can just see the tips of his ears.”
“Dear me, how can I get over to him without Hungry Hawk seeing me?”
asked the big anxious Elephant.
“Hide behind this rock,” advised the little goat. “I’ll skip about
and maybe Hungry Hawk will go for me. If he does, I’ll jump behind
the rock and you can grab him with your long trunk.”
“Good idea,” laughed the Elephant softly. “You’ve got quite a head
under your horns. Yes, sireebus!”
Then with a gentle shuffle he tip-toed behind the rock and the little
Mountain Goat went skip-toeing, hipperty-hop, over toward the big
nest.
All of a sudden there was a great whirring of wings and up flew
Hungry Hawk, circling just above the little goat, stretching down his
long sharp claws, opening his great bill and clapping it together
with a snap.
“Bleat, bleat!” went the little Mountain Goat, pretending he was
frightened. Then back he turned and skip-toed over to the big rock.
“Ha, ha!” thought Hungry Hawk to himself. “I’ll have a nice tender
little goat for dinner. Little Jack Rabbit is only big enough for
supper.”
Perhaps the little goat heard old Hungry Hawk, for he gave two more
little bleats and hid behind the great big stone.
“Ha, ha!” again laughed Hungry Hawk. “I’ll dash down behind that
rock and grab that little goat before he can wink his left eye three
times!”
Whish, whish! went the big robber bird’s wings, and swish! swish!
went his long tail as he swung around the corner of the big rock.
Then something happened. Oh, my, what a scuffle there was for the
next few minutes! Goodness me! The air was full of funny squawky
noises and feathers were flying here and there and everywhere! For no
sooner had Hungry Hawk flown around the big rock to catch the little
Mountain Goat than the Circus Elephant reached out his long trunk,
catching by the neck that wicked bird before he could turn away.
Goodness me! again. How Hungry Hawk flapped his wings and wiggled
his tail and clawed with his long hooked toes! But that didn’t do a
bit of good. Dear me, no! It only made matters worse, for the harder
he struggled the more the Elephant swung him around until, goodness
knows, he would have lost every feather if he hadn’t begged in a
squeaky, stifled voice to be allowed to sit down and talk matters
over.
“Talk matters over?” grunted the Elephant, holding on to the tip of
the old hawk’s tail, “what’s the use? I’m going to take Little Jack
Rabbit home with me. As for you, I’ve a good notion to whack your
head against the rock till you see stars and comets.”
“Oh, please don’t,” begged Hungry Hawk, “I’ve had enough banging for
a year. I’ll give you Little Jack Rabbit and a cigar coupon if you’ll
let me go.”
“Come along with me till I see if the little bunny is safe and well,”
answered the big circus animal, and he and the little Mountain Goat
walked over to the old hawk’s nest. There stood poor little Jack
Rabbit tied fast to a ring in the big rock. He was so glad to see his
dear friend the Elephant that he almost cried—maybe he did shed a
tear or three and perhaps four.
Well, sir. Troubles weren’t over, just the same. For now they all had
to climb down the high, steep and straight mountain side.
“Get on my back, little bunny,” said the kind Circus Elephant. “I’ll
go down backwards the same as I came up frontwards, only different.”
Then the little Mountain Goat braced his forefeet against the rock
and the big elephant took hold of the lasso, the loop end of which
was over the little goat’s horns, you know, and down the side of
the steep mountain slid the big animal, first one foot, then two,
then three and finally four, and when he reached the end of the rope
he waited for the little Mountain Goat to come down, and then they
started all over again. The little Mountain Goat braced his feet
against the rock and the big elephant took hold of the rope and slid
and slid and scrambled and scrambled, or jiggled and rumbled, down
and down, until he came to the end of the long lasso.
“My goodness meebus, that was a high mountain,” gasped the Circus
Elephant, when at last his hind feet touched the level meadow.
“Really, I thought I’d never get down.”
“Oh, that’s nothing,” laughed the little Mountain Goat, shaking his
head till the lasso fell off his horns. “I run up and down sometimes
three times a day.”
“All right, but don’t ask me to,” replied the Elephant. “Although I’d
do it all over again for Little Jack Rabbit’s sake.”
