Little Jack Rabbit and Chippy Chipmunk

Photographer Crane Got Ready to Take the Picture.

But, good gracious me! Just then something dreadful happened. And it just spoiled that lovely picture, for through the fence jumped Danny Fox and Mr. Wicked Weasel, and there was nobody left on the Sunny Meadow except the Crane Photographer. And maybe he won't be there on the next page.

Now, wasn't it too bad that Danny Fox and Mr. Wicked Weasel broke up the May Party! You remember they were all having their pictures taken by the Crane Photographer, who had just pushed his head under the big black cloth and was telling them all to look pleasant and not to giggle, when that dreadful fox and that cruel weasel jumped through the Old Rail Fence.

Well, of course, the Crane Photographer at first didn't know why everybody was running away, but when he pulled his head out from under the big black cloth, he knew. Oh, my, yes! When he saw Danny Fox and Mr. Wicked Weasel he didn't have to ask a single question.

"Now you can take our pictures," they said, "and if you don't we'll eat you up!"

So the poor Crane Photographer stuck his head under the cloth, but, oh, dear me! He was so frightened that his great long legs knocked together and spoiled the picture.

"Look here, Mr. Crane," growled Danny Fox, "you take a good picture or you'll never take another," and that wicked old fox grinned and showed all his long white teeth.

"All right," answered the two bad robbers, Danny Fox and Mr. Wicked Weasel, and as soon as the poor crane had taken their pictures, he folded up his camera and started back for Rabbitville.

"When will those pictures be finished?" asked Mr. Wicked Weasel, and he crept up behind that poor frightened crane and tickled his bare knee.

"Just as soon as I can get them done," he answered, and he tripped over a stone and almost dropped his camera box.

Well, after that Danny Fox went back to his den on the hillside and Mr. Wicked Weasel went home, but, of course, the May party was all over. Nobody wanted to come back that day.

"Oh, dear me," said Little Jack Rabbit, "I wish the Miller's Boy would shoot Danny Fox and Mr. Wicked Weasel."

"Don't say such things," said Mrs. Rabbit. "You must keep your ears and eyes open, and be ever on the lookout for these two bad robbers. But you mustn't wish that somebody will kill them," and the good lady rabbit bustled about and pretty soon she took out of the oven some nice hot cookies and gave two or three, and maybe four to the little rabbit, and after that the little canary bird in her cage began to sing:

And, do you know, I don't think there's anything so lovely as an apple tree in bloom. For when I was a little boy I loved to lie on the grass and look up into the tree where the blossoms, pink and white, made it seem just like a big nosegay of flowers.

"Tell me, little Robin," I said, "are you never worried about anything?" And the little red-breasted bird said no. "I'm as happy as the day is long," and then he flew off to the orchard to sing to Mrs. Robin.

So I closed the window and went outside to see what Granddaddy Bullfrog was doing, for I had just heard him go "honk, honk, honk!" like an auto horn.

Well, sure enough, there was the old gentleman frog, and who do you suppose was after him? You'd never guess, so I might as well tell you right away.

Why, it was Dr. Quack, the wise old duck doctor. He was on his way to see Little Jack Rabbit, who had the whooping cough, and of course his mother, the dear old lady rabbit, was dreadfully worried.

Well, pretty soon Dr. Quack stopped at the Old Bramble Patch, and with his little black bag, went inside to see the little sick bunny boy.

And of course Mrs. Rabbit was dreadfully upset. She couldn't think of anything but her little bunny boy, and the tea kettle had burned a great hole in its bottom and she couldn't make a cup of tea for the doctor, although he was very fond of carrot coffee.

"Let me see your tongue," said Dr. Quack. So the little rabbit put out his tongue, and then the wise duck doctor took out some little pills and three little white powders and told Mrs. Rabbit to give them to her little bunny every other minute and even oftener if he kept on coughing.

And then Dr. Quack said good-by and went over to the old barnyard to see Henny Penny, who had the chickenpox.

