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| committer | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-01-27 14:19:04 -0800 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf 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. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3ad473d --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #60625 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60625) diff --git a/old/60625-h.zip b/old/60625-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index fa46828..0000000 --- a/old/60625-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60625-h/60625-h.htm b/old/60625-h/60625-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index dde7f58..0000000 --- a/old/60625-h/60625-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,9175 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=us-ascii" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of Uncle Wiggily's Story Book, by Howard R. Garis. - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover_647.jpg" /> - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -h2 span { - line-height: 2em; - font-size: .7em; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -.p150 {font-size: 1.5em} -.p120 {font-size: 1.2em} - -.float {float: right} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; - clear: both; -} - -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} - -div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} - -/* Tables */ -.table { - border:1px solid; - border-collapse:collapse; - padding:5px; - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; - } -.table th { - border:1px solid; - padding:5px; - } /* table header row */ -.table td { - border:1px solid; - padding:5px; - } /* table cells */ - -.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ - /* visibility: hidden; */ - position: absolute; - left: 92%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; -} /* page numbers */ - -.center {text-align: center;} -.right {text-align: right;} -.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - -/* Images */ -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -/* Poetry */ -.poem { - margin-left:10%; - margin-right:10%; - text-align: left; -} - -.poem br {display: none;} -.poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} -.poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} - -/* Transcriber's notes */ -.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; - color: black; - font-size:smaller; - padding:0.5em; - margin-bottom:5em; - font-family:sans-serif, serif; } - .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 1em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} - .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} - -</style> - </head> - -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Uncle Wiggily's Story Book, 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/license - - -Title: Uncle Wiggily's Story Book - -Author: Howard R. Garis - -Release Date: November 3, 2019 [EBook #60625] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNCLE WIGGILY'S STORY BOOK *** - - - - -Produced by David Edwards, Val Wooff and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 473px;"> -<img src="images/cover_647.jpg" width="473" height="647" alt="Cover" /> -</div> - -<h1>UNCLE WIGGILY'S<br /> -STORY BOOK</h1> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By</span></p> - -<p class="center">HOWARD R. GARIS</p> - -<p class="center">AUTHOR OF</p> - -<p class="center">Uncle Wiggily's Airship; Uncle Wiggily's<br /> -Automobile; Uncle Wiggily on the Farm;<br /> -Uncle Wiggily's Travels</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 153px;"> -<img src="images/uwtitlepage_193.jpg" width="153" height="193" alt="Uncle Wiggily" /> -</div> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Platt & Munk</span>, <i>Publishers</i></p> - -<p class="center">NEW YORK</p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="center"><i>UNCLE WIGGILY'S STORY BOOK</i></p> - -<p class="center">Copyright MCMXXI and MCMXXXIX</p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By</span></p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Platt & Munk</span></p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS</a></h2> -</div> - -<div class="center"> -<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> -<tr><td align="right">STORY</td><td></td><td align="left">PAGE</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#I"> I</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily's Toothache</td><td align="right">3</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#II"> II</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily and the Freckled Girl</td><td align="right">10</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#III"> III</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily and the Mud Puddle</td><td align="right">18</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#IV"> IV</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily and the Bad Boy</td><td align="right">26</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#V"> V</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily and the Good Boy</td><td align="right">32</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#VI"> VI</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily's Valentine</td><td align="right">38</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#VII"> VII</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily and the Bad Dog</td><td align="right">44</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#VIII"> VIII</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily and Puss in Boots</td><td align="right">51</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#IX"> IX</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily and the Lost Boy</td><td align="right">58</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#X"> X</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily and Stubby Toes</td><td align="right">64</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XI"> XI</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily's Christmas</td><td align="right">70</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XII"> XII</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily's Fourth of July</td><td align="right">77</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XIII"> XIII</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily and the Skates</td><td align="right">85</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XIV"> XIV</a></td><td align="left"> Uncle Wiggily Goes Coasting</td><td align="right">93</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XV"> XV</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily's Picnic</td><td align="right">100</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XVI"> XVI</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily's Rain Storm</td><td align="right">107</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XVII"> XVII</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily and the Mumps</td><td align="right">113</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XVIII"> XVIII</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily and the Measles</td><td align="right">122</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XIX"> XIX</a></td><td align="left"> Uncle Wiggily and the Chicken-Pox</td><td align="right">130</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XX"> XX</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily's Hallowe'en</td><td align="right">136</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XXI"> XXI</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily and the Poor Dog</td><td align="right">142</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XXII"> XXII</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily and the Rich Cat</td><td align="right">148</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XXIII"> XXIII</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily and the Horse</td><td align="right">155</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XXIV"> XXIV</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily and the Cow</td><td align="right">161</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XXV"> XXV</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily and the Camping Boys</td><td align="right">167</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XXVI"> XXVI</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily and the Birthday Cake</td><td align="right">175</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XXVII"> XXVII</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily and the New Year's Horn</td><td align="right">184</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XXVIII"> XXVIII</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily's Thanksgiving</td><td align="right">190</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XXIX"> XXIX</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily at the Circus</td><td align="right">197</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XXX"> XXX</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily and the Lion</td><td align="right">204</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XXXI"> XXXI</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily and the Tiger</td><td align="right">210</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XXXII"> XXXII</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily and the Elephant</td><td align="right">215</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XXXIII"> XXXIII</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily and the Camel</td><td align="right">221</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XXXIV"> XXXIV</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily and the Wild Rabbit</td><td align="right">229</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XXXV"> XXXV</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily and the Tame Squirrel</td><td align="right">237</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#XXXVI"> XXXVI</a></td><td align="left">Uncle Wiggily and the Wolf</td><td align="right">243</td></tr> -</table></div> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="center p150">UNCLE WIGGILY'S GREETING</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dear Children</span>:</p> - -<p>This is a quite different book from any others you -may have read about me. In this volume I have some -adventures with real children, like yourselves, as well -as with my animal friends.</p> - -<p>These stories tell of the joyous, funny, exciting and -everyday adventures that happen to you girls and -boys. There is the story about a toothache, which -you may read, or have read to you, when you want to -forget the pain. There is a story of a good boy and -a freckled girl. And there is a story about a bad boy, -but not everyone is allowed to read that.</p> - -<p>There is a story for nearly every occasion in the life -of a little boy or girl; about the joys of Christmas, -of a birthday; about different animals, about getting -lost, and one about falling in a mud puddle. And -there are stories about having the measles and mumps, -and getting over them.</p> - -<p>I hope you will like this book as well as you seem -to have cared for the other volumes about me. And -you will find some beautiful pictures in this book.</p> - -<p>Now, as Nurse Jane is calling me, I shall have to -hop along. But I hope you will enjoy these stories.</p> - -<p class="center">Your friend, </p> -<p class="float"><span class="smcap">Uncle Wiggily Longears</span>.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<br /> -<br /> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> -<p class="center p150"><a name="Uncle_Wiggilys_Story_Book" id="Uncle_Wiggilys_Story_Book"><b>Uncle Wiggily's Story Book</b></a></p> -<br /> -<br /> -<h2><a name="I" id="I">STORY I</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY'S TOOTHACHE</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>Once upon a time there was a boy who had the toothache. -It was not a very large tooth that pained him, and, really, it -was quite surprising how such a very large ache got into such -a small tooth. At least that is what the boy thought.</p> - -<p>"But I'm not going to the dentist and let him pull it!" cried -the boy, holding his hand over his mouth. "And I'm not going -to let anybody in this house pull it, either! So there!" He -ran and hid himself in a corner. Girls aren't that way when -they have the toothache—only boys.</p> - -<p>"Perhaps the tooth will not need pulling," said Mother, as -she looked at the boy and saw how much pain he had.</p> - -<p>"That's so!" exclaimed Grandma, who was trying to think -of some way in which to help the boy. "Maybe the dentist can -make a little hole in your tooth, Sonny, and fill the hole with -cement, as the man filled the hole in our sidewalk, and then all -your pain will stop."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> -"No, I'm not going to the dentist! I'm not going, I tell -you!" cried Sonny. And I think he stamped his foot on the -floor, the least little bit. It may have been that he saw a tack -sticking up, and wanted to hammer it down with his shoe. But -I am afraid it was a stamp of his foot; and afterward that boy -was sorry.</p> - -<p>But, anyhow, his tooth kept on aching, and it was the kind -called "jumping," for it was worse at one time than another. -Sometimes the boy thought the pain jumped from one side of -his tongue to the other side, and again it seemed that it leaped -away up to the roof of his mouth.</p> - -<p>The toothache even seemed to turn somersaults and peppersaults, -and once it appeared to jump over backward. But it -never completely jumped away, which is what the boy wished -it would do.</p> - -<p>"You'd better let me take you to the dentist's," said his -Mother. "He'll either fix the tooth so it won't ache any more, -or he'll take it out, so a new tooth will grow in. And, really, -the pain the dentist may cause will only be a little one, and it -will be all over in a moment. While your tooth may ache all -night."</p> - -<p>"No, I'm not going to the dentist! I'm not going!" cried -Sonny boy, and then again he acted just as if there were a -tack in the carpet that needed hammering down with his foot.</p> - -<p>Now it was about this time that Uncle Wiggily Longears, -the bunny rabbit gentleman, was hopping from his hollow -stump bungalow in the woods to go look for an adventure. -But, as yet, Uncle Wiggily knew nothing about the boy with -the toothache. That came a little later.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> -"Are you going to be gone long?" asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy -Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, of the bunny gentleman.</p> - -<p>"Only just long enough to have a nice adventure," answered -Mr. Longears, and away he hopped on his red, white and blue -striped rheumatism crutch, with his pink, twinkling nose held -in front of him like the headlight on a choo-choo train.</p> - -<p>Now, as it happened, Uncle Wiggily's hollow stump bungalow -was not far from the house where the Toothache Boy lived, -though the boy had never seen the rabbit's home. He had -often wandered in the woods, almost in front of the bunny's -bungalow, but, not having the proper sort of eyes, the boy had -never seen Uncle Wiggily. It needs very sharp eyes to see -the creatures of the woods and fields, and to find the little -houses in which they live.</p> - -<p>At any rate the boy had never noticed Uncle Wiggily, though -the bunny gentleman had often seen the boy. Many a time -when you go through the woods the animal folk look out at -and see you, when you never even know they are there.</p> - -<p>And pretty soon Uncle Wiggily hopped right past the house -where the Toothache Boy lived. And just then, for about the -tenth time, Mother was saying:</p> - -<p>"You had better let me take you to the dentist and have -that toothache stopped, Sonny."</p> - -<p>"No! No! I don't want to! I—I'm a—a—I guess it will -stop itself," said the boy, hopeful like.</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily, hiding in the bushes in front of the boy's -house, sat up on his hind legs and twinkled his pink nose. By -a strange and wonderful new power which he had, the bunny -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> -gentleman could hear and understand boy and girl talk, though -he could not speak it himself. So it was no trouble at all for -Uncle Wiggily to know what that boy was saying.</p> - -<p>"He's afraid; that's what the boy is," said the bunny uncle -to himself, leaning on his red, white and blue striped crutch. -"He's afraid to go to the dentist and have that tooth filled, or -pulled. Now that's very silly of him, for the dentist will not -hurt him much, and will soon stop the ache. I wonder how I -can make that boy believe this? His mother and grandmother -can't seem to."</p> - -<p>For Mr. Longears heard Mother and Grandma trying to get -that Toothache Boy to let them take him to the dentist. But -the boy only shook his head, and made believe hammer tacks -in the carpet with his foot, and he held his hand over his mouth. -But, all the while, the ache kept aching achier and achier and -jumping, leaping, tumbling, twisting, turning and flip-flopping—almost -like a clown in the circus.</p> - -<p>"No! No! I'm not going to the dentist!" cried the boy.</p> - -<p>Then Uncle Wiggily had an idea. He could look in through -the window of the house and see the boy. In front of the window -was a grassy place, near the edge of the wood, and close -by was an old stump, shaped almost like the easy chair in a -dentist's office.</p> - -<p>"I know what I'll do," said Uncle Wiggily. "I'll make believe -I have the toothache. I'll go get Dr. Possum and I'll -sit down in this stump chair. Then I'll tell Dr. Possum to -make believe pull out one of my teeth."</p> - -<p>"I s'pose if Nurse Jane were here she might ask what good -that would do?" thought Uncle Wiggily. "But I think it will -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> -do a lot of good. If that boy sees me, a rabbit gentleman, -having a tooth pulled, which is what he will think he sees, it -may make him brave enough to go to the dentist's. I'll try it."</p> - -<p>Away hopped Uncle Wiggily to Dr. Possum's office.</p> - -<p>"What's the matter? Rheumatism again?" asked the animal -doctor.</p> - -<p>"No, but I want you to come over and pull a tooth for me," -said Uncle Wiggily, blinking one eye, and twinkling his pink -nose surreptitious-like.</p> - -<p>"Pull a tooth! Why, your teeth are all right!" cried Dr. -Possum.</p> - -<p>"It's to give a little lesson to a boy," whispered the bunny, -and then Dr. Possum blinked one eye, in understanding fashion.</p> - -<p>A little later Uncle Wiggily sat himself down on the old -stump that looked like a chair, and Dr. Possum stood over him.</p> - -<p>"Open your mouth and show me which tooth it is that hurts," -said Dr. Possum, just like a dentist.</p> - -<p>"All right," answered Uncle Wiggily, and, from the corner -of his left eye the bunny gentleman could see the Toothache -Boy at the window looking out. The boy saw the rabbit and -Dr. Possum at the old stump, and he saw Mr. Longears open -his mouth and point with his paw to a tooth.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Mother!" cried the boy, very much excited. "Look! -There's a funny rabbit, all dressed up in a tall silk hat, having -a tooth pulled. Grandma, look!"</p> - -<p>"Well, I do declare!" murmured the old lady. "Isn't that -perfectly wonderful! I didn't know that animals ever had -the toothache!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, I s'pose they do, once in a while," said the Toothache -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> -Boy's mother. "But see how brave that rabbit gentleman is! -Not to mind having the animal dentist stop his ache! Just -fancy!"</p> - -<p>Neither Grandma nor Mother said anything to Sonny Boy. -All three of them just stood at the window, and watched Uncle -Wiggily and Dr. Possum. And, as they looked, Dr. Possum -put a little shiny thing, like a buttonhook, in the bunny gentleman's -mouth. He gave a sudden little pull and, a moment -later, held up something which sparkled in the sun. It was -only a bit of glass, which Uncle Wiggily had held in his paw -ready for this part in the little play, but it looked like a tooth.</p> - -<p>"Well, I declare!" laughed Grandma. "The bunny had his -tooth pulled!"</p> - -<p>"And he doesn't seem to mind it at all," added Mother.</p> - -<p>Surely enough, Uncle Wiggily hopped off the make-believe -dentist-stump, and with his red, white and blue striped rheumatism -crutch, began to dance a little jiggity-jig with Dr. -Possum.</p> - -<p>"This dance is to show that it doesn't hurt even to have a -tooth pulled; much less to have one filled," said the bunny.</p> - -<p>"I understand!" laughed Dr. Possum. And as he and Uncle -Wiggily danced, they looked, out of the corners of their eyes, -and saw the Toothache Boy standing at the window watching -them.</p> - -<p>"Well, I never, in all my born days, saw a sight like that!" -exclaimed Grandma.</p> - -<p>"Nor I," said Mother. "Isn't it wonderful!"</p> - -<p>Sonny Boy took his hand down from his mouth.</p> - -<p>"I—I guess, Mother," he said, as he saw Uncle Wiggily -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> -jump over his crutch in a most happy fashion, "I guess I'll go -to the dentist, and have him stop my toothache!"</p> - -<p>"Hurray!" softly cried Uncle Wiggily, who heard what the -boy said. "This is just what I wanted to happen, Dr. Possum! -Our little lesson is over. Now we may go!"</p> - -<p>Away hopped the bunny, to tell Nurse Jane about the -strange adventure, and Dr. Possum, with his bag of powders -and pills on his tail, where he always carried it, shuffled back -to his office.</p> - -<p>Sonny Boy went to the dentist's, and soon his tooth was -fixed so it would not ache again. He hardly felt at all what -the dentist did to him.</p> - -<p>"I—I didn't know how easy it was 'till I saw the rabbit have -his tooth pulled," said the boy to the dentist.</p> - -<p>"Hum," said the dentist, noncommittal-like, "some rabbits -are very funny!"</p> - -<p>And if the puppy dog doesn't waggle his tail so hard that he -knocks over the milk bottle when it's trying to slide down the -doormat, I shall have the pleasure, next, of telling you the -story of Uncle Wiggily and the freckled girl.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="II" id="II">STORY II</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE FRECKLED GIRL</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily was hopping through the woods one summer -day, when, as he happened to stop to get a drink of some -water that the rain-clouds had dropped in the cup of a Jack-in-the-pulpit -flower, the bunny gentleman heard a girl saying:</p> - -<p>"Oh, I wish I could get them off! I wish I could scrub them -off with sandpaper, or something like that! I've tried lemon -juice and vinegar, but they won't go. And oh, they make me -so homely!"</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily stopped suddenly and rubbed the end of his -pink, twinkling nose with the brim of his tall, silk hat.</p> - -<p>"This is very queer," said the bunny uncle to himself. "I -wonder what is it she has tried to take off with lemon juice? -She seems very unhappy, this little girl does."</p> - -<p>The bunny uncle looked through the trees and, seated on a -green, mossy stump, he saw a girl about ten or twelve years old. -She held a looking-glass in her hand, and as she glanced at her -likeness in the mirror she kept saying:</p> - -<p>"How can I get them off? How can I make them disappear -so I will be beautiful? Oh, how I hate them!"</p> - -<p>"What in the world can be the matter?" thought Uncle -Wiggily to himself. For, as I have told you, the bunny gentleman -was now able to hear and understand the talk of girls and -boys, though he could not himself speak that language.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> -He hopped a little closer to the unhappy girl on the green, -mossy stump, but the bunny stepped so softly on the leaf carpet -of the forest that scarcely a sound did he make, and the girl -with the mirror never heard him.</p> - -<p>"I wonder if I said a little verse, such as I have read in fairy -books, whether they would go away?" murmured the girl. "I've -tried everything but that. I'll do it—I'll say a magical verse! -But I must make up one, for I never have read of the kind I -want in any book."</p> - -<p>She seemed to be thinking deeply for a moment and then, -shutting her eyes, and looking up at the sun which was shining -through the trees of the wood, the girl recited this little verse:</p> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i4">"Sun, sun, who made them come,</span><br /> -<span class="i4">Make them go away.</span><br /> -<span class="i4">Then I'll be like other girls,</span><br /> -<span class="i4">Happy all the day!"</span> -</div></div> - -<p>"This is like a puzzle, or a riddle," whispered Uncle Wiggily -to himself, as he kept out of sight behind a bush near the stump. -"What is it she wants the sun to make go away? It can't be -rain, or storm clouds, for the sky is as blue as a baby's eyes. I -wonder what it is?"</p> - -<p>Then, as the girl took up the mirror again, and looked in it, -Uncle Wiggily saw the reflection of her face.</p> - -<p>It was covered with dear, little brown freckles!</p> - -<p>"Ho! Ho!" softly crooned Uncle Wiggily to himself. "Now -I understand. This girl is unhappy because she is freckled. -She thinks she doesn't look pretty with them! Why, if she -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> -only knew it, those freckles show how strong and healthy she -is. They show that she has played out in the fresh air and -sunshine, and that she will live to be happy a long, long while. -Freckles! Why, she ought to be glad she has them, instead -of sorry!"</p> - -<p>But the girl on the stump kept her eyes shut, clenching the -mirror in her hand and as she held her face up to the sun she -recited another verse of what she thought was a mystic charm.</p> - -<p>This is what she said:</p> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i4">"Freckles, freckles, go away!</span><br /> -<span class="i4">Don't come back any other day.</span><br /> -<span class="i4">Make my face most fair to see,</span><br /> -<span class="i4">Then how happy I will be!"</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Slowly, as Uncle Wiggily watched, hidden as he was behind -the bush, the girl opened her eyes and held up the looking-glass. -Over her shoulder the bunny gentleman could still see -the freckles in the glass; the dear, brown, honest, healthy -freckles. But when the girl saw them she dropped the mirror, -hid her face in her hands and cried:</p> - -<p>"Oh, they didn't go 'way! They didn't go 'way! Now I -never can be beautiful!"</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily twinkled his pink nose thoughtfully.</p> - -<p>"This is too bad!" said the bunny gentleman. "I wonder -how I can help that girl?" For, since he had helped the Toothache -Boy by letting Dr. Possum pretend to pull an aching -tooth, the bunny gentleman wanted do other favors for the -children who loved him.</p> - -<p>"I'd like to make that girl happy, even with her freckles," -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> -said the bunny. "I'll hop off through the woods, and perhaps -I may meet some of my animal friends who will show me a -way."</p> - -<p>The bunny gentleman looked kindly at the girl on the stump. -She was sobbing, and did not see him, or hear him, as she murmured -over and over again:</p> - -<p>"I don't like freckles! I hate them!"</p> - -<p>Away through the woods hopped Uncle Wiggily. He had -not gone very far before he heard a bird singing a beautiful -song. Oh, so cheerful it was, and happy—that song!</p> - -<p>"Good morning, Mr. Bird!" greeted Uncle Wiggily, for you -know it is the father bird who sings the sweetest song. The -mother bird is so busy, I suppose, that she has little time to -sing. "You are very happy this morning," the rabbit said to -the bird.</p> - -<p>"Why, yes, Uncle Wiggily, I am very happy," answered Mr. -Bird, "and so is my wife. She is up there on the nest, but she -told me to come down here and sing a happy song."</p> - -<p>"Why?" asked the bunny.</p> - -<p>"Because we are going to have some little birds," was the -answer. "There are some eggs in our nest, and my mate is -sitting on them to keep them warm. Soon some little birds -will come out, and I will sing a still happier song."</p> - -<p>"That's fine," said Uncle Wiggily, thinking of the unhappy -freckled girl on the stump. "May I see the eggs in your nest?"</p> - -<p>"Of course," answered the father-singer. "Our nest is in a -low bush, but it is well hidden. Here, I'll show you. Mrs. -Bird will not mind if you look."</p> - -<p>The father bird fluttered to the nest, and Mrs. Bird raised -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> -her fluffy feathers to show Uncle Wiggily some beautiful blue -eggs.</p> - -<p>"Why—why, they're <i>freckled</i>!" exclaimed the bunny gentleman. -"Aren't you birds sad because you have freckled eggs? -Why, your little birds will be freckled, too! And, if they are -girl birds they will cry!"</p> - -<p>"Why?" asked Mr. Bird in surprise. "Why will our girl -birdies cry?"</p> - -<p>"Because they'll be <i>freckled</i>," answered the bunny. "I just -saw a girl in the woods, crying to break her heart because she -is freckled!"</p> - -<p>"Nonsense!" chirped Mrs. Bird. "In the first place these -are not freckles on my eggs, though they look so. My eggs are -spotted, or mottled, and they would not be half so pretty if -they were not colored that way. Besides, being spotted as -they are, makes them not so easily seen in the nest. And, when -I fly away to get food, bad snakes or cats can not so easily see -my eggs to eat them. I just love my <i>freckled</i> eggs, as you call -them!" laughed Mrs. Bird.</p> - -<p>"Well, they are pretty," admitted Uncle Wiggily. "But -will your little birds be speckled, too?"</p> - -<p>"Not at all," sang Mr. Bird. "Say, Uncle Wiggily!" he -whistled, "if we could get that girl here so she could see our -spotted eggs, and know how beautiful they are, even if they -are what she would call 'freckled'; wouldn't that make her -happier?"</p> - -<p>"Perhaps it would," said the bunny rabbit. "I never thought -of that. I'll try it! You will not be afraid to let her see your -eggs, will you?" he asked.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> -"No; for girls are not like some boys—they don't rob the -nests of birds," replied the mother of the speckled eggs. "Bring -the unhappy girl here, and Mr. Bird and I will hide in the -bushes while she peeps into our nest."</p> - -<p>"I will!" said Uncle Wiggily.</p> - -<p>Away he hopped through the woods, and soon he came to -the place where the freckled girl was still sobbing on the -stump.</p> - -<p>"Now how can I get her to follow me through the woods, -to see the nest, when I can't talk to her?" whispered Uncle -Wiggily.</p> - -<p>Then he thought of a plan.</p> - -<p>"I'll toss a little piece of tree-bark at her," chuckled the -bunny. "That will make her look up, and when she sees me -I'll hop off a little way. She'll follow, thinking she can catch -me. But I'll keep ahead of her and so lead her to the woods. -I want to make her happy!"</p> - -<p>The bunny tossed a bit of bark, hitting the girl on her head. -She looked around, and then she saw Uncle Wiggily, all dressed -up as he was with his tall silk hat and his red, white and blue -striped rheumatism crutch.</p> - -<p>"Oh, what a funny rabbit!" exclaimed the girl, smiling -through her tears, and forgetting her freckles, for a while at -least. "I wonder if I can catch you?" she said.</p> - -<p>"Well, not if I know it," whispered Uncle Wiggily to himself, -for he knew what the girl had said. "But I'll let you -think you can," the bunny chuckled to himself.</p> - -<p>He hopped on a little farther, and the girl followed. But -just as she thought she was going to put her hands on the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> -rabbit, Uncle Wiggily skipped along, and she missed him. But -still she followed on, and soon Uncle Wiggily had led her to -the bushes where the birds had built their nest.</p> - -<p>Mr. and Mrs. Bird were watching, and when they saw Uncle -Wiggily and the freckled girl, Mr. Bird began to sing. He -sang of blue skies, or rippling waters of sunshine and sweet -breezes scented with apple blossoms.</p> - -<p>"Oh, what a lovely song!" murmured the freckled girl. -"Some birds must live here. I wonder if I could see their nest -and eggs? I wouldn't hurt them for the world!" she said -softly.</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily shrank back out of sight. The girl looked -around for the singing birds, and just then the wind blew aside -some leaves and she saw the nest. But she saw more than -the nest, for she saw the eggs that were to be hatched into little -birds. And, more than this; the girl saw that the eggs were -spotted or mottled—freckled as she was herself!</p> - -<p>"Oh! Oh!" murmured the girl, clasping her hands as she -looked down at the speckled eggs in the nest. "They have -brown spots on, just like my face. They are <i>freckled eggs</i>—but, -oh, how pretty they are! I never knew that anything -freckled could be beautiful! I never knew! Oh, how wonderful!"</p> - -<p>As she stood looking at the eggs, Mr. Bird sang again, a -sweeter song than before, and the wind blew softly on the -freckled face of the unhappy girl—no, not unhappy now, for -she smiled, and there were no more tears in her eyes.</p> - -<p>"Oh, how glad I am that the funny rabbit led me to the nest -of freckled eggs!" said the girl. "I wonder where he is?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> -She looked around, but Uncle Wiggily had hopped away. -He had done all that was needed of him.</p> - -<p>The mother bird softly fluttered down into her nest, covering -the beautiful mottled eggs with her downy wings. She was -not afraid of the girl. The girl reached out her hand and timidly -stroked the mother bird. Then she gently touched her own -freckled cheeks.</p> - -<p>"I'm never going to care any more," she whispered. "I did -not know that freckles could be so pretty. I'm glad I got 'em!"</p> - -<p>The freckled girl walked away, leaving the mother bird on -the nest, while the father of the speckled eggs, that soon would -be little birds, sang his song of joy. The freckled girl, with -a glad smile on her face, went back to the stump, and, without -looking into the mirror, she tossed the bit of looking-glass into -a deep spring.</p> - -<p>"I don't need you any more," she said, as the glass went -sailing through the air. "I know, now, that freckles can be -beautiful!"</p> - -<p>And if the pussy cat doesn't think the automobile tire is a -bologna sausage, and try to nibble a piece out to make a sandwich -for the rag doll's picnic, I'll tell you next about Uncle -Wiggily and the mud puddle.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="III" id="III">STORY III</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE MUD PUDDLE</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>Did you ever fall down in a mud puddle? Perhaps this may -have happened to you when you were barefooted, with old -clothes on, so that it did not much matter whether you splashed -them or not.</p> - -<p>But that isn't what I mean.</p> - -<p>Did you ever fall into a mud puddle when you had on your -very best clothes, with white stockings that showed every speck -of mud? If anything like that ever happened to you, when -you were going to Sunday-school, or to a little afternoon tea -party, why, you know how dreadfully unhappy you felt! To -say nothing of the pain in your knees!</p> - -<p>Well, now for a story of how a little boy named Tommie -fell in a mud puddle, and how Uncle Wiggily helped him scrub -the mud off his white stockings—off Tommie's white stockings -I mean, not Uncle Wiggily's.</p> - -<p>Tommie was a little boy who lived in a house on the edge -of the wood, near where Uncle Wiggily had built his hollow -stump bungalow. No, Tommie wasn't the same little boy who -had the toothache. He was quite a different chap.</p> - -<p>One day the postman rang the bell at Tommie's house, and -gave Tommie a cute little letter.</p> - -<p>"Oh, it's for me!" cried Tommie. "Look, Mother! I have -a letter!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> -"That's nice," said Mother. "Who sent it to you?"</p> - -<p>"I'll look and tell you," answered the little boy. The writing -in the letter was large and plain, and though Tommie had -not been to school very long he could read a little. So he was -able to tell that the letter was from a little girl named Alice, -who wanted him to come to a party she was going to have one -afternoon a few days later.</p> - -<p>"Oh, may I go?" Tommie asked his mother.</p> - -<p>"Yes," she answered.</p> - -<p>"And wear my best clothes?"</p> - -<p>"Surely you will put on your best clothes to go to the party," -said Mother. "And I hope you have a nice time!"</p> - -<p>Tommie hoped so, too. But if only he had known what was -going to happen! Perhaps it is just as well he did not, for it -would have spoiled his fun of thinking about the coming party. -And half the fun of nearly everything, you know, is thinking -about it beforehand, or afterward.</p> - -<p>At last the day came for the tea party Alice was to give at -her home, which was a little distance down the street from -Tommie's house.</p> - -<p>"Oh, how happy I am!" sang Tommie, as he ran about the -porch.</p> - -<p>But when, after breakfast, it began to rain, Tommie was not -so happy. He stood with his nose pressed against the glass of -the window until it was pressed quite flat. I mean his nose -was flat, for the glass was that way anyhow, you know. And -Tommie watched the rain drops splash down, making little -mud puddles in the street.</p> - -<p>"Can't I go to Alice's party if it rains?" asked Tommie.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> -"Well, no, I think not," Mother answered. "But perhaps -it will stop raining before it is time for you to go. You don't -have to leave here until after lunch."</p> - -<p>Tommie turned again to press his nose against the glass, glad -that the rain was outside, so that the drops which rolled down -the window could not wet his face. And he hoped the clouds -would clear away and that the sun would shine before the time -for the party.</p> - -<p>Now about this same hour Uncle Wiggily Longears, the -bunny rabbit gentleman, was also looking out of the window -of his hollow stump bungalow in the woods, wondering, just -as Tommie wondered, whether the rain would stop.</p> - -<p>"But surely you won't go out while it is still raining," said -Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper.</p> - -<p>"No," answered Uncle Wiggily, "my going out is not so -needful as all that. I was going to look for an adventure, and -I had rather do that in the sunshine than in the rain. I can -wait."</p> - -<p>And then, almost as suddenly as it had started, the rain -stopped.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I'm so glad!" sang Tommie, as he danced up and down. -"Now I can go to the party!"</p> - -<p>"And I can go adventuring," said Uncle Wiggily. Now of -course he did not hear Tommie, nor did the little boy hear the -bunny. But, all the same, they were to have an adventure -together.</p> - -<p>Tommie had been ready, for some time, to start down the -street to go to the party Alice was giving for her little girl -and boy friends. All that Tommie needed, now, was to have -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> -his collar and tie put on, and his hair combed again, for it -had become rather tossed and twisted topsy-turvy when he -pressed his head against the window, watching the rain.</p> - -<p>"Be careful of mud puddles!" Tommie's mother called to -him, as, all spick and span, he started down the street toward -the home of Alice, a block or so distant. "Don't fall in any -puddles!"</p> - -<p>"I'll be careful," Tommie promised.</p> - -<p>And as Uncle Wiggily started out about this same time for -his adventure, Nurse Jane called to the bunny:</p> - -<p>"Be careful not to get wet on account of your rheumatism."</p> - -<p>"I'll be careful," promised Uncle Wiggily, just as Tommie -had done.</p> - -<p>Now everything would have been all right if Tommie had -not stubbed his toe as he was going along the street, about half -way to the party. But he did stumble, where one sidewalk -stone was raised up higher than another, and, before he could -save himself, down in the mud puddle fell poor Tommie! He -fell on his hands and knees, and they were both soaked in the -muddy water of the puddle on the sidewalk.</p> - -<p>Of course it did not so much matter about Tommie's hands. -He could easily wash the mud and brown water off them. But -it was different with his white stockings. Perhaps I forgot to -tell you that Tommie wore white stockings to the party. But -he did, and now the knees of these stockings were all mud!</p> - -<p>And as he looked at his mud-soiled stockings, and at his -hands, from which water was dripping down on the sides of -his legs, Tommie could not help crying.</p> - -<p>"I can't go to the party this way!" sobbed Tommie to himself, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> -for he was big enough to go down the street alone, and -there were no other children on it just then. "I can't go to the -party this way! But if I go home Mother will make me change -my things, and I'll be late, and maybe she won't let me go at -all! Oh, dear!"</p> - -<p>And in order to keep out of sight of any other boys or girls -who might come along, Tommie stepped behind some bushes -that grew along the street.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 650px;"> -<img src="images/p022_650.jpg" width="650" height="431" alt="He looked down at his mud-soiled stockings" /> -</div> - -<p>And what was his surprise to see, sitting on a stone, behind -this same bush, an old gentleman rabbit, wearing glasses, and -with a tall silk hat on his head. On the ground beside him was -a red, white and blue striped crutch, for rheumatism.</p> - -<p>But the funniest thing about the rabbit gentleman (who, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> -as you have guessed, was Uncle Wiggily), the funniest thing -was that he had a bunch of dried grass in one paw, and he was -busy scrubbing some dried spots of mud off his trousers. So -busy was Uncle Wiggily doing this that he neither saw nor -heard Tommie come behind the bush. And Tommie was so -surprised at seeing Uncle Wiggily that the little boy never -said a word.</p> - -<p>"Why—why!" thought Tommie, as he saw the bunny take -up a pine tree cone, which was like a nutmeg grater, and scrape -the dried mud off his trousers, "he must have fallen into a -mud puddle just as I did!"</p> - -<p>And that is just what had happened to Uncle Wiggily. He -had been walking along, thinking of an adventure he might -have, when he splashed into a puddle and spattered himself -with mud!</p> - -<p>But, instead of crying, Uncle Wiggily set about making the -best of it—cleaning himself off so he would look nice again, to -go in search of an adventure.</p> - -<p>"I'll let the mud dry in the sun," said Uncle Wiggily out -loud, speaking to himself, with his back partly turned to Tommie. -"Then it will easily scrape off."</p> - -<p>The sun was so warm, after the rain, that it soon dried the -mud on the bunny gentleman's clothes, and with the bunch of -grass, and the sharp pine tree cone, he soon had loosened the -bits of dirt.</p> - -<p>"Now I'm all right again," said Uncle Wiggily out loud. -And though of course Tommie did not understand rabbit talk, -the little boy could see what Uncle Wiggily had done to help -himself after the mud puddle accident.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> -"I say!" cried Tommie, before he thought, "will you please -lend me that pine tree cone clothes brush? I want to clean the -mud off my white stockings so I can go to the party!"</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily looked up in surprise! He had not known, -before, that Tommie was there; but the bunny heard what the -little boy said. With a low and polite bow of his tall silk -hat, Uncle Wiggily tossed the bunch of grass and the pine cone -to Tommie. By that time the mud had dried so the little boy -could scrape most of it off his stockings.</p> - -<p>"I hope you have a nice time at the party," said Uncle -Wiggily, in rabbit language, of course. And then, as Tommie -scraped the last of the dried mud away, leaving only a few -spots on his stockings, the bunny gentleman hopped out of -the bush and on his way.</p> - -<p>"And I can go to Alice's house without having to run home -to change my stockings," thought Tommie. "I wonder who -that rabbit was?"</p> - -<p>And when Tommie reached the party he found that he was -not the only little boy who had fallen in a mud puddle. The -same thing had happened to Sammie and Johnnie, two other -boys.</p> - -<p>"But how did you get your stockings so clean, without going -home and changing them?" asked the other boys of Tommie.</p> - -<p>"Oh, an old rabbit gentleman, with a tall silk hat and a red, -white and blue crutch showed me how to scrape off the dried -mud with a pine cone," Tommie answered. "I cleaned my -white stockings as the bunny brushed his clothes."</p> - -<p>"Oh, is that a fairy story?" cried the boys and girls at Alice's -party.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> -"Well, he <i>looked</i> like a fairy!" laughed Tommie, who had -washed his hands in the bath room at Alice's house, so they -were clean for eating cake and ice cream. "And I'm not afraid -of mud puddles any more. I know what to do if I fall in one," -said Tommie.</p> - -<p>And if the onion doesn't make tears come into the eyes of -the potato when they're playing tag around the spoon in the -soup dish, the next story will be about Uncle Wiggily and -the bad boy.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="IV" id="IV">STORY IV</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BAD BOY</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>Once upon a time there was a bad boy. He lived on the -edge of the wood in which Uncle Wiggily Longears, the bunny -rabbit gentleman, had built his hollow stump bungalow. The -bad boy did not know Uncle Wiggily, but Mr. Longears knew -about the bad boy, and so did Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the -bunny's muskrat lady housekeeper.</p> - -<p>"Don't ever go near that bad boy's house," said Miss Fuzzy -Wuzzy one morning, as the rabbit gentleman started out with -his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch.</p> - -<p>"Why not?" asked Uncle Wiggily.</p> - -<p>"Because," answered Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy, "that boy will -throw stones at you, and maybe hit you on your pink, twinkling -nose."</p> - -<p>"He can't throw stones now," said Uncle Wiggily. "He -can't find any. The ground is covered with snow."</p> - -<p>"Then he'll throw snowballs at you," said the muskrat lady -housekeeper. "Please keep away from him."</p> - -<p>"I'll think about it," promised the bunny gentleman, as he -hopped away, with his tall, silk hat on his head.</p> - -<p>Now you know why, once upon a time, there was a bad boy. -He was bad because he threw stones and snowballs at rabbits -and other animals. There were more things bad about him -than this, but one is enough for a story.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> -Uncle Wiggily hopped on and on, across the fields and -through the woods, and soon he came to the house of the bad -boy. It was a regular house, not a hollow stump bungalow, -such as that in which Mr. Longears lived.</p> - -<p>"I wonder if there isn't any way of making that bad boy -good?" thought the bunny rabbit gentleman. "Bad boys -aren't of much use in the world, but good boys, or girls, who -put out crumbs for the hungry birds to eat in winter—they are -of great use in the world! I wonder if I could make that bad -boy good?"</p> - -<p>But, no sooner had Uncle Wiggily began to wonder in this -fashion, than, all of a sudden, he heard a loud voice shouting:</p> - -<p>"Hi! There he is! A rabbit! I'm going to throw a snowball -at him!"</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily looked over his shoulder and saw the bad -boy rushing out of his house, followed by another boy.</p> - -<p>"Oh, what a nice, funny rabbit!" cried the second boy. "He -looks as if he came from a circus—all dressed up!"</p> - -<p>"I'll make him turn a somersault if I can whang him with a -snowball!" shouted the bad boy, running toward the bunny -gentleman.</p> - -<p>"Perhaps I had better be going," said Uncle Wiggily, who -could understand boy and girl talk, though he could not speak -it himself. "I'll wait until some other day about trying to -make this boy good."</p> - -<p>Mr. Longears started to run, but he had not taken many hops -before, all of a sudden, he felt a sharp, thumping pain in his -side, and he was almost knocked over by a snowball thrown -by the bad boy.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> -"Hi there! I hit him! I hit him!" howled the bad boy, -dancing up and down.</p> - -<p>"Yes," sadly said the other chap. "You hit him, but what -good did it do?"</p> - -<p>"It shows I'm a straight shot!" proudly answered the other. -"Maybe I can catch that rabbit now."</p> - -<p>He ran over the snow. But though Uncle Wiggily had -been knocked down by the ball thrown by the bad boy, the -rabbit gentleman managed to get to his feet, and away he -hopped on his rheumatism crutch—so fast that the bad boy -could not get him.</p> - -<p>Then the bad boy and the other chap, who was not so bad, -played in the snow, until it was time to go home. Uncle Wiggily -hopped to his hollow stump bungalow, but he said nothing -to Nurse Jane about the pain in his side.</p> - -<p>"If I tell her she won't let me go out to the movies to-night -with Grandpa Goosey," thought Mr. Longears.</p> - -<p>So, though his side pained him, Uncle Wiggily said never a -word, but early that evening he hopped over to Grandpa -Goosey's home in the duck pen. And on the way Uncle Wiggily -had to pass the house of the bad boy.</p> - -<p>"But it is getting dark, and he will not see me," thought the -bunny gentleman. "I guess it will be safe."</p> - -<p>Now it happened that, just as Uncle Wiggily was hopping -under the window of the bad boy's house, the bunny heard -a voice inside saying:</p> - -<p>"Oh, dear! How my ear aches! Oh, what a pain! Can't -you do something to stop it, Mother?"</p> - -<p>"If I had some soft cotton I could put a little warm oil on it -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> -and that, in your ear, would make it feel better," answered -a lady's voice. "But I have no cotton in the house. If you'll -wait until I go to the drug store——"</p> - -<p>"No! No!" howled the voice of the bad boy. "I don't want -you to go to the store and leave me alone! Can't you get some -cotton without going to the store?"</p> - -<p>"No," answered the mother. "You shouldn't have played -out in the cold, and thrown snowballs at the rabbit. You must -have gotten some snow in your ear to make it ache!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, do something to make it stop!" cried the bad boy. "Oh, -why haven't we some cotton?"</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily, outside under the window, heard all this -talk. Now the bunny gentleman knew where to find something -like cotton without going to the drug store. Inside each of -the big brown buds of the horse-chestnut tree is a little wad of -cotton. Mother Nature puts the cotton there to keep the bud -warm through the winter, so green leaves will come out in the -spring.</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily looked around and saw, lying on the snow, -a branch which the wind had broken from a horse-chestnut tree. -Hopping across the newly-fallen spring snow to this branch, -Uncle Wiggily gnawed off some of the buds. Breaking these -open with his teeth, he took out some of the soft, fluffy -cotton.</p> - -<p>"I'll just leave this on the bad boy's doorstep," thought the -bunny. "I'll tap with my crutch and hop away."</p> - -<p>So the bunny gentleman, with the wad of cotton, skipped up -the front steps of the house when no one saw him. His paws -made funny little marks in the soft snow. Uncle Wiggily put -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> -the cotton on the sill, tapped once, twice, three times with his -rheumatism crutch, and then hopped away.</p> - -<p>"Somebody's at the door!" said the bad boy. "Maybe that's -daddy coming home, so he can go to the drug store and get that -cotton for my aching ear."</p> - -<p>"Maybe," said his mother. "I hope it is."</p> - -<p>She opened the door, and when she saw there the bunch of -cotton—just what she wanted—you can imagine how surprised -she was!</p> - -<p>"Why, who could have left it?" asked the bad boy, when -his mother told him what had happened. "Who do you s'pose -did?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know," she answered. "But I saw some rabbit tracks -in the snow on our steps."</p> - -<p>"Rabbit tracks?" repeated the boy, wonderingly, as his -mother softly put some warm cotton and oil in his ear, making -the pain almost stop.</p> - -<p>"Yes, rabbit tracks," said Mother. "And, if I were you, I'd -never throw any more snowballs at rabbits."</p> - -<p>The boy (I'll not call him bad any more) put his head down -on the pillow of his bed. He could go to sleep now, as the -pain in his ear had almost stopped.</p> - -<p>"I wonder if that funny rabbit, dressed up like a little old -man, could have brought me the cotton?" said the boy.</p> - -<p>"I wonder, too," softly spoke Mother with a smile.</p> - -<p>"Anyhow, I won't ever throw stones or snowballs at rabbits -any more," promised the boy.</p> - -<p>"Or cats or dogs, either?" his mother asked.</p> - -<p>"Or cats or dogs, either," added the boy.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> -Then he went to sleep, and Uncle Wiggily, picking the bits -of fuzzy horse-chestnut tree cotton off his tall, silk hat, hopped -on to Grandpa Goosey's house and went to the movies.</p> - -<p>So that's the story of the bunny gentleman and the bad boy, -and I hope you liked it. But if the rag doll's go-cart doesn't -race with the baby carriage and slip on the banana skin as -though it had on roller skates, I'll tell you in the next story -about Uncle Wiggily and the good boy.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="V" id="V">STORY V</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE GOOD BOY</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>"Now do be careful to-day, please, Uncle Wiggily," begged -Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper of -the bunny rabbit gentleman, as he hopped down off the steps -of his hollow stump bungalow one morning.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 650px;"> -<img src="images/p032_650.jpg" width="650" height="438" alt="Now do be careful to-day." /> -</div> - -<p>"Careful? Why, I'm always careful," answered the bunny, -as he twinkled one side of his pink nose and looked to make -sure that his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch -was <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> -not painted green. "Don't you think so, Nurse Jane?" -asked Mr. Longears.</p> - -<p>"Indeed I do not," Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy answered. "You -get so excited, looking for adventures, that you don't care -whether you are chased by the Pipsisewah or Skeezicks."</p> - -<p>"But I always get away from them; don't I?" asked Uncle -Wiggily. "And the Woozie Wolf, the Fuzzy Fox and even -the Skillery Scallery Alligator. I always get away, Nurse -Jane."</p> - -<p>"It is hard work for you, sometimes," said the muskrat lady. -"I do wish you would be more careful, Wiggy. Besides, these -new adventures of yours—helping real girls and boys out of -their troubles—are dangerous. Of course, I love children, and -I know you do, also. But some day you'll be caught by one of -these bad boys or girls."</p> - -<p>"There aren't any bad girls," laughed Uncle Wiggily. -"They are just a bit funny; that's all. As for bad boys; well, -I hope to see them all turn good. And, anyhow, the children -love me so much I don't believe they'll harm me."</p> - -<p>"Well, you'd better be careful just the same," Nurse Jane -said. Then she went in to dust the dishes and sweep the furniture, -and Uncle Wiggily hopped over the fields and through -the woods, looking for an adventure.</p> - -<p>The bunny gentleman had not gone far from his hollow -stump bungalow before he saw a crowd of boys on their way -to school. One of the boys had a tin can in his hand, and another -carried a piece of rope.</p> - -<p>"Oh, maybe those boys are going camping," thought Uncle -Wiggily, "and they're going to build a campfire and cook their -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> -carrot soup, or whatever they eat, in the tin can over the fire. -I'll hide in the bushes and watch them. And I can hear what -they say."</p> - -<p>By means of a gift which a good fairy gave him, Uncle Wiggily, -for a time, was able to hear and understand the talk of -boys and girls, though he could not, himself, speak their language. -He wanted to hear what these boys would say, so the -bunny gentleman hid in the bushes.</p> - -<p>The boys came along, laughing, shouting and trying to sing, -but that last they did not do as well as girls would have done. -Somehow or other, girls are better singers than boys.</p> - -<p>Well, anyhow, the boys came nearer to where Uncle Wiggily -was hiding in the bushes, and, all of a sudden, one of the lads -gave a whoop like a wild Indian, and cried:</p> - -<p>"There's a dog! Let's get him!"</p> - -<p>"There, now!" thought Uncle Wiggily to himself. "I knew -boys were good. They want to take that dog with them to -camp and give him some of the soup they are going to boil -in the tin can. I hope they don't give it to him too hot, though, -and burn his tongue."</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily peeked over the top of the bush, and saw one -of the boys chasing the dog. It was a little dog; rather thin, -so you could almost count his ribs, and he did not seem to have -had much to eat of late. And as soon as the dog saw the boy -running after him, that dog began to run also.</p> - -<p>"Why, that's queer," said Uncle Wiggily. "Why does the -dog run away from that good boy? If I were only nearer I'd -tell the dog that the boy is going to be kind to him and give -him tomato-can camp-soup."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> -"Oh, let the dog go!" called a red-haired boy to the one -who was running along with the tin can in his hand.</p> - -<p>"No, I'm going to catch him and tie this tin can on his tail," -the first boy answered. "You ought to see how fast he'll run -when he has this tin can on his tail!"</p> - -<p>"Dear me!" thought Uncle Wiggily, hardly able to believe -what he heard. "Tie a tin can on a dog's tail! And I thought -that boy was going to be kind! Oh, oh, what a mistake I made!"</p> - -<p>Most of the boys turned off on another path and went to -school, but the one with the tin can chased after the dog, and -another boy, who seemed very nice and quiet, stayed near the -bush, behind which Uncle Wiggily was hidden. Finally the -boy with the tin can caught the poor, thin, yelping dog, and -carried him back to the bush.</p> - -<p>"Where's that piece of rope?" asked the bad boy, holding -the yelping, squirming little dog under one arm, while in the -other hand he carried the empty tin can.</p> - -<p>"What are you going to do with the rope?" asked the quiet -boy. He held his hands behind his back.</p> - -<p>"I'm going to use the rope to tie this tin can on the dog's -tail," answered the bad boy. "That's what I am!"</p> - -<p>"Then I won't give it to you," spoke the quiet lad. "I'm not -going to let you tie any tin can to a dog's tail if I can help it! -There! You can't have the rope!"</p> - -<p>With a sudden motion he threw, away over in the weeds, -the rope, which he had picked up after another lad had dropped -it to go to school.</p> - -<p>"Oh, ho! So that's what you're going to do, is it?" cried the -bad boy. "I'll fix you for that!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> -He dropped his tin can; but still holding the poor dog under -his arm, the bad boy rushed at the quiet chap.</p> - -<p>"I'll make you get that rope and help me tie the tin can on -this dog's tail!" cried the bad boy.</p> - -<p>"I think it is about time for me to do something," said Uncle -Wiggily to himself. The bunny gentleman, hidden behind the -bush, had heard all that was said.</p> - -<p>All of a sudden, just as the bad boy was going to hit the quiet -lad, for not helping to tie the tin can on the dog's tail, Uncle -Wiggily turned, and, in the soft sand and dirt, began to dig -very fast with his paws.</p> - -<p>Now a rabbit gentleman is one of the best diggers in the -world. With his paws he can make himself a burrow, or underground -house, almost before you can eat a lollypop. And -Uncle Wiggily, pawing in the dirt, made a regular shower -of sand, gravel and little stones fly right in the face of the bad -boy.</p> - -<p>By looking over his shoulder Uncle Wiggily could see which -way to dig so that the sand would go in the eyes of the bad boy, -but not in the face of the one who was kind to animals.</p> - -<p>Whiff! Whiff! Whiff! the sand, gravel and little stones -shot over the top of the bushes, and spattered all over the bad -boy.</p> - -<p>"Say! Who's doing that?" cried the unkind chap, trying -to hold his arm in front of his face to keep the sand out of his -eyes. "If you fellows don't stop that——"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p> - -<p>But he couldn't say any more, for a lot of sand went flying -into his mouth. He dropped the poor, thin dog, who ran away -and hid himself in a hollow tree, and then the bad boy had to -use both hands to wipe out the gravel that rattled down inside -his shirt, and so he couldn't hit the kind boy.</p> - -<p>"Who's scattering that gravel?" cried the bad boy, scowling.</p> - -<p>"I don't see anyone," said the other, smiling.</p> - -<p>But there was Uncle Wiggily, behind the bush, scattering -the gravel with his paws in a regular shower.</p> - -<p>"I wish Nurse Jane could see me now," chuckled the bunny -gentleman. "She surely would laugh."</p> - -<p>At last so much gravel, sand and little stones showered into -the face of the bad boy that he ran away, crying:</p> - -<p>"Oh! Oh! Oh! Something terrible must have happened! -I guess I'd better not tie any tin cans on dogs' tails any more."</p> - -<p>"I guess you'd better not," said the other boy.</p> - -<p>"And I say the same," laughed Uncle Wiggily, as he brushed -some dust off his tall, silk hat, and straightened his necktie. -Then the bunny gentleman watched, while the kind boy went -to the hollow tree and patted the poor, frightened little dog. -And then this boy hid the tin can where no other boys could -find it, and went on to school.</p> - -<p>And I think—mind you I'm not sure—but I think that bad -boy turned good after that. Anyhow if he didn't he ought to.</p> - -<p>"Well, I had quite an adventure," said the bunny rabbit -gentleman, as he hopped on to his hollow stump bungalow. "A -very good adventure!"</p> - -<p>And if the jumping jack doesn't cut a slice off the mud pie -with the bread-knife, and tell the rag doll it's a piece of chocolate -cake, I'll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily's valentine.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="VI" id="VI">STORY VI</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY'S VALENTINE</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily quickly hopped across the room and closed -the door of his hollow stump bungalow, where he was busy -in the sitting room. He heard Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy coming -along.</p> - -<p>"Well, that's queer!" exclaimed the muskrat lady housekeeper, -as she noticed what Uncle Wiggily did. "I wonder -what he means? Wiggy," she called, "are you getting ready -for some strange, new adventure, such as stopping bad boys -from tying tin cans on dogs' tails?"</p> - -<p>"Nothing like that now; no, my dear," answered the bunny -rabbit, and he quickly pulled the table cover over something -he had been looking at. "This is a secret!"</p> - -<p>"Oh—a secret!" exclaimed Nurse Jane, puzzled-like.</p> - -<p>The muskrat lady looked at a calendar hanging on the wall, -and noticed that the day was February 14.</p> - -<p>"I think I can guess what your secret is, Uncle Wiggily," -she said to herself. "I s'pose it's something for Mrs. Twistytail, -the pig lady, or maybe for Grandpa Goosey Gander. Well, -I hope you enjoy it."</p> - -<p>Then Nurse Jane went back to the dining room, where she -was giving the dishes their morning bath; and Uncle Wiggily -began to rustle some paper and tie knots in a piece of gold -string, the while murmuring to himself:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p> -<p>"I hope she likes it! Oh, I do hope she likes it. I'll put it -on the steps, throw a stone at the door so she thinks someone -is knocking, and then I'll run and hide behind a bush and watch -how surprised she is when she opens it."</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily had been very busy all that morning, after -having been out in the woods the day before. What he had -made I shall tell you about in a little while. Enough now for -you to know that the bunny rabbit had something he did not -want Nurse Jane to see.</p> - -<p>Pretty soon, after opening the door a crack, and listening to -Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy wash the face of the clock, Uncle Wiggily -hopped softly out and down the front steps, with a box under -his paw. His tall silk hat was on rather sideways, and he carried -his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch upside -down, but when you remember that it was February 14, I think -you will kindly excuse the bunny gentleman.</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily hopped on through the woods, and over the -fields. Every now and then he would stop, and, with his crutch, -brush to one side the dried leaves and little heaps of snow that -were scattered here and there in the forest.</p> - -<p>"I hope I may find some," said Mr. Longears to himself. "It -won't be half so pretty without them. I hope I find some."</p> - -<p>He searched in many places, and at last he found what he -was looking for. Carefully he picked something up off the -ground, and put it in the box he carried.</p> - -<p>"Nurse Jane will surely like this," said the bunny gentleman. -He was about to hop on again when, all of a sudden, he -heard someone crying in the woods. There was a sobbing sound -and, looking around the corner of a tree, Uncle Wiggily saw -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> -a little girl, sitting on a log. And she was crying as hard as -she could cry!</p> - -<p>"That isn't the Freckled Girl," said the bunny gentleman to -himself. "She said she wouldn't mind her freckles after she -looked at the pretty speckled birds' eggs. It isn't the Freckled -Girl. I wonder who she is, and what's the matter?"</p> - -<p>And pretty soon Uncle Wiggily found out, for he heard the -sobbing girl say:</p> - -<p>"Oh, I wish I had money enough to buy one! All the other -girls and boys can buy valentines to send teacher, but I can't! -And she'll think I don't like her, but I do! Oh, I wish I had a -valentine!"</p> - -<p>"My goodness me sakes alive and some peanut pudding!" -whispered the bunny rabbit gentleman. "That girl is crying -because she hasn't a valentine for her teacher!"</p> - -<p>Then the bunny gentleman looked down at the box, wrapped -in tissue paper, which he carried under his paw—the box in -which he had placed something he had found under the leaves -and snow of the forest a little while before.</p> - -<p>"She wants a valentine," murmured the bunny rabbit gentleman. -"And here I have one that I made for Nurse Jane. -I was going to leave it on the steps and surprise my muskrat -lady housekeeper. But I suppose I could give it to this little -girl, and—well, Nurse Jane won't care, when I tell her."</p> - -<p>"I'll do it! I'll give this girl my valentine," said Uncle -Wiggily so suddenly that his pink nose almost twinkled backward.</p> - -<p>He looked over the top of a bush behind which he had sat -down to wrap up Nurse Jane's valentine. Then the bunny -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> -hopped over to the girl who sat on the log, still sobbing because -she had no token for her teacher.</p> - -<p>The girl heard the rustling in the leaves, made by Uncle -Wiggily's paws as he hopped, and she looked up suddenly. -Then she rubbed her eyes, hardly able to believe what she saw.</p> - -<p>"Why! Why!" she murmured. "Am I dreaming? Is this -a fairy? A rabbit gentleman, dressed in a tall silk hat, and -with his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch! Oh! -Why, it's Uncle Wiggily! It's Uncle Wiggily out of my Bedtime -Story Books! Oh, how glad I am to see you, dear Uncle -Wiggily! Please come up and sit by me on this log!"</p> - -<p>But Uncle Wiggily was not allowed to do this. He put his -paw over his lips, to show that though he could hear, and understand -what the girl said, he could not talk to her in reply. Then -he placed his valentine beside her on the log and quickly hopped -away.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Uncle Wiggily! Wait a minute! Please wait a minute!" -cried the girl, but the bunny gentleman dared not -stay.</p> - -<p>"I must try and find Nurse Jane another valentine," he said -to himself, as he skipped along the woodland paths.</p> - -<p>Left alone, the girl on the log opened the box Uncle Wiggily -had left. It was made from pieces of white birch bark, such as -the Indians used for their canoes. Inside, were some sprigs -from an evergreen tree, with some round, brown buttons from -the sycamore tree. And in the middle of the evergreen sprigs -were some lovely pink and white blossoms of the trailing arbutus—the -earliest flower of Spring—growing under the leaves -and late snows. It was these arbutus flowers which the bunny -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> -had come to the woods to find and complete his valentine. Now -he had given it to the girl.</p> - -<p>"Oh, how lovely!" she murmured, tears no longer in her -eyes. "Won't teacher be surprised when I put this on her desk -and tell her Uncle Wiggily gave it to me? Oh, there's a verse, -too!"</p> - -<p>And there was! Written on a piece of white birch bark, -which is what the animal folk use instead of paper, was this -little verse:</p> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i2">"These twigs of cedar, like my heart,<br /></span> -<span class="i4">Are ever green for you.<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The blossoms whisper that I am<br /></span> -<span class="i4">Your Valentine so true!"<br /></span> -</div></div> - -<p>"I know teacher will just love this!" said the little girl, and -she was so excited she could hardly run to school. She had to -hop and skip.</p> - -<p>"Here's a valentine Uncle Wiggily gave me in the woods," -the little girl told her teacher, all excited and out of -breath.</p> - -<p>"Uncle Wiggily? How strange!" exclaimed the teacher. -"I—I hope you didn't dream it," she said to the little girl. -"But, at any rate, the valentine is real. And how lovely! It's -the very nicest one I ever saw!"</p> - -<p>Then you can imagine how pleased the little girl was. Uncle -Wiggily, hopping back to his bungalow through the woods, -gnawed a piece of white birch bark off a tree, and, with a -burned, black stick for a pencil, he scribbled on it:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Dear Nurse Jane: This is my valentine. I love you!"</p> - -<p class="float right"><span class="smcap">"Uncle Wiggily."</span></p> - -<p>And when the muskrat lady found that on the doorstep a -little later, she laughed and said it was the nicest valentine she -could wish for. And when Uncle Wiggily told about giving -the other valentine to the sad little girl, the muskrat lady said:</p> - -<p>"You did just right, Wiggy! Now let's go to the movies!"</p> - -<p>So they did. And if electric light doesn't cry when it has -to go down cellar in the dark, to get a piece of coal for the fire -to play with, you shall next hear about Uncle Wiggily and the -bad dog.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="VII" id="VII">STORY VII</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BAD DOG</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>Once upon a time, about as many years ago as it takes a -lollypop to slide down the back cellar door, there lived in a -kennel, not far from Uncle Wiggily's hollow stump bungalow, -a bad dog. And the bunny rabbit gentleman, more than once, -wished that this dog would always stay in his kennel, or remain -chained in front of it so he couldn't get loose.</p> - -<p>"For that dog," said Uncle Wiggily to Nurse Jane Fuzzy -Wuzzy, "is the pest of my life! Every time he sees me he -chases me. He isn't at all like Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, -or Old Dog Percival."</p> - -<p>"Why don't you scratch sand and gravel in his eyes as you -did in the face of the bad boy?" asked the muskrat lady housekeeper.</p> - -<p>"You can't treat dogs as you do boys," replied Uncle Wiggily. -"Though, of course, some boys and some dogs are great -friends. But this dog seems always to want to chase me."</p> - -<p>"Then you must be very careful if you go off in the woods -to-day, looking for an adventure," said Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy.</p> - -<p>"I will," promised the bunny rabbit gentleman.</p> - -<p>Away he hopped on his red, white and blue striped rheumatism -crutch, and his tall, silk hat. And this time Uncle Wiggily -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> -took with him his glasses, which he sometimes wore in order to -see better.</p> - -<p>"And I want to see the very best I can to-day," said Mr. -Longears to himself, as he hopped along. "I want to see that -bad, unpleasant dog before he sees me!"</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily was skipping along, thinking perhaps that -he had better pick a bunch of violets and take them to the lady -mouse teacher in the hollow stump school, when, all of a sudden, -there sounded through the woods a loud:</p> - -<p>"Wuff! Wuff!"</p> - -<p>"That isn't the Fox, nor yet the Wolf, nor even the Skillery -Scallery Alligator," said Uncle Wiggily, looking around the -corner of the mulberry bush. "I think it must be that savage -dog!"</p> - -<p>And, surely enough it was. And a moment later the dog -came bursting through the bushes, barking and growling and -headed straight for Uncle Wiggily.</p> - -<p>"I'll make believe I'm playing baseball and try for a home -run!" said the rabbit gentleman to himself, and through the -bushes, turning and twisting this way and that, he ran for his -hollow stump bungalow.</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily reached it only just in time, too. For as he -hopped up the steps, and closed the door, locking it, the dog -jumped over the gate.</p> - -<p>"My goodness me sakes alive and a basket of soap bubbles!" -cried Nurse Jane. "What's the matter, Wiggy? Is the house -on fire?"</p> - -<p>"It's that dog—chasing—me!" panted the bunny, for he was -quite out of breath.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p> -<p>"The idea! How impolite of him!" exclaimed the muskrat -lady, and she shook her broom out of the window at the bad -chap.</p> - -<p>"Well, you got away from me this time, but the next time -I'll get you," growled the dog, as he slunk away.</p> - -<p>"Why is he so anxious to catch you?" asked Nurse Jane, as -Uncle Wiggily sat down in an easy chair to rest.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I guess he'd chase any of the animal folk he saw in the -wood," answered the bunny gentleman. "He'd chase Sammie -or Susie Littletail the rabbits, Johnnie or Billie Bushytail the -squirrels and I'm sure he would make Lulu, Alice and Jimmie -Wibblewobble, the duck children, lose their feathers in trying -to flutter away from him."</p> - -<p>"It's too bad," said Nurse Jane. "You ought to speak to -Old Percival, the Policeman Dog about this bad chap."</p> - -<p>"I shall," said Uncle Wiggily. He did, too, but the bad dog -was so sly that Old Percival could not catch him. Uncle Wiggily -also spoke to the little dog, whom he had saved from having -a tin can tied on his tail by a bad boy.</p> - -<p>"I'll tell this savage dog to let you alone," the little chap -promised.</p> - -<p>But all this did no good. Every time the bad dog saw Uncle -Wiggily in the woods he chased the rabbit gentleman, and once -nearly caught the bunny. I don't know why this dog was so -unpleasant and mean toward Uncle Wiggily. I guess maybe -the dog didn't know any better. Perhaps he thought Uncle -Wiggily didn't like dogs, but Mr. Longears did—especially -Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, the little puppy chaps.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span></p> -<p>Well, as it happened, one day the people who owned the -big, savage dog, that always chased Uncle Wiggily, went away -on a visit. And they went in such a hurry that they left the -dog chained to his kennel, and they forgot to leave him any -water to drink, or food to eat.</p> - -<p>At first the dog was not hungry, but later in the day, when -it was time for him to have had a meal, and some water, that -dog began to feel very unhappy.</p> - -<p>"Bow! Wow! Wow!" he barked, trying to call someone -out to feed him, and pour water in the sun-dried pan. But no -one came, and the dog grew more hungry, and so thirsty that -his tongue hung down out of his mouth.</p> - -<p>Just about this time Uncle Wiggily was going through the -woods on his way to the six and seven cent store to get Nurse -Jane a spool of thread. The bunny rabbit heard the barking -of the dog, and started to run, for he knew that voice. But as -he paused to listen, and find out from which direction the sound -came, so he could run away from it, instead of toward it, Uncle -Wiggily heard a voice saying:</p> - -<p>"Bow wow! Oh, how hungry I am! How thirsty I am!"</p> - -<p>It was the savage dog speaking, and Uncle Wiggily of course -understood animal talk, even better than he had learned to -know, as he had of late, what boys and girls said.</p> - -<p>"Hum! So that dog is hungry and thirsty, is he?" said the -bunny to himself. "Well, why doesn't he go and dig up some -of the bones he must have buried? And why doesn't he go to -the duck pond and get a drink, I wonder?"</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily thought there was something strange about -this, and as the barking and animal-talking voice of the dog -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> -did not come any nearer, the bunny hopped over to see what -was the matter.</p> - -<p>There he saw the savage dog, fastened by a heavy chain to -his kennel, with nothing to eat, no water to drink and no one -to bring him any.</p> - -<p>"Oh, how hungry I am! How thirsty I am!" barked the dog.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 650px;"> -<img src="images/p048_650.jpg" width="650" height="482" alt="Oh are you? politely asked Uncle Wiggily" /> -</div> - -<p>"Oh, are you?" politely asked Uncle Wiggily, looking out -from behind a stone. He was not afraid to be this near the -bad dog, for the savage chap was chained, and could not get -loose.</p> - -<p>"Yes, I am very thirsty and hungry," whined the dog. "But -of course I don't expect you to feed me or give me water. I've -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> -been too bad to you—I've chased you too often! I can't ask -you to help me!"</p> - -<p>"I don't see why not," said Uncle Wiggily politely. "If I -were ill in my bungalow, with rheumatism, and Nurse Jane -wasn't there to wait on me, and you came along, wouldn't you -get me a drink of water?"</p> - -<p>The dog thought a moment before answering. Then he sort -of drooped his tail, sorry-like and softly said:</p> - -<p>"Yes, I believe I would."</p> - -<p>"Then," said the bunny gentleman, "I'll bring you a drink, -and if you tell me where you have buried some bones, I'll dig -them up for you, since I can't loosen your kennel chain to let -you dig them yourself."</p> - -<p>"Oh, how kind you are!" said the dog. "I—I really don't -deserve this."</p> - -<p>"Stuff and nonsense!" laughed Uncle Wiggily. "We all -make mistakes—that's why they put rubbers on the end of lead -pencils, as someone has said. I'll help you when you're in -trouble."</p> - -<p>Then the bunny found a half a cocoanut shell, and dipping -this in the nearby brook, brought water to the thirsty dog. And -when he had taken a long drink, cooling his parched and hot -tongue, the dog pointed to where he had buried some bones, -behind the barn.</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily dug up the bones with his paws, which were -just made for such work, and carried them to the dog.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I can't thank you enough," said Gurr-Rup, which was -the dog's name. "And I promise, Mr. Longears, that I'll never -chase you again."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Thank you!" laughed the bunny, as he hopped on to the -three and four cent store. "I hoped you wouldn't."</p> - -<p>So this teaches us that it doesn't hurt the needle to put the -thread in its eye, and if the apple doesn't jump out of the -dumpling, and try to hide in the chocolate cake, when it ought -to take the pie to the moving pictures, on the next page you -will find a story about Uncle Wiggily and Puss in Boots.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="VIII" id="VIII">STORY VIII</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY AND PUSS IN BOOTS</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>"Where are you going, Uncle Wiggily?" called Nurse Jane -Fuzzy one day, as the muskrat lady saw the bunny gentleman -hopping away from his hollow stump bungalow.</p> - -<p>"I am going to get myself a new pair of rubber boots," said -Mr. Longears. "My old ones are wearing out, and they have -little holes in, so they leak. We have had so much rain, of late, -that I will need a new pair of boots if I am to look for any -more adventures. So I am going to the shoemaker's."</p> - -<p>"But why are you taking your old boots along?" asked Nurse -Jane, for Uncle Wiggily had them under his paw.</p> - -<p>"I am taking them to the shoemaker to show him what size -I want my new boots," answered the bunny. "Also he may be -able to mend these old ones so they will do to wear in the -garden."</p> - -<p>"That's a good idea," said Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy. "And while -you are out I wish you would go to the seven and eight cent -store for me. I want some needles and thread, some balls of -red yarn and some white flannel."</p> - -<p>"My! All that! Are you going to make a bedquilt?" asked -the bunny gentleman.</p> - -<p>"No," laughed Nurse Jane. "I am going to use the white -flannel to make me a new petticoat, the red yarn I am going -to use to knit Sammie and Susie Littletail, the rabbit children, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> -some mittens, and the needle and thread I will use to sew up -a hole in the lace curtain."</p> - -<p>"Very well," spoke Uncle Wiggily politely, "you shall have -all three, and I'll get myself a new pair of boots."</p> - -<p>It did not take the bunny rabbit gentleman long to hop to -the shop of the Monkey Doodle shoemaker, where Mr. Longears -bought himself a new pair of rubber boots.</p> - -<p>"As for those old ones," said the Monkey chap, "I can mend -them for you, so they will do to wear many times yet."</p> - -<p>"Please do so," begged the bunny. And when his old boots -were mended he carried them over his shoulder with the new -ones, for he was wearing his shoes. Along he hopped to the -seven and eight cent store.</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily bought the needles, thread, white flannel and -red yarn for the rabbit children's mittens, and he was hopping -back to his hollow stump bungalow, when, all of a sudden, -coming from behind a sassafras bush, he heard a voice saying:</p> - -<p>"Oh, dear! How sad! Now I suppose they'll take me out -of all the story books, and the children will never love me any -more!"</p> - -<p>"Hum! This is strange," said Uncle Wiggily to himself. -"I wonder who it is that can't be in the story books any more? -That is very sad! I wouldn't want them to put me out of all the -Bedtime Story Books in which I have my adventures."</p> - -<p>So the bunny gentleman looked around the corner of a lollypop -bush, and there he saw a cat, dressed in a coat, trousers -and cap, but without anything on his hind paws, sitting on a -stump.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Good afternoon, Mr. Cat!" politely greeted Uncle Wiggily. -"You seem to be in trouble."</p> - -<p>"I am," was the answer. "Only my name is Puss, and not -Cat, though, of course, that's what I really am. Puss in Boots -is my right name, but there is no use trying to keep it -any longer."</p> - -<p>"Why not?" Uncle Wiggily asked.</p> - -<p>"Because I have lost my boots," answered Puss. "A little -while ago I met a cross dog who chased me. I ran across a swamp -and became stuck in the mud. I managed to pull my paws out -of the boots, but the boots themselves remained fast in the mud. -Now I have no boots and I can be called Puss in Boots no -longer! I shall have to keep out of all the story books!"</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 615px;"> -<img src="images/p053_650.jpg" width="615" height="432" alt="I have lost my boots answered Puss" /> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p> -<p>"Nonsense!" laughed Uncle Wiggily. "Why, I have two -pairs of boots here! Take one of them, I can only wear one -pair of boots at a time," and very politely Mr. Longears gave -his new boots to the cat.</p> - -<p>"Oh, but I can't take your new boots!" objected Puss. "The -old ones will do me very well."</p> - -<p>"No," kindly insisted Uncle Wiggily. "Please take the new -ones. Since my old ones were mended they will answer me -very well, and they'll be easier on my paws."</p> - -<p>So Uncle Wiggily gave Puss the new boots, keeping the old -mended ones for himself, and as the cat put the boots on his -paws he looked just as he ought to—like his pictures in the -story books.</p> - -<p>"Now I can keep my place, the children will not miss me. -Thank you, Uncle Wiggily," mewed Puss.</p> - -<p>"Pray do not mention it," said the bunny. "I am glad I don't -have to carry two pairs of boots."</p> - -<p>So Mr. Longears hopped on a little farther, and soon he heard -some tiny voices saying:</p> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i4">"Oh, Mother dear! Look here! Look here!