Billy Bunny and His Friends

One morning, oh, so early, while the frost was still on the grass and Mr. Happy Sun was hardly out of bed under the misty hill in the east, Billy Bunny hopped down the pleasant meadow till he came to the babbling brook. Perhaps he wanted to see the little fresh water crab, Or perhaps he didn’t.

I can’t really tell, for the first person he spoke to was Tommy Turtle. Yes, sir! Tommy Turtle in his little walk-about house.

And do you know, I think it must be very nice to be able to take your house with you wherever you go, instead of having to leave it everyday.

“Good morning,” said Billy Bunny and Tommy Turtle pushed out his head from under his shelf roof, for at first he had pulled his head inside, the way he always does when he hears a noise.

“Oh, it’s you,” said Tommy. “I thought it was someone else,” and then he winked at the little rabbit in a very solemn way.

“My, but it’s getting cold,” said the little rabbit, and he turned up his fur collar. “Willie Wind is as chilly as an ice cream cone.” And this made Tommy Turtle wink again, for maybe he didn’t like ice cream. But I guess he did, for in a minute he began to smile. “I’m going down to the Old Mill Pond. You won’t see me again till spring.”

“What are you going to do?” asked the little rabbit.

“I’m going to crawl into the soft warm mud,” said Tommy Turtle. “Old North Wind isn’t going to freeze the end off my nose.” And the wise little turtle started off for the Old Mill Pond, and when he got there, he flopped over the bank without another word.

“Dear me!” Said Billy Bunny, “now he’s gone. Old Uncle Bullfrog is in the mud at the bottom of the pond and lots of the forest folk have flown south.

“There won’t be many of my friends left before long.” And the little rabbit felt quite lonely. So he hopped away toward the Friendly Forest and soon he came to the stream where Benny Beaver lived.

And there was that busy little beaver making his winter house of sticks and mud so that when the water froze he would be able to swim out through the cellar door underneath the ice.

“Something tells me it’s going to freeze tonight,” he said to the little rabbit, “and I’m going to be ready, yes, indeed.”

“Oh, dear,” said Billy. “Goodbye, Benny Beaver. I will see you in the Spring. And then Billy Bunny decided to head home. He was quite certain that his Mother and Father were also preparing their home for the cold winter. Maybe he should help.

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