proofreading team [illustration] the tale of benjamin bunny by beatrix potter author of "the tail of peter rabbit," &c. [illustration] frederick warne & co., inc. new york copyright, by frederick warne & co. copyright renewed, for the children of sawrey from old mr. bunny [illustration] one morning a little rabbit sat on a bank. he pricked his ears and listened to the trit-trot, trit-trot of a pony. a gig was coming along the road; it was driven by mr. mcgregor, and beside him sat mrs. mcgregor in her best bonnet. as soon as they had passed, little benjamin bunny slid down into the road, and set off--with a hop, skip, and a jump--to call upon his relations, who lived in the wood at the back of mr. mcgregor's garden. [illustration] [illustration] that wood was full of rabbit holes; and in the neatest, sandiest hole of all lived benjamin's aunt and his cousins--flopsy, mopsy, cotton-tail, and peter. old mrs. rabbit was a widow; she earned her living by knitting rabbit-wool mittens and muffatees (i once bought a pair at a bazaar). she also sold herbs, and rosemary tea, and rabbit-tobacco (which is what we call lavender). little benjamin did not very much want to see his aunt. he came round the back of the fir-tree, and nearly tumbled upon the top of his cousin peter. [illustration] [illustration] peter was sitting by himself. he looked poorly, and was dressed in a red cotton pocket-handkerchief. "peter," said little benjamin, in a whisper, "who has got your clothes?" peter replied, "the scarecrow in mr. mcgregor's garden," and described how he had been chased about the garden, and had dropped his shoes and coat. little benjamin sat down beside his cousin and assured him that mr. mcgregor had gone out in a gig, and mrs. mcgregor also; and certainly for the day, because she was wearing her best bonnet. [illustration] [illustration] peter said he hoped that it would rain. at this point old mrs. rabbit's voice was heard inside the rabbit hole, calling: "cotton-tail! cotton-tail! fetch some more camomile!" peter said he thought he might feel better if he went for a walk. they went away hand in hand, and got upon the flat top of the wall at the bottom of the wood. from here they looked down into mr. mcgregor's garden. peter's coat and shoes were plainly to be seen upon the scarecrow, topped with an old tam-o'-shanter of mr. mcgregor's. [illustration] [illustration] little benjamin said: "it spoils people's clothes to squeeze under a gate; the proper way to get in is to climb down a pear-tree." peter fell down head first; but it was of no consequence, as the bed below was newly raked and quite soft. it had been sown with lettuces. they left a great many odd little footmarks all over the bed, especially little benjamin, who was wearing clogs. [illustration] [illustration] little benjamin said that the first thing to be done was to get back peter's clothes, in order that they might be able to use the pocket-handkerchief. they took them off the scarecrow. there had been rain during the night; there was water in the shoes, and the coat was somewhat shrunk. benjamin tried on the tam-o'-shanter, but it was too big for him. then he suggested that they should fill the pocket-handkerchief with onions, as a little present for his aunt. peter did not seem to be enjoying himself; he kept hearing noises. [illustration] [illustration] benjamin, on the contrary, was perfectly at home, and ate a lettuce leaf. he said that he was in the habit of coming to the garden with his father to get lettuces for their sunday dinner. (the name of little benjamin's papa was old mr. benjamin bunny.) the lettuces certainly were very fine. peter did not eat anything; he said he should like to go home. presently he dropped half the onions. [illustration] [illustration] little benjamin said that it was not possible to get back up the pear-tree with a load of vegetables. he led the way boldly towards the other end of the garden. they went along a little walk on planks, under a sunny, red brick wall. the mice sat on their doorsteps cracking cherry-stones; they winked at peter rabbit and little benjamin bunny. presently peter let the pocket-handkerchief go again. [illustration] [illustration] they got amongst flower-pots, and frames, and tubs. peter heard noises worse than ever; his eyes were as big as lolly-pops! he was a step or two in front of his cousin when he suddenly stopped. this is what those little rabbits saw round that corner! little benjamin took one look, and then, in half a minute less than no time, he hid himself and peter and the onions underneath a large basket.... [illustration] [illustration] the cat got up and stretched herself, and came and sniffed at the basket. perhaps she liked the smell of onions! anyway, she sat down upon the top of the basket. she sat there for _five hours_. * * * * * i cannot draw you a picture of peter and benjamin underneath the basket, because it was quite dark, and because the smell of onions was fearful; it made peter rabbit and little benjamin cry. the sun got round behind the wood, and it was quite late in the afternoon; but still the cat sat upon the basket. [illustration] [illustration] at length there was a pitter-patter, pitter-patter, and some bits of mortar fell from the wall above. the cat looked up and saw old mr. benjamin bunny prancing along the top of the wall of the upper terrace. he was smoking a pipe of rabbit-tobacco, and had a little switch in his hand. he was looking for his son. old mr. bunny had no opinion whatever of cats. he took a tremendous jump off the top of the wall on to the top of the cat, and cuffed it off the basket, and kicked it into the greenhouse, scratching off a handful of fur. the cat was too much surprised to scratch back. [illustration] [illustration] when old mr. bunny had driven the cat into the greenhouse, he locked the door. then he came back to the basket and took out his son benjamin by the ears, and whipped him with the little switch. then he took out his nephew peter. then he took out the handkerchief of onions, and marched out of the garden. [illustration] when mr. mcgregor returned about half an hour later he observed several things which perplexed him. it looked as though some person had been walking all over the garden in a pair of clogs--only the footmarks were too ridiculously little! also he could not understand how the cat could have managed to shut herself up _inside_ the greenhouse, locking the door upon the _outside_. [illustration] [illustration] when peter got home his mother forgave him, because she was so glad to see that he had found his shoes and coat. cotton-tail and peter folded up the pocket-handkerchief, and old mrs. rabbit strung up the onions and hung them from the kitchen ceiling, with the bunches of herbs and the rabbit-tobacco. the end uncle wiggily's adventures by howard r. garis _author of "sammie and susie littletail," "johnnie and billie bushytail." "lulu, alice and jimmie wibblewobble," "jackie and peetie bow-wow," "those smith boys," "the island boys" etc._ illustrations by louis wisa a.l. burt company publishers new york the famous bed time series five groups of books, intended for reading aloud to the little folks each night. each volume contains colored illustrations, stories, one for each day of the month. handsomely bound in cloth. size - / x - / . howard r. garis =bed time animal stories= no. . sammie and susie littletail no. . johnny and billy bushytail no. . lulu, alice & jimmie wibblewobble no. . jackie and peetie bow-wow no. . buddy and brighteyes pigg no. . joie, tommie and kittie kat no. charlie and arabella chick no. neddie and beckie stubtail no. bully and bawly no-tail no. nannie and billie wagtail no. jollie and jillie longtail =uncle wiggily bed time stories= no. uncle wiggily's adventures no. uncle wiggily's travels no. uncle wiggily's fortune no. uncle wiggily's automobile no. uncle wiggily at the seashore no. uncle wiggily's airship no. uncle wiggily in the country * * * * * for sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the publishers =a.l. burt co., - east d st., new york= * * * * * copyright, by r.f. fenno & company _uncle wiggily's adventures_ =uncle wiggily's adventures= story i uncle wiggily starts off uncle wiggily longears, the nice old gentleman rabbit, hopped out of bed one morning and started to go to the window, to see if the sun was shining. but, no sooner had he stepped on the floor, than he cried out: "oh! ouch! oh, dear me and a potato pancake! oh, i believe i stepped on a tack! sammie littletail must have left it there! how careless of him!" you see this was the same uncle wiggily, of whom i have told you in the bedtime books--the very same uncle wiggily. he was an uncle to sammie and susie littletail, the rabbit children, and also to billie and johnnie bushytail, the squirrel boys, and to alice and lulu and jimmie wibblewobble, the duck children, and i have written for you, books about all those characters. now i thought i would write something just about uncle wiggily himself, though of course i'll tell you what all his nephews and nieces did, too. well, when uncle wiggily felt that sharp pain, he stood still for a moment, and wondered what could have happened. "yes, i'm almost sure it was a tack," he said. "i must pick it up so no one else will step on it." so uncle wiggily looked on the floor, but there was no tack there, only some crumbs from a sugar cookie that susie littletail had been eating the night before, when her uncle had told her a go-to-sleep story. "oh, i know what it was; it must have been my rheumatism that gave me the pain!" said the old gentleman rabbit as he looked for his red, white and blue crutch, striped like a barber pole. he found it under the bed, and then he managed to limp to the window. surely enough, the sun was shining. "i'll certainly have to do something about this rheumatism," said uncle wiggily as he carefully shaved himself by looking in the glass. "i guess i'll see dr. possum." so after breakfast, when sammie and susie had gone to school, dr. possum was telephoned for, and he called to see uncle wiggily. "ha! hum!" exclaimed the doctor, looking very wise. "you have the rheumatism very bad, mr. longears." "why, i knew that before you came," said the old gentleman rabbit, blinking his eyes. "what i want is something to cure it." "ha! hum!" said dr. possum, again looking very wise. "i think you need a change of air. you must travel about. go on a journey, get out and see strange birds, and pick the pretty flowers. you don't get exercise enough." "exercise enough!" cried uncle wiggily. "why, my goodness me sakes alive and a bunch of lilacs! don't i play checkers almost every night with grandfather goosey gander?" "that is not enough," said the doctor, "you must travel here and there, and see things." "very well," said uncle wiggily, "then i will travel. i'll pack my valise at once, and i'll go off and seek my fortune, and maybe, on the way, i can lose this rheumatism." so the next day uncle wiggily started out with his crutch, and his valise packed full of clean clothes, and something in it to eat. "oh, we are very sorry to have you go, dear uncle," said susie littletail, "but we hope you'll come back good and strong." "thank you," said uncle wiggily, as he kissed the two rabbit children and their mamma, and shook hands with papa littletail. then off the old gentleman bunny hopped with his crutch. well, he went along for quite a distance, over the hills, and down the road, and through the woods, and, as the sun got higher and warmer, his rheumatism felt better. "i do believe dr. possum was right!" said uncle wiggily. "traveling is just the thing for me," and he felt so very jolly that he whistled a little tune about a peanut wagon, which roasted lemonade, and boiled and frizzled easter eggs that mrs. cluk-cluk laid. "ha! where are you going?" suddenly asked a voice, as uncle wiggily finished the tune. "i'm going to seek my fortune," replied uncle wiggily. "who are you, pray?" "oh, i'm a friend of yours," said the voice, and uncle wiggily looked all around, but he couldn't discover any one. "but where are you?" the puzzled old gentleman rabbit wanted to know. "i can't see you." "no, and for a very good reason," answered the voice. "you see i have very weak eyes, and if i came out in the sun, without my smoked glasses on, i might get blind. so i have to hide down in this hollow stump." "then put on your glasses and come out where i can see you," invited the old gentleman rabbit, and all the while he was trying to remember where he had heard that voice before. at first he thought it might be grandfather goosey gander, or uncle butter, the goat, yet it didn't sound like either of them. "i have sent my glasses to the store to be fixed, so i can't wear them and come out," went on the voice. "but if you are seeking your fortune i know the very place where you can find it." "where?" asked uncle wiggily, eagerly. "right down in this hollow stump," was the reply. "there are all kinds of fortunes here, and you may take any kind you like mr. longears." "ha! that is very nice," thought the rabbit. "i have not had to travel far before finding my fortune. i wonder if there is a cure for rheumatism in that stump, too?" so he asked about it. "of course, your rheumatism can be cured in here," came the quick answer. "in fact, i guarantee to cure any disease--measles, chicken-pox, mumps and even toothache. so if you have any friends you want cured send them to me." "i wish i could find out who you were," spoke the rabbit. "i seem to know your voice, but i can't think of your name." "oh, you'll know me as soon as you see me," said the voice. "just hop down inside this hollow stump, and your fortune is as good as made, and your rheumatism will soon be gone. hop right down." well, uncle wiggily didn't like the looks of the black hole down inside the stump, and he peered into it to see what he could see, but it was so black that all he could make out was something like a lump of coal. "well, dr. possum said i needed to have a change of scene, and some adventures," said the rabbit, "so i guess i'll chance it. i'll go down, and perhaps i may find my fortune." then, carefully holding his crutch and his satchel, uncle wiggily hopped down inside the stump. he felt something soft, and furry, and fuzzy, pressing close to him, and at first he thought he had bumped into dottie or willie lambkin. but then, all of a sudden, a harsh voice cried out: "ha! now i have you! i was just wishing some one would come along with my dinner, and you did! get in there, and see if you can find your fortune, uncle wiggily!" and with that what should happen but that big, black bear, who had been hiding in the stump, pushed uncle wiggily into a dark closet, and locked the door! and there the poor rabbit was, and the bear was getting ready to eat him up. but don't worry, i'll find a way to get him out, and in case we have ice cream pancakes for supper i'll tell you, in the next story, how uncle wiggily got out of the bear's den, and how he went fishing--i mean uncle wiggily went fishing, not the bear. story ii uncle wiggily goes fishing at first, after he found himself shut up in the bear's dark closet, where we left him in the story before this, poor uncle wiggily didn't know what to think. he just sat there, on the edge of a chair, and he tried to look around, and see something, but it was too black, so he couldn't. "perhaps this is only a joke," thought the old gentleman rabbit, "though i never knew a black bear to joke before. but perhaps it is. i'll ask him." so uncle wiggily called out: "is this a joke, mr. bear?" "not a bit of it!" was the growling answer. "you'll soon see what's going to happen to you! i'm getting the fire ready now." "getting the fire ready for what; the adventure, or for my fortune?" asked the rabbit, for he still hoped the bear was only joking with him. "ready to cook you!" was the reply. "that's what the fire is for!" and the bear gnashed his teeth together something terrible, and, with his sharp claws, he clawed big splinters off the stump, and with them he started the fire in the stove, with the splinters, i mean, not his claws. the blazing fire made it a little brighter in the hollow stump, which was the black bear's den, and uncle wiggily could look out of a crack in the door, and see what a savage fellow the shaggy bear was. you see, that bear just hid in the stump, waiting for helpless animals to come along, and then he'd trick them into jumping down inside of it, and there wasn't a word of truth about him having sore eyes, or about him having to wear dark spectacles, either. "oh, my! i guess this is the end of my adventures," thought the rabbit. "i should have been more careful. well, i wish i could see sammie and susie before he eats me, but i'm afraid i can't. i shouldn't have jumped down here." but as uncle wiggily happened to think of sammie littletail, the boy rabbit, he also thought of something else. and this was that sammie had put something in the old gentleman rabbit's valise that morning, before his uncle had started off. "if you ever get into trouble, uncle wiggily," sammie had said, "this may come in useful for you." uncle wiggily didn't look at the time to see what it was that his nephew put in the valise, but he made up his mind he would do so now. so he opened his satchel, and there, among other things, was a long piece of thin, but strong rope. and pinned to it was a note which read: "dear uncle wiggily. this is good to help you get out of a window, in case of fire." "my goodness!" exclaimed uncle wiggily, "that's fine. there the bear is making a fire to cook me, and with this rope i can get away from it. now if there's only a window in this closet i'm all right." so he looked, and sure enough there was a window. and with his crutch uncle wiggily raised it. then he threw out his satchel, and he tied the rope to a hook on the window sill, and, being a strong old gentleman, he crawled out of the window, and slid down the cord. and uncle wiggily got out just as the bear opened the closet door to grab him, and put him in the pot, and when the savage black creature saw his fine rabbit dinner getting away he was as angry as anything, really he was. "here! come back here!" cried the bear, but of course uncle wiggily knew better than to come back. he slid down the rope to the ground, and then he cut off as much of the rope as he could, and put it in his pocket, for he didn't know when he might need it again. then, catching up his valise, he ran on and on, before the bear could get to him. it was still quite a dark place in which uncle wiggily was, for you see he was underground, down by the roots of the stump. but he looked ahead and he saw a little glimmer of light, and then he knew he could get out. limping on his crutch, and carrying his valise, he went on and on, and pretty soon he came out of a dark cave and found himself on the bank of a nice little brook, that was running over mossy, green stones. "ha! this is better than being in a bear's den!" exclaimed the old gentleman rabbit. "my, i was so frightened that i forgot about my rheumatism hurting me. that was an adventure all right, and sammie was a good boy to think of that strong cord. now what shall i do next?" well, uncle wiggily sat down on the bank of the brook, and he looked in the water. then he happened to see a fish jump up to catch a bug, so he said to himself: "i guess i will go fishing, just for fun. but if i do happen to catch any fish i'll put them right back in the water again. for i don't need any fish, as i have some lettuce and cabbage sandwiches, and some peanut-butter cakes, that susie's mamma put up in a cracker-box for me." well, uncle wiggily looked in his valise, to make sure his lunch was safe, and then, taking a bent pin from under his vest, he fastened it to a part of the string sammie had given him. then he fastened the string to a pole, and he was ready to fish, but he needed something to make the fishes bite--that is, bite the pinhook, not bite him, you know. "oh, i guess they'll like a bit of sweet cracker," uncle wiggily thought; so he put some on the end of the pin-hook, and threw it toward the water. it fell in with a splash, and made a lot of little circles, like ring-around the rosies, and the rabbit sat there looking at them, sort of nodding, and half asleep and wondering what adventure would happen to him next, and where he would stay that night. all of a sudden he felt something tugging at the hook and line. "oh, i've got a fish! i've got a fish!" he cried, as he lifted up the pole. up out of the water with a sizzling rush flew the string and the sweet cracker bait, and the next minute out leaped the big, savage alligator that had escaped from a circus. "oh, ho! so you tried to catch me, eh?" the alligator shouted at uncle wiggily. "no--no, if you please," said the rabbit. "i was after fish." "and i'm after you!" cried the alligator, and, scrambling up the bank, he made a jump for uncle wiggily, and with one sweep of his kinky, scaly tail he flopped and he threw the old gentleman rabbit and his crutch and valise right up into a big tree that grew near the brook. "there you'll stay until i get ready to eat you!" exclaimed the alligator, as he stood up on the end of his tail under the tree, and opened his mouth as wide as he could so that if uncle wiggily fell down he'd fall into it, just like down a funnel, you know. well, the poor gentleman rabbit clung to the topmost tree branch, wondering how in the world he was going to escape from the alligator. oh, it was a dreadful position to be in! but please don't worry or stay awake over it, for i'll find a way to get him down safely. and in the story after this, if the milkman doesn't leave us sour cream for our lemonade, i'll tell you about uncle wiggily and the black crow. story iii uncle wiggily and the black crow let me see, where did i leave off in the last story? oh! i remember. it was about uncle wiggily longears being up in the top of the tall tree, and the alligator keeping guard down below, ready to eat him. well, the old gentleman rabbit was wondering how he could ever escape, and he felt quite badly about it. "i guess this is the end of my adventures," he said to himself. "it would have been much better had i stayed at home with sammie and susie." and as he thought of the two rabbit children he felt still sadder, and very lonely. "i wonder if susie could have put anything in my satchel with which to scare an alligator," thought uncle wiggily. "i guess i'll look." so he looked, and what should he find but a bottle of toothache drops. yes, there it was, and wrapped ground it was a little note susie had written. "dear uncle wiggily," she said in the note, "if you ever get the toothache on your travels, this will stop it." "ha! that is very kind of susie, i'm sure," said the rabbit, "but i don't see how that is going to make the alligator go away. and, even if he does go, i wonder how i'm to get down out of this tall tree, with my crutch, my valise and my rheumatism?" well, just then the alligator got tired of standing on the end of his tail, with his mouth open, and he began crawling around. then he thought of what a good supper he was going to have of uncle wiggily, and that alligator said: "i guess i'll sharpen my teeth so i can eat him better," and with that the savage and unpleasant creature began to gnaw on a stone, to sharpen his teeth. then he stood up on the end of his tail once more, under the tree, and opened his mouth as wide as he could. "come on now!" he called to uncle wiggily. "jump down and have it over with." "oh, but i don't want to," objected the rabbit. "you'll have to, whether you want to or not," went on the alligator. "if you don't come down, i'll take my scaly, naily tail, and i'll saw down the tree, and then you'll fall." "oh, dear!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "what shall i do?" then he happened to think of the bottle of toothache medicine that he held in his hand, and, taking out the cork, he dropped the bottle, medicine and all, right into the open mouth of the alligator, who was again up on his tail. and the alligator thought it was uncle wiggily falling into his jaws, and he shut them quickly like a steel trap and chewed on that bottle of hot toothache drops before he knew what it was. well, you can just imagine what happened. the medicine was as hot as pepper and mustard and vinegar and cloves and horse radish all made into one! my! how it did burn that alligator's mouth. "oh my! i'm shot! i'm poisoned! i'm bitten by a mosquito! i'm stabbed! i'm all scrambled up" cried the alligator. "water, water, quick! i must have water!" then he gave a big jump, and, with his kinkery-scalery tail, he leaped into a big puddle of water, and went away down in under, out of sight, to cool off his mouth. "oh, now is my chance! if i could only get down out of the tree!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "but with my rheumatism i'm afraid i'll fall. oh dear! what shall i do?" "don't be afraid, i'll help you!" exclaimed a kind voice, and then the voice went on: "caw! caw! caw!" and uncle wiggily, looking up, saw a big black crow perched on a limb over his head. "oh, how do you do!" spoke uncle wiggily, making a bow as well as he could. "can you really help me down?' "yes," said the crow, "i can. wait until i get my market basket. i was just going to the grocery, but i'm in no hurry. i'll save you first." so that crow flew off, and in a moment he came back with a big basket in its bill. "hop in!" the black crow called to uncle wiggily, "and i'll fly down to the ground with you, and you can run off before the alligator comes out of the water. i saw what you did to him with those toothache drops, and it served him right. come on, hop in the basket." so uncle wiggily got in the basket, and the crow, taking the handle in his strong beak, flew safely to the ground with him. and that's how the old gentleman rabbit got down out of the tree, just as i told you he would. so he and the crow walked on some distance through the woods together, after uncle wiggily had picked up his crutch and valise, which had fallen out of the basket, and they got safely away before the alligator came out of the water. and wasn't he the provoked old beastie, though, when he saw that his rabbit supper was gone? "where are you going?" asked the crow of uncle wiggily, after a bit, when they got to a nice big stone, and sat down for a rest. "i am seeking my fortune," replied the old gentleman rabbit, "and trying to get better of my rheumatism. dr. possum told me to travel, and have adventures, and i've had quite a few already." "well, i hope you find your fortune and that it turns out to be a very good one," said the kind crow. "but it is coming on night now. have you any place to stay?" "no," replied the rabbit, "i haven't. i never thought about that. what shall i do?" "oh, don't worry," said the crow. "i'd let you stay in my nest, but it is up a high tree, and you would have trouble climbing in and out. but near my nest-house is an old hollow stump, and you can stay in that very nicely." "are there any bears in it?" asked uncle wiggily, careful-like. "oh, no; not a one. it is very safe." so the crow showed uncle wiggily where the hollow stump was, and he slept there all night, on a soft bed of leaves. and when he awakened in the morning he had breakfast with the crow and once more started off to seek his fortune. well, pretty soon, in a short while, not so very long, he came to a little house made of bark, standing in the middle of a deep, dark, dismal woods. and on the door of the house was a sign which read: "if you want to be surprised, open this door and come in." "perhaps i can find my fortune in there, and get rid of the rheumatism," thought uncle wiggily, so he hopped forward. and just as he did so he heard a voice calling to him: "don't go in! don't go in there, uncle wiggily!" the rabbit looked up, and saw johnnie bushytail, the squirrel boy, waving his paws at him. well, uncle wiggily started to jump back away from the door of the little house, but it was too late. out came a scraggily-raggily claw, which grabbed him, while a voice cried out: "ah, ha! now i have you! come right in!" and then, before you could shake a stick at a bad dog, the door was slammed shut and locked, and there uncle wiggily was inside the house, and johnnie bushytail was crying outside. "that's the end of poor uncle wiggily!" said johnnie. but it wasn't. for i'll not leave the old gentleman rabbit alone in the house with that clawy creature. and in the next story, providing our wash lady doesn't put my new straw hat in the soap suds, and take all the color out of the ribbon, i'll tell you about uncle wiggily and fido flip-flop. story iv uncle wiggily and fido flip-flop well, as soon as uncle wiggily found himself inside the bear's den--oh, just listen to me! that was in the other story, wasn't it? yes, we left him in the funny little house in the woods, with the clawy creature grabbing him. now, what do you suppose that clawy creature was? why, a great, big owl, to be sure, with round, staring, yellow eyes, and he had grabbed uncle wiggily in his claws, and pulled him inside the house. "now, i've got you!" cried the owl. "i was just wishing some one would come along, and you did. some of my friends are coming to tea this afternoon, and you'll do very nicely made up into sandwiches." wasn't that a perfectly dreadful way to talk about our uncle wiggily? well, i guess yes! "now you're here, make yourself at home," went on the owl, sarcastic-like, as he locked the front door and put the key in his pocket. "did you see the sign?" "yes," said uncle wiggily, "i did. but i don't call it fair. i thought i would find my fortune in here." "the sign says you'll be surprised, and i guess you are surprised, aren't you?" asked the owl. "yes," answered the rabbit, "very much so. but i'd rather have a nice surprise party, with peanuts and lemonade, than this." "no matter," said the owl, snapping his beak like a pair of shears, "here you are and here you'll stay! my friends will soon arrive. i'll now put the kettle on, to boil for tea." well, poor uncle wiggily didn't know what to do. he couldn't look in his valise to see if there was anything in it by which he might escape, for he had dropped the satchel outside when the owl grabbed him, and he only had his barber-pole crutch. "oh, this is worse and worse!" thought the poor old rabbit. but listen, johnnie bushytail is outside the owl's house, and he's going to do a wonderful trick. as soon as he saw the door shut on uncle wiggily, that brave squirrel boy began to plan how he could save him, and the first thing he did was to gather up a lot of acorns. then he perched himself in a tree, right in front of the owl's door, and johnnie began throwing acorns at it. "rat-a-tat-tat!" went the acorns on the wooden panels. "ha! those must be my friends!" exclaimed the bad owl, opening the door a little crack so he could peek out, but taking care to stand in front of it, so that uncle wiggily couldn't slip out. but, of course, the owl saw no one. "it must have been the wind," he said as he shut the door. then johnnie bushytail threw some more acorns at the door. "pitter-patter-patter-pit!" they went, like hailstones in an ice cream can. "ah, there are my friends, sure, this time!" thought the owl, and once more he peered out, but no one was there. "it must have been a tree branch hitting against the door," said the owl, as he sharpened a big knife with which to make the sandwiches. then johnnie threw some more acorns, and the owl now thought positively his friends were there, and when he opened it and saw no one he was real mad. "some one is playing tricks on me!" exclaimed the savage bird. "i'll catch them next time!" now this was just what johnnie bushytail wanted, so he threw a whole double handful of acorns at the door, and when the owl heard them pattering against the wood he rushed out. "now, i've got you!" he cried, but he hadn't, for johnnie was up a tree. and, for the moment, the owl forgot about uncle wiggily, and there the door was wide open. "run out, uncle wiggily! run out!" cried johnnie, and out the old gentleman rabbit hopped, catching up his valise, and away into the woods he ran, with johnnie scurrying along in the tree tops above him, and laughing at the owl, who flew back to his house, but too late to catch the bunny. "that's what you get for fooling people so they'll come into your house," called the squirrel boy. "it serves you right, mr. owl. come on, uncle wiggily, we'll get away from here." so they went on together until it was time for johnnie to go home, and he said he'd tell uncle wiggily's friends that he had met the old gentleman rabbit, and that he hadn't found his fortune yet, but that he was looking for it every minute, and had had many adventures. well, uncle wiggily went on some more, for quite a distance, until it was noon time, and then he sat down in the cool, green woods, where there were some jacks-in-the-pulpit growing near some ferns, and there uncle wiggily ate his lunch of lettuce sandwiches, with carrot butter on them, and gnawed on a bit of potato. just as he was almost through, he heard a rustling in the bushes, and a voice exclaimed: "oh, dear!" "why, what's the matter?" asked uncle wiggily, thinking perhaps an adventure was going to happen to him. "who are you?" "oh, dear!" exclaimed the voice again. then, before the old rabbit could jump up and run away, even if he had wanted to, out from under a big bush came a little white poodle dog, with curly, silky hair. he walked right up to uncle wiggily, that dog did, and the rabbit wasn't a bit afraid, for the dog wasn't much bigger than he was, and looked very kind. "what do you want, doggie?" gently asked uncle wiggily. the dog didn't answer, but he gave a little short bark, and then he began turning somersaults. over and over he went, sometimes backward and sometimes frontward, and sometimes sideways. and when he was finished, he made a low bow, and walked around on his two hind legs, just to show he wasn't proud or stuck up. "there!" exclaimed the poodle doggie. "is that worth something to eat, mr. rabbit?" "indeed it is," answered uncle wiggily, "but i would have given you something to eat without you doing all those tricks, though i enjoyed them very much. where did you learn to do them?" "oh, in the circus where i used to be, i always had to do tricks for my dinner," said the doggie. "what is your name?" asked uncle wiggily. "fido flip-flop," was the answer. "you see they call me that because i turn so many flip-flops," and then uncle wiggily gave him some lunch, and told the dog about how he, himself, was traveling all over in search of his fortune. "why, that's just what i'm doing, too," exclaimed fido flip-flop. "suppose we travel together? and maybe we'll each find a fortune." "that's just what we'll do," agreed uncle wiggily. and then, all of a sudden, before you could open your eyes and shut them again, two savage foxes jumped out from behind a big stump. "you grab the dog and i'll grab the rabbit," called the biggest fox, and right at uncle wiggily and fido they sprang, gnashing their teeth. but don't worry. i'll find a way to save them, and if the canary bird doesn't take my lead pencil and stick it in his seed dish i'll tell you in the following story about uncle wiggily doing some tricks. story v uncle wiggily does some tricks when those two savage ducks--oh, i mean foxes--when those two savage foxes jumped out of the bushes at uncle wiggily longears and fido flip-flop, as i told you in the other story, the rabbit and the poodle doggie didn't know what in the world to do. "run this way!" called fido, starting off to the left. "no, hop this way!" said uncle wiggily, hopping to the right. "stand right where you are!" ordered the two foxes together. and with that one made a grab for uncle wiggily. but what did that brave rabbit gentleman do but stick his red-white-and-blue crutch out in front of him, and the fox bit on that instead of on uncle wiggily. right into the crutch the fox's teeth sank, and for a moment uncle wiggily was safe. but not for long. "ah, you fooled me that time, but now i'll get you!" cried the fox, and, letting go of the crutch, he made another grab for the rabbit. but at that instant fido flip-flop, who had been jumping about, keeping out of the way of the fox that was after him, cried out quite loudly: "look here, everybody but uncle wiggily, and, as for you, shut both your eyes tight." now the old gentleman rabbit couldn't imagine why he was to shut his eyes tight, but he did so, and then what do you s'pose fido flip-flop did? why, he began turning somersaults so fast that he looked just like a pinwheel going around, or an automobile tire whizzing along. faster and faster did fido flip-flop turn around, and then, all of a sudden, he began chasing his tail, making motions just like a merry-go-round in a circus, until those two foxes were fairly dizzy from watching him. "stop! stop!" cried one fox. "yes do stop! we're so dizzy that we can't stand up!" cried the other fox, staggering about. "stop!" "no, i'll not!" answered fido flip-flop, and he went around faster that ever, faster and faster and faster, until those two bad foxes got so dizzy-izzy that they fell right over on their backs, with their legs sticking straight up in the air like clothes posts, and their tails were wiggling back and forth in the dirt, like dusting brushes. oh, but they were the dizzy foxes, though. "now's your chance! run! run! uncle wiggily! run!" called fido flip-flop "open your eyes and run!" so the old gentleman rabbit opened his eyes, took up his valise which he had dropped, and, hopping on his crutch, he and the poodle doggie ran on through the woods, leaving the two surprised and disappointed foxes still lying on their backs, wiggling their tails in the dust, and too dizzy, from having watched fido flip-flop do somersaults, and chase his tail, to be able to get up. "why did you want me to shut my eyes?" asked uncle wiggily, when they were so far away from the foxes that there was no more danger. "that was so _you_ wouldn't get dizzy from watching me do the flip-flops," answered the doggie. "my, but that was a narrow escape, though. have you had many adventures like that since you started out to seek your fortune?" "yes, several," answered the rabbit. "but turning flip-flops is a very good thing to know how to do. i wonder if you could teach me, so that when any more foxes or alligators chase me i can make them dizzy by turning around? can you teach me?" "i'm sure i can," said fido. "here, this is the way to begin," and he did some flip-flops slow and easy-like. then uncle wiggily tried them, and, though he couldn't do them very well at first, he practised until he was quite good at it. then fido showed him how to stand on one ear, and wiggle the other, and how to blink his eyes while standing on the end of his little tail, and then uncle wiggily thought of a new trick, all by himself. "i'll stick my crutch in the ground, like a clothes pole," he said to fido, "and then i'll hop up on it and sing a song," which he did, singing a song that went like this: "did you ever see a rabbit do a flipper-flopper-flap? if not just kindly watch me, as i wear my baseball cap. "it's very strange, some folks may say, and also rather funny, to see a kinky poodle dog play with a flip-flop bunny. "but we are on our travels, adventures for to seek, we may find one, or two, or three, 'most any day next week." and then uncle wiggily hopped down, and waved both ears backward and forward, and made a low bow to a make-believe crowd of people, only, of course, there were none there. "fine! fine!" cried fido flip-flop. "that's better than i did when i was in the circus. now i'll tell you what let's do." "what?" asked uncle wiggily. "let's go around and give little shows and entertainments, for little folks to see," went on the poodle doggie. "i can turn flip-flops, and you can stand on your head on your crutch, and sing a song, and then we'll take up a collection. i'll pass my hat, and perhaps we may make our fortune--who knows?" "who, indeed?" said uncle wiggily. "we'll do it." so off they started together to give a little show, and make some money, and, as they went on through the woods, they practised doing the tricks uncle wiggily had learned. well, in a little while, not so very long, they came to a nice place in the forest--an open place where no trees grew. "here is a good spot for our show," said uncle wiggily. "but there is no one to see us do the tricks," objected fido. "oh, yes, there are some ants, and an angle worm, and a black bug and a grasshopper," said uncle wiggily. "they will do to start on, and after they see us do the tricks they'll tell other folks, and we'll have quite a crowd." so they started in to do their tricks. fido turned a lot of flip-flops, and uncle wiggily did a dance on the end of his crutch, and sang a song about a monkey-doodle, which the angle worm said was just fine, being quite cute, and the grasshopper made believe play a fiddle with his two hind legs, scratching one on the other, and making lovely music. but, all of a sudden, just as uncle wiggily was standing on his left ear, and wiggling his feet in the air, which is a very hard trick for a rabbit, what should happen but that out of the woods sprang two boys. "there's the dog! grab him!" cried one boy. "never mind about the rabbit! get the trick dog!" and the boys rushed right up, knocking uncle wiggily down, and grabbing fido flip-flop. and they started off through the woods with him, while uncle wiggily cried out for them to come back. but they wouldn't. now please don't feel badly, for i'm going to tell you in the next story how uncle wiggily saved fido, and also how the rabbit went to arabella chick's surprise party--that is i will if our automobile doesn't turn upside down, and break my ice cream cone. story vi uncle wiggily at the party well, when uncle wiggily longears found that the elephant wouldn't get off his trunk--oh, listen to me! what i meant to say was, that when uncle wiggily saw those two boys running off with fido flip-flop, the little trick dog, as i told you about in the story before this, the old gentleman rabbit was so surprised at first that he didn't know what to do. "won't you please come back with that little doggie?" begged uncle wiggily, but the bad boys kept right on. i guess they knew how smart fido was, and they wanted to get up a show with him. anyhow, they kept on running through the woods, holding him tightly in their arms. "oh, dear! this is terrible!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "i'll never get any good fortune if fido has such bad luck. and it was partly my fault, too, for if we hadn't been doing tricks, we would have heard these boys coming, and could have run away. well, now i must save fido." so uncle wiggily sat down on a stump, and thought, and thought, and thought of all the plans he could think of, to save the doggie from the two boys, and at last he decided the only way to do was to scare them. "then they'll drop fido, and run away," said the old gentleman rabbit. "let me see, how can i scare them? i know, i'll make believe i'm a tiger!" so what did that brave uncle wiggily do? but go to a mud hole, and with his crutch dipped into the mud, he made himself all striped over like a tiger that you see in a circus. oh, he was a most ferocious sight when he finished decorating himself! then he hid his satchel in the bushes, and he started off on a short cut through the woods, to get ahead of the boys. faster and faster through the woods went uncle wiggily, and he looked so peculiarly terrifying that all the animals who saw him were scared out of their wits, and one old blue-jay bird was so frightened that he wiggled his tail up and down, and hid his head in a hollow tree. well, by and by, after a while, uncle wiggily got to a place in the woods where he knew those boys, with fido flip-flop, would soon come by. then the rabbit hid himself in the bushes, so that his long ears wouldn't show. for he knew that if the boys saw them, they would know right away he wasn't a tiger, no matter if he was striped like one. in a few minutes along came the boys, and they were talking about what they were going to do to fido, and how they would put him in a cage, and make him do lots of tricks. all of a sudden there was a rustling in the bushes, and uncle wiggily just stuck out his head and part of his body, laying his ears flat back where they could not be seen. but the boys could see the mud stripes, only they didn't know they were just mud, you understand. "oh! see that!" cried one boy. "yes, it's a tigery-tiger!" exclaimed the other boy. "let's run!" shouted both the boys together. "the tiger will eat us up!" and just then uncle wiggily growled as loudly as he could, a real fierce growl, and he rattled the bushes and stuck out his striped paws, and those boys dropped fido flip-flop, and ran away, as hard as they could through the woods, leaving fido to join the rabbit. "thank you very much for saving me, uncle wiggily," said the dog, as soon as he got over being frightened. "that was a good trick, to pretend you were a tiger. but i knew you right away, only, of course, i wasn't going to tell those boys who you were. it served them right, for squeezing me the way they did. now we'll go on, and see if we can find a fortune for you." so they went back to where uncle wiggily had left his valise, and there it was safe and sound, and inside it were some nice things to eat, and the rabbit and doggie had a dinner there in the woods, after the mud stripes were washed off. then they went on and on, for ever so long, and nothing happened, except that a mosquito bit fido on the end of his nose, and every time he sneezed it tickled him. "well, i guess we won't have any more adventures to-day, uncle wiggily," spoke the doggie, but, a moment later, they heard a rustling in the bushes and, before they could hide themselves, out jumped arabella chick, the sister of charlie, the rooster boy. "oh, you dear uncle wiggily!" she exclaimed, "you're just in time." "what for?" asked uncle wiggily; "for the train?" "no, for my party," answered arabella. "i'm going to have one for all my friends, and i want you to come. will you?" "oh, i guess so, arabella. but you see, i have a friend with me, and----" "oh, he can come too," spoke arabella, making a bow to fido flip-flop. so uncle wiggily introduced the doggie to the chickie girl, and the chickie girl to the doggie. then they went on together to the party, which was held in a nice big chicken coop. oh, i wish you could have been there! it was just too nice for anything! sammie and susie littletail were there, and they were so glad to see uncle wiggily again. he said he hadn't been very lucky in finding his fortune so far, but his rheumatism was not much worse, and he was going to keep on traveling. he sent his love to all the folks, and said he'd be home some time later. then, of course, all the other animal friends were at the party and they played games--games of all kinds, including a new one called "please don't sit on my hat, and i won't sit on yours." it was too funny for anything, really it was. then, of course, there were good things to eat. buddy pigg passed around the ice cream, and just as he was handing a plate of it to jennie chipmunk it slipped--i mean the ice cream slipped--and went right into uncle butter's lap. but the old goat didn't care a bit. he said it reminded him of a pail of paste, and he ate the ice cream, and nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy got jennie some more. then flip-flop and uncle wiggily did some of their tricks, and every one said they were fine, and they thought it was the best party they had ever been at. but all of a sudden, just as they were playing the game called "jump on the piano, and play a queer tune," there came a knock at the door. "who's there?" asked arabella chick. "i am," answered a voice, "and i want uncle wiggily longears instantly! he must come with me!" and they all looked from the window, and there stood a big dog, dressed up like a soldier, and he had a gun with him. and he wanted uncle wiggily to come out, and every one was frightened, for fear he'd shoot the old gentleman rabbit. but please don't you get alarmed. i wouldn't have that happen for worlds, and in the next story, if i catch a fish in the milk bottle, and he doesn't bite my finger, i'll tell you about uncle wiggily in a parade. and it will be a decoration day story. story vii uncle wiggily in a parade arabella chick's party seemed to break up very suddenly when the guests saw that soldier-dog with the gun waiting outside the door. buddy pigg slipped out of a back window, and ran home with his tail behind him. oh, excuse me, guinea pigs don't have a tail, do they? anyhow he ran home, and so did sammie and susie littletail, and johnnie and billie bushytail, and the wibblewobble children, and peetie and jackie bow wow too. but, of course, arabella chick couldn't run home because she was at home already, so she just looked out of the window once more, and there the dog-soldier stood, and he was looking in his gun to see if it was loaded. "well, is uncle wiggily coming out?" called the dog again. "i guess i am--that is--are you sure you want me?" asked the poor old gentleman rabbit, puzzled like. "yes, of course i want you," replied the dog. "then i guess i've got to go!" exclaimed uncle wiggily, as he looked for his crutch and valise. "i guess this is the end of my fortune-hunting. goodbye everybody!" and he felt so badly that two big tears rolled down his ears--i mean his eyes. well, he bravely walked out of the door, and as he did so the dog-soldier, with the gun, exclaimed: "ah, here you are at last! now hurry up, uncle wiggily, or we'll be late for the parade!" and, would you believe it? that dog was good, kind, old percival, who used to be in a circus. and of course he wouldn't hurt the rabbit gentleman for anything. percival just put his gun to his shoulder, and said: "come on, we'll get in the parade now." "parade? what parade?" asked uncle wiggily. "oh my! how you frightened me!" "why the decoration day parade," answered percival. "to-day is the day when we put flowers on the soldiers' graves, and remember them for being so brave as to go to war. all old soldiers march in the parade, and so do all their friends. i'm going to march, and i'm going to put flowers on a lot of soldiers' graves. i happened to remember that you were once in the war, so i came for you. i didn't mean to scare you. you were in the war, weren't you?" "yes," said uncle wiggily, happy now because he knew he wasn't going to get shot, "i once went to war, and killed a lot of mosquitoes." "good! i thought so!" exclaimed percival. "well, i met grandfather goosey gander, and he said he thought you were at this party, so i came for you. come on, now, the parade is almost ready to start." "oh, how you did frighten us!" exclaimed arabella, whose heart was still going pitter-patter. "we thought you were going to hurt uncle wiggily, percival." "oh, i'm so sorry i alarmed you," spoke the circus dog politely. "i won't do it again." well, in a little while percival and uncle wiggily were at the parade. the old gentleman rabbit left his satchel at arabella's house, and only took his crutch. but he limped along just like a real soldier, and percival carried his gun as bravely as one could wish. oh, i wish you could have heard the bands playing, and the drums beating--the little kind that sound like when you drop beans on the kitchen oil-cloth, and the big drums, that go "boom-boom!" like thunder and lightning, and the fifes that squeak like a mouse in the cheese trap, and then the big blaring horns, that make a sound like a circus performance. they were all there, and there were lots of soldiers and horses and wagons filled with flowers to put on the graves of the soldiers, who were so brave that they didn't mind going to war to fight for their country, though war is a terrible thing. then the march began, and uncle wiggily and percival stepped out as brave as anyone in all the parade. oh, how fine they looked! and, when they marched past, all the animal people, and some real boys and girls, and papas and mammas clapped their hands and cried "hurrah!" at the sight of the old gentleman rabbit limping along on his crutch, with the dog-soldier marching beside him. "who knows," whispered percival to uncle wiggily, "who knows but what you may discover your fortune to-day?" "indeed i may," answer uncle wiggily. "who knows?" well, that was a fine parade. but something happened. i was afraid it would, but i'll tell you all about it, and you can see for yourself whether or not i was right. all of a sudden one man, with a big horn--a horn large enough to put a loaf of mother's bread down inside the noisy end--all of a sudden this man blew a terrible blast--"umpty-umpty-umph! umph!" my, what a noise he made on that horn. now, right in front of this man was a little boy-duck riding on a pony. yes, you've guessed who he was--he was jimmy wibblewobble. and when that man blew the loud blast, the pony was frightened, and ran away with jimmie on his back. faster and faster ran the pony, and jimmie wibblewobble clung to his back, fearing every moment he would be thrown off. in and out among the people and animals in the parade, in and out among trolley cars and automobiles, in and out, and from one side to another of the street ran the frightened pony. "oh, poor jimmie will be killed!" cried percival. "no, he will not, for i will save him!" shouted uncle wiggily. so that brave rabbit ran right out to where he saw munchie trot, the little pony boy. "let me jump on your back, munchie," said uncle wiggily, "and then we'll race after that runaway pony and grab off poor jimmie. and run as fast as you can, munchie!" "i certainly will!" cried munchie. so uncle wiggily got on munchie's back, and away they started after the runaway pony. faster and faster ran munchie, and by this time the other little horsie was getting tired. jimmie was still clinging to his back, and asking him not to run so fast, but the pony was so frightened he didn't listen to the duck-boy. then, just as he was going to run into a hot peanut wagon, and maybe toss jimmie off into the red-hot roaster, all at once uncle wiggily, on munchie's back, galloped up alongside of the runaway pony. and as quick as you can drink a glass of lemonade, uncle wiggily grabbed jimmie up on munchie's back beside him, and so saved the duck-boy's life. and then the runaway pony stopped short, all of a sudden, and didn't bump into the hot peanut wagon, after all, and he was sorry he had run away, and scared folks. then the decoration day parade went on, and everyone said how brave uncle wiggily was. but he hadn't yet found his fortune, and so in the story after this in case our front porch doesn't run away, and take the back steps with it, so i have to sleep on the doormat, i'll tell you about uncle wiggily in the fountain. story viii uncle wiggily in the fountain well, after the decoration day parade, and the things that happened in it, such as the pony running away with jimmie wibblewobble, uncle wiggily longears thought he'd like to go off to some quiet place and rest. "oh, can't you come with me?" asked percival, the old circus dog. "we'll go to the bow-wows house, and have something to eat." "no, i'm afraid i can't go," replied the old gentleman rabbit. "you see i must travel on to seek my fortune, for i haven't found it yet, and i still have the rheumatism." "why don't you try to lose that rheumatism somewhere?" asked percival. "i would, if it's such a bother." "oh, i've tried and tried and tried, but i can't seem to lose it," replied uncle wiggily. "so i think i'll travel on. i'm much obliged to you for letting me march in the parade." then the old gentleman rabbit got his valise, and, with his crutch, he once more started off. he went on and on, up one hill and down another, over the fields where the horses and cows and sheep were pulling up the grass, and chewing it, so the man wouldn't have to cut it with the lawn mower; on and on he went. then uncle wiggily reached the woods, where the ferns and wild flowers grow. "this is a fine place," he said as he sat down on a flat stump. "i think i will eat my dinner," so he opened the satchel, and took out a sandwich made of yellow carrots and red beets, and very pretty they looked on the white bread, let me tell you; very nice indeed! uncle wiggily was eating away, and he was brushing the crumbs off his nose by wiggling his ears, when, all of a sudden, he heard a cat crying. oh, such a loud cry as it was! "why, some poor kittie must be lost," thought the old gentleman rabbit. "i'll see if i can find it." then the cry sounded again, and, in another moment, out of a tree flew a big bird. "oh, maybe that bird stuck his sharp beak in the kittie and made it cry," thought uncle wiggily. "bird, did you do that?" he asked, calling to the bird, who was flying around in the air. "did i do what?" asked the bird. "did you stick the kittie, and make it cry?" "oh, no," answered the bird. "i made that cat-crying noise myself. i am a cat-bird, you know," and surely enough that bird went "mew! mew! mew!" three times, just like that, exactly as if a cat had cried under your window, when you were trying to go to sleep. "ha! that is very strange!" exclaimed the rabbit. "so you are a cat-bird." "yes, and my little birds are kittie-birds," was the answer. "i'll show you." so the bird went "mew! mew! mew!" again, and a lot of the little birds came flying around and they all went "mew! mew!" too, just like kitties. oh, i tell you cat-birds are queer things! and how they do love cherries when they are ripe! eh? "that is very good crying, birdies," said uncle wiggily, "and i think i'll give you something to eat, to pay for it." so he took out from his valise some peanuts, that percival, the circus dog, had given him, and uncle wiggily fed them to the cat-bird and her kittie-birds. "you are very kind," said the mamma bird, "and if we can ever do you a favor we will." and now listen, as the telephone girl says, those birds are going to do uncle wiggily a favor in a short time--a very short time indeed. well, after the birds had eaten all the peanuts they flew away, and uncle wiggily started off once more. he hadn't gone very far before he came to a fountain. you know what that is. it's a thing in a park that squirts up water, just like when you fill a rubber ball with milk or lemonade and squeeze it. only a fountain is bigger, of course. this fountain that uncle wiggily came to had no water in it, for it was being cleaned. there was a big basin, with a pipe up through the middle, and this was where the water spouted up when it was running. "this is very strange," said uncle wiggily, for he had never seen a fountain before, "perhaps i can find my fortune in here. i'll go look." so down he jumped into the big empty fountain basin, which was as large as seven wash tubs made into one. and it was so nice and comfortable there, and so shady, for there were trees near it, that, before he knew it, uncle wiggily fell fast asleep, with his head on his satchel for a pillow. and then he had a funny dream. he dreamed that it was raining, and that his umbrella turned inside out, and got full of holes, and that he was getting all wet. "my!" exclaimed uncle wiggily, as he gave a big sneeze. "this is a very real dream. i actually believe i _am_ wet!" then he got real wide awake all of a sudden, and he found that he was right in the middle of a lot of wetness, for the man had turned the water on in the fountain unexpectedly, not knowing that the old gentleman rabbit was asleep there. "i must get out of here!" cried uncle wiggily, as he grabbed up his valise and crutch. then the water came up to his little short, stumpy tail. next it rose higher, up to his knees. then it rose still faster up to his front feet and then almost up to his chin. "oh, i'm afraid i'm going to drown!" he cried. "i must get out!" so he tried to swim to the edge of the fountain, but you can't swim very well with a crutch and a valise, you know, and uncle wiggily didn't want to lose either one. then the water from the top of the fountain splashed in his eyes and he couldn't see which way to swim. "oh, help! help!" he cried. "will no one help me?" "yes, we will help you!" answered a voice, and up flew the big cat-bird, and her little kitten-birds. "quick, children!" she cried, "we must save uncle wiggily, who was so kind to us! every one of you get a stick, and we'll make a little boat, or raft, for him!" well, i wish you could have seen how quickly the mamma cat-bird and her kittie-birds gathered a lot of sticks, and twigs, and laid them together crossways on the water in that fountain basin, until they had a regular little boat. upon this uncle wiggily climbed, with his crutch and valise, and then the mamma cat-bird flew on ahead, and pulled the boat by a string to the edge of the fountain, where the rabbit could safely get out. so that's how the bunny was saved from drowning in the water, and in the next story, if a big, red ant doesn't crawl upon our porch and carry away the hammock, i'll tell you another adventure uncle wiggily had. it will be a story of the old gentleman rabbit and the bad dog. story ix uncle wiggily and the dog uncle wiggily's rheumatism was quite bad after he got wet in the fountain, as i told you in the other story, and when he thanked the mamma cat-bird and her kitten-birds for saving him, he found that he could hardly walk, much less carry his heavy valise. "oh, we'll help you," said mrs. cat-bird. "here, flitter and flutter, you carry the satchel for uncle wiggily, and we'll take him to our house." "but, mamma," said flutter, who was getting to be quite a big bird-boy, "uncle wiggily can't climb up a tree to our nest." "no, but we can make him a nice warm bed on the ground," said the mamma bird. "so you and flitter carry the satchel. put a long blade of grass through the handle, and then each of you take hold of one end of the grass in your bills, and fly away with it. skimmer, you and dartie go on ahead, and get something ready to eat, and i'll show uncle wiggily the way." so flitter and flutter, the two boy birds, flew away with the satchel, and skimmer and dartie, the girl birds, flew on ahead to set the table, and put on the teakettle on the stove to boil, and mrs. cat-bird flew slowly on over uncle wiggily, to show him the way. well, pretty soon, not so so very long, they came to where the birds lived. and those good children had already started to make a nest on the ground for the old gentleman rabbit. they had it almost finished, and by the time supper was ready it was all done. then came the meal, and those birds couldn't do enough for uncle wiggily, because they liked him so. when it got dark, they covered him all up, with soft leaves in the nest on the ground, and there he slept until morning. his rheumatism wasn't quite so bad when, after breakfast, he had sat out in the warm sun for a while, and after a bit he said: "well, i think i'll travel along now, and see if i can find my fortune to-day. perhaps i may, and if i do i'll come back and bring you more peanuts." "oh, that'll be fine and dandy!" cried flitter and flutter, and skimmer and dartie. so they said good-by to the old gentleman rabbit, and once more he started off. "my! i'm certainly getting to be a great traveler," he thought as he walked along through the woods and over the fields. "but i don't ever seem to get to any place. something always happens to me. i hope everything goes along nicely to-day." but you just wait and see what takes place. i'm afraid something is going to happen very shortly, but it's not my fault, and all i can do is to tell you exactly all about it. wait! there, it's beginning to happen now. all of a sudden, as uncle wiggily was traveling along, he came to a place in the woods where a whole lot of gypsies had their wagons and tents. and on one tent, in which was an old brown and wrinkled gypsy lady, there was a sign which read: fortunes told here. "ha! if they tell fortunes in that tent, perhaps the gypsy lady can tell me where to find mine," thought uncle wiggily. "i'll go up and ask her." well, he was just going to the tent when he happened to think that perhaps the gypsy woman wouldn't understand rabbit talk. so he sat there in the bushes thinking what he had better do, when all at once, before he could wiggle his ears more than four times, a great big, bad, ugly dog sprang at him, barking, oh! so loudly. "come on, browser!" cried this dog to another one. "here is a fat rabbit that we can catch for dinner. come on, let's chase him!" well, you can just imagine how frightened uncle wiggily was. he didn't sit there, waiting for that dog to catch him, either. no, indeed, and a bag of popcorn besides! up jumped uncle wiggily, with his crutch and his valise, and he hopped as hard and as fast as he could run. my! how his legs did twist in and out. "come on! come!" barked the first dog to the second one. "i'm coming! i'm coming! woof! woof! bow-w-w bow-wow!" barked the second dog. poor uncle wiggily's heart beat faster and faster, and he didn't know which way to run. every way he turned the dogs were after him, and soon more of the savage animals came to join the first two, until all the dogs in that gypsy camp were chasing the poor old gentleman rabbit. "i guess i'll have to drop my satchel or my crutch," thought uncle wiggily. "i can't carry them much farther. still, i don't want to lose them." so he held on to them a little longer, took a good breath and ran on some more. he thought he saw a chance to escape by running across in front of the fortune-telling tent, and he started that way, but a gypsy man, with a gun, saw him and fired at him. i'm glad to say, however, that he didn't shoot uncle wiggily, or else i couldn't tell any more stories about him. uncle wiggily got safely past the tent, but the dogs were almost up to him now. one of them was just going to catch him by his left hind leg, when one of the gypsy men cried out: "grab him, biter! grab him! we'll have rabbit potpie for dinner; that's what we'll have!" wasn't that a perfectly dreadful way to talk about our uncle wiggily? but just wait, if you please. biter, the bad dog, was just going to grab the rabbit, when all of a sudden, uncle wiggily saw a big hole in the ground. "that's what i'm looking for!" he exclaimed. "i'm going down there, and hide away from these dogs!" so into the hole he popped, valise, crutch and all, and oh! how glad he was to get into the cool, quiet darkness, leaving those savage, barking dogs outside. but wait a moment longer, if you please. biter and browser stopped short at the hole. "he's gone--gotten clean away!" exclaimed browser. "isn't that too bad?" "no, we'll get him yet!" cried biter. "here, you watch at this hole, while i go get a pail of water. we'll pour the water down, under the ground where the rabbit is, and that will make him come out, and we'll eat him." "good!" cried browser. so while he stood there and watched, biter went for the water. but, mind you, uncle wiggily had sharp ears and he heard what they were saying, and what do you think he did? why, with his sharp claws he went right to work, and he dug, and dug, and dug in the back part of that underground place, until he had made another hole, far off from the first one, and he crawled out of that, with his crutch and valise, just as biter was pouring the water down the first hole. "ah, ha! i think this will astonish those dogs!" thought uncle wiggily, and he took a peep at them from behind a bush where they couldn't see him, and then he hopped on through the woods, to look for more adventures, leaving the dogs still pouring water. and one happened to him shortly after that, as i shall tell you on the next page, when, in case the rocking chair doesn't tip over backwards and spill out the sofa cushion into the rubber plant, the story will be about uncle wiggily and the monkey. story x uncle wiggily and the monkey let me see, we left those two bad dogs pouring water down the hole, to get uncle wiggily out, didn't we? and the old gentleman rabbit fooled them, didn't he? he got out of another hole that he dug around by the back door, you remember. well, i just wish you could have seen those two dogs, after they had poured pail after pail of water down the hole, and no rabbit came floating up. "this hole must go all the way down to china!" said browser, breathing very fast. "yes, i'm tired of carrying water," said biter. and just then another dog cried out: "why, foolish dogs, the water's all running out the back way!" and, surely enough, it was. then they knew uncle wiggily had escaped, and they were as angry as anything, but it served them right, i think. "my! i wonder what will happen next?" thought the old gentleman rabbit, as he hopped along. "that was a narrow escape." so, having nothing else to do, uncle wiggily sat down on a nice, smooth stump, and he ate some lunch out of his valise. and a red ant came up, and very politely asked if she might not pick up the crumbs which the old rabbit dropped. "of course you may," said uncle wiggily kindly. "and i'll give you a whole slice of bread and butter, also." "oh, you are too generous," spoke the red ant. "i never could carry a slice of bread and butter. but if you will leave it on the stump i'll get some of my friends, and we'll bite off little crumbs, a few at a time, and in that way carry it to our houses." so that's what uncle wiggily did, and the ants had a fine feast, and they were very thankful. uncle wiggily asked them if they knew where he could find his fortune. "why don't you go to work, instead of traveling around so much?" asked the biggest red ant. "the best fortune is the one you work for." "is it? i never thought of that," said uncle wiggily. "i will look for work at once. i wonder if you ants have any for me." "we'd like to help you," they said, "but you see you are so large that you couldn't get into our houses to do any work. you had much better travel along, and work for some one larger than we are." "i will," decided the old gentleman rabbit. "i'll ask every one i meet if they want me to work for them." so he started off once more, and the first place he came to was a house where a mouse lady lived. "have you any work i can do?" asked uncle wiggily politely. "what work can you do?" asked the mouse lady. "well, i can peel carrots or turnips with my teeth," said uncle wiggily, "and i can look after children, and tell them stories, and i can do some funny tricks----" "then you had better go join a circus," interrupted the mouse lady. "i have no children, and i can peel my own carrots, thank you. as for turnips, i never eat them." "then i must go on a little further," said uncle wiggily, as he picked up his valise, and walked off on his crutch. so he went on, until he came to another house in the woods, and he knocked on the door. "have you any work i can do?" inquired uncle wiggily politely. "no! get away and don't bother me!" growled a most unpleasant voice, and the rabbit was just going down the steps, when the door opened a crack, and a long, sharp nose and a mouth full of sharp teeth, and some long legs with sharp claws on them, were stuck out. "oh, hold on!" cried the voice. "i guess i can find some work for you after all. you can get up a dinner for me!" and then the savage creature, who had opened the door, made a grab for the rabbit and nearly caught him. only uncle wiggily jumped away, just in time, and the wolf, for he it was who had called out, caught his own tail in the crack of the door and howled most frightfully. "come back! come back!" cried the wolf, but, of course, uncle wiggily wouldn't do such a foolish thing as that, and the wolf couldn't chase after him, for his tail was fast in the door hinge. "my, i must be more careful after this how i knock at doors, and ask for work," the old gentleman rabbit thought. "i was nearly caught that time. i'll try again, and i may have better luck." so he walked along through the woods, and pretty soon he heard a voice singing, and this is the song, as nearly as i can remember it: here i sit and wonder what i'm going to do. i've no one to help me, i think it's sad; don't you? i have to play the fiddle, but still i'd give a cent to any one who'd keep the boys from crawling in the tent. "well, i wonder who that can be?" thought uncle wiggily. "he'll give a cent, eh? to any one who keeps the boys from crawling in the tent. now, if that isn't a bear or a fox or a wolf maybe i can work for him, and earn that money. i'll try." so he peeped out of the bushes, and there he saw a nice monkey, all dressed up in a clown's suit, spotted red, white and blue. and the monkey was playing a tune on a fiddle. then, all of a sudden, he laid aside the fiddle, and began to beat the bass drum. then he blew on a horn, next he jumped up and down, and turned a somersault, and then, finally, he grabbed up a whip with a whistle in the tail--i mean in the end--and that monkey began to pretend he was chasing make-believe boys from around a real tent that was in a little place under the trees. "oh, i guess that monkey won't hurt me," said uncle wiggily as he stepped boldly out, and as soon as the monkey saw the rabbit, he called most politely: "well, what do you want?" "i want to earn a cent, by chasing boys from out the tent," replied uncle wiggily. "good!" cried the monkey. "so you heard me sing? i'm tired of being the whole show. i need some one to help me. come over here and i'll explain all about it. if you like it, you can go to work for me, and if you do, your fortune is as good as made." "that's fine!" cried uncle wiggily. "and i can do tricks in the show, too." "fine!" exclaimed the monkey, hanging by his tail from a green apple tree. "now, i'll explain." but, just as he was going to do so, out jumped a big black bear from the bushes, making a grab for uncle wiggily. he might have caught him, too, only the monkey picked up a cocoanut pie off the ground and hit the bear so hard on the head, that the savage creature was frightened, and ran away, sneezing, leaving the monkey and the rabbit alone by the show-tent. "now, we'll get ready to have some fun," said the monkey, and what he and uncle wiggily did i'll tell you in the following story which will be about the old gentleman rabbit and the boys--that is, if the molasses jug doesn't tip over on my plate, and spoil my bread and butter peanut sandwich. story xi uncle wiggily and the boys "well," said the monkey after the bear had run away. "i guess we can now sit down and talk quietly together; eh, uncle wiggily?" "yes," said the old gentleman rabbit. "but what is it that you want me to do? i heard you sing that funny little song, about the boys coming in the tent. but i don't exactly understand." "that's just it," replied the monkey. "you see, it's this way. i have a little sort of a circus-show here, and the troublesome boys don't want to pay any money to get in. so when my back is turned they crawl under the tent, and so they see the show for nothing--just like at the circus." "oh, so that's how it is?" asked uncle wiggily. "and you want me to keep out the boys?" "that's it," said the monkey. "here's a big stick, with which to tickle the boys who crawl in under the tent without paying. now i'll practice my tricks." so the monkey did a lot of tricks. he stood on his head, and he hung by his tail, and he danced around in a circle. then he pounded the drum, not so hard as to hurt it, but hard enough to make a noise, and he played the fiddle and blew on the horn, and then he ran inside the tent and jumped over a bench, making believe it was an elephant, and he did all sorts of funny tricks like that. he even stood on his head, and made a funny face. "that will make a very nice show," said uncle wiggily after he had watched the monkey. "now i'll stay outside, and keep the boys from coming in unless they pay their money. and you can be inside, doing the tricks." "and i'll give you money for working for me," said the monkey. "then perhaps you can make your fortune, and, besides that, i'll give you a cocoanut, and you can make a cocoanut pie with it." "that will be fine!" cried uncle wiggily. so he and the monkey practiced to get ready for their show. it was a nice little tent in which it was to be given, and there were seats for the people, who would come, and a platform, and flying rings and trapeze bars and paper hoops, and all things like that, just the same as in a real circus. well, finally the time came for the show. it was the day after uncle wiggily got to the place where the tent was, and he had slept that night in a hammock, put up between two trees. "now we're almost ready for the show," said the monkey to the old gentleman rabbit, after a bit, "so i hope you will be sure to keep out the troublesome boys. they always creep under the tent, and see the show for nothing. i can't have that going on if i'm to make any money." "oh, i'll stop 'em!" declared uncle wiggily. "and here's the club to do it with," said the monkey, handing uncle wiggily a stick. "oh, i don't know about that," answered the rabbit. "i never hurt boys if i can help it. perhaps i shan't need the club. i'll leave it here." so uncle wiggily hid the club under an apple tree, but the monkey said it would be needed, and he wanted uncle wiggily to keep it, and take a whip, too. but the old rabbit shook his head. "i'll try being kind to the boys," he said. "you let me have my way, mr. monkey." well, pretty soon, not so very long, the show began. the monkey went inside the tent, and he blew on the horn, and he made music on the fiddle, and sang a funny song about a little great big pussy, who had a red balloon. she stuck a pin inside it, and it played a go-bang! tune. of course, as soon as the show started the people came crowding up to the tent, just as they do at the circus. there were men and women, and little boys and girls, and big boys and girls, and they all wanted to get inside to see what the monkey was doing. but, do you know, i believe all that he was doing was playing monkey-doodle tricks--but, of course, i might be mistaken. well, as it always happens, some boys didn't have any money with which to pay their way inside the tent. and, of course, as it will sometimes happen, one boy said to another: "hey! i know a way we can crawl in under the tent, and see the show, and not have anything to pay." "but that wouldn't be fair," spoke the other boy. "it would be cheating, and there's nothing meaner in this world than to cheat, whether it's playing a baseball game or going to a circus." "i guess you're right," said the first boy. "what shall we do, though? i want to see the show." "well, we must be fair, anyhow," spoke the second boy. "we can't crawl in under the tent, but perhaps if we ask the monkey to let us in for nothing he'll do it." "very well, we will," said the first boy. so they went up to the monkey and asked if they could go in for nothing, but, of course, he wouldn't let them. "may we crawl in under the tent, then?" asked the second boy. "if uncle wiggily will let you," answered the monkey, blinking his two eyes and wrapping his tail around his neck. so those boys tried to crawl in under the tent, and as soon as uncle wiggily saw them he rushed up and cried out: "hey! hold on there! nobody must go under the tent. you must buy a ticket," and he shook a feather at the boys and, instead of hitting them, he only tickled them, and didn't hurt them a bit, for they sneezed. well, those boys were very troublesome. they kept on trying to crawl under the tent, and uncle wiggily rushed here, there and around the corner trying to stop them, and he cracked the lash on his whip, just like the man in the circus ring. but those boys kept on trying to crawl under the tent, for the monkey had given them permission, you see. so finally uncle wiggily said: "i'll give those boys a little show myself, outside the tent, for nothing. then maybe they'll stop bothering me." so he stood on his left ear, and then on his right ear, and then he jumped through a hoop, and rolled over, and barked liked a dog, and all the boys that had tried to crawl under the tent to see the monkey-show for nothing, ran out to see uncle wiggily's show. and he did lots of tricks and kept them all from crawling in under the tent, and he even ate a popcorn ball, standing on his hind legs, and wiggling his left ear with a pin-wheel on it. then, after a while, the monkey-show was all over, and the monkey said: "uncle wiggily, you did very well. you treated those troublesome boys just fine! so i'll give you ten pennies, and perhaps they will make you have a good fortune." then the monkey gave uncle wiggily ten pennies, and he went to sleep in a feather bed, while the old gentleman rabbit went down to the drug store to get an ice cream soda. and what happened after the show was over, and what uncle wiggily did after he had his ice cream, i'll tell you in the next story which will be about uncle wiggily in a balloon. that is, if our pussy cat doesn't get all covered with red paint, and look like a tomato growing on a strawberry vine. so watch out, and don't let that happen. story xii uncle wiggily in a balloon well, just as i expected, something happened to my pussy-cat named peter. he didn't fall into the pot of red paint, but he either ran away, or else some one took him. so now i have no pussy-cat. but i'll tell you a story about uncle wiggily just the same. the old gentleman rabbit stayed with the monkey for several days, and he was so kind and good to the troublesome boys--uncle wiggily was, i mean--and he did such funny tricks for them, that they didn't crawl under the tent any more, and the monkey could do his tricks in peace and quietness. "oh, you have been a great help to me," said the monkey to the rabbit, "and i would like you to work for me all summer. i am now going to travel on to the next town, and if you like you may go with me and keep the boys there from crawling under the tent." "no, i thank you," replied uncle wiggily slowly, as he put some bread and butter, and a piece of pie, into his satchel. "i think i will travel farther on by myself, and seek my fortune." "well, i'm sorry to see you go," said the monkey. "and here is fifty cents for your work. i hope you have good luck." and then uncle wiggily started off again, over the fields and through the woods, seeking his fortune, while the monkey got ready to move his show to the next town. well, for some time nothing happened to the old gentleman rabbit. he walked on and on, and once he saw a little red ant, trying to drag a piece of cake home for dinner. the cake was so big that the ant was having a dreadful time with it, but uncle wiggily took his left ear, and just brushed that cake into the ant's house as easily as anything. "my, how strong and brave you are," cried the little red ant. "won't you let me get you a glass of water?" "i would like it," said the rabbit, "for it is quite warm to-day." well, that ant got uncle wiggily a glass of water, but you know how it is--an ant's glass is so very small that it only holds as much water as you could put on the point of a pin, and really, i'm not exaggerating a bit, when i say that uncle wiggily drank seventeen thousand four hundred and twenty-six and a half ant-glasses of water before he had enough. it took all the ants for a mile around to bring the water to him, but they didn't mind, because they liked him. then the old gentleman rabbit traveled on again, and when it came night he slept under a haystack. "i am sure i'll find my fortune to-day," thought uncle wiggily as he got up and brushed the hay seed out of his ears the next morning. it was a bright, beautiful day, and he hadn't gone very far before he heard some fine music. "my, there must be a hand-organ around here," he said to himself. "and perhaps there is another monkey. i'll watch out." so he stood on his hind legs, uncle wiggily did, and the music played louder, and all of a sudden the rabbit looked down the road, and there was a nice circus, with the white tents, all covered with flags, and bands playing, and elephants squirting water through their long noses over their backs to wash the dust off. and lions and tigers were roaring, and the horses were running, and the fat lady was drinking pink lemonade, and oh! it was fine! "i've got fifty cents, and i guess i'll go to the circus," thought uncle wiggily, and he was just entering the big tent when he happened to see a man with a lot of red and green and yellow and pink balloons. now, you would have thought that man would have been happy, having so many balloons, but he wasn't. he looked very sad, that man did, and he was almost crying. "poor man!" thought uncle wiggily. "perhaps he has no money to go in the circus. i'll give him mine. here is fifty cents, mr. man," said the old gentleman rabbit, kindly. "take it and go see the elephant eat peanuts." "oh, that is very good of you," spoke the balloon man, "but i don't want to go to the circus. i want to sell my balloons, but no one will buy them." "why not?" asked the rabbit. "oh, because there are so many other things to buy," said the man, "red peanuts and lemonade in shells--oh, i've got that wrong, it is red lemonade, isn't it? and peanuts in shells. but no matter. what i need," said the man, "is to get the people to listen to me--i need to make them look at me, and when they see what fine balloons i have they'll buy some. but there are so many other things to look at that they never look toward me at all." "ha! i know the very thing!" cried uncle wiggily. "you ought to have some one go up in a balloon. that would surprise the people like anything. they'd be sure to look at that, and they'd all run over here and buy all your balloons." "yes, but who can i get to go up in a balloon?" asked the man. "i will!" cried uncle wiggily bravely. "perhaps i may find my fortune up in the sky, so i'll go in a balloon." well, the man thought that was fine. so he made a little basket for the rabbit to sit in, and he fastened the basket to a big red balloon, and then he took care of the rabbit's valise for him, while uncle wiggily got ready to go toward the clouds, taking only his crutch with him. when the man had everything fixed and when the rabbit was sitting in the basket as easily as in a soft chair at home, the man cried: "over here! over here, everybody! over here, people! a rabbit is going up in a balloon! a most wonderful sight! over here!" and then the man let go of the balloon, and uncle wiggily shot right up toward the sky, only, of course, the man had a string fast to the balloon to pull it down again. up and up went the balloon carrying uncle wiggily. up and up! and my! how surprised the people were. they rushed over and bought so many balloons that the man couldn't take in the money fast enough. and uncle wiggily stayed up there, high in the air, looking for his fortune. and then, all of a sudden, a bad boy, with a bean shooter, shot at the balloon, and "bang!" it burst, with a big hole in it. down came uncle wiggily, head over heels, bursted balloon, basket, crutch and all. "oh, he'll be killed! he'll be killed!" cried all the people. "no, he'll not! we'll save him!" cried dickie and nellie chip-chip, the boy and girl sparrow, who happened to be at the circus. "we'll save uncle wiggily!" so up into the air they flew, and before uncle wiggily could fall to the ground dickie and nellie grabbed the basket in their bills, and, by fluttering their wings, they let it come very gently to earth just like a feather falling, and the rabbit wasn't hurt a bit. but, of course, the balloon was broken. so that's how uncle wiggily went up in a balloon and came down again, but he hadn't yet found his fortune. and now in the next story, if our fire shovel doesn't go out to play in the sand pile, and get its ears full of dirt, i'll tell you about uncle wiggily in an automobile. story xiii uncle wiggily in an auto well, after uncle wiggily had been saved from the falling balloon by dickie and nellie chip-chip, the sparrow children, the people were so excited that they wanted the bad boy arrested for making a hole in the balloon with his bean-shooter. "no, let him go," said the rabbit gentleman, kindly. "i'm sure he won't do it again." and do you know, that boy never did. it was a good lesson to him. then the people bought all the balloons, until the man had none left, and i guess if he could have sent for forty-'leven more he would have sold them also. "i will pay you good wages to stay with me, and go up in a balloon every day," said the man to the rabbit. "you would help me do lots of business." "no," said uncle wiggily. "i must travel on and seek my fortune. i didn't find it up in the air." but before the old gentleman rabbit traveled on, he went into the circus with dickie and nellie. for they had an extra ticket that bully the frog was going to use, only bully went in swimming and caught cold, and had to stay home. so uncle wiggily enjoyed the show very much in his place. "give my love to sammie and susie littletail and to all my friends," said the rabbit, as he took his crutch and valise, after the circus was over, and started to travel on, looking for his fortune. well, the first place he came to that day was an old hollow stump, and on the door was a card which read: come in. "ha! come in; eh?" said uncle wiggily. "i guess not much! you can't fool me again. there is a bad bear, or a savage owl inside that stump, and they want to eat me. i'll just stay outside." he was just hurrying past, when the door of the stump-house opened, and an old grandfather fox stuck out his head. this fox was almost blind, and he had no teeth, and he had no claws, and his tail was just like a last year's dusting brush, that the moths have eaten most up, and altogether that fox was so old and feeble that he couldn't have hurt a mosquito. so uncle wiggily wasn't a bit afraid of him. "i say, is there anything good to eat out there?" asked the fox, looking over the tops of his spectacles at the rabbit. "anything nice and juicy to eat?" "yes, i am good to eat," said uncle wiggily, "but you are not going to eat me. good-by!" "hold on!" cried the old fox, "don't be afraid. i can only eat soup, for i have no teeth to chew with, so unless you are soup you are of no use to me." "well, i'm not soup, but i know how to make some," replied the rabbit, for he felt sorry for the grandfather fox. so what do you think our uncle wiggily did? why, he went into the fox's stump-house and made a big pot full of the finest kind of soup, and the rabbit and the fox ate it all up, and, because the fox had no teeth or claws, he couldn't hurt his visitor. "i wish you would stay with me forever," said the old fox, as he blinked his eyes at uncle wiggily. "i have a young and strong grandson coming home soon, and you might show him how to make soup." "no, thank you," replied the rabbit. "i'm afraid that young and strong grandson of yours would want to eat me instead of the soup, i guess i'll travel on." so the old gentleman rabbit took his crutch and valise and traveled on. well, pretty soon, it began to get dark, and uncle wiggily knew night was coming on. and he wondered where he could stay, for he didn't see any haystacks to sleep under. he was thinking that he'd have to dig a burrow in the ground for himself, and he was looking for a soft place to begin, when, all at once, he heard a loud "honk-honk!" back of him in the road. "ha, an automobile is coming!" said uncle wiggily. "i must get out of the way!" so he hopped on ahead, going down the road quite fast, until he got to a place where there were prickly briar bushes on both sides of the highway. "my! i'll have to keep in the middle of the road if i don't want to get scratched," said the rabbit. and then the automobile horn behind him honked louder than ever. "they are certainly coming along fast," thought uncle wiggily. "if i don't look out i'll be run over." so he hopped along quicker than before, until, all of a sudden, as he looked down the road, he saw a savage dog standing there. "well, now! isn't that just my bad luck!" cried uncle wiggily. "if i go on the dog will catch me, and if i stand here the auto will run on top of me. i just guess i'll run back and see if there is a hole where i can crawl through the bushes." so he started to run back, but, no sooner had he done so, than the dog saw him, and came rushing at him with a loud, "bow-wow-wow! bow-wow-wow!" "my, but he's savage!" thought the rabbit. "i wonder if i can get away in time?" and then the auto honked louder than before, and all of a sudden it came whizzing down the road, right toward the rabbit. "oh, dear; i'm going to be caught, sure!" cried uncle wiggily, and indeed it did look so, for there was the dog running from one direction, and the auto coming in the other, and prickly briar bushes were on both sides of the road, and uncle wiggily couldn't crawl through them without pulling all the fur off his back, and his ears, too. "honk-honk!" went the auto. "bow-wow!" went the dog. "oh, dear!" cried uncle wiggily. then he thought of a plan. "i'll give a big run and a long jump and maybe i can jump over the auto, and then the auto will bump into the dog, and i will be safe!" he cried. so he took a long run, and just as the auto was going to hit him, uncle wiggily gave a big jump, right up into the air. he didn't jump quite quickly enough, however, for one of the big rubber tires ran over his toe, but he wasn't much hurt. and what do you think he did? why, he landed right in the auto, on the seat beside a little boy. and that dog was so frightened of the automobile that he howled and yowled, and his teeth chattered, and he tucked his tail between his legs, and ran home. "oh, the bunny! the bunny!" cried the little boy, as he saw uncle wiggly. "may we keep him, papa?" "i guess so," said the boy's papa. "anyhow his foot is hurt, and we'll take care of him until it gets well. my, but he is a good jumper, though!" so the man stopped the auto, and picked up uncle wiggily's crutch and valise, which the old gentleman rabbit had dropped when he jumped upon the seat beside the boy, and then the car went on. and uncle wiggily wasn't a bit frightened at being in an auto, for he knew the boy and man would be kind to him. "perhaps i shall find my fortune now," the rabbit gentleman said. and the little boy patted him on the back, and stroked his long ears. now, in the story after this i'll tell you what happened to uncle wiggily at the little boy's house, and in case our door key doesn't get locked out, and have to sleep in the park, you are going to hear about uncle wiggily in a boat. story xiv uncle wiggily in a boat "poor rabbit!" exclaimed the little boy in the automobile, as he rubbed uncle wiggily's ears. "i wonder if his foot is much hurt, papa?" "i don't know," answered the man, as he steered the machine down the road. "i'll have the doctor look at it." "oh, indeed, it isn't hurt much," spoke up uncle wiggily. "the rubber tire was soft, you see. but my rheumatism is much worse on account of running so fast." "what's this? well, of all things! this rabbit can talk!" cried the man in surprise. "of course he can, papa," said the boy. "lots of rabbits can talk. why, there's sammie and susie littletail; they can talk, and maybe this rabbit knows them." "i'm their uncle," said the old gentleman rabbit, making a bow. "oh, then, you must be uncle wiggily longears!" cried the little boy. "oh, i've always wanted to see you, and now i can!" "well, it is very strange to meet you this way," said the man. "still, i am glad you are not hurt, uncle wiggily. and so you are out seeking your fortune," for the rabbit had told them about his travels. "perhaps you would like to rest at our house for a few days. we can give you a nice room, with a brass bed, and a bath-tub to yourself, and you can have your meals in bed, if you can't come down stairs." "oh, i am not used to that kind of a life," said the old gentleman rabbit. "i would rather live out of doors. if you can get me some clean straw to lie on, and once in a while a carrot or a turnip, and a bit of lettuce and some cabbage leaves now and then, i'll be all right. and as soon as my foot is well i'll travel on." "oh, what good times we'll have!" cried the little boy. "our house is near a lake, and i have a motor boat. and i'll give you a ride in it." well, uncle wiggily thought that would be nice, and he was rather glad, after all, that he had jumped into the auto. so pretty soon they came to the place where the boy lived. oh, it was a fine, large house, with lots of grounds, lawns and gardens all around it. and there were several dogs on the place, but the little boy spoke to them all, telling them that the rabbit was his friend uncle wiggily, who must not be bitten or barked at on any account. "oh, we heard about him from fido flip-flop," said big dog rover. "we wouldn't hurt uncle wiggily for two worlds, and part of another one, and a bag of peanuts." so uncle wiggily was given a nice bed of straw in one of the empty dog-houses, and the boy got him some cabbage and lettuce, and the rabbit made himself a sandwich of them, with some bread and butter which he had in his satchel. then the rabbit and the dogs talked together, and the rabbit told of his travels, and what had happened to him so far. "wonderful! wonderful!" exclaimed the old dog rover. "you should write a book about your fortune." "i haven't found it yet, but perhaps i may, and then i'll write the book," said uncle wiggily, combing out his whiskers. that night the boy put a soft rag and some salve on the rabbit's sore foot, and he also gave him some liniment for his rheumatism, and in the morning uncle wiggily was much better. he and the boy and the dogs had lots of fun playing together on the smooth, green, grassy lawn. they played tag, and hide-and-go-seek, and a new game called "don't let the ragman take your rubber boots." and the dog rover pretended he was the ragman. "now, then, we'll all go out in my motor boat," said the boy, so he and uncle wiggily and the dogs went down to the lake and, surely enough, there was the boat, the nicest one you could wish for. there was a little cabin in it, and seats out on deck, and a little engine that went "choo-choo!" and pushed the boat through the water. in the boat they all had a fine ride around the lake, which was almost like the one where you go to a sunday-school picnic, and then it was time for dinner. and, as a special treat, when they got on shore, uncle wiggily was given carrot ice cream, with chopped-up turnips in it. and oh, how good it was to him! well, the days passed, and uncle wiggily was getting so he could walk along pretty well, for his foot was all cured, and he began to think of going on once more to seek his fortune. and then something happened. one day the boy went out alone in a rowboat to see if he could find any fish. and before he knew it his boat had tipped over, spilling him out into the water, and he couldn't swim. wasn't that dreadful? "oh! help! help!" he cried, as the water came up to his chin. my, but it's awful to be tipped over in a boat! and i and i hope if you can't swim you'll never go out in one alone. and there was that poor boy splashing around in the water, and almost drowned. "save me! save me!" the boy cried. "oh, save me!" well, as it happened, uncle wiggily was walking along the shore of the lake just then. he saw the little boy fall out of the boat, and he heard him cry. "i'll save you if i can!" exclaimed the brave old rabbit. "come on, rover, we'll go out in the motor boat and rescue him." "bow-wow! bow-wow! sure! sure!" cried cover, wagging his tail. so he and uncle wiggily ran down, and jumped into the motor boat. and they knew just how to start the engine and run it, for the boy had showed them. "bang-bang!" went the engine. "whizz-whizz!" went the boat through the water. "faster! faster!" cried uncle wiggily, who was steering the boat, while rover ran the engine. "go faster!" so rover made it go as fast as he could, and then all of a sudden that boy went down under the water, out of sight. "oh, he's drowned!" cried uncle wiggily sorrowfully. but he wasn't, i'm glad to say. just then along came nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy, the muskrat, swimming. and she dived away down under and helped bring that boy up to the top of the water, and then uncle wiggily and cover grabbed him as the muskrat lifted him up, and they pulled him into the motor boat, and so saved his life. and oh! how thankful he was when he was safe on shore, and he was careful never to fall in the water again. now, in case the clothes wringer doesn't squeeze all the juice out of my breakfast orange, i'll tell you in the next story about uncle wiggily making a cherry pie. story xv uncle wiggily makes a pie do you remember the little boy whom uncle wiggily helped save after he fell out of the boat? well, that boy's papa was so glad because uncle wiggily had helped save the little chap from drowning that he couldn't do enough for the old gentleman rabbit. "you can stay here forever, and have carrot ice cream every day if you like," the man said. "oh, thank you very much, but i think i'll travel on," replied uncle wiggily. "i have still to seek my fortune." "why, _i_ will give you a fortune!" said the boy's papa. "i will give you a thousand million dollars, and a penny besides." "that would be a fine fortune," spoke the rabbit, "but i would much rather find my own. it is no fun when you get a thing given to you. it is better to earn it yourself, and then you think more of it." "yes, that is so," said the man. "well, we will be sorry to see you go." uncle wiggily started off the next day, once more to seek his fortune, and the little boy felt so sad at seeing him go that he cried, and put his arms around the old gentleman rabbit, and kissed him between the ears. and uncle wiggily felt badly, too. well, the old gentleman rabbit traveled on and on for several days after that, sleeping under hay stacks part of the time, or in empty hollow stumps, and sometimes he dug a burrow for himself in the soft ground. and one afternoon, just as the sun was getting ready to go to bed for the night, uncle wiggily came to an open place in the woods where there was a cave, made of a lot of little stones piled up together. "my! i wonder who lives there?" thought the rabbit. "it is too small for a giant to live in, but there may be a bad bear or a savage fox in there. i guess i'd better get away from here." well, uncle wiggily was just going, when, all at once, a voice cried out: "here, hold on there!" the rabbit looked back, and he saw a great big porcupine, or hedgehog--you know, those animals like a big gray rabbit, only their fur is the stickery-prickery kind, like needles, and the quills come out and stick in anybody who bites a hedgehog. so i hope none of you ever bite one. and they won't bite you if you don't bother them. so as soon as uncle wiggily saw that it was mr. hedgehog who was speaking he wasn't a bit afraid, for he knew him. "oh, it's you, is it?" asked the rabbit. "i'm real glad to see you. i was going to travel on, but----" "don't say another word!" cried the hedgehog heartily. "you can stay in my cave all night. i have two beds, and it's a good thing i have, for if you slept with me you might get full of my stickery-stickers." "yes, i guess i had better sleep alone," said uncle wiggily, with a laugh. "but it seems to me, mr. hedgehog, that you are not looking well." "i'm not," answered the porcupine, as he shivered so that several of his quills fell out on the grass. "i'm suffering for some cherry pie. oh, cherry pie! if i only had some i know i'd feel better at once. i just love it!" "why don't you make some yourself?" asked uncle wiggily. "i have tried," replied the hedgehog. "i've tried and tried again, but, somehow, it never comes out right. here, i'll show you. i made a cherry pie just before i looked out of the door and saw you. i'll show it to you." he went into his little stone house, and uncle wiggily went with him. "there's the pie--it's no good!" cried the porcupine, as he pointed to something on the table. well, as soon as uncle wiggily saw it he laughed so hard that his ears waved back and forth. "what's the matter? i don't see anything funny," asked mr. hedgehog, shivering so that more quills fell out. "why, you've gone and put the cherry pits into the pie instead of the cherries," said the rabbit. "that's no way to do. you must take out the stones from inside the cherries and put the outside part of them inside the pie, and throw the inside or stony part of the cherries away." "oh, good land!" cried the hedgehog, "no wonder i couldn't eat the pie. you see, i thought cherries were like peanuts. for you know you throw away the outside part of the peanut, and eat the inside." "yes, and cherries are just the opposite," said the rabbit, laughing again. "for you eat the outside of a cherry and throw away the pit or stone that is inside. now, i'll make you a cherry pie." "i wish you would," said the porcupine. "i'll go get the cherries." so he went out in the orchard, and he shot his sharp stickery quills, like little arrows at the cherries on the tree, and they fell down, so he could pick them up in a basket. i mean the cherries fell down, though of course the quills did also though the hedgehog didn't pick them up. and while he was doing that uncle wiggily was making the pie crust. he took flour and lard and water, and mixed them together, and then he put in other things--oh, well, you just ask your mamma or the cook what they were, for i might get it wrong--and soon the pie crust was ready. then uncle wiggily built a hot fire in the stove, and he waited for mr. hedgehog to come in with the cherries. and pretty soon the porcupine came back with his basket full, and he and uncle wiggily shelled the peanuts--i mean the cherries--taking out the pits. "now i'll put them in the pie, and put sugar on them, bake it in the oven, and soon it will be done, and we can eat it," said the rabbit. "oh, joy!" cried the hedgehog. "that will be fine!" so uncle wiggily put the cherries in the pie, and threw the pits away, and he put the pie in the oven, and then he and mr. hedgehog sat down to wait for it to bake. and oh, how delicious and scrumptious it did smell! if you will excuse me for saying so. well, in a little while, the pie was baked, and uncle wiggily took it from the oven. "i can hardly wait to eat it!" cried the hedgehog, and just then there came a terribly loud knock on the door. "oh, maybe it's that bad fox come for some of my pie!" exclaimed the hedgehog. "if it is, i'll stick him full of stickery-stickers." but when he went to the door there stood old percival, the circus dog, and he was crying as hard as he could cry. "come in," invited uncle wiggily. "come in, and have some cherry pie, and you'll feel better." so percival came in, and they all three sat down, and ate the cherry pie all up, and sure enough percival did feel better, and stopped crying. then the circus dog and uncle wiggily stayed all night with mr. hedgehog, and they had more cherry pie next day, and it was very fine and sweet. now, if our cook makes some nice watermelon sandwiches, with maple syrup on them, for supper, i'll tell you in the next story about uncle wiggily and old dog percival, and why percival cried. story xvi uncle wiggily and percival now i'm going to tell you, before i forget it, why old dog percival was crying that time when he came to the little stone house where the hedgehog lived, and where uncle wiggily gave him some cherry pie. and the reason percival was crying, was because he had stepped on a sharp stone, and hurt his foot. "but i don't in the least mind now," said percival, after he had eaten about sixty-'leven pieces of the pie. "my foot is all better." "i should think that cherry pie would make almost any one better," said the hedgehog, laughing with joy, for he felt better, too. "i know some bad boys to whom i'm going to give some cherry pie, and i hope it makes them better. and to think i threw away the good part of the cherries and cooked the stones in the pie. oh, excuse me while i laugh again!" and the hedgehog laughed so hard that he spilled some of the red cherry pie juice on his shirt front, but he didn't care, for he had another shirt. well, uncle wiggily and percival, the old circus dog, stayed for some days at the home of the hedgehog, and they had cherry pie, or fritters with maple syrup, at almost every meal. then, finally, uncle wiggily said: "well, i guess i must travel on. i can't find my fortune here. i must start off to-morrow." "and i'll go with you," spoke percival. "we'll go together, and see what we can find." well, he and uncle wiggily went on together for some time, and nothing happened, except that they met a poor pussy cat without any tail, and uncle wiggily gave her some of the pie. and the next day they met a cat and seven little kittens, and they all had tails, so they had to have some pie, too. but one night, after percival and uncle wiggily had been traveling all day, they came to a deep, dark, dismal woods. "oh, have we got to go through that forest?" asked the old gentleman rabbit, wrinkling up his ears--i mean his nose. "i guess we have," replied the circus dog. "we may find our fortunes in there." "it is a pretty dark spot to look for money, or fortunes," said the rabbit. "the best thing we can do is to look for a place to sleep, and in the morning we will hurry out of the woods." well, the two animal friends started into the grove of trees, and they hadn't gone very far before it got so dark that they couldn't see to go any farther. oh, but it was black and lonesome and sort of scary-like! and uncle wiggily said: "let's stay here, percival. we'll make a little bed under the trees to sleep in, and we'll build a fire to keep us warm, and cook a little supper." so percival thought that would be nice, and soon he and the rabbit had a cheerful little fire blazing, and then it wasn't quite so lonely. only there was a big owl in a tree, and he kept hollering "who? who? who?" and percival thought it meant him, and uncle wiggily thought it meant him, and they were rather frightened, so they didn't either of them answer the owl, who kept on calling "who? who? who?" they were just cooking their supper, and cutting up the cherry pie, and putting it on some oak leaves for plates, and they had picked out a nice smooth stump for a table, when, all of a sudden, they heard a voice saying: "now you make a jump and grab the rabbit and i'll take the dog. then we can carry them off to our dens, and that will be the last of them. get ready now!" "did you hear that?" asked uncle wiggily of the circus dog. "indeed i did," replied percival. "i wonder if it can be those owls?" "it doesn't sound like them," said uncle wiggily. "i think it is a bad fox, or maybe two of them." and just then they looked off through the woods, and by the light of the fire they saw two big, savage, ugly wolves. oh, how their sharp teeth gleamed in the dancing flames, and how red their tongues were! "come on! grab 'em both!" cried one savage wolf. "grab the rabbit and the dog!" "sure! i'm with you!" growled the other savage wolf. "oh, what shall we do, uncle wiggily?" asked percival. "they'll eat us up! "let me think a minute," said the rabbit. so he thought for maybe half a minute, and then exclaimed: "oh! i know a good thing to do." "what?" asked percival. "say it quickly, uncle wiggily, for those wolves are creeping up on us, and it's so dark we can't see to run away." and surely enough, those wolves were sneaking up, with their red tongues hanging out longer than ever, for all the world just as if they had eaten cherry pie. "we must do some funny tricks!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "you know how, percival, for you were once in a circus, and i learned some when i was with the monkey, and with fido flip-flop. do some tricks, and maybe these wolves will feel so good-natured that they won't bite us." so brave uncle wiggily stood up on one ear and waved his feet in the air. then he stood on his nose and turned a somersault. next he went around and around as fast as a pinwheel, and he whistled a funny tune about a little rubber ball that flew into the air, and when it landed on the ground it would not stay down there. but i wish you could have seen the tricks percival did. he jumped through between uncle wiggily's long ears, and he walked on his hind legs, and on his front ones. then he stood on his head, and he made believe he was begging for something to eat, and uncle wiggily fed him a carrot, and a piece of pie. then he put a piece of bread on his nose, tossed it up into the air--tossed the bread, i mean, not his nose--and when it came down he caught it and ate it. oh, it was great! well, those wolves were too surprised for anything. they had never seen tricks like those. first they smiled a bit. then they smiled some more. then one laughed, then the other laughed, and finally, when uncle wiggily and percival took turns jumping over each other's backs, the wolves thought it so funny that they had to lie down on the leaves and roll over and over because they were laughing so hard. and, of course, after that they didn't feel like hurting uncle wiggily or percival. and just then the big alligator came along and chased the wolves away, so the rabbit and dog had no one to bother them except the alligator, and, as he had just had his supper, he wasn't hungry, so he didn't eat them. so uncle wiggily and percival went to sleep, and so must you, and if the vegetable man brings me a pumpkin jack o' lantern, with a pink ribbon on the end of the stem, i'll tell you in the next story about uncle wiggily in a well. story xvii uncle wiggily in a well well, i didn't get the pumpkin jack o' lantern with the pink ribbon on, but some one mailed me an ice cream cone, so it's just as well. that is, i suppose it was an ice cream cone when it started on its journey, but when i got it there was only the cone part left. maybe the postman took out the ice cream, with which to stick a stamp on the letter. but there, i must tell you what happened to uncle wiggily after he and percival did those tricks, and made the wolves laugh so hard. the rabbit and the circus dog stayed in the woods all that night, and nothing bothered them. "now, percival, you make the coffee, and i'll spread the bread and butter for breakfast," said uncle wiggily the next morning. "where are you going to get the bread and butter?" asked the dog. "oh, i have it in my satchel," spoke the old rabbit, and, surely enough, he did have several large, fine slices. so he and percival ate their breakfast, and then they started off again. they hadn't gone very far before they met a grasshopper, who was limping along on top of a fence rail, and looking quite sad--i mean the grasshopper was looking sad, not the fence rail. "what is the matter?" asked uncle wiggily, kindly. "are you sad and lonesome because you can't have some cherry pie, or some bread and butter; or because you can't see any funny tricks? if you are, don't worry, mr. grasshopper, for percival and i can give you something to eat, and also do some tricks to make you laugh." "no, i am not sad about any of those things," replied the grasshopper, "but you see i gave a big jump over a large stone a little while ago, and i sprained my left hind leg. now i can't jump any more, and here it is summer, and, of course, we grasshoppers have to hop, or we don't make any money." "oh, don't let a little thing like that worry you," spoke uncle wiggily. "i have some very nice salve, that a gentleman and his boy gave me when their automobile ran over me, and it cured my sore toe, so i think it will cure your left hind leg." then he put some salve on the grasshopper's leg, and in a little while it was much better. "now we must travel on again, to seek our fortune," said uncle wiggily. "come, percival." "i will just do one little trick, to make the grasshopper feel better before we leave," said the circus dog, so he stood up on the end of his tail, and went around and around, and winked first one eye and then the other, it was too funny for anything, really it was. well, the alligator laughed at that--oh there i go again--i mean the grasshopper laughed, and then uncle wiggily and percival went off together, very glad indeed that they had had a chance to do a kindness, even to a grasshopper. pretty soon they came to a place where there were two roads branching off, one to the right hand and the other to the left, like the letter "y." "i'll tell you what we'll do," said percival, "you go to the right, uncle wiggily, and i'll go to the left, and, later on, we'll meet by the mill pond, and perhaps each of us may have found his fortune by that time." "good!" cried uncle wiggily. "we'll do it!" so he went off one way, and the circus dog took the other path through the woods, and now i must tell you what happened to the old gentleman rabbit. uncle wiggily went along for some time, and just as he got to a place where there was a large stone, all of a sudden out popped a big fat toad. and it wasn't a nice toad, either, but a bad toad. "hello, uncle wiggily," said the squatty-watty toad. "i haven't seen you in some time. i guess you must be getting pretty old. you can't jump as good as you once could, can you?" "of course, i can," exclaimed the rabbit, a bit pettish-like, for he didn't care to have even a toad think he couldn't jump as well as ever he could. "i'd like to see you," went on the toad. "see if you jump from here over on that pile of leaves," and he pointed to them with his warty toes. "i'll do it," exclaimed uncle wiggily. so he laid aside his crutch and his valise, gave a little run and a big jump, and then he came down kerthump on the pile of leaves. but wait. oh! i have something sad to tell you. that toad was only playing a trick on the rabbit, and those leaves were right over a big, deep, dark well. and as soon as uncle wiggily landed on the leaves he fell through, for there were no boards under them to cover up the well, and down, down, down he went, and if there had been water in the well he would have been drowned. but the well was dry, i'm glad to say. still uncle wiggily had a great fall--almost like the tumble of humpty-dumpty. "ah, ha!" exclaimed the mean, squatty-squirmy toad. "now you are in the well, and i'm going off, and tell the wolves, so they can come and get you out, and eat you. ah, ha!" oh! but wasn't that toad a most unpleasant one? you see, he used to work for the wolves, doing all sorts of mean things for them, and trapping all the animals he could for them. so off the toad hopped, to call the wolves to come and get uncle wiggily, and the poor rabbit was left alone at the bottom of the well. he tried his best to get up, but he couldn't. "i guess i'll have to stay here until the wolves come," he thought, sadly. "but i'll call for help, and see what happens." so he called: "help! help! help!" as loudly as he could. and all of a sudden a voice answered and asked: "where are you?" "in the well," shouted uncle wiggily, and he was afraid it was the wolves coming to eat him. but it wasn't, it was the limpy grasshopper, and he tried to pull uncle wiggily out of the well, but, of course, he wasn't strong enough. "but i'll get percival, the circus dog, and he'll pull you out before the wolves come," said the grasshopper. "now i have a chance to do you a kindness for the one you did me." so he hopped off, as his leg was nearly all better, and he found percival on the left road and told him what had happened. and, my! how that circus dog did rush back to help uncle wiggily. and he got him out of the well in no time, by lowering a long rope to him, and pulling the rabbit gentleman up, and then the rabbit and dog ran away, before the toad could come back with the savage wolves, who didn't get any supper out of the well, after all, and it served them right. so that's all of this story, but i have some more, about the adventures of uncle wiggily, and next, in case the load of hay doesn't fall on my puppy-dog, and break off his curly tail, i'll tell you about uncle wiggily and jennie chipmunk. story xviii uncle wiggily and jennie chipmunk after uncle wiggily had been pulled up out of the well by percival, the old circus dog, and they had run far enough off so that the wolves couldn't get them, the rabbit and the grasshopper and percival sat down on the ground to rest. for you see uncle wiggily was tired from having fallen down the well, and the grasshopper was tired from having run so fast to call back percival, and of course percival was tired from having pulled up the old gentleman rabbit. so they were all pretty well tired out. "i'm sure i can't thank you enough for what you did for me," said uncle wiggily to percival, and the grasshopper. "and as a little treat i'm going to give you some cherry pie that i made for the hedgehog." so they ate some cherry pie, and then they felt better. and they were just going to travel on together again, when, all at once, there was a rustling in the bushes, and out flew dickie chip-chip, the sparrow boy. "oh, my" cried uncle wiggily, wrinkling up his nose. "at first i thought you were a savage owl." "oh, no, i'm not an owl," said dickie. "but i'm in a great hurry, and perhaps i made a noise like an owl. percival, you must come back home to the bow wow house right away." "why?" asked percival, sticking up his two ears so that he could hear better. "because peetie bow wow is very ill with the german measles, and he wants to see you do some of your funny circus tricks," spoke dickie. "he thinks that will make him better." "ha! i've no doubt that it will!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "if i were not traveling about, seeking my fortune, i'd go back with you, percival. i love peetie bow wow, and jackie, too." "oh, i'll go," said the grasshopper. "i will play peetie a funny fiddle tune, on my left hind leg, and that may make him laugh." "and nellie and i will sail through the air, and go off to find some pretty flowers for him," said dickie. so the sparrow boy, the grasshopper and old percival, the circus dog, started off together to see poor sick peetie bow wow, leaving uncle wiggily there on the grass. "give my love to peetie!" called the old gentleman rabbit after them, "and tell him that i'll come and see him as soon as i find my fortune." uncle wiggily felt a little bit sad and lonely when his friends were gone, but he ate another piece of cherry pie, taking care to get none of the juice, on his blue necktie, and then he was a little happier. "now to start off once more," he said. "i wonder what will happen next? but i know one thing, i'm never going to do any jumping for any squatty old toads any more." so uncle wiggily traveled on and on, and when it came night he didn't have any place to sleep. but as it happened he met a kind old water snake, who had a nice house in an old pile of wood, and there the rabbit stayed until morning, when the water snake got him a nice breakfast of pond lilies, with crinkly eel-grass sauce on. pretty soon it was nearly noon that day, and uncle wiggily was about to sit down on a nice green mossy bank in the woods--not a toy bank with money in it, you understand, but a dirt-bank, with moss on it like a carpet. that's where he was going to sit. "i think i'll eat my dinner," said the old gentleman rabbit as he opened his valise, and just then he heard a voice in the woods singing. and this was the song: "oh dear! i'm lost, i know i am, i don't know what to do. i had a big red ribbon, and i had one colored blue. but now i haven't got a one because a savage bear took both of them, and tied a string around my curly hair. i wish i had a penny bright, to buy a trolley car. i'd ride home then, because, you see, to walk it is too far." "i guess that's some one in trouble, all right," said uncle wiggily, as he cautiously peeped through the bushes. "though, perhaps, it is a little wolf boy, or a fox." but when he looked, whom should he see but little jennie chipmunk, and she was crying as hard as she could cry, so she couldn't sing any more. "why, jennie, what is the matter?" kindly asked uncle wiggily. "oh, i came out in the woods to gather acorns in a little basket for supper," she said, "and i guess i must have come too far. the first thing i knew a big bear jumped out of the bushes at me, and he took off both my nice, new hair ribbons and put on this old string." and, sure enough, there was only just an old black shoestring on jennie's nice hair. "where is that bear?" asked uncle wiggily, quite savage like. "just tell me where he is, and i'll make him give you back those ribbons, and then i'll show you the way home." "oh, the bear ran off after he scared me," said the little chipmunk girl. "please don't look for him, uncle wiggily, or he might eat you all up." "pooh!" exclaimed the old gentleman rabbit. "i'm not afraid of a bear. i have traveled around a great deal of late, and i have had many adventures. it takes more than a bear to scare me!" "oh, it does; does it?" suddenly cried a growly-scowly voice, and, would you believe me? right out from the bushes jumped that savage bear! and he had jennie's blue ribbon tied on his left ear, and the red one tied on his right ear, and he looked too queer for anything. "i can't scare you; eh?" he cried to the rabbit. "well, i'm just going to eat you, and that chipmunk girl all up, and maybe that will scare you!" so he made a jump for uncle wiggily, but do you s'pose the rabbit gentleman was afraid? not a bit of it. he knew what he was going to do. "quick, jennie!" called uncle wiggily. "get in front of me. i'll fix this bear all right." so jennie got in front, and the rabbit turned his back on the bear, and, then uncle wiggily began scratching in the dirt with his sharp claws. my! how he did make the dirt fly. it was just like a regular rain-shower of sand and gravel. and the dirt flew all over that bear; in his eyes and nose and mouth and ears, it went, and he sneezed, and he couldn't see out of his eyes, and he fairly howled. and by that time uncle wiggily had dug a big hole in the ground with his feet, and he and jennie hid there until the bear ran off to get some water to wash the dirt off his face, and then the rabbit and the chipmunk girl came out safely. then uncle wiggily gave jennie some pennies to buy two new hair ribbons, and he showed her the way home with her basket of acorns, and he himself went on with his travels. and he had another adventure the next day. now in case a cowboy doesn't come along, and take my little pussy cat off to the wild west show i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the paper lantern. story xix uncle wiggily and the lantern after uncle wiggily had taken jennie chipmunk home, so that the bear couldn't get her, as i told you about in the story before this one, the old gentleman rabbit walked on over the fields and through the woods, seeking his fortune. he looked everywhere for it; down in hollow stumps, behind big stones, and even in an old well, but you may be sure he didn't jump down any more wells. no, i guess not! "ha! here is a little brook!" exclaimed uncle wiggily, after a while, as he came to a small stream of water flowing over green, mossy stones, with a nice gurgling sound like an ice cream soda, "perhaps i may find my fortune here." but he looked and he looked in the water without seeing anything but a goldfish. "i might sell the goldfish for money," thought the fortune-hunting rabbit, "but it wouldn't be kind to take him out of the brook, so i won't. i'll look a little farther, on the other side." then, taking up his crutch and his valise, uncle wiggily gave a big jump, and leaped safely across the water. then, once more, he traveled on. pretty soon he came to a place where there was a tree, and on one branch of this tree there hung a funny round ball, that looked as if it was made of gray-colored paper. and there was a funny buzzing sound coming from it. "ha! do you see that?" asked a big, fat hop-toad, as he suddenly bobbed up out of the grass. it was the same toad who had made the rabbit jump down in the leaf-covered well. "do you see that?" asked the toad. "well, if you want to find your fortune, take a stick and hit that ball." "indeed i will not!" cried the old gentleman rabbit. "i know you and your tricks! that is a hornets' nest, and if i struck it they would fly out, and sting me. oh, no! you can't catch me again. now you go away, or i'll tell a policeman dog to arrest you." so the toad knew it was of no use to try to fool uncle wiggily again, and he hopped away, scratching his warty back on a sharp stone. well, the old gentleman rabbit traveled on and on, and when it came night he wondered where he was going to stay, for he hadn't yet found his fortune and the weather looked as if it was going to rain. then, all of a sudden, he heard voices calling like this: "come on, nannie, you've got to blind your eyes now, and i'll go hide." "all right, billie," was the answer. "and after that we'll get uncle butter to tell us a story." "i guess i know who those children are," thought uncle wiggily, though he had not yet seen them. "that's billie and nannie goat talking," and surely enough it was, and, most unexpectedly the rabbit had come right up to the house where they lived, on the edge of the woods. well, you can just imagine how glad billie and nannie were to see uncle wiggily. they danced all around him, and held him by the paws, and kissed him between his long ears, and billie carried his satchel for him. "oh, we're so glad you are here!" they cried. "mamma! papa! uncle butter! here is uncle wiggily!" well, the whole goat family was glad to see the rabbit-traveler, and after supper he told them of his adventures, and how he was out seeking his fortune. and billie and nannie told what they had been doing, and nannie showed how she could cut things out of paper, like the children do in the kindergarten class in school. she could make little houses, with smoke coming out of the chimney, and paper lanterns, and boxes, and, oh! ever so many things. the lanterns she made were especially fine, just like chinese ones. then it came time to go to bed, and in the night a very strange thing happened, and i'm going to tell you all about it. along about o'clock, when all was still and quiet, and when the little mice were beginning to think it was time for them to creep, creep out of their holes, and hunt for bread and cheese; about this time there sounded a queer noise down at the front door of the goat-house. "ha! what is that?" asked mrs. goat. "i guess it was the cats," said mr. goat, getting ready to go to sleep again. "no, i'm sure it was a burglar-fox!" said the lady goat. "please get up and look." well, of course, mr. goat had to do so, after his wife asked him like that. so he poked his head out of the upstairs window, over the front door, and he called out: "who is down there?" "i'm a burglar-fox!" was the answer. "i'm coming to rob you." "oh, my!" cried mrs. goat, when she heard that. "get a gun, and shoot him, mr. goat." and at that billie and nannie began to cry, for they were afraid of burglars, and uncle butter got up, and began looking for a whistle, with which to call a policeman dog, but he couldn't find it. then the burglar-fox started in breaking down the door, so that he could get in, and still mr. goat couldn't find his gun. "oh, we'll all be killed!" cried mrs. goat. "oh, if some one would only help us!" "ha! i will help you!" cried uncle wiggily jumping out of bed. "i'll scare that fox so that he'll run away." "but i can't find my gun," said mr. goat. "no matter," answered the brave rabbit. "i can scare him with a paper lantern such as nannie can make. quick, nannie, make me a big paper lantern." well, the little goat girl stopped crying then, and she got her paper, and her scissors, and the paste pot, and she began to make a paper lantern, as big as a water pail. uncle wiggily and billie helped her. and all the while the burglar-fox was banging on the door, and crying out: "let me in! let me in!" "quick! is the lantern ready?" asked uncle wiggily, jumping around in a circle like "ring around the rosie." "here it is," said nannie. so the rabbit gentleman took it, all nicely made as it was, and inside of it he put a hot, blazing candle. and the lantern was so big that the candle didn't burn the sides of the paper. then uncle wiggily tied the lantern to a string, and he lowered it right down out of the window; down in front of the burglar-fox, and the hot candle in the lantern burned the fox's nose, and he thought it was a policeman climbing down out of a tree to catch him, and before you could count forty-'leven the bad burglar-fox ran away, and so he didn't rob the goats after all. and, oh! how thankful nannie and billie and their papa and mamma were to uncle wiggily. now, in case the little boy next door doesn't take our clothes line, to make a swing for his puppy dog, i'll tell you about uncle wiggily and the paper house in the following story. story xx uncle wiggily and the paper house bright and early next morning uncle wiggily got up, and he took a careful look around to see if there were any signs of the burglar-fox, about whom i told you in another story. "i guess he's far enough off by this time," said billie goat, as he polished his horns with a green leaf. "yes, indeed," spoke uncle wiggily. "it is a good thing that nannie knew how to make a paper lantern." "oh, i can make lots of things out of paper," said the little goat girl. "our teacher in school shows us how. why i can even make a paper house." "can you, indeed?" asked the old gentleman rabbit, as he washed his paws and face for breakfast. "now i should dearly like to know how to make a paper house." "why?" asked billie goat, curious like. "so that when i am traveling about, looking for my fortune, and night comes on, and i have no place to stay, then i could make me a paper house, and be all nice and dry in case it rained," replied the rabbit. "oh, but the water would soon soak through the paper," said billie. "i know, for once i made a paper boat, and sailed it on the pond, and soon it was soaked through, and sank away down." "oh, but if i use that funny, greasy paper which comes inside cracker boxes--the kind with wax on it--that wouldn't wet through," spoke the rabbit as he went inside the goat-house with the children, for mrs. goat had called them in to breakfast. "that would be just fine!" exclaimed nannie, as she passed some apple sauce and oatmeal to uncle wiggily. "after breakfast i'll show you how to make a paper house." well, surely enough, as soon as breakfast was over, and before she and billie had gone to school, nannie showed the old gentleman rabbit how to make a paper house. you take some paper and some scissors, and you cut out the sides of the house and the roof, and you make windows and doors in these sides, and then you make a chimney, and you fasten them all together, with paste or glue, and, there you are. isn't it easy? and if you only make the paper house large enough, you can get inside of it and have a play party, and perhaps you can make paper dishes and knives and forks; but listen! if you make paper things to eat, like cake or cookies or anything like that, please only make-believe to eat them, for they are bad for the digestion if you _really_ chew them. "well, i think i'll travel along now, and once more seek my fortune," said uncle wiggily, when billie and nannie were ready to go to school. so mrs. goat packed up for the rabbit a nice lunch in his valise, and nannie gave him some waxed paper, that the rain wouldn't melt, and billie gave his uncle a pair of scissors, and off mr. longears started. well, he traveled on and on, over the fields and through the woods, and across little brooks, and pretty soon it was coming on dark night, and the rabbit gentleman hadn't found his fortune. "now i wonder where i can stay to-night?" thought uncle wiggily, as he looked about him. he could see nothing but an old stump, which was not hollow, so he couldn't get inside of it, and the only other thing that happened to be there was a flat stone, and he couldn't get under that. "i guess i must make me a paper house," said the old gentleman rabbit. "then i can sleep in it in peace and quietness, and i'll travel on again in the morning." so he got out the waxed paper, and he took the scissors, and, sitting down on the green grass, he cut out the sides and roof of the paper house. then he made the chimney, and put it on the roof, and then he fastened the house together, and crawled inside, with his valise and his barber-pole crutch. "i guess i won't make too many windows or doors," thought uncle wiggily, "for a savage bear or a burglar-fox might come along in the night, and try to get in." so he only made one door, and one window in the house. but he made a little fireplace out of stones, and built a little fire in it, to cook his supper. but listen, you children must never, never make a fire, unless some big person is near to put it out in case it happens to run away, and chases after you, to catch you. fires are dreadfully scary things for little folks, so please be careful. well, uncle wiggily cooked his supper, frying some carrots in a little tin frying pan he had with him, and then he said his prayers, and went to bed. soon he was fast, fast asleep. well, in the middle of the night, uncle wiggily was awakened in his paper house by hearing a funny noise outside. "ha! i wonder what that can be?" he exclaimed, sitting up, and reaching out for his crutch. the noise kept on, "pitter-patter; pitter-patter-patter-pitter; pat-pit-pat-pit." "oh, that sounds like the toe nails of the burglar-fox, running around the house!" said the rabbit. then he listened more carefully, and suddenly he laughed: "ha! ha!" then he got up and looked out of the window. "why, it's only the rain drops pit-pattering on the roof," he said. "isn't it jolly to be in a house when it rains, and you can't get wet? after this every night i'm going to always build a waxed-paper house," said uncle wiggily. so he listened to the rain drops, and he thought how nice it was not to be wet, and he went to sleep again. and pretty soon he woke up once more, for he heard another noise. this time it was a sniffing, snooping, woofing sort of a noise, and uncle wiggily knew that it wasn't the rain. "i'm sure that's the burglar-fox," he said. "what shall i do? he can smash my paper house with his teeth and claws, and then eat me. i should have built a wooden house. but it's too late now. i know what i'll do. i'll dig a cellar underneath my paper house, and i'll hide there, in case that fox smashes the roof." so uncle wiggily got up very softly, and right in the middle of the dirt floor of his paper house he began to burrow down to dig a cellar. my, how his paws made the sand and gravel fly, and soon he had dug quite a large cellar, in which to hide. and all this time the sniffing, snooping sound kept on, until, all of a sudden a voice cried: "let me in!" "who are you?" asked uncle wiggily. "i'm the bad alligator," was the answer, "and if you don't let me in, i'll smash down your paper house with one swoop of my scalery-ailery tail." "you can't come in!" cried the rabbit, and then that bad alligator gave one swoop of his tail, and smashed uncle wiggily's nice paper house all to pieces! but do you s'pose the rabbit was there? no, indeed. he just grabbed up his crutch and valise, and ran down into his cellar as far and as fast as he could run, just as the roof fell in. and the cellar wasn't big enough for the alligator to get in, and so he had to stay outside, and he couldn't get uncle wiggily. and then it rained, and thundered and lightninged, and the alligator got scared, and ran off, but the rabbit gentleman was safe down in his cellar, and he didn't get a bit wet, and went to sleep there for the rest of the night. now, please go to bed, and in case my toothbrush, doesn't go out roller skating, and fall down and get bald-headed, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the paper boat. story xxi uncle wiggily in a paper boat when the morning dawned, after he had slept all night in the cellar under his paper house, that the alligator, with his swooping scalery-ailery tail, had knocked down, uncle wiggily awakened, brushed the dirt from his ears, and crawled out. "my!" he exclaimed as he saw the paper house all flat on the ground, like a pancake, "nannie goat would certainly be sorry to see this. but i suppose it can't be helped. anyhow, it's a good thing that i am not squashed as flat as that house is. now i'll see about my breakfast, and then i'll travel on again." so the old gentleman rabbit got his breakfast, eating almost the last piece of the cherry pie, which he had left from the time when he made some for the hedgehog, and then, taking his crutch, striped red, white and blue, like a barber pole, off he started. well, pretty soon, in a little while, not so very long, uncle wiggily came to a pond of water, and, looking down into it, he saw the most beautiful goldfish that you can imagine. it was a big fish, too, and the scales on it were as round as gold dollars. "my!" exclaimed the rabbit. "if i had that fish, and i could take him to a jewelry shop, and sell him, i would get so much money that my fortune would be made, and i wouldn't have to travel any farther. but i guess the fish would rather stay in the pond than in a jewelry shop." "indeed, i would," answered the fish, looking up. "and i am glad you are so kind as to be thoughtful of my feelings. perhaps i may be able to help you, some day." and with that the fish dived away down under the water, after calling good-bye to the rabbit, and then uncle wiggily hopped on, and he didn't think any more about the goldfish, until some time after that. well, as soon as the elephant had his trunk packed--oh, hold on, if you please. i wonder what's the matter with me? there's no elephant in this story. he comes in it about five pages farther on. well, after traveling for several hours, uncle wiggily ate his dinner, then he hopped on some more, and he looked all around for his fortune, but he couldn't find it. then it began to get dark, and he wondered where he could stay that night. "i might build a paper house," he said, "but if i do the alligator might come along and smash it, and this time he would probably catch me. i wonder what i'd better do?" so he looked ahead, and there he saw a stream of water. it was quite a wide brook, but on the other side of it he saw a nice little wooden house, that no one lived in. "now, if i could only get over there i'd be safe," said the old gentleman rabbit. "i guess i'll wade across." well, he started to do so, but he soon found that the water was too deep for him to wade. it was over his head. "i'll have to swim across," said uncle wiggily. but, as soon as he got ready to do that, he found himself in more trouble. for he couldn't carry his crutch and valise across with him if he swam, and he didn't like to leave them on the shore, for fear the alligator would get them. "oh, i certainly am in great trouble," said the rabbit. "it's getting darker and darker, and i have no place to stay. i haven't even any paper with which to make me a paper house, but if i could only get across to the wooden house, i'd be safe." and, just as he spoke, there came a little puff of wind, and lo and behold! a nice piece of paper was blown right down out of a tree, where it had been caught on a branch. right at uncle wiggily's side it fell; that paper did. "oh, joy!" the rabbit gentleman cried. "here is paper to make me a house with." but when he looked more closely at it, he saw that it wasn't big enough for a house, and it wasn't the kind of paper that would keep out the rain, either. "that will never do," said uncle wiggily, sadly. "ah! but i have an idea. i will make me a paper boat, as billie goat once did, and in the boat i'll sail across the stream, and sleep in the little wooden house." so he folded up the paper, first like a soldier's hat, and then like a fireman's hat, and then he pulled on the two ends, and, presto change! he had a paper boat. then he took his crutch, and stuck it up in the middle of the boat, and put a piece of paper on the crutch, and he had a sail. then he put the boat in the water, and got in it himself. i mean he got in the boat, not the water--with his valise. "here we go!" cried the old gentleman rabbit, and he shoved the boat out from the shore. the wind caught in the little paper sail, and away uncle wiggily went, as fine as fine could be. "i'll soon be on the other shore," he said, and just then he looked down, and he saw some water coming inside the boat. "hum! that's bad," he cried. "i'm afraid my boat is leaking." the wind blew harder, and the boat went faster, but more water came in, for you see the paper was sort of melting, and falling apart, like an ice cream cone, for it wasn't the waxed kind of paper from the inside of cracker boxes--the kind that water won't hurt. well, the boat began to sink, and the water came up to uncle wiggily's knees, and then, all of a sudden there was a funny sound on shore, a snipping snooping woofing-woofing sound, and into the water jumped the alligator with the skiller-scalery, swooping tail. "now i've got you!" he cried, snapping his jaws at the poor old gentleman rabbit. and really it did seem as if uncle wiggily would be eaten up. but you never can tell what is going to happen in this world; never indeed. all of a sudden, just as the paper boat was melting all to pieces, and uncle wiggily was trying, as best he could, to swim to shore with his crutch and valise, and just as the alligator was going to grab him, along came the big, kind goldfish. "jump on my back, uncle wiggily!" cried the fish, and the rabbit did so, in the twinkling of an eye. and before the alligator could grab uncle wiggily, the goldfish swam to shore with him, and he was safe. and the alligator got some soap in his eye, from washing his face too hard, and went sloshing away as mad as could be, but it served him right. and uncle wiggily slept safely in the wooden house all night, and dreamed about finding a gold dollar. now in case the banana man brings me some pink oranges for the elephant's little boy, i'll tell you in another story about uncle wiggily and the mud pie.[transcriber's note: in the above sentence, the word "tell" was omitted in the original text.] story xxii uncle wiggily and the mud pie uncle wiggily slept very soundly that night in the little wooden house, across on the other side of the brook, where the alligator tried to catch him, but didn't. and when he awakened in the morning the rabbit traveler wondered what he was going to have for breakfast. but he didn't wonder very long. for, as soon as he had gotten up, and had washed his paws and face, and combed out his ears--oh, dear me--i mean his whiskers--as soon as he had done that, he heard a knock on the door. "oh, my, suz dud and a bottle of milk!" exclaimed the old gentleman rabbit. "i hope that isn't the scary-flary alligator again." so he peeped out of the window, but to his surprise, he didn't see any one. "i'm sure i heard a knock," he said, "but i guess i was mistaken." well, he was going over to his valise to see if it had in it anything to eat, when the knock again sounded on the door. "no, i wasn't mistaken," said uncle wiggily. "i wonder who that can be? i'll peep, and find out." so he hid behind the window curtain, and kept a close watch, and the first things he saw were some little stones flying through the air. and they hit against the front door with a rattlety-bang, and it was these stones that had made the sound that was like a knock. "oh! it must be some bad boys after me," thought the poor old gentleman rabbit. "my! i do seem to be having a dreadful time seeking my fortune. there is always some kind of trouble." and then more stones came through the air, and banged on the door and this time uncle wiggily saw that they came from the stream, and, what is more, he saw the goldfish throwing the stones and pebbles out of the brook with his tail. then the rabbit knew it was all right, for the goldfish was a friend of his, so he ran out. "were you throwing stones at the house?" asked uncle wiggily. "yes," replied the fish, "it was the only way in which i could knock on your door. you see i dare not leave the water, and i wanted you to know that i had some breakfast for you." and with that the kind goldfish took a little basket, made of watercress, from off his left front fin, and handed uncle wiggily the basket, not his fin, for he needed that to swim with. "you'll find some cabbage-salad with snorkery-snickery ell-grass dressing on it, some water-lily cake, and some moss covered eggs for your breakfast," said the fish. "and i wish you good luck on your travels to-day." "thank you very much," said uncle wiggily, "and i am very much obliged to you for saving me from the alligator last night." "pray do not mention it," spoke the fish most condescendingly. "i always like to help my friends." and with that he swam away, and uncle wiggily ate his breakfast, and then, taking his crutch and valise, he set off on his travels again. he hopped on for some time, and finally he came to a place where there were some high, prickly bramble-briar bushes. "i will rest here in their shade a bit," thought the old gentleman rabbit, "and then i will go on." so he sat down, and, as the sun was quite warm, he fell asleep before he knew it. but he was suddenly awakened by a hissing sound, just like when steam comes out of the parlor radiator on a frosty night. then a voice cried: "now i've got you!" uncle wiggily looked up, and there was a big snake, just going to grab him. but do you s'pose the rabbit waited for that snake? not a bit of it. catching up his crutch and valise, he gave one tremendous and extraordinary springery-spring, and over the prickery stickery briar and bramble bushes he went, flying through the air, and the snake couldn't get him. but when uncle wiggily came down on the other side of the bushes! oh, my! that was a different story. for where do you imagine he landed? where, indeed, but right in the middle of a big mud pie that two little hedgehog boys were making there. yes, sir, right into the middle of that squasher-squawshery mud pie fell uncle wiggily. oh! how the mud splashed up! it went all over the rabbit, and some got on the two little hedgehog boys. well, they were as surprised as anything when they saw a nice old gentleman rabbit come down in the middle of their pie, and at first they thought he had done it on purpose. "let's stick him full of our stickery-stockery quills," said one hedgehog boy. "yes, and then let's pull his ears," said the other hedgehog boy. but, mind you, they didn't really mean anything bad, only, perhaps, they thought uncle wiggily was a savage fox, or a little white bear. "oh, boys, i'm sorry!" said the old gentleman rabbit as soon as he could dig the mud out of his mouth. "what made you do it?" asked the biggest hedgehog boy, wiping some mud out of his eye. "yes, our pie is all spoiled," said his brother, "and we were just going to bake it." "oh, it is too bad!" said uncle wiggily, sorrowfully, "but you see i had to get away from that snake, and i didn't have time to look where i was jumping. i'm glad, though, that i left the snake on the other side of the bushes." "so are we," said the two hedgehog boys. "but you didn't leave me there. i'm here!" suddenly cried a voice, and out wiggled the snake again. he started to catch the rabbit, but those two brave hedgehog boys grabbed up a lot of mud, and plastered it in that snake's eyes so that he couldn't see, and he had to wiggle down to the pond to wash it out. then uncle wiggily and the boys were safe, and he helped them to make another mud pie, with stones in for raisins, and he gave them some of his real cherry pie, and oh! how they liked it! then they were all happy, and uncle wiggily stayed at the hedgehog's house until the next morning. now, in case the little girl in the next house brings me a watermelon ice cream cone with a rose on top, i'll tell you on the next page about uncle wiggily and the elephant. story xxiii uncle wiggily and the elephant uncle wiggily didn't sleep very well at the hedgehog's house that night, and the reason for it was this: you see they didn't have many beds there, and first the rabbit gentleman lay down with the smallest little porcupine boy, in his bed. but pretty soon, along about in the middle of the night, this little boy got to dreaming that he was a rubber ball. and he rolled over in the bed, and he rolled up against uncle wiggily, and the stickery-stickers from the little hedgehog chap stuck in the old gentleman rabbit. "oh, dear!" cried uncle wiggily, "i think i'll have to go and sleep with your brother jimmie." so he went over to the other hedgehog boy's bed, but land sakes flopsy-dub and a basket of soap bubbles! as soon as the rabbit got in there that other hedgehog chap began to dream that he was a jumping jack, and so he jumped up and down, and he jumped on top of uncle wiggily, and stuck more stickery-stickers in him, until at last the rabbit got up and said: "oh, dear, i guess i'll have to go to sleep on the floor." so he did that, putting his head on his satchel for a pillow and pulling his red-white-and-blue-striped-barber-pole crutch over him for a cover. and, in the morning, he felt a little better. "well, i think i will travel on once more," said uncle wiggily after a breakfast of strawberries, and mush and milk. "i may find my fortune to-day." the hedgehog boys wanted him to stay with them, and make more mud pies, or even a cherry one, but the rabbit gentleman said he had no time. so off he went over hills and down dales, and along through the woods. pretty soon, not so very long, just as uncle wiggily was walking behind a big rock, as large as a house, he heard some one crying. oh, such a loud crying voice as it was, and the old rabbit gentleman was a bit frightened. "for it sounds like a giant crying," he said to himself. "and if it's a giant he may be a bad one, who would hurt me. i guess i'll run back the other way." well, he started to run, but, just as he did so, he heard the voice crying again, and this time it said: "oh, dear me! oh, if some one would only help me! oh, i am in such trouble!" "come, i don't believe that is a giant after all," thought the rabbit. "it may be sammie littletail, who has grown to be such a big boy that i won't know him any more." so he took a careful look, but instead of seeing his little rabbit nephew, he saw a big elephant, sitting on the ground, crying as hard as he could cry. now, you know, when an elephant cries it isn't like when you cry once in a great while, or when baby cries every day. no, indeed! an elephant cries so very many tears that if you don't have a water pail near you, to catch them, you may get your feet wet; that is, if you don't have on rubbers. well, that's the way it was this time. the elephant was crying big, salty tears, about the size of rubber balls, and they were rolling down from his eyes and along his trunk, which was like a fire engine hose, until there was quite a little stream of water flowing down the hill toward the rabbit. "oh, please don't cry any more!" called uncle wiggily. "why not?" asked the elephant, sadly-like, and he cried harder than before. "because if you do," replied the rabbit, "i will have to get a pair of rubber boots, in which to wade out to see you." "i'll try to stop," said the big animal, but, instead, he cried harder than before, boo-hooing and hoo-booing, until you would have thought it was raining, and uncle wiggily wished he had an umbrella. "why, whatever is the matter?" asked the rabbit. "oh, i stepped on a tack," answered the elephant, "and it is sticking in my foot. i can't walk, and i can't dance and i can't get back to the circus. oh, dear! oh, dear me, suz-dud and a red balloon! oh, how miserable i am!" "too bad," said uncle wiggily. "was it a large tack that you stepped on?" "was it?" asked the elephant, sort of painful-like. "why, it feels as big as a dishpan in my foot. here, you look, and perhaps you can pull it out." he raised up one of his big feet, which were about as large as a washtub full of clothes, on monday morning, and he held it out to uncle wiggily. "why, i can't see anything here," said the rabbit, looking at the big foot through his spectacles. "oh, dear! it's there all right!" cried the elephant. "it feels like two wash tubs now," and he began to cry some more. "here! hold on, if you please!" shouted uncle wiggily. "i'll have to make a boat, if you keep on shedding so many tears, for there will be a lake here. wait, i'll look once more." so he looked again, and this time he saw just the little, tiniest, baby-tack you can imagine--about the size of a pinhead--sticking in the elephant's foot. "wait! i have it! was this it?" suddenly asked the rabbit, as he took hold of the tack in his paw and pulled it out. "that's it!" exclaimed the elephant, waving his trunk. "it's out! oh, how much better i feel. whoop-de-doodle-do!" and then he felt so fine that he began to dance. then, all of a sudden, he began to cry once more. "why, what in the world is the matter now?" asked uncle wiggily, wishing he had a pail, so that he might catch the elephant's salty tears. "oh, i feel so happy that i can't help crying, because my pain is gone!" exclaimed the big creature. then he cried about forty-'leven bushels of tears, and a milk bottle full besides, and there was a little pond around him, and uncle wiggily was in it up to his neck. then, all of a sudden, in came swimming the alligator, right toward the rabbit. "ah, now i'll get you!" cried the skillery-scalery beast. "no you won't!" shouted the elephant, "uncle wiggily is my friend!" so he put his trunk down in the water, and sucked it all up, and then he squirted it over the trees. that left the alligator on dry land, and then the elephant grabbed the alligator up in his strong trunk, and tossed him into the briar bushes, scalery-ailery tail and all, and the alligator crawled away after a while. so that's how uncle wiggily was saved from the alligator by the crying elephant, and the rabbit and elephant traveled on together for some days. now, as i see the sand man coming, i must stop. but, in case i don't fall into the washtub with my new suit on, and get it all colored sky-blue-pink, so i can't go to the picnic, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the cherry tree. story xxiv uncle wiggily and the cherry tree uncle wiggily longears and the crying elephant were walking along together one day, talking about the weather, and wondering if it would rain, and all things like that. only the elephant wasn't crying any more, for the rabbit had pulled the tack that was hurting him, out of the big beast's foot, you remember. "we'll travel on together to find our fortune, and look for adventures," said the elephant, as he capered about, and stood on his hind legs, because he felt so jolly. "won't we have fun, uncle wiggily?" "well, we may," spoke the old gentleman rabbit, "but i don't see how we are going to carry along on our travels enough for us to eat. of course, _i_ don't need much, but _you_ are such a big chap that you will have to have quite a lot, and my valise is small." "don't worry about that," replied the elephant. "of course you might think i could carry a lot of pie and cake and bread and butter in my trunk, but really i can't you know, for about all that my trunk will hold is water. however, i think i can pick what hay and grass i want from along the road." "yes, and perhaps we may meet a man with a hot peanut wagon, once in a while," suggested uncle wiggily, "and he may give you some peanuts." "oh, joy! i hope he does!" cried the big fellow. "i just love hot peanuts!" well, they went on together for some time, when, all of a sudden a man jumped out from behind the bushes, and exclaimed: "ha, mr. elephant! i've been looking for you. now you come right back with me to the circus where you belong." and he went up to the elephant and took hold of his trunk. "oh, i don't want to go," whined the tremendous creature. "i want to stay with uncle wiggily, and have some fun." "but you can't," said the man. "you are needed in the circus. a lot of boys and girls are waiting in the tent, to give you peanuts and popcorn." "well, then, i s'pose i'd better go back," sighed the wobbly animal with the long tusks. "i'll see you again, uncle wiggily." so the elephant said good-bye to the rabbit, and went back to the circus with the man, while the rabbit gentleman hopped on by himself. he hadn't gone very far before he heard a loud "honk-honk!" in the bushes. "oh, there is another one of those terrible automobiles!" thought the rabbit. but it wasn't at all. no, it was grandfather goosey gander, and there he sat on a flat stone, "honk-honking" through his yellow bill as hard as he could, and, at the same time crying salty tears that ran down his nose, making it all wet. "why, whatever is the matter?" asked uncle wiggily, as he went up to his friend, the duck-drake gentleman. "have you stepped on a tack, too?" "no, it isn't that," was the answer. "but i am so sick that i don't know what to do, and i'm far from my home, and from my friends, the wibblewobble family, and, oh, dear! it's just awful." "let me look at your tongue," said the rabbit, and when grandfather goosey gander stuck it out, uncle wiggily said: "why, you have the epizootic very bad. very bad, indeed! but perhaps i can cure you. let me see, i think you need some bread and butter, and a cup of catnip tea. i'll make you some." so uncle wiggily made a little fire of sticks, and then he found an empty tin tomato can, and he boiled some water in it over the fire, and made the catnip tea. then he gave some to grandfather goosey gander, together with some bread and butter. "well, i feel a little better," said the old gentleman duck-drake, when he had eaten, "but i am not well yet. it seems to me that if i could have some cherry pie i would feel better." "perhaps you would," agreed uncle wiggily, "but, though i know how to make nice cherry pie, and though i made some for the hedgehog, i don't see any cherry trees around here, so i can't make you one. there are no cherry trees." "yes, there is one over there," said the duck-drake, and he waved one foot toward it, while he quacked real faint and sorrowful-like. "sure enough, that _is_ a cherry tree," said uncle wiggily, as he hopped over and looked at it. "and the cherries are ripe, too. now, if i could only get some of them down i could make a cherry pie, and cure grandfather goosey gander." but it wasn't easy to get the cherries off the tree, and uncle wiggily couldn't climb up after them. so he sat down and looked up at them, hoping some would fall off the stems. but none did. "oh, dear, i wonder how i'm going to get them?" sighed the rabbit. "perhaps i can knock off some with a stone." so he threw a stone, but no cherries came down. the stone did, though, and hit uncle wiggily on the nose, making him sneeze. "stones are no good!" exclaimed the rabbit. "i'll throw up my crutch." so he threw that into the tree, but it brought no cherries down, and the crutch, in falling, nearly hit grandfather goosey gander, and almost gave him the measles and mumps. "well, i'll try and see what throwing up my valise will do," said the rabbit, and he tossed up the satchel, but bless you, that stayed up in the tree, and didn't come down at all, neither did any cherries. "oh, i'll have to give up," said uncle wiggily. "i'm afraid you can't have any cherry pie, grandfather goosey." "oh, then i'll never get well," said the old duck-drake gentleman sorrowfully. "yes, you will, too!" suddenly cried out a voice, and out from the bushes ran the elephant. "i'll pick the cherries off the tree with my long, nosey trunk," he said, "and you can make all the pie you want to, uncle wiggily." "why, i thought you went back to the circus," said the rabbit. "no, i ran away from the man," spoke the elephant. then he reached up with his long nose, and he picked a bushel of red, ripe, sweet delicious cherries in less than a minute. then he pulled down uncle wiggily's valise out of the tree and then the old gentleman rabbit made three cherry pies. one for grandfather goosey gander, and another, a tremendous big one, as large as a washtub, for the elephant, and a little one for himself. then they ate their pies, and the old gentleman duck-drake got well almost at once. so all three of them traveled on together, to help the rabbit seek his fortune. now in case the ice cream man brings some nice, hot roast chestnuts for our canary bird, i'll tell you in another story about uncle wiggily, and grandfather goosey gander. story xxv uncle wiggily and grandpa goosey one day, not very long after the elephant had picked the cherries off the tree, so that uncle wiggily could make the cherry pies for grandpa goosey, the three friends were traveling along together through a deep, dark, dismal woods. "where are we going?" asked the elephant, who had run away from the circus man to travel by himself. "oh, to some place where we may find our fortune," said the old gentleman rabbit. "i would much rather find some snails to eat," said grandfather goosey gander, the old gentleman duck, as i shall call him for short. "for i am very hungry." "what's that?" cried the rabbit. "hungry after the nice pie i made for you?" "oh, that was some time ago. i could eat another pie right now," spoke the old duck. but there wasn't any pie for him, so he had to eat a cornmeal sandwich with watercress salad on, and uncle wiggily ate some carrots and cabbage, and the elephant ate a lot of grass from a field--oh! a terrible lot--about ten bushels, i guess. then, all at once, as they were walking along over a bridge, a man suddenly jumped out from behind a tree, and cried: "ah, ha! now you won't get away from me, mr. elephant. this time i am surely going to take you back to the circus." and with that he threw a rope around the elephant's trunk, and led him away. the elephant cried so many tears that there was a muddy puddle right near the bridge, and the big animal begged to be allowed to stay with uncle wiggily and grandpa goosey gander, but the man said it could not be done. "well, then, you and i will have to go on together," said the old gentleman rabbit to the duck, after a bit. "perhaps we may find our fortune." "i think i could make money calling out 'honk-honk!' on an automobile," said the grandfather. "jimmie wibblewobble once did that for a man. i think i'll look for a nice automobile gentleman to work for, and if i get money enough we'll be rich." well, he looked and looked, but no one seemed to want an old duck for an auto horn, and the rabbit and grandfather goosey gander kept on traveling together, over the fields and through the woods. pretty soon they came to a place where a june bug was sitting on the edge of a stone wall, buzzing his wings. "let's ask him where we can find our fortunes," said uncle wiggily. so they asked the june bug. "well," replied the buzzing creature, "i am not sure, but a little way from here are two roads. one or the other might bring you to your fortune. one goes to the right, the other to the left hand." "we will take the left hand road," said uncle wiggily. "we will go down that for some distance, and if we do not find a pot of gold, or some ice cream cones at the end of it, we will come back, and try the other road." so uncle wiggily and grandfather goosey gander went down the left road. on and on they went, walking in the dust when there was any dust, and in the mud when there was any mud. but they didn't find any gold. "oh, let's go back and try the other road," said the rabbit gentleman after a bit. "perhaps that will be better." so back they went, stopping on the way to look at a big apple tree, to see if there were any ripe apples on it. but there was none, so they didn't eat any. and i hope you children do the same this summer. never eat green apples, never, never, never! wait until they are ripe. well, by and by, after a while, not so very long, uncle wiggily, who was hopping along on his crutch, suddenly exclaimed: "oh, i've lost my valise! what shall i do? i can't go on without it, for it has our lunch in it." "i think you left it under the green-apple tree," said the duck. "you had better go back for it, and i will wait here in the shade," for grandpa goosey knew the rabbit could hop faster than he could waddle. back uncle wiggily started, and, surely enough, he found his valise under the apple tree, where he had forgotten it. he picked it up, and was walking along with it back to where grandfather goosey gander was waiting for him when, all of a sudden, out from behind a stump came jennie chipmunk, with a basket of popcorn balls. "oh, uncle wiggily!" she exclaimed. "don't you want to buy some popcorn balls? our church is having a little fair, and we are all trying to earn some money. i am selling popcorn, to help the little heathen children buy red-colored handkerchiefs." "of course, i'll take some," said the old gentleman rabbit, "popcorn balls, i mean--not children, or hankerchiefs," he said quickly. so he bought a pink one, and a white one, and a chocolate colored one, popcorn balls you know--not children--and put them in his valise. then uncle wiggily sent his love to sammie and susie littletail, by jennie chipmunk, and off he started to go back to where grandfather goosey gander was waiting for him. well, something terrible was happening to the poor old gentleman duck, and i'll tell you all about it. no sooner had the rabbit gotten near the shady tree under which the grandfather gentleman was resting, than he heard a cry: "help! help! help!" called the duck. "oh, help me quickly, somebody!" "what is the matter?" asked uncle wiggily, limping along as fast as he could. "oh, a bad snake has caught me!" cried the duck. "he has wound himself around my legs, and i can't walk, and he is going to eat me up! he jumped on me out of the bushes. he will eat me!" "he shall never do that!" cried the rabbit, bravely. "i will save you." so he ran up to that snake, but the snake stuck out his tongue, like a fork, at the rabbit, and uncle wiggily was frightened. then he tried to hit the snake with a stick, but the crawly creature hid down behind grandfather goosey, and so got out of the way. "i have it!" suddenly cried uncle wiggily. "the popcorn balls. snakes love them! i'll make him eat them, and then he'll let grandpa goosey go." so from his valise the brave rabbit took the red and the white and the chocolate colored popcorn balls, and he rolled them along the ground, close to the snake's nose. and the snake smelled them, and he was so hungry for them that he uncoiled himself from grandfather goosey's legs, and let the old gentleman duck go. and the snake chased after the corn balls and ate them all up, and then he didn't want anything more for a long while, and he went to sleep for six months and dreamed about turning into a hoop, and so he didn't bother anybody. so that's how uncle wiggily saved the duck, and next, in case the pretty baby across the street doesn't fall down and bump its nose, i'll tell you about uncle wiggily and the ice cream cones. story xxvi uncle wiggily's ice cream cones it didn't take uncle wiggily and grandfather goosey gander long to get away from the place where the bad snake was, let me tell you, even if the crawly creature had eaten three popcorn balls, and would sleep for six months. "this is no place for us," said the rabbit. "we must see if we can't find our fortune somewhere else." "i believe you," spoke grandfather goosey, rubbing his yellow legs, where the snake had wound tight around him like a clothesline. "we'll look for a place in which to stay to-night, and we'll see what we can find to-morrow." well, they hurried on for some time, and pretty soon it began to get dark, and they couldn't find any place to stay. "i guess i'll have to dig a hole in the ground, and make a burrow," said the rabbit. "oh, but i couldn't stay underground," said the duck. "i'm used to sleeping in a wooden house." "that's so," said uncle wiggily. "well, if i had some paper i could make you a paper house, but i haven't any, so i don't know what to do." and just then, away in the air, there sounded a voice saying: "caw! caw! caw!" "ha! that's a crow," exclaimed uncle wiggily. "there must be green corn that is ready to pull up somewhere around here." "there is," said the black crow, flying down. "i know a nice field of corn that a farmer has planted, and to-morrow i am going to pick some." "but aren't you afraid of the scarecrow?" asked the duck. "no; i'm not," said the crow. "the scarecrow is only some old clothes stuffed with straw, and it is set out in the field to drive us crows away. we're not a bit afraid of it. would you be?" "no, of course not," answered grandfather goosey gander. "but then, you see, i'm not a crow--the scary figure wasn't meant for me." "then you can stay in one of the pockets of the scarecrow's coat all night," said the crow. "it will be a good place for you to sleep." "the very thing!" cried uncle wiggily. so that night he dug himself a little house under the ground, and the duck gentleman flew up, and got inside the pocket of the old coat which the scarecrow figure wore, and there the duck stayed all night, sleeping very soundly. "well, now we'll travel on again," said uncle wiggily, the next morning after breakfast. so he and grandfather goosey started off. well, pretty soon it became hotter and hotter, for the sun was just beaming down as hard as it could, and uncle wiggily exclaimed: "i know what would taste good! an ice cream cone for each of us. wait here, grandfather, and i'll get two of them." "fine!" cried the grandfather duck. "but you seem to do all the hopping around, uncle wiggily. why can't i go, while you rest?" "oh, i don't in the least mind going," replied the kind rabbit. "besides, while i do not say it to be proud, and far be it from me to boast, i can go a little faster than you can in one hop. so i'll go." and go he did, leaving his valise in charge of grandfather goosey, who sat down with it, under a shady tree. pretty soon the old gentleman rabbit came to a little ice cream store, that stood beside the road, right near a little pond of water, where the ice-cream-man could wash his dishes when he had to make them clean. "i'll have two, nice, big, cold strawberry ice cream cones, and please put plenty of ice cream in them," said uncle wiggily to the man. "right you are!" cried the ice-cream-man in a jolly voice, and, say, i just wish you could have seen those cones! they were piled up heaping full of ice cream. oh, my! it just makes me hungry to write about them. well, uncle wiggily, carefully carrying the cones, started to hop back to where he had left grandfather goosey. he hadn't gone far before he heard a growling voice cry out: "hold on there a moment, uncle wiggily!" "why?" asked the rabbit. "because i want to see what you've got," was the answer. "ah, i see ice cream cones!" and with that a great, big, black bear jumped out of the bushes, and stood right in front of uncle wiggily. "let me pass!" cried the rabbit, holding the ice cream cones so that the bear couldn't get them. "indeed i will not!" cried the furry creature. "ice cream cones, indeed! if there is one thing that i'm fonder of than another, ice cream cones is it! let me taste one!" then before the rabbit could do anything, that bad bear took one ice cream cone right away from him. and that bear did more than that, so he did. he stuck his long, red tongue down inside the cone, and he licked out every bit of cream, with one, long lick. "my but that's good!" he cried, smacking his lips. "i guess i'll try the second one," he said, and he dropped the empty cone, not eating it, mind you, and he took the other full cone away from poor uncle wiggily before the rabbit gentleman could stand on his head, or even wave his short tail. "oh, don't eat that cone. it belongs to grandfather goosey," cried the rabbit, sadly-like. "too late!" cried the bear, in a growlery voice. "here it goes!" and with that he stuck his long, red tongue down inside the second cone, and with one lick he licked all the ice cream out and threw the empty cone on the ground. "now i feel good and hungry, and i guess i'll eat you," cried the bear. he made a grab for the poor gentleman rabbit, and folded him tight in his paws. but before that uncle wiggily had reached down and had picked up the two empty ice cream cones. "oh, let me go!" cried uncle wiggily to the bear. "indeed i'll not!" shouted the savage creature. "i want you for supper." well, he was just going to eat uncle wiggily up, when that brave rabbit just took the sharp points of those two empty ice cream cones, and he stuck them in the bear's ticklish ribs, and uncle wiggily tickled the bear so that the furry, savage creature sneezed out loud, and laughed so hard that uncle wiggily easily slipped out of his paws, and hopped away before he could be caught again. so that's how the rabbit got safely away, and the empty ice cream cones were of some use after all. but uncle wiggily wondered how he could get a full one for grandfather goosey gander, and how he did i'll tell you pretty soon, when, in case a butterfly doesn't bite a hole in my straw hat, the next story will be about uncle wiggily and the red ants. story xxvii uncle wiggily and the red ants when uncle wiggily got to where grandfather goosey gander was waiting for him, under the shady tree, the old gentleman duck jumped up and cried out: "oh, how glad i am to see you! i've just been wishing you would hurry back with those ice cream cones. my! i never knew the weather to be so warm at this time of the year. oh, won't they taste most delicious--those cones!" you see he didn't yet know what the bear had done--eaten all the ice cream out of the cones, as i told you in the other story. "oh, dear!" cried the rabbit. "how sorry i am to have to disappoint you, grandfather, but there is no ice cream!" "no ice cream!" cried the alligator--oh, dear me! i mean the duck. "no ice cream?" "not a bit," said uncle wiggily, and then he told about what the savage bear-creature had done, and also how he had used the cones to tickle him. "well, that's too bad," said grandfather goosey, "but here, i'll give you money to buy more cones with," and he put his hand in his pocket, but lo and behold! he had lost all his money. "never mind, perhaps _i_ have some pennies," said the rabbit; so he looked, but, oh, dear me, suz-dud and the mustard pot! all of uncle wiggily's money was gone, too. "well, i guess we can't get any ice cream cones this week," said the old gentleman duck. "we'll have to drink water." "oh, no you won't," said a buzzing voice. "i'll get you each an ice cream cone, because you have always been so kind--both of you." and with that out from the bushes flew a big, sweet, honey bee, with a load of honey. "have you got any ice cream cones, mr. bee?" asked the rabbit. "no, but i have sweet honey, and if i go down to the ice cream cone store, and give the man some of my honey he'll give me three cones, and there'll be one for you and one for me and----" "one for sister sallie!" interrupted grandfather goosey. "i wish she was here now." "she could have a cone if she was here," said the honey bee, "as i could get four. but, as long as she is not, the extra cone will go to you, grandpa. now, come on, and i'll take my honey to the ice-cream-cone-man." so they went with him and on the way the bee sung a funny little song like this: "i buzz, buzz, buzz all day long. i make my honey good and strong. i fly about to every flower and sometimes stay 'most half an hour." uncle wiggily didn't know whether or not the bee was really in earnest about what he said, but, surely enough, when they got to the ice cream store, the man took the bee's honey, and handed out four ice cream cones, each larger than the first ones. two were for the duck as he was so fond of them. "oh, let's eat them here, so that if the bear meets us he can't take them away," suggested grandfather goosey, and they did. then the bee flew home to his hive, and uncle wiggily and the old gentleman duck found a nice place to sleep under a haystack. in the morning grandfather goosey said he thought he had better go back home, as he had traveled enough. he wanted the rabbit to come with him, but uncle wiggily said: "no, i have not yet found my fortune, and until i do i will keep on traveling." so he kept on, and the duck went home. well, it was about two days after that when, along toward evening, as uncle wiggily was walking down the road, he saw a real big house standing beside a lake. oh, it was a very big house, about as big as a mountain, and the chimney on it was so tall as almost to reach the sky. "hum! i wonder who lives there?" said uncle wiggily. "perhaps i can find my fortune in that house." "oh, no; never go there!" cried a voice down on the ground, and, looking toward his toes, uncle wiggily saw a little red ant. "ah, ha! why shouldn't i go up to the big house, little red ant?" asked the rabbit. "because a monstrous giant lives there," was the answer, "and he could eat you up at one mouthful. so stay away." "i guess i will," said the rabbit. "but i wonder where i can sleep to-night. i guess i'll go----" "oh, look out! look out!" cried another red ant. "there is the giant coming now." uncle wiggily looked, and he saw something like a big tree moving, and that was the giant. then he felt the ground trembling as if a railroad train was rumbling past, and he heard a noise like thunder, and that was the giant walking and speaking: "i smell rabbits! i smell rabbits!" cried the giant. "i must have them for supper!" then he came on straight to where uncle wiggily was, but he hadn't yet seen him. "oh, what shall i do? what shall i do?" cried the bunny. "let me hide behind that stone." he made a jump for a rock, taking his valise and crutch with him, but the first red ant said: "it is no good hiding there, uncle wiggily, for the giant can see you." "oh, what shall i do?" he asked again, trembling with fear. "i know!" cried the second little red ant. "let's all bring grains of sand, and cover uncle wiggily up, leaving just a little hole for his nose, so he can breathe. then the giant won't see him. it will be like down at the seashore, when they cover people on the beach up with the sand." "oh, it will take many grains of sand to cover the rabbit," said the first red ant, but still they were not discouraged. the first two ants called their brothers and sisters, and aunts, and uncles, and papas, and mammas, and cousins, and nephews, and forty-second granduncles. soon there were twenty-two million four hundred and sixty-seven thousand, eight hundred and ninety-one ants, and a little baby ant, who counted as a half a one, and he carried baby grains of dirt. then each big ant took up a grain of sand, and then they all hurried up, and put them on uncle wiggily, who stretched out in the grass. now all those ants together could carry lots of sand, you see, and soon the rabbit was completely buried from sight, all but the tip of his nose, so he could breathe, and when the giant came rumbling, stumbling by, he couldn't see the bunny, and so he didn't eat him. and, of course, the giant didn't eat the ants, either for he didn't like them. "hum! i thought i smelled a rabbit, but i guess i was mistaken," said the giant, grumbling and growling, as he tramped around. and that's how uncle wiggily was saved, and pretty soon, if there isn't any sand in my rice pudding, i'll tell you about uncle wiggily and the bad giant. story xxviii uncle wiggily and the bad giant do you remember about the giant, of whom i told you a little while ago, and how he couldn't find uncle wiggily, because the rabbit was covered with sand that the ants carried? yes, i guess you do remember. well, now i'm going to tell you what that giant did. at first he was real surprised, because he couldn't find the bunny-rabbit, and he tramped around, making the ground shake with his heavy steps, and growling in his rumbling voice until you would have thought that it was thundering. "my, my!" growled the giant. "to think that i can't have a rabbit supper after all. oh, i'm so hungry that i could eat fourteen thousand, seven hundred and eighty-seven rabbits, and part of another one. but i guess i'll have to take a barrel of milk and a wagon load of crackers for my supper." so that's what he did, and my how much he ate! well, after the giant had gone away, uncle wiggily crawled out from under the sand, and he said to the ants: "i guess i'd better not stay around here, for it is too dangerous. i'll never find my fortune here, and if that giant were to see me he'd step on me, and make me as flat as a sheet of paper. i'm going." "but wait," said the biggest ant of all. "you know there are two giants around here. one is a good one, and one is bad. now if you go to the good giant i'm sure he will help you find your fortune." "i'll try it," said the rabbit. "where does the good giant live?" "just up the hill, in that house where you see the flag," said the big ant, as she ate two crumbs of bread and jam. "that's where the good giant lives. you must go where you see the fluttering flag, and you may find your fortune." "i will," said uncle wiggily, "i'll go in the morning, the first thing after breakfast." so the next morning he started off. but in the night something had happened and the rabbit didn't know a thing about it. after dark the bad giant got up, and he went over, and took the flag from the pole in front of the house of the good giant, and hoisted it up over his own house. "i haven't any flag of my own," said the bad giant, "so i will take his." for you see, the two giants lived not far apart. in fact they were neighbors, but they were very different, one from the other, for one was kind and the other was cruel. so it happened, that when uncle wiggily started to go to the giant's house he looked for the fluttering flag, and when he saw it on the bad giant's house he didn't know any better, but he thought it was the home of the good giant. well, the old gentleman rabbit walked on and on, having said good-by to the ants, and pretty soon he was right close to the bad giant's house. but, all the while, he thought it was the good giant's place--so don't forget that. "i wonder what sort of a fortune he'll give me," thought the rabbit. "i hope i soon get rich, so i can stop traveling, for i am tired." well, as he came near the place where the bad giant lived he heard a voice singing. and the song, which was sung in a deep, gruff, grumbling, growling voice, went something like this: "oh, bing bang, bung! look out of the way for me. for i'm so mad, i feel so bad, i could eat a hickory tree! oh, snip, snap, snoop! get off my big front stoop, or i'll tear my hair in wild despair, and burn you with hot soup!" "my, that's a queer song for a good giant to sing," thought uncle wiggily. "but perhaps he just sings that for fun. i'm sure i'll find him a jolly enough fellow, when i get to know him." well, he went on a little farther, and pretty soon he came to the gate of the castle where the bad giant lived. the rabbit looked about, and saw no one there, so he kept right on, until, all of a sudden, he felt as if a big balloon had swooped down out of the sky, and had lifted him up. higher and higher he went, until he found himself away up toward the roof of the castle, and then he looked and he saw two big fingers, about as big as a trolley car, holding him just as you would hold a bug. "oh, who has me?" cried uncle wiggily, very much frightened. "let me go, please. who are you?" "i am the bad giant," was the answer, "and if i let you go now you'd fall to the ground and be killed. so i'll hold on to you." "are you the bad giant?" asked the rabbit. "why, i thought i was coming to the good giant's house. oh, please let me go!" "no, i'm going to keep you," said the giant. "i just took the good giant's flag to fool you. now, let me see, i think i'll just sprinkle sugar on you and eat you all up--no, i'll use salt--no, i think pepper would be better; i feel like pepper to-day." so the bad giant started toward the cupboard to get the pepper caster, and poor uncle wiggily thought it was all up with him. "oh, i wish i'd never thought of coming to see any giant, good or bad," the rabbit gentleman said. "now good-by to all my friends!" "hum! let me see," spoke the bad giant, standing still. "pepper--no, i think i'll put some mustard on you--no, i'll try ketchup--no, i mean horseradish. oh, dear, i can't seem to make up my mind what to flavor you with," and he held uncle wiggily there in his fingers, away up about a hundred feet high in the air, and wondered what he'd do with the old gentleman rabbit. and it's a good thing he didn't eat him right away, for that was the means of saving uncle wiggily's life. right after breakfast the good giant found out that his bad neighbor had taken his flag, so he went and told the ants all about it. "oh, then uncle wiggily must have been mixed up about the flag, and he has gone to the wrong place, and he'll be eaten," said the big ant. "we must save him. come on, everybody!" so all the ants hurried along together, and crawled to the castle of the bad giant, and they got there just as he was putting some molasses on uncle wiggily to eat him. and those ants crawled all over the giant, on his legs and arms, and nose and ears and toes, and they tickled him so that he squiggled and wiggled and squirreled and whirled, and finally he let uncle wiggily fall on a feather bed, not hurting him a bit, and the rabbit gentleman hopped safely away and the ants crawled with him far from the castle of the bad giant. so uncle wiggily was saved by the ants, and in case the trolley car doesn't run over my stick of peppermint candy, and make it look like a lolly-pop, i'll tell you soon about uncle wiggily and the good giant. story xxix uncle wiggily and the good giant now what do you s'pose that bad giant had for supper the night after the ants helped uncle wiggily get away? you'd never guess, so i'll tell you. it was beans--just baked beans, and that giant was so disappointed, and altogether so cut-up about not having rabbit stew, that he ate so many beans, that i'm almost afraid to tell you just how many. but if all the boys in your school were to take their bean shooters, and shoot beans out of a bag for a million years, and fourth of july also, that giant could eat all of them, and more too--that is, if he could get the beans after the boys shot them away. "well, i certainly must be more careful after this," said uncle wiggily to the ants, as they crawled along down the hill with him, when he hopped away from the bad giant's house. "oh, it wasn't your fault," said the second size big red ant, with black and yellow stripes on his stockings. "that bad giant changed the flags, and that's what fooled you. but i guess the good giant will have his flag back by to-morrow, and then you can go to the right house. we'll go along and show you, and you may get your fortune from him." so, surely enough, the next day, the good giant went over and took his flag away from the bad giant, and put it upon his own house. "now you'll be all right," said the pink ant, with purple spots on his necktie. "you won't make any mistake now, uncle wiggily. i'm sure the good giant will give you a good fortune." "yes, and he'll give you lots to eat," said the black ant with white rings around his nose. well, uncle wiggily took his valise and his crutch and up toward the good giant's house he went, with the ants crawling along in the sand to show him the way. pretty soon they came to a big bridge, over a stream of water, and this was the beginning of the place where the good giant lived. "we'll all have to go back now," said the purple ant, with the green patchwork squares on his checks. "if we crossed over the bridge we might fall off and be drowned. we'll go back, but you go ahead, and we wish you good luck, uncle wiggily." "indeed we do," said a white ant with gold buckles on her shoes. well, after a little while uncle wiggily found himself right inside the good giant's house. and oh! what a big place it was. why, even the door mat was so big that it took the rabbit three hops to get to the top of it. and that front door! i wish you could have seen it! it was as large as one of your whole houses, and it was only a door, mind you. "hello! hello!" cried uncle wiggily, as he pounded with his crutch on the floor. "is any one at home?" "but no one answered, and there wasn't a sound except the ticking of the clock, and that made as much noise as a railroad train going over a bridge, for the clock was a big as a church steeple. "hum! no one is home," said uncle wiggily. "i'll just sit down and make myself comfortable." so he sat down on the floor by the table that was away over his head, and waited for the giant to come back. and, all of a sudden, the rabbit heard a noise like a steam engine going, and he was quite surprised, until he happened to look up, and there stood a pussy cat as big as a cow, and the cat was purring, which made the noise like a steam engine. "my, if that's the size of the cat, what must the giant be," thought the rabbit. "i do hope he's good-natured when he comes home." well, pretty soon, in a little while, as uncle wiggily was sitting there, listening to the big cat purr, he felt sleepy, and he was just going to sleep, when he heard a gentle voice singing: "oh, see the blackbird, sitting in the tree, hear him singing, jolly as can be. now he'll whistle a pretty little tune, isn't it delicious in the month of june? "hear the bees a-buzzing, hour by hour, gathering the honey from every little flower. the katydid is singing by his own front door, now i'll have to stop this song--i don't know any more." "well, whoever that is, he's a jolly chap," said the rabbit, and with that who should come in but the giant himself. "ho! ho! whom have we here?" the giant asked, looking at uncle wiggily. "what do you want, my little furry friend with the long ears? you must be able to hear very well with them." "i can hear pretty well," said the rabbit. "but i came to seek my fortune." "fine," cried the good giant, for he it was. "i'll do all i can for you," and he laughed so long and hard that part of the ceiling and the gas chandelier fell down, but the giant caught them in his strong hands, and not even the pussy cat was hurt. then the giant sung another song, like the first, only different, and he fixed the broken ceiling, and said: "now for something to eat! then we'll talk about your fortune. i'll get you some carrots." so he went out, and pretty soon he came back, carrying ten barrels of carrots in one hand and seventeen bushels of cabbage in the other. "here's a little light lunch for you," he said to uncle wiggily. "eat this, and i'll get you some more, when we have a regular meal." "oh, why this is more than i could eat in a year," said the rabbit, "but i thank you very much," so he nibbled at one carrot, while the good giant ate fifteen thousand seven hundred and eight loaves of bread, and two million bushels of jam. then he felt better. "so you want to find your fortune, eh?" the giant said to the rabbit. "well, now i'll help you all i can. how would you like to stay here and work for me? you have good ears, and you could listen for burglars in the night when i am asleep. will you?" "i think i will," said uncle wiggily. and he was just reaching for another carrot, when suddenly from outside sounded a terrible racket. "where is he? let me get at him! i want him right away--that rabbit i mean!" cried a voice, and uncle wiggily jumped up in great fright, and looked for some place to hide. the giant jumped up, too, and grabbed his big club. but don't be alarmed. nothing bad is going to happen to our uncle wiggily--in fact he is going to have lots of fun soon. so if my motorboat doesn't turn upside down and spill out the pink lemonade, i'll tell you in the next story about uncle wiggily and the giant's little boy. story xxx uncle wiggily and the giant's boy let me see, i believe i left off where uncle wiggily was in the house of the good giant, and the old gentleman rabbit heard a terrible noise. didn't i? "my goodness!" exclaimed the rabbit, jumping up so quickly that he upset one of the giant's toothpicks, on which he had been sitting for a chair, for the giant's toothpicks were as large as a big chestnut tree. "my goodness!" cried uncle wiggily, "what in the world is that?" "i guess it's my little boy coming home from school," said the good giant as softly as he could, but, even then, his voice was like thunder. "he must have heard that you were here." "will he hurt me? does he love animals?" asked the rabbit, for he was getting frightened. "will your little boy be kind to me?" "oh, indeed he will!" cried the good giant. "i have taught him to love animals, for you know he is so big and strong, even though i do call him my _little_ boy, that it would be no trouble for him to take a bear or a lion, and squeeze him in one hand so that the bear or lion would never hurt any one any more. but, just because he is big and strong, though not so big and strong as i am, i have taught my boy to be kind to the little animals." "then i will have no fear," said uncle wiggily, winking his nose--i mean his eyes--and just then the door of the giant's house opened and in came his little boy. well, at first uncle wiggily was so frightened that he did not know what to do. i wonder what you would say if you were suddenly to see a boy almost as big as your house, or mine, walk into the parlor, and sit down at the piano? well, that's what the old gentleman rabbit saw. "ah, my little boy is home from school," said the giant, kindly. "did you have your lessons, my son?" "yes, father, i did," was the answer. "and i learned a new song. i'll sing it for you." so he began to play the piano with his little finger nail, and still, and with all that, he made as much noise as a circus band of music can make on a hot day in the tent. oh, he played terribly loud, the giant's boy did, and uncle wiggily had to put his paws over his ears, or he might have been made deaf. then the giant's little boy sang, and even when he hummed it the noise was like a thunder storm, only different. now, this is the boy giant's song, and you will have to sing it with all your might, as hard as you can, but not if the baby is asleep. "i am a little fellow, but soon i will grow big. and then i'll sit beside the sea, and in the white sand dig. "i'll make a hole so very deep, to china it will go. and then i'll fill it up with shells wherein the wild waves blow." and with that the giant's little boy banged so hard on the piano with his little finger nail that he broke a string, and made a funny sound, like a banjo out of tune. "oh, i didn't mean to do that!" the giant's boy cried. "i'm sorry!" "dear me! i wonder when you'll grow up?" asked the giant, sort of sad-like. "i think he's pretty big now," said uncle wiggily. and, indeed, the boy-giant was so tall that when the rabbit stood up as high as he could stand, he only came up to the tip end of the shoe laces on the giant boy's big shoes. "oh, he grows very slowly," said the giant, and then the boy noticed the rabbit for the first time. well, that boy-giant wanted to know all about uncle wiggily, where he came from and where he was going, and all that, and uncle wiggily told about how he was traveling around to seek his fortune. "oh, i believe i know where you can find lots of money, uncle wiggily," said the giant's boy kindly, as he reached over and stroked the rabbit's ears. "i have always heard that there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. the next time we see one, you and i will go out and search for the money. then you will have your fortune, and you won't have to travel around any more." "that will be fine!" cried the rabbit, "for, to tell you the truth, i am getting pretty tired of going about the country. still, i will not give up until i find my fortune." "all right. but we will have to wait until it rains, and then we'll see where the end of the rainbow is," said the giant's boy. "now we will have some games together. let's play tag." well, they started to play that, but, land's sake, flopsy dub and a basket of ice cream cones! uncle wiggily ran here, and there, and everywhere, and he jumped and leaped about so that the giant's little boy couldn't catch him, for the big-little fellow wasn't very spry on his feet. "oh, i guess we had better not play that game any more," said the boy giant, as he accidentally nearly stepped on uncle wiggily's left ear. "i might hurt you. let's play hide-and-go-seek." but uncle wiggily was even better at this game than he had been at tag, for he could hide in such small holes that the boy giant couldn't even see them, so of course that wouldn't do for a game. it was no fun. then all at once it began to rain. my! how it did pour! it rained snips and snails and puppy dogs' tails, with the puppies fast to the tails, of course, and the streets were covered with them. then it rained a few ice cream cones, and uncle wiggily and the giant boy had all they wanted to eat, the giant eating fourteen thousand seven hundred and eighty-six, and part of another one, while uncle wiggily had only two cones. "oh, there is the rainbow!" cried the boy giant at last, as he saw the beautiful gold and green and orange and red colors in the sky. "now for the pot of gold." so he and uncle wiggily started off together to find it. but they had not gone very far through the woods before they met the papa giant. "where are you going?" he asked of them. "to the end of the rainbow to get the pot of gold," said the giant's little boy. "you don't need to," said the giant, "for there is none there. that is only a fairy story. wait, i'll show you." so he stretched out his long arm as far as it would go and he reached away down to the end of the rainbow and he felt all around with his long fingers, and sure enough, there wasn't a bit of gold there, for his hand came back empty. "it's too bad," said the giant's little boy to uncle wiggily. "there is nothing there for you. but perhaps you will find your fortune to-morrow. come and stay with me until morning." so uncle wiggily went back to the giant's house, and the next day quite a surprising adventure occurred to him, and in case the gasoline in my motorboat doesn't wash all the paint off my red necktie i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and grand-daddy longlegs. story xxxi uncle wiggily and daddy longlegs uncle wiggily got up early the morning after the good giant had shown him that there wasn't any gold at the end of the rainbow. the old gentleman rabbit looked where a place had been set for him at the table, but alas and alack a-day, the table was almost as high from the floor as the church steeple is from the ground, and uncle wiggily could not reach up to it. "hum, let's see what we will do," spoke the papa giant. "i know, i'll get a spool of thread from the lady giant next door, and that will answer for a table for you, uncle wiggily, and you can use another toothpick for a chair." so while the boy giant went for the spool of thread, the papa giant served uncle wiggily's breakfast. first he brought in a washtub full of milk and a bushel basket full of oatmeal. "what is that for?" asked the rabbit in surprise. "that is for your breakfast," was the answer. "isn't it enough? because i can get you more in a jiffy, if you want it." "oh, it is entirely too much," said uncle wiggily. "i can only take a little of that oatmeal." "very well, then, i will take this myself, and get you a small dish full," spoke the papa giant, and he ate all that oatmeal and milk up at one mouthful, but even then it was hardly enough to fill his hollow tooth. then the boy giant came back with the spool, which was as big as the dining-room table in a rabbit's house. up at this new table the traveling uncle sat, and he ate a very good breakfast indeed. "now i must start off again to seek my fortune," he said, as he took his crutch, striped red, green and yellow, like a cow's horn. oh, excuse me! i was thinking of circus balloons, i guess. anyhow uncle wiggily took his crutch and valise, and, as he was about to start off, the boy giant said: "i will walk along a short distance with you, and in case any bad animals try to hurt you i'll drive them away." "oh, i don't believe any one will harm me," spoke the rabbit, but nevertheless something did happen to him. as he and the boy giant were walking along, all of a sudden there was a noise from behind a big, black stump, and out jumped a big, black bear. he rushed right at the rabbit, and called out: "ha! now i have you! i've been waiting a long while for you, and i thought you'd never come. but, better late than never. now for my dinner! i've had the fire made for some time to cook you, and the kettle is boiling for tea." he was just going to grab our uncle wiggily, when the giant's little boy called out: "here, you let that rabbit alone! he's a friend of mine!" but, listen to this, the bear never thought a thing about a boy giant being with uncle wiggily, and he never even looked up at him. only when the bear heard the giant's boy speaking he thought it was distant thunder, and he said: "oh, i must hurry home with that rabbit before it rains. i don't like to get wet!" "yes, i guess you _will_ hurry home!" cried the giant's boy, and with that he reached over, and he grabbed that black, ugly bear by his short, stumpy tail and he flung him away over the tree tops, like a skyrocket, and it was some time before that bear came down. and when he did, he didn't feel like bothering uncle wiggily any more. "now i guess you'll be all right for a while on your travels," said the boy giant as he called good-by to the old gentleman rabbit. "send me a souvenir postal when you find your fortune, and if any bad animals bother you, just telephone for me, and i'll come and serve them as i did the bear." then the old gentleman rabbit thanked the boy giant, and started off again. he traveled on and on, over hills and down in little valleys, and across brooks that flowed over green mossy stones in the meadow, and pretty soon uncle wiggily came to a big gray stone in the middle of a field. and, as he looked at the stone, the old gentleman rabbit saw something red fluttering behind it, and he heard a noise like some one crying. "ha! here is where i must be careful!" exclaimed the rabbit to himself. "perhaps that is a red fox behind the stone, and he is making believe cry, so as to bring me up close, and then he'll jump out and grab me. no indeed, i'm going to run back." well, uncle wiggily was just going to run back, when he happened to look again, and there, instead of a fox behind the stone, it was a little boy, with red trousers on, and he was crying as hard as he could cry, that boy was. "what is the matter, my little chap?" asked the rabbit kindly. "are you crying because you have on red trousers instead of blue? i think red is a lovely color myself. i wish i had red ears, as well as red eyes." "oh, i am not crying for that," said the little boy, wiping away his tears on a big green leaf, "but you see i am like bo-peep, only i have lost my cows, instead of my sheep, and i don't know where to find them." "oh, i'll help you look," said uncle wiggily. "i am pretty good at finding lost cows. come, we'll hunt farther." so off they started together, uncle wiggily holding the little boy by one of his paws--one of the rabbit's paws, i mean. well, they looked and looked, but they couldn't seem to find those cows. they looked at one hill, and on top of another hill, and down in the hollows, and under the trees by the brook, but no cows were to be seen. "oh, dear!" cried the little boy, "if i don't find them soon there'll be no milk for dinner." "and i am very thirsty, too," said the rabbit. "i wish i had a drink of milk. but where in the world can those cows be?" and he looked up into the sky, not because he thought the cows were there, but so that he might think better. then he looked down at the ground, and, as he did so he saw a little red creature with eight long legs, and the creature wiggled one leg at the rabbit friendly-like as if to shake hands. "why don't you ask me where the cows are?" said the long-legged insect. "why, can you tell?" inquired uncle wiggily. "of course i can. i'm a grand-daddy longlegs, and i can always tell where the cows are," was the reply. "just you ask me." so uncle wiggily and the little boy, both together, politely asked where they could find the cows, and the grand-daddy just pointed with one long leg off toward the woods where the rabbit and boy hadn't thought of looking before that. "you'll find your cows there," said grand-daddy longlegs, and then he hurried home to his dinner. and uncle wiggily and the boy went over to the woods, and there in the shade by a brook--sure enough were the cows, chewing their gum--i mean their cuds. and they were just waiting to be driven home. so uncle wiggily, and the boy with the red trousers, drove the cows home, and they were milked, and the old gentleman rabbit had several glasses full--glasses full of milk, not cows, you know. goodness me! a cow couldn't get into a glass could it? i guess not! and after that uncle wiggily---- well, but see here now. i think i've put enough adventures about uncle wiggily in this book, and i must save some for another one. so i think i will call the following book "uncle wiggily's travels," for he still kept on traveling after his fortune you know. and he found it, too, which is the best part of it. oh, my yes! he found his fortune all right. don't worry about that. and in the next book, the very first thing he did, was to have an adventure with a red squirrel-girl, who was some relation to johnnie and billie bushytail. so that's all there is to uncle wiggily, for a little while, if you please, but if you want to hear anything else about him i'll try, later on, to tell you some more stories. and now, dear children, good-bye. the end. [transcriber note: the last line of chapter vi actually ended: "...in their rams." chapter xi: original reads: he thought he saw a chance to escape runing across] note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original illustrations. see -h.htm or -h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/ / / / / / -h/ -h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/ / / / / / -h.zip) uncle wiggily's travels by howard r. garis author of _sammie and susie littletail_, _johnnie and billy bushytail_, _jackie and peetie bow wow_, "those smith boys," series, "the island boys," series, etc. illustrated by louis wisa a.l. burt company publishers new york [illustration] the famous bed time series five groups of books, intended for reading aloud to the little folks each night. each volume contains colored illustrations, stories, one for each day of the month. handsomely bound in cloth. size - / x - / . price cents per volume, postpaid * * * * * howard r. garis' bed time animal stories no. . sammie and susie ltttletail no. . johnny and billy bushytail no. . lulu, alice & jimmie wibblewobble no. . jackie and peetie bow-wow no. . buddy and brighteyes pigg no. . joie, tommie and kittie kat no. . charlie and arabella chick no. . neddie and beckie stubtail no. . bully and bawly no-tail no. . nannie and billie wagtail no. . jollie and jillie longtail uncle wiggily bed time stories no. . uncle wiggily's adventures no. . uncle wiggily's travels no. . uncle wiggily's fortune no. . uncle wiggily's automobile no. . uncle wiggily at the seashore no. . uncle wiggily's airship no. . uncle wiggily in the country * * * * * for sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the publishers. a.l. burt co., - east d st., new york * * * * * uncle wiggily's travels the stories herein contained appeared originally in the _evening news_, of newark, n.j., where (so many children and their parents were kind enough to say) they gave pleasure to a number of little folks and grown-ups also. permission to issue the stories in book form was kindly granted by the publisher and editor of the _news_, to whom the author extends his thanks. contents story page i. uncle wiggily and the red squirrel ii. uncle wiggily and the brown wren iii. uncle wiggily and the sunfish iv. uncle wiggily and the yellow bird v. uncle wiggily and the sky-cracker vi. uncle wiggily and the buttercup vii. uncle wiggily and the july bug viii. uncle wiggily and jack-in-the-pulpit ix. uncle wiggily and the lost chipmunk x. uncle wiggily and the black cricket xi. uncle wiggily and the busy bug xii. uncle wiggily and the funny monkey xiii. uncle wiggily and the big dog xiv. uncle wiggily and the peanut man xv. uncle wiggily and the crawly snake xvi. uncle wiggily and the water-lilies xvii. uncle wiggily and the sunflower xviii. uncle wiggily and the lightning bugs xix. uncle wiggily and the phoebe birds xx. uncle wiggily and the milkman xxi. uncle wiggily's swimming lesson xxii. uncle wiggily in the bear's den xxiii. uncle wiggily and the toadstool xxiv. uncle wiggily and the chickie xxv. uncle wiggily and the wasp xxvi. uncle wiggily and the bluebell xxvii. uncle wiggily and the wibblewobbles xxviii. uncle wiggily and the berry bush xxix. uncle wiggily and the camp fire xxx. uncle wiggily and the cowbird xxxi. uncle wiggily and the tailor bird uncle wiggily's travels story i uncle wiggily and the red squirrel you know when uncle wiggily longears, the old rabbit gentleman, started out to look for his fortune, he had to travel many weary miles, and many adventures happened to him. some of those adventures i have told you in the book just before this one, and now i am going to tell you about his travels when he hoped to find a lot of money, so he would be rich. one day, as i told you in the last story in the other book, uncle wiggily came to a farm, and there he had quite an adventure with a little boy. and this little boy had on red trousers, because, i guess, his blue ones were in the washtub. anyhow, he and the rabbit gentleman became good friends. and now i am going to tell you what happened when uncle wiggily met the red squirrel. "where do you think you will go to look for your fortune to-day, uncle wiggily?" asked the little boy with the red trousers the next morning, after the rabbit had stayed all night at the farm house. "i do not know," said the rabbit gentleman. "perhaps i had better do some traveling at night. i couldn't find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but perhaps there may be a gold, or silver fortune, at the end of a moon-beam. i think i'll try." "oh, but don't you get sleepy at night?" asked the little boy's mother as she fried an ice cream cone for uncle wiggily's breakfast. "well, i could sleep in the day time, and then i would stay awake at night," answered the traveling uncle, blinking his ears. "oh, but aren't you afraid of the bogeyman at night?" inquired the boy with the red hair--i mean trousers. "there are no such things as bogeymen," said uncle wiggily, "and if there were any, they would not harm you. i am not a bit afraid in the dark, except that i don't like mosquitoes to bite me. i think i'll travel to-morrow night, and look for gold at the end of the moon-beam." so he started off that day, and he went only a short distance, for he wanted to find a place to sleep in order that he would be wide awake when it got dark. well, he found a nice, soft place under a pile of hay, and there he stretched out to slumber as nicely as if he were in his bed at home. he even snored a little bit, i believe, or else it was bully frog croaking one of his songs. the day passed, and the sun went down, and it got all ready to be night, and still uncle wiggily slept on soundly. but all of a sudden he heard voices whispering: "now you go that way and i'll go this way, and we'll catch that rabbit and put him in a cage and sell him!" well, you can just believe that uncle wiggily was frightened when he awakened suddenly and saw two bad boys softly creeping up and making ready to catch him. "oh, this is no place for me!" the rabbit cried, and he grabbed up his crutch and his valise and hopped away so fast that the boys couldn't catch him, no matter how fast they could run, even bare-footed. "let's throw stones at him!" they cried. and they did, but i'm glad to say that none of them hit uncle wiggily. isn't it queer how mean some boys can be? but perhaps they were never told any better, so we'll forgive them this time. "well, it is now night," said the rabbit gentleman as he hopped on through the woods, "so i think i will sit under this tree and wait for the moon to come up. and while i'm waiting i'll eat my supper." so uncle wiggily ate his supper, which the kind farmer lady had put up for him, and then he sat and waited for the moon to rise, and pretty soon he heard a funny noise, calling like this: "who? who? who-tu-tu-tu." "oh, you know who i am all right, mr. owl," said the rabbit. "you can see very well at night. you can see me." "my goodness, if it isn't uncle wiggily!" cried the owl in surprise. "what are you doing out so late, i'd like to know?" "waiting for a moon-beam, so i can see if there is any gold for my fortune at the end of it," was the answer. "is the moon coming up over the trees, mr. owl?" "yes, here it comes," said the owl, "and now i must fly off to the dark woods, for i don't like the light," and he fluttered away. then the moon came up, all silver and glorious; shining over the tree tops like a shimmering ball, and soon the moon-beams fell to the ground in slanting rays, but they fell so softly, like feathers, that they did not get hurt at all. "well, i guess i'll follow that big one," said the old gentleman rabbit, as he picked out a nice, broad, large, shiny moon-beam. "that must have gold at the end, and, if i find it, my fortune is made." so off he started to follow the moon-beam to where it came to an end. it seemed to go quite a distance through the dark woods, and uncle wiggily traveled on for several hours, and he didn't seem to be any nearer the end by that time than he was at first. "my land, this is a very long beam," he exclaimed. "it is almost big enough to make a church steeple from. but i'll keep on a little longer, for i'm not a bit sleepy yet." well, all of a sudden, just as he was turning the corner around a big stone, the rabbit gentleman heard a funny noise. it wasn't like any one crying, yet it sounded as if some one was in trouble, for the voice said: "oh, dear! i'll never get it big enough, i know i can't! i've combed it and brushed it, and done it up in curl papers to make it fluffy, but still it isn't like theirs. what shall i do?" "hum, i wonder who that can be?" thought uncle wiggily. "perhaps it is some little lost child; but no children would be out in the woods at night. i'll take a look." so he hopped softly over, and peered around the edge of the stone, and what do you think he saw? why, there was a nice, little, red squirrel-girl, and she had a comb and a brush, and little looking-glass. and the glass was stuck up on a stump where the moon-beam that uncle wiggily was following shone on it and reflected back again. and by the light of the moon-beam the red squirrel was combing and brushing out her tail as hard as she could comb and brush it. "what are you doing?" asked uncle wiggily in surprise. "oh, my! how you startled me!" exclaimed the red squirrel. "but i'm glad it's you, uncle wiggily. i'm going to a surprise party soon, and i was just trying to make my tail as big as johnnie or billie bushytail's, but i can't do it," she said sadly. "no, and you never can," said the rabbit. "their tails are a different kind than yours, for they are gray squirrels and you are a red one. but yours is very nice. be content to have yours as it is." "i guess i will," said the red squirrel. "but what are you doing out so late, uncle wiggily?" "looking for the end of the moon-beam to get my fortune." "ha! the moon-beam ends right here," said the red squirrel-girl, pointing to her looking-glass, and, surely enough, there the bright shaft of light ended. "but there is no fortune here, uncle wiggily, i am sorry to say," she added. "i see there isn't," answered the rabbit. "well, i must travel on again to-morrow, then. but now i will see that you get safely home, for it is getting late." and, just as he said that, what should happen but that a black, savage, ugly bear stuck his nose out of the bushes and made a grab for the rabbit. but what do you think the red squirrel did? she just took her hair brush and with the hard back of it she whacked the bear on the end of his tender-ender nose, and he howled, and turned around to run away, and the squirrel girl tickled him with the comb, and he ran faster than ever, and the bear didn't eat uncle wiggily that night. then the rabbit stayed at the red squirrel's mamma's house the rest of the evening, and the next day the squirrel went to the surprise party with her tail the regular size it ought to be, and not as big as the bushytail brothers' tails, and everybody was happy. now in case the granddaddy longlegs doesn't tickle the baby with his long cow-pointing leg and make her laugh so she gets the hiccoughs, i'll tell you in the next story about uncle wiggily and the brown wren. story ii uncle wiggily and the brown wren well, just as i expected, the granddaddy longlegs did tickle the baby, but she only smiled in her sleep, and didn't awaken, so, as it's nice and quiet i can tell you another story. and it's going to be about how uncle wiggily, in his travels about the country, in search of his fortune, helped a little brown wren. "well, where are you going this morning?" asked the red squirrel's mother as uncle wiggily finished his breakfast, and shook out from his long ears the oatmeal crumbs that had fallen in them. "oh, i suppose i will have to be traveling on," answered the rabbit. "that fortune of mine seems to be a long distance off. i've tried rainbows and moon-beams and i didn't find any money at their ends. i guess i'll have to look under the water next, but i'll wait until i get back home, and then i'll have jimmie wibblewobble the duck boy put his head at the bottom of the pond and see if there is any gold down there." so off the old gentleman rabbit started, limping on his crutch, for his rheumatism was troubling him again, and at his side swung his valise, with some crackers and cheese and bread and butter and jam in it--plenty of jam, too, let me tell you, for the red squirrel's mamma could make lovely preserves, and this was carrot jam, with turnip frosting on it. well, uncle wiggily traveled on and on, over the hills and through the deep woods, and pretty soon he came to a place where he saw a lot of little black ants trying to carry to their nest a nice big piece of meat that some one had dropped. "my, how hard those ants are working," thought the rabbit. "but that meat is too heavy for them. i'll have to help carry it." now the piece of meat was only as big as a quarter of a small cocoanut, but, of course, that's too big for an ant to carry; or even for forty-'leven ants, so uncle wiggily kindly lifted it for them, and put it in their nest. "thank you very much," said the biggest ant. "if ever we can do you a favor, or any of your friends, we will." the old gentleman rabbit said he was glad to hear that, and then, taking up his crutch and valise again, on he went. pretty soon he came to a place in the woods where the sun was shining down through the trees, and a little brook was making pretty music over the stones. and then, all at once, the old gentleman rabbit heard a different kind of music, and it was that of a little bird singing. and this is the song. now i did not make up this song. it is much prettier than i could write, even if i had my sunday-go-to-meeting clothes on, and i don't know who did write it. but it used to be in my school reader when i was a little boy, and i liked it very much. i hope whoever did write it won't mind if you sing it. this is it: "there's a little brown bird sitting up in a tree, he's singing to you--he's singing to me. and what does he say, little girl--little boy? oh, the world's running over with joy!" then the bird sang about how there were five eggs laid away up in a nest, and how, pretty soon, little birds would come out from them, and then, all of a sudden, the bird sang like this: "but don't meddle,--don't touch, little girl--little boy, or the world will lose some of its joy!" "ha! you seem quite happy this beautiful morning," said uncle wiggily, as he paused under the tree where the bird was singing. "why, i do declare," he exclaimed. "if it isn't mrs. wren! well, i never in all my born days! i didn't know you were back from the south yet." "yes, uncle wiggily," said the little brown wren, "i came up some time ago. but i'm real glad to see you. i'm going to take my little birdies out of the shell pretty soon. they are almost hatched." "glad to hear it," said the rabbit, politely, and then he told about seeking his fortune, and all of a sudden a great big ugly crow-bird flew down out of a tall tree and made a dash for mrs. wren to eat her up. but mrs. wren got out of the way just in time, and didn't get caught. but alack, and alas-a-day! the crow knocked down the wren's nest, and all the sticks and feathers of which it was made were scattered all about, and the eggs, with the little birdies inside, would have been all broken ker-smash, only that they happened to fall down on some soft moss. "oh, dear!" cried mrs. wren, sorrowfully. "now see what that crow has done! my home is broken up, and my birdies will be killed." "caw! caw! caw!" cried the crow as unkindly as he could, and it sounded just as if he laughed "haw! haw! haw!" "oh, whatever shall i do?" asked mrs. wren. "my birdies will have no nest, and i haven't time to make another and break up the little fine sticks that i need and gather the feathers that are scattered all over. oh, what shall i do? soon my birdies will be out of the shells." "never fear!" said uncle wiggily, bravely. "i will help you. i'll gather the sticks for you." "oh, but you haven't time; you must be off seeking your fortune," answered the wren. "oh, i guess my fortune can wait. it has been waiting for me a long time, and it won't hurt to wait a bit longer. i'll get you the sticks," said the rabbit gentleman. so while mrs. wren sat over the eggs to keep them warm with her fluffy feathers, uncle wiggily looked for sticks with which to make a new nest. he couldn't find any short and small enough, so what do you think he did? why, he took some big sticks and he jumped a jiggily dance up and down on them with his sharp paws, and broke them up as fine as toothpicks for the nest. then he arranged them as well as he could in a sort of hollow, like a tea cup. "oh, if we only had some feathers now, we would be all right," said mrs. wren. "it's a very good nest for a rabbit to make." "don't say a word!" cried some small voices on the ground. "we will gather up the feathers for you." and there came marching up a lot of the little ants that uncle wiggily had been kind to, and soon they had gathered up all the scattered feathers. and the nest was made on a mossy stump, and lined with the feathers, and the warm eggs were put in it by mrs. wren, who then hovered over them to hatch out the birdies. and she was very thankful to uncle wiggily for what he had done. now, in case the water in the lake doesn't get inside the milk pail and make lemonade of it, i'll tell you in the next story how the birdies were hatched out, and also about uncle wiggily and the sunfish. story iii uncle wiggily and the sunfish uncle wiggily slept that night--i mean the night after he had helped mrs. wren build her nest--he slept in an old under-ground house that another rabbit must have made some time before. it was nicely lined with leaves, and the fortune-hunting bunny slept very nice and warm there. when the sun was up, shining very brightly, and most beautifully, uncle wiggily arose, shook his ears to get the dust out of them, and threw the dried-leaf blankets off him. "ah, ha! i must be up and doing," he cried. "perhaps i shall find my fortune to-day." well, no sooner had he crawled out of the burrow than he heard a most beautiful song. it was one mrs. wren was singing, and it went "tra-la-la tra-la-la! tum-tee-tee-tum-tum-tee-tee!" too pretty for anything. and then, afterward, there was a sort of an echo like "cheep-cheep cheep-cheep!" "why, you must be very happy this morning, mrs. wren!" called uncle wiggily to her as she sat in her new nest which the rabbit had made for her on the mossy stump. "i am," she answered, "very happy. what do you think happened in the night?" "i can't guess," he answered. "a burglar crow didn't come and steal your eggs, i hope!" "oh, nothing sad or bad like that," she answered. "but something very nice. just hop up here and look." so uncle wiggily hopped up on the stump, and mrs. wren got off her nest, and there, on the bottom, in among some egg-shells, were a lot of tiny, weeny little birdies, about as big as a spool of silk thread or even smaller. "why, where in the world did they come from?" asked the old gentleman rabbit, rubbing his eyes. "out of the eggs to be sure," answered mrs. wren. "and i do declare, the last of my family is hatched now. there is little wiggily out of the shell at last. i think i'll name him after you, as he never could keep still when he was being hatched. now i must take out all the broken shells so the birdies won't cut themselves on them." and she began to throw them out with her bill, just as the mother hen does, and then one of the new little birdies called out: "cheep-cheep-chip-chip!" "yes, i know you're hungry," answered their mamma, who understood their bird talk. "well, i'll fly away and get you something to eat just as soon as your papa comes home to stay in the house. you know mr. wren went away last night to see about getting a new position in a feather pillow factory," said mrs. wren to uncle wiggily, "and he doesn't yet know about the birdies. i hope he'll come back soon, as they are very hungry, and i don't like to leave them alone to go shopping." "oh, i'll stay and take care of them for you while you go to the store," said the old gentleman rabbit, kindly. "that will do very well," said mrs. wren. so she put on her bonnet and shawl and took her market basket and off she flew to the store, while uncle wiggily stayed with the new birdies, and they snuggled down under his warm fur, and were as cozy as in their own mother's feathers. well, mrs. wren was gone some time, as the store was crowded and she couldn't get waited on right away, and uncle wiggily stayed with the birdies. and they got hungrier and hungrier, and they cried real hard. yes, indeed, as hard as some babies. "hum! i don't know what to do," said the old gentleman rabbit. "i can't feed them. i guess i'll sing to them." so he sang this song: "hush, birdies, hush, please don't cry; mamma'll be back by and by. "nestle down close under my fur, i'm not your mother, but i'm helping her." but this didn't seem to satisfy the birdies and they cried "cheep-cheep" harder than ever. "oh, dear! i believe i must get them something to eat," said uncle wiggily. so he covered them all up warmly with the feathers that lined the nest, and then he hopped down and went limping around on his crutch to find them something to eat. pretty soon he came to a little brook, and as he looked down into it he saw something shining, all gold and red and green and blue and yellow. "why, i do declare, if here isn't the end of the rainbow!" exclaimed the old gentleman rabbit, as he saw all the pretty colors. he rubbed his eyes with his paw, to make sure he wasn't dreaming, but the colors were surely enough there, down under water. "no wonder the giant couldn't find the pot of gold, it was down in the water," spoke the rabbit. "but i'll get it, and then my fortune will be made. oh, how glad i am!" well, uncle wiggily reached his paw down and made a grab for the red and green and gold and yellow thing, but to his surprise, instead of lifting up a pot of gold, he lifted up a squirming, wiggling sunfish. "oh, my!" exclaimed the rabbit in surprise. "i should say yes! two oh mys and another one!" gasped the fish. "oh, please put me back in the water again. the air out on land is too strong for me. i can't breathe. please, uncle wiggily, put me back." "i thought you were a pot of gold," said the rabbit, sadly. "i'm always getting fooled. but never mind. i'll put you in the water." "what are you doing here?" asked the fish, as he slid into the water again and sneezed three times. "just at present i am taking care of mrs. wren's new little birdies," said the rabbit. "she has gone to the store for something for them to eat, but they are so hungry they can't wait." "oh, that is easily fixed," said the sunfish. "since you were so kind to me i'll tell you what to do. get them a few little worms, and some small flower seeds, and feed them. then the birdies will go to sleep." so uncle wiggily did this, and as soon as the birds had their hungry little mouths filled, sound to sleep they went. and in a little while mrs. wren came back from the store with her basket filled, and mr. wren flew home to say that he had a nice position in a feather factory, and how he did admire his birdies! he hugged and kissed them like anything. then the two wrens both thanked uncle wiggily for taking care of their children, and the rabbit said good-by and hopped on again to seek his fortune. and if the trolley car conductor gives me a red, white and blue transfer, for the pin cushion to go to sleep on, i'll tell you in the following story about uncle wiggily and the yellow bird. story iv uncle wiggily and the yellow bird once upon a time, when johnnie bushytail was going along the road to school, he met a fox--oh, just listen to me, would you! this story isn't about the squirrel boy at all. it's about uncle wiggily longears to be sure, and the yellow bird, so i must begin all over again. the day after the old gentleman rabbit had helped mrs. wren feed her little birdies he found himself traveling along a lonely road through a big forest of tall trees. oh, it was a very lonesome place, and not even an automobile was to be seen, and there wasn't the smell of gasoline, and no "honk-honks" to waken the baby from her sleep. "hum, i don't believe i'll find any fortune along here," thought uncle wiggily as he tramped on. "i haven't met even so much as a red ant, or even a black one, or a grasshopper. i wonder if i can be lost?" so he looked all around to see if he might be lost in the woods. but you know how it is, sometimes you're lost when you least expect it, and again you think you are lost, but you're right near home all the while. that's the way it was with uncle wiggily, he didn't know whether or not he was lost, so he thought he'd sit down on a flat stone and eat his lunch. the reason he sat on a flat stone instead of a round one was because he had some hard boiled eggs for his lunch, and you know if you put an egg on a round stone it's bound to roll off and crack right in the middle. "and i don't like cracked eggs," said the rabbit. so he laid the eggs he had on the flat stone, and put little sticks in front of them and behind them, so they couldn't even roll off the flat stone if they wanted to. then he ate his lunch. "i guess it doesn't much matter if i am lost," said the traveling fortune-hunting rabbit a little later. "i'll go on and perhaps i may meet with an adventure." so on he hopped, and pretty soon he came to a place where the leaves and the dirt were all torn up, just as if some boys had been playing a baseball game, or leap-frog, or something like that. "my, i must look out that i don't tumble down any holes here," thought uncle wiggily, "for maybe some bad men have been setting traps to catch us rabbits." well, he turned to one side, to get out of the way of some sharp thorns, and, my goodness! if there weren't more sharp thorns on the ground on the other side of the path. "i guess i'll have to keep straight ahead!" thought our uncle wiggily. "i never saw so many thorns before in all my life. i'll have to look out or i'll be stuck." so he kept straight on, and all of a sudden he felt himself going down into a big hole. "oh! oh dear! oh me! oh my!" cried uncle wiggily. "i've fallen into a trap! that's what those thorns were for--so i would have to walk toward the trap instead of going to one side." but, very luckily for uncle wiggily, his crutch happened to catch across the hole, and so he didn't go all the way down, but hung on. but his valise fell to the bottom. however, he managed to pull himself up on the ground, though his rheumatism hurt him, and soon he was safe once more. "oh, my valise, with all my clothes in it!" he cried, as he looked down into the hole, which had been covered over with loose leaves and dirt so he couldn't see it before falling in. "i wonder how i can get my things back again?" he went on. then he looked up, and in a tree, not far from him, he saw something bright and yellow, shining like gold. "ah, ha!" cried uncle wiggily. "at last i have found the pot of gold, even if the rainbow isn't here. that is yellow, and yellow is the color of gold. now my fortune is made. i will get that gold and go back home." so, not worrying any more about his valise down the trap-hole, uncle wiggily hopped over to the tree to get what he thought was a big bunch of yellow gold. but as he came closer, he saw that the gold was moving about and fluttering, though not going very far away. "that is queer gold," thought the old gentleman rabbit. "i never saw moving gold before. i wonder if it is a good kind." then he went a little closer and he heard a voice crying. "why, that is crying gold, too," he said. "this is very strange." then he heard some one calling: "oh, help! will some one please help me?" "why, this is most strange of all!" the rabbit cried. "it is talking gold. perhaps there is a fairy about." "oh, i only wish there was one!" cried the yellow object in the tree. "if i saw a fairy i'd ask her to set me free." "what's that? who are you?" asked the rabbit. "oh, i'm a poor little yellow bird," was the answer, "and i'm caught in a string-trap that some boys set in this tree. there is a string around my legs and i can't fly home to see my little ones. i got into the trap by mistake. oh! can't you help me? climb up into the tree, uncle wiggily, and help me!" "how did you know my name was uncle wiggily?" asked the rabbit. "i could tell it by your ears--your wiggling ears," was the answer. "but please climb up and help me." "rabbits can't climb trees," said uncle wiggily. "but i will tell you what i'll do. i'll gnaw the tree down with my sharp teeth, for they are sharp, even if i am a little old. then, when it falls, i can reach the string, untie it, and you will be free." so uncle wiggily did this, and soon the tree fell down, but the golden yellow bird was on a top branch and didn't get hurt. then the old gentleman rabbit quickly untied the string and the bird was out of the trap. "i cannot thank you enough!" she said to the rabbit. "is there anything i can do for you to pay you?" "well, my valise is down a hole," said uncle wiggily, "but i don't see how you can get it up. i need it, though." "i can fly down, tie the string to the satchel and you can pull it up," said the birdie. and she did so, and the rabbit pulled up his valise as nicely as a bucket of water is hoisted up from the well. then some bad boys and a man came along to see if there was anything in the hole-trap, or the string-trap they had made; but when they saw the bird flying away and the rabbit hopping away through the woods they were very angry. but uncle wiggily and the yellow bird were safe from harm, i'm glad to say. and the rabbit had another adventure soon after that, and what it was i'll tell you soon, when the story will be about uncle wiggily and the skyrockets. it will be a fourth of july story, if you please; that is if the bean bag doesn't fall down the coal hole and catch a mosquito. story v uncle wiggily and the sky-cracker let me see, i think i promised to tell you a story about uncle wiggily and the skyrocket, didn't i? or was it to be about a firecracker, seeing that it soon may be the fourth of july? what's that--a firecracker--no? a skyrocket? oh, i'm all puzzled up about it, so i guess i'll make it a sky-cracker, a sort of half-firecracker and half-skyrocket, and that will do. well, after uncle wiggily had gotten the little yellow bird, that looked like gold, out from the string-trap in the tree, the old gentleman rabbit spent two nights visiting a second cousin of grandfather prickly porcupine, who lived in the woods. then uncle wiggily got up one morning, dressed himself very carefully, combed out his whiskers, and said: "well, i'm off again to seek my fortune." "it's too bad you can't seem able to find it," said the second cousin to grandfather prickly porcupine, "but perhaps you will have good luck to-day. only you want to be very careful." "why?" asked the old gentleman rabbit. "well, because you know it will soon be the fourth of july, and some boys may tie a firecracker or a skyrocket to your tail," said the porcupine. "ha! ha!" laughed uncle wiggily. "they will have a hard time doing that, for my tail is so short that the boys would burn their fingers if they tried to tie a firecracker to it." "then look out that they don't fasten a skyrocket to your long ears," said the second cousin to grandfather prickly porcupine, as he wrapped up some lettuce and carrot sandwiches for uncle wiggily to take with him. the old gentleman rabbit said he would watch out, and away he started, going up hill and down hill with his barber-pole crutch as easily as if he was being wheeled in a baby carriage. "well, i don't seem to find any fortune," he said to himself as he walked along, and, just as he said that he saw something sparkling in the grass beside the path in the woods. "what's that?" he cried. "perhaps it is a diamond. if it is i can sell it and get rich." then he happened to think what the second cousin of grandfather prickly porcupine had told him about fourth of july coming, and uncle wiggily said: "ha! i had better be careful. perhaps that sparkling thing is a spark on a firecracker. ah, ha!" so he looked more carefully, and the bright object sparkled more and more, and it didn't seem to be fire, so the old gentleman rabbit went up close, and what do you suppose it was? why, it was a great big dewdrop, right in the middle of a purple violet, that was growing underneath a shady fern. oh, how beautiful it was in the sunlight, and uncle wiggily was glad he had looked at it. and pretty soon, as he was still looking, a big, buzzing bumble bee buzzed along and stopped to take a sip of the dewdrop. "ha! that is a regular violet ice cream soda for me!" said the bee to uncle wiggily. and just as he was taking another drink a big, ugly snake made a spring and tried to eat the bee, but uncle wiggily hit the snake with his crutch and the snake crawled away very much surprised. "thank you very much," said the bee to the rabbit. "you saved my life, and if ever i can do you a favor i will," and with that he buzzed away. well, pretty soon, not so very long, in a little while, uncle wiggily came to a place in the woods where there were a whole lot of packages done up in paper lying on the ground. and there was a tent near them, and it looked as if people lived in the white tent, only no one was there just then. [illustration] "i guess i'd better keep away," thought the old gentleman rabbit, "or they may catch me." and just then he saw something like a long, straight stick, standing up against a tree. "ha, that will be a good stick to take along to chase the bears away with," he thought. "i think no one wants it, so i'll take it." well, he walked up and took hold of it in his paws, but, mind you, he didn't notice that on one end of the stick was a piece of powder string, like the string of a firecracker, sticking down, and this string was burning. no, the poor old gentleman, rabbit never noticed that at all. he started to take the stick away with him when, all of a sudden, something dreadful happened. with a whizz and a rush and a roar that stick shot into the air, carrying uncle wiggily with it, just like a balloon, for he hadn't time to let go of it. up and up he went, with a roar and a swoop, and just then he saw a whole lot of boys rushing out of the woods toward the white tent. and one boy cried: "oh, fellows, look! a rabbit has hold of our sky-cracker and it's on fire and has gone off and taken him with it! oh the poor rabbit! because when the sky-cracker gets high enough in the air the firecracker part of it will go off with a bang, and he'll be killed. oh, how sorry i am. the hot sun must have set fire to the powder string." you see those boys had come out in the woods to have their fourth of july, where the noise wouldn't make any one's head ache. well, uncle wiggily went on, up and up, with the sky-cracker, and he felt very much afraid for he had heard what the boys said. "oh, this is the end of me!" he cried, as he held fast to the sky-cracker. "i'll never live to find my fortune now. when this thing explodes, i'll be dashed to the ground and killed." the sky-cracker was whizzing and roaring, and black smoke was pouring out of one end, and uncle wiggily thought of all his friends whom he feared he would never see again, when all of a sudden along came flying the buzzing bumble bee, high in the air. he was much surprised to see uncle wiggily skimming along on the tail of a sky-cracker. "oh, can't you save me?" cried the rabbit. "indeed i will, if i can," said the bee, "because you were so kind to me. you are too heavy, or i would fly down to earth with you myself, but i'll do the next best thing. i'll fly off and get dickie and nellie chip-chip, the sparrow children, and they'll come with a big basket and catch you so you won't fall." no sooner said than done. off flew the bee. quickly he found dickie and nellie and told them the danger uncle wiggily was in. "quick," called dickie to nellie. "we must save him." off they flew like the wind, carrying a grocery basket between them. right under uncle wiggily they flew, and just as the sky-cracker was going to burst with a "slam-bang!" the old gentleman rabbit let go, and into the basket he safely fell and the sparrow children flew to earth with him. then the sky-cracker burst all to pieces for fourth of july, but uncle wiggily wasn't on it to be hurt, i'm glad to say. he spent the fourth visiting the bumble bee's family, and had ice cream and cake and lemonade for supper, and at night he heard the band play, and he gave nellie and dickie ten cents for ice cream sodas, and that's all to this story. but on the next page, if the baker man brings me a pound of soap bubbles with candy in the middle for cora janet's doll, i'll tell you about uncle wiggily and the buttercup. story vi uncle wiggily and buttercup i hope none of you were burned by a sky-cracker or a roman candle stick when you had your fourth of july celebration, but if you were i hope you will soon be better, and perhaps if i tell you a story it will make you forget the pain. so here we go, all about uncle wiggily and the buttercup. the old gentleman rabbit spent a few days in an old burrow next to the bumble bee's house, and then one morning, when the sun was shining brightly, he started off again to seek his fortune. "i never can thank you enough," he said to the bee, "for going after the sparrow children and saving me from the exploding sky-cracker. if ever i find my fortune i will give you some of it." "thank you very kindly," said the bee, as she looked in the pantry, "and here are some sweet honey sandwiches for you to eat on your travels. this is some honey that i made myself." "then it must be very good," said the old gentleman rabbit politely, as he put the sandwiches in his valise and started off down the dusty road. well, he hopped on and on, sometimes in the woods where it was cool and green and shady, and sometimes out in the hot sun, and every minute or so he would stop and look around to see if he could find his fortune. "for, who knows?" he said, "perhaps i may pick up a bag of gold, or some diamonds at almost any minute. then i could go back home and buy an automobile for myself to ride around in, and my travels would be over. i have certainly been on the go a long time, but my health is much better than it was." so he kept on, looking under all the big leaves and clumps of ferns for his fortune. but he didn't find it, and pretty soon he came to a hole in the ground. and in front of this hole was a little sign, printed on a piece of paper, and it read: "come in! everybody welcome." "humph! i wonder if that means me?" thought the old gentleman rabbit. "let's see, gold grows under ground, in mines, and perhaps this is a gold mine. i'm going down. i'm sure there is a fortune waiting for me. yes, i'll go down." so he laid aside his valise and barber-pole crutch and got ready to go down in the hole, which wasn't very big. "but i can scratch it bigger if i need to," said uncle wiggily. well, he had no sooner gotten his front feet and part of his nose down the hole, but his ears were still sticking out, when he heard a voice calling: "here! where are you going?" "down this hole after gold," replied uncle wiggily. "you mustn't go down there," went on the voice, and pulling out his nose and looking about him, the old gentleman rabbit saw a white pussy cat sitting on a stump. and the pussy cat was washing his face with his paws, taking care not to let the claws stick out for fear of scratching his eyes. "why can't i go down this hole, pussy?" asked the rabbit. "do you have charge of it?" "no, indeed," was the answer, "but there is a bad snake who lives down there, and he puts up that sign so the animals will come down, and then he eats them. that's the reason he says they are welcome. no, indeed, i wouldn't want to see you go down there!" "ha! hum! i wouldn't like to see myself!" spoke uncle wiggily, and he crawled away from the hole just in time, for the snake stuck out his ugly head and was about to bite the rabbit. it was the same snake that had nearly caught the bumble bee. "say!" cried the snake, quite angry like, to the pussy cat, "i wish you would get away from here! you are always spoiling my plans. i thought i was going to have a nice rabbit dinner, and now look at what you have done," and that snake was so angry that he hissed like a boiling teakettle. "i will never let you eat up uncle wiggily!" cried the pussy. "now look out for yourself, mr. snake!" and with that the pussy made his back round like a hoop, and he swelled up his tail like a bologna sausage, and he showed his teeth and claws to the snake, and that snake popped down the hole again very quickly, i can tell you, taking his tail with him. oh, my, yes, and a bucket of sawdust soup besides. "i thank you very much for telling me about that snake, little pussy cat," said uncle wiggily. "well, i am disappointed about my fortune again. i shall never be rich i fear. but i almost forgot that i have some fine honey sandwiches and i will give you some, for you must be hungry. i know i am." "i am, too," said the pussy. so uncle wiggily opened his valise and took out the honey sandwiches which the bee had given him, but when he went to eat them he found that the bee had forgotten to butter the bread. "oh, that is too bad!" cried the pussy, when uncle wiggily spoke of it. "still they will do very well without butter." "no, we must have some," said the rabbit. "i wonder how i can get butter in the woods?" so he looked all around and the first thing he saw was a yellow buttercup flower. you know the kind i mean. you hold them under your chin to see if you like butter, and the shine of the flower makes your chin yellow. "ha!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "now we will have butter." "but you are not going to eat the flower, are you?" asked the pussy. "no, indeed!" cried the rabbit, "i'll show you." now there was a cow in the field a short distance away, and uncle wiggily went over and got some milk from the cow in a little tin cup. "butter is made from milk," said the rabbit to the pussy. "so i will just pour some milk in the buttercup flower, and shake it just as if it was a churn, and then we'll have butter for our honey sandwiches." so he did this. into the buttercup he poured the milk, and it became yellow like butter at once. but uncle wiggily did not have to shake the flower, for a little wind came along just then and shook it for him. and pretty soon, in a little while, the milk in the buttercup was churned into lovely sweet butter, and the rabbit and pussy spread it on their honey sandwiches, and what a fine feast they had. just as they were eating it the bad alligator came along, and wanted to take the honey away from them, but the pussy scratched the end of the savage beast's tail with his claws, and the bad alligator ran away as fast as he could. then uncle wiggily and the pussy traveled on together and the next day they had quite an adventure. what it was i'll tell you in the next story when, in case the steamboat stops at our house for a little girl wearing a green sunbonnet, with horse chestnuts on it, i'll tell you about uncle wiggily and the july bug. story vii uncle wiggily and the july bug "well, what shall we do to-day?" asked the white pussy of uncle wiggily, as they traveled on together, the next day after the adventure at the snake hole. they had slept that night in a nice hollow stump. "hum! i hardly know what to do," replied the old gentleman rabbit. "of course i must be on the watch for my fortune, but, as i don't seem to be finding it very fast, what do you say to having a picnic to-day?" "the very thing!" cried pussy. "we will get some lunch, and go off in the woods and eat it. only we ought to have a lot more people. two are hardly enough for a picnic." "i would like some of my friends to come to it," spoke uncle wiggily, "but i am afraid they are too far off." "couldn't you send them word by telephone?" inquired the pussy. "i'm sure i would like to meet them, for i have heard so much about sammie and susie littletail, and johnnie and billie bushytail." "there is no telephone in these woods," replied uncle wiggily, "and we haven't time to send them postcards. i wish i could get word to them, however, but i don't s'pose i can." "yes, you can!" suddenly cried a voice down in the grass. "i'll tell all your friends to come to the picnic if you like." "indeed, i would like it," said the rabbit, "but who are you, if i may be so bold as to ask? i can't see you." "there he is--it's a big june bug!" exclaimed the pussy. "i beg your pardon," spoke the bug quickly, as he crawled out from under a leaf and sat on a toadstool. "but i am not a june bug, if you please." "you look like one," said uncle wiggily politely. "i am a july bug," went on the funny little creature. "i was intended for a june bug, but there was some mistake made, and i didn't come out of my shell until july. so you see i'm a july bug, and at first i thought it would be jolly fun, to hear all the firecrackers and skyrockets go off." "it isn't so much fun as you imagine," said uncle wiggily, as he thought of the time he went sailing into the air on the sky-cracker. "but don't you like being a july bug?" "not very much. you see i'm the only one there is, and all the others are june bugs. the june bugs won't speak to me, nor let me play with them, so i'm very lonesome. i heard you talking about a picnic you were going to have, and so i offered to call all your friends to it. i thought perhaps if i did that you would let me come to it also." "to be sure!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "you may gladly come, but how are you going to send word to all of my friends?" "i will fly through the air and tell them to come," was the answer. "i am a very swift flyer. watch me," and then and there the july bug buzzed around so fast that uncle wiggily and the pussy couldn't see his wings go flip-flop-flap. well, they decided it would be a good plan to have the july bug act as a postman, so uncle wiggily wrote out the invitations on little pieces of white birch bark, and gave them to the bug. off he flew into the air waving one leg at uncle wiggily and the pussy. "well, now we must get ready for the picnic--get the things to eat--for that bug flies so fast that soon all my friends will be here," said the rabbit, so he and the pussy began to get the lunch ready. uncle wiggily had some food in his valise, but they got more good things from a kind old monkey who lived in the woods. he used to work on a hand organ, but when he got old he bought him a nest in the woods with the pennies he had saved up, and he lived in peace and quietness, and played a mouth organ on sundays. well, you will hardly believe me, but it's true, no sooner had uncle wiggily and the pussy put up the lunch, wrapping some for each visitor in nice, green grape leaves, than the first ones of the picnic party began to arrive. they were dickie and nellie chip-chip, the sparrows, for they could fly through the air very quickly, and so they came on ahead. "we got your invitation that the july bug left us, uncle wiggily, and we came at once," said dickie. "where are the others?" asked the old gentleman rabbit. "they are coming," answered nellie, as she tied her tail ribbon over again, for the bow knot had become undone as she was flying through the air. well, in a little while along came hopping, sammie and susie littletail, the rabbit children, and billie and johnnie bushytail, the squirrel brothers, and bully and bawly the frogs, and dottie and munchie trot, the ponies, and lulu and alice and jimmie wibblewobble, the duck twins, and buddy and brighteyes pigg, and oh, all the boy and girl animals i have ever told you about. and oh! how glad they were to see uncle wiggily. he had to tell them all about his travels after his fortune before they would go off in the woods to the picnic. but at last they went, each one with a little leaf-package of lunch. the july bug came along, too, and he had a very little package of good things, because he was so small, you see, but it was enough. they all sat down on the ground with flat stones for plates, and sticks for knives and forks, and they ate their picnic lunch there. oh, they had the finest time, and it didn't matter if some ants did get in the sugar. uncle wiggily said they could have all they wanted of the sweet stuff. and, when the picnic was almost over, there was a sudden noise in the bushes, and two bad foxes sprang out. one tried to grab uncle wiggily, and another made a dash for lulu wibblewobble. "oh dear!" cried dottie trot, without looking to see if her hair ribbon was on straight. "we shall all be eaten up!" "no, you won't!" cried the brave july bug. "i'll fix those foxes!" so that brave july bug just buzzed his wings as hard as he could, and straight at those foxes he flew, bumping and banging them on their noses and in the eyes, so that they gave two separate and distinct howls, and ran away, taking their big tails with them. so that is how the july bug saved everybody from being eaten up, and then the picnic was over and every one said it was lovely. "well, i'll start on my travels again to-morrow," said uncle wiggily, as his friends told him good-by. now what happened to him the next day i'll tell you very soon, for, in case i see a chipmunk with a blue tail and a red nose climbing up the clothes pole, the story will be about uncle wiggily and jack-in-the-pulpit. story viii uncle wiggily and jack-in-the-pulpit uncle wiggily was slowly hopping along through the woods, sometimes leaning on his crutch, when his rheumatism pained him, and again skipping along when he got out into the warm sunshine. it was the day after the picnic, and the old gentleman rabbit felt a bit lonesome as all his friends had gone back to their homes. "i do declare!" exclaimed uncle wiggily, as he walked slowly along by a little lake, where an august rabbit was running his motor boat, "if i don't find my fortune pretty soon i won't have any vacation this year. i must look carefully to-day, and see if i can't find a pot full of gold." well, he looked as carefully as he could, but my land sakes and a pair of white gloves! he couldn't seem to find a smitch of gold and not so much as a crumb of diamonds. [illustration] "hum!" exclaimed uncle wiggily, "at this rate i guess i'll have to keep on traveling for several years before i find my fortune. but never mind, i'm having a good time, anyhow. i'll keep on searching." so he kept on, and all of a sudden when he was walking past a prickly briar bush, he heard a voice calling: "hey, uncle wiggily, come on in here." "ha! who are you, and why do you want me to come in there?" asked the old gentleman rabbit. "oh, i am a friend of yours," was the answer, "and i will give you a lot of money if you come in here." "let me see your face," asked the rabbit, "i want to know who you are." "oh! i have a dreadful toothache," said the creature hiding in the bushes. "i don't want to stick my face out in the cold. but if you will take my word for it i am a good friend of yours. i would like very much for you to come in here." "well, perhaps i had better," said the old gentleman rabbit, "for i certainly need money." and he was just going to crawl in under the prickly briar bush when all of a sudden he happened to look, and he saw the skillery-scallery tail of the alligator accidentally sticking out. yes, it was the alligator trying to fool dear old uncle wiggily. "oh, ho!" cried the wise old rabbit. "i guess i won't go in there after all," so he hopped to one side and the alligator kept waiting for him to come in so he could eat him, but when the rabbit didn't come in the savage creature with the skillery-scallery tail cried: "well, aren't you coming in?" "no, thank you," said the rabbit. "i have to go on to seek my fortune," and away he hopped. well, that alligator was so angry that he gnashed his teeth and nearly broke them, and he crawled after uncle wiggily, but of course, he couldn't catch him. uncle wiggily was pretty careful after that, and whenever he came near a prickly briar bush he listened with both his long ears stuck up straight to see if he could hear any sounds like an alligator. but he didn't, and so he kept on. well, it was coming on toward evening, one afternoon, and the old gentleman rabbit was tramping along the road, wondering where he would sleep, when all of a sudden something came bursting out of the bushes toward the rabbit, and a voice cried out: "hide! hide! uncle wiggily. hide as quickly as you can!" "why should i hide?" asked the old gentleman rabbit. "is there a giant coming after me?" "worse than a giant," said the voice. "it is a bad wolf that jumped out of his cage from the circus, and he is just ready to eat up anything he sees," and the july bug, for it was he who had fluttered out of the bushes, to tell uncle wiggily, made his wings go slowly to and fro like an electric palm-leaf fan. "a wolf, eh?" cried the old gentleman rabbit. "and do you think he will eat me?" "he surely will," said the july bug. "i happened to fly past his house, and i heard him say to his wife that he was going out to see if he could find a rabbit supper. so i know he's coming for you. you'd better hide." "oh! where can i hide?" asked the rabbit, as he looked around for a hollow stump. but there wasn't any, and there were no holes in the ground, and he didn't know what to do. then, all at once there was a crashing in the bushes and it sounded like an elephant coming through, breaking all the sticks in his path. "there's the wolf! there's the wolf!" cried the july bug. "hide, uncle wiggily," and then the bug perched on the high limb of a tree where the wolf couldn't catch him. well, the poor old gentleman rabbit looked for a place to hide himself away from the wolf but he couldn't seem to find any, and he was just going to crawl under a stone and maybe hurt himself, when all at once he heard a voice say: "jump up here, uncle wiggily. i'll hide you from the wolf." so the rabbit traveler looked up, and there he saw a flower called jack-in-the-pulpit looking down on him. i've told you about them before, how the frog once took his bath in one, and how, when you pick a wood-bouquet you put them in with some ferns to make the bouquet look pretty. they are a flower like a vase, with a top curling over, and a thing standing up in the centre whose name is "jack." "jump in here," said the jack. "i'll fold my top down over you like an umbrella, and the wolf can't find you." "but you are so small that i can't get inside," said the rabbit. "oh, i'll make myself bigger," cried the jack, i and he took a long breath, and puffed himself up and swelled himself up, until he was large enough for uncle wiggily to jump down inside. then the jack-in-the-pulpit closed down the umbrella top over the rabbit, and he was hidden away as nice and snug as could be wished. pretty soon that bad savage wolf came prancing along, and he looked all over for the rabbit. then he sniffed and cried: "ha! i smell him somewhere around here! i'll find him!" but he couldn't see uncle wiggily because he was safely hidden in the jack-in-the-pulpit. so the wolf raged around some more and chased after his tail, and just as he smelled the rabbit hidden in the flower, the july bug flew down out of the tree, bang! right into the eyes of the wolf, and then the savage creature felt so badly that he ran home and ate cold bread and water for supper, and he didn't bother uncle wiggily any more that day. so that's how the jack-in-the-pulpit saved the rabbit and very thankful uncle wiggily was. and he stayed that night in a hollow stump, and the next day he went on to seek his fortune. and quite a curious thing happened to him, as i shall have the pleasure of telling you about soon, when in case our canoe boat doesn't turn upside down and spill out the breakfast oatmeal, the next bedtime story will be about uncle wiggily and the lost chipmunk. story ix uncle wiggily and the lost chipmunk uncle wiggily was walking along the road one morning, after he had slept all night in the hollow stump. he didn't have any breakfast either, for there was nothing left in his valise, and of course he couldn't eat his barber-pole crutch. if the crutch had had a hole in it, like in the elephant's trunk, then the old gentleman rabbit could have carried along some sandwiches. but, as it was, he had nothing for breakfast, and he hadn't had much supper either, the night before. "oh, how hungry i am!