When Sammie Littletail and his sister Susie went off toward the underground house, after they had shown Mrs. Wren where she could get the squirrel's old nest for a home, they felt very happy. They ran along, jumping over stones, leaping through the grass that was beginning to get very green, and had a jolly time.
"I wonder what makes me feel so good?" said Sammie to his sister. "It's just as if Christmas was coming, or something like that; yet it isn't. I don't know what it is."
"I know," spoke Susie, who was very wise for a little bunny-rabbit girl.
"What is it?" asked Sammie, as he paused to nibble at a sweet root that was sticking out of the ground.
"It is because we have been kind to somebody," went on Susie Littletail. "We did the little brown bird a kindness in showing her the squirrel's nest where she could go to housekeeping, and that's what makes us happy."
"Are you sure?" asked Sammie.
"Yes," said Susie; "I am," and she sat up on her hind legs and sniffed the air to see if there was any danger about. "You always feel good when you do any one a kindness," she went on. "Once I wanted to go out and play, and I couldn't, because Nurse Fuzzy-Wuzzy was away and mamma had a headache. So I stayed home and made mamma some cabbage-leaf tea, and she felt better, and I was happy then, just as we are now."
"Well, maybe that's it," admitted Sammie Littletail. "I am glad Mrs. Wren has a nice home, anyhow. But I wouldn't like to live away up in a tree, would you?"
"No, indeed. I would be afraid when the wind blew and the nest shook."
"It is ever so much nicer underground in our burrow," continued Sammie.
"It certainly is," agreed Susie, "but I s'pose that a bird would not like that. They seem to want to be high up in the air. But I don't like it. Once I went away up on top of Farmer Tooker's woodpile, because his gray cat chased me, and when I looked down I was very dizzy, and it was not as high as a tree."
So the two bunny children hurried along, talking of many things, and, now and then, finding some nice sweet roots, or juicy leaves, which they ate. They paused every once in a while to look over the tops of little hills to discover if any dogs or hunters or ferrets were in sight, for they did not want to be caught.
At length they came to a little brook that was not far from their home. The edge of the stream had ice on it, for, though spring was approaching, the weather was still cold.
"Ah! There is some ice. I am going to have a slide!" Sammie shouted.
"You had better not!" cautioned his sister. "You might fall in."
"I will keep close to the shore," promised her brother, and he took a run and slid along the ice. "Come on!" he cried. "It's fun, Susie."
The little bunny girl was just going to walk out on the ice, when Sammie, who had taken an extra long run, slid right off the ice and into the water.
"Oh! Oh, Susie!" he screamed. "I've fallen in! Help me out!"
"What shall I do?" asked his sister, and she stood up on her hind legs and waved her little paws in the air.
"Get a stick and let me grab it!" called Sammie. "But don't come too close, or you may fall in, too," for Sammie was very fond of his sister, and did not want her to get hurt. He clung to the edge of the ice, and shivered in the cold water, while, with her teeth, Susie gnawed a branch from a tree. The branch she held out to her brother, who grasped it in his mouth and was soon pulled up on shore. But, oh, how he shivered! And how his fur was plastered down all over him, just like a cat when it falls in the bathtub. But I hope none of you children ever put pussy in there.
"You must run home at once," said Susie, "and drink some hot sassafras tea, so you won't take cold. Come on, I'll run with you."
So they started off, running, leaping and bounding, and by the time they got to their burrow, Sammie was quite warm. Down the front door hole they plunged, and, as soon as Sammie's mother saw him, she cried out:
"Why, Sammie! You've been in swimming! Didn't I tell you never to go in swimming?"
"I haven't been swimming, mother," said Sammie.
"Yes, you have; your hair is all wet," she answered.
Then Sammie told how he had fallen in. Uncle Wiggily Longears, the old rabbit, heard him, and said he guessed he would have to give Sammie and Susie some lessons in swimming, and if you are good, I will tell you to-morrow night what happened on that occasion.
Uncle Wiggily Longears was a very wise old rabbit. He had lived so long, and had escaped so many dogs and hunters, year after year, that he knew about all a rabbit can know. Of course, that may not be so very much, but it was a good deal for Uncle Wiggily Longears. So the day after Sammie came home from having fallen in the brook the old rabbit got ready to give Sammie and Susie Littletail their swimming lesson.
"You will want to know how to get out of the water when you fall in," he said. "You come with me, and I will show you. It is not very cold out, and I will give you a short lesson."
