sorrowfully.
"But you wanted to buy it back," said the little rabbit, "so it's not
my fault."

"Perhaps not," replied the sorrowful jay bird, "but that doesn't make
matters any better."

"Why, what's the trouble?" asked the little rabbit, sitting down and
taking a lollypop out of his knapsack.

"I had an accident," answered the jay bird.

"I ran into a thunder cloud and spilled out all the lightning, and, oh
dear, oh dear. I just hate to talk about it, but I will. The lightning
jumped all around and then struck the old tower clock and broke the
main spring, so that it wouldn't go any more, and now nobody in
Rabbitville can tell the day of the month, or when it will be
Thanksgiving or Fourth of July."

"Let's go to the clock maker and ask him to fix it," suggested the
little rabbit, and this so delighted the sorrowful jay bird that he
smiled and flew after Billy Bunny, and pretty soon they came to the
old clock maker, who was an old black spider.

"Certainly I'll fix it," he said, "but it will cost you nine million
and some billion flies."

"All right," said Billy Bunny. "I'll go down to the 3 and 1-cent store
and buy a fly catcher." So off he went and pretty soon he came back
with a great big fly catching box, and after he had set it down, they