DR. QUACK

And, do you know, I don't think there's anything so lovely as an apple tree in bloom. For when I was a little boy I loved to lie on the grass and look up into the tree where the blossoms, pink and white, made it seem just like a big nosegay of flowers.

"Tell me, little Robin," I said, "are you never worried about anything?" And the little red-breasted bird said no. "I'm as happy as the day is long," and then he flew off to the orchard to sing to Mrs. Robin.

So I closed the window and went outside to see what Granddaddy Bullfrog was doing, for I had just heard him go "honk, honk, honk!" like an auto horn.

Well, sure enough, there was the old gentleman frog, and who do you suppose was after him? You'd never guess, so I might as well tell you right away.

Why, it was Dr. Quack, the wise old duck doctor. He was on his way to see Little Jack Rabbit, who had the whooping cough, and of course his mother, the dear old lady rabbit, was dreadfully worried.

Well, pretty soon Dr. Quack stopped at the Old Bramble Patch, and with his little black bag, went inside to see the little sick bunny boy.

And of course Mrs. Rabbit was dreadfully upset. She couldn't think of anything but her little bunny boy, and the tea kettle had burned a great hole in its bottom and she couldn't make a cup of tea for the doctor, although he was very fond of carrot coffee.

"Let me see your tongue," said Dr. Quack. So the little rabbit put out his tongue, and then the wise duck doctor took out some little pills and three little white powders and told Mrs. Rabbit to give them to her little bunny every other minute and even oftener if he kept on coughing.

And then Dr. Quack said good-by and went over to the old barnyard to see Henny Penny, who had the chickenpox.

Well, after swallowing two powders and three and a half pills the little rabbit felt perfectly well. Wasn't that wonderful medicine the old duck doctor gave him? Well, I just guess it was, and if you ever get the whooping cough you call him up on the telephone, "Oh, oh, oh. Come quick, Duckville!" and he'll cure you in less than five hundred short minutes.

BY THE BUBBLING BROOK

Up at the Old Farm Yard there was a great bustle. Yes sireebus. And the reason was that Henny Penny had a brood of fluffy little chickens. Cocky Doodle hardly knew what to make of them. You see, he was so used to big chickens that when he came to look at these fluffy balls of yellow down he didn't know what to do. So he just stood on his tiptoes and crowed, "Cock-a-doodle-do!" and the big farmer thought he was singing because he was a proud father. But that wasn't the reason at all.

"Come, my dears," said Henny Penny to her little chicks, "let us take a walk in the Sunny Meadow." So all the little chickens followed after her and by and by they came to the Bubbling Brook where swarms of flies darted over the water. And every time a fly came anywhere near Henny Penny she snapped him up and divided him among the brood.

Well, pretty soon along came Little Jack Rabbit with his knapsack on his shoulder and his striped candy cane in his right paw. For it was a lovely day in May and the little rabbit was as happy as two sticks and maybe three or four.

Just then Teddy Turtle crawled by, with his little shell house on his back, and although it was the first of May, Teddy Turtle wasn't going to move out of his house. No sireebus. But his house was moving with him. But that's another matter, you see.

"Ha, ha," laughed the little rabbit, "you're a lucky fellow." And then Henny Penny clucked to her little brood and said, "Look at Teddy Turtle with his house on his back. Isn't he lucky?"

After a while Mrs. Cow with her tinkling bell came by, singing a song:

And then she rang her little bell over and over again, just to make a noise, I guess, and after that the little rabbit hopped down to the Old Duck Pond to talk to Granddaddy Bullfrog.

Now Granddaddy Bullfrog was a wise old gentleman frog. He knew lots and lots of things, but like a good many wise people he never said much. He was usually too busy catching flies.

But when he saw the little rabbit he took off his yellow rimmed spectacles and said:

"How are you this lovely spring day, little rabbit?" and then he swallowed a fly that came too near, and after that he blinked his eyes and then he closed them to fool some other foolish fly who might happen along.

But of course he didn't close them tight shut, for then he wouldn't be able to see anything, you know. And after that the little rabbit said, "I'm very well, thank you, Granddaddy Bullfrog.