"Be careful not to let them drown," cautioned Mamma Littletail.
"I will," promised Uncle Wiggily Longears, and he started from the burrow, followed by the two bunny children. But, just as their uncle got out of the front door he was seized with a sharp spasm of rheumatism.
"Oh! oh! oh, dear!" he cried three times, just like that.
"What is the matter?" asked Sammie.
"Rheumatism," answered Uncle Wiggily Longears, and he put his left front paw on his left hind leg. "I have it very bad. I don't believe I would dare go in the water with you children to-day. We will have to wait. Yet I don't like to, as you ought to learn to swim. I wonder if you could learn if I stood on the bank and told you what to do?"
"I think it would be much better if you could come into the water and show us," said Susie.
"Yes, of course it would," admitted Uncle Wiggily Longears. "Of course it would, my dear, only you see—ouch! Oh, me! Oh, my!" and poor Uncle Wiggily Longears wrinkled his nose and made it twinkle like a star on a frosty night, and he wiggled his ears to and fro. "Oh, that was a terrible sharp pain," he said. "I don't believe I'd better go, children. I'm awfully sorry——"
"Let me take the children and show them how to swim," said Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, who had just finished peeling the potatoes for dinner. She could peel them very nicely with her long, sharp front teeth, which were just like a chisel that a carpenter uses.
"Yes, I guess you could teach them," said Uncle Wiggily, as he rubbed his leg softly. "You are a much better swimmer than I am; but can you spare the time from the housework?"
You see, Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy had to do all the housework for the Littletail family, but, as she was a very good muskrat, she was able to do it, and she often had time to spare, so she answered:
"Yes, I can just as well go as not, for I have the dinner on the stove, and Mr. Littletail will not be home to lunch. I will give the children a swimming lesson. It will not take long."
"Well," spoke Uncle Wiggily Longears, "I wish you would. I must go and get something for my rheumatism."
"You had better try a hot cabbage leaf," said Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy. "I have heard that is good."
"I will," said the old rabbit, and he crawled back down into the burrow, while Susie and Sammie, with Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, went on to the brook.
The muskrat was a very good swimmer, indeed, and as soon as she reached the water she plunged in and swam about, to show Sammie and Susie how it ought to be done. She dived, and she shot across; she swam on her side, and in the ordinary way. In fact, she swam in a number of ways that you and I could not. At length she swam entirely under water for some distance, and the bunny children were afraid she was drowned, but she came up smiling, showing her sharp teeth, and explained that this was one of the ways she used to escape from dogs, boys and other enemies.
Then the nurse-muskrat gave the bunny children their lesson. She had little trouble in teaching them, as they learned quickly. She was just showing them how to float along with only the tip of the nose showing, in order to keep out of sight, when suddenly there was a noise on the bank.
No, it was not some one after the bunny rabbit children's clothes, for they had left them at home when they went to take a lesson. But it was a number of boys with a dog, who were making the noise. As soon as the boys saw the rabbits and the rat they gathered up a lot of stones, and one boy cried out:
"Oh, look there! Two rabbits and a muskrat! Let's catch them, and sell their skins!"
"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Susie, who was very much frightened. "Whatever shall we do?"
"Don't be alarmed," said Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, calmly, as she started to swim down stream. "Just follow me; swim as I do, with only your nose out, and I will save you." The boys ran along the bank, throwing stones at the little creatures, and the dog barked, and to-morrow night I will tell you how Sammie and Susie got away and were saved by Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, that is if you think you would care to hear the story.
You may be sure the two Littletail children were very much frightened when they were floating down the stream behind Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, with the boys on the bank throwing stones at them, and the dog barking as hard as he could bark.
"Sic the dog in the water after them," called one boy.
"Naw! This dog doesn't like water," said the boy who owned it. "We'll hit 'em with stones, and then poke 'em out with sticks."
Oh, how Sammie and Susie shuddered when they heard those words! They did not know Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy was going to save them. The muskrat looked around to see how the children were swimming.
"Don't be afraid," she called, but of course the boys could not understand what she said. The dog could, being an animal and understanding animal talk, but the dog couldn't tell the boys.
"Don't be afraid," said the nurse. "Sammie, keep your head under more. Susie, strike out harder with your forepaws."
The two bunny children did as they were told. Just then a stone came very close to Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, and she went completely beneath the water.
"The muskrat's gone!" cried a boy.
"No," said another, "it can swim under water. But don't bother with the rabbits. They're little, and their fur isn't much good. Kill the muskrat, for we can get fifty cents for the skin."
