxiously.
“Oh, don’t worry, Uncle John,” answered the little rabbit. “I’ve often
seen pictures of Santa Claus riding through the air in his sleigh.”
And this quite comforted the old gentleman bunny, you know, and he
began to smile and the Yellow Dog Tramp barked two times and a half,
and after that they came to a snowy road right in the sky.
And the hoofs of the Reindeer made a lovely tinkling noise as they beat
on the silvery frozen path. But of course the little rabbits didn’t
know they were sliding over the Milky Way.
No, indeed. And they didn’t know it was all frozen over, either, and
neither would I have known this if a little snowbird hadn’t told me.
Well, after a while, they came to a place where the Great Bear and the
Little Bear lived. It was way up in the Star Country, you see, and of
course it was all very strange.
But the Reindeer seemed to know the way, and so Uncle John Hare just
let them go. And then the Great Bear, who sat on a piece of ice that
had five sharp points just like a star, said:
“Mr. John Hare, I’m glad to see you.” And then the Little Bear, who
also sat on a five-pointed piece of ice, said: “I’m glad to see you,
Little Jack Rabbit!”
And then the Reindeer stopped, for they had been going around and
around the two bears all the time, you know, and the two little rabbits
hopped out of the sleigh, and into the next story.
Up in the sky
Ever so high
The snowflakes crinkle and winkle,
And the Moon Man winks
With a couple of blinks,
And the little stars tinkle, tinkle.
HOME AGAIN
Well, as soon as the two little rabbits had hopped out of the sleigh,
the Great Bear stretched out his paw and shook hands with Uncle John
Hare and the Little Bear shook paws with Little Jack Rabbit, and while
all this was going on, the Reindeer suddenly started off.
“Goodness gracious meebus!” exclaimed the old gentleman rabbit, “there
goes my team of Reindeer! How are we ever going to get home?”
Now wasn’t that a dreadful fix to be in? Well, I should say it was.
Way up in a Sky Country, in Star Land, making a call on the Great Bear
and the Little Bear! And no way to get home unless you slid down a
moonbeam, and that’s a very dangerous thing to do unless you’re a fairy
and know all about it. But don’t get worried, for I’m going to tell you
something.
As soon as the Yellow Dog Tramp, who hadn’t jumped out of the sleigh,
you remember, saw what was happening, he grabbed up the reins and
turned those Reindeer around as quick as a wink, and pretty soon he
drove them back to the five-pointed pieces of ice where the two little
rabbits and the Great Bear and the Little Bear were sitting.
“Come on!” said the Yellow Dog Tramp. “Let’s get home before the Dog
Star catches us!” And away went the Reindeer down the silver Milky Way
and pretty soon they were all safely riding over the snow through the
Shady Forest toward Uncle John Hare’s house.
“Now we’ll have to go back to the North Pole,” said the Reindeer after
they had drawn the sleigh into the barn.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” said the old gentleman rabbit; “I like sleigh
riding. But of course, if you must go, you know best,” and then the
reindeer said good-by and went away to the cold north country where
Santa Claus lives and the Xmas trees grow.
And then the Yellow Dog Tramp said he was going back to New Hampshire
to see his dear old mother.
“Take this ten-carrot gold piece to her,” said dear, kind, generous
Uncle John Hare, and that Tramp Dog almost cried with joy and away he
went back to the old homestead in the Green Mountains.
Well, by this time it was pretty late and Mr. Merry Sun had disappeared
over the Western Hills, so the two little rabbits went into the house
and Uncle John Hare hung up his great fur overcoat and put on his
slippers and sat down before the fire to warm his paws, and while he
sat there a little cricket came out of a crack in the floor and began
to sing:
“I’m the cricket on the hearth,
Listen while I sing,
Though it’s cold and bleak outdoors,
And Jack Frost will nip your paws
Round the hearth it’s warm and bright
In the fire’s golden light.”
And when that little cricket looked up she saw Uncle John Hare fast
asleep and Little Jack Rabbit, too, for they were tired out with their
long, long sleigh ride.