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "if only i had a piece of cherry pie now, or an ice cream cone, or a bit of bread and butter and jam i would be all right." well, he just happened to open his valise, and there on the very bottom, among some papers he found a few crumbs of the honey sandwiches the bumble bee had given him. well, you never can imagine how good those few crumbs tasted to the old gentleman rabbit, which shows you that it is a good thing to be hungry once in a while, because even common things taste good. but the crumbs weren't enough for uncle wiggily. as he walked along he kept getting hungrier and hungrier and he didn't know how he was going to stand it. then, all of a sudden, as he was passing by a hollow stump, he saw a whole lot of little black creatures crawling around it. they were going up and down, and they were very busy. "why, these are ants," said the rabbit. "well, i s'pose they have plenty to eat. i almost wish i was an ant." "well! well!" exclaimed a voice all at once. "if here isn't uncle wiggily. where did you come from?" and there stood a second cousin to the ant for whom uncle wiggily had once carried home a pound of beefsteak with mushrooms on it. "oh, i am traveling about seeking my fortune," said the rabbit. "but i haven't been very successful. i couldn't even find my breakfast this morning." "that's too bad!" exclaimed the ant who wore glasses. "we can give you something, however. come on! everybody, help get breakfast for uncle wiggily." so all the ants came running up, and some of them brought pieces of boiled eggs, and others brought oatmeal and others parts of oranges and still others parts of cups of coffee. so take it altogether, with seventeen million, four hundred and seventeen thousand, one hundred and eighty-five ants and a baby ant to wait on him, uncle wiggily managed to make out a pretty fair sort of a breakfast. well, after the old gentleman rabbit had eaten all the breakfast he could, he thanked the kind ants and said good-by to them. then he started off again. he hadn't gone on very far through the woods, before, all of a sudden he saw something bright and shining under a blackberry bush. "well, i do declare!" cried the old gentleman rabbit. "i think that looks like gold. i hope i'm not fooled this time. i will go up very slowly and carefully. perhaps i shall find my fortune now." so up he walked very softly, and he stooped down and picked up the shining thing. and what do you think it was? why a bright new penny--as shiny as gold. "good luck!" cried uncle wiggily, "i am beginning to find money. soon i will be rich, and then i can stop traveling," and he put the penny in his pocket. well, no sooner had he done so than he heard some one crying over behind a raspberry bush. oh, such a sad cry as it was, and the old gentleman rabbit knew right away that some one was in trouble. "who is there?" he asked, as he felt in his pocket to see if his penny was safe, for he thought that was the beginning of his fortune. "oh, i'm lost!" cried the voice. "i came to the store to buy a chocolate lollypop, and i can't find my way back," and then out from behind the raspberry bush came a tiny, little striped chipmunk with the tears falling down on her little paws. "oh, you poor little dear!" cried uncle wiggily. "and so you are lost? well, don't you know what to do? as soon as you are lost you must go to a policeman and ask him to take you home. policemen always know where everybody lives." "but there are no policemen here," said the chipmunk, who was something like a squirrel, only smaller. "that's so," agreed uncle wiggily. "well, pretend that i am a policeman, and i'll take you home. where do you live?" "if i knew," said the chipmunk, "i would go home myself. all that i know is that i live in a hollow stump." "hum!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "there are so many hollow stumps here, that i can't tell which one it is. we will go to each one, and when you find the one that is your home, just tell me." "but that is not the worst," said the chipmunk. "i have lost my bright, new penny that my mamma gave me for a chocolate lollypop. oh dear. isn't it terrible." "perhaps this is your penny," said the old gentleman rabbit a bit sadly, taking from his pocket the one he had found. "it is the very one!" cried the lost chipmunk, joyfully. "oh, how good of you to find it for me." "well," thought uncle wiggily with a sorrowful sigh as he handed over the penny, "i thought i had found the beginning of my fortune, but i've lost it again. never mind. i'll try to-morrow." so he gave the penny to the chipmunk, and she stopped crying right away, and took hold of uncle wiggily's paw, and he led her around to all the hollow stumps until she found the right one where she lived. and he bought her an ice cream cone because he felt sorry for her. and, just as she was eating it, along came a big, black bear and he wanted half of it, but very luckily the july bug flew past just then, and he bit the bear in the eyes, so that the bad bear was glad enough to run home, taking his little stumpy tail with him. then the chipmunk took uncle wiggily back to her home, and he stayed with her papa and mamma all night. now, in case the rocking chair on our porch doesn't tip over in the middle of the night, and scare the pussy cat off the railing, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the black cricket. story x uncle wiggily and the black cricket uncle wiggily, the nice old gentleman rabbit, was feeling quite sad one morning as he hopped along the dusty road. it was a few days after he had helped the lost chipmunk find her way back home, and he had given her the lost penny which he had also picked up. "oh, dear me!" exclaimed uncle wiggily, as he thought of the penny. "that's generally the way it is in this world. nothing seems to go right. i naturally thought i had found the beginning of my fortune, even if it was only a penny, and it turned out that the money belonged to somebody else. oh dear!" well, the old rabbit traveler actually felt so badly that he didn't much care whether he found his fortune or not, and that is a very poor way to feel in this world, for one must never give up trying, no matter what happens. then uncle wiggily looked in his satchel to see if he had anything to eat, but my goodness sakes alive and a ham sandwich! there wasn't a thing in the valise! you see he was thinking so much about the penny that he forgot to put up his lunch. "humph! this is a pretty state of affairs!" exclaimed the old rabbit gentleman. "worse and worse, and some more besides! i do declare! hum! suz! dud!" well, he didn't know what to do, so he sat down on a log beside a shady bush and thought it all over. and the more he thought the sadder he became, until he began to believe he was the most miserable rabbit in all the world. "oh, dear! oh, dear!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "i might as well go back home and done with it." but no sooner had he said this, than uncle wiggily heard the jolliest laugh he had ever known. oh! it was such a rippling, happy joyous laugh that it would almost cure the toothache just to listen to it. "ha! ha! ho! ho! he! he!" laughed the voice, and uncle wiggily looked up, and he looked down, and then he looked sideways and around a corner, but he could see no one. still the laugh kept up, more jolly than ever. "humph! i wonder who that is?" said the rabbit. "i wish i could laugh like that," and uncle wiggily actually smiled the least little bit, and he didn't feel quite so sad. then, all at once, there was a voice singing, and this is the song, and if you feel sad when you sing it, just get some one to tickle you, or watch baby's face when he smiles, and you will feel jolly enough to sing this song, even if you have been crying because you stubbed your toe. "ha! ha! ho! ho! i gladly sing, i sing about most anything. i sing about a pussy cat, who caught a little mousie-rat. i sing about a doggie-dog, who saw a turtle on a log. i sing about a little boy, who cried because he broke his toy. and then he laughed, 'ha! ha! he! he!' because he couldn't help it; see?" "well, well!" exclaimed uncle wiggily, "i wish i knew who that was. perhaps it is a fairy, and if it is, i'm going to ask her for my fortune. i'm getting tired of not finding it," and when he thought about that he was sad again. but a moment later a little black creature hopped out from under a leaf, and who should it be but a cricket. "was that you laughing?" asked the old gentleman rabbit, as he again looked in his valise to see if he had any sandwiches there. "was it you?" "it was," said the cricket. "i was just going--oh, kindly excuse me, while i laugh again!" the cricket said, and then he laughed more jolly than before. "what makes you so good-natured?" asked the rabbit. "i just can't help it," said the cricket. "everything is so lovely. the sun shines, and the birds sing, and the water in the brooks babble such jolly songs, and well--oh, excuse me again if you please, i'm going to laugh once more," and so he did then and there. he just laughed and laughed and laughed, that cricket did. "well," said uncle wiggily, still speaking sadly, "of course it's nice to be jolly, anybody can be that way when the sun shines, but what about the rain? there! i guess you can't be jolly when it rains." "oh! when it rains i laugh because i know it will soon clear off, and then, too, i can think about the days when the sun did shine," said the cricket. "well," spoke uncle wiggily, "there is something in that, to be sure. and as you are such a jolly chap, will you travel along with me? perhaps with you i could find my fortune." "of course i'll come," said the cricket, and he laughed again, and then he and the old gentleman rabbit hopped on together and uncle wiggily kept feeling more and more happy until he had forgotten all about the chipmunk's penny that wasn't his. well, in a little while, not so very long, the rabbit and the cricket came to a dark place in the woods. oh! it was quite dismal, and, just as they passed a big, black stump with a hole in it, all of a sudden out popped the skillery-scalery-tailery alligator. "ah, ha!" exclaimed the unpleasant creature. "now i have you both. i'm going to eat you both, first you, mr. cricket, and then you, uncle wiggily." "oh, please don't," begged the rabbit. "i haven't found my fortune yet." "no matter," cried the alligator, "here we go!" he made a grab for the cricket, but the little black insect hopped to one side, and then, all of a sudden he began to laugh. oh, how hard he laughed. "ha! ha! ho! ho! he! he!" my, it was wonderful! at first the alligator didn't know what to make of it. harder and harder did the black cricket laugh, and then uncle wiggily began. he just couldn't help it. harder and harder laughed the cricket and uncle wiggily together, and then, all at once, the alligator began to laugh. he couldn't help it either. "ha! ha! ho! ho! he! he!" laughed the 'gator, and great big alligator tears rolled down his scaly cheeks, he laughed so hard. why, he giggled so that he couldn't even have eaten a mosquito with mustard on. "come on, now!" suddenly cried the cricket to uncle wiggily. "now is our chance to get away." and before the alligator had stopped laughing they both hopped away in the woods together, and so the bad scalery-ailery-tailery creature didn't get either of them. "my! it's a good thing you made him laugh," said the rabbit when they were safely away. "it's a good thing to make anybody laugh," said the black cricket, and then he and uncle wiggily went on to seek the old gentleman rabbit's fortune. and in the next story, in case the sunshine doesn't make my pussy cat sneeze and spill his milk, on the new door mat, i'll tell you all about uncle wiggily and the busy bug. story xi uncle wiggily and the busy bug everywhere uncle wiggily and the black cricket went in the next few days, every one was glad to see them. for they were both so jolly, and laughed and joked so much along the road, that no one who heard them could be sad. they came to one place where there was a boy sick with the toothache, and his mamma had done everything for him that she could think of, even to putting mustard on it, but still that boy's tooth ached. well, as soon as that boy saw the cricket and the old gentleman rabbit, and heard them laugh, why the boy smiled, and then the pain, somehow, seemed to be better, and he smiled some more, and then he laughed. then uncle wiggily told a funny story about a monkey who made faces at himself in a looking-glass, and got so excited about it that he jumped around behind the glass, thinking another monkey was there, and there wasn't, and the monkey fell into the freezer full of ice cream and caught cold because he ate so much of it. well, that boy opened his mouth real wide to laugh at the funny story and his mamma all of a sudden slipped a string around the aching tooth and she pulled it out in a moment, and it never ached again. "oh, how glad i am!" cried the little boy. "i wish you would always stay with me, uncle wiggily--you and the jolly cricket." "i'd like to, but i can't," said the old gentleman rabbit. "i must keep on after my fortune." "i'll stay with you for a little while," said the cricket, and he did, telling some funny stories to other boys who had the toothache, and right away after that they allowed their bad teeth to be pulled, and their pain was over. so uncle wiggily said good-by to the cricket and went on by himself. he was feeling very good now, for he and the cricket had met a kind muskrat, a thirty-fifth cousin to nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy, and this muskrat gave uncle wiggily a lot of sandwiches for his satchel, so he wouldn't be hungry again for some time. "and i don't mind so much about the cent, either," thought the rabbit, as he remembered the one that belonged to the chipmunk. "after all a cent is not so much, and i need more than that for my fortune. ha! ha! ho! ho!" he just had to laugh, you see, when he thought of the jolly cricket. so he traveled on and on, over hill and dale, until one evening, just as the sun was going down behind the clouds, all red and golden and violet colored, he saw a little house built of green leaves. "ha!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "that is a very fine house. i wish i had one like it in which to stay to-night. but it's too small for me. i guess i'll have to keep on and look for a haystack under which to crawl." well, just as he said that, all of a sudden there was a little rustling, scratching noise, and a bug came to the door of the queer little green leaf house. the bug had a broom and she began sweeping off the front porch and then she knocked the dirt out of the doormat, and then she swept some cobwebs off the shutters and then she hurried out and swept off the sidewalk, all so quickly that you could scarcely see her move. "my, but she is a fast worker," said uncle wiggily. "she is almost as quick as jennie chipmunk." "i have to be!" exclaimed the bug, for the old gentleman rabbit had spoken out loud without thinking, and the bug had heard him. "i have to hustle around," she said, "for i am the busy bug, and i have to keep busy. i work from morning to night to keep my house in order. now excuse me; i have to go in and dust the piano," and she was just going to run in the house, when uncle wiggily said: "do you happen to know of a place where i can stay to-night?" "why, yes," said the busy bug. "next door is a house where mr. groundhog used to live. but now he is away on his vacation, and i have the keys. i'm sure he wouldn't mind you staying in there over night. i'll get it in order for you. come along, hurry up, no time to lose!" and before uncle wiggily knew what was happening the busy bug had run in, got the keys, opened the front door of the groundhog's house. then she flew in, and she began dusting it. my! what a dust she raised. uncle wiggily had to sneeze, there was so much of it. and the funny part of it was that the house was already just as neat and clean as a piece of cocoanut or custard, or maybe even apple pie. "don't fuss any more with it," said uncle wiggily. "it will do very well as it is." "oh, it must be made cleaner," said the busy bug, and she swept and dusted until uncle wiggily sneezed again. then the bug dusted a little more, and at last she said the house was in pretty fair shape and uncle wiggily could sleep there. then the busy bug flew back home and she kept busy up to nine o'clock, making beds and dusting the crumbs off the mantelpiece and picking up grains of sand off the floor. then she went to sleep. well, along in the middle of the night uncle wiggily was awakened by hearing some one talking under his window. he looked out, and there were two savage old owls. "now, we'll fly right in through her window," said one owl, "and we'll eat her all up, and then we'll tear her house down." and, would you believe it, they started right toward the house of the poor busy lady bug, who was fast asleep. "ha! this must never be!" cried uncle wiggily. "i must save her. how can i do it?" so he looked around, and he saw a broom, which the busy bug had left behind when she finished sweeping. "that will do!" cried the rabbit. he took it in his paws and, leaning out of the window, he held it just as if it was a gun, and cried: "now, you bad owls, fly away or i'll shoot all your feathers off! fly away and don't you harm my friend, the busy lady bug!" well, sir, those owls were so frightened, thinking that uncle wiggily was going to shoot them with the broom-gun (only, of course, they didn't know it was only a broom), and, would you believe it, they were terribly afraid and they flew off into the dark woods, and so didn't eat up the busy bug after all, and she slept in peace and quietness, never even waking up, she was so tired after being busy all day. then uncle wiggily went back to bed, and the owls didn't disturb him again that night. and in the morning the busy bug got his breakfast and thanked him when he told her about scaring the owls away with the make-believe broom-gun. uncle wiggily traveled on, and soon he had another adventure. what it was i'll tell you almost right away, when, in case the cake of ice doesn't melt, and make a mud puddle for the baby to fall into, i'll tell you about uncle wiggily and the funny monkey. story xii uncle wiggily and the funny monkey it was a bright and beautiful sunshiny day, and uncle wiggily was hopping along the road, thinking many thoughts and about the busy bug and the black cricket and all things like that and how hard it was to look and look for your fortune and never find it, when all of a sudden, just as he happened to put his crutch down on a round stone, it slipped, and down he fell kerthump. "oh, wow! ouch!" cried the old gentleman rabbit as he bumped his nose on a sharp stick. "that hurt! my, i hope i haven't broken one of my ears or paw-nails. if i did i'll have to get in the ambulance and go to the hospital." so he sat up very slowly and carefully and looked himself all over and he was glad to see that he hadn't broken anything except a lettuce sandwich that he carried in his satchel and, as it was just as good broken as it was whole, it didn't matter much. "oh, are you hurt?" suddenly cried a voice, as uncle wiggily took some dirt out of his left ear. "if you are i can give you something to put on your cuts," and out from under a big leaf came a beautiful butterfly. "what can you put on my cuts?" asked the rabbit. "oh, i can get some sticky gum from a tree or a flower and spread it on a leaf and make some court plaster," spoke the butterfly. "it will cure a cut very quickly." "thank you very much," said uncle wiggily, "but very luckily i haven't any cuts. i'm all right, i guess, but because you are so kind to me here is just a drop of honey that i found in the bottom of my satchel. the bee gave it to me." so he handed to the kind butterfly a little honey he had left. the butterfly was very glad to get it, and fluttered away, jumping from one flower to another as easily as a boy can spin his top. then the old gentleman rabbit traveled on, and pretty soon, when it was just about time for dinner, he came to a beautiful place in the woods. the trees were nice and green and shady, and there was a little brook that was bubbling and babbling over the mossy stones and then all at once uncle wiggily heard the queerest music he had ever heard. it was like forty-'leven bands all playing in the park at once. "my, i must be near a big picnic!" cried the rabbit. "i shall have to look out for myself, or some boys may chase me." the music kept getting louder but still the old gentleman rabbit didn't see any people, and he went on very slowly until he came to a little house built of shingles, and there in front of it sat a monkey. and he was the funniest monkey you ever saw. for that monkey was playing five hand organs all at once. yes, just as true as i'm telling you, he was. he played one organ with his left paw and he played another organ with his right paw, and he played still another with his left foot and he twisted the crank of another with his right foot. and then, to finish off with, he whirled around the crank of the fifth organ with his long tail. oh, he was a smart monkey, i tell you! "my! this is almost as good as a circus!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "i'm glad i came this way." well, that funny monkey played faster than ever, and on one organ he played the tune "please bring your umbrella inside when it rains," and on another he played "may i have some of your ice cream cone if i give you a kiss?" and on the third hand organ the monkey was playing the tune "come out into the hammock and see who'll fall out first," and another tune was "please don't let that big black bug tickle me," and on the organ that he twisted with his tail the monkey ground out the song "come on inside the motorboat and have a nice, cool swim." "my, how do you do it?" asked the rabbit of the monkey. "you must be very musical." "oh, it comes natural to me," said the monkey, not a bit proud like. "but where did you get so many organs?" "oh, i saved up my pennies for them," said the monkey. "you see, it was this way. i used to work for a man who had a hand organ, and he used to take me around with him to climb up on the porches, and in the second-story windows to get the pennies from the children. well, i always loved music, and i wanted the man to let me play his organ, but he never would. so i made up my mind i would save up all my pennies and some day buy an organ for myself. "well, i did that, for you know often when i used to go around to collect pennies for the man, some children would give me a few for myself. finally i got rich and i didn't work for the man any longer, and i had enough to buy five hand organs, for i can play five at once. then i came here, and built this shingle house and every day i amuse myself by playing tunes, and i never have to climb up the rainwater pipe to get money. oh, it is a happy life," and the monkey felt so funny that he hung by his tail from a tree branch, and made faces at uncle wiggily--just in fun, you understand. uncle wiggily was very glad he had met the monkey, and he listened to the music, and the monkey even let the rabbit play one tune for himself, and it was called, "when you wiggle your wiggily ears wiggle them good and hard." and then, all of a sudden, just as that tune was finished, there was a terrible noise in the bushes. "my goodness! what's that?" cried the monkey as he hopped up on top of one of his hand organs and curled his tail around the handle. "it sounds like a bear!" said the rabbit. "but don't worry. i'll do just as the cricket did to the alligator and make him laugh so that he won't hurt us." "good!" cried the monkey. and then the noise became louder and out from the bushes popped a big animal. but it was an elephant instead of a bear, and as soon as he saw the monkey and uncle wiggily he ran up to them and shook his trunk at them and cried: "oh, i'm so glad to see you! i just got away from the circus, and i want to have some fun!" and he was as kind and gentle as he could be and he and uncle wiggily had quite an adventure the next day. i'll tell you about it on the next page, when, in case the little boy across the street doesn't tickle my pussy cat and make him sneeze the rubbers off the umbrella plant, the story will be about uncle wiggily and the big dog. story xiii uncle wiggily and the big dog let's see, i left off in the last story just where the elephant came out of the woods and shook his tail--i mean his trunk--at uncle wiggily and the funny monkey, didn't i? well, now, i'm going to tell you what happened after that. "why did you run away from the circus?" asked the old gentleman rabbit of the elephant. "i should think you would like it there. i know sammie and susie littletail would love a circus." "yes, some folks like it," spoke the elephant slow and thoughtful-like, as he sat down on his trunk, "but i do not care for it. you see of late the children ate all the peanuts, instead of giving me my share, and i just couldn't stand it any longer. why, it got so, finally, that when a man would give his little boy five cents to buy a bag of peanuts for me the little boy would eat all but two or three of the nuts, and those were all he gave to me. it wasn't enough, so i ran away." "i don't in the least blame you," said the monkey, "and i'm going to let you play some of my hand organs." well, the elephant was delighted at that, and he played one organ with his trunk and another one with his tail, making some very nice music. uncle wiggily stayed in the monkey's house that night, and the elephant wanted to come in also, but of course he was far too big, so he had to sleep outside under a tree. it was an apple tree, and in the middle of the night the elephant snored so hard and heavily through his trunk that he shook the tree and all the apples fell off, and in the morning the monkey made an apple pie from some of them. "i think i had better start off on my travels again," said the old gentleman rabbit after breakfast. "there must be a fortune for me somewhere if i can only find it. so i'll trot along." "i'll go with you," said the kind elephant. "perhaps you might see your fortune in the top of a tall tree, and then you couldn't get it. but i would pull the tree down for you." "that would be fine!" cried uncle wiggily. "i'll be glad to have you travel with me." so they said good-by to the monkey, and off they started together, the rabbit and the elephant. they talked of many things, about how hot it was, and whether there would be rain soon, and about how much ice cream cones cost, and sometimes what a little bit of ice cream the man puts in the cones when he is in a hurry. "speaking of ice cream cones," said the elephant, "makes me hungry for some. i wish i had one." "i wish i had one also," spoke uncle wiggily. "you would have to have a very large one, though, mr. elephant, but a small one would do for me." "don't say another word," cried the elephant as he waved his trunk in the air. "i'm going right off and get us some ice cream cones. i know where there's a store. you hop along slowly and i'll catch up to you." so the elephant went off to the ice cream cone store, and uncle wiggily, with his valise and the barber pole crutch, hopped on through the woods, looking about to see if his fortune was up in any of the trees, but it wasn't there yet. well, pretty soon, in a little while, not so very long, all of a sudden the old gentleman rabbit heard a sniffing-sniffing noise in the woods. and then there was a rustling in the bushes. "ha, hum!" exclaimed the rabbit. "perhaps that may be a bear. i had better look out for myself." he started to hop softly away, so the bear, or whatever it was, wouldn't hear him, but he was too late. in an instant out of the bushes popped something big and black and shaggy, and the rabbit, taking one look at it, saw that it was a big dog. "new is the time for me to run!" cried uncle wiggily. "that dog will eat me up, sure pop!" away hopped the old gentleman rabbit, his heart going "pitter-patter-pat," he was so frightened. on and on he ran down a path in the woods. "here, come back here! come back!" cried the dog. "indeed, i will not," answered uncle wiggily. "i know what you want to do. you want to eat me." "no, i don't, honestly!" cried the dog. "but come back, for if you run any farther on that road you'll fall into a lake and be drowned." "humph! i don't believe that!" cried the rabbit. "you are saying that to scare me," and on he hopped faster than ever. "come back! come back!" cried the dog again, but uncle wiggily wouldn't. my! how fast he did hop, until, all of a sudden, as he returned around the corner of a stump, he saw a lake of water right in front of him. and before he could stop himself he had fallen plump into it; crutch, satchel and all, and of course he couldn't swim. and he could hear the dog coming barking down the path after him. "oh, this is the end of me, sure pop!" thought poor uncle wiggily. "i'll never get any fortune now." "oh, dear!" cried the dog. "i told you how it would be. i tried to save you from getting in the water," and then the rabbit knew the big dog had been telling the truth. but it was too late now. uncle wiggily was going down under the deep, dark, cold water when, all of a sudden, along came the elephant with a great big ice cream cone for himself, and a little one for uncle wiggily. he saw the rabbit in the water and he also saw the big shaggy dog. "did you push uncle wiggily in the water?" asked the elephant, "because if you did i'm going to throw you in." "no, indeed, i didn't," answered the dog. "it was an accident," and he told the elephant how it happened. "but i'll jump in, grab him and swim out with him," said the dog. "no, don't do that, you might accidentally bite him," spoke the elephant. "i have a better plan." so he laid down the ice cream cones and then he put the end of his hollow trunk in the lake, and he began to suck up and drink the water, just as you suck lemonade up through a straw. and presto chango! in a few seconds all the water was sucked out of the lake by the elephant, and it was dry land and the rabbit could walk safely to shore, and so he wasn't drowned after all. and how he did thank the elephant! uncle wiggily ate his ice cream cone, and the elephant gave some of his to the dog, and they were all happy. now, if the elephant doesn't get a sliver in his foot so he can't dance at the hoptoads' picnic, i'll tell you in the next story about uncle wiggily and the peanut man. story xiv uncle wiggily and the peanut man after uncle wiggily and the elephant and the big dog had eaten up the ice cream cones, they sat in the woods a while and looked at the place where the watery lake had been before the elephant drank it up to save the rabbit from drowning. "my, but you must be strong to take up all that water," said the dog. "yes, i guess i am pretty strong," said the elephant, though he was not at all proud-like. "i will show you how i can pull up a tree," he said. so he wound his trunk around a big tree and he gave one great, heaving pull and up that tree came by the roots. then, all of a sudden a voice cried: "oh, you're upsetting all my eggs!" and a robin, who had her nest in the tree, fluttered around feeling very sad. "oh, excuse me, mrs. robin," said the elephant. "i would not have disturbed you for the world had i known that your nest was in that tree. i'll plant it right back again in the same place i pulled it up. anyhow, i intended to do it, as it is not a good thing to kill a tree. i'll plant it again." so he put the tree back in the hole, and with his big feet he stamped down the earth around it. then the robin's nest and eggs were safe, and she sang a pretty song because she was thankful to the elephant. well, the elephant had to sleep out-of-doors again that night, because he couldn't find a house large enough for him, but uncle wiggily slept in the big dog's kennel. in the morning the rabbit said: "it is very nice here, and i like it very much, but i must travel along, i s'pose, and see if i can't find my fortune. are you coming, mr. elephant?" "why, certainly. i will go along with you," said the big chap. "perhaps the dog will come also." "no, thank you," said the dog. "i am going to meet a friend of mine, named percival, and we are going to call on lulu and alice and jimmie wibblewobble, the duck children." "is that so?" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "why, percival and the wibblewobbles are friends of mine. kindly give them my love and say that i hope soon to get back home with my fortune." so the dog said he would, and he started off to meet percival, who used to work in the same circus where the elephant came from. and the rabbit and the elephant hurried off together down the road. "are you ever going back to the circus?" asked uncle wiggily of the elephant as they went along. "not unless they catch me and make me go," he answered. "i like this sort of life much better, and besides, no one gave me ice cream cones in the circus." well, pretty soon the rabbit and the elephant came to a place where there was a high mountain. "oh, we'll never get up that," said uncle wiggily. "yes, we will," said the elephant, "i'll make a hole through it with my tusks, and we can walk under it instead of climbing over." so with his long, sharp tusks he made a tunnel right through the mountain, and, though it was a bit darkish, he and the rabbit went through it as easily as a mouse can nibble a bit of cheese. [illustration] then, a little later they came to a place where there was a big river to cross, and there was no bridge. "oh, we can never get over that," said uncle wiggily. "yes, we can," said the elephant. "are you going to drink it up as you did the lake?" asked the rabbit. "no," said the elephant, "but i will make a bridge to go over the river." so he found a great big tree that the wind had blown down, and, taking this in his strong trunk, the elephant laid it across the river, and then he laid another tree and another, and pretty soon he had as good a bridge as one could wish, and he and uncle wiggily crossed over on it. well, they hadn't gone on very far, before, all of a sudden the elephant fell down, and he was so heavy that he shook the ground just like when a locomotive choo-choo engine rushes past. "oh, whatever is the matter?" asked uncle wiggily. "did you hurt yourself?" "no," said the elephant, sad-like, "i am not hurt, but i am sick. i guess i drank too much ice water, which is a bad thing to do in hot weather. oh, how ill i am! you had better go for a doctor." well, that poor elephant was so ill that he had to lie down on the ground, and he cried and groaned, and the big tears rolled down his trunk, and made quite a mud puddle on the earth. for when an elephant is ill he is very ill, indeed, as there is so much of him. "i'll cover you with leaves so you won't get sunburned," said uncle wiggily, "and then i'll hop off for a doctor." well, it takes a great number of leaves to cover up an elephant, but finally the rabbit did it, and then away he started. he looked everywhere for an elephant doctor, but he couldn't seem to find any. there were dog doctors and horse doctors and cat doctors and even doctors for boys and girls, but none for the elephant. "oh, what shall i do?" thought the rabbit. "my poor, dear elephant may die." just then he heard some one singing in the woods like this: "peanuts, they are good to eat, mine are most especially neat, i am going to make them hot so that you will eat a lot." "oh, are you an elephant doctor?" cried uncle wiggily. "no, i am a hot-peanut-man," said the voice, and then the peanut roaster began to whistle like a tea-kettle. "but, perhaps i can cure a sick elephant," said the peanut man. so he and uncle wiggily hurried off through the woods to where the elephant was groaning, and, would you believe it? as soon as the big chap heard the whistle of the hot-peanut wagon and smelled the nuts roasting he got well all of a sudden and he ate a bushel of the nuts and uncle wiggily had some also. so that's how the elephant got well, and he and the rabbit traveled on the next day. they had quite an adventure, too, as i shall have the pleasure of telling you in the next story which will be about uncle wiggily and the crawly snake--that is if the baby doesn't drop his bread and butter down the stovepipe and make the rice pudding laugh. story xv. uncle wiggily and the crawly snake "do you feel all right to travel to-day?" asked uncle wiggily of the elephant the next morning, after the hot-peanut-man had cured the big chap. "oh, yes, i feel very fine!" said the elephant. "we will travel along together again, and perhaps we may find your fortune this time." "hadn't we better take some extra peanuts with us, in case you become ill again?" asked the rabbit, as he looked in the satchel to see if he had any sandwiches, in case he got hungry. "oh, to be sure, we must have peanuts!" exclaimed the elephant. "take as many as we can carry, for i just love 'em!" so they hunted up the hot-peanut-man, and bought all the rest of his peanuts, besides paying for those the elephant had eaten to make himself get well. "good luck to you!" cried the peanut man, as he wheeled away his empty wagon, "i wish i had elephants for customers every day, then i would soon get rich," and away he went singing: "i sell peanuts good and hot, five cents buys you quite a lot. get your money and come here, buy my peanuts, children dear. "my peanuts are hot and brown, finest ones in all the town. nice and juicy--good to chew, i have some for all of you." "well, come on," said the elephant to uncle wiggily, "put some peanuts in your valise, and i will carry the rest." "how; in your trunk?" asked the rabbit. "no, i'm going to wrap them up in a bundle, and tie them on my back. i want my trunk to squirt water through when it gets hot, as i think the sun is going to be very scorchy to-day." so he tied the bundle of peanuts on his back, and then the two friends journeyed on together. well, it did get very hot, and it kept on getting hotter, and there wasn't much shade. "oh my, i wish it would rain a little shower!" said uncle wiggily, as he wiped his ears with his handkerchief. "i am as hot as an oven." "i can soon fix that part of it," said the elephant. and pretty soon he came to a spring of cold water, and he sucked a lot of it up in his hollow trunk, and then he squirted a nice cool, fine spray of it over the rabbit, just as if it came out of a hose with which papa waters the garden or lawn. "my! that feels fine!" said the rabbit. then the elephant squirted some water on himself, and they went on, feeling much better. but still they were warm again in a short time, and then the elephant said: "i know what i am going to do. i am going to get some more ice cream cones. they will cool us off better than anything else. i'll go for them and bring back some big ones. you stay here in the shade, uncle wiggily, but don't walk on ahead, or you may tumble into the water again." "i'll not," promised the rabbit. "i'll wait right here for you." off the elephant started to get the ice cream cones and pretty soon he came to the store where the man sold them. [illustration] "i want two of your very coldest cones," said the elephant to the man, for sometimes, in stories, you know, elephants can talk to people. "i want a big strawberry cone for myself," the elephant went on, "and a smaller one for my friend, uncle wiggily, the rabbit." "very well," said the man, "but you will have to wait until i make a large cone for you." so that man took seventeen thousand, six hundred and eighty-seven little cones and made them into one big one for the elephant. then he took eighteen thousand, two hundred and ninety-one quarts of strawberry ice cream, and an extra pint, and put it into the big cone. then he made a rabbit-sized ice cream cone for uncle wiggily and gave them both to the elephant, who carried them in his trunk so they wouldn't melt. but i must tell you what was happening to uncle wiggily all this while. as he sat there in the shade of the apple tree, thinking, about his fortune and whether he would ever find it, all of a sudden he saw something round and squirming sticking itself toward him through the bushes. "ha! the elephant has come back so quietly that i didn't hear him," thought the rabbit. "that is his trunk he is sticking out at me. i guess he thinks i don't see him, and he is going to tickle me. i hope he has those ice cream cones." well, the crawly, squirming, round thing, which was like the small end of an elephant's trunk, kept coming closer and closer to the rabbit. "now, i'll play a trick on that elephant--i'll tickle his trunk for him, and he'll think it's a mosquito!" said uncle wiggily to himself. he was just about to do this, when suddenly the crawly thing made a sort of jump toward him, and before the rabbit could move he found himself grasped by a big, ugly snake, who wrapped himself around the rabbit just as ladies wrap their fur around their necks in the winter. it wasn't the elephant's trunk at all, but a bad snake. "now, i have you!" hissed the snake like a steam radiator in uncle wiggily's left ear. "i'm going to squeeze you to death and then eat you," and he began to squeeze that poor rabbit just like the wash-lady squeezes clothes in the wringer. "oh, my breath! you are crushing all the breath out of me!" cried uncle wiggily. "please let go of me!" "no!" hissed the snake, and he squeezed harder than ever. "oh, this is the end of me!" gasped the rabbit, when all of a sudden he heard a great crashing in the bushes. then a voice cried: "here, you bad snake, let go of uncle wiggily." and bless my hat! if the elephant didn't rush up, just in time, and he grabbed hold of that snake's tail in his trunk, and unwound the snake from around the rabbit, and then the elephant with a long swing of his trunk threw the snake so high up in the air that i guess he hasn't yet come down. "i was just in time to save you!" said the elephant to uncle wiggily. "here, eat this ice cream cone and you'll feel better." so the rabbit did this, and his breath came back and he was all right again, but he made up his mind never to try to tickle a crawly thing again until he was sure it wasn't a snake. so that's all for the present, if you please, but in case my fur hat doesn't sleep out in the hammock all night, and catch cold in the head so that it sneezes and wakes up the alarm clock, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the water lilies. story xvi uncle wiggily and the water lilies uncle wiggily was hopping along through the woods one day, and pretty soon, as he went past a cute little house, made out of corncobs, he heard some one calling to him. "oh, mr. rabbit," a voice said, "have you seen anything of my little girl?" and there stood a nice mamma cat, looking anxiously about. "i don't know," answered uncle wiggily, as he stopped in the shade of a tree, and set down his valise. "was your little girl named sarah, mrs. cat?" "oh, indeed, my little girl is not named sarah," said mrs. cat. "she is called snowball, and she is just as cute as she can be. she is all white, like a ball of snow, and so we call her snowball. but she is lost, and i'm afraid i'll never find her again," and the kittie's mamma began to cry, and she wiped her tears on her apron. "oh, don't worry. never mind. i'll find her for you," said the kind old gentleman rabbit. "i can't find my fortune but i believe i can find snowball. now, tell me which way she went away, and i'll go search for her." "i didn't see her go out of the house," said mrs. cat, "because i was making a cherry pie, and i was very busy. snowball was playing on the floor, with a ball of soft yarn, and it rolled out of doors. she raced out after it, and i thought she would soon be back. i put the cherry pie in the oven and then when i went to look for her she was gone. oh, dear! i just know some horrid dog has hurt her." "please don't worry," said uncle wiggily. "i'll find her for you. i'll start right off, and if i can't find her i'll get a policeman, and he can, for the police always find lost children." so uncle wiggily started off, leaving his valise with mrs. cat, but taking his crutch with him, for he thought he might need it to beat off any bad dogs if they chased after snowball. first the old gentleman rabbit looked carefully all along the road, but he couldn't see anything of the lost pussy cat. "perhaps she may be up a tree," he said to himself. "if a dog chased her she would climb up one, and perhaps she is afraid to come down." so he looked up into all the trees, and he even shook some of them in order to see up them better, but he did not discover the pussy cat. then he called: "snowball! snowball! snowball! where are you?" but there was no answer. "oh, if there was only some bird who could call 'snowball' i would get them to call for the lost pussy," thought uncle wiggily. then he looked up and he saw a big black bird sitting on a tree. "can you call 'snowball' for me?" asked the rabbit, politely. "she is lost and her mamma wants her very much. just call 'snowball' as loudly as you can." "i can't," said the big black bird. "all i can cry is 'caw! caw! caw!' i am a crow, you see." "that is too bad," said the rabbit. "then i will have to keep on searching by myself," so he did, and the crow flew away to look for a cornfield that had no scarecrow in it to frighten him. well, uncle wiggily looked in all the places he could think of, but still there was no pussy to be seen, and he was just thinking he had better go for a policeman. but he thought he would try just one more place, so he looked down a hollow stump, but snowball was not there. "i'll have to get a policeman after all," said the rabbit, so he told a policeman cat about the lost pussy, and the policeman cat searched for snowball, but he couldn't find her, either. "i guess she is gone," said the policeman. "you had better go back and tell her mamma that she hasn't any little pussy girl any more." "oh, how sad it will be to do that!" cried uncle wiggily. "i just can't bear to." but he started back to the corncob house to tell mrs. cat that he couldn't find her snowball. and all the while he kept feeling more and more sad, until he was almost ready to cry. "but i must be brave," said the old gentleman rabbit, and just then he came to a pond where a whole lot of beautiful, white water lilies were growing. oh, they are a lovely flower, with such a sweet, spicy smell. as soon as uncle wiggily saw them he said: "i'll pick some and take them home to mrs. cat. perhaps they will make her feel a little happy, even if her snowball is gone forever." so with his long crutch uncle wiggily pulled toward shore some of the water lilies, until he could pick them on their slender stems. some of the flowers were wide open, and some were closed, like rosebuds. he took both kinds home to mrs. cat, and when he told her he couldn't find snowball she was very sorrowful and she cried. but she loved the flowers very much, and put them in a bowl of water. "i'll stay here to-night," said the rabbit, "and in the morning i'll look for snowball again. i'm sure i'll find her." "oh, you are very kind," said mrs. cat, as she wiped away her tears. well, the next morning uncle wiggily got up real early, and the first thing he saw was the bowl of water lilies on the parlor table. they had all closed up like buds in the night, but in the sunlight they all opened again into beautiful flowers. and, would you believe me, right in the middle of one of the flowers something white moved and wiggled. then it gave a little "mew!" and then uncle wiggily cried: "oh, mrs. cat, come here quickly! here is snowball! she was asleep inside of one of the water lilies!" and, surely enough, there was the little lost kittie, just awakening in one of the flowers, and she was exactly the color of it. and, oh, how glad she was to see her mamma again, and how her mamma did hug her! "how did you get in that flower?" asked uncle wiggily. "oh, when i went after my ball a big dog chased me," said snowball, "so i jumped into one of the lilies and i fell asleep, and the flower went shut and i stayed there. but now i'm home, and i'm glad of it," and she just kissed uncle wiggily on the tip end of his nose, that twinkled like a star on a frosty night. so that's how snowball was lost and found, and i'm going to tell you about uncle wiggily and the sunflower, that is if the sunfish doesn't spread the butter too thick on the baby's bread with his tail and make her slide out of her high chair. story xvii uncle wiggily and the sunflower mrs. cat and her daughter snowball liked uncle wiggily so much that they wanted him to stay with them a long time. "you can build yourself a nice little corncob house next to ours," said snowball, "and live in it; and you can tell me a story every night." "oh, but rabbits live underground, and not in corncob houses, though such houses are very nice," said uncle wiggily. "i guess i'll have to be traveling on." "if you stay, i'll bake you a cherry pie every day," said mrs. cat. "and you can help find snowball when she gets lost again." "cherry pie is very good, and you are very kind," said the rabbit politely, "but i have my fortune to find." "well, if you can't stay you can't, i s'pose," said snowball; "but i'm never going to get lost again," and she put her little nose down deep inside a water lily and smelled it, and oh, how sweet and spicy it smelled! so uncle wiggily got ready to start off on his travels again, and in his satchel he put a whole cherry pie that mrs. cat had baked for him. "it will taste good when you are hungry," she said. "indeed it will," agreed uncle wiggily, and he wished he was hungry then and there, because he just loved cherry pie. he was walking on through the woods, when, all at once, he heard some music playing, and the name of the song was "never take your ice cream cone and drop it in the mud." "ha! i believe that is the funny monkey and one of his hand organs!" exclaimed the rabbit. "i shall be glad to see him again." so he looked through the trees, and there, surely enough, was the monkey, and he was playing the organ with his tail, and in one paw he held a cocoanut and in the other paw an orange, and first he would take a bite of the orange, and then a bite of the cocoanut. "i always like music when i eat," said the monkey as he threw a bit of orange skin over his left shoulder. "how comes it that you are away off here," asked the rabbit. "oh! i got tired of staying home," said the monkey. "i thought i would go out and see if i could make a few pennies by playing music." then he played another tune called, "don't sit down when you stand up." well, uncle wiggily listened to the music, which he liked very much, and he began to feel hungry. then he thought of the cherry pie, that the cat lady had put in his valise. "i guess i'll eat some of that and give the monkey a bit," he said, and he did so. "oh, this is most delicious and scrumptious!" cried the monkey, as he and uncle wiggily sat there eating the pie, and wiping off the juice with green leaves, so as not to soil their clothing. "indeed, it is very delectable," said the rabbit, hungry-like. "have another piece." well, he was just cutting it off, when, all of a sudden, before you could say "boo!" to an elephant, a terrible voice cried: "here! give me that pie! i must have cherry pie!" and before the monkey or uncle wiggily knew what was happening, out from behind the bushes jumped the skillery-scallery-tailery alligator, gnashing his teeth. "give me that pie!" he cried again, opening his mouth wide enough to swallow a cake as big as a wash-tub. "no, you cannot have it," said uncle wiggily, and, as quick as a wink, he popped the pie into his valise and closed it up. "now you can't get it!" the rabbit said. "then i'll get you and the monkey!" cried the alligator, as he made a dash for both of them. "not me! you can't catch me!" exclaimed the monkey, as he skipped up into the top of a tall tree. then, of course, as the alligator couldn't climb a tree he couldn't get the monkey. the skillery-scallery creature tried to eat the hand organ, and he tried to play it, but he could do neither. then he got real angry. "i'll chase after uncle wiggily and eat him!" he cried out, for by this time the rabbit was hopping along down the road. after him went the 'gator, coming nearer and nearer. "stop! stop! i want you!" cried the alligator to the rabbit. "i know you do, but you can't have me!" replied the rabbit. "i don't want to be eaten up!" so he ran on as fast as he could, but still the alligator came on after him, and the savage beast was almost up to uncle wiggily. "oh, if i only had some place to hide!" panted the poor rabbit. "then maybe the alligator would pass me by." so he looked around for a place in which to hide, but just then he found himself in a field, and all that he could see were a whole lot of sunflowers growing near a fence. "oh, i can't hide behind those flowers because the stems are so small around," thought uncle wiggily. "and i can't climb up them, and sit on the big flower, because i can't climb, and besides the stems are too slender to hold me up. oh, what shall i do?" well, the alligator was coming nearer and nearer, and the rabbit could hear the gnashing of his teeth, when, all at once one of the sunflowers called out. "gnaw through my stem, and cut me down, uncle wiggily. then you can hold my big blossom up in front of you and the alligator can't see you." "but won't it hurt you to cut you down?" asked the rabbit. "no, for i will grow up again next year," said the big sunflower. "hurry and cut me down, and hide behind me, and i'll shine in the eyes of the alligator and blind him." so uncle wiggily quickly gnawed through the sunflower stalk with his sharp teeth, and down the flower came. then the rabbit held the blossom up in front of himself, and hid behind it, and the yellow flower, which is round, just like the sun, shone so brightly into the alligator's face that he couldn't look out of his eyes, and so he was partly blinded, and he couldn't see to catch uncle wiggily, and he had to crawl away without eating the rabbit. then uncle wiggily thanked the sunflower, and laid it gently down, and hopped on his way again to seek his fortune. and the story after this, in case the washbowl and pitcher don't do a funny dance in the middle of the night and wake up my puppy dog, i'll tell you about uncle wiggily and the lightning bugs. story xviii uncle wiggily and the lightning bug it was a very warm day, and as uncle wiggily walked along, carrying his satchel, and sort of leaning on his crutch, for his rheumatism hurt him a bit, he said: "it is very hard to have to look for your fortune on a hot day, i wish it was nice and cool, and then i would feel better." "i can tell you where there is a cool place," said a little yellow bird, as she flew along in the air over the head of the old gentleman rabbit. "do you mean in an icehouse?" asked the traveling rabbit as he took off his hat to see if the sun had burned it any. "no, but of course that is a cold place," said the bird, as she sang a funny little song about a curly-headed dog who hadn't any nose and every time he walked along he stepped upon his toes. "but i don't mean an icehouse," went on the bird, as she turned her head to one side. "however, i know a nice cool place in the woods where you can lie down and have a little sleep. by that time the hot sun will go down behind the clouds, and then you can travel on in comfort." "i believe that will be a good plan," spoke the rabbit. "i'll do it. please show me the way to the cool place." so the bird flew on ahead, and uncle wiggily hopped on behind, and pretty soon he came to a place in the woods where there was a little babbling brook, flowing over mossy green stones, and telling them secrets about the fishes that swam in the cool water. then there were long, green ferns leaning over, and nodding their heads as they dipped down to take a drink out of the brook. there was also a nice little cave, made of stones, and that was almost as cool as an icehouse. "oh, this will be just fine for me!" exclaimed the rabbit, as he hopped inside the stone cave. "i'll go to sleep here." so he stretched out on a pile of leaves, and the little yellow bird began to sing a sleepy song. this is how it went, to the tune "lum-tum-tum tiddily-iddily-um:" "sleep, uncle wiggily, sleep. don't open your eyes to peep. i'll sing you a song, that's not very long. it's not sad, so please do not weep." well, as true as i'm telling you, before she had sung more than forty-'leven verses the old gentleman rabbit was fast, fast asleep, and, no matter how hot the sun shone down, uncle wiggily was nice and cool. well, pretty soon, in a little while, a savage, bad hawk-bird flew down from high in the air, where he had seen the little yellow bird sitting on the tree, near the cave, where the rabbit was sleeping. and the hawk made a dash for the yellow bird, and would have eaten her up only the bird flew quickly away and hid in a hollow stump, and that hawk was so mad that he bit a leaf off a tree and tore it into three pieces--the leaf, i mean, not the tree. well, after that the yellow bird didn't dare stay near the cave, for the hawk was on the watch to catch her, and, of course, uncle wiggily had no one to awaken him when it was cool enough for him to travel on and seek his fortune. he slept and he slept, and then he slept a little more, and all of a sudden he awakened and it was nearly night. my! how he did jump up then and rub his eyes with his paws, and he couldn't think, for a minute or so, just where he was. "oh, now i remember!" he exclaimed. "i'm in the cave. oh, dear me! but it's coming on night. the yellow bird must have forgotten to wake me up. i wonder what i shall do?" so he went out of the cave to look for the bird, but he couldn't find her. the savage hawk was there, however, but when he saw uncle wiggily and noted how brave he was, even if he did have the rheumatism, that hawk just gnashed his beak and flew away. then it got darker and darker, and poor uncle wiggily didn't know what to do, for he didn't know whether or not it would be safe to stay in the cave. "a bear might come along and eat me," he thought. "this cave might be a bear's den. i guess i will travel ahead and look for some other place where i can spend the night. but i don't like traveling in the dark." however, there was no help for it, so the old gentleman rabbit, after eating a lettuce sandwich, took up his satchel, grasped his crutch firmly, and started away. he traveled on through the woods, and it kept getting darker and darker, until at last uncle wiggily couldn't see anything in front of him but just blackness. "oh, this will never do!" he cried. "i can't go on this way. if i only had a lantern it would be all right." then, all at once, he heard a sort of growling noise in the bushes, and then he heard a sniffing-snuffling noise, and pretty soon a voice cried: "oh, ha! oh, hum! i smell fresh rabbit. now, i will have a good supper!" "that must be a savage bear or a fox!" cried the rabbit. "i guess this is the last of me!" then he saw two round circles shining in the darkness, two flashing, bright, shining things, and he was more frightened than ever. "oh, those are the glaring eyes of the fox or bear!" thought uncle wiggily. "i'm done for, sure!" then something made a jump for him, out of the bushes, but the rabbit crouched down, and the beast jumped over him. then, would you ever believe it? those two shining things flew nearer, and instead of being the eyes of a fox or bear they were two, good, kind, lightning bugs, who were flitting about. "oh, you'll be a lantern for me, won't you?" cried the rabbit, anxiously. "will you please light me out of these woods, and keep the savage beasts away?" "of course, we will!" cried the two lightning bugs. and they flew closer to the rabbit. then the savage fox, for he it was who had made a jump for uncle wiggily, was so afraid of the sparkling lights, that he ran away and hid in the bushes, fearing he would be burned. then the two bugs called for all of their friends to come and make the woods light so the old gentleman rabbit could see. and pretty soon seventeen thousand, four hundred and eighty-three big lightning bugs, and a little baby one besides, came flying along, and the woods were almost as light as day, and uncle wiggily could see to hop on. the bugs flew ahead, shining themselves like fairy lanterns, and pretty soon the rabbit came to a nice hollow stump, where he remained all night. and some of the bugs stayed with him to keep the bears and foxes away. then, in the morning, after thanking the bugs, the rabbit traveled on again, and he had another adventure. what it was i'll tell you on the next page, when, in case my pussy cat goes in swimming and doesn't get her fur wet, the story will be about uncle wiggily and the phoebe birds. story xix uncle wiggily and the phoebe birds "well, i don't seem to be finding my fortune very fast," said uncle wiggily to himself the next day, as he traveled on, after the lightning bugs had shown him the way out of the woods. "here i've been tramping around the country for a considerable while, and all i've found was one cent, and that belonged to the chipmunk. "i wish i could find a little money. then i would buy some peanuts and sell them, and make more money, and pretty soon i would be rich, and i could go back home and see sammie and susie littletail." so he walked along, looking very carefully on the ground for money. all he found for some time were only old acorns, and, as he couldn't eat them, they were of no use to him. "if johnnie or billie bushytail were here now i would give them some," he said. but the squirrels were far away frisking about in the tops. now, as true as i'm telling you, a moment after that, just as uncle wiggily was going past a big stone, he saw something bright and shining in the leaves. "oh, good luck!" he cried. "i've found ten cents, and that will buy two bags of peanuts. now i'll get rich!" so he picked up the shining thing, and oh! how disappointed he was, for it was only a round piece of tin, such as they make penny whistles of. "oh, dear!" cried uncle wiggily. "fooled again! well, all i can do is to keep on." he went on a little farther, until he came to a place where there were a whole lot of prickly briar bushes, with red berries growing on them. "oh, ho!" exclaimed the rabbit. "some of those berries will do for my dinner, as i'm getting hungry. i'll pick a few." he was just going to pick some of the berries, when he happened to notice a big, red thing, like a red flannel bag, standing wide open near a hole in the bushes. and in front of the red place was a sign, which said: "come in, one and all. everybody welcome." "it looks very nice in there," thought the rabbit. "perhaps it is the opening of a circus tent. i'm going in, for i haven't seen a show in some time. and, maybe, my friend, the elephant, will be in there." uncle wiggily was just going to hop into the funny red opening that had the sign on it, when a little ant came crawling along, carrying a small loaf of bread. "hello, uncle wiggily," said the ant. "where are you going?" "i am going inside this red circus tent," said the rabbit. "won't you come in with me? i'll buy you a ticket." "oh, never go in there--don't you do it!" cried the ant, and she got so excited that she nearly dropped her loaf of bread. "that is not a circus tent; it is only the skillery-scalery-tailery alligator, and he has opened his mouth wide hoping some one will come in, so he can have a meal. don't go in." "i won't," said uncle wiggily, quickly as he hopped away, and then he took up a stone and tossed it into the red mouth of the scalery-tailery-wailery alligator. the alligator shut his jaws very quickly, thinking he had something good to eat, but he only bit on the stone, and he was so angry that he lashed out with his tail and nearly knocked over a hickory-nut tree. then the ant crawled home, and uncle wiggily hopped on out of danger and the alligator opened his mouth again, hoping some foolish animal would walk into the trap he had all ready for them. well, in a little while after that, as the old gentleman rabbit was going along under the big tree, all of a sudden he heard a voice calling, rather sadly and sweetly: "phoebe! phoebe!" "my goodness, that must be some little lost girl named phoebe, and her sister is calling for her," he thought. "i wonder if i could help find her?" for, you know, uncle wiggily was just as kind as he could be, and always wanting to help some one. then he heard the voice again: "phoebe! phoebe!" "where are you?" asked the rabbit. "i'll help you hunt for your sister phoebe. where are you, little girl?" but the voice only called again: "phoebe! phoebe!" "i guess she can't hear me," said the rabbit. "i'll shout more loudly." so he cried out at the top of his voice: "i'll help you find phoebe. tell me where you are, and we'll go off together to hunt for her." but this time the calling voice was farther off, though still the rabbit could hear it saying: "phoebe! phoebe!" "my goodness me, sakes alive, and a bottle of stove polish! i can't make this out," said uncle wiggily. "that little girl is so worried about her lost sister that she doesn't pay any attention to me. but i'll help her just the same." so he hopped on toward where he heard the voice calling, and pretty soon, believe me, he heard two voices. one cried out: "phoebe! phoebe!" and the other one called just the same, only a little more slowly, like this: "phoe-be! phoe-be!" "now, there are two of her sisters calling for the lost one," said the rabbit. "they must be very much worried about phoebe. perhaps a bear has eaten her. that would be dreadful! i must help them!" so he hopped on through the woods, faster than ever, crying out: "i'm coming! i'm coming! old uncle wiggily is going to help you find phoebe." and then, would you believe me, uncle wiggily heard seven voices, all calling at once: "phoebe! phoebe! phoebe! phoebe! phoebe! phoebe! phoebe!" "oh, now the whole family is after that lost child," said the rabbit. "i had better go for a policeman." and then he happened to look up, and he saw a whole lot of little birds sitting on a tree, and each one was calling: "phoebe!" just like that. really i'm not fooling a bit; honestly. "oh my! how surprised i am!" cried the rabbit. "was that you birds calling for the little lost girl?" "it was," said the largest bird, "but there isn't any lost girl. you see we are phoebe birds, and that is the way we always sing. we always say 'phoebe--phoebe' over and over again. we didn't mean to fool you. it's only our way of calling." "oh, that's all right," said the rabbit. "i don't mind. it was good exercise for me to run after you." well, those birds liked uncle wiggily so much that they sang their prettiest for him, and asked him to stay to dinner, which he did. and he had chocolate cake with candied carrots on top. and that's all to this story, if you please, but in case a red bird brings me some green flower seeds to plant in my garden so i can grow some lollypops, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the milkman. story xx uncle wiggily and the milkman well, now i guess we're all ready for the story of the chicken who tried to roll an egg up hill, and it fell down, and was broken into forty-'leven pieces and the monkey--oh dear! did you ever hear of such a thing? i guess i must have turned over two pages in the story book instead of one, for to-night i'm going to tell you about uncle wiggily and the milkman, and not about the chicken and the egg at all. that comes in later. let's see then, we left the old gentleman rabbit just after he had met the phoebe birds, didn't we? well, a few days after that, as uncle wiggily was hopping along with the elephant, who had come back to him again, now and then, when he was tired, taking a ride on the back of the big fellow, all of a sudden they heard a voice crying: "ah, ha! now i have you!" "my! what's that?" asked the old gentleman rabbit. "it must be somebody after us," answered the elephant. "but don't you be afraid, uncle wiggily, i'll take care of you, and not let them hurt you. just get behind me." so the rabbit got behind the big elephant, and, would you believe it? you couldn't see uncle wiggily at all, not even if you were to put on the strongest kind of spectacles, such as grandma wears. for he was hidden behind the elephant. then, in another moment a man with a long rope came bursting through the bushes, and he ran straight toward the elephant. "now i have you!" cried the man again. "you must come right back to the circus with me." "oh, it's you they want, and not me," remarked uncle wiggily, and then he wasn't afraid any more, and felt better, for he knew that he could still travel on and seek his fortune. "yes, they're after me," said the elephant sadly. "i guess i'll have to leave you, uncle wiggily. do you want me to go with you, mr. man?" "yes, we want you back in the circus show." "will i have all the peanuts i want?" asked the elephant. "oh, yes," promised the man, "you may have a bushel and a pint every day, besides a pailful of pink lemonade." "then i'll come," said the elephant, "though i would like to have uncle wiggily come also. but he still has his fortune to find. come and see me some time," he called to the rabbit. "i will," said uncle wiggily. then the man tied a rope around the elephant's trunk and led him away, and the big fellow waved and flapped his ears at the rabbit to say good-by. "now i must travel all alone once more," said uncle wiggily to himself, as he hopped on through the woods. "and i do hope i find part of my fortune to-day, even if it's only ten cents' worth." well, he was passing across a nice green field a little while after that when, all of a sudden, he heard some voices talking. he looked all around, but he couldn't see any one, and he wondered if perhaps there were fairies about. then he heard a voice say: "now, children, hop just as i do. take a long breath and then hop, and be very careful where you go." then uncle wiggily looked down in the grass, and he saw a mamma hoptoad and a whole lot of her little toads hopping along. the mamma toad was giving the little ones their morning lesson. and i just wish you could have seen how nicely those tiny toads could hop. one little chap, named sylvester, hopped over a big stone, and his little sister, named clarabella, leaped over a stick with a nail in it and didn't get hurt a bit. "ha! that is very good hopping! very fine, indeed!" cried uncle wiggily, waving his ears back and forth. "i could hardly do better myself." "oh, it's very kind of you to say so," said the mamma toad. "now, children, give a big hop for uncle wiggily." well, they all took long breaths, and they were just going to hop when the old gentleman rabbit suddenly called: "look out! hold on! don't jump!" they all stopped quickly, and the mamma toad wanted to know what was the matter. "why, there is a big cow walking along," said the rabbit, for he could see over the top of the grass better than could the toads, and could watch the big cow coming. "if that cow stepped on you, why, you would never hop again," said the rabbit, and then he led the toads out of danger. "oh, i'm ever so much obliged to you," said the mamma toad to the rabbit. "you saved our lives." then she had all the little toads thank the old gentleman rabbit, and the mamma toad asked him to come to her house for dinner. uncle wiggily went, but the toad's house was so small that he couldn't get in, until he had made it bigger by scratching away some of the dirt around the front door. then he had a very good dinner, and he stayed all night at the toad family's house and watched the little ones hop some more, and he and the papa toad talked about the weather. well, in the morning when uncle wiggily got up and washed his face and paws, and combed out his whiskers, he suddenly heard all the little toads crying. "hum! suz! dud!" he exclaimed, "some of them must have the toothache." so he went down stairs, and there all the toad family were sitting around the breakfast table, but they weren't eating. "what's the matter?" asked uncle wiggily, sadly-like. "why," said the papa toad, "the milkman hasn't come, and the children have no milk for their oatmeal, and i have none for my coffee, and i'm in a hurry to get down to the store where i work." "that's too bad," said the rabbit. "can't you use condensed milk?" "we haven't any," spoke the mamma toad. [illustration] "well, i'll hop out and see if i can see the milkman coming," said the rabbit, "for i can see a long distance." so he went out and he hopped up and down the street, and he looked up and down, but no milkman could he see. and the little toads were getting hungrier and hungrier every minute and they cried a lot, yes, indeed! "this is too bad!" said uncle wiggily. "i guess that milkman must be lost. what can i do? ah, i have it!" and away he hopped off toward the green fields. pretty soon he came to where the cow, who had nearly walked on the toads, was eating grass, and, stepping up to her, uncle wiggily politely asked: "will you please give me some milk for the toads?" "to be sure i will," said the cow, kindly, "and i'm sorry i nearly stepped on them yesterday." so she gave uncle wiggily a canful of fresh milk, for the rabbit had brought the milk can out with him. then uncle wiggily hopped to the toadhouse as fast as he could, and the little toads had milk for their breakfast, and didn't cry any more. then, after a while, the milkman (who was a big puppy dog) came along and said he was sorry he was late, but he couldn't help it, because he had stepped on a thorn and had a lame foot and couldn't go fast, so they forgave him. "well, i'll travel along now, i guess," said uncle wiggily, and once more he started off to seek his fortune. and if you don't let your bathing suit fall into the water and get all wet, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily's swimming lesson. story xxi uncle wiggily's swimming lesson uncle wiggily was so tired and worn out after running for milk for the toad family that he couldn't travel very far that day to seek his fortune. he slept that night in a doghouse, where a kind puppy named towser lived, and towser covered the old gentleman rabbit up with leaves and straw and kept watch so that no one would hurt him. "for i have heard about you from percival, the old circus dog," said towser, the next morning when the rabbit awakened, "and i feel quite like a friend to you. will you gnaw one of my juicy bones?" "no, thank you," said uncle wiggily, "but if i had a bit of carrot i would be very glad." "don't say another word!" cried towser. "i will have it for you in less than two shakes of a crooked stick, or a straight one, either." so he ran out into the vegetable garden, and, very carefully he dug up a fine yellow carrot, which uncle wiggily ate for his breakfast. then the rabbit rested all that day, and stayed another night with towser. and towser invited some of his friends over to call on the rabbit, and they had quite an evening's entertainment. towser sang a funny song and stood on his tail, and uncle wiggily jumped over two chairs and a footstool, and a dog named rover stood up on his hind legs and begged, and made believe he was a soldier with a broom for a gun, and did lots of tricks like that. well, the next day uncle wiggily felt well enough to go on with his travels again and so he started off. "i will go part of the way with you," said towser, "to see that no harm comes to you." "thank you, very much," said the rabbit, and so they set off together, the puppy dog carrying uncle wiggily's valise for him. pretty soon, not so very long, they came to a pond of water, and as soon as towser saw it, he cried out: "oh, it is such a hot day i think i'll jump in and have a swim. come on, uncle wiggily, have a swim with me." "oh, no, i can't swim," said the old gentleman rabbit. "what! you can't swim?" cried the dog. "well, every one ought to swim, for when they go on their vacation if they fall in the water they won't drown if they know how to keep themselves up. watch me and see how easy it is." so towser set the satchel down on the bank and, taking off some of his clothes, into the water he jumped with a big splashy dive. right down under the water he disappeared. "oh, he'll be drowned, sure!" cried uncle wiggily, who was much frightened. but, no. in a second up came towser, shaking the water from his hair and eyes, and then he began swimming around as easily as a chicken can pick up corn. "come on in, uncle wiggily," he called. "the water is fine." "oh, i'm afraid!" said the rabbit. "then the first thing to do is to get so you are not afraid of the water," said the dog. "you needn't be. just see; it will hold you up easily if you go at it right. just keep your nose out, and don't splutter and splash too much and you can swim. come in and i will give you a lesson." so uncle wiggily got in the water. at first it took his breath away, but after a bit he got used to it, and he found that he could wade away far out. then he tried holding his breath and ducking his head away under, and he found that he could do that and not be harmed in the least, and at last he got so he wasn't afraid at all in the water. "now for a lesson," said the puppy dog. "you must wade out so that the water is up to your neck, and then you face toward shore, so you won't be frightened. then you just lean forward, gently and easily, and you kick out with your legs like a frog, and you wave your hands around from in front of you to your sides, and keep on doing that and you'll swim." "i'll try it," said the rabbit. so he tried it, but, all of a sudden, he cried out: "ouch! oh, my! oh, dear me! oh, hum, suz dud!" "what's the matter," asked the dog, looking around. "a fish bit my toe," exclaimed the rabbit. "oh, i guess you only hit it on a stone," said towser. "fish are too frightened to bite any one. come on, strike out and swim as i do." then uncle wiggily wasn't afraid, and soon he was swimming as nicely as could be. for you know to swim you must first not be a bit afraid of the water, for it can't hurt you. if ever you fall in, don't breathe--just hold your breath as long as you can. then, pretty soon you'll come up, and if some one doesn't grab you, and you go under again, hold your breath until you come up once more and then some one will surely grab you. "you must never breathe under water--just hold your breath," said towser to uncle wiggily, and the rabbit did it that way, and soon he could even swim under water. "well, i'm much obliged to you," he said to towser, "but now i must be on my way to seek my fortune." so he said good-by to towser and hopped on. and he hadn't gone very far before a big bear saw him and chased after him. "oh, i'll catch you!" cried the bear to the rabbit. well, i just wish you could have seen uncle wiggily run! he ran until he came to a big river, and the bear was right after him. "now i have you!" cried the bear. "you can't get across the river." "oh, can't i?" asked the rabbit. "just you watch and see!" so uncle wiggily threw his crutch and valise across the stream, and then into it he jumped, and he swam just as towser had taught him and he got safely on the other side and so saved his life, for the bear couldn't swim and uncle wiggily could. so you see it's a good thing to know how to swim, and i hope all of you, who are big enough, know how to keep up in the water. well, uncle wiggily got across to the other shore, and he looked back and there that bear was raging and tearing around as mad as mad could be, because the rabbit had gotten away from him. but i'm glad of it; aren't you? now i have another story for you, and, in case my typewriter doesn't fall in the lake and the fishes don't eat up the hair ribbon on it, i'll tell you about uncle wiggily in the bear's den. story xxii uncle wiggily in the bear's den well, here we are again, all ready for a story, i suppose, and i hope you had a nice time at the surprise party. let me see now, what shall i tell you about? how would you like to hear about the old gentleman rabbit and the toadstool? oh, my! i just happened to remember that i promised to write about uncle wiggily getting into the bear's den, so of course i'll have to tell about that first, and afterward i'll write the story about the toadstool. i'll tell you this much, however, the toadstool story is very curious, if i do say so myself. anyhow, uncle wiggily was hopping along one fine morning, following a stormy night, and he was thinking about the swimming lesson he had had a few days before. "i wonder if i have forgotten how to move my legs, and go skimming through the water?" he said to himself as he set down his valise, and leaned his crutch against a prickly briar bush. "i must practice a little." and the old gentleman rabbit did practice then and there, going through all the motions of swimming, only he was on dry land, of course. next he twinkled his nose, like a star on a very hot night, when you drink iced lemonade to keep cool, and then uncle wiggily hopped forward once more. he hadn't gone very far before he noticed a grasshopper moving along so swiftly that the old gentleman rabbit could hardly see the legs go flip-flap. my, but that grasshopper did hippity-hop! "hold on there, if you please!" called uncle wiggily. "what is your hurry. are you late for school?" "there is no school now," said the grasshopper, as he sat on a daisy flower, "but i am hopping along to get out of danger." "danger? what danger is there around here?" asked the rabbit. "do you see a fox, or anything like that?" "no, but don't you hear that dreadful noise?" asked the grasshopper. "listen, and you will hear it. it scared me so that i went away as fast as i could." so uncle wiggily listened, and sure enough he heard, away off in the woods, a voice shouting: "help! help! help! oh, won't some one please help me, or i'll be killed!" "there, did you hear it?" asked the grasshopper, as he shivered and got ready to flit away again, "he said he was going to kill us." "oh, no! nonsense!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "that is some poor animal caught in a trap, and he's afraid of being killed himself. i'm going to see who it is. perhaps it is a friend of mine." "oh, no! don't you go!" begged the grasshopper. "for it may be the alligator with the skillery-scalery-railery tail." "oh, preposterous!" cried uncle wiggily, who sometimes used big words when he was excited. "i'm not afraid. i'm going to help whoever it is, and, perhaps, in that way i may find my fortune." so the grasshopper, who was very much frightened, flew on, and the rabbit hopped toward where he could hear the voice still calling for help. and whom do you s'pose it was? why, the second cousin to grandfather prickly porcupine was caught fast in a trap, and he was calling for help as loudly as he could call. "oh, i'm so glad you came along," said the porcupine to uncle wiggily. "please help me to get my leg out of this trap." "of course i will," said the rabbit, and with his crutch he pried open the trap, and set free the nice little second cousin to grandfather prickly porcupine. "oh, how thankful i am to you," said the porcupine, as he limped away. "if ever i can do you a favor i will." and, would you believe it? the time was soon to come when that porcupine was to save uncle wiggily's life. well, the old gentleman rabbit hopped on, looking all over for his fortune, but he couldn't seem to find it anywhere until, all of a sudden, as he was walking along by some big stones, he saw something shining, and picking it up, he found he had a silver twenty-five-cent piece. "oh, my goodness me, sakes alive and a piece of cherry pie!" cried the rabbit. "i've found part of my fortune! i'll have good luck now, and perhaps i can find more." so the rabbit looked all about in among the stones for other money. but he didn't find any, and pretty soon he came to a place where there was a hole down in between the big rocks. "perhaps there is more money down there," said the rabbit. "i'll take a look." he leaned over, and looked down, and then--oh, how sorry i am that i have to tell it, but i do, all of a sudden uncle wiggily fell right down that black hole. right down into it he fell, and he landed at the bottom with such a bump that he nearly broke his spectacles. at first it was so dark that he couldn't make out anything, but in a little while he could see something big and black and shaggy coming toward him, and a grillery-growlery voice called out: "who's there? who dares to come into my den?" "it is only i," said the rabbit. "i'm uncle wiggily longears, and i came in here by mistake. i was looking for my fortune." "ah, ha!" cried the bear, for the shaggy creature with the grillery-growlery voice was a bear. "ah, ha! that is a different story. i am very glad you dropped in to see me, mr. longears. i was just wondering what i'd have for my dinner, and now i know--it is going to be rabbit stew, and you are going to be stewed," and the bear opened the dining-room shutters so he could see to eat the rabbit. "oh, how can you be so cruel to me?" asked uncle wiggily. "i only came in here by mistake. i found twenty-five cents, and i was looking for more." "found twenty-five cents, did you, eh?" cried the bear, savage-like. "give it to me at once! i lost that, it's my money!" and he took the twenty-five-cent piece right away from uncle wiggily. then the bear was just going to eat up the nice old gentleman rabbit, and uncle wiggily didn't know how to get away, and he was feeling most dreadful, when, all of a sudden, a voice sharply cried: "here, you let my friend uncle wiggily alone," and then some one scrambled down through the top hole of the bear's den. "who are you?" asked the shaggy creature with the grillery-growlery voice, and the bear gnashed his teeth. "i'm the second cousin to grandfather prickly porcupine," was the answer, "and i'm going to save my rabbit friend." and with that the porcupine took out a whole handful of his stickery-ickery quills, like toothpicks, and he stuck them right into the soft and tender nose of that bad bear. and the stickery-ickery quills so tickled the bear and hurt him that he nearly sneezed his head off, and tears came into his eyes. "now's our time! come on, let's get away from here!" cried the porcupine to the rabbit, and up out of the bear's den they scrambled, and got safely away before the bear had finished his sneezing. "oh, you saved my life," said uncle wiggily to the prickly porcupine, "and i thank you very much." then they traveled on together, and they had an adventure the next day. what it was i'll tell you soon, when, in case the boys who go in swimming don't duck my typewriter under water and make it catch the measles, i'll tell you about uncle wiggily and the toadstool. story xxiii uncle wiggily and the toadstool "were you much frightened when you were in the bear's den?" asked the prickly porcupine as he and uncle wiggily went along the road next day. they had slept that night in a hole where an old fox used to live, but just then he was away on his summer vacation at asbury park, and so he wasn't home. "was i frightened?" repeated the old gentleman rabbit, as he looked to see if there was any mud on his crutch, "why i was so scared that my heart almost stopped beating. but i'm glad you happened to come along, and that you stuck your stickery-ickery quills into the bear's nose. it was very lucky that you chanced to come past the den." "oh, i did it on purpose," said the porcupine. "after you got me out of the trap, and i scurried away, i happened to think that you might go past the bear's house, so i hurried after you, and--well, i'm glad that i did." [illustration] "so am i," said the rabbit. "will you have a bit of my carrot sandwich?" "i don't mind if i do," said the porcupine, polite-like, so he and the rabbit traveler ate the carrot sandwiches as they walked along. "well, i don't believe i'm ever going to find my fortune," said uncle wiggily sadly. "i began to have hopes, when i picked up the twenty-five-cent piece, but now the bear has that and i have nothing. oh, i certainly am very unlucky." "never mind," said the porcupine, "i'll help you look." but even with the sharp eyes, and the sharp, stickery-ickery quills of the hedgehog, uncle wiggily couldn't find his fortune. but it is a good thing the old gentleman rabbit had company, for as they were walking along under some trees, all of a sudden a big snake hissed at them, like a coffee-pot boiling over. and then the snake uncoiled himself and tried to grab the rabbit by the ears. "here! that will never do!" cried the porcupine, and then and there, without even stopping to take off his necktie, that brave creature stuck twenty-seven and a half stickery-stockery-stackery quills into the snake, and then that snake was glad enough to crawl away. oh, my, yes, and a basketful of soap bubbles besides! well, it wasn't long after that before it was dinner time, and the two friends sat down in a place where there were a lot of toadstools to eat their lunch. they sat on the low toadstools, and the higher ones they used for tables, each one having a toadstool table for himself, just like in a restaurant. "now, this is what i call real jolly," said the porcupine, as he ate his third piece of hickory-nut pie with carrot sauce on it. "yes, it is real nice," said the rabbit. "after all, it isn't so bad to go hunting for your fortune when you have company, but it's not so much fun all alone." well, the two friends were just finishing their meal, and they were getting ready to travel on, when, all at once, there was a terrible crashing sound in the bushes, just as if some one was breaking them all to pieces. "my! what's that?" asked the porcupine, preparing to pull out some more of his stickery-ickery quills. "it sounds like the elephant," said the rabbit, as he looked around for a safe place in which to hide in case it should happen to be the bear coming after him. "oh, if it's the elephant, we don't have to worry. he is a friend of ours," said the porcupine. well, the crashing in the bushes still kept up, and then before you could tickle your pussy cat under the chin-chopper, there burst out of the middle of a prickly briar bush a great big alligator--the same one who once before had tried to catch uncle wiggily. "oh, look!" cried the porcupine. "he's after us." "indeed, i am!" exclaimed the 'gator. "i'll have a fine meal in about a minute. i'll pull all your quills out, and eat you with strawberry sauce on; prickly porcupine." "oh, don't you let him do it!" cried uncle wiggily. "stick some of your quills in him, and make him go away, mr. porcupine." "it wouldn't do any good," said the porcupine. "you see, the alligator has such a thick skin on him that even a bullet will hardly go through, so my quills won't hurt him. i guess we had better run away." well, they started to run away, but the 'gator, with his skillery-scalery tail, chased after them, and he could go very quickly, too, let me tell you. right after uncle wiggily and the porcupine the alligator raced, and he almost caught both of them. then the porcupine saw a hole just big enough for him to squeeze down, but not big enough for the alligator to come after. down into this hole jumped the prickly porcupine, and he was safe, but there was no hole for uncle wiggily to hide in, and the alligator was close after him. "jump up on a toadstool, and maybe he can't get you!" called the porcupine, sticking the end of his nose out of the hole. "i will!" cried the rabbit, and up on top of the biggest toadstool he landed with a jump. "oh, i can easily get you off there!" yelled the alligator, savage-like. "i'll have you down in a minute." he reached up with his claws to get the rabbit, and uncle wiggily got right in the middle of the toadstool, as far away as he could, but it wasn't very far. the alligator's claws almost had him, when all of a sudden that toadstool quickly began to grow up tall. taller and taller it grew, for toadstools grow very fast you know. higher and higher it went, like an elevator, taking uncle wiggily up with it. "oh, now i'm safe!" cried the rabbit, for he was quite high in the air by this time. "no, you're not. i'll get you yet!" cried the alligator, as he reared up on the end of his skillery-scalery tail. he made a grab for the rabbit, but the kind toadstool at once grew itself up as tall as the church steeple, with uncle wiggily still on top, and then, of course, the alligator couldn't reach him. "oh, now i'm safe, but how ever am i going to get down?" thought the rabbit, for the alligator was still there. but, in another minute, along came a policeman dog, and with his club he made that alligator run away back to the swamp where he belonged. then the toadstool began to get smaller and smaller, and it sank down close to the ground again and lowered the rabbit just like on an elevator in a store, and uncle wiggily was safe on earth once more. and he was very thankful to the toadstool, which grew up so quickly just in time. "well, we'd better get along once more," said uncle wiggily to the prickly porcupine, after he had thanked the dog-policeman. so the two friends set off together through the woods, and the next day something else happened to them. i'll tell you what it was on the next page, when, in case the iceman brings me some hot chocolate to put on my bread and butter, the bedtime story will be about uncle wiggily and the chickie. story xxiv uncle wiggily and the chickie "well, what shall we do to-day?" asked the second cousin to grandfather prickly porcupine, as he crawled out of his bed of dried leaves, and looked over to where uncle wiggily was washing his whiskers. "are we going to travel some more?" "oh, yes," answered the old gentleman rabbit, "we must still keep on, for i have yet to find my fortune." "what are you going to do with your fortune when you find it?" asked the porcupine. "will you buy a million ice cream cones with the money?" "oh, my goodness sakes alive, and a pot of mustard, no!" replied uncle wiggily. "if i ate as many cones as that i would have indigestion, as well as rheumatism. when i find my fortune i am going back home, and i'll buy something for sammie and susie littletail, and for johnnie and billie bushytail, and for all my other animal friends, including grandfather goosey gander. that's what i'll do when i find my fortune." "very good," said the porcupine, and then he got up and washed his face and paws. and he wiped them on the towel after the old gentleman rabbit, instead of before him, for you see when the porcupine soaked up the water off his face he left some of his stickery-stockery quills sticking in the towel, and if uncle wiggily had used it then he might have been scratched. but, as it was, the rabbit didn't even get tickled, and very glad of it he was, too. oh, my, yes, and some pepper hash in addition. well, uncle wiggily and the porcupine had their breakfast and then they started off. they hadn't gone very far before they met a locust sitting on the low limb of a tree. and this locust was buzzing his wings like an electric fan, and making more noise than you could shake your handkerchief at on a tuesday morning. "why do you do that?" asked the rabbit. "to keep myself cool," said the locust. "i am fanning myself with my buzzy wings for it is going to be a very hot day." "then we must keep in the shade as we travel along," said the porcupine, and that is what he and the old gentleman rabbit did. and it is a good thing they did so, for, as they walked along where it was cool and dark, beneath clumps of ferns, and under big, tall trees, they passed by a place where a bad snake lived. "look out! there's the snake's hole!" cried uncle wiggily, and he jumped to one side. "ha! i'm ready for him!" called the porcupine, and he got some of his stickery quills ready to jab into the snake. but the snake was out on a big rock, sunning himself in the hot sun, though when he heard the rabbit and porcupine talking he made a jump for them and tried to catch them. but you see they were in the cool shadows, and the snake's eyes were blinded by the sun, so he could not see very well, and thus the rabbit and his friend escaped. "i tell you it is a good thing we heard the locust sing, and that we kept in the shade, or else we might have stepped right on that snake and he'd have bitten and killed us," said the porcupine, and uncle wiggily said that this was true. well, they kept on and on, and pretty soon they sat down in the shade of a mulberry tree and ate their lunch. then they rested a bit, and in the afternoon they traveled on farther. and, just as they were passing by a large, gray rock, that had nice, green moss on it, all of a sudden they heard something calling like this: "cheep! cheep! chip-cheep-cheep! oh, cheep! peep! peep!" "what's that?" asked uncle wiggily in a whisper. "i don't know. maybe a burglar fox," answered the porcupine also, in a whisper. "but i'm all ready for him." so he got out some of his sharpest stickery quills to jab into the burglar fox, and the noise still kept up: "cheep! cheep! yip! yip! yap! yap! cheep-chap!" "that doesn't sound like a fox," said the rabbit, listening with his two ears. "no, it doesn't," admitted the porcupine, and he stuck his quills back again like pins in a cushion. "perhaps it is the skillery-scalery alligator, and my quills would be of no use against him," he went on. then, all at once, before uncle wiggily could make his nose twinkle like a star of a frosty night more than two times, there was a rustling in the bushes, and out popped a poor, little white chickie--only she wasn't so very white now, for her feathers were all wet and muddy. "cheep-chap! yip-yap!" cried the little chickie. "why, what in the world are you doing away off here?" asked uncle wiggily. "you poor little dear! where is your mother?" "oh, me! oh, my!" cried the little chickie. "i only wish i knew. i'm lost! i wandered away from my mamma, and my brothers, and sisters, and i'm lost in these woods. oh chip! oh chap! oh yip! oh yap!" then she cried real hard and the tears washed some of the dirt off her white feathers. "don't cry," said uncle wiggily, kindly. "we'll help you find your mamma, won't we, mr. porcupine?" "of course we will," said the stickery-stockery creature. "you go one way, uncle wiggily, and i'll go the other, and the chickie can stay on this big rock until one of us comes back with her mamma." "yes, and here is a piece of cherry pie for you to eat while we are gone," said the rabbit, giving the lost chickie a nice piece of the pie. so off the rabbit and the porcupine started to find the chickie's mamma. they looked everywhere for her, but the porcupine couldn't find the old lady hen, so he went back to the rock to wait there with the lost chickie so she wouldn't be lonesome. but uncle wiggily wouldn't stop looking. pretty soon he heard something going "cluck-cluck" in the bushes, and he knew that it was the mamma hen. then he went up to her and said: "oh, i know where your little lost chickie is." well, at first, that mamma hen didn't know who the rabbit was, and she ruffled up her feathers, and puffed them out, and let down her wings, and she was going to fly right at uncle wiggily, but she happened to see who he was just in time and she said: "oh, thank you ever so much, uncle wiggily. i was so worried that i was just going down to the police station to see if a policeman had found her. now i won't have to go. come along, children, little lost clarabella is found. uncle wiggily found her." so she clucked to all the other children, and the rabbit led them toward where clarabella was sitting on the rock with the porcupine. and on the way a big, ugly fox leaped out of the bushes and tried to eat up all the chickens, and uncle wiggily also. but the old mother hen just ruffled up her feathers and puffed herself all out big again, and she flew at that fox and picked him in the eyes, and he was glad enough to slink away through the bushes, taking his fuzzy tail with him. then the rabbit hopped on and took the mamma hen to her little lost chickie on the rock, and the rabbit and the porcupine had supper that night with the chicken family and slept in a big basket full of straw next door to the chicken coop. then they traveled on the next day and something else happened. what it was i'll tell you right soon, when, in case a little boy named willie doesn't crawl up in my lap when i'm writing and pull my ears, as the conductor does the trolley car bell-rope, the story will be about uncle wiggily and the wasp. story xxv uncle wiggily and the wasp "what would you like for breakfast this morning?" asked mrs. hen, as uncle wiggily and the porcupine got up out of their bed in the clean straw by the chickens' coop. this was the day after the rabbit found the little white chickie. "ha, hum! let me see," exclaimed the rabbit, as he waved his whiskers around in the air to get all the straw seeds out of them: "what would i like? why, i think some fried oranges with carrot gravy on them would be nice, don't you, mr. porcupine?" "no," said the stickery-stockery creature. "i think i would like to have some bread with banana butter on and a glass of milk with vanilla flavoring." "you may both have what you like, because you were so kind to my little lost clarabella," said mrs. hen. then she spoke to her children. "scurry around now, little ones, and get uncle wiggily and his friend the nice things for breakfast. hurry now, for they will be wanting to travel on before the sun gets too hot," the mamma hen said. so one little chickie got the oranges, and another chickie got the bananas, and still another chickery-chicken, with a spotted tail, got the carrots, and then clarabella went to where mrs. cow lived, and got the milk for the prickly porcupine. then mrs. hen cooked the breakfast, and very good it was, too, if i may be allowed to say so. "well, i guess we'll be getting along now," said uncle wiggily. "are you still going to travel with me, mr. porcupine?" "oh, yes, i'll come with you for a couple days more, and then if you don't find your fortune i'll start out by myself, and perhaps i can find it for you." so the two friends went on together. they traveled over hills and down dales, and once they met a lame rabbit, who had the epizootic very bad. uncle wiggily showed him how to make a crutch out of a cornstalk, just as nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy, the muskrat, had done, and the lame rabbit made himself one and was much obliged. then, a little later they met a duck with only one good leg, and the other one was made of wood, and this duck wanted to get over a fence but she couldn't, on account of her wooden leg. "pray, how did you lose your leg?" asked uncle wiggily, as he and the porcupine kindly helped her over the rails. "oh, a bad rat bit it off," said the duck. "i was asleep in the pond one morning and before i knew it a rat swam up under water, and nipped off my leg." "oh, i'm so sorry," said the rabbit. "i'll tell alice and lulu and jimmie wibblewobble, my duck friends, to be careful of bad rats in their pond." "that's a good idea," spoke the duck with the wooden leg, and then she said good-by and waddled away. after that uncle wiggily and the porcupine traveled on some more, and, as it got to be very warm they thought they would lie down in a shady place and take a little sleep. well, they picked out a nice place under a clump of ferns, that leaned over a little babbling brook, and touched the tips of their green leaves into the cool water. and, before he knew it, dear old uncle wiggily was fast, fast asleep, and he snored the least little bit, but please don't tell any one about it. then pretty soon the porcupine was asleep too, only he didn't snore any, though i'm not allowed to tell you why just now. i may later, however. well, in a little while, something is going to happen. in fact, it's now time for it to begin. yes, here comes the stingery wasp. listen, and you can hear him buzz. "buzz! buzz! bizzy-buzzy-buzzy!" went the stingery wasp, as he flew over the place where the rabbit and porcupine were sleeping. and the wasp flitted and flapped his bluish wings and lifted up the sharp end of his body where be carries his stingery-sting. "ah, ha! i see something to sting!" thought the wasp. "now, i wonder which one i shall sting first? i think i will try the porcupine, and then i will sting the rabbit." oh, but he was a bad wasp, though; wasn't he, eh? well, he was all ready to sting the porcupine, when suddenly the wasp heard a voice calling to him from the bushes. "don't sting the porcupine, mr. wasp, sting the rabbit," said the rasping voice. "why should i do that?" asked the wasp, as he looked to see if his sting needed sharpening. "oh, because if you sting the porcupine you might get stuck with his stickery-stockery quills," said the voice. "but the rabbit can't hurt you. besides, if you sting him for me i will give you a popcorn ball." [illustration] "why are you so anxious for me to sting the rabbit?" asked the wasp, as he flittered his steely-blue wings. "oh, if you do that it will scare him so that he won't know which way to run, and then, when he is all puzzled up, i can jump out on him and eat him up!" said the voice. "i have been wanting a rabbit dinner this long time," and with that out from the bushes crawled the bad fox. "very well," said the wasp, "i'll sting the rabbit on the end of his twinkling nose for you, and then you must give me a popcorn ball," for you know wasps like sweet things. so the wasp got ready to sting poor uncle wiggily, and all this while the rabbit and the porcupine were peacefully sleeping there under the ferns, and they didn't know what was going to happen. "buzz! buzz! buzz!" went the wasp, as he flew closer to uncle wiggily. he was all ready to sting him, when a piece of bark happened to fall off a tree and hit the porcupine on his left ear, waking him up. he opened his eyes very quickly, thinking that a fairy was throwing snowballs at him, and then the porcupine heard the wasp buzzing, and he saw the wasp flying straight toward uncle wiggily to sting him, and next the porcupine saw the bad fox. "ha! so that is how things are, eh?" cried the porcupine, as he jumped up. "well, i'll soon put a stop to that!" so, before you could fan yourself with a feather, the porcupine took out one of his stickers, and he stuck the wasp with it so hard that the bad wasp was glad enough to fly away, taking his stinger with him. "now, it's your turn!" cried the porcupine to the fox, and with that he threw a whole lot of his sharp quills at the fox, and that bad creature ran away howling. and then uncle wiggily woke up and wanted to know what it was all about, and what made the buzzing and howling noises. "you had a narrow escape," said the porcupine as he told the rabbit about the wasp and the fox. "i guess i did," admitted uncle wiggily. "i'm much obliged to you. now let's have supper." so they ate their supper, and that's all i can tell you for the present, if you please. but, in case i see a little pig with a pink ribbon tied in his curly tail, i'll make the next bedtime story, about uncle wiggily and the bluebell. story xxvi uncle wiggly and the bluebell well, i didn't see any little pig with a pink ribbon tied in his kinky, curly tail, but i'll tell you a story just the same if you'd like to hear it. once upon a time, a good many years ago, when--oh, there i go again! i'm always making mistakes like that, of late. that's a story about a giant that i was thinking of, whereas i meant to tell you one about uncle wiggily, and what happened to him. it was the day after the wasp had nearly stung him, and the old gentleman rabbit was traveling on alone, for the second cousin to grandfather prickly porcupine had to go home, and so he couldn't help uncle wiggily hunt for his fortune any longer. "now take care of yourself," the porcupine had said to the rabbit, as they bade each other good-by, "and don't let any wasps sting you." "what should i do, in case i happened to be stung?" asked uncle wiggily. "put some mud on the place," said the porcupine. "mud is good for stings." "i will," said the rabbit, and then he hopped on with his valise and his red-white-and-blue-striped-barber-pole crutch. uncle wiggily hoped he would soon find his fortune, for he wanted to get back home and see sammie and susie littletail, and all the other animal friends. so he looked around very carefully for any signs of gold. he also asked all the animals and flowers whom he met if they could tell him where his fortune was. "no," said a warty-spotted toad, "i can't tell you, but i should think you would dig in the ground for gold." so uncle wiggily dug in the dirt in many places, but no gold did he find. "perhaps you can tell me where my fortune is?" he said to a tailor-bird who was sewing some leaves together to make a nest. "it might be up in the air," said the tailor-bird. "if i were you i should hop up into the air and look for it." well, uncle wiggily hopped up, but you know how it is with rabbits. they're not made to fly, and he couldn't stay up in the air long enough to do any good, so he couldn't find any gold that way. "oh, dear! i guess i'll never find my fortune," said the rabbit sadly-like. then he saw a little blue flower, shaped just like a bell, hanging on a stem over a small babbling brook of water. "ah, there is a bluebell!" said the rabbit. "perhaps she knows where my fortune is. i'll ask her, for flowers are very wise." "no, i can't tell you where there is any gold," said the bluebell when uncle wiggily had asked her most politely. "all i do is to swing backward and forward here all day long, and i ring my bell and i am happy. i do not need gold." "i wish i didn't have to have it, but i do. i need it to make my fortune, and then i can go home," said the rabbit. "very well," spoke the blue flower, as she rang her bell, oh so sweetly! so that it seemed to the rabbit as if she played a song about the blue skies, and birds singing and fountains spouting upward in the sun while pretty blossoms grew all around. "go on, uncle wiggily, but if you don't find your fortune come back here, and i will sing you to sleep," she added. "i will," spoke the rabbit, as he hopped away. well, pretty soon, not so very long, as he was walking on a path through the woods, uncle wiggily heard a voice speaking. "i can tell you where to find your fortune," said the voice. "i know where there is a big pile of yellow stones, and i think they are gold. follow me and i will show you." "but who are you?" asked the rabbit, for he could see no one. "you may be the alligator for all i know." "oh, i'm not the alligator," was the answer. "i am a friend of yours, and i like you very much," and the unseen one smacked his lips. "but i can't come out and let you see me, for i dare not go out in the sun as i am afraid of getting too hot," the voice answered, "so i will just creep along through the bushes and i will wiggle my tail, and you can see it moving in the grass, and you can follow that without seeing me, and i will lead you to the pile of yellow stones." "very well," answered the rabbit, "though i would much rather see you. but go ahead and i'll follow, for i must find my fortune." so the old gentleman rabbit saw the grass wiggling and he followed that, and he kept thinking of how rich he would soon be, and how many nice things he would buy for sammie and susie littletail. but if the rabbit had only known who it was he was following he wouldn't have been so happy, for it was a crawly snake, and that snake was only fooling uncle wiggily, and trying to get him off to his den so he could eat him. and that's why he didn't show himself. on and on the snake wiggled through the grass, shaking his tail, and the poor rabbit followed after him. "are we nearly to the gold?" asked uncle wiggily after a bit. "almost," answered the snake, making his voice soft and gentle. the snake was nearly at his den now, and he was just going to turn around and squeeze the rabbit to death, when all at once a yellow bumblebee that was flying overhead looked down and saw the crawly creature, and the bee knew what the snake was going to do. "run away, uncle wiggily! run!" called the bee, "the snake is fooling you!" well, uncle wiggily didn't wait a second. he jumped right over a briar bush and away he hopped as fast as he could hop, and the snake didn't get him, and, oh, how mad that snake was! uncle wiggily hopped around and around in the woods and the first thing he knew he couldn't find the path, he was so excited. and the more he tried to find it the more he couldn't, until he sat down on a stump and said: "i'm lost. i know i am! lost in the dark, deep, dismal woods, and night coming on! oh, what shall i do?" well, he was feeling very badly, and was quite frightened, and he didn't know what to do when, all at once he heard a bell ringing. oh, such a sweet-toned silvery bell. "ding-dong! ding-dong!" it went, sounding very clearly through the woods. then the bell seemed to say: "come this way, uncle wiggily, come this way. ding-dong!" "oh, that's the bluebell flower!" cried the rabbit. "how glad i am. now i can follow the ringing sound and get to a nice place to stay for the night." so he listened carefully, and the blue flower rang her tinkling bell louder than ever, and the rabbit could tell by the sound of it just which way to go, and pretty soon he was out of the woods and right beside the flower that was swinging to and fro in the wind, just like a bell in a church steeple. "oh, i'm go glad i could ring and tell you the way back here," said the bluebell. "now lie down and sleep, and if there is any danger i will tinkle my bell and awaken you." so uncle wiggily stretched out on some soft moss, and went to sleep. and there was some danger for him, as i shall tell you very soon, when, in case the rocking chair on the front porch doesn't go swimming in the molasses barrel, the next story will be about uncle wiggily and the wibblewobble children. story xxvii uncle wiggily and the wibblewobbles uncle wiggily, the nice old gentleman rabbit, was sleeping on the soft moss under a clump of ferns, and over his head the bluebell flower was nodding in the night breeze, keeping watch for danger. for you remember, i dare say, that the flower had promised to awaken uncle wiggily in case any harm happened to come near him. hour after hour crept along, like a little mouse after a bit of cheese, and still the rabbit slumbered, and still the bluebell nodded her drowsy head, for she would not go to sleep while she was keeping watch. "i think i will just take one little nap," said the flower to herself, after a bit, "just shut my eyes for a little while." so she did so, and then, all of a sudden, as quietly as a clock when it isn't ticking, there came creeping and crawling through the woods, the bad scalery-tailery alligator. he was looking around sniffing, and snooping, and scuffing for something to eat, and pretty soon he sniffed and snuffed until he came to where uncle wiggily was fast asleep, dreaming that he had found his fortune. and the worst part of it was that the bluebell flower also was sleeping, and she couldn't tell the rabbit what was going to happen. "oh, i'll have a fine meal in about a minute," said the scalery-tailery alligator as he smacked his big jaws. then he shuffled up closer to uncle wiggily, and was about to bite him when all of a sudden the nutmeg grater tail of the scalery alligator accidentally hit against the bluebell flower, and she awoke quickly. "tinkle! tinkle! tinkle! ding-dong! ding-dong!" rang out the bluebell, just like an alarm clock in the morning. "ding-dong-dong! tinkle! tinkle!" up jumped uncle wiggily, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. he looked through the woods, and by the light of the silvery moon he saw the grinning alligator, with his open mouth, close to him. "run, uncle wiggily! run!" cried the bluebell, and then she made such a jingling-jangling noise that all the birds in the woods awakened, and by the moonlight, they flew down at that alligator, and stuck him with their sharp bills, so that he was glad to crawl away, and he didn't forget to take his scalery tail with him, either. "my, that was a narrow escape!" said the rabbit. "i am glad he didn't eat me." "so am i," said the bluebell, "and i'll not go to sleep again, either, i promise you." so the flower stayed wide awake the rest of the night, and the rabbit slept on the soft moss, and in the morning he awakened and ate his breakfast out of his valise, and then, saying good-by to the flower and thanking her, he set off once more to seek his fortune. uncle wiggily traveled on and on, looking in all the places he could think of for some gold, but he couldn't seem to find any. and then, just when he got on top of a little hill, and started down the other side he heard some one crying--no, i'm just a bit wrong, he heard three some ones crying--three separate and distinct cries. "oh, dear, i've got a sliver in my foot!" blubbered one voice. "and i've stepped on a stone and there's a big bruise on my foot!" sniffled another voice. "oh! none of you is as badly off as i am," quivered a third voice, "for i've cut my two feet on a piece of glass! oh, whatever shall we do?" "my, i wonder who they can be?" thought the rabbit, for he could see no one as yet. "maybe those are the little children of the burglar fox, and if they are, then the burglar fox must be somewhere around here, and i had better be careful of myself." well, the rabbit was about to turn, and run back down the hill, up which he had just come, when he saw something white fluttering like a piece of paper. "a fox isn't white," uncle wiggily said to himself, "at least not the foxes around here. that must be something else." so he took another careful look, and he saw three nice little duck children--i guess you remember their names--lulu and alice and jimmie wibblewobble. and as soon as they saw the old gentleman rabbit, those three duck children exclaimed: "oh, joy! oh, happiness!" and they didn't think about the slivers and the bruises and the cuts in their feet any more. "my goodness me sakes alive and a potato pancake!" cried uncle wiggily. "what are you children doing so far away from home? you must be lost." "we are lost," said jimmie wibblewobble, "all three of us." "yes," went on lulu, "we are certainly lost, and it's jimmie's fault, for he asked us to come." "oh! it's not all jimmie's fault," said alice gently, as she looked at her brother. "you see, uncle wiggily, we are visiting our aunt lettie, the old lady goat, who lives in the country near here. we are at her house for our vacation, and to-day we started to go to the woods to have a good time, but we took the wrong path and we are lost, and i have a big sliver in my foot." "yes, and i stepped on a stone, and have a big bruise," whimpered jimmie. "and i've cut both feet on a piece of glass," cried lulu wibblewobble, "and oh, we are all so miserable!" "well, well!" exclaimed the rabbit in a jolly voice, "this is too bad. i must see what i can do for you. first we will take the sliver out of alice's foot," and he did so with a sharp needle. it hurt a little, but alice never cried. "now for jimmie's bruise," said the rabbit, and he took some soft green leaves, and made a plaster of them, and with some ribbon-grass for a string he tied the plaster on jimmie's foot, and that was almost well. then uncle wiggily made a little salve, from some gum out of a cherry tree, and bound up the glass cuts on lulu's feet. "now, i will lead you to your aunt lettie's house," said the rabbit, "and you won't be lost any more." so the three wibblewobble children felt much better and happier, and when they were almost at their aunt's house, a big hawk swooped down out of the sky and tried to bite lulu. but uncle wiggily hit the bad bird with his barber-pole crutch, and the hawk flew away, flopping his wings and tail. "oh, how good, and brave, and strong you are!" cried lulu to uncle wiggily, and then all three duck children kissed him. soon they were at the goat-lady's home, and aunt lettie was very glad to see the rabbit gentleman, and also glad to have the children back. so she invited uncle wiggily to stay to supper, and very glad he was to do so. he also stayed all night at aunt lettie's house, and he had quite an adventure, too, which i shall tell you about directly, when, in case the fire shovel doesn't slide down hill on a cake of ice and break its roller skates the next bedtime story will be about uncle wiggily and the berry bush. story xxviii uncle wiggily and the berry bush "well, children, i think i will soon have to be leaving you," said uncle wiggily longears one morning to the three wibblewobbles, when he had stayed all night at their aunt lettie's house. that was after the old gentleman rabbit had found the three ducks lost in the woods, you remember, and had taken them to where they were visiting the old lady goat. "i must pack my valise and travel on," said uncle wiggily. "oh, can't you stay a little longer?" asked alice wibblewobble, as she tied her sky-blue-pink hair ribbon in a flopsy-dub kind of a bow knot. "yes, do stay!" urged jimmie as he tossed up his ball, which lulu, his sister, caught. "we'll have some fun together and you can play on my ball team, uncle wiggily." "oh! i am much too old for that," said the rabbit, "though i like to watch you play. besides, i have the rheumatism, and i have to keep on looking for my fortune. so i will travel forward once more." "well, if you must go, i suppose you must," said aunt lettie, the old lady goat. "but at least let me put you up a little lunch. let me see, what shall it be? i think a tomato can sandwich, and some brown paper cake with paste frosting on would be nice. and then, too, i can give you some fine wooden pie." "oh, excuse me!" exclaimed the rabbit, "but while it is very kind of you, i cannot eat such things. i never could chew a tomato can, nor yet a wooden, or even a sawdust pie." "no more you could," cried aunt lettie in confusion. "i was thinking of what i liked to eat. very well, i will give you some carrots and cabbage and a piece of cherry pie. i know you will like those." so she made uncle wiggily that kind of a lunch, and he put it in his valise, and after saying good-by to the old lady goat, and the three wibblewobbles, off he started to seek his fortune once more. on and on he traveled up some hills, and down others and through the woods, and pretty soon he came to a place where there was a big hole in the ground. "ah, ha!" exclaimed the rabbit, "perhaps this is a gold mine. i will get some gold dollars out of it and then i will be rich." so he went close to the hole and looked down it, but all of a sudden out popped a great big rat, and she gnashed her teeth at uncle wiggily and tried to bite him. "what are you doing at my house?" she cried, real savagely. "get away at once before i eat you." "indeed i will," said the rabbit, politely. "i thought your hole was a gold mine. excuse me, i'll get right along," so he hopped away as fast as he could hop, very thankful that he had not gone down the hole. well, the next place he came to was where a great big stone was sticking out of the side of a hill. and the stone glittered in the sunshine just like diamonds or dewdrops. "oh, how delightful!" cried the rabbit. "this surely is a gold stone. i will break off some pieces of it and take them home, and then i will have my fortune." so, taking his crutch, uncle wiggily tried to break off pieces of the glittering stone. but, my goodness me, sakes alive and a chocolate ice cream cone! that stone was very hard, and try as he did, uncle wiggily couldn't break off a piece even as big as baby's tiny pink toe. "i'll just sing a little song, and then, perhaps, i can get some of the gold," he said. so he sang this song, which goes to the tune "tiddily-um-tum-tum:" "my fortune i've found, on top of the ground, i'm lucky as lucky can be. but really this stone, is hard as a bone, i wish that some one would help me." after singing, uncle wiggily hammered away at the stone with his crutch again, but the song did no good. and then, all at once, before you could shake your finger at a pink pussy cat, out from behind the glittering stone there jumped the savage wushky-woshky, which is a very curious beast with two tails and three heads and only one crinkly leg, so that it has to go hippity-hop, or else fall down ker thump! "what are you doing to my stone?" cried the wushky-woshky. "oh, excuse me," said uncle wiggily politely. "i didn't know it was your stone. i was only trying to break off a small piece for my fortune." "wow! oh, wow!" cried the wushky-woshky, as savage as savage could be, and he gnashed the teeth in all three of his mouths, and he lashed his two tails on the ground. "i'm going to catch you!" he called to the rabbit. "not if i know it you won't catch me," said uncle wiggily bravely, and off he hopped down the hill. "yes, i will catch you!" cried the wushky-woshky, and off he hopped on his one crinkly leg after the rabbit. faster and faster hopped uncle wiggily, but still faster and faster hopped the wushky-woshky. "oh, he'll surely catch me!" thought the rabbit. "i wonder what i can do? i know. i'll open my valise, and i'll scatter on the ground my nice lunch that aunt lettie put up for me, and the wushky-woshky will stop to eat the good things, and then i can get away." so the rabbit did this. out on the ground from the valise tumbled all the nice carrot and lettuce sandwiches. but the savage wushky-woshky gobbled them up with three mouthfuls, and didn't stop hopping after uncle wiggily on his one crinkly leg. "oh, he'll surely catch me now!" cried the rabbit. "no, he won't! jump up in the air, and come down inside of me!" cried a voice, and uncle wiggily saw a nice blackberry bush waving its long arms at him. "jump down inside of me, where there are no thorns to scratch you," said the berry bush, "but if the wushky-woshky tries to come after you i'll scratch his six eyes out. i'll save you. jump down inside me!" "thank you, i will," said the rabbit, and he gave a big spring and a hop, over the outer edge of the bush, and down he landed safely inside of it, not scratched a bit. up came the three-headed, two-tailed and one crinkly-legged wushky-woshky, but when he saw the prickly briar berry bush he stopped short, for he did not want his six eyes scratched out. "come out of there!" cried the wushky-woshky to the rabbit. "indeed, i will not," said uncle wiggily, politely. "then i'll stay here forever and you can't ever come out," said the savage creature. "for if you come out i'll eat you!" "don't let him scare you," said the briar berry bush to uncle wiggily, "i'll fix him," so the berry bush reached out a long arm all covered with stickers, and she stickered and prickered the wushky-woshky on his three heads and two tails and one leg, so that the savage creature ran away howling, and uncle wiggily was safe, and not hurt a bit, i'm glad to say. so he stayed in the briar bush that night and had berries for breakfast, and the next day he had another adventure. what it was i will tell you on the page after this one, when the bedtime story will be about uncle wiggily and the camp fire--that is, if the cat across the street doesn't untie the pink ribbon off our pussy's neck and put it on his ice cream cone. story xxix uncle wiggily and the camp fire "well, how do you find yourself this morning?" asked the berry bush of uncle wiggily as the old gentleman rabbit peeped out to see if the bad three-headed wushky-woshky had come back. "are you all right?" "oh, yes, thank you kindly," spoke the rabbit, "but i was just wondering how i could get out of here to go on and seek my fortune without being scratched all to pieces." "can't you jump out just as you jumped in?" asked the bush, waving her prickly arms, but taking care not to so much as even tickle uncle wiggily. "no, there isn't room enough for me to get started to jump out," replied the rabbit. "i'm afraid i'll have to stay here a long time, and i really ought to be going on." "oh, i have a plan!" suddenly cried the bush. "you are a very good digger, so why can't you dig a tunnel right under me? start it inside here and curve it up so that it comes outside of my prickly branches, and then you won't be scratched." "i'll do it!" cried uncle wiggily, so with his strong front feet he dug a tunnel, just as you sometimes make in the sand, and soon he was safely outside the berry bush. "take some of my berries with you," said the bush, "so you won't get hungry." "i will," answered the rabbit, and he filled his valise with nice, big blackberries. he felt a little sad about the nice lunch the wushky-woshky had eaten, but there was no help for it--that lunch was gone completely. so uncle wiggily said good-by to the kind berry bush, and traveled on once more to seek his fortune. "watch out for the wushky-woshky," called the bush to the rabbit, as she waved her friendly stickery branches at him. "i will," he said, and then he passed up over the hill and out of sight. the first place he came to was an old hollow stump, where an old owl had once lived. the rabbit looked down inside the stump, but there was no fortune there. the second place he came to was a curious little house built of bark, where an old dog, who was a friend to peetie and jackie bow wow, used to live, but the old dog was away on his vacation at ocean grove, so he wasn't at home. "perhaps there is a fortune in here," thought the rabbit, but there wasn't any and he went on. now the third place he came to was a little house, made out of clothespins, where a pussy cat lived, and the pussy wasn't home, for she had just gone to the store to get some milk. but the rabbit didn't know this, so he went inside the house to see if there was any fortune there. and the first thing he saw on the mantelpiece was a tin bank, and when he shook it something inside of it rattled, and when he peeped in uncle wiggily saw a whole lot of pennies in the tin bank. "oh fine!" he cried, "now i have my fortune at last. some one has gone away and left all this money, so i might as well take it." well, he was just putting the bank full of pennies into his valise, when the pussy came back with the bottle of milk. "oh! are you going to take my bank away from me?" she cried, very sadly. "i have been saving up my pennies for a long time, and now you have them." "oh, i wouldn't take them for the world!" cried the rabbit. "i didn't know they were yours, it's all a mistake," and he placed the bank right back on the mantel. "but perhaps you could tell me where to find my fortune," said uncle wiggily, and he told the pussy all about his travels. "first we will have a drink of milk," said the pussy, and she poured out some for the rabbit. "then i will go into the woods a little way with you and help you look for your fortune." "perhaps we had better take some lunch with us," said the rabbit, so he went to the store and got a nice lunch, which he put up in his valise, and then he and the pussy started off together to the woods. they looked here and there and everywhere and even around corners, but no fortune could they find, and pretty soon it began to get a little dark. and then suddenly it got all dark. "oh, i can never find my way back home!" cried the pussy. "and i am afraid in these lonesome woods." "oh! don't be frightened," said uncle wiggily, who was very brave. "i will build a camp fire and we can stay here all night. i will cook some supper and in the morning i will take you home." then the pussy wasn't afraid any more. she helped the rabbit to gather up some dry leaves and little sticks, and also some big sticks, and soon uncle wiggily had a fine fire merrily blazing away in the woods, and it was nice and light. then he took some leafy branches and made a little house for himself and the pussy and then they cooked supper, making some coffee in an old empty tomato can they found near a wrinkly-crinkly stump. "oh, this is real jolly!" cried the pussy, as she warmed her paws and her nose at the blaze. "it is much better than drinking milk out of a bottle." "i think so myself," said the rabbit. "now, if i could only find my fortune i would be happy. but, perhaps, i shall to-morrow." well, pretty soon uncle wiggily and the pussy became sleepy so they thought they would go to bed. they made their beds in the little green bower-house on some soft, dried leaves. "and i must have plenty of wood to put on the camp fire," said the rabbit, "for in the night some bad animal might try to eat us, but when they see the blaze they will be afraid and run away." so he gathered a big pile of wood, and then he and the pussy went to sleep. and in the middle of the night, as true as i'm telling you, yes, indeed, along came sneaking the wushky-woshky with his three heads and two tails and his one crinkly leg. "now, i'll have a fine meal," thought the wushky-woshky as he saw the rabbit and the pussy sleeping. "which one shall i take first?" but all of a sudden his foot slipped on a stone and he made a noise, and uncle wiggily awakened in an instant and cried out: "some one is after us!" then the brave rabbit threw some wood on the camp fire, and it blazed up so quickly that it burned the whiskers of the wushky-woshky and he gave three howls, one with each of his mouths, and away he hopped on his one leg, taking his two tails with him. "my!" cried the pussy, "it's a good thing we had the camp fire, or we would have been eaten up." "indeed it is," said the rabbit. "i'll keep it blazing all night." so he did this, and no more wushky-woshkys came to bother them. and in the morning the pussy and the rabbit traveled on together and they had quite an adventure. what it was i'll relate to you almost immediately, when, in case a little girl named elizabeth learns how to swim by standing on one toe and holding a red balloon under water, i'll tell you about uncle wiggily and the cowbird. story xxx uncle wiggily and the cowbird "do you think you can help me find my way back home again?" asked the pussy of uncle wiggily as they awakened the next morning, after having spent the night in the woods by the camp fire. "oh, i'm sure i can," answered the rabbit. "as soon as we have our breakfast we'll start off to look for your clothespin house." then uncle wiggily made up the camp fire again, putting on some more wood, and he boiled the coffee, in a tomato can, and fried some pieces of bacon he had in his valise. the way he cooked them was to take a sharp stick and put a piece of bacon on the end of it, and then he held the bacon up in front of the blaze, where it sizzled away, and got nice and curly and brown, and oh! how good it did smell, and so did the coffee! oh! it's great to cook over a camp fire when the smoke doesn't get in your eyes and when it doesn't rain. "now we must put out the fire," said the rabbit, as he and the pussy were ready to go look for the clothespin house. "why must we do that, uncle wiggily?" "oh, so that it will not set fire to the woods, and burn down the nice trees after we are gone. always put out your camp fire when you leave it," said the rabbit, as he threw water on the blaze, making clouds of steam. well, he and the pussy traveled on for some time longer together, but somehow or other they couldn't seem to find the place where the pussy lived, and the little cat was beginning to be sorry that she had gone camping in the woods. "oh, i know i'll never find my home again!" she cried. "oh, yes, we will," said the rabbit kindly. "don't worry." and just then they heard some one else crying, a little, tiny, sobbing voice. "what's that?" exclaimed the pussy. "perhaps it is one of the skillery-scalery alligator's children." "no, i do not think so," said the rabbit. "it sounds to me as if some one else were lost in the woods, and i may have to find their home, too. we'll take a look." so they looked all around, but they couldn't seem to find any one, though the crying was still to be heard. "that's queer," said the rabbit, "i'll call to them." so he called as loudly as he could like this: "is any one lost? do you want me to help you find your home?" "oh, i'd be very glad to have you help me," said the crying voice, "but i am not lost." "then who are you, and what is the matter?" asked the rabbit. "oh, i am a robin bird," was the answer, "and i am in this bush over your heads." "ha, no wonder we couldn't see you," said the rabbit, as he and the pussy looked up, and there, sure enough, was the nice mamma robin bird, and she was crying, as she sat in the bush. "what is the matter?" asked the rabbit. "i will tell you," said the robin. "you know there is a bird called the cowbird or cuckoo, and that bird is too lazy to build a nest for itself. so what do you think it does?" "what?" asked the pussy. "why it goes around, laying its eggs in the nests of other birds," said the robin. "then we birds have to hatch out the cowbird's eggs, and when her children come out they are so unpleasant that they shove our little birdies right out of the nest, and eat all the things we mamma birds bring home to our little ones." "ha! that is very unpleasant, to say the least," spoke the rabbit. "and are there any cowbirds in your nest now, mrs. robin?" "not yet, but there are three of the cowbird's eggs here, and they will soon hatch out." "why don't you toss out the cowbird's eggs?" asked the pussy. "then you won't have to hatch them." "i would," said the robin, "only i am not strong enough, for i have been ill, and my husband is out of work and he is looking for some. so i don't know what to do about it. oh, dear!" and she cried again. "ha! we must see what we can do," said uncle wiggily, who always liked to help people who were in trouble. "i think i have a plan." "what is it?" asked the robin. "well, i can't climb up that bush, for my paws are not built for that sort of thing, but the pussy can climb very nicely, as she has sharp claws." "indeed i can," said the pussy, "and i will, and i'll throw out the cowbird's eggs for you, so those bad birds won't bother your little birds." so uncle wiggily gave the pussy a boost up the bush, in which the robin's nest was built, and then the pussy, with her sharp claws climbed up the rest of the distance all alone very nicely. "now show me which are the eggs of the cowbird?" said the kittie-cat to the robin when the nest was reached. so the robin mamma pointed out the eggs with her claw, and then with her foot the pussy clawed those cowbird eggs out on the ground where they wouldn't hatch. "now, that will be the last of those bad birds," said the pussy as she started to climb down to where uncle wiggily was waiting for her. "yes, indeed, and thank you very much," spoke the robin. "now, my little ones will have a chance to grow and live." and just then there was a fluttering and a rustling in the bushes, and the bad cowbird came flying past. and when she saw what had been done, and how her eggs had been tossed out of the robin's nest where they didn't belong, that cowbird flew at the pussy and was going to pick her eyes out. but uncle wiggily took his crutch, and tickled the cowbird so that she sneezed, and had to fly away without doing any harm. and uncle wiggily called after her that she ought to be ashamed of herself not to build her own nests. and i guess that cowbird was ashamed, but i'm not sure. anyhow she came back a little later and gathered up her eggs off the ground, and flew away with them, and what she did with them i'll tell you; oh, just as soon as you like. the bedtime story then will be about uncle wiggily and the tailor bird--that is, if the needle and thread don't dance up and down on the pin cushion, and make it full of holes so the sawdust stuffing comes out and tickles the baby's pink toes. story xxxi uncle wiggily and the tailor bird after uncle wiggily and the pussy had helped the robin get the cowbird's eggs out of her nest, as i told you in the story before this, the rabbit and the kittie stayed in the woods a little while talking to the mamma bird. "i should like to see the little robins hatch out of the eggs," said the pussy, as she frisked her tail about and smoothed out her fur. "so should i," added uncle wiggily. "i will gladly let you see my little birdies hatch," spoke the robin, "but it will take nearly a week yet, and you will have to wait." "oh, i can't wait as long as that," went on the rabbit. "i must be off to seek my fortune." "yes, and i must go and find my clothespin house," said the pussy. so they said good-by to the mamma robin, and away the pussy and uncle wiggily went, over the hills and down the dales through the woods and over little brooks. pretty soon they came to a place in the woods where there were a whole lot of flowers nodding their heads in the wind, and it was such a pretty place that uncle wiggily and the pussy stayed there a little while. and in about a minute they heard something flying through the bushes and out flew that same cowbird, and she laughed just as hard as she could laugh, as she passed along. "somebody is going to be surprised!" cried the cowbird and she fluttered her wings at the rabbit and the kittie, and then she hid herself off in the woods. "i wonder what she means?" asked the pussy. "i'm sure i don't know," replied the rabbit. "but did you notice that she didn't have her eggs with her?" "sure enough!" exclaimed the pussy. "she must have left them in some other bird's nest." "well, we had better keep on, for it is getting late," spoke uncle wiggily, "and i want to find your clothespin house for you." on they hurried through the trees, and pretty soon--oh, i guess about as long as it takes you to eat a stick of peppermint candy--they suddenly came to the pussy's clothespin house. "oh, here's where i live!" she cried. "how glad i am to get back home!" she hurried in through the front door and no sooner was she inside than she cried out: "come here! come here, quickly, uncle wiggily! did you ever see such a sight in all your born days?" "what is it?" asked the rabbit, as he hopped in, and he was half afraid that there might be a burglar fox hiding in the pussy's house. but it wasn't anything like that. instead the rabbit saw the pussy pointing to her bed, and there, right in the middle of the feather pillows, were some eggs. "the cowbird's eggs!" cried the kittie. "that's what she meant when she said some one was going to be surprised. indeed, i am the one who is surprised. she brought her eggs here, thinking i would hatch them out for her, but i'll not do it!" so the pussy threw the eggs out of the window, on some soft straw, where they wouldn't be broken, and pretty soon that cowbird came back, as angry as a lion without any tail. and she grabbed up her eggs, and this time she took them to the monkey, who played five hand-organs at once. and the monkey was a good-natured sort of a chap, so he hatched out the cowbird's eggs for her, and soon he had a lot of little calfbirds, and when they grew up they gave him no end of trouble. "well, now you are safe home," said uncle wiggily to the pussy, "i will travel on." "first, let me fill your valise with something to eat," said the kittie cat, and she did so, and then the rabbit hopped on. he looked all over for his fortune, but he couldn't find it, and pretty soon it got dark night and he went to sleep in a hollow stump. "surely, i will find my fortune to-day," thought uncle wiggily, as he arose the next morning, and combed out his whiskers. it was a bright, beautiful sunshiny morning, and everything was cheerful, and the birds were singing. but, in spite of all that, something happened to the rabbit. he was just going past a berry bush, and he was reaching up to pick off some of the red raspberries, when all at once a sharp claw was thrust out from the bush and a grab was made for the rabbit. "now, i've got you!" cried a savage voice. "no, you haven't!" exclaimed uncle wiggily, and he jumped back just as a savage wolf sprang out at him. "oh, don't worry, i'll get you yet!" went on the wolf and he made another spring. but the rabbit was ready for him and ran down the hill and the wolf ran after him, howling at the top of his grillery-growlery voice, for he was very hungry. my! how uncle wiggily did run. and the wolf ran also, and he was catching up to the rabbit, and probably would have eaten him all up, but just then a kind bumble bee who knew uncle wiggily flew off a tree branch and stung that wolf on the end of his nose. that wolf gave a howl, and made one more grab for uncle wiggily, but he only managed to catch hold of his coat tails in his teeth, and there the wolf held on. "let go of uncle wiggily!" buzzed the bee. "no i won't!" cried the wolf, most impolite-like. "then i'll sting you again!" cried the bee, and she did so, and the rabbit gave a great pull, and he managed to pull himself away from the wolf. but, alas! uncle wiggily's nice red coat was all tattered and torn. "oh, whatever shall i do?" cried uncle wiggily as the wolf ran away down the hill and the rabbit looked at the torn and ripped coat. "i never can go on seeking my fortune with a torn coat." "i am sorry," said the bee, "but i can not help you. but if you see the tailor bird she may mend your coat for you." so the bee buzzed away and uncle wiggily went on looking for the tailor bird. this is a bird that makes a nest by sewing leaves together with grass for thread. and would you believe me, in a little while uncle wiggily saw the very bird he wanted. she was making a nest with her bill for a needle and some dried grass for thread, and she was sewing the leaves together. "will you kindly mend my coat for me where the wolf tore it?" asked the rabbit politely. "indeed i will," said the tailor bird. so she took some long, strong pieces of grass for thread. then she made her sharp bill go back and forth in the cloth of uncle wiggily's coat and soon it was all mended again as good as new. then the rabbit thanked the bird and started off again to seek his fortune and you could hardly see where his coat was torn. then uncle wiggily was very thankful to the tailor bird, and he stayed at her house for some time, helping her sweep the sidewalk mornings, and bringing up coal, and all things like that. and the old gentleman had some more adventures. but as i have already made this book quite long, i think i will have to save the rest of the stories for another one. i'll get it ready as soon as i can for you, and the name of it is going to be "uncle wiggily's fortune." just think of that! he really does find his fortune in that book, though he has quite some trouble, let me tell you. but bless your hearts! trouble is only another kind of fun! so now we will say good-by to uncle wiggily for a time, and soon you may hear more about him. good-by and good luck to all of you. the end * * * * * uncle wiggily picture books three stories in each book by howard r. garis [illustration: uncle wiggily's snow pudding] also twenty-seven color pictures by lang campbell in these funny little books you can see in bright colored pictures the adventures of myself and my woodland friends. also the pictures of some bad fellows, whose names you know. so if the spoon holder doesn't go down cellar and take the coal shovel away from the gas stove, you may read no. . uncle wiggily's auto sled if the rocking chair doesn't tickle the rag carpet and make the brass bed fall upstairs, you may read no. . uncle wiggily's snow man if the umbrella doesn't go out in the rain and splash water all over the rubber boots on the gold fish, you may read no. . uncle wiggily's holidays if the electric light doesn't cry for some molasses, when the match leaves it all alone in the china closet, you may read no. . uncle wiggily's apple roast if the egg beater doesn't try to jump over the coffee pot and fall in the sink when the potato is learning to swim, you may read no. . uncle wiggily's picnic if the sugar cookie doesn't go out walking with the fountain pen, and get all black so it looks like a chocolate cake, you may read no. . uncle wiggily goes fishing hurry up and get these nice little books from the bookstore man, or send direct to the publishers, cents per copy, postpaid. charles e. graham & co. new york [illustration: uncle wiggily] burt's series of one syllable books titles. handsome illuminated cloth binding a series of classics, selected specially for young people's reading, and told in simple language for youngest readers. printed from large type, with many illustrations. * * * * * price cents per volume * * * * * aesop's fables retold in words of one syllable for young people. by mary godolphin. with illustrations. alice's adventures in wonderland retold in words of one syllable for young people. by mrs. j.c. gorham. with many illustrations. andersen's fairy tales (selections.) retold in words of one syllable for young people. by harriet t. comstock. with many illustrations. bible heroes told in words of one syllable for young people. by harriet t. comstock. with many illustrations. black beauty retold in words of one syllable for young people. by mrs. j.c. gorham. with many illustrations. grimm's fairy tales (selections.) retold in words of one syllable. by jean s. remy. with many illustrations. gulliver's travels into several remote regions of the world. retold in words of one syllable for young people. by j.c.g. with illustrations. life of christ told in words of one syllable for young people. by jean s. remy. with many illustrations. lives of the presidents told in words of one syllable for young people. by jean s. remy. with large portraits. pilgrim's progress retold in words of one syllable for young people. by samuel phillips day. with illustrations. reynard the fox the crafty courtier. retold in words of one syllable for young people. by samuel phillips day. with illustrations. robinson crusoe his life and surprising adventures retold in words of one syllable for young people. by mary a. schwacofer. with illustrations. sanford and merton retold in words of one syllable for young people. by mary godolphin. with illustrations. swiss family robinson retold in words of one syllable for young people. adapted from the original. with illustrations. * * * * * for sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the publishers, a.l. burt company, - east rd street, new york. the mother goose series titles handsome cloth binding, illuminated covers a series of popular books for young people. each book is well printed from large type on good paper, frontispiece in colors, profusely illustrated, and bound in cloth, with ornamental covers in three colors, making a series of most interesting books for children at a reasonable price. * * * * * price, cents per copy * * * * * aladdin and the wonderful lamp, and other stories. profusely illustrated. animal stories for little people. profusely illustrated. beauty and the beast, and other stories. profusely illustrated. bird stories for little people. profusely illustrated. bluebeard, and other stories. profusely illustrated. cinderella; or, the little glass slipper, and other stories. profusely illustrated. foolish fox, the, and other stories. profusely illustrated. goody two shoes, and other stories. profusely illustrated. hansel and grethel, and other stories. profusely illustrated. house that jack built, the, and other stories. profusely illustrated. jack and the beanstalk, and other stories. profusely illustrated. jack the giant killer, and other stories. profusely illustrated. little red riding hood, and other stories. profusely illustrated. little snow white, and other stories. profusely illustrated. mother goose rhymes. profusely illustrated. mother hubbard's melodies. profusely illustrated. night before christmas, and other stories. profusely illustrated. patty and her pitcher; or, kindness of heart, and other stories. profusely illustrated. peter and his goose; or, the folly of discontent, and other stories. profusely illustrated. puss in boots, and other stories. profusely illustrated. sleeping beauty, the, and other stories. profusely illustrated. tom thumb, and other stories. profusely illustrated. ugly duckling, the, and other stories. profusely illustrated. who killed cock robin, and other stories. profusely illustrated. * * * * * for sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the publishers, a.l. burt co., - east rd street, new york city. * * * * * aunt amy's animal stories by amy prentice a series of stories, told by animals, to aunt amy prentice. each illustrated with many pictures in black, and four illustrations in colors, by j. watson davis. titles, in handsome cloth binding. * * * * * price cents. net---- * * * * * bunny rabbit's story, illustrations billy goat's story, illustrations brown owl's story, illustrations croaky frog's story, illustrations frisky squirrel's story, illustrations gray goose's story, illustrations mickie monkey's story, illustrations mouser cat's story, illustrations plodding turtle's story, illustrations quacky duck's story, illustrations speckled hen's story, illustrations towser dog's story, illustrations * * * * * for sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the publishers, a.l. burt company, - east rd street, new york. * * * * * our young aeroplane scout series (registered in the united states patent office) by horace porter * * * * * handsome cloth binding, price, per volume a series of stories of two american boy aviators in the great european war zone. the fascinating life in mid-air is thrillingly described. the boys have many exciting adventures, and the narratives of their numerous escapes make up a series of wonderfully interesting stories. * * * * * our young aeroplane scouts in france and belgium; or, saving the fortunes of the trouvilles. our young aeroplane scouts in germany. our young aeroplane scouts in russia; or, lost on the frozen steppes. our young aeroplane scouts in turkey; or, bringing the light to yusef. our young aeroplane scouts in england; or, twin stars in the london sky patrol. our young aeroplane scouts in italy; or, flying with the war eagles of the alps. our young aeroplane scouts at verdun; or, driving armored meteors over flaming battle fronts. our young aeroplane scouts in the balkans; or, wearing the red badge of courage. our young aeroplane scouts in the war zone; or, serving uncle sam in the cause of the allies. our young aeroplane scouts fighting to the finish; or, striking hard over the sea for the stars and stripes. our young aeroplane scouts at the marne; or, harrying the huns from allied battleplanes. our young aeroplane scouts in at the victory; or, speedy high flyers smashing the hindenburg line. * * * * * for sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the publishers a.l. burt company, - east rd st., new york * * * * * the boy scouts series by herbert carter * * * * * handsome cloth binding, price, per volume * * * * * the boy scouts' first camp fire; or, scouting with the silver fox patrol. the boy scouts in the blue ridge; or, marooned among the moonshiners. the boy scouts on the trail; or, scouting through the big game country. the boy scouts in the main woods; or, the new test for the silver fox patrol. the boy scouts through the big timber; or, the search for the lost tenderfoot. the boy scouts in the rockies; or, the secret of the hidden silver mine. the boy scouts on sturgeon island; or, marooned among the game fish poachers. boy scouts down in dixie; or, the strange secret of alligator swamp. the boy scouts at the battle of saratoga; a story of burgoyne's defeat in . the boy scouts along the susquehanna; or, the silver fox patrol caught in a flood. the boy scouts on war trails in belgium; or, caught between the hostile armies. the boy scouts afoot in france; or, with the red cross corps at the marne. * * * * * for sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the publishers a.l. burt company, - east rd st., new york * * * * * the navy boys series [illustration] * * * * * a series of excellent stories of adventure on sea and land, selected from the works of popular writers; each volume designed for boys' reading. handsome cloth bindings * * * * * price, per volume * * * * * the navy boys in defence of liberty. a story of the burning of the british schooner gasnee in by william p. chipman. the navy boys on long island sound. a story of the whale boat navy of . by james otis. the navy boys at the siege of havana. being the experience of three boys serving under israel putnam in . by james otis. the navy boys with grant at vicksburg. a boy's story of the siege of vicksburg. by james otis. the navy boys' cruise with paul jones. a boy's story of a cruise with the great commodore in . by james otis. the navy boys on lake ontario. the story of two boys and their adventures in the war of , by james otis. the navy boys' cruise on the pickering. a boy's story of privateering in . by james otis. the navy boys in new york bay. a story of three boys who took command of the schooner "the laughing mary," the first vessel of the american navy, by james otis. the navy boys in the track of the enemy. the story of a remarkable cruise with the sloop of war "providence" and the frigate "alfred." by william p. chipman. the navy boys' daring capture. the story of how the navy boys helped to capture the british cutter "margaretta," in . by william p. chipman. the navy boys' cruise to the bahamas. the adventures of two yankee middies with the first cruise of a: american squadron in . by william p. chipman. the navy boys' cruise with columbus. the adventures of two boys who sailed with the great admiral in his discovery of america. by frederick a. ober. * * * * * for sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the publishers. a.l. burt company, - east d street. new york * * * * * the boy spies series * * * * * [illustration] these stories are based on important historical events, scenes wherein boys are prominent characters being selected. they are the romance of history, vigorously told, with careful fidelity to picturing the home life, and accurate in every particular. handsome cloth bindings * * * * * price, per volume * * * * * the boy spies at the battle of new orleans. a story of the part they took in its defence. by william p. chipman. the boy spies at the defence of fort henry. a boy's story of wheeling creek in . by james otis. the boy spies at the battle of bunker hill. a story of two boys at the siege of boston. by james otis. the boy spies at the siege of detroit. a story of two ohio boys in the war of . by james otis. the boy spies with lafayette. the story of how two boys joined the continental army. by james otis. the boy spies on chesapeake bay. the story of two young spies under commodore barney. by james otis. the boy spies with the regulators. the story of how the boys assisted the carolina patriots to drive the british from that state. by james otis. the boy spies with the swamp fox. the story of general marion and his young spies. by james otis. the boy spies at yorktown. the story of how the spies helped general lafayette in the siege of yorktown. by james otis. the boy spies of philadelphia. the story of how the young spies helped the continental army at valley forge. by james otis. the boy spies of fort griswold. the story of the part they took in its brave defence. by william p. chipman. the boy spies of old new york. the story of how the young spies prevented the capture of general washington. by james otis. * * * * * for sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the publishers. a.l. burt company. - east d street. new york. little jack rabbit and the squirrel brothers little jack rabbit books (trademark registered) by david cory * * * * * little jack rabbit's adventures le jack rabbit and danny fox little jack rabbit and the squirrel brothers little jack rabbit and chippy chipmunk little jack rabbit and the big brown bear [illustration: professor crow took hold of featherhead's ear. _frontispiece_--(_page_ )] little jack rabbit books (trademark registered) * * * * * little jack rabbit and the squirrel brothers by david cory author of little jack rabbit's adventures little jack rabbit and danny fox little jack rabbit and chippy chipmunk little jack rabbit and the big brown bear illustrated by h. s. barbour new york grosset & dunlap publishers made in the united states of america copyright, , by grosset & dunlap contents page the game of marbles a little piece of looking glass the fleet more nuts old squirrel nutcracker home hunting an old crow's nest parson owl explains the little gold ring wedding bells "nuts and raisins" bad news poor jimmy mink professor jim crow's lesson to the post office more stamps busy times an accident two pigeons miss pussy a busy beaver don't worry the little frosty painter grandpa possum cousin chatterbox jimmy jay the tip of a tail old barney owl "help! help!" pumpkin place, p. o. an ice cream pine cone little jack rabbit and the squirrel brothers the game of marbles never stop upon your way, just to fool around and play. learn to quickly go to school; never, never break this rule. but, oh dear me. one morning when little jack rabbit met the squirrel brothers, featherhead, the naughty gray squirrel, asked him to stop and play a game of marbles. "where are your marbles?" asked the little rabbit. "here they are," answered featherhead, taking some red and yellow oak apples out of his pocket. "they make dandy marbles." little jack rabbit dropped his school books, and quickly dug a hole in the ground. then they all took turns rolling the marbles to see who would have the first shot. the little bunny's was the first to drop into the hole, although twinkle tail's was very close and featherhead's not far away. it was then easy for little jack rabbit to hit the two marbles. why, he couldn't miss them, they were so close. i guess they would have been playing until now if all of a sudden, just like that, bobbie redvest hadn't called out: "ding-a-ling! ding-a-ling! the school bell is ringing." "gracious me!" cried little bunny, and off he went, clipperty clip, lipperty lip. featherhead and twinkle tail picked up their books and followed. it certainly was lucky that the little robin had shouted, "ding-a-ling! ding-a-ling!" for hardly had they reached the top of the hill when the school bell commenced: "ding, dong! ding, dong! ding, dong!" "hurry up!" cried little jack rabbit, "or we'll be late," and he hopped along faster than ever. professor crow was standing in the doorway waiting for the last scholar to arrive. all out of breath and scared to death, came little jackie bunny. and twinkle tail began to quail, and featherhead felt funny. they thought the teacher standing there gave them a cold and angry stare. perhaps he did, but soon he went and o'er his platform table bent, while featherhead and twinkle tail slipped in their seats with faces pale. then up stood stern professor crow and said some scholars are so slow that if they'd stop upon the way they'd never get to school all day. then he sat down and called the school to order. but, oh dear me! none of the little marble players knew his lesson. and instead of being allowed to go when school was over, they were kept in and made to study until late in the afternoon. a little piece of looking glass if you a naughty act will do, you may at first escape; but soon or later you'll get caught-- so don't get in a scrape. featherhead was the worst pupil in the shady forest school and made lots of trouble for professor crow. one day he held a small piece of looking glass in the sunlight. the flash almost blinded the poor old crow's eyes, and at first he couldn't tell who had done it. but naughtiness will always out, and the next time featherhead was caught. yes, sir! the next time he tried it on professor crow, that old gentleman bird jumped down from the platform and took hold of that naughty squirrel's ear. and not so very gently, either. featherhead squirmed and tried to get away, but the good professor held on tight, and pretty soon the little squirrel grew very quiet indeed. he grew as quiet as a little lamb; that's what he did. "young man!" said professor crow in a hard, stern voice, "your father, squirrel nutcracker, is a dear old friend of mine. if it weren't for that i'd give you a flogging." goodness me! when featherhead heard that he trembled all over, and his beautiful bushy tail lost its curl and dragged on the floor like a piece of string! "you're a bad lot," went on the old professor bird. "you never know your lessons, and if you don't mend your ways i'll expel you from the school!" gracious me! think of having that said to you! goosey lucy's little son, goosey gander, almost fell off the dunce stool, and little jack rabbit was so frightened that his little pink nose trembled for an hour. nobody played games during recess that day, but hung around in little groups talking it over. and you may be sure they kept away from featherhead, who stood all alone by the flag pole wishing he hadn't been such a bad squirrel. the fleet something had happened in the shady forest since busy beaver had built his dam. you see, as it held back the bubbling brook, the water grew deeper and deeper, and by and by it began to spread all around, until after a while, there was a pond. this didn't trouble the little people of the shady forest. no, indeed. they liked to have a pond in the forest. but they didn't like to have the big chestnut tree right in the middle of it. no, sir. the water had spread all around the biggest and finest nut tree in the whole forest, and, of course, now no one could gather the nuts. "what are we going to do?" asked chippy chipmunk. "make a boat and sail over," answered featherhead, the gray squirrel. this wasn't a bad idea, but who was going to make the boat? nobody in the shady forest knew how to build one. professor crow suggested that the birds carry the nuts for the four-footed people, but they answered that they had all they could do to feed themselves and couldn't spare the time. and grandmother magpie said she wouldn't carry nuts for anybody, even if she had all the time that was wasted every day by some people right there in the shady forest. just then along came old squirrel nutcracker. "why not make rafts out of twigs? you don't need a boat builder for that, you know." this seemed a splendid idea, and at once all the squirrels set to work, and in a short time quite a fleet was ready to be launched. there wasn't room for more than one squirrel on a raft, so some of the squirrels had to stay ashore. featherhead was the first to shove off. he had a little sack and a large oar, and spread out his tail for a sail. billy breeze was very kind and blew the rafts over to the island on which the big chestnut tree stood. then all the squirrels went ashore and commenced to fill their sacks with nuts, when, all of a sudden, old barney owl looked out of his nest and said: "this is my tree and these nuts belong to me. if you wish any, you must pay a penny!" "if we bring you something to-morrow, will that do?" asked twinkle tail. "yes," answered the old owl. so the squirrels filled their sacks and sailed home. but soon the news from squirrelville spread o'er the meadow to the hill, and up the shady forest trail, and through the quiet verdant vale. it's strange how rumor quickly goes; it runs on very nimble toes, and everybody hears the news before it has worn out its shoes. more nuts it wasn't very long before all the little people in the shady forest had heard how the squirrels had sailed over to the island after nuts. so when featherhead and the other squirrels set out the next day there was quite a crowd on shore to watch them. featherhead had a nice new-laid egg from henny penny for old barney owl, and twinkle tail a little fish from the bubbling brook. when they reached the island, the two little squirrels ran up the big chestnut tree and rapped on old barney owl's front door. they had to rap three or four times before he opened it. he was cross and sleepy, and at first didn't remember them at all. in fact, his eyes were so blinky that i don't believe he even saw them. "we have brought you an egg for the nuts we took yesterday," said featherhead. "and here is a little fish for what we'll take to-day," added twinkle tail. old barney owl opened one eye and, taking the egg and the little fish, closed the door without even thanking them. "he didn't say we could have any nuts to-day," said twinkle tail. "he took the little fish, so i guess it's all right." "guess it's all right!" cried featherhead. "of course, it's all right. what do we care, anyway? he can't see in the light. what right has old barney to say all these nuts belong to him?" it didn't take the squirrels long after the sacks were filled to carry them down to the shore and load them on the rafts. but, oh dear me. billy breeze wasn't very kind this time. no matter how they held up their tails for sails, as soon as they had pushed off, he blew them right back on the land. "we'll have to paddle around to the other side," said featherhead. "then perhaps billy breeze will push us home." after a good deal of trouble, for it was no easy matter to paddle the rafts around the island, they set off once again. and this time billy breeze did his best, and landed them safely on the mainland. "i couldn't help you on the other side," he explained. "you see, i can blow only one way to-day." "that's all right," answered the squirrel brothers. "we have the nuts!" and away they scampered. old squirrel nutcracker twinkle tail and featherhead were old enough to find homes for themselves, so old squirrel nutcracker thought. and when that old squirrel had thought out a thing seriously he was pretty likely to put it into words. "i feel sorry for the boys," said mrs. nutcracker, wiping her eyes with her calico apron, as she stood beneath the big chestnut tree talking to mrs. rabbit. "they've had such a comfortable home, if i do say it myself. but last night squirrel nutcracker said after dinner: "'boys, it's time for you to get out and hustle for yourselves. it will make men-squirrels out of you. if you get into trouble, always remember your father will help you. and don't forget your mother.'" poor mrs. nutcracker threw her apron over her head and burst into tears. "don't cry," said the kind bunny lady, and very soon she said good-by and hopped home to the old bramble patch to tell her little rabbit the news. when mrs. nutcracker reached home she found her little squirrel boys packing up their things. twinkle tail had his nearly finished, but featherhead was only half through. so mrs. nutcracker helped him, and when it was all done, she sat down and cried again. poor mrs. nutcracker felt so badly she just couldn't help it. just then old squirrel nutcracker came up the stairs, so she dried her eyes and the two little squirrels picked up their trunks and started down the tree. when they reached the first landing, a great big limb that spread out to one side, there stood squirrel nutcracker. his voice was a little husky as he said: "i want to be proud of you, twinkle tail and featherhead. see that you find nice homes and that you don't do anything to make me ashamed of you." then he hugged them good-by and went upstairs to mrs. nutcracker. home hunting it was a week or so after the squirrel brothers had left nutcracker lodge to find homes for themselves that little jack rabbit came across twinkle tail. it's not an easy thing to find a new home, especially when all the nice warm hollow trees were already crowded with little people. twinkle tail discovered this when he started in house-hunting. "why don't you take grandmother magpie's nest?" asked the little rabbit. "she hasn't used it for some time and nobody seems to want it." this was very true; perhaps it was because nobody liked grandmother magpie. but after twinkle tail had taken it over you never would have known it. you see, he altered it and arranged it and patched it up to suit himself. while he was putting on the finishing touches, who should come along but the old lady magpie herself. "do you mind my doing this to your old place?" he asked, looking up from his work. "not at all," replied grandmother magpie, "i'm done with it. you're quite welcome to it, my dear." this was the first time she had ever done a nice thing for anybody in the shady forest. but, you see, she liked twinkle tail. he was the only person she did like. i guess the reason was that she had never forgotten he had once been very polite to her. "thank you," said twinkle tail, smiling sweetly, and then he set to work harder than ever. after that the old lady magpie flew away, thinking how strange it was that a house which one has grown tired of often suits another person very well. by and by twinkle tail had another caller. it was bobbie redvest. "how do you like the way i'm fixing up my house?" asked the little squirrel. "i think you've made one mistake," replied bobbie redvest. "what is it?" asked twinkle tail anxiously. "the great thing, you know, is to hide your house as much as possible." the little squirrel dropped the piece of green moss he was about to use, and waited. "you should make it look like the place it's in," went on the little robin. "you have chosen a browny place, so you must use brown moss on the outside." "that sounds like good advice," said twinkle tail. "i'll do as you say." here a leaf and there a twig, piece of twine to bind them-- then some moss to spread across, till it's hard to find them. soon the tiny treetop house will be built and ready; dry beneath the pelting rain, against the wind quite steady. an old crow's nest now featherhead had a much harder time finding a home than brother twinkle tail. he traveled from the oaks to the beech trees, jumping from branch to branch, peeping first into this place and then into that, but every hole and hollow had a tenant. by and by he ran down to the ground and along the winding paths through the leaves and brush, but even then he could find nothing. no, sir. there didn't seem to be a single place in the whole big forest for this little squirrel. "goodness me!" he exclaimed, "what shall i do? i don't want to go back to nutcracker lodge and tell them i can't look out for myself. i'd feel like a baby." so he sat down to think it over. all of a sudden who should come by but jimmy crow. "what's the matter? you look dreadfully worried." "and so i am," replied the little squirrel. "and so would you be if you couldn't find a home for yourself." jimmy crow turned his head first to one side and then to the other, and winked his bright little eye. then he winked the other several times. after that he wagged his feathered tail and opened both eyes. "i know just the place for you." "you don't mean it," cried featherhead. "i certainly do," replied jimmy crow, "if you'll follow me i'll take you there in a jiffy." and jimmie crow knew what he was about, for he quickly led the little squirrel to a tall oak tree whose acorns lay in heaps all over the ground. way up high on a branch was an old crow's nest. "there's the place for you," cried jimmy crow. "you can fix it up in no time." featherhead thanked him and ran up the tree to look it over. it didn't take him long to make up his mind what to do. pressing the sticks more closely together, he covered them overhead and all around with leafy twigs, until it looked like a great big ball of leaves. in one side he made a little round hole for a doorway, and as the roof was nicely rounded, and this was the only opening, the rain couldn't get inside. "with a good supply of nuts," he laughed, "i won't have to go down to the ground for my meals, and can sleep for days at a time when it's cold and stormy!" my little house up in the tree is just the very thing for me. it holds my food and keeps the rain from off my comfy counterpane. but sometimes it seems lonely quite when fall the shadows of the night, and i have no one but myself to climb up to the pantry shelf. parson owl explains one day as twinkle tail was taking a walk through the treetops, he met a young lady squirrel. she was anxiously looking here and there as if in search of something. "are you looking for anybody?" asked twinkle tail, lifting his little fur cap and bowing politely. "not exactly," she replied, "i'm looking for a furnished apartment. do you know of one?" twinkle tail didn't answer at once. he wanted to say something, but as he was a bashful little squirrel, it took him some time to make up his mind. miss squirrel, however, was not the least impatient, but curled her beautiful bushy tail up over her back and looked her prettiest. at last he said: "why don't you share my house? it's a very nice sort of a place since i fixed it up. it once belonged to grandmother magpie, you know." after little miss squirrel had looked it over, she seemed greatly pleased, especially with the kitchenette, in which were stored lots of beech nuts, hazels and fir-cones. and i think she was even more pleased with twinkle tail, for she agreed to get married to him at once. so off he started for parson owl and a little gold ring, while she went into the kitchenette to get the wedding supper. on his way he met little jack rabbit. "i'm going to get married to-day! come to my house this afternoon at five," shouted twinkle tail. "all right," answered the little rabbit. "i'll run home to tell mother." pretty soon twinkle tail met squirrel nutcracker. "i knew there was going to be a wedding," he exclaimed, when he heard the news. "i saw three magpies this very morning, and that's a sure sign." then he patted the little squirrel's head and promised that he and mrs. nutcracker would surely come. by the time twinkle tail reached the parsonage at the top of the old oak tree it was quite late. "have you got the wedding ring?" asked parson owl as the little squirrel turned to go. "goodness gracious meebus!" exclaimed twinkle tail, "i've forgotten all about it." parson owl yawned, for it's only in the night-time that owls are wide awake, you know, and replied: "can't marry you without a ring. no, indeed. who ever heard of a wedding without a ring?" (parson owl was wide awake enough to know that! goodness me! i hope the little squirrel will find a jewelry store somewhere in the shady forest.) the little gold ring twinkle tail felt dreadfully worried as he left the parsonage. where was he to get the ring? without it, parson owl had said there could be no wedding. little miss squirrel was waiting for him at the house, and all the guests would be there at five o'clock. parson owl had agreed to be on time although it was a trifle too bright at that hour for his blinky old eyes. there was only one thing missing--the little gold wedding ring. "there's only one person who can help me," cried twinkle tail, and off he ran to the old bramble patch. in answer to his impatient knock, little jack rabbit opened the door. then they both sat down on the stone step while the little squirrel told his troubles one by one. "parson owl says there can't be a wedding without a ring," sighed twinkle tail, finishing his story. "but where to get the ring, i don't know." "i do," answered the little rabbit, jumping up quickly. "come with me," and up the old cow patch, over the sunny meadow, he hopped with twinkle tail close to his heels. by and by they came to the old farm yard. there stood ducky waddles by the old creaking gate. he had just come in from a swim in the old duck pond and was combing his feathers with his big yellow bill. "good afternoon," said the little bunny. "i've come to ask a favor." "what is it?" asked ducky waddles. "you explain matters first, twinkle tail, and then i'll talk to ducky waddles," said little jack rabbit. it didn't take twinkle tail long to tell his troubles--how little miss squirrel had agreed to marry him that afternoon; how all the little people of the shady forest were coming to the wedding at five; how parson owl had agreed to marry them; how everything was ready except the little gold wedding ring. "who told you i had a little gold ring?" asked ducky waddles. "nobody," answered the little squirrel, "but i suppose it's all right." "yes, it's all right," laughed ducky waddles with a funny quack, "and now, mr. jack rabbit, what's the favor you wish me to do?" "won't you give twinkle tail the little gold ring you found in the bubbling brook last sunday?" ducky waddles took a little gold ring out of his feather waistcoat pocket and handed it to twinkle tail. (pretty soon we'll hear the wedding bells tinkling in the forest dells.) wedding bells twinkle tail was delighted to get the little gold ring. "you must come to the wedding," he said to ducky waddles. "it's to be at five o'clock at my house. please tell henny penny and cocky doodle that they're invited, and ask goosey lucy and turkey tim to come, too. i'm in such a hurry i can't wait to see them." "i'll come," answered ducky waddles, "and i won't forget to tell the barnyard folk that they're invited." "don't lose the ring," cautioned little jack rabbit, as he and the little squirrel hurried down the old cow path to the shady forest. just then they met mrs. cow. she was wagging her head back and forth to brush off the flies and the little bell on her leather collar made a pretty tinkling sound. "let's ask her to come and ring the wedding bells." "the very thing," laughed twinkle tail. "won't you come to my wedding, mrs. cow? please do." "when is it to be?" she asked. "to-night at five," answered twinkle tail, with a blush. "pretty near milking-time," explained mrs. cow. "oh, it won't take long," replied the little rabbit. "do come, mrs. cow. we want you to ring your bell at the wedding. did you ever ring a wedding bell?" "no," answered mrs. cow, "but i guess i know how. i'll come, but i may not be able to stay all the time for i must get back in time for milking." then the three started off together, and when they reached the shady forest, twinkle tail looked back and saw henny penny and cocky doodle coming up the old cow path dressed in their sunday clothes. just behind them were ducky waddles and goosey lucy and in the distance turkey tim hurrying along the old rail fence to catch up to them. "goodness me!" exclaimed the little squirrel, "i won't have much time to dress," and he set off at a great pace, leaving mrs. cow and little jack rabbit behind. when he reached his house he found miss squirrel anxiously looking out of the window, but when she saw him, she laughed and said, "i thought you were lost, dear twinkle tail!" pretty soon parson owl arrived, and when all the guests were seated, he told twinkle tail and miss squirrel to stand up before him. and after twinkle tail had placed the little gold ring on miss squirrel's little finger toe, mrs. cow rang the wedding bells and bobbie redvest sang a song. "nuts and raisins" there was a grand feast after the wedding of twinkle tail and little miss squirrel. there were nuts and raisins for everybody, and i don't know of anything much nicer than nuts and raisins. of course, all the barnyard folk ate raisins, for they couldn't crack the nuts. it almost gave ducky waddles a toothache watching twinkle tail crack the shells. cocky doodle made a pretty speech, wishing the twinkle tails a long life and a happy one, in which all the little people of the forest joined him. after that everybody looked at the wedding presents, which if not beautiful, were very useful. henny penny gave a nice new laid egg and turkey tim a bag of corn. little jack rabbit brought a big carrot and chippy chipmunk a basket of nuts. of course ducky waddles didn't give them anything more--the little gold ring was his present, which twinkle tail had slipped on the little toe-finger of miss squirrel at a nod from parson owl. you see, twinkle tail had never been married before, so parson owl had helped him a little--which i presume all good kind ministers do when they marry young people. at any rate, parson owl did, and so everything went off very smoothly. on the way home if it hadn't been for some friendly fireflies, little jack rabbit might have lost his way. and then again, maybe not, for he was a pretty bright little bunny and like all the forest folk, knew how to take care of himself. at the same time, it's nice to have a lantern on a dark night. one might, you know, stumble into a deep hole. when they reached the old bramble patch, the little rabbit said: "i'd ask you in, only i'm afraid mother's asleep." "thank you just the same," answered the kind fireflies. "we are glad to have helped you with our little lanterns," and they flew away to the sunny meadow to wink and blink like little stars among the tall grasses. the little rabbit opened the door and hopped softly up to his room and was soon fast asleep in his comfortable bed. bad news it's really too bad that the miller's boy should be snooping around with his gun. why doesn't he stay in the old mill all day and leave little folks to their fun? that's what the little people of the shady forest and the sunny meadow thought. you see, the miller's boy had very little to do just now, for the farmers were busy in the fields and the corn wasn't ready to be ground into meal. so all the miller's boy had to do was to attend to a few chores and then get out his gun and go hunting. and of course all the little four-footed and feathered people were dreadfully afraid of that great noisy gun. "look here," said mrs. rabbit, one day to her little son, "you had better be careful. you can't run faster than a bullet, you know. it's all very well to run away from danny fox and mr. wicked weasel, or to dodge from under hungry hawk, but a bullet is a different thing," and the kind lady bunny patted her small son on the left ear and gave him a piece of cherry pie. well, as soon as the pie was gone, little jack rabbit hopped out of the old bramble patch, clipperty clip, lipperty lip, and pretty soon he met chippy chipmunk and woody chuck in the shady forest. "mother says a bullet goes faster than danny fox," explained the little bunny, and as everybody in the shady forest knew mrs. rabbit never told anything that wasn't true, as grandmother magpie did, for instance, these two little friends looked very serious. yes, indeed, they looked serious. they began to feel that the miller's boy was a dangerous person. "let's tell all our friends," said woody chuck, so off the three started and by and by, not so very far, they came to the shady forest pond where busy beaver lived. "pooh, pooh!" he said, when he heard the news. "i'm safe in the water. he can't get a shot at me." "don't be too sure," answered little jack rabbit, as he ran down to the old duck pond to tell granddaddy bullfrog. now the old gentleman frog was half asleep on his log, his chin resting on his gray waistcoat and his eyes closed, for he had just eaten a big dinner of flies. "helloa, there, granddaddy bullfrog," shouted the little rabbit. the old frog opened his eyes and took out his watch to see the time, for he thought at first it was mrs. bullfrog calling him home. "oh, it's you, is it?" he said to the little rabbit. "gracious me, i must have fallen asleep, for i had a dream. "i thought i'd caught a thousand flies, all on this summer day. but now that you've awakened me they all have flown away. "oh, it was such a pleasant dream, i fear i shall grow thinner. you should have let me slumber on until i'd finished dinner." poor jimmy mink as soon as little rabbit had told the old gentleman frog to watch out for the miller's boy, he hopped along by the bubbling brook, as it wound in and out among the trees of the shady forest or went splashing over rocks and fallen logs. all of a sudden he met jimmy mink. but, oh dear me! what was the matter with jimmy mink? he was hobbling on three legs. what could be the matter? "helloa, there, jimmy mink," shouted the little rabbit. "what makes you walk on three legs, when you can walk on four? i didn't know that you had been a soldier in the war." "i haven't," replied jimmy mink. "i got caught in a trap," and he lifted up his right foreleg. "why, your foot's gone!" gasped the little rabbit. "isn't that dreadful?" "yes, it's pretty bad," answered jimmy mink. "but the only way i could free myself was to bite off my foot." "oh! oh! oh!" cried the little rabbit, sorrowfully. "tell me how it happened." so jimmy mink explained how one day when he had crept out of his little house under the bank of the bubbling brook, he had seen a nice fat trout on an old log. "there was a queer looking iron thing there, too," he said, "but i didn't think anything about that. but, oh dear me! when i picked up the trout, something snapped and my leg was caught fast. oh, how it pinched! i pulled and pulled. but i couldn't get away. then i tried to bite the iron thing that held my foot, but i couldn't break it. so at last i gnawed off my foot." "whew!" whistled the little bunny through his teeth. "i never could do that. my, but you're a brave fellow." "there's the iron thing over there," said jimmy mink, pointing to a trap that lay on an old log close to the bank. the little rabbit hopped over and looked at it. and, sure enough, pinched in between the jaws of the cruel trap was jimmy mink's little black foot. "but i've learned my lesson," said jimmy mink. "next time if i want trout, i'll catch him in the water, not on top of a log," and he jumped into the pool and swam away. then the little rabbit hopped along the shady forest trail, but he couldn't forget poor little jimmy mink. well, after a while, all of a sudden, he heard a great chickering and chirring overhead. around and around the trunk of the tree went two bodies, one a yellowish brown, about as large as a cat, and the other gray, with a long bushy tail. up to the top they went as fast as lightning, around and around, corkscrew fashion, and then down they came to the ground and before his yellowish brown enemy could catch him, twinkle tail dashed into a crack between two stones. professor jim crow's lesson "i'm so glad twinkle tail got away," said little jack rabbit to himself, as the frightened gray squirrel squeezed in between the rocks. and then the little rabbit hopped away as fast as he could, and pretty soon he saw professor jim crow with his little black book in his claw. "tell me, professor jim crow," said the little rabbit, "what is the name of the yellowish-brown animal that chases little gray squirrels around and around the trunks of trees?" "how big was he?" asked the wise old bird, putting on his spectacles and turning over the leaves of his little black book. "larger than the farmer's black cat," answered the little rabbit. "did it look something like a fox?" asked the old crow. "yes, he did," replied the little rabbit. professor jim crow smiled and turned to page . "listen!" he said. "the marten looks very much like a young fox about two months old. its color is a yellowish-brown, a little darker than a yellow fox, with a number of long black hairs. it is a great climber, hunts squirrels and robs birds' nests." then the wise old crow closed his book and wiped his spectacles. "you have learned something to-day, little rabbit. mother nature's school house will teach you lots of things," and the old professor bird flew away. [illustration: "i'm in the hollow stump telephone booth." _page_ ] "well, i'm going to have a good time now," thought the little rabbit to himself. "i've learned my daily lesson. i'll call up uncle john." so off he hopped to the hollow stump telephone booth. "what number do you want?" asked the telephone girl who was a little wood-mouse. "one, two, three, harefield," answered the little rabbit, and in less than five hundred short seconds, he heard his uncle's voice over the wire. "goodness gracious meebus!" exclaimed mr. john hare, "i thought you'd forgotten all about your old uncle. where are you?" "i'm in the hollow stump telephone booth," answered the little rabbit. "i'll come right over to the old bramble patch," said uncle john, and the old gentleman hare dropped the receiver on his left hind toe he was so excited. you see, he hadn't heard from his little bunny nephew for so long that he supposed he had enlisted in uncle sam's army or aunt columbia's navy! well, anyway, as soon as the little rabbit had paid the little wood-mouse five carrot cents, he hopped home to tell his mother that uncle john hare was coming over to supper. to the post office "billy breeze, please blow no more the leaves around the kitchen door. it takes my time till ten fifteen to make the doorstep nice and clean," said little jack rabbit the next morning after he had polished the front doorknob and fed the canary and filled the woodbox in the kitchen with kindling wood. oh, my, yes, he was a busy little rabbit. he had to help his mother in lots of ways, especially when uncle john hare was making a visit at the old bramble patch. well, when the little rabbit had done all these things, his mother asked him to go down to the post office and buy her three war savings stamps and the rabbitville gazette for uncle john, who had a touch of rheumatism in his left hind toe and didn't feel like hopping around, but preferred to sit in an armchair on the back stoop where it was warm and sunny. now, as little jack rabbit hopped along, he met chippy chipmunk under the big chestnut tree, so of course he stopped and said good morning. "where are you going?" asked the little chipmunk. and when he found out, he took two twenty-five carrot cent pieces out of his pocket and asked the little rabbit to buy him two thrift stamps. "all right," said the little bunny, dropping the two quarters in his knapsack, and by and by, not so very far, he met squirrel nutcracker. "where are you going?" asked the old gray squirrel. "down to the post office," answered the little rabbit. "will you buy me a dollar's worth of thrift stamps, please," said squirrel nutcracker. so the little rabbit tucked the lettuce dollar bill in his waistcoat pocket and hopped along. and pretty soon, not so very far, he met busy beaver. he was plastering the top of his little mud house and was dreadfully busy, but when he heard where little jack rabbit was going, he put his little muddy paw in his pocket and took out a fifty cent piece. "please buy me two thrift stamps, i've no time to go to the village. i must finish my house before the frost comes." the little rabbit put the fifty cent piece in his knapsack and hopped along, and by and by parson owl, who sat winking and blinking in his hollow tree house, called out to the little rabbit as he hopped over the dry leaves: "hey, there! where are you going?" "down to the post office to buy stamps!" "will you buy me ten dollars' worth if i give you the money?" asked the winky, blinky old owl. goodness me; it will take another story to tell what happened after that. more stamps now let me see. we left little billy bunny on his way to the post office to buy thrift stamps and the rabbitville gazette. and, oh dear me! i'm all mixed up. i can't remember whether timmy chipmunk gave the little rabbit ten dollars or whether old parson owl did. or whether the squirrel brothers wanted two stamps, or whether it was busy beaver who wanted three, or maybe four and perhaps five. oh dear me again! but never mind. i guess the little rabbit wasn't mixed up, for he hopped along as happy as you please, and just before he came to rabbitville, he heard a voice in the treetops say: "where are you going, little hoppity hop, you're going so fast maybe you can't stop." "oh, yes, i can," answered little jack rabbit. "what do you want?" "that depends on where you are going," said professor jim crow, for it was the old blackbird who had stopped the little rabbit, you see. "i'm going to the post office to buy mother three thrift stamps and uncle john the rabbitville gazette, and let me see. oh, yes; oh, yes. chippy chipmunk gave me two quarters to buy him two thrift stamps, and squirrel nutcracker handed me a lettuce dollar bill to buy him four, and busy beaver gave me a fifty-cent piece to buy him two, and parson owl just now pinned in my inside pocket a ten-dollar lettuce bill to pay for forty stamps." "i wonder what he wants so many stamps for?" said professor jim crow. "why doesn't he buy a liberty bond?" "maybe he wants to give them away," answered the little rabbit. "but i mustn't stop--i must be going." "wait, wait," said professor jim crow. "here's some money. buy me ten thrift stamps," and he handed over a two and one-half dollar lettuce bill. "don't lose the half," added the wise old crow, and then he flew up into his old pine tree and cawed away right merrily. and after that the little rabbit hopped along and when he came to the post office, he went up to the little stamp window and asked the old maid grasshopper, who was the postmistress, you remember--but if you don't, she was, just the same, for bobbie redvest told me so--if there were any letters. but there was only the rabbitville gazette done up in a pink wrapper and yellow two-cent stamp. "have you thrift stamps?" asked bunny boy. and when the lady grasshopper said yes, he told her just how many he wanted, for he could remember everything, you see, which is more than i can, let me tell you, unless i look back over this story. and after he had put the stamps carefully in his knapsack with little pieces of wax paper between so that they wouldn't stick together, he started back for the old bramble patch. and in the next story, if all those stamps don't get angry and try to lick each other, i'll tell you what happened after that. busy times when little jack rabbit finally reached home with the stamps and the rabbitville gazette, he found his uncle john singing at the piano this lovely song: the autumn leaves are falling along the woodland ways, in scarlet, brown and yellow coats these cool november days. they rustle by the old rail fence, they whisper in the lane, or from the shivering half-clad trees they sing a sad refrain. but mrs. rabbit was too busy putting up carrot preserves and lettuce pickles to even listen. all the little people of the shady forest and sunny meadow were getting ready for winter. the little feathered people were pruning their wings for a long flight to the warm southland, and the four-footed folk were gathering nuts and grain for their storehouses. the squirrel brothers had a bushel of nuts, and maybe more, laid away carefully in the old chestnut tree, and chippy chipmunk had filled his underground storeroom with nuts and corn. granddaddy bullfrog was almost ready to dive into the old duck pond to hide in the soft warm mud. teddy turtle, too, would soon find for himself a nice warm spot on the mud bottom of the mill pond before jack frost touched the water with his icy fingers. and mr. john hare had telephoned to the old red rooster to come over and put up mrs. rabbit's storm-door and bank the cellar windows with dry leaves. "mother," said little jack rabbit, as he polished the brass doorknob, "i guess jack frost will soon be around." "shouldn't wonder," she replied, "but who's afraid of jack frost? danny fox and mr. wicked weasel, to say nothing of hungry hawk, are more to be feared." and that good lady rabbit began her ironing, for it was tuesday, the day when all rabbitville irons monday's wash, i'm told. just then bobbie redvest began to sing: the summer time is over, and all the golden hours, no more the roses crimson bloom amid the garden bowers. the little birds have left their nests and now are strong of wing, they will not build themselves a home until the lovely spring, but fly away to southern lands, where warmth and sunshine reign, they cannot brave the winter wind, the snow drifts in the lane. and little four-foot furry folks will safely hide away, and sleep until the winter's past and spring has come to stay. an accident well, after uncle john hare had spent about a week at the old bramble patch, he thought it time to go home. so he called up his house and ordered his bunnymobile sent for him. "now don't worry about little jack rabbit," he said to the anxious lady bunny, "i'll take good care of him and send him home safe and sound." then he put on his goggles while the little rabbit cranked up the bunnymobile, and off they went. you see, uncle john was so fond of his little rabbit nephew that he just had to take him out for a drive. but, goodness me. they had gone only a little way when they ran into a load of hay. and, oh dear me! it tumbled down on top of them and hid the bunnymobile from sight. wasn't that dreadful? well, i don't know what would have happened--they would have been smothered or had hay fever, i guess--if a big circus elephant hadn't come hurrying along just then. well, sir! he wound his trunk around that pile of hay and put it back on the wagon. then he dropped in his pocket the nickel the farmer gave him, but he wouldn't take the carrot cent that grateful uncle john offered him. [illustration: the elephant put the hay right back on the wagon. _page_ ] "i'm so nervous you'd better drive," cried the old gentleman hare. so little jack rabbit took the wheel and for a little while everything went along nicely. but pretty soon it grew dark, so the little rabbit hopped out to light the lamps. but when he struck a match he found that the lamps were smashed to pieces. you see, they had hit the back of the hay wagon. "what shall we do?" "get in and go along the best you can," answered the old gentleman hare. "we ought to be pretty near home by this time." and i guess they would have reached his little red house in a few minutes if the policeman dog hadn't stopped them. "what do you mean by running your bunnymobile without lights?" he growled. "i'll fine you ten bones!" "make it carrots and i'll pay you," said uncle john. but the policeman dog wouldn't take carrots. you see, he liked bones much better. then he jumped on the running board and told them to drive to station house no. . but wasn't it lucky? they had gone only a little way when they came to a butcher shop, where uncle john traded ten carrots for ten bones. and when he gave them to the policeman dog, he told them they might drive home slowly. but, oh dear me. all of a sudden a big owl gave a hooty toot. no sooner did the two little rabbits hear that dreadful noise than they hopped out of the bunnymobile and into a hollow stump. "you'll be safe, now," said a little grasshopper from her clover patch house, nearby. two pigeons well, i'm going to tell you right away that the two little rabbits got safely home, although they had to hide all night in the hollow stump from the old owl. but the grasshopper stayed in the clover patch and built a little house with a front-door latch. well, as soon as they had run the bunnymobile in the garage, they went into the little red house, and had breakfast. after that was over little jack rabbit said good-by and hopped off home to the old bramble patch. and while he was hopping along who should come by but old professor jim crow with his little black book. "helloa there, little rabbit," said the wise old bird, and then he opened his little black book and, turning to page , he said: "let me read you something about pigeons." "why?" asked the little bunny, wiggling his little pink nose so fast that old professor jim crow's eyes filled with tears, and he had to take off his spectacles and wipe them with his silk pocket handkerchief. "because," answered the old crow, "two pigeons have made their home in the loft of your mother's old barn." then he put on his spectacles again and commenced to read aloud: "pigeons always lay two eggs, and these produce a male and a female, so they are mated from birth, and, could they remain so, they would be the happiest of winged beings." and then the old professor closed his book and said, "better hurry home and see the new pigeons." so away hopped the little rabbit, clipperty clip, lipperty lip, over the sunny meadow until, by and by, after awhile, he came to the old bramble patch. there stood his mother in the backyard. she had just placed a pan of water under a tree for the pigeons. "don't make any noise," she said, as the little rabbit drew near. pretty soon mr. pigeon flew down to taste the water, and by and by mrs. pigeon fluttered down by his side. "cock-a-doodle-do, of pigeons we have two, but some day there'll be dozens more a-cooing by the old barn door," sang the old red rooster who had come over from uncle john's to help mrs. rabbit weed the carrot patch. after that she and her little bunny boy hopped up on the front porch to hear the canary bird in her gold cage sing: "i wouldn't be a pigeon and live in an old red barn, i'd rather be here when the weather is drear and watch mrs. bunny darn." which made the kind lady rabbit laugh, for she spent lots of time, let me tell you, darning the holes in her little bunny boy's golf stockings. miss pussy the pumpkins in the cornfield are as yellow as can be, and the apples, red and golden, are hanging on the tree, the grapes in purple clusters are swinging on the vine, and the old crow's nest is empty upon the lonely pine. "ha, ha," shouted little jack rabbit, as billy breeze blew across the sunny meadow, and, let me tell you, billy breeze was just a little bit chilly, this cool november morning. "i wonder what i'll do," thought the little rabbit, and he wiggled his little pink nose sideways, and then off he went, clipperty clip, lipperty lip, and by and by he came to an old hollow stump. so he peeked in, and then, all of a sudden, a purring voice asked: "what are you doing, mr. curious one?" "oh, i wasn't doing anything wrong," answered the little bunny. "i just wanted to see what was inside." "well, i'll show you," answered the voice, and out popped a little black cat, with green eyes and a pink ribbon. "oh, it's you, miss pussy," laughed the little rabbit. "i'm glad it wasn't a bear or a wildcat," and he laughed some more and wiggled his little pink nose just for fun, you understand. "what are you doing out here?" "looking for mice," answered the little black pussy. "don't you bother timmy meadowmouse," said little jack rabbit quickly; "he's a friend of mine." and then, what do you suppose happened? why, the farmer's dog came by, and away went the little rabbit, and up went miss pussy cat's back, and her tail grew so big that had she tried to get back into the hollow stump i guess she would have had to leave her tail behind her! but she didn't. no sireemam. she just humped her back and meowed, and the farmer's dog kept right on after little jack rabbit, but of course he never caught him. well, as soon as the little bunny was safe in the shady forest, he looked about him, and pretty soon, not so very long, he saw professor jim crow with his little black book under his wing. "read me something, won't you please," begged the little rabbit. so the old professor bird took out his book and turned over the pages until he came to "the early worm must look out for the bird." "ha, ha," laughed the little rabbit. "i must tell that to mother. she always tells it the other way 'round." then off he hopped, and the old black bird flew away to his tree in kalamazoo. for that was the name of the little village where professor crow has his home, and where he taught in the grammar school arithmetic and the golden rule, and sometimes latin and sometimes greek, and anything else that a bird can speak. goodness me, if my typewriter hasn't made up this poetry all by itself. i wonder where it went to school. a busy beaver "bunny boy!" called little jack rabbit's mother, oh, so early, as mr. merry sun climbed up the blue gray sky of the early morning, "get up, little bunny!" so the little rabbit hopped out of bed; and after he had combed his hair with a little chip, he ran downstairs to ask his mother about the early worm professor jim crow had mentioned in the last story. after breakfast he hopped out on the sunny meadow and looked about him. mr. merry sun was shining down on the frosty dew and billy breeze was very chilly, and the meadow grass brown and withered. it didn't look at all like the lovely sunny meadow. "oh, dear," sighed the little rabbit, "all the flowers are gone, and most of the birds have flown to the sunny south." just then professor jim crow flew by with his little black book under his wing: "helloa, there, little bunny, how are you this chilly day?" and then that old crow began to read out of his little book: "little rabbit's coat of brown soon will turn to white. then among the snowy drifts he can hide from sight. "you see how mother nature looks after you," said that wise old blackbird. "in the summer your coat is brown like the dry grass and brambles. but when winter comes it turns white so that you won't be seen so well against the snow." then away flew professor jim crow to read his little black book to somebody else, and the little rabbit hopped along and by and by he came to the bubbling brook where the speckled trout swam in and out among the rocks and the little fresh water crabs played in the quiet pools. all of a sudden down fell a tree. "there," said busy beaver, "i'll now have some logs to make a dam." "why do you want a dam? do you want to spoil the bubbling brook?" "it won't spoil the brook," answered the little beaver. "it will only make it deep so that when i build my house for the winter my front door won't freeze up tight." "oh, i see," said little jack rabbit, and he wiggled his little pink nose sideways. "and how soon will you have it finished?" "oh, long before old mr. north wind brings the snow," answered busy beaver. old mr. north wind on his snow horse, swiftly is riding down the golf course, over the meadow and up the steep hill, shouting so hoarsely; "gid ap, there, bill!" don't worry in the last story little jack rabbit, of old bramble patch, u. s. a., was talking to busy beaver, who was making a dam across the bubbling brook, you remember, to keep the water from freezing up his front door in the cold winter time. "every one is getting ready for the cold weather. it won't be long before my dam is finished and then i'll set to work and make my house of mud and sticks," and busy beaver jumped into the water with a flap of his broad tail and disappeared. so the little rabbit hopped along, and by and by he came to the cave where the big brown bear made his home. "helloa!" said little jack rabbit, as the big brown bear looked out of his front door. "winter time will soon be here." "oh, that doesn't worry me," said the big brown bear. "but what will you eat?" asked the little rabbit. "when you're asleep you don't feel hungry. on a warm sunny day i may come out for a little while and find something to eat. i don't worry." worry never makes you fat, instead, it makes you lean. never worry for a minute,-- worry has the devil in it,-- keep your mind serene. and if you don't know what "serene" means, take your father's dictionary and look up, for the more words you know the wiser you'll grow. "well, i don't have to worry about the cold weather," laughed the little rabbit. "mother nature will give me a new white fur overcoat, and the old bramble patch will keep the wind away, and the cabbage leaves which mother and i have stored away will last all winter." and then away he went to see more of his friends in the shady forest. well, by and by, after a while, he heard the honk of an automobile horn. "i wonder whether that's uncle john," and little jack rabbit stopped and looked all around, and pretty soon, not very long, mr. john hare drove by in his bunnymobile. he looked very fine in his polkadot handkerchief and gold watch and chain and a great big immense diamond horseshoe pin in his pink cravat. oh, my, yes! uncle john was quite a dandy. he was the best dressed hare in harebridge, and why shouldn't he be when you consider he was president of the bank and the harum scarum club! "helloa, there, little nephew," he shouted. "hop in and take a ride with me, we'll take a spin for a mile or three, and maybe we'll come where the lollypops grow, pink and yellow, all in a row." the little frosty painter there's a little frosty painter who soon will come around to put a silver edging on the grasses on the ground, upon the window pane he'll paint a fairy landscape, strange and quaint, and some cold morning you'll awake to find he's frosted mother's cake. now can you guess who this little frosty painter is? why, it's jack frost, the son of king winter. "ha, ha," crowed the weathercock on the big red barn. "jack frost is here, for i can see the silver frost upon the grass in the sunny meadow," and then that gilded rooster turned his head to the north and blew on his gilt toes to keep them warm. pretty soon old sic'em walked out of his little dog house and shook himself. "bow wow," he said, "it's a chilly morning." "cock-a-doodle-do," said cocky doodle, and then henny penny cackled loudly: "i've laid an egg so white and clean 'twould grace a breakfast for a queen. but if a little girl should beg the farmer for my pretty egg, i'd tell him quick to let her go and take my egg as white as snow." as the little hen finished her song, she noticed little jack rabbit by the old rail fence. "helloa, mrs. henny penny," he said. "i like your song. if i see any poor little girl i'll tell her!" and then the little rabbit hopped away, for he just couldn't stay a moment in one place, let me tell you. he wanted to be on the hop, skip and jump all the time, just like lots of little boys and girls i know. well, by and by, after a while, he saw old professor jim crow scratching his head with his claw. "what's the matter?" asked the little rabbit. "i can't make out something i've written in my little black book," answered the old black bird, and he scratched his head again and looked dreadfully perplexed, which means worse than worried, you know. "let me look," said little jack rabbit. and when the old blackbird had flown down from his pine tree, the little bunny leaned over his shoulder, and read: "oh, oh, oh, squirreltown!" "why, that's the squirrel brothers telephone number," he laughed. "so it is," said professor jim crow. "i'm so glad you told me! let's call them up!" "'one, three, five, chestnut hill!' keep on ringing, central, till some one answers, 'hello! who is calling up my bungaloo!' "but if no one says a word; not a twitter from a bird, nor a chatter comes your way, call again another day." grandpa possum but! gracious me! central gave little jack rabbit the wrong number, for as he stood in the hollow stump telephone booth, with the receiver to his ear, he heard grandpa possum say: "i don't care how hard it snows, nor how old mr. north wind blows, for i'm as safe as safe can be in a big warm hole in the old nut tree." "ha, ha!" laughed the little rabbit, hopping out of the booth, just as grandpa possum poked his head out of his hollow tree house, "you certainly look sleepy. what made you wake up?" "what woke me?" asked the possum gentleman angrily. "why, those good for nothing squirrel brothers threw a snowball into my window." and then grandpa possum shook the snow out of his left ear and looked around to find those naughty squirrels. all of a sudden, quicker than a wink, another snowball hit the old hollow tree a tre-men-dous whack. "goodness me!" said grandpa possum, "if i ever catch those pesky squirrels i'll make them wince, yes, i will, as sure as i'm twenty-one!" and he began to grin, for grandpa possum is full of good nature and never can stay angry very long. "if you're good natured, every one will love you more and more, so don't get mad, be always glad, and lend a helping paw," sang grandpa possum, winking at little jack rabbit, as squirrel twinkle tail peeked out and said: "excuse me, grandpa possum, for throwing snow at you, 'twould be too bad to make you mad or just a little blue." and then he and his mischievous brother featherhead ran away and didn't bother grandpa possum for a long time. "well, i guess i'll be getting along," said the little rabbit and he hopped away and by and by he came to the shady forest pond where busy beaver had his home. but of course he wasn't anywhere to be seen. no, siree. he was in his little mud hut whose roof stuck up above the ice and whose cellar door was way down deep where the water was free from ice and he could swim in and out as he pleased. so the little rabbit didn't wait, but hopped along until he came to the edge of the forest, when he started to hop across the sunny meadow to the old barn yard where henny penny and cocky doodle lived all the year 'round. but just then he heard the supper bell. so, instead, he hurried home to be in time for aunt jemima's angel cake. cousin chatterbox little jack rabbit loved the snow that covered the ground with a soft white carpet. his feet never grew cold. no siree, they didn't. all the little forest folk liked the snow, for loving mother nature had given them warm fur, and warm fur laughs at cold just as love laughs at troubles. even mrs. grouse was happy. and if you've forgotten why, i'll tell you again. it was because dear mother nature had given her a pair of snow-shoes. yes, indeed. the skin had grown out between her toes until she could walk as nicely as you please over the snow. and what is more, loving mother nature had taught her to dive into a snowbank where she could stay for the night as snug and warm as you please, when old mr. north wind blew upon his chilly horn. neither did squirrel nutcracker care that the ground was covered with snow, and he could find no more nuts. he had a supply hidden safely away in the old hollow chestnut tree. but he did mind having other people take them. and when his cousin, chatterbox, in his red fur coat, tried to break into his storehouse, squirrel nutcracker was as mad as mad could be. "whoever steals a nut from me from out my storehouse in this tree, a friend of mine shall be no more, so let him stay outside my store." chatterbox grew very angry as he peeped down from the chestnut tree and saw little jack rabbit with a big smile on his face. it told the naughty red squirrel that the little rabbit knew whom the little gray squirrel meant. but when little jack rabbit opened his knapsack and took out a lemon lollypop, you should have seen those two squirrels forget all about their quarrel and scramble down the big chestnut tree. yes, sir. squirrel nutcracker forgot that chatterbox wanted to steal his nuts, and chatterbox forgot that he had been caught! and now that i come to think it over, perhaps that is the reason the little bunny laughed just before he opened his knapsack! i guess he knew how quickly those two little squirrels would forget everything when they saw a lemon lollypop! "now promise me one thing to-day, you little squirrels, red and gray, that you will quarrel nevermore nor steal a nut from any store. for he who steals will always end in having neither love nor friend." now don't you think it wonderful that the little rabbit could make up such lovely poetry? well, i do, but the two little squirrels thought what he does in the next story even more wonderful. but you must not impatient get, if mother says, it's growing late. just wait until another time, and kiss good-night your auntie kate. jimmy jay now just as i finished the last story little jack rabbit handed squirrel nutcracker and chatterbox each a lovely lemon lollypop. i would have told you that before, only i had no more room, so i had to wait. but it's a good thing the little squirrels didn't have to wait, isn't it? well, after the lemon lollypops were all gone, the little bunny went upon his way, hipperty hop, lipperty lop, until he saw jimmy jay on the old rail fence. now you know that jimmy jay is a very mischievous little bird. yes, sir, he certainly loves to tease. grandmother magpie is mischievous, too, but she's no worse than little jimmy jay. she does harm by meddling and jimmy jay by teasing. yes, it certainly is too bad that such a pretty bird as jimmy jay should cause so much trouble. why, his coat's as blue as the summer sky when mr. merry sun is shining at his best. "hip, hip, hurray, i'm jimmy jay, and i'm proud of my coat of blue. go on your way, i'm jimmy jay, i've no time to talk to you." "you're too fond of yourself, jimmy jay," said little jack rabbit, and he wiggled his pink nose till the little jay bird almost fell off the rail. you see, little jack rabbit had the habit of wiggling his nose so fast that it made everybody dizzy to look at it. "mother says it's not the clothes you wear that make you good; it's having a contented mind and doing what you should." then away hopped the little rabbit, leaving jimmy jay to think it over. perhaps it kept that mischievous little jay bird from looking at himself in the bubbling brook. or maybe it was because it was all frozen over with a thick coat of ice. well, anyway, the little rabbit hopped along for maybe a mile or maybe less, until he came to a little hole in snow, when, all of a sudden, out popped timmy meadowmouse. you see in the winter time, timmy meadowmouse makes little tunnels under the snow, and every once in a while, here and there, he climbs up a stiff stalk of grass and pokes out his head to look around. and wasn't he glad to see the little rabbit. well, i just guess he was. but if he had seen danny fox instead he wouldn't have been so pleased. no sireemam. and in the next story, if the little meadowmouse doesn't play hide-and-seek in the snow till that sly old fox comes around, i'll tell you what happened after this. the tip of a tail now let us see--oh, yes, i remember now. we left off just when little timmy meadowmouse poked his head up through the snow and said, "helloa!" "howdy, timmy meadowmouse, through the chimney of your house looking o'er the meadow white, glancing round from left to right, you might lose your woollen socks if 't weren't i, but danny fox," laughed little jack rabbit, kicking up his strong hind legs until a big snowball hit timmy meadowmouse, knocking the hat off his head into a snowbank. "look out! what are you doing," cried timmy meadowmouse. "that's the new hat mother gave me for xmas." pretty soon he began to laugh, too, for he's a merry little fellow and a good friend. "my, but it's lonely these long winter days," sighed the little bunny. "everybody's sound asleep in his winter home. only you and i and a few others are about," and the little rabbit sighed again, for what he says is true, let me tell you. for in the good old summer time 'most everybody's round, the feathered folk are in the trees, the furry on the ground. and all the sweet and verdant dells are ringing with the flower bells. "cheer up, little rabbit," said the merry little meadowmouse, "spring will soon be here. the buds on the trees are waiting for little miss south wind to open them," and after that the little meadowmouse disappeared into his tunnel and the little bunny hopped away, clipperty clip, over the snow till he came to the shady forest. and after he had gone in a little way, not so very far, he saw something that made his heart go pitter, pat. and what do you suppose it was? i'll give you three guesses and then i'll tell you. the footprints of danny fox. yes, sir! right there in the snow were the marks of that sly old fox's feet. little jack rabbit stopped right then and there to look about him. but danny fox was nowhere in sight, but that was no reason why he might not be, at that very moment, hiding behind a tree. the little rabbit looked again at the footprints in the snow. there they were, but, thank goodness! they led away, far away, into the shady forest. just then, all of a sudden, the miller's boy jumped out from behind a clump of bushes. "run! run!" screamed jimmy jay, who happened by just then. and the little rabbit did. he went so fast that his shadow couldn't keep up with him and neither could the miller's boy. but, oh, dear me! the miller's dog did. yes, sir! he kept so close that before he popped into the old bramble patch he caught the end of the little rabbit's tail. old barney owl well, i'm mighty glad the little rabbit lost only the fur tip to his tail. that was bad enough, but he forgot all about it the next morning when the squirrel brothers invited him over the 'phone to meet them at the shady forest pond. he spent no time at all getting out his skates, but his mother took two minutes and a half tying a woolen muffler around his neck. she knew, like all wise mothers, that it's lots more fun to skate when one is nice and warm. when he reached the pond the squirrel brothers were already there, skating merrily over the ice. busy beaver in his winter home below could hear them whirring along, cutting fancy figures in the ice, and calling merrily to one another. after a while, when the little rabbit and the squirrel brothers had grown tired of skating, they ran over to make a call on old barney owl, who lived in the big chestnut tree on a small island, right in the middle of the pond. although it was now pretty late in the afternoon, the old gentleman owl was still asleep, and when he opened the door, his eyes winked and blinked, and at first he didn't know them at all. in fact, he shut the door right in their faces. i suppose he thought they had knocked just to wake him up. perhaps they had, for when the door closed with a bang they all began to laugh. [illustration: little jack and the squirrel brothers skated merrily. _page_ ] by and by featherhead knocked again, and when old barney owl opened it a second time, the naughty little squirrel said: "here is a nice fresh egg!" goodness me! when the old owl, whose eyes were still very blinky, found out it wasn't an egg, but a snowball, he dropped it on the little squirrel's head, and slammed the door again. now, if featherhead had only gone back to his skating, all would have been well. but he didn't. no, indeed. instead, he knocked again, and when the old owl opened the door, that naughty squirrel dropped a snowball down his collar. goodness gracious me! what a scuffle there was all at once, and, just like that! the old owl pulled the little squirrel into his house and closed the door. oh, what a scowl had mr. owl, and featherhead felt nearly dead. he was so scared at what he'd done he couldn't move his feet to run. and, goodness gracious! so would i have felt as if i'd surely die, if some big giant from his tree had through his doorway pulled poor me. from head to toe i'd surely quake, and feel my frightened heart would break. but now let's turn the page to see if ever featherhead gets free. "help! help!" little jack rabbit threw himself against the door as soon as it closed on featherhead. but old barney owl had fastened the latch and it wouldn't open. my! what a dreadful scuffling was going on inside. "open the door! open the door!" shouted the little rabbit, pounding on the wooden panels with his strong hind feet. but old barney owl paid no attention. maybe he had all he could do to hold featherhead. by and by it grew very quiet and twinkle tail peeped in through the keyhole, but he couldn't see anything. "oh, dear me!" cried little jack rabbit. "perhaps old barney owl has eaten featherhead!" poor twinkle tail's heart almost stopped beating. maybe it would have if he had known that the old owl had dragged his little brother squirrel upstairs by the tail. "snowballs and eggs! snowballs and eggs!" muttered old barney, shaking featherhead until his teeth rattled. "you little rascal! you thought i couldn't tell a snowball from an egg, eh?" and he gave the little squirrel another shake. "now i'm going to skin you and eat you for supper!" oh, dear me! how featherhead trembled when he heard that. just then there came a tremendous crash downstairs, and as the old owl looked over the railing, twinkle tail and little jack rabbit broke in the door. "help! help!" shouted featherhead. "rats and mice! rats and mice!" cried old barney owl, still keeping a tight hold on the little squirrel's tail. he knew there was going to be trouble, but he wasn't going to let his supper get away from him without a fight, let me tell you. no, siree. old barney owl was too hungry for that. but he changed his mind pretty quickly. yes, siree. when little jack rabbit let fly his hind feet, thumpty-thump, thumpty-thump! knocking the old owl head over heels, he changed his mind. he let go of featherhead, and before he could change it again there was nobody in the house except himself. gracious me! how the squirrel brothers scurried home. and the little rabbit lost no time, either. he went to bed early and in the middle of the night, when old barney owl went "hooty, toot!" he shivered and pulled the bedclothes up over his head. "toot, toot, hoot!" old barney plays his flute. it sounds so shivery in the dark, the firefly's tiny gleaming spark, goes out because the firefly is frightened by the old owl's cry. pumpkin place p. o. "little jack rabbit!" said his mother, the next morning, "run down to the post office and see if there's a letter for me." so the little rabbit put on his khaki cap and his little knapsack and started off, and by and by, after a while, he came to rabbitville, where the post office stood on the corner of pumpkin place and corn cob lane. "is there a letter for mrs. john rabbit, old bramble patch, rail fence corner, u. s. a.?" he asked the lady postmistress, an old maid grasshopper who worked for uncle sam in the winter and in the summer played in the wheat field. "i think there is," she said, looking in box , and, sure enough, there was. then she handed the letter to the little rabbit, and shut the door of the little window and after that she took out her vanity bag and powdered her nose. the little rabbit put the letter in his knapsack and started home, but just as he reached the shady forest, whom should he see but squirrel nutcracker. the old gray squirrel had come out of his hollow tree for a little run in the sun. you see, on cold days he curled himself up in a ball and kept very quiet, but on warm days he came out and jumped from limb to limb to get the cramps out of his leg muscles. "where are you going, little rabbit?" he asked, and then he took a nut out of his pocket and cracked it with his sharp teeth without a bit of trouble. "i've got a letter for mother," said little jack rabbit, "and i mustn't stop to talk to any one," and he hopped along as fast as he could, for he was afraid he might lose the letter, you see. well, pretty soon, not so very long, he came to the old bramble patch, and after he had given the letter to his mother he hopped out on the sunny meadow, and just then, all of a sudden, old professor jim crow flew by. he had his little black book under his wing, and as soon as he saw the little rabbit he lighted on a bush and turned to page . "let me read you something," he said, putting on his spectacles, and after he had cawed three times and a half he began: "little rabbits should take care to every morning comb their hair. they always should be clean and neat and keep their dispositions sweet." and then that wise old bird looked up over his spectacles and winked at the little rabbit. "did you comb your hair this morning?" he asked. and wasn't it lucky that little jack rabbit hadn't forgotten to? well, i just guess it was. an ice cream pine cone pretty soon it began to snow and soon the sunny meadow was just as white and smooth as mrs. rabbit's best table cloth, for the feathery snowflakes fell so softly you could almost hear the stillness. little jack rabbit opened his knapsack and pulled out his rubber boots. then he put on his ear muffs and his nice warm mittens and slung his knapsack over his back, but very carefully, for there were lots of nice things to eat in that knapsack. yes, siree. his kind mother always filled it up with cakes and sweets. i guess the little rabbit knew that very morning his dear mother had baked lettuce cakes, and how he did love lettuce cakes. yes, indeed he did, and so would you and so would i if we could only get one, i'm sure. well, after he had hopped along a little way, he began to sing, "three little bunnies a-sliding went on a winter's day, the ice was thin, and two fell in, and the third one ran away." "ha, ha!" cawed an old crow from a tree top, "that's a very fine song!" "well, if you think it's such a fine song, throw me down an ice cream pine cone," said the little rabbit. but the selfish old crow wanted it for himself, and instead threw down a snowball, which hit the little rabbit on the tip of his tail. the little rabbit wasn't going to stay there and have snowballs thrown at him. no, sireemam, he wasn't. and pretty soon, not so very far, he met jimmy mink creeping along by the old duck pond. "i have to be very careful these winter days," said the little mink. "everybody wants to wear fur in the winter time, you know, and if that dreadful miller's boy sees me, he might shoot me and sell my fur for a muff!" "they set traps for me," answered the little rabbit. "and danny fox and mr. wicked weasel are always after me. and hungry hawk, too. you're not the only one who has to look out for himself." then the little rabbit took a lovely lollypop out of his knapsack and gave it to jimmy mink, and asked him to make a visit at the old bramble patch. "i'll get uncle john to take us riding in his bunnysnowbile." this tickled the little mink almost to pieces, for he'd never ridden in a bunnysnowbile, and neither have i and neither have you, but perhaps some day we will if we happen to be around when mr. john hare comes by. and in the next book, if the smoke doesn't blow down our chimney and choke the cook so that she can't bake the biscuits for breakfast, i'll tell you more about little jack rabbit and his friends who live in bunnyville, u. s. a. the end little jack rabbit books (trademark registered.) by david cory colored wrapper and text illustrations drawn by h. s. barbour * * * * * printed in large type easy to read. for children from to years * * * * * a unique series, about the furred and feathered little people of the woods and meadows. little jack rabbit's adventures little jack rabbit is a jolly fellow, but he has to keep away from danny fox, wicked weasel and hungry hawk. little jack rabbit and danny fox many a hairbreadth escape has little jack rabbit from this old rascal, who lives on the woody hillside under a pile of rocks. little jack rabbit and the squirrel brothers mr. squirrel nutcracker's two boys are great friends of little jack, but old barney owl makes a lot of trouble for all three. little jack rabbit and chippy chipmunk little jack rabbit visits chippy chipmunk's store, but you should read about what happens to the sign over the door. little jack rabbit and the big brown bear the big brown bear is a particular friend of little jack rabbit. cosey cave, where he lives, is well stored with honey and lollypops. little jack rabbit and uncle john hare tells all about the bunnymobile, ragged rabbit giant and the rabbit fairies. little jack rabbit and professor crow professor crow, with his wisdom book, teaches little jack rabbit many interesting things. * * * * * grosset & dunlap, publishers, new york * * * * * little journeys to happyland (trademark registered) by david cory individual colored wrappers. profusely illustrated * * * * * =printed in large type--easy to read. for children from to years.= * * * * * a new series of exciting adventures by the author of little jack rabbit books. the happyland is reached by various routes: if you should happen to miss the iceberg express maybe you can take the magic soap bubble, or in case that has already left, the noah's ark may be waiting for you. this series is unique in that it deals with unusual and exciting adventures on land and sea and in the air. the cruise of the noah's ark this is a good rainy day story. on just such a day mr. noah invites marjorie to go for a trip in the noah's ark. she gets aboard just in time and away it floats out into the big wide world. the magic soap bubble the king of the gnomes has a magic pipe with which he blows a wonderful bubble and taking ed. with him they both have a delightful time in gnomeland. the iceberg express the mermaid's magic comb changes little mary louise into a mermaid. the polar bear porter on the iceberg express invites her to take a trip with him and away they go on a little journey to happyland. * * * * * grosset & dunlap, publishers, new york * * * * * little jack rabbit's adventures _little jack rabbit books_ (trademark registered) by david cory little jack rabbit's adventures little jack rabbit and danny fox little jack rabbit and the squirrel brothers little jack rabbit and chippy chipmunk little jack rabbit and the big brown bear little jack rabbit and uncle john hare little jack rabbit and professor crow little jack rabbit and old man weasel little jack rabbit and mr. wicked wolf little jack rabbit and hungry hawk little jack rabbit and the policeman dog little jack rabbit and miss mousie little jack rabbit and uncle lucky little jack rabbit and yellow dog tramp [illustration: little jack rabbit hid behind his mother's skirt. _little jack rabbit's adventures._ _frontispiece--(page )_] little jack rabbit books (trademark registered) little jack rabbit's adventures by david cory author of little jack rabbit and danny fox little jack rabbit and the squirrel brothers little jack rabbit and chippy chipmunk little jack rabbit and the big brown bear illustrated by h. s. barbour new york grosset & dunlap publishers made in the united states of america copyright, , by grosset & dunlap contents page the railroad the first train a narrow escape school a mistake in spelling disobedient jimmy crow a prisoner home again the stolen eggs at the farm colored eggs henny penny the dam good news a perplexed little rabbit the turnip the bonfire mrs. cow the sugar-coated carrot bad luck little jack rabbit stubs his toe mud turtle town bobby tail sunshine turkey tim phoebe pheasant the snowball the new sleigh daily duties mrs. oriole's mirror an airship ride little jack rabbit's adventures the railroad it was a wild story that came to the ears of little jack rabbit for, as he came hopping down the shady forest path, a whole troop of his playmates ran out to meet him, and one cried one thing, and one another, but the words which he heard most plainly were: "the railroad! the railroad! oh, have you heard?" "yes," answered little jack rabbit, not at all excited, "i know a railroad is going to run past the sunny meadow." "oh, but that's nothing! it's going to run right through your house!" cried busy beaver. "right through the old bramble patch!" shouted chippy chipmunk. "right through your front door!" screamed gray squirrel. "i don't believe that," said little jack rabbit. "a railroad can't get through a door!" "why, of course they'll take out the door," replied busy beaver; "they'll pull down your whole house; they'll clear away the old bramble patch; why, they may use the whole of the sunny meadow--every bit of it!" by this time little jack rabbit was excited. already he saw the dear old bramble patch torn out by the roots; the little house gone, and himself and all the family forced to rove homeless through the shady forest. so it was no wonder he almost forgot to stop at the postoffice on his way home. but as he came up the shady forest path that afternoon, he saw that the dear old bramble patch was still there--that was one comfort. no wandering about tonight, at least. and there, too, was his little brother, bobby tail, turning somersaults under the old chestnut tree, and mr. and mrs. john rabbit sitting quietly on the front doorstep. so little jack rabbit plucked up heart and asked papa rabbit if the railroad were going to take away the old bramble patch and their house. "no, it isn't," replied mr. rabbit, "but it's coming mighty close." "i just knew it wasn't," said little jack rabbit with a sigh of relief. "but busy beaver said it was and that i must pack up my clothes at once." "well, the line was laid out to run right through the dear old bramble patch," said mr. rabbit, "but when they found it must cross the old duck pond, they turned it to one side. so the dear old bramble patch is safe." the first train look out for the choo-choo cars! don't you hear the thunder jars? first the whistle, then the bell clanging through the forest dell. for weeks and weeks there was great excitement among the little people of the shady forest and sunny meadow. from behind trees and bushes, rocks and stumps, they watched the building of the railroad. professor jim crow came to offer advice, but changed his mind. as for little jack rabbit, he looked out from behind a stump and wondered. cousin cotton tail had been forced to move from the big brush heap on the hill. she and her little bunnies were now visiting in the old bramble patch. when little jack rabbit was told that a railroad must be level, he thought a man would come with a big scythe and slice off the top of the hill like a loaf of bread and lay the slices in the hollows. this wasn't so very strange, seeing that he was only a little bunny boy and, of course, didn't know anything about building railroads. every day the railroad came nearer being finished. the hill was dug out. as mr. mole remarked, "it was done almost as well as i could have done it, only, of course, i would have made a tunnel." then the sleepers were laid. busy beaver smiled as he watched the men lay the great logs on the smooth earth. "wouldn't they be dandy for my dam?" he remarked. "you've got all you need," answered little jack rabbit. "i'm glad they didn't break up the old rail fence and make railroad ties out of it." finally the rails were fastened on the logs and the railroad was finished; the first train was to run through and everybody was waiting to see it. mr. and mrs. john rabbit put on their sunday clothes and took little jack rabbit and brother bobby tail to the end of the old rail fence. pretty soon a black speck appeared at the end of the long line. it grew bigger and bigger. a cloud of smoke arose and drifted over to the shady forest. there was a rattle and a roar and a din. little jack rabbit hid behind his mother's skirt, but the train had already passed them. and there on the platform of the last car, stood the farmer's boy, holding on by the door, bowing and smiling and proud as a king. a narrow escape hear the engine whistle toot! see the smoke and smell the soot! lucky that the train don't stay, but flashes by and far away! at first the grown-ups in the shady forest and the sunny meadow were very sorry to have the railroad come so near, but after a while they found it didn't matter so much; for the cars passed through a "cut" so deep that the engine's smokestack hardly reached the top, and you only knew they were there by the sound. of course, it took cousin cotton tail ever and ever so long to get used to the old bramble patch. you see, it wasn't anything like the old brush heap, with its covering of trailing vines, and she was glad when she was able to go back to her old home on the other side of the bubbling brook. on this side the sunny meadow was just the same; so was the shady forest, and by and by everybody almost forgot that there had been a time when there wasn't any railroad. at the old barnyard, however, things were very different, for the railroad made a turn just there and came in very close to the big red barn. cocky doodle had all he could do to keep the barnyard folk out of danger. every morning after his early cock-a-doodle-do he read them a lesson on the dangers of crossing railroad tracks. for a while henny penny laid her eggs in the henhouse. the truth was that her nest in the corner of the old rail fence happened to be just at the end of the sunny meadow where the railroad ran through the "cut," and the noise of the cars made her nervous. ducky waddles was glad that the old duck pond was still safe. he had heard how it had just escaped being bridged over for the noisy cars. yes, everyone kept away from the railroad track except goosey lucy. and why goosey lucy liked to waddle down the steep bank and along the hard wooden logs of the roadbed no one could find out. but one fine day goosey lucy got caught. yes, sir. before she could get off the track the train came along. it was very narrow between the two steep banks, and she couldn't fly high enough to reach the top. cocky doodle and henny penny shut their eyes. they couldn't bear to see what was going to happen. but goosey lucy wasn't such a goose, after all. she sat perfectly still between the rails, and when the train had passed over her, she got up, shook the cinders off her white feathers and waddled back to the old barnyard! school "come, get your cap, i'm going to take you to school today!" little jack rabbit was too surprised to answer--he just opened his mouth, and the only sound his mother heard was a funny little noise like a whistle. "don't you hear me?" she asked, tying the strings of her sunday bonnet under her furry chin. "whew!" said the little rabbit at last recovering from his surprise. "why do you want me to go to school?" "because all the shady forest grown-ups think it's a good thing to have a school for the children," and she gave her bonnet a push and pulled on her black silk mitts. "get your cap. every mother will be there for the opening day, and we mustn't be late." the little rabbit hopped silently along by his mother's side, wondering how it had all happened so suddenly. he hadn't heard a word about a school, nor had any of his playmates. "why didn't you tell me sooner?" he asked at last. "because we didn't want grandmother magpie to know anything until the matter was settled," answered mrs. rabbit in a low voice. "she is such a busy-body." goodness me! mrs. rabbit had hardly finished speaking when up flew the very person she had been talking about. yes, there she stood, right on the shady forest path a few feet in front of them. "good morning," said grandmother magpie. mrs. jack rabbit gave her bonnet strings a jerk. she always did this when she was angry, and the sight of that disagreeable bird reminded her of the time she had told tales on little jack rabbit. "good morning," answered the little rabbit's mother stiffly. she didn't really want to say good morning, but she had to be polite. "where are you going?" asked grandmother magpie, hopping along by mrs. rabbit's side. mrs. rabbit said nothing, only hopped along faster, but she couldn't get rid of that mischievous old bird. oh, my, no. she stuck around like a chestnut burr. "grandmother magpie," said mrs. rabbit at last, "i have some important business to attend to this morning, so i will say goodby." and she gave grandmother mischief, as she was often called, such a stiff bow that the old lady magpie stopped short and let them go on without her. a mistake in spelling the shady forest school had once been a pigeon house, but when the farm was sold and the old buildings torn down, it had been left to shelter mr. and mrs. pigeon, who wouldn't move away. one night during a great storm it had toppled off the post on which it stood, and rolled down the hillside, helped along by billy breeze, until it had landed on the edge of the shady forest. here it had been discovered by the little forest folk, and at parson owl's suggestion, had been pushed and shoved in and out among the trees until it stood right-side up in a sunlit clearing. then parson owl had called together all the grown-ups and persuaded them to make it into a schoolhouse. and, well, here we are with mrs. rabbit and her little bunny on their way to the opening exercises, so there is no need of saying anything more about it, except that it had a nice door in front and a dozen round holes, under which were fastened little pieces of board for wide windowsills, on which the pigeons used to stand and preen their feathers. as little jack rabbit and his mother drew near they saw chippy chipmunk's face at one of the little round windows. then busy beaver looked out of another, and pretty soon every little round window had a head peeping through, while in the doorway stood professor jim crow in his black swallowtail coat. "good morning, mrs. rabbit," he said, looking over his spectacles. "you have brought another scholar, i see." when they were seated in the schoolroom, he walked over to the big blackboard. "john," he said, turning to the little rabbit, "tell me how to spell your name." goodness gracious me! would you believe it, the little rabbit answered "j-a-c-k!" you see, he was so used to being called just "jack" that he spelt "john" the same way. then professor jim crow asked who was the first president, but he didn't enquire who was going to be the next, for i guess he thought the little rabbit hadn't studied politics enough. after that he told mrs. rabbit that she had a very bright little bunny boy even if he didn't know how to spell his right name. disobedient jimmy crow professor jim crow and his family lived in the tall pine tree. "now, mrs. crow," he said to his wife one morning, "as i shall be away almost all day teaching the little people of the shady forest and the sunny meadow to read and write, you will have your hands full with the children. be very careful, my dear, for they haven't yet learned to fly!" "don't worry," answered mrs. crow, "you have troubles enough with the schoolhouse full of children. i'll take good care that ours come to no harm." professor jim crow had been gone only a few minutes when who should call but grandmother magpie. "good morning," she said, perching on a branch near at hand so as to look into the nestful of little crows. "i'm dreadfully busy," answered mrs. crow. "now that the professor is teaching school, i have all the care of the children. it's no easy matter, for each little crow thinks he knows how to fly." "well, perhaps he does!" said grandmother magpie. "if you don't let them try how are they ever going to learn?" "they are not old enough," replied mrs. crow. "not old enough?" repeated that meddlesome old lady bird. "stuff and nonsense! of course they are!" then off she flew, leaving mrs. crow dreadfully upset and the little crows very discontented. after making sure that grandmother magpie was out of sight, mrs. crow flew over to the sunny meadow for worms for her hungry children, but first she told them to be careful not to fall out of the nest while she was gone. "botheration!" said little jimmy crow after a few minutes. "every word grandmother magpie says is true. we are kept like prisoners in this old nest. i'm going to fly!" "oh, don't!" cried all his brothers and sisters. "you can't fly even across the shady forest path." "well, then, i can walk," said the naughty little crow, and he hopped out of the nest and fluttered down to the ground. but, oh dear me! just then along came the farmer's boy. in a twinkling, he caught poor jimmy crow and cut off the tips of his wing feathers with a big jack-knife. "now, my little black beauty, you won't fly far," he laughed, and turned his steps toward the old farm. "so, you're caught, jimmy crow!" sang gay billy breeze, playing hide-and-go-seek 'mid the tall forest trees. "don't you wish you'd obeyed what your kind mother said? but, no, you were stubborn, and had a swelled head." a prisoner pretty soon along came little jack rabbit on his way home from school. everybody in the shady forest knew little jack rabbit. from his nest in the tall pine tree jimmy crow had often seen him hopping by with the squirrel brothers. how he wished now he had never left the dear old nest. here he was, a prisoner, and there was the little rabbit, free and happy, hopping home from school. he tried to flutter out of the farmer boy's hand, but he was only held the tighter, so he lay perfectly still and wondered miserably what his mother would say when she came home and heard that he had disobeyed. by and by the farmer's boy opened the gate to the farmyard and walked over to the big red barn. pretty soon he found an old birdcage, in which he put poor jimmy crow. then he hung it up on the little front porch of the old farm house. "what have you got there," asked the kind farmer when he came home for supper, "a young crow?" "yep," answered the farmer's boy. "i picked him up in the woods; he was tryin' to fly." it was very lonely on the little front porch after mr. merry sun had gone to bed. jimmy crow huddled in one corner and watched mrs. moon climb over the hilltop. he heard granddaddy bullfrog singing in the duck pond, and the splash of the millwheel as it turned slowly over and over. how he wished he had obeyed his mother and was safe at home, listening to his father tell the school news, and who was late, and who knew his lesson best. by and by the old grandfather clock in the farm house struck ten and the lights went out. if it hadn't been for mrs. moon it would have been pitch dark. suddenly, he heard a familiar hoot, and the next minute dear old parson owl fluttered up to the cage. it didn't take him long to find the handle on the little door, which he opened softly. "jump out!" he whispered. "hop after me as fast as you can. i'll fly low down so you won't lose sight of me." "am i dreaming?" thought the poor little crow, as he fluttered down to the ground and hopped after old parson owl toward the shady forest. "if i am, i hope i'll wake up in mother's nest!" home again it was very late when they reached the tall pine tree. the good professor was sound asleep after a hard day's work in the shady forest schoolhouse and a long search for his little lost crow. he had hunted for him until it grew so dark that he had been forced to give it up. but mrs. crow was wide awake and the little crows were crying softly over their little lost brother. disobedience makes others unhappy as well as the one who disobeys. all of a sudden mrs. crow heard the gentle flap of wings, and looking over the edge of the nest, she saw old parson owl in the dim moonlight. the next moment the sight of little jimmy crow hopping after him made her heart go pitter-patter. "here's our little boy!" she cried, fluttering down to the ground, while all the little crow brothers and sisters looked over the edge of the nest, and professor jim crow woke up with a start. but, dear me! didn't they have a dreadful time getting the little crow up in the tree. you see, he could only flutter now that his wings had been clipped, and if old parson owl hadn't carried him on his broad back, i doubt if jimmy crow ever would have reached the nest. by this time mrs. moon had crossed over the sky, and mr. merry sun was getting out of bed in the gold and purple east. the shady forest was beginning to awake. the birds were chirping to one another, and the little four-footed people were racing up and down the trees and scampering over the ground. parson owl waited to see that everything was all right, and then, turning to professor jim crow, said: "if little jack rabbit hadn't come to tell me that the farmer's boy had stolen jimmy crow, your little son would still be in the cage on the farmhouse porch." "my dear parson," said professor jim crow gratefully, "i shall never forget what you and little jack rabbit have done." "don't mention it," said the kind old parson, hurrying back to the big oak tree before the light grew too strong for his big round eyes. oh, children, never disobey, and never break a rule, and never tell what is untrue, nor run away from school. perhaps if all the little boys and girls who read this story will learn this verse, it will keep them out of trouble. if jimmy crow had, maybe he never would have disobeyed his mother. the stolen eggs mr. merry sun was up bright and early. he shone on the sunny meadow and lighted up the dark places in the shady forest. he even poked a sunbeam in the eye of parson owl, who winked and blinked and turned the other way. soon everybody was wide awake, for the little people of the shady forest and the sunny meadow are always up with mr. merry sun. little jack rabbit, looking out of the old bramble patch, wondered who was bending over the tall grass in the corner of the old rail fence. shading his eyes with his right paw, he looked again. yes, it was the farmer's boy. pretty soon he stood up straight, holding his hat carefully in his hand. then he turned with a whistle and walked home. "i wonder what he's been up to?" thought little jack rabbit, and, being a curious little bunny, he hopped over to find out. carefully peeping through the tall grass he saw a nice round nest, but it was empty. only a gray speckled feather was left. "he's stolen the eggs!" cried the little rabbit. "he's just mean enough to steal eggs!" [illustration: "did you steal my eggs?" cried henny penny. _little jack rabbit's adventures._ _page _] just then henny penny came across the sunny meadow. she was a very pretty gray speckled hen and lived in a little house by the big red barn. but instead of laying her nice white eggs in the comfortable nests in the henhouse, she came all the way over to the old rail fence corner. but little jack rabbit didn't know that. he didn't know whose nest it was until henny penny cried distractedly, "who has stolen my eggs? did you, little jack rabbit?" "is it your nest?" he gasped, so startled that he asked a question instead of answering one. "of course it's mine," replied henny penny, looking at him as if she meant to peck his little pink eyes right out of his head. "but answer my question. did you take my eggs?" "of course not," said the little rabbit. "i saw the hired boy leave here a few minutes ago with his hat in his hands. maybe he took them." "cock-a-doodle-do, what can i do for you?" asked a beautiful big rooster, all of a sudden, just like that. "o cocky doodle!" cried henny penny, "my nest has been robbed. let's tell the kind farmer that the hired boy has stolen my eggs." at the farm "all right, come along," said cocky doodle, and he started back for the old farm, followed by henny penny and the little bunny. "where are you going?" called out mrs. rabbit from the old bramble patch. "i'm going over to the old farm with henny penny and cocky doodle," answered her little bunny boy. "you'd better be careful," said his mother, "the farmer might catch you." "i don't think so, mrs. rabbit," said cocky doodle; "he's a very kind farmer." mrs. rabbit smiled, as if she only half believed the little rooster. then she turned to her little rabbit boy and said, "keep a bright lookout, and don't forget you're only a small bunny." after that away went the three little people, cocky doodle, with his bright red comb, and henny penny in her pretty gray speckled feathers, and little jack rabbit, in his fur waistcoat, white as the big clouds that chased mr. merry sun over the bright blue sky. "who is this little bunny?" asked turkey tim when they all came to the farm yard. "don't you know?" answered henny penny. "why, he's the little rabbit who colors the easter eggs!" "what!" cried a big fat goose. "this is little jack rabbit," said cocky doodle. "pleased to meet you," said goosey lucy. "do you paint goose eggs, too?" but before the little bunny could say yes or no, the kind farmer himself came out of the house. "why, look who's here," he said with a smile. and such a kind smile that little jack rabbit wasn't the least bit afraid. "he saw the hired boy steal the eggs from my nest in the corner of the old rail fence," cried henny penny. "ha, ha!" laughed the kind farmer. "so that's where you've been laying your eggs, is it, miss henny penny?" "cock-a-doodle-do, she only laid a few. but after this she'll lay the rest within the little wooden nest you hung upon the henhouse wall, and tell you with her cackle-call," said the little rooster, for henny penny was too ashamed to speak. then the weathercock whirled around on his big toe and, pointing at the little hen, shouted through his tin megaphone: "why don't you stay at home and lay, and not go calling every day? i never leave my perch up here no matter what the atmosphere." colored eggs "i often wondered why she went across the sunny meadow every day," said ducky waddles. "it's too long a walk for me!" "yes, you wabble too much!" said henny penny. "that's because i've little thin pieces of skin between my toes," answered ducky waddles. "my feet are too wide and flat for walking, but they make splendid paddles." "come, come," interrupted the kind farmer. "henny penny hasn't explained why she goes over to the sunny meadow to lay her eggs instead of in the nice nests in the henhouse." "because i wanted little jack rabbit to color them for easter," she answered. "i thought if i laid them near the old bramble patch it would be easier for him." "oh, that's the reason?" said the kind farmer. "and pray, mr. jack rabbit, how do you color the eggs?" oh, dear me! wasn't the little rabbit embarrassed! he wasn't sure but what he'd better hop back to the old bramble patch. perhaps, too, he was a little bit afraid of the big kind farmer. "i never colored any eggs," answered the little rabbit in a low voice, "but i've often helped mother color them. she takes a big red rose and rubs it over an egg until it turns red. with a buttercup she makes a yellow one. from the violets by the bubbling brook she gets a beautiful purple color, and from the wild roses a lovely pink tint. just every-day grass gives a dandy green color." "ha, ha," laughed the big kind farmer, "so that's what the rabbits do on easter, is it?" and he turned away and went into the big red barn to feed the horses. "i guess it's time for me to be going," said little jack rabbit. "mother may worry if i stay away too long!" "what's your hurry?" said ducky waddles. "goodby," said henny penny. "come again," said cocky doodle. "come very soon," said turkey tim. "call tomorrow," cried goosey lucy. but the little rabbit was out of hearing by this time, and just as mr. merry sun went down behind the west hill, he hopped into the old bramble patch. "come, wash your hands; supper is ready," said mrs. rabbit, as she took the carrot muffins out of the oven and dished the stewed lollypops. henny penny's mistake there was great excitement at the old barn yard. a big mistake had been made. whose fault it was no one could tell; but the fact was that henny penny had hatched out a brood of ducklings. at first nobody thought anything was wrong, except that, perhaps, her little brood had very large bills and feet, much larger than those of any little chicks at the farm. but one day when the whole brood waddled off down to the old duck pond and jumped in everybody knew that henny penny had little ducks and not little chickens. poor little henny penny! she stood upon the bank and clucked and clucked to them to come back. "you'll be drowned, my darlings!" she cried. but the little ducks threw out their great brown feet as cleverly as if they had taken swimming lessons all their lives and sailed off on the old duck pond, away, away among the ferns, under the pink azaleas, through reeds and rushes and arrowheads and pickerel weed, the happiest ducks that ever were born. and soon they were quite out of sight. poor little henny penny. she didn't know how to swim, so she sat down on the bank and waited for her little ducks to come back. now and then she wiped her eyes on her downy breast feathers. "don't cry," said cocky doodle kindly. "don't worry," said rosy comb. "your children seem to know how to swim as well as ducky waddles." just then across the old duck pond came a chorus of quacks, and at a distance was seen the little brood swimming home, their feathers gleaming in green and gold. "such a splendid time we've had," they all cried as they waddled up the bank. "and we know now how to get our own living, for there are lots of little fish and flies out there on the old duck pond. we can take care of ourselves, so don't worry any more about us, mother henny penny." "they are little ducks, not chickens," said ducky waddles. "are you sure?" asked henny penny tearfully, wiping her eyes with a tiny yellow handkerchief. "of course i am," replied ducky waddles. "don't i know a duck's foot when i see it?" "dear, oh dear!" sighed the poor little hen, "there has been a dreadful mistake!" but whose mistake it was no one could tell, for the kind farmer never confessed that he put duck eggs in henny penny's nest. the dam the bubbling brook was slowly drying up. everyone on the sunny meadow was worried, and the little people who lived in the water were even more worried. it was just like having one's house pulled down while living in it. you see, as the water became more shallow there were places in the little brook that were hardly covered with water, and it was only in the deep holes that the fish and crabs could swim at all. and the cause of all this was busy beaver. yes, sir. busy beaver was building a dam across the bubbling brook. somehow he knew that winter was coming, when it would be all frozen over. but he knew that if he built a dam across it, a little pond would form where the water would be too deep to freeze clear down to the bottom. "i'll leave a little opening in the dam to let the water run out when it gets high enough," said busy beaver to himself as he laid mud and stones on top of a log. if the little people of the sunny meadow had only heard him they wouldn't have been so worried. little jack rabbit did, though, as he came hopping down the shady forest path. "good morning," said the little bunny. busy beaver looked up from his work. he had almost finished a mighty good job. first, he had cut down a tree, and then sawed it with his sharp teeth into logs. these he had rolled into the water, weighting them down with stones and mud until gradually he had built up a splendid dam from the bottom of the pond. "it's almost finished," said busy beaver. "it took me quite a long time, for sometimes the logs would bob up and drift away, and i'd have to begin all over again. but i kept at it, and now i've got a nice dam to hold back the water." "why do you want deep water?" asked the little rabbit. "come over here and i'll show you," answered busy beaver, leading little jack rabbit around to the end of the dam nearest the shady forest. "there, you see my house. now the water must be deep enough so that when it freezes my front door will always be below the ice. otherwise i wouldn't be able to swim in and out." "how soon will the bubbling brook start running again?" asked the little bunny. "pretty soon--maybe tonight," answered busy beaver. "hurrah! i'll tell my friend the little fresh water crab!" and away hopped the little rabbit to the sunny meadow. good news already the water was beginning to trickle over the pebbly bottom of the bubbling brook. all of a sudden a voice overhead shouted, "good morning!" and there sat chatterbox, the red squirrel, in the big walnut tree. "why are you in such a hurry?" "i must tell all my friends in the sunny meadow the good news," replied the little rabbit. "i can't wait a minute." "i'll go with you," said chatterbox, running down the tree. "tell me, what's the news?" "the bubbling brook will be running again tonight," answered the little bunny, and he explained all about busy beaver's dam. "well, i declare," exclaimed chatterbox, "busy beaver has a lot of nerve to stop the water running in the bubbling brook. he doesn't own the water rights. the bubbling brook belongs to everyone alike." "so it does," answered little jack rabbit, "but busy beaver has to look out for himself. if he doesn't build a dam his little house will be frozen up this winter." just then the water rose almost to the ferns that grew on the edge of the bubbling brook. "everything's all right now," said the little rabbit, "i won't bother to go over to the sunny meadow. the fishes and the little fresh water crabs will learn the news before i can get there," and he sat down to talk things over with chatterbox. "you just ought to see busy beaver use his tail as a trowel to lay on the mud," said the little rabbit, who couldn't keep from talking about what he had just seen. "he carries the mud and stones between his chin and forepaws and knows just how to put them in the cracks between the logs to keep back the water." "well, we all must prepare for the long, cold winter," said chatterbox. "brother tip top and i have been gathering nuts for many a day and have our storehouse nearly full." while the autumn days are here make things snug for winter drear; storehouse filled with everything to last until again it's spring. a perplexed little rabbit "goodness gracious me!" exclaimed little jack rabbit, all of a sudden, "the clover patch is all dried up. what shall i do when winter comes?" "hunt for old turnips and carrots in the field," laughed chatterbox. "i think i'll leave you," answered little jack rabbit thoughtfully, "i'm beginning to worry about what's going to happen to me," and away he hopped, leaving the little red squirrel sitting beneath his tree. "'most everybody i know," thought the little rabbit as he hopped along, "curls up and goes to sleep for the winter. i wonder if i could? i'm going home to ask mother." but mrs. rabbit was too busy putting up carrot jelly to answer questions. "don't bother me," she said, "i haven't got a minute to spare." so the only thing for the little bunny to do was to go to somebody else. the very first person he met was hedgy hedgehog. he was just coming out of his hole, which he had been busily lining with grass and dry leaves, some of which were still sticking to his spikes, for he hadn't had time to brush himself. "what are you doing?" asked the little bunny. "getting ready for winter. i've fixed up my place nice and warm, and when the cold weather comes i'll creep in and sleep till spring." "what do you eat?" asked little jack rabbit, who could eat all the time, and sometimes oftener, like all rabbits. "don't eat--can't eat when you're asleep, you know." "gracious me!" exclaimed the little bunny, "that would never do for me!" and he hopped away. by and by he came to the old duck pond. there sat granddaddy bullfrog on a log, winking and blinking in the light of mr. merry sun. "granddaddy bullfrog, what do you do when winter comes?" "why, bless you, my little bunny," answered the old gentleman frog, "i go to sleep in the mud at the bottom of the pond." "oh, dear, i can't do that!" sighed the little rabbit. "of course not," laughed granddaddy bullfrog. "do what your mother says, and stop worrying!" the turnip "well, i guess granddaddy bullfrog is right," thought little jack rabbit, as he hopped back home to the old bramble patch. "what's the use of worrying about winter? i'll take granddaddy bullfrog's advice and leave it all to mother." after that he felt much better. pretty soon he saw timmy meadowmouse looking out of his little round house of grass, no larger than a cricket ball, which was fastened to three or four stiff stalks of grass about a foot above the ground. "good morning. do you know, i've been dreadfully worried about winter; but now i'm going to take granddaddy bullfrog's advice and leave it all to mother." you see, this little rabbit just couldn't stop talking about his troubles, although he was going to leave them all to mother! "there! she's waving to you from the old bramble patch," cried timmy meadowmouse. away went the little bunny without another word and in less than five hundred hops he was home. "hop over to the field and bring me a turnip. your father will be home for lunch in a few minutes," said mrs. rabbit. little jack rabbit hopped through the old rail fence, across the road and into the field where the old scarecrow flapped his arms every time billy breeze whistled through the cornstalks. but the old clothes man couldn't frighten the little bunny. oh, my no! it took more than that, although he was a scary little chap. you see, he knew all about the old scarecrow, for he had watched the kind farmer put him up in the early spring. picking up a nice looking turnip, he turned about and started back again. but, oh dear me! all of a sudden out from behind a cornstack jumped the farmer's boy. the little rabbit didn't stop to say sorry to have met you. no siree. he hopped away as fast as he could, but not fast enough. before he had gone maybe thirteen hops a stone hit his left hind leg. "ha, ha!" yelled the farmer's boy. "wait till i hit you again, mr. cottontail." but he didn't, for the little rabbit went faster on three legs than he had on four, and the next minute popped safely into the dear old bramble patch. "where's the turnip?" asked mrs. rabbit. "goodness me! i guess that's what the farmer's boy hit me with," answered the little bunny. the bonfire everybody in the shady forest was having a dreadful time. old parson owl was nearly coughing his head off, professor jim crow's voice was so hoarse his scholars could hardly understand him, and little jack rabbit's eyes looked as if he had been crying for a week. the reason for all this was that the smoke from the farmer boy's big bonfire had drifted into the forest until every chink and corner was filled. at first no one knew what was the matter. of course the air smelled queer and made one's eyes smart. but after a while when the smoke grew so thick that it seemed like night-time and mr. merry sun couldn't be seen at all, the forest folk thought it time to hold a meeting to consider what was best to do. they all decided to ask billy breeze to help them, and you can imagine how grateful they were when he agreed to blow the smoke out of the shady forest. before mr. merry sun went down behind the hills that night billy breeze had cleared the smoke away and everything was clean and sweet again. now, before all this had taken place, a handful of burning leaves had drifted along the old rail fence, setting fire to the long, dry grass, and in a short time there was quite a fire close to the old bramble patch. it didn't take little jack rabbit long to borrow some sweet potatoes from his mother, and while he was roasting them chippy chipmunk climbed through the fence with a bagful of chestnuts. pretty soon along came jimmy crow, and when he saw what was going on, he was mighty anxious to have some fun, too. so off he went to get some bittersweet berries, for he likes them much better than sweet potatoes. after a while mrs. rabbit came out to see whether they were up to any mischief. she was worried for fear they might burn up the old rail fence or set fire to the old bramble patch. but no, nothing was wrong. all three were quietly sitting around a small fire, the little rabbit peeling a hot sweet potato, the little chipmunk shelling a smoking hot chestnut and the little crow picking out the nice browned bittersweet berries. "well, well!" exclaimed the lady rabbit with a sigh of relief, "i expected to see the old rail fence in ashes and the dear old bramble patch in flames." mrs. cow "ting-a-ling! ting-a-ling!" went mrs. cow's bell. mrs. cow seemed mighty anxious to get away from somebody. yes, sir! she kept right on running, although every now and then she'd turn her head to look behind her. by and by little jack rabbit came hopping over the top of the hill with a tin pail in his paw. but, goodness me! mrs. cow didn't have to run away from him. no indeed. he wasn't going to milk her. he didn't have a milk pail at all, but a little dinner pail, and mrs. cow was mistaken and had run away for nothing. the truth of the matter was that the little rabbit was going berrying down in the cranberry marsh on the other side of the old duck pond, but of course mrs. cow didn't know that. but she did know it wasn't time to be milked, and, anyway, she wasn't going to have anybody milk her but the kind farmer. "mrs. cow! mrs. cow!" cried the little rabbit, "i'm going cranberrying, not milking. don't run away!" "honest injun?" said mrs. cow, halting at the bubbling brook. "cross your heart?" "yes, cross my heart," answered the little rabbit. "well, i'm glad to hear you say so," replied mrs. cow. "i might have sprained my ankle jumping over the bubbling brook." then she trotted along by the little rabbit's side. "how's your ma these days?" she asked in a little while. "she's going to make cranberry jelly when i get back," replied the little rabbit. "father's very fond of it. how's mr. bull?" "he's very well," answered mrs. cow. "he was up when cocky doodle sang his sun song this morning." "so was i," laughed the little rabbit. "mother says cocky doodle is better than an alarm clock, for you don't have to wind him." just then they came to the end of the meadow, so the little rabbit hopped through the fence and down to the cranberry patch to fill his pail with the bright red berries. the sugar-coated carrot all of a sudden, just like that, he saw something shining in the grass. and what do you think it was? you'll never guess, so i'll tell you right away. a sugar-coated carrot. but before he could put it in his pocket along came little katie cottontail, swinging her sunbonnet in her paw. "wiggle your ear and shut your eye, twinkle your nose and say 'oh my!'" shouted little jack rabbit, "and i'll give you something to make you laugh." "what is it?" asked little katie cottontail, but just the same she didn't wait for an answer, but closed her eyes and twinkled her nose up and down, and then sideways. but, oh dear me. just then the little rabbit dropped the sugar-coated carrot and couldn't find it. he hunted high and low, and so did little katie cottontail, but the candy carrot was gone. yes, sir. it certainly was. and i'll tell you where it went. into a little hole in the ground where a snake had his home. "well, we'll make some cranberry juice soda when we get home," said little jack rabbit, and off they hopped to the cranberry patch. in a little while he had filled his pail and katie cottontail her apron, and then they started for home. [illustration: katie cottontail went clippety-clap up the path. _little jack rabbit's adventures_ _page _] "i must be careful not to squash 'em, or mother'll give me a scolding," she said, as they climbed up the bank where the railroad track cut through. but, oh dear me! just as they were about to hop through the old rail fence, along came a train. "ding, dong!" went the bell. "toot-toot-toot!" shrieked the whistle. poor little katie cottontail gave a shiver and dropped her apron. then clipperty-clip, lipperty-lip she went up the cow path to the old brush heap on the hillside. mrs. cow looked up and, seeing the little bunny girl hopping home all out of breath, thought something must be the matter and ran back to the big red barn. the bell on her collar didn't make nearly as much noise as the one on the locomotive, but it made her hurry, just the same. "goodness me! what scary things girls are!" said the little rabbit. "mrs. cow's ten times as big as katie cottontail, but she's just as scary." after picking up the cranberries which the little frightened girl rabbit had spilled from her apron, the bunny boy hopped home to the old bramble patch. his mother was standing in the kitchen doorway, her right paw shading her eyes as she looked anxiously over the sunny meadow. bad luck "goodness me! i'm dreadfully worried," cried mrs. rabbit, "i just saw the kind farmer's black cat cross the path from right to left, and that means bad luck, you know." "i guess he's hunting for little timmy meadowmouse," answered little jack rabbit. "it will be bad luck for timmy to be caught." "why don't you run over and tell him," said mrs. rabbit. "black cat may be hiding near his house. you'd better hurry." so away hopped the little rabbit to find timmy meadowmouse, who lived in a little round house made of twisted grass on the sunny meadow. pretty soon he saw the little meadowmouse peeking out of his front door. "oh, it's you, is it, little jack rabbit," he said with a sigh of relief, "i thought i heard some one creeping around my house. but if it was you, it's all right." "maybe it isn't all right," answered the little rabbit, and he told how his mother had seen black cat cross the path from right to left. "and that means bad luck, you know." "if he crosses your path from left to right, what does that mean?" asked the little meadowmouse. "good luck," answered little jack rabbit. "i don't know," said timmy meadowmouse with a shiver, "if he saw me first, it would be bad luck no matter which way he crossed the path." just then little jack rabbit saw something move in the tall grass. "look out," he shouted. into his house popped timmy meadowmouse, and none too soon, for black cat landed on the very spot where he had stood talking to the little rabbit. "so it was you who warned timmy meadowmouse, was it?" he hissed, humping up his back and waving his long tail back and forth. oh my, but he looked ugly. "yes, it was i," answered little jack rabbit bravely, and then he did what his mother had taught him to do when in a tight place. he suddenly turned his back on black cat and struck out with his strong hind legs. thump! they went against black cat's ribs, knocking him over. then away hopped the little rabbit back to the old bramble patch. if you do what mother says you'll grow tall and strong. on your lips a happy smile, in your heart a song-- if you do what mother says you will not go wrong. little jack rabbit stubs his toe cocky doodle stood by the big red barn and clapped his wings. then digging his feet well into the ground, he began his morning cock-a-doodle-do. mr. merry sun lifted his head from his crimson pillows and looked over the misty hilltop. "time for me to get up," he yawned. "cocky doodle is calling." teddy turtle crawled along the old cow path to the old duck pond. he didn't see little jack rabbit hopping over the grass. teddy is so slow that he never thinks any one can go faster. so it was only when the little rabbit stubbed his toe on the little turtle's hard shell house that he woke up. of course he wasn't really asleep, but he might just as well have been. "you ought to know better than to go to sleep right in the old cow path," said the little bunny, rubbing his toe. "why don't you keep your head out to see where you're going if you walk in your sleep?" "i pulled my head inside my shell when you hit me, as all well-trained turtles do in time of danger," answered teddy turtle. "goodness, i wouldn't be afraid of anything if i had a strong shell house like yours to creep into." "well, i'm not afraid of anybody except the miller's boy," said teddy turtle. "but when he turns me over on my back i'm helpless." "where are you going?" asked the little rabbit. "down to the old duck pond. i'm going to sleep in the soft mud for the winter," answered teddy turtle. "well, goodby," said the little rabbit, hopping off to the old farm yard. "cock-a-doodle-do," sang cocky doodle. "i hope everybody is awake. there comes mr. merry sun up the sky. cock-a-doodle-do. everybody gets up when i call. don't you hear billy breeze singing over the sunny meadow? i wake the little people of the shady forest and the sunny meadow every morning. cock-a-doodle-do." yes, sir. this little rooster was better than an alarm clock, for you didn't have to wind him. he crowed every morning his cheerful song to help the old world wag along. mud turtle town the mud turtles were having a fine time on the banks of the old duck pond. what is more fun i should like to know than making mud pies and forts, and these little turtles had been busy for several days until they had built a mud city, with bridges and houses, towers and castles. goodness me! it was muddy, and the farmyard folk were all complaining, except ducky waddles. he just loved mud, and found it great fun waddling over the mud bridges. and if they broke down, he didn't mind a muddy splashing! no, indeed he didn't. so, of course, he and the mud turtles were great friends. one day mr. merry sun, seeing how things were going on, said to himself: "i guess i'll dry up all the turtle mud houses." so he set to work, shining down from the bright blue sky, and before evening the mud palaces and castles were hard as bricks. "hurrah!" he said, just before he went to sleep on the crimson pillows of the west, "i've finished mud turtle town!" of course, all this was more or less of an accident, for the mud turtles hadn't asked mr. merry sun to help them. but when they saw what he had done, they were delighted, and at once sent out invitations to all the barnyard folk to spend a week in turtle town. cocky doodle and henny penny accepted at once; so did goosey lucy; and as soon as they had packed their things, they set out for the old duck pond. "i don't think i shall lay an egg while i'm there," said henny penny--"i'm not used to mud nests." "suit yourself," said cocky doodle. "henny penny is right," said goosey lucy. "it will be a little vacation for us. i, for one, shall be glad to forget all about home duties." just then there was a great flapping of wings and ducky waddles came wabbling after them. "why don't you wait for a fellow," he panted. "i'm all out of breath trying to catch up to you. i almost had to fly." as they crossed the old cow path they met little jack rabbit hopping home to the old bramble patch. "we're going to make a visit in turtle town," said henny penny. "why don't you come, too?" "haven't time," answered the little bunny. "mother sent me over to cousin cottontail for lollypop frosting. she must have it in time to cover the carrot cake for supper." bobby tail mr. john rabbit had been a great jumper in his youth, and little jack rabbit wished to learn to jump as far as his father, and even farther. so every day he practiced jumping in the sweet clover field near the old rail fence until by and by he could jump over the second rail. "pretty good," said mr. rabbit. "don't believe i did any better when i was your age. how is bobby tail getting along?" now little jack rabbit's brother was called bobby tail, because his tail was so short. yes, siree, it was so short that it looked exactly like a white powder puff. and his eyes were just like little pink beads. but they weren't any pinker than his nose. but, i'm sorry to say, there was something wrong with bobby tail. he was too lazy for anything. that was what was the matter with him. he didn't want to learn to jump--he'd rather spend his time eating clover tops. by and by he grew to be dreadfully fat. and a fat bunny can't run fast nor jump far. bobby tail found this to be true when one day sic'em, the farmer's dog, chased him across the sunny meadow. the bunny brothers had hopped down to the old duck pond to see granddaddy bullfrog, when all of a sudden sic'em saw them. goodness me! what a chase he gave them! over the sunny meadow, through the shady forest, and along the old rail fence! at first bobby tail was able to keep up with brother, but after a while he fell behind. "hurry up!" shouted little jack rabbit. but, oh dear me! bobby tail was so fat and so short of breath that he couldn't. closer and closer came sic'em till the little bunny could almost feel his hot breath. "if i ever get back to the old bramble patch," he thought, "i'll practice running and jumping every day in the week." just then, he reached the old rail fence. another jump landed him in the dear old bramble patch, leaving sic'em barking and growling outside the prickly bushes. "you've had a narrow escape," said mr. rabbit, looking up over his evening paper, "i hope it will teach you a lesson!" and it did. the very next day bobby tail practiced jumping with little jack rabbit, and kept it up until he became almost as good a jumper as his brother. but old sic'em never knew how this came to pass. he was too busy keeping watch over the old farmyard to bother his head about bobby tail, for danny fox, who was always prowling around, hunting for a stray chicken, kept the old dog forever on the lookout. sunshine "where did you get your red coat?" asked little jack rabbit, looking up from the old bramble patch. "oh, that's my secret," answered red bird from the old rail fence. "there's been a legend in our family about it ever since the flood." "you don't say so," exclaimed the little rabbit. "you've heard of the great flood, i suppose, that happened hundreds and hundreds of years ago?" little jack rabbit nodded. "i hope we don't get another to wash away the old bramble patch." "well," continued red bird, "the legend is that one day, after it had been raining ever so long, when there was nothing but water all around and everybody in the ark was feeling very miserable, mother noah wrung her hands and said, 'oh, dear! we'll all be lost. we'll never get ashore!' "just then my ancestor began to whistle, and the next minute a beam of sunshine broke through the clouds and settled upon him. "'my dear, we are reproved,' said father noah. 