"Put on your dresses of red and gold,

"For summer has gone and the days grow cold."

APRIL FOOL'S DAY

I

"Wake up, Billy!" called Bunny. "Wake up and see how hard it is snowing."

Billy opened his sleepy eyes and rolled out of bed.

Then he went to the door and peeped out.

"April fool, April fool!" shouted Bunny.

Billy laughed. Then he hopped out of doors.

It was a warm sunny day,--just the day to run around and play jokes.

But first the little rabbits had to find their breakfast.

Now that the warm days were coming they could find plenty to eat.

And Bunny and Billy and Bobtail were growing very fat.

Bobby Gray Squirrel and Sammy Red Squirrel could find plenty to eat, too.

In the fall they had stored away nuts and acorns in little holes in the ground.

When Jack Frost covered the ground with snow the squirrels could not dig up these nuts.

But now the ground was soft again, and Bobby and Sammy had plenty to eat.

Bunny and Billy and Bobtail saw the squirrels hide the nuts.

They did not like acorns so they never opened the store-house doors.

They just hopped around under the trees looking for green leaves and tender roots.

But on this first day of April Bunny found the biggest acorn he had ever seen.

It was hidden in a little hole, and he saw it when he sat down to eat his breakfast.

"Oh, oh!" he said to himself. "Now I can play a joke on Bobby Gray Squirrel.

"I am going to tie a string to this acorn, and when Bobby tries to pick it up I shall pull it away from him."

He told Bobtail and Billy about the joke he was going to play on the gray squirrel.

"Ho, ho!" laughed Billy.

"Ha, ha!" laughed Bobtail.

"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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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.