Well, after swallowing two powders and three and a half pills the little rabbit felt perfectly well. Wasn't that wonderful medicine the old duck doctor gave him? Well, I just guess it was, and if you ever get the whooping cough you call him up on the telephone, "Oh, oh, oh. Come quick, Duckville!" and he'll cure you in less than five hundred short minutes.

Up at the Old Farm Yard there was a great bustle. Yes sireebus. And the reason was that Henny Penny had a brood of fluffy little chickens. Cocky Doodle hardly knew what to make of them. You see, he was so used to big chickens that when he came to look at these fluffy balls of yellow down he didn't know what to do. So he just stood on his tiptoes and crowed, "Cock-a-doodle-do!" and the big farmer thought he was singing because he was a proud father. But that wasn't the reason at all.

"Come, my dears," said Henny Penny to her little chicks, "let us take a walk in the Sunny Meadow." So all the little chickens followed after her and by and by they came to the Bubbling Brook where swarms of flies darted over the water. And every time a fly came anywhere near Henny Penny she snapped him up and divided him among the brood.

Well, pretty soon along came Little Jack Rabbit with his knapsack on his shoulder and his striped candy cane in his right paw. For it was a lovely day in May and the little rabbit was as happy as two sticks and maybe three or four.

Just then Teddy Turtle crawled by, with his little shell house on his back, and although it was the first of May, Teddy Turtle wasn't going to move out of his house. No sireebus. But his house was moving with him. But that's another matter, you see.

"Ha, ha," laughed the little rabbit, "you're a lucky fellow." And then Henny Penny clucked to her little brood and said, "Look at Teddy Turtle with his house on his back. Isn't he lucky?"

After a while Mrs. Cow with her tinkling bell came by, singing a song:

And then she rang her little bell over and over again, just to make a noise, I guess, and after that the little rabbit hopped down to the Old Duck Pond to talk to Granddaddy Bullfrog.

Now Granddaddy Bullfrog was a wise old gentleman frog. He knew lots and lots of things, but like a good many wise people he never said much. He was usually too busy catching flies.

But when he saw the little rabbit he took off his yellow rimmed spectacles and said:

"How are you this lovely spring day, little rabbit?" and then he swallowed a fly that came too near, and after that he blinked his eyes and then he closed them to fool some other foolish fly who might happen along.

But of course he didn't close them tight shut, for then he wouldn't be able to see anything, you know. And after that the little rabbit said, "I'm very well, thank you, Granddaddy Bullfrog.

Well, you remember in the last story little Jack Rabbit was making a call on Granddaddy Bullfrog at the Old Duck Pond. And I guess the little rabbit might have stayed until half-past thirteen o'clock if, all of a sudden, Old Sic'em, the farmer's dog, hadn't come along. Now, of course, Old Sic'em was too old to run very fast, but just the same the little bunny wasn't going to give him a chance to catch him, so off he went, clippity clip, hippity hip, and by and by he came to the Shady Forest, where all the little four-footed folk and the feathered people were busy making homes for the Summer.

Old Squirrel Nutcracker sat outside his doorstep while Mrs. Nutcracker hung out the rugs and beat the sofa cushions. And Chippy Chipmunk chattered on the top of the Old Rail Fence at Bobbie Redvest, who had flown over from the Orchard to stretch his wings.

You see, Bobbie Redvest loved to sing all sorts of songs, and that's why all the little people of the Shady Forest loved him so. For we all love to hear a song if it's not too slow and long.

sang Cocky Doodle, for he wasn't going to have Bobbie Redvest be the only one who could sing a song, let me tell you.

And just then Old Professor Jim Crow flew by with his little Black Book under his wing, and as soon as he saw the little bunny, he perched himself on a stump and turned to page forty-three:

And the Old Gentleman Crow took off his spectacles and said: "Do you hear that?" and then he cawed three times and a half and put his spectacles back into the case and closed his little Black Book.

"Yes, sir," answered the little rabbit. "Every day I learn something. Only this morning I found out that my last Summer's straw hat won't do for this Summer," and then he hopped away as fast as he could for he knew that Professor Crow would think it was very ex-trav-a-gant not to wear last year's hat, no matter how shabby it was.

Now who do you suppose sang that little verse? You'll never guess, so I'll tell you right away. Grandmother Magpie!

