Well, as I was saying in the last story, Billy Bunny and his good, kind
Uncle Lucky said good-by to the Frog King. And the frog was very sorry
to see them go, for although he was a king, his kingdom was only a frog
pond.
But then, when you come to think of it, he couldn't have his kingdom any
place else, so of course he was contented, and that's the chief thing in
life, whether you're a king or a poor man.
"Now what are we going to do?" said Uncle Lucky as he and his rabbit
nephew rolled along as nicely as you please in the Luckymobile.
"Oh, just roll along," answered the little bunny, slipping his knapsack
off his shoulder and laying his striped candy cane down on the bottom of
the automobile, "I'm just glad to be riding with you, dear Uncle Luck."
And this so tickled the old gentleman rabbit that he turned to smile at
Billy Bunny, and then of course he didn't see where he was going, and
the first thing you know and the first thing he knew, the Luckymobile
ran right into a baker's shop and knocked over the counter, which was
full of pies and cakes.
"Oh, please excuse me!" cried kind Uncle Lucky to the bakerman, who was
a big, red-faced Turkey Gobbler. But, oh, dear me! As soon as that
Turkey Gobbler saw Uncle Lucky's red tie he made a rush at the old
gentleman rabbit, for turkeys, you know, get terribly mad when they see
anything red, and if Uncle Lucky hadn't jumped out of the way that
Turkey Gobbler would have picked the diamond pin right out of the tie.
Yes, sir, I'm sure he would, and Uncle Lucky was very fond of his
diamond pin because little Billy Bunny had given it to him, you
remember, some seventeen or more stories ago.
Well, while the ugly red-faced turkey was chasing dear Uncle Lucky all
around the back yard, Billy Bunny backed the automobile out of the bake
shop, and after he had scraped custard pie off the cabaret and lemon pie
off the left front wheel and squash pie off the right front wheel and a
dozen other kinds of pie off the two front lights, Uncle Lucky came
hopping around the corner of the bake shop with the ugly red-faced
turkey gobbler baker close behind him.
[Illustration: THE TADPOLE CAME BACK WITH WATERCRESS SANDWICHES
AND POND-LILY MILK.]
"Start her up! Start her up!" yelled the old gentleman rabbit. And Billy
Bunny did, and Uncle Lucky jumped into the automobile just in time, too,
for the Turkey Gobbler almost had him by the tail.
"Here's some money to pay for your pies," cried the honest old gentleman
bunny, and he threw twenty or less carrot cents at the turkey gobbler,
who gobbled them up, I mean picked them up, in a hurry for fear they
might take root in the ground and grow into plain ordinary carrots if he
let them lie there a minute.
And by this time of course the two rabbits were far away in their
automobile, and if the next story has to be written to-night, as I know
it must, I'll stop right here and wish you pleasant dreams and happy
wakening.