pail of water down the hole, and no rabbit came floating
up.

"This hole must go all the way down to China!" said Browser, breathing
very fast.

"Yes, I'm tired of carrying water," said Biter. And just then another dog
cried out:

"Why, foolish dogs, the water's all running out the back way!" And, surely
enough, it was. Then they knew Uncle Wiggily had escaped, and they were as
angry as anything, but it served them right, I think.

"My! I wonder what will happen next?" thought the old gentleman rabbit, as
he hopped along. "That was a narrow escape."

So, having nothing else to do, Uncle Wiggily sat down on a nice, smooth
stump, and he ate some lunch out of his valise. And a red ant came up, and
very politely asked if she might not pick up the crumbs which the old
rabbit dropped.

"Of course you may," said Uncle Wiggily kindly. "And I'll give you a whole
slice of bread and butter, also."

"Oh, you are too generous," spoke the red ant. "I never could carry a
slice of bread and butter. But if you will leave it on the stump I'll get
some of my friends, and we'll bite off little crumbs, a few at a time, and
in that way carry it to our houses."

So that's what Uncle Wiggily did, and the ants had a fine feast, and they
were very thankful. Uncle Wiggily asked them if they knew where he could
find his fortune.

"Why don't you go to work, instead of traveling around so much?" asked the
biggest red ant. "The best fortune is the one you work for."

"Is it? I never thought of that," said Uncle Wiggily. "I will look for
work at once. I wonder if you ants have any for me."

"We'd like to help you," they said, "but you see you are so large that you
couldn't get into our houses to do any work. You had much better travel
along, and work for some one larger than we are."

"I will," decided the old gentleman rabbit. "I'll ask every one I meet if
they want me to work for them."

So he started off once more, and the first place he came to was a house
where a mouse lady lived.

"Have you any work I can do?" asked Uncle Wiggily politely.

"What work can you do?" asked the mouse lady.

"Well, I can peel carrots or turnips with my teeth," said Uncle Wiggily,
"and I can look after children, and tell them stories, and I can do some
funny tricks----"

"Then you had better go join a circus," interrupted the mouse lady. "I
have no children, and I can peel my own carrots, thank you. As for
turnips, I never eat them."

"Then I