'the little bird has more courage than we have. hear him whistle.' "then everybody turned to look at the brave little whistler. he was so embarrassed that he blushed--we were gray before that time, they say--blushed so very deeply that our feathers have never lost their bright red from that day to this." "well, well," exclaimed the little rabbit. "when do you go away for the winter?" "i'm not going away--i'm going to stay right here," answered red bird. "you'll find it pretty breezy up there," said little jack rabbit with a twinkle of his pink nose. "oh, i don't know. i've got on my double-breasted red coat." "but what will you find to eat when the berries are all gone?" asked the little rabbit. "i'll pick up crumbs at the old farm house," replied red bird cheerfully. "you've got a sunshiny disposition," said little jack rabbit admiringly. "i guess your ancestors handed down something besides a red coat--some of that sunshine that turned his feathers red must have crept into his heart." "i don't know," replied red bird. "maybe it doesn't make much difference how you got it, as long as you keep it," said the little bunny as he hopped back into the old bramble patch to tell his mother all about it. turkey tim turkey tim in his turban-colored comb strutted about the old farmyard, spreading his tail like a japanese fan to the bright light that mr. merry sun sent down from the big blue sky. "i wonder what makes turkey tim so proud?" asked henny penny. little jack rabbit wiggled his pink nose, but said nothing. "is it because the kind farmer is buying chestnuts for him from chippy chipmunk?" still the little rabbit made no reply. "please tell me," begged henny penny. "you can whisper in my ear." "turkey tim thinks the kind farmer is fond of him, but that's not the reason," answered the little rabbit. "what is the reason?" asked henny penny, who you see by this time was a very curious little hen. "turkey tim wouldn't believe me if i told him," said the little rabbit. "wouldn't he?" exclaimed the little hen, her feathers ruffled with excitement and curiosity. "it's a big secret," whispered the little bunny. "tell me quick," coaxed henny penny. "thanksgiving!" whispered little jack rabbit. "haven't you heard of chestnut-fed turkeys for thanksgiving?" "do you mean they are going to kill turkey tim?" cried the little hen. "i certainly do," answered the little rabbit. "but he's so proud he wouldn't believe me. why, he thinks he's more wonderful than cocky doodle." "well, he isn't," said henny penny. "cocky doodle's the most wonderful of all the feathered folk, for he's the one who wakes up mr. merry sun. cocky doodle is the cock-a-doodle-do clock of the whole wide world. why, if it weren't for him mr. merry sun might stay in bed all day." just then along came turkey tim, but he didn't look so proud when the little hen told him about thanksgiving. "who told you?" he asked in a trembling voice. "little jack rabbit," answered henny penny, pointing to the truthful little bunny. "i guess i'll make a visit in the friendly forest," said turkey tim in a low voice, and off he went as fast as his legs would take him. but, oh dear me! no sooner was he there than billy breeze began to sing: "look out, look out for danny fox! he sneaks about in his woolen socks, you never can tell where he is at, for he creeps around like a tip-toe cat." phoebe pheasant little phoebe pheasant's dew-wet feet hurried along the edge of the sunny meadow. mr. merry sun hadn't been up long enough to dry the grass, for it was very early in the morning. in some places the dew had turned to frost, but the little pheasant didn't mind that in the least, for she is a hardy bird, and not a bit afraid of cold weather. the weather is about the only thing she isn't afraid of, for she is very timid. although she sometimes went to the old farmyard for breakfast, at the slightest noise she would fly away. as she hurried along through the dewy frost she caught sight of little jack rabbit. and as he was the one person she wished to see that morning, it didn't take her long to reach the old bramble patch. "good morning, phoebe pheasant," said the little bunny. "you seem in a hurry." "yes, i'm in a dreadful hurry to ask you something," replied the little pheasant. "well, what is it?" laughed the little bunny. "you remember turkey tim left the old farmyard before thanksgiving?" "of course i do," answered the little rabbit. "he wants to know whether the kind farmer has been looking for him?" whispered phoebe pheasant. "he doesn't dare go back himself to find out." "i should say not," answered the little rabbit. "the kind farmer's dreadfully put out. he had to go without his thanksgiving turkey!" "then you think it would be dangerous for turkey tim to go back to the old farmyard?" "yes, just now," replied the little bunny. "he'd better wait until everybody has forgotten thanksgiving." "it's dreadfully hard on him, all alone in the shady forest," sighed the little pheasant. "he's not a wild turkey, you know." "never mind if he isn't," answered little jack rabbit. "he'll be a roast turkey if he goes back now to the old farmyard." the snowball billy breeze had kicked up an awful racket all night around the old briar patch, but little jack rabbit hadn't heard him. no, sir. the little bunny had been too sound asleep to hear anything, but when he looked out in the morning, goodness me! how he shivered. the ground was all covered with a white mantle, but he didn't know it was snow. this was the first snow he had ever seen. it made everything look strange, and the ground was as smooth as mrs. rabbit's best linen tablecloth. pretty soon he hopped down to the bubbling brook, but it, too, had changed. it was smooth, like glass. so the little rabbit leaned over the bank to listen, but just then billy breeze made a dreadful racket and whirled the snow about in great clouds. but the little rabbit didn't care; he just kept on listening, and by and by he heard the bubbling brook singing softly: "underneath the ice and snow very gently still i flow till i reach the old duck pond and the ocean far beyond. "billy breeze may whistle loud toss the snow up in a cloud, underneath the ice and snow very gently still i flow." "dear me," said the little rabbit to himself, "i never would know that this was the old duck pond if it weren't for the old mill yonder. no wonder granddaddy bullfrog hid himself deep down in the mud before all this happened." yes, the whole earth seemed quiet and still. the mill wheel moved no more; great icicles hung from the paddles and long snowdrifts lay piled against the dam. i don't know how long the little rabbit would have stood there wondering at the sudden change if something hadn't happened. whiz! went a snowball past his ear. the farmer's boy leaned over and picked up some more snow. but the little rabbit didn't wait to see what sort of a snowball he would make this time. no, siree. he hopped back to the dear old bramble patch as fast as he could. the new sleigh the old farm yard was a very comfortable sort of a place. little jack rabbit liked to go there, for all the barnyard folk were very nice to him, especially henny penny and cocky doodle, who always gave him some of their corn. then, too, it was great fun playing about the high haystack. here they all gathered after a snow storm, for the snow soon melted on the sunny side. another reason, too, why the little rabbit came so often was because many of his friends were tucked away for a long winter's nap. busy beaver was safe in his little house under the ice in the forest pool. squirrel nutcracker and his family came out only on warm, sunshiny days. the rest of the time they spent sleeping in their warm little houses. as for granddaddy bullfrog, he never showed up--he was sound asleep in the soft mud at the bottom of the old duck pond. the little rabbit's mother had told him not to go too often to the old farm yard for fear the kind farmer might not like it. "henny penny and cocky doodle are your friends," she told him, "but i'm not so sure about mr. farmer." "oh, he's all right, mother," answered the little rabbit. "he's very kind. he feeds all the barn yard folk with such nice food. i'm sure he's very good and kind." "don't be too sure," answered the little rabbit's mother, with a knowing wag of her head. one day when the little bunny hopped into the old farm yard he heard cocky doodle say: "it's a beautiful sleigh!" and just as little jack rabbit was going to ask what he meant, the kind farmer came out of the big red barn with betsy, the old gray mare, and hitched her up to a beautiful dark green sleigh. "git ap!" he said, snapping the whip over her back. "oh, oh!" cried the little rabbit, "maybe mother is right. i guess he's not such a kind farmer after all!" but of course the little bunny didn't know that the kind farmer hardly touched old betsy, although the whip made a loud crack and she threw out her heels and ran off at a great rate. "jingle bells, jingle bells, on the nice new sleigh. oh what fun it is to run!" sang dear old betsy gray. [illustration: "i'm so tired of polishing this doorknob." _little jack rabbit's adventures_ _page _] daily duties it isn't always easy to do the things you must. some people if they stay at home say they will surely rust. but you will find the longer you live from day to day that you must do the little things that daily come your way. "oh, dear!" sighed little jack rabbit one lovely spring morning, "i'm so tired of polishing this doorknob every day and every day. i wish it would drop off." "goodness me, little rabbit," said grandmother magpie, who just then happened along, "you are a disagreeable bunny boy this morning." and the old lady magpie looked at him out of her little black eyes as much as to say: "i wish i had that bunny boy to bring up, i'd make him toe the mark." and perhaps she would, and perhaps she wouldn't, for some people can bring up other people's children ever so much better than their own, or even themselves. isn't that strange? well, maybe it is and maybe it isn't. "what are you saying to my little bunny boy?" asked mrs. john rabbit, putting her head out of the kitchen window and scowling at grandmother magpie. "oh, nothing much," said that meddlesome old lady bird. "well, you'd better not," said mrs. rabbit. "it's all you can do to gossip about grown-up people's affairs." and then mrs. rabbit shook her dusting rag up and down, and maybe once sideways, and after that she shut the window. so grandmother magpie flew away without another word. "i'm glad she's gone," said the little rabbit to himself, and just then bobbie redvest began to sing: "every day a little work, every day a song, every day a kindly word helps us all along." and after that he picked up a crumb and said: "good morning, little rabbit. don't forget to feed the canary." "gracious me!" exclaimed the little bunny, "i almost forgot!" and wouldn't it have been dreadful if he had, for little miss canary couldn't get out of her gold cage and look for worms like all the wild birds can, you know. well, when the little rabbit had finished his work, he hopped out to the sunny meadow where mr. merry sun was making the buttercups grow more yellow every day, and the daisies whiter. mrs. oriole's mirror oh, mrs. cow has a little bell tied to her neck with a string, and every time she shakes her head it gives a ting-a-ling-ling. "helloa, little rabbit," said ducky waddles. "i guess i'll go down to the old duck pond and take a swim." so off he went, wabbly, wabbly, on his big yellow feet, and pretty soon he saw granddaddy bullfrog on his log. the old gentleman frog was feeling very fine this lovely spring morning, for he had just eaten thirty-three flies, and that's a pretty good breakfast, let me tell you, even if the advertisements say you must eat shavings and cream to be perfectly well. "good morning, ducky waddles," said granddaddy bullfrog. "have you heard the news?" "what news?" asked ducky waddles, taking off his collar and his blue necktie before jumping into the water. "why, the farmer's boy has gone to the city to see his old maid aunt," said granddaddy bullfrog with a grin. "he won't throw stones at me now for maybe a week." "well, that's good news," said ducky waddles. "now i can take a swim without worrying about my new necktie." and he flopped into the water with a splash that almost frightened to death a little tadpole who was swimming close by. "gracious me!" said the little tadpole, whose name was tad, "if that old duck had seen me he would have gobbled me up as quick as a winkerty blinkerty." and then he hid behind a water lily stem until ducky waddles was far away. well, ducky waddles hadn't gone very far before mrs. oriole, who had a nest like a long white stocking on a branch of the weeping willow tree, began to sing: "swing high, swing low, swing to and fro from the branch of the willow tree. but whenever i look in the bubbling brook another bird looks at me." "ha, ha!" laughed professor jim crow, who happened to come by just then. "what sort of a bird lives in the bubbling brook?" "well, i can tell you one thing," said mrs. oriole, "she doesn't keep her feathers well combed." and then you should have heard that wise old blackbird laugh. "well, when you look in the bubbling brook again," he said, "comb your feathers, mrs. oriole, and perhaps that other bird will do the same." and would you believe it, that's just what happened? but how professor jim crow knew it i'm sure i don't know, unless his wife had a vanity bag with a little mirror in it, as all the ladies do nowadays who don't vote, i'm told. an airship ride well, all of a sudden, as mrs. oriole combed her yellow curls--beg pardon, i mean feathers--little jack rabbit heard a voice say, quite close to his ear, "hello!" and when he looked around he saw his friend the jay bird perched on a bramble branch. "how did you get here?" asked the little rabbit. "in my airship," replied the little bird. "don't you want to take a ride?" "will you wait till i finish cleaning my gold watch?" and the little rabbit set to work, and before long he could see his face in it and the jay bird's too, for mr. merry sun made that little gold watch shine like a ball of fire. then away went the little rabbit and the jay bird, and pretty soon they were flying over the sunny meadow, over the treetops and over the steeples, and over the houses and over the peoples! well, sir, it wasn't very long before they were far, far away from the shady forest, and then the little rabbit said: "don't go too far, mr. jay bird, for mother will worry if i don't get home in time for supper." and just then up came the american eagle with a big flag in his beak and seven silver stars on the tips of his tail feathers. "o come with me and i'll show you where i've a nest on the mountain high in the air; it's a lonely place, but it's home for me, with mrs. eagle and children three." "show us the way and we'll follow," said the jay bird, and he steered his airship after the great american eagle, and by and by they came to his nest high up on the mountain's rocky crest. the little rabbit hopped out and went over to say how do you do to the little eaglets, and when they showed him their thrift stamp books, what do you think this generous little rabbit did? why, he opened his knapsack and gave them each a war saving stamp. wasn't that kind of him? then mrs. eagle went to the ice box for ice cream cones, and everybody had a feast, and after that the jay bird said it was time to go. so he and the little rabbit got into the airship and went away, and by and by they were just above the bramble patch. mrs. rabbit was looking out of the window, and as soon as she saw them way up high in the clear blue sky, she rang the supper bell, and cocky doodle sang: "home again, my little rabbit, that's the place to be. only there true love and rest waits for you and me." little jack rabbit books (trademark registered) _by_ david cory author of "little journeys to happyland" * * * * * colored wrappers with text illustrations. * * * * * a new and unique series about the furred and feathered little people of the wood and meadow. children will eagerly follow the doings of little jack rabbit, and the clever way in which he escapes from his three enemies, danny fox, mr. wicked wolf and hungry hawk will delight the youngsters. little jack rabbit's adventures little jack rabbit and danny fox little jack rabbit and the squirrel brothers little jack rabbit and chippy chipmunk little jack rabbit and the big brown bear little jack rabbit and uncle john hare little jack rabbit and professor crow little jack rabbit and old man weasel little jack rabbit and mr. wicked wolf little jack rabbit and hungry hawk little jack rabbit and the policeman dog little jack rabbit and miss mousie little jack rabbit and uncle lucky little jack rabbit and the yellow dog tramp * * * * * grosset & dunlap, _publishers_, new york the puss-in-boots, jr. series by david cory author of "the little jack rabbit stories" and "little journeys to happyland" * * * * * handsomely bound. colored wrappers. illustrated. each volume complete in itself. * * * * * to know puss junior once is to love him forever. that's the way all the little people feel about this young, adventurous cat, son of a very famous father. the adventures of puss-in-boots, jr. further adventures of puss-in-boots, jr. puss-in-boots, jr. in fairyland travels of puss-in-boots, jr. puss-in-boots, jr., and old mother goose puss-in-boots, jr., in new mother goose land puss-in-boots, jr., and the good gray horse puss-in-boots, jr., and tom thumb puss-in-boots, jr., and robinson crusoe puss-in-boots, jr., and the man in the moon * * * * * grosset & dunlap, _publishers_, new york * * * * * transcriber's note: obvious punctuation errors repaired. and the internet archive; university of florida, pm childrens library the tale of peter rabbit [illustration] the tale of peter rabbit [illustration] beatrix potter illustrations by virginia hibert. akron, o. the saalfield publishing co new york chicago [illustration:] the saalfield pub. co. the tale of peter rabbit once upon a time there were four little rabbits, and their names were flopsy, mopsy, cotton-tail and peter. [illustration] they lived with their mother in a sand-bank, underneath the root of a very big fir tree. "now, my dears," said old mrs. rabbit one morning, "you may go into the fields or down the lane, but don't go into mr. mcgregor's garden. [illustration] [illustration] your father had an accident there; he was put in a pie by mrs. mcgregor." [illustration] now run along and don't get into mischief. i am going out." then old mrs. rabbit took a basket and her umbrella and went through the wood to the baker's. [illustration] she bought a loaf of brown bread and five currant buns. flopsy, mopsy and cotton-tail who were good little bunnies went down the lane together [illustration] to gather blackberries. [illustration] but peter who was very naughty, ran straight away to mr. mcgregor's garden and [illustration] squeezed under the gate! [illustration] first he ate some lettuces and some french beans [illustration] and then he ate some radishes [illustration] and then, feeling rather sick, he went to look for some parsley. [illustration] [illustration] but round the end of a cucumber frame, whom should he meet but mr. mcgregor! mr. mcgregor was on his hands and knees planting out young cabbages, but he jumped up and ran after peter, waving a rake and calling out "stop thief!" [illustration] peter was most dreadfully frightened; he rushed all over the garden, for he had forgotten the way back to the gate. [illustration] he lost one shoe among the cabbages, and the other amongst the potatoes. [illustration] after losing them, he ran on four legs and went faster [illustration] so that i think he might have got away altogether if he had not unfortunately run into a gooseberry net [illustration] and got caught by the large buttons on his jacket. [illustration] it was a blue jacket with brass buttons, quite new. [illustration] peter gave himself up for lost and shed big tears; [illustration] but his sobs were overheard by some friendly sparrows [illustration] who flew to him in great excitement and implored him to exert himself. mr. mcgregor came up with a sieve which he intended to pop on the top of peter, but peter wriggled out just in time. [illustration] [illustration] leaving his jacket behind him. [illustration] he rushed into the tool-shed and-- [illustration] jumped into a can. [illustration] [illustration] it would have been a beautiful thing to hide in, if it had not had so much water in it. mr. mcgregor was quite sure that peter was somewhere in the tool-shed, perhaps hidden underneath a flower-pot. [illustration] he began to turn them over carefully, looking under each. presently peter sneezed "kertyschoo!" mr. mcgregor was after him in no time, and tried to put his foot upon peter, who jumped out of a window, upsetting three plants. [illustration] [illustration] peter sat down to rest; he was out of breath and trembling with fright, and he had not the least idea which way to go. also he was very damp with sitting in that can. after a time he began to wander about, going lippity-- lippity-- not very fast and looking all around. he found a door in a wall; but it was locked and there was no room for a fat little rabbit to squeeze underneath. an old mouse was running in and out over the stone doorstep, carrying peas and beans to her family in the wood. peter asked her the way to the gate but she had such a large pea in her mouth she could not answer. she only shook her head at him. [illustration] peter began to cry. then he tried to find his way straight across the garden, but he became more and more puzzled. presently he came to a pond where mr. mcgregor filled his water-cans. a white cat was staring at some gold-fish; she sat very, very still, but now and then the tip of her tail twitched as if it were alive. peter thought it best to go away without speaking to her. [illustration] he had heard about cats from his cousin, little benjamin bunny. he went back towards the tool-shed, but suddenly, quite close to him, he heard the noise of a hoe--scr-r-ritch, scratch, scratch, scritch. peter scuttered underneath the bushes, but presently as nothing happened, he came out and [illustration] [illustration] climbed upon a wheelbarrow, and peeped over. the first thing he saw was mr. mcgregor hoeing onions. his back was turned towards peter and beyond him was the gate! peter got down very quietly off the wheel-barrow and started running as fast as he could go, along a straight walk behind some black currant bushes. mr. mcgregor caught sight of him at the corner, but peter did not care. he slipped underneath the gate and was safe at last in the wood outside the garden. mr. mcgregor hung up the little jacket and the shoes for a scare-crow to frighten the blackbirds. [illustration] [illustration] peter never stopped running or looked behind him [illustration] till he got home to the big fir-tree. [illustration] he was so tired that he flopped down upon the nice soft sand on the floor of the rabbit hole, and shut his eyes. his mother was busy cooking; she wondered what he had done with his clothes. it was the second little jacket and pair of shoes that peter had lost in a fortnight! i am sorry to say that peter was not very well during the evening. his mother put him to bed and made some camomile tea; and she gave a dose of it to peter! "one teaspoonful to be taken at bedtime." but-- [illustration] flopsy, mopsy and cottontail had bread and milk and blackberries for supper. [illustration] [illustration] [illustration] comments on the taxonomy and geographic distribution of some north american rabbits by e. raymond hall and keith r. kelson university of kansas publications museum of natural history volume , no. , pp. - october , university of kansas lawrence university of kansas publications, museum of natural history editors: e. raymond hall, chairman, a. byron leonard, edward h. taylor, robert w. wilson volume , no. , pp. - october , university of kansas lawrence, kansas printed by ferd voiland, jr., state printer topeka, kansas [illustration] - comments on the taxonomy and geographic distribution of some north american rabbits by e. raymond hall and keith r. kelson in preparing maps showing the geographic distribution of north american lagomorphs, some conflicting statements in the literature have led us to examine the pertinent specimens of the florida cottontail and the audubon cottontail with results as given below. the study here reported upon was aided by a contract between the office of naval research, department of the navy, and the university of kansas (nr - ). unless otherwise indicated, catalogue numbers are of the united states national museum and most of the specimens are in the biological surveys collection of the fish and wildlife service. grateful acknowledgment is made to persons in charge of the collections for permission to use the collections under their charge. sylvilagus floridanus similis nelson . _sylvilagus floridanus similis_ nelson, proc. biol. soc. washington, : , july . some confusion has existed concerning the subspecific identity of the florida cottontail in nebraska because of the way in which nelson recorded specimens in his "the rabbits of north america" (n. amer. fauna, :fig. , and pp. - , august , ). he (_op. cit._: ) listed the following specimens under the western subspecies, _s. f. similis_: two topotypes (nos. and / ) and of course the type; the specimen (no. ) from the snake river [= snake creek of maps], mi. nw kennedy; two from neligh ( and ); and one (probably / ) from kennedy. but, he listed (_op. cit._: ) under _s. f. mearnsi_, the eastern subspecies, a specimen ( ) from brownlee, and two from kennedy. one of the two from kennedy probably was the one that is recorded in the files of the u.s. fish and wildlife service as "identified by cary. spec. in univ. nebraska". the other, or third, specimen from kennedy, we judge, did not exist at all but was recorded by nelson because a card in the reference file, under kennedy, nebraska, in addition to no. / , carried a second entry, a number x. the latter is the x-catalogue number of specimen no. from the snake river! the x-catalogue is used in place of a field catalogue for specimens sent to the mammal collection of the united states fish and wildlife service, by persons who do not keep regular field numbers of their own. it seems that nelson prepared (or had prepared) his lists of specimens, at least in part, from cards rather than from the labels on the specimens themselves. some further confusion as to names that nelson intended to apply to cottontails in nebraska resulted from the fact that his map (_op. cit._:fig. ) indicated that the localities mentioned above for _s. f. mearnsi_ were within the geographic range of _s. f. similis_. our comparison of each of the nebraskan specimens with specimens of _s. f. mearnsi_ in comparable pelage from iowa and with the type and topotypes of _s. f. similis_ reveals that each of the specimens of which catalogue numbers are given above is clearly referable to _sylvilagus floridanus similis_. because some mammalogists have suspected that intergradation between _sylvilagus floridanus similis_ and _sylvilagus nuttallii grangeri_ occurs along the eastern base of the rocky mountains, we have examined specimens which may throw light on this matter. from _s. f. similis_ (holotype and three topotypes), _s. n. grangeri_ (eight practical topotypes from redfern, south dakota) differ as follows: throat patch darker; hind foot shorter; ear (dry) from notch longer; rostrum narrower; posterior extension of supraorbital process enclosing a longer and wider space between it and the braincase; superior border of premaxilla straight in profile instead of convex dorsally; tympanic bullae more inflated; external auditory meatus larger (diameter of the meatus more, instead of less, than crown length of upper molars); posterior border of palate without, instead of with, spine. specimens of the two species from places as near each other as extreme southeastern montana (_s. f. similis_ from boxelder creek, capitol and the little missouri river) and devils tower, wyoming (_s. n. grangeri_), seem not to differ in the length of the hind foot and the ear and in the color of the spot on the chest. also, the presence or absence of the spine on the posterior margin of the palate is subject to individual variation in these specimens but the other cranial differences, mentioned above, still are apparent. these same cranial differences are readily apparent between specimens of the two species taken only five miles apart in eastern wyoming (for the precise localities, see the following paragraph). it is concluded, therefore, that _s. f. similis_ and _s. n. grangeri_ do not inter-grade along the eastern base of the rocky mountains. data on specimens from laramie county in eastern wyoming show that _s. f. similis_ is a heavier animal than _s. n. grangeri_ and also that _similis_ molts earlier. for example, an adult female (k.u. no. ) taken on july , , three miles east of horse creek p.o., ft., weighed grams and is in fresh pelage, whereas an adult female of _s. n. grangeri_ (k.u. no. ), taken on july , , two miles west of horse creek p.o., ft., weighed only grams, and still has some of the worn winter pelage on the upper parts. sylvilagus floridanus holzneri (mearns) . _lepus sylvaticus holzneri_ mearns, proc. u.s. nat. mus., : , june . . _sylvilagus floridanus holzneri_, lyon, smithsonian miscl. coll., : , june . examination of cottontail rabbits from arizona in the biological surveys collection and the united states national museum indicates that _sylvilagus audubonii_ can be distinguished from _sylvilagus nuttallii_ and _sylvilagus floridanus_ by the larger (more inflated) tympanic bullae. topotypes of _sylvilagus nuttallii pinetis_ and other specimens from alpine, mt. thomas, springerville, the prieto plateau at feet on the south end of the blue range, and the tunitcha mountains are characterized by a posteriorly pointed supraoccipital shield and a long, wide space between the braincase and the posterior extension of the supraorbital process. the cottontails with equally small tympanic bullae from more western and more southern localities are referable to _sylvilagus floridanus holzneri_ on the basis of a posteriorly truncate or emarginate supraoccipital shield and a narrower and shorter space (usually a "foramen") between the braincase and the posterior extension of the supraorbital process. in _s. f. holzneri_ the posterior end of the posterior process fuses with the braincase whereas the posterior end of this process in arizonan specimens of _s. n. pinetis_ merely lies against the braincase or projects free of it. in specimens from arizona the difference in shape of the posterior border of the supraoccipital shield and the difference in size of the space between the braincase and the posterior extension of the supraorbital process are the only differences of taxonomic worth found by us. many other features of the skull, of color of pelage, and of size of external parts all fell within the range of individual variation of a series of specimens from one locality. specimens from the following localities in arizona are referable to _sylvilagus floridanus holzneri_ (mearns). hualpai mts., nos. , , , , , , and ; ft. whipple, no. ; prescott, no. / ; mayer, no. ; reynolds creek ranger station, sierra ancha mts., gila co., no. ; fish creek, tonto national forest, ft., no. ; north base mt. turnbull, ft., no. ; ash creek, ft., graham mts., no. ; pinery canyon, ft., chiricahua mts., no. ; thomas cañon, mi. e baboquivari mts., no. ; pine springs, mi. south of colorado cañon, no. amer. mus. nat. hist. on december , , we removed the skull of no. to more certainly ascertain the identity of the individual. the specimens listed above include those that nelson (n. amer. fauna, : , august , ) listed from the hualpai mountains, pine springs, and prescott under the name _sylvilagus nuttallii pinetis_. nelson (_op. cit._:pl. x, fig. ) figured one of these skulls from the hualpai mountains as _s. n. pinetis_ and the cranial measurements (_op. cit._: ) that he records for _s. nuttallii pinetis_ likewise are of these same specimens of _sylvilagus floridanus holzneri_. nelson's description (_op. cit._: - ) seems to have been affected by the erroneous (as we see the matter) inclusion of these specimens of _s. f. holzneri_ in the materials identified by him as _sylvilagus nuttallii pinetis_. the specimens so far mentioned from arizona can be identified with ease. the identification becomes difficult, however, when the holotype of _s. f. holzneri_, from the huachuca mountains, is examined. the difficulty results from the holotype having a barely detectable emargination in the posterior border of the supraoccipital shield. in this respect the holotype is intermediate between _s. f. holzneri_ (as known by specimens from more western localities in arizona) and _s. n. pinetis_ from the white mountains to the northward. as noted above, _s. f. holzneri_ has a deep notch and _s. n. pinetis_ has none. this intermediacy of the holotype supports the possibility, mentioned by nelson (_op. cit._: ), that intergradation occurs between _s. f. holzneri_ and _s. n. pinetis_. additional evidence, however, is against this possibility; the notch in the supraoccipital is deeper in specimens (no. , from chiricahua mts., and no. , from ash creek in graham mts.) from mountains geographically intermediate between the huachuca mountains and the white mountains. also, the holotype of _s. f. holzneri_ differs from _s. n. pinetis_ and agrees with other specimens of _s. f. holzneri_ from farther southwest in arizona in the robustness of the posterior extensions of the supraorbital processes and in the considerable degree of fusion of the tips of these processes with the squamosals. additionally, the rostrum of the holotype is wide and deep as in other specimens of _s. floridanus_ from more eastern localities and is unlike the narrow and shallow rostrum of _s. n. pinetis_. if intergradation occurs in arizona between the species _sylvilagus floridanus_ and _sylvilagus nuttallii_, as nelson (_op. cit._: ) intimated it might, the intergrades probably will be found along the tonto rim or in the territory between the blue range and the graham mountains. sylvilagus floridanus cognatus nelson . _sylvilagus cognatus_ nelson, proc. biol. soc. washington, : , july . we have examined the specimens recorded by nelson (n. amer. fauna, : , august , ) and conclude that nelson (_op. cit._) accurately described them. we differ from nelson on one point of interpretation; we prefer to use the trinomial, instead of the binomial, for _cognatus_ because the kind and amount of difference between it and subspecies of _sylvilagus floridanus_ (_s. f. holzneri_ and possibly _s. f. llanensis_) is on the order of magnitude that distinguishes subspecies, and not full species, of _sylvilagus_. the specimen (w.d. hollister, original no. ) from the datil mountains, lent to us by the colorado museum of natural history, does have, as nelson (_op. cit._) pointed out, larger tympanic bullae and a slenderer rostrum than do other specimens of _s. f. cognatus_. nevertheless, no. , agrees with _cognatus_ and differs from _sylvilagus nuttallii pinetis_ in the greater vertical depth of the zygoma, the greater transverse width of the first pair of upper incisors, the broader posterior extensions of the supraorbital processes, the fusion (instead of freedom from, or mere touching to, the braincase) of the tips of these extensions, the less upturned supraorbital processes, and the more nearly truncate posterior margin of the supraorbital shield. therefore, the specimen is referable to _sylvilagus floridanus cognatus_. the slender rostrum and large tympanic bullae of no. are either individual variations or features peculiar to the population of _sylvilagus floridanus_ in the datil mountains. sylvilagus floridanus robustus bailey . _lepus pinetis robustus_ v. bailey, n. amer. fauna, : , october . nelson (n. amer. fauna, : - , august , ) described specimens from the big bend area of texas. this was the only area from which nelson had specimens. our examination of these same specimens indicates that his description of them was accurate. davis and robertson (jour. mamm., : , september , ) recorded a specimen, under the name _sylvilagus robustus_, from "the bowl, guadalupe mountains, culberson county, texas." our examination of the skull of this specimen ([female] adult, no. , mus. zool., louisiana state university) indicates that it is, among named kinds of rabbits, best referred to _robustus_. the specimen is morphologically as well as geographically intermediate between _s. f. cognatus_ and _s. robustus_. this morphological intermediacy is illustrated by certain of the following cranial measurements of three adult females: no. (_robustus_), chisos mts.; no. from the guadalupe mts.; and no. , ne slope capitan mts. basilar length, . , . , . ; length of nasals, . , . , . ; breadth of rostrum above premolars, . , . , . ; depth of rostrum in front of premolars, . , . , . ; interorbital breadth, . , . , . ; parietal breadth, . , . , . ; diameter of bulla, . , . , . . considering the intermediate nature of specimen no. , and the kind and amount of difference between _sylvilagus floridanus cognatus_ and _s. robustus_, it seems appropriate to us to use the name-combination _sylvilagus floridanus robustus_. actual intergradation, in the sense of interbreeding between individuals of a continuously distributed population of animals, probably does not occur regularly between _s. f. cognatus_ and _s. f. robustus_ nor between several populations within either one of these subspecies; in south-central arizona and western texas the animals are said to occur only in the higher parts of the mountains. consequently a given population is separated from another by low-lying territory inhospitable to the species _sylvilagus floridanus_. this low-lying territory is inhabited by another species, _sylvilagus audubonii_. more intensive collecting in the region concerned may, however, show a continuous distribution of the species _sylvilagus floridanus_ in several areas where it seems now to have an interrupted distribution. sylvilagus audubonii neomexicanus nelson . _sylvilagus audubonii neomexicanus_ nelson, proc. biol. soc. washington, : , july . nelson (n. amer. fauna, : , august , ) listed under _sylvilagus audubonii cedrophilus_ nelson an adult female, skin with skull (u.s. nat. mus., biol. surv. coll., no. ) from fifteen miles south of alpine, texas. nelson (_loc. cit._) remarked that the "bleached" color of the back and the great lateral breadth of the tympanic bullae of no. were peculiarities not possessed by any other specimen examined. geographically, the locality of capture is far south of other known occurrences of _s. a. cedrophilus_ and approximately on the boundary separating the range of _s. a. minor_ from that of _s. a. neomexicanus_. the large size, which may have induced nelson to refer the specimen to _s. a. cedrophilus_, is not surprising considering that the individual is a female and fully adult. a combination of new and old fur on the upper parts presents a pattern that might be duplicated in other specimens of _s. a. neomexicanus_. the lateral inflation of the tympanic bullae can be interpreted as intergradation with the geographically adjacent _s. a. minor_ to the south; _s. a. minor_ has large bullae. there are no features otherwise which suggest that the specimen is anything other than _sylvilagus audubonii neomexicanus_ and we refer it to that subspecies. sylvilagus audubonii minor mearns . _lepus arizonae minor_ mearns, proc. u.s. nat. mus., : , june . . _s[ylvilagus]. a[uduboni]. minor_, nelson, proc. biol. soc. washington, : , july . nelson (n. amer. fauna, : , august , ) listed, without comment, under _sylvilagus audubonii cedrophilus_ nelson, a skin with skull inside (amer. mus. nat. hist., , [female] adult or sub-adult) from san diego, chihuahua, mexico. we locate san diego approximately miles south and miles east of el paso, texas. thus, the specimen is from near the center of the geographic range of _sylvilagus audubonii minor_. with the permission of mr. g.g. goodwin of the american museum of natural history we removed the skull. it differs in no essential features from those of other specimens of _s. a. minor_. for example, of specimens in the united states national museum, biological surveys collection, a female (no. ) from guzman in chihuahua, and a male (no. ) from santa rosalia in the same state, are almost indistinguishable from the san diegan specimen. the specimen is without external measurements but the length of the hind foot and length of ear from the notch in the dry state ( and , respectively) agree with the corresponding measurements of _s. a. minor_. color of the skin furnishes no diagnostic character as between _s. a. minor_ and _s. a. cedrophilus_. we identify the specimen from san diego as _sylvilagus audubonii minor_. _transmitted january , ._ - _the greenwood series_ doctor rabbit and brushtail the fox by thomas clark hinkle illustrations by milo winter rand mcnally & company chicago--new york ---------------------------------------------------------------------- contents brushtail the fox comes to the big green woods chatty red squirrel is heard scolding loudly brushtail the fox plays "possum" brushtail gets a scare doctor rabbit sees something interesting two hunters come to the big green woods doctor rabbit informs his friends what doctor rabbit saw mrs. brushtail gets a hen brushtail the fox finds some pieces of cheese the growlers come out of the thicket jack rabbit sprains his foot doctoring little thomas woodchuck listening to the brushtails doctor rabbit tells some good news a foolish old hen doctor rabbit lays a trap brushtail the fox is almost caught an exciting chase the big gray goose gets away brushtail the fox finds the traps getting together brushtail the fox discovers the cow's head what happened to brushtail the fox illustrations my! how he did jump and yell! brushtail the fox seized her by the neck it was a queer procession! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- doctor rabbit and brushtail the fox brushtail the fox comes to the big green woods doctor rabbit and cheepy chipmunk were sitting in doctor rabbit's front yard talking. they laughed a good deal as they talked, for it was a lovely morning in the beautiful big green woods, and everyone felt happy. finally jolly doctor rabbit said he believed he would run over to the big sycamore tree to eat some more of the tender blue grass that grew there. it seemed as if he could eat there all day and all night, he said, because that grass was so good. cheepy chipmunk said he was getting hungry again too, and he guessed he would be going home to eat the fresh ear of corn he had found that morning. cheepy chipmunk got up and was starting away, when doctor rabbit seized him and said in a low, frightened whisper that scared cheepy half to death, "come back and sit down and keep as still as anything. look out there, will you!" very badly startled, cheepy chipmunk came back and sat down, and his eyes followed doctor rabbit's eyes. cheepy saw an animal such as he had never seen before. this animal looked somewhat like a dog, but cheepy knew right away he was no dog. he was not quite so large as ki-yi coyote, and was of a reddish-brown color, with a large, bushy tail. the animal was walking along under the trees not far away, and did not even look in the direction of doctor rabbit and little cheepy chipmunk. but, although he could not tell why, cheepy knew at once that that reddish-brown animal walking along out there under the trees was very dangerous to chipmunks and rabbits and any number of other little animals. yes, sir, cheepy chipmunk was dreadfully frightened at once, for he was certain his life and the lives of stubby woodchuck, chatty red squirrel and all his other friends were in great danger. but he had never seen such an animal before, so of course he did not know what it was. while doctor rabbit and cheepy chipmunk looked, the strange animal walked along just as if he were not interested in anything. he did not even look toward doctor rabbit and cheepy chipmunk. this fooled innocent cheepy, and he whispered to doctor rabbit, "he has not seen us; let's slip into your house! i don't want him to catch sight of us." "keep right still!" doctor rabbit whispered in reply. "just sit still. yes, he has seen us--don't you fool yourself about that. but he knows well enough he can't catch us now. he's made up his mind he'll wait until he gets a better chance. but we won't let him know we see him. we'll have to try to deceive him at every turn. yes, sir, cheepy, we've got to watch out every minute now; we certainly have. he's one of the most cunning animals there is. i'm sorry he's come into our woods." cheepy chipmunk was so frightened that his teeth were chattering as he asked, "who is he?" "he's brushtail the fox," doctor rabbit said. "i saw him a number of times in the woods up along the deep river where i used to live. we'll see more of him--we can count on that. and now, friend cheepy, you must stay right here at my house until we are sure brushtail has stopped watching us out of the corner of his eye." chatty red squirrel is heard scolding loudly doctor rabbit was right. brushtail the fox had seen exactly who was in doctor rabbit's front yard, but he did not act as if he knew there was any one within a mile of him. no, he just kept right on walking slowly under the trees. and then all of a sudden chatty red squirrel almost made him look up. chatty was high up in a big hackberry tree, and from this safe perch he scolded brushtail as loudly as he could. "get out of these woods!" chatty squirrel shouted angrily. "you have no right in here. you are just sneaking around trying to catch somebody. but you can't. i won't let you. i'll tell on you. look here, everybody. here is old brushtail the fox. i know you, mr. brushtail. i've seen you before in the woods up along the deep river. look out, everybody! brushtail is around. he's right under this tree, right this minute. i can see him. look out for mr. brushtail! here he is!" well, doctor rabbit and cheepy chipmunk watched and listened while chatty squirrel scolded brushtail the fox so loudly. but brushtail paid no attention whatever to chatty. the fact was that he did hear every word chatty squirrel said and he was pretty angry about it, too, because you see he did not want all the little creatures of the big green woods to know he was around. he wanted to get one or two of them for breakfast before they even dreamed he was anywhere near. but even if he was angry, brushtail knew, of course, that he could not climb that tree after chatty squirrel, so he just ground his teeth and walked on. he decided that he would make chatty pay for this, indeed he would. he would catch him the very first of all. and so as doctor rabbit and cheepy chipmunk looked and listened, brushtail, without saying a word, walked on and finally slipped out of sight among some leafy bushes. "i'm going home this minute!" cheepy chipmunk exclaimed, his voice trembling with fear; and away he went for his stump as fast as he could run. after cheepy had gone, doctor rabbit said to himself, "well, i do declare! so brushtail the fox has found the big green woods, and likely enough intends to live here. if he does we'll certainly all have to watch out every minute. indeed we will. i'm glad chatty squirrel is scolding so loudly. perhaps our friends will all hear and be on the lookout." chatty squirrel, who had followed along in the branches of the trees and kept sight of slinky brushtail, was now heard quite a distance away, scolding louder than ever. "i wonder what chatty is scolding about out there now," doctor rabbit said. "it sounds as if he were still talking to brushtail. perhaps brushtail has stopped out there, and possibly he has caught something and is eating it. i'm going to slip out that way and see. i'll take the path that leads past several briar patches, and if mr. fox runs for me i'll just slip into a briar patch. if he tries to follow me in there he knows what he'll get. he'll get his eyes scratched out with the briars. my, how chatty is scolding! he's scolding brushtail, too. brushtail must be doing something unusual or chatty would not talk so excitedly." brushtail the fox plays "possum" doctor rabbit hurried away from his home toward the place where he heard chatty squirrel scolding brushtail the fox. doctor rabbit, to tell the truth, was afraid to venture out there so close to brushtail, but then, he reasoned, he would have to go sooner or later and get something to eat, so he might as well venture out now and see what the old villain was doing. doctor rabbit kept in the path that led past several briar patches, and this made him feel pretty safe. the nearer doctor rabbit came to the place where chatty squirrel was scolding, the louder sounded chatty's angry voice. doctor rabbit crept close, and slipped into a briar patch. not more than twenty feet away, lying on the ground as still as if he were dead, was brushtail the fox. but he did not fool doctor rabbit in the least. doctor rabbit knew instantly what brushtail wanted: he wanted chatty squirrel. because brushtail lay so still and paid not the least attention to his scolding, chatty squirrel became really puzzled. he stopped scolding and said to himself, "now i wonder if that old scamp _is_ dead. he certainly lies there very still, anyway. i believe i'll just slip down on the ground for a minute and see. if he's just playing dead, he'll come after me when i get on the ground. then i'll know for sure, and i'll go back up the tree in a hurry." chatty squirrel scrambled down the tree, and as soon as he reached the ground he began scolding brushtail the fox. he thought, of course, that this would make brushtail jump up if he were only playing dead; but brushtail paid no attention to chatty. he lay as still as a dead fox. chatty squirrel ran a little way toward him, but was afraid to venture far. just then he happened to see doctor rabbit hiding under the briar patch, motioning for him to come over, and looking as though he knew something very funny. there happened to be another tree by the briar patch, so chatty squirrel sprang right over to see what doctor rabbit wanted. doctor rabbit whispered something in chatty's ear, and then they chuckled softly to themselves. the more chatty thought about what doctor rabbit had said, the more he laughed--not very loudly, of course, because he did not want brushtail the fox to hear. "hurry along now before he gets up!" doctor rabbit whispered, and away ran chatty squirrel back to the tree he had left. chatty scrambled back up the tree in a hurry, and began scolding brushtail louder than ever. he did not say a word about doctor rabbit, of course; he just went right on scolding as if nothing had happened. now brushtail the fox was not dead, and as he lay there very still he thought every minute chatty squirrel's curiosity would get the better of him and chatty would come down the tree and close enough so that he could pounce upon him. but chatty did just exactly what doctor rabbit had told him to do. "i wish," he said aloud, "that i knew whether mr. fox is really dead. he lies so still i believe he is, and if he lies there much longer i shall have to go down and see. yes, i'll have to go down and poke him and see!" brushtail the fox could scarcely keep from smacking his lips when chatty said this, but he did not move, of course. he lay perfectly still, not even winking an eye, for he was very hungry, and he hoped chatty squirrel would decide to hurry and come down. and all the time that chatty squirrel up in the tree was scolding, doctor rabbit was working at something in the near-by thicket. chatty, you see, was going to keep brushtail's attention until doctor rabbit played a good joke on old brushtail. brushtail gets a scare now, this was what doctor rabbit was doing in the near-by thicket. he gathered some moss, and rolled it into a big ball. then he took a bottle of medicine from his medicine case. the bottle had ammonia in it--spirits of ammonia, it was--and doctor rabbit poured the medicine all over and through the big ball of moss. my, but that ammonia smelled strong! i should say it _did_ smell strong. it was so strong, in fact, that doctor rabbit had to turn his head partly away from the moss while he poured the medicine on it. now doctor rabbit had to be very, very careful. he picked up the ball of moss in his front paws and walked toward brushtail the fox, who lay on the ground with his eyes shut tight. chatty squirrel kept up a very loud scolding as doctor rabbit slipped up to brushtail. then when he was very near, doctor rabbit threw that moss with all the terribly strong ammonia right on brushtail's head and over his nose. brushtail got such a big whiff of the medicine that he almost strangled. my, how he did jump and yell! he was terribly scared, because he did not know for a minute what had happened. then he heard chatty up on the limb laughing and shouting for joy. doctor rabbit ran back to the edge of the thicket, and he was laughing too. it certainly did look funny to see brushtail the fox standing and staring at that moss as if he thought it was something alive. when brushtail saw that a joke had been played on him he was terribly angry. he knew, of course, he could not get chatty, so he made a rush for doctor rabbit. but doctor rabbit skipped into the thicket, picked up his medicine case and shouted, "good day, mr. fox! i guess you won't have chatty for breakfast! you'd better eat the moss ball." and away doctor rabbit ran. in a twinkling he was out of sight in the leafy woods. brushtail the fox ran after doctor rabbit as fast as he could go, but it was no use. he could not find him. now it happened that doctor rabbit had not gone far at all. he was not far from home, so he just hid behind a big log. and he was watching brushtail the fox all the time. my! how he did jump and yell! after a time brushtail sat down and kept still. his sharp eyes, however, were looking in every direction. he thought he might see doctor rabbit by keeping quiet and looking about him. doctor rabbit, as i have said, was so close to his home that he knew he was safe, so he walked quietly from behind the log, holding his medicine case and acting just as though he did not know that brushtail the fox was anywhere about. brushtail quickly lay down and was as quiet as possible. then doctor rabbit stopped, looked back, and said pleasantly, "it's a nice morning, brushy." that surely surprised brushtail, but when he saw doctor rabbit's home tree not far away, he knew he could not catch him. so he smiled and said, "i've just been playing with you all the time. do come on over to my home, neighbor rabbit. i have something very fine there to show you. we'll have some good times together." "ha! ha! ha!" wise doctor rabbit laughed, as he started toward his big tree. "yes," he continued, "i suppose you have some very cruel teeth to show me, mr. brushtail, but i can see them quite as well as i care to. ha! ha! ha!" and doctor rabbit ran for his tree. brushtail ran after him, too, but doctor rabbit ran fast and reached his home in safety. there he peeked out and saw brushtail steal into some bushes. doctor rabbit sees something interesting now when doctor rabbit ran into the big hollow tree that was his home, brushtail the fox slunk into some leafy bushes near by, and lay down without making a sound. "i'll just wait here," brushtail whispered to himself, "and that smart old rabbit will be coming out pretty soon. he won't know that i'm anywhere about." but old brushtail was very much mistaken, for doctor rabbit had peeked out of his front door just as soon as he was inside his house, and you remember he saw brushtail steal into the bushes. no, sir, he wasn't to be fooled this time. for a long time brushtail lay in the bushes. he lay so quietly that not a leaf on the branches about him stirred. his glittering eyes were turned toward doctor rabbit's tree, and every little while he showed his long, sharp teeth as he smiled at the thought of the good meal that big fat rabbit would make. but all the while doctor rabbit watched from an upstairs window where brushtail could not see him, although doctor rabbit could plainly see the pointed nose and sharp, gleaming eyes of his enemy. presently doctor rabbit heard the rustle of leaves and the gay _chatter_, _chatter_, _chatter_ of chatty red squirrel as he bounded into the branches of a tree overlooking the bushes that hid brushtail. doctor rabbit drew a long breath of relief. he wasn't afraid of brushtail the fox when he was safe in his big hollow tree--oh no, you mustn't think that, not for a moment. but you see doctor rabbit was getting pretty tired and stiff from watching so cautiously from his upstairs window, and yet he couldn't quite bring himself to the point of going downstairs and forgetting brushtail. no indeed, he couldn't quite do that. so doctor rabbit was glad to see chatty red squirrel, for he knew just what would happen. and sure enough, in a few minutes chatty squirrel saw brushtail lying low in the bushes, and then how he did scold! "aha, old brushtail, i see you hiding in the bushes. thought i wouldn't see you, didn't you? thought i wouldn't see you! but i see you, all right. you can't fool chatty, no siree. oh, i know you're looking for doctor rabbit," and chatty's tone became angrier at the thought of brushtail waiting to pounce upon his good friend, doctor rabbit. "you're just waiting for doctor rabbit to come home and then spring out at him. get out of here, get out, get out of here!" screamed chatty. brushtail the fox was angry. well, i should say he was. he knew that doctor rabbit would hear chatty red squirrel's scolding, and would know that he was hiding ready to eat him if he came out of the tree. brushtail was so angry that he snarled. but he slunk away through the bushes without saying a word to chatty red. brushtail is wise enough to know that there is no use arguing with chatty squirrel, for chatty is altogether too noisy a talker. i should say he is. when brushtail slunk away through the bushes, doctor rabbit called to chatty red squirrel, but chatty did not hear him. he had scampered away to another tree, still talking loudly. then doctor rabbit turned quickly and leaned out of his window to watch brushtail the fox. brushtail was trotting off through the big green woods in a direction in which doctor rabbit seldom went. and doctor rabbit noticed that he seemed to be afraid someone would see him. he looked on each side of him as he went along, and every now and then he took a big jump sidewise. doctor rabbit was certainly interested now, for he believed brushtail the fox was going to hide somewhere. probably he was going to hide in a place where he hid every day. yes, sir, brushtail certainly was cautious now, and he must have jumped to one side as many as five times while doctor rabbit was watching him. then in a little while he reached a part of the woods where the brush and leaves were so thick that doctor rabbit could just barely see him as he slipped along. two hunters come to the big green woods when brushtail the fox slipped into the place where there were so many leafy bushes, it was very hard for doctor rabbit to see him from his big tree. sometimes he lost sight of brushtail altogether, and then for an instant he would see his long, sharp nose, or his reddish-brown coat, or his big bushy tail. and all the time brushtail became more and more cautious. he moved so slowly and so quietly among the bushes that doctor rabbit had to strain his eyes to see him. then suddenly brushtail jumped high up onto the dead limb of a big fallen tree. he walked out on this limb, then jumped far out into a dense thicket and disappeared. yes, sir, brushtail the fox was gone! doctor rabbit stood by his window in the tree and looked and looked. he thought he would presently see a sharp nose or a bushy tail, but he did not. brushtail was hiding somewhere in that thicket. "well! well! well!" doctor rabbit exclaimed. "i certainly should like to know what old brushtail is doing in there. i am positive he is in that thicket. he never could have slipped out without my seeing him. yes, sir, he's in there. and that's probably where he always hides. likely enough he has a den in there. i shouldn't be surprised if there are a lot of rocks in there and brushtail the fox has a big hole away back under them." "well," doctor rabbit continued, talking softly to himself, "i'm going to slip out there as near as possible and keep watch and see if i can discover anything more about brushtail. i must not tell anyone as yet what i have seen. no, if i want to get a lot of information i must just keep still and do the finding out myself. it isn't safe to trust too many people." doctor rabbit ran downstairs and was starting out into the woods to try to get nearer brushtail's hiding place when he saw something that made him keep still and watch. farmer roe and his boy were coming through the woods toward doctor rabbit's tree. just as they went past, doctor rabbit heard farmer roe say, "yes, i'm certain that there is a fox in these woods. that was a fox's track we saw in the yard this morning, and that was a fox, i am sure, that took the old white hen last night. our chickens will be in danger until we get rid of him." "do you suppose he hides in these woods in the daytime?" asked farmer roe's boy. "i shouldn't be surprised," replied farmer roe. "in fact, i'm pretty sure he hides close by. there is one thing that puzzles me, however, and that is that although yappy trailed that fox directly from the chicken yard, he lost the trail right in the woods and could not pick it up again. the fox has played some trick, of course," said farmer roe, "and we must try and find out what it is. i really shouldn't be surprised," he went on, "if that fox is lying around close enough to see us this minute. we'll just keep watch until we discover his hiding place." doctor rabbit informs his friends doctor rabbit did not find out anything more about brushtail the fox that day, nor for several days. but it was only a very short time until all the little creatures of the big green woods knew that brushtail the fox was around, and they were afraid to poke their noses out of their homes. stubby woodchuck had seen brushtail three times, and he said brushtail certainly did look fierce. "he looked so fierce he took my appetite away for several hours each time i saw him," said stubby woodchuck, "and i am sure he looks fully as terrible as ki-yi coyote or tom wildcat. yes, sir, we have a very mean and dangerous enemy in mr. brushtail, and we must keep watch every minute." "i wish he'd go away and stay away," said cheepy chipmunk, who was always easily frightened. "but he doesn't expect to leave at all," doctor rabbit informed his friends. "he expects to live here in these woods, right along." "he does!" exclaimed poor cheepy chipmunk, his voice trembling with fear. "how do you know he expects to live here?" "well," explained doctor rabbit, "i have seen quite enough to convince me that brushtail expects to make his home in the big green woods. in fact, i am in position to know that he has a home here right now. it's all fixed up, and he's living in it. he spends his time there except when he's out hunting us or after one of farmer roe's nice fat hens." "where is old brushtail's home?" stubby woodchuck and cheepy chipmunk demanded in the same breath. "sh!" doctor rabbit warned his friends. "don't talk so loud! brushtail might be hiding so near he could hear every word you say. the fact is, i can't tell you any more at present. it would not help if i told you more, and it might get out so brushtail would hear of it. just keep still about what i've said and watch for brushtail every minute you are out in the woods. in the meantime whenever i get a chance i will hide in a certain place, where i can see him often enough, i think, to discover what his plans are. then when i find out all i can, i will slip around quietly and tell you." "i saw farmer roe and his boy passing through our woods this morning," stubby woodchuck said. "i wonder what they were after?" "they were after brushtail," doctor rabbit explained. "i heard them talking and i heard them say they were trying to find out where he lives." "dear me! i hope they'll run him away so he'll never come back!" said cheepy chipmunk, with a troubled look. "they'll probably have to find out first where he lives," said doctor rabbit, "and i believe that is going to be pretty hard for them to do. but still, yappy has a very sharp nose, and in time he may find brushtail's den." it was dinner time, so doctor rabbit and stubby woodchuck and cheepy chipmunk separated, each slipping home as quietly as he could. what doctor rabbit saw doctor rabbit did not see brushtail the fox again for several days. then one morning when the sun came up warm and bright and all the little creatures of the big green woods were feeling very happy, doctor rabbit decided that he would try again. he made up his mind to slip over to that thicket where he had last seen brushtail, and see what he could discover with his sharp eyes. there were a good many briar patches along the way, and doctor rabbit kept as near these as possible, so he was safe, even though the way _was_ a little longer. you can be very sure, too, that doctor rabbit kept his eyes wide open all the time. but he did not see the least sign of brushtail the fox, and decided that he was probably somewhere in that dense thicket. "perhaps," thought doctor rabbit, "old brushtail is in there right now eating a chicken he has stolen from farmer roe." now the very thought of getting any nearer that thicket made doctor rabbit tremble with fear. still, there was a fine big briar patch close to the thicket, and doctor rabbit decided he would run for this. he had hidden in that briar patch several times from various enemies, and was familiar with every inch of it. he knew he would be safe from brushtail in the briar patch, and all brushtail could do if he saw doctor rabbit hiding there would be just to wait outside. but he would have to give up in the end, because doctor rabbit never would come out of a briar patch so long as an enemy was waiting for him. doctor rabbit got all ready, and then he ran for that briar patch. he ran as hard as he could and dived into the briar patch just as if brushtail were very close behind him, because, you see, it might be that brushtail _was_ very close. then doctor rabbit crept to the center of the briar patch and sat down. he decided that if necessary he would stay in the briar patch all day and watch. he knew brushtail the fox had some kind of a secret in that thicket--a den or something--else he never would have been so careful about getting into it. doctor rabbit waited for about two hours, and he was already getting tired when all of a sudden he sat as still as a stone. in fact, he sat so perfectly still that i doubt if you could have seen him even if you had been looking right at him. the reason why doctor rabbit sat still so quickly was that he saw a movement in the leafy thicket. presently the bushes parted, and who do you suppose came out? no, it was not brushtail--it was mrs. brushtail! and now doctor rabbit knew exactly why brushtail had been so careful about getting into that thicket. it was mr. and mrs. brushtail's home. and it was here, of course, that farmer roe's hens were disappearing, and this was where doctor rabbit and stubby woodchuck and all their friends would go if they didn't watch out! yes, sir! this was where a great many of the little creatures of the big green woods would disappear if mr. and mrs. brushtail did not leave. while doctor rabbit was looking at mrs. brushtail she yawned, showing all of her long, sharp teeth. although he was safe in the briar patch, doctor rabbit trembled. he was a little too close to old mrs. brushtail to feel quite comfortable. mrs. brushtail gets a hen of course doctor rabbit was greatly surprised to see mrs. brushtail in the thicket. and still, after he thought about it, he was not so surprised either. you see, it was spring and just the time of year for mr. and mrs. brushtail to find themselves a new home if they needed one. mrs. brushtail stood there looking about in every direction with her sharp eyes. then she gave a great spring and landed on the limb of the fallen tree. she walked along the limb until she came to the end of it, and then jumped, as brushtail had done, as far out as she could, only mrs. brushtail did not jump _toward_ the thicket, she jumped away from it. she stood again looking all around and listening for a minute, then trotted away through the woods toward farmer roe's, and was soon out of sight. doctor rabbit thought to himself, "mrs. brushtail is going over to the edge of the woods nearest to farmer roe's. she's going to hide there and see if some foolish hen doesn't come out into the woods to hunt bugs and grasshoppers." and he made up his mind that as long as he was safe he would just wait where he was and see if mrs. brushtail would come back. well, he did not have to wait very long. as he sat in the briar patch listening, he heard a terrible cackling over toward the edge of the woods nearest farmer roe's. it sounded as if chickens were very much frightened and were running in every direction. in a short time doctor rabbit saw mrs. brushtail coming through the woods. and sure enough, she had one of farmer roe's big white hens in her mouth. mrs. brushtail held the hen by the neck, and after making a wide circle and jumping to one side as far as she could she came to the fallen tree. when she looked up at the high limb she seemed puzzled. you see, she could not jump so high with the hen. but she was pretty wise. she laid the hen upon the trunk of the tree, then jumped upon the limb above, and reaching down, picked up the hen and walked out along the limb toward the leafy thicket. then she sprang into the thicket and disappeared. how doctor rabbit did want to see the inside of that thicket! and what made him all the more curious was that he was certain he heard a number of growls after mrs. brushtail disappeared in there. and the growls did not sound like mrs. brushtail's voice, or like brushtail's either. yes, sir, there was something very interesting going on in that thicket, and doctor rabbit made up his mind he must see what it was, if possible. he wondered where brushtail was. doctor rabbit disliked to go any nearer the thicket unless he knew where that sly old fox was. "but," he said to himself, "likely enough mr. brushtail is in the thicket with mrs. brushtail and is helping her eat that chicken. anyway, it's only a little distance to that tree with a hole in the base and a lot of prickly vines around it. i'm going to run for it! the distance is so short that brushtail would not have time to get me even if he saw me. i'll get to the tree, and if brushtail should come after me i'll run into the hole at the base of the tree. i'll find out about old brushy before he knows it. and the first thing they know they will be going out of these woods in a hurry. but i must be very, very careful. i should say i must! i must watch every second. my, how those animals in that thicket do growl! it sounds almost as if they were quarreling." brushtail the fox finds some pieces of cheese doctor rabbit was just ready to run to the tree with the prickly vines around it when he crouched low and sat very still again. he heard somebody coming through the woods. pretty soon he saw that it was farmer roe. the farmer stopped when he got close to the briar patch and muttered to himself, "every spring i have to rid these woods of a fox or two. i guess i'll just put out a little bait for them and see how that will work." as soon as doctor rabbit heard farmer roe coming through the woods he noticed that everything in the thicket grew very quiet. i should say it did! there was not the least sound in there--not a single growl. and there farmer roe stood within twenty feet of the home of mr. and mrs. brushtail without ever dreaming of it. farmer roe had gloves on, and he held a number of pieces of cheese on one hand. he put several of these pieces of cheese under the fallen tree. right near the thicket he placed some more cheese, partly under some dead leaves. then farmer roe went around placing the cheese here and there where he thought the fox would be most likely to find it. after a time he put the last piece of cheese under an old log. then he straightened up and said, "there, now! that ought to fix him, or both of them, if there are two instead of one. i'm glad yappy has been trained not to eat anything he finds out in the woods," he added, "for this bait would be the end of him, too! and that would never do." and farmer roe walked back through the woods toward his house. after a while the sound of his heavy footsteps died away. everything in the thicket was perfectly still. there was not a sound. doctor rabbit waited and listened. then he heard a movement inside the thicket. presently mrs. brushtail came out, sat down, and looked in the direction farmer roe had taken. while she sat there mr. brushtail came trotting up from somewhere out in the woods. doctor rabbit heard the two talking very rapidly and excitedly, but they talked so low he could not understand what they said. he wanted very much to know what they said, but what interested him still more was that he again heard those growls in the thicket. he wondered who it could be, since neither brushtail nor mrs. brushtail was in there now. well, after mr. and mrs. brushtail had talked for a while, brushtail went right up to the old dead log where farmer roe had placed some of the cheese. doctor rabbit was delighted, for he thought this would be the end of brushtail the fox. and we can't blame doctor rabbit or think him cruel, either, for hoping so. you see, doctor rabbit, being a doctor, knew at once that farmer roe had poisoned that cheese. yes, sir, he had put poison in it for mr. fox. and if mr. and mrs. brushtail should eat just one of those pieces of cheese it would certainly cause their death. but doctor rabbit was certainly surprised at what happened. brushtail took the piece of cheese carefully in his mouth and carried it to a small hole a little distance away. then he hunted around until he found every piece of poisoned cheese farmer roe had put out. and each time he found a piece of cheese he did just what he did with the first piece: he carried it to that hole and dropped it in. when he had finished he stood and looked down at all those pieces of cheese. then he began scratching leaves and dirt into the hole. once in a while he would turn around and look down into the hole and laugh. then he would turn his back again, and just make the leaves and dirt fly into that hole. well, he scratched and scratched and scratched until there was not a bit of cheese anywhere to be seen. the hole was full of leaves and dirt, so you never could have found it. mrs. brushtail came out and smiled at brushtail, and both of them looked at farmer roe's house and laughed and laughed. but doctor rabbit was not pleased. i should say he wasn't pleased, and he wondered how these two terrible creatures would ever be driven away from the woods. and he wondered more than ever who it was that kept growling in the thicket. the growlers come out of the thicket after mr. and mrs. brushtail had gone back into the thicket, doctor rabbit wanted to run home. he surely was uncomfortable so near to brushtail and mrs. brushtail. "and still," he thought to himself, "since i am here, i'll just stay a little longer and discover all i can." well, the growling went on for a while in the thicket, and then something happened that certainly surprised doctor rabbit. mrs. brushtail came out into the open with farmer roe's chicken, partly eaten, and she was followed by four little foxes! mrs. brushtail dropped the chicken on the ground for the little foxes, and then she sprang upon a log and just lay there and watched them. mr. fox trotted off into the woods again. "he's probably going after another hen," thought doctor rabbit, "or after stubby woodchuck or chatty red squirrel or any of us he can catch." and doctor rabbit hoped all his little friends would be on the lookout. while mrs. brushtail lay up on the log and looked on proudly, how the little foxes did pull at that dead chicken and growl! "and so there are the growlers i heard in the thicket!" doctor rabbit thought to himself. those little foxes might have looked pretty to some people, they were so young and so playful and so funny; but they did not look pretty to doctor rabbit. indeed they did not. they looked like four terrible monsters. their little eyes snapped like the eyes of terrible little savages, and their tiny teeth, sharp as needles, pulled feathers and sank into the chicken. it was certainly true that mrs. brushtail was teaching her very small children how to eat chicken, and as she lay on the log and watched them, she seemed perfectly satisfied with them. after the little foxes had growled and pulled at the chicken for a good while, brushtail was seen coming through the woods with something in his mouth. then suddenly doctor rabbit became almost sick with fear. he thought for a second that brushtail had caught stubby woodchuck, but it proved to be no one but a large and ugly old woodrat that had lately grown so cross and savage that all the little creatures of the big green woods were afraid of him. doctor rabbit was very glad indeed that it was that particular old woodrat, because he had really become dangerous. brushtail dropped the woodrat down before the little foxes, and how they did did begin pulling and biting him! mrs. brushtail up on the log smiled ever so broadly at this. but it was not a pleasing smile to doctor rabbit, hiding in the briar patch. i should say not! it was a terrible smile. the next instant yappy came tearing through the woods, right toward the thicket, and doctor rabbit had a moment of hope. but mrs. brushtail just uttered one quick, low growl, and every little fox scurried into the thicket. that time doctor rabbit had a good view of the inside of the thicket, and he saw what became of the foxes. they went into a hole under some rocks by a large papaw bush. "so that," said doctor rabbit to himself, "is where mr. and mrs. brushtail and their little brushies have their den." brushtail did not run into the thicket with mrs. brushtail and the little foxes. when he saw yappy coming toward the thicket he ran right toward the excited dog and then hid behind another thicket. when yappy came near, brushtail sprang right out, and away he ran. yappy bayed loudly, and away he went through the woods after brushtail. you see now what brushtail was doing--he was leading yappy away from that den of little foxes! jack rabbit sprains his foot when mrs. brushtail and the four little brushies ran into the hole in the thicket and father brushtail ran away through the woods with yappy in hot pursuit, doctor rabbit decided he had better be going. he had discovered a great deal anyway, and now he wanted to find some of his friends and tell them about it. doctor rabbit decided first to go over to the wide prairie and see his friend jack rabbit. doctor rabbit was not much afraid to cross the wide prairie, now that ki-yi coyote was gone and brushtail the fox was busy, for the time at least. doctor rabbit had not been over to see jack rabbit's family for a long time, and he was considerably surprised to find jack rabbit laid up with a sprained foot. jack rabbit said he had sprained his foot the day before while running from some terrible creature that looked somewhat like ki-yi coyote and just a little like a dog, but not exactly like either of them. "he had a large, bushy tail," jack rabbit explained, "and his coat was a reddish-brown color. he jumped out from behind some bunch grass and came at me so swiftly that i jumped and turned quickly. and that was how i sprained my foot. he certainly is a fierce and dangerous creature, and i wondered if any of the rest of you had seen him," jack rabbit concluded. "indeed we have," doctor rabbit replied. "i'll bandage your foot now," he continued, "and then we can talk about this new enemy. mrs. jack rabbit," doctor rabbit said looking at her over his gold glasses, "i'll thank you for that bottle of chloroform liniment i left here some time ago." mrs. jack rabbit brought out the bottle of liniment, and after doctor rabbit had bathed jack rabbit's foot with some of the liniment he bandaged it quite snugly. "that feels fine!" said jack rabbit, getting right up and standing on all four feet. "i'm so glad you came over, doctor. that foot feels so good i know i can dance a little jig!" and jack rabbit started to dance a little, but he said, "ouch!" right away, and everybody laughed, even jack rabbit. his foot was not quite well enough for dancing. then doctor rabbit said, "i told you some of the rest of us had seen that same animal that chased you, jack rabbit. i am sure it was the same animal, from the way you describe him. it is brushtail the fox. he has just lately moved into the big green woods, and intends to make his home there right along. what makes the matter worse for all of us is that not only has mr. brushtail come, but he has brought his whole family!" "oh, dear me!" exclaimed mrs. jack rabbit. "i thought _one_ of them was enough. but all of them--well, that makes it pretty serious for us." "but it might be worse," said doctor rabbit, who always sees the bright side of everything. "you see," he continued, "four of those foxes are so small that they are harmless. besides, farmer roe and his boy are on the lookout for that whole fox family, and they may get rid of them in a very short time. i thought once," doctor rabbit continued, "of letting yappy run me right to that thicket where the fox family lives. but if i did, brushtail or mrs. brushtail would surely be right there to lead yappy away off into the woods. no, if farmer roe or his boy doesn't stumble onto their den, i'll have to think up some way myself to get rid of that fox family. i'll bring my imagination into play," said doctor rabbit smilingly, and somewhat proudly, too. "what does 'magination' mean, sir?" little billy rabbit asked wonderingly. "it means," said doctor rabbit, "that you must think and think and think until you think out something quite new." then doctor rabbit patted all the little rabbits on the head, except billy rabbit whom he chucked under the chin, as he bade them all a very pleasant good morning. "keep a sharp lookout, and don't worry," doctor rabbit said with a smile as he left. "if farmer roe does not get rid of that fox family, i'll think out some way myself." and he ran like a gray streak back across the wide prairie toward the big green woods. doctoring little thomas woodchuck the next morning quite early doctor rabbit received a call to visit a new woodchuck family that had recently moved into the north part of the big green woods. doctor rabbit told father woodchuck, who came over after him, that he would be along in a very few moments. then he shut the door and began to get ready. doctor rabbit always dressed with especial care when he was called to a new family. he got out his silk hat and brushed it carefully. he curled his mustache until it looked just right. then he put on his finest pair of gold glasses, which he kept laid away for such occasions. he looked very handsome, i can tell you, in his new blue coat, his bright red trousers, and his finest pair of soft white shoes. he surely did. doctor rabbit was ready. he picked up his best medicine case, filled with the finest of medicines, and started toward the home of the new family of woodchucks. when doctor rabbit reached the place he found it was one of the youngsters who was sick. in fact, it was thomas woodchuck, the pet of the family. his name was not just tommy; it was thomas, and everybody called him that. doctor rabbit sat down by the bed and said, "let me see your tongue, thomas." you see, doctor rabbit had asked what thomas' name was. he always did this. it helped the children not to feel afraid of him. little thomas woodchuck put out his tongue. "i see! i see! that will do, thomas," said doctor rabbit cheerfully. "your tongue is badly coated. your pulse is pretty rapid, too." then doctor rabbit thumped all around over little thomas woodchuck, just as the men doctors thump around over little boys and girls when they are sick. only doctor rabbit did not have to thump so long. he could always find out in a hurry what was the trouble. doctor rabbit looked very wisely over his fine gold glasses at all the rest of the family who were standing about and said, "mr. and mrs. woodchuck, your son has some stomach trouble from eating too many of those raw peanuts farmer roe has stored in his cob house!" well, sir, that was exactly the truth. they all wondered how doctor rabbit knew what thomas had eaten. but doctor rabbit just had his eyes open, and put two and two together. he knew the peanuts were in farmer roe's cob house because he had taken a few of them himself now and then. and then he saw a lot of peanut hulls right under the cover of the bed where little thomas woodchuck lay. "thomas," said doctor rabbit, laughing, "you must not eat so many of those peanuts. why, there will be none left for me!" then little thomas woodchuck and the whole family laughed, and they all felt better. but doctor rabbit gave thomas three big black pills and told him to swallow them all at once. thomas did, and they were so bitter he tried to spit them out after he had swallowed them, but he could not do it, of course, and so they went right to work curing him. "you will be quite well tomorrow, thomas," doctor rabbit said cheerfully, and the whole woodchuck family breathed easier. then mrs. woodchuck said, "doctor, i hear two terrible foxes have come into our woods." doctor rabbit frowned at mrs. woodchuck to make her keep still about the foxes near thomas, for fear he might be frightened. he was always very careful about this when visiting his patients. "well, i must be going. goodbye, thomas," doctor rabbit said, just as if he had not heard mrs. woodchuck. then when he was out in the kitchen he whispered very low to father and mother woodchuck: "yes, two terrible foxes have come into the big green woods, but i did not want thomas to hear. but don't you worry, mrs. woodchuck," doctor rabbit went on, because he saw how troubled she looked, "don't you worry a bit, i thought of a scheme to get rid of ki-yi coyote and also of tom wildcat, and if farmer roe does not get rid of mr. and mrs. brushtail, i will. good morning!" and doctor rabbit slipped out of the door and was gone. listening to the brushtails it was a mighty good thing that doctor rabbit kept a sharp lookout on his way home from the woodchuck house. if he had not been watching he might have run right into mr. and mrs. brushtail, who stood talking behind a large elm tree. doctor rabbit heard them and saw them at the same time. he was so close that he was afraid even to run. so he crept noiselessly under a dense leafy thicket near at hand. doctor rabbit was pretty badly scared, because there was not a briar patch anywhere near. so he did the safest thing. he crouched down on the ground, kept still, and listened. mr. and mrs. brushtail, talking behind the tree, never dreamed, of course, that there was anybody close by listening. they talked pretty softly, but doctor rabbit was so near that he could hear every word they said. brushtail was talking. "yes," he said, "that dog has a very sharp nose, and he is bound to find our den sooner or later. so i think, mrs. fox, we had better move you and the children clear out of these woods. i'll take you to a new den in the woods away off up the river. there is not much in the way of rabbits and woodchucks and chickens up there, but i'll keep on spending most of my time down here. you see, i can catch the rabbits and woodchucks and chickens, and carry them up to you." "very well, dear," said mrs. brushtail, "i think that is an excellent plan. when shall we move?" "this very day," brushtail said. "we'll get the young foxes right away and start off with them. the sooner we get them out of here, the better it will be for all of us." mr. and mrs. brushtail trotted off toward the thicket in which they had their den. doctor rabbit was still a little scared, but he believed he would follow at a distance and see for himself whether mr. and mrs. brushtail actually did move the little foxes. mr. and mrs. brushtail went into the thicket, and in a very short time came out again. and sure enough, each of them carried a little fox by the back of its neck. they walked across the shallow murmuring brook and laid the two little brushies down on the other side in a thicket. then they came back and carried the other two little brushies over in the same way. as they went past him this last time doctor rabbit heard brushtail say to mrs. brushtail, "you can just wait with them in the thicket on the other side of murmuring brook until i carry two of them up the river to the new den. when i come back we can carry the other two." you see, foxes can carry their baby foxes by the back of the neck and not hurt them at all. well, doctor rabbit was glad and hungry at the same time. he now hurried right over to the nice, tender blue grass under the big sycamore tree. there he found chatty red squirrel, cheepy chipmunk, and quite a number of his other friends, who all wanted to know at once if doctor rabbit had found out anything more about mr. fox. doctor rabbit did know a great deal, as you know, and he told his friends he would tell them. but he added that he was so hungry he would have to eat while he talked. doctor rabbit is a great person to eat grass, anyway. "it seems as though i never can get enough!" he said every now and then. doctor rabbit tells some good news chatty red squirrel, cheepy chipmunk, and all the rest of doctor rabbit's friends who were gathered under the big sycamore tree were certainly very happy when doctor rabbit told them that mrs. brushtail and all the little brushies were leaving the big green woods for good. "as the matter stands now," doctor rabbit said, "we've nobody but brushtail to look out for. but he's surely enough! i should say he is! and if farmer roe does not get him soon, i'm going to keep right on thinking of some plan to get him out of here. we can't scare him as we did tom wildcat. brushtail is too cunning for that. he'd just laugh at us if we painted signs and put them up on our doors, no matter _what_ was painted on the signs. i heard brushtail tell mrs. brushtail that he would not live in that thicket any more. he said he would get himself a new den not far off and probably a little nearer to the murmuring brook. so you see we could not lead yappy to brushtail now if we wanted to. and i am afraid yappy will be a good while in finding brushtail's new den. i may find it," doctor rabbit continued, "but i'd never risk trying to lead yappy to it, and jack rabbit has a sprained foot, so he can't. but from the way he talked to me, i don't think he'd be willing to try it even if his foot weren't sprained." brushtail the fox seized her by the neck "possibly," suggested chatty red squirrel, "brushtail will not have a fallen tree near his new den, nor any other way of making yappy lose the trail. and possibly yappy will smell along old brushtail's trail and find him right in his den." "don't you ever think brushtail will be foolish enough to walk straight along the ground to his den," said doctor rabbit. "he's far too wise for that, no matter where his den is. no, sir, he will make big jumps sidewise and walk back on his trail and walk in big circles, and better still, walk for a distance in the murmuring brook. ah! he'll do a whole lot of things before he goes into his den. of course," doctor rabbit said softly, "it is possible farmer roe may trap old brushtail. i saw him working with a trap only this morning." a foolish old hen several days after doctor rabbit had talked to his friends under the big sycamore tree he was hopping along near the edge of the big green woods when he saw brushtail the fox hiding behind a tree and looking toward farmer roe's house. doctor rabbit crept under a big brush pile and looked in the same direction. what do you suppose brushtail was watching? well, he was looking at a big plymouth rock hen coming across the field right toward the place where he lay hidden. now, if doctor rabbit had had something better than a brush pile to hide under, he might have made some sort of noise and warned the hen. but if he had made the least sound, brushtail would have come diving under that brush pile in a second, for he isn't afraid of brush piles as he is of briar patches. pretty soon the hen reached the woods. she stretched up her neck and looked around, but not seeing anything she started into the woods for some crickets. she had gone only a few steps when brushtail the fox bounded out, seized her by the neck, and ran off through the big green woods. doctor rabbit followed along behind, going hoppity, hoppity, hoppity, and presently he saw brushtail splashing along in the murmuring brook. he was trotting along in the brook for a distance, for, you see, a hound cannot smell a fox's tracks in the water; and so yappy could not track him. doctor rabbit stopped and looked. he saw brushtail finally cross to the other side of the murmuring brook. brushtail then turned and looked back to see if anybody was following him. he did not see anyone, so, still holding the dead hen in his mouth, he trotted out of sight among the trees. of course doctor rabbit knew what brushtail was going to do. he was going to take that hen up the river to mrs. brushtail and the little brushies. when brushtail had passed out of sight, doctor rabbit did not go home at once. no, he sat down to think. he was trying to think out a way to drive old brushtail out of the big green woods. he sat there and thought ever and ever so long. sometimes he thought so hard he scratched his head without knowing it. at other times he curled his mustache. so he thought and thought, but after a long time he said he would have to give it up for this time. he was not discouraged, for he could tell from the various things he had thought of that something would turn up after a while to help him work out a plan that would get rid of brushtail the fox. that was one fine thing about doctor rabbit--he would not give up. he kept right on trying. well, for the next two days doctor rabbit was busy doctoring the little chipmunk children. they had got into farmer roe's apple orchard and had eaten a lot of green apples, in spite of the fact that mother chipmunk had told jimmy chipmunk, her oldest, that he and the rest of the children should not eat green apples. doctor rabbit lays a trap the day after doctor rabbit cured the little chipmunk children, he thought of a new plan for catching brushtail the fox, and he decided to try it at once. doctor rabbit knew very well that somehow he must drive brushtail out of the big green woods. none of the little creatures would be safe for a moment until this was done. yes, cruel, sly old brushtail must be driven away, and everything depended on our clever doctor rabbit. as doctor rabbit started hopping along through the woods he said quietly to himself, "of course this scheme i have in mind may not work. but it is worth trying anyway. i won't tell any of my friends about it, and then if i don't catch brushtail they won't be disappointed. but if i _do_ catch him!" right here doctor rabbit stopped and laughed and laughed. "my," he continued, "if i _do_ catch him, won't stubby woodchuck and cheepy chipmunk and all the others be surprised! well, i should say they _will_ be surprised!" and doctor rabbit went hopping along, chuckling to himself and feeling mighty fine. he is always happy when he has thought of a plan to get rid of some big, cruel animal. doctor rabbit kept going until he came to a part of the big green woods where the murmuring brook was widest and deepest. he knew just what he was looking for, too. you see, farmer roe's boy had been setting his fishing lines here every night. each morning he would pull his lines out of the water, take the fish off, and then leave one or two of the lines lying on the bank until evening. doctor rabbit wanted one of these fishing lines, and when he reached the place, sure enough, there was a long, stout fishing line lying right on the ground. there were some hooks on the end of the line, but doctor rabbit did not want these, so with his sharp teeth he cut them off. then he picked up the line and took it some distance away to a big thicket. here doctor rabbit began making a loop in one end of that fishing line and chuckling as he worked. well, in just a little while he had that loop all fixed. then he spread out the loop, which was made so it would slip, on a nice patch of open ground near the thicket. the other end of the line he hid in the thicket. then he went over to the edge of the murmuring brook. he moved along the edge of the brook and watched ever so carefully. now what do you suppose doctor rabbit was looking for this time? well, sir, he was looking for a live fish. he saw several and made a grab for them, but they all got away. but doctor rabbit is very patient, and presently he seized a nice one and carried it, wiggling in his mouth, back to the loop he had made in that line. he dropped the small fish in the center of the loop. the fish didn't jump much now; it only wiggled and flapped its tail a little, and that was just what doctor rabbit wanted it to do. he ran into the thicket where the other end of the line was and waited for brushtail the fox to come along. as doctor rabbit waited and listened he heard footsteps approaching. he peeped out to see who it was. it wasn't brushtail at all; it was ray coon. and my, you should have seen mr. coon run for that fish when he saw it! "hurrah!" ray coon shouted. "some one has lost a fish. here's my breakfast right here!" and he was just about to pounce upon the fish when he was almost scared out of his wits by doctor rabbit calling out, "boo! let that fish alone, neighbor! i put it there to catch brushtail the fox! come here, into the thicket." and so ray coon, looking rather foolish, went into the thicket where doctor rabbit was hiding. "keep right still!" doctor rabbit whispered to his friend. "i was going to try to catch old brushtail all by myself," he continued, "but now that you have happened along you'd better stay, for i may need some help." "how are you going to catch him, doctor rabbit?" ray coon asked. and doctor rabbit just pointed one foot out toward the loop and the squirming fish. then ray coon understood, and how he did chuckle! he was just as much amused as was doctor rabbit and they both laughed and laughed, but they had to be very quiet, of course, because at any minute brushtail might come along. suddenly doctor rabbit peeked out and whispered, "sh! sh! keep as still as anything! there comes old brushy now. and yes, he's coming this way!" brushtail the fox is almost caught doctor rabbit and ray coon kept perfectly quiet in the thicket and watched brushtail the fox as he came creeping along. when he saw the fish lying in that loop, my, how wide brushtail's eyes did open! the fish jumped and squirmed just enough to make brushtail want it very badly. he was so delighted that he stood up on his hind legs and danced toward the fish. "ha! ha!" he laughed. "it was probably old bald eagle who flew over the woods and dropped his fish! ha! ha! ha! that's luck for me--a fine fish for breakfast. and i did not have to get my feet wet to catch it." then brushtail began to sing: "great flying bald eagle caught a fish, and flew away to eat him; but down it fell through green treetops, and brushy fox will cheat him!" brushtail finished his song and jumped for the fish. he jumped, of course, right into that loop doctor rabbit had made in the stout fishing cord. well, sir, just as soon as brushtail's feet touched the ground inside that loop, doctor rabbit and ray coon jerked the line as quickly and as firmly as they could. the loop slipped up and caught brushtail around the body. my, but he was surprised and scared! i should say he was! he forgot the fish instantly, and he yelled ever so loud, "let me go," although he did not know, of course, just what it was that had caught him. the way he yelled and started pulling to get away was so funny that doctor rabbit and ray coon laughed until they could scarcely hold the line. they wrapped the line around their paws and held on as hard as ever they could. and my, how brushtail did dig his claws into the ground and pull! when he found he couldn't free himself he was more frightened than ever and shouted (because, you see, he could not see what held him), "you let go of me, you old ghost, or goblin man! you let go of me or i'll claw you to pieces! let go of me or i'll come back there and pull all your hair out, and i'll throw you in the briars so far you'll never get out and they will stick you forever!" and all the time brushtail was talking this he was digging his claws into the ground and pulling with all his might. doctor rabbit could not have held him alone, but ray coon is pretty plump and stout, and he helped a great deal. but brushtail pulled so hard that he pulled them right out of the thicket before they knew it! doctor rabbit was so anxious to hold brushtail that he cried right out, "hold him, ray coon! hold on to him! hold on to him!" then doctor rabbit saw his mistake, for when brushtail the fox heard that voice he stopped pulling and turned around quickly. when he turned toward them, ray coon seized the fish, and he and doctor rabbit ran for their lives. and brushtail was close behind them. doctor rabbit skipped away as easily as could be, and ray coon, with the fish in his mouth, started up a tree. brushtail ran for ray coon and gave a big spring for him. he almost got him, too, for he bit him on the hind foot. but ray coon managed to get up on a limb just out of reach. brushtail was so angry at losing the fish and being completely fooled that he jumped several times as high as he could, but he could not jump quite high enough. so ray coon just sat there and ate that fish right before brushtail's eyes. "this is an extra good fish," ray coon called down, as he gobbled it up. "it's extra good, brushy. but you didn't want it anyway, did you? ha! ha! ha!" then old brushtail was angrier than before. he pulled the loop off of his body with his teeth and snarled, "all right for this time--you and that big fat rabbit fooled me. he's pretty clever, but he'll not fool me again. and the _next_ time i'll get both of you. i'll eat rabbit and coon both at one meal. in about three days i'll get both of you!" and with an angry growl old brushtail the fox went off into the woods. after a while doctor rabbit ventured out of his hiding place and hopped over to the tree which ray coon had climbed. "brushtail has gone off toward the murmuring brook," doctor rabbit said. "come on down and let me doctor your foot where he bit you. i see it's bleeding a little." ray coon came right down and laughed as he said, "my foot isn't hurt much, doctor, and it will soon be well if you put some of your yellow salve on it." "of course it will," doctor rabbit agreed, as he took some salve from his medicine case. he bandaged ray's foot in a few minutes. but all the time that he was bandaging it, he kept a sharp lookout for brushtail. "he's very sly," doctor rabbit said, "and i am certain that right this minute he is planning some scheme to catch us or some of our friends." "that's so," ray coon replied, looking at the bushes around him somewhat nervously. "i do wish," he continued, "that we could think of some plan to get rid of him for good. then we could live happily and have our fun as we used to do." "don't you worry, neighbor coon," doctor rabbit chuckled as he picked up his medicine case and looked at ray coon over his big glasses. "don't you worry," he repeated, "i'll have a plan all in good time, and right now i'm going in the direction he went, to see what he is up to!" ray coon seemed a little nervous again as he said, "well, do be careful, whatever you do, doctor, because he looked terribly cruel, you remember." "ha! ha! ha!" jolly doctor rabbit laughed as he started away, waving a paw at ray coon, "i'll take care of myself--never fear. and i'll take care of old brushy fox, too! ha! ha! ha! yes, i'll see what he's doing now. perhaps i shall catch him right away." and doctor rabbit slipped away in the direction in which brushtail had gone. an exciting chase you remember that doctor rabbit started out to find brushtail the fox and watch him. well, it was not long before brushtail was found, and it certainly was exciting for doctor rabbit to watch what happened. this is the way it happened. it was yappy who found brushtail. doctor rabbit was hopping along, looking for brushtail, when yappy came tearing through the woods and almost ran into brushtail. you see, brushtail saw yappy coming, but he thought yappy would pass by because he had not as yet smelled the trail. these things brushtail always knows. but yappy passed so close he smelled fox, and then brushtail certainly did have to jump and run. doctor rabbit just sprang up on the trunk of a fallen tree to watch the race. all of a sudden he saw farmer roe and his boy running toward yappy, and with them was another big dog which joined in the chase after brushtail. "it's a fox! a fox! it's that old fox!" shouted farmer roe's boy. "catch him, yappy! catch him! catch him!" the second big hound turned brushtail back so that he almost ran into farmer roe before he saw him. farmer roe threw a stick at brushtail but missed him. "catch him, yappy, catch him!" shouted farmer roe. "he'll steal all my hens if you don't." away they all ran after brushtail the fox--farmer roe and his boy yelling, and both hounds barking. "my!" exclaimed doctor rabbit as he sat on the fallen tree, "i certainly do hope they'll catch him!" and just at that moment it looked as if they _would_ catch brushtail. he was in such a great hurry that in trying to jump across a wide ditch in the woods he fell right into it. and yappy was almost upon him. "yappy's got him!" shouted farmer roe's boy. "yappy's got him!" but brushtail was not to be caught so easily. he sprang out of that hole in a flash, and away he ran like the wind. as doctor rabbit watched, brushtail ran out of sight in the woods, and the barking of the hounds and the voices of farmer roe and his boy sounded farther and farther away. doctor rabbit sat and waited, for he thought they might turn brushtail back and run him past the fallen tree. but after a while they seemed farther away than ever, and he could just barely hear yappy barking on the trail. doctor rabbit just sat still and waited. he knew that brushtail the fox was one of the slyest creatures in the woods, and he was pretty sure now that he would get away for this time at least. "i should not be surprised if he came sneaking back right around here. and still," doctor rabbit said hopefully, "yappy _may_ get him. i'll just wait for a time and see what does happen." several times as doctor rabbit sat there he heard a noise in the bushes near by and each time he looked quickly in that direction. but it must have been the wind blowing the leaves, for he did not see anything. once, however, doctor rabbit was really startled. a big woodrat ran through some dead leaves and made a good deal of noise. he stopped and looked at doctor rabbit and asked, "are you waiting for some one?" "yes," doctor rabbit replied, "i'm waiting for brushtail the fox; i'm expecting him any time." "brushtail the fox!" exclaimed the woodrat. "well, _i'm_ not going to wait for him!" and he hurried away as fast as he could. then doctor rabbit heard another noise. some creature was creeping through the bushes not far off. he was coming nearer, too. the big gray goose gets away doctor rabbit sat on the trunk of the fallen tree and never moved a muscle as he listened to the animal creeping through the thicket. every now and then it would stop, and there was not a sound; then it would move again, and all the time it kept coming nearer and nearer. doctor rabbit has a way of twitching his nose most of the time, but as he sat there he did not even move his nose. no, sir! he was as still as the tree trunk on which he sat. he kept his eyes right on the place from which the sounds of the creeping animal came. and then his heart gave a thump and beat very fast--for out of the thicket came old brushtail himself! he looked all about carefully, and then sat down panting, tired out from his long run. but after he was somewhat rested, brushtail got up and grinned. he looked out in the woods in the direction where yappy and the other hound were still running and barking. "ha! ha! ha!" brushtail chuckled softly. "they've lost my trail. i knew they would when i walked down the murmuring brook. well," he continued, "i'll just look around a bit for something to eat. perhaps i can find that big fat rabbit." it happened that brushtail started right for the fallen tree where doctor rabbit sat, and doctor rabbit was just about to spring off and run when something else happened. farmer roe's big gray goose came near. she was eating some tender green grass blades and never dreamed that a fox was near. but brushtail saw her and started creeping toward her. doctor rabbit could not bear to see that big gray goose gobbled up, so he shouted as loud as he could, "look out, gray goose! brushtail the fox is going to get you! he's coming! he's coming!" now, as you may know, a tame goose cannot fly very far, but many of them can fly a short distance, and fly fairly high too. the gray goose was terribly frightened, and instantly began flapping her great wings. she flew just high enough in the air so that brushtail missed him when he sprang. if the murmuring brook had not been near, that gray goose would surely have been caught, because, as i have said, she cannot fly very far; but as it was she managed to fly across the brook. then she came to the ground again and ran screaming and flapping her wings toward farmer roe's. she got out of the woods in a few moments and brushtail the fox did not catch her. now when doctor rabbit shouted, brushtail turned quickly and saw him, but knowing that he could not catch both of them, he sprang for the gray goose. but brushtail did not swim across murmuring brook. he knew it would take him too long, and he saw that he could not catch the gray goose after all. so he turned from the edge of the brook and started back after doctor rabbit. my, but brushtail was angry at doctor rabbit! "it was that big fat rabbit that made me miss my dinner!" snarled brushtail. "i saw him sitting on that fallen tree. it was he who warned that silly goose!" and brushtail ran swiftly to the fallen tree, and darted quickly all around it. he sprang into the near-by thickets and charged under some small brush piles. in fact, he raced around and hunted in every spot where he thought doctor rabbit might be hiding, and all the time he kept up an angry growl. "i'll get him; i'll get him," brushtail kept snarling. "i'll get that big fat rabbit if it takes me a week!" brushtail the fox finds the traps a few days after doctor rabbit had helped farmer roe's big gray goose to escape from brushtail the fox, doctor rabbit saw something that interested him greatly. farmer roe was working at something out in the woods. there was a briar patch near by, so doctor rabbit crept into this and watched. yes, sir! farmer roe was actually setting a trap, or rather, he was setting four traps. and he was surely arranging things so that if brushtail could ever be fooled at all he could be fooled here, or so it seemed, at least. farmer roe had chosen a low place in the woods, full of the finest white sand. he staked the traps and set them in the sand, and covered them all over with sand so that they could not be seen. then he dragged an old cow's head right in the center of the four traps. now, you see, it looked just as if some animal had been eating the cow's head and had left it right in that nice fine white sand. and if mr. fox should happen along, it looked as if he might try to go right up to that head. then he would be sure to step into one of those traps! well, all the rest of that day and most of the night doctor rabbit watched those traps and that cow's head. at last, far along in the night, he heard a noise in the bushes close by. the moon shone very brightly through the trees, and on that patch of white sand and the cow's head. a dark form came slipping out of the shadows and kept coming nearer. pretty soon doctor rabbit saw who it was. it was brushtail the fox. brushtail sniffed toward the cow's head and said, "well, well, fresh beef! this is pretty fine!" and he began walking around and around that cow's head. but he seemed a little suspicious, for he did not walk right up to the head. still, he kept getting closer and closer. and then, all of a sudden, he stumbled over something. "hello! what's this!" brushtail exclaimed. he dug around a little in the sand, then said, "oho, i see! it's a stake i stumbled over, and here is a chain and--why sure enough! there's a trap fastened to the chain. ha! ha! ha! no beef to-night, thank you! i'll just wait. perhaps some foolish animal will drag that head away and hide it. then i'll just help myself. sooner or later i'll get that head!" and brushtail trotted away. it was a queer procession! but he did not go far until he stopped and sniffed again in the direction of the cow's head. "my!" exclaimed brushtail, "that meat certainly does smell good, so good that i am almost tempted to go back and try to get it. but i'm afraid. i'll just wait as i said. and i'll get that cow's head as sure as anything." and laughing to himself because he believed he was so clever, brushtail stole softly away into the woods. well, brushtail _is_ clever, but some one else was just a bit cleverer, and that was doctor rabbit. getting together of course doctor rabbit was greatly disappointed when brushtail the fox discovered that there was a trap set in the sand, because he had thought surely brushtail would be caught. then, after brushtail had gone away, doctor rabbit suddenly thought of something. yes, sir! it came to him in an instant--a plan to get rid of brushtail the fox! and the plan was suggested to doctor rabbit by brushtail's remark, "perhaps some foolish animal will drag that head away and hide it. then i'll just help myself." well, as soon as it was daylight, doctor rabbit hurried right over to jack rabbit's, told him what his plan was, and brought jack rabbit back with him. then doctor rabbit hurried around through the big green woods telling his friends. he told stubby woodchuck, cheepy chipmunk, chatty red squirrel, frisky grey squirrel, robin-the-red, o. possum, busy blue jay, jim crow, and quite a number of others. he asked them all to come about the middle of the forenoon to the place where farmer roe had placed the cow's head, as he would need every one of them at about that time. immediately doctor rabbit and jack rabbit hurried away toward farmer roe's back lot. they squeezed under a board fence and began looking for something. "here it is!" doctor rabbit said, picking up a stout piece of rope that had been part of a clothes-line. "i knew it was in here somewhere," jack rabbit said, "for i saw it just yesterday." "now," said doctor rabbit, "let's go back to the woods and find that slim hickory tree that has a grapevine hanging from the top." they ran into the woods, and after a little search found the hickory. they hid the rope they had found and hurried over to the cow's head in the sand. there they found all the other little creatures. after a great deal of very careful work, doctor rabbit, jack rabbit, and o. possum managed to get the cow's head outside the circle of traps. then every one of doctor rabbit's friends helped to pull and push the cow's head. it was a queer procession! after quite a while they succeeded in pushing and pulling the cow's head to the slim hickory tree. doctor rabbit told them now to push it into a near-by thicket, and they did. fat o. possum exclaimed, "whew, i'm tired. now let's eat the head!" everybody but o. possum laughed at that, and doctor rabbit said, "no, brother possum, not just yet, but you are helping wonderfully, and tomorrow morning i think you can have this head all to yourself. i think we'll be rid of brushtail the fox by that time." doctor rabbit now grabbed hold of the grapevine that hung from the top of the hickory, and he and all his friends pulled and pulled until they bent the top of the hickory down to the thicket. then, while his friends held the tree-top down, doctor rabbit made a snare or loop of the rope he had found, and arranged it in the thicket so that if brushtail got to the cow's head he would have to step through the snare, or slip noose. finally, doctor rabbit tied the tree rather loosely to a small twig of the thicket and told his friends to step back carefully, because the least thing would make the tree fly up as it was before and take that snare with it. brushtail the fox discovers the cow's head doctor rabbit and all his friends stood back and watched to see whether the tree would fly back, but it did not. it held as firm and quiet as could be. "now," said doctor rabbit, "old brushy will come back to where that head was, and, seeing it gone, he will naturally think that o. possum or somebody has dragged it away. so brushtail will smell along the ground where we have dragged the head, and he will finally find it right here. i have hidden the noose in the thicket so that mister fox will not notice it, and he'll walk right in to get that head. in doing so, he'll put his head through that noose and pull on it, trying to get to the head. well, when mr. brushtail pulls, he'll break that slender twig that holds the tree down, because that twig is about ready to break as it is. then we'll see what'll happen!" "let's hurry away now," doctor rabbit added. "if foxy brushtail happened to see all of us here at once he might become suspicious. i'll come back soon and watch, and if anything happens i'll let all of you know at once." so away went stubby woodchuck and o. possum and all the others, talking quietly yet excitedly, and now and then laughing a little. they said they hoped brushtail would come soon, and they also said that something just told them away down deep in their hearts that brushtail was surely going to be caught this time. and all that day they could scarcely eat, they were so eager to know whether brushtail would get caught in that noose in the thicket. doctor rabbit hid not far from the cow's head and waited all day. then he went to supper and came quickly back. pretty soon night came, and the big round moon came up. along about midnight doctor rabbit heard a sound. pit-a-pat! pit-a-pat! pit-a-pat! some one was coming along slowly through the woods! then, as the form came nearer, doctor rabbit saw brushtail the fox trotting along with his sharp nose to the ground, smelling the trail where that cow's head had been dragged. well, sir, brushtail went right up to the thicket where the noose was. then he laughed and laughed and laughed. "well, well, well!" said brushtail. "i guess i'm just a little too smart for anybody around these woods. ha! ha! ha! it's just as i thought. that silly old fat possum or somebody has been foolish enough to walk right in among those traps that farmer roe set and drag that head up here. well, i'll just go on into this thicket and bring that head out and take charge of it myself. there's enough meat to last me several days." and brushtail started into the thicket. what happened to brushtail the fox when brushtail the fox started into the thicket to get the cow's head he never dreamed, of course, that there was anything there to catch him. so he plunged right into the thicket. _swish!_ up went that tall, slim hickory tree, and brushtail with it! you never heard such a yell as brushtail gave. he yelled so loudly that all the little creatures of the big green woods were awakened, and doctor rabbit did not have to call them. they all came running toward the place where the snare had been set. even jack rabbit, away out in the wide prairie, heard brushtail yell, and here came jack rabbit running as fast as he could. in a little time all the little creatures of the big green woods were there. now, you see, brushtail had put his front legs through that noose, so that it held him around the body just behind his fore legs. the rope did not hurt him much, although it pulled considerably. so he dangled up there and howled, while all the little creatures below shouted and danced for joy. of course, when brushtail saw all the little creatures come so quickly, he knew a trick had been played upon him, but he was too badly scared to be angry. i should say he was! he was about scared out of his wits when that tree jerked him up into the air, and he was about as badly scared now as ever, because he could not see how he was ever going to get down from there. "let me down! let me down! let me down!" brushtail shouted, clawing wildly at the air. "oh yes!" said doctor rabbit. "i suppose we'll let you down, foxy brushy. i suppose we know what you would do to us mighty quick if you caught us. yes, it's likely we'll let you down. ha! ha! ha!" and doctor rabbit and all his friends danced around under the tree and laughed and laughed. "i'll go out of these woods and never, never, never come back if you'll just let me down!" brushtail promised; and he really meant it. this was just what doctor rabbit was waiting to hear brushtail say. but doctor rabbit said, "we'll go over to my house for a little while and talk the matter over." and, with brushtail begging them to come back and let him down, they all hurried over to doctor rabbit's house in the big tree. when they were inside doctor rabbit seated them all in his best chairs. then he stood up and said, "my friends, i just wanted to have you all come over here and stay until morning. the fact is, that while brushtail is pretty badly scared, he is not hurt much yet, and we must hurt him, at least a little, or he may forget his promise and come back to our woods. by morning, however, i think he will have learned a lesson he never will forget, and i think he'll keep out." so they talked and had a good time at doctor rabbit's until morning. it was just daylight when they went back to the slim hickory. brushtail was still hanging there, and when he saw them how he did yell to be let down! "very well, brother brushy," doctor rabbit said, "we'll let you down, and if you ever come back into our woods again--" "oh," yelled brushtail before doctor rabbit could say another word, "i'll never, never, never come back if i can get down. i'd rather live on crickets and bugs all my life than to take chances." but brushtail did not say any more, because he wanted to get down right away. "o. possum," said doctor rabbit, "if you'll go up and gnaw that rope in two so that old brushtail can drop to the ground, you may have that cow's head all for yourself." "i'll do that," o. possum said, and he began climbing the tree. presently o. possum was above brushtail, and began gnawing the rope. "oh, dear me!" shouted brushtail after o. possum had gnawed for a time. "it's an awfully long way to the ground, i'm afraid!" and then o. possum got the rope gnawed right in two. _plunk_! brushtail struck the ground. well, sir, he got right up and started to run. he was so stiff he could not run well at first, but the farther he went the faster he ran. after he got across the murmuring brook he went away through the woods on the other side like a streak. i don't know of anything that could have scared brushtail and made him _stay_ scared as that snare did. brushtail the fox never came around the big green woods after that. doctor rabbit and his friends were certainly glad and happy. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- the greenwoods series doctor rabbit and tom wildcat doctor rabbit and ki-yi coyote doctor rabbit and grumpy bear doctor rabbit and brushtail the fox doctor rabbit and slinky the black wolf doctor rabbit and old bill horned owl ---------------------------------------------------------------------- transcriber's notes . punctuation has been normalized to contemporary standards. . "the greenwoods series" relocated from before title page to end of text. . "contents" and "illustrations" lists were not present in original text. . repeated word in original "did did" ("how they did begin"). [illustration] the tale of peter rabbit by beatrix potter [illustration] frederick warne frederick warne first published frederick warne & co., printed and bound in great britain by william clowes limited, beccles and london [illustration] [illustration] once upon a time there were four little rabbits, and their names were-- flopsy, mopsy, cotton-tail, and peter. they lived with their mother in a sand-bank, underneath the root of a very big fir-tree. 'now my dears,' said old mrs. rabbit one morning, 'you may go into the fields or down the lane, but don't go into mr. mcgregor's garden: your father had an accident there; he was put in a pie by mrs. mcgregor.' [illustration] [illustration] 'now run along, and don't get into mischief. i am going out.' then old mrs. rabbit took a basket and her umbrella, and went through the wood to the baker's. she bought a loaf of brown bread and five currant buns. [illustration] [illustration] flopsy, mopsy, and cottontail, who were good little bunnies, went down the lane to gather blackberries: but peter, who was very naughty, ran straight away to mr. mcgregor's garden, and squeezed under the gate! [illustration] [illustration] first he ate some lettuces and some french beans; and then he ate some radishes; and then, feeling rather sick, he went to look for some parsley. [illustration] [illustration] but round the end of a cucumber frame, whom should he meet but mr. mcgregor! mr. mcgregor was on his hands and knees planting out young cabbages, but he jumped up and ran after peter, waving a rake and calling out, 'stop thief!' [illustration] [illustration] peter was most dreadfully frightened; he rushed all over the garden, for he had forgotten the way back to the gate. he lost one of his shoes among the cabbages, and the other shoe amongst the potatoes. after losing them, he ran on four legs and went faster, so that i think he might have got away altogether if he had not unfortunately run into a gooseberry net, and got caught by the large buttons on his jacket. it was a blue jacket with brass buttons, quite new. [illustration] [illustration] peter gave himself up for lost, and shed big tears; but his sobs were overheard by some friendly sparrows, who flew to him in great excitement, and implored him to exert himself. mr. mcgregor came up with a sieve, which he intended to pop upon the top of peter; but peter wriggled out just in time, leaving his jacket behind him. [illustration] [illustration] and rushed into the tool-shed, and jumped into a can. it would have been a beautiful thing to hide in, if it had not had so much water in it. mr. mcgregor was quite sure that peter was somewhere in the tool-shed, perhaps hidden underneath a flower-pot. he began to turn them over carefully, looking under each. presently peter sneezed--'kertyschoo!' mr. mcgregor was after him in no time. [illustration] [illustration] and tried to put his foot upon peter, who jumped out of a window, upsetting three plants. the window was too small for mr. mcgregor, and he was tired of running after peter. he went back to his work. peter sat down to rest; he was out of breath and trembling with fright, and he had not the least idea which way to go. also he was very damp with sitting in that can. after a time he began to wander about, going lippity--lippity--not very fast, and looking all round. [illustration] [illustration] he found a door in a wall; but it was locked, and there was no room for a fat little rabbit to squeeze underneath. an old mouse was running in and out over the stone doorstep, carrying peas and beans to her family in the wood. peter asked her the way to the gate, but she had such a large pea in her mouth that she could not answer. she only shook her head at him. peter began to cry. then he tried to find his way straight across the garden, but he became more and more puzzled. presently, he came to a pond where mr. mcgregor filled his water-cans. a white cat was staring at some gold-fish, she sat very, very still, but now and then the tip of her tail twitched as if it were alive. peter thought it best to go away without speaking to her; he had heard about cats from his cousin, little benjamin bunny. [illustration] [illustration] he went back towards the tool-shed, but suddenly, quite close to him, he heard the noise of a hoe--scr-r-ritch, scratch, scratch, scritch. peter scuttered underneath the bushes. but presently, as nothing happened, he came out, and climbed upon a wheelbarrow and peeped over. the first thing he saw was mr. mcgregor hoeing onions. his back was turned towards peter, and beyond him was the gate! peter got down very quietly off the wheelbarrow; and started running as fast as he could go, along a straight walk behind some black-currant bushes. mr. mcgregor caught sight of him at the corner, but peter did not care. he slipped underneath the gate, and was safe at last in the wood outside the garden. [illustration] [illustration] mr. mcgregor hung up the little jacket and the shoes for a scare-crow to frighten the blackbirds. peter never stopped running or looked behind him till he got home to the big fir-tree. he was so tired that he flopped down upon the nice soft sand on the floor of the rabbit-hole and shut his eyes. his mother was busy cooking; she wondered what he had done with his clothes. it was the second little jacket and pair of shoes that peter had lost in a fortnight! [illustration] i am sorry to say that peter was not very well during the evening. his mother put him to bed, and made some camomile tea; and she gave a dose of it to peter! 'one table-spoonful to be taken at bed-time.' [illustration] [illustration] but flopsy, mopsy, and cotton-tail had bread and milk and blackberries for supper. the end team. [illustration] [illustration] the tale of the flopsy bunnies by beatrix potter _author of "the tale of peter rabbit," &c._ [illustration] frederick warne & co., inc. new york for all little friends of mr. mcgregor & peter & benjamin [illustration] it is said that the effect of eating too much lettuce is "soporific." _i_ have never felt sleepy after eating lettuces; but then _i_ am not a rabbit. they certainly had a very soporific effect upon the flopsy bunnies! when benjamin bunny grew up, he married his cousin flopsy. they had a large family, and they were very improvident and cheerful. i do not remember the separate names of their children; they were generally called the "flopsy bunnies." [illustration] [illustration] as there was not always quite enough to eat,--benjamin used to borrow cabbages from flopsy's brother, peter rabbit, who kept a nursery garden. sometimes peter rabbit had no cabbages to spare. [illustration] [illustration] when this happened, the flopsy bunnies went across the field to a rubbish heap, in the ditch outside mr. mcgregor's garden. mr. mcgregor's rubbish heap was a mixture. there were jam pots and paper bags, and mountains of chopped grass from the mowing machine (which always tasted oily), and some rotten vegetable marrows and an old boot or two. one day--oh joy!--there were a quantity of overgrown lettuces, which had "shot" into flower. [illustration] the flopsy bunnies simply stuffed lettuces. by degrees, one after another, they were overcome with slumber, and lay down in the mown grass. benjamin was not so much overcome as his children. before going to sleep he was sufficiently wide awake to put a paper bag over his head to keep off the flies. the little flopsy bunnies slept delightfully in the warm sun. from the lawn beyond the garden came the distant clacketty sound of the mowing machine. the bluebottles buzzed about the wall, and a little old mouse picked over the rubbish among the jam pots. (i can tell you her name, she was called thomasina tittlemouse, a woodmouse with a long tail.) [illustration] [illustration] she rustled across the paper bag, and awakened benjamin bunny. the mouse apologized profusely, and said that she knew peter rabbit. while she and benjamin were talking, close under the wall, they heard a heavy tread above their heads; and suddenly mr. mcgregor emptied out a sackful of lawn mowings right upon the top of the sleeping flopsy bunnies! benjamin shrank down under his paper bag. the mouse hid in a jam pot. [illustration] [illustration] the little rabbits smiled sweetly in their sleep under the shower of grass; they did not awake because the lettuces had been so soporific. they dreamt that their mother flopsy was tucking them up in a hay bed. mr. mcgregor looked down after emptying his sack. he saw some funny little brown tips of ears sticking up through the lawn mowings. he stared at them for some time. presently a fly settled on one of them and it moved. mr. mcgregor climbed down on to the rubbish heap-- "one, two, three, four! five! six leetle rabbits!" said he as he dropped them into his sack. the flopsy bunnies dreamt that their mother was turning them over in bed. they stirred a little in their sleep, but still they did not wake up. [illustration] [illustration] mr. mcgregor tied up the sack and left it on the wall. he went to put away the mowing machine. while he was gone, mrs. flopsy bunny (who had remained at home) came across the field. she looked suspiciously at the sack and wondered where everybody was? [illustration] then the mouse came out of her jam pot, and benjamin took the paper bag off his head, and they told the doleful tale. benjamin and flopsy were in despair, they could not undo the string. but mrs. tittlemouse was a resourceful person. she nibbled a hole in the bottom corner of the sack. [illustration] the little rabbits were pulled out and pinched to wake them. their parents stuffed the empty sack with three rotten vegetable marrows, an old blacking-brush and two decayed turnips. [illustration] then they all hid under a bush and watched for mr. mcgregor. [illustration] mr. mcgregor came back and picked up the sack, and carried it off. he carried it hanging down, as if it were rather heavy. the flopsy bunnies followed at a safe distance. [illustration] they watched him go into his house. and then they crept up to the window to listen. [illustration] mr. mcgregor threw down the sack on the stone floor in a way that would have been extremely painful to the flopsy bunnies, if they had happened to have been inside it. they could hear him drag his chair on the flags, and chuckle-- "one, two, three, four, five, six leetle rabbits!" said mr. mcgregor. [illustration] [illustration] "eh? what's that? what have they been spoiling now?" enquired mrs. mcgregor. "one, two, three, four, five, six leetle fat rabbits!" repeated mr. mcgregor, counting on his fingers--"one, two, three--" "don't you be silly; what do you mean, you silly old man?" "in the sack! one, two, three, four, five, six!" replied mr. mcgregor. (the youngest flopsy bunny got upon the window-sill.) mrs. mcgregor took hold of the sack and felt it. she said she could feel six, but they must be _old_ rabbits, because they were so hard and all different shapes. "not fit to eat; but the skins will do fine to line my old cloak." "line your old cloak?" shouted mr. mcgregor--"i shall sell them and buy myself baccy!" "rabbit tobacco! i shall skin them and cut off their heads." [illustration] mrs. mcgregor untied the sack and put her hand inside. when she felt the vegetables she became very very angry. she said that mr. mcgregor had "done it a purpose." [illustration] and mr. mcgregor was very angry too. one of the rotten marrows came flying through the kitchen window, and hit the youngest flopsy bunny. it was rather hurt. [illustration] then benjamin and flopsy thought that it was time to go home. [illustration] so mr. mcgregor did not get his tobacco, and mrs. mcgregor did not get her rabbit skins. [illustration] but next christmas thomasina tittlemouse got a present of enough rabbit-wool to make herself a cloak and a hood, and a handsome muff and a pair of warm mittens. [illustration] [illustration] the tale of the flopsy bunnies by beatrix potter f. warne & co the adventures of old mr. toad by thornton w. burgess with illustrations by harrison cady contents chapter i. jimmy skunk is puzzled ii. jimmy skunk consults his friends iii. the hunt for old mr. toad iv. peter rabbit finds old mr. toad v. old mr. toad's music bag vi. peter discovers something more vii. a shadow passes over the smiling pool viii. old mr. toad's babies ix. the smiling pool kindergarten x. the little toads start out to see the world xi. old mr. toad's queer tongue xii. old mr. toad shows his tongue xiii. peter rabbit is impolite xiv. old mr. toad disappears xv. old mr. toad gives peter a scare xvi. jimmy skunk is surprised xvii. old mr. toad's mistake xviii. jimmy skunk is just in time xix. old mr. toad gets his stomach full xx. old mr. toad is puffed up xxi. old mr. toad receives another invitation xxii. old mr. toad learns a lesson xxiii. old mr. toad is very humble list of illustrations "can you tell me where all these little toads came from?" "do you see anything queer about him?" he asked "if he don't watch out, he'll blow up and bust!" exclaimed jimmy his funny little tongue darted out, and the fly was gone "can't talk with common folks any more," he muttered "i am a little warm," replied mr. toad in his most polite manner the adventures of old mr. toad i jimmy skunk is puzzled old mother west wind had just come down from the purple hills and turned loose her children, the merry little breezes, from the big bag in which she had been carrying them. they were very lively and very merry as they danced and raced across the green meadows in all directions, for it was good to be back there once more. old mother west wind almost sighed as she watched them for a few minutes. she felt that she would like to join them. always the springtime made her feel this way,--young, mad, carefree, and happy. but she had work to do. she had to turn the windmill to pump water for farmer brown's cows, and this was only one of many mills standing idle as they waited for her. so she puffed her cheeks out and started about her business. jimmy skunk sat at the top of the hill that overlooks the green meadows and watched her out of sight. then he started to amble down the lone little path to look for some beetles. he was ambling along in his lazy way, for you know he never hurries, when he heard some one puffing and blowing behind him. of course he turned to see who it was, and he was greatly surprised when he discovered old mr. toad. yes, sir, it was old mr. toad, and he seemed in a great hurry. he was quite short of breath, but he was hopping along in the most determined way as if he were in a great hurry to get somewhere. now it is a very unusual thing for mr. toad to hurry, very unusual indeed. as a rule he hops a few steps and then sits down to think it over. jimmy had never before seen him hop more than a few steps unless he was trying to get away from danger, from mr. blacksnake for instance. of course the first thing jimmy thought of was mr. blacksnake, and he looked for him. but there was no sign of mr. blacksnake nor of any other danger. then he looked very hard at old mr. toad, and he saw right away that old mr. toad didn't seem to be frightened at all, only very determined, and as if he had something important on his mind. "well, well," exclaimed jimmy skunk, "whatever has got into those long hind legs of yours to make them work so fast?" old mr. toad didn't say a word, but simply tried to get past jimmy and keep on his way. jimmy put out one hand and turned old mr. toad right over on his back, where he kicked and struggled in an effort to get on his feet again, and looked very ridiculous. "don't you know that it isn't polite not to speak when you are spoken to?" demanded jimmy severely, though his eyes twinkled. "i--i beg your pardon. i didn't have any breath to spare," panted old mr. toad. "you see i'm in a great hurry." "yes, i see," replied jimmy. "but don't you know that it isn't good for the health to hurry so? now, pray, what are you in such a hurry for? i don't see anything to run away from." "i'm not running away," retorted old mr. toad indignantly. "i've business to attend to at the smiling pool, and i'm late as it is." "business!" exclaimed jimmy as if he could hardly believe his ears. "what business have you at the smiling pool?" "that is my own affair," retorted old mr. toad, "but if you really want to know, i'll tell you. i have a very important part in the spring chorus, and i'm going down there to sing. i have a very beautiful voice." that was too much for jimmy skunk. he just lay down and rolled over and over with laughter. the idea of any one so homely, almost ugly-looking, as mr. toad thinking that he had a beautiful voice! "ha, ha, ha! ho, ho, ho!" roared jimmy. when at last he stopped because he couldn't laugh any more, he discovered that old mr. toad was on his way again. hop, hop, hipperty-hop, hop, hop, hipperty-hop went mr. toad. jimmy watched him, and he confessed that he was puzzled. ii jimmy skunk consults his friends jimmy skunk scratched his head thoughtfully as he watched old mr. toad go down the lone little path, hop, hop, hipperty-hop, towards the smiling pool. he certainly was puzzled, was jimmy skunk. if old mr. toad had told him that he could fly, jimmy would not have been more surprised, or found it harder to believe than that old mr. toad had a beautiful voice. the truth is, jimmy didn't believe it. he thought that old mr. toad was trying to fool him. presently peter rabbit came along. he found jimmy skunk sitting in a brown study. he had quite forgotten to look for fat beetles, and when he forgets to do that you may make up your mind that jimmy is doing some hard thinking. "hello, old striped-coat, what have you got on your mind this fine morning?" cried peter rabbit. "him," said jimmy simply, pointing down the lone little path. peter looked. "do you mean old mr. toad!" he asked. jimmy nodded. "do you see anything queer about him?" he asked in his turn. [illustration: "do you see anything queer about him?" he asked.] peter stared down the lone little path. "no," he replied, "except that he seems in a great hurry." "that's just it," jimmy returned promptly. "did you ever see him hurry unless he was frightened?" peter confessed that he never had. "well, he isn't frightened now, yet just look at him go," retorted jimmy. "says he has got a beautiful voice, and that he has to take part in the spring chorus at the smiling pool and that he is late." peter looked very hard at jimmy to see if he was fooling or telling the truth. then he began to laugh. "old mr. toad sing! the very idea!" he cried. "he can sing about as much as i can, and that is not at all." jimmy grinned. "i think he's crazy, if you ask me," said he. "and yet he was just as earnest about it as if it were really so. i think he must have eaten something that has gone to his head. there's unc' billy possum over there. let's ask him what he thinks." so jimmy and peter joined unc' billy, and jimmy told the story about old mr. toad all over again. unc' billy chuckled and laughed just as they had at the idea of old mr. toad's saying he had a beautiful voice. but unc' billy has a shrewd little head on his shoulders. after a few minutes he stopped laughing. "ah done learn a right smart long time ago that ah don' know all there is to know about mah neighbors," said he. "we-uns done think of brer toad as ugly-lookin' fo' so long that we-uns may have overlooked something. ah don' reckon brer toad can sing, but ah 'lows that perhaps he thinks he can. what do you-alls say to we-uns going down to the smiling pool and finding out what he really is up to?" "the very thing!" cried peter, kicking up his heels. you know peter is always ready to go anywhere or do anything that will satisfy his curiosity. jimmy skunk thought it over for a few minutes, and then he decided that as he hadn't anything in particular to do, and as he might find some fat beetles on the way, he would go too. so off they started after old mr. toad, peter rabbit in the lead as usual, unc' billy possum next, grinning as only he can grin, and in the rear jimmy skunk, taking his time and keeping a sharp eye out for fat beetles. iii the hunt for old mr. toad now, though old mr. toad was hurrying as fast as ever he could and was quite out of breath, he wasn't getting along very fast compared with the way peter rabbit or jimmy skunk or unc' billy possum could cover the ground. you see he cannot make long jumps like his cousin, grandfather frog, but only little short hops. so peter and jimmy and unc' billy took their time about following him. they stopped to hunt for fat beetles for jimmy skunk, and at every little patch of sweet clover for peter rabbit to help himself. once they wasted a lot of time while unc' billy possum hunted for a nest of carol the meadow lark, on the chance that he would find some fresh eggs there. he didn't find the nest for the very good reason that carol hadn't built one yet. peter was secretly glad. you know he doesn't eat eggs, and he is always sorry for his feathered friends when their eggs are stolen. half way across the green meadows they stopped to play with the merry little breezes, and because it was very pleasant there, they played longer than they realized. when at last they started on again, old mr. toad was out of sight. you see all the time he had kept right on going, hop, hop, hipperty-hop. "never mind," said peter, "we can catch up with him easy enough, he's such a slow-poke." but even a slow-poke who keeps right on doing a thing without wasting any time always gets somewhere sooner or later, very often sooner than those who are naturally quicker, but who waste their time. so it was with old mr. toad. he kept right on, hop, hop, hipperty-hop, while the others were playing, and so it happened that when at last peter and jimmy and unc' billy reached the smiling pool, they hadn't caught another glimpse of old mr. toad. "do you suppose he hid somewhere, and we passed him?" asked peter. unc' billy shook his head. "ah don' reckon so," said he. "we-uns done been foolin' away our time, an' brer toad done stole a march on us. ah reckons we-uns will find him sittin' on the bank here somewhere." so right away the three separated to look for old mr. toad. all along the bank of the smiling pool they looked. they peeped under old leaves and sticks. they looked in every place where old mr. toad might have hidden, but not a trace of him did they find. "tra-la-la-lee! oka-chee! oka-chee! happy am i as i can be!" sang mr. redwing, as he swayed to and fro among the bulrushes. "say, mr. redwing, have you seen old mr. toad?" called peter rabbit. "no," replied mr. redwing. "is that whom you fellows are looking for? i wondered if you had lost something. what do you want with old mr. toad?" peter explained how they had followed old mr. toad just to see what he really was up to. "of course we know that he hasn't any more voice than i have," declared peter, "but we are curious to know if he really thinks he has, and why he should be in such a hurry to reach the smiling pool. it looks to us as if the spring has made old mr. toad crazy." "oh, that's it, is it?" replied mr. redwing, his bright eyes twinkling. "some people don't know as much as they might. i've been wondering where old mr. toad was, and i'm ever so glad to learn that he hasn't forgotten that he has a very important part in our beautiful spring chorus." then once more mr. redwing began to sing. iv peter rabbit finds old mr. toad it isn't often that peter rabbit is truly envious, but sometimes in the joyousness of spring he is. he envies the birds because they can pour out in beautiful song the joy that is in them. the only way he can express his feelings is by kicking his long heels, jumping about, and such foolish things. while that gives peter a great deal of satisfaction, it doesn't add to the joy of other people as do the songs of the birds, and you know to give joy to others is to add to your own joy. so there are times when peter wishes he could sing. he was wishing this very thing now, as he sat on the bank of the smiling pool, listening to the great spring chorus. "tra-la-la-lee! oka-chee! oka-chee! there's joy in the spring for you and for me." sang redwing the blackbird from the bulrushes. from over in the green meadows rose the clear lilt of carol the meadow lark, and among the alders just where the laughing brook ran into the smiling pool a flood of happiness was pouring from the throat of little friend the song sparrow. winsome bluebird's sweet, almost plaintive, whistle seemed to fairly float in the air, so that it was hard to say just where it did come from, and in the top of the big hickory-tree, welcome robin was singing as if his heart were bursting with joy. even sammy jay was adding a beautiful, bell-like note instead of his usual harsh scream. as for the smiling pool, it seemed as if the very water itself sang, for a mighty chorus of clear piping voices from unseen singers rose from all around its banks. peter knew who those singers were, although look as he would he could see none of them. they were hylas, the tiny cousins of stickytoes the tree toad. listening to all these joyous voices, peter forgot for a time what had brought him to the smiling pool. but jimmy skunk and unc' billy possum didn't forget. they were still hunting for old mr. toad. "well, old mr. dreamer, have you found him yet?" asked jimmy skunk, stealing up behind peter and poking him in the back. peter came to himself with a start. "no," said he. "i was just listening and wishing that i could sing, too. don't you ever wish you could sing, jimmy?" "no," replied jimmy. "i never waste time wishing i could do things it was never meant i should do. it's funny where old mr. toad is. he said that he was coming down here to sing, and redwing the blackbird seemed to be expecting him. i've looked everywhere i can think of without finding him, but i don't believe in giving up without another try. stop your dreaming and come help us hunt." so peter stopped his dreaming and joined in the search. now there was one place where neither peter nor jimmy nor unc' billy had thought of looking. that was in the smiling pool itself. they just took it for granted that old mr. toad was somewhere on the bank. presently peter came to a place where the bank was very low and the water was shallow for quite a little distance out in the smiling pool. from out of that shallow water came the piping voice of a hyla, and peter stopped to stare, trying to see the tiny singer. suddenly he jumped right up in the air with surprise. there was a familiar-looking head sticking out of the water. peter had found old mr. toad! v old mr. toad's music bag never think that you have learned all there is to know. that's the surest way of all ignorance to show. "i've found old mr. toad!" cried peter rabbit, hurrying after jimmy skunk. "where?" demanded jimmy. "in the water," declared peter. "he's sitting right over there where the water is shallow, and he didn't notice me at all. let's get unc' billy, and then creep over to the edge of the smiling pool and watch to see if old mr. toad really does try to sing." so they hunted up unc' billy possum, and the three stole very softly over to the edge of the smiling pool, where the bank was low and the water shallow. sure enough, there sat old mr. toad with just his head out of water. and while they were watching him, something very strange happened. "what--what's the matter with him?" whispered peter, his big eyes looking as if they might pop out of his head. "if he don't watch out, he'll blow up and bust!" exclaimed jimmy. [illustration: "if he don't watch out, he'll blow up and bust!" exclaimed jimmy.] "listen!" whispered unc' billy possum. "do mah ol' ears hear right? 'pears to me that that song is coming right from where brer toad is sitting." it certainly did appear so, and of all the songs that glad spring day there was none sweeter. indeed there were few as sweet. the only trouble was the song was so very short. it lasted only for two or three seconds. and when it ended, old mr. toad looked quite his natural self again; just as commonplace, almost ugly, as ever. peter looked at jimmy skunk, jimmy looked at unc' billy possum, and unc' billy looked at peter. and no one had a word to say. then all three looked back at old mr. toad. and even as they looked, his throat began to swell and swell and swell, until it was no wonder that jimmy skunk had thought that he was in danger of blowing up. and then, when it stopped swelling, there came again those beautiful little notes, so sweet and tremulous that peter actually held his breath to listen. there was no doubt that old mr. toad was singing just as he had said he was going to, and it was just as true that his song was one of the sweetest if not _the_ sweetest of all the chorus from and around the smiling pool. it was very hard to believe, but peter and jimmy and unc' billy both saw and heard, and that was enough. their respect for old mr. toad grew tremendously as they listened. "how does he do it?" whispered peter. "with that bag under his chin, of course," replied jimmy skunk. "don't you see it's only when that is swelled out that he sings? it's a regular music bag. and i didn't know he had any such bag there at all." "i wish," said peter rabbit, feeling of his throat, "that i had a music bag like that in my throat." and then he joined in the laugh of jimmy and unc' billy, but still with something of a look of wistfulness in his eyes. vi peter discovers something more there are stranger things in the world to-day than ever you dreamed could be. there's beauty in some of the commonest things if only you've eyes to see. ever since peter rabbit was a little chap and had first ran away from home, he had known old mr. toad, and never once had peter suspected that he could sing. also he had thought old mr. toad almost ugly-looking, and he knew that most of his neighbors thought the same way. they were fond of old mr. toad, for he was always good-natured and attended strictly to his own affairs; but they liked to poke fun at him, and as for there being anything beautiful about him, such a thing never entered their heads. now that they had discovered that he really has a very beautiful voice, they began to look on him with a great deal more respect. this was especially so with peter. he got in the habit of going over to the smiling pool every day, when the way was clear, just to sit on the bank and listen to old mr. toad. "why didn't you ever tell us before that you could sing?" he asked one day, as old mr. toad looked up at him from the smiling pool. "what was the use of wasting my breath?" demanded old mr. toad. "you wouldn't have believed me if i had. you didn't believe me when i did tell you." peter knew that this was true, and he couldn't find any answer ready. at last he ventured another question. "why haven't i ever heard you sing before?" "you have," replied old mr. toad tartly. "i sang right in this very place last spring, and the spring before, and the spring before that. you've sat on that very bank lots of times while i was singing. the trouble with you, peter, is that you don't use your eyes or your ears." peter looked more foolish than ever. but he ventured another question. it wouldn't be peter to let a chance for questions go by. "have i ever heard you singing up on the meadows or in the old orchard?" "no," replied old mr. toad, "i only sing in the springtime. that's the time for singing. i just _have_ to sing then. in the summer it is too hot, and in the winter i sleep. i always return to my old home to sing. you know i was born here. all my family gathers here in the spring to sing, so of course i come too." old mr. toad filled out his queer music bag under his chin and began to sing again. peter watched him. now it just happened that old mr. toad was facing him, and so peter looked down straight into his eyes. he never had looked into mr. toad's eyes before, and now he just stared and stared, for it came over him that those eyes were very beautiful, very beautiful indeed. "oh!" he exclaimed, "what beautiful eyes you have, mr. toad!" "so i've been told before," replied old mr. toad. "my family always has had beautiful eyes. there is an old saying that every toad has jewels in his head, but of course he hasn't, not real jewels. it is just the beautiful eyes. excuse me, peter, but i'm needed in that chorus." old mr. toad once more swelled out his throat and began to sing. peter watched him a while longer, then hopped away to the dear old briarpatch, and he was very thoughtful. "never again will i call anybody homely and ugly until i know all about him," said peter, which was a very wise decision. don't you think so? vii a shadow passes over the smiling pool here's what mr. toad says; heed it well, my dear: "time to watch for clouds is when the sky is clear." he says that that is the reason that he lives to a good old age, does old mr. toad. i suppose he means that when the sky is cloudy, everybody is looking for rain and is prepared for it, but when the sun is shining, most people forget that there is such a thing as a storm, so when it comes suddenly very few are prepared for it. it is the same way with danger and trouble. so old mr. toad very wisely watches out when there seems to be the least need of it, and he finds it always pays. it was a beautiful spring evening. over back of the purple hills to which old mother west wind had taken her children, the merry little breezes, and behind which jolly, round, red mr. sun had gone to bed, there was still a faint, clear light. but over the green meadows and the smiling pool the shadows had drawn a curtain of soft dusk which in the green forest became black. the little stars looked down from the sky and twinkled just to see their reflections twinkle back at them from the smiling pool. and there and all around it was perfect peace. jerry muskrat swam back and forth, making little silver lines on the surface of the smiling pool and squeaking contentedly, for it was the hour which he loves best. little friend the song sparrow had tucked his head under his wing and gone to sleep among the alders along the laughing brook and redwing the blackbird had done the same thing among the bulrushes. all the feathered songsters who had made joyous the bright day had gone to bed. but this did not mean that the glad spring chorus was silent. oh, my, no! no indeed! the green meadows were silent, and the green forest was silent, but as if to make up for this, the sweet singers of the smiling pool, the hylas and the frogs and old mr. toad, were pouring out their gladness as if they had not been singing most of the departed day. you see it was the hour they love best of all, the hour which seems to them just made for singing, and they were doing their best to tell old mother nature how they love her, and how glad they were that she had brought back sweet mistress spring to waken them from their long sleep. it was so peaceful and beautiful there that it didn't seem possible that danger of any kind could be lurking near. but old mr. toad, swelling out that queer music bag in his throat and singing with all his might, never once forgot that wise saying of his, and so he was the first to see what looked like nothing so much as a little detached bit of the blackness of the green forest floating out towards the smiling pool. instantly he stopped singing. now that was a signal. when he stopped singing, his nearest neighbor stopped singing, then the next one and the next, and in a minute there wasn't a sound from the smiling pool save the squeak of jerry muskrat hidden among the bulrushes. that great chorus stopped as abruptly as the electric lights go out when you press a button. back and forth over the smiling pool, this way and that way, floated the shadow, but there was no sign of any living thing in the smiling pool. after awhile the shadow floated away over the green meadows without a sound. "hooty the owl didn't get one of us that time," said old mr. toad to his nearest neighbor with a chuckle of satisfaction. then he swelled out his music bag and began to sing again. and at once, as abruptly as it had stopped, the great chorus began again as joyous as before, for nothing had happened to bring sadness as might have but for the watchfulness of old mr. toad. viii old mr. toad's babies the smiling pool's a nursery where all the sunny day a thousand funny babies are taught while at their play. really the smiling pool is a sort of kindergarten, one of the most interesting kindergartens in the world. little joe otter's children learn to swim there. so do jerry muskrat's babies and those of billy mink, the trout and minnow babies, and a lot more. and there you will find the children and grandchildren of grandfather frog and old mr. toad. peter rabbit had known for a long time about the frog babies, but though he knew that old mr. toad was own cousin to grandfather frog, he hadn't known anything about toad babies, except that at a certain time in the year he was forever running across tiny toads, especially on rainy days, and each little toad was just like old mr. toad, except for his size. peter had heard it said that toads rain down from the sky, and sometimes it seems as if this must be so. of course he knew it couldn't be, but it puzzled him a great deal. there wouldn't be a toad in sight. then it would begin to rain, and right away there would be so many tiny toads that it was hard work to jump without stepping on some. he remembered this as he went to pay his daily call on old mr. toad in the smiling pool and listen to his sweet song. he hadn't seen any little toads this year, but he remembered his experiences with them in other years, and he meant to ask about them. old mr. toad was sitting in his usual place, but he wasn't singing. he was staring at something in the water. when peter said "good morning," old mr. toad didn't seem to hear him. he was too much interested in what he was watching. peter stared down into the water to see what was interesting old mr. toad so much, but he saw nothing but a lot of wriggling tadpoles. "what are you staring at so, mr. sobersides?" asked peter, speaking a little louder than before. old mr. toad turned and looked at peter, and there was a look of great pride in his face. "i'm just watching my babies. aren't they lovely?" said he. peter stared harder than ever, but he couldn't see anything that looked like a baby toad. "where are they?" asked he. "i don't see any babies but those of grandfather frog, and if you ask me, i always did think tadpoles about the homeliest things in th' world." old mr. toad grew indignant. "those are not grandfather frog's children; they're mine!" he sputtered. "and i'll have you know that they are the most beautiful babies in th' world!" peter drew a hand across his mouth to hide a smile. "i beg your pardon, mr. toad," said he. "i--i thought all tadpoles were frog babies. they all look alike to me." "well, they're not," declared old mr. toad. "how any one can mistake my babies for their cousins i cannot understand. now mine are beautiful, while--" "chug-arum!" interrupted the great deep voice of grandfather frog. "what are you talking about? why, your babies are no more to be compared with my babies for real beauty than nothing at all! i'll leave it to peter if they are." but peter wisely held his tongue. to tell the truth, he couldn't see beauty in any of them. to him they were all just wriggling pollywogs. they were more interesting now, because he had found out that some of them were toads and some were frogs, and he hadn't known before that baby toads begin life as tadpoles, but he had no intention of being drawn into the dispute now waxing furious between grandfather frog and old mr. toad. ix the smiling pool kindergarten play a little, learn a little, grow a little too; that's what every pollywoggy tries his best to do. of course. that's what a kindergarten is for. and you may be sure that the babies of grandfather frog and old mr. toad and stickytoes the tree toad did all of these things in the kindergarten of the smiling pool. they looked considerably alike, did these little cousins, for they were all pollywogs to begin with. peter rabbit came over every day to watch them. always he had thought pollywogs just homely, wriggling things, not the least bit interesting, but since he had discovered how proud of them were grandfather frog and old mr. toad, he had begun to wonder about them and then to watch them. "there's one thing about them, and that is they are not in danger the way any babies are," said peter, talking to himself as is his way when there is no one else to talk to. just then a funny little black pollywog wriggled into sight, and while peter was watching him, a stout-jawed water-beetle suddenly rushed from among the water grass, seized the pollywog by his tail, and dragged him down. peter stared. could it be that that ugly-looking bug was as dangerous an enemy to the baby toad as reddy fox is to a baby rabbit? he began to suspect so, and a little later he knew so, for there was that same little pollywog trying hard to swim and making bad work of it, because he had lost half of his long tail. that set peter to watching sharper than ever, and presently he discovered that pollywogs have to keep their eyes open quite as much as do baby rabbits, if they would live to grow up. there were several kinds of queer, ugly-looking bugs forever darting out at the wriggling pollywogs. hungry-looking fish lay in wait for them, and longlegs the blue heron seemed to have a special liking for them. but the pollywogs were spry, and seemed to have learned to watch out. they seemed to peter to spend all their time swimming and eating and growing. they grew so fast that it seemed to him that he could almost _see_ them grow. and just imagine how surprised peter was to discover one day that that very pollywog which he had seen lose his tail had grown a _new_ one. that puzzled peter more than anything he had seen in a long time. "why, i couldn't do that!" he exclaimed right out loud. "do what?" demanded jerry muskrat, who happened along just then. "why, grow a new tail like that pollywog," replied peter, and told jerry all that he had seen. jerry laughed. "you'll see queerer things than that if you watch those pollywogs long enough," said he. "they are a queer lot of babies, and very interesting to watch if you've got the time for it. i haven't. this smiling pool is a great kindergarten, and there's something happening here every minute. there's no place like it." "are those great big fat pollywogs grandfather frog's children, or old mr. toad's?" asked peter. "grandfather frog's last year's children," replied jerry. "they'll grow into real frogs this summer, if nothing happens to them." "where are old mr. toad's last year's children?" asked peter. "don't ask me," replied jerry. "they hopped away last summer. never saw anything like the way those toad youngsters grow. those toad pollywogs you see now will turn into real toads, and be leaving the smiling pool in a few weeks. people think old mr. toad is slow, but there is nothing slow about his children. look at that little fellow over there; he's begun to grow legs already." peter looked, and sure enough there was a pollywog with a pair of legs sprouting out. they were his fore legs, and they certainly did make him look funny. and only a few days before there hadn't been a sign of legs. "my gracious!" exclaimed peter. "what a funny sight! i thought my babies grew fast, but these beat them." x the little toads start out to see the world the world is a wonderful great big place and in it the young must roam to learn what their elders have long since learned-- there's never a place like home. it had been some time since peter rabbit had visited the smiling pool to watch the pollywogs. but one cloudy morning he happened to think of them, and decided that he would run over there and see how they were getting along. so off he started, lipperty-lipperty-lip. he wondered if those pollywog children of old mr. toad would be much changed. the last time he saw them some of them had just begun to grow legs, although they still had long tails. he had almost reached the smiling pool when great big drops of rain began to splash down. and with those first raindrops something funny happened. anyway, it seemed funny to peter. right away he was surrounded by tiny little toads. everywhere he looked he saw toads, tiny little toads just like old mr. toad, only so tiny that one could have sat comfortably on a ten-cent piece and still had plenty of room. peter's big eyes grew round with surprise as he stared. where had they all come from so suddenly? a minute before he hadn't seen a single one, and now he could hardly move without stepping on one. it seemed, it really seemed, as if each raindrop turned into a tiny toad the instant it struck the ground. of course peter knew that that couldn't be, but it was very puzzling. and all those little toads were bravely hopping along as if they were bound for some particular place. peter watched them for a few minutes, then he once more started for the smiling pool. on the very bank whom should he meet but old mr. toad. he looked rather thin, and his back was to the smiling pool. yes, sir, he was hopping away from the smiling pool where he had been all the spring, singing in the great chorus. peter was almost as surprised to see him as he had been to see the little toads, but just then he was most interested in those little toads. "good morning, old mr. toad," said peter in his most polite manner. "can you tell me where all these little toads came from?" [illustration: "can you tell me where all these little toads came from?"] "certainly," replied old mr. toad. "they came from the smiling pool, of course. where did you suppose they came from?" "i--i didn't know. there wasn't one to be seen, and then it began to rain, and right away they were everywhere. it--it almost seemed as if they had rained down out of the sky." old mr. toad chuckled. "they've got good sense, if i must say it about my own children," said he. "they know that wet weather is the only weather for toads to travel in. they left the smiling pool in the night while it was damp and comfortable, and then, when the sun came up, they hid, like sensible children, under anything they could find, sticks, stones, pieces of bark, grass. the minute this shower came up, they knew it was good traveling weather and out they popped." "but what did they leave the smiling pool for?" peter asked. "to see the great world," replied old mr. toad. "foolish, very foolish of them, but they would do it. i did the same thing myself when i was their age. couldn't stop me any more than i could stop them. they don't know when they're well off, but young folks never do. fine weather, isn't it?" xi old mr. toad's queer tongue old mother nature doth provide for all her children, large or small. her wisdom foresees all their needs and makes provision for them all. if you don't believe it, just you go ask old mr. toad, as peter rabbit did, how such a slow-moving fellow as he is can catch enough bugs and insects to keep him alive. perhaps you'll learn something just as peter did. peter and old mr. toad sat in the rain watching the tiny toads, who, you know, were mr. toad's children, leaving their kindergarten in the smiling pool and starting out to see the great world. when the last little toad had passed them, old mr. toad suddenly remembered that he was hungry, very hungry indeed. "didn't have time to eat much while i was in the smiling pool," he explained. "couldn't eat and sing too, and while i was down there, i was supposed to sing. now that it is time to quit singing, i begin to realize that i've got a stomach to look out for as well as a voice. see that bug over there on that leaf? watch him." peter looked, and sure enough there was a fat bug crawling along on an old leaf. he was about two inches from old mr. toad, and he was crawling very fast. and right while peter was looking at him he disappeared. peter turned to look at old mr. toad. he hadn't budged. he was sitting exactly where he had been sitting all the time, but he was smacking his lips, and there was a twinkle of satisfaction in his eyes. peter opened his eyes very wide. "wha--what--" he began. "nice bug," interrupted old mr. toad. "nicest bug i've eaten for a longtime." "but i didn't see you catch him!" protested peter, looking at old mr. toad as if he suspected him of joking. "anything wrong with your eyes?" inquired old mr. toad. "no," replied peter just a wee bit crossly. "my eyes are just as good as ever." "then watch me catch that fly over yonder," said old mr. toad. he hopped towards a fly which had lighted on a blade of grass just ahead. about two inches from it he stopped, and so far as peter could see, he sat perfectly still. but the fly disappeared, and it wasn't because it flew away, either. peter was sure of that. as he told mrs. peter about it afterwards, "it was there, and then it wasn't, and that was all there was to it." old mr. toad chuckled. "didn't you see that one go, peter?" he asked. peter shook his head. "i wish you would stop fooling me," said peter. "the joke is on me, but now you've had your laugh at my expense, i wish you would tell me how you do it. please, mr. toad." now when peter said please that way, of course old mr. toad couldn't resist him. nobody could. "here comes an ant this way. now you watch my mouth instead of the ant and see what happens," said old mr. toad. peter looked and saw a big black ant coming. then he kept his eyes on old mr. toad's mouth. suddenly there was a little flash of red from it, so tiny and so quick that peter couldn't be absolutely sure that he saw it. but when he looked for the ant, it was nowhere to be seen. peter looked at old mr. toad very hard. "do you mean to tell me, mr. toad, that you've got a tongue long enough to reach way over to where that ant was?" he asked. old mr. toad chuckled again. with every insect swallowed he felt better natured. "you've guessed it, peter," said he. "handy tongue, isn't it?" "i think it's a very queer tongue," retorted peter, "and i don't understand it at all. if it's so long as all that, where do you keep it when it isn't in use? i should think you'd have to swallow it to get it out of the way, or else leave it hanging out of your mouth." "ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" laughed old mr. toad. "my tongue never is in the way, and it's the handiest tongue in the world. i'll show it to you." xii old mr. toad shows his tongue to show one's tongue, as you well know, is not considered nice to do; but if it were like mr. toad's i'd want to show it--wouldn't you? i'm quite sure you would. you see, if it were like old mr. toad's, it would be such a wonderful tongue that i suspect you would want everybody to see it. old mr. toad thinks his tongue the most satisfactory tongue in the world. in fact, he is quite sure that without it he couldn't get along at all, and i don't know as he could. and yet very few of his neighbors know anything about that tongue and how different it is from most other tongues. peter rabbit didn't until old mr. toad showed him after peter had puzzled and puzzled over the mysterious way in which bugs and flies disappeared whenever they happened to come within two inches or less of old mr. toad. what peter couldn't understand was what old mr. toad did with a tongue that would reach two inches beyond his mouth. he said as much. "i'll show you my tongue, and then you'll wish you had one just like it," said old mr. toad, with a twinkle in his eyes. he opened his big mouth and slowly ran his tongue out its full length. "why! why-ee!" exclaimed peter. "it's fastened at the wrong end!" "no such thing!" replied old mr. toad indignantly. "if it was fastened at the other end, how could i run it out so far?" "but mine and all other tongues that i ever have seen are fastened way down in the throat," protested peter. "yours is fastened at the other end, way in the very front of your mouth. i never heard of such a thing." "there are a great many things you have never heard of, peter rabbit," replied old mr. toad drily. "mine is the right way to have a tongue. because it is fastened way up in the front of my mouth that way, i can use the whole of it. you see it goes out its full length. then, when i draw it in with a bug on the end of it, i just turn it over so that the end that was out goes way back in my throat and takes the bug with it to just the right place to swallow." peter thought this over for a few minutes before he ventured another question. "i begin to understand," said he, "but how do you hold on to the bug with your tongue?" "my tongue is sticky, of course, mr. stupid," replied old mr. toad, looking very much disgusted. "just let me touch a bug with it, and he's mine every time." peter thought this over. then he felt of his own tongue. "mine isn't sticky," said he very innocently. old mr. toad laughed right out. "perhaps if it was, you couldn't ask so many questions," said he. "now watch me catch that fly." his funny little tongue darted out, and the fly was gone. [illustration: his funny little tongue darted out, and the fly was gone.] "it certainly is very handy," said peter politely. "i think we are going to have more rain, and i'd better be getting back to the dear old briarpatch. very much obliged to you, mr. toad. i think you are very wonderful." "not at all," replied old mr. toad. "i've simply got the things i need in order to live, just as you have the things you need. i couldn't get along with your kind of a tongue, but no more could you get along with mine. if you live long enough, you will learn that old mother nature makes no mistakes. she gives each of us what we need, and each one has different needs." xiii peter rabbit is impolite peter rabbit couldn't get old mr. toad off his mind. he had discovered so many interesting things about old mr. toad that he was almost on the point of believing him to be the most interesting of all his neighbors. and his respect for old mr. toad had become very great indeed. of course. who wouldn't respect any one with such beautiful eyes and such a sweet voice and such a wonderful tongue? yet at the same time peter felt very foolish whenever he remembered that all his life he had been acquainted with old mr. toad without really knowing him at all. there was one comforting thought, and that was that most of his neighbors were just as ignorant regarding old mr. toad as peter had been. "funny," mused peter, "how we can live right beside people all our lives and not really know them at all. i suppose that is why we should never judge people hastily. i believe i will go hunt up old mr. toad and see if i can find out anything more." off started peter, lipperty-lipperty-lip. he didn't know just where to go, now that old mr. toad had left the smiling pool, but he had an idea that he would not be far from their meeting place of the day before, when old mr. toad had explained about his wonderful tongue. but when he got there, peter found no trace of old mr. toad. you see, it had rained the day before, and that is just the kind of weather that a toad likes best for traveling. peter ought to have thought of that, but he didn't. he hunted for awhile and finally gave it up and started up the crooked little path with the idea of running over for a call on johnny chuck in the old orchard. jolly, round, bright mr. sun was shining his brightest, and peter soon forgot all about old mr. toad. he scampered along up the crooked little path, thinking of nothing in particular but how good it was to be alive, and occasionally kicking up his heels for pure joy. he had just done this when his ears caught the sound of a queer noise a little to one side of the crooked little path. instantly peter stopped and sat up to listen. there it was again, and it seemed to come from under an old piece of board. it was just a little, rustling sound, hardly to be heard. "there's some one under that old board," thought peter, and peeped under. all he could see was that there was something moving. instantly peter was all curiosity. whoever was there was not very big. he was sure of that. of course that meant that he had nothing to fear. so what do you think peter did? why, he just pulled that old board over. and when he did that, he saw, whom do you think? why, old mr. toad, to be sure. but such a sight as old mr. toad was! peter just stared. for a full minute he couldn't find his voice. old mr. toad was changing his clothes! yes, sir, that is just what old mr. toad was doing. he was taking off his old suit, and under it was a brand new one. but such a time as he was having! he was opening and shutting his big mouth, and drawing his hind legs under him, and rubbing them against his body. then peter saw a strange thing. he saw that old mr. toad's old suit had split in several places, and he was getting it off by sucking it into his mouth! in a few minutes his hind legs were free of the old suit, and little by little it began to be pulled free from his body. all the time old mr. toad was working very hard to suck it at the corners of his big mouth. he glared angrily at peter, but he couldn't say anything because his mouth was too full. he looked so funny that peter just threw himself on the ground and rolled over and over with laughter. this made old mr. toad glare more angrily than ever, but he couldn't say anything, not a word. when he had got his hands free by pulling the sleeves of his old coat off inside out, he used his hands to pull the last of it over his head. then he gulped very hard two or three times to swallow his old suit, and when the last of it had disappeared, he found his voice. "don't you know that it is the most impolite thing in the world to look at people when they are changing their clothes?" he sputtered. xiv old mr. toad disappears admit your fault when you've done wrong, and don't postpone it over long. peter rabbit didn't blame old mr. toad a bit for being indignant because peter had watched him change his suit. it wasn't a nice thing to do. old mr. toad had looked very funny while he was struggling out of his old suit, and peter just couldn't help laughing at him. but he realized that he had been very impolite, and he very meekly told old mr. toad so. "you see, it was this way," explained peter. "i heard something under that old board, and i just naturally turned it over to find out what was there." "hump!" grunted old mr. toad. "i didn't have the least idea that you were there," continued peter. "when i found who it was, and what you were doing, i couldn't help watching because it was so interesting, and i couldn't help laughing because you really did look so funny. but i'm sorry, mr. toad. truly i am. i didn't mean to be so impolite. i promise never to do it again. i don't suppose, mr. toad, that it seems at all wonderful to you that you can change your suit that way, but it does to me. i had heard that you swallowed your old suits, but i never half believed it. now i know it is so and just how you do it, and i feel as if i had learned something worth knowing. do you know, i think you are one of the most interesting and wonderful of all my neighbors, and i'll never laugh at or tease you again, mr. toad." "hump!" grunted old mr. toad again, but it was very clear that he was a little flattered by peter's interest in him and was rapidly recovering his good nature. "there is one thing i don't understand yet," said peter, "and that is where you go to to sleep all winter. do you go down into the mud at the bottom of the smiling pool the way grandfather frog does?" "certainly not!" retorted old mr. toad. "use your common sense, peter rabbit. if i had spent the winter in the smiling pool, do you suppose i would have left it to come way up here and then have turned right around and gone back there to sing? i'm not so fond of long journeys as all that." "that's so." peter looked foolish. "i didn't think of that when i spoke." "the trouble with you, and with a lot of other people, is that you speak first and do your thinking afterward, when you do any thinking at all," grunted old mr. toad. "now if i wanted to, i could disappear right here." "you mean that you would hide under that old board just as you did before," said peter, with a very wise look. "nothing of the sort!" snapped old mr. toad. "i could disappear and not go near that old board, not a step nearer than i am now." peter looked in all directions carefully, but not a thing could he see under which old mr. toad could possibly hide except the old board, and he had said he wouldn't hide under that. "i don't like to doubt your word, mr. toad," said he, "but you'll have to show me before i can believe that." old mr. toad's eyes twinkled. here was a chance to get even with peter for watching him change his suit. "if you'll turn your back to me and look straight down the crooked little path for five minutes, i'll disappear," said he. "more than that, i give you my word of honor that i will not hop three feet from where i am sitting." "all right," replied peter promptly, turning his back to old mr. toad. "i'll look down the crooked little path for five minutes and promise not to peek." so peter sat and gazed straight down the crooked little path. it was a great temptation to roll his eyes back and peep behind him, but he had given his word that he wouldn't, and he didn't. when he thought the five minutes were up, he turned around. old mr. toad was nowhere to be seen. peter looked hastily this way and that way, but there was not a sign of old mr. toad. he had disappeared as completely as if he never had been there. xv old mr. toad gives peter a scare if you play pranks on other folks you may be sure that they will take the first chance that they get a joke on you to play. old mr. toad was getting even with peter for laughing at him. while peter's back had been turned, old mr. toad had disappeared. it was too much for peter. look as he would, he couldn't see so much as a chip under which old mr. toad might have hidden, excepting the old board, and old mr. toad had given his word of honor that he wouldn't hide under that. nevertheless, peter hopped over to it and turned it over again, because he couldn't think of any other place to look. of course, old mr. toad wasn't there. of course not. he had given his word that he wouldn't hide there, and he always lives up to his word. peter should have known better than to have looked there. old mr. toad had also said that he would not go three feet from the spot where he was sitting at the time, so peter should have known better than to have raced up the crooked little path as he did. but if old mr. toad had nothing to hide under, of course he must have hopped away, reasoned peter. he couldn't hop far in five minutes, that was sure, and so peter ran this way and that way a great deal farther than it would have been possible for old mr. toad to have gone. but it was a wholly useless search, and presently peter returned and sat down on the very spot where he had last seen old mr. toad. peter never had felt more foolish in all his life. he began to think that old mr. toad must be bewitched and had some strange power of making himself invisible. for a long time peter sat perfectly still, trying to puzzle out how old mr. toad had disappeared, but the more he puzzled over it, the more impossible it seemed. and yet old mr. toad had disappeared. suddenly peter gave a frightened scream and jumped higher than he ever had jumped before in all his life. a voice, the voice of old mr. toad himself, had said, "well, now are you satisfied?" _and that voice had come from right under peter!_ do you wonder that he was frightened? when he turned to look, there sat old mr. toad right where he himself had been sitting a moment before. peter rubbed his eyes and stared very foolishly. "wh-wh-where did you come from?" he stammered at last. old mr. toad grinned. "i'll show you," said he. and right while peter was looking at him, he began to sink down into the ground until only the top of his head could be seen. then that disappeared. old mr. toad had gone down, and the sand had fallen right back over him. peter just had to rub his eyes again. he had to! then, to make sure, he began to dig away the sand where old mr. toad had been sitting. in a minute he felt old mr. toad, who at once came out again. old mr. toad's beautiful eyes twinkled more than ever. "i guess we are even now, peter," said he. peter nodded. "more than that, mr. toad. i think you have a little the best of it," he replied. "now won't you tell me how you did it?" old mr. toad held up one of his stout hind feet, and on it was a kind of spur. "there's another just like that on the other foot," said he, "and i use them to dig with. you go into a hole headfirst, but i go in the other way. i make my hole in soft earth and back into it at the same time, this way." he began to work his stout hind feet, and as he kicked the earth out, he backed in at the same time. when he was deep enough, the earth just fell back over him, for you see it was very loose and not packed down at all. when he once more reappeared, peter thanked him. then he asked one more question. "is that the way you go into winter quarters?" old mr. toad nodded. "and it's the way i escape from my enemies." xvi jimmy skunk is surprised jimmy skunk ambled along the crooked little path down the hill. he didn't hurry because jimmy doesn't believe in hurrying. the only time he ever hurries is when he sees a fat beetle trying to get out of sight. then jimmy _does_ hurry. but just now he didn't see any fat beetles, although he was looking for them. so he just ambled along as if he had all the time in the world, as indeed he had. he was feeling very good-natured, was jimmy skunk. and why shouldn't he? there was everything to make him feel good-natured. summer had arrived to stay. on every side he heard glad voices. bumble the bee was humming a song. best of all, jimmy had found three beetles that very morning, and he knew that there were more if he could find them. so why shouldn't he feel good? jimmy had laughed at peter rabbit for being so anxious for summer to arrive, but he was just as glad as peter that she had come, although he wouldn't have said so for the world. his sharp little eyes twinkled as he ambled along, and there wasn't much that they missed. as he walked he talked, quite to himself of course, because there was nobody near to hear, and this is what he was saying: "beetle, beetle, smooth and smug, you are nothing but a bug. bugs were made for skunks to eat, so come out from your retreat. "hello! there's a nice big piece of bark over there that looks as if it ought to have a dozen fat beetles under it. it's great fun to pull over pieces of bark and see fat beetles run all ways at once. i'll just have to see what is under that piece." jimmy tiptoed softly over to the big piece of bark, and then as he made ready to turn it over, he began again that foolish little verse. "beetle, beetle, smooth and smug, you are nothing but a bug." as he said the last word, he suddenly pulled the piece of bark over. "who's a bug?" asked a funny voice, and it sounded rather cross. jimmy skunk nearly tumbled over backward in surprise, and for a minute he couldn't find his tongue. there, instead of the fat beetles he had been so sure of, sat old mr. toad, and he didn't look at all pleased. "who's a bug?" he repeated. instead of answering, jimmy skunk began to laugh. "who's a bug?" demanded old mr. toad, more crossly than before. "there isn't any bug, mr. toad, and i beg your pardon," replied jimmy, remembering his politeness. "i just thought there was. you see, i didn't know you were under that piece of bark. i hope you will excuse me, mr. toad. have you seen any fat beetles this morning?" "no," said old mr. toad grumpily, and yawned and rubbed his eyes. "why," exclaimed jimmy skunk, "i believe you have just waked up!" "what if i have?" demanded old mr. toad. "oh, nothing, nothing at all, mr. toad," replied jimmy skunk, "only you are the second one i've met this morning who had just waked up." "who was the other?" asked old mr. toad. "mr. blacksnake," replied jimmy. "he inquired for you." old mr. toad turned quite pale. "i--i think i'll be moving along," said he. xvii old mr. toad's mistake if is a very little word to look at, but the biggest word you have ever seen doesn't begin to have so much meaning as little "if." _if_ jimmy skunk hadn't ambled down the crooked little path just when he did; _if_ he hadn't been looking for fat beetles; _if_ he hadn't seen that big piece of bark at one side and decided to pull it over; _if_ it hadn't been for all these "ifs," why old mr. toad wouldn't have made the mistake he did, and you wouldn't have had this story. but jimmy skunk _did_ amble down the crooked little path, he _did_ look for beetles, and he _did_ pull over that big piece of bark. and when he had pulled it over, he found old mr. toad there. old mr. toad had crept under that piece of bark because he wanted to take a nap. but when jimmy skunk told him that he had seen mr. blacksnake that very morning, and that mr. blacksnake had asked after old mr. toad, the very last bit of sleepiness left old mr. toad. yes, sir, he was wide awake right away. you see, he knew right away why mr. blacksnake had asked after him. he knew that mr. blacksnake has a fondness for toads. he turned quite pale when he heard that mr. blacksnake had asked after him, and right then he made his mistake. he was in such a hurry to get away from that neighborhood that he forgot to ask jimmy skunk just where he had seen mr. blacksnake. he hardly waited long enough to say good-by to jimmy skunk, but started off as fast as he could go. now it just happened that old mr. toad started up the crooked little path, and it just happened that mr. blacksnake was coming down the crooked little path. now when people are very much afraid, they almost always seem to think that danger is behind instead of in front of them. it was so with old mr. toad. instead of watching out in front as he hopped along, he kept watching over his shoulder, and that was his second mistake. he was so sure that mr. blacksnake was somewhere behind him that he didn't look to see where he was going, and you know that people who don't look to see where they are going are almost sure to go headfirst right into trouble. old mr. toad went hopping up the crooked little path as fast as he could, which wasn't very fast, because he never can hop very fast. and all the time he kept looking behind for mr. blacksnake. presently he came to a turn in the crooked little path, and as he hurried around it, he almost ran into mr. blacksnake himself. it was a question which was more surprised. for just a wee second they stared at each other. then mr. blacksnake's eyes began to sparkle. "good morning, mr. toad. isn't this a beautiful morning? i was just thinking about you," said he. but poor old mr. toad didn't say good morning. he didn't say anything. he couldn't, because he was too scared. he just gave a frightened little squeal, turned around, and started down the crooked little path twice as fast as he had come up. mr. blacksnake grinned and started after him, not very fast because he knew that he wouldn't have to run very fast to catch old mr. toad, and he thought the exercise would do him good. and this is how it happened that summer morning that jolly, bright mr. sun, looking down from the blue, blue sky and smiling to see how happy everybody seemed, suddenly discovered that there was one of the little meadow people who wasn't happy, but instead was terribly, terribly unhappy. it was old mr. toad hopping down the crooked little path for his life, while after him, and getting nearer and nearer, glided mr. blacksnake. xviii jimmy skunk is just in time jimmy skunk ambled slowly along, chuckling as he thought of what a hurry mr. toad had been in, when he had heard that mr. blacksnake had asked after him. it had been funny, very funny indeed, to see mr. toad try to hurry. suddenly jimmy stopped chuckling. then he stopped ambling along the crooked little path. he turned around and looked back, and as he did so he scratched his head thoughtfully. he had just happened to think that old mr. toad had gone up the crooked little path, and it was _up_ the crooked little path that mr. blacksnake had shown himself that morning. "if he's still up there," thought jimmy, "old mr. toad is hopping right straight into the very worst kind of trouble. how stupid of him not to have asked me where mr. blacksnake was! well, it's none of my business. i guess i'll go on." but he had gone on down the crooked little path only a few steps when he stopped again. you see, jimmy is really a very kind-hearted little fellow, and somehow he didn't like to think of what might happen to old mr. toad. "i hate to go way back there," he grumbled, for you know he is naturally rather lazy. "still, the green meadows wouldn't be quite the same without old mr. toad. i should miss him if anything happened to him. i suppose it would be partly my fault, too, for if i hadn't pulled over that piece of bark, he probably would have stayed there the rest of the day and been safe." "maybe he won't meet mr. blacksnake," said a little voice inside of jimmy. "and maybe he will," said jimmy right out loud. and with that, he started back up the crooked little path, and strange to say jimmy hurried. he had just reached a turn in the crooked little path when who should run right plump into him but poor old mr. toad. he gave a frightened squeal and fell right over on his back, and kicked foolishly as he tried to get on his feet again. but he was all out of breath, and so frightened and tired that all he could do was to kick and kick. he hadn't seen jimmy at all, for he had been looking behind him, and he didn't even know who it was he had run into. right behind him came mr. blacksnake. of course he saw jimmy, and he stopped short and hissed angrily. "what were you going to do to mr. toad?" demanded jimmy. "none of your business!" hissed mr. blacksnake. "get out of my way, or you'll be sorry." jimmy skunk just laughed and stepped in front of poor old mr. toad. mr. blacksnake coiled himself up in the path and darted his tongue out at jimmy in the most impudent way. then he tried to make himself look very fierce. then he jumped straight at jimmy skunk with his mouth wide open, but he took great care not to jump quite far enough to reach jimmy. you see, he was just trying to scare jimmy. but jimmy didn't scare. he knows all about mr. blacksnake and that really he is a coward. so he suddenly gritted his teeth in a way not at all pleasant to hear and started for mr. blacksnake. mr. blacksnake didn't wait. no, sir, he didn't wait. he suddenly turned and glided back up the crooked little path, hissing angrily. jimmy followed him a little way, and then he went back to old mr. toad. "oh," panted mr. toad, "you came just in time! i couldn't have hopped another hop." "i guess i did," replied jimmy. "now you get your breath and come along with me." and old mr. toad did. xix old mr. toad gets his stomach full pray do not tip your nose in scorn at things which others eat, for things to you not good at all to others are most sweet. there are ants, for instance. you wouldn't want to eat them even if you were dreadfully hungry. but old mr. toad and buster bear think there is nothing much nicer. now buster bear had found old mr. toad catching ants, one at a time, as he kept watch beside their home, and it had pleased buster to find some one else who liked ants. right away he invited old mr. toad to dine with him. but poor old mr. toad was frightened almost to death when he heard the deep, grumbly-rumbly voice of buster bear, for he had been so busy watching the ants that he hadn't seen buster coming. he fell right over on his back, which wasn't at all dignified, and made buster bear laugh. that frightened mr. toad more than ever. you see he didn't have the least doubt in the world that buster bear meant to eat him, and when buster invited him to dinner, he was sure that that was just a joke on buster's part. but there was no way to escape, and after a little old mr. toad thought it best to be polite, because, you know, it always pays to be polite. so he said in a very faint voice that he would be pleased to dine with buster. then he waved his feet feebly, trying to get on his feet again. buster bear laughed harder than ever. it was a low, deep, grumbly-rumbly laugh, and sent cold shivers all over poor old mr. toad. but when buster reached out a great paw with great cruel-looking claws mr. toad quite gave up. he didn't have strength enough left to even kick. he just closed his eyes and waited for the end. what do you think happened? why, he was rolled over on to his feet so gently that he just gasped with surprise. it didn't seem possible that such a great paw could be so gentle. "now," said buster bear in a voice which he tried to make sound pleasant, but which was grumbly-rumbly just the same, "i know where there is a fine dinner waiting for us just a little way from here. you follow me, and we'll have it in no time." so buster bear led the way, and old mr. toad followed as fast as he could, because he didn't dare not to. presently buster stopped beside a big decayed old log. "if you are ready, mr. toad, we will dine now," said he. old mr. toad didn't see anything to eat. his heart sank again, and he shook all over. "i--i'm not hungry," said he in a very faint voice. buster bear didn't seem to hear. he hooked his great claws into the old log and gave a mighty pull. over rolled the log, and there were ants and ants and ants, hurrying this way and scurrying that way, more ants than mr. toad had seen in all his life before! "help yourself," said buster bear politely. old mr. toad didn't wait to be told twice. he forgot all about his fright. he forgot all about buster bear. he forgot that he wasn't hungry. he forgot his manners. he jumped right in among those ants, and for a little while he was the busiest toad ever seen. buster bear was busy too. he swept his long tongue this way, and he swept it that way, and each time he drew it back into his mouth, it was covered with ants. at last old mr. toad couldn't hold another ant. then he remembered buster bear and looked up a little fearfully. buster was smacking his lips, and there was a twinkle in each eye. "good, aren't they?" said he. "the best i ever ate," declared old mr. toad with a sigh of satisfaction. "come dine with me again," said buster bear, and somehow this time old mr. toad didn't mind because his voice sounded grumbly-rumbly. "thank you, i will," replied old mr. toad. xx old mr. toad is puffed up old mr. toad hopped slowly down the lone little path. he usually does hop slowly, but this time he hopped slower than ever. you see, he was so puffed up that he couldn't have hopped fast if he had wanted to, and he didn't want to. in the first place his stomach was so full of ants that there wasn't room for another one. no, sir, old mr. toad couldn't have swallowed another ant if he had tried. of course they made his stomach stick out, but it wasn't the ants that puffed him out all over. oh, my, no! it was pride. that's what it was--pride. you know nothing can puff any one up quite like foolish pride. old mr. toad was old enough to have known better. it is bad enough to see young and foolish creatures puffed up with pride, but it is worse to see any one as old as old mr. toad that way. he held his head so high that he couldn't see his own feet, and more than once he stubbed his toes. presently he met his old friend, danny meadow mouse. he tipped his head a little higher, puffed himself out a little more, and pretended not to see danny. "hello, mr. toad," said danny. mr. toad pretended not to hear. danny looked puzzled. then he spoke again, and this time he shouted: "hello, mr. toad! i haven't seen you for some time." it wouldn't do to pretend not to hear this time. "oh, how do you do, danny?" said old mr. toad with a very grand air, and pretending to be much surprised. "sorry i can't stop, but i've been dining with, my friend, buster bear, and now i must get home." when he mentioned the name of buster bear, he puffed himself out a little more. danny grinned as he watched him hop on down the lone little path. "can't talk with common folks any more," he muttered. "i've heard that pride is very apt to turn people's heads, but i never expected to see old mr. toad proud." [illustration: "can't talk with common folks any more," he muttered.] mr. toad kept on his way, and presently he met peter rabbit. peter stopped to gossip, as is his way. but old mr. toad took no notice of him at all. he kept right on with his head high, and all puffed out. peter might have been a stick or a stone for all the notice old mr. toad took of him. peter looked puzzled. then he hurried down to tell danny meadow mouse about it. "oh," said danny, "he's been to dine with buster bear, and now he has no use for his old friends." pretty soon along came johnny chuck, and he was very much put out because he had been treated by old mr. toad just as peter rabbit had. striped chipmunk told the same story. so did unc' billy possum. it was the same with all of old mr. toad's old friends and neighbors, excepting bobby coon, who, you know, is buster bear's little cousin. to him old mr. toad was very polite and talked a great deal about buster bear, and thought that bobby must be very proud to be related to buster. at first everybody thought it a great joke to see old mr. toad so puffed up with, pride, but after a little they grew tired of being snubbed by their old friend and neighbor, and began to say unpleasant things about him. then they decided that what old mr. toad needed was a lesson, so they put their heads together and planned how they would teach old mr. toad how foolish it is for any one to be puffed up with pride. xxi old mr. toad receives another invitation the friends and neighbors of old mr. toad decided that he needed to be taught a lesson. at first, you know, every one had laughed at him, because he had grown too proud to speak to them, but after a little they grew tired of being treated so, and some of them put their heads together to think of some plan to teach old mr. toad a lesson and what a very, very foolish thing false pride is. the very next day jimmy skunk went into the green forest to look for buster bear. you know jimmy isn't afraid of buster. he didn't have to look long, and when he had found him, the very first thing he did was to ask buster if he had seen any fat beetles that morning. you know jimmy is very fond of fat beetles, and the first thing he asks any one he may happen to meet is if they have seen any. buster bear grinned and said he thought he knew where there might be a few, and he would be pleased to have jimmy go with him to see. sure enough, under an old log he found five fat beetles, and these jimmy gobbled up without even asking buster if he would have one. jimmy is usually very polite, but this time he quite forgot politeness. i am afraid he is rather apt to when fat beetles are concerned. but buster didn't seem to mind. when the last beetle had disappeared jimmy smacked his lips, and then he told buster bear what he had come for. of course, at first buster had thought it was for the fat beetles. but it wasn't. no, sir, it wasn't for the fat beetles at all. it was to get buster bear's help in a plan to teach old mr. toad a lesson. first jimmy told buster all about how puffed up old mr. toad was because he had dined with buster, and how ever since then he had refused even to speak to his old friends and neighbors. it tickled buster bear so to think that little homely old mr. toad could be proud of anything that he laughed and laughed, and his laugh was deep and grumbly-rumbly. then jimmy told him the plan to teach old mr. toad a lesson and asked buster if he would help. buster's eyes twinkled as he promised to do what jimmy asked. then jimmy went straight to where old mr. toad was sitting all puffed up, taking a sun-bath. "buster bear has just sent word by me to ask if you will honor him by dining with him to-morrow at the rotted chestnut stump near the edge of the green forest," said jimmy in his politest manner. now if old mr. toad was puffed up before, just think how he swelled out when he heard that. jimmy skunk was actually afraid that he would burst. "you may tell my friend, buster bear, that i shall be very happy to honor him by dining with him," replied old mr. toad with a very grand air. jimmy went off to deliver his reply, and old mr. toad sat and puffed himself out until he could hardly breathe. "honor him by dining with him," said he over and over to himself. "i never was so flattered in my life." xxii old mr. toad learns a lesson pride is like a great big bubble; you'll find there's nothing in it. prick it and for all your trouble it has vanished in a minute. old mr. toad was so puffed out with pride as he started for the green forest to dine with buster bear that those who saw him wondered if he wouldn't burst before he got there. everybody knew where he was going, and this made old mr. toad feel more important and proud than ever. he might not have felt quite so puffed up if he had known just how it had come about that he received this second invitation to dine with buster bear. when jimmy skunk brought it to him, jimmy didn't tell him that buster had been asked to send the invitation, and that it was all part of a plan on the part of some of old mr. toad's old friends and neighbors to teach him a lesson. no, indeed, jimmy didn't say anything at all about that! so old mr. toad went hopping along and stumbling over his own feet, because his head was held so high and he was so puffed out that he couldn't see where he was going. he could think of nothing but how important buster bear must consider him to invite him to dinner a second time, and of the delicious ants he was sure he would have to eat. "what very good taste buster bear has," thought he, "and how very fortunate it is that he found out that i also am fond of ants." he was so busy with these pleasant thoughts and of the good dinner that he expected to have that he took no notice of what was going on about him. he didn't see his old friends and neighbors peeping out at him and laughing because he looked so foolish and silly. he was dressed in his very best, which was nothing at all to be proud of, for you know old mr. toad has no fine clothes. and being puffed up so, he was homelier than ever, which is saying a great deal, for at best mr. toad is anything but handsome. he was beginning to get pretty tired by the time he reached the green forest and came in sight of the rotted old chestnut stump where he was to meet buster bear. buster was waiting for him. "how do you do this fine day? you look a little tired and rather warm, mr. toad," said he. "i am a little warm," replied mr. toad in his most polite manner, although he couldn't help panting for breath as he said it. "i hope you are feeling as well as you are looking, mr. bear." [illustration: "i am a little warm," replied mr. toad in his most polite manner.] buster bear laughed a great, grumbly-rumbly laugh. "i always feel fine when there is a dinner of fat ants ready for me," said he. "it is fine of you to honor me by coming to dine." here mr. toad put one hand on his stomach and tried to make a very grand bow. peter rabbit, hiding behind a near-by tree, almost giggled aloud, he looked so funny. "i have ventured to invite another to enjoy the dinner with us," continued buster bear. mr. toad's face fell. you see he was selfish. he wanted to be the only one to have the honor of dining with buster bear. "he's a little late," went on buster, "but i think he will be here soon, and i hope you will be glad to meet him. ah, there he comes now!" old mr. toad looked in the direction in which buster bear was looking. he gave a little gasp and turned quite pale. all his puffiness disappeared. he didn't look like the same toad at all. the newcomer was mr. blacksnake. "oh!" cried old mr. toad, and then, without even asking to be excused, he turned his back on buster bear and started back the way he had come, with long, frightened hops. "ha, ha, ha!" shouted peter rabbit, jumping out from behind a tree. "ho, ho, ho!" shouted jimmy skunk from behind another. "hee, hee, hee!" shouted johnny chuck from behind a third. then old mr. toad knew that his old friends and neighbors had planned this to teach him a lesson. xxiii old mr. toad is very humble when old mr. toad saw mr. blacksnake and turned his back on buster bear and the fine dinner to which buster had invited him, he had but just one idea in his head, and that was to get out of sight of mr. blacksnake as soon as possible. he forgot to ask buster bear to excuse him. he forgot that he was tired and hot. he forgot all the pride with which he had been so puffed up. he forgot everything but the need of getting out of sight of mr. blacksnake as soon as ever he could. so away went old mr. toad, hop, hop, hipperty-hop, hop, hop, hipperty-hop! he heard peter rabbit and jimmy skunk and johnny chuck and others of his old friends and neighbors shouting with laughter. yes, and he heard the deep, grumbly-rumbly laugh of buster bear. but he didn't mind it. not then, anyway. he hadn't room for any feeling except fear of mr. blacksnake. but old mr. toad had to stop after a while. you see, his legs were so tired they just wouldn't go any longer. and he was so out of breath that he wheezed. he crawled under a big piece of bark, and there he lay flat on the ground and panted and panted for breath. he would stay there until jolly, round, bright mr. sun went to bed behind the purple hills. then mr. blacksnake would go to bed too, and it would be safe for him to go home. now, lying there in the dark, for it was dark under that big piece of bark, old mr. toad had time to think. little by little he began to understand that his invitation to dine with buster bear had been part of a plan by his old friends and neighbors whom he had so snubbed and looked down on when he had been puffed up with pride, to teach him a lesson. at first he was angry, very angry indeed. then he began to see how foolish and silly he had been, and shame took the place of anger. as he remembered the deep, grumbly-rumbly laughter of buster bear, the feeling of shame grew. "i deserve it," thought old mr. toad. "yes, sir, i deserve every bit of it. the only thing that i have to be proud of is that i'm honest and work for my living. yes, sir, that's all." when darkness came at last, and he crawled out to go home, he was feeling very humble. peter rabbit happened along just then. old mr. toad opened his mouth to speak, but peter suddenly threw his head up very high and strutted past as if he didn't see old mr. toad at all. mr. toad gulped and went on. pretty soon he met jimmy skunk. jimmy went right on about his business and actually stepped right over old mr. toad as if he had been a stick or a stone. old mr. toad gulped again and went on. the next day he went down to see danny meadow mouse. he meant to tell danny how ashamed he was for the way he had treated danny and his other friends. but danny brushed right past without even a glance at him. old mr. toad gulped and started up to see johnny chuck. the same thing happened again. so it did when he met striped chipmunk. at last old mr. toad gave up and went home, where he sat under a big mullein leaf the rest of the day, feeling very miserable and lonely. he didn't have appetite enough to snap at a single fly. late that afternoon he heard a little noise and looked up to find all his old friends and neighbors forming a circle around him. suddenly they began to dance and shout: "old mr. toad is a jolly good fellow! his temper is sweet, disposition is mellow! and now that his bubble of pride is quite busted we know that he knows that his friends can be trusted." then old mr. toad knew that all was well once more, and presently he began to dance too, the funniest dance that ever was seen. this is all for now about homely old mr. toad, because i have just got to tell you about another homely fellow,--prickly porky the porcupine,--who carries a thousand little spears. the next book will tell you all about _his_ adventures. the end the story of a fierce bad rabbit [illustration] the story of a fierce bad rabbit by beatrix potter _author of "the tale of peter rabbit," etc._ [illustration] london frederick warne & co., ltd. and new york [_all rights reserved_] _copyright in all countries signatory to the berne convention._ frederick warne & co. ltd., london printed in great britain [illustration] this is a fierce bad rabbit; look at his savage whiskers, and his claws and his turned-up tail. this is a nice gentle rabbit. his mother has given him a carrot. [illustration] [illustration] the bad rabbit would like some carrot. he doesn't say "please." he takes it! [illustration] [illustration] and he scratches the good rabbit very badly. the good rabbit creeps away, and hides in a hole. it feels sad. [illustration] this is a man with a gun. [illustration] [illustration] he sees something sitting on a bench. he thinks it is a very funny bird! [illustration] he comes creeping up behind the trees. and then he shoots--bang! [illustration] [illustration] this is what happens-- but this is all he finds on the bench, when he rushes up with his gun. [illustration] the good rabbit peeps out of its hole, [illustration] [illustration] and it sees the bad rabbit tearing past--without any tail or whiskers! printed for the publishers by r. j. skinner ltd., carmelite street, london, e.c. . uncle wiggily in wonderland [illustration] uncle wiggily series by howard r. garis [illustration] _uncle wiggily bedtime stories_ uncle wiggily in wonderland by howard r. garis author of "sammie and susie littletail," "dickie and nellie fliptail," "uncle wiggily's airship," the daddy series, etc. illustrated by edward bloomfield a. l. burt company publishers new york the famous bed time stories books intended for reading aloud to the little folks at night. each volume contains colored illustrations, and a story for every night in the month. the animal tales send the children to bed with happy dreams. bedtime animal stories by howard r. garis sammie and susie littletail johnnie and billie bushytail lulu, alice and jimmie wibblewobble jackies and peetie bow-wow buddy and brighteyes pigg joie, tommie and kittie kat charlie and arabella chick neddie and beckie stubtail bully and bawly no-tail nannie and billie wagtail jollie and jillie longtail jacko and jumpo kinkytail curly and floppy twistytail toodle and noodle flat-tail dottie and willie flufftail dickie and nellie fliptail uncle wiggily bedtime stories by howard r. garis uncle wiggily's adventures uncle wiggily's travels uncle wiggily's fortune uncle wiggily's automobile uncle wiggily at the seashore uncle wiggily's airship uncle wiggily in the country uncle wiggily in the woods uncle wiggily on the farm uncle wiggily's journey uncle wiggily's rheumatism uncle wiggily and baby bunty uncle wiggily in wonderland uncle wiggily in fairyland for sale at all bookstores or sent prepaid on receipt of price, cents per volume, by the publishers a. l. burt company, - east rd street new york city _copyright, , by r. f. fenno & company_ uncle wiggily in wonderland contents chapter page i uncle wiggily and wonderland alice ii uncle wiggily and the march hare iii uncle wiggily and the cheshire cat iv uncle wiggily and the dormouse v uncle wiggily and the gryphon vi uncle wiggily and the caterpillar vii uncle wiggily and the hatter viii uncle wiggily and the duchess ix uncle wiggily and the cook x uncle wiggily and the baby xi uncle wiggily and the mock turtle xii uncle wiggily and the lobster xiii uncle wiggily and father william xiv uncle wiggily and the magic bottles xv uncle wiggily and the croquet ball xvi uncle wiggily and the do-do xvii uncle wiggily and the lory xviii uncle wiggily and the puppy xix uncle wiggily and the unicorn xx uncle wiggily and humpty dumpty xxi uncle wiggily and the looking glass xxii uncle wiggily and the white queen xxiii uncle wiggily and the red queen xxiv uncle wiggily and tweedledum xxv uncle wiggily and tweedledee xxvi uncle wiggily and the tear pool chapter i uncle wiggily and wonderland alice once upon a time, after uncle wiggily longears, the nice bunny rabbit gentleman, had some funny adventures with baby bunty, and when he found that his rheumatism did not hurt him so much as he hopped on his red, white and blue striped barber pole crutch, the bunny uncle wished he might have some strange and wonderful adventures. "i think i'll just hop along and look for a few," said uncle wiggily to himself one morning. he twinkled his pink nose, and then he was all ready to start. "good-bye, nurse jane! good-bye!" he called to his muskrat lady housekeeper, with whom he lived in a hollow stump bungalow. "i'm going to look for some wonderful adventures!" he hopped down the front steps, with his red, white and blue striped crutch under one paw, and his tall, silk hat on his head. "good-bye, miss fuzzy wuzzy!" "good-bye!" answered nurse jane. "i hope you have some nice adventures!" "thanks, i wish you the same," answered uncle wiggily, and away he went over the fields and through the woods. he had not hopped very far, looking this way and that, before, all of a sudden, he came to a queer little place, near an old rail fence. down in one corner was a hole, partly underground. "ha! that's queer," said uncle wiggily to himself. "that looks just like the kind of an underground house, or burrow, where i used to live. i wonder if this can be where i made my home before i moved to the hollow stump bungalow? i must take a look. nurse jane would like to hear all about it." so uncle wiggily, folding back his ears in order that they would not get bent over and broken, began crawling down the rabbit hole, for that is what it really was. it was dark inside, but the bunny uncle did not mind that, being able to see in the dark. besides, he could make his pink nose twinkle when he wanted to, and this gave almost as much light as a firefly. "no, this isn't the burrow where i used to live," said uncle wiggily to himself, when he had hopped quite a distance into the hole. "but it's very nice. perhaps i may have an adventure here. who knows?" and just as he said that to himself, uncle wiggily saw, lying under a little table, in what seemed to be a room of the underground house, a small glass box. "ha! my adventure begins!" cried uncle wiggily. "i'll open that glass box and see what is in it." so the bunny uncle raised the cover, and in the glass box was a little cake, made of carrots and cabbage, and on top, spelled out in pink raisins, were the words: "eat me!" "ha! that's just what i'll do!" cried jolly uncle wiggily, and, never stopping to think anything might be wrong, the bunny gentleman ate the cake. and then, all of a sudden, he began to feel very funny. "oh, my!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "i hope that cake didn't belong to my nephew, sammie littletail, or johnnie or billie bushytail, the squirrel brothers. one of them may have lost it out of his lunch basket on his way to school. i hope it wasn't any of their cake. but there is surely something funny about it, for i feel so very queer!" and no wonder! for uncle wiggily had suddenly begun to grow very large. his ears grew taller, so that they lifted his tall silk hat right off his head. his legs seemed as long as bean poles, and as for his whiskers and pink, twinkling nose, they seemed so far away from his eyes that he wondered if he would ever get them near enough to see to comb the one, or scratch the other when it felt ticklish. "this is certainly remarkable!" cried uncle wiggily. "i wonder what made me grow so large all of a sudden? could it have been the cake which gave me the indyspepsia?" "it was the cake!" cried a sudden and buzzing voice, and, looking around the hole uncle wiggily saw a big mosquito. "it was the cake that made you grow big," went on the bad biting bug, "and i put it here for you to eat." "what for?" asked the bunny uncle, puzzled like. "so you would grow so big that you couldn't get out of this hole," was the answer. "and now you can't! this is how i have caught you! ha! ha!" and the mosquito buzzed a most unpleasant laugh. "oh, dear!" thought uncle wiggily. "i wonder if i am caught? can't i get out as i got in?" quickly he hopped to the front of the hole. but alas! likewise sorrowfulness! he had grown so big from eating the magical cake that he could not possibly squeeze out of the hole through which he had crawled into the underground burrow. "now i have caught you!" cried the mosquito. "since we could not catch you at your soldier tent or in the trenches near your hollow stump bungalow, i thought of this way. now we have you and we'll bite you!" and the big mosquito, who with his bad friends had dug the hole on purpose to get uncle wiggily in a trap, began to play a bugle tune on his wings to call the other biting bugs. "oh, dear!" thought uncle wiggily. "i guess i am caught! and i haven't my talcum powder pop gun that shoots bean-bag bullets! oh, if i could only get out of here!" "you can get out, uncle wiggily," said a soft little voice down toward the end of his pink, twinkling nose. "you can get out!" "oh, no, i can't!" the bunny said. "i am much too large to squeeze out of the hole by which i came in here. much too large. oh, dear!" "here, drink some of this and you'll grow small just as i did when i drank from it before i fell into the pool of tears," the soft and gentle voice went on, and to uncle wiggily's surprise, there stood a nice little girl with long, flaxen hair. she was holding out to him a bottle with a tag that read: "drink me." "am i really to drink this?" asked the bunny. "you are," said the little girl. uncle wiggily took a long drink from the bottle. it tasted like lollypop ice cream soda, and no sooner had he taken a good sip than all of a sudden he found himself shutting up small, like a telescope. smaller and smaller he shrank, until he was his own regular size, and then the little girl took him by the paw and cried: "come on! now you can get out!" and, surely enough, uncle wiggily could. "but who are you?" he asked the little girl. "oh! i'm alice from wonderland," she said, "and i know you very well, though you never met me before. i'm in a book, but this is my holiday, so i came out. come on, now, before the mosquitoes catch us! we'll have a lot of funny adventures with some friends of mine. come on!" and away ran uncle wiggily with wonderland alice, who had saved him from being bitten. so everything came out all right, you see. and if the teacup doesn't lose its handle and try to do a foxtrot waltz with the soup tureen, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the march hare. chapter ii uncle wiggily and the march hare "well, uncle wiggily, you certainly did have quite a time, didn't you," said nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper for the rabbit gentleman as they both sat on the porch of the hollow stump bungalow one morning. it was the day after the bunny rabbit had been caught in the mosquito hole, where he swelled up too big to get out, after eating cake from the glass box, as i told you in the first story. then alice from wonderland happened along and gave uncle wiggily a drink from a magical little bottle so that he grew small enough to crawl out of the hole again. "yes, i had a wonderful time with alice," said the rabbit gentleman. "it was quite an adventure." "what do you s'pose was in the cake to make you swell up so large?" asked nurse jane. "cream puffs," answered uncle wiggily. "they're very swell-like, you know." "of course," agreed nurse jane. "and what was in the bottle to make you grow smaller?" "alum water," uncle wiggily made reply. "that's very shrinking, you know, and puckery." "of course," spoke nurse jane again, "i might have guessed it. now i suppose you're off again?" "off to have another adventure," went on uncle wiggily, with a jolly laugh. "i hope i meet alice again. i wonder where she lives?" "why, she's out of a book," said nurse jane. "i used to read about her to sammie littletail, when he was quite a little rabbit chap." "oh, yes, to be sure," said uncle wiggily. "alice from wonderland is like mother goose, sinbad the sailor and my other arabian night friends. well, i hope i meet some of them and have another adventure now," and away he hopped down the front steps of his bungalow as spry as though he never had had the rheumatism. the bad mosquitoes that used to live over in the swamp had gone away on their summer vacation, and so they did not bother the bunny rabbit just at present. he no longer had to practice being a soldier and stand on guard against them. pretty soon, as uncle wiggily hopped along, he came to a little place in the woods, all set around with green trees, and in the center was a large doll's tea table, all ready for a meal. "ha! this looks like an adventure already!" said the bunny uncle to himself. "and there's a party," he went on, as he saw the little girl named alice, a march hare (which is a sort of spring rabbit), a hatter man, with a very large hat, much larger than uncle wiggily's, on his head, and a dormouse. a dormouse (or doormouse) is one that crawls out under a door, you know, to get away from the cat. "oh, here's uncle wiggily!" cried alice. "come right along and sit down. we didn't expect you!" "then if i'm unexpected, perhaps there isn't room for me," spoke uncle wiggily, looking at the march hare. "oh, yes, there's plenty of room--more room than there is to eat," said the spring rabbit. "besides, we really knew you were coming." as this was just different from what alice had said, uncle wiggily did not know what to believe. "you see, it's the unexpected that always happens," went on the march hare, "and, of course, being unexpected, you happened along, so we're glad to see you." "only there isn't anything to eat," said alice. "you see, the hatter's watch only keeps one kind of time--" "that's what i do when i dance," interrupted uncle wiggily. "we haven't come to that yet," alice spoke gently. "but as the hatter's watch only keeps tea-time we're always at the tea table, and the cake and tea were eaten long ago." "and we always have to sit here, hoping the hatter's watch will start off again, and bring us to breakfast or dinner on time," said the march hare, who, uncle wiggily noticed, began to look rather mad and angry. "he's greased it with the best butter, but still his watch has stopped," the hare added. "it's on account of the hard crumbs that got in the wheels," said the hatter, dipping his watch in the cream pitcher. "i dare say they'll get soaked in time. but pass uncle wiggily the buns," he added, and alice passed an empty plate which once had dog biscuits on, only jackie and peetie bow wow had eaten them all up--i should say down, for they swallowed them that way. uncle wiggily was beginning to think this was a very queer tea party indeed, when, all of sudden, out from the bushes jumped a great, big, pink-striped wabberjocky cat, who began singing: "london bridge is falling up, on yankee doodle dandy! as we go 'round the mulberry bush to buy a stick of candy." "well, what do you want?" asked the mad march hare of the wabberjocky. "if you've come to wash the dishes you can't, for it's still tea time and it never will be anything else as long as he keeps dipping his watch in the molasses jug! that's what makes it so sticky-slow," and he tossed a tea biscuit at the hatter, who caught it in his hat, just like a magician in the theater, and turned it into a lemon meringue pie. "i've come for uncle wiggily!" cried the wabberjocky. "i've come to take him off to my den, and then--" uncle wiggily was just going to hide under the table, which he noticed was growing smaller and smaller, and he was wondering if it would be large enough to cover him, when-- all of a sudden the mad march hare caught up the bunny uncle's red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch, and cried: "you've come for uncle wiggily, have you? well, we've no time for that!" and with this the march hare smashed the crutch down on the hatter's watch, "bang!" breaking it all to pieces! "there, i guess it'll go now!" cried the march hare, and indeed the wheels of the watch went spinning while the spring suddenly uncurled, and one end, catching around uncle wiggily's left hind leg, flew out and tossed him safely away over the trees, until he fell down on his soft soldier tent, right in front of his own hollow stump bungalow. so he was saved from the wabberjocky. "well! that was an adventure!" cried the bunny uncle. "i wonder what happened to the rest of them? i must find out." and if the laundry man doesn't let the plumber take the bath tub away for the gold fish to play tag in, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the cheshire cat. chapter iii uncle wiggily and the cheshire cat uncle wiggily longears, the rabbit gentleman, was hopping along through the woods one day, wondering what sort of an adventure he would have, and he was thinking about alice in wonderland and what a queer tea party he had been to the day before, when the mad march hare smashed the hatter's watch because the hands always stayed at o'clock tea time. "if anything like that is going to happen to me today," said the bunny uncle to himself, "i ought to have brought nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy along, so she could enjoy the fun. i'll just hop along and if anything queer starts i'll go back after her." so he went on a little farther, and, all of a sudden, he saw, lying on the woodland path, a piece of cheese. "ha!" cried uncle wiggily. "i wonder if jollie or jillie longtail, the mouse children, dropped that out of their trap? i'll take it to them, i guess." he picked up the bit of cheese, thinking how glad the mousie boy and girl would be to have it back, when, all at once, he heard behind him a voice asking: "oh, did you find it? i'm so glad, thank you!" and from under a bush out stepped a cat wearing a large smile on the front of its face. the cat stretched out its claw and took the bit of cheese from uncle wiggily. "oh! is that yours?" asked the bunny gentleman, in surprise. "it's cheshire cheese; isn't it?" asked the cat. "i--i believe so," answered the bunny. "yes," he added as he looked and made sure, "it is cheshire cheese." "then, as i'm the cheshire cat it's mine. cheshire cat meet your cheese! cheese, meet your cat! how do you do? so glad to see you!" and the cat shook paws with the cheese just as if uncle wiggily had introduced them. "i dare say it's all right," went on the bunny uncle. "of course it is!" laughed the cat, smiling more than ever. "i'm so glad you found my cheese. i was afraid the march hare had taken it for that silly o'clock tea party. but i'm glad he didn't. at first i took you for the march hare. you look like him, being a rabbit." "my birthday is not in march, it is in april," said uncle wiggily, bowing. "that's better," spoke the cheshire cat. "you have done me a great favor by finding my cheese, and i hope to be able to do you one some day." "pray do not mention it," spoke the bunny uncle, modest like and shy, as he always was. he was just going to ask about alice in wonderland when the cat ran away with the cheese. "never mind," thought uncle wiggily. "that was the beginning of an adventure, anyhow. i wonder what the next part will be?" he did not have long to wait. all of a sudden, as he was walking along through the woods, sort of leaning on his red, white and blue striped barber pole rheumatism crutch, there was a rustling in the bushes and out popped a whole lot of hungry rats. "ah, there it is!" cried one rat, seizing hold of uncle wiggily by his ears. "yes, and just in time, too!" cried another, grabbing the bunny by his paws. "into our den with it before the mouse trap comes along and takes it away from us!" with that the rats, of which there were about five hundred and sixteen, began hustling uncle wiggily down a hole in the ground, and the first he knew they had him inside a wooden room in an underground house and they locked the door, taking the key out. "what does this mean?" cried the bunny uncle. "why do you treat me this way?" "why, it can speak!" cried several of the rats, in surprise. "of course i can!" cried uncle wiggily, his pink nose twinkling. "but why do you call me it?" "because you are a piece of cheese," said one rat, "and we always call cheese it." "cheese? i, cheese?" asked astonished uncle wiggily. "of course," cried the biggest rat of all. "you're cheshire cheese. why, you perfume the whole room! we're so hungry for you. we thought the grocer had forgotten to send you. but it's all right now. oh, what a delightful meal we shall have. we love cheshire cheese," and the rats in the room with mr. longears looked very hungrily at the bunny uncle--very hungrily indeed. "oh, what shall i do?" thought uncle wiggily. "i see what has happened. when i picked up the cheshire cat's piece of cheshire cheese some of the perfume from it must have stuck to my paws. the rats smelled that and think i'm it. it!" murmured the bunny gentleman. "as if i were a game of tag! it!" the rats in the locked room were very busy, getting out their cheese knives and plates, and poor uncle wiggily hardly knew what to do with this most unpleasant adventure happening to him, when, all of a sudden, right in the middle of the room, there appeared a big, smiling mouth, with a cheerful grin spread all over it. just a smile it was, and nothing more. "oh!" cried uncle wiggily in surprise. "oh!" with that all the rats looked up and, seeing the smile, one exclaimed: "i smell a cat! oh, woe is me! i smell a cat!" then, all of a sudden the smile grew larger and larger. then a nose seemed to grow out of nothing, then some whiskers, then a pair of blazing eyes, and then ears--a head, legs, claws and a body, and finally there stood the cheshire cat in the midst of the rats. "scat, rats," meaouwed the cheshire cat. "scat!" "how did you get in here?" asked one rat. "yes, tell us!" ordered another. "how did you get in past the locked door?" "through the keyhole," said the cheshire cat. "i sent my smile in first, and then it was easy for my body to follow. now you scat and leave uncle wiggily alone!" and with that the cat grinned larger than ever, showing such sharp teeth that the rats quickly unlocked the door and ran away, leaving the bunny uncle quite safe. "alice in wonderland, most magically knew of the trouble you were in," said the cheshire cat, "so she sent me to help you, which i was glad to do, as you had helped me. my cheshire cheese, that you found for me when i had lost it, was very good!" then uncle wiggily hopped back to his bungalow, and the cat went to see alice; and if the paper cutter doesn't slice the bread board all up into pieces of cake for the puppy dog's party, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the dormouse. chapter iv uncle wiggily and the dormouse "tap! tap! tap!" came a knock on the door of the hollow stump bungalow one morning. uncle wiggily longears, the rabbit gentleman who lived in the woods, called out: "please come in!" in hopped dickie chip-chip, the sparrow boy postchap, with a letter for the bunny gentleman. "ha! that's nice!" explained uncle wiggily as he took the envelope. "i hope it's a valentine!" "a valentine this time of year!" laughed dickie. "this is june, uncle wiggily!" "oh, so it is. however, i'll read it." and when dickie flew on to deliver the rest of his letters uncle wiggily read his own. it was very short, and said: "if you want a new hat, come to the green meadow as soon as you read this." "ha! if i want a new hat!" thought the bunny uncle. "well, i do need one. but who knew that i did? this is very strange and mysterious. ha! i have it! this must be from alice in wonderland. she is giving me a little surprise." so, telling nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, his muskrat lady housekeeper, that he was going out to get a new hat, away hopped uncle wiggily, over the fields and through the woods until he came to the green meadow. in the middle of the meadow was a little grove of trees, and half way there uncle wiggily heard a sad little voice saying: "oh, dear! what trouble i'm in!" "trouble!" cried the bunny gentleman twinkling his pink nose. "ha! that sounds like old times! let me help some one. but who is it?" "it is i. the little dormouse," was the answer, and, looking down, uncle wiggily saw the tiny creature who had been at the queer tea party when the mad march hare smashed the hatter's o'clock watch. the tail of the poor little dormouse was caught fast in between two stones and she could not move, but uncle wiggily quickly loosened it for her and she was very thankful to get out. "i was afraid i'd be late," said the dormouse. "i have to hurry on to help the queen of hearts put sugared cheese on the blackberry tarts for the king's birthday. i'll see you again, uncle wiggily." "i hope so," spoke the bunny uncle, as he hurried away to get his new hat, all the while wondering whether or not he would see alice from wonderland. uncle wiggily reached the green meadow trees, but no one else was there. he looked up and down, and all around, but there was not even an old hat in sight, to say nothing of a new one. "i wonder if this letter is an april fool joke?" thought the bunny uncle, taking from his pocket the envelope dickie had given him. "no, if it's the month of june it can't be april fool's day, any more than it can be time for valentines," said the bunny. "but i wonder where my hat is?" hardly had uncle wiggily said this, out loud, than, all of a sudden, a voice cried: "here's your hat!" with that something seemed to drop down from the clouds, or maybe it was from one of the trees. but whatever it was it completely covered uncle wiggily out of sight. it was just as if you took a large bowl and turned it upside down over a grasshopper, only, of course, uncle wiggily was not a grasshopper, though he did jump around a lot. and, at first, in the sudden darkness, the rabbit gentleman thought it was a bowl that, perhaps, the circus elephant's little boy had turned over on him just for fun. then, making his pink nose twinkle very fast, so that it shone in the dark like a firefly lantern, uncle wiggily was able to see that he was inside a large, tall, silk hat. when it had dropped over him it had shut out all the sunlight, making it quite dark inside where the bunny was. "yes, this is a hat!" said uncle wiggily to himself. "but what a funny way to give it to me! and it's so large! instead of my new hat going outside my head, my head is inside the hat. this will never do! i must get out and see what the trouble is. this must be the elephant's hat, it's so large." but when uncle wiggily tried to lift up one edge of the hat, to crawl out, he found he could not. some one seemed to be sitting on top of the hat, which was shaped like the silk stovepipe one uncle wiggily always wore. and a voice cried: "hold it tight and he can't get out!" "oh, i'm holding it tight!" was the answer. then uncle wiggily knew what had happened. some one had played a sad trick on him. and it was two bad old skillery-scalery alligators. they had borrowed the wonderland hatter's hat--which was very large. nor had they told the hatter what they wanted of it, for if they had he never would have let them borrow it to make trouble for uncle wiggily. the alligators had climbed up the tree with the big hat, and, after sending uncle wiggily the note, they had waited until he came to the field. then from the branches above they dropped the hat down over him and sat on it. "and i can't get out!" cried uncle wiggily. "that's the worst of it! i can't get out, and those bad alligators will reach under and grab me and--" "no they won't!" cried a little squeaky voice down low on the ground, just outside the hat. "why not?" asked uncle wiggily, hopeful like. "because i am the dormouse whom you helped," was the answer. "now, listen! with my sharp teeth i am going to cut a door in the side of the hat where the alligators, sitting up on top, can't see it. then you can get out." so the dormouse, being made for just such work, as you can tell by its name, gnawed a door in the side of the hatter's hat, and out crawled the bunny rabbit gentleman before the alligators could grab him. and the bunny and the dormouse got safely away, mr. longears being very thankful, indeed, for having been helped by the little creature. so the alligators had nothing for dinner but stewed pears, and if our dog doesn't leave his tail on the wrong side of the fence, so the cat can use it for a dusting brush, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the gryphon. chapter v uncle wiggily and the gryphon uncle wiggily longears, the nice rabbit gentleman, had just finished shaving his whiskers in his hollow stump bungalow one morning when nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, his muskrat lady housekeeper, came to his door, knocked gently by flapping her tail against it, and said: "if you please, mr. longears, there's a young lady to see you." "of course i'm pleased," answered uncle wiggily. "i always like to see young ladies, especially if they have light, fluffy hair. has this one that kind?" "very much so," answered nurse jane. "here she is now," and with that in came a nice young lady, or, rather, a tall girl, with flaxen hair. "i'm afraid you don't remember me," she said, as uncle wiggily wiped the soap lather off the end of his pink, twinkling nose, where it had splashed by mistake, making it look like part of a frosted chocolate cake. "oh, yes, i do remember you!" cried the bunny gentleman, in his most jolly voice. "you're alice from wonderland, and you were very kind to help me grow smaller that time the big mosquito got me into his cave and i swelled up from eating cake." "oh, i'm so glad you remember me!" laughed alice, for it was indeed she. "i've come to ask you to do me a bit of a favor. i have to go see the gryphon, and i thought maybe you'd come with me, for i'm afraid he'll be real cross to me." "you have to go see the gryphon?" