"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" sighed Billy Bunny, and he hunted all through hisknapsack again until he found a policeman's whistle. "That's all I'vegot left, Mr. Billy Goat."
"Well, I'll eat that for dessert," and the hungry, starving goatcommenced to eat that whistle as though he hadn't tasted any kind offood for a year and five minutes. But would you believe me again? Thatwhistle began to whistle and this so scared the Billy Goat that he ranaway.
And if that whistle doesn't keep me awake all night so that I'll have tosleep all day tomorrow I'll tell you in the next story how Billy Bunnywent to see his kind Uncle Lucky.
STORY VII--BILLY BUNNY AND THE HEAD OF LETTUCE
Oh, it's dreadful to be lonely, Even when you're not alone, And you may be dreadful mournful Though you have a happy tone. And your lips may keep a-smiling Though the tears are in your eyes. Have you never seen it raining, When the sun is in the skies? If the one you want to be with Isn't all the time with you, There is nothing that will make you Feel anything but blue.
And this was the way little Billy Bunny felt. You see, he hadn't seenhis dear, kind Uncle Lucky for so long that the gold watch and chainwhich the old gentleman rabbit had given him needed winding.
So after the little rabbit had wound up the chain and put the watch backin his pocket, he started out to see his uncle, Mr. Lucky Lefthindfoot,who lived on Carrot street, near Lettuce Avenue, Bunnybridge, U. S. A.
Well, after Billy Bunny had hopped and hopped and then some more, hecame to a cross road, and the sign on the post said, "5,281-1/2 hops toBunnybridge."
"Well, I'm glad I'm on the right road," said the little rabbit, and hetook half a hop so as to start out even, you know, because he never didlike fractions, and by and by he came to Lettuce avenue. But just thensomething happened. Something usually does happen when you least expectit, and that's what's going to happen now if my typewriter doesn't getbalky and throw my hands off the keyboard.
Yes, sir! Just as that dear little bunny stepped on Lettuce avenuesomething big and soft hit him between his left ear and his left hindfoot and knocked the breath right out of him. And so of course hecouldn't say "Oh, dear; oh, dear!" so I'm going to make the typewritersay it for him.
And that will give him time to get his breath so that he can say it ifhe wants to. Well, after that he looked around to find out what had hithim, and what do you suppose it was that had knocked the "Oh, dear me!"out of him! I'll tell you right away--a great big head of lettuce. Thereit lay on the ground. So the little rabbit picked it up and was justgoing to put it in his knapsack for his Uncle Lucky, when a cross voicecalled out:
"Don't you touch that lettuce, For it belongs to me, And I am going to take it Home with me for tea."
"Who are you?" asked the little rabbit, dropping the lettuce and lookingall around. But he couldn't see anybody, and neither can I, so I'm goingto let Billy Bunny look again. And this time he saw a Scarecrow in thefield close by.
And if the old clothes man doesn't throw another head of lettuce and hitmy typewriter so it won't talk to the paper I'll tell you another storyto-morrow.
STORY VIII--BILLY BUNNY AND THE SCARECROW
As soon as Billy Bunny saw the Scarecrow--who had thrown the head oflettuce at the little rabbit in the last story, but he shan't do itagain in this story! I'll promise you that right now--the little rabbitsaid:
"Did you hit me just now between my left ear and my left hind leg withthis lettuce?"
"I did," replied the Scarecrow, in a sort of scarecrowey voice.
As soon as the little rabbit heard that he picked up that head oflettuce and threw it right at the head of that Scarecrow and knocked offhis stovepipe hat. And when Billy Bunny looked at the hat he saw twogold letters pasted inside the crown, and what do you think they were? Idon't know why I asked you, for I've got to tell you, anyway. Well, theywere the letters U. L.