"I'm sorry I can't wait," said the little rabbit, and off he hopped for the Old Bramble Patch to ask his mother if she were going to clean her last year's panama bonnet.

"I wonder where I'm going to stay to-night," said Little Jack Rabbit to himself one late afternoon, after traveling all day with his knapsack on his back and his striped candy cane in his right paw, and just then he came in sight of a little wooden house. So he stopped and tapped on the door, rat-a-tat-tat, very softly, you know. And when the door opened a little monkey dressed in a red cap and a green coat said, "What do you want?"

"I beg your pardon," answered the little rabbit, "but, you see, it's getting late and I'm looking for a place to sleep."

"Well, come right in," said the little monkey, and after Little Jack Rabbit had hung his knapsack and striped candy cane on the hatrack in the hall he followed the monkey into the sitting room.

Well, after a little while he told the monkey all about the Old Bramble Patch and Danny Fox and Mr. Wicked Weasel, and lots of other things, too, which I haven't room in this story to mention. And when he had finished the monkey said he had once belonged to a man who owned a hand organ and went about the country playing music for pennies, and sometimes for nothing.

"But that was long ago," said the little monkey, "for one day my master beat me so cruelly that I ran away to the wood, and by and by I built this little house, where I have lived ever since." Just then a knock came at the door and who do you suppose was outside? Why, the Yellow Dog Tramp, the little rabbit's friend, you remember.

"Come in," said the monkey, for the Yellow Dog Tramp had stopped at his house lots of times, you know.

"Goodness me," said the Yellow Dog Tramp, after he had hung up his old tattered hat in the hall. "I was nearly arrested to-day by a policeman cat. They don't allow tramping any more. Everybody must work, so I stopped in to see if you didn't want a handy man about the place." And this made the little monkey laugh like everything, and pretty soon the Yellow Dog Tramp got dreadfully sulky. He dropped his ears and hung his tail, and then he began to whine,

"That's the way," shouted Little Jack Rabbit, and on the next page you shall hear what happened after that.

Well, after the monkey learned that the Yellow Dog Tramp wanted to go to work to help Uncle Sam and Aunt Columbia, as I mentioned in the story before this, he said:

"You can whitewash the back fence if you want to. It may take you a week or it may take you a month, for I don't know how fast you can work."

"Well, I'll start right in," said the Yellow Dog Tramp bravely, and he stood up on his hind legs and wagged his tail.

"You'd better wait until to-morrow morning," said the monkey. "It's too late now, and you couldn't see in the dark."

"I should think one could whitewash in the dark," said the tramp dog. "But just as you say," and he went over to the kitchen stove and lay down on the little rag rug and went sound asleep, for he was very tired, because he had tramped all day long.

"Let him sleep," said the little monkey in a whisper. "He looks tired out." And after that the monkey got the supper ready and when everything was nice and hot and on the table the Yellow Dog Tramp opened his eyes and yawned and pretty soon he was wide awake enough to sit down to eat.

Well, by and by it was time to go to bed, so they all went to sleep, and just about midnight a big owl looked in through the window and saw by the light of the silvery moon Little Jack Rabbit and the monkey sound asleep on the bed.

"Ha, ha," said the big owl to himself, "I must get that little bunny." So he perched himself on the roof and pondered how to get inside the little house.

Well, by and by, after he had flown around and peeked through all the windows, he looked down the chimney. And then he carefully stepped over the edge and, spreading out his wings, jumped right down to the bottom.

But, goodness me. When he rolled from the hearth into the sitting room he looked just like a crow, he was so covered with soot, and it would have taken the Gold Dust Twins twenty-three days and one night to clean him.

"What's that noise?" barked the Yellow Dog Tramp, and he ran in from the kitchen and looked all around. At first he didn't see the owl, for he was so black with soot, you know. But what that Yellow Dog Tramp said when he did see that bad Owl I'll tell you in the next story, unless,

"What kind of a blackbird are you?" asked the Yellow Dog Tramp when he saw the bad owl who had flown down the chimney of the little monkey's house, as I mentioned in the last story.

