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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10329 ***
+
+[Illustration: "BRING THE CAMPHOR! BRING THE SMELLING SALTS!"]
+
+SNUBBY NOSE
+
+AND
+
+TIPPY TOES
+
+BY
+
+LAURA ROUNTREE SMITH
+
+1917, 1922
+
+CONTENTS
+
+SNUBBY NOSE AND TIPPY TOES
+
+CHAPTER I
+CHAPTER II
+CHAPTER III
+CHAPTER IV
+CHAPTER V
+CHAPTER VI
+CHAPTER VII
+CHAPTER VIII
+CHAPTER IX
+CHAPTER X
+CHAPTER XI
+CHAPTER XII
+
+
+
+MORE COTTON TAIL STORIES
+
+CHAPTER I
+CHAPTER II
+CHAPTER III
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+"'BRING THE CAMPHOR! BRING THE SMELLING SALTS!'"
+
+"GRANDPA GRUMBLES HAD NOT SEEN DR. COTTONTAIL FOR TWO HUNDRED YEARS"
+
+"TIPPY TOES WASHED THE DISHES"
+
+"'MY NAME IS NOT SNUBBY NOSE'"
+
+"HE WAS SWEEPING THE CHIMNEY WITH HIS LONG, BEAUTIFUL TAIL"
+
+"THEY WERE SAILING AWAY WITH GRANDPA GRUMBLES"
+
+"BUSHY-TAIL WENT SPLASH, DASH, INTO THE LAKE"
+
+"'I WILL TUCK THEM IN MY SLEIGH'"
+
+"SOON THE CIRCUS COTTON-TAILS CAME IN VIEW"
+
+"BUNNY AND SUSAN WERE SITTING BY THE FIRE"
+
+
+
+SNUBBY NOSE AND TIPPY TOES
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+Bunny and Susan Cotton-Tail sat by the fire one winter evening warming
+their paws.
+
+"What's that?" asked Bunny.
+
+"What's that?" asked Susan.
+
+They went to the window and saw a very little Bunny stuck fast in a
+snowdrift.
+
+"Help, help," cried Bunny, "I will get the snow-shovel."
+
+"Help, help," cried Susan, "I will get the wheelbarrow."
+
+Bunny and Susan went out to shovel the little Bunny out of the
+snowdrift. Bunny said, "You dear little fellow, how did you get stuck
+fast in the snowdrift?"
+
+Susan looked hard over her spectacles and said, "Why, it is our own
+dear grandchild, Snubby Nose."
+
+Then Snubby Nose cried and he screamed and he howled! Bunny Cotton-Tail
+shoveled as fast as he could, and in sixteen minutes he had Snubby Nose
+out of the snowdrift. Susan put him in the wheelbarrow and wheeled him
+to the house. All the time Snubby Nose cried and he screamed and he
+howled!
+
+Susan said, "Go and get the big tub and we will give Snubby Nose a hot
+bath."
+
+Bunny got the tub and some warm water and he and Susan gave Snubby Nose
+a hot bath. They rubbed him dry with a soft towel, and all the time
+Snubby Nose cried and he screamed and he howled!
+
+Just at this very minute Grandpa Grumbles came in shaking the snow off
+his fur and whiskers. He shook his green cotton umbrella. He came in
+grumbling,
+
+     "It's noisy here, I do declare,
+     I just came out to take the air."
+
+Snubby Nose stopped his noise and stared at Grandpa Grumbles. Bunny and
+Susan said, "Sit down by the fire, Grandpa, and warm your paws."
+Grandpa Grumbles sat down.
+
+Snubby Nose cried, "Grandpa Grumbles, tell us a story, please tell us a
+story."
+
+Bunny Cotton-Tail said, in a whisper, "Please don't mention
+_noses_."
+
+Susan Cotton-Tail said, "Please don't mention _snowdrifts_."
+
+Grandpa Grumbles was wet and cold, so he grumbled right out loud, "I
+will tell about as many _noses_ and _snowdrifts_ as I please
+in this story!" Then Snubby Nose cried and he screamed and he howled!
+
+Susan took him up in her arms. She carried him to bed and sang him a
+nonsense song. By and by Snubby Nose fell asleep. Susan went back
+downstairs and found Grandpa Grumbles asleep by the fire.
+
+Bunny said, "I wonder what makes him grumble so much?"
+
+Susan said, "T wonder what happened to Snubby Nose. He has such a funny
+little nose!"
+
+_Then the most surprising thing happened!_
+
+As they sat talking, "thump, bump" was heard, and Snubby Nose fell down
+stairs! He fell right on his ugly little nose and broke it!
+
+"Get the camphor! Get the smelling salts! Help, help!" cried Bunny and
+Susan.
+
+Grandpa Grumbles woke, up and cried,
+
+     "Someone has a sad mishap,
+     Just when I try to take a nap."
+
+I do not know what in the world they would have done if Doctor
+Cotton-Tail had not come in that very minute. He came in to dry his fur and
+whiskers!
+
+He set Snubby Nose's little ugly nose and said, "It will not look very
+pretty, but perhaps it did not look pretty before. You must wear a pink
+wrapper, and drink tea out of a pink cup, and eat pink wintergreen
+candy!"
+
+Snubby Nose liked the idea of wintergreen candy. He hugged Doctor
+Cotton-Tail and stopped crying at once.
+
+Susan got a pink wrapper and got a pink china cup for his tea. Grandpa
+Grumbles felt in his overcoat pocket and took out sixteen pieces of
+Wintergreen candy. It was pink wintergreen candy of course!
+
+Susan said to Doctor Cotton-Tail, "How did you happen to come out in
+this big snowstorm?"
+
+Doctor Cotton-Tail said, "I had a call to make, I was going to visit--"
+
+Just then Susan began to sneeze. She sneezed so hard she nearly sneezed
+her head off!
+
+Doctor Cotton-Tail said,
+
+     "Susan that is quite absurd,
+     Such sneezing I have never heard."
+
+Susan said by and by, "I beg your pardon, what were you saying when I
+started to sneeze?"
+
+Doctor Cotton-Tail said, "I had a call, I was going to visit--"
+
+At this very minute Snubby Nose set up a shout, for dear Bunny
+Cotton-Tail leaned too near the candle and burned one of his whiskers!
+
+Then Grandpa Grumbles shook his green cotton umbrella fiercely and
+said,
+
+     "Such a noise I never heard,
+     I cannot hear a single word."
+
+[Illustration: "GRANDPA GRUMBLES HAD NOT SEEN DR. COTTON-TAIL FOR TWO
+HUNDRED AND SIX YEARS"]
+
+Grandpa Grumbles had been sitting very still in a corner and Doctor
+Cotton-Tail had not seen him up to this minute. He got up and shook
+hands with him and said, "How do you do, sir, How do you do, sir!"
+
+Grandpa Grumbles was pleased as pleased could be. He had not seen
+Doctor Cotton-Tail for two hundred and six years! He cried out, "How do
+you do, sir! How do you do, sir!"
+
+All this time Snubby Nose sat up in his pink wrapper drinking tea out
+of a pink cup and eating pink wintergreen candy. By and by Susan said,
+"Doctor Cotton-Tail you were going to tell us where you were going to
+call when you came here!"
+
+Doctor Cotton-Tail said, "I was on my way to call on little Tippy
+Toes!"
+
+"My fur and whiskers," said Bunny, "I never had a grandchild named
+Tippy Toes!"
+
+"Bless my buttons," said Susan, "What a cute little name."
+
+Then Grandpa Grumbles got up waving his green cotton umbrella and
+shouted,
+
+     "Though the stormy north wind blows,
+     I'll go with you to Tippy Toes."
+
+Then he and Doctor Cotton-Tail made a low bow and went out into the
+snowstorm.
+
+Doctor Cotton-Tail called back, "Don't forget to eat wintergreen
+candy."
+
+By this time Bunny and Susan and Snubby Nose were tired and sleepy, and
+they all went to bed. Bunny began to snore and Susan began to snore,
+but Snubby Nose was still wide awake.
+
+What do you suppose Snubby Nose did? You can give three guesses and you
+will not guess what he did!
+
+He got out of bed and lit a candle. He said, "I believe I am the
+ugliest little Bunny with the ugliest little nose of any Bunny alive."
+
+He began to dance before the mirror. He danced this way and that way
+before the mirror. He danced very prettily on the tips of his toes.
+Then he made a low bow and said,
+
+     "Who is so ugly? Nobody knows."
+     The mirror answered, "Tippy Toes."
+
+
+Then Snubby Nose went back to bed. He said, "To-morrow I will go and
+find Tippy Toes."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+Where do you suppose Tippy Toes was, and what do you suppose he was
+doing? He woke up in his warm little bed at home and said, "Oh, Ma! Oh,
+Pa! I want to go and visit Bunny and Susan Cotton-Tail."
+
+Mother Cotton-Tail laughed and said, "You have read about Bunny
+Cotton-Tail burning his paw by candle-light."
+
+Papa Cotton-Tail said, "You have read about Susan's cookies!"
+
+Tippy Toes said, "Please, may I go and visit Bunny and Susan?"
+
+Tippy Toes was a homely little Bunny. He had a very ugly little nose,
+but he was polite. He always said, "Thank you," and, "If you please."
+
+Mother Cotton-Tail said, "You may go and pay a visit to Bunny and
+Susan. Go and pack your traveling bag at once."
+
+Tippy Toes was so pleased he hugged Mother Cotton-Tail and said, "Thank
+you, Mother Cotton-Tail, I will go and pack my traveling bag."
+
+Papa Cotton-Tail said, "I will go with you to the turn of the road."
+
+Soon they started merrily down the road and Mother Cotton-Tail called,
+"Good-bye, good-bye."
+
+They had only gone a few steps when Mother Cotton-Tail called, "Come
+back, come back, you have forgotten your umbrella. What if it should
+rain?"
+
+Tippy Toes went dancing merrily back and Papa Cotton-Tail waited for
+him. They started on again and this time Mother Cotton-Tail called,
+"Come back, come back, you have forgotten your overshoes. What if there
+should be a thunder storm?"
+
+So Tippy Toes went dancing merrily back and Papa Cotton-Tail waited for
+him again. When they started the third time Tippy Toes said, "We have
+nothing to go back for this time," but the wind whistled in his ears.
+
+Mother Cotton-Tail called again, "Come back, come back, Tippy Toes, you
+have forgotten your red silk pocket handkerchief."
