Chapter II: Part 2

“I don’t dare hop out much farther,” whispered Little Jack Rabbit. “Billy Breeze may stir up a snow cloud and hide Danny Fox. I’m afraid something dreadful may happen.”

MORE TROUBLE

Goodness me! No sooner were the words out of his mouth than Danny Fox himself sprang out from behind a snowdrift. Down into his tunnel went Timmy Meadowmouse and back into the Old Bramble Patch hopped the little rabbit.

But Danny Fox was no fool. No, sir-e-e! Instead of running after Little Jack Rabbit, he commenced to dig for the little meadowmouse. My, how the snow flew!

Up and down rushed the old fox, digging here and digging there, and if Timmy Meadowmouse hadn’t been pretty quick to run back through his tunnel to the Old Bramble Patch, Danny Fox might have caught him.

Of course, Timmy Meadowmouse couldn’t run any other way, for that was the only place the tunnel led to. But he knew when he crawled out he would be safe in the Old Bramble Patch. And that’s where Little Jack Rabbit found him.

“Another narrow escape,” he panted. “I declare, there’s no fun to be had anywhere now that Danny Fox is hunting.”

“I wish he’d hunt some other place,” said the little rabbit.

Just then they heard the report of a gun. “What’s that?” asked Timmy Meadowmouse.

“It’s the Farmer’s Boy,” answered the little rabbit, peeking out through the brambles. “I guess he hit Danny Fox, for there he goes limping towards the Shady Forest.”

“We’d better look out,” said Timmy Meadowmouse with a shiver. “Maybe the Farmer’s Boy will come after us.”

“You’re too small,” said Little Jack Rabbit, “but I’ll take good care he doesn’t see me, on the Sunny Meadow.”

Just then another shot was heard. “Goodness me!” said the little rabbit, “maybe this time he’s killed Danny Fox!”

“No, but he almost hit me!” cried Mr. Rabbit, popping into the Old Bramble Patch.

“You and the boys had better come inside,” said Mrs. Rabbit nervously from the front door. “Brother Bobby Tail has just hopped into the kitchen in a great hurry. He says the Farmer’s Boy is shooting at everything he sees.”

BANG, BANG, BANG!

“I declare, I think it’s going to snow again,” said Mr. Rabbit, looking out of the back door.

Mr. Rabbit was right. Father Storm’s two small sons, Snow Flake and Snow Drop, were flying here and there. Soon their little comrades by the million were hurrying down from the gray sky, from which, only a few hours before, Mr. Merry Sun was smiling. Over the Sunny Meadow they came, along the Bubbling Brook, where Miss Pussy Willow stood looking very cold and uncomfortable.

“Let’s give her a warm muff!” shouted the Snow Flake Brothers, and in a few minutes her little hands were warm again.

They sprinkled the catkins of the alders with whiteness until they looked like woolly lambs’ tails, and wrapped the birches and hazels in long white dresses.

“Let’s skate on the Old Duck Pond,” cried Snow Flake. Over the ice he slid till his comrades were piled up against the Old Mill in long white drifts. They hid in the water wheel and clung to the bending branches of the willow trees until they looked like loosened skeins of yarn.

“Come on!” cried Little Jack Rabbit, “I’ve got to have some fun, too!” And he and Brother Bobby Tail hopped out of the Old Bramble Patch to the Corn Field.

Bang! Bang! Bang! The Farmer’s Boy certainly was shooting away at a great rate, just as Bobby Tail had said.

All the winter birds hid themselves in the Shady Forest. Little Sam Kinglet, in his olive-gray suit, stopped picking for insect eggs in the bark of the Old Chestnut Tree. Harry Nuthatch also stopped circling like an acrobat around a limb.

“I don’t feel hungry just now,” he said, “I’m tired of grubs,” and he flew deep into the forest. And all the cheery little Chick-a-dees flew out of the low bushes and winged their way into the quiet places of the wood.

“Gracious me!” exclaimed Mrs. Rabbit, “how that dreadful gun shakes the house. I’m afraid the candlesticks will fall off the mantel,” and she lifted them down and put them in a safe place.