"Oh, how mean boys are!" thought Susie Littletail. "To talk about selling poor Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy's skin! Aren't they terrible!"
The boys now gave all their attention to throwing stones at the muskrat, but she was very wise, and kept under water as much as possible, so they could not hit her. They did not throw at Sammie or Susie. Presently Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy swam backward under water and came up near Sammie. She put her sharp nose close to his ear and whispered:
"Down stream a little way is a burrow where I used to live. The front door is under water, but if you hold your breath you can dive down, get in and come up in the dry part. Then you can dig a way out in a field, and we can go home, and escape the boys."
Jane told the same thing to Susie, and, pretty soon, when they came to the place, the two bunny children took a long breath, and dived down under water. Sammie and Susie took hold of the long tail of Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy to guide them in the dark, and, though it seemed a terrible thing not to breathe under water, the three suddenly found themselves in a little underground house, much like their own, where they could breathe again.
"Now we are safe!" exclaimed the muskrat. "Just dig a back door and you can get out."
So Sammie and Susie did so, and, pretty soon, they found themselves in a nice field, some distance back from the water. They could see the boys and their dog still watching near the bank to catch Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, and the boys never knew how the muskrat and the rabbit children escaped.
"My! but that was exciting," said Sammie, when they were on their way home.
"Indeed it was," agreed Susie. "I'm so frightened that I have almost forgotten how to swim."
"It will all come back to you the next time you go in the water," said Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy. "But I must hurry home now, or dinner will be late."
They got to the burrow without anything more happening. Mamma Littletail and Uncle Wiggily Longears were much alarmed when told about the narrow escape.
"Those boys!" cried the old rabbit. "If I wasn't laid up with rheumatism, I'd show them!" and he snapped his teeth in quite a savage manner indeed, for a rabbit can get angry at times.
After dinner Mamma Littletail asked Sammie and Susie to go to the cabbage-field store for her, but, as Sammie wanted to stay home and make a whistle out of a carrot, Susie went alone. As she was walking along under a big tree, she heard a noise in the branches, and, looking up, she saw a number of squirrels. One was the squirrel who had given her old nest to Mrs. Wren. The little gray chaps were running about, seemingly much excited over something. Presently they all scampered down, and Susie saw that they had their mouths full of nuts. They put them on the ground in a little heap, and then the little bunny girl noticed that there was, nearby, an old stump, and it was set just like a table, with dried leaves for plates, and the tops of acorns for cups.
"What is going on here?" Susie asked the squirrel whom she knew.
"I am giving a party in honor of having moved into my new nest," said the squirrel. "Wouldn't you like to come?"
"Yes," said Susie very politely, "I would like very much to."
"Then," said the squirrel, "hop up on the stump, and I will get an extra plate for you." Susie did so. It was the first party she had ever attended, but I can't tell you what happened until to-morrow.
Up and down the big oak tree scampered the squirrels, bringing nuts and acorns from hollows, where they had been hidden all winter.
"Hey, Bushytail!" cried the squirrel whom Susie knew, addressing another who was on the ground at the foot of the stump, "bring up a big leaf."
"What do you want with a big leaf?" inquired the squirrel who was called Bushytail.
"Susie Littletail is going to stay to the party," replied the squirrel who was giving it, "and I want the leaf for a plate for her. She will need a large one."
Up the old stump climbed Bushytail with the leaf in his mouth, and he put it in a vacant place. The stump was quite large enough for the squirrels and rabbit to move about upon and still leave room for the table to be set. Susie saw the squirrels placing nut meats on the different plates and putting oak-leaf tea into the acorn cups. Suddenly the squirrel whom Susie knew and whose name was Mrs. Lightfoot, exclaimed:
"There! I never thought of that!"
"Thought of what?" asked Susie.
"Why, we haven't anything that you like to eat. You don't care for nuts, do you?"
"Not very much," answered Susie, who wanted to be polite, yet she still wanted to tell the truth.
"I thought so," spoke Mrs. Lightfoot. "Whatever shall I do? I've asked you to the party and now there is nothing you like. It's too bad, for I want you to have a good time!"
"I—I could go to the cabbage-field store and get some leaves, and I could bring some carrots and eat them," suggested Susie.
"Yes, but it wouldn't be right to ask you to a party and then have you bring your own things to eat," objected Mrs. Lightfoot.