"Uncle Lucky!" cried the little rabbit. "It's Uncle Lucky's weddingstovepipe hat! Oh, how glad he'll be to get it back!" And Billy Bunnypicked it up and put the lettuce inside and then hopped away as fast ashe could for his kind old uncle's house. And after he had gone for maybethree miles or less, he came to the old gentleman rabbit's house. Andthere was dear, kind Uncle Lucky swinging in the hammock on the frontporch. And when he saw his little nephew, he fell out--excuse me, Imean, he hopped out--of the hammock and opened the front gate and said:
"That looks like my old wedding stovepipe hat," and the old gentlemanrabbit put it on his head without even taking the head of lettuce outfirst, but that didn't matter, for there was plenty of room in that oldstovepipe hat for two heads.
Well, as soon as Uncle Lucky got over his excitement, he asked his bunnynephew where he had found his hat, and when Billy Bunny told him, theold gentleman rabbit took it off and took out the head of lettuce and heand Billy Bunny ate it all up--not the hat, but the lettuce, youknow--and some apple pie and carrot ice cream besides, for Uncle Luckyalways had his pantry just full of the nicest things to eat you ever sawor ever heard of. And that's one reason why all the bunny boys and girlsloved the old gentleman rabbit, for when they were coming home fromschool he would stand on his front porch and say:
"Come in and get some apple pie, An ice cream cone or two; A lollypop with jam on top, Some sweet prunes a la stew, Some lemonade--don't be afraid. For I'm inviting you."
And I hope with all my heart that if you ever pass by Uncle Lucky'shouse on Carrot street he'll ask you, too. And in the next story, if thepepper box doesn't fall into the ice cream freezer so that the littlemouse in the pantry sneezes his head 'most off. I'll tell you anotherstory to-morrow.
STORY IX--BILLY BUNNY AND MR. DRAKE
The next day after Billy Bunny arrived at Uncle Lucky's house the good,kind old gentleman rabbit said: "Let's go out for a ride in theLuckymobile, for that was the name of Uncle Lucky's new car, you know."
So off they started, and this time you can well believe the oldgentleman rabbit filled his lamps full of electricity oil, for he hadn'tforgotten the time some million stories ago he had been caught withoutany lights on his automobile.
Well, as I was just going to say when my typewriter had to go andexplain all about how poor Uncle Lucky had once been arrested for nothaving his lamps lit, they started off--not the lamps, but Billy Bunnyand Uncle Lucky, and by and by they came across an old Drake.
And if you don't know what a Drake is, I'll tell you; he's the husbandof a duck and spends most of his time swimming on the pond while shestays at home to look after the little ducks. Well, if Uncle Luckyhadn't stopped the automobile just where he did, Mrs. Duck would havebeen a widow.
"What do you mean by not seeing where you're going?" shouted UncleLucky, getting very red in the face.
"Why didn't you toot your horn?" said Mr. Drake with an angry quack, andthen he waddled into the water and swam away.
"What can you expect from an old ferryboat like that?" laughed UncleLucky, watching Mr. Drake paddle away. "He's an old-fashionedside-wheeler. Let him go!" and the kind old gentleman rabbit leaned outof the automobile and handed a stick of candy to a little goose who hadstood by listening with eye and bill wide open to all he had said.
Then the old gentleman rabbit took off his wedding stovepipe hat andbowed to Mrs. Duck, who stood in the doorway of her house, and tootedhis horn and drove off.
And by and by Billy Bunny asked Uncle Lucky to let him run theautomobile, so the old gentleman rabbit changed seats with his littlenephew, and after that he fell asleep. For the road was very smooth andthe wind was soft and warm, and Billy Bunny didn't talk all the time theway some boys do.
And as Billy Bunny didn't want to wake him up, he kept on going fartherand farther away from home until after a while he found himself in athick woods. And then the automobile came to a stop and Uncle Lucky, ofcourse, woke up with a bump.
"Gracious me! Have I been asleep?" he exclaimed, rubbing his right eyewith his left hind foot. And just then
a little flower struck 4 o'clock,just like a little clock, and that's the reason they call this littleflower "Four o'Clock" I guess. "Gracious me! I have been asleep!" criedUncle Lucky, and then he took out the lunch basket and he and BillyBunny ate a lot of nice things.
But, goodness me, it's so late that I must stop now, for there isn'ttime for the two little rabbits to get home. But I guess they'll cuddleup in the Luckymobile and sleep until to-morrow morning.