RESOLUTIONS
Now, let me see. We left Little Jack Rabbit in Uncle John Hare’s house
in the last story, didn’t we? And Uncle John had just brought out a
nice apple pie, and the three little grasshoppers and the tiny black
cricket had helped the dear old gentleman rabbit eat it up. Well, after
a while, Little Jack Rabbit said he must be going, for he wanted to get
back to the Old Bramble Patch before New Year’s Eve. So he said good-by
and hopped away, and by and by, not so very far, he saw Professor Jim
Crow with his little Wisdom Book.
“Wait a minute, little rabbit. Have you thought about the New Year?”
“Oh, yes,” answered Little Jack Rabbit. “I’ve thought a lot about it.”
“Let me read you something,” said the wise old professor and then he
opened his little Wisdom Book, but first, of course, he put on his
spectacles.
“You must make a res-o-lu-tion--
Which means a promise to yourself--
That you will be a rabbit
Who will drop a naughty habit,
And do to other people what you would do for self.”
And then Professor Jim Crow closed his book with a bang and flew away
to read a lesson on good manners to a naughty little cat who wore her
mother’s hat.
Well, after that, the little rabbit hopped along and by and by he
came in sight of the Old Rail Fence, and through the rails he could
see the Old Bramble Patch and his mother hanging out the wash, for it
was Monday, and Lady Love washed on Monday, and ironed on Tuesday,
and sometimes on Wednesday if Little Jack Rabbit wore more than one
shirtwaist a day.
And just then he thought of what the old crow had just read to him:
“Let me hand you the clothespins, mother dear, so you won’t have to
stoop down and wrinkle your ear.” And this made the kind lady rabbit
laugh, for she didn’t know that her little bunny son could make up
poetry, just like that, all of a sudden, you know.
Well, pretty soon there was only one clothespin left and two stockings,
so he ran into the woodshed and got another clothespin for his mother,
and after that they both went into the kitchen, for it was almost
lunch time.
“It’s half-past one, and the cake is done,
And the prunes are stirred to a turn;
So don’t let us wait, but fill up each plate,
Or I’m afraid the sliced carrot will burn.”
And, goodness gracious me! When Lady Love heard that she looked all
around to see who was telling her what to do. But she didn’t see
anybody, and neither did the little rabbit until he looked up at the
new clock which Uncle John Hare had given his mother for Xmas and then
the little bunny knew who was talking, for just inside the Cuckoo Clock
House door stood the little bird who told the time of day.
Pretty soon it began to storm, and Mr. North Wind blew great clouds of
snow around the little house in the Old Bramble Patch. And sometimes
he whistled down the chimney till the little cricket in the woodbox
shivered and wished it were Summer Time again.
Oh, Mr. North Wind blows so shrill,
Across the meadow from the hill
That little rabbits cuddle tight
Around the hearthstone, warm and bright,
Where now and then the cricket trills
Of lovely spring and daffodils.
LONELY TIMES
The old farm pump is frozen tight,
It must have happened in the night
When Mr. North Wind fierce and chill,
Came blowing down the big high hill.
Goodness me! When the kind-hearted farmer got up in the morning after
Cocky Doodles had sung his cock-a-doodle-do song and went out to pump
some water, he couldn’t get any. No, siree. There was a big icicle
hanging from the pump spout, and the water wouldn’t come out. So he
cracked off the icicle and went back into the kitchen for a pail of hot
water to pour down the old pump, and after that the water came out of
the spout and Mrs. Cow got a drink of water, although she had to wait
until the clock struck half-past eight.
And, oh, dear me! It was just as cold over at the Old Bramble Patch and
Lady Love had a dreadful time getting breakfast, for Mr. North Wind
kept blowing down the chimney and sending the ashes all over the floor,
and this made Lady Love dreadfully nervous, for she always liked to
have her kitchen spick and span and cook her food on the Hoover plan.
Well, after breakfast was over, Little Jack Rabbit hopped out doors,
for he wasn’t afraid of the cold. Oh, my, no. His little white fur
overcoat kept him as warm as toast. And just as he was going to hop
along the little path he saw Charlie Chickadee and Jimmy Junko flying
here and there in the Old Bramble Patch.
