"Ha! What is that?" he cried, turning around quickly, and then he saw the crab, with its big blue claws pinching him.
"Ouch! Oh, my!" cried the rabbit. "Whatever shall I do?"
"I'll help pull him off!" shouted the grasshopper, but he was not strong enough, and the crawly crab still clung to the rabbit's tail.
"Why are you pinching me?" asked the rabbit, as he tried to reach around and pull off the crab, only he found he could not do it.
"I am pinching you because you dug a hole down in my sandy beach," said the crab, "and I'm going to hold on to you until you give me a thousand pieces of cheese for my supper."
"Oh, I can never get that many!" cried the rabbit. "Will no one help me get away from this crab?" But all the children had run home to dinner and there was no one to help the rabbit, until all of a sudden, a big wave washed up, and almost covered Uncle Wiggily.
He could just manage to breathe, and he sprang up on the beach to get beyond the water, and the grasshopper hopped out of the way also. But the wave was a good one after all, for as soon as the crab felt the water sloshing up around him he let go of the rabbit's tail to swim away, and that's how Uncle Wiggily was saved from the crab, even if he didn't find any gold, and he was very glad his tail wasn't pinched off.
The old gentleman rabbit remained at the seashore for several days, and he had many adventures. And, in case I find a peanut shell with a red popcorn ball inside of it, the next bedtime story will be about Uncle Wiggily and the big lobster.