Bunny put the acorn on the ground, and then they all hid behind the tree.

They did not wait very long before they saw Bobby coming.

And in another minute Bobby saw the acorn.

“Ho, ho!” he said.  “Sammy Red Squirrel must have dropped that big acorn.  I will pick it up.”

He ran along the ground toward the oak tree.

Bunny held on to the string.

He was going to wait until Bobby took hold of the acorn and then pull it away.

It was so still that the rabbits could hear Bobby’s feet as they pattered on the ground.

Then all at once it was not still in the woods.

Jip, the dog, came bounding along the little path.

“Bow-wow, bow-wow!” he barked.  “Look out for me.  I am coming.”

What a scampering there was!

Bobby forgot all about the acorn and skipped up the oak tree.

Sammy skipped up the tree after him.

The three little rabbits put their ears down on their heads, and hopped away out of sight.

“Bow-wow, bow-wow!” said Jip.  “Where has every one gone?

“I thought I saw some one under this tree as I came along the path.”

The acorn lay on the ground where Bunny had left it.

Four little bright eyes watched Jip from the oak tree.

Sammy wished he could call out “April fool,” to Jip.

But he was afraid of dogs, so he kept very still.

Bobby kept still, too, and the three little rabbits hopped along towards home.

After a while Jip went home.

Then there was a quick scampering down the tree.

One of the squirrels had that big acorn for his dinner.

Was it Sammy or Bobby?

MRS. DUCK’S SECRET

I

Mrs. Duck had a secret.

Bunny knew she had a secret, but she would not tell him what it was.

Bobtail knew she had a secret, and so did Billy.

Bunny saw Bobby Gray Squirrel and asked him if he knew Mrs. Duck’s secret.

But Bobby did not know it, and Sammy Red Squirrel did not know it.

Every day Bunny saw Mrs. Duck walking along the little path that led through the field.

Sometimes she was going to the barn.

Sometimes she was coming from the barn.

She was always alone.  And she was always in a hurry.

[Illustration:  Mrs. Duck was always in a hurry.]

She did not stop to talk to Bunny.

She did not stop to catch any of the little bugs that she saw in the path.

“I wonder what is the matter with Mrs. Duck,” Bunny said to himself.

“I wonder why she walks along this little path every day.”

Bunny thought and thought about the secret.

“I will ask Mrs. Duck to tell me her secret,” he said.