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "who in the world is he?" "oh, he's a funny animal who lives in the same story book with me," explained alice. "he's something between a dragon, a lion, an elephant, a flying fish and an alligator." "whew!" whistled uncle wiggily. "he must be a curious creature!" "he is," alice said. "and sometimes he's very cross, especially if the wind blows his veil up." "if the wind blows his veil up?" asked uncle wiggily. "in the first place, why does he wear a veil, and in the second place, why should he be angry if the wind blows it?" "there isn't any first or second place about it," spoke alice, "for you never can tell in which place the gryphon will be found. but he wears a veil because he is so ugly that every one runs away when one sees him, and he doesn't like that. and, of course, he doesn't like the wind to blow up his veil so folks can see how he really looks." "ah, ha! i understand," remarked the bunny. "but if he is so cross why do you want to go to see him?" "i don't want to," replied alice, "but i have to, because it's that way in the book. you see, to make everything come out right, the gryphon takes me to the mock turtle, who tells me a funny story, and so now i've come to see if you'll take me to the gryphon?" "i will," promised uncle wiggily, washing the soap lather out of his ears. "but where shall we find him?" "oh, that's the question!" laughed alice, just as though uncle wiggily had asked a riddle. "you have three guesses," she went on. the bunny gentleman twinkled his pink nose, so that he might think better, and then he said: "i'll tell you what we'll do. we'll go for a walk, and make believe i'm looking for an adventure. then i may find the gryphon for you." "fine!" cried alice, and, uncle wiggily having finished shaving, he and alice set out together over the fields and through the wood, her hand holding the bunny's paw. "now we must keep a sharp watch for the gryphon," said alice, who had had so many adventures in wonderland that it took a whole book to tell of them. "you never know whether he'll appear like an elephant, a dragon, a lion or a big bird, for he has wings," she said. "has he, indeed?" asked uncle wiggily. "then i think i hear him coming now," he went on. "listen, do you hear the buzzing?" and, surely enough, the air seemed filled with the buzzing and fluttering of wings. and then the sun appeared to be hidden by a cloud. "that must be the gryphon," said uncle wiggily. alice looked, and then she cried: "oh, no! it's a big cloud of bad, biting mosquitoes. it is the buzzing of their wings we hear! oh, uncle wiggily, you haven't your talcum powder bean-shooter gun with you, and here come a billion-million mosquitoes!" "that's right!" cried the bunny uncle, as he, too, saw them. "we must hide or they will bite even our shoes off!" so he and alice looked for a place to hide, but there was none, and the buzzing mosquitoes cried: "ah, ha! now we have that uncle wiggily longears rabbit. he can't get away now, for he isn't a soldier today! and we'll get alice from wonderland, too!" well, the mosquitoes were just going to grab the bunny gentleman, and the nice little young lady girl, with the fluffy flaxen hair, when a voice out of the air cried: "oh, ho! no you're not going to get them, either!" "who says we are not?" asked the captain mosquito. "i do!" "and who are you?" "i am the gryphon!" was the answer. "and i have on my mosquito net veil. i'll catch all you bad biting bugs in my net, just as a professor catches butterflies. whoop! swoop! here i come!" and with that the gryphon, raising his veil, which hung down from his big ears as from around a lady's big hat, made a net of it and, flying around, soon caught all the mosquitoes that would have bitten uncle wiggily and alice. and the mosquitoes that were not caught were so frightened at the fierce look on the gryphon's face that they fainted, and couldn't bite even as much as a spoonful of mustard. so the gryphon drove the mosquitoes away and then he took alice to see the mock turtle, while uncle wiggily hopped on home to his bungalow. and if the rubber doll doesn't bounce off the clothes horse when she rides to the candy store for some cornstarch pudding, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the blue caterpillar. chapter vi uncle wiggily and the caterpillar "uncle wiggily! oh, uncle wiggily!" called alice from wonderland as she stood one day just outside the hollow stump bungalow where the rabbit gentleman had just finished his breakfast of carrot oatmeal with parsnip sauce sprinkled over the top. "do you want to come for another walk with me?" asked alice as she ran up the bungalow front steps. "are you going to have the gryphon take you to the mock turtle again?" the bunny gentleman wanted to know. "if you are, i'll bring my talcum powder gun along this time, to keep away the mosquitoes." "no. i don't have to see the gryphon today," replied wonderland alice with a laugh. "but the duchess has sent me to find the blue caterpillar." "the duchess has sent you to find the blue caterpillar?" questioned uncle wiggily, wondering if he had heard rightly. "but who is the duchess?" "oh, she's some relation to the queen of hearts," alice answered. "she's in the book with me, the duchess is. in the book-picture she always has a lot of trimming on her big hat, and she doesn't care whether or not she holds the baby upside down." "oh, yes, now i remember," uncle wiggily said, laughing as he thought of the baby. "and now about the blue caterpillar?" "oh, he's a sort of long, fuzzy bug, who sits on a toadstool smoking a pipe," explained alice. "the duchess wants him to come and smoke some hams for her." "smoke hams!" cried the bunny rabbit. "why the very idonical idea! i've heard of men smoking tobacco--but hams--" "oh, you don't smoke hams in a pipe," said alice with a laugh. "they take a ham before it is cooked, and hang it up in a cloud of smoke, or blow smoke on it, or do something to it with smoke, so it will dry and keep longer." "what do they want to keep it for?" asked uncle wiggily. "i thought ham was to eat, with eggs." "oh, dear!" laughed alice. "i wish you wouldn't ask me so many questions. you're like the dormouse, or the cheshire cheese cat or the hatter. they were always asking the curiousestest questions like 'who threw stones at the cherry tree?' or 'how did the soft egg get inside the hard shell without cracking it?' all things like that. i can't answer them!" "very well," said uncle wiggily, smiling at alice. "i'll not ask you any more questions. come on! we'll go find the blue caterpillar." so off they started, the bunny rabbit gentleman and wonderland alice who had a day's vacation from the book with her name on it. now and then she could slip out of the book covers and go off to have a real adventure with uncle wiggily. the bunny uncle and the little girl with the pretty, flaxen hair had not gone very far over the fields and through the woods before, all of a sudden, as they were walking under some trees, something long and twisty and rubbery, like a big fire hose, reached out and grabbed them. "oh, my!" cried alice, trying to get loose, which she could not do. "a big snake has us!" "no," said uncle wiggily, looking around as best he could, for he, too, was held fast as was alice. "this isn't a snake." "what is it?" asked alice. "it's a bad circus elephant," said the bunny, "and he has caught us in his trunk. oh, dear! please let us go!" he begged the big animal. "no," sadly answered the circus elephant, for it was indeed he. "i can't let you go, for if i do they will all sit on my back and bite me." "who will?" asked uncle wiggily, curious like. "the mosquitoes," was the answer. "you see they have tried in so many ways to catch you, and haven't done it, uncle wiggily, that they finally came to me. about a million billion of them swarmed around me, and they said they'd bite me until i had the shiv-ivers if i did not help them catch you. so i had to promise that i would, though i did not want to, for i like you, uncle wiggily. "if i hadn't promised, though, the mosquitoes would have bitten me, and though i seem to have a very thick skin i am very tender, not to say ticklish, when it comes to mosquito bites. so i hid here to catch you, and i'll have to hold you until the mosquitoes come to get you. i'm very sorry!" and the elephant wound his rubbery nose of a trunk still more tightly around uncle wiggily and alice. "oh, dear!" said alice. "what shall we do?" "i don't know, i'm sure," answered the bunny. "this is quite too bad. if only the blue caterpillar--" "hush!" exclaimed a fuzzy voice down in the grass near the elephant's left front foot. "don't say a word. i'll help you," and along came crawling a big blue caterpillar, with a folded toadstool umbrella and a long-stemmed pipe on his back. "that elephant is very ticklish," said the blue caterpillar. "watch me make him squirm. and when he squirms he'll have to uncurl his trunk to scratch himself, and when he does that--" "we'll get away!" whispered uncle wiggily. "exactly!" said the blue caterpillar. so he crawled up the elephant's leg, and tickled the big animal on its ear. "oh, dear!" cried the elephant. "how itchy i am!" and he uncurled his trunk to scratch himself, and then uncle wiggily and alice could run away safely, and the mosquitoes didn't get them after all. then alice told the blue caterpillar about the duchess wanting the hams smoked and the crawling creature said he'd attend to it, and puff smoke on them from his pipe. so everything came out all right, i'm glad to say, and if the starch doesn't all come out of the collar so it has to lie down instead of standing up straight at the moving picture show, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the hatter. chapter vii uncle wiggily and the hatter "oh, uncle wiggily!" called nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, as mr. longears, the rabbit gentleman, started to hop out of his hollow stump bungalow one morning. "oh, uncle wiggily!" "well, what is it?" asked the bunny with a polite bow. "do you want anything from the store?" "some carrot coffee, if you please," answered the muskrat lady. "when you finish your walk, and have had a nice adventure, bring home some coffee." "i'll do it," promised uncle wiggily, and then, as he hopped along, over the fields and through the woods, he thought perhaps he had better buy the carrot coffee first. "for," said he to himself, "i might have such a funny adventure that i'd forget all about what nurse jane told me." now you just wait and see what happens, if you please. it did not take the bunny long to get the coffee; the monkey doodle gentleman who kept the store wrapping it up for him in a paper that had been twisted around a lollypop candy. "it's a bit sticky and sweet," said the monkey doodle store keeper, speaking of the lollypop paper, "but that will stop the coffee from falling out." "fine!" laughed uncle wiggily, and then he hopped on to look for an adventure. he had not gone very far before when, all of a sudden, he heard a voice saying: "well, i don't know what to do about it, that's all! i never saw such trouble! the idea of wanting me to get ready for it this time of day!" "ha! trouble!" thought uncle wiggily. "this is where i come in. what is it you can't get ready for this time of day, and who are you?" asked the bunny, for he saw no one. "oh, it's you, is it?" called a voice, and out from under a mulberry bush stepped a little man, with such a large hat that it covered him from head to foot. "oh, excuse me," said uncle wiggily. "you are--" "the hatter! exactly! you have guessed it," said the little man, opening a window which was cut in the side of his hat. the window was just opposite his face, which was inside, so he could look out at the bunny gentleman. "i'm the hatter, from 'alice in wonderland,'" went on the little man. the bunny hadn't quite really guessed it, though he might if he had had time. "and what is the trouble?" asked uncle wiggily. "oh, i've just been ordered by the queen of hearts to get up a tea party right away for alice, who is expected any minute," went on the hatter. "and here it is o'clock in the morning, and the tea's at , and i haven't even started." "you have lots of time," said uncle wiggily. "hours and hours." "yes, but i haven't the tea!" cried the hatter. "don't mind me, but i'm as mad--as mad as--as lollypops, and there's nothing madder than them!" he said, sort of grinding his teeth. this grinding made uncle wiggily think of the coffee in his pocket. so, holding out the package, he said: "i don't s'pose this would do, would it?" "what?" asked the hatter. "it's coffee," went on the bunny, "but--" "the very thing!" cried the hatter, who was now smiling. "it will be just the thing for the o'clock tea. we'll have it right here--i'll set the table," and opening two little doors lower down in his big hat, he stuck his arms through them and began brushing off a broad, flat stump near uncle wiggily. "the stump will do for a table," said the hatter. "this is great, uncle wiggily! we'll have tea for alice after all, and make things happen as they do in the book. don't mind me saying i was as mad as lollypops. i have to be mad--make believe, you know--or things won't come out right." "i see," said uncle wiggily, remembering that it was quite stylish to be "as mad as a hatter," though he never before knew what it meant. "but you see, my dear sir," the rabbit went on, "i have only coffee to give you, and not tea." "it doesn't matter," said the hatter. "i'll boil it in a cocoanut shell, and it will do her very well," and with that he took out, from somewhere inside his hat, half a cocoanut shell. this he set on top of the stump on a little three-legged stool, and built a fire under it. "but you need water to make coffee--i mean tea," said uncle wiggily. "i have it!" cried the hatter, and, picking up an umbrella plant growing near by, he squeezed some water from it into the cocoanut shell kettle. uncle wiggily poured some of the ground coffee into the cocoanut shell of umbrella water, which was now boiling, and then the bunny exclaimed: "but we have no sugar!" "we'll sweeten it with the paper that came off the lollypop," said the hatter, tearing off a bit of it and tossing it into the tea-coffee. "what about milk?" asked uncle wiggily. "alice may want cream in her coffee--i mean tea." "here we are!" cried the hatter. with that he picked a leaf from a milkweed plant growing near the flat stump and from that he squeezed out some drops of milk into a cup he made from a jack-in-the-pulpit flower. "now we're all ready for o'clock tea!" cried the hatter, and just then along came alice from wonderland, with the march hare, and they sat down to the stump table with uncle wiggily, who happened to have a piece of cherry pie in his pocket, so they had a nice little lunch after all. and the carrot coffee with milkweed cream in it, tasted like catnip tea, so everything came out all right. and if the white shoes don't go down in the coal bin to play with the fire shovel and freeze their toes so they can't parade on the board walk, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the duchess. chapter viii uncle wiggily and the duchess uncle wiggily longears, the rabbit gentleman, was hopping along through the woods one day, looking for an adventure, when, all of a sudden, he came to a door standing up between two trees. it was a regular door, with a knob, hinges and all, but the funny part of it was there didn't seem to be a room on either side of it. "this is remarkable!" exclaimed wiggily, "remarkable" meaning the same thing as queer. "it is very odd! here is a door and the jamb--" "where's the jamb?" asked a little katydid, who was sitting on a leaf in the sun. "i'm very fond of jam." "i didn't say j-a-m--the kind you eat on bread," spoke uncle wiggily. "i was talking about the j-a-m-b--with a b--" "bees make honey," said the katydid, "and honey's almost as good as jam. i'm not so fussy as all that. jam or honey--honey or jam, it's all the same to me." "no, there isn't any honey, either," said the bunny. "the jamb of the door is the wooden frame that goes around it, to hold it in place." "then i don't want any door jamb--i want bread and jam," said the katydid, hopping off to find her sister, katydidn't, leaving uncle wiggily to stare at the lone door. "well," said the rabbit gentleman to himself, "i may as well see what's on the other side. though a door standing all by itself in the woods is the strangest thing i've ever seen." however, he turned the knob, opened the door and stepped through, and, to his surprise, he found himself in a big kitchen which seemed magically to have appeared the moment he entered the very surprising place. at one end was a big stove, with a hot fire in it, and on the stove was a boiling kettle of soup, which was being stirred by a big fat cook lady, who was shaped like a ham, without the string in the end, of course. for the cook could stand up and didn't need to be hung on a nail as a ham is hung before it's cooked. in front of the fire was another large lady with a bonnet on almost as big as the hatter's hat. over the bonnet was a fluffy, flowing veil. "now please be quiet--do!" exclaimed the sitting down lady to something in her lap, and uncle wiggily saw that it was a baby. "come, cook!" she cried. "is that hot soup ready yet for the baby?" "not yet, mum. but it soon will be," answered the cook, and uncle wiggily was just going to say something about not giving a little baby hot soup, when the door opened again, and in came alice from wonderland. "oh, i'm so glad you're here, uncle wiggily!" cried alice. "now it will be all right." "what will?" asked the bunny. "what will be right?" "my left shoe," said alice. "you see i just came from the pool of tears, and everything got all mixed up. when i came out i had two left shoes instead of one being a right, but now you are here it's all right--i mean one is right and the other is left, as it should be," and with that alice put on one shoe she had been carrying in her hand, and smiled. "but who is this?" asked uncle wiggily, pointing with his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch at the big lady holding the baby, which was now squirming like an angle worm. "it's the duchess--a friend of the queen of hearts," answered alice. "i'll introduce you to her in a minute. are you fond of sneezing?" "only when i have a cold," answered uncle wiggily. "why do you ask?" and he began to think he was having a very funny adventure indeed. "why should i be fond of sneezing?" "because you'll have to whether you like it or not," answered alice. "the duchess is going to talcum powder the baby now--it's just had a bath." with that the duchess, who is the wife of a duke, you know, called: "here, cook! never mind the soup. give me the pepper!" "goodness me sakes alive and some horseradish lollypops!" cried uncle wiggily. "she isn't going to talcum powder the baby with pepper, is she?" "of course," answered alice. "it's that way in the book from which i came to have an adventure with you, so, of course, pepper it has to be. look out--here come the sneezes!" and alice got out her handkerchief. uncle wiggily saw the duchess, with a funny smile on her big face, take the pepper-box the cook gave her and start to sprinkle the black stuff over the baby in her lap. the baby was cooing and gurgling--as all babies do after their bath--and didn't seem at all to mind her being peppered. "they season chickens and turkeys with salt and pepper, so why not babies?" asked alice of uncle wiggily. the bunny gentleman was just going to say he did not know the answer to that riddle, when the door suddenly opened again and in came a great big dodo bird, which is something like a skillery-scalery alligator, only worse, with a beak like that of a mosquito. [illustration] "ah, ha!" chirped the dodo. "at last i have found him!" and he made a dart with his big beak for uncle wiggily. the dodo was just going to grab the bunny gentleman in his claws, and mr. longears was so shivery he didn't know what to do, when the duchess, suddenly tossing the baby to the cook, cried: "ha! no you don't! i guess it's you i want to pepper instead!" and with that she shook the box of pepper at the dodo, who began sneezing as hard as he could sneeze. "aker-choo! aker-choo! aker-choo!" sneezed the dodo. "keer-zoo! keer-zoo! keer-zoo!" sneezed the duchess. "goo-snitzio! goo-snitzio! goo-snitzio!" sneezed alice. "fizz-buzzy-wuzz! fizz-buzzy-wuzz! fizz-buzzy-wuzz!" sneezed uncle wiggily, and then the dodo himself gave another very large special five and ten cent store sale sneeze and blew himself backward out of the door. so he didn't get uncle wiggily after all. "and now we are all right," said alice, when they had all finished sneezing, including the baby. "have some soup, uncle wiggily." so the bunny did, finding it very good, and made from cabbage and pretzels and then he went home to his stump bungalow. and if the lollypop stick doesn't have to go out and help the wash lady hold up the clothesline when it goes fishing for apple pie i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the cook. chapter ix uncle wiggily and the cook "well, mr. longears, i shall have to leave you all alone today," said nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, as she gave uncle wiggily, the bunny rabbit gentleman, his breakfast in the hollow stump bungalow one morning. "leave me all alone--how does that happen?" asked uncle wiggily, sort of sad and sorrowful like. "do you mean you are going to leave me for good?" "oh, no; i'm just going to be busy all day sewing mosquito shirts for the animal boy soldiers who are going off to war. since you taught them how to shoot their talcum powder guns at the bad biting bugs, sammie littletail, your rabbit nephew, and johnnie and billie bushytail, the squirrels; jackie and peetie bow wow, the puppy dogs, and all the other woodland chaps have been bothered with the mosquitoes." "they made war enough on me," said uncle wiggily. "and, since they could not catch you, they are starting war against your friends," went on nurse jane, "so i am making mosquito shirts for the animal boys. i'll be away sewing all day, and you'll have to get your own lunch, i'm afraid." "i'm not afraid!" laughed brave uncle wiggily. "if i could get away from the bad, biting mosquitoes, i guess i can get my own lunch. besides, maybe alice from wonderland will come along and help me." "maybe," spoke nurse jane. then the muskrat lady, tying her tail up in a pink-blue hair ribbon, scurried off, while uncle wiggily hopped over the fields and through the woods, looking for an adventure. but adventures, or things that happen to you, seemed to be scarce that day, and it was noontime before the bunny gentleman hardly knew it. "well!" he exclaimed. "i'm getting hungry, and, as i didn't bring any cherry pie with me i'll have to skip along to my hollow stump bungalow for something to eat." nurse jane had left some things on the table for the bunny gentleman to eat for his lunch. there were cold carrot sandwiches, cold cabbage tarts, cold turnip unsidedowns--which are like turnovers only different--and cold lettuce pancakes. "but it seems to me," said uncle wiggily, "it seems to me that i would like something hot. i think i'll make a soup of all these things as i saw the cook doing when i went through the funny little door and met alice from wonderland in the kitchen of the duchess." so, getting a large soup kettle, uncle wiggily put into it the cold carrot sandwiches, the cold lettuce pancakes, the cold cabbage tarts and so on. then he built a fire in the stove. "for," said he, "if those things are good cold they are better hot. i shall have a fine hot lunch." then uncle wiggily sat down to wait for the things to cook, and every once in a while he would look at the kettle on the stove and say: "yes, i shall have a fine, hot lunch!" and then, all of a sudden, after the bunny rabbit gentleman had said this about five-and-ten-cent-store times a voice cried: "indeed you will have a hot lunch!" and all of a sudden into the kitchen of the hollow stump bungalow came the red hot flamingo bird, eager to burn the rabbit gentleman. "oh!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "i--i don't seem to know you very well." "you'll know me better after a bit," said the red flamingo bird, clashing its beak like a pair of tailor's shears. "i'm the bird that alice from wonderland used for a croquet mallet when she played with the queen of hearts." "oh, now i know!" said the bunny. "won't you have lunch with me?" he asked, trying to be polite. "i'm having a hot lunch, though nurse jane left me a cold one, and--" "you are going to have a much hotter lunch than you imagine!" said the red flamingo bird. "look out! i'm getting sizzling hot!" and indeed he was, which made him such a red color, i suppose. "i'm going to burn you!" cried the bird to uncle wiggily, sticking out his red tongue. "burn me? why?" asked the poor bunny gentleman. "oh, because i have to burn somebody, and it might as well be you!" said the flamingo. "look out, now!" "ha! indeed! and it's you who had better look out!" cried a new voice. and with that the cook--the same big lady, shaped like a ham, whom uncle wiggily had last seen in the kitchen of the duchess--this cook hopped nimbly in through a window of the hollow stump bungalow. "i'll fix him!" she cried, catching up the flatirons from the shelf over the stove and throwing them at the flamingo. "get out! scat! sush! run away!" and she threw the fire shovel, the dustpan, the sink shovel, the stove lifter, the broom and the coal scuttle at the flamingo. my, but that cook was a thrower! she didn't hit the red flamingo bird with any of the things she threw, but she tossed them so very hard, and seemingly with such anger, that the bird was frightened. "this is no place for me!" cried the flaming red bird, drawing in his red tongue. "i'll go make it hot for mr. whitewash, the polar bear. he might like some heat for a change from his cake of ice." then the red flamingo bird, not burning uncle wiggily at all, flew away, and the cook, after she had picked up all the kitchen things she had thrown, came in and had a hot lunch with uncle wiggily, who thanked her very much. "i'm glad you came," said the bunny, "but i didn't know you cooks threw things." "oh, i'm from the wonderland alice book, which makes me different," the cook answered. and she was queer. but everything came out all right, you see, and if the trolley car conductor doesn't punch the transfer so hard that it falls off the seat, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the baby. chapter x uncle wiggily and the baby "well," said uncle wiggily longears, the rabbit gentleman, to himself, as he stood in the middle of the woods and looked around. "i don't seem to be going to have any adventures today at all. i wonder what's the matter?" something was wrong, that is certain. the bunny uncle had been hopping along all the morning, and part of the afternoon, and not a single adventure had he found. almost always something happened to him, but this time was different. he had not met alice from wonderland, nor any of her queer relations, and uncle wiggily had not seen any of his animal boy or girl friends, so the rabbit gentleman was beginning to feel a bit lonesome. then, all of a sudden, before you could count a million (providing you had time and wanted to), uncle wiggily saw, fluttering from a tree, what he thought was a flag. "that's queer," he said to himself, only out loud. "i wonder if any of my mosquito enemies have made a camp there under the trees, and are flying the flag before they come to bite me? i'll go closer and see." uncle wiggily was very brave, you know, even if he only had his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch instead of the talcum powder popgun that shot bean-bag bullets. so up he went to where he thought he saw the mosquito enemy's flag fluttering, and my goodness me sakes alive and some chocolate cake ginger snaps! it wasn't the mosquito flag at all, which shows that we ought never to be afraid until we are sure what a thing is--and sometimes not then. "why, it's a lady's veil!" cried uncle wiggily, as he looked at the fluttering thing. and, as he said that, someone, who was sitting on an old log, turned around, and--there was the wonderland duchess herself--the queer, stout lady who looked like a barrel of flour--very rich you know! [illustration] "oh, hello, uncle wiggily!" called the duchess, who is a sort of princess grown up. "i'm glad to see you. i have a friend of yours here with me!" "do you mean alice?" asked the bunny. "no, this time it's the baby," answered the duchess, and then uncle wiggily saw that she had a live baby in her arms upside down. i mean the baby was upside down, not the arms of the duchess, though perhaps it would have been better that way. "bless me!" cried uncle wiggily. "that's no way to hold the child." "oh, indeed!" said the duchess, sort of sniffing proud like. "then if you know so much about holding babies, take this one. i have to go make a rice pudding," and before uncle wiggily could stop her she tossed the baby to him as if it were a ball and ran away, crying: "rice! rice! who has the rice pudding?" "oh, my!" uncle wiggily started to say, but that was all he had time for, as he had to catch baby, which he managed to do right side up. this was a good thing, i think. "you poor little dear!" cried the bunny uncle as he smoothed out the baby's clothes and looked around for a nursing bottle or a rattle box. and, as he was doing this, and while the baby was trying to close its lips, which it had opened to cry with when it found itself skedaddling through the air--while this was going on, some one gave a loud laugh, and uncle wiggily, looking around in surprise, saw alice from wonderland. "well!" said the bunny. "i'm glad to see you, but what is there to laugh at?" "the--the baby!" said alice, sort of choking like, for she was trying to talk and laugh at the same time. "why should you laugh at a poor baby, whom no one seems to know how to care for?" asked uncle wiggily. "why, i ask you?" "oh! but look what it's turning into!" said alice, pointing. the bunny uncle looked at what he held in his paws. it was wiggling, twisting and squirming in such a funny way, squee-geeing its dress all up around its face that for a moment uncle wiggily could not get a good look, but, when he did, he cried: "my goodness me sakes alive and some bacon gravy! it's a little pig!" and so it was! as he held it the baby had turned into a tiny pig, with a funny nose and half-shut eyes. "bless my rheumatism crutch!" cried uncle wiggily. "what made it do that?" "because it's that way in the book where i came from," said alice. "you read and you'll see that the baby which the duchess gives me to hold turns into a little pig." "but she gave it to me to hold!" cried uncle wiggily. "it's much the same thing," spoke alice. "as long as it's a pig it doesn't matter." "but dear me hum suz dud!" cried the bunny. "i don't want to be carrying around a little pig. of course i like pigs, and i'm very fond of my friends curley and floppy twisty-tail, the little grunters. but this baby pig--" and, just as uncle wiggily said that, who should come along but a bad old skillery-scalery hump-tailed alligator, walking on his hind legs, with his two front claws stretched out in front of him. "ah, ha!" cried the bad alligator, who had promised to be good, but who had not kept his word. "ah, ha! at last i have caught you, uncle wiggily, and wonderland alice, too!" he was just going to grab them when the little baby pig, who had been squirming very hard all the while, finally squirmed out of uncle wiggily's paws, fell to the ground, and then, running right between the legs of the alligator, as pigs always do run, the squealing chap upset the bad, unpleasant creature, knocking him over in a frontward somersault and also backward peppersault down the steps. "oh, my goodness!" cried the skillery-scalery alligator. "i'm killed!" which he wasn't at all, but he thought so, and this frightened him so much that he ran away and didn't catch uncle wiggily or alice after all, for which i'm glad. and if the puppy dog doesn't take all the bark off the sassafras tree and leave none for the pussy cat to polish her claws on, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the mock-turtle. chapter xi uncle wiggily and the mock-turtle "oh, uncle wiggily! will you please take me with you this morning?" asked a little voice, somewhere down near the lower, or floor-end, of the old rabbit gentleman's rheumatism crutch, as mr. longears sat at the breakfast table in his hollow stump bungalow. "please take me with you!" "well, who are you, and where do you want to be taken?" asked the bunny. "oh, i'm squeaky-eeky, the little cousin mouse," was the answer, "and i want you to take me with you on one of your walks, so i can have an adventure as you do with alice in wonderland." "but perhaps i may not see alice in wonderland," spoke uncle wiggily. "i do not always have that pleasure." "well, then, perhaps we'll see the baby or the duchess, or the gryphon or some of the funny folk who make such jolly fun with you," went on squeaky-eeky. "i have a holiday from school today, because they are painting the blackboards white, and i'd like to come with you." "come along then!" cried uncle wiggily, giving the little cousin mouse a bit of cheese cake with some lettuce sugar sprinkled over the top. "we'll see what sort of adventure happens today." so, calling good-bye to nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, uncle wiggily and squeaky-eeky started off over the fields and through the woods. they had not gone very far before, all at once, as they walked along a little path under the trees they saw a funny thing lying near a clump of ferns. it looked like a mud turtle at first, but after peering at it through his glasses uncle wiggily saw that the larger part was made of a half-round stone. in front of that was part of a broken rubber ball, and sticking out at the four corner places were four pieces of wood, like little claws, while at the back was a piece of an old leather boot. "my! i wonder what in the world this can be?" said uncle wiggily, surprised like. "maybe it's something from alice in wonderland," spoke squeaky-eeky, the cousin mouse. "you are right--i am!" exclaimed a voice. "i am the mock-turtle and i have just gotten out of the soup." "oh, i'm so glad to meet you!" cried squeaky. "i've always wanted to see what a real mock turtle looked like, ever since i read the book about alice." "hum!" grunted the queer creature. "there's no such thing as a real mock turtle any more than there is a make-believe toothache." "i hope you never have that," said squeaky-eeky, politely. "thank you, i don't care for any," answered the mock-turtle, just as if the little cousin mouse had passed the cakes. and then the turtle began to sing: "speak gently to your toothache drops, and do not let them fall. and when you have the measle-mumps, they'll scarcely hurt at all." "mine did," said squeaky-eeky, wondering if this was what alice would have answered. but the mock-turtle kept right on with: "once a tramp was seated on a chair made out of cheese. he ate the legs and then he fell down with a terrible sneeze." "that isn't right," said squeaky-eeky. "it's a trap that was baited with a piece of cheese, and--" "hush!" suddenly exclaimed the mock-turtle. "here he comes!" "who?" asked the little cousin mouse. "do you mean the tramp?" before the mock-turtle could answer along came shuffling a big, shaggy bear. at first uncle wiggily and the little cousin mouse thought perhaps it was neddie or beckie stubtail, one of the good bear children, but instead it was a bad old tramp sort of a bear--the kind that goes about taking honey out of beehives. "ah, ha!" growled the bear. "a rabbit and a mouse! that's fine for me! i shall have a good dinner, i'm sure!" and he smacked his red tongue against his teeth. "where will you get your dinner?" asked uncle wiggily, curious like. "there is no restaurant or kitchen around here," went on squeaky-eeky. "never you mind about that!" cried the bear. "i'll attend to you at dessert. just now i want uncle wiggily to come here and count how many teeth i have," and he opened his mouth real wide, the bear did. "oh, but i don't want to count your teeth," said the poor bunny gentleman, for well he knew what the bear's trick would be. the bear wanted to bite uncle wiggily. "you must count my teeth!" growled the shaggy creature, coming close to uncle wiggily. "no, let me do it!" suddenly cried the mock-turtle. "i am good at counting." "well, it doesn't make any difference who does it," said the bear. then, going close over to where the mock-turtle sat on the path, the bear opened wide his mouth. and then, just as he would have done to the rabbit gentleman, the bear made a savage bite for the mock-turtle. but you know what happened. instead of biting on something good, like a lollypop, the bear bit on the hard stone, of which the top part of mock, or make-believe, turtle was made, and the stone was so gritty and tough that the bear's teeth all broke off, and then he couldn't bite even a jelly fish. "oh, wow! oh, woe is me!" cried the bear, as he ran to see if he could find a dentist to make him some false teeth. "and he didn't hurt me a bit," laughed the mock-turtle, made of stone, wood and leather, who was built that way on purpose to fool bad bears and such like. "i don't mind in the least being bitten," said the pretend turtle. "but you saved my life, and squeaky-eeky's, too," said uncle wiggily. "i thank you!" then the mock-turtle crawled away and the bunny and mousie girl had a fine time together. and if the milk wagon doesn't go swimming down on the board walk with the watering cart and make the ice cream jump over the lollypop, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the lobster. chapter xii uncle wiggily and the lobster "you'll be home to supper, won't you?" asked nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, as she saw her friend, uncle wiggily longears, the rabbit gentleman, hopping down off the front porch of the hollow stump bungalow one morning. "oh, yes, i'll be home," he answered, "i'm just going to look for a little adventure." then, not having been on the board walk in quite a while, uncle wiggily went down to the ocean seashore beach. "for," said the old rabbit gentleman to himself, "i have not had a seashore adventure in some time. and, perhaps, my friend, alice, from wonderland, may be down there. i know in her story book there are many curious things that happen near the sea." so down to the shore went uncle wiggily and as he was walking along, looking at the funny marks his feet made in the wet sand, all of a sudden he came to a pile of damp, green seaweed, and from underneath it he heard a voice calling: "oh, help me out! please help me out!" "ha! that sounds like some one in trouble!" uncle wiggily said. "i must help them." then with his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch that nurse jane had gnawed for him out of a lollypop stick, the bunny poked away the seaweed, and underneath it, all tangled up so he could hardly move, was a lobster gentleman. "oh, it was so good of you to get me out," said the lobster as he gave a flip-flap with his tail. "an old crab, who doesn't like me, piled the seaweed over my back as i was taking a nap in the sun. my long thin legs were all tangled in it, and even with my big pinching claws i could not get loose, and i was so afraid i'd be late." "late for what?" asked uncle wiggily, wondering where the lobster was going. "to the dance--the quadrille, of course," was the answer. "oh, now i remember," said the bunny. "it's in the wonderland alice book. you have to go to a dance, don't you?" "exactly," said the lobster. "i'd be pleased to have you come with me." "i will," promised uncle wiggily, thinking maybe he would have an adventure there. so down the beach started the lobster gentleman and the bunny uncle. on and on they went for a long, long time, it seemed to uncle wiggily, and it was getting quite late, as he could tell by the star fish which were twinkling on the beach, and still they had seen no signs of a dance. "i can't understand it," said the lobster. "alice said i was to walk until i met her, and she'd take me to the party. and we certainly have been walking a long time." "we have," agreed uncle wiggily. "it is so late i'm afraid i'll have to leave you and go home to supper, as i promised nurse jane." "that's too bad," went on the lobster. "i wanted you to see how well i can dance on the end of my tail. but i can't understand why we don't get to the quadrille. we certainly have walked down the beach, haven't we?" "we have," answered the bunny. "but--ah! i have it!" uncle wiggily suddenly cried. "you have been walking backward, and i have been following you. we have been going =away= from the dance instead of =toward= it." "of course!" cried the lobster, in a cold and clammy voice. "why didn't i think of that before? i always have to go backward, on account of my claws being so heavy i have to pull them after me, instead of pushing them ahead. "and so, of course, going backward as i do, and as all lobsters do, when i want to get anywhere i always turn my back toward it, and get to it that way. this time i forgot to do that." "but what can we do now?" uncle wiggily wanted to know. "how can we get to the dance?" "i'll just turn around and back up to it," spoke the lobster. "i'm sorry to have mixed things up for you, especially as you were so kind as to get me from under the pile of seaweed." "oh, don't worry!" laughed uncle wiggily, jolly-like. "i dare say it will be all right. come on!" so the lobster turned around and began to back toward where he hoped to find the dance. it grew darker and darker, and the star fish were twinkling more than ever, and then, all of a sudden, they came to the hollow stump bungalow where uncle wiggily lived. "hurray!" cried the lobster. "here we are at the quadrille. now i'll explain to alice--" "no, this isn't the dance," said uncle wiggily. "this is where i live. but i'd be pleased to have you come in to supper, and we can go to the dance tomorrow." "i will!" cried the lobster, after thinking about it. into the hollow stump bungalow they went, the lobster backing in, of course, and uncle wiggily cried: "supper for two, if you please, nurse jane!" "right away!" answered the muskrat lady. and she began to set the table. and then, while uncle wiggily and the lobster were talking together nurse jane called: "oh, dear! i've lost the can opener, and i can't open this tin of peaches. what shall i do?" "let me try!" begged uncle wiggily. but his paws were not big enough. "i'll do it!" said the lobster. and with his strong, pinching claws he punched open the can of peaches as easily as you can eat a chocolate cream drop. it was no trouble at all for him. so it was a good thing uncle wiggily brought the lobster home for supper, you see. and if the stairs don't stand on their heads and with their toes tickle all the holes out of the lawn tennis nets, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and father william. chapter xiii uncle wiggily and father william one morning, soon after he had finished his breakfast, having taken his red, white and blue striped barber pole rheumatism crutch down from behind the clock, uncle wiggily longears, the rabbit gentleman, started out from his hollow stump bungalow. there were quite a few friends of the little girl named alice in wonderland whom he had not yet met, and he hoped to have an adventure with one of them. so, tossing up in the air his tall silk stovepipe hat, and letting it bounce three times on the end of his pink nose, uncle wiggily hurried off. the rabbit gentleman had not gone very far, over the fields and through the woods, before he saw something very strange indeed. this something was what seemed to be a funny sort of flower vase, with two things sticking up in it, and on the end of them were two shoes. "my goodness me, sakes alive and some chocolate cake pudding!" cried the surprised bunny uncle. "what's this?" then, as he looked again, he saw a funny face, and a pair of bright eyes looking at him from the bottom part of what seemed to be a flower vase. "why, it's a man!" cried uncle wiggily. "of course i'm a man," was the jolly answer. "but don't be afraid of me; i'm not a hunter man." "and you--you're standing on your head!" went on uncle wiggily, more surprised than ever. "of course i'm standing on my head!" said the funny man. "i have to do that to make things come out as they do in the alice in wonderland book. i'm father william, you know," and with that he gave a nimble spring, turned a back somersault, putting himself right side up, and began to recite this verse: "you are old, father william, the young man said, and your hair has become very white. but yet you incessantly stand on your head. do you think, at your age, that is right?" "but is it?" asked uncle wiggily quickly, as soon as funny father william had ceased speaking. "of course it is," was the answer. "otherwise it wouldn't be in the book and i wouldn't do it. at first it came very hard to me, but now i can easily manage. and you'll find you get quite a different view of things, looking at them upside down as i do every now and then," he went on. "i wonder if i could stand on my head?" spoke uncle wiggily. "try it," said father william. "i'd like to," went on the bunny uncle. "but i might crush my tall silk hat." "take it off," suggested father william. "yes, i could do that. but suppose some one were to see me?" asked the bunny. "it would look sort of queer." "no one will see you here behind the trees," spoke father william. "besides, if they do, learning to stand on one's head is very useful. there is no telling when you may want to do it at home." "that's so," agreed uncle wiggily. "well, i'll try." at first he couldn't stand up on his head at all, just turning over in a sort of flip-flop every time he tried. but at last father william held up the bunny rabbit by the heels, and then uncle wiggily did it better. after a while he could stand straight, right side up, on his hind paws, give a little wiggle, and then suddenly, with a funny twist and a somersault flop, there he was, standing on his head, with his silk hat twirling around on his upper paws. and father william could do the same thing. if you had happened to walk through the woods when uncle wiggily and father william, who had a little holiday from the alice book, were standing on their heads, surely you would have laughed. "and, now that i have learned a new trick, i must go look for an adventure," said the bunny. "i'll go with you," spoke father william. together they went along through the woods and over the fields and, all of a sudden, from behind a currant jam bush, out jumped a bad, old, double-jointed skillery-scalery alligator. "ah, ha!" cried the alligator. "at last i have caught some one to whom i can do it! ah, ha!" "do what?" asked uncle wiggily, while father william looked around for a place to hide. "what are you going to do?" "tickle your feet!" was the surprising answer. "i am the ticklish alligator, and feet i must tickle! get ready now, here i come." "oh, dear!" cried father william. "i never can bear to have my feet tickled. for, when that happens i laugh and then i sneeze and then i catch cold and have to go to bed. oh, dear! i don't want my feet tickled!" "hush!" whispered uncle wiggily, as the 'gator was hopping toward them. "you won't have to suffer that! quick! stand on your head as you taught me to, and hold your feet up in the air!" and in the twinkle of a spiced pear uncle wiggily and father william were standing on their heads. the surprised alligator saw them, and after trying to reach their feet with his claws, which he couldn't do, as they were up in the air, he cried: "ah, ha! thought you'd fool me, didn't you, by standing on your heads! well, i'll tickle your feet after all. i'll climb a tree and reach down to them!" "oh, dear! he'll make me catch cold no matter what i do," sighed father william. "no, he won't," said uncle wiggily. "the alligator is very good at climbing up trees, but it takes him ever so long to climb down. as soon as he climbs up we'll stop standing on our heads. we'll flip-flop to our feet and run away." and that's exactly what the bunny and father william did. as soon as the alligator was up in the tree branches they turned a flip-flop, stood up straight and away they ran, and the alligator was all day getting down out of the tree. so he didn't tickle their feet after all, but he might have if uncle wiggily had not learned to stand on his head. and if the ice wagon doesn't slide down hill and throw snowballs at the potato pudding in the parlor i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the magic bottles. chapter xiv uncle wiggily and the magic bottles uncle wiggily longears, the rabbit gentleman, was hopping along through the woods one morning after having eaten breakfast in his hollow stump bungalow, when, just as he reached a nice, grassy place, near a spring of water, he saw the little flaxen-haired girl, alice from wonderland, coming toward him. "oh, i'm so glad to see you!" cried alice. "you are just in time to win the first prize." she handed the gentleman rabbit a little bottle, filled with what seemed to be water, and stoppered with a blue cork. "first prize for what?" asked uncle wiggily. "for getting here early," answered alice. "and you also get second prize, too," and she handed him another bottle, stoppered with a red cork. "why do i get second prize?" asked the bunny. "for not being late," answered alice with a smile. "it is very simple. first prize for being early, second prize for not being late." "hum!" said uncle wiggily, sort of scratching his pink, twinkling nose, thoughtful like. "it's much the same thing, it seems to me." "not at all," said alice, quickly. "the prizes are very different. those bottles are magical. they are filled with water from the pool of tears. if you drink a few drops from the one with the blue cork you will grow very small. and if you take some of the water from the red-stoppered bottle you will grow very large. be careful of your prizes." "i will," promised uncle wiggily. "are there any others coming?" he asked, looking about through the trees. "any others coming where?" inquired alice. "here. i mean, might they have gotten prizes, too?" "no, only you," said the flaxen-haired girl. "you were the only one expected." "but," spoke the puzzled bunny rabbit, "if i was the only one expected, what was the use of giving prizes? no one else could have gotten here ahead of me; could they?" "please don't ask me," begged alice. "all i know is that it's one of the riddles like those the march hare asks, such as 'what makes the mirror look crooked at you?' the answer is it doesn't if you don't. in this case you get the prizes because there is no one else to give them to. so take them and have an adventure. i have to go see what the duchess wants." with that alice faded away like the cheshire cat, beginning at her head and ending up at her feet, the last things to go being the buttons on her shoes. "well," said uncle wiggily to himself, "i have two prizes, it seems, of magic bottles. i wonder what i am to do with them?" he looked at the red and blue corked bottles, holding one in each paw, and he was wondering whether it would be best to grow small or large, when, all at once, he felt himself caught from behind by a pair of big claws, and, looking over his shoulder, as best he could, uncle wiggily saw that he was held fast by a big alligator; a skillery-scalery chap with a double-jointed tail that he could swing back and forth like a pantry door. "ah, ha! i have you!" gurgled the 'gator. "yes, i see you have!" said uncle wiggily, sadly. "you thought you and father william would fool me by standing on your heads so i couldn't tickle your feet," went on the 'gator, as i call him for short. "but i got down out of the tree, and here i am. i have you now and you can't get away from me!" indeed it did seem so, for he held uncle wiggily very tight and fast in his claws. "what are you going to do with me?" asked the rabbit. "take you home to my den, and my dear little foxes, eight, nine and ten," said the alligator. "foxes!" cried uncle wiggily. "have you foxes?" "i have!" answered the alligator. "i am keeping them until their father gets back from a hunting trip, and they are very hungry. their father is the fox who went out 'in a hungry plight, and he begged of the moon to give him light, for he'd many miles to go that night, before he could reach his den-o.'" "oh, now i remember," said uncle wiggily. "it's in mother goose." "yes, and so is the rest of it," went on the alligator. "'at last the fox reached home to his den, and his dear little foxes, eight, nine, ten.' those are their names, though they sound like numbers," said the 'gator. "i'll soon introduce you to them. come along!" now uncle wiggily did not like this at all. he wanted to get away from the alligator, but he did not know how he could do it. at last he thought of the magical bottles alice had given him. "ah, ha!" thought uncle wiggily. "i'll give the alligator a drink from the blue-corked one, and we'll see what happens." so uncle wiggily slyly said to the 'gator: "before you take me off to your den, would you not like a drink from this bottle to refresh you?" "yes, i would," said the skillery-scalery creature, not at all politely. "i was going to take some anyhow whether you asked me or not." with that he took the blue-corked bottle from the paw of the bunny rabbit gentleman, pulled out the stopper with his teeth and drank a few drops. and, no sooner had he done that, than the alligator began to shrink. first he became as small as a dog, then as little as a cat, then as tiny as a kitten, then no larger than a bird and finally he was no bigger than a baby angle worm. and when the alligator became that size uncle wiggily was not afraid and easily got away from him, taking the two magic bottles. "oh, dear!" cried the 'gator in a baby angle worm voice, which was about as loud as the head of a pin. "how foolish i was to drink from the magic bottle and grow small." but it served him right, i think, and the bunny uncle was safe. and if the head of the table doesn't step on the front door mat and make it slide off the porch i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the croquet ball. chapter xv uncle wiggily and the croquet ball "why in the world are you taking those bottles with you?" asked nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, as she saw uncle wiggily, the bunny rabbit gentleman, hopping off the front porch of his hollow stump bungalow one morning. "these are the prizes which alice from wonderland gave me," answered mr. longears, as he looked at the blue and red corked bottles. "the red one makes things grow larger and the blue one makes them smaller. i am going to take them with me as i go looking for an adventure today, as there is no telling when i might need them. i did yesterday, when the alligator caught me. i gave him a drink from the blue bottle and he shrunk until he was no larger than a baby angle worm." the rabbit gentleman had not gone very far, twinkling his pink nose as he hopped, before, all of a sudden, he came to a place where a big stone grew out of the ground, and near it he heard a voice, saying: "oh, dear! oh, dear! oh, dear!" "ha! that sounds like trouble!" exclaimed the bunny. "who are you and what is the matter?" he asked, kindly. "oh, i am a lady bug," was the answer, "and i am so small that i either get lost all the while, or all the other animals and bugs in the forest step on me. oh, i wish i were larger so i could be more easily seen!" "indeed, you are rather hard to see," said uncle wiggily, and he had to look twice through his glasses before he could notice the lady bug. at the first look he only half saw her, but the second time he saw her fully. "i'd like to be about as large as a june beetle," said the lady bug. "but i don't s'pose i ever shall be." "oh, yes you will!" cried jolly uncle wiggily. "i will! how?" asked the lady bug, eagerly. "i have here some water in a magic bottle," said the bunny. "i'll give you a few drops of it, and it will make you grow larger." so he took some water from the red-corked flask, and let the lady bug sip it. instantly she grew as large as a turkey. "oh, now i'm too big," she said. "i see you are," said uncle wiggily. "i'll have to give you some from the other bottle and make you grow smaller." so he did, but he must have given a little too much, for the lady bug suddenly grew as small as the point of a baby pin. "oh, this is worse and worse," she said sadly. "i know it!" agreed uncle wiggily. "wait, i'll give you a little of both kinds," and he did, so the lady bug grew to the size of a small potato, which was just right, so she would not get lost or stepped on. after the lady bug had thanked him, uncle wiggily, with his two magical bottles, hopped on through the woods. he had not gone very far before he saw alice of wonderland and the queen of hearts playing croquet on a grassy place. "come on, uncle wiggily!" called alice. "you're just in time for the game." "fine!" said the bunny uncle, taking a mallet and round wooden ball which the queen handed him. "three strikes and you go out!" warned the queen. "what does she mean?" asked uncle wiggily of alice. "this isn't baseball." "she means," explained the little flaxen-haired girl, "that if you miss striking the croquet ball three times with your mallet you have to go out and bring in some ice cream." "oh, i shan't mind that," the bunny rabbit said. "in fact, i shall rather like it. now, what do i do--?" "play ball!" suddenly cried the queen of hearts, and she struck with her mallet the croquet ball near her such a hard blow that it sailed through the air and hit uncle wiggily in the coat tails. and then something cracked. all at once the croquet ball began growing larger! bigger and bigger it grew, like a snowball which you roll in the yard, and then it began to roll after uncle wiggily. down the croquet ground the big wooden ball chased after him, rolling closer and closer. "oh, my!" cried the queen of hearts, "what have i done?" "the ball cracked the magical red stoppered bottle that was in my coat tail pocket!" cried uncle wiggily over his shoulder, as he ran. "some of the magic, big-growing water spilled on the ball, and now it has turned into a giant! oh, it will crush me!" and, really, it did seem as though the big croquet ball would, for now it was as large as a house and still growing, so strong was the water in the magical bottle that had been broken. larger and larger grew the croquet ball, and faster and faster it rolled after uncle wiggily. it was almost on his heels now, and the bunny gentleman was running so fast that his tall silk hat flew off. "oh, what shall i do?" he cried. alice thought for a minute, then she called: "quick, uncle wiggily. take out the blue-corked bottle and sprinkle some of that water on the croquet ball! hurry now!" uncle wiggily did. as he ran he turned and threw back over his shoulder some of the blue bottle water on the big rolling croquet ball. and, all at once, just as the alligator had done, the croquet ball shrank and shrank until it was no larger than a boy's marble, and then it couldn't hurt uncle wiggily even if it did roll on him. but it is a good thing he had that bottle of shrinking water with him; isn't it? and, if the expressman doesn't take the baby carriage to ride the trunk down to the five-and-ten-cent store to buy a new piano, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the do-do. chapter xvi uncle wiggily and the do-do "i declare!" exclaimed nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper for uncle wiggily longears, the rabbit gentleman, "i declare, i'll never get it done--never!" "what?" asked uncle wiggily. "what won't you get done?" "all this housework," answered miss fuzzy wuzzy. "you see, going over to call on mrs. bushytail, the squirrel lady, last night i didn't wash the supper dishes, and now i have them to do, and also the breakfast dishes and the sweeping and dusting and i ought to bake a cake, and mend some of your socks and--" "whoa!" called uncle wiggily with a jolly laugh, as though he had spoken to munchie trot, the pony. "that's enough! don't say any more. you have too much work to do." "and i'm worried about it," said nurse jane. "don't be," advised the rabbit gentleman. "i'll stay and help you do it." "no," said nurse jane. "thank you just the same, but i'd rather you wouldn't stay around the hollow stump bungalow when there is so much to do. you might get in my way and i'd step on you. that would give me the fidgets. it is very kind of you, but if you'll go off and have an adventure i think that will be best." "just as you say," agreed uncle wiggily. "but i'd like to help. can't i bring you a diamond dishpan or a gold wash rag from the five and ten cent store?" "no! hop along with you!" laughed nurse jane. "i dare say i'll manage somehow." so uncle wiggily hopped along, over the fields and through the woods, and then he suddenly said to himself: "i know what i'll do. i'll play a little trick on nurse jane. she shouldn't spend so much time in the kitchen. a little is all right, but there is too much trouble about housework. here i go off and have an adventure and she has to slop around in dishwater. it isn't right!" then the rabbit gentleman hopped along until he came to a woodland telephone, made from a trumpet vine flower, and into that he called, speaking right into his own hollow stump bungalow and to nurse jane. "oh, miss fuzzy wuzzy!" called uncle wiggily. "can you come over to mrs. wibblewobble's duck house right away?" "why, yes, i can," answered the muskrat lady, "though i have a lot of work to do. what is the matter?" "i'll tell you when you get there," said the voice of uncle wiggily, pretending he was mrs. wibblewobble, the duck lady. then he called up mrs. wibblewobble herself, told her how he had fooled nurse jane, and asked the duck lady, when the muskrat lady housekeeper came, to keep her talking and visiting as long as she could. "and while nurse jane is at your house, mrs. wibblewobble," said uncle wiggily, over the trumpet vine telephone, "i'll run around the back way to the hollow stump bungalow and do all the work." "that will be a nice surprise for nurse jane," the duck lady said. uncle wiggily guessed so, too, and when he thought nurse jane was safely at mrs. wibblewobble's house, he went to the bungalow. he took off his tall silk hat, laid aside his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch, and began with the dishes. there was a large pile of them, but uncle wiggily was brave. "when i was a soldier i fought a great many more mosquitoes than there are dishes here," he said. "i will make believe the plates, cups and saucers are the enemy, and i will charge on them and souse them." and uncle wiggily did, with a cake of soap for a gun and washing powder to fire with. but, still and with all, there were many dishes, and when he thought of the beds to make, the sweeping and dusting to be done and the socks to mend, uncle wiggily said: "oh, dear!" "what's the matter?" asked a voice behind him, and turning, he saw alice from wonderland. with her was a queer bird, which had a tail like that of a mouse. "oh, i'm glad to see you!" said uncle wiggily. "but i can't go and have an adventure with you, alice, as i have to do all these dishes. then i have to do the sweeping and do the dusting and do--" "that's enough!" laughed alice. "there are too many do-dos. i am just in time, i see. my friend will help you," and she pointed to the queer bird. "what?" cried uncle wiggily. "can he do dishes?" "he can do anything!" laughed alice. "he is the do-do bird, and all i have to do is to pinch his tail and he will work very fast." "doesn't it hurt him?" asked uncle wiggily. "what, to work fast?" alice wanted to know. "no, to pinch his tail." "not in the least," answered alice. "he's used to it. the only trouble is i have to keep on pinching it to make him do things, and that means i have to keep my finger and thumb on his tail all the while and follow him around. now we'll begin to do things, dear do-do," and she pinched the bird's tail. at once the bird began to wash dishes, and soon they were all done, and then when the do-do started to do the beds uncle wiggily thought of a new plan. "as long as you have to pinch his tail," said the bunny to alice, "i'll get nurse jane's hair curlers. you can snap them on his tail and they'll keep pinching on it, and pinching on it all the while, and you and i can go take a walk." "fine!" cried alice. so with the hair curlers pinching his tail the do-do bird quickly did all the bungalow housework, and uncle wiggily and alice had a fine walk. and when nurse jane came home from mrs. wibblewobble's and found the work all done she was very happy. and so was the do-do, for he loved to do dishes. and if the teacup doesn't try to hide in the milk pitcher, where the bread crumbs can't tickle it when they play tag with the butter knife, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the lory. chapter xvii uncle wiggily and the lory once upon a time the skillery-scalery alligator was out walking in the fields near the muddy river where he lived, and he happened to meet a big spider. "good morning, mr. alligator," said mr. spider. "have you caught that uncle wiggily longears bunny yet?" "i have not, i am sorry to say," answered the alligator chap. "i've tried every way i know how, but something always happens so that he gets away. either he is helped by that funny book-girl, alice from wonderland, or by some of her friends. i'm afraid i'll never catch uncle wiggily." "oh, yes, you will," said mr. spider. "i'll help you." "how?" asked the 'gator, which was his short name, though he was rather long. "i'll crawl through the woods and over the fields until i find him asleep," said mr. spider. "and, when i do, i'll spin a strong web around and over him so he cannot get loose. then i'll come and tell you and you can get him." "very good," spoke mr. alligator. "please do it." so the alligator went back to sleep in the mud to wait until mr. spider should bring him word that uncle wiggily was held fast in the web. and now let us see what happens to the bunny gentleman. as he always did, he started out from his hollow stump bungalow one morning to look for an adventure. there had been a little accident at breakfast time. nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, had boiled the eggs too long and they were as hard as bullets. "you can't eat them," she said to uncle wiggily. "i'll boil you some fresh ones." "all right," laughed the bunny. "i don't want to get indyspepsia by eating hard bullet eggs. but i'll take them with me and give them to johnnie or billie bushytail, the squirrel boys. they can crack hard nuts so they must be able to crack hard boiled eggs." so it was that uncle wiggily, after having eaten the newly boiled soft eggs, started from his hollow stump bungalow with the hard boiled eggs in his pocket. he had not traveled very far before he heard from behind a big log a voice crying: "oh, dear! it isn't hard enough! it isn't half hard enough!" "what isn't?" asked uncle wiggily, as he saw a funny looking bird with a very large bill like a parrot's. "what isn't hard enough?" "this log of wood," was the answer. "i need something hard to bite on to sharpen my beak, but this wood is too soft." "you are a funny bird," laughed the bunny gentleman. "who might you be?" "i am the lory bird," was the answer. "i belong in the book with alice of wonderland, but i'm out for a day's pleasure, and, as i can't tell what i might have to eat, i thought i'd sharpen my bill. but i can't find anything hard enough to use as a grindstone." "suppose you try these," said uncle wiggily, taking the hard boiled eggs out of his pocket. "the very thing!" cried the lory. "these will be fine for my bill!" with that he champed his beak down on the hard eggs and he had all he could do to bite them. "now i'll get my beak good and sharp," said lory. "you have done me a great favor, uncle wiggily, and i hope some day to do you one." "pray, do not mention it," said the bunny rabbit, modest-like and shy. then, having found a good use for the hard boiled eggs, even if he didn't give them to the bushytail squirrel boys, uncle wiggily hopped along, and the lory kept on biting the shells for practice. now, it was a warm day, and, as uncle wiggily felt tired, he sat down in a shady place in the fields, and soon fell fast asleep. and, no sooner was he in dreamland than along came mr. spider. "ah, ha!" said the spider. "now's my chance to catch this bunny for the alligator. i'll spin a strong web around him, so strong that he cannot break loose. then i'll go get my friend, the 'gator." so while uncle wiggily slept, mr. spider spun a strong web about the bunny--a very extra strong web, with such big strands that uncle wiggily never could have broken them himself. and when the web was all finished, and the bunny was helpless, he awakened just as mr. spider was going off to call mr. alligator. "oh, what has happened to me?" cried the bunny, as he found he could not move his paws or even twinkle his pink nose. "oh, what is it? let me go!" "no, you can't go!" said the spider. "you are going to stay there until i bring mr. alligator," and away he crawled. uncle wiggily tried to get loose, but he could not. "oh, if only some one would come who's good and strong, and would cut this web, then i would be free!" said the bunny. and then, all of a sudden, out from behind the bush came the four and twenty tailors, from mother goose. they had their big scissors with them, and they were led by alice of wonderland. "i told these silly tailors i'd help them hunt the snail, because they are so timid that they even fear her tail," laughed alice, "but we'll stop and help you first, dear uncle wiggily!" then the four and twenty tailors, with their shears, sniped and snapped the strong spider's web until it was all in pieces and the bunny could easily get loose. and when the alligator, fetched by the spider, came to get the bunny he wasn't there. but the strong-billed lory bird was there. he had heard about uncle wiggily's trouble from the do-do bird, and had come, with his strong bill, to bite the spider web into little pieces. "but i am too late, i see," said the lory. "the mother goose tailors got here first. however, as i want to bite something hard and mean i'll bite the alligator." and he did and the alligator said "ouch!" and i'm glad of it. and if the telephone bell doesn't ring at the front door and make believe it's the milkman looking for old rags, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the puppy. chapter xviii uncle wiggily and the puppy "oh, uncle wiggily! oh, uncle wiggily! oh, uncle wiggily!" called jackie and peetie bow wow, the two doggie boys, as they ran barking up to the hollow stump bungalow one morning. "well, well! what's the matter now?" asked uncle wiggily longears, the rabbit gentleman, as he came out on the porch. "oh, we've got a baby over at our house!" cried jackie. "come and see it!" barked peetie. "a baby? at your house?" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "well, a little puppy dog," said jackie. "that's the same to us as a real baby is to real persons." "to be sure," agreed the bunny uncle. "i'll come over and see the new baby puppy," and putting on his tall silk hat, and taking down his red-white-and-blue-striped barber pole rheumatism crutch from the electric light, mr. longears started away over the fields to the kennel house, where the bow wow dog family lived. "there's the new baby puppy!" cried jackie, as he poked away the straw from the bed where something was moving about. "i--why, bless my spectacles--i can hardly see him!" said uncle wiggily, taking off his glasses to polish them, for he thought maybe he had splashed some carrot oatmeal on them at breakfast and that they were clouded over. "he's so small, that's why you can't see him," spoke peetie. "but he'll soon grow big like us, uncle wiggily." "let us hope so," spoke the bunny uncle. "he's so small now i'd be afraid of stepping on him if i lived here." "he's got awful cute eyes," said peetie. "they aren't open yet, but i can pull 'em apart a little bit to show you they're going to be blue color, i guess," and peetie began opening the shut eyes of his little baby brother puppy. of course, the puppy whined and mrs. bow wow called: "now, what are you boys doing to that baby?" "nothing, ma," answered jackie. "we're jest pokin' open his eyes so uncle wiggily can see 'em," answered peetie. "oh, you doggie boys!" cried mrs. bow wow. "you mustn't do that! i'm glad uncle wiggily came to see our baby, but now you run out and play, peetie and jackie, while i visit with mr. longears." so the doggie boys ran out to play with johnnie and billie bushytail, the squirrels, and mrs. bow wow told uncle wiggily what a nice baby wuff-wuff was. wuff-wuff was the new puppy's name. "i'm sure he'll grow up to be a fine dog," said the bunny. just then the telephone bell in the kennel house rang, and when mrs. bow wow answered she said, after listening awhile: "oh, dear! this is your friend nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy talking to me. she wants me to come over to show her how to make a strawberry longcake, as there is a lot of company coming for supper. a short cake won't be large enough." "are you going to my hollow stump bungalow?" asked uncle wiggily. "i'd like to, only i can't leave baby wuff wuff," said mrs. bow wow. "oh, i'll stay and take care of him," said the bunny uncle. "i think i can do it, and it may be an adventure for me. trot along, mrs. bow wow." "very well, i will. if wuff wuff gets hungry, just give him some milk from this bottle," and she handed a nursing one to uncle wiggily. so mrs. bow wow went over to help nurse jane, the muskrat lady housekeeper, make the longcake, and the bunny man stayed with the puppy baby. uncle wiggily sat in the kennel house, while the little doggie nestled in the straw. the bunny rabbit was just wondering who the company could be that were coming to his bungalow, when, all of a sudden, there was a big noise outside the kennel, and a big voice cried: "now i know you're in there, uncle wiggily, for i saw you hop in with jackie and peetie. and i know they're gone, for i saw them go out. and i know mrs. bow wow is out. so you're there all alone and i'm going to get you!" and uncle wiggily saw the big skillery-scalery alligator standing outside the door. "oh, my!" thought the bunny rabbit gentleman. "he'll surely get me this time, for he can knock the kennel house apart with one flip-flap of his double-jointed tail. but maybe, if i keep real still, he will think i'm gone." so uncle wiggily snuggled down in the straw with the baby puppy, but the alligator cried: "oh, i know you're there, and i'm going to get you!" "oh, if only this puppy was a big, strong dog, like nero!" thought uncle wiggily, "he could save me from the alligator." just then the puppy began to whine, and the bunny rabbit said: "oh, don't do that, wuff wuff! don't whine, and make a noise, or the alligator will get you, too." but the puppy baby still whined, for he was hungry. uncle wiggily picked up a bottle and put the end of it in wuff wuff's mouth. "here, drink that," said the bunny. "then you won't be hungry." the puppy baby did so, and then something very strange happened. the little puppy suddenly began growing very large. first he was the size of mr. bow wow, and then he swelled up until he was as big as a horse, and had to get out of the kennel house for fear of bursting off the roof. and when the alligator saw the great big puppy dog, like the one in alice of wonderland, suddenly standing in front of him, mr. 'gator just gave one flip of his tail, and away he ran crying: "oh, my! i didn't know an elephant was there to save uncle wiggily!" but there wasn't. it was only the puppy who had suddenly grown big. for by mistake instead of giving him the bottle of milk, the bunny rabbit gave him some of the water from the magical red-stoppered, big-growing bottle that alice from wonderland had sent the bunny. it had been mended after the croquet ball broke it. and, after the puppy had scared away the alligator, uncle wiggily gave wuff wuff some water from the magical blue-stoppered bottle and shrunk him to his regular baby size, and everybody was happy. and if the fairy tale doesn't waggle itself all around the book case and scare all the big words out of the dictionary, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the unicorn. chapter xix uncle wiggily and the unicorn "well, you look just as if you were going somewhere, uncle wiggily," said nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, as the rabbit gentleman whizzed around the corner of his hollow stump bungalow in his automobile, with the bologna sausage tires, one morning. "i am going somewhere," he answered, and really he was, for the wheels were whizzing around like anything. "and going where, may i ask?" politely inquired the muskrat lady. "i am going to give alice a ride," answered uncle wiggily. "alice from wonderland, i mean. she never has ridden in an automobile." "she never has?" cried nurse jane, in surprise. "never! you see, when she was put in that nice book, which tells so much about her, there weren't any autos, and, of course, she never could have had a ride in one. "but she had ever so many other nice adventures, such as going down the rabbit hole and through the looking glass. however, i promised her a ride in my auto, and here i go to give it to her," and with that uncle wiggily sprinkled some pepper and salt on the sausage tires of his auto's wheels to make them go faster. the rabbit gentleman found alice, the little book girl, in the white queen's garden having a make-believe tea party with the mock turtle, who soon would have to go into the o'clock soup. "oh, how kind of you to come for me, uncle wiggily!" cried alice, and she jumped up so quickly that she overturned the multiplication table, at which she and the mock turtle had been sitting, and ran to jump in the auto. "well, i don't call that very nice," said the mock turtle. "here she's gone and mixed up the seven times table with the three times six, and goodness knows when i'll ever get them straightened out again." "i'm sorry!" called alice, waving her hand as she rode off with uncle wiggily. "i'll help you when i come back." "and i'll help too," promised the bunny uncle. mr. longears and wonderland alice rode over the fields and through the woods, and they were having a fine time when, all of a sudden, as the automobile came near a place where some oak trees grew in a thick cluster alice cried: "hark! they're fighting!" "who?" asked uncle wiggily. "please don't tell me it is the mosquito enemy coming after me to bite me." "no, it's the lion and the unicorn," alice answered. "don't you remember how it goes in my book: "'the lion and the unicorn were fighting for the crown, the lion beat the unicorn all around the town. some gave them white bread, some gave them brown, and then the funny unicorn jumped right up and down.' "that last line isn't just right," explained alice to the bunny uncle, "but i couldn't properly think of it, i'm so frightened!" "frightened? at what?" asked uncle wiggily. "at the unicorn," answered alice. "here he comes," and, as she said that, uncle wiggily saw a funny animal, like a horse, with a big long horn sticking out of the middle of his head, straight in front of him, galloping out of the clump of trees. "hurray! i beat him!" cried the unicorn. "come on now, quick, i must get away from here before they catch me!" "you beat him? do you mean beat the lion?" asked uncle wiggily for he was not frightened as was alice. "sure i beat him," answered the unicorn, as he jumped into the back seat of the automobile. "drive on!" he ordered just as if the bunny uncle gentleman were the coachman. "did you beat him very hard, with a broomstick?" asked alice, putting out her head from behind uncle wiggily's tall silk hat where she had hidden herself. "beat him with a broomstick? ha! ha! i should say not!" laughed the unicorn. "we're too jolly good friends for that," and he spoke like an english chap. "i beat him playing hop-scotch and jack-straws. i was two hops and three straws ahead of him when i stopped and ran away because they were after me." "who were after you?" asked alice. "the lion's friends?" "no, the straws that show which way the wind blows. when the wind blows the straws against me they tickle, and i can't bear to be tickled. i'm worse than a soap bubble that way. so i ran to get in the auto. i hope you don't mind," and the unicorn leaned back on the seat cushions. "mind? not in the least!" cried uncle wiggily. "i'm glad to give you a ride with alice," and he made the auto go very fast. on and on they went, over the fields and through the woods and then, all of a sudden, out from behind a tree jumped the big skillery-scalery alligator walking on his hind legs and the end of his double-jointed tail. "halt!" he cried, like a sentry soldier, and uncle wiggily stopped the auto. "at last i have caught you," said the alligator in a nutmeg grater sort of a voice. "i want you, uncle wiggily, and that alice girl also. as for your friend in the back seat, he may go--" "oh, may i? thank you!" cried the unicorn, and with that he leaned forward. and, as he did so the long sharp horn in his head reached over uncle wiggily's shoulder, and began to tickle the alligator right under his soft ribs. "oh, stop! stop it, i tell you!" giggled the 'gator. "stop tickling me!" and he laughed and wiggled and squirmed like an angle worm going fishing. "stop! stop!" he begged. "i will when you let my friends, uncle wiggily and alice, alone," said the unicorn, still tickling away. "yes! yes! i'll let them alone," promised the alligator, and he laughed until the tears ran down his tail. and then he had to run off by himself through the woods, and so he didn't get the bunny uncle nor wonderland alice either. and he never could have gotten the unicorn, because of his long, ticklish horn. so it is sometimes a good thing to take one of these stickery chaps along when you go for an automobile ride. and if the skyrocket doesn't fall down and stub its nose when it tries to jump over the moon with the crumpled horn cow, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and humpty dumpty. chapter xx uncle wiggily and humpty dumpty "excuse me," spoke a gentle voice behind nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, who was cleaning the steps of the hollow stump bungalow one morning. "excuse me, but can uncle wiggily be out to play?" "be out to play?" repeated nurse jane. "do you mean play with you?" and the muskrat lady turned to see a little girl, with flaxen hair, standing at the foot of the steps. "yes, play with me, if you please," said the little girl. "i'm alice from wonderland, you know, and uncle wiggily and i had such a jolly time yesterday, when the unicorn tickled the alligator and made him laugh, that i'd like to go off with him again." "with whom--the alligator?" asked nurse jane. "no, with uncle wiggily," laughed alice. "where is he?" "here i am, alice. i've just finished breakfast," answered the bunny rabbit gentleman himself, as he came out on the front bungalow steps. "are you ready for another auto ride?" "indeed i am, thank you. and as tomorrow is a holiday i don't have any school today." "that's funny," said uncle wiggily, twinkling his pink nose. "what holiday is it?" "the fourth of july!" answered alice. "have you forgotten? even though i am an english girl i know what it means. your boys and girls shoot off lollypops, bang ice cream cones and light red, white and blue candy." "candy? i guess you mean candles!" laughed uncle wiggily. "however, you're right. it is the fourth of july tomorrow, and whereas, years ago, we used to shoot off firecrackers (when many children were burned), now we have a nicer holiday. "we go off in the woods and gather flowers. why, do you know!" cried the bunny uncle, "there are flowers just right for fourth of july. there are puff balls that are as good as torpedoes, and snap-dragons that open their mouths and make believe bite you, and there are dogwood flowers that bark, and red sumach which is just the color of firecrackers." "then let's go off in the woods and have fourth of july there," proposed alice, and soon she and the bunny uncle were in the automobile. and then along came sammie and susie littletail, the rabbit children, and johnnie and billie bushytail, the squirrels, and jackie and peetie bow wow, the puppy dogs. "oh, uncle wiggily!" cried these animal boys and girls. "take us with you for fourth of july!" "of course i shall!" promised the bunny gentleman, so they all got in the automobile with him and wonderland alice, and away they went. they had not gone very far before, all of a sudden, they came to a stone wall, and when alice saw something on top of it, she cried: "why, there's my old friend humpty dumpty. i must stop and speak to him or he'll think i'm proud," and she waved her hands. "why, that--that's nothing but an--egg!" said sammie. "it's like the ones i colored for easter when the skilli-gimink dye splashed all over me. that isn't humpty dumpty at all--it's an egg!" "hush!" whispered susie. "humpty dumpty is an egg, of course, but he doesn't like to be told of it. don't you know the little verse? "'humpty dumpty sat on the wall, humpty dumpty had a great fall. all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put humpty dumpty together again.'" "that's right," said alice from wonderland. "only don't speak of the fall before humpty. he doesn't like to be reminded of it." "i don't see why," spoke jackie bow wow. "he can't hear a word we say. he's only an egg--he hasn't any ears." "he really isn't dressed yet," said alice. "it's a bit early. but i'll soon make him look more human." with that she jumped out of the auto and, taking two ears of corn from a field nearby, she fastened them with silk from the cob, one on each side of the egg. "now he can hear," said alice. then with tulip flowers she made humpty a mouth and from a potato she took two eyes, so the egg could see. a comb made him as nice teeth as one could wish for, and they never ached, and for a nose she took out a cute little bottle of perfumery. "i think that's a queer nose," said johnnie bushytail, frisking his tail. "well, a bottle of perfumery smells, doesn't it?" asked alice, "and that's what a nose is especially for; smells." "indeed it is!" cried humpty dumpty in his jolly voice, speaking through the tulips. "i'm all made now. i only hope--" and then he suddenly turned pale, for he nearly fell off the wall. "has any one any powder?" he asked. "i think i'd like to clean my teeth." "i have some talcum," spoke lulu wibblewobble, the duck girl, coming along just then. "that will do," spoke humpty dumpty. "it will be just fine." and with a brush made from the end of a soft fern he began to clean his teeth with the talcum powder which lulu gave him. and then, all of a sudden, there was a loud noise, a puff of smoke, and humpty dumpty, the egg man, was seen sailing off through the air like a big white balloon. "well, this is better than falling off the wall!" he cried in a faint voice. "oh, my! what happened?" asked sammie littletail, trying to make his pink nose twinkle as uncle wiggily did his. "humpty dumpty was blown up instead of falling down," said alice. "i guess your talcum powder was too strong for him, lulu, my dear. and it being the fourth of july tomorrow, humpty wanted to give us some fireworks. so he's gone, but i'm glad he wasn't broken, for if he was the way the book has it, when he falls off the wall, all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put him together again. maybe it is best as it is." but, after a while humpty dumpty sailed back again, not hurt a bit, and he sat on the wall as well as ever. then alice and uncle wiggily and the animal boys and girls had fun in the woods. and, if the pink pills don't hide in the green bottle and pretend they're peppermint candy for the rag doll, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the looking glass. chapter xxi uncle wiggily and the looking glass "a package came for you while you were out adventuring today," said nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, to uncle wiggily longears, the bunny rabbit gentleman, as he hopped down the stairs of the hollow stump bungalow to breakfast one morning. "i wonder what's in it?" asked the bunny as he put a slice of carrot jam on his bread and held it over the lettuce coffee to have it flavored. "i don't know. you'll have to open it to find out," answered nurse jane. "it is marked 'glass. with care.'" uncle wiggily was so eager and excited like that he could not wait to finish his breakfast, but quickly opened the package which mr. hummingbird, the lightning express messenger, had left at the bungalow early that morning. "it's a looking glass!" exclaimed the bunny uncle when he saw what it was. "and it's from alice in wonderland--at least she used to live in wonderland before she came to woodland to have adventures with me." "and there's a note with it," spoke nurse jane, as she saw a piece of white birch bark, with writing on it; the letters having been made with a burned stick which marks black like a lead pencil. "yes, it's a little letter," said uncle wiggily as he read it. "and it's from alice. it says: 'dear uncle wiggily: i send you the looking glass i once went through, and on the other side i had many adventures. i wish you the same!'" "that's queer," said the bunny, as he turned the glass over and looked at the back. "i don't see any hole where alice went through." "maybe it closed up after her, the same as fairy doors always close once you pass through," explained nurse jane. "i believe you are right," said uncle wiggily. "but this is a very small glass for a girl like alice to get through," and indeed the glass was one of the kind you hold in your hand. "maybe the glass was larger when alice went through it," said nurse jane, "or else perhaps she had taken some drops from the magic bottle and grew small like a rubber doll." "i guess that was it," agreed uncle wiggily. "anyhow, it is very kind of her to send me the looking glass. i may have an adventure with it. i'll take it out on the front steps and then we'll see what happens next." so, having finished his breakfast, the bunny went out on the bungalow porch and sat with the looking glass in his paw, waiting for something to happen. he sat there and sat there and sat there and he was just beginning to wonder if anything would happen, when, all of a sudden, there was a rustling in the bushes, and up on the porch popped a bad old skillery-scalery alligator, with bumps all down the middle of his back like the buttons on a lady's dress. "ah, ha! i am just in time, i see!" exclaimed the 'gator. "for what?" asked uncle wiggily, suddenly awakening, for he had fallen into a little sleep while he waited for an adventure to happen with the looking glass. "in time for what?" "to go away with you," answered the alligator. "but i am not going away," said the bunny. "at least i did not know i was going," and he looked around rather sad and lonesome, for he did not like the bad alligator, and he wanted to see, uncle wiggily did, if brave nurse jane fuzzy would not come out and throw cold water on him--on the alligator, i mean--to drive him away. but the muskrat lady had gone to the store to get some cheese for supper. "i am not going away," said uncle wiggily again. "oh, yes you are!" exclaimed the alligator, and he smiled in such a way that it seemed as though the whole top of his head would pop off, so large was the smile. "you may not know it, but you are going away, uncle wiggily." "with whom?" asked the bunny. "with me," answered the 'gator. "we are going away together. i came on purpose to fetch you. come along," and with that the bad alligator wound his double-jointed tail around the bunny uncle's ears, lifted him out of the rocking chair and started to walk off the bungalow porch with him. "oh, stop it!" cried uncle wiggily. "let me go! let me go!" "no! no!" barked the alligator, like a dog. "i'll not let you go, now i have you!" and he started to drag the bunny uncle off to the dark, damp, dismal swamp, where the mosquitoes lived with the tent caterpillars. "oh, please don't take me away!" begged the bunny. "i wish some one would help me!" and as he said that the alligator gave him a sudden twist and the looking glass, which uncle wiggily still held in his paw, came around in front of the alligator's face. and, no sooner had the 'gator looked in the glass than he gave a loud cry, and, unwinding his tail from uncle wiggily, away the bad creature scurried, leaving the bunny alone and safe. and the alligator cried: "oh, excuse me! i didn't mean anything! i'll be good! i won't hurt uncle wiggily!" "well, i wonder what frightened him away?" asked uncle wiggily, out loud. "seeing himself in the looking glass," was the answer, and there stood alice from wonderland. "that is a magical mirror i sent you, uncle wiggily," she explained. "it shows the reflection of anything and anybody just as they are and not as they'd like to be. "and the alligator is such a mean-looking and ugly chap, that, never before having seen himself, this time when he did, in the looking glass, he was frightened, seeing himself as others see him. he thought he was looking at a chinese dragon who would bite him. so he ran away, leaving you alone." "and i'm so glad he did," said uncle wiggily. "it's a good thing i had your looking glass." then alice and uncle wiggily had a good time, and if the clothes pin doesn't pinch the pillow case so hard that it tickles the bedspread and makes it sneeze all the feathers out, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the white queen. chapter xxii uncle wiggily and the white queen uncle wiggily longears, the nice rabbit gentleman, was hopping along through the woods one day, wondering if he would have an adventure with alice of wonderland or some of her friends, when, all of a sudden, coming to a place where a rail fence ran along among the trees he saw, caught in a crack of one of the rails by its legs, a white butterfly. the poor butterfly was fluttering its wings, trying to pull out its legs, but it had to pull very gently, for a butterfly's leg, you know, is very tender and easily broken, like a piece of spider-web. "oh, my!" cried kind uncle wiggily, when he saw what was the matter. "you are in trouble, aren't you? i'm glad i happened to come along." "why are you glad; to see me in trouble?" asked the white butterfly. "no, indeed!" exclaimed the bunny uncle. "but i want to help you." "well, i wish you would," went on the fluttering creature. "i've tried and tried again to get my poor leg loose, but i can't. and i'm on my way--oh, but i forgot. that part is a secret!" quickly said the butterfly. "well, then, don't tell me," spoke uncle wiggily with a laugh, "for i might not be very good at keeping secrets. but i'll soon have your leg loose." with that he took the small end of his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch that nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy had gnawed for him out of a cornstalk and putting the little end of his crutch in the crack of the rail fence, uncle wiggily gave a hard push, opened the crack wider, and soon the butterfly's leg was loose and she could fly away. "but first i must thank you, uncle wiggily," she said. "and as you did me so great a favor i want to do you one in return. not now, perhaps, as i am in a hurry, but later. so if ever you find you want something you can't get, just come to these woods and say a little verse. then you shall have your wish." "what verse shall i say?" asked uncle wiggily. "this," answered the butterfly. then she recited: "when the wind blows in the trees, making perfume for the breeze, will you grant to me this boon, that my wish may come true soon?" "and what then?" asked the bunny. "then," answered the butterfly, "you must whisper your wish to a green leaf and--well, we'll see what happens next." "thank you," said uncle wiggily, and then he hopped on through the woods while the butterfly fluttered away. uncle wiggily had no adventure that day, but when he reached home to his hollow stump bungalow he found his muskrat lady housekeeper in the kitchen looking quite sad and blue. "well, nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy!" cried the jolly bunny uncle. "whatever is the matter?" "oh, i have broken my nice gold and diamond dishpan, and i can't do any more kitchen work until it is mended. i can't wash the dishes nor get you any supper." "oh, never mind about that," said uncle wiggily. "i'll take the diamond dishpan down to the five and ten cent store and have them mend it for you. where is it?" nurse jane gave it to him. the pan had a big crack right across the middle. the muskrat lady said it had fallen to the floor and had broken when she went to get jackie bow wow, the little puppy dog boy a slice of bread and jam. "i'll soon have it fixed for you," said uncle wiggily. but it was more easily said than done. the five and ten cent store was closed because every one was on a picnic, and no one else could mend the dishpan. "never mind, i'll buy nurse jane a new one and say nothing about it," said uncle wiggily. "i'll surprise her." but this, too, was more easily said than done. in all woodland, where uncle wiggily and the animal folk lived, there was not another gold and diamond dishpan to be had. they were all sold. "oh, dear! what shall i do?" thought uncle wiggily. "nurse jane will be so unhappy!" then he happened to think of the white butterfly and what she had told him. so, taking the dishpan, he went to the wood where he had helped the fluttering creature and whispered to a leaf the little verse: "when the wind blows in the trees, making perfume for the breeze, will you grant to me this boon, that my wish may come true soon?" "well, what is your wish?" asked a sudden voice. "i wish nurse jane's gold and diamond dishpan to be mended," said uncle wiggily. instantly something white came fluttering down out of a tree, and the bunny saw it was the white butterfly. and then, all of a sudden, before he could count up to sixteen thousand, the white butterfly seemed to fade away and in its place was a beautiful white queen, seated on a golden throne with a diamond crown on her head. "you shall have your wish, uncle wiggily," she said. "give me the dishpan." "why--why!" exclaimed the bunny. "you are--you are--" "i am the white queen from alice in wonderland," was the answer, "and i will ask you a riddle. when you take the dishes out of the pan what remains?" "nothing," answered the bunny. "wrong," answered the white queen. "the water does. now i'll mend this for you." and she did, taking some gold from her throne and some diamonds from her crown to mend the broken dishpan. soon nurse jane's pan was as good as ever and she could wash the dishes in it. "thank you," said uncle wiggily. "but how is it you are a queen and a butterfly, too?" "oh, we queens lead a sort of butterfly existence," said the white queen. "but i must go now, for i have to find the tarts for the queen of hearts who is always losing hers." then, changing herself into a white butterfly again, the queen flew away, and uncle wiggily, with the mended dishpan, hopped on to his hollow stump bungalow, where he and nurse jane were soon having a nice supper and were very happy. and if the potato masher doesn't go to the moving pictures and step on the toes of the egg beater i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the red queen. [illustration] chapter xxiii uncle wiggily and the red queen once upon a time, when uncle wiggily longears, the rabbit gentleman, was out walking in the woods, he stopped beside a little hole in the ground near a pile of oak tree leaves, and listening, when the wind stopped blowing, he heard a little voice saying: "oh, but where can she be? i fear she is lost! little crawlie is lost!" "my! that's too bad," thought uncle wiggily. "somebody's little girl is lost. i must ask if i cannot help find her." so he called: "oh, ho, there! may i have the pleasure of helping you in your trouble, whoever you are?" "but who are you?" asked a voice that seemed to come out of the little hole in the ground. "i am uncle wiggily longears," answered the bunny. "you can easily see me, but i can't see you. and who is this crawlie who is lost?" "she is my little girl," was the answer, and up the hole in the ground came crawling a red ant lady, who was crying tear drops about as large as that part of a pin point which you can't see but can only feel. "oh, my!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "i couldn't imagine who would live in such a little house, but of course ants can. and now what about crawlie?" "she is my little girl," answered the red ant. "i sent her to the store about an hour ago to get a loaf of sand bread, but she hasn't come back and i'm sure something has happened to her." "let us hope not," spoke uncle wiggily, softly. "i'll go at once and look for her. have no fear, mrs. ant. i'll find crawlie for you. it is rather a queer name." "crawlie is called that because she crawls in such a funny way," said mrs. ant. "oh, dear! i hope she is all right. if she should happen to have fallen down a crack in a peach stone she'd never get out." "i'll find her," said uncle wiggily, bravely. so off started the bunny uncle, hopping on his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch over the fields and through the woods, looking for crawlie. he had not gone very far before he heard a small voice calling: "help! help! oh, will no one help me?" "yes, of course, i will!" answered the bunny, and then he saw an acorn which seemed to be moving along the ground in a queer way. "ha! can it be that this acorn is alive?" asked uncle wiggily. "and can that acorn want help?" he cried. "no, it is i--crawlie, the ant girl--under the acorn," was the answer, "and i want help, for i'm in such trouble." "what kind?" asked uncle wiggily. "what's the trouble?" "why, i'm caught under this acorn here and i can't get out," was the answer, and crawlie's voice sounded as though she had gone down cellar to get a crumb of apple and couldn't find her way back again. "i went under the acorn shell, which is empty," said the little ant girl, "and though it was nicely propped up on one side when i crawled in, it was blown over by the wind and i was held beneath it. oh, dear! i can't get out and go to the store for the loaf of sand bread!" "oh, yes you can!" cried jolly uncle wiggily. "i'll lift the acorn shell off you and let you out." so he did, easily picking up the empty oak tree acorn from where it was covering crawlie, and then the little ant girl, who was red, just like her mother, could walk about. "oh, thank you, uncle wiggily," she said. "if ever we ants can do you a favor we will." "oh, pray do not mention it," spoke uncle wiggily, modest-like and shy. then crawlie hurried on to the sand bread store and the bunny hopped along over the fields and through the woods. he had not gone very far before he met a poor old june bug gentleman, and the june bug seemed very sad and unhappy. "what is the matter?" asked uncle wiggily. "lots," was the answer. "you see it is now time, being july, for june bugs like myself to get in their winter wood so we will not freeze in the cold weather. but i hurt my legs, banging into an electric light one night, and i'm so lame and stiff that i can't gather any wood at all. i shall freeze, i know i shall!" and the june bug gentleman was more sad than ever. "oh, cheer up!" cried uncle wiggily. "there is plenty of wood under these trees. i'll help you gather it." "there is no need to do that," said another voice, and, looking up, uncle wiggily and the june bug saw, sitting on a green mossy log, a red queen wearing a golden crown. "oh!" exclaimed uncle wiggily in surprise. "you are--" "i am the red queen from alice in wonderland," interrupted the lady on the log. "i was also the red ant lady who was crying and also crawlie, the red ant girl. you were so kind to me when you thought i was only a crawling insect that now, when i have changed myself into a red queen, i want to help you. and i know i can best help you by helping this june bug friend of yours." "indeed, you can!" said uncle wiggily, thankful like. "i thought so," spoke the red queen. "watch!" with that she waved her magic wand, and, instantly, ten million red, white and black ants came crawling out of old logs from holes in the ground and from under piles of leaves, and each ant took up a little stick of wood and carried it into the june bug's house for him, so he had plenty of wood for all winter, and couldn't freeze. "there you are, uncle wiggily!" laughed the red queen. "one kindness, you see, makes another," and then she got in her golden chariot and drove away, and when the june bug gentleman had thanked him, and the ants had crawled home, the bunny himself went to his hollow stump bungalow very happy. and if the looking glass doesn't make faces at the hairbrush and knock the teeth out of the comb so it can't have fun and bite the talcum powder, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and tweedledum. chapter xxiv uncle wiggily and tweedledum "are you in, uncle wiggily?" asked a voice at the hollow stump bungalow one morning, and the rabbit gentleman looked up to see alice from wonderland standing on the door sill. "yes, of course i'm in, my dear," he answered. "can't you see me?" "i can't be sure of anything i see," answered the little girl with flaxen hair, "especially since i've been having so many queer adventures. i used to think i saw the cheshire cat, when it was only his grin smiling at me. and maybe now i'm only looking at your ears, or tall silk hat, and thinking it's you." "no, i'm here all right," answered the bunny. "is there anything i can do for you?" "yes," answered alice. "i'd like you to come for a walk with me. i haven't much longer time to stay with you, and i want to have all the fun i can." "are you going away?" asked uncle wiggily. "i have very soon to go back in the book where i belong," answered alice. "but no matter. come now, and we'll go look for an adventure." so alice and uncle wiggily started off over the fields and through the woods, and they had not gone very far before they suddenly heard, among the trees, some voices crying: "you did it!" "no, i didn't!" "yes, you did; you know you did!" "no, i didn't! i know i didn't!" "well, we'll have to have a battle, anyhow!" and then came a sound as if some one was beating a carpet with a fishing pole and voices cried: "oh! oh, dear! ouch! oh, how it hurts!" "my, what in the world can that be?" asked uncle wiggily. "it sounds like an adventure all right." "i think it is," answered alice. "it's probably tweedledum and tweedledee fighting." "fighting? tweedledee and tweedledum?" asked the surprised bunny. "oh, it's only in fun," laughed alice, "and they have to do it because it's that way in the book, for if they didn't things wouldn't come out right. yes, there they are." and she pointed off through the trees, where uncle wiggily saw two round, fat, little boys, dressed exactly the same, and looking so like one another that no one could tell them apart, except when they were together--just like twins, you know. "oh, i'm so glad to see you!" called alice to the two queer fat chaps. they were as round as barrels, both of them. uncle wiggily noticed that on the collar of one was the word dum, while on the other was the word dee. "tweedle, the rest of their name, is on the back of their collars," alice explained. "as it's the same for both, they didn't need it in front." then the fat boys turned around, like tops slowly spinning, and, surely enough, on the back of the white collar of each were letters spelling tweedle. "i'm glad to see you," spoke uncle wiggily. "i heard you--sort of--er--well, you know," he went on, diffident-like, not wishing to say he had heard the brothers quarreling. "oh, it's all right, we do that every day," said tweedledee. "and, contrariwise, twice on sunday," added tweedledum. "we have to for the verse about us says: "'tweedledum and tweedledee agreed to have a battle; for tweedledum said tweedledee had spoiled his nice new rattle. "'just then down flew a monstrous crow, as black as a tar barrel, which frightened both the heroes so, they quite forgot their quarrel.'" "only we weren't really frightened," said tweedledee. "we just made believe so, and laughed at the crow. and i didn't really spoil tweedledum's nice new rattle, for here it is now," and taking his arm down from around his brother's neck he took the rattle from his pocket and shook it, making a noise like a drum. and, just as he did that, all of a sudden, out from behind a big stump came--not a monstrous crow, but the bad old skillery-scalery alligator, who cried: "ah, ha! at last i have him! now i'll get that uncle wiggily longears chap! ah, ha!" and he made a grab for the gentleman bunny. "oh, dear!" exclaimed alice. "please don't hurt uncle wiggily!" "yes, i shall!" snapped the 'gator. "i'll bumble him and mumble him, that's what i'll do." "oh, no you won't!" exclaimed tweedledum, wabbling toward the alligator as jimmie wibblewobble, the boy duck, waddled when he walked. "i won't what?" asked the 'gator. "you won't bumble or mumble uncle wiggily. first you have to catch me!" "pooh! that's easily done," snapped the alligator. "you are so fat that you can't run any more than a rubber ball." "will you promise to let uncle wiggily alone until you catch me?" asked tweedledum, eagerly. "i promise," said the alligator smiling to himself, for he thought he could easily catch the fat twin, and his promise wouldn't count. "then here i go! catch me!" suddenly cried tweedledum. and with that he stretched out on the ground and began to roll down hill in the woods. and as he was fat and round he rolled as fast as a rubber ball, and he rolled so fast (ever so much faster than if he had run) that when the alligator raced after him, as he had promised he would do, why the bad double-jointed skillery-scalery creature got all out of breath and couldn't bumble or mumble a strawberry, to say nothing of uncle wiggily. and the 'gator didn't catch the fat boy either. so tweedledum, rolling down hill that way, which he could do much better than walking or running, saved the bunny uncle from the alligator, and mr. longears was very glad, and so was alice. and if the knife and fork don't go to the candy store, just when supper is ready, and make the spoon holder wait for them before eating the ice cream, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and tweedledee. chapter xxv uncle wiggily and tweedledee "oh, uncle wiggily!" cried a voice, as the old rabbit gentleman started out from his hollow stump bungalow one morning to walk in the woods and look for an adventure. "oh, uncle wiggily, be careful!" "be careful of what, if you please, and who are you, if i may ask?" politely inquired the bunny. "i am your friend alice, from wonderland," was the answer, "and i want you to be careful and not get hurt today." "i always am careful," answered uncle wiggily. "i look for cabbage and turnip traps wherever i go, and i never pick up a bit of carrot on the woodland path without first making sure there is no string fast to it, to catch me. what do you mean, alice?" he asked the little flaxen-haired girl as she came out of the bushes and sat down on the stoop of the hollow stump bungalow. "what do you mean?" "i don't know just what i do mean, uncle wiggily," said alice. "but last night i dreamed you were in trouble and i could not help you. i felt so sorry! as soon as i woke up this morning i hurried over to tell you to be careful." "oh, i'll be careful," promised the bunny gentleman. "but in your dream did no one help me?" "yes, after a while two funny little fat boys did," answered alice. "but i don't remember that part of my dream. however, if you are going for a walk i'll go with you and do what i can in case the jabberwocky or the hop scotch bird try to chase you." "the hop scotch isn't a bird," said uncle wiggily, with a laugh that made his pink nose twinkle like the strawberry on top of a cheese cake. "it's a bit of candy." "oh, uncle wiggily! it's a game!" cried susie littletail, the rabbit girl, coming out from behind a stump just then. "it's a game where you jump around on the pavement, and if you and alice are going to play it, please may i watch you?" "we aren't going to play," said alice. "it's long past play time." "i am going to look for an adventure," said uncle wiggily. "then, please, may i come?" begged susie. "i'll help look." "come along!" cried jolly uncle wiggily and soon the three of them were on their way through the woods. they had not gone very far, over the paths with the big green ferns on either side, when, all of a onceness out from behind a big log jumped the two bad old skillery-scalery alligators, one with the humps on his tail and the other with his tail all double-jointed, so he could wiggle it seven ways from sunday. "ah, ha!" cried the hump-tailed 'gator. "ha, ha!" cried the double-jointed one. "at last we have caught you!" and they both made a grab for the rabbit gentleman, one catching him on the left side and the other on the right, and holding him fast. "oh!" cried uncle wiggily. "oh, dear! please let me go!" "no!" snapped the first 'gator. and "no!" snapped the second, both flapping their tails. "oh, this is my dream! this is my dream!" said alice, sadly. "but where are the two fat boys that saved uncle wiggily. where are they?" "here is one, if you please," answered a voice, and out stepped tweedledee, the queer little fat chap from the alice in wonderland book. "i'll help you, uncle wiggily." "thank you, very much," spoke the rabbit gentleman. "if you would kindly make these alligators let me go--" "pooh! huh! humph! what! him make us let you go? well, i should say not!" sniffed the first alligator. "the very idea" sneered the second. "it will take a great deal more than one fat boy to make us let go of a nice, fat, juicy rabbit once we have caught him. certainly not!" "ahem! how about two fat boys?" suddenly asked another voice, and there stood another beside tweedledee, a fat boy, who looked just the same exactly; even as you seem to yourself when you peek at your reflection in the bath room mirror. "no, we won't let you go for two fat boys, either," said the double-jointed alligator, while alice murmured: "oh, this is my dream! this is my dream! i wish i could remember how it came out!" "was uncle wiggily saved?" asked susie littletail in a whisper. "yes," said alice. "then it's all right," spoke the rabbit girl. "let uncle wiggily go!" cried tweedledee in his most grown-up sort of voice. "yes, let him go at once!" added tweedledum. "no, indeed!" snapped both alligators together like twins, only, of course, they weren't. "well, then," went on tweedledee, "don't you dare to take away or hurt him unless you guess which are our names. now tell me truly who am i? and, remember, if you don't guess right, you can't have uncle wiggily!" "you are tweedledum," said the hump-tailed 'gator. "no, he is tweedledee," said the other 'gator. "the one standing next to him is tweedledum. i guess i ought to know!" "you're wrong," said the hump-tailed 'gator. "the one i saw first is tweedledum. i guess i ought to know!" "i know better!" the double-jointed alligator declared. "he is tweedledee!" "tweedledum!" shouted the other 'gator. "tweedledee!" snapped his chum. and then they both began disputing, calling each other names, and throwing mud at one another, until, finally, they were so mixed up about tweedledum and tweedledee that they let go of uncle wiggily and began shaking their claws at one another, so the rabbit gentleman and alice and susie (as well as the two fat boys who looked exactly alike) ran safely away and the bunny was saved, just as alice had dreamed. "and to think, if the alligators had only looked at our collars, they would have seen our right names," tweedledum laughed. "of course," said tweedledee. but everything came out all right and the alligators only had sawdust for supper. and if the wash lady doesn't take my best collar button to fasten the tablecloth to the ironing board in the clothes basket, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the pool of tears. chapter xxvi uncle wiggily and the tear pool uncle wiggily longears, the nice rabbit gentleman, was out walking in the woods one day, wondering what sort of an adventure he would have when he saw a little path, leading away from his hollow stump bungalow, and it seemed to go through a part of the forest in which he had never before been. "i'll take that path and see where it leads," said the bunny gentleman to himself. so, taking a piece of ribbon grass, which grew near a clump of ferns, he tied his tall silk hat firmly on his head, leaving his ears sticking out of the holes at the top, and tucking under his paw his red, white and blue striped barber pole rheumatism crutch that nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, his muskrat lady housekeeper, had gnawed for him out of a cornstalk, away started uncle wiggily. it was a nice warm summer day, and before the old gentleman bunny had gone very far he began to feel thirsty, just as you do when you go on a picnic and eat pickles, only i hope you don't eat too many of them. "i wonder if there is not a spring of water around here?" thought uncle wiggily, and he began to look about under the low branches of the trees and bushes, at the same time listening for the laughing murmur of a brook flowing over green, mossy stones. then uncle wiggily sniffed with his pink, twinkling nose until it looked like a chicken picking up corn. "ah, ha!" cried the bunny uncle, "i smell water!" for you know animals and birds can smell water when they cannot see it, in which they are more gifted than are we. so uncle wiggily sniffed and sniffed, and then, holding his pink, twinkling nose straight in front of him and letting it go on ahead, instead of lagging behind, he followed it until it led him straight to a little pool of water that was sparkling in the sun, while green moss ferns and bushes grew all around. "oh, what a fine spring!" cried the bunny, "and how thirsty i am!" mr. longears, which i call him when first i introduce him to any strangers--mr. longears was just going to take a long drink from the pool, or spring, when he happened to notice a little piece of white birch bark tied with a bit of grass to a fern that grew near the water. "ha! i wonder if that is a notice not to trespass, or not to fish or hunt, and to keep off the grass, or no admittance except on business or something like that?" thought uncle wiggily, as he put on his glasses to see if there was any writing on the birch bark, which animal folk use as we use paper. and there was some writing on the bark. it read: "please do not jump in, or drink until i come. alice from wonderland." "ha! that is strange," thought uncle wiggily. "alice must have been here and put up that sign. but i wonder why she did it? if she knew how warm and thirsty i was she would not make me wait until she came to get a drink. perhaps it is all a joke, and not her writing at all. one of the bad skillery-scalery alligators or the fuzzy fox may have put up the sign to fool me." but when the rabbit gentleman took a second look at the birch bark sign he saw that it really was alice's writing. "well, she must have some reason for it," said the bunny, with a sigh. "she dreamed right about two fat boys--tweedledum and tweedledee--saving me from the alligators, so she must have some reason for asking me to wait until she comes. but i am very thirsty." uncle wiggily sat down on the green, mossy bank beside the spring of water and looked at it. and it seemed so cool and wet, and he was so thirsty, that it was all he could do to keep from jumping in and having a bath, as well as drinking all he wanted. the sun grew hotter and more hot, and the rabbit gentleman more and more thirsty, and he didn't know what to do when, all of a sudden, out from the bushes jumped a bad old black bear. "ah, ha!" growled the bear. "i am just in time, i see!" and he ran his red tongue over his white teeth as though giving it a trolley ride in a baby carriage. "in time for what?" asked uncle wiggily, casual like and make-believe indifferent. "in time for lunch," answered the bear. "i was afraid i'd be a little late. i hope i haven't kept you waiting." "for my lunch?" asked uncle wiggily. "no. for mine!" and once more the bear smacked his lips hungry like. "i am just in time, i see." "oh, i thought you meant you were just in time to take a drink of this water," said the bunny, pointing at the pool. "if you did, you aren't." "if i did i aren't? what kind of talk is that?" asked the bear, curious like. "i mean we can't have a drink until alice comes--the sign says so," spoke uncle wiggily, politely. "pooh! i don't believe in signs," snapped the bear. "i'm thirsty and i'm going to have a drink," and with that he took a long one from the woodland pool. and then a funny thing happened. the bear began to grow smaller and smaller. first he was the size of a dog, then of a cat, then of a kitten, then he shrank to the littleness of a mouse, and next he was like a june bug. then he became a july bug, next he was no larger than a little black ant, and finally he became a microbe, and uncle wiggily couldn't see him at all. "well, thank goodness he's gone!" said the bunny. "but what made him so shrinking like i wonder?" "it was the pool of tears," said a voice behind the bunny, and there stood alice from wonderland. "this pool is sour alum water, uncle wiggily," she said, "and if you drink it you shrink and shrivel up and blow away. that's why i put up the sign so nothing would happen to you. i knew about the pool, as it's in my story book. and now we can go have some funny adventures." and away they went over the hills and far away and that bear was never seen again. but if your cat doesn't catch the ice cream cone in the mosquito net and feed it to the gold fish, i'll tell you more of uncle wiggily's adventures in a little while. for the old gentleman rabbit had many surprising things happen to him. you may read about them in another book to be called "uncle wiggily in fairyland," which tells of some of the genii and gnomes of the arabian nights. so, until i have that book ready for you, i'll just wish you a good-night and many, many happy dreams! the end uncle wiggily picture books three stories in each book by howard r. garis [illustration] also twenty-seven color pictures by lang campbell in these funny little books you can see in bright colored pictures the adventures of myself and my woodland friends. also the pictures of some bad fellows, whose names you know. so if the spoon holder doesn't go down cellar and take the coal shovel away from the gas stove, you may read no. . uncle wiggily's auto sled if the rocking chair doesn't tickle the rag carpet and make the brass bed fall upstairs, you may read no. . uncle wiggily's snow man if the umbrella doesn't go out in the rain and splash water all over the rubber boots on the gold fish, you may read no. . uncle wiggily's holidays if the electric light doesn't cry for some molasses, when the match leaves it all alone in the china closet, you may read no. . uncle wiggily's apple roast if the egg beater doesn't try to jump over the coffee pot and fall in the sink when the potato is learning to swim, you may read no. . uncle wiggily's picnic if the sugar cookie doesn't go out walking with the fountain pen, and get all black so it looks like a chocolate cake, you may read no. . uncle wiggily goes fishing hurry up and get these nice little books from the bookstore man, or send direct to the publishers, cents per copy, postpaid. charles e. graham & co. new york [illustration: uncle wiggily his mark] burt's series of one syllable books titles. handsome illuminated cloth binding a series of classics, selected specially for young people's reading, and told in simple language for youngest readers. printed from large type, with many illustrations. price cents per volume Ã�sop's fables retold in words of one syllable for young people. by mary godolphin. with illustrations. alice's adventures in wonderland retold in words of one syllable for young people. by mrs. j. c. gorham. with many illustrations. andersen's fairy tales (selections.) retold in words of one syllable for young people. by harriet t. comstock. with many illustrations. bible heroes told in words of one syllable for young people. by harriet t. comstock. with many illustrations. black beauty retold in words of one syllable for young people. by mrs. j. c. gorham. with many illustrations. grimm's fairy tales (selections.) retold in words of one syllable. by jean s. remy. with many illustrations. gulliver's travels into several remote regions of the world. retold in words of one syllable for young people. by j. c. g. with illustrations. life of christ told in words of one syllable for young people. by jean s. remy. with many illustrations. lives of the presidents told in words of one syllable for young people. by jean s. remy. with large portraits. pilgrim's progress retold in words of one syllable for young people. by samuel phillips day. with illustrations. reynard the fox the crafty courtier. retold in words of one syllable for young people. by samuel phillips day. with illustrations. robinson crusoe his life and surprising adventures retold in words of one syllable for young people. by mary a. schwacofer. with illustrations. sanford and merton retold in words of one syllable for young people. by mary godolphin. with illustrations. swiss family robinson retold in words of one syllable for young people. adapted from the original. with illustrations. for sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the publishers, =a. l. burt company, - east rd street, new york=. the mother goose series titles handsome cloth binding, illuminated covers a series of popular books for young people. each book is well printed from large type on good paper, frontispiece in colors, profusely illustrated, and bound in cloth, with ornamental covers in three colors, making a series of most interesting books for children at a reasonable price. =price, cents per copy= =aladdin and the wonderful lamp=, and other stories. profusely illustrated. =animal stories= for little people. profusely illustrated. =beauty and the beast=, and other stories. profusely illustrated. =bird stories= for little people. profusely illustrated. =bluebeard=, and other stories. profusely illustrated. =cinderella; or, the little glass slipper=, and other stories. profusely illustrated. =foolish fox, the=, and other stories. profusely illustrated. =goody two shoes=, and other stories. profusely illustrated. =hansel and grethel=, and other stories. profusely illustrated. =house that jack built, the=, and other stories. profusely illustrated. =jack and the beanstalk=, and other stories. profusely illustrated. =jack the giant killer=, and other stories. profusely illustrated. =little red riding hood=, and other stories. profusely illustrated. =little snow white=, and other stories. profusely illustrated. =mother goose rhymes.= profusely illustrated. =mother hubbard's melodies.= profusely illustrated. =night before christmas=, and other stories. profusely illustrated. =patty and her pitcher; or, kindness of heart=, and other stories. profusely illustrated. =peter and his goose; or, the folly of discontent=, and other stories. profusely illustrated. =puss in boots=, and other stories. profusely illustrated. =sleeping beauty, the=, and other stories. profusely illustrated. =tom thumb=, and other stories. profusely illustrated. =ugly duckling, the=, and other stories. profusely illustrated. =who killed cock robin=, and other stories. profusely illustrated. for sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the publishers, =a. l. burt co., - east rd street, new york city=. =aunt amy's animal stories= =by amy prentice= a series of stories, told by animals, to aunt amy prentice. each illustrated with many pictures in black, and four illustrations in colors, by j. watson davis. titles, in handsome cloth binding. =price cents. net ----= bunny rabbit's story illustrations billy goat's story illustrations brown owl's story illustrations croaky frog's story illustrations frisky squirrel's story illustrations gray goose's story illustrations mickie monkey's story illustrations mouser cat's story illustrations plodding turtle's story illustrations quacky duck's story illustrations speckled hen's story illustrations towser dog's story illustrations for sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the publishers, =a. l. burt company, - east rd street, new york=. =the boy scouts series= =by herbert carter= =handsome cloth binding,= the boy scouts' first camp fire; or, scouting with the silver fox patrol. the boy scouts in the blue ridge; or, marooned among the moonshiners. the boy scouts on the trail; or, scouting through the big game country. the boy scouts in the main woods; or, the new test for the silver fox patrol. the boy scouts through the big timber; or, the search for the lost tenderfoot. the boy scouts in the rockies; or, the secret of the hidden silver mine. the boy scouts on sturgeon island; or, marooned among the game fish poachers. the boy scouts down in dixie; or, the strange secret of alligator swamp. the boy scouts at the battle of saratoga. a story of burgoyne's defeat in . the boy scouts along the susquehanna; or, the silver fox patrol caught in a flood. the boy scouts on war trails in belgium; or, caught between the hostile armies. the boy scouts afoot in france; or, with the red cross corps at the marne. for sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the publishers =a. l. burt company, - east rd st., new york= =the boy allies= (registered in the united states patent office) =with the navy= =by ensign robert l. drake= =handsome cloth binding,= frank chadwick and jack templeton, young american lads, meet each other in an unusual way soon after the declaration of war. circumstances place them on board the british cruiser "the sylph" and from there on, they share adventures with the sailors of the allies. ensign robert l. drake, the author, is an experienced naval officer, and he describes admirably the many exciting adventures of the two boys. the boy allies on the north sea patrol; or, striking the first blow at the german fleet. the boy allies under two flags; or, sweeping the enemy from the seas. the boy allies with the flying squadron; or, the naval raiders of the great war. the boy allies with the terror of the sea; or, the last shot of submarine d- . the boy allies under the sea; or, the vanishing submarine. the boy allies in the baltic; or, through fields of ice to aid the czar. the boy allies at jutland; or, the greatest naval battle of history. the boy allies with uncle sam's cruisers; or, convoying the american army across the atlantic. the boy allies with the submarine d- ; or, the fall of the russian empire. the boy allies with the victorious fleets; or, the fall of the german navy. for sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the publishers =a. l. burt company, - east rd st., new york= =the boy allies with the army= (registered in the united states patent office) =by clair w. hayes= =handsome cloth binding,= in this series we follow the fortunes of two american lads unable to leave europe after war is declared. they meet the soldiers of the allies, and decide to cast their lot with them. their experiences and escapes are many, and furnish plenty of the good, healthy action that every boy loves. the boy allies at liege; or, through lines of steel. the boy allies on the firing line; or, twelve days battle along the marne. the boy allies with the cossacks; or, a wild dash over the carpathians. the boy allies in the trenches; or, midst shot and shell along the aisne. the boy allies in great peril; or, with the italian army in the alps. the boy allies in the balkan campaign; or, the struggle to save a nation. the boy allies on the somme; or, courage and bravery rewarded. the boy allies at verdun; or, saving france from the enemy. the boy allies under the stars and stripes; or, leading the american troops to the firing line. the boy allies with haig in flanders; or, the fighting canadians of vimy ridge. the boy allies with pershing in france; or, over the top at chateau thierry. the boy allies with the great advance; or, driving the enemy through france and belgium. the boy allies with marshal foch; or, the closing days of the great world war. for sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the publishers =a. l. burt company, - east rd st., new york= =our young aeroplane scout series= (registered in the united states patent office) =by horace porter= =handsome cloth binding,= a series of stories of two american boy aviators in the great european war zone. the fascinating life in mid-air is thrillingly described. the boys have many exciting adventures, and the narratives of their numerous escapes make up a series of wonderfully interesting stories. our young aeroplane scouts in france and belgium; or, saving the fortunes of the trouvilles. our young aeroplane scouts in germany. our young aeroplane scouts in russia; or, lost on the frozen steppes. our young aeroplane scouts in turkey; or, bringing the light to yusef. our young aeroplane scouts in england; or, twin stars in the london sky patrol. our young aeroplane scouts in italy; or, flying with the war eagles of the alps. our young aeroplane scouts at verdun; or, driving armored meteors over flaming battle fronts. our young aeroplane scouts in the balkans; or, wearing the red badge of courage. our young aeroplane scouts in the war zone; or, serving uncle sam in the cause of the allies. our young aeroplane scouts fighting to the finish; or, striking hard over the sea for the stars and stripes. our young aeroplane scouts at the marne; or, harrying the huns from allied battleplanes. our young aeroplane scouts in at the victory; or, speedy high flyers smashing the hindenburg line. for sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the publishers =a. l. burt company, - east rd st., new york= =the boy spies series= [illustration] these stories are based on important historical events, scenes wherein boys are prominent characters being selected. they are the romance of history, vigorously told, with careful fidelity to picturing the home life, and accurate in every particular. handsome cloth bindings =the boy spies at the battle of new orleans.= a story of the part they took in its defence. by william p. chipman. =the boy spies at the defence of fort henry.= a boy's story of wheeling creek in . by james otis. =the boy spies at the battle of bunker hill.= a story of two boys at the siege of boston. by james otis. =the boy spies at the siege of detroit.= a story of two ohio boys in the war of . by james otis. =the boy spies with lafayette.= the story of how two boys joined the continental army. by james otis. =the boy spies on chesapeake bay.= the story of two young spies under commodore barney. by james otis. =the boy spies with the regulators.= the story of how the boys assisted the carolina patriots to drive the british from that state. by james otis. =the boy spies with the swamp fox.= the story of general marion and his young spies. by james otis. =the boy spies at yorktown.= the story of how the spies helped general lafayette in the siege of yorktown. by james otis. =the boy spies of philadelphia.= the story of how the young spies helped the continental army at valley forge. by james otis. =the boy spies of fort griswold.= the story of the part they took in its brave defence. by william p. chipman. =the boy spies of old new york.= the story of how the young spies prevented the capture of general washington. by james otis. for sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the publishers. a. l. burt company. - east rd street, new york =the navy boys series= [illustration] a series of excellent stories of adventure on sea and land, selected from the works of popular writers; each volume designed for boys' reading. handsome cloth bindings =the navy boys in defence of liberty.= a story of the burning of the british schooner gaspee in . by william p. chipman. =the navy boys on long island sound.= a story of the whale boat navy of . by james otis. =the navy boys at the siege of havana.= being the experience of three boys serving under israel putnam in . by james otis. =the navy boys with grant at vicksburg.= a boy's story of the siege of vicksburg. by james otis. =the navy boys' cruise with paul jones.= a boy's story of a cruise with the great commodore in . by james otis. =the navy boys on lake ontario.= the story of two boys and their adventures in the war of . by james otis. =the navy boys' cruise on the pickering.= a boy's story of privateering in . by james otis. =the navy boys in new york bay.= a story of three boys who took command of the schooner "the laughing mary," the first vessel of the american navy. by james otis. =the navy boys in the track of the enemy.= the story of a remarkable cruise with the sloop of war "providence" and the frigate "alfred." by william p. chipman. =the navy boys' daring capture.= the story of how the navy boys helped to capture the british cutter "margaretta," in . by william p. chipman. =the navy boys' cruise to the bahamas.= the adventures of two yankee middies with the first cruise of an american squadron in . by william p. chipman. =the navy boys' cruise with columbus.= the adventures of two boys who sailed with the great admiral in his discovery of america. by frederick a. ober. transcriber's note punctuation, capitalization and formatting markup have been normalized. apparent printer's errors have been retained, unless stated below. illustrations have been moved near their mention in the text. "_" surrounding text represents text in italics. "=" surrounding text represents text in bold. page , missing "the" added. ("oh, uncle wiggily! will you please take me with you this morning?" asked a little voice, somewhere down near the lower, or floor-end, of the old rabbit gentleman's rheumatism crutch, as mr. longears sat at the breakfast table in his hollow stump bungalow.) page , "current" changed to "currant". (together they went along through the woods and over the fields and, all of a sudden, from behind a currant jam bush, out jumped a bad, old, double-jointed skillery-scalery alligator.) page , "wigwily" changed to "wiggly" for consistency. (and if the ice wagon doesn't slide down hill and throw snowballs at the potato pudding in the parlor i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the magic bottles.) page , "wigggly" changed to "wiggily". (he had heard about uncle wiggily's trouble from the do-do bird, and had come, with his strong bill, to bite the spider web into little pieces.) page , missing "to" added. ("i sent her to the store about an hour ago to get a loaf of sand bread, but she hasn't come back and i'm sure something has happened to her.") page , missing "to" added. (for the old gentleman rabbit had many surprising things happen to him.) provided by the internet archive the adventures of peter cottontail by thornton w. burgess author of "the adventures of reddy fox" "old mother west wind," etc. with illustrations by harrison cady boston little, brown, and company the adventures of peter cottontail i. peter rabbit decides to change his name |peter rabbit! peter rabbit! i don't see what mother nature ever gave me such a common sounding name as that for. people laugh at me, but if i had a fine sounding name they wouldn't laugh. some folks say that a name doesn't amount to anything, but it does. if i should do some wonderful thing, nobody would think anything of it. no, sir, nobody would think anything of it at all just because--why just because it was done by peter rabbit." peter was talking out loud, but he was talking to himself. he sat in the dear old briar-patch with an ugly scowl on his usually happy face. the sun was shining, the merry little breezes of old mother west wind were dancing over the green meadows, the birds were singing, and happiness, the glad, joyous happiness of springtime, was everywhere but in peter rabbit's heart. there there seeded to be no room for anything but discontent. and such foolish discontent--discontent with his name! and yet, do you know, there are lots of people just as foolish as peter rabbit. "well, what are you going to do about it?" the voice made peter rabbit jump and turn around hastily. there was jimmy skunk poking his head in at the opening of one of peter's private little paths. he was grinning, and peter knew by that grin that jimmy had heard what he had said. peter didn't know what to say. he hung his head in a very shame-faced way. "you've got something to learn," said jimmy skunk. "what is it?" asked peter. "it's just this," replied jimmy. "there's nothing in a name except just what we choose to make it. it lies with us and no one else how other folks shall take it. it's what we do and what we say and how we live each passing day that makes it big or makes it small or even worse than none at all. a name just stands for what we are; it's what we choose to make it. and that's the way and only way that other folks will take it." peter rabbit made a face at jimmy skunk. "i don't like being preached to." "i'm not preaching; i'm just telling you what you ought to know without being told," replied jimmy skunk. "if you don't like your name, why don't you change it?" "what's that?" cried peter sharply. "if you don't like your name, why don't you change it?" repeated jimmy. peter sat up and the disagreeable frown had left his face. "i--i--hadn't thought of that," he said slowly. "do you suppose i could, jimmy skunk?" "easiest thing in the world," replied jimmy skunk. "just decide what name you like and then ask all your friends to call you by it." "i believe i will!" cried peter rabbit. "well, let me know what it is when you have decided," said jimmy, as he started for home. and all the way up the crooked little path, jimmy chuckled to himself as he thought of foolish peter rabbit trying to change his name. ii. peter finds a name |peter rabbit had quite lost his appetite. when peter forgets to eat you may make up your mind that peter has something very important to think about. at least he has something on his mind that he thinks is important. the fact is, peter had fully made up his mind to change his name. he thought peter rabbit too common a name. but when he tried to think of a better one, he found that no name that he could think of really pleased him any more. so he thought and he thought and he thought and he thought. and the more he thought the less appetite he had. now jimmy skunk was the only one to whom peter had told how discontented he was with his name, and it was jimmy who had suggested to peter that he change it. jimmy thought it a great joke, and he straightway passed the word along among all the little meadow and forest people that peter rabbit was going to change his name. everybody laughed and chuckled over the thought of peter rabbit's foolishness, and they planned to have a great deal of fun with peter as soon as he should tell them his new name. peter was sitting on the edge of the old briar-patch one morning when ol' mistah buzzard passed, flying low. "good mo'ning, brer cottontail," said ol' mistah buzzard, with a twinkle in his eye. at first peter didn't understand that ol' mistah buzzard was speaking to him, and by the time he did it was too late to reply, for ol' mistah buzzard was way, way up in the blue, blue sky. "cottontail, cottontail." said peter over and over to himself and began to smile. every time he said it he liked it better. [illustration: ] "cottontail, peter cottontail! how much better sounding that is than peter rabbit! that sounds as if i really was somebody. yes, sir, that's the very name i want. now i must send word to all my friends that hereafter i am no longer peter rabbit, but peter cottontail." peter kicked up his heels in just the funny way he always does when he is pleased. suddenly he remembered that such a fine, long, high-sounding name as peter cottontail demanded dignity. so he stopped kicking up his heels and began to practise putting on airs. but first he called to the merry little breezes and told them about his change of name and asked them to tell all his friends that in the future he would not answer to the name of peter rabbit, but only to the name of peter cottontail. he was very grave and earnest and important as he explained it to the merry little breezes. the merry little breezes kept their faces straight while he was talking, but as soon, as they had left him to carry his message they burst out laughing. it was such a joke! and they giggled as they delivered this message to each of the little forest and meadow people: "peter rabbit's changed his name. in the future without fail you must call him, if you please, mr. peter cottontail." while they were doing this, peter was back in the old briar-patch practising new airs and trying to look very high and mighty and important, as became one with such a fine sounding name as peter cottontail. iii. there's nothing like the old name after all |bobby coon and jimmy skunk had their heads together. now when these two put their heads together, you may make up your mind that they are planning mischief. yes, sir, there is sure to be mischief afoot when bobby coon and jimmy skunk put their heads together as they were doing now. had peter rabbit seen them, he might not have felt so easy in his mind as he did. but peter didn't see them. he was too much taken up with trying to look as important as his new name sounded. he was putting on airs and holding his head very high as he went down to the smiling pool to call on jeny muskrat. whenever any one called him by his old name, peter pretended not to hear. he pretended that he had never heard that name and didn't know that he was being spoken to. bobby coon and jimmy skunk thought it a great joke and they made up their minds that they would have some fun with peter and perhaps make him see how very foolish he was. yes, sir, they planned to teach peter a lesson. bobby coon hurried away to find reddy fox and tell him that peter had gone down to the smiling pool, and that if he hid beside the path, he might catch peter on the way back. jimmy skunk hunted up blacky the crow and sammy jay and told them of his plan and what he wanted them to do to help. of course they promised that they would. then he went to ol' mistah buzzard and told him. ol' mistah buzzard grinned and promised that he would do his share. then bobby coon and jimmy skunk hid where they could see all that would happen. peter had reached the smiling pool and now sat on the bank admiring his own reflection in the water and talking to jerry muskrat. he had just told jerry that when his old name was called out he didn't hear it any more when along came blacky the crow. "hello, peter rabbit! you're just the fellow i am looking for; i've a very important message for you," shouted blacky. peter kept right on talking with jerry muskrat just as if he didn't hear, although he was burning with curiosity to know what the message was. "i say, peter rabbit, are you deaf?" shouted blacky the crow. jerry muskrat looked up at blacky and winked. "peter rabbit isn't here," said he. "this is peter cottontail." [illustration: ] "oh!" said blacky. "my message is for peter rabbit, and it's something he really ought to know. i'm sorry he isn't here." and with that, away flew blacky the crow, chuckling to himself. peter looked quite as uncomfortable as he felt, but of course he couldn't say a word after boasting that he didn't hear people who called him peter rabbit. pretty soon along came sammy jay. sammy seemed very much excited. "oh, peter rabbit, i'm so glad i've found you!" he cried. "i've some very important news for you." peter had all he could do to sit still and pretend not to hear, but he did. "this is peter cottontail," said jerry muskrat, winking at sammy jay. "oh," replied sammy, "my news is for peter rabbit!" and off he flew, chuckling to himself. peter looked and felt more uncomfortable than ever. he bade jerry muskrat good-by and started for the dear old briar-patch to think things over. when he was half way there, ol' mistah buzzard came sailing down out of the sky. "brer cottontail," said he, "if yo' see anything of brer rabbit, yo' tell him that brer fox am hiding behind that big bunch of grass just ahead." peter stopped short, and his heart gave a great leap. there, behind the clump of grass, was something red, sure enough. peter didn't wait to see more. he started for a hiding place he knew of in the green forest as fast as he could go, and behind him raced reddy fox. as he ran, he heard blacky the crow and sammy jay laughing, and then he knew that this was the news that they had had for him. "i--i--guess that peter rabbit is a good enough name, after all," he panted. iv. peter rabbit fools jimmy skunk |peter rabbit came hopping and skipping down the crooked little path. unc' billy possum always calls him brer rabbit, but everybody else calls him peter. peter was feeling very fine that morning, very fine indeed. every few minutes he jumped up in the air, and kicked his heels together, just for fun. presently he met jimmy skunk. jimmy was on his way back from farmer brown's corn field, where he had been helping blacky the crow get free from a snare. jimmy was still tickling and laughing over the way blacky the crow had been caught. he had to tell peter rabbit all about it. peter thought it just as good a joke as did jimmy, and the two trotted along side by side, planning how they would spread the news all over the green meadows that blacky the crow, who thinks himself so smart, had been caught. "that reminds me," said jimmy skunk suddenly, "i haven't had my breakfast yet. have you seen any beetles this morning, peter rabbit?" peter rabbit stopped and scratched his long left ear with his long left hind foot. "now you speak of it, it seems to me that i did," said peter rabbit. "where?" asked jimmy skunk eagerly. peter pretended to think very hard. "it seems to me that it was back at the top of the crooked little path up the hill," said peter. "i think i will go look for them at once," replied jimmy. "all right," replied peter, "i'll show you the way." so up the crooked little path hopped peter rabbit, and right behind him trotted jimmy skunk. by and by they came to an old pine stump. peter rabbit stopped. he put one hand on his lips. "hush!" whispered peter. "i think there is a whole family of beetles on the other side of this stump. you creep around the other side, and i'll creep around this side. when i thump the ground, you spring right around and grab them before they can run away." so jimmy skunk crept around one side of the stump, and peter rabbit crept around the other side. suddenly peter thumped the ground hard, twice. jimmy skunk was waiting and all ready to spring. when he heard those thumps, he just sprang as quickly as he could. what do you think happened? why, jimmy skunk landed _thump!_ right on reddy fox, who was taking a sun nap on the other side of the pine stump! "ha, ha, ha," shouted peter rabbit, and started down the crooked little path as fast as his long legs could take him. v. reddy pox gets into trouble |reddy fox, curled up behind the big pine stump, was dreaming of a coop full of chickens, where there was no bowser the hound to watch over them. suddenly something landed on him with a thump that knocked all his breath out. for an instant it frightened reddy so that he just shook and shook. then he got his senses together and discovered that it was jimmy skunk who had jumped on him. jimmy was very polite. he begged reddy's pardon. he protested that it was all a mistake. he explained how peter rabbit had played a trick on both of them, and how he himself was just looking for beetles for breakfast. now, reddy fox is very quick tempered, and as soon as he realized that he had been made the victim of a joke, he lost his temper completely. he glared at jimmy skunk. he was so angry that he stuttered. "y-y-you, y-y-y-you, y-y-y-you did that on p-p-purpose," said reddy fox. "no such thing!" declared jimmy skunk. "i tell you it was a joke on the part of peter rabbit, and if you don't believe me, just look down there on the green meadows." reddy fox looked. there sat peter, his hands on his hips, his long ears pointed straight up to the blue sky, and his mouth wide open, as he laughed at the results of his joke. reddy shook his fist. "ha, ha, ha," shouted peter rabbit. reddy fox looked hard at jimmy skunk, but like all the other little meadow and forest people, he has a very great respect for jimmy skunk, and though he would have liked to quarrel with jimmy, he thought it wisest not to. instead, he started after peter rabbit as fast as his legs could go. now, reddy fox can run very fast, and when peter saw him coming, peter knew that he would have to use his own long legs to the very best of his ability. away they went across the green meadows. jimmy skunk, sitting on top of the hill, could see the white patch on the seat of peter rabbit's trousers bobbing this way and that way, and right behind him was reddy fox. now, peter rabbit could run fast enough to keep away from reddy for a while. you remember that peter's eyes are so placed that he can see behind him without turning his head. so he knew when reddy was getting too near. in and out among the bushes along the edge of the green meadows they dodged, and the more he had to run, the angrier reddy fox grew. he paid no attention to where they were going; his whole thought was of catching peter rabbit. now, when peter began to grow tired he began to work over towards farmer brown's corn field, where he knew that farmer brown's boy was hiding, with bowser the hound. dodging this way and that way, peter worked over to the fence corner, where jimmy skunk had watched blacky the crow get caught in a snare. he let reddy almost catch him, then he dodged out into the open corn field, and reddy, of course, followed him, "bow-wow, bow-wow-wow!" reddy did not need to turn to know what had happened. bowser the hound had seen him and was after him. peter just ducked behind a big bunch of grass and sat down to get his breath, while reddy started off as hard as he could go, with bowser the hound behind him. vi. reddy fools bowser the hound |away across the green meadows and up the hill through the green forest raced reddy fox at the top of his speed. behind him, nose to the ground, came bowser the hound, baying at the top of his lungs. reddy ran along an old stone wall and jumped as far out into the field as he could. "i guess that will fool him for a while," panted reddy, as he sat down to get his breath. when bowser came to the place where reddy had jumped on the stone wall, he just grinned. "that's too old a trick to fool me one minute," said bowser to himself, and he just made a big circle, so that in a few minutes he had found reddy's tracks again. every trick that reddy had heard old granny fox tell about he tried, in order to fool bowser the hound, but it was of no use at all. bowser seemed to know exactly what reddy was doing, and wasted no time. reddy was beginning to get worried. he was getting dreadfully out of breath. his legs ached. his big, plumey tail, of which he is very, very proud, had become dreadfully heavy. granny fox had warned him never, never to run into the snug house they had dug unless he was obliged to to save his life, for that would tell bowser the hound where they lived, and then they would have to move. how reddy did wish that wise old granny fox would come to his relief. he was running along the back of farmer brown's pasture, and he could hear bowser the hound altogether too near for comfort. he looked this way and he looked that way for a chance to escape. just ahead of him he saw a lot of woolly friends. they were farmer brown's sheep. reddy had a bright idea. like a flash he sprang on the back of one of the sheep. it frightened the sheep as badly as reddy had been frightened, when jimmy skunk had landed on him that morning. "baa, baa, baa!" cried the sheep and started to run. reddy hung on tightly, and away they raced across the pasture. now bowser the hound trusts wholly to his nose to follow reddy fox or peter rabbit or his master, farmer brown's boy. so he did not see reddy jump on the back of the sheep, and, of course, when he reached the place where reddy had found his strange horse, he was puzzled. round and round, and round and round bowser worked in a circle, but no trace of reddy could he find. and all the time reddy sat behind the stone wall on the far side of the pasture, getting his wind and laughing and laughing at the smart way in which he had fooled bowser the hound. vii. reddy invites peter rabbit to take a walk |old granny fox was not feeling well. for three days she had been unable to go out hunting, and for three days reddy fox had tried to find something to tempt granny's appetite. he had brought in a tender young chicken from farmer brown's hen yard, and he had stolen a plump trout from billy mink's storehouse, but granny had just turned up her nose. "what i need," said granny fox, "is a tender young rabbit." now, reddy fox is very fond of granny fox, and when she said that she needed a tender young rabbit, reddy made up his mind that he would get it for her, though how he was going to do it he didn't know. dozens of times he had tried to catch peter rabbit, and every time peter's long legs had taken him to a place of safety. "i'll just have to fool peter rabbit," said reddy fox, as he sat on his door-steps and looked over the green meadows. reddy fox is very sly. he is so sly that it is hard work to be sure when he is honest and when he is playing a trick. as he sat on his door-steps, looking across the green meadows, he saw the merry little breezes coming his way. reddy smiled to himself. when they got near enough, he shouted to them. "will you do something for me?" he asked. "of course we will," shouted the merry little breezes, who are always delighted to do something for others. "i wish you would find peter rabbit and tell him that i have found a new bed of tender young carrots in farmer brown's garden, and invite him to go there with me to-morrow morning at sun-up," said reddy fox. away raced the merry little breezes to find peter rabbit and give him the invitation of reddy fox. pretty soon back they came to tell reddy that peter rabbit would be delighted to meet reddy on the edge of the old briar-patch at sun-up the next morning, and go with him to get some tender young carrots. reddy smiled to himself, for now he was sure that he would get peter rabbit for granny's breakfast. early the next morning, just before sun-up, reddy fox started down the lone little path and hurried across the green meadows to the old briar-patch. reddy was dressed in his very best suit of clothes, and very smart and handsome he looked. when he reached the old briar-patch he could see nothing of peter rabbit. he waited and waited and waited, but still peter rabbit did not come. finally he gave it up and decided that he would go over and have a look at the young carrots in farmer brown's garden. when he got there, what do you think he saw? why, all around that bed of tender young carrots were footprints, and the footprints were peter rabbit's! reddy fox ground his teeth and snarled wickedly, for he knew then that instead of fooling peter rabbit, peter rabbit had fooled him. just then up came one of the merry little breezes of old mother west wind. "good morning, reddy fox," said the merry little breeze. "good morning," replied reddy fox, and if you could have seen him and heard him, you would never have suspected how ill-tempered he was feeling. "peter rabbit asked me to come and tell you that he is very sorry that he could not meet you at the briar-patch this morning, but that he grew so hungry thinking of those tender young carrots that he just had to come and get some before sun-up, and he is very much obliged to you for telling him about them. he says they are the finest young carrots that he has ever tasted," said the merry little breeze. the heart of reddy fox was filled with rage, but he did not let the merry little breeze know it. he just smiled and sent the merry little breeze back to peter rabbit to tell him how glad he was that peter enjoyed the carrots, and to invite peter to meet him the next morning on the edge of the old briar-patch at sun-up, to go with him to a patch of sweet clover which he had just found near the old hickory-tree. the merry little breeze danced off with the message. pretty soon he was back to say that peter rabbit would be delighted to go to the sweet clover patch the next morning. reddy grinned as he trudged off home. "i'll just be at the clover patch an hour before sun-up to-morrow morning, and then we'll see!" he said to himself. viii. peter rabbit gets an early breakfast |peter rabbit crept out of his snug little bed in the middle of the old briar-patch two hours before sun-up and hurried over to the big hickory-tree. sure enough, close by, he found a beautiful bed of sweet clover, just as reddy fox had said was there. peter chuckled to himself as he ate and ate and ate, until his little round stomach was so full that he could hardly hop. when he had eaten all that he could, he hurried back to the old briar-patch to finish his morning nap, and all the time he kept chuckling to himself. you see, peter was suspicious of reddy fox, and so he had gone over to the sweet clover bed alone two hours before sun-up. peter rabbit had hardly left the sweet clover bed when reddy fox arrived. reddy lay down in the long meadow grass and grinned to himself as he waited. slowly the minutes went by, until up from behind the purple hills came jolly, round, red mr. sun--but no peter rabbit. reddy stopped grinning. "perhaps," said he to himself, "peter is waiting for me on the edge of the old briar-patch and wasn't going to try to fool me." so reddy hurried over to the old briar-patch, and sure enough there was peter rabbit 'sitting on the edge of it. when peter saw him coming, he dodged in behind a big clump of friendly old brambles. reddy came up with his broadest smile. "good morning, peter rabbit," said reddy. "shall we go over to that sweet clover bed?" [illustration: ] peter put one hand over his mouth to hide a smile. "oh," said he, "i was so dreadfully hungry for sweet clover that i couldn't wait until sun-up, and so i went over two hours ago. i hope you will excuse me, reddy fox. i certainly do appreciate your kindness in telling me of that new, sweet clover bed and i hope i have not put you out." "certainly not," replied reddy fox, in his pleasantest manner, and you know reddy fox can be very pleasant indeed when he wants to be. "it is a very great pleasure to be able to give you pleasure. there is nothing i so like to do as to give pleasure to others. by the way, i have just heard that farmer brown has a new planting of young cabbage in the corner of his garden. will you meet me here at sun-up to-morrow morning to go over there?" "i will be delighted to, i will indeed!" replied peter rabbit, and all the time he smiled to himself behind his hand. reddy fox bade peter rabbit good-by in the pleasantest way you can imagine, yet all the time, down in his heart, reddy was so angry that he hardly knew what to do, for you see he had got to go back to granny fox without the tender young rabbit which he had promised her. "this time i will be there two hours before sun-up, and then we will see, peter rabbit, who is the smartest!" said reddy fox to himself. ix. reddy fox gets a scare |peter rabbit looked up at the silvery moon and laughed aloud. then he kicked up his heels and laughed again as he started out across the green meadows towards fanner brown's garden. you see, peter was suspicious, very suspicious indeed of reddy fox. so, as it was a beautiful night for a walk, he thought he would just run over to farmer brown's garden and see if he could find that bed of newly planted cabbage, about which reddy fox had told him. so peter hopped and skipped across the green meadows, singing as he went; "hold, ol' miss moon, hold up your light! show the way! show the way! the little stars are shining bright; night folks all are out to play." when peter reached farmer brown's garden, he had no trouble in finding the new planting of cabbage. it was tender. it was good. my, how good it was! peter started in to fill his little round stomach. he ate and ate and ate and ate! by and by, just when he thought he couldn't eat another mouthful, he happened to look over to a patch of moonlight. for just a second peter's heart stopped beating. there was reddy fox coming straight over to the new cabbage bed! peter rabbit didn't know what to do. reddy fox hadn't seen him yet, but he would in a minute or two, unless peter could hide. he was too far from the dear old briar-patch to run there. peter looked this way and looked that way. ha! ha! there lay fanner brown's boy's old straw hat, just where he had left it when the supper horn blew. peter crawled under it. it covered him completely. peter peeped out from under one edge. he saw reddy fox standing in the moonlight, looking at the bed of newly set cabbage. reddy was smiling as if his thoughts were very pleasant. peter shivered. he could just guess what reddy was thinking--how he would gobble up peter, when once he got him away from the safety of the old briar-patch. the thought made peter so indignant that he forgot that he was hiding, and he sat up on his hind legs. of course, he lifted the straw hat with him. then he remembered and sat down again in a hurry. of course, the straw hat went down quite as quickly. presently peter peeped out. reddy fox was staring and staring at the old straw hat, and he wasn't smiling now. he actually looked frightened. it gave peter an idea. he made three long hops straight towards reddy fox, all the time keeping the old straw hat over him. of course the hat went along with him, and, because it covered peter all up, it looked for all the world as if the hat was alive. reddy fox gave one more long look at the strange thing coming towards him through the cabbage bed, and then he started for home as fast as he could go, his tail between his legs. peter rabbit just lay down right where he was and laughed and laughed and laughed. and it almost seemed as if the old straw hat laughed too. x. peter has another great laugh |it was just sun-up as reddy fox started down the lone little path to the green meadows. reddy was late. he should be over at the old briar-patch by this time. he was afraid now that peter rabbit would not be there. when he came in sight of the old briar-patch, there sat peter on the edge of it. "good morning, peter rabbit," said reddy fox, in his politest manner. "i am sorry to have kept you waiting; it is all because i had a terrible fright last night." "is that so? what was it?" asked peter, ducking down behind a big bramble bush to hide his smile. "why, i went over to farmer brown's garden to see if that new planting of young cabbage was all right, and there i met a terrible monster. it frightened me so that i did not dare to come out this morning until jolly, round mr. sun had begun to climb up in the sky, and so i am a little late. are you ready, peter rabbit, to go up to the new planting of young cabbage with me?" asked reddy, in his pleasantest manner. now, what do you think peter rabbit did? why, peter just began to laugh. he laughed and laughed and shouted! he lay down on his back and kicked his heels for very joy! but all the time he took care to keep behind a big, friendly bramble bush. reddy fox stared at peter rabbit. he just didn't know what to make of it. he began to think that peter had gone crazy. he couldn't see a thing to laugh at, yet here was peter laughing fit to kill himself. finally peter stopped and sat up. "did--did--the monster catch you, reddy fox?" he asked, wiping his eyes. "no," replied reddy, "it didn't catch me, because i could run faster than it could, but it chased me all the way home." "in that case, i think i'll not go up to the cabbage bed this morning, for you know i cannot run as fast as you can, reddy, and the monster might catch me," replied peter, very gravely. "besides," he added, "i have had my fill of tender young cabbage, and it was very nice indeed." "what!" shouted reddy fox. "yes," continued peter rabbit, "i just couldn't wait till morning, so i went up there early last night. i'm much obliged to you for telling me of it, reddy fox; i am indeed." for just a little minute an ugly look crept into reddy's face, for now he knew that once more peter rabbit had fooled him. but he kept his temper and managed to smile, as he said: "oh, don't mention it, peter rabbit, don't mention it. but tell me, didn't you meet the monster?" "no," replied peter rabbit. and then, do what he would, he couldn't keep sober another minute, but began to laugh just as he had before. "what's the joke, peter rabbit? tell me so that i can laugh too," begged reddy fox. "why," said peter rabbit, when he could get his breath, "the joke is that the monster that frightened you so was the old straw hat of farmer brown's boy, and i was underneath it. ha, ha, ha! ho, ho, ho!" then reddy fox knew just how badly peter rabbit had fooled him. with a snarl he sprang right over the bramble bush at peter rabbit, but peter was watching and darted away along one of his own special little paths through the old briar-patch. reddy tried to follow, but the brambles tore his clothes and scratched his face and stuck in his feet. finally he had to give it up. tom and bleeding and angry, he tinned back home, and as he left the old briar-patch, he could still hear peter rabbit laughing. xi. shadow the weasel gets lost |all the green meadows had heard how peter rabbit had frightened reddy fox with an old straw hat, and everywhere that reddy went some one was sure to shout after him: "reddy fox is fine to see; he's as brave as brave can be 'til he meets an old straw hat, then he don't know where he's at!" then reddy would lose his temper and chase his tormentors. most of all, he wanted to catch peter rabbit. he lay in wait for peter in fence corners and behind bushes and trees, but somehow peter seemed always to know that reddy was there. in the old briar-patch peter was safe. reddy had tried to follow him there, but he had found that it was of no use at all. peter's paths were so narrow, and the brambles tore reddy's clothes and scratched him so, that he had to give it up. reddy was thinking of this one day as he sat on his door-step, scowling over at the old briar-patch, and then all of a sudden he thought of shadow the weasel. shadow is so slim that he can go almost anywhere that any one else can, and he is so fierce that nearly all of the little meadow people are terribly afraid of him. reddy smiled. it was a mean, wicked, crafty smile. then he hopped up and hurried to find shadow the weasel and tell him his plan. shadow listened, and then he too began to smile. "it's easy, reddy fox, the easiest thing in the world! we'll get peter rabbit just as sure as fat hens are good eating," said he, as they started for the old briar-patch. reddy's plan was very simple. shadow the weasel was to follow peter rabbit along peter's narrow little paths and drive peter out of the old briar-patch on to the green meadows, where reddy fox could surely catch him. so reddy fox sat down to wait while shadow started into the old briar-patch. peter rabbit heard him coming and, of course, peter began to run. now, when peter first made his home in the old briar-patch, he had foreseen that some day shadow the weasel might come to hunt him there, so peter had made dozens and dozens of little paths, twisting and turning and crossing and recrossing in the most puzzling way. of course, peter himself knew every twist and turn of every one of them, but shadow had not gone very far before he was all mixed up. he kept his sharp little nose to the ground to smell peter's footsteps, but peter kept crossing his own tracks so often that pretty soon shadow could not tell which path peter had last taken. peter led him farther and farther into the middle of the old briar-patch. right there shadow came to a great big puddle of water. peter had jumped clear across it, for you know peter's legs are long and meant for jumping. now, shadow hates to get his feet wet, and when he reached the puddle, he stopped. he glared with fierce little red eyes across at peter rabbit, sitting on the other side. then he started around the edge. peter waited until shadow was almost around, and then he jumped back across the puddle. there was nothing for shadow to do but go back around, which he did. of course, peter just did the same thing over again, all the time laugh-ing in his sleeve, for shadow the weasel was growing angrier and angrier. finally he grew so angry that he tried to jump the puddle himself, and in he fell with a great splash! when shadow crawled out, wet and muddy, peter had disappeared, and shadow couldn't tell which path he had taken. worse still, he didn't know which path to take to get out himself. he tried one after another, but after a little while he would find himself back at the puddle in the middle of the old briar-patch. shadow the weasel was lost! yes, sir, shadow the weasel was lost in the old briar-patch. outside, reddy fox waited and watched, but no frightened peter rabbit came jumping out as he expected. what could it mean? after a long, long time he saw some one very muddy and very wet and very tired crawl out of one of peter rabbit's little paths. it was shadow the weasel. reddy took one good look at him and then he hurried away. he didn't want to hear what shadow the weasel would say. and as he hurried across the green meadows, he heard peter rabbit's voice from the middle of the old briar-patch. "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again!" shouted peter rabbit. reddy fox ground his teeth. xii. the plot of two scamps |sammy jay, looking around for mischief, found reddy fox sitting on his door-step with his chin in both hands and looking as if he hadn't a friend in the world. "what are you doing?" asked sammy jay. "i'm just a-studying," replied reddy fox. "what are you studying? perhaps i can help you," said sammy jay. reddy fox heaved a long sigh. "i'm a-studying how i can catch peter rabbit," replied reddy. sammy jay scratched his head thoughtfully. reddy fox still sat with his chin in his hands and thought and thought and thought. sammy jay sat on one foot and scratched and scratched and scratched his head with the other. suddenly sammy looked up. "i have it!" said he. "you remember the hollow log over beyond the old hickory-tree?" reddy nodded his head. "well, i'll go down and invite peter rabbit to come over there and see the strangest thing in the world. you know what great curiosity peter rabbit has. now, you be hiding in the hollow log, and when you hear me say to peter rabbit, 'the strangest thing in the world is waiting for you over there, peter,' you spring out, and you'll have peter." reddy fox brightened up. this plan certainly did look good to reddy. peter had fooled him so many times that he was almost in despair. he knew that if he sent another invitation to peter, peter would suspect right away that it meant mischief. but peter wouldn't think that sammy jay was planning mischief, because he knew that sammy is the greatest news teller in the green forest. so reddy fox trotted off to the hollow log down by the big hickory-tree and crept inside. sammy jay flew over to the old briar-patch to look for peter rabbit. he found him sitting under a big bramble bush. "good morning, peter rabbit," said sammy jay, with his finest manner. peter looked at sammy sharply as he returned his greeting. sammy jay wasn't in the habit of being so polite to peter, and peter began to study just what it could mean. "i saw the strangest thing in the world this morning," said sammy jay. peter pricked up his ears. in spite of himself, he began to grow curious. "what was it, sammy jay?" he asked. sammy looked very mysterious. "i really don't know what it is," he replied, "but i can show it to you, if you want to see for yourself, peter rabbit." of course peter wanted to see it, so he started out across the green meadows with sammy jay. now the farther he went, the more time he had to think, and by the time he had nearly reached the old hickory-tree, peter began to suspect a trick. sammy jay motioned peter to approach very carefully. "it's right over there, in that hollow log, peter," he whispered. "you go peep in, and you'll see it." then sammy prepared to give the signal to reddy fox. peter hopped a couple of steps nearer, and then he sat up very straight and gazed at the hollow log. somehow he didn't just like the looks of it. he didn't know why, but he just didn't. then along came one of old mother west wind's merry little breezes, dancing right past the hollow log and up to peter rabbit, and with him he brought a funny smell. peter's little wobbly nose wrinkled. that funny smell certainly reminded peter of reddy fox. he wrinkled his nose again. then he suddenly whirled about. "excuse me, sammy jay," he exclaimed. "i just remember something very important!" and before sammy jay could open his mouth, peter had started like a little brown streak for the old briar-patch. xiii. reddy fox comes to life |reddy fox lay on the side hill. bobby coon found him there, and when bobby spoke to him, reddy made no reply. bobby went over and looked at him. reddy's eyes were closed. bobby grinned to himself, then he tip-toed a little nearer and shouted "boo" right in one of reddy's little black ears. still reddy did not move. bobby coon's face grew sober. he poked reddy with his foot, but still reddy did not move. then he pulled reddy's tail, and still reddy did not move. "it must be that reddy fox is dead," thought bobby coon, and he hurried away to tell the news. [illustration: ] there was great excitement on the green meadows and in the green forest when the little people there heard that reddy fox was dead. of course, every one wanted to see reddy, and soon there was a procession of little meadow and forest people hurrying across the green meadows to the hillside where reddy fox lay. jimmy skunk, johnny chuck, billy mink, little joe otter, unc' billy possum, danny meadow mouse, spotty the turtle, old mr. toad, grandfather frog, jerry muskrat, sammy jay, blacky the crow, happy jack squirrel, striped chipmunk, jumper the hare, prickly porky, all were there. they formed a big circle around reddy fox. then they began to talk about reddy. some told of the good things that reddy had done and what a fine gentleman he was. others told of the mean things that reddy fox had done and how glad they were that they would no longer have to watch out for him. it was surprising the number of bad things that were said. but then, they felt safe in saying them, for was not reddy lying right there before them, stone dead? now, peter rabbit had not heard the news until late in the day, and when he did hear it, he started as fast as his long legs could take him to have a last look at reddy. half way there he suddenly stopped and scratched one of his long ears. peter was thinking. it was mighty funny that reddy fox should have died without any one having heard that he was sick. peter started on again, but this time he did not hurry. presently he cut a long twig, which he carried along with him. when he reached the circle around reddy fox, he stole up behind prickly porky the porcupine and whispered in his ear. prickly porky took the long twig which peter handed to him, while peter went off at a little distance and climbed up on an old stump where he could see. prickly porky reached over and tickled one of reddy's black ears. for a minute nothing happened. then the black ear twitched. prickly porky tickled the end of reddy's little black nose; then he tickled it again. what do you think happened? why, reddy fox sneezed! my, my, my! how that circle around reddy fox did disappear! all the little people who were afraid of reddy fox scampered away as fast as they could run, while all the other little people who were not afraid of reddy fox began to laugh, and the one who laughed loudest of all was peter rabbit, as he started back to the old briar-patch. of course, reddy fox knew then that it was of no use at all to pretend that he was dead, so he sprang to his feet and started after peter rabbit at the top of his speed, but when he reached the old briar-patch, peter was safely inside, and reddy could hear him laughing as if he would split his sides. "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again!" shouted peter rabbit. xiv. peter rabbit in a tight place "hop along, skip along, the sun is shining bright; hum a song, sing a song, my heart is always light." |it is true, peter rabbit always is light-hearted. for days and days reddy fox had been trying to catch peter, and peter had had to keep his wits very sharp indeed in order to keep out of reddy's way. still, it didn't seem to worry peter much. just now he was hopping and skipping down the lone little path without a care in the world. presently peter found a nice, shady spot close by a big rock. underneath one edge of the rock was a place just big enough for peter to crawl in--it was just the place for a nap. peter was beginning to feel sleepy, so he crawled in there and soon was fast asleep. by and by peter began to dream. he dreamed that he had gone for a long walk, way, way off from the safe old briar-patch, and that out from behind a big bush had sprung reddy fox. just as reddy's teeth were about to close on peter, peter woke up. it was such a relief to find that he was really snug and safe under the big rock that he almost shouted aloud. but he didn't, and a minute later he was, oh, so glad he hadn't, for he heard a voice that seemed as if it was right in his ear. it was the voice of reddy fox. yes, sir, it was the voice of reddy fox. peter hardly dared to breathe, and you may be sure that he did not make even the smallest sound, for reddy fox was sitting on the very rock under which peter was resting. reddy fox was talking to blacky the crow. peter listened with all his might, for what do you think reddy fox was saying? why, he was telling blacky the crow of a new plan to catch peter rabbit and was asking blacky to help him. peter had never been so frightened in his life, for here was reddy fox so close to him that peter could have reached out and touched one of reddy's legs, as he kicked his heels over the edge of the big rock. by and by blacky the crow spoke. "i saw peter rabbit coming down this way early this morning," said blacky, "and i don't think he has gone home. why don't you go over and hide near the old briar-patch and catch peter when he comes back? i will watch out, and if i see peter, i will tell him that you have gone hunting your breakfast way over beyond the big hill. then he will not be on the watch." "the very thing," exclaimed reddy fox, "and if i catch him, i will surely do something for you, blacky. i believe that i will go right away." then the two rascals planned, and chuckled as they thought how they would outwit peter rabbit. "i'm getting hungry," said reddy fox, as he arose and stretched. "i wonder if there is a field mouse hiding under this old rock. i believe i'll look and see." peter's heart almost stood still as he heard reddy fox slide down off the big rock. he wriggled himself still further under the rock and held his breath. just then blacky the crow gave a sharp "caw, caw, caw!" that meant that blacky saw something, and almost at once peter heard a sound that sometimes filled his heart with fear but which now filled it with great joy. it was the voice of bowser the hound. reddy fox heard it, too, and he didn't stop to look under the big rock. a little later peter very cautiously crawled out of his resting place and climbed up where he could look over the green meadows. way over on the far side he could see reddy fox running at the top of his speed, and behind him was bowser the hound. "my! but that was a tight place," said peter rabbit, as he stretched himself. xv. johnny chuck helps peter |johnny chuck had watched reddy fox try to fool and catch peter rabbit, and sometimes johnny had been very much afraid that reddy would succeed. but peter had been too smart for reddy every time, and johnny had laughed with the other little people of the green meadows whenever the merry little breezes had brought a new story of how peter had outwitted reddy. "peter'll have to watch out sharper than ever now, for granny fox is almost well, and she is very angry because reddy could not catch peter rabbit for her when she was ill. she says that she is going to show that stupid reddy how to do it and do it quickly," said jimmy skunk, when he stopped to chat with johnny chuck one fine morning. johnny had just been laughing very hard over one of peter rabbit's tricks, but now his face grew very sober, very sober indeed. "it won't do to let old granny fox catch peter. it won't do at all. we must all turn in and help peter," said johnny. "why, what would the green meadows and the green forest be like with no peter rabbit?" he added. late that afternoon johnny chuck happened to find peter rabbit taking a nap. yes, sir, peter had actually gone to sleep outside the dear old briar-patch. at first johnny thought that he would waken him and tell him that reddy fox was hunting right near. but just then johnny's bright eyes saw something that made him chuckle. it was the home of some hot-tempered friends of his, a beautiful home made of what looked like gray paper. it was fastened to a bush just above a little path leading to the very spot where peter lay fast asleep. johnny chuckled again, then off he hurried. he sat down on top of a little hill. pretty soon reddy fox came along through the hollow below. "hello, reddy fox! do you want to know how you can catch peter rabbit?" asked johnny. reddy looked up. he didn't know just what to say. he knew that johnny chuck and peter had always been the very best of friends. still, friends fall out sometimes, and perhaps johnny and peter had. reddy decided that he would be polite. "i certainly do, johnny chuck," he replied. "can you tell me how to do it?" "yes," said johnny. "peter is fast asleep over yonder behind that little bunch of huckleberry bushes. there is a little path through them. all you have to do is to hurry up that little path as fast and as still as you can." reddy fox waited to hear no more. his eyes glistened as he started off at the top of his speed up the little path. just as johnny had expected, reddy went in such a hurry that he didn't use his eyes for anything but signs of peter rabbit. bang! reddy had run head first into the paper house of johnny chuck's hot-tempered friends. in fact he had smashed the whole side in. out poured old mrs. hornet and all her family, and they had their little needles with them. reddy forgot all about peter rabbit. he yelled at the top of his lungs and started for home, slapping at old mrs. hornet, whom he never could hit, and stopping every few minutes to roll over and over. of course when he yelled, peter rabbit awoke and sat up to see what all the fuss was about. he saw reddy running as if his life depended upon it. over on the little hill he saw johnny chuck laughing so that the tears ran down his face. then peter began to laugh, too, and ran over to ask johnny chuck to tell him all about it. xvi. reddy fox tells a wrong story |reddy fox was a sight! there was no doubt about that. when he started down on to the green meadows that morning he limped like an old, old man. yes indeed, reddy was a sorry looking sight. his head was swelled so that one eye was closed, and he could hardly see out of the other. reddy never would have ventured out but that he just had to have some fresh mud from the smiling pool. reddy had waited until most of the little meadow people were out of the way. then he had tried to hurry so as to get back again as quickly as possible. but johnny chuck's sharp eyes had spied reddy, and johnny had guessed right away what the trouble was. he hurried over to tell peter rabbit. then the two little scalawags hunted up jimmy skunk and bobby coon to tell them, and the four hid near the lone little path to wait for reddy's return. pretty soon reddy came limping along. even johnny chuck was surprised at the way reddy's face had swelled. it was plastered all over with mud, and he was a sorry sight indeed. bobby coon appeared very much astonished to see reddy in such condition, though of course johnny chuck had told him all about how reddy had run head first into the home of old mrs. hornet and her family the day before. bobby stepped out in the lone little path. "why, reddy fox, what has happened to you?" he exclaimed. reddy didn't see the others hiding in the long grass. he didn't want bobby coon to know that he had been so careless as to run his head into a hornets' nest, so he told a wrong story. he put on a long face. that is, it was as long as he could make it, considering that it was so swelled. "i've had a most terrible accident, bobby coon," said reddy, sighing pitifully. "it happened yesterday as i was returning from an errand over beyond the hill. just as i was coming through the deepest part of the wood i heard some one crying. of course i stopped to find out what the matter was." "of course!" interrupted bobby coon. "certainly! to be sure! of course!" reddy looked at him suspiciously, but went on with his tale. "right down in the thickest, blackest place i found one of unc' billy possum's children being worried to death by digger the badger. i couldn't see that little possum hurt." "of course not!" broke in bobby coon. "so i jumped in and tackled old man badger, and i had him almost whipped, when i slipped over the edge of a big rock on the side of the hill. it took the skin off my face and bruised me something terrible. but i don't care, so long as i saved that little possum child," concluded reddy, as he started on. johnny chuck stole up behind him and thrust a sharp brier into the seat of reddy's pants. at the same time johnny made a noise like a whole family of hornets. reddy fox forgot his limp. he never even turned his head to look behind. instead, he started off at his best speed, and it wasn't until he heard a roar of laughter behind him that he realized that he had been fooled again. xvii. reddy almost gets peter rabbit |reddy fox really was almost ill from the effects of the stings which old mrs. hornet and her family had given him when he knocked in the side of their house. for several days he limped around, his head badly swollen. yes, sir, reddy fox was in a dreadful bad way. the worst of it was that none of the other little meadow and forest people seemed to be the least bit sorry for him. some of them actually laughed at him. peter rabbit did. reddy fox had made life very uncomfortable for peter for a long time, and now peter was actually enjoying reddy's discomfort. now, while he was laid up this way, reddy had plenty of time to think. he noticed that when he went out to walk, all those who kept at a safe distance when he was well now hardly got out of his way. they knew that he felt too sore and mean to try to catch them. peter rabbit hardly turned out of his path. a bright idea came to reddy. he would continue to appear to feel badly, even after he was well. he would keep his head bound up and would limp down to the smiling pool for some mud every day. then, when peter rabbit came near enough, reddy would catch him. so day after day reddy limped down to the smiling pool. he kept his head tied up as if it was as bad as ever, and as he walked, he groaned as if in great pain. even some of those who hated him most began to feel a little bit sorry for reddy fox. peter has a very soft heart, and although he knew that reddy fox would like nothing better than to gobble him up, he began to feel sorry for reddy. one morning peter sat just outside the old briar-patch, when reddy came limping along. he looked more miserable than usual. just as it had been for several days, one of reddy's eyes was closed. "it must be hard work to see with only one eye," said peter rabbit. "it is," replied reddy, with a great sigh. "it is very hard work, indeed." "i don't see how you manage to get enough to eat," continued peter, in his most sympathetic voice. reddy sighed again. "i don't, peter rabbit. i don't get enough to eat, and i'm nearly starved this very minute." when he said this such a note of longing crept into his voice that peter instantly grew suspicious. while he was sorry for reddy, he had no desire to make reddy feel better by furnishing himself for a meal. peter hopped around to the blind side of reddy and turned his back to him, as he inquired for the health of old granny fox. now, you know that peter's eyes are so placed in his head that he can see behind him without turning his head. reddy fox did not know this, or if he did he had forgotten it. very slowly and craftily the closed eye opened a wee bit, and in that line of yellow was a hungry look. peter rabbit saw it and with a great jump landed behind a friendly bramble bush in the old briar-patch. "ha! ha!" shouted peter, "i'd rather talk with you, reddy fox, when you haven't got a closed eye with such a hungry look in it. ta, ta!" reddy fox just shook his fist at peter rabbit, and started off home, pulling the bandage from his head as he went. xviii. johnny chuck prepares for winter |there was something in the air that peter rabbit couldn't understand. it made him feel frisky and happy and ready to run a race or have a frolic with any one who might happen along. he couldn't understand why it didn't make all his friends and neighbors on the green meadows and in the green forest feel the same way. but it didn't. no, sir, it didn't. some of those with whom he best liked to play wouldn't play at all, not even for a few minutes; said they hadn't time. peter was puzzling over it as he scampered down the lone little path, kicking his heels and trying to jump over his own shadow. just ahead of him, sitting on his own door-step, sat johnny chuck. "my goodness, how fat johnny chuck is getting!" thought peter rabbit. then he shouted: "come on and play hide and seek, johnny chuck!" but johnny chuck shook his head. "can't!" said he. "i've got to get ready for winter." peter rabbit sat down and looked at johnny chuck curiously. he couldn't understand why anybody should take the trouble to get ready for winter. he didn't, excepting that he put on a warmer coat. so he couldn't imagine why johnny chuck should have to get ready for winter. "how do you do it?" he asked. "do what?" johnny chuck looked up in surprise. "why, get ready for winter, of course," peter replied, just a wee bit impatiently. johnny chuck looked at peter as if he thought peter very stupid indeed. "why, i eat, of course," said he shortly, and began to stuff himself as if he hadn't had anything to eat for a week, when all the time he was so fat and roly-poly that he could hardly waddle. peter's eyes twinkled. "i should think you did!" he exclaimed. "i wouldn't mind getting ready for winter that way myself." you know peter thinks a very great deal of his stomach. then he added: "i should think you were trying to eat enough to last you all winter." johnny chuck yawned sleepily and then once more began to eat. "i am," he said briefly, talking with his mouth full. "what's that?" cried peter rabbit, his big eyes popping out. "i said i'm trying to eat enough to last me all winter! that's the way i get ready for winter," replied johnny chuck, just a wee bit crossly. "i think i've got enough now," he added. "how cool it is getting! i think i'll go down and go to sleep. i'll see you in the spring, peter rabbit." "wha--what's that?" exclaimed peter rabbit, looking as if he thought he hadn't heard aright. but johnny chuck had disappeared inside his house. xix. peter rabbit gets another surprise |peter rabbit sat on johnny chuck's door-step for five long minutes, scratching his head first with one hand, then with the other. "now, what did johnny chuck mean by saying that he would see me in the spring?" said peter rabbit to himself. "here it isn't winter yet, and it will be a long, long time before spring, yet johnny chuck spoke just as if he didn't expect to see me until winter has passed. is he going away somewhere? if he isn't, why won't i see him all winter, just as i have all summer?" the more peter thought about it, the more puzzled he became. at last he had a happy thought. "i'll just run down to the smiling pool and ask grandfather frog. he is very old and very wise, and he will surely know what johnny chuck meant." so, kicking up his heels, peter rabbit started down the lone little path, lip-perty-lipperty-lip, across the green meadows to the smiling pool. there he found grandfather frog sitting as usual on his big lily-pad, but the lily-pad wasn't as green as it used to be, and grandfather frog didn't look as smart as usual. his big, goggly eyes looked heavy and dull, just as if they didn't see much of anything at all. grandfather frog nodded sleepily and once nearly fell off the big lily-pad. "good morning, grandfather frog!" shouted peter rabbit. "eh? what?" said grandfather frog, blinking his eyes and putting one hand behind an ear, as if he was hard of hearing. "i said good morning, grandfather frog!" shouted peter rabbit, a little louder than before. "no," replied grandfather frog grumpily, "it isn't a good morning; it's too chilly." he shivered as he spoke. peter rabbit pretended not to notice how grumpy grandfather frog was. in his most polite way he asked: "can you tell me, grandfather frog, where johnny chuck spends the winter?" "spends it at home, of course. don't bother me with such foolish questions!" snapped grandfather frog. "but if he is going to spend the winter at home, what did he mean by saying that he would see me in the spring, just as if he didn't expect to see me before then?" persisted peter rabbit. grandfather frog yawned, shook himself, yawned again, and said: "johnny chuck probably meant just what he said, and i think i'll follow his example. it's getting too cold for an old fellow like me. i begin to feel it in my bones. i'm getting so sleepy that i guess the sooner i hunt up my bed in the mud at the bottom of the smiling pool the better. chugarum! johnny chuck is wise. i'll see you in the spring, peter rabbit, and tell you all about it." and with that, grandfather frog dived with a great splash into the smiling pool. xx. peter tries ol' mistah buzzard |peter rabbit sat on the edge of the smiling pool and stared at the place where grandfather frog had disappeared with a great splash. he watched the tiny waves spread out in rings that grew bigger and bigger and then finally disappeared too. now what did grandfather frog mean when he said: "i'll see you in the spring, peter rabbit?" johnny chuck had said that very same thing as he had gone down the long hall of his snug house, yet it would be a long, long time before spring, for it was not winter yet. where did they expect to be all winter, and what did they expect to do? the more peter puzzled over it, the less he could understand it. "my head is whirling round and round, so many funny things i've found; folks say it grows too cold to stay, yet do not seem to go away. they talk of meeting in the spring but don't explain a single thing. "they just go into their houses and say good-by. i don't understand it at all, at all," said peter rabbit, staring at the big lily-pad on which grandfather frog had sat all summer, watching for foolish green flies to come his way. somehow that big lily-pad made peter rabbit feel terribly lonely. then he had a happy thought. "i'll just run over and ask ol' mistah buzzard what it all means; he'll be sure to know," said peter rabbit, and off he started, lipperty-lipperty-lip, for the green forest. when peter got where he could see the tall dead tree that ol' mistah buzzard had made his favorite resting-place, he could see ol' mistah buzzard stretching his big wings, as if he was getting ready to fly. peter hurried faster. he didn't want mistah buzzard to get away before he could ask him what johnny chuck and grandfather frog had meant. peter couldn't shout, because he hasn't much of a voice, you know, and then he was out of breath, anyway. so he just made those long legs of his go as fast as ever they could, which is very fast indeed. just as peter rabbit almost reached the tall dead tree, ol' mistah buzzard jumped off the branch he had been sitting on, gave two or three flaps with his great wings, and then, spreading them out wide, began to sail round and round and up and up, as only ol' mistah buzzard can. "wait! wait! please wait!" panted peter rabbit, but his voice was so weak that ol' mistah buzzard didn't hear him. he saw peter, however, but of course he didn't know that peter wanted to talk with him. with a long swoop, ol' mistah buzzard sailed off right over peter's head. "good-by, brer rabbit; ah'll see yo' in the spring!" said ol' mistah buzzard, and before peter could say a word, he was out of hearing up in the sky. peter watched him go up and up until he was just a speck in the blue, blue sky. "now what did he mean by that? is he going to stay up in the sky until spring?" asked peter rabbit of himself. but not knowing, of course he couldn't answer. xi. happy jack squirrel is to busy to talk |peter rabbit sat with his mouth wide open staring up into the blue, blue sky, where ol' mistah buzzard was growing smaller and smaller. finally he was just a teeny, weeny speck, and then peter couldn't see him at all. peter hitched up his trousers and sat for a long time, looking very thoughtful. he was troubled in his mind, was peter rabbit. first johnny chuck had said: "i'll see you in the spring," and had disappeared underground; then grandfather frog had said: "i'll see you in the spring," and had disappeared in the smiling pool; now ol' mistah buzzard had said: "ah'll see yo' in the spring," and had disappeared up in the blue, blue sky. "and they all spoke just as if they meant it," said peter to himself. "i believe i'll go over and see happy jack squirrel. perhaps he can tell me what it all means." so off started peter rabbit, lipperty-lipperty-lip, through the green forest, looking for happy jack squirrel. pretty soon he caught a glimpse of happy jack's gray coat. "hi, happy jack!" called peter, hurrying as fast as he could. "hello, peter rabbit! don't bother me this morning. i've got too much to do to be bothered," said happy jack, digging a little hole in the ground while he talked. peter grew curious at once, so curious that he forgot all about what he was going to ask happy jack. he sat down and watched happy jack put a nut in the hole and cover it up. then happy jack hurried to dig another hole and do the same thing over again. "what are you doing that for?" asked peter rabbit. "doing it for? why, i'm getting ready for winter, of course, stupid!" said happy jack, as he paused for breath. "but i thought you stored your nuts and corn in a hollow tree!" exclaimed peter rabbit. "so i do," replied happy jack, "but i would be foolish to put all my supplies in one place, so i bury some of them." "but how do you remember where you bury them?" persisted peter. "i don't always, but when i forget, my nose helps me out. then i just dig down and get them," said happy jack. "now i can't stop to talk any more, for i am late this year, and the first thing i know winter will be here." then peter remembered what he had come for. "oh, happy jack, what did johnny chuck and grandfather frog and ol' mistah buzzard mean by saying that they would see me in the spring?" he cried. "can't stop to tell you now!" replied happy jack, running this way and that way, and pulling over the fallen leaves to hunt for another nut. "winter's coming, and i've got to be ready for it. can't stop to talk." and that was all peter rabbit could get out of him, although he followed happy jack about and bothered him with questions until happy jack quite lost his temper. peter sighed. he saw chatterer the red squirrel and striped chipmunk both quite as busy as happy jack. "it's of no use to ask them, for they are doing the same thing that happy jack is," thought peter. "i don't see the use of all this fuss about winter, anyway. i don't have to get ready for it. i believe i'll go down to the smiling pool again and see if maybe grandfather frog has come up." xxii. unc' billy possum explains things |peter rabbit had sat still all day long in his safe hiding-place in the middle of the dear old briar-patch. jolly, round, red mr. sun had gone to bed behind the purple hills, and the black shadows had raced out across the green meadows and into the green forest. now the moonlight was driving them back a little way. peter hopped out of the old briar-patch into the moonlight and stretched first one leg and then another. then he jumped up and down three or four times to get the kinks out of his long hind legs, and finally started off up the lone little path, lipperty-lipperty-lip. half way up the lone little path peter almost ran headlong into unc' billy possum. "mah goodness, brer rabbit, yo'all done give me a powerful start!" exclaimed unc' billy. "what yo'all in such a right smart hurry fo'?" peter rabbit grinned as he stopped running. "i didn't mean to frighten you, uncle billy. the fact is, i was on my way up to your house to see how you and old mrs. possum and all the children do this fine fall weather," said peter rabbit. unc' billy possum looked at peter rabbit sharply. "seems to me that yo'all have taken a powerful sudden interest in we-alls. ah don' remember seeing yo' up our way fo' a long time, brer rabbit," said he. peter looked a little foolish, for it was true that he hadn't been near unc' billy's hollow tree for a long time. "you see, i've been very busy getting ready for winter," said peter, by way of an excuse. unc' billy began to chuckle and then to laugh. he rested both hands on his knees and laughed and laughed. peter rabbit couldn't see anything to laugh at and he began to get just a wee bit provoked. "what's the joke?" he demanded. "the very idea of brer rabbit getting ready for winter or of being busy about anything but other people's affairs!" cried unc' billy, wiping his eyes. peter tried to feel and to look very angry, but he couldn't. no, sir, he couldn't. the very twinkle in unc' billy possum's eyes made peter want to laugh, too. in fact peter just had to laugh. finally both stopped laughing, and peter told unc' billy all about the things that had troubled him. "johnny chuck disappeared down in his house and said he would see me in the spring; what did he mean by that?" asked peter. "just what he said," replied unc' billy. "he done gone down to his bed and gone to sleep, and he's gwine to stay asleep until next spring." peter's eyes looked as if they would pop right out of his head. "and grandfather frog, what has become of him?" he asked. "oh, grandfather frog, he done gone to sleep, too, down in the mud at the bottom of the smiling pool. ah reckon yo' will see grandfather frog come up right pert in the spring," said unc' billy. "and ol' mistah buzzard--he shouted down from the blue, blue sky that he would see me in the spring; has he gone to sleep up there?" asked peter. unc' billy possum threw back his head and laughed fit to kill himself. "bless yo' long ears, no, brer rabbit! no indeed! oh my, no! brer buzzard done fly away down souf to ol' virginny to stay through the cold winter. and ah most wish ah was right along with him," added unc' billy, suddenly growing sober. then peter rabbit had a sudden thought. "you aren't going away to sleep all winter, are you, uncle billy?" he asked anxiously. the grin came back to unc' billy's face. "no, brer rabbit. ah reckons yo'all can find me right in mah hollow tree most any time this winter, if yo' knock loud enough. but ah don' reckon on going out much, and ah do reckon ah'm going to have a right smart lot of sleep," replied unc' billy. xxiii. peter rabbit has a bright idea |peter rabbit had a bright idea. at least peter thought it was, and he chuckled over it a great deal. the more he thought about it, the better it seemed. what was it? why, to follow the plan of johnny chuck and grandfather frog to avoid the cold, stormy weather by sleeping all winter. yes, sir, that was peter rabbit's bright idea. "if johnny chuck can sleep and sleep the whole long, stormy winter through, it ought to be, it seems to me, the very thing for me to do." peter rabbit said this to himself, as he sat in the middle of the old briar-patch, chewing the end of a straw. if johnny chuck could do it, of course he could do it. all he would have to do would be to find a snug, warm house which nobody else was using, fix himself a comfortable bed, curl up, and go to sleep. peter tried to picture himself sleeping away while the snow lay deep all over the green meadows and the smiling pool could smile no more because the ice, the hard, black ice, would not let it. finally peter could sit still no longer. he just had to tell some one about his bright idea and--and--well, he wasn't quite sure of just the way to go to sleep and sleep so long, for never in his life had peter rabbit slept more than a very, very short time without waking to see that no danger was near. "i'll just run up and see uncle billy possum!" said peter. unc' billy possum was sitting in his doorway in his big, hollow tree in the green forest when peter rabbit came hurrying up, lipperty-lipperty-lip. peter hardly waited to say good morning before he began to tell unc' billy all about his bright idea. unc' billy listened gravely, although there was a twinkle in his eyes. "the first thing yo' must do is to find a warm place to sleep, brer rabbit," said unc' billy. [illustration: ] "oh, that's easy enough!" said peter. "and then yo' must get fat, brer rabbit," continued unc' billy. "what's that?" exclaimed peter rabbit, looking very much puzzled. "ah say yo' must get fat," repeated unc' billy, slapping his own fat sides. "what for?" asked peter. "to keep yo' warm while yo' are asleep," replied unc' billy. "must i get very fat?" peter asked, "yes, sah, yo' must get very fat indeed," said unc' billy, and smiled, for it was hard to think of peter rabbit as very fat. "how--how can i get fat?" asked peter, and looked just a little bit worried. "by eating and eating and eating, and between times sitting still," replied unc' billy possum. "that's easy, at least the eating is!" said peter, who, you know, thinks a great deal of his stomach. "is that all, uncle billy?" "that's about all, excepting yo' mustn't have anything on yo' mind when yo' try to go to sleep, brer rabbit. yo' mustn't get to worrying fo' fear brer fox gwine to find yo' while yo' are asleep," said unc' billy, and grinned when peter happened to turn his head. peter thanked unc' billy and hurried back to the old briar-patch to think over all that unc' billy had told him. "i certainly will try it," said peter. xxiv. peter prepares for a long sleep |day after day peter rabbit ran about this way and that over the green meadows and through the green forest, as if he had something on his mind. jimmy skunk noticed it. so did billy mink and bobby coon. but peter wouldn't stop to explain. indeed, he was always in such a hurry that he wouldn't stop at all, but when he met them would shout "hello!" over his shoulder and keep right on running, lip-perty-lipperty-lip. unc' possum was the only one who guessed what it meant. unc' billy grinned as he watched peter running about with such a serious and important air. "brer rabbit is trying dreadful hard to fool hisself. ah reckon he's looking fo' a place to curl up and try to sleep all winter," said unc' billy. unc' billy had guessed just right. peter was looking for a place to curl up to sleep all winter. peter was too lazy to dig a new house for himself. then it was too late in the fall, anyway. he would just find some old, deserted house that some of jimmy skunk's relatives or johnny chuck's relations had given up using. so peter went poking into every old house he knew of, trying to find one that wasn't so tumble-down that it wouldn't do. at last he found one that he thought would be just the place, and peter chuckled to himself as he planned how he would curl up in the bedchamber, way down at the end of the long hall. "nobody'll ever guess where i am!" he said to himself and laughed aloud. then peter remembered that unc' billy possum had told him that it was necessary to eat a great deal so as to be very fat before going to sleep, for that was the way to keep warm all winter. so peter started out to grow fat. this would be fun, the very best kind of fun, for there is nothing peter rabbit loves more than to fill his stomach, unless it is to satisfy his curiosity. peter rabbit's stomach is a thing that's most amazing; it takes so long to fill it up his time is short for lazing. perhaps this is the reason why, when peter isn't eating, he wants to loaf around and watch other people work. anyway, peter is a tremendous eater, and now that he wanted to grow fat, he felt that he must eat more than ever. so he began at once to eat and eat and eat. but there was one very important thing that peter had forgotten. he had quite forgotten that it was now late in the fall, and the tender, young, green things which peter dearly loves to eat were gone. he could no longer go down to the sweet clover patch and fill himself full to bursting. farmer brown had taken away all the cabbages and carrots and turnips that had made his garden so attractive to peter. so now peter had to hunt for what he had to eat. that made a great deal of running about, and it is very hard work to grow fat when one runs about. the more peter ate, the more he had to hunt for his food; and the more he had to hunt for his food, the more he had to run about; and the more he had to run about, the more he hurried and the faster he ran. now, of course running takes fat off. "oh, dear!" cried peter rabbit. "getting fat is not as easy as i thought!" xxv. unc' billy possum plays a joke some folks never seem to be satisfied or quite content; always wanting something more that fo' them was never meant." |unc' billy possum said this to himself as he watched peter rabbit hurrying about through the green forest and over the green meadows, eating as fast as ever he could so as to grow fat that he might keep warm while he slept all winter. now unc' billy possum knew perfectly well that peter rabbit couldn't sleep all winter as johnny chuck does, for old mother nature had never planned that peter should. but unc' billy knew that it was of no use to tell peter that, for peter wouldn't believe him. so he chuckled as he watched peter rush around hunting for food and actually running off what little fat he did have, instead of putting on more. of course it just happened that unc' billy possum was right over near the old house built by grandfather skunk a long time ago, which peter rabbit had decided to sleep in all winter. it just happened that he saw peter when he finally went down to the little bedchamber at the end of the long hall to curl up and try to go to sleep. unc' billy grinned. then he chuckled. finally he laughed until his fat sides shook. "ah reckon ah'm gwine to have some fun with brer rabbit," said unc' billy, still chuckling, as he trotted off through the green forest. he went over to bobby coon's house and found bobby, who had been out all night, just getting ready for bed. but bobby is always ready to play a joke, and when unc' billy told him about peter rabbit and what fun it would be to give peter a scare, bobby scrambled down from his hollow tree right away. then they hunted up jimmy skunk, and the three started for the old house of grandfather skunk, where peter rabbit was trying to go to sleep for the winter. "ah done tell peter that when he tried to go to sleep he mustn't get to thinking about what would happen if brer fox should jes' happen along and find him asleep. ah reckons that that is the very first thing peter did think of, as soon as he curled himself up and that he's thinking of it more'n ever right this blessed minute. yo'alls wait while ah listen at the door." unc' billy stole very softly to the door of the old house. then he began to grin and beckoned to bobby coon and jimmy skunk to come listen. they could hear long sighs from way down in the bedchamber at the end of the long hall. they heard peter twist and turn, as he tried to make himself comfortable. but when they heard him saying a verse over and over to try to make himself go to sleep, they had to clap their hands over their mouths to keep from laughing out loud. when they grew tired of listening, unc' billy whispered to jimmy skunk. jimmy skunk grinned, and then he crept a little way down the long hall and began to scratch with his stout claws, as if he were digging. when he stopped, unc' billy put his mouth down close to the doorway and barked as nearly like reddy fox as he could. then jimmy began to dig again, and pretty soon unc' billy barked again. then all three stole softly away and hid behind some bushes. "ah reckon brer rabbit is right smart wide-awake instead of going to sleep fo' the winter!" chuckled unc' billy. xxvi. peter rabbit learns his lesson |peter rabbit, curled up in the little bedchamber at the end of the long hall in the old house made a long time ago by grandfather skunk, twisted and turned and tried to make himself feel sleepy. but the harder he tried, the more wide-awake he seemed to feel. then he began to think of reddy and granny fox and what would happen if by any chance they should find him there fast asleep, and right while he was thinking about it, he heard a noise that made him jump so that he bumped his head. peter didn't think anything about the bump on his head! no, sir, peter didn't even notice it. he was too frightened. he held his breath and listened, while his heart went pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat. there it was again, that noise he had heard before! some one was in the long, dark hall! there was no doubt about it. he could hear claws scratching. whoever it was, was digging. digging! the very thought made every hair on peter rabbit stand on end. he knew that johnny chuck had gone to sleep for the winter. he knew that jimmy skunk could walk right in without any trouble, and that jimmy never takes any trouble that he can avoid. he knew that bobby coon and unc' billy possum don't go into houses underground unless they have to, to get away from danger, and very seldom then. if some one was digging in the long, dark hall, it could mean but one thing--that it must be some one too big to get in without making the hall larger; and the only ones he could think of were bowser the hound and reddy and granny fox! peter shivered and shook, for unlike johnny chuck's house, this one had no back door. "if it's bowser the hound, he may get tired and go away. anyway, i can soon tell, for he will sniff and snuff and blow the sand out of his nose," thought peter, and strained his ears to hear the first sniff. but there were no sniffs or snuffs. instead, peter heard a sound that made his heart almost stop beating again. it was a bark, a bark that sounded very much like the bark of reddy fox, and it came from just outside the door! that could mean but one thing--that old granny fox was digging her way in to the little bedchamber, while reddy kept watch outside. "oh, dear! oh, dear! why wasn't i content to live as i always have lived? whatever did i try to do something i never was intended to do for?" cried peter to himself, and shook with fright harder than ever. there was nothing to do but to sit still and wait. peter sat as still as ever he could. after a little while, the noise in the long, dark hall stopped. peter waited and waited, but all was still, and he began to feel better. perhaps old granny fox didn't know that he was there at all and had grown tired of digging and had gone away. peter waited a long time and then peeped out into the long hall. way up at the end he could see light where the doorway was, and by this he knew that no one was in the hall. little by little, his heart going pit-a-pat, peter crept up until he could peep outside. no one was to be seen. with his heart almost in his mouth, peter sprang out and started for the dear old briar-patch as fast as his long legs could take him. and then he heard a sound that made him stop suddenly and sit up. "ha, ha, ha! ho, ho, hoi hee, hee, hee!" there, behind some bushes, unc' billy possum, bobby coon, and jimmy skunk were laughing fit to kill themselves. then peter knew that they had played a joke on him, and he shook his fist at them. but down in his heart he was glad, for he knew that he had learned his lesson--that he had no business to try to do what old mother nature had never intended that he should do. of course these are not all of peter rabbit's adventures. oh my, no! but there are so many other little people who live on the green meadows and in the green forest who have adventures, too, and get into funny scrapes, that i am sure you will be willing to say good night to peter for a little while and hear about the things that have happened to some of the others. and so, in the next book, i am going to tell you about the worries and troubles and exciting escapes of one of peter's friends--unc' billy possum. [illustration: "bring the camphor! bring the smelling salts!"] snubby nose and tippy toes by laura rountree smith , contents snubby nose and tippy toes chapter i chapter ii chapter iii chapter iv chapter v chapter vi chapter vii chapter viii chapter ix chapter x chapter xi chapter xii more cotton tail stories chapter i chapter ii chapter iii chapter iv illustrations "'bring the camphor! bring the smelling salts!'" "grandpa grumbles had not seen dr. cottontail for two hundred years" "tippy toes washed the dishes" "'my name is not snubby nose'" "he was sweeping the chimney with his long, beautiful tail" "they were sailing away with grandpa grumbles" "bushy-tail went splash, dash, into the lake" "'i will tuck them in my sleigh'" "soon the circus cotton-tails came in view" "bunny and susan were sitting by the fire" snubby nose and tippy toes chapter i bunny and susan cotton-tail sat by the fire one winter evening warming their paws. "what's that?" asked bunny. "what's that?" asked susan. they went to the window and saw a very little bunny stuck fast in a snowdrift. "help, help," cried bunny, "i will get the snow-shovel." "help, help," cried susan, "i will get the wheelbarrow." bunny and susan went out to shovel the little bunny out of the snowdrift. bunny said, "you dear little fellow, how did you get stuck fast in the snowdrift?" susan looked hard over her spectacles and said, "why, it is our own dear grandchild, snubby nose." then snubby nose cried and he screamed and he howled! bunny cotton-tail shoveled as fast as he could, and in sixteen minutes he had snubby nose out of the snowdrift. susan put him in the wheelbarrow and wheeled him to the house. all the time snubby nose cried and he screamed and he howled! susan said, "go and get the big tub and we will give snubby nose a hot bath." bunny got the tub and some warm water and he and susan gave snubby nose a hot bath. they rubbed him dry with a soft towel, and all the time snubby nose cried and he screamed and he howled! just at this very minute grandpa grumbles came in shaking the snow off his fur and whiskers. he shook his green cotton umbrella. he came in grumbling, "it's noisy here, i do declare, i just came out to take the air." snubby nose stopped his noise and stared at grandpa grumbles. bunny and susan said, "sit down by the fire, grandpa, and warm your paws." grandpa grumbles sat down. snubby nose cried, "grandpa grumbles, tell us a story, please tell us a story." bunny cotton-tail said, in a whisper, "please don't mention _noses_." susan cotton-tail said, "please don't mention _snowdrifts_." grandpa grumbles was wet and cold, so he grumbled right out loud, "i will tell about as many _noses_ and _snowdrifts_ as i please in this story!" then snubby nose cried and he screamed and he howled! susan took him up in her arms. she carried him to bed and sang him a nonsense song. by and by snubby nose fell asleep. susan went back downstairs and found grandpa grumbles asleep by the fire. bunny said, "i wonder what makes him grumble so much?" susan said, "t wonder what happened to snubby nose. he has such a funny little nose!" _then the most surprising thing happened!_ as they sat talking, "thump, bump" was heard, and snubby nose fell down stairs! he fell right on his ugly little nose and broke it! "get the camphor! get the smelling salts! help, help!" cried bunny and susan. grandpa grumbles woke, up and cried, "someone has a sad mishap, just when i try to take a nap." i do not know what in the world they would have done if doctor cotton-tail had not come in that very minute. he came in to dry his fur and whiskers! he set snubby nose's little ugly nose and said, "it will not look very pretty, but perhaps it did not look pretty before. you must wear a pink wrapper, and drink tea out of a pink cup, and eat pink wintergreen candy!" snubby nose liked the idea of wintergreen candy. he hugged doctor cotton-tail and stopped crying at once. susan got a pink wrapper and got a pink china cup for his tea. grandpa grumbles felt in his overcoat pocket and took out sixteen pieces of wintergreen candy. it was pink wintergreen candy of course! susan said to doctor cotton-tail, "how did you happen to come out in this big snowstorm?" doctor cotton-tail said, "i had a call to make, i was going to visit--" just then susan began to sneeze. she sneezed so hard she nearly sneezed her head off! doctor cotton-tail said, "susan that is quite absurd, such sneezing i have never heard." susan said by and by, "i beg your pardon, what were you saying when i started to sneeze?" doctor cotton-tail said, "i had a call, i was going to visit--" at this very minute snubby nose set up a shout, for dear bunny cotton-tail leaned too near the candle and burned one of his whiskers! then grandpa grumbles shook his green cotton umbrella fiercely and said, "such a noise i never heard, i cannot hear a single word." [illustration: "grandpa grumbles had not seen dr. cotton-tail for two hundred and six years"] grandpa grumbles had been sitting very still in a corner and doctor cotton-tail had not seen him up to this minute. he got up and shook hands with him and said, "how do you do, sir, how do you do, sir!" grandpa grumbles was pleased as pleased could be. he had not seen doctor cotton-tail for two hundred and six years! he cried out, "how do you do, sir! how do you do, sir!" all this time snubby nose sat up in his pink wrapper drinking tea out of a pink cup and eating pink wintergreen candy. by and by susan said, "doctor cotton-tail you were going to tell us where you were going to call when you came here!" doctor cotton-tail said, "i was on my way to call on little tippy toes!" "my fur and whiskers," said bunny, "i never had a grandchild named tippy toes!" "bless my buttons," said susan, "what a cute little name." then grandpa grumbles got up waving his green cotton umbrella and shouted, "though the stormy north wind blows, i'll go with you to tippy toes." then he and doctor cotton-tail made a low bow and went out into the snowstorm. doctor cotton-tail called back, "don't forget to eat wintergreen candy." by this time bunny and susan and snubby nose were tired and sleepy, and they all went to bed. bunny began to snore and susan began to snore, but snubby nose was still wide awake. what do you suppose snubby nose did? you can give three guesses and you will not guess what he did! he got out of bed and lit a candle. he said, "i believe i am the ugliest little bunny with the ugliest little nose of any bunny alive." he began to dance before the mirror. he danced this way and that way before the mirror. he danced very prettily on the tips of his toes. then he made a low bow and said, "who is so ugly? nobody knows." the mirror answered, "tippy toes." then snubby nose went back to bed. he said, "to-morrow i will go and find tippy toes." chapter ii where do you suppose tippy toes was, and what do you suppose he was doing? he woke up in his warm little bed at home and said, "oh, ma! oh, pa! i want to go and visit bunny and susan cotton-tail." mother cotton-tail laughed and said, "you have read about bunny cotton-tail burning his paw by candle-light." papa cotton-tail said, "you have read about susan's cookies!" tippy toes said, "please, may i go and visit bunny and susan?" tippy toes was a homely little bunny. he had a very ugly little nose, but he was polite. he always said, "thank you," and, "if you please." mother cotton-tail said, "you may go and pay a visit to bunny and susan. go and pack your traveling bag at once." tippy toes was so pleased he hugged mother cotton-tail and said, "thank you, mother cotton-tail, i will go and pack my traveling bag." papa cotton-tail said, "i will go with you to the turn of the road." soon they started merrily down the road and mother cotton-tail called, "good-bye, good-bye." they had only gone a few steps when mother cotton-tail called, "come back, come back, you have forgotten your umbrella. what if it should rain?" tippy toes went dancing merrily back and papa cotton-tail waited for him. they started on again and this time mother cotton-tail called, "come back, come back, you have forgotten your overshoes. what if there should be a thunder storm?" so tippy toes went dancing merrily back and papa cotton-tail waited for him again. when they started the third time tippy toes said, "we have nothing to go back for this time," but the wind whistled in his ears. mother cotton-tail called again, "come back, come back, tippy toes, you have forgotten your red silk pocket handkerchief." this time papa cotton-tail went back with tippy toes and he said, "dear mother cotton-tail, do put on your thinking-cap and see if we have forgotten anything else, or we shall never get off." then they looked high and low, but they could not find mother cotton-tail's thinking-cap! papa cotton-tail said, "never mind, i will put on _my_ thinking-cap instead." so he put on his red silk thinking-cap and said, "oh, i know what we have forgotten; we have forgotten to send bunny and susan a present!" "to be sure," said mother cotton-tail, "now what shall the present be?" little tippy toes did not get started on his journey that day, for it took four days and fourteen hours for them to decide what to send bunny and susan. all this time tippy toes was as merry as you please. he danced about on the tips of his toes and sang, "a present, a present, if all things go well, what shall be the present? no one can tell." suddenly, at breakfast next morning mother cotton-tail said, "i will go to town and buy bunny and susan a big parlor lamp." "a lamp with a pink shade," said tippy toes. papa cotton-tail said, "a lamp with a tall chimney." mother cotton-tail said, "i will buy a lamp with a pink shade and a tall chimney for bunny, because he burns his paw in the candle." then tippy toes danced this way, and he danced that way, and said, "oh, ma, may i go with you to town to help buy the lamp?" mother cotton-tail said, "papa cotton-tail has to go to work. if i go to town and you go, too, who will tend the fire? who will wash the dishes?" tippy toes wanted to go to town, but he was a good little bunny, so he said, "who will tend the fire? whom do you suppose? who will wash the dishes? little tippy toes." so mother cotton-tail put on her best sunbonnet and took her purse and shopping basket with her, and went off with papa cotton-tail calling, "good-bye, i will be home to supper at five o'clock sharp." then tippy toes danced a little fairylike dance before the mirror and sang, "who is so ugly? nobody knows." the mirror answered, "snubby nose." tippy toes said, "i have danced that dance before, and i sing that song very often, but the mirror always gives me the same answer. who is snubby nose? i wonder if he has a real ugly little nose like i have?" then tippy toes made up the fire and washed the dishes and began to get things ready to cook for supper. he said, "i do wish i could go and find snubby nose; i wonder if bunny and susan can tell me about him." [illustration: "tippy toes washed the dishes"] tippy toes sat down in front of the clock and began to count the hours until mother cotton-tail would come home. he fell asleep and dreamed that he saw a little bunny exactly like himself stuck fast in a snowdrift. when he woke up it was five o'clock and papa cotton-tail had just come home. they got supper and waited, and waited, for mother cotton-tail. at exactly six o'clock she came in. she was an hour late. she came on the stroke of the clock. she said, "i have been shopping all day." mother cotton-tail took a wonderful lamp from her basket. it had a pink shade and a tall chimney. papa cotton-tail said, "if you send the lamp to bunny i must send something to susan. i will go to town to-morrow and get susan a pair of spectacles." tippy toes said, "oh pa, may i go with you to town to-morrow?" papa cotton-tail said, "who will roll out the cookies for mother cotton-tail? who will run her little errands all day?" then tippy toes danced this way, and he danced that way, and sang, "who will do errands? whom do you suppose? who will roll cookies? little tippy toes." so, they had a merry time at supper that evening and lighted the new lamp, and papa cotton-tail read fairy tales. tippy toes did not tell what the mirror had answered him. he kept that as a secret. he said to himself, "i do wonder _who_ snubby nose is!" chapter iii next day tippy toes woke up early and cried out, "oh, mother cotton-tail, it is time to wake up! oh, papa cotton-tail, it is time to wake up!" sure enough it was time for bunnies to wake up because it was sunrise. tippy toes helped to get breakfast. he went to the well to draw water. he began to sing a little fairy song, "ding, dong bell, pussy's in the well." "poor pussy, i wonder if she is still in the well," he said. he peeped down to look into the well. papa cotton-tail called, "hurry, hurry, it is time for breakfast." then tippy toes drew a bucket full of water and said, "is poor pussy still in the well?" papa cotton-tail said, "if you ever read your mother goose you would know she is not in the well." "who pulled her out?" asked tippy toes. mother cotton-tail said, "hush, be still, you ask too many questions!" tippy toes wondered all day who pulled poor pussy out. he danced this way, and he danced that way, and he set the table for breakfast. he said, "if you are home by dinner time papa cotton-tail, may i go and visit bunny and susan?" papa cotton-tail said, "if i get home in time with susan's spectacles you may go to-day." papa cotton-tail put on his big fur coat and went merrily down the road. mother cotton-tail began to make cookies and tippy toes rolled them out for her. now, will you believe it? before they had a single pan of cookies baked, papa cotton-tail was back home again. mother cotton-tail said, "why are you back so soon?" tippy toes said, "did you get the spectacles already?" papa cotton-tail said, "i met a peddler and he had a pair of black spectacles in his pack." papa cotton-tail put on the black spectacles and he looked so funny that mother cotton-tail said, "let me try them on," and tippy toes cried, "please let me try them on!" mother cotton-tail said, "i will pack bunny's lamp and susan's spectacles and you may start on your long journey at once." tippy toes put on his best coat and cap and kissed his mother good-bye. papa cotton-tail went with him again to the bend of the road. suddenly tippy toes stopped still. he stopped stock-still in the road. he said, "oh, pa, i must go back, i forgot something!" what do you suppose tippy toes forgot? he always danced up and down before the mirror before he went out. so, he went back home, hoppity, skippity, hop; and papa cotton-tail waited for him at the bend of the road. tippy toes stood before the mirror and he danced this way and he danced that way and said, "who is so ugly? nobody knows." the mirror answered, "snubby nose." then tippy toes laughed and laughed. "i will go and find snubby nose," he said, "for he must be as ugly as i am with my little turned-up nose." he went running down the road and was soon off and away. the wind whistled in his ears. at that very minute he heard papa cotton-tail crying, "hello, hello! come back to the bend in the road, tippy toes." tippy toes said to himself, "what can papa cotton-tail want? shall i never get started?" papa cotton-tail said, "how will you know the house when you come to it?" tippy toes said, "i will ask any one i meet." papa cotton-tail said, "that is right, and be sure to bow when you meet grandpa grumbles." then they said "good-bye" again, and tippy toes went merrily along. he met bushy-tail, the sly old fox. bushy-tail asked, "where are you going in such a hurry, snubby nose?" then tippy toes danced this way and he danced that way, and he said, "that is a matter i do not disclose, but, sir, my name is not snubby nose." [illustration: "'my name is not snubby nose'"] bushy-tail was surprised you may be sure. he said, "well, you and snubby nose are as much alike as two peas." tippy toes bowed and said, "will you please tell me how i may know when i have passed by the house bunny and susan cotton-tail live in?" tippy toes did not say he was going to stop and see bunny and susan. bushy-tail looked cross-eyed. he said, "if you will tell me your name little fellow, i will take you straight to bunny cotton-tail's house in the woods." i do not know what would have happened next if grandpa grumbles and doctor cotton-tail had not come along. grandpa grumbles thought it was snubby nose, of course, and he shouted, "you're a careless bunny, it is not funny, the doctor costs us a lot of money." then whisk! before tippy toes or doctor cotton-tail could say a word, grandpa grumbles opened his green cotton umbrella and set tippy toes inside and carried him through the woods. the wind whistled in their ears as they went. grandpa grumbles kept saying over and over to himself, "you were ill, and it is not funny, to call the doctor and pay out money." tippy toes shouted at last so loud he could be heard, "grandpa, i have a funny nose, but my real name is tippy toes." grandpa grumbles answered him, "snubby nose, you can't fool me, though i'm foolish as can be." then tippy toes stuffed his furry little paw into his mouth to keep from laughing out loud. "i wonder if bunny and susan will think i am snubby nose, too," he said. "what fun that will be. i will visit them until snubby nose comes home." by and by they came to bunny cotton-tail's house. grandpa grumbles set tippy toes down on the doorstep and shouted, "the house is dark, as you can see, you'll have to come and visit me." so, they went on through the woods to grandpa grumble's house; for, sure enough, bunny and susan had gone to bed and turned out all the lights. when they got to grandpa grumble's house a fire was burning merrily on the hearth, and they went up and warmed their paws. tippy toes danced up and down before the mirror and cried, "who is so ugly? nobody knows." the mirror answered, "snubby nose." grandpa grumbles looked at tippy toes over his spectacles and said, "i have not heard you cry or scream or howl for thirty minutes." tippy toes did not know what this meant, for he had never cried or screamed or howled in all his life. he went up to grandpa grumbles and made a low bow and said, "dear grandpa grumbles, i want to thank you for the ride in your green cotton umbrella." grandpa grumbles could hardly believe his ears. he grumbled, "you might be fooling me i suppose, except for your ugly little nose." chapter iv what do you suppose snubby nose was doing all this time? he woke early one morning and danced before the mirror and asked, "who is so ugly? nobody knows." the mirror answered, "tippy toes." snubby nose cried, "that settles it, broken nose, or no broken nose, i will go out and find tippy toes to-day. perhaps he will be a fine playmate for me." snubby nose crept down stairs. he ran down the road and was soon out of sight. bunny and susan woke up and they looked in snubby nose's little bed, but he was not there. they expected to hear him cry and scream and howl any minute. they looked in the big chair. there was the pink flannel wrapper but snubby nose was gone. bunny cried, "my fur and whiskers, he has gone out with his broken nose." susan cried, "bless my buttons, i expect to see him back any minute." at that very minute tippy toes came tripping along, swinging his basket to and fro and singing a nonsense song. "my fur and whiskers, here he comes," cried bunny, "and he is not crying, but he is singing a song." "bless my buttons," said susan, "he is not crying this time." tippy toes came in and said, "good morning bunny and susan, i have brought you a present this fine winter morning." bunny and susan could scarcely believe their ears, but tippy toes opened his basket and took out the lamp and spectacles, and bunny and susan were pleased, you may be sure. bunny lighted the lamp, saying, "how can i ever thank you, snubby nose? now i shall not burn my paw, as i read by candle-light." tippy toes tried not to laugh when he was called "snubby nose." he said, "please tell me how you burned your paw, i am never tired hearing about it." bunny cotton-tail began, "once when i was young--" "rap-a-tap" was heard on the door, and tippy toes was so polite he went to the door and brought the milk in. tippy toes curled up then at bunny cotton-tail's feet and begged, "do tell me now why you liked to read by candlelight." bunny cotton-tail began again, "once when i was young--" "rap-a-tap" sounded on the door. tippy toes went and let in the grocer boy. he curled up again at bunny cotton-tail's feet and said, "now bunny, please tell me the story." bunny cotton-tail began again, "once, when i was young--" _then the most surprising thing happened!_ soot began to pour down the chimney. it flew all over the room. it covered the carpet and furniture and pictures. bunny shouted, "my fur and whiskers, what can be the matter?" susan said, "bless my buttons, there is soot all over the room." tippy toes danced on this foot, and danced on that foot, and said, "let me go up the chimney because, i think it may be santa claus." then bunny and susan laughed, but soon bunny cotton-tail coughed, and susan sneezed, so tippy toes knew something must be done at once. he ran outdoors and looked up at the chimney. there was bushy-tail, the sly old fox acting as a chimney-sweep. he was sweeping the chimney with his long, beautiful tail. [illustration: "he was sweeping the chimney with his long, beautiful tail"] tippy toes cried, "please come down and i will show you how to dance." bushy-tail was surprised you may be sure. he thought it was snubby nose, and snubby nose never said, "please." he jumped off the roof with a bound and howled, "oh, ho! so you will show me how to dance, will you?" then bushy-tail chased tippy toes away and away and away in the woods. tippy toes said to himself, "i'm in a corner without a doubt, but if i keep cheerful i will get out." at that very minute they met old grandpa grumbles. he said, "it is getting cold i've heard it said, bushy-tail where are your mittens, red?" _then the most surprising thing happened!_ bushy-tail gave a howl and ran away as fast as his legs could carry him. "what does it all mean?" asked tippy toes. grandpa grumbles replied, "why, snubby nose, you have a poor memory if you have forgotten about the red mittens. don't you remember that santa claus gave bushy-tail a pair of magic mittens?" tippy toes said, politely, "please tell me about it." grandpa grumbles said, "bushy-tail put on the red magic mittens and they pinched his paws." "ha, ha, ha!" laughed tippy toes, "how long did he have to wear those mittens?" grandpa grumbles answered, "really, now, i cannot say, but i guess it was a year and a day." then tippy toes laughed so hard that he doubled right up in a little ball and rolled over and over. "come, come," said grandpa grumbles, "you had better go back to see bunny and susan, they may think bushy-tail has eaten you up." so they traveled back together to see bunny and susan. when they came to the house there was soot on everything. there was soot on the carpet and furniture and pictures. there was soot on the new lamp, and on susan's spectacles. grandpa grumbles shouted, "you are careless folks, i do declare, to let the soot blow everywhere." bunny cotton-tail coughed, and susan sneezed, and grandpa grumbles said, "into the kitchen, one, seven, three, you are as careless as can be." he made bunny and susan go into the kitchen; then he said to tippy toes, "come, get a broom and an apron or two, we'll clean this room, that's what we'll do." soon grandpa grumbles and tippy toes had everything out of the room. it did not take long to make it as clean as a pin. grandpa grumbles looked hard at tippy toes. "how does your nose feel?" he asked. "come, sir, why don't you cry any more?" tippy toes danced this way, and danced that way, and sang to the big mirror that hung on the wall, "who is so ugly? nobody knows." the mirror answered, "snubby nose." chapter v "my fur and whiskers, the room is all clean!" bunny cotton-tail cried. susan cotton-tail cried, "bless my buttons, everything is in order." grandpa grumbles said, "there is a mystery in the air, there is something strange, i do declare." tippy toes cried, "good night bunny and susan, good night dear grandpa grumbles," and he danced this way, and danced that way, and he danced himself right up to bed. "how polite he is," said bunny cotton-tail. susan said, "he does not seem to mind when we speak of noses!" grandpa grumbles said, "he does not cry any more." they all sat by the fire warming their paws. grandpa grumbles was thinking. at last he said to bunny and susan, "one day i heard snubby nose talking as he stood before a mirror, and he said," "who is so ugly? nobody knows." the mirror answered, "tippy toes." now this little cotton-tail dances before the mirror, and he says, "who is so ugly? nobody knows." the mirror answers, "snubby nose." "snubby nose, tippy toes," repeated bunny and susan over and over as they warmed their paws by the fire. by and by grandpa grumbles said, talking very fast, "suppose there were two little cotton-tails, one named snubby nose, and one named tippy toes, suppose--just suppose they looked as much alike as two peas." bunny cotton-tail said, "my fur and whiskers, it seems like a fairy tale, but snubby nose always cried, and this little cotton-tail is so polite." susan cried, "hark! i hear a rap-a-tap, who can be coming at this hour of the night?" the door opened; in fell snubby nose in a heap, and he cried and he screamed and he howled! bunny and susan and grandpa grumbles cried, "hush, be still, stop crying, and tell us what is the matter." grandpa grumbles asked, "did you hurt your ugly little nose?" then snubby nose cried and he screamed and he howled louder than ever. bunny asked, "did you get stuck fast in another snowdrift?" snubby nose cried so loudly that they did not hear the "patter, patter, patter" of little feet. they did not know that tippy toes was coming down the staircase. tippy toes came dancing into the room, singing at the top of his lungs, "who is so ugly? nobody knows." the mirror answers, "snubby nose?" then for one single minute snubby nose was still. he looked at tippy toes. he looked him up and down. tippy toes kissed him on both cheeks and nearly hugged the life out of him. bunny and susan and grandpa grumbles said, "they are as much alike as two peas. they both have ugly noses!" when snubby nose heard them speak of _noses_ he cried and he screamed and he howled! tippy toes said, "don't care about your nose. people know you wherever you go." snubby nose pricked up his ears and asked, "don't you mind about your ugly nose at all." tippy toes danced this way and he danced that way and answered, "i don't mind noses, for you see, i am polite as i can be." then snubby nose stopped crying and hugged tippy toes and said, "i am so glad to find you, tippy toes. how do you make up those funny little rhymes. they tickle my eardrums." all this time grandpa grumbles was thumping on the floor with his umbrella. he made such a noise that bunny said, "hush, listen, grandpa grumbles has something to say." susan said, "hush, be still, grandpa grumbles wants to speak." at last snubby nose and tippy toes stopped talking and dancing, and they all listened to grandpa grumbles. he said, "i want you both to come and stay, with grandpa grumbles a year and a day." tippy toes answered, "thank you, grandpa grumbles, i will come and visit you for a year and a day," but snubby nose cried and he screamed and he howled. i don't know what would have happened next, but grandpa grumbles went outside, and opened wide his green cotton umbrella, and invited snubby nose and tippy toes to step inside. they did so, and in less time than it takes to tell it they were sailing away with grandpa grumbles in his green cotton umbrella! [illustration: "they were sailing away with grandpa grumbles"] bunny and susan said, "how will he ever get along with snubby nose for a year and a day? we wish tippy toes was back. he was such a good little fellow." susan picked up the pink wrapper and bunny picked up the pink cup and saucer. bunny cotton-tail said, "we will have a long quiet evening alone." "don't be too sure of that," sang the wind as it whistled down the chimney. susan said, "i will put on my new spectacles and we will read by the new lamp." _then the most surprising thing happened!_ the seventeen little bears came tumbling in the doors and windows! they came in laughing and shouting, "the circus cotton-tails you see are just as funny as can be." they got out their seventeen little stools and sat by the fire. bunny and susan said, "what do you know about the circus cotton-tails?" the seventeen little bears said, "you only see them now at fairs, but we've become the circus bears." "have you got a circus tent? have you got a merry-go-round?" asked bunny and susan. "do tell us how long you have been circus bears." the seventeen little bears got on top of their seventeen little stools and shouted, "we have just become circus bears today, that is the reason we came tumbling in the door and windows." chapter vi the seventeen little bears woke up early next morning. they all whispered together so they would not wake bunny and susan. the seventeen little bears tiptoed very softly out of bed, and "pitter-patter, pitter-patter" went their little feet down the stairs. "we can stew, we can bake, if we make no mistake." they made the fire and began to stew and bake. they made coffee and fried sausages and cakes. by and by bunny and susan woke up. "my fur and whiskers, i smell something cooking," said bunny. susan said, "bless my buttons, i smell something cooking, too." the seventeen little bears said, "ha, ha, ha! bunny is talking about his fur and whiskers. ha, ha, ha! susan is talking about her buttons. we will give old bunny and susan something new to talk about!" the seventeen little bears shouted at the top of their lungs, "we are circus bears, as all can see, the merry-go-round waits you and me." susan called, "hurry, hurry, hurry! bunny do get dressed! let us see what the seventeen little bears mean. how i do love to ride in a merry-go-round!" when bunny and susan got downstairs they were surprised to see a fine breakfast ready for them all on the table. they all sat down and had a very merry time. after breakfast the seventeen little bears began to practice their tricks. they slid on the banister and came downstairs head first. soon they were all crying, "oh," and "ah, how i hurt my head;" and "oh," and "ah, how i hurt my toes!" bunny cried, "bring the camphor! bring the smelling salts, while they are practicing their tricks!" susan cotton-tail sat down in the corner. she wiped her eyes. bunny said, "have you lost your spectacles?" susan cotton-tail said, "oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!" the seventeen little bears all came crowding around susan to see what was the matter. susan still rocked to and fro and said, "oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!" bunny said, "will you never tell us what is the matter?" susan said finally, "i have some pride, but thought to ride, in the merry-go-round, above the ground." then the seventeen little bears all turned somersaults at once, and susan cried, "stop them, stop them, or they will break their little bones." _then the most surprising thing happened!_ the seventeen little bears made a low bow and said, "in the merry-go-round we'll go, laughing gayly, ha, ha, ho, ho!" they ran out the back door and bunny and susan went after them. there stood a neat little merry-go-round, as fine as you please. "where?" and "how?" and "why?" and "please tell us about it," said bunny and susan. the seventeen little bears replied, "get inside, and have a ride, bunny and susan, side by side." they all jumped into the merry-go-round and rode in seats side by side. round and round and round they went. bunny waved his hat and susan waved her red sunbonnet! the seventeen little bears shouted, "hurrah, hurrah!" they went faster and faster. bunny said, "i am afraid the wind will blow off my fur and whiskers." susan said, "the wind will blow off my spectacles." faster, faster, faster they went! would they never stop? the seventeen little bears said, "this is a very funny business, it gives us all a little dizziness." faster, faster, faster they went! it began to rain. first the rain fell with a few drops, then it came down in sheets. my! how wet they were! faster, faster, faster went the merry-go-round. suddenly bushy-tail ran and jumped right into the merry-go-round and said, "what will you give me if i stop the merry-go-round?" bunny said, "i will give you a warm seat by the fire, sir." susan said, "i will give you a basket of cookies." the seventeen little bears said, "we will give you seventeen pieces of peppermint candy." "help, help, help!" they all cried, "do stop the merry-go-round!" bushy-tail looked as saucy as you please. "i can ride faster than this," he said, "i was brought up in a merry-go-round. i want snubby nose and tippy toes to come and pay me a visit." bushy-tail said no more, and bunny saw there was no use to mince matters, and the rain was coming down harder and harder. bunny said, "if snubby nose and tippy toes want to pay you a visit i have no objection." then the merry-go-round went slower and slower, and slower, and finally stopped. bushy-tail said, "go get snubby nose and tippy toes for me or _i will eat you all up!_" they all went into the house. they pretended to look for snubby nose and tippy toes, though they knew they had gone away. they looked in every nook and corner, but knew well enough that snubby nose and tippy toes had gone sailing away with grandpa grumbles. bushy-tail was angry. he went down the road calling, "woo, woo, woo!" he would not even stop for his basket of cookies. bushy-tail called back, "where they have gone to nobody knows, i'll find snubby nose and tippy toes." bunny and susan said, "we are glad to get out of the merry-go-round, but we must send word to grandpa grumbles not to let snubby nose and tippy toes out. who will carry the message?" the first little bear said, "it is so far to go." the second little bear said, "i am all out of breath." the third little bear said, "oh wait 'till to-morrow." now, will you believe it? the seventeen little bears sat on their seventeen little stools as though, nothing had happened! bunny and susan got ready to go out in the rain. they took their raincoats and caps and umbrellas. they went to grandpa grumbles' house. the seventeen little bears said in a sing-song way, "we really are not quite polite, we're selfish as can be, we sit on stools around the fire, just singing merrily!" chapter vii when snubby nose and tippy toes rode home with grandpa grumbles in his green cotton umbrella they sang a merry song, "oh, ho! it is fun to go riding along, singing and whistling a right merry song." the umbrella came to the chimney of grandpa grumbles' house. it began to close up a little. "help, help!" cried snubby nose, "we shall be squeezed to death!" tippy toes sat very still. he made himself as small as possible. grandpa grumbles said, "down my chimney every one goes, how we shall travel the umbrella knows!" then whisk! before they could wink an eyelash they were safely down the chimney. snubby nose cried and he screamed and he howled! tippy toes danced this way, and he danced that way, and said, "oh, grandpa grumbles, how i enjoyed the ride!" grandpa grumbles said, "off to bed when the merry winds blow, so back up the chimney old grandpa can go." snubby nose said, "you are not going to leave us alone in this house are you?" then he cried and he screamed and he howled! tippy toes danced this way, and danced that way, and before they could say another word, whisk! up the chimney old grandpa grumbles was off and away. he went off to ride in his green cotton umbrella. tippy toes kissed snubby nose and led him before the mirror, singing, "who will visit us to-day?" the mirror answered, "bushy-tail is on his way." snubby nose said, "what fun it is to have the mirror talk. come, let us bolt the doors and windows. we will not let bushy-tail in." they danced again before the mirror and sang, "we're locked in safely, that we know," the mirror said, "down the chimney he can go." snubby nose and tippy toes said, "oh" and "ah," and "oh" and "ah." "we never thought of the chimney! what shall we do with the chimney?" they built a roaring fire, and none too soon, for they could hear the "patter, patter, patter" of feet upon the roof. bushy-tail climbed down from the roof. he looked in at the window and said, "please let me in, please let me in." snubby nose and tippy toes sat as still as they could in their little chairs by the fire and never winked an eyelash. bushy-tail said, "let me in or i will come down the chimney, fire or no fire." then snubby nose coughed and tippy toes sneezed. bushy-tail climbed the roof once more. out came the smoke in great puffs. he gave it up and then went away down the path growling every step of the way. all this time bunny and susan were coming nearer every minute. they said, "what if we should meet bushy-tail?" in less time than it takes to tell it, bushy-tail came down the bend of the road scolding and waving his beautiful tail to and fro. he howled, "bring out snubby nose, bring out tippy toes or _i will eat you up_." i do not know what in the world would have happened if grandpa grumbles had not come sailing along just then. he came sailing down in his green cotton umbrella and said, looking hard at bushy-tail, "jump inside and have a ride, there's room for you and me beside." bushy-tail jumped into the umbrella. he was pleased you may be sure. they rode away, and away, and away, over houses, over tree-tops, and over a big blue lake. then they began to sail slowly down, down, down. bushy-tail said, "oh, grandpa grumbles, don't land us in the lake! oh, grandpa grumbles, look out what you are doing!" grandpa grumbles then said loudly, "speak into my better ear, i am so deaf i cannot hear." bushy-tail cried out as loud as he could, "oh, grandpa grumbles, we are going down into the lake! look out, look out! we shall be drowned!" grandpa grumbles shouted, "speak a little louder, please, shall we sail above the trees?" bushy-tail got so excited he did not know what he was doing. he got right out of the umbrella and went splash, dash, into the lake. [illustration: "bushy-tail went splash, dash, into the lake"] grandpa grumbles, as he sailed homeward, said, "sink or swim, just as you please, for i have no desire to tease." he left poor bushy-tail to swim to shore. when grandpa grumbles got home he saw smoke coming out of his chimney. he grumbled, "it seems to me quite like a bore, to have to enter by the door." he was so used to sailing down the chimney! the door opened for him and there stood bunny and susan. snubby nose and tippy toes danced up to him and told him how bushy-tail had tried to get in. grandpa grumbles shook his green umbrella fiercely and said, "he will not come this way again, either in sunshine or in rain." then bunny and susan and snubby nose and tippy toes begged grandpa grumbles to tell what had become of bushy-tail, but grandpa grumbles would only say, "i am so deaf 'tis hard to hear, come, speak a little louder, dear." then bunny spoke into his right ear, and susan spoke into his left ear, and asked him to tell where he had left bushy-tail. grandpa grumbles shook his head and said, "bunny and susan, what do you say? i am so old and deaf to-day." then snubby nose cried into his right ear, and tippy toes cried into his left ear, but grandpa grumbles only said, "i can't hear, my deafness grows; ask the umbrella, for it knows." then the cotton-tails asked the umbrella what had become of bushy-tail and the umbrella said, "bushy-tail went swimming away, but he'll come back in a year and a day." "oh" and "ah" and "oh" and "ah," cried all the little cotton-tails, "bushy-tail is swimming away is he?" they all went merrily to bed. chapter viii the next morning grandpa grumbles called out, "the cotton-tails are all in bed, every one is a sleepy-head." "my fur and whiskers, we have overslept," said bunny cotton-tail. "it is nine o'clock by my little silver watch." "bless my buttons," cried susan, "i meant to get up and get breakfast." tippy toes was the first down stairs after grandpa grumbles. he danced this way and he danced that way, and set the table for breakfast. grandpa grumbles had a fine breakfast ready. they all sat down except snubby nose. grandpa grumbles said, "where is snubby nose? 'tis plain, he must have gone to sleep again." now, what do you suppose happened next? grandpa grumbles went upstairs and took snubby nose by the feet and dragged him out of bed. he made him dress in a hurry and come down to breakfast! all the time snubby nose cried and he screamed and he howled! bunny and susan and grandpa grumbles soon finished their breakfast. they went for a walk but tippy toes sat at the table and said, "oh, snubby nose, why do you cry so much? i have just as ugly a nose as you have." then snubby nose stopped crying. he stared at tippy toes. sure enough, tippy toes had a very ugly nose. snubby nose shouted, "pass me the cream! pass me the butter! pass me the bread! can't you see i am starving?" the mirror spoke up suddenly, "snubby nose it's no use to tease, you might say, 'thank you,' and 'if you please.'" tippy toes slipped down from his chair and ran out after bunny and susan. snubby nose cried and he screamed and he howled! he reached for the sugar bowl and it sailed away in the air! he reached for the bread and butter but they went farther out of his reach. he was very hungry and he cried and he screamed and he howled, but there was no one to answer him. by and by he danced before the mirror and said, "mirror, mirror, i'll be good, and speak politely as i should." the mirror said, "if you say, 'thank you' i suppose, you'll be loved like tippy toes." _then the most surprising thing happened!_ snubby nose said, "thank you for a bowl of milk." the milk stood at his plate. then he said, "thank you for cookies and sugar and pie." the cookies and sugar and pie stood by his plate. he had never had so much fun before in all his life. he kept on ordering things and they came before him. by and by snubby nose cleared off the table and washed the dishes, saying over and over, "i must forget to try to tease, i will say, 'thank you' and 'if you please.'" at this very minute in came the seventeen little bears. they cried, "hurrah, hurrah, old snubby nose! what has happened, do you suppose?" snubby nose made a low bow and said, "if you please i should like to know what has happened." the seventeen little bears stared at snubby nose. they had never seen him so polite before. they said, "we met bunny and susan and grandpa grumbles and they said we could go up in the garret and get skates and go skating." no sooner said than done. up to the garret danced the seventeen little bears. they found seventeen pairs of skates and danced out again. snubby nose was left alone in the house. he forgot to be polite. he cried and he screamed and he howled! the mirror said, "if you're polite, as you should be, perhaps a pair of skates you'll see." snubby nose looked about the house. he looked high and low, but he could not find any skates. he rubbed his eyes and he rubbed his little red nose. he put on his cap and mittens and went to the pond. tippy toes came to meet him. he had two pairs of skates and cried, "where were you so long, goodness knows, here are your skates. come snubby nose." he kissed snubby nose on both cheeks. the seventeen little bears sat on the bank trying to fasten their skates. their little paws got colder and colder every minute. snubby nose helped them fasten their skates and tippy toes helped them too. then they put on their own skates and went skating away, and away, and away. by and by bunny and susan said, "'tis rather sad now to relate, we are too old and stiff to skate.'" grandpa grumbles said, "chilly business this sport i think, let's go roller-skating in a rink." bunny and susan said they must really go home and grandpa grumbles said he, too, would go to his own home. he shouted to the seventeen little bears, "don't skate where the ice is thin, you'll make a hole and tumble in." the seventeen little bears skated on and on, the wind whistling in their ears. snubby nose said to tippy toes, "what if the seventeen little bears should fall into the water, what would we do?" tippy toes said, "the wind blows so hard they cannot hear. i hope they know where the ice is thin." the seventeen little bears formed a circle and skated round. suddenly the ice gave way. splash, dash, they all fell into the water! snubby nose and tippy toes danced this way, and they danced that way, and shouted, "help, help, help! the seventeen little bears have fallen into the water!" doctor cotton-tail was riding by in his sleigh. he said, "come, we will pull them out of the water." so they all helped pull the seventeen little bears out of the water. doctor cotton-tail said, "i will tuck them in my sleigh and take them to bunny and susan. they will tuck them up warm in bed." [illustration: "i will tuck them in my sleigh"] snubby nose and tippy toes hung on to the back of the sleigh and they went whizzing merrily homeward, the wind whistling in their ears. the seventeen little bears sneezed all the way. did bunny and susan tuck them up warm in bed? well, i guess they did, and doctor cotton-tail gave them hoarhound candy. snubby nose and tippy toes smacked their lips and said, "if we had fallen in the water we could have had candy too." doctor cotton-tail said, "you cunning little things, you look as much alike as two peas. you shall each have a stick of lemon candy." snubby nose and tippy toes danced this way, and danced that way, and said, "lemon candy is good to eat, we always think it quite a treat." susan said, "hush; be still. don't wake the seventeen little bears; they are all asleep." chapter ix the seventeen little bears took cold when they fell through the ice into the water, so they had to stay in bed all day. they cried, "tell us a story, please tell us a story." snubby nose and tippy toes danced this way, and that way, before the mirror and cried out together, "who is so ugly? nobody knows." the mirror answered, "snubby nose and tippy toes." the seventeen little bears clapped their little paws and cried, "tell it again, tell it again!" then snubby nose and tippy toes danced this way, and that way, before the mirror and asked, "who took cold when they fell through the ice?" the mirror would not answer this time. the seventeen little bears wept and wailed. bunny and susan came upstairs to see what was the matter. bunny said, "never mind, i will tell you a story about my reading by candle-light." then the seventeen little bears cried, "oh, bunny, tell us a new story, please." now, bunny could not think of a new story to tell to save his life, so susan said, "i will tell you about the circus cookies that came alive." then, the seventeen little bears shouted, "we know that story by heart, we know every word of it." they took out their seventeen little red pocket handkerchiefs and cried and cried. all this time grandpa grumbles was sitting in an easy chair by the fire. he grumbled, "'tis silly to make such a dreadful noise, you are worse than seventeen girls and boys." then he took his green cotton umbrella and went upstairs. as soon as the seventeen little bears caught sight of grandpa grumbles they set up a shout, "a story, a story, do tell us a story." grandpa grumbles shook his green cotton umbrella fiercely and shouted, "every one must keep as still as a mouse, so you can hear a pin drop in the house." then, will you believe it? the seventeen little bears were so still you could hear a pin drop. snubby nose and tippy toes were so still they did not wink an eyelash. they sat on two little stools in the corner. grandpa grumbles said, "you can guess all day and you can guess all night, but you cannot one of you guess what kind of a shop i am going to open." then the seventeen little bears begged for bunny cotton-tail's thinking-cap. they put it on in turn and guessed and guessed what kind of a shop grandpa grumbles would open. snubby nose and tippy toes said, "will it be a candy-shop?" grandpa grumbles shook his green cotton umbrella fiercely and grumbled, "i told you, you could not guess. i am going to open a toy shop!" "a toy shop!" shouted the seventeen little bears at the top of their lungs. "a toy shop!" "who is telling this story?" asked grandpa grumbles. he began to tell the story in real earnest. he said, "i am going to open a toy shop in the woods." "not a real toy shop," said snubby nose. "you don't mean a real toy shop," said tippy toes. grandpa grumbles shook his green cotton umbrella and grumbled, "now, i shall have to start all over again." so he began once more, "i am going to open a toy shop in the woods." "will you make a rocking-horse?" asked the first little bear. "will you make drums?" asked the second little bear. "will you make horns? toot, toot, toot!" said the third little bear. now, will you believe it? all the seventeen little bears put their paws to their mouths as though they had horns and cried, "toot, toot, toot!" grandpa grumbles shook his umbrella fiercely and shouted, "i will not tell the story to-day, i will take my umbrella and go away." _then the most surprising thing happened!