"Now we'll crack the nuts and play more games!" called Mab, after a while.
But when she went to pass the nuts she found that they were not cracked, and some of them had very hard shells.
"Oh, Don! Didn't you bring the nut cracker?" asked Mab.
"No, I thought you did," answered her brother.
"And I thought you did!" exclaimed Mab. "Oh, what shall we do?"
"We can crack the nuts with stones on top of the stump," said one boy.
But when they tried this, some of the nuts flew away over in the bushes, without getting cracked at all. Others hit the girls on the ends of their noses. And some of the children pounded their fingers instead of cracking the nuts.
"Oh, dear!" sighed Mab, as she saw what was going on. "My party will be spoiled, all because we haven't a nut cracker."
The Tame Rabbit heard all this. So did Uncle Wiggily, who was looking on, hidden in the bushes. Both bunnies knew what was said though they couldn't speak boy and girl talk.
"Can't you help the children, Uncle Wiggily?" asked the Tame Rabbit, as he hopped out to the bush where the bunny gentleman was hidden. None of the children saw the two animals talking together.