“You don’t mind if we eat up the old dried berries, do you?” asked the
little Chickadee, “for there isn’t much to find when the ground is
covered with snow.”
[Illustration: “Well, I Can Sit Here As Long As You Can,” Said Mr.
Wicked Wolf.
_Little Jack Rabbit and Mr. Wicked Wolf._ _Page 61_]
“Eat all you wish,” answered the little rabbit, and then these two
little winter birds stuffed their pockets full of dried berries to
take home, and when they could find no more they flew out on the Sunny
Meadow where the fluffy grass stalks stood out above the snow, and
picked off the little grass seeds, and after that they flew away. So
the little rabbit hopped along and by and by, after a while, he came to
the old chestnut tree where Chippy Chipmunk lived in the summer time in
a hole under the spreading roots. But Chippy was nowhere to be seen.
Oh, my, no. All during the fall he had been busy storing away nuts and
grain in his little storeroom where he would be warm and safe from
Mr. North Wind, and have something to eat till Miss Spring came with
the whispering breezes.
“Oh, dear, I’m very lonely,
My friends are all asleep.
In hollow trees or burrows warm
Safe from the snowflakes and the storm,
I cannot even hear them creep,
For they are snuggled up asleep,”
sighed the little rabbit as he hopped into the next story.
THE BUNNYSNOWBILE
Well, just as Little Jack Rabbit hopped into this story, Uncle John
Hare, who was all alone in his little white house, gave a lonely sigh,
and, as soon as he had finished breakfast, he hopped out over the snow
to his garage to get his Bunnysnowbile. Dear me! I forgot to mention
that he had fastened on runners in place of the four wheels and now had
a wonderful autosleighbile or something just as good as a bobsled going
down hills.
It didn’t take him long to find Little Jack Rabbit and very soon they
were gliding along as nicely as you please. The Bunnysnowbile behaved
very well. You see, it was such a short time after Xmas that it hadn’t
grown tired of looking at the Xmas presents, like a good many little
girls and boys I know, and so it slid along over the snow and didn’t
try to climb up any telegraph poles, and this made Uncle John Hare feel
very pleasant, so he began to sing:
“The glad New Year has come and so
We’ll try until next year
To be as good as we can be
And help our friends to cheer.”
But, oh, dear me! Just then, all of a sudden, just like that, out
popped Mr. Wicked Wolf I’ve so often told you about. And oh, dear me!
again. Didn’t he look fierce? His collar was turned up and his mouth
was wide open, and his long, white teeth looked so cruel that Uncle
John Hare shut his eyes, and then, I hate to tell it, the Bunnysnowbile
ran right into a big tree and turned over three times and a half,
and it might have turned-over once more if it hadn’t landed right up
against an old hollow stump.
Which you’ll soon see was mighty lucky for the two little rabbits. For
when Mr. Wicked Wolf saw them sprawling over the snow he jumped as
quick as a wink and maybe he would have caught dear, kind Uncle John
Hare if that old gentleman rabbit hadn’t hopped inside that stump.
And before he was inside Little Jack Rabbit was, too, so that all Mr.
Wicked Wolf could do was to sit outside and wait for them to come out.
But they didn’t. No, sireemam, and no, sireemister. They knew better
than that, and so would I if I didn’t have a gun and a pistol and maybe
a big long knife.
“Well, I can sit here as long as you can,” said that dreadful wolf, and
he licked his lips with his long red tongue and grinned, oh, a dreadful
kind of a grin.
“Very well, then,” replied Uncle John Hare. “If you want to sit in the
cold snow, do so,” and then the old gentleman rabbit took off his old
wedding stovepipe hat and blocked up the hole in the hollow stump so
that the wolf couldn’t see what was going on inside, you know. And then
the old gentleman rabbit looked around to see if there was any way to
get out.
Well, by and by, after a while, Little Jack Rabbit found a small hole
in the back of the stump, and taking his pickaxe out of his knapsack,
set to work to dig a hole big enough to squeeze through, into the next
story.
