Danger

"Danger" by David Cory is an adventure novel that follows the thrilling escapades of its young protagonist as he navigates a perilous world filled with challenges and excitement. Set against a backdrop of intrigue and suspense, the story highlights themes of bravery, friendship, and the triumph of good over evil. Through engaging characters and vivid storytelling, Cory encapsulates the spirit of adventure, making it a captivating read for young audiences.

• Children

								
“It’s growing cold! I must turn up my coat collar,” said Little
Jack Rabbit, hopping out on the Sunny Meadow. He had just finished
polishing the front doorknob and maybe his little pink nose was
pinker than usual. Maybe Jack Frost had pinched it when the little
bunny boy wasn’t looking.

It certainly was cold out on the Sunny Meadow! Billy Breeze was
romping over the frosty grass, bending the leafless bushes and trees.

Turkey Tim strutted about the Old Barnyard, spreading his big tail
like a Japanese fan.

    “Although the sky is clear and blue,
       Oh, dear me and oh, dear you!
     How cold and chilly Billy Breeze.
       He makes me shiver at the knees!”

sang Cocky Doodle trying to pull down his feather knickerbockers. But
he couldn’t. Neither could he pull up his feather stockings. Dear me!
again. Wasn’t that too bad? Well, I should say so, although I’ve seen
lots of little boys and girls with bare legs in the winter time.

“Bow wow!” went Old Sic’em, the farmer’s dog, tugging at his chain,
as Little Jack Rabbit hopped around the Big Red Barn.

    “Bow, wow, wow!
     It makes me laugh
     To see Mrs. Cow
     Spank her calf.”

“Now, that will do,” said Mrs. Cow, quite provoked, “it’s so long
since you were spanked you’ve forgotten you were once a puppy boy
dog.”

“Ha! ha!” laughed Little Jack Rabbit, “now will you be good, Old
Sic’em?” But the old dog crept into his little wooden house with
never an answer.

Just then Little Jack Rabbit spied Old Man Weasel under the woodpile.

“Oh, dear me!” said the little bunny to himself, “what shall I do?”

“Don’t be frightened,” chirped little Bobbie Redvest from the Old
Rail Fence. “Old Man Weasel won’t dare show himself for here comes
the Big Kind Farmer.”

Sure enough, there he stood with a milk pail on his arm. So away
hopped Little Jack Rabbit to the Old Duck Pond to see Granddaddy
Bullfrog, the nice old gentleman frog in his white waistcoat and gold
rimmed spectacles.

“I’ll soon be going down to the warm mud at the bottom of the pond,”
said the old fellow, with a shiver. “I can’t stand this snappy
weather. Guess I’ll start now,” and with a dive off his log, he
disappeared beneath the water.

“Good-by!” called out the little bunny boy, hopping home to the warm
little bungalow in the Old Bramble Patch.

The next morning the Sunny Meadow was as white as Lady Love’s best
tablecloth and just as smooth, for it had snowed all night, the
snowflakes falling so softly that no one had even dreamed of what was
happening.

After breakfast Little Jack Rabbit pulled on his nice warm mittens.

“Don’t forget your muffler,” warned his careful mother. Then filling
his knapsack with little lettuce flour cakes, she kissed him good-by.

As he hopped along he began to sing:

    “Three little bunnies a-sliding went
     All on a winter’s day.
     The ice was thin and two fell in,
     And the third one ran away.”

“That’s a fine song,” cawed Professor Crow from his Tall Pine Tree
house.

“Drop me an ice cream pine cone,” laughed the little bunny. But the
selfish old bird instead threw a snowball, hitting the little rabbit
on the tip of his tail.

Off he hopped, for he wasn’t going to have snowballs thrown at him.
No, sireeman. And pretty soon, not so very far, he met Brownie Mink
creeping along by the Old Duck Pond.

“I must be very careful these days,” he whispered. “People wear fur
in the winter time and that dreadful Miller’s boy may set a trap. If
it catches me I’ll be a muff instead of a little mink.”

“They set traps for me, too!” answered the little bunny. “Besides, I
must look out for Danny Fox and Old Man Weasel. And sometimes, and
maybe oftener, for Robber Hawk. You’re not the only one who has to
look out for himself.”

All of a sudden the little rabbit felt hungry and, opening his
knapsack, handed a lollypop to Brownie Mink. But what the bunny boy
ate will take too long to tell.

“The next time you pass the Old Bramble Patch I’ll ask Uncle Lucky to
take us sledmobiling,” he said, buckling on his knapsack.

“Hurray!” shouted the little mink, tickled almost to pieces. He’d
never ridden in a sledmobile and neither have I, and neither have
you, but we may some day if we happen to be around when Uncle Lucky
passes by.

    “The snow is nearly three feet deep
       Upon the forest trail,
     And windy rifts and hilly drifts
       Blot out the lonely vale.

    “Oh, little bunny, have a care
       For Danny Fox is everywhere!
     Be very careful where you go
       And leave no footprints in the snow,”

sang Sammy Snowbird from a little bush in the Sunny Meadow, knowing
how hungry Danny Fox was now that the ground was covered with a white
carpet. Up at the Old Barn Yard the chickens huddled inside the warm
hen house and old Danny Fox couldn’t find even a feather near the Big
Red Barn.

“I’ll keep a bright lookout, never fear,” laughed the bunny boy, and
he hopped away into the Shady Forest. By and by he met a big Snow
Man. Wasn’t it strange to find a Snow Man in the Shady Forest? Well,
I guess it was, and the little rabbit thought so, too. All of a
sudden two little bears ran out of a cave and shouted: “We did it.”

“It’s a fine Snow Man,” answered the little bunny and, taking a lemon
lollypop out of his knapsack, he pushed the stick into the Snow Man’s
mouth. It seemed as if he were smoking a lollypop pipe. But not for
long, let me tell you. No, sireeman and no, siree, Mister! For in a
jiffy those two little bears took it away from the poor Snow Man, and
ate it up, stick and all.

“Ha, ha!” laughed the little rabbit, and, being a generous little
bunny, he took another out of his knapsack. “Take it home to your
little sister.” But the two bears didn’t have any sister, only an old
aunt who didn’t like candy.

After that the little bunny hopped away. By and by he saw a great
icicle hanging from a rock in the Bubbling Brook. Now Mr. Merry Sun
was doing his best to melt it, but Mr. North Wind blew so cold that
all Mr. Merry Sun could do was to paint it all sorts of colors, green
and red, yellow and purple. “It looks like a stick of candy,” thought
the little rabbit, breaking it off.

“I’ll fool somebody with it,” and away he hopped, singing:

    “Over the snow, over the snow,
     Hippity, hippity, hop I go.
     I don’t care if the woods are bare,
     For I love the snow, the beautiful snow,
     Hiding the flowers until they can grow.”

By and by he came to the Shady Forest Pond. Of course it was all
frozen over with a thick coating of ice. Only the top of Mister
Muskrat’s house could be seen, in the upper bedroom of which, high
and dry, Mister Muskrat himself lay sound asleep.

Sliding out on the ice, the little rabbit knocked on the roof. But he
never saw the frightened Muskrat swim out in the water. Oh, dear, no.
The ice was too thick for that, although Mister Muskrat could hear

								Rate this book:0.0 / 0 votes