<br /></span> -<span class="i4">Our mittens we have lost!"<br /></span> -</div></div> - -<p>"Ho! I should know who they are!" said the bunny. "Those -must be the three kittens!"</p> - -<p>And, surely enough, they were, as the bunny saw a moment -later, when he turned around the corner of a mulberry tree. -There were three little pussy kittens, holding up their paws -for their mother to see, and there wasn't a single mitten on -any one of the paws! What do you think of that?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i4">"What, lost your mittens! You careless kittens!<br /></span> -<span class="i4">Now you can't have any pie!"<br /></span> -</div></div> - -<p>Thus sang the mother cat. And when the three little kittens, -who had lost their mittens, began to cry, Uncle Wiggily felt -so sorry for them that he stepped up and said:</p> - -<p>"Excuse me, Mrs. Cat. But I have a lot of red yarn I bought -for Nurse Jane to knit mittens for Sammie and Susie Littletail. -There is more than Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy needs, I'm sure, so I -shall give you some to knit mittens for your pussies."</p> - -<p>"Oh, how kind you are!" mewed the mother cat, as Uncle -Wiggily gave her three balls of red yarn, still leaving plenty -for the rabbit children's mittens. "Now you may have some -pie, and I'll give Uncle Wiggily a piece, too," said the cat -mother to her kittens.</p> - -<p>"You are very kind," remarked Mr. Longears. "But I must -hop on with the needle and thread, and the piece of white flannel -Nurse Jane is going to use to make herself a new petticoat."</p> - -<p>So on hopped the bunny, while the mother cat sat down to -knit some new mittens for her kittens. And Uncle Wiggily -had not gone very far before, all of a sudden, he heard another -sad mewing sound and a voice said:</p> - -<p>"Dear me! The hole goes all the way through! I shall -never be able to go to see Old Mother Hubbard this way! Oh, -what an accident!"</p> - -<p>"That sounds like more trouble," thought Uncle Wiggily, -and, looking over the top of a stone wall, he saw a pussy cat -lady sitting on a stump, sadly looking at her skirt.</p> - -<p>"What is the matter?" asked Mr. Longears.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p> -<p>"Oh! How you surprised me!" mewed the cat lady. "But -here is the trouble. I'm Pussy Cat Mole. I jumped over a -coal, and in my best petticoat burned a great hole!" and she -showed the edge of her petticoat where, surely enough, a hole -was burned through.</p> - -<p>"And I ought to be at Mother Hubbard's now, to go with -her to the movies," said Pussy Cat Mole. "But, alas, I can -not go!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes, you can!" said Uncle Wiggily.</p> - -<p>"Not with this big burned hole in my petticoat!" mewed the -cat.</p> - -<p>"Ah, but you shall sew on a patch," said the bunny. "I have -here needle and thread, and some white flannel. Can't you -mend your best petticoat with all those?"</p> - -<p>"Indeed I can," mewed Pussy Cat Mole. "Thank you, so -much!"</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily gave her a needle and thread, and with her -claws Miss Mole tore off a piece of white flannel, for there -was more than Nurse Jane needed. She sewed the patch neatly -on, and then, with her petticoat nicely mended, Pussy Cat Mole -went on to Mother Hubbard's.</p> - -<p>"Ah, how delightful it is to be helpful," said Uncle Wiggily, -as he hopped back to his bungalow. And he was very glad he -had met the three cats, one after another. For a little later that -day the bad Woozie Wolf chased the bunny.</p> - -<p>But the mother of the three kittens, after she had knit their -mittens, tickled the wolf with her knitting needles. Puss with -the boots, stepped on the wolf's tail so hard that he cried -"Ouch!" And Pussy Cat Mole ran at the wolf with a piece of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> -red stone, which she pretended was a red hot coal that in her -best petticoat had burned a great hole.</p> - -<p>"I'll burn you! I'll burn you!" she mewed at the wolf.</p> - -<p>"Then this is no place for me!" he howled, and away he ran, -not hurting the bunny at all. And how the bunny gentleman -and the three cats laughed!</p> - -<p>So if the elephant from the Noah's Ark doesn't drop a cold -penny down the back of the gold fish and make it sneeze, the -next story is going to be about Uncle Wiggily and the lost boy.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="IX" id="IX">STORY IX</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE LOST BOY</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>"There goes that boy out again, flying his kite," said Nurse -Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, as she looked from the window of the -hollow stump bungalow one morning.</p> - -<p>"What boy?" Uncle Wiggily wanted to know.</p> - -<p>"The new boy who has just moved into the red brick house," -answered the muskrat lady housekeeper. "I hope he isn't a bad -boy, who will chase you, Uncle Wiggily, and come to the forest -to play tricks on Sammie and Susie Littletail, and the other -animal boys and girls."</p> - -<p>"Oh, he doesn't look like that kind of a boy," said the bunny -rabbit gentleman, as he sat down to eat his breakfast of carrot -pancakes with turnip maple sugar gravy sprinkled down the -middle. "But I'll be careful until I get to know him better."</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily's hollow stump bungalow had lately been -rebuilt near the edge of a wood, and, just beyond the thicket of -trees and tangle of bushes was a small town, where lived many -boys and girls.</p> - -<p>Only a few of these boys and girls knew about the bunny -rabbit gentleman, and his muskrat lady nurse, and those who -did were kind to Uncle Wiggily, because the rabbit gentleman -had been kind to them, doing them many favors.</p> - -<p>But now that a new boy had moved into the red brick house, -Uncle Wiggily felt that he must not hop around in too lively a -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> -fashion, until he found out whether the boy was bad or good. -For there are some bad boys, you know.</p> - -<p>"He seems quiet enough," said Nurse Jane, as she spread -some lettuce marmalade on a slice of bread for Uncle Wiggily. -"He sits there flying his kite. I guess it will be safe for you -to go to the store for me, Wiggy."</p> - -<p>"What do you want from the store?" asked the bunny gentleman, -as he took his tall, silk hat down off the piano. Sometimes -he went to the store quite dressed up. At other times he -would put on an old cap and overalls, just as he came from the -garden.</p> - -<p>"I want another ball of red yarn," Nurse Jane answered. "I -did not have quite enough to knit the mittens for Sammie and -Susie, the rabbit children."</p> - -<p>"I suppose that's because I gave some of the yarn to the three -little kittens who lost their mittens," said the bunny, twinkling -his pink nose upside down, to make sure it would not fall off -as he hopped along.</p> - -<p>"Well, that's one of the reasons," Nurse Jane answered. -"But I'm glad you helped the little kittens. You can easily -get me another ball of yarn."</p> - -<p>"Of course," Uncle Wiggily agreed, and soon he was hopping -over the fields and through the woods, on his way to the -store. Not one of the stores where the boys and girls bought -their toys and lollypops, but a special animal store, kept by a -Monkey Doodle gentleman.</p> - -<p>And as Uncle Wiggily hopped along under the bushes, near -the house of the Kite Boy, the bunny heard the boy's mother -say:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p> -<p>"Don't go away and get lost, Buddie!"</p> - -<p>"No'm, I won't!" promised the boy, as he held his kite string -in his hand and watched his toy fly high in the air.</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily stopped for a moment, underneath a big -burdock plant, and looked at Buddie, which was the boy's pet -name. Buddie could not see the rabbit gentleman. If he had, -Buddie would have been much surprised to notice a bunny with -glasses and a tall silk hat.</p> - -<p>The wind blew the kite higher into the air, and Uncle Wiggily -thought of the many times he had helped Johnnie and -Billie Bushytail, the squirrels, fly their kites, and how he had, -more than once, made kites for Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, the -puppy dog boys.</p> - -<p>Then the bunny gentleman hopped on to the store to get -the ball of red yarn for Nurse Jane. He stayed some little -time, Mr. Longears did, for he met Grandfather Goosey Gander, -and talked to the old gentleman duck about rheumatism, -and what to do when you sneezed too much.</p> - -<p>But finally Uncle Wiggily started back for his hollow stump -bungalow, and soon he was in the middle of the wood, about -half way home. And all of a sudden the bunny gentleman -heard a crying voice saying:</p> - -<p>"Oh, dear! Oh, dear! I don't know where my home is! I'm -lost! Oh, dear! I'm lost!"</p> - -<p>Mr. Longears peered through the bushes, and there he saw -the boy from the red brick house, who held in his hand a broken -kite.</p> - -<p>"Ah, I see what has happened!" said the bunny. "His kite -broke loose from the string. Forgetting what he promised his -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> -mother, about not going away, the boy ran after his kite, over -into the woods, and now he is lost. I wonder if I can help him -find his way home?"</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily did not show himself yet. Hiding behind -the bushes, the bunny followed the lost boy as he wandered -about among the trees, not knowing which way to go.</p> - -<p>"Oh, where is my house?" said the boy over and over again. -"Why can't I find it?"</p> - -<p>Then a mournful voice cried:</p> - -<p>"Woo! Woo! Woo!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, dear! What's that?" exclaimed the lost boy, suddenly -stopping.</p> - -<p>"It's only an owl bird," said Uncle Wiggily to himself. He -wished he might speak to the boy, and tell him this, but though -the bunny could understand boy-talk, the boy couldn't understand -rabbit language.</p> - -<p>The Kite Boy went on a little farther, and then he heard a -rustling in the dried leaves.</p> - -<p>"Oh-o-o-o!" gasped the lost boy. "Maybe that's a snake!"</p> - -<p>"Nonsense!" laughed Uncle Wiggily to himself. "It is only -a brown thrush bird, scattering the leaves to look for something -to eat. And, even if it were a snake it wouldn't hurt the boy. -I wish I might tell him so."</p> - -<p>The boy wandered along a little farther, and suddenly there -boomed out through the forest a sound of:</p> - -<p>"Ga-rump! Ga-roomp! Ga-Zing!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, maybe that's a giant!" cried the boy, dropping his broken -kite.</p> - -<p>"Ha! Ha!" laughed Uncle Wiggily. "That's only Grandpa -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> -Croaker, the big bull frog who tells such funny stories to -Bully and Bawly No-Tail, the frog boys! How Grandpa -Croaker will laugh when I tell him the lost boy thought him a -giant! But I must help this boy out of the woods, or his mother -will be worried."</p> - -<p>"Let me see, how can I do it without letting him see me? -Ha! I have it. This ball of red yarn. I'll hop to the edge -of the wood, near his house, and fasten one end of the red yarn -to a tree there. Then I'll come back, unwinding the ball on -the way, and when I get to the boy, I'll toss him what is left -of the ball. Then all he'll have to do will be to follow the red -cord right to his house."</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 603px;"> -<img src="images/p062_603.jpg" width="603" height="432" alt="It lead the boy home" /> -</div> - -<p>No sooner said than done! Uncle Wiggily knew his way -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> -through the forest, even in the dark, and he soon reached the -edge of the wood and saw the boy's red brick house.</p> - -<p>Then, tying one end of the red yarn to the bush near where -the boy had been sitting to fly his kite, Uncle Wiggily turned -back, unrolling the ball as he hopped along. He soon came -to the lost boy again, and the poor little chap was crying harder -than ever.</p> - -<p>Over the bush and at the feet of the boy, the bunny tossed -the little ball of yarn that remained.</p> - -<p>"Oh, what's that?" cried Buddie, almost ready to jump out -of his skin. But when he saw the little red ball, and the red -string stretching off through the trees, he was no longer afraid.</p> - -<p>"Oh, maybe this is a fairy string, and will lead me home!" -he joyfully cried, as he began to follow it. And, though we -know it wasn't a fairy string, still it was just as good, for it -led the boy home, as he followed the yarn, winding up the ball -as he walked along. And, oh, how fast he ran when he came -within sight of his house, crying, as he dropped the ball:</p> - -<p>"Here I am, Mother! Here I am. I'm not lost any more!"</p> - -<p>"Well, I'm glad of that," Mother answered. "You shouldn't -have gone into the woods. I was just coming to look for you."</p> - -<p>"Well," whispered Uncle Wiggily to himself, "I'm glad I -could be of some help in this world." Then the rabbit, who -had followed the lost boy until Buddie found his home, wound -up the red yarn again, and took it to Nurse Jane.</p> - -<p>"My! That was quite an adventure," said the muskrat lady -when the bunny gentleman told her about it. And if the boiled -egg doesn't try to go sailing in the gravy boat, and splash condensed -milk on the bread-knife, I'll tell you on the page after -this about Uncle Wiggily and Stubby Toes.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="X" id="X">STORY X</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY AND STUBBY TOES</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>There are some children who are always stubbing their toes -and falling down. That was what happened, far too often, to -the little boy in this story. And I am going to tell you how -Uncle Wiggily helped cure him.</p> - -<p>Perhaps you may think it strange that an old rabbit gentleman, -with a pink, twinkling nose and a tall, silk hat could cure -a boy of stubbing his toes. But this only goes to show that -you never can tell what is going to happen in this world.</p> - -<p>So we shall start by saying that, once upon a time, there was -a boy who slipped and stumbled so often that he was called -"Stubby Toes."</p> - -<p>Stubby Toes was not a very big boy. In fact, one of the -reasons he stubbed his toe so often (first the big toe of one foot, -and then the big toe of the other foot), the reason, I say, was -because he was so small. He had not yet grown up so that he -knew how to step over things that lay in his path, causing him -to stumble.</p> - -<p>Why, sometimes that boy would stumble over a pin on the -sidewalk. And again I have known him to trip and almost -fall because he saw, in his way, a leaf from a tree.</p> - -<p>"Upsi-daisey!" his sister would cry as she caught him by the -hand, so he would not fall. "Upsi-daisey, Stubby Toes!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p> -<p>It was Sister who really gave Stubby Toes his name, but she -was only in fun, of course.</p> - -<p>Well, one day when Uncle Wiggily had started out of his -hollow stump bungalow to look for an adventure, Sister took -her little brother Stubby Toes for a walk. And, as it happened, -the path taken by Sister and Stubby Toes stretched along -through the woodland where the bunny gentleman lived.</p> - -<p>"I think I'll go see Baby Bunty to-day," said Uncle Wiggily -to himself, as he hopped along, twinkling his pink nose in the -sunshine. "I have a little touch of the rheumatism, and Baby -Bunty is so lively, always playing tag, or something like that -in the way of games, that she'll make me spry, and chase the -pain away."</p> - -<p>But as the bunny gentleman came near the place where the -little boy and his sister were walking, all of a sudden Stubby -Toes tripped over a little stone, about as large as the end of -your lollypop stick, and—down he almost fell!</p> - -<p>"Upsi-daisey!" cried Sister as she pulled Brother to his feet. -"Upsi-daisey!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, ho! Boo hoo! I—I stubbed my toe!" cried the little -boy.</p> - -<p>"Of course you did!" said Sister, laughing.</p> - -<p>I think I forgot to tell you that Stubby Toes often cried -when he slipped this way. Yes, almost every time he cried, and -Sister wished he wouldn't, and so did Mother.</p> - -<p>"Boo hoo! Boo hoo!" the boy wailed. "I bunked myself!"</p> - -<p>Sister laughed and recited this little verse, which is a good -one to sing whenever anything happens. It is a verse I read -once, many years ago.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span></p> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i4">"Oh, fie,<br /></span> -<span class="i4">Do not cry,<br /></span> -<span class="i4">If you stub your toe.<br /></span> -<span class="i4">Say 'Oh!'<br /></span> -<span class="i4">And let it go.<br /></span> -<span class="i4">Be a man,<br /></span> -<span class="i4">If you can,<br /></span> -<span class="i4">And do not cry!"<br /></span> -</div></div> - -<p>After Sister had sung this for Brother, she wiped away his -tears, which just started to trickle down his cheeks, and they -walked on again.</p> - -<p>"This is a good little girl," said Uncle Wiggily to himself, -for, hidden in the bushes he had heard and seen all that went -on. "I wish I could teach Stubby Toes not to stumble so much. -I wonder how I can? I'll ask Baby Bunty about it."</p> - -<p>So Uncle Wiggily hopped on to Baby Bunty's bungalow, -and, meanwhile Brother and Sister walked through the woods.</p> - -<p>Well, I wish you could have seen what happened to Stubby -Toes! But, no! Perhaps, on second thought, it is better that -you did not. But, oh! So many times as he almost fell!</p> - -<p>He tripped over a little baby angle worm, who was crawling -to the store to get a loaf of cake for his mother. And next -Stubby Toes almost landed on his nose, because the shadow of -a bird flitted across his path.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Stubby Toes!" cried Sister, as she kept him from falling -on his face. "Will you ever learn to walk without stumbling?"</p> - -<p>"Boo hoo!" was all that Stubby Toes answered, for, just then -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> -he tripped over a blade of grass, and this time he fell down all -the way. Only he happened to land on some soft, green moss, -so he was not much hurt, I'm glad to say.</p> - -<p>"This is too bad!" Uncle Wiggily said to himself, for he had -heard and seen it all. "I must get Baby Bunty to teach this -little chap how to walk more carefully."</p> - -<p>It was not far to the home of Baby Bunty. That little rabbit -girl was out skipping her rope in front of her house.</p> - -<p>"Tag, Uncle Wiggily! You're it!" she cried, as soon as she -saw the bunny gentleman.</p> - -<p>"Tut! Tut! We have no time for a game now," said Mr. -Longears. "I want you to come with me, Baby Bunty, and -teach Stubby Toes a lesson," and he told about the little -boy.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I see what you mean," said Baby Bunty. "You want -me to hop along in front of him, and show him how not to stub -his toe."</p> - -<p>"That's it!" said Uncle Wiggily. "Stubby Toes and Sister -are kind to animals and will not harm us."</p> - -<p>So, a little later, Uncle Wiggily and Baby Bunty were walking -along the woodland path just ahead of the little boy and -his sister.</p> - -<p>"Now, Baby Bunty," said Mr. Longears, "show this boy how -nicely you can hop along, even if there are sticks and stones on -the path."</p> - -<p>Away skipped the little rabbit girl. She came to a stone, but -over it she stepped as nicely as you please. She reached a stick, -but she gave a hop, and there she was on the other side! And -she never stubbed her toe once, because she was careful!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p> -<p>By this time the little boy and his sister had seen Uncle Wiggily -and Baby Bunty.</p> - -<p>"Oh, look at the funny rabbits!" cried Stubby Toes. "I want -to catch 'em!"</p> - -<p>"No! No! Mustn't touch!" said Sister, and she reached -out to catch hold of Stubby Toes, but it was too late! He -tripped his foot on a dandelion blossom in the grass, and down -he went!</p> - -<p>"Boo hoo!" he cried.</p> - -<p>"Oh, fie!" said Sister, singing the little verse again. "Look -at the baby rabbit! She doesn't stub her toes!"</p> - -<p>And, surely enough, Baby Bunty, skipping along on the path -in front of Stubby Toes, never fell once. She skipped over -pebbles and stones, sticks and clumps of grass, and never once -stepped on a flower.</p> - -<p>"See if you can't do that, Stubby Toes!" begged Sister.</p> - -<p>And of course that boy didn't want a little baby rabbit girl -to walk better than he did. So he dried his tears, stood up -straight and began to walk more firmly, watching where he set -down his feet.</p> - -<p>He came to a big stone and—over it he stepped without -stumbling. He reached a stick—and, over that he put both -feet without falling! He passed a lump of dirt—and right -over it he JUMPED—and he didn't stub his toe once! What -do you think of that?</p> - -<p>"Oh, I'm not going to call you Stubby Toes any more!" -laughed Sister. "Now you have learned to walk as well as that -baby rabbit."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p> -<p>Uncle Wiggily laughed so hard that his tall silk hat almost -slipped down over his pink, twinkling nose.</p> - -<p>"I think we have done enough, Baby Bunty," he said, -"Come on now, and I'll buy you a carrot lollypop!"</p> - -<p>Away hopped the bunnies, and back home went Sister and -Brother who was Stubby Toes no longer. Baby Bunty had -taught him a good lesson.</p> - -<p>And if the jumping jack doesn't fall off his stick when he is -trying to play hop scotch with the bean bag, you shall next -hear about Uncle Wiggily's Christmas.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="XI" id="XI">STORY XI</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY'S CHRISTMAS</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>Down swirled the snow, its white flakes blown by the cold -December wind. From the North it came, this wind; and a -bird—not a robin, for they had long ago flown South—a bird -went in the barn, and hid his head under his wing, poor thing!</p> - -<p>It was cold in the woods around Uncle Wiggily's hollow -stump bungalow, and the rabbit gentleman brought in stick -after stick of wood for Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy to pile on the -blazing fire that roared up the chimney.</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily, having filled the wood box, took his cap, and -his fur-lined coat down from the rack.</p> - -<p>"Dear me, Wiggy! You aren't going out on a day like this, -are you?" asked Nurse Jane.</p> - -<p>"Yes," answered the bunny gentleman, "I am, if you please, -Nurse Jane. I promised Grandfather Goosey Gander I'd go -down town shopping with him. He wants to look through the -five and ten cent stores to see what they have for Christmas."</p> - -<p>"Oh, well, if it's about Christmas, that's different," said the -muskrat lady. "But wrap yourself up well, for it is storming -hard. I don't want you to take cold."</p> - -<p>"Nor do I want a cold," said Uncle Wiggily. "My pink nose -gets very red when I sneeze. I'll be careful, Nurse Jane."</p> - -<p>Out into the snowy, blowy woods went Uncle Wiggily. He -passed the burrow-house where Sammie and Susie Littletail, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> -the rabbit children, lived. Susie was at the window and waved -her paw to the bunny gentleman.</p> - -<p>"Only three more days until Christmas! Aren't you glad, -Uncle Wiggily?" called Susie.</p> - -<p>"Indeed I am," answered Mr. Longears. "Very glad!"</p> - -<p>Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, the squirrels, looked from the -window of their house. Johnnie held up a string of nuts that -he was getting ready to put on the Christmas tree.</p> - -<p>"Billie and I are going to help Santa Claus!" chattered -Johnnie.</p> - -<p>"Good!" laughed Uncle Wiggily. "Santa Claus needs -help!"</p> - -<p>The bunny hopped along through the snow until he reached -the kennel of Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, the puppy dog -boys.</p> - -<p>"We're popping corn!" barked Jackie. "Getting ready for -Christmas! That's why we can't be out!"</p> - -<p>"Stay in the house and keep warm!" called Uncle Wiggily.</p> - -<p>He hopped on a little farther until he met Mr. Gander, and -the rabbit gentleman and the goose grandpa made their way -through the five and ten, the three and four and the sixteen -and seventeen cent stores. Each place was piled full of Christmas -presents for animal boys and girls, and animal fathers and -mothers were shopping about, to tell Santa Claus what to bring -to the different houses, you know.</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily saw some things he knew Nurse Jane would -like, and Grandpa Goosey bought some presents that had come -directly from the workshop of Santa Claus.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p> -<p>Then along came Mr. Whitewash, the Polar Bear gentleman.</p> - -<p>"Ho! Ho!" roared Mr. Whitewash, in his jolly voice. -"Come to my ice cave, gentlemen, and have a cup of hot, melted -icicles!"</p> - -<p>"I'd like to, but I can't," said Uncle Wiggily. "Nurse Jane -wanted me to get her some spools of thread. I'll buy them and -go back to my bungalow."</p> - -<p>"Then I'll go with you, Mr. Whitewash," quacked Grandpa -Goosey, and he waddled off with the bear gentleman, while -Uncle Wiggily, having bought the thread, hopped toward his -bungalow.</p> - -<p>The bunny uncle had not gone very far before he heard some -children talking behind a bush around which the snow was piled -in a high drift. Uncle Wiggily could hide behind this drift -and hear what was said.</p> - -<p>"Is Santa Claus coming to your house?" asked one boy of -another.</p> - -<p>"I don't guess so," was the answer. "My father said our -chimney was so full of black soot that Santa Claus couldn't get -down. He'd look like a charcoal man if he did, I guess."</p> - -<p>"It's the same way at our house," sighed the first boy. "Our -chimney is all stopped up. I guess there'll be no Christmas -presents this year."</p> - -<p>"My! That's too bad!" thought Uncle Wiggily to himself. -"There ought to be a Christmas for everyone, and a little thing -like a soot-filled chimney ought not to stand in the way. All -the animal children whom I know are going to get presents. I -wish I could help these boys. And they probably have sisters, -also, who will get nothing for Christmas. Too bad!"</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily peered over the top of the snowbank. He -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> -saw the boys, but they did not notice the rabbit, and Mr. Longears -knew where the boys lived. Their homes were in houses -near the brick one, where dwelt the lad who was once lost in -the woods. Uncle Wiggily unwound a ball of red yarn, if you -will kindly remember, and by following this the Kite Boy -found his house.</p> - -<p>"I wish I could help those boys who are not going to have -any Christmas," said the bunny gentleman to himself, as he -hopped on with Nurse Jane's spools of thread.</p> - -<p>And just then, in the air overhead, he heard the sounds of:</p> - -<p>"Caw! Caw! Caw!"</p> - -<p>"Crows!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "My friends the black -crows! They stay here all winter. Black crows—black—black—why, -a chimney is black inside, just as a crow is black outside! -I'm beginning to think of something! Yes, that's what I am!"</p> - -<p>The rabbit's pink nose began twinkling very fast. It always -did when he was thinking, and now it was sparkling almost like -a star on a frosty night.</p> - -<p>"Ha! I have it!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "A crow can -become no blacker inside a sooty chimney than outside! If -Santa Claus can't go down a black chimney, why a crow can! -I'll have these crows pretend to be St. Nicholas!"</p> - -<p>No sooner thought of than done! Uncle Wiggily put his -paws to his lips and sent out a shrill whistle, just as a policeman -does when he wants the automobiles to stop turning somersaults.</p> - -<p>"Caw! Caw! Caw!" croaked the black crows high in the -white, snowy air. "Uncle Wiggily is calling us," said the head -crow. "Caw! Caw!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p> -<p>Down they flew, perching on the bare limbs of trees in the -wood not far from the bunny's hollow stump bungalow.</p> - -<p>"How do you do, Crows!" greeted the rabbit. "I called you -because I want you to take a few Christmas presents to some -boys who, otherwise, will not get any. Their chimneys are -choked with black soot!"</p> - -<p>"Black soot will not bother us," said the largest crow of all. -"We don't mind going down the blackest chimney in the -world!"</p> - -<p>"I thought you wouldn't," said Uncle Wiggily. "That's -why I called you. Now, of course, I know that the kind of -presents that Santa Claus will bring to the animal children will -not all be such as real boys and girls would like. But still there -are some which may do."</p> - -<p>"I can get willow whistles, made by Grandpa Lightfoot, the -old squirrel gentleman. I can get wooden puzzles gnawed -from the aspen tree by Grandpa Whackum, the beaver. Grandpa -Goosey Gander and I will gather the round, brown balls -from the sycamore tree, and the boys can use them for marbles."</p> - -<p>"Those will be very nice presents, indeed," cawed a middle-sized -crow. "The boys ought to like them."</p> - -<p>"And will you take the things down the black chimneys?" -asked Uncle Wiggily. "I'll give you some of Nurse Jane's -thread so you may easily carry the whistles, puzzles, wooden -marbles and other presents."</p> - -<p>"We'll take them down the chimneys!" cawed the crows. "It -matters not to us how much black soot there is! It will not -show on our black wings."</p> - -<p>So among his friends Uncle Wiggily gathered up bundles -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> -of woodland presents. And in the dusk of Christmas eve the -black crows fluttered silently in from the forest, gathered up -in their claws the presents which the bunny had tied with -thread, and away they flapped, not only to the houses of the -two boys, but also to the homes of some girls, about whom Uncle -Wiggily had heard. Their chimneys, too, it seemed, were -choked with soot.</p> - -<p>But the crows could be made no blacker, not even if you -dusted them with charcoal, so they did not in the least mind -fluttering down the sooty chimneys. And so softly did they -make their way, that not a boy or girl heard them! As silently -and as quietly as Santa Claus himself went the crows!</p> - -<p>All during Christmas eve they fluttered down the chimneys -at the homes of poor boys and girls, helping St. Nicholas, until -all the presents that Uncle Wiggily had gathered from his -friends had been put in place.</p> - -<p>Then, throughout Woodland, in the homes of Sammie and -Susie Littletail the rabbits, of Johnnie and Billie Bushytail the -squirrels, Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow the dogs, Curly and -Floppy Twistytail the piggie boys—in all the homes of Woodland -great changes took place. Firefly lights began to glow on -Christmas trees. Mysterious bundles seemed to come from nowhere, -and took their places under the trees, in stockings and -on chairs or mantels.</p> - -<p>And then night came, and all was still, and quiet and dark—as -dark as the black crows or the soot in the chimneys.</p> - -<p>But in the morning, when the stars had faded, and the moon -was pale, the glorious sun came up and made the snow sparkle -like ten million billion diamonds.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p> -<p>"Merry Christmas, Uncle Wiggily!" called Nurse Jane. -"See what Santa Claus brought me."</p> - -<p>"Merry Christmas, Nurse Jane!" answered the bunny. "And -what a fine lot of presents St. Nicholas left for me! See them!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, isn't he a great old chap!" laughed Nurse Jane, as she -smelled a bottle of perfume.</p> - -<p>And all over the land voices could be heard saying:</p> - -<p>"Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!"</p> - -<p>Near the hearth in the homes of some boys and girls who had -not gone to bed with happy thoughts of the morrow, were some -delightful presents. How they opened their eyes and stared—these -boys and girls who had expected no Christmas.</p> - -<p>"Why! Why!" exclaimed one of the two lads whom Uncle -Wiggily had heard talking near the snowbank. "How in the -world did Santa Claus get down our black chimney?"</p> - -<p>But, of course, they knew nothing of Uncle Wiggily and the -crows. And please don't you tell them.</p> - -<p>So all over, in the Land of Boys and Girls, as well as in the -Snow Forest of the Animal Folk, there echoed the happy calls -of:</p> - -<p>"Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!" Once again there -was joy in the land.</p> - -<p>And if the sunflower doesn't shine in the face of the clock, -and make its hands go whizzing around backward, I shall take -pleasure, next, in telling you about Uncle Wiggily's Fourth -of July.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="XII" id="XII">STORY XII</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY'S FOURTH OF JULY</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>"You must be extra careful to-morrow, Uncle Wiggily," said -Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy to the bunny rabbit gentleman one -morning, as he stood on the steps of his hollow stump bungalow.</p> - -<p>"Why be careful to-morrow, more than on any other day -in the year?" asked Mr. Longears. "Is it going to rain or -snow?"</p> - -<p>"Whoever heard of snow on the Fourth of July?" inquired -the muskrat lady housekeeper, as she fastened a fluffy brush to -the end of her tail, for she was presently going in the house to -dust the furniture.</p> - -<p>"Oh, so to-morrow is the Fourth of July!" exclaimed the -bunny. "I had forgotten all about it. Yes, indeed, I must be -careful! I am living near the real children, now, and some -of them might think it fun to explode a torpedo under my pink, -twinkling nose, or try to fasten a fire-cracker to my little tail."</p> - -<p>"That's what I was thinking of," went on Nurse Jane. For -Uncle Wiggily's bungalow, while still in the woods, was near -to the homes of some boys and girls. And though only one boy, -so far, had been bad to the bunny (and this boy soon turned -good), there was no telling what might happen.</p> - -<p>So as Uncle Wiggily hopped along the forest path, he took -care not to get too far away from the bushes, behind and under -which he could hide. For sometimes boys and girls came to the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> -forest, and once a Kite Boy was lost, and the bunny helped him -find his way home, you may remember.</p> - -<p>"Hello, Uncle Wiggily!" suddenly called a voice, and Mr. -Longears quickly jumped around, thinking it might be a real -boy or girl. But it was only Neddie Stubtail, the little boy -bear.</p> - -<p>"I've been buying my fire-crackers," said Neddie to his uncle, -the bunny. "I'm going to have lots of fun Fourth of July," -and he showed Mr. Longears a bundle of dry sticks, painted -red, white and blue like the bunny's rheumatism crutch.</p> - -<p>You must know that in Animal Land the boys and girls have -the same sort of fun you children do on holidays, but in a different -manner. Instead of real fire-crackers, that have to be -set off with a match, or piece of punk, with sparks that, perhaps, -burn you, the animal children get some dried sticks. These -they break, with loud, cracking sounds, but without any fire. -And they have lots of fun. After the sticks are broken they can -be put in the stove to boil the tea kettle.</p> - -<p>"Did you get your sister, Beckie, any Fourth of July things?" -asked Uncle Wiggily of the boy bear.</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes, I got her some little stick crackers," answered -Neddie.</p> - -<p>"That's good!" spoke Mr. Longears. Then he went on -through the woods, meeting Toddle and Noodle Flat-Tail the -beaver boys, Joie, Tommie and Kittie Kat the kittens, Nannie -and Billie Wagtail the goats, and many other animal boys and -girls. All of them called:</p> - -<p>"Hello, Uncle Wiggily! Happy Fourth of July!"</p> - -<p>And the bunny answered back:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p> -<p>"Thank you! I wish you the same!"</p> - -<p>Thus hopping through the woods, meeting the animal children, -and learning of the fun they were to have next day, the -bunny rabbit gentleman at length came to the end of the forest. -A little farther on were the houses and homes of real boys and -girls, some of whom had been helped by Mr. Longears.</p> - -<p>"I think this is as far as I had better go, seeing it's so close -to the Fourth of July," thought Uncle Wiggily. "If the real -children are anything like those of my animal friends who live -in the woods, they'll be shooting off their crackers and torpedoes -ahead of time."</p> - -<p>And, just as he said that, Uncle Wiggily heard a loud:</p> - -<p>"Bang! Bang!"</p> - -<p>The bunny jumped to one side, and hid under the broad leaf -of a burdock plant. Then he laughed.</p> - -<p>"I thought that was a hunter-man's gun," whispered Uncle -Wiggily. "But I guess it was some boy setting off a fire-cracker. -I need not have been afraid."</p> - -<p>He was just going to hop along a little farther, before turning -back to his hollow stump bungalow when, all at once he -saw a hammock swinging between two trees near the edge of -the wood.</p> - -<p>In the hammock lay a boy with a thin, pale face, and beside -him sat a nurse, gently pulling on a rope that caused the little -nest-like swinging bed to sway to and fro.</p> - -<p>"Oh ho!" thought Uncle Wiggily. "A sick boy! I'm sorry -for him! He won't be able to run around and have fun on -Fourth of July as Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow will."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span></p> -<p>And then the bunny heard the boy in the hammock speaking. -And, being able, as he was of late, to understand the talk of -real persons, Uncle Wiggily heard the boy say:</p> - -<p>"Do you think I'll ever be able to run around again, and have -fun, and shoot off fire-crackers?"</p> - -<p>"Of course you will," the nurse answered cheerfully.</p> - -<p>"But I can't have any fire-crackers now, can I?" asked the -boy, timidly, as though knowing what the answer would be.</p> - -<p>"No, Buddie! You are not quite well enough," the nurse -gently replied. "No fire-crackers for you!"</p> - -<p>"How about torpedoes?"</p> - -<p>"You couldn't have those, either, I'm afraid," and the nurse -smiled as she leaned over to give the boy a drink of orange -juice.</p> - -<p>"Oh, dear!" sighed the boy in the hammock, just like that. -"Oh, dear!"</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily felt very sorry for him.</p> - -<p>"I wish I could do something," thought the bunny gentleman. -"This boy won't have much fun on the Fourth of July—not -even as much fun as Curly and Floppy Twistytail, the -piggie chaps, will have throwing corncobs against a tin pan and -making believe they are skyrockets."</p> - -<p>"Oh, dear!" again sighed the boy in the hammock. "Oh, -dear!"</p> - -<p>"What's the matter now?" asked his nurse.</p> - -<p>"I don't s'pose I could even have a Roman candle, or a pinwheel, -could I?" the invalid asked.</p> - -<p>"Oh, indeed no!" laughed the nurse. "What a funny chap -you are!"</p> - -<p>But the boy didn't feel very funny.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> -Uncle Wiggily twinkled his pink nose. Then he put his tall, -silk hat firmly on his head and, tucking under his paw his red, -white and blue striped rheumatism crutch, off through the -woods hopped the bunny uncle.</p> - -<p>"I'm going to get some Fourth of July for that boy," said -Mr. Longears. "He simply must have some."</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily spent some time hopping here and there -through the woods, and early the next morning, when the real -boys and girls were shooting off real fire-crackers and torpedoes, -and when the animal lads and lassies were cracking sticks and -making torpedoes from broad, green leaves, Mr. Longears -hopped to where the boy was, once more, swinging in his hammock.</p> - -<p>The boy's head was turned to one side, and he was looking -at some of his friends, over in the vacant lots, setting off fire-crackers. -Uncle Wiggily, when the nurse wasn't looking, tossed -into the hammock, from the bush behind which the bunny was -hidden, a bundle of green things. They fell near the boy's -hands.</p> - -<p>Hardly knowing what he was doing the sick lad pinched one -of the green things between his fingers.</p> - -<p>"Pop!" it went.</p> - -<p>"What's that?" cried the nurse. "It sounded like a fire-cracker."</p> - -<p>The boy pinched another green leaf-like ball between his -fingers.</p> - -<p>"Pop!" sounded again, as the ball burst.</p> - -<p>"Why," cried the nurse. "That's like a torpedo! What have -you there, Buddie?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span></p> -<p>"I don't know," the boy answered. "But these round, green -balls, that burst and pop when I squeeze them, fell into my -hammock. There's a lot of 'em! I can pinch them and make -a noise for Fourth of July."</p> - -<p>"So you can!" exclaimed the nurse, pinching one herself, and -jumping when it went "Pop!"</p> - -<p>"And they won't hurt me, will they?" asked the boy.</p> - -<p>"No," answered the nurse, "they won't hurt you at all. They -must have fallen off this tree, but I never knew, before, that -such things as green fire-crackers grew on trees!"</p> - -<p>"Ha! Ha!" laughed Uncle Wiggily to himself, hidden under -a bush. "She doesn't know I brought the puff balls to -the boy."</p> - -<p>For that is what the bunny had done. In the woods he had -found the green puff balls, inside which were the seeds of the -plant. Later on, in the fall, the puff balls would be dry, and -would crackle when you touched them, opening to scatter the -seeds. But now, being green, and filled with air, they burst -with a Fourth of July noise when squeezed.</p> - -<p>"Oh, now I can have some fun!" laughed the sick boy, as he -cracked one puff ball after another. "Hurrah! Now I'm celebrating -Fourth of July!"</p> - -<p>And he was. Uncle Wiggily had helped him, and the -bunny gentleman had brought enough puff balls to last all -day.</p> - -<p>"Pop! Pop!" That is how they sounded as the boy pinched -them in his hammock. Some were large, like big fire-crackers, -and others were small, like little torpedoes.</p> - -<p>"Oh, what a lovely Fourth of July!" sighed the boy, when -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> -evening came to put the sun to bed, and the nurse wheeled the -boy into the house.</p> - -<p>And then, when it grew dark, Uncle Wiggily called together -ten thousand firefly-lightning bugs, and they flittered and -fluttered about the porch, on which the boy had been taken -after supper. The fireflies made pinwheels of themselves, they -went up like skyrockets, they leaped about in bunches like the -balls from Roman candles and finally, when it was time to go -to bed, they took hold of each others' legs and, clinging together, -spelled out:</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 630px;"> -<img src="images/p083_630.jpg" width="630" height="424" alt="Oh, it's just like real fireworks!" /> -</div> - -<p>"Oh, it's just like real fireworks!" cried the happy boy.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p> -<p>"I'm glad he liked it!" said Uncle Wiggily, as he hopped -home to his hollow stump bungalow.</p> - -<p>So if the pussy cat doesn't claw the tail off the letter Q and -make it look like a big, round O, I'll tell you next about Uncle -Wiggily and the little boy's skates.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="XIII" id="XIII">STORY XIII</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE SKATES</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>There was once a little boy to whom Santa Claus brought -a pair of skates at Christmas. And, of course, that boy, as soon -as he saw the shiny, steel runners, wished that the pond would -freeze over so that he might try his new playthings.</p> - -<p>"When do you s'pose there'll be skating?" he asked his -mother again and again, for, as yet, there was only a "skim" of -ice on the pond.</p> - -<p>"Oh, pretty soon," his mother would answer. "You mustn't -go skating when the ice is too thin, you know. If you did you -would break through, into the cold water."</p> - -<p>"And that would spoil my skates, wouldn't it?" asked the -boy.</p> - -<p>"Yes, but besides that you might be drowned, or catch cold -and be very ill," Mother said. "So keep off the ice with your -new skates until the pond has frozen good and thick."</p> - -<p>"Yes'm, I will," promised the little boy, and, really, he meant -to keep his word. But as the days passed, and the weather was -not quite cold enough to freeze thick ice, the little boy became -tired of waiting.</p> - -<p>Every chance he had, after school, he would go down to the -edge of the pond, and throw stones on the ice to see how thick -it was. Often the stones would break through, and fall into -the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> -cold, black water with a "thump!" Then the boy would -know the ice was not thick enough.</p> - -<p>"I don't want to fall through like a stone," he would say, -and back to his house he would go with his new skates dangling -and jingling at his back, over which they were hung by a strap.</p> - -<p>But one day, when the boy threw a large stone on the ice of -the pond, instead of breaking through, the rock only made a -dent and stayed there.</p> - -<p>"Oh, hurray!" cried the boy. "I guess it's strong enough to -hold me now! I'm going skating!"</p> - -<p>However, first he started to walk on the edge of the ice near -the shore, and when he did so, and heard cracking sounds, he -jumped quickly back.</p> - -<p>"I guess I'd better not try it yet," said the boy to himself. -"I'll wait a little while until it freezes harder."</p> - -<p>So he sat down by the edge of the pond to wait for the ice -to freeze harder. But as he sat there, and saw how white and -shiny it was, and as he looked at his new skates, which he had -only put on in the house, that boy couldn't wait another minute.</p> - -<p>He walked along the shore a little farther, to a place where -the ice seemed more hard and shiny and there, after throwing -some stones, and venturing out a little way, finding that there -was no cracking sound, the little boy made up his mind to try -to skate. There was no one else on the pond—no other boys -and girls, and it was a bit lonesome. But the boy was so eager -to try his new skates that he did not think of this.</p> - -<p>Down he sat on the ground, and began putting on his Christmas -skates. And it was just about this time that Nurse Jane -Fuzzy Wuzzy, Uncle Wiggily's muskrat lady housekeeper, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> -happened to look out of the window of the hollow stump bungalow. -The bunny's bungalow was so hidden in the woods, -near the pond, that few boys or girls ever saw the queer little -house. But Uncle Wiggily could see them, as they came to -the woods winter and summer, and often he was able to help -them.</p> - -<p>"Well, I declare!" exclaimed Nurse Jane, as she looked out -of the window a second time.</p> - -<p>"What's the matter?" asked Uncle Wiggily, who was just -finishing his breakfast of lettuce bread and carrot coffee, with -some turnip marmalade.</p> - -<p>"Why, there's a boy—a real boy and not one of the animal -chaps—getting ready to go skating!" said the muskrat lady, for -she could see the boy putting on his skates.</p> - -<p>"That ice isn't thick enough for real boys or girls to skate -on," the bunny gentleman said. "It would be all right for -Sammie Littletail, or Johnnie or Billie Bushytail, but real boys -are too heavy—much heavier than my nephew Sammie the rabbit, -or than the bushytail squirrel chaps."</p> - -<p>"Well, this boy is going on all the same," cried Nurse Jane. -"And I know he'll break through, and he'll frighten his mother -into a conniption fit!"</p> - -<p>"That will be too bad!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, as he -wiped a little of the turnip marmalade off his whiskers, where -it had fallen by mistake. "I must try to save him if he does -fall in!"</p> - -<p>"It would be better to keep him from going on the ice," spoke -Nurse Jane. "Safety first, you know!"</p> - -<p>"If I could speak boy language I'd hop down there and tell -him <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> -the ice is too thin," answered Uncle Wiggily. "But though -I know what the boys and girls say, I cannot, myself, speak -their talk. However, I think I know a way to save this boy, if -he happens to break through the ice."</p> - -<p>"Well, he's almost sure to break through," declared Miss -Fuzzy Wuzzy, "so you'd better hurry."</p> - -<p>"No sooner said than done!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, and, -catching up his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch, -and putting on his fur cap (for the day was cold), away the -bunny hopped from his hollow stump bungalow.</p> - -<p>Instead of going to the place where the boy, with his skates -fastened on his shoes, was about to try the ice, the bunny gentleman -went to the house of some friends of his. The house -would seem queer to you, for all it looked like was a pile of -sticks half buried in the frozen pond.</p> - -<p>But in this house lived a family of beavers—queer animals -whose fur is so warm and thick that they can swim in ice water -and not feel chilly. In fact the beavers had to dive down under -the ice and water to get into their winter home.</p> - -<p>"Are Toodle and Noodle in the house?" asked Uncle Wiggily, -as he reached the stick-house. On shore, not far from it, -was Grandpa Whackum, the old beaver gentleman, with his -broad, flat tail.</p> - -<p>"Why, yes, Toodle and Noodle are inside," answered Grandpa -Whackum. "Shall I call them out?"</p> - -<p>"If you please," spoke Uncle Wiggily. "I want them to -come and help me save a boy who, I think, is going to break -through the thin ice with his new skates."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p> -<p>"That will be too bad!" exclaimed Grandpa Whackum. -Then with his broad tail he pounded or "whacked" on the -ground, and soon up through a hole in the ice came swimming -Toodle and Noodle Flat-Tail, the two beaver boys.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 650px;"> -<img src="images/p089_650.jpg" width="650" height="443" alt="Oh hello Uncle Wiggily!" /> -</div> - -<p>"Oh, hello, Uncle Wiggily!" they called. "We're glad to -see you!"</p> - -<p>"Hello!" answered the bunny gentleman. "Will you come -with me, and help save a real boy?"</p> - -<p>"Of course," said Toodle, shaking off some ice water from -his fur coat.</p> - -<p>"He won't try to catch us, will he?" asked Noodle.</p> - -<p>"I think not," the bunny gentleman replied. "If what I -think is going to happen, does really happen, that boy will be -too surprised to catch anything but a cold! Come along, beaver -chaps!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p> -<p>So Toodle and Noodle, wet and glistening from having dived -out of their house, and down under water to come up through -the hole in the ice, followed Uncle Wiggily. The sun and wind -soon dried their fur.</p> - -<p>"There's the boy," said Uncle Wiggily, as he and the beaver -chaps reached the edge of the pond. "He's skating on thin ice. -He'll go through in a minute!"</p> - -<p>And, surely enough, hardly had the bunny spoken than there -was a cracking sound, the ice broke beneath the boy's feet and -into the dark, cold water he fell.</p> - -<p>"Oh! Oh!" cried the boy. "Help me, somebody! Oh! -Oh!"</p> - -<p>"Ha! It's a good thing Nurse Jane saw him!" said Uncle -Wiggily. "Quick now, Toodle and Noodle! I brought you -along because you have such good, sharp teeth—much sharper -and better than mine are for gnawing down trees. I can gnaw -off the bark, but you can nibble all the way through a tree and -make it fall."</p> - -<p>"Is that what you want us to do?" asked Toodle.</p> - -<p>"Yes," answered Uncle Wiggily. "We'll go close to shore, -where the boy has fallen in. Near him is a tree. You'll gnaw -that so it will fall outward across the ice, and he can reach up, -take hold of it and pull himself out of the hole."</p> - -<p>By this time the poor boy was floundering around in the cold -water. He tried to get hold of the edges of the ice around the -hole through which he had fallen, but the ice broke in his hands.</p> - -<p>"Help! Help!" he cried.</p> - -<p>"We're going to help you," answered Uncle Wiggily, but, of -course, he spoke animal language which the boy did not understand. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> -But Toodle and Noodle understood, and quickly running -to the edge of the shore they gnawed and gnawed and -gnawed very extra fast at an overhanging tree until it began -to bend and break. Uncle Wiggily gnawed a little, also, to -help the beaver boys.</p> - -<p>Then, just as the real boy was almost ready to sink down -under water, the tree fell on the ice, some of its branches close -enough so the boy skater could grasp them.</p> - -<p>"Oh, now I can pull myself out!" he said. "This tree fell -just in time! Now I'll be saved!"</p> - -<p>He did not know that Uncle Wiggily and the beaver boys -had gnawed the tree down, making it fall just in the right place -at the right time. For the boy was so frightened at having -broken through the ice, that he never noticed the bunny gentleman -and the beaver boys on shore.</p> - -<p>He caught hold of the tree branches in his cold fingers, pulled -himself up out of the water, that boy did; and to shore. Then -as he sat down, all wet and shivering, to take off his skates, so -he could run home, Uncle Wiggily called to Toodle and -Noodle:</p> - -<p>"Come on, beaver boys! Our work is done! We have saved -that boy, and I hope he never again tries to skate on thin ice."</p> - -<p>Then Uncle Wiggily hopped toward his hollow stump bungalow, -and the beaver boys slid on the ice, near shore, toward -their own stick-house, for the pond was frozen hard and thick -enough to hold them. And the boy ran home as fast as he -could, and drank hot lemonade so he wouldn't catch cold.</p> - -<p>He did get the snuffles, but of course that couldn't be helped, -and it wasn't much for falling through the ice; was it?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span></p> -<p>"You never should have gone skating until the pond was -better frozen," his mother said.</p> - -<p>"I know it," the boy answered. "But wasn't it lucky that -tree fell when it did?"</p> - -<p>"Very lucky!" agreed his mother. And neither the boy nor -his mother knew that it was Nurse Jane, Uncle Wiggily and -the beaver boys who had caused the tree to topple over just in -time.</p> - -<p>But that's the way it sometimes is in this world. And if the -cow doesn't tickle the man in the moon with her horns, when -she jumps over the green cheese, I'll tell you next about Uncle -Wiggily going coasting.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="XIV" id="XIV">STORY XIV</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY GOES COASTING</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>"Oh, it's stopped snowing! It's stopped snowing! Now -we can go coasting; can't we, Mother?"</p> - -<p>"And on our new Christmas sleds! Oh, what fun!"</p> - -<p>A boy and a girl ran from the window, against which they -had been pressing their noses, looking out to see when the white -flakes would stop falling from the sky. Now the storm seemed -to be over, leaving the ground covered with the sparkling snow -crystals.</p> - -<p>"Yes, you may go coasting a little while," said Mother. -"But don't stay too late. When Daddy comes to supper you -must be home."</p> - -<p>"We will!" promised the boy and girl, and, laughing in glee, -they ran to get on their boots, their mittens and warm coats.</p> - -<p>"I want to go coasting! Take me to slide down hill!" cried -Bumps, the little sister of the boy and girl. "I want a sleigh -ride."</p> - -<p>"Oh, Bumps, you're too little!" objected Sister.</p> - -<p>"And she'll fall down and bang herself," added Brother. In -fact the "littlest girl" did fall down so often that she was called -"Bumps" as a pet name.</p> - -<p>"I won't fall down!" Bumps promised. "I'll be good! -Please take me coasting?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p> -<p>"I think you might take her," said Mother.</p> - -<p>"Yes, we will," spoke Sister. "Come on, Bumps!"</p> - -<p>"Well, if she falls off the sled when it's going down hill, and -she gets bumped, it won't be my fault!" declared Brother.</p> - -<p>"I—I'll be good—I won't fall!" promised Bumps. So -Mother bundled her up, and out she went to the coasting hill -with Brother and Sister, each of whom had a sled.</p> - -<p>"I'm not going to give her rides on my sled all the while!" -said Brother, half grumbling.</p> - -<p>"We'll take turns," more kindly suggested Sister. "Take -hold of my hand, Bumps, and don't fall any more times than -you can help, dear!"</p> - -<p>"No; I won't," answered Bumps. The littlest girl was smiling -and happy because she was going coasting with Sister and -Brother. And she made up her mind she would try very, very -hard not to fall.</p> - -<p>On the other side of the forest, near which was the coasting -hill of the children, lived Uncle Wiggily in his hollow stump -bungalow. From afar he had often watched the boys and girls -sliding down on their sleds, but the bunny gentleman had never -gone very close.</p> - -<p>"For," he said to himself, "they might, by accident, run over -me. And, though I haven't much of a tail to be cut off, I would -look queer if anything should happen to my long ears. I'll -keep away from the coasting hill of the boys and girls."</p> - -<p>But not far from the bunny's bungalow was another and -smaller hill, down which the animal boys and girls coasted. Of -course, very few of them had such sleds as you children have, -with shiny steel runners, and with the tops painted red, blue, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> -green and gold. In fact, some of the animal boys didn't bother -with a sled at all.</p> - -<p>Take Toodle and Noodle Flat-Tail, the beaver chaps, for -instance. They just slid down hill on their broad, flat tails. -And as for Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, the squirrels, they sat -on their fuzzy tails and scooted down the hill of snow. Others -of the animal children sometimes used pieces of wood, an old -board or some sticks bound together with strands from a wild -grape vine.</p> - -<p>And about the time that Sister, Brother and Bumps went -coasting, Sammie and Susie Littletail, the rabbits, passed the -hollow stump bungalow of Uncle Wiggily Longears. The -little bunnies were each pulling a sled made from pieces of -birch bark they had gnawed from trees.</p> - -<p>"Let's ask Uncle Wiggily to go coasting with us," spoke -Susie.</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes! Let's!" echoed Sammie. "It'll be lots of fun!"</p> - -<p>And Uncle Wiggily was very glad to go coasting. Out of -his bungalow he hopped, his pink nose twinkling twice as fast -as the shiny star on top of the Christmas tree.</p> - -<p>"Dear me, Wiggy!" cried Nurse Jane. "You don't mean -to say you're going coasting with your rheumatism!"</p> - -<p>"No, I'm going coasting with Sammie and Susie," the laughing -bunny answered. "I haven't any rheumatism to go coasting -with to-day, I'm glad to tell you." And, surely enough, -he didn't need to take his red, white and blue striped -crutch.</p> - -<p>When Sammie, Susie and Uncle Wiggily reached the coasting -hill, they found there many of the animal children.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> -"Oh, Uncle Wiggily! Ride on my sled!" invited one after -another. "Ride on mine! Coast with me!"</p> - -<p>"I'll take turns with each one!" promised the bunny gentleman, -and so he did, riding with Sammie and Susie first, then -with the Bushytail squirrel brothers, next with Lulu, Alice and -Jimmie Wibblewobble, the ducks, and so on down to Dottie -and Willie Flufftail, the lamb children.</p> - -<p>Oh, such fun as Uncle Wiggily had on the animal children's -coasting hill. And on the other side of the forest, Sister, -Brother and Bumps had their fun, with the real boys and girls.</p> - -<p>At last it began to grow dusk, and when Uncle Wiggily was -thinking of telling the animal children it was time for them to -leave for home, up came rushing Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, -the puppy dog boys.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Uncle Wiggily!" barked Jackie. "We were just over -to the big hill, where the real boys coast, and we saw——"</p> - -<p>"We saw a little baby girl—that is, almost a baby—in a pile -of snow!" finished Peetie, for his brother Jackie was out of -breath and couldn't bark any more.</p> - -<p>"What's that?" cried Uncle Wiggily. "A real, live little -girl in the snow?"</p> - -<p>"Right in a snow drift!" barked Jackie. "All alone!"</p> - -<p>"Why," said the bunny gentleman, as he thought it over, -"she must have been coasting with her brother or sister, and -maybe she fell off a sled and went down deep in the snow. And -they played so hard they never missed her! But she mustn't be -allowed to stay asleep in the snow. She'll freeze!"</p> - -<p>"If she's only a little one—almost a baby—couldn't we put -her on one of our sleds?" asked Sammie.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> -"And ride her home," went on Susie.</p> - -<p>"If we all pull together we'd be strong enough to pull a real, -live girl, if she wasn't too large," quacked Jimmie Wibblewobble, -the duck.</p> - -<p>"We'll try!" said Uncle Wiggily. "All of you take the grape-vine -ropes from your sleds and follow me."</p> - -<p>Quickly the animal children did this, taking with them only -the large double sled of Neddie Stubtail, the boy bear, which -was the largest sled of all. It was low and flat, and Uncle -Wiggily thought it would be easy to roll a little girl up on it -and pull her along.</p> - -<p>Soon Uncle Wiggily and the animal children reached the -hill where the real boys and girls had coasted. None of them -was there now, all having gone home to their suppers.</p> - -<p>"Here she is!" softly barked Jackie, leading the way to a -snowbank, at the foot of the hill.</p> - -<p>And there, sound asleep in the soft, warm snow was—Bumps!</p> - -<p>Yes, as true as I'm telling you—Bumps!</p> - -<p>The little girl had been sliding down with her sister, and -had rolled off the sled at the bottom of the hill after about the -forty-'leventh coast. And Bumps was so tired, and sleepy, from -having been outdoors so long, that, as soon as she rolled from -the sled into the snow, she fell asleep! Think of that!</p> - -<p>And as Sister wanted to have a race with Brother and some -of the other children, she never noticed what happened to -Bumps. But there she was—in the snow asleep. Poor little -Bumps!</p> - -<p>"It will never do to leave her here!" whispered Uncle Wiggily -to the animal boys and girls. "Don't awaken her, but roll -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> -her over on Neddie's sled, and we'll pull her to her home. I -know where she lives. We'll leave her in front of the door, -I'll throw a snowball to make a sound like a knock, and then -we can run away. Her father and mother will come out and -take her in."</p> - -<p>So all working together, pushing, pulling, tugging and rolling -most gently, the bunny gentleman and the animal boys and -girls slid Bumps upon the low sled of the bear boy. Then they -fastened the grape-vine ropes to it, and, all taking hold, off they -started over the snow toward the village.</p> - -<p>It was almost dark, so no one saw the strange procession of -Uncle Wiggily and his friends; and the bunny gentleman was -glad of this. Right up to the home of Bumps they pulled her, -and just as they got the sled in her yard Bumps opened her -eyes.</p> - -<p>"Oh! Oh! Oh!" she cried when she saw all the animal -children, and Uncle Wiggily, too, standing around her. "I'm -in fairyland! Oh, how I love it!"</p> - -<p>"Quick, Sammie—Susie—Jackie—Peetie—scoot away!" -called Uncle Wiggily in animal talk, and the rabbits, squirrels, -guinea pigs, ducks, bears, beavers and others, all hopped away -through the soft snow, out of sight. Uncle Wiggily tossed a -snowball at the door, making a sound like a knock, and then the -bunny gentleman also hopped away, laughing to himself.</p> - -<p>He turned back in time to see the door open and Sister, -Brother, Daddy and Mother rush out.</p> - -<p>"Oh, here's Bumps, now!" cried Brother. "We must have -forgotten and left her at the hill."</p> - -<p>"Oh, that's what we did!" exclaimed Sister.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> -"Yes, but how did she get home?" asked Mother. "She -never walked, I'm sure!"</p> - -<p>"And look at the queer wooden sled!" said Sister.</p> - -<p>"Who brought you home, Bumps?" asked Daddy.</p> - -<p>"A—a nice bunny man, and some little bunnies, and squirrels, -and a little bear boy and some ducks and chickens and little -lambs and—and——" But Bumps was out of breath now.</p> - -<p>"Oh, she's been asleep and <i>dreamed</i> this!" laughed Brother. -"Some man must have found her and put her on this board for -a sled, to bring her home."</p> - -<p>"Nope!" declared Bumps, "it was a bunny! It was a funny -bunny!"</p> - -<p>"Bring her in the house!" laughed Mother. "She must have -been dreaming!"</p> - -<p>But we know it wasn't a dream; don't we? And if the -strawberry shortcake doesn't go swimming with the gold fish -in the lemonade and catch cold, I'll tell you next about Uncle -Wiggily and the picnic.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="XV" id="XV">STORY XV</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY'S PICNIC</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>"Come on, Uncle Wiggily! Wake up! Wake up!" called -Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy in the hollow stump bungalow one -morning. "Come on!"</p> - -<p>"What's that? What's the matter? Is the chimney on fire -again?" asked the bunny gentleman, and he was so excited that -he slid down the banister, instead of hopping along from step -to step as he should have done.</p> - -<p>"Of course the chimney isn't on fire!" laughed Miss Fuzzy -Wuzzy. "But this is the day for the picnic of the animal children, -and you promised to go with them to the woods."</p> - -<p>"Oh, so I did!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, and he put one -paw on his pink nose to stop the twinkling, which started as -soon as he grew excited over thinking the chimney was on fire. -"Well, I'm glad you called me, Nurse Jane. I'll get ready -for the picnic at once. What are you going to put up for -lunch?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, some carrot bread, turnip cookies, lettuce sandwiches -and nut cake," answered the muskrat lady.</p> - -<p>"That sounds fine!" laughed Uncle Wiggily. "I'm very glad -I'm going to the picnic!"</p> - -<p>"Well, you had better hurry and get ready," remarked Miss -Fuzzy Wuzzy. "Here come Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow to see -if you aren't soon going to start."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> -Uncle Wiggily looked from the window of his hollow stump -bungalow, and saw the two little puppy dog boys coming -along.</p> - -<p>Jackie was so excited that he stubbed his paw and fell down -twice, while Peetie was so anxious to show Uncle Wiggily -what was in the package of lunch the puppies were going to -take to the woods, that Peetie fell down three times, and turned -a back somersault.</p> - -<p>"Uncle Wiggily! Uncle Wiggily! Aren't you coming?" -barked Jackie.</p> - -<p>"Hurry or it may rain and spoil the picnic," added Peetie.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I hope not!" answered the bunny gentleman. "For if -there is one thing, more than another, that spoils a picnic, it is -rain! Snow isn't so bad, for we don't have picnics when it -snows."</p> - -<p>"Maybe it won't rain," hopefully spoke Nurse Jane, who -was busy putting up lunch for Uncle Wiggily. "There isn't -a cloud in the sky!"</p> - -<p>And, surely enough, when Uncle Wiggily, Nurse Jane and -dozens of animal children started off to the woods for their -picnic, the sun shone bravely down from the blue sky and a -more lovely day could not have been wished for.</p> - -<p>The forest where the bunny gentleman, Nurse Jane and the -animal children went for their picnic was a large one, with -many trees and bushes. There were dozens of places for the -squirrels, rabbits, goats, ducks, dogs, pussy cats and others to -play; and when they reached the grove they put their lunches -under bushes, on the soft cool, green moss and began to have -fun.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> -"Oh, Uncle Wiggily! Please turn skipping rope for us?" -begged Brighteyes, the little guinea pig girl.</p> - -<p>"And please come play ball with us!" grunted Curly and -Floppy Twistytail, the piggie boys.</p> - -<p>"Have a game of marbles with us," teased Billie Wagtail, -the goat, and Jacko Kinkytail, the monkey chap.</p> - -<p>"I'll play with you all in turn," laughed the bunny gentleman. -He was in the midst of having fun, and was just gnawing -off a piece of wild grape vine to make a swing for Lulu and -Alice Wibblewobble, the ducks, when up came hopping Bully -No-Tail, the frog boy. Bully was quite excited.</p> - -<p>"What's the matter, Bully?" asked Uncle Wiggily.</p> - -<p>"Oh, gur-ump!" croaked Bully. "There is a big crowd of -boys and girls over on the other side of the pond. They're -having a picnic, too! Ger-ump! Ger-ump!"</p> - -<p>"Real boys and girls!" added Bawly, who was Bully's -brother. "Hump-bump!"</p> - -<p>"Well, that will do no harm!" laughed Uncle Wiggily. -"Let the real boys and girls have their picnic. They will not -see us, for very few boys and girls know how to use their eyes -when they go to the woods. I have often hidden beside a bush -close to where a boy passed, and he never saw me. Let the boys -and girls have their picnic, and we'll have ours!"</p> - -<p>So that's the way it was. Uncle Wiggily and the animal -children played tag, and they slid down hill. Perhaps you -think they could not do this in summer when there was no snow. -But the hills in the forest were covered with long, smooth, -brown pine needles, and these layers of needles were so slippery -that it was easy to slide on them.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> -And then, all of a sudden, just about when it was time to -eat lunch, it began to rain! Oh, how hard the drops pelted -down! Rain! Rain! Rain!</p> - -<p>"Scurry for shelter—all of you!" cried Nurse Jane. "Get -out of the rain!"</p> - -<p>The animal boys and girls knew how to take care of themselves -in a rain storm, even if they had no umbrellas. Most of -them had on fur or feathers which water does not harm. And -they snuggled down under trees and bushes, finding shelter and -dry spots so that, no matter how hard it poured, they did not -get very wet.</p> - -<p>They hid their lunches under rocks and overhanging trees -so nothing was spoiled. And when the rain was over and the -sun came out, as it did, the animal picnic went on as before, -and when the food was set out on flat stumps for tables, there -was enough for everyone, and plenty left over.</p> - -<p>Nurse Jane was looking at what remained of the good things -to eat when Jackie Bow Wow, who, with Peetie, had been -splashing in a mud puddle, came running up wagging his tail.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Uncle Wiggily!" barked Jackie. "What you think? -Those real children, on the other side of the wood, they had -their things to eat out on some stumps for tables, just as we -had, and when the rain came, oh! it spoiled everything!"</p> - -<p>"They didn't know how to keep their lunches dry," added -Peetie. "Now they haven't anything to eat for their picnic, -and they are starting home, and some of the little girls are -crying."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> -"That's too bad!" murmured Uncle Wiggily, kindly. "Too -bad that the rain had to spoil their picnic! Now we have plenty -of things left that children could eat—nuts, apples, some popcorn -and pears," for the animal folk had brought all these, and -many more, to the woods with them. "We have lots left over."</p> - -<p>"We could give them something to eat," spoke Nurse Jane, -"but how are we going to get it to them? We can't call them -here; and it would never do to let them see us carrying the -things to them."</p> - -<p>"No," agreed Uncle Wiggily. "But I think I have a plan. -We can make some baskets of birch bark. Some of the animal -children—such as Jacko and Jumpo Kinkytail, the monkeys, -Joie and Tommie Kat, Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, the squirrels—are -good tree climbers. Let them climb trees near where -the real children are having their picnic, and lower to them, -on grape-vine ropes, the food we have left."</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes!" mewed Tommie, the kitten boy. "What jolly -fun!"</p> - -<p>Quickly Nurse Jane began to gather up the food. Uncle -Wiggily put it in birch bark baskets the animal children made -and then, with the baskets, fastened to vines, in their paws or -claws, the animal boys went through the wood to the place of -the other picnic. Uncle Wiggily and the remaining animal -children followed.</p> - -<p>There the poor, disappointed real children were, looking at -their rain-soaked and spoiled lunches. Some of the little girls -were crying.</p> - -<p>"We might as well go home," grumbled a boy. "Our picnic -is no good!"</p> - -<p>"Mean old rain!" sighed a girl.</p> - -<p>But just then the animal chaps with lunch from Uncle Wiggily's -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> -picnic—lunch which had not been rained on—climbed up -into trees over the heads of the boys and girls. Not a sound -did the animal chaps make. And when the real boys and girls -had their backs turned, there were lowered to the stump tables -enough good things for a jolly feast—apples, pears, popcorn, -nuts and many other dainties.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 625px;"> -<img src="images/p105_625.jpg" width="625" height="453" alt="The animal boys scurried off" /> -</div> - -<p>A little girl happened to turn around and see the birch bark -baskets of good things just as the animal boys scurried off -through the trees.</p> - -<p>"Oh, look!" cried the girl. "The fairies have been here! -They have left us some lunch in place of ours that the rain -spoiled. Oh, see the fairy lunch!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> -And I suppose that is as good a name for it as any, since the -boys and girls didn't see Uncle Wiggily's friends lower the -baskets from the trees. And the real boys and girls ate the -lunch and had a most jolly time, and so did the bunny gentleman -and his picnic crowd.</p> - -<p>Now if the rubber plant doesn't stretch over and tickle the -teapot so that it pours coffee instead of milk into the sugar -bowl, you may next hear about Uncle Wiggily in the rain -storm.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="XVI" id="XVI">STORY XVI</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY'S RAIN STORM</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>Down pelted the rain in Animal Land.</p> - -<p>It also poured in Boy and Girl Land, which was on the other -side of the forest from where Uncle Wiggily Longears lived in -his hollow stump bungalow.</p> - -<p>The bunny rabbit gentleman looked out of a window, and -saw the drops fall drip, drip, dripping from trees and bushes, -making little puddles amid the leaves where birds could come, -later, and take a bath.</p> - -<p>"You aren't thinking of going out in this storm; are you?" -asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady bungalow-keeper, -as she saw Mr. Longears putting on his coat.</p> - -<p>"Why, I was, yes," slowly answered the bunny gentleman. -"I am neither sugar nor salt, that I will melt in the rain. And, -as it isn't freezing, I think I'll take a hop through the woods, -and see Grandfather Goosey Gander."</p> - -<p>"Well, as long as you are going out, I wish you'd go to the -store for me," requested Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy.</p> - -<p>"What do you want?" asked the bunny gentleman.</p> - -<p>"Oh, bring a muskmelon for dinner," said Nurse Jane.</p> - -<p>"A watermelon would be much easier to carry through the -rain," Uncle Wiggily answered. "I think I'll bring a watermelon. -If it gets wet no harm is done."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> -"All right," agreed Nurse Jane, laughing, so away hopped -the bunny rabbit uncle, over the fields and through the woods. -It seemed to rain harder and harder, but Uncle Wiggily did -not mind. He had an umbrella, though he did not always carry -one. It was made from a toadstool, and it kept off most of the -rain. Though, as Mr. Longears said, he was neither a lollypop -nor an ice-cream cone that would melt in a shower.</p> - -<p>But not everyone was as happy as Uncle Wiggily in this -storm. On the other side of the forest, as I told you, was Boy -and Girl Land, and in one of the houses lived a brother and a -sister. They, too, stood at the window, pressing their noses -against the glass as the rain beat down, and they were not -happy.</p> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i4">"Rain, rain, go away!<br /></span> -<span class="i4">Come again some other day!<br /></span> -<span class="i4">Brother and I want to go and play!"<br /></span> -</div></div> - -<p>That is the verse the little girl recited over and over again -as she watched the rain pelting down. But the storm did not -stop for all that she said the verse backward and frontward.</p> - -<p>"Will it ever stop?" crossly cried the boy. "Why doesn't it -stop?" and he drummed on the window sill, banged his feet on -the floor and whistled. And his sister loudly recited over and -over again:</p> - -<p class="center">"Rain, rain, go away!"</p> - -<p>"Children! Children!" gently called Mother from where -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> -she was lying down in the next room. "Can't you please be a -little quiet? My head aches and I am trying to rest. The -noise makes my pain worse."</p> - -<p>"We're sorry, Mother," said the girl.</p> - -<p>"But being quiet isn't any fun!" grumbled the boy. "Why -can't we go out and play?"</p> - -<p>"Because you would get all wet," answered his mother. -"I've told you that two or three times, dear. Now please be -quiet. It will stop raining sometime, and then you may go -out."</p> - -<p>"What can we play with?" asked the boy, not very politely -I'm sorry to say.</p> - -<p>"Why, some of your toys," replied his mother. "Surely you -have enough."</p> - -<p>"I'm tired of 'em!" grunted the boy.</p> - -<p>"So'm I," echoed his sister.</p> - -<p>Then she began once more to say the verse about the rain, -as if that would do any good, and the boy rubbed his nose up -and down the window, making queer marks.</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily, on his way to see Grandpa Goosey Gander, -and get a watermelon for Nurse Jane, took a short cut through -a field, and passed the house where the children were kept in -on account of the rain. And, as it happened, the window near -which the boy and girl stood was open a little way at the top.</p> - -<p>So, as the bunny gentleman hopped past, he not only saw -the children, but he heard what they said, being able, as I have -before related to you, to understand real talk.</p> - -<p>But the children were looking up at the sky so intently, trying -to see if it would stop raining, that they never noticed Uncle -Wiggily.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> -Though if they had seen him, all dressed as he was -like a gentleman from the moving pictures, they would have -been very much surprised.</p> - -<p>"Too bad those children have to stay in on account of the -rain," thought Uncle Wiggily. "I wonder if I couldn't find -some way of amusing them? If they are tired of their own -playthings I might toss in, through the open window, some of -the things the animal boys and girls play with. I'll do it!"</p> - -<p>Off through the woods in the rain hopped Uncle Wiggily. -He found a number of smooth, brown acorns, some of which -had the cups, or caps still on. He filled one pocket with the -acorns.</p> - -<p>Next the bunny picked up some cones from the pine tree. -There were large and small cones, and Nurse Jane always used -one as a nutmeg grater, it was so rough, while Uncle Wiggily -kept one near his bed to scratch his back at night.</p> - -<p>"Let me see, what else would the animal children take?" said -the bunny to himself. "I think they would take some green -moss, and the girls would make beds with it for their dolls. -The animal boys would take hollow reeds and blow little pebbles -through them as real boys blow beans in their tin shooters. -I'll take some moss and reeds."</p> - -<p>This the bunny uncle did, also picking up some empty snail -and periwinkle shells he found on the bank of a brook.</p> - -<p>"The little girl can string these shells for beads," thought -the bunny. "And I'll strip off some pieces of white birch bark -so the boy can make a little canoe, as the Indians used to do."</p> - -<p>Having gathered all these things—playthings which the animal -children found in the woods every day—the bunny hopped -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> -back to the house of the boy and girl. The window was open, -but the boy and girl had left it. The girl was giving her mother -a drink of water, and the boy was bringing up some coal for -the fire.</p> - -<p>"This is my chance!" thought Uncle Wiggily.</p> - -<p>Standing outside, he tossed in through the open window the -acorns, the pine cones, the shells, the moss and other things. -Then he hopped quickly away and hid behind a bush. He could -hear the children come back into the room, and soon he heard -the girl cry:</p> - -<p>"Oh, look what the wind blew in! Some acorns! I can make -little cups of them, and use the tops for saucers! And I'll set a -play-party table for my doll, and decorate it with green moss. -Oh, how perfectly lovely!"</p> - -<p>"I'm going to make a boat out of this birch bark!" cried the -boy. "And look! A hollow reed, like a bean blower! Now I -can have some fun!"</p> - -<p>"Look at the lovely shells I can string and make a necklace -of!" went on the girl.</p> - -<p>"And I can make wooden legs, and a wooden head and stick -em on these pine cones and make believe they're Noah's ark -animals!" laughed the boy. "Hurray!" he cried most happily.</p> - -<p>"What is going on out there?" called Mother from where she -was lying down. "Have you found something to play with?"</p> - -<p>"Yes'm," answered the boy. "We'll be quiet now."</p> - -<p>"And we don't care if it does rain," said the girl. "The wind -blew a lot of lovely things in the window!"</p> - -<p>But of course we know that Uncle Wiggily tossed them in.</p> - -<p>"I guess they'll be all right now, no matter how much it -rains,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> -said the bunny, as he hopped along to see Grandpa -Goosey, and buy the snowmelon—excuse me, I mean the watermelon—for -Nurse Jane.</p> - -<p>So this teaches us that sometimes a rain storm is good for letting -you find out new ways of having fun. And if the looking-glass -doesn't make funny faces at the rag doll, when she's trying -to see if her hair ribbon is on backward, on the next page you -may read about Uncle Wiggily and the mumps.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p> -<hr /> -</div> - -<p class="center"><a name="Note" id="Note"><span class="smcap">Note</span></a></p> -<p>Uncle Wiggily specially requests that the following -story will NOT be read to children who have the -mumps. Please wait until they are better.</p> -<hr /> - -<h2><a name="XVII" id="XVII">STORY XVII</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE MUMPS</span></h2> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily Longears, the bunny rabbit gentleman, was -hopping through the woods one day, and he was thinking of -making his way over to the other side of the forest, where the -real boys and girls lived, hoping he might have an adventure, -when, all at once, Mr. Longears heard some voices talking behind -a mulberry bush.</p> - -<p>"I know what we can do," said the voice of a boy, as Uncle -Wiggily could tell, for he had learned to know the talk of boys -and girls.</p> - -<p>"What can we do?" asked the voice of another boy.</p> - -<p>"We can pick up a lot of stones," went on the first boy, "and -we can make believe we're hunters, and we can walk through -the woods and throw stones at the birds, and squirrels, and -rabbits! Come on! Let's do it!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, no! I don't want to do <i>that</i>," said the second boy. "It -isn't any fun to throw stones at birds and bunnies. If you hit a -mother bird, and break her wing, she can't take anything to eat -to the little birds, and they'll starve."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> -"Pooh! That's nothing!" exclaimed the first boy, and Uncle -Wiggily peeked over the top of the bush to see what manner of -boys these were. But the bunny rabbit gentleman kept himself -well hidden.</p> - -<p>"I don't want any stones thrown at me," he thought.</p> - -<p>"And," went on the second boy, who seemed rather kind, "if -you throw a stone at a rabbit you might break its leg, and then -it couldn't hop home to the baby rabbits."</p> - -<p>"That is very true!" thought Uncle Wiggily, who was listening -to all that went on. "I wish there were more boys like this -kind one."</p> - -<p>"Well, I don't care!" grumbled the first boy. "I'm going off -and throw stones at birds and rabbits and squirrels!"</p> - -<p>"And I'm going home," said the second boy. "I don't feel -very good. I have a pain in my cheek and maybe I'm going to -have the toothache."</p> - -<p>"Goodness me, sakes alive! I hope nothing like <i>that</i> happens -to such a kind boy," thought Uncle Wiggily. "And as for that -other chap, I'll run ahead of him, through the woods, and tell -my friends to hide so he can't throw stones at them."</p> - -<p>So, while one boy went home and the other picked up some -stones, Uncle Wiggily skipped along through the woods, calling, -in his animal talk, to his friends to hide themselves.</p> - -<p>"For a boy is coming to stone you!" exclaimed the bunny rabbit -gentleman. "Hide! Hide away from the stone-throwing -boy!"</p> - -<p>And so it happened that when the unkind chap came tramping -through the woods, the only bird he saw to stone was an old -black crow, as black as black could be.