Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1898-03-27
] I HE EASTER RABBITS By Frank R. Stockton.
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What happy little girl that must have been!" gasped Lapinita.
 "0f course, we cannot get an egg like that" said the Dryad 'but we must find a nice, big one and put something in it. Have you any goose eggs i'll this eountry?"
 "0h, yes," said Lapingro, and I know a goose who will give me one"
 Run and get it, please" said the Dryad, "and bring it here. Then we shall sec what can be done
 But don't get one too big for me to carry,' said Iapinita, anNiously. When Lapingro came back under the live oaks he brought a large and beau tifu1 goose egg.
 That will do very well, indeed" anid the Dryad. "Now, it must be cut in half so that we can take everything out of it and make the shell open and shut. We must have some gum 10 fasten on the hinges, and I will go and get that. It oozes out of some trees SO high up that you cant reach il. While I am gone you can cut the egg apart. Cut it the long way, please, eX- actly in the middle and try to keep the edges very smooth"
 The Dryad glided away among the trees and the two rabbits sat and wig gIed their noses in earnest eogitation. 'sI know how we can do it. presently said Lapingra. q will gnaw off leaf of the saw palmetto and we can do it with that"
 Away hopped Iapingro, while Lapin-
 
 ita remained to watch the precious egg.
 In ten minutes the goose egg was laid in a little moosy hollow, where it could rest steadily, and the two rab- bits, each with an end of the saw edged palmetto leaf in it's mouth, had begun to cut the egg down the middle. One of them sat at one end of the egg and one at the other, and they pulled the leaf backward and forward as if it had been a eross-eut saw worked by two people. They had some trouble at first to keep the saw exactly in the middle of the egg, but as soon as they had made one good cut in the right place it was easy enough to go on. Every time that Lapinita leaned for ward her little eotton-tail wiggled to the west and every time she pulled backward it wagged to the east, so that in a short time the ground behind her was brushed entirely bare.
 At last the goose egg was cut exactly in two halves. and when these fell apart all the inside ran out.
 1t is a great pity to waste q gos- ling" said LapiDgro, but it can't be helped. Come now, Lapinita! We must carry these two halves of the egg shell to the brook and wash them clean. I wonder what the Dryad is going to tell us to put in them"
 "Oh, I wonder very much,' said Papinita; "so very, very much"
 When the Dryad came back she found the two halves of the eggshell washed nice and clean and already dry.
 How beautifully you have done it!" she exclaimed. "I have brought some nice soft gum for the hinges. But what are we to make them of? It ought to be something like thin leather"
 Lapingro clapped his right forepaw to the side of his nose. q think l can get something that will do,' said he q saw a tadpole this morning taking off his skin so as to get his legs out and be frog. He does not want the skin any more, and I will go and see if 1 can find it."
 .'We must have something to line the inside of the egg" said'the Dryad. Do you know where you can get anything soft?'
 "Oh, yes" cried Papinita. "T know ! IL I. 1. +.l will go and get some" "A cotton patch!" said the Dryad. 'sWhat is that?"
 "It is where our tails grow At least I was told so when I was little bit of a baby. But l have already begun not to believe it."
 Very soon the little rabbit came hop ping back to the Dryad with bunch of white cotton in her mouth, which made her look as if she had two tails one in front and one behind.
 Presently Lapingro returned with the tadpole skin, which the Dryad declared would do admirably for hinges. With a bit of sharp shell she cut it into prop CT shape and gummed it on the two halves of the eggshell, so that they opened and closed nicely.
 q do not know how to make it shut with a click" she said; "but when we have filled it we can make cord with some of my hair and tie it up."
 She then lined the egg with a thin , layer of soft cotton, and when this was done she and the two rabbits set them selves to consider what they should put in the Easter egg. This was not easy to decide, and having hidden the egg under the moss they all went wander 5 ing through the woods to see what they could find.
 They wandered nearly the rest of the day, and toward the close of the after noon, as they were nearing patch which led through the woods, they were startled by voices. Quickly hiding themselves behind trees they saw two men who were looking for something , among the leaves and grass on the 2 ground.
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