Little Jack Rabbit and Chippy Chipmunk, page 1
The Project Gutenberg eBook, Little Jack Rabbit and Chippy Chipmunk, by David Cory, Illustrated by H. S. Barbour
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: Little Jack Rabbit and Chippy Chipmunk
Author: David Cory
Release Date: May 7, 2011 [eBook #36053]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND CHIPPY CHIPMUNK***
E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan,
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
(http://www.pgdp.net)
* * *
* * *
LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND CHIPPY CHIPMUNK
BY DAVID CORY
Author of Little Jack Rabbit's Adventures, Little Jack Rabbit and Danny Fox, Little Jack Rabbit and the Squirrel Brothers, Little Jack Rabbit and the Big Brown Bear.
LITTLE JACK RABBIT BOOKS
(Trademark Registered)
ILLUSTRATED BY
H. S. BARBOUR
NEW YORK
GROSSET & DUNLAP
PUBLISHERS
Made in the United States of America
Copyright, 1921, by
GROSSET & DUNLAP
* * *
Chippy Chipmunk Shows Little Jack Rabbit His Stock of Nuts.
* * *
CONTENTS
LOLLYPOP SYRUP
DR. HERON
THE SONG OF PROMISE
SPRING IS HERE
LITTLE MESSENGER BOY BUNNY
GRANDDADDY BULLFROG
RAT-A-TAT-TAT
BUSY PEOPLE
MOTHER NATURE
THE WHISTLING STOVE
MESSENGER BOYS
A RUDE INTERRUPTION
PHOTOGRAPHER CRANE
DR. QUACK
BY THE BUBBLING BROOK
HAPPY DAYS
THE HOUSE IN THE WOOD
THE YELLOW DOG TRAMP
PRICKLY THORNS
BAGS OF PEANUTS
THE MUSICAL ALARM CLOCK
MORE ADVENTURES
AT THE FARM
DANNY FOX
CHIPPY CHIPMUNK'S STORE
NAUGHTY FEATHERHEAD
LITTLE JACK RABBIT'S STORE
BILLY BREEZE
PITTER, PATTER
LITTLE JACK RABBIT BOOKS
LITTLE JOURNEYS TO HAPPYLAND
* * *
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Chippy Chipmunk Shows Little Jack Rabbit His Stock of Nuts.
Little Jack Ate so Many Cakes That He Could Not Button His Jacket.
Photographer Crane Got Ready to Take the Picture.
Little Jack and Chippy Chipmunk Meet Teddy Turtle.
* * *
LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND CHIPPY CHIPMUNK
* * *
LOLLYPOP SYRUP
One day as Little Jack Rabbit was hopping home to the Old Bramble Patch, he came across something sweet. And what do you suppose it was? Why, a big tin pail half full of lollypop juice, standing under a little spout that was driven into a yellow lollypop tree.
"My, but it tastes good," he said, holding his mouth under the spout to let the sap drip onto his little red tongue. "I wish I had some buckwheat cakes with me."
But he didn't, so he took a little glass bottle out of his knapsack and filled it with the sweet juice.
But, oh dear me! Just then he heard a deep growl.
"Oh dear and oh dear!" cried Little Jack Rabbit, giving a hop to one side to hide behind an old stump.
And then the deep growling voice said again, quick as a wink:
"Who's stealing my lollypop sap?"
"Nobody," answered the little rabbit, peeking out from behind the old stump. And then, would you believe it, he hopped out all the way, for there stood the Big Brown Bear.
"I'll excuse you this time," said that friendly old bear with a grin. "Come into my cave and see all the lollypops I've made from the sap of the lollypop tree."
Well, there certainly were lots and lots of little lollypops piled on the shelves.
"Do you make buckwheat cakes?" asked the little rabbit.
"Every morning," answered the Big Brown Bear, "and I just drown 'em in lollypop syrup!"
The little rabbit smacked his lips.
"If you'll spend the night, I'll give you buckwheat cakes for breakfast," said the Big Brown Bear.
And Little Jack Rabbit did, and ate so many cakes the next morning that he couldn't button up his jacket until the afternoon, when he set out once more for the Old Bramble Patch.
* * *
Little Jack Ate so Many Cakes That He Could Not Button His Jacket.
* * *
Well, as he was hopping along, all of a sudden, just like that, he heard some one singing:
"Little Jack Rabbit goes clippity, clop;
Little Bill Bunny goes lippity, lop;
Little Chip Chipmunk goes jumpity, jump,
Over the hollow, moss-covered stump."
"Why, hello, Chippy Chipmunk!" cried Little Jack Rabbit, sitting up on his hind legs. "What are you doing out here? Is it time for you to come out of your nice warm burrow?"
"I guess so," answered the little chipmunk. "Old Mr. Groundhog says so, and he ought to know."
"Come over," said the little rabbit, taking the bottle of syrup out of his pocket. "Do you want to taste something you'd suppose was lollypop juice? Open your mouth and shut your eyes and I'll give you the sweetest kind of surprise."