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> -"I'll hit you!" cried the boy, as he threw a stone.</p> - -<p>But the crow was a wise old bird, and wastn't even afraid of -the scary, stuffed men that farmers put in their cornfields. So -the crow dodged the stone and then he laughed at the boy.</p> - -<p>"Haw! Haw! Haw!" laughed the old black crow. "Haw! -Haw! Haw!"</p> - -<p>The boy grew very cross at this, and threw more stones, and -some fell among the flower bushes where some bees were gathering -the sweet juices of flowers to make into honey. One stone -knocked a bee off a blossom, and spilled the honey it was gathering.</p> - -<p>"Just for that I'm going to sting that boy!" buzzed the bee. -Out it flittered, making such a zipping sound around that boy's -head as to cause the bad chap to drop his stones and run away. -So the bee did not have to sting him after all.</p> - -<p>"Boys are no good!" buzzed the bee to Uncle Wiggily, as the -honey chap flew back to the flowers.</p> - -<p>"Oh, <i>some</i> boys are good," said the bunny gentleman. "The -boy who was with this bad chap was good, and kind to animals. -And that reminds me; this boy said he didn't feel very well. I -must hop over to-morrow, and take a look at his house. I know -where he lives. I hope he isn't going to have the toothache."</p> - -<p>But the kind boy, as I call him just for fun, you know, had -something worse than the toothache. His neck and jaws began -to swell in the night, and he could hardly swallow a drink of -water which his mother gave him when she heard him tossing in -bed.</p> - -<p>"What you s'pose is the matter of me, Mother?" asked the boy. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Well," said Mother, as she smoothed his pillow, "perhaps -you caught cold in the woods to-day."</p> - -<p>But it was worse than that. When the Doctor came in the -morning, and looked at the boy, and gently felt of his neck -(even which gentle touch made the boy want to cry) the Doctor -said:</p> - -<p>"Hum! Mumps!"</p> - -<p>"Did you say 'bumps,' Doctor?" asked the boy's mother. -"Did he fall down and bump himself?"</p> - -<p>"No, I said <i>mumps</i>!" exclaimed the doctor. "That's a swelling -inside his neck, and it will hurt him a lot. But if you keep -him in bed, and warm, and give him easy things to eat, he'll -soon be all right again."</p> - -<p>"Poor boy!" murmured Mother. "Well, I suppose <i>mumps</i> -are better than <i>bumps</i>!"</p> - -<p>"I'm not so sure about that," spoke the Doctor as he walked -to the door with the boy's mother. "Whatever you do," he said -in a whisper, "don't give him anything <i>sour</i>—such as lemons or -pickles. Sour things make the mumps pain more than ever. -Don't even <i>speak</i> of vinegar in front of him, or so much as <i>whisper</i> -it!"</p> - -<p>"I won't," promised Mother.</p> - -<p>But the boy's little sister overheard what Doctor and Mother -were saying, and, being a mischievous sort of girl, she decided -to have some fun. At least <i>she</i> called it fun.</p> - -<p>"I'm going to stand in front of Brother and hold up a pickle -so he can see it," said Sister to herself. "I want to see what -he'll do!"</p> - -<p>So Sister hurried down to the kitchen and brought up a pickle. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> -Then she went in the room where Brother was in bed and, holding -the sour pickle in front of him, called:</p> - -<p>"Look!"</p> - -<p>And, no sooner did the boy look than he felt a sharp pain in -his throat, almost as bad as toothache, and he cried:</p> - -<p>"Go on away! Stop showing me that—that——" Well, he -couldn't even say the word "pickle," for just the thought of -anything sour hurts your mumps, you know.</p> - -<p>The boy hid his face in his pillow, and when he couldn't see -the pickle he felt a little better. But his Sister was still full of -mischief.</p> - -<p>"Lemons! Lemons! Nice sour lemons!" she called teasingly.</p> - -<p>"Stop it! Stop it!" begged the boy. "Oh, how my mumps -hurt! Mother, make Sister stop hurting my mumps!"</p> - -<p>And when Mother came, and found what Sister was doing, -she made the little girl go to bed, even though it was daytime.</p> - -<p>"You will, very likely, get the mumps yourself," said Mother. -"And I hope no one says anything sour to <i>you</i>."</p> - -<p>And, later on, Sister did get the mumps, but I'm glad to say -her brother did not hold a lemon up in front of her. For, as I -told you, even the <i>thought</i> of anything sour hurts the mumps.</p> - -<p>Now you know the reason why I didn't want you to read this -story when you had the swelling in your neck. It was better -to wait until your mumps were gone; wasn't it?</p> - -<p>So this boy had the mumps, and he had them on both sides at -once, which is the very worst form. He could hardly swallow -anything because of the pain, even things that were not sour. -Now and then he managed to sip a little hot chocolate.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> -His mother put a warm flannel bandage around his face, -which was much swelled, and, thus wrapped up, the little boy -could, now and then, get out of bed.</p> - -<p>It was on one of these times, when his jaws were wrapped up, -and his face swollen, that Uncle Wiggily happened to hop -along through the woods, not far from the Mump Boy's house. -And, having very good eyes, Mr. Longears saw the sick lad.</p> - -<p>"Poor fellow!" thought the bunny gentleman. "He is ill, -just as he thought he was going to be! Toothache it is, too!"</p> - -<p>"Who has the toothache!" asked Dr. Possum, for the animal -doctor came along just then, with his bag of medicine held fast -in the curl of his tail.</p> - -<p>"That boy," answered Uncle Wiggily, pointing from the -bush, where he and Dr. Possum were hiding, to the window of -the boy's home.</p> - -<p>"He hasn't the toothache! Those are the mumps!" said Dr. -Possum, who knew all about such things.</p> - -<p>"Mumps!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "Oh, that's too bad. -Why, if that boy is mumpy he must have trouble eating. I wonder -if I could leave on his doorstep something he would like—something -that he wouldn't have to chew and which would -slip down easily?"</p> - -<p>"Whatever you leave for him, don't have it <i>sour</i>," advised -Dr. Possum, as he hurried along to see Curly Twistytail, the -piggie boy, who had cut his nose on a piece of glass while digging -for wild sunflower roots in the woods.</p> - -<p>"Ha! Nothing sour for the Mump Boy!" said Uncle Wiggily -to himself, as Dr. Possum hopped away. "Then something -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> -sweet will be just the proper thing. Sweet honey! I have it! -I'll ask my friends, the bees, for some of their honey. I'll get -Nurse Jane to make a little pail of birch bark, and I'll leave the -wild honey on the boy's stoop."</p> - -<p>Off hopped the bunny gentleman, until he found where the -bees had their home in a hollow tree.</p> - -<p>"Could you give me some honey for a good boy with bad -mumps?" asked the rabbit.</p> - -<p>"Some honey for a good boy with the bad mumps?" said the -Queen Bee. "Certainly, Uncle Wiggily! As much as you -like!"</p> - -<p>Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the bunny's muskrat lady housekeeper, -made a little box of white bark from the birch tree, and -when this pretty box was filled with wild, sweet honey, Uncle -Wiggily took it with him one evening.</p> - -<p>It was time for the Mump Boy to go to bed, but the pain in -his neck was so bad that he cried.</p> - -<p>"I'm hungry, too," he said. "Oh, why can't I eat something -that won't hurt my mumps?"</p> - -<p>"I'll try to think of something for you," said Mother wearily.</p> - -<p>Just then Uncle Wiggily hopped to the edge of the forest, -close to the Mump Boy's house, and running up, he put the birch -box of wild honey on the stoop. Then the bunny threw some -little stones at the door and hopped away, hiding in the bushes.</p> - -<p>"Wait until I see who's at the door," said Mother, as she -smoothed the boy's pillow. "Then I'll get you something."</p> - -<p>She looked out on the porch, and saw the little birch bark -box.</p> - -<p>"It looks like a valentine," she thought, "though this isn't -Valentine's Day."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> -"What is it?" asked the boy. "Is it anything I can eat that -won't hurt my mumps?"</p> - -<p>"Why, yes, it is!" joyfully said his mother, as she saw what -it was. "Sweet, wild honey!"</p> - -<p>Even the name, so different from sour pickles or lemons, made -the Mumps Boy feel better.</p> - -<p>"Please give me some," he begged. "It sounds good!"</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 625px;"> -<img src="images/p120_625.jpg" width="625" height="438" alt="Uncle Wiggily saw him at the window" /> -</div> - -<p>The wild sweet honey slipped down as gently as a feather, -not hurting the boy's neck at all. And soon after that he went -to sleep and in a few days he was better.</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily saw the boy at the window, the bandage no -longer on his face, and he even saw the boy eating the last of -the wild honey.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> -"I guess he liked it," thought the bunny, as he hopped away.</p> - -<p>When the boy was all better, and could be out and play, he -asked all of his friends which one it was who had left the honey -on the porch. One and all answered:</p> - -<p>"I didn't do it!"</p> - -<p>"I wonder who it was?" said the boy, over and over again.</p> - -<p>Well, we know; don't we? But we aren't allowed to tell. -And when the Boy's Sister caught the mumps, Uncle Wiggily -left her some honey also. Which was very kind of him, I -think.</p> - -<p>So if the little pussy cat doesn't drop her penny in the snowbank, -thinking it will turn into a dollar so she can buy a box -of lollypops, you may next hear about Uncle Wiggily and the -measles.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="XVIII" id="XVIII">STORY XVIII</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE MEASLES</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>Once upon a time there was a boy who didn't like to go to -school. Every chance he had he stayed at home instead of going -to his classes to learn his lessons.</p> - -<p>Sometimes he would get up in the morning and say:</p> - -<p>"Mother, I think I'm going to have the toothache. I guess I -better not go to school to-day."</p> - -<p>But his mother would laugh and say:</p> - -<p>"Oh, run along! If you get the toothache in school the -teacher will let you come home."</p> - -<p>Then the boy would go to school, though he didn't want to, -and he would be thinking up some new excuse for staying home, -so really he did not recite his lessons as well as he might.</p> - -<p>One day this boy came running in the house, all excited, and -called out:</p> - -<p>"Oh, Mother! I just know I can't go to school to-morrow!"</p> - -<p>"Why not?" asked Mother.</p> - -<p>"'Cause I've been playing with the boy across the street, an' -he's got the measles, an' I'll catch 'em an' I can't go to school. -You ought t' see! He's all covered with red spots!" The boy -who didn't like school was much excited. "He's all red spots!" -he exclaimed.</p> - -<p>"Is he?" asked Mother. "Well, the measles aren't painful, -though they are 'catching,' as you children say. However, you -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> -can't catch them quite as soon as one day. So you may go to -school until you break out with red spots. Then it will be time -enough to stay at home."</p> - -<p>"Can't I stay home to-morrow?" begged the boy.</p> - -<p>"Oh, of course not!" laughed Mother. "I want you to go -to school and become a smart man! Time enough to stay home -when you get the measles!"</p> - -<p>Now, of course, this did not suit that boy at all. When he -went to bed he was thinking and thinking of some plan -by which he could stay home from school. For there was to be -a hard lesson next day, and, though I am sorry to say it, that -boy was too lazy to study as he ought.</p> - -<p>"If I could only break out with the measles I could stay -home," he kept saying over and over again as he lay in bed. -Every now and then he would get up, turn on the electric light -in his room and look at himself in the glass to see if any red -spots were coming. But he could see none.</p> - -<p>"What's the matter, Boysie?" his mother called to him from -her room. "Why are you so restless?"</p> - -<p>"Maybe I'm getting the measles," he hopefully answered.</p> - -<p>"Nonsense! Go to sleep!" laughed Daddy.</p> - -<p>Finally the boy did go to sleep, but either he dreamed it, or -the idea came to him in the night, for, early in the morning, he -awakened and, slipping on his bath robe, went into his sister's -room.</p> - -<p>"Hey, Sis!" he whispered. "Where's your box of paints?"</p> - -<p>"What you want 'em for?" asked Sister.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I—I'm going to paint something," mumbled the boy. -Sister was too sleepy—for it was only early morning as yet—to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> -wonder much about it, so she told her brother where to find the -paints, and then she turned over and went to sleep again.</p> - -<p>Now what do you suppose that boy did?</p> - -<p>Why, he went back to his room, and with his sister's brush -and color box he painted red spots on his face, just as he had -seen them on the face of the real Measles Boy across the street. -Then this boy put the paints away and waited.</p> - -<p>After a while Mother called:</p> - -<p>"Come, Boysie! Time to get up and go to school!"</p> - -<p>"I—I don't guess I'd better go to school this morning," said -the boy, trying to make his voice sound weak and ill and faint-like.</p> - -<p>"Not go to school! Why not?" cried Mother in surprise.</p> - -<p>"I—I'm all red spots," the boy answered. And when his -mother went in his room, and saw that he really was spotted, -she exclaimed:</p> - -<p>"Why, you <i>have</i> the measles! I didn't think they'd break -out so <i>soon</i>! Well, you must stay in the dark on account of -your eyes. I'll bring you in some breakfast, and of course you -can't go to school!"</p> - -<p>Then that boy had to put the bedquilt over his mouth so he -wouldn't laugh. If his room had been light his mother, of -course, would have seen that the spots were only red paint. -But in the dimness of early morning she didn't see.</p> - -<p>"Isn't Brother going to school?" asked Sister as she ate her -breakfast.</p> - -<p>"He has the measles," said Mother. "I expect you'll come -down with them next, and break out in a day or so. But wait -until you do."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> -And if Sister thought anything about her red paint she said -nothing. I don't believe she ever imagined her brother would -play such a trick.</p> - -<p>At first, after his sister had gone to school, and he had been -given his breakfast in bed, the boy thought it was going to be -lots of fun to pretend to have the measles and stay home from -school. But after a while this began to grow tiresome.</p> - -<p>It was a beautiful, warm sunshiny day outside, and staying -in a dark room wasn't as much fun as that boy had thought. He -could hear the bees humming outside his open window, and -the birds were singing.</p> - -<p>His mother opened the door and spoke to him.</p> - -<p>"I'm just going across the street a few minutes," she said. -"You'll be all right, won't you?"</p> - -<p>"Yes'm," answered the boy. "My measles don't hurt hardly -any."</p> - -<p>And of course they couldn't, being only painted measles, you -know.</p> - -<p>When Mother went away, softly closing the door after her, -the sound of the buzzing bees and the singing birds came to -the boy through his window. He knew it must be lovely outside, -and yet he had to stay in bed.</p> - -<p>"But I can get up and run out for a little while," he said to -himself. "Mother will never know!"</p> - -<p>No sooner thought of than done! The boy quickly put on -some clothes—not many, for it was summer—and out into the -yard he went, his face all red paint spots. He didn't dare wash -them off or his mother would have noticed.</p> - -<p>Now it happened that Uncle Wiggily, the bunny rabbit gentleman, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> -was out that day, taking a walk with Grandfather -Goosey Gander. The two friends passed through the woods, -close to the edge of the yard of the house where the make-believe -Measles Boy lived. And the boy saw the bunny gentleman, all -dressed up as Uncle Wiggily was. Grandpa Goosey, also, had -on his coat and trousers. Uncle Wiggily wore his golf suit that -day—black and white checkered trousers and a cap.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 650px;"> -<img src="images/p126_650.jpg" width="650" height="460" alt="Hop faster! quacked Grandpa" /> -</div> - -<p>"Oh, what a funny rabbit! What a funny goose!" cried the -boy. "I'm going to catch 'em and have a play circus in my -yard!"</p> - -<p>Forgetting that he was supposed to be suffering from measles, -this boy chased after Uncle Wiggily and Grandpa Goosey.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> -"We'd better run," quacked the goose gentleman. "Boy, -you know! Chase us! Throw stones, you know. Better run; -what?"</p> - -<p>"I believe you!" answered Uncle Wiggily. "Run it is!"</p> - -<p>Off hopped the bunny! Off waddled the goose! But the boy -was a fast runner, in spite of the red spots on his face and he -came nearer and nearer to Uncle Wiggily.</p> - -<p>"I'm afraid he's going to catch me, Grandpa!" spoke Mr. -Longears in animal talk, of course, which the boy could not -hear, much less understand.</p> - -<p>"Hop faster!" quacked Grandpa, who was half running and -half flying.</p> - -<p>On came the boy! Grandpa Goosey, who was ahead, looked -back and saw that Uncle Wiggily was soon going to be caught.</p> - -<p>"There is only one way to save the bunny," thought Grandpa -Goosey. "I'll splash some water in that boy's face and eyes so -he can't see for a moment. Then Uncle Wiggily and I can -get away!"</p> - -<p>Near the path along which the boy was chasing the bunny -and goose was a puddle of water. As quick as a wink Grandpa -Goosey splashed into this, and, with his wings and webbed feet, -he sent such a shower of water into the face of the boy that the -bad chap had to stop.</p> - -<p>"Oh! Ouch! Stop splashing me!" cried the boy. His face -was all wet, but he wiped it off on his sleeve, and with his handkerchief. -And when he had cleared his eyes of water he started -to run again.</p> - -<p>But by this time Uncle Wiggily and Grandpa Goosey were -far off, hidden in the forest, and the boy could not find them.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> -"I guess I'd better go back home and get into bed," thought -the boy. "Mother will be looking for me."</p> - -<p>He was just going in the house when his mother came up the -steps.</p> - -<p>"Why, Boysie!" exclaimed Mother. "You shouldn't have -gone out with the measles! Why—where <i>are</i> your measles?" -she asked, for the spots were gone. "Your face is all red, like -a lobster; but you haven't any more measles spots! What happened?"</p> - -<p>The boy remembered the water that Grandpa Goosey had -splashed up from the puddle. He took out his handkerchief -and looked at it. That, too, was red!</p> - -<p>"Why, it's <i>red paint</i>!" cried Mother. "Oh, Boysie! How -could you play such a trick?" and she felt so sad that tears came -into her eyes. "What made you do it, Boysie?"</p> - -<p>"I—I didn't want to go to school," the boy answered, softly -and much ashamed.</p> - -<p>"Oh, how foolish of you!" said Mother. "Now I'll have to -take you to school myself, but I won't tell teacher what you -did—that is, I will not if you study your lessons well."</p> - -<p>"I will, Mother! I will!" the make-believe Measles Boy -promised. "I'll never want to stay home from school again!"</p> - -<p>And he never did—even when he really had the measles -which broke out on him about a week later. But he did not have -them very hard, though he didn't need any of his sister's paints -to make red spots.</p> - -<p>And when Grandpa Goosey looked in the window of the -boy's house, and saw the little chap with his face all speckled, -the goose gentleman said:</p> - -<p>"Serves him right for chasing Uncle Wiggily and me!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> -Well, perhaps it did. Who knows? Anyhow, if it should -happen that the doorknob doesn't turn around and try to crawl -through the keyhole when the milk bottle chases the pussy cat -off the back stoop, then I may tell you next about Uncle Wiggily -and the chicken-pox.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="XIX" id="XIX">STORY XIX</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CHICKEN-POX</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>One day Charlie and Arabella Chick, the little rooster and -hen children of Mrs. Cluck-Cluck, the hen lady, came fluttering -over to Uncle Wiggily's hollow stump bungalow.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Uncle Wiggily!" cackled Arabella. "What you think -has happened?"</p> - -<p>"Well, I hardly am able to guess," answered the bunny gentleman. -"I do hope, though, that your coop isn't on fire. You -seem much excited, my dears!"</p> - -<p>"Well, I guess you'd be excited, too, if a boy threw stones -at you!" crowed Charlie. "Wouldn't you?"</p> - -<p>"Indeed I would," admitted Uncle Wiggily. "Once a boy -did stone me and I didn't like it at all."</p> - -<p>"We don't like it either," cawed Arabella.</p> - -<p>"Isn't there some way you can stop that boy from throwing -sticks and stones at us?" Charlie wanted to know.</p> - -<p>"Tell me about it," suggested Uncle Wiggily.</p> - -<p>"Well, it's this way," began Arabella. "This boy lives on -the other side of the Big Forest. Sometimes Charlie and I go -over there to pick up beechnuts and other good things to eat, -and every time that boy sees us he pegs things at us! Wouldn't -you call him a bad boy, Uncle Wiggily?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> -"Most surely I would," answered the rabbit gentleman. -"But why does he do it? You don't crow over him; do you, -Charlie?"</p> - -<p>"No, indeed," answered the rooster boy. "I only crow to -warn Arabella when I see that fellow coming, to tell her to -run and hide under a bush."</p> - -<p>"And I don't pick him, or scratch gravel at him or anything -like that," cackled the little hen girl. "I wish he'd let us alone, -Uncle Wiggily."</p> - -<p>"We came over to see if you could think up a way to make -him stop," crowed Charlie. "Can you?"</p> - -<p>"Hum! I'll try," promised the bunny gentleman, twinkling -his pink nose like the frosting on top of an orange shortcake. -"Suppose we go look for this boy," went on Uncle Wiggily. -"So I'll know him when I see him."</p> - -<p>"I can show you his house," offered Charlie. "But we'll have -to be careful. For if he sees us he'll peg things at us."</p> - -<p>"Let us hope not," murmured Uncle Wiggily.</p> - -<p>But it was a vain hope, as they say in fairy books. For after -Uncle Wiggily, Charlie and Arabella had gone to the other side -of a forest, there, all of a sudden, they saw the boy.</p> - -<p>"Hi! There are those funny dressed-up chickens!" shouted -the boy, who had red hair, and a face full of freckles. "And -there's a rabbit with them, all dressed up in a tall silk hat! Oh, -my! What style! I'm going to see if I can knock his hat off -with a stone! I'm going to peg rocks at 'em!"</p> - -<p>"See! What did I tell you?" cackled Arabella, who could -understand boy-talk, as could also Charlie and Uncle Wiggily.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> -"Bang!" bounced a stone on Uncle Wiggily's tall silk hat, -sending it spinning through the air.</p> - -<p>"Ha! Ha!" laughed the boy, as he picked up another stone. -"I'm a good shot, I am!"</p> - -<p>"I should call that rather a <i>bad</i> shot—for my hat," remarked -Uncle Wiggily, as he picked up his silk hat and hopped toward -the bushes. "Come on, Arabella and Charlie!" called the bunny -gentleman. "This boy is acting just as you said he did. I -must think up some way of teaching him a lesson!"</p> - -<p>The little hen girl and rooster boy scooted under the bushes, -and only just in time, for the boy threw many more stones, and -one struck Charlie on the comb. Not the comb that he used to -make his feathers smooth, but the red comb on his head—one of -his ornaments; his tail feathers being others.</p> - -<p>"Hi, fellows! Come on chase the funny chickens and the -dressed-up rabbit!" cried the boy. But though some of his -chums ran up, as he called, with sticks and stones, Uncle Wiggily, -with Charlie and Arabella, managed to hide away from -the thoughtless lads. For they were thoughtless. They didn't -think that stones hurt animals.</p> - -<p>"Yes, I certainly must teach that boy a lesson," said Uncle -Wiggily.</p> - -<p>"I—I wish he'd catch the chicken-pox!" crowed Charlie. "Or -maybe the roosterpox! Then he'd have to stay in and couldn't -chase us!"</p> - -<p>"I wouldn't care if he had the mumps and toothache at the -same time!" cackled Arabella.</p> - -<p>For several days Uncle Wiggily watched for a chance to -teach the thoughtless boy a lesson, and at last it came. The -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> -bunny gentleman was out hopping in the woods one morning -when he met Charlie and Arabella fluttering along the forest -path.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 650px;"> -<img src="images/p133_650.jpg" width="650" height="412" alt="The boy was asleep under a tree" /> -</div> - -<p>"Oh, Uncle Wiggily!" said Arabella in a cackling whisper. -"That boy is asleep now, on a bed of moss under a tree. He's -sleeping hard, too, for Charlie and I went close to him and he -didn't awaken. Maybe you can do something to him now."</p> - -<p>"Maybe I can," said Uncle Wiggily. "I'll go see!"</p> - -<p>He hopped through the woods with the chicken children, and -soon came to where the boy was asleep under a tree. It was a -pine tree, with sticky gum oozing from the trunk and branches. -And as soon as the bunny gentleman saw this gum he whispered:</p> - -<p>"I have an idea! I'll teach this boy a lesson."</p> - -<p>"How?" asked Charlie.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p> -<p>"I'll make him think he has the chicken-pox, or something -worse," answered the bunny, with a silent laugh.</p> - -<p>"Goodie!" cackled Arabella.</p> - -<p>"Ha! Ha!" crowed Charlie.</p> - -<p>"Quiet now, chicken children," whispered Uncle Wiggily. -"Each of you pull me out a few loose feathers."</p> - -<p>Charlie and Arabella did this. Then the bunny uncle took -some of the soft gum from the pine tree, and put spots of it on -the face and hands of the sleeping boy. Though he stirred a -little, the boy did not awaken.</p> - -<p>When the boy was well spotted with the sticky gum, Uncle -Wiggily took the chicken feathers that Charlie and Arabella -had plucked, and fastened these feathers on the boy's face and -hands in the gum.</p> - -<p>"Oh, how funny he looks!" softly cackled Arabella.</p> - -<p>"Hush!" cautioned Uncle Wiggily, putting his paw on his -pink, twinkling nose. "Let him sleep!"</p> - -<p>Drawing back into the bushes, Uncle Wiggily, Charlie and -Arabella waited for the boy to awaken, which he did pretty -soon. He turned over, sat up and stretched. Then he looked -at his hands, and saw chicken feathers stuck on them.</p> - -<p>"Oh! Oh!" cried the boy. "What has happened to -me?"</p> - -<p>He jumped to his feet and caught sight of himself in a spring -of water that was like a looking glass.</p> - -<p>"Oh! Oh!" cried the boy again. "This is terrible! Oh, my -face!"</p> - -<p>Home he ran through the woods, while Charlie and Arabella -laughed to see him go.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> -"Oh, Mother! Mother! Look at me!" cried the boy. "I'm -all feathers! I must have the chicken-pox!"</p> - -<p>"Goodness me, sakes alive and a basket of eggs!" exclaimed -the boy's mother. "You must have gone to sleep in a hen's -nest! But you haven't the chicken-pox! The chicken-pox is -spots like the measles, but you are covered with <i>feathers</i>!"</p> - -<p>"But how did I get this way?" asked the boy, as he pulled -off some of the feathers. "I wasn't like it when I went to sleep -in the woods."</p> - -<p>"Maybe a fairy did it," spoke his little sister, who believed -in them.</p> - -<p>"Pooh! There aren't any fairies!" sneered the boy. "I guess -it was that hen and rooster I stoned."</p> - -<p>"Did you do that?" asked his mother. "Did you?"</p> - -<p>"A—a little!" stammered the boy.</p> - -<p>"Well, it isn't any wonder you're this way, then," Mother -said. "And, for all I know, you may get the real chicken-pox!"</p> - -<p>And, as true as I'm telling you that boy did! But he was -not made very ill, for some reason or other. Perhaps because -he had to be washed so clean, to get off the sticky pine gum and -the feathers, the chicken-pox didn't go in very deeply.</p> - -<p>At any rate, when the boy was all well again, he threw no -more stones at Charlie or Arabella.</p> - -<p>"You cured him, Uncle Wiggily!" crowed the rooster boy.</p> - -<p>And I really think the bunny did. So if toy balloon doesn't -take the spout off the teakettle to blow beans through at the -egg beater, I'll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily's Hallowe'en.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="XX" id="XX">STORY XX</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY'S HALLOWE'EN</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>Hopping along under the bushes one day, near the edge of -the forest nearest to where lived the real boys and girls, Uncle -Wiggily Longears, the bunny rabbit gentleman, heard two -boys talking together.</p> - -<p>"We'll put a tick-tack on her window," said the First Boy.</p> - -<p>"And she'll be scared stiff!" said the Second Boy. "Oh, what -fun we'll have this Hallowe'en!"</p> - -<p>"Hum!" thought the bunny rabbit gentleman to himself, -after hearing this. "It may be fun for <i>you</i>, but how about whoever -it is you're going to scare stiff? I only hope it isn't my -nice muskrat lady housekeeper, Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy!"</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily twinkled his pink nose, and listened with -both ears.</p> - -<p>"Yes," went on the First Boy, "we'll have a lot of fun this -Hallowe'en with tick-tacks and the like of that! And we'll put -on false faces so the Little Old Lady of Mulberry Lane won't -know us!"</p> - -<p>"Oh ho! So that's the one they're going to play tricks on; -is it?" thought Uncle Wiggily to himself. "The Little Old -Lady of Mulberry Lane! I know her—poor creature; she lives -all alone, and she may have a cupboard, like Old Mother Hubbard, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> -but she hasn't a dog or a bone. I suppose," thought Uncle -Wiggily, "that Jackie or Peetie Bow Wow would stay with -her, if she wanted them. I must see about it."</p> - -<p>"But, first of all, I must plan some way so these mischievous -boys won't put a tick-tack on the window of the Little Old Lady -of Mulberry Lane. I know what tick-tacks are!"</p> - -<p>And well Uncle Wiggily knew, for sometimes the boys and -girls of Woodland, near the Orange Ice Mountains, where the -bunny had built his hollow stump bungalow, put one of the -scary things on his window. That is, they were scary if you -didn't know what they were, but Uncle Wiggily did.</p> - -<p>Oftentimes Sammie Littletail, the rabbit, or Johnnie and -Billie Bushytail, the squirrels, would take some string, a pin -and an old nail, or little stone, and make a tick-tack. They fastened -a short piece of string to the pin, and on the other end of -the string they tied a dangling stone. When it grew dark the -animal chaps would sneak up to Uncle Wiggily's window, and -stick the pin in the wooden sash so the stone, or nail, hung -dangling down against the glass. Then they would tie the long -string, or thread, about half way down on the short cord and -hide off in the bushes, with one end of the long string in their -paws.</p> - -<p>From their hiding place the animal boys would pull the long -string. The pebble, or stone, would rattle against Uncle Wiggily's -window, making a sound like:</p> - -<p>"Tick! Tack!"</p> - -<p>That's how it got its name, you see.</p> - -<p>"So they are going to play tick-tack on the Little Old Lady -of Mulberry Lane; are they?" said Uncle Wiggily to himself, -as the two boys walked away. "Well, I must try to stop them!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> -Mulberry Lane was a street near the forest where the bunny -gentleman lived in his hollow stump bungalow, and the Little -Old Lady was the only one whose house was built there. The -bunny liked the Little Old Lady, for in winter she scattered -crumbs for the birds.</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily hopped home to his hollow stump, and from -the attic he took down one of his old, tall silk hats.</p> - -<p>"What in the world are you doing, Uncle Wiggily?" asked -Nurse Jane. "Do you think it is April Fool, and are you going -to wear an old hat so the animal boys won't play tricks -on you?"</p> - -<p>"Well, not exactly," the bunny answered. "I'll tell you -later, Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy—if it works."</p> - -<p>"Hum!" said the muskrat lady housekeeper, as she saw Mr. -Longears put in his pocket some pieces of white paper and a pot -of paste. "I do believe he's going to fly a kite—and on Hallowe'en -of all nights!"</p> - -<p>For it quickly became Hallowe'en night. As soon as the -dusky shadows of evening began to fall, strange figures flitted -to and fro, not only in the woods of the animal folk, but on the -other side, in the village where the real boys and girls lived.</p> - -<p>Real boys, with the heads of wolves, the faces of clowns and -some as black as the charcoal-man skipped here and there, ringing -doorbells, outlining in chalk on the steps something that -looked like an envelope, or else they tapped on windows with -long sticks so that when the windows were opened no one could -be seen.</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily, hopping off through the darkness toward the -edge of the forest, carried with him one of Nurse Jane's old -brooms,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> -an old, tall silk hat and a coat the bunny gentleman -had, long ago, tried to throw in the rag bag. Only Miss Fuzzy -Wuzzy wouldn't let him.</p> - -<p>"I'll mend it, sew on some new buttons and it will be as good -as ever," she said. Well, Uncle Wiggily found this coat and -took it with him.</p> - -<p>"I'll stop those boys from putting a tick-tack on the window -of the Little Old Lady of Mulberry Lane," thought the bunny -as he hopped along. "I'll tick-tack them!"</p> - -<p>He kept in the shadows of the trees so none of the animal -children saw him. But the bunny gentleman saw them. He -saw Neddie Stubtail, the boy bear, dressed up like the Pipsisewah. -And Billie Wagtail, the goat, had on a false face just -like the skinny Skeezicks.</p> - -<p>Here and there animal girls were hurrying to Hallowe'en -parties. Lulu and Alice Wibblewobble, the ducks, were giving -one, and Baby Bunty, the little rabbit girl, had been invited to -"bob" for carrots at the house of Buddy and Brighteyes, the -guinea pigs.</p> - -<p>Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, who were dressed in clown -suits, hurrying to have fun with Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, -the squirrels, caught sight of Uncle Wiggily.</p> - -<p>"Come and have some Hallowe'en fun with us!" barked -Jackie.</p> - -<p>"I will in a little while," promised the bunny.</p> - -<p>On and on he hopped, and soon he came to the house of the -Little Old Lady of Mulberry Lane. The bunny could look in -her window and see her reading a book by the light of a -candle.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> -"I'll hide under her window," thought the bunny, "and when -those boys come with the tick-tack—well, we'll see what happens!"</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily did not have long to wait. Pretty soon he -heard a rustling in the bushes and some whisperings.</p> - -<p>"Here they come!" thought Mr. Longears. He put the extra -tall silk hat on top of the broom, and fastened his old coat to -the handle, on a cross-stick he had nailed there. Then, taking -the pieces of white paper from his pocket, Uncle Wiggily pasted -them on the shiny part of the old silk hat in the shape of a grinning -Jack o' Lantern face. Then the bunny crouched down behind -the bushes with the scarecrow he had made.</p> - -<p>"You sneak up and fasten on the tick-tack," whispered one -boy, "and I'll pull the string so it will rattle and scare the Old -Lady stiff!"</p> - -<p>"I want to pull the string, too!" said the other boy.</p> - -<p>"Yes, you can, after you fasten on the tick-tack."</p> - -<p>"Well, give it here then," said the second boy.</p> - -<p>They were so close to the bush, behind which Uncle Wiggily -was hidden, that the bunny could have reached out and touched -them with his paw if he had wished.</p> - -<p>But he didn't do that. Instead, Uncle Wiggily suddenly -lifted up the broom, dressed as it was in the old coat and the -tall hat with the grinning, white paper face like a Jack o' -Lantern.</p> - -<p>"Boo-oo-oo-bunk!" groaned the bunny rabbit, scary-like.</p> - -<p>The boys, who were just getting ready to frighten the Little -Old Lady of Mulberry Lane, jumped up in fright themselves. -They saw the queer face laughing at them.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> -"Oh, it's a Hallowe'en hobgoblin! A hobgoblin!" cried one -boy.</p> - -<p>"Come on! Come on!" shouted the other. "Let's get out -of here!" And dropping string, tick-tack and everything, away -they ran. They never knew that it was only a bunny rabbit -gentleman who had surprised them.</p> - -<p>"Ha! Ha!" laughed Uncle Wiggily, as he peered out from -behind the broomstick and the scary tall-hat creature he had -made. "I guess they won't bother the Old Lady now!"</p> - -<p>The Little Old Lady of Mulberry Lane laid aside the book -she had been reading and opened her door.</p> - -<p>"Is anybody there?" she gently asked, looking out over her -dark garden. "Seems to me I heard a noise-like. Is anybody -there, trying to play Hallowe'en tricks on a poor, lone body like -me? Anybody there?"</p> - -<p>No one answered—not even Uncle Wiggily—for he couldn't -speak real talk, you know. But he heard what the Old Lady -said.</p> - -<p>"Nobody there! I guess it must have been the wind," said -the Little Old Lady of Mulberry Lane, as she shut the door.</p> - -<p>But we know it wasn't the wind; don't we?</p> - -<p>Then the bunny hopped back to his own part of the forest, -to have Hallowe'en fun with the animal boys and girls. The -frightened boys ran home and jumped into bed. And if the -piano key doesn't unlock the door of the phonograph, and let -all the music run down the pussy cat's tail, you may next hear -of Uncle Wiggily and the poor dog.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="XXI" id="XXI">STORY XXI</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE POOR DOG</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>Once upon a time there was a dog so poor that he had no -kennel to sleep in. He made his bed in old boxes and barrels -along the street, or behind stores. And as for things to eat—that -poor dog thought himself lucky if he found a bone without -any meat on it! Oh, he was dreadfully poor, was that dog!</p> - -<p>He had no collar to wear, though of course he did not miss a -necktie, for dogs never wear those. But when this dog saw -other dogs, with shiny brass or nickel collars around their necks, -when he saw some of them riding in automobiles as he splashed -through the mud, and when he looked over in yards and saw -some dogs gnawing juicy, meaty bones in front of their warm -kennels—this poor dog sometimes felt sad.</p> - -<p>"I don't see what use I am in this world," thought the poor -dog, as he chased away a tickling fly who wanted to ride on his -tail. "I certainly can't help anyone, for I can hardly help myself! -I think I'll go off in the woods and get lost! Yes, that's -what I'll do," barked the poor dog. "Get lost!"</p> - -<p>Perhaps if he had had a good breakfast that morning, with -a biscuit or two, or even a slice of puppy cake, he might have -been more happy. As it was, after crawling out of an empty -rain-water barrel, where he had slept all night, and after finding -only a small bone for his breakfast, this dog went off to the -woods.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> -"Good-bye, everybody!" he softly barked, as he stood on the -edge of the forest, and looked back toward the village he was -leaving. But there was no one even to bark a farewell to him. -All alone the poor dog started into the woods. "Good-bye!" -he whined.</p> - -<p>Now in this same forest, on the opposite side from the trees -nearest the village, stood the hollow stump bungalow of Uncle -Wiggily Longears. And this same morning that the poor dog -decided to lose himself, the bunny rabbit gentleman started out -with his tall, silk hat, his red, white and blue striped rheumatism -crutch, and his pink twinkling nose to look for an adventure.</p> - -<p>"Keep your eyes open for the Woozie Wolf or the Fuzzy -Fox!" called Nurse Jane, the muskrat lady housekeeper as Mr. -Longears hopped away.</p> - -<p>"I will!" promised the bunny uncle.</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily hopped along and along and along, looking -behind bushes and rocks for an adventure when, all of a sudden, -he saw a sort of hole down in between two logs.</p> - -<p>"Perhaps there is an adventure down in there for me," said -the rabbit gentleman. "I'll poke my paw down in and find out. -This hole isn't large enough to be the den of the Fox or Wolf."</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily thrust one of his forepaws down into the hole, -and began feeling around between the logs. He touched something -soft and fuzzy, and he was just beginning to think that -perhaps Baby Bunty was hiding down there so he couldn't tag -her when, all of a quickness, those logs rolled together. Before -Uncle Wiggily could pull out his paw it was caught fast, and -there he was, held just as if he were in a trap.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> -"Oh, my goodness me, sakes alive, and a basket of soap -bubbles!" cried the bunny rabbit gentleman. "I'm caught! -How dreadful! I must get out!"</p> - -<p>Well, he pulled and he pulled and he pulled, but still his -paw was held fast. He scrabbled around among the dried -leaves, he tried to lift one log off the other with his rheumatism -crutch, and he tried to gnaw a hole in the top log that held him -fast. But it was all of no use.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I'm afraid I'll have to stay here forever, unless I get -help!" thought Uncle Wiggily. "But I must call for aid! Perhaps -Grandpa Goosey, or Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, will hear -me!"</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 660px;"> -<img src="images/p144_650.jpg" width="650" height="452" alt="Who calls for help?" /> -</div> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily stopped his pink nose from twinkling, so that -he could call more loudly, and then he shouted:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> -"Help! Help! Help!"</p> - -<p>For a time there was no answer, only the wind blowing among -the leaves of the trees. And then, all at once, there was a -rustling in the bushes and a voice asked:</p> - -<p>"Who calls for help?"</p> - -<p>"I do," answered Uncle Wiggily. "Oh, even if you are the -Woozie Wolf or the Fuzzy Fox, please help me!"</p> - -<p>"I am neither the Wolf nor the Fox," was the answer. "I -am only a poor dog who came to this forest to lose himself. I -never have been able yet to help anyone."</p> - -<p>"Well, perhaps you can help me," said Uncle Wiggily, as -cheerfully as he could speak. "Come here and see where the -logs have fallen on my paw, holding me fast."</p> - -<p>So the poor dog, with his ragged clothes which made him look -almost like a tramp, came through the bushes, close to Uncle -Wiggily.</p> - -<p>"My, but you're stylish!" said the dog, as he saw Uncle Wiggily's -tall, silk hat.</p> - -<p>"That isn't anything," sadly said the bunny rabbit gentleman. -"Tall hats do not make for happiness. I'd rather have -on an old, ragged cap, like yours, and be free, than wear a diamond -and gold crown like a king and be held fast here."</p> - -<p>"Yes, it isn't fun to be caught in a trap," barked the poor -dog. "But I think I can gnaw through one of those logs and -set you free."</p> - -<p>Then he began to gnaw. He gnawed and he gnawed and -he gnawed, and, in a little while, one of the logs was cut in -two, just as if it had been sawed, and Uncle Wiggily could -pull out his paw.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> -"I can't tell you how thankful I am," said the bunny to the -dog. "What fine, strong white teeth you have. How did you -get them?"</p> - -<p>"From gnawing bones without any soft meat on them, I suppose," -answered the dog. "Poor dogs must have strong teeth, -or they would starve. Rich dogs, who get soft food, can afford -to have soft teeth."</p> - -<p>"Well, then I am very glad you are a poor dog!" laughed -Uncle Wiggily.</p> - -<p>"You are?" barked the other, in great surprise.</p> - -<p>"Certainly; of course I am!" exclaimed the bunny. "Just -think! Suppose you had been one of those rich dogs, with soft, -crumbly teeth! You would not have been able to gnaw through -the log and I would still be held fast."</p> - -<p>"Yes, that's so," agreed the dog, wagging his tail. "I never -thought of that."</p> - -<p>"Then be thankful, as I am, that you are poor, and have -strong teeth," went on Mr. Longears. "You have been of great -help to me."</p> - -<p>"Have I?" barked the dog. "Then I am very glad! I never -before helped anyone. I thought I was too poor!"</p> - -<p>"Well, you aren't going to be poor any more," went on the -bunny rabbit gentleman. "Come to the woods and live near -my hollow stump bungalow. I have a friend, Old Dog Percival, -who will let you stay in his kennel. He is rich!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, that makes me very happy!" said the dog, who used to -be poor. "I have always wanted a kennel to live in!"</p> - -<p>Then he went home with the bunny rabbit. And, though -he never became a very rich dog, still he had a warm kennel, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> -which Percival shared with him, and he always had enough to -eat; and he became great friends with Mr. Longears and Nurse -Jane.</p> - -<p>So this teaches us that even if a lollypop has a stick this does -not mean it needs a whipping. And if the sunflower doesn't -shine so brightly in the eyes of the potato that it can't see to get -out of the oven, I'll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and -the rich cat.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="XXII" id="XXII">STORY XXII</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE RICH CAT</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>Once upon a time there was a very rich cat, but with all she -had she was not happy. She owned an automobile and kept a -little mouse servant girl to wait on her. And an old gentleman -rat did all the heavy work around the house, such as putting -out the ashes and cutting the grass.</p> - -<p>"Heigh-ho!" sighed the rich cat lady one morning, after she -had lapped up some thick, heavy cream, which was left on her -doorstep each day. "Heigh-ho! I am so tired!"</p> - -<p>"Tired of what?" squeaked the little mouse servant, as she -brought a paper napkin for the rich cat to wipe the cream from -her whiskers. Even though she was well-off, the cat lady had -whiskers, and she was very proud of them.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I am tired of sitting around doing nothing!" purred -the rich cat.</p> - -<p>"Then why not go for a ride in your auto?" asked the poor -little mouse servant girl.</p> - -<p>"I am tired of that, too," spoke the rich cat. "It is the same -old thing every day! Dress and go out. Come back and dress -to eat! Dress to go out again! Come back and undress to go -to bed and get up in the morning to dress and do it all over -again! I—I'd like to have an <i>adventure</i>!" mewed the cat lady.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> -"Oh, mercy! An <i>adventure</i>!" squeaked the mouse. -"Never!"</p> - -<p>"Yes," went on the cat, "a real, exciting adventure. I saw -a poor dog the other day—at least he used to be poor, and he -is far from rich now. But he looked so well, and so lively, with -such strong, white teeth! I heard him telling another dog he -had had a most wonderful adventure in the woods with an old -rabbit gentleman named Uncle Wiggily. I quite envied that -poor dog!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, and you so rich!" murmured the mousie girl.</p> - -<p>"I don't care!" mewed the wealthy cat lady. "I'd almost be -willing to be poor if I could have an adventure. Come, I'll go -for a ride in the auto. It will be better than dawdling around -the house."</p> - -<p>So the cat lady ordered out her auto, with the rat gentleman -to drive it, and the little mousie girl to sit beside her on the -cushioned seat.</p> - -<p>"Where shall I drive to, Lady Cat?" asked the old gentleman -rat chauffeur.</p> - -<p>"Oh, anywhere—to the woods—the fields—anywhere so that -I may have an adventure—I don't care!" mewed the rich cat.</p> - -<p>So the rat gentleman drove the auto through the village, and -out into the forest. At first the roads were very good, but at -last they became bumpy, and the cat lady and mousie girl were -much shaken up and jiggled about, not to say joggled.</p> - -<p>"Do you want to go on?" asked the rat.</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes," answered the cat. "It shakes up my liver, and I -seem to be feeling more hungry. Go on, perhaps I shall find -an adventure."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> -The auto lurched and bumped on a little farther and, all of -a sudden there was a crash.</p> - -<p>"Oh!" screamed the little mousie girl.</p> - -<p>"What is the matter?" asked the cat lady, looking through -her fancy glasses.</p> - -<p>"We have had an accident," answered the gentleman rat. -"The auto is broken, and I shall have to go for help."</p> - -<p>"Let us go, also," squeaked the mousie girl. "We don't want -to stay here in the woods alone."</p> - -<p>"<i>You</i> may not want to," said the cat with a smile. "But <i>I</i> -am going to. Run along with Mr. Rat, Miss Mouse, and get -help. I'll stay here!"</p> - -<p>So the rich cat lady was left alone, sitting in the auto, one -wheel of which was broken, while the rat gentleman and mousie -girl went to look for a garage where they could get help.</p> - -<p>"Perhaps this is the start of an adventure," thought the cat.</p> - -<p>A moment later she heard a rustling in the bushes, and out -popped a strange dog. Now the rich cat lady knew some rich -dogs who wore silver and gold collars, and were friends of -hers. She was not afraid of them. But this was a dog without -any collar, though he had on a suit of clothes. And, when the -cat lady looked a second time, she saw that it was a boy dog -and not a grown man dog.</p> - -<p>"Bow! wow!" barked the boy dog. "You're a strange cat! -What are you doing in these woods? Hi, Jackie!" howled the -dog. "Come help me chase this strange cat up a tree!"</p> - -<p>"All right, Peetie! I'm with you!" answered a voice, and -out of the bushes came another boy dog. The two dogs rushed -at the cat lady.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> -Now she might not have been afraid of <i>one</i> boy dog, but -when <i>two</i> of them leaped toward her, this was enough to -frighten almost any pussy! Don't you think so?</p> - -<p>"Meaouw! Mew! Mee!" cried the cat, and before she knew -it she was climbing a tree. Up she scrabbled, her claws tearing -off bits of bark, until she was perched on a limb, high above her -auto and the barking dogs down below.</p> - -<p>"My goodness me, sakes alive, and a liver cream puff!" said -the excited rich cat lady to herself, her heart beating like an -alarm clock. "This is dreadful! To think of me, a wealthy -cat, being chased up a tree by two poor dogs! What will my -friends think?"</p> - -<p>Then she looked down at the dogs and said:</p> - -<p>"Run away if you please, little puppy boys!"</p> - -<p>"No! No!" they barked. "Bow! Wow!"</p> - -<p>"You run and tell him," said one puppy to the other. "Tell -him there's a strange cat in his woods. I'll stay here at the -foot of the tree so she can't get down until you come back with -him!"</p> - -<p>"I wonder whom they are going to bring back?" thought the -rich cat up the tree. And she could not help laughing a little -as she thought how strange she must look. "The mouse servant -and rat chauffeur will be surprised when they come back and -see me here," thought the cat.</p> - -<p>One little puppy dog boy ran away, while the other remained -on guard at the foot of the tree.</p> - -<p>"May I come down?" asked the cat lady.</p> - -<p>"No, indeed!" growled the dog, though he did not speak impolitely. -"You must stay up there!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> -"Dear me!" thought the cat lady. "This is quite an unexpected -adventure!"</p> - -<p>All of a sudden she saw the puppy at the foot of the tree -jump up. At the same time there was a rustling in the bushes, -and along came the other puppy, with an old gentleman rabbit, -who wore a tall silk hat, who had a pair of glasses on his pink, -twinkling nose and who walked with a red, white and blue -striped rheumatism crutch.</p> - -<p>"There she is, Uncle Wiggily!" barked a puppy dog. "We -saw her in your woods, and chased her up a tree until you could -look at her. Maybe she is the Woozie Wolf or the Fuzzy Fox, -dressed up like a cat."</p> - -<p>"Indeed I am not," said the rich pussy lady up the tree. "I -am the Rich Mrs. Cat, and my auto has broken. When my -mousie servant girl and the rat gentleman who drives my car -return, they will tell you I never harm rabbits. But are you -Uncle Wiggily Longears?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"Yes," answered the bunny, "I am. And I know you, Mrs. -Cat. I heard about you from the poor dog. I am very sorry -Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow chased you up a tree. They meant -no harm."</p> - -<p>"I am sure they did not," mewed the cat politely.</p> - -<p>"But they are always on the lookout so nothing will happen -to me," went on Uncle Wiggily. "I would get up and help -you down, only I can't climb a tree."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I can easily get down," said the cat lady, and she did, -though her rich clothes were rather ruffled. But she had plenty -of money to buy more. So don't worry about that.</p> - -<p>"Make yourself at home in these woods—the animal folk -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> -call them mine," said Uncle Wiggily kindly. "I am sorry you -had this trouble. Now I must hop away. I hope your auto will -soon be mended. Come, Jackie and Peetie, if you want to help -me."</p> - -<p>"Where are you going?" asked the rich cat.</p> - -<p>"To help a poor cat family," said Uncle Wiggily. "The cat -gentleman of the house has been out of work a long time, his -wife is ill and he has a number of little kittens. I was on my -way to see the family when Jackie came to tell me you were up -a tree."</p> - -<p>"Well, I'm down the tree now," laughed the rich cat lady. -"And will you please let me help this poor family? I have a -lot of money—see!" and she showed a purse full of golden -leaves which the animal folk use for money. "I can buy them -food, and if Mr. Cat wants work, let him take my auto, after it -is fixed, and use it for a jitney."</p> - -<p>"What!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "Aren't you going to use -that fine car any more? All it needs is a new wheel."</p> - -<p>"Give it to the poor cat," was the answer. "I am never going -to ride in it again. I feel so much better since I came to the -woods—and climbed a tree—that I am going to live here for -the rest of my life. I'll buy a hollow stump bungalow near -you, Uncle Wiggily. I know, now, I am going to be very -happy."</p> - -<p>"Well, you will make the poor cat family happy, at any rate," -said Mr. Longears.</p> - -<p>"And to make others happy is to be happy yourself," mewed -the rich cat lady.</p> - -<p>She went with Uncle Wiggily, Jackie and Peetie to the home -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> -of the poor cat family, and when the worried cat gentleman -heard that he was to have the auto for a jitney, with which he -could make money, he was so glad he almost stood on his head. -And his wife and the kitten children were glad also.</p> - -<p>When the rat gentleman chauffeur and the mousie servant -girl came back, in another auto, to take the rich lady home, she -said:</p> - -<p>"I am going to stay with Uncle Wiggily. From now on I am -going to live in the woods and be happy and poor."</p> - -<p>"Oh, my!" squeaked the mousie servant. "Just fancy!"</p> - -<p>"I never heard of such a thing," said the rat gentleman. -"You had much better come home and live as you did before."</p> - -<p>But the cat lady would not change her mind, and she built -herself a bungalow near Uncle Wiggily's, and lived there happily -forever after.</p> - -<p>So from this we may learn, if we will, that when a pail leaks -it is best to have it mended. And if the hand-organ monkey -doesn't take the squeak out of the rubber ball to make a tin -horn for the rag doll, the next story will be about Uncle Wiggily -and the horse.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="XXIII" id="XXIII">STORY XXIII</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE HORSE</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper -for Uncle Wiggily Longears, the bunny rabbit gentleman, once -baked a cherry pie, of which Mr. Longears was very fond. In -fact, Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy baked <i>two</i> pies.</p> - -<p>One she put upon the shelf for Uncle Wiggily's supper. -The other pie Nurse Jane wrapped in a clean napkin, put it in -a basket, and then she said:</p> - -<p>"Come on, Uncle Wiggily. We will take this pie to Grandfather -Goosey Gander."</p> - -<p>"That will be fine!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. So he set -off with Nurse Jane, over the fields and through the woods. -"And perhaps we may have an adventure," said the bunny gentleman, -hopeful-like.</p> - -<p>"Well, if we do," spoke Nurse Jane, "I hope nothing happens -to this cherry pie. I baked one for you, and the other especially -for Grandpa Goosey. I shouldn't like the Fuzzy Fox, nor yet -the Woozie Wolf, to get this pie."</p> - -<p>"Nor I," said Uncle Wiggily. "And I don't believe Grandpa -Goosey would, either."</p> - -<p>The rabbit gentleman and Nurse Jane hopped along together, -until, after a while, Uncle Wiggily saw a horse in a ->field.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> -"Look at that poor horse!" said the bunny gentleman, coming -to a stop, and peeping over the top of his pink, twinkling -nose. "There he stands, all day long, with nothing to eat but -grass."</p> - -<p>"What else would he eat?" asked Nurse Jane, suspiciously.</p> - -<p>"I don't s'pose he ever had a cherry pie," went on Uncle -Wiggily reflective-like. "Poor horse! Never had any cherry -pie!"</p> - -<p>"Wiggy!" exclaimed Nurse Jane, as she took a firmer hold -of the basket handle. "If you are thinking of giving Grandpa -Goosey's pie to that horse——"</p> - -<p>"Well, that's just what I'm thinking of," answered Mr. -Longears. "Here, Nurse Jane, please give me that pie. You -may run back home and get the one you were saving for me to -give to Grandpa Goosey. I'll call this pie mine, and I'm going -to give it to the horse."</p> - -<p>"Well, I never in all my born days," exclaimed Miss Fuzzy -Wuzzy, "heard the like of that!"</p> - -<p>Still she knew Uncle Wiggily meant to be kind, so she -gave the bunny rabbit gentleman the basket with the pie inside, -and started back for the hollow stump bungalow to get -the other.</p> - -<p>The bunny rabbit certainly was not selfish, whatever else he -was.</p> - -<p>"Hello, Horsie!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, as he hopped -through the field where the big animal was eating.</p> - -<p>"Hello," answered the horse. "Oh, it's Uncle Wiggily!" he -went on, as he stopped cropping the grass and looked up.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> -"Did you ever eat a cherry pie?" asked the bunny rabbit, beginning -to take the cloth off the one in the basket.</p> - -<p>"Cherry pie? I don't believe I ever did," slowly answered -the horse. "Cherry pie! Hum! No, I never tasted any."</p> - -<p>"Wouldn't you like to?" asked the bunny. "I should think -you would get tired of eating grass all day long."</p> - -<p>"Well, grass is my food, and I like it," neighed the horse. -"But I like some oats once in a while, and some bran. Yes, and -I think I'd like some cherry pie, also."</p> - -<p>"Here! Take this one! Nurse Jane can bake more!" said -generous Uncle Wiggily, and he held out the pie.</p> - -<p>"Oh, my! That's a fine one!" whinnied the horse. "That -looks most delicious."</p> - -<p>"And it tastes as delicious as it looks," went on the bunny. -"I know Nurse Jane's pies. Take a bite!"</p> - -<p>The horse did. One bit was all that was needed to enable -him to eat the whole pie, for it was only rabbit size, of course, -not as large as the pies your mother bakes.</p> - -<p>"Um!" said the horse, as the red cherry juice ran down his -lips. "That was a good pie! I could eat more!"</p> - -<p>"I'm sorry, but that's the only one I have," spoke Uncle Wiggily. -"Nurse Jane has gone to get mine, that she put in the -cupboard, to give to Grandpa Goosey. But to-morrow I'll have -her bake you a large pie."</p> - -<p>Just then Nurse Jane came along, with the other pie in the -basket, and Uncle Wiggily said:</p> - -<p>"The horse ate that cherry pie, Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy, and -liked it very much. I have told him you'd bake him a larger -one."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> -"Well, I s'pose I can," said the muskrat lady, looking at -Uncle Wiggily in a funny way. "I s'pose I can."</p> - -<p>"You are very kind," neighed the horse. "If I could only -do you some favor——"</p> - -<p>But just then, all of a sudden, out from behind a bush jumped -the bad old Woozie Wolf.</p> - -<p>"Ah ha!" howled the Wolf. "This is the time I have caught -Nurse Jane as well as Uncle Wiggily. I shall have four ears -to nibble to-day!" and he looked hungrily at the bunny and -muskrat lady.</p> - -<p>"Do you mean to say you are going to hurt good, kind Uncle -Wiggily, who has just given me a cherry pie?" asked the horse -quickly.</p> - -<p>"Of course I am!" growled the Wolf. "He gave me no pie! -I'm going to nibble the bunny!"</p> - -<p>"Well, I just won't let you!" said the horse.</p> - -<p>"How are you going to stop me?" asked the Wolf.</p> - -<p>"Well, I have big teeth," the horse said. "They are not as -sharp as yours, for they do not need to be so that I may crop the -grass. But I can bite you with them, just the same."</p> - -<p>"Ho! Ho!" sneered the Wolf. "Two can play at that -game! I can bite worse than you."</p> - -<p>"That's so, he can," whispered Uncle Wiggily to the horse. -"Be careful!"</p> - -<p>"Well, then I'll <i>kick</i>!" said the horse. "I'll rear up on my -front legs and kick you with my hind ones, Mr. Wolf, if you -hurt Uncle Wiggily."</p> - -<p>"But you have no sharp toe-nails, such as I have!" growled -the Wolf. "I'll scratch you with my toe-nails if you kick me."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> -"That's right—he will!" whispered Nurse Jane.</p> - -<p>"I'm afraid you cannot save us," sadly said the bunny gentleman -to the kind horse.</p> - -<p>"Yes, I can!" suddenly neighed the horse. "This Wolf can -do some things better than I, but he cannot run as fast. Quick! -Jump up on my back, Uncle Wiggily and Nurse Jane. I'll -gallop and trot, I'll gallop and trot and I'll gallop and trot—until -I take you far away from this bad animal!"</p> - -<p>"Don't you dare take Uncle Wiggily away from me!" howled -the Wolf, for well he knew he could not run as fast as the -horse.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 650px;"> -<img src="images/p159_650.jpg" width="650" height="455" alt="The wolf was left far, far, behind." /> -</div> - -<p>"Yes, I shall! I'll save Uncle Wiggily!" whinnied the -horse. "Up on my back! Quick!" he called to the bunny and -Nurse Jane.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> -Up they leaped, before the Wolf could get them. Then the -horse galloped and trotted, galloped and trotted and galloped -and trotted, until the Wolf was left far, far behind. And, oh, -how angry that Wolf was! And how he howled! I wish you -could have heard him.</p> - -<p>No, on second thought, it is just as well you didn't hear him. -It was not very nice howling.</p> - -<p>"There! Now you are safe, Uncle Wiggily and Nurse -Jane," said the horse, as he stopped galloping and trotting, -away over on the far side of the field, far, far from the Wolf.</p> - -<p>"Thank you for saving us," spoke the bunny, as he and Nurse -Jane slid off the horsie's back.</p> - -<p>"I'll bake you the largest cherry pie that ever was," promised -the muskrat lady, "just as soon as I take this one to Grandpa -Goosey."</p> - -<p>And she made such a large pie that it took the horse forty -'leven bites to eat it.</p> - -<p>So everything came out all right, you see. And if the postman -doesn't try to slip a letter through the slot in the baby's -penny bank, and make the five cent piece jump over the dollar -bill, I'll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the cow.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="XXIV" id="XXIV">STORY XXIV</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE COW</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>This is a story about Uncle Wiggily and the cow. Not the -cow with the crumpled horn, nor yet the one that jumped over -the moon, when the dish ran away with the spoon.</p> - -<p>This was a sort of a red cow which ate green grass and gave -white milk that was churned into yellow butter to be eaten on -brown bread. There is no use asking me about all those colors -for I don't know—nobody knows. They're just there, and -that's all there is about it.</p> - -<p>Now for the story.</p> - -<p>One day the bunny rabbit gentleman was hopping over the -fields and through the woods on his way to the store for Nurse -Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy. He was going to get his muskrat lady -housekeeper a jug of molasses so Nurse Jane might make a cake.</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily hopped on and on, wondering if he would -have an adventure that day, and he was thinking how good -the molasses cake would taste when, all of a sudden, down in -a field he saw a red cow. Not exactly red like a rose, you understand, -or red like a barn, but still somewhat between those colors—a -brownish-red, I suppose it would be called.</p> - -<p>"Moo! Moo! Moo!" called the cow, in such mournful tones -that Uncle Wiggily right away said:</p> - -<p>"Something must be the matter! I'm going down and see -if I can help that poor cow!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> -Down into the meadow hopped the bunny rabbit gentleman, -and when he reached the cow he looked at her and she looked -at him, and the bunny asked:</p> - -<p>"What is the matter, Mrs. Cow?"</p> - -<p>"Oh," was the sad answer, "I've lost the cud that I always -chew, and now I don't know what to do! I'm so upset I'm sure -I'll give sour milk to-night, instead of sweet!"</p> - -<p>"That would be too bad," Uncle Wiggily remarked. "This -cud of yours—may I ask what it is?"</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 640px;"> -<img src="images/p162_640.jpg" width="640" height="460" alt="Well! Well! exclaimed Uncle Wiggily." /> -</div> - -<p>"Well, it isn't gum, as many boys and girls suppose, when -they see me chewing," spoke the cow lady. "My cud is a bunch -of grass, which I crop and pull up by winding my tongue about -it, for I haven't two sets of teeth as have many animals. I only -have teeth on my upper jaw. On my lower jaw I have no teeth, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> -but the gums are very hard so I can chew grass, and that is -what makes my cud. I only chew the grass a little bit, when I -first pull it from the meadow. I swallow it down into my first -stomach, and, when I have more time, I bring the cud of grass -up into my mouth and chew it as long as I please, so it will be -good for me to put into my last stomach."</p> - -<p>"Well, well!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily in surprise. "So -you have two stomachs and only one set of teeth."</p> - -<p>"Yes," went on the cow, "but what is worrying me now is to -know whether I lost my cud of grass in the meadow, after I had -chewed on it a while, or whether it slipped down into my last -stomach before it was time."</p> - -<p>"What will happen if it did?" asked Uncle Wiggily.</p> - -<p>"I'm afraid I'll have indigestion," the cow lady answered. -"And that will make my milk bad and sour. Oh, dear! I wish -I knew where my cud was!"</p> - -<p>"How did you come to lose it—or miss it?" asked the bunny.</p> - -<p>"Why, I was watching Bully and Bawly No-Tail, the two -frog boys, hopping down by the brook," the cow lady said. -"They were playing leap-toad, you know—or, perhaps, it was -leap-frog; and Bully made such a funny jump over Bawly's -back that I laughed right out loud. I was chewing my cud at -the time, and when I stopped laughing I missed it. Now -whether I swallowed it, or whether it dropped in the brook, I -don't know. Isn't that dreadful?"</p> - -<p>"Can't you tell by the way you feel—inside, you know," -asked the bunny, "what became of your cud?"</p> - -<p>"Not for some little time," answered the cow lady, "and then -it will be too late. Oh, if only I could find my cud somewhere -in this meadow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> -I'd know I hadn't swallowed it, and I'd be all -right."</p> - -<p>"I know just how you feel," said Uncle Wiggily. "Once, -when Susie Littletail, the rabbit, was a tiny baby, her mother -gave her a big cake spoon to play with. She went out of the -room, leaving Susie to play with the spoon, and when she came -back it was gone."</p> - -<p>"What was gone?" asked the cow lady, "Susie or the spoon?"</p> - -<p>"The spoon," answered the bunny gentleman. "And as -Susie was too little to talk, and tell where it was, her mother -didn't know whether she had hidden, or dropped the spoon -somewhere, or whether she had swallowed it."</p> - -<p>"Just fancy!" mooed the cow. "How exciting! But what -happened?"</p> - -<p>"Why, finally," said Uncle Wiggily, "after I had hopped -over to help, we found the spoon behind the piano where Susie -had thrown it. Then we knew she hadn't swallowed it."</p> - -<p>"And if I could find my cud I'd know I hadn't swallowed -<i>that</i>," sadly said the cow lady.</p> - -<p>"I'll help you look," offered Uncle Wiggily. "I'm a pretty -good hopper, and I'll hop around the meadow and look for your -cud of half-chewed grass."</p> - -<p>The bunny set down his molasses jug and began looking all -over the meadow for the cud. And the cow helped, but she -could not move very fast. Besides, she was worried and nervous.</p> - -<p>"Here it is! I've found it!" suddenly called Uncle Wiggily, -and there on the grass, near the brook where the frog boys had -been leaping, was the cow lady's cud.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> -"Oh, how glad I am to get it back!" she mooed as she began -to chew it again. "Now my milk will be nice and sweet. You -have done me a great favor, Uncle Wiggily. I hope I may do -you the same some day."</p> - -<p>"Pray do not mention it," said the bunny politely, as he -hopped on with his molasses jug. "It was just a little adventure -for me."</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily hopped on to the store, had the jug filled -with molasses and then went to his hollow stump bungalow.</p> - -<p>"Well, you were gone a long time," said Nurse Jane. "I have -been waiting to make the ginger cake."</p> - -<p>"I had to help a cow lady find her lost cud," said the bunny.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Wiggy! What next!" laughed Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy. -"Helping cow ladies! Oh! Oh!"</p> - -<p>"That's all right," the bunny said. "Perhaps some day a -cow lady may help us."</p> - -<p>"I don't see how she can," spoke Nurse Jane, as she started -to make the cake. But pretty soon she called to the bunny who -had gone to sit outside on a bench and warm his rheumatism -in the sun.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Wiggy!" exclaimed Nurse Jane. "I can't get the cork -out of the molasses jug. It's in so tight! I can't pull it out, and -if I break it, and push it inside, then the molasses won't run -out. Oh, what a lot of trouble!"</p> - -<p>"Let me try!" offered the bunny. But he could not get the -cork out of the molasses jug either, not even with his red, white -and blue striped rheumatism crutch.</p> - -<p>"I guess I'll have to break the jug!" said the bunny at last.</p> - -<p>"Oh, don't do that!" spoke a voice behind him, and, turning, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> -Uncle Wiggily saw the cow lady. "I am on my way home to -be milked," she mooed, "and I saw you in trouble, so I came -over. What's wrong?"</p> - -<p>"We can't get the cork out of the molasses jug," answered -Uncle Wiggily.</p> - -<p>"Perhaps I can," said Mrs. Cow. "Please let me try."</p> - -<p>"We have a corkscrew somewhere," remarked Nurse Jane, -"but I can't find it."</p> - -<p>"I shall not need it," went on the cow.</p> - -<p>Then with one of her long, sharp horns she easily pried the -cork out of the molasses jug, breaking nothing and making it -very easy for Nurse Jane to pour out the sweet stuff for the -ginger cake.</p> - -<p>"Thank you, Mrs. Cow," said Uncle Wiggily, as the milk -lady animal went on her way.</p> - -<p>"Pray don't mention it!" mooed the cow. "Now we are -even, as far as favors go!"</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily looked at Nurse Jane, and the muskrat lady -smiled at the bunny gentleman.</p> - -<p>"You were right, Wiggly," spoke Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy. "I -never thought a cow could help anyone, but this shows how little -I know."</p> - -<p>"That's all right!" laughed the bunny. "Mistakes will happen!"</p> - -<p>So once again everything came out all right for the bunny -gentleman, you see, and if the pussy cat doesn't make a popcorn -ball out of snow, for the puppy dog to play bean bag with, -you shall next hear about Uncle Wiggily and the camping -boys.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="XXV" id="XXV">STORY XXV</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CAMPING BOYS</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>"Oh, Uncle Wiggily! What you think?" cried Baby Bunty -one day, as she hopped up to the rabbit gentleman, who was -pulling the weeds out of his carrot garden.</p> - -<p>"What I think, Baby Bunty?" repeated Mr. Longears, smiling -down one side of his pink, twinkling nose. "Well, I think -lots of things, my little rabbit girl. But if you think I'm going -to play <i>tag</i> with you this morning you are wrong. I haven't -time!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, I don't want you to play tag!" exclaimed Baby Bunty, -though she was such a lively little tyke that she nearly always -wanted Uncle Wiggily to play a game of some sort. "But -there's something over in the woods," she went on. "What you -think it is?" and she was quite excited.</p> - -<p>"Something over in the woods, Baby Bunty?" asked Uncle -Wiggily, as he looked at one of his carrots to see if the point -needed sharpening; but it didn't, I'm glad to say. "Well, -what's in the woods, Baby Bunty; the Fox, the Skeezicks or the -Pipsisewah?"</p> - -<p>"Neither one, Uncle Wiggily," answered the little rabbit -girl. "But there's a lot of those funny animals you call 'boys,' -and they're making a snow house, and maybe they'll try to catch -you, or me or Nurse Jane," and Baby Bunty looked quite worried.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> -"A <i>snow</i> house this time of year! Tut! Tut! Nonsense!" -laughed Uncle Wiggily. "This is summer and there isn't any -snow with which to make houses."</p> - -<p>"Well, these boys, in the woods, are making a <i>white</i> house, -anyhow, Uncle Wiggily," spoke the little rabbit girl, who once -had lived in a hollow stump, before she came to visit the bunny -gentleman. "It's a white house, and there's a lot of boys, and -they're cutting down wood, and making a fire and boiling a -kettle of water and oh, they're doing lots of things! I thought -I'd better come and tell you."</p> - -<p>"Hum!" said Uncle Wiggily, straightening up to rest his -back, which ached from pulling the weeds out of his garden. -"Yes, perhaps it is a good thing you told me, Baby Bunty. I'll -go have a look at the white house the boys are putting up."</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily and Baby Bunty hopped through the woods, -and soon they were near that side of the forest nearest the village -where real boys and girls lived. Through the green trees -gleamed something white, on which the sun shone as brightly -as it does at the seashore.</p> - -<p>"There's the house," said Baby Bunty, pointing with her paw -off among the trees.</p> - -<p>"Ho! That isn't exactly a <i>house</i>!" Uncle Wiggily told the -little rabbit girl. "That's a white tent, and those boys must -be camping there. Boys like to come to the woods to camp in -the summer. We'll hop a little closer and listen. Then we -can tell what they are doing."</p> - -<p>"We mustn't let 'em see us!" whispered Baby Bunty. "Oh, -no!"</p> - -<p>"Well, no, maybe not first along," Uncle Wiggily agreed. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> -"But nearly all boys, especially the kind that go camping, are -fond of animals, and will not hurt them. We will see what sort -of boys these are, Baby Bunty."</p> - -<p>So the bunny gentleman and the little rabbit girl hid behind -the bushes and watched the camping boys, for that is what they -were. They had come to spend a few weeks in the woods, -living in a white tent which, at first, Baby Bunty thought was -a snow house.</p> - -<p>The boys had just come to camp, and the tent had been up -only a little while. But already the lads had started a campfire; -and they had hung a Gypsy kettle over the blaze, and were -cooking soup.</p> - -<p>"Get some more water, somebody!" called one boy.</p> - -<p>"And I'm not going to cut any more wood!" exclaimed another. -"I've been cutting wood ever since we got here!"</p> - -<p>"We'll take turns!" spoke a third boy.</p> - -<p>"Look out! That soup's boiling over!" shouted a fourth.</p> - -<p>"They're regular boys all right!" chuckled Uncle Wiggily, -as he crouched under a bush with Baby Bunty. "They're so -excited at coming to camp they hardly know what they're -doing."</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily and Baby Bunty could hear and understand -what the boys said, though they themselves could not speak to -the camping chaps. For a time the two rabbits watched the -little lads, who were trying to get a meal. They made many -mistakes, of course, such as getting the salt mixed up with the -sugar, and they left the bread out of its tin box so it dried, for -they had never been camping before.</p> - -<p>"But they'll soon learn," said Uncle Wiggily.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> -"I hope they won't chase us, and throw stones at us," Baby -Bunty remarked, as she and Mr. Longears hopped away.</p> - -<p>"I think they are good boys," spoke the bunny gentleman.</p> - -<p>And the camping boys were. When they had finished eating -they scattered crumbs so the birds could pick them up. Larger -pieces of left-over food were placed on a flat stump where the -squirrels and chipmunks could get them.</p> - -<p>Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, the two boy squirrels, saw some -of this food as they were coming through the woods. The camping -boys were away just then, so the squirrel chaps had no fear -of going close to the white tent-house. Johnnie found a piece -of bread and butter, and Billie picked up half a ginger snap.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 625px;"> -<img src="images/p170_625.jpg" width="625" height="442" alt="Johnnie found a piece of bread and butter." /> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> -"That shows the camping boys are kind to animals," said -Uncle Wiggily, when Johnnie and Billie told him what they -had found. "I hope I may get a chance to do these lads a -favor."</p> - -<p>And Uncle Wiggily had this chance sooner than he expected.</p> - -<p>For about a week the weather was most lovely for camping. -The sun shone every day, the wind blew just enough to send -the sailboat spinning about the lake and there wasn't a drop -of rain.</p> - -<p>It is rain which soaks most of the fun out of camping, just -as rain takes away your fun at home. And these boys, never -having camped in a tent before, gave no thought to storms.</p> - -<p>One afternoon it began to rain. Uncle Wiggily, in his hollow -stump bungalow, where he was reading the cabbage-leaf -paper, heard the pitter-patter of the drops on the window, and -looked up.</p> - -<p>"Where is Baby Bunty, Nurse Jane?" asked the bunny gentleman.</p> - -<p>"Why, she hasn't come back from the store yet," answered -the muskrat lady housekeeper.</p> - -<p>"Did she take an umbrella?" asked Uncle Wiggily.</p> - -<p>"No," replied Nurse Jane, "she did not."</p> - -<p>"Then she'll get soaking wet!" exclaimed Mr. Longears. -"I'll go after her with a toadstool."</p> - -<p>You know in Woodland, near the Orange Ice Mountain, -where Uncle Wiggily lived, toadstools were often used for umbrellas. -Of course, some of the animal folk had regular umbrellas, -but when they were in a hurry they could break off a big -toadstool, or mushroom, and use that.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> -So Uncle Wiggily hopped out of his hollow stump bungalow, -and, growing near his front gate, he found a big toadstool. -Picking this, he held it over his head and hurried along through -the rain to meet Baby Bunty, who had gone to the three and five cent -store for Nurse Jane.</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily had to hop almost to the place where the tent -of the camping boys stood before he met the little rabbit girl, -half drenched.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Uncle Wiggily! You ought to see!" cried Baby Bunty. -"There is so much water around the tent that those nice boys -will be washed away, I guess!"</p> - -<p>"Water around their tent?" repeated the bunny gentleman. -"You don't say so!"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Baby Bunty. "The rain is coming down so hard -that it is running like a little brook around the tent. The boys -are inside, and I heard them saying that the water would soon -come up over the cots and they wouldn't have any dry place to -sleep to-night!"</p> - -<p>"Silly boys!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, holding the toadstool -umbrella over Baby Bunty. "They didn't know enough -to dig a ditch around the outside of their tent to let the rain -water run off. All campers do that, but as this is the first time -these boys came to the woods I suppose they didn't know about -it. Always dig a ditch, or trench, in the earth around your -tent when you go camping, Baby Bunty."</p> - -<p>"I will," promised the little rabbit girl, real serious like.</p> - -<p>"But that isn't going to help the boys now," went on Uncle -Wiggily. "I think I shall have to take a paw in this. They are -good boys, and are kind to animals. I must do them a favor."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> -"But how can you?" asked Baby Bunty.</p> - -<p>"Why, I, being a rabbit, am one of the best diggers in the -world," went on Mr. Longears. "Still, I will need help to dig -a ditch around the tent, as it is rather large. Hop home, Baby -Bunty, and tell Sammie Littletail, Toodle and Noodle Flat-Tail, -the beaver boys, and Grandpa Whackum, the old beaver -gentleman, to please come here. With their help I can dig the -ditch."</p> - -<p>So Baby Bunty, taking the toadstool umbrella, hopped away, -and Uncle Wiggily, to await her return, hid under a thick-branched -pine tree which kept off most of the rain. The drops -pelted down, and around the tent of the camping boys was almost -a flood. Night was coming on, too, and before morning -the water would rise up so high that it would wet the feet of the -boys in their beds.</p> - -<p>Pretty soon, just about dusk, when it was still raining hard, -along came Sammie Littletail, the rabbit boy, Toodle and -Noodle the beavers, with their broad, flat tails, and Grandpa -Whackum, the oldest beaver of them all. Beavers just love to -work in the water and they can dig dirt canals better than most -boys.</p> - -<p>"Lively now, my friends!" called Uncle Wiggily, coming -out from under the pine tree. "We'll dig a ditch around the -tent for the kind boys. They won't see us, as they are inside, -and probably will not come out in the train."</p> - -<p>So Uncle Wiggily, Sammie and the beavers began work. -Quickly and silently they dug and dug and dug in the soft -earth, piling the dirt to one side, and making a trench so that -the rain water could run off into the brook. And soon the little -pond <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>that had formed around the tent of the camping boys had -drained away.</p> - -<p>"Now they will have no more trouble," said Uncle Wiggily -as he and his friends, all wet and muddy, finished the trench. -"We can go home."</p> - -<p>Home they went, through the rain, to get something to eat -and dry out. And in the morning, though it still rained, no -water rose inside the boys' tent. And none came through the -roof, for that was like an umbrella, the canvas cloth being -stretched over the ridge-pole.</p> - -<p>"Oh, look!" cried one boy, coming to the flap of the tent, as -the front of the canvas house is called. "Someone has dug a -ditch around our camp, and now we'll keep dry!"</p> - -<p>"Why, it's a regular little canal!" exclaimed a second boy. -"It wasn't there yesterday!"</p> - -<p>"Who did it?" asked the other lads.</p> - -<p>But none of them knew, and I hope you will not tell them, -for I want to keep it a secret.</p> - -<p>And when the rain stopped, the ground around the tent dried -out very quickly because the proper ditch had been dug around -it. And the camping boys put out on the flat stump many good -things for the animal folk to eat. And the next time those boys -went camping they knew enough to make a trench around their -tent.