ble to walk," complained Uncle Wiggily Longears.

"I know what we can do," proposed the muskrat nurse.

"What?" asked Susie Littletail.

"We can ask Mr. Groundhog to let us stay all night in his burrow,"
suggested the nurse. "I'm sure he will let us, for he has plenty of
room."

Mr. Groundhog, who was an elderly creature, very fond of sleep in the
winter, welcomed the rabbits to his burrow, and there they stayed out of
the rain. In the morning the sun was shining brightly, and before very
long the water all dried out of the bunnies' underground house, so that
they could go back in it.

One day, about a week after this, when Uncle Wiggily Longears was out
walking with Sammie and Susie, going quite slowly, because he was a
trifle lame from rheumatism, Bully, the frog, came hopping up to them.

"Are you going to the circus?" he asked.

"Circus? What circus?" asked Sammie, who was interested very quickly,
you may be sure.

"Why, the animal circus that is always held in the woods every spring.
They do all sorts of queer things to get ready for the summer. I'm
going. It's lots of fun. Better come."

"I haven't seen any circus posters up," remarked Susie.

"Of course not," answered Bully. "The animals never put them up, because
they don't want a lot of people coming to look on and bother them. Don't
you want to come? It's not very far."

"But we have no one to take us," spoke Susie.

"Yes, you have!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily Longears quickly. "I will take
you myself. It would never do for you children to go to a circus alone.
I will take you."

"But your rheumatism is so bad you can hardly walk," objected Susie.
"Besides, it will be worse if you sit in the woods."

"Never mind about that," answered the uncle bravely. "I'll manage to
stand it. I am determined you children shall not go to that circus
alone. Of course, I don't care anything about a circus myself, but I
must take care of you," and the elderly rabbit looked very brave, though
the pain of his rheumatism was quite bad.

"My father is going to hop over three stumps," said Bully, the frog,
quite proudly. "Come on, or we may be late."

So Uncle Wiggily took Sammie and Susie to the animal circus, and Bully,
the frog, went also. He had a free ticket, because his father was one of
the performers. They had reserved seats on big toadstools, though Bully
said they ought to be called frogstools, as frogs used them more than
toads did.

Then the performance