THE OLD WEDDING STOVEPIPE HAT
You remember where we left off in the last story, I hope. But in case
you don’t, I’ll tell you. Little Jack Rabbit and dear, kind Uncle John
Hare were hiding in a hollow stump and Mr. Wicked Wolf was sitting
outside waiting to eat them up. But he won’t if I can help it. No,
sireebus! Not if I have to call up the Policeman Dog to help these two
little rabbits.
Well, after a while, Little Jack Rabbit made a hole in the back of the
stump through which he and the old gentleman rabbit could just squeeze.
But before they did, the little rabbit put his pickaxe back in his
knapsack, because he might have to use it some time again, and one
doesn’t find pickaxes lying around loose, let me tell you.
Not in these days when iron costs almost as much as sugar and sugar
costs more than diamonds, and diamonds--well, I don’t know what they
cost, for I never wear any.
“Oh, dear! I hate to leave my old wedding stovepipe hat in that hole,”
said dear, kind Uncle John Hare, which you remember he had stuffed up
with his old silk hat to keep Mr. Wicked Wolf from looking in.
“We’ll make a snowball and put it there instead,” said Little Jack
Rabbit, and when that was done, they both hopped quietly out of the
back door. But, oh, dear me. After they were once out, they were afraid
to go any further, for Mr. Wicked Wolf would surely see them.
So they hopped inside and closed up the back hole with the old wedding
stovepipe hat, and then they didn’t know what to do. And neither do I,
so I hope somebody will help those two poor little rabbits.
Well, after a while, along came Danny Fox. So Mr. Wicked Wolf said to
him: “You go around to the back of the stump and see if you can find
out anything, and I’ll stay here.”
Then Danny Fox crept around and as soon as he saw Uncle John Hare’s old
wedding stovepipe hat in the hole he knew who was inside. You bet he
did, even if he hadn’t smelt rabbit or seen little rabbit footprints in
the snow.
And then, pretty soon, Mr. Wicked Wolf pushed in the snowball and then
he pushed his head inside. But when he tried to pull it out, his head,
you know, not the snowball, he couldn’t. No, sireemam.
His head was stuck fast. But it isn’t very pleasant to have a big
wolf’s head inside a hollow stump when there’s hardly room enough for
you, let me say, and of course the two little rabbits were almost
scared to death.
And when Danny Fox saw what was the matter, he laughed so hard that he
rolled over and over on the snow and the first thing he knew he rolled
right down the hill.
Quick as a minute Uncle John Hare put on his hat and he and Little Jack
Rabbit hopped away as fast as they could, and even faster, and pretty
soon they came to the Old Bramble Patch, where Lady Love, the little
bunny’s mother, stood waiting for them.
THE POLICEMAN DOG
Now, I hated to end my last story without telling you what happened to
the Bunnysnowbile which the little rabbits left upside down beside the
old hollow stump where Mr. Wicked Wolf was caught fast, you remember.
But you see I didn’t have room, and where one doesn’t have room
one must leave a lot of things to the im-ag-in-ation, which means
“make-believe,” you know.
Well, at about 14 o’clock that very night Uncle John Hare heard the big
bell on the Bunnysnowbile ringing like everything. So he pushed up the
window and stuck out his head, and asked:
“Is that my dear old snowbile?”
“It certainly is,” said a voice, and then the lamps on the
Bunnysnowbile grew so bright that the old gentleman rabbit could see
who was sitting on the seat. And who do you think it was?
You can have three guesses and another one if you guess right. It was
the Policeman Dog. Yes, sir! There he sat as fine as you please, with
his club on his lap and his big silver badge on his coat.
“It’s very kind of you to bring back my Bunnysnowbile,” said Uncle John
Hare, and then he pulled his head in and went down stairs and showed
the Policeman Dog how to put the snow car into the stable without
waking up the Weathercock, who wasn’t asleep, anyway, but just minded
his own business like a well-behaved iron rooster.
And then Lady Love opened the kitchen door and asked the Policeman Dog
to come in and have a hot cup of carrot tea, and after a while he said
good-by and went home to his wife and seventeen children.