"That's what they do at surprise parties," went on Susie, who had heard Uncle Wiggily Longears tell of one he once attended. It was given by a chipmunk.
"Yes, but this isn't a surprise party," said Mrs. Lightfoot. "I don't know what to do."
"We can pretend it's a surprise party," went on Susie. "I know I was very much surprised when you asked me to come to it."
"Were you, indeed?" inquired the squirrel. "Then a surprise party it shall be. Listen!" she called to the other squirrels; "this is a surprise party for Susie Littletail."
"Humph! I don't call this a surprise," grumbled an old squirrel, whose tail had partly been shot off. But nobody minded him, as he was always grumbling. So Susie went and got some cabbage leaves and carrots, and brought them to the party. She had to eat them all alone, as the squirrels did not care much for such things. The only thing Susie could eat which the squirrels did was some ice cream, made with snow, maple syrup and hickory nuts ground up fine. This was very good.
Susie had a grand time at the party, and after the hickory-nut ice cream and other good things had been eaten, she and the squirrels played "Ring Around the Old Oak Stump," which is something like "London Bridge" and "Ring Around the Rosy" mixed up together. It was lots of fun, and Susie almost forgot to go to the cabbage-field store. But she did go there, though it was just about to be closed up, and when she got home with the cabbage leaves for supper, she told about the surprise party. Then Sammie wished he had gone to the store, instead of remaining at home to make a whistle out of a carrot.
"I never had anything nice like that happen to me," said Sammie, in just the least bit of a grumbly voice. And, what do you think? The very next day something happened to Sammie, only it wasn't very nice. He was out walking in a field, when he met a big cat.
"Where do you live?" asked the cat, in quite a friendly voice.
"Over there," said Sammie, pointing toward the burrow.
"Can you take me there?" asked the cat, and she wiggled her whiskers and licked her nose with her tongue, for she was hungry.
"Yes, I'll show you," agreed Sammie, and he led the cat toward the burrow. Now, he did not know any better, for he did not stop to think that cats will eat rabbits. And the cat was just thinking how easily she had provided a good dinner for herself, when Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, who was peeping out of the front door of the burrow, saw pussy. The muskrat knew at once that the cat had come to eat the little rabbits and the big ones, too, and the only reason she did not eat Sammie was because she wanted more of a meal. So the nurse showed her sharp teeth, and the cat ran away. But she knew where the burrow was, and this was a bad thing, for she might come back again in the night, when Sammie and Susie were asleep.
"We must move away from here at once," said Uncle Wiggily Longears, when he heard about the cat. "We must find a new burrow or make one. Sammie, you acted very wrongly, but you did not mean to. Now, you must help us pack up to move." And to-morrow night, if all goes well, I shall tell you what happened when the Littletail family went to their new home.
Did you ever see a rabbit family move? No, I don't suppose you have, for not every one has had that chance. But the Littletail family, as I told you last night, had to move because a big cat had found out where their burrow was.
"I shall go out at once, and see if I can find a new place," said Uncle Wiggily Longears, after the excitement caused by Sammie bringing home the cat had calmed down. "We need a larger burrow, anyhow. I will find a nice one."
"Can you go out with your rheumatism?" asked Mamma Littletail. "You are very lame, you know. Perhaps you had better wait until Papa Littletail comes home to-night, and he will go."
"No, we must lose no time," said the uncle. "I can manage with my crutch, I guess."
So he started from the burrow, leaning heavily on a crutch Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy had gnawed from a cornstalk.
"Be careful of the cat," cautioned Susie.
"Oh, no cat can catch me, even if I have the rheumatism very bad," said her uncle, and he limped away. While he was gone, Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy promised to keep a sharp lookout for that cat.
Uncle Wiggily Longears was gone for some time. When he returned to the burrow Papa Littletail had come back from where he worked in a carrot factory, which was a new position for him, and he had heard all the news.
"Well," he asked Uncle Wiggily, "did you find a new burrow?"
"Yes," answered the uncle, "I did. I will tell you all about it. I walked a long distance, and I met several friends of mine. I asked them about burrows, and they said the best ones were all taken. I was afraid you would have to dig a new one, until I met Mr. Groundhog, and he told me of one next to him, on the bank of a little pond. We can get it cheap, he said."
"Has it all improvements?" asked Mamma Littletail. "I want a good kitchen and a bathroom."
"It has everything," said the uncle. "It has three doors, and we can get in and out easily. It is near a cabbage-field and a turnip patch. We can bathe in the pond, so we don't need a bathroom."
