d at his paws and legs and felt of his big ears. They seemed
all right. Then he looked at the basket of paper. That was crumpled
up, but not broken, and the bunny uncle's tall silk hat, while it
had a few dents in, was not smashed.

"Oh, dear! It's my rheumatism crutch," cried Uncle Wiggily. "It's
broken in two, and how am I ever going to walk without it this
slippery day I don't see. Oh, my goodness me sakes alive and some
bang-bang tooth powder!"

Carefully the rabbit gentleman arose, but as he had no red, white
and blue striped crutch to lean on, he nearly fell again.

"I guess I'd better stay sitting down," thought Uncle Wiggily.
"Perhaps some one may come along, and I can ask them go get Nurse
Jane to gnaw for me another rheumatism crutch out of a corn-stalk.
I'll wait here until help comes."

Uncle Wiggily waited quite a while, but no one passed by.

"It will soon be time for Billie and Nannie Wagtail to pass by on
their way from school," thought the bunny uncle. "I could send them
for another crutch, I suppose."

So he waited a little longer, and then, as no one came, he tried to
walk with his broken crutch. But he could not. Then Uncle Wiggily
cried:

"Help! Help! Help!" but still no one came. "Oh, dear!" said the
rabbit gentleman, "if only Mother Goose would fly past, riding on
the back of her gander, she might take me home." He looked up, but
Mother Goose was not sweeping cobwebs out of the sky that day, so he
did not see her.

Then, all of a sudden, as the rabbit gentleman sat there, wondering
how he was going to walk on the slippery ice and snow without his
crutch to help him, he heard a jolly voice singing:

"Ride a Jack horse to Banbury Cross,
To see an old lady jump on a white horse.
With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,
She shall have music wherever she goes."

And with that along through the woods came riding a nice, old lady
on a rocking-horse. And on the side of the rocking-horse was painted
in red ink the name:

JACK

"Why, hello, Uncle Wiggily!" called the nice old lady, shaking her
toes and making the bells jingle a pretty tune. "What is the matter
with you?" she asked.

"Oh, I am in such trouble," replied the bunny uncle. "I fell down on
a slippery snowball, and broke my crutch. Without it I cannot walk,
and I want to take these papers to Mrs. Wagtail, the goat lady, to
eat."

"Ha! If that is all your trouble I can soon fix matters!" cried the
jolly