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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/11156-0.txt b/11156-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..73746d3 --- /dev/null +++ b/11156-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4455 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11156 *** + +BED TIME STORIES + +Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg + +Howard R. Garis + + + + +PUBLISHER'S NOTE. + + +These stories appeared originally in the Evening News, of Newark, N.J., +and are reproduced in book form by the kind permission of the publishers +of that paper, to whom the author extends his thanks. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +I. BUDDY PIGG IN A CABBAGE +II. BRIGHTEYES AND MRS. HOPTOAD +III. BUDDY PIGG AND SAMMY LITTLETAIL +IV. BUDDY PIGG PLAYS BALL +V. BRIGHT EYES PIGG AND SISTER SALLIE +VI. DR. PIGG AND UNCLE WIGGILY +VII. BUDDY PIGG IS CAUGHT +VIII. BUDDY'S AND BRIGHTEYES' FOURTH OF JULY +IX. BUDDY PIGG WANTS A TAIL +X. BUDDY WALKS A TIGHT ROPE +XI. BRIGHTEYES IN A TIN CAN +XII. DR. PIGG AND THE FIRECRACKER +XIII. BUDDY PIGG IN A BOAT +XIV. BRIGHTEYES AND THE PEANUT CANDY +XV. BUDDY AND THE JUNE BUG +XVI. BRIGHTEYES AND THE BAD BOY +XVII. BUDDY'S GREAT RUN +XVIII. BRIGHTEYES, BUDDY AND THE TURNIP +XIX. BUDDY AND THE BURGLAR FOX +XX. BRIGHTEYES HAS AN ADVENTURE +XXI. BUDDY IN A DEEP HOLE +XXII. A TRICK THE GROUNDHOGS PLAYED +XXIII. BUDDY IN THE BERRY BUSH +XXIV. BRINGING HOME THE COWS +XXV. BUDDY RIDES HORSEBACK +XXVI. BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES FALL DOWNHILL +XXVII. BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES GO BATHING +XXVIII. BUDDY BUILDS A SAND HOUSE +XXIX. BUDDY HELPS SAMMY LITTLETAIL +XXX. BRIGHTEYES AND JENNIE CHIPMUNK +XXXI. BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES IN THE MOUNTAINS + + + + +BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES PIGG + + + + +STORY I + + +BUDDY PIGG IN A CABBAGE + +Once upon a time, not so many years ago, in fact it was about the same +year that Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, the little puppy dog boys lived in +their kennel house, there used to play with them, two queer little brown +and white and black and white animal children, called guinea pigs. They +were just as cute as they could be, and, since I have told you some +stories about rabbits, and squirrels and ducks, as well as about +puppies, I wonder how you would like to hear some account of what the +guinea pigs did? + +Anyhow, I'll begin, and so it happened that there lived at one time, in +a nice little house, called a pen, four guinea pigs. + +There was the papa, and he was named Dr. Pigg, and the reason for it +was that he had once been in the hospital with a broken paw, and ever +since he was known as "Doctor." Then there was his wife, and his little +boy, and his little girl. They were Montmorency and Matilda, but, as the +children didn't like those names, they always spoke of each other as +"Buddy" and "Brighteyes," so I will do the same. + +Buddy Pigg (and he had two g's in his name you notice) was black and +white, and Brighteyes Pigg was brown and white, and they were the nicest +guinea pig children you could meet if you rode all week in an +automobile. One day Buddy went out for a walk in the woods alone, +because Brighteyes had to stay at home to help to do the dishes, and +dust the furniture. + +Buddy, who, I suppose, you remember, was a friend of Jackie and Peetie +Bow Wow, walked along, sniffing with his nose, just like Sammie and +Susie Littletail, the rabbits. + +"It seems to me," Buddy said, "that I smell something good to eat. I +wonder if it can be an ice cream cone, or some peanuts, or anything like +that?" He looked around but he couldn't see any store there in the woods +where they sold ice cream or peanuts, and then he knew he must be +mistaken. Still he kept on smelling something good. + +"I wonder where that is?" he exclaimed, and he sniffed harder than +ever. And then he knew what it was--a cabbage--a great, big cabbage! He +ran around the side of a big rock, and there lying on the path, was a +fine big cabbage. Some one had dropped it by mistake. + +"This is great luck!" cried Buddy Pigg. "There is enough for me and +Brighteyes, and I can take some home to mamma and to my papa, the +doctor. Yes, indeed, this has been a lucky day for me. I'm as glad I +found this cabbage as if I had picked up ten cents! I guess I'll eat +some to see how it tastes." + +So Buddy Pigg began to gnaw at the cabbage and, as he had very good +teeth for gnawing--almost as good as Sammy Littletail's--he soon had +quite a hole made. But he kept on gnawing and eating away, so fine did +it taste, until, in a little while if he hadn't eaten a hole right into +the cabbage and he found himself inside, just like the mousie in the +loaf of bread! + +"Ha! This is very fine, indeed!" cried Buddy Pigg. "I think I will take +a nap here," and lopsy-flop! if that little guinea pig didn't curl up +inside the cabbage and go fast, fast asleep; and not even his tail stuck +out, because, you see, he didn't have any tail--guinea pigs never do +have any, which is a good thing, I suppose. + +Well, Buddy Pigg was sleeping away inside that cabbage, dreaming of how +nice it would be to take the rest of it home, when all at once, who +should come creeping, creeping around the edge of the rock, but a great, +big fox. He had sharp eyes, had that fox, and he saw the little guinea +pig asleep inside the cabbage, even though Buddy's tail didn't stick +out. + +"Ah, ha! Oh, ho!" exclaimed the fox, and he smacked his lips. "I see a +fine feast before me! Oh, yes, indeed, a very fine feast! Guinea pig +flavored with cabbage! Now, just so that pig can't get out, I'll stop up +that hole, while he's asleep in there, and I'll go and get my wife, and +we'll come back and have a dandy meal! Oh! a most delectable meal!" + +So that old fox crept softly, so softly, up to where the cabbage was, +with Buddy asleep inside, and the fox took a stone, and he crowded it, +and wedged it, fast in the hole, so poor Buddy couldn't get out, though +there was some air for him to breathe. Then the fox laughed to himself: +"Ha, ha!" and "Ho, ho!" and hurried off down the hill after his wife. + +Well, it wasn't long before Buddy Pigg awoke, and he tried to stretch +himself, as he always did after a nap, and wasn't he the surprised +guinea pig, though, when he found he couldn't stretch! + +"Why, what can be the matter?" he cried. "I'm all in the dark! Let's +see where was I? Oh, I remember, I found a cabbage, and I began to eat +it, and I went inside it--And land sakes, goodness me and a trolley car! +I'm inside it now!" he cried, as he smelled the cabbage. "I'm shut in +the cabbage just as if I was shut in a closet! However did it happen?" +and he tried to turn around, and make his way out, but he couldn't, +because the stone which the fox had stuffed in the hole closed it up too +tight. + +"I'm locked in!" cried Buddy Pigg. "Locked in a cabbage! Isn't it +terrible!" and of course it was, and no fooling, either. + +Well, Buddy Pigg was a brave little chap, and instead of sitting down +and crying there in the dark, he began to think of how he could get out. +He thought of all sorts of ways, but none of them seemed any good, and +at last he decided to try to burst the cabbage open. But it was too +strong and thick, and he couldn't do it. + +He soon discovered, however, that, wiggling around inside it as he did, +made the cabbage wiggle too, and the first thing you know the cabbage +began to roll down the hill, just like a man in a barrel. + +Faster and faster went the cabbage down the hill, over and over, with +Buddy inside, and he began to get dizzy, for he didn't know what was +happening. + +Then, at that moment, who should come along but that bad fox and his +wife. The cabbage seemed to be rolling straight at them. + +"My sakes alive!" cried Mrs. Fox. "What is that, Oscar?" You see her +husband's name was Oscar. + +"I don't know," he replied, "but don't bother about it. We'll go and get +that guinea pig." So they kept on, but just then the cabbage bounded +over a little clod of dirt, went up in the air, and nearly hit Mr. Fox, +and that scared him so that he ran away, and his wife ran after him. + +Well, the cabbage, with Buddy inside, kept on rolling, and the first +thing you know it began to roll down hill in front of the guinea pigs' +pen. It made quite a noise, and Matilda ran out to see what it was. + +"Oh, mamma!" she cried. "Here is a cabbage rolling down hill." + +"Nonsense!" cried Mrs. Pigg. "Whoever heard of such a thing?" but she +ran out to see what it was, and at that moment the cabbage bounded right +in front of the pen, hit a big stone, burst open with a noise like a +torpedo, and out rolled Buddy Pigg, over and over, just like a pumpkin. +But, believe me, he wasn't hurt the least mite, but he was rather +surprised-like! + +Then he got up, walked over to his mother and said: + +"Here is some fresh cabbage I brought home," and he was as cool as two +cucumbers. Well, the guinea pigs had a fine dinner off the cabbage Buddy +brought home in such a funny way, and of course the fox and his wife +didn't have any, which served them right I suppose. + +Now in the next story, if the cook doesn't burn the potatoes and make +stove blacking of them I'll be able to tell you about Brighteyes Pigg +and Mrs. Hoptoad. + + + + +STORY II + + +BRIGHTEYES AND MRS. HOPTOAD + +After Buddy had taken that funny ride down hill, inside the head of +cabbage, his father said to him: + +"Buddy, come here, and let me look at you. Possibly you were hurt in +that terrible trip, and, having been in a hospital, I can tell whether +you were or not." + +So he looked Buddy over carefully, but there wasn't a thing the matter +with the little chap, except a tiny scratch on his nose. + +"Weren't you awfully frightened?" asked Brighteyes of her brother. "It +was terrible!" + +"No," he answered, "not much. And it wasn't so terrible when we got a +good dinner out of it. I wish I could find a cabbage every day." + +"You had better put something on that scratch," cautioned Dr. Pigg. Then +he went on reading his paper, and Mrs. Pigg got out the salve bottle for +Buddy. + +Well, it was two days after this that Brighteyes Pigg was out walking +along the road. She had been to the store for some carrots, and the +store man said he would send them right over, so the little girl guinea +pig didn't have to carry them. + +Well, she was walking along, not thinking of much of anything in +particular, when suddenly something hopped out of the bushes in front of +her. + +"My goodness! What's that?" cried Brighteyes, for she was a bit nervous +from having had a tooth pulled week before last. + +"Don't be alarmed, my dear," spoke a soft voice. "It's only me," and if +there wasn't a great, big, motherly-looking hoptoad, out in the dusty +road, and the next moment if that toad didn't begin hopping up and down +as fast as she could hop. + +"Why, whatever in the world are you doing?" asked Brighteyes Pigg, for +she noticed that the toad didn't seem to get anywhere; only hopping up +and down in the same place all the while. + +"I'm jumping, my dear," answered the toad. + +"So I see," remarked the little guinea pig girl, "but where are you +jumping to? You don't seem to be getting any place in particular." + +"And I don't want to, my dear," went on the toad, and she never stopped +going up and down as fast as she could go. "I'm churning butter," she +went on, "and when one churns butter one must jump up and down you know. +That's the way to make butter. Don't your folks churn?" and then, for +the first time, Brighteyes noticed that the toad had a little wooden +churn, made from an old clothespin, fastened on her back. + +"No, my mother doesn't churn," answered Brighteyes. + +"Then I don't suppose you keep a cow," went on Mrs. Toad. "Neither do +we, but next door to us is the loveliest milk-weed you ever saw, and I +thought it a shame to see all the milk juice go to waste, so I churn it +every week. It makes very fine butter." + +"I should think it might," answered Brighteyes. "But isn't it hard +work?" + +"Yes, it is," replied Mrs. Toad, "and I know you'll excuse me, my dear, +for not stopping my jumping to sit and chat with you, but the truth of +the matter is that I think the butter is beginning to come, and I +daren't stop." + +"Oh, don't stop on my account," begged Brighteyes, politely. "I can talk +while you jump." + +"Very good," replied the toad, "I think I will soon be finished, though +on hot days the butter is longer in coming," and she began to hop up and +down faster than ever. + +Then, all at once, oh, about as soon as you can pull off a porous +plaster when you're quick about it, if poor Mrs. Toad didn't give a cry, +and stop jumping. + +"What's the matter?" asked Brighteyes, "has the butter come?" + +"No," was the answer, "but I stepped on a sharp stone, and hurt my foot, +and now I can't jump up and down any more. Oh, dear! now the butter will +be spoiled, for there is no one else at my home to finish churning it. +Oh, dear me, and a pinch of salt on a cracker! Isn't that bad luck?" and +she sat down beside a burdock plant. + +Well, sure enough, she had cut her foot quite badly, and it was utterly +out of the question for her to jump up and down any more. + +"Will you kindly help me to get the churn off my back?" Mrs. Toad asked +of Brighteyes, and the little guinea pig girl helped her. + +"All that nice butter is spoiled," went on Mrs. Toad, as she looked in +the churn. "Well, it can't be helped, I s'pose, and there's no use +worrying over buttermilk that isn't quite made. I shall have to throw +this away." + +"No, don't," cried Brighteyes quickly. + +"Why not?" asked the toad lady. + +"Because I will finish churning it for you." + +"Do you know how to churn?" + +"Not exactly, but I have thought of a plan. See, we will tie the churn +to this blackberry bush stem, and then I will take hold of one end of +the stem, and wiggle it up and down, and the churn will go up and down, +too, on the bush, just as it did when you jumped with it; and then maybe +the butter will come." + +"All right, my dear, you may try it," agreed Mrs. Toad. "I'm afraid, +though, that it won't amount to anything, but it can do no harm. I am +sure it is very kind of you to think of it." + +So Brighteyes took the churn, and tied it to a low, overhanging branch +of the blackberry bush. Then she took hold of the branch in her teeth, +and stood up on her hind legs and began to wiggle it up and down. The +churn went up and down with the branch, and the milk from the milk-weed +sloshed and splashed around inside the churn, and land sakes flopsy-dub +and some chewing gum, if in about two squeals there wasn't the nicest +butter a guinea pig or a toad would ever want to eat! + +"Oh, what a smart little girl you are!" cried Mrs. Toad. "I'm sure your +mother must be proud of you! Now I can work the buttermilk out, and salt +the butter, and I'm going to send your mamma home a nice pat," which she +did, and very glad Mrs. Pigg was to get it. + +"You certainly are a clever little child," said Dr. Pigg to Brighteyes +that night, "but then, you see, you take after your father. It is my +hospital training that shows. By the way, we must send something to Mrs. +Toad, for her cut foot," which they did, and it got all better. + +Now, in case you don't drop your bread with the butter side down on the +carpet, and spoil the kitchen oilcloth, I'll tell you in the next story +about Buddy Pigg and Sammie Littletail. + + + + +STORY III + + +BUDDY PIGG AND SAMMY LITTLETAIL + +Getting up quite early one morning, Buddy Pigg washed himself very +carefully, so that his black and white fur was fairly shining in the +sunlight, and then the little guinea pig started off to take a stroll +before breakfast. + +"Who knows," he said, "perhaps I may meet with an adventure; or else +find a cabbage, just as I did the other day. But if I do, I'm not going +to get inside it and go to sleep. No, indeed, and a feather pillow +besides!" + +So Buddy Pigg walked on, leaving his sister and his mamma and Dr. Pigg +slumbering in the pen. Oh, it was just fine, running along through the +woods and over the fields that beautiful, summer morning. + +The grass was all covered with dew, and Buddy had a second bath before +he had gone very far, there was so much water on everything, but he +didn't mind that. He looked at the flowers, on every side, and smelled +them with his little twinkling nose, and he listened to the birds +singing. + +Well, in a short time he came to a place where a lot of little trees +grew close together, making a sort of grove, not large enough for a +Sunday-school picnic, perhaps, but large enough for guinea pigs. + +"This is a fine place," said Buddy Pigg. "I think I'll rest here a bit, +and perhaps an adventure may come along." + +You see Buddy was very fond of adventures, which means having something +happen to you. He was almost as much that way as Alice Wibblewobble, the +little duck girl, was fond of romantic things--that is she liked +fairies, and princes, and kings, and knights with golden swords, and all +oddities like that. Well, Buddy Pigg went in the little grove of trees, +and now you just wait and listen--an adventure is going to happen in +less than five minutes by the clock. + +All of a sudden, just as the little guinea pig got close to one of the +trees, he smelled something good, and he looked up, and, bless him! if +he didn't see the nicest turnip that ever grew. + +"Oh, that certainly is fine!" he cried, and his eyes twinkled and his +nose wiggled, both at the same time. "I must take that home for +breakfast," he went on. But my goodness me and the mustard spoon! if, +when he went to get it, he didn't discover that the turnip was hung up +by a string on the branch of the tree! + +"Hello!" exclaimed Buddy Pigg. "I never saw turnips growing that way +before. This must be a special kind, but it will be all the better. It +is a little high up, but I think I can reach it by standing on my hind +legs, and stretching up my front paws." + +So he moved a little nearer the curious hanging turnip, and was about to +reach up for it when who should come bounding out of the bushes but +Sammie Littletail, the rabbit boy. + +"Hello, Buddy Pigg!" he called. "What are you going to do?" + +"I'm going to get this turnip down," answered Buddy. "It is a fine one; +but it is hanging quite high. I'll give you some when I pull it down," +for Buddy Pigg was very kind, you know. + +Well, he stood up again, and was just about to step a little closer, so +he could grab the turnip, when Sammie cried out: + +"Here, Buddy! Come right away from that! Jump back as fast as you can! +Quick! Quick! I say!" + +"Why?" asked Buddy, "is it your turnip?" + +"No, but don't you see? That turnip is nothing but a trap. It is hung up +there on purpose. Come away. I can see the trap as plain as anything. +Uncle Wiggily Longears taught me how to keep away from them, for I was +caught in one, once upon a time." + +"A trap?" asked Buddy. "Is this a trap?" + +"To be sure," answered Sammie. "See, the turnip hangs right over a loop +of wire, and inside the wire loop there is a piece of wood. Now to reach +up and get the turnip you must step on the piece of wood, and as soon as +you do so that tree branch, to which the wire is fast, will spring up, +the wire will slip around your neck, you will be yanked up into the air, +and that will be the last of you." + +"The last of me?" asked Buddy, who, being a little boy, had not seen as +much of the world as had Sammie. + +"The very last of you," answered the rabbit. "You would be choked to +death by the wire. Yes, the turnip was put there to catch some one, but +they won't catch us, Buddy. We'll fool them!" + +"Oh, I say! This is too bad!" exclaimed Buddy. "I was just counting on +this turnip. Isn't there any way we can get it?" + +"I don't believe so," replied Sammie, wrinkling up his nose, just as +Buddy was doing. They smelled that turnip, and it had a most delicious +odor, better to them, even, than strawberries are to you. + +"Maybe we can throw some stones up and knock it down," suggested Buddy. + +So they threw up stones, and, though they hit the turnip, and made it +swing back and forth, like the pendulum of the clock, it didn't fall +down, and by this time Buddy and Sammie were getting very hungry. + +"Let's try throwing sticks," proposed Sammie. "We'll toss them at the +cord, and maybe we can break it." + +So they threw sticks, and, though Buddy did manage to hit the cord, the +turnip didn't come down, and they were more hungry than ever. + +"Let's take a long pole and poke the turnip down," said Sammie after a +while, and they did so, but Buddy accidentally came within half a dozen +steps of going too near the trap, and was almost caught. + +"Oh, I guess we'll have to give it up," spoke Sammie, but Buddy didn't +want to, because he was very determined, and did not like to stop until +he had done what he set out to do. + +So he tried every way he could think of, until he was all tired out, but +nothing seemed to do any good. Then he and Sammie sat down and looked up +at that turnip, swinging over their heads, and they were so hungry that +their tongues stuck out like a dog's on a hot day. Then, all at once, +before you could sharpen a lead pencil with a dull knife, if out from +the bushes didn't pop Billie Bushytail, the squirrel. + +"What's up?" he asked, just like that, honestly he did. + +"The turnip is," said Buddy; "it's up high and we can't get it down." + +"Ha! That's a mere trifle--a mere trifle!" cried Billie. "I will climb +up the tree, run out on the limb and gnaw through the string. Then the +turnip will fall down to you." + +Which he did in two frisks of his tail, without any danger from the trap +at all, for that was on the ground, while Billie was above it in the +tree. So Buddy and Sammie had the turnip after all. And they divided it +evenly, Sammie gnawing it through with his teeth, and each one took his +half home. Billie didn't like turnip, you see for he would rather have +chestnuts. + +Now, I think I'll tell you next about Buddy Pigg playing ball--that is, +if our tea kettle sings a nice song for supper and makes the rag doll go +to sleep. + + + + +STORY IV + + +BUDDY PIGG PLAYS BALL + +"Hello, Buddy!" called Sammie Littletail, the rabbit boy, to Buddy Pigg +one fine day, "come on out, and we'll have a game of ball," and Sammie +tossed his ball high up in the air and caught it in his catching glove, +as easily as you can eat two ice cream cones, a vanilla and a chocolate +one, on a hot day. + +"Why, we two can't play ball alone," objected Buddy. "It needs three, +anyhow." + +"Oh, well, we'll find Billie and Johnie Bushytail somewhere in the +woods," went on Sammie, "and maybe Jimmie Wibblewobble, the boy duck, +will come along, too. Then there is Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, who have +come back from the country. Oh, we can get up a regular team." + +"All right, I'll come," agreed Buddy. "Wait until I bring in some wood +for mother. She is going to bake some turnip pies to-day--out of the +turnip you and I and Billie Bushytail got yesterday--and she needs a hot +fire. I just love turnip pies; don't you, Sammie?" + +[Illustration] + +"Indeed I do, but I don't believe we are going to have any. Mother +stewed my half of the turnip." + +"Never mind," advised Buddy Pigg, "I'll give you some of our pies when +they are baked," so he brought in two big armfuls of wood for the fire, +and then he and Sammie went off to play ball, leaving Brighteyes Pigg +home to help her mamma bake the pies, which the little guinea pig girl +loved to do. + +Well, Buddy and Sammie hadn't gone very far before they met Billie and +Johnnie Bushytail, the boy squirrels, and they agreed to play ball. +Then, as the four of them went along a little farther, they met Jackie +and Peetie Bow Wow, out walking with Percival, the old circus dog. So +Peetie and Jackie said they would play ball, and that made six. + +"Now, if we had two more we would have four on a side," suggested Buddy, +and, no sooner had he spoken than there was a noise in the bushes, and +out came Jimmie Wibblewobble, and Bully, the frog. + +They were very glad to play ball, and soon there were two sides +selected. Buddy Pigg was captain of one side, and for players he had +Peetie Bow Wow, Billie Bushytail, and Bully, while Sammie Littletail was +the other captain, and he had Jackie Bow Wow, Johnnie Bushytail and +Jimmie Wibblewobble. + +"Now we're all ready, let's play," suggested Buddy. + +"No, wait a moment," begged Bully. + +"Why?" they all wanted to know. + +"Because," replied the little frog boy, "my brother, Bawly, has just +made up a new song, and I know he'll give us no peace until he sings it. +He's coming along now. Let him sing the song, and then we'll play ball." +So they agreed to that, and in a minute Bawly came hopping along. + +"Do you want to hear my new song?" he asked. + +"Yes--hurry up," they all cried. So Bawly sang this: + + Oh, wiggily, waggily, wheelery, + I wish that I was rich. + I'd buy an automobilery, + And ride it in our ditch. + I wouldn't hop at all again. + I'd ride the whole day long. + But I haven't got an auto, + And so I sing this song. + +"I don't call that much of a song," said the old circus dog, Percival. +"You ought to do a dance after it. That's what the clowns always do." + +"Thank you, I'm not a clown," answered Bawly. "But could you make up a +song like that, and sing it yourself? That's what I want to know," he +asked. + +"I don't s'pose I could," answered Percival. "But if we're going to the +ball game, let's go." So they hurried on, and pretty soon they met Uncle +Wiggily Longears. + +"Oh, will you umpire for us?" asked Sammie. + +"Ha! Hum!" exclaimed the old gentleman rabbit, as he leaned on his +crutch. "I ought to go on to the office, but--ah!--er--well, as long as +you have no one else to umpire for you, I suppose I will have to do it, +but I really ought to go to the office. Who is going to play?" he asked, +and he seemed real anxious to know. + +So they told him, and pretty soon they got to the baseball field, and +began the game. Buddy Pigg and his players were last at the bat, and +Sammie and his players came up first. + +Well, it was a great game. Sammie struck out, but Jackie Bow Wow made a +nice home run, and Jimmie Wibblewobble almost did, only he got put out +at the home plate, and then Johnnie Bushytail, he got put out, trying to +steal to second base, which means getting there on the sly, you know; +and then it came the turn of Buddy and his friends to bat the ball all +over if they could. + +Well, Johnnie Bushytail was the pitcher, and he threw in such fine +curves, and so many of them, that it was hard for Buddy and his friends +to strike the ball. + +They did manage to hit it a little, and got three runs. Then it came the +turn of Sammie Littletail's team again, and they got four runs, and so +it went along until at the close of the game Sammie's team was eight +runs and Buddy's only seven. + +"We've got to get two runs to win," cried Billie Bushytail, "everybody +work hard." + +"We will," cried Bully, the frog. Now you girls just listen carefully, +something wonderful will happen in about a minute. + +Well, Peetie Bow Wow made one run, and then Bully and Billie got put +out, and it was Buddy's turn to bat the ball. It all depended on him +now. If he could make a home run his side would win. + +Well, I just wish you could have seen how bravely Buddy walked up to the +home plate, and stood there, while Johnnie Bushytail almost tied +himself into a bow knot in throwing a double-jointed +up-and-down-sideways curve. + +Buddy Pigg swung at it, and--no, he didn't miss it, he hit it good and +proper, and away sailed the ball. Off Buddy started for first base, +hoping he could make a home run, but alas! before he got to second base +the ball he had knocked was coming down, and was almost in the webbed +foot of Jimmie Wibblewobble, who was waiting to catch it, and if it was +caught that would mean that Buddy would be out, and his side would not +win that inning. + +But Jimmie didn't catch the ball! No, sir! The strangest thing happened! +At that moment if along didn't fly the kind fish hawk; and he swooped +down and caught that ball up in his strong bill, and sailed away up in +the air with it, and Buddy ran on and on as fast as he could go, around +the bases, and toward home plate, and he got there in time to win the +game. And then the fish hawk dropped the ball, and Jimmie caught it, but +it was too late to put Buddy out. + +"That's not fair!" cried Sammie Littletail. "The bird took the ball up +in the air." All his side said it wasn't fair, but Uncle Wiggily, the +umpire, decided that it was fair, and Buddy's side won the game, but +they wouldn't have if it hadn't been for the fish hawk, and they were +very thankful to him. + +Now I think I'm going to tell you in the next story about Brighteyes and +Sister Sallie--that is if no one takes our door mat to use for a pen +wiper. + + + + +STORY V + + +BRIGHTEYES PIGG AND SISTER SALLIE + +Brighteyes Pigg had finished doing the dishes, and had put on her clean +dress, her new tan shoes, which matched her brown and white fur, and her +hair was tied with a pink ribbon--you know the kind--the ones that stick +out so with a bow on each side. Well, she looked just too nice for +anything, and she asked her mother: + +"May I go out and take a walk?" + +"Yes," replied Mrs. Pigg. "Where are you going? Is Buddy going with +you?" + +"No, he has gone off to play ball again. I guess he thinks the fish hawk +will catch up the ball once more and help him to make a home run. No, +I'm not going with Buddy. I thought I'd go over and see Sister Sallie, I +haven't called on her in some time." + +"Very well," said Mrs. Pigg, and Dr. Pigg called to his little girl: + +"Give my regards to Mr. Bushytail, and tell him that if he sees Uncle +Wiggily Longears to mention that I have a new cure for rheumatism, that +I will send him." + +"I'll be sure to tell him," said Brighteyes Pigg. "Poor Uncle Wiggily, +his rheumatism bothers him a great deal." Well, she went on through the +woods to see Sister Sallie, who, I hope you remember, was the little +sister that Billie and Johnnie Bushytail, the two boy squirrels, once +found at the foot of the tree where their nest was. + +Brighteyes found Sister Sallie just finishing helping Mrs. Bushytail do +up the housework, and Sister Sallie was singing: + + Hippity-hop to the barber-shop, + To buy a lolly-pop lally. + One for me, and one for thee + And one for Sister Sallie. + +"Can you come out and play?" asked Brighteyes. + +"Indeed I can," replied the little squirrel. "Shall I bring my doll?" + +"Yes, but I haven't any," answered the little guinea pig girl, as Sallie +brought out the corncob doll, that her brothers and Grandma Lightfoot +had made for her. + +"Never mind, I'll help you make one," promised Sister Sallie, so the +two little friends walked on through the woods. + +"What will you make my doll of?" asked Brighteyes. + +"I don't just know yet," said Sallie. "I will look around for +something." So she looked first on one side of the woodland path, and +then on the other, and Brighteyes did the same, but they couldn't seem +to find anything out of which to make a doll. + +Then, all at once, oh, I guess in about two wiggles and a wag, if Sallie +didn't see a nice, long, smooth, yellow carrot. + +"That will make a fine doll!" she cried. "We will use some cornsilk for +hair, and some little stones for the eyes, nose and mouth, and for +dresses----" + +"Well, what will we make dresses from?" asked Brighteyes, for she +noticed that Sister Sallie was at a loss what to say. + +"Oh, I know--leaves," cried the little squirrel. "We will pretend that +green is fashionable for ladies with a sort of carroty complexion," and +she laughed, and so did Brighteyes, whose nose twinkled just like the +diamond in mother's ring, or baby's eyes, when he is happy. + +So the two little friends sat down on a grassy bank, in the shade of an +oak tree, and they made the carrot doll. Oh, it was such fun! + +First they stuck two little pebbles in for eyes, and they looked as real +as anything; then they stuck a little larger stone in the carrot for a +nose, and then Brighteyes found a nice, long stone, sort of curled up +around the ends, and when that was put in the carrot, just beneath the +nose, why it looked exactly as if that carrot doll was smiling as hard +as she could smile; she was so happy, I s'pose. + +"Now for some dresses!" exclaimed Sister Sallie, who had put her own +corncob doll under some grass to sleep. So they got some beautiful green +leaves from the tree, and fastened them together with grass and needles +from the pine tree, and they made the nicest dresses you ever saw. + +Let me see, there was one made in princess style, and one empire gown, +and one that had a pull-back in the skirt, and one was a tub dress, +whatever that is, and there was a crepe de chine and a basque and peau +de soie effect and--and--er--well, I know you'll excuse me from +mentioning any others, as I don't know very much about dresses; it took +me quite a while to look those up, and I must get on with the story. + +Well, when they had the dresses all made they tried them on the carrot +doll, and they fitted perfectly, believe me, they did! + +"Oh, isn't this lovely," cried Brighteyes. "Now let's play house," so +they played house, and each one had a room, there on the grass, with +sticks and stones for furniture, and they put the dollies to bed, and +woke them up, and took them for a walk, and they made believe wash +dishes and get meals, and, oh, I don't know what they didn't do. + +But, all of a sudden, just as they were putting their dolls to sleep, +they heard a sort of growling in the bushes, and a big, shaggy, yellow +dog, with glaring eyes, jumped out at them! Oh, how frightened +Brighteyes and Sister Sallie were! + +"What are you doing on my nice, green grass?" growled the dog, real +savage-like. + +"If you please, Mr. Dog, we didn't know this was your grass," said +Sister Sallie, timidly. + +"Of course it is!" snapped the dog. "I go to sleep here on it every day. +Anyway what do you mean by taking the leaves off my trees?" he growled +again. + +"If you please, kind sir," spoke Brighteyes, "we didn't know they were +your trees." + +"Certainly they are," replied the dog, snapping his eyes open and shut. +"Those leaves keep the sun off me while I sleep. Now I'm going to eat +you all up for taking my things!" and he jumped right at them. + +But land sakes, flopsy dub! Before he could bite either Brighteyes or +Sister Sallie, who should appear, but Percival, the good, old circus +dog. + +"Here, you let my friends alone!" he barked, and he jumped on that bad +dog, and nipped both his ears well, let me tell you. Then the bad dog +ran away, howling, and Percival took care of Sister Sallie and +Brighteyes until it was time for them to go home. Now in the story after +this one I'm going to tell you about Dr. Pigg and Uncle Wiggily--that is +if my furnace fire doesn't go out in the street roller-skating with the +coal man. + + + + +STORY VI + + +DR. PIGG AND UNCLE WIGGILY + +Some one knocked on the door of the pen where Dr. Pigg and his wife and +Buddy and Brighteyes lived one day. "Rat-a-tat-tat," went the rapping. + +"My! I wonder who that can be?" exclaimed Mrs. Pigg. "Run and see, will +you, Buddy, like a good boy?" + +So Buddy hurried to the door, and whom should be see standing there but +Uncle Wiggily Longears, the old gentleman rabbit; and Uncle Wiggily had +rapped with his crutch, which had made the funny sound. + +"Why, how d'do!" exclaimed Dr. Pigg as soon as he saw who it was. "Come +right in Uncle Wiggily! This is an unexpected pleasure. Brighteyes, get +a chair for Uncle Wiggily. Buddy, you take his crutch. Mrs. Pigg, +haven't we some of that new cabbage preserved in maple sugar? Bring out +a bit for our friend!" + +My! you should have seen what a bustling about there was in the pen, +and all because Uncle Wiggily had come and because every one was fond of +him. Buddy started to take the old gentleman rabbit's crutch, but Uncle +Wiggily cried: + +"Oh, no! Don't! Not for worlds! Oh, my, no! and an ice cream cone +besides! Oh, lobster salad, no!" + +"Why, whatever is the matter?" exclaimed Dr. Pigg. + +"Oh, my! Ouch! Oh, shingles!" cried Uncle Wiggily, as he stepped up over +the doorsill. "Oh, dear me, and a baseball bat! It's my rheumatism, as +usual. It's something awful, these days." + +"Oh, I'm so sorry," cried Brighteyes Pigg. + +"And so am I," added Buddy, and they all were, for that matter. + +"Rheumatism, eh?" remarked Dr. Pigg, thoughtful-like. + +"Yes," went on Uncle Wiggily, as he hobbled over to a chair. "In fact, I +came to see you about it, Doctor," and the old rabbit rubbed his leg +very, very softly. + +"Ah! ha! Ahem!" exclaimed Dr. Pigg, as he puffed himself up, and looked +as important as possible. "Of course, I remember now. I sent word to you +that I had a new cure for rheumatism. I heard the doctors mention it in +the hospital, and I thought I would try it on you." + +"That's very kind of you," said Uncle Wiggily, "and you can't try it +any too soon, for I am in great pain," and he made such a funny face, +with his nose wiggling, and his ears waving back and forth, like fans on +a hot night, and his eyes--one looking up and the other down--altogether +it was so funny that Buddy and his sister wanted to laugh, only they +didn't, for they knew it wouldn't be polite, and might hurt Uncle +Wiggily's feelings. + +"I will have some medicine for you in a jiffy!" exclaimed Dr. Pigg; a +jiffy, you know, being almost as quick as half a wink. + +So the guinea pig doctor got a bottle of red medicine, and one of blue, +and one of pink, and another bottle of green medicine, and he got some +red pills and some black pills and some white powder and some yellow +powder and then he took some molasses and maple sugar, and stirred them +all up together. Oh, it was a funny-looking mixture I can tell you, all +colors of the rainbow, just as when Sammie fell into the pot of Easter +dye. + +"Now Mrs. Pigg, you stir that up well, and we'll give Uncle Wiggily some +as soon as it is cool," said Dr. Pigg, for he had cooked the medicine on +the stove. + +"It doesn't look very nice," observed Uncle Wiggily sort of +anxious-like. + +"Rheumatism medicine never does," said Dr. Pigg. + +"And it doesn't smell very nice," went on Uncle Wiggily. + +"Rheumatism medicines never do," cheerfully said Dr. Pigg, "and, what is +more, it doesn't taste very nice, either, Uncle Wiggily; but you must +take it, if you are to get well." + +"I suppose I must," remarked the old rabbit with a sigh, as Mrs. Pigg +kept on stirring the mixture. Well, pretty soon it was cool enough to +take. + +"Now, Buddy, you bring a spoon," ordered Dr. Pigg, and when the little +boy guinea pig brought one, his father poured into it some of the +medicine. + +"Brighteyes, you get a napkin so he won't spill any of it on his +clothes," went on her papa, "and Mrs. Pigg you please be ready with a +glass of water, for Uncle Wiggily will want a drink right after he takes +this." + +Well everything was all ready, and Buddy stood there to help, and so did +Brighteyes. + +"One, two, three! Take it!" suddenly cried Dr. Pigg, and he poured the +teaspoonful of the many-colored mixture down Uncle Wiggily's throat. +Brighteyes held the napkin so none of it would get on the rabbit's coat, +and Mrs. Pigg was there with the glass of water, which Uncle Wiggily +took very quickly. + +Well, I wish you could have seen the face Uncle Wiggily made when he +swallowed the rheumatism medicine! It was just like a clown in the +circus, only funnier. But Brighteyes and Buddy didn't even giggle, which +was very kind of them. + +"Do you feel any better?" asked Dr. Pigg, after Uncle Wiggily had +stopped making faces. "Is the pain gone?" + +"No, I can't say that it is," answered the rabbit. "It seems to be worse +than ever," and he rubbed his leg and tried to get up, but he couldn't +leave the chair, even with his crutch, which Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy had +gnawed for him out of a cornstalk. + +"Oh, that's too bad!" exclaimed Dr. Pigg. "I must try a new kind of +medicine." + +"No, don't!" cried the rabbit. "I had rather have the rheumatism." + +"Suppose we try some horse radish leaves, like we did for my toothache?" +proposed Buddy, and Mrs. Pigg said that would be good. So they got some +leaves, and put them on Uncle Wiggily's leg, but they didn't do any +good, neither did mustard, nor nettles, nor any of the other burning +things that they tried. + +"Oh, dear, I guess I'll have to stay in this chair forever!" cried +Uncle Wiggily, as he tried to get up and couldn't. "Oh, dear me, and a +piece of chewing gum! This is terrible!" + +Well, every one was wondering how Uncle Wiggily was ever going to walk +again, when all of a sudden, as Buddy looked from the window, he cried +out: + +"Oh, here comes the big, shaggy yellow dog that was going to eat up +Brighteyes and Sister Sallie when they were playing with their dolls! +He's coming right this way! Run everybody!" + +"Wow!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "A dog! Goodness me!" and, land sakes, if he +didn't jump up, seize his crutch and run home as fast as if he never had +any rheumatism at all. + +You see he was so frightened he forgot all about it for the time being, +which was a good thing. But do you s'pose that dog dared to come in the +pen and hurt the guinea pigs? No, sir, not a bit of it! The first he +knew, Percival, the kind, old circus dog had him by the ear and the bad +dog ran away and didn't hurt anybody. + +Now, in the next story, if an auto horn doesn't scare me so that I lose +my typewriter ribbon I'll tell you about Buddy Pigg being caught by a +boy. + + + + +STORY VII + + +BUDDY PIGG IS CAUGHT + +Buddy Pigg was sent to the store by his mother, one fine summer day, to +get a pound of butter, a loaf of bread and three-and-a-half pounds of +granulated sugar, and as that made quite a load to carry Buddy had a +basket to put the things in. + +"Now don't drop the loaf of bread in the water," said his mamma, "and +don't let the butter melt and, above all, don't tear a hole in the bag +of sugar, and have it spill out." + +"I won't, mother," promised Buddy. "I'll be real careful." So he set out +on his journey to the store, while Brighteyes, his sister, stayed home +to make the beds and mend the stockings. + +Well, Buddy got to the store all right, and bought the things for which +his mother had sent him. Then the storekeeper wanted to know how Dr. +Pigg and his family were, and he inquired about Uncle Wiggily's +rheumatism, and Buddy told about the scare the old gentleman rabbit had +had when the big, shaggy yellow dog appeared, and how the old gentleman +rabbit ran, and how Percival bit the bad dog. + +"That's very interesting," said the storekeeper, and he gave Buddy a +whole carrot for himself. + +Placing his basket of groceries carefully on his arm, Buddy Pigg started +for home. He walked along through the woods, and over the fields, +thinking how nice everything was, and what fun he would have when he got +home, playing ball with Sammie Littletail, and the Bushytail brothers, +when, all at once, what should he hear but a noise in the bushes. + +Now Buddy Pigg was always a little afraid when he heard noises, +especially in the woods, where he couldn't see what made them, so he +crouched down under a burdock leaf in case there might be any danger. +And, sure enough, there was. + +It wasn't more than a second or, possibly a second and a squeak, before +a great, big, bad boy stepped out from behind a tree. And he had a gun +with him, and he was looking for birds, or rabbits, or squirrels, or, +maybe, guinea pigs to shoot. + +That's why I know he was a bad boy, but of course he may have turned out +to be a good boy before he got to be so very old. Well, this boy looked +up, and he looked down, and he looked first to one side, and then to the +other, and then--flopsy-dub, and wiggily-waggily! if he didn't spy poor +Buddy Pigg hiding under the burdock leaf, and trembling as hard as he +could tremble. + +"Ah, ha!" cried that boy, "I have you now, little guinea pig! I'll take +you home with me, that's what I'll do! My, to think of catching a live +guinea pig! I certainly am a lucky chap!" + +Then, before Buddy could run away, which he couldn't have done anyhow, +on account of the basket of groceries on his arm, if that boy didn't +grab him up in his hands, and hold him tight! + +Oh, how frightened poor Buddy was! He was so scared that he could only +squeak very faintly, but he did manage to ask the boy to let him go, +only the boy didn't understand guinea pig language, as I do, and, even +if he had, I doubt very much if he would have let Buddy go, for he was a +bad boy as I have explained. + +Well, the boy didn't care any more about hunting rabbits or squirrels +with his gun that day, as he had caught Buddy, so off he started to take +the little guinea pig home with him, and, maybe, he intended to shut him +up in a box, or put him in a cage, or do something dreadful like that. + +But, listen, pretty soon--oh, I guess in about four jumps and a +hop--something is going to happen to that boy. Watch carefully and +you'll see it. + +On through the woods he went, holding poor Buddy tightly in his hands, +and, would you believe me, that boy never noticed that Buddy had a +basket of groceries! You see, the basket, of course, was guinea pig +size, and so was the loaf of bread and the butter and the sweet sugar. +They were so small that the boy didn't notice them, but this was partly +because Buddy hid the basket under his paws, for he didn't want anything +to happen to the things for which his mother had sent him to the store, +you know. + +Well, as the boy kept going on through the woods, carrying Buddy farther +and farther away from his home, the poor little guinea pig was more +frightened than ever. + +"Oh, how will I ever get away!" he thought, "I'll never see my mamma, +nor Brighteyes, nor my papa, Dr. Pigg, any more! Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" + +No sooner had Buddy said this than he heard a funny little noise in the +trees above his head, and, looking up, he saw Billie Bushytail bounding +along. There was the squirrel, and he saw right away what the trouble +was. And he could talk to Buddy without the boy knowing it, you see; so +Billie said: + +"Hey, Buddy, take some of the bread, crumble it all up, and toss the +crumbs up in the air." + +"What for?" asked Buddy. + +"Do it, and you'll see," answered Billie. "That will help you to +escape." + +Now Buddy didn't like to spoil the nice, new loaf of bread he had bought +for his mamma, but he thought maybe it would do some good, and he didn't +want to be carried away by that boy. + +So he broke open the loaf, crumbled some of the white part in his paws, +and tossed it high up in the air, so that it fell down in a shower, all +around the boy's head, and listen, the boy hadn't noticed Buddy toss up +the crumbs. + +"My!" exclaimed the boy. "Why, I do declare, if it isn't snowing! Who +ever heard of such a thing!" and he really thought the falling bread +crumbs were snow flakes. So he turned up his coat collar to keep warm, +and began to run, for he didn't want to get snowed under in the woods. +But Buddy kept on tossing up the bread crumbs, until the loaf was all +gone. + +"What shall I do next?" the guinea pig called to Billie Bushytail, who +was following along in the trees overhead. + +"Open the bag of sugar and throw that up in the air the same way," +directed the squirrel, and when Buddy did this the boy heard the sugar +rattling down on the leaves and some of it got down his neck, and +scratched him. + +"Why, I do declare. It's hailing!" he cried. "Who ever heard of such a +thing!" So he hurried on faster than ever. + +Well, when the sugar was all tossed up, and the boy was running real +fast, Billie Bushytail called to Buddy: + +"Now throw the pound of butter down in front of the boy!" Which Buddy +did as quick as a wink, and lossy-me and a pancake! if that boy didn't +slip down in the slippery butter, and fall and hurt his nose, and he had +to let go of Buddy Pigg. + +"Now's your chance. Run, Buddy, run!" cried Billie, and my, how Buddy +Pigg did run; and he got safely away from that bad boy, and was soon at +home, where his mother forgave him for throwing away the groceries when +she heard the story. + +Dr. Pigg said Billie was very smart to think of such a thing, and I +believe so myself. Now in case you don't burn yourself with a +firecracker and lose your penny down a hole in the sidewalk, I'm going +to tell you in the next story about Buddy and Brighteyes' Fourth of +July. + + + + +STORY VIII + + +BUDDY'S AND BRIGHTEYES' FOURTH OF JULY + +One day, when Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg were playing out in front of +their pen, Buddy suddenly exclaimed: + +"Why, just think of it! Day after to-morrow is Fourth of July, +Brighteyes. Won't we have lots of fun?" + +"What will we do?" asked his sister. + +"Oh, shoot off firecrackers and torpedoes, and make lots of noise, and +at night we'll send up Roman candles and skyrockets; and oh! it will be +better than a circus." + +"Oh, you boys!" exclaimed Brighteyes. "You always want to make a racket +and have excitement. It's horrid, I think." + +"Oh, I s'pose you'll play with your dolls, or something like that," said +Buddy, laughing at his sister, who was very serious. + +"Yes, that's what I'm going to do," replied Brighteyes. "I'm going to +play with Sister Sallie, and Alice and Lulu Wibblewobble, and Jennie +Chipmunk, and we're going for a picnic in the woods." + +"Look out that a big fox or a bad dog doesn't get you," said Buddy. +"Well, I'm going off to find Sammie and Billie and Johnnie and Jimmie +and Peetie and Jackie Bow Wow, and Bully and Bawly Frog, and we'll have +a fine time on the Fourth." + +"Where are you going to get your firecrackers and things?" asked +Brighteyes. + +"You'll see," answered Buddy, as he ran off. + +Well, Fourth of July came at last, just as it always does, and early in +the morning Buddy Pigg awoke. + +"Where are you going?" called his papa. + +"Out to shoot off some firecrackers," answered Buddy. + +"Be careful you don't get burned," cautioned his mother. "Oh dear! I +don't like the Fourth of July. If you do get burned. Buddy, run right in +and let papa attend to you." + +"I can't get burned with the kind of firecrackers and torpedoes I'm +going to use," answered the little boy guinea pig, and he laughed as he +ran out. + +Well, pretty soon, along came all his friends, Billie and Johnnie and +Sammie, and all the rest. They were so excited that Bawly, the frog, +didn't think to sing a song, or recite any poetry. + +"What shall we do first?" asked Buddy. + +"Let's play war," suggested Sammie. "We'll divide up into two armies, +and have a battle. It will be great!" + +So they divided into two sides, and Buddy was the general on one side, +and Billie Bushytail on the other. Then the fight began--not real, you +understand--but make-believe. + +First the loud cannons shot off; and what do you suppose the cannons +were? Why big stones, that the squirrels and rabbits and the other +animal boys held and clapped together as loud as anything. You know +stones can make a terrible racket when they are hit together real hard. +Well, it sounded like regular cannon, and the birds in the wood got +awfully scared. + +"Now fire your guns!" cried General Buddy Pigg, and his soldiers took +sticks, and snapped them in two pieces and broke them, until they +sounded like real guns, or a lot of firecrackers going off. + +Oh, it was fine, and the best of it was nobody could get hurt, or +burned, either. + +"Now shoot them with your torpedoes!" cried General Billie Bushytail, +and all at once his side began firing off torpedoes at a great rate; +until you would have thought the woods were on fire. And you would +never guess what the torpedoes were, so I'll tell you. They were big, +rose petals, blown up with air until they were like little pink and red +balloons, and tied around with a string, just as you tie a paper bag +around the neck, after you've blown it up, to burst it, and when those +rose-torpedoes were cracked down on a flat stone--my! you should have +heard the noise! + +Well, lots of them were fired off, and then Buddy Pigg got some empty +bags, and his soldiers blew them up, and they cracked 'em down, and they +went off "Boom! Boom!" like great, big cannons. They blew dust up in the +air, to pretend it was smoke, and there was the most terrible +make-believe battle you ever heard of. But nobody was hurt, and they had +lots of fun, and the best of it was that neither side won, which made +everybody happy. + +"Now we'll take a rest," said Buddy Pigg. "I wonder what Brighteyes and +the others are doing?" + +"Let's go see," proposed Billie Bushytail. + +So they all marched off through the woods, just like real soldiers, and +pretty soon they came to the place where Brighteyes and Sister Sallie +and all the girls were having a picnic. + +"You're just in time," called Brighteyes. + +"Come and have some lunch, and some lemonade. You must be tired after +all that fighting." Now wasn't she kind, even after Buddy had laughed at +the idea of a picnic being better than a battle? Well, I just guess! +Those soldiers were glad enough to eat the lunch, and drink the +lemonade, I can tell you. + +So the soldiers and the girls sat there in the woods under the trees and +had a fine time--almost as good as at the make-believe battle, I +think--and after a while, just as Buddy and his chums were getting ready +to go back and shoot some more stick-firecrackers and roseleaf +torpedoes, what should happen but that bad fox and that mean, old, +yellow, shaggy dog ran right out of the woods. + +"Let's eat everything up!" cried the fox, waving his big tail. + +"Yes, and then we'll eat the squirrels and rabbits and guinea pigs all +up!" cried the dog, gnashing his teeth and blinking his eyes as bold as +bold could be. + +At first even the soldiers were so frightened that they hardly knew what +to do, and they were about to run away, when Buddy called out: + +"Come on! Let's get our guns and our cannon and shoot them!" + +Then he grabbed up some stick-firecrackers and began to break and snap +them, and Sammie shot off some roseleaf torpedoes and Billie and Johnnie +clapped stones together, and Jimmie and Bully and Bawly threw dust in +the air until it looked like smoke, and there was a terrible racket, +until--well, sir, if that dog and that fox weren't so frightened that +they ran away and didn't even get so much as a crumb of cracker or a +drop of lemonade; and it served them right, I think. + +Then how thankful the girls were to the brave soldiers. Oh, everything +turned out just right, I'm glad to say. That afternoon Buddy and his +chums had more Fourth of July fun, and Brighteyes and her friends played +with their dolls. + +Then at night Buddy and the boys sent up skyrockets and Roman candles +(which were sticks covered with lightning bugs), and prettier ones you +never saw. And they even had a lightning-bug pinwheel. Oh, it was the +nicest Fourth of July that ever was! I hope you children have as nice a +one and that none of you get burned or hurt when you celebrate +Independence Day. And, if none of you do, why, in the next story I'll +tell you about Buddy Pigg trying to buy a tail for himself, because he +didn't have any. That is, I will if the lollypop doesn't fall down +stairs and break his stick. + + + + +STORY IX + + +BUDDY PIG WANTS A TAIL + +The day after the Fourth of July, when he and his sister had had such +fun, Buddy Pigg came into the pen, where his mamma was baking tea +biscuits for supper, and sat down in a chair by the table where she was +working. + +He didn't say anything, but just watched his mamma rolling out the +crust, or whatever it is they make tea biscuits of, and pretty soon Mrs. +Pigg noticed that Buddy didn't seem very happy. His face was all twisted +up into a funny sort of a scowl, and every once in a while he would give +a long sigh, as though he hadn't a friend in all the world. + +"Why, Buddy," Mrs. Pigg asked, when the tea biscuits were ready for the +oven, "whatever in the wide, wide world is the matter? Are you sick, or +did you burn yourself with a firecracker?" + +"No, mother," Buddy answered, "I'm not sick and I didn't burn myself +with a firecracker, but I wish--I wish--" and then he stopped, and sort +of wiggled his nose. + +"Well," asked his mother with a smile, "what do you wish? Remember, +though, that I am not a fairy and can't give you anything you want." + +"Oh," answered the little boy guinea pig, "this is very easy, mamma. All +I want is a tail." + +"A tail?" exclaimed his mamma in great surprise, and she wondered if, +after all, Buddy wasn't ill, for that was a very strange request. And +she began to wish that his papa was home, or that Brighteyes, who was +Buddy's sister, was in the house, to help look after him, but Brighteyes +had gone to see her aunt, and wouldn't be back till night. + +"Yes," went on Buddy, "I want a tail. All the other boys and girls who +are friends of mine have them, and I don't see why I can't." + +For you see guinea pigs never have tails. Why that is I don't know, +except, maybe, it's better that way in hot weather, but, anyhow, they +have no tails. + +"You don't need a tail," said Buddy's mamma. + +"Yes, I do, mother dear," he answered. "Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow have +tails, and so have Billie and Johnnie Bushytail, and the three +Wibblewobbles, and--" + +"But Bully and Bawly, the frogs, have no tail," said Mrs. Pigg, "and +they are happy, Buddy." + +"Well, they are in the water so much it doesn't show whether they have a +tail or not," went on Buddy. + +"And Sammie and Susie Littletail haven't much of a tail, Buddy," said +Mrs. Pigg, as she looked in the oven to see if the biscuits were +burning. + +"I know it, mother, but they have something of a tail," spoke Buddy, +"and maybe it will grow longer in time. I'd be glad if I had even as +much as Sammie has." + +"Well," said Mrs. Pigg, "I'm sorry, Buddy, but I don't see how you are +ever going to get a tail. I haven't any, your father hasn't any, and we +get along very well. None of your relations have tails and they are +happy. They never had any. In fact there has never been a tail in our +family and I don't see why you want to start. Now run out and play, like +a good boy, and when Brighteyes comes back it will be supper time, and +we'll have hot biscuits and honey." + +But, though Buddy ran out, he was not happy. There was a frown on his +face, and, as he walked through the woods, he kept thinking how nice it +would be to have a tail. + +Pretty soon, oh, I guess in about a whisper and a squeak, Buddy Pigg +heard a rustling in the tree over his head. Then he saw two big, yellow +eyes peering down at him from the darkness of the woods, and a voice +called out: + +"What's the matter, little boy? Why are you so sad?" + +"Oh, I feel bad because I haven't a tail," answered Buddy, wondering who +was speaking. + +"What's the matter? Did some one cut your tail off?" the voice asked. + +"No," replied Buddy, "I never had one; but I want one, awfully bad." + +"Oh, don't worry about a little thing like that," went on the voice. "I +can get a fine tail for you." + +"Oh, can you?" cried Buddy, his face lighting up, "are you a fairy?" + +"Well, not exactly," was the answer, "but you just run along after me, +and I'll get a tail for you, in less than no time." + +Then there was a rustling in the branches, and a great, big owl, with +ears that looked like horns, flew out, and Buddy was frightened. But the +owl said: + +"Oh, don't be alarmed, little boy. Just follow me, and I'll see that you +get a tail." + +So the owl flew along through the dark, dismal woods, going slowly, and +close to the ground so Buddy could follow, and pretty soon, the owl +stopped in front of a hole in the side of a hill. + +"There is where the tail is," said the owl. "Just wait and I'll have it +out to you in a jiffy and a half," and bless me, if that owl didn't go +in that hole. He stayed there some time, and Buddy could hear voices +inside, talking, and land sakes, goodness me alive, and a cherry pie! +out of that hole was thrust a great, big, bushy tail. A tail, and +nothing else, believe me, if you please. + +"Oh, what a fine tail!" cried Buddy in delight. + +"Do you think so?" asked a voice. "Then just grab hold of it, hold +tight, and it's yours!" + +Well, Buddy didn't think there was any danger, so he grabbed hold of the +tail, and held on tight, but oh, dear me! instead of pulling the tail +out, he found himself being pulled in. Yes, sir, right into that hole, +and land knows what would have happened if Buddy's sister, Brighteyes, +hadn't come along just then on her way home from her aunt's house. She +saw right away that the bushy tail was fast to something inside the +hole. + +"That's a fox's tail!" she cried, "and he's pulling you into his den! +Let go, quickly! Let go, Buddy!" + +So Buddy let go just in time, though the fox and the owl rushed out and +tried to grab him, but they fell down, and couldn't get up in time, and +he and his sister ran home. You see it was just a trick of that owl and +fox, to get Buddy into the den, and eat him up, but they didn't, I'm +glad to say. And after that Buddy never wanted a tail. Now if it doesn't +rain in the dishpan and turn the umbrella inside out, I'll tell you in +the next story about Buddy walking a tight rope. + + + + +STORY X + + +BUDDY WALKS A TIGHT ROPE + +One day after Buddy Pigg had been on a visit to Jackie and Peetie Bow +Wow, the two puppy dogs, who were once in a circus, he came home all +excited. He ran out in the yard, began pawing over in the woodpile, and +soon he ran into the house, where Brighteyes, his sister, was washing +the potatoes for dinner. + +"Do you know where there is any wire, Brighteyes?" the little boy guinea +pig asked. + +"Wire? No, I haven't seen any around the house. What do you want of it? +Are you going to wire a tail on to yourself?" and Buddy's sister smiled +just the least bit. + +"Please don't remind me of that," said Buddy, for he felt a little +ashamed of the time he had tried to get a tail for himself and had been +nearly dragged into a fox's den, as I told you in the story before this +one. "No, Brighteyes, I'm not going to make a tail. I am going to do a +circus trick, and you can see me if you want to," he said. + +"Oh, Buddy! are you really?" she cried, and she was interested all of a +sudden, you see, for she had never seen much of a circus. + +"Yes, I'll do the trick, if I can find a bit of wire," went on Buddy. +"Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow told me how to do it; and I'm sure I can. +It's walking a tight rope, and it's very hard to do." + +"Oh! then you want rope, not wire," went on Brighteyes, as she put the +pan of potatoes on the table. + +"Wire is what the circus performers use," insisted her brother, "but if +you can't find any I suppose rope will do." + +"I saw some up in the attic," said Brighteyes. "I'll get it for you. +But, Buddy, isn't it dangerous? Do you s'pose mamma and papa would let +you do it?" + +"There's not much danger," answered Buddy. "I'll not put the rope up +very high, and I'll put some pillows on the ground underneath, so that +if I fall I won't get hurt much." + +Well, Brighteyes found a long rope, and she helped Buddy tie it from one +clothes post to the other, across the yard, so that it looked like a +real tight rope in a circus. + +"Oh, you can never get on that!" she cried to her brother, as she saw +how high up it was. + +"Yes, I can," he replied. "You just watch me. But first I must put some +pillows underneath, in case I fall." + +So he ran into the house and got a lot of feather pillows and put them +on the ground under the rope, Brighteyes helping him. + +Then Buddy got some old soap boxes, piled them one on top of the other, +and, by climbing up on them, he was able to step to the rope. + +"Oh, how thin and slender and shaky it is!" cried Brighteyes. "You never +can walk across that, Buddy!" + +"Yes, I think I can," he answered. "But I must get a pole to balance +myself with," so he got off the boxes and ran to the woodpile, got a +piece of an old broom handle, and ran back to the rope again. He stepped +one foot out on it, to try it, and it seemed quite strong, though it +wabbled a bit from side to side, like a duck's tail. + +"Oh! are you really going to walk on it?" cried Brighteyes in delight. + +"I really am," answered her brother. + +"Then you ought to have an audience to applaud you and clap when you do +it," she went on. "Wait, and I'll run and get Johnnie and Billie +Bushytail and Sammie and Susie Littletail, and--" + +"No, don't!" cried Buddy, quickly. "Better wait until I walk across a +few times, first, so as to sort of practise. Then I'll do the trick +before folks." + +So he got up on the rope, standing up on his hind legs, and balancing +the pole with his front paws and he steadied himself for a moment and +then took a step. My! but that rope wiggled, though, from side to side, +almost like a hammock, only, of course, not as safe as a hammock. But +Buddy kept bravely on, and took another step--and land sakes laddy-da! +if that rope didn't wiggle more than ever. + +"Oh, take care! You'll fall!" cried Brighteyes, and she screamed. + +"Oh, Brighteyes, don't do that, please!" begged Buddy. "You make me +nervous, and then I can't walk the tight rope." + +So Brighteyes, whose real name was Matilda, you know, kept real still +and quiet, just like a little mouse when it wants a bit of cheese, and +Buddy took another step out on the tight rope. + +He held his balancing pole by the middle, and he went slowly and +cautiously, and he was actually walking that slender rope! + +But he kept looking down and wondering whether he would fall or not, and +he got to thinking about the feather pillows, and wondering if they were +thick enough and soft enough, so that he wouldn't get hurt if he should +fall, when all at once, quicker than you can wheel the baby carriage +down hill, when he was right in the middle, Buddy's foot slipped, and +down he went, right a straddle across the tight rope, and the pole fell +with a bang! + +[Illustration] + +And Brighteyes screamed, for she couldn't help it, but Buddy didn't dare +call out. No, all he could do was to cling there with his teeth and his +paws to that swaying rope. + +"Oh!" cried Brighteyes, "you're going to fall, Buddy!" + +"I've fallen already," he panted. "But I'm going to land on the ground +in a minute, for I can't hold on any longer!" + +And he looked down, picking out a soft spot to fall on, but, oh, dear +me, and a sour pickle! If the pole, when it fell down, hadn't knocked +the pillows to one side, and there was only hard ground for Buddy to +land on. Well, maybe he wasn't frightened, and Brighteyes was also +frightened, too flabbergasted, you see, to go and fix the pillows in +place again, and they didn't either of them know what in the world to +do. + +I don't know what might have happened, for Buddy couldn't hold on much +longer, but, just as he was going to let go, along came Uncle Wiggily +Longears. He saw what the trouble was at once, and up he rushed and with +his crutch he piled the pillows in a soft heap right under Buddy, and +then Buddy let go the tight rope and down he came, just like in a +feather bed. + +And he wasn't hurt the least mite, but he was very thankful to Uncle +Wiggily, the old rabbit gentleman, and Buddy never tried to walk a tight +rope, nor a loose one again. + +Now, in case there is no salt in the ice cream to make the rag doll +sneeze, I'll tell you in the following story about Brighteyes Pigg in a +tin can. + + + + +STORY XI + + +BRIGHTEYES IN A TIN CAN + +Of course, when Mamma Pigg came home the afternoon that Buddy tried to +walk a tight rope (for she had been away visiting Mrs. Wibblewobble when +it happened) she had to hear about it. Buddy and Brighteyes would have +told her, anyhow, for they always did, but, as it was, Mrs. Pigg saw a +scratch on Buddy's leg, where the rope had hurt him when he fell, and +she wanted to know all about it. Then Buddy told her of the trick he had +tried to perform. + +"Little guinea pigs are safer on the ground," she said. "Leave such +things to Billie and Johnnie Bushytail, or the Bow Wows, who were once +in a circus. Now get washed for supper, for your papa will soon be here, +and I think he'll fetch a quart of carrot ice cream, as it is so hot." + +And sure enough, Dr. Pigg did, and the carrot ice cream was the best +Brighteyes and Buddy had ever tasted, they thought. + +Well, it was about two days after this that Brighteyes Pigg was sent to +the store for her mother, to get a nutmeg, a yeast cake, and a bottle of +blueing. Brighteyes started off, hurrying through the woods, where once +the owl had tried to get Buddy into the den of the old fox, and soon the +little guinea pig girl was at the grocery. + +She got the things, and the storekeeper put them in a paper bag for her, +and back she started. + +It was so warm that, after Brighteyes had reached a cool place in the +woods, near where a little brook ran over the stones, making a gurgling +noise, very pleasant to hear, she sat down to rest. And she hadn't been +sitting there more than about ten long breaths, when she saw, beside the +stream, a tin can. + +"Now I wonder what is in that can?" thought Brighteyes. "I'm going to +see. Perhaps it's something good to eat, and I can take some home to +Buddy," for she was very kind to her brother, you understand. + +So she went up to the can, but wasn't she disappointed when she saw that +it was empty! The open end was on the side that was turned away from +her, and that's why at first she thought it was full. But she smelled of +the opening, and oh, what a delicious perfume there was, sweet and +sugary, and in a minute Brighteyes knew what it was. + +"There has been molasses in that can!" she exclaimed. "Oh, if there's +anything I dearly love it's molasses! I wonder if there is any left +inside? Sometimes people don't quite empty the cans before they throw +them away. I'm going to look." + +So Brighteyes went closer, and, would you believe me? if she didn't see, +away down in the lower edge of that can, as it rested on its side, a lot +of nice molasses. + +"Oh, I must have that!" cried Brighteyes, and, without thinking of what +she was doing, she put her head and her forepaws inside that can. She +found she could reach the molasses with her tongue, and she began to +lick it up, wishing she had some way of taking part of it to Buddy. + +She was so excited over it that she even had taken her things from the +grocery store inside the can with her. There she was, with only part of +her body and her hind legs sticking out, and she was eating the molasses +as fast as she could. + +It kept tasting better and better, but, after a while, Brighteyes +thought she had enough, and she started to pull her head out of the can. +But, oh dear me! She found she couldn't do it. The sharp edges of the +tin caught in her fur, and there she was, stuck fast with the can over +her head, and the nutmeg, the bottle of blueing and the yeast cake in +there with her. + +"Oh, dear me suz-dud!" she cried. "I'm fast!" + +She tried to shake the can off, but it wouldn't shake. Then she tried to +pull herself out, but the can was still on her head, and went everywhere +she went, like Mary's little lamb. Then poor Brighteyes tried to stand +up on her hind legs, and hit the can against a tree or a stone, thinking +she could knock it off, but it wouldn't come off, and then she turned a +somersault, thinking that would help, but, though she even stood on her +head in the can, and wiggled her hind legs, it did no good. + +"Oh, I'm caught fast!" cried the poor little creature, and she rolled +around and around on the ground, thinking that would help some, but it +didn't. + +Then she heard some one coming along through the woods, and she called +out: "Who's there? Please help me out of this can!" + +"I'm Johnnie Bushytail," answered a voice. "Who are you?" + +"I'm Brighteyes Pigg," she said. "Please help me." + +But her voice sounded so queer and hollow, shut up as it was in the can, +and the nutmeg rattled around so, like thunder, that Johnnie Bushytail, +the squirrel, was frightened, and ran away, without helping Brighteyes. +Then she felt like crying, but, in a little while she heard some one +else coming along through the woods, and she called: "Oh, please help +me! Who is there?" + +"I'm Sammie Littletail," was the answer. "Who are you?" + +"I'm Brighteyes Pigg," she replied. "Help me, please!" + +But her voice sounded so strange and hollow in the can, and just then +the yeast cake came bouncing out, where there was a little space near +Brighteyes' neck and the tinfoil was all shining so that Sammie thought +some one was shooting square, silver bullets at him, and away he ran. + +Then Brighteyes was going to give up in despair, and she thought she +would never, never get out, and she wished she had never eaten the +molasses, when, all of a sudden, she heard some one else coming along, +and between her sobs she cried out: + +"Oh, please, whoever you are, don't run away! Help me out of this can! +Who are you?" + +"I am Alice Wibblewobble, the duck," was the answer. "Who are you?" + +"I am Brighteyes Pigg," said the little creature in the molasses can, +and just then the bottle of blueing broke inside and the blue stuff ran +out, trickling to one side. + +"Oh, you must be the blue fairy!" cried Alice, and she took her strong +bill and bent back the edges of the tin can so that Brighteyes could get +out, which she soon did, and was not hurt in the least. + +Of course Alice was surprised to see a guinea pig instead of a blue +fairy, but she was glad she had saved Brighteyes, who had to go back to +the store for another bottle of blueing. But the nutmeg and the yeast +cake were all right. + +Then Alice Wibblewobble poured the rest of the molasses out of the can +into an empty acorn cup and Brighteyes took it home to Buddy, who liked +it very much, and I almost wish I had some molasses candy; don't you? + +Now, in the next story I'm going to tell you about Dr. Pigg and the +firecracker; that is if the mosquitoes don't sing so loudly that they +wake up the baby's rattle box. + + + + +STORY XII + + +DR. PIGG AND THE FIRECRACKER + +Once upon a time it happened that, as Buddy Pigg was coming home from +having played baseball with Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, and all his +friends, he saw, lying beside the road, something long and round and +red, with a little string dangling from it. + +"Aha!" exclaimed Buddy Pigg; "there is a stick of red candy? Oh, fine! +Oh, dandy! I'll take it home, and give Brighteyes some." + +That was because she had managed to bring him home some of the molasses +that was in the can, in which the little girl guinea pig got stuck fast. +So Buddy picked up the long, round, red thing, with a string dangling +from it, and took a big bite. That is, he tried to, but he found his +teeth wouldn't go through it. + +"Wow!" he cried. "That isn't a stick of candy at all." + +And the funny part of it was that it wasn't a stick of candy. No, not in +the least, I do assure you. What it was Buddy couldn't guess, though I +suppose some of you children can. + +Well, anyhow, he picked it up, and carried it in one paw, and his bat +and catching glove in the other. And pretty soon whom should he meet +hopping along but Bawly, the frog--Bully's brother, you know. And Bawly +was singing away for dear life, this little song, which you will have to +get some one to sing for you, as I am as hoarse as two crows and a +cricket. Well, anyhow, this is the song: + + "As I was hopping along one day, + Hi diddle um diddle I! + A grasshopper sat in a greenwood tree, + Tum-tum-tum tiddle di! + "Oh, where are you going?" the grasshopper asked. + "Oh, not very far," I said. + "May I go along?" asked the funny bug. + And he stood right up on his head. + + "Why yes," I told him, "come along," + Tu ri lum diddle day. + "The weather is certainly fine just now," + Fum lum dum skiddle fay. + But the grasshopper fell in a deep, dark bog, + And I pulled him out on a sunken log, + And then came along a bad, savage dog, + And we both ran away." + +[Illustration] + +"Oh, ho! So that's the way it was, eh?" asked Buddy, who had never +heard that song before. + +"That's exactly how it was, and not a bit different, I give you my word +for it," said Bawly, the frog. "But what have you there, Buddy? +Peppermint candy, as sure as I can sing! May I have a bit?" + +"You could have it if it was candy," promised Buddy, real politely, +"only it isn't," and he looked at the queer red thing from all sides, +and he couldn't make out what it was, and neither could Bawly. + +Well, I'll tell you what it was, so you can understand the story better. +It was a firecracker. Yes, sir, a big, red firecracker that, somehow or +other, hadn't gone off on Fourth of July when it ought to have done so. + +I presume some boy had lighted it, tossed it into the bushes and it had +gone out and stayed out until Buddy found it. At any rate, he didn't +know what it was, and he took it home. Neither did Mr. Pigg know what it +was, but Buddy's mother and sister thought it was quite a pretty +ornament, and Mrs. Pigg put it on the parlor mantle, where company could +see it. + +Well, one day, not long after this, Dr. Pigg was home all alone, for his +wife and the children had gone to a moving-picture show. He was dozing +away in his easy chair, with a newspaper over his face to keep away the +flies, when, all of a sudden, there came a knock on the door. + +"My goodness alive! Who's there?" cried Dr. Pigg. + +"It's me," answered a voice. + +"And who, pray tell, may you be?" asked Dr. Pigg. + +"I'm a bad tramp fox," was the answer, "and I want you to give me +something to eat. Quick! I'm in a hurry!" + +Now that wasn't a nice way to speak, and Dr. Pigg knew it, and, what is +more, that bad fox knew it, too. But, do you s'pose he cared? Not a bit +of it. He was as impolite as he could be, and he took pride in it. + +"I want something to eat in a hurry," he went on, in a coarse, grumbly +voice, and he was such a big fox, and Dr. Pigg was such a nice, gentle +kind of a creature that he didn't dare refuse him. + +"Very well," said Buddy's papa, "step into the parlor, Mr. Fox, and I'll +see what I can do for you. There ought to be something in the pantry." + +So he went to look in the pantry for a bone, or something like that, +just as Mother Hubbard would have done, you know, and when the fox went +in the parlor what do you suppose he saw? Why, that big, red firecracker +on the mantle, of course. And when he saw it a wicked plan came into +his head. + +"I'll just light that," he thought to himself, "and it will blow this +pen up, and Dr. Pigg with it. Then I can take anything I want. That's +what I'll do. I'll blow the place up!" + +Then he lighted the string of the firecracker, standing up on his hind +legs to reach it, you see, and, as it was a long string, the fox knew it +would burn some time before it would explode the firecracker. So the fox +ran out into the kitchen, where Dr. Pigg was getting him something to +eat, and he cried: + +"Here, give me what you have ready, I can't wait." + +"You must be in a hurry," replied Dr. Pigg, as he gave the fox some +bread and meat and cold potatoes. And of course the fox was in a hurry, +for he wanted to get out of the way before that firecracker went off and +blew the house up. + +Then the fox ran and hid in the bushes, waiting for the house and Dr. +Pigg to be blown up, so he could go in and take whatever he wanted. The +string on the firecracker burned slowly, but surely. And the fox knew it +would be a perfectly tremendous explosion, for the firecracker was as +big as a hundred lead pencils made into one. + +But now watch and see what happens. After Dr. Pigg had put away the +bread and meat, left over after giving the fox some, who should come +along but Percival, the old, circus dog. He came to pay a friendly call +on Dr. Pigg, but, no sooner had he reached the front door than he cried +out: + +"Oh, I smell something burning," and, sure enough it was the firecracker +string sizzling away. + +"Maybe the house is afire," said Dr. Pigg. "Let's look!" So he and +Percival went all through the pen, and the first object they saw was the +long, rod thing burning on the mantlepiece. And Percival knew at once +what it was, for he was a smart dog, let me tell you. + +"Oh!" he cried, "that is a cannon firecracker, and if it goes off it +will blow the place to pieces, and me and you, too!" + +"Then, for mercy sakes, don't let it go off!" cried Dr. Pigg, and that +brave dog Percival jumped up, grabbed the cannon cracker in his mouth, +dashed out of the house, and leaped into a pond of water with it, which +put out the burning string, and wet the firecracker so it wouldn't +explode. + +And when the fox saw Percival, he sneaked away with his tail hanging +down, I can tell you. So that's the story of Dr. Pigg and the +firecracker, and when his family came home he told them of of his +narrow escape. + +Now, in case I hear a June bug buzz like an electric fan blowing soap +bubbles, I'll tell you in the next story about Buddy Pigg in a boat. + + + + +STORY XIII + + +BUDDY PIGG IN A BOAT + +After Percival, the old circus dog, had been so kind to Dr. Pigg, in the +matter of jumping into the pond with the big firecracker, which the bad +fox had lighted, the old gentleman guinea pig said: + +"I wish, Percival, you would spend a few days with us. I'm afraid that +ugly tramp fox will come back." + +"Of course I will," agreed the dog. "The Bow Wows are going down to +Asbury Park for the summer, and I don't much care for the seashore, so +I'll stay home and spend a few days with you. And in case that fox does +come back--" + +Well, Percival didn't say what he would do, but land sakes, flopsy dub! +Oh me, and a potato pancake! You should have seen him show his teeth and +growl. + +Well, it was a few days after Percival had come to pay a little visit to +the Pigg family that something happened to Buddy, and I'm going to tell +you about it. + +You see, it had been raining pretty hard for a week or more--yes, +nearly two weeks, and it didn't seem as if it was ever going to stop. +There had been thunder showers and lightning showers and hail showers +and just plain rain showers, and they were all more or less wet; and +when it did finally stop raining there was a lot of water all over. + +One day, the first day, in fact, after it stopped raining, Buddy was +taking a walk, and glad enough he was to be out of the pen. He strolled +along, letting the warm sun and the gentle wind dry his black and white +fur, and he was thinking of, oh! ever so many things, when, all at once, +he came to a little pond; only this time it was a great big pond, +because it had so much water in it. And on the shore of the pond was a +boat that some boys had been playing with. + +"Oh, fine!" cried Buddy Pigg. "I'll get in and make believe I'm a +sailor, just as Billie and Johnnie Bushytail and Jennie Chipmunk did +once. I've always wanted a ride in a boat, and now's my chance!" + +So he climbed into the boat, and he made believe he was sailing away off +to China, where they make firecrackers and fans, and then, when he was +half-way there (make believe, you know), why, he turned around and +sailed for India, where it's very hot; but all this while the boat was +partly on the bank and partly in the water, and Buddy only rocked it +from side to side, pretending it was moving. + +Well, after he reached India, what did he do but find it so hot there +that he turned around at once and sailed for the North Pole, so he could +be nice and cool. + +Then, all at once, as quickly as you can eat an ice cream cone on a hot +day, if something didn't happen. Buddy looked up, after reaching the +North Pole, and he found that the boat was adrift, floating off across +the big pond, with the wind blowing it faster, and faster, and faster. + +At first Buddy thought it was fun; then, as he saw that he was getting +farther and farther from shore, he became frightened. He looked for +something with which to send the boat back to land, but there was no +sail in it, and no oars; and, if there had been, the little guinea pig +boy couldn't have used them, I don't suppose. Well, there he was, really +sailing off to some unknown country this time, in earnest, and not make +believe. + +Then he began to cry, and he called out as loudly as he could: + +"Help! Help! Help!" and who should come running down to the shore but +Peetie and Jackie Bow Wow, the two puppy dogs. They hadn't gone to +Asbury Park yet, you see, but they were going soon. + +"What's the matter?" asked Peetie. + +"The boat is taking me away off," answered Buddy. + +"Jump out and swim to shore!" cried Peetie. + +"I can't swim," called back Buddy. + +"Oh, we'll show you how," went on Jackie, and then he and Peetie jumped +into the water and began to show Buddy how to swim, but he was too +frightened to learn, and, besides, the two puppy dogs were too far off +for him to see them plainly. Then they swam out, and they tried to pull +the boat back to shore, but they were not strong enough. + +"Oh, I'll be drowned! I'll be drowned!" cried Buddy. "What shall I do? +Tell my mamma good-by for me," he said to Jackie. + +"We'll tell her you're in trouble, and maybe she will know of a way to +save you," called Peetie and Jackie. + +So they ran and told Mrs. Pigg, and she and Brighteyes came running down +to the shore of the pond. + +"Oh, my poor little boy," cried Mamma Pigg, when she saw Buddy being +carried farther and farther away. + +"Oh, how can we reach him?" wailed Brighteyes, wringing her paws. "We +must save him, somehow!" + +Just then along came Billie and Johnnie Bushytail, the squirrels. + +"Stick up your tail like a sail and the wind will blow you ashore!" they +cried to Buddy. "That's what we did." + +"I haven't any tail," answered Buddy, real sorrowful-like. + +"That's so," said the little squirrel boys, and it began to look pretty +bad for poor Buddy, let me tell you. + +"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" cried Mamma Pigg. "I'll never see my poor boy +again," for he was quite far off by this time. + +Then, all of a sudden, down to the edge of the pond, came rushing +Percival, the old circus dog. + +"I'll save Buddy!" he cried. "I'll carry a rope out to him, and he can +fasten it to the boat, and then we can pull him ashore." + +Well, Percival took a rope in his mouth and started to swim out, but a +funny thing happened. The water got in his mouth and washed the rope +away, and he couldn't carry it, though he tried a number of times. + +Then everybody felt sorry, and Jackie Bow Wow was just suggesting that +they build a raft and float out on it to Buddy, when who should come +along but Jimmie Wibblewobble, the boy duck. They all told him what the +trouble was, and he said, "Quack! Quack! Quack!" three times, just like +that, and exclaimed: + +"I have it! I can swim out with the rope in my bill, for my head will be +above the water." + +He did it too, in about two quacks and a quarter. Then he helped Buddy +fasten the rope to the side of the boat, and those on land, including +Percival, the two Bow Wows and Mamma Pigg and Brighteyes, soon pulled +the boat and Buddy in it ashore. + +Buddy said he was never going sailing again, and I guess he never did, +for he was very much frightened, but he soon got over it and played with +Jimmie and Jackie and Peetie, while Mamma Pigg had to go home to take +something for her nerves. + +Now, if I have rhubarb pie for supper, and the ham sandwich doesn't +squeal when they put mustard on it, I'll tell you about Brighteyes and +the peanut candy in the next story. + + + + +STORY XIV + + +BRIGHTEYES AND THE PEANUT CANDY + +It happened, once upon a time, that Brighteyes and Buddy Pigg were +walking through the woods together, not far from their home. They had +been over to see Sammie and Susie Littletail, and they had had a very +nice time. In fact, there had been a little party at the Littletail +home. + +It was Sammie's or Susie's birthday, I forget just whose, and after +games had been played, there were good things to eat; nuts of various +kinds for the squirrels who came; candy, lemonade, ice cream flavored +with turnips and carrots, and oh! lots of cake, and I don't know what +else besides. There was so much that Buddy and Brighteyes couldn't eat +all their share, and they were bringing it home to their papa and mamma. + +Well, as they were walking along, thinking what a good time they had +had, the two guinea pig children heard a rustling sound in the bushes, +and two big, round, staring eyes peered out at them, and there was a +noise like a dog growling. + +"Oh, quick! Hurry up, Buddy!" cried Brighteyes. "Something will catch +us sure!" and she began to run as fast as fast could be, or even faster, +maybe. + +"Oh, I don't think it's anything but old Percival, the circus dog," said +Buddy. "He won't hurt us." + +And he was going to stand still and look in those bushes; yes, sir, +that's what Buddy was going to do, only he happened to see a big, bushy +tail sticking out, and then he knew it was a bad fox there, and not the +good, kind dog, so Buddy ran as fast as he could run, if not faster, +right after Brighteyes. + +And the fox ran, too, only he had stepped on a piece of glass and cut +his foot and couldn't run very fast. He was the same fox who lighted the +firecracker in Dr. Pigg's house, and I'm glad to say that he didn't +catch Buddy or Brighteyes, for they ran faster than the fox did. + +Well, they hurried on for quite a distance further, and all at once, +just as they were getting tired, and when they knew the fox had stopped +chasing them, they happened to look down on the path, and what should +they see but a white box; yes, indeed, a white box, tied with pink +string. + +"Oh, I wonder what can be in there?" asked Brighteyes. + +"I don't know, but I'll go see," said Buddy. + +"Oh, no, don't go too close," begged his sister. "It might be a trap, or +perhaps the bad fox is hidden inside it." + +"It's too small for a fox to get in," declared the boy guinea pig. "I'll +take a smell, anyhow." + +So he crept slowly, slowly, slowly up to the white box, and sniffed, and +sniffed and sniffed. + +"Oh! Ah! Um! La-la! Um! Um!" exclaimed Buddy Pigg, and he laid down the +packages of candy, nuts, cakes and other things he had carried home from +the Littletails' party, so that he might smell the better. + +"What is it?" asked Brighteyes Pigg. "What's in the box?" + +"I don't know," replied her brother, "but whatever it is, it smells the +nicest of anything I ever smelled. It's just like when mamma bakes a +ginger cake in the oven. I'm going to open it and see." + +So, with his sharp teeth, Buddy loosened the pink string around the box, +and off came the cover. Then, what do you suppose was in the box? Why, a +whole lot of peanut candy, all nice and fresh, shining, golden brown, +with just enough peanuts in, and not a bit more, really and truly! + +"Oh! Oh! Oh!" cried Brighteyes in delight, as she saw it. "Peanut +candy, Buddy! If there's anything I love it's peanut candy! Some good +fairy must have left this for us. Come on, we'll take it over here, +under a bush, where the bad fox won't see us, and we'll eat some of it, +and save some to take home. Oh, how lovely!" + +"I don't think I care for peanut candy very much," said Buddy. "When I +smelled it I thought it was going to be chocolate caramels." + +"Don't you want any?" asked Brighteyes. + +"No," answered her brother, "but I'll help you carry it into the bushes. +I'll eat some of the things we brought from the party. I'm getting +hungry again." + +So he and Brighteyes carried the box of peanut candy into the bushes, +and the little girl guinea pig began to eat the sweet stuff. + +Well, she had eaten almost all of it up, before she thought, because it +tasted so good, when all of a sudden, who should come along the path in +the woods, but a little girl. Yes, a little girl in a red dress, and she +was crying as hard as she could cry, that little girl was. + +"Oh, dear!" she sobbed, "I have lost my box of peanut candy, that I +bought in the store, and I can't find it, and I'm so miserable! Nobody +in the world is so miserable as I am. Oh, dear! Boo! Hoo!" + +Well, you should have seen how sorry Brighteyes was for eating that +little girl's candy, but Brighteyes didn't know, of course, whose it +was. She and Buddy just hid down in the bushes, and didn't know what to +do, until Buddy whispered: + +"Listen! I'll fill the box full of our candy, nuts and things that we +brought from the party, and maybe that will stop the little girl +crying." + +So he did that, filling the box real full, and putting the pink string +around it again. Then, when the little girl wasn't looking, Buddy +slipped out of the bushes, put the box back on the path again and +slipped under a leaf to hide. Then, pretty soon, when the little girl +stopped crying, she saw her box, and she thought a fairy had brought it +back. + +Then she opened it, and she saw the peanut candy had been turned into a +different kind, and that there were nuts with it and she surely thought +it was magical, but it wasn't, it was only Buddy Pigg, who did it. + +So Buddy and Brighteyes went home happy, and so did the little girl, +with her white box which she had found again after she had lost it. + +Now, in the next story I'm going to tell you about Buddy and the June +bug, that is if some one sends me some peanut candy with a lot of red +postage stamps on it. + + + + +STORY XV + + +BUDDY AND THE JUNE BUG + +One night Dr. Pigg and Mrs. Pigg and Brighteyes went to a nice +moving-picture show that Percival, the old circus dog, had gotten up, +and they left Buddy at home alone. The reason for that was this: Buddy +wasn't feeling well. He had eaten too many ice cream cones, and too much +lemonade on a hot day, and he had to have some medicine that his papa +fixed for him. + +It was bitter, sour medicine, too, and Buddy didn't like it, and he +didn't like to be ill, either, but one always is when one eats too many +ice cream cones and drinks too much lemonade on a hot day; yes, indeed, +and a bottle of paregoric besides. + +Well, Buddy was sick, and couldn't go to the moving-picture show, but +his mamma and papa thought it would be all right to leave him home +alone, as he was getting better by that time. + +"I'll tell you all about the show when we come back," promised +Brighteyes. "There is going to be a fairy play in it." + +"Oh!" cried Buddy, "how I wish I could go! I love fairy plays!" + +"You will be much better in bed," said Dr. Pigg, "and if you keep quiet +you won't have to take any more medicine." + +There was no help for it, and Dr. Pigg and his wife and daughter started +off. They knew Buddy would be much more comfortable in bed than at the +show, or they would never have left him, and right next door lived a +family of chickens, who would come over in case anything happened. + +Buddy felt a little lonesome when his folks had gone, but after awhile +he fell asleep. He dozed off for some time, and, all of a sudden, he was +awakened by hearing something going "thumpity-thump-bump-bump-bump! +Humpity-hump-bump-bump!" on the ceiling and walls of his room. Then it +went "bangity-bung-bung," and before Buddy knew what was happening, if +something didn't go slam-bang-crack into the lamp, and put it out, +leaving the poor little guinea pig boy in the dark. + +Then how frightened he was! He shivered, and crept down with his head +beneath the bed clothes, but all the while he kept hearing that +"thumpity-thump-bump-hump-lump-dump!" against the ceiling. First he +thought it was the bad fox, who had gotten in to eat him up, and then +he knew the fox couldn't fly around the room that way, or, if it could, +it would make ever so much more noise. Then he thought it might be an +owl, with big, round, staring, yellow eyes, but when he peeped out from +under the clothes the least bit, he didn't see any eyes, so he knew it +couldn't be the owl. + +"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" cried Buddy, when he was so frightened he couldn't +keep still any longer, "Oh, dear! I wish my papa and mamma would come +home; and Brighteyes, too!" + +"What for?" asked a voice, away high up on the ceiling. + +"Because I'm--I'm lonesome--and afraid--and--and--" but Buddy was almost +crying, so he couldn't finish what he had started to say. + +"What are you afraid of?" asked the voice, and this time it was on the +side wall, close to Buddy. + +"I'm afraid of you!" cried the little boy guinea pig, and he got farther +under the bed clothes. + +"Nonsense! Afraid of me!" exclaimed the voice, and this time, bless me; +if it wasn't on the blanket, right over Buddy's nose. "Don't be afraid, +little boy," the voice went on. "I wouldn't hurt you for the world. Why, +I'm only a harmless, old June bug, you know. I blundered in here by +mistake, somehow, because I saw your light, but now it's dark, and I +can't see to get out. But land sakes, goodness me, and some buttermilk! +Don't be afraid of me! I wouldn't hurt you for the world and the moon +too." + +"Well, I--I don't exactly know if I'm afraid of you or not," went on +Buddy. "First I thought you were a fox or an owl. I--I guess I'm a +little afraid of the dark, too." + +"Nonsense! The dark can't hurt anyone," said the June bug. "The dark is +good for sleeping. But if you're afraid, how would you like me to tell +you a story? And that will pass the time until your papa and mamma come +home." + +"Oh, fine!" cried Buddy, and he wasn't afraid any more, for he loved to +hear stories. So the June bug perched upon the bed clothes, where they +were nice and soft, and he told lots of stories to Buddy. + +He told about the cow that went to school, and about the bear who was +bitten by a big, black bug, and about two good boys, and about three bad +boys, who lived in a cave, and about an elephant, and about a horse that +had four legs and, oh, I don't know how many stories. + +Then the June bug sang this little verse, only, as I have a cold in my +head you'll have to get some one else to sing it for you. Anyhow this +is how it goes: + + "I love to flip and flop and flap, + And buzz around the room, + I leap up to the ceiling high, + And hit it with a boom! + I turn a double somersault. + My wings they play a tune. + It's lots of fun to be a bug, + Especially in June." + +And then, land sakes, and a feather pillow; if Buddy Pigg wasn't fast +asleep. Then the kind old June bug sang his song over again, softly, and +was about to fly away, when he saw a mosquito going to bite the little +guinea pig boy. + +And what did that bug do but grab the mosquito and throw him out of the +window. And the June bug stayed until he heard Dr. Pigg and his wife +coming back, and then he flew away, for he had managed to find the place +where he had come in, and crawled out again. + +Buddy woke up when his mamma came in his room to see how he was, and he +told her all about the June bug, and how kind it had been, and how it +had told stories. + +"You must have had a lovely dream," said Mrs. Pigg, but Buddy knew it +had actually happened, and wasn't a dream at all. Now if my typewriter +doesn't fall down and sprain its hair ribbon we'll next have a story +soon about Brighteyes and a bad boy. + +[Illustration] + + + + +STORY XVI + + +BRIGHTEYES AND THE BAD BOY + +Brighteyes Pigg was coming home from the grocery store one day. She +didn't have much to carry because, you see, her mamma had sent her for +only a yeast cake, and, as that wasn't very large, Matilda put it in her +apron pocket. + +She was walking along, thinking what a good time she would have when she +got home, for Jennie Chipmunk had promised to come over as soon as she +got her dishes washed and play house with the little guinea pig girl. + +"We'll have a lovely time," thought Matilda, who was called Brighteyes +for short. "We'll dress up all our dolls and have a play-party, and +maybe mamma will give us real things to eat." + +Well, Brighteyes was thinking so much about the party, and about Jennie +Chipmunk, whom she had not seen in some time, that she didn't pay much +attention to anything else. She was going along, hippity-hop, just as +Sister Sallie went to the barber shop, when all of a sudden something +whizzed right past the nose of Brighteyes and almost hit her. + +"My goodness me, sakes alive and a tin dishpan! What's that?" she +exclaimed. "I wonder if it could have been that June bug who told Buddy +stories so nicely?" + +Then she looked all around and she didn't see anything of a bug, and she +didn't hear his wings buzzing, so she thought it couldn't have been him. + +Then, bless me! if something more didn't shoot right past Brighteyes +with a whizz and a whozz, making a funny noise, you know. And this time +she saw what it was. It was an arrow, the kind that are shot from bows, +you understand. + +"Oh, the Indians are after me! The Indians are after me!" cried poor +Brighteyes in fright, for you see she had read in her school reader +about the Indians shooting arrows. + +Then the little guinea pig girl started to run, but before she had taken +three steps and a half, if another arrow didn't come whizzing through +the bushes at her, and this time it was so close that it just touched +her left ear. + +This frightened her so that she fell down, and before she could get up +to run away, if out from behind a tree didn't leap a bad boy. + +So it wasn't an Indian shooting the arrows, after all, which, perhaps, +was a good thing, as Indians can shoot very straight and might have hurt +Brighteyes. No, it was a bad boy. + +I call him bad because he shot at Brighteyes, and I guess before I'm +through with this story that you'll call him bad also. + +Well, that boy ran right at Brighteyes, and before she knew what was +happening he had grabbed her. + +"Wow!" cried the boy. "I've got it! I shot it! I've got a rabbit!" + +"Ha! That ain't a rabbit!" exclaimed another boy, coming out of the +bushes, "that's a guinea pig. Where did you hit it?" + +"I don't know. It doesn't seem to be hurt anywhere. But I was sure I hit +it. But, maybe, the arrow only stunned it. Anyhow, I've got it. Now +we'll take it home, and put it in a cage, and charge five cents for all +the other boys to see it." + +"Sure," said the second boy. "You're a good shot with your bow and +arrow. Come on, let me carry the guinea pig." + +"No," replied the first boy, "I'm going to carry it myself. I wonder if +you carry 'em by their ears, like you do rabbits?" Then he tried to get +hold of Brighteyes' ears, and he could hardly find them, as they were so +small, and, of course, he couldn't take hold of them. + +But, oh, dear! how roughly he handled that poor little guinea pig girl! +When he couldn't get hold of her ears he grabbed her by the hind legs +and actually turned her upside down, and then what should happen but +that the yeast cake fell out of her apron pocket. + +"Ha! That's funny!" cried the boy who held Brighteyes. "I never knew +that guinea pigs ate yeast cakes. This must be a smart one. We'll teach +it to do tricks, and then we can charge ten cents to see it. Oh, I'm +glad I caught it." + +And he held on more tightly to Brighteyes, for she was wiggling and +squirming, trying to get away. + +Oh, how frightened she was, when she heard the boys say that they were +going to shut her up in a cage! She thought she would never see her +mamma, and papa, and Buddy again. Big tears came into her eyes, and she +trembled all over. + +But do you s'pose that bad boy and the other one cared? Not the least +bit! First one held Brighteyes, and then the other, to see how heavy she +was, and then they took her up, first by one leg and then by the other, +and, if she had had a tail, they would have held her up by that, and +probably pulled it, too, for all I know. + +You see those two boys had been playing they were Indians in the woods +with their bows and arrows, and perhaps that made them act so cruelly. + +"Let's hurry home now and put it in a cage," said the bad boy, and he +and the other boy started off, carrying Brighteyes. But wait, don't be +frightened, or worried, for something is going to happen immediately, +which is very soon. + +All at once there was a whizzing and a whozzing in the air, and a +buzzing, bizzing sound, and that kind old June bug came sailing along. +He saw those bad boys taking Brighteyes away, and the bug knew at once +that she was Buddy's sister. + +So what did he do but wiggle his wings about a thousand times a minute, +I guess, and fly right at the boy who held the guinea pig girl! + +Right at the bad boy flew the bug, and he hit him first in one eye and +then the other and scared him so that the bad chap was glad enough to +let go of poor Brighteyes in a hurry. + +Then the other boy stepped on the yeast cake, and it flattened out, and +he slipped on it, and fell down, and he thought a bear was after him, +and he yelled, and the other boy yelled, and then they both ran away, +and Brighteyes was saved. + +She thanked the June bug, and he said he was glad he could help her, and +he flew back to the grocery and got another yeast cake for her. Then +Brighteyes hurried home. + +Now the next story is going to be about Buddy Pigg's great run--that is, +if we have peaches and cream for supper and the rag man doesn't take my +rubber boots for his goat to wear to the party. + + + + +STORY XVII + + +BUDDY'S GREAT RUN + +Well, I didn't have peaches and cream for supper last night, but I had +strawberry shortcake, which is almost as good, so I can tell you a +story, anyhow. + +Once upon a time, Oh, I guess it must have been about two weeks after +Brighteyes was caught by the bad boys, and rescued by the June bug, +Buddy Pigg was sitting on his front steps, wishing he had something to +do. + +"Mother," he asked, "can I go down in the brook, paddling? Jimmie +Wibblewobble is down there." + +"No," said Mrs. Pigg kindly, "you are not quite well enough to go in the +water, Buddy. But you may have five cents for an ice cream cone." + +Well, Buddy walked up to the store, got a vanilla ice cream cone, and +had just finished the last of it, even down to the sharp point of the +cone, where there wasn't any ice cream, when who should come along but +Billie and Johnnie Bushytail. They had their catching gloves, and a +ball and a bat, and when the squirrel boys saw Buddy they called out: + +"Come on, let's have a game of baseball." + +"All right," agreed Buddy. "But who else will play?" + +"Oh! we'll get Sammie Littletail, and Bully and Bawly, the frogs, and +Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, and Jimmie Wibblewobble, and we'll have a +fine game," said Billie Bushytail. + +So they walked along, and pretty soon they met Sammie Littletail, and +then a little while after that they met the two Bow Wows, and then who +should come hopping along, but Bully and Bawly, the two frogs, and, if +you'll believe me, a moment after that, along came Jimmie Wibblewobble. + +Then they had enough for a fine baseball game, and they went to a nice, +green meadow where they could play. Well, Johnnie Bushytail was up at +the bat first, and he knocked the ball so far that Bully, who was +playing out in the far-off part of the field, had to take about sixteen +and a half hops before he could get it. But by that time Johnnie was +back at home plate safe. + +Then it came Sammie Littletail's turn, and he knocked the ball so high +that it went up in a tree and stayed there, and didn't come down. + +"Oh, that's no way to play!" exclaimed Jimmie Wibblewobble. "Now we +haven't any ball. What did you do that for, Sammie?" + +"Well, I couldn't help it; could I?" asked Sammie, and he threw the bat +up, trying to knock down the ball. + +But it wouldn't come down, and then they all threw up stones and sticks, +but still that ball wouldn't come down, and then Billie and Johnnie +Bushytail climbed up and they had it down in about two frisks of their +big, long tails. + +Well, they said that Sammie Littletail was out for knocking the ball up +in the tree, and he didn't like it, but he gave in, and the game went +on. Then Jimmie Wibblewobble knocked a ball, oh! so far and so high that +it was almost out of sight. + +"Nobody can catch that!" cried Jimmie, as he started for first base. + +But just you wait and see. Buddy Pigg was out in the field, waiting for +a nice ball to come along so he could catch it, and now was his chance. +He had such bright eyes, almost like his sister's, and he could see the +ball away up in the white clouds, even though none of the other players +could. + +He kept his eyes on it, and got his paws all ready to catch it when it +came down. And pretty soon it did begin to come down, for you know it +couldn't stay up there in the air, with nothing to hold it. Of course +not, and I know you understand how that is. + +Well, Buddy managed to catch that ball, though it came down very +swiftly, and Jimmie Wibblewobble was out. + +"Fine catch, Buddy! Fine!" cried Billie Bushytail. + +"Yes, and now it's Buddy's turn to bat," said Bawly, the frog. "Get up, +Buddy. I'll pitch you a nice one." + +So Buddy got up to home plate, which was a flat stone, you know, and he +held his bat ready to knock the ball out of sight, if possible. + +Bawly threw him a nice, easy ball, and Buddy struck at it. He hit, too, +which is better. Oh! such a hit as he gave that ball! It's a good thing +balls don't have feelings, I think, or bats either, for that matter. + +Well, as soon as he hit the ball Buddy started to run for the bases. Oh, +how fast he ran, but something happened. The ball didn't go as far as he +thought it would. No, it fell down right near Sammie Littletail, and +Sammie picked it up and ran toward Buddy with it. + +He knew if he could touch Buddy with the ball before Buddy got back to +home plate, that Buddy would be out and then Sammie could bat again. + +So Sammie ran after Buddy, and Buddy ran all around the bases, hoping he +could make a home run and get there safe. But it was hard work. Faster +and faster he ran, and faster and faster hopped Sammie after him. + +"Run, Buddy! Run!" cried Bully the frog. + +"I--am--running!" panted Buddy. + +"Catch him, Sammie! Catch him!" cried Bawly, and Sammie gave three +tremendous hops to catch Buddy. + +But by this time Buddy was nearly at home plate, where he would be safe. +And the worst of it was that Sammie was almost there, too. + +Then, with his last breath, and giving a spring and a hop that was so +big that it took him close to Buddy, Sammie stretched out his paw with +the ball in and tried to touch Buddy. But do you s'pose he did? No, sir, +he didn't, and Buddy got home safe, and wasn't put out after all. + +"Well," said Sammie, after he had gotten his breath, "if you had had a +tail sticking out behind you I would have touched that, and you'd have +been out." + +"I'm glad I haven't a tail," said Buddy, as he sat down on the grass to +rest, and then, after a while the game went on, and lasted until dark, +everybody having a fine time. + +Now, I'm going to tell you in the story after this one about +Brighteyes, Buddy and the turnip--that is, in case I hear a potato bug +sing a song that puts the rag doll to sleep, so she won't cry and wake +up the pussy cat. + + + + +STORY XVIII + + +BRIGHTEYES, BUDDY AND THE TURNIP + +One day when Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg were out walking in the fields, +they saw, close beside a big stone, a fine, large turnip. Oh, it was the +nicest, ripest, juiciest turnip that ever a guinea pig boy or girl +smelled of, and it just made their mouths water, and water even came +into their eyes. + +"Oh, what a lovely turnip!" exclaimed Brighteyes. "I wonder who it +belongs to?" + +"Let's look and see if it has any one's name on it," suggested Buddy. + +So, after peering carefully about to see that there were no traps near, +the two guinea pig children went closer, and gazed on all sides of the +turnip, and even turned it over to look on the bottom. + +They couldn't see a single name, and then they came to the conclusion +that the turnip didn't belong to any one in particular. + +"I wonder if it would be right for us to take it home?" asked +Brighteyes. "Mamma and papa would just love to have some of it." + +"Why certainly, take it right along, children!" exclaimed a voice from +under a burdock leaf, and then out flew the kind, old June bug. + +"May we really have it?" asked Buddy. + +"Of course," answered the June bug. "You see I was hiding under that +leaf, thinking it was about time for me to go South, for June bugs +oughtn't really to fly in July, when I heard a rumbling noise. First I +thought it was thunder, and then I saw that it was a big farm wagon +loaded with turnips. + +"Well, one of the turnips fell off, and a boy, who was riding on the +wagon, called to the man who was driving, and told him about the turnip +falling. Then the man said that didn't matter, as he had more turnips +than he knew what to do with. So that's how I know that you can have the +turnip if you wish." + +"Well, we certainly do wish!" cried Brighteyes. "Isn't it grand, Buddy? +We'll take it right home." + +"Yes, but how can we carry it?" asked her brother. "I don't believe we +can lift it." + +He went up to the big, round turnip, and tried and tried, with all his +might, to lift it, but it wouldn't come up as high even as a pin head +from the ground. + +"Perhaps I can lift it," suggested Brighteyes, so she tried, but she +couldn't. + +"Maybe if you both try together you can," said the June bug. + +Well, they both pulled and hauled, but it was of no use. There that +turnip was, just as if it was stuck fast in the ground. + +"I'm not very strong myself," went on the June bug, "but I'll do my +best. Come on, now, all together." + +So he took hold, with Buddy and Brighteyes, and he buzzed his wings as +hard as they would buzz, and he cracked his legs, and he strained and he +tugged and pulled, but, no sir, that turnip wouldn't move the least bit. + +"I guess we'll have to leave it here," said Buddy sorrowful-like, "but I +did so want to take it home to mamma and papa." + +And he looked at the big vegetable as if it would, somehow, move itself. + +"I know a way," said the June bug, at length. + +"How?" asked Brighteyes. + +"Why you and your brother must eat as much of it as you can, and then it +will be lighter, and easier to lift, you see. Just gnaw a lot off the +turnip, and you can carry it, then." + +"Oh, but that would spoil the turnip," objected Buddy. "We want to take +it home all in one piece, so papa and mamma can see it." Now wasn't that +good of him? Especially when he and his sister were just as hungry as +they could be, and would have loved to have had some? But they wanted to +have their folks see it first, without a bite being taken from it. + +"Well," said the June bug, "maybe you can roll it along, if you can't +lift it." + +"The very thing!" cried Buddy. "If we can just get it started it will +roll along easily, for it is down hill to our pen, and it will bounce +along just as the cabbage did, that I was once in. That's a good plan." + +Well, by hard work the three of them did manage to get the turnip +started, and it rolled along, first slowly and then more quickly, and +then with a rush, and land sake! if all at once it didn't roll down into +a big hole. + +"Oh, now we'll never get it up!" cried Buddy, much disappointed, and he +and his sister felt very sorrowful. But not for long, for in a little +while along hopped Uncle Wiggily Longears, with his crutch. It didn't +take him any time, with the aid of the June bug, and Buddy and +Brighteyes, to pry that turnip up out of the hole. + +"Now I'll show you how to get the turnip home," said Uncle Wiggily. +"You need some way to steer it, so it won't run away from you and get +into a hole again." + +Then he took his crutch and punched a hole through that turnip, and put +a stick through the hole, so the turnip was just like the wheel of a +wheelbarrow. + +Then he fastened long pieces of strong grass to the stick that was stuck +through the turnip, and he and Buddy and Brighteyes and the June bug +took hold of the grass, and they rolled that turnip along and steered it +just as you pull your sled or wheel the baby carriage or guide a horse +with a bit in his mouth. + +And pretty soon they were safely at the pen, and Dr. Pigg and his wife +were much surprised and delighted when they saw the big turnip which +their children had found. They gave Uncle Wiggily Longears some, but the +June bug said he would rather have a ginger snap, and he got it. + +Now the next story will be about Buddy and the burglar fox, in case the +milkman isn't late to school, and if he brings a bottle of water for +teacher to sprinkle the blackboards with. + + + + +STORY XIX + + +BUDDY AND THE BURGLAR FOX + +"We must lock all the windows and doors very tightly to-night," said +Mrs. Pigg to her husband, one evening, when they were getting ready for +bed. + +"Yes," agreed Dr. Pigg, "we must. I'll see to it, my dear, and you put +the children to bed." + +"Why do you have to lock up so carefully, mamma?" inquired Buddy. + +"Because," said Mrs. Pigg, "I heard that there have been a number of +tramps and burglars around lately." + +"Indeed, that's true," added Dr. Pigg. "Mr. Cock A. Doodle, the rooster +next door, was telling me that he thinks some one tried to get in his +coop last night. The door rattled and some one shook the window." + +"Perhaps it was the wind," suggested Brighteyes. + +"It may have been," agreed her father. "I hope it was, for I don't like +burglars at all. Now go to bed and don't be afraid, for I'll lock up +carefully, and I have a pail of water right beside my bed and I'll +throw it on a burglar if he dares to come in." + +So Buddy and Brighteyes went up stairs to bed with their mother, while +Dr. Pigg put out the cat, locked the doors and windows and set the alarm +clock to wake him up at five o'clock, for he had to go downtown to +attend to some business in the morning. + +"I wish the June bug would come again," said Brighteyes, as she was +falling asleep. + +"Why?" asked her mother from the next room. + +"Oh, so he could tell us some stories, and then I wouldn't think about +burglars." + +"Nonsense!" exclaimed Mrs. Pigg. "How silly! Burglars will never hurt +you. Go to sleep now." + +"If any burglars come in I'll fix 'em'!" cried Buddy, bravely, from his +room. Then Brighteyes went to sleep, and so did Dr. Pigg and his wife. + +But, somehow, Buddy couldn't sleep. Why it was he didn't know, only he +couldn't. He thought of everything he could think of; ice cream cones +and turnips and baseball games, and being in the boat that time, and +going to the North Pole and then he thought of the stories the June bug +had told him, but still he couldn't go to sleep. + +"I guess I'll get up and sit by the window a while," he said to +himself. "Then maybe I'll feel sleepy." + +So he got up and sat down in a comfortable chair and looked out. It was +a beautiful moonlight night, and he could see things almost as well as +if it was day. + +Well, Buddy hadn't sat there very long, before he saw something long and +black and shadowy creeping along, as softly and as gently as a mouse. + +First he thought it was a cat, but when he looked again he saw that it +was a fox. And the fox had a bag over his shoulder, and he was sneaking +along, looking around to be sure no policeman dogs saw him. + +Well, sir, as true as I'm telling you, if that fox didn't come softly up +to Dr. Pigg's house, right to the front door, as Buddy could see by +leaning out of his window, which was open, and looking down, as his +window was right over the front door. + +Then that fox took a screw-driver out of his bag, and he began to work +at the door to force it open, in spite of the lock on it. Oh, how softly +and quietly he worked! But Buddy looked down and saw him, and he knew +right away that it was a burglar fox, who was coming in the house. + +At first Buddy was frightened, and then he knew that he ought to do +something. He thought of awakening his papa and mamma, and then he +feared that this would scare Brighteyes, and so he decided to drive that +burglar fox away all by himself. + +Then he tried to think of the best way to do it. He moved softly about +his room, looking for something with which to scare the fuzzy old fox, +and what do you think he found? Why, his baseball, to be sure! + +"That will be as good as a bullet!" thought Buddy. + +Then he moved softly to the window, leaned out, where he could see the +fox, who was still trying to force open the front door, and raising the +ball in his hand, Buddy threw it down with all his might, just as if he +was throwing to first base. + +Well, sir, the ball hit that bad fox right on the head, and it bounced +up almost into Buddy's hands again, but not quite. + +My, how surprised that fox was! In fact he was so surprised that he fell +down, and when he got up and saw Buddy looking at him from the window, +he was more amazed than ever. + +"Get right away from here, you bad burglar fox you!" cried Buddy, "or +I'll throw forty-seven more big bullets at you!" + +Of course he really couldn't, because he didn't have any other baseballs +to throw, but the fox didn't know that, and really thought the one +baseball was a big bullet. + +Then, without even stopping to pick up his bag, the fox ran away, and so +he didn't get in at all in Dr. Pigg's house, and Buddy went to sleep. + +Well, when Buddy told his papa and mamma and Brighteyes the next morning +what he had done, maybe they weren't proud of him. Yes, indeed! + +I wish I could say that the fox was arrested, but he wasn't, and made +lots more trouble later. But he never broke into Dr. Pigg's house and +I'm glad of it. + +Now, do you think you'd like to hear, in the next story, about a queer +adventure which Brighteyes had? Well, I'll tell it to you if the water +sprinkler man gives us a nice big piece of ice to bake in the oven for a +pudding. + +[Illustration] + + + + +STORY XX + + +BRIGHTEYES HAS AN ADVENTURE + +It was a very hot day. It was as hot, in fact, as some of the days we +have had around here lately, and when Brighteyes, the little guinea pig +girl, saw the yellow sun beaming down as she looked out of the pen in +the morning, she said to her papa: + +"Now, be very careful not to get overheated to-day, daddy, dear." + +"I will," replied Dr. Pigg. "It is so very warm that I shall walk on the +shady side of the street, and keep a handkerchief, wet in ice water, on +my head." + +"I was cool enough the other night," remarked Buddy Pigg. "In fact, I +shivered when I saw the burglar fox trying to get in," and he actually +shivered again when he thought of it, and of how he had scared the bad +fox away, as I told you in the story just before this one. + +But, after a bit, it got so warm that even the thought of the fox could +not make Buddy shiver. Neither could his mother nor Brighteyes shiver, +and when you can't shiver, you know, it's a sure sign that it's going +to be very hot. + +At last Brighteyes said: + +"Oh, I think I'll go for a walk in the woods. Don't you want to come +along, Buddy?" and she looked at her brother, who was whittling a stick +with his new knife. + +But Buddy decided it was too hot even to go off in the woods, so +Brighteyes said she would go alone. She put on her coolest dress. I +think it was a white swiss or a blue organdie, or a challis, or a +bombazine, I can't just exactly remember. Anyway, it was nice and cool, +and freshly washed and ironed and starched, and Brighteyes looked just +as pretty in it as a picture in a gold frame. + +Well, she walked along for some time, and, pretty soon, oh, I guess in +about three squeaks, or, maybe, four, she came to the woods. It was nice +and cool and shady in there, with a little breeze blowing through the +trees, and, frisking about in the branches, were several chipmunks, who +were cousins of Jennie Chipmunk, and a number of squirrels, besides, +most of them relations of Johnnie and Billie Bushytail. + +So Brighteyes sat down on a mossy log, and thought how nice and cool it +was, and pretty soon, she heard water running and splashing over the +stones. That made her cooler than ever and she was feeling very happy, +and wishing Buddy was with her, when she began to feel thirsty. + +And the more she heard the water running the more thirsty she became, +until she said, right out loud: "I'm going to get a drink!" + +You've no idea how funny it sounded to hear Brighteyes speak out loud +that way, for it was so still and quiet in the woods, that it was just +as if she had spoken out loud in church, after the minister has stopped +praying. Then Brighteyes got up from the mossy log, and went toward the +running water. And what do you s'pose is going to happen? Why, she's +going to have an adventure in about a minute, or, maybe, less time. + +Well, the little guinea pig girl found where a little brook ran through +the woods, over the stones and under green banks where the long ferns +grew, and she was more thirsty than ever, and when she got down to the +edge of the brook, there was a little plank stretched across the water +for a bridge. + +Brighteyes walked out on the middle of the plank, looked down into the +brook, which was just like a looking-glass, and she saw how well her +dress fitted. Then she kneeled, dipped her paws in the water and scooped +up some to drink, taking care not to splash any on her clothes. + +"Oh!" exclaimed the little guinea pig girl, "that is very fine water!" +Then she took another drink and stood up. She was just going to walk +back to shore when she happened to hear a funny noise, and, lo! and +behold, at either end of the plank bridge there was a funny brown, furry +creature, about as big as a small dog. They stood up on their hind legs, +one at one end of the plank and one at the other, and when they saw +Brighteyes looking at them the larger creature cried out: + +"Ha! Ha! Now we have you! You can't get ashore unless you give us all +your money!" + +"I haven't very much," said poor Brighteyes, beginning to tremble, and +wondering if the brown creatures were burglars. + +"Well, we want whatever money you have," declared the creature at the +right-hand end of the plank. + +"Yes, indeed!" cried the creature on the left end. + +"Who--who are you?" stammered Brighteyes, thinking to make friends with +the creatures. + +"We're groundhogs!" they both cried together, "and we want your money." + +"What for?" asked Brighteyes, wondering what question she could ask +next. + +"We're going to buy firecrackers," answered the one on the right end. + +"Fourth of July is past," said Brighteyes. + +"No matter. Give us all your money, or we'll push you into the brook!" +declared the two groundhogs together, and when Brighteyes said she +hadn't any change, for there was no pocket in her dress, you see, to +carry any money in, what did those bad groundhogs do, but begin to +teeter-tauter up and down, with the little guinea pig girl on the middle +of the plank. + +Up and down she went, faster and faster, and pretty soon the water began +to splash upon her new dress. And oh, how terrible she felt. + +First she thought she would run across the plank, but she was afraid of +the groundhog at either end. Then she thought she would jump over their +heads, but she couldn't jump very well, not being a grasshopper, you +see, and she didn't know what to do, and she was crying the least bit, +when, all of a sudden, who should come along but the three Wibblewobble +children--Lulu and Alice and Jimmie--and when they saw how the two +groundhogs had made Brighteyes a prisoner in the middle of the plank +bridge, those three ducks just stretched out their long necks, and +cried, "Quack! Quack! Quack!" as loudly as they could. + +That so frightened the groundhogs that they jumped into the brook and +swam away, leaving Brighteyes free. Then she went home with the +Wibblewobbles, and told Buddy her adventure, and he said it was a good +one. + +Now, the next story will be about Buddy in a deep hole--that is if the +trolley car doesn't run off the track, and break all the eggs in the +grocery store window. + + + + +STORY XXI + + +BUDDY IN A DEEP HOLE + +Once upon a time it happened that Buddy Pigg was out taking a walk over +the fields and through the woods. He often used to do this, sometimes +taking a stroll for pleasure, and again to see if he could find anything +to eat. This time he was looking for something to eat, and so he walked +very slowly, looking from side to side, and sniffing the air from time +to time. + +"For," he said, "who knows but what I may find a nice cabbage or a +turnip, or a radish, or a bit of molasses cake, or a ginger snap, or +even an ice cream cone. Any of those things would be very good," thought +Buddy to himself, "especially an ice cream cone on a hot day." + +But, though he looked and he looked and he looked, oh, I guess maybe +about a dozen times, he couldn't find a single thing that was good to +eat, and he was beginning to get discouraged. + +"I'll go a little bit farther," he thought, "and then if I don't find +anything I'll turn around, go back home, and get some bread and butter, +for that is better than nothing; and I am getting hungry." + +So he walked on a little farther, and, as he walked along, he sang this +little song which no one is allowed to sing unless they are very, very +hungry. + +So in case it happens that you have just had an ice cream cone, or +something good like that, and are not hungry, you must not sing this +song until just before dinner or breakfast or supper. Anyhow here's the +song and you can put it aside until you are nearly starving. This is how +it goes: + + "I wish I had some candy + Or a peanut lolly-pop. + I'd eat an ice-cream cone so quick + You could not see me stop. + If I had two big apples, + An orange or a peach. + I'd give my little sister + A great big bite from each. + + "But there is nothing here to eat-- + Not even cherry pie. + Though we had one at our house once, + And some got in my eye. + Oh! how I'd like a cocoanut! + And watermelon, too. + I'd eat two slices off the ice-- + Now, really, wouldn't you?" + +No sooner had Buddy finished singing this song, than he came to a place +in the woods, where there was a big hole going down into the ground. Oh, +it was quite a large hole, not quite so big as the one going down to +China, but pretty large and it looked just as if some animal were in the +habit of going in and out of it. + +"Ha, ho!" exclaimed Buddy Pigg. "This looks like something; it surely +does," and, my dear children, the funny part of it was that the hole did +look like something. + +"I guess I'll go down there and see if there's anything to eat at the +bottom," went on the little guinea pig boy, "for I certainly am hungry." + +Then he stood and peeped down into the hole, and, though it looked quite +far to the bottom of it, and though it seemed pretty dark, Buddy decided +to go in. Now, that was rather foolish of him, for it's never safe to go +in a hole until you know where you're coming out, especially a hole in +the woods; but Buddy didn't stop to think. So he looked all around, to +see that there were no bad foxes in sight, and then he entered the hole. + +First he crept along very slowly and carefully. Oh my, yes, and a +banana peeling in addition! and then, all of a sudden, land sakes flopsy +dub! if Buddy didn't slip and fall and stumble, and roll over and over, +sideways, and head over heels, and he kept on going down, until finally +he came to a stop in a place that was as dark as a pocket in a fur +overcoat on a winter day. + +"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" cried poor Buddy Pigg. "Whatever has happened; and +where am I?" + +He tried to see where he was, but, my goodness sakes alive! he might as +well have tried to look through the blackboard at school, for all he +could see was just nothing. + +"I--I guess I must have fallen all the way through to China!" whispered +Buddy, as he lay there in the darkness, and then he happened to remember +that if he was in China he would see some little Chinese boys and girls, +and he could not see any, so he knew he wasn't in China. + +"Oh, dear!" cried Buddy again. "Where am I, anyhow?" + +Then, all of a sudden, out of the darkness, there sounded a voice, and +when Buddy heard it he trembled. + +"Who are you?" cried the voice, "and what are you doing in here?" + +"If you please," answered the little guinea pig boy, "I am Buddy, and I +fell down this hole. Whose is it?" + +"It belongs to us," said two voices at once. "We are groundhogs, and you +must get right out of here!" + +"Groundhogs!" exclaimed Buddy, and then he remembered the two who had +teeter-tautered Brighteyes up and down on the plank bridge, and wet her +dress, and he was frightened for fear they would harm him. + +"Oh, please, Mr. Groundhogs!" went on Buddy, "I didn't mean to come +here! I fell in when I was looking for something to eat. Please help me +out, and I'll never come again. I was looking for something to take home +to Brighteyes, my sister." + +"What! Is Brighteyes Pigg your sister?" cried the two groundhogs, +rustling around in the dark hole, and when Buddy said she was, they said +they were very sorry for having frightened her on the plank. They were +only playing a joke, they said, and they promised never to bother her +again. + +"And besides," went on the larger groundhog, "we'll give you something +to eat, and help you out of this hole." + +So they went and got their lantern, which was a bottle filled with +fireflies, and they showed Buddy where there was another hole leading up +out of their underground house, and he crawled out, after they had +given him some clover preserved in molasses candy, and they promised to +come and play with him and Brighteyes some day. + +Then Buddy was happy again, and almost glad he had fallen down the big +hole, because he had something good to take home to eat. + +Now, in case I have cherry pie for supper and the juice doesn't get on +my red necktie and turn it green, I'll tell you soon about a trick the +groundhogs played. + + + + +STORY XXII + + +A TRICK THE GROUNDHOGS PLAYED + +One day, oh, I guess it must have been about a week after Buddy Pigg +fell down the groundhogs' hole, he and Brighteyes were out walking in +the woods. They had been over to pay a visit to Jackie and Peetie Bow +Wow, the two puppy dogs, you know, and were on their way back. + +As they walked along, they both heard a queer little rustling sound in +the bushes, but at first they didn't pay any attention to it, but they +kept on, talking about what a nice time they had had, when, all of a +sudden, the noise sounded more plainly. It was just as if some big +animal had taken hold of the bushes in his teeth, and had shaken +them--shaken the bushes, I mean, of course, for he couldn't shake his +teeth unless they were false, and animals don't have false teeth, thank +goodness. + +"My land sakes! What's that?" exclaimed Brighteyes. + +"Maybe it's a bad fox," said Buddy, and he looked around for a stick or +a stone with which to defend his sister, for Buddy was brave, let me +tell you. + +Then the noise seemed to sort of go away, just like when the teacher +rubs the figures and sentences off the blackboard in school, and Buddy +and Brighteyes weren't so frightened. So they kept on, and just as they +were coming to the path that led to their pen, what did they hear but +the rustling noise in the bushes again. This time they were very much +frightened, and Buddy picked up a stick, almost as large as himself. +Then Brighteyes said: + +"Oh, Buddy, I'm afraid to go home that way. Let's take the other path." + +"But that is so much longer," objected her brother. + +"No matter," answered the little guinea pig girl, "it is better to take +a longer path, than to go on a short one and be eaten up by a fox or a +wolf," and I suppose Brighteyes was right. Anyhow they took the other +path, and as they went along it, they heard a noise in the bushes as if +some one was laughing, only they didn't see how a fox could laugh. So +they hurried on. + +Well, it wasn't very long before they came to something. I was going to +let you guess what it was, but as it might take you some time to think, +and then, maybe, you wouldn't get it right, I have decided to tell you. + +What Buddy and Brighteyes saw on the path in front of them was a small +box--the kind that soap comes out of, you know--and it was standing up +on one edge. And sort of underneath the box were two, big toadstools, +made into tables, and beside each table was a smaller toadstool for a +seat. And, would you believe me? on each toadstool-table there were a +lot of nice things to eat! Believe me, there was, really! There were +bits of cabbage, some red clover tops with marshmallow-chocolate on +them, and candied cherries, and red raspberries with strawberry sauce, +and oh, I don't know what all! + +"Why!" exclaimed Brighteyes, "that is a regular little play-party, +Buddy." + +"To be sure it is," he answered. "And look, there is a sign fastened to +the box. Let's go closer, and read what it says on it." So they went a +little closer, watching on all sides to make sure there was no danger, +and they read the sign. This is what it said: + + "Come in and eat whate'er you wish. + Taste each dainty in the dish. + Make a bow, and wipe your feet, + Fold your napkins nice and neat." + +"Come on," cried Buddy to his sister. "Let's go in and eat." + +"Do you s'pose it's meant for us?" asked Brighteyes. + +"Of course," was his answer. "Come on! See, there's a mat to wipe your +feet on, and there are napkins at each plate. There is a table for you, +and one for me." + +So Buddy and Brighteyes, thinking no harm, went in and, after making +their very best double-jointed bows, and wiping their feet until there +was no more mud on them than on a postage stamp, they sat down to the +tables and tucked in their napkins around their necks. + +Then they began to eat, and oh, how good everything tasted! Just like +when you go visiting to the country, you know, and eat, and eat, and +keep on eating. Well, that's just the way it was, believe me, if you +please. + +Now, something is going to happen. I can't help it, and it's not my +fault. You see that box, with the nice things to eat on the toadstool +tables, was only a trap. No sooner had the two guinea pigs begun eating +than some one hiding in the bushes pulled on a long string, and the +string snapped out a piece of wood that was holding up the box, and the +box fell down, and Brighteyes and Buddy were caught under +it--prisoners--just like a mouse in the trap. + +They stopped eating pretty quickly then, let me tell you. Buddy was just +going to have a second helping of marshmallow-chocolate clover when the +box fell over, and it was so dark inside that he couldn't find his +mouth. + +"Oh, dear!" cried Brighteyes. "What has happened?" + +"We're in a trap!" shouted Buddy. "The bad fox has us in a trap! Come, +we must get out!" + +They jumped down from the toadstool seats and upset the toadstool +tables, and the dishes fell on the floor, but they didn't care. Then the +two guinea pig children tried to lift up the box, but they couldn't, and +they tried to dig under it, but they couldn't, and they didn't know how +in the world they were going to get out. + +Then, all of a sudden they heard some one whispering outside the box. +Buddy thought it was the fox, so he cried: "You had better let us out of +here, Mr. Fox, or we'll have you arrested!" + +"Why, that's Buddy Pigg!" cried the voice, and all of a sudden the box +was lifted and there stood the two groundhog boys; Woody and Waddy Chuck +were their names. "We didn't mean to catch you," said Woody. "We were +only going to play a joke on our big brother, but you got in the box by +mistake. We're very sorry." + +But they couldn't help laughing, and I really think the groundhog boys +meant to play a joke on Buddy and Brighteyes and had followed them +through the woods and hid in the bushes and put the things under the box +and all that just on purpose; I really do. + +But, anyhow, Buddy and Brighteyes weren't hurt a bit, and Woody and +Waddy gave them all the good things they could eat before the guinea +pigs ran home. + +Now, in case it should happen that all the ice in our refrigerator isn't +melted, so we can fry some for pancakes, I'll tell you next about Buddy +in the berry bush. + + + + +STORY XXIII + + +BUDDY IN THE BERRY BUSH + +Buddy Pigg didn't know what to do. You see he was home all alone, for +his mother and Brighteyes had gone calling on Grandpa and Grandma +Lightfoot, the squirrels and Dr. Pigg was downtown, playing checkers or +dominoes with Uncle Wiggily Longears, so Buddy didn't have any one to +keep him company. + +"I wish some of the boys would come along," he said, as he sat on the +front steps and threw stones out in the dusty road. "I'd like to have a +ball game, or some sort of fun." + +But, though he sat there quite a while, none of the boys came along, +and, at last, Buddy remarked: + +"Oh, I'm going off and see if I can't find Billie or Johnnie Bushytail, +or Sammie Littletail, or some one, to play with." So he locked the front +door, and put the key under the mat, where his mother would find it when +she came home, and off he started, almost as fast as when Sister Sallie +went hippity-hop to the barber shop. + +Pretty soon Buddy came to the woods, and he opened his mouth real wide +and began to yell, not because he was hurt, you understand, but because +he wanted to call some of the boys. He yelled, and he hollered, and he +hooted, and then, all of a sudden, he heard some one yelling back at +him, and he saw Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, the two squirrel boys, +bounding along on the low branches of the trees. + +"Hello, fellows!" cried Buddy. "Glad to see you! Let's have some fun." + +"What'll we do?" asked Billie. + +"I know," suggested Johnnie. "Let's make a see-saw. Here is a nice +plank, and we can put it across that old stump and have a dandy time." + +So they got the plank and put it across the stump. Then Buddy got on one +end and Billie and Johnnie on the other, as they were a little smaller +than Buddy, and did not weigh so much. Then they began to go up and +down, first slowly, and then faster and faster, until they were jiggling +up and down as fast as the teakettle boils when there's company coming +to supper. + +"Hi, yi!" yelled Billie and Johnnie. "Isn't this fun?" + +"Wow, yow! It certainly is," agreed Buddy. "Only don't jump off too +suddenly when I'm in the air, or I'll fall and be hurt." + +Well, of course, Billie and Johnnie promised that they would be +careful, and they really meant to keep their word; only, just as they +were close down to the ground on the plank, and Buddy was high up, what +should happen but that a new, green, little acorn fell off an oak tree. + +It was one of the first acorns of the season, and Billie and Johnnie +each wanted to get it, so, without thinking what they were doing, they +jumped off the teeter-tauter plank, when Buddy was high up, and, of +course, down he came, with a slam-bang! + +My! how it did jar him up, and shake him, like pepper in the caster, but +that wasn't the worst. No, indeed, and some chocolate cake besides! When +Buddy came down he landed right on an old rubber boot that some one had +thrown away in the woods, and it was so bouncy and springy that he was +tossed high up in the air again, and he curved sideways, just like a +baseball, when he came down this time, and where on earth do you s'pose +he landed? Why, right in the middle of a big, scratchy, blackberry bush! + +Yes, sir, that's where it was! Down poor Buddy went, right into the +midst of the bush, and of course he got scratched some, only not as much +as he might, for he happened to go down through a thin place, where +there were not so many briars. + +Well, at first he was too surprised to speak, and, besides, the breath +was sort of knocked out of him, but, when he did gather himself +together, he saw that he was in a bad place to get out of. By this time +Johnnie and Billie had found the green acorn and had divided and eaten +it, so they came back to find Buddy. + +"Why, where has he gone to?" asked Billie, looking around. + +"Maybe he got mad, because we jumped off the plank so quickly and he has +run home," suggested Johnnie. "We shouldn't have done it." + +"No," cried Buddy, suddenly. "I haven't gone home! I'm in the blackberry +bush over here!" + +"Why, how in the world did you get there?" asked Johnnie, and Buddy told +him. + +"I think it would be more polite to ask him how he's going to get out," +suggested Billie. + +"That's so," agreed Buddy. "It's going to be hard work. But I guess I +can crawl through." + +So he tried to crawl through the bush, but you know how it is when you +go after berries, the briars seem to stick into you all over. That's the +way it was with Buddy. He couldn't crawl out, no matter how hard he +tried, for the stickers caught into his fur and held him fast. + +"Can't you jump out through the same hole you fell in through?" asked +Billie, and Buddy tried to do so, but he was scratched more than ever. + +Then Billie and Johnnie tried to open up a place through the bottom part +of the briars for Buddy to slide out, but they couldn't do it, and they +were very sorry they had jumped off the plank so quickly, for that made +all the trouble. + +Well, it began to look as though Buddy would never get out, and he felt +like crying, only he was brave, and didn't shed a single tear. Then +Johnnie suggested that he and Billie go up a tall tree, and lower a +string down to Buddy in the bush, and try to pull him up that way. They +tried it, but it wouldn't work, for the stickers still caught in the +little guinea pig's fur. + +So they didn't know what to do, and were just going to give up, when who +should come bounding along but Sammie Littletail. He knew what to do in +a second. + +He dug a burrow, beginning outside the berry bush, and slanting it up +under the roots, so that it came out inside, right near where Buddy was +crouched down inside the clump of briars. The burrow was like a tunnel, +and was big enough for Buddy to crawl out through, which he did, never +getting scratched once. They all said Sammie was very smart to think of +that, and I agree with them. Then they all played sea-saw some more, +until it was time to go home. + +Now in case there is a cool breeze, to blow the dust out of the poor +coalman's eyes, I'll tell you next about Buddy and Brighteyes bringing +home the cows. + + + + +STORY XXIV + + +BRINGING HOME THE COWS. + +Not far from where Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg lived, there was a man who +had a farm, and on the farm were a number of cows that gave milk. Out of +the milk butter was made, and sometimes, when the butter was all +churned, the farmer's wife would take some of the buttermilk that +remained in a pail and set it down where Dr. Pigg and his family could +get it. + +They thought this was very kind of the farmer's wife, and Dr. Pigg told +his children that if they could ever do her a favor, they must be sure +to do so. They promised, though for some time they had no chance to do +any kindness to the farmer or his wife either. But just you wait and see +what happens. + +One day, in the middle of summer, when it was very hot every place, +except in the cool and shady woods, Buddy and Brighteyes were strolling +along under the trees near a brook, throwing pebbles in the water and +floating down bits of bark and chips, which they pretended were boats +sailing off to distant countries. + +"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Buddy at last, "I wish I had something to do. +There's nothing to do here." + +"Why do you always want to be doing something?" asked his sister. "Why +aren't you content to sit here in the shady woods, and sail the boats?" + +"Because," answered Buddy, and that was the only reason he could give. +Then Brighteyes thought of a new game to play. She took a piece of bark +for her boat, and she found a nice, white chip for Buddy, and they made +believe their boats were having a race down stream, and Buddy's boat +won, which made him feel quite happy. + +Well, pretty soon, the sun began to go down behind the hills, and the +two guinea pig children knew it was time to go home, so they started +off. But they had not gone very far before they came to a field, with a +fence around it, and the field was quite hilly and stony and very large. +Near the fence sat a man, and he had one shoe off, and he was looking at +his foot. + +"Oh dear!" Buddy and Brighteyes heard him say, for they could understand +the man's language, if they couldn't talk it. "Oh dear! I've cut my foot +on a sharp stone," the man said, "and I don't see how I can walk away +over through the field and climb the hills after the cows. Oh dear; this +is bad luck, and it's almost milking time, and the cows are sure to be +away back in the far end of the pasture, and I can't go after them. I'll +call them, and maybe they'll come to me, for I surely can't walk after +them." + +So the man stood up on one foot and called: "Co Boss! Co Boss! Co Boss! +Co! Co! Co!" Then he waited quite some time, but the cows didn't come, +and he called again: "Co Boss! Co Boss! Co Boss!" and he waited some +more, but still the cows didn't come. "Oh, I guess I'll have to go after +them, no matter if I have cut my foot," said the man at last, and he put +on his shoe, though it hurt him, and he began to limp over the hilly +field, very slowly and painfully. + +All at once Brighteyes said to Buddy: "Oh, Bud, that man is the farmer, +and it's his wife who gives us the buttermilk! Wouldn't it be nice if we +could do him a favor, and go and drive the cows home for him?" + +"How, could we?" asked Buddy. "The cows are big and we are little. We +never could drive them home." + +"We can try," said Brighteyes cheerfully. "Come, we'll hurry on ahead of +the farmer and perhaps I shall think of a plan." + +So the two little guinea pig children slipped under the fence and ran +up across the hilly field, and the farmer, who was limping along, +calling "Co Boss!" every once in a while, never saw them. His foot was +hurting him very much and he had to go slowly. + +Well, Buddy and Brighteyes kept on, bounding over the stories and +stopping now and then to eat some blackberries or huckleberries or +raspberries or a few late, wild strawberries, and pretty soon they came +to the back part of the field, where, resting in the shade of some +trees, were all the cows. + +Oh, I guess there was a dozen and a half of them--big, nice mooley cows, +with brown eyes and long tongues, and they were all chewing their cuds +like gum, you know, and wondering why the farmer didn't come to drive +them home to milk, for they hadn't heard him calling them, you see. + +"How are we ever going to drive them home?" asked Buddy of his sister. + +"Let me think a minute," said Brighteyes, so she thought real hard for a +minute, or, possibly a minute and a little longer, and then she +exclaimed: "We must each take a long, leafy tree branch, and go up +behind the rows, and wave the branches, and tickle the cows with the +leaves, and they'll think it's a boy driving them home, and they'll +march right along, and the poor farmer, with his sore feet, won't have +to come after them." + +And that's exactly what Buddy and Brighteyes did. They got some +branches, gnawing them off a tree with their sharp teeth, and with the +leaves they tickled the cows until they almost made them sneeze. + +The cows looked around, expecting to see some boys driving them, but +Buddy and Brighteyes hid behind their big branches, and the cows were +none the wiser. So they swallowed their cuds, blinked their eyes, +switched their tails, and started up and down the hills, over the field, +toward the barnyard to be milked. + +Now, before the farmer-man had come very far from the fence, he met the +cows, and maybe he wasn't surprised to see them coming. But he was glad, +too, let me tell you, for he didn't have to walk any farther with his +cut foot. + +Then Brighteyes and Buddy ran and hid, for they did not want to be seen, +and the man jumped upon the back of a gentle cow, and rode her all the +way home, and told his wife how the whole herd, in some strange manner, +had come all the way from the back of the field alone. You see he didn't +know Buddy and Brighteyes had driven them. + +Well, in a few days the man's foot was well, so he could drive the cows +himself, and the farmer's wife gave Dr. Bigg's family lots of +buttermilk; for, somehow, she guessed that the little guinea pig boy and +girl had done the farmer a kindness, as their papa had told them to. + +Now the following story will be about Buddy on horseback--that is, +providing no cats get into our coalbin to scratch the furnace and make +it go out. + +[Illustration] + + + + +STORY XXV + + +BUDDY RIDES HORSEBACK. + +One night Buddy Pigg's mamma came into his room, where he was sleeping +soundly and dreaming he was playing a ball game with Bully and Bawly, +the frogs, and Mrs. Pigg gently shook her little boy by the shoulder. + +"Wake up, Buddy!" she called. "Wake up!" + +"What's the matter, mother?" Buddy exclaimed, as he sat up in bed. "Is +the house on fire?" + +"No," she answered, "but your papa is very sick, and I want you to go +for Dr. Possum." Then Buddy jumped up very quickly and began to dress, +for he loved his papa very much, and would do anything in the world for +him. When Buddy was ready to start he heard Dr. Pigg groaning very hard, +and saying: + +"Oh, dear, what a pain I have! Oh, dear! When will Dr. Possum come?" + +"Buddy is going for him at once," Mrs. Pigg said. "He will soon be here. +But have you no medicine that you can take?" For Dr. Pigg had once +worked in a hospital, and generally had some medicine in the house, but +this time he had none that would stop his pain. So Buddy had to get +ready to go for the doctor, while Mrs. Pigg and Brighteyes made mustard +plasters for Dr. Pigg. + +Well, when Buddy was all dressed, he happened to look out of the window, +and he saw how dark it was, for there was no moon that night, and the +stars were all hidden behind clouds. But do you s'pose Buddy was going +to stay home on that account? No, sir-ee! He was frightened, and I guess +you'd have been, too, but he was brave, and he made up his mind he'd go +for Dr. Possum. + +So Buddy put on his hat and coat and went out of the front door and into +the dark night, where, for all he knew, a bad fox might be waiting to +grab him. But Buddy took a long stick, and he filled his pockets with +stones, and he made up his mind he would throw them at the fox if he saw +him. + +The little guinea pig boy went on, and on, through the woods, toward Dr. +Possum's home, and, after a while, he was not so frightened as he had +been at first. Then, all of a sudden, as he was passing a big, black +bush, he heard a funny noise. First he thought it was a wolf or a bear, +and then he heard a voice say: + +"Oh, come on down into the burrow, Waddy." + +Then Buddy knew it was the two groundhog boys, Woody and Waddy, who had +made the funny noises, but they didn't mean to scare him, and he wasn't +at all frightened now. Woody and Waddy had heard Buddy coming along, +and, a moment later, they saw him and asked where he was going. + +"I'm going after Dr. Possum, because my papa is sick," said Buddy. + +"Wait and we'll let you take our lantern," said Woody, and he hurried +down into the burrow, and came back with a large bottle, filled with +lightning bugs, which gave plenty of light. And it had a string on, to +carry it by. As Buddy took it, very thankfully, Waddy said he hoped he +would find the doctor at home. + +Then Buddy started off again, but he hadn't gone much farther through +the woods before he heard another noise. This noise was a real loud one, +like some giant tramping up and down, and stamping his feet, and +suddenly there came a great snort, and the earth seemed to shake, and a +big, black thing jumped up in front of Buddy, scaring him frightfully. + +He trembled so that the cork nearly came out of the bottle of lightning +bugs, and, if it had, the fireflies would have been spilled all over the +ground, worse than when you spill your ice cream cone--only it didn't +happen, I'm glad to say, but almost. Then the black shape stood still, +and a great voice called out: + +"Where are you going with that lantern?" + +"If you please, kind sir," answered the little boy guinea pig, "I'm +going for Dr. Possum for my papa, who has a terrible pain. The groundhog +boys lent me this lantern. But who are you, if you please, kind sir?" + +"Why, I am Gup, the horse," was the answer. "So you are going for Dr. +Possum, eh? He is a friend of mine. I'm sorry if I frightened you. Yes, +I'm only Gup, the horse. You see, my name is Gup because there is a +little boy at our house, and he can't talk very plainly, and he calls me +'Gup' when he wants to say 'get up,' you see. However, it doesn't much +matter, and I don't mind. + +"But, speaking of doctors, I know where Dr. Possum lives, and I'll take +you right to his house in less than no time. Besides, you and your +sister were so kind as to drive the cows home for the man who cut his +foot, and as he is a friend of mine I want to return your kindness to +him. Jump upon my back, Buddy." + +"Oh, I'm afraid I'll fall," said Buddy, when he saw how high up Gup's +back was from the ground. + +"Nonsense!" exclaimed the horse. "I wouldn't let you fall for the +world. Here, hold up your firefly lantern so you can see, climb upon +that low stump, and then you can jump on my back. I'll stand still, and +then I'll take you right to Dr. Possum's house." + +So Buddy got up on Gup's back. It was the first time he had ever ridden +a horse or been up so high, and, of course, for a while, he was +frightened. But Gup told him just how to cling tightly to his big neck +and how to hold the lantern so the lightning bugs would shine on the +path, and then Gup started off. + +Oh, how fast he went! Right through the woods, he galloped, and he never +bumped into a tree or a bush even once. He went gently, too, so that +Buddy would not fall off, and, my goodness sakes alive! in a short time +the little guinea pig boy was at Dr. Possum's house. He knocked on the +door, rat-a-tat-tat, and, luckily, the doctor was at home. He got right +out of bed, took his satchel of medicines and was just going to get into +his automobile to go to Dr. Pigg's house, when he found that his auto +was broken. Either the spark was off the plug or the plug was off the +spark, I forget which. Then Gup said: + +"Get right up on my back, doctor. I can carry you and Buddy, too. It's +no great weight, I assure you. Never mind the automobile. They are +always making trouble." + +So Dr. Possum, with his medicine box, climbed upon Gup's back, behind +Buddy, and he helped hold the little guinea pig on during the ride home. +Faster and faster went Gup through the dark woods his hoofs going +"tat-a-tat-too," and he didn't bump into a tree or a bush, and he did +not jar off Buddy or Dr. Possum, and pretty soon there they were safe at +Dr. Pigg's house, and Dr. Possum gave Buddy's papa some medicine that +soon made him better. Then Gup, the kind horsie, took Dr. Possum safely +back through the dark woods as straight as a string. + +In the morning Dr. Pigg was all well again, and he said Buddy was very +brave to go off for a doctor in the night, and I think so, too. + +Now, in case it doesn't thunder too hard and scare the chimney so that +it falls off the roof, I'll tell you next about Buddy and Brighteyes +tumbling down hill. + + + + +STORY XXVI + + +BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES FALL DOWN HILL + +Not far from where Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg lived in the pen with their +papa and mamma, there was a big, tall hill. Oh, ever so much taller than +a house, but not quite so high as the church steeple, and it was a very +hard hill to climb, but, once you had gotten to the top, you could see +off, ever so far; farther than from here to the end of the rainbow, +which is very far indeed. + +Now, though Buddy and Brighteyes, the two little guinea pig children, +had lived near the hill ever since they were mere babies, they had never +climbed to the top of it. There were two reasons for this. One was +because the hill was so high and the other was because it was so steep. + +It seemed as if no one would ever be able to scramble up the sides of +this hill, or, if they did, very likely they would tumble down again, +just like a boy sliding over the ice and snow on his sled. + +But one fine morning when the sun was shining and the birds were +singing Buddy said to Brighteyes: + +"Let's climb up to the top of the hill to-day?" + +"What for?" asked his sister, as she tied her hair ribbon in a double +bow knot, very pretty indeed to look at, let me tell you. + +"Why, so we can see away off where the sky and the mountains come +together beyond the hill," said Buddy. "You can see beautiful scenery +from the tip-top, you know." + +"What good will that do?" asked Brighteyes, who was very fond of asking +questions that were hard to answer. "What is the good of looking at the +scenery?" she wanted to know. + +"Because," answered her brother, "every one does that where there is a +high hill. I heard some of the summer boarders at the farmhouse, near +our pen, telling each other what a beautiful view there was to be had +from the hill. We must see it for ourselves. There is no one around now, +and we can climb to the top." + +"I don't care very much about it," spoke Brighteyes. "I would rather +find another box of peanut candy;" but because she loved Buddy, and did +not want him to start off alone, she consented to climb the big hill +with him. So they started off. At first it was rather easy, and they +went up quite fast. At the foot of the hill were blackberry bushes and +the guinea pig children gathered as many berries as they could eat. + +But, as they went farther and farther up, the bushes grew more scarce, +until there were none. Then came a place where there was tall grass and +many stones, so that it was hard to walk. But Buddy and Brighteyes kept +on, and pretty soon they met a grasshopper. + +"Where are you going?" asked the grasshopper. + +"To the top of the hill, to see the view," answered Buddy. + +"You will never get there, the way you are going," said the grasshopper. +"You should jump as I do," and he gave three big hops and a little one +to show how well he could do it. + +"We cannot hop," remarked Brighteyes, "but we have a friend who can." + +"Who?" asked the grasshopper, as he scratched his two big hind legs +together, like a man playing the fiddle. + +"Sammie Littletail, the rabbit," said Buddy. "He can hop." + +"Yes, Sammie is a good jumper," admitted the grasshopper, and he hid +under a stone, for just then he saw a big bird looking hungrily at him. +Well, Buddy and Brighteyes went on and on, and up and up, and pretty +soon they met an ant. + +"Where are you going?" asked the ant. + +"To the top of the hill, to see the fine view," replied Brighteyes, as +she paused to get her breath, which she had nearly lost. + +"You will never get up the way you are going," said the ant. "You should +crawl, as I do," and she crawled over a stone to show how it should be +done. But Buddy and Brighteyes could not crawl, and they told the ant +so. Still they kept on, and pretty soon they met a bird. + +"You had better fly to the top of the hill as I do," said the bird. +"It's much easier than walking," only, of course, Buddy and Brighteyes +could not fly. + +But the two guinea pig children were not discouraged, and they kept on +and on, and pretty soon, really and truly honestly, they were at the +very top of the hill--a place where they had never been before. + +They could look off to the mountains, and they saw a lake, and they +could see the place where the end of the rainbow was, whenever there was +a rainbow, and they felt happy, because everything was so lovely, and +Buddy said: + +"I feel so glad, I must sing a little song." So he sang this one, which +can only be sung on top of a hill: + + "It's very hard to climb a hill, + But when you're at the top, + You feel so very fine and good + Because it's there you stop. + If you should still keep on and on, + I wonder where you'd land? + By sliding down the other side + With sandals full of sand?" + +Then Buddy tried to do a little dance, but what do you s'pose happened? +Why, he lost his balance, and toppled over, and then he grabbed hold of +Brighteyes, who was looking at the fine view, and she toppled over, and +then, wiggily-waggily, woggily-wee! they both tumbled down that steep +hill, head over heels like Jack and Jill. + +And they went down faster, and faster, and faster, rolling over and +over, and they saw stars, and several different lakes, and lots of +clouds and ever so many things. They were both frightened, and they +thought surely they were going to be hurt, for they were nearing the +bottom, when all of a sudden what should come along but a big load of +hay! + +Buddy and Brighteyes hit a stone, bounced up in the air, and then came +down, flippity-flop! right on top of the soft hay, and they weren't hurt +the least bit. Then they slid down off the hay, before the man who was +driving it saw them, and ran home. And they didn't climb a hill again +for ever and ever so long. + +Now, if I hear a potato bug whistle a tune on a cornstalk fiddle, I'm +going to tell you next about Buddy and Brighteyes going in bathing. + + + + +STORY XXVII + + +BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES GO BATHING + +"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Buddy Pigg one day. "Oh, dear! Oh, dear me suz +dud!" + +"Why, Buddy, dear, whatever in the world is the matter?" asked his +mamma, and Brighteyes, who was mending some stockings, looked up at her +brother in much surprise. + +"Oh, dear!" cried the little guinea pig boy again, "I wish I had +something to do. It's so hot and dry and dusty here. I wish some of the +fellows would come around or--or I even wish school would begin again, +so I would have something to do." + +Now when a boy wishes for school, in the middle of vacation, you may be +sure something serious is the matter. Mrs. Pigg knew this at once, so +she asked: + +"What would you like to do, Buddy?" + +"I don't know," he answered, rather cross and fretful-like, which wasn't +very nice, I suppose. + +"All the boys have gone to Asbury Park or Ocean Grove," said Brighteyes, +"and I guess you are lonesome, Buddy. It must be lovely at the +seashore," and Brighteyes sighed the least bit, and took such a big +stitch in the stocking she was mending that she had to rip it out and do +it over again. + +"Well, we can't go to the seashore this season because the salt air +doesn't agree with your father," said Mrs. Pigg. "If all goes well, we +shall soon be in the country, however. But now, what do you like best +about the seashore, Buddy?" + +"Going in bathing," he answered. + +"You can do that right here at home," said his mamma. "I will get out +your bathing suits, and you and Brighteyes can go swimming in the pond +back of our house." + +"That will be lovely!" cried Brighteyes, and she jumped up so quickly +that she dropped the basket of stockings, and her pink hair ribbon came +off, and she was all confused-like. + +"There are no waves in the pond, like down in the ocean at Asbury," +complained Buddy. "It is no fun to go in bathing where there are no +waves." + +"Ha! What's that?" cried a voice, and then Percival, the old circus dog, +who was staying with the Piggs while the Bow Wow family, with whom he +lived, was away for the summer--Percival, I say, got up from where he +had been sleeping under a mosquito net to keep off the flies. "No waves, +eh? So you want waves, do you, when you go in bathing, Buddy?" asked +Percival. + +"Yes," answered Buddy Pigg, "I do, Percival." + +"Then," exclaimed the old circus dog, "you and Brighteyes shall have +them. Get on your bathing suits and come down to the pond. When you get +there you'll find waves enough; I'll guarantee that! Oh, my, yes, and a +life-preserver besides!" + +"How?" asked Buddy. "There are never any waves in that pond." + +"Just you wait and see," said Percival. + +Mrs. Pigg smiled, but she didn't say anything, and went after the +bathing suits, while Buddy and Brighteyes wondered what was going to +happen. Percival ran out, winking first one eye and then the other, and +not both together, like some dollies do when they go to sleep, and he +gave three short barks and a long one, just to show how glad he felt to +be doing something. + +Well, it didn't take Buddy and Brighteyes very long to put on their +bathing suits. Then they hurried out of the back of the house and went +toward the pond. + +"Do you really s'pose there'll be waves?" asked Buddy. + +"I don't know," answered his sister. "Percival is a very smart dog, you +know." + +Well, they ran down to the pond, and the first thing they saw when they +got there were cords fastened to sticks driven down into the ground, +just like the ropes at Asbury Park, you know--if you've ever been there. +The ropes are for the bathers to take hold of when the waves come. + +"Well," remarked Buddy, "I see the ropes, but I don't see any waves." +But, no sooner had he spoken than a big wave rolled, +splish-splash-splosh, right up the shore of the pond, which was rather +sandy, and it sprayed itself over the toes of Buddy and Brighteyes--the +wave splashed, you understand--not the sand, of course. + +"Whee!" cried Buddy, all excited-like. "There's a wave!" + +"Yes, and here comes another!" cried his sister, and, sure enough, +another wave came sizzling and sloshing up out of the pond. And then +another, and another, and another, until there were a dozen, or, maybe a +dozen and a half of waves, one after the other. + +"Oh, this is grand!" cried Buddy. "It's almost as good as Asbury Park!" +and, really it was, I'm not fooling a bit. Of course the waves weren't +as big as those at the seashore, but they were pretty good size. Well, +Buddy and Brighteyes rushed into the water, keeping hold of the ropes, +and the waves splashed all around them, and they splashed around in the +waves, and pretty soon Buddy cried: + +"Oh, I got a mouthful of water, and it's salty, just like the ocean!" + +"Sure enough it is!" agreed Brighteyes, taking a small mouthful to +taste. "I wonder what makes it?" + +"And I wonder what makes the waves, and I wonder where Percival is?" +went on Buddy, and just then there came such a big wave that it almost +knocked him over, and he had to cling to the ropes. Then what should +happen, but that at the far end of the pond, up rose old dog Percival, +laughing as hard as he could laugh. + +"I told you I would make waves!" he cried, and how do you s'pose he did +it? + +Why, he had a big, empty box, and he would raise that up and down in the +water of the pond, as hard as he could, and this splashed, and made the +waves; and Percival had a bag of salt, to make the water salty. Now, +wasn't he the smart dog though? + +Well, he went on, making more salty waves, and Buddy and Brighteyes +paddled around in them, and yelled and hollered, and held on to the +ropes, and ducked each other, and splashed and had as good a time as if +they had been at the seashore; and so did Percival, too, I guess. Then, +after a while they came out of the water and dried off, after thanking +Percival. + +Now, if our bathtub doesn't freeze up so the canary bird can't go in +swimming I'll tell you presently about Buddy building a sand house. + + + + +STORY XXVIII + + +BUDDY BUILDS A SAND HOUSE + +The little guinea pig children had so much fun bathing in the pond, +where Percival, the circus dog, made the salty waves for them, as I told +you about in the previous story, that they went in swimming as many +times as their mamma would let them. + +Percival was only too glad to make the waves, and hold the bag of salt +in the pond, to make it salty, just like the ocean. Sometimes the old +dog would jounce a box up and down, to make the waves, and again, when +he wanted larger ones, he would use a barrel. Then the waves of the pond +would be over the heads of Buddy and Brighteyes, and they had to cling +to the ropes with all their might. + +One day Buddy was sitting in the sand, on the banks of the pond, when, +all at once, he had an idea. + +"I know what I'm going to do!" he exclaimed. "I'm gong to build a sand +house. I wish Brighteyes was here to help me," but his sister had gone +in the pen to help her mamma get dinner ready, for Mrs. Pigg expected +company that day; Mr. and Mrs. Bushytail were coming. So Buddy had to +start to build the house all alone. He piled a lot of sand in a heap, +together with stones, and sticks and bits of duck-weed, and then he +started in. + +First he scooped out a hollow place, and that was for the cellar. Then +he stuck sticks up around the edges of the hole, and began to pile up +the sand, to make the walls of the house. Just as he was doing this, +what should he hear but footsteps running along the sand. He looked, up +and gave a shout of delight. + +"Hello, Billie and Johnnie Bushytail!" he cried, as he saw the two +little squirrel boys. "You're just in time! Come on and help me build +this sand house!" + +"Sure!" agreed Billie and Johnnie, as they frisked their tails, just as +the cook sometimes frisks the dusting brush when she wants to knock the +crumbs from the table to the floor. "Can you stay long?" asked Buddy. + +"As long as papa and mamma do," answered Johnnie. "They are in your +house now, and so is Sister Sallie. We're going to stay to dinner, but +first we'll help you build the sand house." + +So they all three got busy. They piled and scooped the sand up around +the upright sticks, and, pretty soon, believe me, if it really didn't +begin to look like a real house. It was about as big as a big box, and +nearly as high; and the cellar was quite large. + +"What will we do with the house when we've finished it?" asked Billie +Bushytail. + +"We'll go in it and play we're robbers," suggested Johnnie, as he patted +the sand with his paws, to make it smooth. + +"No, we'll be pirates," decided Buddy. "Pirates always stay near salt +water, and this is salt water, because Percival emptied a whole bag of +salt in it." + +"All right," agreed the squirrel boys, so they went on building the +house. They put little pebbles all around it for a fence, and laid a +gravel walk up from the pond to the front door, and stuck up little +sticks for trees in the front yard, and made a garden, because Buddy +said, even if they were pirates, they would have to have something to +eat, and they planted duck-weed in the garden and made believe it was +radishes and lettuce and cabbage and ever so many things; even apples +and pears and peaches. + +Well, pretty soon the sand house was finished; that is, all but the top. + +"What will we have for a roof?" asked Billie. + +"I'll show you," said Buddy, so he laid sticks across the top of the +sand walls, and on top of the sticks he placed duck-weed. Then, on top +of the weed he and the squirrel boys put sand, until it was really the +nicest house of its kind you could find if you walked a mile, or, maybe +even two miles. + +"That certainly is one fine, dandy house!" exclaimed Johnnie, as he +stepped back to admire it. + +"Yes, and now let's get inside and pretend we're robbers," proposed +Billie. "I'll be the head robber and you two can work for me." + +"No, we're going to be pirates, and I'm the chief one," insisted Buddy. +"We must begin to pirate right away and do all sorts of things." + +"First, let's see if we can get in the house," said Johnnie. "Go in very +carefully." + +So they went in, very slowly and carefully through the front door, so as +not to knock the sand down, and honestly the sand house was just big +enough for those three, and not a bit bigger. They even had to hold +their breaths, and not all breathe at once, or they never would have +fitted in it. + +"Now," said Buddy, "we'll pretend we're pirates, and we'll bury all the +gold and diamonds we have." + +So they played that game, and buried gold (make-believe you know) in +the cellar, and they were having a lovely time, when all at once, +without a word of warning, the roof of the sand house fell right in on +top of them! I suppose it was because Pirate Chief Buddy gave such a +loud shout. + +Anyway, the roof caved in, and part of the walls, and there those three +pirates were, buried under the sand. They tried to yell, and call for +help, but their mouths were full of the dirt, and they couldn't speak. +Then they tried to scramble out, and they couldn't do that, and I really +don't know what would have happened to them, if at that moment +Brighteyes Pigg and Sister Sallie hadn't come out of the pen where their +mammas and papas were talking, to see what the boys were doing. + +The two girls saw the sand house, all caved in, and they guessed that +Buddy and Billie and Johnnie were under it. + +"We must dig them out!" cried Sister Sallie. + +So she and Brighteyes got some pieces of shingle, and my goodness me, +sakes alive! how they did make that sand fly! Percival, the old circus +dog, helped them, and pretty soon Buddy and his friends were safely +rescued. They were pretty well scared, I can tell you, but they were +soon all right again, and then it was time to go to dinner, and after +dinner they all went in bathing and had lots of fun. + +Now, I'm going to tell you next about Buddy helping Sammie Littletail, +that is if the man comes to cut our grass and lets our puppy dog hide +under the door-mat to scare the parrot next door. + + + + +STORY XXIX + + +BUDDY HELPS SAMMIE LITTLETAIL + +When Johnnie and Billie Bushytail went home, after having paid a visit +to Buddy Pigg that time when they built the sand house that fell in on +them, they told Sammie and Susie Littletail, the two rabbits, of what a +nice time they had had. + +"Oh, I am going over to see Buddy some day, and go in bathing," declared +Sammie. + +"You had better be careful about bathing in salt water," said Susie, his +sister, "it might take all the color out of your eyes, or out of your +fur, or your fur might even fall out." + +"Oh, I guess not," answered Sammie. "I have heard that salt water keeps +hair from falling out. Anyway, if there's any danger of such a thing, +Percival, the old circus dog, doesn't need to hold the bag of salt in +the water when we go in bathing." + +"That's so," agreed Susie, and just then along came Uncle Wiggily +Longears, the old gentleman rabbit, and he was eating some +peppermint-flavored cabbage, and he gave Sammie and Susie some. + +Well, it wasn't very many days after this before Sammie asked his mamma +if he couldn't go over and play with Buddy Pigg, and, as Sammie had been +a very good rabbit boy lately, his mother allowed him to go. + +"I am so glad you came, Sammie," said Buddy, "what shall we do, go in +bathing, or build a sand house?" + +"Let's do both," answered Sammie. So first he and Buddy went in bathing +and, for fear the salt water would make the red color fade out of +Sammie's eyes, Percival didn't hold the bag of salt in the pond when he +made the waves. Sammie and Buddy had a good time splashing around, and +then they built a sand house. But they took care to make it strong +enough so that it would not cave in. They played together for a long +time and then Buddy asked: "What shall we do next?" + +"I know," replied Sammie, as he looked at the pond of water which was +sparkling in the sun, "let's play soldier, and we'll make a plank bridge +across the pond and run over it and have lots of fun." + +"All right," agreed Buddy, "come on, and help me lift the plank." So +they placed a long board across one end of the pond, where it was quite +deep, and began to play soldier, while Percival went to sleep in the +shade. + +Buddy got a tin can, and tied it around his neck with a string. That was +for the drum, and when he beat upon the tin can with two sticks, believe +me, it did sound just like a drum in the army, when the soldiers beat it +softly. + +Then Sammie got a long stick, pretending it was a gun, and the two of +them marched around and around, and sideways, and up and down, and +through the middle, and across the plank, and back again, several times. +Then, Sammie would fire the gun, yelling, "Boom-Boom!" as loudly as he +could, and shooting maybe a dozen bad Indians or pirates or robbers, or +maybe more, for all I know, and Buddy would beat on the drum louder than +ever, and he would cry: + +"Charge! Charge on the enemy! Hurrah! Hurrah! The victory is ours!" and +he would wave a flag he had made out of a piece of white cloth, red +flannel and a bit of Brighteyes' blue hair ribbon, that she had lost. + +Oh, it wag great fun, I tell you! But the best of all was rushing across +the plank over the deep part of the pond, for then it sounded exactly as +if horses and cannon were coming over the bridge, and the plank +teetered and tautered up and down, and sometimes Buddy and Sammie almost +fell off. But they didn't mind this; they only thought it all the more +fun. + +Then, at last, something did happen. Buddy was ahead, waving the flag +with one hand, and beating the drum with the other, and Sammie was +firing his wooden gun as fast as he could fire it, with ever so many +"Boom-Booms!" real loud ones, too, and shooting, oh, ever so many +make-believe Indians, when, all of a sudden, poor Sammie Littletail +slipped off the plank, and fell into the deep part of the pond! + +"Oh, save me; save me, Buddy!" cried Sammie, splashing around. + +"I'll save you!" cried Buddy, and he got so excited that he threw away +his drum, and the drumsticks and the flag, only he tossed the flag +safely on shore, where it wouldn't get wet, for he loved the flag, even +if it was only a make-believe one. "I'll save you," he cried. "Can you +swim any, Sammie?" + +"A--a--lit-tle--bit!" gasped the rabbit boy, as he floundered around in +the water. "But I could swim more if nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy was here to +show me," and then he couldn't talk any more, for his mouth was full of +water. + +Well, Sammie was terribly frightened, as he floundered around in the +pond, with his wooden gun, and so was Buddy frightened, up on the plank +bridge. Buddy looked all around, to see if there was any one coming to +help him save Sammie, but there wasn't. Percival had gone in the house, +and Brighteyes and her mother had gone berrying. Then Buddy made up his +mind that he would have to save Sammie all by himself. + +First he tried to kneel down on the plank, and reach his hand to his +little rabbit chum, but he couldn't reach far enough. Then he called to +Sammie to hold up the wooden gun, thinking maybe he could get hold of +that, and so drag the rabbit boy out, but the gun wiggled so, when +Sammie splashed around that Buddy couldn't get hold of it. + +Then it began to look as if Sammie would drown, but Buddy had one more +thing to try. On shore there was a rope. Buddy ran and got it, and in +one end he made a loop, just like the cowboys do when they lasso a wild +steer, or a horse. + +Buddy took good aim, tossed the loop of rope over Sammie's head, and +Sammie grabbed hold with his front paws, and then Buddy braced his feet +in the sand and gave a long, strong pull, and pulled Sammie safely out +of the water, and saved him; just in time, too, let me tell you, for his +breath was nearly gone. Well, Sammie soon got over being scared, and +when he was dried off the two friends played soldier some more, only +they kept off the plank. + +Now the next story is going to be about Brighteyes and Jennie +Chipmunk--that is, if our hired girl doesn't leave and make me wash the +dishes so I can't typewrite. + + + + +STORY XXX + + +BRIGHTEYES AND JENNIE CHIPMUNK + +It happened one day that after Brighteyes Pigg had finished combing her +hair, and had put on a nice, pink ribbon, which she tied in two, big +bows, that she heard a knock at the door. There was no one home, for her +mamma had gone down to the five and ten cent store to get a wash boiler; +Dr. Pigg was seeing some friends in the hospital, and Buddy was off +playing ball with Bully and Bawly, the two frogs, and some others of his +friends. So Brighteyes went to the door herself. + +And whom do you suppose she found there? + +Well, I don't believe you'd guess in sixteen minutes, so I'll tell you. +It was Jennie Chipmunk, the little girl who lived with Grandpa and +Grandma Lightfoot, the squirrel grandparents of Johnnie and Billie +Bushytail, you know. + +Jennie was smiling so that she showed her pretty white teeth, and she +was humming a little song, one of those she always sang when she washed +the dishes. This is the song, and you are allowed to sing it if you +have helped your mamma dry the dishes. It goes to the tune of "Oh fie +lum diddle daddy de dum," which is a very nice tune if you can sing it. +Anyhow, Jennie Chipmunk sang: + + "I love to wash the dishes, + And also dry them, too. + It makes your paws so soft and white, + I really think--don't you? + Some folks are awful fussy, + When e'er they dust or sweep. + They'd rather pile the dirt all up + In corners, in a heap. + + "But I just love my housework, + For making beds I sigh. + I love to wash the tablecloth + And make a cherry pie. + I knead the bread and bake it, + I starch and iron the clothes, + I wash the windows Saturday--" + +"That's enough, my goodness knows!" finished Brighteyes for Jennie, with +a laugh. "Land sakes! Jennie Chipmunk," the little guinea pig girl went +on, "I should think you'd be tired with all that work! Come on and we'll +take a walk in the woods." + +So the two started, after Brighteyes had locked the door and put the +key under the mat, where her mother could find it when she came back +from the five and ten cent store, where she had gone to get a diamond +ring--no, I mean a dishpan--no, a wash boiler--there, I've got it right +at last. + +Well, Jennie and Brighteyes walked on through the woods and sometimes +they found huckleberries to eat, or they found pennyroyal, which is a +nice plant to smell, and it keeps the mosquitoes away, when they want to +stay away. And the two children found some blackberries, and they found +spearmint and peppermint and then they got in a field where there was a +lovely apple tree and they were just eating a few of the apples and +putting some in their pockets, to take home, when, all of a sudden they +heard a voice calling to them from behind the tree. + +"Here, what are you doing with those apples?" cried the voice, and oh, +such a harsh, ugly, cross voice as it was! It fairly made Brighteyes and +Jennie shiver. + +First they thought it was the man who owned the tree, and then +Brighteyes remembered that he was the kind farmer whose cows she and +Buddy had once driven home, when he had cut his foot, and she knew he +wouldn't speak so cross to her. Then she thought it was a bad boy, but +she looked, and so did Jennie, and they couldn't see any boy. Then the +voice growled out again: + +"Here, you leave those apples alone!" and goodness sakes alive, and a +can of tomato soup! from behind the apple tree, there appeared the bad, +ugly, old burglar fox! Oh, how frightened Brighteyes and Jennie Chipmunk +were! They fairly trembled and shivered, though it was a hot day! + +"Ah! ha!" cried the fox, curling back his lip, to show his ugly teeth, +and blinking his eyes as fast as a moving picture goes when it skips +along very quickly. "Ah! ha! Now I have caught you! Do you know what I +am going to do to you for taking my apples?" + +"We--we didn't know they were your apples," said Jennie. + +"No matter about that," said the bad fox. "Do you know what I am going +to do to you?" + +"No," answered Brighteyes. "What are you going to do to us, good Mr. +Fox?" + +"I'm not good Mr. Fox; I'm bad Mr. Fox," he answered, "and what I'm +going to do is to eat you all up--all up--all up!" and he smacked his +lips and gnashed his teeth something terrible. + +But don't be afraid. Just you wait and see what Brighteyes did to that +fox. All the while she was thinking how she could save herself and +Jennie, for she knew those apples didn't belong to the fox. + +First Brighteyes thought maybe Buddy would come along and help her, or +maybe the farmer, but no one came, and the fox was creeping nearer and +nearer to Jennie, getting ready to grab her first, when what did +Brighteyes do but pull up some horseradish leaves that grew nearby and +throw them right in the eyes of that bad fox. + +Now, horseradish leaves are very smarty and peppery, you know, almost +like mustard, and when they got in the fox's eyes they made him so he +couldn't see, and they hurt him, too. + +Then I wish you could have heard him howl. No, on second thought, I'm +glad you couldn't hear him, for it might scare you. Anyhow, he jumped up +and down and sideways, and he whirled around, and he howled and he +yowled and he jowled, and then Brighteyes called: + +"Come on, Jennie, now is our chance. We can get away before he sees us!" + +So they ran away, taking all the apples they could carry, and the fox +couldn't see for ever so long, for he couldn't get his eyes open. So +that is how Brighteyes and Jennie Chipmunk were saved, and they went +home, and nothing happened to them on the way. Now, the next story will +be about Buddy and Brighteyes in the mountains--that is, providing I +catch some fish the next time I go fishing and don't lose my watch in +the water for the alligator to tell time by. + + + + +STORY XXXI + + +BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES IN THE MOUNTAINS + +One day Dr. Pigg came home from paying a visit to Uncle Wiggily +Longears, and said: + +"Well, children, get ready, we are going away for a vacation to-morrow." + +"Oh goody!" cried Brighteyes, jumping up and down in the middle of the +floor, until her pink hair ribbon flopped up and down, like the wings of +a butterfly. + +"Are we going to the seashore?" asked Buddy, while Brighteyes went over +and kissed her father, standing on her tiptoes to reach him. + +"No," said Dr. Pigg, "we are not going to the seashore. We are going to +the mountains, where there is a nice lake. The salt air of the seashore +does not agree with me. I have asked Uncle Wiggily Longears to go with +us, and he does not like the salt air, either. It is bad for his +rheumatism, which is a little better now, and he does not want it to get +worse." + +"Oh, that's fine, if Uncle Wiggily is coming!" said Buddy. "He'll take +us all over the mountains, into caves and out rowing on the lake, and +show us how to have lots of fun." + +Well, the Pigg family began to pack up, and, in a few hours they were +ready to go. Uncle Wiggily came to help them, as he had all his things +packed. He brought along his crutch, in case he might happen to need it, +but he hoped he would not. + +"Couldn't Sammie and Susie Littletail come, too?" asked Buddy. + +"No, they have gone to Belmar, at the seashore, for the summer," +answered Uncle Wiggily. "But now we must hurry off to the mountains." + +So they hurried off, and in a little while, oh, not so very long, Dr. +Pigg and his family, and Uncle Wiggily arrived at a nice pen, right on +the side of a mountain, at the foot of which was a large lake. + +There were so many things to see that Buddy and Brighteyes did not know +at which to look first, and they ran all about, now to one place, and +now to another. Then, when they had had their supper, Uncle Wiggily +said: + +"Come now, we will take a walk. I think I know where there is a cave, +and we will see if a giant lives in it." + +"A real giant?" asked Buddy. + +[Illustration] + +"No, only a make-believe one," answered Uncle Wiggily, with a laugh. +So he and the two guinea pig children started off up the side of the +mountain toward the cave. All around them were other mountains, and it +was a lovely place, with the red sun sinking down behind the hills, just +like it does in poetry. + +"Ha, here we are at the cave!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, at length, as +they came to a big hole in the side of the mountain. "Now, Buddy and +Brighteyes, be very careful. Keep close to me, and don't go in very far, +or you may get lost." + +Then they started to go in, but just at that moment Uncle Wiggily +stepped on a stone and twisted his ankle, the one that had some +rheumatism still left in it, and he had to sit down and rub his foot +with a bottle of liniment which he carried in his pocket. + +While he was doing this Buddy and Brighteyes wandered a little way into +the cave. It looked perfectly safe, and it was so pretty, with the sun +shining in, and reflecting back from the crystals that hung down from +the roof, and those that stuck up from the floor, that, almost before +they knew what they were doing, the two children had gone some distance +inside. + +And, once they were in, it was so pretty that they kept on going farther +and farther, until, land sakes, if, in about ten minutes they weren't +away inside that cave, and they had forgotten all about what Uncle +Wiggily Longears had told them about keeping close to him. + +"Oh, we mustn't go any further!" cried Brighteyes at length. "It's +getting quite dark, Buddy. We'll have to go back." + +"All right," agreed her brother. "Uncle Wiggily will take us farther in +I guess. We'll go and get him." + +So they started back, but, would you believe it, they couldn't find +their way! No, sir, there they were lost in that big cave! the more they +tried to get out, the more lost they became. + +Outside, Uncle Wiggily was in great distress. When his foot ceased +hurting he looked for the children, but he couldn't see them. Then he +knew they must have gone into the cave, and he was much frightened. + +"Here it is, night coming on," he remarked, "and soon it will be very +dark in there. Then I never can find Buddy and Brighteyes, and they'll +be lost in there all night--and--oh dear--why did they go in without +me?" + +But in they had gone, and now Uncle Wiggily had to get them out. But he +was a wise old rabbit, and, to make sure he would not get lost himself, +he took a string, and tied it to his crutch, and left the crutch +outside the cave. Then he took the ball of string and started in the +cave, unrolling the cord as he went along, and keeping tight hold of it, +so he could find his way back in the dark. + +Then he tramped on, though it was hard work without his crutch, looking +for Brighteyes and Buddy. I don't believe he ever would have found them, +but for a kind old lightning bug, who flew on ahead, to light the way +for him. + +Then, after a while, by the gleam of the firefly, Uncle Wiggily did come +upon Buddy and Brighteyes fast asleep in a corner. They had tried, and +tried to find their way out, until they were so tired that they fell +asleep. + +Uncle Wiggily awakened them, and then, keeping tight hold of the string +that was fast to his crutch, he led them out of the cave. And, oh, how +thankful they were! They promised never to go in the mountain cave alone +again, and they never did. + +Well, Buddy and Brighteyes stayed in the mountains for quite awhile, and +had lots of fun, which I may tell you about later, but now I think I +will start some new stories--some that you have never heard, and, what +do you think? they're going to be about some kittie cats. + +I know most of you children must love cats, for I do, and it isn't so +very long ago that I was a little chap myself. + +So, if you please, the next book of Bedtime Stories will be called +"Joie, Tommie and Kittie Kat." Their names are spelled with a "K" you +may notice, but they are not at all proud, or stuck-up, on that account. +I hope you will like them as well as you have Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg. + +So now, for a little while we will say good-by, and it will not be long +before you can read about the funny things the Kat children did, and +about the walnut shells, and all that. + +THE END + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Buddy And Brighteyes Pigg, by Howard R. Garis + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11156 *** diff --git a/11156-h/11156-h.htm b/11156-h/11156-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..575a228 --- /dev/null +++ b/11156-h/11156-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5245 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> + +<html> +<head> + <meta name="generator" content= + "HTML Tidy for Windows (vers 1st February 2004), see www.w3.org"> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= + "text/html; charset=UTF-8"> + + <title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg, + by Howard R. Garis.</title> + <style type="text/css"> + <!-- + * { font-family: Times;} + P { text-indent: 1em; + margin: 10%; + margin-top: .75em; + font-size: 14pt; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; } + HR { width: 33%; } + PRE { font-family: Courier, monospaced; } + + .list + {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .rom + {list-style-type: upper-roman;} + + .poem {margin-left:25%; margin-right:20%; text-align: left;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem p {margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem p.i2 {margin-left: 2em;} + .poem p.i4 {margin-left: 4em;} + .poem .caesura {vertical-align: -200%;} + // --> + </style> +</head> + +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11156 ***</div> + + <h2>BED TIME STORIES:</h2> + + <h1>Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg</h1> + + <center> + Howard R. Garis + </center> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_1"><!-- RULE4 1 --></a> + + <h2>PUBLISHER'S NOTE.</h2> + + <p>These stories appeared originally in the Evening News, of + Newark, N.J., and are reproduced in book form by the kind + permission of the publishers of that paper, to whom the author + extends his thanks.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + <hr> + <a name="TOC"><!-- TOC --></a> + + <h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + + <div class="list"> + <ol class="rom"> + <li><a href="#RULE4_3">BUDDY PIGG IN A CABBAGE</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_4">BRIGHTEYES AND MRS. HOPTOAD</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_5">BUDDY PIGG AND SAMMY + LITTLETAIL</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_6">BUDDY PIGG PLAYS BALL</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_7">BRIGHT EYES PIGG AND SISTER + SALLIE</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_8">DR. PIGG AND UNCLE WIGGILY</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_9">BUDDY PIGG IS CAUGHT</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_10">BUDDY'S AND BRIGHTEYES' FOURTH OF + JULY</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_11">BUDDY PIGG WANTS A TAIL</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_12">BUDDY WALKS A TIGHT ROPE</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_13">BRIGHTEYES IN A TIN CAN</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_14">DR. PIGG AND THE FIRECRACKER</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_15">BUDDY PIGG IN A BOAT</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_16">BRIGHTEYES AND THE PEANUT + CANDY</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_17">BUDDY AND THE JUNE BUG</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_18">BRIGHTEYES AND THE BAD BOY</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_19">BUDDY'S GREAT RUN</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_20">BRIGHTEYES, BUDDY AND THE + TURNIP</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_21">BUDDY AND THE BURGLAR FOX</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_22">BRIGHTEYES HAS AN ADVENTURE</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_23">BUDDY IN A DEEP HOLE</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_24">A TRICK THE GROUNDHOGS + PLAYED</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_25">BUDDY IN THE BERRY BUSH</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_26">BRINGING HOME THE COWS</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_27">BUDDY RIDES HORSEBACK</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_28">BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES FALL + DOWNHILL</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_29">BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES GO + BATHING</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_30">BUDDY BUILDS A SAND HOUSE</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_31">BUDDY HELPS SAMMY LITTLETAIL</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_32">BRIGHTEYES AND JENNIE + CHIPMUNK</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_33">BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES IN THE + MOUNTAINS</a></li> + </ol> + </div> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_2"><!-- RULE4 2 --></a> + + <h2>BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES PIGG</h2> + <hr> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_3"><!-- RULE4 3 --></a> + + <h2>STORY I</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY PIGG IN A CABBAGE + </center> + + <p>Once upon a time, not so many years ago, in fact it was about + the same year that Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, the little puppy + dog boys lived in their kennel house, there used to play with + them, two queer little brown and white and black and white animal + children, called guinea pigs. They were just as cute as they + could be, and, since I have told you some stories about rabbits, + and squirrels and ducks, as well as about puppies, I wonder how + you would like to hear some account of what the guinea pigs + did?</p> + + <p>Anyhow, I'll begin, and so it happened that there lived at one + time, in a nice little house, called a pen, four guinea pigs.</p> + + <p>There was the papa, and he was named Dr. Pigg, and the reason + for it was that he had once been in the hospital with a broken + paw, and ever since he was known as "Doctor." Then there was his + wife, and his little boy, and his little girl. They were + Montmorency and Matilda, but, as the children didn't like those + names, they always spoke of each other as "Buddy" and + "Brighteyes," so I will do the same.</p> + + <p>Buddy Pigg (and he had two g's in his name you notice) was + black and white, and Brighteyes Pigg was brown and white, and + they were the nicest guinea pig children you could meet if you + rode all week in an automobile. One day Buddy went out for a walk + in the woods alone, because Brighteyes had to stay at home to + help to do the dishes, and dust the furniture.</p> + + <p>Buddy, who, I suppose, you remember, was a friend of Jackie + and Peetie Bow Wow, walked along, sniffing with his nose, just + like Sammie and Susie Littletail, the rabbits.</p> + + <p>"It seems to me," Buddy said, "that I smell something good to + eat. I wonder if it can be an ice cream cone, or some peanuts, or + anything like that?" He looked around but he couldn't see any + store there in the woods where they sold ice cream or peanuts, + and then he knew he must be mistaken. Still he kept on smelling + something good.</p> + + <p>"I wonder where that is?" he exclaimed, and he sniffed harder + than ever. And then he knew what it was—a cabbage—a + great, big cabbage! He ran around the side of a big rock, and + there lying on the path, was a fine big cabbage. Some one had + dropped it by mistake.</p> + + <p>"This is great luck!" cried Buddy Pigg. "There is enough for + me and Brighteyes, and I can take some home to mamma and to my + papa, the doctor. Yes, indeed, this has been a lucky day for me. + I'm as glad I found this cabbage as if I had picked up ten cents! + I guess I'll eat some to see how it tastes."</p> + + <p>So Buddy Pigg began to gnaw at the cabbage and, as he had very + good teeth for gnawing—almost as good as Sammy + Littletail's—he soon had quite a hole made. But he kept on + gnawing and eating away, so fine did it taste, until, in a little + while if he hadn't eaten a hole right into the cabbage and he + found himself inside, just like the mousie in the loaf of + bread!</p> + + <p>"Ha! This is very fine, indeed!" cried Buddy Pigg. "I think I + will take a nap here," and lopsy-flop! if that little guinea pig + didn't curl up inside the cabbage and go fast, fast asleep; and + not even his tail stuck out, because, you see, he didn't have any + tail—guinea pigs never do have any, which is a good thing, + I suppose.</p> + + <p>Well, Buddy Pigg was sleeping away inside that cabbage, + dreaming of how nice it would be to take the rest of it home, + when all at once, who should come creeping, creeping around the + edge of the rock, but a great, big fox. He had sharp eyes, had + that fox, and he saw the little guinea pig asleep inside the + cabbage, even though Buddy's tail didn't stick out.</p> + + <p>"Ah, ha! Oh, ho!" exclaimed the fox, and he smacked his lips. + "I see a fine feast before me! Oh, yes, indeed, a very fine + feast! Guinea pig flavored with cabbage! Now, just so that pig + can't get out, I'll stop up that hole, while he's asleep in + there, and I'll go and get my wife, and we'll come back and have + a dandy meal! Oh! a most delectable meal!"</p> + + <p>So that old fox crept softly, so softly, up to where the + cabbage was, with Buddy asleep inside, and the fox took a stone, + and he crowded it, and wedged it, fast in the hole, so poor Buddy + couldn't get out, though there was some air for him to breathe. + Then the fox laughed to himself: "Ha, ha!" and "Ho, ho!" and + hurried off down the hill after his wife.</p> + + <p>Well, it wasn't long before Buddy Pigg awoke, and he tried to + stretch himself, as he always did after a nap, and wasn't he the + surprised guinea pig, though, when he found he couldn't + stretch!</p> + + <p>"Why, what can be the matter?" he cried. "I'm all in the dark! + Let's see where was I? Oh, I remember, I found a cabbage, and I + began to eat it, and I went inside it—And land sakes, + goodness me and a trolley car! I'm inside it now!" he cried, as + he smelled the cabbage. "I'm shut in the cabbage just as if I was + shut in a closet! However did it happen?" and he tried to turn + around, and make his way out, but he couldn't, because the stone + which the fox had stuffed in the hole closed it up too tight.</p> + + <p>"I'm locked in!" cried Buddy Pigg. "Locked in a cabbage! Isn't + it terrible!" and of course it was, and no fooling, either.</p> + + <p>Well, Buddy Pigg was a brave little chap, and instead of + sitting down and crying there in the dark, he began to think of + how he could get out. He thought of all sorts of ways, but none + of them seemed any good, and at last he decided to try to burst + the cabbage open. But it was too strong and thick, and he + couldn't do it.