“Well, there’s one good thing about it all,” said Little Jack Rabbit to Bobby Tail as they hopped through the snow-covered corn field, “Old Danny Fox won’t be around again for some time.”

“It’s safer at home when the bad farmer’s boy
Is tramping around with his gun.
No telling, I say, while he’s shooting away
His bullets of lead by the ton.

“What might happen to us if we went for a stroll
Away from our warm kitchen stove.
We’ll stay in the house with the little gray mouse;
Just now it is no time to rove,”

sang the old robber fox as he bolted his front door.

THE SNOW FLAKE BROTHERS

“Hurrah!” cried the little Snow Flakes as they hurried along on Billy Breeze after the two little rabbits, “Let’s cover Mother Nature with a big white comforter!”

Down from the gray skies they came on their white wings, covering up the shivering grasses in the Sunny Meadow and the trembling bushes by the wayside.

Bobbie Redvest as he hopped about picking up crumbs from the Kind Farmer’s doorstep, thought they looked like the white petals that blossomed in the orchard in the sweet springtime.

Professor Jim Crow looked out from his safe retreat in the Shady Forest to tell the little bunny brothers that the Old Clothes Man in the cornfield would soon be a snowman!

“Haw, haw!
Snowman or Scarecrow,
I don’t care;
I’d know a Scarecrow
Anywhere,
Caw, caw!”

And he flapped his wings, shaking off the snowflakes that had sifted through the branches, and laughed again, “Caw, caw, haw, haw, caw, caw!”

Mr. Blue Jay stopped pecking at an acorn to listen. Then he gave a laugh that sounded very much like Professor Jim Crow’s “Caw!”

“Let’s make the Old Clothes Man into a regular Snowman,” said Little Jack Rabbit. So they set to work, he and Brother Bobby Tail, and pretty soon they had stuffed out the empty pantaloons with snow. Then they filled the sleeves of the old coat and rounded out the vest. After that they made a nice snowball head on which they placed the old silk hat.

The Scarecrow now stood straight and cheerful. His arms and legs no longer dangled in the wind.

“Perhaps we can fool Professor Jim Crow,” said Brother Bobby Tail, and off they both hopped to find the old professor bird.

Billy Breeze tried his best to blow off the old silk hat, but the Scarecrow Snowman wouldn’t let him. I guess he was afraid he’d catch a cold in the head, although he didn’t seem to mind the snowflakes dancing on the top until they slipped off, filling the brim with a white drift that almost hid the old frayed ribbon.

Oh, Billy Breeze, Billy Breeze,
You will make the Snowman sneeze.
If you blow his stovepipe off
He might get a dreadful cough.

See how hard the poor man tries
With his hand to shield his eyes.
Billy Breeze, you’re not polite--
Leave the hat on him to-night.

THE STORM

“Goodby,” cried Billy Breeze, seeing that he couldn’t blow off the old silk hat, and he drove the Snow Flakes out of the Corn Field and down the hillside.

They filled up the bushes and thickets, the blackberry brambles along the road, hid the roots of the wild grapevine and danced along the Old Rail Fence, playing hide-and-seek in the knotholes.

At last they came to the orchard. For a moment they stopped at the gate. Then, in a whirling cloud they rushed through, covering the twigs and branches with their frosty laces.

“Let’s fill Bobbie Redvest’s nest,” they cried. Next, they swung back and forth in little Mrs. Oriole’s nest that hung like an empty stocking from the Old Elm Tree.

“If it keeps on snowing like this, maybe we’d better start for home,” said Little Jack Rabbit.

“But we haven’t shown our Snowman to Professor Jim Crow,” said Brother Bobby Tail. “Besides, we don’t care how hard it snows.”

It wouldn’t have mattered so much if Billy Breeze had only been quiet. But, you see, he wasn’t. He liked to play in the snow as much as any little boy does. So he whistled and blew, making great drifts that hid the Old Rail Fence and the bushes.

Pretty soon the rabbit brothers couldn’t hop over them, but had to go where the snow wasn’t so deep, and by and by they found themselves a long way from the Tall Pine Tree where Professor Jim Crow lived.

