Billy Bunny and Uncle Bull Frog | Page 3

Bunny, who is hopping away toward the Friendly Forest.
By and by, after he had gone into the shady depths for maybe a million
and two or three hops, he came across his old friend the jay bird, who
had sold him the airship, you remember, and then bought it back again.
"I wish you'd kept your old flying machine," said the jay bird
sorrowfully. "But you wanted to buy it back," said the little rabbit, "so
it's not my fault."
"Perhaps not," replied the sorrowful jay bird, "but that doesn't make
matters any better."
"Why, what's the trouble?" asked the little rabbit, sitting down and
taking a lollypop out of his knapsack.
"I had an accident," answered the jay bird.

"I ran into a thunder cloud and spilled out all the lightning, and, oh dear,
oh dear. I just hate to talk about it, but I will. The lightning jumped all
around and then struck the old tower clock and broke the main spring,
so that it wouldn't go any more, and now nobody in Rabbitville can tell
the day of the month, or when it will be Thanksgiving or Fourth of
July."
"Let's go to the clock maker and ask him to fix it," suggested the little
rabbit, and this so delighted the sorrowful jay bird that he smiled and
flew after Billy Bunny, and pretty soon they came to the old clock
maker, who was an old black spider.
"Certainly I'll fix it," he said, "but it will cost you nine million and
some billion flies."
"All right," said Billy Bunny. "I'll go down to the 3 and 1-cent store and
buy a fly catcher." So off he went and pretty soon he came back with a
great big fly catching box, and after he had set it down, they stood and
watched the flies go in until it was so full that not another one could
even poke in his nose.
"Now, Mr. Spider," said Billy Bunny, "there are maybe a trillion flies
in that box, for the storekeeper told me it was guaranteed to hold that
many, so please fix the town clock, for it would be too bad if the little
boys and girls didn't know it was Christmas when it really came."
So the spider got out his little tool bag and climbed up the steeple and
fixed that old town clock so well that it began to play a tune, which it
had never done before, and all the people in Rabbitville were so
delighted that they gave the spider a little house to live in for the rest of
his days.

STORY IV.
BILLY BUNNY AND THE TING-A-LING TELEPHONE.
Ting-a-ling went the telephone bell in Uncle Lucky Lefthindfoot's

house, the kind old gentleman rabbit who was the uncle of Billy Bunny,
you know.
And I only say this right here in case some little boy or girl should read
this story without having seen all the million and one, or two, or three
that have gone before.
So Uncle Lucky jumped out of the hammock where he had been
swinging up and down on the cool front porch of his little house in
Bunnytown, corner of Lettuce avenue and Carrot street, and hopped
into the library and took down the receiver and said "Helloa! This is Mr.
Lucky Lefthindfoot talking."
"Is that you, Uncle Lucky?" answered a voice at the other end of the
wire. "This is Billy Bunny, and I'm lost in the Friendly Forest."
"What!" cried the old gentleman rabbit, and he got so excited that he
put the wrong end of the receiver to his left ear and got an awful
electric shock that nearly wiggled his ear off. "Where are you now?"
"I don't know," replied his small nephew. "I'm lost, don't you
understand?"
"Gracious, goodness mebus!" exclaimed the old gentleman rabbit,
"then how am I to find you?"
"I don't know, but please do," said Billy Bunny sorrowfully, "for I'm
dreadfully hungry, and I haven't got a single lollypop or apple pie left
in my knapsack."
"Well, you just stay where you are and I'll get into the Luckmobile and
find you," replied the old gentleman rabbit as cheerfully as he could,
although he didn't know how he was going to do it, and neither do I,
and neither do you, but let's wait and see.
So pretty soon, in a few short seconds, Uncle Lucky was tearing along
the dusty road toward the Friendly Forest, and by and by he came to the
house where his cousin, Mr. O'Hare, lived. So he stopped the
automobile and knocked on the door, and as soon as Mr. O'Hare

opened it, he said: "Jump in with me, for my little nephew is lost and I
want you to help me