"Oh, look there! Two rabbits and a muskrat! Let"s catch them, and sell their skins!"
"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Susie, who was very much frightened. "Whatever shall we do?"
"Don"t be alarmed," said Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, calmly, as she started to swim down stream. "Just follow me; swim as I do, with only your nose out, and I will save you." The boys ran along the bank, throwing stones at the little creatures, and the dog barked, and to-morrow night I will tell you how Sammie and Susie got away and were saved by Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, that is if you think you would care to hear the story.
XI
SAMMIE"S AND SUSIE"S TERRIBLE TIME
You may be sure the two Littletail children were very much frightened when they were floating down the stream behind Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, with the boys on the bank throwing stones at them, and the dog barking as hard as he could bark.
"Sic the dog in the water after them," called one boy.
"Naw! This dog doesn"t like water," said the boy who owned it. "We"ll hit "em with stones, and then poke "em out with sticks."
Oh, how Sammie and Susie shuddered when they heard those words! They did not know Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy was going to save them. The muskrat looked around to see how the children were swimming.
"Don"t be afraid," she called, but of course the boys could not understand what she said. The dog could, being an animal and understanding animal talk, but the dog couldn"t tell the boys.
"Don"t be afraid," said the nurse. "Sammie, keep your head under more.
Susie, strike out harder with your forepaws."
The two bunny children did as they were told. Just then a stone came very close to Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, and she went completely beneath the water.
"The muskrat"s gone!" cried a boy.
"No," said another, "it can swim under water. But don"t bother with the rabbits. They"re little, and their fur isn"t much good. Kill the muskrat, for we can get fifty cents for the skin."
"Oh, how mean boys are!" thought Susie Littletail. "To talk about selling poor Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy"s skin! Aren"t they terrible!"
The boys now gave all their attention to throwing stones at the muskrat, but she was very wise, and kept under water as much as possible, so they could not hit her. They did not throw at Sammie or Susie. Presently Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy swam backward under water and came up near Sammie. She put her sharp nose close to his ear and whispered:
"Down stream a little way is a burrow where I used to live. The front door is under water, but if you hold your breath you can dive down, get in and come up in the dry part. Then you can dig a way out in a field, and we can go home, and escape the boys."
Jane told the same thing to Susie, and, pretty soon, when they came to the place, the two bunny children took a long breath, and dived down under water. Sammie and Susie took hold of the long tail of Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy to guide them in the dark, and, though it seemed a terrible thing not to breathe under water, the three suddenly found themselves in a little underground house, much like their own, where they could breathe again.
"Now we are safe!" exclaimed the muskrat. "Just dig a back door and you can get out."
So Sammie and Susie did so, and, pretty soon, they found themselves in a nice field, some distance back from the water. They could see the boys and their dog still watching near the bank to catch Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, and the boys never knew how the muskrat and the rabbit children escaped.
"My! but that was exciting," said Sammie, when they were on their way home.
"Indeed it was," agreed Susie. "I"m so frightened that I have almost forgotten how to swim."
"It will all come back to you the next time you go in the water," said Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy. "But I must hurry home now, or dinner will be late."
They got to the burrow without anything more happening. Mamma Littletail and Uncle Wiggily Longears were much alarmed when told about the narrow escape.
"Those boys!" cried the old rabbit. "If I wasn"t laid up with rheumatism, I"d show them!" and he snapped his teeth in quite a savage manner indeed, for a rabbit can get angry at times.
After dinner Mamma Littletail asked Sammie and Susie to go to the cabbage-field store for her, but, as Sammie wanted to stay home and make a whistle out of a carrot, Susie went alone. As she was walking along under a big tree, she heard a noise in the branches, and, looking up, she saw a number of squirrels. One was the squirrel who had given her old nest to Mrs. Wren. The little gray chaps were running about, seemingly much excited over something. Presently they all scampered down, and Susie saw that they had their mouths full of nuts. They put them on the ground in a little heap, and then the little bunny girl noticed that there was, nearby, an old stump, and it was set just like a table, with dried leaves for plates, and the tops of acorns for cups.
"What is going on here?" Susie asked the squirrel whom she knew.
"I am giving a party in honor of having moved into my new nest," said the squirrel. "Wouldn"t you like to come?"
"Yes," said Susie very politely, "I would like very much to."
"Then," said the squirrel, "hop up on the stump, and I will get an extra plate for you." Susie did so. It was the first party she had ever attended, but I can"t tell you what happened until to-morrow.
XII
SUSIE GOES TO A PARTY
Up and down the big oak tree scampered the squirrels, bringing nuts and acorns from hollows, where they had been hidden all winter.
"Hey, Bushytail!" cried the squirrel whom Susie knew, addressing another who was on the ground at the foot of the stump, "bring up a big leaf."
"What do you want with a big leaf?" inquired the squirrel who was called Bushytail.
"Susie Littletail is going to stay to the party," replied the squirrel who was giving it, "and I want the leaf for a plate for her. She will need a large one."
Up the old stump climbed Bushytail with the leaf in his mouth, and he put it in a vacant place. The stump was quite large enough for the squirrels and rabbit to move about upon and still leave room for the table to be set. Susie saw the squirrels placing nut meats on the different plates and putting oak-leaf tea into the acorn cups. Suddenly the squirrel whom Susie knew and whose name was Mrs. Lightfoot, exclaimed:
"There! I never thought of that!"
"Thought of what?" asked Susie.
"Why, we haven"t anything that you like to eat. You don"t care for nuts, do you?"
"Not very much," answered Susie, who wanted to be polite, yet she still wanted to tell the truth.
"I thought so," spoke Mrs. Lightfoot. "Whatever shall I do? I"ve asked you to the party and now there is nothing you like. It"s too bad, for I want you to have a good time!"
"I--I could go to the cabbage-field store and get some leaves, and I could bring some carrots and eat them," suggested Susie.
"Yes, but it wouldn"t be right to ask you to a party and then have you bring your own things to eat," objected Mrs. Lightfoot.
"That"s what they do at surprise parties," went on Susie, who had heard Uncle Wiggily Longears tell of one he once attended. It was given by a chipmunk.