and then she patted the little rabbit on the cheek and went back to her ironing board.
As soon as he had brought in the wood and polished the front doork.n.o.b, he set off for the Shady Forest.
And by and by, after maybe a mile, he saw Jimmy Crow on a tree top. And what do you suppose that little crow was doing? Why, he was building a nest for himself. Yes, sir, that"s what he was about. And why shouldn"t he? For he wasn"t such a very young crow now, when you come to think of it. He was a year old, and when a crow gets to be a year old he knows how to build a nest, let me tell you.
"How long will it take you, I"d like to know, To build your nest, Mr. Jimmy Crow?
High up there in the tall pine tree, Where the sun is warm and the wind is free,"
asked the little rabbit.
"Don"t bother me just now," answered Jimmy Crow. "Can"t you see I"m in an awful hurry?" and he laid some more sticks crosswise, and then he flew away after more things to finish his nest with. So the little bunny hopped away, and pretty soon he came to the cave where the Big Brown Bear lived. And as it was a bright warm morning Mr. Bear was sitting outside on his doorstep, sunning himself, for it had been a dreadfully cold winter and Mr. Bear at one time had no coal at all, and his cave got so cold that the water pipes froze and he couldn"t take a bath for a week. "How do you do this beautiful Spring morning," asked the little rabbit.
"I"ll tell you in the next story," answered the Big Brown Bear. Now I wonder how he knew there"s no more room in this one!
THE WHISTLING STOVE
Well, as I explained to you in the last story, the Big Brown Bear would have answered the little bunny, only there was no more room in the story for him to say even "Howdy!" So we had to wait until we turned over the page.
"Yes, it"s a beautiful Spring morning. But, do you know my fur overcoat needs pressing and I"m afraid my cap"s not at all in style."
"Never mind," replied the little rabbit. "Down at the Three-in-One Cent Store they have some lovely caps. Why don"t you go buy yourself a new spring style?"
"I will," said the bear. "Come along with me."
So off they started, and by and by, not so very far, they came to the store, and right there in the window were lots and lots of nice looking caps. Pretty soon Mr. Bear picked out one, the one he liked best, and after he had paid for it, he and the little rabbit went outside. When, all of a sudden, who should come by but a man with a little peanut wagon. In one end was a stove that whistled the funniest kind of a song, and if I"m not mistaken the words went something like this:
Roasted peanuts, fresh and fine, Here"s a lovely way to dine, Crisp and brown, and fresh and sweet, Where are nicer things to eat?
Ting a ling, a ling, a loo, Won"t you come and buy a few?
"Don"t they smell nice?" said the Big Brown Bear and he put his right paw way down in his left coat pocket, but, oh dear me! The only thing he found was a cigar coupon. And wasn"t he disappointed? Well, I just guess he was. So the little rabbit opened his knapsack and took out a handful of carrot pennies and bought two bags of peanuts. Pretty soon after the Big Brown Bear had eaten his, he said:
"Well, I must be going back to my cave," and away he went, so the little rabbit looked around to see what he would do next. But there wasn"t anything to do for all he could see, so away he hopped and by and by he came to a big billboard on which was pasted a colored poster of a May Day party of little bunnies, and underneath the words:
"Enquire at Rabbitville Gazette."
Without waiting to read the other side of the billboard, he hopped down Turnip Street till he came to the Newspaper Office, when he hopped upstairs to see the advertising man--a little Field Mouse. But, oh dear me, the tickets were a dollar apiece, so Little Jack Rabbit said: "I"ll give a May Day Party of my own!"
MESSENGER BOYS
The little Balmy Breezes were very busy. Indeed they were. They were busier than messenger boys, for Little Jack Rabbit had asked them to tell all his friends in the Shady Forest and the Sunny Meadow to come to his May party.
So the little Balmy Breezes had plenty to do, for the little rabbit had lots and lots of friends, let me tell you.
