hop, until, all of a sudden, as he returned around the
corner of a stump, he saw a lake of water right in front of him. And
before he could stop himself he had fallen plump into it; crutch, satchel
and all, and of course he couldn't swim. And he could hear the dog coming
barking down the path after him.

"Oh, this is the end of me, sure pop!" thought poor Uncle Wiggily. "I'll
never get any fortune now."

"Oh, dear!" cried the dog. "I told you how it would be. I tried to save
you from getting in the water," and then the rabbit knew the big dog had
been telling the truth. But it was too late now. Uncle Wiggily was going
down under the deep, dark, cold water when, all of a sudden, along came
the elephant with a great big ice cream cone for himself, and a little one
for Uncle Wiggily. He saw the rabbit in the water and he also saw the big
shaggy dog.

"Did you push Uncle Wiggily in the water?" asked the elephant, "because if
you did I'm going to throw you in."

"No, indeed, I didn't," answered the dog. "It was an accident," and he
told the elephant how it happened. "But I'll jump in, grab him and swim
out with him," said the dog.

"No, don't do that, you might accidentally bite him," spoke the elephant.
"I have a better plan." So he laid down the ice cream cones and then he
put the end of his hollow trunk in the lake, and he began to suck up and
drink the water, just as you suck lemonade up through a straw.

And presto chango! in a few seconds all the water was sucked out of the
lake by the elephant, and it was dry land and the rabbit could walk safely
to shore, and so he wasn't drowned after all. And how he did thank the
elephant! Uncle Wiggily ate his ice cream cone, and the elephant gave some
of his to the dog, and they were all happy.

Now, if the elephant doesn't get a sliver in his foot so he can't dance at
the hoptoads' picnic, I'll tell you in the next story about Uncle Wiggily
and the peanut man.

STORY XIV

UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE PEANUT MAN

After Uncle Wiggily and the elephant and the big dog had eaten up the ice
cream cones, they sat in the woods a while and looked at the place where
the watery lake had been before the elephant drank it up to save the
rabbit from drowning.

"My, but you must be strong to take up all that water," said the dog.

"Yes, I guess I am pretty strong," said the elephant, though he was not at
all proud-like. "I will show you how I can pull up a tree," he said. So he