+
+This time Papa Cotton-Tail went back with Tippy Toes and he said, "Dear
+Mother Cotton-Tail, do put on your thinking-cap and see if we have
+forgotten anything else, or we shall never get off."
+
+Then they looked high and low, but they could not find Mother
+Cotton-Tail's thinking-cap!
+
+Papa Cotton-Tail said, "Never mind, I will put on _my_ thinking-cap
+instead." So he put on his red silk thinking-cap and said, "Oh, I
+know what we have forgotten; we have forgotten to send Bunny and Susan
+a present!"
+
+"To be sure," said Mother Cotton-Tail, "Now what shall the present be?"
+
+Little Tippy Toes did not get started on his journey that day, for it
+took four days and fourteen hours for them to decide what to send Bunny
+and Susan. All this time Tippy Toes was as merry as you please. He
+danced about on the tips of his toes and sang,
+
+     "A present, a present, if all things go well,
+     What shall be the present? No one can tell."
+
+Suddenly, at breakfast next morning Mother Cotton-Tail said, "I will go
+to town and buy Bunny and Susan a big parlor lamp."
+
+"A lamp with a pink shade," said Tippy Toes.
+
+Papa Cotton-Tail said, "A lamp with a tall chimney."
+
+Mother Cotton-Tail said, "I will buy a lamp with a pink shade and a
+tall chimney for Bunny, because he burns his paw in the candle."
+
+Then Tippy Toes danced this way, and he danced that way, and said, "Oh,
+Ma, may I go with you to town to help buy the lamp?"
+
+Mother Cotton-Tail said, "Papa Cotton-Tail has to go to work. If I go
+to town and you go, too, who will tend the fire? Who will wash the
+dishes?"
+
+Tippy Toes wanted to go to town, but he was a good little Bunny, so he
+said,
+
+     "Who will tend the fire? Whom do you suppose?
+     Who will wash the dishes? Little Tippy Toes."
+
+So Mother Cotton-Tail put on her best sunbonnet and took her purse and
+shopping basket with her, and went off with Papa Cotton-Tail calling,
+"Good-bye, I will be home to supper at five o'clock sharp."
+
+Then Tippy Toes danced a little fairylike dance before the mirror and
+sang,
+
+     "Who is so ugly? Nobody knows."
+     The mirror answered, "Snubby Nose."
+
+Tippy Toes said, "I have danced that dance before, and I sing that song
+very often, but the mirror always gives me the same answer. Who is
+Snubby Nose? I wonder if he has a real ugly little nose like I have?"
+
+Then Tippy Toes made up the fire and washed the dishes and began to get
+things ready to cook for supper. He said, "I do wish I could go and
+find Snubby Nose; I wonder if Bunny and Susan can tell me about him."
+
+[Illustration: "TIPPY TOES WASHED THE DISHES"]
+
+Tippy Toes sat down in front of the clock and began to count the hours
+until Mother Cotton-Tail would come home. He fell asleep and dreamed
+that he saw a little Bunny exactly like himself stuck fast in a
+snowdrift. When he woke up it was five o'clock and Papa Cotton-Tail had
+just come home.
+
+They got supper and waited, and waited, for Mother Cotton-Tail. At
+exactly six o'clock she came in. She was an hour late.
+
+She came on the stroke of the clock. She said, "I have been shopping
+all day."
+
+Mother Cotton-Tail took a wonderful lamp from her basket. It had a pink
+shade and a tall chimney.
+
+Papa Cotton-Tail said, "If you send the lamp to Bunny I must send
+something to Susan. I will go to town to-morrow and get Susan a pair of
+spectacles."
+
+Tippy Toes said, "Oh Pa, may I go with you to town to-morrow?"
+
+Papa Cotton-Tail said, "Who will roll out the cookies for Mother
+Cotton-Tail? Who will run her little errands all day?"
+
+Then Tippy Toes danced this way, and he danced that way, and sang,
+
+     "Who will do errands? Whom do you suppose?
+     Who will roll cookies? Little Tippy Toes."
+
+So, they had a merry time at supper that evening and lighted the new
+lamp, and Papa Cotton-Tail read fairy tales.
+
+Tippy Toes did not tell what the mirror had answered him. He kept that
+as a secret. He said to himself, "I do wonder _who_ Snubby Nose
+is!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+Next day Tippy Toes woke up early and cried out, "Oh, Mother
+Cotton-Tail, it is time to wake up! Oh, Papa Cotton-Tail, it is time to
+wake up!"
+
+Sure enough it was time for Bunnies to wake up because it was sunrise.
+
+Tippy Toes helped to get breakfast. He went to the well to draw water.
+He began to sing a little fairy song,
+
+     "Ding, dong bell,
+     Pussy's in the well."
+
+"Poor Pussy, I wonder if she is still in the well," he said. He peeped
+down to look into the well.
+
+Papa Cotton-Tail called, "Hurry, hurry, it is time for breakfast."
+
+Then Tippy Toes drew a bucket full of water and said, "Is poor Pussy
+still in the well?"
+
+Papa Cotton-Tail said, "If you ever read your Mother Goose you would
+know she is not in the well."
+
+"Who pulled her out?" asked Tippy Toes.
+
+Mother Cotton-Tail said, "Hush, be still, you ask too many questions!"
+
+Tippy Toes wondered all day who pulled poor Pussy out. He danced this
+way, and he danced that way, and he set the table for breakfast.
+
+He said, "If you are home by dinner time Papa Cotton-Tail, may I go and
+visit Bunny and Susan?"
+
+Papa Cotton-Tail said, "If I get home in time with Susan's spectacles
+you may go to-day."
+
+Papa Cotton-Tail put on his big fur coat and went merrily down the
+road. Mother Cotton-Tail began to make cookies and Tippy Toes rolled
+them out for her. Now, will you believe it? before they had a single
+pan of cookies baked, Papa Cotton-Tail was back home again.
+
+Mother Cotton-Tail said, "Why are you back so soon?"
+
+Tippy Toes said, "Did you get the spectacles already?"
+
+Papa Cotton-Tail said, "I met a peddler and he had a pair of black
+spectacles in his pack."
+
+Papa Cotton-Tail put on the black spectacles and he looked so funny
+that Mother Cotton-Tail said, "Let me try them on," and Tippy Toes
+cried, "Please let me try them on!"
+
+Mother Cotton-Tail said, "I will pack Bunny's lamp and Susan's
+spectacles and you may start on your long journey at once."
+
+Tippy Toes put on his best coat and cap and kissed his mother good-bye.
+Papa Cotton-Tail went with him again to the bend of the road. Suddenly
+Tippy Toes stopped still. He stopped stock-still in the road. He said,
+"Oh, Pa, I must go back, I forgot something!"
+
+What do you suppose Tippy Toes forgot?
+
+He always danced up and down before the mirror before he went out. So,
+he went back home, hoppity, skippity, hop; and Papa Cotton-Tail waited
+for him at the bend of the road.
+
+Tippy Toes stood before the mirror and he danced this way and he danced
+that way and said,
+
+     "Who is so ugly? Nobody knows."
+     The mirror answered, "Snubby Nose."
+
+Then Tippy Toes laughed and laughed.
+
+"I will go and find Snubby Nose," he said, "for he must be as ugly as I
+am with my little turned-up nose."
+
+He went running down the road and was soon off and away. The wind
+whistled in his ears.
+
+At that very minute he heard Papa Cotton-Tail crying, "Hello, hello!
+Come back to the bend in the road, Tippy Toes."
+
+Tippy Toes said to himself, "What can Papa Cotton-Tail want? Shall I
+never get started?"
+
+Papa Cotton-Tail said, "How will you know the house when you come to
+it?"
+
+Tippy Toes said, "I will ask any one I meet."
+
+Papa Cotton-Tail said, "That is right, and be sure to bow when you meet
+Grandpa Grumbles."
+
+Then they said "Good-bye" again, and Tippy Toes went merrily along. He met
+Bushy-Tail, the sly old Fox. Bushy-Tail asked, "Where are you going in
+such a hurry, Snubby Nose?"
+
+Then Tippy Toes danced this way and he danced that way, and he said,
+
+     "That is a matter I do not disclose,
+     But, sir, my name is not Snubby Nose."
+
+[Illustration: "'MY NAME IS NOT SNUBBY NOSE'"]
+
+Bushy-Tail was surprised you may be sure. He said, "Well, you and
+Snubby Nose are as much alike as two peas."
+
+Tippy Toes bowed and said, "Will you please tell me how I may know when
+I have passed by the house Bunny and Susan Cotton-Tail live in?"
+
+Tippy Toes did not say he was going to stop and see Bunny and Susan.
+
+Bushy-Tail looked cross-eyed. He said, "If you will tell me your name
+little fellow, I will take you straight to Bunny Cotton-Tail's house
+in the woods."
+
+I do not know what would have happened next if Grandpa Grumbles and
+Doctor Cotton-Tail had not come along.
+
+Grandpa Grumbles thought it was Snubby Nose, of course, and he shouted,
+
+     "You're a careless Bunny, it is not funny,
+     The Doctor costs us a lot of money."
+
+Then whisk! Before Tippy Toes or Doctor Cotton-Tail could say a word,
+Grandpa Grumbles opened his green cotton umbrella and set Tippy Toes
+inside and carried him through the woods. The wind whistled in their
+ears as they went. Grandpa Grumbles kept saying over and over to
+himself,
+
+     "You were ill, and it is not funny,
+     To call the Doctor and pay out money."
+
+Tippy Toes shouted at last so loud he could be heard,
+
+     "Grandpa, I have a funny nose,
+     But my real name is Tippy Toes."
+
+Grandpa Grumbles answered him,
+
+     "Snubby Nose, you can't fool me,
+     Though I'm foolish as can be."
+
+Then Tippy Toes stuffed his furry little paw into his mouth to keep
+from laughing out loud.
+
+"I wonder if Bunny and Susan will think I am Snubby Nose, too," he
+said. "What fun that will be. I will visit them until Snubby Nose comes
+home."
+
+By and by they came to Bunny Cotton-Tail's house. Grandpa Grumbles set
+Tippy Toes down on the doorstep and shouted,
+
+     "The house is dark, as you can see,
+     You'll have to come and visit me."
+
+So, they went on through the woods to Grandpa Grumble's house; for,
+sure enough, Bunny and Susan had gone to bed and turned out all the
+lights.
+
+When they got to Grandpa Grumble's house a fire was burning merrily on
+the hearth, and they went up and warmed their paws. Tippy Toes danced
+up and down before the mirror and cried,
+
+     "Who is so ugly? Nobody knows."