"I'm not any kind of a blackbird—I'm an owl," answered this dreadful old bird, and he shook himself till the soot flew all over the room, and some of it got in the Yellow Dog Tramp's eyes and made him blink. And of course all this noise woke up the little monkey and Little Jack Rabbit, who were sleeping upstairs, you remember.

"I wonder what's going on," whispered the little monkey, and he leaned over the banisters. And just then the Yellow Dog Tramp said, "Well, you get out of here!" and he took hold of that sooty old tooty owl and threw him, tail first, out of the door. And then he threw a milk bottle after him.

When the little rabbit and the little monkey heard what had happened, they were very grateful to the Yellow Dog Tramp, and told him he could sleep all next day in the sun instead of whitewashing the back fence.

Well, after a while, after breakfast, you know, the little bunny set off again on his travels, and by and by, not so very far, he came to a place where so many wild roses grew that it looked like a lovely garden.

"Now here is a nice place to rest," he thought, and he sat down and opened his knapsack and took out a lollypop and was just going to bite off the lemon top, when somebody took it right out of his paw.

"Ha, ha, ho, ho," laughed a trumpety kind of a voice, and when the little bunny looked around he saw his old friend the Circus Elephant with a bouquet of roses in his long trunk. "Here's your lollypop," said the elephant, and he dropped the bunch of roses, for he only meant to tease the little rabbit for a minute, you know.

And then he came over and sat down. But, oh dear me. He jumped up in an awful hurry, for he had sat on the bunch of roses.

"Oh, dear and oh dear again," he cried, "why do lovely roses have thorns?" and he wiped a tear from his eye with the end of his ear, and then he sang this song:

And after that my typewriter says you must wait a little while to hear what happened next, because

Well, as soon as the Circus Elephant had finished the song in the last story he took a silk handkerchief out of his trunk and wiped his eyes, and then he said: "Do you suppose, if I kneel down you can hop up on my back?"

"I'll try," answered the little rabbit. So the big circus animal squatted down on the ground, till with a hop, skip and jump the clever little bunny landed right in the middle of his back.

"Now hold on tight," said Elly, for that was the Circus Elephant's name, and off he went and by and by he came to a place where there were many peanut vines.

"Well, this is lucky," said the elephant. "We can take them to Chippy Chipmunk. I'll dig the vines and you can pick out the peanuts and fill your knapsack." So the elephant started in, and in less than thirteen minutes he had plowed up the whole field of peanuts. And in less than thirteen seconds the little rabbit had his knapsack full, but then he didn't know what to do with all the rest of the peanuts.

And while he was looking around to find a bag or a box, who should come by but the old dog with his stage coach and team of billy-goats.

"Plenty of peanuts," said the old dog driver, jumping down from his high seat and walking over to the Old Rail Fence. Then he put his old pipe back in his mouth and puffed out a cloud of smoke.

"Load up your stage coach," said the Circus Elephant, "and we'll take them to Chippy Chipmunk!"

"All right," answered the old dog, and he went back and brought over fourteen empty mail bags, and when they were brim full he put them back in the stagecoach, and then the elephant and Billy Bunny got on top, and away went the Billy Goat team.

And by and by, pretty soon, not very long, they came to the old Chestnut Tree, where the little chipmunk lived. "Now you keep these peanuts till the circus comes," said Little Jack Rabbit. "Then all the little people in the Shady Forest can have all they want. Maybe by that time I can get lollypopade from the Big Brown Bear!"

Chippy Chipmunk sat on the Old Rail Fence, his little eyes shining like bright glass beads, looking over toward the Old Bramble Patch.

Chippy Chipmunk felt very fine this particular morning. Mr. Merry Sun shone down on the little chipmunk's back with its beautiful smooth shining stripes of reddish brown and black, over which his little tail was thrown like a ruffle.

"Helloa, helloa!" he shouted, for I guess the Little Jack Rabbit had overslept himself that morning. "Helloa, Helloa!"

"Here I am," answered the little bunny, hopping up to the Old Rail Fence. "What do you want?"

"Oh, nothing in particular," answered Chippy Chipmunk. "Only I was wondering why you weren't around, that's all."

