wl, snapping his beak like a pair of shears, "here
you are and here you'll stay! My friends will soon arrive. I'll now put
the kettle on, to boil for tea."

Well, poor Uncle Wiggily didn't know what to do. He couldn't look in his
valise to see if there was anything in it by which he might escape, for he
had dropped the satchel outside when the owl grabbed him, and he only had
his barber-pole crutch.

"Oh, this is worse and worse!" thought the poor old rabbit.

But listen, Johnnie Bushytail is outside the owl's house, and he's going
to do a wonderful trick.

As soon as he saw the door shut on Uncle Wiggily, that brave squirrel boy
began to plan how he could save him, and the first thing he did was to
gather up a lot of acorns.

Then he perched himself in a tree, right in front of the owl's door, and
Johnnie began throwing acorns at it. "Rat-a-tat-tat!" went the acorns on
the wooden panels.

"Ha! Those must be my friends!" exclaimed the bad owl, opening the door a
little crack so he could peek out, but taking care to stand in front of
it, so that Uncle Wiggily couldn't slip out. But, of course, the owl saw
no one. "It must have been the wind," he said as he shut the door.

Then Johnnie Bushytail threw some more acorns at the door.
"Pitter-patter-patter-pit!" they went, like hailstones in an ice cream
can.

"Ah, there are my friends, sure, this time!" thought the owl, and once
more he peered out, but no one was there. "It must have been a tree branch
hitting against the door," said the owl, as he sharpened a big knife with
which to make the sandwiches. Then Johnnie threw some more acorns, and the
owl now thought positively his friends were there, and when he opened it
and saw no one he was real mad.

"Some one is playing tricks on me!" exclaimed the savage bird. "I'll catch
them next time!"

Now this was just what Johnnie Bushytail wanted, so he threw a whole
double handful of acorns at the door, and when the owl heard them
pattering against the wood he rushed out.

"Now, I've got you!" he cried, but he hadn't, for Johnnie was up a tree.
And, for the moment, the owl forgot about Uncle Wiggily, and there the
door was wide open.

"Run out, Uncle Wiggily! Run out!" cried Johnnie, and out the old
gentleman rabbit hopped, catching up his valise, and away into the woods
he ran, with Johnnie scurrying along in the tree tops above him, and
laughing at the owl, who flew back to his house, but too late to catch the
b