Chapter XXIII: Making Game of Old Dog Spot

"Where have you been keeping yourself?" Buster Bumblebee cried, the moment he caught sight of Jimmy Rabbit's ears sticking up from behind a head of Farmer Green's lettuce. "It's quite plain that you forgot to meet me, so I might tell you about the raising bee."

At that Jimmy Rabbit promptly replied that he had come there each morning.

"Anyhow," he said, "you promised to meet me. And since you haven't met me until now it must be your fault, for you certainly haven't done as you agreed."

Buster Bumblebee looked puzzled. He was sure that the fault had not been his. But his wits were not so nimble as Jimmy Rabbit's. And he could think of no answer at all.

"Well, what do you know about the raising bee?" Jimmy asked him with an encouraging smile.

"You were mistaken about that," Buster told him eagerly. "There wasn't any raising bee. Farmer Green's neighbors for miles around came to help him put up the frame of his new barn. And afterwards they enjoyed a feast under the trees--and a dance."

Jimmy Rabbit began to shake in a very strange manner.

"Ho! ho!" he cried in a jolly voice. "You are the one that's mistaken--and not I! You saw a raising bee and didn't know it! Farmer Green's friends _raised_ the timbers for the barn. And that's why it's called a _raising_ bee. Any helpful, neighborly gathering like that is known as a _bee_--though you may not be aware of that fact."

Buster Bumblebee stared open-mouthed. He had never suspected such a thing. But Jimmy Rabbit said it was so. And there was nothing to do but believe him.

"So they had something to eat--and a dance too, eh?" said Jimmy Rabbit pleasantly.

"Yes," said Buster, "and there was a bumblebee in a pumpkin, though I couldn't see him. But old dog Spot said he did. And I suppose I was mistaken, for I thought he was inside a fiddle."

And now Jimmy Rabbit was laughing again, holding his sides and shaking so hard that it seemed as if his ears would fall off if he didn't stop soon.

"No, you were not mistaken at all!" he cried, as soon as he could speak again. "That's an old, old tune. My grandfather has hummed it to me many a time. He used to say that there never was another tune just like it."

"What tune?" Buster Bumblebee asked him. "I must say I don't know what you're talking about."

"Why, _The Bumblebee in the Pumpkin_!" Jimmy Rabbit informed him. "That's the name of a tune. Every good fiddler knows it. And since the buzzing sound comes out of the fiddle, the bumblebee must be inside it, of course."

For a moment Buster looked almost peevish. He had intended to take Jimmy Rabbit down a peg by telling him he had been mistaken. And here was Jimmy Rabbit, explaining every strange thing, just as he always did! It was most annoying--so Buster thought. But all at once a comforting idea popped into his head.

"Old dog Spot was wrong, wasn't he?" Buster cried.

"He certainly was," Jimmy Rabbit replied.

"Ha! ha!" laughed Buster Bumblebee. "Isn't it odd how stupid some people are?"

"It certainly is!" said Jimmy Rabbit. And for some unknown reason he laughed harder than ever before.

But Buster Bumblebee did not mind that in the least. He thought that Jimmy Rabbit was making game of old dog Spot.

THE END

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SLEEPY-TIME TALES (Trademark Registered.) By ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY AUTHOR OF THE TUCK-ME-IN TALES and SLUMBER-TIME TALES Colored Wrapper and Text Illustrations Drawn by HARRY L. SMITH

This series of animal stories for children from three to eight years, tells of the adventures of the four-footed creatures of our American woods and fields in an amusing way, which delights small two-footed human beings.

THE TALE OF CUFFY BEAR THE TALE OF FRISKY SQUIRREL THE TALE OF TOMMY FOX THE TALE OF FATTY COON THE TALE OF BILLY WOODCHUCK THE TALE OF JIMMY RABBIT THE TALE OF PETER MINK THE TALE OF SANDY CHIPMUNK THE TALE OF BROWNIE BEAVER THE TALE OF PADDY MUSKRAT THE TALE OF FERDINAND FROG THE TALE OF DICKIE DEER MOUSE THE TALE OF TIMOTHY TURTLE THE TALE OF BENNY BADGER THE TALE OF MAJOR MONKEY THE TALE OF GRUMPY WEASEL THE TALE OF GRANDFATHER MOLE THE TALE OF MASTER MEADOW MOUSE

Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York.

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TUCK-ME-IN TALES (Trademark Registered.) By ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY AUTHOR OF THE SLEEPY-TIME TALES and SLUMBER-TIME TALES Colored Wrapper and Text Illustrations Drawn by HARRY L. SMITH

A delightful and unusual series of bird and insect stories for boys and girls from three to eight years old, or thereabouts.

THE TALE OF JOLLY ROBIN

Jolly Robin spreads happiness everywhere with his merry song.

THE TALE OF OLD MR. CROW

A wise bird was Mr. Crow. He'd laugh when any one tried to catch him.

THE TALE OF SOLOMON OWL

Solomon Owl looked so solemn that many people thought he knew everything.

THE TALE OF JASPER JAY

Jasper Jay was very mischievous. But many of his neighbors liked him.

THE TALE OF RUSTY WREN

Rusty Wren fought bravely to keep all strangers out of his house.

THE TALE OF DADDY LONG-LEGS

Daddy Long-Legs could point in all directions at once--with his different legs.

THE TALE OF KIDDIE KATYDID

He was a musical person and chanted all night during the autumn.

THE TALE OF BETSY BUTTERFLY

Betsy spent most of her time among the flowers.

THE TALE OF BUSTER BUMBLEBEE

Buster was clumsy and blundering, but was known far and wide.

THE TALE OF FREDDIE FIREFLY

Freddie had great sport dancing in the meadow and flashing his light.

THE TALE OF BOBBY BOBOLINK

Bobby had a wonderful voice and loved to sing.

THE TALE OF CHIRPY CRICKET

Chirpy loved to stroll about after dark and "chirp."

THE TALE OF MRS. LADYBUG

Mrs. Ladybug loved to find out what her neighbors were doing and to give them advice.

Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York.

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Transcriber's Notes

1. Punctuation has been normalized to contemporary standards.
2. Frontispiece illustration relocated to after title page.
3. Lines printed out of order in published text have been corrected:
page 68, lines 4 and 5 as in original:
friends to a house-warming and I don't
hard on me. For I've invited all my
page 112, lines 19 and 20 as in original:
You saw a raising bee and didn't know it!
are the one that's mistaken--and not I!