</p> + + <p>He soon discovered, however, that, wiggling around inside it + as he did, made the cabbage wiggle too, and the first thing you + know the cabbage began to roll down the hill, just like a man in + a barrel.</p> + + <p>Faster and faster went the cabbage down the hill, over and + over, with Buddy inside, and he began to get dizzy, for he didn't + know what was happening.</p> + + <p>Then, at that moment, who should come along but that bad fox + and his wife. The cabbage seemed to be rolling straight at + them.</p> + + <p>"My sakes alive!" cried Mrs. Fox. "What is that, Oscar?" You + see her husband's name was Oscar.</p> + + <p>"I don't know," he replied, "but don't bother about it. We'll + go and get that guinea pig." So they kept on, but just then the + cabbage bounded over a little clod of dirt, went up in the air, + and nearly hit Mr. Fox, and that scared him so that he ran away, + and his wife ran after him.</p> + + <p>Well, the cabbage, with Buddy inside, kept on rolling, and the + first thing you know it began to roll down hill in front of the + guinea pigs' pen. It made quite a noise, and Matilda ran out to + see what it was.</p> + + <p>"Oh, mamma!" she cried. "Here is a cabbage rolling down + hill."</p> + + <p>"Nonsense!" cried Mrs. Pigg. "Whoever heard of such a thing?" + but she ran out to see what it was, and at that moment the + cabbage bounded right in front of the pen, hit a big stone, burst + open with a noise like a torpedo, and out rolled Buddy Pigg, over + and over, just like a pumpkin. But, believe me, he wasn't hurt + the least mite, but he was rather surprised-like!</p> + + <p>Then he got up, walked over to his mother and said:</p> + + <p>"Here is some fresh cabbage I brought home," and he was as + cool as two cucumbers. Well, the guinea pigs had a fine dinner + off the cabbage Buddy brought home in such a funny way, and of + course the fox and his wife didn't have any, which served them + right I suppose.</p> + + <p>Now in the next story, if the cook doesn't burn the potatoes + and make stove blacking of them I'll be able to tell you about + Brighteyes Pigg and Mrs. Hoptoad.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_4"><!-- RULE4 4 --></a> + + <h2>STORY II</h2> + + <center> + BRIGHTEYES AND MRS. HOPTOAD + </center> + + <p>After Buddy had taken that funny ride down hill, inside the + head of cabbage, his father said to him:</p> + + <p>"Buddy, come here, and let me look at you. Possibly you were + hurt in that terrible trip, and, having been in a hospital, I can + tell whether you were or not."</p> + + <p>So he looked Buddy over carefully, but there wasn't a thing + the matter with the little chap, except a tiny scratch on his + nose.</p> + + <p>"Weren't you awfully frightened?" asked Brighteyes of her + brother. "It was terrible!"</p> + + <p>"No," he answered, "not much. And it wasn't so terrible when + we got a good dinner out of it. I wish I could find a cabbage + every day."</p> + + <p>"You had better put something on that scratch," cautioned Dr. + Pigg. Then he went on reading his paper, and Mrs. Pigg got out + the salve bottle for Buddy.</p> + + <p>Well, it was two days after this that Brighteyes Pigg was out + walking along the road. She had been to the store for some + carrots, and the store man said he would send them right over, so + the little girl guinea pig didn't have to carry them.</p> + + <p>Well, she was walking along, not thinking of much of anything + in particular, when suddenly something hopped out of the bushes + in front of her.</p> + + <p>"My goodness! What's that?" cried Brighteyes, for she was a + bit nervous from having had a tooth pulled week before last.</p> + + <p>"Don't be alarmed, my dear," spoke a soft voice. "It's only + me," and if there wasn't a great, big, motherly-looking hoptoad, + out in the dusty road, and the next moment if that toad didn't + begin hopping up and down as fast as she could hop.</p> + + <p>"Why, whatever in the world are you doing?" asked Brighteyes + Pigg, for she noticed that the toad didn't seem to get anywhere; + only hopping up and down in the same place all the while.</p> + + <p>"I'm jumping, my dear," answered the toad.</p> + + <p>"So I see," remarked the little guinea pig girl, "but where + are you jumping to? You don't seem to be getting any place in + particular."</p> + + <p>"And I don't want to, my dear," went on the toad, and she + never stopped going up and down as fast as she could go. "I'm + churning butter," she went on, "and when one churns butter one + must jump up and down you know. That's the way to make butter. + Don't your folks churn?" and then, for the first time, Brighteyes + noticed that the toad had a little wooden churn, made from an old + clothespin, fastened on her back.</p> + + <p>"No, my mother doesn't churn," answered Brighteyes.</p> + + <p>"Then I don't suppose you keep a cow," went on Mrs. Toad. + "Neither do we, but next door to us is the loveliest milk-weed + you ever saw, and I thought it a shame to see all the milk juice + go to waste, so I churn it every week. It makes very fine + butter."</p> + + <p>"I should think it might," answered Brighteyes. "But isn't it + hard work?"</p> + + <p>"Yes, it is," replied Mrs. Toad, "and I know you'll excuse me, + my dear, for not stopping my jumping to sit and chat with you, + but the truth of the matter is that I think the butter is + beginning to come, and I daren't stop."</p> + + <p>"Oh, don't stop on my account," begged Brighteyes, politely. + "I can talk while you jump."</p> + + <p>"Very good," replied the toad, "I think I will soon be + finished, though on hot days the butter is longer in coming," and + she began to hop up and down faster than ever.</p> + + <p>Then, all at once, oh, about as soon as you can pull off a + porous plaster when you're quick about it, if poor Mrs. Toad + didn't give a cry, and stop jumping.</p> + + <p>"What's the matter?" asked Brighteyes, "has the butter + come?"</p> + + <p>"No," was the answer, "but I stepped on a sharp stone, and + hurt my foot, and now I can't jump up and down any more. Oh, + dear! now the butter will be spoiled, for there is no one else at + my home to finish churning it. Oh, dear me, and a pinch of salt + on a cracker! Isn't that bad luck?" and she sat down beside a + burdock plant.</p> + + <p>Well, sure enough, she had cut her foot quite badly, and it + was utterly out of the question for her to jump up and down any + more.</p> + + <p>"Will you kindly help me to get the churn off my back?" Mrs. + Toad asked of Brighteyes, and the little guinea pig girl helped + her.</p> + + <p>"All that nice butter is spoiled," went on Mrs. Toad, as she + looked in the churn. "Well, it can't be helped, I s'pose, and + there's no use worrying over buttermilk that isn't quite made. I + shall have to throw this away."</p> + + <p>"No, don't," cried Brighteyes quickly.</p> + + <p>"Why not?" asked the toad lady.</p> + + <p>"Because I will finish churning it for you."</p> + + <p>"Do you know how to churn?"</p> + + <p>"Not exactly, but I have thought of a plan. See, we will tie + the churn to this blackberry bush stem, and then I will take hold + of one end of the stem, and wiggle it up and down, and the churn + will go up and down, too, on the bush, just as it did when you + jumped with it; and then maybe the butter will come."</p> + + <p>"All right, my dear, you may try it," agreed Mrs. Toad. "I'm + afraid, though, that it won't amount to anything, but it can do + no harm. I am sure it is very kind of you to think of it."</p> + + <p>So Brighteyes took the churn, and tied it to a low, + overhanging branch of the blackberry bush. Then she took hold of + the branch in her teeth, and stood up on her hind legs and began + to wiggle it up and down. The churn went up and down with the + branch, and the milk from the milk-weed sloshed and splashed + around inside the churn, and land sakes flopsy-dub and some + chewing gum, if in about two squeals there wasn't the nicest + butter a guinea pig or a toad would ever want to eat!</p> + + <p>"Oh, what a smart little girl you are!" cried Mrs. Toad. "I'm + sure your mother must be proud of you! Now I can work the + buttermilk out, and salt the butter, and I'm going to send your + mamma home a nice pat," which she did, and very glad Mrs. Pigg + was to get it.</p> + + <p>"You certainly are a clever little child," said Dr. Pigg to + Brighteyes that night, "but then, you see, you take after your + father. It is my hospital training that shows. By the way, we + must send something to Mrs. Toad, for her cut foot," which they + did, and it got all better.</p> + + <p>Now, in case you don't drop your bread with the butter side + down on the carpet, and spoil the kitchen oilcloth, I'll tell you + in the next story about Buddy Pigg and Sammie Littletail.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_5"><!-- RULE4 5 --></a> + + <h2>STORY III</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY PIGG AND SAMMY LITTLETAIL + </center> + + <p>Getting up quite early one morning, Buddy Pigg washed himself + very carefully, so that his black and white fur was fairly + shining in the sunlight, and then the little guinea pig started + off to take a stroll before breakfast.</p> + + <p>"Who knows," he said, "perhaps I may meet with an adventure; + or else find a cabbage, just as I did the other day. But if I do, + I'm not going to get inside it and go to sleep. No, indeed, and a + feather pillow besides!"</p> + + <p>So Buddy Pigg walked on, leaving his sister and his mamma and + Dr. Pigg slumbering in the pen. Oh, it was just fine, running + along through the woods and over the fields that beautiful, + summer morning.</p> + + <p>The grass was all covered with dew, and Buddy had a second + bath before he had gone very far, there was so much water on + everything, but he didn't mind that. He looked at the flowers, on + every side, and smelled them with his little twinkling nose, and + he listened to the birds singing.</p> + + <p>Well, in a short time he came to a place where a lot of little + trees grew close together, making a sort of grove, not large + enough for a Sunday-school picnic, perhaps, but large enough for + guinea pigs.</p> + + <p>"This is a fine place," said Buddy Pigg. "I think I'll rest + here a bit, and perhaps an adventure may come along."</p> + + <p>You see Buddy was very fond of adventures, which means having + something happen to you. He was almost as much that way as Alice + Wibblewobble, the little duck girl, was fond of romantic + things—that is she liked fairies, and princes, and kings, + and knights with golden swords, and all oddities like that. Well, + Buddy Pigg went in the little grove of trees, and now you just + wait and listen—an adventure is going to happen in less + than five minutes by the clock.</p> + + <p>All of a sudden, just as the little guinea pig got close to + one of the trees, he smelled something good, and he looked up, + and, bless him! if he didn't see the nicest turnip that ever + grew.</p> + + <p>"Oh, that certainly is fine!" he cried, and his eyes twinkled + and his nose wiggled, both at the same time. "I must take that + home for breakfast," he went on. But my goodness me and the + mustard spoon! if, when he went to get it, he didn't discover + that the turnip was hung up by a string on the branch of the + tree!</p> + + <p>"Hello!" exclaimed Buddy Pigg. "I never saw turnips growing + that way before. This must be a special kind, but it will be all + the better. It is a little high up, but I think I can reach it by + standing on my hind legs, and stretching up my front paws."</p> + + <p>So he moved a little nearer the curious hanging turnip, and + was about to reach up for it when who should come bounding out of + the bushes but Sammie Littletail, the rabbit boy.</p> + + <p>"Hello, Buddy Pigg!" he called. "What are you going to + do?"</p> + + <p>"I'm going to get this turnip down," answered Buddy. "It is a + fine one; but it is hanging quite high. I'll give you some when I + pull it down," for Buddy Pigg was very kind, you know.</p> + + <p>Well, he stood up again, and was just about to step a little + closer, so he could grab the turnip, when Sammie cried out:</p> + + <p>"Here, Buddy! Come right away from that! Jump back as fast as + you can! Quick! Quick! I say!"</p> + + <p>"Why?" asked Buddy, "is it your turnip?"</p> + + <p>"No, but don't you see? That turnip is nothing but a trap. It + is hung up there on purpose. Come away. I can see the trap as + plain as anything. Uncle Wiggily Longears taught me how to keep + away from them, for I was caught in one, once upon a time."</p> + + <p>"A trap?" asked Buddy. "Is this a trap?"</p> + + <p>"To be sure," answered Sammie. "See, the turnip hangs right + over a loop of wire, and inside the wire loop there is a piece of + wood. Now to reach up and get the turnip you must step on the + piece of wood, and as soon as you do so that tree branch, to + which the wire is fast, will spring up, the wire will slip around + your neck, you will be yanked up into the air, and that will be + the last of you."</p> + + <p>"The last of me?" asked Buddy, who, being a little boy, had + not seen as much of the world as had Sammie.</p> + + <p>"The very last of you," answered the rabbit. "You would be + choked to death by the wire. Yes, the turnip was put there to + catch some one, but they won't catch us, Buddy. We'll fool + them!"</p> + + <p>"Oh, I say! This is too bad!" exclaimed Buddy. "I was just + counting on this turnip. Isn't there any way we can get it?"</p> + + <p>"I don't believe so," replied Sammie, wrinkling up his nose, + just as Buddy was doing. They smelled that turnip, and it had a + most delicious odor, better to them, even, than strawberries are + to you.</p> + + <p>"Maybe we can throw some stones up and knock it down," + suggested Buddy.</p> + + <p>So they threw up stones, and, though they hit the turnip, and + made it swing back and forth, like the pendulum of the clock, it + didn't fall down, and by this time Buddy and Sammie were getting + very hungry.</p> + + <p>"Let's try throwing sticks," proposed Sammie. "We'll toss them + at the cord, and maybe we can break it."</p> + + <p>So they threw sticks, and, though Buddy did manage to hit the + cord, the turnip didn't come down, and they were more hungry than + ever.</p> + + <p>"Let's take a long pole and poke the turnip down," said Sammie + after a while, and they did so, but Buddy accidentally came + within half a dozen steps of going too near the trap, and was + almost caught.</p> + + <p>"Oh, I guess we'll have to give it up," spoke Sammie, but + Buddy didn't want to, because he was very determined, and did not + like to stop until he had done what he set out to do.</p> + + <p>So he tried every way he could think of, until he was all + tired out, but nothing seemed to do any good. Then he and Sammie + sat down and looked up at that turnip, swinging over their heads, + and they were so hungry that their tongues stuck out like a dog's + on a hot day. Then, all at once, before you could sharpen a lead + pencil with a dull knife, if out from the bushes didn't pop + Billie Bushytail, the squirrel.</p> + + <p>"What's up?" he asked, just like that, honestly he did.</p> + + <p>"The turnip is," said Buddy; "it's up high and we can't get it + down."</p> + + <p>"Ha! That's a mere trifle—a mere trifle!" cried Billie. + "I will climb up the tree, run out on the limb and gnaw through + the string. Then the turnip will fall down to you."</p> + + <p>Which he did in two frisks of his tail, without any danger + from the trap at all, for that was on the ground, while Billie + was above it in the tree. So Buddy and Sammie had the turnip + after all. And they divided it evenly, Sammie gnawing it through + with his teeth, and each one took his half home. Billie didn't + like turnip, you see for he would rather have chestnuts.</p> + + <p>Now, I think I'll tell you next about Buddy Pigg playing + ball—that is, if our tea kettle sings a nice song for + supper and makes the rag doll go to sleep.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_6"><!-- RULE4 6 --></a> + + <h2>STORY IV</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY PIGG PLAYS BALL + </center> + + <p>"Hello, Buddy!" called Sammie Littletail, the rabbit boy, to + Buddy Pigg one fine day, "come on out, and we'll have a game of + ball," and Sammie tossed his ball high up in the air and caught + it in his catching glove, as easily as you can eat two ice cream + cones, a vanilla and a chocolate one, on a hot day.</p> + + <p>"Why, we two can't play ball alone," objected Buddy. "It needs + three, anyhow."</p> + + <p>"Oh, well, we'll find Billie and Johnie Bushytail somewhere in + the woods," went on Sammie, "and maybe Jimmie Wibblewobble, the + boy duck, will come along, too. Then there is Jackie and Peetie + Bow Wow, who have come back from the country. Oh, we can get up a + regular team."</p> + + <p>"All right, I'll come," agreed Buddy. "Wait until I bring in + some wood for mother. She is going to bake some turnip pies + to-day—out of the turnip you and I and Billie Bushytail got + yesterday—and she needs a hot fire. I just love turnip + pies; don't you, Sammie?"</p> + <!-- NOTE: Remove center tags and put align="left" or align="right" for text wrapped alignments --> + <a name="image-1"><!-- Image 1 --></a> + + <center> + <img src="./images/01.jpg" height="730" width="450" alt=""> + </center> + + <p>"Indeed I do, but I don't believe we are going to have any. + Mother stewed my half of the turnip."</p> + + <p>"Never mind," advised Buddy Pigg, "I'll give you some of our + pies when they are baked," so he brought in two big armfuls of + wood for the fire, and then he and Sammie went off to play ball, + leaving Brighteyes Pigg home to help her mamma bake the pies, + which the little guinea pig girl loved to do.</p> + + <p>Well, Buddy and Sammie hadn't gone very far before they met + Billie and Johnnie Bushytail, the boy squirrels, and they agreed + to play ball. Then, as the four of them went along a little + farther, they met Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, out walking with + Percival, the old circus dog. So Peetie and Jackie said they + would play ball, and that made six.</p> + + <p>"Now, if we had two more we would have four on a side," + suggested Buddy, and, no sooner had he spoken than there was a + noise in the bushes, and out came Jimmie Wibblewobble, and Bully, + the frog.</p> + + <p>They were very glad to play ball, and soon there were two + sides selected. Buddy Pigg was captain of one side, and for + players he had Peetie Bow Wow, Billie Bushytail, and Bully, while + Sammie Littletail was the other captain, and he had Jackie Bow + Wow, Johnnie Bushytail and Jimmie Wibblewobble.</p> + + <p>"Now we're all ready, let's play," suggested Buddy.</p> + + <p>"No, wait a moment," begged Bully.</p> + + <p>"Why?" they all wanted to know.</p> + + <p>"Because," replied the little frog boy, "my brother, Bawly, + has just made up a new song, and I know he'll give us no peace + until he sings it. He's coming along now. Let him sing the song, + and then we'll play ball." So they agreed to that, and in a + minute Bawly came hopping along.</p> + + <p>"Do you want to hear my new song?" he asked.</p> + + <p>"Yes—hurry up," they all cried. So Bawly sang this:</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>Oh, wiggily, waggily, wheelery,</p> + + <p class="i2">I wish that I was rich.</p> + + <p>I'd buy an automobilery,</p> + + <p class="i2">And ride it in our ditch.</p> + + <p>I wouldn't hop at all again.</p> + + <p class="i2">I'd ride the whole day long.</p> + + <p>But I haven't got an auto,</p> + + <p class="i2">And so I sing this song.</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p>"I don't call that much of a song," said the old circus dog, + Percival. "You ought to do a dance after it. That's what the + clowns always do."</p> + + <p>"Thank you, I'm not a clown," answered Bawly. "But could you + make up a song like that, and sing it yourself? That's what I + want to know," he asked.</p> + + <p>"I don't s'pose I could," answered Percival. "But if we're + going to the ball game, let's go." So they hurried on, and pretty + soon they met Uncle Wiggily Longears.</p> + + <p>"Oh, will you umpire for us?" asked Sammie.</p> + + <p>"Ha! Hum!" exclaimed the old gentleman rabbit, as he leaned on + his crutch. "I ought to go on to the office, + but—ah!—er—well, as long as you have no one + else to umpire for you, I suppose I will have to do it, but I + really ought to go to the office. Who is going to play?" he + asked, and he seemed real anxious to know.</p> + + <p>So they told him, and pretty soon they got to the baseball + field, and began the game. Buddy Pigg and his players were last + at the bat, and Sammie and his players came up first.</p> + + <p>Well, it was a great game. Sammie struck out, but Jackie Bow + Wow made a nice home run, and Jimmie Wibblewobble almost did, + only he got put out at the home plate, and then Johnnie + Bushytail, he got put out, trying to steal to second base, which + means getting there on the sly, you know; and then it came the + turn of Buddy and his friends to bat the ball all over if they + could.</p> + + <p>Well, Johnnie Bushytail was the pitcher, and he threw in such + fine curves, and so many of them, that it was hard for Buddy and + his friends to strike the ball.</p> + + <p>They did manage to hit it a little, and got three runs. Then + it came the turn of Sammie Littletail's team again, and they got + four runs, and so it went along until at the close of the game + Sammie's team was eight runs and Buddy's only seven.</p> + + <p>"We've got to get two runs to win," cried Billie Bushytail, + "everybody work hard."</p> + + <p>"We will," cried Bully, the frog. Now you girls just listen + carefully, something wonderful will happen in about a minute.</p> + + <p>Well, Peetie Bow Wow made one run, and then Bully and Billie + got put out, and it was Buddy's turn to bat the ball. It all + depended on him now. If he could make a home run his side would + win.</p> + + <p>Well, I just wish you could have seen how bravely Buddy walked + up to the home plate, and stood there, while Johnnie Bushytail + almost tied himself into a bow knot in throwing a double-jointed + up-and-down-sideways curve.</p> + + <p>Buddy Pigg swung at it, and—no, he didn't miss it, he + hit it good and proper, and away sailed the ball. Off Buddy + started for first base, hoping he could make a home run, but + alas! before he got to second base the ball he had knocked was + coming down, and was almost in the webbed foot of Jimmie + Wibblewobble, who was waiting to catch it, and if it was caught + that would mean that Buddy would be out, and his side would not + win that inning.</p> + + <p>But Jimmie didn't catch the ball! No, sir! The strangest thing + happened! At that moment if along didn't fly the kind fish hawk; + and he swooped down and caught that ball up in his strong bill, + and sailed away up in the air with it, and Buddy ran on and on as + fast as he could go, around the bases, and toward home plate, and + he got there in time to win the game. And then the fish hawk + dropped the ball, and Jimmie caught it, but it was too late to + put Buddy out.</p> + + <p>"That's not fair!" cried Sammie Littletail. "The bird took the + ball up in the air." All his side said it wasn't fair, but Uncle + Wiggily, the umpire, decided that it was fair, and Buddy's side + won the game, but they wouldn't have if it hadn't been for the + fish hawk, and they were very thankful to him.</p> + + <p>Now I think I'm going to tell you in the next story about + Brighteyes and Sister Sallie—that is if no one takes our + door mat to use for a pen wiper.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_7"><!-- RULE4 7 --></a> + + <h2>STORY V</h2> + + <center> + BRIGHTEYES PIGG AND SISTER SALLIE + </center> + + <p>Brighteyes Pigg had finished doing the dishes, and had put on + her clean dress, her new tan shoes, which matched her brown and + white fur, and her hair was tied with a pink ribbon—you + know the kind—the ones that stick out so with a bow on each + side. Well, she looked just too nice for anything, and she asked + her mother:</p> + + <p>"May I go out and take a walk?"</p> + + <p>"Yes," replied Mrs. Pigg. "Where are you going? Is Buddy going + with you?"</p> + + <p>"No, he has gone off to play ball again. I guess he thinks the + fish hawk will catch up the ball once more and help him to make a + home run. No, I'm not going with Buddy. I thought I'd go over and + see Sister Sallie, I haven't called on her in some time."</p> + + <p>"Very well," said Mrs. Pigg, and Dr. Pigg called to his little + girl:</p> + + <p>"Give my regards to Mr. Bushytail, and tell him that if he + sees Uncle Wiggily Longears to mention that I have a new cure for + rheumatism, that I will send him."</p> + + <p>"I'll be sure to tell him," said Brighteyes Pigg. "Poor Uncle + Wiggily, his rheumatism bothers him a great deal." Well, she went + on through the woods to see Sister Sallie, who, I hope you + remember, was the little sister that Billie and Johnnie + Bushytail, the two boy squirrels, once found at the foot of the + tree where their nest was.</p> + + <p>Brighteyes found Sister Sallie just finishing helping Mrs. + Bushytail do up the housework, and Sister Sallie was singing:</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>Hippity-hop to the barber-shop,</p> + + <p class="i2">To buy a lolly-pop lally.</p> + + <p>One for me, and one for thee</p> + + <p class="i2">And one for Sister Sallie.</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p>"Can you come out and play?" asked Brighteyes.</p> + + <p>"Indeed I can," replied the little squirrel. "Shall I bring my + doll?"</p> + + <p>"Yes, but I haven't any," answered the little guinea pig girl, + as Sallie brought out the corncob doll, that her brothers and + Grandma Lightfoot had made for her.</p> + + <p>"Never mind, I'll help you make one," promised Sister Sallie, + so the two little friends walked on through the woods.</p> + + <p>"What will you make my doll of?" asked Brighteyes.</p> + + <p>"I don't just know yet," said Sallie. "I will look around for + something." So she looked first on one side of the woodland path, + and then on the other, and Brighteyes did the same, but they + couldn't seem to find anything out of which to make a doll.</p> + + <p>Then, all at once, oh, I guess in about two wiggles and a wag, + if Sallie didn't see a nice, long, smooth, yellow carrot.</p> + + <p>"That will make a fine doll!" she cried. "We will use some + cornsilk for hair, and some little stones for the eyes, nose and + mouth, and for dresses——"</p> + + <p>"Well, what will we make dresses from?" asked Brighteyes, for + she noticed that Sister Sallie was at a loss what to say.</p> + + <p>"Oh, I know—leaves," cried the little squirrel. "We will + pretend that green is fashionable for ladies with a sort of + carroty complexion," and she laughed, and so did Brighteyes, + whose nose twinkled just like the diamond in mother's ring, or + baby's eyes, when he is happy.</p> + + <p>So the two little friends sat down on a grassy bank, in the + shade of an oak tree, and they made the carrot doll. Oh, it was + such fun!</p> + + <p>First they stuck two little pebbles in for eyes, and they + looked as real as anything; then they stuck a little larger stone + in the carrot for a nose, and then Brighteyes found a nice, long + stone, sort of curled up around the ends, and when that was put + in the carrot, just beneath the nose, why it looked exactly as if + that carrot doll was smiling as hard as she could smile; she was + so happy, I s'pose.</p> + + <p>"Now for some dresses!" exclaimed Sister Sallie, who had put + her own corncob doll under some grass to sleep. So they got some + beautiful green leaves from the tree, and fastened them together + with grass and needles from the pine tree, and they made the + nicest dresses you ever saw.</p> + + <p>Let me see, there was one made in princess style, and one + empire gown, and one that had a pull-back in the skirt, and one + was a tub dress, whatever that is, and there was a crepe de chine + and a basque and peau de soie effect + and—and—er—well, I know you'll excuse me from + mentioning any others, as I don't know very much about dresses; + it took me quite a while to look those up, and I must get on with + the story.</p> + + <p>Well, when they had the dresses all made they tried them on + the carrot doll, and they fitted perfectly, believe me, they + did!</p> + + <p>"Oh, isn't this lovely," cried Brighteyes. "Now let's play + house," so they played house, and each one had a room, there on + the grass, with sticks and stones for furniture, and they put the + dollies to bed, and woke them up, and took them for a walk, and + they made believe wash dishes and get meals, and, oh, I don't + know what they didn't do.</p> + + <p>But, all of a sudden, just as they were putting their dolls to + sleep, they heard a sort of growling in the bushes, and a big, + shaggy, yellow dog, with glaring eyes, jumped out at them! Oh, + how frightened Brighteyes and Sister Sallie were!</p> + + <p>"What are you doing on my nice, green grass?" growled the dog, + real savage-like.</p> + + <p>"If you please, Mr. Dog, we didn't know this was your grass," + said Sister Sallie, timidly.</p> + + <p>"Of course it is!" snapped the dog. "I go to sleep here on it + every day. Anyway what do you mean by taking the leaves off my + trees?" he growled again.</p> + + <p>"If you please, kind sir," spoke Brighteyes, "we didn't know + they were your trees."</p> + + <p>"Certainly they are," replied the dog, snapping his eyes open + and shut. "Those leaves keep the sun off me while I sleep. Now + I'm going to eat you all up for taking my things!" and he jumped + right at them.</p> + + <p>But land sakes, flopsy dub! Before he could bite either + Brighteyes or Sister Sallie, who should appear, but Percival, the + good, old circus dog.</p> + + <p>"Here, you let my friends alone!" he barked, and he jumped on + that bad dog, and nipped both his ears well, let me tell you. + Then the bad dog ran away, howling, and Percival took care of + Sister Sallie and Brighteyes until it was time for them to go + home. Now in the story after this one I'm going to tell you about + Dr. Pigg and Uncle Wiggily—that is if my furnace fire + doesn't go out in the street roller-skating with the coal + man.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_8"><!-- RULE4 8 --></a> + + <h2>STORY VI</h2> + + <center> + DR. PIGG AND UNCLE WIGGILY + </center> + + <p>Some one knocked on the door of the pen where Dr. Pigg and his + wife and Buddy and Brighteyes lived one day. "Rat-a-tat-tat," + went the rapping.</p> + + <p>"My! I wonder who that can be?" exclaimed Mrs. Pigg. "Run and + see, will you, Buddy, like a good boy?"</p> + + <p>So Buddy hurried to the door, and whom should be see standing + there but Uncle Wiggily Longears, the old gentleman rabbit; and + Uncle Wiggily had rapped with his crutch, which had made the + funny sound.</p> + + <p>"Why, how d'do!" exclaimed Dr. Pigg as soon as he saw who it + was. "Come right in Uncle Wiggily! This is an unexpected + pleasure. Brighteyes, get a chair for Uncle Wiggily. Buddy, you + take his crutch. Mrs. Pigg, haven't we some of that new cabbage + preserved in maple sugar? Bring out a bit for our friend!"</p> + + <p>My! you should have seen what a bustling about there was in + the pen, and all because Uncle Wiggily had come and because every + one was fond of him. Buddy started to take the old gentleman + rabbit's crutch, but Uncle Wiggily cried:</p> + + <p>"Oh, no! Don't! Not for worlds! Oh, my, no! and an ice cream + cone besides! Oh, lobster salad, no!"</p> + + <p>"Why, whatever is the matter?" exclaimed Dr. Pigg.</p> + + <p>"Oh, my! Ouch! Oh, shingles!" cried Uncle Wiggily, as he + stepped up over the doorsill. "Oh, dear me, and a baseball bat! + It's my rheumatism, as usual. It's something awful, these + days."</p> + + <p>"Oh, I'm so sorry," cried Brighteyes Pigg.</p> + + <p>"And so am I," added Buddy, and they all were, for that + matter.</p> + + <p>"Rheumatism, eh?" remarked Dr. Pigg, thoughtful-like.</p> + + <p>"Yes," went on Uncle Wiggily, as he hobbled over to a chair. + "In fact, I came to see you about it, Doctor," and the old rabbit + rubbed his leg very, very softly.</p> + + <p>"Ah! ha! Ahem!" exclaimed Dr. Pigg, as he puffed himself up, + and looked as important as possible. "Of course, I remember now. + I sent word to you that I had a new cure for rheumatism. I heard + the doctors mention it in the hospital, and I thought I would try + it on you."</p> + + <p>"That's very kind of you," said Uncle Wiggily, "and you can't + try it any too soon, for I am in great pain," and he made such a + funny face, with his nose wiggling, and his ears waving back and + forth, like fans on a hot night, and his eyes—one looking + up and the other down—altogether it was so funny that Buddy + and his sister wanted to laugh, only they didn't, for they knew + it wouldn't be polite, and might hurt Uncle Wiggily's + feelings.</p> + + <p>"I will have some medicine for you in a jiffy!" exclaimed Dr. + Pigg; a jiffy, you know, being almost as quick as half a + wink.</p> + + <p>So the guinea pig doctor got a bottle of red medicine, and one + of blue, and one of pink, and another bottle of green medicine, + and he got some red pills and some black pills and some white + powder and some yellow powder and then he took some molasses and + maple sugar, and stirred them all up together. Oh, it was a + funny-looking mixture I can tell you, all colors of the rainbow, + just as when Sammie fell into the pot of Easter dye.</p> + + <p>"Now Mrs. Pigg, you stir that up well, and we'll give Uncle + Wiggily some as soon as it is cool," said Dr. Pigg, for he had + cooked the medicine on the stove.</p> + + <p>"It doesn't look very nice," observed Uncle Wiggily sort of + anxious-like.</p> + + <p>"Rheumatism medicine never does," said Dr. Pigg.</p> + + <p>"And it doesn't smell very nice," went on Uncle Wiggily.</p> + + <p>"Rheumatism medicines never do," cheerfully said Dr. Pigg, + "and, what is more, it doesn't taste very nice, either, Uncle + Wiggily; but you must take it, if you are to get well."</p> + + <p>"I suppose I must," remarked the old rabbit with a sigh, as + Mrs. Pigg kept on stirring the mixture. Well, pretty soon it was + cool enough to take.</p> + + <p>"Now, Buddy, you bring a spoon," ordered Dr. Pigg, and when + the little boy guinea pig brought one, his father poured into it + some of the medicine.</p> + + <p>"Brighteyes, you get a napkin so he won't spill any of it on + his clothes," went on her papa, "and Mrs. Pigg you please be + ready with a glass of water, for Uncle Wiggily will want a drink + right after he takes this."</p> + + <p>Well everything was all ready, and Buddy stood there to help, + and so did Brighteyes.</p> + + <p>"One, two, three! Take it!" suddenly cried Dr. Pigg, and he + poured the teaspoonful of the many-colored mixture down Uncle + Wiggily's throat. Brighteyes held the napkin so none of it would + get on the rabbit's coat, and Mrs. Pigg was there with the glass + of water, which Uncle Wiggily took very quickly.</p> + + <p>Well, I wish you could have seen the face Uncle Wiggily made + when he swallowed the rheumatism medicine! It was just like a + clown in the circus, only funnier. But Brighteyes and Buddy + didn't even giggle, which was very kind of them.</p> + + <p>"Do you feel any better?" asked Dr. Pigg, after Uncle Wiggily + had stopped making faces. "Is the pain gone?"</p> + + <p>"No, I can't say that it is," answered the rabbit. "It seems + to be worse than ever," and he rubbed his leg and tried to get + up, but he couldn't leave the chair, even with his crutch, which + Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy had gnawed for him out of a cornstalk.</p> + + <p>"Oh, that's too bad!" exclaimed Dr. Pigg. "I must try a new + kind of medicine."</p> + + <p>"No, don't!" cried the rabbit. "I had rather have the + rheumatism."</p> + + <p>"Suppose we try some horse radish leaves, like we did for my + toothache?" proposed Buddy, and Mrs. Pigg said that would be + good. So they got some leaves, and put them on Uncle Wiggily's + leg, but they didn't do any good, neither did mustard, nor + nettles, nor any of the other burning things that they tried.</p> + + <p>"Oh, dear, I guess I'll have to stay in this chair forever!" + cried Uncle Wiggily, as he tried to get up and couldn't. "Oh, + dear me, and a piece of chewing gum! This is terrible!"</p> + + <p>Well, every one was wondering how Uncle Wiggily was ever going + to walk again, when all of a sudden, as Buddy looked from the + window, he cried out:</p> + + <p>"Oh, here comes the big, shaggy yellow dog that was going to + eat up Brighteyes and Sister Sallie when they were playing with + their dolls! He's coming right this way! Run everybody!"</p> + + <p>"Wow!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "A dog! Goodness me!" and, land + sakes, if he didn't jump up, seize his crutch and run home as + fast as if he never had any rheumatism at all.</p> + + <p>You see he was so frightened he forgot all about it for the + time being, which was a good thing. But do you s'pose that dog + dared to come in the pen and hurt the guinea pigs? No, sir, not a + bit of it! The first he knew, Percival, the kind, old circus dog + had him by the ear and the bad dog ran away and didn't hurt + anybody.</p> + + <p>Now, in the next story, if an auto horn doesn't scare me so + that I lose my typewriter ribbon I'll tell you about Buddy Pigg + being caught by a boy.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_9"><!-- RULE4 9 --></a> + + <h2>STORY VII</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY PIGG IS CAUGHT + </center> + + <p>Buddy Pigg was sent to the store by his mother, one fine + summer day, to get a pound of butter, a loaf of bread and + three-and-a-half pounds of granulated sugar, and as that made + quite a load to carry Buddy had a basket to put the things + in.</p> + + <p>"Now don't drop the loaf of bread in the water," said his + mamma, "and don't let the butter melt and, above all, don't tear + a hole in the bag of sugar, and have it spill out."</p> + + <p>"I won't, mother," promised Buddy. "I'll be real careful." So + he set out on his journey to the store, while Brighteyes, his + sister, stayed home to make the beds and mend the stockings.</p> + + <p>Well, Buddy got to the store all right, and bought the things + for which his mother had sent him. Then the storekeeper wanted to + know how Dr. Pigg and his family were, and he inquired about + Uncle Wiggily's rheumatism, and Buddy told about the scare the + old gentleman rabbit had had when the big, shaggy yellow dog + appeared, and how the old gentleman rabbit ran, and how Percival + bit the bad dog.</p> + + <p>"That's very interesting," said the storekeeper, and he gave + Buddy a whole carrot for himself.</p> + + <p>Placing his basket of groceries carefully on his arm, Buddy + Pigg started for home. He walked along through the woods, and + over the fields, thinking how nice everything was, and what fun + he would have when he got home, playing ball with Sammie + Littletail, and the Bushytail brothers, when, all at once, what + should he hear but a noise in the bushes.</p> + + <p>Now Buddy Pigg was always a little afraid when he heard + noises, especially in the woods, where he couldn't see what made + them, so he crouched down under a burdock leaf in case there + might be any danger. And, sure enough, there was.</p> + + <p>It wasn't more than a second or, possibly a second and a + squeak, before a great, big, bad boy stepped out from behind a + tree. And he had a gun with him, and he was looking for birds, or + rabbits, or squirrels, or, maybe, guinea pigs to shoot.</p> + + <p>That's why I know he was a bad boy, but of course he may have + turned out to be a good boy before he got to be so very old. + Well, this boy looked up, and he looked down, and he looked first + to one side, and then to the other, and then—flopsy-dub, + and wiggily-waggily! if he didn't spy poor Buddy Pigg hiding + under the burdock leaf, and trembling as hard as he could + tremble.</p> + + <p>"Ah, ha!" cried that boy, "I have you now, little guinea pig! + I'll take you home with me, that's what I'll do! My, to think of + catching a live guinea pig! I certainly am a lucky chap!"</p> + + <p>Then, before Buddy could run away, which he couldn't have done + anyhow, on account of the basket of groceries on his arm, if that + boy didn't grab him up in his hands, and hold him tight!</p> + + <p>Oh, how frightened poor Buddy was! He was so scared that he + could only squeak very faintly, but he did manage to ask the boy + to let him go, only the boy didn't understand guinea pig + language, as I do, and, even if he had, I doubt very much if he + would have let Buddy go, for he was a bad boy as I have + explained.</p> + + <p>Well, the boy didn't care any more about hunting rabbits or + squirrels with his gun that day, as he had caught Buddy, so off + he started to take the little guinea pig home with him, and, + maybe, he intended to shut him up in a box, or put him in a cage, + or do something dreadful like that.</p> + + <p>But, listen, pretty soon—oh, I guess in about four jumps + and a hop—something is going to happen to that boy. Watch + carefully and you'll see it.</p> + + <p>On through the woods he went, holding poor Buddy tightly in + his hands, and, would you believe me, that boy never noticed that + Buddy had a basket of groceries! You see, the basket, of course, + was guinea pig size, and so was the loaf of bread and the butter + and the sweet sugar. They were so small that the boy didn't + notice them, but this was partly because Buddy hid the basket + under his paws, for he didn't want anything to happen to the + things for which his mother had sent him to the store, you + know.</p> + + <p>Well, as the boy kept going on through the woods, carrying + Buddy farther and farther away from his home, the poor little + guinea pig was more frightened than ever.</p> + + <p>"Oh, how will I ever get away!" he thought, "I'll never see my + mamma, nor Brighteyes, nor my papa, Dr. Pigg, any more! Oh, dear! + Oh, dear!"</p> + + <p>No sooner had Buddy said this than he heard a funny little + noise in the trees above his head, and, looking up, he saw Billie + Bushytail bounding along. There was the squirrel, and he saw + right away what the trouble was. And he could talk to Buddy + without the boy knowing it, you see; so Billie said:</p> + + <p>"Hey, Buddy, take some of the bread, crumble it all up, and + toss the crumbs up in the air."</p> + + <p>"What for?" asked Buddy.</p> + + <p>"Do it, and you'll see," answered Billie. "That will help you + to escape."</p> + + <p>Now Buddy didn't like to spoil the nice, new loaf of bread he + had bought for his mamma, but he thought maybe it would do some + good, and he didn't want to be carried away by that boy.</p> + + <p>So he broke open the loaf, crumbled some of the white part in + his paws, and tossed it high up in the air, so that it fell down + in a shower, all around the boy's head, and listen, the boy + hadn't noticed Buddy toss up the crumbs.</p> + + <p>"My!" exclaimed the boy. "Why, I do declare, if it isn't + snowing! Who ever heard of such a thing!" and he really thought + the falling bread crumbs were snow flakes. So he turned up his + coat collar to keep warm, and began to run, for he didn't want to + get snowed under in the woods. But Buddy kept on tossing up the + bread crumbs, until the loaf was all gone.</p> + + <p>"What shall I do next?" the guinea pig called to Billie + Bushytail, who was following along in the trees overhead.</p> + + <p>"Open the bag of sugar and throw that up in the air the same + way," directed the squirrel, and when Buddy did this the boy + heard the sugar rattling down on the leaves and some of it got + down his neck, and scratched him.</p> + + <p>"Why, I do declare. It's hailing!" he cried. "Who ever heard + of such a thing!" So he hurried on faster than ever.</p> + + <p>Well, when the sugar was all tossed up, and the boy was + running real fast, Billie Bushytail called to Buddy:</p> + + <p>"Now throw the pound of butter down in front of the boy!" + Which Buddy did as quick as a wink, and lossy-me and a pancake! + if that boy didn't slip down in the slippery butter, and fall and + hurt his nose, and he had to let go of Buddy Pigg.</p> + + <p>"Now's your chance. Run, Buddy, run!" cried Billie, and my, + how Buddy Pigg did run; and he got safely away from that bad boy, + and was soon at home, where his mother forgave him for throwing + away the groceries when she heard the story.</p> + + <p>Dr. Pigg said Billie was very smart to think of such a thing, + and I believe so myself. Now in case you don't burn yourself with + a firecracker and lose your penny down a hole in the sidewalk, + I'm going to tell you in the next story about Buddy and + Brighteyes' Fourth of July.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_10"><!-- RULE4 10 --></a> + + <h2>STORY VIII</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY'S AND BRIGHTEYES' FOURTH OF JULY + </center> + + <p>One day, when Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg were playing out in + front of their pen, Buddy suddenly exclaimed:</p> + + <p>"Why, just think of it! Day after to-morrow is Fourth of July, + Brighteyes. Won't we have lots of fun?"</p> + + <p>"What will we do?" asked his sister.</p> + + <p>"Oh, shoot off firecrackers and torpedoes, and make lots of + noise, and at night we'll send up Roman candles and skyrockets; + and oh! it will be better than a circus."</p> + + <p>"Oh, you boys!" exclaimed Brighteyes. "You always want to make + a racket and have excitement. It's horrid, I think."</p> + + <p>"Oh, I s'pose you'll play with your dolls, or something like + that," said Buddy, laughing at his sister, who was very + serious.</p> + + <p>"Yes, that's what I'm going to do," replied Brighteyes. "I'm + going to play with Sister Sallie, and Alice and Lulu + Wibblewobble, and Jennie Chipmunk, and we're going for a picnic + in the woods."</p> + + <p>"Look out that a big fox or a bad dog doesn't get you," said + Buddy. "Well, I'm going off to find Sammie and Billie and Johnnie + and Jimmie and Peetie and Jackie Bow Wow, and Bully and Bawly + Frog, and we'll have a fine time on the Fourth."</p> + + <p>"Where are you going to get your firecrackers and things?" + asked Brighteyes.</p> + + <p>"You'll see," answered Buddy, as he ran off.</p> + + <p>Well, Fourth of July came at last, just as it always does, and + early in the morning Buddy Pigg awoke.</p> + + <p>"Where are you going?" called his papa.</p> + + <p>"Out to shoot off some firecrackers," answered Buddy.</p> + + <p>"Be careful you don't get burned," cautioned his mother. "Oh + dear! I don't like the Fourth of July. If you do get burned. + Buddy, run right in and let papa attend to you."</p> + + <p>"I can't get burned with the kind of firecrackers and + torpedoes I'm going to use," answered the little boy guinea pig, + and he laughed as he ran out.</p> + + <p>Well, pretty soon, along came all his friends, Billie and + Johnnie and Sammie, and all the rest. They were so excited that + Bawly, the frog, didn't think to sing a song, or recite any + poetry.</p> + + <p>"What shall we do first?" asked Buddy.</p> + + <p>"Let's play war," suggested Sammie. "We'll divide up into two + armies, and have a battle. It will be great!"</p> + + <p>So they divided into two sides, and Buddy was the general on + one side, and Billie Bushytail on the other. Then the fight + began—not real, you understand—but make-believe.</p> + + <p>First the loud cannons shot off; and what do you suppose the + cannons were? Why big stones, that the squirrels and rabbits and + the other animal boys held and clapped together as loud as + anything. You know stones can make a terrible racket when they + are hit together real hard. Well, it sounded like regular cannon, + and the birds in the wood got awfully scared.</p> + + <p>"Now fire your guns!" cried General Buddy Pigg, and his + soldiers took sticks, and snapped them in two pieces and broke + them, until they sounded like real guns, or a lot of firecrackers + going off.</p> + + <p>Oh, it was fine, and the best of it was nobody could get hurt, + or burned, either.</p> + + <p>"Now shoot them with your torpedoes!" cried General Billie + Bushytail, and all at once his side began firing off torpedoes at + a great rate; until you would have thought the woods were on + fire. And you would never guess what the torpedoes were, so I'll + tell you. They were big, rose petals, blown up with air until + they were like little pink and red balloons, and tied around with + a string, just as you tie a paper bag around the neck, after + you've blown it up, to burst it, and when those rose-torpedoes + were cracked down on a flat stone—my! you should have heard + the noise!</p> + + <p>Well, lots of them were fired off, and then Buddy Pigg got + some empty bags, and his soldiers blew them up, and they cracked + 'em down, and they went off "Boom! Boom!" like great, big + cannons. They blew dust up in the air, to pretend it was smoke, + and there was the most terrible make-believe battle you ever + heard of. But nobody was hurt, and they had lots of fun, and the + best of it was that neither side won, which made everybody + happy.</p> + + <p>"Now we'll take a rest," said Buddy Pigg. "I wonder what + Brighteyes and the others are doing?"</p> + + <p>"Let's go see," proposed Billie Bushytail.</p> + + <p>So they all marched off through the woods, just like real + soldiers, and pretty soon they came to the place where Brighteyes + and Sister Sallie and all the girls were having a picnic.</p> + + <p>"You're just in time," called Brighteyes.</p> + + <p>"Come and have some lunch, and some lemonade. You must be + tired after all that fighting." Now wasn't she kind, even after + Buddy had laughed at the idea of a picnic being better than a + battle? Well, I just guess! Those soldiers were glad enough to + eat the lunch, and drink the lemonade, I can tell you.</p> + + <p>So the soldiers and the girls sat there in the woods under the + trees and had a fine time—almost as good as at the + make-believe battle, I think—and after a while, just as + Buddy and his chums were getting ready to go back and shoot some + more stick-firecrackers and roseleaf torpedoes, what should + happen but that bad fox and that mean, old, yellow, shaggy dog + ran right out of the woods.</p> + + <p>"Let's eat everything up!" cried the fox, waving his big + tail.</p> + + <p>"Yes, and then we'll eat the squirrels and rabbits and guinea + pigs all up!" cried the dog, gnashing his teeth and blinking his + eyes as bold as bold could be.</p> + + <p>At first even the soldiers were so frightened that they hardly + knew what to do, and they were about to run away, when Buddy + called out:</p> + + <p>"Come on! Let's get our guns and our cannon and shoot + them!"</p> + + <p>Then he grabbed up some stick-firecrackers and began to break + and snap them, and Sammie shot off some roseleaf torpedoes and + Billie and Johnnie clapped stones together, and Jimmie and Bully + and Bawly threw dust in the air until it looked like smoke, and + there was a terrible racket, until—well, sir, if that dog + and that fox weren't so frightened that they ran away and didn't + even get so much as a crumb of cracker or a drop of lemonade; and + it served them right, I think.</p> + + <p>Then how thankful the girls were to the brave soldiers. Oh, + everything turned out just right, I'm glad to say. That afternoon + Buddy and his chums had more Fourth of July fun, and Brighteyes + and her friends played with their dolls.</p> + + <p>Then at night Buddy and the boys sent up skyrockets and Roman + candles (which were sticks covered with lightning bugs), and + prettier ones you never saw. And they even had a lightning-bug + pinwheel. Oh, it was the nicest Fourth of July that ever was! I + hope you children have as nice a one and that none of you get + burned or hurt when you celebrate Independence Day. And, if none + of you do, why, in the next story I'll tell you about Buddy Pigg + trying to buy a tail for himself, because he didn't have any. + That is, I will if the lollypop doesn't fall down stairs and + break his stick.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_11"><!-- RULE4 11 --></a> + + <h2>STORY IX</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY PIG WANTS A TAIL + </center> + + <p>The day after the Fourth of July, when he and his sister had + had such fun, Buddy Pigg came into the pen, where his mamma was + baking tea biscuits for supper, and sat down in a chair by the + table where she was working.</p> + + <p>He didn't say anything, but just watched his mamma rolling out + the crust, or whatever it is they make tea biscuits of, and + pretty soon Mrs. Pigg noticed that Buddy didn't seem very happy. + His face was all twisted up into a funny sort of a scowl, and + every once in a while he would give a long sigh, as though he + hadn't a friend in all the world.</p> + + <p>"Why, Buddy," Mrs. Pigg asked, when the tea biscuits were + ready for the oven, "whatever in the wide, wide world is the + matter? Are you sick, or did you burn yourself with a + firecracker?"</p> + + <p>"No, mother," Buddy answered, "I'm not sick and I didn't burn + myself with a firecracker, but I wish—I wish—" and + then he stopped, and sort of wiggled his nose.</p> + + <p>"Well," asked his mother with a smile, "what do you wish? + Remember, though, that I am not a fairy and can't give you + anything you want."</p> + + <p>"Oh," answered the little boy guinea pig, "this is very easy, + mamma. All I want is a tail."</p> + + <p>"A tail?" exclaimed his mamma in great surprise, and she + wondered if, after all, Buddy wasn't ill, for that was a very + strange request. And she began to wish that his papa was home, or + that Brighteyes, who was Buddy's sister, was in the house, to + help look after him, but Brighteyes had gone to see her aunt, and + wouldn't be back till night.</p> + + <p>"Yes," went on Buddy, "I want a tail. All the other boys and + girls who are friends of mine have them, and I don't see why I + can't."</p> + + <p>For you see guinea pigs never have tails. Why that is I don't + know, except, maybe, it's better that way in hot weather, but, + anyhow, they have no tails.</p> + + <p>"You don't need a tail," said Buddy's mamma.</p> + + <p>"Yes, I do, mother dear," he answered. "Jackie and Peetie Bow + Wow have tails, and so have Billie and Johnnie Bushytail, and the + three Wibblewobbles, and—"</p> + + <p>"But Bully and Bawly, the frogs, have no tail," said Mrs. + Pigg, "and they are happy, Buddy."</p> + + <p>"Well, they are in the water so much it doesn't show whether + they have a tail or not," went on Buddy.</p> + + <p>"And Sammie and Susie Littletail haven't much of a tail, + Buddy," said Mrs. Pigg, as she looked in the oven to see if the + biscuits were burning.</p> + + <p>"I know it, mother, but they have something of a tail," spoke + Buddy, "and maybe it will grow longer in time. I'd be glad if I + had even as much as Sammie has."</p> + + <p>"Well," said Mrs. Pigg, "I'm sorry, Buddy, but I don't see how + you are ever going to get a tail. I haven't any, your father + hasn't any, and we get along very well. None of your relations + have tails and they are happy. They never had any. In fact there + has never been a tail in our family and I don't see why you want + to start. Now run out and play, like a good boy, and when + Brighteyes comes back it will be supper time, and we'll have hot + biscuits and honey."</p> + + <p>But, though Buddy ran out, he was not happy. There was a frown + on his face, and, as he walked through the woods, he kept + thinking how nice it would be to have a tail.</p> + + <p>Pretty soon, oh, I guess in about a whisper and a squeak, + Buddy Pigg heard a rustling in the tree over his head. Then he + saw two big, yellow eyes peering down at him from the darkness of + the woods, and a voice called out:</p> + + <p>"What's the matter, little boy? Why are you so sad?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, I feel bad because I haven't a tail," answered Buddy, + wondering who was speaking.</p> + + <p>"What's the matter? Did some one cut your tail off?" the voice + asked.</p> + + <p>"No," replied Buddy, "I never had one; but I want one, awfully + bad."</p> + + <p>"Oh, don't worry about a little thing like that," went on the + voice. "I can get a fine tail for you."</p> + + <p>"Oh, can you?" cried Buddy, his face lighting up, "are you a + fairy?"</p> + + <p>"Well, not exactly," was the answer, "but you just run along + after me, and I'll get a tail for you, in less than no time."</p> + + <p>Then there was a rustling in the branches, and a great, big + owl, with ears that looked like horns, flew out, and Buddy was + frightened. But the owl said:</p> + + <p>"Oh, don't be alarmed, little boy. Just follow me, and I'll + see that you get a tail."</p> + + <p>So the owl flew along through the dark, dismal woods, going + slowly, and close to the ground so Buddy could follow, and pretty + soon, the owl stopped in front of a hole in the side of a + hill.</p> + + <p>"There is where the tail is," said the owl. "Just wait and + I'll have it out to you in a jiffy and a half," and bless me, if + that owl didn't go in that hole. He stayed there some time, and + Buddy could hear voices inside, talking, and land sakes, goodness + me alive, and a cherry pie! out of that hole was thrust a great, + big, bushy tail. A tail, and nothing else, believe me, if you + please.</p> + + <p>"Oh, what a fine tail!" cried Buddy in delight.</p> + + <p>"Do you think so?" asked a voice. "Then just grab hold of it, + hold tight, and it's yours!"</p> + + <p>Well, Buddy didn't think there was any danger, so he grabbed + hold of the tail, and held on tight, but oh, dear me! instead of + pulling the tail out, he found himself being pulled in. Yes, sir, + right into that hole, and land knows what would have happened if + Buddy's sister, Brighteyes, hadn't come along just then on her + way home from her aunt's house. She saw right away that the bushy + tail was fast to something inside the hole.</p> + + <p>"That's a fox's tail!" she cried, "and he's pulling you into + his den! Let go, quickly! Let go, Buddy!"</p> + + <p>So Buddy let go just in time, though the fox and the owl + rushed out and tried to grab him, but they fell down, and + couldn't get up in time, and he and his sister ran home. You see + it was just a trick of that owl and fox, to get Buddy into the + den, and eat him up, but they didn't, I'm glad to say. And after + that Buddy never wanted a tail. Now if it doesn't rain in the + dishpan and turn the umbrella inside out, I'll tell you in the + next story about Buddy walking a tight rope.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_12"><!-- RULE4 12 --></a> + + <h2>STORY X</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY WALKS A TIGHT ROPE + </center> + + <p>One day after Buddy Pigg had been on a visit to Jackie and + Peetie Bow Wow, the two puppy dogs, who were once in a circus, he + came home all excited. He ran out in the yard, began pawing over + in the woodpile, and soon he ran into the house, where + Brighteyes, his sister, was washing the potatoes for dinner.</p> + + <p>"Do you know where there is any wire, Brighteyes?" the little + boy guinea pig asked.</p> + + <p>"Wire? No, I haven't seen any around the house. What do you + want of it? Are you going to wire a tail on to yourself?" and + Buddy's sister smiled just the least bit.</p> + + <p>"Please don't remind me of that," said Buddy, for he felt a + little ashamed of the time he had tried to get a tail for himself + and had been nearly dragged into a fox's den, as I told you in + the story before this one. "No, Brighteyes, I'm not going to make + a tail. I am going to do a circus trick, and you can see me if + you want to," he said.</p> + + <p>"Oh, Buddy! are you really?" she cried, and she was interested + all of a sudden, you see, for she had never seen much of a + circus.</p> + + <p>"Yes, I'll do the trick, if I can find a bit of wire," went on + Buddy. "Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow told me how to do it; and I'm + sure I can. It's walking a tight rope, and it's very hard to + do."</p> + + <p>"Oh! then you want rope, not wire," went on Brighteyes, as she + put the pan of potatoes on the table.</p> + + <p>"Wire is what the circus performers use," insisted her + brother, "but if you can't find any I suppose rope will do."</p> + + <p>"I saw some up in the attic," said Brighteyes. "I'll get it + for you. But, Buddy, isn't it dangerous? Do you s'pose mamma and + papa would let you do it?"</p> + + <p>"There's not much danger," answered Buddy. "I'll not put the + rope up very high, and I'll put some pillows on the ground + underneath, so that if I fall I won't get hurt much."</p> + + <p>Well, Brighteyes found a long rope, and she helped Buddy tie + it from one clothes post to the other, across the yard, so that + it looked like a real tight rope in a circus.</p> + + <p>"Oh, you can never get on that!" she cried to her brother, as + she saw how high up it was.</p> + + <p>"Yes, I can," he replied. "You just watch me. But first I must + put some pillows underneath, in case I fall."</p> + + <p>So he ran into the house and got a lot of feather pillows and + put them on the ground under the rope, Brighteyes helping + him.</p> + + <p>Then Buddy got some old soap boxes, piled them one on top of + the other, and, by climbing up on them, he was able to step to + the rope.</p> + + <p>"Oh, how thin and slender and shaky it is!" cried Brighteyes. + "You never can walk across that, Buddy!"</p> + + <p>"Yes, I think I can," he answered. "But I must get a pole to + balance myself with," so he got off the boxes and ran to the + woodpile, got a piece of an old broom handle, and ran back to the + rope again. He stepped one foot out on it, to try it, and it + seemed quite strong, though it wabbled a bit from side to side, + like a duck's tail.</p> + + <p>"Oh! are you really going to walk on it?" cried Brighteyes in + delight.</p> + + <p>"I really am," answered her brother.</p> + + <p>"Then you ought to have an audience to applaud you and clap + when you do it," she went on. "Wait, and I'll run and get Johnnie + and Billie Bushytail and Sammie and Susie Littletail, + and—"</p> + + <p>"No, don't!" cried Buddy, quickly. "Better wait until I walk + across a few times, first, so as to sort of practise. Then I'll + do the trick before folks."</p> + + <p>So he got up on the rope, standing up on his hind legs, and + balancing the pole with his front paws and he steadied himself + for a moment and then took a step. My! but that rope wiggled, + though, from side to side, almost like a hammock, only, of + course, not as safe as a hammock. But Buddy kept bravely on, and + took another step—and land sakes laddy-da! if that rope + didn't wiggle more than ever.</p> + + <p>"Oh, take care! You'll fall!" cried Brighteyes, and she + screamed.</p> + + <p>"Oh, Brighteyes, don't do that, please!" begged Buddy. "You + make me nervous, and then I can't walk the tight rope."</p> + + <p>So Brighteyes, whose real name was Matilda, you know, kept + real still and quiet, just like a little mouse when it wants a + bit of cheese, and Buddy took another step out on the tight + rope.</p> + + <p>He held his balancing pole by the middle, and he went slowly + and cautiously, and he was actually walking that slender + rope!</p> + + <p>But he kept looking down and wondering whether he would fall + or not, and he got to thinking about the feather pillows, and + wondering if they were thick enough and soft enough, so that he + wouldn't get hurt if he should fall, when all at once, quicker + than you can wheel the baby carriage down hill, when he was right + in the middle, Buddy's foot slipped, and down he went, right a + straddle across the tight rope, and the pole fell with a + bang!</p><!-- NOTE: Remove center tags and put align="left" or align="right" for text wrapped alignments --> + <a name="image-2"><!-- Image 2 --></a> + + <center> + <img src="./images/02.jpg" height="726" width="450" alt=""> + </center> + + <p>And Brighteyes screamed, for she couldn't help it, but Buddy + didn't dare call out. No, all he could do was to cling there with + his teeth and his paws to that swaying rope.</p> + + <p>"Oh!" cried Brighteyes, "you're going to fall, Buddy!"</p> + + <p>"I've fallen already," he panted. "But I'm going to land on + the ground in a minute, for I can't hold on any longer!"</p> + + <p>And he looked down, picking out a soft spot to fall on, but, + oh, dear me, and a sour pickle! If the pole, when it fell down, + hadn't knocked the pillows to one side, and there was only hard + ground for Buddy to land on. Well, maybe he wasn't frightened, + and Brighteyes was also frightened, too flabbergasted, you see, + to go and fix the pillows in place again, and they didn't either + of them know what in the world to do.</p> + + <p>I don't know what might have happened, for Buddy couldn't hold + on much longer, but, just as he was going to let go, along came + Uncle Wiggily Longears. He saw what the trouble was at once, and + up he rushed and with his crutch he piled the pillows in a soft + heap right under Buddy, and then Buddy let go the tight rope and + down he came, just like in a feather bed.</p> + + <p>And he wasn't hurt the least mite, but he was very thankful to + Uncle Wiggily, the old rabbit gentleman, and Buddy never tried to + walk a tight rope, nor a loose one again.</p> + + <p>Now, in case there is no salt in the ice cream to make the rag + doll sneeze, I'll tell you in the following story about + Brighteyes Pigg in a tin can.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_13"><!-- RULE4 13 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XI</h2> + + <center> + BRIGHTEYES IN A TIN CAN + </center> + + <p>Of course, when Mamma Pigg came home the afternoon that Buddy + tried to walk a tight rope (for she had been away visiting Mrs. + Wibblewobble when it happened) she had to hear about it. Buddy + and Brighteyes would have told her, anyhow, for they always did, + but, as it was, Mrs. Pigg saw a scratch on Buddy's leg, where the + rope had hurt him when he fell, and she wanted to know all about + it. Then Buddy told her of the trick he had tried to perform.</p> + + <p>"Little guinea pigs are safer on the ground," she said. "Leave + such things to Billie and Johnnie Bushytail, or the Bow Wows, who + were once in a circus. Now get washed for supper, for your papa + will soon be here, and I think he'll fetch a quart of carrot ice + cream, as it is so hot."</p> + + <p>And sure enough, Dr. Pigg did, and the carrot ice cream was + the best Brighteyes and Buddy had ever tasted, they thought.</p> + + <p>Well, it was about two days after this that Brighteyes Pigg + was sent to the store for her mother, to get a nutmeg, a yeast + cake, and a bottle of blueing. Brighteyes started off, hurrying + through the woods, where once the owl had tried to get Buddy into + the den of the old fox, and soon the little guinea pig girl was + at the grocery.</p> + + <p>She got the things, and the storekeeper put them in a paper + bag for her, and back she started.</p> + + <p>It was so warm that, after Brighteyes had reached a cool place + in the woods, near where a little brook ran over the stones, + making a gurgling noise, very pleasant to hear, she sat down to + rest. And she hadn't been sitting there more than about ten long + breaths, when she saw, beside the stream, a tin can.</p> + + <p>"Now I wonder what is in that can?" thought Brighteyes. "I'm + going to see. Perhaps it's something good to eat, and I can take + some home to Buddy," for she was very kind to her brother, you + understand.</p> + + <p>So she went up to the can, but wasn't she disappointed when + she saw that it was empty! The open end was on the side that was + turned away from her, and that's why at first she thought it was + full. But she smelled of the opening, and oh, what a delicious + perfume there was, sweet and sugary, and in a minute Brighteyes + knew what it was.</p> + + <p>"There has been molasses in that can!" she exclaimed. "Oh, if + there's anything I dearly love it's molasses! I wonder if there + is any left inside? Sometimes people don't quite empty the cans + before they throw them away. I'm going to look."</p> + + <p>So Brighteyes went closer, and, would you believe me? if she + didn't see, away down in the lower edge of that can, as it rested + on its side, a lot of nice molasses.</p> + + <p>"Oh, I must have that!" cried Brighteyes, and, without + thinking of what she was doing, she put her head and her forepaws + inside that can. She found she could reach the molasses with her + tongue, and she began to lick it up, wishing she had some way of + taking part of it to Buddy.</p> + + <p>She was so excited over it that she even had taken her things + from the grocery store inside the can with her. There she was, + with only part of her body and her hind legs sticking out, and + she was eating the molasses as fast as she could.</p> + + <p>It kept tasting better and better, but, after a while, + Brighteyes thought she had enough, and she started to pull her + head out of the can. But, oh dear me! She found she couldn't do + it. The sharp edges of the tin caught in her fur, and there she + was, stuck fast with the can over her head, and the nutmeg, the + bottle of blueing and the yeast cake in there with her.</p> + + <p>"Oh, dear me suz-dud!" she cried. "I'm fast!"</p> + + <p>She tried to shake the can off, but it wouldn't shake. Then + she tried to pull herself out, but the can was still on her head, + and went everywhere she went, like Mary's little lamb. Then poor + Brighteyes tried to stand up on her hind legs, and hit the can + against a tree or a stone, thinking she could knock it off, but + it wouldn't come off, and then she turned a somersault, thinking + that would help, but, though she even stood on her head in the + can, and wiggled her hind legs, it did no good.</p> + + <p>"Oh, I'm caught fast!" cried the poor little creature, and she + rolled around and around on the ground, thinking that would help + some, but it didn't.</p> + + <p>Then she heard some one coming along through the woods, and + she called out: "Who's there? Please help me out of this + can!"</p> + + <p>"I'm Johnnie Bushytail," answered a voice. "Who are you?"</p> + + <p>"I'm Brighteyes Pigg," she said. "Please help me."</p> + + <p>But her voice sounded so queer and hollow, shut up as it was + in the can, and the nutmeg rattled around so, like thunder, that + Johnnie Bushytail, the squirrel, was frightened, and ran away, + without helping Brighteyes. Then she felt like crying, but, in a + little while she heard some one else coming along through the + woods, and she called: "Oh, please help me! Who is there?"</p> + + <p>"I'm Sammie Littletail," was the answer. "Who are you?"</p> + + <p>"I'm Brighteyes Pigg," she replied. "Help me, please!"</p> + + <p>But her voice sounded so strange and hollow in the can, and + just then the yeast cake came bouncing out, where there was a + little space near Brighteyes' neck and the tinfoil was all + shining so that Sammie thought some one was shooting square, + silver bullets at him, and away he ran.</p> + + <p>Then Brighteyes was going to give up in despair, and she + thought she would never, never get out, and she wished she had + never eaten the molasses, when, all of a sudden, she heard some + one else coming along, and between her sobs she cried out:</p> + + <p>"Oh, please, whoever you are, don't run away! Help me out of + this can! Who are you?"</p> + + <p>"I am Alice Wibblewobble, the duck," was the answer. "Who are + you?"</p> + + <p>"I am Brighteyes Pigg," said the little creature in the + molasses can, and just then the bottle of blueing broke inside + and the blue stuff ran out, trickling to one side.</p> + + <p>"Oh, you must be the blue fairy!" cried Alice, and she took + her strong bill and bent back the edges of the tin can so that + Brighteyes could get out, which she soon did, and was not hurt in + the least.</p> + + <p>Of course Alice was surprised to see a guinea pig instead of a + blue fairy, but she was glad she had saved Brighteyes, who had to + go back to the store for another bottle of blueing. But the + nutmeg and the yeast cake were all right.</p> + + <p>Then Alice Wibblewobble poured the rest of the molasses out of + the can into an empty acorn cup and Brighteyes took it home to + Buddy, who liked it very much, and I almost wish I had some + molasses candy; don't you?</p> + + <p>Now, in the next story I'm going to tell you about Dr. Pigg + and the firecracker; that is if the mosquitoes don't sing so + loudly that they wake up the baby's rattle box.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_14"><!-- RULE4 14 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XII</h2> + + <center> + DR. PIGG AND THE FIRECRACKER + </center> + + <p>Once upon a time it happened that, as Buddy Pigg was coming + home from having played baseball with Johnnie and Billie + Bushytail, and all his friends, he saw, lying beside the road, + something long and round and red, with a little string dangling + from it.</p> + + <p>"Aha!" exclaimed Buddy Pigg; "there is a stick of red candy? + Oh, fine! Oh, dandy! I'll take it home, and give Brighteyes + some."</p> + + <p>That was because she had managed to bring him home some of the + molasses that was in the can, in which the little girl guinea pig + got stuck fast. So Buddy picked up the long, round, red thing, + with a string dangling from it, and took a big bite. That is, he + tried to, but he found his teeth wouldn't go through it.</p> + + <p>"Wow!" he cried. "That isn't a stick of candy at all."</p> + + <p>And the funny part of it was that it wasn't a stick of candy. + No, not in the least, I do assure you. What it was Buddy couldn't + guess, though I suppose some of you children can.</p> + + <p>Well, anyhow, he picked it up, and carried it in one paw, and + his bat and catching glove in the other. And pretty soon whom + should he meet hopping along but Bawly, the frog—Bully's + brother, you know. And Bawly was singing away for dear life, this + little song, which you will have to get some one to sing for you, + as I am as hoarse as two crows and a cricket. Well, anyhow, this + is the song:</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>"As I was hopping along one day,</p> + + <p class="i2">Hi diddle um diddle I!</p> + + <p>A grasshopper sat in a greenwood tree,</p> + + <p class="i2">Tum-tum-tum tiddle di!</p> + + <p>"Oh, where are you going?" the grasshopper asked.</p> + + <p class="i2">"Oh, not very far," I said.</p> + + <p>"May I go along?" asked the funny bug.</p> + + <p class="i2">And he stood right up on his head.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>"Why yes," I told him, "come along,"</p> + + <p class="i2">Tu ri lum diddle day.</p> + + <p>"The weather is certainly fine just now,"</p> + + <p class="i2">Fum lum dum skiddle fay.</p> + + <p>But the grasshopper fell in a deep, dark bog,</p> + + <p class="i2">And I pulled him out on a sunken log,</p> + + <p>And then came along a bad, savage dog,</p> + + <p class="i2">And we both ran away."</p> + </div> + </div> + <!-- NOTE: Remove center tags and put align="left" or align="right" for text wrapped alignments --> + <a name="image-3"><!-- Image 3 --></a> + + <center> + <img src="./images/03.jpg" height="730" width="450" alt=""> + </center> + + <p>"Oh, ho! So that's the way it was, eh?" asked Buddy, who had + never heard that song before.</p> + + <p>"That's exactly how it was, and not a bit different, I give + you my word for it," said Bawly, the frog. "But what have you + there, Buddy? Peppermint candy, as sure as I can sing! May I have + a bit?"</p> + + <p>"You could have it if it was candy," promised Buddy, real + politely, "only it isn't," and he looked at the queer red thing + from all sides, and he couldn't make out what it was, and neither + could Bawly.</p> + + <p>Well, I'll tell you what it was, so you can understand the + story better. It was a firecracker. Yes, sir, a big, red + firecracker that, somehow or other, hadn't gone off on Fourth of + July when it ought to have done so.</p> + + <p>I presume some boy had lighted it, tossed it into the bushes + and it had gone out and stayed out until Buddy found it. At any + rate, he didn't know what it was, and he took it home. Neither + did Mr. Pigg know what it was, but Buddy's mother and sister + thought it was quite a pretty ornament, and Mrs. Pigg put it on + the parlor mantle, where company could see it.</p> + + <p>Well, one day, not long after this, Dr. Pigg was home all + alone, for his wife and the children had gone to a moving-picture + show. He was dozing away in his easy chair, with a newspaper over + his face to keep away the flies, when, all of a sudden, there + came a knock on the door.</p> + + <p>"My goodness alive! Who's there?" cried Dr. Pigg.</p> + + <p>"It's me," answered a voice.</p> + + <p>"And who, pray tell, may you be?" asked Dr. Pigg.</p> + + <p>"I'm a bad tramp fox," was the answer, "and I want you to give + me something to eat. Quick! I'm in a hurry!"</p> + + <p>Now that wasn't a nice way to speak, and Dr. Pigg knew it, + and, what is more, that bad fox knew it, too. But, do you s'pose + he cared? Not a bit of it. He was as impolite as he could be, and + he took pride in it.</p> + + <p>"I want something to eat in a hurry," he went on, in a coarse, + grumbly voice, and he was such a big fox, and Dr. Pigg was such a + nice, gentle kind of a creature that he didn't dare refuse + him.</p> + + <p>"Very well," said Buddy's papa, "step into the parlor, Mr. + Fox, and I'll see what I can do for you. There ought to be + something in the pantry."</p> + + <p>So he went to look in the pantry for a bone, or something like + that, just as Mother Hubbard would have done, you know, and when + the fox went in the parlor what do you suppose he saw? Why, that + big, red firecracker on the mantle, of course. And when he saw it + a wicked plan came into his head.</p> + + <p>"I'll just light that," he thought to himself, "and it will + blow this pen up, and Dr. Pigg with it. Then I can take anything + I want. That's what I'll do. I'll blow the place up!"</p> + + <p>Then he lighted the string of the firecracker, standing up on + his hind legs to reach it, you see, and, as it was a long string, + the fox knew it would burn some time before it would explode the + firecracker. So the fox ran out into the kitchen, where Dr. Pigg + was getting him something to eat, and he cried:</p> + + <p>"Here, give me what you have ready, I can't wait."</p> + + <p>"You must be in a hurry," replied Dr. Pigg, as he gave the fox + some bread and meat and cold potatoes. And of course the fox was + in a hurry, for he wanted to get out of the way before that + firecracker went off and blew the house up.</p> + + <p>Then the fox ran and hid in the bushes, waiting for the house + and Dr. Pigg to be blown up, so he could go in and take whatever + he wanted. The string on the firecracker burned slowly, but + surely. And the fox knew it would be a perfectly tremendous + explosion, for the firecracker was as big as a hundred lead + pencils made into one.</p> + + <p>But now watch and see what happens. After Dr. Pigg had put + away the bread and meat, left over after giving the fox some, who + should come along but Percival, the old, circus dog. He came to + pay a friendly call on Dr. Pigg, but, no sooner had he reached + the front door than he cried out:</p> + + <p>"Oh, I smell something burning," and, sure enough it was the + firecracker string sizzling away.</p> + + <p>"Maybe the house is afire," said Dr. Pigg. "Let's look!" So he + and Percival went all through the pen, and the first object they + saw was the long, rod thing burning on the mantlepiece. And + Percival knew at once what it was, for he was a smart dog, let me + tell you.</p> + + <p>"Oh!" he cried, "that is a cannon firecracker, and if it goes + off it will blow the place to pieces, and me and you, too!"</p> + + <p>"Then, for mercy sakes, don't let it go off!" cried Dr. Pigg, + and that brave dog Percival jumped up, grabbed the cannon cracker + in his mouth, dashed out of the house, and leaped into a pond of + water with it, which put out the burning string, and wet the + firecracker so it wouldn't explode.</p> + + <p>And when the fox saw Percival, he sneaked away with his tail + hanging down, I can tell you. So that's the story of Dr. Pigg and + the firecracker, and when his family came home he told them of of + his narrow escape.</p> + + <p>Now, in case I hear a June bug buzz like an electric fan + blowing soap bubbles, I'll tell you in the next story about Buddy + Pigg in a boat.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_15"><!-- RULE4 15 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XIII</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY PIGG IN A BOAT + </center> + + <p>After Percival, the old circus dog, had been so kind to Dr. + Pigg, in the matter of jumping into the pond with the big + firecracker, which the bad fox had lighted, the old gentleman + guinea pig said:</p> + + <p>"I wish, Percival, you would spend a few days with us. I'm + afraid that ugly tramp fox will come back."</p> + + <p>"Of course I will," agreed the dog. "The Bow Wows are going + down to Asbury Park for the summer, and I don't much care for the + seashore, so I'll stay home and spend a few days with you. And in + case that fox does come back—"</p> + + <p>Well, Percival didn't say what he would do, but land sakes, + flopsy dub! Oh me, and a potato pancake! You should have seen him + show his teeth and growl.</p> + + <p>Well, it was a few days after Percival had come to pay a + little visit to the Pigg family that something happened to Buddy, + and I'm going to tell you about it.</p> + + <p>You see, it had been raining pretty hard for a week or + more—yes, nearly two weeks, and it didn't seem as if it was + ever going to stop. There had been thunder showers and lightning + showers and hail showers and just plain rain showers, and they + were all more or less wet; and when it did finally stop raining + there was a lot of water all over.</p> + + <p>One day, the first day, in fact, after it stopped raining, + Buddy was taking a walk, and glad enough he was to be out of the + pen. He strolled along, letting the warm sun and the gentle wind + dry his black and white fur, and he was thinking of, oh! ever so + many things, when, all at once, he came to a little pond; only + this time it was a great big pond, because it had so much water + in it. And on the shore of the pond was a boat that some boys had + been playing with.</p> + + <p>"Oh, fine!" cried Buddy Pigg. "I'll get in and make believe + I'm a sailor, just as Billie and Johnnie Bushytail and Jennie + Chipmunk did once. I've always wanted a ride in a boat, and now's + my chance!"</p> + + <p>So he climbed into the boat, and he made believe he was + sailing away off to China, where they make firecrackers and fans, + and then, when he was half-way there (make believe, you know), + why, he turned around and sailed for India, where it's very hot; + but all this while the boat was partly on the bank and partly in + the water, and Buddy only rocked it from side to side, pretending + it was moving.</p> + + <p>Well, after he reached India, what did he do but find it so + hot there that he turned around at once and sailed for the North + Pole, so he could be nice and cool.</p> + + <p>Then, all at once, as quickly as you can eat an ice cream cone + on a hot day, if something didn't happen. Buddy looked up, after + reaching the North Pole, and he found that the boat was adrift, + floating off across the big pond, with the wind blowing it + faster, and faster, and faster.</p> + + <p>At first Buddy thought it was fun; then, as he saw that he was + getting farther and farther from shore, he became frightened. He + looked for something with which to send the boat back to land, + but there was no sail in it, and no oars; and, if there had been, + the little guinea pig boy couldn't have used them, I don't + suppose. Well, there he was, really sailing off to some unknown + country this time, in earnest, and not make believe.</p> + + <p>Then he began to cry, and he called out as loudly as he + could:</p> + + <p>"Help! Help! Help!" and who should come running down to the + shore but Peetie and Jackie Bow Wow, the two puppy dogs. They + hadn't gone to Asbury Park yet, you see, but they were going + soon.</p> + + <p>"What's the matter?" asked Peetie.</p> + + <p>"The boat is taking me away off," answered Buddy.</p> + + <p>"Jump out and swim to shore!" cried Peetie.</p> + + <p>"I can't swim," called back Buddy.</p> + + <p>"Oh, we'll show you how," went on Jackie, and then he and + Peetie jumped into the water and began to show Buddy how to swim, + but he was too frightened to learn, and, besides, the two puppy + dogs were too far off for him to see them plainly. Then they swam + out, and they tried to pull the boat back to shore, but they were + not strong enough.</p> + + <p>"Oh, I'll be drowned! I'll be drowned!" cried Buddy. "What + shall I do? Tell my mamma good-by for me," he said to Jackie.</p> + + <p>"We'll tell her you're in trouble, and maybe she will know of + a way to save you," called Peetie and Jackie.</p> + + <p>So they ran and told Mrs. Pigg, and she and Brighteyes came + running down to the shore of the pond.</p> + + <p>"Oh, my poor little boy," cried Mamma Pigg, when she saw Buddy + being carried farther and farther away.</p> + + <p>"Oh, how can we reach him?" wailed Brighteyes, wringing her + paws. "We must save him, somehow!"</p> + + <p>Just then along came Billie and Johnnie Bushytail, the + squirrels.</p> + + <p>"Stick up your tail like a sail and the wind will blow you + ashore!" they cried to Buddy. "That's what we did."</p> + + <p>"I haven't any tail," answered Buddy, real sorrowful-like.</p> + + <p>"That's so," said the little squirrel boys, and it began to + look pretty bad for poor Buddy, let me tell you.</p> + + <p>"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" cried Mamma Pigg. "I'll never see my + poor boy again," for he was quite far off by this time.</p> + + <p>Then, all of a sudden, down to the edge of the pond, came + rushing Percival, the old circus dog.</p> + + <p>"I'll save Buddy!" he cried. "I'll carry a rope out to him, + and he can fasten it to the boat, and then we can pull him + ashore."</p> + + <p>Well, Percival took a rope in his mouth and started to swim + out, but a funny thing happened. The water got in his mouth and + washed the rope away, and he couldn't carry it, though he tried a + number of times.</p> + + <p>Then everybody felt sorry, and Jackie Bow Wow was just + suggesting that they build a raft and float out on it to Buddy, + when who should come along but Jimmie Wibblewobble, the boy duck. + They all told him what the trouble was, and he said, "Quack! + Quack! Quack!" three times, just like that, and exclaimed:</p> + + <p>"I have it! I can swim out with the rope in my bill, for my + head will be above the water."</p> + + <p>He did it too, in about two quacks and a quarter. Then he + helped Buddy fasten the rope to the side of the boat, and those + on land, including Percival, the two Bow Wows and Mamma Pigg and + Brighteyes, soon pulled the boat and Buddy in it ashore.</p> + + <p>Buddy said he was never going sailing again, and I guess he + never did, for he was very much frightened, but he soon got over + it and played with Jimmie and Jackie and Peetie, while Mamma Pigg + had to go home to take something for her nerves.</p> + + <p>Now, if I have rhubarb pie for supper, and the ham sandwich + doesn't squeal when they put mustard on it, I'll tell you about + Brighteyes and the peanut candy in the next story.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_16"><!-- RULE4 16 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XIV</h2> + + <center> + BRIGHTEYES AND THE PEANUT CANDY + </center> + + <p>It happened, once upon a time, that Brighteyes and Buddy Pigg + were walking through the woods together, not far from their home. + They had been over to see Sammie and Susie Littletail, and they + had had a very nice time. In fact, there had been a little party + at the Littletail home.</p> + + <p>It was Sammie's or Susie's birthday, I forget just whose, and + after games had been played, there were good things to eat; nuts + of various kinds for the squirrels who came; candy, lemonade, ice + cream flavored with turnips and carrots, and oh! lots of cake, + and I don't know what else besides. There was so much that Buddy + and Brighteyes couldn't eat all their share, and they were + bringing it home to their papa and mamma.</p> + + <p>Well, as they were walking along, thinking what a good time + they had had, the two guinea pig children heard a rustling sound + in the bushes, and two big, round, staring eyes peered out at + them, and there was a noise like a dog growling.</p> + + <p>"Oh, quick! Hurry up, Buddy!" cried Brighteyes. "Something + will catch us sure!" and she began to run as fast as fast could + be, or even faster, maybe.</p> + + <p>"Oh, I don't think it's anything but old Percival, the circus + dog," said Buddy. "He won't hurt us."</p> + + <p>And he was going to stand still and look in those bushes; yes, + sir, that's what Buddy was going to do, only he happened to see a + big, bushy tail sticking out, and then he knew it was a bad fox + there, and not the good, kind dog, so Buddy ran as fast as he + could run, if not faster, right after Brighteyes.</p> + + <p>And the fox ran, too, only he had stepped on a piece of glass + and cut his foot and couldn't run very fast. He was the same fox + who lighted the firecracker in Dr. Pigg's house, and I'm glad to + say that he didn't catch Buddy or Brighteyes, for they ran faster + than the fox did.</p> + + <p>Well, they hurried on for quite a distance further, and all at + once, just as they were getting tired, and when they knew the fox + had stopped chasing them, they happened to look down on the path, + and what should they see but a white box; yes, indeed, a white + box, tied with pink string.</p> + + <p>"Oh, I wonder what can be in there?" asked Brighteyes.</p> + + <p>"I don't know, but I'll go see," said Buddy.</p> + + <p>"Oh, no, don't go too close," begged his sister. "It might be + a trap, or perhaps the bad fox is hidden inside it."</p> + + <p>"It's too small for a fox to get in," declared the boy guinea + pig. "I'll take a smell, anyhow."</p> + + <p>So he crept slowly, slowly, slowly up to the white box, and + sniffed, and sniffed and sniffed.</p> + + <p>"Oh! Ah! Um! La-la! Um! Um!" exclaimed Buddy Pigg, and he laid + down the packages of candy, nuts, cakes and other things he had + carried home from the Littletails' party, so that he might smell + the better.</p> + + <p>"What is it?" asked Brighteyes Pigg. "What's in the box?"</p> + + <p>"I don't know," replied her brother, "but whatever it is, it + smells the nicest of anything I ever smelled. It's just like when + mamma bakes a ginger cake in the oven. I'm going to open it and + see."</p> + + <p>So, with his sharp teeth, Buddy loosened the pink string + around the box, and off came the cover. Then, what do you suppose + was in the box? Why, a whole lot of peanut candy, all nice and + fresh, shining, golden brown, with just enough peanuts in, and + not a bit more, really and truly!</p> + + <p>"Oh! Oh! Oh!" cried Brighteyes in delight, as she saw it. + "Peanut candy, Buddy! If there's anything I love it's peanut + candy! Some good fairy must have left this for us. Come on, we'll + take it over here, under a bush, where the bad fox won't see us, + and we'll eat some of it, and save some to take home. Oh, how + lovely!"</p> + + <p>"I don't think I care for peanut candy very much," said Buddy. + "When I smelled it I thought it was going to be chocolate + caramels."</p> + + <p>"Don't you want any?" asked Brighteyes.</p> + + <p>"No," answered her brother, "but I'll help you carry it into + the bushes. I'll eat some of the things we brought from the + party. I'm getting hungry again."</p> + + <p>So he and Brighteyes carried the box of peanut candy into the + bushes, and the little girl guinea pig began to eat the sweet + stuff.</p> + + <p>Well, she had eaten almost all of it up, before she thought, + because it tasted so good, when all of a sudden, who should come + along the path in the woods, but a little girl. Yes, a little + girl in a red dress, and she was crying as hard as she could cry, + that little girl was.</p> + + <p>"Oh, dear!" she sobbed, "I have lost my box of peanut candy, + that I bought in the store, and I can't find it, and I'm so + miserable! Nobody in the world is so miserable as I am. Oh, dear! + Boo! Hoo!"</p> + + <p>Well, you should have seen how sorry Brighteyes was for eating + that little girl's candy, but Brighteyes didn't know, of course, + whose it was. She and Buddy just hid down in the bushes, and + didn't know what to do, until Buddy whispered:</p> + + <p>"Listen! I'll fill the box full of our candy, nuts and things + that we brought from the party, and maybe that will stop the + little girl crying."</p> + + <p>So he did that, filling the box real full, and putting the + pink string around it again. Then, when the little girl wasn't + looking, Buddy slipped out of the bushes, put the box back on the + path again and slipped under a leaf to hide. Then, pretty soon, + when the little girl stopped crying, she saw her box, and she + thought a fairy had brought it back.</p> + + <p>Then she opened it, and she saw the peanut candy had been + turned into a different kind, and that there were nuts with it + and she surely thought it was magical, but it wasn't, it was only + Buddy Pigg, who did it.</p> + + <p>So Buddy and Brighteyes went home happy, and so did the little + girl, with her white box which she had found again after she had + lost it.</p> + + <p>Now, in the next story I'm going to tell you about Buddy and + the June bug, that is if some one sends me some peanut candy with + a lot of red postage stamps on it.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_17"><!-- RULE4 17 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XV</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY AND THE JUNE BUG + </center> + + <p>One night Dr. Pigg and Mrs. Pigg and Brighteyes went to a nice + moving-picture show that Percival, the old circus dog, had gotten + up, and they left Buddy at home alone. The reason for that was + this: Buddy wasn't feeling well. He had eaten too many ice cream + cones, and too much lemonade on a hot day, and he had to have + some medicine that his papa fixed for him.</p> + + <p>It was bitter, sour medicine, too, and Buddy didn't like it, + and he didn't like to be ill, either, but one always is when one + eats too many ice cream cones and drinks too much lemonade on a + hot day; yes, indeed, and a bottle of paregoric besides.</p> + + <p>Well, Buddy was sick, and couldn't go to the moving-picture + show, but his mamma and papa thought it would be all right to + leave him home alone, as he was getting better by that time.</p> + + <p>"I'll tell you all about the show when we come back," promised + Brighteyes. "There is going to be a fairy play in it."</p> + + <p>"Oh!" cried Buddy, "how I wish I could go! I love fairy + plays!"</p> + + <p>"You will be much better in bed," said Dr. Pigg, "and if you + keep quiet you won't have to take any more medicine."</p> + + <p>There was no help for it, and Dr. Pigg and his wife and + daughter started off. They knew Buddy would be much more + comfortable in bed than at the show, or they would never have + left him, and right next door lived a family of chickens, who + would come over in case anything happened.</p> + + <p>Buddy felt a little lonesome when his folks had gone, but + after awhile he fell asleep. He dozed off for some time, and, all + of a sudden, he was awakened by hearing something going + "thumpity-thump-bump-bump-bump! Humpity-hump-bump-bump!" on the + ceiling and walls of his room. Then it went "bangity-bung-bung," + and before Buddy knew what was happening, if something didn't go + slam-bang-crack into the lamp, and put it out, leaving the poor + little guinea pig boy in the dark.</p> + + <p>Then how frightened he was! He shivered, and crept down with + his head beneath the bed clothes, but all the while he kept + hearing that "thumpity-thump-bump-hump-lump-dump!" against the + ceiling. First he thought it was the bad fox, who had gotten in + to eat him up, and then he knew the fox couldn't fly around the + room that way, or, if it could, it would make ever so much more + noise. Then he thought it might be an owl, with big, round, + staring, yellow eyes, but when he peeped out from under the + clothes the least bit, he didn't see any eyes, so he knew it + couldn't be the owl.</p> + + <p>"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" cried Buddy, when he was so frightened + he couldn't keep still any longer, "Oh, dear! I wish my papa and + mamma would come home; and Brighteyes, too!"</p> + + <p>"What for?" asked a voice, away high up on the ceiling.</p> + + <p>"Because I'm—I'm lonesome—and + afraid—and—and—" but Buddy was almost crying, + so he couldn't finish what he had started to say.</p> + + <p>"What are you afraid of?" asked the voice, and this time it + was on the side wall, close to Buddy.</p> + + <p>"I'm afraid of you!" cried the little boy guinea pig, and he + got farther under the bed clothes.</p> + + <p>"Nonsense! Afraid of me!" exclaimed the voice, and this time, + bless me; if it wasn't on the blanket, right over Buddy's nose. + "Don't be afraid, little boy," the voice went on. "I wouldn't + hurt you for the world. Why, I'm only a harmless, old June bug, + you know. I blundered in here by mistake, somehow, because I saw + your light, but now it's dark, and I can't see to get out. But + land sakes, goodness me, and some buttermilk! Don't be afraid of + me! I wouldn't hurt you for the world and the moon too."</p> + + <p>"Well, I—I don't exactly know if I'm afraid of you or + not," went on Buddy. "First I thought you were a fox or an owl. + I—I guess I'm a little afraid of the dark, too."</p> + + <p>"Nonsense! The dark can't hurt anyone," said the June bug. + "The dark is good for sleeping. But if you're afraid, how would + you like me to tell you a story? And that will pass the time + until your papa and mamma come home."</p> + + <p>"Oh, fine!" cried Buddy, and he wasn't afraid any more, for he + loved to hear stories. So the June bug perched upon the bed + clothes, where they were nice and soft, and he told lots of + stories to Buddy.</p> + + <p>He told about the cow that went to school, and about the bear + who was bitten by a big, black bug, and about two good boys, and + about three bad boys, who lived in a cave, and about an elephant, + and about a horse that had four legs and, oh, I don't know how + many stories.</p> + + <p>Then the June bug sang this little verse, only, as I have a + cold in my head you'll have to get some one else to sing it for + you. Anyhow this is how it goes:</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>"I love to flip and flop and flap,</p> + + <p class="i2">And buzz around the room,</p> + + <p>I leap up to the ceiling high,</p> + + <p class="i2">And hit it with a boom!</p> + + <p>I turn a double somersault.</p> + + <p class="i2">My wings they play a tune.</p> + + <p>It's lots of fun to be a bug,</p> + + <p class="i2">Especially in June."</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p>And then, land sakes, and a feather pillow; if Buddy Pigg + wasn't fast asleep. Then the kind old June bug sang his song over + again, softly, and was about to fly away, when he saw a mosquito + going to bite the little guinea pig boy.</p> + + <p>And what did that bug do but grab the mosquito and throw him + out of the window. And the June bug stayed until he heard Dr. + Pigg and his wife coming back, and then he flew away, for he had + managed to find the place where he had come in, and crawled out + again.</p> + + <p>Buddy woke up when his mamma came in his room to see how he + was, and he told her all about the June bug, and how kind it had + been, and how it had told stories.</p> + + <p>"You must have had a lovely dream," said Mrs. Pigg, but Buddy + knew it had actually happened, and wasn't a dream at all. Now if + my typewriter doesn't fall down and sprain its hair ribbon we'll + next have a story soon about Brighteyes and a bad boy.</p> + <!-- NOTE: Remove center tags and put align="left" or align="right" for text wrapped alignments --> + <a name="image-4"><!-- Image 4 --></a> + + <center> + <img src="./images/04.jpg" height="722" width="450" alt=""> + </center> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_18"><!-- RULE4 18 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XVI</h2> + + <center> + BRIGHTEYES AND THE BAD BOY + </center> + + <p>Brighteyes Pigg was coming home from the grocery store one + day. She didn't have much to carry because, you see, her mamma + had sent her for only a yeast cake, and, as that wasn't very + large, Matilda put it in her apron pocket.</p> + + <p>She was walking along, thinking what a good time she would + have when she got home, for Jennie Chipmunk had promised to come + over as soon as she got her dishes washed and play house with the + little guinea pig girl.</p> + + <p>"We'll have a lovely time," thought Matilda, who was called + Brighteyes for short. "We'll dress up all our dolls and have a + play-party, and maybe mamma will give us real things to eat."</p> + + <p>Well, Brighteyes was thinking so much about the party, and + about Jennie Chipmunk, whom she had not seen in some time, that + she didn't pay much attention to anything else. She was going + along, hippity-hop, just as Sister Sallie went to the barber + shop, when all of a sudden something whizzed right past the nose + of Brighteyes and almost hit her.</p> + + <p>"My goodness me, sakes alive and a tin dishpan! What's that?" + she exclaimed. "I wonder if it could have been that June bug who + told Buddy stories so nicely?"</p> + + <p>Then she looked all around and she didn't see anything of a + bug, and she didn't hear his wings buzzing, so she thought it + couldn't have been him.</p> + + <p>Then, bless me! if something more didn't shoot right past + Brighteyes with a whizz and a whozz, making a funny noise, you + know. And this time she saw what it was. It was an arrow, the + kind that are shot from bows, you understand.</p> + + <p>"Oh, the Indians are after me! The Indians are after me!" + cried poor Brighteyes in fright, for you see she had read in her + school reader about the Indians shooting arrows.</p> + + <p>Then the little guinea pig girl started to run, but before she + had taken three steps and a half, if another arrow didn't come + whizzing through the bushes at her, and this time it was so close + that it just touched her left ear.</p> + + <p>This frightened her so that she fell down, and before she + could get up to run away, if out from behind a tree didn't leap a + bad boy.</p> + + <p>So it wasn't an Indian shooting the arrows, after all, which, + perhaps, was a good thing, as Indians can shoot very straight and + might have hurt Brighteyes. No, it was a bad boy.</p> + + <p>I call him bad because he shot at Brighteyes, and I guess + before I'm through with this story that you'll call him bad + also.