+     The mirror answered, "Snubby Nose."
+
+Grandpa Grumbles looked at Tippy Toes over his spectacles and said, "I
+have not heard you cry or scream or howl for thirty minutes."
+
+Tippy Toes did not know what this meant, for he had never cried or
+screamed or howled in all his life.
+
+He went up to Grandpa Grumbles and made a low bow and said, "Dear
+Grandpa Grumbles, I want to thank you for the ride in your green cotton
+umbrella."
+
+Grandpa Grumbles could hardly believe his ears. He grumbled,
+
+     "You might be fooling me I suppose,
+     Except for your ugly little nose."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+What do you suppose Snubby Nose was doing all this time? He woke early
+one morning and danced before the mirror and asked,
+
+     "Who is so ugly? Nobody knows."
+     The mirror answered, "Tippy Toes."
+
+Snubby Nose cried, "That settles it, broken nose, or no broken nose, I
+will go out and find Tippy Toes to-day. Perhaps he will be a fine
+playmate for me."
+
+Snubby Nose crept down stairs. He ran down the road and was soon out of
+sight.
+
+Bunny and Susan woke up and they looked in Snubby Nose's little bed,
+but he was not there. They expected to hear him cry and scream and howl
+any minute. They looked in the big chair. There was the pink flannel
+wrapper but Snubby Nose was gone.
+
+Bunny cried, "My fur and whiskers, he has gone out with his broken
+nose."
+
+Susan cried, "Bless my buttons, I expect to see him back any minute."
+
+At that very minute Tippy Toes came tripping along, swinging his basket
+to and fro and singing a nonsense song.
+
+"My fur and whiskers, here he comes," cried Bunny, "and he is not
+crying, but he is singing a song."
+
+"Bless my buttons," said Susan, "he is not crying this time."
+
+Tippy Toes came in and said, "Good morning Bunny and Susan, I have
+brought you a present this fine winter morning."
+
+Bunny and Susan could scarcely believe their ears, but Tippy Toes
+opened his basket and took out the lamp and spectacles, and Bunny and
+Susan were pleased, you may be sure.
+
+Bunny lighted the lamp, saying, "How can I ever thank you, Snubby Nose?
+Now I shall not burn my paw, as I read by candle-light."
+
+Tippy Toes tried not to laugh when he was called "Snubby Nose." He
+said, "Please tell me how you burned your paw, I am never tired hearing
+about it."
+
+Bunny Cotton-Tail began, "Once when I was young--"
+
+"Rap-a-tap" was heard on the door, and Tippy Toes was so polite he went
+to the door and brought the milk in.
+
+Tippy Toes curled up then at Bunny Cotton-Tail's feet and begged, "Do
+tell me now why you liked to read by candlelight."
+
+Bunny Cotton-Tail began again, "Once when I was young--"
+
+"Rap-a-tap" sounded on the door.
+
+Tippy Toes went and let in the Grocer boy. He curled up again at Bunny
+Cotton-Tail's feet and said, "Now Bunny, please tell me the story."
+
+Bunny Cotton-Tail began again, "Once, when I was young--"
+
+_Then the most surprising thing happened!_
+
+Soot began to pour down the chimney. It flew all over the room. It
+covered the carpet and furniture and pictures.
+
+Bunny shouted, "My fur and whiskers, what can be the matter?"
+
+Susan said, "Bless my buttons, there is soot all over the room." Tippy
+Toes danced on this foot, and danced on that foot, and said,
+
+     "Let me go up the chimney because,
+     I think it may be Santa Claus."
+
+Then Bunny and Susan laughed, but soon Bunny Cotton-Tail coughed, and
+Susan sneezed, so Tippy Toes knew something must be done at once. He
+ran outdoors and looked up at the chimney.
+
+There was Bushy-Tail, the sly old Fox acting as a chimney-sweep. He was
+sweeping the chimney with his long, beautiful tail.
+
+[Illustration: "HE WAS SWEEPING THE CHIMNEY WITH HIS LONG, BEAUTIFUL
+TAIL"]
+
+Tippy Toes cried, "Please come down and I will show you how to dance."
+Bushy-Tail was surprised you may be sure. He thought it was Snubby
+Nose, and Snubby Nose never said, "Please."
+
+He jumped off the roof with a bound and howled, "Oh, ho! So you will
+show me how to dance, will you?"
+
+Then Bushy-Tail chased Tippy Toes away and away and away in the woods.
+
+Tippy Toes said to himself,
+
+     "I'm in a corner without a doubt,
+     But if I keep cheerful I will get out."
+
+At that very minute they met old Grandpa Grumbles. He said,
+
+     "It is getting cold I've heard it said,
+     Bushy-Tail where are your mittens, red?"
+
+_Then the most surprising thing happened!_
+
+Bushy-Tail gave a howl and ran away as fast as his legs could carry
+him.
+
+"What does it all mean?" asked Tippy Toes.
+
+Grandpa Grumbles replied, "Why, Snubby Nose, you have a poor memory if
+you have forgotten about the red mittens. Don't you remember that Santa
+Claus gave Bushy-Tail a pair of magic mittens?"
+
+Tippy Toes said, politely, "Please tell me about it."
+
+Grandpa Grumbles said, "Bushy-Tail put on the red magic mittens and
+they pinched his paws."
+
+"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Tippy Toes, "How long did he have to wear those
+mittens?" Grandpa Grumbles answered,
+
+     "Really, now, I cannot say,
+     But I guess it was a year and a day."
+
+Then Tippy Toes laughed so hard that he doubled right up in a little
+ball and rolled over and over.
+
+"Come, come," said Grandpa Grumbles, "You had better go back to see
+Bunny and Susan, they may think Bushy-Tail has eaten you up."
+
+So they traveled back together to see Bunny and Susan. When they came
+to the house there was soot on everything. There was soot on the carpet
+and furniture and pictures. There was soot on the new lamp, and on
+Susan's spectacles.
+
+Grandpa Grumbles shouted,
+
+     "You are careless folks, I do declare,
+     To let the soot blow everywhere."
+
+Bunny Cotton-Tail coughed, and Susan sneezed, and Grandpa Grumbles
+said,
+
+     "Into the kitchen, one, seven, three,
+     You are as careless as can be."
+
+He made Bunny and Susan go into the kitchen; then he said to Tippy
+Toes,
+
+     "Come, get a broom and an apron or two,
+     We'll clean this room, that's what we'll do."
+
+Soon Grandpa Grumbles and Tippy Toes had everything out of the room. It
+did not take long to make it as clean as a pin.
+
+Grandpa Grumbles looked hard at Tippy Toes.
+
+"How does your nose feel?" he asked. "Come, sir, why don't you cry any
+more?"
+
+Tippy Toes danced this way, and danced that way, and sang to the big
+mirror that hung on the wall,
+
+     "Who is so ugly? Nobody knows."
+     The mirror answered, "Snubby Nose."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+"My fur and whiskers, the room is all clean!" Bunny Cotton-Tail cried.
+
+Susan Cotton-Tail cried, "Bless my buttons, everything is in order."
+
+Grandpa Grumbles said,
+
+     "There is a mystery in the air,
+     There is something strange, I do declare."
+
+Tippy Toes cried, "Good night Bunny and Susan, good night dear Grandpa
+Grumbles," and he danced this way, and danced that way, and he danced
+himself right up to bed.
+
+"How polite he is," said Bunny Cotton-Tail. Susan said, "He does not
+seem to mind when we speak of noses!"
+
+Grandpa Grumbles said, "He does not cry any more."
+
+They all sat by the fire warming their paws. Grandpa Grumbles was
+thinking. At last he said to Bunny and Susan, "One day I heard Snubby
+Nose talking as he stood before a mirror, and he said,"
+
+     "Who is so ugly? Nobody knows."
+     The mirror answered, "Tippy Toes."
+
+Now this Little Cotton-Tail dances before the mirror, and he says,
+
+     "Who is so ugly? Nobody knows."
+     The mirror answers, "Snubby Nose."
+
+"Snubby Nose, Tippy Toes," repeated Bunny and Susan over and over as
+they warmed their paws by the fire.
+
+By and by Grandpa Grumbles said, talking very fast, "Suppose there were
+two little Cotton-Tails, one named Snubby Nose, and one named Tippy
+Toes, suppose--just suppose they looked as much alike as two peas."
+
+Bunny Cotton-Tail said, "My fur and whiskers, it seems like a fairy
+tale, but Snubby Nose always cried, and this little Cotton-Tail is so
+polite."
+
+Susan cried, "Hark! I hear a rap-a-tap, who can be coming at this hour
+of the night?"
+
+The door opened; in fell Snubby Nose in a heap, and he cried and he
+screamed and he howled!
+
+Bunny and Susan and Grandpa Grumbles cried, "Hush, be still, stop
+crying, and tell us what is the matter."
+
+Grandpa Grumbles asked, "Did you hurt your ugly little nose?"
+
+Then Snubby Nose cried and he screamed and he howled louder than ever.
+
+Bunny asked, "Did you get stuck fast in another snowdrift?"
+
+Snubby Nose cried so loudly that they did not hear the "patter, patter,
+patter" of little feet. They did not know that Tippy Toes was coming
+down the staircase. Tippy Toes came dancing into the room, singing at
+the top of his lungs,
+
+     "Who is so ugly? Nobody knows."
+     The mirror answers, "Snubby Nose?"
+
+Then for one single minute Snubby Nose was still. He looked at Tippy
+Toes. He looked him up and down.
+
+Tippy Toes kissed him on both cheeks and nearly hugged the life out of
+him.
+
+Bunny and Susan and Grandpa Grumbles said, "They are as much alike as
+two peas. They both have ugly noses!"
+
+When Snubby Nose heard them speak of _noses_ he cried and he
+screamed and he howled!
+
+Tippy Toes said, "Don't care about your nose. People know you wherever
+you go."
+
+Snubby Nose pricked up his ears and asked, "Don't you mind about your
+ugly nose at all."
+
+Tippy Toes danced this way and he danced that way and answered,
+
+     "I don't mind noses, for you see,
+     I am polite as I can be."
+
+Then Snubby Nose stopped crying and hugged Tippy Toes and said, "I am
+so glad to find you, Tippy Toes. How do you make up those funny little
+rhymes. They tickle my eardrums."
+
+All this time Grandpa Grumbles was thumping on the floor with his
+umbrella. He made such a noise that Bunny said, "Hush, listen, Grandpa
+Grumbles has something to say."
