The Project Gutenberg eBook of Mother Bunny And Her Flowers, by Laura Rountree Smith.

The Project Gutenberg eBook of Mother Bunny and her flowers, by Laura Rountree Smith

Produced by: Charlene Taylor, Les Galloway and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)

So those cute little Bunnies ran out with rake, and hoe, and wheelbarrow, and they all worked in Mother Bun’s garden, helping her prepare the soil for her garden. She was very happy and shook the packages of seeds in her gingham apron, saying,

“Not for me, not for me,” called a voice, and a very wild looking Bunny peeped over the fence.

He offered to help, for every one loved Old Mother Bun, but he was such a careless fellow, he did not dig the rows straight, and Old Father Bun soon made him stop, so he sat on a fence.

When the ground was ready, Old Father Bun drove in stakes at the end of the rows, and he tied a cord from one stake to another so they could plant in even rows.

Old Mother Bun used the hoe and the little Bunnies ran after her and dropped in seeds.

She read the directions on each envelope to find out how far apart the seeds were to be planted, and how deep they were to be placed. This was important, for some seeds grow better planted deep, and some grow better planted near the surface with a very little dirt scattered over them.

Old Mother Bun said that early vegetables could stand a little frost and if we plant North-Grown seeds, the vegetables can even stand a little snow.

It was late in March and the air was cool, though the sun shone warm and bright.

Old Father Bun said they would help her plan out the paths, and that Healthy Bunny and Pretty Bunny might use the wheelbarrow and bring over some bricks to lay in the paths.

They had plenty of room, so they made their brick walks, or paths as they called them, four feet wide.

All the Bunnies sat down and put on their Thinking-Caps, for they had an old brick walk in the back yard, and grass and weeds crept up between the bricks every year.

Old Father Bun remembered this was a good idea, but he said no salt must get into the garden soil.

They divided off the part of the garden that was left, and planned out many pretty Flower Beds.

She said, “Oh, see the star-shaped bed! Oh, see the garden we planted last year!” All of them bent down, and it was Old Mother Bun who discovered the first Crocus.

He marked off the letters on the ground and said they would plant there next day.

Old Mother Bun picked the Crocus and took it in-doors and set it in a vase. When they had washed their paws they sat around and admired it.

The little Crocus in the vase began to nod, and nod, and open its petals, and, to the surprise of all, began to talk.

Then the Crocus began to tell the story or legend she liked the best. She said, “I am the little child, Krokus, who was killed by an accident when Mercury threw a quoit one day, and I was changed at once into a flower.” (Crocus continued)

The Crocus said, “Saffron is made from my stamens; several thousand of[Pg 14] them are needed for one ounce of Saffron.”

Healthy Bunny said, “Old Mother Bun, what kind of flowers will you have in your garden this year?”

She reminded her children that Annuals, as they are called, grow from seeds and bloom only one season, while[Pg 15] Biennials live over winter and bloom the next year, and then die.

Healthy Bunny said, naming some Biennials, “How I do like turnips, beets and carrots, how I do like parsnips.”

She drew the little fine roots of the Morning Glory and the long, winding stem and dainty leaves and flower.

Old Mother Bun had been planting a wild-flower garden for years and years. The Bunnies had often gone to the woods and dug up a single plant of its kind for they did not want to rob even the woods of beauty, and so they had many wild flowers growing in their home garden, and they had also a lovely bed of ferns.

Old Mother Bun tried to remember the names of some of her Flowers. She made what she called an “Acrostic”[Pg 19] which spelled the names of Flowers read to the right, and spelled the name of a Flower downward. She wrote the following:

Old Mother Bun went to bed wondering who her visitor would be in the Garden to-morrow. She made up her mind to rise at sunrise and see if any of her visitors had come.

Bright and early Old Mother Bun went out to look at her Wild Flower Garden. She said,

As Old Mother Bun tip-toed about her Wild Flower Garden the flowers nodded their welcome and began to talk to her.

Old Mother Bun said, “I am glad you grow in my Garden, and I like the Solitary Flowers just as well as though they grew in clusters like those of Lily-of-the-Valley.”

