“Was I frightened?” repeated the old gentleman rabbit, as he looked to see if there was any mud on his crutch, “why I was so scared that my heart almost stopped beating.  But I’m glad you happened to come along, and that you stuck your stickery-ickery quills into the bear’s nose.  It was very lucky that you chanced to come past the den.”

“Oh, I did it on purpose,” said the porcupine.  “After you got me out of the trap, and I scurried away, I happened to think that you might go past the bear’s house, so I hurried after you, and—­well, I’m glad that I did.”

[Illustration]

“So am I,” said the rabbit.  “Will you have a bit of my carrot sandwich?”

“I don’t mind if I do,” said the porcupine, polite-like, so he and the rabbit traveler ate the carrot sandwiches as they walked along.

“Well, I don’t believe I’m ever going to find my fortune,” said Uncle Wiggily sadly.  “I began to have hopes, when I picked up the twenty-five-cent piece, but now the bear has that and I have nothing.  Oh, I certainly am very unlucky.”

“Never mind,” said the porcupine, “I’ll help you look.”  But even with the sharp eyes, and the sharp, stickery-ickery quills of the hedgehog, Uncle Wiggily couldn’t find his fortune.

But it is a good thing the old gentleman rabbit had company, for as they were walking along under some trees, all of a sudden a big snake hissed at them, like a coffee-pot boiling over.  And then the snake uncoiled himself and tried to grab the rabbit by the ears.

“Here!  That will never do!” cried the porcupine, and then and there, without even stopping to take off his necktie, that brave creature stuck twenty-seven and a half stickery-stockery-stackery quills into the snake, and then that snake was glad enough to crawl away.  Oh, my, yes, and a basketful of soap bubbles besides!

Well, it wasn’t long after that before it was dinner time, and the two friends sat down in a place where there were a lot of toadstools to eat their lunch.  They sat on the low toadstools, and the higher ones they used for tables, each one having a toadstool table for himself, just like in a restaurant.

“Now, this is what I call real jolly,” said the porcupine, as he ate his third piece of hickory-nut pie with carrot sauce on it.

“Yes, it is real nice,” said the rabbit.  “After all, it isn’t so bad to go hunting for your fortune when you have company, but it’s not so much fun all alone.”

Well, the two friends were just finishing their meal, and they were getting ready to travel on, when, all at once, there was a terrible crashing sound in the bushes, just as if some one was breaking them all to pieces.

“My!  What’s that?” asked the porcupine, preparing to pull out some more of his stickery-ickery quills.

“It sounds like the elephant,” said the rabbit, as he looked around for a safe place in which to hide in case it should happen to be the bear coming after him.