+
+Susan said, "Hush, be still, Grandpa Grumbles wants to speak."
+
+At last Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes stopped talking and dancing, and
+they all listened to Grandpa Grumbles. He said,
+
+     "I want you both to come and stay,
+     With Grandpa Grumbles a year and a day."
+
+Tippy Toes answered, "Thank you, Grandpa Grumbles, I will come and
+visit you for a year and a day," but Snubby Nose cried and he screamed
+and he howled.
+
+I don't know what would have happened next, but Grandpa Grumbles went
+outside, and opened wide his green cotton umbrella, and invited Snubby
+Nose and Tippy Toes to step inside.
+
+They did so, and in less time than it takes to tell it they were
+sailing away with Grandpa Grumbles in his green cotton umbrella!
+
+[Illustration: "THEY WERE SAILING AWAY WITH GRANDPA GRUMBLES"]
+
+Bunny and Susan said, "How will he ever get along with Snubby Nose for
+a year and a day? We wish Tippy Toes was back. He was such a good
+little fellow."
+
+Susan picked up the pink wrapper and Bunny picked up the pink cup and
+saucer. Bunny Cotton-Tail said, "We will have a long quiet evening
+alone."
+
+"Don't be too sure of that," sang the wind as it whistled down the
+chimney.
+
+Susan said, "I will put on my new spectacles and we will read by the
+new lamp."
+
+_Then the most surprising thing happened!_
+
+The Seventeen Little Bears came tumbling in the doors and windows!
+They came in laughing and shouting,
+
+     "The Circus Cotton-Tails you see
+     Are just as funny as can be."
+
+They got out their seventeen little stools and sat by the fire.
+
+Bunny and Susan said, "What do you know about the Circus Cotton-Tails?"
+
+The Seventeen Little Bears said,
+
+     "You only see them now at Fairs,
+     But we've become the Circus Bears."
+
+"Have you got a Circus tent? Have you got a merry-go-round?" asked
+Bunny and Susan. "Do tell us how long you have been Circus Bears."
+
+The Seventeen Little Bears got on top of their seventeen little stools
+and shouted, "We have just become Circus Bears today, that is the
+reason we came tumbling in the door and windows."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+The Seventeen Little Bears woke up early next morning. They all
+whispered together so they would not wake Bunny and Susan.
+
+The Seventeen Little Bears tiptoed very softly out of bed, and
+"pitter-patter, pitter-patter" went their little feet down the stairs.
+
+     "We can stew, we can bake,
+     If we make no mistake."
+
+They made the fire and began to stew and bake. They made coffee and
+fried sausages and cakes. By and by Bunny and Susan woke up.
+
+"My fur and whiskers, I smell something cooking," said Bunny.
+
+Susan said, "Bless my buttons, I smell something cooking, too."
+
+The Seventeen Little Bears said, "Ha, ha, ha! Bunny is talking about
+his fur and whiskers. Ha, ha, ha! Susan is talking about her buttons.
+We will give old Bunny and Susan something new to talk about!"
+
+The Seventeen Little Bears shouted at the top of their lungs,
+
+     "We are Circus Bears, as all can see,
+     The merry-go-round waits you and me."
+
+Susan called, "Hurry, hurry, hurry! Bunny do get dressed! Let us see
+what the Seventeen Little Bears mean. How I do love to ride in a
+merry-go-round!"
+
+When Bunny and Susan got downstairs they were surprised to see a fine
+breakfast ready for them all on the table. They all sat down and had a
+very merry time.
+
+After breakfast the Seventeen Little Bears began to practice their
+tricks. They slid on the banister and came downstairs head first.
+
+Soon they were all crying, "Oh," and "Ah, how I hurt my head;" and
+"Oh," and "Ah, how I hurt my toes!"
+
+Bunny cried, "Bring the camphor! Bring the smelling salts, while they
+are practicing their tricks!"
+
+Susan Cotton-Tail sat down in the corner. She wiped her eyes.
+
+Bunny said, "Have you lost your spectacles?"
+
+Susan Cotton-Tail said, "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!"
+
+The Seventeen Little Bears all came crowding around Susan to see what
+was the matter.
+
+Susan still rocked to and fro and said, "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!"
+
+Bunny said, "Will you never tell us what is the matter?" Susan said
+finally,
+
+     "I have some pride, but thought to ride,
+     In the merry-go-round, above the ground."
+
+Then the Seventeen Little Bears all turned somersaults at once, and
+Susan cried, "Stop them, stop them, or they will break their little
+bones."
+
+_Then the most surprising thing happened!_
+
+The Seventeen Little Bears made a low bow and said,
+
+     "In the merry-go-round we'll go,
+     Laughing gayly, ha, ha, ho, ho!"
+
+They ran out the back door and Bunny and Susan went after them. There
+stood a neat little merry-go-round, as fine as you please.
+
+"Where?" and "How?" and "Why?" and "Please tell us about it," said
+Bunny and Susan.
+
+The Seventeen Little Bears replied,
+
+     "Get inside, and have a ride,
+     Bunny and Susan, side by side."
+
+They all jumped into the merry-go-round and rode in seats side by
+side. Round and round and round they went.
+
+Bunny waved his hat and Susan waved her red sunbonnet! The Seventeen
+Little Bears shouted, "Hurrah, hurrah!"
+
+They went faster and faster. Bunny said, "I am afraid the wind will
+blow off my fur and whiskers."
+
+Susan said, "The wind will blow off my spectacles."
+
+Faster, faster, faster they went! Would they never stop?
+
+The Seventeen Little Bears said,
+
+     "This is a very funny business,
+     It gives us all a little dizziness."
+
+Faster, faster, faster they went! It began to rain. First the rain fell
+with a few drops, then it came down in sheets. My! how wet they were!
+
+Faster, faster, faster went the merry-go-round.
+
+Suddenly Bushy-Tail ran and jumped right into the merry-go-round and
+said, "What will you give me if I stop the merry-go-round?"
+
+Bunny said, "I will give you a warm seat by the fire, sir."
+
+Susan said, "I will give you a basket of cookies."
+
+The Seventeen Little Bears said, "We will give you seventeen pieces of
+peppermint candy."
+
+"Help, help, help!" they all cried, "Do stop the merry-go-round!"
+
+Bushy-Tail looked as saucy as you please.
+
+"I can ride faster than this," he said, "I was brought up in a
+merry-go-round. I want Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes to come and pay me
+a visit."
+
+Bushy-Tail said no more, and Bunny saw there was no use to mince
+matters, and the rain was coming down harder and harder.
+
+Bunny said, "If Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes want to pay you a visit I
+have no objection."
+
+Then the merry-go-round went slower and slower, and slower, and finally
+stopped.
+
+Bushy-Tail said, "Go get Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes for me or _I will
+eat you all up!_"
+
+They all went into the house. They pretended to look for Snubby Nose
+and Tippy Toes, though they knew they had gone away. They looked in
+every nook and corner, but knew well enough that Snubby Nose and Tippy
+Toes had gone sailing away with Grandpa Grumbles.
+
+Bushy-Tail was angry. He went down the road calling, "Woo, woo, woo!"
+He would not even stop for his basket of cookies.
+
+Bushy-Tail called back,
+
+     "Where they have gone to nobody knows,
+     I'll find Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes."
+
+Bunny and Susan said, "We are glad to get out of the merry-go-round,
+but we must send word to Grandpa Grumbles not to let Snubby Nose and
+Tippy Toes out. Who will carry the message?"
+
+The First Little Bear said, "It is so far to go."
+
+The Second Little Bear said, "I am all out of breath."
+
+The Third Little Bear said, "Oh wait 'till to-morrow."
+
+Now, will you believe it? The Seventeen Little Bears sat on their
+seventeen little stools as though, nothing had happened!
+
+Bunny and Susan got ready to go out in the rain. They took their
+raincoats and caps and umbrellas. They went to Grandpa Grumbles' house.
+
+The Seventeen Little Bears said in a sing-song way,
+
+     "We really are not quite polite,
+     We're selfish as can be,
+     We sit on stools around the fire,
+     Just singing merrily!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+When Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes rode home with Grandpa Grumbles in his
+green cotton umbrella they sang a merry song,
+
+     "Oh, ho! It is fun to go riding along,
+     Singing and whistling a right merry song."
+
+The umbrella came to the chimney of Grandpa Grumbles' house. It began
+to close up a little.
+
+"Help, help!" cried Snubby Nose, "we shall be squeezed to death!"
+
+Tippy Toes sat very still. He made himself as small as possible.
+
+Grandpa Grumbles said,
+
+     "Down my chimney every one goes,
+     How we shall travel the umbrella knows!"
+
+Then whisk! Before they could wink an eyelash they were safely down the
+chimney.
+
+Snubby Nose cried and he screamed and he howled!
+
+Tippy Toes danced this way, and he danced that way, and said, "Oh,
+Grandpa Grumbles, how I enjoyed the ride!"
+
+Grandpa Grumbles said,
+
+     "Off to bed when the merry winds blow,
+     So back up the chimney old Grandpa can go."
+
+Snubby Nose said, "You are not going to leave us alone in this house
+are you?" Then he cried and he screamed and he howled!
+
+Tippy Toes danced this way, and danced that way, and before they could
+say another word, whisk! up the chimney old Grandpa Grumbles was off
+and away. He went off to ride in his green cotton umbrella.
+
+Tippy Toes kissed Snubby Nose and led him before the mirror, singing,
+
+     "Who will visit us to-day?"
+
+The mirror answered,
+
+     "Bushy-Tail is on his way."
+
+Snubby Nose said, "What fun it is to have the mirror talk. Come, let us
+bolt the doors and windows. We will not let Bushy-Tail in."
+
+They danced again before the mirror and sang,
+
+     "We're locked in safely, that we know,"
+
+The mirror said,
+
+     "Down the chimney he can go."
+
+Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes said, "Oh" and "Ah," and "Oh" and "Ah." "We
+never thought of the chimney! What shall we do with the chimney?"
+
+They built a roaring fire, and none too soon, for they could hear the
+"patter, patter, patter" of feet upon the roof.
+
+Bushy-Tail climbed down from the roof. He looked in at the window and
+said, "Please let me in, please let me in."
+
+Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes sat as still as they could in their little
+chairs by the fire and never winked an eyelash.
+
+Bushy-Tail said, "Let me in or I will come down the chimney, fire or no
+fire."
+
+Then Snubby Nose coughed and Tippy Toes sneezed.