Just as Old Mother Bun began to think a member of her own family would be her first visitor she heard a whir of wings, and a humming sound, and a Humming Bird lighted on a Tulip.

The Humming Bird went from flower to flower, finding honey and nectar in them. He said he came to visit the garden unusually early, as he was really a summer visitor.

Old Mother Bun had to search for the flower on the Wild Ginger plant. There was a single flower well hidden beneath the velvety leaves. She gave a cry of pleasure, for looking up she saw a Yellow Lady’s Slipper in bloom. The Lady’s Slipper nodded in a friendly way and said,

Healthy Bunny and Pretty Bunny and Old Father Bun came out and leaned down low to catch the faintest whisper from the flowers. The Solomon’s Seal whispered,

All the Bunnies examined the Blood root with the leaf circling round the stem, and the delicate flowers.

Just then a beautiful Butterfly sailed by, and attracted by the color in the Tulip Bed, sailed down, so, as a Butterfly and Humming Bird came to the garden that day, Old Mother Bun said, “What fine visitors.”

They were all glad to see him, of course, and began to play a Flower Game. He stood in the centre of a circle they formed and said,

He pointed to Healthy Bunny who cried, “Violet,” and changed places with him, calling for a flower whose name began with another letter, as “D” for “Dandelion” or “Daisy.” The game went on merrily. Every time after a flower was named the Bunnies skipped round the circle singing, to the tune of “Twinkle Little Star,”

Though the Bunnies liked Vegetable Cabbage they would not let the Skunk Cabbage in.

Old Mother Bun had picked a Snowdrop and it nodded to them and whispered, before Old Father Bun could say another word.

The Snowdrop said a story was told about her being made from a snowflake as an angel breathed upon her, and this comforted Eve, with the mes[Pg 30]sage of Spring, and so the Snowdrop became a flower of comfort and promise.

As the Bunnies grew thoughtful they noticed a few flakes of snow falling, and they saw that they took the form of beautiful snow crystals.

Sure enough, the light fall of snow did not hurt the flowers at all, and soon the sun shone and Shadow Bunny called,

When evening came the Bunnies were so tired they went happily off to bed. Old Mother Bun told them a story about her Tulip Bed. She said she once heard a Folk-Tale about Old Mother Delight who went out one night with a lighted lantern in her garden, and discovered that the Fairies had hidden their babies in her Tulips for the night.

Mother Delight planted more Tulip Bulbs and the Fairies were so happy they brought her Good Luck.

Mother Delight looked at one of her Tulips and said, “You look so like a turban, I believe you were named from your resemblance to it, and you are so beautiful no wonder they hold a Tulip Festival in Turkey every year.”

Old Mother Bun’s voice grew lower and lower and sank to a whisper as the little Bunnies fell asleep.

They did not know at that very minute FIVE LITTLE FAIRIES WERE CURLED UP IN THE TULIPS IN THEIR OWN GARDEN.

These Fairies were named the Ticklish Elf, the Useful Elf, the Laughing Elf, the Impish Elf, the Pretty Elf.

If you read on you will learn what the little Elves did in Mother Bun’s Garden.

The Ticklish Elf tumbled out of the Tulip Bed head first, and climbed up the water spout, and into the window where Healthy Bunny and Pretty Bunny were lying in their little beds.

The Impish Elf hid their hair ribbons, and shoes, and played many tricks upon them.

The Pretty Elf just sat on the mantle piece and looked as pretty as pretty could be.

The Bunnies had a merry time and Old Mother Bun was happy when she saw her red Tulips, red and yellow, for the Elves had used their paint brushes to make the Tulips gay.

Old Father Bun came out with a basket and said he was going to the woods to get Mullen leaves. He said,

Old Mother Bun said, “Be sure to gather plenty of Mullen leaves, for I will soak them in oil and if any one gets a pain that will help them.” So Old Father Bun went off singing,

The Sunflowers had been sowing their own seeds in Old Mother Bun’s garden.[Pg 36] She was so glad to see them and knew they would attract birds who liked to eat the seeds.

She knew, too, that oil from them could be used to burn. She continued, that paper is made from stalk, head, and stem of the sunflower.

