CHAPTER I CHAPTER II CHAPTER III CHAPTER IV CHAPTER V CHAPTER VI CHAPTER VII CHAPTER VIII…

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—"