_ grandpa grumbles held fast to the handle of the umbrella and sailed out through the open window! "oh," and "ah," said snubby nose and tippy toes, "that was rather sudden!" "oh," and "ah," said the seventeen little bears, "how fast he went!" then they were as merry as you please. whenever any one would cough or sneeze the other ones would say, "let us talk about grandpa grumbles' toy shop! can you hear him hammer away? can you hear him saw?" snubby nose and tippy toes put on their hats and coats and danced this way, and that way, and said, "we will go and, visit grandpa grumbles' toy shop." at this very minute, to the surprise of all, grandpa grumbles came sailing in through the window. he said, "if i were little and young and gay, i'd sail away for a year and a day." the seventeen little bears shouted, "please tell us about the toy shop!" grandpa grumbles shook his umbrella. out fell a little rocking horse. he shook it again. out fell a horn. he shook it again. out fell a drum. the seventeen little bears shouted, "hurrah, hurrah! it is really true, grandpa grumbles, you are going to open a toy shop." snubby nose and tippy toes and the seventeen little bears did not know whether grandpa grumbles was teasing or not. they did not know if he meant to open a real toy shop. the seventeen little bears said, "will you tell us the whole story to-morrow?" chapter x the seventeen little bears still had to stay in bed next day. snubby nose and tippy toes danced about the room and cried, "grandpa grumbles, do tell us the story of the toy shop!" grandpa grumbles came upstairs leaning on his green cotton umbrella. he coughed six times and then he sat down in the rocking-chair by the window. he said, "the story of the toy shop begins with a question." the seventeen little bears clapped their paws and shouted, "hear, hear, the story is going to begin!" snubby nose and tippy toes danced this way, and danced that way, and cried, "hear, hear, the story is going to begin!" _then the most surprising thing happened!_ grandpa grumbles pointed his green cotton umbrella at snubby nose and asked, "which of your toys did you break first at christmas?" snubby nose could not remember, so he cried and he screamed and he howled! grandpa grumbles said, "i cannot begin this story until i have nineteen questions answered." tippy toes said, "grandpa grumbles, i can tell you which toy i broke first, i broke my little rocking-horse." then snubby nose shouted, "i broke my rocking-horse too." grandpa grumbles pointed to the first little bear and said, "which toy did you break first?" the first little bear said, "i broke my little red drum." then the seventeen little bears all held up their paws and said, "let me tell, let me tell next which toy i broke at christmas!" now, will you believe it? they all made such a noise that grandpa grumbles could not sit still another minute. he went downstairs shaking his green cotton umbrella, fiercely, and grumbling to himself as he went. the seventeen little bears cried, "oh, come back and tell the story! we will be good." then snubby nose and tippy toes danced downstairs and said. "we will, be good, indeed we will be good." grandpa grumbles still looked very cross. he grumbled, "speak into my other ear, 'tis very hard indeed to hear." then snubby nose and tippy toes shouted into his other ear, "please come back upstairs and tell us about the toy shop. we will be good, indeed we will." grandpa grumbles said, "speak a little louder, please, if you do not want to tease." bunny and susan saw that something must be done to make grandpa grumbles happy again, so susan made a bowl of fine soup for him, and grandpa grumbles drew up to the table. he said, "in cooking you can never fail, thank you, dear susan cotton-tail." then bunny went upstairs and said to the seventeen little bears, "you may get up and put on your little red wrappers and sit by the fire downstairs." so the seventeen little bears got up and put on their little red wrappers and crept downstairs. they crept down so softly that grandpa grumbles never heard a sound. by and by when grandpa grumbles went back into the sitting-room there sat the seventeen little bears on their seventeen little stools by the fire. snubby nose and tippy toes sat on the arm of grandpa grumbles' chair. he was surprised you may be sure. he began to tell his story quite as if nothing had happened. he said, "last christmas i went about and picked up all the broken toys i could find and i said i would open a toy shop and mend them so you could not tell them from new toys!" "hear, hear!" cried the seventeen little bears softly. "hush, hush!" said snubby nose and tippy toes, "grandpa grumbles is talking." grandpa grumbles went on, "on long winter evenings i sat and mended and glued and pasted the toys and soon they looked as good as new." "rap-a-tap," sounded on the door, "rap-a-tap." bunny took the candle and went to the door. there stood doctor cotton-tail. he said, "good evening, how are the seventeen little bears? i heard they fell in the water!" the seventeen little bears stuffed their little paws into their mouths to keep from laughing, for they felt as well as ever, sitting before the fire in their little red wrappers. doctor cotton-tail took a seat by the fire and began to warm his paws, first one paw and then the other. "chilly spring weather, but most time to make garden," he said. "chilly weather," said bunny cotton-tail. "chilly weather," said susan. _then the most surprising thing happened_! grandpa grumbles shook his green cotton umbrella and out came flower seeds falling everywhere. the seventeen little bears scrambled to pick them up. "who will make your garden?" asked doctor cotton-tail, looking at bunny and susan. bunny and susan said, "we do not know, we are too old and stiff to make a garden." "you will miss the turnips and cabbages," said doctor cotton-tail. then he added, "i came in a wagon, and as the seventeen little bears are quite well, i can take them home." then the seventeen little bears began to weep loud and long. they wept into their seventeen little pocket handkerchiefs. bunny and susan said, "never mind, dears, you can come to visit us again." soon the seventeen little bears were tucked safely into the wagon and doctor cotton-tail took them home. "bless my buttons," said susan, "you did not finish your story grandpa grumbles." "my fur and whiskers," said bunny, "i should like to visit your toy shop!" grandpa grumbles said, "at night i always shake my head, 'tis time for all to go to bed." the cotton-tail family knew that it was no use to tease, so they went merrily to bed. snubby nose set his little alarm clock. he set it at four o'clock in the morning. he said, kissing tippy toes good night, "we must get up early in the morning and make a garden for bunny and susan." chapter xi "tinkle, tinkle" went the alarm clock next morning. snubby nose put his paw on it so it would not ring too loudly. he whispered to tippy toes, "get up, it is time to make the garden." they took the seeds grandpa grumbles had thrown from his umbrella. they planted the seeds in even rows. they worked so fast, they had the garden planted and were back in bed by eight o'clock. grandpa grumbles woke up next. he went downstairs and out of doors. he saw a little garden all planted in even rows. he shook his green cotton umbrella and said, "radishes it is time to grow, for spring has come again you know." _then the most surprising thing happened!_ the radishes began to peep up and show their little green heads. grandpa grumbles shook his green cotton umbrella again and said, "young cabbage heads, all in a row, wake up, wake up, it's time to grow." the cabbages came up as big and round as you please. then grandpa grumbles shook his green cotton umbrella again and said, "turnips come, wake up, 'tis clear merry, merry spring is here." the turnips came up nodding in the sunshine, and grandpa grumbles said, "open green umbrella and sail away, they were magic seeds, good day, good day." he opened the green cotton umbrella and sailed away, and away, and away. bunny cotton-tail woke up and looked out of the window. "my fur and whiskers, look at the garden," he shouted. susan woke and looked out the window and said, "bless my buttons there is a real little garden." snubby nose and tippy toes woke up again and said, "hurrah, hurrah, how fast the seeds grow! we must ask grandpa grumbles if they were magic seeds that he gave us." but grandpa grumbles had sailed away, and away, and away! at that very minute the postman brought two letters. the letters were for snubby nose and tippy toes. they were from their mothers asking them to come home. when snubby nose read his letter he cried and he screamed and he howled! when tippy toes read his letter he said, "never mind, snubby nose, we can go together to the bend of the road." before they had breakfast, susan got out her rolling-pin and flour and sugar and said, "i will make you some cookies to take with you." bunny said, "my fur and whiskers, i have two neat little baskets. i will pack them with your lunch." so susan made cookies and snubby nose and tippy toes packed their little traveling bags and bunny packed their lunches in the little baskets. bunny said, "i will take you in my wheelbarrow to the bend in the road, then snubby nose goes east and tippy toes goes west." snubby nose cried and he screamed and he howled! he did not want to go home. tippy toes did not want to go home either, but he said, "thank you bunny for the ride." soon snubby nose and tippy toes were ready to go. they stood before the mirror and danced this way and that way and sang, "tell us, good mirror, whom shall we meet?" the mirror answered, "circus cotton-tails in the street." then snubby nose held his breath and tippy toes held his breath. snubby nose said, "i was one of the circus cotton-tails once myself." they went downstairs and kissed susan good-bye. then they jumped into the wheelbarrow and bunny wheeled them to the turn in the road. he kissed them good-bye and snubby nose cried and he screamed and he howled! tippy toes said, "never mind, we shall meet again some day and my nose is as ugly as yours is!" snubby nose said, "_i beg you not to talk about noses_," and he cried and he screamed and he howled, louder than ever. tippy toes saw something must be done, so he said, "oh, never mind, i will go home with you. it will be a long walk around then to my house." they both went east. snubby nose said, "listen, what is that? it sounds like a band!" tippy toes said, "what is that? it sounds like the roar of a lion." they did not know whether to go east any longer or not. they hid behind some bushes by the roadside, and all the while the sound of the band came nearer and nearer. all the while the lion roared louder and louder. they peeped through the branches. soon the circus cotton-tails came in view. [illustration: "soon the circus cotton-tails came in view"] snubby nose and tippy toes danced out of their hiding places and cried, "hurrah for the circus cotton-tails! they have formed a real little circus!" there was the band wagon. there were the elephants and camels. there were the animals in cages. the circus cotton-tails cried, "hurrah, hurrah! here are snubby nose and tippy toes. come and join the big parade." bunny bright eyes said, "can you walk a tight rope?" tippy toes said he did not know, but snubby nose said he had walked a tight rope off and on all his life! tippy toes drew a little mirror out of his pocket and said, "who will walk the tight rope? whom do you suppose?" the mirror answered, "two cunning little bunnies, snubby nose and tippy toes!" chapter xii bunny and susan sat quietly by the cheerful fire warming their paws. bunny said, "my fur and whiskers, i hope snubby nose got home safely." susan said, "bless my buttons, i was thinking of tippy toes this very minute. those two cunning little bunnies are as much alike as two peas! we could not tell them apart if snubby nose did not cry so much." bunny said, "i suppose we shall have no visitors for some time now." "don't be too sure of that," said a gruff old voice, "here i am standing now." there stood grandpa grumbles in the doorway. he had never looked so happy in all his life. he struck the floor fiercely with his green cotton umbrella and said, "the circus cotton-tails will come, a-rat-a-tat, just hear the drum." bunny and susan listened. sure enough, they heard the "rat-a-tat," of a drum. soon they heard the lion roar in his cage. they all went out as fast as they could. _there came the circus cotton-tails on parade!_ snubby nose and tippy toes danced in front beating a drum. bunny and susan and grandpa grumbles cried, "hurrah, hurrah, for the big parade!" grandpa grumbles waved his green cotton umbrella and shouted, "have you a merry-go-round?" the circus cotton-tails stood still. they cried "hurrah, bunny! hurrah, susan! of course we have a merry-go-round." then the real little circus parade stopped. the circus cotton-tails cried, "hurry, hurry! help us unpack." they went to one of the wagons and began to unpack the merry-go-round. snubby nose and tippy toes helped and bunny and susan helped too. grandpa grumbles cried, "one for the money, ten for the show, put up the tent, and away we go." he forgot to grumble. he had never been so happy before in all big life. it took the circus cotton-tails and bunny and susan just exactly one hour and sixteen minutes to put up the merry-go-round, and grandpa grumbles bossed the job. "will it go?" asked bunny and susan under their breath. grandpa grumbles was the first to get in. he cried, "i'm the first to get inside, come one and all and have a ride." susan said, "oh, dear! i have lost my spectacles." it took the circus cotton-tails one hour and sixteen minutes to find susan's spectacles. there they were safe and sound upon her forehead all the time! then bunny went in-doors and burned his paw again by candle-light and it took one hour and sixteen minutes to get his paw well. grandpa grumbles did not grumble a bit. he only sat patiently in the merry-go-round and said to susan, "now, the spectacles are found, all jump in the merry-go-round." then he called good-naturedly to bunny, "if you'll use a lamp dear bunny, it will save you time and money." bunny and susan got into the merry-go-round, and the circus cotton-tails got in too. they were all ready for a ride when grandpa grumbles said, "some are absent, whom do you suppose?" the circus cotton-tails shouted in one breath, "_snubby nose and tippy toes!_" snubby nose was so little he could not climb up into the merry-go-round without help. he cried and he screamed and he howled! tippy toes was so little he could not climb in either but he waited patiently below. grandpa grumbles saw what was the matter. he lowered his green cotton umbrella and helped snubby nose and tippy toes up into the merry-go-round. now they were ready to start. they all cried, "give three cheers, away we go, the circus cotton-tails, ho, ho!" the merry-go-round would not start. they all got out to see what was the matter. _then the most surprising thing happened!_ doctor cotton-tail jumped out from under the merry-go-round and said, "a-riding, too, i'd like to go, though i may take a nap or so." grandpa grumbles said cheerfully, "you'll take no nap when with us you go, we may ride too fast, but never slow!" doctor cotton-tail took a seat in the merry-go-round. the music began to play and they went round, and round, and round, faster and faster. bunny began to talk about his fur and whiskers. susan began to talk about her buttons. grandpa grumbles shouted, "i'm just as happy as i can be, the circus life is the life for me." snubby nose and tippy toes jumped down from the merry-go-round and danced this way and danced that way, and for all i know they are dancing yet! more cotton tail stories chapter i bunny cotton-tail and susan were sitting by the fire, warming their paws. [illustration: "bunny and susan were sitting by the fire"] "the evenings are growing cold," said bunny cotton-tail. "it feels like snow to-night." "oh, joy!" cried bunny boy, "how i do love snow!" then he began to jump around the room so fast that susan was afraid he would upset the table. "i am going to play that the sofa is a hill, and slide down!" he cried. then susan said if bunny boy did not sit down in his little red rocking chair and be good, she would put him in a bag! so bunny boy sat down, but he began to cry. there is no telling what would have happened just then if a soft "tap, tap," had not been heard on the window. susan looked out. there stood bushy tail with his traveling bag in his hand! susan was a little afraid to let him in, but there was nothing else to do, so she opened the door, and whisk! bound! bushy tail was in, hugging bunny cotton-tail! "who is the youngster!" asked bushy tail, pointing to bunny boy. then bunny boy made himself as small as possible. he did not care for bushy tail. bushy tail said he must tell about his trip. besides, he had something for bunny and susan in his bag. it had begun to snow, and bushy tail was very wet. he stood by the fire and warmed his paws. susan whispered to bunny that she had never seen so handsome a fox in her life. all the time bushy tail had a cunning look in his eyes. after his fur was dry, and he had had a bowl of soup, he opened his bag, and my! what fine things he took out! there was dried fruit for susan. there was fresh cabbage for bunny. and there were oranges, and peaches, and pears! they had a fine feast, but the greatest fun of all was just before they went to bed, when bushy tail took from his bag a little telephone. he hung it on the wall and fooled the rabbits with it for nearly an hour. it had a little bell and a receiver, and one could call "hello" into it. perhaps bunny and susan would never have known the joke about the telephone if it had not been for bunny boy. bunny boy crept out from under the sofa, where he had been hiding, and climbed up in a chair and pulled the receiver hard. then, bang! the top of the telephone came off, and showed that it was only a candy box! bushy tail did not like this, but bunny cotton-tail said he would rather have it a candy-box, after all, as he was a little afraid of telephones! then they shook one another's paws, and went to bed. bushy tail slept on a sofa in the parlor. about eleven o'clock he got up and began, to stir around. there was the same cunning look in his eyes. first he went and looked at susan cotton-tail, and thought, "i have half a mind to eat you up." then he went and looked at bunny cotton-tail and thought, "i have half a mind to eat you up." then he saw bunny boy out in the kitchen, wide awake, eating mince pie! bushy said, "i have you, and i will eat you up!" but bunny boy was too quick for him. he ran down the stairs, into the cellar, and had hopped through the cellar window in less than no time. then bushy tail took a mince pie and put it in his right-hand coat pocket. he took a currant pie and put it in his left-hand coat pocket. he hid an apple pie in his hat, and he went slyly out of the door with a piece of blueberry pie in his mouth! next morning, when bunny and susan awoke, they saw that their pies were gone, and they saw that bushy tail and bunny boy were gone too! susan cotton-tail cried, and bunny cotton-tail whistled. chapter ii why do you suppose susan cotton-tail had made so many pies? there was going to be a fair, and susan had been asked to make pies for it. all the animals were going to the fair. "we cannot go when we have no pies to sell," said susan. "all the animals will come to find out why we are not there," said bunny. now bunny cotton-tail was a very clever rabbit, even though he was getting old. he put on his overcoat and took a card and a hammer, and went out. he was out a long time, tacking something up on the front door. when he had finished, he asked susan to come out and get a breath of air. they walked up and down in front of the house. then susan began to laugh, and then she began to sneeze, and then she laughed and sneezed together, and what do you suppose was the matter? bunny cotton-tail had put up this sign on the house, scarlet fever here "well," said bunny, "if you don't want to go anywhere or have any one come to see you, just put up a sign like that, and see how well it will work!" bunny and susan went back into the house and peeped out their front window to see how the animals would act when they saw the sign. first came bushy tail, big as life, trotting along. when he saw the sign he waved his beautiful tail in the air and ran down the road as fast as his legs could carry him! next came mr. owl. he read the sign aloud, and flew away. so all day long, animals came to ask why bunny and susan did not come to the fair, and all were frightened and ran away. early in the evening old grizzly came. he had followed bushy tail from california. "what a beautiful bear!" said susan. "he looks kind," said bunny. old grizzly read the sign. he did not pass by as the other animals had done. he went straight up to the front door and knocked. "perhaps he can't read," said bunny, so he shouted, "scarlet fever here!" old grizzly nodded his head. he said he had had scarlet fever three times, and he was not afraid to have it again. so they opened the door and let old grizzly in. then they all had a jolly time, and bunny told why he put up the sign on the house. "you may have a new kind of scarlet fever," said old grizzly, "maybe i shall catch it!" and they all laughed. old grizzly had been in a circus, and had traveled in the east and in the west. he could tell lovely stories, so he stayed a long time and told stories, and susan cotton-tail went out in the kitchen and came back with a mince pie in each hand. (these pies had been hidden away in a tin.) they all enjoyed the pies, and then bunny asked old grizzly to spend the night with them. old grizzly said, "no, thank you." the house next door was vacant and he was going to live there. susan held the candle at the door and old grizzly went to his new home. "i like him, but i am glad he went out for the night," said bunny. "just think!" susan said, "he has promised to come in every night and tell us a story!" chapter iii when old grizzly came next evening he had a book tucked under his arm. "what have you there?" asked bunny and susan together. it was some time before old grizzly would tell. then he coughed and said he had one story that every one liked so well that he had written it down, and drawn pictures for it. the two rabbits begged so hard to see the pictures that old grizzly opened the book and showed them all the pictures before he began to read. and this is the story he read: once there was a gentleman who wrote stories. he had a fine large cat called whiskers. one day whiskers thought he would see the man write his story, so he sat up on the desk beside him. the man started to write a story about an elephant. it was to be a long story with big words in it. whiskers wanted to be petted just then, and as the man did not notice him, he gave the pen a little slap, and it made a funny mark down the page. "never mind," said the man, "that will do for the path along which the elephant walked." the man's pen was a lovely thing to play with, but whiskers had a nicer plaything himself. he began to go round and round after his own tail. round and round he went, until he upset the ink. then he was so scared that he ran and hid. the man only laughed, and said he would draw funny little figures where the blots of ink were. he called whiskers back and went on with his story. he was just wondering how he would draw the seats inside the circus tent, when whiskers put his paw down on the wet page, and the man said: "why, whiskers, you certainly are an artist." then he began to wonder how he could show what a big space the elephant covered when he walked, and just then the cat walked over the paper, to show him! the man was so pleased then, that he laid down his pen and gave whiskers a big hug. "pooh!" said whiskers, "that was nothing. i could write a better story than you can, any day!" you see, whiskers was not a polite cat. "did whiskers write the story?" asked bunny. susan winked at bunny and said: "old grizzly, that is the best story of all, and i believe you made it up yourself!" then old grizzly blushed under the fur on his cheeks, and bunny ran and got a big bouquet and stuck it in his paw! old grizzly went home feeling very happy indeed. chapter iv the next evening susan begged old grizzly to tell her another story about whiskers. grizzly said he knew one, but he kept it in the back of his head and he could not find it. so he told them the story of carlo, instead. carlo was a fine dog. he had but one fault. he liked to suck eggs. day after day the cook went out into the hen-house to get eggs, and day after day there were no eggs to be found. at first she thought it must be a rat that stole her eggs, and she set a trap. a clever old rat came and ate the cheese, but he never got caught. one day the cook saw carlo sucking an egg. whisk! she was after him with a broom, and gave him a sound beating! but this did not cure carlo of his bad habit. he went into the hen-house and stole eggs whenever he pleased. the cook said she was not going to allow this, so one day she called the dog to her in a most friendly way, and held out half an egg in her hand. carlo thought that the cook had made up her mind to let him eat all the eggs he wanted, so he took the egg in his mouth, and swallowed it quickly. then he began to behave very strangely. he yelped with pain, and ran out into the yard and rolled over and over in the snow. "good! now you will steal no more eggs," said the cook. what do you suppose was the matter with carlo? the egg the cook had given him was full of red pepper, and his mouth burned as though on fire. there is no telling what the poor dog would have done if a little girl had not come along just then. the little girl had found out what the cook had done. she crept out of the house and said: "poor carlo, poor doggie, come to me!" and then she took snow and washed out carlo's mouth and patted him on the head until he felt all right again. carlo never forgot the little girl's kindness, and he never stole eggs any more. just as old grizzly stopped speaking, "tap, tap," was heard on the window. they looked up and saw bushy tail outside. "let him in. i'll see that he does no harm," said old grizzly. they opened-the door, and bushy tail jumped in. now, bushy tail would not have come if he had not had something to say, for he felt a little ashamed about the pies. what do you suppose bushy tail had come to say? he had heard of a big gold mine in the west, and he wanted grizzly bear and the cotton-tail family to go west with him to buy the gold mine. old grizzly was delighted with the idea, but bunny and susan said they would rather stay at home. as they were talking, "tap, tap," was heard on the window again, and there stood bunny boy. he had come home from his travels! bunny boy's head was tied up and he looked as though he had had a hard time. susan asked if he would like to go west and look for gold, but bunny boy only shook his head. billy bunny and uncle bull frog by david cory author of "billy bunny and daddy fox," "billy bunny and the friendly elephant," "billy bunny and uncle lucky lefthindfoot" illustrations by hugh spencer billy bunny books by david gory large mo. illustrated . billy bunny and the friendly elephant . billy bunny and daddy fox . billy bunny and uncle bull frog . billy bunny and uncle lucky lefthindfoot other volumes in preparation contents i. billy bunny and mr. blacksnake ii. billy bunny and the freshwater crab iii. billy bunny and the sorrowful jay bird iv. billy bunny and the ting-a-ling telephone v. billy bunny and the runaway dog vi. billy bunny and mr. o'hare's escape vii. billy bunny and the policeman cat viii. billy bunny and the gray mouse ix. billy bunny and red rooster x. billy bunny and mrs. cow xi. billy bunny and the big bear xii. billy bunny and the rabbitville "gazette" xiii. billy bunny and mr. mole xiv. billy bunny and the water snake xv. billy bunny and the peacock xvi. billy bunny and the marble deer xvii. billy bunny and the forest dance xviii. billy bunny and ragged rabbit xix. billy bunny and tailor bird xx. billy bunny and parson crow xxi. billy bunny and jack-in-the-box xxii. billy bunny and mr. duck xxiii. billy bunny and the fretful porcupine xxiv. billy bunny and danny billygoat xxv. billy bunny and the whale xxvi. billy bunny and the mermaid. xxvii. billy bunny and the beanstalk xxviii. billy bunny and scatterbrains xxix. billy bunny and mrs. black cat xxx. billy bunny and big yellow dog xxxi. billy bunny and a happy birthday xxxii. billy bunny and the lost ring xxxiii. billy bunny and the great news xxxiv. billy bunny and jenny muskrat xxxv. billy bunny and the miller's dog xxxvi. billy bunny and the woodchuck xxxvii. billy bunny and little peewee xxxviii. billy bunny and old mother magpie story i. billy bunny and mr. blacksnake. rain, rain, go away, billy bunny wants to play. this is what willy wind sang one morning. oh, so early, as the raindrops pitter-pattered on the roof of the little rabbit's house in the old brier patch. and then of course he woke up and wiggled his little pink nose a million times less or more, and pretty soon he was wide awake, so he got up and looked into the mirror to see if his eyes were open, as he wasn't quite sure he was wide awake after all, for the raindrops made a drowsy noise on the old shingles and the alarm clock wouldn't go off, although it was o'clock. well, after a little while, not so very long, his mother called to him, "billy bunny, the stewed lollypops are getting cold and the robin's eggs will be hard boiled if you don't hurry up, or hurry down, or something." "i'll be ready in a jiffy," answered the little rabbit, and then he brushed his whiskers and parted his hair in the middle with a little chip, and after that he was ready for breakfast and dinner and supper, for rabbits are always hungry, you know, and can eat all the time, so i've been told, and i guess it must be true, for why should an old rabbit have told me that if it isn't the truth, i should like to know, and so would you, i'm sure. "don't forget your rubber boots," said mrs. bunny after the morning meal was over, as billy bunny started to hop outdoors. so, like a good little bunny boy, he came back and put them on, and then before he went he polished the brass door knob on the front door and swept the leaves off the little stone walk. and after that he was ready to do whatever he liked, so out he went on the pleasant meadow to eat some clover tops so as not to feel hungry for the next ten minutes. and just then mrs. cow came along with her tinkle, tinkle bell that hung at her throat from a leather collar. "where are you going?" she asked, but the little rabbit didn't know. he was only looking around. he hadn't had time to make up his mind what to do, and just then, all of a sudden, just like that, mr. blacksnake rose out of the grass. "look out!" cried mrs. cow. "maybe he's going to eat you," but whether he was i'm sure i don't know, for billy bunny didn't wait to see. he didn't care whether mr. blacksnake wanted his breakfast, but hopped away as fast as he could and pretty soon, not so very far, he came to the babbling brook, and there sat the little fresh water crab on the sand, and when he saw billy bunny he said: "it's raining, billy bunny, but you and i don't care, for raindrops make the flowers grow and blossom fair." and this is what every little boy and girl should say on rainy days. story ii. billy bunny and the freshwater crab. let me see. it was raining in the last story when we left off, wasn't it? billy bunny and the little freshwater crab were talking together, weren't they? that's it, and now i know where to begin, for it's stopped raining since then and mr. happy sun is shining in the sky and the little clouds are chasing each other over the blue meadows like little lambs. "i like that little piece of poetry you just said," cried the little rabbit. "please say another." so the freshwater crab wrinkled his forehead, and then he began: "and when the sun is shining, and all is bright and gay, just keep a little sunshine to help a rainy day." "i will," said the little bunny, for he was a cheerful little fellow, and then he hopped away and by and by he came to the old mill pond. but uncle bullfrog was nowhere to be seen. there stood the old log, but there was nobody on it but a black snail. it seemed strange not to see the old gentleman frog sitting there, his eyes winking and blinking and his white waist-coat shining in the sun, and it made the little rabbit feel lonely. "where is uncle bullfrog?" he asked a big bluebottle fly, who was buzzing away at a great rate. but he didn't know, and neither did a big darning needle that was skimming over the quiet water. "i wonder if that dreadful miller's boy has taken uncle bullfrog away," thought billy bunny, and just then mrs. oriole flew down from her nest that swung in the weeping willow tree and said: "are you looking for uncle bullfrog, little rabbit?" "yes, ma'am. do you know where he is?" "he's down by the mill dam," answered the pretty little bird, and then she flew back to her nest that looked like an old white cotton stocking at christmas time because it was all bulgy and full, only, of course, hers had little birds inside and a christmas stocking has all sorts of toys, with an orange in the toe and a jack-in-the-box sticking out of the top. so off hopped the little rabbit, and pretty soon he saw the old gentleman bullfrog catching flies, and undoing his waistcoat one button every time a fly disappeared down his throat. "i thought at first that dreadful miller's boy had taken you away," said billy bunny, "and i was very sad, for i like you, uncle bullfrog, and i've never forgotten how you found the letter i lost a long time ago." "tut, tut," said the old gentleman frog. "how's your mother?" and then he swallowed another fly and unbuttoned the last button, and if he takes off his waistcoat i'll tell you so in the next story. story iii. billy bunny and the sorrowful jay bird. well, uncle bullfrog didn't take off his waistcoat, as i thought he might in the last story, so i'm not going to tell you anything more about him. we'll just leave him in the old mill pond and go along with billy bunny, who is hopping away toward the friendly forest. by and by, after he had gone into the shady depths for maybe a million and two or three hops, he came across his old friend the jay bird, who had sold him the airship, you remember, and then bought it back again. "i wish you'd kept your old flying machine," said the jay bird sorrowfully. "but you wanted to buy it back," said the little rabbit, "so it's not my fault." "perhaps not," replied the sorrowful jay bird, "but that doesn't make matters any better." "why, what's the trouble?" asked the little rabbit, sitting down and taking a lollypop out of his knapsack. "i had an accident," answered the jay bird. "i ran into a thunder cloud and spilled out all the lightning, and, oh dear, oh dear. i just hate to talk about it, but i will. the lightning jumped all around and then struck the old tower clock and broke the main spring, so that it wouldn't go any more, and now nobody in rabbitville can tell the day of the month, or when it will be thanksgiving or fourth of july." "let's go to the clock maker and ask him to fix it," suggested the little rabbit, and this so delighted the sorrowful jay bird that he smiled and flew after billy bunny, and pretty soon they came to the old clock maker, who was an old black spider. "certainly i'll fix it," he said, "but it will cost you nine million and some billion flies." "all right," said billy bunny. "i'll go down to the and -cent store and buy a fly catcher." so off he went and pretty soon he came back with a great big fly catching box, and after he had set it down, they stood and watched the flies go in until it was so full that not another one could even poke in his nose. "now, mr. spider," said billy bunny, "there are maybe a trillion flies in that box, for the storekeeper told me it was guaranteed to hold that many, so please fix the town clock, for it would be too bad if the little boys and girls didn't know it was christmas when it really came." so the spider got out his little tool bag and climbed up the steeple and fixed that old town clock so well that it began to play a tune, which it had never done before, and all the people in rabbitville were so delighted that they gave the spider a little house to live in for the rest of his days. story iv. billy bunny and the ting-a-ling telephone. ting-a-ling went the telephone bell in uncle lucky lefthindfoot's house, the kind old gentleman rabbit who was the uncle of billy bunny, you know. and i only say this right here in case some little boy or girl should read this story without having seen all the million and one, or two, or three that have gone before. so uncle lucky jumped out of the hammock where he had been swinging up and down on the cool front porch of his little house in bunnytown, corner of lettuce avenue and carrot street, and hopped into the library and took down the receiver and said "helloa! this is mr. lucky lefthindfoot talking." "is that you, uncle lucky?" answered a voice at the other end of the wire. "this is billy bunny, and i'm lost in the friendly forest." "what!" cried the old gentleman rabbit, and he got so excited that he put the wrong end of the receiver to his left ear and got an awful electric shock that nearly wiggled his ear off. "where are you now?" "i don't know," replied his small nephew. "i'm lost, don't you understand?" "gracious, goodness mebus!" exclaimed the old gentleman rabbit, "then how am i to find you?" "i don't know, but please do," said billy bunny sorrowfully, "for i'm dreadfully hungry, and i haven't got a single lollypop or apple pie left in my knapsack." "well, you just stay where you are and i'll get into the luckmobile and find you," replied the old gentleman rabbit as cheerfully as he could, although he didn't know how he was going to do it, and neither do i, and neither do you, but let's wait and see. so pretty soon, in a few short seconds, uncle lucky was tearing along the dusty road toward the friendly forest, and by and by he came to the house where his cousin, mr. o'hare, lived. so he stopped the automobile and knocked on the door, and as soon as mr. o'hare opened it, he said: "jump in with me, for my little nephew is lost and i want you to help me find him." so away they went into the friendly forest, and they looked all around, but, of course, there was no little rabbit that looked like billy bunny anywhere in sight. so uncle lucky and mr. o'hare got out, and after tying the automobile to a tree, they set out in different directions to find the little bunny. and uncle lucky went along a little path and mr. o'hare followed a small brook, and after a while the old gentleman rabbit heard a bird singing: "i saw a little rabbit a-sitting by a tree, and i should say he'd lost his way-- that's how he looked to me." "where did you see him?" asked uncle lucky excitedly. but what the little bird replied you must wait to hear in the next story. story v. billy bunny and the runaway dog. you remember in the last story just as uncle lucky asked the little bird to tell him where billy bunny was i had to leave off for there was no more room in the story for me to add another word? well, what the little bird said was: "follow the path, mr. lucky lefthindfoot, 'till you come to a bridge, and then turn to your right, and pretty soon, if the little bunny hasn't hopped away, you'll find your lost nephew." so uncle lucky started right off. he didn't wait to even dust off his old wedding stovepipe hat, and by and by he came to the bridge. but oh dear me! right in the middle of it stood a big dog, and when he saw the old gentleman rabbit he gave a loud bark and ran at him. and what do you think the dear old bunny did? he honked on his automobile horn, which he had in his paw, and this frightened the dog so dreadfully that he turned around and ran away so fast that he would have left his tail a thousand miles behind him if it hadn't been tied on the way dogs' tails are, you know. and after that uncle lucky crossed the bridge and turned to his right and pretty soon he saw billy bunny under a bush looking very miserable and unhappy. but when he heard his uncle lucky's voice, for the old gentleman rabbit gave a cry of delight as soon as he saw him, the little rabbit looked as happy as he had before he was lost. "here's an apple pie for you," said the dear, kind old gentleman rabbit, taking a lovely pie out of his pocket. "i knew you'd rather have something to eat than a million carrot cents." and of course the little rabbit would, for he was so hungry he could have eaten brass tacks, or maybe iron nails. "now come along with me," said uncle lucky. "we'll go back to the luckymobile. your cousin, mr. o'hare, went the other way to look for you, so i suppose we'll have a dreadful time to find him. but, never mind, i've found you." and dear, affectionate uncle lucky hugged his small nephew, he was so glad to be with him once more. well, after they reached the automobile they honked and honked on the horn hoping mr. o'hare would hear them. but i guess he didn't, for he never came back, although they waited until it was almost o'clock. "we'll have to go home without him," said uncle lucky at last. and i guess he was wise not to wait any longer, for it was growing dark, and to drive an automobile through a forest is not an easy thing to do at night. and just then, all of a sudden, willie wind came blowing through the tree tops. when he saw the two little bunnies he said: "your cousin, mr. o'hare, has fallen into a deep hole over yonder." and willie wind pointed down the friendly forest trail. in the next story you shall hear how uncle lucky and billy bunny found their cousin, mr. o'hare. story vi. billy bunny and mr. o'hare's escape. you remember in the last story how willie wind whispered to billy bunny and uncle lucky that their cousin, mr. o'hare, had fallen into a deep hole? well, it didn't take the two little rabbits more than five short seconds and maybe five and a half hops to reach the spot, and then they looked over the edge, but very carefully, you know, for fear they might fall in, and there, sure enough, way down at the bottom was mr. o'hare looking very miserable indeed. "keep up your courage!" cried uncle lucky in as cheerful a voice as he could muster, and then he looked around to find a rope or a ladder. but of course there were not any ropes and ladders lying about, so that kind old gentleman rabbit peeped over the edge of the hole and called down again, "keep up your courage! we'll get you out!" although he didn't know how he was going to do it, and neither do you and neither do i and neither does the printer man. well, after a while, and it was quite a long while, too, billy bunny found a wild grapevine which he let down into the hole. "make a loop and put it around your waist and uncle lucky and i will haul you out," he called down, and then mr. o'hare did as he was told, and after the two little rabbits had pulled and pulled until their breath was almost gone, mr. o'hare's head appeared at the top of the hole. and then with one more big pull they brought him out safely, although his waist was dreadfully sore because the grapevine had cut into his fur and squeezed all the breath out of him. "i'm going to complain to the street cleaning department or the first policeman i see," said mr. o'hare. "it's a dreadful thing to have a hole like this right in the middle of the friendly forest trail." "never mind that," said billy bunny, "let's go back to the luckymobile. it will be late before we get out of the woods and maybe the electricity will all be gone and then we can't light the lamps, and maybe we'll be arrested." and this is just what happened. they had only gone a little ways when they heard a voice say: "stop your motor car, i say, you have no lamps to light the way. come, stop your car and get right out! listen, don't you hear me shout? stop your car or i will shoot. don't try away from me to scoot!" "we don't intend to," said uncle lucky, and he put on the brake and the luckymobile came to a standstill. and there in the road stood a big policeman cat, with a club and gold buttons on his coat and a big helmet, and his number was two dozen and a half. "get out of your car," he commanded, which means to say something sternly, but before the two little rabbits obeyed, something happened, but what it was you must wait to hear in the next story. story vii. billy bunny and the policeman cat. well, i'm glad to say it was something nice that happened just as i left off in the last story. you remember the policeman cat had arrested billy bunny and his uncle lucky. well, just as that policeman cat lifted his club to tickle uncle lucky's left hind foot, a big elm tree began to bark and of course the policeman cat was nearly scared to death. he thought it was a dog, you see, and instead of tickling dear, kind uncle lucky with his club, he turned tail and ran off down the road. and he ran so fast that he left his number behind and uncle lucky picked it up and put it on the automobile, and after that they asked two little fireflies to sit inside the lamps and make them shine, for you remember the electricity had all burned up. well, after a while, they came to a turn in the road and, goodness gracious! before they could stop the automobile they ran into a milk wagon. and, oh, dear me! there was whipped cream all over the place, and billy bunny and uncle lucky looked like two little cream puffs. and i suppose you are wondering where the driver of the milk wagon was all this time. and so were uncle lucky and billy bunny, and if you'll wait a minute i'll tell you, as soon as my typewriter behaves itself, for it got so excited when luckymobile ran into the milk wagon that it caught my thumb and pinched it. well, pretty soon, after uncle lucky had looked behind the moon and billy bunny into all the empty milk cans and one full one, they found the driver up in a weeping willow tree. "i'll come down if you'll promise not to run over me," he said, for he was nearly frightened to death and looked dreadfully funny, for one of the milk can covers had fallen on his head. "i thought he would be mad as a hornet," whispered billy bunny to his rabbit uncle. "but where's my horse?" said the milkman when he reached the ground. so they all looked around and everywhere else, but they couldn't find him until they looked up into another weeping willow tree. and there was the poor horse high up in the branches. "oh, i'll come down from this willow tree, if you'll promise me just one thing, and that is never again to say: 'gid-ap' as you drive me along the way, for i always go the best i can; i'm a faithful friend to every man, so please don't hurry me so, for i'm not trying to go too slow." "all right, my good old horse," said kind uncle lucky. "your master shall give me his word." so the horse jumped down and the willow tree stopped weeping right away, for it was so glad that the poor old milk horse was never again to be hurried on his way. and in the next story i'll tell you why. story viii. billy bunny and the gray mouse. you remember in the last story how the luckymobile had run into a milk wagon? well, after billy bunny had helped the milkman hitch up his horse and uncle lucky had filled the milk cans with ice cream and soda water from a near-by candy store, so as not to have all the little boys and girls disappointed at breakfast when they didn't get their milk, our two little rabbit friends got into the luckymobile and started off again. well, it was still evening, you know, and the little fireflies who had crawled into the lamps made them as bright as possible, so it wasn't hard to steer the automobile. and, after a while, maybe a mile, they came to a house, where lived a gray mouse, all alone by herself in a hole near a shelf, where cake and mince pies made her open her eyes, for they looked, oh, so good, as a pie or cake should. now i didn't know i was going to write poetry or i should have let my hair grow long like a poet instead of going to the barber for a shave. well, anyway, the two little rabbits stopped the automobile right in front of mousie's door and when she heard the horn go honk, honk, she came to the window and looked out. "why, it's mr. lucky lefthindfoot," she squeaked, and then she opened the door and asked the two little rabbits in and gave them some pie and cake. "you can put the automobile in the barn if you like," she said, "and spend the night here, for it's getting very dark and maybe you'll run into something." so billy bunny took the luckymobile around to the barn, and just then an old owl began to toot: "i'm very fond of little gray mice, and little white rabbits, too, are nice." and down flew that old gray owl and made a grab for billy bunny. but he didn't catch him. no, sireemam! for the little rabbit hopped into the henhouse through the little round door, and the big red rooster began to crow: "look here, mr. owl, if you come inside i'll hurt you with my spur. don't you dare get funny with billy bunny, or muss his pretty white fur." and then he flew down from his perch and said, "cock-a-doodle-do" three times and a half, and after that the owl flew away. "that was very kind of you," said the little rabbit. "oh, don't mention it," said the red rooster, "but there is one thing you can do for me." "what's that?" asked billy bunny. "take me luckymobiling," laughed the red rooster. "all right. to-morrow uncle lucky and i will invite you for a nice drive," said the little rabbit, and if the luckymobile doesn't get sick maybe uncle lucky will ask some little boy or girl to go, too, and maybe it might be you. story ix. billy bunny and red rooster. well, the next morning when the little rabbits woke up the sun was shining brightly through their bedroom window and mrs. mousie was singing a song down in the kitchen below as she made hot muffins for breakfast. and this is what she sang: "upstairs in my nice guest room are two nice little rabbits in bed. as soon as i'm able i'll fix up the table and give them some honey and bread. and then a hot muffin to give them a stuffin', and then they'll be bountifully fed." and when billy bunny heard her he grew so hungry that he hurried faster than he had ever hurried before, and so did the old gentleman rabbit, and he buttoned his collar on backwards and put his left shoe on his right foot and tripped over his old wedding stovepipe hat. and after that they both hopped downstairs, and as soon as mrs. mousie heard them she brought in the bread and honey and the hot muffins and they all had breakfast. and after that billy bunny asked her to go automobiling with them. so she put on her old gray bonnet with a bit of ribbon on it, and tied the strings under her chin, and put on her black silk mitts and her gold locket breastpin with the picture of mr. mousie inside. "you don't mind if we invite the red rooster to go along, too, do you?" asked billy bunny, and then he told her how the rooster had scared away the old owl. and of course mrs. mousie didn't care, so the rooster got in and sat on the back seat with mrs. mousie. well, after they had gone for maybe a mile, and maybe some more, they came to a beautiful candy store, where the windows were full of peppermint sticks and a brown sugar monkey did all sorts of tricks. "stop right here," said the red rooster, "and i'll get out and buy you a bag of candy." and when he came back he had four bags of candy. just think of that! in one bag was sugar-coated carrots for billy bunny, and another bag was full of candied carrots for uncle lucky, and in the bag he gave to mrs. mousie were two little chocolate mice. "what have you got in your bag?" asked uncle lucky as he made the luckymobile jump over a high ditch and run along through a lovely green meadow spread all over with buttercups. "sugared peanuts," answered the red rooster. "i just love them. the last time i went to the circus i ate forty-nine bags and a half and drank twenty-three glasses of pink lemonade and a bushel of popcorn." "wait a minute," said the old gentleman rabbit. "i've got a stomach ache listening. how did you do it?" and in the next story i'll tell you what the rooster said, that is, if nothing happens to prevent it, for he certainly was a wonderful rooster, to be able to eat all that. story x. billy bunny and mrs. cow. well, something did happen to prevent the red rooster from telling billy bunny how he had been able to eat forty-nine bags and a half of peanuts at the circus, as i mentioned in the last story. you see, as the luckymobile galloped along over the meadow, all of a sudden, just like that, it ran right into the babbling brook, and then of course it stopped so suddenly that billy bunny and uncle lucky didn't stop at all, neither did mrs. mousie and the red rooster. they just kept right on going, and the first thing they knew and the first thing you know, they all landed in the long grass beside mrs. cow. "my, how you startled me!" she exclaimed, and she rang the little bell at her neck and up ran her little calf, who was only two weeks old, and had never seen billy bunny and his friends before. after that she walked down to the babbling brook--but oh, dear me! all the electricity oil had spilled out of the cabaret and she couldn't drink the water, and all the little fish were covered with it just like sardines, you know, and the watercress had salad dressing all over it, so of course she couldn't eat the watercress. "never mind," said kind little billy bunny, and he took out of his knapsack a big yellow lemon lollypop and gave it to her, and then she didn't care, for she just loved candy. "i'll help you get the automobile out," said mrs. cow gratefully, for she liked anybody who was kind to her little calf. so she put her horns under the front of the luckymobile and then she said, "heave ho, e-ho!" and pushed and shoved and lifted that big heavy automobile right out of the brook without even cracking her two long horns. "if you don't mind," said the red rooster, "i'll leave you two little rabbits and make a call on cocky docky up at the old farm." "and if you don't care," squeaked little mrs. mousie, "i'll call on dickey meadowmouse." so uncle lucky and billy bunny hopped into the automobile and drove off, while mrs. cow tinkled her bell and sang: "moo, moo, moo. i'm glad i helped you two. one good turn deserves another. when you see your bunny mother, tell her how your car i took safely from the babbling brook." "it's a puzzle to me," said uncle lucky, "why we are always having so many accidents. maybe i had better get a chauffeur." "you won't need any chauffeur after i'm done with you," said a deep growly voice, and out from behind a clump of bushes jumped a wicked wildcat and bit one of the front tires, she was so hungry. and what do you suppose happened then? why the tire burst with such a loud noise, just like a gun, you know, that the wildcat was frightened nearly to death and she turned around and ran away so fast that she got home an hour too early for supper. story xi. bill bunny and the big bear. near the friendly forest pool is the woodland singing school. little squirrel bushy tail sings the do, ray, mee, fa scale. uncle bullfrog sings "ker-chunk" from his floating elm tree trunk. and a big good-natured bear sings an old familiar air. "it's time for your singing lesson," said mrs. bunny to her little rabbit. so billy bunny started off, hoppity hop, down the friendly forest trail, and by and by he reached the pool where all the pupils came to take their singing lessons. mr. grasshopper was there with his fiddle and the tree toad with his drum, and the lark with her flute and little jenny wren with her piano. and what do you suppose billy bunny had tucked away in his knapsack? why, uncle lucky's automobile horn. you see, the kind old gentleman rabbit was making a visit at the old brier patch where he had taken his automobile after that dreadful wildcat had bitten the front tire, and this is how billy bunny came to get the horn. well, sir, after the music started, he pulled out his horn and gave a tre-men-dous honk on it, and everybody thought an automobile was going to run over him. some jumped into the pool and some ran up the trees, and, oh, dear me! everybody got all out of tune, and the bear lost the air and couldn't find it again! and just then who should come along but a peddler with a pack of tin cans, rattling away on his back, and of course he made more noise than all the singing school put together. and when the big bear saw him he was so angry that he jumped from behind a tree and said, "boo!" "do you want to buy a tin plate?" asked the peddler, trying hard not to be frightened, "or would rather have a dishpan?" "don't want either," said the bear with a terrible growl. "perhaps you'd like a nutmeg grater," said the poor old peddler, and he was so frightened by this time that his knees knocked into the tin pans and made a dreadful noise. "i've a dandy egg beater," went on the peddler, in a trembling voice, but after that he never said another word, for that great big bear jumped right at him and took the egg beater out of his hands and growled so terribly that the tin peddler turned away and ran down the forest path as fast as he could go. and then all the little and big forest folk began to sing: "hip, hip hurray, the peddler's gone away. no more he'll make his tin pans shake and spoil our singing school beside the forest pool." and in the next story, if the baby who lives in the house opposite doesn't shake his rattle at me all night so that i can't get to sleep and dream about the next story in time to write it for to-morrow night, i'll tell you more about the little rabbit's adventures. story xii. billy bunny and the rabbitville "gazette." there was once a little rabbit who was very fond of pie, apple pie, with sugar on the crust. and he had a little habit, when his mother wasn't nigh, of eating apple pie until he bust. this is what mr. william bunny, the little rabbit's father, you know, was singing one day, and the reason was because mrs. bunny had found little billy bunny in the pantry. and what happened to the little rabbit i'm not going to tell you, for it is so sad that it would make you weep to hear it. "all day he nibbled pie till at last i thought he'd die," said the doctor with a sigh. and then mr. william bunny looked at his small son and sighed, too, for he had just paid the doctor's bill. "please don't sing any more," said little billy bunny. "don't you remember the doctor said i was to be kept quiet?" so mr. william bunny went out on the porch to smoke a cigar and read the rabbitville "gazette" until after supper time. and while he was reading mrs. bunny looked over his shoulder and read: "wanted, a secondhand automobile in good condition." "ring up your uncle lucky on the telephone," she called to billy bunny. "here's a chance for him to sell his luckymobile." so the little rabbit rang up lettuceville, and in a few minutes he heard the old gentleman's voice at the other end of the wire. "but i don't want to sell my luckymobile," he said. "it's the only one in ex-is-tence," which means the only one ever made, and i guess he was right, for i never rode in a luckymobile, did you? "but mother thinks you ought to sell it," said billy bunny, "and so does father, for they both say you'll have a terrible accident some day if you don't look out." "well then, i'll look out," said uncle lucky with a laugh. "but i won't sell my luckymobile." and then he asked billy bunny to make him a visit. so the little rabbit put on his knapsack and picked up his striped candy cane and started off, after first asking his mother's permission, of course. and after he had gone for maybe a million hops, he came to a big tree where old barney the owl had his next. but of course, he wasn't awake. oh, my, no. he had his eyes tightly closed, for owls don't like a bright light, you know. they can see in the dark but not in the daytime. but when billy bunny called out, "helloa, mr. barney," the old gentleman owl blinked his eyes and said, "who's calling me?" and then the little rabbit thought he'd play a joke, so he said, "mr. mouse!" and if there was anything that old barney loved to eat, it was mice. and in the next story i'll tell you what billy bunny did. story xiii. billy bunny and mr. mole. you remember in the last story i promised to tell you what billy bunny did when old barney the owl asked him, "who's there?" and the little rabbit replied, "mr. mouse," just to fool him, you know. well, after that old barney the owl gave a terrible scowl as he looked at little bill bunny. you thought you were wise, but my blinky old eyes can see you are not a bit funny. i can see from my house you are not mr. mouse. and then the old blinkerty, winkerty owl flopped down to the ground and tried to catch the little rabbit. but billy bunny was too quick for him. he jumped into a hollow stump before you could say "jack rabbit!" "come out of there," cried old barney, in a screechery, teachery voice, but you just bet the little bunny didn't. he knew what would happen if he did. well, by and by, after a long while, he looked around, and, would you believe it, he found a little pair of stairs. so down he hopped until he came to a door on which was painted in red letters: "mr. mole, subway contractor." then the little rabbit knocked on the door and pretty soon it was opened and there stood mr. mole himself. "what do you want?" he asked, trying to squint out of his little tiny eyes that were hidden all over with hair. "it's me--billy bunny," replied the little rabbit. "mr. owl tried to catch me and i hopped into your hollow stump entrance, but i haven't got a ticket for the subway." "well, you can come in anyway," said the kind old mole; "my subway isn't finished yet and the trains won't be running for some time. come in." so billy bunny hopped inside and sat down on a chair close to a little brass railing, behind which stood mr. mole's desk. then mr. mole sat down and looked at billy bunny as much as to say, "and now what can i do for you?" so billy bunny said, "i would like to get up on the ground again. can you show me a new way, because i don't want to go back the way i came?" then mr. mole pressed a little bell, and in came a mole with overalls on and a little pickaxe. "show my friend, mr. billy bunny, through the tunnel to the moss bank entrance." "thank you," said the little rabbit, and he hopped after the workman mole until they came to an opening. and when the little rabbit got outside once more he found himself on a mossy bank where blossomed a lovely bed of violets. so he picked a bouquet for himself and stuck it in his buttonhole, and after that he hopped away singing a song. and if robbie redbreast hadn't heard it i never would have been able to tell it to you. wasn't it lucky that the little robin sang it to me this morning while i was still in bed? because, if he hadn't, how would i have ever learned it? over the clover and over the grass hoppity, hop, i go; over the leaves from the autumn trees and over the soft white snow, with a whistle and song i go hopping along, i'm billy bunny, you know. story xiv. billy bunny and the water snake. "over the grass or over the snow, fast as a little white breeze i go. i'm billy bunny, billy bunny, you know." thus sang the little rabbit even after i left off in last night's story. isn't it strange? maybe i dreamed it. anyhow, that's what i think he did, and after a while, when he had stopped singing, you know, he came to a little hill on the top of which was a high white pole with an american flag flying from it. and underneath was a whole regiment of little boy bunny scouts, dressed in khaki, with guns and caps and brass buttons and guns and drums and a captain and a fife, and i guess there were three or four fifes, and as soon as they saw the little rabbit, they all shouted, "here comes billy bunny. let's get him to join our regiment." "i belong to the billy bunny boy scouts of old snake fence corner," replied the little rabbit. "i can't join your regiment." so he hopped along and by and by he came to a big white swan that was sailing up and down on a pond. "would you like to take a sail?" she asked, coming up close to the bank. "because if you would, just hop on my back and i'll take you around the pond two times and maybe a half if you'll give me a lollypop." so the little rabbit opened his knapsack and gave her one and then he hopped on her back and went for a lovely sail in and out among the pond lilies and little green grass islands. well, everything was going along beautifully when, all of a sudden, just like that, a big water snake came swimming by. "oh, don't let him swallow me," cried the little rabbit, and he took his popgun out of his knapsack and stuck the cork in the end. "i'll shoot you on the tail if you touch me," he cried just as bravely as he could, but he nearly slipped off the swan's back just the same, he was so frightened. "don't you come any nearer," said the swan with a fierce hiss, but the snake didn't care. he swam around and around until the little rabbit got so dizzy that he had to hold on to the swan's neck. "please swim around the other way," pleaded the little rabbit, "you make me dreadfully dizzy." but the bad water snake said he wouldn't, because that's just what he wanted billy bunny to be--so dizzy that he would fall into the water and then that dreadful water snake could swallow him and maybe a pond lily besides. "look here," said the swan, "if you don't stop making snakery circles all around me, i'll bite your head off with my big, strong beak." and then what do you think the little rabbit did? why, he managed somehow to lift up his gun and shoot it off, and the cork hit the water snake on the end of the tail and gave him such a headache that he swam over to the long grass and ate watercress salad and a piece of lemon pie. and while he was doing that the swan took the little rabbit to the other side of the pond and he hopped away so fast that he didn't tell me what he was going to do in to-morrow's story. story xv. billy bunny and the peacock. well, if it hadn't been for robbie redbreast who saw little billy bunny hopping away from the lily pond, as i told you in the last story, i never would have found out what he did after that, and so there would have been no story to-night. so the next time you see robbie redbreast, please thank him. and now this is what he told me. after the little rabbit had hopped along for maybe a mile or three, he came to a high stone wall. "i wonder what's on the other side?" he said to himself, and then a beautiful peacock looked over and said: "i'll tell you, little rabbit. "it's a beautiful garden where a fountain plays all day and the breezes sing all night and the flowers whisper and bow their heads." "how can i get in?" asked the little bunny, "for i love flowers and i never heard a fountain play. what does it play?" "oh, all sorts of waterfall music," said the peacock, and he spread his beautiful tail out like a fan and brushed a little green fly off his nose. "it plays trills and rills and cascades and ripples and dipples." and this made the little rabbit so curious that he hunted all around to find a gate in the high stone wall. and pretty soon, not so very long, he came to one, with big iron rods and curiously carved images of lions and dragons and animals with wings. so he squeezed through and hopped up to the beautiful fountain where lots of little gold and silver fish swam around and around and the water fell in diamonds and rubies and emeralds, but he didn't know that it was mr. happy sun who colored the water drops to make them look like precious stones. "please play me a tune," said the little rabbit. and then the beautiful peacock said, "what tune would you like?" and the little rabbit answered: "sprinkle, sprinkle, little star, just a water drop you are. twinkle, twinkle, drops of dew, with the sunlight shining through." so the beautiful fountain played this little song while billy bunny sat there listening and the beautiful peacock spread his tail to catch the sparkle from the glittering drops of water. and then all the roses began singing: roses white and roses red, and roses yellow too, instead, and pretty lilies white as snow, and every other flower you know. and after that billy bunny asked the peacock to sing a song, but when he started to sing, oh dear, oh dear. for you know just because a bird has beautiful feathers he may not have a beautiful voice, and the sounds the peacock made were dreadful. yes, indeed. and if the little rabbit hadn't skipped away he would have had to hold his paws over his ears, and then maybe he couldn't have stopped them up, for he had very large ears and very small feet. story xvi. billy bunny and the marble deer. in the story before this i told you how the beautiful peacock sang a song which was dreadful, so very dreadful that little billy bunny had to hold his ears and run away from the lovely fountain. well, after he had hopped along for maybe a million hops or less, he came to a little deer on a smooth lawn. so he stopped and spoke to him, but the pretty little animal never said a word. he didn't even look at the little rabbit, so billy bunny touched him on the nose, but, oh, dear me! it was cold and hard, not at all like the nose of a real little deer. but the little bunny didn't know it was a marble deer. he just thought it was alive, you see, and he was puzzled and didn't know what to do and then a lovely white dove flew down and said: "he can't speak. he's only a statue." "what is that?" asked the little rabbit, for he had never seen one before. "why, a statue is a figure carved out of marble or stone," answered the dove, and then she began to coo and comb her feathers with her bill. "well, i'll just hop along then," said billy bunny, and he said good-by. and after a while he came to a little house all covered with red rambler roses, so he looked inside to see who lived there, for he thought perhaps it might be a fairy who owned this beautiful garden with the lovely fountain and the wonderful peacock. but there was no one inside, so he hopped in and sat down on a small wicker chair and rocked back and forth. for it was a rocking chair, you know. and, by and by, he fell asleep and dreamed that the beautiful peacock was flying around the fountain and scattering the water drops all about with his mag-nif-i-cent tail. and then, all of a sudden, the little rabbit woke up, for somebody was saying: "isn't this a dear little bunny?" and billy bunny opened his eyes and saw a little girl with yellow curls leaning over him. "give him to me," said a boy's voice. and there stood a small boy dressed in a sailor suit and a big sailor hat on which was written, "battleship uncle sam." and then billy bunny knew it was time to be going. so he gave one big hop and maybe two million and a half little skips and jumps, and soon he was far away, and if he hadn't maybe that little boy would have put him in a cage or a big box and kept him shut up for a long time. "goodness!" said the little rabbit, "i must be more careful next time." and then something happened. a little hard ball hit him on the left hind foot, and a man's voice called out, "if it hadn't been for that pesky little rabbit i would have made that hole." and the big man put his golf stick in the bag and watched billy bunny limp away to hide in the woods close by. story xvii. billy bunny and the forest dance. when the moon is big and bright little bunnies dance at night. how they hop and skip and go on their lucky left hind toe. well, sir, that's what billy bunny was doing. it was a lovely moonlight night in august, and the big, round moon was gleaming down on the pleasant meadow just like an electric lamp, only it was up in the sky, you know, and not on the ceiling. and mrs. bunny was there, too, and so was cousin cottontail, and all the little rabbits for miles around. now it's a dangerous thing to be dancing, even if the moon is bright, for owls and hawks fly by night, and if they happen to see a bunny dance, they always fly down and break it up. they don't say a word; they just fly away with one of the little bunny dancers and he never dances any more. no, sireemam. well, on this particular night little billy bunny was doing the fox trot with a nice little lady bunny, when all of a sudden from out of the friendly forest came slyboots and bushy tail, the small sons of daddy fox, you remember. and the reason they were out so late at night was because their father had sprained his foot jumping over a stone fence to get away from a pack of hounds who had chased him for a thousand and one miles and fourteen feet. now billy bunny had forgotten all about daddy fox. he was thinking only about robber hawk or old barney the owl, and so he never saw the two foxes until they were so close to him that they almost stubbed their whiskers on his powder puff tail. and if it hadn't been for the lady bunny who was dancing with him maybe slyboots, or maybe bushy tail, would have caught the little bunny. but the lady rabbit saw them just in time and she gave a scream and hopped into a hollow stump and billy bunny after her, and then all that the two foxes could do was to stand close by and say: "isn't that a shame, to spoil their little game, to stop their dancing and their prancing, who do you think's to blame?" "you are, you two bad foxes," said billy bunny, but he didn't come out of that hollow stump. no, sireemam, he staid inside and so did the little lady rabbit, and by and by the two bad foxes went away and told their father, daddy fox, all about it, and he said, "don't make any excuse. "you are very poor hunters if you can't catch a rabbit when he's dancing the fox trot." and i guess he was right, for slyboots and bushy tail were so ashamed that they didn't dare look in their mother's looking-glass for two days and three nights. and in the next story if billy bunny gets out of that hollow stump before i see him, i'll ask robbie redbreast to tell me what he does so that i can write to-morrow's story for you to read. story xviii. billy bunny and ragged rabbit. robbie redbreast told me this morning he saw billy bunny hop out of the hollow stump where he had hidden with the little lady bunny, you remember in the last story, to escape from the two bad foxes. well, after he had looked all around to make sure they were gone, he said good-by to miss rabbit. and then, so robbie redbreast told me, he looked at his gold watch and chain, which his dear, kind uncle lucky had given him for a birthday present, and it was just thirteen o'clock. "that's my lucky number," exclaimed the little rabbit; "maybe i'll find my fortune to-day." and he looked all about him, under a stone and behind a bush, but there wasn't any fortune in sight, not even a twenty-dollar gold piece. so he wound his watch and started off again; and by and by, not so very far, he came to a castle where lived a giant bunny whose name was "ragged rabbit" because he always wore torn and tattered clothes. and when he saw billy bunny hopping along, he said, "ha, ha. ho, hum, i'll eat that little bunny as sure as i'm a foot high!" and as he was twenty-one feet high less or more, he surely thought he would. "what did you say?" asked billy bunny, for his quick ears had caught the sound of the ragged rabbit's voice, but not the words. "oh, never mind," answered the ragged giant rabbit. "come and i'll show you my castle." and, oh, dear me. billy hopped in and the big giant rabbit closed the door with a bang, and all the pictures on the walls almost fell down and the chandelier rattled like a milk wagon full of empty cans. but the little rabbit wasn't frightened. and could you guess what he did if i let you guess until to-morrow night? well, sir, that brave little bunny took his popgun out of his knapsack and shot it off, and it made a dreadful loud pop, and the big ragged rabbit said, "oh, my! was that a cannon?" and then he laughed so loud that he broke a window pane and had to telephone right away to the plumber to have one put in. "that's my pop-gun, mr. giant," said billy bunny, "and if you try to hurt me i'll shoot you." and then the ragged giant rabbit laughed again, and this time the picture of his grandfather fell down and made a big dent in the floor. "if you don't stop laughing," said the little rabbit, "you'll deafen me. please only giggle." so the giant rabbit grew very polite indeed and only smiled, and then of course nothing was broken. "tell me who you are and where you are going and what time it is," he said, "and then i'll give you something to eat." but before the little rabbit could reply a loud knocking came at the door, and so you'll have to wait to hear who was there until to-morrow, for i've no more room in this story. story xix. billy bunny and tailor bird. you remember in the last story somebody was knocking at the door of the ragged rabbit's castle, don't you? the giant rabbit, who always wore torn and tattered clothes because he had no wife to mend them and wouldn't pay his tailor's bills? well, who do you suppose was on the other side of that door? just wait until the giant rabbit opens it and you shall see. now open your eyes, if you have shut them, and see uncle lucky, as sure as i am writing this story and you are reading it. yes, sir. there stood the dear old gentleman rabbit, and oh, dear me, didn't he look worried? i suppose he thought he'd find billy bunny inside the giant. but when he saw billy bunny standing there, safe and sound and happy, with his popgun in his hand and a smile on his face, he began to laugh. "whew!" exclaimed the old gentleman rabbit, greatly relieved, which means to feel much better. "i'm glad to see you, my dear nephew. and also to make your acquaintance, mr. ragged rabbit giant. my name is mr. lucky lefthindfoot. howdy!" and he put out his right front paw and shook hands with the giant, who had to lean way down to reach uncle lucky's paw. "but, goodness me!" said the old gentleman rabbit after looking at the giant for some moments, "you need a tailor. let me call the tailor bird to mend your clothes. you are too nice a rabbit not to be well dressed." and kind uncle lucky went to the telephone and told the tailor bird to bring a spool of thread a mile long and a needle as big as a spear for he had a giant customer for him with holes in his clothes as big as a circus ring. the tailor bird said he'd try to, but wouldn't promise unless he could send in a bill as big as a newspaper spread out flat. "will that be all right?" asked uncle lucky after he had explained matters to the ragged giant rabbit. "certainly," said the giant rabbit with a grin, "and tell him i'll pay him with a dollar bill as big as a turkish rug or a crex carpet." and then they all sat down and told funny stories, and billy bunny sang a song that went something like this, only much nicer, but i can't quite remember it all: "oh, you're a raggerty, taggerty man, in a castle big and old, and i'm a billy bunny boy with a heart that's brave and bold. you can't scare me with your thunder laugh or your club like a telegraph pole, so you'd better allow the tailor bird to sew up each raggerty hole." and then the tailor bird commenced and it took him until half-past fourteen o'clock to mend that giant rabbit's clothes. "i might just as well have made you a new suit," he said, as the last inch of the mile-long spool of thread was used up. "i declare i never had such a job before." and i guess he spoke the truth, for i never met a giant rabbit in my tailor's shop, although i once had a giant bill from my tailor. story xx. billy bunny and parson crow. well, after the tailor bird got his money from the ragged giant rabbit for mending his clothes, he thanked billy bunny and uncle lucky and said he must be going for he had to make a suit of clothes right away for parson crow. "if you'll wait a minute you can go with us," said kind uncle lucky; "we'll take you home in the automobile." of course the tailor bird was only too anxious to get a ride, although he did have a good pair of wings. but the needle was pretty heavy and, anyway, tailor birds don't often have the opportunity to ride in automobiles. well, after a little ways, not so very far, the luckymobile came to a stop and, of course, billy bunny had to get out to see what was the matter, and he hunted and hunted all over the machine, but couldn't find out what was wrong. by and by he saw one of the numbers had dropped off the little license plate that hung down from the rear axle. so he hopped back, and by and by, just as he was going to give up looking for it, parson crow flew by, and when he saw billy bunny he stopped and said: "what are you looking for, little rabbit?" and when billy bunny told him, he took the number out of his pocket and handed it to the little bunny. "here's your number," cawed the black crow, although i never heard of a white one except once, and that was a bad bird who had been whitewashed by a colored painter because he ate up all the corn. "that's my lucky number," said billy bunny. and then the crow said in a mournful voice: "it's mine, too, and i just hate to give it up." "well, if you can get me another number, i don't care if you keep it," said the little rabbit. and then what do you think that crow did? why, he got a nice smooth little chip and made a lovely number on it with a red pencil and handed it to the little rabbit. and as soon as he had tied it on the luckymobile, would you believe it if i didn't say so, that luckymobile started to go all by itself. and if billy bunny hadn't been mighty quick he would have been left behind. "where are you two rabbits going?" asked the crow as he flew alongside of the luckymobile. "because if you are not in a hurry, why don't you come with me to the meeting house to-night and hear me preach?" "we will," said kind uncle lucky, "and i'll drop a carrot cent in the collection box if you want me to." so after a while they stopped near a tall pine tree and parson crow sat on a limb and waited for all the little people of the forest to come to the meeting. well, after they were all there, he began: "now, listen to the words i say, and do your duty every day. be always good and most polite and do the things you know are right. oh, never say an angry word to any animal or bird, so when the night comes 'twill be good to feel you've done the best you could." and after that uncle lucky dropped a carrot dollar in the collection box and drove home with billy bunny. story xxi. billy bunny and jack-in-the-box. oh, i'm a rollicking jack-in-the-box, and i'm not afraid of a bear or a fox, for every one's scared when up i pop, and the little girl cries, "oh, stop! oh, stop!" i'm the bravest thing you ever saw, i'm not afraid of my mother-in-law! well, sir, i suppose you'll think billy bunny was frightened and that uncle lucky lost his breath and the automobile a tire. but nothing of the sort happened. instead, the old gentleman rabbit laughed so hard that his collar button fell out and it took him fifteen minutes and half an hour to find it. and then he never would have if the jack-in-the-box hadn't seen it first. and where do you suppose that ex-as-per-a-ting, which means teasing, button was? you'd never guess, so i'll have to tell you without asking you again. it was in the old gentleman rabbit's waistcoat pocket where he kept his gold watch and chain and pocket knife and pencil with a rubber on the end and a toothpick. "how did you see it pop into my pocket?" he asked the jack-in-the-box. "i'll never tell you," said the jack-in-the-box, "but what does that matter? you've found your collar button, and that's enough." "if i come across your cousin jack-in-the-pulpit," said uncle lucky, after he had buttoned up his collar and wound his watch, "i'll tell him how kind you were to find my collar button for me," and then the old gentleman rabbit took off his old wedding stovepipe hat and bowed to the jack-in-the-box and drove away in the luckmobile down the road, and when he came to a bridge he said to his little nephew, "do you think we're on the right road?" "i don't remember this bridge, do you?" and then a voice cried out, "don't be anxious, mr. lucky lefthindfoot. this is the road to lettuceville. "keep right on after you cross the bridge until you come to a little red schoolhouse and then turn to your left and then turn to your right and if you don't get home until morning you've made a mistake." "thank you," said uncle lucky. "and if i make a mistake i'll come back and give you a scolding," and after that they crossed the bridge, and just as they came to the first turn in the road they heard a dreadful loud noise in the woods close by. "what's that?" asked billy bunny, and he turned up his left ear and his coat collar so that he could hear better. "it's an old friend of yours," answered a deep growly kind of a voice, and before the two rabbits could wonder who it was their friend, the good-natured bear jumped out of the bushes. "take me with you, please," he said, "for i've run a splinter in my foot and it hurts me to walk." and in the next story you shall hear of another adventure which the two little rabbits had. story xxii. billy bunny and dr. duck. you remember in the last story how the good-natured bear asked billy bunny and uncle lucky to give him a ride in the luckymobile because he had run a splinter in his foot. well, as soon as he had climbed into the automobile, and it took him almost / seconds to do it, for the splinter was so long that it caught on the door, uncle lucky started off and by and by they came to the house where the good duck doctor lived.--dr. quack, you remember. "now, i'll go in and get him to come out and look at your splinter," said billy bunny, as he hopped out of the luckymobile and rang the front door bell, and in a minute, less or more, a nice looking lady duck came out and said, "the doctor is away on his vacation. he's gone to the lily pond for two weeks. but you can call him up on the telephone if you like. the number is waterville, umpty eleven." so the little rabbit called up the number and when the doctor heard what was the matter, he said, "you had better come to see me. "you have the automobile right there, and it's a dangerous thing to have so large a splinter as that. tell mr. bear he'll have a dreadful corn if it isn't taken out at once." so they all hurried away and pretty soon they came to lily pond, and there was dr. duck swimming around among the pond lilies and the frogs, having a lovely time. and wasn't he sunburnt? well, i should say he was. his bill was as dark as a little brown berry and his nose was as red as a little choke cherry. "that looks very serious to me," said he, putting on his glasses and looking at mr. bear's injured feet. "i'll have to get a saw and cut off your foot." and then mr. bear gave a dreadful howl. "oh, please don't saw off my foot. it's sore enough already." "i didn't mean to saw off your foot," said dr. duck. "did i say that? i mean to saw off the splinter and then put on a poultice and draw out the pain." well, it took a long time to do all that, and the poor bear cried several times, for it hurt the splinter dreadfully, you know, to be sawed off that way. but by and by the poultice began to draw, and pretty soon out came the splinter, and mr. bear felt ever so much better. that is, until the doctor said, "it will cost you a million dollars, for that was a very serious operation." "i've never even seen a million dollars," said the bear. "nor even a million cents. you'll have to mail me a corrected bill," and then he jumped into the automobile and asked uncle lucky to drive away. "stop, stop!" cried the duck doctor, but uncle lucky paid no attention to him, any more than the bear paid the bill. "you send a corrected bill to my friend," said the old gentleman rabbit. "and, mind you, you had better correct it three times and a half if you ever want it paid." and in the next story you shall hear of an exciting adventure which the two little rabbits had with a fretful porcupine. story xxiii. bunny and the fretful porcupine. oh, never tease a porcupine, for reasons i'll relate, he's like a cushion full of pins that stand out stiff and straight. and if you stand too close i know he'll stick one in your little toe. well, that's just what uncle lucky did, and of course he got stuck with one of those prickly, stickery porcupine needles and it was an awful bother to get it out. and the fretful porcupine laughed and this made billy bunny very angry, and he took his popgun out of his knapsack and hit the porcupine on the end of the nose with the cork bullet, and this made the prickly animal run away. and after that the two rabbits started off again in the luckymobile and by and by they came to a little village where they made lollypops by the million. and the first thing uncle lucky did was to buy a big box full of them and put it in the back of the luckymobile, "for," said the kind old gentleman rabbit, "we may run across some boys and girls and then we'll have something nice to give them." wasn't that kind of him? but he was always doing nice things, was dear, kind, generous uncle lucky. well, after a while they came to some woods where a picnic was being held. there were lots and lots of children playing under the trees and the women were sitting around talking and telling their troubles, and the men were making whistles and bows and arrows for the boys and telling how they used to shoot with them when they were little boys. "helloa there, children!" cried uncle lucky, while billy bunny honked the horn. "don't you want some lollypops?" and in about five hundred short seconds there wasn't a lollypop left in that big box, and uncle lucky was a hero, or a santa claus, i don't remember which. and then one big boy said, "let's give three cheers for the two rabbits and one more for the luckymobile." and you never heard such a noise in your life. one little boy got so excited that he swallowed a raspberry lollypop and his mother had to reach down his throat and pull it out by the stick. "now be good until i see you again," said the kind old gentleman rabbit as he drove off, and by and by billy bunny saw something moving among the trees. "what's that?" he said to his rabbit uncle. but before the old gentleman rabbit could reply, a big stone hit one of the lamps on the automobile and broke it to splintereens. "stop that whoever you are!" shouted billy bunny. "if you do it again i'll shoot!" and he held his popgun up to his shoulder just like a soldier boy in battle. and if the little canary in my room doesn't wink at me all night so that i can't hear the alarm clock in the morning, i'll tell you another story. story xxiv. billy bunny and danny billygoat. well, my little canary bird didn't wink at me all night, as i feared it might in the last story, and my alarm clock said "good morning" to me at half-past fourteen o'clock, so i got up in time, and here is the story i wrote before i went out into the garden to eat raspberries with robbie redbreast. one evening as uncle lucky and billy bunny were driving along in the luckymobile, who should they come across but a little billygoat named danny. he had a little beard that hung down from his chin and two little horns that stuck up from his head, and he was playing on a flute while he sat cross-legged on a stone by the roadside. and when he saw our two small friends in their machine, he began to play: it's not so far to the twinkle star in the little white boat of sleep. so list to my tune, like a breeze in june, where the honeysuckles creep. over the sky, way up high, in the little white boat of sleep. ever so far to the twinkle star way up in the sky blue deep. "where did you learn that lullaby," asked kind uncle lucky, brushing a tear from his eye, for he remembered just a little song his mother used to sing when he was a little boy rabbit, you know. "i don't know," answered danny goat. he pulled on his goatee and smiled, and then he began again: "up in the sky when the sun is high the white cloud boats go sailing by, and the summer breeze in the tall, tall trees is singing a song the whole day long. and this is the song they sing: we ring the bell in the cool damp dell that grows on the lily's stalk, we bend the ferns in the river's turns and the tail of the great gray hawk; and the foamy spray in the big deep bay we blow on the great boardwalk." "that reminds me of atlantic city," said uncle lucky. "let's drive down there and go for a swim." "just the thing," said the little rabbit; "i've got my bathing suit in my knapsack. i'm ready." so off they went, and by and by they came to the seashore. but there wasn't a hotel in sight, so of course they knew they had made a mistake. they didn't care, especially billy bunny, for not very far from land was the big good-natured whale who had taken him for a sail a long, long time ago. "there's my friend the whaleship!" cried the little rabbit. and in the next story, if that whale doesn't swim away, i'll tell you something more about billy bunny and his kind uncle lucky. story xxv. billy bunny and the whale. you remember in the story before this that billy bunny and uncle lucky were at the seashore, and out a little ways from the land was the good-natured whale. well, as soon as he saw the little rabbit he swam up to the beach and said "hello." and then billy bunny introduced him to uncle lucky, and after that the whale said: "don't you both want to go for a sail?" and as the old gentleman rabbit had never been on a whaleship in his life, he said yes right away, and so did the little rabbit. then the whale pushed his tail up on the sand and the two little rabbits hopped over it just like a bridge, and then they sat down, and away went the whale with a swish of his tail that spattered the spray all over the bay. "goodness me!" cried the old gentleman rabbit, "i'll have to wipe off my spectacles," and he took his polka-dot handkerchief from his pocket, and after that he tied it over his old wedding stovepipe hat, for he wasn't going to lose that hat, no siree, and a no sireemam, not even if he had to tie the anchor to it. by and by, not so very long, they heard a sweet voice singing, so they looked everywhere, but the only thing they saw was the big green ocean. "i wonder who is singing?" said uncle lucky, and he took his spyglass out of his waistcoat pocket and twisted it around and around until he could see distinctly, which means plainly, you know. "there she is!" cried the old gentleman rabbit, and he got so excited that he looked through the wrong end of the spyglass and then he said, "no, she isn't!" for he couldn't see anything at all that way, you know. "what did you see?" asked the little rabbit, and he pushed forward uncle lucky's old wedding stovepipe hat to keep it from falling over his left ear. "a mermaid!" cried the old gentleman rabbit, and before he could turn the spyglass the other way a lovely mermaid swam up and handed him her card, and on it was written in lovely purple ink: miss coral seafoam, oceanville, u. s. a. "pleased to meet you," cried the old gentleman rabbit most politely. "this is my nephew, william bunny, brier patch, old snake fence corner, and my name is mr. lucky lefthindfoot and i live in lettuceville, corner of carrot and lettuce streets," and then he tried to take off his hat, but he couldn't, for it was tied down tight, you remember, with his blue polka-dot handkerchief. and after that the mermaid asked them to visit her coral island, where she and her sisters sold coral beads and scarfpins. and in the next story you shall hear--well, i guess i won't tell you now, but let you wait and see. story xxvi. billy bunny and the mermaid. well, now we'll commence by saying that as soon as billy bunny and uncle lucky reached the coral island, where the lovely mermaid lived, for she had asked them to call, you remember, they got off the whale, and, after asking him to wait for them while they made a little visit, sat down on the sand, and pretty soon the mermaid brought them each a lovely coral scarfpin, and the one she gave to uncle lucky was a little image of herself and the one she gave to billy bunny was a little fish. then the little rabbit opened his knapsack and took out a lovely apple pie and gave it to her. and she was so pleased that she ate it all up, and then she said, "i'll give you a lovely breast-pin made of beautiful coral for your mother, mr. billy bunny, if you'll give me another pie." so the little rabbit opened his knapsack and took out another fresh, juicy apple pie and placed the beautiful present for his mother carefully in the knapsack, and after that he ate a lollypop and uncle lucky drank a bottle of ginger ale, and then they said good-by and got aboard the whaleship and sailed away. and would you believe it? dear, kind uncle lucky almost cried! you see, he had never seen a mermaid before, and he thought she was lovely, and i guess she was, for uncle lucky couldn't make a mistake, i'm sure, for he had travelled abroad and had seen lots and lots of beautiful lady bunnies. "and now where are we going?" asked the little rabbit, but uncle lucky was too busy trying to find his other blue polka-dot handkerchief with which to wipe his eyes to answer. and then he couldn't find it, and the reason was because he had given it to a chinaman the day before, but he didn't remember that, for he was so miserable at leaving the beautiful mermaid. "oh, dear! oh, dear!" sighed the old gentleman rabbit, "'tis sad to part. my poor old heart is nearly, nearly breaking; alas! alas! that mermaid lass has set my head a-shaking!" and after that his old wedding stovepipe hat almost fell off his head, and it would have, i'm sure, if it hadn't been for the blue polka-dot handkerchief which he had tied over the top of it. and just then, all of a sudden, the whaleship bumped into a motor boat, and nearly upset it. "what's the matter with your pilot?" screamed the man who was in the motor boat, and when uncle lucky looked over the side of the whale he saw it wasn't a man at all, but the old billygoat who owned the ferryboat i told you about some umpty-leven stones ago. "excuse us, please," said the kind old gentleman rabbit, but what the billygoat said i'll have to tell you in the next story, for there's no more room in this one. story xxvii. billy bunny and the beanstalk. seeing it's you," answered the billygoat, who, you remember in the last story, had gotten very angry because billy bunny and uncle lucky had bumped into his motor boat with their whaleship. "i'll forgive you," and then he raced the whale all the way to the shore and would have beaten him, too, if he had gone faster. and as soon as the whaleship ran up on the beach, the two little rabbits hopped off and got into their automobile and drove away, and the whale went back and told the mermaid that the two little rabbits had a beautiful luckymobile, and she felt dreadfully sorry that she hadn't gone with them. well, after a little while, not so very far, they came across a wonderful beanstalk, which was growing up so high that you couldn't see the top, and if billy bunny had only known the story about "jack and the beanstalk," i guess he would have thought that the story had come true. "my gracious!" exclaimed uncle lucky. "my lima beans at home grow pretty high but never as high as this," and he took out of his waistcoat pocket his spyglass and tried to find the top of the beanstalk; but he couldn't, for it was hidden in the clouds. just think of that! "i'm going to climb up that beanstalk," said the little bunny. "maybe i'll find my fortune at the top." "and i'll go with you," said the old gentleman rabbit, for he wasn't going to let his small nephew go up a strange beanstalk and perhaps get lost in the clouds, you know. not good, kind uncle lucky. no, sireemam; so they hopped out of the luckymobile and started up the beanstalk, and by and by, after a pretty long time, they came to the top and the first thing they saw was their friend american eagle and his wife, and she was sitting on her nest hatching out the big eggs which she had laid. "we'll need lots of eagles now that we've gone to war," said the big bird, and he flapped his wings and sang "yankee doodle dandy" three times over and then once more. and this made the old gentleman rabbit so excited that he stood up and made a speech, and then he threw his old wedding stovepipe hat up into the air and gave three cheers and half a dozen tigers and two or three bears. and after that billy bunny opened his knapsack and took out an american flag and put it on the top of the beanstalk so that all the people in the aeroplane could see it and say "hip-hur-ray for the u. s. a.!" "when the little eagles come out of their shells you must bring them to call on me," said good, kind uncle lucky to mrs. eagle. "i have some popcorn and lollypops at home, and i know how children like those things." and this made mrs. eagle very happy and mr. eagle very proud, and he helped the two little rabbits to climb down the beanstalk in time for me to write what they did in the next story, which will be about an adventure in the friendly forest. story xxviii. billy bunny and scatterbrains. after billy bunny and uncle lucky reached the ground, for they had climbed down the beanstalk, you remember, as i told you in the last story, they jumped into the luckymobile and drove off toward the friendly forest, and when they had gone maybe a mile in and out among the trees, for there wasn't really any automobile road to go on, you know, they came across scatterbrains, the gray squirrel. now uncle lucky knew old squirrel nutcracker very well, and as the old gentleman squirrel was very nice and well behaved it made uncle lucky provoked to think that his son should be such a scatterbrains. so uncle lucky stopped the automobile and said: "well, young squirrel, have you been troubling your father lately?" and scatterbrains answered, "no, mr. lucky lefthindfoot, not lately. not since yesterday." "what!" exclaimed the old gentleman rabbit, "do you mean to say you troubled him yesterday? why didn't you wait until to-morrow?" and then uncle lucky winked at billy bunny and then scowled at scatterbrains. and just then they heard a dreadful noise. it sounded just as if the trees were snapping to pieces and, all of a sudden, a tornado struck them and up in the air went the luckymobile with the two little rabbits, but what happened to the little squirrel i really don't know, unless it took him up, too, and hid him in a cloud. and perhaps it did, for i've often seen clouds that looked exactly like squirrels, haven't you, and other animals, too, like bears and cats? "gracious me!" cried uncle billy. "hang on, billy bunny, and don't let the cushions slip or the electricity run out of the cabaret, for if we ever get back to earth, i'd like to get home and stay home forever. oh, home, sweet home," and the old gentleman rabbit took off his automobile goggles, for they were full of tears and he couldn't see anything. well, by and by, the tornado let go and the automobile fell on top of a clothesline and balanced there as nicely as a tight-rope dancer, and when the two little rabbits looked about them, they found they were in mrs. bunny's backyard in the old brier patch. wasn't that lucky? well, i guess it was! and just then mrs. bunny came out of the kitchen door to hang up some of billy bunny's little shirts on the line, for it was monday morning, you know. and when she saw the luckymobile on her clothesline she gave a scream, and then she began to laugh, and after that she ran back into the house and brought out her scissors and cut the rope and the automobile came down with a bang, and out tumbled the two little rabbits. "well, well, well," said mrs. bunny, and she sat down on the clothespin basket and laughed, but, of course, there weren't any clothespins, or any other kind of pins, in it, you see, for then she wouldn't have laughed. and in the next story, if my umbrella doesn't open and stand over my bed to keep off the mosquitoes, i'll tell you another story to-morrow night. story xxix. billy bunny and mrs. black cat. awake, awake, 'tis early morn. the cow is climbing the stalks of corn, the little bird is beating an egg, and the rooster is dancing about on one leg, and the pig is trying on her new bonnet, with a little blue bow and a red cherry on it. uncle lucky rolled over in bed and then he got up and wiggled his nose and his left ear, and after that he was so wide awake that he didn't want to get back into bed, as i did, when i woke up this morning. and just then the breakfast bell rang and mrs. bunny put on the coffee and the baked lollypops and the stewed prunes, and, oh, dear me! i really can't remember what rabbits eat every day, for i'm sure they don't eat the same old thing, for if they did they wouldn't be jolly and gay and hop about merrily all through the day, but would sit in a corner and sulk and be sad, and maybe get angry and maybe get mad. so always remember to have something new, for no one can always enjoy a prune stew. there! i've gone and written another piece of poetry and my typewriter wouldn't print it properly. isn't that too bad? well, after breakfast the old gentleman rabbit went out for a walk in the pleasant meadow, and he went all alone, too, for billy bunny had to stay home and polish the front door knob and sweep the piazza and feed the canary and bring in the wood, for mrs. bunny had to hurry up with the breakfast dishes so as to be able to go over and see cousin cottontail, who had just had a new baby rabbit. well, as i was saying, uncle lucky hopped along the pleasant meadow until he came to the old farm yard where cocky docky and henny jenny and all the other barn yard folk lived with the good-natured farmer. and just as he was going through the gate, who should bounce out at him but a big black cat. and, oh, dear me. her claws were sticking out of her feet like pins and her eyes were yellow as fire and her teeth glittered and her whiskers stood out like bayonets, and her tail was as big as a rolling pin and her back was humped up worse than a camel's. if you can think of anything worse than the way that cat looked i wish you would write me a letter and tell me so that i can scare uncle lucky, for, would you believe it, he wasn't the least big frightened. no, sireemam. he just took off his old wedding stovepipe hat and bowed most politely to mrs. black cat, and she was so surprised that she turned around and went back to her three little kittens who never wore mittens because they didn't have any. and after that the old gentleman rabbit hopped into the barn and ate some corn and had a talk with mr. sharptooth rat. and maybe he would have been talking there yet if something hadn't happened. and when you don't expect it, something very often, and sometimes most always, does happen. the miller's dog ran into the barn and made a grab for the old gentleman rabbit, but uncle lucky was too quick for him. he hopped to one side and then out of that barn so that he hopped right into to-morrow night's story. wasn't that wonderful? story xxx. billy bunny and big yellow dog. let me see. didn't i say that billy bunny hopped out of the old barn so fast in last night's story that he jumped right into this one? well, he did, and here he is saying, "i'm ready for another adventure!" and no sooner had he said this than along came a big yellow dog with a muzzle on his nose, and when the little rabbit saw him he laughed out loud, "oh, ho! mr. yellow dog! did you put your nose into a mouse trap?" "no, i didn't," replied the yellow dog. "it's a muzzle to keep me from biting little rabbits," and then he gave a dreadful growl and tried to pull off the muzzle with his front paws. "i won't wait until you get it off," said billy bunny, and he hopped away as fast as he could, for he wasn't the least bit curious to see whether that muzzle was tied on tight! and by and by he came to a hollow stump where lived an old rabbit named hoppity-hop. "helloa, my little friend," said the old rabbit, and then he wriggled his nose a million times or less, for i guess he smelt the lettuce sandwich which billy bunny had in his knapsack. "good morning," said billy bunny, but he didn't open his knapsack. no, sir! it wasn't fourteen o'clock, which is the luncheon hour in rabbitville, so i've been told. and this, of course, made the old rabbit very sad. "oh, dear me," he cried, "i'm so hungry, and if there is anything i love more than a lettuce sandwich it's apple pie!" "how do you know i've got an apple pie?" asked billy bunny, and he took out his gold watch and chain to see what time it was, for he began to feel hungry all of a sudden. but, oh, dear me! it wasn't fourteen o'clock, or anywhere near it, so he twisted the stem of his watch until the hands pointed at the luncheon time, and then he took out the lettuce sandwich and the apple pie and he and the old rabbit ate them up right then and there, and after that they felt ever so much better. "now i'll tell you a secret," said the old rabbit. "there's a carrot candy shop not very far from here, and if you've got any money in your knapsack i'll take you there." wasn't that kind of that old rabbit? so off they hopped and pretty soon, not so very far, they came to the candy shop, and the old lady woodchuck who kept it was awfully kind and generous, for she filled up a paper bag right to the top for a lettuce dollar bill, which i think was a very cheap price to pay for all that candy, don't you? and when it was all gone, billy bunny said good-by and hopped away singing at the top of his voice: "oh, who is so merry and who is so gay as a rabbit who always has money to pay for candy and popcorn and nice apple pie and other sweet things that you're longing to buy." and in the next story, if billy bunny does eat any more carrot candy and get so dizzy he can't hop in a circle, i'll tell you some more about the little rabbit. story xxxi. billy bunny and a happy birthday. it very often happens you don't know what to do, and then's the time the mischief man comes smiling round to you. he whispers something in your ear you know you shouldn't stop to hear, and then's the time for you to say, "oh, mischief man, please go away!" this is what dear good uncle lucky wrote in billy bunny's album, for it was the little rabbit's birthday, you know, and uncle lucky thought he ought to warn him against the mischief man. well, as soon as the ink was dry so that the little rabbit could put the album away in uncle lucky's desk, the kind old gentleman rabbit said: "let us take a ride in the luckymobile. maybe we can go some place where we will have a good time." so they got into the automobile and started off, and by and by they came to a shady spot in the woods. and there right under a big spreading chestnut tree, was a little table covered with a clean white cloth and in the middle was a lovely birthday cake with candles and big frosted letters, which read, "a happy birthday to billy bunny!" and oh, my, wasn't he delighted and so were all the little forest folk, for they were all there, let me tell you, from old squirrel nutcracker to the big brown bear. and so were the little people from the pleasant meadow, dicky meadow mouse and robbie redbreast and many others. and pretty soon along came the barnyard folk, cocky docky, henny jenny and duckey daddies. even mrs. cow wasn't too busy to be there, and if you'll wait a minute i'll tell you the names of some more of billy bunny's friends: turkey purky, danny beaver, old mother magpie, timmy chipmunk, scatterbrains, the gray squirrel, and shadow tail, his brother. daddy fox would like to have been there, only uncle lucky hadn't sent him an invitation. the only friend who wasn't there was uncle bullfrog. he couldn't leave his log in the old mill pond, so he sent his regrets by little mrs. oriole, who lived in the willow tree by the old mill. "now we'll cut the cake," said kind uncle lucky, and he went over to the luckymobile to get the big carving knife which he had hidden under the cushions. "there's a little gold ring hidden away somewhere," he said as he cut the cake very carefully so as not to topple over the pretty candles and get the pink and green melted wax all over the white frosting. and then everybody ate up his piece of cake as fast as he could to find the little gold ring. "i've got it! i've got it!" screamed timmy chipmunk. but, oh, dear me. it wasn't the ring at all. it was only a hard nut. and the little chipmunk was so disappointed that he ran home to tell his mother all about it, and she gave him one she had found when she was a little girl in the toe of her stocking one happy christmas morning. and in the next story you'll be surprised to hear who got the ring after all. story xxxii. billy bunny and the lost ring. something's going to happen; i feel it in the air. but what it is you soon shall know, so hold your breath and stare. you remember in the last story i told you about billy bunny's birthday party and promised to tell you who found the little gold ring in the frosted cake. well, just as the little rabbit said, "i've found it!" daddy fox sprang from behind a bush and grabbed the piece of cake right out of the little rabbit's paw. and then he jumped over the luckymobile and ran off to his den to give it to slyboots or bushy tail, his two little sons, you know, but which one got it i can't remember, for everybody was so excited that they forgot to ask the naughty old fox before he got away. "that's too bad," said kind uncle lucky; "i'll have to get you another one," so he said good-by to everybody and took billy bunny down to the and cents store, where they bought a lovely gold ring with a big ruby in it. wasn't that nice? and then they came back to the woods, but everybody had gone home and there was no more birthday cake anywhere to be seen, not even a little piece of candle. "well, what shall we do now?" said the kind old gentleman rabbit, and he poured some lettuce oil into the cabaret and took out his blue polka-dot handkerchief and wiped his ear, and then he dusted off his old wedding stovepipe hat and honked the automobile horn and blew up a tire and turned a cushion upside down to hide a grease spot. and after that he put on his goggles and started off again, and by and by, not so very long, they came to a signpost on which was written: "which road shall i take?" "goodness, gracious me!" exclaimed the old gentleman rabbit, "what's the matter with my goggles?" and he took them off and looked at the signpost again. "it says the same old thing," he said with a sigh, and he took off his old wedding stovepipe hat and dusted the top, and after he had put it on his head again he heard a voice saying: "take the road that leads to the left, and not the one to the right, for if you don't you will get left and you won't get home till night." "who's speaking?" said billy bunny. and the reason he hadn't said anything before was because he had been sound asleep. and then who should come out from behind that funny signpost but a great roaring bull with two horns and about ten feet long and big red, snorting nostrils. "don't let us disturb you," which means bother or something like that, said uncle lucky, and he honked the horn with all his might, and, would you believe it, the bull was so frightened that he ran away and never stopped till he got home and covered himself with the crazy quilt on his old four-poster bed. story xxxiii. billy bunny and the great news. once upon a time, so i've heard tell, there lived a little rabbit in a shady dell. and on one side a clover patch, where red-topped clovers grew, and 'tother side was lollypops of red and white and blue. this is the song mrs. bunny sang one morning as she set to work to wash her little rabbit's white duck trousers, for it was monday, and that is washday in rabbitville, so they tell me. and just as she was hanging them out on the line who should fly up but old mother magpie, and, my! wasn't she excited. why, she was so disturbed that her bonnet had fallen off her head and was hanging by the strings. "have you heard the news?" she asked, and she rolled off one of her black silk mitts and turned her wedding ring around three times and a half. "heard what?" asked mrs. bunny, putting the clothespin in her mouth instead of on the clothesline. "why, the miller's boy has gone off to the war." "hurray!" shouted little billy bunny, who was polishing the brass door knob on the back door. "hurray!" "you ought to be ashamed of yourself," said old mother mischief. "his poor mother is nearly crazy with grief." "i'm sorry for her," said mrs. bunny, and she thought how thankful she ought to be that her little rabbit didn't have to shoulder a musket. "well, i'm glad he's going," said billy bunny. "he can shoot at something else now besides little rabbits." old mother magpie ruffled her feathers. "well, if i had a boy like you i'd teach him not to glory over another person's grief," and then she flew away. "i'm sorry for his mother," said mrs. bunny, "but the miller boy will never be missed," and the clothespin fell out of her mouth and stood up in the grass like a little wooden soldier. "do you want anything at the store?" asked the little rabbit, after he had finished cleaning the door knob. "if you do, tell me, for i'm going by there." "you can order a pound of carrot tea and some lollypops," answered his mother, and then billy bunny picked up his striped candy cane and set off for the village, and by and by he came to the post office and the nice lady postmistress called to him that there was a letter there addressed to billy bunny, old brier patch, but what was written in it i'm not going to tell you now, for i must stop and play a game of pinochle with dear, kind uncle lucky, who just telephoned me to come over to his house and have a game with him this evening, and i mustn't keep him waiting another minute. story xxxiv. billy bunny and jenny muskrat. well, i played pinochle with uncle lucky lefthindfoot last evening and it was so late when i got home that i overslept myself this morning. and maybe i'd have slept all day if robbie redbreast hadn't come to my window and told me that billy bunny was reading a letter which i told you about in yesterday's story and that every time he turned a page he laughed harder than ever. well, i was so curious to know what he was laughing at that i told robbie redbreast to fly back to him and look over his shoulder and see what was in the letter while i hurried and dressed as fast as i could, and when i was all ready to go into the friendly forest where the little rabbit was, i saw him coming toward me with the letter in his hand and the little robin perched upon his knapsack. "good morning," he said and handed me the letter, and now you shall hear what was written to mr. william bunny, brier patch, old snake fence corner, u. s. a., care of uncle sam! "my dear billy bunny: "just a few lines from your old friend the circus elephant to tell you that he is coming to see you as soon as he gets over the measles. if you've never had the measles, dear billy bunny, don't get them, for they are dreadful things for there's so many of them. "please give my love to mr. lucky lefthindfoot and tell him as soon as i'm well, i'll be back in his circus. "your friend, "elly." and as soon as i'd read the letter the little rabbit put it in his pocket and hopped away and by and by he came to a little stone house by a river. and before i go any farther i'll just whisper to you how i know all this. you see, the little robin told me all about it, for he and i are great friends and his nest is in the old apple tree just under my window. well, pretty soon, after looking all around, billy bunny knocked on the door of the little stone house and in a few minutes it was opened by a nice lady muskrat, whose name was jenny eva. "how do you do, little rabbit," she said, and then she invited him in and gave him a cookie made out of carrot seeds and pumpkin flour. and after that he showed her the letter from his friend, the circus elephant, and just then, all of a sudden, the front door flew open and in came the miller's dog. and, oh, dear me! mrs. jenny eva muskrat forgot all about her society manners and ran down the back stairs into the river and the little rabbit forgot to say good-by and hid himself in a big hat box where she kept her last year's easter bonnet. and then, what do you suppose the miller's dog did? why, he began to sing: "old mrs. muskrat jumped into the river, splasherty, splasherty, splash! and little boy rabbit jumped into the box, that held her best bonnet and trampled upon it. masherty, masherty, mash!" and in the next story you shall know what the miller's dog did when he stopped singing, that is, if robbie redbreast isn't too frightened to look into the window and tell me all about it. story xxxv. billy bunny and the miller's dog. after the miller's dog stopped singing, as i told you in the story before this, he poked his nose into the hat box where billy bunny had hidden himself and said in a deep, growly voice: "come out of there or i will growl and bite the bonnet that mrs. muskrat wears for best and the purple flowers on it. and then she'll think it's you who did this dreadful unkind deed, and never speak to you again or you with cookies feed." "goodness me, but you are a very poor sort of a poet," said the little rabbit, peeping out of the hat box. "your poetry is dreadful," and this made the miller's dog so ashamed of himself that he couldn't wag his tail or even bark. no, sir. he couldn't do a thing but slink out of the door and close it so softly that it didn't pinch his tail hardly at all. "ha! ha!" laughed the little rabbit. "did you ever see such a silly dog?" and neither did i and neither did you, i know. well, after a little while, mrs. jenny eva muskrat carne up the back stairs from the river, where she had gone in the last story, you remember, and wasn't she glad that nothing more had happened? "if you had jumped into that other hat box," she said, "you would have spoilt my next year's easter bonnet, and that would have been too dreadful for anything." and wasn't the little rabbit glad? well, i guess he was twice over and maybe three times. and after that he said good-by and hopped away, and after he had traveled for a long, long ways he came to the field where his old friend the scarecrow lived. "how have you been?" asked the little rabbit, and he took a lollypop out of his knapsack and offered it to the scarecrow, but he didn't want it. "haven't you got a cigar?" he asked. "i haven't smoked for ever so long." "i'm sorry," said billy bunny. "i don't think i have any really and truly cigars. here's a chocolate one if that will do," and he handed it to his friend the old clothes man. but the old clothes man couldn't smoke it at all, although he tried the best he could, and pretty soon it began to rain and the chocolate became soft and sticky, and the little bunny all wet, so he said: "i guess i'll crawl into a hollow stump if i can find one." and it didn't take him long, for he hopped away to the woods nearby, and the first thing he saw was an old stump, so he hopped inside. and no sooner was he safely out of the rain than a voice said: "what are you doing in my hollow stump; who are you anyway? why didn't you knock on this old wood block if you really want to stay?" and in the next story i'll tell who it was that said this. story xxxvi. billy bunny and the woodchuck. you remember in the last story that just as billy bunny hopped into the hollow stump a voice said, "what are you doing in here?" "i came in to get out of the wet," answered the little rabbit, and then the voice replied: "what! is it raining? i'll lend you an umbrella!" and an old woodchuck opened a little door in the side of the stump and winked at billy bunny. "that's very kind of you," said the little rabbit, and he opened his knapsack and gave the woodchuck a nice lollypop, and after that the woodchuck said: "i think you'd better stay here with me until the rain is over. don't you think so?" and billy bunny said yes, for the woodchuck was very nice and had such good manners that the little rabbit felt quite at home. but oh, dear me! it began to rain so hard right then and there that the water just poured into the old hollow stump, and pretty soon it was very uncomfortable. so the woodchuck said: "now don't you ever tell anybody where i'm going to take you. for it's my very own house, and i never let anybody know just where i do live. you see, so many people are after me, some with guns and some with sharp teeth and claws, that i have to be very careful." so the little rabbit promised, and then he followed the woodchuck through the little door and down a long passage until they came to a nice, large, comfortable room. "now, this is where i live," said the woodchuck, and he went over to the cupboard and took out a carrot candy gumdrop and gave it to billy bunny, and then he lighted a big cigar and sat down in his old armchair and smoked. and all the time they could hear the rain pattering on the grass overhead, for it's wonderful how you can hear all sorts of sounds when you're under ground and have big ears like a rabbit, you know. "now, i'll tell you a story," said the old woodchuck after he had blown some lovely round rings of smoke into the air. "once upon a time, not so very long ago, a band of tiny fairies lived in the woodland near. and often i would hear them a-singing soft and low when all was dark and quiet and the moon shone bright and clear. so one evening i stole softly out of the hollow stump, and found them dancing merrily with tiny skip and jump; and just as i was going to say how do you do, the fairy queen began to scream. and then away she flew. and then her tiny subjects took fright and ran off, too, and now i never see them more a-dancing near my old stump door." "that's too bad," said the little rabbit, for he was so interested in what the old woodchuck was saying that he had forgotten all about his lollypop and had dropped it on the floor. and in the next story he'll pick up his lollypop and eat it, because i hate to have him lose it, don't you? story xxxvii. billy bunny and little peewee. let me stop for a moment and think where i left off last night. oh, now i remember. billy bunny was in the old woodchuck hollow stump, and it was raining. oh, my, yes. cats and dogs, as they say in grown-ups' stories, so we'll say kittens and puppies. well, after a while the rain stopped and the little rabbit said good-by and hopped away, and pretty soon, not very long, a little bird began to sing: "down the shady forest trail, o'er the hill and through the vale, billy bunny hops along with a whistle and a song. and if you have never heard a rabbit whistle like a bird, you must ask each little rabbit if he has the whistling habit." "who's singing?" asked billy bunny, and he took his silver policeman's whistle out of his knapsack and blew on it so hard that the little bird began to cry: "oh, dear! oh, dear! you will whistle my ear off!" and then, of course, the little rabbit stopped, for he didn't want to hurt that dear little bird. no sireemam. "who are you?" he asked, and the little bird replied: "i'm peewee, the littlest bird in the whole friendly forest." "what do you look like?" said the little rabbit, curiously, gazing here and there and everywhere and behind a tree and under a stone. "i've never seen a peewee." and then that little bird flew down from a tree and billy bunny saw the tiniest little bird he had ever seen. why, it wasn't much larger than a butterfly. "goodness, but you're small," said billy bunny. "are you so small that you don't like lollypops?" of course, the little bird said no, and so would you, no matter how small you were, but when she tried to fly away with the lollypop, she couldn't. no sireemam. wasn't that too bad? so the little rabbit gave her some sweet cracker crumbs instead, and after that he hopped away looking for another adventure. and it wasn't long before he had one. for, just as he was hopping across a fallen log that made a narrow bridge over a brook, a little fish swam up to the top of the water and said: "here is a letter from your friend, the whale," and he held up in his mouth a blue envelope. i guess it was made of some kind of waterproof paper, for it wasn't the least bit damp. and when billy bunny opened it, he found a small coral ring inside, and in the letter it said: "this ring is for you, billy bunny. "the pretty mermaid asked me to send it to you, so here it is. please tell the little fish that you have received it and that it fits you perfectly." and then the whale signed himself, "your great big-hearted friend, the whale." story xxxviii. billy bunny and old mother magpie. uncle bullfrog sings a song that is never very long. all he says is, "chunk, ker-chunk!" then he splashes in ker-plunk, and the little fishes swim, oh, so fast away from him! if they didn't, don't you think he would eat 'em in a wink? now who do you suppose was singing this song? why, a little tadpole named taddylegs. and it made uncle bullfrog quite cross, for he didn't like tadpoles anyway, and taddylegs wasn't very polite, as you can see. "now swim away," said the old gentleman frog, and he looked angrily at taddylegs. "now swim away or i'll swallow you and maybe your cousin and your aunt if they're around." so the little tadpole swam away and after a while old uncle bullfrog saw billy bunny not very far away. he was talking to mrs. cow about the clover patch. you see, mrs. cow was very fond of clover and so was the little rabbit, and he knew that mrs. cow could eat maybe three hundred and forty-seven times as much clover as he could, and so he was afraid she might eat up the whole patch and leave nothing for anybody else. "please don't eat all the clover tops; mother wants to preserve some for the winter." "don't you worry," replied mrs. cow, and she whisked a big horse fly off her side with her long tail. "don't you worry and don't you fret, there'll be some clover blossoms yet." so the little rabbit felt ever so much better and hopped away and by and by he came across old mother magpie. and he wasn't a bit pleased, for she was always finding fault with him, and everybody else, for that matter. yes, old mother magpie made lots of trouble and billy bunny had never liked her. but he couldn't get away without her seeing him, although he tried his best. "good morning, billy bunny," said the old lady magpie, and she raised her bonnet so she could see him better, for the brim was half over her left eye. "good morning," replied the little rabbit. "i'm sorry, but i'm in a dreadful hurry," and he hopped away so fast that he left his shadow a mile behind him. "gracious me!" exclaimed old mother magpie. "that bunny doesn't like me very much i guess." "yes, you don't have to guess again," cried a voice, and parson crow cawed and hawed, and this made the old lady magpie so angry that she flew away to tell barney owl that she was a very much abused person. but here we are at the end of this book, and so we will have to jump to the next, which i will call, "billy bunny and uncle lucky lefthindfoot." the end note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original illustrations. see -h.htm or -h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/ / / / / / -h/ -h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/ / / / / / -h.zip) bedtime stories uncle wiggily in the woods by howard r. garis author of "sammie and susie littletail," "uncle wiggily and mother goose," "the bedtime series of animal stories," "the daddy series," etc. illustrated by louis wisa [frontispiece: she put her sled on the slanting tree, sat down and jillie gave her a little push.] a. l. burt company publishers ------------ new york copyright , by r. f. fenno & company uncle wiggily in the woods contents story i uncle wiggily and the willow tree ii uncle wiggily and the wintergreen iii uncle wiggily and the slippery elm iv uncle wiggily and the sassafras v uncle wiggily and the pulpit-jack vi uncle wiggily and the violets vii uncle wiggily and the high tree viii uncle wiggily and the peppermint ix uncle wiggily and the birch tree x uncle wiggily and the butternut tree xi uncle wiggily and lulu's hat xii uncle wiggily and the snow drops xiii uncle wiggily and the horse chestnut xiv uncle wiggily and the pine tree xv uncle wiggily and the green rushes xvi uncle wiggily and the bee tree xvii uncle wiggily and the dogwood xviii uncle wiggily and the hazel nuts xix uncle wiggily and susie's dress xx uncle wiggily and tommie's kite xxi uncle wiggily and johnnie's marbles xxii uncle wiggily and billie's top xxiii uncle wiggily and the sunbeam xxiv uncle wiggily and the puff ball xxv uncle wiggily and the may flowers xxvi uncle wiggily and the beech tree xxvii uncle wiggily and the bitter medicine xxviii uncle wiggily and the pine cones xxix uncle wiggily and his torn coat xxx uncle wiggily and the sycamore tree xxxi uncle wiggily and the red spots illustrations she put her sled on the slanting tree, sat down and jillie gave her a little push . . . . . . _frontispiece_ down toppled uncle wiggily's hat, not in the least hurt. as they passed a high rock, out from behind it jumped the bad old tail-pulling monkey. the tree barked and roared so like a lion that the foxes were frightened and were glad enough to run away. up, up and up into the air blew the kite and, as the string was tangled around the babboon's paws, it took him up with it. "ker-sneezio! ker-snitzio! ker-choo!" he sneezed as the powder from the puff balls went up his nose and into his eyes. jackie was so surprised that he opened his mouth. before uncle wiggily could stop himself he had run into the bush. story i uncle wiggily and the willow tree "well, it's all settled!" exclaimed uncle wiggily longears, the rabbit gentleman, one day, as he hopped up the steps of his hollow stump bungalow where nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, his muskrat lady housekeeper, was fanning herself with a cabbage leaf tied to her tail. "it's all settled." "what is?" asked miss fuzzy wuzzy. "you don't mean to tell me anything has happened to you?" and she looked quite anxious. "no, i'm all right," laughed uncle wiggily, "and i hope you are the same. what i meant was that it's all settled where we are going to spend our vacation this summer." "oh, tell me where!" exclaimed the muskrat lady clapping her paws, anxious like. "in a hollow stump bungalow, just like this, but in the woods instead of in the country," answered uncle wiggily. "oh, that _will_ be fine!" cried miss fuzzy wuzzy. "i love the woods. when are we to go?" "very soon now," answered the bunny gentleman uncle. "you may begin to pack up as quickly as you please." and nurse jane and uncle wiggily moved to the woods very next day and his adventures began. i guess most of you know about the rabbit gentleman and his muskrat lady housekeeper who nursed him when he was ill with the rheumatism. uncle wiggily had lots and lots of adventures, about which i have told you in the books before this one. he had traveled about seeking his fortune, he had even gone sailing in his airship, and once he met mother goose and all her friends from old king cole down to little jack horner. uncle wiggily had many friends among the animal boys and girls. there was sammie and susie littletail, the rabbits, who have a book all to themselves; just as have jackie and peetie bow wow, the puppy dog boys, and jollie and jillie longtail, the mice children. "and i s'pose we'll meet all your friends in the woods, won't we, uncle wiggily?" asked nurse jane, as they moved from the old hollow stump bungalow to the new one. "oh, yes, i s'pose so, of course," he laughed in answer, as he pulled his tall silk hat more tightly down on his head, fastened on his glasses and took his red, white and blue striped barber pole rheumatism crutch that nurse jane had gnawed for him out of a cornstalk. so, once upon a time, not very many years ago, as all good stories should begin, uncle wiggily and nurse jane found themselves in the woods. it was lovely among the trees, and as soon as the rabbit gentleman had helped miss fuzzy wuzzy put the hollow stump bungalow to rights he started out for a walk. "i want to see what sort of adventures i shall have in the woods," said mr. longears as he hopped along. now in these woods lived, among many other creatures good and bad, two skillery-scalery alligators who were not exactly friends of the bunny uncle. but don't let that worry you, for though the alligators, and other unpleasant animals, may, once in a while, make trouble for uncle wiggily, i'll never really let them hurt him. i'll fix that part all right! so, one day, the skillery-scalery alligator with the humps on his tail, and his brother, another skillery-scalery chap, whose tail was double jointed, were taking a walk through the woods together just as uncle wiggily was doing. "brother," began the hump-tailed 'gator (which i call him for short), "brother, wouldn't you like a nice rabbit?" "indeed i would," answered the double-jointed tail 'gator, who could wobble his flippers both ways. "and i know of no nicer rabbit than uncle wiggily longears." "the very same one about whom i was thinking!" exclaimed the other alligator. "let's catch him!" "that's what we'll do!" said the double-jointed chap. "we'll hide in the woods until he comes along, as he does every day, and the we'll jump out and grab him. oh, you yum-yum!" "fine!" grunted his brother. "come on!" off they crawled through the woods, and pretty soon they came to a willow tree, where the branches grew so low down that they looked like a curtain that had unwound itself off the roller, when the cat hangs on it. "this is the place for us to hide--by the weeping willow tree," said the skillery-scalery alligator with bumps on his tail. "the very place," agreed his brother. so they hid behind the thick branches of the tree, which had leafed out for early spring, and there the two bad creatures waited. just before this uncle wiggily himself had started out from his hollow stump bungalow to walk in the woods and across the fields, as he did every day. "i wonder what sort of an adventure i shall have this time?" he said to himself. "i hope it will be a real nice one." oh! if uncle wiggily had known what was in store for him, i think he would have stayed in his hollow stump bungalow. but never mind, i'll make it all come out right in the end, you see if i don't. i don't know just how i'm going to do it, yet, but i'll find a way, never fear. uncle wiggily hopped on and on, now and then swinging his red-white-and-blue-striped rheumatism crutch like a cane, because he felt so young and spry and spring-like. pretty soon he came to the willow tree. he was sort of looking up at it, wondering if a nibble of some of the green leaves would not do him good, when, all of a sudden, out jumped the two bad alligators and grabbed the bunny gentleman. "now we have you!" cried the humped-tail 'gator. "and you can't get away from us," said the other chap--the double-jointed tail one. "oh, please let me go!" begged uncle wiggily, but they hooked their claws in his fur, and pulled him back under the tree, which held its branches so low. i told you it was a weeping willow tree, and just now it was weeping, i think, because uncle wiggily was in such trouble. "let's see now," said the double-jointed tail alligator. "i'll carry this rabbit home, and then--" "you'll do nothing of the sort!" interrupted the other, and not very politely, either. "i'll carry him myself. why, i caught him as much as you did!" "well, maybe you did, but i saw him first." "i don't care! it was my idea. i first thought of this way of catching him!" and then those two alligators disputed, and talked very unpleasantly, indeed, to one another. but, all the while, they kept tight hold of the bunny uncle, so he could not get away. "well," said the double-jointed tail alligator after a while, "we must settle this one way or the other. am i to carry him to our den, or you?" "me! i'll do it. if you took him you'd keep him all for yourself. i know you!" "no, i wouldn't! but that's just what you'd do. i know you only too well. no, if i can't carry this rabbit home myself, you shan't!" "i say the same thing. i'm going to have my rights." now, while the two bad alligators were talking this way they did not pay much attention to uncle wiggily. they held him so tightly in their claws that he could not get away, but he could use his own paws, and, when the two bad creatures were talking right in each other's face, and using big words, uncle wiggily reached up and cut off a piece of willow wood with the bark on. and then, still when the 'gators were disputing, and not looking, the bunny uncle made himself a whistle out of the willow tree stick. he loosened the bark, which came off like a kid glove, and then he cut a place to blow his breath in, and another place to let the air out and so on, until he had a very fine whistle indeed, almost as loud-blowing as those the policemen have to stop the automobiles from splashing mud on you so a trolley car can bump into you. "i'll tell you what we'll do," said the hump-tail alligator at last. "since you won't let me carry him home, and i won't let you, let's both carry him together. you take hold of him on one side, and i'll take the other." "good!" cried the second alligator. "oh, ho! i guess not!" cried the bunny uncle suddenly. "i guess you won't either, or both of you take me off to your den. no, indeed!" "why not?" asked the hump-tailed 'gator, sort of impolite like and sarcastic. "because i'm going to blow my whistle and call the police!" went on the bunny uncle. "toot! toot! tootity-ti-toot-toot!" and then and there he blew such a loud, shrill blast on his willow tree whistle that the alligators had to put their paws over their ears. and when they did that they had to let go of bunny uncle. he had his tall silk hat down over his ears, so it didn't matter how loudly he blew the whistle. he couldn't hear it. "toot! toot! tootity-toot-toot!" he blew on the willow whistle. "oh, stop! stop!" cried the hump-tailed 'gator. "come on, run away before the police come!" said his brother. and out from under the willow tree they both ran, leaving uncle wiggily safely behind. "well," said the bunny gentleman as he hopped along home to his bungalow, "it is a good thing i learned, when a boy rabbit, how to make whistles." and i think so myself. so if the vinegar jug doesn't jump into the molasses barrel and turn its face sour like a lemon pudding, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the winter green. story ii uncle wiggily and the wintergreen uncle wiggily longears, the nice old gentleman rabbit, knocked on the door of the hollow tree in the woods where johnnie and billie bushytail, the two little squirrel boys, lived. "come in!" invited mrs. bushytail. so uncle wiggily went in. "i thought i'd come around and see you," he said to the squirrel lady. "i'm living in the woods this summer and just now i am out taking a walk, as i do every day, and i hoped i might meet with an adventure. but, so far, i haven't. do you know where i could find an adventure, mrs. bushytail?" "no, i'm sorry to say i don't, uncle wiggily," answered the squirrel lady. "but i wish you could find something to make my little boy billie feel better." "why, is he ill?" asked the bunny uncle, surprised like, and he looked across the room where billy bushytail was curled up in a big rocking chair, with his tail held over his head like an umbrella, though it was not raining. "no, billie isn't ill," said mrs. bushytail. "but he says he doesn't know what to do to have any fun, and i am afraid he is a little peevish." "oh, that isn't right," said mr. longears. "little boys, whether they are squirrels, rabbits or real children, should try to be jolly and happy, and not peevish." "how can a fellow be happy when there's no fun?" asked billie, sort of cross-like. "my brother johnnie got out of school early, and he and the other animal boys have gone off to play where i can't find them. i had to stay in, because i didn't know my nut-cracking lesson, and now i can't have any fun. oh, dear! i don't care!" billie meant, i suppose, that he didn't care what he said or did, and that isn't right. but uncle wiggily only pinkled his twink nose. no, wait just a moment if you please. he just twinkled his pink nose behind the squirrel boy's back, and then the bunny uncle said: "how would you like to come for a walk in the woods with me, billie?" "oh, that will be nice!" exclaimed the squirrel lady. "do go, billie." "no, i don't want to!" chattered the boy squirrel, most impolitely. "oh, that isn't at all nice," said mrs. bushy-tail. "at least thank uncle wiggily for asking you." "oh, excuse me, uncle wiggily," said billie, sorrylike. "i do thank you. but i want very much to have some fun, and there's no fun in the woods. i know all about them. i know every tree and bush and stump. i want to go to a new place." "well, new places are nice," said the bunny uncle, "but old ones are nice, too, if you know where to look for the niceness. now come along with me, and we'll see if we can't have some fun. it is lovely in the woods now." "i won't have any fun there," said billie, crossly. "the woods are no good. nothing good to eat grows there." "oh, yes there does--lots!" laughed uncle wiggily. "why the nuts you squirrels eat grow in the woods." "yes, but there are no nuts now," spoke the squirrel boy. "they only come in the fall." "well, come, scamper along, anyhow," invited uncle wiggily. "who knows what may happen? it may even be an adventure. come along, billie." so, though he did not care much about it, billie went. uncle wiggily showed the squirrel boy where the early spring flowers were coming up, and how the jacks, in their pulpits, were getting ready to preach sermons to the trees and bushes. "hark! what's that?" asked billie, suddenly, hearing a noise. "what does it sound like?" asked uncle wiggily. "like bells ringing." "oh, it's the bluebells--the bluebell flowers," answered the bunny uncle. "why do they ring?" asked the little boy squirrel. "to call the little ants and lightning bugs to school," spoke uncle wiggily, and billy smiled. he was beginning to see that there were more things in the woods than he had dreamed of, even if he had scampered here and there among the trees ever since he was a little squirrel chap. on and on through the woods went the bunny uncle and billie. they picked big, leafy ferns to fan themselves with, and then they drank with green leaf-cups from a spring of cool water. but no sooner had billie taken the cold water than he suddenly cried: "ouch! oh, dear! oh, my, how it hurts!" "what is it?" asked uncle wiggily. "did you bite your tongue or step on a thorn?" "it's my tooth," chattered billie. "the cold water made it ache again. i need to go to mr. stubtail, the bear dentist, who will pull it out with his long claws. but i've been putting it off, and putting it off, and now--oh, dear, how it aches! wow!" "i'll cure it for you!" said uncle wiggily. "just walk along through the woods with me and i'll soon stop your aching tooth." "how can you?" asked billie, holding his paw to his jaw to warm the aching tooth, for heat will often stop pain. "there isn't anything here in the woods to cure toothache; is there?" "i think we shall find something," spoke the bunny uncle. "well, i wish we could find it soon!" cried billie, "for my tooth hurts very much. ouch!" and he hopped up and down, for the toothache was of the jumping kind. "ah, ha! here we have it!" cried uncle wiggily, as he stooped over some shiny green leaves, growing close to the ground, and he pulled some of them up. "just chew these leaves a little and let them rest inside your mouth near the aching tooth," said mr. longears. "i think they will help you, billie." so billie chewed the green leaves. they smarted and burned a little, but when he put them near his tooth they made it nice and warm and soon the ache all stopped. "what was that you gave me, uncle wiggily?" billie asked. "wintergreen," answered uncle wiggily. "it grows in the woods, and is good for flavoring candy, as well as for stopping toothache." "i am glad to know that," said billie. "the woods are a nicer place than i thought, and there is ever so much more in them than i dreamed. thank you, uncle wiggily." so, as his toothache was all better, billie had good fun in the woods with the bunny uncle, until it was time to go home. and in the next story, if the top doesn't fly off the coffee pot and let the baked potato hide away from the egg-beater, when they play tag, i'll tell you about uncle wiggily and the slippery elm. story iii uncle wiggily and the slippery elm "where are you going, uncle wiggily?" asked nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, as she saw the rabbit gentleman standing on the front steps of his hollow stump bungalow in the woods one morning. "where are you going?" "oh, just for a walk through the forest," spoke the bunny uncle. "it is so nice in the woods, with the flowers coming up, and the leaves getting larger and greener every day, that i just love to walk there." "well," said nurse jane with a laugh, "if you happen to see a bread-tree in the woods, bring home a loaf for supper." "i will," promised uncle wiggily. "you know, nurse jane, there really are trees on which bread fruit grows, though not in this country. but i can get you a loaf of bread at the five and ten cent store, i dare say." "do, please," asked the muskrat lady. "and if you see a cocoanut tree you might bring home a cocoanut cake for supper." "oh, my!" laughed the rabbit gentleman. "i'm afraid there are no cocoanut trees in my woods. i could bring you home a hickory nut cake, perhaps." "well, whatever you like," spoke nurse jane. "but don't get lost, whatever you do, and if you meet with an adventure i hope it will be a nice one." "so do i," uncle wiggily said, as he hopped off, leaning on his red, white and blue stripped [transcriber's note: striped?] rheumatism crutch which nurse jane had gnawed for him out of a cornstalk. the old rabbit gentleman had not gone very far before he met dr. possum walking along in the woods, with his satchel of medicine on his tail, for dr. possum cured all the ill animals, you know. "what in the world are you doing, dr. possum?" asked uncle wiggily, as he saw the animal doctor pulling some bark off a tree. "are you going to make a canoe, as the indians used to do?" "oh, no," answered dr. possum. "this is a slippery elm tree. the underside of the bark, next to the tree, and the tree itself, is very slippery when it is wet. very slippery indeed." "well, i hope you don't slip," said uncle wiggily, kindly. "i hope so, too," dr. possum said. "but i am taking this slippery elm bark to mix with some of the bitter medicine i have to give billie wagtail, the goat boy. when i put some bark from the slippery elm tree in billie's medicine it will slip down his throat so quickly that he will never know he took it." "good!" cried uncle wiggily, laughing. then the bunny uncle went close to the tree, off which dr. possum was taking some bark, and felt of it with his paw. the tree was indeed as slippery as an icy sidewalk slide on christmas eve. "my!" exclaimed mr. longears. "if i tried to climb up that tree i'd do nothing but slip down." "that's right," said dr. possum. "but i must hurry on now to give billie wagtail his medicine." so dr. possum went on his way and uncle wiggily hopped along until, pretty soon, he heard a rustling in the bushes, and a voice said: "but, squeaky-eeky dear, i can't find any snow hill for you to ride down on your sled. the snow is all gone, you see. it is spring now." "oh, dear!" cried another voice. "such a lot of trouble. oh, dear! oh, dear!" "ha! trouble!" said uncle wiggily to himself. "this is where i come in. i must see if i cannot help them." he looked through the bushes, and there he saw jillie longtail, the little girl mouse, and with her was squeaky-eeky, the cousin mouse. and squeaky-eeky had a small sled with her. "why, what's the matter?" asked uncle wiggily, for he saw that squeaky-eeky had been crying. "what is the matter, little mice?" "oh, hello. uncle wiggily!" cried jillie. "i don't know what to do with my little cousin mouse. you see she wants to slide down hill on her christmas sled, but there isn't any snow on any of the hills now." "no, that's true, there isn't," said the bunny uncle. "but, squeaky, why didn't you slide down hill in the winter, when there was snow?" "because, i had the mouse-trap fever, then," answered squeaky-eeky, "and i couldn't go out. but now i am all better and i can be out, and oh, dear! i do so much want a ride down hill on my sled. boo, hoo!" "don't cry, squeaky, dear," said jillie. "if there is no snow you can't slide down hill, you know." "but i want to," said the little cousin mouse, unreasonable like. "but you can't; so please be nice," begged jillie. "oh, dear!" cried squeaky. "i do so much want to slide down hill on my sled." "and you shall!" suddenly exclaimed uncle wiggily. "come with me, squeaky." "why, uncle wiggily!" cried jillie. "how can you give squeaky a slide down hill when there is no snow? you need a slippery snow hill for sleigh-riding." "i am not so sure of that," spoke uncle wiggily, with a smile. "let us see." off through the woods he hopped, with jillie and squeaky following. pretty soon uncle wiggily came to a big tree that had fallen down, one end being raised up higher than the other, like a hill, slanting. with his strong paws and his sharp teeth, the rabbit gentleman began peeling the bark off the tree, showing the white wood underneath. "what are you doing, uncle wiggily?" asked jillie. "this is a slippery elm tree, and i am making a hill so squeaky-eeky can slide down," answered the bunny uncle. "underneath the bark the trunk of the elm tree is very slippery. dr. possum told me so. see how my paw slips!" and indeed it did, sliding down the sloping tree almost as fast as you can eat a lollypop. uncle wiggily took off a lot of bark from the elm tree, making a long, sliding, slippery place. "now, try that with your sled, squeaky-eeky," said the bunny uncle. and the little cousin mouse did. she put her sled on the slanting tree, sat down and jillie gave her a little push. down the slippery elm tree went squeaky as fast as anything, coming to a stop in a pile of soft leaves. "oh, what a lovely slide!" cried squeaky. "you try it, jillie." and the little mouse girl did. "who would think," she said, "that you could slide down a slippery elm tree? but you can." then she and squeaky took turns sliding down hill, even though there was no snow, and the slippery elm tree didn't mind it a bit, but rather liked it. and if the coal man doesn't take away our gas shovel to shoot some tooth powder into the wax doll's pop gun, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the sassafras. story iv uncle wiggily and the sassafras "uncle wiggily! uncle wiggily! get up!" called nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, as she stood at the foot of the stairs of the hollow stump bungalow and called up to the rabbit gentleman one morning. "hurry down, mr. longears," she went on. "this is the last day i am going to bake buckwheat cakes, and if you want some nice hot ones, with maple sugar sauce on, you'd better hurry." no answer came from the bunny uncle. "why, this is strange," said nurse jane to herself. "i wonder if anything can have happened to him? did he have an adventure in the night? did the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with humps on its tail, carry him off?" then she called again: "uncle wiggily! uncle wiggily! aren't you going to get up? come down to breakfast. aren't you going to get up and come down?" "no, miss fuzzy wuzzy," replied the bunny uncle, "not to give you a short answer, i am not going to get up, or come down or eat breakfast or do anything," and mr. longears spoke as though his head was hidden under the bed clothes, which it was. "oh, uncle wiggily, whatever is the matter?" asked nurse jane, surprised like and anxious. "i don't feel at all well," was the answer. "i think i have the epizootic, and i don't want any breakfast." "oh, dear!" cried nurse jane. "and all the nice cakes i have baked. i know what i'll do," she said to herself. "i'll call in dr. possum. perhaps uncle wiggily needs some of the roots and herbs that grow in the woods--wintergreen, slippery elm or something like that. i'll call dr. possum." and when the animal doctor came he looked at the bunny uncle's tongue, felt of his ears, and said: "ha! hum! you have the spring fever, uncle wiggily. what you need is sassafras." "nurse jane has some in the bungalow," spoke mr. longears. "tell her to make me some tea from that." "no, what is needed is fresh sassafras," said dr. possum. "and, what is more, you must go out in the woods and dig it yourself. that will be almost as good for your spring fever as the sassafras itself. so hop out, and dig some of the roots." "oh, dear!" cried uncle wiggily, fussy like. "i don't want to. i'd rather stay here in bed." "but you can't!" cried dr. possum in his jolly voice. "out with you!" and he pulled the bed clothes off the bunny uncle so he had to get up to keep warm. "well, i'll just go out and dig a little sassafras root to please him," thought uncle wiggily to himself, "and then i'll come back and stay in bed as long as i please. it's all nonsense thinking i have to have fresh root--the old is good enough." "i do feel quite wretched and lazy like," said uncle wiggily to himself, as he limped along on his red, white and blue-striped barber-pole rheumatism crutch, that nurse jane had gnawed for him out of a cornstalk. "as soon as i find some sassafras i'll pull up a bit of the root and hurry back home and to bed." pretty soon the bunny uncle saw where some of the sassafras roots were growing, with their queer three-pointed leaves, like a mitten, with a place for your finger and thumb. "now to pull up the root," said the bunny uncle, as he dug down in the ground a little way with his paws, to get a better hold. but pulling up sassafras roots is not as easy as it sounds, as you know if you have ever tried it. the roots go away down in the earth, and they are very strong. uncle wiggily pulled and tugged and twisted and turned, but he could break off only little bits of the underground stalk. "this won't do!" he said to himself. "if i don't get a big root dr. possum will, perhaps, send me hack for more. i'll try again." he got his paws under a nice, big root, and he was straining his back to pull it up, when, all of a sudden, he heard a voice saying: "how do you do?" "oh, hello!" exclaimed the bunny, looking up quickly, and expecting to see some friend of his, like grandpa goosey gander, or sammie littletail, the rabbit boy. but, instead, he saw the bad old fox, who had, so many times, tried to catch the rabbit gentleman. "oh!" said uncle wiggily, astonished like. and again he said: "oh!" "surprised, are you?" asked the fox, sort of curling his whiskers around his tongue, sarcastic fashion. "a little--yes," answered uncle wiggily. "i didn't expect to see you." "but i've been expecting you a long time," said the fox, grinning most impolitely. "in fact, i've been waiting for you. just as soon as you have pulled up that sassafras root you may come with me. i'll take you off to my den, to my dear little foxes eight, nine and ten. those are their numbers. it's easier to number them than name them." "oh, indeed?" asked uncle wiggily, as politely as he could, considering everything. "and so you won't take me until i pull this sassafras root?" "no, i'll wait until you have finished," spoke the fox. "i like you better, anyhow, flavored with sassafras. so pull away." uncle wiggily tried to pull up the root, but he did not pull very hard. "for," he thought, "as soon as i pull it up then the fox will take me, but if i don't pull it he may not." "what's the matter? can't you get that root up?" asked the fox, after a while. "i can't wait all day." "then perhaps you will kindly pull it up for me," said the bunny uncle. "i can't seem to do it." "all right, i will," the fox said. uncle wiggily hopped to one side. the fox put his paws under the sassafras root. and he pulled and he pulled and he pulled, and finally, with a double extra strong pull, he pulled up the root. but it came up so suddenly, just as when you break the point off your pencil, that the fox keeled over backward in a peppersault and somersault also. "oh, wow!" cried the fox, as he bumped his nose. "what happened?" but uncle wiggily did not stay to tell. away ran the bunny through the woods, as fast as he could go, forgetting all about his spring fever. he was all over it. "i thought the sassafras would cure you," said dr. possum, when uncle wiggily was safely home once more. "the fox helped some," said the bunny uncle, with a laugh. and if the black cat doesn't cover himself with talcum powder and make believe he's a white kid glove going to a dance, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and jack-in-the-pulpit. story v uncle wiggily and the pulpit-jack "well, how are you feeling today, uncle wiggily?" asked nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, as she saw the rabbit gentleman taking his tall silk hat down off the china closet, getting ready to go for a walk in the woods one morning. "why, i'm feeling pretty fine, nurse jane," answered the bunny uncle. "since i ran home to get away from the fox, after he turned a peppersault from pulling too strong to get up the sassafras root, i feel much better, thank you." "good!" cried nurse jane. "then perhaps you would not mind going to the store for me." "certainly not," spoke uncle wiggily. "what do you wish?" "a loaf of bread," replied miss fuzzy wuzzy, "also a box of matches and some sugar and crackers. but don't forget the matches whatever you do." "i won't," promised the bunny uncle, and soon he was hopping along through the woods wondering what sort of an adventure he would have this day. as he was going along keeping a sharp look-out for the bad fox, or the skillery-scalery alligator with the double jointed tail. uncle wiggily heard a voice saying: "oh, dear! i'll never be able to get out from under the stone and grow tall as i ought. i've pushed and pushed on it, but i can't raise it. oh, dear; what a heavy stone!" "ha! some one under a stone!" said uncle wiggily to himself. "that certainly is bad trouble. i wonder if i cannot help?" the bunny uncle looked all around and down on the ground he saw a flat stone. underneath it something green and brown was peeping out. "was that you who called?" asked mr. longears. "it was," came the answer. "i am a jack-in-the-pulpit plant, you see, and i started to grow up, as all plants and flowers do when summer comes. but when i had raised my head out of the earth i found a big stone over me, and now i can grow no more. i've pushed and pushed until my back aches, and i can't lift the stone." "i'll do it for you," said uncle wiggily kindly, and he did, taking it off the pulpit-jack. then the jack began growing up, and he had been held down so long that he grew quite quickly, so that even while uncle wiggily was watching, the jack and his pulpit were almost regular size. a jack-in-the-pulpit, you know, is a queer flower that grows in our woods. sometimes it is called an indian turnip, but don't eat it, for it is very biting. the jack is a tall green chap, who stands in the middle of his pulpit, which is like a little pitcher, with a curved top to it. a pulpit, you know, is where some one preaches on sunday. "thank you very much for lifting the stone off me so i could grow," said the jack to uncle wiggily. "if ever i can do you a favor i will." "oh, pray don't mention it," replied the rabbit gentleman, with a low bow. "it was a mere pleasure, i assure you." then the rabbit gentleman hopped on to the store, to get the matches, the crackers, the bread and other things for nurse jane. "and i must be sure not to forget the matches," uncle wiggily said to himself. "if i did nurse jane could not make a fire to cook supper." there was an april shower while uncle wiggily was in the store, and he waited for the rain to stop falling before he started back to his hollow stump bungalow. then the sun came out very hot and strong and shone down through the wet leaves of the trees in the woods. along hopped the bunny uncle, and he was wondering what he would have for supper that night. "i hope it's something good," he said, "to make up for not having an adventure." "don't you call that an adventure--lifting the stone off the jack-in-the-pulpit so he could grow?" asked a bird, sitting up in a tree. "well, that was a little adventure." said uncle wiggily. "but i want one more exciting; a big one." and he is going to have one in about a minute. just you wait and you'll hear all about it. the sun was shining hotter and hotter, and uncle wiggily was thinking that it was about time to get out his extra-thin fur coat when, all of a sudden, he felt something very hot behind him. "why, that sun is really burning!" cried the bunny. then he heard a little ant boy, who was crawling on the ground, cry out: "fire! fire! fire! uncle wiggily's bundle of groceries is on fire! fire! fire!" "oh, my!" cried the bunny uncle, as he felt hotter and hotter, "the sun must have set fire to the box of matches. oh, what shall i do?" he dropped his bundle of groceries, and looking around at them he saw, surely enough, the matches were on fire. they were all blazing. "call the fire department! get out the water bugs!" cried the little ant boy. "fire! water! water! fire!" "that's what i want--water," cried the bunny uncle. "oh, if i could find a spring of water. i could put the blazing matches, save some of them, perhaps, and surely save the bread and crackers. oh, for some water!" uncle wiggily and the ant boy ran here and there in the woods looking for a spring of water. but they could find none, and the bread and crackers were just beginning to burn when a voice cried: "here is water, uncle wiggily!" "where? where?" asked the rabbit gentleman, all excited like. "where?" "inside my pulpit," was the answer, and uncle wiggily saw, not far away, the jack-plant he had helped from under the stone. "when it rained a while ago, my pitcher-pulpit became filled with water," went on jack. "if you will just tip me over, sideways, i'll splash the water on the blazing matches and put them out." "i'll do it!" cried uncle wiggily, and he quickly did. the pulpit held water as good as a milk pitcher could, and when the water splashed on the fire that fire gave one hiss, like a goose, and went out. "oh, you certainly did me a favor, mr. pulpit-jack," said uncle wiggily. "though the matches are burned, the bread and crackers are saved, and i can get more matches." which he did, so nurse jane could make a fire in the stove. so you see uncle wiggily had an adventure after all, and quite an exciting one, too, and if the lemon drop doesn't fall on the stick of peppermint candy and make it sneeze when it goes to the moving pictures, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the violets. story vi uncle wiggily and the violets down in the kitchen of the hollow stump bungalow there was a great clattering of pots and pans. uncle wiggily longears, the rabbit gentleman who lived in the bungalow, sat up in bed, having been awakened by the noise, and he said: "well, i wonder what nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy is doing now? she certainly is busy at something, and it can't be making the breakfast buckwheat cakes, either, for she has stopped baking them." "i say, miss fuzzy wuzzy, what's going on down in your kitchen?" called the rabbit gentleman out loud. "i'm washing," answered the muskrat lady. "washing what; the dishes?" the bunny uncle wanted to know. "if you wash them as hard as it sounds, there won't be any of them left for dinner, and i haven't had my breakfast yet." "no, i'm getting ready to wash the clothes, and i wish you'd come down and eat, so i can clear away the table things!" called the muskrat lady. "oh, dear! clothes-washing!" cried uncle wiggily, making his pink nose twinkle in a funny way. "i don't like to be around the bungalow when that is being done. i guess i'll get my breakfast and go for a walk. clothes have to be washed, i suppose," went on the rabbit gentleman, "and when nurse jane has been ill i have washed them myself, but i do not like it. i'll go off in the woods." and so, having had his breakfast of carrot pudding, with turnip sauce sprinkled over the top, uncle wiggily took his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch, and hopped along. the woods were getting more and more beautiful every day as the weather grew warmer. the leaves on the trees were larger, and here and there, down in the green moss, that was like a carpet on the ground, could be seen wild flowers growing up. "i wonder what sort of an adventure i will have today?" thought the bunny uncle as he went on and on. "a nice one, i hope." and, as he said this, uncle wiggily heard some voices speaking. "oh, dear!" exclaimed a sad little voice, "no one will ever see us here! of what use are we in the world? we are so small that we cannot be noticed. we are not brightly colored, like the red rose, and all that will happen to us will be that a cow will come along and eat us, or step on us with her big foot." "hush! you musn't talk that way," said another voice. "you were put here to grow, and do the best you know how. don't be finding fault." "i wonder who can be talking?" said uncle wiggily. "i must look around." so he looked up in the air, but though he heard the leaves whispering he knew they had not spoken. then he looked to the right, to the left, in front and behind, but he saw no one. then he looked down, and right at his feet was a clump of blue violet flowers. "did you speak?" asked uncle wiggily of the violets. "yes," answered one who had been finding fault. "i was telling my sisters and brothers that we are of no use in the world. we just grow up here in the woods, where no one sees us, and we never can have any fun. i want to be a big, red rose and grow in a garden." "oh, my!" cried uncle wiggily. "i never heard of a violet turning into a rose." then the mother violet spoke and said: "i tell my little girl-flower that she ought to be happy to grow here in the nice woods, in the green moss, where it is so cool and moist. but she does not seem to be happy, nor are some of the other violets." "well, that isn't right," uncle wiggily said, kindly. "i am sure you violets can do some good in this world. you are pretty to look at, and nice to smell, and that is more than can be said of some things." "oh, i want to do something big!" said the fault-finding violet. "i want to go out in the world and see things." "so do i! and i! and i!" cried other violets. uncle wiggily thought for a minute, and then he said: "i'll do this. i'll dig up a bunch of you violets, who want a change, and take you with me for a walk. i will leave some earth on your roots so you won't die, and we shall see what happens." "oh, goodie!" cried the violets. so uncle wiggily dug them up with his paws, putting some cool moss around their roots, and when they had said good-by to the mother violet away they went traveling with the bunny uncle. "oh, this is fine!" cried the first violet, nodding her head in the breeze. "it is very kind of you, uncle wiggily to take us with you. i wish we could do you a kindness." and then a bad old fox jumped out from behind a stump, and started to grab the rabbit gentleman. but when the fox saw the pretty violets and smelled their sweetness, the fox felt sorry at having been bad and said: "excuse me, uncle wiggily. i'm sorry i tried to bite you. the sight of those pretty violets makes me feel happier than i did. i am going to try to be good." "i am glad of it," said mr. longears, as he hopped on through the woods. "you see, you have already done some good in this world, even if you are only tiny flowers," he said to the violets. then uncle wiggily went on to his hollow stump bungalow, and, reaching there, he heard nurse jane saying: "oh, dear! this is terrible. here i have the clothes almost washed, and not a bit of bluing to rinse them in. oh, why didn't i tell wiggy to bring me some blueing from the store? oh, dear!" "ha! perhaps these will do to make blue water," said the bunny uncle, holding out the bunch of violets. "would you like to help nurse jane?" he asked the flowers. "oh, yes, very much!" cried the violets. then uncle wiggily dipped their blue heads in the clean rinsing water--just a little dip so as not to make them catch cold--and enough color came out of the violets to make the water properly blue for nurse jane's clothes, so she could finish the washing. "so you see you have done more good in the world," said uncle wiggily to the flowers. then he took them back and planted them in the woods where they lived, and very glad they were to return, too. "we have seen enough of the world," they said, and thereafter they were glad enough to live down in the moss with the mother violet. and if the umbrella doesn't turn inside out so the handle tickles its ribs and makes it laugh in school, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the high tree. story vii uncle wiggily and the high tree uncle wiggily longears, the nice rabbit gentleman, stood in front of the looking glass trying on a new tall silk hat he had just bought ready for easter sunday, which would happen in about a week or two. "do you think it looks well on me, nurse jane?" asked the bunny uncle, of the muskrat lady housekeeper, who came in from the kitchen of the hollow stump bungalow, having just finished washing the dishes. "why, yes, i think your new hat is very nice," she said. "do you think i ought to have the holes for my ears cut a little larger?" asked the bunny uncle. "i mean the holes cut, not my ears." "well, just a little larger wouldn't hurt any," replied miss fuzzy wuzzy. "i'll cut them for you," and she did, with her scissors. for uncle wiggily had to wear his tall silk hat with his ears sticking up through holes cut in it. his ears were too large to go under the hat, and he could not very well fold them down. "there, now i guess i'm all right to go for a walk in the woods," said the rabbit gentleman, taking another look at himself in the glass. it was not a proud look, you understand. uncle wiggily just wanted to look right and proper, and he wasn't at all stuck up, even if his ears were, but he couldn't help that. so off he started, wondering what sort of an adventure he would have that day. he passed the place where the blue violets were growing in the green moss--the same violets he had used to make nurse jane's blueing water for her clothes the other day, as i told you. and the violets were glad to see the bunny uncle. then uncle wiggily met grandfather goosey gander, the nice old goose gentleman, and the two friends walked on together, talking about how much cornmeal you could buy with a lollypop, and all about the best way to eat fried ice cream carrots. "that's a very nice hat you have on, uncle wiggily," said grandpa goosey, after a bit. "glad you like it," answered the bunny uncle. "it's for easter." "i think i'll get one for myself," went on mr. gander. "do you think i would look well in it?" "try on mine and see," offered uncle wiggily most kindly. so he took his new, tall silk hat off his head, pulling his ears out of the holes nurse jane had cut for them, and handed it to grandfather goosey gander--handed the hat, i mean, not his ears, though of course the holes went with the hat. "there, how do i look?" asked the goose gentleman. "quite stylish and proper," replied mr. longears. "i'd like to see myself before i buy a hat like this," went on grandpa goosey. "i hope it doesn't make me look too tall." "here's a spring of water over by this old stump," spoke uncle wiggily. "you can see yourself in that, for it is just like a looking glass." grandpa goosey leaned over to see how uncle wiggily's tall, silk hat looked, when, all of a sudden, along came a puff of wind, caught the hat under the brim, and as grandpa goosey had no ears to hold it on his head (as the bunny uncle had) away sailed the hat up in the air, and it landed right in the top of a big, high tree. "oh, dear!" cried uncle wiggily. "oh, dear!" said grandpa goosey. "i'm very sorry that happened. oh, dear!" "it wasn't your fault at all," spoke uncle wiggily kindly. "it was the wind." "but with your nice, new tall silk hat up in that high tree, how are we ever going to get it down," asked the goose gentleman. "i don't know," answered uncle wiggily. "let me think." so he thought for a minute or two, and then he said: "there are three ways by which we may get the hat down. one is to ask the wind to blow it back to us, another is to climb up the tree and get the hat ourselves, and the third is to ask the tree to shake it down to us. we'll try the wind first." so uncle wiggily and grandpa goosey asked the wind that had blown the hat up in the top of the high tree to kindly blow it back again. but the wind had gone far out to sea, and would not be back for a week. so that way of getting the hat was of no use. "mr. high tree, will you kindly shake my hat down to me?" begged uncle wiggily next. "i would like to, very much," the tree answered politely, "but i cannot shake when there is no wind to blow me. we trees cannot shake ourselves, you know. we can only shake when the wind blows us, and until the wind comes back i cannot shake." "too bad!" said uncle wiggily. "then the only way left for us to do, grandpa goosey, is to climb the tree." but this was easier said than done, for neither a rabbit nor a goose gentleman is made for climbing up trees, though when he was a young chap grandpa goosey had flown up into little trees, and uncle wiggily had jumped over them. but that was long, long ago. try as they did, neither the rabbit gentleman nor the goose gentleman could climb up after the tall silk hat. "what are we going to do?" asked grandpa goosey. "i don't know," replied mr. longears. "i guess i'll have to go get billie or johnnie bushytail, the squirrel boys, to climb the tree for us. yes, that's what i'll do; and then i can get my hat." uncle wiggily started off through the woods to look for one of the bushytail chaps, while grandpa goosey stayed near the tree, to catch the hat in case it should happen to fall by itself. all of a sudden uncle wiggily heard some one coming along whistling, and then he heard a loud pounding sound, and next he saw toodle flat-tail, the beaver boy, walking in the woods. "oh, toodle! you're the very one i want!" cried uncle wiggily. "my hat is in a high tree and i can't get it. with your strong teeth, just made for cutting down trees, will you kindly cut down this one, and get my hat for me?" "i will," said the little beaver chap. but when he began to gnaw the tree, to make it fall, the tree cried: "oh, mr. wind, please come and blow on me so i can shake uncle wiggily's hat to him, and then i won't have to be gnawed down. please blow, mr. wind." so the wind hurried back and blew the tree this way and that. down toppled uncle wiggily's hat, not in the least hurt, and so everything was all right again, and uncle wiggily and grandpa goosey and toodle flat-tail were happy. and the tree was extra glad as it did not have to be gnawed down. [illustration: down toppled uncle wiggily's hat, not in the least hurt.] and if the little mouse doesn't go to sleep in the cat's cradle and scare poor pussy so her tail swells up like a balloon, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the peppermint. story viii uncle wiggily and the peppermint "uncle wiggily, would you mind going to the store for me?" asked nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, one morning, as she came in from the kitchen of the hollow stump bungalow, where she had been getting ready the breakfast for the rabbit gentleman. "go to the store? why of course i'll go, miss fuzzy wuzzy," answered the bunny uncle. "which store?" "the drug store." "the drug store? what do you want; talcum powder or court plaster?" "neither one," answered nurse jane. "i want some peppermint." "peppermint candy?" uncle wiggily wanted to know. "not exactly," went on nurse jane. "but i want a little of the peppermint juice with which some kind of candy is flavored. i want to take some peppermint juice myself, for i have indigestion. dr. possum says peppermint is good for it. i must have eaten a little too much cheese pudding last night." "i'll get you the peppermint with pleasure," said the bunny uncle, starting off with his tall silk hat and his red, white and blue striped rheumatism barber pole crutch. "better get it in a bottle," spoke nurse jane, with a laugh. "you can't carry peppermint in your pocket, unless it's peppermint candy, and i don't want that kind." "all right," uncle wiggily said, and then, with the bottle, which nurse jane gave him, he hopped on, over the fields and through the woods to the drug store. but when he got there the cupboard was bare--. no! i mustn't say that. it doesn't belong here. i mean when uncle wiggily reached the drug store it was closed, and there was a sign in the door which said the monkey-doodle gentleman who kept the drug store had gone to a baseball-moving-picture show, and wouldn't be back for a long while. "then i wonder where i am going to get nurse jane's peppermint?" asked uncle wiggily of himself. "i'd better go see if dr. possum has any." but while uncle wiggily was going on through the woods once more, he gave a sniff and a whiff, and, all of a sudden, he smelled a peppermint smell. the rabbit gentleman stood still, looking around and making his pink nose twinkle like a pair of roller skates. while he was doing this along came a cow lady chewing some grass for her complexion. "what are you doing here, uncle wiggily?" asked the cow lady. uncle wiggily told her how he had gone to the drug store for peppermint for nurse jane, and how he had found the store closed, so he could not get any. "but i smell peppermint here in the woods," went on the bunny uncle. "can it be that the drug store monkey doodle has left some here for me?" "no, what you smell is--that," said the cow lady, pointing her horns toward some green plants growing near a little babbling brook of water. the plants had dark red stems that were square instead of round. "it does smell like peppermint," said uncle wiggily, going closer and sniffing and snuffing. "it is peppermint," said the cow lady. "that is the peppermint plant you see." "oh, now i remember," uncle wiggily exclaimed. "they squeeze the juice out of the leaves, and that's peppermint flavor for candy or for indigestion." "exactly," spoke the cow lady, "and i'll help you squeeze out some of this juice in the bottle for nurse jane." then uncle wiggily and the cow lady pulled up some of the peppermint plants and squeezed out the juice between two clean, flat stones, the cow lady stepping on them while uncle wiggily caught the juice in the empty bottle as it ran out. "my! but that is strong!" cried the bunny uncle, as he smelled of the bottle of peppermint. it was so sharp that it made tears come into his eyes. "i should think that would cure indigestion and everything else," he said to the cow lady. "tell nurse jane to take only a little of it in sweet water," said the cow lady. "it is very strong. so be careful of it." "i will," promised uncle wiggily. "and thank you for getting the peppermint for me. i don't know what i would have done without you, as the drug store was closed." then he hopped on through the woods to the hollow stump bungalow. he had not quite reached it when, all of a sudden, there was a rustling in the hushes, and out from behind a bramble bush jumped a big black bear. not a nice good bear, like neddie or beckie stubtail, but a bear who cried: "ah, ha! oh, ho! here is some one whom i can bite and scratch! a nice tender rabbit chap! ah, ha! oh, ho!" "are--are you going to scratch and bite me?" asked uncle wiggily. "i am," said the bear, snappish like. "get ready. here i come!" and he started toward uncle wiggily, who was so frightened that he could not hop away. "i'm going to hug you, too," said the bear. bears always hug, you know. "well, this is, indeed, a sorry day for me," said uncle wiggily, sadly. "still, if you are going to hug, bite and scratch me, i suppose it can't be helped." "not the least in the world can it be helped," said the bear, cross-like and unpleasant. "so don't try!" "well, if you are going to hug me i had better take this bottle out of my pocket, so when you squeeze me the glass won't break," uncle wiggily said. "here, when you are through being so mean to me perhaps you will be good enough to take this to nurse jane for her indigestion, but don't hug her." "i won't," promised the bear, taking the bottle which uncle wiggily handed him. "what's in it?" before uncle wiggily could answer, the bear opened the bottle, and, seeing something in it, cried: "i guess i'll taste this. maybe it's good to eat." down his big, red throat he poured the strong peppermint juice, and then--well, i guess you know what happened. "oh, wow! oh, me! oh, my! wow! ouch! ouchie! itchie!" roared the bear. "my throat is on fire! i must have some water!" and, dropping the bottle, away he ran to the spring, leaving uncle wiggily safe, and not hurt a bit. then the rabbit gentleman hurried back and squeezed out more peppermint juice for nurse jane, whose indigestion was soon cured. and as for the bear, he had a sore throat for a week and a day. so this teaches us that peppermint is good for scaring bears, as well as for putting in candy. and if the snow man doesn't come in our house and sit by the gas stove until he melts into a puddle of molasses, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the birch tree. story ix uncle wiggily and the birch tree uncle wiggily longears, the nice old rabbit gentleman, was walking along through the woods one afternoon, when he came to the hollow stump school, where the lady mouse teacher taught the animal boys and girls how to jump, crack nuts, dig homes under ground, and do all manner of things that animal folk have to do. and just as the rabbit gentleman was wondering whether or not school was out, he heard a voice inside the hollow stump, saying: "oh, dear! i wish i had some one to help me. i'll never get them clean all by myself. oh, dear!" "ha! that sounds like trouble!" thought mr. longears to himself. "i wonder who it is, and if i can help? i guess i'd better see." he looked in through a window, and there he saw the lady mouse teacher cleaning off the school black-boards. the boards were all covered with white chalk marks, you see. "what's the matter, lady mouse teacher?" asked uncle wiggily, making a polite, low bow. "oh, i told johnnie and billy bushytail, the two squirrel boys, to stay in and clean off the black-boards, so they would be all ready for tomorrow's lesson," said the lady mouse. "but they forgot, and ran off to play ball with jackie and peetie bow wow, the puppy dog boys. so i have to clean the boards myself. and i really ought to be home now, for i am very tired." "then you trot right along," said uncle wiggily, kindly. "tie a knot in your tail, so you won't step on it, and hurry along." "but what about the black-boards?" asked the lady mouse. "they must be cleaned off." "i'll attend to that," promised the bunny uncle. "i will clean them myself. run along, miss mouse." so miss mouse thanked the bunny uncle, and ran along, and the rabbit gentleman began brushing the chalk marks off the black-boards, at the same time humming a little tune that went this way: "i'd love to be a teacher, within a hollow stump. i'd teach the children how to fall, and never get a bump. i'd let them out at recess, a game of tag to play; i'd give them all fresh lollypops 'most every other day!" "oh, my! wouldn't we just love to come to school to you!" cried a voice at the window, and, looking up. uncle wiggily saw billie bushytail, the boy squirrel, and brother johnnie with him. "ha! what happened you two chaps?" asked the bunny uncle. "why did you run off without cleaning the black-boards for the lady mouse teacher?" "we forgot," said johnnie, sort of ashamed-like and sorry. "that's what we came back to do--clean the boards." "well, that was good of you," spoke uncle wiggily. "but i have the boards nearly cleaned now." "then we will give them a dusting with our tails, and that will finish them," said billie, and the squirrel boys did, so the black-boards were very clean. "now it's time to go home," said uncle wiggily. so he locked the school, putting the key under the doormat, where the lady mouse could find it in the morning, and, with the bushytail squirrel boys, he started off through the woods. "you and billie can go back to your play, now, johnnie," said the bunny uncle. "it was good of you to leave it to come back to do what you were told." the three animal friends hopped and scrambled on together, until, all of a sudden, the bad old fox, who so often had made trouble for uncle wiggily, jumped out from behind a bush, crying: "ah, ha! now i have you, mr. longears--and two squirrels besides. good luck!" "bad luck!" whispered billie. the fox made a grab for the rabbit gentleman, but, all of a sudden, the paw of the bad creature slipped in some mud and down he went, head first, into a puddle of water, coughing and sneezing. "come on, uncle wiggily!" quickly cried billie and johnnie. "this is our chance. we'll run away before the fox gets the water out of his eyes. he can't see us now." so away ran the rabbit gentleman and the squirrel boys, but soon the fox had dried his eyes on his big brush of a tail, and on he came after them. "oh, i'll get you! i'll get you!" he cried, running very fast. but uncle wiggily and billie and johnnie ran fast, too. the fox was coming closer, however, and billie, looking back, said: "oh, i know what let's do, uncle wiggily. let's take the path that leads over the duck pond ocean. that's shorter, and we can get to your bungalow before the fox can catch us. he won't dare come across the bridge over the duck pond, for old dog percival will come out and bite him if he does." "very well," said uncle wiggily, "over the bridge we will go." but alas! also sorrowfulness and sadness! when the three friends got to the bridge it wasn't there. the wind had blown the bridge down, and there was no way of getting across the duck pond ocean, for neither uncle wiggily nor the squirrel boys could swim very well. "oh, what are we going to do?" cried billie, sadly. "we must get across somehow!" chattered johnnie, "for here comes the fox!" and, surely enough the fox was coming, having by this time gotten all the water out of his eyes, so he could see very well. "oh, if we only had a boat!" exclaimed uncle wiggily, looking along the shore of the pond, but there was no boat to be seen. nearer and nearer came the fox! uncle wiggily and the squirrel boys were just going to jump in the water, whether or not they could swim, when, all at once, a big white birch tree on the edge of the woods near the pond, said: "listen, uncle wiggily and i will save you. strip off some of my bark. it will not hurt me, and you can make a little canoe boat of it, as the indians used to do. then, in the birch bark boat you can sail across the water and the fox can't get you." "good! thank you!" cried the bunny uncle. with their sharp teeth he, billie and johnnie peeled off long strips of birch bark. they quickly bent them in the shape of a boat and sewed up the ends with long thorns for needles and ribbon grass for thread. "quick! into the birch bark boat!" cried uncle wiggily, and they all jumped in, just as the fox came along. billie and johnnie held up their bushy tails, and uncle wiggily held up his tall silk hat for sails, and soon they were safe on the other shore and the fox, not being able to swim, could not get them. so that's how the birch tree of the woods saved the bunny uncle and the squirrels, for which, i am very glad, as i want to write more stories about them. and if the gold fish doesn't tickle the wax doll's nose with his tail when she looks in the tank to see what he has for breakfast, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the butternut tree. story x uncle wiggily and the butternut tree "well, i declare!" exclaimed nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper of uncle wiggily longears, the rabbit, as she looked in the pantry of the hollow stump bungalow one day. "well, i do declare!" "what's the matter?" asked mr. longears, peeping over the top of his spectacles. "i hope that the chimney hasn't fallen down, or the egg beater run away with the potato masher." "no, nothing like that," nurse jane said. "but we haven't any butter!" "no butter?" spoke uncle wiggily, sort of puzzled like, and abstracted. "not a bit of butter for supper," went on nurse jane, sadly. "ha! that sounds like something from mother goose. not a bit of butter for supper," laughed uncle wiggily. "not a bit of batter-butter for the pitter-patter supper. if peter piper picked a pit of peckled pippers--" "oh, don't start that!" begged nurse jane. "all i need is some supper for butter--no some bupper for batter--oh, dear! i'll never get it straight!" she cried. "i'll say it for you," said uncle wiggily, kindly. "i know what you want--some butter for supper. i'll go get it for you." "thank you," nurse jane exclaimed, and so the old rabbit gentleman started off over the fields and through the woods for the butter store. the monkey-doodle gentleman waited on him, and soon uncle wiggily was on his way back to the hollow stump bungalow with the butter for supper, and he was thinking how nice the carrot muffins would taste, for nurse jane had promised to make some, and uncle wiggily was sort of smacking his whiskers and twinkling his nose, when, all at once, he heard some one in the woods calling: "uncle wiggily! oh, i say, uncle wiggily! can't you stop for a moment and say how-d'-do?" "why, of course, i can," answered the bunny, and, looking around the corner of an old log, he saw grandpa whackum, the old beaver gentleman, who lived with toodle and noodle flat-tail, the beaver boys. "come in and sit down for a minute and rest yourself," invited grandpa whackum. "i will," said uncle wiggily. "and i'll leave my butter outside where it will be cool," for grandpa whackum lived down in an underground house, where it was so warm, in summer, that butter would melt. grandpa whackum was a beaver, and he was called whackum because he used to whack his broad, flat tail on the ground, like beating a drum, to warn the other beavers of danger. beavers, you know, are something like big muskrats, and they like water. their tails are flat, like a pancake or egg turner. "well, how are things with you, and how is nurse jane?" asked grandpa whackum. "oh, everything is fine," said uncle wiggily. "nurse jane is well. i've just been to the store to get her some butter." "that's just like you; always doing something for some one," said grandpa whackum, pleased like. then the two friends talked for some little while longer, until it was almost o'clock, and time for uncle wiggily to go. "i'll take my butter and travel along," he said. but when he went outside, where he had left the pound of butter on a flat stump, it wasn't there. "why, this is queer," said the bunny uncle. "i wonder if nurse jane could have come along and taken it to the hollow stump bungalow herself?" "more likely a bad fox took the butter," spoke the old gentleman beaver. "but we can soon tell. i'll look in the dirt around the stump and see whose footprints are there. a fox makes different tracks from a muskrat." so grandpa whackum looked and he said: "why, this is queer. i can only see beaver tracks and rabbit tracks near the stump. only you and i were here and we didn't take anything." "but where is my butter?" asked uncle wiggily. just then, off in the woods, near the beaver house, came the sound of laughter and voices cailed: "oh, it's my turn now, toodle." "yes, noodle, and then it's mine. oh, what fun we are having, aren't we?" "it's toodle and noodle--my two beaver grandsons," said grandpa whackum. "i wonder if they could have taken your butter? come; we'll find out." they went softly over behind a clump of bushes and there they saw toodle and noodle sliding down the slanting log of a tree, that was like a little hill, only there was no snow on it. "why, they're coasting!" cried grandpa whackum. "and how they can do it without snow i don't see." "but i see!" said uncle wiggily. "those two little beaver boys have taken my butter that i left outside of your house and with the butter they have greased the slanting log until it is slippery as ice. that's how they slide down--on nurse jane's butter." "oh, the little rascals!" cried grandpa whackum. "well, they didn't mean anything wrong," uncle wiggily kindly said. then he called; "toodle! noodle! is any of my butter left?" "your butter?" cried noodle, surprised like. "was that your butter?" asked toodle. "oh, please forgive us! we thought no one wanted it, and we took it to grease the log so we could slide down. it was as good as sliding down a muddy, slippery bank of mud into the lake." "we used all your butter," spoke noodle. "every bit." "oh, dear! that's too bad!" uncle wiggily said. "it is now after o'clock and all the stores will be closed. how can i get more?" and he looked at the butter the beaver boys had spread on the tree. it could not be used for bread, as it was all full of bark. "oh, how can i get some good butter for nurse jane?" asked the bunny uncle sadly. "ha! i will give you some," spoke a voice high in the air. "who are you?" asked uncle wiggily, startled. "i am the butternut tree," was the answer. "i'll drop some nuts down and all you will have to do will be to crack them, pick out the meats and squeeze out the butter. it is almost as good as that which you buy in the store." "good!" cried uncle wiggily, "and thank you." then the butter tree rattled down some butternuts, which uncle wiggily took home, and nurse jane said the butter squeezed from them was very good. and toodle and noodle were sorry for having taken uncle wiggily's other butter to make a slippery tree slide, but they meant no harm. so if the pussy cat doesn't take the lollypop stick to make a mud pie, and not give any ice cream cones to the rag doll, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and lulu's hat. story xi uncle wiggily and lulu's hat "uncle wiggily, do you want to do something for me?" asked nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, of the rabbit gentleman one day as he started out from his hollow stump bungalow to take a walk in the woods. "do something for you, nurse jane? why, of course, i want to," spoke mr. longears. "what is it?" "just take this piece of pie over to mrs. wibblewobble, the duck lady," went on miss fuzzy wuzzy. "i promised to let her taste how i made apple pie out of cabbage leaves." "and very cleverly you do it, too," said uncle wiggily, with a polite bow. "i know, for i have eaten some myself. i will gladly take this pie to mrs. wibblewobble," and off through the woods uncle wiggily started with it. he soon reached the duck lady's house, and mrs. wibblewobble was very glad indeed to get the piece of nurse jane's pie. "i'll save a bit for lulu and alice, my two little duck girls," said mrs. wibblewobble. "why, aren't they home?" asked uncle wiggily. "no, lulu has gone over to a little afternoon party which nannie wagtail, the goat girl, is having, and alice has gone to see grandfather goosey gander. jiminie is off playing ball with jackie and peetie bow wow, the puppy dog boys, so i am home alone." "i hope you are not lonesome," said uncle wiggily. "oh, no, thank you," answered the duck lady. "i have too much to do. thank nurse jane for her pie." "i shall," uncle wiggily promised, as he started off through the woods again. he had not gone far before, all of a sudden, he did not stoop low enough as he was hopping under a tree and, the first thing he knew, his tall silk hat was knocked off his head and into a puddle of water. "oh, dear!" cried uncle wiggily, as he picked up his hat. "i shall never be able to wear it again until it is cleaned and ironed. and how i can have that done out here in the woods is more than i know." "ah, but i know," said a voice in a tree overhead. "who are you, and what do you know?" asked the bunny uncle, surprised like and hopeful. "i know where you can have your silk hat cleaned and ironed smooth," said the voice. "i am the tailor bird, and i do those things. let me have your hat, uncle wiggily, and i'll fix it for you." down flew the kind bird, and uncle wiggily gave him the hat. "but what shall i wear while i'm waiting?" asked the bunny uncle. "it is too soon for me to be going about without my hat. i'll need something on my head while you are fixing my silk stovepipe, dear tailor bird." "oh, that is easy," said the bird. "just pick some of those thick, green leafy ferns and make yourself a hat of them." "the very thing!" cried uncle wiggily. then he fastened some woodland ferns together and easily made himself a hat that would keep off the sun, if it would not keep off the rain. but then it wasn't raining. "there you are, uncle wiggily!" called the tailor bird at last. "your silk hat is ready to wear again." "thank you," spoke the bunny uncle, as he laid aside the ferns, also thanking them. "now i am like myself again," and he hopped on through the woods, wondering whether or not he was to have any more adventures that day. mr. longears had not gone on very much farther before he heard a rustling in the bushes, and then a sad little voice said: "oh, dear! how sad! i don't believe i'll go to the party now! all the others would make fun of me! oh, dear! oh, dear!" "ha! that sounds like trouble!" said the bunny uncle. "i must see what it means." he looked through the bushes and there, sitting on a log, he saw lulu wibblewobble, the little duck girl, who was crying very hard, the tears rolling down her yellow bill. "why, lulu! what's the matter?" asked uncle wiggily. "oh, dear!" answered the little quack-quack child. "i can't go to the party; that's what's the matter." "why can't you go?" uncle wiggily wanted to know. "i saw your mother a little while ago, and she said you were going." "i know i was going," spoke lulu, "but i'm not now, for the wind blew my nice new hat into the puddle of muddy water, and now look at it!" and she held up a very much beraggled and debraggled hat of lace and straw and ribbons and flowers. "oh, dear! that hat is in a bad state, to be sure," said uncle wiggily. "but don't cry, lulu. almost the same thing happened to me and the tailor bird made my hat as good as ever. mine was all mud, too, like yours. come, i'll take you to the tailor bird." "you are very kind, uncle wiggily," spoke lulu, "but if i go there i may not get back in time for the party, and i want to wear my new hat to it, very much." "ha! i see!" cried the bunny uncle. "you want to look nice at the party. well, that's right, of course. and i don't believe the tailor bird could clean your hat in time, for it is so fancy he would have to be very careful of it. "but you can do as i did, make a hat out of ferns, and wear that to nannie wagtail's party. i'll help you." "oh, how kind you are!" cried the little duck girl. so she went along with uncle wiggily to where the ferns grew in the wood, leaving her regular hat at the tailor bird's nest to be cleaned and pressed. uncle wiggily made lulu the cutest hat out of fern leaves. oh, i wish you could have seen it. there wasn't one like it even in the five and ten-cent store. "wear that to nannie's party, lulu," said the rabbit gentleman, and lulu did, the hat being fastened to her feathers with a long pin made from the stem of a fern. and when lulu reached the party all the animal girls cried out: "oh, what a sweet, lovely, cute, dear, cunning, swell and stylish hat! where did you get it?" "uncle wiggily made it," answered lulu, and all the girls said they were going to get one just like it. and they did, so that fern hats became very fashionable and stylish in woodland, and lulu had a fine time at the party. so this teaches us that even a mud puddle is of some use, and if the rubber plant doesn't stretch too far, and tickle the gold fish under the chin making it sneeze, the next story will be about uncle wiggily and the snow drops. story xii uncle wiggily and the snow drops "uncle wiggily! uncle wiggily! will you come with me?" called a voice under the window of the hollow stump bungalow, where the old gentleman rabbit was sitting, half asleep, one nice, warm afternoon. "ha! come with you? who is it wants me to come with them?" asked the bunny gentleman. "i hope it isn't the bad fox, or the skillery-scalery alligator with humps on his tail that is calling. they're always wanting me to go with them." the rabbit looked out of the window and he heard some one laughing. "that doesn't sound like a bad fox, nor yet an unpleasant alligator," said mr. longears. "who is it wants me to come with them?" "it is i--susie littletail, the rabbit girl," was the answer. "and where do you want me to come?" asked uncle wiggily. "to the woods, to pick some flowers," answered susie. "the lady mouse teacher wants me to see how many kinds i can find. you know so much about the woods, uncle wiggily, that i wish you'd come with me." "i will," said the nice rabbit gentleman. "wait until i get my tall silk hat and my red, white and blue striped barber pole rheumatism crutch." and, when he had them, off he started, holding susie's paw in his, and limping along under the green trees and over the carpet of green moss. uncle wiggily and the little rabbit girl found many kinds of flowers in the woods. there were violets, some white, some yellow and some purple, with others blue, like the ones uncle wiggily used to make blueing water for nurse jane's clothes. and there were red flowers and yellow ones, and some jacks-in-their-pulpits, which are very queer flowers indeed. "here, susie, is a new kind of blossom. maybe you would like some of these," said uncle wiggily, pointing to a bush that was covered with little round, white balls. "oh, i didn't know the snow had lasted this long!" susie cried. "i thought it had melted long ago." "i don't see any snow," said uncle wiggily, looking around. "on that bush," said susie, pointing to the white one. "oh!" laughed the bunny uncle. "that does look like snow, to be sure. but it isn't, though the name of the flowers is snowdrop." "flowers! i don't call them flowers!" said susie. "they are only white balls." "don't you want to pick any?" asked the rabbit. "thank you, no," susie said. "i like prettier colored flowers than those, which are just plain white." "well, i like them, and i'll take some to nurse jane," spoke the bunny uncle. so he picked a bunch of the snowdrops and carried them in his paws, while susie gathered the brighter flowers. "i think those will be all teacher will want," said the little rabbit girl at last. "yes, we had better be getting home," spoke uncle wiggily. "nurse jane will soon have supper ready. won't you come and eat with me, susie?" "thank you, i will, uncle wiggily," and the little bunny girl clapped her paws; that is, as well as she could, on account of holding her flowers, for she loved to eat at uncle wiggily's hollow stump bungalow, as did all the animal children. well, uncle wiggily and susie were going along and along through the woods, when, all of a sudden, as they passed a high rock, out from behind it jumped the bad old tail-pulling monkey. [illustration: as they passed a high rock, out from behind it jumped the bad old tail-pulling monkey.] "ah, ha!" chattered the monkey chap. "i am just in time, i see." "time for what?" asked uncle wiggily, suspicious like. "to pull your tails," answered the monkey. "i haven't had any tails to pull in a long while, and i must pull some. so, though you rabbits haven't very good tails, for pulling, i must do the best i can. now come to me and have your tails pulled. come on!" "oh, dear!" cried susie. "i don't want my tail pulled, even if it is very short." "nor i mine," uncle wiggily said. "that makes no manner of difference to me," chattered the monkey. "i'm a tail-pulling chap, and tails i must pull. so you might as well have it over with, now as later." and he spoke just like a dentist who wants to take your lolly-pop away from you. "pull our tails! well, i guess you won't!" cried uncle wiggily suddenly. "come on, susie! let's run away!" before the monkey could grab them uncle wiggily and susie started to run. but soon the monkey was running after them, crying: "stop! stop! i must pull your tails!" "but we don't want you to," answered susie. "oh, but you must let me!" cried the monkey. then he gave a great big, long, strong and double-jointed jump, like a circus clown going over the backs of fourteen elephants, and part of another one, and the monkey grabbed uncle wiggily by his ears. "oh, let go of me, if you please!" begged the bunny. "i thought you said you pulled tails and not ears." "i do pull tails when i can get hold of them," said the malicious monkey. "but as i can't easily get hold of your tail, and as your ears are so large that i can easily grab them, i'll pull them instead. all ready now, a long pull, a strong pull and a pull altogether!" "stop!" cried the bunny uncle, just as the monkey was going to give the three kinds of pull at once. "stop!" "no!" answered the monkey. "no! no!" "yes! yes!" cried the bunny uncle. "if you don't stop pulling my ears you'll freeze!" and with that the bunny uncle pulled out from behind him, where he had kept them hidden, the bunch of white snowdrops. "ah, ha!" cried mr. longears to the monkey. "you come from a warm country, where there is no snow or snowdrops. now when you see these snow drops, shiver and shake--see how cold it is! shiver and shake! shake and shiver! burr-r-r-r-r!" uncle wiggily made believe the flowers were real snow, sort of shivering himself (pretend like) and the tail-pulling chap, who was very much afraid of cold and snow and ice, chattered and said: "oh, dear! oh, how cold i am! oh, i'm freezing. i am going back to my warm nest in the tree and not pull any tails until next summer!" and then the monkey ran away, thinking the snowdrops uncle wiggily had picked were bits of real snow. "i'm sorry i said the snowdrops weren't nice," spoke susie, as she and uncle wiggily went safely home. "they are very nice. only for them the monkey would have pulled our tails." but he didn't, you see, and if the hookworm doesn't go to the moving pictures with the gold fish and forget to come back to play tag with the toy piano, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the horse chestnut tree. story xiii uncle wiggily and the horse chestnut "bang! bango! bunko! bunk! slam!" something made a big noise on the front porch of the hollow stump bungalow, where, in the woods, lived uncle wiggily longears, the rabbit gentleman. "my goodness!" cried nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper. "i hope nothing has happened!" "well, from what i heard i should say it is quite certain that something has happened," spoke the bunny uncle, sort of twisting his ears very anxious like. "i only hope the chimney hasn't turned a somersault, and that the roof is not trying to play tag with the back steps," went on miss fuzzy wuzzy, a bit scared like. "i'll go see what it is," offered uncle wiggily, and as he went to the front door there, on the piazza, he saw billie wagtail, the little goat boy. "oh, good morning, uncle wiggily," spoke billie, politely. "here's a note for you. i just brought it." "and did you bring all that noise with you?" mr. longears wanted to know. "well, yes, i guess i did," billie said, sort of bashful like and shy as he wiggled his horns. "i was seeing how fast i could run, and i ran down hill and got going so lickity-split like that i couldn't stop. i fell right up your front steps, rattle-te-bang!" "i should say it was rattle-te-bang!" laughed uncle wiggily. "but please don't do it again, billie." "i won't," promised the goat boy. "grandpa goosey gander gave me that note to leave for you on my way to the store for my mother. and now i must hurry on," and billie jumped off the porch and skipped along through the woodland trees as happy as a huckleberry pie and a piece of cheese. "what was it all about?" asked nurse jane, when uncle wiggily came in. "oh, just billie wagtail," answered the bunny uncle. "he brought a note from grandpa goosey, who wants me to come over and see him. i'll go. he has the epizootic, and can't get out, so he wants some one to talk to and to play checkers with him." off through the woods went uncle wiggily and he was almost at grandpa goosey's house when he heard some voices talking. one voice said: "oh, dear! how thirsty i am!" "and so am i!" said another. "well, children, i am sorry," spoke a third voice, "but i cannot give you any water. i am thirsty myself, but we cannot drink until it rains, and it has not rained in a long, long time." "oh, dear! oh, dear! oh, dear!" cried the other voices again. "how thirsty we are!" "that's too bad," thought uncle wiggily. "i would not wish even the bad fox to be thirsty. i must see if i can not be of some help." so he peeked through the bushes and saw some trees. "was it you who were talking about being thirsty?" asked the rabbit gentleman, curious like. "yes," answered the big voice. "i am a horse chestnut tree, and these are my children," and the large tree waved some branches, like fingers, at some small trees growing under her. "and they, i suppose, are pony chestnut trees," said uncle wiggily. "that's what we are!" cried the little trees, "and we are very thirsty." "indeed they are," said the mother tree. "you see we are not like you animals. we cannot walk to a spring or well to get a drink when we are thirsty. we have to stay, rooted in one place, and wait for the rain, or until some one waters us." "well, some one is going to water you right away!" cried uncle wiggily in his jolly voice. "i'll bring you some water from the duck pond, which is near by." then, borrowing a pail from mrs. wibblewobble, the duck lady, uncle wiggily poured water all around the dry earth, in which grew the horse chestnut tree and the little pony trees. "oh! how fine that is!" cried the thirsty trees. "it is almost as nice as rain. you are very good, uncle wiggily," said the mother tree, "and if ever we can do you a favor we will." "thank you," spoke uncle wiggily, making a low bow with his tall silk hat. then he went on to grandpa goosey's where he visited with his epizootic friend and played checkers. on his way home through the woods, uncle wiggily was unpleasantly surprised when, all of a sudden out from behind a stone jumped a bad bear. he wasn't at all a good, nice bear like beckie or neddie stubtail. "bur-r-r-r-r!" growled the bear at uncle wiggily. "i guess i'll scratch you." "oh, please don't," begged the bunny uncle. "yes, i shall!" grumbled the bear. "and i'll hug you, too!" "oh, no! i'd rather you wouldn't!" said the bunny uncle. for well he knew that a bear doesn't hug for love. it's more of a hard, rib-cracking squeeze than a hug. if ever a bear wants to hug you, just don't you let him. of course if daddy or mother wants to hug, why, that's all right. "yes, i'm going to scratch you and hug you," went on the bad bear, "and after that--well, after that i guess i'll take you off to my den." "oh, please don't!" begged uncle wiggily, twinkling his nose and thinking that he might make the bear laugh. for if ever you can get a bear to laugh he won't hurt you a bit. just remember that. tickle him, or do anything to get him to laugh. but this bear wouldn't even smile. he just growled again and said: "well, here i come, uncle wiggily, to hug you!" "oh, no you don't!" all of a sudden cried a voice in the air. "ha! who says i don't?" grumbled the bear, impolite like. "i do," went on the voice. and the bear saw some trees waving their branches at him. "pooh! i'm not afraid of you!" growled the bear, and he made a rush for the bunny. "i'm not afraid of trees." "not afraid of us, eh? well, you'd better be!" said the mother tree. "i'm a strong horse chestnut and these are my strong little ponies. come on, children, we won't let the bear get uncle wiggily." then the strong horse chestnut tree and the pony trees reached down with their powerful branches and, catching hold of the bear, they tossed him up in the air, far away over in the woods, at the same time pelting him with green, prickly horse chestnuts, and the bear came down ker-bunko in a bramble brier bush. "oh, wow!" cried the bear, as he felt his soft and tender nose being scratched. "i'll be good! i'll be good!" and he was, for a little while, anyhow. so this shows you how a horse chestnut tree saved the bunny gentleman, and if the postman doesn't stick a stamp on our cat's nose so it can't eat molasses cake when it goes to the puppy dog's party, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the pine tree. story xiv uncle wiggily and the pine tree uncle wiggily longears, the nice old gentleman rabbit, put on his tall silk hat, polished his glasses with the tip of his tail, to make them shiny so he could see better through them, and then, taking his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch down off the mantel, he started out of his hollow stump bungalow one day. "better take an umbrella, hadn't you?" asked nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper. "it looks as though we might have an april shower." "an umbrella? yes, i think i will take one," spoke the bunny uncle, as he saw some dark clouds in the sky. "they look as though they might have rain in them." "are you going anywhere in particular?" asked the muskrat lady, as she tied her tail in a soft knot. "no, not special," uncle wiggily answered. "may i have the pleasure of doing something for you?" he asked with a polite bow, like a little girl speaking a piece in school on friday afternoon. "well," said nurse jane, "i have baked some apple dumplings with oranges inside, and i thought perhaps you might like to take one to grandfather goosey gander to cheer him up." "the very thing!" cried uncle wiggily, jolly-like. "i'll do it, nurse jane." so with an apple dumpling carefully wrapped up in a napkin and put in a basket, uncle wiggily started off through the woods and over the fields to grandpa goosey's house. "i wonder if i shall have an adventure today?" thought the rabbit gentleman as he waved his ears to and fro like the pendulum of a clock. "i think i would like one to give me an appetite for supper. i must watch for something to happen." he looked all around the woods, but all he could see were some trees. "i can't have any adventures with them," said the bunny uncle, "though the horse chestnut tree did help me the other day by tossing the bad bear over into the briar bush. but these trees are not like that." still uncle wiggily was to have an adventure with one of the trees very soon. just you wait, now, and you shall hear about it. uncle wiggily walked on a little farther and he heard a funny tapping noise in the woods. "tap! tap! tap! tappity-tap-tap!" it sounded. "my! some one is knocking on a door trying to get in," thought the bunny. "i wonder who it can be?" just then he saw a big bird perched on the side of a pine tree, tapping with his bill. "tap! tap! tap!" went the bird. "excuse me," said the bunny uncle, "but you are making a mistake. no one lives in that tree." "oh, thank you, uncle wiggily. i know that no one lives here," said the bird. "but you see i am a woodpecker, and i am pecking holes in the tree to get some of the sweet juice, or sap. the sap is running in the trees now, for it is spring. later on i will tap holes in the bark to get at bugs and worms, when there is no more sap for me to eat." and the woodpecker went on tapping, tapping, tapping. "my! that is a funny way to get something to eat," said the bunny gentleman to himself. he watched the bird until it flew away, and then uncle wiggily was about to hop on to grandpa goosey's house when, all of a sudden, before he could run away, out popped the bad old bear once more. "ah, ha! we meet again, i see," growled the bear. "i was not looking for you, mr. longears, but all the same i am glad to meet you, for i want to eat you." "well," said uncle wiggily, sort of scratching his pink, twinkling nose with his ear, surprised like. "i can't exactly say i'm glad to see you, good mr. bear." "no, i s'pose not," agreed the fuzzy creature. "but you are mistaken. i am the bad mr. bear, not the good." "oh, excuse me," said uncle wiggily. all the while he knew the bear was bad, but he hoped by calling him good, to make him so. "i'm very bad!" growled the bear, "and i'm going to take you off to my den with me. come along!" "oh, i don't want to," said the bunny uncle, shivering his tail. "but you must!" growled the bear. "come on, now!" "oh, dear!" cried uncle wiggily. "will you let me go if i give you what's in my basket?" he asked, and he held up the basket with the nice orange apple turnover in it. "let me go if i give you this," begged the bunny uncle. "maybe i will, and maybe i won't," said the bear, cunning like. "let me see what it is." he took the basket from uncle wiggily, and looking in, said: "ah, ha! an apple turnover-dumpling with oranges in it! i just love them! ah, ha!" "oh," thought uncle wiggily. "i hope he eats it, for then maybe i can get away when he doesn't notice me. i hope he eats it!" and the bear, leaning his back against the pine tree in which the woodpecker had been boring holes, began to take bites out of the apple dumpling which nurse jane had baked for grandpa goosey. "now's my chance to get away!" thought the bunny gentleman. but when he tried to hop softly off, as the bear was eating the sweet stuff, the bad creature saw him and cried: "ah, ha! no you don't! come hack here!" and with his claws he pulled uncle wiggily close to him again. then the bunny uncle noticed that some sweet, sticky juice or gum, like that on fly paper, was running down the trunk of the tree from the holes the woodpecker had drilled in it. "oh, if the bear only leans back hard enough and long enough against that sticky pine tree," thought mr. longears, "he'll be stuck fast by his furry hair and he can't get me. i hope he sticks!" and that is just what happened. the bear enjoyed eating the apple dumpling so much that he leaned back harder and harder against the sticky tree. his fur stuck fast in the gum that ran out. finally the bear ate the last crumb of the dumpling. "and now i'll get you!" he cried to the bunny uncle; "i'll get you!" but did the bear get uncle wiggily? he did not. the bear tried to jump toward the rabbit, but could not. he was stuck fast to the sticky pine tree and uncle wiggily could now run safely back to his hollow stump bungalow to get another dumpling for grandpa goosey. so the bear had no rabbit, after all, and all he did was to stay stuck fast to the pine tree until a big fox came along and helped him to get loose, and the bear cried "wouch!" because his fur was pulled. so uncle wiggily was all right, you see, after all, and very thankful he was to the pine tree for holding fast to the bear. and in the next story, if our cat doesn't go hunting for the poll parrot's cracker in the gold fish bowl and get his whiskers all wet, i'll tell you about uncle wiggily and the green rushes. story xv uncle wiggily and the green rushes once upon a time uncle wiggily longears, the nice rabbit gentleman, was taking a walk in the woods, looking for an adventure, as he often did, when, as he happened to go past the hollow tree, where billie and johnnie bushytail, the two squirrel boys lived, he saw them just poking their noses out of the front door, which was a knot-hole. "hello, boys!" called uncle wiggily. "why haven't you gone to school today? it is time, i'm sure." "oh, we don't have to go today," answered billie, as he looked at his tail to see if any chestnut burrs were sticking in it. but none was, i am glad to say. "don't have to go to school? why not?" uncle wiggily wanted to know. "this isn't saturday, is it?" "no," spoke johnnie. "but you see, sister sallie, our little squirrel sister, has the measles, and we can't go to school until she gets over them." "and we don't know what to do to have some fun," went on billie, "for lots of the animal children are home from school with the measles, and they can't be out to play with us. we've had the measles, so we can't get them the second time, but the animal boys and girls, who haven't broken out, don't want us to come and see them for fear we'll bring the red spots to them." "i see," said uncle wiggily, laughing until his pink nose twinkled like a jelly roll. "so you can't have any fun? well, suppose you come with me for a walk in the woods." "fine!" cried billie and johnnie and soon they were walking in the woods with the rabbit gentleman. they had not gone very far before, all of a sudden, they came to a place where a mud turtle gentleman had fallen on his back, and he could not turn over, right-side up again. he tried and tried, but he could not right himself. "oh, that is too bad!" cried uncle wiggily, when he saw what had happened. "i must help him to get right-side up again," which he did. "oh, thank you for putting me on my legs once more, uncle wiggily," said the mud turtle. "i would like to do you a favor for helping me, but all i have to give you are these," and in one claw he picked some green stalks growing near him, and handed them to the bunny uncle, afterward crawling away. "pooh! those are no good!" cried billie, the boy squirrel. "i should say not!" laughed johnnie, "they are only green rushes that grow all about in the woods, and we could give uncle wiggily all he wanted." "hush, boys! don't talk that way," said the bunny uncle. "the mud turtle tried to do the best he could for me, and i am sure the green rushes are very nice. i'll take them with me. i may find use for them." billie and johnnie wanted to laugh, for they thought green rushes were of no use at all. but uncle wiggily said to the squirrel boys: "billie and johnnie, though green rushes, which grow in the woods and swamps are very common, still they are a wonderful plant. see how smooth they are when you rub them up and down. but if you rub them sideways they are as rough as a stiff brush or a nutmeg grater." well, billie and johnnie thought more of the rushes after that, but, as they walked on with uncle wiggily, when he had put them in his pocket, they could think of no way in which he could use them. in a little while they came to where mother goose lived, and the dear old lady herself was out in front of her house, looking up and down the woodland path, anxious like. "what is the matter?" asked uncle wiggily. "are you looking for some of your lost ones--little bopeep or tommy tucker, who sings for his supper?" "well, no, not exactly," answered mother goose. "i sent simple simon to the store to get me a scrubbing brush, so i could clean the kitchen floor. but he hasn't come back, and i am afraid he has gone fishing in his mother's pail, to try to catch a whale. oh, dear! my kitchen is so dirty that it needs scrubbing right away. but i cannot do it without a scrubbing brush." "ha! say no more!" cried uncle wiggily in his jolly voice. "i have no scrubbing brush, but i have a lot of green rushes the mud turtle gave me for turning him right-side up. the rushes are as rough as a scrubbing brush, and will do just as nicely to clean your kitchen." "oh, thank you! i'm sure they will," said mother goose. so she took the green rushes from uncle wiggily and by using them with soap and water soon her kitchen floor was scrubbed as clean as an eggshell, for the green, rough stems scraped off all the dirt. then mother goose thanked uncle wiggily very much, and billie and johnnie sort of looked at one another with blinking eyes, for they saw that green rushes are of some use in this world after all. and if the strawberry jam doesn't go to the moving pictures with the bread and butter and forget to come home for supper, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the bee tree. story xvi uncle wiggily and the bee tree "well, you're off again, i see!" spoke nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, one morning, as she saw uncle wiggily longears, the rabbit gentleman, starting away from his hollow stump bungalow. he was limping on his red, white and blue striped barber pole rheumatism crutch, that miss fuzzy wuzzy had gnawed for him out of a cornstalk. "off again!" she cried. "yes, off again," said uncle wiggily. "i must have my adventure, you know." "i hope it will be a pleasant one today," went on nurse jane. "so do i," said uncle wiggily, and away he went hopping over the fields and through the woods. he had not gone very far before he heard a queer buzzing sound, and a sort of splashing in the water and a tiny voice cried: "help! help! save me! i am drowning!" "my goodness me sakes alive and some horse radish lollypops!" cried the bunny uncle. "some one drowning? i don't see any water around here, though i do hear some splashing. who are you?" he cried. "and where are you, so that i may save you?" "here i am, right down by your foot!" was the answer. "i am a honey bee, and i have fallen into this jack-in-the pulpit flower, which is full of water. please get me out!" "to be sure i will!" cried mr. longears, and then, stooping down he carefully lifted the poor bee out of the water in the jack-in-the-pulpit. the jack is a plant that looks like a little pitcher and it holds water. in the middle is a green stem, that is called jack, because he looks like a minister preaching in the pulpit. the jack happened to be out when the bee fell in the water that had rained in the plant-pitcher, or jack himself would have saved the honey chap. but uncle wiggily did it just as well. "oh, thank you so much for not letting me drown," said the bee, as she dried her wings in the sun on a big green leaf. "i was on my way to the hive tree with a load of honey when i stopped for a drink. but i leaned over too far and fell in. i can not thank you enough!" "oh, once is enough!" cried uncle wiggily in his most jolly voice. "but did i understand you to say you lived in a hive-tree?" "yes, a lot of us bees have our hive in a hollow tree in the woods, not far away. it is there we store the honey we gather from summer flowers, so we will have something to eat in the winter when there are no blossoms. would you like to see the bee tree?" "indeed, i would," uncle wiggily said. "follow me, then," buzzed the bee. "i will fly on ahead, very slowly, and you can follow me through the woods." uncle wiggily did so, and soon he heard a great buzzing sound, and he saw hundreds of bees flying in and out of a hollow tree. at first some of the bees were going to sting the bunny uncle, but his little friend cried: "hold on, sisters! don't sting this rabbit gentleman. he is uncle wiggily and he saved me from being drowned." so the bees did not sting the bunny uncle, but, instead, gave him a lot of honey, in a little box made of birch bark, which he took home to nurse jane. "oh, i had the sweetest adventure!" he said to her, and he told her about the bee tree and the honey, which he and the muskrat lady ate on their carrot cake for dinner. it was about a week after this, and uncle wiggily was once more in the woods, looking for an adventure, when, all at once a big bear jumped out from behind a tree and grabbed him. "oh, dear!" cried uncle wiggily. "why did you do that? why have you caught me, mr. bear?" "because i am going to carry you off to my den," answered the bear. "i am hungry, and i have been looking for something to eat. you came along just in time. come on!" the hear was leading uncle wiggily away when the bunny uncle happened to think of something, and it was this--that bears are very fond of sweet things. "would you not rather eat some honey than me?" uncle wiggily asked of the bear. "much rather," answered the shaggy creature, "but where is the honey?" he asked, cautious like and foxy. "come with me and i will show you where it is," went on the bunny uncle, for he felt sure that his friends the bees, would give the bear honey so the bad animal would let the rabbit gentleman go. uncle wiggily led the way through the wood to the bee tree, the bear keeping hold of him all the while. pretty soon a loud buzzing was heard, and when they came to where the honey was stored in the hollow tree, all of a sudden out flew hundreds of bees, and they stung the bear so hard all over, especially on his soft and tender nose, that the bear cried: "wow! wouch! oh, dear!" and, letting go of the rabbit, ran away to jump in the ice water to cool off. but the bees did not sting uncle wiggily, for they liked him, and he thanked them for driving away the bear. so everything came out all right, you see, and if the foot-stool gets up to the head of the class and writes its name on the blackboard, with pink chalk, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the dogwood tree. story xvii uncle wiggily and the dogwood "where are you going, uncle wiggily?" asked nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, as the nice old rabbit gentleman started out from his hollow stump bungalow one afternoon. "oh, just for a walk in the woods," he answered. "neddie stubtail, the little bear boy, told me last night that there were many adventures in the forest, and i want to see if i can find one." "my goodness! you seem very fond of adventures!" said miss fuzzy wuzzy. "i am," went on uncle wiggily, with a smile that made his pink nose twinkle and his whiskers sort of chase themselves around the back of his neck, as though they were playing tag with his collar button. "i just love to have adventures." "well, while you are out walking among the trees would you mind doing me a favor?" asked nurse jane. "i wouldn't mind in the least," spoke the bunny uncle. "what would you like me to do?" "just leave this thimble at mrs. bow wow's house. i borrowed the dog lady's thimble to use when i couldn't find mine, but now that i have my own back again i'll return hers." "where was yours?" uncle wiggily wanted to know. "jimmie caw-caw, the crow boy, had picked it up to hide under the pump," answered nurse jane. "crows, you know, like to pick up bright and shining things." "yes, i remember," said uncle wiggily. "very well, i'll give mrs. bow wow her thimble," and off the old gentleman rabbit started, limping along on his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch, that nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy had gnawed for him out of a bean-pole. excuse me, i mean corn stalk. when uncle wiggily came to the place where jackie and peetie bow wow, the little puppy dog boys lived, he saw mrs. bow wow, the dog lady, out in front of the kennel house looking up and down the path that led through the woods. "were you looking for me?" asked uncle wiggily, making a low and polite bow with his tall silk hat. "looking for you? why, no, not specially," said mrs. bow wow, "though i am always glad to see you." "i thought perhaps you might be looking for your thimble," went on the bunny uncle. "nurse jane has sent it back to you." "oh, thank you!" said the mother of the puppy dog boys. "i'm glad to get my thimble back, but i was really looking for peetie and jackie." "you don't mean to say they have run away, do you?" asked uncle wiggily, in surprise. "no, not exactly run away. but they have not come home from school, though the lady mouse, who teaches in the hollow stump, must have let the animal children out long ago." "she did," uncle wiggily said. "i came past the hollow stump school on my way here, and every one was gone." "then where can jackie and peetie be keeping themselves?" asked mrs. bow wow. "oh, i'm so worried about them!" "don't be worried or frightened," said uncle wiggily, kindly. "i'll go look for them for you." "oh, if you will i'll be so glad!" cried mrs. bow wow. "and if you find them please tell them to come home at once." "i will," promised the bunny uncle. giving the dog lady her thimble, uncle wiggily set off through the woods to look for jackie and peetie bow wow. on every side of the woodland path he peered, under trees and bushes and around the corners of moss-covered rocks and big stumps. but no little puppy dog chaps could he find. all at once, as mr. longears was going past an old log he heard a rustling in the bushes, and a voice said: "well, we nearly caught them, didn't we?" "we surely did," said another voice. "and i think if we race after them once more we'll certainly have them. let's rest here a bit, and then chase those puppy dogs some more. that jackie is a good runner." "i think peetie is better," said the other voice. "anyhow, they both got away from us." "ha! this must be peetie and jackie bow wow they are talking about," said uncle wiggily to himself. "this sounds like trouble. so the puppy dogs were chased, were they? i must see by whom." he peeked through the bushes, and there he saw two big, bad foxes, whose tongues were hanging out over their white teeth, for the foxes had run far and they were tired. "i see how it is," uncle wiggily thought. "the foxes chased the little puppy dogs as they were coming from school and jackie and peetie have run somewhere and hidden. i must find them." just then one of the foxes cried: "come on. now we'll chase after those puppies, and get them. come on!" "ha! i must go, too!" thought uncle wiggily. "maybe i can scare away the foxes, and save jackie and peetie." so the foxes ran and uncle wiggily also ran, and pretty soon the rabbit gentleman came to a place in the woods where grew a tree with big white blossoms on it, and in the center the blossoms were colored a dark red. "ha! there are the puppy boys under that tree!" cried one fox, and, surely enough, there, right under the tree, jackie and peetie were crouched, trembling and much frightened. "we'll get them!" cried the other fox. "come on!" and then, all of a sudden, as the foxes leaped toward the poor little puppy dog boys, that tree began to hark and growl and it cried out loud: "get away from here, you bad foxes! leave jackie and peetie alone! wow! bow-wow! gurr-r-r-r!" and the tree barked and roared so like a lion that the foxes were frightened and were glad enough to run away, taking their tails with them. then jackie and peetie came safely out, and thanked the tree for taking care of them. [illustration: the tree barked and roared so like a lion that the foxes were frightened and were glad enough to run away.] "oh, you are welcome," said the tree. "i am the dogwood tree, you know, so why should i not bark and growl to scare foxes, and take care of you little puppy chaps? come to me again whenever any bad foxes chase you." and peetie and jackie said they would. so uncle wiggily, after also thanking the tree, took the doggie boys home, and they told him how the foxes had chased them soon after they came from school, so they had to run. but everything came out all right, you see, and if the black cat doesn't dip his tail in the ink, and make chalk marks all over the piano, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the hazel nuts. story xviii uncle wiggily and the hazel nuts "going out again, uncle wiggily?" asked nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, one morning, as she saw the rabbit gentleman taking his red, white and blue-striped rheumatism crutch down off the clock shelf. "well, yes, janie, i did think of going out for a little stroll in the forest," answered the bunny uncle, talking like a phonograph. what he meant was that he was going for a walk in the woods, but he thought he'd be polite about it, and stylish, just for once. "don't forget your umbrella," went on nurse jane. "it looks to me very much as though there would be a storm." "i think you're right," uncle wiggily said. "our april showers are not yet over. i shall take my umbrella." so, with his umbrella, and the rheumatism crutch which nurse jane had gnawed for him out of a cornstalk, off started the bunny uncle, hopping along over the fields and through the woods. pretty soon uncle wiggily met johnnie bushytail, the squirrel boy. "where are you going, johnnie?" asked the rabbit gentleman. "are you here in the woods, looking for an adventure? that's what i'm doing." "no, uncle wiggily," answered the squirrel boy. "i'm not looking for an adventure. i'm looking for hazel nuts." "hazel nuts?" cried the bunny uncle in surprise. "yes," went on johnnie. "you know they're something like chestnuts, only without the prickly burrs, and they're very good to eat. they grow on bushes, instead of trees. i'm looking for some to eat. they are nice, brown, shiny nuts." "good!" cried the rabbit gentleman. "we'll go together looking for hazel nuts, and perhaps we may also find an adventure. i'll take the adventure and you can take the hazel nuts." "all right!" laughed johnnie, and off they started. on and over the fields and through the woods went the bunny uncle and johnnie, until, just as they were close to the place where some extra early new kind of spring hazel nuts grew on bushes, there was a noise behind a big black stump--and suddenly out pounced a bear! "oh, hello, neddie stubtail!" called johnnie. and he was just going up and shake paws when uncle wiggily cried: "look out, johnnie! wait a minute! that isn't your friend neddie!" "isn't it?" asked johnnie, surprised-like, and he drew back. "no, it's a bad old bear--not our nice neddie, at all! and i think he is going to chase us! get ready to run!" so johnnie bushytail and uncle wiggily got ready to run. and it was a good thing they did, for just then the bear gave a growl, like a lollypop when it falls off the stick, and the bear said: "ah, ha! and oh, ho! a rabbit and a squirrel! fine for me! tag--your it!" he cried, and he made a jump for uncle wiggily and johnnie. but do you s'pose the bunny uncle and the squirrel boy stayed there to be caught? indeed, they did not! "over this way! quick!" cried johnnie. "here is a hazel nut bush, uncle wiggily. we can hide under that and the bear can't get us!" "good!" said the bunny uncle. and he and johnnie quickly ran and hid under the hazel nut bush, which was nearby. the bear looked all around as he heard uncle wiggily and johnnie running away, and when he saw where they had gone he laughed until his whiskers twinkled, almost like the rabbit gentleman's pink nose, and then the bear said: "ha, ha! and ho, ho! so you thought you could get away from me that way, did you? well, you can't. i can see you hiding under that bush almost as plainly as i can see the sun shining. here i come after you." "oh, dear!" cried uncle wiggily. "what shall we do, johnnie? i don't want the bear to get you or me." "and i don't either," spoke the little squirrel boy. "i wonder if i could scare him away with my umbrella, johnnie?" went on uncle wiggily. "i might if i could make believe it was a gun. have you any talcum powder to shoot?" "no," said johnnie, sadly, "i have not, i am sorry to say." "have you any bullets?" asked the bunny uncle. "no bullets, either," answered johnnie, more sadly. "then i don't see anything for us to do but let the bear get us," sorrowfully said mr. longears. "here he comes, johnnie." "but he sha'n't get us!" quickly cried the squirrel boy, as the bear made a jump for the bush under which the bunny and johnnie were hiding. "he sha'n't get us!" "why not?" asked uncle wiggily. "because," said johnnie, "i have just thought of something. you asked me for bullets a while ago. i have none, but the hazel nut bush has. come, good mr. hazel bush, will you save us from the bear?" asked johnnie. "right gladly will i do that," the kind bush said. "then, when he comes for us!" cried johnnie, "just rattle down, all over on him, all the hard nuts you can let fall. they will hit him on his ears, and on his soft and tender nose, and that will make him run away and leave us alone." "good!" whispered the hazel nut bush, rustling its leaves. "but what about you and uncle wiggily? if i rattle the nuts on the bear they will also fall on you two, as long as you are hiding under me." "have no fear of that!" said the bunny uncle. "i have my umbrella, and i will raise that and keep off the falling nuts." then the bear, with a growl, made a dash to get uncle wiggily and johnnie. but the hazel bush shivered and shook himself and "rattle-te-bang! bung-bung! bang!" down came the hazel nuts all over the bear. "oh, wow!" he cried, as they hit him on his soft and tender nose. "oh, wow! i guess i'd better run away. it's hailing!" and he did run. and because of uncle wiggily's umbrella held over his head, the nuts did not hurt him or johnnie at all. and when the bear had run far away the squirrel boy gathered all the nuts he wanted, and he and uncle wiggily went safely home. and the bear's nose was sore for a week. so if the hickory nut cake doesn't try to sit in the same seat with the apple pie and get all squeezed like a lemon pudding, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and susie's dress. story xix uncle wiggily and susie's dress uncle wiggily longears, the nice old gentleman rabbit, was reading the paper in his hollow stump bungalow, in the woods, while nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady house-keeper, was out in the kitchen washing the dinner dishes one afternoon. all of a sudden uncle wiggily fell asleep because he was reading a bed-time story in the paper, and while he slept he heard a noise at the front door, which sounded like: "rat-a-tat-tat! rat-a-tat-tat!" "my goodness!" suddenly exclaimed uncle wiggily, awakening out of his sleep. "that sounds like the forest woodpecker bird making holes in a tree." "no, it isn't that," spoke nurse jane. "it's some one tapping at our front door. i can't answer because my paws are all covered with soapy-suds dishwater." "oh, i'll go," said uncle wiggily, and laying aside the paper over which he had fallen asleep, he opened the door. on the porch stood susie littletail, the rabbit girl. "why, hello susie!" exclaimed the bunny uncle. "where are you going with your nice new dress?" for susie did have on a fine new waist and skirt, or maybe it was made in one piece for all i know. and her new dress had on it ruffles and thing-a-ma-bobs and curley-cues and insertions and georgette crepe and all sorts of things like that. "where are you going, susie?" asked uncle wiggily. "i am going to a party," answered the little rabbit girl. "lulu and alice wibblewobble, the duck girls, are going to have a party, and they asked me to come. so i came for you." "but i'm not going to the party!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "i haven't been invited." "that doesn't make any difference," spoke susie with a laugh. "you know they'll be glad to see you, anyhow. and i know lulu meant to ask you, only she must have forgotten about it, because there is so much to do when you have a party." "i know there is," uncle wiggily said, "and i don't blame lulu and alice a bit for not asking me. anyhow i couldn't go, for i promised to come over this afternoon and play checkers with grandfather goosey gander." "oh, but won't you walk with me to the party?" asked susie, sort of teasing like. "i'm afraid to go through the woods alone, because johnnie bushytail, the squirrel boy, said you and he met a bear there yesterday." "we did!" laughed uncle wiggily. "but the hazel bush drove him away by showering nuts on his nose." "well, i might not be so lucky as to have a hazelnut bush to help me," spoke susie. "so i'd be very glad if you would walk through the woods with me. you can scare away the bear if we meet him." "how?" asked uncle wiggily. "with my red, white and blue crutch or my umbrella?" "with this popgun, which shoots toothpowder," said susie. "it belongs to sammie, my brother, but he let me take it. we'll bring the popgun with us, uncle wiggily, and scare the bear." "all right," said the bunny uncle. "that's what we'll do. i'll go as far as the wibblewobble duck house with you and leave you there at the party." this made susie very glad and happy, and soon she and uncle wiggily were going through the woods together. susie's new dress was very fine and she kept looking at it as she hopped along. all of a sudden, as the little rabbit girl and the bunny uncle were going along through the woods, they came to a mud puddle. "look out, now!" said uncle wiggily. "don't fall in that, susie." "i won't," said the little rabbit girl. "i can easily jump across it." but when she tried to, alas! likewise unhappiness. her hind paws slipped and into the mud puddle she fell with her new dress. "splash!" she went. "oh, dear!" cried susie. "oh, my!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "look at my nice, new dress," went on susie. "it isn't at all nice and new now. it's all mud and water and all splashed up, and--oh, dear! isn't it too bad!" "yes, besides two it is even six, seven and eight bad," said uncle wiggily sadly. "oh, dear!" "i can't go to the wibblewobble party this way," cried susie. "i'll have to go back home to get another dress, and it won't be my new one--and oh, dear!" "perhaps i can wipe off the mud with some leaves and moss," uncle wiggily spoke. "i'll try." but the more he rubbed at the mud spots on susie's dress the worse they looked. "oh, you can't do it, uncle wiggily!" sighed the little rabbit girl. "no, i don't believe i can," uncle wiggily admitted, sadly-like and sorry. "oh, dear!" cried susie. "whatever shall i do? i can't go to a party looking like this! i just must have a new dress." uncle wiggily thought for a minute. then, through the woods, he spied a tree with white, shiny bark on, just like satin. "ha! i know what to do!" he cried. "that is a white birch tree. indians make boats of the bark, and from it i can also make a new dress for you, susie. or, at least, a sort of dress, or apron, to go over the dress you have on, and so cover the mud spots." "please do!" begged susie. "i will!" promised uncle wiggily, and he did. he stripped off some bark from the birch tree and he sewed the pieces together with ribbon grass, and some needles from the pine tree. and when susie put on the bark dress over her party one, not a mud spot showed! "oh, that's fine, uncle wiggily!" she cried. "now i can go to the wibblewobbles!" and so she went, and the bad bear never came out to so much as growl, nor did the fox, so the popgun was not needed. and all the girls at the party thought susie's dress that uncle wiggily had made was just fine. so if the rain drop doesn't fall out of bed, and stub its toe on the rocking chair, which might make it so lame that it couldn't dance, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and tommie's kite. story xx uncle wiggily and tommie's kite "uncle wiggily, have you anything special to do today?" asked tommie kat, the little kitten boy, one morning as he knocked on the door of the hollow stump bungalow, where mr. longears, the rabbit gentleman, lived. "anything special to do? why, no, i guess not," answered the bunny uncle. "i just have to go walking to look for an adventure to happen to me, and then--" "didn't you promise to go to the five and ten cent store for me, and buy me a pair of diamond earrings?" asked nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper. "oh, so i did!" cried uncle wiggily. "i had forgotten about that. but i'll go. what was it you wanted of me?" he asked tommie kat, who was making a fishpole of his tail by standing it straight up in the air. "oh, i wanted you to come and help me build a kite, and then come with me and fly it," said the kitten boy. "could you do that, uncle wiggily?" "well, perhaps i could," said the bunny uncle. "i will first go to the store and get nurse jane's diamond earrings. then, on the way back, i'll stop and help you with your kite. and after that is done i'll go along and see if i can find an adventure." "that will be fun!" cried tommie. "i have everything all ready to make the kite--paper, sticks, paste and string. we'll make a big one and fly it away up in the air." so off through the woods started uncle wiggily and tommie to the five and ten cent store. there they bought the diamond earrings for nurse jane, who wanted to wear them to a party mrs. cluck-cluck, the hen lady, was going to have next week. "and now to make the kite!" cried tommie, as he and uncle wiggily reached the house where the kat family lived. the bunny uncle and the little kitten boy cut out some red paper in the shape of a kite. then they pasted it on the crossed sticks, which were tied together with string. "the kite is almost done," said uncle wiggily, as he held it up. "and can you tell me, tommie, why your kite is like buddy, the guinea pig boy?" "can i tell you why my kite is like buddy, the guinea pig boy?" repeated tommie, like a man in a minstrel show. "no, uncle wiggily, i can not. why is my kite like buddy, the guinea pig boy?" "because," laughed the old rabbit gentleman, "this kite has no tail and neither has buddy." "ha, ha!" exclaimed tommie. "that's right!" for guinea pigs have no tails, you know, though if you ask me why i can't tell you. some kites do have tails, though, and others do not. anyhow, tommie's kite, without a tail, was soon finished, and then he and uncle wiggily went to a clear, open place in the fields, near the woods, to fly it. there was a good wind blowing, and when uncle wiggily raised the kite up off the ground, tommie ran, holding the string that was fast to the kite and up and up and up it went in the air. soon it was sailing quite near the clouds, almost like uncle wiggily's airship, only, of course, no one rode on the kite. "have you any more string, uncle wiggily?" asked the kitten boy, after a bit. "string, tommie? what for?" "well, i want to make my kite string longer so it will go up higher. but if you have none i'll run home and get some myself. will you hold the kite while i'm gone?" "to be sure i will," said uncle wiggily. so he took hold of the string of tommie's kite, which was now quite high in the air. and, sitting down on the ground, uncle wiggily held the kite from running away while tommie went for more string. it was a nice, warm, summer day, and so pleasant in the woods, with the little flies buzzing about, that, before he knew it uncle wiggily had fallen asleep. his pink nose stopped twinkling, his ears folded themselves down like a slice of bread and jam, and uncle wiggily's eyes closed. all of a sudden he was awakened by feeling himself being pulled. at first he thought it was the skillery-scalery alligator, or the bad fox trying to drag him off to his den, and uncle wiggily, opening his eyes, cried: "here! stop that if you please! don't pull me so!" but when he looked around he could see no one, and then he knew it was tommie's kite, flying up in the air, that was doing the pulling. the wind was blowing hard now, and as uncle wiggily had the kite string wound around his paws, of course he was pulled almost off his feet. "ha! that kite is a great puller!" said the bunny uncle. "i must look out or it might pull me up to the clouds. i had better fasten the string to this old stump. the kite can't pull that up." so the rabbit gentleman fastened the kite cord to the stout old stump, winding it around two or three times, and he kept the loose end of the string in his paw. uncle wiggily was just going to sleep again, and he was wondering why it took tommie so long to find more string for the kite, when, all of a sudden, there was a rustling in the bushes, and out jumped the bad old babboon, who had, once before, made trouble for the bunny uncle. "ah, ha!" jabbered the babboon. "this time i have caught you. you can't get away from me now. i am going to take you off to my den." "oh, please don't!" begged uncle wiggily. "yes, i shall, too!" blabbered the babboon. "off to my den you shall go--you shall go--you shall go. off to my den. oh, hold on!" cried the bad creature. "that isn't the song i wanted to sing. that's the london bridge song. i want the one about the dinner bell is ringing in the bread box this fine day. and the dinner bell is ringing for to take you far away, uncle wiggily." "ah, then i had better go to my dinner," said the bunny uncle, sadly. "no! you will go with me!" cried the babboon. "come along now. i'm going to take you away." "well, if i must go, i suppose i must," uncle wiggily said, looking at the kite string, which was pulling at the stump very hard now. "but before you take me away would you mind pulling down tommie's kite?" asked the bunny uncle. "i'll leave it for him." "yes, i'll pull the kite down," said the babboon. "maybe you will," thought uncle wiggily, laughing to himself. "and maybe you won't." the bad babboon monkey chap unwound the string from the stump, but no sooner had he started to pull in the kite than there came a very strong puff of wind. up, up and up into the air blew the kite and, as the string was tangled around the babboon's paws, it took him up with it, and though he cried out: "stop! stop! stop!" the kite could not stop, nor the babboon either. [illustration: up, up and up into the air blew the kite and, as the string was tangled around the babboon's paws, it took him up with it.] "well, i guess you won't bother me any more," said uncle wiggily, as he looked at the babboon, who was only a speck in the sky now; a very little speck, being carried away by the kite. and the babboon did not come back to bother uncle wiggily, at least for a long time. tommie felt badly when he found his kite blown away. but he was glad uncle wiggily had been saved, and he and the bunny uncle soon made a new kite, better than the first. they had lots of fun flying it. and in the story after this, if the chocolate pudding doesn't hide in the coal bin, where the cook can't find it to put the whipped cream on, i'll tell you about uncle wiggily and johnnie's marbles. story xxi uncle wiggily and johnnie's marbles it was a nice, warm spring day, when the ground in the woods where the animal boys and girls lived was soft, for all the frost had melted out of it; and, though it was a little too early to go barefoot, it was not too early to play marbles. johnnie and billie bushytail, the squirrels; sammie littletail, the rabbit, and jimmie wibblewobble, the duck, were having a game under the trees, not far from the hollow stump bungalow which was the house of uncle wiggily longears, the bunny gentleman. "first shot agates!" cried johnnie. "no, i'm going to shoot first!" chattered his brother billie. "huh! i hollered it before either of you," quacked jimmie, the duck boy, and he tossed some red, white and blue striped marbles on the ground in the ring. the marbles were just the color of uncle wiggily's rheumatism crutch. the animal boys began playing, but they made so much noise, crying "fen!" and "ebbs!" and "knuckle down!" that nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, went to the bungalow door and called: "boys! boys! will you please be a little quiet? uncle wiggily is lying down taking a nap, and i don't want you to wake him up with your marbles." "oh, i don't mind!" cried the bunny uncle, unfolding his ears from his vest pockets, where he always tucked them when he went to sleep, so the flies would not tickle him. "it's about time i got up," he said. "so the boys are playing marbles, eh? well, i'll go out and watch them. it will make me think of the days when i was a spry young bunny chap, hopping about, spinning my kites and flying my tops." "i guess you are a little bit twisted; are you not?" asked nurse jane, politely. "oh, so i am," said uncle wiggily. "i mean flying my kite and spinning my top." then he pinkled his twink nose--ah! you see that's the time i was twisted--i mean he twinkled his pink nose, uncle wiggily did, and out he went to watch the animal boys play marbles. billie, johnnie and jimmie, as well as sammie, wanted the bunny uncle to play also, but he said his rheumatism hurt too much to bend over. so he just watched the marble game, until it was time for the boys to go home. and then johnnie cried: "oh, i forgot! i have to go to the store for a loaf of bread for supper. come on, fellows, with me, will you?" but neither jimmie, nor sammie nor billie wanted to go with johnnie, so he started off through the woods to the store alone, when uncle wiggily cried: "wait a minute, johnnie, and i'll go with you. i haven't had my walk this day, and i have had no adventure at all. i'll go along and see what happens." "oh, that will be nice!" chattered johnnie, who did not like to go to the store alone. so, putting his marbles in the bag in which he carried them, he ran along beside uncle wiggily. they had not gone far when, all of a sudden, there came a strong puff of wind, and, before uncle wiggily could hold his hat down over his ears, it was blown off his head. i mean his hat was--not his ears. away through the trees the tall silk hat was blown. "oh, dear!" cried the bunny uncle. "i guess i am not going to have a nice adventure today." "i'll get your hat for you, uncle wiggily!" said johnnie kindly. "you hold my bag of marbles so i can run faster, and i'll get the hat for you." tossing the rabbit gentleman the marbles, away scampered johnnie after the hat. but the wind kept on blowing it, and the squirrel boy had to run a long way. "well, i hope he gets it and brings it back to me," thought uncle wiggily, as he sat down on a green, moss-covered stone to wait for the squirrel boy. and, while he was waiting the bunny uncle opened the bag and looked at johnnie's marbles. there were green ones, and blue and red and pink--very pretty, all of them. "i wonder if i have forgotten how to play the games i used to enjoy when i was a boy rabbit?" thought the bunny gentleman. "just now, when no one is here in tile woods to laugh at me, i think i'll try and see how well i can shoot marbles." so he marked out a ring on the ground, and putting some marbles in the center began shooting at them with another marble, just the way you boys do. "ha! a good shot!" cried the bunny uncle, as he knocked two marbles out of the ring at once. "i am not so old as i thought i was, even if i have the rheumatism." he was just going to shoot again when a growling voice over behind a bush said: "well, you will not have it much longer." "have what much longer?" asked uncle wiggily, and glancing up, there he saw a big bear, not at all polite looking. "you won't have the rheumatism much longer," the bear said. "why not?" uncle wiggily wanted to know. "because," answered the bear, "i am going to eat you up and the rheumatism, too. here i come!" and he made a jump for the bunny uncle. but did he catch him? that bear did not, for he stepped on one of the round marbles, which rolled under his paw and he fell down ker-punko! on his nose-o! uncle wiggily started to run away, but he did not like to go and leave johnnie's marbles on the ground, so he stayed to pick them up, and by then the bear stood up on his hind legs again, and grabbed the bunny uncle in his sharp claws. "ah ha! now i have you!" said the bear, grillery and growlery like. "yes, i see you have," sadly spoke uncle wiggily. "but before you take me off to your den, which i suppose you will do, will you grant me one favor?" "yes, and only one," growled the bear. "be quick about it! what is it?" "will you let me have one more shot?" asked the bunny uncle. "i want to see if i can knock the other marbles out of the ring." "well, i see no harm in that," slowly grumbled the bear. "go ahead. shoot!" uncle wiggily picked out the biggest shooter in johnnie's bag. then he took careful aim, but, instead of aiming at the marbles in the ring he aimed at the soft and tender nose of the bear. "bing!" went the marble which uncle wiggily shot, right on the bear's nose. "bing!" and the bear was so surprised and kerslostrated that he cried: "wow! ouch! oh, lollypops! oh, sweet spirits of nitre!" and away he ran through the woods to hold his nose in a soft bank of mud, for he thought a bee had stung him. and so he didn't bite uncle wiggily after all. "well, i guess i can play marbles nearly as well as i used to," laughed the bunny uncle when johnnie came back with the tall silk hat. and when mr. longears told the boy squirrel about shooting the bear on the nose, johnnie laughed and said he could have done no better himself. so everything came out all right, you see, and if the butterfly doesn't try to stand on its head and tickle the june bug under the chin, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and billie's top. story xxii uncle wiggily and billie's top uncle wiggily longears, the nice rabbit gentleman, was sitting on the front porch of his hollow stump bungalow one day, when along came billie bushytail, the little squirrel boy. "hello, billie!" called the bunny gentleman, cheerful-like and happy, for his rheumatism did not hurt him much that day. "hello, billie." "hello, uncle wiggily," answered the chattery squirrel chap. then he came up and sat down on the porch, but he seemed so quiet and thoughtful that uncle wiggily asked: "is anything the matter, billie?" "no--well--that is, nothing much," said the squirrel boy slowly, "but i'd like to ask you what you'd buy if you had five cents, uncle wiggily." "what would i buy if i had five cents, billie? well now, let me see. i think i'd buy two postage stamps and a funny postcard and write some letters to my friends. what would you buy, billie?" "i'd buy a spinning top, uncle wiggily," said the little squirrel boy, very quickly. "only, you see, i haven't any five cents. you have, though, haven't you uncle wiggily? eh?" "why, yes, billie, i think so," and the old gentleman rabbit put his paw in his pocket to make sure. "this is a funny world," said billie with a long, sorrowful sigh. "here you are with five cents and you don't want a top, and here i am without five cents and i do want a spinning top. oh, dear!" "ha! ha! ha!" laughed uncle wiggily in his most jolly fashion. "i see what you mean, billie. now you just come along with me," and uncle wiggily picked up off the porch his red, white and blue striped barber-pole rheumatism crutch that nurse jane had gnawed for him out of a cornstalk. "where are we going?" asked billie, sort of hopeful-like and expectant. "i'm going to the top store to buy a spinning top," answered bunny uncle. "if you think i ought to have one, why i'll get it." "oh, all right," said billie, sort of funny-like. "do you know how to spin a top, uncle wiggily?" "well, i used to when i was a young rabbit, and i guess i can remember a little about it. come along and help me pick out a nice one." so the bunny uncle and the squirrel boy went on and on through the woods to the top store kept by mrs. spin spider, who had a little toy shop in which she worked when she was not spinning silk for the animal ladies' dresses. "one of your best tops for myself, if you please," said uncle wiggily, as he and billie went into the toy store. mrs. spin spider put a number of tops on the counter. "that's the kind you want!" cried billie, as he saw a big red one, and pointed his paw at it. "try it and see how it spins," said the bunny man. billie wound the string on the top, and then, giving it a throw, while he kept hold of one end of the cord, he made the top spin as fast as anything on the floor of the store. around and around whizzed the red top, like the electric fan on uncle wiggily's airship. "is that a good top for me, billie?" asked mr. longears. "a very good top," said the squirrel boy. "fine!" "then i'll take it," said uncle wiggily, and he paid for it and walked out, billie following. if the little chattery squirrel chap was disappointed at not getting a top for himself, he said nothing about it, which was very brave and good, i think. he just walked along until they came to a nice, smooth-dirt place in the woods, and then uncle wiggily said: "let me see you spin my top, billie. i want to watch you and see how it's done--how you wind the string on, how you throw it down to the ground and all that. you just give me some lessons in top-spinning, please." "i will," said billie. so he wound the string on the top again and soon it was spinning as fast as anything on the hard ground in the woods. "do you want me to show you how to pick up a top, and let it spin on your paw?" asked billie, of uncle wiggily. "yes, show me all the tricks there are," said the bunny gentleman. so, while the top was spinning very fast, billie picked it up, and, holding it on his paw, quickly put it over on uncle wiggily's paw. "ouch! it tickles!" cried the bunny uncle, sort of giggling like. "yes, a little," laughed billie, "but i don't mind that. now i'll show you how to pick it up." once more he spun the top, and he was just going to pick it up when, all of a sudden, a growling voice cried: "ah, ha! again i am in luck! a rabbit and a squirrel! let me see; which shall i take first?" and out from behind a stump popped a big bear. it was the same one that uncle wiggily had hit on the nose with johnnie's marble, about a week before. "oh, my!" said the bunny man. "oh, dear!" chattered billie. "surprised to see me, aren't you?" asked the bear sticking out his tongue. "a little," answered uncle wiggily, "but i guess we'd better be getting along billie. pick up my top and come along." "oh, oh! not so fast!" growled the bear. "i shall want you to stay with me. you'll be going off with me to my den, pretty soon. don't be in a hurry," and, putting out his claws, he grabbed hold of uncle wiggily and billie. they tried to get away, but could not, and the bear was just going to carry them off, when he saw the spinning top whizzing on the ground. "what's that red thing?" he asked. "a top billie just picked out for me," said uncle wiggily. "would you like to have it spin on your paw?" asked billie, blinking his eyes at uncle wiggily, funny-like. "oh, i might as well, before i carry you off to my den," said the bear, sort of careless-like and indifferent. "spin the top on my paw." so billie picked up the spinning top and put it on the bear's broad, flat paw. and, no sooner was it there, whizzing around, than the bear cried: "ouch! oh, dear! how it tickles. ha! ha! ha! ho! ho! ho! it makes me laugh. it makes me laugh. it makes me giggle! ouch! oh, dear!" and then he laughed so hard that he dropped the top and turned a somersault, and away he ran through the woods, leaving billie and uncle wiggily safe there alone. "we came out of that very well," said the bunny uncle as the bear ran far away. "yes, indeed, and here is your top," spoke billie, picking it up off the ground where the bear had dropped it. "my top? no that's yours," said the bunny gentleman. "i meant it for you all the while." "oh, did you? thank you so much!" cried happy billie, and then he ran off to spin his red top, while mr. longears went back to his bungalow. and if the sofa pillow doesn't leak its feathers all over, and make the room look like a bird's nest at a moving picture picnic, i'll tell you in the next story about uncle wiggily and the sunbeam. story xxiii uncle wiggily and the sunbeam uncle wiggily longears, the nice rabbit gentleman, was walking along in the woods one day, sort of hopping and leaning on his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch, and he was wondering whether or not he would have an adventure, when, all at once, he heard a little voice crying: "oh, dear! i never can get up! i never can get up! oh, dear!" "ha! that sounds like some one who can't get out of bed," exclaimed the bunny uncle. "i wonder who it can be? perhaps i can help them." so he looked carefully around, but he saw no one, and he was just about to hop along, thinking perhaps he had made a mistake, and had not heard anything after all, when, suddenly, the voice sounded again, and called out: "oh, i can't get up! i can't get up! can't you shine on me this way?" "no, i am sorry to say i cannot," answered another voice. "but try to push your way through, and then i can shine on you, and make you grow." there was silence for a minute, and then the first voice said again: "oh, it's no use! i can't push the stone from over my head. oh, such trouble as i have!" "trouble, eh?" cried uncle wiggily. "here is where i come in. who are you, and what is the trouble?" he asked, looking all around, and seeing nothing but the shining sun. "here i am, down in the ground near your left hind leg," was the answer. "i am a woodland flower and i have just started to grow. but when i tried to put my head up out of the ground, to get air, and drink the rain water, i find i cannot do it. a big stone is in the way, right over my head, and i cannot push it aside to get up. oh, dear!" sighed the woodland flower. "oh, don't worry about that!" cried uncle wiggily, in his jolly voice. "i'll lift the stone off your head for you," and he did, just as he once had helped a jack-in-the-pulpit flower to grow up, as i have told you in another story. under the stone were two little pale green leaves on a stem that was just cracking its way up through the brown earth. "there you are!" cried the bunny uncle. "but you don't look much like a flower." "oh! i have only just begun to grow," was the answer. "and i never would have been a flower if you had not taken the stone from me. you see, when i was a baby flower, or seed, i was covered up in my warm bed of earth. then came the cold winter, and i went to sleep. when spring came i awakened and began to grow, but in the meanwhile this stone was put over me. i don't know by whom. but it held me down. "but now i am free, and my pale green leaves will turn to dark green, and soon i will blossom out into a flower." "how will all that happen?" uncle wiggily asked. "when the sunbeam shines on me," answered the blossom. "that is why i wanted to get above the stone--so the sunbeam could shine on me and warm me." "and i will begin to do it right now!" exclaimed the sunbeam, who had been playing about on the leaves of the trees, waiting for a chance to shine on the green plant and turn it into a beautiful flower. "thank you, uncle wiggily, for taking the stone off the leaves so i could shine on them," went on the sunbeam, who had known uncle wiggily for some time. "though i am strong i am not strong enough to lift stones, nor was the flower. but now i can do my work. i thank you, and i hope i may do you a favor some time." "thank you," uncle wiggily said, with a low bow, raising his tall silk hat. "i suppose you sunbeams are kept very busy shining on, and warming, all the plants and trees in the woods?" "yes, indeed!" answered the yellow sunbeam, who was a long, straight chap. "we have lots of work to do, but we are never too busy to shine for our friends." then the sunbeam played about the little green plant, turning the pale leaves a darker color and swelling out the tiny buds. uncle wiggily walked on through the woods, glad that he had had even this little adventure. it was a day or so after this that the bunny uncle went to the store for nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady, who kept his hollow stump bungalow so nice and tidy. "i want a loaf of bread, a yeast cake and three pounds of sugar," said nurse jane. "it will give me great pleasure to get them for you," answered the rabbit gentleman politely. on his way home from the store with the sugar, bread and yeast cake, uncle wiggily thought he would hop past the place where he had lifted the stone off the head of the plant, to see how it was growing. and, as he stood there, looking at the flower, which was much taller than when the bunny uncle had last seen it, all of a sudden there was a rustling in the bushes, and out jumped a bad old fox. "ah, ha!" barked the fox, like a dog. "you are just the one i want to see!" "you want to see me?" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "i think you must be mistaken," he went on politely. "oh, no, not at all!" barked the fox. "you have there some sugar, some bread and a yeast cake; have you not?" "i have," answered uncle wiggily. "well, then, you may give me the bread and sugar and after i eat them i will start in on you. i will take you off to my den, to my dear little foxes. eight, nine and ten. they have numbers instead of names, you see." "but i don't want to give you nurse jane's sugar and bread, and go with you to your den," said the rabbit gentleman. "i don't want to! i don't like it!" "you can't always do as you like," barked the fox. "quick now--the sugar and bread!" "what about the yeast cake?" asked uncle wiggily, as he held it out, all wrapped in shiny tinfoil, like a looking-glass. "what about the yeast cake?" "oh, throw it away!" growled the fox. "no, don't you do it!" whispered a voice in uncle wiggily's ear, and there was the sunbeam he had met the other day. "hold out the yeast cake and i will shine on it very brightly, and then i'll slant, or bounce off from it, into the eyes of the fox," said the sunbeam. "and when i shine in his eyes i'll tickle him, and he'll sneeze, and you can run away." so uncle wiggily held out the bright yeast cake. quick as a flash the sunbeam glittered on it, and then reflected itself into the eyes of the fox. "ker-chool!" he sneezed. "ker-chooaker-choo!" and tears came into the fox's eyes, so he could not see uncle wiggily, who, after thanking the sunbeam, hurried safely back to his bungalow with the things for nurse jane. so the fox got nothing at all but a sneeze, you see, and when he had cleared the tears out of his eyes uncle wiggily was gone. so the sunbeam did the bunny gentleman a favor after all, and if the coal man doesn't put oranges in our cellar, in mistake for apples when he brings a barrel of wood, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the puff ball. story xxiv uncle wiggily and the puff ball "are you going for a walk to-day, as you nearly always do, uncle wiggily?" asked nurse jane fuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, of the rabbit gentleman, as he got up from the breakfast table in the hollow stump bungalow one morning. "why, yes, janie, i am going for a walk in the woods very soon," answered uncle wiggily. "is there anything i can do for you?" "there is," said the muskrat lady. "something for yourself, also." "what is it?" uncle wiggily wanted to know, sort of making his pink nose turn orange color by looking up at the sun and sneezing. "what is it that i can do for myself as well as for you, janie?" "cream puffs," answered miss fuzzy wuzzy. "cream puffs?" cried the bunny uncle, hardly knowing whether his housekeeper was fooling or in earnest. "yes, i want some cream puffs for supper, and if you stop at the baker's and get them you will be doing yourself a favor as well as me, for we will both eat them." "right gladly will i do it," uncle wiggily made answer. "cream puffs i shall bring from the baker's," and then, whistling a funny little tune, away he hopped to the woods. it did not take him long to get to the place where the baker had his shop. and in a few minutes uncle wiggily was on his way back with some delicious cream puffs in a basket. "i'll take them home to nurse jane for supper," thought the bunny uncle, "and then i can keep on with my walk, looking for an adventure." you know what cream puffs are, i dare say. they are little, round, puffy balls made of something like piecrust, and they are hollow. the inside is filled with something like corn-starch pudding, only nicer. uncle wiggily was going along with the cream puffs in his basket when, coming to a nice place in the woods, where the sun shone on a green, mossy log, the bunny uncle said: "i will sit down here a minute and rest." so he did, but he rested longer than he meant to, for, before he knew it, he fell asleep. and while he slept, along came a bad old weasel, who is as sly as a fox. and the weasel, smelling the cream puffs in the basket, slyly lifted the cover and took every one out, eating them one after the other. "now to play a trick on uncle wiggily," said the weasel in a whisper, for the bunny uncle was still sleeping. so the bad creature found a lot of puff balls in the woods, and put them in the basket in place of the cream puffs. puff balls grow on little plants. they are brown and round and hollow, and, so far, they are like cream puffs, except that inside they have a brown, fluffy powder that flies all over when you break the puff ball. and, if you are not careful, it gets in your eyes and nose and makes you sneeze. "i should like to see what uncle wiggily and nurse jane do when they open the basket, and find puff balls instead of cream puffs," snickered the weasel as he went off, licking his chops, where the cornstarch pudding stuff was stuck on his whiskers. "it will be a great joke on them!" but let us see what happens. uncle wiggily awakened from his sleep in the woods, and started off toward his hollow stump bungalow. "i declare!" he cried. "that sleep made me hungry. i shall be glad to eat some of the cream puffs i have in my basket." "what's that?" asked a sharp voice in the bushes. "what did you say you had in the basket?" "cream puffs," answered uncle wiggily, without thinking, and then, all of a sudden, out jumped the bad old skillery-scalery alligator with the humps on his tail. "ha! cream puffs!" cried the 'gator, as i call him for short, though he was rather long. "cream puffs! if there is one thing i like more than another it is cream puffs! it is lucky you brought them with you, or i would have nothing for dessert when i have you for supper." "are you--are you going to have me for supper?" asked uncle wiggily, sort of anxious like. "i am!" cried the alligator, positively. "but i will eat the dessert first. give me those cream puffs!" he cried and he made a grab for the bunny's basket, and, reaching in, scooped out the puff balls, thinking they were cream puffs. the 'gator, without looking, took one bite and a chew and then---- "oh, my! ker-sneezio! ker-snitzio! ker-choo!" he sneezed as the powder from the puff balls went up his nose and into his eyes. "oh, what funny cream puffs! wow!" and, not stopping to so much as nibble at uncle wiggily, away ran the alligator to get a drink of lemonade. [illustration: "ker-sneezio! ker-snitzio! ker-choo!" he sneezed as the powder from the puff balls went up his nose and into his eyes.] so you see, after all, the weasel's trick saved uncle wiggily, who soon went back to the store for more cream puffs--real ones this time, and he got safely home with them. and nothing else happened that day. but if the trolley car stops running down the street to play with the jitney bus, so the pussy cat can have a ride when it wants to go shopping in the three and four-cent store, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the may flowers. story xxv uncle wiggily and the may flowers "rat-a-tat!" came a knock on the door of the hollow stump bungalow, where uncle wiggily longears, the rabbit gentleman, lived in the woods with nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, his muskrat lady housekeeper. "my! some one is calling early to-day!" said the bunny uncle. "sit still and eat your breakfast," spoke nurse jane. "i'll see who it is." when she opened the door there stood jimmie wibblewobble, the boy duck. "why where are you going so early this morning, jimmie?" asked uncle wiggily. "i'm going to school," answered the wibblewobble chap, who was named that because his tail did wibble and wobble from side to side when he walked. "aren't you a bit early?" asked mr. longears. "i came early to get you," said jimmie. "will you come for a walk with me, uncle wiggily? we can walk toward the hollow stump school, where the lady mouse teaches us our lessons." "why, it's so very early," uncle wiggily went on. "i have hardly had my breakfast. why so early, jimmie?" the duck boy whispered in uncle wiggily's ear: "i want to go early so i can gather some may flowers for the teacher. this is the first day of may, you know, and the flowers that have been wet by the april showers ought to be blossoming now." "so they had!" cried uncle wiggily. "i'll hurry with my breakfast, jimmie, and we'll go gathering may flowers in the woods." soon the bunny uncle and the boy duck were walking along where the green trees grew up out of the carpet of soft green moss. "oh, here are some yellow violets!" cried jimmie, as he saw some near an old stump. "yes, and i see some white ones!" cried the bunny uncle, as he picked them, while jimmie plucked the yellow violets with his strong bill, which was also yellow in color. then they went on a little farther and saw some bluebells growing, and the bluebell flowers were tinkling a pretty little tinkle tune. the bluebells even kept on tinkling after jimmie had picked them for his bouquet. the boy duck waddled on a little farther and all of a sudden, he cried: "oh, what a funny flower this is, uncle wiggily. it's just like the little ice cream cones that come on christmas trees, only it's covered with a flap, like a leaf, and under the flap is a little green thing, standing up. what is it?" "that is a jack-in-the-pulpit," answered the bunny uncle, "and the jack is the funny green thing. jack preaches sermons to the other flowers, telling them how to be beautiful and make sweet perfume." "i'm going to put a jack in the bouquet for the lady mouse teacher," said jimmie, and he did. then he and uncle wiggily went farther and farther on in the woods, picking may flowers, and they were almost at the hollow stump school when, all at once, from behind a big stone popped the bad ear-scratching cat. "ah, ha!" howled the cat. "i am just in time i see. i haven't scratched any ears in ever and ever so long. and you have such nice, big ears, uncle wiggily, that it is a real pleasure to scratch them!" "do you mean it is a pleasure for me, or for you?" asked the bunny uncle, softly like. "for me, of course!" meaouwed the cat. "get ready now for the ear-scratching! here i come!" "oh, please don't scratch my ears!" begged uncle wiggily. "please don't!" "yes, i shall!" said the bad cat, stretching out his claws. "would you mind scratching my ears, instead of uncle wiggily's?" asked jimmie. "i'll let you scratch mine all you want to." "i don't want to," spoke the cat. "your ears are so small that it is no pleasure for me to scratch them--none at all." "it was very kind of you to offer your ears in place of mine," said uncle wiggily to the duck boy. "but i can't let you do that. go on, bad cat, if you are going to scratch my ears, please do it and have it over with." "all right!" snarled the cat. "i'll scratch your ears!" she was just going to do it, when jimmie suddenly picked up a new flower, and holding it toward the cat cried: "no, you can't scratch uncle wiggily's ears! this is a dog-tooth violet i have just picked, and if you harm uncle wiggily i'll make the dog-tooth violet bite you!" and then the big violet went: "bow! wow! wow!" just like a dog, and the cat thinking a dog was after him, meaouwed: "oh, my! oh, dear! this is no place for me!" and away he ran, not scratching uncle wiggily at all. then jimmie put the dog-tooth violet (which did not bark any more) in his bouquet and the lady mouse teacher liked the may flowers very much. uncle wiggily took his flowers to nurse jane. and if the umbrella doesn't turn inside out, so its ribs get all wet and sneeze the handle off, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the beech tree. story xxvi uncle wiggily and the beech tree "will you go to the store for me, uncle wiggily?" asked nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, of the rabbit gentleman one day, as he sat out on the porch of his hollow stump bungalow in the woods. "indeed i will, miss fuzzy wuzzy," said mr. longears, most politely. "what is it you want?" "a loaf of bread and a pound of sugar," she answered, and uncle wiggily started off. "better take your umbrella," nurse jane called after him. "all the april showers are not yet over, even if it is may." so the rabbit gentleman took his umbrella. on his way to the store through the woods, the bunny uncle came to a big beech tree, which had nice, shiny white bark on it, and, to his surprise the rabbit gentleman saw a big black bear, standing up on his hind legs and scratching at the tree bark as hard as he could. "ha! that is not the right thing to do," said uncle wiggily to himself. "if that bear scratches too much of the bark from the tree the tree will die, for the bark of a tree is just like my skin is to me. i must drive the bear away." the bear, scratching the bark with his sharp claws, stood with his back to uncle wiggily, and the rabbit gentleman thought he could scare the big creature away. so uncle wiggily picked up a stone, and throwing it at the bear, hit him on the back, where the skin was so thick it hurt hardly at all. and as soon as he had thrown the stone uncle wiggily in his loudest voice shouted: "bang! bang! bungity-bang-bung!" "oh, my goodness!" cried the bear, not turning around. "the hunter man with his gun must be after me. he has shot me once, but the bullet did not hurt. i had better run away before he shoots me again!" and the bear ran away, never once looking around, for he thought the stone mr. longears threw was a bullet from a gun, you see, and he thought when uncle wiggily said "bang!" that it was a gun going off. so the bunny gentleman scared the bear away. "thank you, uncle wiggily," said the beech tree. "you saved my life by not letting the bear scratch off all my bark." "i am glad i did," spoke the rabbit, making a polite bow with his tall silk hat, for mr. longears was polite, even to a tree. "the bear would not stop scratching my bark when i asked him to," went on the beech tree, "so i am glad you came along, and scared him. you did me a great favor and i will do you one if i ever can." "thank you," spoke uncle wiggily, and then he hopped on to the store to get the loaf of bread and the pound of sugar for nurse jane. it was on the way back from the store that an adventure happened to uncle wiggily. he came to the place where his friend the beech tree was standing up in the woods, and a balsam tree, next door to it, was putting some salve, or balsam, on the places where the bear had scratched off the bark, to make the cuts heal. then, all of a sudden, out from behind a bush jumped the same bad bear that had done the scratching. "ah, ha!" growled the bear, as soon as he saw uncle wiggily, "you can't fool me again, making believe a stone is a bullet, and that your 'bang!' is a gun! you can't fool me! i know all about the trick you played on me. a little bird, sitting up in a tree, saw it and told me!" "well," said uncle wiggily slowly, "i'm sorry i had to fool you, but it was all for the best. i wanted to save the beech tree." "oh, i don't care!" cried the bear, saucy like and impolitely. "i'm going to scratch as much as i like!" "my goodness! you're almost as bad as the ear-scratching cat!" said uncle wiggily. "i guess i'd better run home to my hollow stump bungalow." "no, you don't!" cried the bear, and, reaching out his claws, he caught hold of uncle wiggily, who, with his umbrella, and the bread and sugar, was standing under the beech tree. "you can't get away from me like that," and the bear held tightly to the bunny uncle. "oh, dear! what are you going to do to me?" asked the rabbit gentleman. "first, i'll bite you," said the bear. "no, i guess i'll first scratch you. no, i won't either. i'll scrite you; that's what i'll do. i'll scrite you!" "what's scrite?" asked uncle wiggily, curious like. "it's a scratch and a bite made into one," said the bear, "and now i'm going to do it." "oh, ho! no, you aren't!" suddenly cried the beech tree, who had been thinking of a way to save uncle wiggily. "no, you don't scrite my friend!" and with that the brave tree gave itself a shiver and shake, and shook down on the bear a lot of sharp, three-cornered beech nuts. they fell on the bear's soft and tender nose and the sharp edges hurt him so that he cried: "wow! ouch! i guess i made a mistake! i must run away!" and away he ran from the shower of sharp beech nuts which didn't hurt uncle wiggily at all because he raised his umbrella and kept them off. then he thanked the tree for having saved him from the bear and went safely home. and if the cow bell doesn't moo in its sleep, and wake up the milkman before it's time to bring the molasses for breakfast, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the bitter medicine. story xxvii uncle wiggily and the bitter medicine "how is jackie this morning, mrs. bow wow?" asked uncle wiggily longears, the rabbit gentleman, one day, as he stopped at the kennel where the dog lady lived with her two little boys, jackie and peetie bow wow, the puppies. "how is jackie?" "jackie is not so well, i'm sorry to say," answered mrs. bow wow, as she looked carefully along the back fence to see if there were any bad cats there who might meaouw, and try to scratch the puppies. "not so well? i am sorry to hear that," spoke the bunny uncle. "what's seems to be the matter?" "oh, you know jackie and peetie both had the measles," went on mrs. bow wow. "they seemed to get over them nicely, at least peetie did, but then jackie caught the epizootic, and he has to stay in bed a week longer, and take bitter medicine." "bitter medicine, eh?" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "i am sorry to hear that, for i don't like bitter medicine myself." "neither does jackie," continued mrs. bow wow. "in fact, he really doesn't know whether he likes this bitter medicine or not." "why, not?" asked the rabbit gentleman. "because we can't get him to take a drop," said the puppy dog boy's mother. "not a drop will he take, though i have fixed it up for him with orange juice and sugar and even put it in a lollypop. but he won't take it, and dr. possum says he won't get well unless he takes the bitter medicine." "well, dr. possum ought to know," said uncle wiggily. "but why don't you ask him a good way to give the medicine to jackie?" "that's what i'm waiting out here for now," said mrs. bow wow. "i want to catch dr. possum when he comes past, and ask him to come in and give jackie the medicine. the poor boy really needs it to make him well." "of course he does," agreed uncle wiggily. "and while you are waiting for dr. possum i'll see what i can do." "what are you going to do?" asked mrs. bow wow, as the bunny uncle started for the dog kennel. "i'm going to try to make jackie take his bitter medicine. you just stay out here a little while." "well, i hope you do it, but i'm afraid you won't," spoke mrs. bow wow with a sigh. "i've tried all the ways i know. i was just going, as you came along, to get a toy balloon, blow it up, and put the medicine inside. then i was going to let jackie burst it by sticking a pin in it. and i thought when the balloon exploded the medicine might be blown down his throat." "oh, well, i think i have a better way than that," said uncle wiggily with a laugh. he went in where jackie, who had the measles-epizootic, was in bed. "good morning, jackie," said the bunny uncle. "how are you?" "not very well," answered jackie, the puppy dog boy. "but i'm glad to see you. i'm not going to take the bitter medicine even for you, though, uncle wiggily." "ho! ho! ho! just you wait until you're asked!" cried mr. longears in his most jolly voice. "now let me have a look at that bitter medicine which is making so much trouble. where is it?" "in that cup on the chair," and jackie pointed to it near his bed. "i see," said uncle wiggily, looking at it. "now, jackie, i'm a good friend of yours, and you wouldn't mind just holding this cup of bitter medicine in your paw, would you, to please me?" "oh, i'll do that for you, uncle wiggily, but i'll not take it," jackie said. "never mind about that," laughed the bunny uncle. "just hold the medicine in your paw, so," and jackie did as he was told. "now, would you mind holding it up to your lips, as if you were going to make believe take it?" asked uncle wiggily. "mind you, don't you dare take a drop of it. just hold the cup to your lips, but don't swallow any." "why do you want me to do that?" asked jackie, as he did what uncle wiggily asked. "because i want to draw a picture of you making believe take bitter medicine," said the bunny, as he took out pencil and paper. "i'll show it to any other of my little animal friends, who may not like their medicine, and i'll say to them: 'see how brave jackie is to take his bitter medicine.' of course, i won't tell them you really were afraid to take it," and without saying any more uncle wiggily began to draw the puppy dog boy's picture on the paper. "hold the cup a little nearer to your lips, and tip it up a bit, jackie," said the bunny man. "but, mind you, don't swallow a drop. that's it, higher up! tip it more. i want the picture to look natural." jackie tipped the cup higher, holding it close to his mouth, and threw back his head, and then uncle wiggily suddenly cried: "ouch!" and jackie was so surprised that he opened his mouth and before he knew it he had swallowed the bitter medicine! [illustration: jackie was so surprised that he opened his mouth.] "oh, why i took it!" he cried. "it went down my throat! and it wasn't so bad, after all." "i thought it wouldn't be," spoke uncle wiggily, as he finished the picture of jackie, and now he could really say it showed the doggie boy actually taking the medicine, for jackie did take it. so dr. possum didn't have to come in to see jackie after all to make him swallow the bitter stuff, and the little chap was soon all well again. and if the clothesline doesn't try to jump rope with the jack in the box, and upset the washtub, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the pine cones. story xxviii uncle wiggily and the pine cones uncle wiggily longears, the nice rabbit gentleman, was out walking in the woods one day when he felt rather tired. he had been looking all around for an adventure, which was something he liked to have happen to him, but he had seen nothing like one so far. "and i don't want to go back to my hollow stump bungalow without having had an adventure to tell nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy about," said mr. longears. but, as i said, the rabbit gentleman was feeling rather tired, and, seeing a nice log covered with a cushion of green moss, he sat down on that to rest. "perhaps an adventure will happen to me here," thought the bunny uncle as he leaned back against a pine tree to rest. it was nice and warm in the woods, and, with the sun shining down upon him, uncle wiggily soon dozed off in a little sleep. but when he awakened still no adventure had happened to him. "well, i guess i must travel on," he said, and he started to get up, but he could not. he could not move his back away from the pine tree against which he had leaned to rest. "oh, dear! what has happened," cried the bunny uncle. "i am stuck fast! i can't get away! oh, dear!" at first he thought perhaps the skillery-scalery alligator with the humps on his tail had come softly up behind him as he slept and had him in his claws. but, by sort of looking around backward, mr. longears could see no one--not even a fox. "but what is it holding me?" he cried, as he tried again and again to get loose, but could not. "i am sorry to say i am holding you!" spoke a voice up over uncle wiggily's head. "i am holding you fast!" "who are you, if you please?" asked the rabbit gentleman. "i am the pine tree against which you leaned your back. and on my bark was a lot of sticky pine gum. it is that which is holding you fast," the tree answered. "why--why, it's just like sticky flypaper, isn't it?" asked uncle wiggily, trying again to get loose, but not doing so. "and it is just like the time you held the bear fast for me." "yes, it is; and flypaper is made from my sticky pine gum," said the tree. "i am so sorry you are stuck, but i did not see you lean back against me until it was too late. and now i can't get you loose, for my limbs are so high over your head that i can not reach them down to you. try to get loose yourself." "i will," said uncle wiggily, and he did, but he could not get loose, though he almost pulled out all his fur. so he cried: "help! help! help!" then, all of a sudden, along through the woods came neddie stubtail, the little bear-boy, and neddie had some butter, which he had just bought at the store for his mother. "oh!" cried the pine tree. "if you will rub some butter on my sticky gum, it will loosen and melt it, so uncle wiggily will not be stuck any more." neddie did so, and soon the bunny uncle was free. "oh, i can't tell you how sorry i am," said the pine tree. "i am a horrid creature, of no use in this world, uncle wiggily! other trees have nice fruit or nuts or flowers on them, but all i have is sticky gum, or brown, rough ugly pine cones. oh, dear! i am of no use in the world!" "oh, yes you are!" said uncle wiggily, kindly. "as for having stuck me fast, that was my own fault. i should have looked before i leaned back. and, as for your pine cones, i dare say they are very useful." "no, they are not!" said the tree sadly. "if they were only ice cream cones they might be some good. oh, i wish i were a peach tree, or a rose bush!" "never mind," spoke uncle wiggily, "i like your pine cones, and i am going to take some home with me, and, when i next see you, i shall tell you how useful they were. don't feel so badly." so uncle wiggily gathered a number of the pine cones, which are really the big, dried seeds of the pine tree, and the bunny uncle took them to his bungalow with him. a few days later he was in the woods again and stopped near the pine tree, which was sighing and wishing it were an umbrella plant or a gold fish. "hush!" cried uncle wiggily. "you must try to do the best you can for what you are! and i have come to tell you how useful your pine cones were." "really?" asked the tree, in great surprise. "really?" "really and truly," answered uncle wiggily. "with some of your cones nurse jane started her kitchen fire when all the wood was wet. with others i built a little play house, and amused lulu wibblewobble, the duck girl, when she had the toothache. and other cones i threw at a big bear that was chasing me. i hit him on the nose with them, and he was glad enough to run away. so you see how useful you are, pine tree!" "oh, i am so glad," said the tree. "i guess it is better to be just what you are, and do the best you can," and uncle wiggily said it was. and, if the roof of our house doesn't come down stairs to play with the kitchen floor and let the rain in on the gold fish, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and his torn coat. story xxix uncle wiggily and his torn coat "do you think i look all right?" asked uncle wiggily longears, the rabbit gentleman, of nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, his muskrat lady housekeeper. he was standing in front of her, turning slowly about, and he had on a new coat. for now that summer was near the bunny uncle had laid aside his heavy fur coat and was wearing a lighter one. "yes, you do look very nice," nurse jane said, tying her tail in a knot so uncle wiggily would not step on it as he turned around. "nice enough to go to grandfather goosey gander's party?" asked the rabbit gentleman. "oh, yes, indeed!" exclaimed nurse jane. "i didn't know grandpa goosey was to give a party, but, if he is, you certainly look well enough to go with your new coat. of course, it might be better if it had some lace insertion around the button holes, or a bit of ruching, with oyster shell trimming sewed down the back, but--" "oh, no, indeed!" laughed the bunny uncle. "if it had those things on it would be a coat for a lady. i like mine plainer." "well, take care of yourself," called nurse jane after him as he hopped off over the fields and through the woods to the house where grandfather goosey gander lived. "now, i must be very careful not to get my new coat dirty, or i won't look nice at the party," the old rabbit gentleman was saying to himself as he hopped along. "i must be very careful indeed." he went along as carefully as he could, but, just as he was going down a little hill, under the trees, he came to a place which was so slippery that, before he knew it, all of a sudden uncle wiggily fell down and slid to the bottom of the hill. "my goodness!" he cried, as he stood up after his slide. "i did not know there was snow or ice on that hill." and when he looked there was not, but it was covered with long, thin pine needles, which are almost as slippery as glass. it was on these that the rabbit gentleman had slipped down hill. "well, there is no great harm done," said uncle wiggily to himself, as he found no bones broken. "i had a little slide, that's all. i must bring sammie and susie littletail here some day, and let them slide on pine needle hill. johnnie and billie bushytail, the two squirrels, would also like it, and so would nannie and billie wagtail, my two goat friends." uncle wiggily was about to go on to the party when, as he looked at his new coat he saw that it was all torn. in sliding down the slippery pine needle hill the coat had caught on sticks and stones and it had many holes torn in it, and it was also ripped here and there. "oh, dear me!" cried uncle wiggily. "oh, sorrow! oh, unhappiness! now i'll have to go back to my hollow stump bungalow and put on my old coat that isn't torn. for i never can wear my new one to the party. that would never do! but the trouble is, if i go back home i'll be late! oh, dear, what trouble i am in!" now was the time for some of uncle wiggily's friends to help him in his trouble, as he had often helped them. but, as he looked through the woods, he could not see even a little mouse, or so much as a grasshopper. "the tailor bird would be just the one i'd like to see now," said the rabbit uncle. "she could mend my torn coat nicely." for tailor birds, yon know, can take a piece of grass, with their bill for a needle, and sew leaves together to make a nest, almost as well as your mother can mend a hole in your stocking. but there was no tailor bird in the woods, and uncle wiggily did not know what to do. "i certainly do not want to be late to grandpa goosey's party," said the bunny uncle, "nor do i want to go to it in a torn coat. oh, dear!" just then he heard down on the ground near him, a little voice saying: "perhaps we could mend your coat for you, uncle wiggily." "you. who are you, and how can you mend my torn coat?" the bunny gentleman wanted to know. "we are some little black ants," was the answer, "and with the pine needles lying on the ground--some of the same needles on which you slipped--we can sew up your coat, with long grass for thread." "oh, that will be fine, if you can do it," spoke the bunny uncle. "can you?" "we'll try," the ants said. then, about fourteen thousand six hundred and twenty-two black ants took each a long, sharp pine needle, and threading it with grass, they began to sew up the rips and tears in uncle wiggily's coat. and in places where they could not easily sew they stuck the cloth together with sticky gum from the pine tree. so, though the pine tree was to blame, in a way, for uncle wiggily's fall, it also helped in the mending of his coat. soon the coat was almost as good as new and you could hardly tell where it was torn. and uncle wiggily, kindly thanking the ants, went on to grandpa goosey's party and had a fine time and also some ice cream. and if the egg beater doesn't take all the raisins out of the rice pudding, so it looks like a cup of custard going to the moving pictures, the next story will be about uncle wiggily and the sycamore tree. story xxx uncle wiggily and the sycamore tree "oh, uncle wiggily, i'm going to a party! i'm going to a party!" cried nannie wagtail, the little goat girl, as she pranced up in front of the hollow stump bungalow where mr. longears, the rabbit gentleman, lived with nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper. "going to a party? say, that's just fine!" said the bunny gentleman. "i wish i were going to one." "why, you can come, too!" cried nannie. "jillie longtail, the little mouse girl, is giving the party, and i know she will be glad to have you." "well, perhaps, i may stop in for a little while," said mr. longears, with a smile that made his pink nose twinkle like the frosting on a sponge cake. "but when is the party going to take place, nannie?" "right away--i'm going there now; but i just stopped at your bungalow to show you my new shoes that uncle butter, the circus poster goat, bought for me. aren't they nice?" and she stuck out her feet. "indeed, they are!" cried uncle wiggily, as he looked at the shiny black shoes which went on over nannie's hoofs. "so the party is to-day, is it?", "right now," said nannie. "come on, uncle wiggily. walk along with me and go in! they'll all be glad to see you!" "oh, but my dear child!" cried the bunny gentleman. "i haven't shaved my whiskers, my ears need brushing, and i would have to do lots of things to make myself look nice and ready for a party!" "oh, dear!" bleated nannie wagtail. "i did so want you to come with me!" "well, i'll walk as far as the longtail mouse home,"' said the bunny uncle, "but i won't go in. "oh, maybe you will when you get there!" and nannie laughed, for she knew uncle wiggily always did whatever the animal children wanted him to do. so the bunny uncle and nannie started off through the woods together, nannie looking down at her new shoes every now and then. "i'm going to dance at the party, uncle wiggily!" she said. "i should think you would, nannie, with those nice new shoes," spoke mr. longears. "what dance are you going to do?" "oh, the four-step and the fish hornpipe, i guess," answered nannie, and then she suddenly cried: "oh, dear!" "what's the matter now?" asked uncle wiggily. "did you lose one of your new shoes?" "no, but i splashed some mud on it," the little goat girl said. "i stepped in a mud puddle." "never mind, i'll wipe it off with a bit of soft green moss," answered uncle wiggily; and he did. so nannie's shoes were all clean again. on and on went the rabbit gentleman and the little goat girl, and they talked of what games the animal children would play at the longtail mouse party, and what good things they would eat, and all like that. all of a sudden, as nannie was jumping over another little puddle of water, she cried out again: "oh, dear!" "what's the matter now?" asked uncle wiggily. "did some more mud splash on your new shoes, nannie?" "no, uncle wiggily, but a lot of the buttons came off. i guess they don't fasten buttons on new shoes very tight." "i guess they don't," uncle wiggily said. "but still you have enough buttons left to keep the shoes on your feet. i guess you will be all right." so nannie walked on a little farther, with uncle wiggily resting his rheumatism, now and then, on the red, white and blue striped barber pole crutch that nurse jane had gnawed for him out of a cornstalk. all of a sudden nannie cried out again: "oh, dear! oh, this is too bad!" "what is?" asked uncle wiggily. "now all the buttons have come off my shoes!" said the little goat girl, sadly. "i don't see how i can go on to the party and dance, with no buttons on my shoes. they'll be slipping off all the while." "so they will," spoke uncle wiggily. "shoes without buttons are like lollypops without sticks, you can't do anything with them." "but what am i going to do?" asked nannie, while tears came into her eyes and splashed up on her horns. "i do want so much to go to that party." "and i want you to," said uncle wiggily. "let me think a minute." so he thought and thought, and then he looked off through the woods and he saw a queer tree not far away. it was a sycamore tree, with broad white patches on the smooth bark, and hanging down from the branches were lots of round balls, just like shoe buttons, only they were a sort of brown instead of black. the balls were the seeds of the tree. "ha! the very thing!" cried the bunny uncle. "what is?" asked nannie. "that sycamore, or button-ball tree," answered the rabbit gentleman. "i can get you some new shoe buttons off that, nannie, and sew them on your shoes." "oh, if you can, that will be just fine!" cried the little goat girl. "for when the buttons came off my new shoes they flew every which way--i mean the buttons did--and i couldn't find a single one." "never mind," uncle wiggily kindly said. "i'll sew on some of the buttons from the sycamore tree, and everything will be all right." with a thorn for a needle, and some long grasses for thread, uncle wiggily soon sewed the buttons from the sycamore, or button-ball, tree on nannie's new shoes, using the very smallest ones, of course. then nannie put on her shoes again, having rested her feet on a velvet carpet of moss, while uncle wiggily was sewing, and together they went on to the longtail mouse party. "oh, what nice shoes you have, nannie!" cried susie littletail, the rabbit girl. "and what lovely stylish buttons!" exclaimed lulu wibblewobble, the duck. "yes, uncle wiggily sewed them on for me," said nannie. "oh, is uncle wiggily outside!" cried the little mousie girl. "he must come in to our party!" "of course!" cried all the other animal children. and so uncle wiggily, who had walked on past the house after leaving nannie, had to come in anyhow, without his whiskers being trimmed, or his ears curled. and he was so jolly that every one had a good time and lots of ice cream cheese to eat, and they all thought nannie's shoes, and the button-ball buttons, were just fine. and if the ham sandwich doesn't tickle the cream puff under the chin and make it laugh so all the chocolate drops off the cocoanut pudding, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the red spots. story xxxi uncle wiggily and the red spots uncle wiggily longears, the rabbit gentleman, was hopping along through the woods one fine day when he heard a little voice calling to him: "oh, uncle wiggily! will you have a game of tag with me?" at first the bunny uncle thought the voice might belong to a bad fox or a harum-scarum bear, but when he had peeked through the bushes he saw that it was lulu wibblewobble, the duck girl, who had called to him. "have a game of tag with you? why, of course, i will!" laughed uncle wiggily. "that is, if you will kindly excuse my rheumatism, and the red, white and blue crutch which nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, my muskrat lady housekeeper, gnawed for me out of a cornstalk." "of course, i'll excuse it, uncle wiggily," said lulu. "only please don't tag me with the end of your crutch, for it tickles me, and when i'm tickled i have to laugh, and when i laugh i can't play tag." "i won't tag you with my crutch," spoke uncle wiggily with a laugh. "now we're ready to begin." so the little duck girl and the rabbit gentleman played tag there in the woods, jumping and springing about on the soft mossy green carpet under the trees. sometimes lulu was "it" and sometimes uncle wiggily would be tagged by the foot or wing of the duck girl, who was a sister to alice and jimmie wibblewobble. "now for a last tag!" cried uncle wiggily when it was getting dark in the woods. "i'll tag you this time, lulu, and then we must go home." "all right," agreed lulu, and she ran and flew so fast that uncle wiggily could hardly catch her to make her "it." and finally when uncle wiggily almost had his paw on the duck girl she flew right over a bush, and, before uncle wiggily could stop himself he had run into the bush until he was half way through it. [illustration: before uncle wiggily could stop himself he had run into the bush.] but, very luckily, it was not a scratchy briar bush, so no great harm was done, except that uncle wiggily's fur was a bit ruffled up, and he was tickled. "i guess i can't tag you this time, lulu!" laughed the bunny uncle. "we'll give up the game now, and i'll be 'it' next time when we play." "ail right, uncle wiggily," said lulu. "i'll meet you here in the woods at this time tomorrow night, and i'll bring alice and jimmie with me, and we'll have lots of fun. we'll have a grand game of tag!" "fine!" cried the bunny uncle, as he squirmed his way out of the bush. then he went on to his hollow stump bungalow, and lulu went on to her duck pen house to have her supper of corn meal sauce with watercress salad sprinkled over the sides. as uncle wiggily was sitting down to his supper of carrot ice cream with lettuce sandwiches all puckered around the edges, nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy looked at him across the table, and exclaimed: "why, wiggy! what's the matter with you?" "matter with me? nothing, janie! i feel just fine!" he said. "i'm hungry, that's all!" "why, you're all covered with red spots!" went on the muskrat lady. "you are breaking out with the measles. i must send for dr. possum at once." "measles? nonsense!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "i can't have 'em again. i've had 'em once." "well, maybe these are the french or german mustard measles," said the muskrat lady. "you are certainly all covered with red spots, and red spots are always measles." "well, what are you going to do about it?" asked uncle wiggily. "you must go to bed at once," said nurse jane, "and when dr. possum comes he'll tell you what else to do. oh, my! look at the red spots!" uncle wiggily was certainly as red-spotted as a polka-dot shirt waist. he looked at himself in a glass to make sure. "well, i guess i have the measles all right," he said. "but i don't see how i can have them twice. this must be a different style, like the new dances." it was dark when dr. possum came, and when he saw the red spots on uncle wiggily, he said: "yes, i guess they're the measles all right. lots of the animal children are down with them. but don't worry. keep nice and warm and quiet, and you'll be all right in a few days." so uncle wiggily went to bed, red spots and all, and nurse jane made him hot carrot and sassafras tea, with whipped cream and chocolate in it. the cream was not whipped because it was bad, you know, but only just in fun, to make it stand up straight. all the next day the bunny uncle stayed in bed with his red spots, though he wanted very much to go out in the woods looking for an adventure. and when evening came and nurse jane was sitting out on the front porch of the hollow stump bungalow, she suddenly heard a quacking sound, and along came lulu, alice and jimmie wibblewobble, the duck children. "where is uncle wiggily?" asked lulu. "he is in bed," answered nurse jane. "why is he in bed?" asked jimmie. "was he bad?" "no, indeed," laughed nurse jane. "but your uncle wiggily is in bed because he has the red-spotted measles. what did you want of him?" "he promised to meet us in the woods, where the green moss grows," answered lulu, "and play tag with us. we waited and waited, and played tag all by ourselves tonight, even jumping in the bush, as uncle wiggily accidentally did when he was chasing me, but he did not come along. so we came here to see what is the matter." the three duck children came up on the porch, where the bright light shone on them from inside the bungalow. "oh, my goodness me sakes alive and some paregoric lollypops!" cried nurse jane, as she looked at the three. "you ducks are all covered with red spots, too! you all have the measles! oh, my!" "measles!" cried jimmie, the boy duck. "measles? these aren't measles, nurse jane! these are sticky, red berries from the bushes we jumped in as uncle wiggily did. the red berries are sticky, like burdock burrs, and they stuck to us." "oh, my goodness!" cried nurse jane. "wait a minute, children!" then she ran to where uncle wiggily was lying in bed. she leaned over and picked off some of the red spots from his fur. "why!" cried the muskrat lady. "you haven't the measles at all, wiggy! it's just sticky, red berries in your fur, just as they are in the ducks' feathers. you're all right! get up and have a good time!" and uncle wiggily did, after nurse jane had combed the red, sticky burr-berries out of his fur. he didn't have the measles at all, for which he was very glad, because he could now be up and play tag. "my goodness! that certainly was a funny mistake for all of us," said dr. possum next day. "but the red spots surely did look like the measles." which shows us that things are not always what they seem. and if the--oh, excuse me, if you please. there is not going to be a next story in this book. it is already as full as it can be, so the story after this will have to be put in the following book, which also means next. let me see, now. oh, i know. next i'm going to tell you some stories about the old gentleman growing cabbages, lettuce and things like that out of the ground, and the book will be called "uncle wiggily on the farm." it will be ready for you by christmas, i think, and i hope you will like it. and now i will say good-bye for a little while, and if the lollypop doesn't take its sharp stick to make the baby carriage roll down the hill and into the trolley car, i'll soon begin to make the new book. text donated by rivers edge used books. sammie and susie littletail by howard r. garis illustrations by louis wisa publisher's note these stories appeared originally in the evening news, of newark, n.j., and are reproduced in book form by the kind permission of the publishers of that paper, to whom the author extends his thanks. contents i. sammie littletail in a trap ii. sammie littletail is rescued iii. what happened to susie littletail iv. papa littletail's picture v. sammie littletail digs a burrow vi. sammie and susie help mrs. wren vii. uncle wiggily gets shot viii. susie and sammie find a nest ix. sammie littletail falls in x. jane fuzzy-wuzzy gives a lesson xi. sammie's and susie's terrible time xii. susie goes to a party xiii. the littletail family move xiv. how the water got in xv. sammie and susie at the circus xvi. sammie and the snake xvii. susie and the white kittie xviii. sammie and the black doggie xix. uncle wiggily makes maple sugar xx. sammie and susie hunt eggs xxi. susie littletail jumps rope xxii. sammie colored sky-blue-pink xxiii. susie littletail's hot-cross buns xxiv. hiding the easter eggs xxv. uncle wiggily and the red fairy xxvi. susie and the blue fairy xxvii. sammie and the green fairy xxviii. susie and the fairy godmother xxix. uncle wiggily and the fairy spectacles xxx. sammie saves billie bushytail xxxi. susie and the fairy carrot sammie and susie littletail i sammie littletail in a trap once upon a time there lived in a small house built underneath the ground two curious little folk, with their father, their mother, their uncle and jane fuzzy-wuzzy. jane fuzzy-wuzzy was the nurse, hired girl and cook, all in one, and the reason she had such a funny name was because she was a funny cook. she had long hair, a sharp nose, a very long tail and the brightest eyes you ever saw. she could stay under water a long time, and was a fine swimmer. in fact, jane fuzzy-wuzzy was a big muskrat, and the family she worked for was almost as strange as she was. there was papa littletail, mamma littletail, sammie littletail, susie littletail and uncle wiggily longears. the whole family had very long ears and short tails; their eyes were rather pink and their noses used to twinkle, just like the stars on a frosty night. now you have guessed it. this was a family of bunny rabbits, and they lived in a nice hole, which was called a burrow, and which they had dug under ground in a big park on the top of a mountain, back of orange. not the kind of oranges you eat, you know, but the name of a place, and a very nice place, too. in spite of her strange name, and the fact that she was a muskrat, jane fuzzy-wuzzy was a very good cook and quite kind to the children bunnies, sammie and susie. besides looking after them, jane fuzzy-wuzzy used to sweep the burrow, make up the beds of leaves and grass, and go to market to get bits of carrots, turnips or cabbage, which last sammie and susie liked better than ice cream. uncle wiggily longears was an elderly rabbit, who had the rheumatism, and he could not do much. sometimes when jane fuzzy-wuzzy was very busy he would go after the cabbage or turnips for her. uncle wiggily longears was a wise rabbit, and as he had no other home, papa littletail let him stay in a warm corner of the burrow. to pay for his board the little bunnies' uncle would give them lessons in how to behave. one day, after he had told them how needful it was to always have two holes, or doors, to your burrow, so that if a dog chased you in one, you could go out of the other, uncle wiggily said: "now, children, i think that is enough for one day, so you may go out and have some fun in the snow." but first jane fuzzy-wuzzy looked out of the back door, and then she looked out of the front door, to see that there were no dogs or hunters about. then sammie and susie crept out. they had lots of fun, and pretty soon, when they were quite a ways from home, they saw a hole in the ground. in front of it was a nice, juicy cabbage stalk. "look!" cried sammie. "jane fuzzy-wuzzy must have lost that cabbage on her way home from the store!" "that isn't the door to our house," said susie. "yes it is," insisted sammie, "and i am going to eat the cabbage. i didn't have much breakfast, and i'm hungry." "be careful," whispered susie. "uncle wiggily longears warned us to look on all sides before we ate any cabbage we found." "i don't believe there's any danger," spoke sammie. "i'm going to eat it," and he went right up to the cabbage stalk. but sammie did not know that the cabbage stalk was part of a trap, put there to catch animals, and, no sooner had he taken a bite, than there came a click, and sammie felt a terrible pain in his left hind leg. "oh, susie!" he cried out. "oh, susie! something has caught me by the leg! run home, susie, as fast as you can, and tell papa!" susie was so frightened that she began to cry, but, as she was a brave little rabbit girl, she started off toward the underground house. when she got there she jumped right down the front door hole, and called out: "oh, mamma! oh, papa! sammie is caught! he went to bite the cabbage stalk, and he is caught in a horrible trap!" "caught!" exclaimed uncle wiggily longears. "sammie caught in a trap! that is too bad! we must rescue him at once. come on!" he called to papa littletail, and, though uncle wiggily longears was quite lame with the rheumatism, he started off with sammie's papa, and to-morrow night i will tell you how they saved the little boy rabbit. ii sammie littletail is rescued when uncle wiggily longears and papa littletail hurried from the underground house to rescue sammie, mamma littletail was much frightened. she nearly fainted, and would have done so completely, only jane fuzzy-wuzzy brought her some parsnip juice. "oh, hurry and get my little boy out of that trap!" cried mamma littletail, when she felt better. "do you think he will be much hurt, uncle wiggily?" "oh, no; not much," he said. "i was caught in a trap once when i was a young rabbit, and i got over it. only i took a dreadful cold, from being kept out in the rain all night. we will bring him safe home to you." while uncle wiggily longears and papa littletail were on their way, poor sammie, left all alone in the woods, with his left hind foot caught in a cruel trap, felt very lonely indeed. "i'll never take any more cabbage without looking all around it, to see if there is a trap near it," he said to himself. "no indeed i will not," and then he tried to get out of the trap, but could not. pretty soon he saw his father and his uncle coming over the snow toward him, and he felt much better. "now we must be very careful," said uncle wiggily longears, to papa littletail. "there may be more traps about." so he sat upon his hind legs, and papa littletail sat up on his hind legs, and they both made their noses twinkle like stars on a very frosty night. for that is the way rabbits smell, and these two were wise bunnies, who could smell a trap as far as you can smell perfumery. they could not smell any traps, and they could not see any with their pink eyes, so they went quite close to sammie, who was held fast by his left hind leg. "does it hurt you very much?" asked his papa, and he put his front paws around his little rabbit boy, and gave him a good hug. "not very much, papa," replied sammie, "but i wish i was out." "we'll soon have you out," said uncle wiggily longears, and then with his strong hind feet he kicked away the snow and dried leaves from the trap. then sammie could see how he had been fooled. the trap was so covered up that only the cabbage stump showed, so it is no wonder that he stepped into it. the two rabbits tried to get sammie out, but they could not, because the trap was too strong. "what shall we do?" asked papa littletail, as he sat down and scratched his left ear, which he always did when he was worried about anything. "the trap is fast to a piece of wood by a chain," said uncle wiggily longears. "we will have to gnaw through the wood, and then take sammie, the trap, chain and all, home. once there, we can call in dr. possum, and he can open the trap and get sammie's leg out." so the two big rabbits set to work to gnaw through the wood, to which the chain of the trap was fastened. sammie littletail tried not to cry from the pain, but some tears did come, and they froze on his face, close to his little wiggily nose, for it was quite cold. "i should have given you a lesson about traps," said uncle wiggily longears; "then perhaps you would not have been caught. i will give you a lesson to-morrow." finally the wood was gnawed through, and sammie, with his uncle on one side and his papa on the other, to help him, reached home. the trap was still on his leg, and he could not go very fast. in fact, the three of them had to go so slow that a hunter and his dog came after them. they managed, however, to jump down the hole of the underground house just in time, and the big dog did not get them. he soon got tired of waiting, and went away. then dr. possum was sent for, and with his strong tail he quickly opened the trap, and sammie was free. but his leg hurt him very much, and jane fuzzy-wuzzy put him in a bed of soft leaves and gave him some sassafras and elderberry tea. dr. possum told sammie he would have to stay in the burrow for a week, until his leg was better. sammie did not want to, but his mother insisted on it, and to-morrow night i will tell you an adventure that happened to susie littletail, when she went to the store for some cabbage. iii what happened to susie littletail it was very lonesome for sammie littletail to stay in the underground house for a whole week after he had been caught in the trap. he had to move about on a crutch, which uncle wiggily longears, that wise old rabbit, gnawed out of a piece of cornstalk for him. "oh, dear, i wish i could go out and play!" exclaimed sammie one day. "it's awfully tiresome in here in the dark. i wish i could do something." "would you like a nice, juicy cabbage leaf?" asked susie. "wouldn't i, though!" cried sammie, "but there isn't any in the pantry. i heard jane fuzzy-wuzzy tell mother so." "i'll go to the store and get you some," offered his sister. "i know where it is." the cabbage store was a big field where farmer tooker kept his cabbage covered with straw during the winter. it was not far from the burrow, and, though it was not really a store, the rabbits always called it that. so that was where susie littletail went. she scraped the snow off the straw with her hind feet and kicked the straw away so she could get at the cabbage. then she began to gnaw off the sweetest leaves she could find for her little sick brother. she had broken off quite a number and was thinking how nice they would be for him, when she suddenly smelled something strange. it was not cabbage nor turnips nor carrots that she smelled. nor was it sweet clover, nor any smell like that. it was the smell of danger, and susie, like all her family, could smell danger quite a distance. this time she knew it was a man with a dog and a gun who was coming toward her. for uncle wiggily longears had told her how to know when such a thing happened. "oh, it's some of those horrid hunters; i know it is!" exclaimed susie. "i must run home, though i haven't half enough cabbage." she took the leaves she had gnawed off in her mouth and bounded off toward the underground house. all at once a dog sprang out of the bushes at her and the man with the gun shot at her, but he did not hit her. she was so frightened, however, that she dropped the cabbage leaves and ran for her life. oh, how susie littletail did run! she never ran so fast before in all her life, and, just as the dog was going to grab her, she saw the back door of her house, and into it she popped like a cork going into a bottle. "oh! oh! oh!" she cried three times, just like that. "i am safe!" and she ran to where her brother was, on a bed of leaves. "why, susie!" he called to her. "whatever is the matter?" "yes. why have you been running so?" asked jane fuzzy-wuzzy. "what happened?" "a big dog chased me," answered susie. "but i got away." "where is my cabbage?" sammie wanted to know. "i am so hungry for it." "oh, i'm so sorry, but i had to drop it," went on susie. "oh, jane fuzzy-wuzzy, is papa home safe. where is uncle wiggily longears? i hope neither of them is out, for i'm afraid that hunter and his dog will see them." "your uncle is asleep in his room," said the muskrat nurse. "his rheumatism hurts him this weather. as for your papa, he has not come home yet, but i guess he is wise enough to keep out of the way of dogs. now don't make any noise, for your mamma is lying down with a headache. i have a little preserved clover, done up in sugar, put away in the cupboard, and i will give you some." "that is better than cabbage," declared sammie, joyfully. but, just as jane fuzzy-wuzzy went to the cupboard to get the sugared clover, something ran down into the underground house. it was a long, thin animal, with a sharp nose, sharper even than jane fuzzy-wuzzy's, and when the nurse saw the curious little beast, she cried out in fright: "oh, run, children! run!" she screamed. "this is a very dreadful creature indeed! it is a ferret, but i will drive him out, and he shan't hurt you!" then nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy, dropping the pan of potatoes she was peeling for supper, sprang at the ferret. and to-morrow night, if you are good children, you shall hear how jane fuzzy-wuzzy drove the ferret from the underground home and saved the bunny children. iv papa littletail's picture when nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy called out to the two bunny children to run away from the ferret, sammie and susie were so frightened that they hardly knew what to. their mother came into the sitting-room of the burrow, from the dark bedroom where she had gone to lie down, because of a headache, and she also was much alarmed. so was uncle wiggily longears, who was awakened from his nap by the cries of the nurse. "run and hide! run and hide!" called jane fuzzy-wuzzy, and all the rabbits ran and hid. the ferret, which was a long, slender animal, something like a white rat, had been put into the burrow by the hunter, who stood outside at the back door, hoping the rabbits would run out so he could shoot them. but they did not. instead, they went into the darkest part of the underground house. nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy went bravely up to the ferret. "now you get right out of this house," she said. "we don't want you here!" the ferret said nothing, but kept crawling all around, looking for the rabbits. he was careful to keep away from the muskrat, for, in spite of her soft name, nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy had very sharp teeth. "come on, now; get right out of here!" the nurse said again, but the ferret would not go. he wanted to catch the rabbits. then the muskrat jumped right up on his back and bit him quite hard on one of his little ears. the ferret squealed at this. next jane fuzzy-wuzzy nipped him on the other ear; not very hard, you know, but just hard enough to make that ferret wish he had stayed out of the underground house. "now will you go?" asked the nurse. "yes," said the ferret, "i will," and he turned around and walked right out of the house. the hunter was very much surprised when his ferret appeared without having driven out any rabbits. he could not understand it. "well," he said, "i guess i made a mistake, but i was sure i saw a rabbit go down that hole. i guess i had better be going." so he called his dog, put his ferret into his pocket and went away. and, oh, how glad sammie and susie littletail were! pretty soon papa littletail came hurrying home. as soon as he entered the burrow the children noticed that he was rather pale. he said that he had had a terrible fright, for, as he was on his way home from mr. drake's house, a boy had pointed a big, black thing at him, which clicked like a gun, but did not make a loud noise. then susie told him about the dog who chased her, and how the ferret had frightened them. "it is a good thing you were not shot," said mamma littletail to her husband. "i don't know what we would have done if such a dreadful thing had happened. how terrible boys are!" "i did have a narrow escape," admitted papa littletail. "the boy had a sort of square, black box, and i'm sure it was filled with bullets. it had a great, round, shiny eye, that he pointed at me, and, when something clicked, he cried out, 'there, i have him!' but i did not seem to be hurt." "i know what happened to you," said uncle wiggily longears, and he rubbed his leg that had the worst rheumatism in it. "you had your picture taken; that's all." "my picture taken?" repeated papa littletail, as he scratched his left ear, which he always did when he was puzzled. "that is it," said the children's uncle. "it happened to me once. the boy had a camera, not a gun. it does not hurt to have your picture taken. it is not like being shot." "then i wish all hunters would take pictures of us, instead of shooting at us," said sammie, and susie also thought it would be much nicer. and uncle wiggily told how lovers of animals often take their pictures, to put in books and magazines, for little boys and girls to look at. "well," said papa littletail, "i suppose i should be very proud to have my picture taken, but i am not the least bit." then he gave sammie some nice pieces of chocolate-covered turnip, which mr. drake had sent to the little boy with the lame leg. "do you think i can get out to-morrow?" asked sammie, after supper. "my leg is quite well." "i think so," replied his papa. "i will ask dr. possum." which he did, and sammie was allowed to go out. he had a very curious adventure, too, and i think i shall tell you about it to-morrow night, if you go to bed early now. v sammie littletail digs a burrow sammie littletail found that his leg was quite well enough to walk on, without the cornstalk crutch, so the day after his papa's picture had been taken, the little rabbit boy started to leave the burrow. "come along, susie," he called to his sister. "i will also go with you," said uncle wiggily longears. "i will give you children a few lessons in digging burrows. it is time you learned, for some day you will want an underground house of your own." so he led them to a nice place in the big park on top of the mountain, where the earth was soft, and showed sammie and susie how to hollow out rooms and halls, how to make back and front doors, and many other things a rabbit should know. "i think that will be enough of a lesson to-day," said uncle wiggily longears, after a while. "we will go home, now." "no," spoke sammie, "i want to dig some more. it's lots of fun." "you had better come with us," remarked susie. but sammie would not, though he promised to be home before dark. so while uncle wiggily longears and susie littletail started off, sammie continued to dig. he dug and he dug and he dug, until he was a long distance under ground, and had really made quite a fine burrow for a little rabbit. all at once he felt a sharp pain in his left fore leg. "ouch!" he cried. "who did that?" "i did," answered a little, furry creature, all curled up in a hole in the ground. "what do you mean by digging into my house? can't you see where you are going?" "of course," answered sammie, as he looked at his sore leg. "but couldn't you see me coming, and tell me to stop?" "no, i couldn't see you," was the reply. "why not?" "why not? because i'm blind. i'm a mole, and i can't see; but i get along just as well as if i did. now, i suppose i've got to go to work and mend the hole you made in the side of my parlor. it's a very large one." the mole, you see, lived underground, just as the rabbits did, only in a smaller house. "i'm very sorry," said sammie. "that doesn't do much good," spoke the mole, as she began to stop up the hole sammie had made. she really did very well for a blind animal, but then she had been blind so long that she did not know what daylight looked like. "you had better dig in some other place," the mole concluded, as she finished stopping up the hole. sammie thought so himself, and did so. he went quite deep, and when he thought he was far enough down, he began digging upward, so as to come out and make a back door, as his uncle had taught him to do. he dug and he dug and he dug. all at once his feet burst through the soft soil, and he found that he had come out on top of the ground. but what a funny place he was in! it was not at all like the part of the park near his burrow, and he was a little frightened. there were many tall trees about, and in one was a big gray squirrel, who sat up and chattered at the sight of sammie, as if he had never seen a rabbit before. "what are you doing here?" asked the squirrel. "don't you know rabbits are not allowed here?" "why not?" asked sammie. "because there are nice trees about, and the keepers of the park fear you and your family will gnaw the bark off and spoil them." "we never spoil trees," declared sammie, though he just then remembered that his uncle, wiggily longears, had once said something about apple-tree bark being very good to eat. "there's another reason," went on the squirrel, chattering away. "what is it?" asked sammie. "look over there and you'll see," was the reply, and when sammie looked, with his little body half out of the hole he had made, he saw a great animal, with long horns, coming straight at him. he tried to run back down the hole, but he found he had not made it large enough to turn around in. so sammie littletail, frightened as he as at the dreadful animal, had to jump out of the burrow to get ready to run down it again, and, just as he did so, the big animal cried out to him: "hold on there!" sammie shook with fright, and did not dare move. but, after all, the big animal did not intend to harm him. and what happened, and who the big animal was i will tell you to-morrow night. vi sammie and susie help mrs. wren the big animal with the horns came close to sammie. "what are you doing here?" he asked. "i--i don't know," replied the little rabbit boy. "how did you get here?" "i was digging a new burrow, and i--i just happened to come out here. but i'll go right away again, if you'll let me." "of course i'll let you. don't you know it's against the rules of the park to be here? what do you suppose they have different parts of the park for, if it isn't to keep you rabbits out of certain places?" "i'm sure i don't know," was all sammie could say. "do you know who i am?" asked the horned creature. "no--no, sir." "well, i'm a deer." "my--my mother calls me that, sometimes, when i've been real good," said sammie. "no, i don't mean that kind at all," and the deer tried to smile. "my name is spelled differently. i'm a cousin of the santa claus reindeer. but you must go now. no rabbits are allowed in the part of the park where we live. you should not have come," and the deer shook his horns at sammie. "i--i never will again," said the little rabbit boy, and then, before the deer knew it, sammie jumped down his new burrow, ran along to the front door, and darted off toward home. when he was almost there he saw a little brown bird sitting on a bush, and the bird seemed calling to him. "wait a minute, rabbit," said the bird. "why are you in such a hurry?" "because i saw such a dreadful animal," was sammie's reply, and he told about the deer. "pooh! deer are very nice creatures indeed," said the bird. "i used to know one, and i used to perch on his horns. but what i stopped to ask you about was whether you know of a nice nest which i could rent for this spring. you see, i have come up from the south a little earlier than usual, and i can't find the nest i had last year. it was in a little wooden house that a nice man built for me, but the wind has blown it down. i didn't know but what you might have seen a little nest somewhere." "no," said sammie, "i haven't. i am very sorry." "so am i," went on the little brown bird. "but i must tell you my name. i am mrs. wren." "oh, i have heard about you," said the little rabbit. "are you sure you don't know of a nest about here?" she asked anxiously. "i don't want to fly all the way back down south. suppose you go home and ask your mother." "i will," said sammie. "don't you want to come, too?" "yes, i think i will. oh, dear! i'm quite hungry. i declare, i had such an early breakfast, i'm almost starved." "i know my mother will give you something to eat," said sammie politely, "that is, if you like cabbage, carrots and such things." "oh, yes, almost anything will do. now, you go ahead, and i will follow." so sammie littletail bounced on along the ground, and mrs. wren flew along overhead. "where do you live?" she asked sammie. "in a burrow." "what is a burrow?" she inquired. "why, it's a house," said sammie. "you are mistaken," said the bird, though she spoke politely. "a nest is the only house there is." "well, a burrow is our house," declared sammie. "you'll see." he was soon home, and, while the bird waited outside, he went in to ask his mother if she knew of a nest mrs. wren could hire. "what a funny question!" said mamma littletail. "i will go out and see mrs. wren." so she went out, and the bird asked about a nest. but, as the rabbits never had any use for them, the bunny knew nothing about such things. "oh, dear!" exclaimed the bird. "wherever shall i stay to-night? oh, what trouble i am in." "you might stay with us to-night," said mamma littletail, kindly, "and look for a nest to-morrow." "i never lived in a burrow," said mrs. wren, "but i will try it," so she flew down into the underground house, and to-morrow night i am going to tell you how she did a great kindness to uncle wiggily longears. vii uncle wiggily gets shot early the next morning mrs. wren, who had spent the night at the home of the littletail family, got up. she had some cabbage leaves for her breakfast, and then started to leave the burrow where the rabbits lived. "where are you going?" asked susie littletail. "i must go hunt for a nest," said the little bird. "you see, i want to begin housekeeping as early as i can this spring, and as there are so many birds coming up from the south, i want to get a house before all the best ones are taken." so, having thanked sammie littletail for showing her the way to the burrow, and also thanking his mamma and papa, the bird flew away. she promised, however, to come back if she could not find a place. "that mrs. wren is a very nice creature indeed," said mamma littletail. "indeed she is," agreed papa littletail, as he started off to work in the carrot store, where he was employed as a bookkeeper. "it is a nice day," said uncle wiggily longears, after a while. "i think i will go for a walk. it may do my rheumatism good." "can i come?" asked sammie, but his uncle said he thought the little boy rabbit should stay home. so sammie did, and he and susie found a place where some nice clover was just coming up in a field. just before dinner time uncle wiggily longears came limping back to the burrow. he was running as hard as he could, but that was not very fast. "why, wiggily, whatever has happened?" asked mrs. littletail, who had come to the front door to see if her children were all right. "is your rheumatism worse? why do you limp so?" "because," answered uncle wiggily longears, "i have been shot." "shot?" cried mrs. littletail. "in the left hind leg," went on uncle wiggily. "the same leg that has the rheumatism so bad. oh, dear! i wish you would send for dr. possum." "i will, right away. sammie!" she called, "come and go for dr. possum, for your uncle. he has been shot. how did it happen, wiggily?" "well, i was down in the swamp, looking for some snakeroot, which mr. drake said was good for rheumatism, when a man fired at me. i jumped, but not in time, and several pieces of lead are in my leg." "oh, how dreadful!" cried mamma littletail. in a little while sammie came back with dr. possum. "ha! this is bad business," spoke the long-tailed doctor, when he looked at uncle wiggily longears's leg. "i fear i shall have to operate." "anything, so you get the shot out," said the old rabbit. so dr. possum tried to get the leaden pellets out, but he could not, they were in so deep. "this is very bad business, indeed," he went on. "i fear i shall have to take your leg off." "will it hurt?" asked uncle wiggily longears. "um-er-well, not very much," said the doctor, as he twirled his glasses on his tail. just then, who should come into the burrow but mrs. wren. she was very much surprised to see uncle wiggily lying on a bed of soft grass, with the doctor bending over him. "what is the matter?" she asked. "i have been shot," said uncle wiggily, "and the doctor cannot get the bullets out." "suppose you let me try," said mrs. wren. "i have a very sharp bill, and i think i can pull them out." "then you are a sort of a doctor," said uncle wiggily. "go ahead, and see what you can do." "yes, do," urged dr. possum. so the little brown bird put her beak in the holes in uncle wiggily's leg, where the bullets had gone in, and she pulled every one out. it hurt a little, but uncle wiggily did not make a fuss. "there," said mrs. wren, "that is done." then dr. possum put some salve on the leg and bound it up, promising to come in next day to see how uncle wiggily was getting on. "did you find a nest-house?" asked mamma littletail of the bird. "no," was the answer, "i think i shall have to stay with you another night, if you will let me. perhaps i shall find a nest to-morrow." so she stayed with the littletail family another night, and to-morrow night i will tell you how she found a nest. viii susie and sammie find a nest sammie littletail was up early the next morning. he had not slept very well, for uncle wiggily longears had groaned very much because of the pain in his leg where he was shot. sammie thought if he got up early, and went for some nice, fresh carrots for his uncle, it would make the old rabbit feel better. while sammie was digging up some carrots, in a field not far from the burrow where he lived, he saw the same gray squirrel that had warned him about not going into the deer park. "what are you doing now?" asked the squirrel. "it seems to me you are always doing something." "i am digging carrots for uncle wiggily longears that was shot," said sammie. "that is a very nice thing to do," the gray squirrel said. "you are a better boy rabbit than i thought you were." "what are you doing here?" sammie asked the squirrel. "me? oh, i am moving into a new nest. i am getting ready for spring." "a new nest!" exclaimed sammie, and, all at once, he thought of mrs. wren, who could not find a nest-house to live in. "what are you going to do with your old nest?" the little boy rabbit asked. "why leave it, to be sure. i never move my nest." "don't you want it any more?" "not in the least. i am through with it." "may i have it?" asked sammie, very politely. "you? what can a rabbit do with a nest in a tree? they live in burrows." "i know that," sammie admitted. "i was not asking for myself," and then he told the squirrel about mrs. wren. "may she have your old nest?" he asked. "why, yes, if she likes it," the squirrel replied. "only i am afraid she will find it rather large for such a little bird." "i will hurry home and tell her," spoke sammie. "all right. tell her she can move in any time she likes," called the gray squirrel after sammie, who, filling his forepaws with carrots, started off toward home as fast as he could run. he found mamma littletail getting breakfast, and at once told her the good news. then he told mrs. wren, who had gotten up early to get the early worm that always gets up before the alarm clock goes off. "i will go and look at the nest at once," said the little bird. "i am very much obliged to you, sammie. where is it?" "susie and i will show you," spoke the little boy rabbit. "only we cannot go all the way, because rabbits are not allowed in the deer park. but i can point it out to you." so, after breakfast, sammie and susie started off. they ran on the ground and the little brown bird flew along over their heads. she went so much faster than they did that she had to stop every once in a while and wait for them. but at last they got to the place where they could see the deserted squirrel nest. "there it is," said sammie, pointing to it. "so i observe," said the bird. "i will fly up and look at it," which she did. she was gone some time, and when she flew back to the ground, where sammie and susie were waiting for her, the children asked: "did you like it?" "i think it will do very well," replied mrs. wren. "it is a little larger than i need, and there are not the improvements i am used to. there is no hot and cold water and no bathroom, but then i suppose i can bathe in the brook, so that is no objection. there is no roof to it, though." "no roof?" repeated sammie. "no. you see, squirrels never have one such as i am used to, but when my family comes from the south we can build one. i will take the nest, and i hope you bunnies will come to see me sometimes, when i am settled, and have the carpets down." "we can't climb trees," objected susie. "that's so--you can't," admitted mrs. wren. "never mind, i can fly down and see you. now i think i will begin to clean out the nest, for the squirrels have left a lot of nutshells in it." so she began to clean out the nest, and susie and sammie started home. but, before they got there something happened, and what it was i will tell you, perhaps, to-morrow night, if the rooster doesn't crow and wake me up. ix sammie littletail falls in when sammie littletail and his sister susie went off toward the underground house, after they had shown mrs. wren where she could get the squirrel's old nest for a home, they felt very happy. they ran along, jumping over stones, leaping through the grass that was beginning to get very green, and had a jolly time. "i wonder what makes me feel so good?" said sammie to his sister. "it's just as if christmas was coming, or something like that; yet it isn't. i don't know what it is." "i know," spoke susie, who was very wise for a little bunny-rabbit girl. "what is it?" asked sammie, as he paused to nibble at a sweet root that was sticking out of the ground. "it is because we have been kind to somebody," went on susie littletail. "we did the little brown bird a kindness in showing her the squirrel's nest where she could go to housekeeping, and that's what makes us happy." "are you sure?" asked sammie. "yes," said susie; "i am," and she sat up on her hind legs and sniffed the air to see if there was any danger about. "you always feel good when you do any one a kindness," she went on. "once i wanted to go out and play, and i couldn't, because nurse fuzzy-wuzzy was away and mamma had a headache. so i stayed home and made mamma some cabbage-leaf tea, and she felt better, and i was happy then, just as we are now." "well, maybe that's it," admitted sammie littletail. "i am glad mrs. wren has a nice home, anyhow. but i wouldn't like to live away up in a tree, would you?" "no, indeed. i would be afraid when the wind blew and the nest shook." "it is ever so much nicer underground in our burrow," continued sammie. "it certainly is," agreed susie, "but i s'pose that a bird would not like that. they seem to want to be high up in the air. but i don't like it. once i went away up on top of farmer tooker's woodpile, because his gray cat chased me, and when i looked down i was very dizzy, and it was not as high as a tree." so the two bunny children hurried along, talking of many things, and, now and then, finding some nice sweet roots, or juicy leaves, which they ate. they paused every once in a while to look over the tops of little hills to discover if any dogs or hunters or ferrets were in sight, for they did not want to be caught. at length they came to a little brook that was not far from their home. the edge of the stream had ice on it, for, though spring was approaching, the weather was still cold. "ah! there is some ice. i am going to have a slide!" sammie shouted. "you had better not!" cautioned his sister. "you might fall in." "i will keep close to the shore," promised her brother, and he took a run and slid along the ice. "come on!" he cried. "it's fun, susie." the little bunny girl was just going to walk out on the ice, when sammie, who had taken an extra long run, slid right off the ice and into the water. "oh! oh, susie!" he screamed. "i've fallen in! help me out!" "what shall i do?" asked his sister, and she stood up on her hind legs and waved her little paws in the air. "get a stick and let me grab it!" called sammie. "but don't come too close, or you may fall in, too," for sammie was very fond of his sister, and did not want her to get hurt. he clung to the edge of the ice, and shivered in the cold water, while, with her teeth, susie gnawed a branch from a tree. the branch she held out to her brother, who grasped it in his mouth and was soon pulled up on shore. but, oh, how he shivered! and how his fur was plastered down all over him, just like a cat when it falls in the bathtub. but i hope none of you children ever put pussy in there. "you must run home at once," said susie, "and drink some hot sassafras tea, so you won't take cold. come on, i'll run with you." so they started off, running, leaping and bounding, and by the time they got to their burrow, sammie was quite warm. down the front door hole they plunged, and, as soon as sammie's mother saw him, she cried out: "why, sammie! you've been in swimming! didn't i tell you never to go in swimming?" "i haven't been swimming, mother," said sammie. "yes, you have; your hair is all wet," she answered. then sammie told how he had fallen in. uncle wiggily longears, the old rabbit, heard him, and said he guessed he would have to give sammie and susie some lessons in swimming, and if you are good, i will tell you to-morrow night what happened on that occasion. x jane fuzzy-wuzzy gives a lesson uncle wiggily longears was a very wise old rabbit. he had lived so long, and had escaped so many dogs and hunters, year after year, that he knew about all a rabbit can know. of course, that may not be so very much, but it was a good deal for uncle wiggily longears. so the day after sammie came home from having fallen in the brook the old rabbit got ready to give sammie and susie littletail their swimming lesson. "you will want to know how to get out of the water when you fall in," he said. "you come with me, and i will show you. it is not very cold out, and i will give you a short lesson." "be careful not to let them drown," cautioned mamma littletail. "i will," promised uncle wiggily longears, and he started from the burrow, followed by the two bunny children. but, just as their uncle got out of the front door he was seized with a sharp spasm of rheumatism. "oh! oh! oh, dear!" he cried three times, just like that. "what is the matter?" asked sammie. "rheumatism," answered uncle wiggily longears, and he put his left front paw on his left hind leg. "i have it very bad. i don't believe i would dare go in the water with you children to-day. we will have to wait. yet i don't like to, as you ought to learn to swim. i wonder if you could learn if i stood on the bank and told you what to do?" "i think it would be much better if you could come into the water and show us," said susie. "yes, of course it would," admitted uncle wiggily longears. "of course it would, my dear, only you see--ouch! oh, me! oh, my!" and poor uncle wiggily longears wrinkled his nose and made it twinkle like a star on a frosty night, and he wiggled his ears to and fro. "oh, that was a terrible sharp pain," he said. "i don't believe i'd better go, children. i'm awfully sorry----" "let me take the children and show them how to swim," said nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy, who had just finished peeling the potatoes for dinner. she could peel them very nicely with her long, sharp front teeth, which were just like a chisel that a carpenter uses. "yes, i guess you could teach them," said uncle wiggily, as he rubbed his leg softly. "you are a much better swimmer than i am; but can you spare the time from the housework?" you see, jane fuzzy-wuzzy had to do all the housework for the littletail family, but, as she was a very good muskrat, she was able to do it, and she often had time to spare, so she answered: "yes, i can just as well go as not, for i have the dinner on the stove, and mr. littletail will not be home to lunch. i will give the children a swimming lesson. it will not take long." "well," spoke uncle wiggily longears, "i wish you would. i must go and get something for my rheumatism." "you had better try a hot cabbage leaf," said jane fuzzy-wuzzy. "i have heard that is good." "i will," said the old rabbit, and he crawled back down into the burrow, while susie and sammie, with nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy, went on to the brook. the muskrat was a very good swimmer, indeed, and as soon as she reached the water she plunged in and swam about, to show sammie and susie how it ought to be done. she dived, and she shot across; she swam on her side, and in the ordinary way. in fact, she swam in a number of ways that you and i could not. at length she swam entirely under water for some distance, and the bunny children were afraid she was drowned, but she came up smiling, showing her sharp teeth, and explained that this was one of the ways she used to escape from dogs, boys and other enemies. then the nurse-muskrat gave the bunny children their lesson. she had little trouble in teaching them, as they learned quickly. she was just showing them how to float along with only the tip of the nose showing, in order to keep out of sight, when suddenly there was a noise on the bank. no, it was not some one after the bunny rabbit children's clothes, for they had left them at home when they went to take a lesson. but it was a number of boys with a dog, who were making the noise. as soon as the boys saw the rabbits and the rat they gathered up a lot of stones, and one boy cried out: "oh, look there! two rabbits and a muskrat! let's catch them, and sell their skins!" "oh, dear!" exclaimed susie, who was very much frightened. "whatever shall we do?" "don't be alarmed," said nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy, calmly, as she started to swim down stream. "just follow me; swim as i do, with only your nose out, and i will save you." the boys ran along the bank, throwing stones at the little creatures, and the dog barked, and to-morrow night i will tell you how sammie and susie got away and were saved by jane fuzzy-wuzzy, that is if you think you would care to hear the story. xi sammie's and susie's terrible time you may be sure the two littletail children were very much frightened when they were floating down the stream behind nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy, with the boys on the bank throwing stones at them, and the dog barking as hard as he could bark. "sic the dog in the water after them," called one boy. "naw! this dog doesn't like water," said the boy who owned it. "we'll hit 'em with stones, and then poke 'em out with sticks." oh, how sammie and susie shuddered when they heard those words! they did not know jane fuzzy-wuzzy was going to save them. the muskrat looked around to see how the children were swimming. "don't be afraid," she called, but of course the boys could not understand what she said. the dog could, being an animal and understanding animal talk, but the dog couldn't tell the boys. "don't be afraid," said the nurse. "sammie, keep your head under more. susie, strike out harder with your forepaws." the two bunny children did as they were told. just then a stone came very close to jane fuzzy-wuzzy, and she went completely beneath the water. "the muskrat's gone!" cried a boy. "no," said another, "it can swim under water. but don't bother with the rabbits. they're little, and their fur isn't much good. kill the muskrat, for we can get fifty cents for the skin." "oh, how mean boys are!" thought susie littletail. "to talk about selling poor jane fuzzy-wuzzy's skin! aren't they terrible!" the boys now gave all their attention to throwing stones at the muskrat, but she was very wise, and kept under water as much as possible, so they could not hit her. they did not throw at sammie or susie. presently jane fuzzy-wuzzy swam backward under water and came up near sammie. she put her sharp nose close to his ear and whispered: "down stream a little way is a burrow where i used to live. the front door is under water, but if you hold your breath you can dive down, get in and come up in the dry part. then you can dig a way out in a field, and we can go home, and escape the boys." jane told the same thing to susie, and, pretty soon, when they came to the place, the two bunny children took a long breath, and dived down under water. sammie and susie took hold of the long tail of jane fuzzy-wuzzy to guide them in the dark, and, though it seemed a terrible thing not to breathe under water, the three suddenly found themselves in a little underground house, much like their own, where they could breathe again. "now we are safe!" exclaimed the muskrat. "just dig a back door and you can get out." so sammie and susie did so, and, pretty soon, they found themselves in a nice field, some distance back from the water. they could see the boys and their dog still watching near the bank to catch jane fuzzy-wuzzy, and the boys never knew how the muskrat and the rabbit children escaped. "my! but that was exciting," said sammie, when they were on their way home. "indeed it was," agreed susie. "i'm so frightened that i have almost forgotten how to swim." "it will all come back to you the next time you go in the water," said jane fuzzy-wuzzy. "but i must hurry home now, or dinner will be late." they got to the burrow without anything more happening. mamma littletail and uncle wiggily longears were much alarmed when told about the narrow escape. "those boys!" cried the old rabbit. "if i wasn't laid up with rheumatism, i'd show them!" and he snapped his teeth in quite a savage manner indeed, for a rabbit can get angry at times. after dinner mamma littletail asked sammie and susie to go to the cabbage-field store for her, but, as sammie wanted to stay home and make a whistle out of a carrot, susie went alone. as she was walking along under a big tree, she heard a noise in the branches, and, looking up, she saw a number of squirrels. one was the squirrel who had given her old nest to mrs. wren. the little gray chaps were running about, seemingly much excited over something. presently they all scampered down, and susie saw that they had their mouths full of nuts. they put them on the ground in a little heap, and then the little bunny girl noticed that there was, nearby, an old stump, and it was set just like a table, with dried leaves for plates, and the tops of acorns for cups. "what is going on here?" susie asked the squirrel whom she knew. "i am giving a party in honor of having moved into my new nest," said the squirrel. "wouldn't you like to come?" "yes," said susie very politely, "i would like very much to." "then," said the squirrel, "hop up on the stump, and i will get an extra plate for you." susie did so. it was the first party she had ever attended, but i can't tell you what happened until to-morrow. xii susie goes to a party up and down the big oak tree scampered the squirrels, bringing nuts and acorns from hollows, where they had been hidden all winter. "hey, bushytail!" cried the squirrel whom susie knew, addressing another who was on the ground at the foot of the stump, "bring up a big leaf." "what do you want with a big leaf?" inquired the squirrel who was called bushytail. "susie littletail is going to stay to the party," replied the squirrel who was giving it, "and i want the leaf for a plate for her. she will need a large one." up the old stump climbed bushytail with the leaf in his mouth, and he put it in a vacant place. the stump was quite large enough for the squirrels and rabbit to move about upon and still leave room for the table to be set. susie saw the squirrels placing nut meats on the different plates and putting oak-leaf tea into the acorn cups. suddenly the squirrel whom susie knew and whose name was mrs. lightfoot, exclaimed: "there! i never thought of that!" "thought of what?" asked susie. "why, we haven't anything that you like to eat. you don't care for nuts, do you?" "not very much," answered susie, who wanted to be polite, yet she still wanted to tell the truth. "i thought so," spoke mrs. lightfoot. "whatever shall i do? i've asked you to the party and now there is nothing you like. it's too bad, for i want you to have a good time!" "i--i could go to the cabbage-field store and get some leaves, and i could bring some carrots and eat them," suggested susie. "yes, but it wouldn't be right to ask you to a party and then have you bring your own things to eat," objected mrs. lightfoot. "that's what they do at surprise parties," went on susie, who had heard uncle wiggily longears tell of one he once attended. it was given by a chipmunk. "yes, but this isn't a surprise party," said mrs. lightfoot. "i don't know what to do." "we can pretend it's a surprise party," went on susie. "i know i was very much surprised when you asked me to come to it." "were you, indeed?" inquired the squirrel. "then a surprise party it shall be. listen!" she called to the other squirrels; "this is a surprise party for susie littletail." "humph! i don't call this a surprise," grumbled an old squirrel, whose tail had partly been shot off. but nobody minded him, as he was always grumbling. so susie went and got some cabbage leaves and carrots, and brought them to the party. she had to eat them all alone, as the squirrels did not care much for such things. the only thing susie could eat which the squirrels did was some ice cream, made with snow, maple syrup and hickory nuts ground up fine. this was very good. susie had a grand time at the party, and after the hickory-nut ice cream and other good things had been eaten, she and the squirrels played "ring around the old oak stump," which is something like "london bridge" and "ring around the rosy" mixed up together. it was lots of fun, and susie almost forgot to go to the cabbage-field store. but she did go there, though it was just about to be closed up, and when she got home with the cabbage leaves for supper, she told about the surprise party. then sammie wished he had gone to the store, instead of remaining at home to make a whistle out of a carrot. "i never had anything nice like that happen to me," said sammie, in just the least bit of a grumbly voice. and, what do you think? the very next day something happened to sammie, only it wasn't very nice. he was out walking in a field, when he met a big cat. "where do you live?" asked the cat, in quite a friendly voice. "over there," said sammie, pointing toward the burrow. "can you take me there?" asked the cat, and she wiggled her whiskers and licked her nose with her tongue, for she was hungry. "yes, i'll show you," agreed sammie, and he led the cat toward the burrow. now, he did not know any better, for he did not stop to think that cats will eat rabbits. and the cat was just thinking how easily she had provided a good dinner for herself, when jane fuzzy-wuzzy, who was peeping out of the front door of the burrow, saw pussy. the muskrat knew at once that the cat had come to eat the little rabbits and the big ones, too, and the only reason she did not eat sammie was because she wanted more of a meal. so the nurse showed her sharp teeth, and the cat ran away. but she knew where the burrow was, and this was a bad thing, for she might come back again in the night, when sammie and susie were asleep. "we must move away from here at once," said uncle wiggily longears, when he heard about the cat. "we must find a new burrow or make one. sammie, you acted very wrongly, but you did not mean to. now, you must help us pack up to move." and to-morrow night, if all goes well, i shall tell you what happened when the littletail family went to their new home. xiii the littletail family move did you ever see a rabbit family move? no, i don't suppose you have, for not every one has had that chance. but the littletail family, as i told you last night, had to move because a big cat had found out where their burrow was. "i shall go out at once, and see if i can find a new place," said uncle wiggily longears, after the excitement caused by sammie bringing home the cat had calmed down. "we need a larger burrow, anyhow. i will find a nice one." "can you go out with your rheumatism?" asked mamma littletail. "you are very lame, you know. perhaps you had better wait until papa littletail comes home to-night, and he will go." "no, we must lose no time," said the uncle. "i can manage with my crutch, i guess." so he started from the burrow, leaning heavily on a crutch nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy had gnawed from a cornstalk. "be careful of the cat," cautioned susie. "oh, no cat can catch me, even if i have the rheumatism very bad," said her uncle, and he limped away. while he was gone, nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy promised to keep a sharp lookout for that cat. uncle wiggily longears was gone for some time. when he returned to the burrow papa littletail had come back from where he worked in a carrot factory, which was a new position for him, and he had heard all the news. "well," he asked uncle wiggily, "did you find a new burrow?" "yes," answered the uncle, "i did. i will tell you all about it. i walked a long distance, and i met several friends of mine. i asked them about burrows, and they said the best ones were all taken. i was afraid you would have to dig a new one, until i met mr. groundhog, and he told me of one next to him, on the bank of a little pond. we can get it cheap, he said." "has it all improvements?" asked mamma littletail. "i want a good kitchen and a bathroom." "it has everything," said the uncle. "it has three doors, and we can get in and out easily. it is near a cabbage-field and a turnip patch. we can bathe in the pond, so we don't need a bathroom." "where is it?" asked papa littletail. "i must be near the trolley, you know." "it is not far from the cars," went on uncle wiggily longears. "have you ever heard of eagle rock?" none of the family had. "well, it is not far from there," said uncle wiggily. "i went out on the rock, and my! what a view there was! i could see away over the big meadows, where some of your relatives live, miss fuzzy-wuzzy, and then i could see something called new york." "what's new york?" asked susie littletail. "i don't know," answered her uncle promptly. "i imagine it must be something good to eat." but of course, children, you know how mistaken he was. uncle wiggily told more about his walk, and finally it was decided to take the new burrow, so the cat could not find them. the next day the littletail family moved. that is all they did, they just moved. they had no packing or unpacking to do, except that sammie took the whistle he had made out of a carrot and uncle wiggily carried his cornstalk crutch. by noon they were all settled, and jane fuzzy-wuzzy had cooked some of the new cabbage, which had been left in the field all winter, and also some turnips, which were piled under a lot of straw out-of-doors. she also found some potatoes, which she peeled with her sharp teeth. that afternoon, as sammie was hopping about his new home, he heard some one exclaim: "hello!" "hello," replied sammie, who always wanted to be friendly. "where do you live?" the voice went on, and, all at once, sammie thought of the cat. "no, you don't!" he cried. "you can't fool me again. i know you!" "oh, do you?" asked the voice. "well, seeing that i'm a stranger here, and you are too, i don't think that you know me." sammie looked on top of a clod of earth, whence the voice came, and saw a big frog. "oh, it's you, is it?" he asked faintly. "of course," replied the frog. "my name's bully; what's yours?" sammie told him. "ever hear of me?" went on the frog, and when sammie said he had not, the frog continued: "well, let's see who can jump the farthest," and with that he began to get ready. sammie, who was a very good jumper, did also, and just as they were about to see who was the better at it, there suddenly--but there, i shall have to wait until to-morrow night to tell you what happened next. xiv how the water got in let me see, where did i leave off last night? oh, i remember now, i was telling you about sammie littletail's new playmate, bully, the frog, and how they were about to have a jumping contest, when something happened. this is what happened: bully was crouching down for a spring, when he suddenly looked up. this was not hard for him, as his eyes were nearly on top of his head, but sammie had to get on his hind legs to peer upward properly. and this is what both of the little creatures saw: a big bird, with long legs and a very long bill, was standing on one leg right over the frog. the bird was looking intently at bully. "come on!" cried the frog to the rabbit. "we must get away from here as quickly as we can." "why?" asked sammie littletail. "because," said bully, "that bird will eat us. my father warned me never to stay near that bird. let us go away at once." "what sort of a bird is it?" asked sammie, who now had no wish to jump. "i'm sure it can't be very harmful. the only birds that i have to look out for are owls, eagles and hawks, and it isn't any of them." "no, i'm not one of them," spoke the bird with the long legs, snapping its bill as if sharpening it. "i'm a blue heron, that's what i am, though some folks think i'm a stork or a crane." "well," spoke sammie, "you're not dangerous, are you?" "not for you," went on the blue heron, and he snapped his beak again, just like two knives being sharpened. "i came for that fellow," and the bird lowered the leg it had hidden under its feathers and pointed at the frog. "i came for you," the heron went on. "you're wanted at once. what's your name?" sammie littletail thought the bird might have asked the frog's name first before saying that bully was wanted, but the bird did not seem to consider this. "what's your name?" the long-legged bird asked again. "bully," answered the frog, in a trembling, croaking voice. "humph!" exclaimed the heron. "that's a good name. mine is billy. bully and billy go well together. i'm called billy because i have such a long bill, you see," the heron explained to sammie littletail. "but enough of this. i've come for you, bully. i'm hungry. i'm going to eat you. that's why you're wanted at once and immediate." "i--i think there's some mistake," faltered bully. "no mistake at all," snapped the heron. "it's in all the books. cranes, storks and herons always eat frogs, mice and-so-forth. i never ate any and-so-forth, but i imagine it must be very nice. at any rate, i'm going to eat you!" and he snapped his bill like three knives being sharpened. "oh, are you?" cried bully, the frog, and he suddenly gave a great jump, greater even than that which the jumping frog that mark twain wrote about gave, and into the pond he plunged, and went right to the bottom. now, what do you think about that? yes, sir, he went right to the bottom, where the blue heron couldn't get him, and then he called up, in a voice which sounded very hoarse because it came from so far under water: "ha! who got left?" "i suppose he means me," spoke the heron to sammie, and the bird, very much annoyed, fanned itself with its long leg. "i don't believe that's fair," the heron went on. "it's in all the books," and then, with a great flapping of wings, the tall creature flew away, and bully, the frog, came out. "you had a narrow escape," said sammie. "oh, i'm used to that," replied the frog. "now, let's practice jumping." which they did, only the frog always jumped into the water and sammie remained on dry land, so they never could tell who was the best at it. then they played other games, and became very good friends. the frog pond was very near the new burrow where sammie lived, and the two used to meet quite often. one day the frog said: "i think it would be very nice if you would dig a way from your burrow to my pond. then, when it rained, i could come to see you without getting wet, and you could come to see me." "that is a fine idea," declared sammie. "i'll do it." so, without saying anything to his mother or sister or uncle wiggily longears, sammie began to dig under ground to reach the pond. it took him some time, but at last he came out just above the top of the water, near where bully lived. "this is great!" cried the frog, as he looked in the hole. "now when it rains we will not get wet." and, what do you think! it rained that very night. it rained so hard that the pond rose higher and higher, until the water began to run in the hole sammie had dug. it awakened the littletail family in the middle of the night, and when uncle wiggily longears saw the water creeping nearer and nearer to him, and felt the rheumatism worse than ever, he cried out: "a flood! a flood! we must swim out, or we shall all be drowned." now you will have to be patient until to-morrow night to hear what took place. but they were not drowned; i'll tell you that much. xv sammie and susie at the circus of course, you remember how sammie littletail dug a tunnel from the burrow to the pond, and how the water came in. of course. well, nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy made a raft of cornstalks, and on this the whole rabbit family floated out of the burrow. bully, the frog, who was a playmate of sammie's, helped them. they had to go right out into the rain, and it was not very pleasant. "whatever are we going to do?" asked mamma littletail, but she did not scold sammie for digging the tunnel and making all the trouble. "yes, we must get in out of the wet, or my rheumatism will be so bad i shall not be able to walk," complained uncle wiggily longears. "i know what we can do," proposed the muskrat nurse. "what?" asked susie littletail. "we can ask mr. groundhog to let us stay all night in his burrow," suggested the nurse. "i'm sure he will let us, for he has plenty of room." mr. groundhog, who was an elderly creature, very fond of sleep in the winter, welcomed the rabbits to his burrow, and there they stayed out of the rain. in the morning the sun was shining brightly, and before very long the water all dried out of the bunnies' underground house, so that they could go back in it. one day, about a week after this, when uncle wiggily longears was out walking with sammie and susie, going quite slowly, because he was a trifle lame from rheumatism, bully, the frog, came hopping up to them. "are you going to the circus?" he asked. "circus? what circus?" asked sammie, who was interested very quickly, you may be sure. "why, the animal circus that is always held in the woods every spring. they do all sorts of queer things to get ready for the summer. i'm going. it's lots of fun. better come." "i haven't seen any circus posters up," remarked susie. "of course not," answered bully. "the animals never put them up, because they don't want a lot of people coming to look on and bother them. don't you want to come? it's not very far." "but we have no one to take us," spoke susie. "yes, you have!" exclaimed uncle wiggily longears quickly. "i will take you myself. it would never do for you children to go to a circus alone. i will take you." "but your rheumatism is so bad you can hardly walk," objected susie. "besides, it will be worse if you sit in the woods." "never mind about that," answered the uncle bravely. "i'll manage to stand it. i am determined you children shall not go to that circus alone. of course, i don't care anything about a circus myself, but i must take care of you," and the elderly rabbit looked very brave, though the pain of his rheumatism was quite bad. "my father is going to hop over three stumps," said bully, the frog, quite proudly. "come on, or we may be late." so uncle wiggily took sammie and susie to the animal circus, and bully, the frog, went also. he had a free ticket, because his father was one of the performers. they had reserved seats on big toadstools, though bully said they ought to be called frogstools, as frogs used them more than toads did. then the performance began, after the birds had sung an opening chorus. the bunny children had a jolly time. they saw some pigeons give airship exhibitions that were better than any flying machines you ever heard of. they watched the snakes make hoops of themselves, through which jumped squirrels and rabbits. it was so exciting that uncle wiggily longears clapped his paws as hard as he could. then dr. possum, who was not very busy taking care of sick people that day, hung downward from a limb by his tail ever so long, but when bully's papa jumped over three big stumps at once, without so much as touching one--well, you should have heard the clapping and shouting then! best of all, sammie and susie liked the baby deer, who stood up on his hind legs and danced, while a crow whistled. it was so exciting that sammie and susie almost forgot to eat the candy-covered carrots and the molasses-cabbage which their uncle bought for them. it was the best time they had ever remembered, and they talked of nothing else on their way home. even uncle wiggily's rheumatism seemed better. now, if nothing happens, i am going to tell you to-morrow night of an adventure sammie littletail had with a snake. xvi sammie and the snake "sammie," said mamma littletail to her little bunny boy one fine day, "i wish you would take this basket of cabbage leaves and preserved clover over to mr. groundhog. he was so good to let us go in his burrow that night the flood came in here that i want to do him a kindness." "can't susie come, too, mamma?" asked sammie, who did not like to go through the woods alone, especially since there were so many boys wandering about on top of the orange mountain, now that spring was getting near. "yes, susie may go if she wants to," answered the rabbit childrens' mother. "do you want to, dear?" "oh, yes. i'll go with sammie. but i think he ought to carry the basket." "of course i will," said sammie, and the two set off to the burrow where mr. groundhog had his home. it was not far from the underground house where the rabbit family lived, and the children soon reached it. they knocked on the door, and a voice called out: "who's there?" "sammie and susie littletail," answered sammie. "we have some cabbage leaves and preserved clover that mamma sent you." "that is very nice," remarked the groundhog. "come right in. i am afraid to come to the door, you know." sammie and susie walked in and gave mr. groundhog the things in the basket. then susie, who was very curious, asked him a question. "why didn't you want to come to the door?" she inquired. "because," whispered the groundhog, looking around as if he was afraid some one would see him, "i might see my shadow again, you know, and that would make winter longer than ever. you know i went out candlemas day and i saw it, and it frightened me so i rushed back in here, and i'm not going out again until march , which will be just six weeks. if i hadn't seen my shadow, winter would not last so long--at least, that's what people say. i don't know whether to believe them or not. but i am not going out again until warm weather is here, so i am very glad your mamma sent me something to eat." the groundhog gave the bunny children some bits of dried sweet potato he had put away, and they started for home. "i don't believe much in that shadow business," said sammie, as he and his sister walked along. "how could a groundhog, seeing his shadow, make winter any longer?" "i don't know," answered susie, "but it must be so, because every one says so; even uncle wiggily longears." "i'm going to ask nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy when i get home," declared sammie. "come on, let's go 'round by farmer tooker's cabbage patch. maybe we can find a stump or two to gnaw. i'm getting hungry. mr. groundhog didn't give me enough sweet potato." "perhaps that was all he had," suggested susie. they were walking along, through a little wood, when, all of a sudden, the two bunnies heard a hiss, just like the steam coming out of the radiator. "what's that?" cried sammie. "it's a snake!" shouted susie. "look out, sammie, or he will grab you." sammie tried to jump out of the way, but he was too late, and the big black snake grabbed him. the snake coiled around poor sammie, and bit the little rabbit's ear to make him keep quiet, i suppose, for sammie was trying to get loose. "oh, oh, oh!" exclaimed susie. "you bad snake! let my little brother alone." but the black snake never said a word, only he clung the tighter to poor sammie. "run for help, susie!" called the little boy rabbit. "run and ask mr. groundhog to come and drive the snake away!" so susie ran as fast as she could, and did not even stop to rap on the burrow door where mr. groundhog lived. she went right in, and told the elderly creature that a bad snake had her little brother. "and won't you please come and get him loose?" asked susie, who was crying. "if you shut your eyes you won't see your shadow, and be frightened. i will lead you to him." "never mind about my shadow!" exclaimed mr. groundhog. "i don't care whether i see it again or not. i'll go and save sammie littletail, who was so kind to me." so he ran and hit the snake with a club, until it was glad enough to let sammie loose, and it was quite time, too, for poor sammie's breath was nearly squeezed out of him. then sammie, after he had thanked mr. groundhog, ran home with susie. now if you remind me of it, i shall try to tell you, to-morrow night, something about susie and the white kittie. xvii susie and the white kittie susie littletail had gone for a walk in the woods. it was coming on spring, but the little bunny girl did not go to see if there were any wildflowers peeping up. indeed, she cared very little about flowers, except the kind that were good to eat, and these were mostly clover blossoms. so that is what susie went out to look for. uncle wiggily longears had said to her that day: "it seems to me, susie, that it's getting quite warm out. my rheumatism is better, and it never does get better unless it's getting warm. so, of course, it must be getting warm." susie thought so, too. "then if it's getting warmer it must be almost spring," went on her uncle. "now, if i were you, i would go take a walk and see how the clover is coming on. some nice, fresh clover would taste very good." "i'll see if i can get you any," spoke susie, who was a very good little rabbit girl, and who always was kind to her old uncle. so that is why she was walking in the woods. she was almost through the place where the tall trees grew, and was just going to step out into a field that looked as if it had clover in it, when she heard a funny little noise. it was a sort of a squeak, and at first susie thought it might be nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy, for, sometimes, the muskrat started off with a squeak when she wanted to talk. but it was not her nurse whom susie saw. instead it was a dear little pussy kitten. "did you make that funny noise?" asked the little rabbit girl of the kitten. "yes," answered pussy, "but i don't call it a funny noise." "i do," went on susie. "it was not at all funny, and i don't see anything to laugh at," spoke pussy, and then susie saw that the white kitten had a large tear in each eye. "that was a mew," the kittie said. "why did you mew, pussie?" asked susie. "because i am lost, and i don't know my way home. i guess you would mew if you couldn't find your papa or mamma." "no," said susie, "i wouldn't mew, but i would be very much frightened. but why don't you go home?" and susie sat up and wrinkled her nose, just like water when it bubbles in the tea kettle, for that was the way she smelled, and she wanted to see if she could smell danger. "how can i go home when i don't know the way?" asked the white kitten. "which way did you come in here?" "if i knew that, i would know which way to go back home," the pussy replied, and the large tears, one in each eye, fell out and dropped on the ground, while two more came into her eyes. "are you crying because you are lost?" asked susie. "of course. wouldn't you?" "perhaps," answered susie. "but you see i never was lost. i can always smell my way home, no matter how far off i go," and she wiggled her nose so fast that it made the kittie quite cross-eyed to watch it, and being cross-eyed made pussy sneeze. then the pussy felt better. "can you show me the way home?" asked the kittie of susie. "not to your house, for i don't know where it is," answered susie, "but i could show you the way to mine." then the white kittie wanted susie to do this, but the little rabbit girl thought it might not be safe, for the little kittie might show the big cats where the new underground house was. "what is your name?" asked susie of the kittie. "my name is ann gora, but every one calls me ann." "that is a funny name," said susie. "i don't think it is at all," went on the kitten. "it is no funnier than susie," and she began to cry again. "oh, don't cry!" exclaimed susie, and she patted the kittie on the back with her foot. "come with me. we will walk through the field, and maybe we will see your house. i think you must live in a house with people, for kitties never live in the woods like the squirrels, or in burrows as we do. we will look until we find a house with people in it, and maybe you belong there." "that will be fine!" cried the kittie, and she dried her tears on her paw. so susie and the kittie walked on together. and pretty soon susie saw a little girl coming toward them. the little girl was looking in the grass, and calling, "ann--ann," in a soft voice. and when she saw the little kittie she ran to her and caught her up in her arms and hugged her. then susie littletail ran home, for she was afraid of little girls, and on the way she saw that the clover was coming up nicely, so she told uncle wiggily. now, if it is not too cold to-morrow night, i am going to tell you about sammie and the black doggie. xviii sammie and the black doggie one day, when sammie littletail was on his way home from dr. possum's house, where he had gone to get some sweet-flag root, for uncle wiggily longear's rheumatism, something happened to the little boy rabbit. he was coming through a big field, where the grass was quite high, when he heard a little bark. he knew at once that it was a dog, and sammie was afraid of dogs, as all rabbits are, so he started to run. but the dog called out: "don't run, little rabbit." "why not?" asked sammie. "i'm afraid of you." "but i won't hurt you," went on the dog. "you might," answered sammie. "dogs always hurt rabbits." "not all dogs," continued the little black one. "besides, i am what they call a doggie. a doggie is a small dog, you know, and small dogs won't hurt rabbits." "are you sure?" asked sammie. "perfectly sure. besides, i am a trick dog, and trick dogs are so well fed at home that they do not have to hunt rabbits to eat." "are you sure?" asked sammie again. "perfectly sure. you just watch me, and you will see that i do not eat you. watch me carefully." "oh, i meant are you sure that you are a trick dog," went on sammie. "of course, i am sure. i can do lots of tricks. i can play dead. i can turn a back somersault, and i can walk on my hind legs--" "oh, i can do that, too," interrupted sammie. "yes, i know. i saw you do that a little while ago. but can you walk on your front legs, with your hind ones up in the air? now, can you do that?" and the black doggie looked straight at sammie. "i never tried that," replied sammie. "no; and i guess you'd better not, unless you want to fall. i fell lots of times before i learned it. but i can do it now, and every time i do my master gives me a sweet cracker." "what's a sweet cracker?" asked sammie, who thought it sounded very nice. "don't you know what a sweet cracker is?" asked the doggie, who was much surprised. "no, i don't," declared sammie. "well, you ought to. i'm astonished at you. it's sweet, and it's a cracker, that's all i can tell you. you ought to know such things yourself." "look here!" cried sammie, who thought the doggie was trying to show how smart it was, "do you know what molasses carrots are?" "no," said the doggie. "i don't believe there are any such things." "yes, there are," declared sammie. "i have had them to eat. so, you see, if i don't know what a sweet cracker is, you don't know what molasses carrots are. we're even now." "oh, let's talk about something else," said the doggie quickly. "i will show you some of my tricks, if you like." "i would like to see them very much," answered sammie politely. so the little black doggie walked on his hind legs, and then he walked on his front legs. next, he played dead, and sammie was quite frightened, until with a bark the doggie jumped up and turned three back somersaults, one after the other, just as easy as you can upset the salt-cellar. after that he made believe to say his prayers, and rolled over and sneezed like any boy or girl, it was so natural. sammie was becoming very much interested, for the doggie's tricks were almost as good as those sammie had seen at the circus, when, all at once, who should come along but a big man. he whistled to the little black doggie, and the doggie, who was trying to stand on the end of his tail, got down and ran to the man. sammie was so frightened that he ran, too, only he ran home. sammie told his papa and mamma and susie and uncle wiggily what had happened to him, and they told him he must be careful not to go near black doggies again. "oh," promised sammie, "i won't, you may be sure. but, uncle wiggily, are squirrels all right to play with?" "oh, yes, squirrels are very nice," said his uncle. "why, did you see some?" "yes, i met two, and they said their names were billie and johnnie bushytail, and they are coming over to see me some time." "that will be nice," remarked susie. "may i play with them, too?" "i guess so," replied sammie. "but, mamma, i'm hungry. isn't there anything to eat?" "you can have some bread and butter," said his mamma. "with sugar on?" asked sammie. "we are all out of sugar," went on mrs. littletail. "you must run to the store for some." "i will," promised sammie, "after i eat something." "all out of sugar," remarked uncle wiggily. "that reminds me, i must make some maple sugar soon. i will have it when billie and johnnie bushytail come over to see you; or, perhaps before then, if you are good children." so sammie and susie said they would be good, and in another book after this one, i'm going to tell you about billie and johnnie bushytail, the little boy squirrels, and what they did. they lived near sammie and susie littletail. but the story to-morrow night will be about uncle wiggily making maple sugar. xix uncle wiggily makes maple sugar uncle wiggily longears walked out of the burrow. first he stretched one leg, then he stretched another leg; then he gave a big, long stretch to his third leg, and then, would you believe it? he stretched his fourth leg. next he wiggled both ears, one after the other, and said: "i feel very fine indeed! oh, yes, and a boiled carrot besides, very fine!" he looked up at the blue sky, which had some little white clouds on it, just like small snowbanks, or bits of lamb's wool. "i never knew when i felt better," went on uncle wiggily longears. "even my rheumatism does not hurt much." just then he saw nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy coming out of the burrow, and he spoke to her: "aren't sammie and susie up yet?" he asked. "they are just washing their faces and hands, ready for breakfast," answered the muskrat nurse. "they will soon be out." sure enough, in a little while the two bunny children came running out. "oh, what a lovely day!" cried susie littletail, and she wrinkled up her nose, and made it go very fast, almost as fast as an automobile or a motorcycle. "doesn't it smell fine?" she asked her brother, and she took a good, long breath. "it smells just like spring," answered sammie. "the wind is nice and warm, there are lots more birds around than there were, and the grass is getting greener and greener every minute," and he turned a somersault, he felt so glad that summer was coming. "ha! ha! ha!" exclaimed uncle wiggily, three times, just like that. "now i know what makes me feel so fine. it is because spring is here. we must get ready to boil maple sugar." "what is maple sugar?" asked susie. "what? i am surprised at you!" exclaimed sammie. "maple sugar is that brown, sweet stuff you buy in the store, and in the winter you eat it on your pancakes, or you can shave it up and put it on hot rice, or you can put it on fritters. that is what maple sugar is." "exactly," went on uncle wiggily, and he stretched the leg with the rheumatism in so that it hardly hurt him a bit. "well, children, we are going to make some maple sugar. come with me, and i will show you how. jane fuzzy-wuzzy, we shall have to ask you to help us. we need your sharp teeth to gnaw a hole in the tree." so uncle wiggily, sammie, susie and nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy went off into the woods. oh, it was a beautiful day, and in some places the tiny green leaves on the trees were just beginning to show through the brown buds. "just think," said uncle wiggily, as they walked along. "it will soon be easter. and, oh! what a lot of work we rabbits will have then, with all the eggs to look after. for, you see, rabbits always have to take charge of the easter eggs, but of course you know that." so the rabbits and the muskrat nurse kept on through the woods, leaving papa and mamma littletail at home in the burrow. uncle wiggily walked on ahead, and pretty soon he came to a tree, where he stopped. "this is a maple tree," he said, "and we will get some juice from it to make maple sugar, so as to have it ready for easter. jane fuzzy-wuzzy, will you kindly bite a hole in that tree?" "of course i will," answered the muskrat, so she stood up on her hind legs, and gnawed a little hole in the tree. then uncle wiggily took a stem of last year's goldenrod, that was hollow, and put it in the hole. pretty soon, what should happen but that some juice, like water, began running out of that tree right through the hollow stem. "that is maple sap," said the old rabbit, "and when we boil it we shall have maple sugar. susie, you get an old tin can to catch the sap in, and sammie, you build a fire to boil it over." so susie got an old tomato can, and put it under the place where the juice was running out, and pretty soon, not so very long, the can was full. by that time sammie and jane fuzzy-wuzzy had a fire built. then they hung the can of sap over the fire, and it boiled, and it boiled, and it boiled. it took quite some time, but uncle wiggily tried it every now and then by pouring a little of the hot syrup on some snow he found in a hollow place. "eat this," he said to susie and sammie, when it was cool; and, oh, maybe it wasn't good! better than the best candy you ever tasted! then they boiled it and boiled it some more, and pretty soon, just as true as i'm telling you, if that sap didn't turn into maple sugar. now, what do you think about that, eh? well, maybe those bunny rabbit children weren't glad. they made quite a lot, and took some home to mamma and papa littletail, who were very glad to get it. they ate several pieces, and then put some away for dr. possum, and his little boy, possum pinktoes. then papa littletail said: "i have just received a letter from some children, who are anxious about their easter eggs, as it is nearly easter, so i think we had better begin to get them ready." uncle wiggily thought so, too, and to-morrow night, if there is no moon, i shall tell you about hunting the eggs. xx sammie and susie hunt eggs sammie and susie littletail were leaping over the brown leaves and the pine needles in the woods. there was a little wind blowing, and it ruffled up the fur on the backs of the rabbit children, but they did not mind that. "i wonder where we shall find the eggs?" asked susie of her brother, and she nibbled on a bit of maple sugar that uncle wiggily longears had made for them. "i'm sure i don't know," answered sammie, and he, also, ate some of the sweet stuff. "but we are sure to find them, because uncle wiggily said so. he would have come to show us, only his rheumatism is worse again." "we must ask somebody," said susie, and just then whom should they see coming along through the woods but bully, the frog. "hello!" exclaimed bully, "let's see who can jump the farthest, sammie." "no," answered the little boy rabbit, "i can't; i am after easter eggs. do you know where there are any?" "do you mean frogs' eggs?" asked bully, and he croaked a couple of times, just to keep from getting hoarse. "i hardly think frogs' eggs would do," and sammie looked at his sister, and his sister looked at him, until, strange as it may seem, they were both looking at each other. "no," said susie, "frogs' eggs would never do. they are not large enough. we must get hens' eggs or ducks' eggs." "i know where there is a nice duck," went on bully. "she lives near my pond. come, and i will take you to her. maybe she will give you some eggs." so they went to where the duck lived. bully, the frog, hopping along, and sammie and susie hopping after him, and every time the frog came to a bit of water he hopped in and got all wet, and he didn't mind it a bit, but i'm sure i would. however, pretty soon they came to where the duck lived. "mrs. wibblewobble," said bully to her, for that was the duck's name. really, it was, i'm not joking. "mrs. wibblewobble, here are sammie and susie littletail looking for eggs," said bully. "could you let them have any?" "quack! quack!" answered the duck, and it sounded just as if she said, "what? what?" so sammie, thinking she was a little deaf, asked her himself. "can you please tell us where we can find some eggs?" and he spoke quite loudly. "tut, tut!" exclaimed mrs. wibblewobble. "i heard bully when he asked me the first time. i merely said, 'quack! quack!' because i was thinking. i always say that when i think. now be patient." so she said "quack! quack!" again, several times, and paddled around in the water, putting her head under every now and then to dig in the mud for some snails. "no," she finally said, "i have thought very hard, and i do not know where you could find any eggs." sammie and susie were quite disappointed, and bully said: "perhaps you have some of your own you could let them have." "no," answered mrs. wibblewobble, "all my eggs have been turned into little ducklings. here they come now." then all at once, as quick as you can scratch your chin, what should come walking down to the pond but the dearest, nicest little ducklings you ever saw. they all said, "quack! quack!" which, as you knew, meant that they were thinking, and sammie and susie did not want to disturb them. "this is my family," announced mrs. wibblewobble. "family, those are the littletail children, and bully, the frog." then the ducklings all said, "quack! quack!" again, which this time showed that they had stopped thinking, and they swam around just like their mother. "well," said bully, "we shall get no eggs here. come on, we will go see mrs. cluck-cluck, the fairy hen. maybe she has some to spare." but on their way they lost the road, and didn't know in which direction to go. then fox was, but he couldn't help himself. then sammie, susie and bully walked on and on they heard a noise in the leaves, oh, such a queer, quiet little noise! and then, what do you think? why, the sly, sly old fox stuck his head out. "whom are you looking for?" he asked, as softly as can be. "we are looking for mrs. cluck-cluck, to get some eggs," said sammie. "ah, ha! ho! ho!" laughed the sly old fox. "come with me and i'll show you her house. i'm sure she has some eggs." sammie and susie thought this very kind of him, and they were just going to follow that fox off when bully warned them: "don't go," he said; "that fox only wants to eat mrs. cluck-cluck up. let's run away." so they ran away, and my! how angry that sly old fox was. he almost bit his own tail. but sammie and susie did not mind. they were very thankful to bully for telling them of their danger. then they hopped on and on, until they were quite tired. they were afraid they were never going to find any eggs, but, all of a sudden susie cried: "oh, look, sammie!" and there, on a nest in the grass, was mrs. cluck-cluck the kind lady hen, and she gave the rabbit children all the eggs they wanted. sammie and susie carried them home to their underground house, and, after a while, they had a lot of fun with them. the next story will be about susie learning to jump the rope, and i'll tell it to you, if the cow doesn't fall off the top of the telegraph pole, and tickle the rag doll with her horns. xxi susie littletail jumps rope sammie and susie littletail were coming home from school. didn't i mention before that the little bunny children went to school? well, i meant to, i'm sure, and if i overlooked it i hope you will excuse me, and i'll see that it does not happen again this spring or summer. oh, my, yes; they went to school in an old hollow tree, and an owl was the school teacher--a good, kind old owl, who never kept the bunny children in. so, as i said, they were coming home from school, and sammie had stopped to play marbles with some of his little boy rabbit friends, while susie walked on with some little rabbit girls. some of the girls were jumping rope, and they invited susie to join them. "come on," said one little rabbit with two pink eyes, "we will turn for you, and you can have 'three slow, pepper,' susie dear." but susie couldn't, because she didn't know how to jump rope. now isn't that strange? no, sir, she didn't know the first thing about jumping rope, for she had never had a chance to learn. so when she got home to the burrow that afternoon, and nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy had given her a bit of chocolate-covered carrot, uncle wiggily longears noticed that the little rabbit girl looked rather sad. "what is the matter, susie?" he asked. "i can't jump rope," she answered, "and all the other rabbit girls can." "never mind," said uncle wiggily, "i will show you how. come with me. oh, dear! oh, my goodness me, and some sassafras root! oh! oh!" "what is the matter?" asked susie, much frightened, for she had never heard her uncle cry so. "oh, it's only my rheumatism, susie dear," he answered. "don't mind me. i shall be all right presently. just ask jane fuzzy-wuzzy to bring me the watercress liniment." so when the muskrat nurse had brought the liniment, and uncle wiggily had rubbed some on his leg, he felt better. "now, susie," he said, "i will show you how to jump rope. i used to do it when i was a boy, but i am not so lively and nimble now as i was then." "but i have no rope," objected susie, though she felt a little more happy. "i can't jump without a rope." "tut! tut! do not think about such a little thing as that," went on her uncle. "i will have a rope for you in a few minutes. come with me." just then sammie came along, and, after he had had some corn bread with preserved sweet cabbage leaves on, he went with his sister and uncle in the woods. "i am going to learn to jump rope," said susie, quite proudly. "don't you want to learn, sammie?" "no," he said, "that's only for girls. i'd rather play marbles and fly a kite, but i'll turn for you, if we can find a rope," for, you see, sammie was always kind to his sister. "we will have a rope in a minute," remarked uncle wiggily. "i know where to find it." just then who should come walking along but possum pinktoes, and, as soon as he saw the rabbits, he pretended to go to sleep. "oh, you do not need to go to sleep, and make believe that you are dead," spoke sammie. "we would not hurt you for the world." then possum pinktoes, who was only pretending to sleep, as he always did when he thought he was in danger, opened first one eye, then the other. "i am going to learn to jump rope," said susie to him. "ha! jump rope, eh?" exclaimed possum pinktoes. "i know the very thing for you. a wild grapevine! it will make a fine rope." "that's just what i was going to say," called out uncle wiggily. "come with me, and i'll show you where there are plenty of vines," went on the possum, so they followed him, and pretty soon they came to the place. sammie and uncle wiggily cut a long piece, and then they took hold of each end and began to turn the rope for susie. at first she could not do very well, even though there was a nice, smooth, grassy place to learn on. then out of a pond jumped bully, the frog, and, as he was one of the best jumpers in the woods, or, for that matter, on orange mountain, he showed susie just how to do it. so she learned to jump "salt," which is slow, and "pepper," which is fast, and "double pepper," which is very fast indeed. then she learned to jump with two ropes, one going one way and one the other, and finally she could skip as well as any little rabbit girl in the owl's school. uncle wiggily tried to jump, but he was so stiff and his rheumatism hurt him so that he couldn't do it. then they all started for home, and what do you think happened? something quite serious, i do assure you, and i'm not fooling. a big hawk, not the kind, good fish-hawk, but another kind, who was out looking for early spring chickens, swooped down and tried to carry susie littletail off to his nest. now uncle wiggily was so old he couldn't do much, but sammie was not going to see his little sister harmed, so what did he do but jump at that hawk with his sharp little feet, and kick him until the bad bird let go of poor susie. she was quite frightened, but not much hurt, and maybe she didn't hug and kiss sammie for saving her. then they all hurried home to the burrow, and if there is nothing to prevent it, to-morrow night's story will be about sammie turning sky-blue-pink. xxii sammie colored sky-blue-pink susie littletail was out on a nice, grassy place in front of the underground house, jumping her grapevine rope, and having a very good time, indeed. she had gotten all over the fright caused by the bad hawk trying to grab her, and felt quite happy. sammie littletail had been searching for the hawk, to have him arrested for being so cruel to the little rabbit girl, but he could not find the big bird, so he had come back to watch susie jump. you see it was easter week, and they had no school. the old owl teacher was very glad of it, too, for he had more time to sleep and doze in the sun. just as susie finished doing "three slow, pepper," nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy came to the door of the burrow, and called: "sammie, your mamma wants you." "what does she want?" he asked. "she wants you to go to the drug store and get some stuff to color the easter eggs with. hurry, please, because she has lots to do." "may we help color them?" asked susie, hanging up her grapevine rope on a low bush. "i think so," answered the muskrat nurse. "now, hurry, sammie; your mamma wants to get all done before your papa comes home from the carrot factory to-night." "all right," answered the little boy rabbit. "i guess i can help color the eggs, too," and he hurried off to the drug store, that was near dr. possum's house. now pretty soon--in fact, almost immediately--something is going to happen to sammie littletail, so i want you all to sit quietly, and not wiggle so that you'll break the couch, or i can't go on. that's better. well, then, sammie went through the woods, and, on his way, he felt so happy that he sang this little song, which he had heard the kindergarten children singing at the owl school a few days before. this is the song, but of course i can't sing it very well. please don't laugh. i'll do the best i can, although, perhaps, i shan't get the words just right: "'soldier boy, soldier boy, where are you going, waving so proudly your red, white and blue?' 'i'm going to the war to fight for my country, and if you'll be a soldier boy, you may come too.'" that's the way sammie sang it, anyhow, and just as he finished he got to the drug store. "who was that singing?" asked dr. possum, who happened to be in the store just then. "i was," said sammie. "oh, indeed; i didn't know you sang," went on dr. possum. "that is very good indeed. i could not do better myself. will you kindly sing it again?" so sammie sang it again, and then he got the colors for his mamma to put on the easter eggs. "now, children," said mamma littletail, when sammie reached home. "get the eggs that mrs. cluck-cluck gave you the other day, and we will color them." "oh, won't we have fun!" cried susie. "indeed we will!" said sammie. so they first boiled the eggs good and hard, so that if they happened to drop one, it wouldn't get all over the floor, and you know how unpleasant it is, to say the least, when an egg drops, and gets all over the floor. isn't it, really? well, they boiled the eggs, and then mamma littletail had the dye ready. well, you should have seen all the colors she had! there was red and blue and yellow and green and purple and pink and old rose and crushed strawberry and ashes of roses and magenta and alice blue and johnnie red and froggie green and toadstool brown and skilligimink. that last, the storekeeper told sammie, was a new color, very scarce. as there isn't any more of it at the store, i can't just tell you what it looked like, except that it was a very fine color indeed, oh, yes! well, sammie and susie helped their mamma dip the eggs in the dye and stained them all sorts of pretty colors. some were all one shade, and some were half one tint and half another, and then there were some all speckled with different colors, and very hard to make. then, after they were all dry, nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy, with her sharp teeth, just like chisels that a carpenter uses, drew pretty things on the eggs; pictures of trees and birds and mountains and flowers and fairy castles and lakes and hills, and all sorts of things. oh, they were the prettiest easter eggs you ever saw! "here is the last egg," said sammie. "may i dip this one in, mamma?" "yes," she answered, but she never would have let him if she had known what was going to happen. "i'll make this a skilligimink color," said sammie, and he stood over the pot. then, what do you think occurred? why, sammie leaned too far over and he fell right in that pot of skilligimink color; he and the egg together. and oh, dear me! what a time there was. he splashed around and scattered the skilligimink color all over the kitchen, and when his mamma and susie fished him out, if he wasn't dyed the most beautiful sky-blue-pink you ever saw! oh, but he was a sight! the skilligimink color made him look like a piece of the rainbow. "oh, sammie!" cried susie, "how funny you do look?" and sammie grunted: "huh! i guess it's nothing to laugh at!" so they dried him with a towel, but the color didn't come off for ever so long, honest it didn't. but they had a lovely lot of easter eggs, anyhow, ready for the children, and so sammie didn't mind much. now, how about hot cross buns for to-morrow night, eh? oh, of course, i mean a story about them. xxiii susie littletail's hot cross buns let's see, where did we leave off last night? oh, i remember now, it was about how sammie fell down and hurt his nose, wasn't it? oh, no, it wasn't either. it was about how he was colored sky-blue-pink; to be sure. well, now i'm going to tell you about hot cross buns, how susie littletail made some very especially fine ones, and what happened to them. but the last part is a secret, so i wish you wouldn't tell any one. susie was out skipping her grapevine rope, and thinking what a nice day it was, when her mamma called to her: "susie, don't you want to help nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy make some hot cross buns?" "of course," the little rabbit girl said, and, being a very kind little creature, she added: "can sammie help me, mamma?" "oh, i don't want to," said sammie, who was playing marbles with bully, the frog. they were using old hickory nuts and acorns for their shooters and for the agates in the ring. "i'm going to be a soldier or run an automobile when i grow up, so i don't want to learn to cook." "humph! i guess soldiers and automobile men are glad enough to eat when some one else cooks for them," said jane fuzzy-wuzzy. "anyhow, i can't have you mussing around my kitchen, sammie, so susie is the only one who can help me make hot cross buns." "ask her if we can have the batter dishes and the one she mixes the frosting in, to clean out," prosed bully, in a whisper, and when sammie asked the nurse, who was also a cook, she said: "oh, i suppose so. but don't come around bothering while susie and i are busy. i'll set the dishes out for you." then sammie and bully felt very good, for it's lots of fun to clean out the cake dishes when any one is baking, especially when hot cross buns are being made. so the little boy rabbit and the little frog, who was such a good jumper, played marbles under the trees in the big woods. then susie and nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy went to work in the kitchen. first they took some flour, milk, eggs, sugar and whatever else goes into hot cross buns, and mixed them all up in a big dish. "oh, my! how good that smells!" exclaimed susie. "won't sammie and bully be glad to get that?" "yes," said the nurse-cook, "but now we must make the frosting to go on top, and i think i'll mix in it some of the maple sugar that uncle wiggily boiled." "oh, fine!" exclaimed susie, and she clapped her two front paws together, she was so glad. so she and jane fuzzy-wuzzy made a nice dish of maple-sugar frosting to go on top of the buns when they were baked. "now," said the cook, after a little while, "we must get the pans ready to bake them in. and, as we haven't much room in the kitchen, we will just set the dish of dough and the frosting out on the window sill, where they won't be in our way. as soon as we have the tins greased we will make the buns and put them in the oven to bake." so the nice, sweet, good-smelling and good-tasting batter and the dish of maple-sugar frosting were set outside on the window sill. oh, how nice it smelled. it's a good thing that sly old fox wasn't around, i tell you! well, after a while, sammie and bully got tired of playing marbles, and they walked around to the back of the underground house. and what do you think? if bully didn't see those dishes that had been set out on the window sill! yes indeed, he saw them! oh, he had sharp eyes, let me tell you! "look here!" he cried to sammie. "they've put the stuff out for us. oh, what a lot of it! nice, sweet batter, and nice maple-sugar frosting. how kind they are." "do you s'pose all this is for us?" asked sammie, who, whenever he cleaned out the baking dishes, had never seen so much as that in them. "of course it is," answered bully. "jane fuzzy-wuzzy said she'd put it out for us, and here it is out. of course, it must be for us." well, sammie thought so, too, after that, and then the little boy rabbit and bully sat down, with those two dishes, that had stuff in to make hot cross buns, and they began to eat it all up. and after awhile, when it was pretty nearly all gone, who should come limping along but uncle wiggily longears. "well, well," he said, just like that. "what have we here?" then sammie told him how the good stuff had been left out by jane fuzzy-wuzzy. "my goodness me!" exclaimed the old rabbit, leaning on his cornstalk crutch, "how very odd." "would you like some?" asked bully, the frog, very, very politely. "indeed i would," answered uncle wiggily longears. so they gave him some, and it tasted just as good as when he was a little boy rabbit. but just as the last of the sweet batter and the maple-sugar frosting was eaten up, what should happen but that jane fuzzy-wuzzy went to the window to take it in to bake, and of course it was gone. well, you should have seen how surprised she was. she was going to scold sammie and bully, only they said it was all a mistake. so they didn't get a whipping, and very luckily there was enough more stuff in the burrow to make more hot cross buns. so jane fuzzy-wuzzy and susie mixed up some, and these were soon baking in the oven. and, oh, how good they smelled, and they tasted as good as they smelled, each one with a maple-sugar cross on. now, to-morrow night, if you would like me to, i'll tell you about hiding the easter eggs. xxiv hiding the easter eggs what a lot of easter eggs there were! i'm sure if you tried to count all that sammie and susie littletail, and papa and mamma littletail, to say nothing of uncle wiggily longears and nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy had colored, ready for easter, you never could do it, never, never, never! of course, uncle wiggily couldn't get so very many of the eggs ready for the children, because, you know, he has rheumatism, but then sammie and susie were so quick, and jane fuzzy-wuzzy hurried so, that long before easter sunday-morning, or easter monday morning, whenever you children hunt for your eggs, they were all ready. you see, the rabbits have to hide all the easter eggs that you children hunt for. of course, i don't mean those in the store windows; the pretty ones, made of candy, and with little windows that you look through to see beautiful scenes. oh, no, not those, but the ones you find at home. those in the windows are put there by different kinds of rabbits. well, all the easter eggs were ready, and sammie and susie, their papa and mamma, uncle wiggily longears and nurse jane-fuzzy-wuzzy, set out to hide them. there were many colors. i think i have told you about them, but i'll just mention a few again. there were red ones, blue ones, green ones, pink ones, alice blue ones, johnnie red ones, froggie green ones, strawberry color, and then that new shade, skilligimink, which is very fine indeed, and which turned sammie sky-blue-pink. so the rabbits started off with their baskets of colored eggs on their paws. "now, be careful, sammie," called his mamma. "don't fall down and break any of those eggs." "no, mamma," answered sammie, who was still colored sky-blue-pink, for it hadn't all worn off yet. "i'll be very careful." "so will i, mamma," called susie. so they walked on through the woods to visit newark and all the places around where children want easter eggs. of course, if you had gone out in the woods on top of orange mountain you could not have seen those rabbits, because they were invisible. that is, you couldn't see them, because mrs. cluck-cluck, the fairy hen, had given them all cloaks spun out of cobwebs, just like the emperor of china once had, and this made it so no one could see them. for it would never do, you know, to have the rabbits spied upon when they were hiding the eggs. it wouldn't be fair, any more than it would be right to peek when you're "it" in playing blind man's buff. well, pretty soon, after a while, as they all walked through the woods, sammie kept going slower and slower and slower, because his basket was quite heavy, until he was a long way in back of his papa, his mamma and susie. but he didn't mind that, for he knew he had plenty of time, when all at once what should come running out of the bushes but a great big dog. at first sammie was frightened, but then when he looked again he knew the dog was not a rabbit-dog. no, what is worse, he was an egg-dog. now an egg-dog is a dog that eats eggs, and they are one of the very worst kinds of dogs there are. so the dog saw sammie and knew what the little rabbit boy had in his basket. but he asked him, making believe he didn't know: "what have you in that basket, my little chap?" you see, he called him "little chap" so as to pretend he was a friendly egg-dog. "there are easter eggs in the basket," said sammie politely. "and what, pray, are easter eggs, if i may be so bold as to ask?" inquired the dog, licking his teeth with his long red tongue, and blinking his eyes, as if he didn't care. "easter eggs," replied sammie, "are eggs for children for easter, and they are very prettily colored." "oh, ho!" exclaimed the dog, just like that, and he sniffed the air. "please excuse me. but would you kindly be so good as to let me see those eggs? i never saw any colored ones." "well," answered sammie, "i am in a hurry, but you may have one peep." so he opened the top of the basket and there, sure enough, were the eggs, the green, the blue, the pink, the johnnie red and the skilligimink colored ones and all. "oh, how lovely!" cried the bad dog, sniffing the air again. "may i have one?" "no," said sammie, very decidedly, "these are for the little children." then that dog got angry. oh, you should have seen how angry he got. no, on second thoughts i am glad you did not see how unpleasant he was, for it might spoil your easter. anyhow, he was dreadfully angry, dreadfully! he showed his teeth, and he made his hair stand up straight, and he growled: "give me all those eggs, or i'll take them right away from you! i am an egg-dog, and i must have eggs. give them to me, i say!" well, maybe poor sammie wasn't frightened! he trembled so that the eggs rattled together and very nearly were broken. then he started to run away, but the bad dog ran after him, and what do you think? just as the horrid creature was about to take those lovely easter eggs out of the basket and eat them up, who should come flying through the woods but mrs. cluck-cluck, the fairy hen! she dashed at that dog, with her feathers sticking out, and made him run off. then how glad sammie was! he hurried and caught up to his papa and mamma, and soon all the easter eggs were hidden. oh, what fun sammie and susie had running back through the woods after the eggs were all put in the secret places! susie found a turnip in a field, and sammie a carrot, and they ate them as they hopped along. uncle wiggily walked quite slowly, for his rheumatism was bothering him, and when those rabbits got home to the burrow, what do you think they found? why, there were invitations for them all to come to a party that was going to be given by lulu and alice wibblewobble. alice and lulu were little duck girls, and they lived with their papa and mamma, mr. and mrs. wibblewobble, in a pen, not far from the rabbit burrow. they had a brother named jimmie, but it wasn't his birthday, for he was a day older than his sisters, who were twins. that is their birthdays came at the same time. some day i'm going to tell you a lot of stories about these same ducks. "may we go to the party, mamma?" asked susie. "of course," answered mamma littletail, and they all went, even nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy. they had a fine time, which i will tell you about in another book that has a lot of duck stories in it. but i just want to mention one thing that occurred. just as the party was over, and every one was coming home, uncle wiggily couldn't find his crutch, which nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy had gnawed out of a cornstalk for him. finally he did find it behind the door. then he, and sammie and susie, and mr. and mrs. littletail started for the burrow. then, all at once, when they were in the front yard of the wibblewobble home, if a silver trumpet didn't sound in the woods: "ta-ra-ta-ra-ta-ra!" just like that, and up came riding a little boy, all in silver and gold, on a white horse. he wanted to know if he was too late for the party, the little boy did, and when uncle wiggily said yes, the little boy was much disappointed. then uncle wiggily asked him who he was, and the little boy said: "i am the fairy prince! i used to be a mud turtle, and live in the pond where lulu and alice and jimmie wibblewobble swim. but i got tired of being a mud turtle, though i _was_ a fairy prince, so i changed myself into a little boy." but, do you know, uncle wiggily didn't believe him, and, what's more, he said so. oh, yes, indeed he did! then what did that little boy-fairy-prince do, but up and say: "well, you soon will believe me, uncle wiggily. you come back to the woods a little later, and something wonderful will happen. i'll make you believe in fairies; that's what i will, for you will see a red fairy very shortly." but still uncle wiggily didn't believe, and he went home, moving his nose and ears at the same time. but you just wait, for if i should happen to find a penny rolling up hill, i will tell you, to-morrow night, about uncle wiggily and the red fairy. xxv uncle wiggily and the red fairy well, i didn't find that penny rolling up hill, after all, but never mind, i'll tell you a story just the same. let's see, we left off about uncle wiggily longears, the old gentleman rabbit, and what was going to happen to him when he should meet the red fairy, didn't we? uncle wiggily walked along very slowly, going home from the party lulu and alice wibblewobble had. sammie littletail saw how slowly his uncle walked, and asked: "what is the matter, uncle wiggily? does your rheumatism hurt you very much?" "no, it isn't that," replied the old gentleman rabbit, "though it does pain me some. i was just wondering about that red fairy." "oh, do you really suppose one will appear, as the fairy prince said?" asked susie, making her nose twinkle like two stars and a comet on a frosty night. "no," spoke uncle wiggily very decidedly, "i don't really believe one will. still, there may. you never can tell in this world what is going to happen," and i think uncle wiggily was right about it. "oh!" cried susie, "i wish i could come with you, uncle wiggily. i never saw a real fairy in all my life. couldn't i come with you?" and the little rabbit girl went close to her uncle, and took hold of his crutch, gnawed by the muskrat, nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy, out of a cornstalk. "yes, i suppose you could," answered susie's uncle, who was very kind to her. "oh, no!" exclaimed sammie. "it might spoil the magic spell, if more than one went, uncle wiggily. maybe the fairy would not like it. you had better go alone." "all right," answered the old gentleman rabbit, "anything to please you. i'll go alone." well, when the rabbit family got back to their burrow, after the party, they could talk of nothing else but what was going to happen when uncle wiggily should meet the red fairy. sammie and susie didn't want to go to bed, they were so excited, but their mamma sent them up with nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy. now listen very carefully, for the fairy will soon appear, and you know what happens then. oh, yes, indeed, something wonderful. well, when it came time, uncle wiggily started off alone to the woods to meet the red fairy. he walked on, and on, and on, and he had to go pretty slow, because his rheumatism was hurting him again. and suddenly, when he was right under a big oak tree, what should he hear but a silver trumpet blowing "ta-ra-ta-ra-ta-ra!" just like that, honest. then he stood still, and a sort of shivery feeling came over him, and he looked up and he looked down and he looked to one side and then to the other. and then he wiggled his ears, and he wrinkled up his nose as fast as fast could be. then he heard some one call: "uncle wiggily longears!" "yes, i'm here!" he answered. "and i am the red fairy!" cried the voice again, and when the old gentleman rabbit looked up in the tree, what do you suppose he saw? well, you'd never guess, so i'll tell you. there, perched on a limb, was a beautiful little lady, all dressed in red, with a red cloak on, and a red hat on, and it had a red feather in it; in fact, she was as red as red riding hood ever thought of being. "do you believe in fairies, uncle wiggily?" she asked. "no," replied the old rabbit, "i can't say that i do." "well," went on the little creature, "you soon will. watch me carefully." and with that, what did she do but float down from that tall tree, just as one of those red balloons you buy at the circus floats along. yes, sir, she floated right down to where uncle wiggily was. then she waved her magic wand in the air three times, and said this word: "higgildypiggilyhobbledehoi!" it's a very hard word for you to say, i know, but easy for a fairy. well, she said that word, and then, all at once, what should happen but that a golden ball appeared, floating in the air. "catch the golden ball!" cried the red fairy. "i can't!" answered the old rabbit. "i haven't played ball in years, and years, and years." "well," went on the fairy, with a laugh, "no matter. it will come to you," and you may not believe me, but if that golden ball didn't float right down into uncle wiggily's hands. he had to drop his crutch to catch it. "now," proceeded the red fairy, "do you want to see me do something magical to prove that i am wonderful, and a real fairy?'" "yes," answered uncle wiggily, "certainly." "well, what shall i do? name something wonderful." "if you could cure me of my rheumatism it would be wonderful," he answered. "it hurts me something fierce, now." "ha! that is not wonderful at all," spoke the red fairy. "that is altogether too easy. but i will do it all the same. watch me carefully." then, as true as i'm telling you, if that golden ball didn't begin to dance up and down, and sideways, and around and around uncle wiggily, leaping here, and there, and everywhere, until he could hardly see it. and the silver trumpet blew: "ta-ra-ta-ra-ta-ra!" just like that, and all of a sudden uncle wiggily felt himself being lifted up, and whirled around, and then came a clap of thunder, and then it all got still, and quiet, and a little bird began to sing. then the fairy's voice asked: "well, uncle wiggily, how is your rheumatism now?" "why!" exclaimed the old rabbit, "it is all gone. it certainly is. i never would have believed it," and, honestly, the pain was all gone, and he didn't need his crutch for a long time after that. then he believed that the red lady was a fairy, and he hurried home to tell sammie and susie, while the little red lady and the golden ball flew back into the tree. "oh!" cried susie, when she heard the story, "i wish i could see a fairy!" and, listen, she did! the very next day; and, if nothing happens, the story to-morrow night will be about susie littletail and the blue fairy. now listen, uncle wiggily felt so good at being cured of his rheumatism that he asked the red fairy if some boys and girls, who had been very good, couldn't stay up after they had heard the bedtime story to-night. "i want to make them happy because i am happy," said uncle wiggily. "yes, they stay up if their papas and mammas will let them," answered the red fairy, so now you just ask, but be very polite about it, and see what happens. but don't stay up too late, you know, for that would never do, never at all. xxvi susie and the blue fairy they were talking about uncle wiggily's visit to the red fairy, in the rabbits' burrow the next day, when susie remarked: "well, if i saw a fairy, i think i'd ask for something more magical than having my rheumatism cured." "no you wouldn't," said her uncle, as he nibbled a bit of chocolate-covered carrot that nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy had made. "you think you would, but you wouldn't. in the first place, you never had rheumatism, or you'd be glad to get the first fairy you saw to cure it. and in the second place, when you see a fairy it makes you feel so funny you don't know what you are saying. but i am certainly glad i met that one. i never felt better in all my life than i do since my rheumatism is cured. i believe i'll dance a jig." "oh, no, don't," begged mamma littletail. "yes, i shall to," spoke uncle wiggily. "begging your pardon, of course, alvinah." you see, mamma littletail's first name was alvinah. so uncle wiggily danced a jig, and did it fairly well, considering everything. that afternoon susie littletail went for a walk in the woods. she was all alone, for sammie had gone over to play with bully, the frog, and billie and johnnie bushytail, his squirrel chums. susie walked along, and she was rather hoping she might meet the fairy prince, who was changed from a mud turtle into a nice boy, and came to lulu and alice wibblewobble's party. but susie didn't meet him, and, when it began to get dark, she started for home. "oh!" she exclaimed aloud, as she came to a little spot where the grass grew nice and green, and where the trees were all set in a circle, just as if they were playing, ring around the rosy, sweet tobacco posey. "oh, dear, i wish i would meet with a fairy, as uncle wiggily did! but i don't s'pose i ever will. i never have any good luck! only last week i lost my ring with the blue stone in it." and just then--oh, in fact, right after susie finished speaking, what should she hear but a voice singing. yes, a voice singing; a sweet, silvery voice, and this is what it sang. of course, i can't sing this in a sweet, silvery voice, but i'll do the best i can. now this is the song: "if any one is seeking a fairy for to see, if they will kindly glance up into this chestnut tree they'll see what they are seeking, i'm truly telling you, for i'm a little fairy all dressed in baby-blue." then, you may believe me or not, if susie didn't look up into the tree, and there, in a hole where the owl school teacher once lived, was a really and truly-ruly fairy. honest. susie knew at once it was a fairy that she saw because the little creature was colored baby blue, you know, the shade they put on babies, and she had gauzy wings, with stars on them, and carried a magic wand which also had a star on it, did the little blue creature. still, the little rabbit girl wanted to make sure, so she asked: "are you a fairy?" "i am," replied the little creature in blue. "can you kindly tell me how much two and two are?" "four," answered susie. "is it really?" "of course. you ought to know that," spoke susie proudly, for she was at the head of her arithmetic class. "ought i?" asked the fairy with a sigh. "well, i suppose i had, but i haven't been to school in ever so long--not since i was a wee bit of a child, and that's ever and ever so many years ago, when i was no bigger than that," and she pointed to something in the air. "bigger than what?" asked susie, who didn't see anything. "than that speck of star dust," went on the blue fairy. "it's so small you can't see it. but no matter. because you were so kind as to tell me how much two and two are, i will give you three wishes." "will you, really?" cried susie in delight. "yes, three wishes, for i am a regular fairy, and that is the regular number of wishes you may have. some fairies only give two wishes, and some only one. but i always give three. go ahead now, and wish." "let me see," thought susie, and her nose twinkled like three stars, she was so excited. "first i wish for a golden coach drawn by four horses." "oh!" cried the fairy, "i'm so sorry, for wishes like that, though they come true, never last. still, you may have it," and she waved her magic wand, and if the golden coach and four horses didn't appear right there in the woods--honest! "wish again, my dear," went on the fairy, and this time susie was more careful. "i wish for ten boxes of chocolate-covered carrots," she said, and once more the fairy said she was sorry, for that wish wouldn't last. still, it came true, and down from the tree where the blue fairy sat, came tumbling the ten boxes of chocolate-covered carrots, each one wrapped up in lace paper. susie put them in the golden coach, and was ready for her next wish. she thought a good long while over this one. then she said: "i wish i could find my ring with the blue stone!" at that the fairy clapped her tiny hands. "that is a fine wish!" she cried. "it will come true, and stay so. but the others----" and she shook her head sorrowfully. then she waved her magic wand three times in the air, and suddenly, in less than two jumps, if the ring with the blue stone, that susie had lost, didn't appear right on the end of the wand. and it flew off and landed right on susie's paw. oh, wasn't she glad! and the fairy said: "the ring will last, because that is blue, and i am blue, too. now, good bye, susie." and with that she disappeared, changing into a butterfly with golden wings. then susie started to get in the golden coach and ride home, but, would you believe me, if those horses didn't run away, upsetting the coach and breaking it, and scattering all the ten boxes of chocolate-covered carrots all over. oh, how badly susie felt, but it was just what the fairy said would happen. the first two wishes didn't last. anyhow, susie had the ring, and she hurried home to tell her story. now, if it doesn't rain to-morrow, the story to-morrow night will be about sammie and the green fairy. xxvii sammie and the green fairy when susie told her brother sammie about what happened to her in the woods, when she saw the blue fairy, the little rabbit boy remarked: "aw, i guess you fell asleep and dreamed that, susie." for that's the way with brothers sometimes. i once had a brother, and he--but there, i'll tell you about him some other time. "no," answered susie, "i didn't dream it. why, here's my ring to prove it," and she held out the one with the blue stone in it. "i guess you found that in the woods, where you lost it," went on sammie. "i don't believe in fairies at all." "but didn't one cure uncle wiggily's rheumatism?" "aw, well, i guess that would have gotten better anyhow." "it wouldn't, so there!" exclaimed susie. "i just hope you see a fairy some day, and i hope they don't treat you as kind as the one treated me, even if the horses did run away and disappear." but of course susie didn't really want anything bad to happen to her brother. but you just wait and see what did happen. oh, it was something very, very strange, yes, indeed, and i'm not fooling a bit; no, indeed. i wouldn't make it out anything different than what it really was, not for a penny and a half. well, it happened about a week later. sammie was coming home from a ball game, which he had played with johnnie and billie bushytail (of whom i will tell you later), and some others of his chums, and he was in a deep, dark part of the wood, when suddenly he heard a crashing in the bushes. "pooh!" exclaimed sammie. "i s'pose that's one of them fairies. i'm not going to notice her," and with that he tossed his baseball up in the air, careless like, to show that he didn't mind. but he was a bit nervous, all the same, and his hand slipped and his best ball went right down in a deep, dark, muddy puddle of water. then sammie felt pretty bad, i tell you, and he was going to get a stick to fish the ball out, when he heard the crashing in the bushes again, and what should appear but--no, not a fairy, but bad, ugly fox. "ah!" exclaimed the fox, looking at sammie, and smacking his lips, "i've been waiting for you for some time." "yes?" asked the little boy rabbit, and he tried to see a way to run past that fox, only there wasn't any. "yes, really," went on the fox. "have you had your supper?" "no," replied sammie, "i haven't." "neither have i," continued the fox, "but i'm going to have it pretty soon, in fact, almost immediately," which you children know means right away. "i'm going to eat directly," went on that bad fox, and he smacked his lips again and looked at sammie, as if he was going to eat him up, for that's really what he meant when he said he was going to have supper. oh, how frightened sammie was. he began to tremble, and he wished he'd started for home earlier. then the fox crouched down and was just going to jump on that little boy rabbit, when something happened. right up from that puddle of water, where sammie had lost his ball, sprang a little man in green. he was green all over, like bully, the frog, but the funny part of it was that he wasn't wet a bit, even though he came up out of the water. "ha! what have we here?" he cried out, just like that. "if--if you please, sir," began sammie. "it's my supper time!" cried the fox, interrupting, which was not very polite on his part. "it's my supper time, and i'm hungry." "i don't see anything to eat," spoke the little green man. "nothing at all," and he looked all around. "if--if you please, kind sir," went on sammie, "i think he intends to eat me." "what! what!" cried the little green man. "the very idea! the very idonical idea! we'll see about that! oh, my, yes, and a bushel of apple turnovers besides! aha! ahem!" then he looked most severely at that fox, most severely, i do assure you, and he asked: "were you going to eat up my friend sammie littletail?" "i was, but i didn't know he was a friend of yours," replied the fox, beginning to tremble. oh, you could see right away that he was afraid of that little green man. "oh, you bad fox, you!" cried the little green man. "oh, you bad fox! just for that i'm going to turn you into a little country village! presto, chango! smacko, mackeo! bur-r-r-r!" and he waved his hands at the fox, who immediately disappeared. and he was changed into a little country village, with a church, a school and thirty-one houses, and it's called foxtown to this very day. i ought to know, for i used to live there. "well, sammie?" asked the little green man, when the fox had vanished, "how do you feel now?" "much better, kind sir. thank you. but who are you?" "me? who am i? why, don't you know?" "no, indeed, unless you're some relation to bully, the frog." "well, i am a sort of distant thirty-second cousin to him. i am the green fairy. and to prove it, look here, i will get your ball back for you." then while sammie looked on, his eyes getting bigger and bigger and his breath coming faster and faster, until it was like a locomotive or a choo-choo, whatever you call them, going up hill, if that little green man didn't wave his hands over that puddle of water, where sammie's ball had fallen. and he spoke the magic word, which must never be spoken except on friday nights, so if you read this on any night but friday you must skip it, and wait. the word is (tirratarratorratarratirratarratum), and i put it in brackets, so there would be no mistake. well, all of a sudden, after the magic word was spoken, if sammie's ball didn't come bounding up out of that water, and it was as dry as a bone, and it had a nice, new, clean, white cover on. "there," said the little green man proudly, "i guess that's doing some tricks in the fairy line, isn't it?" "it certainly is," agreed sammie, "i can't thank you enough." "just believe in fairies after this," said the little green man, as he changed into a bumble bee and flew off. now, how would you like to hear about susie and the fairy godmother to-morrow night, eh? xxviii susie and the fairy godmother you can just imagine how excited susie and her mamma and papa and nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy, the muskrat, were when sammie got home and told about the bad fox who had been changed into a country village. uncle wiggily longears was surprised, too. he said: "my, it does seem to me that there are strange goings on in these woods. there never used to be any fairies here. i wonder where they come from?" "well, it's a good thing that fox has been changed into a town," spoke papa littletail. "if he hadn't been, i would have had him arrested for frightening you, sammie. i know the policeman down at our corner, and i'm sure he would have arrested him for me. but it's all right now," and sammie's papa sat back in his chair and read the paper, for he was tired that night from working in the turnip factory. you see, he changed from the carrot factory, and got a place sorting turnips. and sometimes he would bring little sweet ones home to the children. one day susie was hurrying back from the store with a loaf of bread, a yeast cake and three-and-a-half of granulated sugar, and she was sort of wondering if she would meet the blue fairy again when, just as she got opposite a place where some goldenrod grew, she heard a voice saying: "oh, dear! oh, dear me! i shall never be able to reach it! never, never, never!" susie looked around, and what should she see but a nice, little old lady, trying to break off a stem of goldenrod. "oh, dear me suz-dud!" cried the old lady again, and then susie saw that she was very little indeed, hardly larger than a ten-cent plate of ice cream after it's all melted. so she couldn't reach the goldenrod, she was so little. "what is the matter?" asked susie very politely. "can i help you?" "thank you, my dear child," went on the little old lady. "if you would be so kind as to reach me down a stem of goldenrod, i would be very much obliged to you." "what do you want with it?" asked susie, wondering who the little old lady could possibly be. "why, i want it for a fairy wand," she answered. "i have lost mine." "are you a fairy, too?" asked the little rabbit girl, and she began to wonder what would happen next as she broke off a stem for the old lady. "indeed i am," replied the little old lady. "i am a fairy godmother. i have charge of all the other fairies, the blue fairy and the red fairy and the green fairy, and all the other colors, including the fairy prince, who used to be a mud turtle." "but, if you are a fairy," asked susie, "why couldn't you make that goldenrod come down to you, when you weren't tall enough to reach up to it?" "hush!" exclaimed the fairy godmother, for she really was one, as you shall see. "hush, my dear child! it's a great secret. don't tell any one," and she put her right hand over her mouth and her left hand over her ear, and held the goldenrod under her arm. "you see, i lost my magic wand," she went on, "and i couldn't do any more magic until i got a new one. now i am all right, and to reward you you may come with me." "but i have to get home with the bread and sugar and yeast cake," said susie. "no," spoke the fairy godmother, "you will not need to be in a hurry. besides, what i will show you will happen in an instant, and you will get home in time after all." so she waved the goldenrod in the air, and once more the silver trumpet sounded: "ta-ra-ta-ra-ta-ra!" and, all of a sudden, susie found herself lifted up, and there she and the fairy godmother were sailing right through the air on a big burdock leaf. at first susie was afraid, but she soon got over her fright and enjoyed the ride. "where are we going?" she asked. "we are going to where the fairies live," answered the little old woman, but she seemed larger now, and the old dress she had worn had changed into a cloak of gold and silver with diamonds and rubies on it all over, like frost on a cold morning. so pretty soon--oh, i guess in about as long as it would take to eat a peanut, or, maybe, two, if they didn't come to fairyland. at least that's what susie thought it was, for there were fairies all about. the red fairy was there, and the green, and the blue one. and the blue fairy asked: "have you your ring yet, susie?" then susie said she had, but she didn't want to talk any more, for so many wonderful things were going on. the fairies were skipping about, leaping here and there, some riding on the backs of birds and butterflies and bumblebees, and some running in and out of holes in the ground. "what are they doing?" asked susie, moving her long ears back and forth. "they are doing kind things to the people of the earth," replied the fairy godmother, "and it keeps them busy, let me tell you." then susie saw fairies doing all sorts of magical tricks, such as making lemonade out of lemons, and things like that. then, all at once, just when one little fairy was making a hat out of some straw, the godmother said: "it is time for us to go now," so the burdock leaf came sailing through the air, and susie got on. as they came near the woods where the goldenrod grew they saw a boy throwing a stone at a robin. "ah, i must stop that!" cried the fairy godmother, so she waved her new magic wand that susie had helped her get, and, honestly, if that stone didn't turn right around in the air, and instead of hitting the bird, it flew back and hit that boy right on the end of his nose! oh, how he cried, and, what is better, he never threw stones at birds again. i call that a pretty good trick, don't you? well, the burdock leaf came to the ground, and susie ran home, and she was just in time to help her mother set bread. to-morrow night's story is going to be about uncle wiggily and the fairy spectacles. that is, i think it is, but, if you like, you may turn over the page to make sure. but you are only allowed just one peep, only one, mind you. xxix uncle wiggily and the fairy spectacles sammie and susie littletail were playing out in front of their burrow. their mamma had a headache, and had gone to lie down in a dark room, and nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy had put a mustard leaf on the back of mamma littletail's neck, for that is sometimes good for a headache. "what shall we do?" asked susie. "oh, i don't know," replied her brother. "s'pose we play stump tag?" "all right; you're 'it,' sammie," called susie. so sammie began to hop after susie. you see, when you play stump tag you have to keep on a stump if you don't want to be tagged. it's lots of fun. try it some day, if you can find a place where there are plenty of stumps. well, after playing this for some time, the rabbit children got tired. then they played other games, and they were making quite a noise, when uncle wiggily longears came out. "you children will have to make less racket," he said, real cross like. "your mamma has a headache." then sammie and susie were quieter for a time, but soon they were almost as noisy as ever. "now you must run right away from here!" cried uncle wiggily, coming to the door of the underground house again, and he spoke still more crossly. "what do you s'pose ails uncle wiggily?" asked susie, as she and sammie hopped away. "i don't know," replied sammie, "unless it's his rheumatism again." "no, it can't be that. don't you remember, the red fairy cured him?" "maybe it came back." "oh, no, fairies don't do things that way. i guess he must have indigestion. but i wish he wouldn't be so cross, especially when mamma has a headache and jane fuzzy-wuzzy can't come out to play with us. oh, dear! isn't it too bad?" "what's too bad?" asked a little voice, under a big clump of grass, and at that moment what should come walking out but a little pink fairy. oh, she was the dearest little thing you ever saw! i just wish i could take you to see her, but it's not allowed. some day, perhaps--but there, i must get on with the story. well, the little pink fairy stood out in the sunlight, and she asked again: "what is the matter?" "oh," explained susie, who, by this time, had gotten used to fairies of all kinds, "mamma has a headache, and uncle wiggily is cross." "headache, eh? uncle wiggily cross. perhaps his glasses do not fit him," suggested the fairy. "oh, i guess there's nothing the matter with his spectacles," answered sammie. "i saw him reading a book with them." "you never can tell," declared the pink fairy. "suppose you call him out here, and we'll take a look at his glasses. maybe he has the wrong kind." "what about mamma's headache?" asked susie. "oh! i'll stop that in a minute," replied the fairy kindly, so she waved her magic wand in the air three times. "now your mamma's head is all better," she added. and, sure enough, when susie ran in the burrow to ask uncle wiggily to come out, if mamma littletail's head wasn't all well. wasn't that just fine? well, at first uncle wiggily didn't want to come out. he was still cross, but finally susie begged him so hard that he did. he saw the little pink fairy, and he asked, real cross like: "well, what do you want of me?" "aha!" exclaimed the pink fairy. "i see what the trouble is. it's your spectacles." "they're all right," growled uncle wiggily. "they are not," declared the fairy very decidedly. "let me look at them," and before you could say "pussy-cat mole jumped over a coal," she frisked those glasses off. "oh!" she cried, "look here, sammie and susie! what terribly gloomy spectacles!" then she held them up, first in front of sammie, and then in front of susie. and when they looked through them the little rabbit children saw that everything was dark, and gloomy, and dreary, and even the sun seemed to be behind a cloud. oh, it was as cold and unpleasant as it is just before a snowstorm. "no wonder you were cross!" cried the fairy. "but i will soon fix matters! presto-chango! ring around the rosey, sweet tobacco posey!" she cried, and then she rubbed first one pink finger on one glass, and then another pink finger on the other glass of the spectacles. and a most wonderful thing happened, she smiled as she held the glasses up in front of sammie and susie, and as true as i'm telling you, if everything wasn't as bright and shining as a new tin dishpan. oh, everything looked lovely! the flowers were gay, and the sun shone, and even the green grass was sort of pink, while the sky was rose-colored. "there," said the fairy to uncle wiggily. "try those." so uncle wiggily longears put on his glasses again, and he cried out: "why, goodness me! oh, my suz-dud! oh, turnips and carrots and a chocolate cake! oh, my goodness me!" "what's the matter?" asked susie. "why, everything looks different," answered her uncle. "oh, how much better i feel! whoop-de-doodle-do!" and he began to dance a jiggity-jig. "who would have thought my glasses were so dark and gloomy?" he went on. "i feel ever so much better, now. come on, sammie and susie, and i'll buy you some cabbage ice cream. and you too, little pink fairy." you see, he had been looking through gloomy glasses all that while, and that was what made him cross. "oh, thank you, i only eat rose-leaf ice cream," the fairy said. "but i'm not hungry now. good-luck to all of you, and may you be always happy!" then she turned into a little bird and flew away singing, while uncle wiggily and the rabbit children went to the ice cream store. now, unless i'm much mistaken, to-morrow night's story will be about sammie and how he saved billie bushytail. but of course you never can tell what will happen. xxx sammie saves billie bushytail sammie littletail was out in a green field digging a burrow, or underground house. he didn't really need another house, for the one he, and his papa, and mamma, and sister, lived in was very nice, but, as he had nothing else to do, he thought he would dig a big hole, and, maybe, go all the way through to china. sammie thought he would like to see how china looked, and he thought he might make the acquaintance of some chinese rabbits. well, he hadn't gotten down very far, and he was still a good many miles from china, when he heard some one singing a song in a very loud voice. now i don't advise you to sing it quite so loudly, for you might awaken the baby, if you have one in your house. anyway, it does just as well to sing it softly. this is the song sammie heard: "i want to be a sailor and sail the ocean blue. i'd journey to a distant land and then come back to you. i'd bring you lots of happiness, a big trunk filled with joy; a barrel full of hickory nuts for every girl or boy." well, when sammie heard that he cried out: "is that a fairy?" "no, it's me," was the answer. "oh, then you must be billie or johnnie bushytail," went on sammie, for he remembered that once the little boy squirrels went sailing and were shipwrecked. "yes, i'm billie," said the voice, and then up popped the little squirrel. "but what did you say about a fairy?" he asked. "i thought at first you were a fairy," continued sammie, and then he stopped digging the hole in the ground. "there have been such a lot of fairies around here lately," sammie added. "red ones, and green ones, and blue ones, and--" "are you talking about easter eggs or something else?" inquired billie bushytail. "fairies, of course." "oh, get out! oh, ho! don't tell me that! why, how superfluous!" cried billie, for that last was a new word he had just learned. "don't mention fairies to me!" he continued. "why not?" sammie wanted to know. "because i don't believe there are such things!" cried billie, frisking his big tail until it looked like a dusting brush that they use after sweeping to knock the dust from the furniture onto the floor again. "don't talk to me like that, sammie." "well," remarked the little boy rabbit, "all i've got to say is that there _are_ fairies! but where's johnnie? maybe he believes in 'em." "no, he doesn't. besides he's gone out walking with sister sallie. come on, let's have a catch. where's your ball?" "i didn't bring it," replied sammie. "but we can have some fun playing in this hole i've dug." so they played for some time, and pretty soon, oh, in about two and a half frisks of billie's tail, what should happen, but that, all of a sudden, a great big hawk swooped down from the sky and grabbed that little boy squirrel up in its claws, and flew off with him. well, you can just imagine how scared sammie was. his nose wiggled so he sneezed three times. then he looked up, and there was the hawk, flying away, and away, and away with poor billie. oh, wasn't it dreadful! "save me! save me!" billie cried from up there among the clouds. "i will! i will!" shouted sammie, and then he got so excited that he ran around in a circle, and tried to catch his tail, but it was so short that he couldn't even see it, no matter how fast he went around. then he grabbed up a stone, and he threw it at that hawk, but of course he couldn't hit him, for the big, bad bird was too far away. "oh, whatever shall i do?" exclaimed sammie. "if i could only fly now, i'd go up after that hawk. oh, why didn't susie wish for wings for me and her instead of for a golden chariot and ten boxes of chocolate-covered carrots the time she saw the blue fairy? oh, why didn't she? wings would have been of some use!" then he ran around after his tail some more, but he couldn't catch it, and the hawk kept taking billie farther and farther away, and then sammie cried out: "oh, dear! oh, dear! oh, dear!" three times, just like that. then, all at once, if the little green man didn't suddenly appear. he always appears when any one says "oh, dear!" three times in exactly the right way, but it's hard to know just what is the right way. "well," said the little green man, "you seem to be in trouble." "i am," cried sammie. "a hawk has billie bushytail, and i want to save him." "very well," said the little green man, "since you are so kind, you shall save him. shut your eyes, cross your front paws, and wrinkle your nose three times and a half." so sammie did this, and, would you believe me? if, in another instant, the little green man hadn't changed into a big, kind, good-natured eagle. "get up on my back," the eagle said to sammie, "and we will save billie." so sammie got on the eagle's back, and the big bird flew after that hawk, and, pretty soon, it caught up to him. "here, you let billie bushytail go!" cried sammie, and then he took a long stick he had grabbed up, and he hit that hawk. at first the hawk wasn't going to let go of the little squirrel, but when the eagle bit him three times on each leg, then that bad bird was glad enough to drop billie and fly off. oh, my, no, he didn't drop billie to the ground; that would have been too bad. he only dropped him on the eagle's back, where sammie was, and pretty soon the two boys were safe on the ground once more, and the eagle had turned into a little green man again. "i'm ever so much obliged to you for saving me, sammie," spoke billie. "oh, i couldn't have done it if it hadn't been for the green fairy," replied sammie, and of course he couldn't. then billie thanked the little man very kindly, and he felt sorry for not believing in fairies, and he said he would try to, after that. so the boy squirrel and the boy rabbit played together some more, until it was time to go home. now, if you don't walk in your sleep to-night, i'll tell you to-morrow about susie and the fairy carrot. xxxi susie and the fairy carrot susie and sammie littletail had been off in the woods for a walk, and to gather some flowers, for they expected company at the underground house, and they wanted it to look nice. mr. and mrs. bushytail and billie and johnnie and sister sallie were coming, and susie and her brother hoped to have a very nice time. well, they wandered on, and on, and on, and had gathered quite a number of flowers, when sammie said: "come on, we've got enough; let's go home." "no," answered susie, "i want to get some sky-blue-pink ones. i think they are so pretty." "i don't," answered her brother, for that color always reminded him of the time he fell in the dye pot, when they were coloring easter eggs. "i'm going home. yellow, and red, and blue, and white flowers are good enough. i don't want any fancy colors." "well, you go home and i'll come pretty soon," said his sister, so while sammie turned back, the little rabbit girl kept on. oh, i don't know how far she went, but it was a good distance, i'm sure, but still she couldn't seem to find that sky-blue-pink flower. she looked everywhere for it, high and low, and even sideways, which is a very good place; but she couldn't find it. and she kept on going, hoping every minute it would happen to be behind a stump or under a bush. but no, it wasn't. and then, all of a sudden, about as quick as you can shut your eyes and open them again, if susie wasn't lost! yes, sir, lost in those woods all alone. she looked all around, and she didn't know where she was. she'd never been so far away from home before, and, oh, now frightened she was! but she was a brave little rabbit girl, and she didn't cry, that is, at first. no, she started to try to find her way back, but the more she tried the more lost she became, until she was all turned around, you know, like when they blindfold you and turn you around three times before they let you try to pin the tail on the cloth donkey at a party. yes, that's how it was. well, then susie began to cry, and i don't blame her a bit. i think i would do the same myself. yes, she sat right down and cried. then she felt hungry and she looked around for something to eat, and what should she see, right there in the woods, but a carrot. "oh!" she cried, "how lucky! now i shan't be hungry, anyhow." so she picked up the carrot and started to eat it, when all at once that carrot spoke to her. what's that? you don't see how a carrot could speak? well, it did all the same. but you just listen, please, and maybe you'll see how it happened. "please don't eat me," the carrot said, in a squeaky voice. "why not?" asked susie, who was very much surprised. "because i am a fairy carrot," it went on. now do you see how it could speak? well, i guess! "yes, i am a fairy carrot, susie, and i can help you. what do you want most?" it asked. "i want to find my way home," said the little rabbit girl. "very well, my dear," went on the vegetable. "place me on the ground in front of you, stand on your hind legs, wiggle your left ear, and see what happens." so susie did this, and would you believe me, for i'm not exaggerating the least bit, if that fairy carrot didn't roll right along on the ground in front of susie. "follow, follow, follow me, and you soon at home will be," the carrot said, in a sing-song voice, and it rolled on, still more, and susie followed. first the carrot went through a deep, dark part of the woods, but susie wasn't at all afraid, for she believed in fairies. then, pretty soon, the carrot came to a great big hole. it was too big to jump over, and too deep to crawl down into, and too wide to run around. "oh, dear!" cried susie, "i don't see how i'm going to get over this." but do you s'pose that carrot was bothered? no, sir; not the least bit. it stretched out, like a piece of rubber, and stuck itself across that hole until it was a regular little bridge, and susie could walk safely over. then it became an ordinary fairy carrot again, and rolled on in front of her, showing her just which way to go. after a while she came to a great big lake, one she had never seen before. "oh, how shall we get over this?" cried susie. "don't worry," spoke the carrot. then what did it do but turn into a little boat, and susie got into it, and sailed over that lake as nicely as you please. then it turned into an ordinary, garden, fairy carrot again, and rolled on, susie following. pretty soon they came to a place where the woods and brush were all on fire. "oh, i know we shall never get over that place!" exclaimed susie, for she was very much afraid of fire, because she once burned a hole in her apron. "oh, we'll get over that," promised the carrot. "just you watch me!" and really truly, if it didn't turn into a rainstorm, and sprinkle down on the flames, and put that fire out, and then, just so susie wouldn't get wet it turned into an umbrella; and held itself over her all the rest of the way home. so susie got safely back to the burrow, with all the flowers but the sky-blue-pink one, and maybe she wasn't glad! and maybe her folks weren't glad too! they had begun to worry about her, and sammie was just going to start off to look for her. so susie told how the fairy carrot had brought her home, and uncle wiggily said: "well, there are certainly queer things happening nowadays. i never would have believed it if you hadn't told me." now, listen, to-morrow night's story is going to be about--let me see--oh! on second thought i believe there are enough stories in this book, and, if you would like to read some more i'll have to put them in another. how would you like to hear about some squirrels? billie and johnnie bushytail and sister sallie and jennie chipmunk and their friends, eh? if you would like to read of them you can do so in the next volume, which is going to be named, "bedtime stories: johnnie and billie bushytail." i hope you will like the squirrels, for they are very good friends of sammie and susie littletail, and uncle wiggily longears, too. now, good-bye for a little while, dear children. the end note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original illustrations. see -h.htm or -h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/ / -h/ -h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/ / -h.zip) little jack rabbit and uncle john hare by david cory author of little jack rabbit's adventures, little jack rabbit and danny fox, little jack rabbit and the squirrel brothers, little jack rabbit and chippy chipmunk, little jack rabbit and the big brown bear, little jack rabbit and professor crow _little jack rabbit books_ (trademark registered) illustrated by h. s. barbour new york grosset & dunlap publishers made in the united states of america copyright, , by grosset & dunlap [illustration: the bunnymobile horn made giant rabbit stop his ears and shut his eyes.] contents uncle john hare a useful gumdrop the ragged rabbit giant jack sprite the woodland elf "fee, fie!" the old witch strawberries mrs. ant more adventures the wishing egg magic boots the tiny cobbler firefly lanterns invitations uncle john hare's party the little ring doctor cat the big black bear chicken city mrs. wildcat professor crow the witch's spell the magic flower the ribbon tree the fairy cat the big black snake the sugar barrel the yellow dog tramp "always trust the fairies" list of illustrations the bunnymobile horn made giant rabbit stop his ears and shut his eyes. the wishing egg brings new clothes to professor crow. jack sprite and forest fay arrive at uncle john hare's party. the little girl tied a ribbon around uncle john hare's neck. little jack rabbit and uncle john hare uncle john hare "heigh-ho," said little jack rabbit to himself one bright morning, "how happy i'd be if i could find uncle john hare." and then, all of a sudden he came to a sign by the road on which was printed in big red letters: "three miles to turnip city" "perhaps someone there can tell me where he lives," and the little rabbit set out with a brave heart once more, and pretty soon, not so very far, he came to a little house painted white, with green shutters and a red chimney. and, goodness me! before he could say "winky pinky" uncle john hare himself opened the door. "how did you get here all by yourself? it's a long way from the old bramble patch," inquired the old gentleman rabbit. well, you can imagine how glad the little tired bunny was to find his uncle, and for a long time he for got to ask him how he came to leave the sunny meadow, and why he had bought this little house in turnip city. but, by and by, his uncle explained it all by saying he wished to pass the rest of his days in quiet, far away from the farmer's boy and danny fox. "now come around to the back of the house and i'll show you my little garage," said the old gentleman bunny. "i have a bunnymobile that goes so fast you can't count the miles before you are home again." wasn't that a wonderful automobile to have? well, i just guess it was. and after the little rabbit had looked it over his uncle took him back in the house and showed him the little room which was to be his as long as he lived in turnip city. "won't we have fine times together!" said the old gentleman rabbit, with a laugh. "i've been waiting for just this happy moment. you and i can travel all over together in sunshiny, snow-falling, rain-wetting weather." and he slapped the little bunny's back and gave a hop, skip and jump to one side, and then laughed some more, for he was as happy as a clam at high tide, as an old fisherman used to say when i was a boy not so very long ago, but just long enough to make me wish i were twenty years younger, just the sam_ee_. well, after a while, it was bedtime, and the cuckoo came out of her little clock-house and said: "time for bed, you sleepy head, don't sit up too late. it won't be long before my song will make the clock strike eight." and in the next story you shall hear what happened after that. a useful gumdrop the next morning when little jack rabbit woke up for a moment he forgot he was in uncle john hare's house, turnip city, u.s.a. but in less than five hundred short seconds he knew where he was, when the cuckoo came out of her little clock-house and sang: "wake up, wake up! it's early morn, the sun is sparkling the dew on the corn, the little field mouse is looking about and the little red rooster's beginning to shout," and his kind rabbit uncle looked in at the door and said: "the buckwheat cakes are sizzling hot, the maple sugar's sweet, so hurry up and dress yourself so we'll have time to eat." well, you can just bet your last liberty bond coupon the little bunny didn't linger in bed, but dressed himself as fast as a fireman and was down at the breakfast table before his uncle had eaten more than thirteen buckwheat cakes. as soon as the old gentleman rabbit's housekeeper, mrs. daisy duck, had cleared away the table and made out a list for the grocer, these two happy rabbits hopped into the bunnymobile and started off for turnip city to buy sugar and flour and maybe a bag of animal crackers. well, they had gone only just so far when they met little red riding hood on her way to her grandmother's. "jump in and we'll save you maybe a mile," said the old gentleman rabbit. "but we must keep a sharp lookout for mr. wicked wolf!" so in jumped little red riding hood and then off they went. but, oh dear me! in a little while they saw the big bad wolf creeping along among the trees. "never mind," said the old gentleman rabbit. "he won't dare touch us while we're in the bunnymobile!" but just the same he felt a little bit worried, let me tell you, and so would you and so would i if we met a wolf out automobiling. "we'll play a little trick on him," said the old gentleman rabbit, and he opened his tool box and took out a gumdrop as large as a baseball. "now if he comes too near i'll throw it to him and he'll snap it up, and before he knows it his long teeth will be stuck in so tight he won't be able to open his mouth for a week and a month!" and the next minute this is just what happened. "here's a little gumdrop for you," said the old gentleman rabbit. and the ugly wolf snapped it up in his teeth. but when he tried to open his mouth he couldn't. all he could do was to try to get it out with his paws, and in the next story you will hear what happened after that. the ragged rabbit giant oh, the bunnymobile's a wonderful car; it goes just as fast as a swift shooting star, and every one says, with a toss of his cap that uncle john hare's a lucky old chap. and now you remember how the last story ended; although in case you don't i'll tell you. little jack rabbit was riding with his dear uncle, mr. john hare, of turnip city, u. s. a. well, pretty soon they stopped in front of a grocery store and little red riding hood, who was with them, you remember, jumped out and went to call on her grandmother, who lived in a little house in the wood. "now, let me see," said the old gentleman rabbit, taking out of his pocket the piece of paper on which his housekeeper, mrs. daisy duck, had written the things she wanted him to buy at the grocery store: "i want a pound of chocolate prunes, four dozen ice cream cones, a pound or two of sugar glue some raisins without stones." "here they are, mr. john hare," said the saleslady, who was a slim young tabby cat, and she handed him the package nicely done up with pink ribbons. so off went the two little rabbits in their bunnymobile. but, oh, dear me! on their way home whom should they meet but the ragged rabbit giant of the skyhigh mountain. he had just climbed down to take a look over turnip city, which is on the other side of the sippi river, you know. "hey, hey!" he shouted. "where are you going?" "i guess i'd better stop," said the old gentleman rabbit. "i don't want to be impolite, but neither do i want to be foolhardy, and it certainly is risky talking to a giant." but, oh, dear me; while he was thinking this over the ragged rabbit giant took one long step and stood beside them. "well, well, well," he said with a low bow, "if this isn't the little bunny who once made me a visit." and then he laughed so loud that the trees trembled. "what have you got in that paper bag tied up so nicely?" and he stretched out his big hand to take it, when the old gentleman rabbit made the bunnymobile horn go off just like a gun which so frightened the giant rabbit that he put his fingers to his ears and shut his eyes. and before you could say jack robinson the old gentleman bunny started up the bunnymobile and was almost home when the giant opened them again. and in the next story you shall hear what happened after that. jack sprite "oh, dear me," said mrs. daisy duck, uncle john hare's old lady housekeeper, you know, "why don't they get home?" and she looked up and down the road, but she couldn't see the bunnymobile anywhere. "oh, dear, oh, dear, i feel so queer, i wonder what can be the matter; it's quarter past eight and supper is late; i'm so worried i'll never grow fatter." and then that kind-hearted, anxious duck went into the kitchen to see if the lollypop cookies were burning. and just then, all of a sudden, she heard the honk! honk! of the bunnymobile horn and she gave a quack of relief and made the turnip tea. "ha, ha," said uncle john hare, stepping into the kitchen. "sorry we are late, but we met the ragged rabbit giant on our way home and were detained." well, pretty soon he and little jack rabbit sat down to supper, and when that was over they both went into the sitting room and made the pianograph play a new tune. but just then, all of a sudden, they heard a little voice at the keyhole, such a tiny little low voice that at first the little rabbit hardly heard it. again the tiny voice came through the keyhole: "open the door and let me in i'm hardly as tall as a little tin pin." "who are you?" asked uncle john hare, getting up from his chair and going over to the door. and then the little voice spoke again. "i'm little jack sprite." so the old gentleman bunny opened the door, and there stood the prettiest little fairy you ever saw. he was dressed in blue, with a tiny green cap on his head, and long pointed turned up shoes. "i suppose you wonder what brings me here," he said, bowing very politely. "well, i'll tell you. somebody has broken the jack-in-the-pulpit flower i live in, and while i was looking for a new home i spied the little light in your window. so i said to myself, 'perhaps it's a firefly's lantern, then, maybe, it isn't, but i'll go and find out.'" then little jack sprite hopped up on a chair and crossed his legs. but goodness me. he didn't half fill the chair, although it was the smallest one in the house. and maybe he would have fallen asleep by and by if the two little rabbits hadn't sent him upstairs to bed, and in the next story you shall hear what happened in the middle of the night. the woodland elf the little gray mouse came out of her house just at the hour of twelve. and what she saw on the moonlit floor was a tiny woodland elf. "s-s-sh!" he said, as the little mouse blinked her eyes, frightened, i suppose, at seeing such a strange sight. "don't wake up the little rabbit." "what do you want?" asked the little mouse. "mr. john hare is very kind to me, and i don't want anything to happen to him." "ha, ha!" laughed the little elf, only very low, of course, so as not to be heard. "how could i hurt a big rabbit?" "i'm not so sure about that," replied the little mouse. "sometimes little things are more dangerous than big ones," and she tried to look very wise instead of a little bit frightened. "don't be worried," said the elf, "i'll tell you why i'm here. jack sprite, who lives in a jack-in-the-pulpit flower in the wood, is asleep upstairs. i must see him before the big red rooster crows at three o'clock." "mercy me," said the little mousie. "i didn't know there was a fairy upstairs. what's this house coming to? a fairy upstairs and a fairy downstairs. the first thing you know there'll be a giant in the garage." "never mind," whispered the elf, walking over to the door. "i must go upstairs and wake jack sprite. otherwise something dreadful is going to happen." and so up he climbed on his tiptoes to the spare room where the little fairy lay asleep in a big feather bed. "gracious me!" said the elf to himself. "i shall have to climb up the bedpost," and up he went like a telephone man, only of course he didn't have any spikes in the heels of his shoes. and it was just as well he didn't, for he certainly would have scratched off all the nice varnish. "twinkle, twinkle, firefly, like a lantern in the sky," he sang, very soft and low. and pretty soon jack sprite opened his eyes and when he saw the little elf, wasn't he surprised. "come, jack, you must be quick. the ragged rabbit giant is gathering all the jack-in-the-pulpit flowers and pretty soon there won't be one left." "but how can i stop him?" "come with me," said the little elf. "i'll help you." so they both opened the window and slid down a moonbeam. well, pretty soon, the little gray mouse grew impatient. so she ran upstairs to see what they were about, and in the next story you shall hear what happened after that. "fee, fie!" "the moonlight shone on the bedroom floor as the little gray mouse peeked in through the door, but the little fairy i told you about had opened the windows and just gone out. so the little gray mouse had nothing to do but close it again to keep out the flu." then she softly stole downstairs so as not to waken little jack rabbit, and after eating a cheese sandwich went to bed. and now i suppose you are wondering what became of the little elf and the tiny fairy i mentioned in the story before this. well, i'll tell you right away. as soon as they slid off the moonbeam, they scampered away to the forest where the big ragged rabbit giant was stealing all the jack-in-the-pulpit flowers he could lay hands on. "now hide behind this tree and i'll creep under this bush," said the little elf, "and when the ragged rabbit giant comes by you blow your policeman's whistle and i'll blow mine, and i guess that will so frighten him that he'll never come here again." pretty soon, not so very long, they heard a sharp crashing of branches and a big thumping on the ground, and then, all of a sudden, the ragged rabbit giant appeared. "fee, fie, china and delf, i smell the blood of a little elf, fie, fee, left, right, i smell the blood of a little sprite." and, goodness me. little jack sprite and the tiny elf were so frightened that they almost forgot to blow their policeman whistles. and i guess they would have if a little round-eyed owl hadn't tooted: "blow your whistles quick i say, and frighten this rabbit giant away!" goodness me, again! then how they did blow their whistles, and the giant almost jumped through his collar, and before you could say jack robinson, ran back to his castle and climbed into his big folding bed. "now i guess our shady forest will be as quiet as philadelphia," said the tiny elf. and little jack sprite said, "maybe he has left one jack-in-the-pulpit flower in which i can make my home." then they both came out from their hiding places and before very long, just a little while, jack found a jack-in-the-pulpit flower. so he was all right and as happy as could be, and as the little elf had a home in a big oak tree, he said good-by and ran away just as the little red rooster began to crow. the old witch "come, let's go for a ride in the bunnymobile," said uncle john hare. "the wind is blowing from the west, and i've got on my new pink vest, we'll go through fairy land, i guess, maybe a thousand miles or less." and the old gentleman bunny curled his whiskers and winked at mrs. daisy duck, his old lady housekeeper. "well, be sure and get back in time for supper," she said as he and little jack rabbit hopped into the bunnymobile and rode away. by and by, after a while, and a laugh and a smile, they came to a queer little house in the wood, so the two little rabbits hopped out and knocked on the door, which was opened by a little girl dressed in blue. "good morning," she said, with a courtesy. "come in and see grandmother." now her grandmother was a witch, but one of those nice kind witches you seldom hear about. she didn't have a crooked nose, nor a turned-up chin, and her back wasn't humped at all. she really was very nice-looking, indeed, for her blue eyes were kind and her voice sweet and low. "what can i do for you two gentlemen bunnies?" she asked, taking up her knitting and making the needles fly so fast that they wondered how she could keep from making a slip now and then, and sometimes oftener. "we're looking for strawberries," answered little jack rabbit. "oh, ho!" said the nice old witch, "so that's what you're after. don't you know that this isn't the time of year for strawberries?" "i thought they grew all the year 'round in fairy land," said uncle hare. "well, i know where you may find some, but you'll have to sweep away the snow," said the nice old witch. "go down to the meadow by the river sippi, and then up a little hill, on the top of which stands a tiny house. knock on the door and ask tim woodman to show you his strawberry patch." "thank you," said uncle john hare, and he drove away with his little nephew and by and by they came to the little house. and sure enough, when they knocked on the door, tim woodman opened it. but goodness me! when they told him what they wanted, he didn't seem at all pleased. i guess he wanted the strawberries for himself. but anyway, when kind uncle john hare offered to give him a ride in the bunnymobile, tim led them around to the rear of his house, and taking a broom began to sweep away the snow. and in the next story you shall hear what happened after that. strawberries tim woodman swept away the snow to find his strawberry patch. just then the wind began to blow and broke his back door latch. "botheration!" said tim. "i'll have to make a new one!" just then a little snow fairy jumped out from behind a bush and said: "brush away the snow, tim woodman, and you'll find red, ripe strawberries." and sure enough he found them, and picking a quart, or maybe more, he said: "tell the witch within the wood i really gave you all i could." "you are very kind," said uncle john hare. "tomorrow we'll come and take you for a ride in the bunnymobile." and then the two little rabbits rode away, carefully holding the box of strawberries, and pretty soon they came to their little house, where mrs. daisy duck, their old housekeeper, was waiting for them. goodness me! i wish you could have seen the strawberry shortcake she made for supper. but perhaps it's just as well you couldn't, for i'm not sure you would have been invited to have a piece. well, the next morning little jack rabbit and uncle john hare set off again in the bunnymobile, and after they had gone for maybe a mile or more they came to a cave, outside of which sat a queer little dwarf dressed in green, with a red-peaked hat on his head. his long white beard was covered with snowflakes and his bright black eyes twinkled merrily. "hello, little rabbits," he called out. "what are you doing so far away from the old bramble patch, u. s. a.?" "we are visiting fairy land," answered little jack rabbit. "well, come in and see my tame mice," said the little dwarf, and he shook the snow from his beard and opened a little door. the two little rabbits hopped out of the bunnymobile and followed him into the cave. goodness me! you should have seen all the tame mice. some were white, and some were gray, but they were all dressed up like little men--boots and breeches, coats and hats, and one little mouse carried a cane. i guess he was the leader of these little mice men, for they all seemed to do just exactly what he did. "i never would have invited you in," said the little dwarf, "if i hadn't trusted you not to tell the farmer's big black cat." "ha, ha!" laughed uncle john hare, "i don't believe black cat has caught a mouse since little jack rabbit kicked him over." and this made the dwarf smile, for he had just read about it in a book called "little jack rabbit's adventures." but he didn't have time to say so to uncle john hare, for just then the little mice began to sing the song you shall hear in the next story. mrs. ant now let's put our heads together and try to think where we left off in the last story. oh, yes, now i remember. little jack rabbit and uncle john hare were in the dwarf's cave listening to the little mice sing about crackers and cheese. "we are the mice of the little dwarf king, who has taught us so well the way to sing; tra la la la, to ro la loo, the rose is red and the violet blue." when they had finished little jack rabbit gave them a big piece of cheese and said good-by to the dwarf, and after he and uncle john hare had gone for maybe a mile, the bunnymobile all of a sudden, just like that, stopped right in the middle of the road and wouldn't go a step further. "what's the matter now, i wonder," asked the old gentleman rabbit "you nearly ran over me," said a little voice, and there stood a tiny ant, dressed in a pink calico gown and a purple sunbonnet. "goodness me!" exclaimed uncle john hare, "it's a good thing the bunnymobile saw you in time, because i didn't. maybe i'd better buy myself some farsighted goggles." "where are you going, mrs. ant?" piped in the little rabbit. now it happened that she was going to the baker shop in antville which was three miles away, and so were the two little rabbits, so all three started off again, and by and by, they stopped in front of the bakery shop. "thank you very kindly, gentlemen," said mrs. ant, "it would have taken me a long time to have walked those three miles. maybe some day i can do you a good turn!" and dropping them a courtesy, she went in to buy a cookie and maybe a jelly tart. "where shall we go now?" asked the old gentleman bunny, putting on his goggles and pulling up his coat collar, for it was pretty cold and mr. north wind was whistling through the forest. "let's go down to the pond to skate," said little jack rabbit, and off they went, but, oh dear me, just as they were strapping on their skates, who should come along but mr. wicked wolf. and poor uncle john hare had only one skate on. "oh, mr. wolf, don't bother me, for somebody's hiding behind the tree, he's looking for you with a great big gun, perhaps he's the big kind farmer's son," shouted little jack rabbit. but mr. wicked wolf didn't care. and in the next story you shall hear what he said. more adventures "ha, ha!" growled mr. wicked wolf as he looked at the little rabbits. "which one shall i eat, for they both look sweet, dressed in their pretty fur habits." "you won't eat either one of us," said little jack rabbit, taking his popgun from his knapsack. "do you remember what happened to your brother when he tried to kill little red riding hood?" "never mind," replied the big beast, creeping toward the bunnymobile, "i've learned a lot about fighting since that time." and he crept still closer. but the little rabbit never winked an eyelash; he just waited till the wicked animal was close enough to shoot off his left ear. "oh, dear, oh, dear! i've lost an ear what shall i ever do? i never thought i would be caught and made to look so queer." and that unhappy wolf turned tail and ran away. "well, that was a narrow escape," said the old gentleman rabbit. "i don't feel much like sightseeing. let's turn the bunnymobile around and get away from here. this old wolf might come back with his brother." so off they went, and by and by whom should they meet but prof. jim crow sitting on a fence. "goodness me!" exclaimed little jack rabbit, "he looks just like that naughty bird who when the maid was in the garden, hanging out the clothes, hopped along the clothesline and nipped off her nose." "but you know i'm not that bird," he answered, flapping his wings. "it was a cousin of mine. will you give me a ride in your bunnymobile? i'll tell you something nice if you do." "all right, jump in," said the old gentleman rabbit. "what's the nice thing you mention?" "not very far from here lives a little yellow hen in a green house. i've heard that she has a magic china egg which is as good as a wishing stone. all you have to do is to hold it in your hand and make a wish and the wish comes true." "let's make her a visit," said little jack rabbit, and off they all went to the yellow hen's house and if they reach there i will tell you all about this wonderful wishing egg in the next story. the wishing egg "good morning," said little jack rabbit as the little yellow hen opened the door of her tiny green house. "uncle john and i would like to see your wishing egg." "who told you i had a wishing egg?" she asked, looking sharply at prof. jim crow. "i did," answered that old black bird, with a twist of his tail. "you're a meddlesome old person," cackled the little yellow hen, "but as long as you're all here, come in," and she led the way to the sitting room. over in the corner was a nest of nice clean straw, in which lay a big china egg. "now you all come here and make a wish," she said, spreading her wings over the egg while she sang very low: "wishing egg, wishing egg, grant three wishes now i beg." but, oh dear me. for almost a minute and a half neither little jack rabbit nor uncle john hare could decide what they wanted. but prof. jim crow could. oh, my, yes! for all of a sudden in through the window came a silk hat and a swallow tail coat and a big diamond pin. [illustration: the wishing egg brings new clothes to professor crow.] "ha, ha!" he laughed, "here are my wishes--one, two, three. well, now i'm as happy as happy can be," and in less than five hundred short seconds he had them on, silk hat, swallow tail coat and big diamond pin. "hurry up and make your wishes," said the little yellow hen to the two little bunnies. so little jack rabbit wrinkled his little pink nose and uncle john hare shut his eyes, and pretty soon they must have made their wishes for in through the window came a lot of things--a pianograph, a box of lollypops, a gold watch, a liberty bond and a fountain pen. "now, that's a pretty good day's work," said the old gentleman rabbit with a smile, stroking his whiskers. "but what did you wish for?" "nothing at all," answered the little hen. "when you know you can get whatever you want by just wishing you don't want anything. but maybe some day i will, and then i'll wish, never fear." and after that she combed her yellow curls, beg pardon, i mean her feathers--with her red coral comb till she looked prettier than her picture, which hung over the mantelpiece in a red plush frame. "some day i hope we'll be able to do you a good turn," said kind uncle john hare as he and his little rabbit nephew hopped out to the bunnymobile. "any time you are in need call up 'harebell, one, two, three, hurray! turnip city.'" "good-by," said the little yellow hen, and off they went, but prof. jim crow flew away by himself because he wanted to show his new clothes to mrs. crow before supper. and in the next story you shall hear what happened after that. magic boots as little jack rabbit and uncle john hare rode along in the bunnymobile, all of a sudden, just like that, they heard someone calling: "oh, please come and help me out, i'm caught so tight and fast i haven't seen my dear old home for two weeks sunday last." "who can it be?" asked the old gentleman rabbit in a whisper, slowing up the bunnymobile. "i don't see anybody," answered his little bunny nephew, "but there must be somebody in trouble, just the same." and then the voice came again, only louder than before: "oh, please, oh, please, come rescue me. i'm caught so tight in this old oak tree." and then, all of a sudden, the two little rabbits saw a tiny dwarf wedged in between a tree and a big rock. "wait a minute! we'll see what we can do," and in less than five hundred short seconds little jack rabbit and his uncle were tugging away at the little dwarf and pretty soon they had him out, all except his left foot. "slip your foot out of your boot," said the old gentleman rabbit. "no, that would never do," answered the little man. "if i should do that i would lose my power." "are yours magic boots?" asked the old gentleman rabbit, looking down at his own, which he considered about the finest in the world, let me tell you. "indeed they are," answered the dwarf, "they are thousand league boots. i can run away from a giant as easily as an automobile from a pushcart." "goodness me," exclaimed uncle john hare, "they are certainly wonderful. but what are you going to do? stay fast to that tree all the rest of your life, or walk about like other people?" well, this made the dwarf think pretty hard, and by and by he said: "pull me out and leave the boot. maybe i can hop on one leg fast enough to get away from a giant anyway." so both little rabbits gave a big tug and out came the dwarf, but the boot was left behind, which made the dwarf quite unhappy until he was asked to take a ride in the bunnymobile. "there's an old cobbler who lives near here," said the dwarf. "perhaps he might make me a boot. i hear he's a very wonderful cobbler." so the two little rabbits set off to find him and soon they came to a hut in the middle of the wood, on the roof of which sat a little robin redbreast singing. but what he said you must wait to hear in the next story. the tiny cobbler "tick, tack, two the cobbler makes a shoe that takes a stride the whole world wide, tick, tack, two." "did you hear that?" whispered the little dwarf, who in the last story has lost one of his wonderful thousand league boots, you remember. and if you don't, please take my word for it, as there won't be space enough in this story to tell you how it happened. "let's go in and ask the price," said uncle john hare. so the two little bunnies and the dwarf hopped out of the bunnymobile and went into the hut. on a wooden bench sat a tiny man dressed in a big leather apron and red-peaked hat, busily making a boot. he didn't seem a bit surprised when the door opened, and he said: "my little tame robin just told me that you have left in a tree, your thousand league shoe." "that's right," answered the dwarf. "will you sell me the one you are making?" "what will you give me for it?" asked jim cobbler, waxing his thread and drawing it carefully through the holes he had just punched in the leather. "rubies and diamonds," answered the dwarf, taking a bag from his pocket. "two diamonds and three rubies, five precious stones, the like of which you have never seen." "i will finish the boot in a short time," answered jim cobbler, "and then you may try it on." and he set to work, and pretty soon, not so very long, it was finished. and would you believe it, it fitted the dwarf perfectly and matched his other boot exactly. and as soon as he had paid for it, he walked outside and said in a singing way: "boots, boots, i would be a thousand miles across the sea." and, whisk! away he went and was lost to sight before uncle john hare could get out his spyglass. "well, well," laughed the wonderful shoemaker, coming to the door and shading his eyes with his hand, "it didn't take him long to walk away. ha! ha! my boots are better than airships." i guess he thought he had done a good day's work, and maybe he had, for two diamonds and three rubies are a fair price for one boot, although it may have a stride of a thousand leagues, more or less. and just you wait until you hear what happens in the next story. firefly lanterns twinkle, twinkle, firefly, like a diamond in the sky. well, it was mighty lucky that this firefly had her tiny lantern along with her, for i don't know how the two little rabbits would have reached home if she hadn't lighted the way for them, for the bunnymobile lantern had gone out, you see. "we must buy some new ones," said the old gentleman bunny. "we may be arrested any night, and that would be most unpleasant." so the next morning he and little jack rabbit started off for bunnyville and by and by, after a while, they crossed the bridge that spanned rabbit river, which wasn't really much wider than a little brook, and stopped before a hardware store. "what kind of lanterns have you?" asked uncle john hare of the fat turkey gobble who kept the store. "we have jack lanterns, and miners' lamps, and japanese lanterns, and----" "that'll do," said the little bunny, "let's see them." and after looking at this and looking at that the old gentleman rabbit picked out two jack lanterns. "these will look scrumptious," he said. "i don't believe another car in town will have one." and then they started off again down the road to see little ben meadow. now little ben meadow lived in a round house. his first name was ben and his last name was mouse. so now you know who little ben is, but just the same i suppose you wonder why he would be delighted to have two rabbits call on him. well, i'll tell you. it was because, in the first place, he knew that these two nice bunnies wouldn't hurt him, and in the second place, he wore a collar and belt of leather studded with sharp pointed tacks, which would hurt anyone who tried to catch him. "helloa, ben," said the old gentleman rabbit when the little mouse opened the door. "have you any green cheese?" "maybe, but i'm not sure. it is over two weeks since the man in the moon was here," answered benjamin meadow mouse, for that was his whole name, you know, only everybody called him "ben" for short, and the little mice called him "bennie." pretty soon he came out with a piece of cheese wrapped up in a napkin and handed it to the old gentleman rabbit, who thanked him and said: "i'm going to give a party tonight. you are invited. come at eight and stay till late," and then he turned the bunnymobile around and away they went. pretty soon they passed through the wood, where bobbie redvest had his nest. "come to my party tonight at eight, bring mrs. robin and stay till late," said uncle john hare, and in the next story you shall hear what happened after that. invitations you remember in the last story that uncle john hare was giving a party and had invited benjamin meadow mouse and bobbie redvest, to be there early and stay till late and bring a key to his little front gate. but now that i come to think of it, i didn't tell you about the key. no, sir, i must have forgotten that. well, you see, there was a fence all around uncle john's house, and if you didn't have a key to the little gate, why, of course, you couldn't get in. but the old gentleman rabbit had bought a thousand keys and to every one of his friends had given one, and sometimes two, but not at the same time. "now who else shall we invite?" asked the old gentleman bunny, as they rolled along with a laugh and a song. "jack sprite," answered little jack rabbit. "of course," laughed the old gentleman bunny, and he turned down the shady dell where the jack-in-the-pulpit flowers grew, and by and by he came to the one in which jack lived. "oh, yes, i'll come," he said, "and i'll stay late, until the rooster crows at eight." "all right," answered uncle john hare, "i don't care, but don't blame me if i should fall asleep before that time," and then away went the bunnymobile and before very long the two little rabbits met the little fairy who had once upon a time, not very many stories ago, slept in the old gentleman rabbit's bed. "come to my party, come at eight, and bring your key to my little front gate." "i'll be there, never fear," laughed the little fairy, for uncle john hare was noted for his wonderful parties. "now that makes three," said little jack rabbit. "shall we ask the ragged rabbit giant?" "sh-s-sh!" whispered the old gentleman bunny, "don't mention his name. i have only ten pounds of cheese for the rarebit. he'd eat a ton at one bite." then they went on until they met little red riding hood. "come to my party, come at eight, and bring your key to my little front gate." "i'll be there," answered little red riding hood, and she ran down to the village to buy a new gown. "now who else?" asked the old gentleman rabbit. "goodness me, yes, indeed, there's bo peep," said billy bunny. and in the next story you shall hear about the party. uncle john hare's party you remember we left off in the last story just as the two little rabbits were on their way to ask bo peep to come to their party. well, she said she would, of course, and then uncle john hare, the old gentleman bunny, went to the telephone and called up mother goose and invited her and all the little people of mother goose land to his party. "come to my party, come at eight, and bring your key to my little front gate," he added, before hanging up the receiver, for he didn't want anybody to be disappointed, you know. but they would be, just the same, if they forgot to bring their keys, for the old gentleman rabbit would never open his front gate after eight. "now we had better hurry home to help mrs. daisy duck get things ready for tonight," and he changed places with his bunny nephew, who took the wheel and steered the bunnymobile, while kind uncle john hare looked over the list of names to make sure no one had been left out, and pretty soon, not so very long, they were home and as busy as could be getting everything ready for the big party. at eight o'clock, and maybe a few minutes before, the little front gate began to rattle, and mother goose came up the walk, followed by goosey-goosey-gander and the three blind mice, who held on to the gander's tail feathers so as not to stub their toes on the front door step. then pretty soon, the lock began to rattle again, and in came jack sprite and the little forest fay, and before minutes past every one was there. well, by and by it came time to cut the big birthday cake in which was hidden a little gold ring, and of course everyone hoped he would find it in his piece of cake. but of course everybody except benjamin meadow mouse was disappointed, which tells you right away who got the ring. [illustration: jack sprite and forest fay arrive at uncle john hare's party.] now everything was going along as nicely as you please, when, all of a sudden, there came a rap-tap-a-tap at the little front gate, and mrs. daisy duck, the old housekeeper, whispered: "somebody's knocking at the gate, we won't let him in because it's too late; no one gets in who has lost his key no matter what time the hour may be." but, goodness me. the knocking kept right on, only louder and louder, and pretty soon a gruff voice said: "i'm the ragged rabbit giantman open the gate as quick as you can." "what shall we do?" asked mrs. daisy duck, who was a timid lady duck and never felt safe unless she was out in the middle of turnip city lake. and in the next story, if that big giant doesn't break down the gate, i'll tell you what happened after that. the little ring "if you don't open the gate, i'll step over the wall it's not very high, and i'm pretty tall. i guess you had better open the gate; in case i get angry you'll find it too late." "oh, dear me!" said mrs. daisy duck, "what shall we do?" then what do you suppose little benjamin meadow mouse said? you'd never guess. he ran out of the house, down to the gate, and called out to that great big giant: "have you a little boy at home?" "i certainly have," replied the big immense giant rabbit. "then take this little ring to him," said benjamin meadow mouse, handing over the ring which he had just found in his piece of birthday cake, as i told you in the last story. "you are very kind," said the giant. "i'll go home at once and give it to him." and away he went to climb up his mountain. well, after that, the birthday party broke up, and all the little guests went home, but before benjamin meadow mouse said good night, little jack rabbit gave him another ring, maybe a little prettier than the one in the birthday cake. the next morning when mr. merry sun looked into the window he said: "wake up, wake up! little boy rabbit dress yourself in your white fur habit. it's going to be a beautiful day for i've driven the rain clouds all away." "that's very nice of you, mr. merry sun," said the little bunny, rubbing his eyes, for he was still sleepy from the birthday party. then, after a yawn or two, he jumped out of bed, and pretty soon he was downstairs with uncle john hare, reading the bunnyville news. well, before very long, they were ready to go for a drive, so they cranked up the bunnymobile, and started off, and by and by, after a while, and many a mile and a song and a smile, they met little bobbie redvest who told them that the cow that jumped over the moon wasn't feeling very well. "goodness me, that's too bad," said the old gentleman bunny. "i guess i'll get the doctor." so off he went, with little jack rabbit, and pretty soon, not so very far, they came to the good doctor's house on the corner of lettuce avenue and pumpkin square. and in the next story you shall hear what happened after that. doctor cat oh, doctor cat was very wise, oh, very wise was he. he knew you'd smile in a little while if tickled on the knee. well, i hope you remember where we left off in the last story, but in case you don't, little jack rabbit and uncle john hare had gone after doctor cat to tell him that the cow that jumped over the moon was ill with the rheumatism. "that's pretty hard to cure," said the wise cat doctor after the little bunnies had explained matters. "but i will get my little black bag and go with you," and filling it full of little medicine bottles and boxes of pills he put on his coat and hat and followed the two little rabbits out to the bunnymobile. then they all started for mrs. cow's house in meadowville, on the corner of corn cob avenue and clover street. "i don't know what will happen if she never can jump over the moon again," said little jack rabbit. "just think how disappointed all the little boys and girls will be who read mother goose. maybe the little dog will never laugh again and the dish won't run after the spoon." "i'll give her a jumping powder," said dr. cat. "that's all she needs. don't worry. i once treated a kangaroo for the same trouble," and he began to purr as if nothing could worry him except, maybe, a big dog. well, pretty soon they came to mrs. cow's house, so the doctor jumped out and went in. but, oh dear me, mrs. cow was sicker than he thought, i guess, for he didn't come out for fifteen minutes, and maybe more. "how is she?" inquired kind uncle john hare when the famous cat doctor was once more seated in the bunnymobile. "she hasn't got rheumatism at all," he answered. "she bumped her foot on the edge of the moon, but it will be all well in a few days." by and by the two little rabbits and the famous cat doctor came to a bridge where they found the old dog who took the toll ill with the flu. "let me off here," said dr. cat, "and you can go on your way." so the two little bunnies crossed the bridge and stopped at a moving picture theatre. "there's going to be a show very soon," said a green parrot. "get your tickets. don't be late. there won't be a seat by half past eight." "shall we go in?" asked the old gentleman rabbit. and you don't suppose for a minute that little jack rabbit answers "no" in the next story, do you? the big black bear now the moving picture to which little jack rabbit and uncle john hare went in the story before this was about a dog that barked at the moon till the man in the moon threw him a bone, after which he sat out in the backyard every night to catch the bones the man in the moon threw down to him. "i wish it had been about the little bird in the moon man's house," said little jack rabbit. "i don't care much about dogs." well, after that they both jumped into the bunnymobile and started off for home. but, oh dear me. they had gone only a little way, just so far, when out from the wood jumped a big black bear. "what are you doing out here by my wood? your bunnymobile makes a noise it will wake up my cub with its rub-a-dub-dub, and frighten the little bird boys." "no, it won't," answered the old gentleman rabbit. "everybody in the shady forest knows me. i've taken the fairies out for a drive. they like it." well, when the black bear heard that he grew more sociable and pretty soon he invited the two little bunnies to call. so little jack rabbit asked him to get in the bunnymobile, and away they went to the bear's home. and after a while, they saw among the trees a cute little log house. "that's where i live," said the black bear, and in less time than i can take to tell it, they were all out of the bunnymobile and seated in the parlor. "now wait a minute and i'll see if my little cub is awake," said the big black bear, and he went to the foot of the stairs to listen. "go to sleep, you naughty cub, what makes you wriggle so? you ought to be in dreamy land where pretty flowers grow." "sh-s-sh!" said the big black bear, motioning to uncle john hare. "mrs. bear is singing him to sleep!" so the two little rabbits tiptoed out of the log cabin and hopped into the bunnymobile, and went softly away, for they knew how hard it is for mothers to get their children to sleep and they didn't want to make trouble for kind mrs. bear. well, pretty soon these kind little bunnies reached home, where mrs. daisy duck, their housekeeper, stood waiting on the front porch. it was quite late and the twinkle, twinkle star was shining down from the sky. and next time if the man in the moon doesn't lose a cent and so is unable to pay his rent, i'll tell you another story about these two little rabbits. chicken city one morning as uncle john hare and his bunny nephew sat on the front porch of their little house on the corner of turnip square and lettuce avenue they saw a yellow hen walking down the road. she had on a pink shawl and a purple sunbonnet and a pair of little red slippers. "cackle, cackle, what do you think, i went to the store to buy some ink, paper and pen a letter to write, but they told me they'd all sold out last night." "so here i am," said the little yellow hen. "i must make you a call," and she hopped up on the porch and sat down in the rocking chair. "well, we're glad to see you," said the old gentleman rabbit. "how are all the folks in chicken city?" "the old red rooster has the chicken pox," she answered. and when the old gentleman rabbit heard that he was dreadfully sorry, for once upon a time that very same rooster used to wake him up every morning for breakfast. "we'll take the bunnymobile and go over to see him," he said. and in less than short seconds all three of them were driving toward chicken city. but, would you believe it, when they reached the old red rooster's house they were told he had gone for a walk on the meadow. and pretty soon they heard him say: "i got over the chickenpox, but i nearly had the flu i'm so glad i'm well again-- cock-a-doodle-do!" "too bad you took all this trip for nothing," said the yellow hen. "not a bit of it," answered the old gentleman bunny. "it's worth going a thousand miles to hear my old friend crow again." and then he and little jack rabbit jumped into the bunnymobile and started off for home. but they had gone only a little way, maybe a mile and maybe less, when they saw a little pig by the road-side, eating clover tops and wagging his little curly tail to brush away the flies. "come, take a ride with us," shouted little jack rabbit. so in jumped the little pig and sat down on the back seat and then the old gentleman bunny made the bunnymobile go twice as fast to frighten the little pig. but he wasn't scared. he lay back against the nice soft cushions and took a lollypop out of his pocket and made believe he was smoking a pipe. and when the old gentleman rabbit turned around, he nearly upset the bunnymobile he was so surprised. and in the next story you shall hear what happened after that. mrs. wildcat the bunnymobile went gliding along, while the two little rabbits sang a song. the little pig now and then joined in, but, oh, dear me! his voice was thin. "stop that noise!" cried somebody, all of a sudden, just like that. and from behind a bush a big wildcat jumped right out into the middle of the road. and, oh dear me, again, and maybe once more, but she had dreadful long teeth and sharp pointed claws. "i won't stop," answered the old gentleman rabbit. "yes, you will," said the wildcat, "and what is more i'm going to eat your friend mr. pig." goodness gracious me! that was a terrible thing to hear, especially if you're a pig. and then with a leap that fierce wildcat landed in the bunnymobile. but, oh dear me, before she could touch him little jack rabbit picked up a big round rubber tire and threw it over that wicked wildcat's head, and when she tried to get it off the little air valve opened and blew in her eye until she couldn't see anything. and while she had her eyes shut the old gentleman rabbit put a big chain around her waist and padlocked it to the bunnymobile. "now will you be good?" asked little jack rabbit with a grin. "we'll take you to the catnip city jail and turn you over to the policeman dog." and away went the two little rabbits, but, let me tell you, before they even started the little pig jumped over the seat and sat down beside them, for he didn't want to stay with the big wildcat. oh, dear no! not even if she were chained and padlocked. well, pretty soon, not so very long, although it seemed a month to the little pig, they came to catnip city, and in a few minutes after that they stopped in front of the jail. "what have you got here?" asked the policeman dog, coming out with his club in his right paw. "oh, i see, mrs. wildcat. i'm mighty glad you've caught her." and he tickled her ear with his club and locked her up in a cell. "she won't bother anybody for thirty days," said the policeman dog. and then away went the two little bunnies till they came to a farm where a big turkey gobbler lived. "gobble, gobble, gobble! cried the great big turkey cock. i'd like to find some one to darn, the hole in my purple sock." "give it to me and i'll take it home to my housekeeper," said uncle john hare. and in the next story you shall hear what happened after that. professor crow now i forgot to tell you in the last story that as soon as the two little rabbits reached the farm where the big turkey gobbler had a hole in his purple sock, the little pig jumped out of the bunnymobile and ran around to the pigsty, and he was in such a hurry that he forgot all about thanking them for the nice ride. "now i hope my housekeeper, mrs. daisy duck, has some purple yarn," said the old gentleman rabbit as the turkey gobbler handed over the sock with the hole in it, "but if she hasn't i'll get some for her at the one-two-three-cent store in turnip city." "you're very kind," answered the turkey gobbler. "some day i'll do you a favor." well, by and by, after a while, the two little rabbits came to a hill which the bunnymobile wouldn't go up. no, siree. it just stood still and turned its two brass lamps around to see what the old gentleman rabbit was going to do about it. "goodness gracious me!" he said. "now what do you think is the matter. maybe it wants some gasoline to drink or maybe some milk. i'm sure i don't know which!" and just then professor crow flew by and said: "what is the matter with you, i say; there's a wire stretched across the way, can't you see it from where you sit? the two front wheels are caught by it." "so there is," exclaimed little jack rabbit. "thank you, professor crow." "but how can we cut the wire?" asked the old gentleman rabbit. "i wish mrs. daisy duck were here with her work basket; we could borrow her scissors." "ha, ha!" laughed the old black crow. "if you'll give me a ride i'll cut the wire with my beak." "that will be fine," said uncle john hare. "go ahead and cut it, and then jump in and we'll take you wherever you wish." in a few minutes that clever black bird cut the wire in two, and then the bunnymobile went up the hill as nicely as you please. and when they reached the top they met a little old man with a pack on his back. he was a very queer looking person, not the least like a dwarf, but much smaller than a boy. "take me with you, good friends," he said. "i will reward you with a present from my pack." "jump in," said little jack rabbit. "you may sit with professor crow on the back seat." so the little old man crawled in, bundle and all, and after a while he undid the string that tied the bag and put his hand inside. "what shall i pick from out of the bag. say what you'd like the best. a watch or a ring or a diamond stud, or a purple velvet vest?" the witch's spell now i guess little jack rabbit and uncle john hare, the nice old gentleman bunny, have had plenty of time since i wrote the last story to think what they would rather have from the pack, which the funny little old man had untied as he rode along with them in the bunnymobile. "now tell me what you'd like," he said again. "i'll take a diamond pin," said the old gentleman rabbit. "give me a watch," cried the little bunny. "a gold ring will suit me," said the little pig. "i can wear it like an earring in my nose." "i'd like a purple velvet vest," said prof. jim crow; "it will go very nicely with my black swallow-tail coat." then the funny little old man pulled out his hand, and, would you believe it? he handed little jack rabbit a diamond pin. and then he put his hand in the bag again and drew out a watch, a ring, and a lovely purple vest. "goodness gracious me, but you are generous," said uncle john hare. "how can we ever repay you?" "i will tell you," answered the little old man. "and i hope you will be willing to do what i ask." "oh, dear me," thought little jack rabbit, "i know he's going to ask us to do something dangerous." "in yonder forest," said the little old man, "lives an old witch who keeps in a wicker cage a lovely bird. now this little bird is really my daughter, but the wicked witch has cast a spell over her. and the only way she can be set free is for someone to touch her with a little blue flower which grows all by itself near a big oak tree, not far from here." "i will fly away and bring back the flower," said professor jim crow. "now then," said the funny little old man, "i will tell you what to do. the little pig must go around to the back of the witch's hut and dig up her garden, and when she runs out to send him away, you two rabbits hop up on the porch and carry off the cage. and as soon as you have it safe in the bunnymobile, come back to me. i will wait for you here." well, by this time, as prof. jim crow had flown after the flower, the two little rabbits and the pig started off for the witch's hut and by and by, after a while, they stopped in the wood and got out. and when they were quite near, the little pig ran around to the back and began to dig up the garden. pretty soon, the old witch ran out of the back door to chase the pig and by this time little jack rabbit had placed the birdcage in the bunnymobile. but, oh dear me. just as he and his uncle were driving away they heard a dreadful scream, and in the next story i'll tell you what happened after that. the magic flower "come back, come back with my pretty bird, or i'll change you both into a snake. how dare you act like a couple of thieves and my little pet blue bird take?" and then the witch gave a dreadful scream, and jumping on her broom-stick flew after little jack rabbit and uncle john hare. now it may seem strange that a broom-stick can go as fast as a bunnymobile, but it did, just the same. and maybe a little faster, for pretty soon the old witch was alongside and stretching out her bony hand tried to snatch up the cage with the little blue bird. but just then, all of a sudden, up came professor jim crow with the magic blue flower, and as soon as he touched the little bird she changed into a lovely princess, and the old witch gave another dreadful scream and almost fell off her broom-stick. you see she was afraid of that little magic blue flower, for she knew if she came near it she would turn into a bat, and that would be the end of her. so she flew away on her broom-stick, back to her hut in the wood. well, by this time they had reached the funny little old man with his pack who lost no time in touching the little magic flower, when, presto! chango! as the magician says, he turned into a handsome king, and throwing his arms around the princess, cried, "my dearest daughter! at last you are free!" and then he turned to the two little rabbits and prof. jim crow. "how shall i ever repay you?" "don't mention it again," said the old gentleman bunny. "we are all glad to have helped you; and besides, you gave us all a present." just then the little pig came up, much out of breath, for he had run all the way from the witch's house. pretty soon the king and the princess drove off in a great coach drawn by four milk white horses, after saying good-by to the bunnies, the crow and pig. and not so very long, they heard a voice singing: "my little white dress i have washed so clean, i will iron the ruffles in between, and when the prince comes riding along, i'll sing my prettiest fairy song." "who is singing?" asked the little rabbit, and they stopped the bunnymobile and knocked at the door of a little house they spied in the wood and in less than five seconds, it was opened by a little girl. "come in," she said, "i've never seen such nice rabbits before." and in the next story you shall hear what happened after that. the ribbon tree in the story before this i told you how a little girl opened the door of her cottage when the two little rabbits went rat-a-tat-tat three times. and you remember she was singing a song about her pretty ruffled dress which she meant to put on before the prince came riding by. well, as soon as the two little rabbits sat down in the parlor, the little girl said: "i have a little tree, on which silk ribbons grow; some are red as roses, some are white as snow. and some are yellow, pink and blue, come, i'll show my tree to you." and then she led little jack rabbit and uncle john hare into her garden and showed them this wonderful tree. it certainly was a beautiful tree, just covered with little silk ribbons of many colors and on the topmost branch bobbie redvest had a nest full of little blue eggs. and while they stood there admiring this wonderful tree, five little dwarfs ran into the garden and said: "we want a yard of ribbon as blue as sunny sky, two yards of purple color and three of crimson dye." then the little girl took a pair of silver scissors from her pocket and clipped off the ribbons. and wasn't it wonderful? no sooner had she cut off a piece than another grew in its place. and after she had rolled up the ribbons in a neat package, the five little dwarfs each took a diamond out of his pocket and gave it to her, and then they hurried away without a word to the two little rabbits. "they never speak to anyone except in poetry," said the little girl, "and maybe they were too bashful to think of a rhyme for you." "i'd like to buy a blue ribbon for a tie," said uncle john hare. "i will give you one for nothing," said the little girl, "if you will take me in your bunnymobile to the one-two-three-cent store in catnip city." "all right," answered uncle john hare. so the little girl cut off a piece of blue ribbon and tied it around his neck and then off they went to the one-two-three-cent store. [illustration: the little girl tied a ribbon around uncle john hare's neck.] "i sell these ribbons for pussy cats and bow-wow dogs," she said, opening a box which she carried under her arm. "then i buy groceries and shoes for myself, and some day when the prince comes riding by on his big white horse he will stop to see me, and then maybe he'll ask me to marry him, and i shall be a princess. but i shall take my little magic tree with me and plant it in the castle garden, for it is my lucky charm." and in the next story, just wait until you hear what happens. the fairy cat when the two little rabbits and the little girl reached the one-two-three-cent store in catnip city, they all jumped out of the bunnymobile. now, i don't believe i ever told you about the one-two-three-cent store. it was kept by a fairy cat, whose name was tabby tiny cat. and all the fairies for miles around bought things at her store, for she kept every kind of a thing--candies made of honey dew, nuts and maple sugar, sunbeam taffy and moonlight marshmallows, as well as cobweb laces and pretty moss rugs and sugar maple icicle candy. "come in, come in," said the fairy cat. "i've things for a penny and some for two, and others for three, now what will it be?" "let me look around first," said little jack rabbit. "mrs. daisy duck, my uncle's housekeeper, makes all the good things we want to eat, but maybe you will have something we'd like to buy." so while he and uncle john hare looked around, the little girl showed the lovely magic tree ribbons to the fairy cat who said: "i'll take them all, for the fairy cats will need bows for easter." then the little girl bought flour and sugar and a pair of little red shoes, and a dainty sunbonnet with a yellow butterfly on it. and then she was ready to go home. but the two little rabbits were still looking around trying to find something which they could buy for mrs. daisy duck. pretty soon a yellow bird in a wicker cage began to sing: "buy a fairy dewdrop pin your purple tie to fasten in." "good," said uncle john hare, "that's what i want." "buy a silver tick-tock watch to tell the time of day. you'll find it very useful when riding miles away," sang the little bird. "that's the very thing," exclaimed little jack rabbit. and as soon as they had paid the fairy cat, they all jumped into the bunnymobile and started back for the little girl's house where in the garden grew the magic ribbon tree i told you about in the last story. but, oh dear me. just as they drew up at the front gate, they saw the ragged rabbit giant behind the house. "oh, dear," said the little girl. "he will pick off all the lovely ribbons. what shall i do?" well, just then, all of a sudden, a big tremendous long snake crawled out from behind a tree. and in the next story, you shall hear what happened after that. the big black snake "i'm as strong as an iron rope i can bind a giant fast; if i coil like a belt around his waist, i can make him breathe his last," sang the big black snake just as i finished the last story. "then help us," said little jack rabbit, "for the ragged rabbit giant is picking all the lovely ribbons from the little girl's magic tree." "keep quiet," said the snake, "and i will glide around into the garden and see what i can do." so uncle john hare, little jack rabbit and the little girl hid behind a lilac bush. and pretty soon, not so very long, they heard a dreadful noise. oh, dear me, yes. and in another minute the ragged rabbit giant ran out of the garden with the big snake coiled about his waist. now the ragged rabbit giant was tremendously strong, and the snake found it hard work to squeeze the breath out of him. but, just the same, ragged rabbit giant was mighty uncomfortable, let me tell you. and pretty soon he said in a whisper: "if you will tell this dreadful snake to bother me no more, i'll never pass this way again nor knock upon your door." "shall i let him go?" asked the snake, winking his left eye at uncle john hare. "first make him give us a promise," answered the wise old gentleman rabbit. so the big bunny giant made a solemn vow never to bother them again. "you are a very kind snake," said the little girl, "i will give you some ribbons for your children's easter bonnets." and she ran into the garden and with her silver scissors clipped off some pretty ribbons and gave them to the snake, who then glided away to his home. just then the sound of a bugle was heard and the little girl cried: "here comes the prince on his snow-white steed as my godmother told me he would, to take me away to his castle gay in the midst of the whispering wood." and sure enough, in a few minutes the prince came by and asked the little girl to come to his castle. so she pulled up the magic ribbon tree and locked the door of her little house, and then the handsome prince lifted her up on the saddle and rode away to the castle. and as soon as the little girl was seated behind him she grew into a beautiful young princess. and in the next story, oh, just wait until you hear what happens. the sugar barrel said mrs. daisy duck one day, "the sugar all has gone away the ants have made a call i fear, and taken it away from here." "never mind," said uncle john hare, the old gentleman rabbit, "perhaps they couldn't buy any lollypops at the one-two-three-cent store." "but what am i to do?" asked mrs. daisy duck. "i must have sugar to make angel cake." "if that's the case," said the old gentleman bunny, "i'll motor over to turnip city and buy some." so he and little jack rabbit jumped into the bunnymobile and away they went, and after a while, and maybe a mile, and a laugh and a smile, they stopped at the big grocery store. now the manager of the sugar department was a very nice pig, and when he advised uncle john hare to take a barrel of sugar instead of three pounds for twenty-five cents, the old gentleman rabbit said all right, he would. but, goodness me. they had a dreadful time getting that heavy barrel into the bunnymobile. but after a while they rolled it up on the back seat, and then they started off for home. but, goodness me again! they had gone but a little way when, all of a sudden, just like that, a voice sang out: "what have you got in that barrel that sits up so straight on the seat. you'd have a close call if it happened to fall on top of your four little feet." "who are you?" asked the old gentleman bunny, stopping the bunnymobile and looking all about him. but he couldn't see anybody, and neither could the little rabbit, although he put up his spyglasses and looked over the top of a tall oak tree. "here i am," said the voice, and all of a sudden, just like that, a big honey bee flew out of a flower. "ha, ha!" laughed the old gentleman rabbit, "i guess you smelt sugar. we have enough in that barrel to last for maybe a year and a day, as they say in fairy land." "i will give you a box of honey for two pounds of sugar," said the bee. "mr. bee told me this morning that he was tired of honey in his coffee." "get in the bunnymobile and come with us," said the old gentleman bunny. "when we get there i'll open the barrel and give you some." so away they went and soon they came across an old rag doll lying in the dusty road. "goodness me," exclaimed the old gentleman rabbit, "she must have fainted." and, sure enough, this was the case, for as soon as she was lifted into the bunnymobile she opened her eyes and said: "in the next story i'll tell you how i was lost by a little girl with a blue sunbonnet." the yellow dog tramp "i'm a plain rag doll in a dress of blue, and i've been lost, an hour or two by a little girl with a curly head who will cry for me when she goes to bed." this is what the rag doll said to the two little rabbits who picked her up in the last story, you remember. "dear me!" exclaimed the old gentleman bunny. "what's the name of the little girl?" "lucy locket," said the rag doll. and then little jack rabbit began to laugh, for he had once read of a little lucy locket who had lost her pocket, and he remembered that she lived not far away. so he steered the bunnymobile while the old gentleman bunny talked to the rag doll, and by and by, not so very long, they came to a pretty house, and right there on the front porch sat a little girl crying. "hello, don't cry; wipe your eye!" shouted kind uncle john hare. "we have found your rag dolly!" and in another minute the rag dolly was in the little girl's arms. "good-by," said the two little rabbits, and they drove away to find another adventure, and pretty soon they found one. oh, my yes! the yellow dog tramp came out of the wood and said: "i've been tramping, tramping, tramping for many a weary mile; across the way, through fields of hay, and through the old turnstile. oh, won't you take me for a ride? i've a dreadful pain in my poor old side." "jump in," said the old gentleman rabbit with a kind smile. "you're not the kind of a dog who bothers little bunnies." "no, i'm not," answered the yellow dog tramp, "i'd like to find a nice home and stay there." "well, you come with us," said the little bunny. "you can clean the bunnymobile and work in the garden." "hurrah!" barked the yellow dog tramp. "i feel like a boy again already, i used to do those things before i became a hobo doggy." well, by this time they were almost home, and in less than five hundred more short seconds they were in the garage where the old gentleman rabbit fixed up a little room for the yellow dog tramp, with a looking glass at one end and a little white bed at the other. "now you brush your coat and trousers and part your hair in the middle and then come in to supper," said the old gentleman rabbit. and in the next story you shall hear what happened after that. "always trust the fairies" uncle john's little garden is full of bright flowers and the fairies play tag through all the bright hours. "dear me," said the yellow dog tramp, to himself, peeping out of the garage, where we left him in the last story, "they seem to be having a fine time!" and he sighed, for he was thinking of another garden up in vermont and the old farm where he was a boy, long ago, before he had run away from home. "who's eye is watching us?" cried one of the fairies, all of a sudden, just like that. and then, of course, all these little people stopped playing but they couldn't see anything but the yellow dog tramp's right eye, which, i forgot to tell you, was peeping through a tiny knothole. "the yellow dog tramp, who is old and lame is watching you play your tag-a-rag game," he answered, whereupon all the fairies said: "jump over the fence, and play awhile drop your scowl and put on a nice smile." and when the yellow dog tramp heard that, he couldn't help but laugh, and in less than five hundred short seconds he was over the wall. but, oh dear me. in a few minutes the big ragged rabbit giant leaned over the tree top and said in a deep gruff voice: "fee, fum, fag, fog. i smell the blood of a yellow dog." "quick, i must change you into a fairy puppy," said the queen fairy, and she waved her bright wand, and in less time than i can take to tell it he became small enough to creep into a tulip flower. "where has that dog gone?" asked the big ragged rabbit giant, peeking under the bushes and behind the sunflowers, but he never thought to look in the tulip. "thunder and lightning! what happened to that dog," and the giant rabbit dusted off the knees of his trousers after creeping under a lilac bush; "he must be here somewhere." but not a fairy said a word, and pretty soon a mosquito stung that wicked old giant rabbit on the back of his neck, which made him so angry that he stepped over the garden wall and walked away. and when he was out of sight the queen fairy changed the yellow dog tramp back again into his natural shape: "always trust the fairies if danger you are in. and always say 'a lucky day!' when e'er you find a pin," sang the queen fairy as the happy yellow dog tramp ran into uncle john hare's little house. and there we will leave him for the present, but in another book, entitled "little jack rabbit and professor crow," you'll hear more about the little rabbits and their friends. the end little jack rabbit books (trademark registered) by david cory little jack rabbit's adventures little jack rabbit and danny fox little jack rabbit and the squirrel brothers little jack rabbit and chippy chipmunk little jack rabbit and the big brown bear little jack rabbit and uncle john hare little jack rabbit and professor crow little jack rabbit and old man weasel little jack rabbit and mr. wicked wolf little jack rabbit and hungry hawk little jack rabbit and the policeman dog little jack rabbit and miss mousie this ebook is courtesy of the celebration of women writers, online at http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/. the velveteen rabbit or how toys become real by margery williams illustrations by william nicholson doubleday & company, inc. garden city new york _________________________________________________________________ to francesco bianco from the velveteen rabbit _________________________________________________________________ list of illustrations christmas morning the skin horse tells his story spring time summer days anxious times the fairy flower at last! at last! _________________________________________________________________ here was once a velveteen rabbit, and in the beginning he was really splendid. he was fat and bunchy, as a rabbit should be; his coat was spotted brown and white, he had real thread whiskers, and his ears were lined with pink sateen. on christmas morning, when he sat wedged in the top of the boy's stocking, with a sprig of holly between his paws, the effect was charming. there were other things in the stocking, nuts and oranges and a toy engine, and chocolate almonds and a clockwork mouse, but the rabbit was quite the best of all. for at least two hours the boy loved him, and then aunts and uncles came to dinner, and there was a great rustling of tissue paper and unwrapping of parcels, and in the excitement of looking at all the new presents the velveteen rabbit was forgotten. christmas morning for a long time he lived in the toy cupboard or on the nursery floor, and no one thought very much about him. he was naturally shy, and being only made of velveteen, some of the more expensive toys quite snubbed him. the mechanical toys were very superior, and looked down upon every one else; they were full of modern ideas, and pretended they were real. the model boat, who had lived through two seasons and lost most of his paint, caught the tone from them and never missed an opportunity of referring to his rigging in technical terms. the rabbit could not claim to be a model of anything, for he didn't know that real rabbits existed; he thought they were all stuffed with sawdust like himself, and he understood that sawdust was quite out-of-date and should never be mentioned in modern circles. even timothy, the jointed wooden lion, who was made by the disabled soldiers, and should have had broader views, put on airs and pretended he was connected with government. between them all the poor little rabbit was made to feel himself very insignificant and commonplace, and the only person who was kind to him at all was the skin horse. the skin horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others. he was so old that his brown coat was bald in patches and showed the seams underneath, and most of the hairs in his tail had been pulled out to string bead necklaces. he was wise, for he had seen a long succession of mechanical toys arrive to boast and swagger, and by-and-by break their mainsprings and pass away, and he knew that they were only toys, and would never turn into anything else. for nursery magic is very strange and wonderful, and only those playthings that are old and wise and experienced like the skin horse understand all about it. "what is real?" asked the rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before nana came to tidy the room. "does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?" "real isn't how you are made," said the skin horse. "it's a thing that happens to you. when a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but really loves you, then you become real." "does it hurt?" asked the rabbit. "sometimes," said the skin horse, for he was always truthful. "when you are real you don't mind being hurt." "does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?" "it doesn't happen all at once," said the skin horse. "you become. it takes a long time. that's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. generally, by the time you are real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. but these things don't matter at all, because once you are real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand." "i suppose you are real?" said the rabbit. and then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the skin horse might be sensitive. but the skin horse only smiled. the skin horse tells his story "the boy's uncle made me real," he said. "that was a great many years ago; but once you are real you can't become unreal again. it lasts for always." the rabbit sighed. he thought it would be a long time before this magic called real happened to him. he longed to become real, to know what it felt like; and yet the idea of growing shabby and losing his eyes and whiskers was rather sad. he wished that he could become it without these uncomfortable things happening to him. there was a person called nana who ruled the nursery. sometimes she took no notice of the playthings lying about, and sometimes, for no reason whatever, she went swooping about like a great wind and hustled them away in cupboards. she called this "tidying up," and the playthings all hated it, especially the tin ones. the rabbit didn't mind it so much, for wherever he was thrown he came down soft. one evening, when the boy was going to bed, he couldn't find the china dog that always slept with him. nana was in a hurry, and it was too much trouble to hunt for china dogs at bedtime, so she simply looked about her, and seeing that the toy cupboard door stood open, she made a swoop. "here," she said, "take your old bunny! he'll do to sleep with you!" and she dragged the rabbit out by one ear, and put him into the boy's arms. that night, and for many nights after, the velveteen rabbit slept in the boy's bed. at first he found it rather uncomfortable, for the boy hugged him very tight, and sometimes he rolled over on him, and sometimes he pushed him so far under the pillow that the rabbit could scarcely breathe. and he missed, too, those long moonlight hours in the nursery, when all the house was silent, and his talks with the skin horse. but very soon he grew to like it, for the boy used to talk to him, and made nice tunnels for him under the bedclothes that he said were like the burrows the real rabbits lived in. and they had splendid games together, in whispers, when nana had gone away to her supper and left the night-light burning on the mantelpiece. and when the boy dropped off to sleep, the rabbit would snuggle down close under his little warm chin and dream, with the boy's hands clasped close round him all night long. and so time went on, and the little rabbit was very happy-so happy that he never noticed how his beautiful velveteen fur was getting shabbier and shabbier, and his tail becoming unsewn, and all the pink rubbed off his nose where the boy had kissed him. spring came, and they had long days in the garden, for wherever the boy went the rabbit went too. he had rides in the wheelbarrow, and picnics on the grass, and lovely fairy huts built for him under the raspberry canes behind the flower border. and once, when the boy was called away suddenly to go out to tea, the rabbit was left out on the lawn until long after dusk, and nana had to come and look for him with the candle because the boy couldn't go to sleep unless he was there. he was wet through with the dew and quite earthy from diving into the burrows the boy had made for him in the flower bed, and nana grumbled as she rubbed him off with a corner of her apron. spring time "you must have your old bunny!" she said. "fancy all that fuss for a toy!" the boy sat up in bed and stretched out his hands. "give me my bunny!" he said. "you mustn't say that. he isn't a toy. he's real!" when the little rabbit heard that he was happy, for he knew that what the skin horse had said was true at last. the nursery magic had happened to him, and he was a toy no longer. he was real. the boy himself had said it. that night he was almost too happy to sleep, and so much love stirred in his little sawdust heart that it almost burst. and into his boot-button eyes, that had long ago lost their polish, there came a look of wisdom and beauty, so that even nana noticed it next morning when she picked him up, and said, "i declare if that old bunny hasn't got quite a knowing expression!" that was a wonderful summer! near the house where they lived there was a wood, and in the long june evenings the boy liked to go there after tea to play. he took the velveteen rabbit with him, and before he wandered off to pick flowers, or play at brigands among the trees, he always made the rabbit a little nest somewhere among the bracken, where he would be quite cosy, for he was a kind-hearted little boy and he liked bunny to be comfortable. one evening, while the rabbit was lying there alone, watching the ants that ran to and fro between his velvet paws in the grass, he saw two strange beings creep out of the tall bracken near him. they were rabbits like himself, but quite furry and brand-new. they must have been very well made, for their seams didn't show at all, and they changed shape in a queer way when they moved; one minute they were long and thin and the next minute fat and bunchy, instead of always staying the same like he did. their feet padded softly on the ground, and they crept quite close to him, twitching their noses, while the rabbit stared hard to see which side the clockwork stuck out, for he knew that people who jump generally have something to wind them up. but he couldn't see it. they were evidently a new kind of rabbit altogether. summer days they stared at him, and the little rabbit stared back. and all the time their noses twitched. "why don't you get up and play with us?" one of them asked. "i don't feel like it," said the rabbit, for he didn't want to explain that he had no clockwork. "ho!" said the furry rabbit. "it's as easy as anything," and he gave a big hop sideways and stood on his hind legs. "i don't believe you can!" he said. "i can!" said the little rabbit. "i can jump higher than anything!" he meant when the boy threw him, but of course he didn't want to say so. "can you hop on your hind legs?" asked the furry rabbit. that was a dreadful question, for the velveteen rabbit had no hind legs at all! the back of him was made all in one piece, like a pincushion. he sat still in the bracken, and hoped that the other rabbits wouldn't notice. "i don't want to!" he said again. but the wild rabbits have very sharp eyes. and this one stretched out his neck and looked. "he hasn't got any hind legs!" he called out. "fancy a rabbit without any hind legs!" and he began to laugh. "i have!" cried the little rabbit. "i have got hind legs! i am sitting on them!" "then stretch them out and show me, like this!" said the wild rabbit. and he began to whirl round and dance, till the little rabbit got quite dizzy. "i don't like dancing," he said. "i'd rather sit still!" but all the while he was longing to dance, for a funny new tickly feeling ran through him, and he felt he would give anything in the world to be able to jump about like these rabbits did. the strange rabbit stopped dancing, and came quite close. he came so close this time that his long whiskers brushed the velveteen rabbit's ear, and then he wrinkled his nose suddenly and flattened his ears and jumped backwards. "he doesn't smell right!" he exclaimed. "he isn't a rabbit at all! he isn't real!" "i am real!" said the little rabbit. "i am real! the boy said so!" and he nearly began to cry. just then there was a sound of footsteps, and the boy ran past near them, and with a stamp of feet and a flash of white tails the two strange rabbits disappeared. "come back and play with me!" called the little rabbit. "oh, do come back! i know i am real!" but there was no answer, only the little ants ran to and fro, and the bracken swayed gently where the two strangers had passed. the velveteen rabbit was all alone. "oh, dear!" he thought. "why did they run away like that? why couldn't they stop and talk to me?" for a long time he lay very still, watching the bracken, and hoping that they would come back. but they never returned, and presently the sun sank lower and the little white moths fluttered out, and the boy came and carried him home. weeks passed, and the little rabbit grew very old and shabby, but the boy loved him just as much. he loved him so hard that he loved all his whiskers off, and the pink lining to his ears turned grey, and his brown spots faded. he even began to lose his shape, and he scarcely looked like a rabbit any more, except to the boy. to him he was always beautiful, and that was all that the little rabbit cared about. he didn't mind how he looked to other people, because the nursery magic had made him real, and when you are real shabbiness doesn't matter. and then, one day, the boy was ill. his face grew very flushed, and he talked in his sleep, and his little body was so hot that it burned the rabbit when he held him close. strange people came and went in the nursery, and a light burned all night and through it all the little velveteen rabbit lay there, hidden from sight under the bedclothes, and he never stirred, for he was afraid that if they found him some one might take him away, and he knew that the boy needed him. it was a long weary time, for the boy was too ill to play, and the little rabbit found it rather dull with nothing to do all day long. but he snuggled down patiently, and looked forward to the time when the boy should be well again, and they would go out in the garden amongst the flowers and the butterflies and play splendid games in the raspberry thicket like they used to. all sorts of delightful things he planned, and while the boy lay half asleep he crept up close to the pillow and whispered them in his ear. and presently the fever turned, and the boy got better. he was able to sit up in bed and look at picture-books, while the little rabbit cuddled close at his side. and one day, they let him get up and dress. it was a bright, sunny morning, and the windows stood wide open. they had carried the boy out on to the balcony, wrapped in a shawl, and the little rabbit lay tangled up among the bedclothes, thinking. the boy was going to the seaside to-morrow. everything was arranged, and now it only remained to carry out the doctor's orders. they talked about it all, while the little rabbit lay under the bedclothes, with just his head peeping out, and listened. the room was to be disinfected, and all the books and toys that the boy had played with in bed must be burnt. "hurrah!" thought the little rabbit. "to-morrow we shall go to the seaside!" for the boy had often talked of the seaside, and he wanted very much to see the big waves coming in, and the tiny crabs, and the sand castles. just then nana caught sight of him. "how about his old bunny?" she asked. "that?" said the doctor. "why, it's a mass of scarlet fever germs!