chicken can pick up corn.

"Come on in, Uncle Wiggily," he called. "The water is fine."

"Oh, I'm afraid!" said the rabbit.

"Then the first thing to do is to get so you are not afraid of the water,"
said the dog. "You needn't be. Just see; it will hold you up easily if you
go at it right. Just keep your nose out, and don't splutter and splash too
much and you can swim. Come in and I will give you a lesson."

So Uncle Wiggily got in the water. At first it took his breath away, but
after a bit he got used to it, and he found that he could wade away far
out. Then he tried holding his breath and ducking his head away under, and
he found that he could do that and not be harmed in the least, and at
last he got so he wasn't afraid at all in the water.

"Now for a lesson," said the puppy dog. "You must wade out so that the
water is up to your neck, and then you face toward shore, so you won't be
frightened. Then you just lean forward, gently and easily, and you kick
out with your legs like a frog, and you wave your hands around from in
front of you to your sides, and keep on doing that and you'll swim."

"I'll try it," said the rabbit.

So he tried it, but, all of a sudden, he cried out:

"Ouch! Oh, my! Oh, dear me! Oh, hum, suz dud!"

"What's the matter," asked the dog, looking around.

"A fish bit my toe," exclaimed the rabbit.

"Oh, I guess you only hit it on a stone," said Towser. "Fish are too
frightened to bite any one. Come on, strike out and swim as I do."

Then Uncle Wiggily wasn't afraid, and soon he was swimming as nicely as
could be. For you know to swim you must first not be a bit afraid of the
water, for it can't hurt you. If ever you fall in, don't breathe--just
hold your breath as long as you can. Then, pretty soon you'll come up, and
if some one doesn't grab you, and you go under again, hold your breath
until you come up once more and then some one will surely grab you.

"You must never breathe under water--just hold your breath," said Towser
to Uncle Wiggily, and the rabbit did it that way, and soon he could even
swim under water.

"Well, I'm much obliged to you," he said to Towser, "but now I must be on
my way to seek my fortune."

So he said good-by to Towser and hopped on. And he hadn't gone very far
before a big bear saw him and chased after him.

"Oh, I'll catch you!" cried the bear to the rabbit. Well, I just wish you
could have seen Uncle Wiggily run! He ran until he came to a big rive