But, oh dear me. Little Jack Rabbit dropped the cork by mistake in the little chipmunk's mouth!
(Did you ever try to get a cork out of a bottle after it had slipped 'way down inside? Well, then, just think what a time we'll have with this little chipmunk.)
* * *
DR. HERON
"What was that?" asked the little chipmunk as he swallowed the cork. But, goodness me, Little Jack Rabbit was too frightened to answer. He let the glass bottle drop to the ground, smashing it all to smithereens.
"The maple syrup was fine," went on Chippy Chipmunk, "but what was that hard little lump I swallowed?"
"Oh, please don't swell up and bust!" begged the little rabbit. "Mother says if you swallow a cork it will swell and swell inside you until you can't stand it any longer."
"What's that?" asked the little chipmunk. "Did I swallow a cork?"
"Yes, you did," sobbed Little Jack Rabbit. "And it's all my fault. I let it drop into your mouth by mistake. Of course, you didn't see it. How could you, with your eyes shut?"
Chippy Chipmunk was now thoroughly frightened. "You've murdered me, that's what you've done, Little Jack Rabbit. Oh, what shall I do?"
Just then who should come along but Dr. Heron. He had very long legs and a very long bill. All doctors have very long bills, otherwise it wouldn't pay to be a doctor.
"What's the trouble?" he asked, opening his little black bag. "Anybody sick?"
"I'm going to be," cried Chippy Chipmunk. "Oh, dear Dr. Heron, don't let me die! Please don't!"
"Stuff and nonsense! Don't talk like that!" said the big bird doctor. "Put out your tongue."
"Can you see the cork?" asked Little Jack Rabbit. The little chipmunk was just going to ask the same question, but Dr. Heron had hold of his tongue, so he couldn't.
"See what?" asked the doctor. "What are you talking about?"
"Chippy Chipmunk swallowed a cork," said Little Jack Rabbit. "And he'll swell up and bust in just a few minutes. Oh, dear, oh, dear. And it's all my fault."
"Well, I do see something," said Dr. Heron, squinting down the little chipmunk's throat. "My, but it's a long way down." And Dr. Heron looked very serious, very serious indeed.
"Now sit still and don't you sneeze.
Open wider, if you please;
Maybe I can pull it out
If you do not cry or pout."
Then he pushed down his long thin bill and pulled out the cork.
"Oh joy!" cried Chippy Chipmunk as soon as Dr. Heron let go of his tongue.
"I usually charge ten little fishes for an operation like this, but, seeing it's you, and I didn't have to come all the way over to your house, I'll ask only five," said the kind bird doctor.
When Little Jack Rabbit heard this he winked his tail and wagged his nose at the chipmunk, and the first thing you know away they went, leaving the doctor's bill unpaid, which wasn't a very nice thing to do. No indeed.
When we are well the doctor's bill
Is never even thought of, till
Old Mr. Malady comes by
With trembling hand and tearful eye.
We always should be square and true,
And pay our bills when they are due.
Perhaps then Mr. Malady
Will never bother you and me.
* * *
THE SONG OF PROMISE
Wintertime, you'll soon be going,
With your cold winds, blowing, blowing,
And your gray clouds snowing, snowing.
Soon the warm South Wind will sing,
And the Blue Bells sweetly ring,—
Then we'll know it's really Spring!
Mr. Merry Sun was up bright and early, and from his blue sk
"Tir-rell-loo, tir-rell-loo!" sounded the music of a bird.
It was a beautiful whistle, clear as a silver bell, and the little rabbit took a hop, skip and jump, for somehow he felt happier than he had for a long, long time.
At first he thought it might be Jimmy Jay who was whistling. But then, he never whistled so sweetly as this. So the little rabbit hopped along, over the dry sodden grass which all winter had been pressed down tight by the heavy snow drifts, past the Big Chestnut Tree, where Chippy Chipmunk used to gather nuts, until, by and by, not so very far, he saw Blue Bird. Yes Sir. He saw the little Messenger of Spring. There he sat on the top rail of the Old Rail Fence singing away as if his heart were full of sunshine. And I guess it was, for how could he have sung so sweetly if it hadn't been?
"Spring is here, Spring is here,
I'm the bearer of good cheer.
Listen to my tale of joy,
Little white furred Bunny Boy.
Soon Miss South Wind will be here,
And the violet will appear.
Pussy Willow by the brook
You will find if you but look.
Tir-rell-loo! Tir-rell-loo.
I'm the little bird of blue!"
And as the little rabbit looked over the Sunny Meadow it seemed as if under the warm rays of Mr. Merry Sun that the brown grass turned a tender green and the trees began to murmur in the wind the half forgotten song of summer.
"Hurray, Hurrah!" cried the little rabbit, and he hopped away to the Old Duck Pond to see if Granddaddy Bullfrog had come out of his hiding place way down in the muddy bottom. But, No Sireemam. Old Granddaddy Bullfrog wasn't going to catch his death of cold by coming out too soon, neither was Teddy Turtle. They knew better, for the ice was still floating in great pieces on the surface of the water and the old mill wheel hadn't yet begun to turn around.