</p> - -<p>Now let me see; what shall we have next? Well, I think I -shall tell you the story of Uncle Wiggily and the birthday cake—that -is, I will if the snow-shovel doesn't make the coal-scuttle -sneeze when they are playing tag down under the cellar steps.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="XXVI" id="XXVI">STORY XXVI</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BIRTHDAY CAKE</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>"To-morrow is my birthday! To-morrow is my birthday! -And I'm going to have a cake with ten candles on!"</p> - -<p>A little girl sang this over and over as she danced around the -house one morning.</p> - -<p>"Ten candles! And they'll be lighted, and I can blow them -out and cut the cake and pass it around; can't I, Mother?" asked -the little girl.</p> - -<p>"Yes, my dear," Mother answered. "But if you are going to -have a birthday cake you must go to the store and get me some -flour, sugar and eggs. I did not know I needed them, but I do, -if you are to have a cake."</p> - -<p>"Oh, of course I want a cake!" said the little girl. "It -wouldn't be at all like a birthday without a cake! And ten -candles on top, all lighted! Last year I only had nine candles. -But now I can have ten! Ten candles! Ten candles on my -birthday cake!" sang the happy little girl again and again. -"Ten candles! Ten candles!"</p> - -<p>"You had better go to the store, instead of singing so much!" -laughed her mother. "Sing on your way, if you like. But don't -forget the flour, sugar and eggs."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> -"I'll get them," said the little girl, and off she started, taking -a short cut through the woods to reach the store more quickly.</p> - -<p>These woods were the same ones in which Uncle Wiggily had -built his hollow stump bungalow, and about the same time the -little girl started off to get the things for her birthday cake the -bunny rabbit gentleman stood on his front porch.</p> - -<p>"Where are you going?" asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, -his muskrat lady housekeeper.</p> - -<p>"Oh, just to hop through the forest, to look for an adventure," -answered Mr. Longears. "I haven't had one since I helped dig -the rain-trench about the tent of the camping boys."</p> - -<p>"I should think that would be enough to last a long time," -spoke Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy.</p> - -<p>"Oh, no. I need a new adventure every day!" laughed the -bunny, and over the fields and through the woods he hopped.</p> - -<p>Now Uncle Wiggily had not gone very far before, all of a -sudden, he stepped into a trap. It was a spring trap, set in the -woods by some hunter who had covered it with dried leaves so -it could not easily be seen. That's the way hunters fool the wild -animals.</p> - -<p>And, not seeing the trap, Uncle Wiggily hopped right into it.</p> - -<p>"Snap!" went the jaws of the trap together, catching the poor -bunny gentleman fast by one hind leg.</p> - -<p>"Oh, my!" cried Mr. Longears. "I'm caught! But it is fortunate -that it is a smooth-jawed trap, and not the kind with -sharp teeth. If I could only get my leg loose I'd be all right; -except that my paw might be lame and stiff for a few days. I -must try to get out!"</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily tried to pull his paw from the trap, but it was -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> -of no use. The spring held the jaws too tightly together. The -bunny gentleman twinkled his pink nose as hard as he could, -and he even tried to pry apart the trap jaws with his red, white -and blue striped rheumatism crutch. But he couldn't.</p> - -<p>"Oh, dear!" though Uncle Wiggily. "I must call for help. -Perhaps Neddie Stubtail, the strong boy bear, will hear me. He -could easily spring open this trap and set me free."</p> - -<p>So the bunny gentleman called as loudly as he could:</p> - -<p>"Help! Help!"</p> - -<p>Of course he talked animal talk, and for this reason the little -girl, who was going to have a birthday cake, with ten candles on -it, did not know what Uncle Wiggily was saying. She heard -him making a noise, though, for she passed the place where the -bunny was caught in the trap, soon after the accident happened.</p> - -<p>"I wonder what that funny noise is?" said the little girl, as -Uncle Wiggily again called for help. "It sounds like some animal. -I wish I understood animal talk!"</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily wished, with all his heart, that the little girl -could hear what he was saying, for he was calling for help. The -bunny understood girl-talk, and he knew what this girl was -saying, for she spoke her thoughts out loud.</p> - -<p>"But she doesn't know what I want!" said poor Uncle Wiggily -to himself. "She is sure to be good and kind, as all girls -are, and if I could only get her to come over this way she might -take me out of the trap."</p> - -<p>The little girl, on her way home from the store, had come to -a stop not far from Uncle Wiggily, but she could not see him -because he was behind a bush.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> -"I must make some kind of a noise that she will hear," thought -the bunny. Then he thrashed around in the bushes with his -crutch, rattling the dried leaves and the green bushes, and the -little girl heard this noise.</p> - -<p>"Oh, maybe a bird is caught in a big cobweb!" said the little -girl. "I'll get it loose—I love the birds!"</p> - -<p>Putting down her bundle of flour, sugar and eggs on a flat -stump, she made her way through the bushes until she saw where -Uncle Wiggily was caught in the trap.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 650px;"> -<img src="images/p178_650.jpg" width="650" height="474" alt="I wish you would come to my birthday party!" /> -</div> - -<p>"Oh, what a funny rabbit!" cried the little girl as she looked -at the bunny gentleman all dressed, as he always was when he -went to look for an adventure. "He looks just like a picture on -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>an Easter card!" laughed the little girl. "I wish I had him at -my party!"</p> - -<p>"Well, I wish she'd take this trap off my paw!" thought Uncle -Wiggily, though of course he could say nothing, however much -he could hear.</p> - -<p>Then the little girl looked down among the leaves and saw -where the trap pinched Uncle Wiggily.</p> - -<p>"Oh, you poor bunny rabbit!" she cried. "I'll set you loose."</p> - -<p>Very gently she pressed her foot on the spring of the trap, to -open it. And when the jaws were opened Uncle Wiggily could -lift out his paw, which he did. He hopped a little way over the -dried leaves, limping a bit, for the pinching trap had pained -him. Then, coming to a stop on a smooth, grassy place, the -bunny leaned on his red, white and blue striped rheumatism -crutch and, taking off his tall silk hat, he made a low and polite -bow to the little girl.</p> - -<p>"Thank you for having done me a great favor!" said Uncle -Wiggily in animal talk. "I wish I could do one for you!"</p> - -<p>But of course the little girl could not understand this bunny -language, so she only laughed and said:</p> - -<p>"Oh, what a dear, funny bunny! With a tall hat and everything! -I wish you would come to my birthday party! I'm going -to have a cake with ten lighted candles on!"</p> - -<p>"Thank you, I'd like to come, but it is out of the question," -answered Uncle Wiggily in his own talk. Then, with another -low and polite bow, he hopped away.</p> - -<p>The little girl picked up the things she had bought at the store -and went home.</p> - -<p>"You'll never guess what I saw in the woods," she told her -mother. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> -"A bunny rabbit, all dressed in a black coat and red -trousers, was caught in a trap, and I set him free!"</p> - -<p>"Nonsense!" laughed Mother. "Whoever heard of a rabbit -like that? You are so excited about your birthday cake that -you were dreaming, I think!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, no, Mother! I didn't dream!" said the little girl. -"Really I didn't!"</p> - -<p>"Well, never mind. Now we'll make your birthday cake," -answered Mother.</p> - -<p>The birthday cake was mixed and baked in the oven, and on -top was spread pink frosting.</p> - -<p>"We'll put the candles on to-morrow, when you have your -party," Mother told the little girl.</p> - -<p>To-morrow came, after a night in which Cora Janet, which -was the little girl's name, had dreamed about riding in an airship, -with a bunny gentleman dressed up like a soldier. In the -afternoon many boys and girls came to Cora Janet's birthday -party.</p> - -<p>"Oh, how lovely everything is!" exclaimed a little boy, when -he was given his second dish of ice cream.</p> - -<p>"Wait until you see my birthday cake with ten candles on!" -whispered Cora Janet.</p> - -<p>When it was almost time to bring on the lighted cake, Mother -called Cora Janet out into the kitchen.</p> - -<p>"Did you get the candles, Cora?" Mother asked.</p> - -<p>"Why, no!" the little girl answered. "I—I thought we had -candles!"</p> - -<p>"And I thought I told you to get them," Mother went on. -"There isn't one in the house! I've looked everywhere. Never -mind,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> -perhaps I can borrow some next door. Go back to your -friends."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I do hope you can get candles!" sighed Cora Janet. "A -birthday cake without candles will hardly be right!"</p> - -<p>Mother asked the lady who lived next door, on one side, if -she had any candles.</p> - -<p>"Not a one, I'm sorry to say," was the answer.</p> - -<p>Then Mother asked the lady on the other side.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I never use candles," this lady replied, coming out on -her back stoop to talk over the fence to Cora Janet's mother. -"I'm so sorry!"</p> - -<p>"Well, I guess they'll have to eat the cake without any birthday -candles on," said Mother. "Cora Janet will be so disappointed, -too, as she is such an imaginative child! Just fancy, -Mrs. Blake, she came home yesterday, and told about helping -out of a trap an old rabbit gentleman, with a tall silk hat!"</p> - -<p>"The idea! She must have dreamed it!" said Mrs. Blake.</p> - -<p>"No, she didn't dream it! That really happened!" said -Uncle Wiggily to himself, who was just then hopping through -the fields back of the house where Cora Janet lived. "So this is -her home, is it?" went on the bunny gentleman to himself. -"And she hasn't any candles for her birthday cake! Too bad!"</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily had hopped along just in time to hear Cora -Janet's mother asking for candles of the neighbors.</p> - -<p>"It's so late that all the stores are closed," went on Mrs. -Blake, "or I'd go get some candles for Cora."</p> - -<p>"Never mind," spoke Mother. "She will have to bear her -disappointment as best she can."</p> - -<p>"No! That must not be!" said Uncle Wiggily to himself. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> -"I cannot give her real candles, but I can leave on her steps some -slivers of the pine tree. They have in them pitch, tar and resin -and will burn almost like candles. When I was a rabbit boy -I often lighted these pine-tree candles."</p> - -<p>Not far away were the woods, and, hopping across the field -in the dusk of the evening, Uncle Wiggily, with his sharp teeth, -soon gnawed off some pine-knot splinters from one of the trees. -In olden times, when there were no electric or kerosene lamps, -children used to study their lessons in front of the fireplaces, by -these pine knots.</p> - -<p>"These will do for birthday-cake candles," whispered Uncle -Wiggily, as he hopped back to Cora Janet's house with a paw -full of the pine knots. He put them on the stoop, and then, with -his hind paws, he kicked some gravel from the front walk up -against the dining-room windows.</p> - -<p>"What's that?" asked Cora Janet, as she heard the noise.</p> - -<p>"Some bad boys playing tick-tack," said one of the girls at the -party. "They're playing tricks because they weren't asked."</p> - -<p>"I'll see who it is," spoke Mother.</p> - -<p>She went out on the porch. There she saw the pile of pine -knot slivers. Having lived in the country when she was a girl, -Mother knew that these bits of wood could be used for candles.</p> - -<p>"Oh, now I can make the birthday cake blaze most brightly!" -exclaimed Mother. Into the house she hurried. She stuck ten -pine-knot slivers on the cake, for Uncle Wiggily had left a full -dozen, not knowing exactly how old Cora Janet was. Then, -when the pine knots were lighted, Mother carried the cake into -the room where the boys and girls were wishing Cora Janet many -happy returns for her birthday.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> -"Oh, where did you get the candles?" asked Cora.</p> - -<p>"I guess the rabbit you dreamed you saw must have left -them," answered Mother, in fun, of course, for she never -thought that really could happen.</p> - -<p>"Dream-candles or not, they are lovely!" murmured the little -girl.</p> - -<p>And everyone at the party said the same thing.</p> - -<p>They watched Cora Janet as, one by one, she blew out the -pine candles on her birthday cake. And when the last one flickered -away, the cake was cut amid the joyous laughter of the -boys and girls.</p> - -<p>"Well, I'm glad I could do her a favor," said the bunny rabbit -to himself, as hidden under the lilac bush, he heard and -saw all that went on. "I shall always love Cora Janet!"</p> - -<p>And he did.</p> - -<p>So if the needle doesn't wink its eye when it sits on the sewing-machine -to read the paper of pins, I'll tell you next about -Uncle Wiggily and the New Year's horn.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="XXVII" id="XXVII">STORY XXVII</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE NEW YEAR'S HORN</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>Christmas had come and gone, and the next holiday for the -boys and girls who lived in the village outside of Uncle Wiggily's -forest was to be New Year's Day. I call it Uncle Wiggily's -forest for on one edge of it the bunny rabbit gentleman -had built himself a hollow stump bungalow. There he lived -with Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, his muskrat lady housekeeper.</p> - -<p>On the farther side of the wood was the village where many -real boys and girls had their homes. To them, as I say, Christmas -had come and gone, bringing to most of them presents which -they liked very much.</p> - -<p>"I'm going to have a lot of fun on New Year's," said one boy -to another as they were coasting on the hill the last day of the old -year.</p> - -<p>"What are you going to do?" asked the other boy.</p> - -<p>"I'm going to blow the Old Year out and the New Year in," -was the answer.</p> - -<p>"Gracious me sakes alive!" thought Uncle Wiggily Longears, -the bunny rabbit gentleman, who happened to be resting -under a bush near where the boys were coasting down hill. "I -hope he doesn't blow the Old Year so far away that the New -Year will be afraid to come in," said Mr. Longears to himself. -Then he listened again, for the boys were talking further.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> -"How you going to blow?" one lad wanted to know.</p> - -<p>"With my Christmas horn," was the answer. "I got a dandy -horn for Christmas. To-night is New Year's eve. My father -said I could stay up late. At twelve o'clock the Old Year goes -away and the New Year comes, and we're going to have a party -at our house, and I'm going to blow my horn like anything!"</p> - -<p>"So'm I," said several other boys.</p> - -<p>"Where does the Old Year go when you blow it away?" -asked a lad who had red hair and freckles.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I don't know," answered the boy who had first talked -of his Christmas horn. "It just goes—that's all! It disappears -same as the hole in a doughnut when you eat it."</p> - -<p>"You don't eat the <i>hole</i>!" declared another boy.</p> - -<p>"Well, you eat all around it," was the answer, "and then -there isn't any hole any more. It's the same with the Old Year. -After twelve o'clock on December 31 there isn't any Old Year -any more. It's January the first, and it's the New Year. I'm -going to blow my horn loud! All the fellows are!"</p> - -<p>"We will, too!" cried the rest of the boys.</p> - -<p>But one lad, who had a clumsy, home-made sled on the hill, -did not say he was going to blow the New Year in. He turned -away as the other lads talked of their coming fun. Someone -asked him:</p> - -<p>"Are you going to watch the Old Year out, Jimmy?"</p> - -<p>"No, I guess not," was the answer. "I'm going to sleep."</p> - -<p>"The noise will wake you up," someone suggested.</p> - -<p>"Well, then I'll go to sleep again," was the answer.</p> - -<p>"I guess the reason Jimmy won't blow the Old Year out and -the New Year in is because he hasn't any horn," said a boy with -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> -a fine new blue sled. "He didn't get hardly anything for -Christmas."</p> - -<p>"That's too bad!" softly spoke the lad who had first mentioned -about blowing in the New Year. "Maybe I can find an -old horn at my house, and I'll take it to him. If I could find -two I'd take another to his sister. But I don't believe I can."</p> - -<p>"Oh, won't we have fun, blowing the New Year in?" cried -the boys, as they walked to the top of the hill so they might -coast down. But Jimmy did not join in the joyous shout. He -was a poor boy, and, as the others had said, he had not found -much in his stocking at Christmas. Certainly there was no bright -tooting horn!</p> - -<p>"This is too bad!" thought Uncle Wiggily, as he hopped back -to his hollow stump bungalow, after the coasting boys were out -of the way so they would not see him. "I wonder how I could -get a New Year's horn for that poor boy?"</p> - -<p>The bunny gentleman was wondering about this, but he could -not seem to think of any plan, when, as he was about to hop up -his bungalow steps, he saw Billie Wagtail, the goat boy.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Uncle Wiggily!" bleated Billie. "See my new horns!"</p> - -<p>"Your new horns!" exclaimed Mr. Longears, turning toward -the goat chap. "Are you going to blow the New Year in, also?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, but not with these horns," went on Billie. "I mean, -see the new horns on my head. I was ill, you know, and my old -horns dropped off, and now I have these new ones," and he shook -his head, on which were two long, curving sharp horns. "I'm -going to blow the New Year in," bleated the boy goat, "but not -on my head horns; on my Christmas tin horn."</p> - -<p>"That's more than one boy whom I know about is going to -do,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> -said Uncle Wiggily a little sadly. Then the bunny gentleman -had a sudden thought. "Do you s'pose, Billie," he asked -the goat boy, "that your old horns could be made into blowing -ones for New Year's?"</p> - -<p>"Why, yes, I guess so," Billie answered. "But you'd have to -saw off one end to make a place to blow in. My horns are partly -hollow and if you blew in the little end, after making a hole -there, the noise would come out the other end."</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 650px;"> -<img src="images/p187_650.jpg" width="650" height="459" alt="Oh, Uncle Wiggily! bleated Billy. See my new horns!" /> -</div> - -<p>"Then I know what I can do!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. -"Get me your old horns, Billie boy, and I'll fix them up for New -Year's blowing. I know how to do it!"</p> - -<p>The Wagtail goat chap gave the bunny gentleman the old -horns. Uncle Wiggily took them into his bungalow, and he and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> -Nurse Jane washed them clean and polished them. Then, with -her sharp teeth, the muskrat lady gnawed a little off the small -end of each horn, so they could be blown through.</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily made two wooden whistles and fastened one -in the small end of each horn.</p> - -<p>"Now I'll try it, Janie," he said to Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy.</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily blew into the small end of one horn. Out of -the other end came a sweet tooting sound.</p> - -<p>"Hurray!" cried the bunny gentleman. "These will be just -right for New Year's! I'll take one to the poor boy and one to -his sister. Then they can celebrate with their friends who have -regular tin horns."</p> - -<p>"It is very kind of you to be so thoughtful," said Nurse Jane.</p> - -<p>"And it was kind of you to help me make the New Year's -horns from Billie's old ones," spoke Uncle Wiggily, as he -skipped along, for it was getting dark and soon the Old Year -would go away—like the hole in the doughnut—and the New -Year would come, to bring with it Fourth of July, birthdays -and Christmas.</p> - -<p>Up the steps of the house of the poor boy and girl who had -no New Year's horns to blow hopped Uncle Wiggily. No one -saw him in the dusk. He placed the horns on the doormat, -tapped three times with his red, white and blue striped rheumatism -crutch on the porch, and then hopped away.</p> - -<p>"What was that?" asked the girl of the boy.</p> - -<p>"I'll go see," he answered.</p> - -<p>The boy opened the door and saw, in the light of the moon, -which just then came from behind a cloud, the two goat horns -made into New Year's "tooters."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> -"Oh, hurray!" shouted the boy, as he blew on one of the horns. -"Now we can send the Old Year on its way and tell the New -Year how glad we are to see him. Hurray!"</p> - -<p>"And I can blow, too!" laughed the girl. "Hurray!"</p> - -<p>Her brother gave her the other horn, and when twelve -o'clock midnight came, the children blew on the tooters as loudly -as they could. So did all the other boys and girls in the village; -and the animal boys and girls in their nest-houses and burrows -also blew on horns and wooden whistles to welcome the New -Year.</p> - -<p>All over the land the bells rang and horns were blown. -Uncle Wiggily heard them in his hollow stump bungalow, and -so did Nurse Jane.</p> - -<p>"Happy New Year!" wished the muskrat lady.</p> - -<p>"Happy New Year!" echoed the bunny gentleman.</p> - -<p>The boy and girl, blowing Billie Wagtail's old horns, danced -around their father and mother, wishing them a Happy New -Year also.</p> - -<p>"Where did you get the horns?" asked Mother.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I guess Santa Claus dropped them, on his way back to -the North Pole," answered the boy.</p> - -<p>But we know better than that; don't we?</p> - -<p>So, after all, everything came out right, and the boy and girl -were very happy with their queer New Year's horns.</p> - -<p>But if the Jumping Jack doesn't tickle the lollypop with the -sharp end of the ice-cream cone, and make it fall off the stick, - -I'll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily's Thanksgiving.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="XXVIII" id="XXVIII">STORY XXVIII</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY'S THANKSGIVING</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>There came, one afternoon, a knock at the door of the hollow -stump bungalow where Uncle Wiggily Longears lived.</p> - -<p>"Do you s'pose that can be the Fuzzy Fox or the Woozie -Wolf?" anxiously asked Nurse Jane, the muskrat lady housekeeper.</p> - -<p>"No," answered the bunny gentleman. "They would not -dare come boldly up to my bungalow, in broad daylight, though -if it were night they might come sneaking along, trying to nibble -my ears. I suppose this may be Sammie or Susie Littletail, or -Johnnie or Billie Bushytail. I'll let them in."</p> - -<p>But when Uncle Wiggily opened the door, in came rushing a -great big turkey gobbler gentleman. In his bill he carried a -basket in which set a dish filled with something red.</p> - -<p>"I have it, Uncle Wiggily! I have it!" exclaimed the turkey. -"I picked it up and ran away with it! Now they can't have any -Thanksgiving and I'll be safe! Shut the door!" he gobbled, -and setting the basket on the floor he scuttled behind a chair, -while Nurse Jane and Uncle Wiggily were so surprised they -hardly knew what to do.</p> - -<p>"<i>What</i> in the world have you brought with you, Mr. Gobble -Obble?" asked the bunny gentleman. Gobble Obble was the -turkey's name.</p> - -<p>"The <i>cranberry sauce</i>," was the answer. "At our house, where -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> -I have been living, they are making a great fuss over Thanksgiving, -which will happen in a few days. They have been feeding -me up to fatten me, and every day the Man would come out -and look at me; though I didn't know what for until I heard the -children talking about it."</p> - -<p>"Talking about what?" Nurse Jane wanted to know.</p> - -<p>"<i>Thanksgiving</i>," gobbled the turkey. "This morning I heard -the cook say: 'That gobbler is fat enough to roast, now. I think -I'll make the cranberry sauce. It will be Thanksgiving soon!'"</p> - -<p>"Then," went on the turkey, "I knew why they had been feeding -me things to make me fat! You can't imagine how I felt! -Well, the cook made the cranberry sauce. She put it in a dish -and set it out on the back steps to cool. I watched my chance, -picked it up and ran over here. There's the cranberry sauce!" -and Mr. Gobble Obble pointed to it with one wing.</p> - -<p>"But why in the world did you bring away the cranberry -sauce? What good is that going to do you?" asked Uncle Wiggily, -very much puzzled by the turkey's queer talk and actions.</p> - -<p>"Listen," gobbled the turkey. "I heard one of the children -say that Thanksgiving wouldn't be Thanksgiving without <i>turkey -and cranberry sauce</i>! Then, thinks I to myself, if I run -away, and take the cranberry sauce with me, there will be no -Thanksgiving, and many poor turkeys will be glad of it."</p> - -<p>"Ha! Ha! Ha!" laughed Uncle Wiggily, chuckling so hard -that his pink nose twinkled like a lightning bug on Fourth of -July.</p> - -<p>"What's the matter?" asked Mr. Gobble Obble. "Won't you -be good enough to hide me and the cranberry sauce until after -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> -Thanksgiving? Then I'll be safe."</p> - -<p>"Of course you may stay here," said the bunny gentleman. -"But the idea of thinking you can stop Thanksgiving by hiding -yourself, or the cranberry sauce!"</p> - -<p>"Can't I?" asked Mr. Gobble Obble, doubtful-like.</p> - -<p>"Of course you can't!" exclaimed Mr. Longears. "Why, -Thanksgiving doesn't mean just feasting on turkey, ice cream -and cranberries!"</p> - -<p>"It does at the house I ran away from," said Mr. Gobble -Obble.</p> - -<p>"Yes, and I suppose it does at many other houses," went on -the bunny gentleman. "But Thanksgiving is really a time in -which to be thankful for the things one has had to eat all the -year—for that, and other blessings. The Pilgrim Fathers, who -came over to live among the Indians, were thankful for even a -little parched corn."</p> - -<p>"What are Indians?" asked the turkey, who had never studied -history.</p> - -<p>"Wild men, who wore feathers such as yours," said Nurse -Jane. "They are Indians."</p> - -<p>"I'll tell you about the Indians some day," promised Uncle -Wiggily. "Now we must talk more about Thanksgiving."</p> - -<p>"I don't like to talk about it," sighed Mr. Gobble Obble. "It -isn't a happy thing for me even to think about, much less talk -about!"</p> - -<p>"But you shouldn't have run away with the cranberry sauce," -went on the bunny gentleman. "I'm afraid I shall have to ask -you to take it back."</p> - -<p>"All right—I will," promised Mr. Gobble Obble. "But I'll -go after dark,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> -so the cook won't see me. Then I'll come here -again and stay with you and Nurse Jane."</p> - -<p>"Yes, do," invited the bunny. "Spend Thanksgiving with -us."</p> - -<p>So when it grew dark Mr. Gobble Obble picked up the basket -of cranberry sauce in his bill, and went over the fields and -through the woods to the village, where lived the real boys and -girls and their fathers and mothers. Softly and silently, like the -shadow of a feathered Indian, the turkey made his way to the -back stoop. There he set down the cranberry sauce and -scuttled over to Uncle Wiggily's hollow stump bungalow again.</p> - -<p>Days and nights came and went, and then it was Thanksgiving.</p> - -<p>"Very lucky am I to live to see this day," gobbled the turkey -as he ate breakfast with Uncle Wiggily and Nurse Jane. "If -I hadn't run away with the cranberry sauce I'd be roasting in -the oven now!"</p> - -<p>"Well, I'm glad you aren't," spoke the bunny. "Though of -course it wasn't right for you to take the cranberry sauce."</p> - -<p>"They'll have that for Thanksgiving, anyhow," remarked -Nurse Jane. "But now, Wiggy," she went on, "if I get the -baskets ready, will you start out with them?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy," answered the bunny gentleman, -twinkling his pink nose.</p> - -<p>"What baskets are you speaking of?" asked Mr. Gobble -Obble, as he saw the muskrat lady putting carrot cakes, turnip -flopovers and lettuce sandwiches up in little bundles.</p> - -<p>"These are for the poor folk of animal land," answered Uncle -Wiggily. "Each year, at Thanksgiving, Nurse Jane puts up a -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> -good dinner for them, and I take the baskets around in my automobile."</p> - -<p>"How nice!" gobbled the turkey. "May I help? I'm so -thankful for not being in the oven, that I'd like to make some -one else thankful too, if I could."</p> - -<p>"That's the idea!" cried the bunny. "Yes, come along, Mr. -Gobble Obble!"</p> - -<p>Soon the bunny gentleman had filled his automobile with -baskets of good things packed by Nurse Jane. Over the fields -and through the woods rode Uncle Wiggily and the turkey gentleman, -and many a poor animal family was the happier for -Uncle Wiggily's visit.</p> - -<p>And at last, when the final basket had been left, and Uncle -Wiggily and the turkey were on their way back to the bungalow, -out from behind a bush jumped the bad old Fuzzy Fox.</p> - -<p>"I want to nibble Uncle Wiggily's ears for my Thanksgiving -dinner!" howled the Fox. "I want ears to nibble!"</p> - -<p>"Well, you can't—not to-day!" laughed Uncle Wiggily, and -he made the auto go so fast that the Fox was left far, far behind.</p> - -<p>"Oh, ho!" gobbled the turkey as they came within sight of the -stump bungalow. "This ride will give us a good appetite for -the Thanksgiving dinner."</p> - -<p>"Indeed it will!" laughed the bunny.</p> - -<p>But when they went inside, and met Nurse Jane, the muskrat -lady looked at them in such a queer way that Uncle Wiggily -asked:</p> - -<p>"What is the matter, Miss Fuzz Wuzz?" (He sometimes -called her that in fun.) "Has anything happened?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> -"Yes, Uncle Wiggily, there has," sadly answered the muskrat -lady housekeeper. "I will not keep it from you!"</p> - -<p>"Have—have they come after me?" asked the turkey in a -faint and far-off voice. "Have they?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, no," said Nurse Jane. "But by mistake I packed up -everything in the house to eat in those Thanksgiving baskets, -Uncle Wiggily! I didn't save out a thing for ourselves, and -what to do about your Thanksgiving dinner I don't know! I'm -so sorry——"</p> - -<p>"Tut! Tut! Never mind," broke in Uncle Wiggily kindly. -"I dare say we shall find something to nibble on. A couple of -carrots will do me."</p> - -<p>"Well, I have <i>those</i>," Nurse Jane said, "and a little corn."</p> - -<p>"I love corn!" gobbled the turkey.</p> - -<p>"I can eat it myself," the muskrat lady declared. "So if you -can put up with that for Thanksgiving, we'll eat!"</p> - -<p>Then they sat down to the corn and carrots, and Uncle Wiggily -said:</p> - -<p>"I'm thankful I could make the auto go so fast that we ran -away from the fox."</p> - -<p>"So am I," agreed the gobbler. "And I'm thankful I'm here -sitting up to the dining table, instead of being nicely roasted on -<i>top</i> of it! And I'm thankful I could help you feed the poor -animal families."</p> - -<p>"I'm thankful," spoke Nurse Jane, "because you two gentlemen -didn't scold and make a fuss when you found what a mistake -I'd made about the dinner."</p> - -<p>"Ha! Ha!" laughed Uncle Wiggily. "Then we are <i>all</i> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> -thankful, and there could not possibly be a better Thanksgiving -than this!"</p> - -<p>So they ate the corn and carrots and were very happy. And -if the jumping jack doesn't waggle his tail like a skyrocket and -knock over the milk bottles so they think they're roller skates -and slide down the back stoop, I'll tell you next about Uncle -Wiggily and the circus.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="XXIX" id="XXIX">STORY XXIX</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY AT THE CIRCUS</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>Jackie Bow Wow, the little puppy dog boy, came running -up to Uncle Wiggily one morning, so excited that he barked -three times and fell down twice, stubbing his toe over a lollypop -stick on the path.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Uncle Wiggily!" barked Jackie. "What you think? -There's pictures of elephants, and tigers and lions and camels! -There's a man putting up a big tent! There are red wagons and -golden chariots, and blue wagons and one that plays funny -tunes!"</p> - -<p>"And there's a man with his face all painted red, white and -blue, just like your rheumatism crutch!" barked Peetie Bow -Wow, the other little puppy dog chap, as he ran up wagging his -tail. "And there's popcorn, peanuts and pink lemonade! Wuff! -Wuff!"</p> - -<p>"What's it all about?" asked the bunny rabbit gentleman, as -he sat down on the steps of his hollow stump bungalow, while -the puppy dog boys caught their breaths, which had nearly run -away from them.</p> - -<p>"It's a circus!" cried Jackie and Peetie just like twins, which -they almost were. "A real circus!"</p> - -<p>"A circus!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "That's nice! Do -you mean it is the kind you animal boys sometimes get up; -where you charge two pins to get in and three pins for a seat?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> -"Oh, no! It's a regular man-circus, that real boys and girls -go to see!" barked Jackie.</p> - -<p>"It's like the kind we once ran away and joined, where we -learned to do jumping, to turn somersaults and other tricks," -explained Peetie.</p> - -<p>"Well, if it's that kind of a circus," spoke Uncle Wiggily, -"we needn't bother our heads about it. We animal folk can't -go to any real circus, you know!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, but that's what we came to see you for!" whined Jackie. -"We want you to take us to the circus!"</p> - -<p>"Take you to the circus!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "Why, the -very idea! How would an old rabbit gentleman and two funny -puppy dog boys look walking into a real circus? The men would -think we belonged to it, and had somehow gotten out of our -cages. They'd shut us up behind the iron bars, as the lions and -tigers are kept. Take you two to the circus! Oh, no! It -couldn't be thought of!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, dear!" sighed Jackie.</p> - -<p>"We told the others that you'd take us," softly barked Peetie.</p> - -<p>"What others?" Uncle Wiggily wanted to know, curious -like.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Sammie and Susie Littletail, Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, -Lulu, Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble, and a lot of the -animal boys and girls," went on Peetie. "We were over on the -edge of the woods, looking at the circus men put up the tent and -the colored posters, and we all thought you'd take us."</p> - -<p>"Baby Bunty will be so disappointed!" said Jackie.</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily twinkled his pink nose serious like and -thoughtful.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> -"Hum! Circus!" murmured the old rabbit gentleman. "So -Baby Bunty wants to go, does she? Well, she never saw a circus, -not even a make-believe one, such as you boys get up. Now -I don't care for a circus <i>myself</i>—I've seen too many of 'em. But -I'll go—just to take Baby Bunty!"</p> - -<p>"And may we come?" asked Jackie, eagerly.</p> - -<p>"Oh, well, yes, I s'pose so!" slowly answered Mr. Longears. -"Nurse Jane will say I'm queer; but what matter? A circus -comes but once a year! Now run along, doggie boys. I'll have -to think up some way of getting all of you into the circus tent, -for we can't buy tickets and go in the regular way. The circus -men wouldn't understand."</p> - -<p>Jackie and Peetie were so delighted that they turned somersaults -all the way across the field as they ran to tell the other -animal boys and girls. Meanwhile Uncle Wiggily hopped -along on his red, white and blue twinkling nose——Oh, listen -to me, would you! I mean his rheumatism crutch. I guess I'm -getting excited about the circus.</p> - -<p>Anyhow Uncle Wiggily hopped across the field to the edge of -the forest where Jackie and Peetie had said the big show was -going to be given that afternoon. Surely enough there was the -large white tent, much larger than the one the camping boys had -used the time Uncle Wiggily helped dig a rain-water canal for -the lads, so they would have dry beds to sleep in.</p> - -<p>There was the circus tent!</p> - -<p>And there were red, green, yellow, blue and purple posters -showing pictures of lions, tigers, camels, elephants and all such -wild animals.</p> - -<p>"It's a regular circus surely enough," said Uncle Wiggily to -himself.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> -"But how am I going to get in with the animal boys -and girls? I can't go up to the wagon and buy tickets, much as -I'd like to. I can't speak man-talk, though I can understand it. -How can I get in?"</p> - -<p>Just then Uncle Wiggily saw two real boys slowly walking -around outside the big tent. They seemed to be looking for -something.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 640px;"> -<img src="images/p200_650.jpg" width="640" height="411" alt="It's a circus, surely enough, said Uncle Wiggily." /> -</div> - -<p>"I hope they haven't lost their ticket money," thought the -bunny. One boy said to the other:</p> - -<p>"Here's a good place to get in!"</p> - -<p>"All right! Crawl under!" exclaimed the other.</p> - -<p>Then those two boys suddenly crawled under the circus tent, -because they had no money to buy tickets. Uncle Wiggily -watched them.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> -"Why! The idea!" exclaimed Mr. Longears. "What a way -to get in! Why—I have it! That's how I can get in with the -animal children! I can crawl under the tent! Of course I -wouldn't do it that way if I could buy them tickets, and get in -the regular way. But I can't—the ticket man wouldn't understand -if I hopped up with green or yellow leaf money. Crawling -under the tent is the only way."</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily hopped back to the woods where he had built -his hollow stump bungalow. The animal children were gathered -about waiting for him.</p> - -<p>"Come on. It's time to start!" said Susie Littletail, who had -on her best hat made of green ferns.</p> - -<p>"Where are you going, Wiggy?" asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy -Wuzzy, as she saw the bunny gentleman starting off at the head -of the procession of animal boys and girls.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I'm just going to take Baby Bunty to the circus," said -Mr. Longears, holding the littlest rabbit girl by her paw.</p> - -<p>"Are you sure you aren't going for <i>yourself</i>?" asked Nurse -Jane with a laugh.</p> - -<p>"Of course not!" exclaimed the bunny. "The idea!"</p> - -<p>On he hopped with the animal children, and when they came -near to the edge of the woods, where the circus tent gleamed -white amid the green trees, Uncle Wiggily said:</p> - -<p>"Wait here, children, until I hop ahead and see if everything -is all right."</p> - -<p>The bunny, hiding behind a bush, looked across a little field -at the tent. He saw two more boys walk softly up and try to -crawl under the white canvas, but all at once a man with a big -club rushed up, drove away the boys, and cried:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> -"No, you don't! You can't get in this circus that way!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, dear!" thought Uncle Wiggily. "If men are on guard -to keep boys from crawling under the tent, they won't let me in -with the animal children! What can I do? Baby Bunty will be -so disappointed! Ha! I know! I'll start here in this field, -and dig a burrow, or tunnel under ground. I'll slant it down -until I'm beneath the tent, and then I'll slant it up, so when we -come out we'll be inside the tent. In that way the men with -clubs will not see us!"</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily hopped back to the waiting animal children.</p> - -<p>"I'll have to dig a tunnel-burrow to get you into the circus," -said the bunny. "Stay here and keep quiet!"</p> - -<p>Starting in the field, behind the bushes and a little way from -the circus tent, Uncle Wiggily began to dig. He was a fast -worker, and soon he had dug the burrow all the way through.</p> - -<p>He came out inside the circus tent, beneath the rows of seats -on which were perched many boys, girls and grown folk watching -the funny clowns, listening to the band, seeing the men on -the high trapeze bars and looking at the horses.</p> - -<p>"Ha! The circus is just beginning!" said Uncle Wiggily to -himself, as the big bass drum boomed out: "Zoom! Zoom!"</p> - -<p>He crawled back through the burrow and got the animal children -in line.</p> - -<p>"Forward march!" cried Uncle Wiggily, and through the underground -burrow crawled the rabbits, squirrels, puppy dogs, -pussy cats, chickens, ducks, guinea pigs and all the smaller animal -friends of the rabbit gentleman.</p> - -<p>They were not seen by the men with clubs, because they -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> -crawled beneath the tent far below the ground. Then they -came up inside the circus, under the high tier of seats.</p> - -<p>"Oh, isn't it wonderful!" cried Baby Bunty, keeping hold of -Uncle Wiggily's paw.</p> - -<p>"Hush!" whispered the rabbit gentleman. "Don't let the -people up above know we're down here or they might chase us -out!"</p> - -<p>So there sat Mr. Longears and his little friends, having a fine -view of the circus almost from start to finish. And the people -sitting on the seats above dropped peanuts and kernels of popcorn -which the animal children picked up and ate. The only -thing they didn't have was pink lemonade, but perhaps that was -not good for them.</p> - -<p>And at last, when the band began to play like anything, and -the horses and elephants raced around the big ring, Uncle Wiggily -said:</p> - -<p>"Come, now. The circus is ended. We had better get out -before the crowd starts or we may be stepped on. Did you like -it, Baby Bunty?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, it was the most wonderful thing I ever saw!" sighed the -little rabbit girl. "Thank you, ever so much!"</p> - -<p>"Yes, and we thank you also, Uncle Wiggily," called the -other animal children.</p> - -<p>Then they crawled down through the burrow again, outside -the tent and came into the woods, through which they scampered -to their different homes. But they had been to the circus!</p> - -<p>And if the window curtain doesn't roll up so fast that it flies -to the top of the ceiling, taking the gold fish with it, you shall -next hear about Uncle Wiggily and the lion.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="XXX" id="XXX">STORY XXX</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE LION</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>Once upon a time, as Uncle Wiggily was hopping through -the woods, he heard a roaring sound, coming, it seemed, from a -distant clump of trees.</p> - -<p>"Oh, ho!" exclaimed the bunny rabbit gentleman. "That's -thunder! I suppose we are going to have a storm. I didn't -bring my umbrella, but I can find a large toadstool, or mushroom. -That will do as well."</p> - -<p>The animal folk often use toadstools for umbrellas, you know, -and Uncle Wiggily had done this more than once. The bunny -hopped on a little farther, and the roaring, rumbling sound -boomed out again.</p> - -<p>"The thunder is coming nearer," thought Mr. Longears. "I -had better hurry if I am going to pick a toadstool umbrella!"</p> - -<p>He limped on his red, white and blue striped rheumatism -crutch over toward a large mushroom (which, of course, isn't -the same as a toadstool, though they look alike), and Uncle -Wiggily was just breaking off the stem, so he would not get wet -in the thunder shower, when, all of a sudden, a loud voice -asked:</p> - -<p>"Can you please tell me where the circus went to?"</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily turned so quickly that he nearly lost the -twinkle from the end of his pink nose. For the voice that spoke -was almost as loud as thunder.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> -"Was that you making the noise like a storm?" asked the -bunny as he saw a large yellow creature, with a great head, surrounded -by a fluffy mane, and a tail on the end of which was a -bunch of hair.</p> - -<p>"It was," answered the big animal. "I'll try to speak more -gently if it hurts your ears. But, naturally, I have a loud voice, -being a lion, you know."</p> - -<p>"Yes, I knew you were a lion. I remember seeing you in the -circus," spoke the bunny gentleman, who was not at all afraid. -"But tell me, why aren't you with the show now?"</p> - -<p>"Because I ran away," the lion answered. "I got tired of -being shut up in my cage all the while, and, when the man left -the iron door open I slipped out. I've been hiding in the woods -ever since; but it is not as much fun as I thought it would be. -Now I wish I could go back to the circus. Can you please tell -me where it is?"</p> - -<p>"I am sorry to say I cannot," Uncle Wiggily answered. "But -if you will come with me to my hollow stump bungalow—not -that you can get inside, for you are too large—why, perhaps -Nurse Jane may know where your circus is. She knows nearly -everything."</p> - -<p>"Who is Nurse Jane?" asked the lion.</p> - -<p>"She is Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy, my muskrat lady housekeeper," -replied the bunny gentleman.</p> - -<p>"A rat, is she?" went on the lion. "I don't know much about -rats, but once a mouse gnawed the ropes, when I was caught in -a net, and set me free—that was before I joined the circus."</p> - -<p>"Well, a muskrat is something like a big mouse," said Uncle -Wiggily, "so I think you will like Nurse Jane."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> -"I'm sure I shall," the lion rumbled, trying to make his voice -soft and gentle.</p> - -<p>"Well, then," went on Uncle Wiggily, "please come along -with me, and I'll try to find the circus for you. Nurse Jane -may know where it moved to, or some of the animal boys and -girls may tell us."</p> - -<p>So Uncle Wiggily hopped through the woods, the lion stalking -along beside him, and soon they reached the hollow stump -bungalow of the bunny gentleman.</p> - -<p>"Nurse Jane! Nurse Jane!" called Mr. Longears. "I have -brought home a friend with me!"</p> - -<p>"Not to dinner, I hope, Wiggy," remarked Miss Fuzzy -Wuzzy, from inside the bungalow. "I have a dreadful headache! -I haven't been able to wash the breakfast dishes yet, and -as for making the beds, and dusting the furniture—it is out of -the question! So if you want dinner——"</p> - -<p>"Please tell her not to bother," whispered the lion. "I am -not hungry and——"</p> - -<p>"Is that thunder?" asked the muskrat lady, thrusting her -head, tied up in a wet towel, from her bedroom window.</p> - -<p>And when the muskrat lady saw the big lion she screamed.</p> - -<p>"Pray do not be frightened, my dear Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy," -the lion said. "I just came with Uncle Wiggily to inquire where -I might find the circus, from which I foolishly ran away. But -I'll toddle on, and not bother you, since you are ill."</p> - -<p>"Oh, it isn't really any bother," spoke the muskrat lady. "I -could get you a cup of tea. It was only your loud voice that -startled me."</p> - -<p>"I'm sorry," rumbled the lion, as gently as he could. "I'm -afraid<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> - my voice is rather louder than the purr of a pussy cat. -But I can't help it."</p> - -<p>"Oh, of course not!" agreed Nurse Jane. "I wish I could ask -you in, but our bungalow was not made for lions."</p> - -<p>"I'll come in and get him something he can eat outside," -offered Uncle Wiggily. "By that time some of the animal boys -or girls, who know where the circus went, may come along, since -you don't know, Nurse Jane."</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 611px;"> -<img src="images/p207_640.jpg" width="611" height="441" alt="He ate nearly all the bungalow" /> -</div> - -<p>"No, I am sorry to say I don't know," spoke the muskrat lady, -as she went back to bed with her headache.</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily took some carrot soup and some lettuce tea -out to the lion, but though the tawny creature said he was not -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> -hungry, he ate nearly all there was in the bungalow, for his -appetite was much larger than that of the muskrat lady or Mr. -Longears.</p> - -<p>"And now I would like to do you and Nurse Jane a favor," -went on the circus chap, licking the soup off his whiskers with -his red tongue. "Couldn't I help wash the dishes or make the -beds?"</p> - -<p>"I'm afraid not!" laughed Uncle Wiggily, thinking how -funny it would look to see a lion making a rabbit's bed.</p> - -<p>"Yes, I suppose I am too large to get in the bungalow," went -on the roaring chap, in as gentle a voice as he could make come -from his throat. "But I know one way in which I can help!"</p> - -<p>"How?" asked Uncle Wiggily.</p> - -<p>"With my tail," said the lion. "That isn't too large to put -through one of your windows. And on the end of my tail is a -tuft of fluffy hair, just like a dusting brush. Please let me stick -my tail in through the different windows. Then I can switch it -around, and dust the furniture for Nurse Jane."</p> - -<p>"Do you think you can?" asked the bunny, doubtful like.</p> - -<p>"Of course!" said the lion. "True, I never before have dusted -furniture in a bunny's hollow stump bungalow, but that is no -reason for not trying. Please give me a chance!"</p> - -<p>So Uncle Wiggily opened all the windows. The lion backed -up, and thrust his tail first in one and then in another. When -his tail was in the parlor he switched it around—I mean he -switched his tail around—and the fluffy tuft of hair on the end -knocked all the dust off the chairs, table and piano. Soon the -parlor was as nicely dusted as Nurse Jane could have done it -herself.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> -In this way, with his tail, the lion dusted all the rooms in the -bungalow, even the one where Nurse Jane was lying down with -a headache. And when the muskrat lady saw the lion's fluffy -tail switching around on her chairs in such a funny way, she -laughed, and then, in a little while, her headache was all better.</p> - -<p>"You certainly are a good houseworker," said the muskrat -lady as she got up and drank a cup of tea. "And you have done -me a great favor."</p> - -<p>"Pray do not mention it," spoke the lion politely as he flapped -his tail in the air to rid it of dust. "It was a pleasure!"</p> - -<p>Then along came Jacko Kinkytail, the monkey boy, and he -said the circus had moved on to a town about ten miles away.</p> - -<p>"Thank you! I'll travel there and get back in my cage," -rumbled the lion. Then, with a polite bow to Nurse Jane and -Mr. Longears, the tawny, yellow chap with the big voice walked -away through the forest. And every time the muskrat lady -thought of the lion thrusting his tail in through the window to -dust the furniture she had to laugh.</p> - -<p>Now would you like to hear a story about Uncle Wiggily and -the tiger? Well, you may if the scrubbing brush doesn't take -the cake of soap out to the washrag's party and forget to bring -it back for the bathtub to play ball with.</p> - -<div class="chap" > -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="XXXI" id="XXXI">STORY XXXI</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE TIGER</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>"Uncle Wiggily! Oh, Uncle Wiggily!" called a voice after -the rabbit gentleman, as he was hopping away from his hollow -stump bungalow one morning.</p> - -<p>"What's the matter now?" inquired the bunny, turning -around so quickly that his tall silk hat nearly slipped down over -his pink, twinkling nose. "Does the Woozie Wolf or the Fuzzy -Fox wish to nibble my ears?"</p> - -<p>"I hope not!" exclaimed Nurse Jane, the muskrat lady housekeeper, -for she it was who had called. "But will you please -take my scissors with you, Uncle Wiggily?"</p> - -<p>"Take your scissors? What for?" asked Mr. Longears.</p> - -<p>"To have them sharpened," answered Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy. -"They are so dull I can hardly cut anything, and I want to cut -some linen up into new sheets and pillow cases. Take my scissors -along with you, Wiggy dear, and have them made good and -sharp."</p> - -<p>"I will," promised the bunny rabbit gentleman. Then, wrapping -the dull scissors in a grape-vine leaf, Uncle Wiggily put -them in the top of his tall silk hat, and set the hat on his head.</p> - -<p>"Why do you put them there?" asked Nurse Jane.</p> - -<p>"So I'll remember them," the rabbit gentleman answered. -"If I put them in my pocket I'd forget them. But now, if I -meet Mrs. Twistytail, the pig lady, or Mrs. Wibblewobble, the -duck lady,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> -and bow to them, I'll take off my hat. Out will slide -the scissors, and then I'll remember that I am to get them -sharpened."</p> - -<p>"That's a good idea," said Nurse Jane. "Now don't forget -to bring them back to me good and sharp. If you don't I can't -cut up into sheets and pillow cases the new linen I have bought."</p> - -<p>"I'll not forget," promised the bunny gentleman.</p> - -<p>He hopped on and on through the woods, and he had not gone -very far before, all of a sudden, he heard a growling, rumbling-umbling -noise, a little like far-off thunder.</p> - -<p>"I wonder if that can be the lion again?" thought Uncle Wiggily. -"Perhaps he couldn't find the circus and he has come back -to dust more furniture for Nurse Jane with the end of his tail -stuck through a window in the bungalow."</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily looked through the forest, but he saw no -tawny lion. Instead he saw, limping toward him, a beast almost -as big as the lion, but with a beautiful black and yellow -striped coat.</p> - -<p>"Oh, ho! Mr. Tiger—the one I saw when I went to the circus -with Baby Bunty!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "This is a -tiger!"</p> - -<p>"Yes, I am the striped tiger," answered the other animal. -"And, oh, what trouble I am in!"</p> - -<p>"What is the matter?" kindly asked the rabbit gentleman, -for he could see that the tiger was limping and in pain.</p> - -<p>"I ran a thorn in my foot," went on the black and yellow fellow, -"and my eyes are so poor I can't see to pull it out."</p> - -<p>"Perhaps I can," Uncle Wiggily said. "I have strong -glasses."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> -So the bunny gentleman looked through his spectacles, and -soon saw the thorn that was in the tiger's foot. It did not take -Uncle Wiggily long to pull it out.</p> - -<p>"Oh, thank you, so much!" growled the tiger, though not in a -cross voice. "It serves me right, I suppose, for having run away -from the circus."</p> - -<p>"Did you run away, too, as the lion did?" asked Uncle Wiggily.</p> - -<p>"Yes," answered the striped beast, "we ran away together—the -lion, some other animals and myself. But now I'd be glad -to run back again."</p> - -<p>"The lion was," said Uncle Wiggily. "He was very glad to -go back."</p> - -<p>"Don't tell me you have met <i>him</i>!" exclaimed the tiger. -"Where is he?"</p> - -<p>"He started back yesterday, after stopping at my bungalow -and helping Nurse Jane dust the furniture with his tail through -the windows," the bunny answered.</p> - -<p>"Then I'm going back, too!" declared the tiger. "It isn't as -much fun roaming by yourself through the woods as I thought -it would be. I'm going back!"</p> - -<p>"Before you start," kindly suggested Uncle Wiggily, "please -come to my bungalow with me."</p> - -<p>"Does more furniture need dusting?" asked the tiger, laughing. -"I have no fluffy tuft on the end of my tail, as has the -lion."</p> - -<p>"It isn't that," the bunny answered. "But I would like to -have Nurse Jane put some salve on the place where the thorn -ran in your paw, and also wrap it up in a rag."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> -"That would be very nice," spoke the tiger. "Right gladly -will I come with you."</p> - -<p>So he limped through the forest with the bunny gentleman, -and soon they came to the hollow stump bungalow.</p> - -<p>"More company for you, Nurse Jane!" called the jolly rabbit -uncle.</p> - -<p>"That's nice," answered Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy. "Oh, you're a -tiger, aren't you?" she went on, as she saw the striped beast.</p> - -<p>"And he has a sore paw," spoke Uncle Wiggily. "Will you -put salve on it for him, Nurse Jane?"</p> - -<p>"Of course," answered the muskrat lady. And when the -tiger's sore paw was nicely wrapped in a clean rag, he started off -through the woods to find the circus.</p> - -<p>"Good-bye, and come again," invited Uncle Wiggily, making -a low and polite bow with his tall silk hat.</p> - -<p>"I will," promised the tiger. And then the bunny suddenly -exclaimed:</p> - -<p>"Oh, your scissors, Nurse Jane! I forgot all about getting -them sharpened," and he picked them up from where they had -fallen when he took off his hat.</p> - -<p>"Oh, dear! That's too bad!" said the muskrat lady. "And -I wanted to cut the linen in strips to make sheets and pillow -cases. Now it is so late I'm afraid the sharpening place will be -closed."</p> - -<p>"Perhaps I can help," said the tiger, turning back.</p> - -<p>"Can you sharpen scissors?" asked Uncle Wiggily.</p> - -<p>"No," was the answer, "but my claws are sharper than any -scissors you ever saw. If you and Nurse Jane will hold the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> -cloth, I will cut it into strips for you with my sharp claws. I -don't need to use my sore paw. I'll take my other one."</p> - -<p>"Oh, that will be very kind of you," said Nurse Jane. "I forgot -that tigers have sharp claws."</p> - -<p>So the muskrat lady and the rabbit gentleman held the linen -cloth in front of the tiger, and with his claws he cut and slashed -it into just the shapes Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy needed for making -sheets and pillow cases.</p> - -<p>"I am very glad I could do you this favor," the tiger said, -when all the linen was cut.</p> - -<p>"So am I," spoke Uncle Wiggily, "for if you hadn't been -here to use your claws, Nurse Jane would not have forgiven me -for not remembering to get the scissors sharpened. Good-bye!"</p> - -<p>"Good-bye!" echoed the tiger, as he walked on to find the -circus. And that night he slept in his cage again.</p> - -<p>So if the doorknob doesn't try to crawl through the keyhole -to play bean bag with the rice pudding in the gas stove oven, I'll -tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the elephant.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="XXXII" id="XXXII">STORY XXXII</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE ELEPHANT</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>"Matches, Uncle Wiggily! Matches!" cried Nurse Jane -Fuzzy Wuzzy one morning, as the bunny rabbit gentleman was -hopping down the forest path, away from his hollow stump bungalow.</p> - -<p>"What's that? Patches?" exclaimed Mr. Longears. "Did I -put on my garden trousers that have patches?" and he tried to -twist his neck like a corkscrew, so he could look behind him.</p> - -<p>"No, I didn't say '<i>patches</i>'!" laughed Nurse Jane. "I said -<i>matches</i>. Don't forget to bring me some matches to light the -fire, when you come back from looking for an adventure."</p> - -<p>"Oh! Matches!" repeated the bunny. "I'll get some for -you, Nurse Jane."</p> - -<p>Over the fields and through the woods hopped the bunny rabbit -gentleman. He looked here, there and everywhere for an -adventure, but could not seem to find one. The Woozie Wolf -nor the Fuzzy Fox did not chase him to nibble his ears. Not -that Uncle Wiggily wanted them to, but, if they had, that would -have been an adventure.</p> - -<p>"Well, perhaps I shall find one when I come back," said the -bunny gentleman as he hopped along to the seven and eight -cent store, where he bought a box of matches.</p> - -<p>Carrying these fire-sticks in his paw, Uncle Wiggily was hopping -through the forest, on his way back to the hollow stump -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> -bungalow when, all at once, the bunny gentleman felt the -ground trembling, and he heard a sound like a big horn being -blown, and then a loud voice said:</p> - -<p>"Oh, dear! I can't get it out!"</p> - -<p>"Well, what can this be?" thought Uncle Wiggily. "That -horn sounds like the big brass one I heard in the circus. From -the way the earth shakes I'd say a big automobile truck was -coming along. And as for someone who can't get something -out—well, that sounds like trouble! I'd like to help, but first -I must see who it is."</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily looked through the bushes, and at first he -thought he saw the side of some big house moving behind the -trees. Then he noticed something like a great leaf flapping in -the wind, and a moment later something long, like a fire hose, -was thrust forward.</p> - -<p>"Why, it's an elephant!" exclaimed the bunny, as he caught -sight of the big chap.</p> - -<p>"An elephant is just who I am," was the answer in a rumbling -voice, coming through the rubber hose of a trunk. "I'm from -the circus, and I wish I might be back there this minute, eating -my hay!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, so you have run away from the circus also, like the lion -and tiger?" questioned the bunny.</p> - -<p>"Yes," answered the elephant, "I did. But what do you -know of my friends, the lion and tiger?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, I have met them," answered Mr. Longears. "But is -that your only sorrow—wishing you were back in the circus?"</p> - -<p>"Indeed it is not," the elephant answered. "I have stepped -on a loose stone, and it is fast between the toes of my left hind -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> -foot. I can't get it loose by stamping on the ground, and I can't -reach so far back with my trunk. I'm in great pain and -trouble!"</p> - -<p>"That is too bad," spoke Uncle Wiggily. "I guess your -stamping on the ground is what I thought was an auto truck -coming along."</p> - -<p>"Perhaps," admitted the big circus elephant. "I wish I could -get that stone out from between my toes," he went on, stamping -so hard that he shook the very trees, making them rustle as -though a wind had blown them.</p> - -<p>"Maybe I can help you," said Uncle Wiggily most kindly. "I -have with me my red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch. -With that I may be able to poke out the stone that hurts you."</p> - -<p>"I wish you'd try," begged the elephant.</p> - -<p>It did not take the bunny gentleman long to loosen the stone -from between the elephant's toes, for the foot of an elephant is -not like that of a horse or cow—he really has toes and toe-nails, -just as you have, only a little larger, of course. Well, I should -say so!</p> - -<p>"Ah, I feel much better, Uncle Wiggily! Thank you!" spoke -the elephant through his hollow rubber hose-like trunk, and it -sounded like a trumpet or brass horn when he talked. "Now -that the stone is out of my foot I shall go back to the circus."</p> - -<p>"The path to the place where the circus is now showing leads -past my bungalow," said the rabbit gentleman. "I'll hop along -and point out for you the way. I'd like you to meet Nurse -Jane."</p> - -<p>"That will give me pleasure, also," remarked the elephant, -who was very polite.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> -So he and Uncle Wiggily went along together, but several -times the bunny had to say:</p> - -<p>"Please don't go so fast, Mr. Elephant. I can't keep up with -you."</p> - -<p>"I beg your pardon," spoke the immense chap. "Suppose I -lift you upon my back and carry you that way?"</p> - -<p>"I should much like that," the rabbit uncle said. So in his -trunk the elephant gently lifted up Uncle Wiggily, and set him -down on the broad back.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 608px;"> -<img src="images/p218_640.jpg" width="608" height="447" alt="Ah, this is even better than my auto, said Uncle Wiggily" /> -</div> - -<p>"Ah, this is even better than my auto," laughed Uncle Wiggily, -as the elephant crashed his way through the forest. Soon -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> -they came to the hollow stump bungalow.</p> - -<p>"More company for you, Nurse Jane!" called Uncle Wiggily, -with a laugh.</p> - -<p>"Eh? What's that? Where are you? I don't see anybody -but a big elephant?" cried the muskrat lady, looking up.</p> - -<p>"I'm on his back!" answered the bunny. And as the elephant -lifted Mr. Longears down in the trunk, Nurse Jane was so surprised -that she hardly knew what to say.</p> - -<p>"Will you—er—have a cup—I mean a <i>washtub</i> of tea?" the -muskrat lady asked, well knowing that so big a creature must -drink a lot of everything.</p> - -<p>"Some water is all I need, thank you," answered the elephant. -"I had something to eat in the forest before I met Uncle Wiggily."</p> - -<p>Then the big chap put his trunk down in the brook and sucked -up a great quantity of water. Uncle Wiggily put the box of -matches down on the bench at the side of the bungalow, where -the sun shone bright and hot, and watched the elephant drink.</p> - -<p>"Well, now I'll travel along and go back to the circus," said -the big chap with the large trunk and little tail. "I'll tell the -lion and tiger I met you."</p> - -<p>"Please do." begged the bunny, and then, all of a sudden -Nurse Jane cried:</p> - -<p>"Fire! Fire! Fire! Oh, the sun has set off the box of -matches, and the bungalow is burning! Fire! Fire! Fire!"</p> - -<p>Surely enough, this had happened. The box of matches, -fizzing and spluttering, was burning Uncle Wiggily's bungalow.</p> - -<p>"Turn in an alarm; Get the firemen! Call out the water -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> -bugs!" cried the bunny gentleman.</p> - -<p>"Just a moment! Don't get excited!" spoke the elephant -calmly. "I will put out that fire in a second!"</p> - -<p>He sucked up more water from the brook in his trunk and -squirted it on the blaze. The fire hissed and spluttered and died -out in a puff of smoke.</p> - -<p>"Oh, you have saved my bungalow!" cried Uncle Wiggily. -"Thank you ever so much! Only for you I'd be burned out of -house and home!"</p> - -<p>"Pooh! That wasn't any more than you did for me—taking -the stone out of my foot," said the elephant. "With my rubber -hose-nose of a trunk, I very often put out little fires."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I'm so glad Uncle Wiggily met you!" sighed Nurse -Jane. "If he hadn't, our bungalow would have burned down, -perhaps, Mr. Elephant!"</p> - -<p>"Well, one good turn deserves another," laughed the elephant -as he tramped away through the forest to find the circus, -and the bunny gentleman and Nurse Jane waved "Good-bye" -to the big chap.</p> - -<p>So if the wheelbarrow doesn't catch cold when it runs after -the train of cars to get a ride around the block, the next adventure -will be about Uncle Wiggily and the camel.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="XXXIII" id="XXXIII">STORY XXXIII</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CAMEL</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>"What sort of an adventure do you think you will have to-day, -Uncle Wiggily?" asked the muskrat lady housekeeper of -the bunny rabbit as he hopped away from the hollow stump bungalow -one morning.</p> - -<p>"Well, Nurse Jane, I hardly know," was the answer. "I may -meet with some of those queer circus animals again."</p> - -<p>"I hope you do," Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy said, as she tied her -whiskers in a bow knot, for she was going to dust the furniture -that day. "The circus animals are very kind to you. And it is -strange, for some of them are such savage jungle beasts."</p> - -<p>"Yes," spoke the bunny gentleman, "I am glad to say the -circus animals were kind and gentle. More so than the Pipsisewah -or Skeezicks. But then, you see, the circus animals -have been taught to be kind and good—that is, most of them."</p> - -<p>"I hope you never meet the other sort—the kind that will -want to nibble your ears!" exclaimed Nurse Jane as Uncle Wiggily -put his tall silk hat on front-side before and started off -with his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch under -his paw.</p> - -<p>"I hope nothing happens to him," sighed Nurse Jane as she -went in to put the dishes to bed in the china closet.</p> - -<p>But something was going to happen to Uncle Wiggily. You -shall hear all about it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> -On and on through the woods hopped the bunny rabbit gentleman, -looking first on one side of the path and then on the -other for an adventure. He was beginning to think he would -never find one when, all of a sudden, he heard a rustling in the -bushes, and a voice said:</p> - -<p>"Oh, dear! I can't go a hop farther! I'm so tired, and my -bundle is so heavy. I guess I'm getting old!"</p> - -<p>"Ha! That sounds like trouble of the old-fashioned sort!" -murmured Uncle Wiggily to himself. "I may be able to give -some help, as long as it isn't the fox or wolf, and it doesn't -sound like them."</p> - -<p>The bunny gentleman peered through the trees and, sitting -on a flat stump, he saw an old gentleman cat, looking quite sad -and forlorn.</p> - -<p>"Hello, Mr. Cat!" called Uncle Wiggily, cheerfully, as he -hopped over toward the stump. "What's the trouble?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, lots of trouble!" mewed the cat. "You see I'm a peddler. -I go about from place to place selling pins and needles -and things the lady animals need when they sew. Here is my -pack," and he pointed to a large bundle on the ground near the -stump.</p> - -<p>"But what is the matter?" asked the bunny gentleman. -"Don't the animal ladies buy your needles, pins and spools of -thread? Just step around and see Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, -my muskrat lady housekeeper. She is always sewing and mending. -She'll buy things from your pack."</p> - -<p>"Oh, it isn't <i>selling</i> them that's the trouble," said Mr. Cat. -"But I am getting so old and stiff that I can hardly carry the -pack on my back any longer. I have to sit down and rest because -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> -my back aches so much. Oh, how tired I am! What a weary world this is!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, don't say that!" laughed Uncle Wiggily, who felt quite -cheerful that morning. "See how the sun shines!"</p> - -<p>"It only makes it so much hotter for me to carry the pack on -my back," sighed the cat.</p> - -<p>"Ha! That is where I can help you!" exclaimed Mr. Longears. -"I am quite well and strong, except for a little rheumatism -now and then. That, however, doesn't bother me now, so -I'll carry your peddler's pack for you."</p> - -<p>"Will you? That's very kind!" said the cat. "Perhaps I -may be able to do you a favor some day."</p> - -<p>"Oh, that will be all right!" laughed the bunny, as he -twinkled his pink nose. "Come along, we'll travel together and -perhaps find an adventure."</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily slung the cat-peddler's pack up on his back, -the pussy carried the bunny's crutch, and so off they started together -through the woods. They had not gone very far, and -the bunny was wondering whether he could not sell Nurse Jane -a lot of pins to help the poor cat when, all of a sudden, a loud, -snarling sort of voice cried out:</p> - -<p>"Oh, where can I find some water? Oh, how much I need a -drink! I can go without one for seven days, but this is the -eighth and if I don't see some water soon I don't know what -will happen!"</p> - -<p>"I wonder who that is?" asked the peddler cat.</p> - -<p>"I don't know, but we'll soon find out," spoke Mr. Longears.</p> - -<p>They looked through the bushes and there they saw a very -strange animal, and not what you would call pretty, either. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> -This animal had a long neck, bent like the letter U, and his face -looked as though he had rolled over on it in his sleep. But the -queerest part of all was his back, on which were two humps, -like little mountains, running up to peaks.</p> - -<p>"Oh, what a queer chap!" mewed the peddler cat.</p> - -<p>"Hush, don't let him hear you!" whispered Uncle Wiggily. -"I think this is an animal from the circus."</p> - -<p>"You are right—I am!" exclaimed the two-humped chap, -looking toward the bushes behind which Uncle Wiggily and the -cat were standing. "I heard what you said, too, Mr. Cat," the -odd chap went on. "But I don't mind. I'm a camel, and I'm -used to hearing folks say how queer I look. But I am in trouble -now. Oh, dear!"</p> - -<p>"What's the matter?" asked Uncle Wiggily, kindly.</p> - -<p>"I'm so thirsty," the camel said. "You see, I took a long -drink before I ran away from the circus, which I did, very foolishly, -as I wanted some adventures. Well, I'm having them, all -right! I've been lost in the woods, and, though I had enough -to eat I couldn't find a thing to drink. On the desert, where I -came from, I could find water once in a while. But here I'm -lost."</p> - -<p>"And, though I am a camel," went on the humped creature, -"and can hold enough water in my stomach to last for several -days, now my time is up. I haven't had a drink for over seven -days, and unless I get one soon I don't know what will happen."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I can take you to the duck pond and you can get a drink -there, Mr. Camel," Uncle Wiggily said, as he hopped out from -behind the bush.</p> - -<p>"Oh, ho! What a funny chap you are!" snarled the camel, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> -not that he was cross, only a snarl was his regular way of speaking. -"Are you a little camel?"</p> - -<p>"Why, no, I'm not a camel," answered the bunny. "What -made you think so?"</p> - -<p>"Because of that hump on your back," said the camel. "Some -of us camels have two humps, and some only one. But surely -you cannot be a one-humped camel! I never saw one with ears -so long!"</p> - -<p>"Indeed, I'm not a camel!" laughed Uncle Wiggily. "I'm a -rabbit, and this pack that you see belongs to this poor peddler -cat, who is too tired to carry it. So I am carrying it for him."</p> - -<p>"That is very kind of you," spoke the thirsty circus animal. -"In fact, it seems to me you are very fond of being kind, Mr. -Longears. You carry the cat's pack, and now you offer to -show me where to get a drink. And, if you can, I wish you would -soon lead me to water. I am very thirsty!"</p> - -<p>"Follow me!" called Uncle Wiggily. Then he hopped off -through the woods, carrying the cat's peddler pack, and followed -by the two-humped camel, whose long neck swayed to -and fro like a clock pendulum, while his humps shook like two -bowls full of jelly.</p> - -<p>Soon they came to the duck pond and there the camel put -his queer face down into the water and drank as much as he -pleased. He took a long time to drink, as camels always do, -for they must take enough into their stomachs to last for a week -in case they can not find more water before the end of seven -days.</p> - -<p>The cat and Uncle Wiggily stood watching the camel, thinking -how queer and homely he was, but honest for all that, when, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> -all of a sudden, out from behind a bush jumped the bad -old Pipsisewah!</p> - -<p>"Wow! Wow! I've got you now!" howled the Pipsisewah. -"I'll nibble your ears now, Uncle Wiggily!"</p> - -<p>The bunny rabbit gentleman started to run, but, because he -had strapped to his back the pack of the cat peddler, the bunny -could not hop fast at all.</p> - -<p>"I'll get you! I'll get you!" cried the Pipsisewah.</p> - -<p>"Oh dear! Oh dear!" sighed Uncle Wiggily, wondering -who was going to save him, for he knew the tired old cat -peddler couldn't.</p> - -<p>And then, all of a sudden, the circus camel finished his long -drink, and, with a jolly snarl, he cried:</p> - -<p>"Here! You let Uncle Wiggily alone!" Then with his -broad foot, made big and wide so it would not sink into the -soft sand of the desert, the camel stepped on the tail of the -Pipsisewah, holding him back so he couldn't chase Uncle -Wiggily.</p> - -<p>"Wow! Wow!" howled the Pip.</p> - -<p>"Ha! Ha!" laughed the peddler cat. "Oh, mew!"</p> - -<p>"Just wait until I get loose, and I'll chase you, too!" cried -the Pipsisewah to the cat. "Just wait!"</p> - -<p>"Don't be afraid!" said the camel, with a smile which made -him look more homely than before, though this didn't matter. -"Here, Uncle Wiggily, hop up on my back, between my two -humps! You, too, Mr. Cat, jump up on my back. You and the -bunny gentleman can sit there as the people of the desert used -to ride me before I joined the circus. Hop up, my kind friends, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> -and I'll soon carry you safe out of these woods. I can go fast, -now that I have had a big drink of water. Hop up!"</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily, with the cat's pack, hopped up on the back -of the camel. The cat, too, sprang up. All the while the camel -kept his broad foot on the tail of the Pipsisewah, so the bad -animal couldn't get loose. And when the bunny and cat were -safe in place, snuggled down in between the camel's humps, -the queer creature started off, letting go the tail of the Pip.</p> - -<p>"Ha! Now you can't get us!" mewed the cat, looking down -from the camel's back.</p> - -<p>"Just you wait! I'll get Uncle Wiggily yet, and you too!" -the Pip howled. "And I'll fix you, Mr. Camel, for stepping -on my tail!"</p> - -<p>"Pooh! Nonsense!" snarled the camel, "Uncle Wiggily -helped me by showing me where to find water, and now I am -helping him." And away he went, quite fast, indeed, for such -a queer chap.</p> - -<p>And the old Pip skipped away to put some soft moss on his -sore tail.</p> - -<p>"Isn't this jolly!" laughed Uncle Wiggily, twinkling his -pink nose. "I never expected to have a ride on the back of a -camel! It's just like a circus parade! I wish Nurse Jane -could see me!"</p> - -<p>And the muskrat lady did, for the kind camel gave Uncle -Wiggily a ride all the way home to the bunny's hollow stump -bungalow, and when the muskrat lady housekeeper saw Mr. -Longears up between the two humps she cried:</p> - -<p>"My land sakes flopsy dub and a basket of soap bubbles! -What will happen next?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> -"I don't know," laughed Uncle Wiggily.</p> - -<p>"As for me, I am going back to the circus," the camel said. -And he did. The peddler cat, after selling Nurse Jane some -sewing silk, stayed for some time with Mr. Longears, getting -rested so he would be strong enough to carry his own pack of -needles, pins and thread. And as for the bunny—well, he -had more adventures, of course.</p> - -<p>And the next one will be about Uncle Wiggily and the wild -rabbit—that is if the teaspoon doesn't take the cork out of -the bottle of bitter medicine and give it to the rag doll to make -mud pies with.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="XXXIV" id="XXXIV">STORY XXXIV</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE WILD RABBIT</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>"There he is again!" cried Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, as -she ran to the window of the hollow stump bungalow and -looked out. "He's digging up all the nice carrots in your -garden, Uncle Wiggily!"</p> - -<p>"Who is?" asked the bunny gentleman, laying aside the -cabbage-leaf newspaper he was reading, with his glasses perched -on his pink, twinkling nose. "Who is taking my carrots, Nurse -Jane?"</p> - -<p>"That wild rabbit," answered the muskrat lady housekeeper. -"He lives in the thick bushes in the middle of the woods. I -think he hasn't been here very long, and he doesn't seem to -know any of your other animal friends. He's wild and runs -the minute I go out. But he has been spoiling your garden -lately."</p> - -<p>"That isn't nice of him," said Uncle Wiggily. "I'll go out -myself and see what he has to say."</p> - -<p>But as soon as Uncle Wiggily started down the steps of his -hollow stump bungalow, toward where the other bunny was -digging up the carrots, the wild rabbit hopped away.</p> - -<p>"What's the matter with you?" asked Uncle Wiggily, -twinkling his pink nose in a friendly way. "Why are you -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>spoiling my garden?"</p> - -<p>"Because I like to!" answered the wild rabbit. "You live in -a fine hollow stump bungalow, and all I have is a hole in the -ground, or burrow. You're rich and I'm poor, and I'm going -to spoil everything you have!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, that isn't a good way to feel!" said Uncle Wiggily -kindly. "That's the way the Bolshevics talk! I used to be -poor, like you, but I went off to seek my fortune and I found it. -I built me this hollow stump bungalow, and, if you like, I'll -show you how to make one. Nurse Jane and I will help you!"</p> - -<p>"Nope!" cried the wild rabbit. "I'd rather be bad! I'm -going to dig in your garden every chance I get, and you can't -catch me, either, so there!" And it sounded as if that wild -rabbit might be making a funny "face" at Uncle Wiggily. -Mind you, I'm not saying for sure, but maybe!</p> - -<p>"Dear me!" thought Mr. Longears, as he went back in his -house. "That wild rabbit is certainly a queer chap. I don't -want to hurt him, but I wish he would get tame. I'll have to -speak to Policeman Dog Percival about him, and set Percival -on guard in my carrot patch."</p> - -<p>"Did you make that wild rabbit stop his digging?" asked -Nurse Jane, as she met Uncle Wiggily coming in.</p> - -<p>"No, he says he's going to be bad," sighed the bunny gentleman, -as he took his tall, silk hat down off the rubber plant.</p> - -<p>"Where are you going?" asked Nurse Jane.</p> - -<p>"Out in the woods to look for an adventure," answered Uncle -Wiggily. "And perhaps I may find a way to make that wild -rabbit tame and good."</p> - -<p>"I hope so," sighed Nurse Jane. "It isn't nice to have our -garden spoiled."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> -As Uncle Wiggily was hopping through the woods, over on -that side of the forest nearest the village, where the real children -lived, the bunny gentleman, all of a sudden, heard the -voice of a little girl.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Donald!" said the little girl, in sad tones. "You've -broken it. You've spoiled my nice little jumping bunny!"</p> - -<p>"Well, I didn't mean to," answered a boy's voice. "He -jumped all right a minute ago!"</p> - -<p>"Yes, but you went and squeezed the rubber ball too hard, -that's what you did!" sobbed the little girl. "And now my -nice Easter bunny won't hop any more! Boo hoo!"</p> - -<p>"Dear, dear!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily to himself. "This -is too bad! There's trouble here! I wonder if I can help?"</p> - -<p>You see Uncle Wiggily knew what the boy and girl were -saying, though the bunny himself could not speak their talk. -Uncle Wiggily hopped softly nearer the children. He looked -through the bushes, and there he saw a little boy trying to mend -a toy bunny for the little girl.</p> - -<p>The toy bunny was made to look like a real one, with ears -and fur and everything. Fastened to the toy was a little rubber -hose and a rubber ball was on the end of the hose.</p> - -<p>When the toy rabbit was placed on the ground, and the rubber -ball was pressed, some air was squeezed inside the bunny's -legs, and he would hop across the floor; and his ears would flop -up, too, because he had springs and other things inside him.</p> - -<p>"There's no use squeezing the ball," sadly said the little girl. -"My toy bunny is broken, and won't ever hop again! Oh, -dear! Boo hoo!"</p> - -<p>"My! This is too bad!" said Uncle Wiggily. "I wonder -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> -what I can do to make that little girl feel happier? I might -get Sammie or Susie Littletail, the rabbit children, to come and -stay with the real children for a while. They seem to be kind—this -boy and girl. They wouldn't hurt Sammie or Susie. -That's what I'll do! I'll go get the Littletail brother and -sister, and have them hop over here so this boy and girl can -easily catch them and play with them a while."</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily started off through the woods. The boy -and girl sat in a moss-covered dingly dell, trying to mend the -broken toy. And Mr. Longears had not gone very far before, -all of a sudden, he came to a little hollow place, filled with -leaves. There he heard a voice saying:</p> - -<p>"Oh dear! Oh what a pain! Oh what trouble I am in!"</p> - -<p>"Ha! This seems to be my busy day for trouble!" exclaimed -Uncle Wiggily, as he looked at the leaf-filled hollow. "Who -are you, and what is the matter?" asked the bunny gentleman.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I'm the wild rabbit," was the answer. "The wild rabbit -who was eating the carrots in your garden. But alas! I -can eat no more!"</p> - -<p>"Why not?" Uncle Wiggily asked.</p> - -<p>"Because I have fallen and broken my leg," was the answer. -"I can hop no more, and I suppose I shall have to stay here -and starve. I'm sorry I was bad, and tried to spoil your -garden, Uncle Wiggily."</p> - -<p>"Oh, perhaps you didn't really mean it," the bunny gentleman -said. "But wait here a minute. I think I can help you."</p> - -<p>"Oh, if you only would!" sighed the wild rabbit with a -broken leg.