diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/69458-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/69458-0.txt | 8945 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 8945 deletions
diff --git a/old/69458-0.txt b/old/69458-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index d5b3fca..0000000 --- a/old/69458-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8945 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Uncle Wiggily and Mother Goose, by -Howard R. Garis - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Uncle Wiggily and Mother Goose - Complete in two parts; fifty-two stories--one for each week of - the year - -Author: Howard R. Garis - -Illustrator: Edward Bloomfield - -Release Date: December 2, 2022 [eBook #69458] - -Language: English - -Produced by: David Edwards, Barry Abrahamsen, and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was - produced from images made available by the HathiTrust - Digital Library.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNCLE WIGGILY AND MOTHER -GOOSE *** - - - - - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration] - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - Uncle Wiggily and Mother Goose - - - COMPLETE IN TWO PARTS - - - FIFTY-TWO STORIES—ONE FOR EACH WEEK IN THE YEAR - - - - - BY - HOWARD R. GARIS - - Author of - “Sammie and Susie Littletail,” “Johnnie and Billie Bushytail,” “Uncle - Wiggily Longears,” “Uncle Wiggily at the Seashore,” “Uncle - Wiggily in the Country,” “The Daddy Series,” etc. - - - - - Illustrated by - EDWARD BLOOMFIELD - - - - - R. F. FENNO & COMPANY - 18 East 17 Street, New York - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - - - CHILDREN’S BOOKS - By HOWARD R. GARIS - - ------- - - UNCLE WIGGILY’S BIG BOOKS - - _Price, $1.50 each_ - - UNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS - UNCLE WIGGILY AND MOTHER GOOSE - UNCLE WIGGILY AND HIS FRIENDS - -Large cloth volumes, decorated cover and eight colored illustrations -each - - ------- - - THE DADDY SERIES - - DADDY TAKES US CAMPING - DADDY TAKES US FISHING - DADDY TAKES US TO THE COUNTRY - DADDY TAKES US COASTING - DADDY TAKES US SKATING - DADDY TAKES US HUNTING FLOWERS - DADDY TAKES US HUNTING BIRDS - DADDY TAKES US TO THE WOODS - - ------- - - Small boards, decorated cover and illustrated - - _Price, per volume, 40 cents_ - - ------- - -Stories of Daddy and the two children who learned much of nature-lore -and the great outdoors. - - ------- - - CIRCUS ANIMAL STORIES - -Tales of wild animals of desert and jungle, telling how they are caught -and trained to do circus tricks. - - ------- - - SNARLIE, THE TIGER - WOO-UFF, THE LION - HUMPO, THE CAMEL - UMBOO, THE ELEPHANT - - Copyright 1916 by - R. F. FENNO & COMPANY - - ------- - - _UNCLE WIGGILY AND MOTHER GOOSE_ - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND - MOTHER GOOSE - - PART I - - - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CONTENTS - - ------- - - PART I. - - CHAPTER PAGE - I. Uncle Wiggily and Mother Goose 9 - II. Uncle Wiggily and the First Pig 19 - III. Uncle Wiggily and the Second Pig 25 - IV. Uncle Wiggily and the Third Pig 31 - V. Uncle Wiggily and Little Boy Blue 38 - VI. Uncle Wiggily and Higgledee Piggledee 45 - VII. Uncle Wiggily and Little Bo Peep 52 - VIII. Uncle Wiggily and Tommie Tucker 58 - IX. Uncle Wiggily and Pussy Cat Mole 65 - X. Uncle Wiggily and Jack and Jill 71 - XI. Uncle Wiggily and Jack Horner 77 - XII. Uncle Wiggily and Mr. Pop-Goes 84 - XIII. Uncle Wiggily and Simple Simon 90 - XIV. Uncle Wiggily and the Crumpled-Horn Cow 96 - XV. Uncle Wiggily and Old Mother Hubbard 103 - XVI. Uncle Wiggily and Miss Muffet 109 - XVII. Uncle Wiggily and the First Kitten 115 - XVIII. Uncle Wiggily and the Second Kitten 121 - XIX. Uncle Wiggily and the Third Kitten 127 - XX. Uncle Wiggily and the Jack Horse 133 - XXI. Uncle Wiggily and the Clock-Mouse 140 - XXII. Uncle Wiggily and the Late Scholar 146 - XXIII. Uncle Wiggily and Baa-Baa Black Sheep 152 - XXIV. Uncle Wiggily and Polly Flinders 158 - XXV. Uncle Wiggily and the Garden Maid 164 - XXVI. Uncle Wiggily and the King 171 - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - Uncle Wiggily and Mother Goose - - - ------- - - - - - CHAPTER I - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND MOTHER GOOSE - - -THERE once lived in the woods an old rabbit gentleman named Uncle -Wiggily Longears, and in the hollow-stump bungalow where he had his home -there also lived Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, a muskrat lady housekeeper. -Near Uncle Wiggily there were, in hollow trees, or in nests or in -burrows under the ground, many animal friends of his—rabbits, squirrels, -puppy dogs, pussy cats, frogs, ducks, chickens and others, so that Uncle -Wiggily and Nurse Jane were never lonesome. - -Often Sammie or Susie Littletail, a small boy and girl rabbit, would hop -over to the hollow-stump bungalow, and call: - -“Uncle Wiggily! Uncle Wiggily! Can’t you come out and play with us?” - -Then the old rabbit gentleman, who was as fond of fun as a kitten, would -put on his tall silk hat, take his red, white and blue-striped -barber-pole rheumatism crutch, that Nurse Jane had gnawed for him out of -a corn-stalk, and he would go out to play with the rabbit children, -about whom I have told you in other books. - -Or perhaps Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, the squirrel boys, might ask -Uncle Wiggily to go after hickory nuts with them, or maybe Lulu, Alice -or Jimmie Wibblewobble, the duck children, would want their bunny uncle -to see them go swimming. - -So, altogether, Uncle Wiggily had a good time in his hollow-stump -bungalow which was built in the woods. When he had nothing else to do -Mr. Longears would go for a ride in his airship. This was made of a -clothes-basket, with toy circus balloons on it to make it rise up above -the trees. Or Uncle Wiggily might take a trip in his automobile, which -had big bologna sausages on the wheels for tires. And whenever the -rabbit gentleman wanted the automobile wheels to go around faster he -sprinkled pepper on the sausages. - -One day Uncle Wiggily said to Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy: - -“I think I will go for a ride in my airship. Is there anything I can -bring from the store for you?” - -“Why, you might bring a loaf of bread and a pound of sugar,” answered -the muskrat lady. - -“Very good,” answered Uncle Wiggily, and then he took some soft cushions -out to put in the clothes-basket part of his airship, so, in case the -air popped out of the balloons, and he fell, he would land easy like, -and soft. - -Soon the rabbit gentleman was sailing off through the air, over the tree -tops, his paws in nice, warm red mittens that Nurse Jane had knitted for -him. For it was winter, you see, and Uncle Wiggily’s paws would have -been cold steering his airship, by the baby carriage wheel which guided -it, had it not been for the mittens. - -It did not take the bunny uncle long to go to the store in his airship, -and soon, with the loaf of bread and pound of sugar under the seat, away -he started for his hollow-stump bungalow again. - -And, as he sailed on and over the tree tops, Uncle Wiggily looked far -off, and he saw some black smoke rising in the air. - -“Ha! That smoke seems to be near my hollow-stump bungalow,” he said to -himself. “I guess Nurse Jane is starting a fire in the kitchen stove to -get dinner. I must hurry home.” - -Uncle Wiggily made his airship go faster, and then he saw, coming toward -him, a big bird, with large wings. - -“Why, that looks just like my old friend, Grandfather Goosey Gander,” -Uncle Wiggily thought to himself. “I wonder why he is flying so high? He -hardly ever goes up so near the clouds.” - -“And he seems to have some one on his back,” spoke Uncle Wiggily out -loud this time, sort of talking to the loaf of bread and the pound of -sugar. “A lady, too,” went on the bunny uncle. “A lady with a tall hat -on, something like mine, only hers comes to a point on top. And she has -a broom with her. I wonder who it can be?” - -And when the big white bird came nearer to the airship Uncle Wiggily saw -that it was not Grandfather Goosey Gander at all, but another big -gander, almost like his friend, whom he often went to see. And then the -bunny uncle saw who it was on the bird’s back. - -“Why, it’s Mother Goose!” cried Uncle Wiggily Longears. “It’s Mother -Goose! She looks just like her pictures in the book, too.” - -“Yes, I am Mother Goose,” said the lady who was riding on the back of -the big, white gander, spoke Mr. Longears. - -“I am glad to meet you, Mother Goose, I have often heard about you. I -can see, over the tree tops, that Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, my muskrat -lady housekeeper, is getting dinner ready. I can tell by the smoke. Will -you not ride home with me? I will make my airship go slowly, so as not -to get ahead of you and your fine gander-goose.” - -“Alas, Uncle Wiggily,” said Mother Goose, scratching her chin with the -end of the broom handle, “I cannot come home to dinner with you much as -I would like it. Alas! Alas!” - -“Why not?” asked the bunny uncle. - -“Because I have bad news for you,” said Mother Goose. “That smoke, which -you saw over the tree tops, was not smoke from your chimney as Nurse -Jane was getting dinner.” - -“What was it then?” asked Uncle Wiggily, and a cold shiver sort of ran -up and down between his ears, even if he did have warm, red mittens on -his paws. “What was that smoke?” - -“The smoke from your burning bungalow,” went on Mother Goose. “It caught -fire, when Nurse Jane was getting dinner, and now——” - -“Oh! Don’t tell me Nurse Jane is burned!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “Don’t -say that!” - -“I was not going to,” spoke Mother Goose, kindly. “But I must tell you -that your hollow-stump bungalow is burned to the ground. There is -nothing left but some ashes,” and she made the gander, on whose back she -was riding, fly close alongside of Uncle Wiggily’s airship. - -“My nice bungalow burned!” exclaimed the rabbit gentleman. “Well, I am -very, very sorry for that. But still it might be worse. Nurse Jane might -have been hurt, and that would have been quite too bad. I dare say I can -get another bungalow.” - -“That is what I came to tell you about,” said Mother Goose. “I was -riding past when I saw your Woodland hollow-stump house on fire, and I -went down to see if I could help. It was too late to save the bungalow, -but I said I would find a place for you and Nurse Jane to stay to-night, -or as long as you like, until you can build a new home.” - -“That is very kind of you,” said Uncle Wiggily. “I hardly know what to -do.” - -“I have many friends,” went on Mother Goose. “You may have read about -them in the book which tells of me. Any of my friends would be glad to -have you come and live with them. There is the Old Woman Who Lives in a -Shoe, for instance.” - -“But hasn’t she so many children she doesn’t know what to do?” asked -Uncle Wiggily, as he remembered the story in the book. - -“Yes,” answered Mother Goose, “she has. I suppose you would not like it -there.” - -“Oh, I like children,” said Uncle Wiggily. “But if there are so many -that the dear Old Lady doesn’t know what to do, she wouldn’t know what -to do with Nurse Jane and me.” - -“Well, you might go stay with my friend Old Mother Hubbard,” said Mother -Goose. - -“But if I went there, would not the cupboard be bare?” asked Uncle -Wiggily, “and what would Nurse Jane and I do for something to eat?” - -“That’s so,” spoke Mother Goose, as she reached up quite high and -brushed a cobweb off the sky with her broom. “That will not do, either. -I must see about getting Mother Hubbard and her dog something to eat. -You can stay with her later. Oh, I have it!” suddenly cried the lady who -was riding on the back of the white gander, “you can go stay with Old -King Cole! He’s a jolly old soul!” - -Uncle Wiggily shook his head. - -“Thank you very much, Mother Goose,” he said, slowly. “But Old King Cole -might send for his fiddlers three, and I do not believe I would like to -listen to jolly music to-day when my nice bungalow has just burned -down.” - -“No, perhaps not,” agreed Mother Goose. “Well, if you can find no other -place to stay to-night come with me. I have a big house, and with me -live Little Bo Peep, Little Boy Blue, who is getting to be quite a big -chap now, Little Tommie Tucker and Jack Sprat and his wife. Oh, I have -many other friends living with me, and surely we can find room for you.” - -“Thank you,” answered Uncle Wiggily. “I will think about it.” - -Then he flew down in his airship to the place where the hollow-stump -bungalow had been, but it was not there now. Mother Goose flew down with -her gander after Uncle Wiggily. They saw a pile of blackened and smoking -wood, and near it stood Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady, and -many other animals who lived in Woodland with Uncle Wiggily. - -“Oh, I am so sorry!” cried Nurse Jane. “It is my fault. I was baking a -pudding in the oven, Uncle Wiggily. I left it a minute while I ran over -to the pen of Mrs. Wibblewobble, the duck lady, to ask her about making -a new kind of carrot sauce for the pudding, and when I came home the -pudding had burned, and the bungalow was on fire.” - -“Never mind,” spoke Uncle Wiggily, kindly, “as long as you were not -burned yourself, Nurse Jane.” - -“But where will you sleep to-night?” asked the muskrat lady, -sorrowfully. - -“Oh,” began Uncle Wiggily, “I guess I can——” - -“Come stay with us!” cried Sammie and Susie Littletail, the rabbit -children. - -“Or with us!” invited Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, the squirrels. - -“And why not with us?” asked Nannie and Billie Wagtail, the goat -children. - -“We’d ask you to come with us,” said Jollie and Jillie Longtail, the -mouse children, “only our house is so small.” - -Many of Uncle Wiggily’s friends, who had hurried up to see the -hollow-stump bungalow burn, while he was at the store, now, in turn, -invited him to stay with them. - -“I, myself, have asked him to come with me,” said Mother Goose, “or with -any of my friends. We all would be glad to have him.” - -“It is very kind of you,” said the rabbit gentleman. “And this is what I -will do, until I can build me a new bungalow. I will take turns staying -at your different hollow-tree homes, your nests or your burrows -underground. And I will come and visit you also, Mother Goose, and all -of your friends; at least such of them as have room for me. - -“Yes, that is what I’ll do. I’ll visit around now that my hollow-stump -home is burned. I thank you all. Come, Nurse Jane, we will pay our first -visit to Sammie and Susie Littletail, the rabbits.” - -And while the other animals hopped, skipped or flew away through the -woods, and as Mother Goose sailed off on the back of her gander, to -sweep more cobwebs out of the sky, Uncle Wiggily and Nurse Jane went to -the Littletail burrow, or underground house. - -“Good-bye, Uncle Wiggily!” called Mother Goose. “I’ll see you again, -soon, sometime. And if ever you meet with any of my friends, Little Jack -Horner, Bo Peep, or the three little pigs, about whom you may have read -in my book, be kind to them.” - -“I will,” promised Uncle Wiggily. - -And he did, as you may read in the next chapter, when, if the sugar -spoon doesn’t tickle the carving knife and make it dance on the bread -board, the story will be about Uncle Wiggily and the first little pig. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER II - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE FIRST PIG - - -UNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the nice old gentleman rabbit, came out of the -underground burrow house of the Littletail family, where he was visiting -a while with the bunny children, Sammie and Susie, because his own -hollow-stump bungalow had burned down. - -“Where are you going, Uncle Wiggily?” asked Sammie Littletail, the -rabbit boy, as he strapped his cabbage leaf books together, ready to go -to school. - -“Oh, I am just going for a little walk,” answered Uncle Wiggily. “Nurse -Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, asked me to get her some -court plaster from the five and six-cent store, and on my way there I -may have an adventure. Who knows?” - -“We are going to school,” said Susie. “Will you walk part of the way -with us, Uncle Wiggily?” - -“To be sure I will!” crowed the old gentleman rabbit, making believe he -was Mr. Cock A. Doodle, the rooster. - -So Uncle Wiggily, with Sammie and Susie, started off across the -snow-covered fields and through the woods. Pretty soon they came to the -path the rabbit children must take to go to the hollow-stump school, -where the lady mouse teacher would hear their carrot and turnip gnawing -lessons. - -“Good-by, Uncle Wiggily!” called Sammie and Susie. “We hope you have a -nice adventure.” - -“Good-by. Thank you, I hope I do,” he answered. - -Then the rabbit gentleman walked on, while Sammie and Susie hurried to -school, and pretty soon Mr. Longears heard a queer grunting noise behind -some bushes near him. - -“Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!” came the sound. - -“Hello! Who is there?” asked Uncle Wiggily. - -“Why, if you please, I am here, and I am the first little pig,” came the -answer, and out from behind the bush stepped a cute little piggie boy, -with a bundle of straw under his paw. - -“So you are the first little pig, eh?” asked Uncle Wiggily. “How many of -you are there altogether?” - -“Three, if you please,” grunted the first little pig. “I have two -brothers, and they are the second and third little pigs. Don’t you -remember reading about us in the Mother Goose book?” - -“Oh, of course I do!” cried Uncle Wiggily, twinkling his nose. “And so -you are the first little pig. But what are you going to do with that -bundle of straw?” - -“I’m going to build me a house, Uncle Wiggily, of course,” grunted the -piggie boy. “Don’t you remember what it says in the book? ‘Once upon a -time there were three little pigs, named Grunter, Squeaker and -Twisty-Tail.’ Well, I’m Grunter, and I met a man with a load of straw, -and I asked him for a bundle to make me a house. He very kindly gave it -to me, and now, I’m off to build it.” - -“May I come?” asked Uncle Wiggily. “I’ll help you put up your house.” - -“Of course you may come—glad to have you,” answered the first little -pig. “Only you know what happens to me; don’t you?” - -“No! What?” asked the rabbit gentleman. “I guess I have forgotten the -story.” - -“Well, after I build my house of straw, just as it says in the Mother -Goose story book, along comes a bad old wolf, and he blows it down,” -said the first little pig. - -“Oh, how dreadful!” cried Uncle Wiggily, “but maybe he won’t come -to-day.” - -“Oh, yes, he will,” said the first little pig. “It’s that way in the -book, and the wolf has to come.” - -“Well, if he does,” said Uncle Wiggily, “maybe I can save you from him.” - -“Oh, I hope you can!” grunted Grunter. “It is no fun to be chased by a -wolf.” - -So the rabbit gentleman and the piggie boy went on and on, until they -came to the place where Grunter was to build his house of straw. Uncle -Wiggily helped, and soon it was finished. - -“Why, it is real nice and cozy in here,” said Uncle Wiggily, when he had -made a big pile of snow back of the straw house to keep off the north -wind, and had gone in with the little piggie boy. - -“Yes, it is cozy enough,” spoke Grunter, “but wait until the bad wolf -comes. Oh, dear!” - -“Maybe he won’t come,” said the rabbit, hopeful like. - -“Yes, he will!” cried Grunter. “Here he comes now.” - -And, surely enough, looking out of the window, the piggie boy and Uncle -Wiggily saw a bad wolf running over the snow toward them. The wolf -knocked on the door of the straw house and cried: - -“Little pig! Little pig! Let me come in.” - -“No! No! By the hair of my chinny-chin-chin. I will not let you in!” -answered Grunter, just like in the book. - -“Then I’ll puff and I’ll blow, and I’ll blow your house in!” howled the -wolf. Then he puffed and he blew, and, all of a sudden, over went the -straw house. But, just as it was falling down, Uncle Wiggily cried: - -“Quick, Grunter, come with me! I’ll dig a hole for us in the pile of -snow that I made back of your house and in there we’ll hide where the -wolf can’t find us!” Then the rabbit gentleman, with his strong paws, -just made for digging, burrowed a hole in the snow-bank, and as the -straw house toppled down, into this hole he crawled with Grunter. - -“Now I’ve got you!” cried the wolf, as he blew down the first little -pig’s straw house. But when the wolf looked he couldn’t see Grunter or -Uncle Wiggily at all, because they were hiding in the snow-bank. - -“Well, well!” howled the wolf. “This isn’t like the book at all! Where -is that little pig?” - -But the wolf could not find Grunter, and soon the bad creature went -away, fearing to catch cold in his eyes. Then Uncle Wiggily and Grunter -came out of the snow-bank and were safe, and Uncle Wiggily took Grunter -home to the rabbit house to stay until Mother Goose came, some time -afterward, to get the first little pig boy. - -“Thank you very much, Uncle Wiggily,” said Mother Goose, “for being kind -to one of my friends.” - -“Pray don’t mention it. I had a fine adventure, besides saving a little -pig,” said the rabbit gentleman. “I wonder what will happen to me -to-morrow?” - -And we shall soon see for, if the snowball doesn’t wrap itself up in the -parlor rug to hide away from the jam tart, when it comes home from the -moving pictures, I’ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the second -little pig. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER III - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE SECOND PIG - - -“THERE! It’s all done!” exclaimed Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the nice -muskrat lady housekeeper, who, with Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit -gentleman, was staying in the Littletail rabbit house, since the -hollow-stump bungalow had burned down. - -“What’s all done?” asked Uncle Wiggily, looking over the tops of his -spectacles. - -“These jam tarts I baked for Billie and Nannie Wagtail, the goat -children,” said Nurse Jane. “Will you take them with you when you go out -for a walk, Uncle Wiggily, and leave them at the goat house?” - -“I most certainly will,” said the rabbit gentleman, very politely. “Is -there anything else I can do for you, Nurse Jane?” - -But the muskrat lady wanted nothing more, and, wrapping up the jam tarts -in a napkin so they would not catch cold, she gave them to Mr. Longears -to take to the two goat children. - -Uncle Wiggily was walking along, wondering what sort of an adventure he -would have that day, or whether he would meet Mother Goose again, when -all at once he heard a voice speaking from behind some bushes. - -“Yes, I think I will build my house here,” the voice said. “The wolf is -sure to find me anyhow, and I might as well have it over with. I’ll make -my house here.” - -Uncle Wiggily looked over the bushes, and there he saw a funny little -animal boy, with some pieces of wood on his shoulder. - -“Hello!” cried Uncle Wiggily, making his nose twinkle in a most -jilly-jolly way. “Who are you, and what are you going to do?” - -“Why, I am Squeaker, the second little pig, and I am going to make a -house of wood,” was the answer. “Don’t you remember how it reads in the -Mother Goose book? ‘Once upon a time there were three little pigs, named -Grunter, Squeaker and——’” - -“Oh, yes, I remember!” Uncle Wiggily said. “I met your brother Grunter -yesterday, and helped him build his straw house.” - -“That was kind of you,” spoke Squeaker. “I suppose the bad old wolf got -him, though. Too bad! Well, it can’t be helped, as it is that way in the -book.” - -Uncle Wiggily didn’t say anything about having saved Grunter, for he -wanted to surprise Squeaker, so the rabbit gentleman just twinkled his -nose again and asked: - -“May I have the pleasure of helping you build your house of wood?” - -“Indeed you may, thank you,” said Squeaker. “I suppose the old wolf will -be along soon, so we had better hurry to get the house finished.” - -Then the second little pig and Uncle Wiggily built the wooden house. -When it was almost finished Uncle Wiggily went out near the back door, -and began piling up some cakes of ice to make a sort of box. - -“What are you doing?” asked Squeaker. - -“Oh, I’m just making a place where I can put these jam tarts I have for -Nannie and Billie Wagtail,” the rabbit gentleman answered. “I don’t want -the wolf to get them when he blows down your house.” - -“Oh, dear!” sighed Squeaker. “I rather wish, now, he didn’t have to blow -over my nice wooden house, and get me. But he has to, I s’pose, ’cause -it’s in the book.” - -Still, Uncle Wiggily didn’t say anything, but he just sort of blinked -his eyes and twinkled his pink nose, until, all of a sudden, Squeaker -looked across the snowy fields, and he cried: - -“Here comes the bad old wolf now!” - -And, surely enough, along came the growling, howling creature. He ran up -to the second little pig’s wooden house, and, rapping on the door with -his paw, cried: - -“Little pig! Little pig! Let me come in!” - -“No, no! By the hair on my chinny-chin-chin I will not let you in,” said -the second little pig, bravely. - -“Then I’ll puff and I’ll blow, and I’ll puff and I’ll blow, and blow -your house in!” howled the wolf. - -Then he puffed out his cheeks, and he took a long breath and he blew -with all his might and main and suddenly: - -“Cracko!” - -Down went the wooden house of the second little piggie, and only that -Uncle Wiggily and Squeaker jumped to one side they would have been -squashed as flat as a pancake, or even two pancakes. - -“Quick!” cried the rabbit gentleman in the piggie boy’s ear. “This way! -Come with me!” - -“Where are we going?” asked Squeaker, as he followed the rabbit -gentleman over the cracked and broken boards, which were all that was -left of the house. - -“We are going to the little cabin that I made out of cakes of ice, -behind your wooden house,” said Uncle Wiggily. “I put the jam tarts in -it, but there is also room for us, and we can hide there until the bad -wolf goes off.” - -“Well, that isn’t the way it is in the book,” said the second little -pig. “But——” - -“No matter!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “Hurry!” So he and Squeaker hid in the -ice cabin back of the blown-down house, and when the bad wolf came -poking along among the broken boards, to get the little pig, he couldn’t -find him. For Uncle Wiggily had closed the door of the ice place, and as -it was partly covered with snow the wolf could not see through. - -“Oh, dear!” howled the wolf. “That’s twice I’ve been fooled by those -pigs! It isn’t like the book at all. I wonder where he can have gone?” - -But he could not find Squeaker or Uncle Wiggily either, and finally the -wolf’s nose became so cold from sniffing the ice that he had to go home -to warm it, and so Uncle Wiggily and Squeaker were safe. - -“Oh, I don’t know how to thank you,” said the second little piggie boy -as the rabbit gentleman took him home to Mother Goose, after having left -the jam tarts at the home of the Wagtail goats. - -“Pray do not mention it,” spoke Uncle Wiggily, modest like, and shy. “It -was just an adventure for me.” - -He had another adventure the following day, Uncle Wiggily did. And if -the dusting brush doesn’t go swimming in the soap dish, and get all -lather so that it looks like a marshmallow cocoanut cake, I’ll tell you -next about Uncle Wiggily and the third little pig. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER IV - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE THIRD PIG - - -UNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS sat in the burrow, or house under the ground, -where he and Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady, lived with the -Littletail family of rabbits since the hollow-stump bungalow had burned. - -“Oh, dear!” sounded a grunting, woofing sort of voice over near one -window. - -“Oh, dear!” squealed another voice from under the table. - -“Well, well! What is the matter with you two piggie boys?” asked Uncle -Wiggily, as he took down from the sideboard his red, white and blue -barber-pole striped rheumatism crutch that Nurse Jane had gnawed for him -out of a corn-stalk. - -“What’s the trouble, Grunter and Squeaker?” asked the rabbit gentleman. - -“We are lonesome for our brother,” said the two little piggie boys No. 1 -and No. 2. “We want to see Twisty-Tail.” - -For the first and second little pigs, after having been saved by Uncle -Wiggily, and taken home to Mother Goose, had come back to pay a visit to -the bunny gentleman. - -“Well, perhaps I may meet Twisty-Tail when I go walking to-day,” spoke -Uncle Wiggily. “If I do I’ll bring him home with me.” - -“Oh, goodie!” cried Grunter and Squeaker. For they were the first and -second little pigs, you see. Uncle Wiggily had saved Grunter from the -bad wolf when the growling creature blew down Grunter’s straw house. -And, in almost the same way, the bunny uncle had saved Squeaker, when -his wooden house was blown over by the wolf. But Twisty-Tail, the third -little pig, Uncle Wiggily had not yet helped. - -“I’ll look for Twisty-Tail to-day,” said the rabbit gentleman as he -started off for his adventure walk, which he took every afternoon and -morning. - -On and on went Uncle Wiggily Longears over the snow-covered fields and -through the wood, until just as he was turning around the corner near an -old red stump, the rabbit gentleman heard a clinkity-clankity sort of a -noise, and the sound of whistling. - -“Ha! Some one is happy!” thought the bunny uncle. “That’s a good -sign—whistling. I wonder who it is?” - -He looked around the stump corner and he saw a little animal chap, with -blue rompers on, and a fur cap stuck back of his left ear, and this -little animal chap was whistling away as merrily as a butterfly eating -butterscotch candy. - -“Why, that must be the third little pig!” exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. -“Hello!” called the rabbit gentleman. “Are you Twisty-Tail?” - -“That’s my name,” answered the little pig, “and, as you see, I am -building my house of bricks, just as it tells about in the Mother Goose -book.” - -And, surely enough, Twisty-Tail was building a little house of red -bricks, and it was the tap-tap-tapping of his trowel, or mortar-shovel, -that made the clinkity-clankity noise. - -“Do you know me, Uncle Wiggily?” asked the piggie boy. “You see I am in -a book. ‘Once upon a time there were three little pigs, and——’” - -“I know all about you,” interrupted Uncle Wiggily. “I have met Mother -Goose, and also your two brothers.” - -“They didn’t know how to build the right kind of houses, and so the wolf -got them,” said Twisty-Tail. “I am sorry, but it had to happen that way, -just as it is in the book.” - -Uncle Wiggily smiled, but said nothing. - -“I met a man with a load of bricks, and I begged some of them to build -my house,” said Twisty-Tail. “No wolf can get me. No, sir-ee! I’ll build -my house very strong, not weak like my brothers’. No, indeed!” - -“I’ll help you build your house,” offered Uncle Wiggily, kindly, and -just as he and Twisty-Tail finished the brick house and put on the roof -it began to rain and freeze. - -“We are through just in time,” said Twisty-Tail, as he and the rabbit -gentleman hurried inside. “I don’t believe the wolf will come out in -such weather.” - -But just as he said that and looked from the window, the little piggie -boy gave a cry, and said: - -“Oh, here comes the bad animal now! But he can’t get in my house, or -blow it over, ’cause the book says he didn’t.” - -The wolf came up through the freezing rain and knocking on the third -piggie boy’s brick house, said: - -“Little pig! Little pig! Let me come in!” - -“No! No! By the hair of my chinny-chin-chin, I will not let you in!” -grunted Twisty-Tail. - -“Then I’ll puff and I’ll blow, and I’ll blow your house in!” howled the -wolf. - -“You can’t! The book says so!” laughed the little pig. “My house is a -strong, brick one. You can’t get me!” - -“Just you wait!” growled the wolf. So he puffed out his cheeks, and he -blew and he blew, but he could not blow down the brick house, because it -was so strong. - -“Well, I’m in no hurry,” the wolf said. “I’ll sit down and wait for you -to come out.” - -So the wolf sat down on his tail to wait outside the brick house. After -a while Twisty-Tail began to get hungry. - -“Did you bring anything to eat, Uncle Wiggily?” he asked. - -“No, I didn’t,” answered the rabbit gentleman. “But if the old wolf -would go away I’d take you where your two brothers are visiting with me -in the Littletail family rabbit house and you could have all you want to -eat.” - -But the wolf would not go away, even when Uncle Wiggily asked him to, -most politely, making a bow and twinkling his nose. - -“I’m going to stay here all night,” the wolf growled. “I am not going -away. I am going to get that third little pig!” - -“Are you? Well, we’ll see about that!” cried the rabbit gentleman. Then -he took a rib out of his umbrella, and with a piece of his shoe lace -(that he didn’t need) for a string he made a bow like the Indians used -to have. - -“If I only had an arrow now I could shoot it from my umbrella-bow, hit -the wolf on the nose and make him go away,” said Uncle Wiggily. Then he -looked out of the window and saw where the rain, dripping from the roof, -had frozen into long, sharp icicles. - -“Ha!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “An icicle will make the best kind of an -arrow! Now I’ll shoot the wolf, not hard enough to hurt him, but just -hard enough to make him run away.” - -Reaching out the window Uncle Wiggily broke off a sharp icicle. He put -this ice arrow in his bow and, pulling back the shoe string, “twang!” he -shot the wolf on the nose. - -“Oh, wow! Oh, double-wow! Oh, custard cake!” howled the wolf. “This -isn’t in the Mother Goose book at all. Not a single pig did I get! Oh, -my nose! Ouch!” - -Then he ran away, and Uncle Wiggily and Twisty-Tail could come safely -out of the brick house, which they did, hurrying home to the bunny house -where Grunter and Squeaker were, to get something to eat. So everything -came out right, you see, and Uncle Wiggily saved the three little pigs, -one after the other. - -And if the canary bird doesn’t go swimming in the rice pudding, and eat -out all the raisin seeds, so none is left for the parrot, I’ll tell you -next of Uncle Wiggily and Little Boy Blue. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER V - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND LITTLE BOY BLUE - - -“UNCLE WIGGILY, are you very busy to-day?” asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, -the muskrat lady housekeeper, who, with the old rabbit gentleman, was on -a visit to the Bushytail family of squirrels in their hollow-tree home. - -After staying a while with the Littletail rabbits, when his hollow-stump -bungalow had burned down, the bunny uncle went to visit Johnnie and -Billie Bushytail. - -“Are you very busy, Uncle Wiggily?” asked the muskrat lady. - -“Why, no, Nurse Jane, not so very,” answered the bunny uncle. “Is there -something you would like me to do for you?” he asked, with a polite bow. - -[Illustration] - -“Well, Mrs. Bushytail and I have just baked some pies,” said the muskrat -lady, “and we thought perhaps you might like to take one to your friend, -Grandfather Goosey Gander.” “Fine!” cried Uncle Wiggily, making his nose -twinkle like a star on a Christmas tree in the dark. “Grandpa Goosey -will be glad to get a pie. I’ll take him one.” - -“We have it all ready for you,” said Mrs. Bushytail, the squirrel mother -of Johnnie and Billie, as she came in the sitting-room. “It’s a nice hot -pie, and it will keep your paws warm, Uncle Wiggily, as you go over the -ice and snow through the woods and across the fields.” - -“Fine!” cried the bunny uncle again. “I’ll get ready and go at once.” - -Uncle Wiggily put on his warm fur coat, fastened his tall silk hat on -his head, with his ears sticking up through holes cut in the brim, so it -would not blow off, and then, taking his red, white and blue-striped -rheumatism crutch, that Nurse Jane had gnawed for him out of a -corn-stalk, away he started. He carried the hot apple pie in a basket -over his paw. - -“Grandpa Goosey will surely like this pie,” said Uncle Wiggily to -himself, as he lifted the napkin that was over it to take a little -sniff. “It makes me hungry myself. And how nice and warm it is,” he went -on, as he put one cold paw in the basket to warm it; warm his paw I -mean, not the basket. - -Over the fields and through the woods hopped the bunny uncle. It began -to snow a little, but Uncle Wiggily did not mind that, for he was well -wrapped up. - -When he was about halfway to Grandpa Goosey’s house Uncle Wiggily heard, -from behind a pile of snow, a sad sort of crying voice. - -“Hello!” exclaimed the bunny uncle, “that sounds like some one in -trouble. I must see if I can help them.” - -Uncle Wiggily looked over the top of the pile of snow, and, sitting on -the ground, in front of a big icicle, was a boy all dressed in blue. -Even his eyes were blue, but you could not very well see them, as they -were filled with tears. - -“Oh, dear! Oh, dear!” said Uncle Wiggily, kindly. “This is quite too -bad! What is the matter, little fellow; and who are you?” - -“I am Little Boy Blue, from the home of Mother Goose,” was the answer, -“and the matter is that it’s lost!” - -“What is lost?” asked Uncle. “If it’s a penny I will help you find it.” - -“It isn’t a penny,” answered Boy Blue. “It’s the hay stack which I have -to sleep under. I can’t find it, and I must see where it is or else -things won’t be as they are in the Mother Goose book. Don’t you know -what it says?” - -And he sang: - - “Little Boy Blue, come blow your horn, - There are sheep in the meadow and cows in the corn. - Where’s Little Boy Blue, who looks after the sheep? - Why he’s under the hay stack, fast asleep. - -“Only I can’t go to sleep under the hay stack, Uncle Wiggily, because I -can’t find it. And, oh, dear! I don’t know what to do!” and Little Boy -Blue cried harder than ever, so that some of his tears froze into little -round marbles of ice, like hail stones. - -“There, there, now!” said Uncle Wiggily, kindly. “Of course you can’t -find a hay stack in the winter. They are all covered with snow.” - -“Are they?” asked Boy Blue, real surprised like. - -“Of course, they are!” cried Uncle Wiggily, in his most jolly voice. -“Besides, you wouldn’t want to sleep under a hay stack, even if there -was one here, in the winter. You would catch cold and have the -sniffle-snuffles.” - -“That’s so, I might,” Boy Blue said, and he did not cry so hard now. -“But that isn’t all, Uncle Wiggily,” he went on, nodding at the rabbit -gentleman. “It isn’t all my trouble.” - -“What else is the matter?” asked the bunny uncle. - -“It’s my horn,” spoke the little boy who looked after the cows and -sheep. “I can’t make any music tunes on my horn. And I really have to -blow my horn, you know, for it says in the Mother Goose book that I -must. See, I can’t blow it a bit.” And Boy Blue put his horn to his -lips, puffed out his cheeks and blew as hard as he could, but no sound -came out. - -“Let me try,” said Uncle Wiggily. The rabbit gentleman took the horn and -he, also, tried to blow. He blew so hard he almost blew off his tall -silk hat, but no sound came from the horn. - -“Ah, I see what the trouble is!” cried the bunny uncle with a jolly -laugh, looking down inside the “toot-tooter.” “It is so cold that the -tunes are all frozen solid in your horn. But I have a hot apple pie here -in my basket that I was taking to Grandpa Goosey Gander. I’ll hold the -cold horn on the hot pie and the tunes will thaw out.” - -“Oh, have you a pie in there?” asked Little Boy Blue. “Is it the -Christmas pie into which Little Jack Horner put in his thumb and pulled -out a plum?” - -“Not quite, but nearly the same,” laughed Uncle Wiggily. “Now to thaw -out the frozen horn.” - -The bunny uncle put Little Boy Blue’s horn in the basket with the hot -apple pie. Soon the ice was melted out of the horn, and Uncle Wiggily -could blow on it, and play tunes, and so could Boy Blue. -Tootity-toot-toot tunes they both played. - -“Now you are all right!” cried the bunny uncle. “Come along with me and -you may have a piece of this pie for yourself. And you may stay with -Grandpa Goosey Gander until summer comes, and then blow your horn for -the sheep in the meadow and the cows in the corn. There is no need, now, -for you to stay out in the cold and look for a haystack under which to -sleep.” - -“No, I guess not,” said Boy Blue. “I’ll come with you, Uncle Wiggily. -And thank you, so much, for helping me. I don’t know what would have -happened only for you.” - -“Pray do not mention it,” politely said Uncle Wiggily with a laugh. Then -he and little Boy Blue hurried on through the snow, and soon they were -at Grandpa Goosey’s house with the warm apple pie, and oh! how good it -tasted! Oh, yum-yum! - -And if the church steeple doesn’t drop the ding-dong bell down in the -pulpit and scare the organ, I’ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and -Higgledee Piggledee. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER VI - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND HIGGLEDEE PIGGLEDEE - - -ONE day Uncle Wiggily Longears, the nice old gentleman rabbit, was -sitting in an easy chair in the hollow-stump house of the Bushytail -squirrel family, where he was paying a visit to Johnnie and Billie -Bushytail, the two squirrel boys. - -There came a knock on the door, but the bunny uncle did not pay much -attention to it, as he was sort of taking a little sleep after his -dinner of cabbage soup with carrot ice cream on top. - -Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, went out in the -hall, and when she came back, with her tail all tied up in a pink -ribbon, (for she was sweeping) she said: - -“Uncle Wiggily, a friend of yours has come to see you.” - -“A friend of mine!” cried Uncle Wiggily, awakening so suddenly that his -nose stopped twinkling. “I hope it isn’t the bad old fox from the Orange -Mountains.” - -“No,” answered Nurse Jane with a smile, “it is a lady.” - -“A lady?” exclaimed the old rabbit gentleman, getting up quickly, and -looking in the glass to see that his ears were not criss-crossed. “Who -can it be?” - -“It is Mother Goose,” went on Nurse Jane. “She says you were so kind as -to help Little Boy Blue the other day, when his horn was frozen, and you -thawed it on the warm pie, that perhaps you will now help her. She is in -trouble.” - -“In trouble, eh?” exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, sort of smoothing down his -vest, fastidious like and stylish. “I didn’t know she blew a horn.” - -“She doesn’t,” said Nurse Jane. “But I’ll bring her in and she can tell -you, herself, what she wants.” - -“Oh, Uncle Wiggily!” cried Mother Goose, as she set her broom down in -one corner, for she never went out unless she carried it with her. She -said she never could tell when she might have to sweep the cobwebs out -of the sky. “Oh, Uncle Wiggily, I am in such a lot of trouble!” - -“Well, I will be very glad to help you if I can,” said the bunny uncle. -“What is it?” - -“It’s about Higgledee Piggledee,” answered Mother Goose. - -“Higgledee Piggledee!” exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, “why that sounds like——” - -“She’s my black hen,” went on Mother Goose. “You know how the verse goes -in the book about me and my friends.” - -And, taking off her tall peaked hat, which she wore when she rode on the -back of the old gander, Mother Goose sang: - - “Higgledee Piggledee, my black hen, - She lays eggs for gentlemen. - Sometimes nine and sometimes ten. - Higgledee Piggledee, my black hen. - Gentlemen come every day, - To see what my black hen doth lay.” - -“Well,” asked Uncle Wiggily, “what is the trouble? Has Higgledee -Piggledee stopped laying? If she has I am afraid I can’t help you, for -hens don’t lay many eggs in winter, you know.” - -“Oh, it isn’t that!” said Mother Goose, quickly. “Higgledee Piggledee -lays as many eggs as ever for gentlemen—sometimes nine and sometimes -ten. But the trouble is the gentlemen don’t get them.” - -“Don’t they come for them?” asked Uncle Wiggily, sort of puzzled like -and wondering. - -“Oh, yes, they come every day,” said Mother Goose, “but there are no -eggs for them. Some one else is getting the eggs Higgledee Piggledee -lays.” - -“Do you s’pose she eats them herself?” asked the old rabbit gentleman, -in a whisper. “Hens sometimes do, you know.” - -“Not Higgledee Piggledee,” quickly spoke Mother Goose. “She is too good -to do that. She and I are both worried about the missing eggs, and as -you have been so kind I thought perhaps you could help us.” - -“I’ll try,” Uncle Wiggily said. - -“Then come right along to Higgledee Piggledee’s coop,” invited Mother -Goose. “Maybe you can find out where her eggs go to. She lays them in -her nest, comes off, once in a while, to get something to eat, but when -she goes back to lay more eggs the first ones are gone.” - -Uncle Wiggily twinkled his nose, tied his ears in a hard knot, as he -always did when he was thinking, and then, putting on his fur coat and -taking his rheumatism crutch with him, he went out with Mother Goose. - -Uncle Wiggily rode in his airship, made of a clothes-basket, with toy -circus balloons on top, and Mother Goose rode on the back of a big -gander, who was a brother to Grandfather Goosey Gander. Soon they were -at the hen coop where Higgledee Piggledee lived. - -“Oh, Uncle Wiggily, I am so glad you came!” cackled the black hen. “Did -Mother Goose tell you about the egg trouble?” - -“She did, Higgledee Piggledee, and I will see if I can stop it. Now, you -go on the nest and lay some eggs and then we will see what happens,” -spoke Uncle Wiggily. - -So Higgledee Piggledee, the black hen, laid some eggs for gentlemen, and -then she went out in the yard to get some corn to eat, just as she -always did. And, while she was gone, Uncle Wiggily hid himself in some -straw in the hen coop. Pretty soon the old gentleman heard a gnawing, -rustling sound and up out of a hole in the ground popped two big rats, -with red eyes. - -“Did Higgledee Piggledee lay any eggs to-day?” asked one rat, in a -whisper. - -“Yes,” spoke the other, “she did.” - -“Then we will take them,” said the first rat. “Hurray! More eggs for us! -No gentlemen will get these eggs because we’ll take them ourselves. -Hurray!” - -He got down on his back, with his paws sticking up in the air. Then the -other rat rolled one of the black hen’s eggs over so the first rat could -hold it in among his four legs. Next, the second rat took hold of the -first rat’s tail and began pulling him along, egg and all, just as if he -were a sled on a slippery hill, the rat sliding on his back over the -smooth straw. And the eggs rode on the rat-sled as nicely as you please. - -“Ha!” cried Uncle Wiggily, jumping suddenly out of his hiding-place. “So -this is where Higgledee Piggledee’s eggs have been going, eh? You rats -have been taking them. Scatt! Shoo! Boo! Skedaddle! Scoot!” - -And the rats were so scared that they skedaddled away and shooed -themselves and did everything else Mr. Longears told them to do, and -they took no eggs that day. Then Uncle Wiggily showed Mother Goose the -rat hole, and it was stopped up with stones so the rats could not come -in the coop again. And ever after that Higgledee Piggledee, the black -hen, could lay eggs for gentlemen, sometimes nine and sometimes ten, and -there was no more trouble as there had been before Uncle Wiggily caught -the rats and made them skedaddle. - -So Mother Goose and the black hen thanked Uncle Wiggily very much. And -if the stylish lady who lives next door doesn’t take our feather bed to -wear on her hat when she goes to the moving pictures, I’ll tell you next -about Uncle Wiggily and Little Bo Peep. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER VII - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND LITTLE BO PEEP - - -“WHAT are you going to do, Nurse Jane?” asked Uncle Wiggily Longears, -the rabbit gentleman, as he saw the muskrat lady housekeeper going out -in the kitchen one morning, with an apron on, and a dab of white flour -on the end of her nose. - -“I am going to make a chocolate cake with carrot icing on top,” replied -Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy. - -“Oh, good!” cried Uncle Wiggily, and almost before he knew it he started -to clap his paws, just as Sammie and Susie Littletail, the rabbit -children, might have done, and as they often did do when they were -pleased about anything. “I just love chocolate cake!” cried the bunny -uncle, who was almost like a boy-bunny himself. - -“Do you?” asked Nurse Jane. “Then I am glad I am going to make one,” -and, going into the kitchen of the hollow-stump bungalow, she began -rattling away among the pots, pans and kettles. - -For now Nurse Jane and Uncle Wiggily were living together once more in -their own hollow-stump bungalow. It had burned down, you remember, but -Uncle Wiggily had had it built up again, and now he did not have to -visit around among his animal friends, though he still called on them -every now and then. - -“Oh, dear!” suddenly cried Nurse Jane from the kitchen. “Oh, dear!” - -“What is the matter, Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy?” asked the bunny uncle. “Did you -drop a pan on your paw?” - -“No, Uncle Wiggily,” answered the muskrat lady. “It is worse than that. -I can’t make the chocolate cake after all, I am sorry to say.” - -“Oh, dear! That is too bad! Why not?” asked the bunny uncle, in a sad -and sorrowful voice. - -“Because there is no chocolate,” went on Nurse Jane. “Since we came to -our new hollow-stump bungalow I have not made any cakes, and to-day I -forgot to order the chocolate from the store for this one.” - -“Never mind,” said Uncle Wiggily, kindly. “I’ll go to the store and get -the chocolate for you. In fact, I would go to two stores and part of -another one for the sake of having a chocolate cake.” - -“All right,” spoke Nurse Jane. “If you get me the chocolate I’ll make -one.” - -Putting on his overcoat, with his tall silk hat tied down over his ears -so they would not blow away—I mean so his hat would not blow off—and -with his rheumatism crutch under his paw, off started the old gentleman -rabbit, across the fields and through the woods to the chocolate store. - -After buying what he wanted for Nurse Jane’s cake, the old gentleman -rabbit started back for the hollow-stump bungalow. On the way, he passed -a toy store, and he stopped to look in the window at the pop-guns, the -spinning-tops, the dolls, the Noah’s Arks, with the animals marching out -of them, and all things like that. - -“It makes me young again to look at toys,” said the bunny uncle. Then he -went on a little farther until, all at once, as he was passing a bush, -he heard from behind it the sound of crying. - -“Ha! Some one in trouble again,” said Uncle Wiggily. “I wonder if it can -be Little Boy Blue?” He looked, but, instead of seeing the sheep-boy, -whom he had once helped, Uncle Wiggily saw a little girl. - -“Ha! Who are you?” the bunny uncle asked, “and what is the matter?” - -“I am Little Bo Peep,” was the answer, “and I have lost my sheep, and -don’t know where to find them.” - -“Why, let them alone, and they’ll come home, wagging their tails behind -them,” said Uncle Wiggily quickly, and he laughed jolly like and happy, -because he had made a rhyme to go with what Bo Peep said. - -“Yes, I know that’s the way it is in the Mother Goose book,” said Little -Bo Peep, “but I’ve waited and waited, and let them alone ever so long, -but they haven’t come home. And now I’m afraid they’ll freeze.” - -“Ha! That’s so. It _is_ pretty cold for sheep to be out,” said Uncle -Wiggily, as he looked across the snow-covered field, and toward the -woods where there were icicles hanging down from the trees. - -“Look here, Little Bo Peep,” went on the bunny uncle. “I think your -sheep must have gone home long ago, wagging their tails behind them. And -you, too, had better run home to Mother Goose. Tell her you met me and -that I sent you home. And, if I find your sheep, I’ll send them along, -too. So don’t worry.” - -“Oh, but I don’t like to go home without my sheep,” said Bo Peep, and -tears came into her eyes. “I ought to bring them with me. But to-day I -went skating on Crystal Lake, up in the Lemon-Orange Mountains, and I -forgot all about my sheep. Now I am afraid to go home without them. Oh, -dear!” - -Uncle Wiggily thought for a minute, then he said: - -“Ha! I have it! I know where I can get you some sheep to take home with -you. Then Mother Goose will say it is all right. Come with me.” - -“Where are you going?” asked Bo Peep. - -“To get you some sheep.” And Uncle Wiggily led the little shepherdess -girl back to the toy store, in the window of which he had stopped to -look a while ago. - -“Give Bo Peep some of your toy woolly sheep, if you please,” said Uncle -Wiggily to the toy-store man. “She can take them home with her, while -her own sheep are safe in some warm place, I’m sure. But now she must -have some sort of sheep to take home with her in place of the lost ones, -so it will come out all right, as it is in the book. And these toy -woolly sheep will do as well as any; won’t they, Little Bo Peep?” - -“Oh, yes, they will; thank you very much, Uncle Wiggily,” answered Bo -Peep, making a pretty little bow. Then the rabbit gentleman bought her -ten little toy, woolly sheep, each one with a tail which Bo Peep could -wag for them, and one toy lamb went: “Baa! Baa! Baa!” as real as -anything, having a little phonograph talking machine inside him. - -“Now I can go home to Mother Goose and make believe these are my lost -sheep,” said Bo Peep, “and it will be all right.” - -“And here is a piece of chocolate for you to eat,” said Uncle Wiggily. -Then Bo Peep hurried home with her fleecy toy sheep, and, later on, she -found her real ones, all nice and warm, in the barn where the Cow with -the Crumpled Horn lived. Mother Goose laughed in her jolliest way when -she saw the toy sheep Uncle Wiggily had bought Bo Peep. - -“It’s just like him!” said Mother Goose. - -And if the goldfish doesn’t climb out of his tank and hide in the -sardine tin, where the stuffed olives can’t find him, I’ll tell you next -about Uncle Wiggily and Tommie Tucker. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND TOMMIE TUCKER - - -“OH, Uncle Wiggily!” called Susie Littletail, the rabbit girl, one day, -as she went over to see her bunny uncle in his hollow-stump bungalow. -“Oh, Uncle Wiggily! Isn’t it too bad?” - -“Isn’t what too bad?” asked the old gentleman rabbit, as he scratched -his nose with his left ear, and put his glasses in his pocket, for he -was tired of reading the paper, and felt like going out for a walk. - -“Too bad about my talking and singing doll, that I got for Christmas,” -said Susie. “She won’t sing any more. Something inside her is broken.” - -“Broken? That’s too bad!” said Uncle Wiggily, kindly. “Let me see. -What’s her name?” - -“Sallieann Peachbasket Shortcake,” answered Susie. - -“What a funny name,” laughed the bunny uncle. - -Uncle Wiggily took Susie’s doll, which had been given her at Christmas, -and looked at it. Inside the doll was a sort of phonograph, or talking -machine—a very small one, you know—and when you pushed on a little -button in back of the doll’s dress she would laugh and talk. But, best -of all, when she was in working order, she would sing a verse, which -went something like this: - - “I hope you’ll like my little song, - I will not sing it very long. - I have two shoes upon my feet, - And when I’m hungry, then I eat.” - -Uncle Wiggily wound up the spring in the doll’s side, and then he -pressed the button—like a shoe button—in her back. But this time Susie’s -doll did not talk, she did not laugh, and, instead of singing, she only -made a scratchy noise like a phonograph when it doesn’t want to play, or -like Bully No-Tail, the frog boy, when he has a cold in his head. - -“Oh, dear! This is quite too bad!” said Uncle Wiggily. “Quite indeed.” - -“Isn’t it!” exclaimed Susie. “Do you think you can fix her, Uncle?” - -Mr. Longears turned the doll upside down and shook her. Things rattled -inside her, but even then she did not sing. - -“Oh, dear!” cried Susie, her little pink nose going twinkle-inkle, just -as did Uncle Wiggily’s. “What can we do?” - -“You leave it to me, Susie,” spoke the old rabbit gentleman. “I’ll take -the doll to the toy shop, where I bought Little Bo Peep’s sheep, and -have her mended.” - -“Oh, goodie!” cried Susie, clasping her paws. “Now I know it will be all -right,” and she kissed Uncle Wiggily right between his ears. - -“Well, I’m sure I _hope_ it will be all right after _that_,” said the -bunny uncle, laughing, and feeling sort of tickled inside. - -Off hopped Uncle Wiggily to the toy shop, and there he found the same -monkey-doodle gentleman who had sold him the toy woolly sheep for Little -Bo Peep. - -“Here is more trouble,” said Uncle Wiggily. “Can you fix Susie’s doll so -she will sing, for the doll is a little girl one, just like Susie, and -her name is Sallieann Peachbasket Shortcake.” - -The monkey-doodle man in the toy store looked at the doll. - -“I can fix her,” he said. Going in his backroom workshop, where there -were rocking-horses that needed new legs, wooden soldiers who had lost -their guns, and steamboats that had forgotten their whistles, the toy -man soon had Susie’s doll mended again as well as ever. So that she -said: “Papa! Mama! I love you! I am hungry!” And she laughed: “Ha! Ha! -Ho! Ho!” and she sang: - - “I am a little dollie, - ’Bout one year old. - Please take me where it’s warm, for I - Am feeling rather cold. - If you’re not in a hurry, - It won’t take me very long, - To whistle or to sing for you - My pretty little song.” - -“Hurray!” cried Uncle Wiggily when he heard this. “Susie’s dolly is all -right again. Thank you, Mr. Monkey-Doodle, I’ll take her to Susie.” Then -Uncle Wiggily paid the toy-store keeper and hurried off with Susie’s -doll. - -Uncle Wiggily had not gone very far before, all at once from around the -corner of a snow-bank he heard a sad, little voice crying: - -“Oh, dear! Oh, dear! Oh, dear!” - -“My goodness!” said the bunny uncle. “Some one else is in trouble. I -wonder who it can be this time?” - -He looked, and saw a little boy standing in the snow. - -“Hello!” cried Uncle Wiggily, in his jolly voice. “Who are you, and -what’s the matter?” - -“I am Little Tommie Tucker,” was the answer. “And the matter is I’m -hungry.” - -“Hungry, eh?” asked Uncle Wiggily. “Well, why don’t you eat?” - -“I guess you forgot about me and the Mother Goose book,” spoke the boy. -“I’m in that book, and it says about me: - - “‘Little Tommie Tucker, - Must sing for his supper. - What shall he eat? - Jam and bread and butter.’” - -“Well?” asked Uncle Wiggily. “Why don’t you sing?” - -“I—I can’t!” answered Tommie. “That’s the trouble. I have caught such a -cold that I can’t sing. And if I don’t sing Mother Goose won’t know it -is I, and she won’t give me any supper. Oh, dear! Oh, dear! And I am so -hungry!” - -“There now, there! Don’t cry,” kindly said the bunny uncle, patting -Tommie Tucker on the head. “I’ll soon have you singing for your supper.” - -“But how can you when I have such a cold?” asked the little boy. -“Listen. I am as hoarse as a crow.” - -And, truly, he could no more sing than a rusty gate, or a last year’s -door-knob. - -“Ah, I can soon fix that!” said Uncle Wiggily. “See, here I have Susie -Littletail’s talking and singing doll, which I have just had mended. Now -you take the doll in your pocket, go to Mother Goose, and when she asks -you to sing for your supper, just push the button in the doll’s back. -Then the doll will sing and Mother Goose will think it is you, and give -you bread and jam.” - -“Oh, how fine!” cried Tommie Tucker. “I’ll do it!” - -“But afterward,” said Uncle Wiggily, slowly shaking his paw at Tommie, -“afterward you must tell Mother Goose all about the little joke you -played, or it would not be fair. Tell her the doll sang and not you.” - -“I will,” said Tommie. He and Uncle Wiggily went to Mother Goose’s -house, and when Tommie had to sing for his supper the doll did it for -him. And when Mother Goose heard about it she said it was a fine trick, -and that Uncle Wiggily was very good to think of it. - -Then the bunny uncle took Susie’s mended doll to her, and the next day -Tommie’s cold was all better and he could sing for his supper himself, -just as the book tells about. - -And if the little mouse doesn’t go to sleep in the cat’s cradle and -scare the milk bottle so it rolls off the back stoop, I’ll tell you next -about Uncle Wiggily and Pussy Cat Mole. - - -[Illustration] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER IX - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND PUSSY CAT MOLE - - -“OH, dear! I don’t believe he’s ever coming!” said Nurse Jane Fuzzy -Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, as she stood at the window of the -hollow-stump bungalow one day, and looked down through the woods. - -“For whom are you looking, Nurse Jane?” asked Uncle Wiggily Longears, -the rabbit gentleman. “If it’s for the letter-man, I think he went past -some time ago.” - -“No, I wasn’t looking for the letter-man,” said the muskrat lady. “I am -expecting a messenger-boy cat to bring home my new dress from the -dressmaker’s, but I don’t see him.” - -“A new dress, eh?” asked Uncle Wiggily. “Pray, what is going on?” - -“My dress is going on me, as soon as it comes home, Uncle Wiggily,” the -muskrat lady answered, laughingly. “And then I am going on over to the -house of Mrs. Wibblewobble, the duck lady. She and I are going to have a -little tea party together, if you don’t mind.” - -“Mind? Certainly not! I’m glad to have you go out and enjoy yourself,” -said Uncle Wiggily, jolly like and also laughing. - -“But I can’t go if my new dress doesn’t come,” went on Nurse Jane. “That -is, I don’t want to.” - -“Look here!” said the bunny uncle, “I’ll tell you what I’ll do, Nurse -Jane, I’ll go for your dress myself and bring it home. I have nothing to -do. I’ll go get your dress at the dressmaker’s.” - -“Will you, really?” cried the muskrat lady. “That will be fine! Then I -can curl my whiskers and tie a new pink bow for my tail. You are very -good, Uncle Wiggily.” - -“Oh, not at all! Not at all!” the rabbit gentleman said, modest like and -shy. Then he hopped out of the hollow-stump bungalow and across the -fields and through the woods to where Nurse Jane’s dressmaker made -dresses. - -“Oh, yes, Nurse Jane’s dress!” exclaimed Mrs. Spin-Spider, who wove silk -for all the dresses worn by the lady animals of Woodland. “Yes, I have -just finished it. I was about to call a messenger-boy cat and send it -home, but now you are here you may take it. And here is some cloth I had -left over. Nurse Jane might want it if ever she tears a hole in her -dress.” - -Uncle Wiggily put the extra pieces of cloth in his pocket, and then Mrs. -Spin-Spider wrapped Nurse Jane’s dress up nicely for him in tissue -paper, as fine as the web which she had spun for the silk, and the -rabbit gentleman started back to the hollow-stump bungalow. - -Mrs. Spin-Spider lived on Second Mountain, and, as Uncle Wiggily’s -bungalow was on First Mountain, he had quite a way to go to get home. -And when he was about half way there he passed a little house near a -gray rock that looked like an eagle, and in the house he heard a voice -saying: - -“Oh, dear! Oh, isn’t it too bad? Now I can’t go!” - -“Ha! I wonder who that can be?” thought the rabbit gentleman. “It sounds -like some one in trouble. I will ask if I can do anything to help.” - -The rabbit gentleman knocked on the door of the little house, and a -voice said: - -“Come in!” - -Uncle Wiggily entered, and there in the middle of the room he saw a -pussy cat lady holding up a dress with a big hole burned in it. - -“I beg your pardon, but who are you and what is the matter?” politely -asked the bunny uncle, making a low bow. - -“My name is Pussy Cat Mole,” was the answer, “and you can see the -trouble for yourself. I am Pussy Cat Mole; I jumped over a coal, and——” - -“In your best petticoat burned a great hole,” finished Uncle Wiggily. “I -know you, now. You are from Mother Goose’s book and I met you at a party -in Belleville, where they have a bluebell flower on the school to call -the animal children to their lessons.” - -“That’s it!” meowed Pussy Cat Mole. “I am glad you remember me, Uncle -Wiggily. It was at a party I met you, and now I am going to another. Or, -rather, I was going until I jumped over a coal, and in my best petticoat -burned a great hole. Now I can’t go,” and she held up the burned dress, -sorrowful like and sad. - -“How did you happen to jump over the coal?” asked Uncle Wiggily. - -“Oh, it fell out of my stove,” said Pussy Cat Mole, “and I jumped over -it in a hurry to get the fire shovel to take it up. That’s how I burned -my dress. And now I can’t go to the party, for it was my best petticoat, -and Mrs. Wibblewobble, the duck lady, asked me to be there early, too; -and now—Oh, dear!” and Pussy Cat Mole felt very badly, indeed. - -“Mrs. Wibblewobble’s!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “Why, Nurse Jane is going -there to a little tea party, too! This is her new dress I am taking -home.” - -“Has she burned a hole in it?” asked the pussy cat lady. - -“No, she has not, I am glad to say,” the bunny uncle replied. “She -hasn’t had it on, yet.” - -“Then she can go to the party, but I can’t,” said Pussy Cat Mole, -sorrowfully. “Oh, dear!” - -“Yes, you can go!” suddenly cried Uncle Wiggily. “See here! I have some -extra pieces of cloth, left over when Mrs. Spin-Spider made Nurse Jane’s -dress. Now you can take these pieces of cloth and mend the hole burned -by the coal in your best petticoat. Then you can go to the party.” - -“Oh, so I can,” meowed the pussy cat. So, with a needle and thread, and -the cloth she mended her best petticoat. - -All around the edges and over the top of the burned hole the pussy cat -lady sewed the left-over pieces of Nurse Jane’s dress which was almost -the same color. Then, when the mended place was pressed with a warm -flat-iron, Uncle Wiggily cried: - -“You would never know there had been a burned hole!” - -“That’s fine!” meowed Pussy Cat Mole. “Thank you so much, Uncle Wiggily, -for helping me!” - -“Pray do not mention it,” said the rabbit gentleman, bashful like and -casual. Then he hurried to the hollow-stump bungalow with Nurse Jane’s -dress, and the muskrat lady said he had done just right to help mend -Pussy Cat Mole’s dress with the left-over pieces. So she and Nurse Jane -both went to Mrs. Wibblewobble’s little tea party, and had a good time. - -And so, you see, it came out just as it did in the book: Pussy Cat Mole -jumped over a coal, and in her best petticoat burned a great hole. But -the hole it was mended, and my story is ended. Only never before was it -known how the hole was mended. Uncle Wiggily did it. - -And, if the apple doesn’t jump out of the peach dumpling and hide in the -lemon pie when the knife and fork try to play tag with it, I’ll tell you -next about Uncle Wiggily and Jack and Jill, and it will be a Valentine -story. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER X - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND JACK AND JILL - - -UNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the nice old gentleman rabbit, was asleep in an -easy chair in his hollow-stump bungalow one morning when he heard some -one calling: - -“Hi, Jack! Ho, Jill! Where are you? Come at once, if you please!” - -“Ha! What’s that? Some one calling me?” asked the bunny uncle, sitting -up so suddenly that he knocked over his red, white and blue striped -barber-pole rheumatism crutch that Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat -lady housekeeper, had gnawed for him out of a corn-stalk. “Is any one -calling me?” asked Mr. Longears. - -“No,” answered Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy. “That’s Mother Goose calling Jack and -Jill to get a pail of water.” - -“Oh! is that all?” asked the rabbit gentleman, rubbing his pink eyes and -making his nose twinkle like the sharp end of an ice cream cone. “Just -Mother Goose calling Jack and Jill; eh? Well, I’ll go out and see if I -can find them for her.” - -Uncle Wiggily was always that way, you know, wanting to help some one. -This time it was Mother Goose. His new hollow-stump bungalow was built -right near where Mother Goose lived, with all her big family; -Peter-Peter Pumpkin-Eater, Little Jack Horner, Bo Peep and many others. - -“Ho, Jack! Hi, Jill! Where are you?” called Mother Goose, as Uncle -Wiggily came out of his hollow stump. - -“Can’t you find those two children?” asked the rabbit gentleman, making -a polite good morning bow. - -“I am sorry to say I cannot,” answered Mother Goose. “They were over to -see the Old Woman Who Lives in a Shoe, a while ago, but where they are -now I can’t guess, and I need a pail of water for Simple Simon to go -fishing in, for to catch a whale.” - -“Oh, I’ll get the water for you,” said Uncle Wiggily, taking the pail. -“Perhaps Jack and Jill are off playing somewhere, and they have -forgotten all about getting the water.” - -“And I suppose they’ll forget about tumbling down hill, too,” went on -Mother Goose, sort of nervous like. “But they must not. If they don’t -fall down, so Jack can break his crown, it won’t be like the story in my -book, and everything will be upside down.” - -“So Jack has to break his crown; eh?” asked Uncle Wiggily. “That’s too -bad. I hope he won’t hurt himself too much.” - -“Oh, he’s used to it by this time,” Mother Goose said. “He doesn’t mind -falling, nor does Jill mind tumbling down after.” - -“Very well, then, I’ll get the pail of water for you,” spoke the bunny -uncle, “and Jack and Jill can do the tumbling-down-hill part.” - -Uncle Wiggily took the water pail and started for the hill, on top of -which was the well owned by Mother Goose. As the bunny uncle was walking -along he suddenly heard a voice calling to him from behind a bush. - -“Oh, Uncle Wiggily, will you do me a favor?” - -“I certainly will,” said Mr. Longears, “but who are you, and where are -you?” - -“Here I am, over here,” the voice went on. “I’m Jack, and will you -please give this to Jill when you see her?” - -Out from behind the bush stepped Jack, the little Mother Goose boy. In -his hand he held a piece of white birch bark, prettily colored red, -green and pink, and on it was a little verse which read: - - “Can you tell me, pretty maid, - Tell me and not be afraid, - Who’s the sweetest girl, and true?— - I can; for she’s surely you!” - -“What’s this? What’s this?” asked Uncle Wiggily, in surprise. “What’s -this?” - -“It’s a valentine for Jill,” said Jack. “To-day is Valentine’s Day, you -see, but I don’t want Jill to know I sent it, so I went off here and hid -until I could see you to ask you to take it to her.” - -“All right, I’ll do it,” Uncle Wiggily said, laughing. “I’ll take your -valentine to Jill for you. So that’s why you weren’t ’round to get the -pail of water; is it?” - -“Yes,” answered Jack. “I wanted to finish making my valentine. As soon -as you give it to Jill I’ll get the water.” - -“Oh, never mind that,” said the bunny uncle. “I’ll get the water, just -you do the falling-down-hill part. I’m too old for that.” - -“I will,” promised Jack. Then Uncle Wiggily went on up the hill, and -pretty soon he heard some one else calling him, and, all of a sudden, -out from behind a stump stepped Jill, the little Mother Goose girl. - -“Oh, Uncle Wiggily!” said Jill, bashfully holding out a pretty red leaf, -shaped like a heart, “will you please give this to Jack. I don’t want -him to know I sent it.” - -“Of course, I’ll give it to him,” promised the rabbit gentleman. “It’s a -valentine, I suppose, and here is something for you,” and while Jill was -reading the valentine Jack had sent her, Uncle Wiggily looked at the red -heart-shaped leaf. On it Jill had written in blue ink: - - “One day when I went to school, - Teacher taught to me this rule: - Eight and one add up to nine; - So I’ll be your valentine.” - -“My, that’s nice!” said Uncle Wiggily, laughing. “So that’s why you’re -hiding off here for, Jill, to make a valentine for Jack?” - -“That’s it,” Jill answered, blushing sort of pink, like the frosting on -a strawberry cake. “But I don’t want Jack to know it.” - -“I’ll never tell him,” said Uncle Wiggily. - -So he went on up the hill to get a pail of water for Mother Goose. And -on his way back he gave Jill’s valentine to Jack, who liked it very -much. - -“And now, since you got the water, Jill and I will go tumble down hill,” -said Jack, as he found the little girl, where she was reading his -valentine again. Up the hill they went, near the well of water, and Jack -fell down, and broke his crown, while Jill came tumbling after, while -Uncle Wiggily looked on and laughed. So it all happened just as it did -in the book, you see. - -Mother Goose was very glad Uncle Wiggily had brought the water for -Simple Simon to go fishing in, and that afternoon she gave a valentine -party for Sammie and Susie Littletail, the Bushytail squirrel brothers, -Nannie and Billie Wagtail, the goats, and all the other animal friends -of Uncle Wiggily. And every one had a fine time. - -And if the cup doesn’t jump out of the saucer and hide in the -spoonholder, where the coffee cake can’t find it, I’ll tell you next -about Uncle Wiggily and little Jack Horner. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XI - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND JACK HORNER - - -“WELL, I think I’ll go for a walk,” said Uncle Wiggily Longears, the -rabbit gentleman, one afternoon, when he was sitting out on the front -porch of his hollow-stump bungalow. He had just eaten a nice dinner that -Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, had gotten ready -for him. - -“Go for a walk!” exclaimed Nurse Jane. “Why, Mr. Longears, excuse me for -saying so, but you went walking this morning.” - -“I know I did,” answered the bunny uncle, “but no adventure happened to -me then. I don’t really count it a good day unless I have had an -adventure. So I’ll go walking again, and perhaps I may find one. If I -do, I’ll come home and tell you all about it.” - -“All right,” said Nurse Jane. “You are a funny rabbit, to be sure! Going -off in the woods, looking for adventures when you might sit quietly here -on the bungalow front porch.” - -“That’s just it!” laughed Uncle Wiggily. “I don’t like to be too quiet. -Off I go!” - -“I hope you have a nice adventure!” Nurse Jane called after him. - -“Thank you,” answered Uncle Wiggily, politely. - -Away over the fields and through the woods went the bunny uncle, looking -on all sides for an adventure, when, all of a sudden he heard behind him -a sound that went: - -“Honk! Honk! Honkity-honk-honk!” - -“Ha! That must be a wild goose!” thought the rabbit gentleman. - -So he looked up in the air, over his head, where the wild geese always -fly, but, instead of seeing any of the big birds, Uncle Wiggily felt -something whizz past him, and again he heard the loud “Honk-honk!” -noise, and then he sneezed, for a lot of dust from the road flew up his -nose. - -“My!” he heard some one cry. “We nearly ran over a rabbit! Did you see?” - -And a big automobile, with real people in it, shot past. It was the horn -of the auto that Uncle Wiggily had heard, and not a wild goose. - -“Ha! That came pretty close to me,” thought Uncle Wiggily, as the auto -went on down the road. “I never ride my automobile as fast as that, even -when I sprinkle pepper on the bologna sausage tires. I don’t like to -scare any one.” - -Perhaps the people in the auto did not mean to so nearly run over Uncle -Wiggily. Let us hope so. - -The old gentleman rabbit hopped on down the road, that was between the -woods and the fields, and, pretty soon, he saw something bright and -shining in the dust, near where the auto had passed. - -“Oh, maybe that’s a diamond,” he said, as he stooped over to pick it up. -But it was only a shiny button-hook, and not a diamond at all. Some one -in the automobile had dropped it. - -“Well, I’ll put it in my pocket,” said Uncle Wiggily to himself. “It may -come in useful to button Nurse Jane’s shoes, or mine.” - -The bunny gentleman went on a little farther, and, pretty soon, he came -to a tiny house, with a red chimney sticking up out of the roof. - -“Ha! I wonder who lives there?” said Uncle Wiggily. - -He stood still for a moment, looking through his glasses at the house -and then, all of a sudden, he saw a little lady, with a tall, peaked hat -on, run out and look up and down the road. Her hat was just like an ice -cream cone turned upside down. Only don’t turn your ice cream cone -upside down if it has any cream in it, for you might spill your treat. - -“Help! Help! Help!” cried the lady, who had come out of the house with -the red chimney. - -“Ha! That sounds like trouble!” said Uncle Wiggily. “I think I had -better hurry over there and see what it is all about.” - -He hopped over toward the little house, and, when he reached it he saw -that the little lady who was calling for help was Mother Goose herself. - -“Oh, Uncle Wiggily!” exclaimed Mother Goose. “I am so glad to see you! -Will you please go for help for me?” - -“Why, certainly I will,” answered the bunny gentleman. “But what kind of -help do you want; help for the kitchen, or a wash-lady help or——” - -“Neither of those,” said Mother Goose. “I want help so Little Jack -Horner can get his thumb out of the pie.” - -“Get his thumb out of the pie!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “What in the world -do you mean?” - -“Why, you see it’s this way,” went on Mother Goose. “Jack Horner lives -here. You must have heard about him. He is in my book. His verse goes -like this: - - “Little Jack Horner - Sat in a corner, - Eating a Christmas pie. - He put in his thumb, - And pulled out a plum, - And said what a great boy am I.” - -“That’s the boy I mean,” cried Mother Goose. “But the trouble is that -Jack can’t get his thumb out. He put it in the pie, to pull out the -plum, but it won’t come out—neither the plum nor the thumb. They are -stuck fast for some reason or other. I wish you’d go for Dr. Possum, so -he can help us.” - -“I will,” said Uncle Wiggily. “But is Jack Horner sitting in a corner, -as it says in the book?” - -“Oh, he’s doing that all right,” answered Mother Goose. “But, corner or -no corner, he can’t pull out his thumb.” - -“I’ll get the doctor at once,” promised the bunny uncle. He hurried over -to Dr. Possum’s house, but could not find him, as Dr. Possum was, just -then, called to see Jillie Longtail, who had the mouse-trap fever. - -“Dr. Possum not in!” cried Mother Goose, when Uncle Wiggily had hopped -back and told her. “That’s too bad! Oh, we must do something for Jack. -He’s crying and going on terribly because he can’t get his thumb out.” - -Uncle Wiggily thought for a minute. Then, putting his paw in his pocket, -he felt the button-hook which had dropped from the automobile that -nearly ran over him. - -“Ha! I know what to do!” cried the bunny uncle, suddenly. - -“What?” asked Mother Goose. - -“I’ll pull out Jack’s thumb myself, with this button-hook,” said Mr. -Longears. “I’ll make him all right without waiting for Dr. Possum.” - -Into the room, where, in the corner, Jack was sitting, went the bunny -gentleman. There he saw the Christmas-pie boy, with his thumb away down -deep under the top crust. - -“Oh, Uncle Wiggily!” cried Jack. “I’m in such trouble. Oh, dear! I can’t -get my thumb out. It must be caught on the edge of the pan, or -something!” - -“Don’t cry,” said Uncle Wiggily, kindly. “I’ll get it out for you.” - -So he put the button-hook through the hole in the top pie crust, close -to Jack’s thumb. Then, getting the hook on the plum, Uncle Wiggily, with -his strong paws, pulled and pulled and pulled, and—— - -All of a sudden out came the plum and Jack Horner’s thumb, and they -weren’t stuck fast any more. - -“Oh, thank you, so much!” said Jack, as he got up out of his corner. - -“Pray don’t mention it,” spoke Uncle Wiggily, politely. “I am glad I -could help you, and it also makes an adventure for me.” - -Then Jack Horner, went back to his corner and ate the plum that stuck to -his thumb. And Uncle Wiggily, putting the button-hook back in his -pocket, went on to his hollow-stump bungalow. He had had his adventure. - -So everything came out all right, you see, and if the snow-shovel -doesn’t go off by itself, sliding down hill with the ash can, when it -ought to be boiling the cups and saucers for supper, I’ll tell you next -about Uncle Wiggily and Mr. Pop-Goes. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XII - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND MR. POP-GOES - - -“UNCLE WIGGILY,” said Mrs. Littletail, the rabbit lady, one morning, as -she came in the dining-room where Mr. Longears was reading the cabbage -leaf paper after breakfast, “Uncle Wiggily, I don’t like you to go out -in such a storm as this, but I do need some things from the store, and I -have no one to send.” - -“Why, I’ll be only too glad to go,” cried the bunny uncle, who was -spending a few days visiting the Littletail family in their underground -burrow-house. “It isn’t snowing very hard,” and he looked out through -the window, which was up a little way above ground to make the burrow -light. “What do you want, Mrs. Littletail?” he asked. - -“Oh, I want a loaf of bread and some sugar,” said the bunny mother of -Sammie and Susie Littletail. - -“And you shall certainly have what you want!” cried Uncle Wiggily, as he -got ready to go to the store. Soon he was on his way, wearing his fur -coat, and hopping along on his corn-stalk rheumatism crutch, while his -pink nose was twinkling in the frosty air like a red lantern on the back -of an automobile. - -“A loaf of home-made bread and three and a half pounds of granulated -sugar,” said Uncle Wiggily to the monkey-doodle gentleman who kept the -grocery store. “And the best that you have, if you please, as it’s for -Mrs. Littletail.” - -“You shall certainly have the best!” cried the monkey-doodle gentleman, -with a jolly laugh. And while he was wrapping up the things for Uncle -Wiggily to carry home, all at once there sounded in the store a loud: - -“Pop!” - -“My! What’s that?” asked Uncle Wiggily, surprised like and excited. “I -heard a bang like a gun. Are there any hunter-men, with their dogs -about? If there are I must be careful.” - -“No, that wasn’t a gun,” said the monkey-doodle gentleman. “That was -only one of the toy balloons in my window. I had some left over from -last year, so I blew them up and put them in my window to make it look -pretty. Now and then one of them bursts.” And just then, surely enough, -“Pop! Bang!” went another toy balloon, bursting and shriveling all up. - -Uncle Wiggily looked in the front window of the store and saw some -blown-up balloons that had not burst. - -“I’ll take two of those,” he said to the monkey-doodle gentleman. -“Sammie and Susie Littletail will like to play with them.” - -“Better take two or three,” said the monkey-doodle gentleman. “I’ll let -you have them cheap, as they are old balloons, and they will burst -easily.” - -So he let the air out of four balloons and gave them to Uncle Wiggily to -take home to the bunny children. - -The rabbit gentleman started off through the snow-storm toward the -underground house, but he had not gone very far before, just as he was -coming out from behind a big stump, he heard voices talking. - -“Now, I’ll tell you how we can get those rabbits,” Uncle Wiggily heard -one voice say. “I’ll crawl down in the burrow, and as soon as they see -me they’ll be scared and run out—Uncle Wiggily, Mrs. Littletail, the two -children, Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy and all. Then you can grab them, Mr. -Bigtail! I am glad I happened to meet you!” - -“Ah, ha!” thought Uncle Wiggily. “Mr. Bigtail! I ought to know that -name. It’s the fox, and he and some one else seem to be after us -rabbits. But I thought the fox promised to be good and let me alone. He -must have changed his mind.” - -Uncle Wiggily peeked cautiously around the stump, taking care to make no -noise, and there he saw a fox and another animal talking. And the rabbit -gentleman saw that it was not the fox who had promised to be good, but -another one, of the same name, who was bad. - -“Yes, I’ll go down the hole and drive out the rabbits and you can grab -them,” said the queer animal. - -“That’s good,” growled the fox, “but to whom have I the honor of -speaking?” That was his way of asking the name of the other animal, you -see. - -“Oh, I’m called Mr. Pop-Goes,” said the other. - -“Mr. Pop-Goes! What a queer name,” said the fox, and all the while Uncle -Wiggily was listening with his big ears, and wondering what it all -meant. - -“Oh, Pop-Goes isn’t all my name,” said the queer animal. “Don’t you know -the story in the book? The monkey chased the cobbler’s wife all around -the steeple. That’s the way the money goes, Pop! goes the weasel. I’m -Mr. Pop-Goes, the weasel, you see. I’m ’specially good at chasing -rabbits.” - -“Oh, I see!” barked Mr. Bigtail, the fox. “Well, I’ll be glad if you can -help me get those rabbits. I’ve been over to that Uncle Wiggily’s -hollow-stump bungalow, but he isn’t around.” - -“No, he’s visiting the Littletail rabbits,” said Mr. Pop-Goes, the -weasel. “But we’ll drive him out.” - -Then Uncle Wiggily felt very badly, indeed, for he knew that a weasel is -the worst animal a rabbit can have after him. Weasels are very fond of -rabbits. They love them so much they want to eat them, and Uncle Wiggily -did not want to be eaten, even by Mr. Pop-Goes. - -“Oh, dear!” he thought. “What can I do to scare away the bad fox and Mr. -Pop-Goes, the weasel? Oh, dear!” Then he thought of the toy balloons, -that made a noise like a gun when they were blown up and burst. “The -very thing!” thought the rabbit gentleman. - -Carefully, as he hid behind the stump, Uncle Wiggily took out one of the -toy balloons. Carefully he blew it up, bigger and bigger and bigger, -until, all at once: - -“Bang!” exploded the toy balloon, even making Uncle Wiggily jump. And as -for the fox and Mr. Pop-Goes, the weasel, why they were so kerslostrated -(if you will kindly excuse me for using such a word) that they turned a -somersault, jumped up in the air, came down, turned a peppersault, and -started to run. - -“Did you hear that noise?” asked the weasel. “That was a pop, and -whenever I hear a pop I have to go! And I’m going fast!” - -“So am I!” barked the fox. “That was a hunter with a gun after us, I -guess. We’ll get those rabbits some other time.” - -“Maybe you will, and maybe not!” laughed Uncle Wiggily, as he hurried on -to the burrow with the bread, sugar and the rest of the toy balloons, -with which Sammie and Susie had lots of fun. - -So you see Mr. Pop-Goes, the weasel, didn’t get Uncle Wiggily after all, -and if the pepper caster doesn’t throw dust in the potato’s eyes, and -make it sneeze at the rag doll, I’ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily -and Simple Simon. