automobile for myself to ride around in, and my travels would be over. I
have certainly been on the go a long time, but my health is much better
than it was."

So he kept on, looking under all the big leaves and clumps of ferns for
his fortune. But he didn't find it, and pretty soon he came to a hole in
the ground. And in front of this hole was a little sign, printed on a
piece of paper, and it read:

"COME IN! EVERYBODY WELCOME."

"Humph! I wonder if that means me?" thought the old gentleman rabbit.
"Let's see, gold grows under ground, in mines, and perhaps this is a gold
mine. I'm going down. I'm sure there is a fortune waiting for me. Yes,
I'll go down."

So he laid aside his valise and barber-pole crutch and got ready to go
down in the hole, which wasn't very big.

"But I can scratch it bigger if I need to," said Uncle Wiggily.

Well, he had no sooner gotten his front feet and part of his nose down the
hole, but his ears were still sticking out, when he heard a voice calling:

"Here! Where are you going?"

"Down this hole after gold," replied Uncle Wiggily.

"You mustn't go down there," went on the voice, and pulling out his nose
and looking about him, the old gentleman rabbit saw a white pussy cat