“We must move away from here at once,” said Uncle Wiggily Longears, when he heard about the cat.  “We must find a new burrow or make one.  Sammie, you acted very wrongly, but you did not mean to.  Now, you must help us pack up to move.”  And to-morrow night, if all goes well, I shall tell you what happened when the Littletail family went to their new home.

XIII

THE LITTLETAIL FAMILY MOVE

Did you ever see a rabbit family move?  No, I don’t suppose you have, for not every one has had that chance.  But the Littletail family, as I told you last night, had to move because a big cat had found out where their burrow was.

“I shall go out at once, and see if I can find a new place,” said Uncle Wiggily Longears, after the excitement caused by Sammie bringing home the cat had calmed down.  “We need a larger burrow, anyhow.  I will find a nice one.”

“Can you go out with your rheumatism?” asked Mamma Littletail.  “You are very lame, you know.  Perhaps you had better wait until Papa Littletail comes home to-night, and he will go.”

“No, we must lose no time,” said the uncle.  “I can manage with my crutch, I guess.”

So he started from the burrow, leaning heavily on a crutch Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy had gnawed from a cornstalk.

“Be careful of the cat,” cautioned Susie.

“Oh, no cat can catch me, even if I have the rheumatism very bad,” said her uncle, and he limped away.  While he was gone, Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy promised to keep a sharp lookout for that cat.

Uncle Wiggily Longears was gone for some time.  When he returned to the burrow Papa Littletail had come back from where he worked in a carrot factory, which was a new position for him, and he had heard all the news.

“Well,” he asked Uncle Wiggily, “did you find a new burrow?”

“Yes,” answered the uncle, “I did.  I will tell you all about it.  I walked a long distance, and I met several friends of mine.  I asked them about burrows, and they said the best ones were all taken.  I was afraid you would have to dig a new one, until I met Mr. Groundhog, and he told me of one next to him, on the bank of a little pond.  We can get it cheap, he said.”

“Has it all improvements?” asked Mamma Littletail.  “I want a good kitchen and a bathroom.”

“It has everything,” said the uncle.  “It has three doors, and we can get in and out easily.  It is near a cabbage-field and a turnip patch.  We can bathe in the pond, so we don’t need a bathroom.”

“Where is it?” asked Papa Littletail.  “I must be near the trolley, you know.”

“It is not far from the cars,” went on Uncle Wiggily Longears.  “Have you ever heard of Eagle Rock?”

None of the family had.

“Well, it is not far from there,” said Uncle Wiggily.  “I went out on the rock, and my! what a view there was!  I could see away over the big meadows, where some of your relatives live, Miss Fuzzy-Wuzzy, and then I could see something called New York.”