By and by the little rabbit said to his kind Uncle: “Let’s go out on
the Sunny Meadow and dance in the moonlight.”
But the old gentleman rabbit said no. He had a slight touch of
rheumatism in his left hind toe and wasn’t going to take any chances.
No, sireemam.
He wasn’t going to have plumbago, ammonia or anything else just for the
sake of dancing, and I don’t blame him either.
So everybody went to bed, and when Mr. Merry Sun woke up the next
morning he had a hard time waking up Mr. John Hare, for the old
gentleman rabbit was so sound asleep that if Lady Love hadn’t rung
the breakfast bell right over his head he might have slept on until
to-morrow’s story.
Well, after breakfast, as Little Jack Rabbit looked over the paper,
what do you suppose he saw? Why, a notice that Mr. Wicked Wolf had been
found with his head caught in an old hollow stump and that Old Man
Weasel had gone home to get his axe.
But when he had come back, Mr. Wicked Wolf had already pulled the stump
right out of the ground and had gone home with it on his head and it
had taken his wife two hours and eighty-five minutes to get it off.
“Gracious me!” exclaimed Lady Love. “Did you ever hear of such a
thing!” And then she opened the kitchen door and peeked out. But she
closed it mighty quickly, for she didn’t wish Uncle John Hare to catch
cold in his left hind toe.
THE OLD HOLLOW STUMP
Oh, dear me, how Mr. North Wind did blow! He rocked Mrs. Oriole’s nest
that hung from the willow tree by the Old Duck Pond back and forth till
Little Jack Rabbit thought it would come off and drop to the ground.
But it didn’t, for Mrs. Oriole knew how to knit, let me tell you, and
her stocking-like nest clung to the old willow tree like a thrift stamp
when you try to get it off to buy something you forgot to get before
the war began!
“Well, I guess I’ll let it alone,” said Mr. North Wind; “maybe Mrs.
Oriole will want to use it next spring. Perhaps she used up all her
wool making sweaters for the boys over there.”
“When do you go back north?” asked the little rabbit, for he was
thinking of the dear old summer time, when Granddaddy Bullfrog sat on
his log and caught flies and the darning-needles skimmed over the water.
“Oh, pretty soon, not so very long,” said Mr. North Wind. “When Miss
Spring and her little Balmy Breezes come tripping over the Sunny
Meadow, I’ll say good-by!” And then he whistled:
“I’m a husky old wind, I am,
I could blow the shell off a clam,
I shake the shutters and bang the doors,
And curl the nails on the pussy cat’s paws.”
And then that boisterous old wind went into the Shady Forest and
broke a dead limb off the old chestnut tree and nearly hit Squirrel
Nutcracker, who had come out of his hole for a few minutes to stretch
his legs.
Well, after that, the little rabbit hopped along, clipperty-lipperty,
and by and by he saw Mr. Wicked Wolf. Oh, dear me. Wasn’t that
dreadful, for who wants to meet a wolf even if his first name isn’t
wicked?
“Hello, little bunny. I haven’t seen you since the last time.”
“I wish you still had your head in the Hollow Stump,” shivered Little
Jack Rabbit, and then he wiggled his little pink nose so fast that Mr.
Wicked Wolf had to shut his eyes for fear he’d get dizzy.
“Stop that,” he shouted. “My head is going around and around and I
can’t keep my feet in one place on the ground.”
“I can’t either,” said the little rabbit, “I’m so frightened.” And
before that dreadful wolf opened his eyes, Little Jack Rabbit hopped
into an old hollow stump.
Well, pretty soon, Mr. Wicked Wolf opened one eye, just a little
bit, you know, and then he opened the other eye a little bit, but he
couldn’t see the little rabbit anywhere, so he opened both his eyes,
blink, blink, just like that.
“Where are you?” he asked, and he jumped over to the hollow stump,
following the little rabbit’s footprints in the snow, you see. But when
he looked down into the hollow stump there wasn’t any little white
shivering bunny there. No, Sireemam and No, Sireebus and No, Siree, Mr.
Prohibition Man.
MR. MINER MOLE
Now, I suppose you’ve been wondering what had become of Little Jack
Rabbit after hopping into the old hollow stump to get away from Mr.