STORY X--BILLY BUNNY AND THE FROG KING
Well, when Billy Bunny and good, kind Uncle Lucky woke up the nextmorning, for they had slept all night in the Luckymobile as I told youin the last story, they ate their breakfast and then they started offand by and by they had an adventure.
A gypsy camp stood close to the roadside and just as they came up, anold woman walked out of a tent and said, "Don't you want your fortunestold?" Well, as Billy Bunny had never had his fortune told and UncleLucky had forgotten whether he had or not, they got out of theautomobile and sat down on a log while the old gypsy woman looked attheir paws.
"You have a very long life line, Mr. Lucky Lefthindfoot, and lots ofmoney," she said with a grin, "and you're going to have lots more."
"That's very nice," said the old gentleman rabbit, "for I want to builda library in Rabbitville where all the little bunnies can read nicestories and grow very wise."
"And you will grow up to be a great soldier," she said to Billy Bunny,and then Uncle Lucky gave her two carrot nickels and said good-by.
"I wonder where all that money is coming from," said the good, kind oldgentleman rabbit, and then they heard a deep voice singing:
"Oh, I am king of the Bullfrog Pond, Ker-plunk, ker-chunk, ker-plunk!
And I'll never stir a foot beyond, Ker-plunk, ker-plunk, ker-plunk!
For it's cool and nice in the water here, And the cat-tails wave in the atmosphere, And this old dead log is a throne for me. Oh yes, I'm as happy as I can be!"
Then Uncle Lucky stopped the automobile and he and Billy Bunny got outto make the acquaintance of this happy frog king. And weren't theysurprised to find that he was the brother of Uncle Bullfrog, who livedin the Old Mill Pond. He had heard all about the two rabbits, and wasdelighted to see them.
"Sit down on the bank and I'll get you a watercress sandwich and somepond-lily milk," cried the Frog King, and he waved a bullrush wand upand down and whistled through his fingers, and then a dozen tadpolesswam up.
And then they swam off again and when they came back they had watercresssandwiches and pond-lily milk enough to go around and some besides togive to the Luckymobile, only automobiles don't drink anything butgasoline, so they gave what was left to a nice friendly duck whohappened to pass by.
And then Uncle Lucky took off his stovepipe hat and bowed to the FrogKing and Billy Bunny took a chocolate eclaire out of his knapsack andsaid, "Give this to your Queen with my compliments," which tickled theFrog King so he fell off his log throne into the water with a terriblesplash.
And if the lawn mower doesn't run over our white poodle dog and cut offall his hair, I'll tell you to-morrow another story about Billy Bunnyand Uncle Lucky.
STORY XI--BILLY BUNNY AND THE TURKEY GOBBLER
Well, as I was saying in the last story, Billy Bunny and his good, kindUncle Lucky said good-by to the Frog King. And the frog was very sorryto see them go, for although he was a king, his kingdom was only a frogpond.
But then, when you come to think of it, he couldn't have his kingdom anyplace else, so of course he was contented, and that's the chief thing inlife, whether you're a king or a poor man.
"Now what are we going to do?" said Uncle Lucky as he and his rabbitnephew rolled along as nicely as you please in the Luckymobile.
"Oh, just roll along," answered the little bunny, slipping his knapsackoff his shoulder and laying his striped candy cane down on the bottom ofthe 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 atBilly Bunny, and then of course he didn't see where he was going, andthe first thing you know and the first thing he knew, the Luckymobileran right into a baker's shop and knocked over the counter, which wasfull of pies and cakes.
"Oh, please excuse me!" cried kind Uncle Lucky to the bakerman, who wasa big, red-faced Turkey Gobbler. But, oh, dear me! As soon as thatTurkey Gobbler saw Uncle Lucky's red tie he made a rush at the oldgentleman rabbit, for turkeys, you know, get terribly mad when they seeanything red, and if Uncle Lucky hadn't jumped out of the way thatTurkey 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 hisdiamond pin because little Billy Bunny had given it to him, youremember, some seventeen or more stories ago.