Sure enough, the Humming Bird greatly loved flowers of a certain color, and the Fringed Gentian was nearer the color of the sky than any Flower that grew. Best of all, the Gentian was really growing in one corner of Old Mother Bun’s garden, and the Humming Bird hummed with delight.

They liked to imagine that the Elves from the Tulip Bed were about the garden in the day time, to help them.

The old Lilac bush was full of buds and Pretty Bunny picked a branch and[Pg 38] took it into the house, and set it in a jar of water.

Old Mother Bunny taught the Bunnies the names of all the Wild Flowers in her garden. There were the Violets and Anemones, the Blood-Root, and Dandelions, the Wild-Ginger and fringed Gentian, the Jack-In-The-Pulpit and Trillium, the Flax, and Mustard, and Lady’s Slipper and many others.

They slipped away to look for this wild flower that grows by the roadside, but they were too early to find it in bloom.

They met Happy-Go-Lucky Bunny, and Shadow Bunny, and Homeless Bunny, and they all traveled together and sang,

He explained that the farmer disliked this flower for sowing itself, and spreading over fertile soil they wanted for planting.

Just then, Old Father Bun returned with his pocket full of mullen leaves and he said he brought home a bouquet of dandelions. He had buttercups, too, in his basket. He said that he found buttercups all over the meadows and they were not liked by cows or horses because of the bitter juice they contained. He said as nothing troubled the buttercups, they bloomed freely everywhere. He had gathered marsh buttercups, creeping buttercups and bristly buttercups.

He said he found some common flax growing a foot and a half high. The blue flowers were pretty and he said it was a most useful plant, linen being made from its fibres, and oil from its seed.

He said while resting in the meadow the Flax told him this story: “The Earth Goddess Hilda comes to visit us. She comes to the earth to see how much Flax is planted, and returns by winter to see if there is enough Flax for spring and if the spinning wheels are all busy. She rewards the busy people and punishes the lazy ones.”

After supper the Bunnies gathered round the bunch of Dandelions Old Father Bun had gathered, and one Dandelion, larger than the rest, began to talk. It said, “Once upon a time the South Wind loved me, for I was then a young girl with yellow hair, and for a while I grew more and more beautiful; but by and by I grew old and faded, for I was touched by a breath of the North Wind. The South Wind sighed, and soon I was gone, but the next year[Pg 42] the ground was covered with flowers like me. I am now said to resemble the sun, and, like other flowers, turn toward it.”

The Bunnies drew and colored a picture of the dandelion and wrote the story in a little book to keep.

The Evening Primrose was opening. It was uncurling its petals for the visit of the night moth.

Pretty Bunny said, “I wonder if it will be the cradle for a wee little Elf, as the Tulip is.”

Healthy Bunny said, “I know a funny thing about it. Its root was used to eat, long before that of the sweet potato.”

There was music in the garden for the Harebells were ringing; they sang of the “Bluebells of Scotland.”

Happy-Go-Lucky Bunny and Homeless Bunny had gone away, but they begged to be allowed to come and plant next day.

Just as the little Bunnies were falling asleep there arose a voice, and they knew that spring had surely come, for the dear Little Tree Toad, who ate harmful insects, called,

The Ticklish Elf peeped in the window early next morning and tickled the Bunnies with a bit of grass, calling,

Healthy Bunny and Pretty Bunny got up quickly and dressed and the Ticklish Elf said, as the Bunnies complained that the grass tickled their toes,

“Are there Fairy Families and Flower Families?” asked the Bunnies in surprise.

The Ticklish Elf did not answer the first part of the question but went off singing,

Every one was hurrying next day to finish the seed planting. There were Morning Glory seeds and Nasturtium seeds to plant by the porch. There were Pansy seeds to plant in the little round bed by the front door. There were seeds of Bachelor’s Buttons and Mignonette.

“Red, white and blue, red, white and blue,” sang the Bunnies together. Echo Bunny called, “Red, white and blue.”

Old Mother Bun helped plan the red, white, and blue flower bed. She said, “We can have Salvia for the red flowers, and Daisies for the white. For the blue flowers we can have Forget-Me-Nots, or Phlox, Blue Bells or Gentians.” She said, “Where did you get the idea?”

