AIRSHIP RIDE
Well, all of a sudden, as Mrs. Oriole combed her yellow curls—beg pardon, I mean feathers—Little Jack Rabbit heard a voice say, quite close to his ear, "Hello!" And when he looked around he saw his friend the Jay Bird perched on a bramble branch.
"How did you get here?" asked the little rabbit.
"In my airship," replied the little bird. "Don't you want to take a ride?"
"Will you wait till I finish cleaning my gold watch?" and the little rabbit set to work, and before long he could see his face in it and the Jay Bird's too, for Mr. Merry Sun made that little gold watch shine like a ball of fire.
Then away went the little rabbit and the Jay Bird, and pretty soon they were flying over the Sunny Meadow, over the treetops and over the steeples, and over the houses and over the peoples!
Well, sir, it wasn't very long before they were far, far away from the Shady Forest, and then the little rabbit said: "Don't go too far, Mr. Jay Bird, for mother will worry if I don't get home in time for supper." And just then up came the American Eagle with a big flag in his beak and seven silver stars on the tips of his tail feathers.
"O come with me and I'll show
you where
I've a nest on the mountain high in the air;
It's a lonely place, but it's home for me,
With Mrs. Eagle and children three."
"Show us the way and we'll follow," said the Jay Bird, and he steered his airship after the great American Eagle, and by and by they came to his nest high up on the mountain's rocky crest.
The little rabbit hopped out and went over to say how do you do to the little eaglets, and when they showed him their Thrift Stamp Books, what do you think this generous little rabbit did? Why, he opened his knapsack and gave them each a War Saving Stamp. Wasn't that kind of him?
Then Mrs. Eagle went to the ice box for ice cream cones, and everybody had a feast, and after that the Jay Bird said it was time to go. So he and the little rabbit got into the airship and went away, and by and by they were just above the Bramble Patch. Mrs. Rabbit was looking out of the window, and as soon as she saw them way up high in the clear blue sky, she rang the supper bell, and Cocky Doodle sang:
"Home again, my little rabbit,
That's the place to be.
Only there true love and rest
Waits for you and me."
Well, that's the end of Little Jack Rabbit's Adventures for now. But don't go away. There's more to come soon.
Entertain Your Friends When You
