"So it does," answered Little Jack Rabbit, "but Busy Beaver has to look out for himself. If he doesn"t build a dam his little house will be frozen up this winter."
Just then the water rose almost to the ferns that grew on the edge of the Bubbling Brook. "Everything"s all right now," said the little rabbit, "I won"t bother to go over to the Sunny Meadow. The fishes and the little fresh water crabs will learn the news before I can get there," and he sat down to talk things over with Chatterbox.
"You just ought to see Busy Beaver use his tail as a trowel to lay on the mud," said the little rabbit, who couldn"t keep from talking about what he had just seen. "He carries the mud and stones between his chin and forepaws and knows just how to put them in the cracks between the logs to keep back the water."
"Well, we all must prepare for the long, cold winter," said Chatterbox.
"Brother Tip Top and I have been gathering nuts for many a day and have our storehouse nearly full."
While the Autumn days are here Make things snug for Winter drear; Storehouse filled with everything To last until again it"s Spring.
A PERPLEXED LITTLE RABBIT
"GOODNESS gracious me!" exclaimed Little Jack Rabbit, all of a sudden, "the Clover Patch is all dried up. What shall I do when winter comes?"
"Hunt for old turnips and carrots in the field," laughed Chatterbox.
"I think I"ll leave you," answered Little Jack Rabbit thoughtfully, "I"m beginning to worry about what"s going to happen to me," and away he hopped, leaving the little red squirrel sitting beneath his tree.
""Most everybody I know," thought the little rabbit as he hopped along, "curls up and goes to sleep for the winter. I wonder if I could? I"m going home to ask Mother."
But Mrs. Rabbit was too busy putting up carrot jelly to answer questions. "Don"t bother me," she said, "I haven"t got a minute to spare." So the only thing for the little bunny to do was to go to somebody else.
The very first person he met was Hedgy Hedgehog. He was just coming out of his hole, which he had been busily lining with gra.s.s and dry leaves, some of which were still sticking to his spikes, for he hadn"t had time to brush himself.
"What are you doing?" asked the little bunny.
"Getting ready for winter. I"ve fixed up my place nice and warm, and when the cold weather comes I"ll creep in and sleep till Spring."
"What do you eat?" asked Little Jack Rabbit, who could eat all the time, and sometimes oftener, like all rabbits.
"Don"t eat--can"t eat when you"re asleep, you know."
"Gracious me!" exclaimed the little bunny, "that would never do for me!"
and he hopped away.
By and by he came to the Old Duck Pond. There sat Granddaddy Bullfrog on a log, winking and blinking in the light of Mr. Merry Sun.
"Granddaddy Bullfrog, what do you do when winter comes?"
"Why, bless you, my little bunny," answered the old gentleman frog, "I go to sleep in the mud at the bottom of the pond."
"Oh, dear, I can"t do that!" sighed the little rabbit.
"Of course not," laughed Granddaddy Bullfrog. "Do what your mother says, and stop worrying!"
THE TURNIP
"WELL, I guess Granddaddy Bullfrog is right," thought Little Jack Rabbit, as he hopped back home to the Old Bramble Patch. "What"s the use of worrying about winter? I"ll take Granddaddy Bullfrog"s advice and leave it all to Mother."
After that he felt much better. Pretty soon he saw Timmy Meadowmouse looking out of his little round house of gra.s.s, no larger than a cricket ball, which was fastened to three or four stiff stalks of gra.s.s about a foot above the ground.
"Good morning. Do you know, I"ve been dreadfully worried about winter; but now I"m going to take Granddaddy Bullfrog"s advice and leave it all to mother."
You see, this little rabbit just couldn"t stop talking about his troubles, although he was going to leave them all to mother!
"There! She"s waving to you from the Old Bramble Patch," cried Timmy Meadowmouse. Away went the little bunny without another word and in less than five hundred hops he was home.
"Hop over to the field and bring me a turnip. Your father will be home for lunch in a few minutes," said Mrs. Rabbit.
Little Jack Rabbit hopped through the Old Rail Fence, across the road and into the field where the Old Scarecrow flapped his arms every time Billy Breeze whistled through the cornstalks. But the Old Clothes Man couldn"t frighten the little bunny. Oh, my no! It took more than that, although he was a scary little chap. You see, he knew all about the Old Scarecrow, for he had watched the Kind Farmer put him up in the early Spring.
Picking up a nice looking turnip, he turned about and started back again. But, Oh dear me! All of a sudden out from behind a cornstack jumped the Farmer"s Boy.
The little rabbit didn"t stop to say sorry to have met you. No siree. He hopped away as fast as he could, but not fast enough. Before he had gone maybe thirteen hops a stone hit his left hind leg.
"Ha, ha!" yelled the Farmer"s Boy. "Wait till I hit you again, Mr.
Cottontail." But he didn"t, for the little rabbit went faster on three legs than he had on four, and the next minute popped safely into the dear Old Bramble Patch.
"Where"s the turnip?" asked Mrs. Rabbit.
"Goodness me! I guess that"s what the Farmer"s Boy hit me with,"
answered the little bunny.
THE BONFIRE
EVERYBODY in the Shady Forest was having a dreadful time. Old Parson Owl was nearly coughing his head off, Professor Jim Crow"s voice was so hoa.r.s.e his scholars could hardly understand him, and Little Jack Rabbit"s eyes looked as if he had been crying for a week.
The reason for all this was that the smoke from the Farmer Boy"s big bonfire had drifted into the forest until every c.h.i.n.k and corner was filled.
At first no one knew what was the matter. Of course the air smelled queer and made one"s eyes smart. But after a while when the smoke grew so thick that it seemed like night-time and Mr. Merry Sun couldn"t be seen at all, the Forest Folk thought it time to hold a meeting to consider what was best to do. They all decided to ask Billy Breeze to help them, and you can imagine how grateful they were when he agreed to blow the smoke out of the Shady Forest. Before Mr. Merry Sun went down behind the hills that night Billy Breeze had cleared the smoke away and everything was clean and sweet again.
Now, before all this had taken place, a handful of burning leaves had drifted along the Old Rail Fence, setting fire to the long, dry gra.s.s, and in a short time there was quite a fire close to the Old Bramble Patch.
It didn"t take Little Jack Rabbit long to borrow some sweet potatoes from his mother, and while he was roasting them Chippy Chipmunk climbed through the fence with a bagful of chestnuts.
Pretty soon along came Jimmy Crow, and when he saw what was going on, he was mighty anxious to have some fun, too. So off he went to get some bittersweet berries, for he likes them much better than sweet potatoes.