+
+Bushy-Tail climbed the roof once more. Out came the smoke in great
+puffs. He gave it up and then went away down the path growling every
+step of the way.
+
+All this time Bunny and Susan were coming nearer every minute. They
+said, "What if we should meet Bushy-Tail?"
+
+In less time than it takes to tell it, Bushy-Tail came down the bend of
+the road scolding and waving his beautiful tail to and fro.
+
+He howled, "Bring out Snubby Nose, bring out Tippy Toes or _I will
+eat you up_."
+
+I do not know what in the world would have happened if Grandpa Grumbles
+had not come sailing along just then. He came sailing down in his green
+cotton umbrella and said, looking hard at Bushy-Tail,
+
+     "Jump inside and have a ride,
+     There's room for you and me beside."
+
+Bushy-Tail jumped into the umbrella. He was pleased you may be sure.
+They rode away, and away, and away, over houses, over tree-tops, and
+over a big blue lake. Then they began to sail slowly down, down, down.
+
+Bushy-Tail said, "Oh, Grandpa Grumbles, don't land us in the lake! Oh,
+Grandpa Grumbles, look out what you are doing!"
+
+Grandpa Grumbles then said loudly,
+
+     "Speak into my better ear,
+     I am so deaf I cannot hear."
+
+Bushy-Tail cried out as loud as he could, "Oh, Grandpa Grumbles, we are
+going down into the lake! Look out, look out! We shall be drowned!"
+
+Grandpa Grumbles shouted,
+
+     "Speak a little louder, please,
+     Shall we sail above the trees?"
+
+Bushy-Tail got so excited he did not know what he was doing. He got
+right out of the umbrella and went splash, dash, into the lake.
+
+[Illustration: "BUSHY-TAIL WENT SPLASH, DASH, INTO THE LAKE"]
+
+Grandpa Grumbles, as he sailed homeward, said,
+
+     "Sink or swim, just as you please,
+     For I have no desire to tease."
+
+He left poor Bushy-Tail to swim to shore.
+
+When Grandpa Grumbles got home he saw smoke coming out of his chimney.
+He grumbled,
+
+     "It seems to me quite like a bore,
+     To have to enter by the door."
+
+He was so used to sailing down the chimney!
+
+The door opened for him and there stood Bunny and Susan. Snubby Nose
+and Tippy Toes danced up to him and told him how Bushy-Tail had tried
+to get in.
+
+Grandpa Grumbles shook his green umbrella fiercely and said,
+
+     "He will not come this way again,
+     Either in sunshine or in rain."
+
+Then Bunny and Susan and Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes begged Grandpa
+Grumbles to tell what had become of Bushy-Tail, but Grandpa Grumbles
+would only say,
+
+     "I am so deaf 'tis hard to hear,
+     Come, speak a little louder, dear."
+
+Then Bunny spoke into his right ear, and Susan spoke into his left ear,
+and asked him to tell where he had left Bushy-Tail.
+
+Grandpa Grumbles shook his head and said,
+
+     "Bunny and Susan, what do you say?
+     I am so old and deaf to-day."
+
+Then Snubby Nose cried into his right ear, and Tippy Toes cried into
+his left ear, but Grandpa Grumbles only said,
+
+     "I can't hear, my deafness grows;
+     Ask the umbrella, for it knows."
+
+Then the Cotton-Tails asked the umbrella what had become of Bushy-Tail
+and the umbrella said,
+
+     "Bushy-Tail went swimming away,
+     But he'll come back in a year and a day."
+
+"Oh" and "Ah" and "Oh" and "Ah," cried all the little Cotton-Tails,
+"Bushy-Tail is swimming away is he?"
+
+They all went merrily to bed.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+
+The next morning Grandpa Grumbles called out,
+
+     "The Cotton-Tails are all in bed,
+     Every one is a sleepy-head."
+
+"My fur and whiskers, we have overslept," said Bunny Cotton-Tail. "It
+is nine o'clock by my little silver watch."
+
+"Bless my buttons," cried Susan, "I meant to get up and get breakfast."
+
+Tippy Toes was the first down stairs after Grandpa Grumbles. He danced
+this way and he danced that way, and set the table for breakfast.
+
+Grandpa Grumbles had a fine breakfast ready. They all sat down except
+Snubby Nose. Grandpa Grumbles said,
+
+     "Where is Snubby Nose? 'tis plain,
+     He must have gone to sleep again."
+
+Now, what do you suppose happened next? Grandpa Grumbles went upstairs
+and took Snubby Nose by the feet and dragged him out of bed. He made
+him dress in a hurry and come down to breakfast! All the time Snubby
+Nose cried and he screamed and he howled!
+
+Bunny and Susan and Grandpa Grumbles soon finished their breakfast.
+They went for a walk but Tippy Toes sat at the table and said, "Oh,
+Snubby Nose, why do you cry so much? I have just as ugly a nose as you
+have."
+
+Then Snubby Nose stopped crying. He stared at Tippy Toes. Sure enough,
+Tippy Toes had a very ugly nose.
+
+Snubby Nose shouted, "Pass me the cream! Pass me the butter! Pass me
+the bread! Can't you see I am starving?"
+
+The mirror spoke up suddenly,
+
+     "Snubby Nose it's no use to tease,
+     You might say, 'Thank you,' and 'if you please.'"
+
+Tippy Toes slipped down from his chair and ran out after Bunny and
+Susan.
+
+Snubby Nose cried and he screamed and he howled! He reached for the
+sugar bowl and it sailed away in the air! He reached for the bread and
+butter but they went farther out of his reach. He was very hungry and
+he cried and he screamed and he howled, but there was no one to answer
+him. By and by he danced before the mirror and said,
+
+     "Mirror, mirror, I'll be good,
+     And speak politely as I should."
+
+The mirror said,
+
+     "If you say, 'Thank you' I suppose,
+     You'll be loved like Tippy Toes."
+
+_Then the most surprising thing happened!_
+
+Snubby Nose said, "Thank you for a bowl of milk." The milk stood at his
+plate. Then he said, "Thank you for cookies and sugar and pie." The
+cookies and sugar and pie stood by his plate. He had never had so much
+fun before in all his life. He kept on ordering things and they came
+before him.
+
+By and by Snubby Nose cleared off the table and washed the dishes,
+saying over and over,
+
+     "I must forget to try to tease,
+     I will say, 'Thank you' and 'If you Please.'"
+
+At this very minute in came the Seventeen Little Bears. They cried,
+
+     "Hurrah, hurrah, old Snubby Nose!
+     What has happened, do you suppose?"
+
+Snubby Nose made a low bow and said, "If you please I should like to
+know what has happened."
+
+The Seventeen Little Bears stared at Snubby Nose. They had never seen
+him so polite before.
+
+They said, "We met Bunny and Susan and Grandpa Grumbles and they said
+we could go up in the garret and get skates and go skating."
+
+No sooner said than done. Up to the garret danced the Seventeen Little
+Bears. They found seventeen pairs of skates and danced out again.
+
+Snubby Nose was left alone in the house. He forgot to be polite. He
+cried and he screamed and he howled!
+
+The mirror said,
+
+     "If you're polite, as you should be,
+     Perhaps a pair of skates you'll see."
+
+Snubby Nose looked about the house. He looked high and low, but he
+could not find any skates. He rubbed his eyes and he rubbed his little
+red nose. He put on his cap and mittens and went to the pond. Tippy
+Toes came to meet him. He had two pairs of skates and cried,
+
+     "Where were you so long, goodness knows,
+     Here are your skates. Come Snubby Nose."
+
+He kissed Snubby Nose on both cheeks.
+
+The Seventeen Little Bears sat on the bank trying to fasten their
+skates. Their little paws got colder and colder every minute. Snubby
+Nose helped them fasten their skates and Tippy Toes helped them too.
+Then they put on their own skates and went skating away, and away, and
+away.
+
+By and by Bunny and Susan said,
+
+     "'Tis rather sad now to relate,
+     We are too old and stiff to skate.'"
+
+Grandpa Grumbles said,
+
+     "Chilly business this sport I think,
+     Let's go roller-skating in a rink."
+
+Bunny and Susan said they must really go home and Grandpa Grumbles said
+he, too, would go to his own home.
+
+He shouted to the Seventeen Little Bears,
+
+     "Don't skate where the ice is thin,
+     You'll make a hole and tumble in."
+
+The Seventeen Little Bears skated on and on, the wind whistling in
+their ears.
+
+Snubby Nose said to Tippy Toes, "What if the Seventeen Little Bears
+should fall into the water, what would we do?"
+
+Tippy Toes said, "The wind blows so hard they cannot hear. I hope they
+know where the ice is thin."
+
+The Seventeen Little Bears formed a circle and skated round. Suddenly
+the ice gave way. Splash, dash, they all fell into the water!
+
+Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes danced this way, and they danced that way,
+and shouted, "Help, help, help! The Seventeen Little Bears have fallen
+into the water!"
+
+Doctor Cotton-Tail was riding by in his sleigh. He said, "Come, we will
+pull them out of the water." So they all helped pull the Seventeen
+Little Bears out of the water.
+
+Doctor Cotton-Tail said, "I will tuck them in my sleigh and take them
+to Bunny and Susan. They will tuck them up warm in bed."
+
+[Illustration: "I WILL TUCK THEM IN MY SLEIGH"]
+
+Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes hung on to the back of the sleigh and they
+went whizzing merrily homeward, the wind whistling in their ears. The
+Seventeen Little Bears sneezed all the way.
+
+Did Bunny and Susan tuck them up warm in bed? Well, I guess they did,
+and Doctor Cotton-Tail gave them hoarhound candy.
+
+Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes smacked their lips and said, "If we had
+fallen in the water we could have had candy too."
+
+Doctor Cotton-Tail said, "You cunning little things, you look as much
+alike as two peas. You shall each have a stick of lemon candy."
+
+Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes danced this way, and danced that way, and
+said,
+
+     "Lemon candy is good to eat,
+     We always think it quite a treat."
+
+Susan said, "Hush; be still. Don't wake the Seventeen Little Bears;
+they are all asleep."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+
+The Seventeen Little Bears took cold when they fell through the ice
+into the water, so they had to stay in bed all day. They cried, "Tell
+us a story, please tell us a story."
+
+Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes danced this way, and that way, before the
+mirror and cried out together,
+
+     "Who is so ugly? Nobody knows."
+
+The mirror answered,
+
+     "Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes."
+
+The Seventeen Little Bears clapped their little paws and cried, "Tell
+it again, tell it again!"
