It was a bright and beautiful sunshiny morning as Billy Bunny hopped out
of the woodpile where he had slept all night and started off on his
journey of adventure.
He had only gone a little ways when all of a sudden from behind a bush
out jumped a big Billy Goat. He had a long goatee and he looked very
fierce, and when he lowered his head and pointed his horns at the little
rabbit, how do you suppose Billy Bunny felt?
Well, he felt just like a piece of paper all crinkled up, he was so
scarified. And so would you, for that goat's horns were as sharp as
needles.
"Stop! Stop!" cried the little rabbit. "Don't you know who I am? Billy
Bunny's my name, from Old Brier Patch, Snake Fence Corner," and then he
handed his card to the angry Billy Goat, who ate it up without even
reading it. Wasn't that rude in him?
"I don't like your card a bit," said the Goat. "It tastes like
peppermint." Of course it did, for the little rabbit carried his striped
candy cane in his front paws, and some of the candy came off on them and
got on to the card when he handed it to the Billy Goat.
"If you had read it you wouldn't have tasted the peppermint," said Billy
Bunny politely, not wishing to make the Goat feel badly.
Well, by this time the Goat had raised his head and so his sharp horns
didn't point at Billy Bunny, which made him feel lots better. Then he
opened his knapsack and took out an apple-pie and gave it to the Goat,
who ate it up in two and a half bites, and then asked for more.
"Sorry, but that's all I have," said the little rabbit. "Would you like
a lollypop?" And when that was all gone, the little rabbit brought out a
chocolate cake and the Goat ate that up just as fast.
"What else have you?" asked the Goat, wiping the crumbs from his goatee
and peeking over Billy Bunny's shoulder.
"I've got a pair of rubber boots," said the little rabbit. And would you
believe it, that Goat ate those rubber boots up too and then asked for
more.
"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" sighed Billy Bunny, and he hunted all through his
knapsack again until he found a policeman's whistle. "That's all I've
got left, Mr. Billy Goat."
"Well, I'll eat that for dessert," and the hungry, starving goat
commenced to eat that whistle as though he hadn't tasted any kind of
food for a year and five minutes. But would you believe me again? That
whistle began to whistle and this so scared the Billy Goat that he ran
away.
And if that whistle doesn't keep me awake all night so that I'll have to
sleep all day tomorrow I'll tell you in the next story how Billy Bunny
went to see his kind Uncle Lucky.