</p> - -<p>"I think I see a chance here," said Uncle Wiggily softly to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> -himself, "to help that boy and girl, and also the wild rabbit."</p> - -<p>Off hopped Uncle Wiggily through the woods. It did not -take him long to reach the place where the boy and girl had -been playing with the hippity-hop rabbit toy that was now -broken. The children were still there. The little girl had sat -down on a log to cry, and the boy was trying to make her a -willow whistle so she wouldn't feel so unhappy. The broken -toy rabbit lay on a pile of leaves some distance away from the -boy and girl. I suppose they had tossed it there, thinking it was -of no more use.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 605px;"> -<img src="images/p233_640.jpg" width="605" height="422" alt="He's hopping off by himself!" /> -</div> - -<p>"This is just what I want," said Uncle Wiggily. He found -a long piece of wild grape vine, like a small rope, and, when -the boy and girl weren't looking, Uncle Wiggily slipped up -and fastened one end of the grape-vine cord to the broken toy. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> -Then, hopping off behind the bushes, Uncle Wiggily began -pulling the piece of vine. Of course he also pulled the toy -rabbit along the ground.</p> - -<p>"Oh, look!" suddenly cried the little girl. "Look, Donald! -My toy rabbit is all right again! He's hopping off by himself!"</p> - -<p>And, surely enough, the toy did seem to be hopping away. -But this, as you know, was because Uncle Wiggily was pulling -it by the grape-vine string.</p> - -<p>"Come on! Help me catch him!" begged the little girl.</p> - -<p>"I will!" her brother said. Together they raced on after the -toy, which Uncle Wiggily jerked along the forest path. The -bunny gentleman kept out of sight behind the bushes, and as -the wild grape vine was just the color of the earth and leaves -the children did not see it. To them it looked as if the toy -was hopping away all by itself.</p> - -<p>"I say, Mab!" called Donald. "He hops better than he ever -did before! I wonder who is squeezing the rubber ball? I -can't see anyone."</p> - -<p>"Maybe it's fairies," suggested Mab, in a low voice.</p> - -<p>"Pooh! There aren't any fairies!" laughed Donald.</p> - -<p>On and on ran the boy and girl after the skipping toy rabbit, -and Uncle Wiggily pulled it so fast as he hopped along, out -of sight, that Donald and Mab could not get their hands on -the toy. It kept ahead of them all the way.</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily knew what he was doing and, in a little -while, he led the boy and girl up to the place where the wild -rabbit with a broken leg lay in the bed of leaves. Uncle Wiggily -jerked the toy rabbit close to the wild one, and then pulled -the toy out of sight behind a clump of ferns.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> -"Oh, Don! Look!" cried the girl. "Our toy rabbit has -changed into a real one!" And she pointed to the wild rabbit, -which could not move away, though he wanted to very much, -as his heart beat very fast.</p> - -<p>"A toy rabbit couldn't change into a real one!" said the boy.</p> - -<p>"Well, mine did; else how could this live rabbit be here, -and my toy one gone?" asked Mab. For that is what seemed -to have happened, all on account of Uncle Wiggily.</p> - -<p>"And see, Don," went on the little girl, as she knelt down -beside the poor, wild bunny. "His leg is broken, just as my -toy rabbit's leg was broken. Oh, it is the same one! My toy has -changed into a live rabbit! Oh, you poor, sweet, lovely -darling!" cried the little girl, as she cuddled the wild rabbit -up in her arms.</p> - -<p>"Say! This sure is queer!" exclaimed the boy. "Very -queer!"</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily, peering through the bushes where he was -hiding with the broken toy rabbit, looked out and saw the little -girl holding the wild rabbit with its broken leg. The wild -rabbit would have hopped away if it could, but was not able.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Uncle Wiggily! Uncle Wiggily! Is this how you -help me?" sadly cried the wild rabbit. Of course, he spoke -in rabbit talk, which neither the boy nor girl understood. But -Uncle Wiggily, hiding in the bushes, heard and softly answered:</p> - -<p>"Don't be afraid, wild rabbit. These children will be kind -to you, I know. They will take you home, and mend your -broken leg and you will be as stylish as I am."</p> - -<p>"Oh, if I'm going to be <i>stylish</i>, that's different!" said the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> -wild rabbit. Then he nestled down in the girl's arms, and she -and the boy took the bunny home and their father mended the -broken leg with splints of wood and soft cloth bandages.</p> - -<p>"Well, I guess that wild rabbit won't spoil my carrots any -more," laughed Uncle Wiggily as he hopped along. "I'll take -this broken toy home to Sammie and Susie."</p> - -<p>As for the wild rabbit, he was no longer frightened when he -heard Uncle Wiggily say that the children would be kind. And -no one could have been more kind than were Donald and Mab. -When the wild rabbit had to stay quiet until his leg healed, -they brought him, every day, fresh lettuce and carrots, with -cool water to drink. And when the leg was all well, the wild -rabbit was so tame that he never wanted to leave the boy and -girl, and go back to spoil Uncle Wiggily's garden. He lived -happily with Donald and Mab all the rest of his life.</p> - -<p>Sammie and Susie had fun playing with the broken toy, and -they thought Mr. Longears was very clever to think of a way -to not only help the wild bunny and the boy and girl, but also -to save his carrots from being eaten.</p> - -<p>So if the strawberry shortcake doesn't try to stretch itself up -tall and look like a big mince pie, I'll tell you next about Uncle -Wiggily and the tame squirrel.</p> - -<div class="chap" > -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="XXXV" id="XXXV">STORY XXXV</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE TAME SQUIRREL</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>Once upon a time, as Uncle Wiggily Longears, the bunny -rabbit gentleman, was hopping through the woods, he heard a -rustling in the bushes, and he crouched down to hide himself.</p> - -<p>"For," thought the bunny, "this may be the Pipsisewah or -the Skeezicks, or even the Woozie Wolf or the Fuzzy Fox. I -had better be careful!"</p> - -<p>But when Uncle Wiggily looked over the top of the bush, -whence the rustling sound had come, all he saw was the tame -rabbit, who once had a broken leg. The rabbit, who was now -tame, was hopping along the forest path.</p> - -<p>"Hello!" called Uncle Wiggily in his most jolly voice, as -he twinkled his pink nose upside down, just for a change. -"Where are you going, Tame Rabbit? I shall call you that -as a new name. I hope you are not going to run away from -Donald and Mab, the boy and girl who were so kind to you."</p> - -<p>"Indeed I am not running away," answered the Tame Rabbit. -"I am just going to the woods to look for some flowers. -Don and Mab are going to have a little woodland party this -afternoon, and I want to get them some flowers to put on the -flat stump which they will use for a table."</p> - -<p>"That is very kind of you," Uncle Wiggily said. "I'll -help!"</p> - -<p>"Wouldn't you like to come to the party?" asked the Tame -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> -Rabbit, as he and the bunny gentleman hopped into the forest -together. "There will be lots of good things to eat—even ice -cream!"</p> - -<p>"Thank you, I'd better not come, as some of the boys and -girls might not be as thoughtful as Mab and Don," spoke Uncle -Wiggily. "Some of them might throw peanut shells at my -tall, silk hat; just for fun, you know."</p> - -<p>"Well, perhaps they might," admitted the Tame Rabbit. -"I don't wear anything but an old cap—nobody tries to knock -that off," he added with a laugh. "But can't you just look in -at the party, Uncle Wiggily? Just stop for a moment?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, I'll do that," promised Mr. Longears. And when he -had nibbled, with his teeth, some wild flowers for the Tame -Bunny, Uncle Wiggily hopped to his hollow stump bungalow, -promising to peek through the bushes at the children's party -later in the day.</p> - -<p>That afternoon, as he was hopping through the woods, Uncle -Wiggily heard the sounds of shouting and laughter.</p> - -<p>"That must be the party," thought the bunny gentleman. -"I'll skip over and take a look."</p> - -<p>In a little moss-covered dingly dell among the trees, Uncle -Wiggily saw Don, Mab and many of their little boy and girl -friends dancing about a broad, flat stump, which was set like -a table. And in the middle was the bunch of flowers, some -of which Uncle Wiggily had helped gather.</p> - -<p>"Those children are certainly having a good time!" thought -Uncle Wiggily, twinkling his pink nose so that it almost turned -a somersault. "And the Tame Rabbit, who used to be wild, -is enjoying himself, too." The other bunny surely was having -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> -fun, hopping here and there almost as if playing tag with the -children.</p> - -<p>All at once Mab cried:</p> - -<p>"Come on now! We'll eat!"</p> - -<p>"Hurray!" cried all the boys.</p> - -<p>The girls didn't get so excited about it, but I think they were -just as glad to eat as were the boys. The children gathered -around the stump table, and I wish I could tell you all the -good things they had for the woodland party. But I'm not -allowed to do this for fear it would make you too hungry.</p> - -<p>All I can say is that there was just the most lovely party-things -you ever heard of! The Tame Rabbit sat near Don -and Mab, eating what they gave him.</p> - -<p>"Now we'll crack the nuts and play more games!" called -Mab, after a while.</p> - -<p>But when she went to pass the nuts she found that they -were not cracked, and some of them had very hard shells.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Don! Didn't you bring the nut cracker?" asked Mab.</p> - -<p>"No, I thought you did," answered her brother.</p> - -<p>"And I thought you did!" exclaimed Mab. "Oh, what shall -we do?"</p> - -<p>"We can crack the nuts with stones on top of the stump," -said one boy.</p> - -<p>But when they tried this, some of the nuts flew away over -in the bushes, without getting cracked at all. Others hit the -girls on the ends of their noses. And some of the children -pounded their fingers instead of cracking the nuts.</p> - -<p>"Oh, dear!" sighed Mab, as she saw what was going on. "My -party will be spoiled, all because we haven't a nut cracker."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> -The Tame Rabbit heard all this. So did Uncle Wiggily, -who was looking on, hidden in the bushes. Both bunnies knew -what was said though they couldn't speak boy and girl talk.</p> - -<p>"Can't you help the children, Uncle Wiggily?" asked the -Tame Rabbit, as he hopped out to the bush where the bunny -gentleman was hidden. None of the children saw the two -animals talking together.</p> - -<p>"How do you mean help them?" asked Mr. Longears.</p> - -<p>"By getting them a nut cracker," went on the Tame Rabbit.</p> - -<p>"A nut cracker?" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "A squirrel -is the best nut cracker I know of. Ha! I have it! I'll send one -of the Bushytail brothers over here to crack nuts for the children. -I think the boys and girls will be kind to him. I'll go -get Johnnie or Billie."</p> - -<p>Away hopped Uncle Wiggily through the woods, and soon -he met Johnnie Bushytail.</p> - -<p>"Johnnie, don't you want to come and be a nut cracker for -some children?" asked Uncle Wiggily.</p> - -<p>"Why, of course!" chattered Johnnie, who was a very tame -squirrel. "I love children," he said. "And I suppose I may -eat a few of the nuts I crack."</p> - -<p>"Oh, surely," answered Uncle Wiggily.</p> - -<p>The bunny gentleman led Johnnie back through the woods -to the children's party. The boys and girls were still trying -to crack the hard nuts, but they could not do it well at all. -Johnnie suddenly scrambled out of the bushes and up on the -flat stump, and, taking a nut in his paws, he cracked it, by -gnawing through the hard shell with his sharp teeth. Then -he took out the meat and laid it on a birch-bark plate.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> -"Oh, look!" exclaimed Don, pointing to the Bushytail chap. -"A tame squirrel is cracking the nuts for us! Look!"</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 615px;"> -<img src="images/p241_615.jpg" width="615" height="434" alt="Maybe he's a fairy! she whispered." /> -</div> - -<p>"Oh, the dear little thing!" cried Mab. "And see, he's all -dressed up like a real boy. Maybe he's a fairy!" she whispered -as Johnnie cracked more nuts.</p> - -<p>"Pooh! There aren't any fairies!" said Don. "But he sure -is helping us!"</p> - -<p>Johnnie sat up on the stump, his tail held straight up behind -his back, and he cracked nut after nut.</p> - -<p>"This is fine!" whispered the Tame Rabbit to Johnnie, the -tame squirrel, while Uncle Wiggily, hiding behind a bush, -saw and heard it all. "The children will love you for this."</p> - -<p>"I'm glad of that," answered Johnnie, in animal talk, which -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> -the boys and girls could not hear. Then the tame squirrel -cracked many more nuts, eating some himself, for there were -more than enough for all the children at the party.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I wonder if we could take this squirrel home with us, -as we took the Wild Tame Rabbit?" said the boy, as Johnnie -cracked the last nut.</p> - -<p>"Try it," suggested Mab to her brother.</p> - -<p>But when Donald put out his hand, and tried to catch -Johnnie, the squirrel boy just flipped his tail and scampered -away.</p> - -<p>"Thank you, I'd rather not be caught," chattered Johnnie, -though of course Don and Mab did not know what he was saying. -Then, when the woodland party was over, the children -went home.</p> - -<p>So that's how it all happened, as true as I'm telling you. And -if the Jumping Jack doesn't stick beans in the sugar cookies, -in place of the raisins he takes out to put in the molasses candy, - -I'll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the wolf.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="XXXVI" id="XXXVI">STORY XXXVI</a><br /> -<span>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE WOLF</span></h2> -</div> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily was hopping through the woods with Nurse -Jane one day, wondering what sort of an adventure he might -have, and he was helping the muskrat lady housekeeper carry -some clothes pins that she had bought at the three and four -cent store when, all of a sudden, Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy called -loudly:</p> - -<p>"Look out!"</p> - -<p>"What's the matter?" asked Uncle Wiggily. "Am I spilling -the clothes pins?"</p> - -<p>"No," answered the muskrat housekeeper of the hollow -stump bungalow. "But, see that big wolf! Let's run!"</p> - -<p>"Where's any wolf?" asked the bunny gentleman. "I don't -see any," and he began searching in his pockets for his -spectacles, which he had taken off, as they tickled his pink, -twinkling nose.</p> - -<p>"There's a big, gold wolf, over behind that mulberry bush," -whispered Nurse Jane.</p> - -<p>"What's that? A <i>gold</i> wolf? I never heard of such a -thing!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "You must be mistaken, -Nurse Jane. I'll take a look!"</p> - -<p>Then bravely singing the song—"Here we go 'round the -Mulberry Bush,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> - Uncle Wiggily hopped up to where Nurse -Jane pointed. Surely enough, something was gleaming gold-like -among the trees, and as soon as Uncle Wiggily had put -on his glasses, and had taken a good look, he cried:</p> - -<p>"Well, well, Nurse Jane! This is a gold wolf, surely -enough! But it cannot hurt us!"</p> - -<p>"Why not?" asked the muskrat lady, who was getting ready -to run.</p> - -<p>"Because it is only a wolf carved out of <i>wood</i>, and painted -like gold," answered the bunny gentleman. "I see what this -is—it is one of the gilded wolves that were on the Little Red -Riding Hood chariot from the circus. This golden, wooden -wolf fell off the wagon and the circus people did not stop to -pick it up."</p> - -<p>"Well, I'm glad it's a wooden wolf," spoke the muskrat -lady. "Then it can't nibble your ears; can it?"</p> - -<p>"Not in the least," laughed Uncle Wiggily. "But if I had -a wheelbarrow, or something, I'd take this wolf home to my -bungalow."</p> - -<p>"What for?" Nurse Jane wanted to know.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I'd set it in the hall, near the umbrella rack," said -Uncle Wiggily. "Just think! A golden, wooden wolf would -be quite an ornament."</p> - -<p>"Yes," agreed Nurse Jane, "it might look nice. But how -can you get it home? It is too heavy to drag, and it has no -wheels on as the animals have in the Noah's arks."</p> - -<p>"Hum! Let me see, now," said Uncle Wiggily, walking -around the golden, wooden wolf. "If I only had some wheels!"</p> - -<p>And just then, along through the woods came Billie and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> -Nannie Wagtail, the goat boy and girl, each with roller skates -dangling by a strap over their shoulders.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Billie! The very chap I wanted!" laughed Uncle -Wiggily. "Let me take your roller skates for the golden wolf! -And you too, Nan!"</p> - -<p>"With pleasure," bleated Billie, shaking his horns. "I'll -help you fasten them on."</p> - -<p>"Will the wolf bite?" asked Nannie, a bit timidly.</p> - -<p>"Of course not!" laughed Uncle Wiggily.</p> - -<p>So the roller skates were fastened on the paws of the golden, -wooden wolf, and then, with a bit of wild grape vine for a rope, -the gilded animal from the Red Riding Hood circus wagon was -dragged through the woods to Uncle Wiggily's bungalow.</p> - -<p>There the savage creature, who couldn't bite even a lollypop -stick, was placed in the hall near the front door.</p> - -<p>"Our friends will think us quite stylish like and proper," -said Uncle Wiggily, admiring the wolf ornament.</p> - -<p>"Yes," agreed Nurse Jane. "As long as it doesn't scare any -of the animal children it will be all right."</p> - -<p>But the animal children soon learned that the wolf was only -made of gilded wood, and though his mouth was widely open, -showing his sharp teeth, he could never, never bite them.</p> - -<p>One day, about a week after he had brought the gilded wolf -to his bungalow, Uncle Wiggily was home all alone. Nurse -Jane had gone to the movies, with Mrs. Wibblewobble, the -duck lady, and the bunny gentleman was just thinking of going -to look for an adventure, or a piece of pie in the pantry, when, -all of a sudden, there came a knock at his door.</p> - -<p>"That must be Nurse Jane," said Uncle Wiggily. "She is -back <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> - a bit early, and has, I suppose, forgotten her key. I'll let -her in."</p> - -<p>The bunny gentleman opened his bungalow door, but, instead -of his muskrat lady housekeeper he saw the bad old -Skeezicks.</p> - -<p>"Ah ha!" cried the Skeezicks. "I fooled you, didn't I? You -thought I was Nurse Jane and you came to let me in! Now I'm -going to nibble your ears! Ha! Ha!"</p> - -<p>Uncle Wiggily tried to shut the door, but the bad Skeezicks -pushed his way in, and was just going to nibble the bunny's -ears when, all of a sudden, the impolite Skee saw the golden -wolf.</p> - -<p>Coming into the dark hall, as he did from the bright outdoors, -the Skeezicks could not see that the wolf was not real. -It looked so natural that the Skee stopped short and then he -cried:</p> - -<p>"Oh, excuse me! Oh, I didn't know you were here, Mr. Wolf, -or I never would have come in. You are going to nibble Uncle -Wiggily's ears, I suppose. You have the first turn. Well, I'll -nibble them some other time, when you have finished. Please -excuse and don't bite me! I'll skip right long!"</p> - -<p>And with that, out of the door the Skeezicks jumped, never -hurting the bunny gentleman at all.</p> - -<p>"Ha! Ha!" laughed Uncle Wiggily, as he closed the door. -"The golden, wooden wolf did me a good turn after all! He -scared away the Skeezicks. I'm glad the circus wolf lives in my -bungalow!"</p> - -<p>And Nurse Jane said the same thing when she came home -from the movies.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> -So this teaches us that it is a good thing to have something -of gold around the house, even if it is only a gold dollar.</p> - -<p>But now we have come to the end of this book. Not that -Uncle Wiggily's adventures were over, for he had many more. -But these are all I have room for here. Enough to say that the -bunny rabbit lived happily for many, many years in his hollow -stump bungalow in the woods, with Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy. -And there you may, perhaps, see him some day.</p> - -<p>Who knows?</p> - -<p class="center p120">ADIEU</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> -<img src="images/p247_300.jpg" width="300" height="425" alt="Uncle Wiggily" /> -</div> - -<div class="transnote"> -<p class="center"><b>Transcriber's Note</b></p> -<p>Obvious typographical and punctuation errors have been corrected.</p> -<p>Blank pages have been removed.</p> -<p>Character names vary from story to story and have been handled thus:</p> -<ul><li>Peetie Bow Wow was mis-spelled twice. These have been corrected</li> -<li>Mr Longears was referred to as Dr Longears once. This has been corrected</li> -<li>Jackie Bow Wow is used in two places. These have been retained.</li> -<li>Billie was referred to as Billy in a caption. This has been retained.</li></ul> -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Uncle Wiggily's Story Book, by Howard R. Garis - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNCLE WIGGILY'S STORY BOOK *** - -***** This file should be named 60625-h.htm or 60625-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/6/2/60625/ - -Produced by David Edwards, Val Wooff and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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cf93597..0000000 --- a/old/60625-h/images/p241_615.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60625-h/images/p247_300.jpg b/old/60625-h/images/p247_300.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 87c6e91..0000000 --- a/old/60625-h/images/p247_300.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60625-h/images/uwtitlepage_193.jpg b/old/60625-h/images/uwtitlepage_193.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 10eca74..0000000 --- a/old/60625-h/images/uwtitlepage_193.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60625.txt b/old/60625.txt deleted file mode 100644 index f59bb4a..0000000 --- a/old/60625.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8168 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Uncle Wiggily's Story Book, 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/license - - -Title: Uncle Wiggily's Story Book - -Author: Howard R. Garis - -Release Date: November 3, 2019 [EBook #60625] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNCLE WIGGILY'S STORY BOOK *** - - - - -Produced by David Edwards, Val Wooff and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - -UNCLE WIGGILY'S -STORY BOOK - -+By+ - -HOWARD R. GARIS - -AUTHOR OF - -Uncle Wiggily's Airship; Uncle Wiggily's -Automobile; Uncle Wiggily on the Farm; -Uncle Wiggily's Travels - -[Illustration] - -+Platt & Munk+, _Publishers_ - -NEW YORK - - - - -_UNCLE WIGGILY'S STORY BOOK_ - -Copyright MCMXXI and MCMXXXIX - -+By+ - -+Platt & Munk+ - - - - -CONTENTS - -STORY - -I. +Uncle Wiggily's Toothache+ - -II. +Uncle Wiggily and the Freckled Girl+ - -III. +Uncle Wiggily and the Mud Puddle+ - -IV. +Uncle Wiggily and the Bad Boy+ - -V. +Uncle Wiggily and the Good Boy+ - -VI. +Uncle Wiggily's Valentine+ - -VII. +Uncle Wiggily and the Bad Dog+ - -VIII. +Uncle Wiggily and Puss in Boots+ - -IX. +Uncle Wiggily and the Lost Boy+ - -X. +Uncle Wiggily and Stubby Toes+ - -XI. +Uncle Wiggily's Christmas+ - -XII. +Uncle Wiggily's Fourth of July+ - -XIII. +Uncle Wiggily and the Skates+ - -XIV. +Uncle Wiggily Goes Coasting+ - -XV. +Uncle Wiggily's Picnic+ - -XVI. +Uncle Wiggily's Rain Storm+ - -XVII. +Uncle Wiggily and the Mumps+ - -XVIII. +Uncle Wiggily and the Measles+ - -XIX. +Uncle Wiggily and the Chicken-Pox+ - -XX. +Uncle Wiggily's Hallowe'en+ - -XXI. +Uncle Wiggily and the Poor Dog+ - -XXII. +Uncle Wiggily and the Rich Cat+ - -XXIII. +Uncle Wiggily and the Horse+ - -XXIV. +Uncle Wiggily and the Cow+ - -XXV. +Uncle Wiggily and the Camping Boys+ - -XXVI. +Uncle Wiggily and the Birthday Cake+ - -XXVII. +Uncle Wiggily and the New Year's Horn+ - -XXVIII. +Uncle Wiggily's Thanksgiving+ - -XXIX. +Uncle Wiggily at the Circus+ - -XXX. +Uncle Wiggily and the Lion+ - -XXXI. +Uncle Wiggily and the Tiger+ - -XXXII. +Uncle Wiggily and the Elephant+ - -XXXIII. +Uncle Wiggily and the Camel+ - -XXXIV. +Uncle Wiggily and the Wild Rabbit+ - -XXXV. +Uncle Wiggily and the Tame Squirrel+ - -XXXVI. +Uncle Wiggily and the Wolf+ - - - - -UNCLE WIGGILY'S GREETING - - -+Dear Children+: - -This is a quite different book from any others you may have read about -me. In this volume I have some adventures with real children, like -yourselves, as well as with my animal friends. - -These stories tell of the joyous, funny, exciting and everyday -adventures that happen to you girls and boys. There is the story about -a toothache, which you may read, or have read to you, when you want to -forget the pain. There is a story of a good boy and a freckled girl. -And there is a story about a bad boy, but not everyone is allowed to -read that. - -There is a story for nearly every occasion in the life of a little boy -or girl; about the joys of Christmas, of a birthday; about different -animals, about getting lost, and one about falling in a mud puddle. And -there are stories about having the measles and mumps, and getting over -them. - -I hope you will like this book as well as you seem to have cared for -the other volumes about me. And you will find some beautiful pictures -in this book. - -Now, as Nurse Jane is calling me, I shall have to hop along. But I hope -you will enjoy these stories. - -Your friend, -+Uncle Wiggily Longears+. - - - - -Uncle Wiggily's Story Book - - - - -STORY I - -UNCLE WIGGILY'S TOOTHACHE - - -Once upon a time there was a boy who had the toothache. It was not a -very large tooth that pained him, and, really, it was quite surprising -how such a very large ache got into such a small tooth. At least that -is what the boy thought. - -"But I'm not going to the dentist and let him pull it!" cried the boy, -holding his hand over his mouth. "And I'm not going to let anybody in -this house pull it, either! So there!" He ran and hid himself in a -corner. Girls aren't that way when they have the toothache--only boys. - -"Perhaps the tooth will not need pulling," said Mother, as she looked -at the boy and saw how much pain he had. - -"That's so!" exclaimed Grandma, who was trying to think of some way -in which to help the boy. "Maybe the dentist can make a little hole in -your tooth, Sonny, and fill the hole with cement, as the man filled the -hole in our sidewalk, and then all your pain will stop." - -"No, I'm not going to the dentist! I'm not going, I tell you!" cried -Sonny. And I think he stamped his foot on the floor, the least little -bit. It may have been that he saw a tack sticking up, and wanted to -hammer it down with his shoe. But I am afraid it was a stamp of his -foot; and afterward that boy was sorry. - -But, anyhow, his tooth kept on aching, and it was the kind called -"jumping," for it was worse at one time than another. Sometimes the boy -thought the pain jumped from one side of his tongue to the other side, -and again it seemed that it leaped away up to the roof of his mouth. - -The toothache even seemed to turn somersaults and peppersaults, and -once it appeared to jump over backward. But it never completely jumped -away, which is what the boy wished it would do. - -"You'd better let me take you to the dentist's," said his Mother. -"He'll either fix the tooth so it won't ache any more, or he'll take it -out, so a new tooth will grow in. And, really, the pain the dentist may -cause will only be a little one, and it will be all over in a moment. -While your tooth may ache all night." - -"No, I'm not going to the dentist! I'm not going!" cried Sonny boy, and -then again he acted just as if there were a tack in the carpet that -needed hammering down with his foot. - -Now it was about this time that Uncle Wiggily Longears, the bunny -rabbit gentleman, was hopping from his hollow stump bungalow in the -woods to go look for an adventure. But, as yet, Uncle Wiggily knew -nothing about the boy with the toothache. That came a little later. - -"Are you going to be gone long?" asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the -muskrat lady housekeeper, of the bunny gentleman. - -"Only just long enough to have a nice adventure," answered Mr. -Longears, and away he hopped on his red, white and blue striped -rheumatism crutch, with his pink, twinkling nose held in front of him -like the headlight on a choo-choo train. - -Now, as it happened, Uncle Wiggily's hollow stump bungalow was not far -from the house where the Toothache Boy lived, though the boy had never -seen the rabbit's home. He had often wandered in the woods, almost in -front of the bunny's bungalow, but, not having the proper sort of eyes, -the boy had never seen Uncle Wiggily. It needs very sharp eyes to see -the creatures of the woods and fields, and to find the little houses in -which they live. - -At any rate the boy had never noticed Uncle Wiggily, though the bunny -gentleman had often seen the boy. Many a time when you go through the -woods the animal folk look out at and see you, when you never even know -they are there. - -And pretty soon Uncle Wiggily hopped right past the house where the -Toothache Boy lived. And just then, for about the tenth time, Mother -was saying: - -"You had better let me take you to the dentist and have that toothache -stopped, Sonny." - -"No! No! I don't want to! I--I'm a--a--I guess it will stop itself," -said the boy, hopeful like. - -Uncle Wiggily, hiding in the bushes in front of the boy's house, -sat up on his hind legs and twinkled his pink nose. By a strange and -wonderful new power which he had, the bunny gentleman could hear and -understand boy and girl talk, though he could not speak it himself. So -it was no trouble at all for Uncle Wiggily to know what that boy was -saying. - -"He's afraid; that's what the boy is," said the bunny uncle to himself, -leaning on his red, white and blue striped crutch. "He's afraid to -go to the dentist and have that tooth filled, or pulled. Now that's -very silly of him, for the dentist will not hurt him much, and will -soon stop the ache. I wonder how I can make that boy believe this? His -mother and grandmother can't seem to." - -For Mr. Longears heard Mother and Grandma trying to get that Toothache -Boy to let them take him to the dentist. But the boy only shook his -head, and made believe hammer tacks in the carpet with his foot, and he -held his hand over his mouth. But, all the while, the ache kept aching -achier and achier and jumping, leaping, tumbling, twisting, turning and -flip-flopping--almost like a clown in the circus. - -"No! No! I'm not going to the dentist!" cried the boy. - -Then Uncle Wiggily had an idea. He could look in through the window of -the house and see the boy. In front of the window was a grassy place, -near the edge of the wood, and close by was an old stump, shaped almost -like the easy chair in a dentist's office. - -"I know what I'll do," said Uncle Wiggily. "I'll make believe I have -the toothache. I'll go get Dr. Possum and I'll sit down in this stump -chair. Then I'll tell Dr. Possum to make believe pull out one of my -teeth." - -"I s'pose if Nurse Jane were here she might ask what good that would -do?" thought Uncle Wiggily. "But I think it will do a lot of good. If -that boy sees me, a rabbit gentleman, having a tooth pulled, which is -what he will think he sees, it may make him brave enough to go to the -dentist's. I'll try it." - -Away hopped Uncle Wiggily to Dr. Possum's office. - -"What's the matter? Rheumatism again?" asked the animal doctor. - -"No, but I want you to come over and pull a tooth for me," said -Uncle Wiggily, blinking one eye, and twinkling his pink nose -surreptitious-like. - -"Pull a tooth! Why, your teeth are all right!" cried Dr. Possum. - -"It's to give a little lesson to a boy," whispered the bunny, and then -Dr. Possum blinked one eye, in understanding fashion. - -A little later Uncle Wiggily sat himself down on the old stump that -looked like a chair, and Dr. Possum stood over him. - -"Open your mouth and show me which tooth it is that hurts," said Dr. -Possum, just like a dentist. - -"All right," answered Uncle Wiggily, and, from the corner of his left -eye the bunny gentleman could see the Toothache Boy at the window -looking out. The boy saw the rabbit and Dr. Possum at the old stump, -and he saw Mr. Longears open his mouth and point with his paw to a -tooth. - -"Oh, Mother!" cried the boy, very much excited. "Look! There's a funny -rabbit, all dressed up in a tall silk hat, having a tooth pulled. -Grandma, look!" - -"Well, I do declare!" murmured the old lady. "Isn't that perfectly -wonderful! I didn't know that animals ever had the toothache!" - -"Oh, I s'pose they do, once in a while," said the Toothache Boy's -mother. "But see how brave that rabbit gentleman is! Not to mind having -the animal dentist stop his ache! Just fancy!" - -Neither Grandma nor Mother said anything to Sonny Boy. All three of -them just stood at the window, and watched Uncle Wiggily and Dr. -Possum. And, as they looked, Dr. Possum put a little shiny thing, like -a buttonhook, in the bunny gentleman's mouth. He gave a sudden little -pull and, a moment later, held up something which sparkled in the sun. -It was only a bit of glass, which Uncle Wiggily had held in his paw -ready for this part in the little play, but it looked like a tooth. - -"Well, I declare!" laughed Grandma. "The bunny had his tooth pulled!" - -"And he doesn't seem to mind it at all," added Mother. - -Surely enough, Uncle Wiggily hopped off the make-believe dentist-stump, -and with his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch, began to -dance a little jiggity-jig with Dr. Possum. - -"This dance is to show that it doesn't hurt even to have a tooth -pulled; much less to have one filled," said the bunny. - -"I understand!" laughed Dr. Possum. And as he and Uncle Wiggily danced, -they looked, out of the corners of their eyes, and saw the Toothache -Boy standing at the window watching them. - -"Well, I never, in all my born days, saw a sight like that!" exclaimed -Grandma. - -"Nor I," said Mother. "Isn't it wonderful!" - -Sonny Boy took his hand down from his mouth. - -"I--I guess, Mother," he said, as he saw Uncle Wiggily jump over his -crutch in a most happy fashion, "I guess I'll go to the dentist, and -have him stop my toothache!" - -"Hurray!" softly cried Uncle Wiggily, who heard what the boy said. -"This is just what I wanted to happen, Dr. Possum! Our little lesson is -over. Now we may go!" - -Away hopped the bunny, to tell Nurse Jane about the strange adventure, -and Dr. Possum, with his bag of powders and pills on his tail, where he -always carried it, shuffled back to his office. - -Sonny Boy went to the dentist's, and soon his tooth was fixed so it -would not ache again. He hardly felt at all what the dentist did to him. - -"I--I didn't know how easy it was 'till I saw the rabbit have his tooth -pulled," said the boy to the dentist. - -"Hum," said the dentist, noncommittal-like, "some rabbits are very -funny!" - -And if the puppy dog doesn't waggle his tail so hard that he knocks -over the milk bottle when it's trying to slide down the doormat, I -shall have the pleasure, next, of telling you the story of Uncle -Wiggily and the freckled girl. - - - - -STORY II - -UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE FRECKLED GIRL - - -Uncle Wiggily was hopping through the woods one summer day, when, as he -happened to stop to get a drink of some water that the rain-clouds had -dropped in the cup of a Jack-in-the-pulpit flower, the bunny gentleman -heard a girl saying: - -"Oh, I wish I could get them off! I wish I could scrub them off with -sandpaper, or something like that! I've tried lemon juice and vinegar, -but they won't go. And oh, they make me so homely!" - -Uncle Wiggily stopped suddenly and rubbed the end of his pink, -twinkling nose with the brim of his tall, silk hat. - -"This is very queer," said the bunny uncle to himself. "I wonder what -is it she has tried to take off with lemon juice? She seems very -unhappy, this little girl does." - -The bunny uncle looked through the trees and, seated on a green, -mossy stump, he saw a girl about ten or twelve years old. She held a -looking-glass in her hand, and as she glanced at her likeness in the -mirror she kept saying: - -"How can I get them off? How can I make them disappear so I will be -beautiful? Oh, how I hate them!" - -"What in the world can be the matter?" thought Uncle Wiggily to -himself. For, as I have told you, the bunny gentleman was now able to -hear and understand the talk of girls and boys, though he could not -himself speak that language. - -He hopped a little closer to the unhappy girl on the green, mossy -stump, but the bunny stepped so softly on the leaf carpet of the forest -that scarcely a sound did he make, and the girl with the mirror never -heard him. - -"I wonder if I said a little verse, such as I have read in fairy books, -whether they would go away?" murmured the girl. "I've tried everything -but that. I'll do it--I'll say a magical verse! But I must make up one, -for I never have read of the kind I want in any book." - -She seemed to be thinking deeply for a moment and then, shutting her -eyes, and looking up at the sun which was shining through the trees of -the wood, the girl recited this little verse: - - "Sun, sun, who made them come, - Make them go away. - Then I'll be like other girls, - Happy all the day!" - -"This is like a puzzle, or a riddle," whispered Uncle Wiggily to -himself, as he kept out of sight behind a bush near the stump. "What -is it she wants the sun to make go away? It can't be rain, or storm -clouds, for the sky is as blue as a baby's eyes. I wonder what it is?" - -Then, as the girl took up the mirror again, and looked in it, Uncle -Wiggily saw the reflection of her face. - -It was covered with dear, little brown freckles! - -"Ho! Ho!" softly crooned Uncle Wiggily to himself. "Now I understand. -This girl is unhappy because she is freckled. She thinks she doesn't -look pretty with them! Why, if she only knew it, those freckles show -how strong and healthy she is. They show that she has played out in the -fresh air and sunshine, and that she will live to be happy a long, long -while. Freckles! Why, she ought to be glad she has them, instead of -sorry!" - -But the girl on the stump kept her eyes shut, clenching the mirror in -her hand and as she held her face up to the sun she recited another -verse of what she thought was a mystic charm. - -This is what she said: - - "Freckles, freckles, go away! - Don't come back any other day. - Make my face most fair to see, - Then how happy I will be!" - -Slowly, as Uncle Wiggily watched, hidden as he was behind the bush, the -girl opened her eyes and held up the looking-glass. Over her shoulder -the bunny gentleman could still see the freckles in the glass; the -dear, brown, honest, healthy freckles. But when the girl saw them she -dropped the mirror, hid her face in her hands and cried: - -"Oh, they didn't go 'way! They didn't go 'way! Now I never can be -beautiful!" - -Uncle Wiggily twinkled his pink nose thoughtfully. - -"This is too bad!" said the bunny gentleman. "I wonder how I can help -that girl?" For, since he had helped the Toothache Boy by letting Dr. -Possum pretend to pull an aching tooth, the bunny gentleman wanted do -other favors for the children who loved him. - -"I'd like to make that girl happy, even with her freckles," said the -bunny. "I'll hop off through the woods, and perhaps I may meet some of -my animal friends who will show me a way." - -The bunny gentleman looked kindly at the girl on the stump. She was -sobbing, and did not see him, or hear him, as she murmured over and -over again: - -"I don't like freckles! I hate them!" - -Away through the woods hopped Uncle Wiggily. He had not gone very far -before he heard a bird singing a beautiful song. Oh, so cheerful it -was, and happy--that song! - -"Good morning, Mr. Bird!" greeted Uncle Wiggily, for you know it is the -father bird who sings the sweetest song. The mother bird is so busy, -I suppose, that she has little time to sing. "You are very happy this -morning," the rabbit said to the bird. - -"Why, yes, Uncle Wiggily, I am very happy," answered Mr. Bird, "and so -is my wife. She is up there on the nest, but she told me to come down -here and sing a happy song." - -"Why?" asked the bunny. - -"Because we are going to have some little birds," was the answer. -"There are some eggs in our nest, and my mate is sitting on them to -keep them warm. Soon some little birds will come out, and I will sing a -still happier song." - -"That's fine," said Uncle Wiggily, thinking of the unhappy freckled -girl on the stump. "May I see the eggs in your nest?" - -"Of course," answered the father-singer. "Our nest is in a low bush, -but it is well hidden. Here, I'll show you. Mrs. Bird will not mind if -you look." - -The father bird fluttered to the nest, and Mrs. Bird raised her fluffy -feathers to show Uncle Wiggily some beautiful blue eggs. - -"Why--why, they're _freckled_!" exclaimed the bunny gentleman. "Aren't -you birds sad because you have freckled eggs? Why, your little birds -will be freckled, too! And, if they are girl birds they will cry!" - -"Why?" asked Mr. Bird in surprise. "Why will our girl birdies cry?" - -"Because they'll be _freckled_," answered the bunny. "I just saw a girl -in the woods, crying to break her heart because she is freckled!" - -"Nonsense!" chirped Mrs. Bird. "In the first place these are not -freckles on my eggs, though they look so. My eggs are spotted, or -mottled, and they would not be half so pretty if they were not colored -that way. Besides, being spotted as they are, makes them not so easily -seen in the nest. And, when I fly away to get food, bad snakes or cats -can not so easily see my eggs to eat them. I just love my _freckled_ -eggs, as you call them!" laughed Mrs. Bird. - -"Well, they are pretty," admitted Uncle Wiggily. "But will your little -birds be speckled, too?" - -"Not at all," sang Mr. Bird. "Say, Uncle Wiggily!" he whistled, "if -we could get that girl here so she could see our spotted eggs, and -know how beautiful they are, even if they are what she would call -'freckled'; wouldn't that make her happier?" - -"Perhaps it would," said the bunny rabbit. "I never thought of that. -I'll try it! You will not be afraid to let her see your eggs, will -you?" he asked. - -"No; for girls are not like some boys--they don't rob the nests of -birds," replied the mother of the speckled eggs. "Bring the unhappy -girl here, and Mr. Bird and I will hide in the bushes while she peeps -into our nest." - -"I will!" said Uncle Wiggily. - -Away he hopped through the woods, and soon he came to the place where -the freckled girl was still sobbing on the stump. - -"Now how can I get her to follow me through the woods, to see the nest, -when I can't talk to her?" whispered Uncle Wiggily. - -Then he thought of a plan. - -"I'll toss a little piece of tree-bark at her," chuckled the bunny. -"That will make her look up, and when she sees me I'll hop off -a little way. She'll follow, thinking she can catch me. But I'll keep -ahead of her and so lead her to the woods. I want to make her happy!" - -The bunny tossed a bit of bark, hitting the girl on her head. She -looked around, and then she saw Uncle Wiggily, all dressed up as he was -with his tall silk hat and his red, white and blue striped rheumatism -crutch. - -"Oh, what a funny rabbit!" exclaimed the girl, smiling through her -tears, and forgetting her freckles, for a while at least. "I wonder if -I can catch you?" she said. - -"Well, not if I know it," whispered Uncle Wiggily to himself, for he -knew what the girl had said. "But I'll let you think you can," the -bunny chuckled to himself. - -He hopped on a little farther, and the girl followed. But just as she -thought she was going to put her hands on the rabbit, Uncle Wiggily -skipped along, and she missed him. But still she followed on, and soon -Uncle Wiggily had led her to the bushes where the birds had built their -nest. - -Mr. and Mrs. Bird were watching, and when they saw Uncle Wiggily and -the freckled girl, Mr. Bird began to sing. He sang of blue skies, -or rippling waters of sunshine and sweet breezes scented with apple -blossoms. - -"Oh, what a lovely song!" murmured the freckled girl. "Some birds must -live here. I wonder if I could see their nest and eggs? I wouldn't hurt -them for the world!" she said softly. - -Uncle Wiggily shrank back out of sight. The girl looked around for the -singing birds, and just then the wind blew aside some leaves and she -saw the nest. But she saw more than the nest, for she saw the eggs that -were to be hatched into little birds. And, more than this; the girl saw -that the eggs were spotted or mottled--freckled as she was herself! - -"Oh! Oh!" murmured the girl, clasping her hands as she looked down at -the speckled eggs in the nest. "They have brown spots on, just like my -face. They are _freckled eggs_--but, oh, how pretty they are! I never -knew that anything freckled could be beautiful! I never knew! Oh, how -wonderful!" - -As she stood looking at the eggs, Mr. Bird sang again, a sweeter song -than before, and the wind blew softly on the freckled face of the -unhappy girl--no, not unhappy now, for she smiled, and there were no -more tears in her eyes. - -"Oh, how glad I am that the funny rabbit led me to the nest of -freckled eggs!" said the girl. "I wonder where he is?" - -She looked around, but Uncle Wiggily had hopped away. He had done all -that was needed of him. - -The mother bird softly fluttered down into her nest, covering the -beautiful mottled eggs with her downy wings. She was not afraid of the -girl. The girl reached out her hand and timidly stroked the mother -bird. Then she gently touched her own freckled cheeks. - -"I'm never going to care any more," she whispered. "I did not know that -freckles could be so pretty. I'm glad I got 'em!" - -The freckled girl walked away, leaving the mother bird on the nest, -while the father of the speckled eggs, that soon would be little birds, -sang his song of joy. The freckled girl, with a glad smile on her face, -went back to the stump, and, without looking into the mirror, she -tossed the bit of looking-glass into a deep spring. - -"I don't need you any more," she said, as the glass went sailing -through the air. "I know, now, that freckles can be beautiful!" - -And if the pussy cat doesn't think the automobile tire is a bologna -sausage, and try to nibble a piece out to make a sandwich for the rag -doll's picnic, I'll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the mud -puddle. - - - - -STORY III - -UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE MUD PUDDLE - - -Did you ever fall down in a mud puddle? Perhaps this may have happened -to you when you were barefooted, with old clothes on, so that it did -not much matter whether you splashed them or not. - -But that isn't what I mean. - -Did you ever fall into a mud puddle when you had on your very best -clothes, with white stockings that showed every speck of mud? If -anything like that ever happened to you, when you were going to -Sunday-school, or to a little afternoon tea party, why, you know how -dreadfully unhappy you felt! To say nothing of the pain in your knees! - -Well, now for a story of how a little boy named Tommie fell in a mud -puddle, and how Uncle Wiggily helped him scrub the mud off his white -stockings--off Tommie's white stockings I mean, not Uncle Wiggily's. - -Tommie was a little boy who lived in a house on the edge of the wood, -near where Uncle Wiggily had built his hollow stump bungalow. No, -Tommie wasn't the same little boy who had the toothache. He was quite a -different chap. - -One day the postman rang the bell at Tommie's house, and gave Tommie a -cute little letter. - -"Oh, it's for me!" cried Tommie. "Look, Mother! I have a letter!" - -"That's nice," said Mother. "Who sent it to you?" - -"I'll look and tell you," answered the little boy. The writing in the -letter was large and plain, and though Tommie had not been to school -very long he could read a little. So he was able to tell that the -letter was from a little girl named Alice, who wanted him to come to a -party she was going to have one afternoon a few days later. - -"Oh, may I go?" Tommie asked his mother. - -"Yes," she answered. - -"And wear my best clothes?" - -"Surely you will put on your best clothes to go to the party," said -Mother. "And I hope you have a nice time!" - -Tommie hoped so, too. But if only he had known what was going to -happen! Perhaps it is just as well he did not, for it would have -spoiled his fun of thinking about the coming party. And half the fun -of nearly everything, you know, is thinking about it beforehand, or -afterward. - -At last the day came for the tea party Alice was to give at her home, -which was a little distance down the street from Tommie's house. - -"Oh, how happy I am!" sang Tommie, as he ran about the porch. - -But when, after breakfast, it began to rain, Tommie was not so happy. -He stood with his nose pressed against the glass of the window until -it was pressed quite flat. I mean his nose was flat, for the glass was -that way anyhow, you know. And Tommie watched the rain drops splash -down, making little mud puddles in the street. - -"Can't I go to Alice's party if it rains?" asked Tommie. - -"Well, no, I think not," Mother answered. "But perhaps it will stop -raining before it is time for you to go. You don't have to leave here -until after lunch." - -Tommie turned again to press his nose against the glass, glad that the -rain was outside, so that the drops which rolled down the window could -not wet his face. And he hoped the clouds would clear away and that the -sun would shine before the time for the party. - -Now about this same hour Uncle Wiggily Longears, the bunny rabbit -gentleman, was also looking out of the window of his hollow stump -bungalow in the woods, wondering, just as Tommie wondered, whether the -rain would stop. - -"But surely you won't go out while it is still raining," said Nurse -Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper. - -"No," answered Uncle Wiggily, "my going out is not so needful as all -that. I was going to look for an adventure, and I had rather do that in -the sunshine than in the rain. I can wait." - -And then, almost as suddenly as it had started, the rain stopped. - -"Oh, I'm so glad!" sang Tommie, as he danced up and down. "Now I can go -to the party!" - -"And I can go adventuring," said Uncle Wiggily. Now of course he did -not hear Tommie, nor did the little boy hear the bunny. But, all the -same, they were to have an adventure together. - -Tommie had been ready, for some time, to start down the street to go -to the party Alice was giving for her little girl and boy friends. All -that Tommie needed, now, was to have his collar and tie put on, and -his hair combed again, for it had become rather tossed and twisted -topsy-turvy when he pressed his head against the window, watching the -rain. - -"Be careful of mud puddles!" Tommie's mother called to him, as, all -spick and span, he started down the street toward the home of Alice, a -block or so distant. "Don't fall in any puddles!" - -"I'll be careful," Tommie promised. - -And as Uncle Wiggily started out about this same time for his -adventure, Nurse Jane called to the bunny: - -"Be careful not to get wet on account of your rheumatism." - -"I'll be careful," promised Uncle Wiggily, just as Tommie had done. - -Now everything would have been all right if Tommie had not stubbed his -toe as he was going along the street, about half way to the party. But -he did stumble, where one sidewalk stone was raised up higher than -another, and, before he could save himself, down in the mud puddle fell -poor Tommie! He fell on his hands and knees, and they were both soaked -in the muddy water of the puddle on the sidewalk. - -Of course it did not so much matter about Tommie's hands. He could -easily wash the mud and brown water off them. But it was different with -his white stockings. Perhaps I forgot to tell you that Tommie wore -white stockings to the party. But he did, and now the knees of these -stockings were all mud! - -And as he looked at his mud-soiled stockings, and at his hands, from -which water was dripping down on the sides of his legs, Tommie could -not help crying. - -"I can't go to the party this way!" sobbed Tommie to himself, for he -was big enough to go down the street alone, and there were no other -children on it just then. "I can't go to the party this way! But if I -go home Mother will make me change my things, and I'll be late, and -maybe she won't let me go at all! Oh, dear!" - -And in order to keep out of sight of any other boys or girls who might -come along, Tommie stepped behind some bushes that grew along the -street. - -[Illustration: He looked down at his mud-soiled stockings] - -And what was his surprise to see, sitting on a stone, behind this same -bush, an old gentleman rabbit, wearing glasses, and with a tall silk -hat on his head. On the ground beside him was a red, white and blue -striped crutch, for rheumatism. - -But the funniest thing about the rabbit gentleman (who, as you have -guessed, was Uncle Wiggily), the funniest thing was that he had a bunch -of dried grass in one paw, and he was busy scrubbing some dried spots -of mud off his trousers. So busy was Uncle Wiggily doing this that he -neither saw nor heard Tommie come behind the bush. And Tommie was so -surprised at seeing Uncle Wiggily that the little boy never said a word. - -"Why--why!" thought Tommie, as he saw the bunny take up a pine tree -cone, which was like a nutmeg grater, and scrape the dried mud off his -trousers, "he must have fallen into a mud puddle just as I did!" - -And that is just what had happened to Uncle Wiggily. He had been -walking along, thinking of an adventure he might have, when he splashed -into a puddle and spattered himself with mud! - -But, instead of crying, Uncle Wiggily set about making the best of -it--cleaning himself off so he would look nice again, to go in search -of an adventure. - -"I'll let the mud dry in the sun," said Uncle Wiggily out loud, -speaking to himself, with his back partly turned to Tommie. "Then it -will easily scrape off." - -The sun was so warm, after the rain, that it soon dried the mud on the -bunny gentleman's clothes, and with the bunch of grass, and the sharp -pine tree cone, he soon had loosened the bits of dirt. - -"Now I'm all right again," said Uncle Wiggily out loud. And though -of course Tommie did not understand rabbit talk, the little boy could -see what Uncle Wiggily had done to help himself after the mud puddle -accident. - -"I say!" cried Tommie, before he thought, "will you please lend me that -pine tree cone clothes brush? I want to clean the mud off my white -stockings so I can go to the party!" - -Uncle Wiggily looked up in surprise! He had not known, before, that -Tommie was there; but the bunny heard what the little boy said. With a -low and polite bow of his tall silk hat, Uncle Wiggily tossed the bunch -of grass and the pine cone to Tommie. By that time the mud had dried so -the little boy could scrape most of it off his stockings. - -"I hope you have a nice time at the party," said Uncle Wiggily, in -rabbit language, of course. And then, as Tommie scraped the last of the -dried mud away, leaving only a few spots on his stockings, the bunny -gentleman hopped out of the bush and on his way. - -"And I can go to Alice's house without having to run home to change my -stockings," thought Tommie. "I wonder who that rabbit was?" - -And when Tommie reached the party he found that he was not the only -little boy who had fallen in a mud puddle. The same thing had happened -to Sammie and Johnnie, two other boys. - -"But how did you get your stockings so clean, without going home and -changing them?" asked the other boys of Tommie. - -"Oh, an old rabbit gentleman, with a tall silk hat and a red, white -and blue crutch showed me how to scrape off the dried mud with a pine -cone," Tommie answered. "I cleaned my white stockings as the bunny -brushed his clothes." - -"Oh, is that a fairy story?" cried the boys and girls at Alice's party. - -"Well, he _looked_ like a fairy!" laughed Tommie, who had washed his -hands in the bath room at Alice's house, so they were clean for eating -cake and ice cream. "And I'm not afraid of mud puddles any more. I know -what to do if I fall in one," said Tommie. - -And if the onion doesn't make tears come into the eyes of the potato -when they're playing tag around the spoon in the soup dish, the next -story will be about Uncle Wiggily and the bad boy. - - - - -STORY IV - -UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BAD BOY - - -Once upon a time there was a bad boy. He lived on the edge of the wood -in which Uncle Wiggily Longears, the bunny rabbit gentleman, had built -his hollow stump bungalow. The bad boy did not know Uncle Wiggily, but -Mr. Longears knew about the bad boy, and so did Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, -the bunny's muskrat lady housekeeper. - -"Don't ever go near that bad boy's house," said Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy one -morning, as the rabbit gentleman started out with his red, white and -blue striped rheumatism crutch. - -"Why not?" asked Uncle Wiggily. - -"Because," answered Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy, "that boy will throw stones at -you, and maybe hit you on your pink, twinkling nose." - -"He can't throw stones now," said Uncle Wiggily. "He can't find any. -The ground is covered with snow." - -"Then he'll throw snowballs at you," said the muskrat lady housekeeper. -"Please keep away from him." - -"I'll think about it," promised the bunny gentleman, as he hopped away, -with his tall, silk hat on his head. - -Now you know why, once upon a time, there was a bad boy. He was bad -because he threw stones and snowballs at rabbits and other animals. -There were more things bad about him than this, but one is enough for a -story. - -Uncle Wiggily hopped on and on, across the fields and through the -woods, and soon he came to the house of the bad boy. It was a regular -house, not a hollow stump bungalow, such as that in which Mr. Longears -lived. - -"I wonder if there isn't any way of making that bad boy good?" thought -the bunny rabbit gentleman. "Bad boys aren't of much use in the world, -but good boys, or girls, who put out crumbs for the hungry birds to eat -in winter--they are of great use in the world! I wonder if I could make -that bad boy good?" - -But, no sooner had Uncle Wiggily began to wonder in this fashion, than, -all of a sudden, he heard a loud voice shouting: - -"Hi! There he is! A rabbit! I'm going to throw a snowball at him!" - -Uncle Wiggily looked over his shoulder and saw the bad boy rushing out -of his house, followed by another boy. - -"Oh, what a nice, funny rabbit!" cried the second boy. "He looks as if -he came from a circus--all dressed up!" - -"I'll make him turn a somersault if I can whang him with a snowball!" -shouted the bad boy, running toward the bunny gentleman. - -"Perhaps I had better be going," said Uncle Wiggily, who could -understand boy and girl talk, though he could not speak it himself. -"I'll wait until some other day about trying to make this boy good." - -Mr. Longears started to run, but he had not taken many hops before, -all of a sudden, he felt a sharp, thumping pain in his side, and he was -almost knocked over by a snowball thrown by the bad boy. - -"Hi there! I hit him! I hit him!" howled the bad boy, dancing up and -down. - -"Yes," sadly said the other chap. "You hit him, but what good did it -do?" - -"It shows I'm a straight shot!" proudly answered the other. "Maybe I -can catch that rabbit now." - -He ran over the snow. But though Uncle Wiggily had been knocked down by -the ball thrown by the bad boy, the rabbit gentleman managed to get to -his feet, and away he hopped on his rheumatism crutch--so fast that the -bad boy could not get him. - -Then the bad boy and the other chap, who was not so bad, played in the -snow, until it was time to go home. Uncle Wiggily hopped to his hollow -stump bungalow, but he said nothing to Nurse Jane about the pain in his -side. - -"If I tell her she won't let me go out to the movies to-night with -Grandpa Goosey," thought Mr. Longears. - -So, though his side pained him, Uncle Wiggily said never a word, but -early that evening he hopped over to Grandpa Goosey's home in the duck -pen. And on the way Uncle Wiggily had to pass the house of the bad boy. - -"But it is getting dark, and he will not see me," thought the bunny -gentleman. "I guess it will be safe." - -Now it happened that, just as Uncle Wiggily was hopping under the -window of the bad boy's house, the bunny heard a voice inside saying: - -"Oh, dear! How my ear aches! Oh, what a pain! Can't you do something to -stop it, Mother?" - -"If I had some soft cotton I could put a little warm oil on it and -that, in your ear, would make it feel better," answered a lady's voice. -"But I have no cotton in the house. If you'll wait until I go to the -drug store----" - -"No! No!" howled the voice of the bad boy. "I don't want you to go to -the store and leave me alone! Can't you get some cotton without going -to the store?" - -"No," answered the mother. "You shouldn't have played out in the cold, -and thrown snowballs at the rabbit. You must have gotten some snow in -your ear to make it ache!" - -"Oh, do something to make it stop!" cried the bad boy. "Oh, why haven't -we some cotton?" - -Uncle Wiggily, outside under the window, heard all this talk. Now -the bunny gentleman knew where to find something like cotton without -going to the drug store. Inside each of the big brown buds of the -horse-chestnut tree is a little wad of cotton. Mother Nature puts the -cotton there to keep the bud warm through the winter, so green leaves -will come out in the spring. - -Uncle Wiggily looked around and saw, lying on the snow, a branch which -the wind had broken from a horse-chestnut tree. Hopping across the -newly-fallen spring snow to this branch, Uncle Wiggily gnawed off some -of the buds. Breaking these open with his teeth, he took out some of -the soft, fluffy cotton. - -"I'll just leave this on the bad boy's doorstep," thought the bunny. -"I'll tap with my crutch and hop away." - -So the bunny gentleman, with the wad of cotton, skipped up the front -steps of the house when no one saw him. His paws made funny little -marks in the soft snow. Uncle Wiggily put the cotton on the sill, -tapped once, twice, three times with his rheumatism crutch, and then -hopped away. - -"Somebody's at the door!" said the bad boy. "Maybe that's daddy coming -home, so he can go to the drug store and get that cotton for my aching -ear." - -"Maybe," said his mother. "I hope it is." - -She opened the door, and when she saw there the bunch of cotton--just -what she wanted--you can imagine how surprised she was! - -"Why, who could have left it?" asked the bad boy, when his mother told -him what had happened. "Who do you s'pose did?" - -"I don't know," she answered. "But I saw some rabbit tracks in the snow -on our steps." - -"Rabbit tracks?" repeated the boy, wonderingly, as his mother softly -put some warm cotton and oil in his ear, making the pain almost stop. - -"Yes, rabbit tracks," said Mother. "And, if I were you, I'd never throw -any more snowballs at rabbits." - -The boy (I'll not call him bad any more) put his head down on the -pillow of his bed. He could go to sleep now, as the pain in his ear had -almost stopped. - -"I wonder if that funny rabbit, dressed up like a little old man, could -have brought me the cotton?" said the boy. - -"I wonder, too," softly spoke Mother with a smile. - -"Anyhow, I won't ever throw stones or snowballs at rabbits any more," -promised the boy. - -"Or cats or dogs, either?" his mother asked. - -"Or cats or dogs, either," added the boy. - -Then he went to sleep, and Uncle Wiggily, picking the bits of fuzzy -horse-chestnut tree cotton off his tall, silk hat, hopped on to Grandpa -Goosey's house and went to the movies. - -So that's the story of the bunny gentleman and the bad boy, and I hope -you liked it. But if the rag doll's go-cart doesn't race with the baby -carriage and slip on the banana skin as though it had on roller skates, -I'll tell you in the next story about Uncle Wiggily and the good boy. - - - - -STORY V - -UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE GOOD BOY - - -"Now do be careful to-day, please, Uncle Wiggily," begged Nurse -Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper of the bunny rabbit -gentleman, as he hopped down off the steps of his hollow stump bungalow -one morning. - -[Illustration: "Now do be careful to-day."] - -"Careful? Why, I'm always careful," answered the bunny, as he twinkled -one side of his pink nose and looked to make sure that his red, white -and blue striped rheumatism crutch was not painted green. "Don't you -think so, Nurse Jane?" asked Mr. Longears. - -"Indeed I do not," Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy answered. "You get so excited, -looking for adventures, that you don't care whether you are chased by -the Pipsisewah or Skeezicks." - -"But I always get away from them; don't I?" asked Uncle Wiggily. -"And the Woozie Wolf, the Fuzzy Fox and even the Skillery Scallery -Alligator. I always get away, Nurse Jane." - -"It is hard work for you, sometimes," said the muskrat lady. "I do -wish you would be more careful, Wiggy. Besides, these new adventures -of yours--helping real girls and boys out of their troubles--are -dangerous. Of course, I love children, and I know you do, also. But -some day you'll be caught by one of these bad boys or girls." - -"There aren't any bad girls," laughed Uncle Wiggily. "They are just a -bit funny; that's all. As for bad boys; well, I hope to see them all -turn good. And, anyhow, the children love me so much I don't believe -they'll harm me." - -"Well, you'd better be careful just the same," Nurse Jane said. Then -she went in to dust the dishes and sweep the furniture, and Uncle -Wiggily hopped over the fields and through the woods, looking for an -adventure. - -The bunny gentleman had not gone far from his hollow stump bungalow -before he saw a crowd of boys on their way to school. One of the boys -had a tin can in his hand, and another carried a piece of rope. - -"Oh, maybe those boys are going camping," thought Uncle Wiggily, -"and they're going to build a campfire and cook their carrot soup, -or whatever they eat, in the tin can over the fire. I'll hide in the -bushes and watch them. And I can hear what they say." - -By means of a gift which a good fairy gave him, Uncle Wiggily, for -a time, was able to hear and understand the talk of boys and girls, -though he could not, himself, speak their language. He wanted to hear -what these boys would say, so the bunny gentleman hid in the bushes. - -The boys came along, laughing, shouting and trying to sing, but that -last they did not do as well as girls would have done. Somehow or -other, girls are better singers than boys. - -Well, anyhow, the boys came nearer to where Uncle Wiggily was hiding in -the bushes, and, all of a sudden, one of the lads gave a whoop like a -wild Indian, and cried: - -"There's a dog! Let's get him!" - -"There, now!" thought Uncle Wiggily to himself. "I knew boys were good. -They want to take that dog with them to camp and give him some of the -soup they are going to boil in the tin can. I hope they don't give it -to him too hot, though, and burn his tongue." - -Uncle Wiggily peeked over the top of the bush, and saw one of the boys -chasing the dog. It was a little dog; rather thin, so you could almost -count his ribs, and he did not seem to have had much to eat of late. -And as soon as the dog saw the boy running after him, that dog began to -run also. - -"Why, that's queer," said Uncle Wiggily. "Why does the dog run away -from that good boy? If I were only nearer I'd tell the dog that the boy -is going to be kind to him and give him tomato-can camp-soup." - -"Oh, let the dog go!" called a red-haired boy to the one who was -running along with the tin can in his hand. - -"No, I'm going to catch him and tie this tin can on his tail," the -first boy answered. "You ought to see how fast he'll run when he has -this tin can on his tail!" - -"Dear me!" thought Uncle Wiggily, hardly able to believe what he heard. -"Tie a tin can on a dog's tail! And I thought that boy was going to be -kind! Oh, oh, what a mistake I made!" - -Most of the boys turned off on another path and went to school, but the -one with the tin can chased after the dog, and another boy, who seemed -very nice and quiet, stayed near the bush, behind which Uncle Wiggily -was hidden. Finally the boy with the tin can caught the poor, thin, -yelping dog, and carried him back to the bush. - -"Where's that piece of rope?" asked the bad boy, holding the yelping, -squirming little dog under one arm, while in the other hand he carried -the empty tin can. - -"What are you going to do with the rope?" asked the quiet boy. He held -his hands behind his back. - -"I'm going to use the rope to tie this tin can on the dog's tail," -answered the bad boy. "That's what I am!" - -"Then I won't give it to you," spoke the quiet lad. "I'm not going to -let you tie any tin can to a dog's tail if I can help it! There! You -can't have the rope!" - -With a sudden motion he threw, away over in the weeds, the rope, which -he had picked up after another lad had dropped it to go to school. - -"Oh, ho! So that's what you're going to do, is it?" cried the bad boy. -"I'll fix you for that!" - -He dropped his tin can; but still holding the poor dog under his arm, -the bad boy rushed at the quiet chap. - -"I'll make you get that rope and help me tie the tin can on this dog's -tail!" cried the bad boy. - -"I think it is about time for me to do something," said Uncle Wiggily -to himself. The bunny gentleman, hidden behind the bush, had heard all -that was said. - -All of a sudden, just as the bad boy was going to hit the quiet lad, -for not helping to tie the tin can on the dog's tail, Uncle Wiggily -turned, and, in the soft sand and dirt, began to dig very fast with his -paws. - -Now a rabbit gentleman is one of the best diggers in the world. With -his paws he can make himself a burrow, or underground house, almost -before you can eat a lollypop. And Uncle Wiggily, pawing in the dirt, -made a regular shower of sand, gravel and little stones fly right in -the face of the bad boy. - -By looking over his shoulder Uncle Wiggily could see which way to dig -so that the sand would go in the eyes of the bad boy, but not in the -face of the one who was kind to animals. - -Whiff! Whiff! Whiff! the sand, gravel and little stones shot over the -top of the bushes, and spattered all over the bad boy. - -"Say! Who's doing that?" cried the unkind chap, trying to hold his arm -in front of his face to keep the sand out of his eyes. "If you fellows -don't stop that----" - -But he couldn't say any more, for a lot of sand went flying into his -mouth. He dropped the poor, thin dog, who ran away and hid himself in a -hollow tree, and then the bad boy had to use both hands to wipe out the -gravel that rattled down inside his shirt, and so he couldn't hit the -kind boy. - -"Who's scattering that gravel?" cried the bad boy, scowling. - -"I don't see anyone," said the other, smiling. - -But there was Uncle Wiggily, behind the bush, scattering the gravel -with his paws in a regular shower. - -"I wish Nurse Jane could see me now," chuckled the bunny gentleman. -"She surely would laugh." - -At last so much gravel, sand and little stones showered into the face -of the bad boy that he ran away, crying: - -"Oh! Oh! Oh! Something terrible must have happened! I guess I'd better -not tie any tin cans on dogs' tails any more." - -"I guess you'd better not," said the other boy. - -"And I say the same," laughed Uncle Wiggily, as he brushed some dust -off his tall, silk hat, and straightened his necktie. Then the bunny -gentleman watched, while the kind boy went to the hollow tree and -patted the poor, frightened little dog. And then this boy hid the tin -can where no other boys could find it, and went on to school. - -And I think--mind you I'm not sure--but I think that bad boy turned -good after that. Anyhow if he didn't he ought to. - -"Well, I had quite an adventure," said the bunny rabbit gentleman, as -he hopped on to his hollow stump bungalow. "A very good adventure!" - -And if the jumping jack doesn't cut a slice off the mud pie with the -bread-knife, and tell the rag doll it's a piece of chocolate cake, I'll -tell you next about Uncle Wiggily's valentine. - - - - -STORY VI - -UNCLE WIGGILY'S VALENTINE - - -Uncle Wiggily quickly hopped across the room and closed the door of his -hollow stump bungalow, where he was busy in the sitting room. He heard -Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy coming along. - -"Well, that's queer!" exclaimed the muskrat lady housekeeper, as she -noticed what Uncle Wiggily did. "I wonder what he means? Wiggy," she -called, "are you getting ready for some strange, new adventure, such as -stopping bad boys from tying tin cans on dogs' tails?" - -"Nothing like that now; no, my dear," answered the bunny rabbit, and he -quickly pulled the table cover over something he had been looking at. -"This is a secret!" - -"Oh--a secret!" exclaimed Nurse Jane, puzzled-like. - -The muskrat lady looked at a calendar hanging on the wall, and noticed -that the day was February 14. - -"I think I can guess what your secret is, Uncle Wiggily," she said to -herself. "I s'pose it's something for Mrs. Twistytail, the pig lady, or -maybe for Grandpa Goosey Gander. Well, I hope you enjoy it." - -Then Nurse Jane went back to the dining room, where she was giving the -dishes their morning bath; and Uncle Wiggily began to rustle some paper -and tie knots in a piece of gold string, the while murmuring to himself: - -"I hope she likes it! Oh, I do hope she likes it. I'll put it on the -steps, throw a stone at the door so she thinks someone is knocking, and -then I'll run and hide behind a bush and watch how surprised she is -when she opens it." - -Uncle Wiggily had been very busy all that morning, after having been -out in the woods the day before. What he had made I shall tell you -about in a little while. Enough now for you to know that the bunny -rabbit had something he did not want Nurse Jane to see. - -Pretty soon, after opening the door a crack, and listening to Miss -Fuzzy Wuzzy wash the face of the clock, Uncle Wiggily hopped softly -out and down the front steps, with a box under his paw. His tall silk -hat was on rather sideways, and he carried his red, white and blue -striped rheumatism crutch upside down, but when you remember that it -was February 14, I think you will kindly excuse the bunny gentleman. - -Uncle Wiggily hopped on through the woods, and over the fields. Every -now and then he would stop, and, with his crutch, brush to one side -the dried leaves and little heaps of snow that were scattered here and -there in the forest. - -"I hope I may find some," said Mr. Longears to himself. "It won't be -half so pretty without them. I hope I find some." - -He searched in many places, and at last he found what he was looking -for. Carefully he picked something up off the ground, and put it in the -box he carried. - -"Nurse Jane will surely like this," said the bunny gentleman. He was -about to hop on again when, all of a sudden, he heard someone crying in -the woods. There was a sobbing sound and, looking around the corner of -a tree, Uncle Wiggily saw a little girl, sitting on a log. And she was -crying as hard as she could cry! - -"That isn't the Freckled Girl," said the bunny gentleman to himself. -"She said she wouldn't mind her freckles after she looked at the pretty -speckled birds' eggs. It isn't the Freckled Girl. I wonder who she is, -and what's the matter?" - -And pretty soon Uncle Wiggily found out, for he heard the sobbing girl -say: - -"Oh, I wish I had money enough to buy one! All the other girls and boys -can buy valentines to send teacher, but I can't! And she'll think I -don't like her, but I do! Oh, I wish I had a valentine!" - -"My goodness me sakes alive and some peanut pudding!" whispered the -bunny rabbit gentleman. "That girl is crying because she hasn't a -valentine for her teacher!" - -Then the bunny gentleman looked down at the box, wrapped in tissue -paper, which he carried under his paw--the box in which he had placed -something he had found under the leaves and snow of the forest a little -while before. - -"She wants a valentine," murmured the bunny rabbit gentleman. "And here -I have one that I made for Nurse Jane. I was going to leave it on the -steps and surprise my muskrat lady housekeeper. But I suppose I could -give it to this little girl, and--well, Nurse Jane won't care, when I -tell her." - -"I'll do it! I'll give this girl my valentine," said Uncle Wiggily so -suddenly that his pink nose almost twinkled backward. - -He looked over the top of a bush behind which he had sat down to wrap -up Nurse Jane's valentine. Then the bunny hopped over to the girl who -sat on the log, still sobbing because she had no token for her teacher. - -The girl heard the rustling in the leaves, made by Uncle Wiggily's paws -as he hopped, and she looked up suddenly. Then she rubbed her eyes, -hardly able to believe what she saw. - -"Why! Why!" she murmured. "Am I dreaming? Is this a fairy? A rabbit -gentleman, dressed in a tall silk hat, and with his red, white and blue -striped rheumatism crutch! Oh! Why, it's Uncle Wiggily! It's Uncle -Wiggily out of my Bedtime Story Books! Oh, how glad I am to see you, -dear Uncle Wiggily! Please come up and sit by me on this log!" - -But Uncle Wiggily was not allowed to do this. He put his paw over his -lips, to show that though he could hear, and understand what the girl -said, he could not talk to her in reply. Then he placed his valentine -beside her on the log and quickly hopped away. - -"Oh, Uncle Wiggily! Wait a minute! Please wait a minute!" cried the -girl, but the bunny gentleman dared not stay. - -"I must try and find Nurse Jane another valentine," he said to himself, -as he skipped along the woodland paths. - -Left alone, the girl on the log opened the box Uncle Wiggily had left. -It was made from pieces of white birch bark, such as the Indians used -for their canoes. Inside, were some sprigs from an evergreen tree, with -some round, brown buttons from the sycamore tree. And in the middle -of the evergreen sprigs were some lovely pink and white blossoms of -the trailing arbutus--the earliest flower of Spring--growing under the -leaves and late snows. It was these arbutus flowers which the bunny had -come to the woods to find and complete his valentine. Now he had given -it to the girl. - -"Oh, how lovely!" she murmured, tears no longer in her eyes. "Won't -teacher be surprised when I put this on her desk and tell her Uncle -Wiggily gave it to me? Oh, there's a verse, too!" - -And there was! Written on a piece of white birch bark, which is what -the animal folk use instead of paper, was this little verse: - - "These twigs of cedar, like my heart, - Are ever green for you. - The blossoms whisper that I am - Your Valentine so true!" - -"I know teacher will just love this!" said the little girl, and she was -so excited she could hardly run to school. She had to hop and skip. - -"Here's a valentine Uncle Wiggily gave me in the woods," the little -girl told her teacher, all excited and out of breath. - -"Uncle Wiggily? How strange!" exclaimed the teacher. "I--I hope you -didn't dream it," she said to the little girl. "But, at any rate, the -valentine is real. And how lovely! It's the very nicest one I ever saw!" - -Then you can imagine how pleased the little girl was. Uncle Wiggily, -hopping back to his bungalow through the woods, gnawed a piece of white -birch bark off a tree, and, with a burned, black stick for a pencil, he -scribbled on it: - -"Dear Nurse Jane: This is my valentine. I love you!" - -"+Uncle Wiggily.