a little or no time.'

"'Oh, is that so?' says the girls. 'Well, we know Brother Terrapin
will oblige us.'

"'I'm not so sure of that,' says I.

"'What do you want me to do?' says he. His voice sounded as if he had
the croup.

"'Ladies,' says I, 'you may believe it or not, but if Brother Terrapin
has a mind to he can lend me a treble string that will just fit my
fiddle.'

"'Brother Rabbit,' says he, 'you know I have no fiddle-string. What
would I be doing with one?'

"'Don't mind him, ladies. He knows just as well as I do that he has a
fiddle-string in his neck. I can take my pocket-knife and get it out
in half a minute,' says I.

"This made Brother Terrapin roll his eyes.

"'Be ashamed of yourself, Brother Terrapin,' says the girls. 'And we
were having so much fun, too.'

"'If my neck was as long and as tough as Brother Terrapin's, I'd take
one of the leaders out and make a fiddle-string of it, just to oblige
the ladies,' says I.

"The girls turned up their noses and tossed their heads. 'Don't pester
Brother Terrapin,' says they. 'We'll not ask him any more.'

"'Ladies,' says I, 'there is a way to get the fiddle-string without
asking for it. Will you please hand me a case-knife out of the
cupboard there?'

"I rose from my chair with a sort of a frown," continued Mr. Rabbit,
laughing heartily, "but before I could lift my hand Brother Terrapin
rolled from the shelf and went tumbling down the slope to the creek,
heels over head."

"Did it hurt him much?" asked Sweetest Susan, with a touch of
sympathy.

"It didn't stop his tongue," replied Mr. Rabbit. "He crawled out on
the other side of the creek and said very bad words. He even went so
far as to call me out of my name. But it is all over with now," said
Mr. Rabbit, with a sigh. "I bear no grudges. Let bygones be bygones."

"I never heard before that Brother Terrapin had a fiddle-string in his
neck," said Buster John, after he had thought the matter over a
little.

"In dem times," said Drusilla, as if to satisfy her own mind, "you
couldn't tell what nobody had skacely."

"Why, as to that," replied Mr. Rabbit, "the fiddle-string in his neck
was news to Brother Terrapin."

There was a pause here and the children seemed to be somewhat
listless.

"I'll tell you what I think," remarked Mrs. Meadows to Mr. Rabbit;
"these children here are lonesome, and they'll be getting homesick
long before the time comes for them to go. Oh, don't tell me!" she
cr