"Where is it?" asked Papa Littletail. "I must be near the trolley, you know."
"It is not far from the cars," went on Uncle Wiggily Longears. "Have you ever heard of Eagle Rock?"
None of the family had.
"Well, it is not far from there," said Uncle Wiggily. "I went out on the rock, and my! what a view there was! I could see away over the big meadows, where some of your relatives live, Miss Fuzzy-Wuzzy, and then I could see something called New York."
"What's New York?" asked Susie Littletail.
"I don't know," answered her uncle promptly. "I imagine it must be something good to eat." But of course, children, you know how mistaken he was. Uncle Wiggily told more about his walk, and finally it was decided to take the new burrow, so the cat could not find them.
The next day the Littletail family moved. That is all they did, they just moved. They had no packing or unpacking to do, except that Sammie took the whistle he had made out of a carrot and Uncle Wiggily carried his cornstalk crutch. By noon they were all settled, and Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy had cooked some of the new cabbage, which had been left in the field all winter, and also some turnips, which were piled under a lot of straw out-of-doors. She also found some potatoes, which she peeled with her sharp teeth.
That afternoon, as Sammie was hopping about his new home, he heard some one exclaim:
"Hello!"
"Hello," replied Sammie, who always wanted to be friendly.
"Where do you live?" the voice went on, and, all at once, Sammie thought of the cat.
"No, you don't!" he cried. "You can't fool me again. I know you!"
"Oh, do you?" asked the voice. "Well, seeing that I'm a stranger here, and you are too, I don't think that you know me."
Sammie looked on top of a clod of earth, whence the voice came, and saw a big frog.
"Oh, it's you, is it?" he asked faintly.
"Of course," replied the frog. "My name's Bully; what's yours?" Sammie told him. "Ever hear of me?" went on the frog, and when Sammie said he had not, the frog continued: "Well, let's see who can jump the farthest," and with that he began to get ready. Sammie, who was a very good jumper, did also, and just as they were about to see who was the better at it, there suddenly—But there, I shall have to wait until to-morrow night to tell you what happened next.
Let me see, where did I leave off last night? Oh, I remember now, I was telling you about Sammie Littletail's new playmate, Bully, the frog, and how they were about to have a jumping contest, when something happened. This is what happened:
Bully was crouching down for a spring, when he suddenly looked up. This was not hard for him, as his eyes were nearly on top of his head, but Sammie had to get on his hind legs to peer upward properly. And this is what both of the little creatures saw: A big bird, with long legs and a very long bill, was standing on one leg right over the frog. The bird was looking intently at Bully.
"Come on!" cried the frog to the rabbit. "We must get away from here as quickly as we can."
"Why?" asked Sammie Littletail.
"Because," said Bully, "that bird will eat us. My father warned me never to stay near that bird. Let us go away at once."
"What sort of a bird is it?" asked Sammie, who now had no wish to jump. "I'm sure it can't be very harmful. The only birds that I have to look out for are owls, eagles and hawks, and it isn't any of them."
"No, I'm not one of them," spoke the bird with the long legs, snapping its bill as if sharpening it. "I'm a blue heron, that's what I am, though some folks think I'm a stork or a crane."
"Well," spoke Sammie, "you're not dangerous, are you?"
"Not for you," went on the blue heron, and he snapped his beak again, just like two knives being sharpened. "I came for that fellow," and the bird lowered the leg it had hidden under its feathers and pointed at the frog. "I came for you," the heron went on. "You're wanted at once. What's your name?"
Sammie Littletail thought the bird might have asked the frog's name first before saying that Bully was wanted, but the bird did not seem to consider this.
"What's your name?" the long-legged bird asked again.
"Bully," answered the frog, in a trembling, croaking voice.
"Humph!" exclaimed the heron. "That's a good name. Mine is Billy. Bully and Billy go well together. I'm called Billy because I have such a long bill, you see," the heron explained to Sammie Littletail. "But enough of this. I've come for you, Bully. I'm hungry. I'm going to eat you. That's why you're wanted at once and immediate."
"I—I think there's some mistake," faltered Bully.
"No mistake at all," snapped the heron. "It's in all the books. Cranes, storks and herons always eat frogs, mice and-so-forth. I never ate any and-so-forth, but I imagine it must be very nice. At any rate, I'm going to eat you!" and he snapped his bill like three knives being sharpened.