The Bunnies went to work in real earnest on the red, white, and blue flower bed.

He called on any Bunny who had to name a blue flower or go out of the game. A different color was called for each time and they sang a little song to the tune of “Lightly Row,”

Shadow Bunny, and Homeless Bunny, and Happy-Go-Luck Bunny helped them play the game. Pretty Bunny and Healthy Bunny could not always name a flower quickly.

Those five little Bunnies stood in a row and watched Old Mother Bun plant her garden, then as a little shower came up[Pg 49] all came inside but Shadow Bunny who called,

He said the root is the simplest part of the plant and he said a plant has a primary root which it sends down into the soil, and some plants also have secondary roots which spring from the stem.

Some time before Old Mother Bun had planted a sweet pea. She had stretched a piece of netting over a glass with water in it, and had placed the pea on top of the netting.

They remembered that they had learned about Swallows being called “aerial birds,” because they spent so much time in the air, and so they asked eagerly where they could find some aerial roots.

Old Mother Bun had read of a wonderful tree in India which sent out aerial roots.

Old Father Bun said in the Nature world about us everything had work to do, and everything had to do its part.

He said he had been waiting under a toad-stool to keep dry. He had noticed the open window and so thought he would come in a while. He continued,

He produced a tiny basket filled with carrots and they had a feast. When his basket was quite empty he said,

To the surprise of all, the basket was soon filled with vegetables again and the Beets called in loud voices,

Those funny little vegetables began to dance, and the Useful Elf began to dance, and soon the Bunnies were all dancing as though by magic.

When they had danced themselves[Pg 55] quite out of breath they sat down in a circle and begged the Elf to tell them a Fairy Tale.

He looked hard at Old Mother Bun, for her garden was famous to all Elves and Fairies.

Old Father Bun mentioned a Butterfly and a Toad, a Robin and an Oriole, a Moth and Dragon Fly, but the Elf screwed up his wee face into many wrinkles, and it was only when Pretty Bunny cried out that he got started, and you see for yourself now what she mentioned.

He began to tell the Fairy Tale of Cotton, saying,—Once upon a time there was a Fairy forever spinning,

There was another spinner who lived near the Fairy. He was an enormous spider with stripes upon his back. He did not like to think the Fairy was a more wonderful spinner than he, so he decided to kill her. She was frightened[Pg 57] and began to run, carefully hiding her spindle, and the spider ran after her.

You might guess a long time before you could tell who at last befriended the Fairy. It was a Firefly at last who led her onward by his fairy lantern. He showed her a pink flower and told her to jump inside. She did so, spindle, spinning wheel and all, but the ugly Spider was almost upon her.

There was nothing left for the Fairy to do but to stab him with the spindle, so she did so, and the ugly spider fell to the ground. Then the pink flower closed over the Fairy.

Time passed, the Fairy did not come out. The flower lost its petals, still no Fairy was seen.

The ugly Spider died but the Fairy was alive and well hidden in the ball the flower had made. The ball opened soon and out came a pure, white tassel the Fairy had been spinning!

We love to think of the industrious Fairy now when we wear a garment made of cotton.

The voice of the little Elf sank lower and lower and soon the little Bunnies were fast asleep. He sang,

When the Tulips had finished blooming for one season, the little Elves who had rocked to and fro in them liked Mother Bun’s garden so well that they found other flowers in which to hide.

When Healthy Bunny and Pretty Bunny were a little cross at breakfast, he climbed a morning glory vine and[Pg 60] peeped in the window, and screwed up his face into a thousand wrinkles.

Later, when Old Father Bun looked quite fierce because he could not find his pipe, little Elf Laughter sang,

When Old Mother Bun was fretting about the house cleaning, the Little Elf called,

When they were all merrily working in the garden and a sudden shower came up, he would sing,

Then, with a merry laugh, Little Elf Laughter told the story of the pot of gold at the rainbow end.

Sure enough, the Nasturtium bed needed little attention after the seeds were once planted, and the Humming Bird came saying,

Little Elf Laughter said, “The seed pod on this flower does look somewhat like a stork’s bill, I think.”

