usie, 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.

XVII

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, pussi