"I guess I'm late. You see, my Alarm Clock didn't wake up either," and the little rabbit laughed. And just then they heard it ring, "Cling, cling, cling, cling cling!" And then it began to sing:

"Come on, Chippy Chipmunk," said the little rabbit when the Alarm Clock stopped singing, "Let's go for a walk up the Shady Forest Trail." So off they started together and after a while, not so very far, they came to the tree where Squirrel Nutcracker lived with his family. But Old Squire Nutcracker wasn't at home, and neither was Mrs. Nutcracker, and of course the two Squirrel Brothers were away. So the little rabbit and the little chipmunk went along until they came to the Forest Pond in the middle of which on a little island stood the big chestnut tree where Old Barney Owl had his home.

"He sleeps all day," laughed the little bunny, "so he's at home!"

"But how are we to get over to the island?" asked Chippy Chipmunk. But the little rabbit didn't answer. He was too busy pushing a log into the water.

"Get aboard," he said to the little chipmunk, and then with a shove he hopped on and pretty soon they reached the island, when they hopped off and up to the big chestnut tree to knock on Old Barney Owl's front door.

Now of course Little Jack Rabbit and Chippy Chipmunk knew that Old Barney Owl couldn't see in the daytime, otherwise they wouldn't have called on him. For Mr. Barney Owl loved to eat little rabbits and chipmunks.

Now when Old Barney Owl heard Little Jack Rabbit and Chippy Chipmunk knock on his front door, he winked and blinked. But he didn't open it, for the light hurt his eyes, you know, and all day long he kept the shades pulled down.

"Who are you and what do you want?" he asked in a sleepy voice.

"It's me and Little Jack Rabbit," answered the little chipmunk.

"Come 'round this evening," replied the wise old owl.

"No, thank you," laughed Little Jack Rabbit. "We don't make calls in the evening," and he and the little chipmunk hurried away for they thought, maybe or perhaps, Old Barney Owl might open the front door and catch them.

"He, he," said Chippy Chipmunk, "he asked us to call this evening, did he? Not if my name is Chipendale Chipmunk!"

Well, after they had called on Mrs. Water Rat, who lived nearby in a lovely garden of water lilies, they hopped on board the log and after a shove, away it went over the water to the other bank, where these two little four-footed sailors hopped off and then, all of a sudden, just like that, a voice said:

"Who said that?" inquired the frightened little rabbit.

"Who are you?" asked trembling Chippy Chipmunk.

And then Teddy Turtle crawled out from behind some bulrushes and began to laugh. And the little rabbit and the little chipmunk would have been frightened if it hadn't been Teddy Turtle, let me tell you, for some turtles are dreadful snappers, you know.

Little Jack and Chippy Chipmunk Meet Teddy Turtle.

"Oh, it's you, is it?" and the little rabbit told Teddy Turtle all about the little snail at the seashore who carries his shell house around with him. "Yes, he takes his little house with him just the way you do."

"I'm going to take a swim, so good-by!" answered Teddy Turtle, crawling over to the water, and in he went with a loud splash that frightened two little minnows almost to death.

"Come on, let's be going. There's always something to see. Why, here comes the Little Balmy Breezes across the Sunny Meadow," cried the little rabbit, but the little chipmunk ran off to the Shady Forest.

Now before I go on with this story I'll explain right away that the "rill" is the Bubbling Brook, and the only reason I used "rill" is because it rhymes with "till."

"Ha, ha," laughed Little Jack Rabbit, as Mrs. Cow shook her head till the bell on her collar made so much noise that her little calf came running toward her, "I heard what the little breezes said." And then Mrs. Cow gave a long "Moo!" which meant something I'm sure, for after that the little rabbit hopped away and by and by he came to the Barnyard where Cocky Doodle every morning sang his cock-a-doodle-do song to wake up Mr. Merry Sun, who goes to sleep in the West and gets up every morning in the East. I wonder how he does it, don't you? I guess you and I would feel very funny if some morning after having gone to sleep in our own bed we should wake up in another!