Little Elf Laughter ran to one Geranium and pressed the leaf between his tiny fingers. It smelled a little of peppermint. He said, “This is the Peppermint Geranium.”

Little Elf Laughter pressed another Geranium leaf tightly and sang, “The leaves on this plant smell of penny-royal.”

Little Elf Laughter knew the garden and all the flowers in it well. He pointed out the horse shoe marks on the leaves of some of the Geraniums and said,

There was a great stir in the Poppy Bed and the Marigolds looked very splendid beside a tiny white flower called Love-In-The-Mist.

All the Bunnies loved the Pansies for the brave little fellows sprang up early, and bloomed late, and were not afraid of frost or cold.

While the other Bunnies picked flowers, Old Father Bun ran to and fro and finally said,

He was planning to measure time by a sun-dial. He had a metal plate and dial plane which was marked off to show directions of shadows at different hours.

The first sun-dial known was spoken of in one of the books of the Bible, Isaiah, and the sun-dial is older than any clock or watch.

He said a moon-dial was made to measure night hours by showing the shadow of the moon or stars.

The Bunnies knew many climbing stems and shouted, “Grape-Vine, Ivy, Trumpet-creeper, Pea, Gourd.” They also talked about round and square stems.

Old Mother Bun said, “What Flower Legend shall I tell to-day?” She went on in verse,

The Bunnies thought for some time, but it was Little Elf Laughter who suggested,

Old Mother Bun said, “In far-away Japan, a stream runs down a hill where motherwort grows, and the story goes that people who drink water from that stream are always young. The Japanese hold a festival called ‘The Motherwort Festival,’ and they have a drink made from this plant.”

By and by the rain was over and the Bunnies went off to look for the rainbow end, for they wanted to find the pot of gold.

Old Father Bun sat comfortably in his arm-chair and his head went nid-nid nodding as he said over and over,

Old Mother Bun looked down at the end of the garden, and there, sure enough, she thought she saw the rainbow end. She began to dig and dig, and she did strike something bright and shining. She found a wee pot of gold, and whether it belonged to the rainbow end, or the Elves, she did not stop to ask.

She peeped inside and said, “I will tell no one yet what I have found; I will tell no one yet what is inside.”

Pretty Bunny cried, “Do let me go and get Homeless Bunny and Happy Bunny, and Happy-Go-Lucky Bunny and invite them all to go with us to a picnic.”

The Impish Elf came in and jumped into the butter dish and left the tracks of his little feet all over the oil cloth.

“Can’t I play a trick on the tree-toad or dragon fly or on the little white butterflies?” asked the Impish Elf.

Just then Pretty Bunny saw little white butterflies sailing over the poppies and sang to the tune of “Twinkle Little Star,”

The tree-trunk opened and there stood a Woodland Fairy. She smiled and said, “I will tell you a story about a Nymph who once lived in an oak tree. She belonged to Ceres, a goddess of long ago. One day a man ordered the oak, in which she lived, to be cut down, though every one begged that it be saved. As the woodmen would not cut it down, the lord who owned the place seized the ax and cut it down himself. Then the Nymph pronounced this magic upon him, ‘He can eat and eat but will always be hungry.’” As she finished her story the Nymph disappeared in the tree.

The Bunnies tapped on many tree-trunks to see if another Nymph would come out. They heard a voice call,

The voice came from another oak tree, and looking below it, the Bunnies found[Pg 75] a key and unlocked a door in the tree and out came a Dryad with another story to tell.

Back into the tree went the Dryad and the Bunnies said, “What wonderful stories we learn in the woods to-day.”

Happy-Go-Lucky had fallen into the stream and Homeless Bunny was trying to get him out.

They all ran as fast as they could and by and by rescued him; then Old Father Bun built a fire so they could all warm their paws and whiskers.

The Bunnies gathered leaves about them. They saw that some were Parallel-veined and some were Feather-veined. Some of the veins in the leaves ran side by side, and some of them branched out. They saw some wild grape vine leaves that were still different; they had three main ribs and veins extending out from them. They were called Radiate-veined.

