s of.

"Oh, dear!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "Fooled again! Well, all I can do is to
keep on."

He went on a little farther, until he came to a place where there were a
whole lot of prickly briar bushes, with red berries growing on them.

"Oh, ho!" exclaimed the rabbit. "Some of those berries will do for my
dinner, as I'm getting hungry. I'll pick a few."

He was just going to pick some of the berries, when he happened to notice
a big, red thing, like a red flannel bag, standing wide open near a hole
in the bushes. And in front of the red place was a sign, which said:

"Come in, one and all. Everybody welcome."

"It looks very nice in there," thought the rabbit. "Perhaps it is the
opening of a circus tent. I'm going in, for I haven't seen a show in some
time. And, maybe, my friend, the elephant, will be in there."

Uncle Wiggily was just going to hop into the funny red opening that had
the sign on it, when a little ant came crawling along, carrying a small
loaf of bread.

"Hello, Uncle Wiggily," said the ant. "Where are you going?"

"I am going inside this red circus tent," said the rabbit. "Won't you come
in with me? I'll buy you a ticket."

"Oh, never go in there--don't you do it!" cried the ant, and she got so
excited that she nearly dropped her loaf of bread. "That is not a circus
tent; it is only the skillery-scalery-tailery alligator, and he has opened
his mouth wide hoping some one will come in, so he can have a meal. Don't
go in."

"I won't," said Uncle Wiggily, quickly as he hopped away, and then he took
up a stone and tossed it into the red mouth of the scalery-tailery-wailery
alligator. The alligator shut his jaws very quickly, thinking he had
something good to eat, but he only bit on the stone, and he was so angry
that he lashed out with his tail and nearly knocked over a hickory-nut
tree.

Then the ant crawled home, and Uncle Wiggily hopped on out of danger and
the alligator opened his mouth again, hoping some foolish animal would
walk into the trap he had all ready for them.

Well, in a little while after that, as the old gentleman rabbit was going
along under the big tree, all of a sudden he heard a voice calling, rather
sadly and sweetly:

"Phoebe! Phoebe!"

"My goodness, that must be some little lost girl named Phoebe, and her
sister is calling for her," he thought. "I wonder if I could help find
her?" For, you know, Uncle Wiggily was just as kind as he could be, and
always wanting to help