* * *
SPRING IS HERE
When you first hear welcome news,
You can hardly keep your shoes
From running off with both your feet
And telling every one you meet.
This is just the way little Jack Rabbit felt on seeing Blue Bird, the sweet-voiced Messenger of Spring. To know that Spring had come, after the long hard Winter, made the little rabbit almost as happy as if it were Xmas morning.
"There comes Professor Jim Crow," exclaimed the little rabbit, looking out from the Old Bramble Patch, and then over the Sunny Meadow fluttered Redwing and Song Sparrow.
"All the birds will soon be here," laughed the little bunny, hopping out to the Sunny Meadow to look about him. Pretty soon he heard the merry whistle of Mr. Meadow Lark.
"Good-by, Little Jack Rabbit!" cried Snow Bunting. "I'm going farther North. It will soon be too warm for me!"
And then Mr. Meadow Lark whistled, "I'm here! I'm here!" And his yellow breast shone in the sunlight as bright as a new Lincoln penny!
After that the little rabbit hopped over to the Bubbling Brook, and, would you believe it, the ice was gone and the sparkling water was flowing swiftly onward to the deep blue sea!
Oh, how fast the snow was melting. Only along the Old Rail Fence or in the hollows were patches of dingy whiteness.
Up at the Old Farm the feathered folk strutted about in the warm sunshine. Even the Weathercock seemed more lively as he turned this way and that in the gentle breeze.
"Spring is coming, Spring is here,
Soon the meadow will be clear
Of its snowy coat of white
And the grass will sparkle bright
With the dandelion and
All the yellow cowslip band.
"I must tell all my friends that Spring is here," cried the little rabbit. He just couldn't wait, you see, for them to find it out. He thought he must be a little four-footed messenger boy bunny and spread the glad tidings. So away he hopped, clippity, clip, lippity, lip, past the Barnyard where Cocky Doodle was singing his cock-a-doodle-do song, and Henny Penny was cackling over her new laid egg.
Ducky Waddles, too, was happy as could be. In a few days he would be swimming in the Old Duck Pond and standing on his head to gobble up the little fish that came too near his great big yellow bill.
"Good-by, I'm off to tell the glad news," and away went the little rabbit. Pretty soon, not so very far, he saw at the edge of the Shady Forest, on his favorite tree, Professor Jim Crow in his glistening suit of black feathers.
* * *
LITTLE MESSENGER BOY BUNNY
The Gentle South Wind in the trees
Is turning buds to tender leaves,
And down the crystal Bubbling Brook
The Pussy Willows nod and look
To see if o'er the meadow green
The Dandelions can be seen.
Soon all the flowers will be here
And Chilly Winter disappear.
Little Jack Rabbit hopped up to the big hollow tree where Peter Possum and Mrs. Possum had slept all winter with their little baby possums. "Come out, come out! Spring is here!"
"What's that?" asked Peter Possum, sleepily. "Who's calling?"
"It's me!" laughed Little Jack Rabbit. "Mr. Merry Sun is bright and warm, and the Pussy Willows are playing with the Cattails by the Bubbling Brook." And away he hopped, for he couldn't wait another minute, he was so anxious to spread the good news.
Pretty soon he reached Woody Chuck's front door, and called through the keyhole, "Spring is here! wake up, wake up!" Woody Chuck yawned and stretched his legs, and pretty soon he opened the door, but the little rabbit wasn't there. No siree. He was far away waking up Billy Badger. And after that he hopped over to stir up Chippy Chipmunk and Billy Coon. Dear me. That little rabbit was busy, let me tell you. He just couldn't let anybody find out the good news for himself. He wanted to be the spring's little messenger boy.
All the while the Little Balmy Breezes had been dancing here and there, ringing the blue bells, blowing on the little horn-shaped flowers and whispering to the grasses and ferns.
And Mr. Merry Sun! How he did smile up in his big blue sky.
Mr. North Wind, on his whistling snow horses, had gone up to the North Pole to tell Santa Claus that everybody had forgotten all about Xmas Trees, and that Bobbie Redvest was building a nest in the old apple tree behind the Big Red Barn.
And, goodness me! I almost forgot to mention that the Weathercock had a new suit of gold paint. Yes, sir! The Kind Farmer had climbed up on a ladder with a little bottle of gold paint and a brush to make the Weathercock as bright as a new gold dollar.
Down at the Old Bramble Patch Mrs. Rabbit was housecleaning. The Old Red Rooster had taken down the storm door and stored it away in the barn. He had unwound the straw wrappers from the rose bushes and cleared away the dry leaves from the cellar door. Yes, sir. He was as busy as could be, for Mrs. Rabbit kept one eye on him all the time and he never even had a chance to crow except at two o'clock in the morning.
* * *
GRANDDADDY BULLFROG
Now round and round the Mill Wheel turns,
But all the Winter through
'Twas tightly bound with icy chains
Till Mistress South Wind blew.
Then off it started one bright morn
To grind the farmer's yellow corn.