Billy Breeze was now blowing harder than ever, whirling the snow about in every direction. All of a sudden Jack Frost nipped the little bunny boys’ noses.

“Let’s go home,” said Brother Bobby Tail.

“You had better hurry,” said Bob White, who with his large family was sitting in a tree, “it’s going to be a bad night,” and the next minute he and Mrs. Bob and all the little Bobs dived headfirst into a snowbank where they would be safe and warm from the icy breath of Billy Breeze.

Hurry, hurry, Jackie Rabbit!
Bobby Tail, please hurry, too!
Or you’ll find that Billy Breeze
Will freeze you black and blue!

MRS. COW

It was lucky that before long the Bunny Brothers came to the Old Farm. Goodness knows what might have happened if they hadn’t. Before they knew where they were Billy Breeze blew them head over heels amid a cloud of snow right into the Old Cow Shed. You see, it didn’t have any door--it just leaned against the Big Red Barn, with the Hay Stack on one side and the Corn Crib on the other.

There stood Mrs. Cow chewing her cud. But she didn’t have to whisk her tail. No, sir! There wasn’t a fly anywhere!

“Helloa! What brings you two bunnies out such a day as this?” And Mrs. Cow shook her head, making the little bell on her collar go ting-a-ling!

“It was snowing only a little when we first started out,” answered Little Jack Rabbit, trying to keep his teeth from chattering.

“We turned the Scarecrow into a Snowman,” said Brother Bobby Tail, stamping on his toes to make them warm. “We heard Professor Jim Crow say he’d know a Scarecrow anywhere, so we thought we’d fool him this time.”

“But we couldn’t find him anywhere. Billy Breeze was kicking up such a rumpus that we lost our way,” said Little Jack Rabbit. “It was too bad, for I’m sure Professor Jim Crow never would have known the Old Clothes Man of the Corn Field!”

“Why don’t you hop into the straw over there,” said Mrs. Cow. “You can keep nice and warm till morning. By that time maybe the storm will be over.”

“You’re very kind,” said Little Jack Rabbit. “I hope mother won’t worry tonight.”

“You’ll find corn in the box in the corner,” said Mrs. Cow. “That will do for supper.”

“Oh, dear,” said Little Jack Rabbit, “my toes are so cold.”

“Come over here,” said Mrs. Cow kindly, lying down on her straw bed. “Now cuddle up to my warm body.”

THE STRAW PILE

“Oh, I hope mother won’t be worried,” said Little Jack Rabbit again, after he and Brother Bobby Tail had cuddled up to kind Mrs. Cow.

“She’d be more worried if you didn’t get home tomorrow,” answered Mrs. Cow. “If you try to go home tonight you’ll be lost--or maybe something worse.”

“What?” asked Brother Bobby Tail, sleepily.

“Why, Danny Fox,” answered Mrs. Cow.

“Oh, oh!” shivered the two little bunnies--not with the cold, you know, but with fright, for they were nice and warm beside Mrs. Cow.

“Now, pretty soon,” she said, “the Kind Farmer will come to milk me. He’ll bring his milk pail and a nice hot corn and bran mash for my supper. So, don’t you wait when I tell you to run and hide. For he won’t stop to knock on the door--there’s no door to knock on.” And Mrs. Cow nodded her head till the little bell at her neck tinkled three times.

“Where shall we hide?” asked Little Jack Rabbit.

“Over there in the straw pile,” answered Mrs. Cow. “You’d better go over and make a nest for yourselves now. Be sure you can hide so that not even the tip of your tail will show, for the Kind Farmer has very bright eyes.”

It didn’t take the Bunny Brothers long to make a nice hiding place in the big straw pile, and after eating a supper of corn, they hopped about the shed, hoping to find a stray carrot or turnip. But they didn’t find any, and as Billy Breeze was sifting the snow through the cracks and knotholes, they hopped back to cuddle up again to kind Mrs. Cow.

By and by they fell asleep and dreamed they were eating carrot ice cream and clover cake. It was too bad that by and by the Kind Farmer came out to milk, although very likely Mrs. Cow would have been disappointed if he hadn’t. At any rate, all of a sudden, the two little rabbits woke up with a start.

