"You"ve had a narrow escape," said Mr. Rabbit, looking up over his evening paper, "I hope it will teach you a lesson!"
And it did. The very next day Bobby Tail practiced jumping with Little Jack Rabbit, and kept it up until he became almost as good a jumper as his brother.
But Old Sic"em never knew how this came to pa.s.s. He was too busy keeping watch over the Old Farmyard to bother his head about Bobby Tail, for Danny Fox, who was always prowling around, hunting for a stray chicken, kept the old dog forever on the lookout.
SUNSHINE
"WHERE did you get your red coat?" asked Little Jack Rabbit, looking up from the Old Bramble Patch.
"Oh, that"s my secret," answered Red Bird from the Old Rail Fence.
"There"s been a legend in our family about it ever since the Flood."
"You don"t say so," exclaimed the little rabbit.
"You"ve heard of the Great Flood, I suppose, that happened hundreds and hundreds of years ago?"
Little Jack Rabbit nodded. "I hope we don"t get another to wash away the Old Bramble Patch."
"Well," continued Red Bird, "the legend is that one day, after it had been raining ever so long, when there was nothing but water all around and everybody in the ark was feeling very miserable, Mother Noah wrung her hands and said, "Oh, dear! We"ll all be lost. We"ll never get ash.o.r.e!"
"Just then my ancestor began to whistle, and the next minute a beam of sunshine broke through the clouds and settled upon him.
""My dear, we are reproved," said Father Noah. "The little bird has more courage than we have. Hear him whistle."
"Then everybody turned to look at the brave little whistler. He was so embarra.s.sed that he BLUSHED--we were gray before that time, they say--blushed so very deeply that our feathers have never lost their bright red from that day to this."
"Well, well," exclaimed the little rabbit. "When do you go away for the winter?"
"I"m not going away--I"m going to stay right here," answered Red Bird.
"You"ll find it pretty breezy up there," said Little Jack Rabbit with a twinkle of his pink nose.
"Oh, I don"t know. I"ve got on my double-breasted red coat."
"But what will you find to eat when the berries are all gone?" asked the little rabbit.
"I"ll pick up crumbs at the Old Farm House," replied Red Bird cheerfully.
"You"ve got a sunshiny disposition," said Little Jack Rabbit admiringly.
"I guess your ancestors handed down something besides a red coat--some of that sunshine that turned his feathers red must have crept into his heart."
"I don"t know," replied Red Bird.
"Maybe it doesn"t make much difference how you got it, as long as you keep it," said the little bunny as he hopped back into the Old Bramble Patch to tell his mother all about it.
TURKEY TIM
TURKEY TIM in his turban-colored comb strutted about the Old Farmyard, spreading his tail like a j.a.panese fan to the bright light that Mr.
Merry Sun sent down from the Big Blue Sky.
"I wonder what makes Turkey Tim so proud?" asked Henny Penny.
Little Jack Rabbit wiggled his pink nose, but said nothing.
"Is it because the Kind Farmer is buying chestnuts for him from Chippy Chipmunk?"
Still the little rabbit made no reply.
"Please tell me," begged Henny Penny. "You can whisper in my ear."
"Turkey Tim thinks the Kind Farmer is fond of him, but that"s not the reason," answered the little rabbit.
"What is the reason?" asked Henny Penny, who you see by this time was a very curious little hen.
"Turkey Tim wouldn"t believe me if I told him," said the little rabbit.
"Wouldn"t he?" exclaimed the little hen, her feathers ruffled with excitement and curiosity.
"It"s a big secret," whispered the little bunny.
"Tell me quick," coaxed Henny Penny.
"Thanksgiving!" whispered Little Jack Rabbit. "Haven"t you heard of chestnut-fed turkeys for Thanksgiving?"
"Do you mean they are going to kill Turkey Tim?" cried the little hen.
"I certainly do," answered the little rabbit. "But he"s so proud he wouldn"t believe me. Why, he thinks he"s more wonderful than c.o.c.ky Doodle."
"Well, he isn"t," said Henny Penny. "c.o.c.ky Doodle"s the most wonderful of all the Feathered Folk, for he"s the one who wakes up Mr. Merry Sun.
c.o.c.ky Doodle is the c.o.c.k-a-doodle-do clock of the whole wide world. Why, if it weren"t for him Mr. Merry Sun might stay in bed all day."
Just then along came Turkey Tim, but he didn"t look so proud when the little hen told him about Thanksgiving.
"Who told you?" he asked in a trembling voice.
"Little Jack Rabbit," answered Henny Penny, pointing to the truthful little bunny.
"I guess I"ll make a visit in the Friendly Forest," said Turkey Tim in a low voice, and off he went as fast as his legs would take him.
But, Oh dear me! No sooner was he there than Billy Breeze began to sing: