BILLY BUNNY AND MR. BLACKSNAKE.


Rain, rain, go away,
Billy Bunny wants to play.

This is what Willy Wind sang one morning. Oh, so early, as the
raindrops pitter-pattered on the roof of the little rabbit's house in
the Old Brier Patch.

And then of course he woke up and wiggled his little pink nose a
million times less or more, and pretty soon he was wide awake, so he
got up and looked into the mirror to see if his eyes were open, as he
wasn't quite sure he was wide awake after all, for the raindrops made
a drowsy noise on the old shingles and the alarm clock wouldn't go
off, although it was 14 o'clock.

Well, after a little while, not so very long, his mother called to
him, "Billy Bunny, the stewed lollypops are getting cold and the
robin's eggs will be hard boiled if you don't hurry up, or hurry down,
or something."

"I'll be ready in a jiffy," answered the little rabbit, and then he
brushed his whiskers and parted his hair in the middle with a little
chip, and after that he was ready for breakfast and dinner and supper,
for rabbits are always hungry, you know, and can eat all the time, so
I've been told, and I guess it must be true, for why should an old
rabbit have told me that if it isn't the truth, I should like to know,
and so would you, I'm sure.