"Helloa," said Henny Penny, as the little rabbit hopped through the Old Rail Fence. "Where have you been all this time?"

"Oh, lots of places," he replied. "Chippy Chipmunk and I have been sight-seeing, and the Old Red Rooster has sprained his left leg and the Old Brown Horse has a new collar, and Grandmother Magpie has gone away to visit in Birdville, U. S. A."

Just then Ducky Waddles came waddling by, after a swim in the Old Duck Pond, where Granddaddy Bullfrog lived.

"I saw Teddy Turtle a minute ago," said the little duck; "he's very proud because Mrs. Turtle has just laid some eggs in a hole in the ground and covered them with dirt. He says pretty soon they'll hatch into little turtles!"

"Ha, ha," laughed the little rabbit, "don't tell that to Peter Possum; he just loves turtle eggs." So Ducky Waddles promised he wouldn't, and after that the little rabbit hopped away, although the Weathercock on the Old Red Barn had asked him to stay a little longer.

"No, I can't," replied the little bunny. "I'm afraid Old Sic'em might chase me." But even if that old dog had, the little rabbit could have slipped away, for Old Sic'em had the rheumatism and could hardly run.

Well, after a while, not so very long, the little rabbit saw Professor Jim Crow.

"Wait a minute," said the good professor, "I want to read you something." So the old gentleman crow turned to page 23 of his little Black Book, after putting on his spectacles, of course, for he couldn't see to read without them, and then he cleared his throat and said, "Caw, caw," two or four times, and looked at the little rabbit, but what he read out of his little Black Book I'll tell you in the next story.

Well, since the old crow has opened his little Black Book in the story before this, I'll tell you now what he read on page 23:

"Little brown rabbits have all the same habits."

"Ha, ha," laughed the little bunny, "you're a very wise bird, Professor Crow!" and he hopped away until he came to the wooded hill where Danny Fox had his den.

Now it was a long time since the little rabbit had seen the old robber fox and he was a bit curious to learn what was the trouble, for trouble there must have been, otherwise Danny Fox would have been around to steal a chicken now and then from the Old Barnyard.

So the little rabbit hopped along very carefully and by and by he came to a big tree quite close to the pile of rocks under which the fox family had their den, Danny Fox and Mrs. Fox, Bushy Tail and Slyboots, their two little sons.

"I don't see anyone around," said the little rabbit to himself, and he hopped over to another tree and peeped out.

And then, Oh, my! how his heart went pitter-pat, for right in front of him, not forty hops away, sat Danny Fox on a three legged stool smoking a corncob pipe.

"Oh, dear!" thought the little rabbit, "I didn't mean to get so close!" But when he saw that Danny Fox's left foot was bandaged up in a piece of white cloth with a big red cross stamped on it, he knew the old robber couldn't run very well, and maybe not at all. So he called out, "Helloa, Danny Fox! What's the matter with your foot?"

"Don't bother me," grumbled the old robber fox, not even looking around. Maybe he didn't want to see a nice fat little rabbit when he couldn't catch him for supper.

Just then Peter Possum shouted from his tree house:

"Keep quiet, will you," snapped Danny Fox, angrily.

"Ho, ho, ha, ha," laughed the little rabbit. "So you got caught for all your slyness?" which made the old fox so angry that he jumped up and ran at him on three legs.

"Who's laughing now?" cried Danny Fox, as the little rabbit hopped away and Peter Possum climbed a tree. "You're very brave when you're out of danger," and the old robber limped back to his stool and lifted up his wounded foot. And while he was doing this, Grandmother Magpie came by, and as she was always poking into other people's business, she asked what was the matter. "If I told you," snapped Danny Fox, "everybody in the Shady Forest and the Sunny Meadow would know it in a few minutes, you old tattle tale!"

"Gracious me!" exclaimed the mischievous old blackbird, "you're in a disagreeable mood to-day," and away she flew after Little Jack Rabbit, but before she caught up to him, he hopped into the Old Bramble Patch for the night.

Chippy Chipmunk stood outside his store waiting for Little Jack Rabbit to come along. He had promised, if the little bunny would call after business hours, to help him get a little store of his own.