</p> + + <p>Well, that boy ran right at Brighteyes, and before she knew + what was happening he had grabbed her.</p> + + <p>"Wow!" cried the boy. "I've got it! I shot it! I've got a + rabbit!"</p> + + <p>"Ha! That ain't a rabbit!" exclaimed another boy, coming out + of the bushes, "that's a guinea pig. Where did you hit it?"</p> + + <p>"I don't know. It doesn't seem to be hurt anywhere. But I was + sure I hit it. But, maybe, the arrow only stunned it. Anyhow, + I've got it. Now we'll take it home, and put it in a cage, and + charge five cents for all the other boys to see it."</p> + + <p>"Sure," said the second boy. "You're a good shot with your bow + and arrow. Come on, let me carry the guinea pig."</p> + + <p>"No," replied the first boy, "I'm going to carry it myself. I + wonder if you carry 'em by their ears, like you do rabbits?" Then + he tried to get hold of Brighteyes' ears, and he could hardly + find them, as they were so small, and, of course, he couldn't + take hold of them.</p> + + <p>But, oh, dear! how roughly he handled that poor little guinea + pig girl! When he couldn't get hold of her ears he grabbed her by + the hind legs and actually turned her upside down, and then what + should happen but that the yeast cake fell out of her apron + pocket.</p> + + <p>"Ha! That's funny!" cried the boy who held Brighteyes. "I + never knew that guinea pigs ate yeast cakes. This must be a smart + one. We'll teach it to do tricks, and then we can charge ten + cents to see it. Oh, I'm glad I caught it."</p> + + <p>And he held on more tightly to Brighteyes, for she was + wiggling and squirming, trying to get away.</p> + + <p>Oh, how frightened she was, when she heard the boys say that + they were going to shut her up in a cage! She thought she would + never see her mamma, and papa, and Buddy again. Big tears came + into her eyes, and she trembled all over.</p> + + <p>But do you s'pose that bad boy and the other one cared? Not + the least bit! First one held Brighteyes, and then the other, to + see how heavy she was, and then they took her up, first by one + leg and then by the other, and, if she had had a tail, they would + have held her up by that, and probably pulled it, too, for all I + know.</p> + + <p>You see those two boys had been playing they were Indians in + the woods with their bows and arrows, and perhaps that made them + act so cruelly.</p> + + <p>"Let's hurry home now and put it in a cage," said the bad boy, + and he and the other boy started off, carrying Brighteyes. But + wait, don't be frightened, or worried, for something is going to + happen immediately, which is very soon.</p> + + <p>All at once there was a whizzing and a whozzing in the air, + and a buzzing, bizzing sound, and that kind old June bug came + sailing along. He saw those bad boys taking Brighteyes away, and + the bug knew at once that she was Buddy's sister.</p> + + <p>So what did he do but wiggle his wings about a thousand times + a minute, I guess, and fly right at the boy who held the guinea + pig girl!</p> + + <p>Right at the bad boy flew the bug, and he hit him first in one + eye and then the other and scared him so that the bad chap was + glad enough to let go of poor Brighteyes in a hurry.</p> + + <p>Then the other boy stepped on the yeast cake, and it flattened + out, and he slipped on it, and fell down, and he thought a bear + was after him, and he yelled, and the other boy yelled, and then + they both ran away, and Brighteyes was saved.</p> + + <p>She thanked the June bug, and he said he was glad he could + help her, and he flew back to the grocery and got another yeast + cake for her. Then Brighteyes hurried home.</p> + + <p>Now the next story is going to be about Buddy Pigg's great + run—that is, if we have peaches and cream for supper and + the rag man doesn't take my rubber boots for his goat to wear to + the party.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_19"><!-- RULE4 19 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XVII</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY'S GREAT RUN + </center> + + <p>Well, I didn't have peaches and cream for supper last night, + but I had strawberry shortcake, which is almost as good, so I can + tell you a story, anyhow.</p> + + <p>Once upon a time, Oh, I guess it must have been about two + weeks after Brighteyes was caught by the bad boys, and rescued by + the June bug, Buddy Pigg was sitting on his front steps, wishing + he had something to do.</p> + + <p>"Mother," he asked, "can I go down in the brook, paddling? + Jimmie Wibblewobble is down there."</p> + + <p>"No," said Mrs. Pigg kindly, "you are not quite well enough to + go in the water, Buddy. But you may have five cents for an ice + cream cone."</p> + + <p>Well, Buddy walked up to the store, got a vanilla ice cream + cone, and had just finished the last of it, even down to the + sharp point of the cone, where there wasn't any ice cream, when + who should come along but Billie and Johnnie Bushytail. They had + their catching gloves, and a ball and a bat, and when the + squirrel boys saw Buddy they called out:</p> + + <p>"Come on, let's have a game of baseball."</p> + + <p>"All right," agreed Buddy. "But who else will play?"</p> + + <p>"Oh! we'll get Sammie Littletail, and Bully and Bawly, the + frogs, and Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, and Jimmie Wibblewobble, + and we'll have a fine game," said Billie Bushytail.</p> + + <p>So they walked along, and pretty soon they met Sammie + Littletail, and then a little while after that they met the two + Bow Wows, and then who should come hopping along, but Bully and + Bawly, the two frogs, and, if you'll believe me, a moment after + that, along came Jimmie Wibblewobble.</p> + + <p>Then they had enough for a fine baseball game, and they went + to a nice, green meadow where they could play. Well, Johnnie + Bushytail was up at the bat first, and he knocked the ball so far + that Bully, who was playing out in the far-off part of the field, + had to take about sixteen and a half hops before he could get it. + But by that time Johnnie was back at home plate safe.</p> + + <p>Then it came Sammie Littletail's turn, and he knocked the ball + so high that it went up in a tree and stayed there, and didn't + come down.</p> + + <p>"Oh, that's no way to play!" exclaimed Jimmie Wibblewobble. + "Now we haven't any ball. What did you do that for, Sammie?"</p> + + <p>"Well, I couldn't help it; could I?" asked Sammie, and he + threw the bat up, trying to knock down the ball.</p> + + <p>But it wouldn't come down, and then they all threw up stones + and sticks, but still that ball wouldn't come down, and then + Billie and Johnnie Bushytail climbed up and they had it down in + about two frisks of their big, long tails.</p> + + <p>Well, they said that Sammie Littletail was out for knocking + the ball up in the tree, and he didn't like it, but he gave in, + and the game went on. Then Jimmie Wibblewobble knocked a ball, + oh! so far and so high that it was almost out of sight.</p> + + <p>"Nobody can catch that!" cried Jimmie, as he started for first + base.</p> + + <p>But just you wait and see. Buddy Pigg was out in the field, + waiting for a nice ball to come along so he could catch it, and + now was his chance. He had such bright eyes, almost like his + sister's, and he could see the ball away up in the white clouds, + even though none of the other players could.</p> + + <p>He kept his eyes on it, and got his paws all ready to catch it + when it came down. And pretty soon it did begin to come down, for + you know it couldn't stay up there in the air, with nothing to + hold it. Of course not, and I know you understand how that + is.</p> + + <p>Well, Buddy managed to catch that ball, though it came down + very swiftly, and Jimmie Wibblewobble was out.</p> + + <p>"Fine catch, Buddy! Fine!" cried Billie Bushytail.</p> + + <p>"Yes, and now it's Buddy's turn to bat," said Bawly, the frog. + "Get up, Buddy. I'll pitch you a nice one."</p> + + <p>So Buddy got up to home plate, which was a flat stone, you + know, and he held his bat ready to knock the ball out of sight, + if possible.</p> + + <p>Bawly threw him a nice, easy ball, and Buddy struck at it. He + hit, too, which is better. Oh! such a hit as he gave that ball! + It's a good thing balls don't have feelings, I think, or bats + either, for that matter.</p> + + <p>Well, as soon as he hit the ball Buddy started to run for the + bases. Oh, how fast he ran, but something happened. The ball + didn't go as far as he thought it would. No, it fell down right + near Sammie Littletail, and Sammie picked it up and ran toward + Buddy with it.</p> + + <p>He knew if he could touch Buddy with the ball before Buddy got + back to home plate, that Buddy would be out and then Sammie could + bat again.</p> + + <p>So Sammie ran after Buddy, and Buddy ran all around the bases, + hoping he could make a home run and get there safe. But it was + hard work. Faster and faster he ran, and faster and faster hopped + Sammie after him.</p> + + <p>"Run, Buddy! Run!" cried Bully the frog.</p> + + <p>"I—am—running!" panted Buddy.</p> + + <p>"Catch him, Sammie! Catch him!" cried Bawly, and Sammie gave + three tremendous hops to catch Buddy.</p> + + <p>But by this time Buddy was nearly at home plate, where he + would be safe. And the worst of it was that Sammie was almost + there, too.</p> + + <p>Then, with his last breath, and giving a spring and a hop that + was so big that it took him close to Buddy, Sammie stretched out + his paw with the ball in and tried to touch Buddy. But do you + s'pose he did? No, sir, he didn't, and Buddy got home safe, and + wasn't put out after all.</p> + + <p>"Well," said Sammie, after he had gotten his breath, "if you + had had a tail sticking out behind you I would have touched that, + and you'd have been out."</p> + + <p>"I'm glad I haven't a tail," said Buddy, as he sat down on the + grass to rest, and then, after a while the game went on, and + lasted until dark, everybody having a fine time.</p> + + <p>Now, I'm going to tell you in the story after this one about + Brighteyes, Buddy and the turnip—that is, in case I hear a + potato bug sing a song that puts the rag doll to sleep, so she + won't cry and wake up the pussy cat.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_20"><!-- RULE4 20 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XVIII</h2> + + <center> + BRIGHTEYES, BUDDY AND THE TURNIP + </center> + + <p>One day when Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg were out walking in the + fields, they saw, close beside a big stone, a fine, large turnip. + Oh, it was the nicest, ripest, juiciest turnip that ever a guinea + pig boy or girl smelled of, and it just made their mouths water, + and water even came into their eyes.</p> + + <p>"Oh, what a lovely turnip!" exclaimed Brighteyes. "I wonder + who it belongs to?"</p> + + <p>"Let's look and see if it has any one's name on it," suggested + Buddy.</p> + + <p>So, after peering carefully about to see that there were no + traps near, the two guinea pig children went closer, and gazed on + all sides of the turnip, and even turned it over to look on the + bottom.</p> + + <p>They couldn't see a single name, and then they came to the + conclusion that the turnip didn't belong to any one in + particular.</p> + + <p>"I wonder if it would be right for us to take it home?" asked + Brighteyes. "Mamma and papa would just love to have some of + it."</p> + + <p>"Why certainly, take it right along, children!" exclaimed a + voice from under a burdock leaf, and then out flew the kind, old + June bug.</p> + + <p>"May we really have it?" asked Buddy.</p> + + <p>"Of course," answered the June bug. "You see I was hiding + under that leaf, thinking it was about time for me to go South, + for June bugs oughtn't really to fly in July, when I heard a + rumbling noise. First I thought it was thunder, and then I saw + that it was a big farm wagon loaded with turnips.</p> + + <p>"Well, one of the turnips fell off, and a boy, who was riding + on the wagon, called to the man who was driving, and told him + about the turnip falling. Then the man said that didn't matter, + as he had more turnips than he knew what to do with. So that's + how I know that you can have the turnip if you wish."</p> + + <p>"Well, we certainly do wish!" cried Brighteyes. "Isn't it + grand, Buddy? We'll take it right home."</p> + + <p>"Yes, but how can we carry it?" asked her brother. "I don't + believe we can lift it."</p> + + <p>He went up to the big, round turnip, and tried and tried, with + all his might, to lift it, but it wouldn't come up as high even + as a pin head from the ground.</p> + + <p>"Perhaps I can lift it," suggested Brighteyes, so she tried, + but she couldn't.</p> + + <p>"Maybe if you both try together you can," said the June + bug.</p> + + <p>Well, they both pulled and hauled, but it was of no use. There + that turnip was, just as if it was stuck fast in the ground.</p> + + <p>"I'm not very strong myself," went on the June bug, "but I'll + do my best. Come on, now, all together."</p> + + <p>So he took hold, with Buddy and Brighteyes, and he buzzed his + wings as hard as they would buzz, and he cracked his legs, and he + strained and he tugged and pulled, but, no sir, that turnip + wouldn't move the least bit.</p> + + <p>"I guess we'll have to leave it here," said Buddy + sorrowful-like, "but I did so want to take it home to mamma and + papa."</p> + + <p>And he looked at the big vegetable as if it would, somehow, + move itself.</p> + + <p>"I know a way," said the June bug, at length.</p> + + <p>"How?" asked Brighteyes.</p> + + <p>"Why you and your brother must eat as much of it as you can, + and then it will be lighter, and easier to lift, you see. Just + gnaw a lot off the turnip, and you can carry it, then."</p> + + <p>"Oh, but that would spoil the turnip," objected Buddy. "We + want to take it home all in one piece, so papa and mamma can see + it." Now wasn't that good of him? Especially when he and his + sister were just as hungry as they could be, and would have loved + to have had some? But they wanted to have their folks see it + first, without a bite being taken from it.</p> + + <p>"Well," said the June bug, "maybe you can roll it along, if + you can't lift it."</p> + + <p>"The very thing!" cried Buddy. "If we can just get it started + it will roll along easily, for it is down hill to our pen, and it + will bounce along just as the cabbage did, that I was once in. + That's a good plan."</p> + + <p>Well, by hard work the three of them did manage to get the + turnip started, and it rolled along, first slowly and then more + quickly, and then with a rush, and land sake! if all at once it + didn't roll down into a big hole.</p> + + <p>"Oh, now we'll never get it up!" cried Buddy, much + disappointed, and he and his sister felt very sorrowful. But not + for long, for in a little while along hopped Uncle Wiggily + Longears, with his crutch. It didn't take him any time, with the + aid of the June bug, and Buddy and Brighteyes, to pry that turnip + up out of the hole.</p> + + <p>"Now I'll show you how to get the turnip home," said Uncle + Wiggily. "You need some way to steer it, so it won't run away + from you and get into a hole again."</p> + + <p>Then he took his crutch and punched a hole through that + turnip, and put a stick through the hole, so the turnip was just + like the wheel of a wheelbarrow.</p> + + <p>Then he fastened long pieces of strong grass to the stick that + was stuck through the turnip, and he and Buddy and Brighteyes and + the June bug took hold of the grass, and they rolled that turnip + along and steered it just as you pull your sled or wheel the baby + carriage or guide a horse with a bit in his mouth.</p> + + <p>And pretty soon they were safely at the pen, and Dr. Pigg and + his wife were much surprised and delighted when they saw the big + turnip which their children had found. They gave Uncle Wiggily + Longears some, but the June bug said he would rather have a + ginger snap, and he got it.</p> + + <p>Now the next story will be about Buddy and the burglar fox, in + case the milkman isn't late to school, and if he brings a bottle + of water for teacher to sprinkle the blackboards with.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_21"><!-- RULE4 21 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XIX</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY AND THE BURGLAR FOX + </center> + + <p>"We must lock all the windows and doors very tightly + to-night," said Mrs. Pigg to her husband, one evening, when they + were getting ready for bed.</p> + + <p>"Yes," agreed Dr. Pigg, "we must. I'll see to it, my dear, and + you put the children to bed."</p> + + <p>"Why do you have to lock up so carefully, mamma?" inquired + Buddy.</p> + + <p>"Because," said Mrs. Pigg, "I heard that there have been a + number of tramps and burglars around lately."</p> + + <p>"Indeed, that's true," added Dr. Pigg. "Mr. Cock A. Doodle, + the rooster next door, was telling me that he thinks some one + tried to get in his coop last night. The door rattled and some + one shook the window."</p> + + <p>"Perhaps it was the wind," suggested Brighteyes.</p> + + <p>"It may have been," agreed her father. "I hope it was, for I + don't like burglars at all. Now go to bed and don't be afraid, + for I'll lock up carefully, and I have a pail of water right + beside my bed and I'll throw it on a burglar if he dares to come + in."</p> + + <p>So Buddy and Brighteyes went up stairs to bed with their + mother, while Dr. Pigg put out the cat, locked the doors and + windows and set the alarm clock to wake him up at five o'clock, + for he had to go downtown to attend to some business in the + morning.</p> + + <p>"I wish the June bug would come again," said Brighteyes, as + she was falling asleep.</p> + + <p>"Why?" asked her mother from the next room.</p> + + <p>"Oh, so he could tell us some stories, and then I wouldn't + think about burglars."</p> + + <p>"Nonsense!" exclaimed Mrs. Pigg. "How silly! Burglars will + never hurt you. Go to sleep now."</p> + + <p>"If any burglars come in I'll fix 'em'!" cried Buddy, bravely, + from his room. Then Brighteyes went to sleep, and so did Dr. Pigg + and his wife.</p> + + <p>But, somehow, Buddy couldn't sleep. Why it was he didn't know, + only he couldn't. He thought of everything he could think of; ice + cream cones and turnips and baseball games, and being in the boat + that time, and going to the North Pole and then he thought of the + stories the June bug had told him, but still he couldn't go to + sleep.</p> + + <p>"I guess I'll get up and sit by the window a while," he said + to himself. "Then maybe I'll feel sleepy."</p> + + <p>So he got up and sat down in a comfortable chair and looked + out. It was a beautiful moonlight night, and he could see things + almost as well as if it was day.</p> + + <p>Well, Buddy hadn't sat there very long, before he saw + something long and black and shadowy creeping along, as softly + and as gently as a mouse.</p> + + <p>First he thought it was a cat, but when he looked again he saw + that it was a fox. And the fox had a bag over his shoulder, and + he was sneaking along, looking around to be sure no policeman + dogs saw him.</p> + + <p>Well, sir, as true as I'm telling you, if that fox didn't come + softly up to Dr. Pigg's house, right to the front door, as Buddy + could see by leaning out of his window, which was open, and + looking down, as his window was right over the front door.</p> + + <p>Then that fox took a screw-driver out of his bag, and he began + to work at the door to force it open, in spite of the lock on it. + Oh, how softly and quietly he worked! But Buddy looked down and + saw him, and he knew right away that it was a burglar fox, who + was coming in the house.</p> + + <p>At first Buddy was frightened, and then he knew that he ought + to do something. He thought of awakening his papa and mamma, and + then he feared that this would scare Brighteyes, and so he + decided to drive that burglar fox away all by himself.</p> + + <p>Then he tried to think of the best way to do it. He moved + softly about his room, looking for something with which to scare + the fuzzy old fox, and what do you think he found? Why, his + baseball, to be sure!</p> + + <p>"That will be as good as a bullet!" thought Buddy.</p> + + <p>Then he moved softly to the window, leaned out, where he could + see the fox, who was still trying to force open the front door, + and raising the ball in his hand, Buddy threw it down with all + his might, just as if he was throwing to first base.</p> + + <p>Well, sir, the ball hit that bad fox right on the head, and it + bounced up almost into Buddy's hands again, but not quite.</p> + + <p>My, how surprised that fox was! In fact he was so surprised + that he fell down, and when he got up and saw Buddy looking at + him from the window, he was more amazed than ever.</p> + + <p>"Get right away from here, you bad burglar fox you!" cried + Buddy, "or I'll throw forty-seven more big bullets at you!"</p> + + <p>Of course he really couldn't, because he didn't have any other + baseballs to throw, but the fox didn't know that, and really + thought the one baseball was a big bullet.</p> + + <p>Then, without even stopping to pick up his bag, the fox ran + away, and so he didn't get in at all in Dr. Pigg's house, and + Buddy went to sleep.</p> + + <p>Well, when Buddy told his papa and mamma and Brighteyes the + next morning what he had done, maybe they weren't proud of him. + Yes, indeed!</p> + + <p>I wish I could say that the fox was arrested, but he wasn't, + and made lots more trouble later. But he never broke into Dr. + Pigg's house and I'm glad of it.</p> + + <p>Now, do you think you'd like to hear, in the next story, about + a queer adventure which Brighteyes had? Well, I'll tell it to you + if the water sprinkler man gives us a nice big piece of ice to + bake in the oven for a pudding.</p> + <!-- NOTE: Remove center tags and put align="left" or align="right" for text wrapped alignments --> + <a name="image-5"><!-- Image 5 --></a> + + <center> + <img src="./images/05.jpg" height="719" width="450" alt=""> + </center> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_22"><!-- RULE4 22 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XX</h2> + + <center> + BRIGHTEYES HAS AN ADVENTURE + </center> + + <p>It was a very hot day. It was as hot, in fact, as some of the + days we have had around here lately, and when Brighteyes, the + little guinea pig girl, saw the yellow sun beaming down as she + looked out of the pen in the morning, she said to her papa:</p> + + <p>"Now, be very careful not to get overheated to-day, daddy, + dear."</p> + + <p>"I will," replied Dr. Pigg. "It is so very warm that I shall + walk on the shady side of the street, and keep a handkerchief, + wet in ice water, on my head."</p> + + <p>"I was cool enough the other night," remarked Buddy Pigg. "In + fact, I shivered when I saw the burglar fox trying to get in," + and he actually shivered again when he thought of it, and of how + he had scared the bad fox away, as I told you in the story just + before this one.</p> + + <p>But, after a bit, it got so warm that even the thought of the + fox could not make Buddy shiver. Neither could his mother nor + Brighteyes shiver, and when you can't shiver, you know, it's a + sure sign that it's going to be very hot.</p> + + <p>At last Brighteyes said:</p> + + <p>"Oh, I think I'll go for a walk in the woods. Don't you want + to come along, Buddy?" and she looked at her brother, who was + whittling a stick with his new knife.</p> + + <p>But Buddy decided it was too hot even to go off in the woods, + so Brighteyes said she would go alone. She put on her coolest + dress. I think it was a white swiss or a blue organdie, or a + challis, or a bombazine, I can't just exactly remember. Anyway, + it was nice and cool, and freshly washed and ironed and starched, + and Brighteyes looked just as pretty in it as a picture in a gold + frame.</p> + + <p>Well, she walked along for some time, and, pretty soon, oh, I + guess in about three squeaks, or, maybe, four, she came to the + woods. It was nice and cool and shady in there, with a little + breeze blowing through the trees, and, frisking about in the + branches, were several chipmunks, who were cousins of Jennie + Chipmunk, and a number of squirrels, besides, most of them + relations of Johnnie and Billie Bushytail.</p> + + <p>So Brighteyes sat down on a mossy log, and thought how nice + and cool it was, and pretty soon, she heard water running and + splashing over the stones. That made her cooler than ever and she + was feeling very happy, and wishing Buddy was with her, when she + began to feel thirsty.</p> + + <p>And the more she heard the water running the more thirsty she + became, until she said, right out loud: "I'm going to get a + drink!"</p> + + <p>You've no idea how funny it sounded to hear Brighteyes speak + out loud that way, for it was so still and quiet in the woods, + that it was just as if she had spoken out loud in church, after + the minister has stopped praying. Then Brighteyes got up from the + mossy log, and went toward the running water. And what do you + s'pose is going to happen? Why, she's going to have an adventure + in about a minute, or, maybe, less time.</p> + + <p>Well, the little guinea pig girl found where a little brook + ran through the woods, over the stones and under green banks + where the long ferns grew, and she was more thirsty than ever, + and when she got down to the edge of the brook, there was a + little plank stretched across the water for a bridge.</p> + + <p>Brighteyes walked out on the middle of the plank, looked down + into the brook, which was just like a looking-glass, and she saw + how well her dress fitted. Then she kneeled, dipped her paws in + the water and scooped up some to drink, taking care not to splash + any on her clothes.</p> + + <p>"Oh!" exclaimed the little guinea pig girl, "that is very fine + water!" Then she took another drink and stood up. She was just + going to walk back to shore when she happened to hear a funny + noise, and, lo! and behold, at either end of the plank bridge + there was a funny brown, furry creature, about as big as a small + dog. They stood up on their hind legs, one at one end of the + plank and one at the other, and when they saw Brighteyes looking + at them the larger creature cried out:</p> + + <p>"Ha! Ha! Now we have you! You can't get ashore unless you give + us all your money!"</p> + + <p>"I haven't very much," said poor Brighteyes, beginning to + tremble, and wondering if the brown creatures were burglars.</p> + + <p>"Well, we want whatever money you have," declared the creature + at the right-hand end of the plank.</p> + + <p>"Yes, indeed!" cried the creature on the left end.</p> + + <p>"Who—who are you?" stammered Brighteyes, thinking to + make friends with the creatures.</p> + + <p>"We're groundhogs!" they both cried together, "and we want + your money."</p> + + <p>"What for?" asked Brighteyes, wondering what question she + could ask next.</p> + + <p>"We're going to buy firecrackers," answered the one on the + right end.</p> + + <p>"Fourth of July is past," said Brighteyes.</p> + + <p>"No matter. Give us all your money, or we'll push you into the + brook!" declared the two groundhogs together, and when Brighteyes + said she hadn't any change, for there was no pocket in her dress, + you see, to carry any money in, what did those bad groundhogs do, + but begin to teeter-tauter up and down, with the little guinea + pig girl on the middle of the plank.</p> + + <p>Up and down she went, faster and faster, and pretty soon the + water began to splash upon her new dress. And oh, how terrible + she felt.</p> + + <p>First she thought she would run across the plank, but she was + afraid of the groundhog at either end. Then she thought she would + jump over their heads, but she couldn't jump very well, not being + a grasshopper, you see, and she didn't know what to do, and she + was crying the least bit, when, all of a sudden, who should come + along but the three Wibblewobble children—Lulu and Alice + and Jimmie—and when they saw how the two groundhogs had + made Brighteyes a prisoner in the middle of the plank bridge, + those three ducks just stretched out their long necks, and cried, + "Quack! Quack! Quack!" as loudly as they could.</p> + + <p>That so frightened the groundhogs that they jumped into the + brook and swam away, leaving Brighteyes free. Then she went home + with the Wibblewobbles, and told Buddy her adventure, and he said + it was a good one.</p> + + <p>Now, the next story will be about Buddy in a deep + hole—that is if the trolley car doesn't run off the track, + and break all the eggs in the grocery store window.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_23"><!-- RULE4 23 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XXI</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY IN A DEEP HOLE + </center> + + <p>Once upon a time it happened that Buddy Pigg was out taking a + walk over the fields and through the woods. He often used to do + this, sometimes taking a stroll for pleasure, and again to see if + he could find anything to eat. This time he was looking for + something to eat, and so he walked very slowly, looking from side + to side, and sniffing the air from time to time.</p> + + <p>"For," he said, "who knows but what I may find a nice cabbage + or a turnip, or a radish, or a bit of molasses cake, or a ginger + snap, or even an ice cream cone. Any of those things would be + very good," thought Buddy to himself, "especially an ice cream + cone on a hot day."</p> + + <p>But, though he looked and he looked and he looked, oh, I guess + maybe about a dozen times, he couldn't find a single thing that + was good to eat, and he was beginning to get discouraged.</p> + + <p>"I'll go a little bit farther," he thought, "and then if I + don't find anything I'll turn around, go back home, and get some + bread and butter, for that is better than nothing; and I am + getting hungry."</p> + + <p>So he walked on a little farther, and, as he walked along, he + sang this little song which no one is allowed to sing unless they + are very, very hungry.</p> + + <p>So in case it happens that you have just had an ice cream + cone, or something good like that, and are not hungry, you must + not sing this song until just before dinner or breakfast or + supper. Anyhow here's the song and you can put it aside until you + are nearly starving. This is how it goes:</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>"I wish I had some candy</p> + + <p class="i2">Or a peanut lolly-pop.</p> + + <p>I'd eat an ice-cream cone so quick</p> + + <p class="i2">You could not see me stop.</p> + + <p>If I had two big apples,</p> + + <p class="i2">An orange or a peach.</p> + + <p>I'd give my little sister</p> + + <p class="i2">A great big bite from each.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>"But there is nothing here to eat—</p> + + <p class="i2">Not even cherry pie.</p> + + <p>Though we had one at our house once,</p> + + <p class="i2">And some got in my eye.</p> + + <p>Oh! how I'd like a cocoanut!</p> + + <p class="i2">And watermelon, too.</p> + + <p>I'd eat two slices off the ice—</p> + + <p class="i2">Now, really, wouldn't you?"</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p>No sooner had Buddy finished singing this song, than he came + to a place in the woods, where there was a big hole going down + into the ground. Oh, it was quite a large hole, not quite so big + as the one going down to China, but pretty large and it looked + just as if some animal were in the habit of going in and out of + it.</p> + + <p>"Ha, ho!" exclaimed Buddy Pigg. "This looks like something; it + surely does," and, my dear children, the funny part of it was + that the hole did look like something.</p> + + <p>"I guess I'll go down there and see if there's anything to eat + at the bottom," went on the little guinea pig boy, "for I + certainly am hungry."</p> + + <p>Then he stood and peeped down into the hole, and, though it + looked quite far to the bottom of it, and though it seemed pretty + dark, Buddy decided to go in. Now, that was rather foolish of + him, for it's never safe to go in a hole until you know where + you're coming out, especially a hole in the woods; but Buddy + didn't stop to think. So he looked all around, to see that there + were no bad foxes in sight, and then he entered the hole.</p> + + <p>First he crept along very slowly and carefully. Oh my, yes, + and a banana peeling in addition! and then, all of a sudden, land + sakes flopsy dub! if Buddy didn't slip and fall and stumble, and + roll over and over, sideways, and head over heels, and he kept on + going down, until finally he came to a stop in a place that was + as dark as a pocket in a fur overcoat on a winter day.</p> + + <p>"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" cried poor Buddy Pigg. "Whatever has + happened; and where am I?"</p> + + <p>He tried to see where he was, but, my goodness sakes alive! he + might as well have tried to look through the blackboard at + school, for all he could see was just nothing.</p> + + <p>"I—I guess I must have fallen all the way through to + China!" whispered Buddy, as he lay there in the darkness, and + then he happened to remember that if he was in China he would see + some little Chinese boys and girls, and he could not see any, so + he knew he wasn't in China.</p> + + <p>"Oh, dear!" cried Buddy again. "Where am I, anyhow?"</p> + + <p>Then, all of a sudden, out of the darkness, there sounded a + voice, and when Buddy heard it he trembled.</p> + + <p>"Who are you?" cried the voice, "and what are you doing in + here?"</p> + + <p>"If you please," answered the little guinea pig boy, "I am + Buddy, and I fell down this hole. Whose is it?"</p> + + <p>"It belongs to us," said two voices at once. "We are + groundhogs, and you must get right out of here!"</p> + + <p>"Groundhogs!" exclaimed Buddy, and then he remembered the two + who had teeter-tautered Brighteyes up and down on the plank + bridge, and wet her dress, and he was frightened for fear they + would harm him.</p> + + <p>"Oh, please, Mr. Groundhogs!" went on Buddy, "I didn't mean to + come here! I fell in when I was looking for something to eat. + Please help me out, and I'll never come again. I was looking for + something to take home to Brighteyes, my sister."</p> + + <p>"What! Is Brighteyes Pigg your sister?" cried the two + groundhogs, rustling around in the dark hole, and when Buddy said + she was, they said they were very sorry for having frightened her + on the plank. They were only playing a joke, they said, and they + promised never to bother her again.</p> + + <p>"And besides," went on the larger groundhog, "we'll give you + something to eat, and help you out of this hole."</p> + + <p>So they went and got their lantern, which was a bottle filled + with fireflies, and they showed Buddy where there was another + hole leading up out of their underground house, and he crawled + out, after they had given him some clover preserved in molasses + candy, and they promised to come and play with him and Brighteyes + some day.</p> + + <p>Then Buddy was happy again, and almost glad he had fallen down + the big hole, because he had something good to take home to + eat.</p> + + <p>Now, in case I have cherry pie for supper and the juice + doesn't get on my red necktie and turn it green, I'll tell you + soon about a trick the groundhogs played.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_24"><!-- RULE4 24 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XXII</h2> + + <center> + A TRICK THE GROUNDHOGS PLAYED + </center> + + <p>One day, oh, I guess it must have been about a week after + Buddy Pigg fell down the groundhogs' hole, he and Brighteyes were + out walking in the woods. They had been over to pay a visit to + Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, the two puppy dogs, you know, and were + on their way back.</p> + + <p>As they walked along, they both heard a queer little rustling + sound in the bushes, but at first they didn't pay any attention + to it, but they kept on, talking about what a nice time they had + had, when, all of a sudden, the noise sounded more plainly. It + was just as if some big animal had taken hold of the bushes in + his teeth, and had shaken them—shaken the bushes, I mean, + of course, for he couldn't shake his teeth unless they were + false, and animals don't have false teeth, thank goodness.</p> + + <p>"My land sakes! What's that?" exclaimed Brighteyes.</p> + + <p>"Maybe it's a bad fox," said Buddy, and he looked around for a + stick or a stone with which to defend his sister, for Buddy was + brave, let me tell you.</p> + + <p>Then the noise seemed to sort of go away, just like when the + teacher rubs the figures and sentences off the blackboard in + school, and Buddy and Brighteyes weren't so frightened. So they + kept on, and just as they were coming to the path that led to + their pen, what did they hear but the rustling noise in the + bushes again. This time they were very much frightened, and Buddy + picked up a stick, almost as large as himself. Then Brighteyes + said:</p> + + <p>"Oh, Buddy, I'm afraid to go home that way. Let's take the + other path."</p> + + <p>"But that is so much longer," objected her brother.</p> + + <p>"No matter," answered the little guinea pig girl, "it is + better to take a longer path, than to go on a short one and be + eaten up by a fox or a wolf," and I suppose Brighteyes was right. + Anyhow they took the other path, and as they went along it, they + heard a noise in the bushes as if some one was laughing, only + they didn't see how a fox could laugh. So they hurried on.</p> + + <p>Well, it wasn't very long before they came to something. I was + going to let you guess what it was, but as it might take you some + time to think, and then, maybe, you wouldn't get it right, I have + decided to tell you.</p> + + <p>What Buddy and Brighteyes saw on the path in front of them was + a small box—the kind that soap comes out of, you + know—and it was standing up on one edge. And sort of + underneath the box were two, big toadstools, made into tables, + and beside each table was a smaller toadstool for a seat. And, + would you believe me? on each toadstool-table there were a lot of + nice things to eat! Believe me, there was, really! There were + bits of cabbage, some red clover tops with marshmallow-chocolate + on them, and candied cherries, and red raspberries with + strawberry sauce, and oh, I don't know what all!</p> + + <p>"Why!" exclaimed Brighteyes, "that is a regular little + play-party, Buddy."</p> + + <p>"To be sure it is," he answered. "And look, there is a sign + fastened to the box. Let's go closer, and read what it says on + it." So they went a little closer, watching on all sides to make + sure there was no danger, and they read the sign. This is what it + said:</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>"Come in and eat whate'er you wish.</p> + + <p>Taste each dainty in the dish.</p> + + <p>Make a bow, and wipe your feet,</p> + + <p>Fold your napkins nice and neat."</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p>"Come on," cried Buddy to his sister. "Let's go in and + eat."</p> + + <p>"Do you s'pose it's meant for us?" asked Brighteyes.</p> + + <p>"Of course," was his answer. "Come on! See, there's a mat to + wipe your feet on, and there are napkins at each plate. There is + a table for you, and one for me."</p> + + <p>So Buddy and Brighteyes, thinking no harm, went in and, after + making their very best double-jointed bows, and wiping their feet + until there was no more mud on them than on a postage stamp, they + sat down to the tables and tucked in their napkins around their + necks.</p> + + <p>Then they began to eat, and oh, how good everything tasted! + Just like when you go visiting to the country, you know, and eat, + and eat, and keep on eating. Well, that's just the way it was, + believe me, if you please.</p> + + <p>Now, something is going to happen. I can't help it, and it's + not my fault. You see that box, with the nice things to eat on + the toadstool tables, was only a trap. No sooner had the two + guinea pigs begun eating than some one hiding in the bushes + pulled on a long string, and the string snapped out a piece of + wood that was holding up the box, and the box fell down, and + Brighteyes and Buddy were caught under + it—prisoners—just like a mouse in the trap.</p> + + <p>They stopped eating pretty quickly then, let me tell you. + Buddy was just going to have a second helping of + marshmallow-chocolate clover when the box fell over, and it was + so dark inside that he couldn't find his mouth.</p> + + <p>"Oh, dear!" cried Brighteyes. "What has happened?"</p> + + <p>"We're in a trap!" shouted Buddy. "The bad fox has us in a + trap! Come, we must get out!"</p> + + <p>They jumped down from the toadstool seats and upset the + toadstool tables, and the dishes fell on the floor, but they + didn't care. Then the two guinea pig children tried to lift up + the box, but they couldn't, and they tried to dig under it, but + they couldn't, and they didn't know how in the world they were + going to get out.</p> + + <p>Then, all of a sudden they heard some one whispering outside + the box. Buddy thought it was the fox, so he cried: "You had + better let us out of here, Mr. Fox, or we'll have you + arrested!"</p> + + <p>"Why, that's Buddy Pigg!" cried the voice, and all of a sudden + the box was lifted and there stood the two groundhog boys; Woody + and Waddy Chuck were their names. "We didn't mean to catch you," + said Woody. "We were only going to play a joke on our big + brother, but you got in the box by mistake. We're very + sorry."</p> + + <p>But they couldn't help laughing, and I really think the + groundhog boys meant to play a joke on Buddy and Brighteyes and + had followed them through the woods and hid in the bushes and put + the things under the box and all that just on purpose; I really + do.</p> + + <p>But, anyhow, Buddy and Brighteyes weren't hurt a bit, and + Woody and Waddy gave them all the good things they could eat + before the guinea pigs ran home.</p> + + <p>Now, in case it should happen that all the ice in our + refrigerator isn't melted, so we can fry some for pancakes, I'll + tell you next about Buddy in the berry bush.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_25"><!-- RULE4 25 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XXIII</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY IN THE BERRY BUSH + </center> + + <p>Buddy Pigg didn't know what to do. You see he was home all + alone, for his mother and Brighteyes had gone calling on Grandpa + and Grandma Lightfoot, the squirrels and Dr. Pigg was downtown, + playing checkers or dominoes with Uncle Wiggily Longears, so + Buddy didn't have any one to keep him company.</p> + + <p>"I wish some of the boys would come along," he said, as he sat + on the front steps and threw stones out in the dusty road. "I'd + like to have a ball game, or some sort of fun."</p> + + <p>But, though he sat there quite a while, none of the boys came + along, and, at last, Buddy remarked:</p> + + <p>"Oh, I'm going off and see if I can't find Billie or Johnnie + Bushytail, or Sammie Littletail, or some one, to play with." So + he locked the front door, and put the key under the mat, where + his mother would find it when she came home, and off he started, + almost as fast as when Sister Sallie went hippity-hop to the + barber shop.</p> + + <p>Pretty soon Buddy came to the woods, and he opened his mouth + real wide and began to yell, not because he was hurt, you + understand, but because he wanted to call some of the boys. He + yelled, and he hollered, and he hooted, and then, all of a + sudden, he heard some one yelling back at him, and he saw Johnnie + and Billie Bushytail, the two squirrel boys, bounding along on + the low branches of the trees.</p> + + <p>"Hello, fellows!" cried Buddy. "Glad to see you! Let's have + some fun."</p> + + <p>"What'll we do?" asked Billie.</p> + + <p>"I know," suggested Johnnie. "Let's make a see-saw. Here is a + nice plank, and we can put it across that old stump and have a + dandy time."</p> + + <p>So they got the plank and put it across the stump. Then Buddy + got on one end and Billie and Johnnie on the other, as they were + a little smaller than Buddy, and did not weigh so much. Then they + began to go up and down, first slowly, and then faster and + faster, until they were jiggling up and down as fast as the + teakettle boils when there's company coming to supper.</p> + + <p>"Hi, yi!" yelled Billie and Johnnie. "Isn't this fun?"</p> + + <p>"Wow, yow! It certainly is," agreed Buddy. "Only don't jump + off too suddenly when I'm in the air, or I'll fall and be + hurt."</p> + + <p>Well, of course, Billie and Johnnie promised that they would + be careful, and they really meant to keep their word; only, just + as they were close down to the ground on the plank, and Buddy was + high up, what should happen but that a new, green, little acorn + fell off an oak tree.</p> + + <p>It was one of the first acorns of the season, and Billie and + Johnnie each wanted to get it, so, without thinking what they + were doing, they jumped off the teeter-tauter plank, when Buddy + was high up, and, of course, down he came, with a slam-bang!</p> + + <p>My! how it did jar him up, and shake him, like pepper in the + caster, but that wasn't the worst. No, indeed, and some chocolate + cake besides! When Buddy came down he landed right on an old + rubber boot that some one had thrown away in the woods, and it + was so bouncy and springy that he was tossed high up in the air + again, and he curved sideways, just like a baseball, when he came + down this time, and where on earth do you s'pose he landed? Why, + right in the middle of a big, scratchy, blackberry bush!</p> + + <p>Yes, sir, that's where it was! Down poor Buddy went, right + into the midst of the bush, and of course he got scratched some, + only not as much as he might, for he happened to go down through + a thin place, where there were not so many briars.</p> + + <p>Well, at first he was too surprised to speak, and, besides, + the breath was sort of knocked out of him, but, when he did + gather himself together, he saw that he was in a bad place to get + out of. By this time Johnnie and Billie had found the green acorn + and had divided and eaten it, so they came back to find + Buddy.</p> + + <p>"Why, where has he gone to?" asked Billie, looking around.</p> + + <p>"Maybe he got mad, because we jumped off the plank so quickly + and he has run home," suggested Johnnie. "We shouldn't have done + it."</p> + + <p>"No," cried Buddy, suddenly. "I haven't gone home! I'm in the + blackberry bush over here!"</p> + + <p>"Why, how in the world did you get there?" asked Johnnie, and + Buddy told him.</p> + + <p>"I think it would be more polite to ask him how he's going to + get out," suggested Billie.</p> + + <p>"That's so," agreed Buddy. "It's going to be hard work. But I + guess I can crawl through."</p> + + <p>So he tried to crawl through the bush, but you know how it is + when you go after berries, the briars seem to stick into you all + over. That's the way it was with Buddy. He couldn't crawl out, no + matter how hard he tried, for the stickers caught into his fur + and held him fast.</p> + + <p>"Can't you jump out through the same hole you fell in + through?" asked Billie, and Buddy tried to do so, but he was + scratched more than ever.</p> + + <p>Then Billie and Johnnie tried to open up a place through the + bottom part of the briars for Buddy to slide out, but they + couldn't do it, and they were very sorry they had jumped off the + plank so quickly, for that made all the trouble.</p> + + <p>Well, it began to look as though Buddy would never get out, + and he felt like crying, only he was brave, and didn't shed a + single tear. Then Johnnie suggested that he and Billie go up a + tall tree, and lower a string down to Buddy in the bush, and try + to pull him up that way. They tried it, but it wouldn't work, for + the stickers still caught in the little guinea pig's fur.</p> + + <p>So they didn't know what to do, and were just going to give + up, when who should come bounding along but Sammie Littletail. He + knew what to do in a second.</p> + + <p>He dug a burrow, beginning outside the berry bush, and + slanting it up under the roots, so that it came out inside, right + near where Buddy was crouched down inside the clump of briars. + The burrow was like a tunnel, and was big enough for Buddy to + crawl out through, which he did, never getting scratched once. + They all said Sammie was very smart to think of that, and I agree + with them. Then they all played sea-saw some more, until it was + time to go home.</p> + + <p>Now in case there is a cool breeze, to blow the dust out of + the poor coalman's eyes, I'll tell you next about Buddy and + Brighteyes bringing home the cows.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_26"><!-- RULE4 26 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XXIV</h2> + + <center> + BRINGING HOME THE COWS. + </center> + + <p>Not far from where Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg lived, there was + a man who had a farm, and on the farm were a number of cows that + gave milk. Out of the milk butter was made, and sometimes, when + the butter was all churned, the farmer's wife would take some of + the buttermilk that remained in a pail and set it down where Dr. + Pigg and his family could get it.</p> + + <p>They thought this was very kind of the farmer's wife, and Dr. + Pigg told his children that if they could ever do her a favor, + they must be sure to do so. They promised, though for some time + they had no chance to do any kindness to the farmer or his wife + either. But just you wait and see what happens.</p> + + <p>One day, in the middle of summer, when it was very hot every + place, except in the cool and shady woods, Buddy and Brighteyes + were strolling along under the trees near a brook, throwing + pebbles in the water and floating down bits of bark and chips, + which they pretended were boats sailing off to distant + countries.</p> + + <p>"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Buddy at last, "I wish I had something + to do. There's nothing to do here."</p> + + <p>"Why do you always want to be doing something?" asked his + sister. "Why aren't you content to sit here in the shady woods, + and sail the boats?"</p> + + <p>"Because," answered Buddy, and that was the only reason he + could give. Then Brighteyes thought of a new game to play. She + took a piece of bark for her boat, and she found a nice, white + chip for Buddy, and they made believe their boats were having a + race down stream, and Buddy's boat won, which made him feel quite + happy.</p> + + <p>Well, pretty soon, the sun began to go down behind the hills, + and the two guinea pig children knew it was time to go home, so + they started off. But they had not gone very far before they came + to a field, with a fence around it, and the field was quite hilly + and stony and very large. Near the fence sat a man, and he had + one shoe off, and he was looking at his foot.</p> + + <p>"Oh dear!" Buddy and Brighteyes heard him say, for they could + understand the man's language, if they couldn't talk it. "Oh + dear! I've cut my foot on a sharp stone," the man said, "and I + don't see how I can walk away over through the field and climb + the hills after the cows. Oh dear; this is bad luck, and it's + almost milking time, and the cows are sure to be away back in the + far end of the pasture, and I can't go after them. I'll call + them, and maybe they'll come to me, for I surely can't walk after + them."</p> + + <p>So the man stood up on one foot and called: "Co Boss! Co Boss! + Co Boss! Co! Co! Co!" Then he waited quite some time, but the + cows didn't come, and he called again: "Co Boss! Co Boss! Co + Boss!" and he waited some more, but still the cows didn't come. + "Oh, I guess I'll have to go after them, no matter if I have cut + my foot," said the man at last, and he put on his shoe, though it + hurt him, and he began to limp over the hilly field, very slowly + and painfully.</p> + + <p>All at once Brighteyes said to Buddy: "Oh, Bud, that man is + the farmer, and it's his wife who gives us the buttermilk! + Wouldn't it be nice if we could do him a favor, and go and drive + the cows home for him?"</p> + + <p>"How, could we?" asked Buddy. "The cows are big and we are + little. We never could drive them home."</p> + + <p>"We can try," said Brighteyes cheerfully. "Come, we'll hurry + on ahead of the farmer and perhaps I shall think of a plan."</p> + + <p>So the two little guinea pig children slipped under the fence + and ran up across the hilly field, and the farmer, who was + limping along, calling "Co Boss!" every once in a while, never + saw them. His foot was hurting him very much and he had to go + slowly.</p> + + <p>Well, Buddy and Brighteyes kept on, bounding over the stories + and stopping now and then to eat some blackberries or + huckleberries or raspberries or a few late, wild strawberries, + and pretty soon they came to the back part of the field, where, + resting in the shade of some trees, were all the cows.</p> + + <p>Oh, I guess there was a dozen and a half of them—big, + nice mooley cows, with brown eyes and long tongues, and they were + all chewing their cuds like gum, you know, and wondering why the + farmer didn't come to drive them home to milk, for they hadn't + heard him calling them, you see.</p> + + <p>"How are we ever going to drive them home?" asked Buddy of his + sister.</p> + + <p>"Let me think a minute," said Brighteyes, so she thought real + hard for a minute, or, possibly a minute and a little longer, and + then she exclaimed: "We must each take a long, leafy tree branch, + and go up behind the rows, and wave the branches, and tickle the + cows with the leaves, and they'll think it's a boy driving them + home, and they'll march right along, and the poor farmer, with + his sore feet, won't have to come after them."</p> + + <p>And that's exactly what Buddy and Brighteyes did. They got + some branches, gnawing them off a tree with their sharp teeth, + and with the leaves they tickled the cows until they almost made + them sneeze.</p> + + <p>The cows looked around, expecting to see some boys driving + them, but Buddy and Brighteyes hid behind their big branches, and + the cows were none the wiser. So they swallowed their cuds, + blinked their eyes, switched their tails, and started up and down + the hills, over the field, toward the barnyard to be milked.</p> + + <p>Now, before the farmer-man had come very far from the fence, + he met the cows, and maybe he wasn't surprised to see them + coming. But he was glad, too, let me tell you, for he didn't have + to walk any farther with his cut foot.</p> + + <p>Then Brighteyes and Buddy ran and hid, for they did not want + to be seen, and the man jumped upon the back of a gentle cow, and + rode her all the way home, and told his wife how the whole herd, + in some strange manner, had come all the way from the back of the + field alone. You see he didn't know Buddy and Brighteyes had + driven them.</p> + + <p>Well, in a few days the man's foot was well, so he could drive + the cows himself, and the farmer's wife gave Dr. Bigg's family + lots of buttermilk; for, somehow, she guessed that the little + guinea pig boy and girl had done the farmer a kindness, as their + papa had told them to.</p> + + <p>Now the following story will be about Buddy on + horseback—that is, providing no cats get into our coalbin + to scratch the furnace and make it go out.</p> + <!-- NOTE: Remove center tags and put align="left" or align="right" for text wrapped alignments --> + <a name="image-6"><!-- Image 6 --></a> + + <center> + <img src="./images/06.jpg" height="735" width="450" alt=""> + </center> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_27"><!-- RULE4 27 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XXV</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY RIDES HORSEBACK. + </center> + + <p>One night Buddy Pigg's mamma came into his room, where he was + sleeping soundly and dreaming he was playing a ball game with + Bully and Bawly, the frogs, and Mrs. Pigg gently shook her little + boy by the shoulder.</p> + + <p>"Wake up, Buddy!" she called. "Wake up!"</p> + + <p>"What's the matter, mother?" Buddy exclaimed, as he sat up in + bed. "Is the house on fire?"</p> + + <p>"No," she answered, "but your papa is very sick, and I want + you to go for Dr. Possum." Then Buddy jumped up very quickly and + began to dress, for he loved his papa very much, and would do + anything in the world for him. When Buddy was ready to start he + heard Dr. Pigg groaning very hard, and saying:</p> + + <p>"Oh, dear, what a pain I have! Oh, dear! When will Dr. Possum + come?"</p> + + <p>"Buddy is going for him at once," Mrs. Pigg said. "He will + soon be here. But have you no medicine that you can take?" For + Dr. Pigg had once worked in a hospital, and generally had some + medicine in the house, but this time he had none that would stop + his pain. So Buddy had to get ready to go for the doctor, while + Mrs. Pigg and Brighteyes made mustard plasters for Dr. Pigg.</p> + + <p>Well, when Buddy was all dressed, he happened to look out of + the window, and he saw how dark it was, for there was no moon + that night, and the stars were all hidden behind clouds. But do + you s'pose Buddy was going to stay home on that account? No, + sir-ee! He was frightened, and I guess you'd have been, too, but + he was brave, and he made up his mind he'd go for Dr. Possum.</p> + + <p>So Buddy put on his hat and coat and went out of the front + door and into the dark night, where, for all he knew, a bad fox + might be waiting to grab him. But Buddy took a long stick, and he + filled his pockets with stones, and he made up his mind he would + throw them at the fox if he saw him.</p> + + <p>The little guinea pig boy went on, and on, through the woods, + toward Dr. Possum's home, and, after a while, he was not so + frightened as he had been at first. Then, all of a sudden, as he + was passing a big, black bush, he heard a funny noise. First he + thought it was a wolf or a bear, and then he heard a voice + say:</p> + + <p>"Oh, come on down into the burrow, Waddy."</p> + + <p>Then Buddy knew it was the two groundhog boys, Woody and + Waddy, who had made the funny noises, but they didn't mean to + scare him, and he wasn't at all frightened now. Woody and Waddy + had heard Buddy coming along, and, a moment later, they saw him + and asked where he was going.</p> + + <p>"I'm going after Dr. Possum, because my papa is sick," said + Buddy.</p> + + <p>"Wait and we'll let you take our lantern," said Woody, and he + hurried down into the burrow, and came back with a large bottle, + filled with lightning bugs, which gave plenty of light. And it + had a string on, to carry it by. As Buddy took it, very + thankfully, Waddy said he hoped he would find the doctor at + home.</p> + + <p>Then Buddy started off again, but he hadn't gone much farther + through the woods before he heard another noise. This noise was a + real loud one, like some giant tramping up and down, and stamping + his feet, and suddenly there came a great snort, and the earth + seemed to shake, and a big, black thing jumped up in front of + Buddy, scaring him frightfully.</p> + + <p>He trembled so that the cork nearly came out of the bottle of + lightning bugs, and, if it had, the fireflies would have been + spilled all over the ground, worse than when you spill your ice + cream cone—only it didn't happen, I'm glad to say, but + almost. Then the black shape stood still, and a great voice + called out:</p> + + <p>"Where are you going with that lantern?"</p> + + <p>"If you please, kind sir," answered the little boy guinea pig, + "I'm going for Dr. Possum for my papa, who has a terrible pain. + The groundhog boys lent me this lantern. But who are you, if you + please, kind sir?"</p> + + <p>"Why, I am Gup, the horse," was the answer. "So you are going + for Dr. Possum, eh? He is a friend of mine. I'm sorry if I + frightened you. Yes, I'm only Gup, the horse. You see, my name is + Gup because there is a little boy at our house, and he can't talk + very plainly, and he calls me 'Gup' when he wants to say 'get + up,' you see. However, it doesn't much matter, and I don't + mind.</p> + + <p>"But, speaking of doctors, I know where Dr. Possum lives, and + I'll take you right to his house in less than no time. Besides, + you and your sister were so kind as to drive the cows home for + the man who cut his foot, and as he is a friend of mine I want to + return your kindness to him. Jump upon my back, Buddy."</p> + + <p>"Oh, I'm afraid I'll fall," said Buddy, when he saw how high + up Gup's back was from the ground.</p> + + <p>"Nonsense!" exclaimed the horse. "I wouldn't let you fall for + the world. Here, hold up your firefly lantern so you can see, + climb upon that low stump, and then you can jump on my back. I'll + stand still, and then I'll take you right to Dr. Possum's + house."</p> + + <p>So Buddy got up on Gup's back. It was the first time he had + ever ridden a horse or been up so high, and, of course, for a + while, he was frightened. But Gup told him just how to cling + tightly to his big neck and how to hold the lantern so the + lightning bugs would shine on the path, and then Gup started + off.</p> + + <p>Oh, how fast he went! Right through the woods, he galloped, + and he never bumped into a tree or a bush even once. He went + gently, too, so that Buddy would not fall off, and, my goodness + sakes alive! in a short time the little guinea pig boy was at Dr. + Possum's house. He knocked on the door, rat-a-tat-tat, and, + luckily, the doctor was at home. He got right out of bed, took + his satchel of medicines and was just going to get into his + automobile to go to Dr. Pigg's house, when he found that his auto + was broken. Either the spark was off the plug or the plug was off + the spark, I forget which. Then Gup said:</p> + + <p>"Get right up on my back, doctor. I can carry you and Buddy, + too. It's no great weight, I assure you. Never mind the + automobile. They are always making trouble."</p> + + <p>So Dr. Possum, with his medicine box, climbed upon Gup's back, + behind Buddy, and he helped hold the little guinea pig on during + the ride home. Faster and faster went Gup through the dark woods + his hoofs going "tat-a-tat-too," and he didn't bump into a tree + or a bush, and he did not jar off Buddy or Dr. Possum, and pretty + soon there they were safe at Dr. Pigg's house, and Dr. Possum + gave Buddy's papa some medicine that soon made him better. Then + Gup, the kind horsie, took Dr. Possum safely back through the + dark woods as straight as a string.</p> + + <p>In the morning Dr. Pigg was all well again, and he said Buddy + was very brave to go off for a doctor in the night, and I think + so, too.</p> + + <p>Now, in case it doesn't thunder too hard and scare the chimney + so that it falls off the roof, I'll tell you next about Buddy and + Brighteyes tumbling down hill.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_28"><!-- RULE4 28 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XXVI</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES FALL DOWN HILL + </center> + + <p>Not far from where Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg lived in the pen + with their papa and mamma, there was a big, tall hill. Oh, ever + so much taller than a house, but not quite so high as the church + steeple, and it was a very hard hill to climb, but, once you had + gotten to the top, you could see off, ever so far; farther than + from here to the end of the rainbow, which is very far + indeed.</p> + + <p>Now, though Buddy and Brighteyes, the two little guinea pig + children, had lived near the hill ever since they were mere + babies, they had never climbed to the top of it. There were two + reasons for this. One was because the hill was so high and the + other was because it was so steep.</p> + + <p>It seemed as if no one would ever be able to scramble up the + sides of this hill, or, if they did, very likely they would + tumble down again, just like a boy sliding over the ice and snow + on his sled.</p> + + <p>But one fine morning when the sun was shining and the birds + were singing Buddy said to Brighteyes:</p> + + <p>"Let's climb up to the top of the hill to-day?"</p> + + <p>"What for?" asked his sister, as she tied her hair ribbon in a + double bow knot, very pretty indeed to look at, let me tell + you.</p> + + <p>"Why, so we can see away off where the sky and the mountains + come together beyond the hill," said Buddy. "You can see + beautiful scenery from the tip-top, you know."</p> + + <p>"What good will that do?" asked Brighteyes, who was very fond + of asking questions that were hard to answer. "What is the good + of looking at the scenery?" she wanted to know.</p> + + <p>"Because," answered her brother, "every one does that where + there is a high hill. I heard some of the summer boarders at the + farmhouse, near our pen, telling each other what a beautiful view + there was to be had from the hill. We must see it for ourselves. + There is no one around now, and we can climb to the top."</p> + + <p>"I don't care very much about it," spoke Brighteyes. "I would + rather find another box of peanut candy;" but because she loved + Buddy, and did not want him to start off alone, she consented to + climb the big hill with him. So they started off. At first it was + rather easy, and they went up quite fast. At the foot of the hill + were blackberry bushes and the guinea pig children gathered as + many berries as they could eat.</p> + + <p>But, as they went farther and farther up, the bushes grew more + scarce, until there were none. Then came a place where there was + tall grass and many stones, so that it was hard to walk. But + Buddy and Brighteyes kept on, and pretty soon they met a + grasshopper.</p> + + <p>"Where are you going?" asked the grasshopper.</p> + + <p>"To the top of the hill, to see the view," answered Buddy.</p> + + <p>"You will never get there, the way you are going," said the + grasshopper. "You should jump as I do," and he gave three big + hops and a little one to show how well he could do it.</p> + + <p>"We cannot hop," remarked Brighteyes, "but we have a friend + who can."</p> + + <p>"Who?" asked the grasshopper, as he scratched his two big hind + legs together, like a man playing the fiddle.</p> + + <p>"Sammie Littletail, the rabbit," said Buddy. "He can hop."</p> + + <p>"Yes, Sammie is a good jumper," admitted the grasshopper, and + he hid under a stone, for just then he saw a big bird looking + hungrily at him. Well, Buddy and Brighteyes went on and on, and + up and up, and pretty soon they met an ant.</p> + + <p>"Where are you going?" asked the ant.</p> + + <p>"To the top of the hill, to see the fine view," replied + Brighteyes, as she paused to get her breath, which she had nearly + lost.</p> + + <p>"You will never get up the way you are going," said the ant. + "You should crawl, as I do," and she crawled over a stone to show + how it should be done. But Buddy and Brighteyes could not crawl, + and they told the ant so. Still they kept on, and pretty soon + they met a bird.</p> + + <p>"You had better fly to the top of the hill as I do," said the + bird. "It's much easier than walking," only, of course, Buddy and + Brighteyes could not fly.</p> + + <p>But the two guinea pig children were not discouraged, and they + kept on and on, and pretty soon, really and truly honestly, they + were at the very top of the hill—a place where they had + never been before.</p> + + <p>They could look off to the mountains, and they saw a lake, and + they could see the place where the end of the rainbow was, + whenever there was a rainbow, and they felt happy, because + everything was so lovely, and Buddy said:</p> + + <p>"I feel so glad, I must sing a little song." So he sang this + one, which can only be sung on top of a hill:</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>"It's very hard to climb a hill,</p> + + <p class="i2">But when you're at the top,</p> + + <p>You feel so very fine and good</p> + + <p class="i2">Because it's there you stop.</p> + + <p>If you should still keep on and on,</p> + + <p class="i2">I wonder where you'd land?</p> + + <p>By sliding down the other side</p> + + <p class="i2">With sandals full of sand?"</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Then Buddy tried to do a little dance, but what do you s'pose + happened? Why, he lost his balance, and toppled over, and then he + grabbed hold of Brighteyes, who was looking at the fine view, and + she toppled over, and then, wiggily-waggily, woggily-wee! they + both tumbled down that steep hill, head over heels like Jack and + Jill.</p> + + <p>And they went down faster, and faster, and faster, rolling + over and over, and they saw stars, and several different lakes, + and lots of clouds and ever so many things. They were both + frightened, and they thought surely they were going to be hurt, + for they were nearing the bottom, when all of a sudden what + should come along but a big load of hay!</p> + + <p>Buddy and Brighteyes hit a stone, bounced up in the air, and + then came down, flippity-flop! right on top of the soft hay, and + they weren't hurt the least bit. Then they slid down off the hay, + before the man who was driving it saw them, and ran home. And + they didn't climb a hill again for ever and ever so long.</p> + + <p>Now, if I hear a potato bug whistle a tune on a cornstalk + fiddle, I'm going to tell you next about Buddy and Brighteyes + going in bathing.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_29"><!-- RULE4 29 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XXVII</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES GO BATHING + </center> + + <p>"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Buddy Pigg one day. "Oh, dear! Oh, dear + me suz dud!"</p> + + <p>"Why, Buddy, dear, whatever in the world is the matter?" asked + his mamma, and Brighteyes, who was mending some stockings, looked + up at her brother in much surprise.</p> + + <p>"Oh, dear!" cried the little guinea pig boy again, "I wish I + had something to do. It's so hot and dry and dusty here. I wish + some of the fellows would come around or—or I even wish + school would begin again, so I would have something to do."</p> + + <p>Now when a boy wishes for school, in the middle of vacation, + you may be sure something serious is the matter. Mrs. Pigg knew + this at once, so she asked:</p> + + <p>"What would you like to do, Buddy?"</p> + + <p>"I don't know," he answered, rather cross and fretful-like, + which wasn't very nice, I suppose.</p> + + <p>"All the boys have gone to Asbury Park or Ocean Grove," said + Brighteyes, "and I guess you are lonesome, Buddy. It must be + lovely at the seashore," and Brighteyes sighed the least bit, and + took such a big stitch in the stocking she was mending that she + had to rip it out and do it over again.</p> + + <p>"Well, we can't go to the seashore this season because the + salt air doesn't agree with your father," said Mrs. Pigg. "If all + goes well, we shall soon be in the country, however. But now, + what do you like best about the seashore, Buddy?"</p> + + <p>"Going in bathing," he answered.</p> + + <p>"You can do that right here at home," said his mamma. "I will + get out your bathing suits, and you and Brighteyes can go + swimming in the pond back of our house."</p> + + <p>"That will be lovely!" cried Brighteyes, and she jumped up so + quickly that she dropped the basket of stockings, and her pink + hair ribbon came off, and she was all confused-like.</p> + + <p>"There are no waves in the pond, like down in the ocean at + Asbury," complained Buddy. "It is no fun to go in bathing where + there are no waves."</p> + + <p>"Ha! What's that?" cried a voice, and then Percival, the old + circus dog, who was staying with the Piggs while the Bow Wow + family, with whom he lived, was away for the + summer—Percival, I say, got up from where he had been + sleeping under a mosquito net to keep off the flies. "No waves, + eh? So you want waves, do you, when you go in bathing, Buddy?" + asked Percival.</p> + + <p>"Yes," answered Buddy Pigg, "I do, Percival."</p> + + <p>"Then," exclaimed the old circus dog, "you and Brighteyes + shall have them. Get on your bathing suits and come down to the + pond. When you get there you'll find waves enough; I'll guarantee + that! Oh, my, yes, and a life-preserver besides!"</p> + + <p>"How?" asked Buddy. "There are never any waves in that + pond."</p> + + <p>"Just you wait and see," said Percival.</p> + + <p>Mrs. Pigg smiled, but she didn't say anything, and went after + the bathing suits, while Buddy and Brighteyes wondered what was + going to happen. Percival ran out, winking first one eye and then + the other, and not both together, like some dollies do when they + go to sleep, and he gave three short barks and a long one, just + to show how glad he felt to be doing something.</p> + + <p>Well, it didn't take Buddy and Brighteyes very long to put on + their bathing suits. Then they hurried out of the back of the + house and went toward the pond.</p> + + <p>"Do you really s'pose there'll be waves?" asked Buddy.</p> + + <p>"I don't know," answered his sister. "Percival is a very smart + dog, you know."</p> + + <p>Well, they ran down to the pond, and the first thing they saw + when they got there were cords fastened to sticks driven down + into the ground, just like the ropes at Asbury Park, you + know—if you've ever been there. The ropes are for the + bathers to take hold of when the waves come.</p> + + <p>"Well," remarked Buddy, "I see the ropes, but I don't see any + waves." But, no sooner had he spoken than a big wave rolled, + splish-splash-splosh, right up the shore of the pond, which was + rather sandy, and it sprayed itself over the toes of Buddy and + Brighteyes—the wave splashed, you understand—not the + sand, of course.</p> + + <p>"Whee!" cried Buddy, all excited-like. "There's a wave!"</p> + + <p>"Yes, and here comes another!" cried his sister, and, sure + enough, another wave came sizzling and sloshing up out of the + pond. And then another, and another, and another, until there + were a dozen, or, maybe a dozen and a half of waves, one after + the other.</p> + + <p>"Oh, this is grand!" cried Buddy. "It's almost as good as + Asbury Park!" and, really it was, I'm not fooling a bit. Of + course the waves weren't as big as those at the seashore, but + they were pretty good size. Well, Buddy and Brighteyes rushed + into the water, keeping hold of the ropes, and the waves splashed + all around them, and they splashed around in the waves, and + pretty soon Buddy cried:</p> + + <p>"Oh, I got a mouthful of water, and it's salty, just like the + ocean!"</p> + + <p>"Sure enough it is!" agreed Brighteyes, taking a small + mouthful to taste. "I wonder what makes it?"</p> + + <p>"And I wonder what makes the waves, and I wonder where + Percival is?" went on Buddy, and just then there came such a big + wave that it almost knocked him over, and he had to cling to the + ropes. Then what should happen, but that at the far end of the + pond, up rose old dog Percival, laughing as hard as he could + laugh.</p> + + <p>"I told you I would make waves!" he cried, and how do you + s'pose he did it?</p> + + <p>Why, he had a big, empty box, and he would raise that up and + down in the water of the pond, as hard as he could, and this + splashed, and made the waves; and Percival had a bag of salt, to + make the water salty. Now, wasn't he the smart dog though?</p> + + <p>Well, he went on, making more salty waves, and Buddy and + Brighteyes paddled around in them, and yelled and hollered, and + held on to the ropes, and ducked each other, and splashed and had + as good a time as if they had been at the seashore; and so did + Percival, too, I guess. Then, after a while they came out of the + water and dried off, after thanking Percival.</p> + + <p>Now, if our bathtub doesn't freeze up so the canary bird can't + go in swimming I'll tell you presently about Buddy building a + sand house.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_30"><!-- RULE4 30 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XXVIII</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY BUILDS A SAND HOUSE + </center> + + <p>The little guinea pig children had so much fun bathing in the + pond, where Percival, the circus dog, made the salty waves for + them, as I told you about in the previous story, that they went + in swimming as many times as their mamma would let them.</p> + + <p>Percival was only too glad to make the waves, and hold the bag + of salt in the pond, to make it salty, just like the ocean. + Sometimes the old dog would jounce a box up and down, to make the + waves, and again, when he wanted larger ones, he would use a + barrel. Then the waves of the pond would be over the heads of + Buddy and Brighteyes, and they had to cling to the ropes with all + their might.</p> + + <p>One day Buddy was sitting in the sand, on the banks of the + pond, when, all at once, he had an idea.</p> + + <p>"I know what I'm going to do!" he exclaimed. "I'm gong to + build a sand house. I wish Brighteyes was here to help me," but + his sister had gone in the pen to help her mamma get dinner + ready, for Mrs. Pigg expected company that day; Mr. and Mrs. + Bushytail were coming. So Buddy had to start to build the house + all alone. He piled a lot of sand in a heap, together with + stones, and sticks and bits of duck-weed, and then he started + in.</p> + + <p>First he scooped out a hollow place, and that was for the + cellar. Then he stuck sticks up around the edges of the hole, and + began to pile up the sand, to make the walls of the house. Just + as he was doing this, what should he hear but footsteps running + along the sand. He looked, up and gave a shout of delight.</p> + + <p>"Hello, Billie and Johnnie Bushytail!" he cried, as he saw the + two little squirrel boys. "You're just in time! Come on and help + me build this sand house!"</p> + + <p>"Sure!" agreed Billie and Johnnie, as they frisked their + tails, just as the cook sometimes frisks the dusting brush when + she wants to knock the crumbs from the table to the floor. "Can + you stay long?" asked Buddy.</p> + + <p>"As long as papa and mamma do," answered Johnnie. "They are in + your house now, and so is Sister Sallie. We're going to stay to + dinner, but first we'll help you build the sand house."</p> + + <p>So they all three got busy. They piled and scooped the sand up + around the upright sticks, and, pretty soon, believe me, if it + really didn't begin to look like a real house. It was about as + big as a big box, and nearly as high; and the cellar was quite + large.</p> + + <p>"What will we do with the house when we've finished it?" asked + Billie Bushytail.</p> + + <p>"We'll go in it and play we're robbers," suggested Johnnie, as + he patted the sand with his paws, to make it smooth.</p> + + <p>"No, we'll be pirates," decided Buddy. "Pirates always stay + near salt water, and this is salt water, because Percival emptied + a whole bag of salt in it."</p> + + <p>"All right," agreed the squirrel boys, so they went on + building the house. They put little pebbles all around it for a + fence, and laid a gravel walk up from the pond to the front door, + and stuck up little sticks for trees in the front yard, and made + a garden, because Buddy said, even if they were pirates, they + would have to have something to eat, and they planted duck-weed + in the garden and made believe it was radishes and lettuce and + cabbage and ever so many things; even apples and pears and + peaches.</p> + + <p>Well, pretty soon the sand house was finished; that is, all + but the top.</p> + + <p>"What will we have for a roof?" asked Billie.</p> + + <p>"I'll show you," said Buddy, so he laid sticks across the top + of the sand walls, and on top of the sticks he placed duck-weed. + Then, on top of the weed he and the squirrel boys put sand, until + it was really the nicest house of its kind you could find if you + walked a mile, or, maybe even two miles.</p> + + <p>"That certainly is one fine, dandy house!" exclaimed Johnnie, + as he stepped back to admire it.</p> + + <p>"Yes, and now let's get inside and pretend we're robbers," + proposed Billie. "I'll be the head robber and you two can work + for me."</p> + + <p>"No, we're going to be pirates, and I'm the chief one," + insisted Buddy. "We must begin to pirate right away and do all + sorts of things."</p> + + <p>"First, let's see if we can get in the house," said Johnnie. + "Go in very carefully."</p> + + <p>So they went in, very slowly and carefully through the front + door, so as not to knock the sand down, and honestly the sand + house was just big enough for those three, and not a bit bigger. + They even had to hold their breaths, and not all breathe at once, + or they never would have fitted in it.</p> + + <p>"Now," said Buddy, "we'll pretend we're pirates, and we'll + bury all the gold and diamonds we have."</p> + + <p>So they played that game, and buried gold (make-believe you + know) in the cellar, and they were having a lovely time, when all + at once, without a word of warning, the roof of the sand house + fell right in on top of them! I suppose it was because Pirate + Chief Buddy gave such a loud shout.</p> + + <p>Anyway, the roof caved in, and part of the walls, and there + those three pirates were, buried under the sand. They tried to + yell, and call for help, but their mouths were full of the dirt, + and they couldn't speak. Then they tried to scramble out, and + they couldn't do that, and I really don't know what would have + happened to them, if at that moment Brighteyes Pigg and Sister + Sallie hadn't come out of the pen where their mammas and papas + were talking, to see what the boys were doing.</p> + + <p>The two girls saw the sand house, all caved in, and they + guessed that Buddy and Billie and Johnnie were under it.</p> + + <p>"We must dig them out!" cried Sister Sallie.</p> + + <p>So she and Brighteyes got some pieces of shingle, and my + goodness me, sakes alive! how they did make that sand fly! + Percival, the old circus dog, helped them, and pretty soon Buddy + and his friends were safely rescued. They were pretty well + scared, I can tell you, but they were soon all right again, and + then it was time to go to dinner, and after dinner they all went + in bathing and had lots of fun.</p> + + <p>Now, I'm going to tell you next about Buddy helping Sammie + Littletail, that is if the man comes to cut our grass and lets + our puppy dog hide under the door-mat to scare the parrot next + door.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_31"><!-- RULE4 31 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XXIX</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY HELPS SAMMIE LITTLETAIL + </center> + + <p>When Johnnie and Billie Bushytail went home, after having paid + a visit to Buddy Pigg that time when they built the sand house + that fell in on them, they told Sammie and Susie Littletail, the + two rabbits, of what a nice time they had had.</p> + + <p>"Oh, I am going over to see Buddy some day, and go in + bathing," declared Sammie.</p> + + <p>"You had better be careful about bathing in salt water," said + Susie, his sister, "it might take all the color out of your eyes, + or out of your fur, or your fur might even fall out."</p> + + <p>"Oh, I guess not," answered Sammie. "I have heard that salt + water keeps hair from falling out. Anyway, if there's any danger + of such a thing, Percival, the old circus dog, doesn't need to + hold the bag of salt in the water when we go in bathing."</p> + + <p>"That's so," agreed Susie, and just then along came Uncle + Wiggily Longears, the old gentleman rabbit, and he was eating + some peppermint-flavored cabbage, and he gave Sammie and Susie + some.</p> + + <p>Well, it wasn't very many days after this before Sammie asked + his mamma if he couldn't go over and play with Buddy Pigg, and, + as Sammie had been a very good rabbit boy lately, his mother + allowed him to go.</p> + + <p>"I am so glad you came, Sammie," said Buddy, "what shall we + do, go in bathing, or build a sand house?"</p> + + <p>"Let's do both," answered Sammie. So first he and Buddy went + in bathing and, for fear the salt water would make the red color + fade out of Sammie's eyes, Percival didn't hold the bag of salt + in the pond when he made the waves. Sammie and Buddy had a good + time splashing around, and then they built a sand house. But they + took care to make it strong enough so that it would not cave in. + They played together for a long time and then Buddy asked: "What + shall we do next?"</p> + + <p>"I know," replied Sammie, as he looked at the pond of water + which was sparkling in the sun, "let's play soldier, and we'll + make a plank bridge across the pond and run over it and have lots + of fun."</p> + + <p>"All right," agreed Buddy, "come on, and help me lift the + plank." So they placed a long board across one end of the pond, + where it was quite deep, and began to play soldier, while + Percival went to sleep in the shade.</p> + + <p>Buddy got a tin can, and tied it around his neck with a + string. That was for the drum, and when he beat upon the tin can + with two sticks, believe me, it did sound just like a drum in the + army, when the soldiers beat it softly.</p> + + <p>Then Sammie got a long stick, pretending it was a gun, and the + two of them marched around and around, and sideways, and up and + down, and through the middle, and across the plank, and back + again, several times. Then, Sammie would fire the gun, yelling, + "Boom-Boom!" as loudly as he could, and shooting maybe a dozen + bad Indians or pirates or robbers, or maybe more, for all I know, + and Buddy would beat on the drum louder than ever, and he would + cry:</p> + + <p>"Charge! Charge on the enemy! Hurrah! Hurrah! The victory is + ours!" and he would wave a flag he had made out of a piece of + white cloth, red flannel and a bit of Brighteyes' blue hair + ribbon, that she had lost.</p> + + <p>Oh, it wag great fun, I tell you! But the best of all was + rushing across the plank over the deep part of the pond, for then + it sounded exactly as if horses and cannon were coming over the + bridge, and the plank teetered and tautered up and down, and + sometimes Buddy and Sammie almost fell off. But they didn't mind + this; they only thought it all the more fun.</p> + + <p>Then, at last, something did happen. Buddy was ahead, waving + the flag with one hand, and beating the drum with the other, and + Sammie was firing his wooden gun as fast as he could fire it, + with ever so many "Boom-Booms!" real loud ones, too, and + shooting, oh, ever so many make-believe Indians, when, all of a + sudden, poor Sammie Littletail slipped off the plank, and fell + into the deep part of the pond!</p> + + <p>"Oh, save me; save me, Buddy!" cried Sammie, splashing + around.</p> + + <p>"I'll save you!" cried Buddy, and he got so excited that he + threw away his drum, and the drumsticks and the flag, only he + tossed the flag safely on shore, where it wouldn't get wet, for + he loved the flag, even if it was only a make-believe one. "I'll + save you," he cried. "Can you swim any, Sammie?"</p> + + <p>"A—a—lit-tle—bit!" gasped the rabbit boy, as + he floundered around in the water. "But I could swim more if + nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy was here to show me," and then he couldn't + talk any more, for his mouth was full of water.</p> + + <p>Well, Sammie was terribly frightened, as he floundered around + in the pond, with his wooden gun, and so was Buddy frightened, up + on the plank bridge. Buddy looked all around, to see if there was + any one coming to help him save Sammie, but there wasn't. + Percival had gone in the house, and Brighteyes and her mother had + gone berrying. Then Buddy made up his mind that he would have to + save Sammie all by himself.</p> + + <p>First he tried to kneel down on the plank, and reach his hand + to his little rabbit chum, but he couldn't reach far enough. Then + he called to Sammie to hold up the wooden gun, thinking maybe he + could get hold of that, and so drag the rabbit boy out, but the + gun wiggled so, when Sammie splashed around that Buddy couldn't + get hold of it.</p> + + <p>Then it began to look as if Sammie would drown, but Buddy had + one more thing to try. On shore there was a rope. Buddy ran and + got it, and in one end he made a loop, just like the cowboys do + when they lasso a wild steer, or a horse.</p> + + <p>Buddy took good aim, tossed the loop of rope over Sammie's + head, and Sammie grabbed hold with his front paws, and then Buddy + braced his feet in the sand and gave a long, strong pull, and + pulled Sammie safely out of the water, and saved him; just in + time, too, let me tell you, for his breath was nearly gone. Well, + Sammie soon got over being scared, and when he was dried off the + two friends played soldier some more, only they kept off the + plank.</p> + + <p>Now the next story is going to be about Brighteyes and Jennie + Chipmunk—that is, if our hired girl doesn't leave and make + me wash the dishes so I can't typewrite.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_32"><!-- RULE4 32 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XXX</h2> + + <center> + BRIGHTEYES AND JENNIE CHIPMUNK + </center> + + <p>It happened one day that after Brighteyes Pigg had finished + combing her hair, and had put on a nice, pink ribbon, which she + tied in two, big bows, that she heard a knock at the door. There + was no one home, for her mamma had gone down to the five and ten + cent store to get a wash boiler; Dr. Pigg was seeing some friends + in the hospital, and Buddy was off playing ball with Bully and + Bawly, the two frogs, and some others of his friends. So + Brighteyes went to the door herself.</p> + + <p>And whom do you suppose she found there?</p> + + <p>Well, I don't believe you'd guess in sixteen minutes, so I'll + tell you. It was Jennie Chipmunk, the little girl who lived with + Grandpa and Grandma Lightfoot, the squirrel grandparents of + Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, you know.</p> + + <p>Jennie was smiling so that she showed her pretty white teeth, + and she was humming a little song, one of those she always sang + when she washed the dishes. This is the song, and you are allowed + to sing it if you have helped your mamma dry the dishes. It goes + to the tune of "Oh fie lum diddle daddy de dum," which is a very + nice tune if you can sing it. Anyhow, Jennie Chipmunk sang:</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>"I love to wash the dishes,</p> + + <p class="i2">And also dry them, too.</p> + + <p>It makes your paws so soft and white,</p> + + <p class="i2">I really think—don't you?</p> + + <p>Some folks are awful fussy,</p> + + <p class="i2">When e'er they dust or sweep.</p> + + <p>They'd rather pile the dirt all up</p> + + <p class="i2">In corners, in a heap.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>"But I just love my housework,</p> + + <p class="i2">For making beds I sigh.</p> + + <p>I love to wash the tablecloth</p> + + <p class="i2">And make a cherry pie.</p> + + <p>I knead the bread and bake it,</p> + + <p class="i2">I starch and iron the clothes,</p> + + <p>I wash the windows Saturday—"</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p>"That's enough, my goodness knows!" finished Brighteyes for + Jennie, with a laugh. "Land sakes! Jennie Chipmunk," the little + guinea pig girl went on, "I should think you'd be tired with all + that work! Come on and we'll take a walk in the woods."</p> + + <p>So the two started, after Brighteyes had locked the door and + put the key under the mat, where her mother could find it when + she came back from the five and ten cent store, where she had + gone to get a diamond ring—no, I mean a dishpan—no, a + wash boiler—there, I've got it right at last.</p> + + <p>Well, Jennie and Brighteyes walked on through the woods and + sometimes they found huckleberries to eat, or they found + pennyroyal, which is a nice plant to smell, and it keeps the + mosquitoes away, when they want to stay away. And the two + children found some blackberries, and they found spearmint and + peppermint and then they got in a field where there was a lovely + apple tree and they were just eating a few of the apples and + putting some in their pockets, to take home, when, all of a + sudden they heard a voice calling to them from behind the + tree.</p> + + <p>"Here, what are you doing with those apples?" cried the voice, + and oh, such a harsh, ugly, cross voice as it was! It fairly made + Brighteyes and Jennie shiver.</p> + + <p>First they thought it was the man who owned the tree, and then + Brighteyes remembered that he was the kind farmer whose cows she + and Buddy had once driven home, when he had cut his foot, and she + knew he wouldn't speak so cross to her. Then she thought it was a + bad boy, but she looked, and so did Jennie, and they couldn't see + any boy. Then the voice growled out again:</p> + + <p>"Here, you leave those apples alone!" and goodness sakes + alive, and a can of tomato soup! from behind the apple tree, + there appeared the bad, ugly, old burglar fox! Oh, how frightened + Brighteyes and Jennie Chipmunk were! They fairly trembled and + shivered, though it was a hot day!</p> + + <p>"Ah! ha!" cried the fox, curling back his lip, to show his + ugly teeth, and blinking his eyes as fast as a moving picture + goes when it skips along very quickly. "Ah! ha! Now I have caught + you! Do you know what I am going to do to you for taking my + apples?"</p> + + <p>"We—we didn't know they were your apples," said + Jennie.</p> + + <p>"No matter about that," said the bad fox. "Do you know what I + am going to do to you?"</p> + + <p>"No," answered Brighteyes. "What are you going to do to us, + good Mr. Fox?"</p> + + <p>"I'm not good Mr. Fox; I'm bad Mr. Fox," he answered, "and + what I'm going to do is to eat you all up—all up—all + up!" and he smacked his lips and gnashed his teeth something + terrible.</p> + + <p>But don't be afraid. Just you wait and see what Brighteyes did + to that fox. All the while she was thinking how she could save + herself and Jennie, for she knew those apples didn't belong to + the fox.</p> + + <p>First Brighteyes thought maybe Buddy would come along and help + her, or maybe the farmer, but no one came, and the fox was + creeping nearer and nearer to Jennie, getting ready to grab her + first, when what did Brighteyes do but pull up some horseradish + leaves that grew nearby and throw them right in the eyes of that + bad fox.</p> + + <p>Now, horseradish leaves are very smarty and peppery, you know, + almost like mustard, and when they got in the fox's eyes they + made him so he couldn't see, and they hurt him, too.</p> + + <p>Then I wish you could have heard him howl. No, on second + thought, I'm glad you couldn't hear him, for it might scare you. + Anyhow, he jumped up and down and sideways, and he whirled + around, and he howled and he yowled and he jowled, and then + Brighteyes called:</p> + + <p>"Come on, Jennie, now is our chance. We can get away before he + sees us!"</p> + + <p>So they ran away, taking all the apples they could carry, and + the fox couldn't see for ever so long, for he couldn't get his + eyes open. So that is how Brighteyes and Jennie Chipmunk were + saved, and they went home, and nothing happened to them on the + way. Now, the next story will be about Buddy and Brighteyes in + the mountains—that is, providing I catch some fish the next + time I go fishing and don't lose my watch in the water for the + alligator to tell time by.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_33"><!-- RULE4 33 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XXXI</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES IN THE MOUNTAINS + </center> + + <p>One day Dr. Pigg came home from paying a visit to Uncle + Wiggily Longears, and said:</p> + + <p>"Well, children, get ready, we are going away for a vacation + to-morrow."</p> + + <p>"Oh goody!" cried Brighteyes, jumping up and down in the + middle of the floor, until her pink hair ribbon flopped up and + down, like the wings of a butterfly.</p> + + <p>"Are we going to the seashore?" asked Buddy, while Brighteyes + went over and kissed her father, standing on her tiptoes to reach + him.</p> + + <p>"No," said Dr. Pigg, "we are not going to the seashore. We are + going to the mountains, where there is a nice lake. The salt air + of the seashore does not agree with me. I have asked Uncle + Wiggily Longears to go with us, and he does not like the salt + air, either. It is bad for his rheumatism, which is a little + better now, and he does not want it to get worse."</p> + + <p>"Oh, that's fine, if Uncle Wiggily is coming!" said Buddy. + "He'll take us all over the mountains, into caves and out rowing + on the lake, and show us how to have lots of fun."</p> + + <p>Well, the Pigg family began to pack up, and, in a few hours + they were ready to go. Uncle Wiggily came to help them, as he had + all his things packed. He brought along his crutch, in case he + might happen to need it, but he hoped he would not.</p> + + <p>"Couldn't Sammie and Susie Littletail come, too?" asked + Buddy.</p> + + <p>"No, they have gone to Belmar, at the seashore, for the + summer," answered Uncle Wiggily. "But now we must hurry off to + the mountains."</p> + + <p>So they hurried off, and in a little while, oh, not so very + long, Dr. Pigg and his family, and Uncle Wiggily arrived at a + nice pen, right on the side of a mountain, at the foot of which + was a large lake.</p> + + <p>There were so many things to see that Buddy and Brighteyes did + not know at which to look first, and they ran all about, now to + one place, and now to another. Then, when they had had their + supper, Uncle Wiggily said:</p> + + <p>"Come now, we will take a walk. I think I know where there is + a cave, and we will see if a giant lives in it."</p> + + <p>"A real giant?" asked Buddy.</p> + <!-- NOTE: Remove center tags and put align="left" or align="right" for text wrapped alignments --> + <a name="image-7"><!-- Image 7 --></a> + + <center> + <img src="./images/07.jpg" height="727" width="450" alt=""> + </center> + + <p>"No, only a make-believe one," answered Uncle Wiggily, with a + laugh. So he and the two guinea pig children started off up the + side of the mountain toward the cave. All around them were other + mountains, and it was a lovely place, with the red sun sinking + down behind the hills, just like it does in poetry.</p> + + <p>"Ha, here we are at the cave!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, at + length, as they came to a big hole in the side of the mountain. + "Now, Buddy and Brighteyes, be very careful. Keep close to me, + and don't go in very far, or you may get lost."</p> + + <p>Then they started to go in, but just at that moment Uncle + Wiggily stepped on a stone and twisted his ankle, the one that + had some rheumatism still left in it, and he had to sit down and + rub his foot with a bottle of liniment which he carried in his + pocket.</p> + + <p>While he was doing this Buddy and Brighteyes wandered a little + way into the cave. It looked perfectly safe, and it was so + pretty, with the sun shining in, and reflecting back from the + crystals that hung down from the roof, and those that stuck up + from the floor, that, almost before they knew what they were + doing, the two children had gone some distance inside.</p> + + <p>And, once they were in, it was so pretty that they kept on + going farther and farther, until, land sakes, if, in about ten + minutes they weren't away inside that cave, and they had + forgotten all about what Uncle Wiggily Longears had told them + about keeping close to him.</p> + + <p>"Oh, we mustn't go any further!" cried Brighteyes at length. + "It's getting quite dark, Buddy. We'll have to go back."</p> + + <p>"All right," agreed her brother. "Uncle Wiggily will take us + farther in I guess. We'll go and get him."</p> + + <p>So they started back, but, would you believe it, they couldn't + find their way! No, sir, there they were lost in that big cave! + the more they tried to get out, the more lost they became.</p> + + <p>Outside, Uncle Wiggily was in great distress. When his foot + ceased hurting he looked for the children, but he couldn't see + them. Then he knew they must have gone into the cave, and he was + much frightened.</p> + + <p>"Here it is, night coming on," he remarked, "and soon it will + be very dark in there. Then I never can find Buddy and + Brighteyes, and they'll be lost in there all + night—and—oh dear—why did they go in without + me?"</p> + + <p>But in they had gone, and now Uncle Wiggily had to get them + out. But he was a wise old rabbit, and, to make sure he would not + get lost himself, he took a string, and tied it to his crutch, + and left the crutch outside the cave. Then he took the ball of + string and started in the cave, unrolling the cord as he went + along, and keeping tight hold of it, so he could find his way + back in the dark.</p> + + <p>Then he tramped on, though it was hard work without his + crutch, looking for Brighteyes and Buddy. I don't believe he ever + would have found them, but for a kind old lightning bug, who flew + on ahead, to light the way for him.</p> + + <p>Then, after a while, by the gleam of the firefly, Uncle + Wiggily did come upon Buddy and Brighteyes fast asleep in a + corner. They had tried, and tried to find their way out, until + they were so tired that they fell asleep.</p> + + <p>Uncle Wiggily awakened them, and then, keeping tight hold of + the string that was fast to his crutch, he led them out of the + cave. And, oh, how thankful they were! They promised never to go + in the mountain cave alone again, and they never did.</p> + + <p>Well, Buddy and Brighteyes stayed in the mountains for quite + awhile, and had lots of fun, which I may tell you about later, + but now I think I will start some new stories—some that you + have never heard, and, what do you think? they're going to be + about some kittie cats.</p> + + <p>I know most of you children must love cats, for I do, and it + isn't so very long ago that I was a little chap myself.</p> + + <p>So, if you please, the next book of Bedtime Stories will be + called "Joie, Tommie and Kittie Kat." Their names are spelled + with a "K" you may notice, but they are not at all proud, or + stuck-up, on that account. I hope you will like them as well as + you have Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg.</p> + + <p>So now, for a little while we will say good-by, and it will + not be long before you can read about the funny things the Kat + children did, and about the walnut shells, and all that.</p> + + <center> + THE END + </center> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11156 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/11156-h/images/01.jpg b/11156-h/images/01.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6311240 --- /dev/null +++ b/11156-h/images/01.jpg diff --git a/11156-h/images/02.jpg b/11156-h/images/02.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5d35c62 --- /dev/null +++ b/11156-h/images/02.jpg diff --git a/11156-h/images/03.jpg b/11156-h/images/03.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ab194d3 --- /dev/null +++ b/11156-h/images/03.jpg diff --git a/11156-h/images/04.jpg b/11156-h/images/04.