Billy Bunny and Uncle Bull Frog | Page 5

although his waist was dreadfully sore because the grapevine had cut into his fur and squeezed all the breath out of him.
"I'm going to complain to the street cleaning department or the first policeman I see," said Mr. O'Hare. "It's a dreadful thing to have a hole like this right in the middle of the Friendly Forest Trail."
"Never mind that," said Billy Bunny, "let's go back to the Luckymobile. It will be late before we get out of the woods and maybe the electricity will all be gone and then we can't light the lamps, and maybe we'll be arrested."
And this is just what happened. They had only gone a little ways when they heard a voice say:
"Stop your motor car, I say, You have no lamps to light the way. Come, stop your car and get right out! Listen, don't you hear me shout? Stop your car or I will shoot. Don't try away from me to scoot!"
"We don't intend to," said Uncle Lucky, and he put on the brake and the Luckymobile came to a standstill. And there in the road stood a big Policeman Cat, with a club and gold buttons on his coat and a big helmet, and his number was two dozen and a half.
"Get out of your car," he commanded, which means to say something sternly, but before the two little rabbits obeyed, something happened, but what it was you must wait to hear in the next story.

STORY VII.
BILLY BUNNY AND THE POLICEMAN CAT.
Well, I'm glad to say it was something nice that happened just as I left off in the last story. You remember the Policeman Cat had arrested Billy Bunny and his Uncle Lucky.
Well, just as that Policeman Cat lifted his club to tickle Uncle Lucky's left hind foot, a big elm tree began to bark and of course the Policeman Cat was nearly scared to death. He thought it was a dog, you see, and instead of tickling dear, kind Uncle Lucky with his club, he turned tail and ran off down the road.
And he ran so fast that he left his number behind and Uncle Lucky picked it up and put it on the automobile, and after that they asked two little fireflies to sit inside the lamps and make them shine, for you remember the electricity had all burned up.
Well, after a while, they came to a turn in the road and, goodness gracious! before they could stop the automobile they ran into a milk wagon. And, oh, dear me! there was whipped cream all over the place, and Billy Bunny and Uncle Lucky looked like two little cream puffs.
And I suppose you are wondering where the driver of the milk wagon was all this time. And so were Uncle Lucky and Billy Bunny, and if you'll wait a minute I'll tell you, as soon as my typewriter behaves itself, for it got so excited when Luckymobile ran into the milk wagon that it caught my thumb and pinched it.
Well, pretty soon, after Uncle Lucky had looked behind the moon and Billy Bunny into all the empty milk cans and one full one, they found the driver up in a weeping willow tree.
"I'll come down if you'll promise not to run over me," he said, for he was nearly frightened to death and looked dreadfully funny, for one of the milk can covers had fallen on his head.
"I thought he would be mad as a hornet," whispered Billy Bunny to his rabbit uncle.
"But where's my horse?" said the milkman when he reached the ground. So they all looked around and everywhere else, but they couldn't find him until they looked up into another weeping willow tree. And there was the poor horse high up in the branches.
"Oh, I'll come down from this willow tree, If you'll promise me just one thing, And that is never again to say: 'Gid-ap' as you drive me along the way, For I always go the best I can; I'm a faithful friend to every man, So please don't hurry me so, For I'm not trying to go too slow."
"All right, my good old horse," said kind Uncle Lucky. "Your master shall give me his word." So the horse jumped down and the willow tree stopped weeping right away, for it was so glad that the poor old milk horse was never again to be hurried on his way. And in the next story I'll tell you why.

STORY VIII.
BILLY BUNNY AND THE GRAY MOUSE.
You remember in the last story how the Luckymobile had run into a milk wagon? Well, after Billy Bunny had helped the milkman hitch up his horse and Uncle Lucky had filled the milk cans with ice cream and soda water from a near-by candy store, so as not to have