BILLY BUNNY
STORY XII.
BILLY BUNNY AND THE RABBITVILLE "GAZETTE."
There was
once a little rabbit
Who was very fond of pie,
Apple pie, with sugar on the crust.
And he had a little habit,
When his mother wasn't nigh,
Of eating apple pie until he bust.
This is what Mr. William Bunny, the little rabbit's father, you know, was singing one day, and the reason was because Mrs. Bunny had found little Billy Bunny in the pantry.
And what happened to the little rabbit I'm not going to tell you, for it is so sad that it would make you weep to hear it.
"All
day he nibbled pie
Till at last I thought he'd die,"
Said the doctor with a sigh.
And then Mr. William Bunny looked at his small son and sighed, too, for he had just paid the doctor's bill.
"Please don't sing any more," said little Billy Bunny. "Don't you remember the doctor said I was to be kept quiet?"
So Mr. William Bunny went out on the porch to smoke a cigar and read the Rabbitville "Gazette" until after supper time.
And while he was reading Mrs. Bunny
looked over his shoulder and read:
"Wanted, a secondhand automobile in good condition."
"Ring up your Uncle Lucky on the telephone," she called to Billy Bunny. "Here's a chance for him to sell his Luckymobile." So the little rabbit rang up 000 Lettuceville, and in a few minutes he heard the old gentleman's voice at the other end of the wire.
"But I don't want to sell my Luckymobile," he said. "It's the only one in ex-is-tence," which means the only one ever made, and I guess he was right, for I never rode in a Luckymobile, did you?
"But mother thinks you ought to sell it," said Billy Bunny, "and so does father, for they both say you'll have a terrible accident some day if you don't look out."
"Well then, I'll look out," said Uncle Lucky with a laugh. "But I won't sell my Luckymobile." And then he asked Billy Bunny to make him a visit. So the little rabbit put on his knapsack and picked up his striped candy cane and started off, after first asking his mother's permission, of course.
And after he had gone for maybe a million Hops, he came to a big tree where Old Barney the Owl had his next. But of course, he wasn't awake. Oh, my, no. He had his eyes tightly closed, for owls don't like a bright light, you know. They can see in the dark but not in the daytime.
But when Billy Bunny called out, "Helloa, Mr. Barney," the old gentleman owl blinked his eyes and said, "Who's calling me?" And then the little rabbit thought he'd play a joke, so he said, "Mr. Mouse!"
And if there was anything that Old
Barney loved to eat, it was mice.
And in the next story I'll tell you what Billy Bunny did.
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