-burn it at once. what? nonsense! get him a new one. he mustn't have that any more!" anxious times and so the little rabbit was put into a sack with the old picture-books and a lot of rubbish, and carried out to the end of the garden behind the fowl-house. that was a fine place to make a bonfire, only the gardener was too busy just then to attend to it. he had the potatoes to dig and the green peas to gather, but next morning he promised to come quite early and burn the whole lot. that night the boy slept in a different bedroom, and he had a new bunny to sleep with him. it was a splendid bunny, all white plush with real glass eyes, but the boy was too excited to care very much about it. for to-morrow he was going to the seaside, and that in itself was such a wonderful thing that he could think of nothing else. and while the boy was asleep, dreaming of the seaside, the little rabbit lay among the old picture-books in the corner behind the fowl-house, and he felt very lonely. the sack had been left untied, and so by wriggling a bit he was able to get his head through the opening and look out. he was shivering a little, for he had always been used to sleeping in a proper bed, and by this time his coat had worn so thin and threadbare from hugging that it was no longer any protection to him. near by he could see the thicket of raspberry canes, growing tall and close like a tropical jungle, in whose shadow he had played with the boy on bygone mornings. he thought of those long sunlit hours in the garden-how happy they were-and a great sadness came over him. he seemed to see them all pass before him, each more beautiful than the other, the fairy huts in the flower-bed, the quiet evenings in the wood when he lay in the bracken and the little ants ran over his paws; the wonderful day when he first knew that he was real. he thought of the skin horse, so wise and gentle, and all that he had told him. of what use was it to be loved and lose one's beauty and become real if it all ended like this? and a tear, a real tear, trickled down his little shabby velvet nose and fell to the ground. and then a strange thing happened. for where the tear had fallen a flower grew out of the ground, a mysterious flower, not at all like any that grew in the garden. it had slender green leaves the colour of emeralds, and in the centre of the leaves a blossom like a golden cup. it was so beautiful that the little rabbit forgot to cry, and just lay there watching it. and presently the blossom opened, and out of it there stepped a fairy. she was quite the loveliest fairy in the whole world. her dress was of pearl and dew-drops, and there were flowers round her neck and in her hair, and her face was like the most perfect flower of all. and she came close to the little rabbit and gathered him up in her arms and kissed him on his velveteen nose that was all damp from crying. "little rabbit," she said, "don't you know who i am?" the rabbit looked up at her, and it seemed to him that he had seen her face before, but he couldn't think where. "i am the nursery magic fairy," she said. "i take care of all the playthings that the children have loved. when they are old and worn out and the children don't need them any more, then i come and take them away with me and turn them into real." "wasn't i real before?" asked the little rabbit. "you were real to the boy," the fairy said, "because he loved you. now you shall be real to every one." the fairy flower and she held the little rabbit close in her arms and flew with him into the wood. it was light now, for the moon had risen. all the forest was beautiful, and the fronds of the bracken shone like frosted silver. in the open glade between the tree-trunks the wild rabbits danced with their shadows on the velvet grass, but when they saw the fairy they all stopped dancing and stood round in a ring to stare at her. "i've brought you a new playfellow," the fairy said. "you must be very kind to him and teach him all he needs to know in rabbit-land, for he is going to live with you for ever and ever!" and she kissed the little rabbit again and put him down on the grass. "run and play, little rabbit!" she said. but the little rabbit sat quite still for a moment and never moved. for when he saw all the wild rabbits dancing around him he suddenly remembered about his hind legs, and he didn't want them to see that he was made all in one piece. he did not know that when the fairy kissed him that last time she had changed him altogether. and he might have sat there a long time, too shy to move, if just then something hadn't tickled his nose, and before he thought what he was doing he lifted his hind toe to scratch it. and he found that he actually had hind legs! instead of dingy velveteen he had brown fur, soft and shiny, his ears twitched by themselves, and his whiskers were so long that they brushed the grass. he gave one leap and the joy of using those hind legs was so great that he went springing about the turf on them, jumping sideways and whirling round as the others did, and he grew so excited that when at last he did stop to look for the fairy she had gone. he was a real rabbit at last, at home with the other rabbits. at last! at last! autumn passed and winter, and in the spring, when the days grew warm and sunny, the boy went out to play in the wood behind the house. and while he was playing, two rabbits crept out from the bracken and peeped at him. one of them was brown all over, but the other had strange markings under his fur, as though long ago he had been spotted, and the spots still showed through. and about his little soft nose and his round black eyes there was something familiar, so that the boy thought to himself: "why, he looks just like my old bunny that was lost when i had scarlet fever!" but he never knew that it really was his own bunny, come back to look at the child who had first helped him to be real. images generously made available by international children's digital library (http://en.childrenslibrary.org) note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original woodcut illustrations. see -h.htm or -h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/ / -h/ -h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/ / -h.zip) images of the original pages are available through international children's digital library. see http://www.childrenslibrary.org/icdl/bookpreview?bookid=ntitree_ &route=text&lang=english&msg=&ilang=english [illustration: cover] [illustration] night fall in the ti-tree woodcuts by geraldine rede and violet teague. salut! [illustration] imprinted now for the first time by hand at the sign of the rabbit, collins street, the th of july, . all rights reserved. night falls in the ti-tree, dusk fades from the hill-- the frogs on their banjoes are strumming their fill with a will. [illustration] banjoes in the near pond bones in the other-- in ecstasy crickets outshrill one another. shrill.... shrill.... [illustration] [illustration] the birds are all hushed now the moon's in the sky-- around and around us the little bats fly, waveringly. [illustration] [illustration] the rabbits have nibbled sweet grass on the furrow, have frisking and flirting loped to their burrow, safe on their burrow. [illustration] [illustration] safe on their burrow. [illustration] are you glad, little rabbits to have played yet a day? does no foresight show you what may happen some day? wellaway! for commonest, direst, of wild folk's mishaps is to find yourselves caught in man's merciless traps-- devil's own snaps. they set them and lay them in your very door, then craftily strew them with sand and leaves o'er, craftily o'er. [illustration] you step out unwitting, bright moon inviting-- ah! what a spring when you taste its fierce biting; steel chain affrighting, you scream in your anguish, a mute thing by kind! you make but the search easy when death comes to find, o easily find! [illustration] yet god was on your side, else why did he make such long ears to hearken? such bright eyes to wake? [illustration] and so, little rabbits, in danger some day, remember who's for you, flirt tails and away! [illustration] [illustration: flirt tails and away!] [illustration: back] [illustration] uncle wiggily's (trade mark registered) automobile _by_ howard r. garis _author of_ "uncle wiggily bedtime stories", "uncle wiggily's picture book", "uncle wiggily's story book", etc. _illustrated by_ louis wisa [illustration] a. l. burt company publishers new york uncle wiggily books (trade mark registered) _by_ howard r. garis * * * * * bedtime stories uncle wiggily and charlie and arabella chick uncle wiggily and the ringtails uncle wiggily on sugar island uncle wiggily at the seashore uncle wiggily and baby bunty uncle wiggily in the country uncle wiggily's puzzle book uncle wiggily in the woods uncle wiggily's adventures uncle wiggily's automobile uncle wiggily on the farm uncle wiggily's bungalow uncle wiggily's fortune uncle wiggily's travels uncle wiggily's airship * * * * * larger uncle wiggily volumes * * * * * uncle wiggily's picture book _ full colored illustrations and in black and white_ uncle wiggily's story book _ full colored illustrations and in black and white_ _copyright by_ r. f. fenno & company uncle wiggily's automobile * * * * * _printed in the united states of america_ publisher's note these stories appeared originally in the evening news, of newark, n. j., and are reproduced in book form by the kind permission of the publishers of that paper, to whom the author extends his thanks. uncle wiggily's automobile * * * * * story i uncle wiggily and the sorrowful crow once upon a time, a good many years ago, there was an old rabbit gentleman named uncle wiggily longears. he was related to johnnie and billie bushytail, the squirrels, as well as being an uncle to sammie and susie littletail, his rabbit nephew and niece. and uncle wiggily lived near jackie and peetie bow wow, the puppy dogs, while, not far away was the home of the wibblewobble family of ducks, and across the street, almost, around the corner by the old slump, were the kat children, and neddie and beckie stubtail, the nice bear children. one day uncle wiggily was not feeling very well, so he sent for dr. possum, who soon came over. dr. possum found uncle wiggily sitting in the rocking chair on the front porch of the hollow stump house where he lived. "well, what is the trouble, uncle wiggily?" asked dr. possum, as he looked over the tops of his glasses. "i am sick," answered the rabbit gentleman. "sick; eh?" exclaimed dr. possum. "let me see. put out your tongue!" uncle wiggily did so. "ha! hum!" exclaimed dr. possum. "yes, i think you are ill, and you will have to do something for it right away." "what will i have to do?" asked uncle wiggily, anxious-like, and his nose twinkled like a star on a frosty night. "you will simply have to go away," said dr. possum. "there is no help for it." "i don't see why!" exclaimed uncle wiggily, and he bent one of his long ears forward and the other backward, until he looked as if he had the letter v on top of his head. but, of course, he hadn't, for that letter is in the reading book--or it was the last time i looked. "yes," said dr. possum, "you must go away." "i don't see why," said uncle wiggily again. "couldn't i get well at home here?" "no, you could not," replied dr. possum. "if you want me to tell you the truth----" "oh, always tell the truth!" exclaimed uncle wiggily, quickly. "always!" "well, then," said dr. possum, as he looked in his medicine case, to see if he had any strong peppermint for aunt jerushia ann, the little, nervous old lady woodchuck. "well, then, to tell you the truth, you are getting too fat, and you must take more exercise." "exercise!" cried uncle wiggily. "why! don't i play a game of scotch checkers with grandfather goosey gander, the old gentleman duck, nearly every day? and we always eat the sugar cookies we use for checkers." "that's just it," said dr. possum, as he rolled up a sweet sugar-pill for sammie littletail, the mill rabbit boy; "you eat too much, and you don't jump around enough." "but i used to," said uncle wiggily, while he twinkled his pink nose like a red star on a frosty night. "why, don't you remember the time i went off and had a lot of adventures, and how i traveled after my fortune, and found it?" "that is just the trouble," spoke dr. possum. "you found your fortune, and since you became rich you do nothing. i remember the time when you used to teach sammie and susie littletail how to keep out of traps, and how to dig burrows and watch out for savage dogs." "ah, yes!" sighed uncle wiggily. "those were happy days." "and healthful days, too," said dr. possum. "you were much better off then, and not so fat." "and so you think i had better start traveling again?" asked uncle wiggily, taking off his high hat and bowing politely to uncle lettie, the nice goat lady, who was passing by, with her two horns sticking through holes in her sunday-go-to-meeting bonnet. "yes, it would be the best thing for you," spoke dr. possum. "medicine is all right sometimes, but fresh air, and sunshine, and being out-of-doors, and happy and contented, and helping people, as uncle booster, the old ground hog gentleman, used to do--all these are better than medicine." "how is uncle booster, by the way?" inquired the rabbit gentleman. "fine! he helped a little girl mouse to jump over a mud puddle the other day, and after she was on the other side she jumped back, all by herself, and fell in," said dr. possum, with a laugh. "that's the kind of a gentleman uncle booster is!" "ha! ha!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "that's queer! but now do you think it would do me any good to start off and have some adventures in my automobile?" "it would be better to walk," said dr. possum. "remember you called me in to tell you what was the matter with you, because you felt ill. and i tell you that you must go around more; take more exercise. still, if you had rather go in your auto than walk, i have no objections." "i had much rather," said uncle wiggily. "i like my auto." "then," said dr. possum, "i will write that as a prescription." so on a piece of white birch bark he wrote: "one auto ride every day, to be taken before meals. dr. possum." "i'll do it at once," said the rabbit gentleman. uncle wiggily longears was a quite rich, you know, having found his fortune, of about a million yellow carrots, as i have told you in some other stories, so he could afford to have an auto. and it was the nicest auto you could imagine. it had a turnip for a steering wheel, and whenever uncle wiggily got hungry he could take a bite of turnip. sometimes after a long trip the steering wheel would be all eaten up, and old circus dog percival, who mended broken autos, would have to put on a new wheel. and to make a noise, so that no one would get run over by his machine, uncle wiggily had a cow's horn fastened on his auto; so instead of going "honk-honk!" like a duck, it went "moo! moo!" like a bossy cow at supper time. "well, if i'm going off for my health, i'd better start," said uncle wiggily, as he went out to his auto after dr. possum had gone. "i'll take a long ride." so he got in the machine, and pushed on the doodle-oodle-um, and twisted the tinkerum-tankerum, and away he went as fast as anything, if not faster. over the fields and through the woods he went, and pretty soon he came to a place where lived a sorrowful crow gentleman. the crow is a black bird, and it pulls up corn and goes "caw! caw! caw!" nobody knows why, though. and this crow was very sorrowful. he was always thinking something unpleasant was going to happen, such as that he was going to drop his ice cream cone in the mud, or that somebody would put whitewash on him. oh, he was very sorrowful, was this crow, and his name was mr. caw-caw. when uncle wiggily got to where the crow was sitting in a tree the black creature cried: "oh, dear! o woe is me! o unhappiness!" "why, what is the matter?" asked uncle wiggily, curious-like! "oh, something is going to happen!" cried the crow. "i know it will rain or snow or freeze, or maybe my feathers will all blow off." "don't be silly!" said uncle wiggily. "you just come for an auto ride with me, and you'll feel better. come along, bless your black tail!" so mr. caw-caw got into the auto, and once more uncle wiggily started off. he had not gone very far before, all of a sudden, there was a bangity-bang noise, and the auto stopped so quickly that uncle wiggily and the crow were almost thrown out of their seats. "there!" cried the black crow. "i knew something would happen!" and he cried "caw! caw! caw!" "it is nothing at all," said the rabbit gentleman as he got out to look. "only the whizzicum-whazzicum has become twisted around the jump-over-the-clothes basket, and we can't go until it's fixed." "can't go?" asked the crow. "can't go--no," said uncle wiggily. and he didn't know what to do. but just then along came old dog percival, who used to work in a circus. "i'll pull you along," he said. "you sit in the auto and steer, and i'll pull you." and he did, by a rope fast to the car. the crow said it was funny to have a circus dog pulling an auto, but uncle wiggily did not mind, and soon they were at a place where the auto could be fixed. so uncle wiggily and the crow waited there, while the machine was being mended. "and we will see what happens to us to-morrow," said uncle wiggily, "for i am going to travel on." and he did. and in case the jumping rope doesn't skip over the clock, and make the hands tickle the face i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the school teacher. story ii uncle wiggily and the school teacher uncle wiggily longears, the nice old gentleman rabbit, was riding along in his automobile, with the turnip for a steering wheel, and he had not yet taken more than two bites out of the turnip, for it was only shortly after breakfast. with him was mr. caw-caw, the black crow gentleman. "do you think your automobile will go all right now?" asked the crow, as he looked down from his seat at the big wheels which had german sausages around for tires, so in case old percival, the circus dog, got hungry, he could eat one for lunch. "oh yes, it will go all right now," said the rabbit gentleman. "specially since we have had it fixed." i think, if i am not mistaken, and in case the cat has not eat up all the bacon, that i told you in the story before this one how uncle wiggily had been advised by dr. possum to go traveling around for his health and how he had started off in the auto. did i tell you that? he met mr. caw-caw and the tinkle-inkle-um on the auto broke, or else it was the widdle-waddle-um. anyhow, it wouldn't go, and old dog percival, coming along, pulled the machine to the fixing place. then uncle wiggily and mr. caw-caw slept all night and now it was daylight again and they had started off once more. "it is a lovely morning," said uncle wiggily, as he drove the machine over the fields and through the woods. "a lovely spring day!" "but we may get an april shower before night," said mr. caw-caw, the crow gentleman, who had black feathers and who was always sad instead of being happy. "oh, dear, i'm sure it will rain," he said. "nonsensicalness!" cried uncle wiggily, swinging his ears around just like some circus balloons trying to get away from an elephant eating peanuts. "cheer up! be happy!" "well, if it doesn't rain it will snow," said the sad crow. "oh, cheer up," said uncle wiggily, as he took another bite out of the turnip steering wheel. "have a nibble," he went on politely. "it may only blow." "i'm sure it will do something," spoke the gloomy crow. "anyhow i don't care for turnip." "have some corn then," said uncle wiggily. "is it popped?" asked the crow. "no, but i can pop it," said the old gentleman rabbit. "i will pop it on my automobile engine, which gets very hot, almost like a gas stove." so the old rabbit gentleman, who was riding around in his auto to take exercise, because he was getting too fat, and dr. possum had said so, popped the corn on the hot engine, and very good it was, too, for the crow to eat. but even the popcorn could not seem to make the unhappy crow feel better, and he cried so much, as the auto went along, that his tears made a mud-puddle in the road where they happened to be just then. and the auto wheels, with the german bologna sausages on for tires, splashed in the mud and made it fly all over like anything. then, just as uncle wiggily steered the auto right away from the road into a nice green wood, where the leaves were just coming out on the trees, the old gentleman rabbit heard some one saying: "oh, dear! oh, dear me! i know i'll never be at school on time! oh, what a bad accident!" "my!" cried uncle wiggily. "what can that be?" "oh, something dreadful, you may be sure," said mr. caw-caw, the crow gentleman. "oh, i just knew something would happen on this trip." "well, let it happen!" said uncle wiggily. "i like things to happen. this seems to be some one in trouble, and i am going to help, whoever it is." "then please help me," said the voice. "who are you?" asked uncle wiggily. "i am the lady mouse school teacher," said some one they could not see, "and on my way to school i ran a thorn in my foot, so i cannot walk. if i am not there on time to open the school, the children will not know what to do. oh, isn't it terrible!" "say no more!" cried uncle wiggily, cheerfully. "you shall ride to school in my auto. then you will be there on time, and the animal children will not have to go home and miss their lessons. i am so glad i can help you. isn't it horribly jolly to help people?" cried uncle wiggily to the crow, just as an english rabbit might have done. "ha! it's jolly, all right, if you can help them," said the crow. "but i'm sure something will happen. some bad elephant will eat off our sausage tires, or a cow will drink the gasoline, or we shall roll down a hill." "nonsensicalness!" cried uncle wiggily, real exasperated-like, which means bothered. "get in, miss mouse school teacher," he said, "and i will soon have you at your classes." so the lady mouse school teacher got into the auto, and sat beside mr. caw-caw, who asked her how many six and seven grains of corn were. "thirteen," said the nice mouse school teacher. "thirteen in the winter," spoke the crow, "but i mean in summer." "six and seven are thirteen in summer just as in winter," said the lady mouse. "wrong," croaked the crow. "if you plant thirteen grains of corn in summer you'll get thirteen stalks, each with thirteen ears of corn on, and each ear has five hundred and sixty-three grains, and thirteen times thirteen times five hundred and sixty-three makes--how many does it make?" he asked of uncle wiggily suddenly. "oh, please stop!" cried the lady mouse school teacher; "you make my head ache." "how much is one headache and two headaches?" asked the crow, who seemed quite curious. "stop! stop!" cried uncle wiggily, as he took a bite out of the turnip steering wheel. "you will make the auto turn a somersault." "how much," said the crow, "is one somersault and one peppersault added to a mustard plaster and divided by----" "there you go!" suddenly cried uncle wiggily as the auto hit a stone and stopped. "you've made the plunkity-plunk bite the wizzie-wazzie!" "oh, dear!" cried the crow. "i knew something would happen!" "well, it was your fault," said uncle wiggily. "now i'll have to have the auto fixed again." "can't we go on to school?" asked the lady mouse teacher anxiously. "no, i am sorry to say, we cannot," said uncle wiggily. "then i shall be late, and the children will all run home after all. oh, dear!" "i knew something--" began the crow. "stop it!" cried uncle wiggily, provoked-like. the lady mouse school teacher did not know what to do, and it looked as if she would be late, for even when uncle wiggily had crawled under the auto, and had put pepper on the german sausage tires, he could not make the machine go. but, just as the school teacher was going to be late, along came flying dickie chip-chip, the sparrow boy, with his new airship. and in the airship he gave the lady mouse school teacher a ride to school up above the tree tops, so she was not late after all. she called a good-by to uncle wiggily, who some time afterward had his auto fixed again, and then he and the crow gentleman went on and had more adventures. what the next one was i'll tell you on the next page, when the story will be about uncle wiggily and the candy--that is, if a little montclair girl, named cora, doesn't eat too much peanut brittle, and get her hair so sticky that the brush can't comb it. story iii uncle wiggily and the candy uncle wiggily, the nice old gentleman rabbit, was riding along in his automobile, with the turnip for a steering wheel and big, fat german bologna sausages on for tires. on the seat beside uncle wiggily was the crow gentleman, named mr. caw-caw. "well, where do you think you will go to-day?" asked the crow gentleman, as he straightened out some of his black feathers with his black bill, for the wind had ruffled them all up. "where will i go?" repeated uncle wiggily, as he steered to one side so he would not run over a stone and hurt it, "well, to tell you the truth--i hardly know. dr. possum, when he told me to ride around for my health, because i was getting too fat, did not say where i was to go, in particular." "then let's go straight ahead," said the crow. "i don't like going around in a circle; it makes me dizzy." "and it does me, also," spoke the rabbit gentleman. "that is why i never can ride much on a merry-go-'round, though i often take johnnie or billie bushytail, my squirrel nephews, or buddy and brighteyes, the guinea pig children, on one for a little while. but, mr. crow, we will go straight ahead in my auto, and we will see what adventure happens to us next." for you know something was always happening to uncle wiggily as he traveled around. sometimes it was one thing, and sometimes another. you remember, i dare say, how, the day before, he had nearly helped to keep the nice lady mouse school teacher from being late. well, pretty soon, as uncle wiggily and the crow gentleman were riding in the auto, all at once they looked down the road and saw a little girl sitting on a stone. she had a box in her hands and she was trying to open it. but she was crying so hard that she could not see out of her eyes, because of her tears, and so she could not open the box. "my goodness me sakes alive, and some roast beef gravy!" cried uncle wiggily, as he stopped the auto. "what can be the matter with that child?" for you know uncle wiggily loved children. then the old gentleman rabbit blew on the cow's horn, that was on his auto to warn people kindly to get out of danger, and the cow's horn went "moo! moo! moo!" very softly, three times just like that. the little girl looked up through her tears, and when she saw uncle wiggily and the crow gentleman in the auto, she smiled and asked: "where is the mooley cow?" "only her horn is here," said uncle wiggily, as he made it go "moo!" again. "oh, dear," said the little girl. "i just love a mooley cow," and she was going to cry some more, because there was no cow to be seen, when uncle wiggily asked: "what is the matter? why are you crying?" "because i can't get this box open," said the little girl, whose name was cora. "what is in the box?" asked the rabbit gentleman. "candy," said little cora. "i just love candy, and i haven't had any in ever so long. now my papa gave me a box, but the string is tied on it so tightly that i can't get the box open, and my papa went away and forgot about it. oh, dear. boo! hoo! can you open it for me, uncle wiggily?" the rabbit gentleman thought for a moment. then he said, with a twinkle in his eyes that matched the twinkle in his nose: "well, possibly i might untie the string, but you see my teeth are so big and sharp, and are so used to gnawing wood, and bark and carrots, and i can't see very well, even with my glasses, so i might accidentally, when i bite through the string i might, by mistake, also bite through the box, and eat the candy myself." "oh, dear!" cried the little girl. then she added quickly, as she thought of her polite manners: "i wouldn't mind, uncle wiggily, if you did eat some of the candy. only open the box for me so i can get part of it," she said. "i think i have a better plan than that," said the old gentleman rabbit. "i will ask mr. caw-caw, our crow friend here, to untie the string for you. with his sharp bill this crow gentleman can easily loosen the knot, and that, too, without danger of breaking the box and taking any candy." "will he do it?" asked the little girl eagerly. "to be sure, i will," said the crow gentleman, and he loosened that knot then and there with his sharp bill, which seemed just made for such things. "oh, what lovely candy!" cried the little girl, as she took the cover off the box. "i am going to give you each some!" she added. and she gave mr. caw-caw some candy flavored with green corn, for he liked that best of all, and to uncle wiggily she gave some nice, soft, squishie-squashie candy, with a carrot inside. and the little girl ate some chocolate candy for herself, and did not cry any more. "get in my auto," said uncle wiggily, "and i will give you a ride. perhaps we may have an adventure." "oh, i just love adventures!" said little cora. "i love them even better than candy. but we can eat candy in the auto anyhow," she went on, with a laugh, as she climbed up in the seat. then uncle wiggily turned the tinkerum-tankerum, and with a feather tickled the whizzicum-whazzicum to make the auto go, and it went. the old rabbit gentleman made the cow's horn blow "moo! moo!" and away they started off through the woods. they had not gone very far, and cora had eaten only about six pieces of candy, when they heard a voice behind them shouting: "wait for me! wait for me! i want a ride!" "ha!" cawed the crow, "who can that be?" "i'll look," said uncle wiggily, and he did. then he exclaimed: "oh, dear! it's the circus elephant. and he's grown so big lately, that if he gets in with us he will break my auto." "don't let him do it then," said mr. caw-caw. "i don't believe i will," said uncle wiggily. "but would it be polite not to give him a ride?" asked the little girl, as she ate another piece of candy. "no, you are right, it would not," said uncle wiggily, decidedly. "i must give him a ride, but he's sure to break my auto, and then i can't ride around for my health any more, and stop getting fat. oh, dear, what a predicament!" a predicament means trouble, you know. then the elephant called again: "i say, hold on there! i want a ride!" and he came on as fast as anything. uncle wiggily was going to stop, and let the big creature get in, when the crow gentleman said: "i have it! we'll pretend we don't hear him. we'll keep right on, and not stop, and then it won't be impolite, for he will think we didn't listen to what he said." "that's it," said uncle wiggily. "we'll do that. pachy is the dearest old chap in the world, you know, but he really is too big for this auto." pachy was the elephant's name, you see. so uncle wiggily made the auto go faster, and still the elephant ran after it, calling: "stop! stop! i want a ride!" "he's catching up to us," said the crow, looking back. "oh, dear!" cried uncle wiggily, "what's to be done?" "i know what to do," spoke cora. "i'll drop some pieces of candy in the road for him, and when he stops to eat them we can get so far away he can't catch up to us." "please do," begged uncle wiggily, and the little girl did. and when the elephant saw the pieces of candy, being very fond of sweet things, he stopped to pick them up in his trunk and eat them. and it took him quite a while, for the candy was well scattered about. and when the elephant had eaten the last piece uncle wiggily and the crow, and little girl, were far off in the auto and the elephant could not catch them to break the machine; though even if he had smashed it he would not have meant to do so. so uncle wiggily rode on, looking for more adventures, and he soon found one. i'll tell you about it in the next story, which will be called, "uncle wiggily at the squirrel house;"--that is if the clothes wringer doesn't squeeze the rubber ball so it cries and makes water come in the eyes of the potatoes. story iv uncle wiggily at the squirrel house uncle wiggily, the nice old gentleman rabbit, was standing one day in front of his new automobile which had run away with him upsetting, and breaking one of the wheels. but it had been fixed all right again. "i think this automobile will go fine now," said uncle wiggily to himself, as he got up on the front seat. "now, i am ready to start off on some more travels, and in search of more adventures, and this time i won't have to walk. now let me see, do i turn on the fizzle-fazzle first or the twinkum-twankum? i forget." so he looked carefully all over the automobile to see if he could remember what first to turn to make it go, but he couldn't think what it was. because, you see, he was all excited over his accident. i didn't tell you that story because i thought it might make you cry. it was very sad. the crow gentleman flew away after it. "i guess i'll have to look in the cookbook," said uncle wiggily. "perhaps that will tell me what to do." so he took out a cookbook from under the seat and leafed it over until he came to the page where it tells how to cook automobiles, and there he found what he wanted to know. "ha! i see!" cried uncle wiggily; "first i must twist the dinkum-dankum, and then i must tickle the tittlecum-tattlecum, and then i'll go." well, he did this, and just as he was about to start off on his journey out came running sammie and susie littletail, the two rabbit children, with whom uncle wiggily sometimes lived. "oh, uncle wiggily!" cried susie, "where are you going?" "and may we come along?" asked sammie, making his nose twinkle like two stars on a night in june. "i am going off on a long journey, for my health, and to look for more adventures," said the old gentleman rabbit. "i am tired of staying around the house taking medicine for my rheumatism. so dr. possum told me to travel around. i don't just know where i am going, but i am going somewhere, and if you like you may come part of the way. hop in." sammie and susie hopped in the back part of the auto, where there were two little seats for them, and then uncle wiggily turned the whizzicum-whazzicum around backward and away they went as nicely as the baby creeps over the floor to catch the kittie by the tail; only you mustn't do that, you know; indeed not! "oh, isn't this great?" cried susie, in delight. "it certainly is," agreed sammie, blinking his pink eyes because the wind blew in them. "i hope uncle wiggily has an adventure while we're with him." and then, all of a sudden, a doggie ran across the road in front of the auto, and the doggie's tail was hanging down behind him and sticking out quite a bit, and, as it was quite a long tail, uncle wiggily nearly ran over it, but, of course, he didn't mean to, even if he had done it. "look out of the way, little doggie!" cried the old gentleman rabbit, kindly. "i am looking as fast as i can!" cried the doggie, and he ran to the sidewalk as quickly as he could, and then he turned around to see if his tail was still fastened to him. "that came near being an adventure," said susie, waving her pocket handkerchief. "yes, almost too near," said uncle wiggily. "i think i will go through the woods instead of along the streets, and then i won't be in any danger of running over any one." so he steered the auto toward the woodland road, and sammie cried: "oh, i know what let's do! let's go call on johnnie and billie bushytail, the squirrel boys. then we'll have some fun." "all right, we'll do it," agreed uncle wiggily, for he liked fun as much as the children did, if not more. well, as they were going along the road, all of a sudden they heard a little voice calling to them. "oh, please don't run over me!" the voice cried. "please be careful!" and, looking down, sammie saw a little black cricket on the path just ahead of the auto, which uncle wiggily was now making go very slowly. "why don't you get out of the way if you don't want to be run over?" asked susie, politely, for the cricket just stood still there, looking at them, and not making a move. "oh, i'm so stiff from the cold that i can't hop about any more," said the cricket, "or else i would hop out of the way. you know i can't stand cold weather." [illustration] "that's too bad," said uncle wiggily as he stopped the auto. "i'll give you a ride, and perhaps i can find some warm place for you to spend the winter." so the old gentleman rabbit kindly picked up the cold and stiff cricket and gave it to susie, and susie gently put it in the warm pocket of her jacket, and there it was so nice and cozy-ozy that the cricket went fast to sleep. and then, in about forty-'leven squeak-squawk toots of the big mooley-cow automobile horn, there they were at the home of johnnie and billy bushytail, the squirrel brothers. "toot! toot!" tooted uncle wiggily on his tooter-tooter mooley-cow horn. "there! i guess that will bring out the boys if they are in the house," said the old gentleman rabbit. and then, all of a sudden, something happened. susie and sammie were looking at the front door, expecting johnnie and billie to come out, when susie saw a great big bear's face up at one window of the squirrel house. "oh! look! look!" she cried. "the bear has gotten in and maybe he has bitten johnnie." and just then sammie looked at the other window and he saw a wolf's face peering out. "oh, dear!" cried sammie, "the wolf has gotten billie." "my gracious!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "i'm going for the police right away. hold on tightly, children, for i am going to twist the tinkerum-tankerum and make this automobile go very fast. oh! how sorry i am for poor johnnie and billie." but just before uncle wiggily could start the auto, there was a shout of laughter. the front door of the bushytail home swung open, and out rushed billie and johnnie, jumping and skipping. and johnnie had a wolf's false face in his paws and billie had a bear's false face in his paws. "ho! ho!" they shouted together. "did we scare you, uncle wiggily? we didn't mean to, but we were just practising." "was that you boys looking out of the windows with your false faces on?" asked uncle wiggily very much surprised-like. "that was us," said johnnie. "and wasn't there a real bear?" asked susie, flapping her ears. "and wasn't it a real wolf?" asked sammie, wiggling his paws. "not a bit," said billie. "we're just getting ready for hallowe'en to-morrow night, and those were our false faces, you know, and i wish you'd all stay with us and have some fun." "we will," said uncle wiggily. "i'll put my auto in the barn, and we'll stay." so they did, and in case the little wooden dog with the pink-blue nose doesn't bite the tail of the woolly cat, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily having hallowe'en fun. story v uncle wiggily's hallowe'en fun "oh, dear, i wish it were night," said susie littletail. "so do i!" exclaimed sammie, her brother. "then it would be hallowe'en." "and both of us wish the same thing," said johnnie bushytail, as he and his brother billie went skipping about the room of their house. "oh, don't wish so hard or night might come before i'm ready for it," said uncle wiggily longears, the old gentleman rabbit. "i've got to decorate my auto yet and get my false face, you know." "what kind are you going to have?" asked susie. "oh, i think i'll dress up like an elephant," said uncle wiggily. "but what will you do for a trunk?" asked mrs. bushytail, for, you see, uncle wiggily and sammie and susie had stayed at the squirrel's house to have some fun. this was the first place the old gentleman rabbit came to after starting out in his auto for his health, and after some fresh adventures. "what will you do for an elephant's trunk?" asked mrs. bushytail. "i will take a long stocking and stuff it full of soft cotton so it will look just like an elephant's face," said uncle wiggily. "then i'll go out with the children in my auto and we'll have a lot of fun." so all that day they got ready for the hallowe'en fun they were to have that night. johnnie and billie had their false faces, you remember; johnnie had a wolf's face and billie a bear's, and they were too cute for anything. but, of course, sammie and susie littletail and uncle wiggily had to have some false faces also, and it took quite a while for the rabbit children to decide what they wanted. "i think i'll dress up like a wild indian," said sammie at last. "and i'm going to be a pussy cat," said susie. "and if any dogs chase you, i'll growl at them, and scare them away," said billie, who was going to be a make-believe bear. "yes, and i'll tickle them with my stuffed-stocking elephant's trunk," said uncle wiggily. "now, i must go out and put some oil and gasoline in my auto, and see that the frizzle-frazzle works all right, so we can go hallowe'en riding to-night." finally the animal children were all ready, and they were waiting for it to get dark so they could go out. and, pretty soon, after supper, when the sun had gone to bed, it did get dark. then the four animal children and uncle wiggily went out in the auto. say, i just wish you could have seen them; really i do! and i'd show you a picture of them, only i'm not allowed to do that. and besides it was too dark to see pictures well, so perhaps it doesn't much matter. oh, but they were the funny looking sights, though! billy bushytail acted like a real bear, growling as hard as ever he could, though, of course, he was polite about it, as it was only fun. and what a savage make-believe wolf johnnie was! and there was susie, as cute a little pussy cat as one would meet with in going from here to the moon and back. and as for sammie, well, say, he was so much like a real indian that when he looked in the glass he was frightened at himself; yes, really he was, and he had truly feathers on, too; not make-believe ones, either. uncle wiggily was dressed up like an elephant, and he sat in the front of the auto to steer it. only his stuffed-stocking trunk got in the way of the steering wheel, so uncle wiggily had to put it behind him, over his left shoulder and have susie hold it. i mean she held his stuffed-stocking trunk, not the steering wheel, you know. "here we go!" suddenly cried uncle wiggily, and his voice sounded far away because it had to go down inside the stuffed-stocking elephant trunk and come out again around in back of him. then he twisted the tinkerum-tankerum, and away they went in the automobile. all at once, from around a corner, came a big clown with red, white and blue all over his face. he had a rattlety-bang-banger thing and he was making a terrible racket on it. "oh, i know who that is!" cried susie. "you're jimmie wibblewobble, the boy duck." "that's right," said the clown, making more noise than ever. "whoop-de-doodle-do! isn't this fun!" along went the auto and by this time there were a whole lot of animal children prancing and dancing around it. uncle wiggily had to make the auto go real slowly so as not to hurt any of them, for they were all over the streets. there was buddy pigg, dressed up like a camel, and there was dickie chip-chip and his sister, and they were dressed up like sailors. brighteyes pigg had on a cow's false face and billie goat was dressed up like a chinaman, while nannie, his sister, was supposed to be a lady with a sealskin coat on. oh, i couldn't tell you how all the different animal children were dressed, but i'll just say that bully, the frog, with his tall hat, was dressed like a football player and aunt lettie, the nice old lady goat, made believe she was a fireman, and munchie trot was a pretend-policeman. and such fun as they had! uncle wiggily steered the auto here and there, and squeaked and squawked his tooter-teeter so no one would get hurt. there were about forty-'leven tin horns being blown, and the wooden rattlety-bang-bangs were rattling all over and some one threw a whole lot of prettily colored paper in the air until it looked as if it were raining red, pink, green, purple, blue, yellow and skilligimink colored snow. and then, all at once, out from the crowd, came a figure that looked like a bear. oh, it was very real looking with long teeth, and shaggy fur, and that bear came right up to the auto that uncle wiggily was steering. "i've come to get you!" growled the bear, away down in his throat. "oh, he's almost real!" exclaimed susie, and she forgot that she was holding uncle wiggily's stuffed-stocking trunk, and let go of it, so that it hung down in front of him. "i am a real bear!" growled the shaggy creature. "oh, you can't fool us," said johnnie bushytail, with a laugh. "you're jacko or jumpo kinkytail dressed up like a bear, just as my brother billie is. you can't fool us." "but i am a real bear!" growled the shaggy creature again, "and i'm hungry so i'm going to bite uncle wiggily." and, would you ever believe it? he was a real bear who had come in from the woods. he made a grab for uncle wiggily, but the old gentleman rabbit leaned far back in his auto seat, and the bear only got hold of the stuffed-stocking trunk. and then the bear pulled on that so hard that it came all apart and the cotton stuffing came out, and got up the bear's nose and made him sneeze. and then up came running munchie trot, the pony boy, who was dressed like a policeman, and with his club munchie tickled the bear on his ear, and that shaggy creature was glad enough to run back to the woods, taking his little stubby tail with him, so he didn't eat anybody. "my, it's a good thing, i didn't have on a real elephant's trunk," said uncle wiggily, "or that bear would have bitten it off, for real trunks are fastened on tight." "yes, indeed," said susie. so after everybody got over being scared at the real bear they had a lot of fun and uncle wiggily took all the children to a store and treated them to hot chocolate, and then he and sammie and susie and billie and johnnie went home in the auto, and went to bed. and uncle wiggily had another adventure next day. i'll tell you about it on the page after this, when, in case it doesn't rain lightning bugs down the chimney, the story will be about uncle wiggily going chestnutting. story vi uncle wiggily goes chestnutting "where are you going this morning, uncle wiggily?" asked johnnie bushytail of the old gentleman rabbit the day after the hallowe'en fun. "oh, i am going to take a ride and see if i can find any more adventures," said uncle wiggily, as he went out in the barn to look and see if his auto had any holes in the rubber tires, or if the what-you-may-call-it had gotten twisted around the whose-this-cantankerum. "may i go with you?" asked billie bushytail, as he followed uncle wiggily. "we don't want you to go away from our house so soon. we'd like to have you pay us a nice, long visit." "hum, well, i'll think about it," said uncle wiggily, slowly, and careful-like. "i'll stay as long as i can. but as for you squirrel boys going for a ride in my auto, why i guess you may come if your mamma will let you. yes, it's all ready for a spin," he went on, as he saw that the tiddle-taddleum was on straight, and that the wheels had no holes in them. "oh, goody! come on!" cried billie to johnnie; so into the house they hurried to ask their mamma, and she said they might go. a little later, with the squirrel boys sitting in the back part of the auto, away they went, uncle wiggily steering here and there and taking care not to run over any puppy-dogs' tails or over any alligators' noses. "are you going off in the woods?" asked johnnie, as he saw the old gentleman rabbit steering toward the tree-forest. "i think i will," answered uncle wiggily. "i want to see grandfather goosey gander, and if we go through the woods that is the shortest way to his house." "then, perhaps, we can stop and gather some chestnuts," said johnnie. "there may be a few left that the other squirrels haven't yet picked up, and i heard papa saying to mamma the other night that we need a whole lot more than we have, so we wouldn't be hungry this winter." "oh, yes; let's get chestnuts!" cried billie. "all right," answered uncle wiggily, smiling, and then he had to turn the auto to one side very quickly, for a fuzzy worm was hurrying along the path, on her way to the grocery store, and uncle wiggily didn't want to run over her, you know. "thank you very much for not squashing me flat like a pancake," said the worm, as she wiggled along. "oh, pray do not mention such a little thing," said uncle wiggily, politely. "i am always glad to do you a favor like that." then he turned the handle so some more gasoline would squirt into the fizzle-fozzleum, and away the automobile went faster than ever. pretty soon they came to the woods, and johnnie and billie began looking about for chestnut trees. squirrels, you know, can tell a chestnut tree a great way off, and soon johnnie saw one. "stop the auto here, uncle wiggily," said johnnie, "and we'll see if there are any chestnuts left." so the old gentleman rabbit did this, and, surely enough, there were quite a few of the brown nuts lying on the ground, partly covered with leaves. "take a stick and poke around and you'll find more," said billie to his brother, and pretty soon all three of them, including uncle wiggily, were picking up the nuts. of course, the automobile couldn't pick up any; it just had to stand still there, looking on. i guess you know that, anyhow, but i just thought i'd mention it to make sure. "oh, here is another tree over there!" cried johnnie after a while, as he ran to a large one. "it's got heaps and heaps of chestnuts under it, too. i guess no squirrels or any chipmunks have been here. oh, we can get lots of nuts to put away for winter!" so the two squirrel boys filled their pockets with nuts, and so did uncle wiggily, and they even put some in the automobile, though, of course, the auto couldn't eat them, but it could carry them away. and then, all of a sudden, billie cried: "oh, i know what let's do! let's build a little fire and roast some of the chestnuts. they're fine roasted." "i guess they are," said uncle wiggily, "and so we'll cook some, though, as for me, i'd rather have a roast carrot or a bit of baked apple." "maybe we can find some apples to bake while we're roasting the chestnuts," said billie. "we'll look." they looked all around, and in a field not far from the woods they found an apple tree and there were some apples on the ground under it. they picked up quite a few and then they got some flat stones and made a place to build a fire. uncle wiggily lighted it, for it isn't good for children to have anything to do with matches, and soon the fire was blazing up very nicely and was quite hot. "now put the chestnuts down to roast on the hot stones," said the rabbit gentleman, after a bit, to the two squirrel boys, "and i'll put some apples on a sharp stick and hold them near the blaze to roast. why, boys! this is as much fun for me as a picnic!" he exclaimed joyfully. but listen! something is going to happen. all of a sudden, as they were sitting quietly around the fire and wishing the apples and chestnuts would hurry up and roast, all of a sudden a man came along with a gun. he stood by the fence that went around the field where they had picked up the apples, and that man said, in a grillery-growlery voice: "ah, ha! so those squirrels and that rabbit have been taking my apples, eh? i can smell 'em! sniff! snoof! snuff! well, i'll soon put a stop to that! i'm glad i brought my gun along!" he was just aiming his gun at poor uncle wiggily and also at johnnie and billie bushytail, and the rabbit and the squirrels didn't know what in the world to do, for they were too frightened to run, when, all of a sudden there was a tremendously loud bang-bang in the fire and something flew out of it and hit that man right on the end of his nose. "ouch-ouchy!" the man cried. "bang!" went something again, and this time it flew over and hit the man on his left ear. now what do you think of that? "ouch! ouchy!" the man yelled again. "bang!" went the noise for the third shot, and this time the man was hit on his other ear. "ouch! ouchy!" he cried again. "they're shooting at me. i'd better run." and run away he did, taking his gun with him, and so uncle wiggily and johnnie and billie weren't hurt. "my, that was a narrow escape," said johnnie. "what was it that made the bang noise, and hit the man?" "it was the roast chestnuts," said uncle wiggily, "i forgot to tell you to make little holes in them before you roasted them or else they would burst. and burst they did, and i'm glad of it, for they scared that man. but i guess we had better be going now, for he may come back." so they took the apples, which were nicely roasted now, and they took the chestnuts that were left and which hadn't burst, and away they went in the auto and had a fine ride, before going home to bed. and now i'll say good-night, but in case the cow who jumped over the moon doesn't kick our milk bottles off the back stoop, i'll tell you, in the story after this one, about uncle wiggily and the pumpkin. story vii uncle wiggily and the pumpkin "well," said uncle wiggily longears one fine fresh morning, just after the milkman had been around to leave some cream for the coffee, "i think i will be traveling on again, mrs. bushytail." "oh, don't go yet!" begged billie, the boy squirrel. "no, you haven't made us a long visit at all," spoke his brother johnnie. "can't you stay a long, long time?" "well, i promised jimmie wibblewobble, the boy duck, that i would come in my new automobile and pay him and his sisters a visit," said the old gentleman, as he wiggled first his left ear and then the right one to see if there were any pennies stuck in them. and he found two pennies, one for johnnie and one for billie. "oh, please stay with us a few more days. you can go visit the wibblewobble family next week," said johnnie; "can't he, mother?" "yes, i really think you might stay with us a little longer," said mrs. bushytail, as she was mending some holes in johnnie's stocking. "besides, i thought you might do me a favor to-day, uncle wiggily." "a favor!" exclaimed the old gentleman rabbit, making a low bow. "i am always anxious to do you a favor if i can. what is it, mrs. bushytail?" "why, i thought you and the boys might like to go off in the automobile and see if you could find me a nice, large yellow pumpkin," said the squirrel lady. "oh, goody!" cried billie. "i know what for--to make a jack-o'-lantern for us, eh, mamma?" "sure!" cried johnnie, jumping up and down because he was so happy, "and we'll take it out after dark, billie, and have some fun with bully the frog." "oh, no, not a pumpkin for a jack-o'-lantern," said mrs. bushytail. "what i need a pumpkin for is to make some pies, and i thought you might like to get one, uncle wiggily." "yes, indeed, i would!" exclaimed the old gentleman rabbit. "i am very fond of hunting pumpkins for pies, and also eating them after they are baked. i like pumpkin pie almost as much as i do cherry pie. come on, boys, let's get into the auto and we'll go look for a pumpkin." "but don't go near that man's field who was going to shoot us the other day because we took a few apples," said billie, and uncle wiggily said he wouldn't. so out they went to the barn, where the auto was kept, leaving mrs. bushytail in the house mending stockings and getting ready to bake the pumpkin pies. "here we go!" cried uncle wiggily, when he had tickled the tinkerum-tankerum with a feather to make it sneeze. away went the auto, and as it rolled along on its big fat wheels uncle wiggily sang a funny little song, like this: "pumpkin pie is my delight, i eat it morning, noon and night, it's very good to make you grow, that's why the boys all love it so. "if i could have my dearest wish, i'd have some cherries in a dish. and then a pumpkin pie, or two; of course, i'd save a piece for you. "perhaps, if we are good and kind, a dozen pumpkins we may find, we'll bring them home and stew them up, and then on pumpkin pie we'll sup." well, after he had sung that song, uncle wiggily felt better. the auto felt better also, i guess, for it ran along very fast, and, all of a sudden, they came to a place where there was a field of pumpkins. oh, such lovely, large, golden yellow pumpkins as they were. "hurray!" cried johnnie. "whoop-de-doodle-do!" cried billie. "dear me hum suz dud!" cried uncle wiggily. "it couldn't be better. but i wonder if these pumpkins would mind if we took one?" "not in the least! not in the least!" suddenly cried a voice near the fence, and looking over, uncle wiggily and the boys saw grandfather goosey gander, the old gentleman duck, standing there on one leg. "this is my field of pumpkins," said grandfather goosey, "and you may take as many as you like." then he put down his other leg, which he had been holding up under his feathers. "thank you very much," spoke uncle wiggily politely. "and may we each have a pumpkin to make a jack-o'-lantern?" asked billie. "to be sure," answered grandfather goosey, so uncle wiggily took a very large pumpkin for a pie, and the boy squirrels took smaller ones for their lanterns. then uncle wiggily took a few more to be sure he would have plenty, but none was as large as the first one. "i will send you some pumpkin pies when mrs. bushytail bakes them," promised the old gentleman rabbit as he got ready to travel on with the boys in the auto. "i wish you would," said grandfather goosey, "as i am very fond of pumpkin pie with watercress salad on top." on and on went the auto, and billie and johnnie were talking about how they would make their jack-o'-lanterns and have fun, when all of a sudden, out from the bushes at the side of the road, jumped the big, bad savage wolf. "hold on there!" he cried to uncle wiggily. "stop, i want to see you!" "you want to bite me, i guess," said the old gentleman rabbit. "no, sir! i'm not going to stop." "then i'll just make you!" growled the wolf, and with that what did he do but bite a hole in one of the big rubber tires, letting out all the wind with a puff, so the auto couldn't go any more. "now see what you've done!" cried johnnie. "yes, and it was a nice, new auto, too," said billie sorrowfully. "fiddlesticks!" cried the wolf. "double fiddlesticks. don't talk to me. i'm hungry. get out of that auto, now, so i can bite you." "oh! what shall we do?" whispered johnnie. "hush! don't say a word. i'm going to play a trick on that wolf," said uncle wiggily. then he spoke to the savage creature, saying: "if you are going to eat us up, i s'pose you will; but first would you mind taking one of these pumpkins down to the bottom of the hill and leaving it there for mrs. bushtail to make a pie of?" "oh, anything to oblige you, since i am going to eat you, anyhow," said the wolf. "give me the pumpkin, but mind, don't try to run away, while i'm gone for i can catch you. i'll come back and eat you up in a minute." "all right," said uncle wiggily, giving the wolf a little pumpkin, and pretending to cry, to show that he was afraid. but he was only making believe, you see. well, the wolf began to run down to the foot of the hill. "now, quick, boys!" suddenly cried uncle wiggily. "we'll roll the biggest pumpkin down after him, and it will hit him and make him as flat as a pancake, and then he can't eat us! lively, now!" so, surely enough, they took the big pumpkin out of the auto and rolled it down after the wolf. he heard it coming and he tried to get out of the way, but he couldn't, because he was carrying another pumpkin, and he stumbled and fell down, and the big pumpkin rolled right over him, including his tail, and he was as flat as two pancakes, and part of another one, and he couldn't even eat a toothpick. then, uncle wiggily and the boys fixed the hole in the tire, pumped it full of wind, and hurried on, and they had plenty of pumpkin left for pies, and they were soon at the squirrel's house, safe and sound, so that's the end of the story. but on the next page, if the milk bottle doesn't roll down off the stoop and tickle the doormat, i'll tell you about uncle wiggily and the pumpkin pie. story viii uncle wiggily's jack-o'-lantern "i really think i must be traveling on to-day," said uncle wiggily, the nice old gentleman rabbit, one bright morning when he had gone out to the bushtail barn to see if there were any slivers sticking in the rubber tires of his automobile. "i have been here quite a while now, boys, and i want to pay a visit to some of my other friends," he added. "oh, please don't think of going!" begged johnnie bushtail, the boy squirrel. "please, can't you stay a little longer?" asked billie, his brother. "johnnie and i are going to make jack-o'-lanterns to-night from the pumpkin you got us, and you may help if you like." "oh, that will be fine," said uncle wiggily. "i suppose i really must stay another night. but after that i shall have to be traveling along, for i have many more friends to visit, and only to-day i had a letter from jimmie wibblewobble, the duck boy, asking when i was coming to see him." "well, never mind about that. let's get to work at making jack-o'-lanterns now and not wait for to-night," suggested johnnie. "we'll make three lanterns, one for uncle wiggily and one for each of us." so they sat down on benches out in the back yard, where the pumpkin seeds wouldn't do any harm, and they began to make the lanterns. and this is how you do it. first you cut a little round hole in the top of the pumpkin--the part where the stem is, you know. and then you scoop out the soft inside where all the seeds are, and you can save the seeds to make more pumpkins grow next year, if you like. then, after you have the inside all scraped out clean, so that the shell is quite thin, you cut out holes for the two eyes and a nose and a mouth, and if you know how to do it you can cut make-believe teeth in the jack-o'-lantern's mouth. if you can't do it yourselves, perhaps some of the big folks will help you. [illustration] so that's how the squirrel boys and uncle wiggily made their jack-o'-lanterns, and when they were all finished they put a lighted candle inside and say! my goodness! it looked just like a real person grinning at you, only, of course, it wasn't. "won't we have fun to-night!" exclaimed johnnie as he finished his lantern. "we certainly will!" said billie, dancing a little jig. "what are you going to do with your lantern, uncle wiggily?" asked johnnie. "oh, i don't know," answered the old gentleman rabbit. "i may take it with me on my travels." well, after the three lanterns were made, there was still plenty of time before it would be dark, so uncle wiggily and the boys made some more lanterns. and along came lulu and alice and jimmie wibblewobble, the duck children, and as they had no jack-o'-lanterns of their own, johnnie gave lulu one and billie gave alice one, and uncle wiggily gave jimmie one, and my! you should have seen how pleased those duck children were! it was worth going across the street just to look at their smiling faces. well, pretty soon, after a while, not so very long, it was supper time, and there was pumpkin pie and carrot sandwiches and lettuce salad, and things like that for uncle wiggily, and nut cake and nut candy and nut sandwiches for the squirrels. uncle wiggily was folding up his napkin, and he was just getting out of his chair to go in the parlor, and read the paper with mr. bushytail, when, all of a sudden, there came a knock on the front door. "my goodness! i wonder who that can be?" exclaimed mrs. bushytail. "i'll go see," spoke her husband, and when he went to the door there was kind old mrs. hop toad on the mat, wiping her feet. "oh, is uncle wiggily longears here?" asked mrs. toad. "if he is, tell him to come back to the rabbit house at once, for sammie littletail is very sick, and they can't get him to sleep, and the nurse thinks if he heard one of uncle wiggily's stories he would shut his eyes and rest." "i'll come right away," said uncle wiggily, for he had gone to the front door, also, and had heard what mrs. hop toad had said. "wait until i get on my hat and coat and i'll crank up my automobile and go see sammie," said the rabbit gentleman. "i won't wait," said mrs. toad. "i'll hop on ahead, and tell them you're coming. anyhow it gives me the toodle-oodles to ride in an auto." so she hopped on ahead, and uncle wiggily was soon ready to start off in his car. just as he was going, billie bushytail cried out: "oh, uncle wiggily, take a jack-o'-lantern with you and maybe sammie will like that." so the old gentleman rabbit took one of the pumpkin lanterns up on the seat with him, and away he went. and then, all at once, as he was going through a dark place in the woods in his auto, the wind suddenly blew out all his lanterns--all the oil lamps on the auto i mean, and right away after that a policeman dog cried out: "hey, there, mr. longears, you can't go on in your auto without a light, you know. it's against the law." "i know it is," said uncle wiggily. "i'll light the lamps at once." but when he tried to do it he found there was no more oil in them. "oh, what shall i do?" he cried. "i'm in a hurry to get to sammie littletail, who is sick, but i can't go in the dark. ah! i have it. the jack-o'-lantern! i'll light the candle in that, and keep on going. will that be all right, mr. policeman?" "sure it will," said the policeman dog, swinging his club, and wishing he was home in bed. so uncle wiggily lighted the jack-o'-lantern and it was real bright, and soon the old gentleman rabbit was speeding on again. and, all of a sudden out from the bushes jumped a burglar fox. "hold on there!" he cried to uncle wiggily. "i want all your money." and just then he saw the big pumpkin jack-o'-lantern, with its staring eyes and big mouth and sharp teeth, looking at him from the seat of the auto, and the fox was so scared, thinking it was a giant going to catch him, that he ran off in the woods howling, and he didn't bother uncle wiggily a bit more that night. then the old gentleman rabbit drove his auto on toward sammie's house, and he was soon there and he told sammie a funny story and gave him the jack-o'-lantern, and the little rabbit boy was soon asleep, and in the morning he was all better. so that's what the jack-o'-lantern did for uncle wiggily and sammie, and now if you please you must go to bed, and on the page after this, in case the basket of peaches doesn't fall down the cellar stairs and break the furnace door all to pieces, i'll tell you about uncle wiggily and the lazy duck. story ix uncle wiggily and the lazy duck the day after uncle wiggily had scared the bad burglar fox with the jack-o'-lantern, the old rabbit gentleman and lulu and alice and jimmie wibblewobble, the ducks, went for a little ride in the automobile. for it was saturday, you see, and there was no school. so they went along quite a distance over the hills and through the woods and fields, for uncle wiggily's auto was a sort of fairy machine and could go almost anywhere. pretty soon they came to a little house beside the road, and in the front yard was a nice pump, where you could get a drink of water. "i am very thirsty," said uncle wiggily to jimmie. "i wonder if we could get a drink here?" "oh, yes," said lulu, as she looked to see if her hair ribbon was on straight; "a duck family lives here, and they will give you all the water you want." right after that, before uncle wiggily could get out of the auto to pump some water, there came waddling out of the duckhouse a duck boy, about as big as jimmie. "how do you do?" said uncle wiggily, politely to this duck boy. "may we get a drink of water here?" "oh--um--er--oo--i--guess--so," said the duck boy slowly, and he stretched out his wings and stretched out his legs and then he sat down on a bench in the front yard and nearly went to sleep. "why, i wonder what is the matter with him?" asked uncle wiggily. "why does he act so strangely, and speak so slow?" "i can tell you!" exclaimed lulu, and she got down out of the auto and picked up a stone. "that duck boy is lazy, that's what's the matter with him. he never even wants to play. why, at school he hardly ever knows his lessons." "oh, you surprise me!" said the old gentleman rabbit. "a lazy duck boy! i never heard of such a thing. pray what is his name?" "it's fizzy-whizzy," said jimmie, who also knew the boy. "why, what a strange name!" exclaimed the rabbit gentleman. "why do they call him that?" "because he is so fond of fizzy-izzy soda water," said alice. "oh, let's go along, uncle wiggily." "no," said the rabbit gentleman, slowly, "if this is a lazy duck boy he should be cured. laziness is worse than the measles or whooping cough, i think. and as i am very thirsty i want a drink. then i will think of some plan to cure this boy duck of being lazy." so uncle wiggily went close up to the boy duck and called out loud, right in his ear, so as to waken him: "will you please get me a cup so i may get a drink of water?" "hey? what's--that--you--said?" asked the lazy boy duck, slowly, stretching out his wings. uncle wiggily told him over again, but that lazy chap just stretched his legs this time and said: "oh--i--am--too--tired--to--get--you--a--cup. you--had--better--go--in--the--house--and--get--it--for--yourself," and then he was going to sleep again. but, all of a sudden, his mother, who worked very hard at washing and ironing, came to the door and said: "oh, dear! if fizzy-wizzy hasn't gone to sleep again. wake up at once, fizzy, and get me some wood for the fire! quick." "oh--ma--i am--too--tired," said fizzy-wizzy. "i--will--do--it--to-morrow--um--ah--er--boo--soo!" and he was asleep once more. "oh, i never saw such a lazy boy in all my life!" exclaimed the duck boy's mother, and she was very much ashamed of him. "i don't know what to do." "do you want me to make him better?" asked uncle wiggily. "indeed i do, but i am afraid you can't," she said. "yes i can," said uncle wiggily. "i'll come back here this evening and i'll cure him. first let me get a drink of water and then i'll think of a way to do it." so the duck lady herself brought out a cup so uncle wiggily and lulu and alice and jimmie could get a drink from the pump, and all the while the lazy chap slept on. "how are you going to cure him, uncle wiggily?" asked jimmie when they were riding along in the auto once more. "i will show you," said the old gentleman rabbit. "and you children must help me, for to be lazy is a dreadful thing." well, that night, after dark, uncle wiggily took a lantern, and some matches and some rubber balls and some beans and something else done up in a package, and he put all these things in his auto. then he and the wibblewobble children got in and they went to the house of the lazy boy duck. "is he in?" asked uncle wiggily of the boy's mamma. "yes," she said in a whisper. "well, when i throw a pebble against the kitchen window tell him to come out and see who's here," went on the rabbit gentleman. then he opened the package and in it were four false faces, one of a fox, one of a wolf, one of a bear and one was of an alligator. and uncle wiggily put on the alligator false face, gave the bear one to jimmie, the fox one to alice and the wolf one to lulu. then he gave jimmie a handful of beans and he gave alice a rubber ball filled with water to squirt and lulu the same. they knew what to do with them. then uncle wiggily built a fire and made some stones quite warm, not warm enough to burn one, but just warm enough. these stones he put in front of the lazy duck boy's house and then he threw a pebble against the window. "go and see who is there," said the duck boy's mamma to him. "i--don't--want--to," the lazy chap was just saying, but he suddenly became very curious and thought he would just take a peep out. and no sooner had he opened the door and stepped on the warm stones than he began to run down the yard, for he was afraid if he stood still he would be burned. and then, as he ran, up popped uncle wiggily from behind the bushes, looking like an alligator with the false face on. "oh! oh!" cried the lazy boy and he ran faster than ever. then up jumped jimmie, looking like a bear with the false face on, and up popped lulu looking like a wolf and alice looking like a fox. "oh! oh!" cried the lazy boy, and he ran faster than ever before in his life. then alice and lulu squirted water at him from their rubber balls. "oh! it's raining! it's raining!" cried the boy duck, and he ran faster than before. then jimmie threw the beans at him and they rattled all over. "oh! it's snowing and hailing!" cried the lazy boy, and he ran faster than ever. and then uncle wiggily threw some hickory nuts at him, and that lazy duck ran still faster than he had ever run in his life before and ran back in the house. "oh, mother!" he cried, "i've had a terrible time," and he spoke very fast. "i'll never be lazy again." "i'm glad of it," she said. "i guess uncle wiggily cured you." and so the old gentleman rabbit had, for the duck boy was always ready to work after that. then lulu and alice and jimmie went home in the auto and went to bed, and that's where you must go soon. and if the pussy cat doesn't slip in the molasses, and fall down the cellar steps, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily helping jimmie. story x uncle wiggily helps jimmie old percival, who used to be a circus dog, wasn't feeling very well. some bad boys had tied a tin can to his tail, and had thrown stones at him and done other mean things. but uncle wiggily had come along and driven the boys away, and percival had come home in the automobile of the old gentleman rabbit, and was given a nice warm place behind the kitchen stove, where he could lie down. "but i don't feel a bit good," percival said to uncle wiggily. "i don't know whether it was the tin can the boys tied to my tail, or the leaves they stuck on me, or the bone they put in my mouth or the molasses they used, but i don't feel at all well." "perhaps it is the epizootic," said alice wibblewobble, the duck girl, as she untied her green hair ribbon and put on a pink one. "that may be it," said percival, and he blinked his two eyes slow and careful-like, so as not to get any dust in them. "perhaps if i made you some dog-biscuit-soup it would make you feel better," said mrs. wibblewobble. "i'll cook some right away." so she did that and percival ate it, but still that night he didn't feel much better, and the only trick he could do for the children was to stand up on his tail, and make believe he was a soldier. but he couldn't do that very long, and then he had to crawl back to his bed behind the stove. "poor percival is getting old," said mr. wibblewobble. "he isn't the lively dog he used to be when he showed peetie and jackie bow wow how to do tricks in a circus parade." "no, indeed," said uncle wiggily, and then the old gentleman rabbit played blind man's bluff with lulu and alice and jimmie wibblewobble until it was time to go to bed. well, the next day poor old percival wasn't any better and when the duck children started for school their mamma told them to stop on their way home and tell dr. possum to come and give percival some medicine. "we will," said jimmie, and just then they saw uncle wiggily putting some gasoline in his automobile. "oh, dear! you're not going away, are you, uncle wiggily?" asked lulu wibblewobble as she picked up a stone and threw it even better than the lazy boy duck could have done. "no," said the old gentleman rabbit, "i am just going for a little ride to see grandfather goosey gander, but i will be back here when you come from school. don't forget about telling dr. possum to come and see percival." so they said they wouldn't forget, and then the three duck children hurried on to school so they wouldn't be late, and uncle wiggily tickled the flinkum-flankum of his auto and away he went whizzing over the fields and through the woods. well, as it happened that day, dr. possum wasn't home, so all that jimmie and his sisters could do was to leave word for him to come and see percival as soon as the doctor got back. "i'll send him right away, just as soon as he comes in," said dr. possum's wife. "oh, i am so sorry for poor percival." well, when lulu and alice and jimmie got home from school dr. possum hadn't yet come to the duck house to see the sick dog, who was much worse. and uncle wiggily hadn't come back from his automobile ride, either. "oh, dear!" exclaimed mrs. wibblewobble. "i don't know what to do! the doctor ought to come, and uncle wiggily ought to be here. perhaps uncle wiggily has met with an accident and dr. possum had to attend to him first." "oh, i hope not, mamma," said alice. "i know what i can do," said jimmie, the boy duck. "i can hurry back to dr. possum's house to see if he has come back yet. if he has i'll tell him to please hurry here." "i think that would be a good idea," spoke mrs. wibblewobble. "go quickly, jimmie, and here is a molasses cookie to eat on your way. hurry back and bring the doctor with you if you can." so jimmie said he would, and off he started, eating the molasses cookie that his mamma had baked. he was thinking how good it was, and wishing it was larger when, all at once, he stepped on a sharp stone and hurt his foot so that he couldn't walk. "oh, dear!" cried jimmie. "what shall i do? i can't go get dr. possum for percival now." well, he was in great pain, and he was just wondering how he could send word to the doctor when, all at once, he saw a pony-horse in the field near by. "the very thing!" exclaimed jimmie. "that is munchie trot, the pony boy, and he'll let me ride to the doctor on his back." so jimmie took a stick to use as a cane, and he managed to get right close up beside the pony-horse, who was eating grass. "i'll surprise him," thought jimmie. "i'll fly up on his back before he sees me." so with his strong wings he flew up on the pony's back and he cried out: "surprise on you, munchie! please gallop and trot with me to dr. possum's so he can make percival well." and then a funny thing happened. all at once jimmie noticed that he was on the back of a strange pony. it wasn't munchie trot at all! jimmie had made a mistake. think of that! and the worst of it was that when he flew so suddenly up on the pony's back jimmie frightened him, and the next instant the pony jumped over the fence and began running down the road as fast as he could. "oh! stop! stop!" cried jimmie. "i'll fall off!" the duck boy had to take hold of the pony's mane in his yellow bill, and he had to hold on so he wouldn't fall off. faster and faster ran the pony, trying to get away from what was on his back, for he hadn't seen jimmie fly up, and he didn't know what it was. maybe he thought it was a burglar fox, but i'm not sure. anyhow the pony went faster and faster, and though jimmie cried as hard as he could for him to stop the pony wouldn't do it. jimmie was almost falling off, and he thought surely he would be hurt, when, all of a sudden, down the road, came uncle wiggily in his automobile. he saw what was the matter. "hold on, jimmie!" cried the old gentleman rabbit. "hold on, and i'll be up to you in a minute. then you can fly into my auto and be safe." well, the pony was going fast, but the auto went faster, and it was soon up beside the little galloping horsie. "now jump, jimmie!" called uncle wiggily, and the boy duck did so, landing safely in the auto, and he wasn't hurt a bit. then the pony galloped on until he looked back and saw it had only been a duck on his back and then he was ashamed for having run away, and he stopped and said he was sorry, so jimmie forgave him. "quick, we must go for dr. possum for old dog percival," said jimmie, and he told uncle wiggily how the doctor hadn't yet come. then uncle wiggily told how he accidentally got a hole in one of his big rubber tires or he would have been home sooner. "but it's a good thing i happened to come along to help you," he said to jimmie, and jimmie thought so too. then they went for dr. possum, who had just come home, and they took him to percival in the auto, and dr. possum soon made percival all well, and i'm glad of it. then the doctor cured jimmie's sore foot, and everybody was happy, and i hope you are. and next, if the dried leaves don't blow in my window and scare the wallpaper so that it falls off, i'll tell you about uncle wiggily helping alice. story xi uncle wiggily helps alice. one day the postman bird flew down out of the sky and stopped in front of the wibblewobble duck house. uncle wiggily longears, the old gentleman rabbit, was out in front, cleaning some mud off his auto, for he had run it very fast into a puddle of water the day he saved jimmie off the pony's back. "does anybody named alice wibblewobble live here?" asked the postman bird as he looked in his bag of letters. "yes, alice lives here," said uncle wiggily. "and does lulu wibblewobble?" "yes, of course." "and jimmie, too?" "certainly," said the old gentleman rabbit. "then this is the right house," said the postman bird as he blew his whistle, like a canary, "and here is a letter for each of them." so he handed uncle wiggily three letters and then he flew up into the air again, as fast as he could go, to deliver the rest of the mail. "hum! i wonder who can be writing to lulu and alice and jimmie?" said uncle wiggily, as he looked at the letters. "well, i'll take them in the house. they look to me like party invitations; and i wonder why i didn't get one? but i suppose the young folks don't want an old rheumatic uncle around any more. ah, well, i'm getting old--getting old," and he went slowly into the house, feeling a bit sad. "here are some letters for you, children," he called to lulu and alice and jimmie. "the bird postman just brought them." "oh, fine!" cried the children, and they opened them all at once with their strong yellow bills. "goodie!" cried lulu as she read hers. "jennie chipmunk is going to have a party, and i'm invited." "so am i," cried alice. "and i," added jimmie. "i thought they were party invitations," said uncle wiggily, sort of sad and thoughtful-like. "when is it?" "to-night," said lulu. "then we must hurry and get ready," said alice. "i must iron out some of my hair ribbons so they will be nice and fresh." "oh, that's just like you girls," cried jimmie. "you have to primp and fuss. i can be ready in no time, just by washing my face." "oh!" cried lulu and alice together. "make him put on a clean collar, anyhow, mamma." "yes, i'll do that," agreed jimmie. well, pretty soon they were all getting ready to go to the party, and uncle wiggily went back to finish cleaning his auto and he was wishing he could go. but you just wait and see what happens. pretty soon it became night and then it was time for the party. lulu and jimmie were all ready, but it took alice such a long time to get her hair fixed the way she wanted it, and to get just the kind of hair ribbon that suited her, that she wasn't ready. you see, she had so many kinds of hair ribbons and she kept them all in a box, and really she didn't know just which one to take. first she picked out a red one, and she didn't like that, and then she picked out a blue one, and she didn't like that, and then she picked up a pink one, and then a green, and then a brown, and finally a skilligimink colored one, but none suited her. "hurry, alice," called lulu, "or you'll be late." "oh, you can go on ahead and i'll catch up to you and jimmie," said alice, trying another hair ribbon. "all right," they answered, and they started off. mr. and mrs. wibblewobble had gone across the street to pay a little visit to mr. and mrs. duckling, and so uncle wiggily and alice were all alone in the house. "you had better hurry, alice," said the old gentleman rabbit as he was reading the evening paper. "oh, i don't know what to do!" she cried. "i can't decide which hair ribbon to wear." "wear them all," called uncle wiggily with a laugh, but, of course, alice couldn't do that, and she was in despair, which means that she didn't know what to do. she laid all the ribbons back in the box, and she was just going to shut her eyes, and pick out the first one she could reach, and wear that whether she liked it or not, for she didn't want to be late to the party. and then, all of a sudden, in through the open window of her room the old skillery-scalery alligator put his long nose and he cried: "hair ribbons! i must have hair ribbons! give me hair ribbons!" and then what do you think he did? why, he grabbed up the whole box full of alice's lovely hair ribbons, and before she could say "scootum-scattum," if she had wanted to, that skillery-scalery alligator ran away with them in his mouth, taking his double-jointed tail with him. "oh!" cried alice. "oh! oh!" and she almost lost her breath, she was so surprised. "what is it?" cried uncle wiggily, running up to her room. "the alligator! he has taken my hair ribbons. quick, run after him, dear uncle wiggily!" "i will!" exclaimed the brave old gentleman rabbit and out of the house he hurried, but the 'gator with the double-jointed tail had completely gone, and the rabbit gentleman couldn't catch him. "oh, what ever shall i do?" cried alice, when uncle wiggily came back. "i have no hair ribbon, and i can't go to the party!" well, uncle wiggily thought for a moment. he didn't tell alice that she should have hurried more and worn a pink ribbon, and then the accident wouldn't have happened. no, he didn't say anything like that; but he said: "i can help you, alice. down in the yard is some long grass, green, with white stripes in it. they call it ribbon grass. i will get some for a hair ribbon for you." "oh, thank you, so much!" said alice. so uncle wiggily quickly went down, pulled some of the ribbon grass and helped alice tie it in her feathers. and she looked too cute for anything, really she did. "now, quick, run and catch up to jimmie and lulu, and go to the party and have a good time," said uncle wiggily, and alice did. and what do you think? a little while after that up to the duck-house drove sammie littletail in a pony cart. "oh, uncle wiggily!" cried sammie, "jennie chipmunk was so flustrated about her party that she forgot to send you an invitation. but she wants you very much, so i've come to take you to it. come along with me!" then uncle wiggily was very glad, for he liked parties as much as you do, and he jumped into the cart with sammie and they went to the party and had a lovely time. and the next day uncle wiggily went out in his auto, and he made the alligator give back all of alice's hair ribbons, and none of them was lost or soiled the least bit, i'm glad to say. now, no more at present, if you please, but if the picture book doesn't read about the sandman and go to sleep on the front porch, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the doll doctor. story xii uncle wiggily and the doll doctor "now, i wonder where i will go to-day?" said uncle wiggily, the old gentleman rabbit to himself, as he went along, in his automobile, turning around the corner by an old black stump-house, where lived a nice owl school teacher lady. "i wonder where i had better go? i have it! i'll call on grandfather goosey gander and play a game of scotch checkers!" and off he went. it was generally that way with uncle wiggily. he would start off pretending he had no place in particular to go, but he would generally end up at grandpa goosey's house. there the old rabbit gentleman and the old duck gentleman would sit and play scotch checkers and eat molasses cookies with cabbage seeds on top, and they would talk of the days when they were young, and could play ball and go skating, and do all of those things. but this time uncle wiggily never got to grandfather goosey's house. as he was going along in the woods, all of a sudden he came to a little house that stood under a christmas tree, and on this house was a sign reading: dr. monkey doodle. sick dolls made well. "ha! that is rather strange!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "i never knew there was a doll doctor here. he must have moved in only lately. i must look into this!" so the rabbit gentleman went up to the little house, and, as he came nearer he heard some one inside exclaiming: "oh, i'll never get through to-day, i know i won't! oh, the trouble i'm in! oh, if i only had some one to help me!" "my! what is that!" cried uncle wiggily, stopping short. "perhaps i am making a mistake. that may be a trap! no, it doesn't look like a trap," he went on, as he peered all about the little house and saw nothing dangerous. then the voice cried again: "oh, i am in such trouble! will no one help me?" [illustration] now uncle wiggily was always on the lookout to help his animal friends, but he did not know who this one could be. "still," said the rabbit gentleman to himself, "he is in trouble. maybe a mosquito has bitten him. i'm going to see." so uncle wiggily marched bravely up to the little house under the christmas tree, and knocked on the door. "come in!" cried a voice. "but if you're a little animal girl, with a sick doll, or one that needs mending, you might as well go away and come back again. i'm head-over heels in work, and i'll never get through. in fact i can't work at all. oh, such trouble as i am in!" "well, maybe i can help you," said uncle wiggily. "at any rate i have no doll that needs mending." so into the little house he went, and what a queer sight he saw! there was dr. monkey doodle, sitting on the floor of his shop, and scattered all about him were dolls--dolls--dolls! all sorts of dolls--but not a good, whole, well doll in the lot. some dolls had lost their wigs, some had swallowed their eyes, others had lost a leg, or both arms, or a foot. one poor doll had lost all her sawdust, and she was as flat as a pancake. another had dropped one of her shoe button eyes, and a new eye needed to be sewed in. one doll had stiff joints, which needed oiling, while another, who used to talk in a little phonograph voice, had caught such a cold that she could not speak or even whisper. "my, what sort of a place is this?" asked uncle wiggily, in surprise. "it is the doll hospital," said dr. monkey doodle. "think of it! all these dolls to fix before night, and i can't touch a one of them!" "why must all the dolls be fixed to-night?" the rabbit gentleman wanted to know. "because they are going to a party," explained dr. monkey doodle. "susie littletail, the rabbit is giving a party for all the little animal girls, and every one is going to bring her doll. but all the dolls were ill, or else were broken, and the animal children brought them all to me at once, so that i am fairly overwhelmed with work, if you will kindly permit me to say so," remarked the monkey doctor. "of course, i'll let you say so," said uncle wiggily. "but, if you will kindly pardon me, why don't you get up and work, instead of sitting in the middle of the floor, feeling sorry for yourself?" "true! why do i not?" asked the monkey doctor. "well, to be perfectly plain, i am stuck here so fast that i can't move. one of the dolls, i think it was cora ann multiplicationtable, upset the pot of glue on the floor. i came in hurriedly, and, not seeing the puddle of glue, i slipped in it. i fell down, i sat right in the glue, and now i am stuck so fast that i can't get up. "so you see that's why i can't work on the broken dolls. i can't move! and oh, what a time there'll be when all those animal girls come for their dolls and find they're not done. oh, what a time i'll have!" and the monkey doctor tried to pull himself up from the glue on the floor, but he could not--he was stuck fast. "oh, dear!" he cried. "now don't worry!" spoke uncle wiggily kindly. "i think i can help you." "oh, can you!" cried dr. monkey doodle. "and will you?" "i certainly will," said uncle wiggily, tying his ears in a bowknot so they would not get tangled in the glue. "but how can you help me?" asked the monkey doctor. "in the first place," went on the rabbit gentleman. "i will pour some warm water all around you on the glue. that will soften it, and by-and-by you can get up. and while we are waiting for that you shall tell me how to cure the sick dolls and how to mend the broken ones and i'll do the best i can." "fine!" cried dr. monkey doodle, feeling happier now. so uncle wiggily poured some warm water on the glue that held the poor monkey fast, taking care not to have the water too hot. then uncle wiggily said: "now, we'll begin on the sick dolls. who's first?" "take sallie jane ticklefeather," said the monkey. "she needs some mucilage pills to keep her hair from sticking up so straight. she belongs to a little girl named rosalind." so uncle wiggily gave sallie jane ticklefeather some mucilage pills. then he gave another doll some sawdust tea and a third one some shoe-button pudding--this was the doll who only had one eye--and soon she was all cured and had two eyes. and then such a busy time as uncle wiggily had! he hopped about that little hospital, sewing arms and legs and feet on the dolls that had lost theirs. he oiled up all the stiff joints with olive oil, and one doll, whose eyes had fallen back in her head, uncle wiggily fixed as nicely as you please. only by mistake he got in one brown eye and one blue one, but that didn't matter much. in fact, it made the doll all the more stylish. "oh, but there are a lot more dolls to fix!" cried the monkey doctor. "never mind," said uncle wiggily. "you will soon be loose from the glue, and you can help me!" "oh, i wish i were loose now!" cried the monkey. he gave himself a tremendous tug and a pull, uncle wiggily helping him, and up he came. then how he flew about that hospital, fixing the dolls ready for the party. "hark!" suddenly called uncle wiggily. "it's the girl animals coming for their dolls," said the monkey. "oh, work fast! work fast!" outside the doll hospital susie littletail, the rabbit girl, and alice and lulu wibblewobble, the duck girls, and all their friends were calling: "are our dolls mended? are they ready for us?" "not yet, but soon," answered uncle wiggily, and then he and the monkey worked so fast! dolls that had lost their heads had new ones put on. the doll that had spilled all her sawdust was filled up again, plump and fat. one boy soldier doll, who had lost his gun was given a new one, and a sword also. and the phonograph doll was fixed so that she could sing as well as talk. "but it is almost time for the party!" cried susie littletail. "just a minute!" called uncle wiggily. "there is one more doll to fix." then he quickly painted some red cheeks on a poor little pale doll, who had had the measles, and in a moment she was as bright and rosy again as a red apple. then all the dolls were fixed, and the girl animals took them to a party and had a fine time. "hurray for uncle wiggily!" cried susie littletail, and all the others said the same thing. "he certainly was kind to me," spoke dr. monkey doodle, as he cleaned the glue up off the floor. and that's all there is to this story, but in the next one, if the goldfish doesn't bite a hole in his globe and let all the molasses run over the tablecloth, i'll tell you about uncle wiggily and the flowers. story xiii uncle wiggily and the flowers one saturday, when there was no school, charley chick was playing soldier in the chicken coop, and beating the drum that uncle wiggily had given him, for christmas. and arabella, who was charley's sister, was playing with her talking doll. the little chicken girl was teaching the doll to recite that piece about "once a trap was baited, with a piece of cheese." but the doll couldn't seem to get the verses right. she would say it something like this: "once a trap was baited, with a twinkling star. 'twas christmas eve and santa claus was coming from afar. "a little drop of water, was in jack horner's pie when mary lost her little lamb old mother goose did cry." "oh, you'll never get that right!" exclaimed arabella. "uncle wiggily, can't you make my talking doll learn to speak pieces right? she gets them all mixed up." "i'll try," said the old gentleman rabbit, and he was just telling the doll how to recite a poem about little monkey-jack upon a stick of candy, and every time he took a bite it tasted fine and dandy. well, the doll had learned one verse, when, all at once, there came a knock on the door, and there stood a telegraph messenger boy, with a telegram for uncle wiggily. "oh, something has happened!" exclaimed mrs. chick. "i am so nervous whenever telegrams come." "wait until i read it," said the old gentleman rabbit, and when he had read it he said: "it is from aunt lettie, the old lady goat. she has the epizootic very badly, from having eaten some bill-board pictures of a snowstorm, which made her catch cold, and she wants to know if i can't come over to see her, and tell dr. possum to bring her some medicine. of course i will. i'll start off at once." so uncle wiggily started off, in his automobile, and on his way to see the old lady goat he stopped at the doctor's house, and dr. possum promised to come as soon as he could, and cure the old lady goat. "then i'll go on ahead," spoke uncle wiggily, "and tell her you are coming." so he hurried on, with his long ears flapping to and fro, and he hadn't gone very far before he came to a shop where a man had flowers to sell--roses and violets and pinks and all lovely blossoms like that. "the very thing!" exclaimed uncle wiggily, as he saw the pretty posies. "sick persons like flowers, and i'll take some to aunt lettie. they may cheer her up." so he bought a large and kept on toward the old lady goat's house. well, he hadn't gone very far before, all at once, as he was going around the corner by the prickly briar bush, that had berries on it in the summer time, all at once, i say, out jumped a big black bear. at first uncle wiggily thought it was a good bear, and he stopped the auto to shake paws with him. but, all at once, he saw that it was a bad bear, whom he had never seen before. "oh, my!" exclaimed uncle wiggily, surprised-like. "i--i guess i have made a mistake. i don't know you. i beg your pardon." "you don't need to do that," growled the bear. "you'll soon know me well enough. you and i are going to be very well acquainted soon. you come with me," and with that he grabbed hold of the old gentleman rabbit and marched off with him, pulling him right out of the auto. "where are you taking me?" asked uncle wiggily, trying to be brave, and not shiver or shake. "to my den," answered the bear in a grillery-growlery voice. "i haven't had my christmas or new year's dinner yet, and here it is the middle of january. bur-r-r-r-r-r-r! wow!" "oh, what a savage bear," exclaimed uncle wiggily. "what makes you so cross?" "just look at my feet and you'll see why," answered the bear, and uncle wiggily looked, and as true as i'm telling you, there were a whole lot of walnut shells fast on the bear's feet. "that's enough to make any one cross," said the bear. "i stepped in these shells that some one threw out of their window after christmas, and they stuck on so tight that i can't get them off. talk about corns! these are worse than any corns. i have to walk on my tiptoes all the while, and i'm so cross that i could eat a hot cross bun and never know it. bur-r-r-r-r! wow! woof!" "oh, my!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "then i guess it's all up with me," and he felt quite sad-like. "you may well say that!" growled the bear. "come along!" and he almost pulled uncle wiggily head over paws. "what have you in that paper?" asked the bear, as he saw the bag of flowers in uncle wiggily's paw. "some blossoms for poor sick aunt lettie!" answered the rabbit gentleman. "poor, sick aunt lettie----" "bur-r-r-r-r-r! wow! woof! bah! don't talk to me about sick goats!" growled the bear. "i'm sicker than any goat of these walnut shells on my feet. bur-r-r-r-r! wow! woof!" and then uncle wiggily thought of something. gently opening the paper he took out one nice, big, sweet-smelling rose and handed it to the bear, saying nothing. "bur-r-r-r-r! wow! what's this?" growled the bear, and before he knew what he was doing he had taken the rose in his big paws. and then, before he knew, the next thing, he was smelling of it. and, as he smelled the sweet perfume, he seemed to think he was in the summer fields, all covered with flowers, and as he looked at the rose it seemed to remind him of the time when he was a little bear, and wasn't bad, and didn't say such things as "bur-r-r-r-r!" "wow!" and then once more he smelled of the perfume in the flower, and he seemed to forget the pain of the walnut shells on his feet. "oh, uncle wiggily!" exclaimed the bear, and tears came into his blinkery-inkery eyes, and rolled down his black nose. "i'm sorry i was bad to you. this flower is so lovely that it makes me want to be good. run along, now, before i change my mind and get bad again." "first let me help you take those walnut shells off your paws," said the rabbit gentleman, and he did so, prying them off with a stick, and then the bear felt ever so much better and he hurried to his den, still smelling the beautiful rose. so you see flowers are sometimes good, even for bears. then uncle wiggily hurried on to aunt lettie's house with the rest of the bouquet, and when she saw it she was quite some better, and when dr. possum gave her some medicine she was all better, and she thought uncle wiggily was very brave to do as he had done to the bear. and on the next page, in case the eggbeater doesn't hit the rolling pin and make the potato masher fall down in the ice cream cone, i'll tell you about uncle wiggily and susie's doll. story xiv uncle wiggily and susie's doll "well, i see you are going out for another ride in your auto," remarked mrs. bow wow, the puppy dog lady, to uncle wiggily, one morning, after peetie and jackie had gone to school. "where are you bound for now?" "oh, no place in particular," he said. "i just thought i would take a ride for my health." you see the rabbit gentleman had come to pay the dog family a visit. "i should think you'd stay in when it snows," went on the doggie lady. "you seem always to be out in a snowstorm," for it was snowing quite hard just then. "i love the snow," said the old gentleman rabbit. "i like cold weather, for then my thick fur coat keeps me much warmer than in the summer time. and i like the snow--i like to see it come down, and feel it blow in my face and make my auto go through the drifts." "well, be careful you don't get stuck in any drifts and freeze fast," said mrs. bow wow, as she began washing the breakfast dishes. "i'll try not to," promised uncle wiggily, and then he put some oil on his auto, and gave it a drink of warm water (for autos get thirsty sometimes), and away the old gentleman rabbit rode through the snowstorm. "i guess i'll go call on aunt lettie, the old lady goat, to-day," he thought as he went through a big snowdrift, scattering the snow on both sides like an electric-car snow plow. "i haven't seen aunt lettie in some time, and she may be ill again." for this was some time after uncle wiggily had brought her the flowers. well, pretty soon he was at the old lady goat's house, and, surely enough she had been ill again. she had eaten some red paper, off the outside of a tomato can, one day right after christmas, and the paper didn't have the right kind of stickumpaste on it, so aunt lettie was taken ill on that account. "but i'm much better now," she said to uncle wiggily, "and i'm real glad you called. come in and i'll give you a hot cup of old newspaper tea." "um, i don't know as i care for that," said the old gentleman rabbit, making his nose twinkle like a star on a frosty night. "oh, i'm surprised to hear you say that," spoke aunt lettie, sorrowful-like. "newspaper tea is very good, especially with cream-stickum-mucilage in it. but never mind, i'll give you some carrot tea," and she did, and she and uncle wiggily sat and talked about old times, and the fun nannie and billie goat used to have, until it was time for the old gentleman rabbit to go back home. school was out as he went along in his auto. he could tell that because he met so many of the animal children. and he gave peetie and jackie bow wow and johnnie and billie bushtail a ride toward home. but before they got there, all of a sudden, as the four animal children were in the auto, and uncle wiggily was making it go through a snowdrift, all of a sudden, i say the old gentleman rabbit turned around a corner, and there was susie littletail, the little rabbit girl, standing in front of a big heap of snow. and she was crying very hard, her tears falling down, and making little holes in the snow, and she was poking into the drift with a long stick. "why, susie!" asked uncle wiggily, "whatever is the matter?" "oh, my doll! my lovely, big, new christmas doll!" cried susie. "i had her to school with me, for we are learning to sew in our class, and i was making my dollie a new dress, and--and--" and then poor susie cried so hard that she couldn't talk. "don't tell me some one took your doll away from you!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "if they did i'll go after them and get it back for you!" cried jackie bow wow. "so will i!" said peetie and billie and johnnie. "no, it isn't that," spoke the little rabbit girl. "but as i was walking along, with my dollie in my arms, all of a sudden she slipped out, fell into this big snowbank, and i can't find her! she's all covered up. boo hoo! hoo boo!" "oh, don't take on so," said uncle wiggily kindly. "we will all help you hunt for your dollie; won't we, boys?" "sure!" cried peetie and jackie and billie and johnnie. so they all got sticks and poked in the snow bank, uncle wiggily poking harder than anybody, but it was of no use. they couldn't seem to find that lost doll. "she must be very deep under the snow!" said uncle wiggily. "oh, i'll never see her again!" cried susie. "my big, beautiful christmas doll. boo-hoo! hoo-boo!" "you can get her when the snow melts," spoke peetie bow wow, as he scratched away at the drift with his paws. "yes, but then the wax will be all melted off her face, and she won't look like anything," murmured susie, sad-like. "wait; i have a plan," said uncle wiggily. "there is a fan, like an electric one, in the front part of my auto to keep the water cool. i'll make that fan blow the snow away and we'll get your doll." so he tried that, making the fan whizz around like a boy's top, but, though it blew some snow away, the doll couldn't be found. "oh, i'll never see my big, beautiful doll again!" cried susie. "oh, whatever is the matter?" asked a voice, and, turning around, they all saw the big, black, woolly bear standing there. at first the animal children were frightened until uncle wiggily said: "oh, that bear won't hurt us. i once helped him get some walnut shells off his paws, so he is a friend of mine." "of course i am," said the bear. "what is the trouble?" then they told him about susie's doll being under the drift, and the bear went on: "don't worry about that. my paws are just made for digging in the snow. i'll have that doll for you in a jiffy, which is very quick." so with his paws he began digging in the snow. my! how he did make the snow fly, and he blew it away with his strong breath. faster and faster flew the snow, and in about a minute it was all scraped away, and there was susie's doll safe and sound. and she was sleeping with her eyes shut. "oh, you darling!" susie cried, clasping the doll in her arms. "did you mean me?" asked the bear, laughing. "yes, i guess i did!" said susie, also laughing, and she gave the bear a nice little kiss on the end of his black nose. then everybody was happy and the bear went back to his den and uncle wiggily took the children and the doll home, and that's all i can tell you now, if you please. but, if the rocking horse doesn't run away and upset the milk pitcher down in the salt cellar and scare the furnace so that it goes out, i'll tell you in the story after this one, about uncle wiggily on roller skates. story xv uncle wiggily on roller skates "well, where are you going this morning?" asked jimmie wibblewobble, the duck boy, as he looked out of the front door of his house, and saw uncle wiggily, the old gentleman rabbit, putting some gasoline in his automobile. "oh, i am going to take a little ride out in the country," said uncle wiggily. "i am going to see if i can find an adventure. nothing has happened since we found susie's doll. i must have excitement. it keeps me from thinking about my rheumatism. so i am going to look for an adventure, jimmie." "i wish i could come," said the little duck boy. "i wish you could too," said his uncle. "but you must go to school. some saturday i'll take you with me, and we may find an adventure for each of us." "and for us girls, too?" asked lulu and alice as they came out, all ready to go to school. alice had just finished tying her sky-yellow-green hair ribbon into two lovely bow knots. "yes, for you duck girls, too," said uncle wiggily. "but i will be back here when you come from school, and if anything happens to me i'll tell you all about it." so he kept on putting gasoline in his automobile until he had the tinkerum-tankerum full, and then he tickled the hickory-dickory-dock with a mucilage brush, and he was all ready to start off and look for an adventure. so lulu and alice and jimmie went on to school, and uncle wiggily rode along over the fields and through the woods and up hill and down hill. pretty soon, as he was riding along, he heard a funny little noise in the bushes. it was a sad, little, squeaking sort of noise and at first the old gentleman rabbit thought it was made by something on his automobile that needed oiling. then he looked over the side and there, sitting under an old cabbage leaf, was a little mousie girl, and it was she who was crying. "oh, ho!" exclaimed uncle wiggily, "is that you, squeaky-eaky?" for he thought it might be the little cousin-mouse who lived with jollie and jillie longtail, as i have told you in other stories. "no, i am not squeaky-eaky," said the little mouse girl, "but i am cold and hungry and i don't know what to do or where to go. oh, dear! boo-hoo!" "never mind," said uncle wiggily kindly. "i will take you in my auto, and i'll bring you to the house where the longtail children live, and they'll take care of you." "oh, goody!" cried the little girl mouse. "thank you so much. now i am happy." so uncle wiggily took her in the nice, warm automobile. then he twisted the noodleum-noddleum until it sneezed, and away the auto went through the woods again. and, all of a sudden, just as uncle wiggily came to a big black stump, out jumped the burglar bear with roller skates on his paws. "hold on there!" the bear cried to the old gentleman rabbit, and he poked a stick in the auto wheels, so they couldn't go around any more. "hold on, if you please, mr. rabbit. i want you." "what for?" asked uncle wiggily. "i want you to come to supper," said the burglar bear. "your supper or my supper?" asked uncle wiggily, politely. "my supper, of course," said the burglar bear. "i am going to have rabbit pot-pie to-night, and you are going to be both the rabbit and the pie. come, now, get out of that auto. i want to ride in it before i bite you." well, of course, uncle wiggily felt pretty badly, but there was no help for it. he had to get out, and then the burglar bear, taking off his roller skates, got up into the automobile. "oh, what nice soft cushions!" exclaimed the bear as he sank down on them. then he took hold of the turnip steering wheel in his claws and twisted it. "i shall have lots of fun riding in this auto, after i gobble you up," said the bear, looking at the rabbit with his blinky eyes. "i must learn to run it. i think i'll take a little ride before i have my supper. but don't you dare run away, for i can catch you." then, to make sure uncle wiggily couldn't get away, the bear took the old rabbit gentleman's crutch away from him and uncle wiggily's rheumatism was so severe, which means painful, that he couldn't walk a step without his crutch. so there was no use for him to try to run away. [illustration] well, the bear knew how to run the auto, it seems, and he started to take a little ride in it. uncle wiggily felt pretty sad because he was going to be gobbled up and lose his auto at the same time. all at once, when the bear in the auto was some distance off in the woods, uncle wiggily heard a little voice speaking to him. "hey, uncle wiggily," the voice said, "i know how you can get the best of that bear!" "how?" asked uncle wiggily, eagerly. "here are his roller skates," said the voice, and it was the little mousie girl who was speaking. she had quietly jumped out of the auto. "put on his roller skates," said the mousie, "and skate down the hill until you see a policeman dog. then tell the policeman dog to come and arrest the bear. he'll do it, and then you'll get your auto back. you can go on roller skates even if you have rheumatism, can't you?" "i guess so," said the rabbit. "i'll try." so he put on the skates while the burglar bear was making the auto go around in a circle in the woods, and that bear was having a good time. all at once uncle wiggily skated away. first he went slowly, and then he went faster and faster until he was just whizzing along. and then, at the foot of the hill, he found the policeman dog. "oh, please come and arrest the burglar bear for me?" begged uncle wiggily. "to be sure i will," said the policeman dog. so he put on his roller skates, and skated back with uncle wiggily to where the bear was still in the auto. the policeman dog hid behind a stump. the bear stopped the auto in front of uncle wiggily and got out. "well," said the burglar bear, smacking his lips, "i guess it's supper time now. i'm going to eat you. come on and be my pot-pie!" and he made a grab for the old gentleman rabbit. "oh, you will; will you?" suddenly cried the policeman dog, drawing his club, and jumping from behind the stump. "well, i guess you won't eat my good friend, uncle wiggily. i guess not!" and with that the policeman dog tickled the bear so on his nose that he sneezed, and ran off through the woods taking his stubby little tail with him, but leaving behind his roller skates. "oh, i'm ever so much obliged to you, policeman dog," said the old gentleman rabbit, as he took off the bear's skates. "you saved my life. i'll take these skates home to jimmie. they will fit him when he grows bigger." "that is a good idea," said the dog, "and if i ever catch that bear again i will put him in the beehive jail and make him crack hickory nuts with his teeth." then uncle wiggily went home, and took the little mousie girl with him, and he told the duck children about his adventure with the bear, just as i have told you. so now it's bedtime, if you please, and i can't tell you any more. but if the man who cleans our yard doesn't take my overcoat for an ash can and put the dried leaves in it, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the clothes wringer. story xvi uncle wiggily and the clothes wringer one day jackie and peetie bow wow, the little puppy dog boys, came running over to uncle wiggily's hollow stump-house. it was after school, from which they had just come, and they rushed up the front steps, barking like anything, and calling out: "where's uncle wiggily? where is he?" "we want to see him in a hurry!" barked peetie. "yes, immediately," went on jackie. he had heard the teacher that day in school use the word, immediately, to tell a bad bumble bee to take his seat and stop trying to sting lulu wibblewobble. immediately means right off quick, without waiting, you know. "hoity-toity!" cried nurse jane fuzzy-wuzzy, the muskrat housekeeper. "what is the trouble?" "we must see uncle wiggily immediately!" barked peetie again, trying to stand on one ear. but he could not make it stiff enough, so he fell down, and bumped into jackie, and they both tumbled down the steps, making a great racket. "there, there! you must be more quiet," cautioned nurse jane. "uncle wiggily just came back from his auto ride for his health, and is taking a nap. you must not wake him up. what do you want to see him about that is so important?" "oh, we'll wait until he wakes up," said jackie, as he sat down on the porch. "ha! who wants me?" suddenly exclaimed a voice a little later, and out came uncle wiggily himself. "we do!" cried jackie. "oh, uncle wiggily!" "we're going to work!" added peetie, unable to keep still any longer. "what! you don't mean to say you're going to leave school and go to work?" asked uncle wiggily. "no, we're not going to leave school," exclaimed peetie. "we are going to work after school. jackie is going to deliver newspapers." "and i'm going to get ten cents a week for it," said jackie proudly, but not too proud. "and i'm going to help at the clothes wringer for the circus elephant," exclaimed peetie. "help at the wringer for the elephant!" cried uncle wiggily. "what does that mean? you startle and puzzle me." "why, you know the circus elephant has to dress up like a clown," went on peetie. "and he plays a drum and a handorgan, and he fires off a cannon in the sawdust ring. and he does a lot of things like that. after a while his white clown suit gets all dirty and he has to wash out his clothes. then he has to squeeze them in a wringer to get as much of the water out as he can. then he hangs them up to dry. "well, he can turn the wringer himself with his trunk, but his paws are so big that he can't put the clothes through between the rubber rollers. so he advertised for some little animal boy to help him after school. i answered, and i'm going to help him wash and dry his clothes." "how much are you to get?" asked uncle wiggily. "i get three puppy biscuits every day and a glass of pink lemonade, and on saturday afternoons i can go to the circus for nothing." "fine!" cried uncle wiggily. "i'm real glad you came to tell me. you are good and smart little animal boys." then peetie and jackie ran off to do the new work they had arranged for, and uncle wiggily cleaned his auto ready for his ride next day. and when he had finished he thought he would take a walk down to the circus tent and see how peetie was helping the elephant wash the clothes. as for jackie, he had to run so fast, here and there and everywhere, to deliver his papers that uncle wiggily did not know where to find him, any more than bo-peep did her sheep. well, in a little while, the rabbit gentleman came to where the elephant was washing his clothes. of course he had to have a very large tub and washboard and an extra large wringer for his clothes were very large. and there, up on a box in front of the tub, that was filled with suds and water, stood peetie bow wow, splashing around, and reaching down in for the wet clothes. and as he fished them up, and put the ends between the rubber rollers of the wringer, the elephant would turn the handle of the squee-gee machine with his trunk. "how is that?" asked peetie. "fine!" cried the elephant, making his trunk go faster and faster, and squirting the water out of the wet clothes, all over the ground. "yes, peetie is a good little chap," said uncle wiggily. just then the elephant's brother came along, and the two big animals began talking together. and, as they were both a little deaf, each one shouted to the other as loudly as he could. oh! such a racket as they made--thunder was nothing to it! and then a funny thing happened. peetie turned around to put some more clothes in the tub, when, all of a sudden, his tail got caught in between the wringer's rubber rollers. "ouch!" cried the little puppy dog. "ouch! oh, dear me! stop, please, mr. elephant. don't turn the wringer any more!" but the two elephants were talking together, each one as loudly as he could, about how much hay they could eat, and how some little boys at a circus would give them only one peanut instead of a whole bag full, and all things like that. so the clothes-washing elephant never noticed that peetie's tail was caught in the rollers. and he didn't hear him cry. around and around the elephant turned the handle of the wringer with his trunk, winding peetie's tail right between the rollers, and drawing the little puppy dog boy himself closer and closer into the tub, over the water and nearer to the rubber rollers themselves. [illustration] "oh, stop! oh, stop!" cried poor peetie trying to get away, but he could not. "if i get rolled between the rollers i'll be as flat as a pancake!" he screamed. "oh, stop! oh, uncle wiggily, save me!" "yes, i will!" cried the rabbit gentleman. "you must stop turning that wringer!" he said to the circus elephant. "you are wringing peetie instead of the clothes. his tail is caught!" but the elephant was so deaf, and his brother was calling to him so loudly about pink lemonade, that he could not hear either peetie or uncle wiggily. then, to make him listen, uncle wiggily with his crutch tickled the elephant's foot, which was as high up as he could reach, but the big creature thought it was only a mosquito, and paid no attention. "oh, what shall i do?" cried peetie. "i'll save you!" exclaimed uncle wiggily, and then, happening to have a bag of peanuts in his pocket he held them close to the elephant's trunk. the elephant could smell, if he could not hear well, and all at once he took the peanuts, and as he did so, of course, he removed his trunk from the wringer handle. and as he ate the peanuts he saw what a terrible thing he was doing, wringing peetie instead of the clothes, so he very kindly made the wringer go backwards, and out came peetie's tail again, a little flat, but not much hurt otherwise. "i am so sorry," said the elephant. "i wouldn't have had it happen for the world." "yes, it was an accident," spoke uncle wiggily, "but i guess peetie had better find some other kind of work to do after school." "all right," said the elephant. "i'll pay him off, and then i'll get a rubbery snake to help me with my clothes. a snake won't mind being squeezed." so he did that, and peetie and uncle wiggily went home, and nothing more happened that day. but next, in case the automobile horn doesn't blow the little girl's rubber balloon up in the top of the tree, where the kittie cat has its nest, i'll tell you about uncle wiggily and the trained nurse. story xvii uncle wiggily and the trained nurse uncle wiggily longears, the gentleman rabbit, was out riding in his automobile. he was taking exercise, so he would not be so fat, for a fat rabbit is about the fattest thing there is, except a balloon, and that doesn't count, as it has no ears. "i wonder what will happen to me to-day?" said uncle wiggily, as he rode along, turning the turnip steering wheel from one side to the other to keep from bumping into stones and stumps, and things like that. and, every now and then, uncle wiggily would take a bite out of his turnip steering wheel. that was what it was for, you see. and as for the german bologna sausages which were the tires, uncle wiggily used to let anybody who wanted to--such as a hungry doggie or a starving kittie--take a bite out of them whenever they wanted to. well, pretty soon, after a while, not so very long, uncle wiggily came to the top of a hill. he stopped his auto there to look around at the green fields and the apple trees in blossom, and at the little brook running along over the green, mossy stones. and the brook never stubbed its toe once on the stones! what do you think of that? "well, i guess i'll go down hill," thought the old gentleman rabbit, and down he started. but oh unhappiness! sadness, and, also, isn't it too bad! no sooner had uncle wiggily started down the hill in his auto than the snicker-snooker-um got twisted around the boodle-oodle-um, and that made the wibble-wobble-ton stand on its head, instead of standing on its ear as it really ought to have done. then the auto ran away, and the next thing uncle wiggily knew his car had hit a stump, turned a somersault and part of a peppersault, and he was thrown out. "bang!" he fell, right on the hard ground, and for a moment he stayed there, being too much out of breath to get up and see what was the matter. and when he tried to get up he couldn't. something had happened to him. he had hit his head on a stone. poor uncle wiggily! but, very luckily, dr. possum happened to be passing, having just come from paying a visit to grandfather goosey gander, who had, by mistake, eaten a shoe button with his corn meal pudding. and dr. possum, having cured grandpa goosey, went at once to help uncle wiggily. "we must get you home right away, uncle wiggily," said the doctor gentleman. "you must be put to bed and have a trained nurse." "well, as long as i have to have a nurse, i should much prefer," said uncle wiggily, faintly, "i should much prefer a trained one to a wild one. for a trained nurse who can do tricks will be quite funny." "hum!" exclaimed dr. possum. "a trained nurse has no time to do tricks. now rest yourself." so uncle wiggily sat back quietly in dr. possum's auto until he got to his hollow stump home. then old dog percival and the doctor carried the rabbit gentleman in, and they sent for a trained nurse. for uncle wiggily was quite badly hurt, and needed some one to feed him for a while. pretty soon the trained nurse came, and who did she turn out to be but nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy herself, the kind old muskrat. she had been living with uncle wiggily, but, for a time, had gone off to study to be a trained nurse. she put on a white cap and a blue and white striped dress, and she was just as good a nurse as one could get from the hospital. uncle wiggily was too ill to notice, though. "i know how to look after him," said nurse jane, and she really did. she felt of his pulse, and made him put out his tongue to look at, to see that he had not swallowed it by mistake, and she found out how hot he was to see if he had fever, and all things like that. and she put a report of all these things down on a bit of white birch bark for paper, using a licorice stick for a pencil. afterward dr. possum would read the report. well, for some time uncle wiggily was quite ill, for you know it is no fun to be in an automobile accident. then he began to get better. nurse jane did not have much to do, and dr. possum, who came in every day, said: "he will get well now. but uncle wiggily has had a hard time of it; very hard!" and, as soon as he began to get better, uncle wiggily got sort of impatient, and he wanted many things he could not have, or which were not good for him. he wanted to get out of bed, but nurse jane would not let him, for the doctor had told her not to. then uncle wiggily said: "well, you are a trained nurse. now you must do some tricks for me, or i shall get out of bed whether you want me to or not," and he barked like a dog; really he did. you see he was not exactly himself, but rather out of his head on account of the fever. "come on, do some tricks!" he cried to nurse jane. poor miss fuzzy-wuzzy! she had never done a trick since she was a little girl muskrat, but she knew sick rabbits must be humored, so she tried to think of a trick. she did not know whether to make believe jump rope, play puss in a corner or pretend that she was a fire engine. and she really wanted to help uncle wiggily! "come on! do something!" he cried, and he almost jumped out of bed. "do something." and just then, as it happened, a great big bee flew in the window, and maybe it was going to sting uncle wiggily, for all i know. then nurse jane knew what to do. she caught up a soft towel, so as not to hurt the bee any more than she had to, and she began hitting at him. "get out of here! get out of here!" cried nurse jane. "you can't sting uncle wiggily!" "buzz! buzz!" sang the bee. "go out! go out!" exclaimed nurse jane, and she made the towel sail through the air. the bee flew this way and that, up and down and sideways, but always nurse jane was after him with the towel, trying to drive him out of the window. she climbed up on chairs, she jumped over tables, without knocking over a single medicine bottle. she crawled under the sofa and out again, she even jumped on the couch and bounced up in the air like a balloon. and at last she drove the bad bee out doors where he could get honey from the flowers, and they didn't mind his stinging them if he wanted to, which of course he didn't. then, after that, nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy sat down in a chair, near uncle wiggily, very tired out indeed. the old gentleman rabbit opened his eyes and laughed a little. "those were funny tricks you did for me," he said, "jumping around like that. very funny! ha! ha!" "i was not doing tricks," answered nurse jane, surprised-like. "i was trying to keep a bee from biting you." "were you indeed?" spoke uncle wiggily. "i thought they were some of the tricks you had been trained to do. they were fine. i laughed so hard that i think i am much better." and, indeed, he was, and soon he was all well, so that nurse jane fuzzy, without really meaning to at all, had done some funny tricks when she drove out that bee. oh! trained nurses are very queer, i think, but they are very nice, also. so uncle wiggily was soon well, and needed no nurse, and when his auto was mended, he could ride around in it as nicely as before. =the sunnybrook series= by mrs. elsie m. alexander cloth bound, mo. illustrations in color jackets in full color colored end papers, illus. * * * * * a remarkably well told, instructive series of stories of animals, their characteristics and the exciting incidents in their lives. young people will find these tales of animal life filled with a true and intimate knowledge of nature lore. * * * * * the happy family of beechnut grove (peter gray squirrel and family) buster rabbit, the explorer (the bunny rabbit family) adventures of tudie (the field mouse) tabitha dingle (the famous cat of sunnybrook meadow) roody and his underground palace (mr. woodchuck in his happy home) buff and duff (children of mrs. white-hen) * * * * * a. l. burt company, _publishers_ - east rd street new york =the wildwood series= by ben field cloth bound, mo. illustrations in color jackets in full color colored end papers, illus. * * * * * in this new children's series the adventures of many familiar animal characters are pictured in a realistic manner. young readers will find these captivating tales of the habits, haunts and pranks of their little animal friends brimful of entertainment. * * * * * exciting adventures of mr. tom squirrel exciting adventures of mr. jim crow exciting adventures of mr. gerald fox exciting adventures of mr. melancthon coon exciting adventures of mr. robert robin exciting adventures of mr. bob white * * * * * a. l. burt company, _publishers_ - east rd street new york transcriber's note a few obvious typographical errors have been corrected. all other text and punctuation is retained. blank pages before illustrations have been removed. text in _italics_ or =bold= are indicated in this way. uncle wiggily's story book +by+ howard r. garis author of uncle wiggily's airship; uncle wiggily's automobile; uncle wiggily on the farm; uncle wiggily's travels [illustration] +platt & munk+, _publishers_ new york _uncle wiggily's story book_ copyright mcmxxi and mcmxxxix +by+ +platt & munk+ contents story i. +uncle wiggily's toothache+ ii. +uncle wiggily and the freckled girl+ iii. +uncle wiggily and the mud puddle+ iv. +uncle wiggily and the bad boy+ v. +uncle wiggily and the good boy+ vi. +uncle wiggily's valentine+ vii. +uncle wiggily and the bad dog+ viii. +uncle wiggily and puss in boots+ ix. +uncle wiggily and the lost boy+ x. +uncle wiggily and stubby toes+ xi. +uncle wiggily's christmas+ xii. +uncle wiggily's fourth of july+ xiii. +uncle wiggily and the skates+ xiv. +uncle wiggily goes coasting+ xv. +uncle wiggily's picnic+ xvi. +uncle wiggily's rain storm+ xvii. +uncle wiggily and the mumps+ xviii. +uncle wiggily and the measles+ xix. +uncle wiggily and the chicken-pox+ xx. +uncle wiggily's hallowe'en+ xxi. +uncle wiggily and the poor dog+ xxii. +uncle wiggily and the rich cat+ xxiii. +uncle wiggily and the horse+ xxiv. +uncle wiggily and the cow+ xxv. +uncle wiggily and the camping boys+ xxvi. +uncle wiggily and the birthday cake+ xxvii. +uncle wiggily and the new year's horn+ xxviii. +uncle wiggily's thanksgiving+ xxix. +uncle wiggily at the circus+ xxx. +uncle wiggily and the lion+ xxxi. +uncle wiggily and the tiger+ xxxii. +uncle wiggily and the elephant+ xxxiii. +uncle wiggily and the camel+ xxxiv. +uncle wiggily and the wild rabbit+ xxxv. +uncle wiggily and the tame squirrel+ xxxvi. +uncle wiggily and the wolf+ uncle wiggily's greeting +dear children+: this is a quite different book from any others you may have read about me. in this volume i have some adventures with real children, like yourselves, as well as with my animal friends. these stories tell of the joyous, funny, exciting and everyday adventures that happen to you girls and boys. there is the story about a toothache, which you may read, or have read to you, when you want to forget the pain. there is a story of a good boy and a freckled girl. and there is a story about a bad boy, but not everyone is allowed to read that. there is a story for nearly every occasion in the life of a little boy or girl; about the joys of christmas, of a birthday; about different animals, about getting lost, and one about falling in a mud puddle. and there are stories about having the measles and mumps, and getting over them. i hope you will like this book as well as you seem to have cared for the other volumes about me. and you will find some beautiful pictures in this book. now, as nurse jane is calling me, i shall have to hop along. but i hope you will enjoy these stories. your friend, +uncle wiggily longears+. uncle wiggily's story book story i uncle wiggily's toothache once upon a time there was a boy who had the toothache. it was not a very large tooth that pained him, and, really, it was quite surprising how such a very large ache got into such a small tooth. at least that is what the boy thought. "but i'm not going to the dentist and let him pull it!" cried the boy, holding his hand over his mouth. "and i'm not going to let anybody in this house pull it, either! so there!" he ran and hid himself in a corner. girls aren't that way when they have the toothache--only boys. "perhaps the tooth will not need pulling," said mother, as she looked at the boy and saw how much pain he had. "that's so!" exclaimed grandma, who was trying to think of some way in which to help the boy. "maybe the dentist can make a little hole in your tooth, sonny, and fill the hole with cement, as the man filled the hole in our sidewalk, and then all your pain will stop." "no, i'm not going to the dentist! i'm not going, i tell you!" cried sonny. and i think he stamped his foot on the floor, the least little bit. it may have been that he saw a tack sticking up, and wanted to hammer it down with his shoe. but i am afraid it was a stamp of his foot; and afterward that boy was sorry. but, anyhow, his tooth kept on aching, and it was the kind called "jumping," for it was worse at one time than another. sometimes the boy thought the pain jumped from one side of his tongue to the other side, and again it seemed that it leaped away up to the roof of his mouth. the toothache even seemed to turn somersaults and peppersaults, and once it appeared to jump over backward. but it never completely jumped away, which is what the boy wished it would do. "you'd better let me take you to the dentist's," said his mother. "he'll either fix the tooth so it won't ache any more, or he'll take it out, so a new tooth will grow in. and, really, the pain the dentist may cause will only be a little one, and it will be all over in a moment. while your tooth may ache all night." "no, i'm not going to the dentist! i'm not going!" cried sonny boy, and then again he acted just as if there were a tack in the carpet that needed hammering down with his foot. now it was about this time that uncle wiggily longears, the bunny rabbit gentleman, was hopping from his hollow stump bungalow in the woods to go look for an adventure. but, as yet, uncle wiggily knew nothing about the boy with the toothache. that came a little later. "are you going to be gone long?" asked nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, of the bunny gentleman. "only just long enough to have a nice adventure," answered mr. longears, and away he hopped on his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch, with his pink, twinkling nose held in front of him like the headlight on a choo-choo train. now, as it happened, uncle wiggily's hollow stump bungalow was not far from the house where the toothache boy lived, though the boy had never seen the rabbit's home. he had often wandered in the woods, almost in front of the bunny's bungalow, but, not having the proper sort of eyes, the boy had never seen uncle wiggily. it needs very sharp eyes to see the creatures of the woods and fields, and to find the little houses in which they live. at any rate the boy had never noticed uncle wiggily, though the bunny gentleman had often seen the boy. many a time when you go through the woods the animal folk look out at and see you, when you never even know they are there. and pretty soon uncle wiggily hopped right past the house where the toothache boy lived. and just then, for about the tenth time, mother was saying: "you had better let me take you to the dentist and have that toothache stopped, sonny." "no! no! i don't want to! i--i'm a--a--i guess it will stop itself," said the boy, hopeful like. uncle wiggily, hiding in the bushes in front of the boy's house, sat up on his hind legs and twinkled his pink nose. by a strange and wonderful new power which he had, the bunny gentleman could hear and understand boy and girl talk, though he could not speak it himself. so it was no trouble at all for uncle wiggily to know what that boy was saying. "he's afraid; that's what the boy is," said the bunny uncle to himself, leaning on his red, white and blue striped crutch. "he's afraid to go to the dentist and have that tooth filled, or pulled. now that's very silly of him, for the dentist will not hurt him much, and will soon stop the ache. i wonder how i can make that boy believe this? his mother and grandmother can't seem to." for mr. longears heard mother and grandma trying to get that toothache boy to let them take him to the dentist. but the boy only shook his head, and made believe hammer tacks in the carpet with his foot, and he held his hand over his mouth. but, all the while, the ache kept aching achier and achier and jumping, leaping, tumbling, twisting, turning and flip-flopping--almost like a clown in the circus. "no! no! i'm not going to the dentist!" cried the boy. then uncle wiggily had an idea. he could look in through the window of the house and see the boy. in front of the window was a grassy place, near the edge of the wood, and close by was an old stump, shaped almost like the easy chair in a dentist's office. "i know what i'll do," said uncle wiggily. "i'll make believe i have the toothache. i'll go get dr. possum and i'll sit down in this stump chair. then i'll tell dr. possum to make believe pull out one of my teeth." "i s'pose if nurse jane were here she might ask what good that would do?" thought uncle wiggily. "but i think it will do a lot of good. if that boy sees me, a rabbit gentleman, having a tooth pulled, which is what he will think he sees, it may make him brave enough to go to the dentist's. i'll try it." away hopped uncle wiggily to dr. possum's office. "what's the matter? rheumatism again?" asked the animal doctor. "no, but i want you to come over and pull a tooth for me," said uncle wiggily, blinking one eye, and twinkling his pink nose surreptitious-like. "pull a tooth! why, your teeth are all right!" cried dr. possum. "it's to give a little lesson to a boy," whispered the bunny, and then dr. possum blinked one eye, in understanding fashion. a little later uncle wiggily sat himself down on the old stump that looked like a chair, and dr. possum stood over him. "open your mouth and show me which tooth it is that hurts," said dr. possum, just like a dentist. "all right," answered uncle wiggily, and, from the corner of his left eye the bunny gentleman could see the toothache boy at the window looking out. the boy saw the rabbit and dr. possum at the old stump, and he saw mr. longears open his mouth and point with his paw to a tooth. "oh, mother!" cried the boy, very much excited. "look! there's a funny rabbit, all dressed up in a tall silk hat, having a tooth pulled. grandma, look!" "well, i do declare!" murmured the old lady. "isn't that perfectly wonderful! i didn't know that animals ever had the toothache!" "oh, i s'pose they do, once in a while," said the toothache boy's mother. "but see how brave that rabbit gentleman is! not to mind having the animal dentist stop his ache! just fancy!" neither grandma nor mother said anything to sonny boy. all three of them just stood at the window, and watched uncle wiggily and dr. possum. and, as they looked, dr. possum put a little shiny thing, like a buttonhook, in the bunny gentleman's mouth. he gave a sudden little pull and, a moment later, held up something which sparkled in the sun. it was only a bit of glass, which uncle wiggily had held in his paw ready for this part in the little play, but it looked like a tooth. "well, i declare!" laughed grandma. "the bunny had his tooth pulled!" "and he doesn't seem to mind it at all," added mother. surely enough, uncle wiggily hopped off the make-believe dentist-stump, and with his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch, began to dance a little jiggity-jig with dr. possum. "this dance is to show that it doesn't hurt even to have a tooth pulled; much less to have one filled," said the bunny. "i understand!" laughed dr. possum. and as he and uncle wiggily danced, they looked, out of the corners of their eyes, and saw the toothache boy standing at the window watching them. "well, i never, in all my born days, saw a sight like that!" exclaimed grandma. "nor i," said mother. "isn't it wonderful!" sonny boy took his hand down from his mouth. "i--i guess, mother," he said, as he saw uncle wiggily jump over his crutch in a most happy fashion, "i guess i'll go to the dentist, and have him stop my toothache!" "hurray!" softly cried uncle wiggily, who heard what the boy said. "this is just what i wanted to happen, dr. possum! our little lesson is over. now we may go!" away hopped the bunny, to tell nurse jane about the strange adventure, and dr. possum, with his bag of powders and pills on his tail, where he always carried it, shuffled back to his office. sonny boy went to the dentist's, and soon his tooth was fixed so it would not ache again. he hardly felt at all what the dentist did to him. "i--i didn't know how easy it was 'till i saw the rabbit have his tooth pulled," said the boy to the dentist. "hum," said the dentist, noncommittal-like, "some rabbits are very funny!" and if the puppy dog doesn't waggle his tail so hard that he knocks over the milk bottle when it's trying to slide down the doormat, i shall have the pleasure, next, of telling you the story of uncle wiggily and the freckled girl. story ii uncle wiggily and the freckled girl uncle wiggily was hopping through the woods one summer day, when, as he happened to stop to get a drink of some water that the rain-clouds had dropped in the cup of a jack-in-the-pulpit flower, the bunny gentleman heard a girl saying: "oh, i wish i could get them off! i wish i could scrub them off with sandpaper, or something like that! i've tried lemon juice and vinegar, but they won't go. and oh, they make me so homely!" uncle wiggily stopped suddenly and rubbed the end of his pink, twinkling nose with the brim of his tall, silk hat. "this is very queer," said the bunny uncle to himself. "i wonder what is it she has tried to take off with lemon juice? she seems very unhappy, this little girl does." the bunny uncle looked through the trees and, seated on a green, mossy stump, he saw a girl about ten or twelve years old. she held a looking-glass in her hand, and as she glanced at her likeness in the mirror she kept saying: "how can i get them off? how can i make them disappear so i will be beautiful? oh, how i hate them!" "what in the world can be the matter?" thought uncle wiggily to himself. for, as i have told you, the bunny gentleman was now able to hear and understand the talk of girls and boys, though he could not himself speak that language. he hopped a little closer to the unhappy girl on the green, mossy stump, but the bunny stepped so softly on the leaf carpet of the forest that scarcely a sound did he make, and the girl with the mirror never heard him. "i wonder if i said a little verse, such as i have read in fairy books, whether they would go away?" murmured the girl. "i've tried everything but that. i'll do it--i'll say a magical verse! but i must make up one, for i never have read of the kind i want in any book." she seemed to be thinking deeply for a moment and then, shutting her eyes, and looking up at the sun which was shining through the trees of the wood, the girl recited this little verse: "sun, sun, who made them come, make them go away. then i'll be like other girls, happy all the day!" "this is like a puzzle, or a riddle," whispered uncle wiggily to himself, as he kept out of sight behind a bush near the stump. "what is it she wants the sun to make go away? it can't be rain, or storm clouds, for the sky is as blue as a baby's eyes. i wonder what it is?" then, as the girl took up the mirror again, and looked in it, uncle wiggily saw the reflection of her face. it was covered with dear, little brown freckles! "ho! ho!" softly crooned uncle wiggily to himself. "now i understand. this girl is unhappy because she is freckled. she thinks she doesn't look pretty with them! why, if she only knew it, those freckles show how strong and healthy she is. they show that she has played out in the fresh air and sunshine, and that she will live to be happy a long, long while. freckles! why, she ought to be glad she has them, instead of sorry!" but the girl on the stump kept her eyes shut, clenching the mirror in her hand and as she held her face up to the sun she recited another verse of what she thought was a mystic charm. this is what she said: "freckles, freckles, go away! don't come back any other day. make my face most fair to see, then how happy i will be!" slowly, as uncle wiggily watched, hidden as he was behind the bush, the girl opened her eyes and held up the looking-glass. over her shoulder the bunny gentleman could still see the freckles in the glass; the dear, brown, honest, healthy freckles. but when the girl saw them she dropped the mirror, hid her face in her hands and cried: "oh, they didn't go 'way! they didn't go 'way! now i never can be beautiful!" uncle wiggily twinkled his pink nose thoughtfully. "this is too bad!" said the bunny gentleman. "i wonder how i can help that girl?" for, since he had helped the toothache boy by letting dr. possum pretend to pull an aching tooth, the bunny gentleman wanted do other favors for the children who loved him. "i'd like to make that girl happy, even with her freckles," said the bunny. "i'll hop off through the woods, and perhaps i may meet some of my animal friends who will show me a way." the bunny gentleman looked kindly at the girl on the stump. she was sobbing, and did not see him, or hear him, as she murmured over and over again: "i don't like freckles! i hate them!" away through the woods hopped uncle wiggily. he had not gone very far before he heard a bird singing a beautiful song. oh, so cheerful it was, and happy--that song! "good morning, mr. bird!" greeted uncle wiggily, for you know it is the father bird who sings the sweetest song. the mother bird is so busy, i suppose, that she has little time to sing. "you are very happy this morning," the rabbit said to the bird. "why, yes, uncle wiggily, i am very happy," answered mr. bird, "and so is my wife. she is up there on the nest, but she told me to come down here and sing a happy song." "why?" asked the bunny. "because we are going to have some little birds," was the answer. "there are some eggs in our nest, and my mate is sitting on them to keep them warm. soon some little birds will come out, and i will sing a still happier song." "that's fine," said uncle wiggily, thinking of the unhappy freckled girl on the stump. "may i see the eggs in your nest?" "of course," answered the father-singer. "our nest is in a low bush, but it is well hidden. here, i'll show you. mrs. bird will not mind if you look." the father bird fluttered to the nest, and mrs. bird raised her fluffy feathers to show uncle wiggily some beautiful blue eggs. "why--why, they're _freckled_!" exclaimed the bunny gentleman. "aren't you birds sad because you have freckled eggs? why, your little birds will be freckled, too! and, if they are girl birds they will cry!" "why?" asked mr. bird in surprise. "why will our girl birdies cry?" "because they'll be _freckled_," answered the bunny. "i just saw a girl in the woods, crying to break her heart because she is freckled!" "nonsense!" chirped mrs. bird. "in the first place these are not freckles on my eggs, though they look so. my eggs are spotted, or mottled, and they would not be half so pretty if they were not colored that way. besides, being spotted as they are, makes them not so easily seen in the nest. and, when i fly away to get food, bad snakes or cats can not so easily see my eggs to eat them. i just love my _freckled_ eggs, as you call them!" laughed mrs. bird. "well, they are pretty," admitted uncle wiggily. "but will your little birds be speckled, too?" "not at all," sang mr. bird. "say, uncle wiggily!" he whistled, "if we could get that girl here so she could see our spotted eggs, and know how beautiful they are, even if they are what she would call 'freckled'; wouldn't that make her happier?" "perhaps it would," said the bunny rabbit. "i never thought of that. i'll try it! you will not be afraid to let her see your eggs, will you?" he asked. "no; for girls are not like some boys--they don't rob the nests of birds," replied the mother of the speckled eggs. "bring the unhappy girl here, and mr. bird and i will hide in the bushes while she peeps into our nest." "i will!" said uncle wiggily. away he hopped through the woods, and soon he came to the place where the freckled girl was still sobbing on the stump. "now how can i get her to follow me through the woods, to see the nest, when i can't talk to her?" whispered uncle wiggily. then he thought of a plan. "i'll toss a little piece of tree-bark at her," chuckled the bunny. "that will make her look up, and when she sees me i'll hop off a little way. she'll follow, thinking she can catch me. but i'll keep ahead of her and so lead her to the woods. i want to make her happy!" the bunny tossed a bit of bark, hitting the girl on her head. she looked around, and then she saw uncle wiggily, all dressed up as he was with his tall silk hat and his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch. "oh, what a funny rabbit!" exclaimed the girl, smiling through her tears, and forgetting her freckles, for a while at least. "i wonder if i can catch you?" she said. "well, not if i know it," whispered uncle wiggily to himself, for he knew what the girl had said. "but i'll let you think you can," the bunny chuckled to himself. he hopped on a little farther, and the girl followed. but just as she thought she was going to put her hands on the rabbit, uncle wiggily skipped along, and she missed him. but still she followed on, and soon uncle wiggily had led her to the bushes where the birds had built their nest. mr. and mrs. bird were watching, and when they saw uncle wiggily and the freckled girl, mr. bird began to sing. he sang of blue skies, or rippling waters of sunshine and sweet breezes scented with apple blossoms. "oh, what a lovely song!" murmured the freckled girl. "some birds must live here. i wonder if i could see their nest and eggs? i wouldn't hurt them for the world!" she said softly. uncle wiggily shrank back out of sight. the girl looked around for the singing birds, and just then the wind blew aside some leaves and she saw the nest. but she saw more than the nest, for she saw the eggs that were to be hatched into little birds. and, more than this; the girl saw that the eggs were spotted or mottled--freckled as she was herself! "oh! oh!" murmured the girl, clasping her hands as she looked down at the speckled eggs in the nest. "they have brown spots on, just like my face. they are _freckled eggs_--but, oh, how pretty they are! i never knew that anything freckled could be beautiful! i never knew! oh, how wonderful!" as she stood looking at the eggs, mr. bird sang again, a sweeter song than before, and the wind blew softly on the freckled face of the unhappy girl--no, not unhappy now, for she smiled, and there were no more tears in her eyes. "oh, how glad i am that the funny rabbit led me to the nest of freckled eggs!" said the girl. "i wonder where he is?" she looked around, but uncle wiggily had hopped away. he had done all that was needed of him. the mother bird softly fluttered down into her nest, covering the beautiful mottled eggs with her downy wings. she was not afraid of the girl. the girl reached out her hand and timidly stroked the mother bird. then she gently touched her own freckled cheeks. "i'm never going to care any more," she whispered. "i did not know that freckles could be so pretty. i'm glad i got 'em!" the freckled girl walked away, leaving the mother bird on the nest, while the father of the speckled eggs, that soon would be little birds, sang his song of joy. the freckled girl, with a glad smile on her face, went back to the stump, and, without looking into the mirror, she tossed the bit of looking-glass into a deep spring. "i don't need you any more," she said, as the glass went sailing through the air. "i know, now, that freckles can be beautiful!" and if the pussy cat doesn't think the automobile tire is a bologna sausage, and try to nibble a piece out to make a sandwich for the rag doll's picnic, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the mud puddle. story iii uncle wiggily and the mud puddle did you ever fall down in a mud puddle? perhaps this may have happened to you when you were barefooted, with old clothes on, so that it did not much matter whether you splashed them or not. but that isn't what i mean. did you ever fall into a mud puddle when you had on your very best clothes, with white stockings that showed every speck of mud? if anything like that ever happened to you, when you were going to sunday-school, or to a little afternoon tea party, why, you know how dreadfully unhappy you felt! to say nothing of the pain in your knees! well, now for a story of how a little boy named tommie fell in a mud puddle, and how uncle wiggily helped him scrub the mud off his white stockings--off tommie's white stockings i mean, not uncle wiggily's. tommie was a little boy who lived in a house on the edge of the wood, near where uncle wiggily had built his hollow stump bungalow. no, tommie wasn't the same little boy who had the toothache. he was quite a different chap. one day the postman rang the bell at tommie's house, and gave tommie a cute little letter. "oh, it's for me!" cried tommie. "look, mother! i have a letter!" "that's nice," said mother. "who sent it to you?" "i'll look and tell you," answered the little boy. the writing in the letter was large and plain, and though tommie had not been to school very long he could read a little. so he was able to tell that the letter was from a little girl named alice, who wanted him to come to a party she was going to have one afternoon a few days later. "oh, may i go?" tommie asked his mother. "yes," she answered. "and wear my best clothes?" "surely you will put on your best clothes to go to the party," said mother. "and i hope you have a nice time!" tommie hoped so, too. but if only he had known what was going to happen! perhaps it is just as well he did not, for it would have spoiled his fun of thinking about the coming party. and half the fun of nearly everything, you know, is thinking about it beforehand, or afterward. at last the day came for the tea party alice was to give at her home, which was a little distance down the street from tommie's house. "oh, how happy i am!" sang tommie, as he ran about the porch. but when, after breakfast, it began to rain, tommie was not so happy. he stood with his nose pressed against the glass of the window until it was pressed quite flat. i mean his nose was flat, for the glass was that way anyhow, you know. and tommie watched the rain drops splash down, making little mud puddles in the street. "can't i go to alice's party if it rains?" asked tommie. "well, no, i think not," mother answered. "but perhaps it will stop raining before it is time for you to go. you don't have to leave here until after lunch." tommie turned again to press his nose against the glass, glad that the rain was outside, so that the drops which rolled down the window could not wet his face. and he hoped the clouds would clear away and that the sun would shine before the time for the party. now about this same hour uncle wiggily longears, the bunny rabbit gentleman, was also looking out of the window of his hollow stump bungalow in the woods, wondering, just as tommie wondered, whether the rain would stop. "but surely you won't go out while it is still raining," said nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper. "no," answered uncle wiggily, "my going out is not so needful as all that. i was going to look for an adventure, and i had rather do that in the sunshine than in the rain. i can wait." and then, almost as suddenly as it had started, the rain stopped. "oh, i'm so glad!" sang tommie, as he danced up and down. "now i can go to the party!" "and i can go adventuring," said uncle wiggily. now of course he did not hear tommie, nor did the little boy hear the bunny. but, all the same, they were to have an adventure together. tommie had been ready, for some time, to start down the street to go to the party alice was giving for her little girl and boy friends. all that tommie needed, now, was to have his collar and tie put on, and his hair combed again, for it had become rather tossed and twisted topsy-turvy when he pressed his head against the window, watching the rain. "be careful of mud puddles!" tommie's mother called to him, as, all spick and span, he started down the street toward the home of alice, a block or so distant. "don't fall in any puddles!" "i'll be careful," tommie promised. and as uncle wiggily started out about this same time for his adventure, nurse jane called to the bunny: "be careful not to get wet on account of your rheumatism." "i'll be careful," promised uncle wiggily, just as tommie had done. now everything would have been all right if tommie had not stubbed his toe as he was going along the street, about half way to the party. but he did stumble, where one sidewalk stone was raised up higher than another, and, before he could save himself, down in the mud puddle fell poor tommie! he fell on his hands and knees, and they were both soaked in the muddy water of the puddle on the sidewalk. of course it did not so much matter about tommie's hands. he could easily wash the mud and brown water off them. but it was different with his white stockings. perhaps i forgot to tell you that tommie wore white stockings to the party. but he did, and now the knees of these stockings were all mud! and as he looked at his mud-soiled stockings, and at his hands, from which water was dripping down on the sides of his legs, tommie could not help crying. "i can't go to the party this way!" sobbed tommie to himself, for he was big enough to go down the street alone, and there were no other children on it just then. "i can't go to the party this way! but if i go home mother will make me change my things, and i'll be late, and maybe she won't let me go at all! oh, dear!" and in order to keep out of sight of any other boys or girls who might come along, tommie stepped behind some bushes that grew along the street. [illustration: he looked down at his mud-soiled stockings] and what was his surprise to see, sitting on a stone, behind this same bush, an old gentleman rabbit, wearing glasses, and with a tall silk hat on his head. on the ground beside him was a red, white and blue striped crutch, for rheumatism. but the funniest thing about the rabbit gentleman (who, as you have guessed, was uncle wiggily), the funniest thing was that he had a bunch of dried grass in one paw, and he was busy scrubbing some dried spots of mud off his trousers. so busy was uncle wiggily doing this that he neither saw nor heard tommie come behind the bush. and tommie was so surprised at seeing uncle wiggily that the little boy never said a word. "why--why!" thought tommie, as he saw the bunny take up a pine tree cone, which was like a nutmeg grater, and scrape the dried mud off his trousers, "he must have fallen into a mud puddle just as i did!" and that is just what had happened to uncle wiggily. he had been walking along, thinking of an adventure he might have, when he splashed into a puddle and spattered himself with mud! but, instead of crying, uncle wiggily set about making the best of it--cleaning himself off so he would look nice again, to go in search of an adventure. "i'll let the mud dry in the sun," said uncle wiggily out loud, speaking to himself, with his back partly turned to tommie. "then it will easily scrape off." the sun was so warm, after the rain, that it soon dried the mud on the bunny gentleman's clothes, and with the bunch of grass, and the sharp pine tree cone, he soon had loosened the bits of dirt. "now i'm all right again," said uncle wiggily out loud. and though of course tommie did not understand rabbit talk, the little boy could see what uncle wiggily had done to help himself after the mud puddle accident. "i say!" cried tommie, before he thought, "will you please lend me that pine tree cone clothes brush? i want to clean the mud off my white stockings so i can go to the party!" uncle wiggily looked up in surprise! he had not known, before, that tommie was there; but the bunny heard what the little boy said. with a low and polite bow of his tall silk hat, uncle wiggily tossed the bunch of grass and the pine cone to tommie. by that time the mud had dried so the little boy could scrape most of it off his stockings. "i hope you have a nice time at the party," said uncle wiggily, in rabbit language, of course. and then, as tommie scraped the last of the dried mud away, leaving only a few spots on his stockings, the bunny gentleman hopped out of the bush and on his way. "and i can go to alice's house without having to run home to change my stockings," thought tommie. "i wonder who that rabbit was?" and when tommie reached the party he found that he was not the only little boy who had fallen in a mud puddle. the same thing had happened to sammie and johnnie, two other boys. "but how did you get your stockings so clean, without going home and changing them?" asked the other boys of tommie. "oh, an old rabbit gentleman, with a tall silk hat and a red, white and blue crutch showed me how to scrape off the dried mud with a pine cone," tommie answered. "i cleaned my white stockings as the bunny brushed his clothes." "oh, is that a fairy story?" cried the boys and girls at alice's party. "well, he _looked_ like a fairy!" laughed tommie, who had washed his hands in the bath room at alice's house, so they were clean for eating cake and ice cream. "and i'm not afraid of mud puddles any more. i know what to do if i fall in one," said tommie. and if the onion doesn't make tears come into the eyes of the potato when they're playing tag around the spoon in the soup dish, the next story will be about uncle wiggily and the bad boy. story iv uncle wiggily and the bad boy once upon a time there was a bad boy. he lived on the edge of the wood in which uncle wiggily longears, the bunny rabbit gentleman, had built his hollow stump bungalow. the bad boy did not know uncle wiggily, but mr. longears knew about the bad boy, and so did nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the bunny's muskrat lady housekeeper. "don't ever go near that bad boy's house," said miss fuzzy wuzzy one morning, as the rabbit gentleman started out with his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch. "why not?" asked uncle wiggily. "because," answered miss fuzzy wuzzy, "that boy will throw stones at you, and maybe hit you on your pink, twinkling nose." "he can't throw stones now," said uncle wiggily. "he can't find any. the ground is covered with snow." "then he'll throw snowballs at you," said the muskrat lady housekeeper. "please keep away from him." "i'll think about it," promised the bunny gentleman, as he hopped away, with his tall, silk hat on his head. now you know why, once upon a time, there was a bad boy. he was bad because he threw stones and snowballs at rabbits and other animals. there were more things bad about him than this, but one is enough for a story. uncle wiggily hopped on and on, across the fields and through the woods, and soon he came to the house of the bad boy. it was a regular house, not a hollow stump bungalow, such as that in which mr. longears lived. "i wonder if there isn't any way of making that bad boy good?" thought the bunny rabbit gentleman. "bad boys aren't of much use in the world, but good boys, or girls, who put out crumbs for the hungry birds to eat in winter--they are of great use in the world! i wonder if i could make that bad boy good?" but, no sooner had uncle wiggily began to wonder in this fashion, than, all of a sudden, he heard a loud voice shouting: "hi! there he is! a rabbit! i'm going to throw a snowball at him!" uncle wiggily looked over his shoulder and saw the bad boy rushing out of his house, followed by another boy. "oh, what a nice, funny rabbit!" cried the second boy. "he looks as if he came from a circus--all dressed up!" "i'll make him turn a somersault if i can whang him with a snowball!" shouted the bad boy, running toward the bunny gentleman. "perhaps i had better be going," said uncle wiggily, who could understand boy and girl talk, though he could not speak it himself. "i'll wait until some other day about trying to make this boy good." mr. longears started to run, but he had not taken many hops before, all of a sudden, he felt a sharp, thumping pain in his side, and he was almost knocked over by a snowball thrown by the bad boy. "hi there! i hit him! i hit him!" howled the bad boy, dancing up and down. "yes," sadly said the other chap. "you hit him, but what good did it do?" "it shows i'm a straight shot!" proudly answered the other. "maybe i can catch that rabbit now." he ran over the snow. but though uncle wiggily had been knocked down by the ball thrown by the bad boy, the rabbit gentleman managed to get to his feet, and away he hopped on his rheumatism crutch--so fast that the bad boy could not get him. then the bad boy and the other chap, who was not so bad, played in the snow, until it was time to go home. uncle wiggily hopped to his hollow stump bungalow, but he said nothing to nurse jane about the pain in his side. "if i tell her she won't let me go out to the movies to-night with grandpa goosey," thought mr. longears. so, though his side pained him, uncle wiggily said never a word, but early that evening he hopped over to grandpa goosey's home in the duck pen. and on the way uncle wiggily had to pass the house of the bad boy. "but it is getting dark, and he will not see me," thought the bunny gentleman. "i guess it will be safe." now it happened that, just as uncle wiggily was hopping under the window of the bad boy's house, the bunny heard a voice inside saying: "oh, dear! how my ear aches! oh, what a pain! can't you do something to stop it, mother?" "if i had some soft cotton i could put a little warm oil on it and that, in your ear, would make it feel better," answered a lady's voice. "but i have no cotton in the house. if you'll wait until i go to the drug store----" "no! no!" howled the voice of the bad boy. "i don't want you to go to the store and leave me alone! can't you get some cotton without going to the store?" "no," answered the mother. "you shouldn't have played out in the cold, and thrown snowballs at the rabbit. you must have gotten some snow in your ear to make it ache!" "oh, do something to make it stop!" cried the bad boy. "oh, why haven't we some cotton?" uncle wiggily, outside under the window, heard all this talk. now the bunny gentleman knew where to find something like cotton without going to the drug store. inside each of the big brown buds of the horse-chestnut tree is a little wad of cotton. mother nature puts the cotton there to keep the bud warm through the winter, so green leaves will come out in the spring. uncle wiggily looked around and saw, lying on the snow, a branch which the wind had broken from a horse-chestnut tree. hopping across the newly-fallen spring snow to this branch, uncle wiggily gnawed off some of the buds. breaking these open with his teeth, he took out some of the soft, fluffy cotton. "i'll just leave this on the bad boy's doorstep," thought the bunny. "i'll tap with my crutch and hop away." so the bunny gentleman, with the wad of cotton, skipped up the front steps of the house when no one saw him. his paws made funny little marks in the soft snow. uncle wiggily put the cotton on the sill, tapped once, twice, three times with his rheumatism crutch, and then hopped away. "somebody's at the door!" said the bad boy. "maybe that's daddy coming home, so he can go to the drug store and get that cotton for my aching ear." "maybe," said his mother. "i hope it is." she opened the door, and when she saw there the bunch of cotton--just what she wanted--you can imagine how surprised she was! "why, who could have left it?" asked the bad boy, when his mother told him what had happened. "who do you s'pose did?" "i don't know," she answered. "but i saw some rabbit tracks in the snow on our steps." "rabbit tracks?" repeated the boy, wonderingly, as his mother softly put some warm cotton and oil in his ear, making the pain almost stop. "yes, rabbit tracks," said mother. "and, if i were you, i'd never throw any more snowballs at rabbits." the boy (i'll not call him bad any more) put his head down on the pillow of his bed. he could go to sleep now, as the pain in his ear had almost stopped. "i wonder if that funny rabbit, dressed up like a little old man, could have brought me the cotton?" said the boy. "i wonder, too," softly spoke mother with a smile. "anyhow, i won't ever throw stones or snowballs at rabbits any more," promised the boy. "or cats or dogs, either?" his mother asked. "or cats or dogs, either," added the boy. then he went to sleep, and uncle wiggily, picking the bits of fuzzy horse-chestnut tree cotton off his tall, silk hat, hopped on to grandpa goosey's house and went to the movies. so that's the story of the bunny gentleman and the bad boy, and i hope you liked it. but if the rag doll's go-cart doesn't race with the baby carriage and slip on the banana skin as though it had on roller skates, i'll tell you in the next story about uncle wiggily and the good boy. story v uncle wiggily and the good boy "now do be careful to-day, please, uncle wiggily," begged nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper of the bunny rabbit gentleman, as he hopped down off the steps of his hollow stump bungalow one morning. [illustration: "now do be careful to-day."] "careful? why, i'm always careful," answered the bunny, as he twinkled one side of his pink nose and looked to make sure that his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch was not painted green. "don't you think so, nurse jane?" asked mr. longears. "indeed i do not," miss fuzzy wuzzy answered. "you get so excited, looking for adventures, that you don't care whether you are chased by the pipsisewah or skeezicks." "but i always get away from them; don't i?" asked uncle wiggily. "and the woozie wolf, the fuzzy fox and even the skillery scallery alligator. i always get away, nurse jane." "it is hard work for you, sometimes," said the muskrat lady. "i do wish you would be more careful, wiggy. besides, these new adventures of yours--helping real girls and boys out of their troubles--are dangerous. of course, i love children, and i know you do, also. but some day you'll be caught by one of these bad boys or girls." "there aren't any bad girls," laughed uncle wiggily. "they are just a bit funny; that's all. as for bad boys; well, i hope to see them all turn good. and, anyhow, the children love me so much i don't believe they'll harm me." "well, you'd better be careful just the same," nurse jane said. then she went in to dust the dishes and sweep the furniture, and uncle wiggily hopped over the fields and through the woods, looking for an adventure. the bunny gentleman had not gone far from his hollow stump bungalow before he saw a crowd of boys on their way to school. one of the boys had a tin can in his hand, and another carried a piece of rope. "oh, maybe those boys are going camping," thought uncle wiggily, "and they're going to build a campfire and cook their carrot soup, or whatever they eat, in the tin can over the fire. i'll hide in the bushes and watch them. and i can hear what they say." by means of a gift which a good fairy gave him, uncle wiggily, for a time, was able to hear and understand the talk of boys and girls, though he could not, himself, speak their language. he wanted to hear what these boys would say, so the bunny gentleman hid in the bushes. the boys came along, laughing, shouting and trying to sing, but that last they did not do as well as girls would have done. somehow or other, girls are better singers than boys. well, anyhow, the boys came nearer to where uncle wiggily was hiding in the bushes, and, all of a sudden, one of the lads gave a whoop like a wild indian, and cried: "there's a dog! let's get him!" "there, now!" thought uncle wiggily to himself. "i knew boys were good. they want to take that dog with them to camp and give him some of the soup they are going to boil in the tin can. i hope they don't give it to him too hot, though, and burn his tongue." uncle wiggily peeked over the top of the bush, and saw one of the boys chasing the dog. it was a little dog; rather thin, so you could almost count his ribs, and he did not seem to have had much to eat of late. and as soon as the dog saw the boy running after him, that dog began to run also. "why, that's queer," said uncle wiggily. "why does the dog run away from that good boy? if i were only nearer i'd tell the dog that the boy is going to be kind to him and give him tomato-can camp-soup." "oh, let the dog go!" called a red-haired boy to the one who was running along with the tin can in his hand. "no, i'm going to catch him and tie this tin can on his tail," the first boy answered. "you ought to see how fast he'll run when he has this tin can on his tail!" "dear me!" thought uncle wiggily, hardly able to believe what he heard. "tie a tin can on a dog's tail! and i thought that boy was going to be kind! oh, oh, what a mistake i made!" most of the boys turned off on another path and went to school, but the one with the tin can chased after the dog, and another boy, who seemed very nice and quiet, stayed near the bush, behind which uncle wiggily was hidden. finally the boy with the tin can caught the poor, thin, yelping dog, and carried him back to the bush. "where's that piece of rope?" asked the bad boy, holding the yelping, squirming little dog under one arm, while in the other hand he carried the empty tin can. "what are you going to do with the rope?" asked the quiet boy. he held his hands behind his back. "i'm going to use the rope to tie this tin can on the dog's tail," answered the bad boy. "that's what i am!" "then i won't give it to you," spoke the quiet lad. "i'm not going to let you tie any tin can to a dog's tail if i can help it! there! you can't have the rope!" with a sudden motion he threw, away over in the weeds, the rope, which he had picked up after another lad had dropped it to go to school. "oh, ho! so that's what you're going to do, is it?" cried the bad boy. "i'll fix you for that!" he dropped his tin can; but still holding the poor dog under his arm, the bad boy rushed at the quiet chap. "i'll make you get that rope and help me tie the tin can on this dog's tail!" cried the bad boy. "i think it is about time for me to do something," said uncle wiggily to himself. the bunny gentleman, hidden behind the bush, had heard all that was said. all of a sudden, just as the bad boy was going to hit the quiet lad, for not helping to tie the tin can on the dog's tail, uncle wiggily turned, and, in the soft sand and dirt, began to dig very fast with his paws. now a rabbit gentleman is one of the best diggers in the world. with his paws he can make himself a burrow, or underground house, almost before you can eat a lollypop. and uncle wiggily, pawing in the dirt, made a regular shower of sand, gravel and little stones fly right in the face of the bad boy. by looking over his shoulder uncle wiggily could see which way to dig so that the sand would go in the eyes of the bad boy, but not in the face of the one who was kind to animals. whiff! whiff! whiff! the sand, gravel and little stones shot over the top of the bushes, and spattered all over the bad boy. "say! who's doing that?" cried the unkind chap, trying to hold his arm in front of his face to keep the sand out of his eyes. "if you fellows don't stop that----" but he couldn't say any more, for a lot of sand went flying into his mouth. he dropped the poor, thin dog, who ran away and hid himself in a hollow tree, and then the bad boy had to use both hands to wipe out the gravel that rattled down inside his shirt, and so he couldn't hit the kind boy. "who's scattering that gravel?" cried the bad boy, scowling. "i don't see anyone," said the other, smiling. but there was uncle wiggily, behind the bush, scattering the gravel with his paws in a regular shower. "i wish nurse jane could see me now," chuckled the bunny gentleman. "she surely would laugh." at last so much gravel, sand and little stones showered into the face of the bad boy that he ran away, crying: "oh! oh! oh! something terrible must have happened! i guess i'd better not tie any tin cans on dogs' tails any more." "i guess you'd better not," said the other boy. "and i say the same," laughed uncle wiggily, as he brushed some dust off his tall, silk hat, and straightened his necktie. then the bunny gentleman watched, while the kind boy went to the hollow tree and patted the poor, frightened little dog. and then this boy hid the tin can where no other boys could find it, and went on to school. and i think--mind you i'm not sure--but i think that bad boy turned good after that. anyhow if he didn't he ought to. "well, i had quite an adventure," said the bunny rabbit gentleman, as he hopped on to his hollow stump bungalow. "a very good adventure!" and if the jumping jack doesn't cut a slice off the mud pie with the bread-knife, and tell the rag doll it's a piece of chocolate cake, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily's valentine. story vi uncle wiggily's valentine uncle wiggily quickly hopped across the room and closed the door of his hollow stump bungalow, where he was busy in the sitting room. he heard nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy coming along. "well, that's queer!" exclaimed the muskrat lady housekeeper, as she noticed what uncle wiggily did. "i wonder what he means? wiggy," she called, "are you getting ready for some strange, new adventure, such as stopping bad boys from tying tin cans on dogs' tails?" "nothing like that now; no, my dear," answered the bunny rabbit, and he quickly pulled the table cover over something he had been looking at. "this is a secret!" "oh--a secret!" exclaimed nurse jane, puzzled-like. the muskrat lady looked at a calendar hanging on the wall, and noticed that the day was february . "i think i can guess what your secret is, uncle wiggily," she said to herself. "i s'pose it's something for mrs. twistytail, the pig lady, or maybe for grandpa goosey gander. well, i hope you enjoy it." then nurse jane went back to the dining room, where she was giving the dishes their morning bath; and uncle wiggily began to rustle some paper and tie knots in a piece of gold string, the while murmuring to himself: "i hope she likes it! oh, i do hope she likes it. i'll put it on the steps, throw a stone at the door so she thinks someone is knocking, and then i'll run and hide behind a bush and watch how surprised she is when she opens it." uncle wiggily had been very busy all that morning, after having been out in the woods the day before. what he had made i shall tell you about in a little while. enough now for you to know that the bunny rabbit had something he did not want nurse jane to see. pretty soon, after opening the door a crack, and listening to miss fuzzy wuzzy wash the face of the clock, uncle wiggily hopped softly out and down the front steps, with a box under his paw. his tall silk hat was on rather sideways, and he carried his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch upside down, but when you remember that it was february , i think you will kindly excuse the bunny gentleman. uncle wiggily hopped on through the woods, and over the fields. every now and then he would stop, and, with his crutch, brush to one side the dried leaves and little heaps of snow that were scattered here and there in the forest. "i hope i may find some," said mr. longears to himself. "it won't be half so pretty without them. i hope i find some." he searched in many places, and at last he found what he was looking for. carefully he picked something up off the ground, and put it in the box he carried. "nurse jane will surely like this," said the bunny gentleman. he was about to hop on again when, all of a sudden, he heard someone crying in the woods. there was a sobbing sound and, looking around the corner of a tree, uncle wiggily saw a little girl, sitting on a log. and she was crying as hard as she could cry! "that isn't the freckled girl," said the bunny gentleman to himself. "she said she wouldn't mind her freckles after she looked at the pretty speckled birds' eggs. it isn't the freckled girl. i wonder who she is, and what's the matter?" and pretty soon uncle wiggily found out, for he heard the sobbing girl say: "oh, i wish i had money enough to buy one! all the other girls and boys can buy valentines to send teacher, but i can't! and she'll think i don't like her, but i do! oh, i wish i had a valentine!" "my goodness me sakes alive and some peanut pudding!" whispered the bunny rabbit gentleman. "that girl is crying because she hasn't a valentine for her teacher!" then the bunny gentleman looked down at the box, wrapped in tissue paper, which he carried under his paw--the box in which he had placed something he had found under the leaves and snow of the forest a little while before. "she wants a valentine," murmured the bunny rabbit gentleman. "and here i have one that i made for nurse jane. i was going to leave it on the steps and surprise my muskrat lady housekeeper. but i suppose i could give it to this little girl, and--well, nurse jane won't care, when i tell her." "i'll do it! i'll give this girl my valentine," said uncle wiggily so suddenly that his pink nose almost twinkled backward. he looked over the top of a bush behind which he had sat down to wrap up nurse jane's valentine. then the bunny hopped over to the girl who sat on the log, still sobbing because she had no token for her teacher. the girl heard the rustling in the leaves, made by uncle wiggily's paws as he hopped, and she looked up suddenly. then she rubbed her eyes, hardly able to believe what she saw. "why! why!" she murmured. "am i dreaming? is this a fairy? a rabbit gentleman, dressed in a tall silk hat, and with his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch! oh! why, it's uncle wiggily! it's uncle wiggily out of my bedtime story books! oh, how glad i am to see you, dear uncle wiggily! please come up and sit by me on this log!" but uncle wiggily was not allowed to do this. he put his paw over his lips, to show that though he could hear, and understand what the girl said, he could not talk to her in reply. then he placed his valentine beside her on the log and quickly hopped away. "oh, uncle wiggily! wait a minute! please wait a minute!" cried the girl, but the bunny gentleman dared not stay. "i must try and find nurse jane another valentine," he said to himself, as he skipped along the woodland paths. left alone, the girl on the log opened the box uncle wiggily had left. it was made from pieces of white birch bark, such as the indians used for their canoes. inside, were some sprigs from an evergreen tree, with some round, brown buttons from the sycamore tree. and in the middle of the evergreen sprigs were some lovely pink and white blossoms of the trailing arbutus--the earliest flower of spring--growing under the leaves and late snows. it was these arbutus flowers which the bunny had come to the woods to find and complete his valentine. now he had given it to the girl. "oh, how lovely!" she murmured, tears no longer in her eyes. "won't teacher be surprised when i put this on her desk and tell her uncle wiggily gave it to me? oh, there's a verse, too!" and there was! written on a piece of white birch bark, which is what the animal folk use instead of paper, was this little verse: "these twigs of cedar, like my heart, are ever green for you. the blossoms whisper that i am your valentine so true!" "i know teacher will just love this!" said the little girl, and she was so excited she could hardly run to school. she had to hop and skip. "here's a valentine uncle wiggily gave me in the woods," the little girl told her teacher, all excited and out of breath. "uncle wiggily? how strange!" exclaimed the teacher. "i--i hope you didn't dream it," she said to the little girl. "but, at any rate, the valentine is real. and how lovely! it's the very nicest one i ever saw!" then you can imagine how pleased the little girl was. uncle wiggily, hopping back to his bungalow through the woods, gnawed a piece of white birch bark off a tree, and, with a burned, black stick for a pencil, he scribbled on it: "dear nurse jane: this is my valentine. i love you!" "+uncle wiggily.+" and when the muskrat lady found that on the doorstep a little later, she laughed and said it was the nicest valentine she could wish for. and when uncle wiggily told about giving the other valentine to the sad little girl, the muskrat lady said: "you did just right, wiggy! now let's go to the movies!" so they did. and if electric light doesn't cry when it has to go down cellar in the dark, to get a piece of coal for the fire to play with, you shall next hear about uncle wiggily and the bad dog. story vii uncle wiggily and the bad dog once upon a time, about as many years ago as it takes a lollypop to slide down the back cellar door, there lived in a kennel, not far from uncle wiggily's hollow stump bungalow, a bad dog. and the bunny rabbit gentleman, more than once, wished that this dog would always stay in his kennel, or remain chained in front of it so he couldn't get loose. "for that dog," said uncle wiggily to nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, "is the pest of my life! every time he sees me he chases me. he isn't at all like jackie and peetie bow wow, or old dog percival." "why don't you scratch sand and gravel in his eyes as you did in the face of the bad boy?" asked the muskrat lady housekeeper. "you can't treat dogs as you do boys," replied uncle wiggily. "though, of course, some boys and some dogs are great friends. but this dog seems always to want to chase me." "then you must be very careful if you go off in the woods to-day, looking for an adventure," said miss fuzzy wuzzy. "i will," promised the bunny rabbit gentleman. away he hopped on his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch, and his tall, silk hat. and this time uncle wiggily took with him his glasses, which he sometimes wore in order to see better. "and i want to see the very best i can to-day," said mr. longears to himself, as he hopped along. "i want to see that bad, unpleasant dog before he sees me!" uncle wiggily was skipping along, thinking perhaps that he had better pick a bunch of violets and take them to the lady mouse teacher in the hollow stump school, when, all of a sudden, there sounded through the woods a loud: "wuff! wuff!" "that isn't the fox, nor yet the wolf, nor even the skillery scallery alligator," said uncle wiggily, looking around the corner of the mulberry bush. "i think it must be that savage dog!" and, surely enough it was. and a moment later the dog came bursting through the bushes, barking and growling and headed straight for uncle wiggily. "i'll make believe i'm playing baseball and try for a home run!" said the rabbit gentleman to himself, and through the bushes, turning and twisting this way and that, he ran for his hollow stump bungalow. uncle wiggily reached it only just in time, too. for as he hopped up the steps, and closed the door, locking it, the dog jumped over the gate. "my goodness me sakes alive and a basket of soap bubbles!" cried nurse jane. "what's the matter, wiggy? is the house on fire?" "it's that dog--chasing--me!" panted the bunny, for he was quite out of breath. "the idea! how impolite of him!" exclaimed the muskrat lady, and she shook her broom out of the window at the bad chap. "well, you got away from me this time, but the next time i'll get you," growled the dog, as he slunk away. "why is he so anxious to catch you?" asked nurse jane, as uncle wiggily sat down in an easy chair to rest. "oh, i guess he'd chase any of the animal folk he saw in the wood," answered the bunny gentleman. "he'd chase sammie or susie littletail the rabbits, johnnie or billie bushytail the squirrels and i'm sure he would make lulu, alice and jimmie wibblewobble, the duck children, lose their feathers in trying to flutter away from him." "it's too bad," said nurse jane. "you ought to speak to old percival, the policeman dog about this bad chap." "i shall," said uncle wiggily. he did, too, but the bad dog was so sly that old percival could not catch him. uncle wiggily also spoke to the little dog, whom he had saved from having a tin can tied on his tail by a bad boy. "i'll tell this savage dog to let you alone," the little chap promised. but all this did no good. every time the bad dog saw uncle wiggily in the woods he chased the rabbit gentleman, and once nearly caught the bunny. i don't know why this dog was so unpleasant and mean toward uncle wiggily. i guess maybe the dog didn't know any better. perhaps he thought uncle wiggily didn't like dogs, but mr. longears did--especially jackie and peetie bow wow, the little puppy chaps. well, as it happened, one day the people who owned the big, savage dog, that always chased uncle wiggily, went away on a visit. and they went in such a hurry that they left the dog chained to his kennel, and they forgot to leave him any water to drink, or food to eat. at first the dog was not hungry, but later in the day, when it was time for him to have had a meal, and some water, that dog began to feel very unhappy. "bow! wow! wow!" he barked, trying to call someone out to feed him, and pour water in the sun-dried pan. but no one came, and the dog grew more hungry, and so thirsty that his tongue hung down out of his mouth. just about this time uncle wiggily was going through the woods on his way to the six and seven cent store to get nurse jane a spool of thread. the bunny rabbit heard the barking of the dog, and started to run, for he knew that voice. but as he paused to listen, and find out from which direction the sound came, so he could run away from it, instead of toward it, uncle wiggily heard a voice saying: "bow wow! oh, how hungry i am! how thirsty i am!" it was the savage dog speaking, and uncle wiggily of course understood animal talk, even better than he had learned to know, as he had of late, what boys and girls said. "hum! so that dog is hungry and thirsty, is he?" said the bunny to himself. "well, why doesn't he go and dig up some of the bones he must have buried? and why doesn't he go to the duck pond and get a drink, i wonder?" uncle wiggily thought there was something strange about this, and as the barking and animal-talking voice of the dog did not come any nearer, the bunny hopped over to see what was the matter. there he saw the savage dog, fastened by a heavy chain to his kennel, with nothing to eat, no water to drink and no one to bring him any. "oh, how hungry i am! how thirsty i am!" barked the dog. [illustration: "oh, are you?" politely asked uncle wiggily] "oh, are you?" politely asked uncle wiggily, looking out from behind a stone. he was not afraid to be this near the bad dog, for the savage chap was chained, and could not get loose. "yes, i am very thirsty and hungry," whined the dog. "but of course i don't expect you to feed me or give me water. i've been too bad to you--i've chased you too often! i can't ask you to help me!" "i don't see why not," said uncle wiggily politely. "if i were ill in my bungalow, with rheumatism, and nurse jane wasn't there to wait on me, and you came along, wouldn't you get me a drink of water?" the dog thought a moment before answering. then he sort of drooped his tail, sorry-like and softly said: "yes, i believe i would." "then," said the bunny gentleman, "i'll bring you a drink, and if you tell me where you have buried some bones, i'll dig them up for you, since i can't loosen your kennel chain to let you dig them yourself." "oh, how kind you are!" said the dog. "i--i really don't deserve this." "stuff and nonsense!" laughed uncle wiggily. "we all make mistakes--that's why they put rubbers on the end of lead pencils, as someone has said. i'll help you when you're in trouble." then the bunny found a half a cocoanut shell, and dipping this in the nearby brook, brought water to the thirsty dog. and when he had taken a long drink, cooling his parched and hot tongue, the dog pointed to where he had buried some bones, behind the barn. uncle wiggily dug up the bones with his paws, which were just made for such work, and carried them to the dog. "oh, i can't thank you enough," said gurr-rup, which was the dog's name. "and i promise, mr. longears, that i'll never chase you again." "thank you!" laughed the bunny, as he hopped on to the three and four cent store. "i hoped you wouldn't." so this teaches us that it doesn't hurt the needle to put the thread in its eye, and if the apple doesn't jump out of the dumpling, and try to hide in the chocolate cake, when it ought to take the pie to the moving pictures, on the next page you will find a story about uncle wiggily and puss in boots. story viii uncle wiggily and puss in boots "where are you going, uncle wiggily?" called nurse jane fuzzy one day, as the muskrat lady saw the bunny gentleman hopping away from his hollow stump bungalow. "i am going to get myself a new pair of rubber boots," said mr. longears. "my old ones are wearing out, and they have little holes in, so they leak. we have had so much rain, of late, that i will need a new pair of boots if i am to look for any more adventures. so i am going to the shoemaker's." "but why are you taking your old boots along?" asked nurse jane, for uncle wiggily had them under his paw. "i am taking them to the shoemaker to show him what size i want my new boots," answered the bunny. "also he may be able to mend these old ones so they will do to wear in the garden." "that's a good idea," said miss fuzzy wuzzy. "and while you are out i wish you would go to the seven and eight cent store for me. i want some needles and thread, some balls of red yarn and some white flannel." "my! all that! are you going to make a bedquilt?" asked the bunny gentleman. "no," laughed nurse jane. "i am going to use the white flannel to make me a new petticoat, the red yarn i am going to use to knit sammie and susie littletail, the rabbit children, some mittens, and the needle and thread i will use to sew up a hole in the lace curtain." "very well," spoke uncle wiggily politely, "you shall have all three, and i'll get myself a new pair of boots." it did not take the bunny rabbit gentleman long to hop to the shop of the monkey doodle shoemaker, where mr. longears bought himself a new pair of rubber boots. "as for those old ones," said the monkey chap, "i can mend them for you, so they will do to wear many times yet." "please do so," begged the bunny. and when his old boots were mended he carried them over his shoulder with the new ones, for he was wearing his shoes. along he hopped to the seven and eight cent store. uncle wiggily bought the needles, thread, white flannel and red yarn for the rabbit children's mittens, and he was hopping back to his hollow stump bungalow, when, all of a sudden, coming from behind a sassafras bush, he heard a voice saying: "oh, dear! how sad! now i suppose they'll take me out of all the story books, and the children will never love me any more!" "hum! this is strange," said uncle wiggily to himself. "i wonder who it is that can't be in the story books any more? that is very sad! i wouldn't want them to put me out of all the bedtime story books in which i have my adventures." so the bunny gentleman looked around the corner of a lollypop bush, and there he saw a cat, dressed in a coat, trousers and cap, but without anything on his hind paws, sitting on a stump. "good afternoon, mr. cat!" politely greeted uncle wiggily. "you seem to be in trouble." "i am," was the answer. "only my name is puss, and not cat, though, of course, that's what i really am. puss in boots is my right name, but there is no use trying to keep it any longer." "why not?" uncle wiggily asked. "because i have lost my boots," answered puss. "a little while ago i met a cross dog who chased me. i ran across a swamp and became stuck in the mud. i managed to pull my paws out of the boots, but the boots themselves remained fast in the mud. now i have no boots and i can be called puss in boots no longer! i shall have to keep out of all the story books!" [illustration: "i have lost my boots," answered puss] "nonsense!" laughed uncle wiggily. "why, i have two pairs of boots here! take one of them, i can only wear one pair of boots at a time," and very politely mr. longears gave his new boots to the cat. "oh, but i can't take your new boots!" objected puss. "the old ones will do me very well." "no," kindly insisted uncle wiggily. "please take the new ones. since my old ones were mended they will answer me very well, and they'll be easier on my paws." so uncle wiggily gave puss the new boots, keeping the old mended ones for himself, and as the cat put the boots on his paws he looked just as he ought to--like his pictures in the story books. "now i can keep my place, the children will not miss me. thank you, uncle wiggily," mewed puss. "pray do not mention it," said the bunny. "i am glad i don't have to carry two pairs of boots." so mr. longears hopped on a little farther, and soon he heard some tiny voices saying: "oh, mother dear! look here! look here! our mittens we have lost!" "ho! i should know who they are!" said the bunny. "those must be the three kittens!" and, surely enough, they were, as the bunny saw a moment later, when he turned around the corner of a mulberry tree. there were three little pussy kittens, holding up their paws for their mother to see, and there wasn't a single mitten on any one of the paws! what do you think of that? "what, lost your mittens! you careless kittens! now you can't have any pie!" thus sang the mother cat. and when the three little kittens, who had lost their mittens, began to cry, uncle wiggily felt so sorry for them that he stepped up and said: "excuse me, mrs. cat. but i have a lot of red yarn i bought for nurse jane to knit mittens for sammie and susie littletail. there is more than miss fuzzy wuzzy needs, i'm sure, so i shall give you some to knit mittens for your pussies." "oh, how kind you are!" mewed the mother cat, as uncle wiggily gave her three balls of red yarn, still leaving plenty for the rabbit children's mittens. "now you may have some pie, and i'll give uncle wiggily a piece, too," said the cat mother to her kittens. "you are very kind," remarked mr. longears. "but i must hop on with the needle and thread, and the piece of white flannel nurse jane is going to use to make herself a new petticoat." so on hopped the bunny, while the mother cat sat down to knit some new mittens for her kittens. and uncle wiggily had not gone very far before, all of a sudden, he heard another sad mewing sound and a voice said: "dear me! the hole goes all the way through! i shall never be able to go to see old mother hubbard this way! oh, what an accident!" "that sounds like more trouble," thought uncle wiggily, and, looking over the top of a stone wall, he saw a pussy cat lady sitting on a stump, sadly looking at her skirt. "what is the matter?" asked mr. longears. "oh! how you surprised me!" mewed the cat lady. "but here is the trouble. i'm pussy cat mole. i jumped over a coal, and in my best petticoat burned a great hole!" and she showed the edge of her petticoat where, surely enough, a hole was burned through. "and i ought to be at mother hubbard's now, to go with her to the movies," said pussy cat mole. "but, alas, i can not go!" "oh, yes, you can!" said uncle wiggily. "not with this big burned hole in my petticoat!" mewed the cat. "ah, but you shall sew on a patch," said the bunny. "i have here needle and thread, and some white flannel. can't you mend your best petticoat with all those?" "indeed i can," mewed pussy cat mole. "thank you, so much!" uncle wiggily gave her a needle and thread, and with her claws miss mole tore off a piece of white flannel, for there was more than nurse jane needed. she sewed the patch neatly on, and then, with her petticoat nicely mended, pussy cat mole went on to mother hubbard's. "ah, how delightful it is to be helpful," said uncle wiggily, as he hopped back to his bungalow. and he was very glad he had met the three cats, one after another. for a little later that day the bad woozie wolf chased the bunny. but the mother of the three kittens, after she had knit their mittens, tickled the wolf with her knitting needles. puss with the boots, stepped on the wolf's tail so hard that he cried "ouch!" and pussy cat mole ran at the wolf with a piece of red stone, which she pretended was a red hot coal that in her best petticoat had burned a great hole. "i'll burn you! i'll burn you!" she mewed at the wolf. "then this is no place for me!" he howled, and away he ran, not hurting the bunny at all. and how the bunny gentleman and the three cats laughed! so if the elephant from the noah's ark doesn't drop a cold penny down the back of the gold fish and make it sneeze, the next story is going to be about uncle wiggily and the lost boy. story ix uncle wiggily and the lost boy "there goes that boy out again, flying his kite," said nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, as she looked from the window of the hollow stump bungalow one morning. "what boy?" uncle wiggily wanted to know. "the new boy who has just moved into the red brick house," answered the muskrat lady housekeeper. "i hope he isn't a bad boy, who will chase you, uncle wiggily, and come to the forest to play tricks on sammie and susie littletail, and the other animal boys and girls." "oh, he doesn't look like that kind of a boy," said the bunny rabbit gentleman, as he sat down to eat his breakfast of carrot pancakes with turnip maple sugar gravy sprinkled down the middle. "but i'll be careful until i get to know him better." uncle wiggily's hollow stump bungalow had lately been rebuilt near the edge of a wood, and, just beyond the thicket of trees and tangle of bushes was a small town, where lived many boys and girls. only a few of these boys and girls knew about the bunny rabbit gentleman, and his muskrat lady nurse, and those who did were kind to uncle wiggily, because the rabbit gentleman had been kind to them, doing them many favors. but now that a new boy had moved into the red brick house, uncle wiggily felt that he must not hop around in too lively a fashion, until he found out whether the boy was bad or good. for there are some bad boys, you know. "he seems quiet enough," said nurse jane, as she spread some lettuce marmalade on a slice of bread for uncle wiggily. "he sits there flying his kite. i guess it will be safe for you to go to the store for me, wiggy." "what do you want from the store?" asked the bunny gentleman, as he took his tall, silk hat down off the piano. sometimes he went to the store quite dressed up. at other times he would put on an old cap and overalls, just as he came from the garden. "i want another ball of red yarn," nurse jane answered. "i did not have quite enough to knit the mittens for sammie and susie, the rabbit children." "i suppose that's because i gave some of the yarn to the three little kittens who lost their mittens," said the bunny, twinkling his pink nose upside down, to make sure it would not fall off as he hopped along. "well, that's one of the reasons," nurse jane answered. "but i'm glad you helped the little kittens. you can easily get me another ball of yarn." "of course," uncle wiggily agreed, and soon he was hopping over the fields and through the woods, on his way to the store. not one of the stores where the boys and girls bought their toys and lollypops, but a special animal store, kept by a monkey doodle gentleman. and as uncle wiggily hopped along under the bushes, near the house of the kite boy, the bunny heard the boy's mother say: "don't go away and get lost, buddie!" "no'm, i won't!" promised the boy, as he held his kite string in his hand and watched his toy fly high in the air. uncle wiggily stopped for a moment, underneath a big burdock plant, and looked at buddie, which was the boy's pet name. buddie could not see the rabbit gentleman. if he had, buddie would have been much surprised to notice a bunny with glasses and a tall silk hat. the wind blew the kite higher into the air, and uncle wiggily thought of the many times he had helped johnnie and billie bushytail, the squirrels, fly their kites, and how he had, more than once, made kites for jackie and peetie bow wow, the puppy dog boys. then the bunny gentleman hopped on to the store to get the ball of red yarn for nurse jane. he stayed some little time, mr. longears did, for he met grandfather goosey gander, and talked to the old gentleman duck about rheumatism, and what to do when you sneezed too much. but finally uncle wiggily started back for his hollow stump bungalow, and soon he was in the middle of the wood, about half way home. and all of a sudden the bunny gentleman heard a crying voice saying: "oh, dear! oh, dear! i don't know where my home is! i'm lost! oh, dear! i'm lost!" mr. longears peered through the bushes, and there he saw the boy from the red brick house, who held in his hand a broken kite. "ah, i see what has happened!" said the bunny. "his kite broke loose from the string. forgetting what he promised his mother, about not going away, the boy ran after his kite, over into the woods, and now he is lost. i wonder if i can help him find his way home?" uncle wiggily did not show himself yet. hiding behind the bushes, the bunny followed the lost boy as he wandered about among the trees, not knowing which way to go. "oh, where is my house?" said the boy over and over again. "why can't i find it?" then a mournful voice cried: "woo! woo! woo!" "oh, dear! what's that?" exclaimed the lost boy, suddenly stopping. "it's only an owl bird," said uncle wiggily to himself. he wished he might speak to the boy, and tell him this, but though the bunny could understand boy-talk, the boy couldn't understand rabbit language. the kite boy went on a little farther, and then he heard a rustling in the dried leaves. "oh-o-o-o!" gasped the lost boy. "maybe that's a snake!" "nonsense!" laughed uncle wiggily to himself. "it is only a brown thrush bird, scattering the leaves to look for something to eat. and, even if it were a snake it wouldn't hurt the boy. i wish i might tell him so." the boy wandered along a little farther, and suddenly there boomed out through the forest a sound of: "ga-rump! ga-roomp! ga-zing!" "oh, maybe that's a giant!" cried the boy, dropping his broken kite. "ha! ha!" laughed uncle wiggily. "that's only grandpa croaker, the big bull frog who tells such funny stories to bully and bawly no-tail, the frog boys! how grandpa croaker will laugh when i tell him the lost boy thought him a giant! but i must help this boy out of the woods, or his mother will be worried." "let me see, how can i do it without letting him see me? ha! i have it. this ball of red yarn. i'll hop to the edge of the wood, near his house, and fasten one end of the red yarn to a tree there. then i'll come back, unwinding the ball on the way, and when i get to the boy, i'll toss him what is left of the ball. then all he'll have to do will be to follow the red cord right to his house." [illustration: it lead the boy home] no sooner said than done! uncle wiggily knew his way through the forest, even in the dark, and he soon reached the edge of the wood and saw the boy's red brick house. then, tying one end of the red yarn to the bush near where the boy had been sitting to fly his kite, uncle wiggily turned back, unrolling the ball as he hopped along. he soon came to the lost boy again, and the poor little chap was crying harder than ever. over the bush and at the feet of the boy, the bunny tossed the little ball of yarn that remained. "oh, what's that?" cried buddie, almost ready to jump out of his skin. but when he saw the little red ball, and the red string stretching off through the trees, he was no longer afraid. "oh, maybe this is a fairy string, and will lead me home!" he joyfully cried, as he began to follow it. and, though we know it wasn't a fairy string, still it was just as good, for it led the boy home, as he followed the yarn, winding up the ball as he walked along. and, oh, how fast he ran when he came within sight of his house, crying, as he dropped the ball: "here i am, mother! here i am. i'm not lost any more!" "well, i'm glad of that," mother answered. "you shouldn't have gone into the woods. i was just coming to look for you." "well," whispered uncle wiggily to himself, "i'm glad i could be of some help in this world." then the rabbit, who had followed the lost boy until buddie found his home, wound up the red yarn again, and took it to nurse jane. "my! that was quite an adventure," said the muskrat lady when the bunny gentleman told her about it. and if the boiled egg doesn't try to go sailing in the gravy boat, and splash condensed milk on the bread-knife, i'll tell you on the page after this about uncle wiggily and stubby toes. story x uncle wiggily and stubby toes there are some children who are always stubbing their toes and falling down. that was what happened, far too often, to the little boy in this story. and i am going to tell you how uncle wiggily helped cure him. perhaps you may think it strange that an old rabbit gentleman, with a pink, twinkling nose and a tall, silk hat could cure a boy of stubbing his toes. but this only goes to show that you never can tell what is going to happen in this world. so we shall start by saying that, once upon a time, there was a boy who slipped and stumbled so often that he was called "stubby toes." stubby toes was not a very big boy. in fact, one of the reasons he stubbed his toe so often (first the big toe of one foot, and then the big toe of the other foot), the reason, i say, was because he was so small. he had not yet grown up so that he knew how to step over things that lay in his path, causing him to stumble. why, sometimes that boy would stumble over a pin on the sidewalk. and again i have known him to trip and almost fall because he saw, in his way, a leaf from a tree. "upsi-daisey!" his sister would cry as she caught him by the hand, so he would not fall. "upsi-daisey, stubby toes!" it was sister who really gave stubby toes his name, but she was only in fun, of course. well, one day when uncle wiggily had started out of his hollow stump bungalow to look for an adventure, sister took her little brother stubby toes for a walk. and, as it happened, the path taken by sister and stubby toes stretched along through the woodland where the bunny gentleman lived. "i think i'll go see baby bunty to-day," said uncle wiggily to himself, as he hopped along, twinkling his pink nose in the sunshine. "i have a little touch of the rheumatism, and baby bunty is so lively, always playing tag, or something like that in the way of games, that she'll make me spry, and chase the pain away." but as the bunny gentleman came near the place where the little boy and his sister were walking, all of a sudden stubby toes tripped over a little stone, about as large as the end of your lollypop stick, and--down he almost fell! "upsi-daisey!" cried sister as she pulled brother to his feet. "upsi-daisey!" "oh, ho! boo hoo! i--i stubbed my toe!" cried the little boy. "of course you did!" said sister, laughing. i think i forgot to tell you that stubby toes often cried when he slipped this way. yes, almost every time he cried, and sister wished he wouldn't, and so did mother. "boo hoo! boo hoo!" the boy wailed. "i bunked myself!" sister laughed and recited this little verse, which is a good one to sing whenever anything happens. it is a verse i read once, many years ago. "oh, fie, do not cry, if you stub your toe. say 'oh!' and let it go. be a man, if you can, and do not cry!" after sister had sung this for brother, she wiped away his tears, which just started to trickle down his cheeks, and they walked on again. "this is a good little girl," said uncle wiggily to himself, for, hidden in the bushes he had heard and seen all that went on. "i wish i could teach stubby toes not to stumble so much. i wonder how i can? i'll ask baby bunty about it." so uncle wiggily hopped on to baby bunty's bungalow, and, meanwhile brother and sister walked through the woods. well, i wish you could have seen what happened to stubby toes! but, no! perhaps, on second thought, it is better that you did not. but, oh! so many times as he almost fell! he tripped over a little baby angle worm, who was crawling to the store to get a loaf of cake for his mother. and next stubby toes almost landed on his nose, because the shadow of a bird flitted across his path. "oh, stubby toes!" cried sister, as she kept him from falling on his face. "will you ever learn to walk without stumbling?" "boo hoo!" was all that stubby toes answered, for, just then he tripped over a blade of grass, and this time he fell down all the way. only he happened to land on some soft, green moss, so he was not much hurt, i'm glad to say. "this is too bad!" uncle wiggily said to himself, for he had heard and seen it all. "i must get baby bunty to teach this little chap how to walk more carefully." it was not far to the home of baby bunty. that little rabbit girl was out skipping her rope in front of her house. "tag, uncle wiggily! you're it!" she cried, as soon as she saw the bunny gentleman. "tut! tut! we have no time for a game now," said mr. longears. "i want you to come with me, baby bunty, and teach stubby toes a lesson," and he told about the little boy. "oh, i see what you mean," said baby bunty. "you want me to hop along in front of him, and show him how not to stub his toe." "that's it!" said uncle wiggily. "stubby toes and sister are kind to animals and will not harm us." so, a little later, uncle wiggily and baby bunty were walking along the woodland path just ahead of the little boy and his sister. "now, baby bunty," said mr. longears, "show this boy how nicely you can hop along, even if there are sticks and stones on the path." away skipped the little rabbit girl. she came to a stone, but over it she stepped as nicely as you please. she reached a stick, but she gave a hop, and there she was on the other side! and she never stubbed her toe once, because she was careful! by this time the little boy and his sister had seen uncle wiggily and baby bunty. "oh, look at the funny rabbits!" cried stubby toes. "i want to catch 'em!" "no! no! mustn't touch!" said sister, and she reached out to catch hold of stubby toes, but it was too late! he tripped his foot on a dandelion blossom in the grass, and down he went! "boo hoo!" he cried. "oh, fie!" said sister, singing the little verse again. "look at the baby rabbit! she doesn't stub her toes!" and, surely enough, baby bunty, skipping along on the path in front of stubby toes, never fell once. she skipped over pebbles and stones, sticks and clumps of grass, and never once stepped on a flower. "see if you can't do that, stubby toes!" begged sister. and of course that boy didn't want a little baby rabbit girl to walk better than he did. so he dried his tears, stood up straight and began to walk more firmly, watching where he set down his feet. he came to a big stone and--over it he stepped without stumbling. he reached a stick--and, over that he put both feet without falling! he passed a lump of dirt--and right over it he jumped--and he didn't stub his toe once! what do you think of that? "oh, i'm not going to call you stubby toes any more!" laughed sister. "now you have learned to walk as well as that baby rabbit." uncle wiggily laughed so hard that his tall silk hat almost slipped down over his pink, twinkling nose. "i think we have done enough, baby bunty," he said, "come on now, and i'll buy you a carrot lollypop!" away hopped the bunnies, and back home went sister and brother who was stubby toes no longer. baby bunty had taught him a good lesson. and if the jumping jack doesn't fall off his stick when he is trying to play hop scotch with the bean bag, you shall next hear about uncle wiggily's christmas. story xi uncle wiggily's christmas down swirled the snow, its white flakes blown by the cold december wind. from the north it came, this wind; and a bird--not a robin, for they had long ago flown south--a bird went in the barn, and hid his head under his wing, poor thing! it was cold in the woods around uncle wiggily's hollow stump bungalow, and the rabbit gentleman brought in stick after stick of wood for nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy to pile on the blazing fire that roared up the chimney. uncle wiggily, having filled the wood box, took his cap, and his fur-lined coat down from the rack. "dear me, wiggy! you aren't going out on a day like this, are you?" asked nurse jane. "yes," answered the bunny gentleman, "i am, if you please, nurse jane. i promised grandfather goosey gander i'd go down town shopping with him. he wants to look through the five and ten cent stores to see what they have for christmas." "oh, well, if it's about christmas, that's different," said the muskrat lady. "but wrap yourself up well, for it is storming hard. i don't want you to take cold." "nor do i want a cold," said uncle wiggily. "my pink nose gets very red when i sneeze. i'll be careful, nurse jane." out into the snowy, blowy woods went uncle wiggily. he passed the burrow-house where sammie and susie littletail, the rabbit children, lived. susie was at the window and waved her paw to the bunny gentleman. "only three more days until christmas! aren't you glad, uncle wiggily?" called susie. "indeed i am," answered mr. longears. "very glad!" johnnie and billie bushytail, the squirrels, looked from the window of their house. johnnie held up a string of nuts that he was getting ready to put on the christmas tree. "billie and i are going to help santa claus!" chattered johnnie. "good!" laughed uncle wiggily. "santa claus needs help!" the bunny hopped along through the snow until he reached the kennel of jackie and peetie bow wow, the puppy dog boys. "we're popping corn!" barked jackie. "getting ready for christmas! that's why we can't be out!" "stay in the house and keep warm!" called uncle wiggily. he hopped on a little farther until he met mr. gander, and the rabbit gentleman and the goose grandpa made their way through the five and ten, the three and four and the sixteen and seventeen cent stores. each place was piled full of christmas presents for animal boys and girls, and animal fathers and mothers were shopping about, to tell santa claus what to bring to the different houses, you know. uncle wiggily saw some things he knew nurse jane would like, and grandpa goosey bought some presents that had come directly from the workshop of santa claus. then along came mr. whitewash, the polar bear gentleman. "ho! ho!" roared mr. whitewash, in his jolly voice. "come to my ice cave, gentlemen, and have a cup of hot, melted icicles!" "i'd like to, but i can't," said uncle wiggily. "nurse jane wanted me to get her some spools of thread. i'll buy them and go back to my bungalow." "then i'll go with you, mr. whitewash," quacked grandpa goosey, and he waddled off with the bear gentleman, while uncle wiggily, having bought the thread, hopped toward his bungalow. the bunny uncle had not gone very far before he heard some children talking behind a bush around which the snow was piled in a high drift. uncle wiggily could hide behind this drift and hear what was said. "is santa claus coming to your house?" asked one boy of another. "i don't guess so," was the answer. "my father said our chimney was so full of black soot that santa claus couldn't get down. he'd look like a charcoal man if he did, i guess." "it's the same way at our house," sighed the first boy. "our chimney is all stopped up. i guess there'll be no christmas presents this year." "my! that's too bad!" thought uncle wiggily to himself. "there ought to be a christmas for everyone, and a little thing like a soot-filled chimney ought not to stand in the way. all the animal children whom i know are going to get presents. i wish i could help these boys. and they probably have sisters, also, who will get nothing for christmas. too bad!" uncle wiggily peered over the top of the snowbank. he saw the boys, but they did not notice the rabbit, and mr. longears knew where the boys lived. their homes were in houses near the brick one, where dwelt the lad who was once lost in the woods. uncle wiggily unwound a ball of red yarn, if you will kindly remember, and by following this the kite boy found his house. "i wish i could help those boys who are not going to have any christmas," said the bunny gentleman to himself, as he hopped on with nurse jane's spools of thread. and just then, in the air overhead, he heard the sounds of: "caw! caw! caw!" "crows!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "my friends the black crows! they stay here all winter. black crows--black--black--why, a chimney is black inside, just as a crow is black outside! i'm beginning to think of something! yes, that's what i am!" the rabbit's pink nose began twinkling very fast. it always did when he was thinking, and now it was sparkling almost like a star on a frosty night. "ha! i have it!