“Run, run!” cried Mrs. Cow. “Hide, hide! He’s coming!”

Little Jack Rabbit didn’t wait to rub his eyes, neither did Brother Bobby Tail, but away they hopped. And just in time, too; for no sooner had they hidden in the straw than in walked the Kind Farmer with a nice hot supper for Mrs. Cow. But you can well believe that these two little rabbits were up and on their way home the next morning long before the Kind Farmer had even opened his eyes.

SQUIRREL NUTCRACKER

Heigh ho, how the winds blow!
Billy Breeze plays baseball in the snow.
Over the fences and over the wall
He makes a home run with a little snowball.

The Sunny Meadow was white with snow, and the Shady Forest dressed in snowy laces. All the little Fourfooted Folk were either sound asleep in their winter homes or tucked away safely from the storm.

Little Jack Rabbit hopped over to the window of his little house in the Old Bramble Patch and drew a picture of Danny Fox on the frosty pane. Just then, all of a sudden, who should come sneaking along the Old Rail Fence but that old robber himself.

“What is he after?” thought the little bunny, running to the kitchen door to peek through the keyhole. But he didn’t open the door, let me tell you. It was but a few feet over to the Old Rail Fence, and he wasn’t going to give Danny Fox a chance to jump right into the kitchen without first knocking on the door.

But Danny Fox was too busy with something else. Yes, sir, that’s what he was. He didn’t take his eyes off the ground, but crept along, oh so carefully, until he came to the Big Chestnut Tree. Then he stopped and looked up.

Old Squirrel Nutcracker sat in his tree,
While down in the bushes sat Chick-a-dee-dee;
But when Danny Fox came creeping along
Chick-a-dee-dee stopped singing his song,
As Squirrel Nutcracker ran out on a limb
And hit Danny Fox on his old hat brim.

“Stop throwing nuts at me!” shouted Danny Fox, opening wide his mouth to show all his long, white teeth.

But that didn’t frighten Squirrel Nutcracker. Oh, my no! He just curled his long, bushy tail over his back and began to chatter. But Chick-a-dee-dee flew away. He didn’t wish to be there if there was to be a fight. Of course that could never happen, for Danny Fox didn’t know how to climb a tree and Squirrel Nutcracker knew too much to come down to the ground.

“If you don’t go away from here,
And do it pretty soon,
Maybe I’ll reach up to the sky
And hit you with the moon,”

shouted the old squirrel, which so frightened Danny Fox that he ran home to his den.

WINTER TIME

All the creatures, fur and feather,
Cuddle close this snowy weather;
Chippy Chipmunk ’neath a tree
In his home as safe can be.

Squirrel Nutkin when it snows
Hides his head beneath the clothes
Of his little wooden bed
In the oak tree overhead.

And within the Bramble Patch
Little Rabbit’s drawn the latch.
Everyone’s almost asleep
Waiting for the Spring’s first peep.

Chilly Mr. North Wind blows from his home at the North Pole, making his snow horses whirl over the Sunny Meadow and along the Old Rail Fence.

The Bubbling Brook is covered with a coat of ice, and the Farmer’s Boy skates across the Old Duck Pond. But Granddaddy Bullfrog doesn’t hear him, for he is sound asleep in the mud ’way down deep where the ice never forms.

Timmy Meadowmouse makes little tunnels through the snow, for he is too small to walk over the drifts. But Danny Fox, that sly old robber, sneaks along the bare places so as to leave no footprints to show where he has been.

Sometimes he turns to the Shady Forest, and sometimes to the farm, where Cocky Doodle and Henny Penny prune their feathers on the sunny side of the High Haystack.

The Weathercock swings to and fro on the Big Red Barn and wishes it were Spring.

Busy Beaver swims about under the ice in the Forest Pond, coming back to his little house, whose front door is deep down where the water never freezes. In the upper room he has stored away twigs and things to eat till Mr. Merry Sun melts the ice and tells the flowers to bloom again.

All the birds have gone south except a few. Charlie Chickadee and Jimmy Junko, though, don’t mind the chilly weather. They flutter here and there, eating the dry seeds that still cling to the tall meadow grass, or the dry berries in the Old Bramble Patch.

