"Well, that's a great relief," exclaimed Uncle Lucky, as the ambulance
drove away with Old Man Weasel, who had tried to eat up Billy Bunny and
his kind uncle in the story before this, and would have swallowed them
both if the little rabbit hadn't hit him with a cork bullet from his
popgun, you remember.
Of course, it was very kind of Billy Bunny to call up the ambulance to
take away the wicked weasel, after he had sprained his ankle, but it was
also very wise. For who wants a wicked weasel around, even if he has a
sprained ankle and can't do you any harm?
Well, after everything was quiet and the Policeman Dog had taken a drink
of cider and a cigar, the two little rabbits sat down on the front
porch, for it was too late to go to bed, or maybe it was too early, for
the first faint streaks of daylight were spreading over the sky, and by
the time Uncle Lucky could unlace his shoes and untie his red cravat and
wind his gold watch, it would be time to get dressed again.
So he and Billy Bunny sat down and waited for breakfast, and by and by
the Japanese cook came out to sweep off the front porch, and when he saw
Mr. Lucky Lefthindfoot and his nephew, Billy Bunny, sitting there, he
ran back into the kitchen and dropped two eggs on the floor and put the
tea into the coffee grinder and the salt into the sugar bowl, he was so
excited because he thought it must be 'way past breakfast time.
And then the old gentleman rabbit began to sing:
"Never hurry--makes worry;
Worry makes you thin.
If you're clever you'll endeavor
Never to begin."
And I guess the Japanese cook heard him, for in a few minutes breakfast
was ready, and this time the eggs were dropped on toast instead of the
floor.
By and by, after Uncle Lucky had smoked his cigar, he and Billy Bunny
went out to the garage and cranked up the Luckymobile and went for a
ride. And when they had gone for a mile or less they came across their
old friend the Circus Elephant.
But, oh, dear me! He was an awful sight. His left eye had a bandage over
it and his trunk was rolled up in cotton and his left hind foot had an
old carpet slipper on and his tail was done up in splints and he was
weeping great big tears, for he felt dreadfully miserable.
"What is the matter?" asked Billy Bunny, as Uncle Lucky stopped the
automobile.
"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" sobbed the big animal. "I was in a Fourth of July
celebration and the roman candles got mixed up with the sky-rockets and
the cannon crackers with the pin wheels, and the first thing I knew I
was hit in two million, nine hundred and a few dozen places, and if it
hadn't been for a pink cross nurse I'd be a dead elephant by this time."
"Get into the automobile," said Uncle Lucky, "and we'll take you home
with us," and in the next story, if the catbird doesn't scratch the
dogfish, I'll tell you who broke the springs in the automobile, unless
you guess who did before to-morrow night.