Then the second surprising thing happened! For they were in a fairy woodland. Every leaf began to talk, and by placing it to the ear each Bunny could hear what it wanted to say.

The Oval leaf spoke, and the Ovate-leaf, the Heart-shaped leaf, and the[Pg 79] Kidney-shaped leaf, the Arrow-shaped leaf and the Ear-shaped leaf, and then the third surprising thing happened!

In trooped Flower Fairies wearing dresses like real Flowers. They formed a circle, dancing and singing,

A great wind came up and blew Homeless Bunny over hill and dale. It blew Happy-Go-Lucky Bunny over hill and dale and up onto Primrose Hill. It blew Shadow Bunny to the end of Nowhere. The little Bunny family it blew safely home to their own door-step.

When the Bunnies got inside, the table[Pg 82] was neatly set for supper, and a wee voice cried,

The Stay-At-Home Bunny winked her eyes and nodded her head. She whispered to Old Father Bun,

Old Mother Bun peeped out of the closet and saw that Pretty Bunny had brought her a new table cloth.

Old Mother Bun was so pleased with her presents that she did not hear the bell go “tinkle, tinkle, tinkle.”

There was the Pink Family, and the Geranium Family, and the Mint Family, the Sunflower Family, and the Primrose Family. The Nettle Family even peeped boldly over the fence!!

Then all the Bunnies shouted and out came Old Father Bun with a Birthday Cake with many candles upon it.

The Butterflies came in handsome dresses and brought Old Mother Bun a new mirror.

The Flower Families crowded around the Peddler and each bought a present for Old Mother Bun.

The Peddler had many interesting stories to tell, and the Pretty Elf told stories, and the Marigold Family told stories, too. The Pool-Flower had a word to say; the Water-Dragon and Mary Bud said, “Let us relate our own story, please.” They were all members of the Marigold Family.

One of the members of the Marigold Family said, “Once Caltha fell in love with the Sun-god and looked up at him day after day. All night she waited for the first rosy hint of the sun’s coming. She became a spirit reflecting the sun, and she turned into a Marigold.”

One and all the Flower Families went home, and Echo Bunny who had come at the last minute called, speaking of the Witches, “a ride, a ride, a ride.”

Sure enough, five and twenty witches came in the twilight and pulled up five and twenty stalks of Ragweed and rode away singing,

The little Bunnies noticed that the leaves did not all look alike. They were different in size, form and color.

The Bunnies did as they were told, and when they opened their eyes each of the leaves they had gathered held a fairy.

Just as the Bunnies were wondering if it were bed time, a “rap-a-tap” was heard and in came the Peddler singing,

Old Mother Bun gave the Peddler a fine supper and asked him to stay for the night. He said, after supper,

Pretty Bunny and Healthy Bunny thought it great fun to peep into the Peddler’s pack, and by and by they drew out a wonderful book all about Flowers.

They invited the Peddler to stay with them and he almost consented. He said at any rate he would give them the book about Flowers.

Next morning the little Bunnies looked under their pillows and each found a little booklet. One was shaped like a daisy and one like a buttercup. On each was written an invitation to a Flower Show. The invitation read,

Old Father Bun put up two sticks in the garden and nailed a board across.[Pg 94] He put a hat and suit of clothes on his Scarecrow. The Scarecrow looked very life-like when he was finished.

She was so afraid Father Bun would not notice where he was going and disturb some of her flowers.

Healthy Bunny and Pretty Bunny went out and gathered Golden-rod and[Pg 95] brought it home, and set it in great jars by the front door. The Golden-rod said,

Even as the Golden-rod talked, the song-finch and song sparrow came to see if there were any seeds ready for them.

Happy-Go-Lucky Bunny came in sight with a surprise for Old Mother Bun. He had a basket full of the little plant she wanted for her wild flower garden called, “Butter-And-Eggs.”

These little plants trembled all over when they were transplanted into Mother Bun’s garden.

The Bunnies all took rakes and hoes and began to weed the garden. They sang to the tune of “Lightly Row,” as they worked.