+
+Then Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes danced this way, and that way, before
+the mirror and asked,
+
+     "Who took cold when they fell through the ice?"
+
+The mirror would not answer this time.
+
+The Seventeen Little Bears wept and wailed. Bunny and Susan came
+upstairs to see what was the matter.
+
+Bunny said, "Never mind, I will tell you a story about my reading by
+candle-light."
+
+Then the Seventeen Little Bears cried, "Oh, Bunny, tell us a new story,
+please."
+
+Now, Bunny could not think of a new story to tell to save his life, so
+Susan said, "I will tell you about the Circus cookies that came alive."
+
+Then, the Seventeen Little Bears shouted, "We know that story by heart,
+we know every word of it."
+
+They took out their seventeen little red pocket handkerchiefs and cried
+and cried.
+
+All this time Grandpa Grumbles was sitting in an easy chair by the
+fire. He grumbled,
+
+     "'Tis silly to make such a dreadful noise,
+     You are worse than seventeen girls and boys."
+
+Then he took his green cotton umbrella and went upstairs.
+
+As soon as the Seventeen Little Bears caught sight of Grandpa Grumbles
+they set up a shout, "A story, a story, do tell us a story."
+
+Grandpa Grumbles shook his green cotton umbrella fiercely and shouted,
+
+     "Every one must keep as still as a mouse,
+     So you can hear a pin drop in the house."
+
+Then, will you believe it? The Seventeen Little Bears were so still you
+could hear a pin drop.
+
+Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes were so still they did not wink an eyelash.
+They sat on two little stools in the corner.
+
+Grandpa Grumbles said, "You can guess all day and you can guess all
+night, but you cannot one of you guess what kind of a shop I am going
+to open."
+
+Then the Seventeen Little Bears begged for Bunny Cotton-Tail's
+thinking-cap. They put it on in turn and guessed and guessed what kind
+of a shop Grandpa Grumbles would open.
+
+Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes said, "Will it be a candy-shop?"
+
+Grandpa Grumbles shook his green cotton umbrella fiercely and
+grumbled, "I told you, you could not guess. I am going to open a Toy
+Shop!"
+
+"A Toy Shop!" shouted the Seventeen Little Bears at the top of their
+lungs. "A Toy Shop!"
+
+"Who is telling this story?" asked Grandpa Grumbles. He began to tell
+the story in real earnest. He said, "I am going to open a Toy Shop in
+the woods."
+
+"Not a real Toy Shop," said Snubby Nose. "You don't mean a real Toy
+Shop," said Tippy Toes.
+
+Grandpa Grumbles shook his green cotton umbrella and grumbled, "Now, I
+shall have to start all over again."
+
+So he began once more, "I am going to open a Toy Shop in the woods."
+
+"Will you make a rocking-horse?" asked the First Little Bear.
+
+"Will you make drums?" asked the Second Little Bear.
+
+"Will you make horns? Toot, toot, toot!" said the Third Little Bear.
+
+Now, will you believe it? All the Seventeen Little Bears put their paws
+to their mouths as though they had horns and cried, "Toot, toot, toot!"
+
+Grandpa Grumbles shook his umbrella fiercely and shouted,
+
+     "I will not tell the story to-day,
+     I will take my umbrella and go away."
+
+_Then the most surprising thing happened!_
+
+Grandpa Grumbles held fast to the handle of the umbrella and sailed out
+through the open window!
+
+"Oh," and "Ah," said Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes, "that was rather
+sudden!"
+
+"Oh," and "Ah," said the Seventeen Little Bears, "how fast he went!"
+
+Then they were as merry as you please. Whenever any one would cough or
+sneeze the other ones would say, "Let us talk about Grandpa Grumbles'
+Toy Shop! Can you hear him hammer away? Can you hear him saw?"
+
+Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes put on their hats and coats and danced this
+way, and that way, and said, "We will go and, visit Grandpa Grumbles'
+Toy Shop."
+
+At this very minute, to the surprise of all, Grandpa Grumbles came
+sailing in through the window. He said,
+
+     "If I were little and young and gay,
+     I'd sail away for a year and a day."
+
+The Seventeen Little Bears shouted, "Please tell us about the Toy
+Shop!"
+
+Grandpa Grumbles shook his umbrella. Out fell a little rocking horse.
+He shook it again. Out fell a horn. He shook it again. Out fell a drum.
+
+The Seventeen Little Bears shouted, "Hurrah, hurrah! It is really true,
+Grandpa Grumbles, you are going to open a Toy Shop."
+
+Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes and the Seventeen Little Bears did not know
+whether Grandpa Grumbles was teasing or not. They did not know if he
+meant to open a real Toy Shop.
+
+The Seventeen Little Bears said, "Will you tell us the whole story
+to-morrow?"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+
+The Seventeen Little Bears still had to stay in bed next day. Snubby
+Nose and Tippy Toes danced about the room and cried, "Grandpa Grumbles,
+do tell us the story of the Toy Shop!"
+
+Grandpa Grumbles came upstairs leaning on his green cotton umbrella. He
+coughed six times and then he sat down in the rocking-chair by the
+Window. He said, "The story of the Toy Shop begins with a question."
+
+The Seventeen Little Bears clapped their paws and shouted, "Hear, hear,
+the story is going to begin!"
+
+Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes danced this way, and danced that way, and
+cried, "Hear, hear, the story is going to begin!"
+
+_Then the most surprising thing happened!_
+
+Grandpa Grumbles pointed his green cotton umbrella at Snubby Nose and
+asked, "Which of your toys did you break first at Christmas?"
+
+Snubby Nose could not remember, so he cried and he screamed and he
+howled!
+
+Grandpa Grumbles said, "I cannot begin this story until I have nineteen
+questions answered."
+
+Tippy Toes said, "Grandpa Grumbles, I can tell you which toy I broke
+first, I broke my little rocking-horse."
+
+Then Snubby Nose shouted, "I broke my rocking-horse too."
+
+Grandpa Grumbles pointed to the First Little Bear and said, "Which toy
+did you break first?"
+
+The First Little Bear said, "I broke my little red drum."
+
+Then the Seventeen Little Bears all held up their paws and said, "Let
+me tell, let me tell next which toy I broke at Christmas!"
+
+Now, will you believe it? They all made such a noise that Grandpa
+Grumbles could not sit still another minute. He went downstairs shaking
+his green cotton umbrella, fiercely, and grumbling to himself as he
+went.
+
+The Seventeen Little Bears cried, "Oh, come back and tell the story! We
+will be good."
+
+Then Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes danced downstairs and said. "We will,
+be good, indeed we will be good."
+
+Grandpa Grumbles still looked very cross. He grumbled,
+
+     "Speak into my other ear,
+     'Tis very hard indeed to hear."
+
+Then Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes shouted into his other ear, "Please
+come back upstairs and tell us about the Toy Shop. We will be good,
+indeed we will."
+
+Grandpa Grumbles said,
+
+     "Speak a little louder, please,
+     If you do not want to tease."
+
+Bunny and Susan saw that something must be done to make Grandpa
+Grumbles happy again, so Susan made a bowl of fine soup for him, and
+Grandpa Grumbles drew up to the table. He said,
+
+     "In cooking you can never fail,
+     Thank you, dear Susan Cotton-Tail."
+
+Then Bunny went upstairs and said to the Seventeen Little Bears, "You
+may get up and put on your little red wrappers and sit by the fire
+downstairs."
+
+So the Seventeen Little Bears got up and put on their little red
+wrappers and crept downstairs. They crept down so softly that Grandpa
+Grumbles never heard a sound.
+
+By and by when Grandpa Grumbles went back into the sitting-room there
+sat the Seventeen Little Bears on their seventeen little stools by the
+fire. Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes sat on the arm of Grandpa Grumbles'
+chair. He was surprised you may be sure.
+
+He began to tell his story quite as if nothing had happened. He said,
+"Last Christmas I went about and picked up all the broken toys I could
+find and I said I would open a Toy Shop and mend them so you could not
+tell them from new toys!"
+
+"Hear, hear!" cried the Seventeen Little Bears softly.
+
+"Hush, hush!" said Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes, "Grandpa Grumbles is
+talking."
+
+Grandpa Grumbles went on, "On long winter evenings I sat and mended and
+glued and pasted the toys and soon they looked as good as new."
+
+"Rap-a-tap," sounded on the door, "Rap-a-tap."
+
+Bunny took the candle and went to the door. There stood Doctor
+Cotton-Tail.
+
+He said, "Good evening, how are the Seventeen Little Bears? I heard
+they fell in the water!"
+
+The Seventeen Little Bears stuffed their little paws into their mouths
+to keep from laughing, for they felt as well as ever, sitting before
+the fire in their little red wrappers.
+
+Doctor Cotton-Tail took a seat by the fire and began to warm his paws,
+first one paw and then the other.
+
+"Chilly spring weather, but most time to make garden," he said.
+
+"Chilly weather," said Bunny Cotton-Tail.
+
+"Chilly weather," said Susan.
+
+_Then the most surprising thing happened_!
+
+Grandpa Grumbles shook his green cotton umbrella and out came flower
+seeds falling everywhere. The Seventeen Little Bears scrambled to pick
+them up.
+
+"Who will make your garden?" asked Doctor Cotton-Tail, looking at Bunny
+and Susan.
+
+Bunny and Susan said, "We do not know, we are too old and stiff to make
+a garden."
+
+"You will miss the turnips and cabbages," said Doctor Cotton-Tail.
+Then he added,
+
+"I came in a wagon, and as the Seventeen Little Bears are quite well,
+I can take them home."
+
+Then the Seventeen Little Bears began to weep loud and long. They wept
+into their seventeen little pocket handkerchiefs.
+
+Bunny and Susan said, "Never mind, dears, you can come to visit us
+again."
+
+Soon the Seventeen Little Bears were tucked safely into the wagon and
+Doctor Cotton-Tail took them home.
+
+"Bless my buttons," said Susan, "you did not finish your story Grandpa
+Grumbles."
+
+"My fur and whiskers," said Bunny, "I should like to visit your Toy
+Shop!"
+
+Grandpa Grumbles said,
+
+     "At night I always shake my head,
+     'Tis time for all to go to bed."
+
+The Cotton-Tail family knew that it was no use to tease, so they went
+merrily to bed.
+
+Snubby Nose set his little alarm clock. He set it at four o'clock in
+the morning. He said, kissing Tippy Toes good night, "We must get up
+early in the morning and make a garden for Bunny and Susan."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+
+"Tinkle, tinkle" went the alarm clock next morning. Snubby Nose put his
+paw on it so it would not ring too loudly. He whispered to Tippy Toes,
+"Get up, it is time to make the garden."