Well, no sooner had the little Balmy Breezes started off than they came to Granddaddy Bullfrog on his log in the Old Duck Pond.
"You are invited to Little Jack Rabbit"s May party."
"All right, ker dunk, I"ll come, ker plunk!" croaked the old gentleman frog, and he swallowed a big green fly that came too near, and then he closed his left eye and waited for another, for that hungry old bullfrog could eat more than twenty flies for breakfast.
And then, pretty soon the little Balmy Breezes came to the Tall Pine Tree where Professor Jim Crow had his nest.
"Oh, I"ll come," he said, "never fear. And I"ll bring my little black book with me, too, and read some verses to the guests," and then that old black crow put on his spectacles and opened his book, but the little breezes didn"t wait, for they had no time just then to hear anything.
"There goes Squirrel Nutcracker! Come to Little Jack Rabbit"s May Day Party," they cried before the old squirrel could run up to the top of the chestnut tree.
"Oh, I"ll be there, don"t worry," he said. "And I"ll bring the Squirrel Brothers and Mrs. Nutcracker with me."
"Thank you," said the little Balmy Breezes, and off they went until they came to Chippy Chipmunk"s house. He was in, and he promised to come.
Then off went the little breezes again and by and by they came to the Forest Pond where Busy Beaver and Mr. Muskrat lived.
"Won"t you come to Little Jack Rabbit"s May Day Party?" asked the little Balmy Breezes, and of course the beaver and the muskrat answered yes.
Well, the next place the little breezes came to was the Old Farm Yard.
"Little Jack Rabbit wants you all to come to his May Party," they whispered, for Black Cat was standing in the kitchen doorway, and they didn"t want him to come, you see, for fear he might spoil the fun.
"I"ll come," cried Henny Penny, "And I"ll bring my sister Jenny."
"I"ll come," said Timmy Turkey, And he looked quite fierce and perky.
And Mrs. Cow said she"d come too, And so did c.o.c.ky Doodle-do.
And Ducky Waddles also said, "I"ll come if I"m not sick in bed."
A RUDE INTERRUPTION
Now you remember in the last story how the Little Balmy Breezes were asking everybody in the Shady Forest and on the Sunny Meadows to come to Little Jack Rabbit"s May Day Party. Well, there were one or two, and maybe three, who weren"t invited. And if you haven"t guessed by this time, I"ll tell you. Old Danny Fox was one, and Mr. Wicked Weasel was two, and, let me see, who was number three? Why, yes, of course, Old Hungry Hawk. n.o.body wanted these three robbers, so they weren"t invited, but that isn"t saying they didn"t come. But you must wait and let me tell you the story, for I nearly said something I should have kept for the last.
Well, it was almost the middle of the day by the time the Little Balmy Breezes had told everybody about the May Day Party. You see, they had to go here and there and everywhere. And the Old Brown Horse lived a long way off, and so did the Yellow Dog Tramp and the Billy Goat, who ran the ferryboat over the river.
Heigh ho, come to my party, Let us be merry, my little Jack Hearty.
Blow on the whistle and make the bells ring, For it"s Spring, lovely Spring.
Ting-a-ling, ting-a-ling.
Well, pretty soon Mrs. Cow came across the Sunny Meadow with her little bell tinkling at her neck, and after her came c.o.c.ky Doodle and Henny Penny side by side. Then Ducky Waddles on his big, flat, yellow feet, and Turkey Tim with his big, wide-spreading tail, and right behind them came Goosey Lucy. I almost forgot her, for she was so long in curling her hair that the others started off without her.
And then from the Shady Forest came the Squirrel Brothers and Chippy Chipmunk and Professor Jim Crow, with his little black book, and the Jay Bird in his flying machine, and, oh, dear me. So many more I haven"t room to tell.
"Wait for me! Wait for me!" cried a voice, and over the Old Rail Fence jumped the Brown Horse, and after him came the Yellow Dog Tramp and the Billy Goat Ferryman.