STORY XXVI

BULLY N

"Bully, what are you doing?" the frog boy's mother called to him one day, as she heard him making a funny noise.

"Oh, mother, I am just counting to see how many marbles I have," he answered.

"Well, would you mind going to the store for me?" asked Mrs. No-Tail. "I was going to make a cake, but I find I have no cocoanut to put on top."

"Oh, indeed, I'll go for you, mother, right away!" cried Bully, quickly, for he was very fond of cocoanut cake. But I guess he would have gone to the store anyhow, even if his mamma had only wanted vinegar, or lemons, or a yeast cake.

So off he started, whistling a little tune about a fuzzy-wuzzy p.u.s.s.y cat, who drank a lot of milk and had a crinkly Sunday dress, made out of yellow silk.

"Well, I feel better after that!" exclaimed Bully, as he hopped along, sailing high in the air, above the clouds. Oh, there I go again! I was thinking of d.i.c.kie Chip-Chip, the sparrow. No, Bully hopped along on the ground, and pretty soon he came to the store and bought the cocoanut for the cake.

He was hopping home, hoping his mamma would give him and his brother Bawly some of the cake when it was baked, when, just as he came near a pond of water he heard some one crying. Oh, such a sad, pitiful cry as it was, and at first Bully thought it might be some bad wolf, or fox, or owl, crying because it hadn't any dinner, and didn't see anything to catch to eat for supper.

"I must look out that they don't catch me," thought Bully, and he took tight hold of the cocoanut, and peeked through the bushes. And what did he see but poor Kittie Kat-you remember her, I dare say; she was a sister to Joie and Tommie Kat-there was Kittie Kat, crying as if her heart would break, and right in front of her was a savage fox, wiggling his bushy tail to and fro, and snapping his cruel jaws and sharp teeth.

"Now I've caught you!" cried the fox. "I've been waiting a good while, but I have you now."

"Yes, I-I guess you have," said poor Kittie, for the fox had hold of the handle of a little basket that Kittie was carrying, and wouldn't let go.

In the basket was a nice cornmeal pie that Kittie was taking to Grandfather Goosey Gander, when the fox caught her. "Will you please let me go?" begged poor Kittie Kat.

"No," replied the bad fox. "I'm going to eat you up-all up!"

Well, Kittie cried harder than ever at that, but she still kept hold of the basket with the cornmeal pie in it, and the fox also had hold of it.

And Bully was hiding behind the bushes where neither of them could see him-hiding and waiting.

"Oh, I must save Kittie from that fox!" he thought. "How can I do it?"

So Bully thought and thought, and thought of a plan. Then he leaned forward and whispered in Kittie's ear, so low that the fox couldn't hear him:

"Let go of the basket, Kittie," he told her, "and then give a big jump and run up a tree."

Well, Kittie was quite surprised to hear Bully whispering out of the bushes to her, for she didn't know that he was around, but she did as he told her to. She suddenly let go of the basket handle, and the fox was so surprised that he nearly fell over sideways. And before he could straighten himself up Kittie Kat jumped back, and up a tree she scrambled before you could shake a stick at her, even if you wanted to.

You see, she never thought of going up a tree until Bully told her to.

"Here! You come back!" cried the fox, real surprised like.

"Tell him you are not going to," whispered Bully, and that's what Kittie called to the fox from up in the tree, for, you see, he couldn't climb up to her, and he still had hold of her basket.

"If you don't come down I'll throw this basket of yours in the water!"

threatened the bad fox, gnashing his teeth.

"Oh, I don't want him to do that!" said Kittie.

"Never mind, perhaps he won't," suggested Bully. "Wait and see."

"Are you coming down and let me eat you?" asked the fox of the little kitten girl, for the savage animal did not yet know that Bully was hiding there. "Are you coming down, I ask you?"

"No, indeed!" exclaimed Kittie.

"Then here goes the basket!" cried the fox, and, just to be mean he threw the nice basket, containing the cornmeal pudding-I mean pie-into the pond of water.

"Oh! Oh! Oh dear!" cried Kittie Kat. "What will Grandfather Goosey Gander do now?"

"Never mind, I'll get it for you, as I don't mind water in the least,"

spoke Bully, bravely.

So he started to hop out, to jump into the water to save the kittie girl's basket, for he knew the fox wouldn't dare go in the pond after him, as the fox doesn't like to wet his feet and catch cold.

Well, Bully was just about to hop into the pond, when he happened to think of the package of cocoanut his mamma had sent him to get at the store.

"Oh, dear! I never can get that wet in the water or it will be spoiled!"

he thought. "What can I do? If I leave it on the sh.o.r.e here while I go after Kittie's basket the fox will eat it, and we'll have no cake. I guess I'm in trouble, all right, for I must get the basket."

Well, he didn't know what to do, and the fox was just sneaking up to eat him when Kittie Kat cried out:

"Oh, be careful, Bully. Jump! Jump into the water so the fox can't get you!"

"What about the cocoanut?" asked Bully.

"Here, give it to me, and I'll hold it," said Kittie, and she reached down with her sharp claws, and hooked them into the pink string around the package of cocoanut and pulled it up on the tree branch where she sat, and then the fox couldn't get it. And oh! how disappointed he was and how he did gnash his teeth.

And then, before he could grab Bully and eat him up, the frog boy leaped into the pond and swam out and got Kittie's basket and the cornmeal pie before it sank. And then Bully swam to a floating log, and crawled out on it with the basket, which wasn't harmed in the least, nor was the pie, either.

And the fox sat upon the sh.o.r.e of the pond, and first he looked at Bully, and wished he could eat him, and then he looked at Kittie, and he wished he could eat her, and then he looked at the cocoanut, which Kittie held in her claws, and he couldn't eat that, and he couldn't eat the cornmeal pie-in fact, he had nothing to eat.

Then, all of a sudden, along came Percival, the kind old circus dog, and he barked at that fox, and nipped his tail and the fox ran away, and Kittie and Bully were then safe. Bully came off the log, and Kittie came down out of the tree and they both went on home after thanking Percival most kindly.

Now, in case my little girl's tricycle doesn't roll down hill and bunk into the peanut man and make him spill his ice cream, I'll tell you next about Bawly helping his teacher.

STORY XXVII

HOW BAWLY HELPED HIS TEACHER

It was quite warm in the schoolroom one day, and the teacher of the animal children, who was a nice young lady robin, had all the windows open. But even then it was still warm, and the pupils, including Bully and Bawly No-Tail, the frog boys, and Lulu and Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble, the ducks, weren't doing much studying.

Every now and then they would look out of the window toward the green fields, and the cool, pleasant woods, where the yellow and purple violets were growing, and they wished they were out there instead of in school.