"Wait! Wait!" begged Curly of his brother.

"I can't!" was the answer. "I'll send a policeman back to help you.
But if you will let go of the big apple you can easily run away from
the fox, for he is old, and not a good runner. Drop the apple."

"No, indeed!" cried Curly. "I want the biggest one I can find!" So
he held tightly to the apple, and also to the cornmeal, and on he
ran, but the fuzzy fox was getting nearer and nearer, and almost had
him.

"I've got you!" suddenly snapped the fox. "I'll have roast pork and
apple sauce tonight all right!" and he was just going to grab Curly
and the apple and bag of meal, when out from the bushes jumped Uncle
Wiggily Longears, the old gentleman rabbit.

"Here!" he cried to the fox. "You stop chasing Curly, and go home to
your den!" and with that Uncle Wiggily stuck out his rheumatism
crutch, and tripped up the fox so that went tumbling head over
heels, and when he got up he was so lame that he could not chase
even a snail for more than a week.

"Run! Run!" called Uncle Wiggily to Curly and the little piggie boy
did run, and, after some trouble, he got safely home with his big
apple and the meal, but Flop was there ahead of him.

"After this," said Uncle Wiggily, when he came up to the piggie
house, "after this, Curly, don't take such a large apple, and you
can run better when a fox chases you."