THE BUNNY SCHOOL
The summer had passed and September had come. All the school bells were
ringing.
The Runaway Bunny said:
“There is one thing I can remember,
School begins in glad September.”
[Illustration: “Went hippety-hop down the path”]
He packed his neat little dinner pail and went hippety-hop down the
path, singing happy little songs like this:
The Runaway Bunny, as a rule,
Likes to run away,
The Runaway Bunny said, “To school
I go this September day.
“I don’t know the words,
I don’t know the tune.
I’m the Runaway Bunny;
I’ll get to school soon.”
“Don’t be so sure of that,” called Pit-A-Pat.
“Don’t be so sure you’ll get there soon,” said Rough Coat.
“You may not get there until afternoon,” growled Old Brother Bear.
“I never before have made a rhyme,
But I think you’ll not get there on time!”
whispered Old Foxy-Lox, peering at the Runaway Bunny from his hiding
place.
The school bells all sang:
“Come to school. Ding, dong!
Don’t be late. Run along!”
At this very minute the Runaway Bunny thought of something he had
forgotten.
He stopped short in the path, saying:
“I’ll hide my dinner pail in the wood
And get me a pencil as a rabbit should!”
He put his dinner pail down by a log and went hurrying home to get a
lead pencil. Soon he came back hippety-hop with his pencil in his
overalls pocket.
He stopped to look for his dinner pail. It was gone!
He shouted to Pit-A-Pat, who had gone on ahead:
“To get to school I will not fail,
But where, oh where is my dinner pail?”
Pit-A-Pat said she knew nothing about the lost dinner pail.
Soon the Runaway Bunny caught up with Rough Coat and said:
“It makes me shake my stubby tail
To think I lost my dinner pail.”
[Illustration: “Brother Bear came up and whispered softly”]
Then Brother Bear came up and whispered softly:
“Ask Foxy-Lox down in his den,
And his little gentlemen!”
The Runaway Bunny was very angry to think Foxy-Lox would take his dinner
pail. He wanted to go to Foxy-Lox’s house and get it back.
But Old Brother Bear said:
“I’d rather lose a pail or two
Than have him make a meal of you!”
The Runaway Bunny saw that Brother Bear was right. It would never do to
go to Foxy-Lox’s house for his dinner pail. Besides, that sly fox would
never give it back.
So the Runaway Bunny ran on to school and got there just two minutes
late.
[Illustration: “All the Bunnies were in their seats”]
All the Bunnies were in their seats, ready for work. The Runaway Bunny
took his seat and began to learn a rhyme the rest were studying.
He said it over to himself:
“September’s here to visit us,
In gold and russet gown;
And we’ve been busy Bunnies since
September’s come to town.”
The Runaway Bunny was a smart little fellow. He liked to learn his
ABC’s.
He learned to read very well and he went to school sixteen days in
September.
Then one bright afternoon he heard the birds singing:
“Good-bye, good-bye! To the South we go;
Autumn is coming, and winter with snow.”
He wished he could fly like his feathered friends.
Suddenly he remembered how fast he could run.
He did not wait for the close of school but went hippety-hop out of the
window, singing:
“Long ago I formed the habit
Of running away. I’m the Runaway Rabbit.”
He stayed in the woods all the rest of September.
[Illustration: “Learned the names of the flowers”]
From Old Brother Bear he learned the names of all the fall fruits and
flowers.
Suddenly he decided to go to town; and he left the wild woods, singing:
“The Runaway Bunny was made for play,
I’m running away! I’m running away!
Soon comes November, but still I’ll remember
The things I have learned in happy September.”
The Runaway Bunny was running away toward town.
[Illustration: The Bunny.]