So he kept on, looking under all the big leaves and clumps of ferns for his fortune. But he didn't find it, and pretty soon he came to a hole in the ground. And in front of this hole was a little sign, printed on a piece of paper, and it read:
"COME IN! EVERYBODY WELCOME."
"Humph! I wonder if that means me?" thought the old gentleman rabbit. "Let's see, gold grows under ground, in mines, and perhaps this is a gold mine. I'm going down. I'm sure there is a fortune waiting for me. Yes, I'll go down."
So he laid aside his valise and barber-pole crutch and got ready to go down in the hole, which wasn't very big.
"But I can scratch it bigger if I need to," said Uncle Wiggily.
Well, he had no sooner gotten his front feet and part of his nose down the hole, but his ears were still sticking out, when he heard a voice calling:
"Here! Where are you going?"
"Down this hole after gold," replied Uncle Wiggily.
"You mustn't go down there," went on the voice, and pulling out his nose and looking about him, the old gentleman rabbit saw a white pussy cat sitting on a stump. And the pussy cat was washing his face with his paws, taking care not to let the claws stick out for fear of scratching his eyes.
"Why can't I go down this hole, Pussy?" asked the rabbit. "Do you have charge of it?"