Once upon a time, in a place called Tickle Cove, there lived an adventurous bunny named Bobby. Now Bobby wasn’t your average bunny; oh no, he was much cleverer than the rest of his kind. One bright autumn day, as he was hopping along the shore searching for lost things, he found something very peculiar indeed.
Bobby’s ears perked up in delight. It was an old bottle, and inside it was an ancient map! Excitedly, he tore the paper off the bottle and spread the map out on the sand. “Oh my! Oh my!” he exclaimed, hopping up and down in glee. “This says there’s treasure buried in Tickle Cove. I must gather my friends at once!”
As the sun began to lower in the sky, Bobby called to all his friends—a tortoise named Tommy, a deer named Dora, and a squirrel named Sam. They all gathered by the shore, eager to hear about the treasure map Bobby had discovered.
“Will there really be gold?” asked Sam, shaking his bushy tail with excitement.
“I know there’ll be treasure,” replied Bobby, tapping the map with his paw. “But there may also be traps, so we must be careful. Let’s follow this map!”
And off they went, determined to find the lost treasure of Tickle Cove.
The first thing they met was a small stream. Now it was quite impossible for Tommy the Tortoise to swim across it, and he was packing his clothes, for he was so sure they’d all have to stay there for a long, long time.
“Don’t give up, Tommy,” said Bobby, glancing over the map. “We can easily make a bridge from this old log lying close by. Give us a push over here while we shove this end down, and I think if we crawl over one at a time, we shall all get safely across.”
And after much pushing, pulling, and crawling, the brave little adventurers landed safely on the far bank.
Now they had to cross a high rocky hill, but on the map it looked much worse than it really was. A butterfly, which flew down from a thistle, showed them the pleasantest way to go. Dora the Deer nearly tumbled downstairs once, but she saw where it was and walked around it, while Bobby managed to give Tommy a push just in time to save him from slipping over.
After this, the path led them through a wood that was so dark and so thick that they might never have found their way if Sam the Squirrel had not flown from tree to tree, looking out for the triangle that was marked on his map.
By this time, fifty nice young acorns Sam had put safely away in a bulging pocket he had in his cheek. It was where he’d keep them in warm weather, for it wouldn’t be easy to find nuts in the winter if he didn’t lay in a good stock beforehand. But of course it was not winter now, and he quite forgot to eat any, though he was so busy dropping them from his cheeky little pocket into the others of his friends.
“See what I found for you!” he called out, when he managed to hop down to Bobby and Tommy on the ground, for he was much too big to travel on the paths.
“Oh, thank you, Sam,” replied Tommy. “But it’s just the same as we have at home. You squirrels eat grass, don’t you?”
“No, no!” laughed Dora, pulling off a sprig that hung over a soupçon of fine dry moss. “They’re ever so much nicer. Don’t you like them, Sam?”
But now Bobby’s nose was quivering in delight. Sniff—sniff—sniff—it was certainly the smell of soup! Right it was, for the very next minute they came quite to the end of the wood, and saw a brown bear bending over an electric stove, with what he thought was the funniest-looking cauldron he had ever seen in his life.
Now Bobby could not bear to let his friends go hungry, so while Tommy and the others kept Guard, he hurried up to the bear, and offered to buy the whole potful of soup if he wouldn’t sell it for anything else.
“Well, well,” grumbled Bruin, “I suppose I can part with some soup. I don’t really need it all.” And he led Bobby to his kitchen door, and filled his cauldron nearly to the top with bear soup—all made and ready to eat the way Bruin liked it best—with nuts, berries, and a great deal such like swimming at the top—quite enough for all the party.
So Bobby Bunny and his friends sat down and had a most delightful picnic.
By this time the sun was setting, and they ought long ago to have been home, but they said the map pointed to the treasure they were to find as still some way off. So they started again at once, the bear giving Bobby his bumbershoot to carry, and sliding down behind to keep as close as he possibly could.
They soon came to a place where a great deal of water had run down the hill, the mud and puddles made the steps muddy and difficult. Bobby led the way, while Bear Bruin came immediately after; and just as they were on the highest point, and at the steepest incline, he noticed that the handle of his bumbershoot was quite broken off, and the worst of it was, that fresh water had got inside it, and made his bumbershoot just as heavy as could be.
Down they went, one after the other, when all of a sudden, Bruin’s bumbershoot gave way, the rush of wind blew past just like a breath of fresh air.
“Get up! get up!” called Bobby to Bruin and the others that followed. “We’ve found it at last! We shall be in good time for supper, after all.”
They were soon at the door of Bruin’s closet, while they laid the treasure out upon a table, divided between them as well as they could. Then they all sat down, and ate and ate till they were too full, and then they each put another portion in some convenient place, so that they were sure they could take home a bite or two, when they liked.
So long as Bobby supplied them with treasure, Bruin was sure of a friend; and to this very day, although the acorns are seldom on sale, timid little Bobby gets on charmingly with his bear friend Bruin, and if he only happens to hear by telephone that nuts are in the market, he gives Bruin a call, and in about half an hour they have a nice little meal of blackberries or mushrooms, or strawberries with regrets and apologies. Yes, between Bruin and Bobby there have been no old scores, and there are no little terms of intimacy that Bruin’s treatment of Bobby didn’t make grandpa a little huffed, as long as he was pleased with it.