Snubby Nose And Tippy Toes Part 4

Bunny Cotton-Tail began again, "Once, when I was young--"

_Then the most surprising thing happened!_

Soot began to pour down the chimney. It flew all over the room. It covered the carpet and furniture and pictures.

Bunny shouted, "My fur and whiskers, what can be the matter?"

Susan said, "Bless my b.u.t.tons, there is soot all over the room." Tippy Toes danced on this foot, and danced on that foot, and said,

"Let me go up the chimney because, I think it may be Santa Claus."

Then Bunny and Susan laughed, but soon Bunny Cotton-Tail coughed, and Susan sneezed, so Tippy Toes knew something must be done at once. He ran outdoors and looked up at the chimney.

There was Bushy-Tail, the sly old Fox acting as a chimney-sweep. He was sweeping the chimney with his long, beautiful tail.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "HE WAS SWEEPING THE CHIMNEY WITH HIS LONG, BEAUTIFUL TAIL"]

Tippy Toes cried, "Please come down and I will show you how to dance."

Bushy-Tail was surprised you may be sure. He thought it was Snubby Nose, and Snubby Nose never said, "Please."

He jumped off the roof with a bound and howled, "Oh, ho! So you will show me how to dance, will you?"

Then Bushy-Tail chased Tippy Toes away and away and away in the woods.

Tippy Toes said to himself,

"I'm in a corner without a doubt, But if I keep cheerful I will get out."

At that very minute they met old Grandpa Grumbles. He said,

"It is getting cold I've heard it said, Bushy-Tail where are your mittens, red?"

_Then the most surprising thing happened!_

Bushy-Tail gave a howl and ran away as fast as his legs could carry him.

"What does it all mean?" asked Tippy Toes.

Grandpa Grumbles replied, "Why, Snubby Nose, you have a poor memory if you have forgotten about the red mittens. Don't you remember that Santa Claus gave Bushy-Tail a pair of magic mittens?"

Tippy Toes said, politely, "Please tell me about it."

Grandpa Grumbles said, "Bushy-Tail put on the red magic mittens and they pinched his paws."

"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Tippy Toes, "How long did he have to wear those mittens?" Grandpa Grumbles answered,

"Really, now, I cannot say, But I guess it was a year and a day."

Then Tippy Toes laughed so hard that he doubled right up in a little ball and rolled over and over.

"Come, come," said Grandpa Grumbles, "You had better go back to see Bunny and Susan, they may think Bushy-Tail has eaten you up."

So they traveled back together to see Bunny and Susan. When they came to the house there was soot on everything. There was soot on the carpet and furniture and pictures. There was soot on the new lamp, and on Susan's spectacles.

Grandpa Grumbles shouted,

"You are careless folks, I do declare, To let the soot blow everywhere."

Bunny Cotton-Tail coughed, and Susan sneezed, and Grandpa Grumbles said,

"Into the kitchen, one, seven, three, You are as careless as can be."

He made Bunny and Susan go into the kitchen; then he said to Tippy Toes,

"Come, get a broom and an ap.r.o.n or two, We'll clean this room, that's what we'll do."

Soon Grandpa Grumbles and Tippy Toes had everything out of the room. It did not take long to make it as clean as a pin.

Grandpa Grumbles looked hard at Tippy Toes.

"How does your nose feel?" he asked. "Come, sir, why don't you cry any more?"

Tippy Toes danced this way, and danced that way, and sang to the big mirror that hung on the wall,

"Who is so ugly? n.o.body knows."

The mirror answered, "Snubby Nose."

CHAPTER V

"My fur and whiskers, the room is all clean!" Bunny Cotton-Tail cried.

Susan Cotton-Tail cried, "Bless my b.u.t.tons, everything is in order."

Grandpa Grumbles said,

"There is a mystery in the air, There is something strange, I do declare."

Tippy Toes cried, "Good night Bunny and Susan, good night dear Grandpa Grumbles," and he danced this way, and danced that way, and he danced himself right up to bed.

"How polite he is," said Bunny Cotton-Tail. Susan said, "He does not seem to mind when we speak of noses!"

Grandpa Grumbles said, "He does not cry any more."

They all sat by the fire warming their paws. Grandpa Grumbles was thinking. At last he said to Bunny and Susan, "One day I heard Snubby Nose talking as he stood before a mirror, and he said,"

"Who is so ugly? n.o.body knows."