[Illustration]

"Hum!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, "at this rate I guess I'll have to keep on
traveling for several years before I find my fortune. But never mind,
I'm having a good time, anyhow. I'll keep on searching."

So he kept on, and all of a sudden when he was walking past a prickly
briar bush, he heard a voice calling:

"Hey, Uncle Wiggily, come on in here."

"Ha! Who are you, and why do you want me to come in there?" asked the old
gentleman rabbit.

"Oh, I am a friend of yours," was the answer, "and I will give you a lot
of money if you come in here."

"Let me see your face," asked the rabbit, "I want to know who you are."

"Oh! I have a dreadful toothache," said the creature hiding in the bushes.
"I don't want to stick my face out in the cold. But if you will take my
word for it I am a good friend of yours. I would like very much for you to
come in here."

"Well, perhaps I had better," said the old gentleman rabbit, "for I
certainly need money."

And he was just going to crawl in under the prickly briar bush when all of
a sudden he happened to look, and he saw the skillery-scallery tail of the