The maid was in the garden, Hanging out the clothes, Hopped along the clothesline And nipped off her nose."
"But you know I"m not that bird," he answered, flapping his wings. "It was a cousin of mine. Will you give me a ride in your Bunnymobile? I"ll tell you something nice if you do."
"All right, jump in," said the old gentleman rabbit. "What"s the nice thing you mention?"
"Not very far from here lives a little yellow hen in a green house. I"ve heard that she has a magic china egg which is as good as a wishing stone. All you have to do is to hold it in your hand and make a wish and the wish comes true."
"Let"s make her a visit," said Little Jack Rabbit, and off they all went to the yellow hen"s house and if they reach there I will tell you all about this wonderful wishing egg in the next story.
THE WISHING EGG
"Good morning," said Little Jack Rabbit as the little Yellow Hen opened the door of her tiny green house. "Uncle John and I would like to see your Wishing Egg."
"Who told you I had a Wishing Egg?" she asked, looking sharply at Prof.
Jim Crow.
"I did," answered that old black bird, with a twist of his tail.
"You"re a meddlesome old person," cackled the little Yellow Hen, "but as long as you"re all here, come in," and she led the way to the sitting room. Over in the corner was a nest of nice clean straw, in which lay a big china egg.
"Now you all come here and make a wish," she said, spreading her wings over the egg while she sang very low:
"Wishing Egg, Wishing Egg, Grant three wishes now I beg."
But, oh dear me. For almost a minute and a half neither Little Jack Rabbit nor Uncle John Hare could decide what they wanted. But Prof. Jim Crow could. Oh, my, yes! For all of a sudden in through the window came a silk hat and a swallow tail coat and a big diamond pin.
[Ill.u.s.tration: The Wishing Egg Brings New Clothes to Professor Crow.]
"Ha, ha!" he laughed, "here are my wishes--one, two, three. Well, now I"m as happy as happy can be," and in less than five hundred short seconds he had them on, silk hat, swallow tail coat and big diamond pin.
"Hurry up and make your wishes," said the little Yellow Hen to the two little bunnies. So Little Jack Rabbit wrinkled his little pink nose and Uncle John Hare shut his eyes, and pretty soon they must have made their wishes for in through the window came a lot of things--a pianograph, a box of lollypops, a gold watch, a Liberty Bond and a fountain pen.
"Now, that"s a pretty good day"s work," said the old gentleman rabbit with a smile, stroking his whiskers. "But what did you wish for?"
"Nothing at all," answered the little hen. "When you know you can get whatever you want by just wishing you don"t want anything. But maybe some day I will, and then I"ll wish, never fear." And after that she combed her yellow curls, beg pardon, I mean her feathers--with her red coral comb till she looked prettier than her picture, which hung over the mantelpiece in a red plush frame.
"Some day I hope we"ll be able to do you a good turn," said kind Uncle John Hare as he and his little rabbit nephew hopped out to the Bunnymobile. "Any time you are in need call up "Harebell, one, two, three, Hurray! Turnip City.""
"Good-by," said the little Yellow Hen, and off they went, but Prof. Jim Crow flew away by himself because he wanted to show his new clothes to Mrs. Crow before supper. And in the next story you shall hear what happened after that.
MAGIC BOOTS
As Little Jack Rabbit and Uncle John Hare rode along in the Bunnymobile, all of a sudden, just like that, they heard someone calling:
"Oh, please come and help me out, I"m caught so tight and fast I haven"t seen my dear old home For two weeks Sunday last."
"Who can it be?" asked the old gentleman rabbit in a whisper, slowing up the Bunnymobile.
"I don"t see anybody," answered his little bunny nephew, "but there must be somebody in trouble, just the same." And then the voice came again, only louder than before:
"Oh, please, oh, please, come rescue me.
I"m caught so tight in this old oak tree."
And then, all of a sudden, the two little rabbits saw a tiny dwarf wedged in between a tree and a big rock.
"Wait a minute! We"ll see what we can do," and in less than five hundred short seconds Little Jack Rabbit and his uncle were tugging away at the little dwarf and pretty soon they had him out, all except his left foot.
"Slip your foot out of your boot," said the old gentleman rabbit.
"No, that would never do," answered the little man. "If I should do that I would lose my power."
"Are yours magic boots?" asked the old gentleman rabbit, looking down at his own, which he considered about the finest in the world, let me tell you.
"Indeed they are," answered the dwarf, "they are thousand league boots.
I can run away from a giant as easily as an automobile from a pushcart."
"Goodness me," exclaimed Uncle John Hare, "they are certainly wonderful.
But what are you going to do? Stay fast to that tree all the rest of your life, or walk about like other people?"
Well, this made the dwarf think pretty hard, and by and by he said: "Pull me out and leave the boot. Maybe I can hop on one leg fast enough to get away from a giant anyway." So both little rabbits gave a big tug and out came the dwarf, but the boot was left behind, which made the dwarf quite unhappy until he was asked to take a ride in the Bunnymobile.
"There"s an old cobbler who lives near here," said the dwarf. "Perhaps he might make me a boot. I hear he"s a very wonderful cobbler." So the two little rabbits set off to find him and soon they came to a hut in the middle of the wood, on the roof of which sat a little robin redbreast singing. But what he said you must wait to hear in the next story.
THE TINY COBBLER
"Tick, tack, two The Cobbler makes a shoe That takes a stride The whole world wide, Tick, tack, two."
"Did you hear that?" whispered the little dwarf, who in the last story has lost one of his wonderful thousand league boots, you remember. And if you don"t, please take my word for it, as there won"t be s.p.a.ce enough in this story to tell you how it happened.
"Let"s go in and ask the price," said Uncle John Hare. So the two little bunnies and the dwarf hopped out of the Bunnymobile and went into the hut. On a wooden bench sat a tiny man dressed in a big leather ap.r.o.n and red-peaked hat, busily making a boot. He didn"t seem a bit surprised when the door opened, and he said:
"My little tame robin Just told me that you Have left in a tree, Your thousand league shoe."
"That"s right," answered the dwarf. "Will you sell me the one you are making?"
"What will you give me for it?" asked Jim Cobbler, waxing his thread and drawing it carefully through the holes he had just punched in the leather.