Soon everything seemed ready and they started off to the Flower Show, when Old Mother Bun turned her ankle and feared she could not walk another step, so they set up a wail,

When they came to the Flower Show they saw rooms and rooms filled with Cactus and many curious flowers.

Pretty Bunny peeped into the Pitcher Plant and saw something sticky on the inside and hairs pointing downward which made it hard to get out.

Old Mother Bun was much interested in the Cactus, and reaching out its thorns, it cried,

Old Father Bun bought a great basket of chrysanthemums to take home. One very large flower said,

This flower said that Chrysanthemums grew all over China except in this one[Pg 100] place, because it was not thought lucky to raise them there.

The story goes that a great man once had a servant who took care of his gold plates, and one day one gold plate was missing. The servant was so afraid that she threw herself in a well, and her ghost comes every night at the stroke of nine to count the gold plates.

All about the Flower Show were quaint figures, some of them made entirely of Chrysanthemums.

On their way home the Bunnies met Mistress Mary and she was so contrary she would not tell how her flowers were growing. She only said,

The Bunnies were so tired Old Mother Bun began to tell them a story, as some of them rode in the wheelbarrow and some of them trudged along.

She continued: “Every night he went to Sleepy Town and one night he saw Father Bun so sleepy that he said,

Soon they met Shy Squirrel and Sleepy Sparrow and they all flew on the back of the Rocking Horse.

At this very minute in the telling of the story there appeared a ROCKING HORSE in the road, and the Bunnies got on his back and left the old wheelbarrow in the road.

Soon they all arrived and the Rocking Horse rocked all about the garden and though they begged him to stay for the night he went off singing,

Next day Old Father Bun was so busy outside that Old Mother Bun inquired,[Pg 104] “What are you doing in the garden?”

They planted some Bulbs in water and watched the long white roots grow downward day after day, while the green stalks shot upward.

She looked out and saw the Scarecrow dancing to and fro and a Wee Elf peeping out of each pocket.

Old Mother Bun picked a basket full of Pansies to send to a sick neighbor the next day.

The Pansies must have heard what Old Mother Bun and Echo Bunny said, for next day the bed was full of bloom.

One afternoon Old Mother Bun had worked so hard in her garden that she fell asleep, and she thought instead of autumn it was springtime, and that she heard all her Flowering Trees talking together.

The Silver Bell Tree laughed and its laughter sounded like a bell going “tinkle, tinkle, tinkle.”

Old Father Bun had many flower-pots in a row, and the little Bunnies were helping him pot Geraniums.

Old Mother Bun said, “I had such a wonderful dream! I thought it was springtime.”

He told Old Father Bun there were plenty of bricks in the back yard to start in building the Green House, and there were some old window-lights that would do for the hot beds.

Many of the potted plants fairly trembled in their pots as they thought of having a nice warm place to spend the winter in and a real Green House.

The little Bunnies were planning one corner for their bulbs. They were planning to plant slips in a bed of sand.

He took the Bunnies out into the garden and bent a branch down to the ground. He cut a notch in it, and covered it with earth. He said it would root by and by and could be cut off then from the main branch.

As they went back into the Green-house, the Green House Bunny showed them a picture of a water-lily, saying, “A Water-Nymph hides in the shape of a water-lily, and becomes a beautiful maiden when she chooses and,

The little water-sprite tries to play tricks on any one who gathers the Water-lilies.”

Healthy Bunny and Pretty Bunny went with him, and my! what treasures they did find to bring back!

They brought gay autumn leaves, and milk-weed pods, and wild grapes, and nuts, and they sang,

All went merrily with the Bunnies until Pretty Bunny grew ill. She was sleepy all the time and nothing seemed to interest her.

It crept up, up, up, and peeped in at Pretty Bunny and inside the rose was curled up Little Tickle Toes, the merry Elf.

Soon Pretty Bunny was well and helped Old Mother Bun protect her roses, and cover the fern bed and soon snow fell on Old Mother Bun’s garden, but the flowers in the Green House were blooming merrily, and many customers came to buy.