[Illustration: A tiny light appeared in the distance.]
“Oh, won’t I be glad to get home to mother,” sighed the little bunny.
“I was so frightened up there on the mountain top with Hungry Hawk.
Dear, dear me! Have I been dreaming?”
“No, not this time,” answered the big circus animal. “But, cheer
up! I’ll take you home in a jiffy,” and saying good-by to the little
Mountain Goat he trotted off at a rapid rate.
By and by it grew dark. Oh, yes, very dark. You couldn’t see your
hand behind your face. So the Circus Elephant stopped to think what
was best to do. He was afraid, you see, that he might bump into
something or other or be arrested by the Policeman Dog. One can never
tell on a dark night what may happen.
Pretty soon a tiny light appeared in the distance. Then it came
nearer and nearer, but never growing much larger. Wasn’t that strange
and queer?
“My tiny lantern in the dark
Throws just a little twinkle spark.
But maybe it will help you see
Danny Fox behind a tree,”
cried a little voice.
And that’s just what it did, for the little firefly swung her tiny
lantern to and fro until the big elephant said all of a sudden:
“I see him!” Which so frightened the old robber that he turned and
fled.
“Go ahead, little firefly. I’ll follow if you don’t go out,” went on
the big brave circus animal.
“Never fear,” answered the little firefly. “I have a tiny electric
bulb in my lantern. You don’t think I use a flickery candle, do you?”
“Bend your head or maybe you’ll be brushed off my back,” warned the
Circus Elephant, following the tiny light. So Little Jack Rabbit lay
flat down on the big animal’s back and away they went through the
darkness, in and out among the forest trees, while Billy Breeze sang
a sleepy song about rocking chairs and tick-tocky clocks and tired
feet and little pink socks.
BUNNY TALE 12
THE RESCUE
The Firefly with her little light
Went twinkling through the quiet night.
In and out among the trees
She fluttered ’neath the whispering leaves,
Until at last with wondrous sense
She lighted on the Old Rail Fence.
“Here we are,” exclaimed the Circus Elephant, taking down the bars
and stepping into the Sunny Meadow, “here we are, safe home at last.”
But Little Jack Rabbit never answered a word.
“He must be asleep,” thought the kind Circus Elephant. “I won’t wake
him up,” and off he trotted to the Old Bramble Patch. There stood
Lady Love and Mr. Rabbit at the gate, anxiously waiting for the
return of their little bunny son.
“Here he is,” laughed the big animal.
“Where?” asked Lady Love.
“Why, on my back, of course,” answered the Circus Elephant.
“I don’t see him,” said Mr. Rabbit.
“Nor I,” cried Lady Love, tearfully.
“Not on my back?” shouted the big kind circus beast, stretching
around his big trunk to feel behind his great ears. But the little
rabbit wasn’t there.
“Oh, dear, oh, dear!” cried Lady Love, “he’s lost.”
“Don’t cry,” begged Mr. Rabbit. “We’ll find him, never fear,” and
hopping back into the little bungalow, he came out in a minute or two
with a lantern. At once they all set out for the Shady Forest. All of
a sudden Old Barney Owl tooted his horn.
“I don’t like that,” cried Mr. Rabbit; “owls are fond of little
rabbits.”
“Come on, let’s run,” whispered the big Elephant. “Maybe we can scare
the old bird,” and off he trotted at a rapid rate, the little bunnies
hopping along, clipperty clip, lipperty lip, and the big circus
animal bumperty bump, bumperty bump on his four large feet.
Pretty soon again from a big tall tree sounded the old owl’s toot!
toot! toot! Quick as a wink the Circus Elephant pushed his trunk up
into the branches and the next minute down came Old Barney Owl. The
Elephant, you see, had grabbed him before he could fly away.
“What have you done with Little Jack Rabbit?” he asked, shaking the
old bird until his teeth—I beg pardon, I mean his feathers—almost
fell out.
“Oh, please don’t shake me till I’m blue
And lose my feather whiskers, too,”
Cried Barney Owl, all out of breath,
And frightened nearly half to death.