+
+They took the seeds Grandpa Grumbles had thrown from his umbrella. They
+planted the seeds in even rows. They worked so fast, they had the
+garden planted and were back in bed by eight o'clock.
+
+Grandpa Grumbles woke up next. He went downstairs and out of doors. He
+saw a little garden all planted in even rows. He shook his green cotton
+umbrella and said,
+
+     "Radishes it is time to grow,
+     For spring has come again you know."
+
+_Then the most surprising thing happened!_
+
+The radishes began to peep up and show their little green heads.
+
+Grandpa Grumbles shook his green cotton umbrella again and said,
+
+     "Young cabbage heads, all in a row,
+     Wake up, wake up, it's time to grow."
+
+The cabbages came up as big and round as you please. Then Grandpa
+Grumbles shook his green cotton umbrella again and said,
+
+     "Turnips come, wake up, 'tis clear
+     Merry, merry spring is here."
+
+The turnips came up nodding in the sunshine, and Grandpa Grumbles said,
+
+     "Open green umbrella and sail away,
+     They were magic seeds, good day, good day."
+
+He opened the green cotton umbrella and sailed away, and away, and
+away.
+
+Bunny Cotton-Tail woke up and looked out of the window. "My fur and
+whiskers, look at the garden," he shouted.
+
+Susan woke and looked out the window and said, "Bless my buttons there
+is a real little garden."
+
+Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes woke up again and said, "Hurrah, hurrah, how
+fast the seeds grow! We must ask Grandpa Grumbles if they were magic
+seeds that he gave us."
+
+But Grandpa Grumbles had sailed away, and away, and away!
+
+At that very minute the Postman brought two letters. The letters were
+for Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes. They were from their Mothers asking
+them to come home.
+
+When Snubby Nose read his letter he cried and he screamed and he
+howled!
+
+When Tippy Toes read his letter he said, "Never mind, Snubby Nose, we
+can go together to the bend of the road."
+
+Before they had breakfast, Susan got out her rolling-pin and flour and
+sugar and said, "I will make you some cookies to take with you."
+
+Bunny said, "My fur and whiskers, I have two neat little baskets. I
+will pack them with your lunch."
+
+So Susan made cookies and Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes packed their
+little traveling bags and Bunny packed their lunches in the little
+baskets.
+
+Bunny said, "I will take you in my wheelbarrow to the bend in the road,
+then Snubby Nose goes east and Tippy Toes goes west."
+
+Snubby Nose cried and he screamed and he howled! He did not want to go
+home. Tippy Toes did not want to go home either, but he said, "Thank
+you Bunny for the ride."
+
+Soon Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes were ready to go. They stood before the
+mirror and danced this way and that way and sang,
+
+     "Tell us, good mirror, whom shall we meet?"
+
+The mirror answered,
+
+     "Circus Cotton-Tails in the street."
+
+Then Snubby Nose held his breath and Tippy Toes held his breath.
+
+Snubby Nose said, "I was one of the Circus Cotton-Tails once myself."
+
+They went downstairs and kissed Susan good-bye.
+
+Then they jumped into the wheelbarrow and Bunny wheeled them to the
+turn in the road. He kissed them good-bye and Snubby Nose cried and he
+screamed and he howled! Tippy Toes said, "Never mind, we shall meet
+again some day and my nose is as ugly as yours is!"
+
+Snubby Nose said, "_I beg you not to talk about noses_," and he
+cried and he screamed and he howled, louder than ever.
+
+Tippy Toes saw something must be done, so he said, "Oh, never mind, I
+will go home with you. It will be a long walk around then to my house."
+
+They both went east.
+
+Snubby Nose said, "Listen, what is that? It sounds like a band!"
+
+Tippy Toes said, "What is that? It sounds like the roar of a Lion."
+
+They did not know whether to go east any longer or not. They hid behind
+some bushes by the roadside, and all the while the sound of the band
+came nearer and nearer. All the while the lion roared louder and
+louder. They peeped through the branches. Soon the Circus Cotton-Tails
+came in view.
+
+[Illustration: "SOON THE CIRCUS COTTON-TAILS CAME IN VIEW"]
+
+Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes danced out of their hiding places and cried,
+"Hurrah for the Circus Cotton-Tails! They have formed a real little
+Circus!"
+
+There was the band wagon. There were the elephants and camels. There
+were the animals in cages.
+
+The Circus Cotton-Tails cried, "Hurrah, hurrah! Here are Snubby Nose
+and Tippy Toes. Come and join the Big Parade."
+
+Bunny Bright Eyes said, "Can you walk a tight rope?"
+
+Tippy Toes said he did not know, but Snubby Nose said he had walked a
+tight rope off and on all his life!
+
+Tippy Toes drew a little mirror out of his pocket and said,
+
+     "Who will walk the tight rope? Whom do you suppose?"
+
+The mirror answered,
+
+      "Two cunning little Bunnies, Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+
+Bunny and Susan sat quietly by the cheerful fire warming their paws.
+
+Bunny said, "My fur and whiskers, I hope Snubby Nose got home safely."
+
+Susan said, "Bless my buttons, I was thinking of Tippy Toes this very
+minute. Those two cunning little Bunnies are as much alike as two peas!
+We could not tell them apart if Snubby Nose did not cry so much."
+
+Bunny said, "I suppose we shall have no visitors for some time now."
+
+"Don't be too sure of that," said a gruff old voice, "Here I am
+standing now." There stood Grandpa Grumbles in the doorway. He had
+never looked so happy in all his life. He struck the floor fiercely
+with his green cotton umbrella and said,
+
+     "The Circus Cotton-Tails will come,
+     A-rat-a-tat, just hear the drum."
+
+Bunny and Susan listened. Sure enough, they heard the "rat-a-tat," of a
+drum. Soon they heard the Lion roar in his cage. They all went out as
+fast as they could.
+
+_There came the Circus Cotton-Tails on parade!_
+
+Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes danced in front beating a drum.
+
+Bunny and Susan and Grandpa Grumbles cried, "Hurrah, hurrah, for the
+Big Parade!"
+
+Grandpa Grumbles waved his green cotton umbrella and shouted, "Have you
+a merry-go-round?"
+
+The Circus Cotton-Tails stood still. They cried "Hurrah, Bunny! Hurrah,
+Susan! Of course we have a merry-go-round."
+
+Then the real little Circus Parade stopped. The Circus Cotton-Tails
+cried, "Hurry, hurry! Help us unpack."
+
+They went to one of the wagons and began to unpack the merry-go-round.
+Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes helped and Bunny and Susan helped too.
+Grandpa Grumbles cried,
+
+     "One for the money, ten for the show,
+     Put up the tent, and away we go."
+
+He forgot to grumble. He had never been so happy before in all big
+life.
+
+It took the Circus Cotton-Tails and Bunny and Susan just exactly one
+hour and sixteen minutes to put up the merry-go-round, and Grandpa
+Grumbles bossed the job.
+
+"Will it go?" asked Bunny and Susan under their breath.
+
+Grandpa Grumbles was the first to get in. He cried,
+
+     "I'm the first to get inside,
+     Come one and all and have a ride."
+
+Susan said, "Oh, dear! I have lost my spectacles."
+
+It took the Circus Cotton-Tails one hour and sixteen minutes to find
+Susan's spectacles. There they were safe and sound upon her forehead
+all the time! Then Bunny went in-doors and burned his paw again by
+candle-light and it took one hour and sixteen minutes to get his paw
+well.
+
+Grandpa Grumbles did not grumble a bit. He only sat patiently in the
+merry-go-round and said to Susan,
+
+     "Now, the spectacles are found,
+     All jump in the merry-go-round."
+
+Then he called good-naturedly to Bunny,
+
+     "If you'll use a lamp dear Bunny,
+     It will save you time and money."
+
+Bunny and Susan got into the merry-go-round, and the Circus
+Cotton-Tails got in too.
+
+They were all ready for a ride when Grandpa Grumbles said,
+
+     "Some are absent, whom do you suppose?"
+
+The Circus Cotton-Tails shouted in one breath,
+
+     "_Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes!_"
+
+Snubby Nose was so little he could not climb up into the merry-go-round
+without help. He cried and he screamed and he howled! Tippy Toes was so
+little he could not climb in either but he waited patiently below.
+
+Grandpa Grumbles saw what was the matter. He lowered his green cotton
+umbrella and helped Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes up into the merry-go-round.
+Now they were ready to start. They all cried,
+
+      "Give three cheers, away we go,
+      The Circus Cotton-Tails, ho, ho!"
+
+The merry-go-round would not start. They all got out to see what was
+the matter.
+
+_Then the most surprising thing happened!_
+
+Doctor Cotton-Tail jumped out from under the merry-go-round and said,
+
+     "A-riding, too, I'd like to go,
+     Though I may take a nap or so."
+
+Grandpa Grumbles said cheerfully,
+
+     "You'll take no nap when with us you go,
+     We may ride too fast, but never slow!"
+
+Doctor Cotton-Tail took a seat in the merry-go-round.
+
+The music began to play and they went round, and round, and round,
+faster and faster. Bunny began to talk about his fur and whiskers.
+Susan began to talk about her buttons. Grandpa Grumbles shouted,
+
+     "I'm just as happy as I can be,
+     The Circus life is the life for me."
+
+Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes jumped down from the merry-go-round and
+danced this way and danced that way, and for all I know they are
+dancing yet!
+
+
+
+
+
+More Cotton Tail Stories
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+Bunny Cotton-Tail and Susan were sitting by the fire, warming their
+paws.
+
+[Illustration: "BUNNY AND SUSAN WERE SITTING BY THE FIRE"]
+
+"The evenings are growing cold," said Bunny Cotton-Tail. "It feels like
+snow to-night."
+
+"Oh, joy!" cried Bunny Boy, "how I do love snow!" Then he began to jump
+around the room so fast that Susan was afraid he would upset the table.
+
+"I am going to play that the sofa is a hill, and slide down!" he cried.
+
+Then Susan said if Bunny Boy did not sit down in his little red rocking
+chair and be good, she would put him in a bag!
+
+So Bunny Boy sat down, but he began to cry. There is no telling what
+would have happened just then if a soft "tap, tap," had not been heard
+on the window.
+
+Susan looked out. There stood Bushy Tail with his traveling bag in his
+hand!