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fb4fbc7 --- /dev/null +++ b/11156-h/images/04.jpg diff --git a/11156-h/images/05.jpg b/11156-h/images/05.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..34d5556 --- /dev/null +++ b/11156-h/images/05.jpg diff --git a/11156-h/images/06.jpg b/11156-h/images/06.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b003d6a --- /dev/null +++ b/11156-h/images/06.jpg diff --git a/11156-h/images/07.jpg b/11156-h/images/07.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5d6dc86 --- /dev/null +++ b/11156-h/images/07.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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Garis.</title> + <style type="text/css"> + <!-- + * { font-family: Times;} + P { text-indent: 1em; + margin: 10%; + margin-top: .75em; + font-size: 14pt; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; } + HR { width: 33%; } + PRE { font-family: Courier, monospaced; } + + .list + {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .rom + {list-style-type: upper-roman;} + + .poem {margin-left:25%; margin-right:20%; text-align: left;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem p {margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem p.i2 {margin-left: 2em;} + .poem p.i4 {margin-left: 4em;} + .poem .caesura {vertical-align: -200%;} + // --> + </style> +</head> + +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Buddy And Brighteyes Pigg, by Howard R. Garis + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Buddy And Brighteyes Pigg + Bed Time Stories + +Author: Howard R. Garis + +Release Date: February 19, 2004 [EBook #11156] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES PIGG *** + + + + +Produced by The Internet Archive Children's Library, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + <h2>BED TIME STORIES:</h2> + + <h1>Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg</h1> + + <center> + Howard R. Garis + </center> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_1"><!-- RULE4 1 --></a> + + <h2>PUBLISHER'S NOTE.</h2> + + <p>These stories appeared originally in the Evening News, of + Newark, N.J., and are reproduced in book form by the kind + permission of the publishers of that paper, to whom the author + extends his thanks.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + <hr> + <a name="TOC"><!-- TOC --></a> + + <h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + + <div class="list"> + <ol class="rom"> + <li><a href="#RULE4_3">BUDDY PIGG IN A CABBAGE</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_4">BRIGHTEYES AND MRS. HOPTOAD</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_5">BUDDY PIGG AND SAMMY + LITTLETAIL</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_6">BUDDY PIGG PLAYS BALL</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_7">BRIGHT EYES PIGG AND SISTER + SALLIE</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_8">DR. PIGG AND UNCLE WIGGILY</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_9">BUDDY PIGG IS CAUGHT</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_10">BUDDY'S AND BRIGHTEYES' FOURTH OF + JULY</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_11">BUDDY PIGG WANTS A TAIL</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_12">BUDDY WALKS A TIGHT ROPE</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_13">BRIGHTEYES IN A TIN CAN</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_14">DR. PIGG AND THE FIRECRACKER</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_15">BUDDY PIGG IN A BOAT</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_16">BRIGHTEYES AND THE PEANUT + CANDY</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_17">BUDDY AND THE JUNE BUG</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_18">BRIGHTEYES AND THE BAD BOY</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_19">BUDDY'S GREAT RUN</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_20">BRIGHTEYES, BUDDY AND THE + TURNIP</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_21">BUDDY AND THE BURGLAR FOX</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_22">BRIGHTEYES HAS AN ADVENTURE</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_23">BUDDY IN A DEEP HOLE</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_24">A TRICK THE GROUNDHOGS + PLAYED</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_25">BUDDY IN THE BERRY BUSH</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_26">BRINGING HOME THE COWS</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_27">BUDDY RIDES HORSEBACK</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_28">BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES FALL + DOWNHILL</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_29">BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES GO + BATHING</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_30">BUDDY BUILDS A SAND HOUSE</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_31">BUDDY HELPS SAMMY LITTLETAIL</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_32">BRIGHTEYES AND JENNIE + CHIPMUNK</a></li> + + <li><a href="#RULE4_33">BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES IN THE + MOUNTAINS</a></li> + </ol> + </div> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_2"><!-- RULE4 2 --></a> + + <h2>BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES PIGG</h2> + <hr> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_3"><!-- RULE4 3 --></a> + + <h2>STORY I</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY PIGG IN A CABBAGE + </center> + + <p>Once upon a time, not so many years ago, in fact it was about + the same year that Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, the little puppy + dog boys lived in their kennel house, there used to play with + them, two queer little brown and white and black and white animal + children, called guinea pigs. They were just as cute as they + could be, and, since I have told you some stories about rabbits, + and squirrels and ducks, as well as about puppies, I wonder how + you would like to hear some account of what the guinea pigs + did?</p> + + <p>Anyhow, I'll begin, and so it happened that there lived at one + time, in a nice little house, called a pen, four guinea pigs.</p> + + <p>There was the papa, and he was named Dr. Pigg, and the reason + for it was that he had once been in the hospital with a broken + paw, and ever since he was known as "Doctor." Then there was his + wife, and his little boy, and his little girl. They were + Montmorency and Matilda, but, as the children didn't like those + names, they always spoke of each other as "Buddy" and + "Brighteyes," so I will do the same.</p> + + <p>Buddy Pigg (and he had two g's in his name you notice) was + black and white, and Brighteyes Pigg was brown and white, and + they were the nicest guinea pig children you could meet if you + rode all week in an automobile. One day Buddy went out for a walk + in the woods alone, because Brighteyes had to stay at home to + help to do the dishes, and dust the furniture.</p> + + <p>Buddy, who, I suppose, you remember, was a friend of Jackie + and Peetie Bow Wow, walked along, sniffing with his nose, just + like Sammie and Susie Littletail, the rabbits.</p> + + <p>"It seems to me," Buddy said, "that I smell something good to + eat. I wonder if it can be an ice cream cone, or some peanuts, or + anything like that?" He looked around but he couldn't see any + store there in the woods where they sold ice cream or peanuts, + and then he knew he must be mistaken. Still he kept on smelling + something good.</p> + + <p>"I wonder where that is?" he exclaimed, and he sniffed harder + than ever. And then he knew what it was—a cabbage—a + great, big cabbage! He ran around the side of a big rock, and + there lying on the path, was a fine big cabbage. Some one had + dropped it by mistake.</p> + + <p>"This is great luck!" cried Buddy Pigg. "There is enough for + me and Brighteyes, and I can take some home to mamma and to my + papa, the doctor. Yes, indeed, this has been a lucky day for me. + I'm as glad I found this cabbage as if I had picked up ten cents! + I guess I'll eat some to see how it tastes."</p> + + <p>So Buddy Pigg began to gnaw at the cabbage and, as he had very + good teeth for gnawing—almost as good as Sammy + Littletail's—he soon had quite a hole made. But he kept on + gnawing and eating away, so fine did it taste, until, in a little + while if he hadn't eaten a hole right into the cabbage and he + found himself inside, just like the mousie in the loaf of + bread!</p> + + <p>"Ha! This is very fine, indeed!" cried Buddy Pigg. "I think I + will take a nap here," and lopsy-flop! if that little guinea pig + didn't curl up inside the cabbage and go fast, fast asleep; and + not even his tail stuck out, because, you see, he didn't have any + tail—guinea pigs never do have any, which is a good thing, + I suppose.</p> + + <p>Well, Buddy Pigg was sleeping away inside that cabbage, + dreaming of how nice it would be to take the rest of it home, + when all at once, who should come creeping, creeping around the + edge of the rock, but a great, big fox. He had sharp eyes, had + that fox, and he saw the little guinea pig asleep inside the + cabbage, even though Buddy's tail didn't stick out.</p> + + <p>"Ah, ha! Oh, ho!" exclaimed the fox, and he smacked his lips. + "I see a fine feast before me! Oh, yes, indeed, a very fine + feast! Guinea pig flavored with cabbage! Now, just so that pig + can't get out, I'll stop up that hole, while he's asleep in + there, and I'll go and get my wife, and we'll come back and have + a dandy meal! Oh! a most delectable meal!"</p> + + <p>So that old fox crept softly, so softly, up to where the + cabbage was, with Buddy asleep inside, and the fox took a stone, + and he crowded it, and wedged it, fast in the hole, so poor Buddy + couldn't get out, though there was some air for him to breathe. + Then the fox laughed to himself: "Ha, ha!" and "Ho, ho!" and + hurried off down the hill after his wife.</p> + + <p>Well, it wasn't long before Buddy Pigg awoke, and he tried to + stretch himself, as he always did after a nap, and wasn't he the + surprised guinea pig, though, when he found he couldn't + stretch!</p> + + <p>"Why, what can be the matter?" he cried. "I'm all in the dark! + Let's see where was I? Oh, I remember, I found a cabbage, and I + began to eat it, and I went inside it—And land sakes, + goodness me and a trolley car! I'm inside it now!" he cried, as + he smelled the cabbage. "I'm shut in the cabbage just as if I was + shut in a closet! However did it happen?" and he tried to turn + around, and make his way out, but he couldn't, because the stone + which the fox had stuffed in the hole closed it up too tight.</p> + + <p>"I'm locked in!" cried Buddy Pigg. "Locked in a cabbage! Isn't + it terrible!" and of course it was, and no fooling, either.</p> + + <p>Well, Buddy Pigg was a brave little chap, and instead of + sitting down and crying there in the dark, he began to think of + how he could get out. He thought of all sorts of ways, but none + of them seemed any good, and at last he decided to try to burst + the cabbage open. But it was too strong and thick, and he + couldn't do it.</p> + + <p>He soon discovered, however, that, wiggling around inside it + as he did, made the cabbage wiggle too, and the first thing you + know the cabbage began to roll down the hill, just like a man in + a barrel.</p> + + <p>Faster and faster went the cabbage down the hill, over and + over, with Buddy inside, and he began to get dizzy, for he didn't + know what was happening.</p> + + <p>Then, at that moment, who should come along but that bad fox + and his wife. The cabbage seemed to be rolling straight at + them.</p> + + <p>"My sakes alive!" cried Mrs. Fox. "What is that, Oscar?" You + see her husband's name was Oscar.</p> + + <p>"I don't know," he replied, "but don't bother about it. We'll + go and get that guinea pig." So they kept on, but just then the + cabbage bounded over a little clod of dirt, went up in the air, + and nearly hit Mr. Fox, and that scared him so that he ran away, + and his wife ran after him.</p> + + <p>Well, the cabbage, with Buddy inside, kept on rolling, and the + first thing you know it began to roll down hill in front of the + guinea pigs' pen. It made quite a noise, and Matilda ran out to + see what it was.</p> + + <p>"Oh, mamma!" she cried. "Here is a cabbage rolling down + hill."</p> + + <p>"Nonsense!" cried Mrs. Pigg. "Whoever heard of such a thing?" + but she ran out to see what it was, and at that moment the + cabbage bounded right in front of the pen, hit a big stone, burst + open with a noise like a torpedo, and out rolled Buddy Pigg, over + and over, just like a pumpkin. But, believe me, he wasn't hurt + the least mite, but he was rather surprised-like!</p> + + <p>Then he got up, walked over to his mother and said:</p> + + <p>"Here is some fresh cabbage I brought home," and he was as + cool as two cucumbers. Well, the guinea pigs had a fine dinner + off the cabbage Buddy brought home in such a funny way, and of + course the fox and his wife didn't have any, which served them + right I suppose.</p> + + <p>Now in the next story, if the cook doesn't burn the potatoes + and make stove blacking of them I'll be able to tell you about + Brighteyes Pigg and Mrs. Hoptoad.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_4"><!-- RULE4 4 --></a> + + <h2>STORY II</h2> + + <center> + BRIGHTEYES AND MRS. HOPTOAD + </center> + + <p>After Buddy had taken that funny ride down hill, inside the + head of cabbage, his father said to him:</p> + + <p>"Buddy, come here, and let me look at you. Possibly you were + hurt in that terrible trip, and, having been in a hospital, I can + tell whether you were or not."</p> + + <p>So he looked Buddy over carefully, but there wasn't a thing + the matter with the little chap, except a tiny scratch on his + nose.</p> + + <p>"Weren't you awfully frightened?" asked Brighteyes of her + brother. "It was terrible!"</p> + + <p>"No," he answered, "not much. And it wasn't so terrible when + we got a good dinner out of it. I wish I could find a cabbage + every day."</p> + + <p>"You had better put something on that scratch," cautioned Dr. + Pigg. Then he went on reading his paper, and Mrs. Pigg got out + the salve bottle for Buddy.</p> + + <p>Well, it was two days after this that Brighteyes Pigg was out + walking along the road. She had been to the store for some + carrots, and the store man said he would send them right over, so + the little girl guinea pig didn't have to carry them.</p> + + <p>Well, she was walking along, not thinking of much of anything + in particular, when suddenly something hopped out of the bushes + in front of her.</p> + + <p>"My goodness! What's that?" cried Brighteyes, for she was a + bit nervous from having had a tooth pulled week before last.</p> + + <p>"Don't be alarmed, my dear," spoke a soft voice. "It's only + me," and if there wasn't a great, big, motherly-looking hoptoad, + out in the dusty road, and the next moment if that toad didn't + begin hopping up and down as fast as she could hop.</p> + + <p>"Why, whatever in the world are you doing?" asked Brighteyes + Pigg, for she noticed that the toad didn't seem to get anywhere; + only hopping up and down in the same place all the while.</p> + + <p>"I'm jumping, my dear," answered the toad.</p> + + <p>"So I see," remarked the little guinea pig girl, "but where + are you jumping to? You don't seem to be getting any place in + particular."</p> + + <p>"And I don't want to, my dear," went on the toad, and she + never stopped going up and down as fast as she could go. "I'm + churning butter," she went on, "and when one churns butter one + must jump up and down you know. That's the way to make butter. + Don't your folks churn?" and then, for the first time, Brighteyes + noticed that the toad had a little wooden churn, made from an old + clothespin, fastened on her back.</p> + + <p>"No, my mother doesn't churn," answered Brighteyes.</p> + + <p>"Then I don't suppose you keep a cow," went on Mrs. Toad. + "Neither do we, but next door to us is the loveliest milk-weed + you ever saw, and I thought it a shame to see all the milk juice + go to waste, so I churn it every week. It makes very fine + butter."</p> + + <p>"I should think it might," answered Brighteyes. "But isn't it + hard work?"</p> + + <p>"Yes, it is," replied Mrs. Toad, "and I know you'll excuse me, + my dear, for not stopping my jumping to sit and chat with you, + but the truth of the matter is that I think the butter is + beginning to come, and I daren't stop."</p> + + <p>"Oh, don't stop on my account," begged Brighteyes, politely. + "I can talk while you jump."</p> + + <p>"Very good," replied the toad, "I think I will soon be + finished, though on hot days the butter is longer in coming," and + she began to hop up and down faster than ever.</p> + + <p>Then, all at once, oh, about as soon as you can pull off a + porous plaster when you're quick about it, if poor Mrs. Toad + didn't give a cry, and stop jumping.</p> + + <p>"What's the matter?" asked Brighteyes, "has the butter + come?"</p> + + <p>"No," was the answer, "but I stepped on a sharp stone, and + hurt my foot, and now I can't jump up and down any more. Oh, + dear! now the butter will be spoiled, for there is no one else at + my home to finish churning it. Oh, dear me, and a pinch of salt + on a cracker! Isn't that bad luck?" and she sat down beside a + burdock plant.</p> + + <p>Well, sure enough, she had cut her foot quite badly, and it + was utterly out of the question for her to jump up and down any + more.</p> + + <p>"Will you kindly help me to get the churn off my back?" Mrs. + Toad asked of Brighteyes, and the little guinea pig girl helped + her.</p> + + <p>"All that nice butter is spoiled," went on Mrs. Toad, as she + looked in the churn. "Well, it can't be helped, I s'pose, and + there's no use worrying over buttermilk that isn't quite made. I + shall have to throw this away."</p> + + <p>"No, don't," cried Brighteyes quickly.</p> + + <p>"Why not?" asked the toad lady.</p> + + <p>"Because I will finish churning it for you."</p> + + <p>"Do you know how to churn?"</p> + + <p>"Not exactly, but I have thought of a plan. See, we will tie + the churn to this blackberry bush stem, and then I will take hold + of one end of the stem, and wiggle it up and down, and the churn + will go up and down, too, on the bush, just as it did when you + jumped with it; and then maybe the butter will come."</p> + + <p>"All right, my dear, you may try it," agreed Mrs. Toad. "I'm + afraid, though, that it won't amount to anything, but it can do + no harm. I am sure it is very kind of you to think of it."</p> + + <p>So Brighteyes took the churn, and tied it to a low, + overhanging branch of the blackberry bush. Then she took hold of + the branch in her teeth, and stood up on her hind legs and began + to wiggle it up and down. The churn went up and down with the + branch, and the milk from the milk-weed sloshed and splashed + around inside the churn, and land sakes flopsy-dub and some + chewing gum, if in about two squeals there wasn't the nicest + butter a guinea pig or a toad would ever want to eat!</p> + + <p>"Oh, what a smart little girl you are!" cried Mrs. Toad. "I'm + sure your mother must be proud of you! Now I can work the + buttermilk out, and salt the butter, and I'm going to send your + mamma home a nice pat," which she did, and very glad Mrs. Pigg + was to get it.</p> + + <p>"You certainly are a clever little child," said Dr. Pigg to + Brighteyes that night, "but then, you see, you take after your + father. It is my hospital training that shows. By the way, we + must send something to Mrs. Toad, for her cut foot," which they + did, and it got all better.</p> + + <p>Now, in case you don't drop your bread with the butter side + down on the carpet, and spoil the kitchen oilcloth, I'll tell you + in the next story about Buddy Pigg and Sammie Littletail.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_5"><!-- RULE4 5 --></a> + + <h2>STORY III</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY PIGG AND SAMMY LITTLETAIL + </center> + + <p>Getting up quite early one morning, Buddy Pigg washed himself + very carefully, so that his black and white fur was fairly + shining in the sunlight, and then the little guinea pig started + off to take a stroll before breakfast.</p> + + <p>"Who knows," he said, "perhaps I may meet with an adventure; + or else find a cabbage, just as I did the other day. But if I do, + I'm not going to get inside it and go to sleep. No, indeed, and a + feather pillow besides!"</p> + + <p>So Buddy Pigg walked on, leaving his sister and his mamma and + Dr. Pigg slumbering in the pen. Oh, it was just fine, running + along through the woods and over the fields that beautiful, + summer morning.</p> + + <p>The grass was all covered with dew, and Buddy had a second + bath before he had gone very far, there was so much water on + everything, but he didn't mind that. He looked at the flowers, on + every side, and smelled them with his little twinkling nose, and + he listened to the birds singing.</p> + + <p>Well, in a short time he came to a place where a lot of little + trees grew close together, making a sort of grove, not large + enough for a Sunday-school picnic, perhaps, but large enough for + guinea pigs.</p> + + <p>"This is a fine place," said Buddy Pigg. "I think I'll rest + here a bit, and perhaps an adventure may come along."</p> + + <p>You see Buddy was very fond of adventures, which means having + something happen to you. He was almost as much that way as Alice + Wibblewobble, the little duck girl, was fond of romantic + things—that is she liked fairies, and princes, and kings, + and knights with golden swords, and all oddities like that. Well, + Buddy Pigg went in the little grove of trees, and now you just + wait and listen—an adventure is going to happen in less + than five minutes by the clock.</p> + + <p>All of a sudden, just as the little guinea pig got close to + one of the trees, he smelled something good, and he looked up, + and, bless him! if he didn't see the nicest turnip that ever + grew.</p> + + <p>"Oh, that certainly is fine!" he cried, and his eyes twinkled + and his nose wiggled, both at the same time. "I must take that + home for breakfast," he went on. But my goodness me and the + mustard spoon! if, when he went to get it, he didn't discover + that the turnip was hung up by a string on the branch of the + tree!</p> + + <p>"Hello!" exclaimed Buddy Pigg. "I never saw turnips growing + that way before. This must be a special kind, but it will be all + the better. It is a little high up, but I think I can reach it by + standing on my hind legs, and stretching up my front paws."</p> + + <p>So he moved a little nearer the curious hanging turnip, and + was about to reach up for it when who should come bounding out of + the bushes but Sammie Littletail, the rabbit boy.</p> + + <p>"Hello, Buddy Pigg!" he called. "What are you going to + do?"</p> + + <p>"I'm going to get this turnip down," answered Buddy. "It is a + fine one; but it is hanging quite high. I'll give you some when I + pull it down," for Buddy Pigg was very kind, you know.</p> + + <p>Well, he stood up again, and was just about to step a little + closer, so he could grab the turnip, when Sammie cried out:</p> + + <p>"Here, Buddy! Come right away from that! Jump back as fast as + you can! Quick! Quick! I say!"</p> + + <p>"Why?" asked Buddy, "is it your turnip?"</p> + + <p>"No, but don't you see? That turnip is nothing but a trap. It + is hung up there on purpose. Come away. I can see the trap as + plain as anything. Uncle Wiggily Longears taught me how to keep + away from them, for I was caught in one, once upon a time."</p> + + <p>"A trap?" asked Buddy. "Is this a trap?"</p> + + <p>"To be sure," answered Sammie. "See, the turnip hangs right + over a loop of wire, and inside the wire loop there is a piece of + wood. Now to reach up and get the turnip you must step on the + piece of wood, and as soon as you do so that tree branch, to + which the wire is fast, will spring up, the wire will slip around + your neck, you will be yanked up into the air, and that will be + the last of you."</p> + + <p>"The last of me?" asked Buddy, who, being a little boy, had + not seen as much of the world as had Sammie.</p> + + <p>"The very last of you," answered the rabbit. "You would be + choked to death by the wire. Yes, the turnip was put there to + catch some one, but they won't catch us, Buddy. We'll fool + them!"</p> + + <p>"Oh, I say! This is too bad!" exclaimed Buddy. "I was just + counting on this turnip. Isn't there any way we can get it?"</p> + + <p>"I don't believe so," replied Sammie, wrinkling up his nose, + just as Buddy was doing. They smelled that turnip, and it had a + most delicious odor, better to them, even, than strawberries are + to you.</p> + + <p>"Maybe we can throw some stones up and knock it down," + suggested Buddy.</p> + + <p>So they threw up stones, and, though they hit the turnip, and + made it swing back and forth, like the pendulum of the clock, it + didn't fall down, and by this time Buddy and Sammie were getting + very hungry.</p> + + <p>"Let's try throwing sticks," proposed Sammie. "We'll toss them + at the cord, and maybe we can break it."</p> + + <p>So they threw sticks, and, though Buddy did manage to hit the + cord, the turnip didn't come down, and they were more hungry than + ever.</p> + + <p>"Let's take a long pole and poke the turnip down," said Sammie + after a while, and they did so, but Buddy accidentally came + within half a dozen steps of going too near the trap, and was + almost caught.</p> + + <p>"Oh, I guess we'll have to give it up," spoke Sammie, but + Buddy didn't want to, because he was very determined, and did not + like to stop until he had done what he set out to do.</p> + + <p>So he tried every way he could think of, until he was all + tired out, but nothing seemed to do any good. Then he and Sammie + sat down and looked up at that turnip, swinging over their heads, + and they were so hungry that their tongues stuck out like a dog's + on a hot day. Then, all at once, before you could sharpen a lead + pencil with a dull knife, if out from the bushes didn't pop + Billie Bushytail, the squirrel.</p> + + <p>"What's up?" he asked, just like that, honestly he did.</p> + + <p>"The turnip is," said Buddy; "it's up high and we can't get it + down."</p> + + <p>"Ha! That's a mere trifle—a mere trifle!" cried Billie. + "I will climb up the tree, run out on the limb and gnaw through + the string. Then the turnip will fall down to you."</p> + + <p>Which he did in two frisks of his tail, without any danger + from the trap at all, for that was on the ground, while Billie + was above it in the tree. So Buddy and Sammie had the turnip + after all. And they divided it evenly, Sammie gnawing it through + with his teeth, and each one took his half home. Billie didn't + like turnip, you see for he would rather have chestnuts.</p> + + <p>Now, I think I'll tell you next about Buddy Pigg playing + ball—that is, if our tea kettle sings a nice song for + supper and makes the rag doll go to sleep.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_6"><!-- RULE4 6 --></a> + + <h2>STORY IV</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY PIGG PLAYS BALL + </center> + + <p>"Hello, Buddy!" called Sammie Littletail, the rabbit boy, to + Buddy Pigg one fine day, "come on out, and we'll have a game of + ball," and Sammie tossed his ball high up in the air and caught + it in his catching glove, as easily as you can eat two ice cream + cones, a vanilla and a chocolate one, on a hot day.</p> + + <p>"Why, we two can't play ball alone," objected Buddy. "It needs + three, anyhow."</p> + + <p>"Oh, well, we'll find Billie and Johnie Bushytail somewhere in + the woods," went on Sammie, "and maybe Jimmie Wibblewobble, the + boy duck, will come along, too. Then there is Jackie and Peetie + Bow Wow, who have come back from the country. Oh, we can get up a + regular team."</p> + + <p>"All right, I'll come," agreed Buddy. "Wait until I bring in + some wood for mother. She is going to bake some turnip pies + to-day—out of the turnip you and I and Billie Bushytail got + yesterday—and she needs a hot fire. I just love turnip + pies; don't you, Sammie?"</p> + <!-- NOTE: Remove center tags and put align="left" or align="right" for text wrapped alignments --> + <a name="image-1"><!-- Image 1 --></a> + + <center> + <img src="./images/01.jpg" height="730" width="450" alt=""> + </center> + + <p>"Indeed I do, but I don't believe we are going to have any. + Mother stewed my half of the turnip."</p> + + <p>"Never mind," advised Buddy Pigg, "I'll give you some of our + pies when they are baked," so he brought in two big armfuls of + wood for the fire, and then he and Sammie went off to play ball, + leaving Brighteyes Pigg home to help her mamma bake the pies, + which the little guinea pig girl loved to do.</p> + + <p>Well, Buddy and Sammie hadn't gone very far before they met + Billie and Johnnie Bushytail, the boy squirrels, and they agreed + to play ball. Then, as the four of them went along a little + farther, they met Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, out walking with + Percival, the old circus dog. So Peetie and Jackie said they + would play ball, and that made six.</p> + + <p>"Now, if we had two more we would have four on a side," + suggested Buddy, and, no sooner had he spoken than there was a + noise in the bushes, and out came Jimmie Wibblewobble, and Bully, + the frog.</p> + + <p>They were very glad to play ball, and soon there were two + sides selected. Buddy Pigg was captain of one side, and for + players he had Peetie Bow Wow, Billie Bushytail, and Bully, while + Sammie Littletail was the other captain, and he had Jackie Bow + Wow, Johnnie Bushytail and Jimmie Wibblewobble.</p> + + <p>"Now we're all ready, let's play," suggested Buddy.</p> + + <p>"No, wait a moment," begged Bully.</p> + + <p>"Why?" they all wanted to know.</p> + + <p>"Because," replied the little frog boy, "my brother, Bawly, + has just made up a new song, and I know he'll give us no peace + until he sings it. He's coming along now. Let him sing the song, + and then we'll play ball." So they agreed to that, and in a + minute Bawly came hopping along.</p> + + <p>"Do you want to hear my new song?" he asked.</p> + + <p>"Yes—hurry up," they all cried. So Bawly sang this:</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>Oh, wiggily, waggily, wheelery,</p> + + <p class="i2">I wish that I was rich.</p> + + <p>I'd buy an automobilery,</p> + + <p class="i2">And ride it in our ditch.</p> + + <p>I wouldn't hop at all again.</p> + + <p class="i2">I'd ride the whole day long.</p> + + <p>But I haven't got an auto,</p> + + <p class="i2">And so I sing this song.</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p>"I don't call that much of a song," said the old circus dog, + Percival. "You ought to do a dance after it. That's what the + clowns always do."</p> + + <p>"Thank you, I'm not a clown," answered Bawly. "But could you + make up a song like that, and sing it yourself? That's what I + want to know," he asked.</p> + + <p>"I don't s'pose I could," answered Percival. "But if we're + going to the ball game, let's go." So they hurried on, and pretty + soon they met Uncle Wiggily Longears.</p> + + <p>"Oh, will you umpire for us?" asked Sammie.</p> + + <p>"Ha! Hum!" exclaimed the old gentleman rabbit, as he leaned on + his crutch. "I ought to go on to the office, + but—ah!—er—well, as long as you have no one + else to umpire for you, I suppose I will have to do it, but I + really ought to go to the office. Who is going to play?" he + asked, and he seemed real anxious to know.</p> + + <p>So they told him, and pretty soon they got to the baseball + field, and began the game. Buddy Pigg and his players were last + at the bat, and Sammie and his players came up first.</p> + + <p>Well, it was a great game. Sammie struck out, but Jackie Bow + Wow made a nice home run, and Jimmie Wibblewobble almost did, + only he got put out at the home plate, and then Johnnie + Bushytail, he got put out, trying to steal to second base, which + means getting there on the sly, you know; and then it came the + turn of Buddy and his friends to bat the ball all over if they + could.</p> + + <p>Well, Johnnie Bushytail was the pitcher, and he threw in such + fine curves, and so many of them, that it was hard for Buddy and + his friends to strike the ball.</p> + + <p>They did manage to hit it a little, and got three runs. Then + it came the turn of Sammie Littletail's team again, and they got + four runs, and so it went along until at the close of the game + Sammie's team was eight runs and Buddy's only seven.</p> + + <p>"We've got to get two runs to win," cried Billie Bushytail, + "everybody work hard."</p> + + <p>"We will," cried Bully, the frog. Now you girls just listen + carefully, something wonderful will happen in about a minute.</p> + + <p>Well, Peetie Bow Wow made one run, and then Bully and Billie + got put out, and it was Buddy's turn to bat the ball. It all + depended on him now. If he could make a home run his side would + win.</p> + + <p>Well, I just wish you could have seen how bravely Buddy walked + up to the home plate, and stood there, while Johnnie Bushytail + almost tied himself into a bow knot in throwing a double-jointed + up-and-down-sideways curve.</p> + + <p>Buddy Pigg swung at it, and—no, he didn't miss it, he + hit it good and proper, and away sailed the ball. Off Buddy + started for first base, hoping he could make a home run, but + alas! before he got to second base the ball he had knocked was + coming down, and was almost in the webbed foot of Jimmie + Wibblewobble, who was waiting to catch it, and if it was caught + that would mean that Buddy would be out, and his side would not + win that inning.</p> + + <p>But Jimmie didn't catch the ball! No, sir! The strangest thing + happened! At that moment if along didn't fly the kind fish hawk; + and he swooped down and caught that ball up in his strong bill, + and sailed away up in the air with it, and Buddy ran on and on as + fast as he could go, around the bases, and toward home plate, and + he got there in time to win the game. And then the fish hawk + dropped the ball, and Jimmie caught it, but it was too late to + put Buddy out.</p> + + <p>"That's not fair!" cried Sammie Littletail. "The bird took the + ball up in the air." All his side said it wasn't fair, but Uncle + Wiggily, the umpire, decided that it was fair, and Buddy's side + won the game, but they wouldn't have if it hadn't been for the + fish hawk, and they were very thankful to him.</p> + + <p>Now I think I'm going to tell you in the next story about + Brighteyes and Sister Sallie—that is if no one takes our + door mat to use for a pen wiper.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_7"><!-- RULE4 7 --></a> + + <h2>STORY V</h2> + + <center> + BRIGHTEYES PIGG AND SISTER SALLIE + </center> + + <p>Brighteyes Pigg had finished doing the dishes, and had put on + her clean dress, her new tan shoes, which matched her brown and + white fur, and her hair was tied with a pink ribbon—you + know the kind—the ones that stick out so with a bow on each + side. Well, she looked just too nice for anything, and she asked + her mother:</p> + + <p>"May I go out and take a walk?"</p> + + <p>"Yes," replied Mrs. Pigg. "Where are you going? Is Buddy going + with you?"</p> + + <p>"No, he has gone off to play ball again. I guess he thinks the + fish hawk will catch up the ball once more and help him to make a + home run. No, I'm not going with Buddy. I thought I'd go over and + see Sister Sallie, I haven't called on her in some time."</p> + + <p>"Very well," said Mrs. Pigg, and Dr. Pigg called to his little + girl:</p> + + <p>"Give my regards to Mr. Bushytail, and tell him that if he + sees Uncle Wiggily Longears to mention that I have a new cure for + rheumatism, that I will send him."</p> + + <p>"I'll be sure to tell him," said Brighteyes Pigg. "Poor Uncle + Wiggily, his rheumatism bothers him a great deal." Well, she went + on through the woods to see Sister Sallie, who, I hope you + remember, was the little sister that Billie and Johnnie + Bushytail, the two boy squirrels, once found at the foot of the + tree where their nest was.</p> + + <p>Brighteyes found Sister Sallie just finishing helping Mrs. + Bushytail do up the housework, and Sister Sallie was singing:</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>Hippity-hop to the barber-shop,</p> + + <p class="i2">To buy a lolly-pop lally.</p> + + <p>One for me, and one for thee</p> + + <p class="i2">And one for Sister Sallie.</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p>"Can you come out and play?" asked Brighteyes.</p> + + <p>"Indeed I can," replied the little squirrel. "Shall I bring my + doll?"</p> + + <p>"Yes, but I haven't any," answered the little guinea pig girl, + as Sallie brought out the corncob doll, that her brothers and + Grandma Lightfoot had made for her.</p> + + <p>"Never mind, I'll help you make one," promised Sister Sallie, + so the two little friends walked on through the woods.</p> + + <p>"What will you make my doll of?" asked Brighteyes.</p> + + <p>"I don't just know yet," said Sallie. "I will look around for + something." So she looked first on one side of the woodland path, + and then on the other, and Brighteyes did the same, but they + couldn't seem to find anything out of which to make a doll.</p> + + <p>Then, all at once, oh, I guess in about two wiggles and a wag, + if Sallie didn't see a nice, long, smooth, yellow carrot.</p> + + <p>"That will make a fine doll!" she cried. "We will use some + cornsilk for hair, and some little stones for the eyes, nose and + mouth, and for dresses——"</p> + + <p>"Well, what will we make dresses from?" asked Brighteyes, for + she noticed that Sister Sallie was at a loss what to say.</p> + + <p>"Oh, I know—leaves," cried the little squirrel. "We will + pretend that green is fashionable for ladies with a sort of + carroty complexion," and she laughed, and so did Brighteyes, + whose nose twinkled just like the diamond in mother's ring, or + baby's eyes, when he is happy.</p> + + <p>So the two little friends sat down on a grassy bank, in the + shade of an oak tree, and they made the carrot doll. Oh, it was + such fun!</p> + + <p>First they stuck two little pebbles in for eyes, and they + looked as real as anything; then they stuck a little larger stone + in the carrot for a nose, and then Brighteyes found a nice, long + stone, sort of curled up around the ends, and when that was put + in the carrot, just beneath the nose, why it looked exactly as if + that carrot doll was smiling as hard as she could smile; she was + so happy, I s'pose.</p> + + <p>"Now for some dresses!" exclaimed Sister Sallie, who had put + her own corncob doll under some grass to sleep. So they got some + beautiful green leaves from the tree, and fastened them together + with grass and needles from the pine tree, and they made the + nicest dresses you ever saw.</p> + + <p>Let me see, there was one made in princess style, and one + empire gown, and one that had a pull-back in the skirt, and one + was a tub dress, whatever that is, and there was a crepe de chine + and a basque and peau de soie effect + and—and—er—well, I know you'll excuse me from + mentioning any others, as I don't know very much about dresses; + it took me quite a while to look those up, and I must get on with + the story.</p> + + <p>Well, when they had the dresses all made they tried them on + the carrot doll, and they fitted perfectly, believe me, they + did!</p> + + <p>"Oh, isn't this lovely," cried Brighteyes. "Now let's play + house," so they played house, and each one had a room, there on + the grass, with sticks and stones for furniture, and they put the + dollies to bed, and woke them up, and took them for a walk, and + they made believe wash dishes and get meals, and, oh, I don't + know what they didn't do.</p> + + <p>But, all of a sudden, just as they were putting their dolls to + sleep, they heard a sort of growling in the bushes, and a big, + shaggy, yellow dog, with glaring eyes, jumped out at them! Oh, + how frightened Brighteyes and Sister Sallie were!</p> + + <p>"What are you doing on my nice, green grass?" growled the dog, + real savage-like.</p> + + <p>"If you please, Mr. Dog, we didn't know this was your grass," + said Sister Sallie, timidly.</p> + + <p>"Of course it is!" snapped the dog. "I go to sleep here on it + every day. Anyway what do you mean by taking the leaves off my + trees?" he growled again.</p> + + <p>"If you please, kind sir," spoke Brighteyes, "we didn't know + they were your trees."</p> + + <p>"Certainly they are," replied the dog, snapping his eyes open + and shut. "Those leaves keep the sun off me while I sleep. Now + I'm going to eat you all up for taking my things!" and he jumped + right at them.</p> + + <p>But land sakes, flopsy dub! Before he could bite either + Brighteyes or Sister Sallie, who should appear, but Percival, the + good, old circus dog.</p> + + <p>"Here, you let my friends alone!" he barked, and he jumped on + that bad dog, and nipped both his ears well, let me tell you. + Then the bad dog ran away, howling, and Percival took care of + Sister Sallie and Brighteyes until it was time for them to go + home. Now in the story after this one I'm going to tell you about + Dr. Pigg and Uncle Wiggily—that is if my furnace fire + doesn't go out in the street roller-skating with the coal + man.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_8"><!-- RULE4 8 --></a> + + <h2>STORY VI</h2> + + <center> + DR. PIGG AND UNCLE WIGGILY + </center> + + <p>Some one knocked on the door of the pen where Dr. Pigg and his + wife and Buddy and Brighteyes lived one day. "Rat-a-tat-tat," + went the rapping.</p> + + <p>"My! I wonder who that can be?" exclaimed Mrs. Pigg. "Run and + see, will you, Buddy, like a good boy?"</p> + + <p>So Buddy hurried to the door, and whom should be see standing + there but Uncle Wiggily Longears, the old gentleman rabbit; and + Uncle Wiggily had rapped with his crutch, which had made the + funny sound.</p> + + <p>"Why, how d'do!" exclaimed Dr. Pigg as soon as he saw who it + was. "Come right in Uncle Wiggily! This is an unexpected + pleasure. Brighteyes, get a chair for Uncle Wiggily. Buddy, you + take his crutch. Mrs. Pigg, haven't we some of that new cabbage + preserved in maple sugar? Bring out a bit for our friend!"</p> + + <p>My! you should have seen what a bustling about there was in + the pen, and all because Uncle Wiggily had come and because every + one was fond of him. Buddy started to take the old gentleman + rabbit's crutch, but Uncle Wiggily cried:</p> + + <p>"Oh, no! Don't! Not for worlds! Oh, my, no! and an ice cream + cone besides! Oh, lobster salad, no!"</p> + + <p>"Why, whatever is the matter?" exclaimed Dr. Pigg.</p> + + <p>"Oh, my! Ouch! Oh, shingles!" cried Uncle Wiggily, as he + stepped up over the doorsill. "Oh, dear me, and a baseball bat! + It's my rheumatism, as usual. It's something awful, these + days."</p> + + <p>"Oh, I'm so sorry," cried Brighteyes Pigg.</p> + + <p>"And so am I," added Buddy, and they all were, for that + matter.</p> + + <p>"Rheumatism, eh?" remarked Dr. Pigg, thoughtful-like.</p> + + <p>"Yes," went on Uncle Wiggily, as he hobbled over to a chair. + "In fact, I came to see you about it, Doctor," and the old rabbit + rubbed his leg very, very softly.</p> + + <p>"Ah! ha! Ahem!" exclaimed Dr. Pigg, as he puffed himself up, + and looked as important as possible. "Of course, I remember now. + I sent word to you that I had a new cure for rheumatism. I heard + the doctors mention it in the hospital, and I thought I would try + it on you."</p> + + <p>"That's very kind of you," said Uncle Wiggily, "and you can't + try it any too soon, for I am in great pain," and he made such a + funny face, with his nose wiggling, and his ears waving back and + forth, like fans on a hot night, and his eyes—one looking + up and the other down—altogether it was so funny that Buddy + and his sister wanted to laugh, only they didn't, for they knew + it wouldn't be polite, and might hurt Uncle Wiggily's + feelings.</p> + + <p>"I will have some medicine for you in a jiffy!" exclaimed Dr. + Pigg; a jiffy, you know, being almost as quick as half a + wink.</p> + + <p>So the guinea pig doctor got a bottle of red medicine, and one + of blue, and one of pink, and another bottle of green medicine, + and he got some red pills and some black pills and some white + powder and some yellow powder and then he took some molasses and + maple sugar, and stirred them all up together. Oh, it was a + funny-looking mixture I can tell you, all colors of the rainbow, + just as when Sammie fell into the pot of Easter dye.</p> + + <p>"Now Mrs. Pigg, you stir that up well, and we'll give Uncle + Wiggily some as soon as it is cool," said Dr. Pigg, for he had + cooked the medicine on the stove.</p> + + <p>"It doesn't look very nice," observed Uncle Wiggily sort of + anxious-like.</p> + + <p>"Rheumatism medicine never does," said Dr. Pigg.</p> + + <p>"And it doesn't smell very nice," went on Uncle Wiggily.</p> + + <p>"Rheumatism medicines never do," cheerfully said Dr. Pigg, + "and, what is more, it doesn't taste very nice, either, Uncle + Wiggily; but you must take it, if you are to get well."</p> + + <p>"I suppose I must," remarked the old rabbit with a sigh, as + Mrs. Pigg kept on stirring the mixture. Well, pretty soon it was + cool enough to take.</p> + + <p>"Now, Buddy, you bring a spoon," ordered Dr. Pigg, and when + the little boy guinea pig brought one, his father poured into it + some of the medicine.</p> + + <p>"Brighteyes, you get a napkin so he won't spill any of it on + his clothes," went on her papa, "and Mrs. Pigg you please be + ready with a glass of water, for Uncle Wiggily will want a drink + right after he takes this."</p> + + <p>Well everything was all ready, and Buddy stood there to help, + and so did Brighteyes.</p> + + <p>"One, two, three! Take it!" suddenly cried Dr. Pigg, and he + poured the teaspoonful of the many-colored mixture down Uncle + Wiggily's throat. Brighteyes held the napkin so none of it would + get on the rabbit's coat, and Mrs. Pigg was there with the glass + of water, which Uncle Wiggily took very quickly.</p> + + <p>Well, I wish you could have seen the face Uncle Wiggily made + when he swallowed the rheumatism medicine! It was just like a + clown in the circus, only funnier. But Brighteyes and Buddy + didn't even giggle, which was very kind of them.</p> + + <p>"Do you feel any better?" asked Dr. Pigg, after Uncle Wiggily + had stopped making faces. "Is the pain gone?"</p> + + <p>"No, I can't say that it is," answered the rabbit. "It seems + to be worse than ever," and he rubbed his leg and tried to get + up, but he couldn't leave the chair, even with his crutch, which + Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy had gnawed for him out of a cornstalk.</p> + + <p>"Oh, that's too bad!" exclaimed Dr. Pigg. "I must try a new + kind of medicine."</p> + + <p>"No, don't!" cried the rabbit. "I had rather have the + rheumatism."</p> + + <p>"Suppose we try some horse radish leaves, like we did for my + toothache?" proposed Buddy, and Mrs. Pigg said that would be + good. So they got some leaves, and put them on Uncle Wiggily's + leg, but they didn't do any good, neither did mustard, nor + nettles, nor any of the other burning things that they tried.</p> + + <p>"Oh, dear, I guess I'll have to stay in this chair forever!" + cried Uncle Wiggily, as he tried to get up and couldn't. "Oh, + dear me, and a piece of chewing gum! This is terrible!"</p> + + <p>Well, every one was wondering how Uncle Wiggily was ever going + to walk again, when all of a sudden, as Buddy looked from the + window, he cried out:</p> + + <p>"Oh, here comes the big, shaggy yellow dog that was going to + eat up Brighteyes and Sister Sallie when they were playing with + their dolls! He's coming right this way! Run everybody!"</p> + + <p>"Wow!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "A dog! Goodness me!" and, land + sakes, if he didn't jump up, seize his crutch and run home as + fast as if he never had any rheumatism at all.</p> + + <p>You see he was so frightened he forgot all about it for the + time being, which was a good thing. But do you s'pose that dog + dared to come in the pen and hurt the guinea pigs? No, sir, not a + bit of it! The first he knew, Percival, the kind, old circus dog + had him by the ear and the bad dog ran away and didn't hurt + anybody.</p> + + <p>Now, in the next story, if an auto horn doesn't scare me so + that I lose my typewriter ribbon I'll tell you about Buddy Pigg + being caught by a boy.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_9"><!-- RULE4 9 --></a> + + <h2>STORY VII</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY PIGG IS CAUGHT + </center> + + <p>Buddy Pigg was sent to the store by his mother, one fine + summer day, to get a pound of butter, a loaf of bread and + three-and-a-half pounds of granulated sugar, and as that made + quite a load to carry Buddy had a basket to put the things + in.</p> + + <p>"Now don't drop the loaf of bread in the water," said his + mamma, "and don't let the butter melt and, above all, don't tear + a hole in the bag of sugar, and have it spill out."</p> + + <p>"I won't, mother," promised Buddy. "I'll be real careful." So + he set out on his journey to the store, while Brighteyes, his + sister, stayed home to make the beds and mend the stockings.</p> + + <p>Well, Buddy got to the store all right, and bought the things + for which his mother had sent him. Then the storekeeper wanted to + know how Dr. Pigg and his family were, and he inquired about + Uncle Wiggily's rheumatism, and Buddy told about the scare the + old gentleman rabbit had had when the big, shaggy yellow dog + appeared, and how the old gentleman rabbit ran, and how Percival + bit the bad dog.</p> + + <p>"That's very interesting," said the storekeeper, and he gave + Buddy a whole carrot for himself.</p> + + <p>Placing his basket of groceries carefully on his arm, Buddy + Pigg started for home. He walked along through the woods, and + over the fields, thinking how nice everything was, and what fun + he would have when he got home, playing ball with Sammie + Littletail, and the Bushytail brothers, when, all at once, what + should he hear but a noise in the bushes.</p> + + <p>Now Buddy Pigg was always a little afraid when he heard + noises, especially in the woods, where he couldn't see what made + them, so he crouched down under a burdock leaf in case there + might be any danger. And, sure enough, there was.</p> + + <p>It wasn't more than a second or, possibly a second and a + squeak, before a great, big, bad boy stepped out from behind a + tree. And he had a gun with him, and he was looking for birds, or + rabbits, or squirrels, or, maybe, guinea pigs to shoot.</p> + + <p>That's why I know he was a bad boy, but of course he may have + turned out to be a good boy before he got to be so very old. + Well, this boy looked up, and he looked down, and he looked first + to one side, and then to the other, and then—flopsy-dub, + and wiggily-waggily! if he didn't spy poor Buddy Pigg hiding + under the burdock leaf, and trembling as hard as he could + tremble.</p> + + <p>"Ah, ha!" cried that boy, "I have you now, little guinea pig! + I'll take you home with me, that's what I'll do! My, to think of + catching a live guinea pig! I certainly am a lucky chap!"</p> + + <p>Then, before Buddy could run away, which he couldn't have done + anyhow, on account of the basket of groceries on his arm, if that + boy didn't grab him up in his hands, and hold him tight!</p> + + <p>Oh, how frightened poor Buddy was! He was so scared that he + could only squeak very faintly, but he did manage to ask the boy + to let him go, only the boy didn't understand guinea pig + language, as I do, and, even if he had, I doubt very much if he + would have let Buddy go, for he was a bad boy as I have + explained.</p> + + <p>Well, the boy didn't care any more about hunting rabbits or + squirrels with his gun that day, as he had caught Buddy, so off + he started to take the little guinea pig home with him, and, + maybe, he intended to shut him up in a box, or put him in a cage, + or do something dreadful like that.</p> + + <p>But, listen, pretty soon—oh, I guess in about four jumps + and a hop—something is going to happen to that boy. Watch + carefully and you'll see it.</p> + + <p>On through the woods he went, holding poor Buddy tightly in + his hands, and, would you believe me, that boy never noticed that + Buddy had a basket of groceries! You see, the basket, of course, + was guinea pig size, and so was the loaf of bread and the butter + and the sweet sugar. They were so small that the boy didn't + notice them, but this was partly because Buddy hid the basket + under his paws, for he didn't want anything to happen to the + things for which his mother had sent him to the store, you + know.</p> + + <p>Well, as the boy kept going on through the woods, carrying + Buddy farther and farther away from his home, the poor little + guinea pig was more frightened than ever.</p> + + <p>"Oh, how will I ever get away!" he thought, "I'll never see my + mamma, nor Brighteyes, nor my papa, Dr. Pigg, any more! Oh, dear! + Oh, dear!"</p> + + <p>No sooner had Buddy said this than he heard a funny little + noise in the trees above his head, and, looking up, he saw Billie + Bushytail bounding along. There was the squirrel, and he saw + right away what the trouble was. And he could talk to Buddy + without the boy knowing it, you see; so Billie said:</p> + + <p>"Hey, Buddy, take some of the bread, crumble it all up, and + toss the crumbs up in the air."</p> + + <p>"What for?" asked Buddy.</p> + + <p>"Do it, and you'll see," answered Billie. "That will help you + to escape."</p> + + <p>Now Buddy didn't like to spoil the nice, new loaf of bread he + had bought for his mamma, but he thought maybe it would do some + good, and he didn't want to be carried away by that boy.</p> + + <p>So he broke open the loaf, crumbled some of the white part in + his paws, and tossed it high up in the air, so that it fell down + in a shower, all around the boy's head, and listen, the boy + hadn't noticed Buddy toss up the crumbs.</p> + + <p>"My!" exclaimed the boy. "Why, I do declare, if it isn't + snowing! Who ever heard of such a thing!" and he really thought + the falling bread crumbs were snow flakes. So he turned up his + coat collar to keep warm, and began to run, for he didn't want to + get snowed under in the woods. But Buddy kept on tossing up the + bread crumbs, until the loaf was all gone.</p> + + <p>"What shall I do next?" the guinea pig called to Billie + Bushytail, who was following along in the trees overhead.</p> + + <p>"Open the bag of sugar and throw that up in the air the same + way," directed the squirrel, and when Buddy did this the boy + heard the sugar rattling down on the leaves and some of it got + down his neck, and scratched him.</p> + + <p>"Why, I do declare. It's hailing!" he cried. "Who ever heard + of such a thing!" So he hurried on faster than ever.</p> + + <p>Well, when the sugar was all tossed up, and the boy was + running real fast, Billie Bushytail called to Buddy:</p> + + <p>"Now throw the pound of butter down in front of the boy!" + Which Buddy did as quick as a wink, and lossy-me and a pancake! + if that boy didn't slip down in the slippery butter, and fall and + hurt his nose, and he had to let go of Buddy Pigg.</p> + + <p>"Now's your chance. Run, Buddy, run!" cried Billie, and my, + how Buddy Pigg did run; and he got safely away from that bad boy, + and was soon at home, where his mother forgave him for throwing + away the groceries when she heard the story.</p> + + <p>Dr. Pigg said Billie was very smart to think of such a thing, + and I believe so myself. Now in case you don't burn yourself with + a firecracker and lose your penny down a hole in the sidewalk, + I'm going to tell you in the next story about Buddy and + Brighteyes' Fourth of July.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_10"><!-- RULE4 10 --></a> + + <h2>STORY VIII</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY'S AND BRIGHTEYES' FOURTH OF JULY + </center> + + <p>One day, when Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg were playing out in + front of their pen, Buddy suddenly exclaimed:</p> + + <p>"Why, just think of it! Day after to-morrow is Fourth of July, + Brighteyes. Won't we have lots of fun?"</p> + + <p>"What will we do?" asked his sister.</p> + + <p>"Oh, shoot off firecrackers and torpedoes, and make lots of + noise, and at night we'll send up Roman candles and skyrockets; + and oh! it will be better than a circus."</p> + + <p>"Oh, you boys!" exclaimed Brighteyes. "You always want to make + a racket and have excitement. It's horrid, I think."</p> + + <p>"Oh, I s'pose you'll play with your dolls, or something like + that," said Buddy, laughing at his sister, who was very + serious.</p> + + <p>"Yes, that's what I'm going to do," replied Brighteyes. "I'm + going to play with Sister Sallie, and Alice and Lulu + Wibblewobble, and Jennie Chipmunk, and we're going for a picnic + in the woods."</p> + + <p>"Look out that a big fox or a bad dog doesn't get you," said + Buddy. "Well, I'm going off to find Sammie and Billie and Johnnie + and Jimmie and Peetie and Jackie Bow Wow, and Bully and Bawly + Frog, and we'll have a fine time on the Fourth."</p> + + <p>"Where are you going to get your firecrackers and things?" + asked Brighteyes.</p> + + <p>"You'll see," answered Buddy, as he ran off.</p> + + <p>Well, Fourth of July came at last, just as it always does, and + early in the morning Buddy Pigg awoke.</p> + + <p>"Where are you going?" called his papa.</p> + + <p>"Out to shoot off some firecrackers," answered Buddy.</p> + + <p>"Be careful you don't get burned," cautioned his mother. "Oh + dear! I don't like the Fourth of July. If you do get burned. + Buddy, run right in and let papa attend to you."</p> + + <p>"I can't get burned with the kind of firecrackers and + torpedoes I'm going to use," answered the little boy guinea pig, + and he laughed as he ran out.</p> + + <p>Well, pretty soon, along came all his friends, Billie and + Johnnie and Sammie, and all the rest. They were so excited that + Bawly, the frog, didn't think to sing a song, or recite any + poetry.</p> + + <p>"What shall we do first?" asked Buddy.</p> + + <p>"Let's play war," suggested Sammie. "We'll divide up into two + armies, and have a battle. It will be great!"</p> + + <p>So they divided into two sides, and Buddy was the general on + one side, and Billie Bushytail on the other. Then the fight + began—not real, you understand—but make-believe.</p> + + <p>First the loud cannons shot off; and what do you suppose the + cannons were? Why big stones, that the squirrels and rabbits and + the other animal boys held and clapped together as loud as + anything. You know stones can make a terrible racket when they + are hit together real hard. Well, it sounded like regular cannon, + and the birds in the wood got awfully scared.</p> + + <p>"Now fire your guns!" cried General Buddy Pigg, and his + soldiers took sticks, and snapped them in two pieces and broke + them, until they sounded like real guns, or a lot of firecrackers + going off.</p> + + <p>Oh, it was fine, and the best of it was nobody could get hurt, + or burned, either.</p> + + <p>"Now shoot them with your torpedoes!" cried General Billie + Bushytail, and all at once his side began firing off torpedoes at + a great rate; until you would have thought the woods were on + fire. And you would never guess what the torpedoes were, so I'll + tell you. They were big, rose petals, blown up with air until + they were like little pink and red balloons, and tied around with + a string, just as you tie a paper bag around the neck, after + you've blown it up, to burst it, and when those rose-torpedoes + were cracked down on a flat stone—my! you should have heard + the noise!</p> + + <p>Well, lots of them were fired off, and then Buddy Pigg got + some empty bags, and his soldiers blew them up, and they cracked + 'em down, and they went off "Boom! Boom!" like great, big + cannons. They blew dust up in the air, to pretend it was smoke, + and there was the most terrible make-believe battle you ever + heard of. But nobody was hurt, and they had lots of fun, and the + best of it was that neither side won, which made everybody + happy.</p> + + <p>"Now we'll take a rest," said Buddy Pigg. "I wonder what + Brighteyes and the others are doing?"</p> + + <p>"Let's go see," proposed Billie Bushytail.</p> + + <p>So they all marched off through the woods, just like real + soldiers, and pretty soon they came to the place where Brighteyes + and Sister Sallie and all the girls were having a picnic.</p> + + <p>"You're just in time," called Brighteyes.</p> + + <p>"Come and have some lunch, and some lemonade. You must be + tired after all that fighting." Now wasn't she kind, even after + Buddy had laughed at the idea of a picnic being better than a + battle? Well, I just guess! Those soldiers were glad enough to + eat the lunch, and drink the lemonade, I can tell you.</p> + + <p>So the soldiers and the girls sat there in the woods under the + trees and had a fine time—almost as good as at the + make-believe battle, I think—and after a while, just as + Buddy and his chums were getting ready to go back and shoot some + more stick-firecrackers and roseleaf torpedoes, what should + happen but that bad fox and that mean, old, yellow, shaggy dog + ran right out of the woods.</p> + + <p>"Let's eat everything up!" cried the fox, waving his big + tail.</p> + + <p>"Yes, and then we'll eat the squirrels and rabbits and guinea + pigs all up!" cried the dog, gnashing his teeth and blinking his + eyes as bold as bold could be.</p> + + <p>At first even the soldiers were so frightened that they hardly + knew what to do, and they were about to run away, when Buddy + called out:</p> + + <p>"Come on! Let's get our guns and our cannon and shoot + them!"</p> + + <p>Then he grabbed up some stick-firecrackers and began to break + and snap them, and Sammie shot off some roseleaf torpedoes and + Billie and Johnnie clapped stones together, and Jimmie and Bully + and Bawly threw dust in the air until it looked like smoke, and + there was a terrible racket, until—well, sir, if that dog + and that fox weren't so frightened that they ran away and didn't + even get so much as a crumb of cracker or a drop of lemonade; and + it served them right, I think.</p> + + <p>Then how thankful the girls were to the brave soldiers. Oh, + everything turned out just right, I'm glad to say. That afternoon + Buddy and his chums had more Fourth of July fun, and Brighteyes + and her friends played with their dolls.</p> + + <p>Then at night Buddy and the boys sent up skyrockets and Roman + candles (which were sticks covered with lightning bugs), and + prettier ones you never saw. And they even had a lightning-bug + pinwheel. Oh, it was the nicest Fourth of July that ever was! I + hope you children have as nice a one and that none of you get + burned or hurt when you celebrate Independence Day. And, if none + of you do, why, in the next story I'll tell you about Buddy Pigg + trying to buy a tail for himself, because he didn't have any. + That is, I will if the lollypop doesn't fall down stairs and + break his stick.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_11"><!-- RULE4 11 --></a> + + <h2>STORY IX</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY PIG WANTS A TAIL + </center> + + <p>The day after the Fourth of July, when he and his sister had + had such fun, Buddy Pigg came into the pen, where his mamma was + baking tea biscuits for supper, and sat down in a chair by the + table where she was working.</p> + + <p>He didn't say anything, but just watched his mamma rolling out + the crust, or whatever it is they make tea biscuits of, and + pretty soon Mrs. Pigg noticed that Buddy didn't seem very happy. + His face was all twisted up into a funny sort of a scowl, and + every once in a while he would give a long sigh, as though he + hadn't a friend in all the world.</p> + + <p>"Why, Buddy," Mrs. Pigg asked, when the tea biscuits were + ready for the oven, "whatever in the wide, wide world is the + matter? Are you sick, or did you burn yourself with a + firecracker?"</p> + + <p>"No, mother," Buddy answered, "I'm not sick and I didn't burn + myself with a firecracker, but I wish—I wish—" and + then he stopped, and sort of wiggled his nose.</p> + + <p>"Well," asked his mother with a smile, "what do you wish? + Remember, though, that I am not a fairy and can't give you + anything you want."</p> + + <p>"Oh," answered the little boy guinea pig, "this is very easy, + mamma. All I want is a tail."</p> + + <p>"A tail?" exclaimed his mamma in great surprise, and she + wondered if, after all, Buddy wasn't ill, for that was a very + strange request. And she began to wish that his papa was home, or + that Brighteyes, who was Buddy's sister, was in the house, to + help look after him, but Brighteyes had gone to see her aunt, and + wouldn't be back till night.</p> + + <p>"Yes," went on Buddy, "I want a tail. All the other boys and + girls who are friends of mine have them, and I don't see why I + can't."</p> + + <p>For you see guinea pigs never have tails. Why that is I don't + know, except, maybe, it's better that way in hot weather, but, + anyhow, they have no tails.</p> + + <p>"You don't need a tail," said Buddy's mamma.</p> + + <p>"Yes, I do, mother dear," he answered. "Jackie and Peetie Bow + Wow have tails, and so have Billie and Johnnie Bushytail, and the + three Wibblewobbles, and—"</p> + + <p>"But Bully and Bawly, the frogs, have no tail," said Mrs. + Pigg, "and they are happy, Buddy."</p> + + <p>"Well, they are in the water so much it doesn't show whether + they have a tail or not," went on Buddy.</p> + + <p>"And Sammie and Susie Littletail haven't much of a tail, + Buddy," said Mrs. Pigg, as she looked in the oven to see if the + biscuits were burning.</p> + + <p>"I know it, mother, but they have something of a tail," spoke + Buddy, "and maybe it will grow longer in time. I'd be glad if I + had even as much as Sammie has."</p> + + <p>"Well," said Mrs. Pigg, "I'm sorry, Buddy, but I don't see how + you are ever going to get a tail. I haven't any, your father + hasn't any, and we get along very well. None of your relations + have tails and they are happy. They never had any. In fact there + has never been a tail in our family and I don't see why you want + to start. Now run out and play, like a good boy, and when + Brighteyes comes back it will be supper time, and we'll have hot + biscuits and honey."</p> + + <p>But, though Buddy ran out, he was not happy. There was a frown + on his face, and, as he walked through the woods, he kept + thinking how nice it would be to have a tail.</p> + + <p>Pretty soon, oh, I guess in about a whisper and a squeak, + Buddy Pigg heard a rustling in the tree over his head. Then he + saw two big, yellow eyes peering down at him from the darkness of + the woods, and a voice called out:</p> + + <p>"What's the matter, little boy? Why are you so sad?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, I feel bad because I haven't a tail," answered Buddy, + wondering who was speaking.</p> + + <p>"What's the matter? Did some one cut your tail off?" the voice + asked.</p> + + <p>"No," replied Buddy, "I never had one; but I want one, awfully + bad."</p> + + <p>"Oh, don't worry about a little thing like that," went on the + voice. "I can get a fine tail for you."</p> + + <p>"Oh, can you?" cried Buddy, his face lighting up, "are you a + fairy?"</p> + + <p>"Well, not exactly," was the answer, "but you just run along + after me, and I'll get a tail for you, in less than no time."</p> + + <p>Then there was a rustling in the branches, and a great, big + owl, with ears that looked like horns, flew out, and Buddy was + frightened. But the owl said:</p> + + <p>"Oh, don't be alarmed, little boy. Just follow me, and I'll + see that you get a tail."</p> + + <p>So the owl flew along through the dark, dismal woods, going + slowly, and close to the ground so Buddy could follow, and pretty + soon, the owl stopped in front of a hole in the side of a + hill.</p> + + <p>"There is where the tail is," said the owl. "Just wait and + I'll have it out to you in a jiffy and a half," and bless me, if + that owl didn't go in that hole. He stayed there some time, and + Buddy could hear voices inside, talking, and land sakes, goodness + me alive, and a cherry pie! out of that hole was thrust a great, + big, bushy tail. A tail, and nothing else, believe me, if you + please.</p> + + <p>"Oh, what a fine tail!" cried Buddy in delight.</p> + + <p>"Do you think so?" asked a voice. "Then just grab hold of it, + hold tight, and it's yours!"</p> + + <p>Well, Buddy didn't think there was any danger, so he grabbed + hold of the tail, and held on tight, but oh, dear me! instead of + pulling the tail out, he found himself being pulled in. Yes, sir, + right into that hole, and land knows what would have happened if + Buddy's sister, Brighteyes, hadn't come along just then on her + way home from her aunt's house. She saw right away that the bushy + tail was fast to something inside the hole.</p> + + <p>"That's a fox's tail!" she cried, "and he's pulling you into + his den! Let go, quickly! Let go, Buddy!"</p> + + <p>So Buddy let go just in time, though the fox and the owl + rushed out and tried to grab him, but they fell down, and + couldn't get up in time, and he and his sister ran home. You see + it was just a trick of that owl and fox, to get Buddy into the + den, and eat him up, but they didn't, I'm glad to say. And after + that Buddy never wanted a tail. Now if it doesn't rain in the + dishpan and turn the umbrella inside out, I'll tell you in the + next story about Buddy walking a tight rope.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_12"><!-- RULE4 12 --></a> + + <h2>STORY X</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY WALKS A TIGHT ROPE + </center> + + <p>One day after Buddy Pigg had been on a visit to Jackie and + Peetie Bow Wow, the two puppy dogs, who were once in a circus, he + came home all excited. He ran out in the yard, began pawing over + in the woodpile, and soon he ran into the house, where + Brighteyes, his sister, was washing the potatoes for dinner.</p> + + <p>"Do you know where there is any wire, Brighteyes?" the little + boy guinea pig asked.</p> + + <p>"Wire? No, I haven't seen any around the house. What do you + want of it? Are you going to wire a tail on to yourself?" and + Buddy's sister smiled just the least bit.</p> + + <p>"Please don't remind me of that," said Buddy, for he felt a + little ashamed of the time he had tried to get a tail for himself + and had been nearly dragged into a fox's den, as I told you in + the story before this one. "No, Brighteyes, I'm not going to make + a tail. I am going to do a circus trick, and you can see me if + you want to," he said.</p> + + <p>"Oh, Buddy! are you really?" she cried, and she was interested + all of a sudden, you see, for she had never seen much of a + circus.</p> + + <p>"Yes, I'll do the trick, if I can find a bit of wire," went on + Buddy. "Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow told me how to do it; and I'm + sure I can. It's walking a tight rope, and it's very hard to + do."</p> + + <p>"Oh! then you want rope, not wire," went on Brighteyes, as she + put the pan of potatoes on the table.</p> + + <p>"Wire is what the circus performers use," insisted her + brother, "but if you can't find any I suppose rope will do."</p> + + <p>"I saw some up in the attic," said Brighteyes. "I'll get it + for you. But, Buddy, isn't it dangerous? Do you s'pose mamma and + papa would let you do it?"</p> + + <p>"There's not much danger," answered Buddy. "I'll not put the + rope up very high, and I'll put some pillows on the ground + underneath, so that if I fall I won't get hurt much."</p> + + <p>Well, Brighteyes found a long rope, and she helped Buddy tie + it from one clothes post to the other, across the yard, so that + it looked like a real tight rope in a circus.</p> + + <p>"Oh, you can never get on that!" she cried to her brother, as + she saw how high up it was.</p> + + <p>"Yes, I can," he replied. "You just watch me. But first I must + put some pillows underneath, in case I fall."</p> + + <p>So he ran into the house and got a lot of feather pillows and + put them on the ground under the rope, Brighteyes helping + him.</p> + + <p>Then Buddy got some old soap boxes, piled them one on top of + the other, and, by climbing up on them, he was able to step to + the rope.</p> + + <p>"Oh, how thin and slender and shaky it is!" cried Brighteyes. + "You never can walk across that, Buddy!"</p> + + <p>"Yes, I think I can," he answered. "But I must get a pole to + balance myself with," so he got off the boxes and ran to the + woodpile, got a piece of an old broom handle, and ran back to the + rope again. He stepped one foot out on it, to try it, and it + seemed quite strong, though it wabbled a bit from side to side, + like a duck's tail.</p> + + <p>"Oh! are you really going to walk on it?" cried Brighteyes in + delight.</p> + + <p>"I really am," answered her brother.</p> + + <p>"Then you ought to have an audience to applaud you and clap + when you do it," she went on. "Wait, and I'll run and get Johnnie + and Billie Bushytail and Sammie and Susie Littletail, + and—"</p> + + <p>"No, don't!" cried Buddy, quickly. "Better wait until I walk + across a few times, first, so as to sort of practise. Then I'll + do the trick before folks."</p> + + <p>So he got up on the rope, standing up on his hind legs, and + balancing the pole with his front paws and he steadied himself + for a moment and then took a step. My! but that rope wiggled, + though, from side to side, almost like a hammock, only, of + course, not as safe as a hammock. But Buddy kept bravely on, and + took another step—and land sakes laddy-da! if that rope + didn't wiggle more than ever.</p> + + <p>"Oh, take care! You'll fall!" cried Brighteyes, and she + screamed.</p> + + <p>"Oh, Brighteyes, don't do that, please!" begged Buddy. "You + make me nervous, and then I can't walk the tight rope."</p> + + <p>So Brighteyes, whose real name was Matilda, you know, kept + real still and quiet, just like a little mouse when it wants a + bit of cheese, and Buddy took another step out on the tight + rope.</p> + + <p>He held his balancing pole by the middle, and he went slowly + and cautiously, and he was actually walking that slender + rope!</p> + + <p>But he kept looking down and wondering whether he would fall + or not, and he got to thinking about the feather pillows, and + wondering if they were thick enough and soft enough, so that he + wouldn't get hurt if he should fall, when all at once, quicker + than you can wheel the baby carriage down hill, when he was right + in the middle, Buddy's foot slipped, and down he went, right a + straddle across the tight rope, and the pole fell with a + bang!</p><!-- NOTE: Remove center tags and put align="left" or align="right" for text wrapped alignments --> + <a name="image-2"><!-- Image 2 --></a> + + <center> + <img src="./images/02.jpg" height="726" width="450" alt=""> + </center> + + <p>And Brighteyes screamed, for she couldn't help it, but Buddy + didn't dare call out. No, all he could do was to cling there with + his teeth and his paws to that swaying rope.</p> + + <p>"Oh!" cried Brighteyes, "you're going to fall, Buddy!"</p> + + <p>"I've fallen already," he panted. "But I'm going to land on + the ground in a minute, for I can't hold on any longer!"</p> + + <p>And he looked down, picking out a soft spot to fall on, but, + oh, dear me, and a sour pickle! If the pole, when it fell down, + hadn't knocked the pillows to one side, and there was only hard + ground for Buddy to land on. Well, maybe he wasn't frightened, + and Brighteyes was also frightened, too flabbergasted, you see, + to go and fix the pillows in place again, and they didn't either + of them know what in the world to do.</p> + + <p>I don't know what might have happened, for Buddy couldn't hold + on much longer, but, just as he was going to let go, along came + Uncle Wiggily Longears. He saw what the trouble was at once, and + up he rushed and with his crutch he piled the pillows in a soft + heap right under Buddy, and then Buddy let go the tight rope and + down he came, just like in a feather bed.</p> + + <p>And he wasn't hurt the least mite, but he was very thankful to + Uncle Wiggily, the old rabbit gentleman, and Buddy never tried to + walk a tight rope, nor a loose one again.</p> + + <p>Now, in case there is no salt in the ice cream to make the rag + doll sneeze, I'll tell you in the following story about + Brighteyes Pigg in a tin can.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_13"><!-- RULE4 13 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XI</h2> + + <center> + BRIGHTEYES IN A TIN CAN + </center> + + <p>Of course, when Mamma Pigg came home the afternoon that Buddy + tried to walk a tight rope (for she had been away visiting Mrs. + Wibblewobble when it happened) she had to hear about it. Buddy + and Brighteyes would have told her, anyhow, for they always did, + but, as it was, Mrs. Pigg saw a scratch on Buddy's leg, where the + rope had hurt him when he fell, and she wanted to know all about + it. Then Buddy told her of the trick he had tried to perform.</p> + + <p>"Little guinea pigs are safer on the ground," she said. "Leave + such things to Billie and Johnnie Bushytail, or the Bow Wows, who + were once in a circus. Now get washed for supper, for your papa + will soon be here, and I think he'll fetch a quart of carrot ice + cream, as it is so hot."</p> + + <p>And sure enough, Dr. Pigg did, and the carrot ice cream was + the best Brighteyes and Buddy had ever tasted, they thought.</p> + + <p>Well, it was about two days after this that Brighteyes Pigg + was sent to the store for her mother, to get a nutmeg, a yeast + cake, and a bottle of blueing. Brighteyes started off, hurrying + through the woods, where once the owl had tried to get Buddy into + the den of the old fox, and soon the little guinea pig girl was + at the grocery.</p> + + <p>She got the things, and the storekeeper put them in a paper + bag for her, and back she started.</p> + + <p>It was so warm that, after Brighteyes had reached a cool place + in the woods, near where a little brook ran over the stones, + making a gurgling noise, very pleasant to hear, she sat down to + rest. And she hadn't been sitting there more than about ten long + breaths, when she saw, beside the stream, a tin can.</p> + + <p>"Now I wonder what is in that can?" thought Brighteyes. "I'm + going to see. Perhaps it's something good to eat, and I can take + some home to Buddy," for she was very kind to her brother, you + understand.</p> + + <p>So she went up to the can, but wasn't she disappointed when + she saw that it was empty! The open end was on the side that was + turned away from her, and that's why at first she thought it was + full. But she smelled of the opening, and oh, what a delicious + perfume there was, sweet and sugary, and in a minute Brighteyes + knew what it was.</p> + + <p>"There has been molasses in that can!" she exclaimed. "Oh, if + there's anything I dearly love it's molasses! I wonder if there + is any left inside? Sometimes people don't quite empty the cans + before they throw them away. I'm going to look."</p> + + <p>So Brighteyes went closer, and, would you believe me? if she + didn't see, away down in the lower edge of that can, as it rested + on its side, a lot of nice molasses.</p> + + <p>"Oh, I must have that!" cried Brighteyes, and, without + thinking of what she was doing, she put her head and her forepaws + inside that can. She found she could reach the molasses with her + tongue, and she began to lick it up, wishing she had some way of + taking part of it to Buddy.</p> + + <p>She was so excited over it that she even had taken her things + from the grocery store inside the can with her. There she was, + with only part of her body and her hind legs sticking out, and + she was eating the molasses as fast as she could.</p> + + <p>It kept tasting better and better, but, after a while, + Brighteyes thought she had enough, and she started to pull her + head out of the can. But, oh dear me! She found she couldn't do + it. The sharp edges of the tin caught in her fur, and there she + was, stuck fast with the can over her head, and the nutmeg, the + bottle of blueing and the yeast cake in there with her.</p> + + <p>"Oh, dear me suz-dud!" she cried. "I'm fast!"</p> + + <p>She tried to shake the can off, but it wouldn't shake. Then + she tried to pull herself out, but the can was still on her head, + and went everywhere she went, like Mary's little lamb. Then poor + Brighteyes tried to stand up on her hind legs, and hit the can + against a tree or a stone, thinking she could knock it off, but + it wouldn't come off, and then she turned a somersault, thinking + that would help, but, though she even stood on her head in the + can, and wiggled her hind legs, it did no good.</p> + + <p>"Oh, I'm caught fast!" cried the poor little creature, and she + rolled around and around on the ground, thinking that would help + some, but it didn't.</p> + + <p>Then she heard some one coming along through the woods, and + she called out: "Who's there? Please help me out of this + can!"</p> + + <p>"I'm Johnnie Bushytail," answered a voice. "Who are you?"</p> + + <p>"I'm Brighteyes Pigg," she said. "Please help me."</p> + + <p>But her voice sounded so queer and hollow, shut up as it was + in the can, and the nutmeg rattled around so, like thunder, that + Johnnie Bushytail, the squirrel, was frightened, and ran away, + without helping Brighteyes. Then she felt like crying, but, in a + little while she heard some one else coming along through the + woods, and she called: "Oh, please help me! Who is there?"</p> + + <p>"I'm Sammie Littletail," was the answer. "Who are you?"</p> + + <p>"I'm Brighteyes Pigg," she replied. "Help me, please!"</p> + + <p>But her voice sounded so strange and hollow in the can, and + just then the yeast cake came bouncing out, where there was a + little space near Brighteyes' neck and the tinfoil was all + shining so that Sammie thought some one was shooting square, + silver bullets at him, and away he ran.</p> + + <p>Then Brighteyes was going to give up in despair, and she + thought she would never, never get out, and she wished she had + never eaten the molasses, when, all of a sudden, she heard some + one else coming along, and between her sobs she cried out:</p> + + <p>"Oh, please, whoever you are, don't run away! Help me out of + this can! Who are you?"</p> + + <p>"I am Alice Wibblewobble, the duck," was the answer. "Who are + you?"</p> + + <p>"I am Brighteyes Pigg," said the little creature in the + molasses can, and just then the bottle of blueing broke inside + and the blue stuff ran out, trickling to one side.</p> + + <p>"Oh, you must be the blue fairy!" cried Alice, and she took + her strong bill and bent back the edges of the tin can so that + Brighteyes could get out, which she soon did, and was not hurt in + the least.</p> + + <p>Of course Alice was surprised to see a guinea pig instead of a + blue fairy, but she was glad she had saved Brighteyes, who had to + go back to the store for another bottle of blueing. But the + nutmeg and the yeast cake were all right.</p> + + <p>Then Alice Wibblewobble poured the rest of the molasses out of + the can into an empty acorn cup and Brighteyes took it home to + Buddy, who liked it very much, and I almost wish I had some + molasses candy; don't you?</p> + + <p>Now, in the next story I'm going to tell you about Dr. Pigg + and the firecracker; that is if the mosquitoes don't sing so + loudly that they wake up the baby's rattle box.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_14"><!-- RULE4 14 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XII</h2> + + <center> + DR. PIGG AND THE FIRECRACKER + </center> + + <p>Once upon a time it happened that, as Buddy Pigg was coming + home from having played baseball with Johnnie and Billie + Bushytail, and all his friends, he saw, lying beside the road, + something long and round and red, with a little string dangling + from it.</p> + + <p>"Aha!" exclaimed Buddy Pigg; "there is a stick of red candy? + Oh, fine! Oh, dandy! I'll take it home, and give Brighteyes + some."</p> + + <p>That was because she had managed to bring him home some of the + molasses that was in the can, in which the little girl guinea pig + got stuck fast. So Buddy picked up the long, round, red thing, + with a string dangling from it, and took a big bite. That is, he + tried to, but he found his teeth wouldn't go through it.</p> + + <p>"Wow!" he cried. "That isn't a stick of candy at all."</p> + + <p>And the funny part of it was that it wasn't a stick of candy. + No, not in the least, I do assure you. What it was Buddy couldn't + guess, though I suppose some of you children can.</p> + + <p>Well, anyhow, he picked it up, and carried it in one paw, and + his bat and catching glove in the other. And pretty soon whom + should he meet hopping along but Bawly, the frog—Bully's + brother, you know. And Bawly was singing away for dear life, this + little song, which you will have to get some one to sing for you, + as I am as hoarse as two crows and a cricket. Well, anyhow, this + is the song:</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>"As I was hopping along one day,</p> + + <p class="i2">Hi diddle um diddle I!</p> + + <p>A grasshopper sat in a greenwood tree,</p> + + <p class="i2">Tum-tum-tum tiddle di!</p> + + <p>"Oh, where are you going?" the grasshopper asked.</p> + + <p class="i2">"Oh, not very far," I said.</p> + + <p>"May I go along?" asked the funny bug.</p> + + <p class="i2">And he stood right up on his head.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>"Why yes," I told him, "come along,"</p> + + <p class="i2">Tu ri lum diddle day.</p> + + <p>"The weather is certainly fine just now,"</p> + + <p class="i2">Fum lum dum skiddle fay.</p> + + <p>But the grasshopper fell in a deep, dark bog,</p> + + <p class="i2">And I pulled him out on a sunken log,</p> + + <p>And then came along a bad, savage dog,</p> + + <p class="i2">And we both ran away."</p> + </div> + </div> + <!-- NOTE: Remove center tags and put align="left" or align="right" for text wrapped alignments --> + <a name="image-3"><!-- Image 3 --></a> + + <center> + <img src="./images/03.jpg" height="730" width="450" alt=""> + </center> + + <p>"Oh, ho! So that's the way it was, eh?" asked Buddy, who had + never heard that song before.</p> + + <p>"That's exactly how it was, and not a bit different, I give + you my word for it," said Bawly, the frog. "But what have you + there, Buddy? Peppermint candy, as sure as I can sing! May I have + a bit?"</p> + + <p>"You could have it if it was candy," promised Buddy, real + politely, "only it isn't," and he looked at the queer red thing + from all sides, and he couldn't make out what it was, and neither + could Bawly.</p> + + <p>Well, I'll tell you what it was, so you can understand the + story better. It was a firecracker. Yes, sir, a big, red + firecracker that, somehow or other, hadn't gone off on Fourth of + July when it ought to have done so.</p> + + <p>I presume some boy had lighted it, tossed it into the bushes + and it had gone out and stayed out until Buddy found it. At any + rate, he didn't know what it was, and he took it home. Neither + did Mr. Pigg know what it was, but Buddy's mother and sister + thought it was quite a pretty ornament, and Mrs. Pigg put it on + the parlor mantle, where company could see it.</p> + + <p>Well, one day, not long after this, Dr. Pigg was home all + alone, for his wife and the children had gone to a moving-picture + show. He was dozing away in his easy chair, with a newspaper over + his face to keep away the flies, when, all of a sudden, there + came a knock on the door.</p> + + <p>"My goodness alive! Who's there?" cried Dr. Pigg.</p> + + <p>"It's me," answered a voice.</p> + + <p>"And who, pray tell, may you be?" asked Dr. Pigg.</p> + + <p>"I'm a bad tramp fox," was the answer, "and I want you to give + me something to eat. Quick! I'm in a hurry!"</p> + + <p>Now that wasn't a nice way to speak, and Dr. Pigg knew it, + and, what is more, that bad fox knew it, too. But, do you s'pose + he cared? Not a bit of it. He was as impolite as he could be, and + he took pride in it.</p> + + <p>"I want something to eat in a hurry," he went on, in a coarse, + grumbly voice, and he was such a big fox, and Dr. Pigg was such a + nice, gentle kind of a creature that he didn't dare refuse + him.</p> + + <p>"Very well," said Buddy's papa, "step into the parlor, Mr. + Fox, and I'll see what I can do for you. There ought to be + something in the pantry."</p> + + <p>So he went to look in the pantry for a bone, or something like + that, just as Mother Hubbard would have done, you know, and when + the fox went in the parlor what do you suppose he saw? Why, that + big, red firecracker on the mantle, of course. And when he saw it + a wicked plan came into his head.</p> + + <p>"I'll just light that," he thought to himself, "and it will + blow this pen up, and Dr. Pigg with it. Then I can take anything + I want. That's what I'll do. I'll blow the place up!"</p> + + <p>Then he lighted the string of the firecracker, standing up on + his hind legs to reach it, you see, and, as it was a long string, + the fox knew it would burn some time before it would explode the + firecracker. So the fox ran out into the kitchen, where Dr. Pigg + was getting him something to eat, and he cried:</p> + + <p>"Here, give me what you have ready, I can't wait."</p> + + <p>"You must be in a hurry," replied Dr. Pigg, as he gave the fox + some bread and meat and cold potatoes. And of course the fox was + in a hurry, for he wanted to get out of the way before that + firecracker went off and blew the house up.</p> + + <p>Then the fox ran and hid in the bushes, waiting for the house + and Dr. Pigg to be blown up, so he could go in and take whatever + he wanted. The string on the firecracker burned slowly, but + surely. And the fox knew it would be a perfectly tremendous + explosion, for the firecracker was as big as a hundred lead + pencils made into one.</p> + + <p>But now watch and see what happens. After Dr. Pigg had put + away the bread and meat, left over after giving the fox some, who + should come along but Percival, the old, circus dog. He came to + pay a friendly call on Dr. Pigg, but, no sooner had he reached + the front door than he cried out:</p> + + <p>"Oh, I smell something burning," and, sure enough it was the + firecracker string sizzling away.</p> + + <p>"Maybe the house is afire," said Dr. Pigg. "Let's look!" So he + and Percival went all through the pen, and the first object they + saw was the long, rod thing burning on the mantlepiece. And + Percival knew at once what it was, for he was a smart dog, let me + tell you.</p> + + <p>"Oh!" he cried, "that is a cannon firecracker, and if it goes + off it will blow the place to pieces, and me and you, too!"</p> + + <p>"Then, for mercy sakes, don't let it go off!" cried Dr. Pigg, + and that brave dog Percival jumped up, grabbed the cannon cracker + in his mouth, dashed out of the house, and leaped into a pond of + water with it, which put out the burning string, and wet the + firecracker so it wouldn't explode.</p> + + <p>And when the fox saw Percival, he sneaked away with his tail + hanging down, I can tell you. So that's the story of Dr. Pigg and + the firecracker, and when his family came home he told them of of + his narrow escape.</p> + + <p>Now, in case I hear a June bug buzz like an electric fan + blowing soap bubbles, I'll tell you in the next story about Buddy + Pigg in a boat.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_15"><!-- RULE4 15 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XIII</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY PIGG IN A BOAT + </center> + + <p>After Percival, the old circus dog, had been so kind to Dr. + Pigg, in the matter of jumping into the pond with the big + firecracker, which the bad fox had lighted, the old gentleman + guinea pig said:</p> + + <p>"I wish, Percival, you would spend a few days with us. I'm + afraid that ugly tramp fox will come back."</p> + + <p>"Of course I will," agreed the dog. "The Bow Wows are going + down to Asbury Park for the summer, and I don't much care for the + seashore, so I'll stay home and spend a few days with you. And in + case that fox does come back—"</p> + + <p>Well, Percival didn't say what he would do, but land sakes, + flopsy dub! Oh me, and a potato pancake! You should have seen him + show his teeth and growl.</p> + + <p>Well, it was a few days after Percival had come to pay a + little visit to the Pigg family that something happened to Buddy, + and I'm going to tell you about it.</p> + + <p>You see, it had been raining pretty hard for a week or + more—yes, nearly two weeks, and it didn't seem as if it was + ever going to stop. There had been thunder showers and lightning + showers and hail showers and just plain rain showers, and they + were all more or less wet; and when it did finally stop raining + there was a lot of water all over.</p> + + <p>One day, the first day, in fact, after it stopped raining, + Buddy was taking a walk, and glad enough he was to be out of the + pen. He strolled along, letting the warm sun and the gentle wind + dry his black and white fur, and he was thinking of, oh! ever so + many things, when, all at once, he came to a little pond; only + this time it was a great big pond, because it had so much water + in it. And on the shore of the pond was a boat that some boys had + been playing with.</p> + + <p>"Oh, fine!" cried Buddy Pigg. "I'll get in and make believe + I'm a sailor, just as Billie and Johnnie Bushytail and Jennie + Chipmunk did once. I've always wanted a ride in a boat, and now's + my chance!"</p> + + <p>So he climbed into the boat, and he made believe he was + sailing away off to China, where they make firecrackers and fans, + and then, when he was half-way there (make believe, you know), + why, he turned around and sailed for India, where it's very hot; + but all this while the boat was partly on the bank and partly in + the water, and Buddy only rocked it from side to side, pretending + it was moving.</p> + + <p>Well, after he reached India, what did he do but find it so + hot there that he turned around at once and sailed for the North + Pole, so he could be nice and cool.</p> + + <p>Then, all at once, as quickly as you can eat an ice cream cone + on a hot day, if something didn't happen. Buddy looked up, after + reaching the North Pole, and he found that the boat was adrift, + floating off across the big pond, with the wind blowing it + faster, and faster, and faster.</p> + + <p>At first Buddy thought it was fun; then, as he saw that he was + getting farther and farther from shore, he became frightened. He + looked for something with which to send the boat back to land, + but there was no sail in it, and no oars; and, if there had been, + the little guinea pig boy couldn't have used them, I don't + suppose. Well, there he was, really sailing off to some unknown + country this time, in earnest, and not make believe.</p> + + <p>Then he began to cry, and he called out as loudly as he + could:</p> + + <p>"Help! Help! Help!" and who should come running down to the + shore but Peetie and Jackie Bow Wow, the two puppy dogs. They + hadn't gone to Asbury Park yet, you see, but they were going + soon.</p> + + <p>"What's the matter?" asked Peetie.</p> + + <p>"The boat is taking me away off," answered Buddy.</p> + + <p>"Jump out and swim to shore!" cried Peetie.</p> + + <p>"I can't swim," called back Buddy.</p> + + <p>"Oh, we'll show you how," went on Jackie, and then he and + Peetie jumped into the water and began to show Buddy how to swim, + but he was too frightened to learn, and, besides, the two puppy + dogs were too far off for him to see them plainly. Then they swam + out, and they tried to pull the boat back to shore, but they were + not strong enough.</p> + + <p>"Oh, I'll be drowned! I'll be drowned!" cried Buddy. "What + shall I do? Tell my mamma good-by for me," he said to Jackie.</p> + + <p>"We'll tell her you're in trouble, and maybe she will know of + a way to save you," called Peetie and Jackie.</p> + + <p>So they ran and told Mrs. Pigg, and she and Brighteyes came + running down to the shore of the pond.</p> + + <p>"Oh, my poor little boy," cried Mamma Pigg, when she saw Buddy + being carried farther and farther away.</p> + + <p>"Oh, how can we reach him?" wailed Brighteyes, wringing her + paws. "We must save him, somehow!"</p> + + <p>Just then along came Billie and Johnnie Bushytail, the + squirrels.</p> + + <p>"Stick up your tail like a sail and the wind will blow you + ashore!" they cried to Buddy. "That's what we did."</p> + + <p>"I haven't any tail," answered Buddy, real sorrowful-like.</p> + + <p>"That's so," said the little squirrel boys, and it began to + look pretty bad for poor Buddy, let me tell you.</p> + + <p>"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" cried Mamma Pigg. "I'll never see my + poor boy again," for he was quite far off by this time.</p> + + <p>Then, all of a sudden, down to the edge of the pond, came + rushing Percival, the old circus dog.</p> + + <p>"I'll save Buddy!" he cried. "I'll carry a rope out to him, + and he can fasten it to the boat, and then we can pull him + ashore."</p> + + <p>Well, Percival took a rope in his mouth and started to swim + out, but a funny thing happened. The water got in his mouth and + washed the rope away, and he couldn't carry it, though he tried a + number of times.</p> + + <p>Then everybody felt sorry, and Jackie Bow Wow was just + suggesting that they build a raft and float out on it to Buddy, + when who should come along but Jimmie Wibblewobble, the boy duck. + They all told him what the trouble was, and he said, "Quack! + Quack! Quack!" three times, just like that, and exclaimed:</p> + + <p>"I have it! I can swim out with the rope in my bill, for my + head will be above the water."</p> + + <p>He did it too, in about two quacks and a quarter. Then he + helped Buddy fasten the rope to the side of the boat, and those + on land, including Percival, the two Bow Wows and Mamma Pigg and + Brighteyes, soon pulled the boat and Buddy in it ashore.</p> + + <p>Buddy said he was never going sailing again, and I guess he + never did, for he was very much frightened, but he soon got over + it and played with Jimmie and Jackie and Peetie, while Mamma Pigg + had to go home to take something for her nerves.</p> + + <p>Now, if I have rhubarb pie for supper, and the ham sandwich + doesn't squeal when they put mustard on it, I'll tell you about + Brighteyes and the peanut candy in the next story.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_16"><!-- RULE4 16 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XIV</h2> + + <center> + BRIGHTEYES AND THE PEANUT CANDY + </center> + + <p>It happened, once upon a time, that Brighteyes and Buddy Pigg + were walking through the woods together, not far from their home. + They had been over to see Sammie and Susie Littletail, and they + had had a very nice time. In fact, there had been a little party + at the Littletail home.</p> + + <p>It was Sammie's or Susie's birthday, I forget just whose, and + after games had been played, there were good things to eat; nuts + of various kinds for the squirrels who came; candy, lemonade, ice + cream flavored with turnips and carrots, and oh! lots of cake, + and I don't know what else besides. There was so much that Buddy + and Brighteyes couldn't eat all their share, and they were + bringing it home to their papa and mamma.</p> + + <p>Well, as they were walking along, thinking what a good time + they had had, the two guinea pig children heard a rustling sound + in the bushes, and two big, round, staring eyes peered out at + them, and there was a noise like a dog growling.</p> + + <p>"Oh, quick! Hurry up, Buddy!" cried Brighteyes. "Something + will catch us sure!" and she began to run as fast as fast could + be, or even faster, maybe.</p> + + <p>"Oh, I don't think it's anything but old Percival, the circus + dog," said Buddy. "He won't hurt us."</p> + + <p>And he was going to stand still and look in those bushes; yes, + sir, that's what Buddy was going to do, only he happened to see a + big, bushy tail sticking out, and then he knew it was a bad fox + there, and not the good, kind dog, so Buddy ran as fast as he + could run, if not faster, right after Brighteyes.</p> + + <p>And the fox ran, too, only he had stepped on a piece of glass + and cut his foot and couldn't run very fast. He was the same fox + who lighted the firecracker in Dr. Pigg's house, and I'm glad to + say that he didn't catch Buddy or Brighteyes, for they ran faster + than the fox did.</p> + + <p>Well, they hurried on for quite a distance further, and all at + once, just as they were getting tired, and when they knew the fox + had stopped chasing them, they happened to look down on the path, + and what should they see but a white box; yes, indeed, a white + box, tied with pink string.</p> + + <p>"Oh, I wonder what can be in there?" asked Brighteyes.</p> + + <p>"I don't know, but I'll go see," said Buddy.</p> + + <p>"Oh, no, don't go too close," begged his sister. "It might be + a trap, or perhaps the bad fox is hidden inside it."</p> + + <p>"It's too small for a fox to get in," declared the boy guinea + pig. "I'll take a smell, anyhow."</p> + + <p>So he crept slowly, slowly, slowly up to the white box, and + sniffed, and sniffed and sniffed.</p> + + <p>"Oh! Ah! Um! La-la! Um! Um!" exclaimed Buddy Pigg, and he laid + down the packages of candy, nuts, cakes and other things he had + carried home from the Littletails' party, so that he might smell + the better.</p> + + <p>"What is it?" asked Brighteyes Pigg. "What's in the box?"</p> + + <p>"I don't know," replied her brother, "but whatever it is, it + smells the nicest of anything I ever smelled. It's just like when + mamma bakes a ginger cake in the oven. I'm going to open it and + see."</p> + + <p>So, with his sharp teeth, Buddy loosened the pink string + around the box, and off came the cover. Then, what do you suppose + was in the box? Why, a whole lot of peanut candy, all nice and + fresh, shining, golden brown, with just enough peanuts in, and + not a bit more, really and truly!</p> + + <p>"Oh! Oh! Oh!" cried Brighteyes in delight, as she saw it. + "Peanut candy, Buddy! If there's anything I love it's peanut + candy! Some good fairy must have left this for us. Come on, we'll + take it over here, under a bush, where the bad fox won't see us, + and we'll eat some of it, and save some to take home. Oh, how + lovely!"</p> + + <p>"I don't think I care for peanut candy very much," said Buddy. + "When I smelled it I thought it was going to be chocolate + caramels."</p> + + <p>"Don't you want any?" asked Brighteyes.</p> + + <p>"No," answered her brother, "but I'll help you carry it into + the bushes. I'll eat some of the things we brought from the + party. I'm getting hungry again."</p> + + <p>So he and Brighteyes carried the box of peanut candy into the + bushes, and the little girl guinea pig began to eat the sweet + stuff.