+" - -And when the muskrat lady found that on the doorstep a little later, -she laughed and said it was the nicest valentine she could wish for. -And when Uncle Wiggily told about giving the other valentine to the sad -little girl, the muskrat lady said: - -"You did just right, Wiggy! Now let's go to the movies!" - -So they did. And if electric light doesn't cry when it has to go down -cellar in the dark, to get a piece of coal for the fire to play with, -you shall next hear about Uncle Wiggily and the bad dog. - - - - -STORY VII - -UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BAD DOG - - -Once upon a time, about as many years ago as it takes a lollypop to -slide down the back cellar door, there lived in a kennel, not far from -Uncle Wiggily's hollow stump bungalow, a bad dog. And the bunny rabbit -gentleman, more than once, wished that this dog would always stay in -his kennel, or remain chained in front of it so he couldn't get loose. - -"For that dog," said Uncle Wiggily to Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, "is the -pest of my life! Every time he sees me he chases me. He isn't at all -like Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, or Old Dog Percival." - -"Why don't you scratch sand and gravel in his eyes as you did in the -face of the bad boy?" asked the muskrat lady housekeeper. - -"You can't treat dogs as you do boys," replied Uncle Wiggily. "Though, -of course, some boys and some dogs are great friends. But this dog -seems always to want to chase me." - -"Then you must be very careful if you go off in the woods to-day, -looking for an adventure," said Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy. - -"I will," promised the bunny rabbit gentleman. - -Away he hopped on his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch, -and his tall, silk hat. And this time Uncle Wiggily took with him his -glasses, which he sometimes wore in order to see better. - -"And I want to see the very best I can to-day," said Mr. Longears to -himself, as he hopped along. "I want to see that bad, unpleasant dog -before he sees me!" - -Uncle Wiggily was skipping along, thinking perhaps that he had better -pick a bunch of violets and take them to the lady mouse teacher in the -hollow stump school, when, all of a sudden, there sounded through the -woods a loud: - -"Wuff! Wuff!" - -"That isn't the Fox, nor yet the Wolf, nor even the Skillery Scallery -Alligator," said Uncle Wiggily, looking around the corner of the -mulberry bush. "I think it must be that savage dog!" - -And, surely enough it was. And a moment later the dog came bursting -through the bushes, barking and growling and headed straight for Uncle -Wiggily. - -"I'll make believe I'm playing baseball and try for a home run!" said -the rabbit gentleman to himself, and through the bushes, turning and -twisting this way and that, he ran for his hollow stump bungalow. - -Uncle Wiggily reached it only just in time, too. For as he hopped up -the steps, and closed the door, locking it, the dog jumped over the -gate. - -"My goodness me sakes alive and a basket of soap bubbles!" cried Nurse -Jane. "What's the matter, Wiggy? Is the house on fire?" - -"It's that dog--chasing--me!" panted the bunny, for he was quite out -of breath. - -"The idea! How impolite of him!" exclaimed the muskrat lady, and she -shook her broom out of the window at the bad chap. - -"Well, you got away from me this time, but the next time I'll get you," -growled the dog, as he slunk away. - -"Why is he so anxious to catch you?" asked Nurse Jane, as Uncle Wiggily -sat down in an easy chair to rest. - -"Oh, I guess he'd chase any of the animal folk he saw in the wood," -answered the bunny gentleman. "He'd chase Sammie or Susie Littletail -the rabbits, Johnnie or Billie Bushytail the squirrels and I'm sure he -would make Lulu, Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble, the duck children, lose -their feathers in trying to flutter away from him." - -"It's too bad," said Nurse Jane. "You ought to speak to Old Percival, -the Policeman Dog about this bad chap." - -"I shall," said Uncle Wiggily. He did, too, but the bad dog was so sly -that Old Percival could not catch him. Uncle Wiggily also spoke to the -little dog, whom he had saved from having a tin can tied on his tail by -a bad boy. - -"I'll tell this savage dog to let you alone," the little chap promised. - -But all this did no good. Every time the bad dog saw Uncle Wiggily -in the woods he chased the rabbit gentleman, and once nearly caught -the bunny. I don't know why this dog was so unpleasant and mean -toward Uncle Wiggily. I guess maybe the dog didn't know any better. -Perhaps he thought Uncle Wiggily didn't like dogs, but Mr. Longears -did--especially Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, the little puppy chaps. - -Well, as it happened, one day the people who owned the big, savage dog, -that always chased Uncle Wiggily, went away on a visit. And they went -in such a hurry that they left the dog chained to his kennel, and they -forgot to leave him any water to drink, or food to eat. - -At first the dog was not hungry, but later in the day, when it was time -for him to have had a meal, and some water, that dog began to feel very -unhappy. - -"Bow! Wow! Wow!" he barked, trying to call someone out to feed him, and -pour water in the sun-dried pan. But no one came, and the dog grew more -hungry, and so thirsty that his tongue hung down out of his mouth. - -Just about this time Uncle Wiggily was going through the woods on -his way to the six and seven cent store to get Nurse Jane a spool of -thread. The bunny rabbit heard the barking of the dog, and started to -run, for he knew that voice. But as he paused to listen, and find out -from which direction the sound came, so he could run away from it, -instead of toward it, Uncle Wiggily heard a voice saying: - -"Bow wow! Oh, how hungry I am! How thirsty I am!" - -It was the savage dog speaking, and Uncle Wiggily of course understood -animal talk, even better than he had learned to know, as he had of -late, what boys and girls said. - -"Hum! So that dog is hungry and thirsty, is he?" said the bunny to -himself. "Well, why doesn't he go and dig up some of the bones he must -have buried? And why doesn't he go to the duck pond and get a drink, I -wonder?" - -Uncle Wiggily thought there was something strange about this, and -as the barking and animal-talking voice of the dog did not come any -nearer, the bunny hopped over to see what was the matter. - -There he saw the savage dog, fastened by a heavy chain to his kennel, -with nothing to eat, no water to drink and no one to bring him any. - -"Oh, how hungry I am! How thirsty I am!" barked the dog. - -[Illustration: "Oh, are you?" politely asked Uncle Wiggily] - -"Oh, are you?" politely asked Uncle Wiggily, looking out from behind a -stone. He was not afraid to be this near the bad dog, for the savage -chap was chained, and could not get loose. - -"Yes, I am very thirsty and hungry," whined the dog. "But of course -I don't expect you to feed me or give me water. I've been too bad to -you--I've chased you too often! I can't ask you to help me!" - -"I don't see why not," said Uncle Wiggily politely. "If I were ill in -my bungalow, with rheumatism, and Nurse Jane wasn't there to wait on -me, and you came along, wouldn't you get me a drink of water?" - -The dog thought a moment before answering. Then he sort of drooped his -tail, sorry-like and softly said: - -"Yes, I believe I would." - -"Then," said the bunny gentleman, "I'll bring you a drink, and if you -tell me where you have buried some bones, I'll dig them up for you, -since I can't loosen your kennel chain to let you dig them yourself." - -"Oh, how kind you are!" said the dog. "I--I really don't deserve this." - -"Stuff and nonsense!" laughed Uncle Wiggily. "We all make -mistakes--that's why they put rubbers on the end of lead pencils, as -someone has said. I'll help you when you're in trouble." - -Then the bunny found a half a cocoanut shell, and dipping this in the -nearby brook, brought water to the thirsty dog. And when he had taken -a long drink, cooling his parched and hot tongue, the dog pointed to -where he had buried some bones, behind the barn. - -Uncle Wiggily dug up the bones with his paws, which were just made for -such work, and carried them to the dog. - -"Oh, I can't thank you enough," said Gurr-Rup, which was the dog's -name. "And I promise, Mr. Longears, that I'll never chase you again." - -"Thank you!" laughed the bunny, as he hopped on to the three and four -cent store. "I hoped you wouldn't." - -So this teaches us that it doesn't hurt the needle to put the thread -in its eye, and if the apple doesn't jump out of the dumpling, and try -to hide in the chocolate cake, when it ought to take the pie to the -moving pictures, on the next page you will find a story about Uncle -Wiggily and Puss in Boots. - - - - -STORY VIII - -UNCLE WIGGILY AND PUSS IN BOOTS - - -"Where are you going, Uncle Wiggily?" called Nurse Jane Fuzzy one day, -as the muskrat lady saw the bunny gentleman hopping away from his -hollow stump bungalow. - -"I am going to get myself a new pair of rubber boots," said Mr. -Longears. "My old ones are wearing out, and they have little holes in, -so they leak. We have had so much rain, of late, that I will need a new -pair of boots if I am to look for any more adventures. So I am going to -the shoemaker's." - -"But why are you taking your old boots along?" asked Nurse Jane, for -Uncle Wiggily had them under his paw. - -"I am taking them to the shoemaker to show him what size I want my new -boots," answered the bunny. "Also he may be able to mend these old ones -so they will do to wear in the garden." - -"That's a good idea," said Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy. "And while you are out I -wish you would go to the seven and eight cent store for me. I want some -needles and thread, some balls of red yarn and some white flannel." - -"My! All that! Are you going to make a bedquilt?" asked the bunny -gentleman. - -"No," laughed Nurse Jane. "I am going to use the white flannel to make -me a new petticoat, the red yarn I am going to use to knit Sammie and -Susie Littletail, the rabbit children, some mittens, and the needle and -thread I will use to sew up a hole in the lace curtain." - -"Very well," spoke Uncle Wiggily politely, "you shall have all three, -and I'll get myself a new pair of boots." - -It did not take the bunny rabbit gentleman long to hop to the shop of -the Monkey Doodle shoemaker, where Mr. Longears bought himself a new -pair of rubber boots. - -"As for those old ones," said the Monkey chap, "I can mend them for -you, so they will do to wear many times yet." - -"Please do so," begged the bunny. And when his old boots were mended he -carried them over his shoulder with the new ones, for he was wearing -his shoes. Along he hopped to the seven and eight cent store. - -Uncle Wiggily bought the needles, thread, white flannel and red yarn -for the rabbit children's mittens, and he was hopping back to his -hollow stump bungalow, when, all of a sudden, coming from behind a -sassafras bush, he heard a voice saying: - -"Oh, dear! How sad! Now I suppose they'll take me out of all the story -books, and the children will never love me any more!" - -"Hum! This is strange," said Uncle Wiggily to himself. "I wonder who -it is that can't be in the story books any more? That is very sad! I -wouldn't want them to put me out of all the Bedtime Story Books in -which I have my adventures." - -So the bunny gentleman looked around the corner of a lollypop bush, -and there he saw a cat, dressed in a coat, trousers and cap, but -without anything on his hind paws, sitting on a stump. - -"Good afternoon, Mr. Cat!" politely greeted Uncle Wiggily. "You seem to -be in trouble." - -"I am," was the answer. "Only my name is Puss, and not Cat, though, of -course, that's what I really am. Puss in Boots is my right name, but -there is no use trying to keep it any longer." - -"Why not?" Uncle Wiggily asked. - -"Because I have lost my boots," answered Puss. "A little while ago I -met a cross dog who chased me. I ran across a swamp and became stuck -in the mud. I managed to pull my paws out of the boots, but the boots -themselves remained fast in the mud. Now I have no boots and I can be -called Puss in Boots no longer! I shall have to keep out of all the -story books!" - -[Illustration: "I have lost my boots," answered Puss] - -"Nonsense!" laughed Uncle Wiggily. "Why, I have two pairs of boots -here! Take one of them, I can only wear one pair of boots at a time," -and very politely Mr. Longears gave his new boots to the cat. - -"Oh, but I can't take your new boots!" objected Puss. "The old ones -will do me very well." - -"No," kindly insisted Uncle Wiggily. "Please take the new ones. Since -my old ones were mended they will answer me very well, and they'll be -easier on my paws." - -So Uncle Wiggily gave Puss the new boots, keeping the old mended ones -for himself, and as the cat put the boots on his paws he looked just as -he ought to--like his pictures in the story books. - -"Now I can keep my place, the children will not miss me. Thank you, -Uncle Wiggily," mewed Puss. - -"Pray do not mention it," said the bunny. "I am glad I don't have to -carry two pairs of boots." - -So Mr. Longears hopped on a little farther, and soon he heard some tiny -voices saying: - - "Oh, Mother dear! Look here! Look here! - Our mittens we have lost!" - -"Ho! I should know who they are!" said the bunny. "Those must be the -three kittens!" - -And, surely enough, they were, as the bunny saw a moment later, when -he turned around the corner of a mulberry tree. There were three little -pussy kittens, holding up their paws for their mother to see, and there -wasn't a single mitten on any one of the paws! What do you think of -that? - - "What, lost your mittens! You careless kittens! - Now you can't have any pie!" - -Thus sang the mother cat. And when the three little kittens, who had -lost their mittens, began to cry, Uncle Wiggily felt so sorry for them -that he stepped up and said: - -"Excuse me, Mrs. Cat. But I have a lot of red yarn I bought for Nurse -Jane to knit mittens for Sammie and Susie Littletail. There is more -than Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy needs, I'm sure, so I shall give you some to knit -mittens for your pussies." - -"Oh, how kind you are!" mewed the mother cat, as Uncle Wiggily gave her -three balls of red yarn, still leaving plenty for the rabbit children's -mittens. "Now you may have some pie, and I'll give Uncle Wiggily a -piece, too," said the cat mother to her kittens. - -"You are very kind," remarked Mr. Longears. "But I must hop on with the -needle and thread, and the piece of white flannel Nurse Jane is going -to use to make herself a new petticoat." - -So on hopped the bunny, while the mother cat sat down to knit some -new mittens for her kittens. And Uncle Wiggily had not gone very far -before, all of a sudden, he heard another sad mewing sound and a voice -said: - -"Dear me! The hole goes all the way through! I shall never be able to -go to see Old Mother Hubbard this way! Oh, what an accident!" - -"That sounds like more trouble," thought Uncle Wiggily, and, looking -over the top of a stone wall, he saw a pussy cat lady sitting on a -stump, sadly looking at her skirt. - -"What is the matter?" asked Mr. Longears. - -"Oh! How you surprised me!" mewed the cat lady. "But here is the -trouble. I'm Pussy Cat Mole. I jumped over a coal, and in my best -petticoat burned a great hole!" and she showed the edge of her -petticoat where, surely enough, a hole was burned through. - -"And I ought to be at Mother Hubbard's now, to go with her to the -movies," said Pussy Cat Mole. "But, alas, I can not go!" - -"Oh, yes, you can!" said Uncle Wiggily. - -"Not with this big burned hole in my petticoat!" mewed the cat. - -"Ah, but you shall sew on a patch," said the bunny. "I have here needle -and thread, and some white flannel. Can't you mend your best petticoat -with all those?" - -"Indeed I can," mewed Pussy Cat Mole. "Thank you, so much!" - -Uncle Wiggily gave her a needle and thread, and with her claws Miss -Mole tore off a piece of white flannel, for there was more than -Nurse Jane needed. She sewed the patch neatly on, and then, with her -petticoat nicely mended, Pussy Cat Mole went on to Mother Hubbard's. - -"Ah, how delightful it is to be helpful," said Uncle Wiggily, as he -hopped back to his bungalow. And he was very glad he had met the three -cats, one after another. For a little later that day the bad Woozie -Wolf chased the bunny. - -But the mother of the three kittens, after she had knit their mittens, -tickled the wolf with her knitting needles. Puss with the boots, -stepped on the wolf's tail so hard that he cried "Ouch!" And Pussy Cat -Mole ran at the wolf with a piece of red stone, which she pretended was -a red hot coal that in her best petticoat had burned a great hole. - -"I'll burn you! I'll burn you!" she mewed at the wolf. - -"Then this is no place for me!" he howled, and away he ran, not hurting -the bunny at all. And how the bunny gentleman and the three cats -laughed! - -So if the elephant from the Noah's Ark doesn't drop a cold penny down -the back of the gold fish and make it sneeze, the next story is going -to be about Uncle Wiggily and the lost boy. - - - - -STORY IX - -UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE LOST BOY - - -"There goes that boy out again, flying his kite," said Nurse Jane Fuzzy -Wuzzy, as she looked from the window of the hollow stump bungalow one -morning. - -"What boy?" Uncle Wiggily wanted to know. - -"The new boy who has just moved into the red brick house," answered the -muskrat lady housekeeper. "I hope he isn't a bad boy, who will chase -you, Uncle Wiggily, and come to the forest to play tricks on Sammie and -Susie Littletail, and the other animal boys and girls." - -"Oh, he doesn't look like that kind of a boy," said the bunny rabbit -gentleman, as he sat down to eat his breakfast of carrot pancakes -with turnip maple sugar gravy sprinkled down the middle. "But I'll be -careful until I get to know him better." - -Uncle Wiggily's hollow stump bungalow had lately been rebuilt near the -edge of a wood, and, just beyond the thicket of trees and tangle of -bushes was a small town, where lived many boys and girls. - -Only a few of these boys and girls knew about the bunny rabbit -gentleman, and his muskrat lady nurse, and those who did were kind to -Uncle Wiggily, because the rabbit gentleman had been kind to them, -doing them many favors. - -But now that a new boy had moved into the red brick house, Uncle -Wiggily felt that he must not hop around in too lively a fashion, until -he found out whether the boy was bad or good. For there are some bad -boys, you know. - -"He seems quiet enough," said Nurse Jane, as she spread some lettuce -marmalade on a slice of bread for Uncle Wiggily. "He sits there flying -his kite. I guess it will be safe for you to go to the store for me, -Wiggy." - -"What do you want from the store?" asked the bunny gentleman, as he -took his tall, silk hat down off the piano. Sometimes he went to the -store quite dressed up. At other times he would put on an old cap and -overalls, just as he came from the garden. - -"I want another ball of red yarn," Nurse Jane answered. "I did not -have quite enough to knit the mittens for Sammie and Susie, the rabbit -children." - -"I suppose that's because I gave some of the yarn to the three little -kittens who lost their mittens," said the bunny, twinkling his pink -nose upside down, to make sure it would not fall off as he hopped along. - -"Well, that's one of the reasons," Nurse Jane answered. "But I'm glad -you helped the little kittens. You can easily get me another ball of -yarn." - -"Of course," Uncle Wiggily agreed, and soon he was hopping over the -fields and through the woods, on his way to the store. Not one of the -stores where the boys and girls bought their toys and lollypops, but a -special animal store, kept by a Monkey Doodle gentleman. - -And as Uncle Wiggily hopped along under the bushes, near the house of -the Kite Boy, the bunny heard the boy's mother say: - -"Don't go away and get lost, Buddie!" - -"No'm, I won't!" promised the boy, as he held his kite string in his -hand and watched his toy fly high in the air. - -Uncle Wiggily stopped for a moment, underneath a big burdock plant, and -looked at Buddie, which was the boy's pet name. Buddie could not see -the rabbit gentleman. If he had, Buddie would have been much surprised -to notice a bunny with glasses and a tall silk hat. - -The wind blew the kite higher into the air, and Uncle Wiggily thought -of the many times he had helped Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, the -squirrels, fly their kites, and how he had, more than once, made kites -for Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, the puppy dog boys. - -Then the bunny gentleman hopped on to the store to get the ball of red -yarn for Nurse Jane. He stayed some little time, Mr. Longears did, for -he met Grandfather Goosey Gander, and talked to the old gentleman duck -about rheumatism, and what to do when you sneezed too much. - -But finally Uncle Wiggily started back for his hollow stump bungalow, -and soon he was in the middle of the wood, about half way home. And all -of a sudden the bunny gentleman heard a crying voice saying: - -"Oh, dear! Oh, dear! I don't know where my home is! I'm lost! Oh, dear! -I'm lost!" - -Mr. Longears peered through the bushes, and there he saw the boy from -the red brick house, who held in his hand a broken kite. - -"Ah, I see what has happened!" said the bunny. "His kite broke loose -from the string. Forgetting what he promised his mother, about not -going away, the boy ran after his kite, over into the woods, and now he -is lost. I wonder if I can help him find his way home?" - -Uncle Wiggily did not show himself yet. Hiding behind the bushes, the -bunny followed the lost boy as he wandered about among the trees, not -knowing which way to go. - -"Oh, where is my house?" said the boy over and over again. "Why can't I -find it?" - -Then a mournful voice cried: - -"Woo! Woo! Woo!" - -"Oh, dear! What's that?" exclaimed the lost boy, suddenly stopping. - -"It's only an owl bird," said Uncle Wiggily to himself. He wished he -might speak to the boy, and tell him this, but though the bunny could -understand boy-talk, the boy couldn't understand rabbit language. - -The Kite Boy went on a little farther, and then he heard a rustling in -the dried leaves. - -"Oh-o-o-o!" gasped the lost boy. "Maybe that's a snake!" - -"Nonsense!" laughed Uncle Wiggily to himself. "It is only a brown -thrush bird, scattering the leaves to look for something to eat. And, -even if it were a snake it wouldn't hurt the boy. I wish I might tell -him so." - -The boy wandered along a little farther, and suddenly there boomed out -through the forest a sound of: - -"Ga-rump! Ga-roomp! Ga-Zing!" - -"Oh, maybe that's a giant!" cried the boy, dropping his broken kite. - -"Ha! Ha!" laughed Uncle Wiggily. "That's only Grandpa Croaker, the big -bull frog who tells such funny stories to Bully and Bawly No-Tail, the -frog boys! How Grandpa Croaker will laugh when I tell him the lost boy -thought him a giant! But I must help this boy out of the woods, or his -mother will be worried." - -"Let me see, how can I do it without letting him see me? Ha! I have -it. This ball of red yarn. I'll hop to the edge of the wood, near his -house, and fasten one end of the red yarn to a tree there. Then I'll -come back, unwinding the ball on the way, and when I get to the boy, -I'll toss him what is left of the ball. Then all he'll have to do will -be to follow the red cord right to his house." - -[Illustration: It lead the boy home] - -No sooner said than done! Uncle Wiggily knew his way through the -forest, even in the dark, and he soon reached the edge of the wood and -saw the boy's red brick house. - -Then, tying one end of the red yarn to the bush near where the boy had -been sitting to fly his kite, Uncle Wiggily turned back, unrolling the -ball as he hopped along. He soon came to the lost boy again, and the -poor little chap was crying harder than ever. - -Over the bush and at the feet of the boy, the bunny tossed the little -ball of yarn that remained. - -"Oh, what's that?" cried Buddie, almost ready to jump out of his skin. -But when he saw the little red ball, and the red string -stretching off through the trees, he was no longer afraid. - -"Oh, maybe this is a fairy string, and will lead me home!" he joyfully -cried, as he began to follow it. And, though we know it wasn't a fairy -string, still it was just as good, for it led the boy home, as he -followed the yarn, winding up the ball as he walked along. And, oh, -how fast he ran when he came within sight of his house, crying, as he -dropped the ball: - -"Here I am, Mother! Here I am. I'm not lost any more!" - -"Well, I'm glad of that," Mother answered. "You shouldn't have gone -into the woods. I was just coming to look for you." - -"Well," whispered Uncle Wiggily to himself, "I'm glad I could be of -some help in this world." Then the rabbit, who had followed the lost -boy until Buddie found his home, wound up the red yarn again, and took -it to Nurse Jane. - -"My! That was quite an adventure," said the muskrat lady when the -bunny gentleman told her about it. And if the boiled egg doesn't try -to go sailing in the gravy boat, and splash condensed milk on the -bread-knife, I'll tell you on the page after this about Uncle Wiggily -and Stubby Toes. - - - - -STORY X - -UNCLE WIGGILY AND STUBBY TOES - - -There are some children who are always stubbing their toes and falling -down. That was what happened, far too often, to the little boy in this -story. And I am going to tell you how Uncle Wiggily helped cure him. - -Perhaps you may think it strange that an old rabbit gentleman, with a -pink, twinkling nose and a tall, silk hat could cure a boy of stubbing -his toes. But this only goes to show that you never can tell what is -going to happen in this world. - -So we shall start by saying that, once upon a time, there was a boy who -slipped and stumbled so often that he was called "Stubby Toes." - -Stubby Toes was not a very big boy. In fact, one of the reasons he -stubbed his toe so often (first the big toe of one foot, and then the -big toe of the other foot), the reason, I say, was because he was so -small. He had not yet grown up so that he knew how to step over things -that lay in his path, causing him to stumble. - -Why, sometimes that boy would stumble over a pin on the sidewalk. And -again I have known him to trip and almost fall because he saw, in his -way, a leaf from a tree. - -"Upsi-daisey!" his sister would cry as she caught him by the hand, so -he would not fall. "Upsi-daisey, Stubby Toes!" - -It was Sister who really gave Stubby Toes his name, but she was only in -fun, of course. - -Well, one day when Uncle Wiggily had started out of his hollow stump -bungalow to look for an adventure, Sister took her little brother -Stubby Toes for a walk. And, as it happened, the path taken by Sister -and Stubby Toes stretched along through the woodland where the bunny -gentleman lived. - -"I think I'll go see Baby Bunty to-day," said Uncle Wiggily to himself, -as he hopped along, twinkling his pink nose in the sunshine. "I have -a little touch of the rheumatism, and Baby Bunty is so lively, always -playing tag, or something like that in the way of games, that she'll -make me spry, and chase the pain away." - -But as the bunny gentleman came near the place where the little boy -and his sister were walking, all of a sudden Stubby Toes tripped over -a little stone, about as large as the end of your lollypop stick, -and--down he almost fell! - -"Upsi-daisey!" cried Sister as she pulled Brother to his feet. -"Upsi-daisey!" - -"Oh, ho! Boo hoo! I--I stubbed my toe!" cried the little boy. - -"Of course you did!" said Sister, laughing. - -I think I forgot to tell you that Stubby Toes often cried when he -slipped this way. Yes, almost every time he cried, and Sister wished he -wouldn't, and so did Mother. - -"Boo hoo! Boo hoo!" the boy wailed. "I bunked myself!" - -Sister laughed and recited this little verse, which is a good one to -sing whenever anything happens. It is a verse I read once, many years -ago. - - "Oh, fie, - Do not cry, - If you stub your toe. - Say 'Oh!' - And let it go. - Be a man, - If you can, - And do not cry!" - -After Sister had sung this for Brother, she wiped away his tears, which -just started to trickle down his cheeks, and they walked on again. - -"This is a good little girl," said Uncle Wiggily to himself, for, -hidden in the bushes he had heard and seen all that went on. "I wish -I could teach Stubby Toes not to stumble so much. I wonder how I can? -I'll ask Baby Bunty about it." - -So Uncle Wiggily hopped on to Baby Bunty's bungalow, and, meanwhile -Brother and Sister walked through the woods. - -Well, I wish you could have seen what happened to Stubby Toes! But, no! -Perhaps, on second thought, it is better that you did not. But, oh! So -many times as he almost fell! - -He tripped over a little baby angle worm, who was crawling to the store -to get a loaf of cake for his mother. And next Stubby Toes almost -landed on his nose, because the shadow of a bird flitted across his -path. - -"Oh, Stubby Toes!" cried Sister, as she kept him from falling on his -face. "Will you ever learn to walk without stumbling?" - -"Boo hoo!" was all that Stubby Toes answered, for, just then he -tripped over a blade of grass, and this time he fell down all the way. -Only he happened to land on some soft, green moss, so he was not much -hurt, I'm glad to say. - -"This is too bad!" Uncle Wiggily said to himself, for he had heard and -seen it all. "I must get Baby Bunty to teach this little chap how to -walk more carefully." - -It was not far to the home of Baby Bunty. That little rabbit girl was -out skipping her rope in front of her house. - -"Tag, Uncle Wiggily! You're it!" she cried, as soon as she saw the -bunny gentleman. - -"Tut! Tut! We have no time for a game now," said Mr. Longears. "I want -you to come with me, Baby Bunty, and teach Stubby Toes a lesson," and -he told about the little boy. - -"Oh, I see what you mean," said Baby Bunty. "You want me to hop along -in front of him, and show him how not to stub his toe." - -"That's it!" said Uncle Wiggily. "Stubby Toes and Sister are kind to -animals and will not harm us." - -So, a little later, Uncle Wiggily and Baby Bunty were walking along the -woodland path just ahead of the little boy and his sister. - -"Now, Baby Bunty," said Mr. Longears, "show this boy how nicely you can -hop along, even if there are sticks and stones on the path." - -Away skipped the little rabbit girl. She came to a stone, but over it -she stepped as nicely as you please. She reached a stick, but she gave -a hop, and there she was on the other side! And she never stubbed her -toe once, because she was careful! - -By this time the little boy and his sister had seen Uncle Wiggily and -Baby Bunty. - -"Oh, look at the funny rabbits!" cried Stubby Toes. "I want to catch -'em!" - -"No! No! Mustn't touch!" said Sister, and she reached out to catch hold -of Stubby Toes, but it was too late! He tripped his foot on a dandelion -blossom in the grass, and down he went! - -"Boo hoo!" he cried. - -"Oh, fie!" said Sister, singing the little verse again. "Look at the -baby rabbit! She doesn't stub her toes!" - -And, surely enough, Baby Bunty, skipping along on the path in front -of Stubby Toes, never fell once. She skipped over pebbles and stones, -sticks and clumps of grass, and never once stepped on a flower. - -"See if you can't do that, Stubby Toes!" begged Sister. - -And of course that boy didn't want a little baby rabbit girl to walk -better than he did. So he dried his tears, stood up straight and began -to walk more firmly, watching where he set down his feet. - -He came to a big stone and--over it he stepped without stumbling. He -reached a stick--and, over that he put both feet without falling! He -passed a lump of dirt--and right over it he JUMPED--and he didn't stub -his toe once! What do you think of that? - -"Oh, I'm not going to call you Stubby Toes any more!" laughed Sister. -"Now you have learned to walk as well as that baby rabbit." - -Uncle Wiggily laughed so hard that his tall silk hat almost slipped -down over his pink, twinkling nose. - -"I think we have done enough, Baby Bunty," he said, "Come on now, and -I'll buy you a carrot lollypop!" - -Away hopped the bunnies, and back home went Sister and Brother who was -Stubby Toes no longer. Baby Bunty had taught him a good lesson. - -And if the jumping jack doesn't fall off his stick when he is trying -to play hop scotch with the bean bag, you shall next hear about Uncle -Wiggily's Christmas. - - - - -STORY XI - -UNCLE WIGGILY'S CHRISTMAS - - -Down swirled the snow, its white flakes blown by the cold December -wind. From the North it came, this wind; and a bird--not a robin, for -they had long ago flown South--a bird went in the barn, and hid his -head under his wing, poor thing! - -It was cold in the woods around Uncle Wiggily's hollow stump bungalow, -and the rabbit gentleman brought in stick after stick of wood for Nurse -Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy to pile on the blazing fire that roared up the chimney. - -Uncle Wiggily, having filled the wood box, took his cap, and his -fur-lined coat down from the rack. - -"Dear me, Wiggy! You aren't going out on a day like this, are you?" -asked Nurse Jane. - -"Yes," answered the bunny gentleman, "I am, if you please, Nurse Jane. -I promised Grandfather Goosey Gander I'd go down town shopping with -him. He wants to look through the five and ten cent stores to see what -they have for Christmas." - -"Oh, well, if it's about Christmas, that's different," said the muskrat -lady. "But wrap yourself up well, for it is storming hard. I don't want -you to take cold." - -"Nor do I want a cold," said Uncle Wiggily. "My pink nose gets very red -when I sneeze. I'll be careful, Nurse Jane." - -Out into the snowy, blowy woods went Uncle Wiggily. He passed the -burrow-house where Sammie and Susie Littletail, the rabbit children, -lived. Susie was at the window and waved her paw to the bunny gentleman. - -"Only three more days until Christmas! Aren't you glad, Uncle Wiggily?" -called Susie. - -"Indeed I am," answered Mr. Longears. "Very glad!" - -Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, the squirrels, looked from the window of -their house. Johnnie held up a string of nuts that he was getting ready -to put on the Christmas tree. - -"Billie and I are going to help Santa Claus!" chattered Johnnie. - -"Good!" laughed Uncle Wiggily. "Santa Claus needs help!" - -The bunny hopped along through the snow until he reached the kennel of -Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, the puppy dog boys. - -"We're popping corn!" barked Jackie. "Getting ready for Christmas! -That's why we can't be out!" - -"Stay in the house and keep warm!" called Uncle Wiggily. - -He hopped on a little farther until he met Mr. Gander, and the rabbit -gentleman and the goose grandpa made their way through the five and -ten, the three and four and the sixteen and seventeen cent stores. Each -place was piled full of Christmas presents for animal boys and girls, -and animal fathers and mothers were shopping about, to tell Santa Claus -what to bring to the different houses, you know. - -Uncle Wiggily saw some things he knew Nurse Jane would like, and -Grandpa Goosey bought some presents that had come directly from the -workshop of Santa Claus. - -Then along came Mr. Whitewash, the Polar Bear gentleman. - -"Ho! Ho!" roared Mr. Whitewash, in his jolly voice. "Come to my ice -cave, gentlemen, and have a cup of hot, melted icicles!" - -"I'd like to, but I can't," said Uncle Wiggily. "Nurse Jane wanted -me to get her some spools of thread. I'll buy them and go back to my -bungalow." - -"Then I'll go with you, Mr. Whitewash," quacked Grandpa Goosey, and he -waddled off with the bear gentleman, while Uncle Wiggily, having bought -the thread, hopped toward his bungalow. - -The bunny uncle had not gone very far before he heard some children -talking behind a bush around which the snow was piled in a high drift. -Uncle Wiggily could hide behind this drift and hear what was said. - -"Is Santa Claus coming to your house?" asked one boy of another. - -"I don't guess so," was the answer. "My father said our chimney was so -full of black soot that Santa Claus couldn't get down. He'd look like a -charcoal man if he did, I guess." - -"It's the same way at our house," sighed the first boy. "Our chimney is -all stopped up. I guess there'll be no Christmas presents this year." - -"My! That's too bad!" thought Uncle Wiggily to himself. "There ought -to be a Christmas for everyone, and a little thing like a soot-filled -chimney ought not to stand in the way. All the animal children whom I -know are going to get presents. I wish I could help these boys. And -they probably have sisters, also, who will get nothing for Christmas. -Too bad!" - -Uncle Wiggily peered over the top of the snowbank. He saw the boys, -but they did not notice the rabbit, and Mr. Longears knew where the -boys lived. Their homes were in houses near the brick one, where dwelt -the lad who was once lost in the woods. Uncle Wiggily unwound a ball of -red yarn, if you will kindly remember, and by following this the Kite -Boy found his house. - -"I wish I could help those boys who are not going to have any -Christmas," said the bunny gentleman to himself, as he hopped on with -Nurse Jane's spools of thread. - -And just then, in the air overhead, he heard the sounds of: - -"Caw! Caw! Caw!" - -"Crows!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "My friends the black crows! They -stay here all winter. Black crows--black--black--why, a chimney is -black inside, just as a crow is black outside! I'm beginning to think -of something! Yes, that's what I am!" - -The rabbit's pink nose began twinkling very fast. It always did when he -was thinking, and now it was sparkling almost like a star on a frosty -night. - -"Ha! I have it!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "A crow can become no blacker -inside a sooty chimney than outside! If Santa Claus can't go down a -black chimney, why a crow can! I'll have these crows pretend to be St. -Nicholas!" - -No sooner thought of than done! Uncle Wiggily put his paws to his lips -and sent out a shrill whistle, just as a policeman does when he wants -the automobiles to stop turning somersaults. - -"Caw! Caw! Caw!" croaked the black crows high in the white, snowy air. -"Uncle Wiggily is calling us," said the head crow. "Caw! Caw!" - -Down they flew, perching on the bare limbs of trees in the wood not far -from the bunny's hollow stump bungalow. - -"How do you do, Crows!" greeted the rabbit. "I called you because I -want you to take a few Christmas presents to some boys who, otherwise, -will not get any. Their chimneys are choked with black soot!" - -"Black soot will not bother us," said the largest crow of all. "We -don't mind going down the blackest chimney in the world!" - -"I thought you wouldn't," said Uncle Wiggily. "That's why I called you. -Now, of course, I know that the kind of presents that Santa Claus will -bring to the animal children will not all be such as real boys and -girls would like. But still there are some which may do." - -"I can get willow whistles, made by Grandpa Lightfoot, the old squirrel -gentleman. I can get wooden puzzles gnawed from the aspen tree by -Grandpa Whackum, the beaver. Grandpa Goosey Gander and I will gather -the round, brown balls from the sycamore tree, and the boys can use -them for marbles." - -"Those will be very nice presents, indeed," cawed a middle-sized crow. -"The boys ought to like them." - -"And will you take the things down the black chimneys?" asked Uncle -Wiggily. "I'll give you some of Nurse Jane's thread so you may easily -carry the whistles, puzzles, wooden marbles and other presents." - -"We'll take them down the chimneys!" cawed the crows. "It matters not -to us how much black soot there is! It will not show on our black -wings." - -So among his friends Uncle Wiggily gathered up bundles of woodland -presents. And in the dusk of Christmas eve the black crows fluttered -silently in from the forest, gathered up in their claws the presents -which the bunny had tied with thread, and away they flapped, not only -to the houses of the two boys, but also to the homes of some girls, -about whom Uncle Wiggily had heard. Their chimneys, too, it seemed, -were choked with soot. - -But the crows could be made no blacker, not even if you dusted them -with charcoal, so they did not in the least mind fluttering down the -sooty chimneys. And so softly did they make their way, that not a boy -or girl heard them! As silently and as quietly as Santa Claus himself -went the crows! - -All during Christmas eve they fluttered down the chimneys at the homes -of poor boys and girls, helping St. Nicholas, until all the presents -that Uncle Wiggily had gathered from his friends had been put in place. - -Then, throughout Woodland, in the homes of Sammie and Susie Littletail -the rabbits, of Johnnie and Billie Bushytail the squirrels, Jackie -and Peetie Bow Wow the dogs, Curly and Floppy Twistytail the piggie -boys--in all the homes of Woodland great changes took place. Firefly -lights began to glow on Christmas trees. Mysterious bundles seemed to -come from nowhere, and took their places under the trees, in stockings -and on chairs or mantels. - -And then night came, and all was still, and quiet and dark--as dark as -the black crows or the soot in the chimneys. - -But in the morning, when the stars had faded, and the moon was pale, -the glorious sun came up and made the snow sparkle like ten million -billion diamonds. - -"Merry Christmas, Uncle Wiggily!" called Nurse Jane. "See what Santa -Claus brought me." - -"Merry Christmas, Nurse Jane!" answered the bunny. "And what a fine lot -of presents St. Nicholas left for me! See them!" - -"Oh, isn't he a great old chap!" laughed Nurse Jane, as she smelled a -bottle of perfume. - -And all over the land voices could be heard saying: - -"Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!" - -Near the hearth in the homes of some boys and girls who had not gone to -bed with happy thoughts of the morrow, were some delightful presents. -How they opened their eyes and stared--these boys and girls who had -expected no Christmas. - -"Why! Why!" exclaimed one of the two lads whom Uncle Wiggily had heard -talking near the snowbank. "How in the world did Santa Claus get down -our black chimney?" - -But, of course, they knew nothing of Uncle Wiggily and the crows. And -please don't you tell them. - -So all over, in the Land of Boys and Girls, as well as in the Snow -Forest of the Animal Folk, there echoed the happy calls of: - -"Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!" Once again there was joy in the -land. - -And if the sunflower doesn't shine in the face of the clock, and make -its hands go whizzing around backward, I shall take pleasure, next, in -telling you about Uncle Wiggily's Fourth of July. - - - - -STORY XII - -UNCLE WIGGILY'S FOURTH OF JULY - - -"You must be extra careful to-morrow, Uncle Wiggily," said Nurse Jane -Fuzzy Wuzzy to the bunny rabbit gentleman one morning, as he stood on -the steps of his hollow stump bungalow. - -"Why be careful to-morrow, more than on any other day in the year?" -asked Mr. Longears. "Is it going to rain or snow?" - -"Whoever heard of snow on the Fourth of July?" inquired the muskrat -lady housekeeper, as she fastened a fluffy brush to the end of her -tail, for she was presently going in the house to dust the furniture. - -"Oh, so to-morrow is the Fourth of July!" exclaimed the bunny. "I had -forgotten all about it. Yes, indeed, I must be careful! I am living -near the real children, now, and some of them might think it fun to -explode a torpedo under my pink, twinkling nose, or try to fasten a -fire-cracker to my little tail." - -"That's what I was thinking of," went on Nurse Jane. For Uncle -Wiggily's bungalow, while still in the woods, was near to the homes of -some boys and girls. And though only one boy, so far, had been bad to -the bunny (and this boy soon turned good), there was no telling what -might happen. - -So as Uncle Wiggily hopped along the forest path, he took care not to -get too far away from the bushes, behind and under which he could hide. -For sometimes boys and girls came to the forest, and once a Kite Boy -was lost, and the bunny helped him find his way home, you may remember. - -"Hello, Uncle Wiggily!" suddenly called a voice, and Mr. Longears -quickly jumped around, thinking it might be a real boy or girl. But it -was only Neddie Stubtail, the little boy bear. - -"I've been buying my fire-crackers," said Neddie to his uncle, the -bunny. "I'm going to have lots of fun Fourth of July," and he showed -Mr. Longears a bundle of dry sticks, painted red, white and blue like -the bunny's rheumatism crutch. - -You must know that in Animal Land the boys and girls have the same sort -of fun you children do on holidays, but in a different manner. Instead -of real fire-crackers, that have to be set off with a match, or piece -of punk, with sparks that, perhaps, burn you, the animal children get -some dried sticks. These they break, with loud, cracking sounds, but -without any fire. And they have lots of fun. After the sticks are -broken they can be put in the stove to boil the tea kettle. - -"Did you get your sister, Beckie, any Fourth of July things?" asked -Uncle Wiggily of the boy bear. - -"Oh, yes, I got her some little stick crackers," answered Neddie. - -"That's good!" spoke Mr. Longears. Then he went on through the woods, -meeting Toddle and Noodle Flat-Tail the beaver boys, Joie, Tommie and -Kittie Kat the kittens, Nannie and Billie Wagtail the goats, and many -other animal boys and girls. All of them called: - -"Hello, Uncle Wiggily! Happy Fourth of July!" - -And the bunny answered back: - -"Thank you! I wish you the same!" - -Thus hopping through the woods, meeting the animal children, and -learning of the fun they were to have next day, the bunny rabbit -gentleman at length came to the end of the forest. A little farther on -were the houses and homes of real boys and girls, some of whom had been -helped by Mr. Longears. - -"I think this is as far as I had better go, seeing it's so close to -the Fourth of July," thought Uncle Wiggily. "If the real children are -anything like those of my animal friends who live in the woods, they'll -be shooting off their crackers and torpedoes ahead of time." - -And, just as he said that, Uncle Wiggily heard a loud: - -"Bang! Bang!" - -The bunny jumped to one side, and hid under the broad leaf of a burdock -plant. Then he laughed. - -"I thought that was a hunter-man's gun," whispered Uncle Wiggily. "But -I guess it was some boy setting off a fire-cracker. I need not have -been afraid." - -He was just going to hop along a little farther, before turning back to -his hollow stump bungalow when, all at once he saw a hammock swinging -between two trees near the edge of the wood. - -In the hammock lay a boy with a thin, pale face, and beside him sat -a nurse, gently pulling on a rope that caused the little nest-like -swinging bed to sway to and fro. - -"Oh ho!" thought Uncle Wiggily. "A sick boy! I'm sorry for him! He -won't be able to run around and have fun on Fourth of July as Jackie -and Peetie Bow Wow will." - -And then the bunny heard the boy in the hammock speaking. And, being -able, as he was of late, to understand the talk of real persons, Uncle -Wiggily heard the boy say: - -"Do you think I'll ever be able to run around again, and have fun, and -shoot off fire-crackers?" - -"Of course you will," the nurse answered cheerfully. - -"But I can't have any fire-crackers now, can I?" asked the boy, -timidly, as though knowing what the answer would be. - -"No, Buddie! You are not quite well enough," the nurse gently replied. -"No fire-crackers for you!" - -"How about torpedoes?" - -"You couldn't have those, either, I'm afraid," and the nurse smiled as -she leaned over to give the boy a drink of orange juice. - -"Oh, dear!" sighed the boy in the hammock, just like that. "Oh, dear!" - -Uncle Wiggily felt very sorry for him. - -"I wish I could do something," thought the bunny gentleman. "This -boy won't have much fun on the Fourth of July--not even as much fun -as Curly and Floppy Twistytail, the piggie chaps, will have throwing -corncobs against a tin pan and making believe they are skyrockets." - -"Oh, dear!" again sighed the boy in the hammock. "Oh, dear!" - -"What's the matter now?" asked his nurse. - -"I don't s'pose I could even have a Roman candle, or a pinwheel, could -I?" the invalid asked. - -"Oh, indeed no!" laughed the nurse. "What a funny chap you are!" - -But the boy didn't feel very funny. - -Uncle Wiggily twinkled his pink nose. Then he put his tall, silk hat -firmly on his head and, tucking under his paw his red, white and blue -striped rheumatism crutch, off through the woods hopped the bunny uncle. - -"I'm going to get some Fourth of July for that boy," said Mr. Longears. -"He simply must have some." - -Uncle Wiggily spent some time hopping here and there through the woods, -and early the next morning, when the real boys and girls were shooting -off real fire-crackers and torpedoes, and when the animal lads and -lassies were cracking sticks and making torpedoes from broad, green -leaves, Mr. Longears hopped to where the boy was, once more, swinging -in his hammock. - -The boy's head was turned to one side, and he was looking at some of -his friends, over in the vacant lots, setting off fire-crackers. Uncle -Wiggily, when the nurse wasn't looking, tossed into the hammock, from -the bush behind which the bunny was hidden, a bundle of green things. -They fell near the boy's hands. - -Hardly knowing what he was doing the sick lad pinched one of the green -things between his fingers. - -"Pop!" it went. - -"What's that?" cried the nurse. "It sounded like a fire-cracker." - -The boy pinched another green leaf-like ball between his fingers. - -"Pop!" sounded again, as the ball burst. - -"Why," cried the nurse. "That's like a torpedo! What have you there, -Buddie?" - -"I don't know," the boy answered. "But these round, green balls, that -burst and pop when I squeeze them, fell into my hammock. There's a lot -of 'em! I can pinch them and make a noise for Fourth of July." - -"So you can!" exclaimed the nurse, pinching one herself, and jumping -when it went "Pop!" - -"And they won't hurt me, will they?" asked the boy. - -"No," answered the nurse, "they won't hurt you at all. They must have -fallen off this tree, but I never knew, before, that such things as -green fire-crackers grew on trees!" - -"Ha! Ha!" laughed Uncle Wiggily to himself, hidden under a bush. "She -doesn't know I brought the puff balls to the boy." - -For that is what the bunny had done. In the woods he had found the -green puff balls, inside which were the seeds of the plant. Later on, -in the fall, the puff balls would be dry, and would crackle when you -touched them, opening to scatter the seeds. But now, being green, and -filled with air, they burst with a Fourth of July noise when squeezed. - -"Oh, now I can have some fun!" laughed the sick boy, as he cracked one -puff ball after another. "Hurrah! Now I'm celebrating Fourth of July!" - -And he was. Uncle Wiggily had helped him, and the bunny gentleman had -brought enough puff balls to last all day. - -"Pop! Pop!" That is how they sounded as the boy pinched them in his -hammock. Some were large, like big fire-crackers, and others were -small, like little torpedoes. - -"Oh, what a lovely Fourth of July!" sighed the boy, when evening came -to put the sun to bed, and the nurse wheeled the boy into the house. - -And then, when it grew dark, Uncle Wiggily called together ten thousand -firefly-lightning bugs, and they flittered and fluttered about the -porch, on which the boy had been taken after supper. The fireflies made -pinwheels of themselves, they went up like skyrockets, they leaped -about in bunches like the balls from Roman candles and finally, when -it was time to go to bed, they took hold of each others' legs and, -clinging together, spelled out: - -[Illustration: "Oh, it's just like real fireworks!"] - -"Oh, it's just like real fireworks!" cried the happy boy. - -"I'm glad he liked it!" said Uncle Wiggily, as he hopped home to his -hollow stump bungalow. - -So if the pussy cat doesn't claw the tail off the letter Q and make it -look like a big, round O, I'll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and -the little boy's skates. - - - - -STORY XIII - -UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE SKATES - - -There was once a little boy to whom Santa Claus brought a pair of -skates at Christmas. And, of course, that boy, as soon as he saw the -shiny, steel runners, wished that the pond would freeze over so that he -might try his new playthings. - -"When do you s'pose there'll be skating?" he asked his mother again and -again, for, as yet, there was only a "skim" of ice on the pond. - -"Oh, pretty soon," his mother would answer. "You mustn't go skating -when the ice is too thin, you know. If you did you would break through, -into the cold water." - -"And that would spoil my skates, wouldn't it?" asked the boy. - -"Yes, but besides that you might be drowned, or catch cold and be very -ill," Mother said. "So keep off the ice with your new skates until the -pond has frozen good and thick." - -"Yes'm, I will," promised the little boy, and, really, he meant to keep -his word. But as the days passed, and the weather was not quite cold -enough to freeze thick ice, the little boy became tired of waiting. - -Every chance he had, after school, he would go down to the edge of the -pond, and throw stones on the ice to see how thick it was. Often the -stones would break through, and fall into the cold, black water with a -"thump!" Then the boy would know the ice was not thick enough. - -"I don't want to fall through like a stone," he would say, and back to -his house he would go with his new skates dangling and jingling at his -back, over which they were hung by a strap. - -But one day, when the boy threw a large stone on the ice of the pond, -instead of breaking through, the rock only made a dent and stayed there. - -"Oh, hurray!" cried the boy. "I guess it's strong enough to hold me -now! I'm going skating!" - -However, first he started to walk on the edge of the ice near the -shore, and when he did so, and heard cracking sounds, he jumped quickly -back. - -"I guess I'd better not try it yet," said the boy to himself. "I'll -wait a little while until it freezes harder." - -So he sat down by the edge of the pond to wait for the ice to freeze -harder. But as he sat there, and saw how white and shiny it was, and -as he looked at his new skates, which he had only put on in the house, -that boy couldn't wait another minute. - -He walked along the shore a little farther, to a place where the ice -seemed more hard and shiny and there, after throwing some stones, and -venturing out a little way, finding that there was no cracking sound, -the little boy made up his mind to try to skate. There was no one else -on the pond--no other boys and girls, and it was a bit lonesome. But -the boy was so eager to try his new skates that he did not think of -this. - -Down he sat on the ground, and began putting on his Christmas skates. -And it was just about this time that Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, Uncle -Wiggily's muskrat lady housekeeper, happened to look out of the window -of the hollow stump bungalow. The bunny's bungalow was so hidden in the -woods, near the pond, that few boys or girls ever saw the queer little -house. But Uncle Wiggily could see them, as they came to the woods -winter and summer, and often he was able to help them. - -"Well, I declare!" exclaimed Nurse Jane, as she looked out of the -window a second time. - -"What's the matter?" asked Uncle Wiggily, who was just finishing -his breakfast of lettuce bread and carrot coffee, with some turnip -marmalade. - -"Why, there's a boy--a real boy and not one of the animal -chaps--getting ready to go skating!" said the muskrat lady, for she -could see the boy putting on his skates. - -"That ice isn't thick enough for real boys or girls to skate on," the -bunny gentleman said. "It would be all right for Sammie Littletail, or -Johnnie or Billie Bushytail, but real boys are too heavy--much heavier -than my nephew Sammie the rabbit, or than the bushytail squirrel chaps." - -"Well, this boy is going on all the same," cried Nurse Jane. "And -I know he'll break through, and he'll frighten his mother into a -conniption fit!" - -"That will be too bad!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, as he wiped a little -of the turnip marmalade off his whiskers, where it had fallen by -mistake. "I must try to save him if he does fall in!" - -"It would be better to keep him from going on the ice," spoke Nurse -Jane. "Safety first, you know!" - -"If I could speak boy language I'd hop down there and tell him the ice -is too thin," answered Uncle Wiggily. "But though I know what the boys -and girls say, I cannot, myself, speak their talk. However, I think I -know a way to save this boy, if he happens to break through the ice." - -"Well, he's almost sure to break through," declared Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy, -"so you'd better hurry." - -"No sooner said than done!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, and, catching up -his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch, and putting on his -fur cap (for the day was cold), away the bunny hopped from his hollow -stump bungalow. - -Instead of going to the place where the boy, with his skates fastened -on his shoes, was about to try the ice, the bunny gentleman went to the -house of some friends of his. The house would seem queer to you, for -all it looked like was a pile of sticks half buried in the frozen pond. - -But in this house lived a family of beavers--queer animals whose fur is -so warm and thick that they can swim in ice water and not feel chilly. -In fact the beavers had to dive down under the ice and water to get -into their winter home. - -"Are Toodle and Noodle in the house?" asked Uncle Wiggily, as he -reached the stick-house. On shore, not far from it, was Grandpa -Whackum, the old beaver gentleman, with his broad, flat tail. - -"Why, yes, Toodle and Noodle are inside," answered Grandpa Whackum. -"Shall I call them out?" - -"If you please," spoke Uncle Wiggily. "I want them to come and help me -save a boy who, I think, is going to break through the thin ice with -his new skates." - -"That will be too bad!" exclaimed Grandpa Whackum. Then with his broad -tail he pounded or "whacked" on the ground, and soon up through a hole -in the ice came swimming Toodle and Noodle Flat-Tail, the two beaver -boys. - -[Illustration: "Oh, hello, Uncle Wiggily!"] - -"Oh, hello, Uncle Wiggily!" they called. "We're glad to see you!" - -"Hello!" answered the bunny gentleman. "Will you come with me, and help -save a real boy?" - -"Of course," said Toodle, shaking off some ice water from his fur coat. - -"He won't try to catch us, will he?" asked Noodle. - -"I think not," the bunny gentleman replied. "If what I think is going -to happen, does really happen, that boy will be too surprised to catch -anything but a cold! Come along, beaver chaps!" - -So Toodle and Noodle, wet and glistening from having dived out of their -house, and down under water to come up through the hole in the ice, -followed Uncle Wiggily. The sun and wind soon dried their fur. - -"There's the boy," said Uncle Wiggily, as he and the beaver chaps -reached the edge of the pond. "He's skating on thin ice. He'll go -through in a minute!" - -And, surely enough, hardly had the bunny spoken than there was a -cracking sound, the ice broke beneath the boy's feet and into the dark, -cold water he fell. - -"Oh! Oh!" cried the boy. "Help me, somebody! Oh! Oh!" - -"Ha! It's a good thing Nurse Jane saw him!" said Uncle Wiggily. "Quick -now, Toodle and Noodle! I brought you along because you have such good, -sharp teeth--much sharper and better than mine are for gnawing down -trees. I can gnaw off the bark, but you can nibble all the way through -a tree and make it fall." - -"Is that what you want us to do?" asked Toodle. - -"Yes," answered Uncle Wiggily. "We'll go close to shore, where the boy -has fallen in. Near him is a tree. You'll gnaw that so it will fall -outward across the ice, and he can reach up, take hold of it and pull -himself out of the hole." - -By this time the poor boy was floundering around in the cold water. He -tried to get hold of the edges of the ice around the hole through which -he had fallen, but the ice broke in his hands. - -"Help! Help!" he cried. - -"We're going to help you," answered Uncle Wiggily, but, of course, he -spoke animal language which the boy did not understand. But Toodle and -Noodle understood, and quickly running to the edge of the shore they -gnawed and gnawed and gnawed very extra fast at an overhanging tree -until it began to bend and break. Uncle Wiggily gnawed a little, also, -to help the beaver boys. - -Then, just as the real boy was almost ready to sink down under water, -the tree fell on the ice, some of its branches close enough so the boy -skater could grasp them. - -"Oh, now I can pull myself out!" he said. "This tree fell just in time! -Now I'll be saved!" - -He did not know that Uncle Wiggily and the beaver boys had gnawed the -tree down, making it fall just in the right place at the right time. -For the boy was so frightened at having broken through the ice, that he -never noticed the bunny gentleman and the beaver boys on shore. - -He caught hold of the tree branches in his cold fingers, pulled himself -up out of the water, that boy did; and to shore. Then as he sat down, -all wet and shivering, to take off his skates, so he could run home, -Uncle Wiggily called to Toodle and Noodle: - -"Come on, beaver boys! Our work is done! We have saved that boy, and I -hope he never again tries to skate on thin ice." - -Then Uncle Wiggily hopped toward his hollow stump bungalow, and the -beaver boys slid on the ice, near shore, toward their own stick-house, -for the pond was frozen hard and thick enough to hold them. And the boy -ran home as fast as he could, and drank hot lemonade so he wouldn't -catch cold. - -He did get the snuffles, but of course that couldn't be helped, and it -wasn't much for falling through the ice; was it? - -"You never should have gone skating until the pond was better frozen," -his mother said. - -"I know it," the boy answered. "But wasn't it lucky that tree fell when -it did?" - -"Very lucky!" agreed his mother. And neither the boy nor his mother -knew that it was Nurse Jane, Uncle Wiggily and the beaver boys who had -caused the tree to topple over just in time. - -But that's the way it sometimes is in this world. And if the cow -doesn't tickle the man in the moon with her horns, when she jumps over -the green cheese, I'll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily going coasting. - - - - -STORY XIV - -UNCLE WIGGILY GOES COASTING - - -"Oh, it's stopped snowing! It's stopped snowing! Now we can go -coasting; can't we, Mother?" - -"And on our new Christmas sleds! Oh, what fun!" - -A boy and a girl ran from the window, against which they had been -pressing their noses, looking out to see when the white flakes would -stop falling from the sky. Now the storm seemed to be over, leaving the -ground covered with the sparkling snow crystals. - -"Yes, you may go coasting a little while," said Mother. "But don't stay -too late. When Daddy comes to supper you must be home." - -"We will!" promised the boy and girl, and, laughing in glee, they ran -to get on their boots, their mittens and warm coats. - -"I want to go coasting! Take me to slide down hill!" cried Bumps, the -little sister of the boy and girl. "I want a sleigh ride." - -"Oh, Bumps, you're too little!" objected Sister. - -"And she'll fall down and bang herself," added Brother. In fact the -"littlest girl" did fall down so often that she was called "Bumps" as a -pet name. - -"I won't fall down!" Bumps promised. "I'll be good! Please take me -coasting?" - -"I think you might take her," said Mother. - -"Yes, we will," spoke Sister. "Come on, Bumps!" - -"Well, if she falls off the sled when it's going down hill, and she -gets bumped, it won't be my fault!" declared Brother. - -"I--I'll be good--I won't fall!" promised Bumps. So Mother bundled her -up, and out she went to the coasting hill with Brother and Sister, each -of whom had a sled. - -"I'm not going to give her rides on my sled all the while!" said -Brother, half grumbling. - -"We'll take turns," more kindly suggested Sister. "Take hold of my -hand, Bumps, and don't fall any more times than you can help, dear!" - -"No; I won't," answered Bumps. The littlest girl was smiling and happy -because she was going coasting with Sister and Brother. And she made up -her mind she would try very, very hard not to fall. - -On the other side of the forest, near which was the coasting hill of -the children, lived Uncle Wiggily in his hollow stump bungalow. From -afar he had often watched the boys and girls sliding down on their -sleds, but the bunny gentleman had never gone very close. - -"For," he said to himself, "they might, by accident, run over me. And, -though I haven't much of a tail to be cut off, I would look queer -if anything should happen to my long ears. I'll keep away from the -coasting hill of the boys and girls." - -But not far from the bunny's bungalow was another and smaller hill, -down which the animal boys and girls coasted. Of course, very few of -them had such sleds as you children have, with shiny steel runners, and -with the tops painted red, blue, green and gold. In fact, some of the -animal boys didn't bother with a sled at all. - -Take Toodle and Noodle Flat-Tail, the beaver chaps, for instance. They -just slid down hill on their broad, flat tails. And as for Johnnie and -Billie Bushytail, the squirrels, they sat on their fuzzy tails and -scooted down the hill of snow. Others of the animal children sometimes -used pieces of wood, an old board or some sticks bound together with -strands from a wild grape vine. - -And about the time that Sister, Brother and Bumps went coasting, Sammie -and Susie Littletail, the rabbits, passed the hollow stump bungalow of -Uncle Wiggily Longears. The little bunnies were each pulling a sled -made from pieces of birch bark they had gnawed from trees. - -"Let's ask Uncle Wiggily to go coasting with us," spoke Susie. - -"Oh, yes! Let's!" echoed Sammie. "It'll be lots of fun!" - -And Uncle Wiggily was very glad to go coasting. Out of his bungalow he -hopped, his pink nose twinkling twice as fast as the shiny star on top -of the Christmas tree. - -"Dear me, Wiggy!" cried Nurse Jane. "You don't mean to say you're going -coasting with your rheumatism!" - -"No, I'm going coasting with Sammie and Susie," the laughing bunny -answered. "I haven't any rheumatism to go coasting with to-day, I'm -glad to tell you." And, surely enough, he didn't need to take his red, -white and blue striped crutch. - -When Sammie, Susie and Uncle Wiggily reached the coasting hill, they -found there many of the animal children. - -"Oh, Uncle Wiggily! Ride on my sled!" invited one after another. "Ride -on mine! Coast with me!" - -"I'll take turns with each one!" promised the bunny gentleman, and so -he did, riding with Sammie and Susie first, then with the Bushytail -squirrel brothers, next with Lulu, Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble, the -ducks, and so on down to Dottie and Willie Flufftail, the lamb children. - -Oh, such fun as Uncle Wiggily had on the animal children's coasting -hill. And on the other side of the forest, Sister, Brother and Bumps -had their fun, with the real boys and girls. - -At last it began to grow dusk, and when Uncle Wiggily was thinking of -telling the animal children it was time for them to leave for home, up -came rushing Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, the puppy dog boys. - -"Oh, Uncle Wiggily!" barked Jackie. "We were just over to the big hill, -where the real boys coast, and we saw----" - -"We saw a little baby girl--that is, almost a baby--in a pile of snow!" -finished Peetie, for his brother Jackie was out of breath and couldn't -bark any more. - -"What's that?" cried Uncle Wiggily. "A real, live little girl in the -snow?" - -"Right in a snow drift!" barked Jackie. "All alone!" - -"Why," said the bunny gentleman, as he thought it over, "she must have -been coasting with her brother or sister, and maybe she fell off a sled -and went down deep in the snow. And they played so hard they never -missed her! But she mustn't be allowed to stay asleep in the snow. -She'll freeze!" - -"If she's only a little one--almost a baby--couldn't we put her on one -of our sleds?" asked Sammie. - -"And ride her home," went on Susie. - -"If we all pull together we'd be strong enough to pull a real, live -girl, if she wasn't too large," quacked Jimmie Wibblewobble, the duck. - -"We'll try!" said Uncle Wiggily. "All of you take the grape-vine ropes -from your sleds and follow me." - -Quickly the animal children did this, taking with them only the large -double sled of Neddie Stubtail, the boy bear, which was the largest -sled of all. It was low and flat, and Uncle Wiggily thought it would be -easy to roll a little girl up on it and pull her along. - -Soon Uncle Wiggily and the animal children reached the hill where the -real boys and girls had coasted. None of them was there now, all having -gone home to their suppers. - -"Here she is!" softly barked Jackie, leading the way to a snowbank, at -the foot of the hill. - -And there, sound asleep in the soft, warm snow was--Bumps! - -Yes, as true as I'm telling you--Bumps! - -The little girl had been sliding down with her sister, and had rolled -off the sled at the bottom of the hill after about the forty-'leventh -coast. And Bumps was so tired, and sleepy, from having been outdoors so -long, that, as soon as she rolled from the sled into the snow, she fell -asleep! Think of that! - -And as Sister wanted to have a race with Brother and some of the other -children, she never noticed what happened to Bumps. But there she -was--in the snow asleep. Poor little Bumps! - -"It will never do to leave her here!" whispered Uncle Wiggily to the -animal boys and girls. "Don't awaken her, but roll her over on Neddie's -sled, and we'll pull her to her home. I know where she lives. We'll -leave her in front of the door, I'll throw a snowball to make a sound -like a knock, and then we can run away. Her father and mother will come -out and take her in." - -So all working together, pushing, pulling, tugging and rolling most -gently, the bunny gentleman and the animal boys and girls slid Bumps -upon the low sled of the bear boy. Then they fastened the grape-vine -ropes to it, and, all taking hold, off they started over the snow -toward the village. - -It was almost dark, so no one saw the strange procession of Uncle -Wiggily and his friends; and the bunny gentleman was glad of this. -Right up to the home of Bumps they pulled her, and just as they got the -sled in her yard Bumps opened her eyes. - -"Oh! Oh! Oh!" she cried when she saw all the animal children, and Uncle -Wiggily, too, standing around her. "I'm in fairyland! Oh, how I love -it!" - -"Quick, Sammie--Susie--Jackie--Peetie--scoot away!" called Uncle -Wiggily in animal talk, and the rabbits, squirrels, guinea pigs, ducks, -bears, beavers and others, all hopped away through the soft snow, out -of sight. Uncle Wiggily tossed a snowball at the door, making a sound -like a knock, and then the bunny gentleman also hopped away, laughing -to himself. - -He turned back in time to see the door open and Sister, Brother, Daddy -and Mother rush out. - -"Oh, here's Bumps, now!" cried Brother. "We must have forgotten and -left her at the hill." - -"Oh, that's what we did!" exclaimed Sister. - -"Yes, but how did she get home?" asked Mother. "She never walked, I'm -sure!" - -"And look at the queer wooden sled!" said Sister. - -"Who brought you home, Bumps?" asked Daddy. - -"A--a nice bunny man, and some little bunnies, and squirrels, and -a little bear boy and some ducks and chickens and little lambs -and--and----" But Bumps was out of breath now. - -"Oh, she's been asleep and _dreamed_ this!" laughed Brother. "Some man -must have found her and put her on this board for a sled, to bring her -home." - -"Nope!" declared Bumps, "it was a bunny! It was a funny bunny!" - -"Bring her in the house!" laughed Mother. "She must have been dreaming!" - -But we know it wasn't a dream; don't we? And if the strawberry -shortcake doesn't go swimming with the gold fish in the lemonade and -catch cold, I'll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the picnic. - - - - -STORY XV - -UNCLE WIGGILY'S PICNIC - - -"Come on, Uncle Wiggily! Wake up! Wake up!" called Nurse Jane Fuzzy -Wuzzy in the hollow stump bungalow one morning. "Come on!" - -"What's that? What's the matter? Is the chimney on fire again?" asked -the bunny gentleman, and he was so excited that he slid down the -banister, instead of hopping along from step to step as he should have -done. - -"Of course the chimney isn't on fire!" laughed Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy. "But -this is the day for the picnic of the animal children, and you promised -to go with them to the woods." - -"Oh, so I did!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, and he put one paw on his pink -nose to stop the twinkling, which started as soon as he grew excited -over thinking the chimney was on fire. "Well, I'm glad you called me, -Nurse Jane. I'll get ready for the picnic at once. What are you going -to put up for lunch?" - -"Oh, some carrot bread, turnip cookies, lettuce sandwiches and nut -cake," answered the muskrat lady. - -"That sounds fine!" laughed Uncle Wiggily. "I'm very glad I'm going to -the picnic!" - -"Well, you had better hurry and get ready," remarked Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy. -"Here come Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow to see if you aren't soon going to -start." - -Uncle Wiggily looked from the window of his hollow stump bungalow, and -saw the two little puppy dog boys coming along. - -Jackie was so excited that he stubbed his paw and fell down twice, -while Peetie was so anxious to show Uncle Wiggily what was in the -package of lunch the puppies were going to take to the woods, that -Peetie fell down three times, and turned a back somersault. - -"Uncle Wiggily! Uncle Wiggily! Aren't you coming?" barked Jackie. - -"Hurry or it may rain and spoil the picnic," added Peetie. - -"Oh, I hope not!" answered the bunny gentleman. "For if there is one -thing, more than another, that spoils a picnic, it is rain! Snow isn't -so bad, for we don't have picnics when it snows." - -"Maybe it won't rain," hopefully spoke Nurse Jane, who was busy putting -up lunch for Uncle Wiggily. "There isn't a cloud in the sky!" - -And, surely enough, when Uncle Wiggily, Nurse Jane and dozens of animal -children started off to the woods for their picnic, the sun shone -bravely down from the blue sky and a more lovely day could not have -been wished for. - -The forest where the bunny gentleman, Nurse Jane and the animal -children went for their picnic was a large one, with many trees and -bushes. There were dozens of places for the squirrels, rabbits, goats, -ducks, dogs, pussy cats and others to play; and when they reached the -grove they put their lunches under bushes, on the soft cool, green moss -and began to have fun. - -"Oh, Uncle Wiggily! Please turn skipping rope for us?" begged -Brighteyes, the little guinea pig girl. - -"And please come play ball with us!" grunted Curly and Floppy -Twistytail, the piggie boys. - -"Have a game of marbles with us," teased Billie Wagtail, the goat, and -Jacko Kinkytail, the monkey chap. - -"I'll play with you all in turn," laughed the bunny gentleman. He was -in the midst of having fun, and was just gnawing off a piece of wild -grape vine to make a swing for Lulu and Alice Wibblewobble, the ducks, -when up came hopping Bully No-Tail, the frog boy. Bully was quite -excited. - -"What's the matter, Bully?" asked Uncle Wiggily. - -"Oh, gur-ump!" croaked Bully. "There is a big crowd of boys and girls -over on the other side of the pond. They're having a picnic, too! -Ger-ump! Ger-ump!" - -"Real boys and girls!" added Bawly, who was Bully's brother. -"Hump-bump!" - -"Well, that will do no harm!" laughed Uncle Wiggily. "Let the real boys -and girls have their picnic. They will not see us, for very few boys -and girls know how to use their eyes when they go to the woods. I have -often hidden beside a bush close to where a boy passed, and he never -saw me. Let the boys and girls have their picnic, and we'll have ours!" - -So that's the way it was. Uncle Wiggily and the animal children played -tag, and they slid down hill. Perhaps you think they could not do this -in summer when there was no snow. But the hills in the forest were -covered with long, smooth, brown pine needles, and these layers of -needles were so slippery that it was easy to slide on them. - -And then, all of a sudden, just about when it was time to eat lunch, it -began to rain! Oh, how hard the drops pelted down! Rain! Rain! Rain! - -"Scurry for shelter--all of you!" cried Nurse Jane. "Get out of the -rain!" - -The animal boys and girls knew how to take care of themselves in a -rain storm, even if they had no umbrellas. Most of them had on fur or -feathers which water does not harm. And they snuggled down under trees -and bushes, finding shelter and dry spots so that, no matter how hard -it poured, they did not get very wet. - -They hid their lunches under rocks and overhanging trees so nothing was -spoiled. And when the rain was over and the sun came out, as it did, -the animal picnic went on as before, and when the food was set out on -flat stumps for tables, there was enough for everyone, and plenty left -over. - -Nurse Jane was looking at what remained of the good things to eat when -Jackie Bow Wow, who, with Peetie, had been splashing in a mud puddle, -came running up wagging his tail. - -"Oh, Uncle Wiggily!" barked Jackie. "What you think? Those real -children, on the other side of the wood, they had their things to eat -out on some stumps for tables, just as we had, and when the rain came, -oh! it spoiled everything!" - -"They didn't know how to keep their lunches dry," added Peetie. "Now -they haven't anything to eat for their picnic, and they are starting -home, and some of the little girls are crying." - -"That's too bad!" murmured Uncle Wiggily, kindly. "Too bad that the -rain had to spoil their picnic! Now we have plenty of things left that -children could eat--nuts, apples, some popcorn and pears," for the -animal folk had brought all these, and many more, to the woods with -them. "We have lots left over." - -"We could give them something to eat," spoke Nurse Jane, "but how are -we going to get it to them? We can't call them here; and it would never -do to let them see us carrying the things to them." - -"No," agreed Uncle Wiggily. "But I think I have a plan. We can make -some baskets of birch bark. Some of the animal children--such as Jacko -and Jumpo Kinkytail, the monkeys, Joie and Tommie Kat, Johnnie and -Billie Bushytail, the squirrels--are good tree climbers. Let them climb -trees near where the real children are having their picnic, and lower -to them, on grape-vine ropes, the food we have left." - -"Oh, yes!" mewed Tommie, the kitten boy. "What jolly fun!" - -Quickly Nurse Jane began to gather up the food. Uncle Wiggily put it in -birch bark baskets the animal children made and then, with the baskets, -fastened to vines, in their paws or claws, the animal boys went through -the wood to the place of the other picnic. Uncle Wiggily and the -remaining animal children followed. - -There the poor, disappointed real children were, looking at their -rain-soaked and spoiled lunches. Some of the little girls were crying. - -"We might as well go home," grumbled a boy. "Our picnic is no good!" - -"Mean old rain!" sighed a girl. - -But just then the animal chaps with lunch from Uncle Wiggily's -picnic--lunch which had not been rained on--climbed up into trees -over the heads of the boys and girls. Not a sound did the animal -chaps make. And when the real boys and girls had their backs turned, -there were lowered to the stump tables enough good things for a jolly -feast--apples, pears, popcorn, nuts and many other dainties. - -[Illustration: The animal boys scurried off] - -A little girl happened to turn around and see the birch bark baskets of -good things just as the animal boys scurried off through the trees. - -"Oh, look!" cried the girl. "The fairies have been here! They have -left us some lunch in place of ours that the rain spoiled. Oh, see the -fairy lunch!" - -And I suppose that is as good a name for it as any, since the boys and -girls didn't see Uncle Wiggily's friends lower the baskets from the -trees. And the real boys and girls ate the lunch and had a most jolly -time, and so did the bunny gentleman and his picnic crowd. - -Now if the rubber plant doesn't stretch over and tickle the teapot so -that it pours coffee instead of milk into the sugar bowl, you may next -hear about Uncle Wiggily in the rain storm. - - - - -STORY XVI - -UNCLE WIGGILY'S RAIN STORM - - -Down pelted the rain in Animal Land. - -It also poured in Boy and Girl Land, which was on the other side of -the forest from where Uncle Wiggily Longears lived in his hollow stump -bungalow. - -The bunny rabbit gentleman looked out of a window, and saw the drops -fall drip, drip, dripping from trees and bushes, making little puddles -amid the leaves where birds could come, later, and take a bath. - -"You aren't thinking of going out in this storm; are you?" asked Nurse -Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady bungalow-keeper, as she saw Mr. -Longears putting on his coat. - -"Why, I was, yes," slowly answered the bunny gentleman. "I am -neither sugar nor salt, that I will melt in the rain. And, as it -isn't freezing, I think I'll take a hop through the woods, and see -Grandfather Goosey Gander." - -"Well, as long as you are going out, I wish you'd go to the store for -me," requested Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy. - -"What do you want?" asked the bunny gentleman. - -"Oh, bring a muskmelon for dinner," said Nurse Jane. - -"A watermelon would be much easier to carry through the rain," Uncle -Wiggily answered. "I think I'll bring a watermelon. If it gets wet no -harm is done." - -"All right," agreed Nurse Jane, laughing, so away hopped the bunny -rabbit uncle, over the fields and through the woods. It seemed to rain -harder and harder, but Uncle Wiggily did not mind. He had an umbrella, -though he did not always carry one. It was made from a toadstool, and -it kept off most of the rain. Though, as Mr. Longears said, he was -neither a lollypop nor an ice-cream cone that would melt in a shower. - -But not everyone was as happy as Uncle Wiggily in this storm. On the -other side of the forest, as I told you, was Boy and Girl Land, and in -one of the houses lived a brother and a sister. They, too, stood at the -window, pressing their noses against the glass as the rain beat down, -and they were not happy. - - "Rain, rain, go away! - Come again some other day! - Brother and I want to go and play!" - -That is the verse the little girl recited over and over again as she -watched the rain pelting down. But the storm did not stop for all that -she said the verse backward and frontward. - -"Will it ever stop?" crossly cried the boy. "Why doesn't it stop?" -and he drummed on the window sill, banged his feet on the floor and -whistled. And his sister loudly recited over and over again: - - "Rain, rain, go away!" - -"Children! Children!" gently called Mother from where she was lying -down in the next room. "Can't you please be a little quiet? My head -aches and I am trying to rest. The noise makes my pain worse." - -"We're sorry, Mother," said the girl. - -"But being quiet isn't any fun!" grumbled the boy. "Why can't we go out -and play?" - -"Because you would get all wet," answered his mother. "I've told you -that two or three times, dear. Now please be quiet. It will stop -raining sometime, and then you may go out." - -"What can we play with?" asked the boy, not very politely I'm sorry to -say. - -"Why, some of your toys," replied his mother. "Surely you have enough." - -"I'm tired of 'em!" grunted the boy. - -"So'm I," echoed his sister. - -Then she began once more to say the verse about the rain, as if that -would do any good, and the boy rubbed his nose up and down the window, -making queer marks. - -Uncle Wiggily, on his way to see Grandpa Goosey Gander, and get a -watermelon for Nurse Jane, took a short cut through a field, and passed -the house where the children were kept in on account of the rain. And, -as it happened, the window near which the boy and girl stood was open a -little way at the top. - -So, as the bunny gentleman hopped past, he not only saw the children, -but he heard what they said, being able, as I have before related to -you, to understand real talk. - -But the children were looking up at the sky so intently, trying to see -if it would stop raining, that they never noticed Uncle Wiggily. Though -if they had seen him, all dressed as he was like a gentleman from the -moving pictures, they would have been very much surprised. - -"Too bad those children have to stay in on account of the rain," -thought Uncle Wiggily. "I wonder if I couldn't find some way of amusing -them? If they are tired of their own playthings I might toss in, -through the open window, some of the things the animal boys and girls -play with. I'll do it!" - -Off through the woods in the rain hopped Uncle Wiggily. He found a -number of smooth, brown acorns, some of which had the cups, or caps -still on. He filled one pocket with the acorns. - -Next the bunny picked up some cones from the pine tree. There were -large and small cones, and Nurse Jane always used one as a nutmeg -grater, it was so rough, while Uncle Wiggily kept one near his bed to -scratch his back at night. - -"Let me see, what else would the animal children take?" said the bunny -to himself. "I think they would take some green moss, and the girls -would make beds with it for their dolls. The animal boys would take -hollow reeds and blow little pebbles through them as real boys blow -beans in their tin shooters. I'll take some moss and reeds." - -This the bunny uncle did, also picking up some empty snail and -periwinkle shells he found on the bank of a brook. - -"The little girl can string these shells for beads," thought the bunny. -"And I'll strip off some pieces of white birch bark so the boy can make -a little canoe, as the Indians used to do." - -Having gathered all these things--playthings which the animal children -found in the woods every day--the bunny hopped back to the house of -the boy and girl. The window was open, but the boy and girl had left -it. The girl was giving her mother a drink of water, and the boy was -bringing up some coal for the fire. - -"This is my chance!" thought Uncle Wiggily. - -Standing outside, he tossed in through the open window the acorns, -the pine cones, the shells, the moss and other things. Then he hopped -quickly away and hid behind a bush. He could hear the children come -back into the room, and soon he heard the girl cry: - -"Oh, look what the wind blew in! Some acorns! I can make little cups of -them, and use the tops for saucers! And I'll set a play-party table for -my doll, and decorate it with green moss. Oh, how perfectly lovely!" - -"I'm going to make a boat out of this birch bark!" cried the boy. "And -look! A hollow reed, like a bean blower! Now I can have some fun!" - -"Look at the lovely shells I can string and make a necklace of!" went -on the girl. - -"And I can make wooden legs, and a wooden head and stick em on these -pine cones and make believe they're Noah's ark animals!" laughed the -boy. "Hurray!" he cried most happily. - -"What is going on out there?" called Mother from where she was lying -down. "Have you found something to play with?" - -"Yes'm," answered the boy. "We'll be quiet now." - -"And we don't care if it does rain," said the girl. "The wind blew a -lot of lovely things in the window!" - -But of course we know that Uncle Wiggily tossed them in. - -"I guess they'll be all right now, no matter how much it rains," -said the bunny, as he hopped along to see Grandpa Goosey, and buy the -snowmelon--excuse me, I mean the watermelon--for Nurse Jane. - -So this teaches us that sometimes a rain storm is good for letting -you find out new ways of having fun. And if the looking-glass doesn't -make funny faces at the rag doll, when she's trying to see if her -hair ribbon is on backward, on the next page you may read about Uncle -Wiggily and the mumps. - - - - -+Note+ - -Uncle Wiggily specially requests that the following story will NOT be -read to children who have the mumps. Please wait until they are better. - - - - -STORY XVII - -UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE MUMPS - - -Uncle Wiggily Longears, the bunny rabbit gentleman, was hopping through -the woods one day, and he was thinking of making his way over to the -other side of the forest, where the real boys and girls lived, hoping -he might have an adventure, when, all at once, Mr. Longears heard some -voices talking behind a mulberry bush. - -"I know what we can do," said the voice of a boy, as Uncle Wiggily -could tell, for he had learned to know the talk of boys and girls. - -"What can we do?" asked the voice of another boy. - -"We can pick up a lot of stones," went on the first boy, "and we can -make believe we're hunters, and we can walk through the woods and throw -stones at the birds, and squirrels, and rabbits! Come on! Let's do it!" - -"Oh, no! I don't want to do _that_," said the second boy. "It isn't any -fun to throw stones at birds and bunnies. If you hit a mother bird, and -break her wing, she can't take anything to eat to the little birds, and -they'll starve." - -"Pooh! That's nothing!" exclaimed the first boy, and Uncle Wiggily -peeked over the top of the bush to see what manner of boys these were. -But the bunny rabbit gentleman kept himself well hidden. - -"I don't want any stones thrown at me," he thought. - -"And," went on the second boy, who seemed rather kind, "if you throw -a stone at a rabbit you might break its leg, and then it couldn't hop -home to the baby rabbits." - -"That is very true!" thought Uncle Wiggily, who was listening to all -that went on. "I wish there were more boys like this kind one." - -"Well, I don't care!" grumbled the first boy. "I'm going off and throw -stones at birds and rabbits and squirrels!" - -"And I'm going home," said the second boy. "I don't feel very good. I -have a pain in my cheek and maybe I'm going to have the toothache." - -"Goodness me, sakes alive! I hope nothing like _that_ happens to such -a kind boy," thought Uncle Wiggily. "And as for that other chap, I'll -run ahead of him, through the woods, and tell my friends to hide so he -can't throw stones at them." - -So, while one boy went home and the other picked up some stones, Uncle -Wiggily skipped along through the woods, calling, in his animal talk, -to his friends to hide themselves. - -"For a boy is coming to stone you!" exclaimed the bunny rabbit -gentleman. "Hide! Hide away from the stone-throwing boy!" - -And so it happened that when the unkind chap came tramping through the -woods, the only bird he saw to stone was an old black crow, as black as -black could be. - -"I'll hit you!" cried the boy, as he threw a stone. - -But the crow was a wise old bird, and wastn't even afraid of the scary, -stuffed men that farmers put in their cornfields. So the crow dodged -the stone and then he laughed at the boy. - -"Haw! Haw! Haw!" laughed the old black crow. "Haw! Haw! Haw!" - -The boy grew very cross at this, and threw more stones, and some fell -among the flower bushes where some bees were gathering the sweet juices -of flowers to make into honey. One stone knocked a bee off a blossom, -and spilled the honey it was gathering. - -"Just for that I'm going to sting that boy!" buzzed the bee. Out it -flittered, making such a zipping sound around that boy's head as to -cause the bad chap to drop his stones and run away. So the bee did not -have to sting him after all. - -"Boys are no good!" buzzed the bee to Uncle Wiggily, as the honey chap -flew back to the flowers. - -"Oh, _some_ boys are good," said the bunny gentleman. "The boy who was -with this bad chap was good, and kind to animals. And that reminds me; -this boy said he didn't feel very well. I must hop over to-morrow, and -take a look at his house. I know where he lives. I hope he isn't going -to have the toothache." - -But the kind boy, as I call him just for fun, you know, had something -worse than the toothache. His neck and jaws began to swell in the -night, and he could hardly swallow a drink of water which his mother -gave him when she heard him tossing in bed. - -"What you s'pose is the matter of me, Mother?" asked the boy. - -"Well," said Mother, as she smoothed his pillow, "perhaps you caught -cold in the woods to-day." - -But it was worse than that. When the Doctor came in the morning, and -looked at the boy, and gently felt of his neck (even which gentle touch -made the boy want to cry) the Doctor said: - -"Hum! Mumps!" - -"Did you say 'bumps,' Doctor?" asked the boy's mother. "Did he fall -down and bump himself?" - -"No, I said _mumps_!" exclaimed the doctor. "That's a swelling inside -his neck, and it will hurt him a lot. But if you keep him in bed, and -warm, and give him easy things to eat, he'll soon be all right again." - -"Poor boy!" murmured Mother. "Well, I suppose _mumps_ are better than -_bumps_!" - -"I'm not so sure about that," spoke the Doctor as he walked to the door -with the boy's mother. "Whatever you do," he said in a whisper, "don't -give him anything _sour_--such as lemons or pickles. Sour things make -the mumps pain more than ever. Don't even _speak_ of vinegar in front -of him, or so much as _whisper_ it!" - -"I won't," promised Mother. - -But the boy's little sister overheard what Doctor and Mother were -saying, and, being a mischievous sort of girl, she decided to have some -fun. At least _she_ called it fun. - -"I'm going to stand in front of Brother and hold up a pickle so he can -see it," said Sister to herself. "I want to see what he'll do!" - -So Sister hurried down to the kitchen and brought up a pickle. Then -she went in the room where Brother was in bed and, holding the sour -pickle in front of him, called: - -"Look!" - -And, no sooner did the boy look than he felt a sharp pain in his -throat, almost as bad as toothache, and he cried: - -"Go on away! Stop showing me that--that----" Well, he couldn't even say -the word "pickle," for just the thought of anything sour hurts your -mumps, you know. - -The boy hid his face in his pillow, and when he couldn't see the pickle -he felt a little better. But his Sister was still full of mischief. - -"Lemons! Lemons! Nice sour lemons!" she called teasingly. - -"Stop it! Stop it!" begged the boy. "Oh, how my mumps hurt! Mother, -make Sister stop hurting my mumps!" - -And when Mother came, and found what Sister was doing, she made the -little girl go to bed, even though it was daytime. - -"You will, very likely, get the mumps yourself," said Mother. "And I -hope no one says anything sour to _you_." - -And, later on, Sister did get the mumps, but I'm glad to say her -brother did not hold a lemon up in front of her. For, as I told you, -even the _thought_ of anything sour hurts the mumps. - -Now you know the reason why I didn't want you to read this story when -you had the swelling in your neck. It was better to wait until your -mumps were gone; wasn't it? - -So this boy had the mumps, and he had them on both sides at once, which -is the very worst form. He could hardly swallow anything because of the -pain, even things that were not sour. Now and then he managed to sip a -little hot chocolate. - -His mother put a warm flannel bandage around his face, which was much -swelled, and, thus wrapped up, the little boy could, now and then, get -out of bed. - -It was on one of these times, when his jaws were wrapped up, and his -face swollen, that Uncle Wiggily happened to hop along through the -woods, not far from the Mump Boy's house. And, having very good eyes, -Mr. Longears saw the sick lad. - -"Poor fellow!" thought the bunny gentleman. "He is ill, just as he -thought he was going to be! Toothache it is, too!" - -"Who has the toothache!" asked Dr. Possum, for the animal doctor came -along just then, with his bag of medicine held fast in the curl of his -tail. - -"That boy," answered Uncle Wiggily, pointing from the bush, where he -and Dr. Possum were hiding, to the window of the boy's home. - -"He hasn't the toothache! Those are the mumps!" said Dr. Possum, who -knew all about such things. - -"Mumps!