Grandpa Grumbles then said loudly,

"Speak into my better ear, I am so deaf I cannot hear."

Bushy-Tail cried out as loud as he could, "Oh, Grandpa Grumbles, we are going down into the lake! Look out, look out! We shall be drowned!"

Grandpa Grumbles shouted,

"Speak a little louder, please, Shall we sail above the trees?"

Bushy-Tail got so excited he did not know what he was doing. He got right out of the umbrella and went splash, dash, into the lake.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "BUSHY-TAIL WENT SPLASH, DASH, INTO THE LAKE"]

Grandpa Grumbles, as he sailed homeward, said,

"Sink or swim, just as you please, For I have no desire to tease."

He left poor Bushy-Tail to swim to sh.o.r.e.

When Grandpa Grumbles got home he saw smoke coming out of his chimney.

He grumbled,

"It seems to me quite like a bore, To have to enter by the door."

He was so used to sailing down the chimney!

The door opened for him and there stood Bunny and Susan. Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes danced up to him and told him how Bushy-Tail had tried to get in.

Grandpa Grumbles shook his green umbrella fiercely and said,

"He will not come this way again, Either in sunshine or in rain."

Then Bunny and Susan and Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes begged Grandpa Grumbles to tell what had become of Bushy-Tail, but Grandpa Grumbles would only say,

"I am so deaf 'tis hard to hear, Come, speak a little louder, dear."

Then Bunny spoke into his right ear, and Susan spoke into his left ear, and asked him to tell where he had left Bushy-Tail.

Grandpa Grumbles shook his head and said,

"Bunny and Susan, what do you say?

I am so old and deaf to-day."

Then Snubby Nose cried into his right ear, and Tippy Toes cried into his left ear, but Grandpa Grumbles only said,

"I can't hear, my deafness grows; Ask the umbrella, for it knows."

Then the Cotton-Tails asked the umbrella what had become of Bushy-Tail and the umbrella said,

"Bushy-Tail went swimming away, But he'll come back in a year and a day."

"Oh" and "Ah" and "Oh" and "Ah," cried all the little Cotton-Tails, "Bushy-Tail is swimming away is he?"

They all went merrily to bed.

CHAPTER VIII

The next morning Grandpa Grumbles called out,

"The Cotton-Tails are all in bed, Every one is a sleepy-head."

"My fur and whiskers, we have overslept," said Bunny Cotton-Tail. "It is nine o'clock by my little silver watch."

"Bless my b.u.t.tons," cried Susan, "I meant to get up and get breakfast."

Tippy Toes was the first down stairs after Grandpa Grumbles. He danced this way and he danced that way, and set the table for breakfast.

Grandpa Grumbles had a fine breakfast ready. They all sat down except Snubby Nose. Grandpa Grumbles said,

"Where is Snubby Nose? 'tis plain, He must have gone to sleep again."

Now, what do you suppose happened next? Grandpa Grumbles went upstairs and took Snubby Nose by the feet and dragged him out of bed. He made him dress in a hurry and come down to breakfast! All the time Snubby Nose cried and he screamed and he howled!

Bunny and Susan and Grandpa Grumbles soon finished their breakfast.

They went for a walk but Tippy Toes sat at the table and said, "Oh, Snubby Nose, why do you cry so much? I have just as ugly a nose as you have."

Then Snubby Nose stopped crying. He stared at Tippy Toes. Sure enough, Tippy Toes had a very ugly nose.

Snubby Nose shouted, "Pa.s.s me the cream! Pa.s.s me the b.u.t.ter! Pa.s.s me the bread! Can't you see I am starving?"

The mirror spoke up suddenly,

"Snubby Nose it's no use to tease, You might say, 'Thank you,' and 'if you please.'"

Tippy Toes slipped down from his chair and ran out after Bunny and Susan.

Snubby Nose cried and he screamed and he howled! He reached for the sugar bowl and it sailed away in the air! He reached for the bread and b.u.t.ter but they went farther out of his reach. He was very hungry and he cried and he screamed and he howled, but there was no one to answer him. By and by he danced before the mirror and said,

"Mirror, mirror, I'll be good, And speak politely as I should."

The mirror said,

"If you say, 'Thank you' I suppose, You'll be loved like Tippy Toes."

_Then the most surprising thing happened!_