Little Jack Rabbit and the Squirrel Brothers | Page 6

rabbit. "Do come, Mrs. Cow. We want you to ring your bell at the wedding. Did you ever ring a wedding bell?"
"No," answered Mrs. Cow, "but I guess I know how. I'll come, but I may not be able to stay all the time for I must get back in time for milking."
Then the three started off together, and when they reached the Shady Forest, Twinkle Tail looked back and saw Henny Penny and Cocky Doodle coming up the Old Cow Path dressed in their Sunday clothes. Just behind them were Ducky Waddles and Goosey Lucy and in the distance Turkey Tim hurrying along the Old Rail Fence to catch up to them.
"Goodness me!" exclaimed the little squirrel, "I won't have much time to dress," and he set off at a great pace, leaving Mrs. Cow and Little Jack Rabbit behind.
When he reached his house he found Miss Squirrel anxiously looking out of the window, but when she saw him, she laughed and said, "I thought you were lost, dear Twinkle Tail!"
Pretty soon Parson Owl arrived, and when all the guests were seated, he told Twinkle Tail and Miss Squirrel to stand up before him. And after Twinkle Tail had placed the little gold ring on Miss Squirrel's little finger toe, Mrs. Cow rang the wedding bells and Bobbie Redvest sang a song.

"NUTS AND RAISINS"
There was a grand feast after the wedding of Twinkle Tail and little Miss Squirrel. There were nuts and raisins for everybody, and I don't know of anything much nicer than nuts and raisins.
Of course, all the Barnyard Folk ate raisins, for they couldn't crack the nuts. It almost gave Ducky Waddles a toothache watching Twinkle Tail crack the shells.
Cocky Doodle made a pretty speech, wishing the Twinkle Tails a long life and a happy one, in which all the little people of the forest joined him.
After that everybody looked at the wedding presents, which if not beautiful, were very useful.
Henny Penny gave a nice new laid egg and Turkey Tim a bag of corn. Little Jack Rabbit brought a big carrot and Chippy Chipmunk a basket of nuts. Of course Ducky Waddles didn't give them anything more--the little gold ring was his present, which Twinkle Tail had slipped on the little toe-finger of Miss Squirrel at a nod from Parson Owl.
You see, Twinkle Tail had never been married before, so Parson Owl had helped him a little--which I presume all good kind ministers do when they marry young people. At any rate, Parson Owl did, and so everything went off very smoothly.
On the way home if it hadn't been for some friendly Fireflies, Little Jack Rabbit might have lost his way. And then again, maybe not, for he was a pretty bright little bunny and like all the Forest Folk, knew how to take care of himself. At the same time, it's nice to have a lantern on a dark night. One might, you know, stumble into a deep hole.
When they reached the Old Bramble Patch, the little rabbit said: "I'd ask you in, only I'm afraid mother's asleep."
"Thank you just the same," answered the kind Fireflies. "We are glad to have helped you with our little lanterns," and they flew away to the Sunny Meadow to wink and blink like little stars among the tall grasses.
The little rabbit opened the door and hopped softly up to his room and was soon fast asleep in his comfortable bed.

BAD NEWS
It's really too bad that the Miller's Boy Should be snooping around with his gun. Why doesn't he stay in the Old Mill all day And leave little folks to their fun?
That's what the Little People of the Shady Forest and the Sunny Meadow thought. You see, the Miller's Boy had very little to do just now, for the farmers were busy in the fields and the corn wasn't ready to be ground into meal. So all the Miller's Boy had to do was to attend to a few chores and then get out his gun and go hunting. And of course all the little four-footed and feathered people were dreadfully afraid of that great noisy gun.
"Look here," said Mrs. Rabbit, one day to her little son, "you had better be careful. You can't run faster than a bullet, you know. It's all very well to run away from Danny Fox and Mr. Wicked Weasel, or to dodge from under Hungry Hawk, but a bullet is a different thing," and the kind lady bunny patted her small son on the left ear and gave him a piece of cherry pie.
Well, as soon as the pie was gone, Little Jack Rabbit hopped out of the Old Bramble Patch, clipperty clip, lipperty lip, and pretty soon he met Chippy Chipmunk and Woody Chuck in the Shady Forest.
"Mother says a