“I haven’t done anything with him.”
“Yes, you have,” shouted the two little rabbits.
“Of course you have,” said the elephant, “now confess.”
But Old Barney Owl answered: “No, no, no! I haven’t even seen Little
Jack Rabbit!”
“Well, you come along and help us find him,” said the Circus
Elephant, and off they started again, the two little bunnies ahead,
then the big Elephant and Old Barney Owl.
By and by whom should they meet but Old Man Weasel. He tried not to
show himself, but before the old four-footed, tip-toey thief could
hide he was made to answer a lot of questions.
“What have you done with Little Jack Rabbit?” asked the big Circus
Elephant.
“What have you done with our little son?” demanded Mr. Rabbit and
Lady Love.
“I haven’t seen him,” answered Old Man Weasel.
“Are you telling the truth?” asked the Elephant.
“I certainly am,” answered the old weasel. “I wouldn’t be hanging
around here if I had caught a nice fat little bunny.”
“Well, you come along with us. That will keep you out of mischief.
When we’ve found Little Jack Rabbit you can go home to your wife,”
answered the big Elephant.
So off again started the party, Old Barney Owl ahead, next the two
little rabbits, then the big Elephant and Old Man Weasel.
All of a sudden, just like that, there sounded a mournful howl. Oh,
dear me! but it was a hair-raising, teeth-chattering, goosey-flesh
kind of a cry.
“What’s that?” asked Lady Love, with a shiver.
“Mr. Wicked Wolf,” replied the big Elephant, with a loud trumpet. At
once Mr. Wicked Wolf answered with a dismal howl. Then the Elephant
trumpeted again.
“Mr. Wicked Wolf has a dismal howl
And a big red mouth and an angry scowl,
His teeth are long and sharp and thin,
Oh, your knees knock together when you see him grin,”
whispered Old Barney Owl, as a dark shadow crept in and out among the
trees.
“What have you done with Little Jack Rabbit?” demanded the big Circus
Elephant.
“I haven’t seen him,” answered Mr. Wicked Wolf.
“Yes, you have,” cried Lady Love.
“What do you know about it?” snarled the old wolf. “If the big
Elephant weren’t around I’d make you keep quiet.”
“That’s enough,” said the Elephant, reaching out his trunk to tweak
Mr. Wicked Wolf’s ear. “Don’t get gay around here. You come along and
help find the little rabbit. You’ll be out of mischief while with us
and if we don’t find him pretty soon, I’ll put you and Old Man Weasel
and Old Barney Owl in a big bag and shake you up and down and all
around till your bones rattle!”
Then off again started the party, Old Barney Owl in the lead, Mr.
Wicked Wolf and Old Man Weasel next, then Mr. Rabbit and Lady Love,
and last of all, the big Circus Elephant. Every once in a while he’d
swing his long lasso, cow-boy fashion, around Mr. Wicked Wolf, or
pull up Old Man Weasel with a sharp jerk. And now and then, so’s not
to let Old Barney Owl feel lonesome, he’d drop the noose around that
old night bird’s head and yank him over backwards. This kept these
three bad people mighty well behaved, let me tell you, while looking
for Little Jack Rabbit—or pretending to look for him.
All of a sudden Danny Fox was seen sneaking behind a pile of brush.
“Come here, you old chicken thief,” shouted the Elephant, and without
waiting for the old fox to decide whether he would or not, the big
Elephant threw the lasso over his head, pulling him in as nicely as
you please.
“Tell me what you’ve done with Little Jack Rabbit?” demanded the big
circus animal, giving the rope a jerk to make the old fox answer
quickly.
“I haven’t seen him,” replied Danny Fox, with a whine. “I haven’t
seen him for a long time.”
“Yes, you have,” shouted the two little rabbits.
“What have you done with Little Jack Rabbit?” once more demanded the
Elephant, although he’d already twice asked Danny Fox that very same
question.
“I haven’t seen the little bunny,” again whined the old fox, “indeed,
I am telling the truth.”
[Illustration: “What’s that?” asked Lady Love.]
“You never told the truth in your life,” cried the big Elephant.
“You’re an old chicken thief!”