"Oh, are you?" cried Bully, the frog, and he suddenly gave a great jump, greater even than that which the Jumping Frog that Mark Twain wrote about gave, and into the pond he plunged, and went right to the bottom. Now, what do you think about that? Yes, sir, he went right to the bottom, where the blue heron couldn't get him, and then he called up, in a voice which sounded very hoarse because it came from so far under water:
"Ha! Who got left?"
"I suppose he means me," spoke the heron to Sammie, and the bird, very much annoyed, fanned itself with its long leg. "I don't believe that's fair," the heron went on. "It's in all the books," and then, with a great flapping of wings, the tall creature flew away, and Bully, the frog, came out.
"You had a narrow escape," said Sammie.
"Oh, I'm used to that," replied the frog. "Now, let's practice jumping."
Which they did, only the frog always jumped into the water and Sammie remained on dry land, so they never could tell who was the best at it. Then they played other games, and became very good friends. The frog pond was very near the new burrow where Sammie lived, and the two used to meet quite often. One day the frog said:
"I think it would be very nice if you would dig a way from your burrow to my pond. Then, when it rained, I could come to see you without getting wet, and you could come to see me."
"That is a fine idea," declared Sammie. "I'll do it."
So, without saying anything to his mother or sister or Uncle Wiggily Longears, Sammie began to dig under ground to reach the pond. It took him some time, but at last he came out just above the top of the water, near where Bully lived.
"This is great!" cried the frog, as he looked in the hole. "Now when it rains we will not get wet."
And, what do you think! It rained that very night. It rained so hard that the pond rose higher and higher, until the water began to run in the hole Sammie had dug. It awakened the Littletail family in the middle of the night, and when Uncle Wiggily Longears saw the water creeping nearer and nearer to him, and felt the rheumatism worse than ever, he cried out:
"A flood! A flood! We must swim out, or we shall all be drowned." Now you will have to be patient until to-morrow night to hear what took place. But they were not drowned; I'll tell you that much.
Of course, you remember how Sammie Littletail dug a tunnel from the burrow to the pond, and how the water came in. Of course. Well, Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy made a raft of cornstalks, and on this the whole rabbit family floated out of the burrow. Bully, the frog, who was a playmate of Sammie's, helped them. They had to go right out into the rain, and it was not very pleasant.
"Whatever are we going to do?" asked Mamma Littletail, but she did not scold Sammie for digging the tunnel and making all the trouble.
"Yes, we must get in out of the wet, or my rheumatism will be so bad I shall not be able to walk," complained Uncle Wiggily Longears.
"I know what we can do," proposed the muskrat nurse.
"What?" asked Susie Littletail.
"We can ask Mr. Groundhog to let us stay all night in his burrow," suggested the nurse. "I'm sure he will let us, for he has plenty of room."
Mr. Groundhog, who was an elderly creature, very fond of sleep in the winter, welcomed the rabbits to his burrow, and there they stayed out of the rain. In the morning the sun was shining brightly, and before very long the water all dried out of the bunnies' underground house, so that they could go back in it.
One day, about a week after this, when Uncle Wiggily Longears was out walking with Sammie and Susie, going quite slowly, because he was a trifle lame from rheumatism, Bully, the frog, came hopping up to them.
"Are you going to the circus?" he asked.
"Circus? What circus?" asked Sammie, who was interested very quickly, you may be sure.
"Why, the animal circus that is always held in the woods every spring. They do all sorts of queer things to get ready for the summer. I'm going. It's lots of fun. Better come."
"I haven't seen any circus posters up," remarked Susie.
"Of course not," answered Bully. "The animals never put them up, because they don't want a lot of people coming to look on and bother them. Don't you want to come? It's not very far."
"But we have no one to take us," spoke Susie.
"Yes, you have!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily Longears quickly. "I will take you myself. It would never do for you children to go to a circus alone. I will take you."
"But your rheumatism is so bad you can hardly walk," objected Susie. "Besides, it will be worse if you sit in the woods."
"Never mind about that," answered the uncle bravely. "I'll manage to stand it. I am determined you children shall not go to that circus alone. Of course, I don't care anything about a circus myself, but I must take care of you," and the elderly rabbit looked very brave, though the pain of his rheumatism was quite bad.
"My father is going to hop over three stumps," said Bully, the frog, quite proudly. "Come on, or we may be late."
So Uncle Wiggily took Sammie and Susie to the animal circus, and Bully, the frog, went also. He had a free ticket, because his father was one of the performers. They had reserved seats on big toadstools, though Bully said they ought to be called frogstools, as frogs used them more than toads did.