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "Oh, that's too bad. Why, if that boy -is mumpy he must have trouble eating. I wonder if I could leave on his -doorstep something he would like--something that he wouldn't have to -chew and which would slip down easily?" - -"Whatever you leave for him, don't have it _sour_," advised Dr. Possum, -as he hurried along to see Curly Twistytail, the piggie boy, who had -cut his nose on a piece of glass while digging for wild sunflower roots -in the woods. - -"Ha! Nothing sour for the Mump Boy!" said Uncle Wiggily to himself, as -Dr. Possum hopped away. "Then something sweet will be just the proper -thing. Sweet honey! I have it! I'll ask my friends, the bees, for some -of their honey. I'll get Nurse Jane to make a little pail of birch -bark, and I'll leave the wild honey on the boy's stoop." - -Off hopped the bunny gentleman, until he found where the bees had their -home in a hollow tree. - -"Could you give me some honey for a good boy with bad mumps?" asked the -rabbit. - -"Some honey for a good boy with the bad mumps?" said the Queen Bee. -"Certainly, Uncle Wiggily! As much as you like!" - -Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the bunny's muskrat lady housekeeper, made a -little box of white bark from the birch tree, and when this pretty box -was filled with wild, sweet honey, Uncle Wiggily took it with him one -evening. - -It was time for the Mump Boy to go to bed, but the pain in his neck was -so bad that he cried. - -"I'm hungry, too," he said. "Oh, why can't I eat something that won't -hurt my mumps?" - -"I'll try to think of something for you," said Mother wearily. - -Just then Uncle Wiggily hopped to the edge of the forest, close to the -Mump Boy's house, and running up, he put the birch box of wild honey -on the stoop. Then the bunny threw some little stones at the door and -hopped away, hiding in the bushes. - -"Wait until I see who's at the door," said Mother, as she smoothed the -boy's pillow. "Then I'll get you something." - -She looked out on the porch, and saw the little birch bark box. - -"It looks like a valentine," she thought, "though this isn't -Valentine's Day." - -"What is it?" asked the boy. "Is it anything I can eat that won't hurt -my mumps?" - -"Why, yes, it is!" joyfully said his mother, as she saw what it was. -"Sweet, wild honey!" - -Even the name, so different from sour pickles or lemons, made the Mumps -Boy feel better. - -"Please give me some," he begged. "It sounds good!" - -[Illustration: Uncle Wiggily saw him at the window] - -The wild sweet honey slipped down as gently as a feather, not hurting -the boy's neck at all. And soon after that he went to sleep and in a -few days he was better. - -Uncle Wiggily saw the boy at the window, the bandage no longer on his -face, and he even saw the boy eating the last of the wild honey. - -"I guess he liked it," thought the bunny, as he hopped away. - -When the boy was all better, and could be out and play, he asked all of -his friends which one it was who had left the honey on the porch. One -and all answered: - -"I didn't do it!" - -"I wonder who it was?" said the boy, over and over again. - -Well, we know; don't we? But we aren't allowed to tell. And when the -Boy's Sister caught the mumps, Uncle Wiggily left her some honey also. -Which was very kind of him, I think. - -So if the little pussy cat doesn't drop her penny in the snowbank, -thinking it will turn into a dollar so she can buy a box of lollypops, -you may next hear about Uncle Wiggily and the measles. - - - - -STORY XVIII - -UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE MEASLES - - -Once upon a time there was a boy who didn't like to go to school. Every -chance he had he stayed at home instead of going to his classes to -learn his lessons. - -Sometimes he would get up in the morning and say: - -"Mother, I think I'm going to have the toothache. I guess I better not -go to school to-day." - -But his mother would laugh and say: - -"Oh, run along! If you get the toothache in school the teacher will let -you come home." - -Then the boy would go to school, though he didn't want to, and he would -be thinking up some new excuse for staying home, so really he did not -recite his lessons as well as he might. - -One day this boy came running in the house, all excited, and called out: - -"Oh, Mother! I just know I can't go to school to-morrow!" - -"Why not?" asked Mother. - -"'Cause I've been playing with the boy across the street, an' he's got -the measles, an' I'll catch 'em an' I can't go to school. You ought t' -see! He's all covered with red spots!" The boy who didn't like school -was much excited. "He's all red spots!" he exclaimed. - -"Is he?" asked Mother. "Well, the measles aren't painful, though they -are 'catching,' as you children say. However, you can't catch them -quite as soon as one day. So you may go to school until you break out -with red spots. Then it will be time enough to stay at home." - -"Can't I stay home to-morrow?" begged the boy. - -"Oh, of course not!" laughed Mother. "I want you to go to school and -become a smart man! Time enough to stay home when you get the measles!" - -Now, of course, this did not suit that boy at all. When he went to bed -he was thinking and thinking of some plan by which he could stay home -from school. For there was to be a hard lesson next day, and, though I -am sorry to say it, that boy was too lazy to study as he ought. - -"If I could only break out with the measles I could stay home," he -kept saying over and over again as he lay in bed. Every now and then -he would get up, turn on the electric light in his room and look at -himself in the glass to see if any red spots were coming. But he could -see none. - -"What's the matter, Boysie?" his mother called to him from her room. -"Why are you so restless?" - -"Maybe I'm getting the measles," he hopefully answered. - -"Nonsense! Go to sleep!" laughed Daddy. - -Finally the boy did go to sleep, but either he dreamed it, or the idea -came to him in the night, for, early in the morning, he awakened and, -slipping on his bath robe, went into his sister's room. - -"Hey, Sis!" he whispered. "Where's your box of paints?" - -"What you want 'em for?" asked Sister. - -"Oh, I--I'm going to paint something," mumbled the boy. Sister was too -sleepy--for it was only early morning as yet--to wonder much about it, -so she told her brother where to find the paints, and then she turned -over and went to sleep again. - -Now what do you suppose that boy did? - -Why, he went back to his room, and with his sister's brush and color -box he painted red spots on his face, just as he had seen them on the -face of the real Measles Boy across the street. Then this boy put the -paints away and waited. - -After a while Mother called: - -"Come, Boysie! Time to get up and go to school!" - -"I--I don't guess I'd better go to school this morning," said the boy, -trying to make his voice sound weak and ill and faint-like. - -"Not go to school! Why not?" cried Mother in surprise. - -"I--I'm all red spots," the boy answered. And when his mother went in -his room, and saw that he really was spotted, she exclaimed: - -"Why, you _have_ the measles! I didn't think they'd break out so -_soon_! Well, you must stay in the dark on account of your eyes. I'll -bring you in some breakfast, and of course you can't go to school!" - -Then that boy had to put the bedquilt over his mouth so he wouldn't -laugh. If his room had been light his mother, of course, would have -seen that the spots were only red paint. But in the dimness of early -morning she didn't see. - -"Isn't Brother going to school?" asked Sister as she ate her breakfast. - -"He has the measles," said Mother. "I expect you'll come down with them -next, and break out in a day or so. But wait until you do." - -And if Sister thought anything about her red paint she said nothing. I -don't believe she ever imagined her brother would play such a trick. - -At first, after his sister had gone to school, and he had been given -his breakfast in bed, the boy thought it was going to be lots of fun -to pretend to have the measles and stay home from school. But after a -while this began to grow tiresome. - -It was a beautiful, warm sunshiny day outside, and staying in a dark -room wasn't as much fun as that boy had thought. He could hear the bees -humming outside his open window, and the birds were singing. - -His mother opened the door and spoke to him. - -"I'm just going across the street a few minutes," she said. "You'll be -all right, won't you?" - -"Yes'm," answered the boy. "My measles don't hurt hardly any." - -And of course they couldn't, being only painted measles, you know. - -When Mother went away, softly closing the door after her, the sound -of the buzzing bees and the singing birds came to the boy through his -window. He knew it must be lovely outside, and yet he had to stay in -bed. - -"But I can get up and run out for a little while," he said to himself. -"Mother will never know!" - -No sooner thought of than done! The boy quickly put on some -clothes--not many, for it was summer--and out into the yard he went, -his face all red paint spots. He didn't dare wash them off or his -mother would have noticed. - -Now it happened that Uncle Wiggily, the bunny rabbit gentleman, was -out that day, taking a walk with Grandfather Goosey Gander. The two -friends passed through the woods, close to the edge of the yard of the -house where the make-believe Measles Boy lived. And the boy saw the -bunny gentleman, all dressed up as Uncle Wiggily was. Grandpa Goosey, -also, had on his coat and trousers. Uncle Wiggily wore his golf suit -that day--black and white checkered trousers and a cap. - -[Illustration: "Hop faster!" quacked Grandpa] - -"Oh, what a funny rabbit! What a funny goose!" cried the boy. "I'm -going to catch 'em and have a play circus in my yard!" - -Forgetting that he was supposed to be suffering from measles, this boy -chased after Uncle Wiggily and Grandpa Goosey. - -"We'd better run," quacked the goose gentleman. "Boy, you know! Chase -us! Throw stones, you know. Better run; what?" - -"I believe you!" answered Uncle Wiggily. "Run it is!" - -Off hopped the bunny! Off waddled the goose! But the boy was a fast -runner, in spite of the red spots on his face and he came nearer and -nearer to Uncle Wiggily. - -"I'm afraid he's going to catch me, Grandpa!" spoke Mr. Longears -in animal talk, of course, which the boy could not hear, much less -understand. - -"Hop faster!" quacked Grandpa, who was half running and half flying. - -On came the boy! Grandpa Goosey, who was ahead, looked back and saw -that Uncle Wiggily was soon going to be caught. - -"There is only one way to save the bunny," thought Grandpa Goosey. -"I'll splash some water in that boy's face and eyes so he can't see for -a moment. Then Uncle Wiggily and I can get away!" - -Near the path along which the boy was chasing the bunny and goose was a -puddle of water. As quick as a wink Grandpa Goosey splashed into this, -and, with his wings and webbed feet, he sent such a shower of water -into the face of the boy that the bad chap had to stop. - -"Oh! Ouch! Stop splashing me!" cried the boy. His face was all wet, but -he wiped it off on his sleeve, and with his handkerchief. And when he -had cleared his eyes of water he started to run again. - -But by this time Uncle Wiggily and Grandpa Goosey were far off, hidden -in the forest, and the boy could not find them. - -"I guess I'd better go back home and get into bed," thought the boy. -"Mother will be looking for me." - -He was just going in the house when his mother came up the steps. - -"Why, Boysie!" exclaimed Mother. "You shouldn't have gone out with the -measles! Why--where _are_ your measles?" she asked, for the spots were -gone. "Your face is all red, like a lobster; but you haven't any more -measles spots! What happened?" - -The boy remembered the water that Grandpa Goosey had splashed up from -the puddle. He took out his handkerchief and looked at it. That, too, -was red! - -"Why, it's _red paint_!" cried Mother. "Oh, Boysie! How could you play -such a trick?" and she felt so sad that tears came into her eyes. "What -made you do it, Boysie?" - -"I--I didn't want to go to school," the boy answered, softly and much -ashamed. - -"Oh, how foolish of you!" said Mother. "Now I'll have to take you to -school myself, but I won't tell teacher what you did--that is, I will -not if you study your lessons well." - -"I will, Mother! I will!" the make-believe Measles Boy promised. "I'll -never want to stay home from school again!" - -And he never did--even when he really had the measles which broke out -on him about a week later. But he did not have them very hard, though -he didn't need any of his sister's paints to make red spots. - -And when Grandpa Goosey looked in the window of the boy's house, and -saw the little chap with his face all speckled, the goose gentleman -said: - -"Serves him right for chasing Uncle Wiggily and me!" - -Well, perhaps it did. Who knows? Anyhow, if it should happen that the -doorknob doesn't turn around and try to crawl through the keyhole when -the milk bottle chases the pussy cat off the back stoop, then I may -tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the chicken-pox. - - - - -STORY XIX - -UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CHICKEN-POX - - -One day Charlie and Arabella Chick, the little rooster and hen children -of Mrs. Cluck-Cluck, the hen lady, came fluttering over to Uncle -Wiggily's hollow stump bungalow. - -"Oh, Uncle Wiggily!" cackled Arabella. "What you think has happened?" - -"Well, I hardly am able to guess," answered the bunny gentleman. "I do -hope, though, that your coop isn't on fire. You seem much excited, my -dears!" - -"Well, I guess you'd be excited, too, if a boy threw stones at you!" -crowed Charlie. "Wouldn't you?" - -"Indeed I would," admitted Uncle Wiggily. "Once a boy did stone me and -I didn't like it at all." - -"We don't like it either," cawed Arabella. - -"Isn't there some way you can stop that boy from throwing sticks and -stones at us?" Charlie wanted to know. - -"Tell me about it," suggested Uncle Wiggily. - -"Well, it's this way," began Arabella. "This boy lives on the other -side of the Big Forest. Sometimes Charlie and I go over there to pick -up beechnuts and other good things to eat, and every time that boy -sees us he pegs things at us! Wouldn't you call him a bad boy, Uncle -Wiggily?" - -"Most surely I would," answered the rabbit gentleman. "But why does he -do it? You don't crow over him; do you, Charlie?" - -"No, indeed," answered the rooster boy. "I only crow to warn Arabella -when I see that fellow coming, to tell her to run and hide under a -bush." - -"And I don't pick him, or scratch gravel at him or anything like that," -cackled the little hen girl. "I wish he'd let us alone, Uncle Wiggily." - -"We came over to see if you could think up a way to make him stop," -crowed Charlie. "Can you?" - -"Hum! I'll try," promised the bunny gentleman, twinkling his pink nose -like the frosting on top of an orange shortcake. "Suppose we go look -for this boy," went on Uncle Wiggily. "So I'll know him when I see him." - -"I can show you his house," offered Charlie. "But we'll have to be -careful. For if he sees us he'll peg things at us." - -"Let us hope not," murmured Uncle Wiggily. - -But it was a vain hope, as they say in fairy books. For after Uncle -Wiggily, Charlie and Arabella had gone to the other side of a forest, -there, all of a sudden, they saw the boy. - -"Hi! There are those funny dressed-up chickens!" shouted the boy, who -had red hair, and a face full of freckles. "And there's a rabbit with -them, all dressed up in a tall silk hat! Oh, my! What style! I'm going -to see if I can knock his hat off with a stone! I'm going to peg rocks -at 'em!" - -"See! What did I tell you?" cackled Arabella, who could understand -boy-talk, as could also Charlie and Uncle Wiggily. - -"Bang!" bounced a stone on Uncle Wiggily's tall silk hat, sending it -spinning through the air. - -"Ha! Ha!" laughed the boy, as he picked up another stone. "I'm a good -shot, I am!" - -"I should call that rather a _bad_ shot--for my hat," remarked Uncle -Wiggily, as he picked up his silk hat and hopped toward the bushes. -"Come on, Arabella and Charlie!" called the bunny gentleman. "This boy -is acting just as you said he did. I must think up some way of teaching -him a lesson!" - -The little hen girl and rooster boy scooted under the bushes, and -only just in time, for the boy threw many more stones, and one struck -Charlie on the comb. Not the comb that he used to make his feathers -smooth, but the red comb on his head--one of his ornaments; his tail -feathers being others. - -"Hi, fellows! Come on chase the funny chickens and the dressed-up -rabbit!" cried the boy. But though some of his chums ran up, as he -called, with sticks and stones, Uncle Wiggily, with Charlie and -Arabella, managed to hide away from the thoughtless lads. For they were -thoughtless. They didn't think that stones hurt animals. - -"Yes, I certainly must teach that boy a lesson," said Uncle Wiggily. - -"I--I wish he'd catch the chicken-pox!" crowed Charlie. "Or maybe the -roosterpox! Then he'd have to stay in and couldn't chase us!" - -"I wouldn't care if he had the mumps and toothache at the same time!" -cackled Arabella. - -For several days Uncle Wiggily watched for a chance to teach the -thoughtless boy a lesson, and at last it came. The bunny gentleman was -out hopping in the woods one morning when he met Charlie and Arabella -fluttering along the forest path. - -[Illustration: The boy was asleep under a tree----] - -"Oh, Uncle Wiggily!" said Arabella in a cackling whisper. "That boy is -asleep now, on a bed of moss under a tree. He's sleeping hard, too, for -Charlie and I went close to him and he didn't awaken. Maybe you can do -something to him now." - -"Maybe I can," said Uncle Wiggily. "I'll go see!" - -He hopped through the woods with the chicken children, and soon came -to where the boy was asleep under a tree. It was a pine tree, with -sticky gum oozing from the trunk and branches. And as soon as the bunny -gentleman saw this gum he whispered: - -"I have an idea! I'll teach this boy a lesson." - -"How?" asked Charlie. - -"I'll make him think he has the chicken-pox, or something worse," -answered the bunny, with a silent laugh. - -"Goodie!" cackled Arabella. - -"Ha! Ha!" crowed Charlie. - -"Quiet now, chicken children," whispered Uncle Wiggily. "Each of you -pull me out a few loose feathers." - -Charlie and Arabella did this. Then the bunny uncle took some of the -soft gum from the pine tree, and put spots of it on the face and hands -of the sleeping boy. Though he stirred a little, the boy did not awaken. - -When the boy was well spotted with the sticky gum, Uncle Wiggily -took the chicken feathers that Charlie and Arabella had plucked, and -fastened these feathers on the boy's face and hands in the gum. - -"Oh, how funny he looks!" softly cackled Arabella. - -"Hush!" cautioned Uncle Wiggily, putting his paw on his pink, twinkling -nose. "Let him sleep!" - -Drawing back into the bushes, Uncle Wiggily, Charlie and Arabella -waited for the boy to awaken, which he did pretty soon. He turned over, -sat up and stretched. Then he looked at his hands, and saw chicken -feathers stuck on them. - -"Oh! Oh!" cried the boy. "What has happened to me?" - -He jumped to his feet and caught sight of himself in a spring of water -that was like a looking glass. - -"Oh! Oh!" cried the boy again. "This is terrible! Oh, my face!" - -Home he ran through the woods, while Charlie and Arabella laughed to -see him go. - -"Oh, Mother! Mother! Look at me!" cried the boy. "I'm all feathers! I -must have the chicken-pox!" - -"Goodness me, sakes alive and a basket of eggs!" exclaimed the boy's -mother. "You must have gone to sleep in a hen's nest! But you haven't -the chicken-pox! The chicken-pox is spots like the measles, but you are -covered with _feathers_!" - -"But how did I get this way?" asked the boy, as he pulled off some of -the feathers. "I wasn't like it when I went to sleep in the woods." - -"Maybe a fairy did it," spoke his little sister, who believed in them. - -"Pooh! There aren't any fairies!" sneered the boy. "I guess it was that -hen and rooster I stoned." - -"Did you do that?" asked his mother. "Did you?" - -"A--a little!" stammered the boy. - -"Well, it isn't any wonder you're this way, then," Mother said. "And, -for all I know, you may get the real chicken-pox!" - -And, as true as I'm telling you that boy did! But he was not made very -ill, for some reason or other. Perhaps because he had to be washed so -clean, to get off the sticky pine gum and the feathers, the chicken-pox -didn't go in very deeply. - -At any rate, when the boy was all well again, he threw no more stones -at Charlie or Arabella. - -"You cured him, Uncle Wiggily!" crowed the rooster boy. - -And I really think the bunny did. So if toy balloon doesn't take the -spout off the teakettle to blow beans through at the egg beater, I'll -tell you next about Uncle Wiggily's Hallowe'en. - - - - -STORY XX - -UNCLE WIGGILY'S HALLOWE'EN - - -Hopping along under the bushes one day, near the edge of the forest -nearest to where lived the real boys and girls, Uncle Wiggily Longears, -the bunny rabbit gentleman, heard two boys talking together. - -"We'll put a tick-tack on her window," said the First Boy. - -"And she'll be scared stiff!" said the Second Boy. "Oh, what fun we'll -have this Hallowe'en!" - -"Hum!" thought the bunny rabbit gentleman to himself, after hearing -this. "It may be fun for _you_, but how about whoever it is you're -going to scare stiff? I only hope it isn't my nice muskrat lady -housekeeper, Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy!" - -Uncle Wiggily twinkled his pink nose, and listened with both ears. - -"Yes," went on the First Boy, "we'll have a lot of fun this Hallowe'en -with tick-tacks and the like of that! And we'll put on false faces so -the Little Old Lady of Mulberry Lane won't know us!" - -"Oh ho! So that's the one they're going to play tricks on; is it?" -thought Uncle Wiggily to himself. "The Little Old Lady of Mulberry -Lane! I know her--poor creature; she lives all alone, and she may have -a cupboard, like Old Mother Hubbard, but she hasn't a dog or a bone. I -suppose," thought Uncle Wiggily, "that Jackie or Peetie Bow Wow would -stay with her, if she wanted them. I must see about it." - -"But, first of all, I must plan some way so these mischievous boys -won't put a tick-tack on the window of the Little Old Lady of Mulberry -Lane. I know what tick-tacks are!" - -And well Uncle Wiggily knew, for sometimes the boys and girls of -Woodland, near the Orange Ice Mountains, where the bunny had built -his hollow stump bungalow, put one of the scary things on his window. -That is, they were scary if you didn't know what they were, but Uncle -Wiggily did. - -Oftentimes Sammie Littletail, the rabbit, or Johnnie and Billie -Bushytail, the squirrels, would take some string, a pin and an old -nail, or little stone, and make a tick-tack. They fastened a short -piece of string to the pin, and on the other end of the string they -tied a dangling stone. When it grew dark the animal chaps would sneak -up to Uncle Wiggily's window, and stick the pin in the wooden sash so -the stone, or nail, hung dangling down against the glass. Then they -would tie the long string, or thread, about half way down on the short -cord and hide off in the bushes, with one end of the long string in -their paws. - -From their hiding place the animal boys would pull the long string. The -pebble, or stone, would rattle against Uncle Wiggily's window, making a -sound like: - -"Tick! Tack!" - -That's how it got its name, you see. - -"So they are going to play tick-tack on the Little Old Lady of Mulberry -Lane; are they?" said Uncle Wiggily to himself, as the two boys walked -away. "Well, I must try to stop them!" - -Mulberry Lane was a street near the forest where the bunny gentleman -lived in his hollow stump bungalow, and the Little Old Lady was the -only one whose house was built there. The bunny liked the Little Old -Lady, for in winter she scattered crumbs for the birds. - -Uncle Wiggily hopped home to his hollow stump, and from the attic he -took down one of his old, tall silk hats. - -"What in the world are you doing, Uncle Wiggily?" asked Nurse Jane. "Do -you think it is April Fool, and are you going to wear an old hat so the -animal boys won't play tricks on you?" - -"Well, not exactly," the bunny answered. "I'll tell you later, Miss -Fuzzy Wuzzy--if it works." - -"Hum!" said the muskrat lady housekeeper, as she saw Mr. Longears put -in his pocket some pieces of white paper and a pot of paste. "I do -believe he's going to fly a kite--and on Hallowe'en of all nights!" - -For it quickly became Hallowe'en night. As soon as the dusky shadows -of evening began to fall, strange figures flitted to and fro, not only -in the woods of the animal folk, but on the other side, in the village -where the real boys and girls lived. - -Real boys, with the heads of wolves, the faces of clowns and some as -black as the charcoal-man skipped here and there, ringing doorbells, -outlining in chalk on the steps something that looked like an envelope, -or else they tapped on windows with long sticks so that when the -windows were opened no one could be seen. - -Uncle Wiggily, hopping off through the darkness toward the edge of the -forest, carried with him one of Nurse Jane's old brooms, an old, tall -silk hat and a coat the bunny gentleman had, long ago, tried to throw -in the rag bag. Only Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy wouldn't let him. - -"I'll mend it, sew on some new buttons and it will be as good as ever," -she said. Well, Uncle Wiggily found this coat and took it with him. - -"I'll stop those boys from putting a tick-tack on the window of the -Little Old Lady of Mulberry Lane," thought the bunny as he hopped -along. "I'll tick-tack them!" - -He kept in the shadows of the trees so none of the animal children saw -him. But the bunny gentleman saw them. He saw Neddie Stubtail, the boy -bear, dressed up like the Pipsisewah. And Billie Wagtail, the goat, had -on a false face just like the skinny Skeezicks. - -Here and there animal girls were hurrying to Hallowe'en parties. Lulu -and Alice Wibblewobble, the ducks, were giving one, and Baby Bunty, the -little rabbit girl, had been invited to "bob" for carrots at the house -of Buddy and Brighteyes, the guinea pigs. - -Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, who were dressed in clown suits, hurrying to -have fun with Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, the squirrels, caught sight -of Uncle Wiggily. - -"Come and have some Hallowe'en fun with us!" barked Jackie. - -"I will in a little while," promised the bunny. - -On and on he hopped, and soon he came to the house of the Little Old -Lady of Mulberry Lane. The bunny could look in her window and see her -reading a book by the light of a candle. - -"I'll hide under her window," thought the bunny, "and when those boys -come with the tick-tack--well, we'll see what happens!" - -Uncle Wiggily did not have long to wait. Pretty soon he heard a -rustling in the bushes and some whisperings. - -"Here they come!" thought Mr. Longears. He put the extra tall silk hat -on top of the broom, and fastened his old coat to the handle, on a -cross-stick he had nailed there. Then, taking the pieces of white paper -from his pocket, Uncle Wiggily pasted them on the shiny part of the -old silk hat in the shape of a grinning Jack o' Lantern face. Then the -bunny crouched down behind the bushes with the scarecrow he had made. - -"You sneak up and fasten on the tick-tack," whispered one boy, "and -I'll pull the string so it will rattle and scare the Old Lady stiff!" - -"I want to pull the string, too!" said the other boy. - -"Yes, you can, after you fasten on the tick-tack." - -"Well, give it here then," said the second boy. - -They were so close to the bush, behind which Uncle Wiggily was hidden, -that the bunny could have reached out and touched them with his paw if -he had wished. - -But he didn't do that. Instead, Uncle Wiggily suddenly lifted up the -broom, dressed as it was in the old coat and the tall hat with the -grinning, white paper face like a Jack o' Lantern. - -"Boo-oo-oo-bunk!" groaned the bunny rabbit, scary-like. - -The boys, who were just getting ready to frighten the Little Old Lady -of Mulberry Lane, jumped up in fright themselves. They saw the queer -face laughing at them. - -"Oh, it's a Hallowe'en hobgoblin! A hobgoblin!" cried one boy. - -"Come on! Come on!" shouted the other. "Let's get out of here!" And -dropping string, tick-tack and everything, away they ran. They never -knew that it was only a bunny rabbit gentleman who had surprised them. - -"Ha! Ha!" laughed Uncle Wiggily, as he peered out from behind the -broomstick and the scary tall-hat creature he had made. "I guess they -won't bother the Old Lady now!" - -The Little Old Lady of Mulberry Lane laid aside the book she had been -reading and opened her door. - -"Is anybody there?" she gently asked, looking out over her dark garden. -"Seems to me I heard a noise-like. Is anybody there, trying to play -Hallowe'en tricks on a poor, lone body like me? Anybody there?" - -No one answered--not even Uncle Wiggily--for he couldn't speak real -talk, you know. But he heard what the Old Lady said. - -"Nobody there! I guess it must have been the wind," said the Little Old -Lady of Mulberry Lane, as she shut the door. - -But we know it wasn't the wind; don't we? - -Then the bunny hopped back to his own part of the forest, to have -Hallowe'en fun with the animal boys and girls. The frightened boys ran -home and jumped into bed. And if the piano key doesn't unlock the door -of the phonograph, and let all the music run down the pussy cat's tail, -you may next hear of Uncle Wiggily and the poor dog. - - - - -STORY XXI - -UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE POOR DOG - - -Once upon a time there was a dog so poor that he had no kennel to sleep -in. He made his bed in old boxes and barrels along the street, or -behind stores. And as for things to eat--that poor dog thought himself -lucky if he found a bone without any meat on it! Oh, he was dreadfully -poor, was that dog! - -He had no collar to wear, though of course he did not miss a necktie, -for dogs never wear those. But when this dog saw other dogs, with -shiny brass or nickel collars around their necks, when he saw some of -them riding in automobiles as he splashed through the mud, and when he -looked over in yards and saw some dogs gnawing juicy, meaty bones in -front of their warm kennels--this poor dog sometimes felt sad. - -"I don't see what use I am in this world," thought the poor dog, as he -chased away a tickling fly who wanted to ride on his tail. "I certainly -can't help anyone, for I can hardly help myself! I think I'll go off in -the woods and get lost! Yes, that's what I'll do," barked the poor dog. -"Get lost!" - -Perhaps if he had had a good breakfast that morning, with a biscuit or -two, or even a slice of puppy cake, he might have been more happy. As -it was, after crawling out of an empty rain-water barrel, where he had -slept all night, and after finding only a small bone for his breakfast, -this dog went off to the woods. - -"Good-bye, everybody!" he softly barked, as he stood on the edge of -the forest, and looked back toward the village he was leaving. But -there was no one even to bark a farewell to him. All alone the poor dog -started into the woods. "Good-bye!" he whined. - -Now in this same forest, on the opposite side from the trees nearest -the village, stood the hollow stump bungalow of Uncle Wiggily Longears. -And this same morning that the poor dog decided to lose himself, the -bunny rabbit gentleman started out with his tall, silk hat, his red, -white and blue striped rheumatism crutch, and his pink twinkling nose -to look for an adventure. - -"Keep your eyes open for the Woozie Wolf or the Fuzzy Fox!" called -Nurse Jane, the muskrat lady housekeeper as Mr. Longears hopped away. - -"I will!" promised the bunny uncle. - -Uncle Wiggily hopped along and along and along, looking behind bushes -and rocks for an adventure when, all of a sudden, he saw a sort of hole -down in between two logs. - -"Perhaps there is an adventure down in there for me," said the rabbit -gentleman. "I'll poke my paw down in and find out. This hole isn't -large enough to be the den of the Fox or Wolf." - -Uncle Wiggily thrust one of his forepaws down into the hole, and began -feeling around between the logs. He touched something soft and fuzzy, -and he was just beginning to think that perhaps Baby Bunty was hiding -down there so he couldn't tag her when, all of a quickness, those logs -rolled together. Before Uncle Wiggily could pull out his paw it was -caught fast, and there he was, held just as if he were in a trap. - -"Oh, my goodness me, sakes alive, and a basket of soap bubbles!" cried -the bunny rabbit gentleman. "I'm caught! How dreadful! I must get out!" - -Well, he pulled and he pulled and he pulled, but still his paw was held -fast. He scrabbled around among the dried leaves, he tried to lift one -log off the other with his rheumatism crutch, and he tried to gnaw a -hole in the top log that held him fast. But it was all of no use. - -"Oh, I'm afraid I'll have to stay here forever, unless I get help!" -thought Uncle Wiggily. "But I must call for aid! Perhaps Grandpa -Goosey, or Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, will hear me!" - -[Illustration: "Who calls for help?"] - -Uncle Wiggily stopped his pink nose from twinkling, so that he could -call more loudly, and then he shouted: - -"Help! Help! Help!" - -For a time there was no answer, only the wind blowing among the leaves -of the trees. And then, all at once, there was a rustling in the bushes -and a voice asked: - -"Who calls for help?" - -"I do," answered Uncle Wiggily. "Oh, even if you are the Woozie Wolf or -the Fuzzy Fox, please help me!" - -"I am neither the Wolf nor the Fox," was the answer. "I am only a poor -dog who came to this forest to lose himself. I never have been able yet -to help anyone." - -"Well, perhaps you can help me," said Uncle Wiggily, as cheerfully as -he could speak. "Come here and see where the logs have fallen on my -paw, holding me fast." - -So the poor dog, with his ragged clothes which made him look almost -like a tramp, came through the bushes, close to Uncle Wiggily. - -"My, but you're stylish!" said the dog, as he saw Uncle Wiggily's tall, -silk hat. - -"That isn't anything," sadly said the bunny rabbit gentleman. "Tall -hats do not make for happiness. I'd rather have on an old, ragged cap, -like yours, and be free, than wear a diamond and gold crown like a king -and be held fast here." - -"Yes, it isn't fun to be caught in a trap," barked the poor dog. "But I -think I can gnaw through one of those logs and set you free." - -Then he began to gnaw. He gnawed and he gnawed and he gnawed, and, in -a little while, one of the logs was cut in two, just as if it had been -sawed, and Uncle Wiggily could pull out his paw. - -"I can't tell you how thankful I am," said the bunny to the dog. "What -fine, strong white teeth you have. How did you get them?" - -"From gnawing bones without any soft meat on them, I suppose," answered -the dog. "Poor dogs must have strong teeth, or they would starve. Rich -dogs, who get soft food, can afford to have soft teeth." - -"Well, then I am very glad you are a poor dog!" laughed Uncle Wiggily. - -"You are?" barked the other, in great surprise. - -"Certainly; of course I am!" exclaimed the bunny. "Just think! Suppose -you had been one of those rich dogs, with soft, crumbly teeth! You -would not have been able to gnaw through the log and I would still be -held fast." - -"Yes, that's so," agreed the dog, wagging his tail. "I never thought of -that." - -"Then be thankful, as I am, that you are poor, and have strong teeth," -went on Mr. Longears. "You have been of great help to me." - -"Have I?" barked the dog. "Then I am very glad! I never before helped -anyone. I thought I was too poor!" - -"Well, you aren't going to be poor any more," went on the bunny rabbit -gentleman. "Come to the woods and live near my hollow stump bungalow. I -have a friend, Old Dog Percival, who will let you stay in his kennel. -He is rich!" - -"Oh, that makes me very happy!" said the dog, who used to be poor. "I -have always wanted a kennel to live in!" - -Then he went home with the bunny rabbit. And, though he never became a -very rich dog, still he had a warm kennel, which Percival shared with -him, and he always had enough to eat; and he became great friends with -Mr. Longears and Nurse Jane. - -So this teaches us that even if a lollypop has a stick this does -not mean it needs a whipping. And if the sunflower doesn't shine so -brightly in the eyes of the potato that it can't see to get out of the -oven, I'll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the rich cat. - - - - -STORY XXII - -UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE RICH CAT - - -Once upon a time there was a very rich cat, but with all she had she -was not happy. She owned an automobile and kept a little mouse servant -girl to wait on her. And an old gentleman rat did all the heavy work -around the house, such as putting out the ashes and cutting the grass. - -"Heigh-ho!" sighed the rich cat lady one morning, after she had lapped -up some thick, heavy cream, which was left on her doorstep each day. -"Heigh-ho! I am so tired!" - -"Tired of what?" squeaked the little mouse servant, as she brought a -paper napkin for the rich cat to wipe the cream from her whiskers. Even -though she was well-off, the cat lady had whiskers, and she was very -proud of them. - -"Oh, I am tired of sitting around doing nothing!" purred the rich cat. - -"Then why not go for a ride in your auto?" asked the poor little mouse -servant girl. - -"I am tired of that, too," spoke the rich cat. "It is the same old -thing every day! Dress and go out. Come back and dress to eat! Dress -to go out again! Come back and undress to go to bed and get up in the -morning to dress and do it all over again! I--I'd like to have an -_adventure_!" mewed the cat lady. - -"Oh, mercy! An _adventure_!" squeaked the mouse. "Never!" - -"Yes," went on the cat, "a real, exciting adventure. I saw a poor dog -the other day--at least he used to be poor, and he is far from rich -now. But he looked so well, and so lively, with such strong, white -teeth! I heard him telling another dog he had had a most wonderful -adventure in the woods with an old rabbit gentleman named Uncle -Wiggily. I quite envied that poor dog!" - -"Oh, and you so rich!" murmured the mousie girl. - -"I don't care!" mewed the wealthy cat lady. "I'd almost be willing to -be poor if I could have an adventure. Come, I'll go for a ride in the -auto. It will be better than dawdling around the house." - -So the cat lady ordered out her auto, with the rat gentleman to drive -it, and the little mousie girl to sit beside her on the cushioned seat. - -"Where shall I drive to, Lady Cat?" asked the old gentleman rat -chauffeur. - -"Oh, anywhere--to the woods--the fields--anywhere so that I may have an -adventure--I don't care!" mewed the rich cat. - -So the rat gentleman drove the auto through the village, and out into -the forest. At first the roads were very good, but at last they became -bumpy, and the cat lady and mousie girl were much shaken up and jiggled -about, not to say joggled. - -"Do you want to go on?" asked the rat. - -"Oh, yes," answered the cat. "It shakes up my liver, and I seem to be -feeling more hungry. Go on, perhaps I shall find an adventure." - -The auto lurched and bumped on a little farther and, all of a sudden -there was a crash. - -"Oh!" screamed the little mousie girl. - -"What is the matter?" asked the cat lady, looking through her fancy -glasses. - -"We have had an accident," answered the gentleman rat. "The auto is -broken, and I shall have to go for help." - -"Let us go, also," squeaked the mousie girl. "We don't want to stay -here in the woods alone." - -"_You_ may not want to," said the cat with a smile. "But _I_ am going -to. Run along with Mr. Rat, Miss Mouse, and get help. I'll stay here!" - -So the rich cat lady was left alone, sitting in the auto, one wheel of -which was broken, while the rat gentleman and mousie girl went to look -for a garage where they could get help. - -"Perhaps this is the start of an adventure," thought the cat. - -A moment later she heard a rustling in the bushes, and out popped a -strange dog. Now the rich cat lady knew some rich dogs who wore silver -and gold collars, and were friends of hers. She was not afraid of them. -But this was a dog without any collar, though he had on a suit of -clothes. And, when the cat lady looked a second time, she saw that it -was a boy dog and not a grown man dog. - -"Bow! wow!" barked the boy dog. "You're a strange cat! What are you -doing in these woods? Hi, Jackie!" howled the dog. "Come help me chase -this strange cat up a tree!" - -"All right, Peetie! I'm with you!" answered a voice, and out of the -bushes came another boy dog. The two dogs rushed at the cat lady. - -Now she might not have been afraid of _one_ boy dog, but when _two_ of -them leaped toward her, this was enough to frighten almost any pussy! -Don't you think so? - -"Meaouw! Mew! Mee!" cried the cat, and before she knew it she was -climbing a tree. Up she scrabbled, her claws tearing off bits of bark, -until she was perched on a limb, high above her auto and the barking -dogs down below. - -"My goodness me, sakes alive, and a liver cream puff!" said the excited -rich cat lady to herself, her heart beating like an alarm clock. "This -is dreadful! To think of me, a wealthy cat, being chased up a tree by -two poor dogs! What will my friends think?" - -Then she looked down at the dogs and said: - -"Run away if you please, little puppy boys!" - -"No! No!" they barked. "Bow! Wow!" - -"You run and tell him," said one puppy to the other. "Tell him there's -a strange cat in his woods. I'll stay here at the foot of the tree so -she can't get down until you come back with him!" - -"I wonder whom they are going to bring back?" thought the rich cat up -the tree. And she could not help laughing a little as she thought how -strange she must look. "The mouse servant and rat chauffeur will be -surprised when they come back and see me here," thought the cat. - -One little puppy dog boy ran away, while the other remained on guard at -the foot of the tree. - -"May I come down?" asked the cat lady. - -"No, indeed!" growled the dog, though he did not speak impolitely. "You -must stay up there!" - -"Dear me!" thought the cat lady. "This is quite an unexpected -adventure!" - -All of a sudden she saw the puppy at the foot of the tree jump up. At -the same time there was a rustling in the bushes, and along came the -other puppy, with an old gentleman rabbit, who wore a tall silk hat, -who had a pair of glasses on his pink, twinkling nose and who walked -with a red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch. - -"There she is, Uncle Wiggily!" barked a puppy dog. "We saw her in your -woods, and chased her up a tree until you could look at her. Maybe she -is the Woozie Wolf or the Fuzzy Fox, dressed up like a cat." - -"Indeed I am not," said the rich pussy lady up the tree. "I am the Rich -Mrs. Cat, and my auto has broken. When my mousie servant girl and the -rat gentleman who drives my car return, they will tell you I never harm -rabbits. But are you Uncle Wiggily Longears?" she asked. - -"Yes," answered the bunny, "I am. And I know you, Mrs. Cat. I heard -about you from the poor dog. I am very sorry Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow -chased you up a tree. They meant no harm." - -"I am sure they did not," mewed the cat politely. - -"But they are always on the lookout so nothing will happen to me," went -on Uncle Wiggily. "I would get up and help you down, only I can't climb -a tree." - -"Oh, I can easily get down," said the cat lady, and she did, though her -rich clothes were rather ruffled. But she had plenty of money to buy -more. So don't worry about that. - -"Make yourself at home in these woods--the animal folk call them -mine," said Uncle Wiggily kindly. "I am sorry you had this trouble. Now -I must hop away. I hope your auto will soon be mended. Come, Jackie and -Peetie, if you want to help me." - -"Where are you going?" asked the rich cat. - -"To help a poor cat family," said Uncle Wiggily. "The cat gentleman -of the house has been out of work a long time, his wife is ill and he -has a number of little kittens. I was on my way to see the family when -Jackie came to tell me you were up a tree." - -"Well, I'm down the tree now," laughed the rich cat lady. "And will you -please let me help this poor family? I have a lot of money--see!" and -she showed a purse full of golden leaves which the animal folk use for -money. "I can buy them food, and if Mr. Cat wants work, let him take my -auto, after it is fixed, and use it for a jitney." - -"What!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "Aren't you going to use that fine car any -more? All it needs is a new wheel." - -"Give it to the poor cat," was the answer. "I am never going to ride in -it again. I feel so much better since I came to the woods--and climbed -a tree--that I am going to live here for the rest of my life. I'll buy -a hollow stump bungalow near you, Uncle Wiggily. I know, now, I am -going to be very happy." - -"Well, you will make the poor cat family happy, at any rate," said Mr. -Longears. - -"And to make others happy is to be happy yourself," mewed the rich cat -lady. - -She went with Uncle Wiggily, Jackie and Peetie to the home of the poor -cat family, and when the worried cat gentleman heard that he was to -have the auto for a jitney, with which he could make money, he was so -glad he almost stood on his head. And his wife and the kitten children -were glad also. - -When the rat gentleman chauffeur and the mousie servant girl came back, -in another auto, to take the rich lady home, she said: - -"I am going to stay with Uncle Wiggily. From now on I am going to live -in the woods and be happy and poor." - -"Oh, my!" squeaked the mousie servant. "Just fancy!" - -"I never heard of such a thing," said the rat gentleman. "You had much -better come home and live as you did before." - -But the cat lady would not change her mind, and she built herself a -bungalow near Uncle Wiggily's, and lived there happily forever after. - -So from this we may learn, if we will, that when a pail leaks it is -best to have it mended. And if the hand-organ monkey doesn't take the -squeak out of the rubber ball to make a tin horn for the rag doll, the -next story will be about Uncle Wiggily and the horse. - - - - -STORY XXIII - -UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE HORSE - - -Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper for Uncle Wiggily -Longears, the bunny rabbit gentleman, once baked a cherry pie, of which -Mr. Longears was very fond. In fact, Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy baked _two_ pies. - -One she put upon the shelf for Uncle Wiggily's supper. The other pie -Nurse Jane wrapped in a clean napkin, put it in a basket, and then she -said: - -"Come on, Uncle Wiggily. We will take this pie to Grandfather Goosey -Gander." - -"That will be fine!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. So he set off with Nurse -Jane, over the fields and through the woods. "And perhaps we may have -an adventure," said the bunny gentleman, hopeful-like. - -"Well, if we do," spoke Nurse Jane, "I hope nothing happens to this -cherry pie. I baked one for you, and the other especially for Grandpa -Goosey. I shouldn't like the Fuzzy Fox, nor yet the Woozie Wolf, to get -this pie." - -"Nor I," said Uncle Wiggily. "And I don't believe Grandpa Goosey would, -either." - -The rabbit gentleman and Nurse Jane hopped along together, until, after -a while, Uncle Wiggily saw a horse in a field. - -"Look at that poor horse!" said the bunny gentleman, coming to a stop, -and peeping over the top of his pink, twinkling nose. "There he stands, -all day long, with nothing to eat but grass." - -"What else would he eat?" asked Nurse Jane, suspiciously. - -"I don't s'pose he ever had a cherry pie," went on Uncle Wiggily -reflective-like. "Poor horse! Never had any cherry pie!" - -"Wiggy!" exclaimed Nurse Jane, as she took a firmer hold of the basket -handle. "If you are thinking of giving Grandpa Goosey's pie to that -horse----" - -"Well, that's just what I'm thinking of," answered Mr. Longears. "Here, -Nurse Jane, please give me that pie. You may run back home and get the -one you were saving for me to give to Grandpa Goosey. I'll call this -pie mine, and I'm going to give it to the horse." - -"Well, I never in all my born days," exclaimed Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy, "heard -the like of that!" - -Still she knew Uncle Wiggily meant to be kind, so she gave the bunny -rabbit gentleman the basket with the pie inside, and started back for -the hollow stump bungalow to get the other. - -The bunny rabbit certainly was not selfish, whatever else he was. - -"Hello, Horsie!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, as he hopped through the -field where the big animal was eating. - -"Hello," answered the horse. "Oh, it's Uncle Wiggily!" he went on, as -he stopped cropping the grass and looked up. - -"Did you ever eat a cherry pie?" asked the bunny rabbit, beginning to -take the cloth off the one in the basket. - -"Cherry pie? I don't believe I ever did," slowly answered the horse. -"Cherry pie! Hum! No, I never tasted any." - -"Wouldn't you like to?" asked the bunny. "I should think you would get -tired of eating grass all day long." - -"Well, grass is my food, and I like it," neighed the horse. "But I like -some oats once in a while, and some bran. Yes, and I think I'd like -some cherry pie, also." - -"Here! Take this one! Nurse Jane can bake more!" said generous Uncle -Wiggily, and he held out the pie. - -"Oh, my! That's a fine one!" whinnied the horse. "That looks most -delicious." - -"And it tastes as delicious as it looks," went on the bunny. "I know -Nurse Jane's pies. Take a bite!" - -The horse did. One bit was all that was needed to enable him to eat the -whole pie, for it was only rabbit size, of course, not as large as the -pies your mother bakes. - -"Um!" said the horse, as the red cherry juice ran down his lips. "That -was a good pie! I could eat more!" - -"I'm sorry, but that's the only one I have," spoke Uncle Wiggily. -"Nurse Jane has gone to get mine, that she put in the cupboard, to give -to Grandpa Goosey. But to-morrow I'll have her bake you a large pie." - -Just then Nurse Jane came along, with the other pie in the basket, and -Uncle Wiggily said: - -"The horse ate that cherry pie, Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy, and liked it very -much. I have told him you'd bake him a larger one." - -"Well, I s'pose I can," said the muskrat lady, looking at Uncle Wiggily -in a funny way. "I s'pose I can." - -"You are very kind," neighed the horse. "If I could only do you some -favor----" - -But just then, all of a sudden, out from behind a bush jumped the bad -old Woozie Wolf. - -"Ah ha!" howled the Wolf. "This is the time I have caught Nurse Jane as -well as Uncle Wiggily. I shall have four ears to nibble to-day!" and he -looked hungrily at the bunny and muskrat lady. - -"Do you mean to say you are going to hurt good, kind Uncle Wiggily, who -has just given me a cherry pie?" asked the horse quickly. - -"Of course I am!" growled the Wolf. "He gave me no pie! I'm going to -nibble the bunny!" - -"Well, I just won't let you!" said the horse. - -"How are you going to stop me?" asked the Wolf. - -"Well, I have big teeth," the horse said. "They are not as sharp as -yours, for they do not need to be so that I may crop the grass. But I -can bite you with them, just the same." - -"Ho! Ho!" sneered the Wolf. "Two can play at that game! I can bite -worse than you." - -"That's so, he can," whispered Uncle Wiggily to the horse. "Be careful!" - -"Well, then I'll _kick_!" said the horse. "I'll rear up on my front -legs and kick you with my hind ones, Mr. Wolf, if you hurt Uncle -Wiggily." - -"But you have no sharp toe-nails, such as I have!" growled the Wolf. -"I'll scratch you with my toe-nails if you kick me." - -"That's right--he will!" whispered Nurse Jane. - -"I'm afraid you cannot save us," sadly said the bunny gentleman to the -kind horse. - -"Yes, I can!" suddenly neighed the horse. "This Wolf can do some things -better than I, but he cannot run as fast. Quick! Jump up on my back, -Uncle Wiggily and Nurse Jane. I'll gallop and trot, I'll gallop and -trot and I'll gallop and trot--until I take you far away from this bad -animal!" - -"Don't you dare take Uncle Wiggily away from me!" howled the Wolf, for -well he knew he could not run as fast as the horse. - -[Illustration: The wolf was left far, far, behind.] - -"Yes, I shall! I'll save Uncle Wiggily!" whinnied the horse. "Up on my -back! Quick!" he called to the bunny and Nurse Jane. - -Up they leaped, before the Wolf could get them. Then the horse galloped -and trotted, galloped and trotted and galloped and trotted, until the -Wolf was left far, far behind. And, oh, how angry that Wolf was! And -how he howled! I wish you could have heard him. - -No, on second thought, it is just as well you didn't hear him. It was -not very nice howling. - -"There! Now you are safe, Uncle Wiggily and Nurse Jane," said the -horse, as he stopped galloping and trotting, away over on the far side -of the field, far, far from the Wolf. - -"Thank you for saving us," spoke the bunny, as he and Nurse Jane slid -off the horsie's back. - -"I'll bake you the largest cherry pie that ever was," promised the -muskrat lady, "just as soon as I take this one to Grandpa Goosey." - -And she made such a large pie that it took the horse forty 'leven bites -to eat it. - -So everything came out all right, you see. And if the postman doesn't -try to slip a letter through the slot in the baby's penny bank, and -make the five cent piece jump over the dollar bill, I'll tell you next -about Uncle Wiggily and the cow. - - - - -STORY XXIV - -UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE COW - - -This is a story about Uncle Wiggily and the cow. Not the cow with the -crumpled horn, nor yet the one that jumped over the moon, when the dish -ran away with the spoon. - -This was a sort of a red cow which ate green grass and gave white milk -that was churned into yellow butter to be eaten on brown bread. There -is no use asking me about all those colors for I don't know--nobody -knows. They're just there, and that's all there is about it. - -Now for the story. - -One day the bunny rabbit gentleman was hopping over the fields and -through the woods on his way to the store for Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy. -He was going to get his muskrat lady housekeeper a jug of molasses so -Nurse Jane might make a cake. - -Uncle Wiggily hopped on and on, wondering if he would have an adventure -that day, and he was thinking how good the molasses cake would taste -when, all of a sudden, down in a field he saw a red cow. Not exactly -red like a rose, you understand, or red like a barn, but still somewhat -between those colors--a brownish-red, I suppose it would be called. - -"Moo! Moo! Moo!" called the cow, in such mournful tones that Uncle -Wiggily right away said: - -"Something must be the matter! I'm going down and see if I can help -that poor cow!" - -Down into the meadow hopped the bunny rabbit gentleman, and when he -reached the cow he looked at her and she looked at him, and the bunny -asked: - -"What is the matter, Mrs. Cow?" - -"Oh," was the sad answer, "I've lost the cud that I always chew, and -now I don't know what to do! I'm so upset I'm sure I'll give sour milk -to-night, instead of sweet!" - -"That would be too bad," Uncle Wiggily remarked. "This cud of -yours--may I ask what it is?" - -[Illustration: "Well! Well!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily.] - -"Well, it isn't gum, as many boys and girls suppose, when they see me -chewing," spoke the cow lady. "My cud is a bunch of grass, which I crop -and pull up by winding my tongue about it, for I haven't two sets of -teeth as have many animals. I only have teeth on my upper jaw. On my -lower jaw I have no teeth, but the gums are very hard so I can chew -grass, and that is what makes my cud. I only chew the grass a little -bit, when I first pull it from the meadow. I swallow it down into my -first stomach, and, when I have more time, I bring the cud of grass up -into my mouth and chew it as long as I please, so it will be good for -me to put into my last stomach." - -"Well, well!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily in surprise. "So you have two -stomachs and only one set of teeth." - -"Yes," went on the cow, "but what is worrying me now is to know whether -I lost my cud of grass in the meadow, after I had chewed on it a while, -or whether it slipped down into my last stomach before it was time." - -"What will happen if it did?" asked Uncle Wiggily. - -"I'm afraid I'll have indigestion," the cow lady answered. "And that -will make my milk bad and sour. Oh, dear! I wish I knew where my cud -was!" - -"How did you come to lose it--or miss it?" asked the bunny. - -"Why, I was watching Bully and Bawly No-Tail, the two frog boys, -hopping down by the brook," the cow lady said. "They were playing -leap-toad, you know--or, perhaps, it was leap-frog; and Bully made such -a funny jump over Bawly's back that I laughed right out loud. I was -chewing my cud at the time, and when I stopped laughing I missed it. -Now whether I swallowed it, or whether it dropped in the brook, I don't -know. Isn't that dreadful?" - -"Can't you tell by the way you feel--inside, you know," asked the -bunny, "what became of your cud?" - -"Not for some little time," answered the cow lady, "and then it will be -too late. Oh, if only I could find my cud somewhere in this meadow I'd -know I hadn't swallowed it, and I'd be all right." - -"I know just how you feel," said Uncle Wiggily. "Once, when Susie -Littletail, the rabbit, was a tiny baby, her mother gave her a big cake -spoon to play with. She went out of the room, leaving Susie to play -with the spoon, and when she came back it was gone." - -"What was gone?" asked the cow lady, "Susie or the spoon?" - -"The spoon," answered the bunny gentleman. "And as Susie was too little -to talk, and tell where it was, her mother didn't know whether she had -hidden, or dropped the spoon somewhere, or whether she had swallowed -it." - -"Just fancy!" mooed the cow. "How exciting! But what happened?" - -"Why, finally," said Uncle Wiggily, "after I had hopped over to help, -we found the spoon behind the piano where Susie had thrown it. Then we -knew she hadn't swallowed it." - -"And if I could find my cud I'd know I hadn't swallowed _that_," sadly -said the cow lady. - -"I'll help you look," offered Uncle Wiggily. "I'm a pretty good hopper, -and I'll hop around the meadow and look for your cud of half-chewed -grass." - -The bunny set down his molasses jug and began looking all over the -meadow for the cud. And the cow helped, but she could not move very -fast. Besides, she was worried and nervous. - -"Here it is! I've found it!" suddenly called Uncle Wiggily, and there -on the grass, near the brook where the frog boys had been leaping, was -the cow lady's cud. - -"Oh, how glad I am to get it back!" she mooed as she began to chew it -again. "Now my milk will be nice and sweet. You have done me a great -favor, Uncle Wiggily. I hope I may do you the same some day." - -"Pray do not mention it," said the bunny politely, as he hopped on with -his molasses jug. "It was just a little adventure for me." - -Uncle Wiggily hopped on to the store, had the jug filled with molasses -and then went to his hollow stump bungalow. - -"Well, you were gone a long time," said Nurse Jane. "I have been -waiting to make the ginger cake." - -"I had to help a cow lady find her lost cud," said the bunny. - -"Oh, Wiggy! What next!" laughed Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy. "Helping cow ladies! -Oh! Oh!" - -"That's all right," the bunny said. "Perhaps some day a cow lady may -help us." - -"I don't see how she can," spoke Nurse Jane, as she started to make -the cake. But pretty soon she called to the bunny who had gone to sit -outside on a bench and warm his rheumatism in the sun. - -"Oh, Wiggy!" exclaimed Nurse Jane. "I can't get the cork out of the -molasses jug. It's in so tight! I can't pull it out, and if I break it, -and push it inside, then the molasses won't run out. Oh, what a lot of -trouble!" - -"Let me try!" offered the bunny. But he could not get the cork out of -the molasses jug either, not even with his red, white and blue striped -rheumatism crutch. - -"I guess I'll have to break the jug!" said the bunny at last. - -"Oh, don't do that!" spoke a voice behind him, and, turning, Uncle -Wiggily saw the cow lady. "I am on my way home to be milked," she -mooed, "and I saw you in trouble, so I came over. What's wrong?" - -"We can't get the cork out of the molasses jug," answered Uncle Wiggily. - -"Perhaps I can," said Mrs. Cow. "Please let me try." - -"We have a corkscrew somewhere," remarked Nurse Jane, "but I can't find -it." - -"I shall not need it," went on the cow. - -Then with one of her long, sharp horns she easily pried the cork out of -the molasses jug, breaking nothing and making it very easy for Nurse -Jane to pour out the sweet stuff for the ginger cake. - -"Thank you, Mrs. Cow," said Uncle Wiggily, as the milk lady animal went -on her way. - -"Pray don't mention it!" mooed the cow. "Now we are even, as far as -favors go!" - -Uncle Wiggily looked at Nurse Jane, and the muskrat lady smiled at the -bunny gentleman. - -"You were right, Wiggly," spoke Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy. "I never thought a -cow could help anyone, but this shows how little I know." - -"That's all right!" laughed the bunny. "Mistakes will happen!" - -So once again everything came out all right for the bunny gentleman, -you see, and if the pussy cat doesn't make a popcorn ball out of snow, -for the puppy dog to play bean bag with, you shall next hear about -Uncle Wiggily and the camping boys. - - - - -STORY XXV - -UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CAMPING BOYS - - -"Oh, Uncle Wiggily! What you think?" cried Baby Bunty one day, as she -hopped up to the rabbit gentleman, who was pulling the weeds out of his -carrot garden. - -"What I think, Baby Bunty?" repeated Mr. Longears, smiling down one -side of his pink, twinkling nose. "Well, I think lots of things, my -little rabbit girl. But if you think I'm going to play _tag_ with you -this morning you are wrong. I haven't time!" - -"Oh, I don't want you to play tag!" exclaimed Baby Bunty, though she -was such a lively little tyke that she nearly always wanted Uncle -Wiggily to play a game of some sort. "But there's something over in the -woods," she went on. "What you think it is?" and she was quite excited. - -"Something over in the woods, Baby Bunty?" asked Uncle Wiggily, as he -looked at one of his carrots to see if the point needed sharpening; but -it didn't, I'm glad to say. "Well, what's in the woods, Baby Bunty; the -Fox, the Skeezicks or the Pipsisewah?" - -"Neither one, Uncle Wiggily," answered the little rabbit girl. "But -there's a lot of those funny animals you call 'boys,' and they're -making a snow house, and maybe they'll try to catch you, or me or Nurse -Jane," and Baby Bunty looked quite worried. - -"A _snow_ house this time of year! Tut! Tut! Nonsense!" laughed Uncle -Wiggily. "This is summer and there isn't any snow with which to make -houses." - -"Well, these boys, in the woods, are making a _white_ house, anyhow, -Uncle Wiggily," spoke the little rabbit girl, who once had lived in a -hollow stump, before she came to visit the bunny gentleman. "It's a -white house, and there's a lot of boys, and they're cutting down wood, -and making a fire and boiling a kettle of water and oh, they're doing -lots of things! I thought I'd better come and tell you." - -"Hum!" said Uncle Wiggily, straightening up to rest his back, which -ached from pulling the weeds out of his garden. "Yes, perhaps it is a -good thing you told me, Baby Bunty. I'll go have a look at the white -house the boys are putting up." - -Uncle Wiggily and Baby Bunty hopped through the woods, and soon they -were near that side of the forest nearest the village where real boys -and girls lived. Through the green trees gleamed something white, on -which the sun shone as brightly as it does at the seashore. - -"There's the house," said Baby Bunty, pointing with her paw off among -the trees. - -"Ho! That isn't exactly a _house_!" Uncle Wiggily told the little -rabbit girl. "That's a white tent, and those boys must be camping -there. Boys like to come to the woods to camp in the summer. We'll hop -a little closer and listen. Then we can tell what they are doing." - -"We mustn't let 'em see us!" whispered Baby Bunty. "Oh, no!" - -"Well, no, maybe not first along," Uncle Wiggily agreed. "But nearly -all boys, especially the kind that go camping, are fond of animals, -and will not hurt them. We will see what sort of boys these are, Baby -Bunty." - -So the bunny gentleman and the little rabbit girl hid behind the bushes -and watched the camping boys, for that is what they were. They had come -to spend a few weeks in the woods, living in a white tent which, at -first, Baby Bunty thought was a snow house. - -The boys had just come to camp, and the tent had been up only a little -while. But already the lads had started a campfire; and they had hung a -Gypsy kettle over the blaze, and were cooking soup. - -"Get some more water, somebody!" called one boy. - -"And I'm not going to cut any more wood!" exclaimed another. "I've been -cutting wood ever since we got here!" - -"We'll take turns!" spoke a third boy. - -"Look out! That soup's boiling over!" shouted a fourth. - -"They're regular boys all right!" chuckled Uncle Wiggily, as he -crouched under a bush with Baby Bunty. "They're so excited at coming to -camp they hardly know what they're doing." - -Uncle Wiggily and Baby Bunty could hear and understand what the boys -said, though they themselves could not speak to the camping chaps. For -a time the two rabbits watched the little lads, who were trying to get -a meal. They made many mistakes, of course, such as getting the salt -mixed up with the sugar, and they left the bread out of its tin box so -it dried, for they had never been camping before. - -"But they'll soon learn," said Uncle Wiggily. - -"I hope they won't chase us, and throw stones at us," Baby Bunty -remarked, as she and Mr. Longears hopped away. - -"I think they are good boys," spoke the bunny gentleman. - -And the camping boys were. When they had finished eating they scattered -crumbs so the birds could pick them up. Larger pieces of left-over food -were placed on a flat stump where the squirrels and chipmunks could get -them. - -Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, the two boy squirrels, saw some of this -food as they were coming through the woods. The camping boys were away -just then, so the squirrel chaps had no fear of going close to the -white tent-house. Johnnie found a piece of bread and butter, and Billie -picked up half a ginger snap. - -[Illustration: Johnnie found a piece of bread and butter.] - -"That shows the camping boys are kind to animals," said Uncle Wiggily, -when Johnnie and Billie told him what they had found. "I hope I may get -a chance to do these lads a favor." - -And Uncle Wiggily had this chance sooner than he expected. - -For about a week the weather was most lovely for camping. The sun shone -every day, the wind blew just enough to send the sailboat spinning -about the lake and there wasn't a drop of rain. - -It is rain which soaks most of the fun out of camping, just as rain -takes away your fun at home. And these boys, never having camped in a -tent before, gave no thought to storms. - -One afternoon it began to rain. Uncle Wiggily, in his hollow stump -bungalow, where he was reading the cabbage-leaf paper, heard the -pitter-patter of the drops on the window, and looked up. - -"Where is Baby Bunty, Nurse Jane?" asked the bunny gentleman. - -"Why, she hasn't come back from the store yet," answered the muskrat -lady housekeeper. - -"Did she take an umbrella?" asked Uncle Wiggily. - -"No," replied Nurse Jane, "she did not." - -"Then she'll get soaking wet!" exclaimed Mr. Longears. "I'll go after -her with a toadstool." - -You know in Woodland, near the Orange Ice Mountain, where Uncle Wiggily -lived, toadstools were often used for umbrellas. Of course, some of the -animal folk had regular umbrellas, but when they were in a hurry they -could break off a big toadstool, or mushroom, and use that. - -So Uncle Wiggily hopped out of his hollow stump bungalow, and, growing -near his front gate, he found a big toadstool. Picking this, he held it -over his head and hurried along through the rain to meet Baby Bunty, -who had gone to the three and five cent store for Nurse Jane. - -Uncle Wiggily had to hop almost to the place where the tent of the -camping boys stood before he met the little rabbit girl, half drenched. - -"Oh, Uncle Wiggily! You ought to see!" cried Baby Bunty. "There is so -much water around the tent that those nice boys will be washed away, I -guess!" - -"Water around their tent?" repeated the bunny gentleman. "You don't say -so!" - -"Yes," said Baby Bunty. "The rain is coming down so hard that it is -running like a little brook around the tent. The boys are inside, and I -heard them saying that the water would soon come up over the cots and -they wouldn't have any dry place to sleep to-night!" - -"Silly boys!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, holding the toadstool umbrella -over Baby Bunty. "They didn't know enough to dig a ditch around the -outside of their tent to let the rain water run off. All campers do -that, but as this is the first time these boys came to the woods I -suppose they didn't know about it. Always dig a ditch, or trench, in -the earth around your tent when you go camping, Baby Bunty." - -"I will," promised the little rabbit girl, real serious like. - -"But that isn't going to help the boys now," went on Uncle Wiggily. "I -think I shall have to take a paw in this. They are good boys, and are -kind to animals. I must do them a favor." - -"But how can you?" asked Baby Bunty. - -"Why, I, being a rabbit, am one of the best diggers in the world," -went on Mr. Longears. "Still, I will need help to dig a ditch around -the tent, as it is rather large. Hop home, Baby Bunty, and tell Sammie -Littletail, Toodle and Noodle Flat-Tail, the beaver boys, and Grandpa -Whackum, the old beaver gentleman, to please come here. With their help -I can dig the ditch." - -So Baby Bunty, taking the toadstool umbrella, hopped away, and Uncle -Wiggily, to await her return, hid under a thick-branched pine tree -which kept off most of the rain. The drops pelted down, and around the -tent of the camping boys was almost a flood. Night was coming on, too, -and before morning the water would rise up so high that it would wet -the feet of the boys in their beds. - -Pretty soon, just about dusk, when it was still raining hard, along -came Sammie Littletail, the rabbit boy, Toodle and Noodle the beavers, -with their broad, flat tails, and Grandpa Whackum, the oldest beaver of -them all. Beavers just love to work in the water and they can dig dirt -canals better than most boys. - -"Lively now, my friends!" called Uncle Wiggily, coming out from under -the pine tree. "We'll dig a ditch around the tent for the kind boys. -They won't see us, as they are inside, and probably will not come out -in the train." - -So Uncle Wiggily, Sammie and the beavers began work. Quickly and -silently they dug and dug and dug in the soft earth, piling the dirt to -one side, and making a trench so that the rain water could run off into -the brook. And soon the little pond that had formed around the tent of -the camping boys had drained away. - -"Now they will have no more trouble," said Uncle Wiggily as he and his -friends, all wet and muddy, finished the trench. "We can go home." - -Home they went, through the rain, to get something to eat and dry -out. And in the morning, though it still rained, no water rose inside -the boys' tent. And none came through the roof, for that was like an -umbrella, the canvas cloth being stretched over the ridge-pole. - -"Oh, look!" cried one boy, coming to the flap of the tent, as the front -of the canvas house is called. "Someone has dug a ditch around our -camp, and now we'll keep dry!" - -"Why, it's a regular little canal!" exclaimed a second boy. "It wasn't -there yesterday!" - -"Who did it?" asked the other lads. - -But none of them knew, and I hope you will not tell them, for I want to -keep it a secret. - -And when the rain stopped, the ground around the tent dried out very -quickly because the proper ditch had been dug around it. And the -camping boys put out on the flat stump many good things for the animal -folk to eat. And the next time those boys went camping they knew enough -to make a trench around their tent. - -Now let me see; what shall we have next? Well, I think I shall tell -you the story of Uncle Wiggily and the birthday cake--that is, I will -if the snow-shovel doesn't make the coal-scuttle sneeze when they are -playing tag down under the cellar steps. - - - - -STORY XXVI - -UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BIRTHDAY CAKE - - -"To-morrow is my birthday! To-morrow is my birthday! And I'm going to -have a cake with ten candles on!" - -A little girl sang this over and over as she danced around the house -one morning. - -"Ten candles! And they'll be lighted, and I can blow them out and cut -the cake and pass it around; can't I, Mother?" asked the little girl. - -"Yes, my dear," Mother answered. "But if you are going to have a -birthday cake you must go to the store and get me some flour, sugar -and eggs. I did not know I needed them, but I do, if you are to have a -cake." - -"Oh, of course I want a cake!" said the little girl. "It wouldn't be -at all like a birthday without a cake! And ten candles on top, all -lighted! Last year I only had nine candles. But now I can have ten! Ten -candles! Ten candles on my birthday cake!" sang the happy little girl -again and again. "Ten candles! Ten candles!" - -"You had better go to the store, instead of singing so much!" laughed -her mother. "Sing on your way, if you like. But don't forget the flour, -sugar and eggs." - -"I'll get them," said the little girl, and off she started, taking a -short cut through the woods to reach the store more quickly. - -These woods were the same ones in which Uncle Wiggily had built his -hollow stump bungalow, and about the same time the little girl started -off to get the things for her birthday cake the bunny rabbit gentleman -stood on his front porch. - -"Where are you going?" asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, his muskrat lady -housekeeper. - -"Oh, just to hop through the forest, to look for an adventure," -answered Mr. Longears. "I haven't had one since I helped dig the -rain-trench about the tent of the camping boys." - -"I should think that would be enough to last a long time," spoke Miss -Fuzzy Wuzzy. - -"Oh, no. I need a new adventure every day!" laughed the bunny, and over -the fields and through the woods he hopped. - -Now Uncle Wiggily had not gone very far before, all of a sudden, he -stepped into a trap. It was a spring trap, set in the woods by some -hunter who had covered it with dried leaves so it could not easily be -seen. That's the way hunters fool the wild animals. - -And, not seeing the trap, Uncle Wiggily hopped right into it. - -"Snap!" went the jaws of the trap together, catching the poor bunny -gentleman fast by one hind leg. - -"Oh, my!" cried Mr. Longears. "I'm caught! But it is fortunate that it -is a smooth-jawed trap, and not the kind with sharp teeth. If I could -only get my leg loose I'd be all right; except that my paw might be -lame and stiff for a few days. I must try to get out!" - -Uncle Wiggily tried to pull his paw from the trap, but it was of no -use. The spring held the jaws too tightly together. The bunny gentleman -twinkled his pink nose as hard as he could, and he even tried to pry -apart the trap jaws with his red, white and blue striped rheumatism -crutch. But he couldn't. - -"Oh, dear!" though Uncle Wiggily. "I must call for help. Perhaps Neddie -Stubtail, the strong boy bear, will hear me. He could easily spring -open this trap and set me free." - -So the bunny gentleman called as loudly as he could: - -"Help! Help!" - -Of course he talked animal talk, and for this reason the little girl, -who was going to have a birthday cake, with ten candles on it, did -not know what Uncle Wiggily was saying. She heard him making a noise, -though, for she passed the place where the bunny was caught in the -trap, soon after the accident happened. - -"I wonder what that funny noise is?" said the little girl, as Uncle -Wiggily again called for help. "It sounds like some animal. I wish I -understood animal talk!" - -Uncle Wiggily wished, with all his heart, that the little girl could -hear what he was saying, for he was calling for help. The bunny -understood girl-talk, and he knew what this girl was saying, for she -spoke her thoughts out loud. - -"But she doesn't know what I want!" said poor Uncle Wiggily to himself. -"She is sure to be good and kind, as all girls are, and if I could only -get her to come over this way she might take me out of the trap." - -The little girl, on her way home from the store, had come to a stop not -far from Uncle Wiggily, but she could not see him because he was behind -a bush. - -"I must make some kind of a noise that she will hear," thought the -bunny. Then he thrashed around in the bushes with his crutch, rattling -the dried leaves and the green bushes, and the little girl heard this -noise. - -"Oh, maybe a bird is caught in a big cobweb!" said the little girl. -"I'll get it loose--I love the birds!" - -Putting down her bundle of flour, sugar and eggs on a flat stump, she -made her way through the bushes until she saw where Uncle Wiggily was -caught in the trap. - -[Illustration: "I wish you would come to my birthday party!"] - -"Oh, what a funny rabbit!" cried the little girl as she looked at the -bunny gentleman all dressed, as he always was when he went to look -for an adventure. "He looks just like a picture on an Easter card!" -laughed the little girl. "I wish I had him at my party!" - -"Well, I wish she'd take this trap off my paw!" thought Uncle Wiggily, -though of course he could say nothing, however much he could hear. - -Then the little girl looked down among the leaves and saw where the -trap pinched Uncle Wiggily. - -"Oh, you poor bunny rabbit!" she cried. "I'll set you loose." - -Very gently she pressed her foot on the spring of the trap, to open it. -And when the jaws were opened Uncle Wiggily could lift out his paw, -which he did. He hopped a little way over the dried leaves, limping a -bit, for the pinching trap had pained him. Then, coming to a stop on -a smooth, grassy place, the bunny leaned on his red, white and blue -striped rheumatism crutch and, taking off his tall silk hat, he made a -low and polite bow to the little girl. - -"Thank you for having done me a great favor!" said Uncle Wiggily in -animal talk. "I wish I could do one for you!" - -But of course the little girl could not understand this bunny language, -so she only laughed and said: - -"Oh, what a dear, funny bunny! With a tall hat and everything! I wish -you would come to my birthday party! I'm going to have a cake with ten -lighted candles on!" - -"Thank you, I'd like to come, but it is out of the question," answered -Uncle Wiggily in his own talk. Then, with another low and polite bow, -he hopped away. - -The little girl picked up the things she had bought at the store and -went home. - -"You'll never guess what I saw in the woods," she told her mother. "A -bunny rabbit, all dressed in a black coat and red trousers, was caught -in a trap, and I set him free!" - -"Nonsense!" laughed Mother. "Whoever heard of a rabbit like that? You -are so excited about your birthday cake that you were dreaming, I -think!" - -"Oh, no, Mother! I didn't dream!" said the little girl. "Really I -didn't!" - -"Well, never mind. Now we'll make your birthday cake," answered Mother. - -The birthday cake was mixed and baked in the oven, and on top was -spread pink frosting. - -"We'll put the candles on to-morrow, when you have your party," Mother -told the little girl. - -To-morrow came, after a night in which Cora Janet, which was the little -girl's name, had dreamed about riding in an airship, with a bunny -gentleman dressed up like a soldier. In the afternoon many boys and -girls came to Cora Janet's birthday party. - -"Oh, how lovely everything is!" exclaimed a little boy, when he was -given his second dish of ice cream. - -"Wait until you see my birthday cake with ten candles on!" whispered -Cora Janet. - -When it was almost time to bring on the lighted cake, Mother called -Cora Janet out into the kitchen. - -"Did you get the candles, Cora?" Mother asked. - -"Why, no!" the little girl answered. "I--I thought we had candles!" - -"And I thought I told you to get them," Mother went on. "There isn't -one in the house! I've looked everywhere. Never mind, perhaps I can -borrow some next door. Go back to your friends." - -"Oh, I do hope you can get candles!" sighed Cora Janet. "A birthday -cake without candles will hardly be right!" - -Mother asked the lady who lived next door, on one side, if she had any -candles. - -"Not a one, I'm sorry to say," was the answer. - -Then Mother asked the lady on the other side. - -"Oh, I never use candles," this lady replied, coming out on her back -stoop to talk over the fence to Cora Janet's mother. "I'm so sorry!" - -"Well, I guess they'll have to eat the cake without any birthday -candles on," said Mother. "Cora Janet will be so disappointed, too, -as she is such an imaginative child! Just fancy, Mrs. Blake, she came -home yesterday, and told about helping out of a trap an old rabbit -gentleman, with a tall silk hat!" - -"The idea! She must have dreamed it!" said Mrs. Blake. - -"No, she didn't dream it! That really happened!" said Uncle Wiggily to -himself, who was just then hopping through the fields back of the house -where Cora Janet lived. "So this is her home, is it?" went on the bunny -gentleman to himself. "And she hasn't any candles for her birthday -cake! Too bad!" - -Uncle Wiggily had hopped along just in time to hear Cora Janet's mother -asking for candles of the neighbors. - -"It's so late that all the stores are closed," went on Mrs. Blake, "or -I'd go get some candles for Cora." - -"Never mind," spoke Mother. "She will have to bear her disappointment -as best she can." - -"No! That must not be!" said Uncle Wiggily to himself. "I cannot give -her real candles, but I can leave on her steps some slivers of the -pine tree. They have in them pitch, tar and resin and will burn almost -like candles. When I was a rabbit boy I often lighted these pine-tree -candles." - -Not far away were the woods, and, hopping across the field in the dusk -of the evening, Uncle Wiggily, with his sharp teeth, soon gnawed off -some pine-knot splinters from one of the trees. In olden times, when -there were no electric or kerosene lamps, children used to study their -lessons in front of the fireplaces, by these pine knots. - -"These will do for birthday-cake candles," whispered Uncle Wiggily, as -he hopped back to Cora Janet's house with a paw full of the pine knots. -He put them on the stoop, and then, with his hind paws, he kicked some -gravel from the front walk up against the dining-room windows. - -"What's that?" asked Cora Janet, as she heard the noise. - -"Some bad boys playing tick-tack," said one of the girls at the party. -"They're playing tricks because they weren't asked." - -"I'll see who it is," spoke Mother. - -She went out on the porch. There she saw the pile of pine-knot slivers. -Having lived in the country when she was a girl, Mother knew that these -bits of wood could be used for candles. - -"Oh, now I can make the birthday cake blaze most brightly!" exclaimed -Mother. Into the house she hurried. She stuck ten pine-knot slivers on -the cake, for Uncle Wiggily had left a full dozen, not knowing exactly -how old Cora Janet was. Then, when the pine knots were lighted, Mother -carried the cake into the room where the boys and girls were wishing -Cora Janet many happy returns for her birthday. - -"Oh, where did you get the candles?" asked Cora. - -"I guess the rabbit you dreamed you saw must have left them," answered -Mother, in fun, of course, for she never thought that really could -happen. - -"Dream-candles or not, they are lovely!" murmured the little girl. - -And everyone at the party said the same thing. - -They watched Cora Janet as, one by one, she blew out the pine candles -on her birthday cake. And when the last one flickered away, the cake -was cut amid the joyous laughter of the boys and girls. - -"Well, I'm glad I could do her a favor," said the bunny rabbit to -himself, as hidden under the lilac bush, he heard and saw all that went -on. "I shall always love Cora Janet!" - -And he did. - -So if the needle doesn't wink its eye when it sits on the -sewing-machine to read the paper of pins, I'll tell you next about -Uncle Wiggily and the New Year's horn. - - - - -STORY XXVII - -UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE NEW YEAR'S HORN - - -Christmas had come and gone, and the next holiday for the boys and -girls who lived in the village outside of Uncle Wiggily's forest was -to be New Year's Day. I call it Uncle Wiggily's forest for on one edge -of it the bunny rabbit gentleman had built himself a hollow stump -bungalow. There he lived with Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, his muskrat lady -housekeeper. - -On the farther side of the wood was the village where many real boys -and girls had their homes. To them, as I say, Christmas had come and -gone, bringing to most of them presents which they liked very much. - -"I'm going to have a lot of fun on New Year's," said one boy to another -as they were coasting on the hill the last day of the old year. - -"What are you going to do?" asked the other boy. - -"I'm going to blow the Old Year out and the New Year in," was the -answer. - -"Gracious me sakes alive!" thought Uncle Wiggily Longears, the bunny -rabbit gentleman, who happened to be resting under a bush near where -the boys were coasting down hill. "I hope he doesn't blow the Old Year -so far away that the New Year will be afraid to come in," said Mr. -Longears to himself. Then he listened again, for the boys were talking -further. - -"How you going to blow?" one lad wanted to know. - -"With my Christmas horn," was the answer. "I got a dandy horn for -Christmas. To-night is New Year's eve. My father said I could stay up -late. At twelve o'clock the Old Year goes away and the New Year comes, -and we're going to have a party at our house, and I'm going to blow my -horn like anything!" - -"So'm I," said several other boys. - -"Where does the Old Year go when you blow it away?" asked a lad who had -red hair and freckles. - -"Oh, I don't know," answered the boy who had first talked of his -Christmas horn. "It just goes--that's all! It disappears same as the -hole in a doughnut when you eat it." - -"You don't eat the _hole_!" declared another boy. - -"Well, you eat all around it," was the answer, "and then there isn't -any hole any more. It's the same with the Old Year. After twelve -o'clock on December 31 there isn't any Old Year any more. It's January -the first, and it's the New Year. I'm going to blow my horn loud! All -the fellows are!" - -"We will, too!" cried the rest of the boys. - -But one lad, who had a clumsy, home-made sled on the hill, did not say -he was going to blow the New Year in. He turned away as the other lads -talked of their coming fun. Someone asked him: - -"Are you going to watch the Old Year out, Jimmy?" - -"No, I guess not," was the answer. "I'm going to sleep." - -"The noise will wake you up," someone suggested. - -"Well, then I'll go to sleep again," was the answer. - -"I guess the reason Jimmy won't blow the Old Year out and the New Year -in is because he hasn't any horn," said a boy with a fine new blue -sled. "He didn't get hardly anything for Christmas." - -"That's too bad!" softly spoke the lad who had first mentioned about -blowing in the New Year. "Maybe I can find an old horn at my house, -and I'll take it to him. If I could find two I'd take another to his -sister. But I don't believe I can." - -"Oh, won't we have fun, blowing the New Year in?" cried the boys, as -they walked to the top of the hill so they might coast down. But Jimmy -did not join in the joyous shout. He was a poor boy, and, as the others -had said, he had not found much in his stocking at Christmas. Certainly -there was no bright tooting horn! - -"This is too bad!" thought Uncle Wiggily, as he hopped back to his -hollow stump bungalow, after the coasting boys were out of the way so -they would not see him. "I wonder how I could get a New Year's horn for -that poor boy?" - -The bunny gentleman was wondering about this, but he could not seem to -think of any plan, when, as he was about to hop up his bungalow steps, -he saw Billie Wagtail, the goat boy. - -"Oh, Uncle Wiggily!" bleated Billie. "See my new horns!" - -"Your new horns!" exclaimed Mr. Longears, turning toward the goat chap. -"Are you going to blow the New Year in, also?" - -"Yes, but not with these horns," went on Billie. "I mean, see the new -horns on my head. I was ill, you know, and my old horns dropped off, -and now I have these new ones," and he shook his head, on which were -two long, curving sharp horns. "I'm going to blow the New Year in," -bleated the boy goat, "but not on my head horns; on my Christmas tin -horn." - -"That's more than one boy whom I know about is going to do," said -Uncle Wiggily a little sadly. Then the bunny gentleman had a sudden -thought. "Do you s'pose, Billie," he asked the goat boy, "that your old -horns could be made into blowing ones for New Year's?" - -"Why, yes, I guess so," Billie answered. "But you'd have to saw off one -end to make a place to blow in. My horns are partly hollow and if you -blew in the little end, after making a hole there, the noise would come -out the other end." - -[Illustration: "Oh, Uncle Wiggily!" bleated Billie. "See my new horns!"] - -"Then I know what I can do!