hopped away.

Well, pretty soon, not so very long, as he was walking on a path through
the woods, Uncle Wiggily heard a voice speaking.

"I can tell you where to find your fortune," said the voice. "I know where
there is a big pile of yellow stones, and I think they are gold. Follow me
and I will show you."

"But who are you?" asked the rabbit, for he could see no one. "You may be
the alligator for all I know."

"Oh, I'm not the alligator," was the answer. "I am a friend of yours, and
I like you very much," and the unseen one smacked his lips. "But I can't
come out and let you see me, for I dare not go out in the sun as I am
afraid of getting too hot," the voice answered, "so I will just creep
along through the bushes and I will wiggle my tail, and you can see it
moving in the grass, and you can follow that without seeing me, and I will
lead you to the pile of yellow stones."

"Very well," answered the rabbit, "though I would much rather see you. But
go ahead and I'll follow, for I must find my fortune."

So the old gentleman rabbit saw the grass wiggling and he followed that,
and he kept thinking of how rich he would soon be, and how many nice
things he would buy for Sammie and Susie Littletail.

But if the rabbit had only known who it was he was following he wouldn't
have been so happy, for it was a crawly snake, and that snake was only
fooling Uncle Wiggily, and trying to get him off to his den so he could
eat him. And that's why he didn't show himself. On and on the snake
wiggled through the grass, shaking his tail, and the poor rabbit followed
after him.

"Are we nearly to the gold?" asked Uncle Wiggily after a bit.

"Almost," answered the snake, making his voice soft and gentle.

The snake was nearly at his den now, and he was just going to turn around
and squeeze the rabbit to death, when all at once a yellow bumblebee that
was flying overhead looked down and saw the crawly creature, and the bee
knew what the snake was going to do.

"Run away, Uncle Wiggily! Run!" called the bee, "the snake is fooling
you!"

Well, Uncle Wiggily didn't wait a second. He jumped right over a briar
bush and away he hopped as fast as he could hop, and the snake didn't get
him, and, oh, how mad that snake was!

Uncle Wiggily hopped around and around in the woods and the first thing he
knew he couldn't find the path, he was so excited. And the more he tried
to find it the more he couldn't, until he sat down on a stump an