“Oh, oh, oh!” exclaimed Susie.  “You bad snake!  Let my little brother alone.”

But the black snake never said a word, only he clung the tighter to poor Sammie.

“Run for help, Susie!” called the little boy rabbit.  “Run and ask Mr. Groundhog to come and drive the snake away!”

So Susie ran as fast as she could, and did not even stop to rap on the burrow door where Mr. Groundhog lived.  She went right in, and told the elderly creature that a bad snake had her little brother.  “And won’t you please come and get him loose?” asked Susie, who was crying.  “If you shut your eyes you won’t see your shadow, and be frightened.  I will lead you to him.”

“Never mind about my shadow!” exclaimed Mr. Groundhog.  “I don’t care whether I see it again or not.  I’ll go and save Sammie Littletail, who was so kind to me.”

So he ran and hit the snake with a club, until it was glad enough to let Sammie loose, and it was quite time, too, for poor Sammie’s breath was nearly squeezed out of him.  Then Sammie, after he had thanked Mr. Groundhog, ran home with Susie.  Now if you remind me of it, I shall try to tell you, to-morrow night, something about Susie and the white kittie.

XVII

SUSIE AND THE WHITE KITTIE

Susie Littletail had gone for a walk in the woods.  It was coming on spring, but the little bunny girl did not go to see if there were any wildflowers peeping up.  Indeed, she cared very little about flowers, except the kind that were good to eat, and these were mostly clover blossoms.  So that is what Susie went out to look for.

Uncle Wiggily Longears had said to her that day:  “It seems to me, Susie, that it’s getting quite warm out.  My rheumatism is better, and it never does get better unless it’s getting warm.  So, of course, it must be getting warm.”

Susie thought so, too.

“Then if it’s getting warmer it must be almost spring,” went on her uncle.  “Now, if I were you, I would go take a walk and see how the clover is coming on.  Some nice, fresh clover would taste very good.”

“I’ll see if I can get you any,” spoke Susie, who was a very good little rabbit girl, and who always was kind to her old uncle.  So that is why she was walking in the woods.  She was almost through the place where the tall trees grew, and was just going to step out into a field that looked as if it had clover in it, when she heard a funny little noise.  It was a sort of a squeak, and at first Susie thought it might be Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, for, sometimes, the muskrat started off with a squeak when she wanted to talk.  But it was not her nurse whom Susie saw.  Instead it was a dear little pussy kitten.

“Did you make that funny noise?” asked the little rabbit girl of the kitten.

“Yes,” answered pussy, “but I don’t call it a funny noise.”

“I do,” went on Susie.