Old Father Bun went off every evening into his little work-shop. He kept up a great singing and humming and all the Bunnies wondered what he was doing. He said to himself,

He took a Tulip petal, and traced around it on card board and used this as a pattern. He cut many petals from red crepe paper for his Tulips. He placed wire between two paper petals and glued them together, then he wired all the petals together and put a little yellow round on the end of his stem, which he wrapped with green paper.

While he was doing this, Old Mother Bun had some fun of her own. She cut[Pg 116] out some birds and butterflies of paste-board and painted them gayly. She fastened them on twigs and set them around in the flower pots.

Late that night, when the rest of the[Pg 117] Bunnies were sleeping, Old Mother Bun looked out into her garden covered with snow. She sighed for her flowers but a fairy voice called,

Pretty Bunny and Healthy Bunny dreamed that night that they were sailing away, away, in milk-weed cradles.

Old Mother Bun had patched and mended the Bunnies’ clothes, and Old Father Bun had mended and patched the furniture, and, except for visitors to the Green House, they had seen little of the outside world.

One morning the Pansies lifted their heads and the Crocuses began to grow. Said old Mother Bun, “I sing and sing, For all these flowers are signs of spring.”

He was so noisy it was some time before Old Father Bun’s voice could be heard. He said by and by,

Shadow Bunny said, “I hope you will give the Play on a sunny day, so I can be there.”

The Bunnies sat down in a circle and put on their thinking caps, for they had no dimes or pennies with which to buy costumes for the Flower Play.

Suddenly, without any warning whatever, Old Father Bun began to laugh and Old Mother Bun began to laugh, and Healthy Bunny said,

Old Mother Bun got the pot of gold she had found at the rainbow end, and took off the cover. Out rolled more gold pieces than you have ever dreamed of!

The March Hare said he would be the Clown, and the Tree Toad said he would be ticket-seller.

They built a real little stage in Old Mother Bun’s Garden, and they studied their parts until one bright May day when the sun shone warm and bright, the March Hare gave the prologue and the Play began on the day set for it:

Pansies. “See, we are the Pansies with happy faces and kind thoughts. We do not fear Jack Frost. We do not fear a little snow. We will dance for you and sing for you.”

4th Pansy. “Oh, we must hide; here come real enemies, the Careless Children! Some of them will step on us, some of them will pick us with such short stems we will be useless.”

Little Elves rise from Tulips at the back of the stage singing to the tune of “Twinkle Little Star.”

Suddenly such a rapping and tapping was heard, such a stamping of feet that all the Bunnies went to the door to see what was the matter.

All the Bunnies came trooping in, and Old Father Bun did not have his quiet smoke, and Old Mother Bun did not knit her heel and toe, but they had a merry time, and the most delightful thing was still to happen!

After they had brought in hampers of good things, a great wagon drove up, and in it was a wonderful garden seat.

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Transcriber’s Notes

Mother Bunny
and her Flowers

CHAPTER I
PLANTING THE GARDEN

CHAPTER II.
THE WILD FLOWER GARDEN

CHAPTER III.
MORE WILD FLOWERS.

CHAPTER IV.
ROOTS OF A PLANT—THE LEGEND OF COTTON.

CHAPTER V.
LITTLE ELF LAUGHTER

CHAPTER VI.
LEAVES AND A FLOWER
ALPHABET

CHAPTER VII.
A BIRTHDAY PARTY

CHAPTER VIII.
THE FLOWER SHOW

CHAPTER IX.
THE GREEN HOUSE BUNNY

CHAPTER X.
A FLOWER PLAY FOR ANY DAY.

Transcriber’s Notes

Mother Bunny and her Flowers

CHAPTER I PLANTING THE GARDEN

CHAPTER II. THE WILD FLOWER GARDEN

CHAPTER III. MORE WILD FLOWERS.

CHAPTER IV. ROOTS OF A PLANT—THE LEGEND OF COTTON.

CHAPTER V. LITTLE ELF LAUGHTER

CHAPTER VI. LEAVES AND A FLOWER ALPHABET

CHAPTER VII. A BIRTHDAY PARTY

CHAPTER VIII. THE FLOWER SHOW

CHAPTER IX. THE GREEN HOUSE BUNNY

CHAPTER X. A FLOWER PLAY FOR ANY DAY.