Wicked Wolf. Well, you haven’t wondered nearly as much as that old
wicked wolf has, let me tell you. Why, he was so puzzled that he sat
down and took an Almanac out of his pocket and read it all through, but
even then he didn’t know anything.
“Goodness me, where has that little bunny gone?” he said, and then he
jumped right into the old hollow stump, head first, kerplump, just like
that. Down, down he went, until all of a sudden he landed somewhere he
didn’t just know where.
When, all of a sudden again, a voice said:
“You robber bold, how can you dare
To jump down here from way up there?”
“I beg your pardon,” said Mr. Wicked Wolf, and he fixed his cravat,
which was all loose and not tied in a nice little knot, “I’m sorry to
trouble you. But the fact is I was anxious about a little rabbit who
jumped in here a moment ago. Have you seen him? I can’t see you, but
maybe you saw him.”
“I’ll let you see me pretty soon,” said the voice, and then Mr. Wicked
Wolf began to get afraid. At first, you see, he wasn’t scared a bit,
but when he heard the voice say that, he began to tremble and wabble,
and his long bushy tail to droop on the ground.
“Let me out; please do,” he said. “I’ll never trouble you again.”
“Very well, then, cross your heart and repeat after me:
“I never break my promise,
For fear I’ll break my heart,
So I’ll give you my honest word,
And then we’ll kindly part,”
said the voice, and when Mr. Wicked Wolf had done that, the voice said:
“Now turn to your right and you’ll see a little ladder.” And sure
enough there was a little ladder running right up the inside of the
old hollow stump. And goodness me! As soon as Mr. Wicked Wolf saw the
ladder he went up it faster than a bricklayer with a hod of bricks on
his back, and in less time than I can tell you, he was out on the Sunny
Meadow and off for his home in the Shady Forest, for he lived, you
remember, not so very far from the Big Brown Bear’s cave.
And now I suppose you are still wondering where little Jack Rabbit was,
but I had to get rid of that dreadful wolf first before I could tell
you. Well, as soon as Mr. Wicked Wolf was out of the stump, which was
very dark inside, you know, somebody turned on an electric light way
down at the bottom. And who do you suppose it was? Why, Mr. Miner Mole.
It was he who had been talking to Mr. Wicked Wolf all the time, and now
on the next page you shall hear about Little Jack Rabbit.
PRECIOUS STONES
Well, as soon as Mr. Miner Mole turned on the electric light in his
cap, he said:
“Little Jack Rabbit, you can come out now, for Mr. Wicked Wolf has
gone.”
At once the little bunny hopped out of a door, and now you know where
he had been hiding. I declare, it has taken me almost three stories to
tell you, but I’ve been busy explaining what Mr. Wolf did and after
that what Mr. Miner Mole said.
“I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t taken care of me,”
said Little Jack Rabbit.
“Oh, don’t mention it,” said the kind mole. “I’m glad you came down
into my mine. I’ve had luck lately. I’ll give you a couple of diamonds
and three rubies. You can make your kind Uncle John Hare a present of
one or three, if you wish.”
And then that generous mole gave these beautiful precious stones to the
little bunny, and showed him how to climb the ladder.
“I wish I had a little cap like yours with an electric candle in it,”
said the rabbit. “I’d wear it at night and have lots of fun.” But the
mole wouldn’t give him his lamp. I guess he thought more of it than he
did of his diamonds and rubies.
Well, pretty soon, the little bunny said good-by and climbed up the
ladder, and when he got to the top he just peeped over the rim of the
old hollow stump, for he thought perhaps Mr. Wicked Wolf might be
hanging around, but he wasn’t, so he hopped away, clipperty-clipperty,
and by and by he thought of something.
“Gracious me! I almost forgot that I had two diamonds and three
rubies.” So he opened his knapsack to make sure. And now I suppose you
are saying to yourself, “That poor dear little rabbit has gone and lost
his precious stones!” But he hadn’t. There they were as safe as safe
could be in his knapsack, right alongside of a piece of apple pie and a
lollypop!