“We must hurry and finish our breakfast,” said Bunny.

“Bobby will be out hunting for nuts very soon.”

In a few minutes the three rabbits had finished their breakfast.

Then Bunny hopped away to find a string he had seen under the oak tree.

It was the same string they had used to fly their kite.

The string had held the kite to the branch for a long time.

Then one day North Wind came again and tried to carry it away.

He puffed and puffed, and at last the branch let go of the string.

The kite flew up in the air and far away, but the string dropped to the ground under the oak tree.

There Bunny found it, and he tied the string around the acorn.

Then he scampered back to his brothers.

They were waiting for him near the old stone wall.

“Let’s fool Sammy Red Squirrel first,” said Billy.

“I saw him run out of his hole just a minute ago.”

Bunny put the acorn in front of Sammy’s door.

[Illustration:  Bunny put the acorn in front of Sammy’s door.]

Then he held on to the other end of the string and hid behind a big rock.

Bobtail and Billy hid behind the pine tree.

They all kept as still as mice.  They did not even shake one of their long ears.

“There is Sammy now,” whispered Billy.  “I can see him running along the path.”

“Don’t make a noise,” said Bobtail.

Bunny saw the little red squirrel coming down the path.

He kept very still and held on to the string.

II

Sammy came skipping down the path.

He was singing a gay little tune: 

  “One, two, three, four, five, six,

  “I’ll watch out for April tricks.”

Just then he saw the acorn lying on the ground near his door.

“Look at that!” he said.  “Bobby Gray Squirrel must have been here.

“Something frightened him, and made him drop that nut near my door.”

Now Sammy was very fond of big acorns and he had not had one for a long time.

So he pounced on the acorn.

But it was not there!  Bunny had given the string a quick pull.

Sammy put his hand down on a rock.  There was no acorn to be seen.

“April fool!” shouted Bunny.

“April fool!” shouted Billy and Bobtail.

The three rabbits hopped out from their hiding places.

They laughed and laughed, and Sammy laughed, too.

“That was a good trick,” he said.

“We are going to play it on Bobby Gray Squirrel, now,” said Bunny.

“May I go with you?” asked Sammy.

“Oh, yes!” said the three rabbits.

So off through the woods they all went.

“Bobby often comes to the big oak tree,” said Billy.  “I think that will be a good place to play the trick.”