Mr. Chippy Chipmunk looked very nice and well-to-do in his clean striped jacket as he sat on the wooden bench just under the big sign. Pretty soon he stood up to look at it again. He had done this very same thing at least ten times that day, he was so proud of it.

"A mighty nice sign!" he said aloud, as he sat down again on the wooden bench. All of a sudden the thumperty-thump of little feet made him look up.

"Good evening," said Chippy Chipmunk.

"I was afraid I'd be late," answered Little Jack Rabbit. "You see, I had to wait until mother got home."

"Come over and sit down," said Chippy Chipmunk.

"Wait till I read the sign over again," answered the little bunny. "Wouldn't I be proud if I had a little store! I don't know what I'd sell, but that doesn't make so much difference—it's having your own name over the door that makes you feel like a millionaire."

"Come in and see the nuts," said the little chipmunk, after a while.

A long hollow log, carefully split in two, made a very nice counter. Indeed, it served also for a showcase, for in the hollow the nuts were arranged in separate piles.

"I made all the tags myself," said Chippy Chipmunk proudly, pointing to small squares of cardboard on which were printed:—CHESTNUTS—HICKORY NUTS—WALNUTS—BEECH NUTS.

"Are these your scales?" asked Little Jack Rabbit admiringly.

"Yes, I sell by the pound. Then nobody gets cheated," answered the little chipmunk, cracking a nut with his sharp teeth. "You ought to have a store at the edge of the Old Bramble Patch, with a sign painted in red and green letters:

"Do you think I know enough about vegetables?" asked the little rabbit anxiously.

"Just as much as I do about nuts," replied Chippy Chipmunk.

But, oh, dear me! If they had known what was going to happen I guess they never would have talked so long about the nut and vegetable business.

Yes, Sir! If Little Jack Rabbit and Chippy Chipmunk had known what was going on outside the store I guess they never would have talked so long about the nut and vegetable business. For, oh, dear me! as the little rabbit shook paws good-night and looked up once more to admire the sign above the door, it wasn't there. No—nothing was there but the bare boards. With mouth and eyes wide open he stood staring at the spot where the sign had hung only a few minutes before.

"What's the—?" Chippy Chipmunk didn't finish. After he had looked up there wasn't any use in asking Little Jack Rabbit what was the matter. The answer was right before him. Poor Chippy Chipmunk!

"Who could have taken my sign?" he asked at last in a trembling voice. But, of course, the little rabbit didn't know.

"Who could have taken the sign?" Chippy Chipmunk repeated mechanically. Then he looked up again as if expecting the sign to shine forth in the old familiar way:

They hadn't heard Featherhead, the naughty son of Squirrel Nutcracker, take down the sign. Very softly, one at a time, he had loosened the screws and then carried it off and thrown it in a deep hole.

It was certainly a very mean thing to do, but then, you must remember, Featherhead was not a nice sort of a squirrel.

Just then, who should come by but Featherhead himself.

"What's the matter?" he asked, just as though he didn't know. Wasn't that deceitful of him?

Little Jack Rabbit didn't answer. Somehow he didn't quite like the little squirrel's tone of voice—it didn't ring true. And when Featherhead turned his back, showing a long streak of white paint across his shoulder, the little rabbit didn't wait a minute, but, quicker than a wink, caught the frightened squirrel and shook him till his teeth rattled.

"What did you do with Chippy Chipmunk's sign?"

"I—I threw it in a deep hole near the Tall Pine Tree," mumbled Featherhead, now thoroughly frightened.

"You come with us and get it," screamed Chippy Chipmunk, mad as a dozen hornets; and they marched the naughty squirrel over to the Tall Pine Tree.

When the sign was once more over the door Chippy Chipmunk said to his little rabbit friend:

"You got my sign back for me. To-morrow I'll help you build your store."

In a few days Little Jack Rabbit's store was finished, and all the Little People of the Shady Forest and Sunny Meadow were coming to the grand opening. It stood just at the edge of the Old Bramble Patch, on the corner of the Shady Forest Trail and the Old Cow Path.

A nicely painted post had been set in the ground, on which was fastened a sign printed in large letters: