Uncle Wiggily Longears, the nice old gentleman rabbit, was reading the paper in his hollow stump bungalow, in the woods, while Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady house-keeper, was out in the kitchen washing the dinner dishes one afternoon.

All of a sudden Uncle Wiggily fell asleep because he was reading a bed-time story in the paper, and while he slept he heard a noise at the front door, which sounded like: 

“Rat-a-tat-tat!  Rat-a-tat-tat!”

“My goodness!” suddenly exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, awakening out of his sleep.  “That sounds like the forest woodpecker bird making holes in a tree.”

“No, it isn’t that,” spoke Nurse Jane.  “It’s some one tapping at our front door.  I can’t answer because my paws are all covered with soapy-suds dishwater.”

“Oh, I’ll go,” said Uncle Wiggily, and laying aside the paper over which he had fallen asleep, he opened the door.  On the porch stood Susie Littletail, the rabbit girl.

“Why, hello Susie!” exclaimed the bunny uncle.  “Where are you going with your nice new dress?” for Susie did have on a fine new waist and skirt, or maybe it was made in one piece for all I know.  And her new dress had on it ruffles and thing-a-ma-bobs and curley-cues and insertions and Georgette crepe and all sorts of things like that.

“Where are you going, Susie?” asked Uncle Wiggily.

“I am going to a party,” answered the little rabbit girl.  “Lulu and Alice Wibblewobble, the duck girls, are going to have a party, and they asked me to come.  So I came for you.”

“But I’m not going to the party!” exclaimed Uncle Wiggily.  “I haven’t been invited.”

“That doesn’t make any difference,” spoke Susie with a laugh.  “You know they’ll be glad to see you, anyhow.  And I know Lulu meant to ask you, only she must have forgotten about it, because there is so much to do when you have a party.”

“I know there is,” Uncle Wiggily said, “and I don’t blame Lulu and Alice a bit for not asking me.  Anyhow I couldn’t go, for I promised to come over this afternoon and play checkers with Grandfather Goosey Gander.”

“Oh, but won’t you walk with me to the party?” asked Susie, sort of teasing like.  “I’m afraid to go through the woods alone, because Johnnie Bushytail, the squirrel boy, said you and he met a bear there yesterday.”

“We did!” laughed Uncle Wiggily.  “But the hazel bush drove him away by showering nuts on his nose.”

“Well, I might not be so lucky as to have a hazelnut bush to help me,” spoke Susie.  “So I’d be very glad if you would walk through the woods with me.  You can scare away the bear if we meet him.”

“How?” asked Uncle Wiggily.  “With my red, white and blue crutch or my umbrella?”

“With this popgun, which shoots toothpowder,” said Susie.  “It belongs to Sammie, my brother, but he let me take it.  We’ll bring the popgun with us, Uncle Wiggily, and scare the bear.”