"So am I," went on the little brown bird. "But I must tell you my name.
I am Mrs. Wren."
"Oh, I have heard about you," said the little rabbit.
"Are you sure you don"t know of a nest about here?" she asked anxiously.
"I don"t want to fly all the way back down South. Suppose you go home and ask your mother."
"I will," said Sammie. "Don"t you want to come, too?"
"Yes, I think I will. Oh, dear! I"m quite hungry. I declare, I had such an early breakfast, I"m almost starved."
"I know my mother will give you something to eat," said Sammie politely, "that is, if you like cabbage, carrots and such things."
"Oh, yes, almost anything will do. Now, you go ahead, and I will follow."
So Sammie Littletail bounced on along the ground, and Mrs. Wren flew along overhead.
"Where do you live?" she asked Sammie.
"In a burrow."
"What is a burrow?" she inquired.
"Why, it"s a house," said Sammie.
"You are mistaken," said the bird, though she spoke politely. "A nest is the only house there is."
"Well, a burrow is our house," declared Sammie. "You"ll see."
He was soon home, and, while the bird waited outside, he went in to ask his mother if she knew of a nest Mrs. Wren could hire.
"What a funny question!" said Mamma Littletail. "I will go out and see Mrs. Wren."
So she went out, and the bird asked about a nest. But, as the rabbits never had any use for them, the bunny knew nothing about such things.
"Oh, dear!" exclaimed the bird. "Wherever shall I stay to-night? Oh, what trouble I am in."
"You might stay with us to-night," said Mamma Littletail, kindly, "and look for a nest to-morrow."
"I never lived in a burrow," said Mrs. Wren, "but I will try it," so she flew down into the underground house, and to-morrow night I am going to tell you how she did a great kindness to Uncle Wiggily Longears.
VII
UNCLE WIGGILY GETS SHOT
Early the next morning Mrs. Wren, who had spent the night at the home of the Littletail family, got up. She had some cabbage leaves for her breakfast, and then started to leave the burrow where the rabbits lived.
"Where are you going?" asked Susie Littletail.
"I must go hunt for a nest," said the little bird. "You see, I want to begin housekeeping as early as I can this spring, and as there are so many birds coming up from the South, I want to get a house before all the best ones are taken."
So, having thanked Sammie Littletail for showing her the way to the burrow, and also thanking his mamma and papa, the bird flew away. She promised, however, to come back if she could not find a place.
"That Mrs. Wren is a very nice creature indeed," said Mamma Littletail.
"Indeed she is," agreed Papa Littletail, as he started off to work in the carrot store, where he was employed as a bookkeeper.
"It is a nice day," said Uncle Wiggily Longears, after a while. "I think I will go for a walk. It may do my rheumatism good."
"Can I come?" asked Sammie, but his uncle said he thought the little boy rabbit should stay home. So Sammie did, and he and Susie found a place where some nice clover was just coming up in a field.
Just before dinner time Uncle Wiggily Longears came limping back to the burrow. He was running as hard as he could, but that was not very fast.
"Why, Wiggily, whatever has happened?" asked Mrs. Littletail, who had come to the front door to see if her children were all right. "Is your rheumatism worse? Why do you limp so?"
"Because," answered Uncle Wiggily Longears, "I have been shot."
"Shot?" cried Mrs. Littletail.
"In the left hind leg," went on Uncle Wiggily. "The same leg that has the rheumatism so bad. Oh, dear! I wish you would send for Dr. Possum."
"I will, right away. Sammie!" she called, "come and go for Dr. Possum, for your uncle. He has been shot. How did it happen, Wiggily?"
"Well, I was down in the swamp, looking for some snakeroot, which Mr.
Drake said was good for rheumatism, when a man fired at me. I jumped, but not in time, and several pieces of lead are in my leg."
"Oh, how dreadful!" cried Mamma Littletail.
In a little while Sammie came back with Dr. Possum.
"Ha! This is bad business," spoke the long-tailed doctor, when he looked at Uncle Wiggily Longears"s leg. "I fear I shall have to operate."
"Anything, so you get the shot out," said the old rabbit.
So Dr. Possum tried to get the leaden pellets out, but he could not, they were in so deep.
"This is very bad business, indeed," he went on. "I fear I shall have to take your leg off."
"Will it hurt?" asked Uncle Wiggily Longears.
"Um-er-well, not very much," said the doctor, as he twirled his gla.s.ses on his tail.
Just then, who should come into the burrow but Mrs. Wren. She was very much surprised to see Uncle Wiggily lying on a bed of soft gra.s.s, with the doctor bending over him.
"What is the matter?" she asked.