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "Get me your old -horns, Billie boy, and I'll fix them up for New Year's blowing. I know -how to do it!" - -The Wagtail goat chap gave the bunny gentleman the old horns. Uncle -Wiggily took them into his bungalow, and he and Nurse Jane washed them -clean and polished them. Then, with her sharp teeth, the muskrat lady -gnawed a little off the small end of each horn, so they could be blown -through. - -Uncle Wiggily made two wooden whistles and fastened one in the small -end of each horn. - -"Now I'll try it, Janie," he said to Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy. - -Uncle Wiggily blew into the small end of one horn. Out of the other end -came a sweet tooting sound. - -"Hurray!" cried the bunny gentleman. "These will be just right for New -Year's! I'll take one to the poor boy and one to his sister. Then they -can celebrate with their friends who have regular tin horns." - -"It is very kind of you to be so thoughtful," said Nurse Jane. - -"And it was kind of you to help me make the New Year's horns from -Billie's old ones," spoke Uncle Wiggily, as he skipped along, for it -was getting dark and soon the Old Year would go away--like the hole in -the doughnut--and the New Year would come, to bring with it Fourth of -July, birthdays and Christmas. - -Up the steps of the house of the poor boy and girl who had no New -Year's horns to blow hopped Uncle Wiggily. No one saw him in the dusk. -He placed the horns on the doormat, tapped three times with his red, -white and blue striped rheumatism crutch on the porch, and then hopped -away. - -"What was that?" asked the girl of the boy. - -"I'll go see," he answered. - -The boy opened the door and saw, in the light of the moon, which just -then came from behind a cloud, the two goat horns made into New Year's -"tooters." - -"Oh, hurray!" shouted the boy, as he blew on one of the horns. "Now we -can send the Old Year on its way and tell the New Year how glad we are -to see him. Hurray!" - -"And I can blow, too!" laughed the girl. "Hurray!" - -Her brother gave her the other horn, and when twelve o'clock midnight -came, the children blew on the tooters as loudly as they could. So did -all the other boys and girls in the village; and the animal boys and -girls in their nest-houses and burrows also blew on horns and wooden -whistles to welcome the New Year. - -All over the land the bells rang and horns were blown. Uncle Wiggily -heard them in his hollow stump bungalow, and so did Nurse Jane. - -"Happy New Year!" wished the muskrat lady. - -"Happy New Year!" echoed the bunny gentleman. - -The boy and girl, blowing Billie Wagtail's old horns, danced around -their father and mother, wishing them a Happy New Year also. - -"Where did you get the horns?" asked Mother. - -"Oh, I guess Santa Claus dropped them, on his way back to the North -Pole," answered the boy. - -But we know better than that; don't we? - -So, after all, everything came out right, and the boy and girl were -very happy with their queer New Year's horns. - -But if the Jumping Jack doesn't tickle the lollypop with the sharp end -of the ice-cream cone, and make it fall off the stick, I'll tell you -next about Uncle Wiggily's Thanksgiving. - - - - -STORY XXVIII - -UNCLE WIGGILY'S THANKSGIVING - - -There came, one afternoon, a knock at the door of the hollow stump -bungalow where Uncle Wiggily Longears lived. - -"Do you s'pose that can be the Fuzzy Fox or the Woozie Wolf?" anxiously -asked Nurse Jane, the muskrat lady housekeeper. - -"No," answered the bunny gentleman. "They would not dare come boldly up -to my bungalow, in broad daylight, though if it were night they might -come sneaking along, trying to nibble my ears. I suppose this may be -Sammie or Susie Littletail, or Johnnie or Billie Bushytail. I'll let -them in." - -But when Uncle Wiggily opened the door, in came rushing a great big -turkey gobbler gentleman. In his bill he carried a basket in which set -a dish filled with something red. - -"I have it, Uncle Wiggily! I have it!" exclaimed the turkey. "I picked -it up and ran away with it! Now they can't have any Thanksgiving and -I'll be safe! Shut the door!" he gobbled, and setting the basket on the -floor he scuttled behind a chair, while Nurse Jane and Uncle Wiggily -were so surprised they hardly knew what to do. - -"_What_ in the world have you brought with you, Mr. Gobble Obble?" -asked the bunny gentleman. Gobble Obble was the turkey's name. - -"The _cranberry sauce_," was the answer. "At our house, where I have -been living, they are making a great fuss over Thanksgiving, which will -happen in a few days. They have been feeding me up to fatten me, and -every day the Man would come out and look at me; though I didn't know -what for until I heard the children talking about it." - -"Talking about what?" Nurse Jane wanted to know. - -"_Thanksgiving_," gobbled the turkey. "This morning I heard the cook -say: 'That gobbler is fat enough to roast, now. I think I'll make the -cranberry sauce. It will be Thanksgiving soon!'" - -"Then," went on the turkey, "I knew why they had been feeding me things -to make me fat! You can't imagine how I felt! Well, the cook made the -cranberry sauce. She put it in a dish and set it out on the back steps -to cool. I watched my chance, picked it up and ran over here. There's -the cranberry sauce!" and Mr. Gobble Obble pointed to it with one wing. - -"But why in the world did you bring away the cranberry sauce? What good -is that going to do you?" asked Uncle Wiggily, very much puzzled by the -turkey's queer talk and actions. - -"Listen," gobbled the turkey. "I heard one of the children say that -Thanksgiving wouldn't be Thanksgiving without _turkey and cranberry -sauce_! Then, thinks I to myself, if I run away, and take the cranberry -sauce with me, there will be no Thanksgiving, and many poor turkeys -will be glad of it." - -"Ha! Ha! Ha!" laughed Uncle Wiggily, chuckling so hard that his pink -nose twinkled like a lightning bug on Fourth of July. - -"What's the matter?" asked Mr. Gobble Obble. "Won't you be good enough -to hide me and the cranberry sauce until after Thanksgiving? Then I'll -be safe." - -"Of course you may stay here," said the bunny gentleman. "But the -idea of thinking you can stop Thanksgiving by hiding yourself, or the -cranberry sauce!" - -"Can't I?" asked Mr. Gobble Obble, doubtful-like. - -"Of course you can't!" exclaimed Mr. Longears. "Why, Thanksgiving -doesn't mean just feasting on turkey, ice cream and cranberries!" - -"It does at the house I ran away from," said Mr. Gobble Obble. - -"Yes, and I suppose it does at many other houses," went on the bunny -gentleman. "But Thanksgiving is really a time in which to be thankful -for the things one has had to eat all the year--for that, and other -blessings. The Pilgrim Fathers, who came over to live among the -Indians, were thankful for even a little parched corn." - -"What are Indians?" asked the turkey, who had never studied history. - -"Wild men, who wore feathers such as yours," said Nurse Jane. "They are -Indians." - -"I'll tell you about the Indians some day," promised Uncle Wiggily. -"Now we must talk more about Thanksgiving." - -"I don't like to talk about it," sighed Mr. Gobble Obble. "It isn't a -happy thing for me even to think about, much less talk about!" - -"But you shouldn't have run away with the cranberry sauce," went on the -bunny gentleman. "I'm afraid I shall have to ask you to take it back." - -"All right--I will," promised Mr. Gobble Obble. "But I'll go after -dark, so the cook won't see me. Then I'll come here again and stay with -you and Nurse Jane." - -"Yes, do," invited the bunny. "Spend Thanksgiving with us." - -So when it grew dark Mr. Gobble Obble picked up the basket of cranberry -sauce in his bill, and went over the fields and through the woods to -the village, where lived the real boys and girls and their fathers -and mothers. Softly and silently, like the shadow of a feathered -Indian, the turkey made his way to the back stoop. There he set down -the cranberry sauce and scuttled over to Uncle Wiggily's hollow stump -bungalow again. - -Days and nights came and went, and then it was Thanksgiving. - -"Very lucky am I to live to see this day," gobbled the turkey as he ate -breakfast with Uncle Wiggily and Nurse Jane. "If I hadn't run away with -the cranberry sauce I'd be roasting in the oven now!" - -"Well, I'm glad you aren't," spoke the bunny. "Though of course it -wasn't right for you to take the cranberry sauce." - -"They'll have that for Thanksgiving, anyhow," remarked Nurse Jane. "But -now, Wiggy," she went on, "if I get the baskets ready, will you start -out with them?" - -"Yes, Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy," answered the bunny gentleman, twinkling his -pink nose. - -"What baskets are you speaking of?" asked Mr. Gobble Obble, as he saw -the muskrat lady putting carrot cakes, turnip flopovers and lettuce -sandwiches up in little bundles. - -"These are for the poor folk of animal land," answered Uncle Wiggily. -"Each year, at Thanksgiving, Nurse Jane puts up a good dinner for -them, and I take the baskets around in my automobile." - -"How nice!" gobbled the turkey. "May I help? I'm so thankful for not -being in the oven, that I'd like to make some one else thankful too, if -I could." - -"That's the idea!" cried the bunny. "Yes, come along, Mr. Gobble Obble!" - -Soon the bunny gentleman had filled his automobile with baskets of good -things packed by Nurse Jane. Over the fields and through the woods rode -Uncle Wiggily and the turkey gentleman, and many a poor animal family -was the happier for Uncle Wiggily's visit. - -And at last, when the final basket had been left, and Uncle Wiggily and -the turkey were on their way back to the bungalow, out from behind a -bush jumped the bad old Fuzzy Fox. - -"I want to nibble Uncle Wiggily's ears for my Thanksgiving dinner!" -howled the Fox. "I want ears to nibble!" - -"Well, you can't--not to-day!" laughed Uncle Wiggily, and he made the -auto go so fast that the Fox was left far, far behind. - -"Oh, ho!" gobbled the turkey as they came within sight of the stump -bungalow. "This ride will give us a good appetite for the Thanksgiving -dinner." - -"Indeed it will!" laughed the bunny. - -But when they went inside, and met Nurse Jane, the muskrat lady looked -at them in such a queer way that Uncle Wiggily asked: - -"What is the matter, Miss Fuzz Wuzz?" (He sometimes called her that in -fun.) "Has anything happened?" "Yes, Uncle Wiggily, there has," sadly -answered the muskrat lady housekeeper. "I will not keep it from you!" - -"Have--have they come after me?" asked the turkey in a faint and -far-off voice. "Have they?" - -"Oh, no," said Nurse Jane. "But by mistake I packed up everything in -the house to eat in those Thanksgiving baskets, Uncle Wiggily! I didn't -save out a thing for ourselves, and what to do about your Thanksgiving -dinner I don't know! I'm so sorry----" - -"Tut! Tut! Never mind," broke in Uncle Wiggily kindly. "I dare say we -shall find something to nibble on. A couple of carrots will do me." - -"Well, I have _those_," Nurse Jane said, "and a little corn." - -"I love corn!" gobbled the turkey. - -"I can eat it myself," the muskrat lady declared. "So if you can put up -with that for Thanksgiving, we'll eat!" - -Then they sat down to the corn and carrots, and Uncle Wiggily said: - -"I'm thankful I could make the auto go so fast that we ran away from -the fox." - -"So am I," agreed the gobbler. "And I'm thankful I'm here sitting up to -the dining table, instead of being nicely roasted on _top_ of it! And -I'm thankful I could help you feed the poor animal families." - -"I'm thankful," spoke Nurse Jane, "because you two gentlemen didn't -scold and make a fuss when you found what a mistake I'd made about the -dinner." - -"Ha! Ha!" laughed Uncle Wiggily. "Then we are _all_ thankful, and -there could not possibly be a better Thanksgiving than this!" - -So they ate the corn and carrots and were very happy. And if the -jumping jack doesn't waggle his tail like a skyrocket and knock over -the milk bottles so they think they're roller skates and slide down the -back stoop, I'll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the circus. - - - - -STORY XXIX - -UNCLE WIGGILY AT THE CIRCUS - - -Jackie Bow Wow, the little puppy dog boy, came running up to Uncle -Wiggily one morning, so excited that he barked three times and fell -down twice, stubbing his toe over a lollypop stick on the path. - -"Oh, Uncle Wiggily!" barked Jackie. "What you think? There's pictures -of elephants, and tigers and lions and camels! There's a man putting up -a big tent! There are red wagons and golden chariots, and blue wagons -and one that plays funny tunes!" - -"And there's a man with his face all painted red, white and blue, just -like your rheumatism crutch!" barked Peetie Bow Wow, the other little -puppy dog chap, as he ran up wagging his tail. "And there's popcorn, -peanuts and pink lemonade! Wuff! Wuff!" - -"What's it all about?" asked the bunny rabbit gentleman, as he sat down -on the steps of his hollow stump bungalow, while the puppy dog boys -caught their breaths, which had nearly run away from them. - -"It's a circus!" cried Jackie and Peetie just like twins, which they -almost were. "A real circus!" - -"A circus!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "That's nice! Do you mean it is -the kind you animal boys sometimes get up; where you charge two pins to -get in and three pins for a seat?" - -"Oh, no! It's a regular man-circus, that real boys and girls go to -see!" barked Jackie. - -"It's like the kind we once ran away and joined, where we learned to do -jumping, to turn somersaults and other tricks," explained Peetie. - -"Well, if it's that kind of a circus," spoke Uncle Wiggily, "we needn't -bother our heads about it. We animal folk can't go to any real circus, -you know!" - -"Oh, but that's what we came to see you for!" whined Jackie. "We want -you to take us to the circus!" - -"Take you to the circus!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "Why, the very idea! -How would an old rabbit gentleman and two funny puppy dog boys look -walking into a real circus? The men would think we belonged to it, and -had somehow gotten out of our cages. They'd shut us up behind the iron -bars, as the lions and tigers are kept. Take you two to the circus! Oh, -no! It couldn't be thought of!" - -"Oh, dear!" sighed Jackie. - -"We told the others that you'd take us," softly barked Peetie. - -"What others?" Uncle Wiggily wanted to know, curious like. - -"Oh, Sammie and Susie Littletail, Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, Lulu, -Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble, and a lot of the animal boys and girls," -went on Peetie. "We were over on the edge of the woods, looking at the -circus men put up the tent and the colored posters, and we all thought -you'd take us." - -"Baby Bunty will be so disappointed!" said Jackie. - -Uncle Wiggily twinkled his pink nose serious like and thoughtful. - -"Hum! Circus!" murmured the old rabbit gentleman. "So Baby Bunty -wants to go, does she? Well, she never saw a circus, not even a -make-believe one, such as you boys get up. Now I don't care for a -circus _myself_--I've seen too many of 'em. But I'll go--just to take -Baby Bunty!" - -"And may we come?" asked Jackie, eagerly. - -"Oh, well, yes, I s'pose so!" slowly answered Mr. Longears. "Nurse Jane -will say I'm queer; but what matter? A circus comes but once a year! -Now run along, doggie boys. I'll have to think up some way of getting -all of you into the circus tent, for we can't buy tickets and go in the -regular way. The circus men wouldn't understand." - -Jackie and Peetie were so delighted that they turned somersaults all -the way across the field as they ran to tell the other animal boys and -girls. Meanwhile Uncle Wiggily hopped along on his red, white and blue -twinkling nose----Oh, listen to me, would you! I mean his rheumatism -crutch. I guess I'm getting excited about the circus. - -Anyhow Uncle Wiggily hopped across the field to the edge of the forest -where Jackie and Peetie had said the big show was going to be given -that afternoon. Surely enough there was the large white tent, much -larger than the one the camping boys had used the time Uncle Wiggily -helped dig a rain-water canal for the lads, so they would have dry beds -to sleep in. - -There was the circus tent! - -And there were red, green, yellow, blue and purple posters showing -pictures of lions, tigers, camels, elephants and all such wild animals. - -"It's a regular circus surely enough," said Uncle Wiggily to himself. -"But how am I going to get in with the animal boys and girls? I can't -go up to the wagon and buy tickets, much as I'd like to. I can't speak -man-talk, though I can understand it. How can I get in?" - -Just then Uncle Wiggily saw two real boys slowly walking around outside -the big tent. They seemed to be looking for something. - -[Illustration: "It's a circus, surely enough," said Uncle Wiggily.] - -"I hope they haven't lost their ticket money," thought the bunny. One -boy said to the other: - -"Here's a good place to get in!" - -"All right! Crawl under!" exclaimed the other. - -Then those two boys suddenly crawled under the circus tent, because -they had no money to buy tickets. Uncle Wiggily watched them. - -"Why! The idea!" exclaimed Mr. Longears. "What a way to get in! Why--I -have it! That's how I can get in with the animal children! I can crawl -under the tent! Of course I wouldn't do it that way if I could buy -them tickets, and get in the regular way. But I can't--the ticket man -wouldn't understand if I hopped up with green or yellow leaf money. -Crawling under the tent is the only way." - -Uncle Wiggily hopped back to the woods where he had built his hollow -stump bungalow. The animal children were gathered about waiting for him. - -"Come on. It's time to start!" said Susie Littletail, who had on her -best hat made of green ferns. - -"Where are you going, Wiggy?" asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, as she -saw the bunny gentleman starting off at the head of the procession of -animal boys and girls. - -"Oh, I'm just going to take Baby Bunty to the circus," said Mr. -Longears, holding the littlest rabbit girl by her paw. - -"Are you sure you aren't going for _yourself_?" asked Nurse Jane with a -laugh. - -"Of course not!" exclaimed the bunny. "The idea!" - -On he hopped with the animal children, and when they came near to the -edge of the woods, where the circus tent gleamed white amid the green -trees, Uncle Wiggily said: - -"Wait here, children, until I hop ahead and see if everything is all -right." - -The bunny, hiding behind a bush, looked across a little field at the -tent. He saw two more boys walk softly up and try to crawl under the -white canvas, but all at once a man with a big club rushed up, drove -away the boys, and cried: - -"No, you don't! You can't get in this circus that way!" - -"Oh, dear!" thought Uncle Wiggily. "If men are on guard to keep boys -from crawling under the tent, they won't let me in with the animal -children! What can I do? Baby Bunty will be so disappointed! Ha! I -know! I'll start here in this field, and dig a burrow, or tunnel under -ground. I'll slant it down until I'm beneath the tent, and then I'll -slant it up, so when we come out we'll be inside the tent. In that way -the men with clubs will not see us!" - -Uncle Wiggily hopped back to the waiting animal children. - -"I'll have to dig a tunnel-burrow to get you into the circus," said the -bunny. "Stay here and keep quiet!" - -Starting in the field, behind the bushes and a little way from the -circus tent, Uncle Wiggily began to dig. He was a fast worker, and soon -he had dug the burrow all the way through. - -He came out inside the circus tent, beneath the rows of seats on which -were perched many boys, girls and grown folk watching the funny clowns, -listening to the band, seeing the men on the high trapeze bars and -looking at the horses. - -"Ha! The circus is just beginning!" said Uncle Wiggily to himself, as -the big bass drum boomed out: "Zoom! Zoom!" - -He crawled back through the burrow and got the animal children in line. - -"Forward march!" cried Uncle Wiggily, and through the underground -burrow crawled the rabbits, squirrels, puppy dogs, pussy cats, -chickens, ducks, guinea pigs and all the smaller animal friends of the -rabbit gentleman. - -They were not seen by the men with clubs, because they crawled beneath -the tent far below the ground. Then they came up inside the circus, -under the high tier of seats. - -"Oh, isn't it wonderful!" cried Baby Bunty, keeping hold of Uncle -Wiggily's paw. - -"Hush!" whispered the rabbit gentleman. "Don't let the people up above -know we're down here or they might chase us out!" - -So there sat Mr. Longears and his little friends, having a fine view -of the circus almost from start to finish. And the people sitting on -the seats above dropped peanuts and kernels of popcorn which the animal -children picked up and ate. The only thing they didn't have was pink -lemonade, but perhaps that was not good for them. - -And at last, when the band began to play like anything, and the horses -and elephants raced around the big ring, Uncle Wiggily said: - -"Come, now. The circus is ended. We had better get out before the crowd -starts or we may be stepped on. Did you like it, Baby Bunty?" - -"Oh, it was the most wonderful thing I ever saw!" sighed the little -rabbit girl. "Thank you, ever so much!" - -"Yes, and we thank you also, Uncle Wiggily," called the other animal -children. - -Then they crawled down through the burrow again, outside the tent and -came into the woods, through which they scampered to their different -homes. But they had been to the circus! - -And if the window curtain doesn't roll up so fast that it flies to the -top of the ceiling, taking the gold fish with it, you shall next hear -about Uncle Wiggily and the lion. - - - - -STORY XXX - -UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE LION - - -Once upon a time, as Uncle Wiggily was hopping through the woods, he -heard a roaring sound, coming, it seemed, from a distant clump of trees. - -"Oh, ho!" exclaimed the bunny rabbit gentleman. "That's thunder! I -suppose we are going to have a storm. I didn't bring my umbrella, but I -can find a large toadstool, or mushroom. That will do as well." - -The animal folk often use toadstools for umbrellas, you know, and Uncle -Wiggily had done this more than once. The bunny hopped on a little -farther, and the roaring, rumbling sound boomed out again. - -"The thunder is coming nearer," thought Mr. Longears. "I had better -hurry if I am going to pick a toadstool umbrella!" - -He limped on his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch over -toward a large mushroom (which, of course, isn't the same as a -toadstool, though they look alike), and Uncle Wiggily was just breaking -off the stem, so he would not get wet in the thunder shower, when, all -of a sudden, a loud voice asked: - -"Can you please tell me where the circus went to?" - -Uncle Wiggily turned so quickly that he nearly lost the twinkle from -the end of his pink nose. For the voice that spoke was almost as loud -as thunder. - -"Was that you making the noise like a storm?" asked the bunny as he -saw a large yellow creature, with a great head, surrounded by a fluffy -mane, and a tail on the end of which was a bunch of hair. - -"It was," answered the big animal. "I'll try to speak more gently if it -hurts your ears. But, naturally, I have a loud voice, being a lion, you -know." - -"Yes, I knew you were a lion. I remember seeing you in the circus," -spoke the bunny gentleman, who was not at all afraid. "But tell me, why -aren't you with the show now?" - -"Because I ran away," the lion answered. "I got tired of being shut up -in my cage all the while, and, when the man left the iron door open I -slipped out. I've been hiding in the woods ever since; but it is not as -much fun as I thought it would be. Now I wish I could go back to the -circus. Can you please tell me where it is?" - -"I am sorry to say I cannot," Uncle Wiggily answered. "But if you will -come with me to my hollow stump bungalow--not that you can get inside, -for you are too large--why, perhaps Nurse Jane may know where your -circus is. She knows nearly everything." - -"Who is Nurse Jane?" asked the lion. - -"She is Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy, my muskrat lady housekeeper," replied the -bunny gentleman. - -"A rat, is she?" went on the lion. "I don't know much about rats, but -once a mouse gnawed the ropes, when I was caught in a net, and set me -free--that was before I joined the circus." - -"Well, a muskrat is something like a big mouse," said Uncle Wiggily, -"so I think you will like Nurse Jane." - -"I'm sure I shall," the lion rumbled, trying to make his voice soft and -gentle. - -"Well, then," went on Uncle Wiggily, "please come along with me, and -I'll try to find the circus for you. Nurse Jane may know where it moved -to, or some of the animal boys and girls may tell us." - -So Uncle Wiggily hopped through the woods, the lion stalking along -beside him, and soon they reached the hollow stump bungalow of the -bunny gentleman. - -"Nurse Jane! Nurse Jane!" called Mr. Longears. "I have brought home a -friend with me!" - -"Not to dinner, I hope, Wiggy," remarked Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy, from inside -the bungalow. "I have a dreadful headache! I haven't been able to wash -the breakfast dishes yet, and as for making the beds, and dusting the -furniture--it is out of the question! So if you want dinner----" - -"Please tell her not to bother," whispered the lion. "I am not hungry -and----" - -"Is that thunder?" asked the muskrat lady, thrusting her head, tied up -in a wet towel, from her bedroom window. - -And when the muskrat lady saw the big lion she screamed. - -"Pray do not be frightened, my dear Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy," the lion said. -"I just came with Uncle Wiggily to inquire where I might find the -circus, from which I foolishly ran away. But I'll toddle on, and not -bother you, since you are ill." - -"Oh, it isn't really any bother," spoke the muskrat lady. "I could get -you a cup of tea. It was only your loud voice that startled me." - -"I'm sorry," rumbled the lion, as gently as he could. "I'm afraid my -voice is rather louder than the purr of a pussy cat. But I can't help -it." - -"Oh, of course not!" agreed Nurse Jane. "I wish I could ask you in, but -our bungalow was not made for lions." - -"I'll come in and get him something he can eat outside," offered Uncle -Wiggily. "By that time some of the animal boys or girls, who know where -the circus went, may come along, since you don't know, Nurse Jane." - -[Illustration: He ate nearly all the bungalow] - -"No, I am sorry to say I don't know," spoke the muskrat lady, as she -went back to bed with her headache. - -Uncle Wiggily took some carrot soup and some lettuce tea out to the -lion, but though the tawny creature said he was not hungry, he ate -nearly all there was in the bungalow, for his appetite was much larger -than that of the muskrat lady or Mr. Longears. - -"And now I would like to do you and Nurse Jane a favor," went on the -circus chap, licking the soup off his whiskers with his red tongue. -"Couldn't I help wash the dishes or make the beds?" - -"I'm afraid not!" laughed Uncle Wiggily, thinking how funny it would -look to see a lion making a rabbit's bed. - -"Yes, I suppose I am too large to get in the bungalow," went on the -roaring chap, in as gentle a voice as he could make come from his -throat. "But I know one way in which I can help!" - -"How?" asked Uncle Wiggily. - -"With my tail," said the lion. "That isn't too large to put through one -of your windows. And on the end of my tail is a tuft of fluffy hair, -just like a dusting brush. Please let me stick my tail in through the -different windows. Then I can switch it around, and dust the furniture -for Nurse Jane." - -"Do you think you can?" asked the bunny, doubtful-like. - -"Of course!" said the lion. "True, I never before have dusted furniture -in a bunny's hollow stump bungalow, but that is no reason for not -trying. Please give me a chance!" - -So Uncle Wiggily opened all the windows. The lion backed up, and thrust -his tail first in one and then in another. When his tail was in the -parlor he switched it around--I mean he switched his tail around--and -the fluffy tuft of hair on the end knocked all the dust off the chairs, -table and piano. Soon the parlor was as nicely dusted as Nurse Jane -could have done it herself. - -In this way, with his tail, the lion dusted all the rooms in the -bungalow, even the one where Nurse Jane was lying down with a headache. -And when the muskrat lady saw the lion's fluffy tail switching around -on her chairs in such a funny way, she laughed, and then, in a little -while, her headache was all better. - -"You certainly are a good houseworker," said the muskrat lady as she -got up and drank a cup of tea. "And you have done me a great favor." - -"Pray do not mention it," spoke the lion politely as he flapped his -tail in the air to rid it of dust. "It was a pleasure!" - -Then along came Jacko Kinkytail, the monkey boy, and he said the circus -had moved on to a town about ten miles away. - -"Thank you! I'll travel there and get back in my cage," rumbled the -lion. Then, with a polite bow to Nurse Jane and Mr. Longears, the -tawny, yellow chap with the big voice walked away through the forest. -And every time the muskrat lady thought of the lion thrusting his tail -in through the window to dust the furniture she had to laugh. - -Now would you like to hear a story about Uncle Wiggily and the tiger? -Well, you may if the scrubbing brush doesn't take the cake of soap out -to the washrag's party and forget to bring it back for the bathtub to -play ball with. - - - - -STORY XXXI - -UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE TIGER - - -"Uncle Wiggily! Oh, Uncle Wiggily!" called a voice after the rabbit -gentleman, as he was hopping away from his hollow stump bungalow one -morning. - -"What's the matter now?" inquired the bunny, turning around so quickly -that his tall silk hat nearly slipped down over his pink, twinkling -nose. "Does the Woozie Wolf or the Fuzzy Fox wish to nibble my ears?" - -"I hope not!" exclaimed Nurse Jane, the muskrat lady housekeeper, for -she it was who had called. "But will you please take my scissors with -you, Uncle Wiggily?" - -"Take your scissors? What for?" asked Mr. Longears. - -"To have them sharpened," answered Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy. "They are so dull -I can hardly cut anything, and I want to cut some linen up into new -sheets and pillow cases. Take my scissors along with you, Wiggy dear, -and have them made good and sharp." - -"I will," promised the bunny rabbit gentleman. Then, wrapping the dull -scissors in a grape-vine leaf, Uncle Wiggily put them in the top of his -tall silk hat, and set the hat on his head. - -"Why do you put them there?" asked Nurse Jane. - -"So I'll remember them," the rabbit gentleman answered. "If I put them -in my pocket I'd forget them. But now, if I meet Mrs. Twistytail, the -pig lady, or Mrs. Wibblewobble, the duck lady, and bow to them, I'll -take off my hat. Out will slide the scissors, and then I'll remember -that I am to get them sharpened." - -"That's a good idea," said Nurse Jane. "Now don't forget to bring them -back to me good and sharp. If you don't I can't cut up into sheets and -pillow cases the new linen I have bought." - -"I'll not forget," promised the bunny gentleman. - -He hopped on and on through the woods, and he had not gone very far -before, all of a sudden, he heard a growling, rumbling-umbling noise, a -little like far-off thunder. - -"I wonder if that can be the lion again?" thought Uncle Wiggily. -"Perhaps he couldn't find the circus and he has come back to dust more -furniture for Nurse Jane with the end of his tail stuck through a -window in the bungalow." - -Uncle Wiggily looked through the forest, but he saw no tawny lion. -Instead he saw, limping toward him, a beast almost as big as the lion, -but with a beautiful black and yellow striped coat. - -"Oh, ho! Mr. Tiger--the one I saw when I went to the circus with Baby -Bunty!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "This is a tiger!" - -"Yes, I am the striped tiger," answered the other animal. "And, oh, -what trouble I am in!" - -"What is the matter?" kindly asked the rabbit gentleman, for he could -see that the tiger was limping and in pain. - -"I ran a thorn in my foot," went on the black and yellow fellow, "and -my eyes are so poor I can't see to pull it out." - -"Perhaps I can," Uncle Wiggily said. "I have strong glasses." - -So the bunny gentleman looked through his spectacles, and soon saw the -thorn that was in the tiger's foot. It did not take Uncle Wiggily long -to pull it out. - -"Oh, thank you, so much!" growled the tiger, though not in a cross -voice. "It serves me right, I suppose, for having run away from the -circus." - -"Did you run away, too, as the lion did?" asked Uncle Wiggily. - -"Yes," answered the striped beast, "we ran away together--the lion, -some other animals and myself. But now I'd be glad to run back again." - -"The lion was," said Uncle Wiggily. "He was very glad to go back." - -"Don't tell me you have met _him_!" exclaimed the tiger. "Where is he?" - -"He started back yesterday, after stopping at my bungalow and helping -Nurse Jane dust the furniture with his tail through the windows," the -bunny answered. - -"Then I'm going back, too!" declared the tiger. "It isn't as much fun -roaming by yourself through the woods as I thought it would be. I'm -going back!" - -"Before you start," kindly suggested Uncle Wiggily, "please come to my -bungalow with me." - -"Does more furniture need dusting?" asked the tiger, laughing. "I have -no fluffy tuft on the end of my tail, as has the lion." - -"It isn't that," the bunny answered. "But I would like to have Nurse -Jane put some salve on the place where the thorn ran in your paw, and -also wrap it up in a rag." - -"That would be very nice," spoke the tiger. "Right gladly will I come -with you." - -So he limped through the forest with the bunny gentleman, and soon they -came to the hollow stump bungalow. - -"More company for you, Nurse Jane!" called the jolly rabbit uncle. - -"That's nice," answered Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy. "Oh, you're a tiger, aren't -you?" she went on, as she saw the striped beast. - -"And he has a sore paw," spoke Uncle Wiggily. "Will you put salve on it -for him, Nurse Jane?" - -"Of course," answered the muskrat lady. And when the tiger's sore paw -was nicely wrapped in a clean rag, he started off through the woods to -find the circus. - -"Good-bye, and come again," invited Uncle Wiggily, making a low and -polite bow with his tall silk hat. - -"I will," promised the tiger. And then the bunny suddenly exclaimed: - -"Oh, your scissors, Nurse Jane! I forgot all about getting them -sharpened," and he picked them up from where they had fallen when he -took off his hat. - -"Oh, dear! That's too bad!" said the muskrat lady. "And I wanted to cut -the linen in strips to make sheets and pillow cases. Now it is so late -I'm afraid the sharpening place will be closed." - -"Perhaps I can help," said the tiger, turning back. - -"Can you sharpen scissors?" asked Uncle Wiggily. - -"No," was the answer, "but my claws are sharper than any scissors you -ever saw. If you and Nurse Jane will hold the cloth, I will cut it -into strips for you with my sharp claws. I don't need to use my sore -paw. I'll take my other one." - -"Oh, that will be very kind of you," said Nurse Jane. "I forgot that -tigers have sharp claws." - -So the muskrat lady and the rabbit gentleman held the linen cloth in -front of the tiger, and with his claws he cut and slashed it into just -the shapes Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy needed for making sheets and pillow cases. - -"I am very glad I could do you this favor," the tiger said, when all -the linen was cut. - -"So am I," spoke Uncle Wiggily, "for if you hadn't been here to use -your claws, Nurse Jane would not have forgiven me for not remembering -to get the scissors sharpened. Good-bye!" - -"Good-bye!" echoed the tiger, as he walked on to find the circus. And -that night he slept in his cage again. - -So if the doorknob doesn't try to crawl through the keyhole to play -bean bag with the rice pudding in the gas stove oven, I'll tell you -next about Uncle Wiggily and the elephant. - - - - -STORY XXXII - -UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE ELEPHANT - - -"Matches, Uncle Wiggily! Matches!" cried Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy one -morning, as the bunny rabbit gentleman was hopping down the forest -path, away from his hollow stump bungalow. - -"What's that? Patches?" exclaimed Mr. Longears. "Did I put on my garden -trousers that have patches?" and he tried to twist his neck like a -corkscrew, so he could look behind him. - -"No, I didn't say '_patches_'!" laughed Nurse Jane. "I said _matches_. -Don't forget to bring me some matches to light the fire, when you come -back from looking for an adventure." - -"Oh! Matches!" repeated the bunny. "I'll get some for you, Nurse Jane." - -Over the fields and through the woods hopped the bunny rabbit -gentleman. He looked here, there and everywhere for an adventure, but -could not seem to find one. The Woozie Wolf nor the Fuzzy Fox did not -chase him to nibble his ears. Not that Uncle Wiggily wanted them to, -but, if they had, that would have been an adventure. - -"Well, perhaps I shall find one when I come back," said the bunny -gentleman as he hopped along to the seven and eight cent store, where -he bought a box of matches. - -Carrying these fire-sticks in his paw, Uncle Wiggily was hopping -through the forest, on his way back to the hollow stump bungalow when, -all at once, the bunny gentleman felt the ground trembling, and he -heard a sound like a big horn being blown, and then a loud voice said: - -"Oh, dear! I can't get it out!" - -"Well, what can this be?" thought Uncle Wiggily. "That horn sounds like -the big brass one I heard in the circus. From the way the earth shakes -I'd say a big automobile truck was coming along. And as for someone who -can't get something out--well, that sounds like trouble! I'd like to -help, but first I must see who it is." - -Uncle Wiggily looked through the bushes, and at first he thought he saw -the side of some big house moving behind the trees. Then he noticed -something like a great leaf flapping in the wind, and a moment later -something long, like a fire hose, was thrust forward. - -"Why, it's an elephant!" exclaimed the bunny, as he caught sight of the -big chap. - -"An elephant is just who I am," was the answer in a rumbling voice, -coming through the rubber hose of a trunk. "I'm from the circus, and I -wish I might be back there this minute, eating my hay!" - -"Oh, so you have run away from the circus also, like the lion and -tiger?" questioned the bunny. - -"Yes," answered the elephant, "I did. But what do you know of my -friends, the lion and tiger?" - -"Oh, I have met them," answered Mr. Longears. "But is that your only -sorrow--wishing you were back in the circus?" - -"Indeed it is not," the elephant answered. "I have stepped on a loose -stone, and it is fast between the toes of my left hind foot. I can't -get it loose by stamping on the ground, and I can't reach so far back -with my trunk. I'm in great pain and trouble!" - -"That is too bad," spoke Uncle Wiggily. "I guess your stamping on the -ground is what I thought was an auto truck coming along." - -"Perhaps," admitted the big circus elephant. "I wish I could get that -stone out from between my toes," he went on, stamping so hard that he -shook the very trees, making them rustle as though a wind had blown -them. - -"Maybe I can help you," said Uncle Wiggily most kindly. "I have with me -my red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch. With that I may be -able to poke out the stone that hurts you." - -"I wish you'd try," begged the elephant. - -It did not take the bunny gentleman long to loosen the stone from -between the elephant's toes, for the foot of an elephant is not like -that of a horse or cow--he really has toes and toe-nails, just as you -have, only a little larger, of course. Well, I should say so! - -"Ah, I feel much better, Uncle Wiggily! Thank you!" spoke the elephant -through his hollow rubber hose-like trunk, and it sounded like a -trumpet or brass horn when he talked. "Now that the stone is out of my -foot I shall go back to the circus." - -"The path to the place where the circus is now showing leads past my -bungalow," said the rabbit gentleman. "I'll hop along and point out for -you the way. I'd like you to meet Nurse Jane." - -"That will give me pleasure, also," remarked the elephant, who was very -polite. - -So he and Uncle Wiggily went along together, but several times the -bunny had to say: - -"Please don't go so fast, Mr. Elephant. I can't keep up with you." - -"I beg your pardon," spoke the immense chap. "Suppose I lift you upon -my back and carry you that way?" - -"I should much like that," the rabbit uncle said. So in his trunk the -elephant gently lifted up Uncle Wiggily, and set him down on the broad -back. - -[Illustration: "Ah, this is even better than my auto," said Uncle -Wiggily] - -"Ah, this is even better than my auto," laughed Uncle Wiggily, as the -elephant crashed his way through the forest. Soon they came to the -hollow stump bungalow. - -"More company for you, Nurse Jane!" called Uncle Wiggily, with a laugh. - -"Eh? What's that? Where are you? I don't see anybody but a big -elephant?" cried the muskrat lady, looking up. - -"I'm on his back!" answered the bunny. And as the elephant lifted Mr. -Longears down in the trunk, Nurse Jane was so surprised that she hardly -knew what to say. - -"Will you--er--have a cup--I mean a _washtub_ of tea?" the muskrat -lady asked, well knowing that so big a creature must drink a lot of -everything. - -"Some water is all I need, thank you," answered the elephant. "I had -something to eat in the forest before I met Uncle Wiggily." - -Then the big chap put his trunk down in the brook and sucked up a great -quantity of water. Uncle Wiggily put the box of matches down on the -bench at the side of the bungalow, where the sun shone bright and hot, -and watched the elephant drink. - -"Well, now I'll travel along and go back to the circus," said the big -chap with the large trunk and little tail. "I'll tell the lion and -tiger I met you." - -"Please do." begged the bunny, and then, all of a sudden Nurse Jane -cried: - -"Fire! Fire! Fire! Oh, the sun has set off the box of matches, and the -bungalow is burning! Fire! Fire! Fire!" - -Surely enough, this had happened. The box of matches, fizzing and -spluttering, was burning Uncle Wiggily's bungalow. - -"Turn in an alarm; Get the firemen! Call out the water bugs!" cried the -bunny gentleman. - -"Just a moment! Don't get excited!" spoke the elephant calmly. "I will -put out that fire in a second!" - -He sucked up more water from the brook in his trunk and squirted it on -the blaze. The fire hissed and spluttered and died out in a puff of -smoke. - -"Oh, you have saved my bungalow!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "Thank you ever -so much! Only for you I'd be burned out of house and home!" - -"Pooh! That wasn't any more than you did for me--taking the stone out -of my foot," said the elephant. "With my rubber hose-nose of a trunk, I -very often put out little fires." - -"Oh, I'm so glad Uncle Wiggily met you!" sighed Nurse Jane. "If he -hadn't, our bungalow would have burned down, perhaps, Mr. Elephant!" - -"Well, one good turn deserves another," laughed the elephant as he -tramped away through the forest to find the circus, and the bunny -gentleman and Nurse Jane waved "Good-bye" to the big chap. - -So if the wheelbarrow doesn't catch cold when it runs after the train -of cars to get a ride around the block, the next adventure will be -about Uncle Wiggily and the camel. - - - - -STORY XXXIII - -UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CAMEL - - -"What sort of an adventure do you think you will have to-day, Uncle -Wiggily?" asked the muskrat lady housekeeper of the bunny rabbit as he -hopped away from the hollow stump bungalow one morning. - -"Well, Nurse Jane, I hardly know," was the answer. "I may meet with -some of those queer circus animals again." - -"I hope you do," Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy said, as she tied her whiskers in a -bow knot, for she was going to dust the furniture that day. "The circus -animals are very kind to you. And it is strange, for some of them are -such savage jungle beasts." - -"Yes," spoke the bunny gentleman, "I am glad to say the circus animals -were kind and gentle. More so than the Pipsisewah or Skeezicks. But -then, you see, the circus animals have been taught to be kind and -good--that is, most of them." - -"I hope you never meet the other sort--the kind that will want to -nibble your ears!" exclaimed Nurse Jane as Uncle Wiggily put his tall -silk hat on front-side before and started off with his red, white and -blue striped rheumatism crutch under his paw. - -"I hope nothing happens to him," sighed Nurse Jane as she went in to -put the dishes to bed in the china closet. - -But something was going to happen to Uncle Wiggily. You shall hear all -about it. - -On and on through the woods hopped the bunny rabbit gentleman, looking -first on one side of the path and then on the other for an adventure. -He was beginning to think he would never find one when, all of a -sudden, he heard a rustling in the bushes, and a voice said: - -"Oh, dear! I can't go a hop farther! I'm so tired, and my bundle is so -heavy. I guess I'm getting old!" - -"Ha! That sounds like trouble of the old-fashioned sort!" murmured -Uncle Wiggily to himself. "I may be able to give some help, as long as -it isn't the fox or wolf, and it doesn't sound like them." - -The bunny gentleman peered through the trees and, sitting on a flat -stump, he saw an old gentleman cat, looking quite sad and forlorn. - -"Hello, Mr. Cat!" called Uncle Wiggily, cheerfully, as he hopped over -toward the stump. "What's the trouble?" - -"Oh, lots of trouble!" mewed the cat. "You see I'm a peddler. I go -about from place to place selling pins and needles and things the lady -animals need when they sew. Here is my pack," and he pointed to a large -bundle on the ground near the stump. - -"But what is the matter?" asked the bunny gentleman. "Don't the animal -ladies buy your needles, pins and spools of thread? Just step around -and see Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, my muskrat lady housekeeper. She is -always sewing and mending. She'll buy things from your pack." - -"Oh, it isn't _selling_ them that's the trouble," said Mr. Cat. "But I -am getting so old and stiff that I can hardly carry the pack on my back -any longer. I have to sit down and rest because my back aches so much. -Oh, how tired I am! What a weary world this is!" - -"Oh, don't say that!" laughed Uncle Wiggily, who felt quite cheerful -that morning. "See how the sun shines!" - -"It only makes it so much hotter for me to carry the pack on my back," -sighed the cat. - -"Ha! That is where I can help you!" exclaimed Mr. Longears. "I am quite -well and strong, except for a little rheumatism now and then. That, -however, doesn't bother me now, so I'll carry your peddler's pack for -you." - -"Will you? That's very kind!" said the cat. "Perhaps I may be able to -do you a favor some day." - -"Oh, that will be all right!" laughed the bunny, as he twinkled his -pink nose. "Come along, we'll travel together and perhaps find an -adventure." - -Uncle Wiggily slung the cat-peddler's pack up on his back, the pussy -carried the bunny's crutch, and so off they started together through -the woods. They had not gone very far, and the bunny was wondering -whether he could not sell Nurse Jane a lot of pins to help the poor cat -when, all of a sudden, a loud, snarling sort of voice cried out: - -"Oh, where can I find some water? Oh, how much I need a drink! I can go -without one for seven days, but this is the eighth and if I don't see -some water soon I don't know what will happen!" - -"I wonder who that is?" asked the peddler cat. - -"I don't know, but we'll soon find out," spoke Mr. Longears. - -They looked through the bushes and there they saw a very strange -animal, and not what you would call pretty, either. This animal had -a long neck, bent like the letter U, and his face looked as though he -had rolled over on it in his sleep. But the queerest part of all was -his back, on which were two humps, like little mountains, running up to -peaks. - -"Oh, what a queer chap!" mewed the peddler cat. - -"Hush, don't let him hear you!" whispered Uncle Wiggily. "I think this -is an animal from the circus." - -"You are right--I am!" exclaimed the two-humped chap, looking toward -the bushes behind which Uncle Wiggily and the cat were standing. "I -heard what you said, too, Mr. Cat," the odd chap went on. "But I don't -mind. I'm a camel, and I'm used to hearing folks say how queer I look. -But I am in trouble now. Oh, dear!" - -"What's the matter?" asked Uncle Wiggily, kindly. - -"I'm so thirsty," the camel said. "You see, I took a long drink before -I ran away from the circus, which I did, very foolishly, as I wanted -some adventures. Well, I'm having them, all right! I've been lost in -the woods, and, though I had enough to eat I couldn't find a thing to -drink. On the desert, where I came from, I could find water once in a -while. But here I'm lost." - -"And, though I am a camel," went on the humped creature, "and can hold -enough water in my stomach to last for several days, now my time is up. -I haven't had a drink for over seven days, and unless I get one soon I -don't know what will happen." - -"Oh, I can take you to the duck pond and you can get a drink there, Mr. -Camel," Uncle Wiggily said, as he hopped out from behind the bush. - -"Oh, ho! What a funny chap you are!" snarled the camel, not that he -was cross, only a snarl was his regular way of speaking. "Are you a -little camel?" - -"Why, no, I'm not a camel," answered the bunny. "What made you think -so?" - -"Because of that hump on your back," said the camel. "Some of us -camels have two humps, and some only one. But surely you cannot be a -one-humped camel! I never saw one with ears so long!" - -"Indeed, I'm not a camel!" laughed Uncle Wiggily. "I'm a rabbit, and -this pack that you see belongs to this poor peddler cat, who is too -tired to carry it. So I am carrying it for him." - -"That is very kind of you," spoke the thirsty circus animal. "In fact, -it seems to me you are very fond of being kind, Mr. Longears. You carry -the cat's pack, and now you offer to show me where to get a drink. And, -if you can, I wish you would soon lead me to water. I am very thirsty!" - -"Follow me!" called Uncle Wiggily. Then he hopped off through the -woods, carrying the cat's peddler pack, and followed by the two-humped -camel, whose long neck swayed to and fro like a clock pendulum, while -his humps shook like two bowls full of jelly. - -Soon they came to the duck pond and there the camel put his queer face -down into the water and drank as much as he pleased. He took a long -time to drink, as camels always do, for they must take enough into -their stomachs to last for a week in case they can not find more water -before the end of seven days. - -The cat and Uncle Wiggily stood watching the camel, thinking how queer -and homely he was, but honest for all that, when, all of a sudden, out -from behind a bush jumped the bad old Pipsisewah! - -"Wow! Wow! I've got you now!" howled the Pipsisewah. "I'll nibble your -ears now, Uncle Wiggily!" - -The bunny rabbit gentleman started to run, but, because he had strapped -to his back the pack of the cat peddler, the bunny could not hop fast -at all. - -"I'll get you! I'll get you!" cried the Pipsisewah. - -"Oh dear! Oh dear!" sighed Uncle Wiggily, wondering who was going to -save him, for he knew the tired old cat peddler couldn't. - -And then, all of a sudden, the circus camel finished his long drink, -and, with a jolly snarl, he cried: - -"Here! You let Uncle Wiggily alone!" Then with his broad foot, made big -and wide so it would not sink into the soft sand of the desert, the -camel stepped on the tail of the Pipsisewah, holding him back so he -couldn't chase Uncle Wiggily. - -"Wow! Wow!" howled the Pip. - -"Ha! Ha!" laughed the peddler cat. "Oh, mew!" - -"Just wait until I get loose, and I'll chase you, too!" cried the -Pipsisewah to the cat. "Just wait!" - -"Don't be afraid!" said the camel, with a smile which made him look -more homely than before, though this didn't matter. "Here, Uncle -Wiggily, hop up on my back, between my two humps! You, too, Mr. Cat, -jump up on my back. You and the bunny gentleman can sit there as the -people of the desert used to ride me before I joined the circus. Hop -up, my kind friends, and I'll soon carry you safe out of these woods. -I can go fast, now that I have had a big drink of water. Hop up!" - -Uncle Wiggily, with the cat's pack, hopped up on the back of the camel. -The cat, too, sprang up. All the while the camel kept his broad foot on -the tail of the Pipsisewah, so the bad animal couldn't get loose. And -when the bunny and cat were safe in place, snuggled down in between the -camel's humps, the queer creature started off, letting go the tail of -the Pip. - -"Ha! Now you can't get us!" mewed the cat, looking down from the -camel's back. - -"Just you wait! I'll get Uncle Wiggily yet, and you too!" the Pip -howled. "And I'll fix you, Mr. Camel, for stepping on my tail!" - -"Pooh! Nonsense!" snarled the camel, "Uncle Wiggily helped me by -showing me where to find water, and now I am helping him." And away he -went, quite fast, indeed, for such a queer chap. - -And the old Pip skipped away to put some soft moss on his sore tail. - -"Isn't this jolly!" laughed Uncle Wiggily, twinkling his pink nose. "I -never expected to have a ride on the back of a camel! It's just like a -circus parade! I wish Nurse Jane could see me!" - -And the muskrat lady did, for the kind camel gave Uncle Wiggily a ride -all the way home to the bunny's hollow stump bungalow, and when the -muskrat lady housekeeper saw Mr. Longears up between the two humps she -cried: - -"My land sakes flopsy dub and a basket of soap bubbles! What will -happen next?" - -"I don't know," laughed Uncle Wiggily. - -"As for me, I am going back to the circus," the camel said. And he did. -The peddler cat, after selling Nurse Jane some sewing silk, stayed -for some time with Mr. Longears, getting rested so he would be strong -enough to carry his own pack of needles, pins and thread. And as for -the bunny--well, he had more adventures, of course. - -And the next one will be about Uncle Wiggily and the wild rabbit--that -is if the teaspoon doesn't take the cork out of the bottle of bitter -medicine and give it to the rag doll to make mud pies with. - - - - -STORY XXXIV - -UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE WILD RABBIT - - -"There he is again!" cried Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, as she ran to the -window of the hollow stump bungalow and looked out. "He's digging up -all the nice carrots in your garden, Uncle Wiggily!" - -"Who is?" asked the bunny gentleman, laying aside the cabbage-leaf -newspaper he was reading, with his glasses perched on his pink, -twinkling nose. "Who is taking my carrots, Nurse Jane?" - -"That wild rabbit," answered the muskrat lady housekeeper. "He lives -in the thick bushes in the middle of the woods. I think he hasn't been -here very long, and he doesn't seem to know any of your other animal -friends. He's wild and runs the minute I go out. But he has been -spoiling your garden lately." - -"That isn't nice of him," said Uncle Wiggily. "I'll go out myself and -see what he has to say." - -But as soon as Uncle Wiggily started down the steps of his hollow stump -bungalow, toward where the other bunny was digging up the carrots, the -wild rabbit hopped away. - -"What's the matter with you?" asked Uncle Wiggily, twinkling his pink -nose in a friendly way. "Why are you spoiling my garden?" - -"Because I like to!" answered the wild rabbit. "You live in a fine -hollow stump bungalow, and all I have is a hole in the ground, or -burrow. You're rich and I'm poor, and I'm going to spoil everything you -have!" - -"Oh, that isn't a good way to feel!" said Uncle Wiggily kindly. "That's -the way the Bolshevics talk! I used to be poor, like you, but I went -off to seek my fortune and I found it. I built me this hollow stump -bungalow, and, if you like, I'll show you how to make one. Nurse Jane -and I will help you!" - -"Nope!" cried the wild rabbit. "I'd rather be bad! I'm going to dig -in your garden every chance I get, and you can't catch me, either, so -there!" And it sounded as if that wild rabbit might be making a funny -"face" at Uncle Wiggily. Mind you, I'm not saying for sure, but maybe! - -"Dear me!" thought Mr. Longears, as he went back in his house. "That -wild rabbit is certainly a queer chap. I don't want to hurt him, but I -wish he would get tame. I'll have to speak to Policeman Dog Percival -about him, and set Percival on guard in my carrot patch." - -"Did you make that wild rabbit stop his digging?" asked Nurse Jane, as -she met Uncle Wiggily coming in. - -"No, he says he's going to be bad," sighed the bunny gentleman, as he -took his tall, silk hat down off the rubber plant. - -"Where are you going?" asked Nurse Jane. - -"Out in the woods to look for an adventure," answered Uncle Wiggily. -"And perhaps I may find a way to make that wild rabbit tame and good." - -"I hope so," sighed Nurse Jane. "It isn't nice to have our garden -spoiled." - -As Uncle Wiggily was hopping through the woods, over on that side of -the forest nearest the village, where the real children lived, the -bunny gentleman, all of a sudden, heard the voice of a little girl. - -"Oh, Donald!" said the little girl, in sad tones. "You've broken it. -You've spoiled my nice little jumping bunny!" - -"Well, I didn't mean to," answered a boy's voice. "He jumped all right -a minute ago!" - -"Yes, but you went and squeezed the rubber ball too hard, that's what -you did!" sobbed the little girl. "And now my nice Easter bunny won't -hop any more! Boo hoo!" - -"Dear, dear!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily to himself. "This is too bad! -There's trouble here! I wonder if I can help?" - -You see Uncle Wiggily knew what the boy and girl were saying, though -the bunny himself could not speak their talk. Uncle Wiggily hopped -softly nearer the children. He looked through the bushes, and there he -saw a little boy trying to mend a toy bunny for the little girl. - -The toy bunny was made to look like a real one, with ears and fur and -everything. Fastened to the toy was a little rubber hose and a rubber -ball was on the end of the hose. - -When the toy rabbit was placed on the ground, and the rubber ball was -pressed, some air was squeezed inside the bunny's legs, and he would -hop across the floor; and his ears would flop up, too, because he had -springs and other things inside him. - -"There's no use squeezing the ball," sadly said the little girl. "My -toy bunny is broken, and won't ever hop again! Oh, dear! Boo hoo!" - -"My! This is too bad!" said Uncle Wiggily. "I wonder what I can do -to make that little girl feel happier? I might get Sammie or Susie -Littletail, the rabbit children, to come and stay with the real -children for a while. They seem to be kind--this boy and girl. They -wouldn't hurt Sammie or Susie. That's what I'll do! I'll go get the -Littletail brother and sister, and have them hop over here so this boy -and girl can easily catch them and play with them a while." - -Uncle Wiggily started off through the woods. The boy and girl sat in -a moss-covered dingly dell, trying to mend the broken toy. And Mr. -Longears had not gone very far before, all of a sudden, he came to a -little hollow place, filled with leaves. There he heard a voice saying: - -"Oh dear! Oh what a pain! Oh what trouble I am in!" - -"Ha! This seems to be my busy day for trouble!" exclaimed Uncle -Wiggily, as he looked at the leaf-filled hollow. "Who are you, and what -is the matter?" asked the bunny gentleman. - -"Oh, I'm the wild rabbit," was the answer. "The wild rabbit who was -eating the carrots in your garden. But alas! I can eat no more!" - -"Why not?" Uncle Wiggily asked. - -"Because I have fallen and broken my leg," was the answer. "I can hop -no more, and I suppose I shall have to stay here and starve. I'm sorry -I was bad, and tried to spoil your garden, Uncle Wiggily." - -"Oh, perhaps you didn't really mean it," the bunny gentleman said. "But -wait here a minute. I think I can help you." - -"Oh, if you only would!" sighed the wild rabbit with a broken leg. - -"I think I see a chance here," said Uncle Wiggily softly to himself, -"to help that boy and girl, and also the wild rabbit." - -Off hopped Uncle Wiggily through the woods. It did not take him long -to reach the place where the boy and girl had been playing with the -hippity-hop rabbit toy that was now broken. The children were still -there. The little girl had sat down on a log to cry, and the boy was -trying to make her a willow whistle so she wouldn't feel so unhappy. -The broken toy rabbit lay on a pile of leaves some distance away from -the boy and girl. I suppose they had tossed it there, thinking it was -of no more use. - -[Illustration: "He's hopping off by himself!"] - -"This is just what I want," said Uncle Wiggily. He found a long piece -of wild grape vine, like a small rope, and, when the boy and girl -weren't looking, Uncle Wiggily slipped up and fastened one end of the -grape-vine cord to the broken toy. Then, hopping off behind the bushes, -Uncle Wiggily began pulling the piece of vine. Of course he also -pulled the toy rabbit along the ground. - -"Oh, look!" suddenly cried the little girl. "Look, Donald! My toy -rabbit is all right again! He's hopping off by himself!" - -And, surely enough, the toy did seem to be hopping away. But this, as -you know, was because Uncle Wiggily was pulling it by the grape-vine -string. - -"Come on! Help me catch him!" begged the little girl. - -"I will!" her brother said. Together they raced on after the toy, which -Uncle Wiggily jerked along the forest path. The bunny gentleman kept -out of sight behind the bushes, and as the wild grape vine was just the -color of the earth and leaves the children did not see it. To them it -looked as if the toy was hopping away all by itself. - -"I say, Mab!" called Donald. "He hops better than he ever did before! I -wonder who is squeezing the rubber ball? I can't see anyone." - -"Maybe it's fairies," suggested Mab, in a low voice. - -"Pooh! There aren't any fairies!" laughed Donald. - -On and on ran the boy and girl after the skipping toy rabbit, and Uncle -Wiggily pulled it so fast as he hopped along, out of sight, that Donald -and Mab could not get their hands on the toy. It kept ahead of them all -the way. - -Uncle Wiggily knew what he was doing and, in a little while, he led the -boy and girl up to the place where the wild rabbit with a broken leg -lay in the bed of leaves. Uncle Wiggily jerked the toy rabbit close to -the wild one, and then pulled the toy out of sight behind a clump of -ferns. - -"Oh, Don! Look!" cried the girl. "Our toy rabbit has changed into a -real one!" And she pointed to the wild rabbit, which could not move -away, though he wanted to very much, as his heart beat very fast. - -"A toy rabbit couldn't change into a real one!" said the boy. - -"Well, mine did; else how could this live rabbit be here, and my toy -one gone?" asked Mab. For that is what seemed to have happened, all on -account of Uncle Wiggily. - -"And see, Don," went on the little girl, as she knelt down beside the -poor, wild bunny. "His leg is broken, just as my toy rabbit's leg was -broken. Oh, it is the same one! My toy has changed into a live rabbit! -Oh, you poor, sweet, lovely darling!" cried the little girl, as she -cuddled the wild rabbit up in her arms. - -"Say! This sure is queer!" exclaimed the boy. "Very queer!" - -Uncle Wiggily, peering through the bushes where he was hiding with the -broken toy rabbit, looked out and saw the little girl holding the wild -rabbit with its broken leg. The wild rabbit would have hopped away if -it could, but was not able. - -"Oh, Uncle Wiggily! Uncle Wiggily! Is this how you help me?" sadly -cried the wild rabbit. Of course, he spoke in rabbit talk, which -neither the boy nor girl understood. But Uncle Wiggily, hiding in the -bushes, heard and softly answered: - -"Don't be afraid, wild rabbit. These children will be kind to you, I -know. They will take you home, and mend your broken leg and you will be -as stylish as I am." - -"Oh, if I'm going to be _stylish_, that's different!" said the wild -rabbit. Then he nestled down in the girl's arms, and she and the boy -took the bunny home and their father mended the broken leg with splints -of wood and soft cloth bandages. - -"Well, I guess that wild rabbit won't spoil my carrots any more," -laughed Uncle Wiggily as he hopped along. "I'll take this broken toy -home to Sammie and Susie." - -As for the wild rabbit, he was no longer frightened when he heard Uncle -Wiggily say that the children would be kind. And no one could have been -more kind than were Donald and Mab. When the wild rabbit had to stay -quiet until his leg healed, they brought him, every day, fresh lettuce -and carrots, with cool water to drink. And when the leg was all well, -the wild rabbit was so tame that he never wanted to leave the boy and -girl, and go back to spoil Uncle Wiggily's garden. He lived happily -with Donald and Mab all the rest of his life. - -Sammie and Susie had fun playing with the broken toy, and they thought -Mr. Longears was very clever to think of a way to not only help the -wild bunny and the boy and girl, but also to save his carrots from -being eaten. - -So if the strawberry shortcake doesn't try to stretch itself up tall -and look like a big mince pie, I'll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily -and the tame squirrel. - - - - -STORY XXXV - -UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE TAME SQUIRREL - - -Once upon a time, as Uncle Wiggily Longears, the bunny rabbit -gentleman, was hopping through the woods, he heard a rustling in the -bushes, and he crouched down to hide himself. - -"For," thought the bunny, "this may be the Pipsisewah or the Skeezicks, -or even the Woozie Wolf or the Fuzzy Fox. I had better be careful!" - -But when Uncle Wiggily looked over the top of the bush, whence the -rustling sound had come, all he saw was the tame rabbit, who once had a -broken leg. The rabbit, who was now tame, was hopping along the forest -path. - -"Hello!" called Uncle Wiggily in his most jolly voice, as he twinkled -his pink nose upside down, just for a change. "Where are you going, -Tame Rabbit? I shall call you that as a new name. I hope you are not -going to run away from Donald and Mab, the boy and girl who were so -kind to you." - -"Indeed I am not running away," answered the Tame Rabbit. "I am just -going to the woods to look for some flowers. Don and Mab are going to -have a little woodland party this afternoon, and I want to get them -some flowers to put on the flat stump which they will use for a table." - -"That is very kind of you," Uncle Wiggily said. "I'll help!" - -"Wouldn't you like to come to the party?" asked the Tame Rabbit, as he -and the bunny gentleman hopped into the forest together. "There will be -lots of good things to eat--even ice cream!" - -"Thank you, I'd better not come, as some of the boys and girls might -not be as thoughtful as Mab and Don," spoke Uncle Wiggily. "Some of -them might throw peanut shells at my tall, silk hat; just for fun, you -know." - -"Well, perhaps they might," admitted the Tame Rabbit. "I don't wear -anything but an old cap--nobody tries to knock that off," he added with -a laugh. "But can't you just look in at the party, Uncle Wiggily? Just -stop for a moment?" - -"Yes, I'll do that," promised Mr. Longears. And when he had nibbled, -with his teeth, some wild flowers for the Tame Bunny, Uncle Wiggily -hopped to his hollow stump bungalow, promising to peek through the -bushes at the children's party later in the day. - -That afternoon, as he was hopping through the woods, Uncle Wiggily -heard the sounds of shouting and laughter. - -"That must be the party," thought the bunny gentleman. "I'll skip over -and take a look." - -In a little moss-covered dingly dell among the trees, Uncle Wiggily saw -Don, Mab and many of their little boy and girl friends dancing about a -broad, flat stump, which was set like a table. And in the middle was -the bunch of flowers, some of which Uncle Wiggily had helped gather. - -"Those children are certainly having a good time!" thought Uncle -Wiggily, twinkling his pink nose so that it almost turned a somersault. -"And the Tame Rabbit, who used to be wild, is enjoying himself, too." -The other bunny surely was having fun, hopping here and there almost -as if playing tag with the children. - -All at once Mab cried: - -"Come on now! We'll eat!" - -"Hurray!" cried all the boys. - -The girls didn't get so excited about it, but I think they were just as -glad to eat as were the boys. The children gathered around the stump -table, and I wish I could tell you all the good things they had for the -woodland party. But I'm not allowed to do this for fear it would make -you too hungry. - -All I can say is that there was just the most lovely party-things you -ever heard of! The Tame Rabbit sat near Don and Mab, eating what they -gave him. - -"Now we'll crack the nuts and play more games!" called Mab, after a -while. - -But when she went to pass the nuts she found that they were not -cracked, and some of them had very hard shells. - -"Oh, Don! Didn't you bring the nut cracker?" asked Mab. - -"No, I thought you did," answered her brother. - -"And I thought you did!" exclaimed Mab. "Oh, what shall we do?" - -"We can crack the nuts with stones on top of the stump," said one boy. - -But when they tried this, some of the nuts flew away over in the -bushes, without getting cracked at all. Others hit the girls on the -ends of their noses. And some of the children pounded their fingers -instead of cracking the nuts. - -"Oh, dear!" sighed Mab, as she saw what was going on. "My party will be -spoiled, all because we haven't a nut cracker." - -The Tame Rabbit heard all this. So did Uncle Wiggily, who was looking -on, hidden in the bushes. Both bunnies knew what was said though they -couldn't speak boy and girl talk. - -"Can't you help the children, Uncle Wiggily?" asked the Tame Rabbit, as -he hopped out to the bush where the bunny gentleman was hidden. None of -the children saw the two animals talking together. - -"How do you mean help them?" asked Mr. Longears. - -"By getting them a nut cracker," went on the Tame Rabbit. - -"A nut cracker?" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "A squirrel is the best -nut cracker I know of. Ha! I have it! I'll send one of the Bushytail -brothers over here to crack nuts for the children. I think the boys and -girls will be kind to him. I'll go get Johnnie or Billie." - -Away hopped Uncle Wiggily through the woods, and soon he met Johnnie -Bushytail. - -"Johnnie, don't you want to come and be a nut cracker for some -children?" asked Uncle Wiggily. - -"Why, of course!" chattered Johnnie, who was a very tame squirrel. "I -love children," he said. "And I suppose I may eat a few of the nuts I -crack." - -"Oh, surely," answered Uncle Wiggily. - -The bunny gentleman led Johnnie back through the woods to the -children's party. The boys and girls were still trying to crack the -hard nuts, but they could not do it well at all. Johnnie suddenly -scrambled out of the bushes and up on the flat stump, and, taking a -nut in his paws, he cracked it, by gnawing through the hard shell with -his sharp teeth. Then he took out the meat and laid it on a birch-bark -plate. - -"Oh, look!" exclaimed Don, pointing to the Bushytail chap. "A tame -squirrel is cracking the nuts for us! Look!" - -[Illustration: "Maybe he's a fairy!" she whispered.] - -"Oh, the dear little thing!" cried Mab. "And see, he's all dressed up -like a real boy. Maybe he's a fairy!" she whispered as Johnnie cracked -more nuts. - -"Pooh! There aren't any fairies!" said Don. "But he sure is helping us!" - -Johnnie sat up on the stump, his tail held straight up behind his back, -and he cracked nut after nut. - -"This is fine!" whispered the Tame Rabbit to Johnnie, the tame -squirrel, while Uncle Wiggily, hiding behind a bush, saw and heard it -all. "The children will love you for this." - -"I'm glad of that," answered Johnnie, in animal talk, which the boys -and girls could not hear. Then the tame squirrel cracked many more -nuts, eating some himself, for there were more than enough for all the -children at the party. - -"Oh, I wonder if we could take this squirrel home with us, as we took -the Wild Tame Rabbit?" said the boy, as Johnnie cracked the last nut. - -"Try it," suggested Mab to her brother. - -But when Donald put out his hand, and tried to catch Johnnie, the -squirrel boy just flipped his tail and scampered away. - -"Thank you, I'd rather not be caught," chattered Johnnie, though of -course Don and Mab did not know what he was saying. Then, when the -woodland party was over, the children went home. - -So that's how it all happened, as true as I'm telling you. And if the -Jumping Jack doesn't stick beans in the sugar cookies, in place of the -raisins he takes out to put in the molasses candy, I'll tell you next -about Uncle Wiggily and the wolf. - - - - -STORY XXXVI - -UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE WOLF - - -Uncle Wiggily was hopping through the woods with Nurse Jane one day, -wondering what sort of an adventure he might have, and he was helping -the muskrat lady housekeeper carry some clothes pins that she had -bought at the three and four cent store when, all of a sudden, Miss -Fuzzy Wuzzy called loudly: - -"Look out!" - -"What's the matter?" asked Uncle Wiggily. "Am I spilling the clothes -pins?" - -"No," answered the muskrat housekeeper of the hollow stump bungalow. -"But, see that big wolf! Let's run!" - -"Where's any wolf?" asked the bunny gentleman. "I don't see any," and -he began searching in his pockets for his spectacles, which he had -taken off, as they tickled his pink, twinkling nose. - -"There's a big, gold wolf, over behind that mulberry bush," whispered -Nurse Jane. - -"What's that? A _gold_ wolf? I never heard of such a thing!" exclaimed -Uncle Wiggily. "You must be mistaken, Nurse Jane. I'll take a look!" - -Then bravely singing the song--"Here we go 'round the Mulberry Bush," -Uncle Wiggily hopped up to where Nurse Jane pointed. Surely enough, -something was gleaming gold-like among the trees, and as soon as Uncle -Wiggily had put on his glasses, and had taken a good look, he cried: - -"Well, well, Nurse Jane! This is a gold wolf, surely enough! But it -cannot hurt us!" - -"Why not?" asked the muskrat lady, who was getting ready to run. - -"Because it is only a wolf carved out of _wood_, and painted like -gold," answered the bunny gentleman. "I see what this is--it is one of -the gilded wolves that were on the Little Red Riding Hood chariot from -the circus. This golden, wooden wolf fell off the wagon and the circus -people did not stop to pick it up." - -"Well, I'm glad it's a wooden wolf," spoke the muskrat lady. "Then it -can't nibble your ears; can it?" - -"Not in the least," laughed Uncle Wiggily. "But if I had a wheelbarrow, -or something, I'd take this wolf home to my bungalow." - -"What for?" Nurse Jane wanted to know. - -"Oh, I'd set it in the hall, near the umbrella rack," said Uncle -Wiggily. "Just think! A golden, wooden wolf would be quite an ornament." - -"Yes," agreed Nurse Jane, "it might look nice. But how can you get it -home? It is too heavy to drag, and it has no wheels on as the animals -have in the Noah's arks." - -"Hum! Let me see, now," said Uncle Wiggily, walking around the golden, -wooden wolf. "If I only had some wheels!" - -And just then, along through the woods came Billie and Nannie Wagtail, -the goat boy and girl, each with roller skates dangling by a strap over -their shoulders. - -"Oh, Billie! The very chap I wanted!" laughed Uncle Wiggily. "Let me -take your roller skates for the golden wolf! And you too, Nan!" - -"With pleasure," bleated Billie, shaking his horns. "I'll help you -fasten them on." - -"Will the wolf bite?" asked Nannie, a bit timidly. - -"Of course not!" laughed Uncle Wiggily. - -So the roller skates were fastened on the paws of the golden, wooden -wolf, and then, with a bit of wild grape vine for a rope, the gilded -animal from the Red Riding Hood circus wagon was dragged through the -woods to Uncle Wiggily's bungalow. - -There the savage creature, who couldn't bite even a lollypop stick, was -placed in the hall near the front door. - -"Our friends will think us quite stylish like and proper," said Uncle -Wiggily, admiring the wolf ornament. - -"Yes," agreed Nurse Jane. "As long as it doesn't scare any of the -animal children it will be all right." - -But the animal children soon learned that the wolf was only made of -gilded wood, and though his mouth was widely open, showing his sharp -teeth, he could never, never bite them. - -One day, about a week after he had brought the gilded wolf to his -bungalow, Uncle Wiggily was home all alone. Nurse Jane had gone to the -movies, with Mrs. Wibblewobble, the duck lady, and the bunny gentleman -was just thinking of going to look for an adventure, or a piece of pie -in the pantry, when, all of a sudden, there came a knock at his door. - -"That must be Nurse Jane," said Uncle Wiggily. "She is back a bit -early, and has, I suppose, forgotten her key. I'll let her in." - -The bunny gentleman opened his bungalow door, but, instead of his -muskrat lady housekeeper he saw the bad old Skeezicks. - -"Ah ha!" cried the Skeezicks. "I fooled you, didn't I? You thought I -was Nurse Jane and you came to let me in! Now I'm going to nibble your -ears! Ha! Ha!" - -Uncle Wiggily tried to shut the door, but the bad Skeezicks pushed his -way in, and was just going to nibble the bunny's ears when, all of a -sudden, the impolite Skee saw the golden wolf. - -Coming into the dark hall, as he did from the bright outdoors, the -Skeezicks could not see that the wolf was not real. It looked so -natural that the Skee stopped short and then he cried: - -"Oh, excuse me! Oh, I didn't know you were here, Mr. Wolf, or I never -would have come in. You are going to nibble Uncle Wiggily's ears, I -suppose. You have the first turn. Well, I'll nibble them some other -time, when you have finished. Please excuse and don't bite me! I'll -skip right long!" - -And with that, out of the door the Skeezicks jumped, never hurting the -bunny gentleman at all. - -"Ha! Ha!" laughed Uncle Wiggily, as he closed the door. "The golden, -wooden wolf did me a good turn after all! He scared away the Skeezicks. -I'm glad the circus wolf lives in my bungalow!" - -And Nurse Jane said the same thing when she came home from the movies. - -So this teaches us that it is a good thing to have something of gold -around the house, even if it is only a gold dollar. - -But now we have come to the end of this book. Not that Uncle Wiggily's -adventures were over, for he had many more. But these are all I have -room for here. Enough to say that the bunny rabbit lived happily for -many, many years in his hollow stump bungalow in the woods, with Nurse -Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy. And there you may, perhaps, see him some day. - -Who knows? - -+ADIEU+ - -[Illustration] - - -Transcriber's Note - -Obvious typographical and punctuation errors have been corrected. - -Blank pages have been removed. - -Character names vary from story to story and have been handled thus: - Peetie Bow Wow was mis-spelled twice. These have been corrected - Jackie is called Jackie Bow Wow in two places. These have been retained. - Mr. Longears was referred to as Dr. Longears once. This has been corrected - Billie was referred to as Billy in a caption. This has been retained - -Emphasised text is handled thus: - _italic_ - +small capital+ - - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Uncle Wiggily's Story Book, by Howard R. 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