, after the lemon lollypops were all gone, the little bunny went
upon his way, hipperty hop, lipperty lop, until he saw Jimmy Jay on the
Old Rail Fence.
Now you know that Jimmy Jay is a very mischievous little bird. Yes, sir,
he certainly loves to tease. Grandmother Magpie is mischievous, too,
but she's no worse than little Jimmy Jay. She does harm by meddling and
Jimmy Jay by teasing.
Yes, it certainly is too bad that such a pretty bird as Jimmy Jay should
cause so much trouble. Why, his coat's as blue as the summer sky when
Mr. Merry Sun is shining at his best.
"Hip, hip, hurray,
I'm Jimmy Jay,
And I'm proud of my coat of blue.
Go on your way,
I'm Jimmy Jay,
I've no time to talk to you."
"You're too fond of yourself, Jimmy Jay," said Little Jack Rabbit, and
he wiggled his pink nose till the little Jay bird almost fell off the
rail. You see, Little Jack Rabbit had the habit of wiggling his nose so
fast that it made everybody dizzy to look at it.
"Mother says it's not the clothes
You wear that make you good;
It's having a contented mind
And doing what you should."
Then away hopped the little rabbit, leaving Jimmy Jay to think it over.
Perhaps it kept that mischievous little Jay Bird from looking at himself
in the Bubbling Brook. Or maybe it was because it was all frozen over
with a thick coat of ice.
Well, anyway, the little rabbit hopped along for maybe a mile or maybe
less, until he came to a little hole in snow, when, all of a sudden, out
popped Timmy Meadowmouse. You see in the winter time, Timmy Meadowmouse
makes little tunnels under the snow, and every once in a while, here
and there, he climbs up a stiff stalk of grass and pokes out his head to
look around. And wasn't he glad to see the little rabbit. Well, I just
guess he was. But if he had seen Danny Fox instead he wouldn't have been
so pleased. No sireemam. And in the next story, if the little
meadowmouse doesn't play hide-and-seek in the snow till that sly old fox
comes around, I'll tell you what happened after this.
THE TIP OF A TAIL
Now let us see--oh, yes, I remember now. We left off just when little
Timmy Meadowmouse poked his head up through the snow and said, "Helloa!"
"Howdy, Timmy Meadowmouse,
Through the chimney of your house
Looking o'er the meadow white,
Glancing round from left to right,
You might lose your woollen socks
If 't weren't
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