+
+Susan was a little afraid to let him in, but there was nothing else to
+do, so she opened the door, and whisk! bound! Bushy Tail was in,
+hugging Bunny Cotton-Tail!
+
+"Who is the youngster!" asked Bushy Tail, pointing to Bunny Boy.
+
+Then Bunny Boy made himself as small as possible. He did not care for
+Bushy Tail.
+
+Bushy Tail said he must tell about his trip. Besides, he had something
+for Bunny and Susan in his bag.
+
+It had begun to snow, and Bushy Tail was very wet. He stood by the fire
+and warmed his paws. Susan whispered to Bunny that she had never seen
+so handsome a fox in her life.
+
+All the time Bushy Tail had a cunning look in his eyes. After his fur
+was dry, and he had had a bowl of soup, he opened his bag, and my! what
+fine things he took out!
+
+There was dried fruit for Susan. There was fresh cabbage for Bunny. And
+there were oranges, and peaches, and pears! They had a fine feast, but
+the greatest fun of all was just before they went to bed, when Bushy
+Tail took from his bag a little telephone. He hung it on the wall and
+fooled the rabbits with it for nearly an hour.
+
+It had a little bell and a receiver, and one could call "hello" into
+it.
+
+Perhaps Bunny and Susan would never have known the joke about the
+telephone if it had not been for Bunny Boy. Bunny Boy crept out from
+under the sofa, where he had been hiding, and climbed up in a chair and
+pulled the receiver hard. Then, bang! the top of the telephone came
+off, and showed that it was only a candy box!
+
+Bushy Tail did not like this, but Bunny Cotton-Tail said he would
+rather have it a candy-box, after all, as he was a little afraid of
+telephones!
+
+Then they shook one another's paws, and went to bed.
+
+Bushy Tail slept on a sofa in the parlor. About eleven o'clock he got
+up and began, to stir around. There was the same cunning look in his
+eyes.
+
+First he went and looked at Susan Cotton-Tail, and thought, "I have
+half a mind to eat you up." Then he went and looked at Bunny Cotton-Tail
+and thought, "I have half a mind to eat you up." Then he saw Bunny
+Boy out in the kitchen, wide awake, eating mince pie! Bushy said, "I
+have you, and I will eat you up!"
+
+But Bunny Boy was too quick for him. He ran down the stairs, into the
+cellar, and had hopped through the cellar window in less than no time.
+
+Then Bushy Tail took a mince pie and put it in his right-hand coat
+pocket. He took a currant pie and put it in his left-hand coat pocket.
+He hid an apple pie in his hat, and he went slyly out of the door with
+a piece of blueberry pie in his mouth!
+
+Next morning, when Bunny and Susan awoke, they saw that their pies were
+gone, and they saw that Bushy Tail and Bunny Boy were gone too!
+
+Susan Cotton-Tail cried, and Bunny Cotton-Tail whistled.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+Why do you suppose Susan Cotton-Tail had made so many pies? There was
+going to be a fair, and Susan had been asked to make pies for it. All
+the animals were going to the fair.
+
+"We cannot go when we have no pies to sell," said Susan.
+
+"All the animals will come to find out why we are not there," said
+Bunny.
+
+Now Bunny Cotton-Tail was a very clever rabbit, even though he was
+getting old. He put on his overcoat and took a card and a hammer, and
+went out.
+
+He was out a long time, tacking something up on the front door.
+
+When he had finished, he asked Susan to come out and get a breath of
+air.
+
+They walked up and down in front of the house. Then Susan began to
+laugh, and then she began to sneeze, and then she laughed and sneezed
+together, and what do you suppose was the matter?
+
+Bunny Cotton-Tail had put up this sign on the house,
+
+SCARLET FEVER HERE
+
+"Well," said Bunny, "if you don't want to go anywhere or have any one
+come to see you, just put up a sign like that, and see how well it will
+work!"
+
+Bunny and Susan went back into the house and peeped out their front
+window to see how the animals would act when they saw the sign.
+
+First came Bushy Tail, big as life, trotting along. When he saw the
+sign he waved his beautiful tail in the air and ran down the road as
+fast as his legs could carry him!
+
+Next came Mr. Owl. He read the sign aloud, and flew away.
+
+So all day long, animals came to ask why Bunny and Susan did not come
+to the fair, and all were frightened and ran away.
+
+Early in the evening old Grizzly came. He had followed Bushy Tail from
+California.
+
+"What a beautiful bear!" said Susan.
+
+"He looks kind," said Bunny.
+
+Old Grizzly read the sign. He did not pass by as the other animals had
+done. He went straight up to the front door and knocked.
+
+"Perhaps he can't read," said Bunny, so he shouted, "Scarlet Fever
+here!"
+
+Old Grizzly nodded his head. He said he had had scarlet fever three
+times, and he was not afraid to have it again.
+
+So they opened the door and let old Grizzly in. Then they all had a
+jolly time, and Bunny told why he put up the sign on the house.
+
+"You may have a new kind of scarlet fever," said Old Grizzly, "maybe I
+shall catch it!" and they all laughed.
+
+Old Grizzly had been in a circus, and had traveled in the East and in
+the West. He could tell lovely stories, so he stayed a long time and
+told stories, and Susan Cotton-Tail went out in the kitchen and came
+back with a mince pie in each hand. (These pies had been hidden away in
+a tin.)
+
+They all enjoyed the pies, and then Bunny asked old Grizzly to spend
+the night with them. Old Grizzly said, "No, thank you." The house next
+door was vacant and he was going to live there.
+
+Susan held the candle at the door and old Grizzly went to his new home.
+
+"I like him, but I am glad he went out for the night," said Bunny.
+"Just think!" Susan said, "he has promised to come in every night and
+tell us a story!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+When old Grizzly came next evening he had a book tucked under his arm.
+
+"What have you there?" asked Bunny and Susan together.
+
+It was some time before old Grizzly would tell. Then he coughed and
+said he had one story that every one liked so well that he had written
+it down, and drawn pictures for it.
+
+The two rabbits begged so hard to see the pictures that old Grizzly
+opened the book and showed them all the pictures before he began to
+read. And this is the story he read:
+
+Once there was a gentleman who wrote stories. He had a fine large cat
+called Whiskers.
+
+One day Whiskers thought he would see the man write his story, so he
+sat up on the desk beside him.
+
+The man started to write a story about an elephant. It was to be a long
+story with big words in it.
+
+Whiskers wanted to be petted just then, and as the man did not notice
+him, he gave the pen a little slap, and it made a funny mark down the
+page.
+
+"Never mind," said the man, "that will do for the path along which the
+elephant walked."
+
+The man's pen was a lovely thing to play with, but Whiskers had a nicer
+plaything himself. He began to go round and round after his own tail.
+Round and round he went, until he upset the ink. Then he was so scared
+that he ran and hid.
+
+The man only laughed, and said he would draw funny little figures where
+the blots of ink were.
+
+He called Whiskers back and went on with his story. He was just
+wondering how he would draw the seats inside the circus tent, when
+Whiskers put his paw down on the wet page, and the man said:
+
+"Why, Whiskers, you certainly are an artist."
+
+Then he began to wonder how he could show what a big space the elephant
+covered when he walked, and just then the cat walked over the paper, to
+show him!
+
+The man was so pleased then, that he laid down his pen and gave
+Whiskers a big hug.
+
+"Pooh!" said Whiskers, "that was nothing. I could write a better story
+than you can, any day!"
+
+You see, Whiskers was not a polite cat.
+
+"Did Whiskers write the story?" asked Bunny.
+
+Susan winked at Bunny and said:
+
+"Old Grizzly, that is the best story of all, and I believe you made it
+up yourself!"
+
+Then old Grizzly blushed under the fur on his cheeks, and Bunny ran and
+got a big bouquet and stuck it in his paw!
+
+Old Grizzly went home feeling very happy indeed.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+The next evening Susan begged old Grizzly to tell her another story
+about Whiskers. Grizzly said he knew one, but he kept it in the back of
+his head and he could not find it. So he told them the story of Carlo,
+instead.
+
+Carlo was a fine dog. He had but one fault. He liked to suck eggs.
+
+Day after day the cook went out into the hen-house to get eggs, and day
+after day there were no eggs to be found.
+
+At first she thought it must be a rat that stole her eggs, and she set
+a trap. A clever old rat came and ate the cheese, but he never got
+caught.
+
+One day the cook saw Carlo sucking an egg. Whisk! she was after him
+with a broom, and gave him a sound beating! But this did not cure Carlo
+of his bad habit. He went into the hen-house and stole eggs whenever he
+pleased.
+
+The cook said she was not going to allow this, so one day she called
+the dog to her in a most friendly way, and held out half an egg in her
+hand.
+
+Carlo thought that the cook had made up her mind to let him eat all the
+eggs he wanted, so he took the egg in his mouth, and swallowed it
+quickly.
+
+Then he began to behave very strangely. He yelped with pain, and ran
+out into the yard and rolled over and over in the snow.
+
+"Good! Now you will steal no more eggs," said the cook.
+
+What do you suppose was the matter with Carlo? The egg the cook had
+given him was full of red pepper, and his mouth burned as though on
+fire. There is no telling what the poor dog would have done if a little
+girl had not come along just then.
+
+The little girl had found out what the cook had done. She crept out of
+the house and said:
+
+"Poor Carlo, poor doggie, come to me!" and then she took snow and
+washed out Carlo's mouth and patted him on the head until he felt all
+right again.
+
+Carlo never forgot the little girl's kindness, and he never stole eggs
+any more.
+
+Just as old Grizzly stopped speaking, "Tap, tap," was heard on the
+window. They looked up and saw Bushy Tail outside.
+
+"Let him in. I'll see that he does no harm," said old Grizzly. They
+opened-the door, and Bushy Tail jumped in.
+
+Now, Bushy Tail would not have come if he had not had something to say,
+for he felt a little ashamed about the pies.
+
+What do you suppose Bushy Tail had come to say? He had heard of a big
+gold mine in the West, and he wanted Grizzly Bear and the Cotton-Tail
+family to go west with him to buy the gold mine.
+
+Old Grizzly was delighted with the idea, but Bunny and Susan said they
+would rather stay at home. As they were talking, "Tap, tap," was heard
+on the window again, and there stood Bunny Boy. He had come home from
+his travels!
+
+Bunny Boy's head was tied up and he looked as though he had had a hard
+time. Susan asked if he would like to go west and look for gold, but
+Bunny Boy only shook his head.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes, by Laura Rountree Smith
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10329 ***