“Please, please, don’t jerk that rope,” begged Danny Fox. “It hurts
my neck.”
“Well, come along with us,” said the big circus animal, “you may help
us find Little Jack Rabbit. At any rate, we’ll know where you are,”
and he made the old fox join the party.
By and by, after a while, as they marched through the Shady Forest,
looking here and peeking there, up and down and all around, they
heard a little voice say;
“I know where Little Jack Rabbit is.”
“Where?” cried Lady Love.
“Where?” shouted Mr. Rabbit.
“Tell us quick,” cried the big Circus Elephant, holding up his ears
to catch the faint whisper.
Then the little voice came again, only a little louder than before.
“Over there by the Bubbling Brook,
Where it turns and twists in the shady nook,
Caught in between two little trees,
Little Jack Rabbit is held by the knees.”
“Thank you, little voice,” cried Lady Love, and away she hopped to
the shady nook, followed by Mr. Rabbit and the rest—only the rest
didn’t hop, they all ran, except Old Barney Owl, who flew.
Pretty soon, not so very far, they reached the Bubbling Brook and,
following it along, they hurried on until, all of a sudden, they
heard Little Jack Rabbit calling for help.
“Cheer up, my baby rabbit,” shouted Lady Love.
Goodness me! how fast Lady Love hopped along until, quicker than a
wink, she came to the two little trees.
“Oh, my little bunny,” she sobbed. “Are you hurt?”
“Maybe,” answered Little Jack Rabbit. “I’m not quite sure.”
Just then up came the big Circus Elephant. Bending apart the two
trees with his great strong trunk, he shouted:
“Pull him out! pull him out!”
But Little Jack Rabbit didn’t need any help. No, sireemam. No sooner
were the trees pushed apart than out he hopped all by himself right
into Lady Love’s arms. And I guess that’s the nicest place to be when
you’re hurt—right in mother’s arms.
“Now all you old robbers can go home,” said the big circus animal.
“Good-by,” said Old Man Weasel.
“Good-by,” cried Mr. Wicked Wolf.
“So long,” whined Danny Fox.
“Tooty fruiti!” cried Old Barney Owl, and the next minute there was
no one left but the three little rabbits and the big Circus Elephant.
“Come here,” said the big kind animal and carefully picking up Little
Jack Rabbit with his strong trunk, lifted him up on his back.
“Now we’ll go home to the Old Bramble Patch,” and off he trotted,
followed by Mr. Rabbit and Lady Love.
By and by, after a while, and many a mile, they came to the Rail
Fence. Crossing the Sunny Meadow, although of course it wasn’t sunny
at this hour—night time, you know,—they soon reached the Old Bramble
Patch.
“Oh, I’m so happy,” laughed Lady Love, as the big elephant placed her
little rabbit on the ground, “I’m so happy I don’t know how to thank
you.”
“Don’t,” replied the big kind animal. “Just let me know the next time
you bake an Angel Cake—that’s all,” and off he trotted to the Shady
Forest.
“Good-by, old friend,” called Mr. Rabbit.
“I’ll see you all again,” replied the Elephant. “But I must hurry,
for to-morrow the circus closes in Turnip City, and I must be there
to help take down the big tent.”
It wasn’t long before all three little bunnies were sound asleep. Mr.
Rabbit and Lady Love were tired out from their long search and Little
Jack Rabbit,—well, he was tired and sleepy, anyway, as all small
bunnies should be.
BUNNY TALE 13
DANNY FOX
“Wake up, wake up, it’s breakfast time!
The Old Red Rooster is crowing a rime,
The doves on the roof are cooing away
And Bobbie Redvest is singing his lay,”
sang the musical alarm clock.
Out of bed hopped Little Jack Rabbit and parting his hair down the
middle of his back with a little chip, picked up his knapsack and
hurried down to the breakfast table.
Lady Love’s carrot coffee and lollypop porridge soon made the little
bunny lose his appetite. Wasn’t that too bad? Well, I don’t know. I’d
gladly lose my appetite for lollypop stew.
“Where’s father?” he asked, wiping his lips on a nice clean lettuce
leaf napkin.
