And then we’ll kindly part,”
said the voice, and when Mr. Wicked Wolf had done that, the voice said:
“Now turn to your right and you’ll see a little ladder.” And sure enough there was a little ladder running right up the inside of the old hollow stump. And goodness me! As soon as Mr. Wicked Wolf saw the ladder he went up it faster than a bricklayer with a hod of bricks on his back, and in less time than I can tell you, he was out on the Sunny Meadow and off for his home in the Shady Forest, for he lived, you remember, not so very far from the Big Brown Bear’s cave.
And now I suppose you are still wondering where little Jack Rabbit was, but I had to get rid of that dreadful wolf first before I could tell you. Well, as soon as Mr. Wicked Wolf was out of the stump, which was very dark inside, you know, somebody turned on an electric light way down at the bottom. And who do you suppose it was? Why, Mr. Miner Mole. It was he who had been talking to Mr. Wicked Wolf all the time, and now on the next page you shall hear about Little Jack Rabbit.
PRECIOUS STONES
Well, as soon as Mr. Miner Mole turned on the electric light in his cap, he said:
“Little Jack Rabbit, you can come out now, for Mr. Wicked Wolf has gone.”
At once the little bunny hopped out of a door, and now you know where he had been hiding. I declare, it has taken me almost three stories to tell you, but I’ve been busy explaining what Mr. Wolf did and after that what Mr. Miner Mole said.
“I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t taken care of me,” said Little Jack Rabbit.
“Oh, don’t mention it,” said the kind mole. “I’m glad you came down into my mine. I’ve had luck lately. I’ll give you a couple of diamonds and three rubies. You can make your kind Uncle John Hare a present of one or three, if you wish.”