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So the Monkey and the Grasshopper sat there talking together. The Monkey told the different things that had happened to him from the time he had awakened in a box on the breakfast table until he fell off Carlo’s back.

“Do you have any adventures here in the meadow?” asked the chap who had been cutting up Monkeyshines.

“Oh, yes, we have had things happen here,” said the Grasshopper. “Of course they are not as exciting as those you have told me about. But we rather like them. Do you want to—-“

But just then something began running through the tall grass a short distance away from where the Monkey sat on a hummock. At first the Monkey thought it was Carlo, the dog, coming back, but in another moment he saw a pink nose and two long, flapping ears.

He knew then it was not Carlo, but he thought it was another friend of his, so the Monkey called:

“I say! Hold on there a minute! I want to talk to you, my friend! Wait, can’t you?”

“Who is it?” asked the Grasshopper, stretching out one long hind leg. “Who do you see?”

“My friend, the Candy Rabbit,” was the answer. “He just ran through the grass.”

“That isn’t a Candy Rabbit,” said the Grasshopper.

“Who is it, then?” asked the Monkey, in surprise.

“That’s Jack Hare, a real, live rabbit who lives in the meadow here,” was the reply. “He wouldn’t like it if you called him a Candy Rabbit.”

The grass waved to and fro, and a moment later a big, white rabbit came jumping through, and sat down on his hind legs near the big leaf on which the Grasshopper was perched. The Monkey could see that this rabbit was different from the one made of candy. This bunny was larger, and his nose was not so pink. His ears, too, were bigger.

“Hello, who’s your friend, Mr. Grasshopper?” asked Jack Hare.

“He is a stranger in our meadow,” was the answer. “I just met him. He was cutting up some–er–polishes, I think he said.”

“Shines! Shines! Monkeyshines, not polishes, though they are somewhat alike,” explained the Monkey. “I cut some Monkeyshines after I fell off a dog’s back.”

“A dog! Good gracious! Don’t tell me there’s a dog around here!” exclaimed Jack Hare, looking quickly over his shoulder. “A dog will chase me as soon as he will a cat. I guess I’d better be going.”

“Oh, don’t be afraid,” said the Monkey. “The dog I mean is Carlo. He is chasing a cat now, and so he won’t come here.”

The Grasshopper and the Live Rabbit sat looking at the Monkey. Soon, from under another leaf, came hopping a black bug not quite as large as the green one. The black bug wiggled her legs and chirped cheerfully:

“Well, well! Whom have we here?”

“Oh, this is Mr. Monkey Shine,” said the Grasshopper. “Allow me to introduce you to Mr. Monkey Shine, Miss Cricket!” and the green creature nodded from one to the other.

“Excuse me, I am Monkey on a Stick, not Monkey Shine, though I do cut up shines once in a while,” said the jolly chap who had fallen off Carlo’s back. “That is my right name–Monkey on a Stick.”

“I’m pleased to meet you,” chirped the Cricket. “Welcome to our meadow, Monkey on a Stick.”

“Thank you,” replied the Monkey.

Then the Grasshopper, the Live Rabbit and the Cricket sat and looked at the Monkey, and, after a while, he cut some more Monkeyshines for them, even standing on his head and waving his tail in the air.

“I wonder if I could do that,” said Jack Hare. “I’m going to try.”

“Better not,” warned the Monkey. “In turning over you might break off your ears.”

“Oh, my ears are not made of candy. They will bend, and not break,” said Jack Hare. “Here goes! I’m going to turn a somersault just as you did. Maybe I can cut some Monkeyshines, too!”

Well, the Live Rabbit tried, but I can not say that he did it very well. First he fell over to one side, and then he fell to the other side. And once he got stuck in the middle, standing on his head with his ears lying flat along the ground and his legs sticking up in the air.