IX

MR. TOAD AND p.r.i.c.kLY PORKY PUT THEIR HEADS TOGETHER

Slowly p.r.i.c.kly Porky the Porcupine climbed down from the top of the tall poplar tree where he had been getting his breakfast of tender young bark. He grunted as he worked his way down, for he had with him a bundle of bark to take over to Peter Rabbit's surprise party. When he reached the ground, p.r.i.c.kly Porky shook himself until he rattled the thousand little spears hidden in his long coat.

"Tee-hee-hee!"

"Who dares to laugh at me?" demanded p.r.i.c.ky Porky, shaking himself until all the little spears rattled again, and some of them began to peep out of his long coat.

"No one is laughing at you," replied a voice right behind him.

p.r.i.c.kly Porky turned around. There sat old Mr. Toad. His big mouth was stretched wide open, and he was laughing all to himself. Something was tickling old Mr. Toad mightily.

p.r.i.c.kly Porky scowled, and a few more little spears peeped out of his long coat. You know no one likes to be laughed at, and it certainly did look as if old Mr. Toad was laughing at him.

Mr. Toad stopped laughing and hopped a step nearer. "It's a joke,"

said he, and slowly winked one eye.

"I don't see any joke," said p.r.i.c.kly Porky, and his voice was very fretful.

Mr. Toad hopped a step nearer. "Are you going to Peter Rabbit's party?"

"Of course I am. What a foolish question," replied p.r.i.c.kly Porky.

"To be sure, a very foolish question, a very foolish question, indeed," a.s.sented Mr. Toad. "Do you know that Sammy Jay and Blacky the Crow and Reddy Fox and Shadow the Weasel, who have not been invited, are planning to break up the party and then gobble up all the good things to eat?" he continued.

p.r.i.c.kly Porky laid down his bundle of tender young bark and stared at old Mr. Toad, "How do you know?" he demanded.

Old Mr. Toad chuckled deep down in his throat. "I was underneath a piece of bark on which Sammy Jay was sitting when the plan was made.

Of course he didn't know I was there, and of course I didn't tell him."

"Of course not," interrupted p.r.i.c.kly Porky, beginning to grin.

"Of course not," continued Mr. Toad, grinning, too. Then he told p.r.i.c.kly Porky all about the plan he had overheard, how Reddy Fox and Shadow the Weasel and Blacky the Crow were to hide near Unc' Billy Possum's hollow tree, and how Sammy Jay was to frighten away everybody else by pretending that Bowser the Hound was coming.

"Have you told Peter Rabbit?" asked p.r.i.c.kly Porky.

"Not yet, but I'm going to, by and by," replied old Mr. Toad. "But first, I want you to help me fool Sammy Jay and Blacky the Crow and Reddy Fox and Shadow the Weasel. Will you?"

"Of course I will if I can, but how can I?" answered p.r.i.c.kly Porky promptly.

Old Mr. Toad hopped up, and stretching up on tiptoe, whispered in one of p.r.i.c.kly Porky's ears. p.r.i.c.kly Porky began to smile. Then he began to chuckle. Finally he laughed until he had to hold his sides.

"Will you do it?" asked Mr. Toad.

p.r.i.c.kly Porky reached for his bundle of tender young bark. "Of course I will," said he, still chuckling. "Come on, Mr. Toad, it's time we were going."

X

THE RUNAWAY CABBAGE

Reddy Fox, hiding with Shadow the Weasel in a hollow log near Unc'

Billy Possum's home, nudged Shadow with his elbow.

"I hear some one coming," he whispered.

Shadow peeped out. "It's old Mr. Toad and p.r.i.c.kly Porky," he whispered back.

Something that sounded very much like a growl sounded way down deep in the throat of Reddy Fox, for Reddy has no love for p.r.i.c.kly Porky.

"And there comes Jimmy Skunk, with a big-goose egg under each arm!"

continued Shadow, smacking his lips. Reddy Fox wriggled up where he could peep out, too.

"My goodness! What's that coming down the Lone Little Path?" whispered Reddy.

Shadow looked. Then he began to laugh, and Reddy began to laugh, too.

But it was laughter that made no sound, for Reddy and Shadow didn't want any one to know that they were hiding there. It was a funny sight they were peeping out at. It certainly was a funny sight. Down the Lone Little Path came Peter Rabbit and his cousin, Juniper the Hare, rolling a huge cabbage.

Right at the top of a little hill the cabbage got away from them. Down it started, rolling and bounding along, with Peter Rabbit and Jumper the Hare frantically trying to catch it. Just ahead was Johnny Chuck with a big bundle of sweet clover, which he was bringing to Peter Rabbit's party. He didn't see the big cabbage coming. It knocked his feet from under him, and down he went with a thump, flat on his back.

Right on top of him fell Jumper the Hare, who was close behind the runaway cabbage and had no time to turn aside. Over the two of them fell Peter Rabbit. Such a mix-up!

And the big cabbage kept right on running away. Jimmy Skunk, who never hurries, heard the noise behind him and turned to see what it all meant. But he didn't have time to more than blink his eyes before the runaway cabbage hit him full in the stomach. Down went Jimmy Skunk with a grunt. One big egg flew over against a tree and broke. Jimmy landed on the other, and this broke, too.

Such a sight as Jimmy Skunk was! Egg dripped from every part of his handsome black and white coat. It was in his eyes and all over his face and dripped from his whiskers. Shadow the Weasel and Reddy Fox, hiding in the hollow log, laughed until the tears rolled down their cheeks, though down in the heart of Shadow was bitter disappointment, for he had planned to steal those very eggs.

Just a little way beyond Jimmy Skunk the runaway cabbage brought up with a thump against a stump on which sat Striped Chipmunk, with the pockets in his cheeks filled full of yellow corn. The sudden b.u.mp of the big cabbage made Striped Chipmunk lose his balance, and off he tumbled, right down on to old Mr. Toad, who had just sat down behind the stump for a few minutes of rest. It knocked all the wind out of Mr. Toad, and of course Striped Chipmunk spilled all his corn.

p.r.i.c.kly Porky the Porcupine heard the noise. He looked up to see a strange thing bounding down the Lone Little Path. p.r.i.c.kly Porky didn't wait to see what it was. He did just what he always does when he thinks there may be danger; he rolled himself up with his face hidden in his waistcoat, and when he did that, the thousand little spears hidden in his coat stood out until he looked like a giant chestnut burr.

The runaway cabbage bounced off the stump and hit p.r.i.c.kly Porky. Then it stopped. Where it had touched p.r.i.c.kly Porky, the sharp little spears had stuck into it, so that when Peter Rabbit and Jumper the Hare hurried up, there lay the runaway cabbage, looking for all the world like a great green pincushion.

XI

REDDY FOX GOES HUNGRY

Like a great green pincushion lay the runaway cabbage of Peter Rabbit and Jumper the Hare. Every one thought it was the very best joke ever.