Peter Possum and his family are curled up in a warm hollow stump, and the Big Brown Bear is snoring in his cave.

The earth is clad in snow white,
But all the trees are bare.
The farmer reads the almanac
Within his old arm chair.

Good Mrs. Cow safe in the shed
Upon the manger rubs her head,
And if you listen you can tell
How many times she rings her bell.

She never takes her collar off
For fear she’ll catch the whooping cough.
Imagine how that little bell
Would tinkle in a coughing spell.

THE SNOWMAN

Old Danny Fox, with his two small sons,
Stood just outside his den;
The snow was nearly two feet deep
In the Shady Forest Glen.

But they didn’t care, they had such fun
Making a snowman with a gun,--
A great big stick they had found close by,--
That pointed right up to the cold blue sky.

Yes, sir! Danny Fox was very kind to Bushytail and Slyboots, and although the Little People of the Sunny Meadow and the Shady Forest didn’t like him, Mrs. Fox and her two little cubs did. Oh my, yes!

Almost every day he brought home something nice to eat; sometimes a nice fat pullet from the farmyard; sometimes a tender rabbit.

“I saw Little Jack Rabbit last night, my dear,” said the crafty old fox to his wife as he pushed a piece of coal in the snowman’s round face for an eye. “But I couldn’t get near enough to catch him. My, but he’s a wise little bunny,” and Danny Fox began to whistle:

“If you want to catch a rabbit
You must have a crafty habit,
For he’s timid, very timid,
And keeps a bright lookout;
So if you want to catch him
You must never, never shout.”

Pretty soon he remarked that he must make a call over at the farm, and winking at Mrs. Fox, he ran off. After a while he reached the Big Red Barn where the Weathercock turned around every time Mr. North Wind whistled.

“Now, let me think,” said Danny Fox to himself. “All the chickens are safe in the Henhouse; how am I to get in?”

Just then Mr. Longtooth Rat looked out of the barn. Maybe he had heard Danny Fox whispering to himself.

“There’s a loose board on the back of the Henhouse. Why don’t you pull it off?” And then that bad old rat grinned, for he didn’t care whether the poor chickens were eaten by that old fox. In fact, if they were, there’d be more corn for him. Wasn’t that selfish? Well, I just guess it was, but there are lots of selfish people in this old world, and that’s the reason every little boy and girl should learn to always save a piece of candy for mother. Then they’ll grow up to be good men and women.

Well, anyway, in a minute or two crafty Danny Fox sneaked around to the rear of the Henhouse, for he didn’t want Old Sic’em, the farmer’s dog, to see him. No sooner had he pulled on the loose board than he began to smile.

“I hope Old Sic’em won’t hear me,” he said, as he pushed his nose in the crack and gave a great shove. Then, Oh, dear me! I mean, Oh, how glad I am! The rusty nails made a dreadful noise--such a dreadful noise that you could hear them in the next story.

FOX HUNTING

“Creak, creak, creak!
I’m old and very rusty,
Why don’t you wait till summertime
When it is hot and dusty.
This is no time to pull a nail
When Mr. North Wind blows a gale,”

shouted a rusty nail as Danny Fox tugged away at the loose board of the Henhouse.

“S-s-s-sh!” whispered Danny Fox, “you’ll wake up Sic’em.”

But he need not have worried, for old Sic’em was dreadfully deaf. Besides, he was asleep on the mat in front of the kitchen stove, and how could he hear a rusty nail talk out in the farmyard, I should like to know.

All the same, Danny Fox stopped tugging at the board and looked around just as Mrs. Cow came to the door of the shed. No sooner did she see the old fox than she gave a loud “MOO!”

“Keep quiet, can’t you?” whined Danny Fox, showing his long white teeth. But they didn’t frighten her. Oh, my, no! She just lowered her head and mooed again.

“I’ll run my horn right through your tail
If you don’t listen to that nail.
That board was fastened there to keep
Out folks like you who try to creep
In through a hole to steal a hen,
And maybe come around again.”

“Goodness me!” answered Danny Fox, “won’t you be quiet and let an honest man get his supper?”