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND SIMPLE SIMON - - -“THERE!” exclaimed Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, -who, with Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit gentleman, was visiting at -the Littletail rabbit burrow one day. “There they are, Uncle Wiggily, -all nicely wrapped up for you to carry.” - -“What’s nicely wrapped up?” asked the bunny uncle. “And what do you want -me to carry?” And he looked over the tops of his spectacles at the -muskrat lady, sort of surprised and wondering. - -“I want you to carry the jam tarts, and they are all nicely wrapped up,” -went on Nurse Jane. “Don’t you remember, I said I was going to make some -for you to take over to Mrs. Wibblewobble, the duck lady?” - -“Oh, of course!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “The jam tarts are for Lulu, Alice -and Jimmie Wibblewobble, the duck children. I remember now. I’ll take -them right over.” - -“They are all nicely wrapped up in a clean napkin,” went on the muskrat -lady, “so be careful not to squash them and squeeze out the jam, as they -are very fresh.” - -“I’ll be careful,” promised the old rabbit gentleman, as he put on his -fur coat and took down off the parlor mantle his red, white and blue -striped barber-pole rheumatism crutch, made of a corn-stalk. - -“Oh, wait a minute, Uncle Wiggily! Wait a minute!” cried Mrs. -Littletail, the bunny mother of Sammie and Susie, the rabbit children, -as Mr. Longears started out. “Where are you going?” - -“Over to Mrs. Wibblewobble, the duck lady’s house, with some jam tarts -for Lulu, Alice and Jimmie,” answered Uncle Wiggily. - -“Then would you mind carrying, also, this little rubber plant over to -her?” asked Mrs. Littletail. “I told Mrs. Wibblewobble I would send one -to her the first chance I had.” - -“Right gladly will I take it,” said Uncle Wiggily. So Mrs. Littletail, -the rabbit lady, wrapped the pot of the little rubber plant, with its -thick, shiny green leaves, in a piece of paper, and Uncle Wiggily, -tucking it under one paw, while with the other he leaned on his crutch, -started off over the fields and through the woods, with the jam tarts in -his pocket. Over toward the home of the Wibblewobble duck family he -hopped. - -Mr. Longears, the nice old rabbit gentleman, had not gone very far -before, all at once, from behind a snow-covered stump, he heard a voice -saying: - -“Oh, dear! I know I’ll never find him! I’ve looked all over and I can’t -see him anywhere. Oh, dear! Oh, dear! What shall I do?” - -“My! That sounds like some one in trouble,” Uncle Wiggily said to -himself. “I wonder if that is any of my little animal friends? I must -look.” - -So the rabbit gentleman peeked over the top of the stump, and there he -saw a queer-looking boy, with a funny smile on his face, which was as -round and shiny as the bottom of a new dish pan. And the boy looked so -kind that Uncle Wiggily knew he would not hurt even a lollypop, much -less a rabbit gentleman. - -“Oh, hello!” cried the boy, as soon as he saw Uncle Wiggily. “Who are -you?” - -“I am Mr. Longears,” replied the bunny uncle. “And who are you?” - -“Why, I’m Simple Simon,” was the answer. “I’m in the Mother Goose book, -you know.” - -“Oh, yes, I remember,” said Uncle Wiggily. “But you seem to be _out_ of -the book, just now.” - -“I am,” said Simple Simon. “The page with my picture on it fell out of -the book, and so I ran away. But I can’t find him anywhere and I don’t -know what to do.” - -“Who is it you can’t find?” asked the rabbit. - -“The pie-man,” answered the funny, round-faced boy. “Don’t you remember, -it says in the book, ‘Simple Simon met a pie-man going to the fair?’” - -“Oh, yes, I remember,” Uncle Wiggily answered. “What’s next?” - -“Well, I can’t find him anywhere,” said Simple Simon. “I guess the -pie-man didn’t fall out of the book when I did.” - -“That’s too bad,” spoke Uncle Wiggily, kindly. - -“It is,” said Simple Simon. “For you know he ought to ask me for my -penny, when I want to taste of his pies, and indeed, I haven’t any -penny—not any, and I’m so hungry for a piece of pie!” And Simple Simon -began to cry. - -“Oh, don’t cry,” said Uncle Wiggily. “See, in my pocket I have some jam -tarts. They are for Lulu, Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble, the ducks, but -there are enough to let you have one.” - -“Why, you are a regular pie-man yourself; aren’t you?” laughed Simple -Simon, as he ate one of Nurse Jane’s nice jam tarts. - -“Well, you might call me that,” said the bunny uncle. “Though I s’pose a -tart-man would be nearer right.” - -“But there’s something else,” went on Simple Simon. “You know in the -Mother Goose book I have to go for water, in my mother’s sieve. But soon -it all ran through.” And then, cried Simple Simon, “Oh, dear, what shall -I do?” And he held out a sieve, just like a coffee strainer, full of -little holes. “How can I ever get water in that?” he asked. “I’ve tried -and tried, but I can’t. No one can! It all runs through!” - -Uncle Wiggily thought for a minute. Then he cried: - -“I have it! I’ll pull some leaves off the rubber plant I am taking to -Mrs. Wibblewobble. We’ll put the leaves in the bottom of the sieve, and, -being of rubber, water can’t get through them. Then the sieve will hold -water, or milk either, and you can bring it to your mother.” - -“Oh, fine!” cried Simple Simon, licking the sticky squeegee jam off his -fingers. So Uncle Wiggily put some rubber plant leaves in the bottom of -the sieve, and Simple Simon, filling it full of water, carried it home -to his mother, and not a drop ran through, which, of course, wasn’t at -all like the story in the book. - -“But that isn’t my fault,” said Uncle Wiggily, as he took the rest of -the jam tarts to the Wibblewobble children. “I just had to help Simple -Simon.” Which was very kind of Uncle Wiggily, I think; don’t you? It -didn’t matter if, just once, something happened that wasn’t in the book. - -And Mrs. Wibblewobble didn’t at all mind some of the leaves being off -her rubber plant. So you see we should always be kind when we can; and -if the canary bird doesn’t go to sleep in the bowl with the goldfish, -and forget to whistle like an alarm clock in the morning, I’ll tell you -next about Uncle Wiggily and the crumple-horn cow. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CRUMPLE-HORN COW - - -“WHERE are you going, Uncle Wiggily?” asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the -muskrat lady housekeeper, as she saw the rabbit gentleman starting out -from his hollow-stump bungalow one day. He was back again from his visit -to Sammie and Susie Littletail. - -“Oh, I’m just going for a walk,” answered Mr. Longears. “I have not had -an exciting adventure since I carried the valentines for Jack and Jill, -before they tumbled down hill, and perhaps to-day I may find something -else to make me lively, and happy and skippy like.” - -“Too much hopping and skipping is not good for you,” the muskrat lady -said. - -“Yes, I think it is, if you will excuse me for saying so,” spoke Uncle -Wiggily politely. “It keeps my rheumatism from getting too painful.” - -Then, taking his red, white and blue-striped rheumatism crutch from -inside the talking machine horn, Uncle Wiggily started off. - -Over the fields and through the woods went the rabbit gentleman, until, -pretty soon, as he was walking along, wondering what would happen to him -that day, he heard a voice saying: - -“Moo! Moo! Moo-o-o-o-o!” - -“Ah! That sounds rather sad and unhappy like,” spoke the rabbit -gentleman to himself. “I wonder if it can be any one in trouble?” - -So he peeked through the bushes and there he saw a nice cow, who was -standing with one foot in the hollow of a big stump. - -“Moo! Moo!” cried the cow. “Oh, dear, will no one help me?” - -“Why, of course, I’ll help you,” kindly said Uncle Wiggily. “What is the -matter, and who are you?” - -“Why, I am the Mother Goose cow with the crumpled horn,” was the answer, -“and my foot is caught so tightly in the hole of this stump that I -cannot get it out.” - -“Why, I’ll help you, Mrs. Crumpled-horn Cow,” said Uncle Wiggily, -kindly. Then, with his rheumatism crutch, the rabbit gentleman pushed -loose the cow’s hoof from where it was caught in the stump, and she was -all right again. - -“Oh, thank you so much, Uncle Wiggily,” spoke the crumpled-horn cow. “If -ever I can do you a favor I will.” - -“Thank you,” said the rabbit gentleman, politely. “I’m sure you will. -But how did you happen to get your hoof caught in that stump?” - -“Oh, I was standing on it, trying to see if I could jump over the moon,” -was the answer. - -“Jump over the moon!” cried the rabbit gentleman. “You surprise me! Why -in the world——” - -“It’s this way, you see,” spoke the crumpled-horn lady cow. “In the -Mother Goose book it says: ‘Hi-diddle-diddle, the cat’s in the fiddle, -the cow jumped over the moon.’ Well, if one cow did that, I don’t see -why another one can’t. I got up on the stump, to try and jump over the -moon, but my foot slipped and I was caught fast. - -“I suppose I should not have tried it, for I am the cow with the -crumpled horn. You have heard of me, I dare say. I’m the cow with the -crumpled horn, that little Boy Blue drove out of the corn. I tossed the -dog that worried that cat that caught the rat that ate the malt that lay -in the house that Jack built.” - -“Oh, I remember you now,” said Uncle Wiggily. - -“And this is my crumpled horn,” went on the cow, and she showed the -rabbit gentleman how one of her horns was all crumpled and crooked and -twisted, just like a corkscrew that is used to pull hard corks out of -bottles. - -“Well, thank you again for pulling out my foot,” said the cow, as she -turned away. “Now I must go toss that dog once more, for he’s always -worrying the cat.” - -So the cow went away, and Uncle Wiggily hopped on through the woods and -over the fields. He had had an adventure, you see, helping the cow, and -later on he had another one, for he met Jimmie Wibblewobble, the boy -duck, who had lost his penny going to the store for a corn-meal-flavored -lollypop. Uncle Wiggily found the penny in the snow, and Jimmie was -happy once more. - -The next day when Uncle Wiggily awakened in his hollow-stump bungalow, -and tried to get out of bed, he was so lame and stiff that he could -hardly move. - -“Oh, dear!” cried the rabbit gentleman. “Ouch! Oh, what a pain!” - -“What is it?” asked Nurse Jane. “What’s the matter?” - -“My rheumatism,” answered Uncle Wiggily. “Please send to Dr. Possum and -get some medicine. Ouch! Oh, my!” - -“I’ll go for the medicine myself,” Nurse Jane said, and, tying her tail -up in a double bow-knot, so she would not step on it, and trip, as she -hurried along, over to Dr. Possum’s she went. - -The doctor was just starting out to go to see Nannie Wagtail, the little -goat girl, who had the hornache, but before going there Dr. Possum ran -back into his office, got a big bottle of medicine, which he gave to -Nurse Jane, saying: - -“When you get back to the hollow-stump bungalow pull out the cork and -rub some on Uncle Wiggily’s pain.” - -“Rub the cork on?” asked Nurse Jane, sort of surprised like. - -“No, rub on some of the medicine from the bottle,” answered Dr. Possum, -laughing as he hurried off. - -Uncle Wiggily had a bad pain when Nurse Jane got back. - -“I’ll soon fix you,” said the muskrat lady. “Wait until I get the cork -out of this bottle.” But that was more easily said than done. Nurse Jane -tried with all her might to pull out the cork with her paws and even -with her teeth. Then she used a hair pin, but it only bent and twisted -itself all up in a knot. - -“Oh, hurry with the medicine!” begged Uncle Wiggily. “Hurry, please!” - -“I can’t get the cork out,” said Nurse Jane. “The cork is stuck in the -bottle.” - -“Let me try,” spoke the bunny uncle. But he could not get the cork out, -either, and his pain was getting worse all the while. - -Just then came a knock on the bungalow door, and a voice said: - -“I am the cow with the crumpled horn. I just met Dr. Possum, and he told -me Uncle Wiggily had the rheumatism. Is there anything I can do for him? -I’d like to do him a favor as he did me one.” - -“Yes, you can help me,” said the rabbit gentleman. “Can you pull a tight -cork out of a bottle?” - -“Indeed I can!” mooed the cow. “Just watch me!” She put her crooked, -crumpled horn, which was just like a corkscrew, in the cork, and, with -one twist, out it came from the bottle as easily as anything. Then Nurse -Jane could rub some medicine on Uncle Wiggily’s rheumatism, which soon -felt much better. - -So you see Mother Goose’s crumpled-horn cow can do other things besides -tossing cat-worrying dogs. And if the fried egg doesn’t go to sleep in -the dish pan, so the knives and forks can’t play tag there, I’ll tell -you next of Uncle Wiggily and Old Mother Hubbard. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XV - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND OLD MOTHER HUBBARD - - -“UNCLE WIGGILY, have you anything special to do this morning?” asked -Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper for the rabbit -gentleman, as she saw him get up from the breakfast table in his -hollow-stump bungalow. - -“Anything special? Why, no, I guess not,” answered the bunny uncle. “I -was going out for a walk, and perhaps I may meet with an adventure on -the way, or I may help some friends of Mother Goose, as I sometimes do.” - -“You are always being kind to some one,” said Nurse Jane, “and that is -what I want you to do now. I have just made an orange cake, and——” - -“An orange cake?” cried Uncle Wiggily, his pink nose twinkling. “How -nice! Where did you get the oranges?” - -“Up on the Orange Mountains, to be sure,” answered the muskrat lady, -with a laugh. “I have made two orange cakes, to tell the exact truth, -which I always do. There is one for us and I wanted to send one to Dr. -Possum, who was so good to cure you of the rheumatism, when the cow with -the crumpled horn pulled the hard cork out of the medicine bottle for -us.” - -“Send an orange cake to Dr. Possum? The very thing! Oh, fine!” cried the -bunny uncle. “I’ll take it right over to him. Put it in a basket, so it -will not take cold, Nurse Jane.” - -The muskrat lady wrapped the orange cake in a clean napkin, and then put -it in the basket for Uncle Wiggily to carry to Dr. Possum. - -Off started the old rabbit gentleman, over the woods and through the -fields—oh, excuse me just a minute. He did not go over the woods this -time. He only did that when he had his airship, which he was not using -to-day, for fear of spilling the oranges out of the cake. So he went -over the fields and through the woods to Dr. Possum’s office. - -“Well, I wonder if I will have any adventure to-day?” thought the old -rabbit gentleman, as he hopped along. “I hope I do, for——” - -And then he suddenly stopped thinking and listened, for he heard a dog -barking, and a voice was sadly saying: - -“Oh, dear! It’s too bad, I know it is, but I can’t help it. It’s that -way in the book, so you’ll have to go hungry.” - -Then the dog barked again and Uncle Wiggily said: - -“More trouble for some one. I hope it isn’t the bad dog who used to -bother me. I wonder if I can help any one?” - -He looked around, and, nearby, he saw a little wooden house on the top -of a hill. The barking and talking was coming from that house. - -“I’ll go up and see what is the matter,” said the rabbit gentleman. -“Perhaps I can help.” - -He looked through a window of the house before going in, and he saw a -lady, somewhat like Mother Goose, wearing a tall, peaked hat, like an -ice cream cone turned upside down. And with her was a big dog, who was -looking in an open cupboard and barking. And the lady was singing: - - “Old Mother Hubbard - Went to the cupboard - To get her poor dog a bone. - But, when she got there, - The cupboard was bare, - And so the poor dog had none.” - -“And isn’t there anything else in the house to eat, except a bone, -Mother Hubbard?” the dog asked. “I’m so hungry!” - -“There isn’t, I’m sorry to say,” she answered. “But I’ll go to the -baker’s to get you some bread——” - -“And when you come back you will think I am dead,” said the dog, -quickly. “I’ll look so, anyhow,” he went on, “for I am so hungry. Isn’t -there any way of getting me anything to eat without going to the -baker’s? I don’t care much for bread, anyhow.” - -“How would you like a piece of orange cake?” asked Uncle Wiggily, all of -a sudden, as he walked in Mother Hubbard’s house. “Excuse me,” said the -bunny uncle, “but I could not help hearing what your dog said. I know -how hard it is to be hungry, and I have an orange cake in my basket. It -is for Dr. Possum, but I am sure he would be glad to let your dog have -some.” - -“That is very kind of you,” said Mother Hubbard. - -“And I certainly would like orange cake,” spoke the dog, making a bow -and wagging his nose—I mean his tail. - -“Then you shall have it,” said Uncle Wiggily, opening the basket. He set -the orange cake on the table, and the dog began to eat it, and Mother -Hubbard also ate some, for she was hungry, too, and, what do you think? -Before Uncle Wiggily, or any one else knew it, the orange cake was all -gone—eaten up—and there was none for Dr. Possum. - -“Oh, see what we have done!” cried Mother Hubbard, sadly. “We have eaten -all your cake, Uncle Wiggily. I’m sure we did not mean to, but with a -hungry dog——” - -“Pray do not mention it,” said the rabbit gentleman, politely. “I know -just how it is. I have another orange cake of my own at home. I’ll go -get that for Dr. Possum. He won’t mind which one he has.” - -“No. I can’t let you do that,” spoke Mother Hubbard. “You were too kind -to be put to all that trouble. Next door to me lives Paddy Kake, the -baker-man. I’ll have him bake you a cake as fast as he can, and you can -take that to Dr. Possum. How will that do?” - -“Why, that will be just fine!” said Uncle Wiggily, twinkling his pink -nose at the dog, who was licking up the last of the cake crumbs with his -red tongue. - -So Mother Hubbard went next door, where lived Paddy Kake, the baker. And -she said to him: - - “Paddy Kake, Paddy Kake, baker-man, - Bake me a cake as fast as you can. - Into it please put a raisin and plum, - And mark it with D. P. for Dr. Possum.” - -“I will,” said Paddy Kake. “I’ll do it right away.” - -And he did, and as soon as the cake was baked Uncle Wiggily put it in -the basket where the orange one had been, and took it to Dr. Possum, who -was very glad to get it. For the raisin and plum cake was as good as the -orange one Mother Hubbard and her dog had eaten. - -So you see everything came out all right after all, and if the cork -doesn’t pop out of the ink bottle and go to sleep in the middle of the -white bedspread, like our black cat, I’ll tell you next about Uncle -Wiggily and Little Miss Muffet. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND MISS MUFFET - - -“RAT-A-TAT-TAT!” came a knock on the door of the hollow-stump bungalow, -where Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit gentleman, lived with Nurse -Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper. “Rat-a-tat-tat!” - -“Come in,” called Nurse Jane, who was sitting by a window, mending a -pair of Uncle Wiggily’s socks, which had holes in them. - -The door opened, and into the bungalow stepped a little girl. Oh, she -was such a tiny thing that she was not much larger than a doll. - -“How do you do, Nurse Jane,” said the little girl, making a low bow, and -shaking her curly hair. - -“Why, I am very well, thank you,” the muskrat lady said. “How are you?” - -“Oh, I’m very well, too, Nurse Jane.” - -“Ha! You seem to know me, but I am not so sure I know you,” said Uncle -Wiggily’s housekeeper. “Are you Little Bo Peep?” - -“No, Nurse Jane,” answered the little girl, with a smile. - -“Are you Mistress Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?” -Nurse Jane wanted to know. - -“I am not Mistress Mary,” answered the little girl. - -“Then who are you?” Nurse Jane asked. - -“I am little Miss Muffet, if you please, and I have come to sit on a -tuffet, and eat some curds and whey. I want to see Uncle Wiggily, too, -before I go away.” - -“All right,” spoke Nurse Jane. “I’ll get you the tuffet and the curds -and whey,” and she went out to the kitchen. The muskrat lady noticed -that Miss Muffet said nothing about the spider frightening her away. - -“Perhaps she doesn’t like to talk about it,” thought Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy, -“though it’s in the Mother Goose book. Well, I’ll not say anything, -either.” - -So she got the tuffet for little Miss Muffet; a tuffet being a sort of -baby footstool. And, indeed, the little girl had to sit on something -quite small, for her legs were very short. - -“And here are your curds and whey,” went on Nurse Jane, bringing in a -bowl. Curds and whey are very good to eat. They are made from milk, -sweetened, and are something like a custard in a cup. - -So little Miss Muffet, sat on a tuffet, eating her curds and whey, just -as she ought to have done. - -“And,” said Nurse Jane to herself, “I do hope no spider will come sit -beside her to frighten Miss Muffet away, before Uncle Wiggily sees her, -for she is a dear little child.” - -Pretty soon some one was heard hopping up the front steps of the -bungalow, and Nurse Jane said: - -“There is Uncle Wiggily now, I think.” - -“Oh, I’m glad!” exclaimed little Miss Muffet, as she handed the muskrat -lady the empty bowl of curds and whey. “I want to see him very -specially.” - -In came hopping the nice old rabbit gentleman, and he knew Little Miss -Muffet right away, and was very glad to see her. - -“Oh, Uncle Wiggily!” cried the little girl. “I have been waiting to see -you. I want you to do me a very special extra favor; will you?” - -“Why, of course, if I can,” answered the bunny uncle, with a polite bow. -“I am always glad to do favors.” - -“You can easily do this one,” said Little Miss Muffet. “I want you to -come——” - -And just then Uncle Wiggily saw a big spider crawling over the floor -toward the little girl, who was still on her tuffet, having finished her -curds and whey. - -“And if she sees that spider, sit down beside her, it surely will -frighten her away,” thought Uncle Wiggily, “and I will not be able to -find out what she wants me to do for her. Let me see, she hasn’t yet -noticed the spider. I wonder if I could get her out of the room while I -asked the spider to kindly not to do any frightening, at least for a -while?” - -So Uncle Wiggily, who was quite worried, sort of waved his paw sideways -at the spider, and twinkled his pink nose and said “Ahem!” which meant -that the spider was to keep on crawling, and not go near Miss Muffet. -Uncle Wiggily himself was not afraid of spiders. - -“Yes, Uncle Wiggily,” went on little Miss Muffet, who had not yet seen -the spider. “I want you to come to——” and then she saw the rabbit -gentleman making funny noses behind her back, and waving his paw at -something, and Miss Muffet cried: - -“Why, what in the world is the matter, Uncle Wiggily? Have you hurt -yourself?” - -“No, no,” the rabbit gentleman quickly exclaimed. “It’s the spider. -She’s crawling toward you, and I don’t want her to sit down beside you, -and frighten you away.” - -Little Miss Muffet laughed a jolly laugh. - -“Oh, Uncle Wiggily!” she cried. “I’m not at all afraid of spiders! I’d -let a dozen of them sit beside me if they wanted to, for I know they -will not harm me, if I do not harm them. And besides, I knew this spider -was coming all the while.” - -“You did?” cried Nurse Jane, surprised like. - -“To be sure I did. She is Mrs. Spin-Spider, and she has come to measure -me for a new cobweb silk dress; haven’t you, Mrs. Spin-Spider?” - -“Yes, child, I have,” answered the lady spider. “No one need be afraid -of me.” - -“I’m not,” Uncle Wiggily said, “only I did not want you to frighten Miss -Muffet away before she had her curds and whey.” - -“Oh, I had them,” the little girl said. “Nurse Jane gave them to me -before you came in, Uncle Wiggily. But now let me tell you what I came -for, and then Mrs. Spin-Spider can measure me for a new dress. I came to -ask if you would do me the favor to come to my birthday party next week. -Will you?” - -“Of course I will!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “I’ll be delighted.” - -“Good!” laughed Little Miss Muffet. Then along came Mrs. Spin-Spider, -and sat down beside her and did not frighten the little girl away, but, -instead, measured her for a new dress. - -So from this we may learn that cobwebs are good for something else than -catching flies, and in the next chapter, if the piano doesn’t come -upstairs to lie down on the brass bed so the pillow has to go down in -the coal bin to sleep, I’ll tell you about Uncle Wiggily and the first -little kitten. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE FIRST KITTEN - - -UNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the nice old rabbit gentleman, was asleep in his -easy chair by the fire which burned brightly on the hearth in his -hollow-stump bungalow. Mr. Longears was dreaming that he had just eaten -a piece of cherry pie for lunch, and that the cherry pits were dropping -on the floor with a “rat-a-tat-tat!” when he suddenly awakened and heard -some one knocking on the front door. - -“Ha! Who is there? Come in!” cried the rabbit gentleman, hardly awake -yet. Then he happened to think: - -“I hope it isn’t the bad fox, or the skillery-scalery alligator, whom I -have invited in. I ought not to have been so quick.” - -But it was none of these unpleasant creatures who had knocked on Uncle -Wiggily’s door. It was Mrs. Purr, the nice cat lady, and when the rabbit -gentleman had let her in she looked so sad and sorrowful that he said: - -“What is the matter, Mrs. Purr? Has anything happened?” - -“Indeed there has, Mr. Longears,” the cat lady answered. “You know my -three little kittens, don’t you?” - -“Why, yes, I know them,” replied the bunny uncle. “They are Fuzzo, Muzzo -and Wuzzo. I hope they are not ill?” - -“No, they are not ill,” said the cat lady, mewing sadly, “but they have -run away, and I came to see if you would help me get them back.” - -“Run away! Your dear little kittens!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “You don’t -mean it! How did it happen?” - -“Well, you know my little kittens had each a new pair of mittens,” said -Mrs. Purr. - -“Yes, I read about that in the Mother Goose book,” said the rabbit -gentleman. “It must be nice to have new mittens.” - -“My little kittens thought so,” went on Mrs. Purr. “Their grandmother, -Pussy Cat Mole, knitted them.” - -“I have met Pussy Cat Mole,” said Uncle Wiggily. “After she jumped over -a coal, and in her best petticoat burned a great hole, I helped her mend -it so she could go to the party.” - -“I heard about that; it was very good of you,” mewed Mrs. Purr. “But -about my little kittens, when they got their mittens, what do you think -they did?” - -“Why, I suppose they went out and played in the snow,” Uncle Wiggily -said. “I know that is what I would have done, when I was a little -rabbit, if I had had a new pair of mittens.” - -“I only wish they had done that,” Mrs. Purr said. “But, instead, they -went and ate some cherry pie. The red pie-juice got all over their new -mittens, and when they saw it they became afraid I would scold them, and -they ran away. I was not home when they ate the pie and soiled their -mittens, but the cat lady who lives next door told me. - -“Now I want to know if you will try to find my three little kittens for -me; Fuzzo, Wuzzo and Muzzo? I want them to come home so badly!” - -“I’ll go look for them,” promised the old rabbit gentleman. So taking -his red, white and blue rheumatism crutch, off he started over the -fields and through the woods. Mrs. Purr went back home to get supper, in -case her kittens, with their pie-soiled mittens, should come back by -themselves before Uncle Wiggily found them. - -On and on went the old rabbit gentleman. He looked on all sides and -through the middle for any signs of the lost kittens, but he saw none -for quite a while. Then, all at once, he heard a mewing sound over in -the bushes, and he said: - -“Ha! There is the first little kitten!” And there, surely enough she -was—Fuzzo! - -“Oh, dear!” Fuzzo was saying, “I don’t believe I’ll ever get them -clean!” - -“What’s the matter now?” asked the rabbit gentleman, though he knew -quite well what it was, and only pretended he did not. “Who are you and -what is the matter?” he asked. - -“Oh, I’m in such trouble,” said the first little kitten. “My sisters and -I ate some pie in our new mittens. We soiled them badly with the red -pie-juice. Weren’t we naughty kittens?” - -“Well, perhaps just a little bit naughty,” Uncle Wiggily said. “But you -should not have run away from your mamma. She feels very badly. Where -are Muzzo and Wuzzo?” - -“I don’t know!” answered Fuzzo. “They ran one way and I ran another. I’m -trying to get the pie-juice out of my mittens, but I can’t seem to do -it.” - -“How did you try?” Uncle Wiggily wanted to know. - -“I am rubbing my mittens up and down on the rough bark of trees and on -stones,” answered Fuzzo. “I thought that would take the pie stains out, -but it doesn’t.” - -“Of course not!” laughed Uncle Wiggily. “Now you come with me. I am -going to take you home. Your mother sent me to look for you.” - -“Oh, but I’m afraid to go home,” mewed Fuzzo. “My mother will scold me -for soiling my nice, new mittens. It says so in the book.” - -“No, she won’t!” laughed Uncle Wiggily. “You just leave it to me. But -first you come to my hollow-stump bungalow.” - -So Fuzzo, the first little kitten, put one paw in Uncle Wiggily’s, and -carrying her mittens in the other, along they went together. - -“Where are you, Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy?” called the rabbit gentleman, -when they reached his hollow-stump bungalow. “I want you to make some -nice, hot, soapy suds and water, and wash this first little kitten’s -mittens. Then they will be clean, and she can take them home with her.” - -So the muskrat lady made some nice, hot, soap-bubbily suds and in them -she washed the kitten’s mittens. Then, when they were dry, Uncle Wiggily -took the mittens, and also Fuzzo to Mrs. Purr’s house. - -“Oh, how glad I am to have you back!” cried the cat mother. “I wouldn’t -have scolded you, Fuzzo, for soiling your mittens. You must not be -afraid any more.” - -“I won’t,” promised the first little kitten, showing her nice, clean -mittens. - -And then Uncle Wiggily said he would go find the other two lost baby -cats. And so, if the milkman doesn’t put goldfish in the ink bottle, to -make the puppy dog laugh when he goes to bed, I’ll tell you next about -Uncle Wiggily and the second kittie. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE SECOND KITTEN - - -“WELL, where are you going now, Uncle Wiggily?” asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy -Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, of the rabbit gentleman, one day as -she saw him starting out of his hollow-stump bungalow, after he had -found the first of the little kittens who had soiled their mittens. - -“I am going to look for the second little lost kitten,” replied the -bunny uncle, “though where she may be I don’t know. Her name is Muzzo.” - -“Why, her name is almost like mine, isn’t it?” asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy -Wuzzy. - -“A little like it,” said Uncle Wiggily. “Poor little Muzzo! She and the -other two kittens ran off after they had soiled their mittens, eating -cherry pie when their mother, Mrs. Purr, was not at home.” - -“It is very good of you to go looking for them,” said Nurse Jane. - -“Oh, I just love to do things like that,” spoke the rabbit gentleman. -“Well, good-by. I’ll see if I can’t find the second kitten now.” - -Away started the rabbit gentleman, over the fields and through the -woods, looking on all sides for the second lost kitten, whose name was -Muzzo. - -“Where are you, kittie?” called Uncle Wiggily. “Where are you, Muzzo? -Come to me! Never mind if your mittens are soiled by cherry-pie-juice. -I’ll find a way to clean them.” - -But no Muzzo answered. Uncle Wiggily looked everywhere, under bushes and -in the tree tops; for sometimes kitty cats climb trees, you know; but no -Muzzo could he find. Then Uncle Wiggily walked a little farther, and he -saw Billie Wagtail, the goat boy, butting his head in a snow-bank. - -“What are you doing, Billie?” asked the rabbit gentleman. - -“Oh, just having some fun,” answered Billie, standing up on his hind -legs. - -“You haven’t seen a little lost kitten, with cherry-pie-juice on her new -mittens, have you?” asked the rabbit gentleman. - -“No, I am sorry to say I have not,” said Billie, politely. “Did you lose -one?” - -“No, she lost herself,” said Uncle Wiggily, and he told about Muzzo. - -“I’ll help you look for her,” offered the goat boy, so he and Uncle -Wiggily started off together to try to find poor little lost Muzzo, and -bring her home to her mother, Mrs. Purr. - -Pretty soon, as the rabbit gentleman and the goat boy were walking along -they heard a little mewing cry behind a pile of snow, and Uncle Wiggily -said: - -“That sounds like Muzzo now.” - -“Perhaps it is. Let’s look,” said Billie Wagtail. - -He and the bunny uncle looked over the pile of snow, and there, surely -enough, they saw a little white pussy cat sitting on a stone, looking at -her mittens, which were all covered with red pie-juice. - -“Oh, dear!” the little pussy was saying. “I don’t know how to get them -clean! What shall I do? I can’t go home with my mittens all soiled, or -my mamma will whip me.” - -Of course, Mrs. Purr, the cat lady, would not do anything like that, but -Muzzo thought she would. - -“What are you trying to do to clean your mittens, Muzzo?” asked Uncle -Wiggily. - -“Oh, how you surprised me!” exclaimed the second little lost kitten. “I -did not know you were here.” - -“Billie Wagtail and I came to look for you,” said Uncle Wiggily. “But -what about your mittens?” - -“Oh, I have been dipping them in snow, trying to clean them,” said -Muzzo. “Only the pie-juice will not come out.” - -“Of course not,” spoke Uncle Wiggily, with a laugh. “It needs hot soap -suds and water to clean them. You come home to my bungalow and we will -get some.” - -“Oh, I am so cold and tired I can’t go another step,” said the second -little kitten, who had run away from home after she soiled her mittens. -“I just can’t.” - -“Well, then, I don’t know how you are going to get your mittens washed, -out here in the cold and snow,” said the rabbit gentleman. - -“Ha! I know a way!” said Billie Wagtail, the goat boy. - -“How?” asked Uncle Wiggily. - -“I’ll get an empty tomato can,” spoke Billie. “I know where there is -one, for I was eating the paper off it, to get the paste, just before -you came along.” - -Goats like to eat paper off tomato cans, you know, because the paper is -stuck on with sweet paste, and that is as good to goat children as candy -is to you. - -“I’ll go get the tomato can,” said Billie, “and you can make a fire, -Uncle Wiggily.” - -“And then what?” asked the rabbit gentleman. - -“Then we will melt some snow, and make some hot water,” went on Billie. -“I have a cake of soap in my pocket, that I just bought at the store for -my mother. - -“With the hot water in the can, and the soap, we can make a suds, and -wash Muzzo’s mittens out here as well as at your bungalow.” - -“So we can, Billie!” cried the bunny uncle. “You go get the empty tomato -tin and I’ll make the fire. You needn’t try to wash your soiled mittens -in the snow any more, Muzzo,” he said to the second lost kittie. “We -will do it for you, in soapy water, which is better.” - -Soon Uncle Wiggily made a fire. Back came Billie Wagtail with the tomato -can. Some snow was put in it, and it was set over the blaze. Soon the -snow melted into water, and then when the water was hot Uncle Wiggily -made a soapy suds as Nurse Jane had done. - -“Now I can wash my mittens!” cried Muzzo, and she did. And when they -were nice and clean she went home with them, and oh! how glad her mother -was to see her! - -“Never run away again, Muzzo,” said the cat lady. - -“I won’t,” promised the kitten. “But where is Wuzzo?” - -“She is still lost,” said Mrs. Purr. - -“But I will go find her, too,” said Uncle Wiggily. - -And if the apple pie doesn’t go out snowballing with the piece of -cheese, and forget to come back to dinner, I’ll tell you next about -Uncle Wiggily and the third little kitten. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XIX - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE THIRD KITTEN - - -UNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the nice old gentleman rabbit, came walking -slowly up the front path that led to his hollow-stump bungalow. He was -limping a little on his red, white and blue-striped barber-pole -rheumatism crutch that Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady -housekeeper, had gnawed for him out of a corn-stalk. - -“Well, I’m glad to be home again,” said the rabbit uncle, sitting down -on the front porch to rest a minute. And just then the door in the -hollow stump opened, and Nurse Jane, looking out, said: - -“Oh, here he is now, Mrs. Purr.” - -With that a cat lady came to the door and she said: - -“Oh, Uncle Wiggily! I thought you never would come back. Did you find -her?” - -“Find who?” asked the rabbit gentleman. “I was not looking for any one. -I have just been down to Lincoln Park to see some squirrels who live in -a hollow tree. They are second cousins to Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, -the squirrels who live in our woods. I had a nice visit with them.” - -“Then you didn’t find Wuzzo, my third little lost kitten, did you?” -asked Mrs. Purr, the cat mother. - -“What! Is Wuzzo still lost?” asked the bunny uncle, in great surprise. -“I thought she had come home.” - -“No, she hasn’t,” said Mrs. Purr. “You know you found my other kittens, -Fuzzo and Muzzo, for me, but Wuzzo, the third little kitten, is still -lost. She has been away all night, and I came over here the first thing -this morning to see if you would not kindly go look for her. But you had -already left and I have been waiting here ever since for you to come -back.” - -“Yes, I stayed longer with the park squirrels than I meant to,” said -Uncle Wiggily. “But now I am back I will start off and try to find -Wuzzo. It’s too bad your three little kittens ran away.” - -They had, you know, as I told you in the two stories before this one. -The three little kittens ate cherry pie with their new mittens on. And -they soiled their mittens. Then they were so afraid their mother, Mrs. -Purr, would scold them that they all ran away. - -But Mrs. Purr was a kind cat, and would not have scolded at all. And -when she found her little kittens were gone she asked Uncle Wiggily to -find them. - -“And you did find the first two, Fuzzo and Muzzo,” said the cat lady. -“So I am sure you can find the third one, Wuzzo.” - -“I hope I can,” Uncle Wiggily said. “I remember now I started off to -find her, but my rheumatism hurt me so I had to come back to my -bungalow. Then I forgot all about Wuzzo. But I’m all right now, and I’ll -start off.” - -So away over the fields and through the woods went Uncle Wiggily, -looking for the third little lost kitten. When he had found the two -others he had helped them wash the pie-juice off their mittens, so they -were nice and clean. And then the kittens were not afraid to go home. - -Uncle Wiggily looked all over for the third little kitten, under bushes, -up in trees (for cats climb trees, you know), and even behind big rocks -Uncle Wiggily looked. But no Wuzzo could he find. - -At last, when the rabbit gentleman came to a big hollow log that was -lying on the ground, he sat down on it to rest, and, all of a sudden, he -heard a voice inside the log speaking. And the voice asked: - -“Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been?” - -“I’ve been to London to see the Queen,” answered another voice. - -“Pussy cat, pussy cat, what did you do there?” - -“I frightened a little mouse, under her chair,” came the answer, and -this time it was a little pussy cat kitten speaking, Uncle Wiggily was -certain. - -The old rabbit gentleman looked in one end of the hollow log, and there -surely enough, he saw Wuzzo, the third lost kitten. - -And besides Wuzzo, Uncle Wiggily saw Neddie Stubtail, the little bear -boy, who always slept in a hollow log all Winter. But this time Neddie -was awake, for it was near Spring. - -“Wuzzo, Wuzzo! Is that you? What are you doing there?” asked Uncle -Wiggily. “Don’t you know your poor mother is looking all over for you, -and that she has sent me to find you? Why don’t you come home?” - -“I—I’m afraid to,” said Wuzzo, crawling out of the hollow log, and -Neddie, the boy bear also crawled out, saying: - -“Hello, Uncle Wiggily!” - -“How do you do, Neddie,” spoke the bunny uncle. “How long has Wuzzo been -staying with you?” - -“She just ran in my hollow log,” said the little bear chap, “and her -tail, brushing against my nose, tickled me so that I sneezed and -awakened from my Winter sleep.” - -“Where have you been all night, since you ran away, Wuzzo?” asked Uncle -Wiggily. - -“Well,” answered the third little kitten. “After Fuzzo, Muzzo and I -soiled our mittens with cherry pie we all ran away.” - -“Yes, I know that part,” spoke the bunny uncle. “It was not right to do, -but I have found the two other lost kitties. I couldn’t find you, -though. Why was that?” - -“Because I met Mother Goose,” said Wuzzo, “and she asked me to go to -London to see the Queen. She took me through the air on the back of her -big gander, and we flew as quickly as you could have gone in your -airship.” - -“You went to London to see the Queen!” exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, in -surprise. “Well, well! What did you do there?” - -“I frightened a little mouse under her chair, just as Mother Goose -wanted me to do,” said Wuzzo. “Then the big gander flew with me to these -woods and went back to get Mother Goose, who stayed to talk with the -Queen. So here I am, but I don’t know the way home.” - -“Oh, I’ll take you home all right,” said Uncle Wiggily. “But first we -must wash your mittens.” - -“Oh, I did that for her, in the log,” said Neddie Stubtail, laughing. -“With my red tongue I licked off all the sweet cherry-pie-juice, which I -liked very much. So, now the mittens are clean.” - -“Good!” cried the bunny uncle. “Now we will go to your mother, Wuzzo. -She will be glad to know that you frightened a little mouse under the -Queen’s chair.” - -So Uncle Wiggily took the third little kitten home, and thus they were -all found. And if the cat on our roof doesn’t jump down the chimney, and -scare the lemon pie so it turns into an apple dumpling, I’ll tell you -next about Uncle Wiggily and the Jack horse. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XX - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE JACK HORSE - - -“WELL, where are you going to-day, Uncle Wiggily?” asked Nurse Jane -Fuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, as she saw the rabbit gentleman -putting on his tall silk hat, and taking his red, white and blue-striped -rheumatism crutch down off the mantel. - -“I am going over to see Nannie and Billy Wagtail, the goat children,” -answered the bunny uncle. “I have not seen them in a long while.” - -“But they’ll be at school,” said Nurse Jane. - -“I’ll wait until they come home, then,” said Uncle Wiggily. “And while -I’m waiting I’ll talk to Uncle Butter, the nice old gentleman goat.” - -So off started Uncle Wiggily over the fields and through the woods. - -Pretty soon he came to the house where the family of Wagtail goats -lived. They were given that name because they wagged their little short -tails so very fast, sometimes up and down, and again sideways. - -“Why, how do you do, Uncle Wiggily?” asked Mrs. Wagtail, as she opened -the door for the rabbit gentleman. “Come and sit down.” - -“Thank you,” he answered. “I called to see Nannie and Billie. But I -suppose they are at school.” - -“Yes, they are studying their lessons.” - -“Well, I’ll come in then, and talk to Uncle Butter, for I suppose you -are busy.” - -“Yes, I am, but not too busy to talk to you, Mr. Longears,” said the -goat lady. “Uncle Butter is away, pasting up some circus posters on the -billboard, and I wish he’d come back, for I want him to go to the store -for me.” - -“Couldn’t I go?” asked Uncle Wiggily, politely. “I have nothing special -to do, and I often go to the store for Nurse Jane. I’d like to go for -you.” - -“Very well, you may,” said Mrs. Wagtail. “I want for supper some papers -off a tomato can, and a few more off a can of corn, and here is a basket -to put them in. And you might bring a bit of brown paper, so I can make -soup of it.” - -“I will,” said Uncle Wiggily, starting off with the basket on his paw. -Goats, you know, like the papers that come off cans, as the papers have -sweet paste on them. And they also like brown grocery paper itself, for -it has straw in it, and goats like straw. Of course, goats eat other -things besides paper, though. - -Uncle Wiggily was going carefully along, for there was ice and snow on -the ground, and it was slippery, and he did not want to fall. Soon he -was at the paper store, where he bought what Mrs. Wagtail wanted. - -And on the way back to the goat lady’s house something happened to the -old rabbit gentleman. As he stepped over a big icicle he put his foot -down on a slippery snowball some little animal chap had left on the -path, and, all of a sudden, bango! down went Uncle Wiggily, basket of -paper, rheumatism crutch and all. - -“Ouch!” cried the rabbit gentleman, “I fear something is broken,” for he -heard a cracking sound as he fell. - -He looked at his paws and legs and felt of his big ears. They seemed all -right. Then he looked at the basket of paper. That was crumpled up, but -not broken, and the bunny uncle’s tall silk hat, while it had a few -dents in, was not smashed. - -“Oh, dear! It’s my rheumatism crutch,” cried Uncle Wiggily. “It’s broken -in two, and how am I ever going to walk without it this slippery day I -don’t see. Oh, my goodness me sakes alive and some bang-bang tooth -powder!” - -Carefully the rabbit gentleman arose, but as he had no red, white and -blue-striped crutch to lean on, he nearly fell again. - -“I guess I’d better stay sitting down,” thought Uncle Wiggily. “Perhaps -some one may come along, and I can ask them go get Nurse Jane to gnaw -for me another rheumatism crutch out of a corn-stalk. I’ll wait here -until help comes.” - -Uncle Wiggily waited quite a while, but no one passed by. - -“It will soon be time for Billie and Nannie Wagtail to pass by on their -way from school,” thought the bunny uncle. “I could send them for -another crutch, I suppose.” - -So he waited a little longer, and then, as no one came, he tried to walk -with his broken crutch. But he could not. Then Uncle Wiggily cried: - -“Help! Help! Help!” but still no one came. “Oh, dear!” said the rabbit -gentleman, “if only Mother Goose would fly past, riding on the back of -her gander, she might take me home.” He looked up, but Mother Goose was -not sweeping cobwebs out of the sky that day, so he did not see her. - -Then, all of a sudden, as the rabbit gentleman sat there, wondering how -he was going to walk on the slippery ice and snow without his crutch to -help him, he heard a jolly voice singing: - - “Ride a Jack horse to Banbury Cross, - To see an old lady jump on a white horse. - With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes, - She shall have music wherever she goes.” - -And with that along through the woods came riding a nice, old lady on a -rocking-horse. And on the side of the rocking-horse was painted in red -ink the name: - - =JACK= - -“Why, hello, Uncle Wiggily!” called the nice old lady, shaking her toes -and making the bells jingle a pretty tune. “What is the matter with -you?” she asked. - -“Oh, I am in such trouble,” replied the bunny uncle. “I fell down on a -slippery snowball, and broke my crutch. Without it I cannot walk, and I -want to take these papers to Mrs. Wagtail, the goat lady, to eat.” - -“Ha! If that is all your trouble I can soon fix matters!” cried the -jolly old lady. “Here, get up beside me on my Jack horse, and I’ll ride -you to Mrs. Wagtail’s, and then take you home to your hollow-stump -bungalow.” - -“Oh, will you? How kind!” said Uncle Wiggily. “Thank you! But have you -the time?” - -“Lots of time,” laughed the old lady. “It doesn’t really matter when I -get to Banbury Cross. Come on!” - -Uncle Wiggily got up on the back of the Jack horse, behind the old lady. -She tinkled the rings on her fingers and jingled the bells on her toes, -and so, of course, she’ll have music wherever she goes. - -“Just as the Mother Goose books says,” spoke the bunny uncle. “Oh, I’m -glad you came along.” - -“So am I,” said the nice old lady. Then she took Uncle Wiggily to the -Wagtail house, where he left the basket of papers, and next he rode on -the Jack horse to his bungalow, and, after the bunny uncle had thanked -the old lady, she, herself, rode on to Banbury Cross, to see another old -lady jump on a white horse. And very nicely she did it too, let me tell -you. - -So everything came out all right, and in the next chapter, if the apple -pie doesn’t turn a somersault and crack its crust so the juice runs out, -I’ll tell you about Uncle Wiggily and the clock-mouse. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XXI - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CLOCK-MOUSE - - -UNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the nice old rabbit gentleman, sat in an easy -chair in his hollow-stump bungalow. He had just eaten a nice lunch, -which Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, had put on -the table for him, and he was feeling a bit sleepy. - -“Are you going out this afternoon?” asked Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy, as she -cleared away the dishes. - -“Hum! Ho! Well, I hardly know,” Uncle Wiggily answered, in a sleepy -voice. “I may, after I have a little nap.” - -“Your new red, white and blue-striped rheumatism crutch is ready for -you,” went on Nurse Jane. “I gnawed it for you out of a fine large -corn-stalk.” - -Uncle Wiggily had broken his other crutch, if you will kindly remember, -when he slipped as he was coming back from the store, where he went for -Mrs. Wagtail, the goat lady. And it was so slippery that the rabbit -gentleman never would have gotten home, only he rode on a Jack horse -with the lady, who had rings on her fingers and bells on her toes, as I -told you in the story before this one. - -“Thank you for making me a new crutch, Nurse Jane,” spoke the bunny -uncle. “If I go out I’ll take it.” - -Then he went to sleep in his easy chair, but he was suddenly awakened by -hearing the bungalow clock strike one. Then, as he sat up and rubbed his -eyes with his paws, Uncle Wiggily heard a thumping noise on the hall -floor and a little voice squeaked out: - -“Ouch! I’ve hurt my leg! Oh, dear!” - -“My! I wonder what that can be? It seemed to come out of my clock,” -spoke Mr. Longears. - -“I did come out of your clock,” said some one. - -“You did? Who are you, if you please?” asked the bunny uncle, looking -all around. “I can’t see you.” - -“That’s because I’m so small,” was the answer. “But here I am, right by -the table. I can’t walk as my leg is hurt.” - -Uncle Wiggily looked, and saw a little mouse, who was holding his left -hind leg in his right front paw. - -“Who are you?” asked the bunny uncle. - -“I am Hickory Dickory Dock, the mouse,” was the answer. “And I am a -clock-mouse.” - -“A clock-mouse!” exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, in surprise. “I never heard of -such a thing.” - -“Oh, don’t you remember me? I’m in Mother Goose’s book. This is how it -goes: - - “‘Hickory Dickory Dock, - The mouse ran up the clock. - The clock struck one, - And down he come, - Hickory Dickory Dock!’” - -“Oh, now I remember you,” said Uncle Wiggily. “And so you are a -clock-mouse.” - -“Yes, I ran up your clock, and then when the clock struck one, down I -had to come. But I ran down so fast that I tripped over the pendulum. -The clock reached down its hands and tried to catch me, but it had no -eyes in its face to see me, so I slipped, anyhow, and I hurt my leg.” - -“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” said Uncle Wiggily. “Perhaps I can fix it -for you. Nurse Jane, bring me some salve for Hickory Dickory Dock, the -clock-mouse,” he called. - -The muskrat lady brought some salve, and, with a rag, Uncle Wiggily -bound up the leg of the clock-mouse so it did not hurt so much. - -“And I’ll lend you a piece of my old crutch, so you can hobble along on -it,” said Uncle Wiggily. - -“Thank you,” spoke Hickory Dickory Dock, the clock-mouse. “You have been -very kind to me, and some day, I hope, I may do you a favor. If I can I -will.” - -“Thank you,” Uncle Wiggily said. Then Hickory Dickory Dock limped away, -but in a few days he was better, and he could run up more clocks, and -run down when they struck one. - -It was about a week after this that Uncle Wiggily went walking through -the woods on his way to see Grandfather Goosey Gander. And just before -he reached his friend’s house he met Mother Goose. - -“Oh, Uncle Wiggily,” she said, swinging her cobweb broom up and down, “I -want to thank you for being so kind to Hickory Dickory Dock, the -clock-mouse.” - -“It was a pleasure to be kind to him,” said Uncle Wiggily. “Is he all -better now?” - -“Yes, he is all well again,” replied Mother Goose. “He is coming to run -up and down your clock again soon.” - -“I’ll be glad to see him,” said Uncle Wiggily. Then he went to call on -Grandpa Goosey, and he told about Hickory Dickory Dock, falling down -from out the clock. - -On his way back to his hollow-stump bungalow, Uncle Wiggily took a short -cut through the woods. And, as he was passing along, his paw slipped and -he became all tangled up in a wild grape vine, which was like a lot of -ropes, all twisted together into hard knots. - -“Oh, dear!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “I’m caught!” The more he tried to -untangle himself the tighter he was held fast, until it seemed he would -never get out. - -“Oh!” cried the rabbit gentleman. “This is terrible. Will no one come to -get me out? Help! Help! Will some one please help me?” - -“Yes, I will help you, Uncle Wiggily,” answered a kind, little squeaking -voice. - -“Who are you?” asked the rabbit gentleman, moving a piece of the grape -vine away from his nose, so he could speak plainly. - -“I am Hickory Dickory Dock, the clock-mouse,” was the answer, “and with -my sharp teeth I will gnaw the grape vine in many pieces so you will be -free.” - -“That will be very kind of you,” said Uncle Wiggily, who was quite tired -out with his struggles to get loose. - -So Hickory Dickory Dock, with his sharp teeth, gnawed the grape vine, -and, in a little while, Uncle Wiggily was loose and all right again. - -“Thank you,” said the bunny uncle to the clock-mouse, as he hopped off, -and Hickory Dickory Dock went with him, for his leg was all better now. -“Thank you very much, nice little clock-mouse.” - -“You did me a favor,” said Hickory Dickory Dock, “and now I have done -you one, so we are even.” And that’s a good way to be in this world. So, -if the ink bottle doesn’t turn pale when it sees the fountain pen jump -in the goldfish bowl and swim I’ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and -the late scholar. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XXII - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE LATE SCHOLAR - - -“HEIGH-HO!” cried Uncle Wiggily Longears, the nice rabbit gentleman, one -morning, as he hopped from bed and went to the window of his -hollow-stump bungalow to look out. “Heigh-ho! It will soon be Spring, I -hope, for I am tired of Winter.” - -Then he went down-stairs, where Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady -housekeeper, had his breakfast ready on the table. - -Uncle Wiggily ate some cabbage pancakes with carrot maple sugar -sprinkled over them, and then as he wiped his whiskers on his red -tongue, which he used for a napkin, and as he twinkled his pink nose to -see if it was all right, Nurse Jane said: - -“Yesterday, Uncle Wiggily, you told me you would like me to make some -lettuce cakes to-day; did you not?” - -[Illustration] - -“I did,” answered Uncle Wiggily, sort of slow and solemn like. “But what -is the matter, Nurse Jane? I hope you are not going to tell me that you -cannot, or will not, make those lettuce cakes.” - -“Oh, I’ll make them, all right enough, Wiggy,” the muskrat lady -answered, “only I have no lettuce. You will have to go to the store for -me.” - -“And right gladly will I go!” exclaimed the bunny uncle, speaking like -some one in an old-fashioned story book. “I’ll get my automobile out and -go at once.” - -Uncle Wiggily had not used his machine often that Winter, as there had -been so much snow and ice. But now it was getting close to Spring and -the weather was very nice. There was no snow in the woods and fields, -though, of course, some might fall later. - -“It will do my auto good to have me ride in it,” said the bunny uncle. -He blew some hot air in the bologna sausage tires, put some talcum -powder on the steering-wheel so it would not catch cold, and then, -having tickled the whizzicum-whazzicum with a goose feather, away he -started for the lettuce store. - -It did not take him long to get there, and, having bought a nice head of -the green stuff, the bunny uncle started back again for his hollow-stump -bungalow. - -“Nurse Jane will make some fine lettuce cakes, with clover ice cream -cones on top,” he said to himself, as he hurried along in his -automobile. - -He had not gone very far, and he was about halfway home, when from -behind a bush he heard the sound of crying. Now, whenever Uncle Wiggily -heard any one crying he knew some one was in trouble, and as he always -tried to help those in trouble, he did it this time. Stopping his -automobile, he called: - -“Who are you, and what is the matter? Perhaps I can help you.” - -Out from behind the bush came a boy, a nice sort of boy, except that he -was crying. - -“Oh, are you Simple Simon?” asked Uncle Wiggily, “and are you crying -because you cannot catch a whale in your mother’s water pail?” - -“No; I am not Simple Simon,” was the answer of the boy. - -“Well, you cannot be Jack Horner, because you have no pie with you, and -you’re not Little Boy Blue, because I see you wear a red necktie,” went -on the bunny uncle. “Do you belong to Mother Goose at all?” - -“Yes,” answered the boy. “I do. You must have heard about me. I am -Diller-a-Dollar, a ten o’clock scholar, why do you come so soon? I used -to come at ten o’clock, but now I’ll come at noon. Don’t you know me?” - -“Ha! Why, of course, I know you!” cried Uncle Wiggily, in his jolly -voice, as he put some lollypop oil on the doodle-oodleum of his auto. -“But, why are you crying?” - -“Because I’m going to be late at school again,” said the boy. “You see -of late I have been late a good many mornings, but this morning I got up -early, and was sure I would get there before noon.” - -“And so you will, if you hurry,” Uncle Wiggily said, looking at his -watch, that was a cousin to the clock, up which, and down which, ran -Hickory Dickory Dock, the mouse. “It isn’t anywhere near noon yet,” went -on the rabbit gentleman. “You can almost get to school on time this -morning.” - -“I suppose I could,” said the boy, “and I got up early on purpose to do -that. But now I have lost my way, and I don’t know where the school is. -Oh, dear! Boo hoo! I’ll never get to school this week, I fear.” - -“Oh, yes, you will!” said Uncle Wiggily, still more kindly. “I’ll tell -you what to do. Hop up in the automobile here with me, and I’ll take you -to the school. I know just where it is. Sammie and Susie Littletail, my -rabbit friends, and Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, the squirrels, as well -as Nannie and Billie Wagtail, the goats, go there. Hop in!” - -So Diller-a-Dollar, the late scholar, hopped in the auto, and he and -Uncle Wiggily started off together. - -“You’ll not be late this morning,” said the bunny uncle. “I’ll get you -there just about nine o’clock.” - -Well, Uncle Wiggily meant to do it, and he might have, only for what -happened. First a hungry dog bit a piece out of one of the bologna -sausage tires on the auto wheels, and they had to go slower. Then a -hungry cat took another piece and they had to go still more slowly. - -A little farther on the tinkerum-tankerum of the automobile, which -drinks gasolene, grew thirsty and Uncle Wiggily had to give it a glass -of lemonade. This took more time. - -And finally when the machine went over a bump the cork came out of the -box of talcum powder and it flew in the face of Uncle Wiggily and the -late scholar and they both sneezed so hard that the auto stopped. - -“See! I told you we’d never get to school,” sadly said the boy. “Oh, -dear! And I thought this time teacher would not laugh, and ask me why I -came so soon, when I was really late.” - -“It’s too bad!” Uncle Wiggily said. “I did hope I could get you there on -time. But wait a minute. Let me think. Ha! I have it! We are close to my -bungalow. We’ll run there and get in my airship. That goes ever so much -faster than my auto, and I’ll have you to school in no time.” - -No sooner said than done! In the airship the late scholar and Uncle -Wiggily reached school just as the nine o’clock bell was ringing, and so -Diller-a-Dollar was on time this time after all. And the teacher said: - -“Oh, Diller-a-Dollar, my ten o’clock scholar, you may stand up in line. -You used to come in very late, but now you come at nine.” - -So the late scholar was not late after all, thanks to Uncle Wiggily, and -if the egg beater doesn’t go to sleep in the rice pudding, where it -can’t get out to go sleigh-riding with the potato masher, I’ll tell you -next about Uncle Wiggily and Baa-Baa, the black sheep. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND BAA-BAA BLACK SHEEP - - -“MY goodness! But it’s cold to-day!” exclaimed Uncle Wiggily Longears, -the nice rabbit gentleman, as he came down to breakfast in his -hollow-stump bungalow one morning. “It is very cold.” - -“Indeed it is,” said Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady -housekeeper, as she put the hot buttered cabbage cakes on the table. “If -you go out you had better wear your fur coat.” - -“I shall,” spoke the bunny uncle. “And I probably shall call on Mother -Goose. She asked me to stop in the next time I went past.” - -“What for?” Nurse Jane wanted to know. - -“Oh, Little Jack Horner hurt his thumb the last time he pulled a plum -out of his Christmas pie, and Mother Goose wanted me to look at it, and -see if she had better call in Dr. Possum. So I’ll stop and have a look.” - -“Well, give her my love,” said Nurse Jane, and Uncle Wiggily promised -that he would. - -A little later he started off across the fields and through the woods to -the place where Mother Goose lived, not far from his own hollow-stump -bungalow. Uncle Wiggily had on his fur overcoat, for it was cold. It had -been warm the day before, when he had taken Diller-a-Dollar, the ten -o’clock scholar, to school, but now the weather had turned cold again. - -“Come in!” called Mother Goose, when Uncle Wiggily had tapped with his -paw on her door. “Come in!” - -The bunny uncle went in, and looked at the thumb of Little Jack Horner, -who was playing marbles with Little Boy Blue. - -“Does your thumb hurt you much, Jack?” asked Uncle Wiggily. - -“Yes, I am sorry to say it does. I’m not going to pull any more plums -out of Christmas pies. I’m going to eat cake instead,” said Jack Horner. - -“Well, I’ll go get Dr. Possum for you,” offered Uncle Wiggily. “I think -that will be best,” he remarked to Mother Goose. - -Wrapped in his warm fur overcoat, Uncle Wiggily once more started off -over the fields and through the woods. He had not gone very far before -he heard a queer sort of crying noise, like: - -“Baa! Baa! Baa!” - -“Ha! That sounds like a little lost lamb,” said the bunny uncle, “only -there are no little lambs out this time of year. I’ll take a look. It -may be some one in trouble, whom I can help.” - -Uncle Wiggily looked around the corner of a stone fence, and there he -saw a sheep shivering in the cold, for most of his warm, fleecy wool had -been sheared off. Oh! how the sheep shivered in the cold. - -“Why, what is the matter with you?” asked Uncle Wiggily, kindly. - -“I am c-c-c-c-cold,” said the sheep, shiveringly. - -“What makes you cold?” the bunny uncle wanted to know. - -“Because they cut off so much of my wool. You know how it is with me, -for I am in the Mother Goose book. Listen! - - “‘Baa-baa, black sheep, have you any wool? - Yes, sir; yes, sir; three bags full. - One for the master, one for the man, - And one for the little boy who lives in the lane.’ - -“That’s the way I answered when they asked me if I had any wool,” said -Baa-baa. - -“And what did they do?” asked the bunny uncle. - -“Why they sheared off my fleece, three bags of it. I didn’t mind them -taking the first bag full, for I had plenty and it was so warm I thought -Spring was coming. And it doesn’t hurt to cut off my fleecy wool, any -more than it hurts to cut a boy’s hair. And after they took the first -bag full of wool for the master they took a second bag for the man. I -didn’t mind that, either. But when they took the third——” - -“Then they really did take three?” asked Uncle Wiggily, in surprise. - -“Oh, yes, to be sure. Why it’s that way in the book of Mother Goose, you -know, and they had to do just as the book says.” - -“I suppose so,” agreed Uncle Wiggily, sadly like. - -“Well, after they took the third bag of wool off my back the weather -grew colder, and I began to shiver. Oh! how cold I was; and how I -shivered and shook. Of course if the master and the man, and the little -boy who lives in the lane, had known I was going to shiver so, they -would not have taken the last bag of wool. Especially the little boy, as -he is very kind to me. - -“But now it is done, and it will be a long while before my wool grows -out again. And as long as it is cold weather I will shiver, I suppose,” -said Baa-baa, the black sheep. - -“No, you shall not shiver!” cried Uncle Wiggily. - -“How can you stop me?” asked the black sheep. - -“By wrapping my old fur coat around you,” said the rabbit gentleman. “I -have two fur overcoats, a new one and an old one. I am wearing the new -one. The old one is at my hollow-stump bungalow. You go there and tell -Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy to give it to you. Tell her I said so. Or you can -go there and wait for me, as I am going to get Dr. Possum to fix the -thumb of Little Jack Horner, who sat in a corner, eating a Christmas -pie.” - -“You are very kind,” said Baa-baa. “I’ll go to your bungalow and wait -there for you.” - -So he did, shaking and shivering all the way, but he soon became warm -when he sat by Nurse Jane’s fire. And when Uncle Wiggily came back from -having sent Dr. Possum to Little Jack Horner, the rabbit gentleman -wrapped his old fur coat around Baa-baa, the black sheep, who was soon -as warm as toast. - -And Baa-baa wore Uncle Wiggily’s old fur coat until warm weather came, -when the sheep’s wool grew out long again. So everything was all right, -you see. - -And now, having learned the lesson that if you cut your hair too short -you may have to wear a fur cap to stop yourself from getting cold, we -will wait for the next story, which, if the pencil box doesn’t jump into -the ink well and get a pail of glue to make the lollypop stick fast to -the roller-skates, will be about Uncle Wiggily and Polly Flinders. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XXIV - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND POLLY FLINDERS - - -“THERE!” cried Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, who -took care of the hollow-stump bungalow for Uncle Wiggily Longears, the -rabbit gentleman. “There, it is all finished at last!” - -“What’s all finished?” asked the bunny uncle, who was reading the paper -in his easy chair near the fire, for the weather was still cold. “I hope -you don’t mean you have finished living with me, Nurse Jane? For I would -be very lonesome if you were to go away.” - -“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll not leave you, Wiggy,” she said. “What I meant -was that I had finished making the new dress for Susie Littletail, the -rabbit girl.” - -“Good!” cried the bunny uncle. “A new dress for my little niece Susie. -That’s fine! If you like, Nurse Jane, I’ll take it to her.” - -“I wish you would,” spoke the muskrat lady. “I have not time myself. -Just be careful of it. Don’t let the bad fox or the skillery-scalery -alligator with humps on his ears bite holes in it.” - -“I won’t,” promised Uncle Wiggily. So taking the dress, which Nurse Jane -had sewed for Susie, over his paw, and with his tall silk hat over his -ears, and carrying his red, white and blue-striped barber-pole -rheumatism crutch, off Uncle Wiggily started for the Littletail home. - -“Susie will surely like her dress,” thought the rabbit gentleman. “It -has such pretty colors.” For it had, being pink and blue and red and -yellow and purple and lavender and strawberry and lemon and Orange -Mountain colors. There may have been other colors in it, but I can think -of no more right away. - -Uncle Wiggily was going along past Old Mother Hubbard’s house, and past -the place where Mother Goose lived, when, coming to a place near a big -tree, Uncle Wiggily saw another house. And from inside the house came a -crying sound. - -“Oh, dear! Oh, dear! What shall I do?” sobbed a voice. - -“Ah, ha! More trouble!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “I seem to be finding lots -of people in trouble lately. Well, now to see who this is!” - -Going up to the house, and peering in a window, Uncle Wiggily saw a -little girl sitting before a fireplace. And this little girl was crying. - -“Hello!” called Uncle Wiggily, in his jolly voice, as he opened the -window. “What is the matter? Are you Little Bo Peep, and are you crying -because you have lost your sheep?” - -“No, Uncle Wiggily,” answered the little girl. “I am crying because I -have spoiled my nice new dress, and when my mother comes home and finds -it out she will whip me.” - -“Oh, no!” cried the bunny uncle. “Your mother will never do that. But -who are you?” - -“Why, don’t you know? I am little Polly Flinders, I sat among the -cinders, warming my pretty little toes. ‘And her mother came and caught -her, and she whipped her little daughter, for spoiling her nice new -clothes.’ - -“That’s what it says in the Mother Goose book,” said Polly Flinders, -“and, of course, that’s what will happen to me. Oh, dear! I don’t want -to be whipped. And I didn’t really spoil quite all my nice new clothes. -It’s only my dress, and some hot ashes got on that.” - -“Well, that isn’t so bad,” said Uncle Wiggily. “It may be that I can -clean it for you.” But when he looked at Polly’s dress he saw that it -could not be fixed, for, like Pussy Cat Mole’s best petticoat, Polly’s -dress had been burned through with hot coals, so that it was full of -holes. - -“No, that can’t be fixed, I’m sorry to say,” said Uncle Wiggily. - -“Oh, dear!” sobbed Polly Flinders, as she sat among the cinders. “What -shall I do? I don’t want to be whipped by my mother.” - -“And you shall not be,” said the bunny uncle. “Not that I think she -would whip you, but we will not give her a chance. See here, I have a -new dress that I was taking to Susie Littletail. Nurse Jane can easily -make my little rabbit niece another. - -“So you take this one, and give me your old one. And when your mother -comes she will not see the holes in your dress. Only you must tell her -what happened, or it would not be fair. Always tell mothers and fathers -everything that happens to you.” - -“I will,” promised Polly Flinders. - -She soon took off her old dress and put on the new one intended for -Susie, and it just fitted her. - -“Oh, how lovely!” cried Polly Flinders, looking at her toes. - -“And now,” said Uncle Wiggily, “you must sit no more among the cinders.” - -“I’ll not,” Polly promised, and she went and sat down in front of the -looking-glass, where she could look proudly at the new dress—not too -proudly, you understand, but just proud enough. - -Polly thanked Uncle Wiggily, who took the old soiled and burned dress to -Susie’s house. When the rabbit girl saw the bunny uncle coming she ran -to meet him, crying: - -“Oh! did Nurse Jane send you with my new dress?” - -“She did,” answered Uncle Wiggily, “but see what happened to it on the -way,” and he showed Susie the burned holes and all. - -“Oh, dear!” cried the little rabbit girl, sadly. “Oh, dear!” - -“Never mind,” spoke Uncle Wiggily, kindly, and he told all that had -happened. It was a sort of adventure, you see. - -“Oh, I’m glad you gave Polly my dress!” said Susie, clapping her paws. - -“Nurse Jane shall make you another dress,” promised Uncle Wiggily, and -the muskrat lady did. And when the mother of Polly Flinders came home -she thought the new dress was just fine, and she did not whip her little -daughter. In fact, she said she would not have done so anyhow. So that -part of the Mother Goose book is wrong. - -And thus everything came out all right, and if the shaving brush doesn’t -whitewash the blackboard, so the chalk can’t dance on it with the pencil -sharpener, I’ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the garden maid. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XXV - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE GARDEN MAID - - -“HEY, ho, hum!” exclaimed Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit gentleman, -as he stretched up his twinkling, pink nose, and reached his paws around -his back to scratch an itchy place. “Ho, hum! I wonder what will happen -to me to-day?” - -“Are you going out again?” asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat -lady housekeeper. “It seems to me that you go out a great deal, Mr. -Longears.” - -“Well, yes; perhaps I do,” admitted the bunny uncle. “But more things -happen to me when I go out than when I stay in the house.” - -“And do you like to have things happen to you?” asked Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy. - -“When they are adventures I do,” answered the rabbit gentleman. “So here -I go off for an adventure.” - -Off started the nice, old, bunny uncle, carrying his red, white and -blue-striped barber-pole rheumatism crutch—over his shoulder this time. -For his pain did not hurt him much, as the sun was shining, so he did -not have to limp on the crutch, which Nurse Jane had gnawed for him out -of a corn-stalk. - -Uncle Wiggily had not gone very far toward the fields and woods before -he heard Nurse Jane calling to him. - -“Oh, Wiggy! Wiggy, I say! Wait a moment!” - -“Yes, what is it?” asked the rabbit gentleman, turning around and -looking over his shoulder. “Have I forgotten anything?” - -“No, it was I who forgot,” said the muskrat lady housekeeper. “I forgot -to tell you to bring me a bottle of perfume. Mine is all gone.” - -“All right, I’ll bring you some,” promised Mr. Longears. “It will give -me something to do—to go to the perfume store. Perhaps an adventure may -happen to me there.” - -Once more he was on his way, and soon he reached the perfume store, kept -by a nice buzzing bee lady, who gathered sweet smelling perfume, as well -as honey, from the flowers in Summer and put it carefully away for the -Winter. - -“Some perfume for Nurse Jane, eh?” said the bee lady, as the rabbit -gentleman knocked on her hollow-tree house. “There you are, Uncle -Wiggily,” and she gave him a bottle of the nice scent made from a number -of flowers. - -“My! That smells lovely!” exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, as he pulled out the -cork, and took a long sniff. “Nurse Jane will surely like that perfume!” - -With the sweet scented bottle in his paw, the rabbit gentleman started -back toward his hollow-stump bungalow. He had not gone very far before -he saw a nurse maid, out in the garden, back of a big house. There was a -basket in front of the maid, with some clothes in it, and stretched -across the garden was a line, with more clothes on it, flapping in the -wind. - -“Ha!” exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. “I wonder if that garden maid, hanging up -the clothes, wouldn’t like to smell Nurse Jane’s perfume? Nurse Jane -will not mind, and perhaps it will be doing that maid a kindness to let -her smell something sweet, after she has been smelling washing-soap-suds -all morning.” - -So the bunny uncle, who was always doing kind things, hopped over to the -garden maid, and politely asked: - -“Wouldn’t you like to smell this perfume?” and he held out the bottle he -had bought of the bee lady. - -The garden maid turned around, and said in a sad voice: - -“Thank you, Uncle Wiggily. It is very kind of you, I’m sure, and I would -like to smell your perfume. But I can’t.” - -“Why not?” asked the bunny uncle. “The cork is out of the bottle. See!” - -“That may very well be,” went on the garden maid, “but the truth of the -matter is that I cannot smell, because a blackbird has nipped off my -nose.” - -Uncle Wiggily, in great surprise, looked, and, surely enough, a -blackbird had nipped off the nose of the garden maid. - -“Bless my whiskers!” cried the bunny uncle. “What a thing for a -blackbird to do—nip off your nose! Why did he do such an impolite thing -as that?” - -“Why, he had to do it, because it’s that way in the Mother Goose book,” -said the maid. “Don’t you remember? It goes this way: - - “‘The King was in the parlor, - Counting out his money, - The Queen was in the kitchen, - Eating bread and honey. - The maid was in the garden, - Hanging out the clothes, - Along came a blackbird - And nipped off her nose.’ - -“That’s the way it was,” said the garden maid. - -“Oh, yes, I remember now,” spoke Uncle Wiggily. - -“Well, I’m the maid who was in the garden, hanging out the clothes,” -said she, “and, as you can see, along came a blackbird and nipped off my -nose. That is, you can’t see the blackbird, but you can see the place -where my nose ought to be.” - -“Yes,” answered Uncle Wiggily, “I can. It’s too bad. That blackbird -ought to have his feathers ruffled.” - -“Oh, he didn’t mean to be bad,” said the garden maid. “He had to do as -it says in the book, and he had to nip off my nose. So that’s why I -can’t smell Nurse Jane’s nice perfume.” - -Uncle Wiggily thought for a minute. Then he said: - -“Just you wait here. I think I can fix it so you can smell as well as -ever.” - -Then the bunny uncle hurried off through the woods until he found Jimmie -Caw-Caw, the big black crow boy. - -“Jimmie,” said the bunny uncle, “will you fly off, find the blackbird, -and ask him to give back the garden maid’s nose so she can smell -perfume?” - -“I will,” said Jimmie Caw-Caw, very politely. “I certainly will!” - -Away he flew, and, after a while, in the deep, dark part of the woods he -found the blackbird, sitting on a tree. - -“Please give me back the garden maid’s nose,” said Jimmie, politely. - -“Certainly,” answered the blackbird, also politely. “I only took it off -in fun. Here it is back. I’m sorry I bothered the garden maid, but I had -to, as it’s that way in the Mother Goose book.” - -Off to Uncle Wiggily flew Jimmie, the crow boy, with the young lady’s -nose, and soon Dr. Possum had fastened it back on the garden maid’s face -as good as ever. - -“Now you can smell the perfume,” said Uncle Wiggily, and when he held up -the bottle the maid said: - -“Oh, what a lovely smell!” - -So the bunny uncle left a little perfume in a bottle for the garden -maid, and then she went on hanging up the clothes, and she felt very -happy because she had a nose. So you see how kind Uncle Wiggily and -Jimmie were, and Nurse Jane, too, liked the perfume very much. - -So if the little girl’s roller-skates don’t run over the pussy’s tail -and ruffle it all up so she can’t go to the moving picture party, I’ll -tell you next of Uncle Wiggily and the King. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XXVI - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE KING - - -UNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the nice old rabbit gentleman, was sitting in an -easy chair in his hollow-stump bungalow, one day, looking out of the -window at the blue sky, and he was feeling quite happy. And why should -he not be happy? - -Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, his muskrat lady housekeeper, had just given him -a nice breakfast of cabbage pancakes, with carrot maple sugar tied in a -bow-knot in the middle, and Uncle Wiggily had eaten nine. Nine cakes, I -mean, not nine bows. - -“And now,” said the bunny uncle to himself, “I think I shall go out and -take a walk. Perhaps I may have an adventure. Do you want any perfume, -or anything like that from the store?” asked Mr. Longears of Miss Fuzzy -Wuzzy. - -“No, thank you, I think not,” answered the muskrat lady. “Just bring -yourself home, and that will be all.” - -“Oh, I’ll do that all right,” promised the bunny gentleman. So away he -hopped, over the fields and through the woods, humming to himself a -little song which went something like this: - - “I’m feeling happy now and gay, - Why shouldn’t I, this lovely day? - ’Tis time enough to be quite sad, - When wind and rain make weather bad. - But, even then, one ought to try - To think that soon it will be dry. - So then, no matter what the weather, - Smile, as though tickled by a feather.” - -Uncle Wiggily felt happier than ever when he had sung this song, but, as -he went along a little further, he came, all at once, to a very nice -house indeed, out of which floated the sound of a sad voice. - -Uncle Wiggily was surprised to hear this, for the house was such a nice -one that it seemed no one ought to be unhappy who lived there. - -The house was made of gold and silver, with diamond windows, and the -chimney was made of a red ruby stone, which, as every one knows, is very -expensive. But with all that the sad voice came sailing out of one of -the opened diamond windows, and the voice said: - -“Oh, dear! It’s gone! I can’t find it! I dropped it and it rolled down a -crack in the floor. Now I’ll never get it again. Oh, dear!” - -“Well, that sounds like some one in trouble,” said the bunny uncle. “I -must see if I cannot help them,” for Uncle Wiggily helped real folk, who -lived in fine houses, as well as woodland animals, who lived in hollow -trees. - -Uncle Wiggily hopped up to the open diamond window of the gold and -silver house, with the red ruby chimney, and, poking his nose inside, -the rabbit gentleman asked: - -“Is there some one here in trouble whom I may have the pleasure of -helping?” - -“Yes,” answered a voice. “I’m here, and I’m surely in trouble.” - -“Who are you, and what is the trouble, if I may ask?” politely went on -Uncle Wiggily. - -“I am the king,” was the answer. “This is my palace, but, with all that, -I am in trouble. Come in.” - -In hopped Uncle Wiggily, and there, surely enough, was the king, but he -was in the kitchen, down on his hands and knees, looking with one eye -through a crack in the floor, which is something kings hardly ever do. - -“It’s down there,” he said. “And I can’t get it. I’m too fat to go -through the crack.” - -“What’s down there?” Uncle Wiggily wanted to know. - -“My money,” answered the king. “You may have heard about me,” and he -recited this little verse: - - “The king was in the kitchen, - Counting out his money; - The queen was in the parlor, - Eating bread and honey; - The maid was in the garden, - Hanging out the clothes, - Along came a blackbird, - Who nipped off her nose.” - -The fat man got up off the kitchen floor. - -“I’m the king,” he said, taking up his gold and diamond crown from a -kitchen chair, where he had put it as he kneeled down, so it would not -fall off and be dented. “From Mother Goose, you know; don’t you?” - -“Yes, I know,” answered Uncle Wiggily. - -“I dare say you’ll find the queen in the parlor eating bread and honey,” -went on the king. “At least I saw her start for there with a plate, -knife and fork as I was coming here. And, no doubt, the maid is in the -garden, where she’ll pretty soon have her nose nipped off by a -blackbird.” - -“That part happened yesterday,” said Uncle Wiggily. “I was there just -after it happened, and I got Jimmie Caw-Caw, the crow boy, to fly after -the blackbird and bring back the maid’s nose. She is as well as ever now -and can smell all kinds of perfume.” - -“Good!” cried the fat king. “You were very kind to help her. I only wish -you could help me. But I don’t see how you can. My money, which I was -counting, fell out of my hands and dropped down a crack in the floor. I -can see it lying down there in the dirt, but I can’t get at it unless I -move to one side my gold and silver palace, and I don’t want to do that. -I don’t suppose you can move a palace, can you?” And he looked askingly -at Uncle Wiggily. - -“No, I can’t do that,” said the bunny uncle. “But still I think I can -get your money without moving the palace.” - -“How?” asked the king. - -“Why, I can go outside,” said Mr. Longears, “and with my strong paws, -which are just made for digging, I can burrow, or dig, a place through -the dirt under your palace-house, crawl in and get what you dropped.” - -“Oh, please do!” cried the king. - -So Uncle Wiggily did. - -Down under the cellar wall of the palace, through the dirt, dug the -bunny gentleman, with his strong paws. Pretty soon he was right under -the kitchen, and there, just where they had dropped through the crack, -were the king’s gold and silver pennies and other pieces of money. Uncle -Wiggily picked them up, put them in his pocket and crawled out again. - -“There you are, king,” he said. “You have your money back.” - -“Oh, thank you ever so much!” cried the king. “I’ll have the cook give -you some carrots.” And he did, before he went on counting his money in -the kitchen. And this time he stuffed a dish-rag in the crack so no more -pennies would fall through. - -Thus we see how Uncle Wiggily helped the king, and in the next chapter, -if the condensed milk doesn’t jump out of the can and scare the -coffee-pot so it drinks tea, I’ll tell you of Uncle Wiggily and the -queen. - -But that story will have to go in the second part of this book, together -with some others, for now we are just halfway through, just as when you -cut an orange into two parts. - -So, if you are all ready, you may turn the page and get ready for what -comes next. - - - END OF PART I - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CONTENTS - - ------- - - PART II. - - CHAPTER PAGE - I. Uncle Wiggily and the Queen 9 - II. Uncle Wiggily and Ding-Dong Pussy 15 - III. Uncle Wiggily and the Shoe Lady 22 - IV. Uncle Wiggily and Jack-Be-Nimble 29 - V. Uncle Wiggily and Tommy Tinker’s Dog 35 - VI. Uncle Wiggily and Mary’s Lamb 41 - VII. Uncle Wiggily and Peter Piper 47 - VIII. Uncle Wiggily and the Moon-Man 53 - IX. Uncle Wiggily and Humpty Dumpty 59 - X. Uncle Wiggily and Old King Cole 65 - XI. Uncle Wiggily and Peter-Peter 72 - XII. Uncle Wiggily and the Butcher 78 - XIII. Uncle Wiggily and