FOR THE LITTLE ONES

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 21, 16 April 1927, Page 23 (Supplement)

FOR THE LITTLE ONES

Bunny Pink Nose lived in a pretty moss-covered bungalow. Father Pink Nose had bought it from the Rabbit Real Estate Company. He had paid five hundred cabbage leaves for it. And Mother Pink Nose had planted lettuce and turnips in rows on each side of the walk. It was a beautiful home for little Bunny. Their nearest neighbour was dear old Turlte-Go-Slow. Turtle-Go-Slow lived down by Gray Green Pond. How old do you suppose he was? Don’t wink till I tell you. Turtle-Go-Slow was nearly a hundred years old. Yes, he was ninety-nine years and ninety-nine days old. And he was a very wise old turtle. He had not lived ninety-nine years and ninety-nine days for nothing, I can tell you. Bunny loved to visit Turtle-Go-Slow. Sometimes Turtle-Go-Slow would let Bunny climb upon his top shell and would take him swimming in Gray Green Pond. And sometimes they sat in the warm sand while Turtle-Go-Slow

told stories to Bunny. Yes, Turtle-Go-Slow and Bunny were great friends. One morning Bunny asked his mother to let him go over to visit Turtle-Go-Slow. His mother told him he might go and stay ninety-nine minutes and a half. So Bunny put on his little new wrist watch so he would know when the ninety-nine minutes and a half were up. As he was hippity-hopping along, suddenly out of the bushes sprang Old Bad Bobtailed Cat. His eyes looked like balls of fire. His claws were long and sharp and his fur bristled all over. “Aha! I have a habit Of eating rabbit,” growled Old Bad Bcbtailed Cat. ‘Please do not eat me, Mr. Bob Cat. If you will not eat me, I shall give you my pretty new wrist watch,” cried Bunny. “Very well, give it to me, then,” growled the Bob Cat. So Bunny hurried and took off his

pretty new wrist watch and handed it to the Bob Cat. The Bob Cat put it on his ugly, shaggy forepaw and then growled. “Come along with me.” And he made Bunny hop along in front of him. “Oh. I wish I could fly!” thought Bunny. Just then he saw dear old Turtle-Go-Slow coming toward them through the woods. “Good morning. Mr. Bob Cat,” said Turtle-Go-Slow. “I see you are coming with Bunny to visit me.” “I am not going to visit you. I am taking this silly rabbit home with me,” growled the Bob Cat. “Is that so?” said Turtle-Go-Slow. “What a fine wrist watch you have, Mr. Bob Cat. May I see what time it is?” Mr. Bob Cat held out his forepaw with the wrist watch. Turtle-Go-Slow stretched up his neck to look at the watch. Then snap: went Turtle-Go-Slow’s jaws. “Ouch! Let go! yelled the Bcb Cat.

He howled and he yowled. He danced and he pranced. Bunny unfastened the watch and hopped away with it. Then Turtle-Go-Slow let go and the old Bob Cat limped away. Then Turtle-Go-Slow called. “Come on. Bunny, let’s go swimming.” So they went over to Gray Green Pond and Bunny climbed upon Turtle-Go-Slow’s top shell. They swam away over to the other side of Gray Green Pond. They climbed out of the water and sat in the warm sand while Turtle-Go-Slow told a wanderful story. It was about a fight with a sea wolf when he was a yo.ung turtle. When the story was finished. Bunny looked at his wrist watch and found that the ninety-nine minutes and a half were up. So he said, “Good by, dear Turtle-Go-Slow. Thank you for saving me from the Bad Bobtailed Cat and for the swim and the story, too.” Then Bunny hurried home to his mother, as all little bunnies should.