nd ran along, and the rabbit
gentleman began brushing the chalk marks off the black-boards, at the
same time humming a little tune that went this way:

"I'd love to be a teacher,
Within a hollow stump.
I'd teach the children how to fall,
And never get a bump.

I'd let them out at recess,
A game of tag to play;
I'd give them all fresh lollypops
'Most every other day!"

"Oh, my! Wouldn't we just love to come to school to you!" cried a
voice at the window, and, looking up. Uncle Wiggily saw Billie
Bushytail, the boy squirrel, and brother Johnnie with him.

"Ha! What happened you two chaps?" asked the bunny uncle. "Why did
you run off without cleaning the black-boards for the lady mouse
teacher?"

"We forgot," said Johnnie, sort of ashamed-like and sorry. "That's
what we came back to do--clean the boards."

"Well, that was good of you," spoke Uncle Wiggily. "But I have the
boards nearly cleaned now."

"Then we will give them a dusting with our tails, and that will finish
them," said Billie, and the squirrel boys did, so the black-boards were
very clean.

"Now it's time to go home," said Uncle Wiggily. So he locked the
school, putting the key under the doormat, where the lady mouse could
find it in the morning, and, with the Bushytail squirrel boys, he
started off through the woods.

"You and Billie can go back to your play, now, Johnnie," said the bunny
uncle. "It was good of you to leave it to come back to do what you
were told."

The three animal friends hopped and scrambled on together, until, all
of a sudden, the bad old fox, who so often had made trouble for Uncle
Wiggily, jumped out from behind a bush, crying:

"Ah, ha! Now I have you, Mr. Longears--and two squirrels besides.
Good luck!"

"Bad luck!" whispered Billie.

The fox made a grab for the rabbit gentleman, but, all of a sudden, the
paw of the bad creature slipped in some mud and down he went, head
first, into a puddle of water, coughing and sneezing.

"Come on, Uncle Wiggily!" quickly cried Billie and Johnnie. "This is
our chance. We'll run away before the fox gets the water out of his
eyes. He can't see us now."

So away ran the rabbit gentleman and the squirrel boys, but soon the
fox had dried his eyes on his big brush of a tail, and on he came after
them.

"Oh, I'll get you! I'll get you!" he cried, running very fast. But
Uncle Wiggily and Billie and Johnnie ran fast, too. The fox was comin