at the
little hen, shouted through his tin megaphone:

"Why don't you stay at home and lay,
And not go calling every day?
I never leave my perch up here
No matter what the atmosphere."

COLORED EGGS

"I OFTEN wondered why she went across the Sunny Meadow every day," said
Ducky Waddles. "It's too long a walk for me!"

"Yes, you wabble too much!" said Henny Penny.

"That's because I've little thin pieces of skin between my toes,"
answered Ducky Waddles. "My feet are too wide and flat for walking, but
they make splendid paddles."

"Come, come," interrupted the Kind Farmer. "Henny Penny hasn't explained
why she goes over to the Sunny Meadow to lay her eggs instead of in the
nice nests in the Henhouse."

"Because I wanted Little Jack Rabbit to color them for Easter," she
answered. "I thought if I laid them near the Old Bramble Patch it would
be easier for him."

"Oh, that's the reason?" said the Kind Farmer. "And pray, Mr. Jack
Rabbit, how do you color the eggs?"

Oh, dear me! Wasn't the little rabbit embarrassed! He wasn't sure but
what he'd better hop back to the Old Bramble Patch. Perhaps, too, he was
a little bit afraid of the big Kind Farmer.

"I never colored any eggs," answered the little rabbit in a low voice,
"but I've often helped mother color them. She takes a big red rose and
rubs it over an egg until it turns red. With a buttercup she makes a
yellow one. From the violets by the Bubbling Brook she gets a beautiful
purple color, and from the wild roses a lovely pink tint. Just every-day
grass gives a dandy green color."

"Ha, ha," laughed the big Kind Farmer, "so that's what the rabbits do on
Easter, is it?" and he turned away and went into the Big Red Barn to
feed the horses.

"I guess it's time for me to be going," said Little Jack Rabbit. "Mother
may worry if I stay away too long!"

"What's your hurry?" said Ducky Waddles.

"Goodby," said Henny Penny.

"Come again," said Cocky Doodle.

"Come very soon," said Turkey Tim.

"Call tomorrow," cried Goosey Lucy.

But the little rabbit was out of hearing by this time, and just as Mr.
Merry Sun went down behind the West Hill, he hopped into the Old Bramble
Patch.

"Come, wash your hands; supper is ready," said Mrs. Rabbit, as she took
the carrot muffins out of the oven and dished the stewed lollypops.

HENNY PENNY'S MISTAKE

THERE was great excitement at the Old Barn Yard. A big m