</p> + + <p>Well, she had eaten almost all of it up, before she thought, + because it tasted so good, when all of a sudden, who should come + along the path in the woods, but a little girl. Yes, a little + girl in a red dress, and she was crying as hard as she could cry, + that little girl was.</p> + + <p>"Oh, dear!" she sobbed, "I have lost my box of peanut candy, + that I bought in the store, and I can't find it, and I'm so + miserable! Nobody in the world is so miserable as I am. Oh, dear! + Boo! Hoo!"</p> + + <p>Well, you should have seen how sorry Brighteyes was for eating + that little girl's candy, but Brighteyes didn't know, of course, + whose it was. She and Buddy just hid down in the bushes, and + didn't know what to do, until Buddy whispered:</p> + + <p>"Listen! I'll fill the box full of our candy, nuts and things + that we brought from the party, and maybe that will stop the + little girl crying."</p> + + <p>So he did that, filling the box real full, and putting the + pink string around it again. Then, when the little girl wasn't + looking, Buddy slipped out of the bushes, put the box back on the + path again and slipped under a leaf to hide. Then, pretty soon, + when the little girl stopped crying, she saw her box, and she + thought a fairy had brought it back.</p> + + <p>Then she opened it, and she saw the peanut candy had been + turned into a different kind, and that there were nuts with it + and she surely thought it was magical, but it wasn't, it was only + Buddy Pigg, who did it.</p> + + <p>So Buddy and Brighteyes went home happy, and so did the little + girl, with her white box which she had found again after she had + lost it.</p> + + <p>Now, in the next story I'm going to tell you about Buddy and + the June bug, that is if some one sends me some peanut candy with + a lot of red postage stamps on it.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_17"><!-- RULE4 17 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XV</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY AND THE JUNE BUG + </center> + + <p>One night Dr. Pigg and Mrs. Pigg and Brighteyes went to a nice + moving-picture show that Percival, the old circus dog, had gotten + up, and they left Buddy at home alone. The reason for that was + this: Buddy wasn't feeling well. He had eaten too many ice cream + cones, and too much lemonade on a hot day, and he had to have + some medicine that his papa fixed for him.</p> + + <p>It was bitter, sour medicine, too, and Buddy didn't like it, + and he didn't like to be ill, either, but one always is when one + eats too many ice cream cones and drinks too much lemonade on a + hot day; yes, indeed, and a bottle of paregoric besides.</p> + + <p>Well, Buddy was sick, and couldn't go to the moving-picture + show, but his mamma and papa thought it would be all right to + leave him home alone, as he was getting better by that time.</p> + + <p>"I'll tell you all about the show when we come back," promised + Brighteyes. "There is going to be a fairy play in it."</p> + + <p>"Oh!" cried Buddy, "how I wish I could go! I love fairy + plays!"</p> + + <p>"You will be much better in bed," said Dr. Pigg, "and if you + keep quiet you won't have to take any more medicine."</p> + + <p>There was no help for it, and Dr. Pigg and his wife and + daughter started off. They knew Buddy would be much more + comfortable in bed than at the show, or they would never have + left him, and right next door lived a family of chickens, who + would come over in case anything happened.</p> + + <p>Buddy felt a little lonesome when his folks had gone, but + after awhile he fell asleep. He dozed off for some time, and, all + of a sudden, he was awakened by hearing something going + "thumpity-thump-bump-bump-bump! Humpity-hump-bump-bump!" on the + ceiling and walls of his room. Then it went "bangity-bung-bung," + and before Buddy knew what was happening, if something didn't go + slam-bang-crack into the lamp, and put it out, leaving the poor + little guinea pig boy in the dark.</p> + + <p>Then how frightened he was! He shivered, and crept down with + his head beneath the bed clothes, but all the while he kept + hearing that "thumpity-thump-bump-hump-lump-dump!" against the + ceiling. First he thought it was the bad fox, who had gotten in + to eat him up, and then he knew the fox couldn't fly around the + room that way, or, if it could, it would make ever so much more + noise. Then he thought it might be an owl, with big, round, + staring, yellow eyes, but when he peeped out from under the + clothes the least bit, he didn't see any eyes, so he knew it + couldn't be the owl.</p> + + <p>"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" cried Buddy, when he was so frightened + he couldn't keep still any longer, "Oh, dear! I wish my papa and + mamma would come home; and Brighteyes, too!"</p> + + <p>"What for?" asked a voice, away high up on the ceiling.</p> + + <p>"Because I'm—I'm lonesome—and + afraid—and—and—" but Buddy was almost crying, + so he couldn't finish what he had started to say.</p> + + <p>"What are you afraid of?" asked the voice, and this time it + was on the side wall, close to Buddy.</p> + + <p>"I'm afraid of you!" cried the little boy guinea pig, and he + got farther under the bed clothes.</p> + + <p>"Nonsense! Afraid of me!" exclaimed the voice, and this time, + bless me; if it wasn't on the blanket, right over Buddy's nose. + "Don't be afraid, little boy," the voice went on. "I wouldn't + hurt you for the world. Why, I'm only a harmless, old June bug, + you know. I blundered in here by mistake, somehow, because I saw + your light, but now it's dark, and I can't see to get out. But + land sakes, goodness me, and some buttermilk! Don't be afraid of + me! I wouldn't hurt you for the world and the moon too."</p> + + <p>"Well, I—I don't exactly know if I'm afraid of you or + not," went on Buddy. "First I thought you were a fox or an owl. + I—I guess I'm a little afraid of the dark, too."</p> + + <p>"Nonsense! The dark can't hurt anyone," said the June bug. + "The dark is good for sleeping. But if you're afraid, how would + you like me to tell you a story? And that will pass the time + until your papa and mamma come home."</p> + + <p>"Oh, fine!" cried Buddy, and he wasn't afraid any more, for he + loved to hear stories. So the June bug perched upon the bed + clothes, where they were nice and soft, and he told lots of + stories to Buddy.</p> + + <p>He told about the cow that went to school, and about the bear + who was bitten by a big, black bug, and about two good boys, and + about three bad boys, who lived in a cave, and about an elephant, + and about a horse that had four legs and, oh, I don't know how + many stories.</p> + + <p>Then the June bug sang this little verse, only, as I have a + cold in my head you'll have to get some one else to sing it for + you. Anyhow this is how it goes:</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>"I love to flip and flop and flap,</p> + + <p class="i2">And buzz around the room,</p> + + <p>I leap up to the ceiling high,</p> + + <p class="i2">And hit it with a boom!</p> + + <p>I turn a double somersault.</p> + + <p class="i2">My wings they play a tune.</p> + + <p>It's lots of fun to be a bug,</p> + + <p class="i2">Especially in June."</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p>And then, land sakes, and a feather pillow; if Buddy Pigg + wasn't fast asleep. Then the kind old June bug sang his song over + again, softly, and was about to fly away, when he saw a mosquito + going to bite the little guinea pig boy.</p> + + <p>And what did that bug do but grab the mosquito and throw him + out of the window. And the June bug stayed until he heard Dr. + Pigg and his wife coming back, and then he flew away, for he had + managed to find the place where he had come in, and crawled out + again.</p> + + <p>Buddy woke up when his mamma came in his room to see how he + was, and he told her all about the June bug, and how kind it had + been, and how it had told stories.</p> + + <p>"You must have had a lovely dream," said Mrs. Pigg, but Buddy + knew it had actually happened, and wasn't a dream at all. Now if + my typewriter doesn't fall down and sprain its hair ribbon we'll + next have a story soon about Brighteyes and a bad boy.</p> + <!-- NOTE: Remove center tags and put align="left" or align="right" for text wrapped alignments --> + <a name="image-4"><!-- Image 4 --></a> + + <center> + <img src="./images/04.jpg" height="722" width="450" alt=""> + </center> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_18"><!-- RULE4 18 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XVI</h2> + + <center> + BRIGHTEYES AND THE BAD BOY + </center> + + <p>Brighteyes Pigg was coming home from the grocery store one + day. She didn't have much to carry because, you see, her mamma + had sent her for only a yeast cake, and, as that wasn't very + large, Matilda put it in her apron pocket.</p> + + <p>She was walking along, thinking what a good time she would + have when she got home, for Jennie Chipmunk had promised to come + over as soon as she got her dishes washed and play house with the + little guinea pig girl.</p> + + <p>"We'll have a lovely time," thought Matilda, who was called + Brighteyes for short. "We'll dress up all our dolls and have a + play-party, and maybe mamma will give us real things to eat."</p> + + <p>Well, Brighteyes was thinking so much about the party, and + about Jennie Chipmunk, whom she had not seen in some time, that + she didn't pay much attention to anything else. She was going + along, hippity-hop, just as Sister Sallie went to the barber + shop, when all of a sudden something whizzed right past the nose + of Brighteyes and almost hit her.</p> + + <p>"My goodness me, sakes alive and a tin dishpan! What's that?" + she exclaimed. "I wonder if it could have been that June bug who + told Buddy stories so nicely?"</p> + + <p>Then she looked all around and she didn't see anything of a + bug, and she didn't hear his wings buzzing, so she thought it + couldn't have been him.</p> + + <p>Then, bless me! if something more didn't shoot right past + Brighteyes with a whizz and a whozz, making a funny noise, you + know. And this time she saw what it was. It was an arrow, the + kind that are shot from bows, you understand.</p> + + <p>"Oh, the Indians are after me! The Indians are after me!" + cried poor Brighteyes in fright, for you see she had read in her + school reader about the Indians shooting arrows.</p> + + <p>Then the little guinea pig girl started to run, but before she + had taken three steps and a half, if another arrow didn't come + whizzing through the bushes at her, and this time it was so close + that it just touched her left ear.</p> + + <p>This frightened her so that she fell down, and before she + could get up to run away, if out from behind a tree didn't leap a + bad boy.</p> + + <p>So it wasn't an Indian shooting the arrows, after all, which, + perhaps, was a good thing, as Indians can shoot very straight and + might have hurt Brighteyes. No, it was a bad boy.</p> + + <p>I call him bad because he shot at Brighteyes, and I guess + before I'm through with this story that you'll call him bad + also.</p> + + <p>Well, that boy ran right at Brighteyes, and before she knew + what was happening he had grabbed her.</p> + + <p>"Wow!" cried the boy. "I've got it! I shot it! I've got a + rabbit!"</p> + + <p>"Ha! That ain't a rabbit!" exclaimed another boy, coming out + of the bushes, "that's a guinea pig. Where did you hit it?"</p> + + <p>"I don't know. It doesn't seem to be hurt anywhere. But I was + sure I hit it. But, maybe, the arrow only stunned it. Anyhow, + I've got it. Now we'll take it home, and put it in a cage, and + charge five cents for all the other boys to see it."</p> + + <p>"Sure," said the second boy. "You're a good shot with your bow + and arrow. Come on, let me carry the guinea pig."</p> + + <p>"No," replied the first boy, "I'm going to carry it myself. I + wonder if you carry 'em by their ears, like you do rabbits?" Then + he tried to get hold of Brighteyes' ears, and he could hardly + find them, as they were so small, and, of course, he couldn't + take hold of them.</p> + + <p>But, oh, dear! how roughly he handled that poor little guinea + pig girl! When he couldn't get hold of her ears he grabbed her by + the hind legs and actually turned her upside down, and then what + should happen but that the yeast cake fell out of her apron + pocket.</p> + + <p>"Ha! That's funny!" cried the boy who held Brighteyes. "I + never knew that guinea pigs ate yeast cakes. This must be a smart + one. We'll teach it to do tricks, and then we can charge ten + cents to see it. Oh, I'm glad I caught it."</p> + + <p>And he held on more tightly to Brighteyes, for she was + wiggling and squirming, trying to get away.</p> + + <p>Oh, how frightened she was, when she heard the boys say that + they were going to shut her up in a cage! She thought she would + never see her mamma, and papa, and Buddy again. Big tears came + into her eyes, and she trembled all over.</p> + + <p>But do you s'pose that bad boy and the other one cared? Not + the least bit! First one held Brighteyes, and then the other, to + see how heavy she was, and then they took her up, first by one + leg and then by the other, and, if she had had a tail, they would + have held her up by that, and probably pulled it, too, for all I + know.</p> + + <p>You see those two boys had been playing they were Indians in + the woods with their bows and arrows, and perhaps that made them + act so cruelly.</p> + + <p>"Let's hurry home now and put it in a cage," said the bad boy, + and he and the other boy started off, carrying Brighteyes. But + wait, don't be frightened, or worried, for something is going to + happen immediately, which is very soon.</p> + + <p>All at once there was a whizzing and a whozzing in the air, + and a buzzing, bizzing sound, and that kind old June bug came + sailing along. He saw those bad boys taking Brighteyes away, and + the bug knew at once that she was Buddy's sister.</p> + + <p>So what did he do but wiggle his wings about a thousand times + a minute, I guess, and fly right at the boy who held the guinea + pig girl!</p> + + <p>Right at the bad boy flew the bug, and he hit him first in one + eye and then the other and scared him so that the bad chap was + glad enough to let go of poor Brighteyes in a hurry.</p> + + <p>Then the other boy stepped on the yeast cake, and it flattened + out, and he slipped on it, and fell down, and he thought a bear + was after him, and he yelled, and the other boy yelled, and then + they both ran away, and Brighteyes was saved.</p> + + <p>She thanked the June bug, and he said he was glad he could + help her, and he flew back to the grocery and got another yeast + cake for her. Then Brighteyes hurried home.</p> + + <p>Now the next story is going to be about Buddy Pigg's great + run—that is, if we have peaches and cream for supper and + the rag man doesn't take my rubber boots for his goat to wear to + the party.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_19"><!-- RULE4 19 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XVII</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY'S GREAT RUN + </center> + + <p>Well, I didn't have peaches and cream for supper last night, + but I had strawberry shortcake, which is almost as good, so I can + tell you a story, anyhow.</p> + + <p>Once upon a time, Oh, I guess it must have been about two + weeks after Brighteyes was caught by the bad boys, and rescued by + the June bug, Buddy Pigg was sitting on his front steps, wishing + he had something to do.</p> + + <p>"Mother," he asked, "can I go down in the brook, paddling? + Jimmie Wibblewobble is down there."</p> + + <p>"No," said Mrs. Pigg kindly, "you are not quite well enough to + go in the water, Buddy. But you may have five cents for an ice + cream cone."</p> + + <p>Well, Buddy walked up to the store, got a vanilla ice cream + cone, and had just finished the last of it, even down to the + sharp point of the cone, where there wasn't any ice cream, when + who should come along but Billie and Johnnie Bushytail. They had + their catching gloves, and a ball and a bat, and when the + squirrel boys saw Buddy they called out:</p> + + <p>"Come on, let's have a game of baseball."</p> + + <p>"All right," agreed Buddy. "But who else will play?"</p> + + <p>"Oh! we'll get Sammie Littletail, and Bully and Bawly, the + frogs, and Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, and Jimmie Wibblewobble, + and we'll have a fine game," said Billie Bushytail.</p> + + <p>So they walked along, and pretty soon they met Sammie + Littletail, and then a little while after that they met the two + Bow Wows, and then who should come hopping along, but Bully and + Bawly, the two frogs, and, if you'll believe me, a moment after + that, along came Jimmie Wibblewobble.</p> + + <p>Then they had enough for a fine baseball game, and they went + to a nice, green meadow where they could play. Well, Johnnie + Bushytail was up at the bat first, and he knocked the ball so far + that Bully, who was playing out in the far-off part of the field, + had to take about sixteen and a half hops before he could get it. + But by that time Johnnie was back at home plate safe.</p> + + <p>Then it came Sammie Littletail's turn, and he knocked the ball + so high that it went up in a tree and stayed there, and didn't + come down.</p> + + <p>"Oh, that's no way to play!" exclaimed Jimmie Wibblewobble. + "Now we haven't any ball. What did you do that for, Sammie?"</p> + + <p>"Well, I couldn't help it; could I?" asked Sammie, and he + threw the bat up, trying to knock down the ball.</p> + + <p>But it wouldn't come down, and then they all threw up stones + and sticks, but still that ball wouldn't come down, and then + Billie and Johnnie Bushytail climbed up and they had it down in + about two frisks of their big, long tails.</p> + + <p>Well, they said that Sammie Littletail was out for knocking + the ball up in the tree, and he didn't like it, but he gave in, + and the game went on. Then Jimmie Wibblewobble knocked a ball, + oh! so far and so high that it was almost out of sight.</p> + + <p>"Nobody can catch that!" cried Jimmie, as he started for first + base.</p> + + <p>But just you wait and see. Buddy Pigg was out in the field, + waiting for a nice ball to come along so he could catch it, and + now was his chance. He had such bright eyes, almost like his + sister's, and he could see the ball away up in the white clouds, + even though none of the other players could.</p> + + <p>He kept his eyes on it, and got his paws all ready to catch it + when it came down. And pretty soon it did begin to come down, for + you know it couldn't stay up there in the air, with nothing to + hold it. Of course not, and I know you understand how that + is.</p> + + <p>Well, Buddy managed to catch that ball, though it came down + very swiftly, and Jimmie Wibblewobble was out.</p> + + <p>"Fine catch, Buddy! Fine!" cried Billie Bushytail.</p> + + <p>"Yes, and now it's Buddy's turn to bat," said Bawly, the frog. + "Get up, Buddy. I'll pitch you a nice one."</p> + + <p>So Buddy got up to home plate, which was a flat stone, you + know, and he held his bat ready to knock the ball out of sight, + if possible.</p> + + <p>Bawly threw him a nice, easy ball, and Buddy struck at it. He + hit, too, which is better. Oh! such a hit as he gave that ball! + It's a good thing balls don't have feelings, I think, or bats + either, for that matter.</p> + + <p>Well, as soon as he hit the ball Buddy started to run for the + bases. Oh, how fast he ran, but something happened. The ball + didn't go as far as he thought it would. No, it fell down right + near Sammie Littletail, and Sammie picked it up and ran toward + Buddy with it.</p> + + <p>He knew if he could touch Buddy with the ball before Buddy got + back to home plate, that Buddy would be out and then Sammie could + bat again.</p> + + <p>So Sammie ran after Buddy, and Buddy ran all around the bases, + hoping he could make a home run and get there safe. But it was + hard work. Faster and faster he ran, and faster and faster hopped + Sammie after him.</p> + + <p>"Run, Buddy! Run!" cried Bully the frog.</p> + + <p>"I—am—running!" panted Buddy.</p> + + <p>"Catch him, Sammie! Catch him!" cried Bawly, and Sammie gave + three tremendous hops to catch Buddy.</p> + + <p>But by this time Buddy was nearly at home plate, where he + would be safe. And the worst of it was that Sammie was almost + there, too.</p> + + <p>Then, with his last breath, and giving a spring and a hop that + was so big that it took him close to Buddy, Sammie stretched out + his paw with the ball in and tried to touch Buddy. But do you + s'pose he did? No, sir, he didn't, and Buddy got home safe, and + wasn't put out after all.</p> + + <p>"Well," said Sammie, after he had gotten his breath, "if you + had had a tail sticking out behind you I would have touched that, + and you'd have been out."</p> + + <p>"I'm glad I haven't a tail," said Buddy, as he sat down on the + grass to rest, and then, after a while the game went on, and + lasted until dark, everybody having a fine time.</p> + + <p>Now, I'm going to tell you in the story after this one about + Brighteyes, Buddy and the turnip—that is, in case I hear a + potato bug sing a song that puts the rag doll to sleep, so she + won't cry and wake up the pussy cat.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_20"><!-- RULE4 20 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XVIII</h2> + + <center> + BRIGHTEYES, BUDDY AND THE TURNIP + </center> + + <p>One day when Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg were out walking in the + fields, they saw, close beside a big stone, a fine, large turnip. + Oh, it was the nicest, ripest, juiciest turnip that ever a guinea + pig boy or girl smelled of, and it just made their mouths water, + and water even came into their eyes.</p> + + <p>"Oh, what a lovely turnip!" exclaimed Brighteyes. "I wonder + who it belongs to?"</p> + + <p>"Let's look and see if it has any one's name on it," suggested + Buddy.</p> + + <p>So, after peering carefully about to see that there were no + traps near, the two guinea pig children went closer, and gazed on + all sides of the turnip, and even turned it over to look on the + bottom.</p> + + <p>They couldn't see a single name, and then they came to the + conclusion that the turnip didn't belong to any one in + particular.</p> + + <p>"I wonder if it would be right for us to take it home?" asked + Brighteyes. "Mamma and papa would just love to have some of + it."</p> + + <p>"Why certainly, take it right along, children!" exclaimed a + voice from under a burdock leaf, and then out flew the kind, old + June bug.</p> + + <p>"May we really have it?" asked Buddy.</p> + + <p>"Of course," answered the June bug. "You see I was hiding + under that leaf, thinking it was about time for me to go South, + for June bugs oughtn't really to fly in July, when I heard a + rumbling noise. First I thought it was thunder, and then I saw + that it was a big farm wagon loaded with turnips.</p> + + <p>"Well, one of the turnips fell off, and a boy, who was riding + on the wagon, called to the man who was driving, and told him + about the turnip falling. Then the man said that didn't matter, + as he had more turnips than he knew what to do with. So that's + how I know that you can have the turnip if you wish."</p> + + <p>"Well, we certainly do wish!" cried Brighteyes. "Isn't it + grand, Buddy? We'll take it right home."</p> + + <p>"Yes, but how can we carry it?" asked her brother. "I don't + believe we can lift it."</p> + + <p>He went up to the big, round turnip, and tried and tried, with + all his might, to lift it, but it wouldn't come up as high even + as a pin head from the ground.</p> + + <p>"Perhaps I can lift it," suggested Brighteyes, so she tried, + but she couldn't.</p> + + <p>"Maybe if you both try together you can," said the June + bug.</p> + + <p>Well, they both pulled and hauled, but it was of no use. There + that turnip was, just as if it was stuck fast in the ground.</p> + + <p>"I'm not very strong myself," went on the June bug, "but I'll + do my best. Come on, now, all together."</p> + + <p>So he took hold, with Buddy and Brighteyes, and he buzzed his + wings as hard as they would buzz, and he cracked his legs, and he + strained and he tugged and pulled, but, no sir, that turnip + wouldn't move the least bit.</p> + + <p>"I guess we'll have to leave it here," said Buddy + sorrowful-like, "but I did so want to take it home to mamma and + papa."</p> + + <p>And he looked at the big vegetable as if it would, somehow, + move itself.</p> + + <p>"I know a way," said the June bug, at length.</p> + + <p>"How?" asked Brighteyes.</p> + + <p>"Why you and your brother must eat as much of it as you can, + and then it will be lighter, and easier to lift, you see. Just + gnaw a lot off the turnip, and you can carry it, then."</p> + + <p>"Oh, but that would spoil the turnip," objected Buddy. "We + want to take it home all in one piece, so papa and mamma can see + it." Now wasn't that good of him? Especially when he and his + sister were just as hungry as they could be, and would have loved + to have had some? But they wanted to have their folks see it + first, without a bite being taken from it.</p> + + <p>"Well," said the June bug, "maybe you can roll it along, if + you can't lift it."</p> + + <p>"The very thing!" cried Buddy. "If we can just get it started + it will roll along easily, for it is down hill to our pen, and it + will bounce along just as the cabbage did, that I was once in. + That's a good plan."</p> + + <p>Well, by hard work the three of them did manage to get the + turnip started, and it rolled along, first slowly and then more + quickly, and then with a rush, and land sake! if all at once it + didn't roll down into a big hole.</p> + + <p>"Oh, now we'll never get it up!" cried Buddy, much + disappointed, and he and his sister felt very sorrowful. But not + for long, for in a little while along hopped Uncle Wiggily + Longears, with his crutch. It didn't take him any time, with the + aid of the June bug, and Buddy and Brighteyes, to pry that turnip + up out of the hole.</p> + + <p>"Now I'll show you how to get the turnip home," said Uncle + Wiggily. "You need some way to steer it, so it won't run away + from you and get into a hole again."</p> + + <p>Then he took his crutch and punched a hole through that + turnip, and put a stick through the hole, so the turnip was just + like the wheel of a wheelbarrow.</p> + + <p>Then he fastened long pieces of strong grass to the stick that + was stuck through the turnip, and he and Buddy and Brighteyes and + the June bug took hold of the grass, and they rolled that turnip + along and steered it just as you pull your sled or wheel the baby + carriage or guide a horse with a bit in his mouth.</p> + + <p>And pretty soon they were safely at the pen, and Dr. Pigg and + his wife were much surprised and delighted when they saw the big + turnip which their children had found. They gave Uncle Wiggily + Longears some, but the June bug said he would rather have a + ginger snap, and he got it.</p> + + <p>Now the next story will be about Buddy and the burglar fox, in + case the milkman isn't late to school, and if he brings a bottle + of water for teacher to sprinkle the blackboards with.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_21"><!-- RULE4 21 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XIX</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY AND THE BURGLAR FOX + </center> + + <p>"We must lock all the windows and doors very tightly + to-night," said Mrs. Pigg to her husband, one evening, when they + were getting ready for bed.</p> + + <p>"Yes," agreed Dr. Pigg, "we must. I'll see to it, my dear, and + you put the children to bed."</p> + + <p>"Why do you have to lock up so carefully, mamma?" inquired + Buddy.</p> + + <p>"Because," said Mrs. Pigg, "I heard that there have been a + number of tramps and burglars around lately."</p> + + <p>"Indeed, that's true," added Dr. Pigg. "Mr. Cock A. Doodle, + the rooster next door, was telling me that he thinks some one + tried to get in his coop last night. The door rattled and some + one shook the window."</p> + + <p>"Perhaps it was the wind," suggested Brighteyes.</p> + + <p>"It may have been," agreed her father. "I hope it was, for I + don't like burglars at all. Now go to bed and don't be afraid, + for I'll lock up carefully, and I have a pail of water right + beside my bed and I'll throw it on a burglar if he dares to come + in."</p> + + <p>So Buddy and Brighteyes went up stairs to bed with their + mother, while Dr. Pigg put out the cat, locked the doors and + windows and set the alarm clock to wake him up at five o'clock, + for he had to go downtown to attend to some business in the + morning.</p> + + <p>"I wish the June bug would come again," said Brighteyes, as + she was falling asleep.</p> + + <p>"Why?" asked her mother from the next room.</p> + + <p>"Oh, so he could tell us some stories, and then I wouldn't + think about burglars."</p> + + <p>"Nonsense!" exclaimed Mrs. Pigg. "How silly! Burglars will + never hurt you. Go to sleep now."</p> + + <p>"If any burglars come in I'll fix 'em'!" cried Buddy, bravely, + from his room. Then Brighteyes went to sleep, and so did Dr. Pigg + and his wife.</p> + + <p>But, somehow, Buddy couldn't sleep. Why it was he didn't know, + only he couldn't. He thought of everything he could think of; ice + cream cones and turnips and baseball games, and being in the boat + that time, and going to the North Pole and then he thought of the + stories the June bug had told him, but still he couldn't go to + sleep.</p> + + <p>"I guess I'll get up and sit by the window a while," he said + to himself. "Then maybe I'll feel sleepy."</p> + + <p>So he got up and sat down in a comfortable chair and looked + out. It was a beautiful moonlight night, and he could see things + almost as well as if it was day.</p> + + <p>Well, Buddy hadn't sat there very long, before he saw + something long and black and shadowy creeping along, as softly + and as gently as a mouse.</p> + + <p>First he thought it was a cat, but when he looked again he saw + that it was a fox. And the fox had a bag over his shoulder, and + he was sneaking along, looking around to be sure no policeman + dogs saw him.</p> + + <p>Well, sir, as true as I'm telling you, if that fox didn't come + softly up to Dr. Pigg's house, right to the front door, as Buddy + could see by leaning out of his window, which was open, and + looking down, as his window was right over the front door.</p> + + <p>Then that fox took a screw-driver out of his bag, and he began + to work at the door to force it open, in spite of the lock on it. + Oh, how softly and quietly he worked! But Buddy looked down and + saw him, and he knew right away that it was a burglar fox, who + was coming in the house.</p> + + <p>At first Buddy was frightened, and then he knew that he ought + to do something. He thought of awakening his papa and mamma, and + then he feared that this would scare Brighteyes, and so he + decided to drive that burglar fox away all by himself.</p> + + <p>Then he tried to think of the best way to do it. He moved + softly about his room, looking for something with which to scare + the fuzzy old fox, and what do you think he found? Why, his + baseball, to be sure!</p> + + <p>"That will be as good as a bullet!" thought Buddy.</p> + + <p>Then he moved softly to the window, leaned out, where he could + see the fox, who was still trying to force open the front door, + and raising the ball in his hand, Buddy threw it down with all + his might, just as if he was throwing to first base.</p> + + <p>Well, sir, the ball hit that bad fox right on the head, and it + bounced up almost into Buddy's hands again, but not quite.</p> + + <p>My, how surprised that fox was! In fact he was so surprised + that he fell down, and when he got up and saw Buddy looking at + him from the window, he was more amazed than ever.</p> + + <p>"Get right away from here, you bad burglar fox you!" cried + Buddy, "or I'll throw forty-seven more big bullets at you!"</p> + + <p>Of course he really couldn't, because he didn't have any other + baseballs to throw, but the fox didn't know that, and really + thought the one baseball was a big bullet.</p> + + <p>Then, without even stopping to pick up his bag, the fox ran + away, and so he didn't get in at all in Dr. Pigg's house, and + Buddy went to sleep.</p> + + <p>Well, when Buddy told his papa and mamma and Brighteyes the + next morning what he had done, maybe they weren't proud of him. + Yes, indeed!</p> + + <p>I wish I could say that the fox was arrested, but he wasn't, + and made lots more trouble later. But he never broke into Dr. + Pigg's house and I'm glad of it.</p> + + <p>Now, do you think you'd like to hear, in the next story, about + a queer adventure which Brighteyes had? Well, I'll tell it to you + if the water sprinkler man gives us a nice big piece of ice to + bake in the oven for a pudding.</p> + <!-- NOTE: Remove center tags and put align="left" or align="right" for text wrapped alignments --> + <a name="image-5"><!-- Image 5 --></a> + + <center> + <img src="./images/05.jpg" height="719" width="450" alt=""> + </center> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_22"><!-- RULE4 22 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XX</h2> + + <center> + BRIGHTEYES HAS AN ADVENTURE + </center> + + <p>It was a very hot day. It was as hot, in fact, as some of the + days we have had around here lately, and when Brighteyes, the + little guinea pig girl, saw the yellow sun beaming down as she + looked out of the pen in the morning, she said to her papa:</p> + + <p>"Now, be very careful not to get overheated to-day, daddy, + dear."</p> + + <p>"I will," replied Dr. Pigg. "It is so very warm that I shall + walk on the shady side of the street, and keep a handkerchief, + wet in ice water, on my head."</p> + + <p>"I was cool enough the other night," remarked Buddy Pigg. "In + fact, I shivered when I saw the burglar fox trying to get in," + and he actually shivered again when he thought of it, and of how + he had scared the bad fox away, as I told you in the story just + before this one.</p> + + <p>But, after a bit, it got so warm that even the thought of the + fox could not make Buddy shiver. Neither could his mother nor + Brighteyes shiver, and when you can't shiver, you know, it's a + sure sign that it's going to be very hot.</p> + + <p>At last Brighteyes said:</p> + + <p>"Oh, I think I'll go for a walk in the woods. Don't you want + to come along, Buddy?" and she looked at her brother, who was + whittling a stick with his new knife.</p> + + <p>But Buddy decided it was too hot even to go off in the woods, + so Brighteyes said she would go alone. She put on her coolest + dress. I think it was a white swiss or a blue organdie, or a + challis, or a bombazine, I can't just exactly remember. Anyway, + it was nice and cool, and freshly washed and ironed and starched, + and Brighteyes looked just as pretty in it as a picture in a gold + frame.</p> + + <p>Well, she walked along for some time, and, pretty soon, oh, I + guess in about three squeaks, or, maybe, four, she came to the + woods. It was nice and cool and shady in there, with a little + breeze blowing through the trees, and, frisking about in the + branches, were several chipmunks, who were cousins of Jennie + Chipmunk, and a number of squirrels, besides, most of them + relations of Johnnie and Billie Bushytail.</p> + + <p>So Brighteyes sat down on a mossy log, and thought how nice + and cool it was, and pretty soon, she heard water running and + splashing over the stones. That made her cooler than ever and she + was feeling very happy, and wishing Buddy was with her, when she + began to feel thirsty.</p> + + <p>And the more she heard the water running the more thirsty she + became, until she said, right out loud: "I'm going to get a + drink!"</p> + + <p>You've no idea how funny it sounded to hear Brighteyes speak + out loud that way, for it was so still and quiet in the woods, + that it was just as if she had spoken out loud in church, after + the minister has stopped praying. Then Brighteyes got up from the + mossy log, and went toward the running water. And what do you + s'pose is going to happen? Why, she's going to have an adventure + in about a minute, or, maybe, less time.</p> + + <p>Well, the little guinea pig girl found where a little brook + ran through the woods, over the stones and under green banks + where the long ferns grew, and she was more thirsty than ever, + and when she got down to the edge of the brook, there was a + little plank stretched across the water for a bridge.</p> + + <p>Brighteyes walked out on the middle of the plank, looked down + into the brook, which was just like a looking-glass, and she saw + how well her dress fitted. Then she kneeled, dipped her paws in + the water and scooped up some to drink, taking care not to splash + any on her clothes.</p> + + <p>"Oh!" exclaimed the little guinea pig girl, "that is very fine + water!" Then she took another drink and stood up. She was just + going to walk back to shore when she happened to hear a funny + noise, and, lo! and behold, at either end of the plank bridge + there was a funny brown, furry creature, about as big as a small + dog. They stood up on their hind legs, one at one end of the + plank and one at the other, and when they saw Brighteyes looking + at them the larger creature cried out:</p> + + <p>"Ha! Ha! Now we have you! You can't get ashore unless you give + us all your money!"</p> + + <p>"I haven't very much," said poor Brighteyes, beginning to + tremble, and wondering if the brown creatures were burglars.</p> + + <p>"Well, we want whatever money you have," declared the creature + at the right-hand end of the plank.</p> + + <p>"Yes, indeed!" cried the creature on the left end.</p> + + <p>"Who—who are you?" stammered Brighteyes, thinking to + make friends with the creatures.</p> + + <p>"We're groundhogs!" they both cried together, "and we want + your money."</p> + + <p>"What for?" asked Brighteyes, wondering what question she + could ask next.</p> + + <p>"We're going to buy firecrackers," answered the one on the + right end.</p> + + <p>"Fourth of July is past," said Brighteyes.</p> + + <p>"No matter. Give us all your money, or we'll push you into the + brook!" declared the two groundhogs together, and when Brighteyes + said she hadn't any change, for there was no pocket in her dress, + you see, to carry any money in, what did those bad groundhogs do, + but begin to teeter-tauter up and down, with the little guinea + pig girl on the middle of the plank.</p> + + <p>Up and down she went, faster and faster, and pretty soon the + water began to splash upon her new dress. And oh, how terrible + she felt.</p> + + <p>First she thought she would run across the plank, but she was + afraid of the groundhog at either end. Then she thought she would + jump over their heads, but she couldn't jump very well, not being + a grasshopper, you see, and she didn't know what to do, and she + was crying the least bit, when, all of a sudden, who should come + along but the three Wibblewobble children—Lulu and Alice + and Jimmie—and when they saw how the two groundhogs had + made Brighteyes a prisoner in the middle of the plank bridge, + those three ducks just stretched out their long necks, and cried, + "Quack! Quack! Quack!" as loudly as they could.</p> + + <p>That so frightened the groundhogs that they jumped into the + brook and swam away, leaving Brighteyes free. Then she went home + with the Wibblewobbles, and told Buddy her adventure, and he said + it was a good one.</p> + + <p>Now, the next story will be about Buddy in a deep + hole—that is if the trolley car doesn't run off the track, + and break all the eggs in the grocery store window.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_23"><!-- RULE4 23 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XXI</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY IN A DEEP HOLE + </center> + + <p>Once upon a time it happened that Buddy Pigg was out taking a + walk over the fields and through the woods. He often used to do + this, sometimes taking a stroll for pleasure, and again to see if + he could find anything to eat. This time he was looking for + something to eat, and so he walked very slowly, looking from side + to side, and sniffing the air from time to time.</p> + + <p>"For," he said, "who knows but what I may find a nice cabbage + or a turnip, or a radish, or a bit of molasses cake, or a ginger + snap, or even an ice cream cone. Any of those things would be + very good," thought Buddy to himself, "especially an ice cream + cone on a hot day."</p> + + <p>But, though he looked and he looked and he looked, oh, I guess + maybe about a dozen times, he couldn't find a single thing that + was good to eat, and he was beginning to get discouraged.</p> + + <p>"I'll go a little bit farther," he thought, "and then if I + don't find anything I'll turn around, go back home, and get some + bread and butter, for that is better than nothing; and I am + getting hungry."</p> + + <p>So he walked on a little farther, and, as he walked along, he + sang this little song which no one is allowed to sing unless they + are very, very hungry.</p> + + <p>So in case it happens that you have just had an ice cream + cone, or something good like that, and are not hungry, you must + not sing this song until just before dinner or breakfast or + supper. Anyhow here's the song and you can put it aside until you + are nearly starving. This is how it goes:</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>"I wish I had some candy</p> + + <p class="i2">Or a peanut lolly-pop.</p> + + <p>I'd eat an ice-cream cone so quick</p> + + <p class="i2">You could not see me stop.</p> + + <p>If I had two big apples,</p> + + <p class="i2">An orange or a peach.</p> + + <p>I'd give my little sister</p> + + <p class="i2">A great big bite from each.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>"But there is nothing here to eat—</p> + + <p class="i2">Not even cherry pie.</p> + + <p>Though we had one at our house once,</p> + + <p class="i2">And some got in my eye.</p> + + <p>Oh! how I'd like a cocoanut!</p> + + <p class="i2">And watermelon, too.</p> + + <p>I'd eat two slices off the ice—</p> + + <p class="i2">Now, really, wouldn't you?"</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p>No sooner had Buddy finished singing this song, than he came + to a place in the woods, where there was a big hole going down + into the ground. Oh, it was quite a large hole, not quite so big + as the one going down to China, but pretty large and it looked + just as if some animal were in the habit of going in and out of + it.</p> + + <p>"Ha, ho!" exclaimed Buddy Pigg. "This looks like something; it + surely does," and, my dear children, the funny part of it was + that the hole did look like something.</p> + + <p>"I guess I'll go down there and see if there's anything to eat + at the bottom," went on the little guinea pig boy, "for I + certainly am hungry."</p> + + <p>Then he stood and peeped down into the hole, and, though it + looked quite far to the bottom of it, and though it seemed pretty + dark, Buddy decided to go in. Now, that was rather foolish of + him, for it's never safe to go in a hole until you know where + you're coming out, especially a hole in the woods; but Buddy + didn't stop to think. So he looked all around, to see that there + were no bad foxes in sight, and then he entered the hole.</p> + + <p>First he crept along very slowly and carefully. Oh my, yes, + and a banana peeling in addition! and then, all of a sudden, land + sakes flopsy dub! if Buddy didn't slip and fall and stumble, and + roll over and over, sideways, and head over heels, and he kept on + going down, until finally he came to a stop in a place that was + as dark as a pocket in a fur overcoat on a winter day.</p> + + <p>"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" cried poor Buddy Pigg. "Whatever has + happened; and where am I?"</p> + + <p>He tried to see where he was, but, my goodness sakes alive! he + might as well have tried to look through the blackboard at + school, for all he could see was just nothing.</p> + + <p>"I—I guess I must have fallen all the way through to + China!" whispered Buddy, as he lay there in the darkness, and + then he happened to remember that if he was in China he would see + some little Chinese boys and girls, and he could not see any, so + he knew he wasn't in China.</p> + + <p>"Oh, dear!" cried Buddy again. "Where am I, anyhow?"</p> + + <p>Then, all of a sudden, out of the darkness, there sounded a + voice, and when Buddy heard it he trembled.</p> + + <p>"Who are you?" cried the voice, "and what are you doing in + here?"</p> + + <p>"If you please," answered the little guinea pig boy, "I am + Buddy, and I fell down this hole. Whose is it?"</p> + + <p>"It belongs to us," said two voices at once. "We are + groundhogs, and you must get right out of here!"</p> + + <p>"Groundhogs!" exclaimed Buddy, and then he remembered the two + who had teeter-tautered Brighteyes up and down on the plank + bridge, and wet her dress, and he was frightened for fear they + would harm him.</p> + + <p>"Oh, please, Mr. Groundhogs!" went on Buddy, "I didn't mean to + come here! I fell in when I was looking for something to eat. + Please help me out, and I'll never come again. I was looking for + something to take home to Brighteyes, my sister."</p> + + <p>"What! Is Brighteyes Pigg your sister?" cried the two + groundhogs, rustling around in the dark hole, and when Buddy said + she was, they said they were very sorry for having frightened her + on the plank. They were only playing a joke, they said, and they + promised never to bother her again.</p> + + <p>"And besides," went on the larger groundhog, "we'll give you + something to eat, and help you out of this hole."</p> + + <p>So they went and got their lantern, which was a bottle filled + with fireflies, and they showed Buddy where there was another + hole leading up out of their underground house, and he crawled + out, after they had given him some clover preserved in molasses + candy, and they promised to come and play with him and Brighteyes + some day.</p> + + <p>Then Buddy was happy again, and almost glad he had fallen down + the big hole, because he had something good to take home to + eat.</p> + + <p>Now, in case I have cherry pie for supper and the juice + doesn't get on my red necktie and turn it green, I'll tell you + soon about a trick the groundhogs played.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_24"><!-- RULE4 24 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XXII</h2> + + <center> + A TRICK THE GROUNDHOGS PLAYED + </center> + + <p>One day, oh, I guess it must have been about a week after + Buddy Pigg fell down the groundhogs' hole, he and Brighteyes were + out walking in the woods. They had been over to pay a visit to + Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, the two puppy dogs, you know, and were + on their way back.</p> + + <p>As they walked along, they both heard a queer little rustling + sound in the bushes, but at first they didn't pay any attention + to it, but they kept on, talking about what a nice time they had + had, when, all of a sudden, the noise sounded more plainly. It + was just as if some big animal had taken hold of the bushes in + his teeth, and had shaken them—shaken the bushes, I mean, + of course, for he couldn't shake his teeth unless they were + false, and animals don't have false teeth, thank goodness.</p> + + <p>"My land sakes! What's that?" exclaimed Brighteyes.</p> + + <p>"Maybe it's a bad fox," said Buddy, and he looked around for a + stick or a stone with which to defend his sister, for Buddy was + brave, let me tell you.</p> + + <p>Then the noise seemed to sort of go away, just like when the + teacher rubs the figures and sentences off the blackboard in + school, and Buddy and Brighteyes weren't so frightened. So they + kept on, and just as they were coming to the path that led to + their pen, what did they hear but the rustling noise in the + bushes again. This time they were very much frightened, and Buddy + picked up a stick, almost as large as himself. Then Brighteyes + said:</p> + + <p>"Oh, Buddy, I'm afraid to go home that way. Let's take the + other path."</p> + + <p>"But that is so much longer," objected her brother.</p> + + <p>"No matter," answered the little guinea pig girl, "it is + better to take a longer path, than to go on a short one and be + eaten up by a fox or a wolf," and I suppose Brighteyes was right. + Anyhow they took the other path, and as they went along it, they + heard a noise in the bushes as if some one was laughing, only + they didn't see how a fox could laugh. So they hurried on.</p> + + <p>Well, it wasn't very long before they came to something. I was + going to let you guess what it was, but as it might take you some + time to think, and then, maybe, you wouldn't get it right, I have + decided to tell you.</p> + + <p>What Buddy and Brighteyes saw on the path in front of them was + a small box—the kind that soap comes out of, you + know—and it was standing up on one edge. And sort of + underneath the box were two, big toadstools, made into tables, + and beside each table was a smaller toadstool for a seat. And, + would you believe me? on each toadstool-table there were a lot of + nice things to eat! Believe me, there was, really! There were + bits of cabbage, some red clover tops with marshmallow-chocolate + on them, and candied cherries, and red raspberries with + strawberry sauce, and oh, I don't know what all!</p> + + <p>"Why!" exclaimed Brighteyes, "that is a regular little + play-party, Buddy."</p> + + <p>"To be sure it is," he answered. "And look, there is a sign + fastened to the box. Let's go closer, and read what it says on + it." So they went a little closer, watching on all sides to make + sure there was no danger, and they read the sign. This is what it + said:</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>"Come in and eat whate'er you wish.</p> + + <p>Taste each dainty in the dish.</p> + + <p>Make a bow, and wipe your feet,</p> + + <p>Fold your napkins nice and neat."</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p>"Come on," cried Buddy to his sister. "Let's go in and + eat."</p> + + <p>"Do you s'pose it's meant for us?" asked Brighteyes.</p> + + <p>"Of course," was his answer. "Come on! See, there's a mat to + wipe your feet on, and there are napkins at each plate. There is + a table for you, and one for me."</p> + + <p>So Buddy and Brighteyes, thinking no harm, went in and, after + making their very best double-jointed bows, and wiping their feet + until there was no more mud on them than on a postage stamp, they + sat down to the tables and tucked in their napkins around their + necks.</p> + + <p>Then they began to eat, and oh, how good everything tasted! + Just like when you go visiting to the country, you know, and eat, + and eat, and keep on eating. Well, that's just the way it was, + believe me, if you please.</p> + + <p>Now, something is going to happen. I can't help it, and it's + not my fault. You see that box, with the nice things to eat on + the toadstool tables, was only a trap. No sooner had the two + guinea pigs begun eating than some one hiding in the bushes + pulled on a long string, and the string snapped out a piece of + wood that was holding up the box, and the box fell down, and + Brighteyes and Buddy were caught under + it—prisoners—just like a mouse in the trap.</p> + + <p>They stopped eating pretty quickly then, let me tell you. + Buddy was just going to have a second helping of + marshmallow-chocolate clover when the box fell over, and it was + so dark inside that he couldn't find his mouth.</p> + + <p>"Oh, dear!" cried Brighteyes. "What has happened?"</p> + + <p>"We're in a trap!" shouted Buddy. "The bad fox has us in a + trap! Come, we must get out!"</p> + + <p>They jumped down from the toadstool seats and upset the + toadstool tables, and the dishes fell on the floor, but they + didn't care. Then the two guinea pig children tried to lift up + the box, but they couldn't, and they tried to dig under it, but + they couldn't, and they didn't know how in the world they were + going to get out.</p> + + <p>Then, all of a sudden they heard some one whispering outside + the box. Buddy thought it was the fox, so he cried: "You had + better let us out of here, Mr. Fox, or we'll have you + arrested!"</p> + + <p>"Why, that's Buddy Pigg!" cried the voice, and all of a sudden + the box was lifted and there stood the two groundhog boys; Woody + and Waddy Chuck were their names. "We didn't mean to catch you," + said Woody. "We were only going to play a joke on our big + brother, but you got in the box by mistake. We're very + sorry."</p> + + <p>But they couldn't help laughing, and I really think the + groundhog boys meant to play a joke on Buddy and Brighteyes and + had followed them through the woods and hid in the bushes and put + the things under the box and all that just on purpose; I really + do.</p> + + <p>But, anyhow, Buddy and Brighteyes weren't hurt a bit, and + Woody and Waddy gave them all the good things they could eat + before the guinea pigs ran home.</p> + + <p>Now, in case it should happen that all the ice in our + refrigerator isn't melted, so we can fry some for pancakes, I'll + tell you next about Buddy in the berry bush.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_25"><!-- RULE4 25 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XXIII</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY IN THE BERRY BUSH + </center> + + <p>Buddy Pigg didn't know what to do. You see he was home all + alone, for his mother and Brighteyes had gone calling on Grandpa + and Grandma Lightfoot, the squirrels and Dr. Pigg was downtown, + playing checkers or dominoes with Uncle Wiggily Longears, so + Buddy didn't have any one to keep him company.</p> + + <p>"I wish some of the boys would come along," he said, as he sat + on the front steps and threw stones out in the dusty road. "I'd + like to have a ball game, or some sort of fun."</p> + + <p>But, though he sat there quite a while, none of the boys came + along, and, at last, Buddy remarked:</p> + + <p>"Oh, I'm going off and see if I can't find Billie or Johnnie + Bushytail, or Sammie Littletail, or some one, to play with." So + he locked the front door, and put the key under the mat, where + his mother would find it when she came home, and off he started, + almost as fast as when Sister Sallie went hippity-hop to the + barber shop.</p> + + <p>Pretty soon Buddy came to the woods, and he opened his mouth + real wide and began to yell, not because he was hurt, you + understand, but because he wanted to call some of the boys. He + yelled, and he hollered, and he hooted, and then, all of a + sudden, he heard some one yelling back at him, and he saw Johnnie + and Billie Bushytail, the two squirrel boys, bounding along on + the low branches of the trees.</p> + + <p>"Hello, fellows!" cried Buddy. "Glad to see you! Let's have + some fun."</p> + + <p>"What'll we do?" asked Billie.</p> + + <p>"I know," suggested Johnnie. "Let's make a see-saw. Here is a + nice plank, and we can put it across that old stump and have a + dandy time."</p> + + <p>So they got the plank and put it across the stump. Then Buddy + got on one end and Billie and Johnnie on the other, as they were + a little smaller than Buddy, and did not weigh so much. Then they + began to go up and down, first slowly, and then faster and + faster, until they were jiggling up and down as fast as the + teakettle boils when there's company coming to supper.</p> + + <p>"Hi, yi!" yelled Billie and Johnnie. "Isn't this fun?"</p> + + <p>"Wow, yow! It certainly is," agreed Buddy. "Only don't jump + off too suddenly when I'm in the air, or I'll fall and be + hurt."</p> + + <p>Well, of course, Billie and Johnnie promised that they would + be careful, and they really meant to keep their word; only, just + as they were close down to the ground on the plank, and Buddy was + high up, what should happen but that a new, green, little acorn + fell off an oak tree.</p> + + <p>It was one of the first acorns of the season, and Billie and + Johnnie each wanted to get it, so, without thinking what they + were doing, they jumped off the teeter-tauter plank, when Buddy + was high up, and, of course, down he came, with a slam-bang!</p> + + <p>My! how it did jar him up, and shake him, like pepper in the + caster, but that wasn't the worst. No, indeed, and some chocolate + cake besides! When Buddy came down he landed right on an old + rubber boot that some one had thrown away in the woods, and it + was so bouncy and springy that he was tossed high up in the air + again, and he curved sideways, just like a baseball, when he came + down this time, and where on earth do you s'pose he landed? Why, + right in the middle of a big, scratchy, blackberry bush!</p> + + <p>Yes, sir, that's where it was! Down poor Buddy went, right + into the midst of the bush, and of course he got scratched some, + only not as much as he might, for he happened to go down through + a thin place, where there were not so many briars.</p> + + <p>Well, at first he was too surprised to speak, and, besides, + the breath was sort of knocked out of him, but, when he did + gather himself together, he saw that he was in a bad place to get + out of. By this time Johnnie and Billie had found the green acorn + and had divided and eaten it, so they came back to find + Buddy.</p> + + <p>"Why, where has he gone to?" asked Billie, looking around.</p> + + <p>"Maybe he got mad, because we jumped off the plank so quickly + and he has run home," suggested Johnnie. "We shouldn't have done + it."</p> + + <p>"No," cried Buddy, suddenly. "I haven't gone home! I'm in the + blackberry bush over here!"</p> + + <p>"Why, how in the world did you get there?" asked Johnnie, and + Buddy told him.</p> + + <p>"I think it would be more polite to ask him how he's going to + get out," suggested Billie.</p> + + <p>"That's so," agreed Buddy. "It's going to be hard work. But I + guess I can crawl through."</p> + + <p>So he tried to crawl through the bush, but you know how it is + when you go after berries, the briars seem to stick into you all + over. That's the way it was with Buddy. He couldn't crawl out, no + matter how hard he tried, for the stickers caught into his fur + and held him fast.</p> + + <p>"Can't you jump out through the same hole you fell in + through?" asked Billie, and Buddy tried to do so, but he was + scratched more than ever.</p> + + <p>Then Billie and Johnnie tried to open up a place through the + bottom part of the briars for Buddy to slide out, but they + couldn't do it, and they were very sorry they had jumped off the + plank so quickly, for that made all the trouble.</p> + + <p>Well, it began to look as though Buddy would never get out, + and he felt like crying, only he was brave, and didn't shed a + single tear. Then Johnnie suggested that he and Billie go up a + tall tree, and lower a string down to Buddy in the bush, and try + to pull him up that way. They tried it, but it wouldn't work, for + the stickers still caught in the little guinea pig's fur.</p> + + <p>So they didn't know what to do, and were just going to give + up, when who should come bounding along but Sammie Littletail. He + knew what to do in a second.</p> + + <p>He dug a burrow, beginning outside the berry bush, and + slanting it up under the roots, so that it came out inside, right + near where Buddy was crouched down inside the clump of briars. + The burrow was like a tunnel, and was big enough for Buddy to + crawl out through, which he did, never getting scratched once. + They all said Sammie was very smart to think of that, and I agree + with them. Then they all played sea-saw some more, until it was + time to go home.</p> + + <p>Now in case there is a cool breeze, to blow the dust out of + the poor coalman's eyes, I'll tell you next about Buddy and + Brighteyes bringing home the cows.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_26"><!-- RULE4 26 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XXIV</h2> + + <center> + BRINGING HOME THE COWS. + </center> + + <p>Not far from where Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg lived, there was + a man who had a farm, and on the farm were a number of cows that + gave milk. Out of the milk butter was made, and sometimes, when + the butter was all churned, the farmer's wife would take some of + the buttermilk that remained in a pail and set it down where Dr. + Pigg and his family could get it.</p> + + <p>They thought this was very kind of the farmer's wife, and Dr. + Pigg told his children that if they could ever do her a favor, + they must be sure to do so. They promised, though for some time + they had no chance to do any kindness to the farmer or his wife + either. But just you wait and see what happens.</p> + + <p>One day, in the middle of summer, when it was very hot every + place, except in the cool and shady woods, Buddy and Brighteyes + were strolling along under the trees near a brook, throwing + pebbles in the water and floating down bits of bark and chips, + which they pretended were boats sailing off to distant + countries.</p> + + <p>"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Buddy at last, "I wish I had something + to do. There's nothing to do here."</p> + + <p>"Why do you always want to be doing something?" asked his + sister. "Why aren't you content to sit here in the shady woods, + and sail the boats?"</p> + + <p>"Because," answered Buddy, and that was the only reason he + could give. Then Brighteyes thought of a new game to play. She + took a piece of bark for her boat, and she found a nice, white + chip for Buddy, and they made believe their boats were having a + race down stream, and Buddy's boat won, which made him feel quite + happy.</p> + + <p>Well, pretty soon, the sun began to go down behind the hills, + and the two guinea pig children knew it was time to go home, so + they started off. But they had not gone very far before they came + to a field, with a fence around it, and the field was quite hilly + and stony and very large. Near the fence sat a man, and he had + one shoe off, and he was looking at his foot.</p> + + <p>"Oh dear!" Buddy and Brighteyes heard him say, for they could + understand the man's language, if they couldn't talk it. "Oh + dear! I've cut my foot on a sharp stone," the man said, "and I + don't see how I can walk away over through the field and climb + the hills after the cows. Oh dear; this is bad luck, and it's + almost milking time, and the cows are sure to be away back in the + far end of the pasture, and I can't go after them. I'll call + them, and maybe they'll come to me, for I surely can't walk after + them."</p> + + <p>So the man stood up on one foot and called: "Co Boss! Co Boss! + Co Boss! Co! Co! Co!" Then he waited quite some time, but the + cows didn't come, and he called again: "Co Boss! Co Boss! Co + Boss!" and he waited some more, but still the cows didn't come. + "Oh, I guess I'll have to go after them, no matter if I have cut + my foot," said the man at last, and he put on his shoe, though it + hurt him, and he began to limp over the hilly field, very slowly + and painfully.</p> + + <p>All at once Brighteyes said to Buddy: "Oh, Bud, that man is + the farmer, and it's his wife who gives us the buttermilk! + Wouldn't it be nice if we could do him a favor, and go and drive + the cows home for him?"</p> + + <p>"How, could we?" asked Buddy. "The cows are big and we are + little. We never could drive them home."</p> + + <p>"We can try," said Brighteyes cheerfully. "Come, we'll hurry + on ahead of the farmer and perhaps I shall think of a plan."</p> + + <p>So the two little guinea pig children slipped under the fence + and ran up across the hilly field, and the farmer, who was + limping along, calling "Co Boss!" every once in a while, never + saw them. His foot was hurting him very much and he had to go + slowly.</p> + + <p>Well, Buddy and Brighteyes kept on, bounding over the stories + and stopping now and then to eat some blackberries or + huckleberries or raspberries or a few late, wild strawberries, + and pretty soon they came to the back part of the field, where, + resting in the shade of some trees, were all the cows.</p> + + <p>Oh, I guess there was a dozen and a half of them—big, + nice mooley cows, with brown eyes and long tongues, and they were + all chewing their cuds like gum, you know, and wondering why the + farmer didn't come to drive them home to milk, for they hadn't + heard him calling them, you see.</p> + + <p>"How are we ever going to drive them home?" asked Buddy of his + sister.</p> + + <p>"Let me think a minute," said Brighteyes, so she thought real + hard for a minute, or, possibly a minute and a little longer, and + then she exclaimed: "We must each take a long, leafy tree branch, + and go up behind the rows, and wave the branches, and tickle the + cows with the leaves, and they'll think it's a boy driving them + home, and they'll march right along, and the poor farmer, with + his sore feet, won't have to come after them."</p> + + <p>And that's exactly what Buddy and Brighteyes did. They got + some branches, gnawing them off a tree with their sharp teeth, + and with the leaves they tickled the cows until they almost made + them sneeze.</p> + + <p>The cows looked around, expecting to see some boys driving + them, but Buddy and Brighteyes hid behind their big branches, and + the cows were none the wiser. So they swallowed their cuds, + blinked their eyes, switched their tails, and started up and down + the hills, over the field, toward the barnyard to be milked.</p> + + <p>Now, before the farmer-man had come very far from the fence, + he met the cows, and maybe he wasn't surprised to see them + coming. But he was glad, too, let me tell you, for he didn't have + to walk any farther with his cut foot.</p> + + <p>Then Brighteyes and Buddy ran and hid, for they did not want + to be seen, and the man jumped upon the back of a gentle cow, and + rode her all the way home, and told his wife how the whole herd, + in some strange manner, had come all the way from the back of the + field alone. You see he didn't know Buddy and Brighteyes had + driven them.</p> + + <p>Well, in a few days the man's foot was well, so he could drive + the cows himself, and the farmer's wife gave Dr. Bigg's family + lots of buttermilk; for, somehow, she guessed that the little + guinea pig boy and girl had done the farmer a kindness, as their + papa had told them to.</p> + + <p>Now the following story will be about Buddy on + horseback—that is, providing no cats get into our coalbin + to scratch the furnace and make it go out.</p> + <!-- NOTE: Remove center tags and put align="left" or align="right" for text wrapped alignments --> + <a name="image-6"><!-- Image 6 --></a> + + <center> + <img src="./images/06.jpg" height="735" width="450" alt=""> + </center> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_27"><!-- RULE4 27 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XXV</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY RIDES HORSEBACK. + </center> + + <p>One night Buddy Pigg's mamma came into his room, where he was + sleeping soundly and dreaming he was playing a ball game with + Bully and Bawly, the frogs, and Mrs. Pigg gently shook her little + boy by the shoulder.</p> + + <p>"Wake up, Buddy!" she called. "Wake up!"</p> + + <p>"What's the matter, mother?" Buddy exclaimed, as he sat up in + bed. "Is the house on fire?"</p> + + <p>"No," she answered, "but your papa is very sick, and I want + you to go for Dr. Possum." Then Buddy jumped up very quickly and + began to dress, for he loved his papa very much, and would do + anything in the world for him. When Buddy was ready to start he + heard Dr. Pigg groaning very hard, and saying:</p> + + <p>"Oh, dear, what a pain I have! Oh, dear! When will Dr. Possum + come?"</p> + + <p>"Buddy is going for him at once," Mrs. Pigg said. "He will + soon be here. But have you no medicine that you can take?" For + Dr. Pigg had once worked in a hospital, and generally had some + medicine in the house, but this time he had none that would stop + his pain. So Buddy had to get ready to go for the doctor, while + Mrs. Pigg and Brighteyes made mustard plasters for Dr. Pigg.</p> + + <p>Well, when Buddy was all dressed, he happened to look out of + the window, and he saw how dark it was, for there was no moon + that night, and the stars were all hidden behind clouds. But do + you s'pose Buddy was going to stay home on that account? No, + sir-ee! He was frightened, and I guess you'd have been, too, but + he was brave, and he made up his mind he'd go for Dr. Possum.</p> + + <p>So Buddy put on his hat and coat and went out of the front + door and into the dark night, where, for all he knew, a bad fox + might be waiting to grab him. But Buddy took a long stick, and he + filled his pockets with stones, and he made up his mind he would + throw them at the fox if he saw him.</p> + + <p>The little guinea pig boy went on, and on, through the woods, + toward Dr. Possum's home, and, after a while, he was not so + frightened as he had been at first. Then, all of a sudden, as he + was passing a big, black bush, he heard a funny noise. First he + thought it was a wolf or a bear, and then he heard a voice + say:</p> + + <p>"Oh, come on down into the burrow, Waddy."</p> + + <p>Then Buddy knew it was the two groundhog boys, Woody and + Waddy, who had made the funny noises, but they didn't mean to + scare him, and he wasn't at all frightened now. Woody and Waddy + had heard Buddy coming along, and, a moment later, they saw him + and asked where he was going.</p> + + <p>"I'm going after Dr. Possum, because my papa is sick," said + Buddy.</p> + + <p>"Wait and we'll let you take our lantern," said Woody, and he + hurried down into the burrow, and came back with a large bottle, + filled with lightning bugs, which gave plenty of light. And it + had a string on, to carry it by. As Buddy took it, very + thankfully, Waddy said he hoped he would find the doctor at + home.</p> + + <p>Then Buddy started off again, but he hadn't gone much farther + through the woods before he heard another noise. This noise was a + real loud one, like some giant tramping up and down, and stamping + his feet, and suddenly there came a great snort, and the earth + seemed to shake, and a big, black thing jumped up in front of + Buddy, scaring him frightfully.</p> + + <p>He trembled so that the cork nearly came out of the bottle of + lightning bugs, and, if it had, the fireflies would have been + spilled all over the ground, worse than when you spill your ice + cream cone—only it didn't happen, I'm glad to say, but + almost. Then the black shape stood still, and a great voice + called out:</p> + + <p>"Where are you going with that lantern?"</p> + + <p>"If you please, kind sir," answered the little boy guinea pig, + "I'm going for Dr. Possum for my papa, who has a terrible pain. + The groundhog boys lent me this lantern. But who are you, if you + please, kind sir?"</p> + + <p>"Why, I am Gup, the horse," was the answer. "So you are going + for Dr. Possum, eh? He is a friend of mine. I'm sorry if I + frightened you. Yes, I'm only Gup, the horse. You see, my name is + Gup because there is a little boy at our house, and he can't talk + very plainly, and he calls me 'Gup' when he wants to say 'get + up,' you see. However, it doesn't much matter, and I don't + mind.</p> + + <p>"But, speaking of doctors, I know where Dr. Possum lives, and + I'll take you right to his house in less than no time. Besides, + you and your sister were so kind as to drive the cows home for + the man who cut his foot, and as he is a friend of mine I want to + return your kindness to him. Jump upon my back, Buddy."</p> + + <p>"Oh, I'm afraid I'll fall," said Buddy, when he saw how high + up Gup's back was from the ground.</p> + + <p>"Nonsense!" exclaimed the horse. "I wouldn't let you fall for + the world. Here, hold up your firefly lantern so you can see, + climb upon that low stump, and then you can jump on my back. I'll + stand still, and then I'll take you right to Dr. Possum's + house."</p> + + <p>So Buddy got up on Gup's back. It was the first time he had + ever ridden a horse or been up so high, and, of course, for a + while, he was frightened. But Gup told him just how to cling + tightly to his big neck and how to hold the lantern so the + lightning bugs would shine on the path, and then Gup started + off.</p> + + <p>Oh, how fast he went! Right through the woods, he galloped, + and he never bumped into a tree or a bush even once. He went + gently, too, so that Buddy would not fall off, and, my goodness + sakes alive! in a short time the little guinea pig boy was at Dr. + Possum's house. He knocked on the door, rat-a-tat-tat, and, + luckily, the doctor was at home. He got right out of bed, took + his satchel of medicines and was just going to get into his + automobile to go to Dr. Pigg's house, when he found that his auto + was broken. Either the spark was off the plug or the plug was off + the spark, I forget which. Then Gup said:</p> + + <p>"Get right up on my back, doctor. I can carry you and Buddy, + too. It's no great weight, I assure you. Never mind the + automobile. They are always making trouble."</p> + + <p>So Dr. Possum, with his medicine box, climbed upon Gup's back, + behind Buddy, and he helped hold the little guinea pig on during + the ride home. Faster and faster went Gup through the dark woods + his hoofs going "tat-a-tat-too," and he didn't bump into a tree + or a bush, and he did not jar off Buddy or Dr. Possum, and pretty + soon there they were safe at Dr. Pigg's house, and Dr. Possum + gave Buddy's papa some medicine that soon made him better. Then + Gup, the kind horsie, took Dr. Possum safely back through the + dark woods as straight as a string.</p> + + <p>In the morning Dr. Pigg was all well again, and he said Buddy + was very brave to go off for a doctor in the night, and I think + so, too.</p> + + <p>Now, in case it doesn't thunder too hard and scare the chimney + so that it falls off the roof, I'll tell you next about Buddy and + Brighteyes tumbling down hill.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_28"><!-- RULE4 28 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XXVI</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES FALL DOWN HILL + </center> + + <p>Not far from where Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg lived in the pen + with their papa and mamma, there was a big, tall hill. Oh, ever + so much taller than a house, but not quite so high as the church + steeple, and it was a very hard hill to climb, but, once you had + gotten to the top, you could see off, ever so far; farther than + from here to the end of the rainbow, which is very far + indeed.</p> + + <p>Now, though Buddy and Brighteyes, the two little guinea pig + children, had lived near the hill ever since they were mere + babies, they had never climbed to the top of it. There were two + reasons for this. One was because the hill was so high and the + other was because it was so steep.</p> + + <p>It seemed as if no one would ever be able to scramble up the + sides of this hill, or, if they did, very likely they would + tumble down again, just like a boy sliding over the ice and snow + on his sled.</p> + + <p>But one fine morning when the sun was shining and the birds + were singing Buddy said to Brighteyes:</p> + + <p>"Let's climb up to the top of the hill to-day?"</p> + + <p>"What for?" asked his sister, as she tied her hair ribbon in a + double bow knot, very pretty indeed to look at, let me tell + you.</p> + + <p>"Why, so we can see away off where the sky and the mountains + come together beyond the hill," said Buddy. "You can see + beautiful scenery from the tip-top, you know."</p> + + <p>"What good will that do?" asked Brighteyes, who was very fond + of asking questions that were hard to answer. "What is the good + of looking at the scenery?" she wanted to know.</p> + + <p>"Because," answered her brother, "every one does that where + there is a high hill. I heard some of the summer boarders at the + farmhouse, near our pen, telling each other what a beautiful view + there was to be had from the hill. We must see it for ourselves. + There is no one around now, and we can climb to the top."</p> + + <p>"I don't care very much about it," spoke Brighteyes. "I would + rather find another box of peanut candy;" but because she loved + Buddy, and did not want him to start off alone, she consented to + climb the big hill with him. So they started off. At first it was + rather easy, and they went up quite fast. At the foot of the hill + were blackberry bushes and the guinea pig children gathered as + many berries as they could eat.</p> + + <p>But, as they went farther and farther up, the bushes grew more + scarce, until there were none. Then came a place where there was + tall grass and many stones, so that it was hard to walk. But + Buddy and Brighteyes kept on, and pretty soon they met a + grasshopper.</p> + + <p>"Where are you going?" asked the grasshopper.</p> + + <p>"To the top of the hill, to see the view," answered Buddy.</p> + + <p>"You will never get there, the way you are going," said the + grasshopper. "You should jump as I do," and he gave three big + hops and a little one to show how well he could do it.</p> + + <p>"We cannot hop," remarked Brighteyes, "but we have a friend + who can."</p> + + <p>"Who?" asked the grasshopper, as he scratched his two big hind + legs together, like a man playing the fiddle.</p> + + <p>"Sammie Littletail, the rabbit," said Buddy. "He can hop."</p> + + <p>"Yes, Sammie is a good jumper," admitted the grasshopper, and + he hid under a stone, for just then he saw a big bird looking + hungrily at him. Well, Buddy and Brighteyes went on and on, and + up and up, and pretty soon they met an ant.</p> + + <p>"Where are you going?" asked the ant.</p> + + <p>"To the top of the hill, to see the fine view," replied + Brighteyes, as she paused to get her breath, which she had nearly + lost.</p> + + <p>"You will never get up the way you are going," said the ant. + "You should crawl, as I do," and she crawled over a stone to show + how it should be done. But Buddy and Brighteyes could not crawl, + and they told the ant so. Still they kept on, and pretty soon + they met a bird.</p> + + <p>"You had better fly to the top of the hill as I do," said the + bird. "It's much easier than walking," only, of course, Buddy and + Brighteyes could not fly.</p> + + <p>But the two guinea pig children were not discouraged, and they + kept on and on, and pretty soon, really and truly honestly, they + were at the very top of the hill—a place where they had + never been before.</p> + + <p>They could look off to the mountains, and they saw a lake, and + they could see the place where the end of the rainbow was, + whenever there was a rainbow, and they felt happy, because + everything was so lovely, and Buddy said:</p> + + <p>"I feel so glad, I must sing a little song." So he sang this + one, which can only be sung on top of a hill:</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>"It's very hard to climb a hill,</p> + + <p class="i2">But when you're at the top,</p> + + <p>You feel so very fine and good</p> + + <p class="i2">Because it's there you stop.</p> + + <p>If you should still keep on and on,</p> + + <p class="i2">I wonder where you'd land?</p> + + <p>By sliding down the other side</p> + + <p class="i2">With sandals full of sand?"</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Then Buddy tried to do a little dance, but what do you s'pose + happened? Why, he lost his balance, and toppled over, and then he + grabbed hold of Brighteyes, who was looking at the fine view, and + she toppled over, and then, wiggily-waggily, woggily-wee! they + both tumbled down that steep hill, head over heels like Jack and + Jill.</p> + + <p>And they went down faster, and faster, and faster, rolling + over and over, and they saw stars, and several different lakes, + and lots of clouds and ever so many things. They were both + frightened, and they thought surely they were going to be hurt, + for they were nearing the bottom, when all of a sudden what + should come along but a big load of hay!</p> + + <p>Buddy and Brighteyes hit a stone, bounced up in the air, and + then came down, flippity-flop! right on top of the soft hay, and + they weren't hurt the least bit. Then they slid down off the hay, + before the man who was driving it saw them, and ran home. And + they didn't climb a hill again for ever and ever so long.</p> + + <p>Now, if I hear a potato bug whistle a tune on a cornstalk + fiddle, I'm going to tell you next about Buddy and Brighteyes + going in bathing.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_29"><!-- RULE4 29 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XXVII</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES GO BATHING + </center> + + <p>"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Buddy Pigg one day. "Oh, dear! Oh, dear + me suz dud!"</p> + + <p>"Why, Buddy, dear, whatever in the world is the matter?" asked + his mamma, and Brighteyes, who was mending some stockings, looked + up at her brother in much surprise.</p> + + <p>"Oh, dear!" cried the little guinea pig boy again, "I wish I + had something to do. It's so hot and dry and dusty here. I wish + some of the fellows would come around or—or I even wish + school would begin again, so I would have something to do."</p> + + <p>Now when a boy wishes for school, in the middle of vacation, + you may be sure something serious is the matter. Mrs. Pigg knew + this at once, so she asked:</p> + + <p>"What would you like to do, Buddy?"</p> + + <p>"I don't know," he answered, rather cross and fretful-like, + which wasn't very nice, I suppose.</p> + + <p>"All the boys have gone to Asbury Park or Ocean Grove," said + Brighteyes, "and I guess you are lonesome, Buddy. It must be + lovely at the seashore," and Brighteyes sighed the least bit, and + took such a big stitch in the stocking she was mending that she + had to rip it out and do it over again.</p> + + <p>"Well, we can't go to the seashore this season because the + salt air doesn't agree with your father," said Mrs. Pigg. "If all + goes well, we shall soon be in the country, however. But now, + what do you like best about the seashore, Buddy?"</p> + + <p>"Going in bathing," he answered.</p> + + <p>"You can do that right here at home," said his mamma. "I will + get out your bathing suits, and you and Brighteyes can go + swimming in the pond back of our house."</p> + + <p>"That will be lovely!" cried Brighteyes, and she jumped up so + quickly that she dropped the basket of stockings, and her pink + hair ribbon came off, and she was all confused-like.</p> + + <p>"There are no waves in the pond, like down in the ocean at + Asbury," complained Buddy. "It is no fun to go in bathing where + there are no waves."</p> + + <p>"Ha! What's that?" cried a voice, and then Percival, the old + circus dog, who was staying with the Piggs while the Bow Wow + family, with whom he lived, was away for the + summer—Percival, I say, got up from where he had been + sleeping under a mosquito net to keep off the flies. "No waves, + eh? So you want waves, do you, when you go in bathing, Buddy?" + asked Percival.</p> + + <p>"Yes," answered Buddy Pigg, "I do, Percival."</p> + + <p>"Then," exclaimed the old circus dog, "you and Brighteyes + shall have them. Get on your bathing suits and come down to the + pond. When you get there you'll find waves enough; I'll guarantee + that! Oh, my, yes, and a life-preserver besides!"</p> + + <p>"How?" asked Buddy. "There are never any waves in that + pond."</p> + + <p>"Just you wait and see," said Percival.</p> + + <p>Mrs. Pigg smiled, but she didn't say anything, and went after + the bathing suits, while Buddy and Brighteyes wondered what was + going to happen. Percival ran out, winking first one eye and then + the other, and not both together, like some dollies do when they + go to sleep, and he gave three short barks and a long one, just + to show how glad he felt to be doing something.</p> + + <p>Well, it didn't take Buddy and Brighteyes very long to put on + their bathing suits. Then they hurried out of the back of the + house and went toward the pond.</p> + + <p>"Do you really s'pose there'll be waves?" asked Buddy.</p> + + <p>"I don't know," answered his sister. "Percival is a very smart + dog, you know."</p> + + <p>Well, they ran down to the pond, and the first thing they saw + when they got there were cords fastened to sticks driven down + into the ground, just like the ropes at Asbury Park, you + know—if you've ever been there. The ropes are for the + bathers to take hold of when the waves come.</p> + + <p>"Well," remarked Buddy, "I see the ropes, but I don't see any + waves." But, no sooner had he spoken than a big wave rolled, + splish-splash-splosh, right up the shore of the pond, which was + rather sandy, and it sprayed itself over the toes of Buddy and + Brighteyes—the wave splashed, you understand—not the + sand, of course.</p> + + <p>"Whee!" cried Buddy, all excited-like. "There's a wave!"</p> + + <p>"Yes, and here comes another!" cried his sister, and, sure + enough, another wave came sizzling and sloshing up out of the + pond. And then another, and another, and another, until there + were a dozen, or, maybe a dozen and a half of waves, one after + the other.</p> + + <p>"Oh, this is grand!" cried Buddy. "It's almost as good as + Asbury Park!" and, really it was, I'm not fooling a bit. Of + course the waves weren't as big as those at the seashore, but + they were pretty good size. Well, Buddy and Brighteyes rushed + into the water, keeping hold of the ropes, and the waves splashed + all around them, and they splashed around in the waves, and + pretty soon Buddy cried:</p> + + <p>"Oh, I got a mouthful of water, and it's salty, just like the + ocean!"</p> + + <p>"Sure enough it is!" agreed Brighteyes, taking a small + mouthful to taste. "I wonder what makes it?"</p> + + <p>"And I wonder what makes the waves, and I wonder where + Percival is?" went on Buddy, and just then there came such a big + wave that it almost knocked him over, and he had to cling to the + ropes. Then what should happen, but that at the far end of the + pond, up rose old dog Percival, laughing as hard as he could + laugh.</p> + + <p>"I told you I would make waves!" he cried, and how do you + s'pose he did it?</p> + + <p>Why, he had a big, empty box, and he would raise that up and + down in the water of the pond, as hard as he could, and this + splashed, and made the waves; and Percival had a bag of salt, to + make the water salty. Now, wasn't he the smart dog though?</p> + + <p>Well, he went on, making more salty waves, and Buddy and + Brighteyes paddled around in them, and yelled and hollered, and + held on to the ropes, and ducked each other, and splashed and had + as good a time as if they had been at the seashore; and so did + Percival, too, I guess. Then, after a while they came out of the + water and dried off, after thanking Percival.</p> + + <p>Now, if our bathtub doesn't freeze up so the canary bird can't + go in swimming I'll tell you presently about Buddy building a + sand house.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_30"><!-- RULE4 30 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XXVIII</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY BUILDS A SAND HOUSE + </center> + + <p>The little guinea pig children had so much fun bathing in the + pond, where Percival, the circus dog, made the salty waves for + them, as I told you about in the previous story, that they went + in swimming as many times as their mamma would let them.</p> + + <p>Percival was only too glad to make the waves, and hold the bag + of salt in the pond, to make it salty, just like the ocean. + Sometimes the old dog would jounce a box up and down, to make the + waves, and again, when he wanted larger ones, he would use a + barrel. Then the waves of the pond would be over the heads of + Buddy and Brighteyes, and they had to cling to the ropes with all + their might.</p> + + <p>One day Buddy was sitting in the sand, on the banks of the + pond, when, all at once, he had an idea.</p> + + <p>"I know what I'm going to do!" he exclaimed. "I'm gong to + build a sand house. I wish Brighteyes was here to help me," but + his sister had gone in the pen to help her mamma get dinner + ready, for Mrs. Pigg expected company that day; Mr. and Mrs. + Bushytail were coming. So Buddy had to start to build the house + all alone. He piled a lot of sand in a heap, together with + stones, and sticks and bits of duck-weed, and then he started + in.</p> + + <p>First he scooped out a hollow place, and that was for the + cellar. Then he stuck sticks up around the edges of the hole, and + began to pile up the sand, to make the walls of the house. Just + as he was doing this, what should he hear but footsteps running + along the sand. He looked, up and gave a shout of delight.</p> + + <p>"Hello, Billie and Johnnie Bushytail!" he cried, as he saw the + two little squirrel boys. "You're just in time! Come on and help + me build this sand house!"</p> + + <p>"Sure!" agreed Billie and Johnnie, as they frisked their + tails, just as the cook sometimes frisks the dusting brush when + she wants to knock the crumbs from the table to the floor. "Can + you stay long?" asked Buddy.</p> + + <p>"As long as papa and mamma do," answered Johnnie. "They are in + your house now, and so is Sister Sallie. We're going to stay to + dinner, but first we'll help you build the sand house."</p> + + <p>So they all three got busy. They piled and scooped the sand up + around the upright sticks, and, pretty soon, believe me, if it + really didn't begin to look like a real house. It was about as + big as a big box, and nearly as high; and the cellar was quite + large.</p> + + <p>"What will we do with the house when we've finished it?" asked + Billie Bushytail.</p> + + <p>"We'll go in it and play we're robbers," suggested Johnnie, as + he patted the sand with his paws, to make it smooth.</p> + + <p>"No, we'll be pirates," decided Buddy. "Pirates always stay + near salt water, and this is salt water, because Percival emptied + a whole bag of salt in it."</p> + + <p>"All right," agreed the squirrel boys, so they went on + building the house. They put little pebbles all around it for a + fence, and laid a gravel walk up from the pond to the front door, + and stuck up little sticks for trees in the front yard, and made + a garden, because Buddy said, even if they were pirates, they + would have to have something to eat, and they planted duck-weed + in the garden and made believe it was radishes and lettuce and + cabbage and ever so many things; even apples and pears and + peaches.</p> + + <p>Well, pretty soon the sand house was finished; that is, all + but the top.</p> + + <p>"What will we have for a roof?" asked Billie.</p> + + <p>"I'll show you," said Buddy, so he laid sticks across the top + of the sand walls, and on top of the sticks he placed duck-weed. + Then, on top of the weed he and the squirrel boys put sand, until + it was really the nicest house of its kind you could find if you + walked a mile, or, maybe even two miles.</p> + + <p>"That certainly is one fine, dandy house!" exclaimed Johnnie, + as he stepped back to admire it.</p> + + <p>"Yes, and now let's get inside and pretend we're robbers," + proposed Billie. "I'll be the head robber and you two can work + for me."</p> + + <p>"No, we're going to be pirates, and I'm the chief one," + insisted Buddy. "We must begin to pirate right away and do all + sorts of things."</p> + + <p>"First, let's see if we can get in the house," said Johnnie. + "Go in very carefully."</p> + + <p>So they went in, very slowly and carefully through the front + door, so as not to knock the sand down, and honestly the sand + house was just big enough for those three, and not a bit bigger. + They even had to hold their breaths, and not all breathe at once, + or they never would have fitted in it.</p> + + <p>"Now," said Buddy, "we'll pretend we're pirates, and we'll + bury all the gold and diamonds we have."</p> + + <p>So they played that game, and buried gold (make-believe you + know) in the cellar, and they were having a lovely time, when all + at once, without a word of warning, the roof of the sand house + fell right in on top of them! I suppose it was because Pirate + Chief Buddy gave such a loud shout.</p> + + <p>Anyway, the roof caved in, and part of the walls, and there + those three pirates were, buried under the sand. They tried to + yell, and call for help, but their mouths were full of the dirt, + and they couldn't speak. Then they tried to scramble out, and + they couldn't do that, and I really don't know what would have + happened to them, if at that moment Brighteyes Pigg and Sister + Sallie hadn't come out of the pen where their mammas and papas + were talking, to see what the boys were doing.</p> + + <p>The two girls saw the sand house, all caved in, and they + guessed that Buddy and Billie and Johnnie were under it.</p> + + <p>"We must dig them out!" cried Sister Sallie.</p> + + <p>So she and Brighteyes got some pieces of shingle, and my + goodness me, sakes alive! how they did make that sand fly! + Percival, the old circus dog, helped them, and pretty soon Buddy + and his friends were safely rescued. They were pretty well + scared, I can tell you, but they were soon all right again, and + then it was time to go to dinner, and after dinner they all went + in bathing and had lots of fun.</p> + + <p>Now, I'm going to tell you next about Buddy helping Sammie + Littletail, that is if the man comes to cut our grass and lets + our puppy dog hide under the door-mat to scare the parrot next + door.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_31"><!-- RULE4 31 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XXIX</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY HELPS SAMMIE LITTLETAIL + </center> + + <p>When Johnnie and Billie Bushytail went home, after having paid + a visit to Buddy Pigg that time when they built the sand house + that fell in on them, they told Sammie and Susie Littletail, the + two rabbits, of what a nice time they had had.</p> + + <p>"Oh, I am going over to see Buddy some day, and go in + bathing," declared Sammie.</p> + + <p>"You had better be careful about bathing in salt water," said + Susie, his sister, "it might take all the color out of your eyes, + or out of your fur, or your fur might even fall out."</p> + + <p>"Oh, I guess not," answered Sammie. "I have heard that salt + water keeps hair from falling out. Anyway, if there's any danger + of such a thing, Percival, the old circus dog, doesn't need to + hold the bag of salt in the water when we go in bathing."</p> + + <p>"That's so," agreed Susie, and just then along came Uncle + Wiggily Longears, the old gentleman rabbit, and he was eating + some peppermint-flavored cabbage, and he gave Sammie and Susie + some.</p> + + <p>Well, it wasn't very many days after this before Sammie asked + his mamma if he couldn't go over and play with Buddy Pigg, and, + as Sammie had been a very good rabbit boy lately, his mother + allowed him to go.</p> + + <p>"I am so glad you came, Sammie," said Buddy, "what shall we + do, go in bathing, or build a sand house?"</p> + + <p>"Let's do both," answered Sammie. So first he and Buddy went + in bathing and, for fear the salt water would make the red color + fade out of Sammie's eyes, Percival didn't hold the bag of salt + in the pond when he made the waves. Sammie and Buddy had a good + time splashing around, and then they built a sand house. But they + took care to make it strong enough so that it would not cave in. + They played together for a long time and then Buddy asked: "What + shall we do next?"</p> + + <p>"I know," replied Sammie, as he looked at the pond of water + which was sparkling in the sun, "let's play soldier, and we'll + make a plank bridge across the pond and run over it and have lots + of fun."</p> + + <p>"All right," agreed Buddy, "come on, and help me lift the + plank." So they placed a long board across one end of the pond, + where it was quite deep, and began to play soldier, while + Percival went to sleep in the shade.</p> + + <p>Buddy got a tin can, and tied it around his neck with a + string. That was for the drum, and when he beat upon the tin can + with two sticks, believe me, it did sound just like a drum in the + army, when the soldiers beat it softly.</p> + + <p>Then Sammie got a long stick, pretending it was a gun, and the + two of them marched around and around, and sideways, and up and + down, and through the middle, and across the plank, and back + again, several times. Then, Sammie would fire the gun, yelling, + "Boom-Boom!" as loudly as he could, and shooting maybe a dozen + bad Indians or pirates or robbers, or maybe more, for all I know, + and Buddy would beat on the drum louder than ever, and he would + cry:</p> + + <p>"Charge! Charge on the enemy! Hurrah! Hurrah! The victory is + ours!" and he would wave a flag he had made out of a piece of + white cloth, red flannel and a bit of Brighteyes' blue hair + ribbon, that she had lost.</p> + + <p>Oh, it wag great fun, I tell you! But the best of all was + rushing across the plank over the deep part of the pond, for then + it sounded exactly as if horses and cannon were coming over the + bridge, and the plank teetered and tautered up and down, and + sometimes Buddy and Sammie almost fell off. But they didn't mind + this; they only thought it all the more fun.</p> + + <p>Then, at last, something did happen. Buddy was ahead, waving + the flag with one hand, and beating the drum with the other, and + Sammie was firing his wooden gun as fast as he could fire it, + with ever so many "Boom-Booms!" real loud ones, too, and + shooting, oh, ever so many make-believe Indians, when, all of a + sudden, poor Sammie Littletail slipped off the plank, and fell + into the deep part of the pond!</p> + + <p>"Oh, save me; save me, Buddy!" cried Sammie, splashing + around.</p> + + <p>"I'll save you!" cried Buddy, and he got so excited that he + threw away his drum, and the drumsticks and the flag, only he + tossed the flag safely on shore, where it wouldn't get wet, for + he loved the flag, even if it was only a make-believe one. "I'll + save you," he cried. "Can you swim any, Sammie?"</p> + + <p>"A—a—lit-tle—bit!" gasped the rabbit boy, as + he floundered around in the water. "But I could swim more if + nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy was here to show me," and then he couldn't + talk any more, for his mouth was full of water.</p> + + <p>Well, Sammie was terribly frightened, as he floundered around + in the pond, with his wooden gun, and so was Buddy frightened, up + on the plank bridge. Buddy looked all around, to see if there was + any one coming to help him save Sammie, but there wasn't. + Percival had gone in the house, and Brighteyes and her mother had + gone berrying. Then Buddy made up his mind that he would have to + save Sammie all by himself.</p> + + <p>First he tried to kneel down on the plank, and reach his hand + to his little rabbit chum, but he couldn't reach far enough. Then + he called to Sammie to hold up the wooden gun, thinking maybe he + could get hold of that, and so drag the rabbit boy out, but the + gun wiggled so, when Sammie splashed around that Buddy couldn't + get hold of it.</p> + + <p>Then it began to look as if Sammie would drown, but Buddy had + one more thing to try. On shore there was a rope. Buddy ran and + got it, and in one end he made a loop, just like the cowboys do + when they lasso a wild steer, or a horse.</p> + + <p>Buddy took good aim, tossed the loop of rope over Sammie's + head, and Sammie grabbed hold with his front paws, and then Buddy + braced his feet in the sand and gave a long, strong pull, and + pulled Sammie safely out of the water, and saved him; just in + time, too, let me tell you, for his breath was nearly gone. Well, + Sammie soon got over being scared, and when he was dried off the + two friends played soldier some more, only they kept off the + plank.</p> + + <p>Now the next story is going to be about Brighteyes and Jennie + Chipmunk—that is, if our hired girl doesn't leave and make + me wash the dishes so I can't typewrite.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_32"><!-- RULE4 32 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XXX</h2> + + <center> + BRIGHTEYES AND JENNIE CHIPMUNK + </center> + + <p>It happened one day that after Brighteyes Pigg had finished + combing her hair, and had put on a nice, pink ribbon, which she + tied in two, big bows, that she heard a knock at the door. There + was no one home, for her mamma had gone down to the five and ten + cent store to get a wash boiler; Dr. Pigg was seeing some friends + in the hospital, and Buddy was off playing ball with Bully and + Bawly, the two frogs, and some others of his friends. So + Brighteyes went to the door herself.</p> + + <p>And whom do you suppose she found there?</p> + + <p>Well, I don't believe you'd guess in sixteen minutes, so I'll + tell you. It was Jennie Chipmunk, the little girl who lived with + Grandpa and Grandma Lightfoot, the squirrel grandparents of + Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, you know.</p> + + <p>Jennie was smiling so that she showed her pretty white teeth, + and she was humming a little song, one of those she always sang + when she washed the dishes. This is the song, and you are allowed + to sing it if you have helped your mamma dry the dishes. It goes + to the tune of "Oh fie lum diddle daddy de dum," which is a very + nice tune if you can sing it. Anyhow, Jennie Chipmunk sang:</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>"I love to wash the dishes,</p> + + <p class="i2">And also dry them, too.</p> + + <p>It makes your paws so soft and white,</p> + + <p class="i2">I really think—don't you?</p> + + <p>Some folks are awful fussy,</p> + + <p class="i2">When e'er they dust or sweep.</p> + + <p>They'd rather pile the dirt all up</p> + + <p class="i2">In corners, in a heap.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>"But I just love my housework,</p> + + <p class="i2">For making beds I sigh.</p> + + <p>I love to wash the tablecloth</p> + + <p class="i2">And make a cherry pie.</p> + + <p>I knead the bread and bake it,</p> + + <p class="i2">I starch and iron the clothes,</p> + + <p>I wash the windows Saturday—"</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p>"That's enough, my goodness knows!" finished Brighteyes for + Jennie, with a laugh. "Land sakes! Jennie Chipmunk," the little + guinea pig girl went on, "I should think you'd be tired with all + that work! Come on and we'll take a walk in the woods."</p> + + <p>So the two started, after Brighteyes had locked the door and + put the key under the mat, where her mother could find it when + she came back from the five and ten cent store, where she had + gone to get a diamond ring—no, I mean a dishpan—no, a + wash boiler—there, I've got it right at last.</p> + + <p>Well, Jennie and Brighteyes walked on through the woods and + sometimes they found huckleberries to eat, or they found + pennyroyal, which is a nice plant to smell, and it keeps the + mosquitoes away, when they want to stay away. And the two + children found some blackberries, and they found spearmint and + peppermint and then they got in a field where there was a lovely + apple tree and they were just eating a few of the apples and + putting some in their pockets, to take home, when, all of a + sudden they heard a voice calling to them from behind the + tree.