Then the performance began, after the birds had sung an opening chorus. The bunny children had a jolly time. They saw some pigeons give airship exhibitions that were better than any flying machines you ever heard of. They watched the snakes make hoops of themselves, through which jumped squirrels and rabbits. It was so exciting that Uncle Wiggily Longears clapped his paws as hard as he could. Then Dr. Possum, who was not very busy taking care of sick people that day, hung downward from a limb by his tail ever so long, but when Bully's papa jumped over three big stumps at once, without so much as touching one—well, you should have heard the clapping and shouting then! Best of all, Sammie and Susie liked the baby deer, who stood up on his hind legs and danced, while a crow whistled. It was so exciting that Sammie and Susie almost forgot to eat the candy-covered carrots and the molasses-cabbage which their uncle bought for them. It was the best time they had ever remembered, and they talked of nothing else on their way home. Even Uncle Wiggily's rheumatism seemed better. Now, if nothing happens, I am going to tell you to-morrow night of an adventure Sammie Littletail had with a snake.
"Sammie," said Mamma Littletail to her little bunny boy one fine day, "I wish you would take this basket of cabbage leaves and preserved clover over to Mr. Groundhog. He was so good to let us go in his burrow that night the flood came in here that I want to do him a kindness."
"Can't Susie come, too, mamma?" asked Sammie, who did not like to go through the woods alone, especially since there were so many boys wandering about on top of the Orange Mountain, now that spring was getting near.
"Yes, Susie may go if she wants to," answered the rabbit childrens' mother. "Do you want to, dear?"
"Oh, yes. I'll go with Sammie. But I think he ought to carry the basket."
"Of course I will," said Sammie, and the two set off to the burrow where Mr. Groundhog had his home. It was not far from the underground house where the rabbit family lived, and the children soon reached it. They knocked on the door, and a voice called out:
"Who's there?"
"Sammie and Susie Littletail," answered Sammie. "We have some cabbage leaves and preserved clover that mamma sent you."
"That is very nice," remarked the groundhog. "Come right in. I am afraid to come to the door, you know."
Sammie and Susie walked in and gave Mr. Groundhog the things in the basket. Then Susie, who was very curious, asked him a question.
"Why didn't you want to come to the door?" she inquired.
"Because," whispered the groundhog, looking around as if he was afraid some one would see him, "I might see my shadow again, you know, and that would make winter longer than ever. You know I went out Candlemas Day and I saw it, and it frightened me so I rushed back in here, and I'm not going out again until March 16, which will be just six weeks. If I hadn't seen my shadow, winter would not last so long—at least, that's what people say. I don't know whether to believe them or not. But I am not going out again until warm weather is here, so I am very glad your mamma sent me something to eat."
The groundhog gave the bunny children some bits of dried sweet potato he had put away, and they started for home.
"I don't believe much in that shadow business," said Sammie, as he and his sister walked along. "How could a groundhog, seeing his shadow, make winter any longer?"
"I don't know," answered Susie, "but it must be so, because every one says so; even Uncle Wiggily Longears."
"I'm going to ask Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy when I get home," declared Sammie. "Come on, let's go 'round by Farmer Tooker's cabbage patch. Maybe we can find a stump or two to gnaw. I'm getting hungry. Mr. Groundhog didn't give me enough sweet potato."
"Perhaps that was all he had," suggested Susie.
They were walking along, through a little wood, when, all of a sudden, the two bunnies heard a hiss, just like the steam coming out of the radiator.
"What's that?" cried Sammie.
"It's a snake!" shouted Susie. "Look out, Sammie, or he will grab you."
Sammie tried to jump out of the way, but he was too late, and the big black snake grabbed him. The snake coiled around poor Sammie, and bit the little rabbit's ear to make him keep quiet, I suppose, for Sammie was trying to get loose.
"Oh, oh, oh!" exclaimed Susie. "You bad snake! Let my little brother alone."
But the black snake never said a word, only he clung the tighter to poor Sammie.
"Run for help, Susie!" called the little boy rabbit. "Run and ask Mr. Groundhog to come and drive the snake away!"
So Susie ran as fast as she could, and did not even stop to rap on the burrow door where Mr. Groundhog lived. She went right in, and told the elderly creature that a bad snake had her little brother. "And won't you please come and get him loose?" asked Susie, who was crying. "If you shut your eyes you won't see your shadow, and be frightened. I will lead you to him."
