d to get out of the trap, but could not.

Pretty soon he saw his father and his uncle coming over the snow toward
him, and he felt much better.

"Now we must be very careful," said Uncle Wiggily Longears, to Papa
Littletail. "There may be more traps about."

So he sat upon his hind legs, and Papa Littletail sat up on his hind
legs, and they both made their noses twinkle like stars on a very frosty
night. For that is the way rabbits smell, and these two were wise
bunnies, who could smell a trap as far as you can smell perfumery. They
could not smell any traps, and they could not see any with their pink
eyes, so they went quite close to Sammie, who was held fast by his left
hind leg.

"Does it hurt you very much?" asked his papa, and he put his front paws
around his little rabbit boy, and gave him a good hug.

"Not very much, papa," replied Sammie, "but I wish I was out."

"We'll soon have you out," said Uncle Wiggily Longears, and then with
his strong hind feet he kicked away the snow and dried leaves from the
trap. Then Sammie could see how he had been fooled. The trap was so
covered up that only the cabbage stump showed, so it is no wonder that
he stepped into it.

The two rabbits tried to get Sammie out, but they could not, because the
trap was too strong.

"What shall we do?" asked Papa Littletail, as he sat down and scratched
his left ear, which he always did when he was worried about anything.

"The trap is fast to a piece of wood by a chain," said Uncle Wiggily
Longears. "We will have to gnaw through the wood, and then take Sammie,
the trap, chain and all, home. Once there, we can call in Dr. Possum,
and he can open the trap and get Sammie's leg out."

So the two big rabbits set to work to gnaw through the wood, to which
the chain of the trap was fastened. Sammie Littletail tried not to cry
from the pain, but some tears did come, and they froze on his face,
close to his little wiggily nose, for it was quite cold.

"I should have given you a lesson about traps," said Uncle Wiggily
Longears; "then perhaps you would not have been caught. I will give you
a lesson to-morrow."

Finally the wood was gnawed through, and Sammie, with his uncle on one
side and his papa on the other, to help him, reached home. The trap was
still on his leg, and he could not go very fast. In fact, the three of
them had to go so slow that a hunter and his dog came after them. They
managed, however, to jump down the hole of the un