t into the water.

It was not very deep, but it was very wet.

When Billy climbed out on the bank he was very wet, too.

"Oh, dear me!" he said, "the water is cold."

"Oh, dear me!" said Bobtail, "the snow is cold."

"Oh, dear me!" said Bunny, "I hurt my nose."

"Let's run home to Mother Rabbit," said Billy.

"Yes, let's run home!"

So the three little rabbits hopped along the path through the woods as
fast as they could go.

Bobby Gray Squirrel was running up and down in the big oak tree.

"Come and play with me," he said.

But the little rabbits did not stop to answer.

They hopped along the path as fast as they could go.

And they didn't stop once until they were safe in their own cosy home.

A CHRISTMAS TREE

I

The little pine tree stood near the path that led through the woods.

In summer the rabbits often sat under this tree to rest.

The tree listened to the stories they told of the good times they had
together.

The birds flew to its branches and talked to each other about the
things they had seen in the woods.

Bobby Gray Squirrel and his brothers often ran up into the pine tree to
play tag.

But Sammy Red Squirrel knew something about this tree that no one else
knew.

He knew where there was a small hole in one of the branches.

He found it one day when he ran up into the tree to eat a nut.

And when he saw the hole he said to himself, "That is a good place to
hide some nuts for the winter."

The hole was not very large, but Sammy hid ten acorns in it. He packed
them in one by one.

Last of all he put a piece of bark in the hole.

"This is a good door for my store-house," he said, "I am sure no one
will find these acorns."

And no one did find them.

Sammy ran to the hole very often and lifted the door just a crack.

The ten little acorns were just where he had put them.

"I will eat these nuts last of all," he said to himself.

All through the fall the little red squirrel hunted for nuts under the
trees.

Sometimes he could not find any on the ground.

Then he would run round and round hunting for holes where he had hidden
acorns away.

If the holes were empty Sammy knew some other little squirrel had been
there before him.

And sometimes Sammy found nuts that other squirrels had stored away.

The hunting was always good, and no squirrel ever went to bed hungry.

But at last Jack Frost came and covered everything with snow.

All the nuts and acorns w