"Where is the mooley cow?"
"Only her horn is here," said Uncle Wiggily, as he made it go "Moo!" again.
"Oh, dear," said the little girl. "I just love a mooley cow," and she was going to cry some more, because there was no cow to be seen, when Uncle Wiggily asked:
"What is the matter? Why are you crying?"
"Because I can't get this box open," said the little girl, whose name was Cora.
"What is in the box?" asked the rabbit gentleman.
"Candy," said little Cora. "I just love candy, and I haven't had any in ever so long. Now my papa gave me a box, but the string is tied on it so tightly that I can't get the box open, and my papa went away and forgot about it. Oh, dear. Boo! hoo! Can you open it for me, Uncle Wiggily?"
The rabbit gentleman thought for a moment. Then he said, with a twinkle in his eyes that matched the twinkle in his nose:
"Well, possibly I might untie the string, but you see my teeth are so big and sharp, and are so used to gnawing wood, and bark and carrots, and I can't see very well, even with my glasses, so I might accidentally, when I bite through the string I might, by mistake, also bite through the box, and eat the candy myself."
"Oh, dear!" cried the little girl. Then she added quickly, as she thought of her polite manners: "I wouldn't mind, Uncle Wiggily, if you did eat some of the candy. Only open the box for me so I can get part of it," she said.