she had gnawed off in her mouth and bounded off
toward the underground house. All at once a dog sprang out of the bushes
at her and the man with the gun shot at her, but he did not hit her. She
was so frightened, however, that she dropped the cabbage leaves and ran
for her life.

Oh, how Susie Littletail did run! She never ran so fast before in all
her life, and, just as the dog was going to grab her, she saw the back
door of her house, and into it she popped like a cork going into a
bottle.

"Oh! Oh! Oh!" she cried three times, just like that. "I am safe!" and
she ran to where her brother was, on a bed of leaves.

"Why, Susie!" he called to her. "Whatever is the matter?"

"Yes. Why have you been running so?" asked Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy. "What
happened?"

"A big dog chased me," answered Susie. "But I got away."

"Where is my cabbage?" Sammie wanted to know. "I am so hungry for it."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, but I had to drop it," went on Susie. "Oh, Jane
Fuzzy-Wuzzy, is papa home safe. Where is Uncle Wiggily Longears? I hope
neither of them is out, for I'm afraid that hunter and his dog will see
them."

"Your uncle is asleep in his room," said the muskrat nurse. "His
rheumatism hurts him this weather. As for your papa, he has not come
home yet, but I guess he is wise enough to keep out of the way of dogs.
Now don't make any noise, for your mamma is lying down with a headache.
I have a little preserved clover, done up in sugar, put away in the
cupboard, and I will give you some."

"That is better than cabbage," declared Sammie, joyfully.

But, just as Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy went to the cupboard to get the sugared
clover, something ran down into the underground house. It was a long,
thin animal, with a sharp nose, sharper even than Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy's,
and when the nurse saw the curious little beast, she cried out in
fright:

"Oh, run, children! Run!" she screamed. "This is a very dreadful
creature indeed! It is a ferret, but I will drive him out, and he shan't
hurt you!"

Then Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, dropping the pan of potatoes she was
peeling for supper, sprang at the ferret. And to-morrow night, if you
are good children, you shall hear how Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy drove the ferret
from the underground home and saved the bunny children.

IV

PAPA LITTLETAIL'S PICTURE

When Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy called out to the two bunny children to run
away from the ferret, Sammie and Susie were so frightened that they
hardly kn