the Baker 84 - XIV. Uncle Wiggily and the Candlestick Maker 91 - XV. Uncle Wiggily and Tom-Tom 97 - XVI. Uncle Wiggily and the Crooked Man 103 - XVII. Uncle Wiggily and the Barber 110 - XVIII. Uncle Wiggily and the Blackbirds 116 - XIX. Uncle Wiggily and the Fat Man 123 - XX. Uncle Wiggily and the Tarts 129 - XXI. Uncle Wiggily and the Jumping Cow 136 - XXII. Uncle Wiggily and the Pussies 143 - XXIII. Uncle Wiggily and the Leaves 150 - XXIV. Uncle Wiggily and the Wise Man 156 - XXV. Uncle Wiggily and the Tailors 163 - XXVI. Uncle Wiggily and the Bat 169 - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - Uncle Wiggily and Mother Goose - - - ------- - - - - - CHAPTER I - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE QUEEN - - -UNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the rabbit gentleman, was hopping along through -the woods one day, limping a little on his red, white and blue striped -barber-pole rheumatism crutch, for he had some pain, and he was -wondering if any adventures would happen to him when, all of a sudden, -there came a big puff of wind, and blew off his tall silk hat. - -“My goodness me sakes alive, and some rice pudding!” cried the bunny -uncle, giving a hop, skip and a jump after his hat. “I had forgotten -that this is the first of March, when the wind begins to blow Winter -away and blow Spring in its place. No wonder my hat went off!” - -He raced after his hat, which was bounding along through the woods, -rolling over and over like a boy’s hoop on the sidewalk. At last Uncle -Wiggily caught his hat, but, as he was putting it down hard over his -ears, along came another puff of wind, and this time blew away his red, -white and blue-striped crutch. - -“Oh, dear!” cried the bunny uncle. “What a lot of trouble I’m having -to-day! I don’t believe any one has as much trouble as I.” - -Uncle Wiggily hopped after his crutch, and caught it just as it was -about ready to be blown into a bramble briar bush. - -“It’s a good thing it didn’t go in there,” he said, “or I’d have been -all scratched up getting it out. Oh, dear! I wonder if I am going to -have any more trouble! No one has as much as I.” - -“Oh, yes they have,” said a little voice in the bramble briar bush. -“Yes, they have! I’m in trouble right now.” - -“Who are you and what is the trouble?” asked the bunny uncle. - -“I am the bee lady who keeps the honey and perfume store,” was the -answer. “I was on my way to take some perfume to Mrs. Wibblewobble, the -duck lady, and when I tried to fly through this bramble briar bush my -wings were caught, and I can’t get out. Isn’t that trouble enough?” - -“It certainly is,” answered Uncle Wiggily. “I am sorry you are in -trouble, for I know what it means. But I will help you out.” - -So he did, very gently loosening the stickery thorns of the bramble -briar bushes from the bee lady’s wings. - -“Oh, thank you,” she said. “Now, I can fly on with the perfume for Mrs. -Wibblewobble. If ever I can help you, or any friends of yours, I shall, -Uncle Wiggily.” - -“Thank you,” answered the rabbit gentleman. Then, having given the bunny -uncle a smell from the little bottle of perfume she carried, the bee -lady flew on. - -With his tall silk hat and crutch the rabbit gentleman now again went on -through the woods, until once more he came to the gold and silver -palace-house, with diamond windows, and a chimney made of a red ruby -stone. - -“Ha! That’s where the king lives, who was in the kitchen, counting out -his money,” thought Mr. Longears. “I helped him, and I wonder if there -is any one else in the palace who is in need of my help?” - -Just then, from one of the open parlor diamond windows, there came a -voice saying sadly: - -“Oh, dear! It’s all gone! There isn’t a bit left, and what I’m going to -do, I don’t know. Oh, dear!” - -“That sounds like trouble,” said the bunny uncle. “I’ll see what it is.” - -He went closer to the window, and there, in the parlor, he saw a -beautiful lady, all dressed in silk and satin and cloth-of-gold, with a -diamond crown on her head. In one hand she had a plate, and in the other -a knife and fork. - -“What is the matter?” asked Uncle Wiggily, politely. “What is gone—the -cook? And do you have to do the dishes yourself?” - -“No, thank you, the cook hasn’t gone,” said the lady. “I am the queen, -as you can see, and I ought to be in the parlor, eating bread and honey. -I’m in the parlor right enough, as you can tell by the piano being here. -And I have the bread, but there is no honey! There isn’t a bit of honey -in the palace for me to eat, so I don’t see how I can make things come -out right, as they do in the Mother Goose book. Oh, dear!” - -“Don’t worry,” said Uncle Wiggily, kindly. “Perhaps I can mend matters -for you.” - -“I don’t see how you can,” said the queen. “You haven’t any honey in -your pocket; have you?” she asked. - -“No,” answered the bunny uncle. “I guess I would be all stuck up, like a -piece of fly paper, if I carried honey in my pocket.” - -“Then if you have no honey you can’t help me,” said the queen, sadly. -“You see the king is in the kitchen, counting out his money. I am in -here, and I ought to be eating honey. And the maid is in the garden, -hanging out the clothes——” - -“I know all about that, and all about her nose,” said Uncle Wiggily, -with a smile. “I helped the king get back his money, I helped the maid -get back her nose, and now I am going to help you get your honey.” - -“Oh, how good of you!” cried the queen, who felt like hugging Uncle -Wiggily, only queens do not do such things, you know. “And I really need -the honey, for I am hungry. But how can you get it?” the queen asked. - -“I’ll show you,” answered the rabbit gentleman. Then, going to the open -window, he made a noise like a flower, and called: - -“Mrs. Bee! Mrs. Bee! Will you do me a favor now? You promised you would, -and now is your chance. Will you do me a favor?” - -“Yes, I will,” answered a buzzing voice, and along flew the bee lady, -whom Uncle Wiggily had helped out of the briar bush. “What is it you -wish?” she buzzed. - -“Some honey for the queen to eat in the parlor,” spoke the bunny uncle. -“She hasn’t any, and she must have some to be like the story in the -Mother Goose book, or things will not come out right. The queen needs -honey.” - -“She shall have some at once,” buzzed Mrs. Bee. Away she flew and pretty -soon she came back with a lot of honey. - -“Oh, thank you, and you, too, Uncle Wiggily,” cried the queen, as she -sat in the parlor and ate the sweet stuff. “Now everything is all -right.” - -And so it was, Uncle Wiggily having made it so. And if the clothes line -doesn’t twist itself in and out among the pickets of the fence like a -carpenter’s shaving and try to play hop-scotch with the rose bush, I’ll -tell you next about the bunny gentleman and the ding-dong-bell pussy. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER II - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND DING-DONG PUSSY - - -MOTHER GOOSE, the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe and Old Mother Hubbard -hurried one day across the field and through the woods, to the -hollow-stump bungalow of Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit gentleman. -Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, looking out of the -hollow-stump window, saw them. - -“My goodness, Uncle Wiggily!” cried Nurse Jane. “Oh! Look who’s coming -this way. Company! Oh, my! And my shoes not buttoned! Oh, dear!” - -The bunny uncle stepped to the window beside the muskrat lady. - -“They’re coming here,” said Mr. Longears. “Mother Goose, Mrs. Hubbard -and the Shoe Lady. You aren’t giving a surprise party, are you, Nurse -Jane, that they are coming to?” - -“No, indeed,” answered Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy. “Though to see the three of -them coming this way is a surprise to me. Something must be the matter. -See how worried they look.” - -“Trouble, I suppose,” said Uncle Wiggily. “Well, if they are in trouble -it will give me pleasure to help them out. Open the door, Nurse Jane.” - -“Why, they can’t get in here,” said Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy. “Our little -hollow-stump bungalow is too small for Mother Hubbard, Mother Goose and -the Shoe Lady, or even one of them.” - -“So it is,” agreed Uncle Wiggily. “I’ll have to go outside to talk to -them,” and he did, politely hopping through the hollow-stump window. - -“Oh, Uncle Wiggily!” cried Old Mother Hubbard. “Oh, dear!” - -“Such trouble!” exclaimed the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe, but who I -shall call the Shoe Lady, for short, “Oh, such trouble!” - -“It’s Pussy!” said Mother Goose. “She’s gone!” - -“Gone?” asked Uncle Wiggily. “Gone? Who is Pussy?” - -“Why, you know,” said Mother Goose. “Pussy is a cousin to Fuzzo, Wuzzo -and Muzzo, the three little kittens, who lost their mittens.” - -“Oh, yes, to be sure,” said Uncle Wiggily. “I remember! So Pussy has -gone; has she? What happened to her?” - -“That’s what we don’t know, and what we came to you to have you find -out,” said Mother Goose. “You see, Pussy—that’s her first name, her last -one is Mew—Pussy Mew came on a little visit to Mrs. Purr, who is her -aunt, and the mother of the three little kittens who lost their -mittens.” - -“Oh, yes, I remember!” said Uncle Wiggily. - -“Well, Pussy is lost,” spoke the Shoe Lady. “She went out to the store -for Mrs. Purr while Fuzzo, Wuzzo and Muzzo were taking their -tail-chasing lesson, and Pussy did not come back.” - -“What did she go to the store after?” Uncle Wiggily wanted to know. - -“A yeast cake,” answered Mother Hubbard. “But the yeast cake didn’t come -back, either.” - -“Not having any legs, I don’t see how it could,” said Uncle Wiggily. -“But what is it you want me to do, ladies?” he asked, making a polite -bow. - -“Find Pussy Mew,” said Mother Goose. “You were so clever at helping the -king and queen and the maid in the garden hanging out the clothes, when -along came a blackbird that nipped off her nose, that I’m sure you can -find Pussy for us. We’re really worried about her. Please find her.” - -“I’ll try,” promised Uncle Wiggily. So in a little while off he started, -limping along on his red, white and blue tall silk hat, with his -barber-pole rheumatism crutch on his head. Oh, no! excuse me, if you -please—I mean he had his crutch under his paw and his hat on his head. - -Over the fields and through the woods went Uncle Wiggily until, pretty -soon, he came to the hollow-stump school where the lady mouse taught the -animal children their lessons. The bell was ringing, for it was time for -the children to run out to play at recess. - -“Ha! I wonder if Pussy Mew could have gone to school, forgetting to come -home with the yeast cake,” said Uncle Wiggily. “I’ll inquire.” - -He asked the lady mouse teacher, but she said that Pussy was not in -school, so Uncle Wiggily hurried on, looking all through the woods and -over the fields. But no Pussy did he find until, all at once, as he came -near a well, he felt thirsty for a drink of water. - -“Oh, how I wish I had a drink!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “I wonder if I -could get one.” - -He went to the edge of the well, but it was an old one, and there was no -rope or bucket by which water could be pulled up. Then the old rabbit -gentleman saw something shining brightly down at the bottom of the well, -and he called out: - -“Is any one down there who could give me a drink of water?” - -“Yes, I am down here,” was the answer, “but I cannot give you a drink of -water for I cannot get up myself.” - -“Who are you?” asked Uncle Wiggily, surprised like. - -Just then the school bell rang again, and a voice said: - - “Ding-dong bell, Pussy’s in the well. - Who put her in? Little Johnnie Green. - Who pulled her out? Big Johnnie Stout. - -“Only that last part isn’t right,” the voice went on, “for Big Johnnie -Stout hasn’t come to pull me out. But I’m in the well, as you can tell -by the ding-dong bell. Oh, dear! I don’t know what to do. I want so much -to get out.” - -“I’ll help you out, Pussy,” said Uncle Wiggily, kindly. “I have been -looking all over for you. But if you are in the well how is it that you -did not sink to the bottom?” - -“Because I have with me a yeast cake that I went to the store to get,” -was the answer. “The yeast cake makes bread light, so it will rise, and -it made me light, so I could rise to the top of the water.” - -“Good!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “It was the shiny tinfoil of the yeast cake -I saw at the bottom of the well. I’ll soon have you out now, Pussy.” - -He gave a jump over to a wild grape vine, gnawed off a piece with his -strong teeth, and then, using the grape vine as a rope, he lowered it -down into the well. Pussy took hold of it with her claws and paws, -putting the yeast cake in one ear, and Uncle Wiggily easily pulled her -out. She was wet, but not hurt at all. - -“Oh, thank you, Uncle Wiggily,” Pussy Mew said. “So it was you, and not -Johnnie Stout, who pulled me out?” - -“Of that there is no doubt,” laughed Uncle Wiggily. “But did Johnnie -Green push you in?” - -“No, I stumbled and fell in,” answered Pussy. “Everything about me in -the Mother Goose story is wrong except the part like ‘ding-dong bell, -Pussy’s in the well.’ I really was in.” - -Then Pussy hurried on to her aunt’s house with the yeast cake, and all -was well. And Mother Goose was very thankful to Uncle Wiggily for having -helped the little cat, who, ever after that was called the -“ding-dong-bell pussy.” - -So in the next chapter, if the piano music doesn’t go to sleep in the -bread box, where the phonograph can’t find it to play with, I’ll tell -you about Uncle Wiggily and the Shoe Lady. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER III - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE SHOE LADY - - -“WHERE are you going, Uncle Wiggily?” asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the -muskrat lady, who kept house for Mr. Longears, the rabbit gentleman. -“Where are you going this fine day?” - -“To the store,” answered the bunny uncle. - -“To the store? Why, I don’t want anything,” spoke Nurse Jane. “You are -always so kind, going to the store whenever I need anything, but nothing -is needed for the hollow-stump bungalow to-day.” - -“I am going to the store for myself,” Uncle Wiggily said. “I am going to -buy a new pair of shoes.” - -So off he hopped, leaning on his red, white and blue-striped barber-pole -rheumatism crutch, over the fields and through the woods until he came -to the shoe store. - -“A pair of shoes? Certainly,” said the monkey-doodle gentleman who kept -the store. “Will you have high shoes or low shoes?” - -“Well, as it is near Spring I’ll get low shoes,” Uncle Wiggily said. -“They will be cooler if I should happen to go down to the Asbury Park -ocean board walk.” - -“Ties, we call them, instead of low shoes, but it is all the same,” went -on the monkey-doodle. “Here you are.” - -He brought out a pair of low shoes, or ties, but, when Uncle Wiggily -tried to get them on, his feet would not go into them. - -“I see—too tight,” said the monkey-doodle. “I will put a little talcum -powder in the shoes and your foot will then easily slip in.” - -But, even with the talcum powder, Uncle Wiggily’s paws would not slip -in. - -“I must use a shoe-horn,” said the monkey. - -“Is a shoe-horn something to play on?” asked Uncle Wiggily. - -“No, it is something to make a shoe slip on easily,” said the -monkey-doodle. He brought out a smooth, shiny piece of tin, like a big -tablespoon without a handle. Holding this against his heel, Uncle -Wiggily could easily slip his foot into his new shoe. Soon he had them -both on, and they fitted him well. - -“Are they too tight?” asked the monkey-doodle, as the bunny gentleman -stepped around the store, practicing. - -“No, they’re just right,” said Uncle Wiggily. “They go on a bit hard, -but once I have put them on with the shoe-where the shoe-horn they are -very nice. I’ll take them.” - -“And you may have some talcum powder and the shoe-horn to take with you, -to put your shoes on easily whenever you wish,” said the monkey. For you -know Uncle Wiggily pulled the shoe-horn out of his shoe, once he had his -foot in. They couldn’t both be there at the same time, you see. - -Away hopped the rabbit gentleman in his new shoes and with the shoe-horn -and the slippery-sliding talcum powder in his pocket. - -“Well, now I have my new shoes I wonder if I will meet with an adventure -to-day?” thought Uncle Wiggily, as he hopped on. And he did. I’ll tell -you about it. - -Pretty soon he came to a great, big shoe, standing in the middle of the -woods. The shoe had a roof over it, with a chimney sticking out of the -top. There was a door to the shoe, and windows. In fact, it was a house, -made out of a great, big shoe which a giant used to wear. - -“Ha! This is where the Old Woman lives,” said Uncle Wiggily. “The Shoe -Lady. I wonder if she is at home?” - -He was going to knock on the door and ask how all the children were, -when, from inside the shoe there came the sound of crying; children -crying; many of them. - -“Ha! I wonder if that means trouble?” asked Uncle Wiggily of himself. “I -had better see if I can do anything to help.” - -He knocked on the door, and the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe, or Shoe -Lady, as I call her for short, opened it. - -“Is anything the matter?” asked Uncle Wiggily. “I heard crying.” - -“Of course,” spoke the Shoe Lady, “the children always cry when I whip -them. Don’t you know how it is in the Mother Goose book: - - “‘There was an old woman - Who lived in a shoe, - She had so many children - She didn’t know what to do. - She gave them some broth, - Without any bread; - She whipped them all soundly - And sent them to bed.’ - -“That’s what happened,” said the Shoe Lady. - -“Well, er—excuse me—but, that is, do you think it just right to whip -them ALL?” asked Uncle Wiggily, kindly. “Might not at least _one_ of -them have been good?” - -“Oh, bless your tall hat!” exclaimed the Shoe Lady, with a laugh. “I -don’t _really_ whip them, you know. That part of the verse is wrong. I -only make believe to whip them—pretend, you know, so as to make it as -near like the book as I can.” - -“But I heard crying,” said Uncle Wiggily. - -“Yes, but it was only make-believe crying, just like the pretended -whipping,” laughed the Shoe Lady. “I wouldn’t for the world hurt one of -the children, even though I have so many I don’t know what to do.” - -Uncle Wiggily was glad to hear that, and he was just hopping on, when up -came running a little boy. - -“Oh, take me in! Take me in!” he cried. “I want my make-believe -whipping. I want to make-believe cry, have my broth, without any bread, -and go to bed.” - -“Why, Toodles!” exclaimed the Shoe Lady, looking at him in surprise. “I -did not know you were out. You stayed too late at your play. There are -so many children here now I don’t believe there is room to get you in. -After the children eat their supper they swell up, and the shoe house is -hardly large enough for them,” she said to Uncle Wiggily. - -“Oh, I must get in,” cried Toodles. “I must!” - -“Well, I’ll try,” said the Shoe Lady. She and Uncle Wiggily tried, but -the shoe was so full of children that not another one could get in. They -pushed and pulled and shoved and hauled, but poor Toodles could not get -in. - -“Oh, dear! I don’t know what to do,” said the lady, who lived in a shoe. -“I guess Toodles will have to sleep out in the woods to-night.” - -“No! Wait! I have it!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “When my foot would not go -in my new tight shoe the monkey put talcum powder in it and used a -shoe-horn. I’ll do that to Toodles.” And so he did. And when the little -boy was sprinkled with sweet smelling talcum powder, and when the shiny, -slippery shoe-horn was slipped into the top of the crowded shoe, in on -that slid Toodles as nicely as you please, and everything was all right. -There’s always room for one more, even in a shoe, you know. - -“Thank you, Uncle Wiggily,” said the Shoe Lady, and then she gave -Toodles his make-believe whipping, he made believe cry, he ate his real -broth and went to his real bed. And that’s where you must go if it’s -time. - -But if the butter doesn’t slide off the slice of bread, and go coasting -down the cake plate hill with a bun that ought to be sitting beside the -custard, I’ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and Jack-be-Nimble. - - -[Illustration] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER IV - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND JACK-BE-NIMBLE - - -“UNCLE WIGGILY! Uncle Wiggily!” called Sammie Littletail, the little -rabbit boy, one Saturday morning, as he hopped up to the hollow-stump -bungalow, where the nice, old bunny uncle lived. “Come on out and play, -Uncle Wiggily. Please do!” - -“Oh, hop away, Sammie!” called Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady -housekeeper, looking out of the kitchen window. “Here, take this cabbage -jam tart and run away. Uncle Wiggily can’t bother to play with you -to-day.” - -“I haven’t any one else to play with,” said Sammie. “Johnnie and Billie -Bushytail, the squirrels, are taking their nut-gnawing lesson, and -Peetie and Jackie Bow Wow, the puppies, are taking their bone-gnawing -lessons.” - -“Haven’t you any lessons?” asked Nurse Jane. - -“No. I’ve done mine. I had to practice jumping a little. But there’s no -school, as it’s Saturday, and I do want some one to play with. My sister -Susie has gone off with Lulu and Alice Wibblewobble, the ducks, and -anyhow I don’t want to play with girl animals. Won’t Uncle Wiggily come -out?” - -“No, Sammie. Here, take this carrot cookie and hop along,” said Nurse -Jane. - -“Wait a minute,” spoke another voice, and Uncle Wiggily himself went out -on the back stoop. “What is it you want, Sammie?” - -“He wants you to come out and play with him!” cried Nurse Jane. “The -idea!” - -“Oh, I’ll come,” said Uncle Wiggily, kindly. “I haven’t much to do, and -perhaps we may have an adventure together. Come on, Sammie, we’ll go off -in the woods, and we’ll play.” - -So the old gentleman rabbit and his little bunny nephew hopped off in -the woods together, and soon were having a fine time, scurrying in among -the dried leaves, and hiding behind old logs and stumps. - -“I wonder if there is any new cabbage growing around here?” said Sammie, -after a bit. “I’m hungry.” - -“It is too soon for cabbage yet,” answered Uncle Wiggily. “It will not -be Spring for several weeks. Nor are there any new carrots to be had. -But pretty soon we’ll pass a lollypop store, and you may have a lettuce -flavored one.” - -“That will be nice—thank you,” said Sammie. - -“Did you do your jumping lesson to-day?” asked the old gentleman rabbit, -after a bit. - -“Yes,” said Sammie. “I practiced half an hour.” - -“Let me see how well you can jump,” spoke the bunny uncle. “I used to be -a pretty good jumper when I was young.” - -So Sammie jumped from one stump, far over a log, to another. - -“Fine!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “That’s better than I can do, but I’ll -try.” - -He did try, and, though he could not leap as far as Sammie had done, Mr. -Longears did very well. If it had not been for his rheumatism he could -have done better. - -He and Sammie jumped about for some time, and all at once they were -surprised to hear a voice saying: - -“Oh, dear! I wish I could jump as far as that. But I don’t believe I -shall ever be able to. Oh, dear! Oh, dear!” - -“Ha! That sounds like trouble,” said Uncle Wiggily. “Who are you and -where are you?” - -“I’m Jack, and I’m behind this big stone,” was the answer, and out -stepped a boy. - -“Ha! I thought at first it might be Jackie Bow Wow,” spoke Uncle -Wiggily. - -“No; I am another Jack,” said the boy. “I’m one of Mother Goose’s -friends.” - -“Are you Jack Sprat?” Sammie wanted to know, “who could eat no fat?” - -But still the boy did not look like that Jack. - -“I’ll tell you who I am,” the boy said. “I’m Jack-be-Nimble, -Jack-be-Quick, Jack jump over the candlestick.” - -“Oh, now I remember,” spoke Uncle Wiggily. “How do you do, -Jack-be-Nimble?” - -“But the trouble is I _can’t_ do it,” went on Jack. - -“Can’t do what?” asked Sammie Littletail. - -“I can’t be nimble and jump over the candlestick,” was the answer. “I’ve -tried and tried. But it seems of no use. Every time I jump I either hit -the candle, and put it out, or I come down ker-flunk! in it, and get my -shoes all grease. Mother Goose says I ought to be ashamed of myself. If -I can’t jump over the candlestick, I can’t be in her book, she says, and -Oh, dear! I don’t want to be put out of the nice book.” - -“That’s too bad,” said Uncle Wiggily. “Now, Jack, I’ll tell you what to -do. You watch Sammie and me jump, and perhaps that will teach you how. -Watch us. Come on, Sammie, we must jump some more to teach Jack.” - -So the old rabbit gentleman and the little rabbit boy jumped about on -the soft, dried leaves in the wood. Jack watched them, and then he -tried. Of course, having only two legs, he could not leap as far as -could the rabbits, with four. But still Jack did very well. - -“Now, come here every day to the woods,” said Uncle Wiggily, “and we -will give you a jumping lesson. Don’t say anything to Mother Goose about -it, and you will soon give her a nice surprise by jumping over the -candlestick easily some day. I once took dancing lessons from a waltzing -mouse lady without saying anything to Nurse Jane about it, and my! how -surprised she was when I did the fox trot.” - -“I’ll come,” promised Jack-be-Nimble. And he did. Every day for a week, -he took jumping lessons secretly in the woods, of Uncle Wiggily and -Sammie, until finally Jack was a very good jumper, indeed. Then one day -Old Mother Goose said: - -“Well, Jack, I fear it is of no use. You can’t jump over the -candlestick, as you ought to do to be in my book, so you’ll have to go -out. I’ll get the cow, who leaped over the moon, to jump for me.” - -“Oh, please give me one more chance!” begged Jack. “Please!” - -Mother Goose kindly did so, and lo! and behold! when next he tried, -Jack-be-Nimble jumped over the candlestick as easily as anything. Away -over it he jumped and came down on the other side. - -“Why, Jack! Where did you learn to jump so well?” asked Mother Goose, in -great surprise. - -“Uncle Wiggily and Sammie taught me,” he answered. And ever after that -nimble Jack had no trouble. - -And if the apple pie doesn’t go out skating with the jam tart, and -forget to come in to supper, I’ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and -Tommie Tinker’s dog. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER V - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND TOMMIE TINKER’S DOG - - -“UNCLE WIGGILY, here’s a letter for you,” called Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, -the muskrat lady housekeeper, to the rabbit gentleman, one morning, as -he sat in the easy chair in his hollow-stump bungalow. “The postman bird -just left it as he flew past.” - -“A letter for me!” exclaimed the bunny uncle, as he opened and read it. -“That’s nice. It’s from Grandfather Goosey Gander. He wants me to come -over and play checkers with him. He’s so lonesome.” - -“But you can’t go!” cried Nurse Jane, tying her tail up in a knot, for -she was going to sweep and dust, and she did not want to step on -herself. “You can’t go, because you said your rheumatism hurt you so.” - -“Oh, I guess I can manage to get over to see Grandpa by limping on the -nice red, white and blue-striped rheumatism crutch, which you so kindly -gnawed for me out of a corn-stalk,” spoke Uncle Wiggily. “I’ll try, -anyhow, for I haven’t seen Grandpa Goosey in nearly a week. I dare say I -can get over there all right. It’s a nice day.” - -“Well, I wish you wouldn’t go,” said Nurse Jane, slowly, making her -whiskers dance up and down. “I’m sure something will happen.” - -“Oh, nonsensicalness!” laughed Uncle Wiggily, as he went out of the -bungalow. Over the fields and through the woods he roamed, and he had to -rest several times on his crutch, for the rheumatism hurt him more than -he thought it would. - -“But I’ll get there all right,” he said. No sooner had he spoken, -however, than all at once his crutch slid on a piece of slippery-elm -bark, and Uncle Wiggily fell down. He did not hurt himself much, for he -sat down on a pile of soft, dried leaves. But when the bunny uncle -arose, and tried to walk on his crutch, he could not, as it was cracked -and splintered. - -“If I lean my weight on it the crutch will break,” said Uncle Wiggily, -sadly, “and I can’t walk without leaning on it. Oh, dear! What shall I -do?” - -Then, as he stood there in the woods, he heard a voice calling: - - “Umbrellas to mend! Umbrellas to mend, - If you’ve pans with holes in, for me you must send. - I’ll fix them up, quick as a wink—or a winker; - For I am a pot, pan and umbrella tinker.” - -Uncle Wiggily looked off among the trees, and, surely enough, along came -a traveling tinker, with a box over his shoulder and a little fire in a -tin pot in his hand. Beside him walked a little boy who had a little -dog. - -“Oh, daddy! Look at the rabbit gentleman!” cried the little boy. - -“I see him,” said the tinker. “He is Uncle Wiggily Longears, if I am not -mistaken. Are you not?” he asked, politely. - -“I am,” answered the bunny uncle. “And I am in great trouble. I have -splintered and cracked my crutch and I can’t limp along on it to get to -Grandpa Goosey’s house.” - -“Oh, I can easily fix that for you,” said the kind tinker, and he did, -fastening a strong piece of tin around the broken part of Uncle -Wiggily’s crutch so it was as good as ever. - -Then the rabbit gentleman thanked the nice tinker man and hopped on, and -the tinker and his little boy, whose name was Tommie, and the little -boy’s dog, whose name was Bow-Wow-Wow, went on their way, the tinker -singing his funny song. - -Uncle Wiggily reached Grandpa Goosey’s house all right, and he and the -goose gentleman had fun playing checkers. And when it was time for Uncle -Wiggily to hop back to his hollow-stump bungalow Grandpa Goosey gave him -a fine, large bone, with nice meat on it. - -“Give that to Mrs. Bow Wow for her little puppy dog boys, Jackie and -Peetie,” said the goose gentleman. - -“I will, thank you,” said Uncle Wiggily. - -The rabbit gentleman was hopping along through the woods on his way home -when, all at once, he heard some one crying. - -“Ha! That sounds like trouble,” he said. “I was in trouble a little -while ago about my crutch and the tinker helped me. Now, I must try to -help some one in my turn. That’s only fair.” - -Uncle Wiggily looked around the corner of a stump and saw the tinker’s -little boy, Tommie, sitting on a log and crying very hard. - -“Why, Tommie! What’s the matter?” asked the bunny uncle. - -“Oh, dear! Boo hoo!” cried Tommie. “My nice dog is lost, and I can’t -find him. And I must have him, you know, or else I can’t be in Mother -Goose’s book. My dog and I belong there, you see.” - -“I see,” said Uncle Wiggily, kindly. “But how did your dog get lost?” - -“Oh, I was helping my father mend some umbrellas for Old King Cole,” -said Tommie, “and, when we weren’t looking, my dog ran off in the woods. -I guess he must be lost there, for he hasn’t come back. My father, Mr. -Tinker, went to look for him, and so did I, but I hurt my toe and I -can’t look any more; and—Oh, dear! Oh, dear!” - -“There, there! Don’t cry any more,” said the nice bunny uncle. “I’ll go -look for your pet dog for you. Just you wait here. Your father was kind -to me, so I want to be kind to you.” - -Uncle Wiggily went off through the woods, looking here, there and -everywhere and pretty soon he heard behind a tree some one saying: - -“Bow! Wow! Wow!” - -“Ha! Whose dog art thou?” asked Uncle Wiggily, quickly. - -“Little Tommie Tinker’s dog, Bow! Wow! Wow!” came the answer, and out -from under a berry bush ran the lost dog, wagging his tail. - -“Oh, Uncle Wiggily!” he begged. “Can you take me to Tommie? I’ve been -looking everywhere for him, and just now I smelled the nice meat bone -you carry and I ran out of the bush to see who had it. Oh, I’m so glad I -found you!” - -“And I’m glad, too,” said the bunny uncle. “And Tommie will be glad when -he sees you. Come alone, doggie, I’ll take you to him. It’s a good thing -I had this bone, which you smelled, or I might never have found you.” - -Then Uncle Wiggily gave Little Tommie Tinker’s dog some meat from -Grandpa Goosey Gander’s bone, and took the little dog to Tommie and Mr. -Tinker, who had come back without having found Bow-Wow-Wow. You can just -imagine how glad every one was that everything had come out all right, -so Tommie could stay in the Mother Goose book, and the little dog was -glad also. - -Then Uncle Wiggily hopped along home, Tommie Tinker went on his way, and -in the next chapter, if our automobile doesn’t run off the sidewalk into -a candy store, chasing after a lollypop, I’ll tell you about Uncle -Wiggily and Mary’s little lamb. - - -[Illustration] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER VI - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND MARY’S LAMB - - -ONE day Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady, was looking around the -hollow-stump bungalow, behind pictures, under the piano, in corners and -everywhere. - -“What is the matter?” asked Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit -gentleman, “have you lost something, Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy?” - -“No,” Nurse Jane answered. “I was just looking to see how much -house-cleaning I must do. It will soon be Spring, and the bungalow must -be made nice and clean, ready for Summer. There is quite a lot of dust -behind the pictures and under the piano.” - -“Bungalow-cleaning!” said Uncle Wiggily, sort of sad and solemn like. “I -know what that means. No meals on time. No place to sit down, no place -to hang your hat—nothing at all. I suppose I had better be out of the -way when you turn my bungalow upside down to clean it.” - -“I suppose you had,” agreed Nurse Jane. “Still, there is no hurry. I -won’t start cleaning until to-morrow, or next day. But if you are going -out now you might bring me something from the store.” - -“What?” asked Uncle Wiggily. - -“A scrubbing brush and a cake of soap,” answered the muskrat lady. “I’ll -need them to clean the floors.” - -“You shall have them,” promised Uncle Wiggily. Then off he started with -his tall silk hat and his red, white and blue-striped barber-pole -rheumatism crutch that Nurse Jane had gnawed for him out of a -corn-stalk, and which Tommie Tinker’s father had mended for him, as I -told you in the story before this one. - -“I wonder if I shall have any adventures to-day?” thought the bunny -uncle, as he hopped and skipped along through the woods. “I haven’t had -one since I found Tommie Tinker’s dog.” - -But Mr. Longears reached the store without anything having happened to -him, and, buying the cake of soap and the scrubbing brush, back he -started for his hollow-stump bungalow. - -“Nurse Jane said there was no hurry,” spoke the rabbit gentleman to -himself, “but I want to get the house-cleaning over with as soon as I -can. So I’ll hurry back with the soap and brush.” - -All of a sudden, and just as Mr. Longears was wondering if he would have -time to call on Nannie and Billie Wagtail, the goat children, he heard a -rustling in the bushes, and a voice said: - -“Oh, dear! However did it happen? Oh, how too bad it is! You’re nothing -at all like Mother Goose’s book says you should be. Oh, whatever am I to -do?” - -Uncle Wiggily looked around the corner of a tree, and there he saw a -little girl, and beside her stood a little lamb, as black as a coal, or -a barrel of tar. I don’t know which is blacker. - -“Ha! This looks like trouble,” whispered Uncle Wiggily. Then: “That -surely is Mary,” he said, out loud. - -“Yes, I’m Mary,” spoke the little girl, “and I know you. Jack Horner -told me about you, and how you helped him pull his thumb out of his plum -pie. I wish you could help me.” - -“What is the matter?” asked Uncle Wiggily. “I’ll help you if I can.” - -“It’s him,” said Mary, pointing to the little baby sheep. “You know how -it goes in the book: - - “‘Mary had a little lamb, - Its fleece was white as snow. - And everywhere that Mary went, - The lamb was sure to go.’” - -“Yes, I know that,” said Uncle Wiggily. “But this can’t be your lamb. -Instead of being white as snow, he’s black—as black as any crow.” - -“That’s just the trouble!” said Mary, with tears in her eyes. “Oh, -Lambie! How did you get your nice white coat so black?” she asked. “You -can’t follow me to school that way; you know you can’t.” - -“Ba-aa! No, I suppose I can’t,” spoke the lamb, sort of sad and lonesome -like. “I didn’t mean to do it, but I went past a place where some men -were cleaning out a chimney and the black soot blew from it all over me. -I’m as sorry about it as you are.” - -“It is too bad,” said Uncle Wiggily. “But nothing is so bad that it -might not be worse.” - -“This will be worse before it is better,” said Mary. “I suppose the only -thing to do now is to take my lamb to the barber’s, who shaves a pig, -and makes a wig. The barber can cut off the top part of the lamb’s -fleecy wool and get down to the nice, white part. But if I do that I’ll -be late for school. And the lamb must follow me there, you see, or it -won’t be like the book. Oh, Lambkin! why did you do it?” - -“I—I’m sorry,” said Mary’s little lamb. “But, please, don’t have my wool -cut off. It’s too cold this weather. I’d shiver.” - -“I must,” said Mary. “To make you white as snow, you know. I’ll have to -have your wool cut.” - -“No! you won’t have to do that!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “I know something -better than that. Soot is only black dirt. It will wash off with soap -and water. And, see here! I have some soap for Nurse Jane’s -bungalow-cleaning and a scrubbing brush. Come on, Mary. We’ll find some -water and give the lamb’s coat a good scrubbing with soap suds. We’ll -see what that will do.” - -“Oh, I’m afraid we’ll never get him clean,” sadly said Mary; “but it is -very good of you to think of it, Uncle Wiggily.” - -They found a nice little brook, and leading the lamb to it, Uncle -Wiggily rolled up his sleeves and with the soap and scrubbing brush -began to wash the black soot out of the fleecy wool of Mary’s little -lamb. - -Away and away scrubbed the bunny uncle, making a great suddsy lather. He -rubbed it well into the fluffy wool. Then, when the soap suds were -washed out, why, Mary’s lamb’s fleece was as white as snow! just as it -ought to be. - -“Oh, Uncle Wiggily!” cried Mary. “How good you are! Now my little lamb -can follow me to school, no matter if it is against the rule. Thank -you!” - -Then away she ran, and the lamb followed after her, and Uncle Wiggily, -pleased that he had done a kindness, took the rest of the soap and the -scrubbing brush to Nurse Jane. - -And if the man painting our house doesn’t put red, green and purple -stripes around it to make it look like a moving picture going to the -circus, I’ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and Peter Piper. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER VII - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND PETER PIPER - - -UNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the rabbit gentleman, was hopping along across a -green field. The field was not very green, but was just beginning to -show a little green grass and clover, for, as yet, Spring had not fully -arrived. - -“But still I may find a few green things growing that I can eat or take -to Sammie and Susie Littletail, the bunny children,” thought Mr. -Longears. So on and on he hopped. The sun was shining, it was not very -cold, and Uncle Wiggily felt happy because his rheumatism did not pain -him. - -“And when Summer comes it will not hurt me at all,” he said. - -The rabbit gentleman was wondering whether or not he would have an -adventure that day, when, all at once, he saw, climbing over the fence, -a boy dressed in a green suit, wearing a red cap and with blue shoes on -his feet. - -“Ha! He is a funny looking chap!” thought the bunny uncle. “I think he -must be one of Mother Goose’s friends. I’ll ask him.” And he did. - -“Oh, how do you do, Uncle Wiggily?” asked the queer boy. “Yes, indeed, -I’m one of the many children of Mother Goose, to whom you have been so -kind. I’m Peter Piper.” - -“Are you any relation to Tom-Tom, the Piper’s son?” asked Uncle Wiggily. - -“Yes, I’m his cousin. But I had nothing to do with taking the pig. -Tom-Tom did that himself. But, if you please, I have a riddle for you to -guess.” - -“A riddle? Come, that’s good! I like riddles. Tell it to me.” - -Then the queer boy stood up straight and recited this: - - “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. - A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. - If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, - Where is the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?” - -“Oh, my!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “That’s a hard one. Let me see now. ‘If -Peter Pepper pipped a pick of peckled Pipers——!’” - -“Oh, no! You have it wrong,” said Peter, smiling. “Try once more. Say it -after me: ‘Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.’” - -Uncle Wiggily tried again: - -“Pickled Peter pipped a pep of Piperd pikers——” - -“Oh, dear, no! Wrong again!” laughed Peter. “Now, once more. Say the -last part first and perhaps it will come easier to you.” - -So Uncle Wiggily said: - -“Where is the pop of pickered Peters picker Piper pepped?” - -“I—I’m afraid you can’t say it,” said Peter, gently. - -“I’m afraid so myself,” said Uncle Wiggily. “I shan’t try again. It -makes my tongue all twisted and hurts my funny bone. I give up. What’s -the answer? Where are the peppers?” - -“Here they are!” exclaimed Peter, and from behind his back he held out a -peck of pickled peppers. “That’s the only kind you can pick this time of -year,” he went on. “I’m taking them to Mrs. Wibblewobble, the duck lady. -She mixes them with corn-meal and fries them.” - -“I’ll go with you,” spoke Uncle Wiggily. “I haven’t seen Alice and Lulu -and Jimmie Wibblewobble in some time.” - -So the bunny uncle and Peter Piper picked their way across the field -toward the duck lady’s house. More than once Uncle Wiggily tried to say -the riddle, but his tongue grew more and more twisted until he was -walking sideways instead of frontwards. So he gave it up. - -He and Peter Piper had not gone very far before Peter’s shoe lace came -loose and he stooped down behind a big stone to tie it—tie the lace, I -mean, not the stone. And while he was doing this along came the bad old -fox, who had not bothered Uncle Wiggily in some time. - -“Ah, ha!” cried the fox, showing his teeth. “This is the time I have -you, Mr. Longears! I was just wondering what I would eat for dinner, but -now I know. It shall be you!” - -“Me?” asked Uncle Wiggily, curious like and wondering. - -“Yes, you. Get ready for dinner! My dinner!” snarled the fox. - -Uncle Wiggily thought quickly. He did not want to be a dinner for the -fox, so he said: - -“Before you eat would you not like to guess a riddle?” - -“Yes,” said the fox, “I would. What is it?” - -“And do you promise not to eat me until you guess it?” asked Uncle -Wiggily. - -“I do,” said the fox. “But that will not save you, for I can guess any -riddle that ever was,” and he fluffed up his tail, proud like and saucy. - -“Then guess this,” said Uncle Wiggily, and now he had no trouble saying -Peter Piper picked the peck of pickled peppers. “Where is the peck of -pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?” suddenly asked Uncle Wiggily of the -fox. The bad animal thought for a second and then he said: - -“If Peter pickled pecked a pick of pipered pickles. A pick of Petered -Pipers——” - -“Oh, no!” laughed Uncle Wiggily. “You’re a bit twisted. Try again.” The -fox did so. - -“If Papper Peter pecked a pit of piddled poppers——” - -“Worse than ever,” said the bunny uncle. “I think you will not find it -as easy as you thought. Once more, please, and try it a bit slower.” - -The fox growled, and said: - -“A pick of peppered Peters did peckle pickle—— Oh, I can’t guess your -old riddle!” snarled the fox. “I’m going to eat you anyhow! What do I -care about the peckled pickers?” and he made a jump for Uncle Wiggily to -grab the bunny uncle. - -“Eat him? You going to eat Uncle Wiggily? Oh, no! No, you’re not!” cried -Peter Piper, jumping out from behind the rock. “Mother Goose doesn’t -want Uncle Wiggily hurt. Be off with you!” - -And with that Peter threw a pickled pepper at the fox. It struck him on -the nose, and made him sneeze and turn a somersault, and before he could -get straightened out Uncle Wiggily and Peter Piper had run away to the -duck house. - -So Mrs. Wibblewobble got the pickled peppers; that is, all but the one -Peter threw at the fox, and Uncle Wiggily at last learned how to say the -hard riddle-verse without tying himself in a knot. And if you can recite -it, fast, without wrinkling your nose, you are doing well. - -And if the candlestick doesn’t try to beat the carpet, and get dust in -the eyes of the potatoes when they dance in the frying pan, I’ll tell -you next about Uncle Wiggily and the moon-man. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE MOON-MAN - - -“DID you hear the news, Uncle Wiggily?” asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, -the muskrat lady housekeeper, as she sat down one evening in the -dining-room of the hollow-stump bungalow, where the rabbit gentleman was -eating his supper of lettuce salad, with carrot sauce sprinkled on. - -“News! What news?” asked the bunny uncle, reaching for a slice of carrot -bread. “Is some one going to have a surprise party and invite us to -dance?” - -“That’s partly it,” Nurse Jane answered. “Nannie Wagtail, the little -goat girl, was going to have a party, but she is ill, and the party will -not be given.” - -“Nannie ill? That’s too bad,” said Uncle Wiggily, kindly. “I’ll go over -to see her after I have my supper. She may need cheering up a bit. Yes, -I’ll go see her.” - -So after he had finished eating Uncle Wiggily put on his tall silk hat -that was like a piece of the stovepipe and away he went, over the fields -and through the woods, to the house where the little goat girl lived -with her brother Billie and her Uncle Butter, who posted circus pictures -on barns and fences. - -It was getting dark, but Uncle Wiggily was not afraid, for he knew the -moon would soon rise above the tree tops and make a good light. - -And on his way to Nannie’s the bunny uncle passed a candy store. - -“I’ll just stop in and buy Nannie an ice cream cone,” said Uncle -Wiggily. “Winter is nearly over and ice cream cones are in season again. -I’ll take two or three, for Billie might like one.” - -The bunny uncle bought a bag full of the ice cream cones, and he was -walking on again, hoping that Nannie would not be ill long, when, all at -once, there was a crash in the bushes beside the rabbit gentleman as if -some one had fallen down. - -“My goodness me sakes alive and some apple dumplings!” cried Uncle -Wiggily, jumping to one side. “Who it is?” He hoped it would not prove -to be the bad old fox. “Who is it?” he asked, for it was too dark to -see. - -“It is I—the moon-man,” was the answer. “I hope I did not scare you?” - -“Well, you did, a little,” said Uncle Wiggily. “But what are you doing -down on the earth? You ought to be up in the sky.” - -“I know I ought,” said the other, “but you know how Mother Goose has it: - - “‘The man in the moon came tumbling down, - To inquire the way to Norwich. - He went to the South, - And burned his mouth, - Eating some cold bean porridge.’ - -“That’s how it was,” said the moon-man. “I had to come tumbling down, -you see, for that’s the way it is in the book. But, oh, dear! I am so -sorry I burned my mouth! How it hurts!” - -“Did you really burn your mouth, in the South, eating cold bean -porridge?” asked Uncle Wiggily. - -“I did,” said the moon-man. “Only it was hot when I ate it. It’s cold -enough now, though. Oh, how I burn! I wish you could help me.” - -“I can!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “See, I have here some cold ice cream -cones. Eat one of them, and your mouth will stop burning.” - -“Oh, thank you!” cried the moon-man, and, surely enough, when he had -eaten the ice cream cone, his mouth was as cool as a refrigerator, and -he had no more pain. - -“You are very kind,” said the moon-man to Uncle Wiggily. “If ever I can -do you a favor I will. But now I must jump back to my place in the -moon.” - -The rabbit gentleman did not see how the moon-man was going to do any -one any favors, if he had to jump away up in the moon, high above the -earth. But still Uncle Wiggily was too polite to say so. - -“Here I go! Good-by!” cried the man, and, giving a big hop, up to the -moon he jumped. If you look closely you can see his face there on -moonlight nights. He is smiling. - -“Good-by!” called Uncle Wiggily, and on he went to the Wagtail goats’ -house to see Nannie. She was very glad to have her bunny uncle call, and -more pleased still when he gave her an ice cream cone, and also one to -her brother Billie. - -Uncle Wiggily stayed for quite some time, talking to the goats, and -Uncle Butter told a funny story about a circus picture of a dog, which -was so natural that a cat ran away when she saw it. - -“Well, I’ll be getting back to my bungalow,” said Uncle Wiggily, after a -bit. “Nurse Jane will be worrying about me if I stay too late.” - -“Oh, how dark it is!” said Billie, looking out the door. “Aren’t you -afraid, Uncle Wiggily?” - -“Oh, no,” answered the rabbit uncle. But, when the door of the goats’ -house was shut, and the pleasant lamplight no longer streamed out, it -was very black and dark indeed. “I wish it were time for the lightning -bugs,” thought Mr. Longears. “With them brightly flashing I could easily -see my way.” - -Uncle Wiggily went on as best he could, but pretty soon he bumped into a -tree, and hurt his pink, twinkling nose. Next he stumbled against a big -rock, and hurt his paw. - -“Oh, dear!” he cried. “This is no fun! I wish it were light so I could -see where I am going.” - -Then he tripped over a log and came down ker-plunk! hurting his -rheumatism, and he felt very badly, indeed. - -“Oh, I wish some one would help me find my way to my bungalow!” he -cried. - -“I’ll help you,” said a kind voice, and then the woods were suddenly -made almost as bright as day, for the moon rose over the trees, and -shone down, so Uncle Wiggily could see the path, and stumbled no more. - -“How is that?” asked the moon-man, beaming down on Uncle Wiggily. “Do I -make it light enough for you?” - -“Yes, indeed! Fine,” said the bunny uncle. “I can see all right now. -Thank you.” - -So the moon-man, whose mouth no longer burned, thanks to the ice cream -cone, shone brightly until Uncle Wiggily safely reached his bungalow. - -And, if the trolley car doesn’t go roller-skating with the apple pie and -upset the goldfish, so they spill into the canary’s cage, I’ll tell you -next about Uncle Wiggily and Humpty Dumpty. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER IX - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND HUMPTY DUMPTY - - -“UNCLE WIGGILY, would you mind bringing me some glue when you come home -from your walk this afternoon?” asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the -muskrat lady housekeeper, as she saw the rabbit gentleman leaving his -hollow-stump bungalow one day. - -“Glue?” asked Uncle Wiggily, curious like. “I hope you are not going to -put it in my chair, so when I sit down I will stick fast, and not be -able to get up again.” - -“Oh, no!” laughed Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy, “though if you keep on going out so -often, the way you do, I’ll need a bit of sticky fly paper, or something -like that, to keep you at home.” - -“Oh! I have to go off to have adventures now and then,” said the bunny -uncle, smiling so that his nose twinkled like a moonbeam shining in the -water. “But I’ll bring you the glue all right, Nurse Jane. What is it -you want to stick together?” - -“A broken teacup,” answered the muskrat lady. “I knocked a breakfast -teacup off the table, and it broke. But I can stick the pieces together -with glue, and it will be almost as good as new.” - -“Good!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “That’s the way to do it!” Then he set off -over the fields and through the woods to get the glue. - -He found some in the doll doctor’s toy shop, where the monkey-doodle -toy-mender used it to fasten together all the playthings the animal boys -and girls broke. - -“That’s just the glue for Nurse Jane’s cup,” said the doll doctor. “It -will mend anything.” - -“That’s what we want,” said Uncle Wiggily. - -Well, the old gentleman rabbit was going along, hoping he would meet -with an adventure before he reached his hollow-stump bungalow, when, all -at once, he heard a sort of crowing noise and a clucking, and then a sad -voice said: - -“Oh, dear, I might have known it would happen! I should never have let -you sit on top of the wall, Humpty. Now look what you’ve done! Oh, what -will my mother say?” - -“Ha! That sounds like Charlie Chick, the little rooster chap,” said -Uncle Wiggily. “I wonder what has happened to him, and who Humpty can -be? I guess I’ll look and see.” - -The bunny uncle went on a little farther and, coming to a stone wall, he -saw, on one side of it, Charlie Chick; and the little rooster chap’s -tail feathers were all squeezed sideways and crooked, as though he were -in great trouble, indeed. - -“Why, Charlie!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “What’s the matter? Is Arabella, -your sister, lost?” - -“Oh, no, Uncle Wiggily!” answered Charlie. “But I had Humpty Dumpty with -me, and he sat up on the wall, just as he did when he was out with -Mother Goose. But he fell off and now he’s broken, and oh, dear! I fear -he never will be himself again.” - -“My! My! What’s all this?” asked Uncle Wiggily. “I never heard of Humpty -Dumpty, or his fall from the wall. And why can’t he be himself again? If -it’s anything that is broken I can mend it, for I have some glue to mend -Nurse Jane’s broken cup, and I can mend Humpty Dumpty.” - -“Oh, it’s very kind of you, I’m sure,” said Charlie, politely, “but it -can’t be done. You see Humpty Dumpty is an egg. My mother, Mrs. -Cluck-Cluck, sent me to take him to Mrs. Wibblewobble, the duck lady. -But on the way I stopped here to rest and I let Humpty sit upon the -wall.” - -“Well, what happened then?” asked Uncle Wiggily, as Charlie stopped, to -give a little crow, and flap his wings. - -“It happened just as it tells about in the Mother Goose book,” went on -Charlie. “This is the way it was: - - “‘Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall, - Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. - All the king’s horses and all the king’s men, - Cannot put Humpty together again.’” - -“Why can’t they put him together again?” asked Uncle Wiggily. “Where is -Humpty? Let me have a look at him. If his shell is only cracked I can -mend it with glue. Where is he?” - -“On the other side of the stone wall,” answered Charlie. “He fell over -or rolled backward, and he must be all broken up by now.” - -“Let us hope for the best,” said the rabbit gentleman. “He may be only -cracked, Humpty Dumpty may be, and if the glue I have for Nurse Jane -will mend a cracked cup, it will mend a cracked egg. I must have a -look.” - -Up on top of the wall jumped the rabbit gentleman. Then he hopped down -on the other side. He looked around for Humpty Dumpty. - -Uncle Wiggily saw some broken egg shells. Then he looked some more and -rubbed his eyes. - -“This is queer,” he said. “If the egg broke, the white and yellow inside -ought to have run out on the ground. But I don’t see any. That must have -been a hollow egg.” - -Just then the rabbit gentleman heard: - -“Peep! Peep! Peepity-peep-cheep-cheep!” - -“My goodness me sakes alive and some corn-meal pudding!” cried the bunny -uncle. “Who is that?” - -“It is I, Humpty Dumpty,” was the answer, and out from under a bush ran -a cute, little, fluffy, downy chicken. - -“Are you Humpty Dumpty?” cried Uncle Wiggily. - -“Of course,” peeped the little chicken. “I was inside the eggshell all -the while, just waiting to come out. And when Charlie set me on the wall -I rolled off, cracked my shell and here I am. I popped out! - -“Of course, it isn’t just like in the book,” said the baby chick, “but -it’s better. For though I sat on the wall and had a great fall, I don’t -need all the king’s horses and all the king’s men to put Humpty together -again.” - -“No, and you don’t need any of my glue,” said Uncle Wiggily, with a -laugh. “There is no use mending a broken eggshell out of which has come -a chicken. Oh, I say, Charlie!” cried the bunny uncle. “Fly over the -wall. It’s all right. Humpty is here, only he is different from what you -thought you would find him. Here he is; a new, little chicken brother -for you.” - -And wasn’t Charlie surprised? Well, I guess yes! But he loved Humpty -Dumpty very much and Humpty loved him. So this time, once more, -everything came out all right, just as Mother Goose would have it. - -And if the collar button doesn’t go to a necktie party all by itself and -leave the comb to play tag with the brush, I’ll tell you next about -Uncle Wiggily and Old King Cole. - - -[Illustration] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER X - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND OLD KING COLE - - -“WELL, Uncle Wiggily Longears, you are getting very stylish, indeed, it -seems,” spoke Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, -after the postman bird had paid a visit to the hollow-stump bungalow one -day, and had left a letter. “Very stylish. Look here!” - -“Why, what’s the matter?” asked the bunny uncle. “Do you call it stylish -just to get a letter? You often get them, and so do I. This is, very -likely, from Grandpa Goosey Gander, asking me to come over and play -checkers with him.” - -“Indeed, it is nothing of the sort!” exclaimed the muskrat lady. “That -is, if you will excuse me for saying so. This is a very stylish letter, -indeed. It comes from the king’s palace, as you can see, by the royal -stamp on it in gold and red and blue and green. I wonder what it can -be?” - -“I’ll open it and find out; then I’ll tell you,” said Uncle Wiggily, -politely. “I guess it’s from the gold and silver palace of the king, who -was in the kitchen counting out his money, while the queen was in the -parlor eating bread and honey. The maid was in the garden hanging out -the clothes, when along came a blackbird and nipped off her nose. - -“I helped the king and queen and the maid, you know, and perhaps they -are in more trouble, and need more help.” - -But when the bunny uncle opened the letter he found it was not from that -king, but another—this letter was from Old King Cole. - -“Read me the letter,” said Nurse Jane. - -So Uncle Wiggily read: - - “Old King Cole is a merry old soul, - A merry old soul is he. - He called for his pipe, he called for his bowl, - And he called for his fiddlers three. - - “Every fiddler had a fine fiddle, - A very fine fiddle had he, - And Uncle Wiggily is asked to come - To list to the music with me.” - -At the bottom of the letter was Old King Cole’s name, in big letters. - -“Well, well!” exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. “I don’t understand. What’s it -all about, I wonder?” - -“Don’t you see!” cried Nurse Jane. “This is a royal invitation from Old -King Cole for you to come to his palace, and listen to his fiddlers -three making music on their fine fiddles. You must get ready to go. Put -on your best suit and look nice.” - -“Must I really go?” asked Uncle Wiggily. “I had much rather stay here -with you. I don’t know Old King Cole at all well. Must I go?” - -“Of course you must go!” Nurse Jane said. “Whenever a king invites you, -why, you have to go, even if you must stand on your head. I’ll help you -get ready.” - -“Very well,” Uncle Wiggily said. “But I had much rather stay home with -my slippers on, eating carrot sandwiches. I know it will be too fine and -grand for me up at the king’s palace. I’ll be sure to get my napkin on -backward, or tickle some one with the wrong fork. But if I must go, I -must. I wonder how he came to invite me?” - -“Oh, I guess he heard how kind you were to the king who was in the -kitchen, counting out his money, and how you dug it up for him when it -rolled under the floor,” said Nurse Jane. - -So she helped Uncle Wiggily get ready, shaving the back of his neck for -him, where he couldn’t himself reach with his razor. And she tied his -tie for him, and saw that he was all scrumptious like, and proper. - -Finally the rabbit gentleman set off for the palace of the king. He was -about halfway there when he heard some little squeaking voices down -beside the woodland path, and there he saw Jollie and Jillie Longtail, -the mouse children, and their cousin, Squeaky-Eeky. - -“Where are you going, Uncle Wiggily?” asked Jollie, the boy mouse. - -“To Old King Cole’s to hear some fiddle music,” answered Uncle Wiggily. - -“Oh, do please take us with you!” begged Jillie. “We just love fiddle -music and we can’t ever go to hear any.” - -“Why?” asked the bunny uncle. - -“Because,” explained Squeaky-Eeky, the little cousin mouse. “You know -what it says in Mother Goose. - -“‘Hi-Diddle-Diddle. The cat’s in the fiddle.’ Now we couldn’t go to hear -music when a cat was in the fiddle, could we?” - -“Of course not,” answered Uncle Wiggily. “I never thought of that. Cats -and mice don’t go well together. But how can I take you to King Cole? He -may not like mice.” - -“Put us in your pockets,” said Jillie. “We are not very big, and we can -easily hide when you go in the palace. No one will see us in your -pockets.” - -Well, Uncle Wiggily put them in—Jollie, Jillie and Squeaky-Eeky -Longtail. But the rabbit gentleman was afraid lest the king might not -like it. However, let us see what happened, as they say in story books. - -“Glad to see you, Uncle Wiggily!” cried Old King Cole, as the bunny -uncle came in the grand palace. “Make yourself right at home!” and the -king clapped his hands. Then some one sang: - - “Old King Cole is a merry old soul, - A merry old soul is he. - He called for his pipe, - He called for his bowl, - And he called for his fiddlers three.” - -In came the fiddlers, playing tweedle-dweele-dee, making nice music, -until, all at once: - -“Snap! Snap! Snap!” went something. “Snap!” - -“My goodness me sakes alive and some orange lemonade!” cried Uncle -Wiggily. “What was that?” - -“Our fiddle strings have broken!” cried one of the fiddlers. “Now we can -make no more music until we have new strings.” - -“Oh, dear!” cried King Cole. “That’s too bad. I must have music from my -fiddlers three, or from some one, or Mother Goose won’t like it. How can -I get squeaky fiddle music for Uncle Wiggily? How can I?” - -Just then Jollie Longtail popped his head out from Uncle Wiggily’s -pocket. - -“If you please, Old King Cole,” he said, “Jillie, Squeaky-Eeky and I, -with our squeaky voices, will make music for you if you like.” - -“I do like,” said the king. “Make some music, if you please!” - -So the mice, who have very squeaky voices, sang nice music, almost like -the fiddles, and Old King Cole was a more merry soul than ever. - -“I’m glad you came, Uncle Wiggily,” he said. “And I’m glad you brought -the nice Longtail mice children with you. Give them all some cheese!” -And he laughed most jolly-jilly like. - -So the mice sang for the king until the fiddlers’ fiddle strings were -fixed, and every one had a good time and plenty to eat. - -And if the jam tart doesn’t get inside the huckleberry pie, where the -egg beater can’t find it to dance with, I’ll tell you next about Uncle -Wiggily and Peter-Peter. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XI - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND PETER-PETER - - -“UNCLE WIGGILY, don’t you think you’d better take an umbrella with you?” -asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, as the -rabbit gentleman, Mr. Longears, started out from his hollow-stump -bungalow one morning. - -“An umbrella, Nurse Jane? Why should I take one with me? I have my red, -white and blue-striped barber-pole rheumatism crutch, that you gnawed -for me out of a corn-stalk.” - -“That wouldn’t be much good in a rain-storm,” said the muskrat lady, -with a laugh. “It wouldn’t keep off many of the drops.” - -“No, I s’pose not,” said the bunny uncle, sort of rubbing his pink, -twinkling nose, thoughtful like, with the brim of his tall silk hat. “So -you think it is going to rain, do you?” - -“Or snow,” said the muskrat lady, looking to see if the hair ribbon had -come off the end of her tail, but it had not, I’m glad to say. - -“Well, I guess I’ll be back before it storms,” went on Uncle Wiggily. -“I’m only going over to Grandfather Goosey Gander’s pen house to see if -he wants to play checkers with grains of corn. I won’t be very long,” -and with that Uncle Wiggily hopped away. - -Over the fields and through the woods hopped the bunny uncle to the -house, or pen, of the old gentleman goose. Uncle Wiggily was thinking -what a nice visit he would have when, all of a sudden, he heard from -behind a scratchy briar bush a sad voice saying: - -“Oh, dear! They’re all spilled! I’ll never be able to pick them up; -never! There are too many of them! Oh, dear!” - -“Ha! That is funny talk. It sounds as though some one were in trouble,” -said Uncle Wiggily to himself. “I wonder if I can help them? I’ll just -take a peek first, for it might be the skillery-scalery alligator, with -humps on his tail, or the bad fox or wolf, and they would help -themselves to catch me rather than have me help them. I’ll take a peek -first.” - -So Uncle Wiggily peeked out and there, on the other side of the bush he -saw a little man, bending down and picking something up off the ground. - -Now, as a rule, the bunny uncle didn’t like men, for most of them were -hunters, with dogs and bang-bang guns, who came after the animal people. -But this man was so little, and so kind-looking and, withal, Uncle -Wiggily could see he had no gun, so Mr. Longears knew it would be all -right. - -“Excuse me,” said Uncle Wiggily, speaking a language that animals and -little men can understand. “But can I help you?” - -“Oh, hello, Uncle Wiggily,” exclaimed the small chap. “Why, maybe you -can help me. You see, I am Peter-Peter, and——” - -“What, not Peter-Peter, the Pumpkin-Eater?” asked the rabbit gentleman, -surprised like. - -“The very same,” was the answer. “I’m that Peter-Peter.” - -“Then you must be a friend of Mother Goose,” said the bunny uncle, -smiling down one side of his pink twinkling nose. - -“I am,” answered Peter-Peter. - -“Then I am more than ever anxious to help you,” spoke Mr. Longears. “I -always help the friends of Mother Goose. What is the trouble?” - -“I have spilled all my pumpkin seeds,” was the answer of Peter-Peter. -“You see I was scooping out my pumpkin shell, making it hollow to keep -my wife in, as it says in the Mother Goose book. When I had the seeds -all scooped out my wife said it would be a good thing to take them over -to Mrs. Bushytail, the squirrel lady, as she and her two boys, Johnnie -and Billie, could eat them.” - -“I guess they would be glad to get them,” said Uncle Wiggily. “In fact, -I like roasted pumpkin seeds myself.” - -“But the trouble is,” said Peter-Peter, “that when I had put the seeds -in a bag, and was on my way to the Bushytail home with them, I came -through these woods. The prickly briar bush caught my bag, tore holes in -it, and out fell the pumpkin seeds. They are scattered all over the -ground here, and, oh, dear! I’ll never be able to pick them up.” - -“Oh, yes, you will,” said Uncle Wiggily, with a jolly laugh. “I’ll help -you, and I’ll get my friends, Dickie and Nellie Chip-Chip, the sparrows, -to help. They are great at picking up seeds.” - -So Uncle Wiggily whistled for Dickie and Nellie Chip-Chip, and when the -sparrow boy and girl came, with their sharp bills, they soon picked up -most of the pumpkin seeds; Uncle Wiggily and Peter-Peter helping, of -course. - -And when they were all picked up Uncle Wiggily pasted some postage -stamps over the holes in Peter-Peter’s bag, so it was as good as ever. -Then the little man started off with it over his shoulder to the -Bushytail squirrel house. - -“Thank you, very much, Uncle Wiggily,” said Peter-Peter. “And you, too, -Dickie and Nellie. If ever I can do you a favor I will.” - -So he went on, and, when Dickie and Nellie had flown home, Uncle Wiggily -hopped along to Grandpa Goosey Gander’s house. There the old rabbit -gentleman had a nice time playing checkers with grains of corn, but on -his way home, when he was in the middle of the woods, all of a sudden it -began to rain very hard. - -“Oh, dear!” cried the bunny uncle. “Nurse Jane was right. It is raining, -and I have no umbrella! I will get all wet, and my rheumatism will be -worse than ever. Oh, dear! I wish I had some place to go in!” - -And just then Uncle Wiggily heard a voice singing. - - “Peter-Peter, Pumpkin-Eater, - Had a wife and could not keep her. - He put her in a pumpkin shell, - And there he kept her very well.” - -Uncle Wiggily looked through the bushes, and there he saw a cute little -house, made from a pumpkin, with a hollowed-out corn-cob for a chimney. -And in the door of the house stood the little man, Peter-Peter himself. - -“Hello, Uncle Wiggily!” called Peter-Peter. “Come in out of the rain.” - -“Is there room in there with you and your wife?” asked the bunny uncle. - -“Plenty of room,” answered Peter-Peter. “This is an extra big -Thanksgiving pumpkin. Come in!” - -In went Uncle Wiggily out of the rain, and he stayed in Peter-Peter’s -pumpkin-shell house until the storm was over, and he could go home -without getting wet. So you see it was a good thing Uncle Wiggily helped -Peter-Peter pick up the pumpkin seeds. - -And if the rain-drop doesn’t fall down-stairs and splash all over the -pancake turner when it goes out to shovel the snow, I’ll tell you next -about Uncle Wiggily and the butcher. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XII - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BUTCHER - - -IT was raining in animal land, where Uncle Wiggily Longears, the nice -rabbit gentleman, lived. It had been raining for several days; in fact, -ever since the bunny uncle had helped Peter-Peter pick up the pumpkin -seeds. - -Uncle Wiggily had been caught out in the rain then, and had gone in the -pumpkin shell, where Peter-Peter kept his wife very well. That rain was -only a shower, which was soon over, but the storm began again and had -lasted ever since. It was very wet in animal land. - -“My!” exclaimed Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper. -“If it doesn’t stop soon I’ll never get the clothes dry.” - -“Worse than that,” said Uncle Wiggily. “If it doesn’t stop soon there -will be a flood, and our hollow-stump bungalow will be full of water. In -fact, I think there is a little water in it now.” - -Well, it kept on raining, and there was a flood, so much so that Uncle -Wiggily’s cellar was full of water, almost up to the floor, and all -about, outside the hollow-stump bungalow, there were little lakes and -puddles and rivers of rain water in the woods. - -“Will it ever stop raining?” asked Nurse Jane, as she stood at the -window, looking out. “If it doesn’t, I don’t know what we shall do. I -need some things from the store.” - -“I’ll get them for you,” said Uncle Wiggily, kindly. - -“But how can you, in all this rain?” - -“Oh, very easily,” answered the bunny uncle, twinkling his pink nose to -make himself bright and cheerful like. “I’ll put on my rubber boots, my -raincoat, take an umbrella and go to the store.” - -“Well, I’m sure it’s very brave of you to go out in this storm,” said -Nurse Jane, “and I hope your rheumatism doesn’t catch cold. But we need -some bread, sugar, salt and other things.” - -“I’ll get them,” said Uncle Wiggily, and off he started through the -storm, well wrapped up so he would get no wetter than could be helped. - -The rabbit uncle finally got to the store, and the monkey-doodle -gentleman who kept it put in a basket the things Nurse Jane wanted. - -He wrapped them in heavy paper, putting some over the top of the basket -so in case Uncle Wiggily’s umbrella blew wrong side out the groceries -would not get wet. - -“Well, I guess everything is going to be all right,” thought Uncle -Wiggily to himself, as he hopped along through the rain on his way back -to the hollow-stump bungalow. “I don’t believe I’m even going to have an -adventure (except now and then splashing into a puddle) for all my -coming out in the storm. And I haven’t had an adventure in some time. I -really wish something would happen!” - -Uncle Wiggily had no sooner thought this than, all of a sudden, -something did happen. He slipped into a big puddle with his rubber -boots. The water came nearly to the top of them, but that did not so -much matter as did something else. For when the bunny uncle tried to -pull his feet up out of the puddle he couldn’t do it. No, sir, he could -no more pull his feet up than you could get loose from sticky fly paper -in case you happened to sit down in it, which, I hope, you never do; -though our cat did once. And such a time! - -“My! This is quite too bad!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “I wonder what could -have happened? My feet are caught fast!” He squirmed about a bit with -his feet in the rubber boots. Then he said: - -“I know what has happened. My feet are held tight in the crooked, -twisted old root of a tree that is down under the puddle. I’m caught as -badly as if I were in a trap. Oh, dear! This is an adventure, all right, -but not the kind I like. I wonder how I can get loose?” - -And well might the bunny uncle wonder. His feet were caught fast in the -root, away down under water and he could not reach down with his paws to -loosen them, for he had his umbrella in one paw and the basket of -groceries on the other, for there was water all around him. - -“Oh, dear!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “I s’pose I could pull my feet out of -the rubber boots and just leave them caught in the puddle, but if I did -that I’d have to go home bare-pawed, and I’d catch my rheumatism worse -than ever. Oh, dear! What shall I do?” - -Just then, through the woods Uncle Wiggily heard the sound of a drum. -“Dub-dub! Dubbity-dubbity-dub!” - -“Ha! I wonder if that can be Sammie Littletail, the bunny boy, coming -along with his Christmas drum? If it is he can help me,” said Mr. -Longears. - -Uncle Wiggily, still caught fast, looked through the trees, and he saw -some one sailing along in a washtub. And it was the butcher man, in his -white apron and cap, with a big knife in his hand, who was drumming, -with the knife handle, on the sides of the tub. And the butcher sang -this song: - - “Rub-a-dub-dub! Three men in a tub; - The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker; - They all jumped over a hard baked potato.” - -“Why, that’s in Mother Goose!” cried Uncle Wiggily, joyful like. “This -butcher must be a friend of hers. I wonder if he could help me.” - -Just then the butcher saw Uncle Wiggily caught fast in the puddle, and, -stopping his washtub ship, he asked: - -“Are you in trouble?” - -“Trouble? I should say I was!” cried the bunny uncle. “My feet are -caught fast in a tree root down under the water, and I can’t get loose. -Can you help me?” - -“I can and will,” replied the butcher. Then, with his long, sharp knife, -he reached down under the puddle and cut the tree root that was holding -Uncle Wiggily’s feet fast, taking care not to cut the bunny uncle’s -rubber boots. - -“There you are!” cried the butcher. “Now you’re loose.” - -“Oh, thank you so much,” said Uncle Wiggily, hopping out of the puddle. -“But, excuse me, I thought there were three of you rub-a-dub-dub men in -a tub. You are only one.” - -“Well, there were three of us,” said the butcher. “But since Mother -Goose wrote that verse about us, after we jumped out of the baked -potato, we grew so large that three of us had hard work to fit in one -tub. So now we each have a tub to ourselves. Now I must sail on. The -baker and candlestick maker and I are having a tub-boat-race. I hope I -win. Good-by!” - -And on he sailed in his tub, while Uncle Wiggily, his feet no longer -caught fast, went safely on to his hollow-stump bungalow through the -rain with the groceries. - -So the bunny uncle was saved by the butcher, you see, and, if the gas -lamp doesn’t go down cellar in the dark and stumble over the fire shovel -when it’s playing in the ashes, I’ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily -and the baker. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BAKER - - -IT was still raining in Woodland, where the animal folk lived. All -around the hollow-stump bungalow, where Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the -muskrat lady, kept house for Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit -gentleman, there were puddles of water; little lakes and rivers, too. - -“I think it is getting colder,” said Uncle Wiggily, as he came in from -having been up to the Orange Mountain, to get a dozen of lemons so Nurse -Jane could bake a cherry pie. - -“If it gets colder, perhaps it will stop raining,” Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy -remarked, “and goodness knows we have had enough of water.” - -“Yes, a little snow for a change would seem nice,” spoke the bunny -uncle, looking out of the window at the rain-drops still splashing down. - -“Was it raining on the Orange Mountain?” Nurse Jane wanted to know. - -“Yes, just as hard as it is down here in the valley. But the water runs -off the sides of the mountain, so there are not so many puddles to step -in, as I stepped in one the other day, and got my foot caught in a tree -root, when the butcher, in his rub-a-dub-dub tub, cut me loose.” - -“That was quite an adventure,” said Nurse Jane. “You haven’t seen the -other friends of Mother Goose—the baker and the candlestick maker—have -you?” - -“No,” Uncle Wiggily answered. “But I understand that the butcher’s two -friends, the baker and the candlestick maker, are having a race with -him, each one in a tub. They may sail along any day now. I guess I’ll go -out and look for them.” - -“What! In all this rain?” cried Nurse Jane, in surprise. “You’ll catch -cold in your rheumatism, I’m sure.” - -“Oh, no, I’ll wrap up well in my rubber coat, and put on my rubber boots -as I did before,” said the bunny uncle, making his nose twinkle like a -gold tooth in the wax doll. - -Off started the old rabbit gentleman, carrying a big umbrella so that -too many rain-drops would not get on his tall silk hat. He walked along -through the woods, down from the trees of which the rain-drops dripped. -There were many puddles, but Uncle Wiggily kept as much out of them as -he could. - -“It is getting quite some colder,” he said to himself, as he put one paw -in his pocket to warm it—warm his paw, I mean, not his pocket, for that -was warm already. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see it snow.” - -And, in a little while, a few flakes of snow did begin to fall, dodging -their way in between the rain-drops, and sort of playing tag with one -another. - -“How pretty the flakes look,” said Uncle Wiggily, coming to a stop to -watch them. “I think I’ll sit down a minute and look at them.” He found -a fallen log, which, being under a Christmas tree, was not as wet as it -might otherwise have been, and down Uncle Wiggily sat on that. - -More snowflakes fell, and they looked so pretty that Uncle Wiggily -stayed longer than he meant to, sitting on the log. It kept on getting -colder and colder, and finally the bunny uncle said: - -“Well, I mustn’t sit here any longer. I’ll get up and go back to my -nice, warm, cozy hollow-stump bungalow. Yes, I’ll get up and——” - -But Uncle Wiggily did not get up. He couldn’t! He had frozen fast to the -log, which had some water on it. The cold air had made the water freeze, -and Uncle Wiggily was held as fast there as if he had sat down in sticky -fly paper—even more tightly, I believe. - -“Oh, dear!” he cried. “This is quite too bad! In fact, it is terrible. -What shall I do!” - -He tried to get up, but he could not, and he did not want to take off -his rubber coat, and so free himself, for fear he might catch cold -without his coat. - -“Oh, dear! I don’t know what to do!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “Help! Help! -Will no one help me to get loose?” - -Then, through the woods he suddenly heard a rub-a-dub-dub drumming -sound. - -“Ha! I wonder if that can be my friend, the butcher?” thought the bunny -uncle. But when he looked he saw a baker coming along, dressed in a -spotless white apron and cap. The baker had a loaf of bread in his hand, -and with a large spoon he was pushing himself along in his tub through -the puddles of water, which had not yet solidly frozen over, though -there were chunks of ice in them. And the baker was singing: - - “Rub-a-dub-dub, three men in a tub; - The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker; - But I am the one with the hot baked potato.” - -Then the baker, seeing Uncle Wiggily sitting on the log, called to the -bunny uncle as he stopped his tub boat: - -“Would you like to buy a loaf of bread?” asked the baker. - -“Well, yes, I might, for I heard Nurse Jane say we needed some,” -answered the bunny uncle. - -“Then please come and get it,” said the baker. “For I am riding a -boat-tub race with the butcher and the candlestick maker, and I don’t -want to stop. They might get in ahead of me. You see, we are doing a -little different from what it says in the Mother Goose book,” went on -the baker, shaking some rain-drops off his white cap. “We each have a -tub to ourselves.” - -“I see,” said Uncle Wiggily. “I heard about it. In fact, I met the -butcher sailing along in his tub the other day.” - -“Oh, did you? Then I must hurry,” cried the baker, “or he will win the -race. Come and get your loaf of bread and I’ll paddle along.” - -“I can’t come and get it,” said Uncle Wiggily. “I am sorry, but I really -can’t.” - -“Why not?” asked the baker. - -“Because I am frozen fast to this log,” said the bunny uncle, “and I -really can’t get up, much as I would like to. I was calling for help, -and, when you came along, I hoped——” - -“Ha! Say no more!” cried the baker, in a jolly voice. “Of course I’ll -help you. Never mind about the race. I’ll get you loose!” - -“How?” asked Uncle Wiggily. - -“I’ll show you!” cried the baker. He stopped his tub, which had started -off by itself, put on his rubbers, and stepped out into a little puddle. -In his hands he carried the hot loaf of bread, and the hot baked potato. -Putting these down on the log, one on each side of Uncle Wiggily, the -heat of them soon melted the ice, and the rabbit gentleman was unfrozen, -and could get up and go on his way as well as ever. - -“Oh, thank you!” he called to the baker. “Thank you!” - -“You are welcome,” was the answer, “and take the hot bread and potato -with you,” and with that the baker jumped back in his tub and went on -sailing, hoping to catch up to the butcher. - -So Uncle Wiggily went to his hollow-stump bungalow, not being frozen any -more, and all was well. And if the soft boiled egg doesn’t go sliding on -the ice and fall down so it breaks all to pieces and has to be put in a -pudding, I’ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the candlestick -maker. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CANDLESTICK MAKER - - -AFTER supper, one night, Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit gentleman, -put on his tall silk hat, his fur-lined overcoat, and, taking his red, -white and blue-striped barber-pole rheumatism crutch down off the piano, -he started for the door. - -“What! You are not going out to-night, are you?” asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy -Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, in surprise. - -“Why, yes, for a little while,” answered the bunny uncle. “It has -stopped raining, you know, and the ground has dried up. It is cold, but -I have my fur coat, so I shall be nice and warm.” - -“Where are you going?” asked Nurse Jane. - -“To call on Mr. Longtail, the mouse gentleman. He likes night visits -better than day ones, so that’s why I go in the evening. He’s like an -owl that way.” - -“Well, don’t stay too late,” said Nurse Jane, and Uncle Wiggily promised -that he would not. Out into the night he went, but it was not very dark, -for there was a moon shining. And as the rabbit uncle was hopping along -through the woods he suddenly stepped upon something round, which rolled -from under his paw and almost threw him down. - -“Ha! I wonder what that can be?” Uncle Wiggily said. He looked and saw a -brass candlestick on the ground. “This is queer,” went on the bunny -uncle. “I did not know that candlesticks grew in the woods. Some one -must have dropped it. I’ll take it with me, and perhaps Mr. Longtail -will know whose it is.” - -With the candlestick in one paw and his rheumatism crutch in the other, -Uncle Wiggily once more hopped on. Pretty soon he saw a little light -flickering through the trees. - -“Why, that looks just like a lightning bug,” said the bunny uncle, “only -they are not out this time of the year. I wonder what that can be?” - -Then he heard a tummity-tum-tum, drumming sound, and a voice sang: - - “Rub-a-dub-dub, three men in a tub; - The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, - And the baker has taken the hot baked potato.” - -“Why, that must be the last of the three, queer Mother Goose men, who -went sailing a race in washtubs, when the weather was rainy,” said Uncle -Wiggily. “And this one must be the candlestick maker, for I have met the -other two. - -“But if this is the candlestick maker I don’t see how he can be sailing -in his tub when the rain has stopped, and there are no little rivers, -lakes or even puddles in the woods,” went on the rabbit gentleman. -“Everything is frozen over. I don’t see how he can.” - -Then the singing voice stopped, and Uncle Wiggily heard some one crying: - -“Oh, dear! Ouch, how it burns! Oh, where can it be? Where can it be?” - -The flickering light came nearer, and Uncle Wiggily, looking through the -trees, saw that it was not a lightning bug, or firefly, but a little -man, with a leather apron on, and a hammer and other tools hanging from -his belt. The tools jingled and rattled. Behind the man, who was pulling -it along as if it were a sled, with a rope through one the handles, was -the washtub. In one hand the man carried a lighted candle, and, all the -while, he kept on saying: - -“Oh, dear! Ouch! How it burns me! Oh, my!” - -“Excuse me,” said Uncle Wiggily, politely, “but you seem to be in -trouble. Perhaps I can help you. What burns you?” - -“This candle,” answered the man. “I ought to have a candlestick to hold -it, but I dropped my nice brass candlestick as I ran through the woods, -and now I have to hold the candle in my bare fingers. And it is so short -that it burns me. Ouch!” - -“Ha! Then this is what you want,” Uncle Wiggily said, and he handed over -the candlestick he had picked up. - -“The very thing!” cried the little man, in delight. “Thank you so much. -Now my fingers won’t burn any more.” - -He stuck the end of the lighted candle in the stick and spoke again. - -“I’m the candlestick maker, as you can see; I make candlesticks, but -just now I am not making any, as I am on a race with the butcher and -baker to see who first will get to Mother Goose’s house. We started out -in a dreadful rain-storm, when we could float in our tubs like boats, -but the butcher and baker seem to have gotten ahead of me.” - -“They have,” said Uncle Wiggily. “I met them two days ago.” - -“Then there isn’t much use in my keeping on,” said the candlestick -maker. “But it has gotten colder. It may snow, and if I come to a hill I -can coast down it in my tub, which I made into a sled when I found the -ground frozen and all the water gone. If I can slide down hill in my -tub-sled I may yet get ahead of the butcher and baker and win the prize -of a hot baked potato.” - -“Perhaps you may,” said Uncle Wiggily, as he told how the baker had -kindly thawed him off the frozen log with the hot baked potato and a hot -loaf of bread. - -“Well, I’ll be getting on,” said the candlestick maker, after a bit. -“Thank you for being kind to me. If ever I can do you a favor I will. My -fingers no longer burn.” Then he hurried off through the woods, dragging -his tub-sled after him. - -Uncle Wiggily had a nice visit with Mr. Longtail, the mouse gentleman, -but when the bunny uncle started home the moon had gone down and it was -very dark. Soon Uncle Wiggily was lost in the woods. He could not tell -which way to go, and he hopped around, stubbing his paws and bunking -into trees, until he was all sore and lame. - -“Oh, I wish I had a light!” he cried. And, no sooner had he spoken than -he heard a drumming sound, and along came the candlestick maker with the -lighted candle. - -“Here you are! Here’s your light, Uncle Wiggily!” the candlestick maker -cried. “I’ll light you all the way to your hollow-stump bungalow.” - -“Good!” cried the bunny uncle. “But I don’t want to take your time and -delay you. I thought you were racing.” - -“I gave it up. The baker won and got there first. I just met Old Mother -Hubbard and she told me. So I’m going to take you home.” And he did, -making the woods light with his candle, all the way to the bunny uncle’s -hollow-stump bungalow. - -So the rabbit gentleman was all right again, you see, and if the piece -of cheese doesn’t run away from the slice of apple pie, and get lost in -the rice pudding, I’ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and Tom-Tom. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XV - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND TOM-TOM - - -UNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the nice rabbit gentleman, was going along -through the woods one day, wondering what sort of an adventure he would -have, when he met Mother Goose, who, as I have told you before, had -come, with her large family of funny folk, to live in the forest near -the hollow-stump bungalow of the bunny uncle. - -“How do you do, Mother Goose?” asked Mr. Longears, as he made a polite -bow, taking off his tall silk hat. - -“I am very well, thank you,” she said. “You look well yourself. I wonder -if you have seen him anywhere, as you have been walking along?” - -“Seen whom?” asked Uncle Wiggily. “If you mean the butcher, the baker, -and the candlestick maker, I have. I met them the other day——” - -“No, thank you, I don’t mean them,” said Mother Goose. “They have come -safely home again with their rub-a-dub-dub-tubs, and they are happily -living together once more. No, it’s another of my friends who is lost. -You may have seen him. He is——” - -But just then Old Mother Hubbard came to the door of her house, after -having given her dog a bone, and she called across the woodland path: - -“Oh, Mother Goose! Little Tommie Tucker is crying for his supper. What -shall I give him, white bread and butter?” - -“Wait a minute. I’ll be right there,” answered Mother Goose. “I want to -put a little molasses on Tommie’s bread. You walk on,” she said to Uncle -Wiggily. “I’ll come back to you in a minute and tell you who is lost.” - -But Mother Goose must have had to give Tommie Tucker a bigger supper -than usual, or else some of her other friends wanted something, for -Uncle Wiggily hopped on and on, and the nice old goose lady did not come -to speak to him. - -“It’s funny,” said the bunny uncle, “but I wonder who it is that is -lost? I can’t very well look for him—or her—until I know. It may be -Little Bo Peep, or Jack Horner. Well, I’ll keep on, and I may meet with -the lost one, whoever he or she is; or I may have an adventure. Who -knows?” - -Well, the bunny uncle had not gone on much farther before, all at once, -he heard some one running through the bushes, and the sound of loud -squeals. - -“Ha! Something is happening,” said Uncle Wiggily. “Perhaps this is the -adventure I am expecting.” - -Then, all of a sudden, through the bushes came running a boy with a -squealing pig under his arm. - -“Squee! Squee! Squee!” cried the pig. - -“Hold on! Stop! Wait a minute!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “Who are you?” - -“I am Tom-Tom, the piper’s son,” was the answer. - -“Oh, you’re from Mother Goose, aren’t you?” - -“Yes, but I’m running away from her now,” answered Tom-Tom. “You know -how it goes in the book: - - “‘Tom-Tom, the piper’s son, - Took a pig and away he run. - The pig was eat, and Tom was beat, - And he went roaring down the street.’ - -“That’s how it is in the book,” went on Tom-Tom. “Only it isn’t exactly -right. I didn’t do any roaring, though I may when I get the beating. -It’s the pig who is doing the roaring.” - -“It sounds more like squealing,” said Uncle Wiggily. - -“Yes, you could call it that,” said Tom-Tom, as he looked at the pig -under his arm, which cried louder than before. I mean the pig squealed, -not Tom-Tom’s arm. - -“But look here,” said Uncle Wiggily. “You should not have taken this -pig. That’s quite wrong you know, Tom-Tom. Besides, Mother Goose is -after you. I just met her, and she started to tell me about some of her -friends being lost. She asked me to help look for him—or her—but before -she could tell me who it was, she was called away. It must have been you -she meant.” - -“It was,” said Tom-Tom. “I had to run after I took the pig, but the -funny part of it is I can’t find any street to run down, as the book -says I did. It’s all woods around here; no streets at all. I’d run with -the pig down the street, fast enough, if I could find one.” - -“No, no! You mustn’t do that,” said Uncle Wiggily. “You only go down the -street after the pig was eat, or eaten, to be more correct. Besides, you -ought not to take the pig at all.” - -“What shall I do?” asked Tom-Tom. “I have the pig now, you see. What -must I do with it?” - -“I’ll take him with me,” said Uncle Wiggily. “I can lead him back home, -and then you must go tell Mother Goose you’re sorry, and I don’t believe -she’ll whip you or beat you.” - -“All right,” said Tom-Tom, the piper’s son. “I’ll do as you say.” - -He gave Uncle Wiggily the pig, which was a baby one, and the bunny -gentleman led it along by a string, while Tom-Tom hurried off to tell -Mother Goose he was sorry that he had been a little bad. And Mother -Goose forgave him, and did not whip him, so Tom-Tom did not have to go -roaring down the street after all. - -“Well, what have you there, Uncle Wiggily?” asked Nurse Jane, when she -saw the bunny gentleman coming along leading a pig. - -“This is the pig Tom-Tom had,” said Mr. Longears, and then, all at once, -before he could say anything more, the pig began to squeal with all his -might and so loudly that Nurse Jane could not hear the bunny uncle’s -voice. - -“Mercy,” cried the muskrat lady. “What a noise!” and she put her paws -over her ears. “Take him away, Wiggy, do. That’s a dear! Take him away!” - -“Squee! Squee! Squee!” yelled the baby pig. And then along came Mother -Hubbard’s dog. - -“Ha! So here’s where you are, eh?” asked the dog. “Well, you come right -back to your pen!” - -“I will, and right gladly,” squealed the pig, “and don’t let Tom-Tom -take me again. Thank you, Uncle Wiggily, for bringing me this far.” - -Then the dog led the pig home by the ear, piggie squealing all the way, -but he stopped when Mother Goose gave him something to eat. And Tom-Tom -never took the pig again, so the little boy did not have to run roaring -down the street, I’m glad to say. - -And, if the sugar spoon doesn’t whisper to the butter knife and have to -stay on the table after the rest of the dishes go to the sink to be -washed, I’ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the crooked man. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CROOKED MAN - - -“HEIGH-HO! Away I go!” sang Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit -gentleman, one day, as he looked in the glass to see if his whiskers -were on straight, and his nose twinkling just right. - -“What? Away again?” asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady -housekeeper of the hollow-stump bungalow, as she finished drying the -dinner dishes. “You seem to me to go out a great deal, Mr. Longears. - -“Far be it from me,” she went on, “to say anything about it, but I -should think you would get tired of going around so much.” - -“Oh, no,” Uncle Wiggily laughed. “I like it. I have a new adventure -nearly every day, and I think it is good for my rheumatism. So, -heigh-ho! Away I go!” - -Off through the woods went Uncle Wiggily. It would soon be Spring now, -and already the pussy willows were just beginning to learn how to mew a -little bit, like baby cats. - -As the rabbit gentleman went along he saw, lying on the path in front of -him, a piece of money. But it was a very queer bit of money, indeed. It -was all bent and twisted and crooked, as though a trolley car had -stepped on it by mistake, and on one side was a figure six. - -“Well, maybe this will bring me good luck,” said Uncle Wiggily. “It -doesn’t seem to be good for much else—such crooked money. A six-cent -piece, I guess it was once. I’ll just put it in my pocket.” - -So he did, and he walked along a little farther, until, coming to a -place where a great, big tree had fallen to the ground, Uncle Wiggily -heard some one sitting on it saying: - -“Oh, dear! I’ve lost it! I can’t find it anywhere, and without it I -don’t see how I can do what it says in the Mother Goose book I must do. -It’s lost—gone!” - -Uncle Wiggily looked and saw, sitting on the fallen tree, a very funny, -but nice, old man. And the man was very crooked. He was bent and twisted -until there was not a straight place on him, not even his nose, which -was wobbled and bent over to one side, and his ears were folded together -like pieces of paper. - -“Well, well,” said Uncle Wiggily, feeling sorry for so crooked a man, -“this is too bad. I wonder what happened to him to make him so bent, and -I wonder what he has lost?” for the crooked, twisted man was turning his -pockets inside out, and even his pockets were curled around like a -corkscrew. - -“Oh, such trouble as I am in!” cried the man. “Oh, dear!” - -“Ha, trouble! That means here is a chance for me to help,” said the -bunny uncle. “Excuse me,” he said, “but who are you, and can I do -anything to help you?” - -“Ha! Uncle Wiggily Longears! I know you by your pictures!” said the man. -“Don’t you know me? I’m in the book that Mother Goose wrote. It says -about me that once - - “‘There was a crooked man, - Who walked a crooked mile, - And found a crooked sixpence - Against a crooked stile. - He bought a crooked cat, - Which caught a crooked mouse, - And they all lived together - In a little crooked house.’ - -“That’s who I am,” said the man. “But now I’ll never be able to buy the -crooked cat to catch the crooked mouse, and live with me forever in my -little crooked house.” - -“Why not?” asked Uncle Wiggily, sort of wondering like. - -“Because I lost the crooked sixpence,” said the crooked man. “I found it -against the crooked stile all right, after I’d walked the crooked mile. -The road did twist and turn like a carpenter’s shaving, so it was -crooked all right. And when I came to the stile, which is a pair of -steps to get over a fence—a pair on each side—they were so crooked I -could hardly get over them. And there was the crooked sixpence. But I -must have lost it out of my pocket, for I haven’t it now.” - -“Is this it?” asked Uncle Wiggily, as he took the crooked piece of money -out of his ear, which he sometimes used as a pocket. - -“Oh, that’s just it!” cried the crooked man, in delight. “How ever did -you find it?” - -“It was lying on the path in the woods,” said the bunny uncle, “and I -picked it up. You may have it back.” - -“Oh, now I am all right!” laughed the crooked man. “I can buy the -crooked cat, and it will catch a crooked mouse, and then we’ll walk -along and find our little, crooked house.” - -“But please don’t let your crooked cat catch my little mice friends, -Jollie or Jillie Longtail, or Squeaky-Eeky, the cousin mouse?” begged -Uncle Wiggily. - -“Oh, indeed not!” promised the crooked man. “My crooked cat will only -catch a crooked candy mouse. Perhaps you would like to come with me and -see me buy the crooked cat.” - -“I would,” spoke Uncle Wiggily. “I’ll come.” - -The crooked man started off, twisting this way and that as he walked -along the crooked mile, and Uncle Wiggily, who was sort of curious and -inquisitive, asked: - -“What made you get all twisted up this way?” - -“Rheumatism,” was the crooked man’s answer. “But I don’t mind now, for I -have no pain. In fact, I think it’s quite jolly to be crooked and live -in a crooked house. It’s so different from other people.” - -“Yes,” said Uncle Wiggily, “it is certainly different. But it is nice -that you are so happy about it. Some folks would be sad. I’m glad you -are jolly.” - -Pretty soon the two friends came to where crooked cats were sold for -crooked money. By this time Uncle Wiggily was so tired, from having to -jump back and forth to follow the crooked man walking a crooked mile, -that the bunny uncle thought he would go back to his hollow-stump -bungalow and rest. - -But the crooked man, after he had bought the crooked cat, still went -along with Uncle Wiggily, and it was a good thing he did. For, when -Uncle Wiggily was about halfway home, out from behind a stump a bad old -fox jumped at him. Zip! - -“Ah, ha!” cried the fox. “Now I have you!” And then he saw the crooked -man and crooked cat, the fox did, and he rubbed his eyes with his paws, -once or twice, and cried out: - -“Oh! What does this mean? I must be asleep and dreaming, for never can -there really be such strange, crooked things in this world as that -crooked man and cat. I must be dreaming, and pretty soon I’ll wake up in -my den. I’ll just lie quietly and not move, or I might have a worse -dream.” - -And, thinking it was all a dream, the fox lay down in the woods to -sleep, and so he didn’t get Uncle Wiggily after all, thanks to the -crooked man and cat. The bunny uncle hurried away from the sleeping fox, -and the twisted chap, with the doubled-up pussy, soon reached their own -crooked house, where they lived happily for many crooked years, catching -crooked candy mousies that cried crooked candy tears. - -So no more at present, if you please. But in the next chapter, if the -olive oil and the vinegar speak nicely to each other when they meet at -the party in the lettuce salad, I’ll tell you about Uncle Wiggily and -the barber. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BARBER - - -UNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the nice old rabbit gentleman, walked across the -sitting-room of his hollow-stump bungalow, to where a looking-glass hung -on the wall. He looked in the glass, and rubbed his paw, thoughtful -like, up and down his chin. - -“What is the matter?” asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady -housekeeper. “Did something bite you?” - -“No,” answered Uncle Wiggily, “but I think I need to shave off some of -my whiskers. They are getting too long. Also I need a hair cut.” - -“Gracious goodness me sakes alive, and some corn-meal muffin lollypops!” -exclaimed Nurse Jane. “What for? A shave! A hair cut!” - -“Well, you see,” exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, “Spring is nearly here now, -and, though I let my hair and whiskers grow long in the cold weather, to -keep me warm, I don’t need them so long now, as it is getting warmer. So -I shall go to the barber’s.” - -“Why don’t you shave yourself?” asked Nurse Jane. - -“I could do that,” the bunny uncle said. “Only I can’t very well cut my -own hair. So I might as well have both done by the barber.” - -The old gentleman rabbit, taking his red, white and blue-striped -barber-pole rheumatism crutch down off the bathtub, started out through -the woods and across the fields for the barber’s. - -Mr. Longears had not gone very far before he came to the house where -Mother Goose lived. She was up bright and early, shaking out her feather -beds; and, seeing the old rabbit gentleman, she asked: - -“Where are you going?” - -“To the monkey-doodle barber’s to get shaved,” replied Uncle Wiggily. - -“Oh, would you just as soon go to my barber’s?” asked Mother Goose. - -“Your barber’s? I didn’t know you had one,” said Uncle Wiggily, sort of -laughing. “I didn’t know you ladies had your hair cut.” - -“We don’t,” spoke Mother Goose. “But this barber is one of the friends -in my story book, you know, and I’d like to give him something to do. -You must have heard of him. - - “‘Barber, barber, shave a pig. - How many hairs will make a wig? - Four-and-twenty, that’s enough. - Give the barber a pinch of snuff.’” - -“Oh, I’ve often heard of him!” said Uncle Wiggily. “But I haven’t a -pinch of snuff to give him, and besides I don’t need a wig.” - -“Oh, well, you don’t have to take a wig,” said Mother Goose. “As for the -snuff, tell him I’ll send little Tommie Tucker down with it later.” - -“Another thing,” spoke Uncle Wiggily. “If that barber of yours is -shaving a pig I don’t believe he’ll have time to shave me.” - -“Oh, that will be all right,” said Mother Goose, laughing. “He doesn’t -really shave a pig. I just put ‘pig’ in to make it rhyme with ‘wig.’ Hop -along now, and get shaved. The barber lives down the lane, with the -little boy who was given the bag of wool from Baa-Baa, the black sheep.” - -“Very good,” answered Uncle Wiggily, politely. So along he hopped, to -the barber shop, which he soon reached. Out in front was a red, white -and blue-striped pole, like the rabbit gentleman’s rheumatism crutch, -and inside the shop was the barber man, a little chap, not much larger -than the bunny uncle himself. - -“Shave? Hair cut? Shampoo? Massage? Manicure?” asked the barber, -clicking his scissors. - -“Just a shave and hair cut,” answered Uncle Wiggily, getting in the -chair, while the barber tucked an apron under the bunny’s chin. - -“Fine weather we’re having,” said the barber, as he began to cut Uncle -Wiggily’s hairy fur. - -“Very,” said Uncle Wiggily. “To-morrow is the first day of Spring, and -that’s why I’m getting a hair cut, to be ready for warmer weather.” - -“Good!” said the barber. Then, when he had Uncle Wiggily’s hair half -cut, the barber stopped and began to mix up some soap suds lather in a -cup. - -“What are you doing?” asked Uncle Wiggily. “Why don’t you finish cutting -my hair before you shave me?” - -“Because my scissors are too dull. They would pull. I’ll send them to -the scissors-to-grind man to be sharpened, and, while I’m waiting for -them to come back I’ll shave you.” - -So he began to shave the bunny uncle’s whiskers, talking all the while -about the weather and what a hard Winter it had been, and how much -carrots cost and all of that. - -Then, all of a sudden, when Uncle Wiggily was half shaved, there was a -whistling sound out in front of the barber shop, and a voice sang: - - “Barber, barber, shave a pig, - How many hairs will make a wig? - Four-and-twenty, that’s enough. - Give the barber a pinch of snuff!” - -Into the shop came little Tommie Tucker. He had a paper package in his -hand, and he tossed it across the room to the barber, saying: - -“Here’s your pinch of snuff. Mother Goose sent me with it. How is Uncle -Wiggily’s shave and hair cut coming off?” - -“It is coming off all—aker-choo! Kersnitzio! -Aker-ker-foozilum-goozilum—choo-chee!” sneezed the barber, wiping some -tears out his eyes. - -“Oh, my!” laughed Tommie Tucker. “What kind of a shave and hair cut is a -ker-choo! Oh-er—Snitzio! Whoo-ee-whoop-gizzium!” and Tommie himself was -sneezing, too. - -“What’s all this?” asked Uncle Wiggily. “Why don’t you finish -my—ker-choo! Goo-zoo! Gizzium! Whush! Oh-ker-skee-zicks!” And he sneezed -so hard that he sneezed himself right out of the barber’s chair into the -middle of the room. Then they were all sneezing, the barber, Uncle -Wiggily and Tommie Tucker. For you see when Tommie tossed the barber the -paper of snuff Mother Goose had sent the paper burst open and the snuff -scattered all about the place. All over the shop floated the sneezy -stuff. - -“Ker-choo!” sneezed the barber. - -“A-ker-choo-choo!” sneezed Tommie. - -“A-ker-choo-choo-choo! Toot-toot! All aboard!” and Uncle Wiggily sneezed -like a railroad train going through a tunnel. - -“Oh, I’m so sorry,” said Tommie Tucker. “I should not have been so -careless.” But soon all the snuff blew out of the window, the sneezes -stopped, and the barber finished shaving and hair cutting Uncle Wiggily, -and that’s the end of this story. - -But if the man beating our carpets doesn’t stop to play marbles with the -moth balls, and make the roller-skates feel lonesome for a lollypop, -I’ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the blackbirds. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BLACKBIRDS - - -UNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the rabbit gentleman, came out of his -hollow-stump bungalow to take a walk in the woods one day. - -“I hope I may meet with an adventure,” he said to himself, as he limped -along on his red, white and blue crutch, that Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, -the muskrat lady, had gnawed for him out of a corn-stalk. - -An adventure, you know, as I have told you before, is something that -happens to you. If you find a stick of lollypop candy, that’s a nice -adventure. But, if you lose your penny down a crack in the board walk, -that’s an unpleasant adventure; though it may turn out all right in the -end. - -“Yes,” went on Uncle Wiggily, sort of twinkling his pink nose, -thoughtful like, “I hope I have a nice adventure, or, perhaps, even a -funny one, like sneezing, as, when Tommie Tucker gave the barber the -pinch of snuff.” - -That’s the story I told you last night, if you will kindly remember. - -So Uncle Wiggily hopped along, over the fields and through the woods, -and pretty soon he came to where Mother Goose lived, not far from his -own hollow-stump bungalow. Mother Goose was looking up at the sky. - -“Good morning! What are you looking for?” asked the bunny uncle. “Are -you looking for signs of rain, or snow in the clouds?” - -“No, indeed,” laughed Mother Goose. “But you know this is the first day -of Spring, and the little birds should begin to sing. I am looking to -see if the blackbirds are flying up from down South, where they went to -spend the Winter. They always come back in the Spring, you know.” - -“Yes,” said Uncle Wiggily. “But I do not see any blackbirds coming,” and -he, too, looked up at the sky. It was blue—very blue and pretty—like -babies’ eyes. And there were little white clouds in the sky, floating -along like fairy ships. But there were no blackbirds to be seen. - -“I hope nothing has happened to them,” said Mother Goose, sort of -anxious like. “They should be here now.” - -“I, too, hope they are all right,” Uncle Wiggily said. “I am going for a -walk, and if I see the blackbirds, I will tell them to hurry, as you are -looking for them.” - -“I’ll be very glad if you do that,” spoke Mother Goose, and then she had -to go next door to see if Little Bo Peep had found her lost sheep. - -Once more Uncle Wiggily hopped along. He looked on all sides of him, and -up in the air, hoping he might see the blackbirds, for then, surely, it -would be Spring, and Winter had lasted all too long for the animal folk. - -But no birds could the bunny uncle see. On and on he went, until, after -a while, he came to the palace where lived Old King Cole, the jolly old -soul. And, as Mr. Longears was wondering whether or not to go in, and -pay King Cole a visit, he heard some one humming a verse that went like -this: - - “Sing a song of sixpence, - A pocket full of rye. - Four-and-twenty blackbirds, - Baked within a pie. - When the pie was opened, - The birds began to sing. - Wasn’t that a dainty dish - To set before the King?” - -Uncle Wiggily stood still. He thought for a moment. - -“I wonder,” he said. “I wonder—four-and-twenty—blackbirds? Mother Goose -didn’t say how many she was expecting, and these may be the very same -ones. I guess I’ll go in and see about this.” - -Into the palace of Old King Cole went the bunny uncle. He knew his way -about very well, for he had been there before. From the kitchen came all -sorts of the most delicious smells, just like a pie baking. - -“Why, hello, Uncle Wiggily!” cried jolly Old King Cole, as he saw the -bunny uncle hopping along. “Come in and sit down! How are you?” - -“Fine!” cried the bunny uncle. “Very fine, indeed. And yourself?” he -asked, politely. - -“I never felt better in my life. I am just going to have a bit of lunch. -Won’t you sit down and help me enjoy it?” asked Old King Cole, also -politely. “You may have some carrots with lettuce sauce on, or a bit of -boiled lollypops with ice cream cones sprinkled on the top. Anything you -wish!” - -“That is very good of you,” said Uncle Wiggily. “But don’t go to any -trouble on my account. I’ll have whatever you are going to have.” - -“Then it will be pie!” cried Old King Cole. “I told the cook to have pie -to-day, and I think it is ready. I’ll ring the bell for it.” - -“Ding-dong!” rang the bell. In came the cook with a big pie on a dish. -And the cook began to hum: - - “Sing a song of sixpence, - A pocket full of rye. - Four-and-twenty blackbirds, - Baked within a pie.” - -“What’s that?” cried Old King Cole. “Twenty-four blackbirds baked in my -pie! Why, how did that happen?” - -“It was this way,” said the cook. “You told me to give you pie to-day. -Well, I made all ready for it, but, at the last minute, I had nothing to -put in the pie—no apples, no cherries, no peaches—nothing at all. I did -not know what to do, but, all of a sudden, I looked out of the window, -and I saw two dozen blackbirds flying along. ‘The very thing!’ said I to -myself. ‘They’ll do for Old King Cole’s pie!’ I asked them if they would -mind getting in between the upper and lower pie crusts, and they said -no.” - -“And did they?” asked the king, putting his crown on sideways. - -“They did,” answered the cook. “Look!” and he sang: - - “When the pie was opened, - The birds began to sing. - Wasn’t that a dainty dish - To set before the king?” - -Then, taking care not to hurt the feathered singers, the cook cut open -the pie. Surely enough, out flew the blackbirds, singing as sweetly as -one could wish. Around and around the palace they flew, singing, and -Uncle Wiggily cried: - -“Why, these must be the blackbirds Mother Goose is looking for! Did you -come up from the South to tell us that Spring has come?” he asked them. - -“Yes,” answered the birds, “we did. But first we wanted to snuggle up in -the pie for the king.” - -“Ha! Well, you did it all right!” laughed Old King Cole. “But, now, I -don’t need you in my pie any longer, so fly away to Mother Goose. Uncle -Wiggily and I will eat cake, instead of pie, to-day, since there is -nothing between the crusts to chew on.” - -So they ate cake, and the blackbirds, which had only been put in the pie -just after it came from the oven, flew all about animal land, singing: -“Spring is here! Spring is here!” - -So the bunny gentleman had his adventure after all, you see, and if the -cake of soap doesn’t slide over the bathroom floor, and bunk into the -wash rag, when it is cleaning its teeth, I’ll tell you next about Uncle -Wiggily and the fat man. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XIX - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE FAT MAN - - -“A LETTER for you, Uncle Wiggily,” said Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the -muskrat lady housekeeper, as she went to the door of the hollow-stump -bungalow, when the bird postman gave a whistle, and a tap of his bill, -to let them know that he had some mail. - -“A letter for me! Thats’s nice!” said the bunny uncle. “Why, it’s an -invitation to a party—for you and me,” he went on to Nurse Jane. “It’s -from Jollie and Jillie Longtail, the mice children. They want us to come -to their house,” and he read the invitation. - -“Shall you go?” asked Nurse Jane. - -“I shall,” answered Uncle Wiggily. “And before I go I must practice that -new ice cream cone dance, where you stand on one ear and eat a lollypop. -You’ll go, of course, Nurse Jane.” - -“Well, I don’t know. I need a new dress, and——” - -“Say no more about it!” cried Uncle Wiggily, with a jolly laugh. “Here -is some money. Go down to the five and ten cent store and buy the finest -gold and diamond silk dress you can find. I want you to look nice.” - -So Nurse Jane bought the new dress, which had rows and rows of double -plaited insertion with fried egg tassels down the side, and Uncle -Wiggily practiced dancing for the party the Longtail mice children were -to have. - -At last the evening for the party came. Off started Uncle Wiggily and -Nurse Jane, talking of the good times they were going to have, when, all -at once, the bunny gentleman cried: - -“Oh, dear! I’ve forgotten my dancing shoes! I’ll run back to the -bungalow after them. You keep on, Nurse Jane, and I’ll soon catch up to -you.” - -Uncle Wiggily turned back, taking a shortcut to the hollow-stump -bungalow, where he lived, and he was almost there when, all at once, he -heard some one crying sadly: - -“Oh, dear! It’s gone! Oh, what shall I do? I’d go after him if I could, -but I can’t. Oh, what trouble I’m in!” - -“Ha! Trouble!” cried the bunny uncle. “Some one is in trouble! That’s -what I like to hear! I mean I like to hear it because I like to help -people out of trouble. I must see who this is.” - -He looked through the bushes and there, sitting on a stump, in the -moonlight, Uncle Wiggily saw a very big man, with a turban—a white -cloth, like a twisted towel—around his head. The man was sort of -chocolate-colored. - -“Well, what is your trouble?” asked Uncle Wiggily. “Perhaps I can help -you. Who are you?” - -“Surely you must have heard of me,” said the big man, puffing out his -chest. “I am in Mother Goose’s book.” - -“I don’t seem to remember you,” said Uncle Wiggily, sort of thoughtful -like, scratching his pink, twinkling nose with his ear. “If you would -kindly tell me——” - -Then the troubled one sang: - - “I am the fat man from Bombay, - I was smoking my pipe one fine day. - When a bird, called a snipe, - Flew away with my pipe. - Which vexed the fat man of Bombay.” - -“Oh, now I remember you,” said Uncle Wiggily. - -“I’m glad you do,” spoke the fat man. “So you see how it is. I’m really -quite vexed, which means just a little angry, and I’m in trouble, for -the snipe bird did fly away with my pipe, and I can’t smoke, and I must -do that, or it won’t be the way it is in the Mother Goose book. Do you -think you can help me?” - -“Well, I’ll try,” said Uncle Wiggily. “You just wait here until I run to -my hollow-stump bungalow for my dancing slippers, and, when I come back -I’ll see what I can do.” - -Uncle Wiggily hurried on through the woods, found his dancing shoes, and -was hurrying back, when, all of a sudden, he slipped and fell head over -heels with his slippers, and a big sliver was stuck in his paw. - -“Oh, dear!” cried the bunny uncle. “That sliver hurts very much! What -shall I do? Now I am in trouble, for I can’t dance and I can’t help the -fat man of Bombay. Oh, dear, what can I do?” - -Uncle Wiggily couldn’t hop on with that sliver in his paw, and he -couldn’t pull it out, try as he did. - -“Help! Help!” he called, as loudly as he could. “Will no one help me, -and the fat man of Bombay?” - -“Ha! Who is that calling?” asked a voice. “And who knows about the fat -man of Bombay?” - -“I do,” answered the bunny uncle. “I am calling, and I know the Bombay -fat man. He is in trouble, too.” - -Then through the bushes came flying a bird called a snipe, and in his -bill he carried a pipe. - -“Oh, you have it!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “Why don’t you give it back to -him so he won’t be sad and vexed any more? Why don’t you give back the -pipe to the fat man of Bombay?” - -“I would, if I could find him,” answered the snipe. “You see, I only -took his pipe in fun. He looked so funny sitting there smoking, that I -thought I’d play a trick on him. So I flew away with his pipe, that’s -because I’m a snipe. But I’ll give it back to him now. Is there -something the matter with you?” - -“Yes,” answered Uncle Wiggily, sadly, “I have run a big wooden splinter -in my paw, and I can’t get it out, and I want to go to the Longtail -dance and I can’t——” - -“Of course you can!” cried the snipe bird, in a jolly voice. “With my -sharp bill I can easily pull the splinter out of your paw. Let me get -hold of it.” - -Laying down the fat man’s pipe, the snipe soon pulled the splinter out -of Uncle Wiggily’s paw. - -“Now I can go to the dance!” cried the bunny uncle. - -“And if you will show me where the fat man of Bombay is, I’ll take him -back his pipe,” said the snipe. - -“This way!” cried Uncle Wiggily. He showed the bird where the sad, fat -man was sitting, and the snipe gave back the pipe. - -“Oh, how good you are!” cried the fat man, striking a match, but only in -fun, of course. “Now my troubles are over.” - -“And so are mine—the sliver-trouble!” said the bunny uncle. Then the fat -man of Bombay, which is in India, smoked his pipe, the snipe flew away -and Uncle Wiggily and Nurse Jane went on to the dance and had a fine -time. - -And if the top of the stairs doesn’t go sit at the bottom, so the wax -doll can’t get up to sleep in the cat’s cradle, I’ll tell you next about -Uncle Wiggily and the tarts. - - -[Illustration] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XX - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE TARTS - - -“WHERE are you going, Uncle Wiggily?” asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the -muskrat lady, as she saw the rabbit gentleman starting out of the -hollow-stump bungalow one morning. - -“Oh, just for a walk, over the fields and through the woods,” he -answered. “This is the Spring of the year, now, you know, since the -four-and-twenty blackbirds jumped out of Old King Cole’s pie, and I want -to see if the grass and flowers have begun to spring up.” - -“I think it is a little early for them,” spoke Nurse Jane. - -“Well, I’ll go for a walk, anyhow,” said Uncle Wiggily. - -So the bunny uncle hopped on and on, sometimes leaning on his red, white -and blue-striped barber-pole rheumatism crutch, that Nurse Jane had -gnawed for him out of a corn-stalk, and again he would carry it under -his paw. - -Pretty soon Uncle Wiggily came to the palace where Old King Cole lived. -He was thinking of going inside, and perhaps playing a game of checkers, -as he used to do with Grandfather Goosey Gander, when, all at once, the -bunny uncle saw a lady looking at him from the kitchen window. - -The lady had on a silk dress, all spangled over with red hearts, like a -valentine. And on her head was a cap, and that had blue hearts on, so -she looked very pretty indeed. - -“How do you do?” asked the lady of Uncle Wiggily. - -“Very well,” he answered. “And how are you?” - -“Oh, not well at all,” was the answer, and the lady sighed sadly. “Oh, -there is so much trouble here!” - -“Trouble? Trouble?” asked Uncle Wiggily. “Why, then I came to just the -right place.” - -“How is that?” asked the lady, sort of surprised like. - -“Because I always try to help trouble, or those who are in it. Let me -see now, I don’t believe I have the pleasure of knowing you,” and Uncle -Wiggily sort of made his nose twinkle inquisitive like. - -“Oh, you must have heard about me,” said the lady, with a smile. “I’m in -Mother Goose’s book, you know. Listen to this: - - “‘The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts, - All on a summer’s day. - The Jack of Hearts, he took those tarts, - And with them ran away.’ - -“I am the Queen of Hearts,” said the lady, bowing politely. - -“Pleased to meet you,” spoke Uncle Wiggily, also with a low bow. “So -that is the trouble, eh? The Jack of Hearts has taken the tarts away?” - -“Well, no, not exactly,” answered the Heart Queen. “You see, I haven’t -yet made the tarts. But, when I do, I suppose the Jack will take them, -and then there’ll be trouble, for Old King Cole specially wants them.” - -“Why haven’t you yet made them?” asked the bunny uncle. “If it says in -the Mother Goose book that you must make the tarts, why don’t you make -them?” - -“Because, in the first place,” answered the Queen of Hearts, sort of -shivering like, “this isn’t a Summer day. And, in the second place, I -don’t know how to make the tarts—that’s the trouble.” - -“Well, that is easily mended,” spoke the bunny uncle. “I can’t make a -Summer day out of a Spring one, but I can show you how to make tarts.” - -“Oh, can you—and will you?” asked the Queen of Hearts, clapping her -hands in delight. - -“I can and will,” said Uncle Wiggily, kindly. “I have often watched -Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, my muskrat lady bungalow-keeper, make them, so I -ought to know how.” - -“Tell me,” said the Queen, “and we’ll do it.” - -“You take flour and water and milk and sugar and a yeast cake and spices -and make a pie crust,” said the bunny uncle. “Then you bake it in the -oven after you have cut it out in little round pieces, some with three -holes in, and some just plain.” - -“Oh, how lovely that sounds!” cried the Queen, clapping her hands again. -“I have all the things you need. Let’s make the tarts.” - -“And when the crust is baked in the oven,” went on Mr. Longears, “you -take out two pieces of tarts, put jam in between them, press them -together, and—there you are.” - -“Lovelier and more lovely!” cried the Queen. “Oh, I am so glad you -happened to come along. Now we’ll begin.” - -So she and Uncle Wiggily mixed up the sugar and spice, and other things -nice, making the pie crust, out of which they cut round, flat pieces, -some with three holes in, and some plain. - -“Oh, what lovely tarts they’ll be!” laughed the Queen. “Isn’t it a shame -that the Jack of Hearts must take them away?” - -“Well, if it’s that way in the Mother Goose book, it can’t be helped,” -said Uncle Wiggily. “But when he takes these tarts we’ll make some -more.” - -So the tarts were made and set aside to cool. - -“Now we’ll hide behind the kitchen door,” said the Queen of Hearts, “and -watch the Jack as he comes in to get them. I hope he doesn’t take them -all.” - -“Maybe he won’t,” said Uncle Wiggily. - -Pretty soon, as the bunny gentleman and the Queen of Hearts were hiding, -into the kitchen came the Jack of Hearts. He was a funny chap, with -little candy hearts all over his clothes and cap. - -“Ah, ha!” said the Jack, smacking his lips. “This is tart day. Here is -where I have a fine feast! I’ll get the tarts of the Queen of Hearts.” - -Laughing to himself, the Jack went up to the shelf where the tarts were -cooling. He lifted one down, and took a big bite from it, saying: - -“I’ll taste them before I take them away.” - -But, no sooner had he tasted it than the Jack of Hearts he dropped that -tart and, all excited like, he cried: - -“Oh me! Oh my! Oh ice water and lemonade! Oh, how my mouth burns! I -don’t want any of those tarts! Oh, no,” and away he ran, not taking one. - -“Why, that’s queer,” said the queen. “He should have taken those hearts. -That’s the way it is in the book.” - -The bunny uncle looked at the tarts he and the Queen had made. He took a -little taste of one, and then Uncle Wiggily said: - -“No wonder the Jack didn’t want them. By mistake we have put red pepper -in the tarts instead of red raspberry jam! They’re as hot as a stove. Oh -dear!” - -“Never mind,” said the Queen, sweetly. “We’ll make some more tarts, and -this time we’ll do it right and put in the jam. Anyhow I’m glad, for now -the Jack won’t want to take the new tarts I make.” And the Jack did not. -He had had enough. - -So the tarts were made over again by Uncle Wiggily and the Queen—right, -this time, with real jam—and King Cole ate them and said they were fine. -And if the paper boy doesn’t turn into a bottle of ink, and make the -fountain pen go swimming with the goldfish, I’ll tell you next about -Uncle Wiggily and the jumping cow. