For, as soon as he had gotten up, and had washed his paws and face, and combed out his ears—oh, dear me—I mean his whiskers—as soon as he had done that, he heard a knock on the door.
"Oh, my, suz dud and a bottle of milk!" exclaimed the old gentleman rabbit. "I hope that isn't the scary-flary alligator again."
So he peeped out of the window, but to his surprise, he didn't see any one.
"I'm sure I heard a knock," he said, "but I guess I was mistaken."
Well, he was going over to his valise to see if it had in it anything to eat, when the knock again sounded on the door.
"No, I wasn't mistaken," said Uncle Wiggily. "I wonder who that can be? I'll peep, and find out."
So he hid behind the window curtain, and kept a close watch, and the first things he saw were some little stones flying through the air. And they hit against the front door with a rattlety-bang, and it was these stones that had made the sound that was like a knock.
"Oh! it must be some bad boys after me," thought the poor old gentleman rabbit. "My! I do seem to be having a dreadful time seeking my fortune. There is always some kind of trouble."
And then more stones came through the air, and banged on the door and this time Uncle Wiggily saw that they came from the stream, and, what is more, he saw the goldfish throwing the stones and pebbles out of the brook with his tail. Then the rabbit knew it was all right, for the goldfish was a friend of his, so he ran out.
"Were you throwing stones at the house?" asked Uncle Wiggily.