Well, while the ugly red-faced turkey was chasing dear Uncle Lucky allaround the back yard, Billy Bunny backed the automobile out of the bakeshop, and after he had scraped custard pie off the cabaret and lemon pieoff the left front wheel and squash pie off the right front wheel and adozen other kinds of pie off the two front lights, Uncle Lucky camehopping around the corner of the bake shop with the ugly red-facedturkey gobbler baker close behind him.
THE TADPOLE CAME BACK WITH WATERCRESS SANDWICHES AND POND-LILY MILK.]
"Start her up! Start her up!" yelled the old gentleman rabbit. And BillyBunny 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 gentlemanbunny, 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 theymight take root in the ground and grow into plain ordinary carrots if helet them lie there a minute.
And by this time of course the two rabbits were far away in theirautomobile, and if the next story has to be written to-night, as I knowit must, I'll stop right here and wish you pleasant dreams and happywakening.
STORY XII--BILLY BUNNY AND THE DONKEY
"That certainly was a lucky escape," said Uncle Lucky to Billy Bunny asthey sped away in their Luckymobile after overturning all the pies inthe bake shop, as I told you in the last story.
"I shall be more careful the next time and see where I'm going," and theold gentleman rabbit settled his stovepipe hat firmly on his head andheld on tighter to the steering wheel, and then he honked the horn threetimes and a half to let everybody hear him coming before he ran overthem; and then, all of a sudden, quicker than a lightning bug, a littlegray donkey ran right in the middle of the road and kicked up his heelsand brayed, which is the way a donkey talks, you know.
"Get out of the way!" yelled Uncle Lucky, and he put on the brake, but,oh dear me, and oh dear donkey! the brake wouldn't work. It just gotobstinate, I guess, when it saw that donkey's heels, or else it thoughtthe donkey would stop the automobile just as well, which he did, I'msorry to say.
Yes, Siree, and Yes, Siree Man! That donkey kicked his shoes right offand the Luckymobile stopped and Uncle Lucky and Billy Bunny got out soquickly that they rolled over and over on the ground for maybe a blockand a half and then they wouldn't have stopped, only a policeman grabbedthem.
But he let the little rabbits go just as soon as they told him what hadhappened.
"I'm getting tired of always having an accident," said the old gentlemanrabbit when they reached the Luckymobile.
"Don't be a grumbler," said the donkey.
"Well, then, don't you be a kicker," replied the old gentleman rabbitangrily, for Uncle Lucky had a temper, only he seldom used it because hewas so kind and good. "If you hadn't kicked, there would have been noaccident, and as I said before, I'm getting sick and tired ofaccidents."
Well, this made the donkey so ashamed he said he was sorry he had kickedthe Luckymobile, and then dear Uncle Lucky told him to climb in and hewould take him down to the seashore to pick up pretty shells. So offthey went again, the two little rabbits on the front seat and the
donkeyin the back, and by and by they came to the seashore.
"Let's all go in bathing," said Billy Bunny, so they went up to thebathing houses and put on bathing suits.
Well, after they were all dressed, I mean undressed, they hopped intothe water and swam out to the raft. And Uncle Lucky stood on BillyBunny's shoulders and dived into the water and then the donkey stood onUncle Lucky's shoulders and slipped and fell onto the raft and sprainedhis tail, so that they all had to hurry out and get dressed and then gofor the doctor.
And in the next story you shall hear how the doctor cured the donkeywith a little sugar pill.
STORY XIII--BILLY BUNNY AND THE LITTLE SUGAR PILLS
I wonder if you remember where we left off in the last story? Well, incase you don't, I'll tell you. Billy Bunny and Uncle Lucky were takingthe donkey to the doctor, for the donkey had sprained his tail while inbathing with the two little rabbits, you know.
Well, when they reached the doctor's house he wasn't in, but his wifewas. So Uncle Lucky thought he'd tell her what was the matter with thedonkey, for the donkey was feeling pretty miserable and wouldn't get outof the automobile, but just sat there braying every once in a while in amournful way.
"Why don't you give him a sugar pill?" asked the kind doctor's wife. "Ihaven't got any sugar pills," said Uncle Lucky, and neither had BillyBunny, although he looked all through his knapsack and in the cabaret ofthe Luckymobile.