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XXI - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE JUMPING COW - - -UNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the nice, old gentleman rabbit, started out from -his hollow-stump bungalow one day, to take a walk. He hopped over the -fields and through the woods, wondering whether or not he might meet -with an adventure, when, after a little while, he came to the House that -Jack Built. - -And there, nicely wrapped up in a bag, the bunny uncle saw the malt that -lay in the House that Jack Built. Malt, you know, is a sort of flour, -out of which they make buckwheat cakes. - -“My goodness!” exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, as he scratched his pink, -twinkling nose, “I did not think I had come this far.” - -He stood in front of the House that Jack Built, wondering whether or not -he ought not go in and say “howdy do,” when he saw coming out of the -house the rat that ate the malt, and the cat that caught the rat, and -the dog that worried the cat that caught the rat that ate the malt that -lay in the House that Jack Built. - -“Well, this is very strange,” said Uncle Wiggily to himself. “They all -seem to be running away!” And indeed they were. For the cat was chasing -the rat and the dog was chasing the cat and the rat was chasing after -its own shadow, so as to get away from the cat, and then, all of a -sudden, out came Mother Goose herself. - -“Oh, have you seen her, Uncle Wiggily?” asked Mother Goose. “I am so -worried about her!” - -“Seen whom? About whom are you worried?” asked the rabbit gentleman, -politely. - -“The jumping cow,” answered Mother Goose. “She’s gone!” - -“I guess you mean the cow with the crumpled horn, don’t you?” asked the -bunny uncle. “She’s the one, you know, that tossed the dog that worried -the cat that caught the rat that ate the malt that lay in the House that -Jack Built.” - -“No, I don’t mean that cow,” answered Mother Goose. “I mean the jumping -cow. She’s the worst cow for jumping you ever saw. She jumps over all -the fences and stone walls and when we want her to give some milk for -Little Tommie Tucker’s supper she isn’t to be found. I’ve looked -everywhere for her, but I can’t find her. Oh, dear! Such trouble! I -thought she might be here, in the House that Jack Built, with the -Crumpled-Horn Cow. But she isn’t.” - -“Ha! Just you leave it to me, if you please,” said Uncle Wiggily, -kindly. “I’ll find the jumping cow for you. I can start off in my -automobile, with the bologna sausage tires, that go faster when you -sprinkle pepper on them or in my clothes-basket airship, with toy circus -balloons on the handles.” - -“You had better take your airship,” said Mother Goose. “A jumping cow -would be found up in the air, I think.” - -“I think so myself,” said Uncle Wiggily. So he hurried back to the -hollow-stump bungalow and got out his airship. In that he sailed over -the woods and fields, looking for the jumping cow. - -“Do, please, ask her to hurry back,” said Mother Goose. “For she has all -the milk for supper, and Tommie Tucker and the Children of the Old Woman -who Lives in a Shoe, are so hungry they don’t know what to do.” - -“I’ll get her,” promised Uncle Wiggily. - -On and on he sailed in his airship. But he could not see the jumping -cow. Up high he sailed and down low, and finally, when he came close to -the ground, near the place where Sammie Littletail, the boy rabbit, -lived with his sister Susie and his father and mother, Uncle Wiggily -heard Jollie Longtail, the mouse boy, singing a song that went like -this: - - “Hi-diddle-diddle! - The cat’s in the fiddle! - The cow jumped over the moon, - The little dog laughed - To see so much sport, - And the dish ran away with the spoon.” - -“Hello, what’s that!” cried Uncle Wiggily, bringing his airship to a -sudden stop and sailing down to earth. “What cow is that Jollie, that -jumped over the moon?” - -“Oh, Mother Goose’s cow,” answered the little mouse boy. “You see, Joie -Kat, the little kitten boy, crawled inside the fiddle, having a game of -tag with Tommie, his brother. And when Jack Sprat tried to play music on -the fiddle it made such a funny noise that the cow, who was waiting for -Little Boy Blue to blow his horn, gave a big jump, and away up over the -moon she went. That’s the way it was,” said Jollie Longtail. - -“I see,” answered Uncle Wiggily. “Well, in that case, I suppose I must -go sailing up to the moon to find the jumping cow. She is needed to -bring home the milk for Little Tommie Tucker’s supper.” - -Just then along came Mother Goose once more. - -“Oh, look!” she cried, pointing her broom up to the sky. “There’s my -nice jumping cow now. She’s falling down from her jump over the moon. -Oh, she’ll break her horns, surely. Oh, dear! What shall I do?” - -“Do? Do nothing,” said Uncle Wiggily, kindly. “I will do it myself. See, -I have my airship. I’ll sail up and catch the jumping cow before she has -time to fall. Then everything will be all right.” - -“Oh, please do!” begged Mother Goose. - -Up in his clothes-basket airship went Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit -gentleman. - - up. - and - up - and - up - The cow was falling - down - and - down - and - down. - -“Oh, dear!” cried Mother Goose, on the earth below. “That cow should -have known better than to jump over the moon!” - -“I think so myself,” said the Man in the Moon. “I tried to stop her, but -I couldn’t.” - -“Never mind,” said Uncle Wiggily. “It will be all right, I’m sure.” - -Then he steered his airship right under the falling cow, who was no -longer jumping. Instead, she was sailing toward the earth, with a piece -of green cheese on one horn. She really had jumped over the moon, but -she slipped, and that’s how the green cheese got on the tip of her horn. - -“Here you are!” cried Uncle Wiggily, in his jolly voice, just like a -trolley car conductor. “Plenty of room up in front.” - -Then the jumping cow landed gently in the rabbit gentleman’s airship, -and he brought her down to earth as lightly as a feather, and the cow -was just in time with the milk for Little Tommie Tucker’s supper. - -So this teaches you that Uncle Wiggily can do many things besides eating -carrots and having the rheumatism, and if the egg beater doesn’t skip -out to whip the rag doll’s carpets, to earn five cents for the moving -pictures, I’ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the pussies. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XXII - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE PUSSIES - - -UNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the kind old rabbit gentleman, was hopping along -in the woods in front of his hollow-stump bungalow one morning, and, -every now and then, he would stoop over and look at the ground. - -“What are you doing, Wiggy, if I may ask?” inquired Nurse Jane Fuzzy -Wuzzy, the muskrat lady, who kept the bungalow nice and neat for the -bunny uncle. - -“You may ask, and I will tell you,” politely answered Mr. Longears. “I -am looking to see if any flowers are growing in the woods.” - -“What! Flowers growing this time of year?” cried Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy. “It -is much too early!” - -“Why, it was the first of Spring, the other day!” said Uncle Wiggily. “I -should think the flowers would be waking up now, and putting their heads -out from beneath the brown earth-blankets, under which they slept all -winter.” - -“Oh, no!” laughed Nurse Jane. “First we must have some April showers to -bring May flowers.” - -“Well, I am going to keep on looking,” said Uncle Wiggily. “I may find a -flower in the woods, or, if I do not, I’ll have an adventure. Either one -would be nice.” - -So away hopped the bunny uncle, leaning on his red, white and blue -barber-pole striped rheumatism crutch, which Nurse Jane had nicely -speckled with pink candy for him on account of Spring coming. - -And, all of a sudden, as Mr. Longears went along, he slipped in a little -puddle of water, and—presto-chango! Off flew his glasses and they were -broken all to pieces. - -“Oh, dear!” cried Uncle Wiggily, picking up the bits. “That’s too bad. -Now I can hardly see to get along. I must take these glasses to the -blacksmith shop to have them mended. I hope I don’t lose my way, for, -without my glasses, I am almost as blind as a bat or an owl in daylight. -But I will do the best I can.” - -With the pieces of his broken glasses in his pocket, Uncle Wiggily went -along through the woods. He peered this way and that, for the sun hurt -his eyes when he had no glasses, but still he could see a little bit. -Then, all at once, Uncle Wiggily, looking through the trees, said: - -“Why, here comes Mrs. Wibblewobble, the duck lady, I do declare!” - -Uncle Wiggily made his necktie tidy and smooth, and pulled down his -vest, for he wanted to look nice. Then he made a low bow and said: - -“How do you do, Mrs. Wibblewobble? I am glad to meet you in the woods.” - -But there was no answer, and Uncle Wiggily said: - -“Why, I wonder if she heard me? I hope Mrs. Wibblewobble isn’t getting -deaf! I must speak louder.” - -He looked again where he thought he had seen the duck lady, going a -little nearer, and, lo! it was only a stump that looked like Mrs. -Wibblewobble. - -“Well, well!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “I can’t see at all well without my -glasses. What a mistake to make!” - -He laughed and walked on, and, pretty soon he thought he saw Mrs. -Stubtail, the lady bear, mother to Neddie and Beckie Stubtail. - -“Why, how do you——” began Uncle Wiggily, and then he saw it was only a -big black stone on the woodland path. - -“Ha! Another mistake!” cried the bunny uncle, with a laugh. “I am making -lots of them to-day. It comes of having such poor eye-sight!” - -So he went on toward the blacksmith shop to have his glasses mended. A -little later he thought a fallen log was Grandfather Goosey Gander, and, -not long after that, he saw a pile of dried leaves and thought they were -Uncle Butter, the goat gentleman. He was just going to shake paws with -the leaves, when he came closer he saw that he had made another mistake. - -“Well, well!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “It certainly is too bad not to have -your glasses once you start wearing them.” - -On he went, a little farther, and he came soon to a place where some -bushes were growing. Up in the bushes a little way from the ground, -Uncle Wiggily saw some soft, furry, fuzzy things perched on the -branches. - -“Oh, the dear little pussies!” cried the rabbit gentleman. “Some dog -must have come along here and chased them up in the bushes. I’ll get -them down. Don’t be afraid, little ones,” he said. “I won’t let anybody -harm you. Come to your Uncle Wiggily!” - -The bunny uncle hopped up and held out his paw to the fuzzy things. They -did not speak to him. - -“But that’s all right,” he said. “They are too frightened even to mew. -I’ll take them to Mother Goose and she will give them some warm milk. -Come along, Pussies!” said the rabbit gentleman. - -But, though he went close to the bush, and called very gently, the -pussies did not jump into his paws. - -“I guess they are too frightened,” said the bunny uncle. “I’ll just -break off the branch with the pussies on,” thought Mr. Longears, “and -carry them home that way. Poor little pussies! Did a bad bow-wow dog -scare you? Well, just come with your Uncle Wiggily, and it will be all -right!” - -So the bunny gentleman broke off the branch with the soft, fuzzy pussies -on it, and away he walked through the woods. - -“I’ll take them to Mother Goose,” he said, “and then I’ll go to the -blacksmith shop and have my glasses mended.” - -Uncle Wiggily soon was at the house of the lady who swept cobwebs out of -the sky. - -“Mother Goose! Mother Goose!” he cried. “I’ve brought you some little -pussies on the branch of a bush. A dog chased and scared them up there, -and they were afraid to come down. Please get them some warm milk with -carrot sauce in.” - -Mother Goose came running to the door. She looked at the fuzzy things -Uncle Wiggily held out. Then she laughed. - -“What’s the matter?” asked the bunny uncle. “Why don’t you take care of -the poor pussies?” - -“Pussies? Pussies?” laughed dear old Mother Goose, harder than before. -“Those are pussy willows.” - -“Pussy willows” said Uncle Wiggily, surprised like. - -“Yes, they are the soft, fuzzy blossoms of the willow bush. They are -plants and not an animal at all.” - -“Well, well!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “That shows what it is to be without -glasses. I certainly thought they were real pussies. I must hurry to the -blacksmith’s to have my glasses fixed.” - -So he did, and his glasses were soon mended; while Mother Goose put the -pussy willows in water where they would blossom out into big cat-posies. - -And if the stepladder doesn’t walk off with the cake of soap and have a -birthday party for the broom and dust pan on the back stoop, I’ll tell -you next about Uncle Wiggily and the leaves. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE LEAVES - - -UNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the rabbit gentleman, stood out in front of his -hollow-stump bungalow in the woods, one day, and looked carefully -around. Then he glanced up at the blue sky. - -“What is the matter?” asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady -bungalow-keeper. “Are you looking for some one?” - -“Well, no, not exactly,” replied the bunny uncle, slowly. “I was just -thinking that perhaps I had better begin to do some Spring cleaning -around my bungalow.” - -“Spring cleaning! Do you mean inside or outside?” asked the muskrat -lady, as she carefully wiped a bit of flour off the end of her nose with -her tail, for she had been baking a cake. - -“Oh, I mean outside, of course,” replied Uncle Wiggily. “I’ll leave you -to look after the bungalow, inside, while I clean up outside. You see -there are so many last year’s dried leaves about, here in the woods, -that if they were to catch fire our bungalow might burn.” - -“Mercy!” cried Nurse Jane. “I wouldn’t want that to happen. Oh, my!” - -“No, indeed,” Uncle Wiggily said. “Once was enough. The last time we had -a fire you and I had to board around with our friends. Still, it was not -so bad as it might have been, for I met Mother Goose, and did some -favors for her and her friends.” - -“What were you thinking of doing to the leaves?” asked Nurse Jane, -curious like and inquisitive. - -“Why, I thought I’d rake them up in a pile and make a soft place, so if -Sammie and Susie Littletail, the rabbit children, came along on their -way home from school, they could jump on the leaves as they sometimes do -in the hay.” - -“Very good,” Nurse Jane said. “You rake up the leaves and I’ll wash the -dishes.” - -So Uncle Wiggily began. For a rake he used the dried branch from a tree. -It had many little ends to it, almost like the teeth of a rake, that -branch had. - -“I wonder if a rake ever gets the toothache?” thought Uncle Wiggily, as -he pulled and poked the leaves into piles. “If it does, it must hurt -very much because there are so many teeth.” - -But the bunny uncle did not have a real rake, only a tree branch, which -he used as one, and that had no teeth to ache, I’m glad to say. - -“It will be good to get the layers of dead, dried leaves off the -ground,” said Uncle Wiggily, “for soon the April showers will bring the -May flowers, and they find it easier to spring up if there is no blanket -of leaves over them to hold them down.” - -The bunny uncle soon had many piles of soft, dried leaves, and in a -little while along came Sammie and Susie Littletail, the rabbit -children, and into the leaves they jumped, off a stump, bouncing up and -down like rubber balls. - -Pretty soon Uncle Wiggily heard a voice saying: - -“Oh, dear, isn’t it too bad? Yes, it’s even three, four, five, six, -seven bad! That’s what it is!” - -“Ha! Some one in trouble!” said Uncle Wiggily, dropping his tree-branch -rake and running back to the pile of leaves. “I suppose either Sammie or -Susie has fallen down, and bumped one of their noses. I must help them -up!” - -But when Uncle Wiggily got there the cupboard was bare—oh, no, excuse -me, if you please. That’s in another story. I mean when the bunny uncle -reached the pile of leaves where Sammie and Susie had been playing -neither one of the rabbit children was in sight. - -“Oh, my!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “They must be all covered up with the -leaves! I’ll have to dig them out! No wonder it’s two, six, seven bad! -Poor rabbits under the leaves.” - -With his paws he began digging at the piles of leaves, scattering them -all over, after his hard work of raking them up. But as he went deeper -and deeper he could see no signs of the bunny children. And then, from -somewhere behind him, Uncle Wiggily heard the sad voice again saying: - -“Oh, dear! It’s too bad! Yes, it’s two, three and even sixteen-eleven -bad. Oh, dear!” - -Turning quickly, Uncle Wiggily saw Jimmie Wibblewobble, the boy duck, -with an empty bag over his wing shoulder. - -“Why, Jimmie! Is that you?” asked the bunny uncle, in surprise. “I -thought it was Sammie and Susie Littletail. They were playing in these -dried leaves a while ago, but now I can’t find them, and I fear they may -be covered up so far down that I can never get them out.” - -“Oh, don’t worry about that, Uncle Wiggily,” said Jimmie, the boy duck. -“Sammie and Susie are all right. I met them running down a woodland path -a little while ago, as I came along, and they were talking of what fun -they had had in the leaves. They got tired and ran away when you weren’t -looking. That’s why you can’t find them under the leaves. But, oh, dear! -Two, sixteen-eleven bad!” - -“Why, what’s the matter with _you_?” asked Uncle Wiggily, kindly. “Are -_you_ in trouble, Jimmie?” - -“I am, Uncle Wiggily.” - -“What kind of trouble, Jimmie, my duck boy?” - -“Feather-trouble,” answered the Wibblewobble chap. - -“Feather-trouble?” repeated Uncle Wiggily, sort of surprised like and -astonished. “Feather-trouble?” - -“Yes. You see my mother sent me with a bag of our best duck feathers for -Mother Goose to make a feather bed from. Well, all at once, some strong -March wind came dancing by, turned the bag inside out and blew away -every feather! And, what to do I don’t know, for there are no more -feathers at our coop. And if Mother Goose doesn’t have feathers for her -bed she will feel badly. Oh, dear! Such trouble!” - -Uncle Wiggily thought for a moment. Then he said: - -“Ho, Jimmie! I see a way out of your trouble. Fill your bag with some of -these soft, dried leaves. They will be nearly as good as feathers for -Mother Goose, and, at the same time, you will be doing me a favor by -taking away the leaves, so the flowers can grow.” - -“Oh, fine!” cried Jimmie. So he took a big bag of the leaves, which -Mother Goose said were as good to sleep on as feathers, and thus -everything came out just right, you see, and Sammie and Susie weren’t -lost under the leaves after all, for which Uncle Wiggily was very glad. - -And if the fried egg doesn’t try to hide in the apple dumpling and make -the peach stone jump over the shortcake, when we have company for -supper, I’ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the wise man. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XXIV - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE WISE MAN - - -“RAT-A-TAT-TAT!” came a knock on the door of the hollow-stump bungalow, -where Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit gentleman, lived. - -“I’ll see who it is,” he called to Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy and the -muskrat lady housekeeper was glad of that, for her paws were in the -dishwater up to her elbows, and you know how it is yourself; you don’t -like to answer the bell with your hands all soap bubbles, like a pipe. - -So Uncle Wiggily went to the door, and, standing there, he saw Nannie -Wagtail, the little goat girl. And there were tears in Nannie’s eyes, -and she was trying to wipe them away with the tips of her horns. But -when she did this she only tickled herself and she had to laugh. - -But she didn’t want to laugh; she wanted to cry, for she was sad. And -you know how it is yourself—you can’t laugh and cry at the same time; -can you? - -“Why, Nannie! What is the matter?” asked Uncle Wiggily, kindly. “Come in -and tell me all your troubles!” - -“Oh, dear! Boo hoo! Hoo boo! I have lots of troubles!” said the little -goat girl. “My best doll, Priscilla Spicecake Orangejuice, is gone.” - -“Gone!” cried Uncle Wiggily. - -“Taken!” exclaimed Nannie. “I was out in front of our house a while ago -playing dolls with Beckie Stubtail, the little girl bear. Beckie had her -doll, Esmeralda Pancake Eggturner, with her, and we were having a lovely -time. - -“But I laid my doll down to go in the house to get some cookies, and -when I came out my doll was gone, and Beckie was crying.” - -“Why, what happened?” asked Uncle Wiggily, surprised like. - -“Beckie said a man came running along, grabbed up my doll, and before -she could stop him he hurried off into the woods with my dear Priscilla -Spicecake Orangejuice!” - -“Oh, that’s too bad!” said the bunny uncle. “Now don’t you cry any more. -You just tell me what sort of a man he was who took your doll and I’ll -go after him and make him give it back, even if I have to get the circus -elephant to squirt water on him from the lemonade barrel. Tell me what -sort of a man he was.” - -“He was a man who wore glasses,” said Nannie. - -“Say no more!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “I think I know exactly who he is! -I’ll go after him at once.” - -So the bunny uncle, telling Nurse Jane not to wait lunch for him, -started off over the fields and through the woods to look for Nannie’s -doll. On the way he met Mother Goose, and he asked that old lady: - -“Are any of your friends the kind of a man who wears glasses, and would -take a little goat girl’s doll?” - -“Well, yes,” said Mother Goose, slowly, “the Wise Man might. You see he -spoiled his eyes, reading so much to make him wise, that he has to wear -glasses. But he is really very kind. I think he only took Nannie’s doll -for a joke, or perhaps he wants to get her another just like it and took -that along for a sample.” - -“Perhaps,” said Uncle Wiggily. “But, anyhow, I’ll find him and ask him -about it.” - -So he walked and hopped on and on through the woods to where the Wise -Man used to live, and pretty soon, from behind a big bush, the bunny -uncle heard some one singing this song: - - “There was a man in our town, - And he was wondrous wise. - He jumped into a berry bush, - And scratched out both his eyes. - But when he saw his eyes were out, - With all his might and main, - He jumped into another bush - And scratched them in again.” - -“Ha!” said Uncle Wiggily softly. “I thought so! The wise man! I have -found him! Now to see if he has Nannie’s doll!” - -Uncle Wiggily peeked through the bush, which was a blackberry one, only -there were no berries on it now. On the other side, sitting on the -ground, was the Wise Man, wearing glasses, and he had Nannie’s doll in -his hands. He was talking to the doll, something like this: - -“Now, little doll, don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you. I’m just going to -toss you into the berry bush, and scratch out both your eyes. But that -won’t hurt, for as soon as I see your eyes are out, with all my might -and main, I’ll toss you in another bush and scratch them in again. There -you go!” - -Before Uncle Wiggily could stop him, the Wise Man had tossed Nannie’s -doll, Priscilla Spicecake Orangejuice, into the berry bush. Then the man -cried: - -“Yes, your eyes are scratched out, all right, dollie! Now to scratch -them in again!” And, before Uncle Wiggily could hop any closer to stop -him, the Wise Man tossed again into the bush, the poor doll. And when -she fell down the Wise Man carefully picked her up, and, looking at her, -said: - -“Alas! Alack a-day! Woe is me! The eyes aren’t scratched in again at -all! Oh, dear, what shall I do? I’ll have to get the little goat girl -another doll.” - -Uncle Wiggily jumped out from behind the berry bush. - -“What do you mean?” asked the bunny uncle. “Why do you treat a poor doll -so? Look, her hair has come off, and her eyes have fallen out! Oh, my!” -and from the ground he picked up the doll’s hair-wig and eyes, which -were of glass, fastened together with wire. - -“I’m sorry,” said the Wise Man. “I’m very sorry this has happened. But I -read about the Wise Man in the Mother Goose book, who jumped into a -berry bush and got a new pair of eyes. I thought I could do the same as -he, for I’m tired of glasses. - -“But I thought I’d try it on a doll first, to see if it were true. So, -not having any doll of my own I took Nannie’s, meaning no harm. But see -what I have done!” he said, sadly. “I have scratched out her eyes and -her wig is off, and I can’t put the eyes back again, nor yet the wig. -It’s a good thing I didn’t jump into the scratchy bush myself. It is -better to wear glasses than have no eyes at all.” - -“Yes, indeed,” said Uncle Wiggily, and he felt sorry for the poor Wise -Man. “But never mind,” went on the bunny uncle. “I know a monkey-doodle -gentleman, who mends broken dolls. I’ll take Priscilla Spicecake -Orangejuice to him, and he can fasten her eyes in again and glue on her -wig.” - -“Will you? Then please do!” said the Wise Man. “I’ll pay the -monkey-doodle, and here is five cents extra for little Nannie. Tell her -I’m sorry I borrowed her doll and I’ll never do it again.” - -“All right,” cheerfully said Uncle Wiggily, “and don’t you try to -scratch your eyes out, and in again.” - -“I won’t,” promised the Wise Man. “Glasses are good enough for me.” - -The monkey-doodle gentleman soon fixed Nannie’s doll as good as ever, so -the eyes opened and shut, and the little goat girl was happy once more, -when Uncle Wiggily brought back Priscilla Spicecake Orangejuice. Thus, -you see, everything came out all right, as I generally try to make it. - -And if the crazy quilt doesn’t jump into the rag bag and get lost so the -pillow case has no place to sleep, when it comes home from the moving -pictures, I’ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the tailors. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XXV - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE TAILORS - - -“WELL, where are you going this morning, Uncle Wiggily?” asked Nurse -Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady, of the rabbit gentleman, as he -lifted his red, white and blue-striped rheumatism crutch down off the -hat rack, and opened the front door. - -“Oh, I’m just going out for a hop through the woods,” replied the bunny -uncle. “Mother Goose said that Grandfather Goosey Gander was coming to -pay her a visit to-day, and, as I haven’t seen him in some time, I -thought I’d go over myself and have a little talk.” - -“Very well,” went on Nurse Jane, “and on your way back I wish you would -bring me a spool of thread.” - -“A spool of thread? Why, certainly,” promised Uncle Wiggily, and off he -hopped through the woods until he came to where Mother Goose lived. Her -house was next door to the shoe, in which lived the Old Woman Who Had So -Many Children She Didn’t Know What To Do. - -“Good morning, Mother Goose,” said Uncle Wiggily, politely. “I hope I -see you well. Has Grandpa Goosey Gander come yet?” - -“Not yet. I am expecting him every minute. Sit down and make yourself at -home,” and Mother Goose dusted a chair. - -Uncle Wiggily sat down, and he and Mother Goose were talking about the -best way to give the most bread and jam to animal children, when along -came Grandpa Goosey. - -“I’m sorry I’m late,” he said, all sort of flustered like, “but I lost a -button off my coat. I stopped in a tailor’s to have it sewed on, but, -would you believe me? There isn’t a tailor to be found in Woodland—not -one in this whole forest!” - -“Nonsense!” cried Mother Goose. “Why, there are four-and-twenty tailors -here—just as many as there were blackbirds baked in the pie that was set -before the king. No tailors to be found out of all those -four-and-twenty? Nonsense! There must be!” and she swept cobwebs down -out of the sky just for fun. - -“Not a tailor!” said Grandpa Goosey. “I looked all over for one. Their -shops were open, but the tailors were gone, and so I had to come without -a button on my coat.” - -“Never mind,” said Mother Goose. “I’ll sew it on for you,” and she did. - -“That reminds me,” said Uncle Wiggily, after they had talked a bit. -“Speaking of tailors, I’m to bring Nurse Jane a spool of thread. I think -I’ll be hopping along. If I can’t find any tailor in his shop, where I -can buy the thread, I’ll have to go to the five and ten cent store.” - -So he said good-by to Mother Goose and Grandpa Gander, and away hopped -the bunny uncle gentleman over the fields and through the woods. - -“I wonder if I could find those four-and-twenty tailors?” thought Uncle -Wiggily. “Four-and-twenty—that’s just two dozen—quite a number. I wonder -why they all left their shops? I wonder——?” - -And just then from behind some bushes he heard some voices saying: - -“You go up and jab her!” - -“No, you do it!” - -“I’m afraid!” - -“Well, so am I. Hi there, who has a yardstick? Let whoever has a -yardstick go up and jab her!” - -“And let some one tickle her with a needle.” - -“You do it!” - -“No, you. I’m afraid.” - -“Well, so am I! Boo!” - -“Goodness me gracious sakes alive and some hooks and eyes!” cried Uncle -Wiggily. “What does all this mean? Who’s afraid?” He peeked through the -bushes and there he saw, on the woodland path, a lot of men with -needles, pins, spools of thread, tape measures, yardsticks, thimbles, -scissors, linings, pockets, buttonholes and all things like that. - -“Who are you?” asked Uncle Wiggily, in surprise. - -“I’ll tell you who we are,” answered one of the twenty-four, (for there -were just two dozen of them) as the rabbit gentleman could count. Then -some one sang this song: - - “We four-and-twenty tailors went to catch a snail, - The best man among us dared not touch her tail; - She put out her horns like a little Kylow cow, - So run, tailors! Run! Or she’ll bite us all just now!” - -And as the tailor said that he turned and ran through the woods as fast -as ever he could run, all the other twenty-three running after him. - -“Oh, my! Oh, me! Oh, dear! This is too funny!” cried Uncle Wiggily. -“Four-and-twenty tailors afraid of a snail, even if she did put out her -horns like a Kylow cow. I say, tailors! Come back! Come back!” cried -Uncle Wiggily. “Mother Goose is worried about you. Come back!” - -“We’re afraid of the snail!” said one, who had sung the song. - -“Nonsense!” laughed Uncle Wiggily. “She wouldn’t hurt a lightning bug! -Come here, I’ll show you how to make her pull in her horns!” - -Slowly and carefully the four-and-twenty tailors came back on their -tippy-tiptoes. - -“What did you want to catch a snail for, anyhow?” asked the bunny uncle. - -“Make her put in her horns so she won’t look so much like a cow and -scare us, and we’ll tell you,” said the singing tailor. - -Uncle Wiggily laughed and suddenly cried: - - “Snail, snail, pull in your horn, - Here’s Jimmie, the duck boy, - Looking for corn!” - -Then the snail quickly pulled in her horns and crawled away and she -didn’t hurt the tailors any, and they didn’t tickle her with a needle, -thimble or even a spool of hooks and eyes. - -“We just wanted to see if we could catch a snail,” said the singing -tailor. “We didn’t mean to hurt her, but it says in Mother Goose’s book -that four-and-twenty tailors went out to catch a snail, and, as we were -not very busy this morning, we went out. But, oh! how fierce she did -look with her horns! I’m not going snail-hunting any more.” - -“Nor I,” cried the other twenty-three tailors in a chorus. Then they -thanked Uncle Wiggily for having driven the snail away, as he did, by -making believe Jimmie Wibblewobble, the duck boy, was coming after her -(since ducks like snails very much). And the tailors each gave Uncle -Wiggily a spool of thread, so Nurse Jane had all she wanted, and Grandpa -Goosey’s button was sewed on. - -And if the basket of soap bubbles doesn’t fall down-stairs and spill ink -on the white table cloth just as it is going to the dance, I’ll tell you -next about Uncle Wiggily and the bat. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XXVI - - UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BAT - - -UNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the nice little boy bear—Oh, please be so kind -as to excuse me, as the telephone girl says when she rings the dinner -bell at supper time. I mean Uncle Wiggily Longears, the nice old rabbit -gentleman, put on his red, white and blue-striped rheumatism tall silk -hat and—— - -Eh? What’s that? Something else wrong? Oh, yes; to be sure. I meant to -say he took his red, white and blue-striped rheumatism crutch, and put -his tall silk hat on over his ears, and then he started out of his -hollow-stump bungalow for a walk. - -I don’t know what’s the matter with me in this story—making so many -mistakes—unless it was that I danced the fox-trot backward the other -night, and it turned out to be a goose-walk. Anyhow, I’ll try to be more -careful after this. - -Out stepped Uncle Wiggily, starting off toward the woods, but he had not -gone very far before Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady, called to -him. - -“Where are you going, Uncle Wiggily? Don’t you know that it is after -supper, and will soon be dark? Then why do you go to the woods?” - -“I want an adventure,” answered the bunny uncle. “I haven’t had one -to-day. And, as for the dark, the moon will soon be up, and give me good -light. Have no fear, Nurse Jane, I will soon be back safely.” - -So Nurse Jane had no fear and Uncle Wiggily hopped on and on, over the -fields and through the woods. All of a sudden he passed the house where -Susie Littletail, the little rabbit girl, lived. - -“Oh, Uncle Wiggily,” called Mrs. Littletail, the bunny mother. “If you -see Susie, will you please tell her to come home at once? Her supper is -quite cold, though I will warm up the carrot gravy for her.” - -“I’ll tell her,” promised the bunny uncle. “Where is she?” - -“She went over to play with Lulu and Alice Wibblewobble, the two duck -girls,” was the answer, “and she must be having a fine time, for she’s -been there ever so long.” - -“I wonder what sort of an adventure I shall have this evening,” thought -the bunny uncle. “Yesterday I drove away the snail that was scaring the -four-and-twenty tailors, but no tailors would be out now, after dark. -However, the moon will soon be up, and then I will have light enough to -see an adventure if one happens along.” - -Going a little farther, Uncle Wiggily came to where Lulu and Alice -Wibblewobble, the duck girls, lived in a nice pen, with their father and -mother and their brother Jimmie. - -“Is Susie Littletail in there?” asked Uncle Wiggily, looking over the -fence. “Her mother said she came over here to play, but hasn’t come home -yet. Is she there?” - -“No, Uncle Wiggily,” answered Lulu, wagging her tail wobbily like. -“Susie left here some time ago. She said she was going to run home to -supper.” - -“It’s queer I didn’t meet her,” said the bunny uncle. “But, perhaps, she -might have gone home by another path. I daresay she is all right. I’ll -walk along a little farther, and then if I don’t see her I’ll go back.” - -Well, Uncle Wiggily was going on and on, when, all at once from behind -an old stump, he heard a sad little voice crying, and saying: - -“Oh, dear! Oh, dear! I’m afraid to go home, and I’m afraid to stay here. -I don’t know what to do!” - -“My! That sounds like trouble of the very worst kind!” spoke Uncle -Wiggily, in his jolly voice. “I must see who it is, and if I can help -them.” - -Uncle Wiggily started for the stump, and then he happened to think: - -“Ah, perhaps that might be the skillery-scalery alligator with the humps -on his tail, making believe to be in trouble just to get me near enough -so he can catch me. I had better be careful.” - -So Uncle Wiggily carefully peeked around the corner before going any -closer to the stump, and there, sitting down on a stone behind it in the -moonlight, was Susie Littletail, the rabbit girl, herself. - -“Why, Susie!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “What are you doing here? Your mother -is looking for you, and so am I. Why don’t you go home?” - -“’Cause I’m afraid, Uncle Wiggily,” and Susie cried a few tears. - -“What are you afraid of?” asked the bunny uncle. “Surely not the dark. -That can’t hurt you, and besides it will soon be moonlight.” - -“No, I’m not afraid of the dark, Uncle Wiggily,” said Susie, “but I’m -afraid of the bat.” - -“The bat?” cried the bunny uncle, astonished like. - -“Yes; he’s a big bird with wings, but he has ears and looks like a rat. -I’m afraid he’ll get tangled in my fur, or else that he’ll bite me. Oh, -there he is now!” and Susie pointed to something black, like a bird, -flying to and fro in the darkness. - -“Yes, that is a bat,” said Uncle Wiggily, “but it will not hurt you. It -is only flying around to catch mosquitoes and other bugs that come out -mostly at night. A bat, like an owl, can see in the dark. He won’t hurt -you.” - -“Oh, but I’m afraid,” said Susie. “I started from the Wibblewobble house -a long time ago, to go home, but I saw the bat flying around and I hid. -I dassen’t go home.” - -“Nonsense!” laughed Uncle Wiggily. “I’ll fix it for you. I’ll play a -little joke on the bat and get him out of the way until I can lead you -home.” - -So Uncle Wiggily recited this little verse from Mother Goose: - - “Bat, bat! Come under my hat, - And I’ll give you a slice of bacon. - And when I bake, - I’ll give you a cake. - If I am not mistaken.” - -Uncle Wiggily put his tall silk hat on the ground, and, surely enough, -the bat crawled under it to see if there were any bacon there. And, -before he could come out Uncle Wiggily hurried home with Susie, who -wasn’t afraid any more, not with the bunny uncle to hold her paw. - -Then Uncle Wiggily, not being mistaken, got a cake from Nurse Jane and -took it back to the bat, also getting his tall silk hat. And the bat was -very much obliged, for the cake, and he said he never would have tangled -himself in Susie’s fur anyhow, so she need not have been afraid. - -“But I’m glad she’s safely home,” said the bat. - -“So am I,” said Uncle Wiggily. - -And I guess Susie was also. - -But if the button-hook doesn’t get tangled up in the dog’s tail, and -ride out to where the shoe-horn is playing tunes for the rubber heels to -dance the lame duck, I’ll tell you next—— - -Oh, but hold on, if you please. I’m not going to tell you any more -stories in this book, for it is already quite well filled, as you can -see for yourself. So if I write any more tales they will have to go in -another big volume like this. - -That’s what I’ll do, if you like, and the next book will be called, -“Uncle Wiggily and His Friends,” and will tell of the different things -that happened to the bunny uncle when he went calling on all the animal -folk that live in Woodland. So, while I am getting that book ready, I -will say good-bye. - - - THE END - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - CHILDREN’S BOOKS - By HOWARD R. GARIS - - ------- - - BEDTIME STORIES - - ------- - - CLOTH, FINELY DECORATED COVER, EIGHT COLORED ILLUSTRATIONS - _Price, per volume 75 cents, postpaid_ - - ------- - - Each book contains a story for every day in the month - - SAMMIE AND SUSIE LITTLETAIL - 31 Rabbit Stories - - JOHNNIE AND BILLIE BUSHYTAIL - 31 Squirrel Stories - - LULU, ALICE AND JIMMIE WIBBLEWOBBLE - 31 Duck Stories - - UNCLE WIGGILY’S ADVENTURES - 31 Old Gentleman Rabbit Stories - - JACKIE AND PEETIE BOW WOW - 31 Doggie Stories - - UNCLE WIGGILY’S TRAVELS - 31 more Old Gentleman Rabbit Stories - - BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES PIGG - 31 Guinea Pig Stories - - UNCLE WIGGILY’S FORTUNE - 31 queer Old Gentleman Rabbit Stories - - JOIE, TOMMIE AND KITTIE KAT - 31 Kitten Stories - - CHARLIE AND ARABELLA CHICK - 31 Chicken Stories - - UNCLE WIGGILY’S AUTOMOBILE - 31 surprising Old Gentleman Rabbit Stories - - NEDDIE AND BECKIE STUBTAIL - 31 Nice Bear Stories - - BULLY AND BAWLY NO-TAIL - 31 Frog Stories - - UNCLE WIGGILY AT THE SEASHORE - 31 different Old Gentleman Rabbit Stories - - NANNIE AND BILLIE WAGTAIL - 31 Goat Stories - - ------- - - SOMETHING NEW - - ------- - - THE DADDY SERIES - Colored cover and frontispiece, and three drawings in black and white - _Price 40 cents per volume, postpaid_ - Fun, adventure, amusement, with some nature and - out-door instruction for Little Folk. - - ------- - - DADDY TAKES US CAMPING - DADDY TAKES US FISHING - DADDY TAKES US TO THE CIRCUS - DADDY TAKES US SKATING - DADDY TAKES US COASTING - (_Other books in preparation_) - - All about a little boy and a little girl and their dear Daddy. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - JACKIE AND PEETIE BOW WOW - -“Come on, Jackie!” called Peetie Bow Wow, the boy doggie, one morning. -“Come on!” - -“Where are you going?” asked Jackie of Peetie. - -“Let’s run off and join the circus,” suggested Peetie, as he tried to -stand up on the end of his tail and turn a somersault. “We can earn a -lot of money.” - -“How?” asked Jackie, scratching his nose with his ear. - -“Why, we can make money by doing tricks in the circus,” went on Peetie. -“We can jump over the backs of elephants, climb up to the top of the -tent, and do lots of things like that. A circus is fun!” - -You have read how Daddy Blake took Hal and Mab to the circus, and you -will like to read about Jackie and Peetie. They are in a book called -“Bedtime Stories: Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow,” by Howard R. Garis, who -also wrote the Daddy books. - -Send to R. F. Fenno & Company, 18 East 17th Street, New York City, and -they will mail the book on receipt of price, if you can not get it in -your book store. The book has colored pictures. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - UNCLE WIGGILY’S FORTUNE - -“Oh, dear!” cried Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit gentleman, as he -got to the top of a big hill and looked down. “Oh, dear!” - -“Why, what has happened?” asked Sammie Littletail, the boy rabbit, -hopping up. - -“Why, I have traveled all over, just as Dr. Possum told me to,” replied -Uncle Wiggily, “and I have not yet found my fortune. It is very sad!” - -“Sad!” cried Sammie. “Not a bit of it! I know where your fortune is. You -are the richest rabbit in the whole world!” - -“My goodness me, sakes alive, and some ice cream radishes!” Uncle -Wiggily exclaimed. - -And then Sammie showed the rabbit gentleman his fortune. You may read -all about how he found it in the book entitled “Bedtime Stories: Uncle -Wiggily’s Fortune.” And you should see the colored pictures Mr. Wisa -made for it! - -Howard R. Garis, who wrote the Daddy books, wrote this one about Uncle -Wiggily. R. F. Fenno & Company, of 18 East 17th Street, New York City, -publish it. They will send it to you if your own store does not have it. -Write and ask them. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - DADDY TAKES US TO THE CIRCUS - -“Oh, Mab!” cried Hal Blake, as he came running into the house one -morning. “Daddy is going to take us to the circus!” - -“Are you, Daddy?” asked the little girl. - -“Yes,” said Mr. Blake. “Here are the tickets.” - -“Oh, what fun we’ll have!” shouted Hal. - -“Won’t we!” added his sister. - -How Daddy Blake took the children to the show in the big tent, and how -Hal and Mab went to sleep in one of the red wagons, and were carried -off—all that you may read in the book called “Daddy Takes Us to the -Circus.” It is written by Howard R. Garis, who also wrote the Bedtime -book you have just read. It contains fine pictures, and has a decorated -cover. You read, and liked, the Bedtimes, so surely you will like the -Daddy books. - -If your dealer does not keep them, please send to the publishers, R. F. -Fenno & Company, 18 East 17th Street, New York City, who will forward -any volume on receipt of price. - -Daddy Blake, on his trips with Hal and Mab, told them things about -nature and out-door life. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - ● Transcriber’s Notes: - ○ Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected. - ○ Typographical errors were silently corrected. - ○ Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only - when a predominant form was found in this book. - ○ Text that: - was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_); - was in bold by is enclosed by “equal” signs (=bold=). - - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNCLE WIGGILY AND MOTHER -GOOSE *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following -the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use -of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for -copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very -easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation -of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project -Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may -do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected -by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark -license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country other than the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the - United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where - you are located before using this eBook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm website -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that: - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of -the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the Foundation as set -forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, -Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up -to date contact information can be found at the Foundation's website -and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without -widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our website which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This website includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |