“Why, of course,” agreed Jackie Bow Wow.

“But what is he doing in there?” asked Curly, “and what sort of a place is it?  I can’t see him,” he added, as he stooped down and tried to look into the hole.

“I don’t know what he’s doing in there,” said Flop, “but I know what sort of a place that hole is.  It’s a wolf’s den, and the wolf has our papa, Most likely he’s eating him now, and he threw the hat out because he couldn’t chew it—­the wolf, I mean.”

“Oh!” cried Curly, jumping up and down, he felt so badly.

“Oh; oh!” barked Jackie Bow Wow.

“Oh! oh!  Double Oh!” growled Peetie Bow Wow.  “What shall we do?”

“We must get him out of there!” exclaimed Flop as quickly as a rubber band can play the “Annie Laurie” song.  “There are four of us here, and we have our wooden guns.  I guess we are a match for one wolf.  We must save our papa.”

“Of course!” agreed Curly, bravely.

“But how?” asked Jackie Bow Wow.

“Listen,” said Flop, just like a telephone girl.

“A wolf always have two doors to his den—­a back one and a front one.  This is the front one—­where our papa’s hat rolled out.  Now, Jackie, you and Curly go to the back door, and make a noise like a soup bone.  The wolf will think some company has come to supper with him, and he’ll run to the back door.  As soon as he gets there, Jackie, you bark like anything, and, Curly, you fire off your wooden gun.”

“But what will you do?” asked Curly of his brother.

“Peetie and I will stay at the front door,” said Flop.  “As soon as we hear you making the noise we’ll rush in the den by the front door and get papa and help him out.  Then we’ll all run away.”

Well, every one thought that was a fine plan, and they did just as Flop said.  The wolf came rushing to his back door when he heard the noise there, and maybe he wasn’t surprised to see Curly and the puppy dog!  Then Flop and Peetie rushed in the front door, and there, inside the den, they found poor Mr. Twistytail tied to the table leg.

“Quick!” cried Flop.  “Bite the ropes, Peetie.”  And the puppy dog did, and Mr. Twistytail was free.  “Now, come with us!” cried Flop, and he and his papa and Peetie ran out of the wolf’s den just in time, for the bad creature, seeing he had been fooled at his back door, rushed up to bite the pig gentleman.

But he was too late, that wolf was, for the piggie boys and their papa and the puppy dog boys got safely away, and the wolf didn’t dare follow because he was afraid of the wooden guns.  Then when they were all safe home, including the hat, Mr. Twistytail told how the wolf caught him as he was coming back from work, and how his hat accidently rolled out of the den.  And if it hadn’t been for the hat maybe Mr. Twistytail would not have been saved.

Anyway, he was not hurt a bit, and in the next story, in case the bicycle doesn’t roll over the egg basket and make an omelet out of the pin cushion, I’ll tell you about Mamma Twistytail’s new bonnet.