“Down at the Post Office,” answered his pretty mother. “He said for
you to stay near the Old Bramble Patch until he got back.”
“All right,” answered the good little bunny. “May I go now, mother
dear?”
“Have you polished the front doorknob and fed the canary and filled
the woodbox?” she asked, with a smile. I guess she knew the little
rabbit had forgotten all about his daily morning duties.
“Dear, dear, I forgot,” cried the little bunny and, picking up the
box of brass polish and a rag, he set to work on the doorknob. Pretty
soon it looked like a golden ball under the bright beams of Mr. Merry
Sun. Perhaps he thought he’d help the little rabbit. Who knows!
Next the bunny boy fed the pretty canary in her little gold cage,
which hung in the kitchen during the winter, but when the days grew
warm and bright, on the front porch. After her tiny cup was filled
with birdseed the little bunny hopped out to the woodpile.
“Hello, there,” said the Old Red Rooster, whom Uncle Lucky had sent
over to spade the kitchen garden and plant the vegetables, “how’s
Little Jack Rabbit this morning?”
“Oh, I’m all right,” answered the little bunny, picking up the hoe
which the old fowl had left by the flower-bed. “I’m all right and I’m
all glad and I’m fond of my mother and my dad.”
“Whoa, there, Mr. Rabbit Poet!” cried the Old Red Rooster. “How do
you get that way?”
“I’ve been reading a poetry book,” answered the little bunny, handing
a rose to Lady Love, who at that moment hopped out to the garden.
Pretty soon she went back in the kitchen. It’s mighty lucky that she
did, for just then, all of a sudden, something happened. And it would
have been quite dreadful if the Old Red Rooster hadn’t given a timely
warning. Yes, sir, if, right then he hadn’t hollered “Look out!”
there would be little use in my putting it in now.
The moment the little bunny heard the warning he hopped through the
window, quick as a wink. And it was mighty lucky that he did, for
right there under the trees stood Danny Fox.
“Good morning,” he said, with a smile. But it didn’t look like a
smile to Little Jack Rabbit. Oh, dear, no! It looked like a great big
white-toothed grin. That’s what it did, and I guess the little bunny
was right.
“I think it’s a bad morning,” replied Little Jack Rabbit. “You’ve
changed everything.”
“Don’t say that,” whined Danny Fox. “What makes you so unfriendly?”
“Never you mind, you old robber,” shouted the Old Red Rooster from
the top of the woodshed, on which he had taken refuge.
“Oh, you’re around,” snarled Danny Fox. “I thought you were working
for Uncle Lucky Lefthindfoot, the old gentleman rabbit.”
“Well, you’ve got another think,” replied the Old Red Rooster, “and
if you don’t get out of here I’ll send a wireless message to the
Policeman Dog to put you in jail.”
“Yes, you will,” sneered the old fox. “How are you going to send a
message, I’d like to know.”
“Ha, ha!” laughed the Old Red Rooster, with a jump and a big flap of
his wings. And, would you believe it! he flew from the woodshed right
over to the roof of the cowshed next the Little Red Barn! Then up he
jumped to the little window overhead. That’s what he did, the wise
old fowl.
“I wonder what he’s going to do?” thought Danny Fox, beginning to
grow uneasy. “I wonder what he’s up to?” and again the old fox looked
here and there, fearing some trick was to be sprung upon him.
[Illustration: “I won’t hop out till Danny Fox goes home.”]
“Cock-a-doodle do!” all of a sudden shouted the Old Red Rooster.
“What do you want?” asked Lady Love, looking out of the attic window.
But on seeing Danny Fox she almost fainted.
“Don’t worry, mother,” cried Little Jack Rabbit. “I’m safe in the
kitchen. I won’t hop out till Danny Fox goes home.”
“Ha, ha!” laughed that old robber, “maybe I’ll wait here till the 4th
of July.”
“Oh, dear! Oh, dear!” cried the little rabbit’s mother, anxiously,
“please go away, Danny Fox.”
“No, siree!” answered that wicked animal. “I shall stay right here
for a year and a day, and maybe I’ll never go away.”