"Never mind about my shadow!" exclaimed Mr. Groundhog. "I don't care whether I see it again or not. I'll go and save Sammie Littletail, who was so kind to me."
So he ran and hit the snake with a club, until it was glad enough to let Sammie loose, and it was quite time, too, for poor Sammie's breath was nearly squeezed out of him. Then Sammie, after he had thanked Mr. Groundhog, ran home with Susie. Now if you remind me of it, I shall try to tell you, to-morrow night, something about Susie and the white kittie.
Susie Littletail had gone for a walk in the woods. It was coming on spring, but the little bunny girl did not go to see if there were any wildflowers peeping up. Indeed, she cared very little about flowers, except the kind that were good to eat, and these were mostly clover blossoms. So that is what Susie went out to look for.
Uncle Wiggily Longears had said to her that day: "It seems to me, Susie, that it's getting quite warm out. My rheumatism is better, and it never does get better unless it's getting warm. So, of course, it must be getting warm."
Susie thought so, too.
"Then if it's getting warmer it must be almost spring," went on her uncle. "Now, if I were you, I would go take a walk and see how the clover is coming on. Some nice, fresh clover would taste very good."
"I'll see if I can get you any," spoke Susie, who was a very good little rabbit girl, and who always was kind to her old uncle. So that is why she was walking in the woods. She was almost through the place where the tall trees grew, and was just going to step out into a field that looked as if it had clover in it, when she heard a funny little noise. It was a sort of a squeak, and at first Susie thought it might be Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, for, sometimes, the muskrat started off with a squeak when she wanted to talk. But it was not her nurse whom Susie saw. Instead it was a dear little pussy kitten.
"Did you make that funny noise?" asked the little rabbit girl of the kitten.
"Yes," answered pussy, "but I don't call it a funny noise."
"I do," went on Susie.
"It was not at all funny, and I don't see anything to laugh at," spoke pussy, and then Susie saw that the white kitten had a large tear in each eye. "That was a mew," the kittie said.
"Why did you mew, pussie?" asked Susie.
Illustration by Louis Wisa
Illustration by Louis Wisa
"Because I am lost, and I don't know my way home. I guess you would mew if you couldn't find your papa or mamma."
"No," said Susie, "I wouldn't mew, but I would be very much frightened. But why don't you go home?" And Susie sat up and wrinkled her nose, just like water when it bubbles in the tea kettle, for that was the way she smelled, and she wanted to see if she could smell danger.
"How can I go home when I don't know the way?" asked the white kitten.
"Which way did you come in here?"
"If I knew that, I would know which way to go back home," the pussy replied, and the large tears, one in each eye, fell out and dropped on the ground, while two more came into her eyes.
"Are you crying because you are lost?" asked Susie.
"Of course. Wouldn't you?"
"Perhaps," answered Susie. "But you see I never was lost. I can always smell my way home, no matter how far off I go," and she wiggled her nose so fast that it made the kittie quite cross-eyed to watch it, and being cross-eyed made pussy sneeze. Then the pussy felt better.
"Can you show me the way home?" asked the kittie of Susie.
"Not to your house, for I don't know where it is," answered Susie, "but I could show you the way to mine."
Then the white kittie wanted Susie to do this, but the little rabbit girl thought it might not be safe, for the little kittie might show the big cats where the new underground house was.
"What is your name?" asked Susie of the kittie.
"My name is Ann Gora, but every one calls me Ann."
"That is a funny name," said Susie.
"I don't think it is at all," went on the kitten. "It is no funnier than Susie," and she began to cry again.
"Oh, don't cry!" exclaimed Susie, and she patted the kittie on the back with her foot. "Come with me. We will walk through the field, and maybe we will see your house. I think you must live in a house with people, for kitties never live in the woods like the squirrels, or in burrows as we do. We will look until we find a house with people in it, and maybe you belong there."
"That will be fine!" cried the kittie, and she dried her tears on her paw. So Susie and the kittie walked on together. And pretty soon Susie saw a little girl coming toward them. The little girl was looking in the grass, and calling, "Ann—Ann," in a soft voice. And when she saw the little kittie she ran to her and caught her up in her arms and hugged her. Then Susie Littletail ran home, for she was afraid of little girls, and on the way she saw that the clover was coming up nicely, so she told Uncle Wiggily. Now, if it is not too cold to-morrow night, I am going to tell you about Sammie and the black doggie.