so, than the dog saw
him, and came rushing at him with a loud, "Bow-wow-wow! Bow-wow-wow!"
"My, but he's savage!" thought the rabbit. "I wonder if I can get away in
time?"
And then the auto honked louder than before, and all of a sudden it came
whizzing down the road, right toward the rabbit.
"Oh, dear; I'm going to be caught, sure!" cried Uncle Wiggily, and indeed
it did look so, for there was the dog running from one direction, and the
auto coming in the other, and prickly briar bushes were on both sides of
the road, and Uncle Wiggily couldn't crawl through them without pulling
all the fur off his back, and his ears, too.
"Honk-Honk!" went the auto.
"Bow-wow!" went the dog.
"Oh, dear!" cried Uncle Wiggily. Then he thought of a plan. "I'll give a
big run and a long jump and maybe I can jump over the auto, and then the
auto will bump into the dog, and I will be safe!" he cried.
So he took a long run, and just as the auto was going to hit him, Uncle
Wiggily gave a big jump, right up into the air. He didn't jump quite
quickly enough, however, for one of the big rubber tires ran over his toe,
but he wasn't much hurt. And what do you think he did? Why, he landed
right in the auto, on the seat beside a little boy.
And that dog was so frightened of the automobile that he howled and
yowled, and his teeth chattered, and he tucked his tail between his legs,
and ran home.
"Oh, the bunny! The bunny!" cried the little boy, as he saw Uncle Wiggly.
"May we keep him, papa?"
"I guess so," said the boy's papa. "Anyhow his foot is hurt, and we'll
take care of him until it gets well. My, but he is a good jumper, though!"
So the man stopped the auto, and picked up Uncle Wiggily's crutch and
valise, which the old gentleman rabbit had dropped when he jumped upon the
seat beside the boy, and then the car went on. And Uncle Wiggily wasn't a
bit frightened at being in an auto, for he knew the boy and man would be
kind to him.
"Perhaps I shall find my fortune now," the rabbit gentleman said. And the
little boy patted him on the back, and stroked his long ears.
Now, in the story after this I'll tell you what happened to Uncle Wiggily
at the little boy's house, and in case our door key doesn't get locked
out, and have to sleep in the park, you are going to hear about Uncle
Wiggily in a boat.
STORY XIV
UNCLE WIGGILY IN A BOAT
"Poor rabbit!" exclaimed the little boy in the automobile, as he rubbed
Uncle
|