</p> + + <p>"Here, what are you doing with those apples?" cried the voice, + and oh, such a harsh, ugly, cross voice as it was! It fairly made + Brighteyes and Jennie shiver.</p> + + <p>First they thought it was the man who owned the tree, and then + Brighteyes remembered that he was the kind farmer whose cows she + and Buddy had once driven home, when he had cut his foot, and she + knew he wouldn't speak so cross to her. Then she thought it was a + bad boy, but she looked, and so did Jennie, and they couldn't see + any boy. Then the voice growled out again:</p> + + <p>"Here, you leave those apples alone!" and goodness sakes + alive, and a can of tomato soup! from behind the apple tree, + there appeared the bad, ugly, old burglar fox! Oh, how frightened + Brighteyes and Jennie Chipmunk were! They fairly trembled and + shivered, though it was a hot day!</p> + + <p>"Ah! ha!" cried the fox, curling back his lip, to show his + ugly teeth, and blinking his eyes as fast as a moving picture + goes when it skips along very quickly. "Ah! ha! Now I have caught + you! Do you know what I am going to do to you for taking my + apples?"</p> + + <p>"We—we didn't know they were your apples," said + Jennie.</p> + + <p>"No matter about that," said the bad fox. "Do you know what I + am going to do to you?"</p> + + <p>"No," answered Brighteyes. "What are you going to do to us, + good Mr. Fox?"</p> + + <p>"I'm not good Mr. Fox; I'm bad Mr. Fox," he answered, "and + what I'm going to do is to eat you all up—all up—all + up!" and he smacked his lips and gnashed his teeth something + terrible.</p> + + <p>But don't be afraid. Just you wait and see what Brighteyes did + to that fox. All the while she was thinking how she could save + herself and Jennie, for she knew those apples didn't belong to + the fox.</p> + + <p>First Brighteyes thought maybe Buddy would come along and help + her, or maybe the farmer, but no one came, and the fox was + creeping nearer and nearer to Jennie, getting ready to grab her + first, when what did Brighteyes do but pull up some horseradish + leaves that grew nearby and throw them right in the eyes of that + bad fox.</p> + + <p>Now, horseradish leaves are very smarty and peppery, you know, + almost like mustard, and when they got in the fox's eyes they + made him so he couldn't see, and they hurt him, too.</p> + + <p>Then I wish you could have heard him howl. No, on second + thought, I'm glad you couldn't hear him, for it might scare you. + Anyhow, he jumped up and down and sideways, and he whirled + around, and he howled and he yowled and he jowled, and then + Brighteyes called:</p> + + <p>"Come on, Jennie, now is our chance. We can get away before he + sees us!"</p> + + <p>So they ran away, taking all the apples they could carry, and + the fox couldn't see for ever so long, for he couldn't get his + eyes open. So that is how Brighteyes and Jennie Chipmunk were + saved, and they went home, and nothing happened to them on the + way. Now, the next story will be about Buddy and Brighteyes in + the mountains—that is, providing I catch some fish the next + time I go fishing and don't lose my watch in the water for the + alligator to tell time by.</p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p> + + <p> </p><a name="RULE4_33"><!-- RULE4 33 --></a> + + <h2>STORY XXXI</h2> + + <center> + BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES IN THE MOUNTAINS + </center> + + <p>One day Dr. Pigg came home from paying a visit to Uncle + Wiggily Longears, and said:</p> + + <p>"Well, children, get ready, we are going away for a vacation + to-morrow."</p> + + <p>"Oh goody!" cried Brighteyes, jumping up and down in the + middle of the floor, until her pink hair ribbon flopped up and + down, like the wings of a butterfly.</p> + + <p>"Are we going to the seashore?" asked Buddy, while Brighteyes + went over and kissed her father, standing on her tiptoes to reach + him.</p> + + <p>"No," said Dr. Pigg, "we are not going to the seashore. We are + going to the mountains, where there is a nice lake. The salt air + of the seashore does not agree with me. I have asked Uncle + Wiggily Longears to go with us, and he does not like the salt + air, either. It is bad for his rheumatism, which is a little + better now, and he does not want it to get worse."</p> + + <p>"Oh, that's fine, if Uncle Wiggily is coming!" said Buddy. + "He'll take us all over the mountains, into caves and out rowing + on the lake, and show us how to have lots of fun."</p> + + <p>Well, the Pigg family began to pack up, and, in a few hours + they were ready to go. Uncle Wiggily came to help them, as he had + all his things packed. He brought along his crutch, in case he + might happen to need it, but he hoped he would not.</p> + + <p>"Couldn't Sammie and Susie Littletail come, too?" asked + Buddy.</p> + + <p>"No, they have gone to Belmar, at the seashore, for the + summer," answered Uncle Wiggily. "But now we must hurry off to + the mountains."</p> + + <p>So they hurried off, and in a little while, oh, not so very + long, Dr. Pigg and his family, and Uncle Wiggily arrived at a + nice pen, right on the side of a mountain, at the foot of which + was a large lake.</p> + + <p>There were so many things to see that Buddy and Brighteyes did + not know at which to look first, and they ran all about, now to + one place, and now to another. Then, when they had had their + supper, Uncle Wiggily said:</p> + + <p>"Come now, we will take a walk. I think I know where there is + a cave, and we will see if a giant lives in it."</p> + + <p>"A real giant?" asked Buddy.</p> + <!-- NOTE: Remove center tags and put align="left" or align="right" for text wrapped alignments --> + <a name="image-7"><!-- Image 7 --></a> + + <center> + <img src="./images/07.jpg" height="727" width="450" alt=""> + </center> + + <p>"No, only a make-believe one," answered Uncle Wiggily, with a + laugh. So he and the two guinea pig children started off up the + side of the mountain toward the cave. All around them were other + mountains, and it was a lovely place, with the red sun sinking + down behind the hills, just like it does in poetry.</p> + + <p>"Ha, here we are at the cave!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, at + length, as they came to a big hole in the side of the mountain. + "Now, Buddy and Brighteyes, be very careful. Keep close to me, + and don't go in very far, or you may get lost."</p> + + <p>Then they started to go in, but just at that moment Uncle + Wiggily stepped on a stone and twisted his ankle, the one that + had some rheumatism still left in it, and he had to sit down and + rub his foot with a bottle of liniment which he carried in his + pocket.</p> + + <p>While he was doing this Buddy and Brighteyes wandered a little + way into the cave. It looked perfectly safe, and it was so + pretty, with the sun shining in, and reflecting back from the + crystals that hung down from the roof, and those that stuck up + from the floor, that, almost before they knew what they were + doing, the two children had gone some distance inside.</p> + + <p>And, once they were in, it was so pretty that they kept on + going farther and farther, until, land sakes, if, in about ten + minutes they weren't away inside that cave, and they had + forgotten all about what Uncle Wiggily Longears had told them + about keeping close to him.</p> + + <p>"Oh, we mustn't go any further!" cried Brighteyes at length. + "It's getting quite dark, Buddy. We'll have to go back."</p> + + <p>"All right," agreed her brother. "Uncle Wiggily will take us + farther in I guess. We'll go and get him."</p> + + <p>So they started back, but, would you believe it, they couldn't + find their way! No, sir, there they were lost in that big cave! + the more they tried to get out, the more lost they became.</p> + + <p>Outside, Uncle Wiggily was in great distress. When his foot + ceased hurting he looked for the children, but he couldn't see + them. Then he knew they must have gone into the cave, and he was + much frightened.</p> + + <p>"Here it is, night coming on," he remarked, "and soon it will + be very dark in there. Then I never can find Buddy and + Brighteyes, and they'll be lost in there all + night—and—oh dear—why did they go in without + me?"</p> + + <p>But in they had gone, and now Uncle Wiggily had to get them + out. But he was a wise old rabbit, and, to make sure he would not + get lost himself, he took a string, and tied it to his crutch, + and left the crutch outside the cave. Then he took the ball of + string and started in the cave, unrolling the cord as he went + along, and keeping tight hold of it, so he could find his way + back in the dark.</p> + + <p>Then he tramped on, though it was hard work without his + crutch, looking for Brighteyes and Buddy. I don't believe he ever + would have found them, but for a kind old lightning bug, who flew + on ahead, to light the way for him.</p> + + <p>Then, after a while, by the gleam of the firefly, Uncle + Wiggily did come upon Buddy and Brighteyes fast asleep in a + corner. They had tried, and tried to find their way out, until + they were so tired that they fell asleep.</p> + + <p>Uncle Wiggily awakened them, and then, keeping tight hold of + the string that was fast to his crutch, he led them out of the + cave. And, oh, how thankful they were! They promised never to go + in the mountain cave alone again, and they never did.</p> + + <p>Well, Buddy and Brighteyes stayed in the mountains for quite + awhile, and had lots of fun, which I may tell you about later, + but now I think I will start some new stories—some that you + have never heard, and, what do you think? they're going to be + about some kittie cats.</p> + + <p>I know most of you children must love cats, for I do, and it + isn't so very long ago that I was a little chap myself.</p> + + <p>So, if you please, the next book of Bedtime Stories will be + called "Joie, Tommie and Kittie Kat." Their names are spelled + with a "K" you may notice, but they are not at all proud, or + stuck-up, on that account. I hope you will like them as well as + you have Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg.</p> + + <p>So now, for a little while we will say good-by, and it will + not be long before you can read about the funny things the Kat + children did, and about the walnut shells, and all that.</p> + + <center> + THE END + </center> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Buddy And Brighteyes Pigg, by Howard R. 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Garis + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Buddy And Brighteyes Pigg + Bed Time Stories + +Author: Howard R. Garis + +Release Date: February 19, 2004 [EBook #11156] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES PIGG *** + + + + +Produced by The Internet Archive Children's Library, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + +BED TIME STORIES + +Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg + +Howard R. Garis + + + + +PUBLISHER'S NOTE. + + +These stories appeared originally in the Evening News, of Newark, N.J., +and are reproduced in book form by the kind permission of the publishers +of that paper, to whom the author extends his thanks. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +I. BUDDY PIGG IN A CABBAGE +II. BRIGHTEYES AND MRS. HOPTOAD +III. BUDDY PIGG AND SAMMY LITTLETAIL +IV. BUDDY PIGG PLAYS BALL +V. BRIGHT EYES PIGG AND SISTER SALLIE +VI. DR. PIGG AND UNCLE WIGGILY +VII. BUDDY PIGG IS CAUGHT +VIII. BUDDY'S AND BRIGHTEYES' FOURTH OF JULY +IX. BUDDY PIGG WANTS A TAIL +X. BUDDY WALKS A TIGHT ROPE +XI. BRIGHTEYES IN A TIN CAN +XII. DR. PIGG AND THE FIRECRACKER +XIII. BUDDY PIGG IN A BOAT +XIV. BRIGHTEYES AND THE PEANUT CANDY +XV. BUDDY AND THE JUNE BUG +XVI. BRIGHTEYES AND THE BAD BOY +XVII. BUDDY'S GREAT RUN +XVIII. BRIGHTEYES, BUDDY AND THE TURNIP +XIX. BUDDY AND THE BURGLAR FOX +XX. BRIGHTEYES HAS AN ADVENTURE +XXI. BUDDY IN A DEEP HOLE +XXII. A TRICK THE GROUNDHOGS PLAYED +XXIII. BUDDY IN THE BERRY BUSH +XXIV. BRINGING HOME THE COWS +XXV. BUDDY RIDES HORSEBACK +XXVI. BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES FALL DOWNHILL +XXVII. BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES GO BATHING +XXVIII. BUDDY BUILDS A SAND HOUSE +XXIX. BUDDY HELPS SAMMY LITTLETAIL +XXX. BRIGHTEYES AND JENNIE CHIPMUNK +XXXI. BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES IN THE MOUNTAINS + + + + +BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES PIGG + + + + +STORY I + + +BUDDY PIGG IN A CABBAGE + +Once upon a time, not so many years ago, in fact it was about the same +year that Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, the little puppy dog boys lived in +their kennel house, there used to play with them, two queer little brown +and white and black and white animal children, called guinea pigs. They +were just as cute as they could be, and, since I have told you some +stories about rabbits, and squirrels and ducks, as well as about +puppies, I wonder how you would like to hear some account of what the +guinea pigs did? + +Anyhow, I'll begin, and so it happened that there lived at one time, in +a nice little house, called a pen, four guinea pigs. + +There was the papa, and he was named Dr. Pigg, and the reason for it +was that he had once been in the hospital with a broken paw, and ever +since he was known as "Doctor." Then there was his wife, and his little +boy, and his little girl. They were Montmorency and Matilda, but, as the +children didn't like those names, they always spoke of each other as +"Buddy" and "Brighteyes," so I will do the same. + +Buddy Pigg (and he had two g's in his name you notice) was black and +white, and Brighteyes Pigg was brown and white, and they were the nicest +guinea pig children you could meet if you rode all week in an +automobile. One day Buddy went out for a walk in the woods alone, +because Brighteyes had to stay at home to help to do the dishes, and +dust the furniture. + +Buddy, who, I suppose, you remember, was a friend of Jackie and Peetie +Bow Wow, walked along, sniffing with his nose, just like Sammie and +Susie Littletail, the rabbits. + +"It seems to me," Buddy said, "that I smell something good to eat. I +wonder if it can be an ice cream cone, or some peanuts, or anything like +that?" He looked around but he couldn't see any store there in the woods +where they sold ice cream or peanuts, and then he knew he must be +mistaken. Still he kept on smelling something good. + +"I wonder where that is?" he exclaimed, and he sniffed harder than +ever. And then he knew what it was--a cabbage--a great, big cabbage! He +ran around the side of a big rock, and there lying on the path, was a +fine big cabbage. Some one had dropped it by mistake. + +"This is great luck!" cried Buddy Pigg. "There is enough for me and +Brighteyes, and I can take some home to mamma and to my papa, the +doctor. Yes, indeed, this has been a lucky day for me. I'm as glad I +found this cabbage as if I had picked up ten cents! I guess I'll eat +some to see how it tastes." + +So Buddy Pigg began to gnaw at the cabbage and, as he had very good +teeth for gnawing--almost as good as Sammy Littletail's--he soon had +quite a hole made. But he kept on gnawing and eating away, so fine did +it taste, until, in a little while if he hadn't eaten a hole right into +the cabbage and he found himself inside, just like the mousie in the +loaf of bread! + +"Ha! This is very fine, indeed!" cried Buddy Pigg. "I think I will take +a nap here," and lopsy-flop! if that little guinea pig didn't curl up +inside the cabbage and go fast, fast asleep; and not even his tail stuck +out, because, you see, he didn't have any tail--guinea pigs never do +have any, which is a good thing, I suppose. + +Well, Buddy Pigg was sleeping away inside that cabbage, dreaming of how +nice it would be to take the rest of it home, when all at once, who +should come creeping, creeping around the edge of the rock, but a great, +big fox. He had sharp eyes, had that fox, and he saw the little guinea +pig asleep inside the cabbage, even though Buddy's tail didn't stick +out. + +"Ah, ha! Oh, ho!" exclaimed the fox, and he smacked his lips. "I see a +fine feast before me! Oh, yes, indeed, a very fine feast! Guinea pig +flavored with cabbage! Now, just so that pig can't get out, I'll stop up +that hole, while he's asleep in there, and I'll go and get my wife, and +we'll come back and have a dandy meal! Oh! a most delectable meal!" + +So that old fox crept softly, so softly, up to where the cabbage was, +with Buddy asleep inside, and the fox took a stone, and he crowded it, +and wedged it, fast in the hole, so poor Buddy couldn't get out, though +there was some air for him to breathe. Then the fox laughed to himself: +"Ha, ha!" and "Ho, ho!" and hurried off down the hill after his wife. + +Well, it wasn't long before Buddy Pigg awoke, and he tried to stretch +himself, as he always did after a nap, and wasn't he the surprised +guinea pig, though, when he found he couldn't stretch! + +"Why, what can be the matter?" he cried. "I'm all in the dark! Let's +see where was I? Oh, I remember, I found a cabbage, and I began to eat +it, and I went inside it--And land sakes, goodness me and a trolley car! +I'm inside it now!" he cried, as he smelled the cabbage. "I'm shut in +the cabbage just as if I was shut in a closet! However did it happen?" +and he tried to turn around, and make his way out, but he couldn't, +because the stone which the fox had stuffed in the hole closed it up too +tight. + +"I'm locked in!" cried Buddy Pigg. "Locked in a cabbage! Isn't it +terrible!" and of course it was, and no fooling, either. + +Well, Buddy Pigg was a brave little chap, and instead of sitting down +and crying there in the dark, he began to think of how he could get out. +He thought of all sorts of ways, but none of them seemed any good, and +at last he decided to try to burst the cabbage open. But it was too +strong and thick, and he couldn't do it. + +He soon discovered, however, that, wiggling around inside it as he did, +made the cabbage wiggle too, and the first thing you know the cabbage +began to roll down the hill, just like a man in a barrel. + +Faster and faster went the cabbage down the hill, over and over, with +Buddy inside, and he began to get dizzy, for he didn't know what was +happening. + +Then, at that moment, who should come along but that bad fox and his +wife. The cabbage seemed to be rolling straight at them. + +"My sakes alive!" cried Mrs. Fox. "What is that, Oscar?" You see her +husband's name was Oscar. + +"I don't know," he replied, "but don't bother about it. We'll go and get +that guinea pig." So they kept on, but just then the cabbage bounded +over a little clod of dirt, went up in the air, and nearly hit Mr. Fox, +and that scared him so that he ran away, and his wife ran after him. + +Well, the cabbage, with Buddy inside, kept on rolling, and the first +thing you know it began to roll down hill in front of the guinea pigs' +pen. It made quite a noise, and Matilda ran out to see what it was. + +"Oh, mamma!" she cried. "Here is a cabbage rolling down hill." + +"Nonsense!" cried Mrs. Pigg. "Whoever heard of such a thing?" but she +ran out to see what it was, and at that moment the cabbage bounded right +in front of the pen, hit a big stone, burst open with a noise like a +torpedo, and out rolled Buddy Pigg, over and over, just like a pumpkin. +But, believe me, he wasn't hurt the least mite, but he was rather +surprised-like! + +Then he got up, walked over to his mother and said: + +"Here is some fresh cabbage I brought home," and he was as cool as two +cucumbers. Well, the guinea pigs had a fine dinner off the cabbage Buddy +brought home in such a funny way, and of course the fox and his wife +didn't have any, which served them right I suppose. + +Now in the next story, if the cook doesn't burn the potatoes and make +stove blacking of them I'll be able to tell you about Brighteyes Pigg +and Mrs. Hoptoad. + + + + +STORY II + + +BRIGHTEYES AND MRS. HOPTOAD + +After Buddy had taken that funny ride down hill, inside the head of +cabbage, his father said to him: + +"Buddy, come here, and let me look at you. Possibly you were hurt in +that terrible trip, and, having been in a hospital, I can tell whether +you were or not." + +So he looked Buddy over carefully, but there wasn't a thing the matter +with the little chap, except a tiny scratch on his nose. + +"Weren't you awfully frightened?" asked Brighteyes of her brother. "It +was terrible!" + +"No," he answered, "not much. And it wasn't so terrible when we got a +good dinner out of it. I wish I could find a cabbage every day." + +"You had better put something on that scratch," cautioned Dr. Pigg. Then +he went on reading his paper, and Mrs. Pigg got out the salve bottle for +Buddy. + +Well, it was two days after this that Brighteyes Pigg was out walking +along the road. She had been to the store for some carrots, and the +store man said he would send them right over, so the little girl guinea +pig didn't have to carry them. + +Well, she was walking along, not thinking of much of anything in +particular, when suddenly something hopped out of the bushes in front of +her. + +"My goodness! What's that?" cried Brighteyes, for she was a bit nervous +from having had a tooth pulled week before last. + +"Don't be alarmed, my dear," spoke a soft voice. "It's only me," and if +there wasn't a great, big, motherly-looking hoptoad, out in the dusty +road, and the next moment if that toad didn't begin hopping up and down +as fast as she could hop. + +"Why, whatever in the world are you doing?" asked Brighteyes Pigg, for +she noticed that the toad didn't seem to get anywhere; only hopping up +and down in the same place all the while. + +"I'm jumping, my dear," answered the toad. + +"So I see," remarked the little guinea pig girl, "but where are you +jumping to? You don't seem to be getting any place in particular." + +"And I don't want to, my dear," went on the toad, and she never stopped +going up and down as fast as she could go. "I'm churning butter," she +went on, "and when one churns butter one must jump up and down you know. +That's the way to make butter. Don't your folks churn?" and then, for +the first time, Brighteyes noticed that the toad had a little wooden +churn, made from an old clothespin, fastened on her back. + +"No, my mother doesn't churn," answered Brighteyes. + +"Then I don't suppose you keep a cow," went on Mrs. Toad. "Neither do +we, but next door to us is the loveliest milk-weed you ever saw, and I +thought it a shame to see all the milk juice go to waste, so I churn it +every week. It makes very fine butter." + +"I should think it might," answered Brighteyes. "But isn't it hard +work?" + +"Yes, it is," replied Mrs. Toad, "and I know you'll excuse me, my dear, +for not stopping my jumping to sit and chat with you, but the truth of +the matter is that I think the butter is beginning to come, and I +daren't stop." + +"Oh, don't stop on my account," begged Brighteyes, politely. "I can talk +while you jump." + +"Very good," replied the toad, "I think I will soon be finished, though +on hot days the butter is longer in coming," and she began to hop up and +down faster than ever. + +Then, all at once, oh, about as soon as you can pull off a porous +plaster when you're quick about it, if poor Mrs. Toad didn't give a cry, +and stop jumping. + +"What's the matter?" asked Brighteyes, "has the butter come?" + +"No," was the answer, "but I stepped on a sharp stone, and hurt my foot, +and now I can't jump up and down any more. Oh, dear! now the butter will +be spoiled, for there is no one else at my home to finish churning it. +Oh, dear me, and a pinch of salt on a cracker! Isn't that bad luck?" and +she sat down beside a burdock plant. + +Well, sure enough, she had cut her foot quite badly, and it was utterly +out of the question for her to jump up and down any more. + +"Will you kindly help me to get the churn off my back?" Mrs. Toad asked +of Brighteyes, and the little guinea pig girl helped her. + +"All that nice butter is spoiled," went on Mrs. Toad, as she looked in +the churn. "Well, it can't be helped, I s'pose, and there's no use +worrying over buttermilk that isn't quite made. I shall have to throw +this away." + +"No, don't," cried Brighteyes quickly. + +"Why not?" asked the toad lady. + +"Because I will finish churning it for you." + +"Do you know how to churn?" + +"Not exactly, but I have thought of a plan. See, we will tie the churn +to this blackberry bush stem, and then I will take hold of one end of +the stem, and wiggle it up and down, and the churn will go up and down, +too, on the bush, just as it did when you jumped with it; and then maybe +the butter will come." + +"All right, my dear, you may try it," agreed Mrs. Toad. "I'm afraid, +though, that it won't amount to anything, but it can do no harm. I am +sure it is very kind of you to think of it." + +So Brighteyes took the churn, and tied it to a low, overhanging branch +of the blackberry bush. Then she took hold of the branch in her teeth, +and stood up on her hind legs and began to wiggle it up and down. The +churn went up and down with the branch, and the milk from the milk-weed +sloshed and splashed around inside the churn, and land sakes flopsy-dub +and some chewing gum, if in about two squeals there wasn't the nicest +butter a guinea pig or a toad would ever want to eat! + +"Oh, what a smart little girl you are!" cried Mrs. Toad. "I'm sure your +mother must be proud of you! Now I can work the buttermilk out, and salt +the butter, and I'm going to send your mamma home a nice pat," which she +did, and very glad Mrs. Pigg was to get it. + +"You certainly are a clever little child," said Dr. Pigg to Brighteyes +that night, "but then, you see, you take after your father. It is my +hospital training that shows. By the way, we must send something to Mrs. +Toad, for her cut foot," which they did, and it got all better. + +Now, in case you don't drop your bread with the butter side down on the +carpet, and spoil the kitchen oilcloth, I'll tell you in the next story +about Buddy Pigg and Sammie Littletail. + + + + +STORY III + + +BUDDY PIGG AND SAMMY LITTLETAIL + +Getting up quite early one morning, Buddy Pigg washed himself very +carefully, so that his black and white fur was fairly shining in the +sunlight, and then the little guinea pig started off to take a stroll +before breakfast. + +"Who knows," he said, "perhaps I may meet with an adventure; or else +find a cabbage, just as I did the other day. But if I do, I'm not going +to get inside it and go to sleep. No, indeed, and a feather pillow +besides!" + +So Buddy Pigg walked on, leaving his sister and his mamma and Dr. Pigg +slumbering in the pen. Oh, it was just fine, running along through the +woods and over the fields that beautiful, summer morning. + +The grass was all covered with dew, and Buddy had a second bath before +he had gone very far, there was so much water on everything, but he +didn't mind that. He looked at the flowers, on every side, and smelled +them with his little twinkling nose, and he listened to the birds +singing. + +Well, in a short time he came to a place where a lot of little trees +grew close together, making a sort of grove, not large enough for a +Sunday-school picnic, perhaps, but large enough for guinea pigs. + +"This is a fine place," said Buddy Pigg. "I think I'll rest here a bit, +and perhaps an adventure may come along." + +You see Buddy was very fond of adventures, which means having something +happen to you. He was almost as much that way as Alice Wibblewobble, the +little duck girl, was fond of romantic things--that is she liked +fairies, and princes, and kings, and knights with golden swords, and all +oddities like that. Well, Buddy Pigg went in the little grove of trees, +and now you just wait and listen--an adventure is going to happen in +less than five minutes by the clock. + +All of a sudden, just as the little guinea pig got close to one of the +trees, he smelled something good, and he looked up, and, bless him! if +he didn't see the nicest turnip that ever grew. + +"Oh, that certainly is fine!" he cried, and his eyes twinkled and his +nose wiggled, both at the same time. "I must take that home for +breakfast," he went on. But my goodness me and the mustard spoon! if, +when he went to get it, he didn't discover that the turnip was hung up +by a string on the branch of the tree! + +"Hello!" exclaimed Buddy Pigg. "I never saw turnips growing that way +before. This must be a special kind, but it will be all the better. It +is a little high up, but I think I can reach it by standing on my hind +legs, and stretching up my front paws." + +So he moved a little nearer the curious hanging turnip, and was about to +reach up for it when who should come bounding out of the bushes but +Sammie Littletail, the rabbit boy. + +"Hello, Buddy Pigg!" he called. "What are you going to do?" + +"I'm going to get this turnip down," answered Buddy. "It is a fine one; +but it is hanging quite high. I'll give you some when I pull it down," +for Buddy Pigg was very kind, you know. + +Well, he stood up again, and was just about to step a little closer, so +he could grab the turnip, when Sammie cried out: + +"Here, Buddy! Come right away from that! Jump back as fast as you can! +Quick! Quick! I say!" + +"Why?" asked Buddy, "is it your turnip?" + +"No, but don't you see? That turnip is nothing but a trap. It is hung up +there on purpose. Come away. I can see the trap as plain as anything. +Uncle Wiggily Longears taught me how to keep away from them, for I was +caught in one, once upon a time." + +"A trap?" asked Buddy. "Is this a trap?" + +"To be sure," answered Sammie. "See, the turnip hangs right over a loop +of wire, and inside the wire loop there is a piece of wood. Now to reach +up and get the turnip you must step on the piece of wood, and as soon as +you do so that tree branch, to which the wire is fast, will spring up, +the wire will slip around your neck, you will be yanked up into the air, +and that will be the last of you." + +"The last of me?" asked Buddy, who, being a little boy, had not seen as +much of the world as had Sammie. + +"The very last of you," answered the rabbit. "You would be choked to +death by the wire. Yes, the turnip was put there to catch some one, but +they won't catch us, Buddy. We'll fool them!" + +"Oh, I say! This is too bad!" exclaimed Buddy. "I was just counting on +this turnip. Isn't there any way we can get it?" + +"I don't believe so," replied Sammie, wrinkling up his nose, just as +Buddy was doing. They smelled that turnip, and it had a most delicious +odor, better to them, even, than strawberries are to you. + +"Maybe we can throw some stones up and knock it down," suggested Buddy. + +So they threw up stones, and, though they hit the turnip, and made it +swing back and forth, like the pendulum of the clock, it didn't fall +down, and by this time Buddy and Sammie were getting very hungry. + +"Let's try throwing sticks," proposed Sammie. "We'll toss them at the +cord, and maybe we can break it." + +So they threw sticks, and, though Buddy did manage to hit the cord, the +turnip didn't come down, and they were more hungry than ever. + +"Let's take a long pole and poke the turnip down," said Sammie after a +while, and they did so, but Buddy accidentally came within half a dozen +steps of going too near the trap, and was almost caught. + +"Oh, I guess we'll have to give it up," spoke Sammie, but Buddy didn't +want to, because he was very determined, and did not like to stop until +he had done what he set out to do. + +So he tried every way he could think of, until he was all tired out, but +nothing seemed to do any good. Then he and Sammie sat down and looked up +at that turnip, swinging over their heads, and they were so hungry that +their tongues stuck out like a dog's on a hot day. Then, all at once, +before you could sharpen a lead pencil with a dull knife, if out from +the bushes didn't pop Billie Bushytail, the squirrel. + +"What's up?" he asked, just like that, honestly he did. + +"The turnip is," said Buddy; "it's up high and we can't get it down." + +"Ha! That's a mere trifle--a mere trifle!" cried Billie. "I will climb +up the tree, run out on the limb and gnaw through the string. Then the +turnip will fall down to you." + +Which he did in two frisks of his tail, without any danger from the trap +at all, for that was on the ground, while Billie was above it in the +tree. So Buddy and Sammie had the turnip after all. And they divided it +evenly, Sammie gnawing it through with his teeth, and each one took his +half home. Billie didn't like turnip, you see for he would rather have +chestnuts. + +Now, I think I'll tell you next about Buddy Pigg playing ball--that is, +if our tea kettle sings a nice song for supper and makes the rag doll go +to sleep. + + + + +STORY IV + + +BUDDY PIGG PLAYS BALL + +"Hello, Buddy!" called Sammie Littletail, the rabbit boy, to Buddy Pigg +one fine day, "come on out, and we'll have a game of ball," and Sammie +tossed his ball high up in the air and caught it in his catching glove, +as easily as you can eat two ice cream cones, a vanilla and a chocolate +one, on a hot day. + +"Why, we two can't play ball alone," objected Buddy. "It needs three, +anyhow." + +"Oh, well, we'll find Billie and Johnie Bushytail somewhere in the +woods," went on Sammie, "and maybe Jimmie Wibblewobble, the boy duck, +will come along, too. Then there is Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, who have +come back from the country. Oh, we can get up a regular team." + +"All right, I'll come," agreed Buddy. "Wait until I bring in some wood +for mother. She is going to bake some turnip pies to-day--out of the +turnip you and I and Billie Bushytail got yesterday--and she needs a hot +fire. I just love turnip pies; don't you, Sammie?" + +[Illustration] + +"Indeed I do, but I don't believe we are going to have any. Mother +stewed my half of the turnip." + +"Never mind," advised Buddy Pigg, "I'll give you some of our pies when +they are baked," so he brought in two big armfuls of wood for the fire, +and then he and Sammie went off to play ball, leaving Brighteyes Pigg +home to help her mamma bake the pies, which the little guinea pig girl +loved to do. + +Well, Buddy and Sammie hadn't gone very far before they met Billie and +Johnnie Bushytail, the boy squirrels, and they agreed to play ball. +Then, as the four of them went along a little farther, they met Jackie +and Peetie Bow Wow, out walking with Percival, the old circus dog. So +Peetie and Jackie said they would play ball, and that made six. + +"Now, if we had two more we would have four on a side," suggested Buddy, +and, no sooner had he spoken than there was a noise in the bushes, and +out came Jimmie Wibblewobble, and Bully, the frog. + +They were very glad to play ball, and soon there were two sides +selected. Buddy Pigg was captain of one side, and for players he had +Peetie Bow Wow, Billie Bushytail, and Bully, while Sammie Littletail was +the other captain, and he had Jackie Bow Wow, Johnnie Bushytail and +Jimmie Wibblewobble. + +"Now we're all ready, let's play," suggested Buddy. + +"No, wait a moment," begged Bully. + +"Why?" they all wanted to know. + +"Because," replied the little frog boy, "my brother, Bawly, has just +made up a new song, and I know he'll give us no peace until he sings it. +He's coming along now. Let him sing the song, and then we'll play ball." +So they agreed to that, and in a minute Bawly came hopping along. + +"Do you want to hear my new song?" he asked. + +"Yes--hurry up," they all cried. So Bawly sang this: + + Oh, wiggily, waggily, wheelery, + I wish that I was rich. + I'd buy an automobilery, + And ride it in our ditch. + I wouldn't hop at all again. + I'd ride the whole day long. + But I haven't got an auto, + And so I sing this song. + +"I don't call that much of a song," said the old circus dog, Percival. +"You ought to do a dance after it. That's what the clowns always do." + +"Thank you, I'm not a clown," answered Bawly. "But could you make up a +song like that, and sing it yourself? That's what I want to know," he +asked. + +"I don't s'pose I could," answered Percival. "But if we're going to the +ball game, let's go." So they hurried on, and pretty soon they met Uncle +Wiggily Longears. + +"Oh, will you umpire for us?" asked Sammie. + +"Ha! Hum!" exclaimed the old gentleman rabbit, as he leaned on his +crutch. "I ought to go on to the office, but--ah!--er--well, as long as +you have no one else to umpire for you, I suppose I will have to do it, +but I really ought to go to the office. Who is going to play?" he asked, +and he seemed real anxious to know. + +So they told him, and pretty soon they got to the baseball field, and +began the game. Buddy Pigg and his players were last at the bat, and +Sammie and his players came up first. + +Well, it was a great game. Sammie struck out, but Jackie Bow Wow made a +nice home run, and Jimmie Wibblewobble almost did, only he got put out +at the home plate, and then Johnnie Bushytail, he got put out, trying to +steal to second base, which means getting there on the sly, you know; +and then it came the turn of Buddy and his friends to bat the ball all +over if they could. + +Well, Johnnie Bushytail was the pitcher, and he threw in such fine +curves, and so many of them, that it was hard for Buddy and his friends +to strike the ball. + +They did manage to hit it a little, and got three runs. Then it came the +turn of Sammie Littletail's team again, and they got four runs, and so +it went along until at the close of the game Sammie's team was eight +runs and Buddy's only seven. + +"We've got to get two runs to win," cried Billie Bushytail, "everybody +work hard." + +"We will," cried Bully, the frog. Now you girls just listen carefully, +something wonderful will happen in about a minute. + +Well, Peetie Bow Wow made one run, and then Bully and Billie got put +out, and it was Buddy's turn to bat the ball. It all depended on him +now. If he could make a home run his side would win. + +Well, I just wish you could have seen how bravely Buddy walked up to the +home plate, and stood there, while Johnnie Bushytail almost tied +himself into a bow knot in throwing a double-jointed +up-and-down-sideways curve. + +Buddy Pigg swung at it, and--no, he didn't miss it, he hit it good and +proper, and away sailed the ball. Off Buddy started for first base, +hoping he could make a home run, but alas! before he got to second base +the ball he had knocked was coming down, and was almost in the webbed +foot of Jimmie Wibblewobble, who was waiting to catch it, and if it was +caught that would mean that Buddy would be out, and his side would not +win that inning. + +But Jimmie didn't catch the ball! No, sir! The strangest thing happened! +At that moment if along didn't fly the kind fish hawk; and he swooped +down and caught that ball up in his strong bill, and sailed away up in +the air with it, and Buddy ran on and on as fast as he could go, around +the bases, and toward home plate, and he got there in time to win the +game. And then the fish hawk dropped the ball, and Jimmie caught it, but +it was too late to put Buddy out. + +"That's not fair!" cried Sammie Littletail. "The bird took the ball up +in the air." All his side said it wasn't fair, but Uncle Wiggily, the +umpire, decided that it was fair, and Buddy's side won the game, but +they wouldn't have if it hadn't been for the fish hawk, and they were +very thankful to him. + +Now I think I'm going to tell you in the next story about Brighteyes and +Sister Sallie--that is if no one takes our door mat to use for a pen +wiper. + + + + +STORY V + + +BRIGHTEYES PIGG AND SISTER SALLIE + +Brighteyes Pigg had finished doing the dishes, and had put on her clean +dress, her new tan shoes, which matched her brown and white fur, and her +hair was tied with a pink ribbon--you know the kind--the ones that stick +out so with a bow on each side. Well, she looked just too nice for +anything, and she asked her mother: + +"May I go out and take a walk?" + +"Yes," replied Mrs. Pigg. "Where are you going? Is Buddy going with +you?" + +"No, he has gone off to play ball again. I guess he thinks the fish hawk +will catch up the ball once more and help him to make a home run. No, +I'm not going with Buddy. I thought I'd go over and see Sister Sallie, I +haven't called on her in some time." + +"Very well," said Mrs. Pigg, and Dr. Pigg called to his little girl: + +"Give my regards to Mr. Bushytail, and tell him that if he sees Uncle +Wiggily Longears to mention that I have a new cure for rheumatism, that +I will send him." + +"I'll be sure to tell him," said Brighteyes Pigg. "Poor Uncle Wiggily, +his rheumatism bothers him a great deal." Well, she went on through the +woods to see Sister Sallie, who, I hope you remember, was the little +sister that Billie and Johnnie Bushytail, the two boy squirrels, once +found at the foot of the tree where their nest was. + +Brighteyes found Sister Sallie just finishing helping Mrs. Bushytail do +up the housework, and Sister Sallie was singing: + + Hippity-hop to the barber-shop, + To buy a lolly-pop lally. + One for me, and one for thee + And one for Sister Sallie. + +"Can you come out and play?" asked Brighteyes. + +"Indeed I can," replied the little squirrel. "Shall I bring my doll?" + +"Yes, but I haven't any," answered the little guinea pig girl, as Sallie +brought out the corncob doll, that her brothers and Grandma Lightfoot +had made for her. + +"Never mind, I'll help you make one," promised Sister Sallie, so the +two little friends walked on through the woods. + +"What will you make my doll of?" asked Brighteyes. + +"I don't just know yet," said Sallie. "I will look around for +something." So she looked first on one side of the woodland path, and +then on the other, and Brighteyes did the same, but they couldn't seem +to find anything out of which to make a doll. + +Then, all at once, oh, I guess in about two wiggles and a wag, if Sallie +didn't see a nice, long, smooth, yellow carrot. + +"That will make a fine doll!" she cried. "We will use some cornsilk for +hair, and some little stones for the eyes, nose and mouth, and for +dresses----" + +"Well, what will we make dresses from?" asked Brighteyes, for she +noticed that Sister Sallie was at a loss what to say. + +"Oh, I know--leaves," cried the little squirrel. "We will pretend that +green is fashionable for ladies with a sort of carroty complexion," and +she laughed, and so did Brighteyes, whose nose twinkled just like the +diamond in mother's ring, or baby's eyes, when he is happy. + +So the two little friends sat down on a grassy bank, in the shade of an +oak tree, and they made the carrot doll. Oh, it was such fun! + +First they stuck two little pebbles in for eyes, and they looked as real +as anything; then they stuck a little larger stone in the carrot for a +nose, and then Brighteyes found a nice, long stone, sort of curled up +around the ends, and when that was put in the carrot, just beneath the +nose, why it looked exactly as if that carrot doll was smiling as hard +as she could smile; she was so happy, I s'pose. + +"Now for some dresses!" exclaimed Sister Sallie, who had put her own +corncob doll under some grass to sleep. So they got some beautiful green +leaves from the tree, and fastened them together with grass and needles +from the pine tree, and they made the nicest dresses you ever saw. + +Let me see, there was one made in princess style, and one empire gown, +and one that had a pull-back in the skirt, and one was a tub dress, +whatever that is, and there was a crepe de chine and a basque and peau +de soie effect and--and--er--well, I know you'll excuse me from +mentioning any others, as I don't know very much about dresses; it took +me quite a while to look those up, and I must get on with the story. + +Well, when they had the dresses all made they tried them on the carrot +doll, and they fitted perfectly, believe me, they did! + +"Oh, isn't this lovely," cried Brighteyes. "Now let's play house," so +they played house, and each one had a room, there on the grass, with +sticks and stones for furniture, and they put the dollies to bed, and +woke them up, and took them for a walk, and they made believe wash +dishes and get meals, and, oh, I don't know what they didn't do. + +But, all of a sudden, just as they were putting their dolls to sleep, +they heard a sort of growling in the bushes, and a big, shaggy, yellow +dog, with glaring eyes, jumped out at them! Oh, how frightened +Brighteyes and Sister Sallie were! + +"What are you doing on my nice, green grass?" growled the dog, real +savage-like. + +"If you please, Mr. Dog, we didn't know this was your grass," said +Sister Sallie, timidly. + +"Of course it is!" snapped the dog. "I go to sleep here on it every day. +Anyway what do you mean by taking the leaves off my trees?" he growled +again. + +"If you please, kind sir," spoke Brighteyes, "we didn't know they were +your trees." + +"Certainly they are," replied the dog, snapping his eyes open and shut. +"Those leaves keep the sun off me while I sleep. Now I'm going to eat +you all up for taking my things!" and he jumped right at them. + +But land sakes, flopsy dub! Before he could bite either Brighteyes or +Sister Sallie, who should appear, but Percival, the good, old circus +dog. + +"Here, you let my friends alone!" he barked, and he jumped on that bad +dog, and nipped both his ears well, let me tell you. Then the bad dog +ran away, howling, and Percival took care of Sister Sallie and +Brighteyes until it was time for them to go home. Now in the story after +this one I'm going to tell you about Dr. Pigg and Uncle Wiggily--that is +if my furnace fire doesn't go out in the street roller-skating with the +coal man. + + + + +STORY VI + + +DR. PIGG AND UNCLE WIGGILY + +Some one knocked on the door of the pen where Dr. Pigg and his wife and +Buddy and Brighteyes lived one day. "Rat-a-tat-tat," went the rapping. + +"My! I wonder who that can be?" exclaimed Mrs. Pigg. "Run and see, will +you, Buddy, like a good boy?" + +So Buddy hurried to the door, and whom should be see standing there but +Uncle Wiggily Longears, the old gentleman rabbit; and Uncle Wiggily had +rapped with his crutch, which had made the funny sound. + +"Why, how d'do!" exclaimed Dr. Pigg as soon as he saw who it was. "Come +right in Uncle Wiggily! This is an unexpected pleasure. Brighteyes, get +a chair for Uncle Wiggily. Buddy, you take his crutch. Mrs. Pigg, +haven't we some of that new cabbage preserved in maple sugar? Bring out +a bit for our friend!" + +My! you should have seen what a bustling about there was in the pen, +and all because Uncle Wiggily had come and because every one was fond of +him. Buddy started to take the old gentleman rabbit's crutch, but Uncle +Wiggily cried: + +"Oh, no! Don't! Not for worlds! Oh, my, no! and an ice cream cone +besides! Oh, lobster salad, no!" + +"Why, whatever is the matter?" exclaimed Dr. Pigg. + +"Oh, my! Ouch! Oh, shingles!" cried Uncle Wiggily, as he stepped up over +the doorsill. "Oh, dear me, and a baseball bat! It's my rheumatism, as +usual. It's something awful, these days." + +"Oh, I'm so sorry," cried Brighteyes Pigg. + +"And so am I," added Buddy, and they all were, for that matter. + +"Rheumatism, eh?" remarked Dr. Pigg, thoughtful-like. + +"Yes," went on Uncle Wiggily, as he hobbled over to a chair. "In fact, I +came to see you about it, Doctor," and the old rabbit rubbed his leg +very, very softly. + +"Ah! ha! Ahem!" exclaimed Dr. Pigg, as he puffed himself up, and looked +as important as possible. "Of course, I remember now. I sent word to you +that I had a new cure for rheumatism. I heard the doctors mention it in +the hospital, and I thought I would try it on you." + +"That's very kind of you," said Uncle Wiggily, "and you can't try it +any too soon, for I am in great pain," and he made such a funny face, +with his nose wiggling, and his ears waving back and forth, like fans on +a hot night, and his eyes--one looking up and the other down--altogether +it was so funny that Buddy and his sister wanted to laugh, only they +didn't, for they knew it wouldn't be polite, and might hurt Uncle +Wiggily's feelings. + +"I will have some medicine for you in a jiffy!" exclaimed Dr. Pigg; a +jiffy, you know, being almost as quick as half a wink. + +So the guinea pig doctor got a bottle of red medicine, and one of blue, +and one of pink, and another bottle of green medicine, and he got some +red pills and some black pills and some white powder and some yellow +powder and then he took some molasses and maple sugar, and stirred them +all up together. Oh, it was a funny-looking mixture I can tell you, all +colors of the rainbow, just as when Sammie fell into the pot of Easter +dye. + +"Now Mrs. Pigg, you stir that up well, and we'll give Uncle Wiggily some +as soon as it is cool," said Dr. Pigg, for he had cooked the medicine on +the stove. + +"It doesn't look very nice," observed Uncle Wiggily sort of +anxious-like. + +"Rheumatism medicine never does," said Dr. Pigg. + +"And it doesn't smell very nice," went on Uncle Wiggily. + +"Rheumatism medicines never do," cheerfully said Dr. Pigg, "and, what is +more, it doesn't taste very nice, either, Uncle Wiggily; but you must +take it, if you are to get well." + +"I suppose I must," remarked the old rabbit with a sigh, as Mrs. Pigg +kept on stirring the mixture. Well, pretty soon it was cool enough to +take. + +"Now, Buddy, you bring a spoon," ordered Dr. Pigg, and when the little +boy guinea pig brought one, his father poured into it some of the +medicine. + +"Brighteyes, you get a napkin so he won't spill any of it on his +clothes," went on her papa, "and Mrs. Pigg you please be ready with a +glass of water, for Uncle Wiggily will want a drink right after he takes +this." + +Well everything was all ready, and Buddy stood there to help, and so did +Brighteyes. + +"One, two, three! Take it!" suddenly cried Dr. Pigg, and he poured the +teaspoonful of the many-colored mixture down Uncle Wiggily's throat. +Brighteyes held the napkin so none of it would get on the rabbit's coat, +and Mrs. Pigg was there with the glass of water, which Uncle Wiggily +took very quickly. + +Well, I wish you could have seen the face Uncle Wiggily made when he +swallowed the rheumatism medicine! It was just like a clown in the +circus, only funnier. But Brighteyes and Buddy didn't even giggle, which +was very kind of them. + +"Do you feel any better?" asked Dr. Pigg, after Uncle Wiggily had +stopped making faces. "Is the pain gone?" + +"No, I can't say that it is," answered the rabbit. "It seems to be worse +than ever," and he rubbed his leg and tried to get up, but he couldn't +leave the chair, even with his crutch, which Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy had +gnawed for him out of a cornstalk. + +"Oh, that's too bad!" exclaimed Dr. Pigg. "I must try a new kind of +medicine." + +"No, don't!" cried the rabbit. "I had rather have the rheumatism." + +"Suppose we try some horse radish leaves, like we did for my toothache?" +proposed Buddy, and Mrs. Pigg said that would be good. So they got some +leaves, and put them on Uncle Wiggily's leg, but they didn't do any +good, neither did mustard, nor nettles, nor any of the other burning +things that they tried. + +"Oh, dear, I guess I'll have to stay in this chair forever!" cried +Uncle Wiggily, as he tried to get up and couldn't. "Oh, dear me, and a +piece of chewing gum! This is terrible!" + +Well, every one was wondering how Uncle Wiggily was ever going to walk +again, when all of a sudden, as Buddy looked from the window, he cried +out: + +"Oh, here comes the big, shaggy yellow dog that was going to eat up +Brighteyes and Sister Sallie when they were playing with their dolls! +He's coming right this way! Run everybody!" + +"Wow!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "A dog! Goodness me!" and, land sakes, if he +didn't jump up, seize his crutch and run home as fast as if he never had +any rheumatism at all. + +You see he was so frightened he forgot all about it for the time being, +which was a good thing. But do you s'pose that dog dared to come in the +pen and hurt the guinea pigs? No, sir, not a bit of it! The first he +knew, Percival, the kind, old circus dog had him by the ear and the bad +dog ran away and didn't hurt anybody. + +Now, in the next story, if an auto horn doesn't scare me so that I lose +my typewriter ribbon I'll tell you about Buddy Pigg being caught by a +boy. + + + + +STORY VII + + +BUDDY PIGG IS CAUGHT + +Buddy Pigg was sent to the store by his mother, one fine summer day, to +get a pound of butter, a loaf of bread and three-and-a-half pounds of +granulated sugar, and as that made quite a load to carry Buddy had a +basket to put the things in. + +"Now don't drop the loaf of bread in the water," said his mamma, "and +don't let the butter melt and, above all, don't tear a hole in the bag +of sugar, and have it spill out." + +"I won't, mother," promised Buddy. "I'll be real careful." So he set out +on his journey to the store, while Brighteyes, his sister, stayed home +to make the beds and mend the stockings. + +Well, Buddy got to the store all right, and bought the things for which +his mother had sent him. Then the storekeeper wanted to know how Dr. +Pigg and his family were, and he inquired about Uncle Wiggily's +rheumatism, and Buddy told about the scare the old gentleman rabbit had +had when the big, shaggy yellow dog appeared, and how the old gentleman +rabbit ran, and how Percival bit the bad dog. + +"That's very interesting," said the storekeeper, and he gave Buddy a +whole carrot for himself. + +Placing his basket of groceries carefully on his arm, Buddy Pigg started +for home. He walked along through the woods, and over the fields, +thinking how nice everything was, and what fun he would have when he got +home, playing ball with Sammie Littletail, and the Bushytail brothers, +when, all at once, what should he hear but a noise in the bushes. + +Now Buddy Pigg was always a little afraid when he heard noises, +especially in the woods, where he couldn't see what made them, so he +crouched down under a burdock leaf in case there might be any danger. +And, sure enough, there was. + +It wasn't more than a second or, possibly a second and a squeak, before +a great, big, bad boy stepped out from behind a tree. And he had a gun +with him, and he was looking for birds, or rabbits, or squirrels, or, +maybe, guinea pigs to shoot. + +That's why I know he was a bad boy, but of course he may have turned out +to be a good boy before he got to be so very old. Well, this boy looked +up, and he looked down, and he looked first to one side, and then to the +other, and then--flopsy-dub, and wiggily-waggily! if he didn't spy poor +Buddy Pigg hiding under the burdock leaf, and trembling as hard as he +could tremble. + +"Ah, ha!" cried that boy, "I have you now, little guinea pig! I'll take +you home with me, that's what I'll do! My, to think of catching a live +guinea pig! I certainly am a lucky chap!" + +Then, before Buddy could run away, which he couldn't have done anyhow, +on account of the basket of groceries on his arm, if that boy didn't +grab him up in his hands, and hold him tight! + +Oh, how frightened poor Buddy was! He was so scared that he could only +squeak very faintly, but he did manage to ask the boy to let him go, +only the boy didn't understand guinea pig language, as I do, and, even +if he had, I doubt very much if he would have let Buddy go, for he was a +bad boy as I have explained. + +Well, the boy didn't care any more about hunting rabbits or squirrels +with his gun that day, as he had caught Buddy, so off he started to take +the little guinea pig home with him, and, maybe, he intended to shut him +up in a box, or put him in a cage, or do something dreadful like that. + +But, listen, pretty soon--oh, I guess in about four jumps and a +hop--something is going to happen to that boy. Watch carefully and +you'll see it. + +On through the woods he went, holding poor Buddy tightly in his hands, +and, would you believe me, that boy never noticed that Buddy had a +basket of groceries! You see, the basket, of course, was guinea pig +size, and so was the loaf of bread and the butter and the sweet sugar. +They were so small that the boy didn't notice them, but this was partly +because Buddy hid the basket under his paws, for he didn't want anything +to happen to the things for which his mother had sent him to the store, +you know. + +Well, as the boy kept going on through the woods, carrying Buddy farther +and farther away from his home, the poor little guinea pig was more +frightened than ever. + +"Oh, how will I ever get away!" he thought, "I'll never see my mamma, +nor Brighteyes, nor my papa, Dr. Pigg, any more! Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" + +No sooner had Buddy said this than he heard a funny little noise in the +trees above his head, and, looking up, he saw Billie Bushytail bounding +along. There was the squirrel, and he saw right away what the trouble +was. And he could talk to Buddy without the boy knowing it, you see; so +Billie said: + +"Hey, Buddy, take some of the bread, crumble it all up, and toss the +crumbs up in the air." + +"What for?" asked Buddy. + +"Do it, and you'll see," answered Billie. "That will help you to +escape." + +Now Buddy didn't like to spoil the nice, new loaf of bread he had bought +for his mamma, but he thought maybe it would do some good, and he didn't +want to be carried away by that boy. + +So he broke open the loaf, crumbled some of the white part in his paws, +and tossed it high up in the air, so that it fell down in a shower, all +around the boy's head, and listen, the boy hadn't noticed Buddy toss up +the crumbs. + +"My!" exclaimed the boy. "Why, I do declare, if it isn't snowing! Who +ever heard of such a thing!" and he really thought the falling bread +crumbs were snow flakes. So he turned up his coat collar to keep warm, +and began to run, for he didn't want to get snowed under in the woods. +But Buddy kept on tossing up the bread crumbs, until the loaf was all +gone. + +"What shall I do next?" the guinea pig called to Billie Bushytail, who +was following along in the trees overhead. + +"Open the bag of sugar and throw that up in the air the same way," +directed the squirrel, and when Buddy did this the boy heard the sugar +rattling down on the leaves and some of it got down his neck, and +scratched him. + +"Why, I do declare. It's hailing!" he cried. "Who ever heard of such a +thing!" So he hurried on faster than ever. + +Well, when the sugar was all tossed up, and the boy was running real +fast, Billie Bushytail called to Buddy: + +"Now throw the pound of butter down in front of the boy!" Which Buddy +did as quick as a wink, and lossy-me and a pancake! if that boy didn't +slip down in the slippery butter, and fall and hurt his nose, and he had +to let go of Buddy Pigg. + +"Now's your chance. Run, Buddy, run!" cried Billie, and my, how Buddy +Pigg did run; and he got safely away from that bad boy, and was soon at +home, where his mother forgave him for throwing away the groceries when +she heard the story. + +Dr. Pigg said Billie was very smart to think of such a thing, and I +believe so myself. Now in case you don't burn yourself with a +firecracker and lose your penny down a hole in the sidewalk, I'm going +to tell you in the next story about Buddy and Brighteyes' Fourth of +July. + + + + +STORY VIII + + +BUDDY'S AND BRIGHTEYES' FOURTH OF JULY + +One day, when Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg were playing out in front of +their pen, Buddy suddenly exclaimed: + +"Why, just think of it! Day after to-morrow is Fourth of July, +Brighteyes. Won't we have lots of fun?" + +"What will we do?" asked his sister. + +"Oh, shoot off firecrackers and torpedoes, and make lots of noise, and +at night we'll send up Roman candles and skyrockets; and oh! it will be +better than a circus." + +"Oh, you boys!" exclaimed Brighteyes. "You always want to make a racket +and have excitement. It's horrid, I think." + +"Oh, I s'pose you'll play with your dolls, or something like that," said +Buddy, laughing at his sister, who was very serious. + +"Yes, that's what I'm going to do," replied Brighteyes. "I'm going to +play with Sister Sallie, and Alice and Lulu Wibblewobble, and Jennie +Chipmunk, and we're going for a picnic in the woods." + +"Look out that a big fox or a bad dog doesn't get you," said Buddy. +"Well, I'm going off to find Sammie and Billie and Johnnie and Jimmie +and Peetie and Jackie Bow Wow, and Bully and Bawly Frog, and we'll have +a fine time on the Fourth." + +"Where are you going to get your firecrackers and things?" asked +Brighteyes. + +"You'll see," answered Buddy, as he ran off. + +Well, Fourth of July came at last, just as it always does, and early in +the morning Buddy Pigg awoke. + +"Where are you going?" called his papa. + +"Out to shoot off some firecrackers," answered Buddy. + +"Be careful you don't get burned," cautioned his mother. "Oh dear! I +don't like the Fourth of July. If you do get burned. Buddy, run right in +and let papa attend to you." + +"I can't get burned with the kind of firecrackers and torpedoes I'm +going to use," answered the little boy guinea pig, and he laughed as he +ran out. + +Well, pretty soon, along came all his friends, Billie and Johnnie and +Sammie, and all the rest. They were so excited that Bawly, the frog, +didn't think to sing a song, or recite any poetry. + +"What shall we do first?" asked Buddy. + +"Let's play war," suggested Sammie. "We'll divide up into two armies, +and have a battle. It will be great!" + +So they divided into two sides, and Buddy was the general on one side, +and Billie Bushytail on the other. Then the fight began--not real, you +understand--but make-believe. + +First the loud cannons shot off; and what do you suppose the cannons +were? Why big stones, that the squirrels and rabbits and the other +animal boys held and clapped together as loud as anything. You know +stones can make a terrible racket when they are hit together real hard. +Well, it sounded like regular cannon, and the birds in the wood got +awfully scared. + +"Now fire your guns!" cried General Buddy Pigg, and his soldiers took +sticks, and snapped them in two pieces and broke them, until they +sounded like real guns, or a lot of firecrackers going off. + +Oh, it was fine, and the best of it was nobody could get hurt, or +burned, either. + +"Now shoot them with your torpedoes!" cried General Billie Bushytail, +and all at once his side began firing off torpedoes at a great rate; +until you would have thought the woods were on fire. And you would +never guess what the torpedoes were, so I'll tell you. They were big, +rose petals, blown up with air until they were like little pink and red +balloons, and tied around with a string, just as you tie a paper bag +around the neck, after you've blown it up, to burst it, and when those +rose-torpedoes were cracked down on a flat stone--my! you should have +heard the noise! + +Well, lots of them were fired off, and then Buddy Pigg got some empty +bags, and his soldiers blew them up, and they cracked 'em down, and they +went off "Boom! Boom!" like great, big cannons. They blew dust up in the +air, to pretend it was smoke, and there was the most terrible +make-believe battle you ever heard of. But nobody was hurt, and they had +lots of fun, and the best of it was that neither side won, which made +everybody happy. + +"Now we'll take a rest," said Buddy Pigg. "I wonder what Brighteyes and +the others are doing?" + +"Let's go see," proposed Billie Bushytail. + +So they all marched off through the woods, just like real soldiers, and +pretty soon they came to the place where Brighteyes and Sister Sallie +and all the girls were having a picnic. + +"You're just in time," called Brighteyes. + +"Come and have some lunch, and some lemonade. You must be tired after +all that fighting." Now wasn't she kind, even after Buddy had laughed at +the idea of a picnic being better than a battle? Well, I just guess! +Those soldiers were glad enough to eat the lunch, and drink the +lemonade, I can tell you. + +So the soldiers and the girls sat there in the woods under the trees and +had a fine time--almost as good as at the make-believe battle, I +think--and after a while, just as Buddy and his chums were getting ready +to go back and shoot some more stick-firecrackers and roseleaf +torpedoes, what should happen but that bad fox and that mean, old, +yellow, shaggy dog ran right out of the woods. + +"Let's eat everything up!" cried the fox, waving his big tail. + +"Yes, and then we'll eat the squirrels and rabbits and guinea pigs all +up!" cried the dog, gnashing his teeth and blinking his eyes as bold as +bold could be. + +At first even the soldiers were so frightened that they hardly knew what +to do, and they were about to run away, when Buddy called out: + +"Come on! Let's get our guns and our cannon and shoot them!" + +Then he grabbed up some stick-firecrackers and began to break and snap +them, and Sammie shot off some roseleaf torpedoes and Billie and Johnnie +clapped stones together, and Jimmie and Bully and Bawly threw dust in +the air until it looked like smoke, and there was a terrible racket, +until--well, sir, if that dog and that fox weren't so frightened that +they ran away and didn't even get so much as a crumb of cracker or a +drop of lemonade; and it served them right, I think. + +Then how thankful the girls were to the brave soldiers. Oh, everything +turned out just right, I'm glad to say. That afternoon Buddy and his +chums had more Fourth of July fun, and Brighteyes and her friends played +with their dolls. + +Then at night Buddy and the boys sent up skyrockets and Roman candles +(which were sticks covered with lightning bugs), and prettier ones you +never saw. And they even had a lightning-bug pinwheel. Oh, it was the +nicest Fourth of July that ever was! I hope you children have as nice a +one and that none of you get burned or hurt when you celebrate +Independence Day. And, if none of you do, why, in the next story I'll +tell you about Buddy Pigg trying to buy a tail for himself, because he +didn't have any. That is, I will if the lollypop doesn't fall down +stairs and break his stick. + + + + +STORY IX + + +BUDDY PIG WANTS A TAIL + +The day after the Fourth of July, when he and his sister had had such +fun, Buddy Pigg came into the pen, where his mamma was baking tea +biscuits for supper, and sat down in a chair by the table where she was +working. + +He didn't say anything, but just watched his mamma rolling out the +crust, or whatever it is they make tea biscuits of, and pretty soon Mrs. +Pigg noticed that Buddy didn't seem very happy. His face was all twisted +up into a funny sort of a scowl, and every once in a while he would give +a long sigh, as though he hadn't a friend in all the world. + +"Why, Buddy," Mrs. Pigg asked, when the tea biscuits were ready for the +oven, "whatever in the wide, wide world is the matter? Are you sick, or +did you burn yourself with a firecracker?" + +"No, mother," Buddy answered, "I'm not sick and I didn't burn myself +with a firecracker, but I wish--I wish--" and then he stopped, and sort +of wiggled his nose. + +"Well," asked his mother with a smile, "what do you wish? Remember, +though, that I am not a fairy and can't give you anything you want." + +"Oh," answered the little boy guinea pig, "this is very easy, mamma. All +I want is a tail." + +"A tail?" exclaimed his mamma in great surprise, and she wondered if, +after all, Buddy wasn't ill, for that was a very strange request. And +she began to wish that his papa was home, or that Brighteyes, who was +Buddy's sister, was in the house, to help look after him, but Brighteyes +had gone to see her aunt, and wouldn't be back till night. + +"Yes," went on Buddy, "I want a tail. All the other boys and girls who +are friends of mine have them, and I don't see why I can't." + +For you see guinea pigs never have tails. Why that is I don't know, +except, maybe, it's better that way in hot weather, but, anyhow, they +have no tails. + +"You don't need a tail," said Buddy's mamma. + +"Yes, I do, mother dear," he answered. "Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow have +tails, and so have Billie and Johnnie Bushytail, and the three +Wibblewobbles, and--" + +"But Bully and Bawly, the frogs, have no tail," said Mrs. Pigg, "and +they are happy, Buddy." + +"Well, they are in the water so much it doesn't show whether they have a +tail or not," went on Buddy. + +"And Sammie and Susie Littletail haven't much of a tail, Buddy," said +Mrs. Pigg, as she looked in the oven to see if the biscuits were +burning. + +"I know it, mother, but they have something of a tail," spoke Buddy, +"and maybe it will grow longer in time. I'd be glad if I had even as +much as Sammie has." + +"Well," said Mrs. Pigg, "I'm sorry, Buddy, but I don't see how you are +ever going to get a tail. I haven't any, your father hasn't any, and we +get along very well. None of your relations have tails and they are +happy. They never had any. In fact there has never been a tail in our +family and I don't see why you want to start. Now run out and play, like +a good boy, and when Brighteyes comes back it will be supper time, and +we'll have hot biscuits and honey." + +But, though Buddy ran out, he was not happy. There was a frown on his +face, and, as he walked through the woods, he kept thinking how nice it +would be to have a tail. + +Pretty soon, oh, I guess in about a whisper and a squeak, Buddy Pigg +heard a rustling in the tree over his head. Then he saw two big, yellow +eyes peering down at him from the darkness of the woods, and a voice +called out: + +"What's the matter, little boy? Why are you so sad?" + +"Oh, I feel bad because I haven't a tail," answered Buddy, wondering who +was speaking. + +"What's the matter? Did some one cut your tail off?" the voice asked. + +"No," replied Buddy, "I never had one; but I want one, awfully bad." + +"Oh, don't worry about a little thing like that," went on the voice. "I +can get a fine tail for you." + +"Oh, can you?" cried Buddy, his face lighting up, "are you a fairy?" + +"Well, not exactly," was the answer, "but you just run along after me, +and I'll get a tail for you, in less than no time." + +Then there was a rustling in the branches, and a great, big owl, with +ears that looked like horns, flew out, and Buddy was frightened. But the +owl said: + +"Oh, don't be alarmed, little boy. Just follow me, and I'll see that you +get a tail." + +So the owl flew along through the dark, dismal woods, going slowly, and +close to the ground so Buddy could follow, and pretty soon, the owl +stopped in front of a hole in the side of a hill. + +"There is where the tail is," said the owl. "Just wait and I'll have it +out to you in a jiffy and a half," and bless me, if that owl didn't go +in that hole. He stayed there some time, and Buddy could hear voices +inside, talking, and land sakes, goodness me alive, and a cherry pie! +out of that hole was thrust a great, big, bushy tail. A tail, and +nothing else, believe me, if you please. + +"Oh, what a fine tail!" cried Buddy in delight. + +"Do you think so?" asked a voice. "Then just grab hold of it, hold +tight, and it's yours!" + +Well, Buddy didn't think there was any danger, so he grabbed hold of the +tail, and held on tight, but oh, dear me! instead of pulling the tail +out, he found himself being pulled in. Yes, sir, right into that hole, +and land knows what would have happened if Buddy's sister, Brighteyes, +hadn't come along just then on her way home from her aunt's house. She +saw right away that the bushy tail was fast to something inside the +hole. + +"That's a fox's tail!" she cried, "and he's pulling you into his den! +Let go, quickly! Let go, Buddy!" + +So Buddy let go just in time, though the fox and the owl rushed out and +tried to grab him, but they fell down, and couldn't get up in time, and +he and his sister ran home. You see it was just a trick of that owl and +fox, to get Buddy into the den, and eat him up, but they didn't, I'm +glad to say. And after that Buddy never wanted a tail. Now if it doesn't +rain in the dishpan and turn the umbrella inside out, I'll tell you in +the next story about Buddy walking a tight rope. + + + + +STORY X + + +BUDDY WALKS A TIGHT ROPE + +One day after Buddy Pigg had been on a visit to Jackie and Peetie Bow +Wow, the two puppy dogs, who were once in a circus, he came home all +excited. He ran out in the yard, began pawing over in the woodpile, and +soon he ran into the house, where Brighteyes, his sister, was washing +the potatoes for dinner. + +"Do you know where there is any wire, Brighteyes?" the little boy guinea +pig asked. + +"Wire? No, I haven't seen any around the house. What do you want of it? +Are you going to wire a tail on to yourself?" and Buddy's sister smiled +just the least bit. + +"Please don't remind me of that," said Buddy, for he felt a little +ashamed of the time he had tried to get a tail for himself and had been +nearly dragged into a fox's den, as I told you in the story before this +one. "No, Brighteyes, I'm not going to make a tail. I am going to do a +circus trick, and you can see me if you want to," he said. + +"Oh, Buddy! are you really?" she cried, and she was interested all of a +sudden, you see, for she had never seen much of a circus. + +"Yes, I'll do the trick, if I can find a bit of wire," went on Buddy. +"Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow told me how to do it; and I'm sure I can. +It's walking a tight rope, and it's very hard to do." + +"Oh! then you want rope, not wire," went on Brighteyes, as she put the +pan of potatoes on the table. + +"Wire is what the circus performers use," insisted her brother, "but if +you can't find any I suppose rope will do." + +"I saw some up in the attic," said Brighteyes. "I'll get it for you. +But, Buddy, isn't it dangerous? Do you s'pose mamma and papa would let +you do it?" + +"There's not much danger," answered Buddy. "I'll not put the rope up +very high, and I'll put some pillows on the ground underneath, so that +if I fall I won't get hurt much." + +Well, Brighteyes found a long rope, and she helped Buddy tie it from one +clothes post to the other, across the yard, so that it looked like a +real tight rope in a circus. + +"Oh, you can never get on that!" she cried to her brother, as she saw +how high up it was. + +"Yes, I can," he replied. "You just watch me. But first I must put some +pillows underneath, in case I fall." + +So he ran into the house and got a lot of feather pillows and put them +on the ground under the rope, Brighteyes helping him. + +Then Buddy got some old soap boxes, piled them one on top of the other, +and, by climbing up on them, he was able to step to the rope. + +"Oh, how thin and slender and shaky it is!" cried Brighteyes. "You never +can walk across that, Buddy!" + +"Yes, I think I can," he answered. "But I must get a pole to balance +myself with," so he got off the boxes and ran to the woodpile, got a +piece of an old broom handle, and ran back to the rope again. He stepped +one foot out on it, to try it, and it seemed quite strong, though it +wabbled a bit from side to side, like a duck's tail. + +"Oh! are you really going to walk on it?" cried Brighteyes in delight. + +"I really am," answered her brother. + +"Then you ought to have an audience to applaud you and clap when you do +it," she went on. "Wait, and I'll run and get Johnnie and Billie +Bushytail and Sammie and Susie Littletail, and--" + +"No, don't!" cried Buddy, quickly. "Better wait until I walk across a +few times, first, so as to sort of practise. Then I'll do the trick +before folks." + +So he got up on the rope, standing up on his hind legs, and balancing +the pole with his front paws and he steadied himself for a moment and +then took a step. My! but that rope wiggled, though, from side to side, +almost like a hammock, only, of course, not as safe as a hammock. But +Buddy kept bravely on, and took another step--and land sakes laddy-da! +if that rope didn't wiggle more than ever. + +"Oh, take care! You'll fall!" cried Brighteyes, and she screamed. + +"Oh, Brighteyes, don't do that, please!" begged Buddy. "You make me +nervous, and then I can't walk the tight rope." + +So Brighteyes, whose real name was Matilda, you know, kept real still +and quiet, just like a little mouse when it wants a bit of cheese, and +Buddy took another step out on the tight rope. + +He held his balancing pole by the middle, and he went slowly and +cautiously, and he was actually walking that slender rope! + +But he kept looking down and wondering whether he would fall or not, and +he got to thinking about the feather pillows, and wondering if they were +thick enough and soft enough, so that he wouldn't get hurt if he should +fall, when all at once, quicker than you can wheel the baby carriage +down hill, when he was right in the middle, Buddy's foot slipped, and +down he went, right a straddle across the tight rope, and the pole fell +with a bang! + +[Illustration] + +And Brighteyes screamed, for she couldn't help it, but Buddy didn't dare +call out. No, all he could do was to cling there with his teeth and his +paws to that swaying rope. + +"Oh!" cried Brighteyes, "you're going to fall, Buddy!" + +"I've fallen already," he panted. "But I'm going to land on the ground +in a minute, for I can't hold on any longer!" + +And he looked down, picking out a soft spot to fall on, but, oh, dear +me, and a sour pickle! If the pole, when it fell down, hadn't knocked +the pillows to one side, and there was only hard ground for Buddy to +land on. Well, maybe he wasn't frightened, and Brighteyes was also +frightened, too flabbergasted, you see, to go and fix the pillows in +place again, and they didn't either of them know what in the world to +do. + +I don't know what might have happened, for Buddy couldn't hold on much +longer, but, just as he was going to let go, along came Uncle Wiggily +Longears. He saw what the trouble was at once, and up he rushed and with +his crutch he piled the pillows in a soft heap right under Buddy, and +then Buddy let go the tight rope and down he came, just like in a +feather bed. + +And he wasn't hurt the least mite, but he was very thankful to Uncle +Wiggily, the old rabbit gentleman, and Buddy never tried to walk a tight +rope, nor a loose one again. + +Now, in case there is no salt in the ice cream to make the rag doll +sneeze, I'll tell you in the following story about Brighteyes Pigg in a +tin can. + + + + +STORY XI + + +BRIGHTEYES IN A TIN CAN + +Of course, when Mamma Pigg came home the afternoon that Buddy tried to +walk a tight rope (for she had been away visiting Mrs. Wibblewobble when +it happened) she had to hear about it. Buddy and Brighteyes would have +told her, anyhow, for they always did, but, as it was, Mrs. Pigg saw a +scratch on Buddy's leg, where the rope had hurt him when he fell, and +she wanted to know all about it. Then Buddy told her of the trick he had +tried to perform. + +"Little guinea pigs are safer on the ground," she said. "Leave such +things to Billie and Johnnie Bushytail, or the Bow Wows, who were once +in a circus. Now get washed for supper, for your papa will soon be here, +and I think he'll fetch a quart of carrot ice cream, as it is so hot." + +And sure enough, Dr. Pigg did, and the carrot ice cream was the best +Brighteyes and Buddy had ever tasted, they thought. + +Well, it was about two days after this that Brighteyes Pigg was sent to +the store for her mother, to get a nutmeg, a yeast cake, and a bottle of +blueing. Brighteyes started off, hurrying through the woods, where once +the owl had tried to get Buddy into the den of the old fox, and soon the +little guinea pig girl was at the grocery. + +She got the things, and the storekeeper put them in a paper bag for her, +and back she started. + +It was so warm that, after Brighteyes had reached a cool place in the +woods, near where a little brook ran over the stones, making a gurgling +noise, very pleasant to hear, she sat down to rest. And she hadn't been +sitting there more than about ten long breaths, when she saw, beside the +stream, a tin can. + +"Now I wonder what is in that can?" thought Brighteyes. "I'm going to +see. Perhaps it's something good to eat, and I can take some home to +Buddy," for she was very kind to her brother, you understand. + +So she went up to the can, but wasn't she disappointed when she saw that +it was empty! The open end was on the side that was turned away from +her, and that's why at first she thought it was full. But she smelled of +the opening, and oh, what a delicious perfume there was, sweet and +sugary, and in a minute Brighteyes knew what it was. + +"There has been molasses in that can!" she exclaimed. "Oh, if there's +anything I dearly love it's molasses! I wonder if there is any left +inside? Sometimes people don't quite empty the cans before they throw +them away. I'm going to look." + +So Brighteyes went closer, and, would you believe me? if she didn't see, +away down in the lower edge of that can, as it rested on its side, a lot +of nice molasses. + +"Oh, I must have that!" cried Brighteyes, and, without thinking of what +she was doing, she put her head and her forepaws inside that can. She +found she could reach the molasses with her tongue, and she began to +lick it up, wishing she had some way of taking part of it to Buddy. + +She was so excited over it that she even had taken her things from the +grocery store inside the can with her. There she was, with only part of +her body and her hind legs sticking out, and she was eating the molasses +as fast as she could. + +It kept tasting better and better, but, after a while, Brighteyes +thought she had enough, and she started to pull her head out of the can. +But, oh dear me! She found she couldn't do it. The sharp edges of the +tin caught in her fur, and there she was, stuck fast with the can over +her head, and the nutmeg, the bottle of blueing and the yeast cake in +there with her. + +"Oh, dear me suz-dud!" she cried. "I'm fast!" + +She tried to shake the can off, but it wouldn't shake. Then she tried to +pull herself out, but the can was still on her head, and went everywhere +she went, like Mary's little lamb. Then poor Brighteyes tried to stand +up on her hind legs, and hit the can against a tree or a stone, thinking +she could knock it off, but it wouldn't come off, and then she turned a +somersault, thinking that would help, but, though she even stood on her +head in the can, and wiggled her hind legs, it did no good. + +"Oh, I'm caught fast!" cried the poor little creature, and she rolled +around and around on the ground, thinking that would help some, but it +didn't. + +Then she heard some one coming along through the woods, and she called +out: "Who's there? Please help me out of this can!" + +"I'm Johnnie Bushytail," answered a voice. "Who are you?" + +"I'm Brighteyes Pigg," she said. "Please help me." + +But her voice sounded so queer and hollow, shut up as it was in the can, +and the nutmeg rattled around so, like thunder, that Johnnie Bushytail, +the squirrel, was frightened, and ran away, without helping Brighteyes. +Then she felt like crying, but, in a little while she heard some one +else coming along through the woods, and she called: "Oh, please help +me! Who is there?" + +"I'm Sammie Littletail," was the answer. "Who are you?" + +"I'm Brighteyes Pigg," she replied. "Help me, please!" + +But her voice sounded so strange and hollow in the can, and just then +the yeast cake came bouncing out, where there was a little space near +Brighteyes' neck and the tinfoil was all shining so that Sammie thought +some one was shooting square, silver bullets at him, and away he ran. + +Then Brighteyes was going to give up in despair, and she thought she +would never, never get out, and she wished she had never eaten the +molasses, when, all of a sudden, she heard some one else coming along, +and between her sobs she cried out: + +"Oh, please, whoever you are, don't run away! Help me out of this can! +Who are you?" + +"I am Alice Wibblewobble, the duck," was the answer. "Who are you?" + +"I am Brighteyes Pigg," said the little creature in the molasses can, +and just then the bottle of blueing broke inside and the blue stuff ran +out, trickling to one side. + +"Oh, you must be the blue fairy!" cried Alice, and she took her strong +bill and bent back the edges of the tin can so that Brighteyes could get +out, which she soon did, and was not hurt in the least. + +Of course Alice was surprised to see a guinea pig instead of a blue +fairy, but she was glad she had saved Brighteyes, who had to go back to +the store for another bottle of blueing. But the nutmeg and the yeast +cake were all right. + +Then Alice Wibblewobble poured the rest of the molasses out of the can +into an empty acorn cup and Brighteyes took it home to Buddy, who liked +it very much, and I almost wish I had some molasses candy; don't you? + +Now, in the next story I'm going to tell you about Dr. Pigg and the +firecracker; that is if the mosquitoes don't sing so loudly that they +wake up the baby's rattle box. + + + + +STORY XII + + +DR. PIGG AND THE FIRECRACKER + +Once upon a time it happened that, as Buddy Pigg was coming home from +having played baseball with Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, and all his +friends, he saw, lying beside the road, something long and round and +red, with a little string dangling from it. + +"Aha!" exclaimed Buddy Pigg; "there is a stick of red candy? Oh, fine! +Oh, dandy! I'll take it home, and give Brighteyes some." + +That was because she had managed to bring him home some of the molasses +that was in the can, in which the little girl guinea pig got stuck fast. +So Buddy picked up the long, round, red thing, with a string dangling +from it, and took a big bite. That is, he tried to, but he found his +teeth wouldn't go through it. + +"Wow!" he cried. "That isn't a stick of candy at all." + +And the funny part of it was that it wasn't a stick of candy. No, not in +the least, I do assure you. What it was Buddy couldn't guess, though I +suppose some of you children can. + +Well, anyhow, he picked it up, and carried it in one paw, and his bat +and catching glove in the other. And pretty soon whom should he meet +hopping along but Bawly, the frog--Bully's brother, you know. And Bawly +was singing away for dear life, this little song, which you will have to +get some one to sing for you, as I am as hoarse as two crows and a +cricket. Well, anyhow, this is the song: + + "As I was hopping along one day, + Hi diddle um diddle I! + A grasshopper sat in a greenwood tree, + Tum-tum-tum tiddle di! + "Oh, where are you going?" the grasshopper asked. + "Oh, not very far," I said. + "May I go along?" asked the funny bug. + And he stood right up on his head. + + "Why yes," I told him, "come along," + Tu ri lum diddle day. + "The weather is certainly fine just now," + Fum lum dum skiddle fay. + But the grasshopper fell in a deep, dark bog, + And I pulled him out on a sunken log, + And then came along a bad, savage dog, + And we both ran away." + +[Illustration] + +"Oh, ho! So that's the way it was, eh?" asked Buddy, who had never +heard that song before. + +"That's exactly how it was, and not a bit different, I give you my word +for it," said Bawly, the frog. "But what have you there, Buddy? +Peppermint candy, as sure as I can sing! May I have a bit?" + +"You could have it if it was candy," promised Buddy, real politely, +"only it isn't," and he looked at the queer red thing from all sides, +and he couldn't make out what it was, and neither could Bawly. + +Well, I'll tell you what it was, so you can understand the story better. +It was a firecracker. Yes, sir, a big, red firecracker that, somehow or +other, hadn't gone off on Fourth of July when it ought to have done so. + +I presume some boy had lighted it, tossed it into the bushes and it had +gone out and stayed out until Buddy found it. At any rate, he didn't +know what it was, and he took it home. Neither did Mr. Pigg know what it +was, but Buddy's mother and sister thought it was quite a pretty +ornament, and Mrs. Pigg put it on the parlor mantle, where company could +see it. + +Well, one day, not long after this, Dr. Pigg was home all alone, for his +wife and the children had gone to a moving-picture show. He was dozing +away in his easy chair, with a newspaper over his face to keep away the +flies, when, all of a sudden, there came a knock on the door. + +"My goodness alive! Who's there?" cried Dr. Pigg. + +"It's me," answered a voice. + +"And who, pray tell, may you be?" asked Dr. Pigg. + +"I'm a bad tramp fox," was the answer, "and I want you to give me +something to eat. Quick! I'm in a hurry!" + +Now that wasn't a nice way to speak, and Dr. Pigg knew it, and, what is +more, that bad fox knew it, too. But, do you s'pose he cared? Not a bit +of it. He was as impolite as he could be, and he took pride in it. + +"I want something to eat in a hurry," he went on, in a coarse, grumbly +voice, and he was such a big fox, and Dr. Pigg was such a nice, gentle +kind of a creature that he didn't dare refuse him. + +"Very well," said Buddy's papa, "step into the parlor, Mr. Fox, and I'll +see what I can do for you. There ought to be something in the pantry." + +So he went to look in the pantry for a bone, or something like that, +just as Mother Hubbard would have done, you know, and when the fox went +in the parlor what do you suppose he saw? Why, that big, red firecracker +on the mantle, of course. And when he saw it a wicked plan came into +his head. + +"I'll just light that," he thought to himself, "and it will blow this +pen up, and Dr. Pigg with it. Then I can take anything I want. That's +what I'll do. I'll blow the place up!" + +Then he lighted the string of the firecracker, standing up on his hind +legs to reach it, you see, and, as it was a long string, the fox knew it +would burn some time before it would explode the firecracker. So the fox +ran out into the kitchen, where Dr. Pigg was getting him something to +eat, and he cried: + +"Here, give me what you have ready, I can't wait." + +"You must be in a hurry," replied Dr. Pigg, as he gave the fox some +bread and meat and cold potatoes. And of course the fox was in a hurry, +for he wanted to get out of the way before that firecracker went off and +blew the house up. + +Then the fox ran and hid in the bushes, waiting for the house and Dr. +Pigg to be blown up, so he could go in and take whatever he wanted. The +string on the firecracker burned slowly, but surely. And the fox knew it +would be a perfectly tremendous explosion, for the firecracker was as +big as a hundred lead pencils made into one. + +But now watch and see what happens. After Dr. Pigg had put away the +bread and meat, left over after giving the fox some, who should come +along but Percival, the old, circus dog. He came to pay a friendly call +on Dr. Pigg, but, no sooner had he reached the front door than he cried +out: + +"Oh, I smell something burning," and, sure enough it was the firecracker +string sizzling away. + +"Maybe the house is afire," said Dr. Pigg. "Let's look!" So he and +Percival went all through the pen, and the first object they saw was the +long, rod thing burning on the mantlepiece. And Percival knew at once +what it was, for he was a smart dog, let me tell you. + +"Oh!" he cried, "that is a cannon firecracker, and if it goes off it +will blow the place to pieces, and me and you, too!" + +"Then, for mercy sakes, don't let it go off!" cried Dr. Pigg, and that +brave dog Percival jumped up, grabbed the cannon cracker in his mouth, +dashed out of the house, and leaped into a pond of water with it, which +put out the burning string, and wet the firecracker so it wouldn't +explode. + +And when the fox saw Percival, he sneaked away with his tail hanging +down, I can tell you. So that's the story of Dr. Pigg and the +firecracker, and when his family came home he told them of of his +narrow escape. + +Now, in case I hear a June bug buzz like an electric fan blowing soap +bubbles, I'll tell you in the next story about Buddy Pigg in a boat. + + + + +STORY XIII + + +BUDDY PIGG IN A BOAT + +After Percival, the old circus dog, had been so kind to Dr. Pigg, in the +matter of jumping into the pond with the big firecracker, which the bad +fox had lighted, the old gentleman guinea pig said: + +"I wish, Percival, you would spend a few days with us. I'm afraid that +ugly tramp fox will come back." + +"Of course I will," agreed the dog. "The Bow Wows are going down to +Asbury Park for the summer, and I don't much care for the seashore, so +I'll stay home and spend a few days with you. And in case that fox does +come back--" + +Well, Percival didn't say what he would do, but land sakes, flopsy dub! +Oh me, and a potato pancake! You should have seen him show his teeth and +growl. + +Well, it was a few days after Percival had come to pay a little visit to +the Pigg family that something happened to Buddy, and I'm going to tell +you about it. + +You see, it had been raining pretty hard for a week or more--yes, +nearly two weeks, and it didn't seem as if it was ever going to stop. +There had been thunder showers and lightning showers and hail showers +and just plain rain showers, and they were all more or less wet; and +when it did finally stop raining there was a lot of water all over. + +One day, the first day, in fact, after it stopped raining, Buddy was +taking a walk, and glad enough he was to be out of the pen. He strolled +along, letting the warm sun and the gentle wind dry his black and white +fur, and he was thinking of, oh! ever so many things, when, all at once, +he came to a little pond; only this time it was a great big pond, +because it had so much water in it. And on the shore of the pond was a +boat that some boys had been playing with. + +"Oh, fine!" cried Buddy Pigg. "I'll get in and make believe I'm a +sailor, just as Billie and Johnnie Bushytail and Jennie Chipmunk did +once. I've always wanted a ride in a boat, and now's my chance!" + +So he climbed into the boat, and he made believe he was sailing away off +to China, where they make firecrackers and fans, and then, when he was +half-way there (make believe, you know), why, he turned around and +sailed for India, where it's very hot; but all this while the boat was +partly on the bank and partly in the water, and Buddy only rocked it +from side to side, pretending it was moving. + +Well, after he reached India, what did he do but find it so hot there +that he turned around at once and sailed for the North Pole, so he could +be nice and cool. + +Then, all at once, as quickly as you can eat an ice cream cone on a hot +day, if something didn't happen. Buddy looked up, after reaching the +North Pole, and he found that the boat was adrift, floating off across +the big pond, with the wind blowing it faster, and faster, and faster. + +At first Buddy thought it was fun; then, as he saw that he was getting +farther and farther from shore, he became frightened. He looked for +something with which to send the boat back to land, but there was no +sail in it, and no oars; and, if there had been, the little guinea pig +boy couldn't have used them, I don't suppose. Well, there he was, really +sailing off to some unknown country this time, in earnest, and not make +believe. + +Then he began to cry, and he called out as loudly as he could: + +"Help! Help! Help!" and who should come running down to the shore but +Peetie and Jackie Bow Wow, the two puppy dogs. They hadn't gone to +Asbury Park yet, you see, but they were going soon. + +"What's the matter?" asked Peetie. + +"The boat is taking me away off," answered Buddy. + +"Jump out and swim to shore!" cried Peetie. + +"I can't swim," called back Buddy. + +"Oh, we'll show you how," went on Jackie, and then he and Peetie jumped +into the water and began to show Buddy how to swim, but he was too +frightened to learn, and, besides, the two puppy dogs were too far off +for him to see them plainly. Then they swam out, and they tried to pull +the boat back to shore, but they were not strong enough. + +"Oh, I'll be drowned! I'll be drowned!" cried Buddy. "What shall I do? +Tell my mamma good-by for me," he said to Jackie. + +"We'll tell her you're in trouble, and maybe she will know of a way to +save you," called Peetie and Jackie. + +So they ran and told Mrs. Pigg, and she and Brighteyes came running down +to the shore of the pond. + +"Oh, my poor little boy," cried Mamma Pigg, when she saw Buddy being +carried farther and farther away. + +"Oh, how can we reach him?" wailed Brighteyes, wringing her paws. "We +must save him, somehow!" + +Just then along came Billie and Johnnie Bushytail, the squirrels. + +"Stick up your tail like a sail and the wind will blow you ashore!" they +cried to Buddy. "That's what we did." + +"I haven't any tail," answered Buddy, real sorrowful-like. + +"That's so," said the little squirrel boys, and it began to look pretty +bad for poor Buddy, let me tell you. + +"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" cried Mamma Pigg. "I'll never see my poor boy +again," for he was quite far off by this time. + +Then, all of a sudden, down to the edge of the pond, came rushing +Percival, the old circus dog. + +"I'll save Buddy!" he cried. "I'll carry a rope out to him, and he can +fasten it to the boat, and then we can pull him ashore." + +Well, Percival took a rope in his mouth and started to swim out, but a +funny thing happened. The water got in his mouth and washed the rope +away, and he couldn't carry it, though he tried a number of times. + +Then everybody felt sorry, and Jackie Bow Wow was just suggesting that +they build a raft and float out on it to Buddy, when who should come +along but Jimmie Wibblewobble, the boy duck. They all told him what the +trouble was, and he said, "Quack! Quack! Quack!" three times, just like +that, and exclaimed: + +"I have it! I can swim out with the rope in my bill, for my head will be +above the water." + +He did it too, in about two quacks and a quarter. Then he helped Buddy +fasten the rope to the side of the boat, and those on land, including +Percival, the two Bow Wows and Mamma Pigg and Brighteyes, soon pulled +the boat and Buddy in it ashore. + +Buddy said he was never going sailing again, and I guess he never did, +for he was very much frightened, but he soon got over it and played with +Jimmie and Jackie and Peetie, while Mamma Pigg had to go home to take +something for her nerves. + +Now, if I have rhubarb pie for supper, and the ham sandwich doesn't +squeal when they put mustard on it, I'll tell you about Brighteyes and +the peanut candy in the next story. + + + + +STORY XIV + + +BRIGHTEYES AND THE PEANUT CANDY + +It happened, once upon a time, that Brighteyes and Buddy Pigg were +walking through the woods together, not far from their home. They had +been over to see Sammie and Susie Littletail, and they had had a very +nice time. In fact, there had been a little party at the Littletail +home. + +It was Sammie's or Susie's birthday, I forget just whose, and after +games had been played, there were good things to eat; nuts of various +kinds for the squirrels who came; candy, lemonade, ice cream flavored +with turnips and carrots, and oh! lots of cake, and I don't know what +else besides. There was so much that Buddy and Brighteyes couldn't eat +all their share, and they were bringing it home to their papa and mamma. + +Well, as they were walking along, thinking what a good time they had +had, the two guinea pig children heard a rustling sound in the bushes, +and two big, round, staring eyes peered out at them, and there was a +noise like a dog growling. + +"Oh, quick! Hurry up, Buddy!" cried Brighteyes. "Something will catch +us sure!" and she began to run as fast as fast could be, or even faster, +maybe. + +"Oh, I don't think it's anything but old Percival, the circus dog," said +Buddy. "He won't hurt us." + +And he was going to stand still and look in those bushes; yes, sir, +that's what Buddy was going to do, only he happened to see a big, bushy +tail sticking out, and then he knew it was a bad fox there, and not the +good, kind dog, so Buddy ran as fast as he could run, if not faster, +right after Brighteyes. + +And the fox ran, too, only he had stepped on a piece of glass and cut +his foot and couldn't run very fast. He was the same fox who lighted the +firecracker in Dr. Pigg's house, and I'm glad to say that he didn't +catch Buddy or Brighteyes, for they ran faster than the fox did. + +Well, they hurried on for quite a distance further, and all at once, +just as they were getting tired, and when they knew the fox had stopped +chasing them, they happened to look down on the path, and what should +they see but a white box; yes, indeed, a white box, tied with pink +string. + +"Oh, I wonder what can be in there?" asked Brighteyes. + +"I don't know, but I'll go see," said Buddy. + +"Oh, no, don't go too close," begged his sister. "It might be a trap, or +perhaps the bad fox is hidden inside it." + +"It's too small for a fox to get in," declared the boy guinea pig. "I'll +take a smell, anyhow." + +So he crept slowly, slowly, slowly up to the white box, and sniffed, and +sniffed and sniffed. + +"Oh! Ah! Um! La-la! Um! Um!" exclaimed Buddy Pigg, and he laid down the +packages of candy, nuts, cakes and other things he had carried home from +the Littletails' party, so that he might smell the better. + +"What is it?" asked Brighteyes Pigg. "What's in the box?" + +"I don't know," replied her brother, "but whatever it is, it smells the +nicest of anything I ever smelled. It's just like when mamma bakes a +ginger cake in the oven. I'm going to open it and see." + +So, with his sharp teeth, Buddy loosened the pink string around the box, +and off came the cover. Then, what do you suppose was in the box? Why, a +whole lot of peanut candy, all nice and fresh, shining, golden brown, +with just enough peanuts in, and not a bit more, really and truly! + +"Oh! Oh! Oh!" cried Brighteyes in delight, as she saw it. "Peanut +candy, Buddy! If there's anything I love it's peanut candy! Some good +fairy must have left this for us. Come on, we'll take it over here, +under a bush, where the bad fox won't see us, and we'll eat some of it, +and save some to take home. Oh, how lovely!" + +"I don't think I care for peanut candy very much," said Buddy. "When I +smelled it I thought it was going to be chocolate caramels." + +"Don't you want any?" asked Brighteyes. + +"No," answered her brother, "but I'll help you carry it into the bushes. +I'll eat some of the things we brought from the party. I'm getting +hungry again." + +So he and Brighteyes carried the box of peanut candy into the bushes, +and the little girl guinea pig began to eat the sweet stuff. + +Well, she had eaten almost all of it up, before she thought, because it +tasted so good, when all of a sudden, who should come along the path in +the woods, but a little girl. Yes, a little girl in a red dress, and she +was crying as hard as she could cry, that little girl was. + +"Oh, dear!" she sobbed, "I have lost my box of peanut candy, that I +bought in the store, and I can't find it, and I'm so miserable! Nobody +in the world is so miserable as I am. Oh, dear! Boo! Hoo!" + +Well, you should have seen how sorry Brighteyes was for eating that +little girl's candy, but Brighteyes didn't know, of course, whose it +was. She and Buddy just hid down in the bushes, and didn't know what to +do, until Buddy whispered: + +"Listen! I'll fill the box full of our