This made Mrs. Cow laugh so hard that the little bell on her leather collar woke up the Kind Farmer, who had fallen asleep reading the Almanac. When he opened the door and looked out, the Weathercock pointed at Danny Fox hiding behind the Henhouse. But that wise old fox didn’t wait another minute but turned and fled to his den on the wooded hillside.

“Gee whiskers!” cried the Kind Farmer, “there goes old Danny Fox,” and he ran to get his gun.

“Come on, Sic’em! Let’s go fox hunting!” And he and the old dog followed Danny Fox’s footprints over the snow.

“He lives under that pile of rocks, sure enough,” said the Kind Farmer, following Danny Fox’s trail right up to his front door. “But how shall I get him out?”

And that’s just what old Sic’em thought, only he didn’t say so. He barked instead, and the hair on his back stood out straight like bristles on my tooth brush. Then he wagged his tail and barked harder than ever.

“I guess I’ve come on a wild goose chase,” said the Kind Farmer. “That old fox won’t come out, and I can’t wait here all day for we’re going to have hot muffins for supper.”

Then, with a whistle to Sic’em, he turned back to the farm.

Home again! The kitchen fire
Warms the kettle to a song.
Home again! And now forgotten
Everything that has gone wrong.

Comfort and a place for dreaming
In the big armchair to find--
Where the wistful hearthstone fairies
Fill with dreams your tired mind.

LITTLE JACK RABBIT BOOKS

(Trademark Registered)

By DAVID CORY
Author of LITTLE JOURNEYS TO HAPPYLAND

Colored Wrappers With Text Illustrations

A new and unique series about the furred and feathered little people of the wood and meadow.

Children will eagerly follow the doings of little Jack Rabbit, who, every morning as soon as he has polished the front door knob and fed the canary, sets out from his little house in the bramble patch to meet his friends in the Shady Forest and Sunny Meadow. And the clever way he escapes from his three enemies, Danny Fox, Mr. Wicked Weasel and Hungry Hawk will delight the youngsters.

LITTLE JACK RABBIT’S ADVENTURES
LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND DANNY FOX
LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE SQUIRREL BROTHERS
LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND CHIPPY CHIPMUNK
LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE BIG BROWN BEAR
LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND UNCLE JOHN HARE
LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND PROFESSOR CROW
LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND OLD MAN WEASEL
LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND MR. WICKED WOLF
LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND HUNGRY HAWK

GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK

LITTLE JOURNEYS TO HAPPYLAND

(Trademark Registered)

By DAVID CORY

Individual Colored Wrappers. Profusely Illustrated

Printed in large type--easy to read. For children from 4 to 8 years.

A new series of exciting adventures by the author of LITTLE JACK RABBIT books.

The Happyland is reached by various routes: If you should happen to miss the Iceberg Express maybe you can take the Magic Soap Bubble, or in case that has already left, the Noah’s Ark may be waiting for you.

This series is unique in that it deals with unusual and exciting adventures on land and sea and in the air.

The Cruise of the Noah’s Ark

This is a good rainy day story. On just such a day Mr. Noah invites Marjorie to go for a trip in the Noah’s Ark. She gets aboard just in time and away it floats out into the big wide world.

The Magic Soap Bubble

The king of the gnomes has a magic pipe with which he blows a wonderful bubble and taking Ed. with him they both have a delightful time in Gnomeland.

The Iceberg Express

The Mermaid’s magic comb changes little Mary Louise into a mermaid. The Polar Bear Porter on the iceberg Express invites her to take a trip with him and away they go on a little journey to Happyland.

GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK

All aboard Children! We may find ourselves in Gnomeland or with the Ice Fairies at the North Pole—But get aboard! Your ticket is a Little Journey to Happy Land book, and we start as soon as you turn over the first page of one of these books.

Captain Noah catches Mr. Johah asleep at the wheel.]

* * * * * *

Transcriber’s note:

Punctuation has been stadardised. Changes to the original publication have been made as follows:

Page 90
Bramble Patch the Danny Fox might have _changed to_
Bramble Patch, Danny Fox might have

Little Journies to Happyland advertisement
a little journey to Hapyyland _changed to_
a little journey to Happyland