Little Jack Rabbit and Uncle John Hare.
by David Cory.
UNCLE JOHN HARE
"Heigh-ho," said Little Jack Rabbit to himself one bright morning, "how happy I"d be if I could find Uncle John Hare." And then, all of a sudden he came to a sign by the road on which was printed in big red letters:
"THREE MILES TO TURNIP CITY"
"Perhaps someone there can tell me where he lives," and the little rabbit set out with a brave heart once more, and pretty soon, not so very far, he came to a little house painted white, with green shutters and a red chimney. And, goodness me! Before he could say "Winky pinky"
Uncle John Hare himself opened the door.
"How did you get here all by yourself? It"s a long way from the Old Bramble Patch," inquired the old gentleman rabbit.
Well, you can imagine how glad the little tired bunny was to find his uncle, and for a long time he for got to ask him how he came to leave the Sunny Meadow, and why he had bought this little house in Turnip City. But, by and by, his uncle explained it all by saying he wished to pa.s.s the rest of his days in quiet, far away from the Farmer"s Boy and Danny Fox.
"Now come around to the back of the house and I"ll show you my little garage," said the old gentleman bunny. "I have a Bunnymobile that goes so fast you can"t count the miles before you are home again." Wasn"t that a wonderful automobile to have? Well, I just guess it was. And after the little rabbit had looked it over his uncle took him back in the house and showed him the little room which was to be his as long as he lived in Turnip City.
"Won"t we have fine times together!" said the old gentleman rabbit, with a laugh. "I"ve been waiting for just this happy moment. You and I can travel all over together in sunshiny, snow-falling, rain-wetting weather." And he slapped the little bunny"s back and gave a hop, skip and jump to one side, and then laughed some more, for he was as happy as a clam at high tide, as an old fisherman used to say when I was a boy not so very long ago, but just long enough to make me wish I were twenty years younger, just the sam_ee_.
Well, after a while, it was bedtime, and the cuckoo came out of her little clock-house and said:
"Time for bed, you sleepy head, Don"t sit up too late.
It won"t be long before my song Will make the clock strike eight."
And in the next story you shall hear what happened after that.
A USEFUL GUMDROP
The next morning when Little Jack Rabbit woke up for a moment he forgot he was in Uncle John Hare"s house, Turnip City, U.S.A. But in less than five hundred short seconds he knew where he was, when the cuckoo came out of her little clock-house and sang:
"Wake up, wake up! It"s early morn, The sun is sparkling the dew on the corn, The little field mouse is looking about And the little red rooster"s beginning to shout,"
and his kind rabbit uncle looked in at the door and said:
"The buckwheat cakes are sizzling hot, The maple sugar"s sweet, So hurry up and dress yourself So we"ll have time to eat."
Well, you can just bet your last Liberty bond coupon the little bunny didn"t linger in bed, but dressed himself as fast as a fireman and was down at the breakfast table before his uncle had eaten more than thirteen buckwheat cakes.
As soon as the old gentleman rabbit"s housekeeper, Mrs. Daisy Duck, had cleared away the table and made out a list for the grocer, these two happy rabbits hopped into the Bunnymobile and started off for Turnip City to buy sugar and flour and maybe a bag of animal crackers.
Well, they had gone only just so far when they met little Red Riding Hood on her way to her grandmother"s.
"Jump in and we"ll save you maybe a mile," said the old gentleman rabbit. "But we must keep a sharp lookout for Mr. Wicked Wolf!" So in jumped little Red Riding Hood and then off they went. But, oh dear me!
In a little while they saw the big bad wolf creeping along among the trees.
"Never mind," said the old gentleman rabbit. "He won"t dare touch us while we"re in the Bunnymobile!" But just the same he felt a little bit worried, let me tell you, and so would you and so would I if we met a wolf out automobiling.
"We"ll play a little trick on him," said the old gentleman rabbit, and he opened his tool box and took out a gumdrop as large as a baseball.
"Now if he comes too near I"ll throw it to him and he"ll snap it up, and before he knows it his long teeth will be stuck in so tight he won"t be able to open his mouth for a week and a month!" And the next minute this is just what happened.
"Here"s a little gumdrop for you," said the old gentleman rabbit. And the ugly wolf snapped it up in his teeth. But when he tried to open his mouth he couldn"t. All he could do was to try to get it out with his paws, and in the next story you will hear what happened after that.
THE RAGGED RABBIT GIANT
Oh, the Bunnymobile"s a wonderful car; It goes just as fast as a swift shooting star, And every one says, with a toss of his cap That Uncle John Hare"s a lucky old chap.
And now you remember how the last story ended; although in case you don"t I"ll tell you. Little Jack Rabbit was riding with his dear uncle, Mr. John Hare, of Turnip City, U. S. A.
Well, pretty soon they stopped in front of a grocery store and Little Red Riding Hood, who was with them, you remember, jumped out and went to call on her grandmother, who lived in a little house in the wood.
"Now, let me see," said the old gentleman rabbit, taking out of his pocket the piece of paper on which his housekeeper, Mrs. Daisy Duck, had written the things she wanted him to buy at the grocery store:
"I want a pound of chocolate prunes, Four dozen ice cream cones, A pound or two of sugar glue Some raisins without stones."
"Here they are, Mr. John Hare," said the saleslady, who was a slim young tabby cat, and she handed him the package nicely done up with pink ribbons. So off went the two little rabbits in their Bunnymobile. But, oh, dear me! On their way home whom should they meet but the Ragged Rabbit Giant of the Skyhigh Mountain. He had just climbed down to take a look over Turnip City, which is on the other side of the Sippi River, you know.
"Hey, hey!" he shouted. "Where are you going?"
"I guess I"d better stop," said the old gentleman rabbit. "I don"t want to be impolite, but neither do I want to be foolhardy, and it certainly is risky talking to a giant." But, oh, dear me; while he was thinking this over the Ragged Rabbit Giant took one long step and stood beside them.
"Well, well, well," he said with a low bow, "if this isn"t the little bunny who once made me a visit."
And then he laughed so loud that the trees trembled. "What have you got in that paper bag tied up so nicely?" And he stretched out his big hand to take it, when the old gentleman rabbit made the Bunnymobile horn go off just like a gun which so frightened the Giant Rabbit that he put his fingers to his ears and shut his eyes. And before you could say Jack Robinson the old gentleman bunny started up the Bunnymobile and was almost home when the giant opened them again. And in the next story you shall hear what happened after that.
JACK SPRITE
"Oh, dear me," said Mrs. Daisy Duck, Uncle John Hare"s old lady housekeeper, you know, "why don"t they get home?" and she looked up and down the road, but she couldn"t see the Bunnymobile anywhere.
"Oh, dear, oh, dear, I feel so queer, I wonder what can be the matter; It"s quarter past eight and supper is late; I"m so worried I"ll never grow fatter."
And then that kind-hearted, anxious duck went into the kitchen to see if the lollypop cookies were burning. And just then, all of a sudden, she heard the honk! honk! of the Bunnymobile horn and she gave a quack of relief and made the turnip tea.
"Ha, ha," said Uncle John Hare, stepping into the kitchen. "Sorry we are late, but we met the Ragged Rabbit Giant on our way home and were detained." Well, pretty soon he and Little Jack Rabbit sat down to supper, and when that was over they both went into the sitting room and made the pianograph play a new tune.