candy, nuts and things that we +brought from the party, and maybe that will stop the little girl +crying." + +So he did that, filling the box real full, and putting the pink string +around it again. Then, when the little girl wasn't looking, Buddy +slipped out of the bushes, put the box back on the path again and +slipped under a leaf to hide. Then, pretty soon, when the little girl +stopped crying, she saw her box, and she thought a fairy had brought it +back. + +Then she opened it, and she saw the peanut candy had been turned into a +different kind, and that there were nuts with it and she surely thought +it was magical, but it wasn't, it was only Buddy Pigg, who did it. + +So Buddy and Brighteyes went home happy, and so did the little girl, +with her white box which she had found again after she had lost it. + +Now, in the next story I'm going to tell you about Buddy and the June +bug, that is if some one sends me some peanut candy with a lot of red +postage stamps on it. + + + + +STORY XV + + +BUDDY AND THE JUNE BUG + +One night Dr. Pigg and Mrs. Pigg and Brighteyes went to a nice +moving-picture show that Percival, the old circus dog, had gotten up, +and they left Buddy at home alone. The reason for that was this: Buddy +wasn't feeling well. He had eaten too many ice cream cones, and too much +lemonade on a hot day, and he had to have some medicine that his papa +fixed for him. + +It was bitter, sour medicine, too, and Buddy didn't like it, and he +didn't like to be ill, either, but one always is when one eats too many +ice cream cones and drinks too much lemonade on a hot day; yes, indeed, +and a bottle of paregoric besides. + +Well, Buddy was sick, and couldn't go to the moving-picture show, but +his mamma and papa thought it would be all right to leave him home +alone, as he was getting better by that time. + +"I'll tell you all about the show when we come back," promised +Brighteyes. "There is going to be a fairy play in it." + +"Oh!" cried Buddy, "how I wish I could go! I love fairy plays!" + +"You will be much better in bed," said Dr. Pigg, "and if you keep quiet +you won't have to take any more medicine." + +There was no help for it, and Dr. Pigg and his wife and daughter started +off. They knew Buddy would be much more comfortable in bed than at the +show, or they would never have left him, and right next door lived a +family of chickens, who would come over in case anything happened. + +Buddy felt a little lonesome when his folks had gone, but after awhile +he fell asleep. He dozed off for some time, and, all of a sudden, he was +awakened by hearing something going "thumpity-thump-bump-bump-bump! +Humpity-hump-bump-bump!" on the ceiling and walls of his room. Then it +went "bangity-bung-bung," and before Buddy knew what was happening, if +something didn't go slam-bang-crack into the lamp, and put it out, +leaving the poor little guinea pig boy in the dark. + +Then how frightened he was! He shivered, and crept down with his head +beneath the bed clothes, but all the while he kept hearing that +"thumpity-thump-bump-hump-lump-dump!" against the ceiling. First he +thought it was the bad fox, who had gotten in to eat him up, and then +he knew the fox couldn't fly around the room that way, or, if it could, +it would make ever so much more noise. Then he thought it might be an +owl, with big, round, staring, yellow eyes, but when he peeped out from +under the clothes the least bit, he didn't see any eyes, so he knew it +couldn't be the owl. + +"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" cried Buddy, when he was so frightened he couldn't +keep still any longer, "Oh, dear! I wish my papa and mamma would come +home; and Brighteyes, too!" + +"What for?" asked a voice, away high up on the ceiling. + +"Because I'm--I'm lonesome--and afraid--and--and--" but Buddy was almost +crying, so he couldn't finish what he had started to say. + +"What are you afraid of?" asked the voice, and this time it was on the +side wall, close to Buddy. + +"I'm afraid of you!" cried the little boy guinea pig, and he got farther +under the bed clothes. + +"Nonsense! Afraid of me!" exclaimed the voice, and this time, bless me; +if it wasn't on the blanket, right over Buddy's nose. "Don't be afraid, +little boy," the voice went on. "I wouldn't hurt you for the world. Why, +I'm only a harmless, old June bug, you know. I blundered in here by +mistake, somehow, because I saw your light, but now it's dark, and I +can't see to get out. But land sakes, goodness me, and some buttermilk! +Don't be afraid of me! I wouldn't hurt you for the world and the moon +too." + +"Well, I--I don't exactly know if I'm afraid of you or not," went on +Buddy. "First I thought you were a fox or an owl. I--I guess I'm a +little afraid of the dark, too." + +"Nonsense! The dark can't hurt anyone," said the June bug. "The dark is +good for sleeping. But if you're afraid, how would you like me to tell +you a story? And that will pass the time until your papa and mamma come +home." + +"Oh, fine!" cried Buddy, and he wasn't afraid any more, for he loved to +hear stories. So the June bug perched upon the bed clothes, where they +were nice and soft, and he told lots of stories to Buddy. + +He told about the cow that went to school, and about the bear who was +bitten by a big, black bug, and about two good boys, and about three bad +boys, who lived in a cave, and about an elephant, and about a horse that +had four legs and, oh, I don't know how many stories. + +Then the June bug sang this little verse, only, as I have a cold in my +head you'll have to get some one else to sing it for you. Anyhow this +is how it goes: + + "I love to flip and flop and flap, + And buzz around the room, + I leap up to the ceiling high, + And hit it with a boom! + I turn a double somersault. + My wings they play a tune. + It's lots of fun to be a bug, + Especially in June." + +And then, land sakes, and a feather pillow; if Buddy Pigg wasn't fast +asleep. Then the kind old June bug sang his song over again, softly, and +was about to fly away, when he saw a mosquito going to bite the little +guinea pig boy. + +And what did that bug do but grab the mosquito and throw him out of the +window. And the June bug stayed until he heard Dr. Pigg and his wife +coming back, and then he flew away, for he had managed to find the place +where he had come in, and crawled out again. + +Buddy woke up when his mamma came in his room to see how he was, and he +told her all about the June bug, and how kind it had been, and how it +had told stories. + +"You must have had a lovely dream," said Mrs. Pigg, but Buddy knew it +had actually happened, and wasn't a dream at all. Now if my typewriter +doesn't fall down and sprain its hair ribbon we'll next have a story +soon about Brighteyes and a bad boy. + +[Illustration] + + + + +STORY XVI + + +BRIGHTEYES AND THE BAD BOY + +Brighteyes Pigg was coming home from the grocery store one day. She +didn't have much to carry because, you see, her mamma had sent her for +only a yeast cake, and, as that wasn't very large, Matilda put it in her +apron pocket. + +She was walking along, thinking what a good time she would have when she +got home, for Jennie Chipmunk had promised to come over as soon as she +got her dishes washed and play house with the little guinea pig girl. + +"We'll have a lovely time," thought Matilda, who was called Brighteyes +for short. "We'll dress up all our dolls and have a play-party, and +maybe mamma will give us real things to eat." + +Well, Brighteyes was thinking so much about the party, and about Jennie +Chipmunk, whom she had not seen in some time, that she didn't pay much +attention to anything else. She was going along, hippity-hop, just as +Sister Sallie went to the barber shop, when all of a sudden something +whizzed right past the nose of Brighteyes and almost hit her. + +"My goodness me, sakes alive and a tin dishpan! What's that?" she +exclaimed. "I wonder if it could have been that June bug who told Buddy +stories so nicely?" + +Then she looked all around and she didn't see anything of a bug, and she +didn't hear his wings buzzing, so she thought it couldn't have been him. + +Then, bless me! if something more didn't shoot right past Brighteyes +with a whizz and a whozz, making a funny noise, you know. And this time +she saw what it was. It was an arrow, the kind that are shot from bows, +you understand. + +"Oh, the Indians are after me! The Indians are after me!" cried poor +Brighteyes in fright, for you see she had read in her school reader +about the Indians shooting arrows. + +Then the little guinea pig girl started to run, but before she had taken +three steps and a half, if another arrow didn't come whizzing through +the bushes at her, and this time it was so close that it just touched +her left ear. + +This frightened her so that she fell down, and before she could get up +to run away, if out from behind a tree didn't leap a bad boy. + +So it wasn't an Indian shooting the arrows, after all, which, perhaps, +was a good thing, as Indians can shoot very straight and might have hurt +Brighteyes. No, it was a bad boy. + +I call him bad because he shot at Brighteyes, and I guess before I'm +through with this story that you'll call him bad also. + +Well, that boy ran right at Brighteyes, and before she knew what was +happening he had grabbed her. + +"Wow!" cried the boy. "I've got it! I shot it! I've got a rabbit!" + +"Ha! That ain't a rabbit!" exclaimed another boy, coming out of the +bushes, "that's a guinea pig. Where did you hit it?" + +"I don't know. It doesn't seem to be hurt anywhere. But I was sure I hit +it. But, maybe, the arrow only stunned it. Anyhow, I've got it. Now +we'll take it home, and put it in a cage, and charge five cents for all +the other boys to see it." + +"Sure," said the second boy. "You're a good shot with your bow and +arrow. Come on, let me carry the guinea pig." + +"No," replied the first boy, "I'm going to carry it myself. I wonder if +you carry 'em by their ears, like you do rabbits?" Then he tried to get +hold of Brighteyes' ears, and he could hardly find them, as they were so +small, and, of course, he couldn't take hold of them. + +But, oh, dear! how roughly he handled that poor little guinea pig girl! +When he couldn't get hold of her ears he grabbed her by the hind legs +and actually turned her upside down, and then what should happen but +that the yeast cake fell out of her apron pocket. + +"Ha! That's funny!" cried the boy who held Brighteyes. "I never knew +that guinea pigs ate yeast cakes. This must be a smart one. We'll teach +it to do tricks, and then we can charge ten cents to see it. Oh, I'm +glad I caught it." + +And he held on more tightly to Brighteyes, for she was wiggling and +squirming, trying to get away. + +Oh, how frightened she was, when she heard the boys say that they were +going to shut her up in a cage! She thought she would never see her +mamma, and papa, and Buddy again. Big tears came into her eyes, and she +trembled all over. + +But do you s'pose that bad boy and the other one cared? Not the least +bit! First one held Brighteyes, and then the other, to see how heavy she +was, and then they took her up, first by one leg and then by the other, +and, if she had had a tail, they would have held her up by that, and +probably pulled it, too, for all I know. + +You see those two boys had been playing they were Indians in the woods +with their bows and arrows, and perhaps that made them act so cruelly. + +"Let's hurry home now and put it in a cage," said the bad boy, and he +and the other boy started off, carrying Brighteyes. But wait, don't be +frightened, or worried, for something is going to happen immediately, +which is very soon. + +All at once there was a whizzing and a whozzing in the air, and a +buzzing, bizzing sound, and that kind old June bug came sailing along. +He saw those bad boys taking Brighteyes away, and the bug knew at once +that she was Buddy's sister. + +So what did he do but wiggle his wings about a thousand times a minute, +I guess, and fly right at the boy who held the guinea pig girl! + +Right at the bad boy flew the bug, and he hit him first in one eye and +then the other and scared him so that the bad chap was glad enough to +let go of poor Brighteyes in a hurry. + +Then the other boy stepped on the yeast cake, and it flattened out, and +he slipped on it, and fell down, and he thought a bear was after him, +and he yelled, and the other boy yelled, and then they both ran away, +and Brighteyes was saved. + +She thanked the June bug, and he said he was glad he could help her, and +he flew back to the grocery and got another yeast cake for her. Then +Brighteyes hurried home. + +Now the next story is going to be about Buddy Pigg's great run--that is, +if we have peaches and cream for supper and the rag man doesn't take my +rubber boots for his goat to wear to the party. + + + + +STORY XVII + + +BUDDY'S GREAT RUN + +Well, I didn't have peaches and cream for supper last night, but I had +strawberry shortcake, which is almost as good, so I can tell you a +story, anyhow. + +Once upon a time, Oh, I guess it must have been about two weeks after +Brighteyes was caught by the bad boys, and rescued by the June bug, +Buddy Pigg was sitting on his front steps, wishing he had something to +do. + +"Mother," he asked, "can I go down in the brook, paddling? Jimmie +Wibblewobble is down there." + +"No," said Mrs. Pigg kindly, "you are not quite well enough to go in the +water, Buddy. But you may have five cents for an ice cream cone." + +Well, Buddy walked up to the store, got a vanilla ice cream cone, and +had just finished the last of it, even down to the sharp point of the +cone, where there wasn't any ice cream, when who should come along but +Billie and Johnnie Bushytail. They had their catching gloves, and a +ball and a bat, and when the squirrel boys saw Buddy they called out: + +"Come on, let's have a game of baseball." + +"All right," agreed Buddy. "But who else will play?" + +"Oh! we'll get Sammie Littletail, and Bully and Bawly, the frogs, and +Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, and Jimmie Wibblewobble, and we'll have a +fine game," said Billie Bushytail. + +So they walked along, and pretty soon they met Sammie Littletail, and +then a little while after that they met the two Bow Wows, and then who +should come hopping along, but Bully and Bawly, the two frogs, and, if +you'll believe me, a moment after that, along came Jimmie Wibblewobble. + +Then they had enough for a fine baseball game, and they went to a nice, +green meadow where they could play. Well, Johnnie Bushytail was up at +the bat first, and he knocked the ball so far that Bully, who was +playing out in the far-off part of the field, had to take about sixteen +and a half hops before he could get it. But by that time Johnnie was +back at home plate safe. + +Then it came Sammie Littletail's turn, and he knocked the ball so high +that it went up in a tree and stayed there, and didn't come down. + +"Oh, that's no way to play!" exclaimed Jimmie Wibblewobble. "Now we +haven't any ball. What did you do that for, Sammie?" + +"Well, I couldn't help it; could I?" asked Sammie, and he threw the bat +up, trying to knock down the ball. + +But it wouldn't come down, and then they all threw up stones and sticks, +but still that ball wouldn't come down, and then Billie and Johnnie +Bushytail climbed up and they had it down in about two frisks of their +big, long tails. + +Well, they said that Sammie Littletail was out for knocking the ball up +in the tree, and he didn't like it, but he gave in, and the game went +on. Then Jimmie Wibblewobble knocked a ball, oh! so far and so high that +it was almost out of sight. + +"Nobody can catch that!" cried Jimmie, as he started for first base. + +But just you wait and see. Buddy Pigg was out in the field, waiting for +a nice ball to come along so he could catch it, and now was his chance. +He had such bright eyes, almost like his sister's, and he could see the +ball away up in the white clouds, even though none of the other players +could. + +He kept his eyes on it, and got his paws all ready to catch it when it +came down. And pretty soon it did begin to come down, for you know it +couldn't stay up there in the air, with nothing to hold it. Of course +not, and I know you understand how that is. + +Well, Buddy managed to catch that ball, though it came down very +swiftly, and Jimmie Wibblewobble was out. + +"Fine catch, Buddy! Fine!" cried Billie Bushytail. + +"Yes, and now it's Buddy's turn to bat," said Bawly, the frog. "Get up, +Buddy. I'll pitch you a nice one." + +So Buddy got up to home plate, which was a flat stone, you know, and he +held his bat ready to knock the ball out of sight, if possible. + +Bawly threw him a nice, easy ball, and Buddy struck at it. He hit, too, +which is better. Oh! such a hit as he gave that ball! It's a good thing +balls don't have feelings, I think, or bats either, for that matter. + +Well, as soon as he hit the ball Buddy started to run for the bases. Oh, +how fast he ran, but something happened. The ball didn't go as far as he +thought it would. No, it fell down right near Sammie Littletail, and +Sammie picked it up and ran toward Buddy with it. + +He knew if he could touch Buddy with the ball before Buddy got back to +home plate, that Buddy would be out and then Sammie could bat again. + +So Sammie ran after Buddy, and Buddy ran all around the bases, hoping he +could make a home run and get there safe. But it was hard work. Faster +and faster he ran, and faster and faster hopped Sammie after him. + +"Run, Buddy! Run!" cried Bully the frog. + +"I--am--running!" panted Buddy. + +"Catch him, Sammie! Catch him!" cried Bawly, and Sammie gave three +tremendous hops to catch Buddy. + +But by this time Buddy was nearly at home plate, where he would be safe. +And the worst of it was that Sammie was almost there, too. + +Then, with his last breath, and giving a spring and a hop that was so +big that it took him close to Buddy, Sammie stretched out his paw with +the ball in and tried to touch Buddy. But do you s'pose he did? No, sir, +he didn't, and Buddy got home safe, and wasn't put out after all. + +"Well," said Sammie, after he had gotten his breath, "if you had had a +tail sticking out behind you I would have touched that, and you'd have +been out." + +"I'm glad I haven't a tail," said Buddy, as he sat down on the grass to +rest, and then, after a while the game went on, and lasted until dark, +everybody having a fine time. + +Now, I'm going to tell you in the story after this one about +Brighteyes, Buddy and the turnip--that is, in case I hear a potato bug +sing a song that puts the rag doll to sleep, so she won't cry and wake +up the pussy cat. + + + + +STORY XVIII + + +BRIGHTEYES, BUDDY AND THE TURNIP + +One day when Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg were out walking in the fields, +they saw, close beside a big stone, a fine, large turnip. Oh, it was the +nicest, ripest, juiciest turnip that ever a guinea pig boy or girl +smelled of, and it just made their mouths water, and water even came +into their eyes. + +"Oh, what a lovely turnip!" exclaimed Brighteyes. "I wonder who it +belongs to?" + +"Let's look and see if it has any one's name on it," suggested Buddy. + +So, after peering carefully about to see that there were no traps near, +the two guinea pig children went closer, and gazed on all sides of the +turnip, and even turned it over to look on the bottom. + +They couldn't see a single name, and then they came to the conclusion +that the turnip didn't belong to any one in particular. + +"I wonder if it would be right for us to take it home?" asked +Brighteyes. "Mamma and papa would just love to have some of it." + +"Why certainly, take it right along, children!" exclaimed a voice from +under a burdock leaf, and then out flew the kind, old June bug. + +"May we really have it?" asked Buddy. + +"Of course," answered the June bug. "You see I was hiding under that +leaf, thinking it was about time for me to go South, for June bugs +oughtn't really to fly in July, when I heard a rumbling noise. First I +thought it was thunder, and then I saw that it was a big farm wagon +loaded with turnips. + +"Well, one of the turnips fell off, and a boy, who was riding on the +wagon, called to the man who was driving, and told him about the turnip +falling. Then the man said that didn't matter, as he had more turnips +than he knew what to do with. So that's how I know that you can have the +turnip if you wish." + +"Well, we certainly do wish!" cried Brighteyes. "Isn't it grand, Buddy? +We'll take it right home." + +"Yes, but how can we carry it?" asked her brother. "I don't believe we +can lift it." + +He went up to the big, round turnip, and tried and tried, with all his +might, to lift it, but it wouldn't come up as high even as a pin head +from the ground. + +"Perhaps I can lift it," suggested Brighteyes, so she tried, but she +couldn't. + +"Maybe if you both try together you can," said the June bug. + +Well, they both pulled and hauled, but it was of no use. There that +turnip was, just as if it was stuck fast in the ground. + +"I'm not very strong myself," went on the June bug, "but I'll do my +best. Come on, now, all together." + +So he took hold, with Buddy and Brighteyes, and he buzzed his wings as +hard as they would buzz, and he cracked his legs, and he strained and he +tugged and pulled, but, no sir, that turnip wouldn't move the least bit. + +"I guess we'll have to leave it here," said Buddy sorrowful-like, "but I +did so want to take it home to mamma and papa." + +And he looked at the big vegetable as if it would, somehow, move itself. + +"I know a way," said the June bug, at length. + +"How?" asked Brighteyes. + +"Why you and your brother must eat as much of it as you can, and then it +will be lighter, and easier to lift, you see. Just gnaw a lot off the +turnip, and you can carry it, then." + +"Oh, but that would spoil the turnip," objected Buddy. "We want to take +it home all in one piece, so papa and mamma can see it." Now wasn't that +good of him? Especially when he and his sister were just as hungry as +they could be, and would have loved to have had some? But they wanted to +have their folks see it first, without a bite being taken from it. + +"Well," said the June bug, "maybe you can roll it along, if you can't +lift it." + +"The very thing!" cried Buddy. "If we can just get it started it will +roll along easily, for it is down hill to our pen, and it will bounce +along just as the cabbage did, that I was once in. That's a good plan." + +Well, by hard work the three of them did manage to get the turnip +started, and it rolled along, first slowly and then more quickly, and +then with a rush, and land sake! if all at once it didn't roll down into +a big hole. + +"Oh, now we'll never get it up!" cried Buddy, much disappointed, and he +and his sister felt very sorrowful. But not for long, for in a little +while along hopped Uncle Wiggily Longears, with his crutch. It didn't +take him any time, with the aid of the June bug, and Buddy and +Brighteyes, to pry that turnip up out of the hole. + +"Now I'll show you how to get the turnip home," said Uncle Wiggily. +"You need some way to steer it, so it won't run away from you and get +into a hole again." + +Then he took his crutch and punched a hole through that turnip, and put +a stick through the hole, so the turnip was just like the wheel of a +wheelbarrow. + +Then he fastened long pieces of strong grass to the stick that was stuck +through the turnip, and he and Buddy and Brighteyes and the June bug +took hold of the grass, and they rolled that turnip along and steered it +just as you pull your sled or wheel the baby carriage or guide a horse +with a bit in his mouth. + +And pretty soon they were safely at the pen, and Dr. Pigg and his wife +were much surprised and delighted when they saw the big turnip which +their children had found. They gave Uncle Wiggily Longears some, but the +June bug said he would rather have a ginger snap, and he got it. + +Now the next story will be about Buddy and the burglar fox, in case the +milkman isn't late to school, and if he brings a bottle of water for +teacher to sprinkle the blackboards with. + + + + +STORY XIX + + +BUDDY AND THE BURGLAR FOX + +"We must lock all the windows and doors very tightly to-night," said +Mrs. Pigg to her husband, one evening, when they were getting ready for +bed. + +"Yes," agreed Dr. Pigg, "we must. I'll see to it, my dear, and you put +the children to bed." + +"Why do you have to lock up so carefully, mamma?" inquired Buddy. + +"Because," said Mrs. Pigg, "I heard that there have been a number of +tramps and burglars around lately." + +"Indeed, that's true," added Dr. Pigg. "Mr. Cock A. Doodle, the rooster +next door, was telling me that he thinks some one tried to get in his +coop last night. The door rattled and some one shook the window." + +"Perhaps it was the wind," suggested Brighteyes. + +"It may have been," agreed her father. "I hope it was, for I don't like +burglars at all. Now go to bed and don't be afraid, for I'll lock up +carefully, and I have a pail of water right beside my bed and I'll +throw it on a burglar if he dares to come in." + +So Buddy and Brighteyes went up stairs to bed with their mother, while +Dr. Pigg put out the cat, locked the doors and windows and set the alarm +clock to wake him up at five o'clock, for he had to go downtown to +attend to some business in the morning. + +"I wish the June bug would come again," said Brighteyes, as she was +falling asleep. + +"Why?" asked her mother from the next room. + +"Oh, so he could tell us some stories, and then I wouldn't think about +burglars." + +"Nonsense!" exclaimed Mrs. Pigg. "How silly! Burglars will never hurt +you. Go to sleep now." + +"If any burglars come in I'll fix 'em'!" cried Buddy, bravely, from his +room. Then Brighteyes went to sleep, and so did Dr. Pigg and his wife. + +But, somehow, Buddy couldn't sleep. Why it was he didn't know, only he +couldn't. He thought of everything he could think of; ice cream cones +and turnips and baseball games, and being in the boat that time, and +going to the North Pole and then he thought of the stories the June bug +had told him, but still he couldn't go to sleep. + +"I guess I'll get up and sit by the window a while," he said to +himself. "Then maybe I'll feel sleepy." + +So he got up and sat down in a comfortable chair and looked out. It was +a beautiful moonlight night, and he could see things almost as well as +if it was day. + +Well, Buddy hadn't sat there very long, before he saw something long and +black and shadowy creeping along, as softly and as gently as a mouse. + +First he thought it was a cat, but when he looked again he saw that it +was a fox. And the fox had a bag over his shoulder, and he was sneaking +along, looking around to be sure no policeman dogs saw him. + +Well, sir, as true as I'm telling you, if that fox didn't come softly up +to Dr. Pigg's house, right to the front door, as Buddy could see by +leaning out of his window, which was open, and looking down, as his +window was right over the front door. + +Then that fox took a screw-driver out of his bag, and he began to work +at the door to force it open, in spite of the lock on it. Oh, how softly +and quietly he worked! But Buddy looked down and saw him, and he knew +right away that it was a burglar fox, who was coming in the house. + +At first Buddy was frightened, and then he knew that he ought to do +something. He thought of awakening his papa and mamma, and then he +feared that this would scare Brighteyes, and so he decided to drive that +burglar fox away all by himself. + +Then he tried to think of the best way to do it. He moved softly about +his room, looking for something with which to scare the fuzzy old fox, +and what do you think he found? Why, his baseball, to be sure! + +"That will be as good as a bullet!" thought Buddy. + +Then he moved softly to the window, leaned out, where he could see the +fox, who was still trying to force open the front door, and raising the +ball in his hand, Buddy threw it down with all his might, just as if he +was throwing to first base. + +Well, sir, the ball hit that bad fox right on the head, and it bounced +up almost into Buddy's hands again, but not quite. + +My, how surprised that fox was! In fact he was so surprised that he fell +down, and when he got up and saw Buddy looking at him from the window, +he was more amazed than ever. + +"Get right away from here, you bad burglar fox you!" cried Buddy, "or +I'll throw forty-seven more big bullets at you!" + +Of course he really couldn't, because he didn't have any other baseballs +to throw, but the fox didn't know that, and really thought the one +baseball was a big bullet. + +Then, without even stopping to pick up his bag, the fox ran away, and so +he didn't get in at all in Dr. Pigg's house, and Buddy went to sleep. + +Well, when Buddy told his papa and mamma and Brighteyes the next morning +what he had done, maybe they weren't proud of him. Yes, indeed! + +I wish I could say that the fox was arrested, but he wasn't, and made +lots more trouble later. But he never broke into Dr. Pigg's house and +I'm glad of it. + +Now, do you think you'd like to hear, in the next story, about a queer +adventure which Brighteyes had? Well, I'll tell it to you if the water +sprinkler man gives us a nice big piece of ice to bake in the oven for a +pudding. + +[Illustration] + + + + +STORY XX + + +BRIGHTEYES HAS AN ADVENTURE + +It was a very hot day. It was as hot, in fact, as some of the days we +have had around here lately, and when Brighteyes, the little guinea pig +girl, saw the yellow sun beaming down as she looked out of the pen in +the morning, she said to her papa: + +"Now, be very careful not to get overheated to-day, daddy, dear." + +"I will," replied Dr. Pigg. "It is so very warm that I shall walk on the +shady side of the street, and keep a handkerchief, wet in ice water, on +my head." + +"I was cool enough the other night," remarked Buddy Pigg. "In fact, I +shivered when I saw the burglar fox trying to get in," and he actually +shivered again when he thought of it, and of how he had scared the bad +fox away, as I told you in the story just before this one. + +But, after a bit, it got so warm that even the thought of the fox could +not make Buddy shiver. Neither could his mother nor Brighteyes shiver, +and when you can't shiver, you know, it's a sure sign that it's going +to be very hot. + +At last Brighteyes said: + +"Oh, I think I'll go for a walk in the woods. Don't you want to come +along, Buddy?" and she looked at her brother, who was whittling a stick +with his new knife. + +But Buddy decided it was too hot even to go off in the woods, so +Brighteyes said she would go alone. She put on her coolest dress. I +think it was a white swiss or a blue organdie, or a challis, or a +bombazine, I can't just exactly remember. Anyway, it was nice and cool, +and freshly washed and ironed and starched, and Brighteyes looked just +as pretty in it as a picture in a gold frame. + +Well, she walked along for some time, and, pretty soon, oh, I guess in +about three squeaks, or, maybe, four, she came to the woods. It was nice +and cool and shady in there, with a little breeze blowing through the +trees, and, frisking about in the branches, were several chipmunks, who +were cousins of Jennie Chipmunk, and a number of squirrels, besides, +most of them relations of Johnnie and Billie Bushytail. + +So Brighteyes sat down on a mossy log, and thought how nice and cool it +was, and pretty soon, she heard water running and splashing over the +stones. That made her cooler than ever and she was feeling very happy, +and wishing Buddy was with her, when she began to feel thirsty. + +And the more she heard the water running the more thirsty she became, +until she said, right out loud: "I'm going to get a drink!" + +You've no idea how funny it sounded to hear Brighteyes speak out loud +that way, for it was so still and quiet in the woods, that it was just +as if she had spoken out loud in church, after the minister has stopped +praying. Then Brighteyes got up from the mossy log, and went toward the +running water. And what do you s'pose is going to happen? Why, she's +going to have an adventure in about a minute, or, maybe, less time. + +Well, the little guinea pig girl found where a little brook ran through +the woods, over the stones and under green banks where the long ferns +grew, and she was more thirsty than ever, and when she got down to the +edge of the brook, there was a little plank stretched across the water +for a bridge. + +Brighteyes walked out on the middle of the plank, looked down into the +brook, which was just like a looking-glass, and she saw how well her +dress fitted. Then she kneeled, dipped her paws in the water and scooped +up some to drink, taking care not to splash any on her clothes. + +"Oh!" exclaimed the little guinea pig girl, "that is very fine water!" +Then she took another drink and stood up. She was just going to walk +back to shore when she happened to hear a funny noise, and, lo! and +behold, at either end of the plank bridge there was a funny brown, furry +creature, about as big as a small dog. They stood up on their hind legs, +one at one end of the plank and one at the other, and when they saw +Brighteyes looking at them the larger creature cried out: + +"Ha! Ha! Now we have you! You can't get ashore unless you give us all +your money!" + +"I haven't very much," said poor Brighteyes, beginning to tremble, and +wondering if the brown creatures were burglars. + +"Well, we want whatever money you have," declared the creature at the +right-hand end of the plank. + +"Yes, indeed!" cried the creature on the left end. + +"Who--who are you?" stammered Brighteyes, thinking to make friends with +the creatures. + +"We're groundhogs!" they both cried together, "and we want your money." + +"What for?" asked Brighteyes, wondering what question she could ask +next. + +"We're going to buy firecrackers," answered the one on the right end. + +"Fourth of July is past," said Brighteyes. + +"No matter. Give us all your money, or we'll push you into the brook!" +declared the two groundhogs together, and when Brighteyes said she +hadn't any change, for there was no pocket in her dress, you see, to +carry any money in, what did those bad groundhogs do, but begin to +teeter-tauter up and down, with the little guinea pig girl on the middle +of the plank. + +Up and down she went, faster and faster, and pretty soon the water began +to splash upon her new dress. And oh, how terrible she felt. + +First she thought she would run across the plank, but she was afraid of +the groundhog at either end. Then she thought she would jump over their +heads, but she couldn't jump very well, not being a grasshopper, you +see, and she didn't know what to do, and she was crying the least bit, +when, all of a sudden, who should come along but the three Wibblewobble +children--Lulu and Alice and Jimmie--and when they saw how the two +groundhogs had made Brighteyes a prisoner in the middle of the plank +bridge, those three ducks just stretched out their long necks, and +cried, "Quack! Quack! Quack!" as loudly as they could. + +That so frightened the groundhogs that they jumped into the brook and +swam away, leaving Brighteyes free. Then she went home with the +Wibblewobbles, and told Buddy her adventure, and he said it was a good +one. + +Now, the next story will be about Buddy in a deep hole--that is if the +trolley car doesn't run off the track, and break all the eggs in the +grocery store window. + + + + +STORY XXI + + +BUDDY IN A DEEP HOLE + +Once upon a time it happened that Buddy Pigg was out taking a walk over +the fields and through the woods. He often used to do this, sometimes +taking a stroll for pleasure, and again to see if he could find anything +to eat. This time he was looking for something to eat, and so he walked +very slowly, looking from side to side, and sniffing the air from time +to time. + +"For," he said, "who knows but what I may find a nice cabbage or a +turnip, or a radish, or a bit of molasses cake, or a ginger snap, or +even an ice cream cone. Any of those things would be very good," thought +Buddy to himself, "especially an ice cream cone on a hot day." + +But, though he looked and he looked and he looked, oh, I guess maybe +about a dozen times, he couldn't find a single thing that was good to +eat, and he was beginning to get discouraged. + +"I'll go a little bit farther," he thought, "and then if I don't find +anything I'll turn around, go back home, and get some bread and butter, +for that is better than nothing; and I am getting hungry." + +So he walked on a little farther, and, as he walked along, he sang this +little song which no one is allowed to sing unless they are very, very +hungry. + +So in case it happens that you have just had an ice cream cone, or +something good like that, and are not hungry, you must not sing this +song until just before dinner or breakfast or supper. Anyhow here's the +song and you can put it aside until you are nearly starving. This is how +it goes: + + "I wish I had some candy + Or a peanut lolly-pop. + I'd eat an ice-cream cone so quick + You could not see me stop. + If I had two big apples, + An orange or a peach. + I'd give my little sister + A great big bite from each. + + "But there is nothing here to eat-- + Not even cherry pie. + Though we had one at our house once, + And some got in my eye. + Oh! how I'd like a cocoanut! + And watermelon, too. + I'd eat two slices off the ice-- + Now, really, wouldn't you?" + +No sooner had Buddy finished singing this song, than he came to a place +in the woods, where there was a big hole going down into the ground. Oh, +it was quite a large hole, not quite so big as the one going down to +China, but pretty large and it looked just as if some animal were in the +habit of going in and out of it. + +"Ha, ho!" exclaimed Buddy Pigg. "This looks like something; it surely +does," and, my dear children, the funny part of it was that the hole did +look like something. + +"I guess I'll go down there and see if there's anything to eat at the +bottom," went on the little guinea pig boy, "for I certainly am hungry." + +Then he stood and peeped down into the hole, and, though it looked quite +far to the bottom of it, and though it seemed pretty dark, Buddy decided +to go in. Now, that was rather foolish of him, for it's never safe to go +in a hole until you know where you're coming out, especially a hole in +the woods; but Buddy didn't stop to think. So he looked all around, to +see that there were no bad foxes in sight, and then he entered the hole. + +First he crept along very slowly and carefully. Oh my, yes, and a +banana peeling in addition! and then, all of a sudden, land sakes flopsy +dub! if Buddy didn't slip and fall and stumble, and roll over and over, +sideways, and head over heels, and he kept on going down, until finally +he came to a stop in a place that was as dark as a pocket in a fur +overcoat on a winter day. + +"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" cried poor Buddy Pigg. "Whatever has happened; and +where am I?" + +He tried to see where he was, but, my goodness sakes alive! he might as +well have tried to look through the blackboard at school, for all he +could see was just nothing. + +"I--I guess I must have fallen all the way through to China!" whispered +Buddy, as he lay there in the darkness, and then he happened to remember +that if he was in China he would see some little Chinese boys and girls, +and he could not see any, so he knew he wasn't in China. + +"Oh, dear!" cried Buddy again. "Where am I, anyhow?" + +Then, all of a sudden, out of the darkness, there sounded a voice, and +when Buddy heard it he trembled. + +"Who are you?" cried the voice, "and what are you doing in here?" + +"If you please," answered the little guinea pig boy, "I am Buddy, and I +fell down this hole. Whose is it?" + +"It belongs to us," said two voices at once. "We are groundhogs, and you +must get right out of here!" + +"Groundhogs!" exclaimed Buddy, and then he remembered the two who had +teeter-tautered Brighteyes up and down on the plank bridge, and wet her +dress, and he was frightened for fear they would harm him. + +"Oh, please, Mr. Groundhogs!" went on Buddy, "I didn't mean to come +here! I fell in when I was looking for something to eat. Please help me +out, and I'll never come again. I was looking for something to take home +to Brighteyes, my sister." + +"What! Is Brighteyes Pigg your sister?" cried the two groundhogs, +rustling around in the dark hole, and when Buddy said she was, they said +they were very sorry for having frightened her on the plank. They were +only playing a joke, they said, and they promised never to bother her +again. + +"And besides," went on the larger groundhog, "we'll give you something +to eat, and help you out of this hole." + +So they went and got their lantern, which was a bottle filled with +fireflies, and they showed Buddy where there was another hole leading up +out of their underground house, and he crawled out, after they had +given him some clover preserved in molasses candy, and they promised to +come and play with him and Brighteyes some day. + +Then Buddy was happy again, and almost glad he had fallen down the big +hole, because he had something good to take home to eat. + +Now, in case I have cherry pie for supper and the juice doesn't get on +my red necktie and turn it green, I'll tell you soon about a trick the +groundhogs played. + + + + +STORY XXII + + +A TRICK THE GROUNDHOGS PLAYED + +One day, oh, I guess it must have been about a week after Buddy Pigg +fell down the groundhogs' hole, he and Brighteyes were out walking in +the woods. They had been over to pay a visit to Jackie and Peetie Bow +Wow, the two puppy dogs, you know, and were on their way back. + +As they walked along, they both heard a queer little rustling sound in +the bushes, but at first they didn't pay any attention to it, but they +kept on, talking about what a nice time they had had, when, all of a +sudden, the noise sounded more plainly. It was just as if some big +animal had taken hold of the bushes in his teeth, and had shaken +them--shaken the bushes, I mean, of course, for he couldn't shake his +teeth unless they were false, and animals don't have false teeth, thank +goodness. + +"My land sakes! What's that?" exclaimed Brighteyes. + +"Maybe it's a bad fox," said Buddy, and he looked around for a stick or +a stone with which to defend his sister, for Buddy was brave, let me +tell you. + +Then the noise seemed to sort of go away, just like when the teacher +rubs the figures and sentences off the blackboard in school, and Buddy +and Brighteyes weren't so frightened. So they kept on, and just as they +were coming to the path that led to their pen, what did they hear but +the rustling noise in the bushes again. This time they were very much +frightened, and Buddy picked up a stick, almost as large as himself. +Then Brighteyes said: + +"Oh, Buddy, I'm afraid to go home that way. Let's take the other path." + +"But that is so much longer," objected her brother. + +"No matter," answered the little guinea pig girl, "it is better to take +a longer path, than to go on a short one and be eaten up by a fox or a +wolf," and I suppose Brighteyes was right. Anyhow they took the other +path, and as they went along it, they heard a noise in the bushes as if +some one was laughing, only they didn't see how a fox could laugh. So +they hurried on. + +Well, it wasn't very long before they came to something. I was going to +let you guess what it was, but as it might take you some time to think, +and then, maybe, you wouldn't get it right, I have decided to tell you. + +What Buddy and Brighteyes saw on the path in front of them was a small +box--the kind that soap comes out of, you know--and it was standing up +on one edge. And sort of underneath the box were two, big toadstools, +made into tables, and beside each table was a smaller toadstool for a +seat. And, would you believe me? on each toadstool-table there were a +lot of nice things to eat! Believe me, there was, really! There were +bits of cabbage, some red clover tops with marshmallow-chocolate on +them, and candied cherries, and red raspberries with strawberry sauce, +and oh, I don't know what all! + +"Why!" exclaimed Brighteyes, "that is a regular little play-party, +Buddy." + +"To be sure it is," he answered. "And look, there is a sign fastened to +the box. Let's go closer, and read what it says on it." So they went a +little closer, watching on all sides to make sure there was no danger, +and they read the sign. This is what it said: + + "Come in and eat whate'er you wish. + Taste each dainty in the dish. + Make a bow, and wipe your feet, + Fold your napkins nice and neat." + +"Come on," cried Buddy to his sister. "Let's go in and eat." + +"Do you s'pose it's meant for us?" asked Brighteyes. + +"Of course," was his answer. "Come on! See, there's a mat to wipe your +feet on, and there are napkins at each plate. There is a table for you, +and one for me." + +So Buddy and Brighteyes, thinking no harm, went in and, after making +their very best double-jointed bows, and wiping their feet until there +was no more mud on them than on a postage stamp, they sat down to the +tables and tucked in their napkins around their necks. + +Then they began to eat, and oh, how good everything tasted! Just like +when you go visiting to the country, you know, and eat, and eat, and +keep on eating. Well, that's just the way it was, believe me, if you +please. + +Now, something is going to happen. I can't help it, and it's not my +fault. You see that box, with the nice things to eat on the toadstool +tables, was only a trap. No sooner had the two guinea pigs begun eating +than some one hiding in the bushes pulled on a long string, and the +string snapped out a piece of wood that was holding up the box, and the +box fell down, and Brighteyes and Buddy were caught under +it--prisoners--just like a mouse in the trap. + +They stopped eating pretty quickly then, let me tell you. Buddy was just +going to have a second helping of marshmallow-chocolate clover when the +box fell over, and it was so dark inside that he couldn't find his +mouth. + +"Oh, dear!" cried Brighteyes. "What has happened?" + +"We're in a trap!" shouted Buddy. "The bad fox has us in a trap! Come, +we must get out!" + +They jumped down from the toadstool seats and upset the toadstool +tables, and the dishes fell on the floor, but they didn't care. Then the +two guinea pig children tried to lift up the box, but they couldn't, and +they tried to dig under it, but they couldn't, and they didn't know how +in the world they were going to get out. + +Then, all of a sudden they heard some one whispering outside the box. +Buddy thought it was the fox, so he cried: "You had better let us out of +here, Mr. Fox, or we'll have you arrested!" + +"Why, that's Buddy Pigg!" cried the voice, and all of a sudden the box +was lifted and there stood the two groundhog boys; Woody and Waddy Chuck +were their names. "We didn't mean to catch you," said Woody. "We were +only going to play a joke on our big brother, but you got in the box by +mistake. We're very sorry." + +But they couldn't help laughing, and I really think the groundhog boys +meant to play a joke on Buddy and Brighteyes and had followed them +through the woods and hid in the bushes and put the things under the box +and all that just on purpose; I really do. + +But, anyhow, Buddy and Brighteyes weren't hurt a bit, and Woody and +Waddy gave them all the good things they could eat before the guinea +pigs ran home. + +Now, in case it should happen that all the ice in our refrigerator isn't +melted, so we can fry some for pancakes, I'll tell you next about Buddy +in the berry bush. + + + + +STORY XXIII + + +BUDDY IN THE BERRY BUSH + +Buddy Pigg didn't know what to do. You see he was home all alone, for +his mother and Brighteyes had gone calling on Grandpa and Grandma +Lightfoot, the squirrels and Dr. Pigg was downtown, playing checkers or +dominoes with Uncle Wiggily Longears, so Buddy didn't have any one to +keep him company. + +"I wish some of the boys would come along," he said, as he sat on the +front steps and threw stones out in the dusty road. "I'd like to have a +ball game, or some sort of fun." + +But, though he sat there quite a while, none of the boys came along, +and, at last, Buddy remarked: + +"Oh, I'm going off and see if I can't find Billie or Johnnie Bushytail, +or Sammie Littletail, or some one, to play with." So he locked the front +door, and put the key under the mat, where his mother would find it when +she came home, and off he started, almost as fast as when Sister Sallie +went hippity-hop to the barber shop. + +Pretty soon Buddy came to the woods, and he opened his mouth real wide +and began to yell, not because he was hurt, you understand, but because +he wanted to call some of the boys. He yelled, and he hollered, and he +hooted, and then, all of a sudden, he heard some one yelling back at +him, and he saw Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, the two squirrel boys, +bounding along on the low branches of the trees. + +"Hello, fellows!" cried Buddy. "Glad to see you! Let's have some fun." + +"What'll we do?" asked Billie. + +"I know," suggested Johnnie. "Let's make a see-saw. Here is a nice +plank, and we can put it across that old stump and have a dandy time." + +So they got the plank and put it across the stump. Then Buddy got on one +end and Billie and Johnnie on the other, as they were a little smaller +than Buddy, and did not weigh so much. Then they began to go up and +down, first slowly, and then faster and faster, until they were jiggling +up and down as fast as the teakettle boils when there's company coming +to supper. + +"Hi, yi!" yelled Billie and Johnnie. "Isn't this fun?" + +"Wow, yow! It certainly is," agreed Buddy. "Only don't jump off too +suddenly when I'm in the air, or I'll fall and be hurt." + +Well, of course, Billie and Johnnie promised that they would be +careful, and they really meant to keep their word; only, just as they +were close down to the ground on the plank, and Buddy was high up, what +should happen but that a new, green, little acorn fell off an oak tree. + +It was one of the first acorns of the season, and Billie and Johnnie +each wanted to get it, so, without thinking what they were doing, they +jumped off the teeter-tauter plank, when Buddy was high up, and, of +course, down he came, with a slam-bang! + +My! how it did jar him up, and shake him, like pepper in the caster, but +that wasn't the worst. No, indeed, and some chocolate cake besides! When +Buddy came down he landed right on an old rubber boot that some one had +thrown away in the woods, and it was so bouncy and springy that he was +tossed high up in the air again, and he curved sideways, just like a +baseball, when he came down this time, and where on earth do you s'pose +he landed? Why, right in the middle of a big, scratchy, blackberry bush! + +Yes, sir, that's where it was! Down poor Buddy went, right into the +midst of the bush, and of course he got scratched some, only not as much +as he might, for he happened to go down through a thin place, where +there were not so many briars. + +Well, at first he was too surprised to speak, and, besides, the breath +was sort of knocked out of him, but, when he did gather himself +together, he saw that he was in a bad place to get out of. By this time +Johnnie and Billie had found the green acorn and had divided and eaten +it, so they came back to find Buddy. + +"Why, where has he gone to?" asked Billie, looking around. + +"Maybe he got mad, because we jumped off the plank so quickly and he has +run home," suggested Johnnie. "We shouldn't have done it." + +"No," cried Buddy, suddenly. "I haven't gone home! I'm in the blackberry +bush over here!" + +"Why, how in the world did you get there?" asked Johnnie, and Buddy told +him. + +"I think it would be more polite to ask him how he's going to get out," +suggested Billie. + +"That's so," agreed Buddy. "It's going to be hard work. But I guess I +can crawl through." + +So he tried to crawl through the bush, but you know how it is when you +go after berries, the briars seem to stick into you all over. That's the +way it was with Buddy. He couldn't crawl out, no matter how hard he +tried, for the stickers caught into his fur and held him fast. + +"Can't you jump out through the same hole you fell in through?" asked +Billie, and Buddy tried to do so, but he was scratched more than ever. + +Then Billie and Johnnie tried to open up a place through the bottom part +of the briars for Buddy to slide out, but they couldn't do it, and they +were very sorry they had jumped off the plank so quickly, for that made +all the trouble. + +Well, it began to look as though Buddy would never get out, and he felt +like crying, only he was brave, and didn't shed a single tear. Then +Johnnie suggested that he and Billie go up a tall tree, and lower a +string down to Buddy in the bush, and try to pull him up that way. They +tried it, but it wouldn't work, for the stickers still caught in the +little guinea pig's fur. + +So they didn't know what to do, and were just going to give up, when who +should come bounding along but Sammie Littletail. He knew what to do in +a second. + +He dug a burrow, beginning outside the berry bush, and slanting it up +under the roots, so that it came out inside, right near where Buddy was +crouched down inside the clump of briars. The burrow was like a tunnel, +and was big enough for Buddy to crawl out through, which he did, never +getting scratched once. They all said Sammie was very smart to think of +that, and I agree with them. Then they all played sea-saw some more, +until it was time to go home. + +Now in case there is a cool breeze, to blow the dust out of the poor +coalman's eyes, I'll tell you next about Buddy and Brighteyes bringing +home the cows. + + + + +STORY XXIV + + +BRINGING HOME THE COWS. + +Not far from where Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg lived, there was a man who +had a farm, and on the farm were a number of cows that gave milk. Out of +the milk butter was made, and sometimes, when the butter was all +churned, the farmer's wife would take some of the buttermilk that +remained in a pail and set it down where Dr. Pigg and his family could +get it. + +They thought this was very kind of the farmer's wife, and Dr. Pigg told +his children that if they could ever do her a favor, they must be sure +to do so. They promised, though for some time they had no chance to do +any kindness to the farmer or his wife either. But just you wait and see +what happens. + +One day, in the middle of summer, when it was very hot every place, +except in the cool and shady woods, Buddy and Brighteyes were strolling +along under the trees near a brook, throwing pebbles in the water and +floating down bits of bark and chips, which they pretended were boats +sailing off to distant countries. + +"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Buddy at last, "I wish I had something to do. +There's nothing to do here." + +"Why do you always want to be doing something?" asked his sister. "Why +aren't you content to sit here in the shady woods, and sail the boats?" + +"Because," answered Buddy, and that was the only reason he could give. +Then Brighteyes thought of a new game to play. She took a piece of bark +for her boat, and she found a nice, white chip for Buddy, and they made +believe their boats were having a race down stream, and Buddy's boat +won, which made him feel quite happy. + +Well, pretty soon, the sun began to go down behind the hills, and the +two guinea pig children knew it was time to go home, so they started +off. But they had not gone very far before they came to a field, with a +fence around it, and the field was quite hilly and stony and very large. +Near the fence sat a man, and he had one shoe off, and he was looking at +his foot. + +"Oh dear!" Buddy and Brighteyes heard him say, for they could understand +the man's language, if they couldn't talk it. "Oh dear! I've cut my foot +on a sharp stone," the man said, "and I don't see how I can walk away +over through the field and climb the hills after the cows. Oh dear; this +is bad luck, and it's almost milking time, and the cows are sure to be +away back in the far end of the pasture, and I can't go after them. I'll +call them, and maybe they'll come to me, for I surely can't walk after +them." + +So the man stood up on one foot and called: "Co Boss! Co Boss! Co Boss! +Co! Co! Co!" Then he waited quite some time, but the cows didn't come, +and he called again: "Co Boss! Co Boss! Co Boss!" and he waited some +more, but still the cows didn't come. "Oh, I guess I'll have to go after +them, no matter if I have cut my foot," said the man at last, and he put +on his shoe, though it hurt him, and he began to limp over the hilly +field, very slowly and painfully. + +All at once Brighteyes said to Buddy: "Oh, Bud, that man is the farmer, +and it's his wife who gives us the buttermilk! Wouldn't it be nice if we +could do him a favor, and go and drive the cows home for him?" + +"How, could we?" asked Buddy. "The cows are big and we are little. We +never could drive them home." + +"We can try," said Brighteyes cheerfully. "Come, we'll hurry on ahead of +the farmer and perhaps I shall think of a plan." + +So the two little guinea pig children slipped under the fence and ran +up across the hilly field, and the farmer, who was limping along, +calling "Co Boss!" every once in a while, never saw them. His foot was +hurting him very much and he had to go slowly. + +Well, Buddy and Brighteyes kept on, bounding over the stories and +stopping now and then to eat some blackberries or huckleberries or +raspberries or a few late, wild strawberries, and pretty soon they came +to the back part of the field, where, resting in the shade of some +trees, were all the cows. + +Oh, I guess there was a dozen and a half of them--big, nice mooley cows, +with brown eyes and long tongues, and they were all chewing their cuds +like gum, you know, and wondering why the farmer didn't come to drive +them home to milk, for they hadn't heard him calling them, you see. + +"How are we ever going to drive them home?" asked Buddy of his sister. + +"Let me think a minute," said Brighteyes, so she thought real hard for a +minute, or, possibly a minute and a little longer, and then she +exclaimed: "We must each take a long, leafy tree branch, and go up +behind the rows, and wave the branches, and tickle the cows with the +leaves, and they'll think it's a boy driving them home, and they'll +march right along, and the poor farmer, with his sore feet, won't have +to come after them." + +And that's exactly what Buddy and Brighteyes did. They got some +branches, gnawing them off a tree with their sharp teeth, and with the +leaves they tickled the cows until they almost made them sneeze. + +The cows looked around, expecting to see some boys driving them, but +Buddy and Brighteyes hid behind their big branches, and the cows were +none the wiser. So they swallowed their cuds, blinked their eyes, +switched their tails, and started up and down the hills, over the field, +toward the barnyard to be milked. + +Now, before the farmer-man had come very far from the fence, he met the +cows, and maybe he wasn't surprised to see them coming. But he was glad, +too, let me tell you, for he didn't have to walk any farther with his +cut foot. + +Then Brighteyes and Buddy ran and hid, for they did not want to be seen, +and the man jumped upon the back of a gentle cow, and rode her all the +way home, and told his wife how the whole herd, in some strange manner, +had come all the way from the back of the field alone. You see he didn't +know Buddy and Brighteyes had driven them. + +Well, in a few days the man's foot was well, so he could drive the cows +himself, and the farmer's wife gave Dr. Bigg's family lots of +buttermilk; for, somehow, she guessed that the little guinea pig boy and +girl had done the farmer a kindness, as their papa had told them to. + +Now the following story will be about Buddy on horseback--that is, +providing no cats get into our coalbin to scratch the furnace and make +it go out. + +[Illustration] + + + + +STORY XXV + + +BUDDY RIDES HORSEBACK. + +One night Buddy Pigg's mamma came into his room, where he was sleeping +soundly and dreaming he was playing a ball game with Bully and Bawly, +the frogs, and Mrs. Pigg gently shook her little boy by the shoulder. + +"Wake up, Buddy!" she called. "Wake up!" + +"What's the matter, mother?" Buddy exclaimed, as he sat up in bed. "Is +the house on fire?" + +"No," she answered, "but your papa is very sick, and I want you to go +for Dr. Possum." Then Buddy jumped up very quickly and began to dress, +for he loved his papa very much, and would do anything in the world for +him. When Buddy was ready to start he heard Dr. Pigg groaning very hard, +and saying: + +"Oh, dear, what a pain I have! Oh, dear! When will Dr. Possum come?" + +"Buddy is going for him at once," Mrs. Pigg said. "He will soon be here. +But have you no medicine that you can take?" For Dr. Pigg had once +worked in a hospital, and generally had some medicine in the house, but +this time he had none that would stop his pain. So Buddy had to get +ready to go for the doctor, while Mrs. Pigg and Brighteyes made mustard +plasters for Dr. Pigg. + +Well, when Buddy was all dressed, he happened to look out of the window, +and he saw how dark it was, for there was no moon that night, and the +stars were all hidden behind clouds. But do you s'pose Buddy was going +to stay home on that account? No, sir-ee! He was frightened, and I guess +you'd have been, too, but he was brave, and he made up his mind he'd go +for Dr. Possum. + +So Buddy put on his hat and coat and went out of the front door and into +the dark night, where, for all he knew, a bad fox might be waiting to +grab him. But Buddy took a long stick, and he filled his pockets with +stones, and he made up his mind he would throw them at the fox if he saw +him. + +The little guinea pig boy went on, and on, through the woods, toward Dr. +Possum's home, and, after a while, he was not so frightened as he had +been at first. Then, all of a sudden, as he was passing a big, black +bush, he heard a funny noise. First he thought it was a wolf or a bear, +and then he heard a voice say: + +"Oh, come on down into the burrow, Waddy." + +Then Buddy knew it was the two groundhog boys, Woody and Waddy, who had +made the funny noises, but they didn't mean to scare him, and he wasn't +at all frightened now. Woody and Waddy had heard Buddy coming along, +and, a moment later, they saw him and asked where he was going. + +"I'm going after Dr. Possum, because my papa is sick," said Buddy. + +"Wait and we'll let you take our lantern," said Woody, and he hurried +down into the burrow, and came back with a large bottle, filled with +lightning bugs, which gave plenty of light. And it had a string on, to +carry it by. As Buddy took it, very thankfully, Waddy said he hoped he +would find the doctor at home. + +Then Buddy started off again, but he hadn't gone much farther through +the woods before he heard another noise. This noise was a real loud one, +like some giant tramping up and down, and stamping his feet, and +suddenly there came a great snort, and the earth seemed to shake, and a +big, black thing jumped up in front of Buddy, scaring him frightfully. + +He trembled so that the cork nearly came out of the bottle of lightning +bugs, and, if it had, the fireflies would have been spilled all over the +ground, worse than when you spill your ice cream cone--only it didn't +happen, I'm glad to say, but almost. Then the black shape stood still, +and a great voice called out: + +"Where are you going with that lantern?" + +"If you please, kind sir," answered the little boy guinea pig, "I'm +going for Dr. Possum for my papa, who has a terrible pain. The groundhog +boys lent me this lantern. But who are you, if you please, kind sir?" + +"Why, I am Gup, the horse," was the answer. "So you are going for Dr. +Possum, eh? He is a friend of mine. I'm sorry if I frightened you. Yes, +I'm only Gup, the horse. You see, my name is Gup because there is a +little boy at our house, and he can't talk very plainly, and he calls me +'Gup' when he wants to say 'get up,' you see. However, it doesn't much +matter, and I don't mind. + +"But, speaking of doctors, I know where Dr. Possum lives, and I'll take +you right to his house in less than no time. Besides, you and your +sister were so kind as to drive the cows home for the man who cut his +foot, and as he is a friend of mine I want to return your kindness to +him. Jump upon my back, Buddy." + +"Oh, I'm afraid I'll fall," said Buddy, when he saw how high up Gup's +back was from the ground. + +"Nonsense!" exclaimed the horse. "I wouldn't let you fall for the +world. Here, hold up your firefly lantern so you can see, climb upon +that low stump, and then you can jump on my back. I'll stand still, and +then I'll take you right to Dr. Possum's house." + +So Buddy got up on Gup's back. It was the first time he had ever ridden +a horse or been up so high, and, of course, for a while, he was +frightened. But Gup told him just how to cling tightly to his big neck +and how to hold the lantern so the lightning bugs would shine on the +path, and then Gup started off. + +Oh, how fast he went! Right through the woods, he galloped, and he never +bumped into a tree or a bush even once. He went gently, too, so that +Buddy would not fall off, and, my goodness sakes alive! in a short time +the little guinea pig boy was at Dr. Possum's house. He knocked on the +door, rat-a-tat-tat, and, luckily, the doctor was at home. He got right +out of bed, took his satchel of medicines and was just going to get into +his automobile to go to Dr. Pigg's house, when he found that his auto +was broken. Either the spark was off the plug or the plug was off the +spark, I forget which. Then Gup said: + +"Get right up on my back, doctor. I can carry you and Buddy, too. It's +no great weight, I assure you. Never mind the automobile. They are +always making trouble." + +So Dr. Possum, with his medicine box, climbed upon Gup's back, behind +Buddy, and he helped hold the little guinea pig on during the ride home. +Faster and faster went Gup through the dark woods his hoofs going +"tat-a-tat-too," and he didn't bump into a tree or a bush, and he did +not jar off Buddy or Dr. Possum, and pretty soon there they were safe at +Dr. Pigg's house, and Dr. Possum gave Buddy's papa some medicine that +soon made him better. Then Gup, the kind horsie, took Dr. Possum safely +back through the dark woods as straight as a string. + +In the morning Dr. Pigg was all well again, and he said Buddy was very +brave to go off for a doctor in the night, and I think so, too. + +Now, in case it doesn't thunder too hard and scare the chimney so that +it falls off the roof, I'll tell you next about Buddy and Brighteyes +tumbling down hill. + + + + +STORY XXVI + + +BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES FALL DOWN HILL + +Not far from where Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg lived in the pen with their +papa and mamma, there was a big, tall hill. Oh, ever so much taller than +a house, but not quite so high as the church steeple, and it was a very +hard hill to climb, but, once you had gotten to the top, you could see +off, ever so far; farther than from here to the end of the rainbow, +which is very far indeed. + +Now, though Buddy and Brighteyes, the two little guinea pig children, +had lived near the hill ever since they were mere babies, they had never +climbed to the top of it. There were two reasons for this. One was +because the hill was so high and the other was because it was so steep. + +It seemed as if no one would ever be able to scramble up the sides of +this hill, or, if they did, very likely they would tumble down again, +just like a boy sliding over the ice and snow on his sled. + +But one fine morning when the sun was shining and the birds were +singing Buddy said to Brighteyes: + +"Let's climb up to the top of the hill to-day?" + +"What for?" asked his sister, as she tied her hair ribbon in a double +bow knot, very pretty indeed to look at, let me tell you. + +"Why, so we can see away off where the sky and the mountains come +together beyond the hill," said Buddy. "You can see beautiful scenery +from the tip-top, you know." + +"What good will that do?" asked Brighteyes, who was very fond of asking +questions that were hard to answer. "What is the good of looking at the +scenery?" she wanted to know. + +"Because," answered her brother, "every one does that where there is a +high hill. I heard some of the summer boarders at the farmhouse, near +our pen, telling each other what a beautiful view there was to be had +from the hill. We must see it for ourselves. There is no one around now, +and we can climb to the top." + +"I don't care very much about it," spoke Brighteyes. "I would rather +find another box of peanut candy;" but because she loved Buddy, and did +not want him to start off alone, she consented to climb the big hill +with him. So they started off. At first it was rather easy, and they +went up quite fast. At the foot of the hill were blackberry bushes and +the guinea pig children gathered as many berries as they could eat. + +But, as they went farther and farther up, the bushes grew more scarce, +until there were none. Then came a place where there was tall grass and +many stones, so that it was hard to walk. But Buddy and Brighteyes kept +on, and pretty soon they met a grasshopper. + +"Where are you going?" asked the grasshopper. + +"To the top of the hill, to see the view," answered Buddy. + +"You will never get there, the way you are going," said the grasshopper. +"You should jump as I do," and he gave three big hops and a little one +to show how well he could do it. + +"We cannot hop," remarked Brighteyes, "but we have a friend who can." + +"Who?" asked the grasshopper, as he scratched his two big hind legs +together, like a man playing the fiddle. + +"Sammie Littletail, the rabbit," said Buddy. "He can hop." + +"Yes, Sammie is a good jumper," admitted the grasshopper, and he hid +under a stone, for just then he saw a big bird looking hungrily at him. +Well, Buddy and Brighteyes went on and on, and up and up, and pretty +soon they met an ant. + +"Where are you going?" asked the ant. + +"To the top of the hill, to see the fine view," replied Brighteyes, as +she paused to get her breath, which she had nearly lost. + +"You will never get up the way you are going," said the ant. "You should +crawl, as I do," and she crawled over a stone to show how it should be +done. But Buddy and Brighteyes could not crawl, and they told the ant +so. Still they kept on, and pretty soon they met a bird. + +"You had better fly to the top of the hill as I do," said the bird. +"It's much easier than walking," only, of course, Buddy and Brighteyes +could not fly. + +But the two guinea pig children were not discouraged, and they kept on +and on, and pretty soon, really and truly honestly, they were at the +very top of the hill--a place where they had never been before. + +They could look off to the mountains, and they saw a lake, and they +could see the place where the end of the rainbow was, whenever there was +a rainbow, and they felt happy, because everything was so lovely, and +Buddy said: + +"I feel so glad, I must sing a little song." So he sang this one, which +can only be sung on top of a hill: + + "It's very hard to climb a hill, + But when you're at the top, + You feel so very fine and good + Because it's there you stop. + If you should still keep on and on, + I wonder where you'd land? + By sliding down the other side + With sandals full of sand?" + +Then Buddy tried to do a little dance, but what do you s'pose happened? +Why, he lost his balance, and toppled over, and then he grabbed hold of +Brighteyes, who was looking at the fine view, and she toppled over, and +then, wiggily-waggily, woggily-wee! they both tumbled down that steep +hill, head over heels like Jack and Jill. + +And they went down faster, and faster, and faster, rolling over and +over, and they saw stars, and several different lakes, and lots of +clouds and ever so many things. They were both frightened, and they +thought surely they were going to be hurt, for they were nearing the +bottom, when all of a sudden what should come along but a big load of +hay! + +Buddy and Brighteyes hit a stone, bounced up in the air, and then came +down, flippity-flop! right on top of the soft hay, and they weren't hurt +the least bit. Then they slid down off the hay, before the man who was +driving it saw them, and ran home. And they didn't climb a hill again +for ever and ever so long. + +Now, if I hear a potato bug whistle a tune on a cornstalk fiddle, I'm +going to tell you next about Buddy and Brighteyes going in bathing. + + + + +STORY XXVII + + +BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES GO BATHING + +"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Buddy Pigg one day. "Oh, dear! Oh, dear me suz +dud!" + +"Why, Buddy, dear, whatever in the world is the matter?" asked his +mamma, and Brighteyes, who was mending some stockings, looked up at her +brother in much surprise. + +"Oh, dear!" cried the little guinea pig boy again, "I wish I had +something to do. It's so hot and dry and dusty here. I wish some of the +fellows would come around or--or I even wish school would begin again, +so I would have something to do." + +Now when a boy wishes for school, in the middle of vacation, you may be +sure something serious is the matter. Mrs. Pigg knew this at once, so +she asked: + +"What would you like to do, Buddy?" + +"I don't know," he answered, rather cross and fretful-like, which wasn't +very nice, I suppose. + +"All the boys have gone to Asbury Park or Ocean Grove," said Brighteyes, +"and I guess you are lonesome, Buddy. It must be lovely at the +seashore," and Brighteyes sighed the least bit, and took such a big +stitch in the stocking she was mending that she had to rip it out and do +it over again. + +"Well, we can't go to the seashore this season because the salt air +doesn't agree with your father," said Mrs. Pigg. "If all goes well, we +shall soon be in the country, however. But now, what do you like best +about the seashore, Buddy?" + +"Going in bathing," he answered. + +"You can do that right here at home," said his mamma. "I will get out +your bathing suits, and you and Brighteyes can go swimming in the pond +back of our house." + +"That will be lovely!" cried Brighteyes, and she jumped up so quickly +that she dropped the basket of stockings, and her pink hair ribbon came +off, and she was all confused-like. + +"There are no waves in the pond, like down in the ocean at Asbury," +complained Buddy. "It is no fun to go in bathing where there are no +waves." + +"Ha! What's that?" cried a voice, and then Percival, the old circus dog, +who was staying with the Piggs while the Bow Wow family, with whom he +lived, was away for the summer--Percival, I say, got up from where he +had been sleeping under a mosquito net to keep off the flies. "No waves, +eh? So you want waves, do you, when you go in bathing, Buddy?" asked +Percival. + +"Yes," answered Buddy Pigg, "I do, Percival." + +"Then," exclaimed the old circus dog, "you and Brighteyes shall have +them. Get on your bathing suits and come down to the pond. When you get +there you'll find waves enough; I'll guarantee that! Oh, my, yes, and a +life-preserver besides!" + +"How?" asked Buddy. "There are never any waves in that pond." + +"Just you wait and see," said Percival. + +Mrs. Pigg smiled, but she didn't say anything, and went after the +bathing suits, while Buddy and Brighteyes wondered what was going to +happen. Percival ran out, winking first one eye and then the other, and +not both together, like some dollies do when they go to sleep, and he +gave three short barks and a long one, just to show how glad he felt to +be doing something. + +Well, it didn't take Buddy and Brighteyes very long to put on their +bathing suits. Then they hurried out of the back of the house and went +toward the pond. + +"Do you really s'pose there'll be waves?" asked Buddy. + +"I don't know," answered his sister. "Percival is a very smart dog, you +know." + +Well, they ran down to the pond, and the first thing they saw when they +got there were cords fastened to sticks driven down into the ground, +just like the ropes at Asbury Park, you know--if you've ever been there. +The ropes are for the bathers to take hold of when the waves come. + +"Well," remarked Buddy, "I see the ropes, but I don't see any waves." +But, no sooner had he spoken than a big wave rolled, +splish-splash-splosh, right up the shore of the pond, which was rather +sandy, and it sprayed itself over the toes of Buddy and Brighteyes--the +wave splashed, you understand--not the sand, of course. + +"Whee!" cried Buddy, all excited-like. "There's a wave!" + +"Yes, and here comes another!" cried his sister, and, sure enough, +another wave came sizzling and sloshing up out of the pond. And then +another, and another, and another, until there were a dozen, or, maybe a +dozen and a half of waves, one after the other. + +"Oh, this is grand!" cried Buddy. "It's almost as good as Asbury Park!" +and, really it was, I'm not fooling a bit. Of course the waves weren't +as big as those at the seashore, but they were pretty good size. Well, +Buddy and Brighteyes rushed into the water, keeping hold of the ropes, +and the waves splashed all around them, and they splashed around in the +waves, and pretty soon Buddy cried: + +"Oh, I got a mouthful of water, and it's salty, just like the ocean!" + +"Sure enough it is!" agreed Brighteyes, taking a small mouthful to +taste. "I wonder what makes it?" + +"And I wonder what makes the waves, and I wonder where Percival is?" +went on Buddy, and just then there came such a big wave that it almost +knocked him over, and he had to cling to the ropes. Then what should +happen, but that at the far end of the pond, up rose old dog Percival, +laughing as hard as he could laugh. + +"I told you I would make waves!" he cried, and how do you s'pose he did +it? + +Why, he had a big, empty box, and he would raise that up and down in the +water of the pond, as hard as he could, and this splashed, and made the +waves; and Percival had a bag of salt, to make the water salty. Now, +wasn't he the smart dog though? + +Well, he went on, making more salty waves, and Buddy and Brighteyes +paddled around in them, and yelled and hollered, and held on to the +ropes, and ducked each other, and splashed and had as good a time as if +they had been at the seashore; and so did Percival, too, I guess. Then, +after a while they came out of the water and dried off, after thanking +Percival. + +Now, if our bathtub doesn't freeze up so the canary bird can't go in +swimming I'll tell you presently about Buddy building a sand house. + + + + +STORY XXVIII + + +BUDDY BUILDS A SAND HOUSE + +The little guinea pig children had so much fun bathing in the pond, +where Percival, the circus dog, made the salty waves for them, as I told +you about in the previous story, that they went in swimming as many +times as their mamma would let them. + +Percival was only too glad to make the waves, and hold the bag of salt +in the pond, to make it salty, just like the ocean. Sometimes the old +dog would jounce a box up and down, to make the waves, and again, when +he wanted larger ones, he would use a barrel. Then the waves of the pond +would be over the heads of Buddy and Brighteyes, and they had to cling +to the ropes with all their might. + +One day Buddy was sitting in the sand, on the banks of the pond, when, +all at once, he had an idea. + +"I know what I'm going to do!" he exclaimed. "I'm gong to build a sand +house. I wish Brighteyes was here to help me," but his sister had gone +in the pen to help her mamma get dinner ready, for Mrs. Pigg expected +company that day; Mr. and Mrs. Bushytail were coming. So Buddy had to +start to build the house all alone. He piled a lot of sand in a heap, +together with stones, and sticks and bits of duck-weed, and then he +started in. + +First he scooped out a hollow place, and that was for the cellar. Then +he stuck sticks up around the edges of the hole, and began to pile up +the sand, to make the walls of the house. Just as he was doing this, +what should he hear but footsteps running along the sand. He looked, up +and gave a shout of delight. + +"Hello, Billie and Johnnie Bushytail!" he cried, as he saw the two +little squirrel boys. "You're just in time! Come on and help me build +this sand house!" + +"Sure!" agreed Billie and Johnnie, as they frisked their tails, just as +the cook sometimes frisks the dusting brush when she wants to knock the +crumbs from the table to the floor. "Can you stay long?" asked Buddy. + +"As long as papa and mamma do," answered Johnnie. "They are in your +house now, and so is Sister Sallie. We're going to stay to dinner, but +first we'll help you build the sand house." + +So they all three got busy. They piled and scooped the sand up around +the upright sticks, and, pretty soon, believe me, if it really didn't +begin to look like a real house. It was about as big as a big box, and +nearly as high; and the cellar was quite large. + +"What will we do with the house when we've finished it?" asked Billie +Bushytail. + +"We'll go in it and play we're robbers," suggested Johnnie, as he patted +the sand with his paws, to make it smooth. + +"No, we'll be pirates," decided Buddy. "Pirates always stay near salt +water, and this is salt water, because Percival emptied a whole bag of +salt in it." + +"All right," agreed the squirrel boys, so they went on building the +house. They put little pebbles all around it for a fence, and laid a +gravel walk up from the pond to the front door, and stuck up little +sticks for trees in the front yard, and made a garden, because Buddy +said, even if they were pirates, they would have to have something to +eat, and they planted duck-weed in the garden and made believe it was +radishes and lettuce and cabbage and ever so many things; even apples +and pears and peaches. + +Well, pretty soon the sand house was finished; that is, all but the top. + +"What will we have for a roof?" asked Billie. + +"I'll show you," said Buddy, so he laid sticks across the top of the +sand walls, and on top of the sticks he placed duck-weed. Then, on top +of the weed he and the squirrel boys put sand, until it was really the +nicest house of its kind you could find if you walked a mile, or, maybe +even two miles. + +"That certainly is one fine, dandy house!" exclaimed Johnnie, as he +stepped back to admire it. + +"Yes, and now let's get inside and pretend we're robbers," proposed +Billie. "I'll be the head robber and you two can work for me." + +"No, we're going to be pirates, and I'm the chief one," insisted Buddy. +"We must begin to pirate right away and do all sorts of things." + +"First, let's see if we can get in the house," said Johnnie. "Go in very +carefully." + +So they went in, very slowly and carefully through the front door, so as +not to knock the sand down, and honestly the sand house was just big +enough for those three, and not a bit bigger. They even had to hold +their breaths, and not all breathe at once, or they never would have +fitted in it. + +"Now," said Buddy, "we'll pretend we're pirates, and we'll bury all the +gold and diamonds we have." + +So they played that game, and buried gold (make-believe you know) in +the cellar, and they were having a lovely time, when all at once, +without a word of warning, the roof of the sand house fell right in on +top of them! I suppose it was because Pirate Chief Buddy gave such a +loud shout. + +Anyway, the roof caved in, and part of the walls, and there those three +pirates were, buried under the sand. They tried to yell, and call for +help, but their mouths were full of the dirt, and they couldn't speak. +Then they tried to scramble out, and they couldn't do that, and I really +don't know what would have happened to them, if at that moment +Brighteyes Pigg and Sister Sallie hadn't come out of the pen where their +mammas and papas were talking, to see what the boys were doing. + +The two girls saw the sand house, all caved in, and they guessed that +Buddy and Billie and Johnnie were under it. + +"We must dig them out!" cried Sister Sallie. + +So she and Brighteyes got some pieces of shingle, and my goodness me, +sakes alive! how they did make that sand fly! Percival, the old circus +dog, helped them, and pretty soon Buddy and his friends were safely +rescued. They were pretty well scared, I can tell you, but they were +soon all right again, and then it was time to go to dinner, and after +dinner they all went in bathing and had lots of fun. + +Now, I'm going to tell you next about Buddy helping Sammie Littletail, +that is if the man comes to cut our grass and lets our puppy dog hide +under the door-mat to scare the parrot next door. + + + + +STORY XXIX + + +BUDDY HELPS SAMMIE LITTLETAIL + +When Johnnie and Billie Bushytail went home, after having paid a visit +to Buddy Pigg that time when they built the sand house that fell in on +them, they told Sammie and Susie Littletail, the two rabbits, of what a +nice time they had had. + +"Oh, I am going over to see Buddy some day, and go in bathing," declared +Sammie. + +"You had better be careful about bathing in salt water," said Susie, his +sister, "it might take all the color out of your eyes, or out of your +fur, or your fur might even fall out." + +"Oh, I guess not," answered Sammie. "I have heard that salt water keeps +hair from falling out. Anyway, if there's any danger of such a thing, +Percival, the old circus dog, doesn't need to hold the bag of salt in +the water when we go in bathing." + +"That's so," agreed Susie, and just then along came Uncle Wiggily +Longears, the old gentleman rabbit, and he was eating some +peppermint-flavored cabbage, and he gave Sammie and Susie some. + +Well, it wasn't very many days after this before Sammie asked his mamma +if he couldn't go over and play with Buddy Pigg, and, as Sammie had been +a very good rabbit boy lately, his mother allowed him to go. + +"I am so glad you came, Sammie," said Buddy, "what shall we do, go in +bathing, or build a sand house?" + +"Let's do both," answered Sammie. So first he and Buddy went in bathing +and, for fear the salt water would make the red color fade out of +Sammie's eyes, Percival didn't hold the bag of salt in the pond when he +made the waves. Sammie and Buddy had a good time splashing around, and +then they built a sand house. But they took care to make it strong +enough so that it would not cave in. They played together for a long +time and then Buddy asked: "What shall we do next?" + +"I know," replied Sammie, as he looked at the pond of water which was +sparkling in the sun, "let's play soldier, and we'll make a plank bridge +across the pond and run over it and have lots of fun." + +"All right," agreed Buddy, "come on, and help me lift the plank." So +they placed a long board across one end of the pond, where it was quite +deep, and began to play soldier, while Percival went to sleep in the +shade. + +Buddy got a tin can, and tied it around his neck with a string. That was +for the drum, and when he beat upon the tin can with two sticks, believe +me, it did sound just like a drum in the army, when the soldiers beat it +softly. + +Then Sammie got a long stick, pretending it was a gun, and the two of +them marched around and around, and sideways, and up and down, and +through the middle, and across the plank, and back again, several times. +Then, Sammie would fire the gun, yelling, "Boom-Boom!" as loudly as he +could, and shooting maybe a dozen bad Indians or pirates or robbers, or +maybe more, for all I know, and Buddy would beat on the drum louder than +ever, and he would cry: + +"Charge! Charge on the enemy! Hurrah! Hurrah! The victory is ours!" and +he would wave a flag he had made out of a piece of white cloth, red +flannel and a bit of Brighteyes' blue hair ribbon, that she had lost. + +Oh, it wag great fun, I tell you! But the best of all was rushing across +the plank over the deep part of the pond, for then it sounded exactly as +if horses and cannon were coming over the bridge, and the plank +teetered and tautered up and down, and sometimes Buddy and Sammie almost +fell off. But they didn't mind this; they only thought it all the more +fun. + +Then, at last, something did happen. Buddy was ahead, waving the flag +with one hand, and beating the drum with the other, and Sammie was +firing his wooden gun as fast as he could fire it, with ever so many +"Boom-Booms!" real loud ones, too, and shooting, oh, ever so many +make-believe Indians, when, all of a sudden, poor Sammie Littletail +slipped off the plank, and fell into the deep part of the pond! + +"Oh, save me; save me, Buddy!" cried Sammie, splashing around. + +"I'll save you!" cried Buddy, and he got so excited that he threw away +his drum, and the drumsticks and the flag, only he tossed the flag +safely on shore, where it wouldn't get wet, for he loved the flag, even +if it was only a make-believe one. "I'll save you," he cried. "Can you +swim any, Sammie?" + +"A--a--lit-tle--bit!" gasped the rabbit boy, as he floundered around in +the water. "But I could swim more if nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy was here to +show me," and then he couldn't talk any more, for his mouth was full of +water. + +Well, Sammie was terribly frightened, as he floundered around in the +pond, with his wooden gun, and so was Buddy frightened, up on the plank +bridge. Buddy looked all around, to see if there was any one coming to +help him save Sammie, but there wasn't. Percival had gone in the house, +and Brighteyes and her mother had gone berrying. Then Buddy made up his +mind that he would have to save Sammie all by himself. + +First he tried to kneel down on the plank, and reach his hand to his +little rabbit chum, but he couldn't reach far enough. Then he called to +Sammie to hold up the wooden gun, thinking maybe he could get hold of +that, and so drag the rabbit boy out, but the gun wiggled so, when +Sammie splashed around that Buddy couldn't get hold of it. + +Then it began to look as if Sammie would drown, but Buddy had one more +thing to try. On shore there was a rope. Buddy ran and got it, and in +one end he made a loop, just like the cowboys do when they lasso a wild +steer, or a horse. + +Buddy took good aim, tossed the loop of rope over Sammie's head, and +Sammie grabbed hold with his front paws, and then Buddy braced his feet +in the sand and gave a long, strong pull, and pulled Sammie safely out +of the water, and saved him; just in time, too, let me tell you, for his +breath was nearly gone. Well, Sammie soon got over being scared, and +when he was dried off the two friends played soldier some more, only +they kept off the plank. + +Now the next story is going to be about Brighteyes and Jennie +Chipmunk--that is, if our hired girl doesn't leave and make me wash the +dishes so I can't typewrite. + + + + +STORY XXX + + +BRIGHTEYES AND JENNIE CHIPMUNK + +It happened one day that after Brighteyes Pigg had finished combing her +hair, and had put on a nice, pink ribbon, which she tied in two, big +bows, that she heard a knock at the door. There was no one home, for her +mamma had gone down to the five and ten cent store to get a wash boiler; +Dr. Pigg was seeing some friends in the hospital, and Buddy was off +playing ball with Bully and Bawly, the two frogs, and some others of his +friends. So Brighteyes went to the door herself. + +And whom do you suppose she found there? + +Well, I don't believe you'd guess in sixteen minutes, so I'll tell you. +It was Jennie Chipmunk, the little girl who lived with Grandpa and +Grandma Lightfoot, the squirrel grandparents of Johnnie and Billie +Bushytail, you know. + +Jennie was smiling so that she showed her pretty white teeth, and she +was humming a little song, one of those she always sang when she washed +the dishes. This is the song, and you are allowed to sing it if you +have helped your mamma dry the dishes. It goes to the tune of "Oh fie +lum diddle daddy de dum," which is a very nice tune if you can sing it. +Anyhow, Jennie Chipmunk sang: + + "I love to wash the dishes, + And also dry them, too. + It makes your paws so soft and white, + I really think--don't you? + Some folks are awful fussy, + When e'er they dust or sweep. + They'd rather pile the dirt all up + In corners, in a heap. + + "But I just love my housework, + For making beds I sigh. + I love to wash the tablecloth + And make a cherry pie. + I knead the bread and bake it, + I starch and iron the clothes, + I wash the windows Saturday--" + +"That's enough, my goodness knows!" finished Brighteyes for Jennie, with +a laugh. "Land sakes! Jennie Chipmunk," the little guinea pig girl went +on, "I should think you'd be tired with all that work! Come on and we'll +take a walk in the woods." + +So the two started, after Brighteyes had locked the door and put the +key under the mat, where her mother could find it when she came back +from the five and ten cent store, where she had gone to get a diamond +ring--no, I mean a dishpan--no, a wash boiler--there, I've got it right +at last. + +Well, Jennie and Brighteyes walked on through the woods and sometimes +they found huckleberries to eat, or they found pennyroyal, which is a +nice plant to smell, and it keeps the mosquitoes away, when they want to +stay away. And the two children found some blackberries, and they found +spearmint and peppermint and then they got in a field where there was a +lovely apple tree and they were just eating a few of the apples and +putting some in their pockets, to take home, when, all of a sudden they +heard a voice calling to them from behind the tree. + +"Here, what are you doing with those apples?" cried the voice, and oh, +such a harsh, ugly, cross voice as it was! It fairly made Brighteyes and +Jennie shiver. + +First they thought it was the man who owned the tree, and then +Brighteyes remembered that he was the kind farmer whose cows she and +Buddy had once driven home, when he had cut his foot, and she knew he +wouldn't speak so cross to her. Then she thought it was a bad boy, but +she looked, and so did Jennie, and they couldn't see any boy. Then the +voice growled out again: + +"Here, you leave those apples alone!" and goodness sakes alive, and a +can of tomato soup! from behind the apple tree, there appeared the bad, +ugly, old burglar fox! Oh, how frightened Brighteyes and Jennie Chipmunk +were! They fairly trembled and shivered, though it was a hot day! + +"Ah! ha!" cried the fox, curling back his lip, to show his ugly teeth, +and blinking his eyes as fast as a moving picture goes when it skips +along very quickly. "Ah! ha! Now I have caught you! Do you know what I +am going to do to you for taking my apples?" + +"We--we didn't know they were your apples," said Jennie. + +"No matter about that," said the bad fox. "Do you know what I am going +to do to you?" + +"No," answered Brighteyes. "What are you going to do to us, good Mr. +Fox?" + +"I'm not good Mr. Fox; I'm bad Mr. Fox," he answered, "and what I'm +going to do is to eat you all up--all up--all up!" and he smacked his +lips and gnashed his teeth something terrible. + +But don't be afraid. Just you wait and see what Brighteyes did to that +fox. All the while she was thinking how she could save herself and +Jennie, for she knew those apples didn't belong to the fox. + +First Brighteyes thought maybe Buddy would come along and help her, or +maybe the farmer, but no one came, and the fox was creeping nearer and +nearer to Jennie, getting ready to grab her first, when what did +Brighteyes do but pull up some horseradish leaves that grew nearby and +throw them right in the eyes of that bad fox. + +Now, horseradish leaves are very smarty and peppery, you know, almost +like mustard, and when they got in the fox's eyes they made him so he +couldn't see, and they hurt him, too. + +Then I wish you could have heard him howl. No, on second thought, I'm +glad you couldn't hear him, for it might scare you. Anyhow, he jumped up +and down and sideways, and he whirled around, and he howled and he +yowled and he jowled, and then Brighteyes called: + +"Come on, Jennie, now is our chance. We can get away before he sees us!" + +So they ran away, taking all the apples they could carry, and the fox +couldn't see for ever so long, for he couldn't get his eyes open. So +that is how Brighteyes and Jennie Chipmunk were saved, and they went +home, and nothing happened to them on the way. Now, the next story will +be about Buddy and Brighteyes in the mountains--that is, providing I +catch some fish the next time I go fishing and don't lose my watch in +the water for the alligator to tell time by. + + + + +STORY XXXI + + +BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES IN THE MOUNTAINS + +One day Dr. Pigg came home from paying a visit to Uncle Wiggily +Longears, and said: + +"Well, children, get ready, we are going away for a vacation to-morrow." + +"Oh goody!" cried Brighteyes, jumping up and down in the middle of the +floor, until her pink hair ribbon flopped up and down, like the wings of +a butterfly. + +"Are we going to the seashore?" asked Buddy, while Brighteyes went over +and kissed her father, standing on her tiptoes to reach him. + +"No," said Dr. Pigg, "we are not going to the seashore. We are going to +the mountains, where there is a nice lake. The salt air of the seashore +does not agree with me. I have asked Uncle Wiggily Longears to go with +us, and he does not like the salt air, either. It is bad for his +rheumatism, which is a little better now, and he does not want it to get +worse." + +"Oh, that's fine, if Uncle Wiggily is coming!" said Buddy. "He'll take +us all over the mountains, into caves and out rowing on the lake, and +show us how to have lots of fun." + +Well, the Pigg family began to pack up, and, in a few hours they were +ready to go. Uncle Wiggily came to help them, as he had all his things +packed. He brought along his crutch, in case he might happen to need it, +but he hoped he would not. + +"Couldn't Sammie and Susie Littletail come, too?" asked Buddy. + +"No, they have gone to Belmar, at the seashore, for the summer," +answered Uncle Wiggily. "But now we must hurry off to the mountains." + +So they hurried off, and in a little while, oh, not so very long, Dr. +Pigg and his family, and Uncle Wiggily arrived at a nice pen, right on +the side of a mountain, at the foot of which was a large lake. + +There were so many things to see that Buddy and Brighteyes did not know +at which to look first, and they ran all about, now to one place, and +now to another. Then, when they had had their supper, Uncle Wiggily +said: + +"Come now, we will take a walk. I think I know where there is a cave, +and we will see if a giant lives in it." + +"A real giant?" asked Buddy. + +[Illustration] + +"No, only a make-believe one," answered Uncle Wiggily, with a laugh. +So he and the two guinea pig children started off up the side of the +mountain toward the cave. All around them were other mountains, and it +was a lovely place, with the red sun sinking down behind the hills, just +like it does in poetry. + +"Ha, here we are at the cave!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, at length, as +they came to a big hole in the side of the mountain. "Now, Buddy and +Brighteyes, be very careful. Keep close to me, and don't go in very far, +or you may get lost." + +Then they started to go in, but just at that moment Uncle Wiggily +stepped on a stone and twisted his ankle, the one that had some +rheumatism still left in it, and he had to sit down and rub his foot +with a bottle of liniment which he carried in his pocket. + +While he was doing this Buddy and Brighteyes wandered a little way into +the cave. It looked perfectly safe, and it was so pretty, with the sun +shining in, and reflecting back from the crystals that hung down from +the roof, and those that stuck up from the floor, that, almost before +they knew what they were doing, the two children had gone some distance +inside. + +And, once they were in, it was so pretty that they kept on going farther +and farther, until, land sakes, if, in about ten minutes they weren't +away inside that cave, and they had forgotten all about what Uncle +Wiggily Longears had told them about keeping close to him. + +"Oh, we mustn't go any further!" cried Brighteyes at length. "It's +getting quite dark, Buddy. We'll have to go back." + +"All right," agreed her brother. "Uncle Wiggily will take us farther in +I guess. We'll go and get him." + +So they started back, but, would you believe it, they couldn't find +their way! No, sir, there they were lost in that big cave! the more they +tried to get out, the more lost they became. + +Outside, Uncle Wiggily was in great distress. When his foot ceased +hurting he looked for the children, but he couldn't see them. Then he +knew they must have gone into the cave, and he was much frightened. + +"Here it is, night coming on," he remarked, "and soon it will be very +dark in there. Then I never can find Buddy and Brighteyes, and they'll +be lost in there all night--and--oh dear--why did they go in without +me?" + +But in they had gone, and now Uncle Wiggily had to get them out. But he +was a wise old rabbit, and, to make sure he would not get lost himself, +he took a string, and tied it to his crutch, and left the crutch +outside the cave. Then he took the ball of string and started in the +cave, unrolling the cord as he went along, and keeping tight hold of it, +so he could find his way back in the dark. + +Then he tramped on, though it was hard work without his crutch, looking +for Brighteyes and Buddy. I don't believe he ever would have found them, +but for a kind old lightning bug, who flew on ahead, to light the way +for him. + +Then, after a while, by the gleam of the firefly, Uncle Wiggily did come +upon Buddy and Brighteyes fast asleep in a corner. They had tried, and +tried to find their way out, until they were so tired that they fell +asleep. + +Uncle Wiggily awakened them, and then, keeping tight hold of the string +that was fast to his crutch, he led them out of the cave. And, oh, how +thankful they were! They promised never to go in the mountain cave alone +again, and they never did. + +Well, Buddy and Brighteyes stayed in the mountains for quite awhile, and +had lots of fun, which I may tell you about later, but now I think I +will start some new stories--some that you have never heard, and, what +do you think? they're going to be about some kittie cats. + +I know most of you children must love cats, for I do, and it isn't so +very long ago that I was a little chap myself. + +So, if you please, the next book of Bedtime Stories will be called +"Joie, Tommie and Kittie Kat." Their names are spelled with a "K" you +may notice, but they are not at all proud, or stuck-up, on that account. +I hope you will like them as well as you have Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg. + +So now, for a little while we will say good-by, and it will not be long +before you can read about the funny things the Kat children did, and +about the walnut shells, and all that. + +THE END + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Buddy And Brighteyes Pigg, by Howard R. 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