Now wasn’t that a dreadful thing to hear? Well, I guess it was. But
just you wait a minute. I think the Old Red Rooster up in the loft of
the Little Red Barn will do something, and do it mighty quick, let me
tell you.
“Hello, hello!” he shouted, all of a sudden, just like that, from the
tiny window of the Little Red Barn.
“I’m listening,” answered Lady Love from the attic.
“I hear you,” called out Little Jack Rabbit from the kitchen. But
Danny Fox didn’t say a word.
“Something’s going to happen in a minute,” shouted the Old Red
Rooster. “Yes, sireebus, something’s going to happen!”
“I wonder what?” thought Danny Fox, looking this way and that way and
every other way. But he saw nothing, except the grass waving in the
Sunny Meadow and the treetops bending in the Shady Forest.
Pretty soon he looked up at Lady Love, then at the Old Red Rooster.
What were they doing? And why was the Old Red Rooster waving his
pocket handkerchief? And why was Lady Love nodding her head?
“Dear, dear!” thought the old fox, “are they crazy?”
Just then, all of a sudden, just like that, quicker than bills on
the first of the month, over the Old Rail Fence jumped the Policeman
Dog, the Yellow Dog Tramp, the Stagecoach Dog Driver, the Billy Goat
Ferryman, the Big Brown Bear and dear Uncle Lucky, the old gentleman
rabbit.
“O-o-o-o!” whined Danny Fox, looking for a way to escape. By the
woodpile stood the Policeman Dog, a few feet away the Yellow Dog
Tramp, over by the Little Red Barn the Stagecoach Dog; by the kitchen
door the Billy Goat Ferryman, at the Old Rail Fence the Big Brown
Bear and a few hops away, dear Uncle Lucky.
“O-o-o-o,” again whined Danny Fox. He felt something was going to
happen to him. He knew the Policeman Dog, the Yellow Dog Tramp, the
Stagecoach Dog Driver, the Billy Goat Ferryman, the Big Brown Bear
and dear Uncle Lucky, the old gentleman bunny, hadn’t jumped over the
Old Rail Fence for fun, but he didn’t know that the Old Red Rooster
had sent for them on the radio.
Yes, siree, something was, and is, going to happen to that dreadful
fox, for, quick as a wink, they all closed in on him and before he
could say a word or two or three, but no more, the Policeman Dog
snapped a pair of handcuffs over his front paws.
“Now, old Danny Fox, you’ll go
To jail in just a minute,
And there you’ll stay for many a day
Securely locked up in it,”
sang the Policeman Dog, swinging his club up and down just like the
leader of the orchestra in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”
“I hope you’ll keep him there for even longer,” said the old
gentleman bunny. “He’s always after Little Jack Rabbit and me. Just
the other day he nearly caught up to the Luckymobile. If he had, he
would have bitten the tires.”
“He’s forever hanging around the ferryslip, waiting for a chance
to grab Grandmother Goose on her way home,” said the Billy Goat
Ferryman. “I never cross the river in my ferryboat but what I see him
sneaking along the shore.”
“He’s always trying to hold-up my stagecoach and rob the passengers,”
cried the Old Dog Driver, taking his pipe out of his mouth. “Only
last week a little pig passenger nearly died of fright when he
pointed his pistol at her.”
“He’s a bad lot,” said the Yellow Dog Tramp. “I often see him
stealing chickens from the farmyards.”
“He’d better keep away from my Cozy Cave,” growled the Big Brown
Bear. “If I ever catch him stealing lollypops I’ll break every bone
in his body.”
“Do you hear what they say about you?” asked the Policeman Dog,
giving Danny Fox a good shake.
“Please let me go,” begged the old fox, “I’ve two little boys at
home who will miss Daddy Fox if he isn’t home for supper.”
“Let him go,” begged the tender-hearted little bunny, “Bushytail and
Slyboots will miss him so. They think he’s a lovely father.”
“Well, what do you say?” asked the Policeman Dog, turning to Uncle
Lucky.
“Oh, let me go home to my den in the rocks,
Bushytail will be watching for me,
And Slyboots will stand at the old kitchen door
While Mrs. Fox puts on the tea.