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "a crow can become no blacker inside a sooty chimney than outside! if santa claus can't go down a black chimney, why a crow can! i'll have these crows pretend to be st. nicholas!" no sooner thought of than done! uncle wiggily put his paws to his lips and sent out a shrill whistle, just as a policeman does when he wants the automobiles to stop turning somersaults. "caw! caw! caw!" croaked the black crows high in the white, snowy air. "uncle wiggily is calling us," said the head crow. "caw! caw!" down they flew, perching on the bare limbs of trees in the wood not far from the bunny's hollow stump bungalow. "how do you do, crows!" greeted the rabbit. "i called you because i want you to take a few christmas presents to some boys who, otherwise, will not get any. their chimneys are choked with black soot!" "black soot will not bother us," said the largest crow of all. "we don't mind going down the blackest chimney in the world!" "i thought you wouldn't," said uncle wiggily. "that's why i called you. now, of course, i know that the kind of presents that santa claus will bring to the animal children will not all be such as real boys and girls would like. but still there are some which may do." "i can get willow whistles, made by grandpa lightfoot, the old squirrel gentleman. i can get wooden puzzles gnawed from the aspen tree by grandpa whackum, the beaver. grandpa goosey gander and i will gather the round, brown balls from the sycamore tree, and the boys can use them for marbles." "those will be very nice presents, indeed," cawed a middle-sized crow. "the boys ought to like them." "and will you take the things down the black chimneys?" asked uncle wiggily. "i'll give you some of nurse jane's thread so you may easily carry the whistles, puzzles, wooden marbles and other presents." "we'll take them down the chimneys!" cawed the crows. "it matters not to us how much black soot there is! it will not show on our black wings." so among his friends uncle wiggily gathered up bundles of woodland presents. and in the dusk of christmas eve the black crows fluttered silently in from the forest, gathered up in their claws the presents which the bunny had tied with thread, and away they flapped, not only to the houses of the two boys, but also to the homes of some girls, about whom uncle wiggily had heard. their chimneys, too, it seemed, were choked with soot. but the crows could be made no blacker, not even if you dusted them with charcoal, so they did not in the least mind fluttering down the sooty chimneys. and so softly did they make their way, that not a boy or girl heard them! as silently and as quietly as santa claus himself went the crows! all during christmas eve they fluttered down the chimneys at the homes of poor boys and girls, helping st. nicholas, until all the presents that uncle wiggily had gathered from his friends had been put in place. then, throughout woodland, in the homes of sammie and susie littletail the rabbits, of johnnie and billie bushytail the squirrels, jackie and peetie bow wow the dogs, curly and floppy twistytail the piggie boys--in all the homes of woodland great changes took place. firefly lights began to glow on christmas trees. mysterious bundles seemed to come from nowhere, and took their places under the trees, in stockings and on chairs or mantels. and then night came, and all was still, and quiet and dark--as dark as the black crows or the soot in the chimneys. but in the morning, when the stars had faded, and the moon was pale, the glorious sun came up and made the snow sparkle like ten million billion diamonds. "merry christmas, uncle wiggily!" called nurse jane. "see what santa claus brought me." "merry christmas, nurse jane!" answered the bunny. "and what a fine lot of presents st. nicholas left for me! see them!" "oh, isn't he a great old chap!" laughed nurse jane, as she smelled a bottle of perfume. and all over the land voices could be heard saying: "merry christmas! merry christmas!" near the hearth in the homes of some boys and girls who had not gone to bed with happy thoughts of the morrow, were some delightful presents. how they opened their eyes and stared--these boys and girls who had expected no christmas. "why! why!" exclaimed one of the two lads whom uncle wiggily had heard talking near the snowbank. "how in the world did santa claus get down our black chimney?" but, of course, they knew nothing of uncle wiggily and the crows. and please don't you tell them. so all over, in the land of boys and girls, as well as in the snow forest of the animal folk, there echoed the happy calls of: "merry christmas! merry christmas!" once again there was joy in the land. and if the sunflower doesn't shine in the face of the clock, and make its hands go whizzing around backward, i shall take pleasure, next, in telling you about uncle wiggily's fourth of july. story xii uncle wiggily's fourth of july "you must be extra careful to-morrow, uncle wiggily," said nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy to the bunny rabbit gentleman one morning, as he stood on the steps of his hollow stump bungalow. "why be careful to-morrow, more than on any other day in the year?" asked mr. longears. "is it going to rain or snow?" "whoever heard of snow on the fourth of july?" inquired the muskrat lady housekeeper, as she fastened a fluffy brush to the end of her tail, for she was presently going in the house to dust the furniture. "oh, so to-morrow is the fourth of july!" exclaimed the bunny. "i had forgotten all about it. yes, indeed, i must be careful! i am living near the real children, now, and some of them might think it fun to explode a torpedo under my pink, twinkling nose, or try to fasten a fire-cracker to my little tail." "that's what i was thinking of," went on nurse jane. for uncle wiggily's bungalow, while still in the woods, was near to the homes of some boys and girls. and though only one boy, so far, had been bad to the bunny (and this boy soon turned good), there was no telling what might happen. so as uncle wiggily hopped along the forest path, he took care not to get too far away from the bushes, behind and under which he could hide. for sometimes boys and girls came to the forest, and once a kite boy was lost, and the bunny helped him find his way home, you may remember. "hello, uncle wiggily!" suddenly called a voice, and mr. longears quickly jumped around, thinking it might be a real boy or girl. but it was only neddie stubtail, the little boy bear. "i've been buying my fire-crackers," said neddie to his uncle, the bunny. "i'm going to have lots of fun fourth of july," and he showed mr. longears a bundle of dry sticks, painted red, white and blue like the bunny's rheumatism crutch. you must know that in animal land the boys and girls have the same sort of fun you children do on holidays, but in a different manner. instead of real fire-crackers, that have to be set off with a match, or piece of punk, with sparks that, perhaps, burn you, the animal children get some dried sticks. these they break, with loud, cracking sounds, but without any fire. and they have lots of fun. after the sticks are broken they can be put in the stove to boil the tea kettle. "did you get your sister, beckie, any fourth of july things?" asked uncle wiggily of the boy bear. "oh, yes, i got her some little stick crackers," answered neddie. "that's good!" spoke mr. longears. then he went on through the woods, meeting toddle and noodle flat-tail the beaver boys, joie, tommie and kittie kat the kittens, nannie and billie wagtail the goats, and many other animal boys and girls. all of them called: "hello, uncle wiggily! happy fourth of july!" and the bunny answered back: "thank you! i wish you the same!" thus hopping through the woods, meeting the animal children, and learning of the fun they were to have next day, the bunny rabbit gentleman at length came to the end of the forest. a little farther on were the houses and homes of real boys and girls, some of whom had been helped by mr. longears. "i think this is as far as i had better go, seeing it's so close to the fourth of july," thought uncle wiggily. "if the real children are anything like those of my animal friends who live in the woods, they'll be shooting off their crackers and torpedoes ahead of time." and, just as he said that, uncle wiggily heard a loud: "bang! bang!" the bunny jumped to one side, and hid under the broad leaf of a burdock plant. then he laughed. "i thought that was a hunter-man's gun," whispered uncle wiggily. "but i guess it was some boy setting off a fire-cracker. i need not have been afraid." he was just going to hop along a little farther, before turning back to his hollow stump bungalow when, all at once he saw a hammock swinging between two trees near the edge of the wood. in the hammock lay a boy with a thin, pale face, and beside him sat a nurse, gently pulling on a rope that caused the little nest-like swinging bed to sway to and fro. "oh ho!" thought uncle wiggily. "a sick boy! i'm sorry for him! he won't be able to run around and have fun on fourth of july as jackie and peetie bow wow will." and then the bunny heard the boy in the hammock speaking. and, being able, as he was of late, to understand the talk of real persons, uncle wiggily heard the boy say: "do you think i'll ever be able to run around again, and have fun, and shoot off fire-crackers?" "of course you will," the nurse answered cheerfully. "but i can't have any fire-crackers now, can i?" asked the boy, timidly, as though knowing what the answer would be. "no, buddie! you are not quite well enough," the nurse gently replied. "no fire-crackers for you!" "how about torpedoes?" "you couldn't have those, either, i'm afraid," and the nurse smiled as she leaned over to give the boy a drink of orange juice. "oh, dear!" sighed the boy in the hammock, just like that. "oh, dear!" uncle wiggily felt very sorry for him. "i wish i could do something," thought the bunny gentleman. "this boy won't have much fun on the fourth of july--not even as much fun as curly and floppy twistytail, the piggie chaps, will have throwing corncobs against a tin pan and making believe they are skyrockets." "oh, dear!" again sighed the boy in the hammock. "oh, dear!" "what's the matter now?" asked his nurse. "i don't s'pose i could even have a roman candle, or a pinwheel, could i?" the invalid asked. "oh, indeed no!" laughed the nurse. "what a funny chap you are!" but the boy didn't feel very funny. uncle wiggily twinkled his pink nose. then he put his tall, silk hat firmly on his head and, tucking under his paw his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch, off through the woods hopped the bunny uncle. "i'm going to get some fourth of july for that boy," said mr. longears. "he simply must have some." uncle wiggily spent some time hopping here and there through the woods, and early the next morning, when the real boys and girls were shooting off real fire-crackers and torpedoes, and when the animal lads and lassies were cracking sticks and making torpedoes from broad, green leaves, mr. longears hopped to where the boy was, once more, swinging in his hammock. the boy's head was turned to one side, and he was looking at some of his friends, over in the vacant lots, setting off fire-crackers. uncle wiggily, when the nurse wasn't looking, tossed into the hammock, from the bush behind which the bunny was hidden, a bundle of green things. they fell near the boy's hands. hardly knowing what he was doing the sick lad pinched one of the green things between his fingers. "pop!" it went. "what's that?" cried the nurse. "it sounded like a fire-cracker." the boy pinched another green leaf-like ball between his fingers. "pop!" sounded again, as the ball burst. "why," cried the nurse. "that's like a torpedo! what have you there, buddie?" "i don't know," the boy answered. "but these round, green balls, that burst and pop when i squeeze them, fell into my hammock. there's a lot of 'em! i can pinch them and make a noise for fourth of july." "so you can!" exclaimed the nurse, pinching one herself, and jumping when it went "pop!" "and they won't hurt me, will they?" asked the boy. "no," answered the nurse, "they won't hurt you at all. they must have fallen off this tree, but i never knew, before, that such things as green fire-crackers grew on trees!" "ha! ha!" laughed uncle wiggily to himself, hidden under a bush. "she doesn't know i brought the puff balls to the boy." for that is what the bunny had done. in the woods he had found the green puff balls, inside which were the seeds of the plant. later on, in the fall, the puff balls would be dry, and would crackle when you touched them, opening to scatter the seeds. but now, being green, and filled with air, they burst with a fourth of july noise when squeezed. "oh, now i can have some fun!" laughed the sick boy, as he cracked one puff ball after another. "hurrah! now i'm celebrating fourth of july!" and he was. uncle wiggily had helped him, and the bunny gentleman had brought enough puff balls to last all day. "pop! pop!" that is how they sounded as the boy pinched them in his hammock. some were large, like big fire-crackers, and others were small, like little torpedoes. "oh, what a lovely fourth of july!" sighed the boy, when evening came to put the sun to bed, and the nurse wheeled the boy into the house. and then, when it grew dark, uncle wiggily called together ten thousand firefly-lightning bugs, and they flittered and fluttered about the porch, on which the boy had been taken after supper. the fireflies made pinwheels of themselves, they went up like skyrockets, they leaped about in bunches like the balls from roman candles and finally, when it was time to go to bed, they took hold of each others' legs and, clinging together, spelled out: [illustration: "oh, it's just like real fireworks!"] "oh, it's just like real fireworks!" cried the happy boy. "i'm glad he liked it!" said uncle wiggily, as he hopped home to his hollow stump bungalow. so if the pussy cat doesn't claw the tail off the letter q and make it look like a big, round o, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the little boy's skates. story xiii uncle wiggily and the skates there was once a little boy to whom santa claus brought a pair of skates at christmas. and, of course, that boy, as soon as he saw the shiny, steel runners, wished that the pond would freeze over so that he might try his new playthings. "when do you s'pose there'll be skating?" he asked his mother again and again, for, as yet, there was only a "skim" of ice on the pond. "oh, pretty soon," his mother would answer. "you mustn't go skating when the ice is too thin, you know. if you did you would break through, into the cold water." "and that would spoil my skates, wouldn't it?" asked the boy. "yes, but besides that you might be drowned, or catch cold and be very ill," mother said. "so keep off the ice with your new skates until the pond has frozen good and thick." "yes'm, i will," promised the little boy, and, really, he meant to keep his word. but as the days passed, and the weather was not quite cold enough to freeze thick ice, the little boy became tired of waiting. every chance he had, after school, he would go down to the edge of the pond, and throw stones on the ice to see how thick it was. often the stones would break through, and fall into the cold, black water with a "thump!" then the boy would know the ice was not thick enough. "i don't want to fall through like a stone," he would say, and back to his house he would go with his new skates dangling and jingling at his back, over which they were hung by a strap. but one day, when the boy threw a large stone on the ice of the pond, instead of breaking through, the rock only made a dent and stayed there. "oh, hurray!" cried the boy. "i guess it's strong enough to hold me now! i'm going skating!" however, first he started to walk on the edge of the ice near the shore, and when he did so, and heard cracking sounds, he jumped quickly back. "i guess i'd better not try it yet," said the boy to himself. "i'll wait a little while until it freezes harder." so he sat down by the edge of the pond to wait for the ice to freeze harder. but as he sat there, and saw how white and shiny it was, and as he looked at his new skates, which he had only put on in the house, that boy couldn't wait another minute. he walked along the shore a little farther, to a place where the ice seemed more hard and shiny and there, after throwing some stones, and venturing out a little way, finding that there was no cracking sound, the little boy made up his mind to try to skate. there was no one else on the pond--no other boys and girls, and it was a bit lonesome. but the boy was so eager to try his new skates that he did not think of this. down he sat on the ground, and began putting on his christmas skates. and it was just about this time that nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, uncle wiggily's muskrat lady housekeeper, happened to look out of the window of the hollow stump bungalow. the bunny's bungalow was so hidden in the woods, near the pond, that few boys or girls ever saw the queer little house. but uncle wiggily could see them, as they came to the woods winter and summer, and often he was able to help them. "well, i declare!" exclaimed nurse jane, as she looked out of the window a second time. "what's the matter?" asked uncle wiggily, who was just finishing his breakfast of lettuce bread and carrot coffee, with some turnip marmalade. "why, there's a boy--a real boy and not one of the animal chaps--getting ready to go skating!" said the muskrat lady, for she could see the boy putting on his skates. "that ice isn't thick enough for real boys or girls to skate on," the bunny gentleman said. "it would be all right for sammie littletail, or johnnie or billie bushytail, but real boys are too heavy--much heavier than my nephew sammie the rabbit, or than the bushytail squirrel chaps." "well, this boy is going on all the same," cried nurse jane. "and i know he'll break through, and he'll frighten his mother into a conniption fit!" "that will be too bad!" exclaimed uncle wiggily, as he wiped a little of the turnip marmalade off his whiskers, where it had fallen by mistake. "i must try to save him if he does fall in!" "it would be better to keep him from going on the ice," spoke nurse jane. "safety first, you know!" "if i could speak boy language i'd hop down there and tell him the ice is too thin," answered uncle wiggily. "but though i know what the boys and girls say, i cannot, myself, speak their talk. however, i think i know a way to save this boy, if he happens to break through the ice." "well, he's almost sure to break through," declared miss fuzzy wuzzy, "so you'd better hurry." "no sooner said than done!" exclaimed uncle wiggily, and, catching up his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch, and putting on his fur cap (for the day was cold), away the bunny hopped from his hollow stump bungalow. instead of going to the place where the boy, with his skates fastened on his shoes, was about to try the ice, the bunny gentleman went to the house of some friends of his. the house would seem queer to you, for all it looked like was a pile of sticks half buried in the frozen pond. but in this house lived a family of beavers--queer animals whose fur is so warm and thick that they can swim in ice water and not feel chilly. in fact the beavers had to dive down under the ice and water to get into their winter home. "are toodle and noodle in the house?" asked uncle wiggily, as he reached the stick-house. on shore, not far from it, was grandpa whackum, the old beaver gentleman, with his broad, flat tail. "why, yes, toodle and noodle are inside," answered grandpa whackum. "shall i call them out?" "if you please," spoke uncle wiggily. "i want them to come and help me save a boy who, i think, is going to break through the thin ice with his new skates." "that will be too bad!" exclaimed grandpa whackum. then with his broad tail he pounded or "whacked" on the ground, and soon up through a hole in the ice came swimming toodle and noodle flat-tail, the two beaver boys. [illustration: "oh, hello, uncle wiggily!"] "oh, hello, uncle wiggily!" they called. "we're glad to see you!" "hello!" answered the bunny gentleman. "will you come with me, and help save a real boy?" "of course," said toodle, shaking off some ice water from his fur coat. "he won't try to catch us, will he?" asked noodle. "i think not," the bunny gentleman replied. "if what i think is going to happen, does really happen, that boy will be too surprised to catch anything but a cold! come along, beaver chaps!" so toodle and noodle, wet and glistening from having dived out of their house, and down under water to come up through the hole in the ice, followed uncle wiggily. the sun and wind soon dried their fur. "there's the boy," said uncle wiggily, as he and the beaver chaps reached the edge of the pond. "he's skating on thin ice. he'll go through in a minute!" and, surely enough, hardly had the bunny spoken than there was a cracking sound, the ice broke beneath the boy's feet and into the dark, cold water he fell. "oh! oh!" cried the boy. "help me, somebody! oh! oh!" "ha! it's a good thing nurse jane saw him!" said uncle wiggily. "quick now, toodle and noodle! i brought you along because you have such good, sharp teeth--much sharper and better than mine are for gnawing down trees. i can gnaw off the bark, but you can nibble all the way through a tree and make it fall." "is that what you want us to do?" asked toodle. "yes," answered uncle wiggily. "we'll go close to shore, where the boy has fallen in. near him is a tree. you'll gnaw that so it will fall outward across the ice, and he can reach up, take hold of it and pull himself out of the hole." by this time the poor boy was floundering around in the cold water. he tried to get hold of the edges of the ice around the hole through which he had fallen, but the ice broke in his hands. "help! help!" he cried. "we're going to help you," answered uncle wiggily, but, of course, he spoke animal language which the boy did not understand. but toodle and noodle understood, and quickly running to the edge of the shore they gnawed and gnawed and gnawed very extra fast at an overhanging tree until it began to bend and break. uncle wiggily gnawed a little, also, to help the beaver boys. then, just as the real boy was almost ready to sink down under water, the tree fell on the ice, some of its branches close enough so the boy skater could grasp them. "oh, now i can pull myself out!" he said. "this tree fell just in time! now i'll be saved!" he did not know that uncle wiggily and the beaver boys had gnawed the tree down, making it fall just in the right place at the right time. for the boy was so frightened at having broken through the ice, that he never noticed the bunny gentleman and the beaver boys on shore. he caught hold of the tree branches in his cold fingers, pulled himself up out of the water, that boy did; and to shore. then as he sat down, all wet and shivering, to take off his skates, so he could run home, uncle wiggily called to toodle and noodle: "come on, beaver boys! our work is done! we have saved that boy, and i hope he never again tries to skate on thin ice." then uncle wiggily hopped toward his hollow stump bungalow, and the beaver boys slid on the ice, near shore, toward their own stick-house, for the pond was frozen hard and thick enough to hold them. and the boy ran home as fast as he could, and drank hot lemonade so he wouldn't catch cold. he did get the snuffles, but of course that couldn't be helped, and it wasn't much for falling through the ice; was it? "you never should have gone skating until the pond was better frozen," his mother said. "i know it," the boy answered. "but wasn't it lucky that tree fell when it did?" "very lucky!" agreed his mother. and neither the boy nor his mother knew that it was nurse jane, uncle wiggily and the beaver boys who had caused the tree to topple over just in time. but that's the way it sometimes is in this world. and if the cow doesn't tickle the man in the moon with her horns, when she jumps over the green cheese, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily going coasting. story xiv uncle wiggily goes coasting "oh, it's stopped snowing! it's stopped snowing! now we can go coasting; can't we, mother?" "and on our new christmas sleds! oh, what fun!" a boy and a girl ran from the window, against which they had been pressing their noses, looking out to see when the white flakes would stop falling from the sky. now the storm seemed to be over, leaving the ground covered with the sparkling snow crystals. "yes, you may go coasting a little while," said mother. "but don't stay too late. when daddy comes to supper you must be home." "we will!" promised the boy and girl, and, laughing in glee, they ran to get on their boots, their mittens and warm coats. "i want to go coasting! take me to slide down hill!" cried bumps, the little sister of the boy and girl. "i want a sleigh ride." "oh, bumps, you're too little!" objected sister. "and she'll fall down and bang herself," added brother. in fact the "littlest girl" did fall down so often that she was called "bumps" as a pet name. "i won't fall down!" bumps promised. "i'll be good! please take me coasting?" "i think you might take her," said mother. "yes, we will," spoke sister. "come on, bumps!" "well, if she falls off the sled when it's going down hill, and she gets bumped, it won't be my fault!" declared brother. "i--i'll be good--i won't fall!" promised bumps. so mother bundled her up, and out she went to the coasting hill with brother and sister, each of whom had a sled. "i'm not going to give her rides on my sled all the while!" said brother, half grumbling. "we'll take turns," more kindly suggested sister. "take hold of my hand, bumps, and don't fall any more times than you can help, dear!" "no; i won't," answered bumps. the littlest girl was smiling and happy because she was going coasting with sister and brother. and she made up her mind she would try very, very hard not to fall. on the other side of the forest, near which was the coasting hill of the children, lived uncle wiggily in his hollow stump bungalow. from afar he had often watched the boys and girls sliding down on their sleds, but the bunny gentleman had never gone very close. "for," he said to himself, "they might, by accident, run over me. and, though i haven't much of a tail to be cut off, i would look queer if anything should happen to my long ears. i'll keep away from the coasting hill of the boys and girls." but not far from the bunny's bungalow was another and smaller hill, down which the animal boys and girls coasted. of course, very few of them had such sleds as you children have, with shiny steel runners, and with the tops painted red, blue, green and gold. in fact, some of the animal boys didn't bother with a sled at all. take toodle and noodle flat-tail, the beaver chaps, for instance. they just slid down hill on their broad, flat tails. and as for johnnie and billie bushytail, the squirrels, they sat on their fuzzy tails and scooted down the hill of snow. others of the animal children sometimes used pieces of wood, an old board or some sticks bound together with strands from a wild grape vine. and about the time that sister, brother and bumps went coasting, sammie and susie littletail, the rabbits, passed the hollow stump bungalow of uncle wiggily longears. the little bunnies were each pulling a sled made from pieces of birch bark they had gnawed from trees. "let's ask uncle wiggily to go coasting with us," spoke susie. "oh, yes! let's!" echoed sammie. "it'll be lots of fun!" and uncle wiggily was very glad to go coasting. out of his bungalow he hopped, his pink nose twinkling twice as fast as the shiny star on top of the christmas tree. "dear me, wiggy!" cried nurse jane. "you don't mean to say you're going coasting with your rheumatism!" "no, i'm going coasting with sammie and susie," the laughing bunny answered. "i haven't any rheumatism to go coasting with to-day, i'm glad to tell you." and, surely enough, he didn't need to take his red, white and blue striped crutch. when sammie, susie and uncle wiggily reached the coasting hill, they found there many of the animal children. "oh, uncle wiggily! ride on my sled!" invited one after another. "ride on mine! coast with me!" "i'll take turns with each one!" promised the bunny gentleman, and so he did, riding with sammie and susie first, then with the bushytail squirrel brothers, next with lulu, alice and jimmie wibblewobble, the ducks, and so on down to dottie and willie flufftail, the lamb children. oh, such fun as uncle wiggily had on the animal children's coasting hill. and on the other side of the forest, sister, brother and bumps had their fun, with the real boys and girls. at last it began to grow dusk, and when uncle wiggily was thinking of telling the animal children it was time for them to leave for home, up came rushing jackie and peetie bow wow, the puppy dog boys. "oh, uncle wiggily!" barked jackie. "we were just over to the big hill, where the real boys coast, and we saw----" "we saw a little baby girl--that is, almost a baby--in a pile of snow!" finished peetie, for his brother jackie was out of breath and couldn't bark any more. "what's that?" cried uncle wiggily. "a real, live little girl in the snow?" "right in a snow drift!" barked jackie. "all alone!" "why," said the bunny gentleman, as he thought it over, "she must have been coasting with her brother or sister, and maybe she fell off a sled and went down deep in the snow. and they played so hard they never missed her! but she mustn't be allowed to stay asleep in the snow. she'll freeze!" "if she's only a little one--almost a baby--couldn't we put her on one of our sleds?" asked sammie. "and ride her home," went on susie. "if we all pull together we'd be strong enough to pull a real, live girl, if she wasn't too large," quacked jimmie wibblewobble, the duck. "we'll try!" said uncle wiggily. "all of you take the grape-vine ropes from your sleds and follow me." quickly the animal children did this, taking with them only the large double sled of neddie stubtail, the boy bear, which was the largest sled of all. it was low and flat, and uncle wiggily thought it would be easy to roll a little girl up on it and pull her along. soon uncle wiggily and the animal children reached the hill where the real boys and girls had coasted. none of them was there now, all having gone home to their suppers. "here she is!" softly barked jackie, leading the way to a snowbank, at the foot of the hill. and there, sound asleep in the soft, warm snow was--bumps! yes, as true as i'm telling you--bumps! the little girl had been sliding down with her sister, and had rolled off the sled at the bottom of the hill after about the forty-'leventh coast. and bumps was so tired, and sleepy, from having been outdoors so long, that, as soon as she rolled from the sled into the snow, she fell asleep! think of that! and as sister wanted to have a race with brother and some of the other children, she never noticed what happened to bumps. but there she was--in the snow asleep. poor little bumps! "it will never do to leave her here!" whispered uncle wiggily to the animal boys and girls. "don't awaken her, but roll her over on neddie's sled, and we'll pull her to her home. i know where she lives. we'll leave her in front of the door, i'll throw a snowball to make a sound like a knock, and then we can run away. her father and mother will come out and take her in." so all working together, pushing, pulling, tugging and rolling most gently, the bunny gentleman and the animal boys and girls slid bumps upon the low sled of the bear boy. then they fastened the grape-vine ropes to it, and, all taking hold, off they started over the snow toward the village. it was almost dark, so no one saw the strange procession of uncle wiggily and his friends; and the bunny gentleman was glad of this. right up to the home of bumps they pulled her, and just as they got the sled in her yard bumps opened her eyes. "oh! oh! oh!" she cried when she saw all the animal children, and uncle wiggily, too, standing around her. "i'm in fairyland! oh, how i love it!" "quick, sammie--susie--jackie--peetie--scoot away!" called uncle wiggily in animal talk, and the rabbits, squirrels, guinea pigs, ducks, bears, beavers and others, all hopped away through the soft snow, out of sight. uncle wiggily tossed a snowball at the door, making a sound like a knock, and then the bunny gentleman also hopped away, laughing to himself. he turned back in time to see the door open and sister, brother, daddy and mother rush out. "oh, here's bumps, now!" cried brother. "we must have forgotten and left her at the hill." "oh, that's what we did!" exclaimed sister. "yes, but how did she get home?" asked mother. "she never walked, i'm sure!" "and look at the queer wooden sled!" said sister. "who brought you home, bumps?" asked daddy. "a--a nice bunny man, and some little bunnies, and squirrels, and a little bear boy and some ducks and chickens and little lambs and--and----" but bumps was out of breath now. "oh, she's been asleep and _dreamed_ this!" laughed brother. "some man must have found her and put her on this board for a sled, to bring her home." "nope!" declared bumps, "it was a bunny! it was a funny bunny!" "bring her in the house!" laughed mother. "she must have been dreaming!" but we know it wasn't a dream; don't we? and if the strawberry shortcake doesn't go swimming with the gold fish in the lemonade and catch cold, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the picnic. story xv uncle wiggily's picnic "come on, uncle wiggily! wake up! wake up!" called nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy in the hollow stump bungalow one morning. "come on!" "what's that? what's the matter? is the chimney on fire again?" asked the bunny gentleman, and he was so excited that he slid down the banister, instead of hopping along from step to step as he should have done. "of course the chimney isn't on fire!" laughed miss fuzzy wuzzy. "but this is the day for the picnic of the animal children, and you promised to go with them to the woods." "oh, so i did!" exclaimed uncle wiggily, and he put one paw on his pink nose to stop the twinkling, which started as soon as he grew excited over thinking the chimney was on fire. "well, i'm glad you called me, nurse jane. i'll get ready for the picnic at once. what are you going to put up for lunch?" "oh, some carrot bread, turnip cookies, lettuce sandwiches and nut cake," answered the muskrat lady. "that sounds fine!" laughed uncle wiggily. "i'm very glad i'm going to the picnic!" "well, you had better hurry and get ready," remarked miss fuzzy wuzzy. "here come jackie and peetie bow wow to see if you aren't soon going to start." uncle wiggily looked from the window of his hollow stump bungalow, and saw the two little puppy dog boys coming along. jackie was so excited that he stubbed his paw and fell down twice, while peetie was so anxious to show uncle wiggily what was in the package of lunch the puppies were going to take to the woods, that peetie fell down three times, and turned a back somersault. "uncle wiggily! uncle wiggily! aren't you coming?" barked jackie. "hurry or it may rain and spoil the picnic," added peetie. "oh, i hope not!" answered the bunny gentleman. "for if there is one thing, more than another, that spoils a picnic, it is rain! snow isn't so bad, for we don't have picnics when it snows." "maybe it won't rain," hopefully spoke nurse jane, who was busy putting up lunch for uncle wiggily. "there isn't a cloud in the sky!" and, surely enough, when uncle wiggily, nurse jane and dozens of animal children started off to the woods for their picnic, the sun shone bravely down from the blue sky and a more lovely day could not have been wished for. the forest where the bunny gentleman, nurse jane and the animal children went for their picnic was a large one, with many trees and bushes. there were dozens of places for the squirrels, rabbits, goats, ducks, dogs, pussy cats and others to play; and when they reached the grove they put their lunches under bushes, on the soft cool, green moss and began to have fun. "oh, uncle wiggily! please turn skipping rope for us?" begged brighteyes, the little guinea pig girl. "and please come play ball with us!" grunted curly and floppy twistytail, the piggie boys. "have a game of marbles with us," teased billie wagtail, the goat, and jacko kinkytail, the monkey chap. "i'll play with you all in turn," laughed the bunny gentleman. he was in the midst of having fun, and was just gnawing off a piece of wild grape vine to make a swing for lulu and alice wibblewobble, the ducks, when up came hopping bully no-tail, the frog boy. bully was quite excited. "what's the matter, bully?" asked uncle wiggily. "oh, gur-ump!" croaked bully. "there is a big crowd of boys and girls over on the other side of the pond. they're having a picnic, too! ger-ump! ger-ump!" "real boys and girls!" added bawly, who was bully's brother. "hump-bump!" "well, that will do no harm!" laughed uncle wiggily. "let the real boys and girls have their picnic. they will not see us, for very few boys and girls know how to use their eyes when they go to the woods. i have often hidden beside a bush close to where a boy passed, and he never saw me. let the boys and girls have their picnic, and we'll have ours!" so that's the way it was. uncle wiggily and the animal children played tag, and they slid down hill. perhaps you think they could not do this in summer when there was no snow. but the hills in the forest were covered with long, smooth, brown pine needles, and these layers of needles were so slippery that it was easy to slide on them. and then, all of a sudden, just about when it was time to eat lunch, it began to rain! oh, how hard the drops pelted down! rain! rain! rain! "scurry for shelter--all of you!" cried nurse jane. "get out of the rain!" the animal boys and girls knew how to take care of themselves in a rain storm, even if they had no umbrellas. most of them had on fur or feathers which water does not harm. and they snuggled down under trees and bushes, finding shelter and dry spots so that, no matter how hard it poured, they did not get very wet. they hid their lunches under rocks and overhanging trees so nothing was spoiled. and when the rain was over and the sun came out, as it did, the animal picnic went on as before, and when the food was set out on flat stumps for tables, there was enough for everyone, and plenty left over. nurse jane was looking at what remained of the good things to eat when jackie bow wow, who, with peetie, had been splashing in a mud puddle, came running up wagging his tail. "oh, uncle wiggily!" barked jackie. "what you think? those real children, on the other side of the wood, they had their things to eat out on some stumps for tables, just as we had, and when the rain came, oh! it spoiled everything!" "they didn't know how to keep their lunches dry," added peetie. "now they haven't anything to eat for their picnic, and they are starting home, and some of the little girls are crying." "that's too bad!" murmured uncle wiggily, kindly. "too bad that the rain had to spoil their picnic! now we have plenty of things left that children could eat--nuts, apples, some popcorn and pears," for the animal folk had brought all these, and many more, to the woods with them. "we have lots left over." "we could give them something to eat," spoke nurse jane, "but how are we going to get it to them? we can't call them here; and it would never do to let them see us carrying the things to them." "no," agreed uncle wiggily. "but i think i have a plan. we can make some baskets of birch bark. some of the animal children--such as jacko and jumpo kinkytail, the monkeys, joie and tommie kat, johnnie and billie bushytail, the squirrels--are good tree climbers. let them climb trees near where the real children are having their picnic, and lower to them, on grape-vine ropes, the food we have left." "oh, yes!" mewed tommie, the kitten boy. "what jolly fun!" quickly nurse jane began to gather up the food. uncle wiggily put it in birch bark baskets the animal children made and then, with the baskets, fastened to vines, in their paws or claws, the animal boys went through the wood to the place of the other picnic. uncle wiggily and the remaining animal children followed. there the poor, disappointed real children were, looking at their rain-soaked and spoiled lunches. some of the little girls were crying. "we might as well go home," grumbled a boy. "our picnic is no good!" "mean old rain!" sighed a girl. but just then the animal chaps with lunch from uncle wiggily's picnic--lunch which had not been rained on--climbed up into trees over the heads of the boys and girls. not a sound did the animal chaps make. and when the real boys and girls had their backs turned, there were lowered to the stump tables enough good things for a jolly feast--apples, pears, popcorn, nuts and many other dainties. [illustration: the animal boys scurried off] a little girl happened to turn around and see the birch bark baskets of good things just as the animal boys scurried off through the trees. "oh, look!" cried the girl. "the fairies have been here! they have left us some lunch in place of ours that the rain spoiled. oh, see the fairy lunch!" and i suppose that is as good a name for it as any, since the boys and girls didn't see uncle wiggily's friends lower the baskets from the trees. and the real boys and girls ate the lunch and had a most jolly time, and so did the bunny gentleman and his picnic crowd. now if the rubber plant doesn't stretch over and tickle the teapot so that it pours coffee instead of milk into the sugar bowl, you may next hear about uncle wiggily in the rain storm. story xvi uncle wiggily's rain storm down pelted the rain in animal land. it also poured in boy and girl land, which was on the other side of the forest from where uncle wiggily longears lived in his hollow stump bungalow. the bunny rabbit gentleman looked out of a window, and saw the drops fall drip, drip, dripping from trees and bushes, making little puddles amid the leaves where birds could come, later, and take a bath. "you aren't thinking of going out in this storm; are you?" asked nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady bungalow-keeper, as she saw mr. longears putting on his coat. "why, i was, yes," slowly answered the bunny gentleman. "i am neither sugar nor salt, that i will melt in the rain. and, as it isn't freezing, i think i'll take a hop through the woods, and see grandfather goosey gander." "well, as long as you are going out, i wish you'd go to the store for me," requested miss fuzzy wuzzy. "what do you want?" asked the bunny gentleman. "oh, bring a muskmelon for dinner," said nurse jane. "a watermelon would be much easier to carry through the rain," uncle wiggily answered. "i think i'll bring a watermelon. if it gets wet no harm is done." "all right," agreed nurse jane, laughing, so away hopped the bunny rabbit uncle, over the fields and through the woods. it seemed to rain harder and harder, but uncle wiggily did not mind. he had an umbrella, though he did not always carry one. it was made from a toadstool, and it kept off most of the rain. though, as mr. longears said, he was neither a lollypop nor an ice-cream cone that would melt in a shower. but not everyone was as happy as uncle wiggily in this storm. on the other side of the forest, as i told you, was boy and girl land, and in one of the houses lived a brother and a sister. they, too, stood at the window, pressing their noses against the glass as the rain beat down, and they were not happy. "rain, rain, go away! come again some other day! brother and i want to go and play!" that is the verse the little girl recited over and over again as she watched the rain pelting down. but the storm did not stop for all that she said the verse backward and frontward. "will it ever stop?" crossly cried the boy. "why doesn't it stop?" and he drummed on the window sill, banged his feet on the floor and whistled. and his sister loudly recited over and over again: "rain, rain, go away!" "children! children!" gently called mother from where she was lying down in the next room. "can't you please be a little quiet? my head aches and i am trying to rest. the noise makes my pain worse." "we're sorry, mother," said the girl. "but being quiet isn't any fun!" grumbled the boy. "why can't we go out and play?" "because you would get all wet," answered his mother. "i've told you that two or three times, dear. now please be quiet. it will stop raining sometime, and then you may go out." "what can we play with?" asked the boy, not very politely i'm sorry to say. "why, some of your toys," replied his mother. "surely you have enough." "i'm tired of 'em!" grunted the boy. "so'm i," echoed his sister. then she began once more to say the verse about the rain, as if that would do any good, and the boy rubbed his nose up and down the window, making queer marks. uncle wiggily, on his way to see grandpa goosey gander, and get a watermelon for nurse jane, took a short cut through a field, and passed the house where the children were kept in on account of the rain. and, as it happened, the window near which the boy and girl stood was open a little way at the top. so, as the bunny gentleman hopped past, he not only saw the children, but he heard what they said, being able, as i have before related to you, to understand real talk. but the children were looking up at the sky so intently, trying to see if it would stop raining, that they never noticed uncle wiggily. though if they had seen him, all dressed as he was like a gentleman from the moving pictures, they would have been very much surprised. "too bad those children have to stay in on account of the rain," thought uncle wiggily. "i wonder if i couldn't find some way of amusing them? if they are tired of their own playthings i might toss in, through the open window, some of the things the animal boys and girls play with. i'll do it!" off through the woods in the rain hopped uncle wiggily. he found a number of smooth, brown acorns, some of which had the cups, or caps still on. he filled one pocket with the acorns. next the bunny picked up some cones from the pine tree. there were large and small cones, and nurse jane always used one as a nutmeg grater, it was so rough, while uncle wiggily kept one near his bed to scratch his back at night. "let me see, what else would the animal children take?" said the bunny to himself. "i think they would take some green moss, and the girls would make beds with it for their dolls. the animal boys would take hollow reeds and blow little pebbles through them as real boys blow beans in their tin shooters. i'll take some moss and reeds." this the bunny uncle did, also picking up some empty snail and periwinkle shells he found on the bank of a brook. "the little girl can string these shells for beads," thought the bunny. "and i'll strip off some pieces of white birch bark so the boy can make a little canoe, as the indians used to do." having gathered all these things--playthings which the animal children found in the woods every day--the bunny hopped back to the house of the boy and girl. the window was open, but the boy and girl had left it. the girl was giving her mother a drink of water, and the boy was bringing up some coal for the fire. "this is my chance!" thought uncle wiggily. standing outside, he tossed in through the open window the acorns, the pine cones, the shells, the moss and other things. then he hopped quickly away and hid behind a bush. he could hear the children come back into the room, and soon he heard the girl cry: "oh, look what the wind blew in! some acorns! i can make little cups of them, and use the tops for saucers! and i'll set a play-party table for my doll, and decorate it with green moss. oh, how perfectly lovely!" "i'm going to make a boat out of this birch bark!" cried the boy. "and look! a hollow reed, like a bean blower! now i can have some fun!" "look at the lovely shells i can string and make a necklace of!" went on the girl. "and i can make wooden legs, and a wooden head and stick em on these pine cones and make believe they're noah's ark animals!" laughed the boy. "hurray!" he cried most happily. "what is going on out there?" called mother from where she was lying down. "have you found something to play with?" "yes'm," answered the boy. "we'll be quiet now." "and we don't care if it does rain," said the girl. "the wind blew a lot of lovely things in the window!" but of course we know that uncle wiggily tossed them in. "i guess they'll be all right now, no matter how much it rains," said the bunny, as he hopped along to see grandpa goosey, and buy the snowmelon--excuse me, i mean the watermelon--for nurse jane. so this teaches us that sometimes a rain storm is good for letting you find out new ways of having fun. and if the looking-glass doesn't make funny faces at the rag doll, when she's trying to see if her hair ribbon is on backward, on the next page you may read about uncle wiggily and the mumps. +note+ uncle wiggily specially requests that the following story will not be read to children who have the mumps. please wait until they are better. story xvii uncle wiggily and the mumps uncle wiggily longears, the bunny rabbit gentleman, was hopping through the woods one day, and he was thinking of making his way over to the other side of the forest, where the real boys and girls lived, hoping he might have an adventure, when, all at once, mr. longears heard some voices talking behind a mulberry bush. "i know what we can do," said the voice of a boy, as uncle wiggily could tell, for he had learned to know the talk of boys and girls. "what can we do?" asked the voice of another boy. "we can pick up a lot of stones," went on the first boy, "and we can make believe we're hunters, and we can walk through the woods and throw stones at the birds, and squirrels, and rabbits! come on! let's do it!" "oh, no! i don't want to do _that_," said the second boy. "it isn't any fun to throw stones at birds and bunnies. if you hit a mother bird, and break her wing, she can't take anything to eat to the little birds, and they'll starve." "pooh! that's nothing!" exclaimed the first boy, and uncle wiggily peeked over the top of the bush to see what manner of boys these were. but the bunny rabbit gentleman kept himself well hidden. "i don't want any stones thrown at me," he thought. "and," went on the second boy, who seemed rather kind, "if you throw a stone at a rabbit you might break its leg, and then it couldn't hop home to the baby rabbits." "that is very true!" thought uncle wiggily, who was listening to all that went on. "i wish there were more boys like this kind one." "well, i don't care!" grumbled the first boy. "i'm going off and throw stones at birds and rabbits and squirrels!" "and i'm going home," said the second boy. "i don't feel very good. i have a pain in my cheek and maybe i'm going to have the toothache." "goodness me, sakes alive! i hope nothing like _that_ happens to such a kind boy," thought uncle wiggily. "and as for that other chap, i'll run ahead of him, through the woods, and tell my friends to hide so he can't throw stones at them." so, while one boy went home and the other picked up some stones, uncle wiggily skipped along through the woods, calling, in his animal talk, to his friends to hide themselves. "for a boy is coming to stone you!" exclaimed the bunny rabbit gentleman. "hide! hide away from the stone-throwing boy!" and so it happened that when the unkind chap came tramping through the woods, the only bird he saw to stone was an old black crow, as black as black could be. "i'll hit you!" cried the boy, as he threw a stone. but the crow was a wise old bird, and wastn't even afraid of the scary, stuffed men that farmers put in their cornfields. so the crow dodged the stone and then he laughed at the boy. "haw! haw! haw!" laughed the old black crow. "haw! haw! haw!" the boy grew very cross at this, and threw more stones, and some fell among the flower bushes where some bees were gathering the sweet juices of flowers to make into honey. one stone knocked a bee off a blossom, and spilled the honey it was gathering. "just for that i'm going to sting that boy!" buzzed the bee. out it flittered, making such a zipping sound around that boy's head as to cause the bad chap to drop his stones and run away. so the bee did not have to sting him after all. "boys are no good!" buzzed the bee to uncle wiggily, as the honey chap flew back to the flowers. "oh, _some_ boys are good," said the bunny gentleman. "the boy who was with this bad chap was good, and kind to animals. and that reminds me; this boy said he didn't feel very well. i must hop over to-morrow, and take a look at his house. i know where he lives. i hope he isn't going to have the toothache." but the kind boy, as i call him just for fun, you know, had something worse than the toothache. his neck and jaws began to swell in the night, and he could hardly swallow a drink of water which his mother gave him when she heard him tossing in bed. "what you s'pose is the matter of me, mother?" asked the boy. "well," said mother, as she smoothed his pillow, "perhaps you caught cold in the woods to-day." but it was worse than that. when the doctor came in the morning, and looked at the boy, and gently felt of his neck (even which gentle touch made the boy want to cry) the doctor said: "hum! mumps!" "did you say 'bumps,' doctor?" asked the boy's mother. "did he fall down and bump himself?" "no, i said _mumps_!" exclaimed the doctor. "that's a swelling inside his neck, and it will hurt him a lot. but if you keep him in bed, and warm, and give him easy things to eat, he'll soon be all right again." "poor boy!" murmured mother. "well, i suppose _mumps_ are better than _bumps_!" "i'm not so sure about that," spoke the doctor as he walked to the door with the boy's mother. "whatever you do," he said in a whisper, "don't give him anything _sour_--such as lemons or pickles. sour things make the mumps pain more than ever. don't even _speak_ of vinegar in front of him, or so much as _whisper_ it!" "i won't," promised mother. but the boy's little sister overheard what doctor and mother were saying, and, being a mischievous sort of girl, she decided to have some fun. at least _she_ called it fun. "i'm going to stand in front of brother and hold up a pickle so he can see it," said sister to herself. "i want to see what he'll do!" so sister hurried down to the kitchen and brought up a pickle. then she went in the room where brother was in bed and, holding the sour pickle in front of him, called: "look!" and, no sooner did the boy look than he felt a sharp pain in his throat, almost as bad as toothache, and he cried: "go on away! stop showing me that--that----" well, he couldn't even say the word "pickle," for just the thought of anything sour hurts your mumps, you know. the boy hid his face in his pillow, and when he couldn't see the pickle he felt a little better. but his sister was still full of mischief. "lemons! lemons! nice sour lemons!" she called teasingly. "stop it! stop it!" begged the boy. "oh, how my mumps hurt! mother, make sister stop hurting my mumps!" and when mother came, and found what sister was doing, she made the little girl go to bed, even though it was daytime. "you will, very likely, get the mumps yourself," said mother. "and i hope no one says anything sour to _you_." and, later on, sister did get the mumps, but i'm glad to say her brother did not hold a lemon up in front of her. for, as i told you, even the _thought_ of anything sour hurts the mumps. now you know the reason why i didn't want you to read this story when you had the swelling in your neck. it was better to wait until your mumps were gone; wasn't it? so this boy had the mumps, and he had them on both sides at once, which is the very worst form. he could hardly swallow anything because of the pain, even things that were not sour. now and then he managed to sip a little hot chocolate. his mother put a warm flannel bandage around his face, which was much swelled, and, thus wrapped up, the little boy could, now and then, get out of bed. it was on one of these times, when his jaws were wrapped up, and his face swollen, that uncle wiggily happened to hop along through the woods, not far from the mump boy's house. and, having very good eyes, mr. longears saw the sick lad. "poor fellow!" thought the bunny gentleman. "he is ill, just as he thought he was going to be! toothache it is, too!" "who has the toothache!" asked dr. possum, for the animal doctor came along just then, with his bag of medicine held fast in the curl of his tail. "that boy," answered uncle wiggily, pointing from the bush, where he and dr. possum were hiding, to the window of the boy's home. "he hasn't the toothache! those are the mumps!" said dr. possum, who knew all about such things. "mumps!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "oh, that's too bad. why, if that boy is mumpy he must have trouble eating. i wonder if i could leave on his doorstep something he would like--something that he wouldn't have to chew and which would slip down easily?" "whatever you leave for him, don't have it _sour_," advised dr. possum, as he hurried along to see curly twistytail, the piggie boy, who had cut his nose on a piece of glass while digging for wild sunflower roots in the woods. "ha! nothing sour for the mump boy!" said uncle wiggily to himself, as dr. possum hopped away. "then something sweet will be just the proper thing. sweet honey! i have it! i'll ask my friends, the bees, for some of their honey. i'll get nurse jane to make a little pail of birch bark, and i'll leave the wild honey on the boy's stoop." off hopped the bunny gentleman, until he found where the bees had their home in a hollow tree. "could you give me some honey for a good boy with bad mumps?" asked the rabbit. "some honey for a good boy with the bad mumps?" said the queen bee. "certainly, uncle wiggily! as much as you like!" nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the bunny's muskrat lady housekeeper, made a little box of white bark from the birch tree, and when this pretty box was filled with wild, sweet honey, uncle wiggily took it with him one evening. it was time for the mump boy to go to bed, but the pain in his neck was so bad that he cried. "i'm hungry, too," he said. "oh, why can't i eat something that won't hurt my mumps?" "i'll try to think of something for you," said mother wearily. just then uncle wiggily hopped to the edge of the forest, close to the mump boy's house, and running up, he put the birch box of wild honey on the stoop. then the bunny threw some little stones at the door and hopped away, hiding in the bushes. "wait until i see who's at the door," said mother, as she smoothed the boy's pillow. "then i'll get you something." she looked out on the porch, and saw the little birch bark box. "it looks like a valentine," she thought, "though this isn't valentine's day." "what is it?" asked the boy. "is it anything i can eat that won't hurt my mumps?" "why, yes, it is!" joyfully said his mother, as she saw what it was. "sweet, wild honey!" even the name, so different from sour pickles or lemons, made the mumps boy feel better. "please give me some," he begged. "it sounds good!" [illustration: uncle wiggily saw him at the window] the wild sweet honey slipped down as gently as a feather, not hurting the boy's neck at all. and soon after that he went to sleep and in a few days he was better. uncle wiggily saw the boy at the window, the bandage no longer on his face, and he even saw the boy eating the last of the wild honey. "i guess he liked it," thought the bunny, as he hopped away. when the boy was all better, and could be out and play, he asked all of his friends which one it was who had left the honey on the porch. one and all answered: "i didn't do it!" "i wonder who it was?" said the boy, over and over again. well, we know; don't we? but we aren't allowed to tell. and when the boy's sister caught the mumps, uncle wiggily left her some honey also. which was very kind of him, i think. so if the little pussy cat doesn't drop her penny in the snowbank, thinking it will turn into a dollar so she can buy a box of lollypops, you may next hear about uncle wiggily and the measles. story xviii uncle wiggily and the measles once upon a time there was a boy who didn't like to go to school. every chance he had he stayed at home instead of going to his classes to learn his lessons. sometimes he would get up in the morning and say: "mother, i think i'm going to have the toothache. i guess i better not go to school to-day." but his mother would laugh and say: "oh, run along! if you get the toothache in school the teacher will let you come home." then the boy would go to school, though he didn't want to, and he would be thinking up some new excuse for staying home, so really he did not recite his lessons as well as he might. one day this boy came running in the house, all excited, and called out: "oh, mother! i just know i can't go to school to-morrow!" "why not?" asked mother. "'cause i've been playing with the boy across the street, an' he's got the measles, an' i'll catch 'em an' i can't go to school. you ought t' see! he's all covered with red spots!" the boy who didn't like school was much excited. "he's all red spots!" he exclaimed. "is he?" asked mother. "well, the measles aren't painful, though they are 'catching,' as you children say. however, you can't catch them quite as soon as one day. so you may go to school until you break out with red spots. then it will be time enough to stay at home." "can't i stay home to-morrow?" begged the boy. "oh, of course not!" laughed mother. "i want you to go to school and become a smart man! time enough to stay home when you get the measles!" now, of course, this did not suit that boy at all. when he went to bed he was thinking and thinking of some plan by which he could stay home from school. for there was to be a hard lesson next day, and, though i am sorry to say it, that boy was too lazy to study as he ought. "if i could only break out with the measles i could stay home," he kept saying over and over again as he lay in bed. every now and then he would get up, turn on the electric light in his room and look at himself in the glass to see if any red spots were coming. but he could see none. "what's the matter, boysie?" his mother called to him from her room. "why are you so restless?" "maybe i'm getting the measles," he hopefully answered. "nonsense! go to sleep!" laughed daddy. finally the boy did go to sleep, but either he dreamed it, or the idea came to him in the night, for, early in the morning, he awakened and, slipping on his bath robe, went into his sister's room. "hey, sis!" he whispered. "where's your box of paints?" "what you want 'em for?" asked sister. "oh, i--i'm going to paint something," mumbled the boy. sister was too sleepy--for it was only early morning as yet--to wonder much about it, so she told her brother where to find the paints, and then she turned over and went to sleep again. now what do you suppose that boy did? why, he went back to his room, and with his sister's brush and color box he painted red spots on his face, just as he had seen them on the face of the real measles boy across the street. then this boy put the paints away and waited. after a while mother called: "come, boysie! time to get up and go to school!" "i--i don't guess i'd better go to school this morning," said the boy, trying to make his voice sound weak and ill and faint-like. "not go to school! why not?" cried mother in surprise. "i--i'm all red spots," the boy answered. and when his mother went in his room, and saw that he really was spotted, she exclaimed: "why, you _have_ the measles! i didn't think they'd break out so _soon_! well, you must stay in the dark on account of your eyes. i'll bring you in some breakfast, and of course you can't go to school!" then that boy had to put the bedquilt over his mouth so he wouldn't laugh. if his room had been light his mother, of course, would have seen that the spots were only red paint. but in the dimness of early morning she didn't see. "isn't brother going to school?" asked sister as she ate her breakfast. "he has the measles," said mother. "i expect you'll come down with them next, and break out in a day or so. but wait until you do." and if sister thought anything about her red paint she said nothing. i don't believe she ever imagined her brother would play such a trick. at first, after his sister had gone to school, and he had been given his breakfast in bed, the boy thought it was going to be lots of fun to pretend to have the measles and stay home from school. but after a while this began to grow tiresome. it was a beautiful, warm sunshiny day outside, and staying in a dark room wasn't as much fun as that boy had thought. he could hear the bees humming outside his open window, and the birds were singing. his mother opened the door and spoke to him. "i'm just going across the street a few minutes," she said. "you'll be all right, won't you?" "yes'm," answered the boy. "my measles don't hurt hardly any." and of course they couldn't, being only painted measles, you know. when mother went away, softly closing the door after her, the sound of the buzzing bees and the singing birds came to the boy through his window. he knew it must be lovely outside, and yet he had to stay in bed. "but i can get up and run out for a little while," he said to himself. "mother will never know!" no sooner thought of than done! the boy quickly put on some clothes--not many, for it was summer--and out into the yard he went, his face all red paint spots. he didn't dare wash them off or his mother would have noticed. now it happened that uncle wiggily, the bunny rabbit gentleman, was out that day, taking a walk with grandfather goosey gander. the two friends passed through the woods, close to the edge of the yard of the house where the make-believe measles boy lived. and the boy saw the bunny gentleman, all dressed up as uncle wiggily was. grandpa goosey, also, had on his coat and trousers. uncle wiggily wore his golf suit that day--black and white checkered trousers and a cap. [illustration: "hop faster!" quacked grandpa] "oh, what a funny rabbit! what a funny goose!" cried the boy. "i'm going to catch 'em and have a play circus in my yard!" forgetting that he was supposed to be suffering from measles, this boy chased after uncle wiggily and grandpa goosey. "we'd better run," quacked the goose gentleman. "boy, you know! chase us! throw stones, you know. better run; what?" "i believe you!" answered uncle wiggily. "run it is!" off hopped the bunny! off waddled the goose! but the boy was a fast runner, in spite of the red spots on his face and he came nearer and nearer to uncle wiggily. "i'm afraid he's going to catch me, grandpa!" spoke mr. longears in animal talk, of course, which the boy could not hear, much less understand. "hop faster!" quacked grandpa, who was half running and half flying. on came the boy! grandpa goosey, who was ahead, looked back and saw that uncle wiggily was soon going to be caught. "there is only one way to save the bunny," thought grandpa goosey. "i'll splash some water in that boy's face and eyes so he can't see for a moment. then uncle wiggily and i can get away!" near the path along which the boy was chasing the bunny and goose was a puddle of water. as quick as a wink grandpa goosey splashed into this, and, with his wings and webbed feet, he sent such a shower of water into the face of the boy that the bad chap had to stop. "oh! ouch! stop splashing me!" cried the boy. his face was all wet, but he wiped it off on his sleeve, and with his handkerchief. and when he had cleared his eyes of water he started to run again. but by this time uncle wiggily and grandpa goosey were far off, hidden in the forest, and the boy could not find them. "i guess i'd better go back home and get into bed," thought the boy. "mother will be looking for me." he was just going in the house when his mother came up the steps. "why, boysie!" exclaimed mother. "you shouldn't have gone out with the measles! why--where _are_ your measles?" she asked, for the spots were gone. "your face is all red, like a lobster; but you haven't any more measles spots! what happened?" the boy remembered the water that grandpa goosey had splashed up from the puddle. he took out his handkerchief and looked at it. that, too, was red! "why, it's _red paint_!" cried mother. "oh, boysie! how could you play such a trick?" and she felt so sad that tears came into her eyes. "what made you do it, boysie?" "i--i didn't want to go to school," the boy answered, softly and much ashamed. "oh, how foolish of you!" said mother. "now i'll have to take you to school myself, but i won't tell teacher what you did--that is, i will not if you study your lessons well." "i will, mother! i will!" the make-believe measles boy promised. "i'll never want to stay home from school again!" and he never did--even when he really had the measles which broke out on him about a week later. but he did not have them very hard, though he didn't need any of his sister's paints to make red spots. and when grandpa goosey looked in the window of the boy's house, and saw the little chap with his face all speckled, the goose gentleman said: "serves him right for chasing uncle wiggily and me!" well, perhaps it did. who knows? anyhow, if it should happen that the doorknob doesn't turn around and try to crawl through the keyhole when the milk bottle chases the pussy cat off the back stoop, then i may tell you next about uncle wiggily and the chicken-pox. story xix uncle wiggily and the chicken-pox one day charlie and arabella chick, the little rooster and hen children of mrs. cluck-cluck, the hen lady, came fluttering over to uncle wiggily's hollow stump bungalow. "oh, uncle wiggily!" cackled arabella. "what you think has happened?" "well, i hardly am able to guess," answered the bunny gentleman. "i do hope, though, that your coop isn't on fire. you seem much excited, my dears!" "well, i guess you'd be excited, too, if a boy threw stones at you!" crowed charlie. "wouldn't you?" "indeed i would," admitted uncle wiggily. "once a boy did stone me and i didn't like it at all." "we don't like it either," cawed arabella. "isn't there some way you can stop that boy from throwing sticks and stones at us?" charlie wanted to know. "tell me about it," suggested uncle wiggily. "well, it's this way," began arabella. "this boy lives on the other side of the big forest. sometimes charlie and i go over there to pick up beechnuts and other good things to eat, and every time that boy sees us he pegs things at us! wouldn't you call him a bad boy, uncle wiggily?" "most surely i would," answered the rabbit gentleman. "but why does he do it? you don't crow over him; do you, charlie?" "no, indeed," answered the rooster boy. "i only crow to warn arabella when i see that fellow coming, to tell her to run and hide under a bush." "and i don't pick him, or scratch gravel at him or anything like that," cackled the little hen girl. "i wish he'd let us alone, uncle wiggily." "we came over to see if you could think up a way to make him stop," crowed charlie. "can you?" "hum! i'll try," promised the bunny gentleman, twinkling his pink nose like the frosting on top of an orange shortcake. "suppose we go look for this boy," went on uncle wiggily. "so i'll know him when i see him." "i can show you his house," offered charlie. "but we'll have to be careful. for if he sees us he'll peg things at us." "let us hope not," murmured uncle wiggily. but it was a vain hope, as they say in fairy books. for after uncle wiggily, charlie and arabella had gone to the other side of a forest, there, all of a sudden, they saw the boy. "hi! there are those funny dressed-up chickens!" shouted the boy, who had red hair, and a face full of freckles. "and there's a rabbit with them, all dressed up in a tall silk hat! oh, my! what style! i'm going to see if i can knock his hat off with a stone! i'm going to peg rocks at 'em!" "see! what did i tell you?" cackled arabella, who could understand boy-talk, as could also charlie and uncle wiggily. "bang!" bounced a stone on uncle wiggily's tall silk hat, sending it spinning through the air. "ha! ha!" laughed the boy, as he picked up another stone. "i'm a good shot, i am!" "i should call that rather a _bad_ shot--for my hat," remarked uncle wiggily, as he picked up his silk hat and hopped toward the bushes. "come on, arabella and charlie!" called the bunny gentleman. "this boy is acting just as you said he did. i must think up some way of teaching him a lesson!" the little hen girl and rooster boy scooted under the bushes, and only just in time, for the boy threw many more stones, and one struck charlie on the comb. not the comb that he used to make his feathers smooth, but the red comb on his head--one of his ornaments; his tail feathers being others. "hi, fellows! come on chase the funny chickens and the dressed-up rabbit!" cried the boy. but though some of his chums ran up, as he called, with sticks and stones, uncle wiggily, with charlie and arabella, managed to hide away from the thoughtless lads. for they were thoughtless. they didn't think that stones hurt animals. "yes, i certainly must teach that boy a lesson," said uncle wiggily. "i--i wish he'd catch the chicken-pox!" crowed charlie. "or maybe the roosterpox! then he'd have to stay in and couldn't chase us!" "i wouldn't care if he had the mumps and toothache at the same time!" cackled arabella. for several days uncle wiggily watched for a chance to teach the thoughtless boy a lesson, and at last it came. the bunny gentleman was out hopping in the woods one morning when he met charlie and arabella fluttering along the forest path. [illustration: the boy was asleep under a tree----] "oh, uncle wiggily!" said arabella in a cackling whisper. "that boy is asleep now, on a bed of moss under a tree. he's sleeping hard, too, for charlie and i went close to him and he didn't awaken. maybe you can do something to him now." "maybe i can," said uncle wiggily. "i'll go see!" he hopped through the woods with the chicken children, and soon came to where the boy was asleep under a tree. it was a pine tree, with sticky gum oozing from the trunk and branches. and as soon as the bunny gentleman saw this gum he whispered: "i have an idea! i'll teach this boy a lesson." "how?" asked charlie. "i'll make him think he has the chicken-pox, or something worse," answered the bunny, with a silent laugh. "goodie!" cackled arabella. "ha! ha!" crowed charlie. "quiet now, chicken children," whispered uncle wiggily. "each of you pull me out a few loose feathers." charlie and arabella did this. then the bunny uncle took some of the soft gum from the pine tree, and put spots of it on the face and hands of the sleeping boy. though he stirred a little, the boy did not awaken. when the boy was well spotted with the sticky gum, uncle wiggily took the chicken feathers that charlie and arabella had plucked, and fastened these feathers on the boy's face and hands in the gum. "oh, how funny he looks!" softly cackled arabella. "hush!" cautioned uncle wiggily, putting his paw on his pink, twinkling nose. "let him sleep!" drawing back into the bushes, uncle wiggily, charlie and arabella waited for the boy to awaken, which he did pretty soon. he turned over, sat up and stretched. then he looked at his hands, and saw chicken feathers stuck on them. "oh! oh!" cried the boy. "what has happened to me?" he jumped to his feet and caught sight of himself in a spring of water that was like a looking glass. "oh! oh!" cried the boy again. "this is terrible! oh, my face!" home he ran through the woods, while charlie and arabella laughed to see him go. "oh, mother! mother! look at me!" cried the boy. "i'm all feathers! i must have the chicken-pox!" "goodness me, sakes alive and a basket of eggs!" exclaimed the boy's mother. "you must have gone to sleep in a hen's nest! but you haven't the chicken-pox! the chicken-pox is spots like the measles, but you are covered with _feathers_!" "but how did i get this way?" asked the boy, as he pulled off some of the feathers. "i wasn't like it when i went to sleep in the woods." "maybe a fairy did it," spoke his little sister, who believed in them. "pooh! there aren't any fairies!" sneered the boy. "i guess it was that hen and rooster i stoned." "did you do that?" asked his mother. "did you?" "a--a little!" stammered the boy. "well, it isn't any wonder you're this way, then," mother said. "and, for all i know, you may get the real chicken-pox!" and, as true as i'm telling you that boy did! but he was not made very ill, for some reason or other. perhaps because he had to be washed so clean, to get off the sticky pine gum and the feathers, the chicken-pox didn't go in very deeply. at any rate, when the boy was all well again, he threw no more stones at charlie or arabella. "you cured him, uncle wiggily!" crowed the rooster boy. and i really think the bunny did. so if toy balloon doesn't take the spout off the teakettle to blow beans through at the egg beater, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily's hallowe'en. story xx uncle wiggily's hallowe'en hopping along under the bushes one day, near the edge of the forest nearest to where lived the real boys and girls, uncle wiggily longears, the bunny rabbit gentleman, heard two boys talking together. "we'll put a tick-tack on her window," said the first boy. "and she'll be scared stiff!" said the second boy. "oh, what fun we'll have this hallowe'en!" "hum!" thought the bunny rabbit gentleman to himself, after hearing this. "it may be fun for _you_, but how about whoever it is you're going to scare stiff? i only hope it isn't my nice muskrat lady housekeeper, nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy!" uncle wiggily twinkled his pink nose, and listened with both ears. "yes," went on the first boy, "we'll have a lot of fun this hallowe'en with tick-tacks and the like of that! and we'll put on false faces so the little old lady of mulberry lane won't know us!" "oh ho! so that's the one they're going to play tricks on; is it?" thought uncle wiggily to himself. "the little old lady of mulberry lane! i know her--poor creature; she lives all alone, and she may have a cupboard, like old mother hubbard, but she hasn't a dog or a bone. i suppose," thought uncle wiggily, "that jackie or peetie bow wow would stay with her, if she wanted them. i must see about it." "but, first of all, i must plan some way so these mischievous boys won't put a tick-tack on the window of the little old lady of mulberry lane. i know what tick-tacks are!" and well uncle wiggily knew, for sometimes the boys and girls of woodland, near the orange ice mountains, where the bunny had built his hollow stump bungalow, put one of the scary things on his window. that is, they were scary if you didn't know what they were, but uncle wiggily did. oftentimes sammie littletail, the rabbit, or johnnie and billie bushytail, the squirrels, would take some string, a pin and an old nail, or little stone, and make a tick-tack. they fastened a short piece of string to the pin, and on the other end of the string they tied a dangling stone. when it grew dark the animal chaps would sneak up to uncle wiggily's window, and stick the pin in the wooden sash so the stone, or nail, hung dangling down against the glass. then they would tie the long string, or thread, about half way down on the short cord and hide off in the bushes, with one end of the long string in their paws. from their hiding place the animal boys would pull the long string. the pebble, or stone, would rattle against uncle wiggily's window, making a sound like: "tick! tack!" that's how it got its name, you see. "so they are going to play tick-tack on the little old lady of mulberry lane; are they?" said uncle wiggily to himself, as the two boys walked away. "well, i must try to stop them!" mulberry lane was a street near the forest where the bunny gentleman lived in his hollow stump bungalow, and the little old lady was the only one whose house was built there. the bunny liked the little old lady, for in winter she scattered crumbs for the birds. uncle wiggily hopped home to his hollow stump, and from the attic he took down one of his old, tall silk hats. "what in the world are you doing, uncle wiggily?" asked nurse jane. "do you think it is april fool, and are you going to wear an old hat so the animal boys won't play tricks on you?" "well, not exactly," the bunny answered. "i'll tell you later, miss fuzzy wuzzy--if it works." "hum!" said the muskrat lady housekeeper, as she saw mr. longears put in his pocket some pieces of white paper and a pot of paste. "i do believe he's going to fly a kite--and on hallowe'en of all nights!" for it quickly became hallowe'en night. as soon as the dusky shadows of evening began to fall, strange figures flitted to and fro, not only in the woods of the animal folk, but on the other side, in the village where the real boys and girls lived. real boys, with the heads of wolves, the faces of clowns and some as black as the charcoal-man skipped here and there, ringing doorbells, outlining in chalk on the steps something that looked like an envelope, or else they tapped on windows with long sticks so that when the windows were opened no one could be seen. uncle wiggily, hopping off through the darkness toward the edge of the forest, carried with him one of nurse jane's old brooms, an old, tall silk hat and a coat the bunny gentleman had, long ago, tried to throw in the rag bag. only miss fuzzy wuzzy wouldn't let him. "i'll mend it, sew on some new buttons and it will be as good as ever," she said. well, uncle wiggily found this coat and took it with him. "i'll stop those boys from putting a tick-tack on the window of the little old lady of mulberry lane," thought the bunny as he hopped along. "i'll tick-tack them!" he kept in the shadows of the trees so none of the animal children saw him. but the bunny gentleman saw them. he saw neddie stubtail, the boy bear, dressed up like the pipsisewah. and billie wagtail, the goat, had on a false face just like the skinny skeezicks. here and there animal girls were hurrying to hallowe'en parties. lulu and alice wibblewobble, the ducks, were giving one, and baby bunty, the little rabbit girl, had been invited to "bob" for carrots at the house of buddy and brighteyes, the guinea pigs. jackie and peetie bow wow, who were dressed in clown suits, hurrying to have fun with johnnie and billie bushytail, the squirrels, caught sight of uncle wiggily. "come and have some hallowe'en fun with us!" barked jackie. "i will in a little while," promised the bunny. on and on he hopped, and soon he came to the house of the little old lady of mulberry lane. the bunny could look in her window and see her reading a book by the light of a candle. "i'll hide under her window," thought the bunny, "and when those boys come with the tick-tack--well, we'll see what happens!" uncle wiggily did not have long to wait. pretty soon he heard a rustling in the bushes and some whisperings. "here they come!" thought mr. longears. he put the extra tall silk hat on top of the broom, and fastened his old coat to the handle, on a cross-stick he had nailed there. then, taking the pieces of white paper from his pocket, uncle wiggily pasted them on the shiny part of the old silk hat in the shape of a grinning jack o' lantern face. then the bunny crouched down behind the bushes with the scarecrow he had made. "you sneak up and fasten on the tick-tack," whispered one boy, "and i'll pull the string so it will rattle and scare the old lady stiff!" "i want to pull the string, too!" said the other boy. "yes, you can, after you fasten on the tick-tack." "well, give it here then," said the second boy. they were so close to the bush, behind which uncle wiggily was hidden, that the bunny could have reached out and touched them with his paw if he had wished. but he didn't do that. instead, uncle wiggily suddenly lifted up the broom, dressed as it was in the old coat and the tall hat with the grinning, white paper face like a jack o' lantern. "boo-oo-oo-bunk!" groaned the bunny rabbit, scary-like. the boys, who were just getting ready to frighten the little old lady of mulberry lane, jumped up in fright themselves. they saw the queer face laughing at them. "oh, it's a hallowe'en hobgoblin! a hobgoblin!" cried one boy. "come on! come on!" shouted the other. "let's get out of here!" and dropping string, tick-tack and everything, away they ran. they never knew that it was only a bunny rabbit gentleman who had surprised them. "ha! ha!" laughed uncle wiggily, as he peered out from behind the broomstick and the scary tall-hat creature he had made. "i guess they won't bother the old lady now!" the little old lady of mulberry lane laid aside the book she had been reading and opened her door. "is anybody there?" she gently asked, looking out over her dark garden. "seems to me i heard a noise-like. is anybody there, trying to play hallowe'en tricks on a poor, lone body like me? anybody there?" no one answered--not even uncle wiggily--for he couldn't speak real talk, you know. but he heard what the old lady said. "nobody there! i guess it must have been the wind," said the little old lady of mulberry lane, as she shut the door. but we know it wasn't the wind; don't we? then the bunny hopped back to his own part of the forest, to have hallowe'en fun with the animal boys and girls. the frightened boys ran home and jumped into bed. and if the piano key doesn't unlock the door of the phonograph, and let all the music run down the pussy cat's tail, you may next hear of uncle wiggily and the poor dog. story xxi uncle wiggily and the poor dog once upon a time there was a dog so poor that he had no kennel to sleep in. he made his bed in old boxes and barrels along the street, or behind stores. and as for things to eat--that poor dog thought himself lucky if he found a bone without any meat on it! oh, he was dreadfully poor, was that dog! he had no collar to wear, though of course he did not miss a necktie, for dogs never wear those. but when this dog saw other dogs, with shiny brass or nickel collars around their necks, when he saw some of them riding in automobiles as he splashed through the mud, and when he looked over in yards and saw some dogs gnawing juicy, meaty bones in front of their warm kennels--this poor dog sometimes felt sad. "i don't see what use i am in this world," thought the poor dog, as he chased away a tickling fly who wanted to ride on his tail. "i certainly can't help anyone, for i can hardly help myself! i think i'll go off in the woods and get lost! yes, that's what i'll do," barked the poor dog. "get lost!" perhaps if he had had a good breakfast that morning, with a biscuit or two, or even a slice of puppy cake, he might have been more happy. as it was, after crawling out of an empty rain-water barrel, where he had slept all night, and after finding only a small bone for his breakfast, this dog went off to the woods. "good-bye, everybody!" he softly barked, as he stood on the edge of the forest, and looked back toward the village he was leaving. but there was no one even to bark a farewell to him. all alone the poor dog started into the woods. "good-bye!" he whined. now in this same forest, on the opposite side from the trees nearest the village, stood the hollow stump bungalow of uncle wiggily longears. and this same morning that the poor dog decided to lose himself, the bunny rabbit gentleman started out with his tall, silk hat, his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch, and his pink twinkling nose to look for an adventure. "keep your eyes open for the woozie wolf or the fuzzy fox!" called nurse jane, the muskrat lady housekeeper as mr. longears hopped away. "i will!" promised the bunny uncle. uncle wiggily hopped along and along and along, looking behind bushes and rocks for an adventure when, all of a sudden, he saw a sort of hole down in between two logs. "perhaps there is an adventure down in there for me," said the rabbit gentleman. "i'll poke my paw down in and find out. this hole isn't large enough to be the den of the fox or wolf." uncle wiggily thrust one of his forepaws down into the hole, and began feeling around between the logs. he touched something soft and fuzzy, and he was just beginning to think that perhaps baby bunty was hiding down there so he couldn't tag her when, all of a quickness, those logs rolled together. before uncle wiggily could pull out his paw it was caught fast, and there he was, held just as if he were in a trap. "oh, my goodness me, sakes alive, and a basket of soap bubbles!" cried the bunny rabbit gentleman. "i'm caught! how dreadful! i must get out!" well, he pulled and he pulled and he pulled, but still his paw was held fast. he scrabbled around among the dried leaves, he tried to lift one log off the other with his rheumatism crutch, and he tried to gnaw a hole in the top log that held him fast. but it was all of no use. "oh, i'm afraid i'll have to stay here forever, unless i get help!" thought uncle wiggily. "but i must call for aid! perhaps grandpa goosey, or nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, will hear me!" [illustration: "who calls for help?"] uncle wiggily stopped his pink nose from twinkling, so that he could call more loudly, and then he shouted: "help! help! help!" for a time there was no answer, only the wind blowing among the leaves of the trees. and then, all at once, there was a rustling in the bushes and a voice asked: "who calls for help?" "i do," answered uncle wiggily. "oh, even if you are the woozie wolf or the fuzzy fox, please help me!" "i am neither the wolf nor the fox," was the answer. "i am only a poor dog who came to this forest to lose himself. i never have been able yet to help anyone." "well, perhaps you can help me," said uncle wiggily, as cheerfully as he could speak. "come here and see where the logs have fallen on my paw, holding me fast." so the poor dog, with his ragged clothes which made him look almost like a tramp, came through the bushes, close to uncle wiggily. "my, but you're stylish!" said the dog, as he saw uncle wiggily's tall, silk hat. "that isn't anything," sadly said the bunny rabbit gentleman. "tall hats do not make for happiness. i'd rather have on an old, ragged cap, like yours, and be free, than wear a diamond and gold crown like a king and be held fast here." "yes, it isn't fun to be caught in a trap," barked the poor dog. "but i think i can gnaw through one of those logs and set you free." then he began to gnaw. he gnawed and he gnawed and he gnawed, and, in a little while, one of the logs was cut in two, just as if it had been sawed, and uncle wiggily could pull out his paw. "i can't tell you how thankful i am," said the bunny to the dog. "what fine, strong white teeth you have. how did you get them?" "from gnawing bones without any soft meat on them, i suppose," answered the dog. "poor dogs must have strong teeth, or they would starve. rich dogs, who get soft food, can afford to have soft teeth." "well, then i am very glad you are a poor dog!" laughed uncle wiggily. "you are?" barked the other, in great surprise. "certainly; of course i am!" exclaimed the bunny. "just think! suppose you had been one of those rich dogs, with soft, crumbly teeth! you would not have been able to gnaw through the log and i would still be held fast." "yes, that's so," agreed the dog, wagging his tail. "i never thought of that." "then be thankful, as i am, that you are poor, and have strong teeth," went on mr. longears. "you have been of great help to me." "have i?" barked the dog. "then i am very glad! i never before helped anyone. i thought i was too poor!" "well, you aren't going to be poor any more," went on the bunny rabbit gentleman. "come to the woods and live near my hollow stump bungalow. i have a friend, old dog percival, who will let you stay in his kennel. he is rich!" "oh, that makes me very happy!" said the dog, who used to be poor. "i have always wanted a kennel to live in!" then he went home with the bunny rabbit. and, though he never became a very rich dog, still he had a warm kennel, which percival shared with him, and he always had enough to eat; and he became great friends with mr. longears and nurse jane. so this teaches us that even if a lollypop has a stick this does not mean it needs a whipping. and if the sunflower doesn't shine so brightly in the eyes of the potato that it can't see to get out of the oven, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the rich cat. story xxii uncle wiggily and the rich cat once upon a time there was a very rich cat, but with all she had she was not happy. she owned an automobile and kept a little mouse servant girl to wait on her. and an old gentleman rat did all the heavy work around the house, such as putting out the ashes and cutting the grass. "heigh-ho!" sighed the rich cat lady one morning, after she had lapped up some thick, heavy cream, which was left on her doorstep each day. "heigh-ho! i am so tired!" "tired of what?" squeaked the little mouse servant, as she brought a paper napkin for the rich cat to wipe the cream from her whiskers. even though she was well-off, the cat lady had whiskers, and she was very proud of them. "oh, i am tired of sitting around doing nothing!" purred the rich cat. "then why not go for a ride in your auto?" asked the poor little mouse servant girl. "i am tired of that, too," spoke the rich cat. "it is the same old thing every day! dress and go out. come back and dress to eat! dress to go out again! come back and undress to go to bed and get up in the morning to dress and do it all over again! i--i'd like to have an _adventure_!" mewed the cat lady. "oh, mercy! an _adventure_!" squeaked the mouse. "never!" "yes," went on the cat, "a real, exciting adventure. i saw a poor dog the other day--at least he used to be poor, and he is far from rich now. but he looked so well, and so lively, with such strong, white teeth! i heard him telling another dog he had had a most wonderful adventure in the woods with an old rabbit gentleman named uncle wiggily. i quite envied that poor dog!" "oh, and you so rich!" murmured the mousie girl. "i don't care!" mewed the wealthy cat lady. "i'd almost be willing to be poor if i could have an adventure. come, i'll go for a ride in the auto. it will be better than dawdling around the house." so the cat lady ordered out her auto, with the rat gentleman to drive it, and the little mousie girl to sit beside her on the cushioned seat. "where shall i drive to, lady cat?" asked the old gentleman rat chauffeur. "oh, anywhere--to the woods--the fields--anywhere so that i may have an adventure--i don't care!" mewed the rich cat. so the rat gentleman drove the auto through the village, and out into the forest. at first the roads were very good, but at last they became bumpy, and the cat lady and mousie girl were much shaken up and jiggled about, not to say joggled. "do you want to go on?" asked the rat. "oh, yes," answered the cat. "it shakes up my liver, and i seem to be feeling more hungry. go on, perhaps i shall find an adventure." the auto lurched and bumped on a little farther and, all of a sudden there was a crash. "oh!" screamed the little mousie girl. "what is the matter?" asked the cat lady, looking through her fancy glasses. "we have had an accident," answered the gentleman rat. "the auto is broken, and i shall have to go for help." "let us go, also," squeaked the mousie girl. "we don't want to stay here in the woods alone." "_you_ may not want to," said the cat with a smile. "but _i_ am going to. run along with mr. rat, miss mouse, and get help. i'll stay here!" so the rich cat lady was left alone, sitting in the auto, one wheel of which was broken, while the rat gentleman and mousie girl went to look for a garage where they could get help. "perhaps this is the start of an adventure," thought the cat. a moment later she heard a rustling in the bushes, and out popped a strange dog. now the rich cat lady knew some rich dogs who wore silver and gold collars, and were friends of hers. she was not afraid of them. but this was a dog without any collar, though he had on a suit of clothes. and, when the cat lady looked a second time, she saw that it was a boy dog and not a grown man dog. "bow! wow!" barked the boy dog. "you're a strange cat! what are you doing in these woods? hi, jackie!" howled the dog. "come help me chase this strange cat up a tree!" "all right, peetie! i'm with you!" answered a voice, and out of the bushes came another boy dog. the two dogs rushed at the cat lady. now she might not have been afraid of _one_ boy dog, but when _two_ of them leaped toward her, this was enough to frighten almost any pussy! don't you think so? "meaouw! mew! mee!" cried the cat, and before she knew it she was climbing a tree. up she scrabbled, her claws tearing off bits of bark, until she was perched on a limb, high above her auto and the barking dogs down below. "my goodness me, sakes alive, and a liver cream puff!" said the excited rich cat lady to herself, her heart beating like an alarm clock. "this is dreadful! to think of me, a wealthy cat, being chased up a tree by two poor dogs! what will my friends think?" then she looked down at the dogs and said: "run away if you please, little puppy boys!" "no! no!" they barked. "bow! wow!" "you run and tell him," said one puppy to the other. "tell him there's a strange cat in his woods. i'll stay here at the foot of the tree so she can't get down until you come back with him!" "i wonder whom they are going to bring back?" thought the rich cat up the tree. and she could not help laughing a little as she thought how strange she must look. "the mouse servant and rat chauffeur will be surprised when they come back and see me here," thought the cat. one little puppy dog boy ran away, while the other remained on guard at the foot of the tree. "may i come down?" asked the cat lady. "no, indeed!" growled the dog, though he did not speak impolitely. "you must stay up there!" "dear me!" thought the cat lady. "this is quite an unexpected adventure!" all of a sudden she saw the puppy at the foot of the tree jump up. at the same time there was a rustling in the bushes, and along came the other puppy, with an old gentleman rabbit, who wore a tall silk hat, who had a pair of glasses on his pink, twinkling nose and who walked with a red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch. "there she is, uncle wiggily!" barked a puppy dog. "we saw her in your woods, and chased her up a tree until you could look at her. maybe she is the woozie wolf or the fuzzy fox, dressed up like a cat." "indeed i am not," said the rich pussy lady up the tree. "i am the rich mrs. cat, and my auto has broken. when my mousie servant girl and the rat gentleman who drives my car return, they will tell you i never harm rabbits. but are you uncle wiggily longears?" she asked. "yes," answered the bunny, "i am. and i know you, mrs. cat. i heard about you from the poor dog. i am very sorry jackie and peetie bow wow chased you up a tree. they meant no harm." "i am sure they did not," mewed the cat politely. "but they are always on the lookout so nothing will happen to me," went on uncle wiggily. "i would get up and help you down, only i can't climb a tree." "oh, i can easily get down," said the cat lady, and she did, though her rich clothes were rather ruffled. but she had plenty of money to buy more. so don't worry about that. "make yourself at home in these woods--the animal folk call them mine," said uncle wiggily kindly. "i am sorry you had this trouble. now i must hop away. i hope your auto will soon be mended. come, jackie and peetie, if you want to help me." "where are you going?" asked the rich cat. "to help a poor cat family," said uncle wiggily. "the cat gentleman of the house has been out of work a long time, his wife is ill and he has a number of little kittens. i was on my way to see the family when jackie came to tell me you were up a tree." "well, i'm down the tree now," laughed the rich cat lady. "and will you please let me help this poor family? i have a lot of money--see!" and she showed a purse full of golden leaves which the animal folk use for money. "i can buy them food, and if mr. cat wants work, let him take my auto, after it is fixed, and use it for a jitney." "what!" cried uncle wiggily. "aren't you going to use that fine car any more? all it needs is a new wheel." "give it to the poor cat," was the answer. "i am never going to ride in it again. i feel so much better since i came to the woods--and climbed a tree--that i am going to live here for the rest of my life. i'll buy a hollow stump bungalow near you, uncle wiggily. i know, now, i am going to be very happy." "well, you will make the poor cat family happy, at any rate," said mr. longears. "and to make others happy is to be happy yourself," mewed the rich cat lady. she went with uncle wiggily, jackie and peetie to the home of the poor cat family, and when the worried cat gentleman heard that he was to have the auto for a jitney, with which he could make money, he was so glad he almost stood on his head. and his wife and the kitten children were glad also. when the rat gentleman chauffeur and the mousie servant girl came back, in another auto, to take the rich lady home, she said: "i am going to stay with uncle wiggily. from now on i am going to live in the woods and be happy and poor." "oh, my!" squeaked the mousie servant. "just fancy!" "i never heard of such a thing," said the rat gentleman. "you had much better come home and live as you did before." but the cat lady would not change her mind, and she built herself a bungalow near uncle wiggily's, and lived there happily forever after. so from this we may learn, if we will, that when a pail leaks it is best to have it mended. and if the hand-organ monkey doesn't take the squeak out of the rubber ball to make a tin horn for the rag doll, the next story will be about uncle wiggily and the horse. story xxiii uncle wiggily and the horse nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper for uncle wiggily longears, the bunny rabbit gentleman, once baked a cherry pie, of which mr. longears was very fond. in fact, miss fuzzy wuzzy baked _two_ pies. one she put upon the shelf for uncle wiggily's supper. the other pie nurse jane wrapped in a clean napkin, put it in a basket, and then she said: "come on, uncle wiggily. we will take this pie to grandfather goosey gander." "that will be fine!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. so he set off with nurse jane, over the fields and through the woods. "and perhaps we may have an adventure," said the bunny gentleman, hopeful-like. "well, if we do," spoke nurse jane, "i hope nothing happens to this cherry pie. i baked one for you, and the other especially for grandpa goosey. i shouldn't like the fuzzy fox, nor yet the woozie wolf, to get this pie." "nor i," said uncle wiggily. "and i don't believe grandpa goosey would, either." the rabbit gentleman and nurse jane hopped along together, until, after a while, uncle wiggily saw a horse in a field. "look at that poor horse!" said the bunny gentleman, coming to a stop, and peeping over the top of his pink, twinkling nose. "there he stands, all day long, with nothing to eat but grass." "what else would he eat?" asked nurse jane, suspiciously. "i don't s'pose he ever had a cherry pie," went on uncle wiggily reflective-like. "poor horse! never had any cherry pie!" "wiggy!" exclaimed nurse jane, as she took a firmer hold of the basket handle. "if you are thinking of giving grandpa goosey's pie to that horse----" "well, that's just what i'm thinking of," answered mr. longears. "here, nurse jane, please give me that pie. you may run back home and get the one you were saving for me to give to grandpa goosey. i'll call this pie mine, and i'm going to give it to the horse." "well, i never in all my born days," exclaimed miss fuzzy wuzzy, "heard the like of that!" still she knew uncle wiggily meant to be kind, so she gave the bunny rabbit gentleman the basket with the pie inside, and started back for the hollow stump bungalow to get the other. the bunny rabbit certainly was not selfish, whatever else he was. "hello, horsie!" exclaimed uncle wiggily, as he hopped through the field where the big animal was eating. "hello," answered the horse. "oh, it's uncle wiggily!" he went on, as he stopped cropping the grass and looked up. "did you ever eat a cherry pie?" asked the bunny rabbit, beginning to take the cloth off the one in the basket. "cherry pie? i don't believe i ever did," slowly answered the horse. "cherry pie! hum! no, i never tasted any." "wouldn't you like to?" asked the bunny. "i should think you would get tired of eating grass all day long." "well, grass is my food, and i like it," neighed the horse. "but i like some oats once in a while, and some bran. yes, and i think i'd like some cherry pie, also." "here! take this one! nurse jane can bake more!" said generous uncle wiggily, and he held out the pie. "oh, my! that's a fine one!" whinnied the horse. "that looks most delicious." "and it tastes as delicious as it looks," went on the bunny. "i know nurse jane's pies. take a bite!" the horse did. one bit was all that was needed to enable him to eat the whole pie, for it was only rabbit size, of course, not as large as the pies your mother bakes. "um!" said the horse, as the red cherry juice ran down his lips. "that was a good pie! i could eat more!" "i'm sorry, but that's the only one i have," spoke uncle wiggily. "nurse jane has gone to get mine, that she put in the cupboard, to give to grandpa goosey. but to-morrow i'll have her bake you a large pie." just then nurse jane came along, with the other pie in the basket, and uncle wiggily said: "the horse ate that cherry pie, miss fuzzy wuzzy, and liked it very much. i have told him you'd bake him a larger one." "well, i s'pose i can," said the muskrat lady, looking at uncle wiggily in a funny way. "i s'pose i can." "you are very kind," neighed the horse. "if i could only do you some favor----" but just then, all of a sudden, out from behind a bush jumped the bad old woozie wolf. "ah ha!" howled the wolf. "this is the time i have caught nurse jane as well as uncle wiggily. i shall have four ears to nibble to-day!" and he looked hungrily at the bunny and muskrat lady. "do you mean to say you are going to hurt good, kind uncle wiggily, who has just given me a cherry pie?" asked the horse quickly. "of course i am!" growled the wolf. "he gave me no pie! i'm going to nibble the bunny!" "well, i just won't let you!" said the horse. "how are you going to stop me?" asked the wolf. "well, i have big teeth," the horse said. "they are not as sharp as yours, for they do not need to be so that i may crop the grass. but i can bite you with them, just the same." "ho! ho!" sneered the wolf. "two can play at that game! i can bite worse than you." "that's so, he can," whispered uncle wiggily to the horse. "be careful!" "well, then i'll _kick_!" said the horse. "i'll rear up on my front legs and kick you with my hind ones, mr. wolf, if you hurt uncle wiggily." "but you have no sharp toe-nails, such as i have!" growled the wolf. "i'll scratch you with my toe-nails if you kick me." "that's right--he will!" whispered nurse jane. "i'm afraid you cannot save us," sadly said the bunny gentleman to the kind horse. "yes, i can!" suddenly neighed the horse. "this wolf can do some things better than i, but he cannot run as fast. quick! jump up on my back, uncle wiggily and nurse jane. i'll gallop and trot, i'll gallop and trot and i'll gallop and trot--until i take you far away from this bad animal!" "don't you dare take uncle wiggily away from me!" howled the wolf, for well he knew he could not run as fast as the horse. [illustration: the wolf was left far, far, behind.] "yes, i shall! i'll save uncle wiggily!" whinnied the horse. "up on my back! quick!" he called to the bunny and nurse jane. up they leaped, before the wolf could get them. then the horse galloped and trotted, galloped and trotted and galloped and trotted, until the wolf was left far, far behind. and, oh, how angry that wolf was! and how he howled! i wish you could have heard him. no, on second thought, it is just as well you didn't hear him. it was not very nice howling. "there! now you are safe, uncle wiggily and nurse jane," said the horse, as he stopped galloping and trotting, away over on the far side of the field, far, far from the wolf. "thank you for saving us," spoke the bunny, as he and nurse jane slid off the horsie's back. "i'll bake you the largest cherry pie that ever was," promised the muskrat lady, "just as soon as i take this one to grandpa goosey." and she made such a large pie that it took the horse forty 'leven bites to eat it. so everything came out all right, you see. and if the postman doesn't try to slip a letter through the slot in the baby's penny bank, and make the five cent piece jump over the dollar bill, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the cow. story xxiv uncle wiggily and the cow this is a story about uncle wiggily and the cow. not the cow with the crumpled horn, nor yet the one that jumped over the moon, when the dish ran away with the spoon. this was a sort of a red cow which ate green grass and gave white milk that was churned into yellow butter to be eaten on brown bread. there is no use asking me about all those colors for i don't know--nobody knows. they're just there, and that's all there is about it. now for the story. one day the bunny rabbit gentleman was hopping over the fields and through the woods on his way to the store for nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy. he was going to get his muskrat lady housekeeper a jug of molasses so nurse jane might make a cake. uncle wiggily hopped on and on, wondering if he would have an adventure that day, and he was thinking how good the molasses cake would taste when, all of a sudden, down in a field he saw a red cow. not exactly red like a rose, you understand, or red like a barn, but still somewhat between those colors--a brownish-red, i suppose it would be called. "moo! moo! moo!" called the cow, in such mournful tones that uncle wiggily right away said: "something must be the matter! i'm going down and see if i can help that poor cow!" down into the meadow hopped the bunny rabbit gentleman, and when he reached the cow he looked at her and she looked at him, and the bunny asked: "what is the matter, mrs. cow?" "oh," was the sad answer, "i've lost the cud that i always chew, and now i don't know what to do! i'm so upset i'm sure i'll give sour milk to-night, instead of sweet!" "that would be too bad," uncle wiggily remarked. "this cud of yours--may i ask what it is?" [illustration: "well! well!" exclaimed uncle wiggily.] "well, it isn't gum, as many boys and girls suppose, when they see me chewing," spoke the cow lady. "my cud is a bunch of grass, which i crop and pull up by winding my tongue about it, for i haven't two sets of teeth as have many animals. i only have teeth on my upper jaw. on my lower jaw i have no teeth, but the gums are very hard so i can chew grass, and that is what makes my cud. i only chew the grass a little bit, when i first pull it from the meadow. i swallow it down into my first stomach, and, when i have more time, i bring the cud of grass up into my mouth and chew it as long as i please, so it will be good for me to put into my last stomach." "well, well!" exclaimed uncle wiggily in surprise. "so you have two stomachs and only one set of teeth." "yes," went on the cow, "but what is worrying me now is to know whether i lost my cud of grass in the meadow, after i had chewed on it a while, or whether it slipped down into my last stomach before it was time." "what will happen if it did?" asked uncle wiggily. "i'm afraid i'll have indigestion," the cow lady answered. "and that will make my milk bad and sour. oh, dear! i wish i knew where my cud was!" "how did you come to lose it--or miss it?" asked the bunny. "why, i was watching bully and bawly no-tail, the two frog boys, hopping down by the brook," the cow lady said. "they were playing leap-toad, you know--or, perhaps, it was leap-frog; and bully made such a funny jump over bawly's back that i laughed right out loud. i was chewing my cud at the time, and when i stopped laughing i missed it. now whether i swallowed it, or whether it dropped in the brook, i don't know. isn't that dreadful?" "can't you tell by the way you feel--inside, you know," asked the bunny, "what became of your cud?" "not for some little time," answered the cow lady, "and then it will be too late. oh, if only i could find my cud somewhere in this meadow i'd know i hadn't swallowed it, and i'd be all right." "i know just how you feel," said uncle wiggily. "once, when susie littletail, the rabbit, was a tiny baby, her mother gave her a big cake spoon to play with. she went out of the room, leaving susie to play with the spoon, and when she came back it was gone." "what was gone?" asked the cow lady, "susie or the spoon?" "the spoon," answered the bunny gentleman. "and as susie was too little to talk, and tell where it was, her mother didn't know whether she had hidden, or dropped the spoon somewhere, or whether she had swallowed it." "just fancy!" mooed the cow. "how exciting! but what happened?" "why, finally," said uncle wiggily, "after i had hopped over to help, we found the spoon behind the piano where susie had thrown it. then we knew she hadn't swallowed it." "and if i could find my cud i'd know i hadn't swallowed _that_," sadly said the cow lady. "i'll help you look," offered uncle wiggily. "i'm a pretty good hopper, and i'll hop around the meadow and look for your cud of half-chewed grass." the bunny set down his molasses jug and began looking all over the meadow for the cud. and the cow helped, but she could not move very fast. besides, she was worried and nervous. "here it is! i've found it!" suddenly called uncle wiggily, and there on the grass, near the brook where the frog boys had been leaping, was the cow lady's cud. "oh, how glad i am to get it back!" she mooed as she began to chew it again. "now my milk will be nice and sweet. you have done me a great favor, uncle wiggily. i hope i may do you the same some day." "pray do not mention it," said the bunny politely, as he hopped on with his molasses jug. "it was just a little adventure for me." uncle wiggily hopped on to the store, had the jug filled with molasses and then went to his hollow stump bungalow. "well, you were gone a long time," said nurse jane. "i have been waiting to make the ginger cake." "i had to help a cow lady find her lost cud," said the bunny. "oh, wiggy! what next!" laughed miss fuzzy wuzzy. "helping cow ladies! oh! oh!" "that's all right," the bunny said. "perhaps some day a cow lady may help us." "i don't see how she can," spoke nurse jane, as she started to make the cake. but pretty soon she called to the bunny who had gone to sit outside on a bench and warm his rheumatism in the sun. "oh, wiggy!" exclaimed nurse jane. "i can't get the cork out of the molasses jug. it's in so tight! i can't pull it out, and if i break it, and push it inside, then the molasses won't run out. oh, what a lot of trouble!" "let me try!" offered the bunny. but he could not get the cork out of the molasses jug either, not even with his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch. "i guess i'll have to break the jug!" said the bunny at last. "oh, don't do that!" spoke a voice behind him, and, turning, uncle wiggily saw the cow lady. "i am on my way home to be milked," she mooed, "and i saw you in trouble, so i came over. what's wrong?" "we can't get the cork out of the molasses jug," answered uncle wiggily. "perhaps i can," said mrs. cow. "please let me try." "we have a corkscrew somewhere," remarked nurse jane, "but i can't find it." "i shall not need it," went on the cow. then with one of her long, sharp horns she easily pried the cork out of the molasses jug, breaking nothing and making it very easy for nurse jane to pour out the sweet stuff for the ginger cake. "thank you, mrs. cow," said uncle wiggily, as the milk lady animal went on her way. "pray don't mention it!" mooed the cow. "now we are even, as far as favors go!" uncle wiggily looked at nurse jane, and the muskrat lady smiled at the bunny gentleman. "you were right, wiggly," spoke miss fuzzy wuzzy. "i never thought a cow could help anyone, but this shows how little i know." "that's all right!" laughed the bunny. "mistakes will happen!" so once again everything came out all right for the bunny gentleman, you see, and if the pussy cat doesn't make a popcorn ball out of snow, for the puppy dog to play bean bag with, you shall next hear about uncle wiggily and the camping boys. story xxv uncle wiggily and the camping boys "oh, uncle wiggily! what you think?" cried baby bunty one day, as she hopped up to the rabbit gentleman, who was pulling the weeds out of his carrot garden. "what i think, baby bunty?" repeated mr. longears, smiling down one side of his pink, twinkling nose. "well, i think lots of things, my little rabbit girl. but if you think i'm going to play _tag_ with you this morning you are wrong. i haven't time!" "oh, i don't want you to play tag!" exclaimed baby bunty, though she was such a lively little tyke that she nearly always wanted uncle wiggily to play a game of some sort. "but there's something over in the woods," she went on. "what you think it is?" and she was quite excited. "something over in the woods, baby bunty?" asked uncle wiggily, as he looked at one of his carrots to see if the point needed sharpening; but it didn't, i'm glad to say. "well, what's in the woods, baby bunty; the fox, the skeezicks or the pipsisewah?" "neither one, uncle wiggily," answered the little rabbit girl. "but there's a lot of those funny animals you call 'boys,' and they're making a snow house, and maybe they'll try to catch you, or me or nurse jane," and baby bunty looked quite worried. "a _snow_ house this time of year! tut! tut! nonsense!" laughed uncle wiggily. "this is summer and there isn't any snow with which to make houses." "well, these boys, in the woods, are making a _white_ house, anyhow, uncle wiggily," spoke the little rabbit girl, who once had lived in a hollow stump, before she came to visit the bunny gentleman. "it's a white house, and there's a lot of boys, and they're cutting down wood, and making a fire and boiling a kettle of water and oh, they're doing lots of things! i thought i'd better come and tell you." "hum!" said uncle wiggily, straightening up to rest his back, which ached from pulling the weeds out of his garden. "yes, perhaps it is a good thing you told me, baby bunty. i'll go have a look at the white house the boys are putting up." uncle wiggily and baby bunty hopped through the woods, and soon they were near that side of the forest nearest the village where real boys and girls lived. through the green trees gleamed something white, on which the sun shone as brightly as it does at the seashore. "there's the house," said baby bunty, pointing with her paw off among the trees. "ho! that isn't exactly a _house_!" uncle wiggily told the little rabbit girl. "that's a white tent, and those boys must be camping there. boys like to come to the woods to camp in the summer. we'll hop a little closer and listen. then we can tell what they are doing." "we mustn't let 'em see us!" whispered baby bunty. "oh, no!" "well, no, maybe not first along," uncle wiggily agreed. "but nearly all boys, especially the kind that go camping, are fond of animals, and will not hurt them. we will see what sort of boys these are, baby bunty." so the bunny gentleman and the little rabbit girl hid behind the bushes and watched the camping boys, for that is what they were. they had come to spend a few weeks in the woods, living in a white tent which, at first, baby bunty thought was a snow house. the boys had just come to camp, and the tent had been up only a little while. but already the lads had started a campfire; and they had hung a gypsy kettle over the blaze, and were cooking soup. "get some more water, somebody!" called one boy. "and i'm not going to cut any more wood!" exclaimed another. "i've been cutting wood ever since we got here!" "we'll take turns!" spoke a third boy. "look out! that soup's boiling over!" shouted a fourth. "they're regular boys all right!" chuckled uncle wiggily, as he crouched under a bush with baby bunty. "they're so excited at coming to camp they hardly know what they're doing." uncle wiggily and baby bunty could hear and understand what the boys said, though they themselves could not speak to the camping chaps. for a time the two rabbits watched the little lads, who were trying to get a meal. they made many mistakes, of course, such as getting the salt mixed up with the sugar, and they left the bread out of its tin box so it dried, for they had never been camping before. "but they'll soon learn," said uncle wiggily. "i hope they won't chase us, and throw stones at us," baby bunty remarked, as she and mr. longears hopped away. "i think they are good boys," spoke the bunny gentleman. and the camping boys were. when they had finished eating they scattered crumbs so the birds could pick them up. larger pieces of left-over food were placed on a flat stump where the squirrels and chipmunks could get them. johnnie and billie bushytail, the two boy squirrels, saw some of this food as they were coming through the woods. the camping boys were away just then, so the squirrel chaps had no fear of going close to the white tent-house. johnnie found a piece of bread and butter, and billie picked up half a ginger snap. [illustration: johnnie found a piece of bread and butter.] "that shows the camping boys are kind to animals," said uncle wiggily, when johnnie and billie told him what they had found. "i hope i may get a chance to do these lads a favor." and uncle wiggily had this chance sooner than he expected. for about a week the weather was most lovely for camping. the sun shone every day, the wind blew just enough to send the sailboat spinning about the lake and there wasn't a drop of rain. it is rain which soaks most of the fun out of camping, just as rain takes away your fun at home. and these boys, never having camped in a tent before, gave no thought to storms. one afternoon it began to rain. uncle wiggily, in his hollow stump bungalow, where he was reading the cabbage-leaf paper, heard the pitter-patter of the drops on the window, and looked up. "where is baby bunty, nurse jane?" asked the bunny gentleman. "why, she hasn't come back from the store yet," answered the muskrat lady housekeeper. "did she take an umbrella?" asked uncle wiggily. "no," replied nurse jane, "she did not." "then she'll get soaking wet!" exclaimed mr. longears. "i'll go after her with a toadstool." you know in woodland, near the orange ice mountain, where uncle wiggily lived, toadstools were often used for umbrellas. of course, some of the animal folk had regular umbrellas, but when they were in a hurry they could break off a big toadstool, or mushroom, and use that. so uncle wiggily hopped out of his hollow stump bungalow, and, growing near his front gate, he found a big toadstool. picking this, he held it over his head and hurried along through the rain to meet baby bunty, who had gone to the three and five cent store for nurse jane. uncle wiggily had to hop almost to the place where the tent of the camping boys stood before he met the little rabbit girl, half drenched. "oh, uncle wiggily! you ought to see!" cried baby bunty. "there is so much water around the tent that those nice boys will be washed away, i guess!" "water around their tent?" repeated the bunny gentleman. "you don't say so!" "yes," said baby bunty. "the rain is coming down so hard that it is running like a little brook around the tent. the boys are inside, and i heard them saying that the water would soon come up over the cots and they wouldn't have any dry place to sleep to-night!" "silly boys!" exclaimed uncle wiggily, holding the toadstool umbrella over baby bunty. "they didn't know enough to dig a ditch around the outside of their tent to let the rain water run off. all campers do that, but as this is the first time these boys came to the woods i suppose they didn't know about it. always dig a ditch, or trench, in the earth around your tent when you go camping, baby bunty." "i will," promised the little rabbit girl, real serious like. "but that isn't going to help the boys now," went on uncle wiggily. "i think i shall have to take a paw in this. they are good boys, and are kind to animals. i must do them a favor." "but how can you?" asked baby bunty. "why, i, being a rabbit, am one of the best diggers in the world," went on mr. longears. "still, i will need help to dig a ditch around the tent, as it is rather large. hop home, baby bunty, and tell sammie littletail, toodle and noodle flat-tail, the beaver boys, and grandpa whackum, the old beaver gentleman, to please come here. with their help i can dig the ditch." so baby bunty, taking the toadstool umbrella, hopped away, and uncle wiggily, to await her return, hid under a thick-branched pine tree which kept off most of the rain. the drops pelted down, and around the tent of the camping boys was almost a flood. night was coming on, too, and before morning the water would rise up so high that it would wet the feet of the boys in their beds. pretty soon, just about dusk, when it was still raining hard, along came sammie littletail, the rabbit boy, toodle and noodle the beavers, with their broad, flat tails, and grandpa whackum, the oldest beaver of them all. beavers just love to work in the water and they can dig dirt canals better than most boys. "lively now, my friends!" called uncle wiggily, coming out from under the pine tree. "we'll dig a ditch around the tent for the kind boys. they won't see us, as they are inside, and probably will not come out in the train." so uncle wiggily, sammie and the beavers began work. quickly and silently they dug and dug and dug in the soft earth, piling the dirt to one side, and making a trench so that the rain water could run off into the brook. and soon the little pond that had formed around the tent of the camping boys had drained away. "now they will have no more trouble," said uncle wiggily as he and his friends, all wet and muddy, finished the trench. "we can go home." home they went, through the rain, to get something to eat and dry out. and in the morning, though it still rained, no water rose inside the boys' tent. and none came through the roof, for that was like an umbrella, the canvas cloth being stretched over the ridge-pole. "oh, look!" cried one boy, coming to the flap of the tent, as the front of the canvas house is called. "someone has dug a ditch around our camp, and now we'll keep dry!" "why, it's a regular little canal!" exclaimed a second boy. "it wasn't there yesterday!" "who did it?" asked the other lads. but none of them knew, and i hope you will not tell them, for i want to keep it a secret. and when the rain stopped, the ground around the tent dried out very quickly because the proper ditch had been dug around it. and the camping boys put out on the flat stump many good things for the animal folk to eat. and the next time those boys went camping they knew enough to make a trench around their tent. now let me see; what shall we have next? well, i think i shall tell you the story of uncle wiggily and the birthday cake--that is, i will if the snow-shovel doesn't make the coal-scuttle sneeze when they are playing tag down under the cellar steps. story xxvi uncle wiggily and the birthday cake "to-morrow is my birthday! to-morrow is my birthday! and i'm going to have a cake with ten candles on!" a little girl sang this over and over as she danced around the house one morning. "ten candles! and they'll be lighted, and i can blow them out and cut the cake and pass it around; can't i, mother?" asked the little girl. "yes, my dear," mother answered. "but if you are going to have a birthday cake you must go to the store and get me some flour, sugar and eggs. i did not know i needed them, but i do, if you are to have a cake." "oh, of course i want a cake!" said the little girl. "it wouldn't be at all like a birthday without a cake! and ten candles on top, all lighted! last year i only had nine candles. but now i can have ten! ten candles! ten candles on my birthday cake!" sang the happy little girl again and again. "ten candles! ten candles!" "you had better go to the store, instead of singing so much!" laughed her mother. "sing on your way, if you like. but don't forget the flour, sugar and eggs." "i'll get them," said the little girl, and off she started, taking a short cut through the woods to reach the store more quickly. these woods were the same ones in which uncle wiggily had built his hollow stump bungalow, and about the same time the little girl started off to get the things for her birthday cake the bunny rabbit gentleman stood on his front porch. "where are you going?" asked nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, his muskrat lady housekeeper. "oh, just to hop through the forest, to look for an adventure," answered mr. longears. "i haven't had one since i helped dig the rain-trench about the tent of the camping boys." "i should think that would be enough to last a long time," spoke miss fuzzy wuzzy. "oh, no. i need a new adventure every day!" laughed the bunny, and over the fields and through the woods he hopped. now uncle wiggily had not gone very far before, all of a sudden, he stepped into a trap. it was a spring trap, set in the woods by some hunter who had covered it with dried leaves so it could not easily be seen. that's the way hunters fool the wild animals. and, not seeing the trap, uncle wiggily hopped right into it. "snap!" went the jaws of the trap together, catching the poor bunny gentleman fast by one hind leg. "oh, my!" cried mr. longears. "i'm caught! but it is fortunate that it is a smooth-jawed trap, and not the kind with sharp teeth. if i could only get my leg loose i'd be all right; except that my paw might be lame and stiff for a few days. i must try to get out!" uncle wiggily tried to pull his paw from the trap, but it was of no use. the spring held the jaws too tightly together. the bunny gentleman twinkled his pink nose as hard as he could, and he even tried to pry apart the trap jaws with his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch. but he couldn't. "oh, dear!" though uncle wiggily. "i must call for help. perhaps neddie stubtail, the strong boy bear, will hear me. he could easily spring open this trap and set me free." so the bunny gentleman called as loudly as he could: "help! help!" of course he talked animal talk, and for this reason the little girl, who was going to have a birthday cake, with ten candles on it, did not know what uncle wiggily was saying. she heard him making a noise, though, for she passed the place where the bunny was caught in the trap, soon after the accident happened. "i wonder what that funny noise is?" said the little girl, as uncle wiggily again called for help. "it sounds like some animal. i wish i understood animal talk!" uncle wiggily wished, with all his heart, that the little girl could hear what he was saying, for he was calling for help. the bunny understood girl-talk, and he knew what this girl was saying, for she spoke her thoughts out loud. "but she doesn't know what i want!" said poor uncle wiggily to himself. "she is sure to be good and kind, as all girls are, and if i could only get her to come over this way she might take me out of the trap." the little girl, on her way home from the store, had come to a stop not far from uncle wiggily, but she could not see him because he was behind a bush. "i must make some kind of a noise that she will hear," thought the bunny. then he thrashed around in the bushes with his crutch, rattling the dried leaves and the green bushes, and the little girl heard this noise. "oh, maybe a bird is caught in a big cobweb!" said the little girl. "i'll get it loose--i love the birds!" putting down her bundle of flour, sugar and eggs on a flat stump, she made her way through the bushes until she saw where uncle wiggily was caught in the trap. [illustration: "i wish you would come to my birthday party!"] "oh, what a funny rabbit!" cried the little girl as she looked at the bunny gentleman all dressed, as he always was when he went to look for an adventure. "he looks just like a picture on an easter card!" laughed the little girl. "i wish i had him at my party!" "well, i wish she'd take this trap off my paw!" thought uncle wiggily, though of course he could say nothing, however much he could hear. then the little girl looked down among the leaves and saw where the trap pinched uncle wiggily. "oh, you poor bunny rabbit!" she cried. "i'll set you loose." very gently she pressed her foot on the spring of the trap, to open it. and when the jaws were opened uncle wiggily could lift out his paw, which he did. he hopped a little way over the dried leaves, limping a bit, for the pinching trap had pained him. then, coming to a stop on a smooth, grassy place, the bunny leaned on his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch and, taking off his tall silk hat, he made a low and polite bow to the little girl. "thank you for having done me a great favor!" said uncle wiggily in animal talk. "i wish i could do one for you!" but of course the little girl could not understand this bunny language, so she only laughed and said: "oh, what a dear, funny bunny! with a tall hat and everything! i wish you would come to my birthday party! i'm going to have a cake with ten lighted candles on!" "thank you, i'd like to come, but it is out of the question," answered uncle wiggily in his own talk. then, with another low and polite bow, he hopped away. the little girl picked up the things she had bought at the store and went home. "you'll never guess what i saw in the woods," she told her mother. "a bunny rabbit, all dressed in a black coat and red trousers, was caught in a trap, and i set him free!" "nonsense!" laughed mother. "whoever heard of a rabbit like that? you are so excited about your birthday cake that you were dreaming, i think!" "oh, no, mother! i didn't dream!" said the little girl. "really i didn't!" "well, never mind. now we'll make your birthday cake," answered mother. the birthday cake was mixed and baked in the oven, and on top was spread pink frosting. "we'll put the candles on to-morrow, when you have your party," mother told the little girl. to-morrow came, after a night in which cora janet, which was the little girl's name, had dreamed about riding in an airship, with a bunny gentleman dressed up like a soldier. in the afternoon many boys and girls came to cora janet's birthday party. "oh, how lovely everything is!" exclaimed a little boy, when he was given his second dish of ice cream. "wait until you see my birthday cake with ten candles on!" whispered cora janet. when it was almost time to bring on the lighted cake, mother called cora janet out into the kitchen. "did you get the candles, cora?" mother asked. "why, no!" the little girl answered. "i--i thought we had candles!" "and i thought i told you to get them," mother went on. "there isn't one in the house! i've looked everywhere. never mind, perhaps i can borrow some next door. go back to your friends." "oh, i do hope you can get candles!" sighed cora janet. "a birthday cake without candles will hardly be right!" mother asked the lady who lived next door, on one side, if she had any candles. "not a one, i'm sorry to say," was the answer. then mother asked the lady on the other side. "oh, i never use candles," this lady replied, coming out on her back stoop to talk over the fence to cora janet's mother. "i'm so sorry!" "well, i guess they'll have to eat the cake without any birthday candles on," said mother. "cora janet will be so disappointed, too, as she is such an imaginative child! just fancy, mrs. blake, she came home yesterday, and told about helping out of a trap an old rabbit gentleman, with a tall silk hat!" "the idea! she must have dreamed it!" said mrs. blake. "no, she didn't dream it! that really happened!" said uncle wiggily to himself, who was just then hopping through the fields back of the house where cora janet lived. "so this is her home, is it?" went on the bunny gentleman to himself. "and she hasn't any candles for her birthday cake! too bad!" uncle wiggily had hopped along just in time to hear cora janet's mother asking for candles of the neighbors. "it's so late that all the stores are closed," went on mrs. blake, "or i'd go get some candles for cora." "never mind," spoke mother. "she will have to bear her disappointment as best she can." "no! that must not be!" said uncle wiggily to himself. "i cannot give her real candles, but i can leave on her steps some slivers of the pine tree. they have in them pitch, tar and resin and will burn almost like candles. when i was a rabbit boy i often lighted these pine-tree candles." not far away were the woods, and, hopping across the field in the dusk of the evening, uncle wiggily, with his sharp teeth, soon gnawed off some pine-knot splinters from one of the trees. in olden times, when there were no electric or kerosene lamps, children used to study their lessons in front of the fireplaces, by these pine knots. "these will do for birthday-cake candles," whispered uncle wiggily, as he hopped back to cora janet's house with a paw full of the pine knots. he put them on the stoop, and then, with his hind paws, he kicked some gravel from the front walk up against the dining-room windows. "what's that?" asked cora janet, as she heard the noise. "some bad boys playing tick-tack," said one of the girls at the party. "they're playing tricks because they weren't asked." "i'll see who it is," spoke mother. she went out on the porch. there she saw the pile of pine-knot slivers. having lived in the country when she was a girl, mother knew that these bits of wood could be used for candles. "oh, now i can make the birthday cake blaze most brightly!" exclaimed mother. into the house she hurried. she stuck ten pine-knot slivers on the cake, for uncle wiggily had left a full dozen, not knowing exactly how old cora janet was. then, when the pine knots were lighted, mother carried the cake into the room where the boys and girls were wishing cora janet many happy returns for her birthday. "oh, where did you get the candles?" asked cora. "i guess the rabbit you dreamed you saw must have left them," answered mother, in fun, of course, for she never thought that really could happen. "dream-candles or not, they are lovely!" murmured the little girl. and everyone at the party said the same thing. they watched cora janet as, one by one, she blew out the pine candles on her birthday cake. and when the last one flickered away, the cake was cut amid the joyous laughter of the boys and girls. "well, i'm glad i could do her a favor," said the bunny rabbit to himself, as hidden under the lilac bush, he heard and saw all that went on. "i shall always love cora janet!" and he did. so if the needle doesn't wink its eye when it sits on the sewing-machine to read the paper of pins, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the new year's horn. story xxvii uncle wiggily and the new year's horn christmas had come and gone, and the next holiday for the boys and girls who lived in the village outside of uncle wiggily's forest was to be new year's day. i call it uncle wiggily's forest for on one edge of it the bunny rabbit gentleman had built himself a hollow stump bungalow. there he lived with nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, his muskrat lady housekeeper. on the farther side of the wood was the village where many real boys and girls had their homes. to them, as i say, christmas had come and gone, bringing to most of them presents which they liked very much. "i'm going to have a lot of fun on new year's," said one boy to another as they were coasting on the hill the last day of the old year. "what are you going to do?" asked the other boy. "i'm going to blow the old year out and the new year in," was the answer. "gracious me sakes alive!" thought uncle wiggily longears, the bunny rabbit gentleman, who happened to be resting under a bush near where the boys were coasting down hill. "i hope he doesn't blow the old year so far away that the new year will be afraid to come in," said mr. longears to himself. then he listened again, for the boys were talking further. "how you going to blow?" one lad wanted to know. "with my christmas horn," was the answer. "i got a dandy horn for christmas. to-night is new year's eve. my father said i could stay up late. at twelve o'clock the old year goes away and the new year comes, and we're going to have a party at our house, and i'm going to blow my horn like anything!" "so'm i," said several other boys. "where does the old year go when you blow it away?" asked a lad who had red hair and freckles. "oh, i don't know," answered the boy who had first talked of his christmas horn. "it just goes--that's all! it disappears same as the hole in a doughnut when you eat it." "you don't eat the _hole_!" declared another boy. "well, you eat all around it," was the answer, "and then there isn't any hole any more. it's the same with the old year. after twelve o'clock on december there isn't any old year any more. it's january the first, and it's the new year. i'm going to blow my horn loud! all the fellows are!" "we will, too!" cried the rest of the boys. but one lad, who had a clumsy, home-made sled on the hill, did not say he was going to blow the new year in. he turned away as the other lads talked of their coming fun. someone asked him: "are you going to watch the old year out, jimmy?" "no, i guess not," was the answer. "i'm going to sleep." "the noise will wake you up," someone suggested. "well, then i'll go to sleep again," was the answer. "i guess the reason jimmy won't blow the old year out and the new year in is because he hasn't any horn," said a boy with a fine new blue sled. "he didn't get hardly anything for christmas." "that's too bad!" softly spoke the lad who had first mentioned about blowing in the new year. "maybe i can find an old horn at my house, and i'll take it to him. if i could find two i'd take another to his sister. but i don't believe i can." "oh, won't we have fun, blowing the new year in?" cried the boys, as they walked to the top of the hill so they might coast down. but jimmy did not join in the joyous shout. he was a poor boy, and, as the others had said, he had not found much in his stocking at christmas. certainly there was no bright tooting horn! "this is too bad!" thought uncle wiggily, as he hopped back to his hollow stump bungalow, after the coasting boys were out of the way so they would not see him. "i wonder how i could get a new year's horn for that poor boy?" the bunny gentleman was wondering about this, but he could not seem to think of any plan, when, as he was about to hop up his bungalow steps, he saw billie wagtail, the goat boy. "oh, uncle wiggily!" bleated billie. "see my new horns!" "your new horns!" exclaimed mr. longears, turning toward the goat chap. "are you going to blow the new year in, also?" "yes, but not with these horns," went on billie. "i mean, see the new horns on my head. i was ill, you know, and my old horns dropped off, and now i have these new ones," and he shook his head, on which were two long, curving sharp horns. "i'm going to blow the new year in," bleated the boy goat, "but not on my head horns; on my christmas tin horn." "that's more than one boy whom i know about is going to do," said uncle wiggily a little sadly. then the bunny gentleman had a sudden thought. "do you s'pose, billie," he asked the goat boy, "that your old horns could be made into blowing ones for new year's?" "why, yes, i guess so," billie answered. "but you'd have to saw off one end to make a place to blow in. my horns are partly hollow and if you blew in the little end, after making a hole there, the noise would come out the other end." [illustration: "oh, uncle wiggily!" bleated billie. "see my new horns!"] "then i know what i can do!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "get me your old horns, billie boy, and i'll fix them up for new year's blowing. i know how to do it!" the wagtail goat chap gave the bunny gentleman the old horns. uncle wiggily took them into his bungalow, and he and nurse jane washed them clean and polished them. then, with her sharp teeth, the muskrat lady gnawed a little off the small end of each horn, so they could be blown through. uncle wiggily made two wooden whistles and fastened one in the small end of each horn. "now i'll try it, janie," he said to miss fuzzy wuzzy. uncle wiggily blew into the small end of one horn. out of the other end came a sweet tooting sound. "hurray!" cried the bunny gentleman. "these will be just right for new year's! i'll take one to the poor boy and one to his sister. then they can celebrate with their friends who have regular tin horns." "it is very kind of you to be so thoughtful," said nurse jane. "and it was kind of you to help me make the new year's horns from billie's old ones," spoke uncle wiggily, as he skipped along, for it was getting dark and soon the old year would go away--like the hole in the doughnut--and the new year would come, to bring with it fourth of july, birthdays and christmas. up the steps of the house of the poor boy and girl who had no new year's horns to blow hopped uncle wiggily. no one saw him in the dusk. he placed the horns on the doormat, tapped three times with his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch on the porch, and then hopped away. "what was that?" asked the girl of the boy. "i'll go see," he answered. the boy opened the door and saw, in the light of the moon, which just then came from behind a cloud, the two goat horns made into new year's "tooters." "oh, hurray!" shouted the boy, as he blew on one of the horns. "now we can send the old year on its way and tell the new year how glad we are to see him. hurray!" "and i can blow, too!" laughed the girl. "hurray!" her brother gave her the other horn, and when twelve o'clock midnight came, the children blew on the tooters as loudly as they could. so did all the other boys and girls in the village; and the animal boys and girls in their nest-houses and burrows also blew on horns and wooden whistles to welcome the new year. all over the land the bells rang and horns were blown. uncle wiggily heard them in his hollow stump bungalow, and so did nurse jane. "happy new year!" wished the muskrat lady. "happy new year!" echoed the bunny gentleman. the boy and girl, blowing billie wagtail's old horns, danced around their father and mother, wishing them a happy new year also. "where did you get the horns?" asked mother. "oh, i guess santa claus dropped them, on his way back to the north pole," answered the boy. but we know better than that; don't we? so, after all, everything came out right, and the boy and girl were very happy with their queer new year's horns. but if the jumping jack doesn't tickle the lollypop with the sharp end of the ice-cream cone, and make it fall off the stick, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily's thanksgiving. story xxviii uncle wiggily's thanksgiving there came, one afternoon, a knock at the door of the hollow stump bungalow where uncle wiggily longears lived. "do you s'pose that can be the fuzzy fox or the woozie wolf?" anxiously asked nurse jane, the muskrat lady housekeeper. "no," answered the bunny gentleman. "they would not dare come boldly up to my bungalow, in broad daylight, though if it were night they might come sneaking along, trying to nibble my ears. i suppose this may be sammie or susie littletail, or johnnie or billie bushytail. i'll let them in." but when uncle wiggily opened the door, in came rushing a great big turkey gobbler gentleman. in his bill he carried a basket in which set a dish filled with something red. "i have it, uncle wiggily! i have it!" exclaimed the turkey. "i picked it up and ran away with it! now they can't have any thanksgiving and i'll be safe! shut the door!" he gobbled, and setting the basket on the floor he scuttled behind a chair, while nurse jane and uncle wiggily were so surprised they hardly knew what to do. "_what_ in the world have you brought with you, mr. gobble obble?" asked the bunny gentleman. gobble obble was the turkey's name. "the _cranberry sauce_," was the answer. "at our house, where i have been living, they are making a great fuss over thanksgiving, which will happen in a few days. they have been feeding me up to fatten me, and every day the man would come out and look at me; though i didn't know what for until i heard the children talking about it." "talking about what?" nurse jane wanted to know. "_thanksgiving_," gobbled the turkey. "this morning i heard the cook say: 'that gobbler is fat enough to roast, now. i think i'll make the cranberry sauce. it will be thanksgiving soon!'" "then," went on the turkey, "i knew why they had been feeding me things to make me fat! you can't imagine how i felt! well, the cook made the cranberry sauce. she put it in a dish and set it out on the back steps to cool. i watched my chance, picked it up and ran over here. there's the cranberry sauce!" and mr. gobble obble pointed to it with one wing. "but why in the world did you bring away the cranberry sauce? what good is that going to do you?" asked uncle wiggily, very much puzzled by the turkey's queer talk and actions. "listen," gobbled the turkey. "i heard one of the children say that thanksgiving wouldn't be thanksgiving without _turkey and cranberry sauce_! then, thinks i to myself, if i run away, and take the cranberry sauce with me, there will be no thanksgiving, and many poor turkeys will be glad of it." "ha! ha! ha!" laughed uncle wiggily, chuckling so hard that his pink nose twinkled like a lightning bug on fourth of july. "what's the matter?" asked mr. gobble obble. "won't you be good enough to hide me and the cranberry sauce until after thanksgiving? then i'll be safe." "of course you may stay here," said the bunny gentleman. "but the idea of thinking you can stop thanksgiving by hiding yourself, or the cranberry sauce!" "can't i?" asked mr. gobble obble, doubtful-like. "of course you can't!" exclaimed mr. longears. "why, thanksgiving doesn't mean just feasting on turkey, ice cream and cranberries!" "it does at the house i ran away from," said mr. gobble obble. "yes, and i suppose it does at many other houses," went on the bunny gentleman. "but thanksgiving is really a time in which to be thankful for the things one has had to eat all the year--for that, and other blessings. the pilgrim fathers, who came over to live among the indians, were thankful for even a little parched corn." "what are indians?" asked the turkey, who had never studied history. "wild men, who wore feathers such as yours," said nurse jane. "they are indians." "i'll tell you about the indians some day," promised uncle wiggily. "now we must talk more about thanksgiving." "i don't like to talk about it," sighed mr. gobble obble. "it isn't a happy thing for me even to think about, much less talk about!" "but you shouldn't have run away with the cranberry sauce," went on the bunny gentleman. "i'm afraid i shall have to ask you to take it back." "all right--i will," promised mr. gobble obble. "but i'll go after dark, so the cook won't see me. then i'll come here again and stay with you and nurse jane." "yes, do," invited the bunny. "spend thanksgiving with us." so when it grew dark mr. gobble obble picked up the basket of cranberry sauce in his bill, and went over the fields and through the woods to the village, where lived the real boys and girls and their fathers and mothers. softly and silently, like the shadow of a feathered indian, the turkey made his way to the back stoop. there he set down the cranberry sauce and scuttled over to uncle wiggily's hollow stump bungalow again. days and nights came and went, and then it was thanksgiving. "very lucky am i to live to see this day," gobbled the turkey as he ate breakfast with uncle wiggily and nurse jane. "if i hadn't run away with the cranberry sauce i'd be roasting in the oven now!" "well, i'm glad you aren't," spoke the bunny. "though of course it wasn't right for you to take the cranberry sauce." "they'll have that for thanksgiving, anyhow," remarked nurse jane. "but now, wiggy," she went on, "if i get the baskets ready, will you start out with them?" "yes, miss fuzzy wuzzy," answered the bunny gentleman, twinkling his pink nose. "what baskets are you speaking of?" asked mr. gobble obble, as he saw the muskrat lady putting carrot cakes, turnip flopovers and lettuce sandwiches up in little bundles. "these are for the poor folk of animal land," answered uncle wiggily. "each year, at thanksgiving, nurse jane puts up a good dinner for them, and i take the baskets around in my automobile." "how nice!" gobbled the turkey. "may i help? i'm so thankful for not being in the oven, that i'd like to make some one else thankful too, if i could." "that's the idea!" cried the bunny. "yes, come along, mr. gobble obble!" soon the bunny gentleman had filled his automobile with baskets of good things packed by nurse jane. over the fields and through the woods rode uncle wiggily and the turkey gentleman, and many a poor animal family was the happier for uncle wiggily's visit. and at last, when the final basket had been left, and uncle wiggily and the turkey were on their way back to the bungalow, out from behind a bush jumped the bad old fuzzy fox. "i want to nibble uncle wiggily's ears for my thanksgiving dinner!" howled the fox. "i want ears to nibble!" "well, you can't--not to-day!" laughed uncle wiggily, and he made the auto go so fast that the fox was left far, far behind. "oh, ho!" gobbled the turkey as they came within sight of the stump bungalow. "this ride will give us a good appetite for the thanksgiving dinner." "indeed it will!" laughed the bunny. but when they went inside, and met nurse jane, the muskrat lady looked at them in such a queer way that uncle wiggily asked: "what is the matter, miss fuzz wuzz?" (he sometimes called her that in fun.) "has anything happened?" "yes, uncle wiggily, there has," sadly answered the muskrat lady housekeeper. "i will not keep it from you!" "have--have they come after me?" asked the turkey in a faint and far-off voice. "have they?" "oh, no," said nurse jane. "but by mistake i packed up everything in the house to eat in those thanksgiving baskets, uncle wiggily! i didn't save out a thing for ourselves, and what to do about your thanksgiving dinner i don't know! i'm so sorry----" "tut! tut! never mind," broke in uncle wiggily kindly. "i dare say we shall find something to nibble on. a couple of carrots will do me." "well, i have _those_," nurse jane said, "and a little corn." "i love corn!" gobbled the turkey. "i can eat it myself," the muskrat lady declared. "so if you can put up with that for thanksgiving, we'll eat!" then they sat down to the corn and carrots, and uncle wiggily said: "i'm thankful i could make the auto go so fast that we ran away from the fox." "so am i," agreed the gobbler. "and i'm thankful i'm here sitting up to the dining table, instead of being nicely roasted on _top_ of it! and i'm thankful i could help you feed the poor animal families." "i'm thankful," spoke nurse jane, "because you two gentlemen didn't scold and make a fuss when you found what a mistake i'd made about the dinner." "ha! ha!" laughed uncle wiggily. "then we are _all_ thankful, and there could not possibly be a better thanksgiving than this!" so they ate the corn and carrots and were very happy. and if the jumping jack doesn't waggle his tail like a skyrocket and knock over the milk bottles so they think they're roller skates and slide down the back stoop, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the circus. story xxix uncle wiggily at the circus jackie bow wow, the little puppy dog boy, came running up to uncle wiggily one morning, so excited that he barked three times and fell down twice, stubbing his toe over a lollypop stick on the path. "oh, uncle wiggily!" barked jackie. "what you think? there's pictures of elephants, and tigers and lions and camels! there's a man putting up a big tent! there are red wagons and golden chariots, and blue wagons and one that plays funny tunes!" "and there's a man with his face all painted red, white and blue, just like your rheumatism crutch!" barked peetie bow wow, the other little puppy dog chap, as he ran up wagging his tail. "and there's popcorn, peanuts and pink lemonade! wuff! wuff!" "what's it all about?" asked the bunny rabbit gentleman, as he sat down on the steps of his hollow stump bungalow, while the puppy dog boys caught their breaths, which had nearly run away from them. "it's a circus!" cried jackie and peetie just like twins, which they almost were. "a real circus!" "a circus!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "that's nice! do you mean it is the kind you animal boys sometimes get up; where you charge two pins to get in and three pins for a seat?" "oh, no! it's a regular man-circus, that real boys and girls go to see!" barked jackie. "it's like the kind we once ran away and joined, where we learned to do jumping, to turn somersaults and other tricks," explained peetie. "well, if it's that kind of a circus," spoke uncle wiggily, "we needn't bother our heads about it. we animal folk can't go to any real circus, you know!" "oh, but that's what we came to see you for!" whined jackie. "we want you to take us to the circus!" "take you to the circus!" cried uncle wiggily. "why, the very idea! how would an old rabbit gentleman and two funny puppy dog boys look walking into a real circus? the men would think we belonged to it, and had somehow gotten out of our cages. they'd shut us up behind the iron bars, as the lions and tigers are kept. take you two to the circus! oh, no! it couldn't be thought of!" "oh, dear!" sighed jackie. "we told the others that you'd take us," softly barked peetie. "what others?" uncle wiggily wanted to know, curious like. "oh, sammie and susie littletail, johnnie and billie bushytail, lulu, alice and jimmie wibblewobble, and a lot of the animal boys and girls," went on peetie. "we were over on the edge of the woods, looking at the circus men put up the tent and the colored posters, and we all thought you'd take us." "baby bunty will be so disappointed!" said jackie. uncle wiggily twinkled his pink nose serious like and thoughtful. "hum! circus!" murmured the old rabbit gentleman. "so baby bunty wants to go, does she? well, she never saw a circus, not even a make-believe one, such as you boys get up. now i don't care for a circus _myself_--i've seen too many of 'em. but i'll go--just to take baby bunty!" "and may we come?" asked jackie, eagerly. "oh, well, yes, i s'pose so!" slowly answered mr. longears. "nurse jane will say i'm queer; but what matter? a circus comes but once a year! now run along, doggie boys. i'll have to think up some way of getting all of you into the circus tent, for we can't buy tickets and go in the regular way. the circus men wouldn't understand." jackie and peetie were so delighted that they turned somersaults all the way across the field as they ran to tell the other animal boys and girls. meanwhile uncle wiggily hopped along on his red, white and blue twinkling nose----oh, listen to me, would you! i mean his rheumatism crutch. i guess i'm getting excited about the circus. anyhow uncle wiggily hopped across the field to the edge of the forest where jackie and peetie had said the big show was going to be given that afternoon. surely enough there was the large white tent, much larger than the one the camping boys had used the time uncle wiggily helped dig a rain-water canal for the lads, so they would have dry beds to sleep in. there was the circus tent! and there were red, green, yellow, blue and purple posters showing pictures of lions, tigers, camels, elephants and all such wild animals. "it's a regular circus surely enough," said uncle wiggily to himself. "but how am i going to get in with the animal boys and girls? i can't go up to the wagon and buy tickets, much as i'd like to. i can't speak man-talk, though i can understand it. how can i get in?" just then uncle wiggily saw two real boys slowly walking around outside the big tent. they seemed to be looking for something. [illustration: "it's a circus, surely enough," said uncle wiggily.] "i hope they haven't lost their ticket money," thought the bunny. one boy said to the other: "here's a good place to get in!" "all right! crawl under!" exclaimed the other. then those two boys suddenly crawled under the circus tent, because they had no money to buy tickets. uncle wiggily watched them. "why! the idea!" exclaimed mr. longears. "what a way to get in! why--i have it! that's how i can get in with the animal children! i can crawl under the tent! of course i wouldn't do it that way if i could buy them tickets, and get in the regular way. but i can't--the ticket man wouldn't understand if i hopped up with green or yellow leaf money. crawling under the tent is the only way." uncle wiggily hopped back to the woods where he had built his hollow stump bungalow. the animal children were gathered about waiting for him. "come on. it's time to start!" said susie littletail, who had on her best hat made of green ferns. "where are you going, wiggy?" asked nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, as she saw the bunny gentleman starting off at the head of the procession of animal boys and girls. "oh, i'm just going to take baby bunty to the circus," said mr. longears, holding the littlest rabbit girl by her paw. "are you sure you aren't going for _yourself_?" asked nurse jane with a laugh. "of course not!" exclaimed the bunny. "the idea!" on he hopped with the animal children, and when they came near to the edge of the woods, where the circus tent gleamed white amid the green trees, uncle wiggily said: "wait here, children, until i hop ahead and see if everything is all right." the bunny, hiding behind a bush, looked across a little field at the tent. he saw two more boys walk softly up and try to crawl under the white canvas, but all at once a man with a big club rushed up, drove away the boys, and cried: "no, you don't! you can't get in this circus that way!" "oh, dear!" thought uncle wiggily. "if men are on guard to keep boys from crawling under the tent, they won't let me in with the animal children! what can i do? baby bunty will be so disappointed! ha! i know! i'll start here in this field, and dig a burrow, or tunnel under ground. i'll slant it down until i'm beneath the tent, and then i'll slant it up, so when we come out we'll be inside the tent. in that way the men with clubs will not see us!" uncle wiggily hopped back to the waiting animal children. "i'll have to dig a tunnel-burrow to get you into the circus," said the bunny. "stay here and keep quiet!" starting in the field, behind the bushes and a little way from the circus tent, uncle wiggily began to dig. he was a fast worker, and soon he had dug the burrow all the way through. he came out inside the circus tent, beneath the rows of seats on which were perched many boys, girls and grown folk watching the funny clowns, listening to the band, seeing the men on the high trapeze bars and looking at the horses. "ha! the circus is just beginning!" said uncle wiggily to himself, as the big bass drum boomed out: "zoom! zoom!" he crawled back through the burrow and got the animal children in line. "forward march!" cried uncle wiggily, and through the underground burrow crawled the rabbits, squirrels, puppy dogs, pussy cats, chickens, ducks, guinea pigs and all the smaller animal friends of the rabbit gentleman. they were not seen by the men with clubs, because they crawled beneath the tent far below the ground. then they came up inside the circus, under the high tier of seats. "oh, isn't it wonderful!" cried baby bunty, keeping hold of uncle wiggily's paw. "hush!" whispered the rabbit gentleman. "don't let the people up above know we're down here or they might chase us out!" so there sat mr. longears and his little friends, having a fine view of the circus almost from start to finish. and the people sitting on the seats above dropped peanuts and kernels of popcorn which the animal children picked up and ate. the only thing they didn't have was pink lemonade, but perhaps that was not good for them. and at last, when the band began to play like anything, and the horses and elephants raced around the big ring, uncle wiggily said: "come, now. the circus is ended. we had better get out before the crowd starts or we may be stepped on. did you like it, baby bunty?" "oh, it was the most wonderful thing i ever saw!" sighed the little rabbit girl. "thank you, ever so much!" "yes, and we thank you also, uncle wiggily," called the other animal children. then they crawled down through the burrow again, outside the tent and came into the woods, through which they scampered to their different homes. but they had been to the circus! and if the window curtain doesn't roll up so fast that it flies to the top of the ceiling, taking the gold fish with it, you shall next hear about uncle wiggily and the lion. story xxx uncle wiggily and the lion once upon a time, as uncle wiggily was hopping through the woods, he heard a roaring sound, coming, it seemed, from a distant clump of trees. "oh, ho!" exclaimed the bunny rabbit gentleman. "that's thunder! i suppose we are going to have a storm. i didn't bring my umbrella, but i can find a large toadstool, or mushroom. that will do as well." the animal folk often use toadstools for umbrellas, you know, and uncle wiggily had done this more than once. the bunny hopped on a little farther, and the roaring, rumbling sound boomed out again. "the thunder is coming nearer," thought mr. longears. "i had better hurry if i am going to pick a toadstool umbrella!" he limped on his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch over toward a large mushroom (which, of course, isn't the same as a toadstool, though they look alike), and uncle wiggily was just breaking off the stem, so he would not get wet in the thunder shower, when, all of a sudden, a loud voice asked: "can you please tell me where the circus went to?" uncle wiggily turned so quickly that he nearly lost the twinkle from the end of his pink nose. for the voice that spoke was almost as loud as thunder. "was that you making the noise like a storm?" asked the bunny as he saw a large yellow creature, with a great head, surrounded by a fluffy mane, and a tail on the end of which was a bunch of hair. "it was," answered the big animal. "i'll try to speak more gently if it hurts your ears. but, naturally, i have a loud voice, being a lion, you know." "yes, i knew you were a lion. i remember seeing you in the circus," spoke the bunny gentleman, who was not at all afraid. "but tell me, why aren't you with the show now?" "because i ran away," the lion answered. "i got tired of being shut up in my cage all the while, and, when the man left the iron door open i slipped out. i've been hiding in the woods ever since; but it is not as much fun as i thought it would be. now i wish i could go back to the circus. can you please tell me where it is?" "i am sorry to say i cannot," uncle wiggily answered. "but if you will come with me to my hollow stump bungalow--not that you can get inside, for you are too large--why, perhaps nurse jane may know where your circus is. she knows nearly everything." "who is nurse jane?" asked the lion. "she is miss fuzzy wuzzy, my muskrat lady housekeeper," replied the bunny gentleman. "a rat, is she?" went on the lion. "i don't know much about rats, but once a mouse gnawed the ropes, when i was caught in a net, and set me free--that was before i joined the circus." "well, a muskrat is something like a big mouse," said uncle wiggily, "so i think you will like nurse jane." "i'm sure i shall," the lion rumbled, trying to make his voice soft and gentle. "well, then," went on uncle wiggily, "please come along with me, and i'll try to find the circus for you. nurse jane may know where it moved to, or some of the animal boys and girls may tell us." so uncle wiggily hopped through the woods, the lion stalking along beside him, and soon they reached the hollow stump bungalow of the bunny gentleman. "nurse jane! nurse jane!" called mr. longears. "i have brought home a friend with me!" "not to dinner, i hope, wiggy," remarked miss fuzzy wuzzy, from inside the bungalow. "i have a dreadful headache! i haven't been able to wash the breakfast dishes yet, and as for making the beds, and dusting the furniture--it is out of the question! so if you want dinner----" "please tell her not to bother," whispered the lion. "i am not hungry and----" "is that thunder?" asked the muskrat lady, thrusting her head, tied up in a wet towel, from her bedroom window. and when the muskrat lady saw the big lion she screamed. "pray do not be frightened, my dear miss fuzzy wuzzy," the lion said. "i just came with uncle wiggily to inquire where i might find the circus, from which i foolishly ran away. but i'll toddle on, and not bother you, since you are ill." "oh, it isn't really any bother," spoke the muskrat lady. "i could get you a cup of tea. it was only your loud voice that startled me." "i'm sorry," rumbled the lion, as gently as he could. "i'm afraid my voice is rather louder than the purr of a pussy cat. but i can't help it." "oh, of course not!" agreed nurse jane. "i wish i could ask you in, but our bungalow was not made for lions." "i'll come in and get him something he can eat outside," offered uncle wiggily. "by that time some of the animal boys or girls, who know where the circus went, may come along, since you don't know, nurse jane." [illustration: he ate nearly all the bungalow] "no, i am sorry to say i don't know," spoke the muskrat lady, as she went back to bed with her headache. uncle wiggily took some carrot soup and some lettuce tea out to the lion, but though the tawny creature said he was not hungry, he ate nearly all there was in the bungalow, for his appetite was much larger than that of the muskrat lady or mr. longears. "and now i would like to do you and nurse jane a favor," went on the circus chap, licking the soup off his whiskers with his red tongue. "couldn't i help wash the dishes or make the beds?" "i'm afraid not!" laughed uncle wiggily, thinking how funny it would look to see a lion making a rabbit's bed. "yes, i suppose i am too large to get in the bungalow," went on the roaring chap, in as gentle a voice as he could make come from his throat. "but i know one way in which i can help!" "how?" asked uncle wiggily. "with my tail," said the lion. "that isn't too large to put through one of your windows. and on the end of my tail is a tuft of fluffy hair, just like a dusting brush. please let me stick my tail in through the different windows. then i can switch it around, and dust the furniture for nurse jane." "do you think you can?" asked the bunny, doubtful-like. "of course!" said the lion. "true, i never before have dusted furniture in a bunny's hollow stump bungalow, but that is no reason for not trying. please give me a chance!" so uncle wiggily opened all the windows. the lion backed up, and thrust his tail first in one and then in another. when his tail was in the parlor he switched it around--i mean he switched his tail around--and the fluffy tuft of hair on the end knocked all the dust off the chairs, table and piano. soon the parlor was as nicely dusted as nurse jane could have done it herself. in this way, with his tail, the lion dusted all the rooms in the bungalow, even the one where nurse jane was lying down with a headache. and when the muskrat lady saw the lion's fluffy tail switching around on her chairs in such a funny way, she laughed, and then, in a little while, her headache was all better. "you certainly are a good houseworker," said the muskrat lady as she got up and drank a cup of tea. "and you have done me a great favor." "pray do not mention it," spoke the lion politely as he flapped his tail in the air to rid it of dust. "it was a pleasure!" then along came jacko kinkytail, the monkey boy, and he said the circus had moved on to a town about ten miles away. "thank you! i'll travel there and get back in my cage," rumbled the lion. then, with a polite bow to nurse jane and mr. longears, the tawny, yellow chap with the big voice walked away through the forest. and every time the muskrat lady thought of the lion thrusting his tail in through the window to dust the furniture she had to laugh. now would you like to hear a story about uncle wiggily and the tiger? well, you may if the scrubbing brush doesn't take the cake of soap out to the washrag's party and forget to bring it back for the bathtub to play ball with. story xxxi uncle wiggily and the tiger "uncle wiggily! oh, uncle wiggily!" called a voice after the rabbit gentleman, as he was hopping away from his hollow stump bungalow one morning. "what's the matter now?" inquired the bunny, turning around so quickly that his tall silk hat nearly slipped down over his pink, twinkling nose. "does the woozie wolf or the fuzzy fox wish to nibble my ears?" "i hope not!" exclaimed nurse jane, the muskrat lady housekeeper, for she it was who had called. "but will you please take my scissors with you, uncle wiggily?" "take your scissors? what for?" asked mr. longears. "to have them sharpened," answered miss fuzzy wuzzy. "they are so dull i can hardly cut anything, and i want to cut some linen up into new sheets and pillow cases. take my scissors along with you, wiggy dear, and have them made good and sharp." "i will," promised the bunny rabbit gentleman. then, wrapping the dull scissors in a grape-vine leaf, uncle wiggily put them in the top of his tall silk hat, and set the hat on his head. "why do you put them there?" asked nurse jane. "so i'll remember them," the rabbit gentleman answered. "if i put them in my pocket i'd forget them. but now, if i meet mrs. twistytail, the pig lady, or mrs. wibblewobble, the duck lady, and bow to them, i'll take off my hat. out will slide the scissors, and then i'll remember that i am to get them sharpened." "that's a good idea," said nurse jane. "now don't forget to bring them back to me good and sharp. if you don't i can't cut up into sheets and pillow cases the new linen i have bought." "i'll not forget," promised the bunny gentleman. he hopped on and on through the woods, and he had not gone very far before, all of a sudden, he heard a growling, rumbling-umbling noise, a little like far-off thunder. "i wonder if that can be the lion again?" thought uncle wiggily. "perhaps he couldn't find the circus and he has come back to dust more furniture for nurse jane with the end of his tail stuck through a window in the bungalow." uncle wiggily looked through the forest, but he saw no tawny lion. instead he saw, limping toward him, a beast almost as big as the lion, but with a beautiful black and yellow striped coat. "oh, ho! mr. tiger--the one i saw when i went to the circus with baby bunty!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "this is a tiger!" "yes, i am the striped tiger," answered the other animal. "and, oh, what trouble i am in!" "what is the matter?" kindly asked the rabbit gentleman, for he could see that the tiger was limping and in pain. "i ran a thorn in my foot," went on the black and yellow fellow, "and my eyes are so poor i can't see to pull it out." "perhaps i can," uncle wiggily said. "i have strong glasses." so the bunny gentleman looked through his spectacles, and soon saw the thorn that was in the tiger's foot. it did not take uncle wiggily long to pull it out. "oh, thank you, so much!" growled the tiger, though not in a cross voice. "it serves me right, i suppose, for having run away from the circus." "did you run away, too, as the lion did?" asked uncle wiggily. "yes," answered the striped beast, "we ran away together--the lion, some other animals and myself. but now i'd be glad to run back again." "the lion was," said uncle wiggily. "he was very glad to go back." "don't tell me you have met _him_!" exclaimed the tiger. "where is he?" "he started back yesterday, after stopping at my bungalow and helping nurse jane dust the furniture with his tail through the windows," the bunny answered. "then i'm going back, too!" declared the tiger. "it isn't as much fun roaming by yourself through the woods as i thought it would be. i'm going back!" "before you start," kindly suggested uncle wiggily, "please come to my bungalow with me." "does more furniture need dusting?" asked the tiger, laughing. "i have no fluffy tuft on the end of my tail, as has the lion." "it isn't that," the bunny answered. "but i would like to have nurse jane put some salve on the place where the thorn ran in your paw, and also wrap it up in a rag." "that would be very nice," spoke the tiger. "right gladly will i come with you." so he limped through the forest with the bunny gentleman, and soon they came to the hollow stump bungalow. "more company for you, nurse jane!" called the jolly rabbit uncle. "that's nice," answered miss fuzzy wuzzy. "oh, you're a tiger, aren't you?" she went on, as she saw the striped beast. "and he has a sore paw," spoke uncle wiggily. "will you put salve on it for him, nurse jane?" "of course," answered the muskrat lady. and when the tiger's sore paw was nicely wrapped in a clean rag, he started off through the woods to find the circus. "good-bye, and come again," invited uncle wiggily, making a low and polite bow with his tall silk hat. "i will," promised the tiger. and then the bunny suddenly exclaimed: "oh, your scissors, nurse jane! i forgot all about getting them sharpened," and he picked them up from where they had fallen when he took off his hat. "oh, dear! that's too bad!" said the muskrat lady. "and i wanted to cut the linen in strips to make sheets and pillow cases. now it is so late i'm afraid the sharpening place will be closed." "perhaps i can help," said the tiger, turning back. "can you sharpen scissors?" asked uncle wiggily. "no," was the answer, "but my claws are sharper than any scissors you ever saw. if you and nurse jane will hold the cloth, i will cut it into strips for you with my sharp claws. i don't need to use my sore paw. i'll take my other one." "oh, that will be very kind of you," said nurse jane. "i forgot that tigers have sharp claws." so the muskrat lady and the rabbit gentleman held the linen cloth in front of the tiger, and with his claws he cut and slashed it into just the shapes miss fuzzy wuzzy needed for making sheets and pillow cases. "i am very glad i could do you this favor," the tiger said, when all the linen was cut. "so am i," spoke uncle wiggily, "for if you hadn't been here to use your claws, nurse jane would not have forgiven me for not remembering to get the scissors sharpened. good-bye!" "good-bye!" echoed the tiger, as he walked on to find the circus. and that night he slept in his cage again. so if the doorknob doesn't try to crawl through the keyhole to play bean bag with the rice pudding in the gas stove oven, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the elephant. story xxxii uncle wiggily and the elephant "matches, uncle wiggily! matches!" cried nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy one morning, as the bunny rabbit gentleman was hopping down the forest path, away from his hollow stump bungalow. "what's that? patches?" exclaimed mr. longears. "did i put on my garden trousers that have patches?" and he tried to twist his neck like a corkscrew, so he could look behind him. "no, i didn't say '_patches_'!" laughed nurse jane. "i said _matches_. don't forget to bring me some matches to light the fire, when you come back from looking for an adventure." "oh! matches!" repeated the bunny. "i'll get some for you, nurse jane." over the fields and through the woods hopped the bunny rabbit gentleman. he looked here, there and everywhere for an adventure, but could not seem to find one. the woozie wolf nor the fuzzy fox did not chase him to nibble his ears. not that uncle wiggily wanted them to, but, if they had, that would have been an adventure. "well, perhaps i shall find one when i come back," said the bunny gentleman as he hopped along to the seven and eight cent store, where he bought a box of matches. carrying these fire-sticks in his paw, uncle wiggily was hopping through the forest, on his way back to the hollow stump bungalow when, all at once, the bunny gentleman felt the ground trembling, and he heard a sound like a big horn being blown, and then a loud voice said: "oh, dear! i can't get it out!" "well, what can this be?" thought uncle wiggily. "that horn sounds like the big brass one i heard in the circus. from the way the earth shakes i'd say a big automobile truck was coming along. and as for someone who can't get something out--well, that sounds like trouble! i'd like to help, but first i must see who it is." uncle wiggily looked through the bushes, and at first he thought he saw the side of some big house moving behind the trees. then he noticed something like a great leaf flapping in the wind, and a moment later something long, like a fire hose, was thrust forward. "why, it's an elephant!" exclaimed the bunny, as he caught sight of the big chap. "an elephant is just who i am," was the answer in a rumbling voice, coming through the rubber hose of a trunk. "i'm from the circus, and i wish i might be back there this minute, eating my hay!" "oh, so you have run away from the circus also, like the lion and tiger?" questioned the bunny. "yes," answered the elephant, "i did. but what do you know of my friends, the lion and tiger?" "oh, i have met them," answered mr. longears. "but is that your only sorrow--wishing you were back in the circus?" "indeed it is not," the elephant answered. "i have stepped on a loose stone, and it is fast between the toes of my left hind foot. i can't get it loose by stamping on the ground, and i can't reach so far back with my trunk. i'm in great pain and trouble!" "that is too bad," spoke uncle wiggily. "i guess your stamping on the ground is what i thought was an auto truck coming along." "perhaps," admitted the big circus elephant. "i wish i could get that stone out from between my toes," he went on, stamping so hard that he shook the very trees, making them rustle as though a wind had blown them. "maybe i can help you," said uncle wiggily most kindly. "i have with me my red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch. with that i may be able to poke out the stone that hurts you." "i wish you'd try," begged the elephant. it did not take the bunny gentleman long to loosen the stone from between the elephant's toes, for the foot of an elephant is not like that of a horse or cow--he really has toes and toe-nails, just as you have, only a little larger, of course. well, i should say so! "ah, i feel much better, uncle wiggily! thank you!" spoke the elephant through his hollow rubber hose-like trunk, and it sounded like a trumpet or brass horn when he talked. "now that the stone is out of my foot i shall go back to the circus." "the path to the place where the circus is now showing leads past my bungalow," said the rabbit gentleman. "i'll hop along and point out for you the way. i'd like you to meet nurse jane." "that will give me pleasure, also," remarked the elephant, who was very polite. so he and uncle wiggily went along together, but several times the bunny had to say: "please don't go so fast, mr. elephant. i can't keep up with you." "i beg your pardon," spoke the immense chap. "suppose i lift you upon my back and carry you that way?" "i should much like that," the rabbit uncle said. so in his trunk the elephant gently lifted up uncle wiggily, and set him down on the broad back. [illustration: "ah, this is even better than my auto," said uncle wiggily] "ah, this is even better than my auto," laughed uncle wiggily, as the elephant crashed his way through the forest. soon they came to the hollow stump bungalow. "more company for you, nurse jane!" called uncle wiggily, with a laugh. "eh? what's that? where are you? i don't see anybody but a big elephant?" cried the muskrat lady, looking up. "i'm on his back!" answered the bunny. and as the elephant lifted mr. longears down in the trunk, nurse jane was so surprised that she hardly knew what to say. "will you--er--have a cup--i mean a _washtub_ of tea?" the muskrat lady asked, well knowing that so big a creature must drink a lot of everything. "some water is all i need, thank you," answered the elephant. "i had something to eat in the forest before i met uncle wiggily." then the big chap put his trunk down in the brook and sucked up a great quantity of water. uncle wiggily put the box of matches down on the bench at the side of the bungalow, where the sun shone bright and hot, and watched the elephant drink. "well, now i'll travel along and go back to the circus," said the big chap with the large trunk and little tail. "i'll tell the lion and tiger i met you." "please do." begged the bunny, and then, all of a sudden nurse jane cried: "fire! fire! fire! oh, the sun has set off the box of matches, and the bungalow is burning! fire! fire! fire!" surely enough, this had happened. the box of matches, fizzing and spluttering, was burning uncle wiggily's bungalow. "turn in an alarm; get the firemen! call out the water bugs!" cried the bunny gentleman. "just a moment! don't get excited!" spoke the elephant calmly. "i will put out that fire in a second!" he sucked up more water from the brook in his trunk and squirted it on the blaze. the fire hissed and spluttered and died out in a puff of smoke. "oh, you have saved my bungalow!" cried uncle wiggily. "thank you ever so much! only for you i'd be burned out of house and home!" "pooh! that wasn't any more than you did for me--taking the stone out of my foot," said the elephant. "with my rubber hose-nose of a trunk, i very often put out little fires." "oh, i'm so glad uncle wiggily met you!" sighed nurse jane. "if he hadn't, our bungalow would have burned down, perhaps, mr. elephant!" "well, one good turn deserves another," laughed the elephant as he tramped away through the forest to find the circus, and the bunny gentleman and nurse jane waved "good-bye" to the big chap. so if the wheelbarrow doesn't catch cold when it runs after the train of cars to get a ride around the block, the next adventure will be about uncle wiggily and the camel. story xxxiii uncle wiggily and the camel "what sort of an adventure do you think you will have to-day, uncle wiggily?" asked the muskrat lady housekeeper of the bunny rabbit as he hopped away from the hollow stump bungalow one morning. "well, nurse jane, i hardly know," was the answer. "i may meet with some of those queer circus animals again." "i hope you do," miss fuzzy wuzzy said, as she tied her whiskers in a bow knot, for she was going to dust the furniture that day. "the circus animals are very kind to you. and it is strange, for some of them are such savage jungle beasts." "yes," spoke the bunny gentleman, "i am glad to say the circus animals were kind and gentle. more so than the pipsisewah or skeezicks. but then, you see, the circus animals have been taught to be kind and good--that is, most of them." "i hope you never meet the other sort--the kind that will want to nibble your ears!" exclaimed nurse jane as uncle wiggily put his tall silk hat on front-side before and started off with his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch under his paw. "i hope nothing happens to him," sighed nurse jane as she went in to put the dishes to bed in the china closet. but something was going to happen to uncle wiggily. you shall hear all about it. on and on through the woods hopped the bunny rabbit gentleman, looking first on one side of the path and then on the other for an adventure. he was beginning to think he would never find one when, all of a sudden, he heard a rustling in the bushes, and a voice said: "oh, dear! i can't go a hop farther! i'm so tired, and my bundle is so heavy. i guess i'm getting old!" "ha! that sounds like trouble of the old-fashioned sort!" murmured uncle wiggily to himself. "i may be able to give some help, as long as it isn't the fox or wolf, and it doesn't sound like them." the bunny gentleman peered through the trees and, sitting on a flat stump, he saw an old gentleman cat, looking quite sad and forlorn. "hello, mr. cat!" called uncle wiggily, cheerfully, as he hopped over toward the stump. "what's the trouble?" "oh, lots of trouble!" mewed the cat. "you see i'm a peddler. i go about from place to place selling pins and needles and things the lady animals need when they sew. here is my pack," and he pointed to a large bundle on the ground near the stump. "but what is the matter?" asked the bunny gentleman. "don't the animal ladies buy your needles, pins and spools of thread? just step around and see nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, my muskrat lady housekeeper. she is always sewing and mending. she'll buy things from your pack." "oh, it isn't _selling_ them that's the trouble," said mr. cat. "but i am getting so old and stiff that i can hardly carry the pack on my back any longer. i have to sit down and rest because my back aches so much. oh, how tired i am! what a weary world this is!" "oh, don't say that!" laughed uncle wiggily, who felt quite cheerful that morning. "see how the sun shines!" "it only makes it so much hotter for me to carry the pack on my back," sighed the cat. "ha! that is where i can help you!" exclaimed mr. longears. "i am quite well and strong, except for a little rheumatism now and then. that, however, doesn't bother me now, so i'll carry your peddler's pack for you." "will you? that's very kind!" said the cat. "perhaps i may be able to do you a favor some day." "oh, that will be all right!" laughed the bunny, as he twinkled his pink nose. "come along, we'll travel together and perhaps find an adventure." uncle wiggily slung the cat-peddler's pack up on his back, the pussy carried the bunny's crutch, and so off they started together through the woods. they had not gone very far, and the bunny was wondering whether he could not sell nurse jane a lot of pins to help the poor cat when, all of a sudden, a loud, snarling sort of voice cried out: "oh, where can i find some water? oh, how much i need a drink! i can go without one for seven days, but this is the eighth and if i don't see some water soon i don't know what will happen!" "i wonder who that is?" asked the peddler cat. "i don't know, but we'll soon find out," spoke mr. longears. they looked through the bushes and there they saw a very strange animal, and not what you would call pretty, either. this animal had a long neck, bent like the letter u, and his face looked as though he had rolled over on it in his sleep. but the queerest part of all was his back, on which were two humps, like little mountains, running up to peaks. "oh, what a queer chap!" mewed the peddler cat. "hush, don't let him hear you!" whispered uncle wiggily. "i think this is an animal from the circus." "you are right--i am!" exclaimed the two-humped chap, looking toward the bushes behind which uncle wiggily and the cat were standing. "i heard what you said, too, mr. cat," the odd chap went on. "but i don't mind. i'm a camel, and i'm used to hearing folks say how queer i look. but i am in trouble now. oh, dear!" "what's the matter?" asked uncle wiggily, kindly. "i'm so thirsty," the camel said. "you see, i took a long drink before i ran away from the circus, which i did, very foolishly, as i wanted some adventures. well, i'm having them, all right! i've been lost in the woods, and, though i had enough to eat i couldn't find a thing to drink. on the desert, where i came from, i could find water once in a while. but here i'm lost." "and, though i am a camel," went on the humped creature, "and can hold enough water in my stomach to last for several days, now my time is up. i haven't had a drink for over seven days, and unless i get one soon i don't know what will happen." "oh, i can take you to the duck pond and you can get a drink there, mr. camel," uncle wiggily said, as he hopped out from behind the bush. "oh, ho! what a funny chap you are!" snarled the camel, not that he was cross, only a snarl was his regular way of speaking. "are you a little camel?" "why, no, i'm not a camel," answered the bunny. "what made you think so?" "because of that hump on your back," said the camel. "some of us camels have two humps, and some only one. but surely you cannot be a one-humped camel! i never saw one with ears so long!" "indeed, i'm not a camel!" laughed uncle wiggily. "i'm a rabbit, and this pack that you see belongs to this poor peddler cat, who is too tired to carry it. so i am carrying it for him." "that is very kind of you," spoke the thirsty circus animal. "in fact, it seems to me you are very fond of being kind, mr. longears. you carry the cat's pack, and now you offer to show me where to get a drink. and, if you can, i wish you would soon lead me to water. i am very thirsty!" "follow me!" called uncle wiggily. then he hopped off through the woods, carrying the cat's peddler pack, and followed by the two-humped camel, whose long neck swayed to and fro like a clock pendulum, while his humps shook like two bowls full of jelly. soon they came to the duck pond and there the camel put his queer face down into the water and drank as much as he pleased. he took a long time to drink, as camels always do, for they must take enough into their stomachs to last for a week in case they can not find more water before the end of seven days. the cat and uncle wiggily stood watching the camel, thinking how queer and homely he was, but honest for all that, when, all of a sudden, out from behind a bush jumped the bad old pipsisewah! "wow! wow! i've got you now!" howled the pipsisewah. "i'll nibble your ears now, uncle wiggily!" the bunny rabbit gentleman started to run, but, because he had strapped to his back the pack of the cat peddler, the bunny could not hop fast at all. "i'll get you! i'll get you!" cried the pipsisewah. "oh dear! oh dear!" sighed uncle wiggily, wondering who was going to save him, for he knew the tired old cat peddler couldn't. and then, all of a sudden, the circus camel finished his long drink, and, with a jolly snarl, he cried: "here! you let uncle wiggily alone!" then with his broad foot, made big and wide so it would not sink into the soft sand of the desert, the camel stepped on the tail of the pipsisewah, holding him back so he couldn't chase uncle wiggily. "wow! wow!" howled the pip. "ha! ha!" laughed the peddler cat. "oh, mew!" "just wait until i get loose, and i'll chase you, too!" cried the pipsisewah to the cat. "just wait!" "don't be afraid!" said the camel, with a smile which made him look more homely than before, though this didn't matter. "here, uncle wiggily, hop up on my back, between my two humps! you, too, mr. cat, jump up on my back. you and the bunny gentleman can sit there as the people of the desert used to ride me before i joined the circus. hop up, my kind friends, and i'll soon carry you safe out of these woods. i can go fast, now that i have had a big drink of water. hop up!" uncle wiggily, with the cat's pack, hopped up on the back of the camel. the cat, too, sprang up. all the while the camel kept his broad foot on the tail of the pipsisewah, so the bad animal couldn't get loose. and when the bunny and cat were safe in place, snuggled down in between the camel's humps, the queer creature started off, letting go the tail of the pip. "ha! now you can't get us!" mewed the cat, looking down from the camel's back. "just you wait! i'll get uncle wiggily yet, and you too!" the pip howled. "and i'll fix you, mr. camel, for stepping on my tail!" "pooh! nonsense!" snarled the camel, "uncle wiggily helped me by showing me where to find water, and now i am helping him." and away he went, quite fast, indeed, for such a queer chap. and the old pip skipped away to put some soft moss on his sore tail. "isn't this jolly!" laughed uncle wiggily, twinkling his pink nose. "i never expected to have a ride on the back of a camel! it's just like a circus parade! i wish nurse jane could see me!" and the muskrat lady did, for the kind camel gave uncle wiggily a ride all the way home to the bunny's hollow stump bungalow, and when the muskrat lady housekeeper saw mr. longears up between the two humps she cried: "my land sakes flopsy dub and a basket of soap bubbles! what will happen next?" "i don't know," laughed uncle wiggily. "as for me, i am going back to the circus," the camel said. and he did. the peddler cat, after selling nurse jane some sewing silk, stayed for some time with mr. longears, getting rested so he would be strong enough to carry his own pack of needles, pins and thread. and as for the bunny--well, he had more adventures, of course. and the next one will be about uncle wiggily and the wild rabbit--that is if the teaspoon doesn't take the cork out of the bottle of bitter medicine and give it to the rag doll to make mud pies with. story xxxiv uncle wiggily and the wild rabbit "there he is again!" cried nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy, as she ran to the window of the hollow stump bungalow and looked out. "he's digging up all the nice carrots in your garden, uncle wiggily!" "who is?" asked the bunny gentleman, laying aside the cabbage-leaf newspaper he was reading, with his glasses perched on his pink, twinkling nose. "who is taking my carrots, nurse jane?" "that wild rabbit," answered the muskrat lady housekeeper. "he lives in the thick bushes in the middle of the woods. i think he hasn't been here very long, and he doesn't seem to know any of your other animal friends. he's wild and runs the minute i go out. but he has been spoiling your garden lately." "that isn't nice of him," said uncle wiggily. "i'll go out myself and see what he has to say." but as soon as uncle wiggily started down the steps of his hollow stump bungalow, toward where the other bunny was digging up the carrots, the wild rabbit hopped away. "what's the matter with you?" asked uncle wiggily, twinkling his pink nose in a friendly way. "why are you spoiling my garden?" "because i like to!" answered the wild rabbit. "you live in a fine hollow stump bungalow, and all i have is a hole in the ground, or burrow. you're rich and i'm poor, and i'm going to spoil everything you have!" "oh, that isn't a good way to feel!" said uncle wiggily kindly. "that's the way the bolshevics talk! i used to be poor, like you, but i went off to seek my fortune and i found it. i built me this hollow stump bungalow, and, if you like, i'll show you how to make one. nurse jane and i will help you!" "nope!" cried the wild rabbit. "i'd rather be bad! i'm going to dig in your garden every chance i get, and you can't catch me, either, so there!" and it sounded as if that wild rabbit might be making a funny "face" at uncle wiggily. mind you, i'm not saying for sure, but maybe! "dear me!" thought mr. longears, as he went back in his house. "that wild rabbit is certainly a queer chap. i don't want to hurt him, but i wish he would get tame. i'll have to speak to policeman dog percival about him, and set percival on guard in my carrot patch." "did you make that wild rabbit stop his digging?" asked nurse jane, as she met uncle wiggily coming in. "no, he says he's going to be bad," sighed the bunny gentleman, as he took his tall, silk hat down off the rubber plant. "where are you going?" asked nurse jane. "out in the woods to look for an adventure," answered uncle wiggily. "and perhaps i may find a way to make that wild rabbit tame and good." "i hope so," sighed nurse jane. "it isn't nice to have our garden spoiled." as uncle wiggily was hopping through the woods, over on that side of the forest nearest the village, where the real children lived, the bunny gentleman, all of a sudden, heard the voice of a little girl. "oh, donald!" said the little girl, in sad tones. "you've broken it. you've spoiled my nice little jumping bunny!" "well, i didn't mean to," answered a boy's voice. "he jumped all right a minute ago!" "yes, but you went and squeezed the rubber ball too hard, that's what you did!" sobbed the little girl. "and now my nice easter bunny won't hop any more! boo hoo!" "dear, dear!" exclaimed uncle wiggily to himself. "this is too bad! there's trouble here! i wonder if i can help?" you see uncle wiggily knew what the boy and girl were saying, though the bunny himself could not speak their talk. uncle wiggily hopped softly nearer the children. he looked through the bushes, and there he saw a little boy trying to mend a toy bunny for the little girl. the toy bunny was made to look like a real one, with ears and fur and everything. fastened to the toy was a little rubber hose and a rubber ball was on the end of the hose. when the toy rabbit was placed on the ground, and the rubber ball was pressed, some air was squeezed inside the bunny's legs, and he would hop across the floor; and his ears would flop up, too, because he had springs and other things inside him. "there's no use squeezing the ball," sadly said the little girl. "my toy bunny is broken, and won't ever hop again! oh, dear! boo hoo!" "my! this is too bad!" said uncle wiggily. "i wonder what i can do to make that little girl feel happier? i might get sammie or susie littletail, the rabbit children, to come and stay with the real children for a while. they seem to be kind--this boy and girl. they wouldn't hurt sammie or susie. that's what i'll do! i'll go get the littletail brother and sister, and have them hop over here so this boy and girl can easily catch them and play with them a while." uncle wiggily started off through the woods. the boy and girl sat in a moss-covered dingly dell, trying to mend the broken toy. and mr. longears had not gone very far before, all of a sudden, he came to a little hollow place, filled with leaves. there he heard a voice saying: "oh dear! oh what a pain! oh what trouble i am in!" "ha! this seems to be my busy day for trouble!" exclaimed uncle wiggily, as he looked at the leaf-filled hollow. "who are you, and what is the matter?" asked the bunny gentleman. "oh, i'm the wild rabbit," was the answer. "the wild rabbit who was eating the carrots in your garden. but alas! i can eat no more!" "why not?" uncle wiggily asked. "because i have fallen and broken my leg," was the answer. "i can hop no more, and i suppose i shall have to stay here and starve. i'm sorry i was bad, and tried to spoil your garden, uncle wiggily." "oh, perhaps you didn't really mean it," the bunny gentleman said. "but wait here a minute. i think i can help you." "oh, if you only would!" sighed the wild rabbit with a broken leg. "i think i see a chance here," said uncle wiggily softly to himself, "to help that boy and girl, and also the wild rabbit." off hopped uncle wiggily through the woods. it did not take him long to reach the place where the boy and girl had been playing with the hippity-hop rabbit toy that was now broken. the children were still there. the little girl had sat down on a log to cry, and the boy was trying to make her a willow whistle so she wouldn't feel so unhappy. the broken toy rabbit lay on a pile of leaves some distance away from the boy and girl. i suppose they had tossed it there, thinking it was of no more use. [illustration: "he's hopping off by himself!"] "this is just what i want," said uncle wiggily. he found a long piece of wild grape vine, like a small rope, and, when the boy and girl weren't looking, uncle wiggily slipped up and fastened one end of the grape-vine cord to the broken toy. then, hopping off behind the bushes, uncle wiggily began pulling the piece of vine. of course he also pulled the toy rabbit along the ground. "oh, look!" suddenly cried the little girl. "look, donald! my toy rabbit is all right again! he's hopping off by himself!" and, surely enough, the toy did seem to be hopping away. but this, as you know, was because uncle wiggily was pulling it by the grape-vine string. "come on! help me catch him!" begged the little girl. "i will!" her brother said. together they raced on after the toy, which uncle wiggily jerked along the forest path. the bunny gentleman kept out of sight behind the bushes, and as the wild grape vine was just the color of the earth and leaves the children did not see it. to them it looked as if the toy was hopping away all by itself. "i say, mab!" called donald. "he hops better than he ever did before! i wonder who is squeezing the rubber ball? i can't see anyone." "maybe it's fairies," suggested mab, in a low voice. "pooh! there aren't any fairies!" laughed donald. on and on ran the boy and girl after the skipping toy rabbit, and uncle wiggily pulled it so fast as he hopped along, out of sight, that donald and mab could not get their hands on the toy. it kept ahead of them all the way. uncle wiggily knew what he was doing and, in a little while, he led the boy and girl up to the place where the wild rabbit with a broken leg lay in the bed of leaves. uncle wiggily jerked the toy rabbit close to the wild one, and then pulled the toy out of sight behind a clump of ferns. "oh, don! look!" cried the girl. "our toy rabbit has changed into a real one!" and she pointed to the wild rabbit, which could not move away, though he wanted to very much, as his heart beat very fast. "a toy rabbit couldn't change into a real one!" said the boy. "well, mine did; else how could this live rabbit be here, and my toy one gone?" asked mab. for that is what seemed to have happened, all on account of uncle wiggily. "and see, don," went on the little girl, as she knelt down beside the poor, wild bunny. "his leg is broken, just as my toy rabbit's leg was broken. oh, it is the same one! my toy has changed into a live rabbit! oh, you poor, sweet, lovely darling!" cried the little girl, as she cuddled the wild rabbit up in her arms. "say! this sure is queer!" exclaimed the boy. "very queer!" uncle wiggily, peering through the bushes where he was hiding with the broken toy rabbit, looked out and saw the little girl holding the wild rabbit with its broken leg. the wild rabbit would have hopped away if it could, but was not able. "oh, uncle wiggily! uncle wiggily! is this how you help me?" sadly cried the wild rabbit. of course, he spoke in rabbit talk, which neither the boy nor girl understood. but uncle wiggily, hiding in the bushes, heard and softly answered: "don't be afraid, wild rabbit. these children will be kind to you, i know. they will take you home, and mend your broken leg and you will be as stylish as i am." "oh, if i'm going to be _stylish_, that's different!" said the wild rabbit. then he nestled down in the girl's arms, and she and the boy took the bunny home and their father mended the broken leg with splints of wood and soft cloth bandages. "well, i guess that wild rabbit won't spoil my carrots any more," laughed uncle wiggily as he hopped along. "i'll take this broken toy home to sammie and susie." as for the wild rabbit, he was no longer frightened when he heard uncle wiggily say that the children would be kind. and no one could have been more kind than were donald and mab. when the wild rabbit had to stay quiet until his leg healed, they brought him, every day, fresh lettuce and carrots, with cool water to drink. and when the leg was all well, the wild rabbit was so tame that he never wanted to leave the boy and girl, and go back to spoil uncle wiggily's garden. he lived happily with donald and mab all the rest of his life. sammie and susie had fun playing with the broken toy, and they thought mr. longears was very clever to think of a way to not only help the wild bunny and the boy and girl, but also to save his carrots from being eaten. so if the strawberry shortcake doesn't try to stretch itself up tall and look like a big mince pie, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the tame squirrel. story xxxv uncle wiggily and the tame squirrel once upon a time, as uncle wiggily longears, the bunny rabbit gentleman, was hopping through the woods, he heard a rustling in the bushes, and he crouched down to hide himself. "for," thought the bunny, "this may be the pipsisewah or the skeezicks, or even the woozie wolf or the fuzzy fox. i had better be careful!" but when uncle wiggily looked over the top of the bush, whence the rustling sound had come, all he saw was the tame rabbit, who once had a broken leg. the rabbit, who was now tame, was hopping along the forest path. "hello!" called uncle wiggily in his most jolly voice, as he twinkled his pink nose upside down, just for a change. "where are you going, tame rabbit? i shall call you that as a new name. i hope you are not going to run away from donald and mab, the boy and girl who were so kind to you." "indeed i am not running away," answered the tame rabbit. "i am just going to the woods to look for some flowers. don and mab are going to have a little woodland party this afternoon, and i want to get them some flowers to put on the flat stump which they will use for a table." "that is very kind of you," uncle wiggily said. "i'll help!" "wouldn't you like to come to the party?" asked the tame rabbit, as he and the bunny gentleman hopped into the forest together. "there will be lots of good things to eat--even ice cream!" "thank you, i'd better not come, as some of the boys and girls might not be as thoughtful as mab and don," spoke uncle wiggily. "some of them might throw peanut shells at my tall, silk hat; just for fun, you know." "well, perhaps they might," admitted the tame rabbit. "i don't wear anything but an old cap--nobody tries to knock that off," he added with a laugh. "but can't you just look in at the party, uncle wiggily? just stop for a moment?" "yes, i'll do that," promised mr. longears. and when he had nibbled, with his teeth, some wild flowers for the tame bunny, uncle wiggily hopped to his hollow stump bungalow, promising to peek through the bushes at the children's party later in the day. that afternoon, as he was hopping through the woods, uncle wiggily heard the sounds of shouting and laughter. "that must be the party," thought the bunny gentleman. "i'll skip over and take a look." in a little moss-covered dingly dell among the trees, uncle wiggily saw don, mab and many of their little boy and girl friends dancing about a broad, flat stump, which was set like a table. and in the middle was the bunch of flowers, some of which uncle wiggily had helped gather. "those children are certainly having a good time!" thought uncle wiggily, twinkling his pink nose so that it almost turned a somersault. "and the tame rabbit, who used to be wild, is enjoying himself, too." the other bunny surely was having fun, hopping here and there almost as if playing tag with the children. all at once mab cried: "come on now! we'll eat!" "hurray!" cried all the boys. the girls didn't get so excited about it, but i think they were just as glad to eat as were the boys. the children gathered around the stump table, and i wish i could tell you all the good things they had for the woodland party. but i'm not allowed to do this for fear it would make you too hungry. all i can say is that there was just the most lovely party-things you ever heard of! the tame rabbit sat near don and mab, eating what they gave him. "now we'll crack the nuts and play more games!" called mab, after a while. but when she went to pass the nuts she found that they were not cracked, and some of them had very hard shells. "oh, don! didn't you bring the nut cracker?" asked mab. "no, i thought you did," answered her brother. "and i thought you did!" exclaimed mab. "oh, what shall we do?" "we can crack the nuts with stones on top of the stump," said one boy. but when they tried this, some of the nuts flew away over in the bushes, without getting cracked at all. others hit the girls on the ends of their noses. and some of the children pounded their fingers instead of cracking the nuts. "oh, dear!" sighed mab, as she saw what was going on. "my party will be spoiled, all because we haven't a nut cracker." the tame rabbit heard all this. so did uncle wiggily, who was looking on, hidden in the bushes. both bunnies knew what was said though they couldn't speak boy and girl talk. "can't you help the children, uncle wiggily?" asked the tame rabbit, as he hopped out to the bush where the bunny gentleman was hidden. none of the children saw the two animals talking together. "how do you mean help them?" asked mr. longears. "by getting them a nut cracker," went on the tame rabbit. "a nut cracker?" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "a squirrel is the best nut cracker i know of. ha! i have it! i'll send one of the bushytail brothers over here to crack nuts for the children. i think the boys and girls will be kind to him. i'll go get johnnie or billie." away hopped uncle wiggily through the woods, and soon he met johnnie bushytail. "johnnie, don't you want to come and be a nut cracker for some children?" asked uncle wiggily. "why, of course!" chattered johnnie, who was a very tame squirrel. "i love children," he said. "and i suppose i may eat a few of the nuts i crack." "oh, surely," answered uncle wiggily. the bunny gentleman led johnnie back through the woods to the children's party. the boys and girls were still trying to crack the hard nuts, but they could not do it well at all. johnnie suddenly scrambled out of the bushes and up on the flat stump, and, taking a nut in his paws, he cracked it, by gnawing through the hard shell with his sharp teeth. then he took out the meat and laid it on a birch-bark plate. "oh, look!" exclaimed don, pointing to the bushytail chap. "a tame squirrel is cracking the nuts for us! look!" [illustration: "maybe he's a fairy!" she whispered.] "oh, the dear little thing!" cried mab. "and see, he's all dressed up like a real boy. maybe he's a fairy!" she whispered as johnnie cracked more nuts. "pooh! there aren't any fairies!" said don. "but he sure is helping us!" johnnie sat up on the stump, his tail held straight up behind his back, and he cracked nut after nut. "this is fine!" whispered the tame rabbit to johnnie, the tame squirrel, while uncle wiggily, hiding behind a bush, saw and heard it all. "the children will love you for this." "i'm glad of that," answered johnnie, in animal talk, which the boys and girls could not hear. then the tame squirrel cracked many more nuts, eating some himself, for there were more than enough for all the children at the party. "oh, i wonder if we could take this squirrel home with us, as we took the wild tame rabbit?" said the boy, as johnnie cracked the last nut. "try it," suggested mab to her brother. but when donald put out his hand, and tried to catch johnnie, the squirrel boy just flipped his tail and scampered away. "thank you, i'd rather not be caught," chattered johnnie, though of course don and mab did not know what he was saying. then, when the woodland party was over, the children went home. so that's how it all happened, as true as i'm telling you. and if the jumping jack doesn't stick beans in the sugar cookies, in place of the raisins he takes out to put in the molasses candy, i'll tell you next about uncle wiggily and the wolf. story xxxvi uncle wiggily and the wolf uncle wiggily was hopping through the woods with nurse jane one day, wondering what sort of an adventure he might have, and he was helping the muskrat lady housekeeper carry some clothes pins that she had bought at the three and four cent store when, all of a sudden, miss fuzzy wuzzy called loudly: "look out!" "what's the matter?" asked uncle wiggily. "am i spilling the clothes pins?" "no," answered the muskrat housekeeper of the hollow stump bungalow. "but, see that big wolf! let's run!" "where's any wolf?" asked the bunny gentleman. "i don't see any," and he began searching in his pockets for his spectacles, which he had taken off, as they tickled his pink, twinkling nose. "there's a big, gold wolf, over behind that mulberry bush," whispered nurse jane. "what's that? a _gold_ wolf? i never heard of such a thing!" exclaimed uncle wiggily. "you must be mistaken, nurse jane. i'll take a look!" then bravely singing the song--"here we go 'round the mulberry bush," uncle wiggily hopped up to where nurse jane pointed. surely enough, something was gleaming gold-like among the trees, and as soon as uncle wiggily had put on his glasses, and had taken a good look, he cried: "well, well, nurse jane! this is a gold wolf, surely enough! but it cannot hurt us!" "why not?" asked the muskrat lady, who was getting ready to run. "because it is only a wolf carved out of _wood_, and painted like gold," answered the bunny gentleman. "i see what this is--it is one of the gilded wolves that were on the little red riding hood chariot from the circus. this golden, wooden wolf fell off the wagon and the circus people did not stop to pick it up." "well, i'm glad it's a wooden wolf," spoke the muskrat lady. "then it can't nibble your ears; can it?" "not in the least," laughed uncle wiggily. "but if i had a wheelbarrow, or something, i'd take this wolf home to my bungalow." "what for?" nurse jane wanted to know. "oh, i'd set it in the hall, near the umbrella rack," said uncle wiggily. "just think! a golden, wooden wolf would be quite an ornament." "yes," agreed nurse jane, "it might look nice. but how can you get it home? it is too heavy to drag, and it has no wheels on as the animals have in the noah's arks." "hum! let me see, now," said uncle wiggily, walking around the golden, wooden wolf. "if i only had some wheels!" and just then, along through the woods came billie and nannie wagtail, the goat boy and girl, each with roller skates dangling by a strap over their shoulders. "oh, billie! the very chap i wanted!" laughed uncle wiggily. "let me take your roller skates for the golden wolf! and you too, nan!" "with pleasure," bleated billie, shaking his horns. "i'll help you fasten them on." "will the wolf bite?" asked nannie, a bit timidly. "of course not!" laughed uncle wiggily. so the roller skates were fastened on the paws of the golden, wooden wolf, and then, with a bit of wild grape vine for a rope, the gilded animal from the red riding hood circus wagon was dragged through the woods to uncle wiggily's bungalow. there the savage creature, who couldn't bite even a lollypop stick, was placed in the hall near the front door. "our friends will think us quite stylish like and proper," said uncle wiggily, admiring the wolf ornament. "yes," agreed nurse jane. "as long as it doesn't scare any of the animal children it will be all right." but the animal children soon learned that the wolf was only made of gilded wood, and though his mouth was widely open, showing his sharp teeth, he could never, never bite them. one day, about a week after he had brought the gilded wolf to his bungalow, uncle wiggily was home all alone. nurse jane had gone to the movies, with mrs. wibblewobble, the duck lady, and the bunny gentleman was just thinking of going to look for an adventure, or a piece of pie in the pantry, when, all of a sudden, there came a knock at his door. "that must be nurse jane," said uncle wiggily. "she is back a bit early, and has, i suppose, forgotten her key. i'll let her in." the bunny gentleman opened his bungalow door, but, instead of his muskrat lady housekeeper he saw the bad old skeezicks. "ah ha!" cried the skeezicks. "i fooled you, didn't i? you thought i was nurse jane and you came to let me in! now i'm going to nibble your ears! ha! ha!" uncle wiggily tried to shut the door, but the bad skeezicks pushed his way in, and was just going to nibble the bunny's ears when, all of a sudden, the impolite skee saw the golden wolf. coming into the dark hall, as he did from the bright outdoors, the skeezicks could not see that the wolf was not real. it looked so natural that the skee stopped short and then he cried: "oh, excuse me! oh, i didn't know you were here, mr. wolf, or i never would have come in. you are going to nibble uncle wiggily's ears, i suppose. you have the first turn. well, i'll nibble them some other time, when you have finished. please excuse and don't bite me! i'll skip right long!" and with that, out of the door the skeezicks jumped, never hurting the bunny gentleman at all. "ha! ha!" laughed uncle wiggily, as he closed the door. "the golden, wooden wolf did me a good turn after all! he scared away the skeezicks. i'm glad the circus wolf lives in my bungalow!" and nurse jane said the same thing when she came home from the movies. so this teaches us that it is a good thing to have something of gold around the house, even if it is only a gold dollar. but now we have come to the end of this book. not that uncle wiggily's adventures were over, for he had many more. but these are all i have room for here. enough to say that the bunny rabbit lived happily for many, many years in his hollow stump bungalow in the woods, with nurse jane fuzzy wuzzy. and there you may, perhaps, see him some day. who knows? +adieu+ [illustration] transcriber's note obvious typographical and punctuation errors have been corrected. blank pages have been removed. character names vary from story to story and have been handled thus: peetie bow wow was mis-spelled twice. these have been corrected jackie is called jackie bow wow in two places. these have been retained. mr. longears was referred to as dr. longears once. this has been corrected billie was referred to as billy in a caption. this has been retained emphasised text is handled thus: _italic_ +small capital+ note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original lovely illustrations. see -h.htm or -h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/ / / / / / -h/ -h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/ / / / / / -h.zip) bunny rabbit's diary by mary frances blaisdell author of "boy blue and his friends," "polly and dolly," "cherry tree children," "tommy tinker's book," "twilight town," "pretty polly flinders," etc. illustrated by george f. kerr school edition [frontispiece: sometimes bunny talked to mrs. duck.] boston little, brown, and company copyright, , by little, brown, and company. all rights reserved preface bunny rabbit had a book for christmas. mother rabbit made it for him out of maple leaves, pinned together with thorns from the rose-bush on the stone wall. bunny clapped his hands when he saw the book, and sat down at once on the old stump to read the stories. but there was not a story in the whole book--no, not one! there wasn't even a picture. "you must write the book yourself," mother rabbit told him. "then you will be sure to like it." so bunny rabbit wrote the book about the good times he had with bobtail and billy, and all his other playmates. he wrote about the slide they made on the long hill beside the pond; about mrs. duck's swimming lesson, and the kite bobtail made out of a leaf from the big oak tree; about sammy red squirrel's flying machine, and bobby gray squirrel's peanut party. he hid the book in the hollow tree where no one would find it. but some one did find it,--some one who knew how to read the funny little tracks of rabbit writing,--and here are the stories in bunny rabbit's diary. contents bunny rabbit's diary billy's slide a christmas tree bobtail's kite april fool's day mrs. duck's secret the swimming lesson the clover patch moving day a summer shower sammy's flying machine the cabbage patch the white rabbit teddy bear bobby's party full-page illustrations in color sometimes bunny talked to mrs. duck . . . _frontispiece_ bunny put the acorn in front of sammy's door "croak, croak!" said mr. green frog "quack, quack! where did _you_ come from?" illustrations in the text bunny played with the gray squirrel the sled went on down the hill the squirrel hunted for nuts once bunny rabbit saw a christmas tree mrs. duck was always in a hurry he put one foot in the water "i think it will rain to-day" down to the ground sammy fell she wrapped his nose up in flannel "cock-a-doodle-doo!" called the rooster "this bag is full of peanuts" they ate all the nuts they wanted bunny rabbit's diary mr. and mrs. rabbit and the three little rabbits lived in the woods. each little rabbit had a name. there was bunny rabbit, bobtail rabbit, and billy rabbit. bunny was full of fun, and liked to play tricks on his brothers. bobtail liked to play with bunny. he was always ready to join in all the fun. but billy was lazy. he did not like to work, and he did not like to play. he liked to curl up in the tall grass and sleep. the rabbits had many playmates in the woods and fields. they played with the gray squirrels that lived in the big oak tree. they played with the red squirrels that lived in the old stone wall. sometimes bunny ran down to the brook to visit old mr. green frog. sometimes he talked to mrs. duck, when she came to the brook to teach her little ones to swim. there was always something to do; and bunny, and bobtail, and billy were always doing something. [illustration: bunny played with the gray squirrel.] one christmas mrs. rabbit gave bunny a book. she made it herself out of maple leaves. she pinned the leaves together with thorns from the rose-bush that grew on the wall. when bunny saw the book he jumped up and down and clapped his hands. "oh, goody, goody!" he said. "what a pretty book this is." "i will sit down on the old stump and read the stories this very minute." so bunny sat down on the stump and opened his book. he opened the book and looked at the first leaf. there was no story to read. he looked at the next leaf. there was no story to read. he turned one leaf and then another. they were all alike. there was not a story in the book, and bunny could not find one picture. "this is a funny book," he said to himself. "i will run and ask mother rabbit what kind of a book this is." so bunny jumped off the stump and ran to find mother rabbit. "mother rabbit," he said, "what kind of a book is this? "there are no pictures, and i can not find one story to read." "that is a diary," said mother rabbit. "you must write the stories in the book yourself." "what stories shall i write?" asked bunny. "you can write about the good times you and bobtail and billy have, playing in the woods," said mother rabbit. "what fun!" said bunny. "i am going to write a story in my book this very morning." so bunny rabbit ran back to the big stump. but he did not know just how to write a story. he had never written one before. he thought, and thought, and thought. bobtail and billy hopped up to see what their brother was doing. "come down and play with us," said bobtail. but bunny shook his head, and shook his long ears. "run away now," he said; "i am going to write a story." "what story are you going to write?" asked billy. but bunny did not answer. he had just thought of something funny. it was about the slide on the long hill beside the pond. and about the way billy slid down,--right into the cold water. bobtail and billy ran away and left bunny alone on the stump. ho was very busy writing in his maple-leaf book. when he finished the story, he hid his book in the hollow tree. "no one will find it there," he said to himself, as he hopped off toward home. "i'll write a story every day until the book is full." but one day i went walking in the woods. i found the hollow tree, and i found the little maple-leaf book. "bunny rabbit's diary" was the name of the book. it was all full of stories about the three little rabbits that lived in the woods. billy's slide i one morning in winter bunny opened his eyes, just as the big round sun peeped up from behind the hills. he jumped up and shook himself. then he pulled bobtail's long ears to wake him up. bobtail rolled out of bed, and that waked billy. "oh, i am so sleepy!" said billy. "i don't want to get up now." "let's run out and find something for breakfast," said bunny. "i am as hungry as a bear." "yes, let's run out and find some breakfast," said bobtail. "i don't want to go far," said billy. "it is too cold." the three little rabbits hopped off through the woods, hunting for something good to eat. the ground was covered with snow and they could not find very much. as they hopped along they were talking about what they could do to have some fun. "let's make a long slide to-day," said bunny. "oh, let's make a big pile of snowballs," said bobtail. "let's make a snow rabbit," said billy. "we can make it in front of our house." bunny jumped up and down in the snow. he made a snowball and threw it at billy. "oh! i like to play in the snow," he said. "i like to play in the snow." plump! something hit bunny on the head. "i like to play, too," some one called to the rabbits. bunny looked up to see who was talking. plump! something hit him right on the end of his nose. "hello, bunny!" called bobby gray squirrel. "i hit you that time." "come down here and i will catch you," said bunny, as he rubbed his little pink nose. but bobby only laughed and ran higher up among the branches of the oak tree. "i will catch you some day," said bunny as he hopped away. "oh, no!" answered bobby. "you can never catch me. you cannot climb a tree." the three rabbits soon found some tender little roots hidden under the blanket of snow. "this is a good breakfast," said bunny. "yes, it is a very good breakfast," said billy, as he nibbled on the root he had found. at last bunny jumped up and shook his long ears. "i have finished my breakfast," he said. "so have i," said billy. "so have i," said bobtail. "now we can make a long slide over in the meadow," said bunny. "i know where we can make the best slide," said bobtail. "where, where?" asked bunny. "over on the hill beside the pond," said bobtail. "that is too far away," said billy. "i think i will go home." but bunny and bobtail would not let him. they took hold of his hand, and made him hop along with them through the snow. "where are you going?" called bobby gray squirrel. "follow us and you will see," answered bunny. "oh, no," said bobby. "i like best to run about in this big tree. "after i have found something to eat i shall curl up in my warm nest and go to sleep. "summer is the time to play, but winter is the time to sleep." ii the little rabbits hopped off through the woods. soon they came to the long hill. they stood at the top of the hill and looked down at the pond. "is the ice thick on the pond?" asked bunny. "oh, yes," said bobtail. "jack frost covered the pond with ice last night." "but mr. sun is shining to-day," said billy. "sometimes he turns the ice back to water again." "i know that ice is very thick," said bobtail. "all right," said bunny; "now let's make the slide." bunny hopped down the hill and made a little path in the snow. bobtail hopped down the path after him. then billy hopped down the path. the three rabbits hopped up and down the path until the slide was smooth and hard. at last billy said, "now let's try the slide. here is a sled that belongs to one of the boys." billy sat down on the sled and tucked his feet under him. bobtail sat down behind billy. and last of all came bunny. "hold on tight," called bunny. "i will give you a good start." bunny pushed hard and the sled began to slide. he pushed harder and the sled began to slide faster. "now i am going to jump on," cried bunny. he ran as fast as he could and gave a good big jump. down he came, but not on the sled. oh, no! he came down hard on the slide. he bumped his nose and that made two little tears roll down his cheeks. when he brushed the tears away he looked to see where the sled was. [illustration: the sled went on down the hill.] it was half way down the hill and going faster every minute. "wait for me," shouted bunny, and he started to run after the sled. bobtail heard bunny call, and turned around to see what had happened. "look, look!" he said to billy. "bunny has fallen off the sled and hurt himself. "what shall we do? what shall we do?" then bobtail did a very silly thing. he jumped up on the sled to call to bunny. he jumped up, and the sled went on down the hill. it left bobtail rolling over and over in the snow. and he rolled, head first, right into a snow-bank. bobtail didn't like that very well. he kicked and kicked to get out of the snow. he shook his fur coat and he shook his long ears. then he looked down the hill to see what had become of billy. billy was on the sled. and the sled was sliding down the hill. it came to the pond. crack, crack! splash, splash! it went. crack, crack! splash, splash! and billy slid right into the water. it was not very deep, but it was very wet. when billy climbed out on the bank he was very wet, too. "oh, dear me!" he said, "the water is cold." "oh, dear me!" said bobtail, "the snow is cold." "oh, dear me!" said bunny, "i hurt my nose." "let's run home to mother rabbit," said billy. "yes, let's run home!" so the three little rabbits hopped along the path through the woods as fast as they could go. bobby gray squirrel was running up and down in the big oak tree. "come and play with me," he said. but the little rabbits did not stop to answer. they hopped along the path as fast as they could go. and they didn't stop once until they were safe in their own cosy home. a christmas tree i the little pine tree stood near the path that led through the woods. in summer the rabbits often sat under this tree to rest. the tree listened to the stories they told of the good times they had together. the birds flew to its branches and talked to each other about the things they had seen in the woods. bobby gray squirrel and his brothers often ran up into the pine tree to play tag. but sammy red squirrel knew something about this tree that no one else knew. he knew where there was a small hole in one of the branches. he found it one day when he ran up into the tree to eat a nut. and when he saw the hole he said to himself, "that is a good place to hide some nuts for the winter." the hole was not very large, but sammy hid ten acorns in it. he packed them in one by one. last of all he put a piece of bark in the hole. "this is a good door for my store-house," he said, "i am sure no one will find these acorns." and no one did find them. sammy ran to the hole very often and lifted the door just a crack. the ten little acorns were just where he had put them. "i will eat these nuts last of all," he said to himself. all through the fall the little red squirrel hunted for nuts under the trees. sometimes he could not find any on the ground. then he would run round and round hunting for holes where he had hidden acorns away. if the holes were empty sammy knew some other little squirrel had been there before him. and sometimes sammy found nuts that other squirrels had stored away. the hunting was always good, and no squirrel ever went to bed hungry. but at last jack frost came and covered everything with snow. all the nuts and acorns were frozen into the ground so the squirrels could not dig them out. [illustration: the squirrel hunted for nuts.] then sammy went to his store-house in the stone wall or in some old stump. at last it became very cold. north wind blew through the woods. the water in the little brook was covered with ice. the birds tried to keep warm among the branches of the evergreen trees. the rabbits slept in their warm home and did not come out very often. the squirrels slept in their nests, and did not come out for days and days. blacky crow stayed in the deep woods where the largest trees helped to keep him warm. the ground had been covered with snow for two or three weeks. and the squirrels and rabbits had taken long, long naps. ii a few days before christmas, mr. sun came up from behind the hills and shone brightly all day long. he melted the snow in the warm hollows, and softened the ice on the brooks. bunny rabbit and his brothers came out and hopped around to find roots to eat. the squirrels ran up and down the trees, and all around everywhere to find hidden nuts. all at once bunny rabbit heard a noise. he sat up on his hind legs and held up his long ears. the other rabbits listened, too. sammy and bobby heard the noise and scampered up into the little pine tree. "bow-wow-wow!" barked jip, as he ran through the woods. "it's the dog!" cried bunny. "let's run and hide." the little rabbits whirled around and hopped back to their house. sammy and bobby were safe in the tree, so they did not try to run away. they heard some one talking and they looked to see who it was. they saw two children and a man. the man had an axe in his hand. the two children ran along the path, talking and laughing. they were looking at all the evergreen trees. "this is a good one," said the little boy. "this is a better one," said the girl, and she pointed right at the little pine tree where sammy and bobby were hiding. "they are going to cut down this tree," whispered sammy. "what shall we do? what shall we do?" but the man did not cut down the tree. he looked at it and said, "that is too large for our christmas tree. "we must find one that is much smaller." so the man and the two children went along the path into the woods. and before long the sound of the axe rang out through the stillness. "i never was so frightened in my life," said sammy. "i thought they were going to cut down this tree." "i thought so, too," said bobby. "but i was not frightened. i could jump to that next tree. it is not very far." "i know that," said sammy. "but i have a store-house in this tree." "where is it?" asked bobby. "i wish you would show it to me. i am as hungry as a bear." "so am i," said sammy. "let's have dinner now." "we will call it a christmas dinner. the children said this would make a good christmas tree," said bobby. "i wonder what a christmas tree is like," said sammy, as he ran along the branch to find the store-house. bobby followed sammy and peeped into the hole where the ten acorns were hidden. sammy took out a nut, and bobby took out a nut. they sat up on their hind legs and nibbled away happily. and as they nibbled, the man and the two children and the dog came back through the woods. they were dragging a little tree over the snow. the dog ran along beside them barking loudly. "that must be a christmas tree," said bobby. "i wonder what they are going to do with it." [illustration: once bunny rabbit saw a christmas tree.] "tweet, tweet!" sang a little sparrow. "i can tell you. i saw one last year. "i peeped in at the window after the tree had been set up in the warm room. "i saw many pretty things hanging on the branches. "i saw the candles lighted, and santa claus came in to give away the toys to the happy children. "oh, it was pretty! but i like to see the tree in the woods better." then the little sparrow flew away, and the two squirrels ate another nut. "i think this is a good christmas tree," said bobby. "yes," said sammy. "a tree with a hole full of nuts is better than one covered with candles and toys." "it is better for squirrels," said bobby. and then he took another nut. bobtail's kite i north wind was playing a game. he was blowing the dry leaves over the ground. he piled them up under the oak tree at the edge of the woods. "bend your head and bow to me, big oak tree," said north wind. the oak tree bowed and bowed its head. north wind blew on and on. as he blew through the woods, every tree bowed, and bowed its head. bobtail and billy and bunny heard north wind as he blew past their house. "oh, how the wind blows!" said bunny. "i shall stay in the house to-day," said billy. "i do not like the wind." but bobtail did not like to stay in the house all day and sleep. "let's go out and have a game of tag," he said to his two brothers. "i will reach the big oak tree first." now bunny and billy always liked to have a game of tag with bobtail. so they both hopped out of their warm house. "look out for me!" called north wind. "i can catch you all." hippity-hop went bobtail down the path that led to the big oak tree. and hippity-hop went billy and bunny after him. just as they came to the oak tree bobtail saw the pile of leaves. "who put all those leaves under this tree?" he said. "i did, i did," called north wind. "and here are some more to make the pile larger." then north wind puffed out his cheeks and blew more leaves under the oak tree. "oh, what fun!" said bunny. "i should like to do that." bunny puffed out his cheeks and blew and blew, as hard as he could blow. but the leaves did not move, until north wind came to help him. "this is just the day to fly a kite," said bobtail. "yes," said billy. "the children always fly kites when the wind blows." "i wish we had a kite," said bunny. "i should like to see it sail up in the air and over the trees." "i can make a kite," said bobtail. "how, how?" asked both the other little rabbits together. "see this big oak leaf," said bobtail. "this would make a good kite, if we had a long string." "i know where there is a string," said bunny. "one of the boys dropped it out of his pocket the other day. "it is on the ground, under the pine tree. i will get it for you." so bunny hopped off, and in a minute he was back with the long string. bobtail tied the string to the short stem of the oak leaf. "let me fly the kite," begged bunny. "no, let me," said billy. "we will take turns," said bobtail. "bunny may have his turn first." so bunny took hold of the string. he picked the kite up and tossed it into the air just as he had seen the boys do. the kite fluttered and fell to the ground at bunny's feet. "this is not a good kite," he said. "it will not fly up into the air." ii "let me try now," said billy. "i know how to make a kite fly." so billy took hold of the string. then he climbed up on the old stump and tossed the kite into the air. "look, look!" he cried. "see the kite fly this time." but the oak leaf just fluttered and fluttered, and fell to the ground at billy's feet. "something is the matter with this kite," said billy. "you did not make it the right way." "oh, yes, i did," said bobtail. "i will show you how to make it fly." all this time north wind had been very still. he was watching the three little rabbits trying to fly their kite. he laughed softly to himself when the leaf fluttered and fell to the ground. but north wind could not keep still very long. he saw bobtail take hold of the string of the kite. "watch me, watch me!" said bobtail. "watch me, watch me!" sang north wind. then he puffed out his cheeks and blew on the oak leaf as bobtail gave it a toss. up, up in the air flew the kite, and bobtail hopped faster and faster over the ground. "look, look!" he cried, "now my kite is going over the tall trees." bunny and billy were sitting on the ground looking up in the air. they watched the kite fly higher and higher. "there it goes," called bobtail. and just then something else went, too. of course bobtail could not see where he was hopping. it took both his eyes to watch his kite fly higher and higher. so he did not see the big stone in the path. over the stone he fell,--right into the big pile of leaves under the oak tree. head first he went, and in a second he was all covered up with leaves. he lost hold of the string, and the kite flew away up in the air. one of the branches of the oak tree caught the string and held the kite fast. "oh, oh!" whistled north wind. "now it is my turn to fly the kite." bobtail did not say a word. he picked himself out of the big pile of leaves, and shook his long ears back and forth. "i don't like to fly kites," he said. "let's go home and take a nap." so the three little rabbits hopped back along the path through the woods. north wind puffed out his cheeks. "see me fly the kite," he called to the rabbits. he puffed out his cheeks and blew and blew. but the leaf only fluttered and fluttered because the branch held the string fast. north wind blew and blew, but he could not make the kite fly away. "i don't like to fly kites this morning," he said. "i am going to pile some more leaves under the oak tree." so he danced over the ground, and through the woods, singing a gay little song: "come, little leaves," said the wind one day. "come o'er the meadow with me and play. "put on your dresses of red and gold, "for summer has gone and the days grow cold." april fool's day i "wake up, billy!" called bunny. "wake up and see how hard it is snowing." billy opened his sleepy eyes and rolled out of bed. then he went to the door and peeped out. "april fool, april fool!" shouted bunny. billy laughed. then he hopped out of doors. it was a warm sunny day,--just the day to run around and play jokes. but first the little rabbits had to find their breakfast. now that the warm days were coming they could find plenty to eat. and bunny and billy and bobtail were growing very fat. bobby gray squirrel and sammy red squirrel could find plenty to eat, too. in the fall they had stored away nuts and acorns in little holes in the ground. when jack frost covered the ground with snow the squirrels could not dig up these nuts. but now the ground was soft again, and bobby and sammy had plenty to eat. bunny and billy and bobtail saw the squirrels hide the nuts. they did not like acorns so they never opened the store-house doors. they just hopped around under the trees looking for green leaves and tender roots. but on this first day of april bunny found the biggest acorn he had ever seen. it was hidden in a little hole, and he saw it when he sat down to eat his breakfast. "oh, oh!" he said to himself. "now i can play a joke on bobby gray squirrel. "i am going to tie a string to this acorn, and when bobby tries to pick it up i shall pull it away from him." he told bobtail and billy about the joke he was going to play on the gray squirrel. "ho, ho!" laughed billy. "ha, ha!" laughed bobtail. "we must hurry and finish our breakfast," said bunny. "bobby will be out hunting for nuts very soon." in a few minutes the three rabbits had finished their breakfast. then bunny hopped away to find a string he had seen under the oak tree. it was the same string they had used to fly their kite. the string had held the kite to the branch for a long time. then one day north wind came again and tried to carry it away. he puffed and puffed, and at last the branch let go of the string. the kite flew up in the air and far away, but the string dropped to the ground under the oak tree. there bunny found it, and he tied the string around the acorn. then he scampered back to his brothers. they were waiting for him near the old stone wall. "let's fool sammy red squirrel first," said billy. "i saw him run out of his hole just a minute ago." bunny put the acorn in front of sammy's door. [illustration: bunny put the acorn in front of sammy's door.] then he held on to the other end of the string and hid behind a big rock. bobtail and billy hid behind the pine tree. they all kept as still as mice. they did not even shake one of their long ears. "there is sammy now," whispered billy. "i can see him running along the path." "don't make a noise," said bobtail. bunny saw the little red squirrel coming down the path. he kept very still and held on to the string. ii sammy came skipping down the path. he was singing a gay little tune: "one, two, three, four, five, six, "i'll watch out for april tricks." just then he saw the acorn lying on the ground near his door. "look at that!" he said. "bobby gray squirrel must have been here. "something frightened him, and made him drop that nut near my door." now sammy was very fond of big acorns and he had not had one for a long time. so he pounced on the acorn. but it was not there! bunny had given the string a quick pull. sammy put his hand down on a rock. there was no acorn to be seen. "april fool!" shouted bunny. "april fool!" shouted billy and bobtail. the three rabbits hopped out from their hiding places. they laughed and laughed, and sammy laughed, too. "that was a good trick," he said. "we are going to play it on bobby gray squirrel, now," said bunny. "may i go with you?" asked sammy. "oh, yes!" said the three rabbits. so off through the woods they all went. "bobby often comes to the big oak tree," said billy. "i think that will be a good place to play the trick." bunny put the acorn on the ground, and then they all hid behind the tree. they did not wait very long before they saw bobby coming. and in another minute bobby saw the acorn. "ho, ho!" he said. "sammy red squirrel must have dropped that big acorn. i will pick it up." he ran along the ground toward the oak tree. bunny held on to the string. he was going to wait until bobby took hold of the acorn and then pull it away. it was so still that the rabbits could hear bobby's feet as they pattered on the ground. then all at once it was not still in the woods. jip, the dog, came bounding along the little path. "bow-wow, bow-wow!" he barked. "look out for me. i am coming." what a scampering there was! bobby forgot all about the acorn and skipped up the oak tree. sammy skipped up the tree after him. the three little rabbits put their ears down on their heads, and hopped away out of sight. "bow-wow, bow-wow!" said jip. "where has every one gone? "i thought i saw some one under this tree as i came along the path." the acorn lay on the ground where bunny had left it. four little bright eyes watched jip from the oak tree. sammy wished he could call out "april fool," to jip. but he was afraid of dogs, so he kept very still. bobby kept still, too, and the three little rabbits hopped along towards home. after a while jip went home. then there was a quick scampering down the tree. one of the squirrels had that big acorn for his dinner. was it sammy or bobby? mrs. duck's secret i mrs. duck had a secret. bunny knew she had a secret, but she would not tell him what it was. bobtail knew she had a secret, and so did billy. bunny saw bobby gray squirrel and asked him if he knew mrs. duck's secret. but bobby did not know it, and sammy red squirrel did not know it. every day bunny saw mrs. duck walking along the little path that led through the field. sometimes she was going to the barn. sometimes she was coming from the barn. she was always alone. and she was always in a hurry. [illustration: mrs. duck was always in a hurry.] she did not stop to talk to bunny. she did not stop to catch any of the little bugs that she saw in the path. "i wonder what is the matter with mrs. duck," bunny said to himself. "i wonder why she walks along this little path every day." bunny thought and thought about the secret. "i will ask mrs. duck to tell me her secret," he said. so bunny sat down under the maple tree to wait for mrs. duck. he waited and waited. it was very warm in the field. after a while bunny shut his eyes and he fell fast asleep. he slept such a long time that when he opened his eyes the sun was just going to bed. "well, well!" he said. "mrs. duck must have gone long ago." just then he saw sammy red squirrel. "have you seen mrs. duck to-day?" he asked. "oh, yes!" answered sammy. "she walked along the path early this afternoon." the next day bunny sat down under the maple tree to watch again. but this time he was not alone. he had asked billy to come with him. "if you are with me, i shall not to sleep," he said. so the two little rabbits sat down to wait for mrs. duck. they waited and waited. it was very warm in the field. after a while bunny shut his eyes. then billy shut his eyes, and they both fell fast asleep. they slept such a long time that when they opened their eyes the sun was just going to bed. bobby squirrel was sitting in the maple tree over their heads. "have you seen mrs. duck?" asked bunny. "oh, yes!" answered bobby. "she walked along the path early this afternoon." "well, well!" said bunny. "i will try again to-morrow. i will ask bobtail to come with me. perhaps he can keep awake." ii the next day the three little rabbits sat under the maple tree to watch for mrs. duck. they waited and waited. it was very warm in the field. after a while the three little rabbits became sleepy. then bobtail jumped up on his feet and began to hop around. "let's play tag," he said. "if we sit here in the sun we shall go to sleep. "then we shall not see mrs. duck when she walks along the path." so the three rabbits played tag. they ran round and round the maple tree. they ran back and forth along the little path. all at once bunny heard mrs. duck coming across the field. she was going to the barn. "good-morning, mrs. duck," said bunny. "where are you going this fine morning?" "quack, quack!" said mrs. duck, "i am going to the barn." "where have you been?" asked billy. "quack, quack!" said mrs. duck. "that is a secret. i can not tell you." then mrs. duck walked quickly along the little path and across the road. she went into the barn-yard and hunted around for something to eat. she talked to the other ducks and hens. but she did not tell them her secret. when she had eaten all she wanted she went out of the yard and across the road. then she walked back again along the path across the field. when she came to the maple tree she saw bunny and bobtail and billy. and bunny and bobtail and billy saw mrs. duck. "where are you going, now?" asked bunny. "i am going down to the brook," she said. "that is where my secret is." "may we go with you?" asked billy. "yes," said mrs. duck. "i will show you my secret if you will all promise not to tell." so the three little rabbits hopped along behind mrs. duck until they came to the brook. the water in the brook was running over the stones and singing a sweet little song. mr. green frog was sitting on a stone taking a nap in the warm sun. "now, follow me," said mrs. duck. "i will show you my secret." she led the three rabbits to some bushes that grew close beside the water. "quack, quack!" she said. "look in here. what can you see?" bunny peeped in under the bushes. "oh, oh!" he said, "how pretty they are." billy peeped in under the bushes. "oh, oh!" he said, "how many there are." bobtail peeped in under the bushes. "oh, oh!" he said. "that is a very good secret." now what do you think the three rabbits saw hidden away under the bushes? perhaps you have guessed mrs. duck's secret by this time. yes! there was a nest full of eggs,--just the prettiest eggs you ever saw. mrs. duck was very proud of them. she let the rabbits look at the eggs for a few minutes. "now i must cover my eggs up," she said. "i must keep them warm." so mrs. duck sat down on the nest and cuddled the eggs under her soft warm wings. not one egg could be seen. and mrs. duck sat so still that bunny thought she had gone to sleep. iii every day after that the rabbits went to visit mrs. duck. but they did not tell the secret to any of their friends. then, one day, when the rabbits went to visit mrs. duck, she would not get off the nest. "quack, quack!" she said. "i can not let you see the eggs to-day. i you will come to-morrow i will show you what i have in my nest." so the rabbits hopped away, leaving mrs. duck alone on her nest under the bushes. the next morning, bright and early, the rabbits hopped along the little path. they found mrs. duck still sitting in the nest. they saw some little yellow heads peeping out from under her wings. "quack, quack!" she said. "see my ducks. they are the prettiest ducks you ever saw. "and they have the brightest eyes in the world." one little duck wriggled out from under her mother's wing and tried to stand on her little yellow feet. but they were not strong yet. "come back, come back!" said mrs. duck. "you must stay in the nest until you are strong." and the little duck wriggled back again under her mother's wing. "we will come again to see your ducks," said bunny. after two or three days the three rabbits went back to see the little ducks. there was nothing in the nest under the bushes but a few broken shells. "where can the ducks be?" said bunny. "tweet, tweet!" sang the sparrow. "i saw mrs. duck and all the little ducks going to the barn." "there they are now," sang another sparrow. bunny and bobtail and billy looked across the field. they saw mrs. duck leading her family to the barnyard. mr. rooster saw them coming. he flapped his big wings and flew up on the fence. "cock-a-doodle-doo!" he said. "see mrs. duck and all the little ducks." the three rabbits watched the ducks until they were in the barnyard. then they hopped off to the woods to tell mrs. duck's secret to all their friends. the swimming lesson i "quack, quack, quack!" said mrs. duck, as she walked along the little path through the meadow. "quack, quack, quack! follow me, little ducks." one, two, three, four, five, six little yellow ducks waddled after their mother along the little path through the meadow. bunny rabbit was sitting under a tree, fast asleep, and he did not hear them coming. he was dreaming of flying away with the little birds. he could fly high up over the trees and over the houses. oh, it was great fun! all the other rabbits were sitting on the ground watching him. "good-by," he called to billy. then he waked up, and he was not under the oak tree. "quack, quack, quack!" said mrs. duck. "what are you talking about, bunny? i cannot see billy anywhere." "i was dreaming of flying," said bunny. "i said good-by to billy because i was going far away." "quack, quack!" said mrs. duck. "i should like to see you fly. you can't even swim." "perhaps i could," said bunny, "if you would teach me." "come with me," said mrs. duck "i am going to teach my little ones to swim, and i will teach you, too." "quack, quack!" said all the little ducks, as they waddled after their mother. "come and see how soon we will learn to swim." bunny did not like to think that these little ducks could do something that he could not do. "i have four feet," he said to himself, "and they have only two. i am sure i can do what they can do." so bunny jumped up and followed the ducks along the path through the meadow. in a few minutes they came to the brook. the water looked cool to the little ducks. but the water looked very wet to bunny. mrs. duck stood on the bank for one minute to talk to her ducklings. "follow me," she said, "and do what i do. swimming is the easiest thing in the world. "when i count three we will all go into the water together." "i think i will wait and see how you do it," said bunny. "that will be the best way for me to learn." so bunny sat down on the bank, and the little ducks stood in a row behind their mother. "now," said mrs. duck, "one, two, three,--go!" at the word "go" they all waddled into the water. paddle, paddle, paddle! mrs. duck made her feet go so fast that she was soon in the middle of the brook. paddle, paddle, paddle, went all the little ducks, and they were swimming after their mother. "oh, what fun this is!" said the littlest duck. "how cool the water is," said the biggest duck. "come in, bunny," called all the ducks. "swimming is the easiest thing in the world." "why don't you try it, bunny?" asked mr. green frog, who was sitting on a rock close by. "the water is cool, and swimming is the easiest thing in the world." ii bunny sat still on the bank, but he did not say a word. he watched the ducks swimming round and round in the water. "all they have to do is to paddle their feet," he said to himself. "i am sure i can do that. but i do wish the water was not so wet." "are you afraid to come in?" asked mrs. duck. "are you afraid to come in?" asked mr. green frog. of course bunny was afraid, but he did not like to say so. at last he stood up and went down to the edge of the brook. he put one foot in the water, but he pulled it out again very quickly. [illustration: he put one foot in the water.] "oh, dear!" he said, "the water is so wet." "you can't swim on dry land," said mrs. duck. "jump in, and you will like it, i know." "jump in!" said mr. green frog. bunny went a step nearer and put two feet in the water. "oh, dear!" he thought to himself. "i never can learn to swim. i wish i were back under the tree, fast asleep." splash, splash! mr. green frog jumped into the water close to bunny's feet. it frightened the poor little rabbit and he slipped into the water, too. "paddle your feet, paddle your feet!" mrs. duck called to him. but, of course, bunny did not know how to paddle his feet. he kicked and kicked and scrambled and splashed around in the brook. the water ran into his eyes and he could not see. the water ran into his ears and he could not hear. the water ran into his mouth and he could not speak. he kicked and splashed and scrambled until at last he felt his feet touch the ground. then he scrambled up on the bank and threw himself on the soft grass. "you did not paddle your feet," said mrs. duck. "watch us," said all the little ducks. "do it the way we do." "oh, oh!" laughed mr. green frog. "do try it again. it was the funniest sight i ever saw." "it may have been funny for you," said bunny. "but it was not funny for me. "i am so wet, that i shall never be dry again. and i am afraid i have spoiled my fur coat." but mr. sun shone down brightly and bunny was soon dry and warm. then he hopped along home by the little path through the woods. "swimming may be easy for ducks," he said to himself. "and flying may be easy for birds. "rabbits and squirrels can run and hop and jump. and that is easy for them." the clover patch i it was a lovely day in june. bunny had been playing all the morning with billy and bobtail. they had played tag, and hide-and-seek, and ever so many other games. at last they were all tired and hungry. "i know where there is a great big patch of clover," said bunny. "oh, bunny!" begged bobtail, "show us where it is. i have not had a taste of clover for ever so long." "i like clover, too," said billy. "is it very far from here?" "oh, no," said bunny. "it is down beside the brook." the three little rabbits hopped off to find the big patch of clover. they hopped down to the brook, but they could not see any clover there. "perhaps it was in the meadow," said billy. "the brook runs through the meadow." "yes," said bobtail, "and then it runs through the woods." "clover would not grow under the trees," said bunny. "it grows in the fields where the sun shines." "the sun shines in the meadow," said billy. "let's go down there and look for the clover patch." so the three little rabbits hopped off through the field. they hopped along beside the brook all the way. "oh, look!" said bunny. "see the fishes swimming in the water." billy hopped very close to the brook. splash, splash! went something right under his feet. billy hopped back and looked all around to see what had happened. "what was that?" he asked. "that was old mr. green frog," said bunny. "there he is now, sitting on a rock laughing at you." "ho, ho!" laughed mr. green frog. "i frightened you that time." "i frightened you, too," said billy. "that was why you jumped into the water." "well," said mr. green frog, "you almost hopped on my back. "of course i was frightened. i jumped into the water without looking to see what was the matter." "come, come," said bunny. "we must find that clover patch. i am as hungry as a bear." so the three little rabbits hopped off across the meadow. they could not hop so near the brook now because the ground was soft and wet. and the rabbits did not like to wet their feet. they hopped along, and at last bunny called out, "here it is. here it is." billy and bobtail hopped up close to bunny. sure enough, there was the biggest patch of clover they had ever seen. and how green every leaf was! the clover was all in blossom, too. the white blossoms held their heads up to the sun. the sun smiled to see the pretty white flowers among the green leaves. many bees were flying over the clover patch. they were asking the blossoms for nectar to make sweet honey. "buzz, buzz!" sang the bees, as they flew from flower to flower. ii bunny and billy and bobtail began to nibble the greenest leaves. they nibbled and nibbled and nibbled. the bees buzzed and buzzed and buzzed. "what good honey we can make," said the bees. "clover honey is best of all." "oh, how good this clover is," said billy. "i am glad i came so far." "yes," said bunny. "it is the sweetest clover i ever tasted." "yes, it is," said billy. "i-- "oh, oh, oh!" he cried. "oh, my nose!" billy jumped up and hopped round and round. he rubbed his nose and wiped the tears out of his eyes. bunny and bobtail stopped eating, and went to see what had happened to billy. "what is the matter?" asked bunny. "oh, my nose!" said billy. "i took a bite of clover and something stung me on the nose." a bee flew up from the clover and sailed round and round in the air. "buzz, buzz, buzz!" said the bee. "i stung your nose, billy. i thought you were going to eat me." bunny saw the bee flying round and round over their heads. "it must have been a bee that stung you," said bunny. billy looked at the bee. "i am going home," he said. "i did not want to come so far anyway. there are plenty of good things eat in our own field." so billy hopped along home very slowly. he stopped every few steps to rub his poor little nose. mother rabbit saw him coming and went to the door to meet him. "what is the matter?" she asked. "i went to the meadow to eat clover," said billy. "the bees were there and one stung me on the nose." "rub your nose in the dirt and that will make it feel well again," said mother rabbit. billy put some dirt on his nose, and the pain soon went away. then mother rabbit took him to a place where the grass was tender. he ate all the dinner he wanted and then went home to take a nap. bunny and bobtail ate their dinner in the meadow. the clover was so sweet and tender that they wanted to eat it all. they nibbled and nibbled and nibbled. but they were both very careful not to nibble any of the blossoms where the bees were gathering honey. moving day i it was warm and sunny in the meadows. it was warm and sunny in the fields. but in the woods it was cool and shady under the pine trees. the red squirrels had been playing all the morning. they had chased each other up and down the trees and along the little path. now sammy was sitting on the branch of a pine tree resting. all at once he heard a noise over in the field. it was a very loud noise and he wondered what it could be. he could not see the field from the tree where he was sitting. so he ran down to the ground and skipped along--to the old stone wall. "whirr, whirr, whirr!" the noise came nearer and nearer. "oh, dear me!" said sammy. "i know what that is. mr. man is cutting the grass in the field. "now all the families that live there will have to move out." sammy sat still and watched to who would be the first to move. he had not been sitting on the wall very long when he saw the whole rabbit family coming out of the field, one behind the other. mrs. rabbit had on her bonnet and shawl. she was carrying baby rabbit in her arms. father rabbit had a big basket. bunny and bobtail and billy were hopping along behind, laughing and talking. "what fun it is to move," said bunny. "i hope we shall find a good home somewhere," said mother rabbit. bunny and bobtail and billy hopped and skipped along. they hopped ahead of father rabbit along the little path that led through the woods. when they came to the stone wall they saw sammy red squirrel. "good-morning," they called. "we are moving to-day. we are looking for a new home. "do you know where we can find one large enough for all of us?" "no," answered sammy. "i know where the house is that mrs. robin left, but that is too small for you." "come, come," called mother rabbit, "we cannot stop to talk. we must find a new home soon. it is dinner time this very minute." so the family of rabbits hopped off along the path. then sammy heard a little squeaking noise and he looked to see where it came from. "squeak, squeak!" said mrs. field mouse. "i was not ready to move. "i did not want to leave my home in the field this week." "we can soon find another home," said mr. field mouse. "here is one right here. this is the very place we are looking for." mr. mouse set his bag down beside a hole that he had found near the stone wall. mrs. mouse looked at the hole and so did all the little mice. "perhaps that will do until we can go back to our home in the sunny field," said mrs. mouse. then she shook her head and wiped a tear from her eye. "oh, dear!" she said. "i know i shall be very lonely here." "but we could not stay in the field," said mr. mouse. "a man was cutting the grass, and i am afraid of that big cutter." "that is so," said mrs. mouse, as she wiped another tear out of her eye. "but i shall be glad when we can move back." "i think this hole will do," said mr. mouse. "i will go in and see." ii sammy sat on the wall and watched the mice. he saw them stop in front of the hole and peep into it. then he saw mr. mouse go in--head, tail and all. "that house belongs to some one else," said sammy. but mr. mouse was in the hole and did not hear what he said. mrs. mouse and the little mice were peeping into the hole and they did not hear what he said. in a minute sammy heard mr. mouse call to his family to follow him. mrs. mouse picked up the bag and started into the hole. all the little mice followed her. sammy sat on the wall watching them. all at once he heard a noise. mrs. mouse heard the noise and jumped back. she dropped the bag, and it flew open. everything spilled out on the ground. the next minute mr. mouse came scrambling out of the hole. he had lost off his glasses, and his cap was gone. "oh, oh, oh! that is no home for us. some one lives there, now," he said. "who, who, who?" asked all the little mice at once. mr. toad came out to the edge of the hole, winking and blinking. "i do," he said. "this is my home. who came to visit me?" "i told you that some one lived there," chattered sammy red squirrel. "i told you, but you would not listen to me." "well, there is no harm done," said mr. mouse. "i just paid mr. toad a visit." "we must find a home any way," said mrs. mouse. "if we stay here the cat will catch us." "there comes the cat now," said sammy. "she heard mr. mouse squeal when he came out of the hole." when the mice heard that the cat was coming, what a scampering there was. it did not take the whole family of mice long to find a home under a big stone. sammy jumped off the wall and ran up into the pine tree. the cat came along the path very slowly. "meow, meow!" she said to herself. "i must find something for breakfast." but she did not find the little mice. they were hiding away under the big stone. and she did not find sammy. he was safe in the pine tree. of course she knew where the mice were hiding. she saw them when they ran into the hole. but the stone was too heavy for her to move. she sat down beside the hole and waited and waited, but not one little mouse put out his nose. at last the cat grew tired of waiting, and walked back along the path to the house. she found a saucer of milk on the kitchen floor. and the best of it was that it could not run away and hide like the mice and squirrels. a summer shower i "rain, rain, rain!" called robin redbreast. "rain, rain, rain! i wish it would rain." the pretty flowers heard the robin calling for rain. they lifted up their heads and listened. they were wishing it would rain, too. the ground was so dry they could not find a drop of water to drink. mr. green frog wished it would rain. the brook was almost dry, and he did not like that very well. "rain, rain, rain!" robin redbreast called again. "don't call for rain," said bunny rabbit. "i like to have the sun shine all the time." "so do i," said sammy red squirrel. "i do not like to have it rain on my fur coat." "see how the flowers hang down their heads," said the robin. "i am sure they would like to have a drink of fresh water." "the flowers are sleepy," said bunny. "that is why they hang their heads." "quack, quack, quack!" said mrs. duck. "come, children, we will go down to the brook." the duck and all the little ducks waddled across the road and into the meadow. bunny saw them coming and hopped over to meet them. "good-morning, mrs. duck," he said. "where are you going?" "we are going to the brook to have a swim," said the duck. "will you come with us?? "no, no!" answered bunny. "i can not swim. you did not teach me." "perhaps i could teach you this morning," said the duck. "there is not much water in the brook to-day." "i don't want to learn to swim," answered bunny, and he hopped off to find bobtail. but he could not find bobtail, and he could not find billy. so at last bunny sat down under the oak tree to take a nap. mrs. duck and all the little ducks waddled along the path until they came to the brook. it was just a very tiny brook, now. it was really nothing but mud. "oh, dear me!" said mrs. duck "i wish it would rain to-day." "rain, rain, rain!" called robin redbreast. "i wish it would rain." "i think it will rain," said mr. green frog. "and i think it will rain to-day." [illustration: "i think it will rain to-day."] mrs. duck let the little ducks play in the muddy brook. they pushed their flat bills into the mud to find something to eat. their little yellow feet were black with mud, but they liked it. mr. sun looked down and smiled at them. he smiled his brightest smile. then a cloud came and hid the sun. a gentle wind began to blow over the tall grass in the field. "bow your heads!" the wind said to the flowers and grass. then the wind puffed out its cheeks and blew harder. it rushed along to the woods. "bow your heads!" it said to the pine trees and the oak trees. they bowed their heads and waved their branches to and fro. the wind blew harder, and the clouds sailed faster and faster across the sky. "it is going to rain," said mrs. duck. "yes," called robin redbreast. "it is going to rain. i know it is. i must fly to the woods until the shower is over. "come, little ducks," said their mother. "we must so back to the barn until the shower is over. i think the wind will blow very hard, and i do not like the wind." so the robin flew to the woods, and the ducks went back to the barn. sammy red squirrel saw the shower coming, and he scampered home as fast as he could go. billy and bobtail were playing in their yard, when the wind rushed by and called to them. "run in, little rabbits," said the wind. "i am bringing a shower. run in or you will get your fur coats wet." so billy and bobtail hopped into the house and curled up to take a nap until the shower was over. ii the wind puffed out his cheeks and blew harder and harder. the clouds sailed across the sky faster and faster. it was almost as dark as night. and bunny slept on, under the big oak tree. patter, patter, patter! the rain drops fell on the oak leaves. easter and faster they fell. in a few minutes the leaves were wet. then the water began to fall down on the ground at the foot of the tree. one great big drop fell on bunny's nose. then another fell on his ear. he waked up with a start. "what is the matter?" he said. "what is the matter?" he opened his eyes wide and then he knew what was the matter. "oh, dear me!" he said to himself. "robin redbreast has her wish at last. it is raining hard." faster and faster the rain drops fell from the black clouds. the ground was soon wet under the oak tree. and bunny was wet, too. but he could not go home. he knew better than to leave the oak tree and skip out into the field. so he curled himself up in a very tiny ball and waited for the shower to be over. it grew lighter and lighter. the wind stopped blowing, and at last mr. sun peeped out from behind the cloud. he looked right down on bunny, and laughed to see how he was rolled up in such a tiny ball. "cheer up, cheer up!" sang robin redbreast. "that was a fine rain. i am going to take a bath in that puddle of water." mr. green frog came out of his hole. "croak, croak!" he said. "that was a fine rain. i like to see the water running in the brook again." [illustration: "croak, croak!" said mr. green frog.] bunny jumped up and shook himself. he was just as wet as he could be. his feet were wet. his back was wet. and his nice long ears were wet. he jumped up and shook himself. then he started off toward home. on his way he met mrs. duck and all the little ducks. they were going to the brook to have a swim. "that was a fine rain," mrs. duck called to bunny. "just see how the flowers hold up their heads." but bunny did not look at the flowers. he could not see why anything liked to be wet. "that was a fine rain," said mrs. duck, again. "that was a fine rain." "perhaps it was," said bunny. "but i like best to have the sun shine." and then, without saying another word, bunny hopped off home. mrs. duck and the little ducks went to the brook to have a swim in the fresh water. and robin redbreast took a bath in the puddle under the oak tree. sammy's flying machine i sammy red squirrel was sitting on the stone wall eating a nut. "caw, caw!" called blacky crow, as he flew over the field. "caw, caw, caw!" he called. "what are you doing, sammy?" sammy stopped eating the nut, and looked up to see who was talking to him. he saw blacky crow sailing round and round over his head. "i am eating my breakfast," he answered. "would you like to have a nut to eat, too?" "oh, no," answered blacky crow. "i can find something better than that. "i am going to the pasture now to get my breakfast." then blacky crow flapped his big wings and flew far, far away. sammy watched the crow fly over the tallest tree and out of sight. "i wish i could fly," he said to himself. "i know i could if i had some wings." just then a flock of sparrows flew over head. "twitter, twitter!" they said. "twitter, twitter, twitter!" sammy watched the sparrows flying until they were out of sight. "i know i could fly," he said to himself again, "if i had some wings. "perhaps i could make some wings," he thought. just then something hit sammy on the head. he looked up to see what it was, and there at his feet lay an oak leaf. he looked up in the top of the tree. west wind flew by and shook the branches of the tree very gently. and another leaf floated softly down to the ground beside its brother. sammy sat there watching the leaves for a few minutes. then he jumped up and clapped his hands. "i know what i can do," he said. "i can make some wings for myself out of those oak leaves. "i will ask all the other squirrels to come and watch me fly." sammy hunted on the ground until he found two very large oak leaves. "i can hold them out with my front paws," he said. "i think they will look just like wings." sammy put the two leaves on the ground and covered them with a stone. he was not going to let west wind carry them away. then he scampered off to tell all the other squirrels what he was going to do. he told all the red squirrels first. he told them he was going to fly from the big oak tree. "if you wish to see me fly," he said, "you must be at the tree in a few minutes." all the red squirrels scampered off to get the best seats among the branches of the oak tree. sammy saw bobby gray squirrel and told him to ask all the gray squirrels to come and see him fly. then sammy found bunny rabbit. when bunny heard what sammy was going to do, he wanted to try to fly, too. "you are much too large for my wings," said sammy. "you would have to go to mr. man's garden and ask him for some of the leaves from the rhubarb plants." blacky crow was flying over the field. he heard sammy tell bunny that he was going to fly. "ho, ho!" he laughed, "i should like to see sammy fly with those oak-leaf wings. "i will fly to the oak tree this very minute." as he flew over the meadow he saw the sparrows and told them where he was going. they wanted to go, too. every one wanted to go and watch sammy fly. ii when they were all seated, sammy picked up the two leaves he had found and skipped gaily up the tree. he ran up the tree and out on one of the longest branches. "now, watch me!" he called to all his friends. "see me fly just like a bird." sammy took one leaf in each of his front paws and held them out as far as he could. he stood on the very end of the branch for just one minute. he saw that every one was watching him. "you must flap your wings," called blacky crow. "hop off the branch," called one of the sparrows. so sammy flapped his wings, and then he hopped off the branch. but, oh, dear me! the wings would not hold sammy up in the air. sammy forgot to hold his wings out straight and they hung down at his side without a flutter. and down to the ground sammy fell. [illustration: down to the ground sammy fell.] bump! he came down at the foot of the oak tree. he almost fell on top of bunny rabbit. but bunny saw him coming and jumped out of the way just in time. sammy lay very still where he had fallen. all the squirrels ran down to see if he had hurt himself. bobby gray squirrel ran to pick the fallen bird up from the ground. sammy had given his nose such a bump that it was all black and blue. he had hurt his paw. and his make-believe wings were all crushed and broken. sammy rubbed his nose and then he looked at his friends. "i don't believe oak leaves make good wings," he said. "no," said the tiniest sparrow, "the best wings are made of feathers." "caw, caw!" said blacky crow. "my wings are made of feathers. see how i can fly." then blacky crow flapped his big wings and flew away. the sparrows flew away, too. all the squirrels scampered off to hunt for nuts. and the rabbits went back to their home to take a nap. sammy was left sitting alone on the old stone wall. every few minutes he rubbed his poor little nose. and as he rubbed his nose he thought: "flying may be fun for birds, and swimming may be fun for ducks. "but running and jumping among the branches of the big oak tree is more fun for squirrels." the cabbage patch i "oh, dear me!" said billy. "i am so hungry. i wish i could find something good to eat." "i know where there is a big cabbage patch," said bunny. "where, where?" asked billy. "where, where?" asked bobtail. "follow me," said bunny, "and i will show you." "is it far?" asked billy. "no," said bunny. "it is not very far,--just down in mr. man's garden." "i think i will stay here," said billy. "this clover is very good." so billy stayed and ate the clover, but bobtail and bunny hopped off down the road. they hopped along the road until they came to mr. man's barn. then they stopped to listen. bunny sat up straight and held up his long ears. bobtail sat up straight and held up his long ears. they listened and listened, but they did not hear a sound. "i think jip is asleep in the house," said bunny. "i think mr. man is eating his dinner," said bobtail. "let's hurry," said bunny. "we can reach the garden without any one seeing us, i am sure." so the two little rabbits laid their ears down on their heads and hopped away. they hopped behind the barn. mr. rooster saw them coming. "cock-a-doodle-doo!" he said. "who are you? where are you going in such a hurry?" "we are going to the garden to get our dinner," said bunny. "mr. man never lets me go to the garden," said mr. rooster. "mr. man never lets me go to the garden if he knows about it," laughed bunny. "cock-a-doodle-doo!" said the rooster, as he flapped his wings and flew up on the fence. "please do not make so much noise," begged bobtail. "mr. man will hear you and come out to see what is the matter." but the rooster just flapped his big wings and crowed again. "come," said bunny. "this is no place for us. "let's hop into the garden and get some cabbage." ii the two rabbits hopped off across the yard and into the garden. there they found the biggest cabbages they had ever seen. there were rows and rows of them. they were great big green cabbages. how good they did look to the hungry little rabbits! "i aim going to eat this one," said bunny. and he stopped at a big, big cabbage at the end of one long row. bobtail picked out a big one for himself and began to nibble the sweet leaves. nibble, nibble, nibble! not a word did the little rabbits speak. they could not talk. they were so busy eating that they could not say a word. nibble, nibble, nibble! how still it was in the garden! bunny heard the bees humming as they flew among the flowers. once blacky crow flew over and called to the rabbits. but he did not fly down to the garden. there was nothing there for him to eat, now. he liked the corn when it had just peeped out of the ground. then it was tender and sweet, and he often pulled it up for his dinner. nibble, nibble, nibble! how still it was everywhere. then all at once there was a noise. it was a noise the rabbits knew too well. "bow-wow-wow!" said jip, as he bounded across the field. "bow-wow-wow! i think some one is in my master's garden." bunny and bobtail knew who was coming. they did not have to wait and see. off through the garden they hopped. they hopped so fast that they were soon out of sight. but jip knew where they had gone, and he ran after them, barking louder and louder at every step. "oh, dear me!" cried bobtail. "what shall we do? jip will catch us before we reach home." "follow me," said bunny, "i know where there is a hole big enough for both of us to hide." so bobtail followed bunny. they hopped across the field and into the woods. "bow-wow-wow!" said jip. "i am going to catch you this time." and then, all at once, jip could not see the rabbits anywhere. they had hopped into a hole under the big rock at the foot of the oak tree. they hopped into the hole and then they were safe. jip could not reach them. he sat down beside the hole to wait until they came out, but they were too wise to come out. iii jip waited and waited, and the rabbits waited and waited, too. at last jip grew tired of watching the hole and ran off home. then the two rabbits knew it was safe for them to go home, too. bunny put his nose out and looked around. there was no one in sight. "i am going now," he said to bobtail. "jip has gone away." and then bunny started to get out of the hole. he put out his head, but he could not get any farther. "what is the matter? what are you waiting for? is jip coming back?" asked bobtail. but bunny did not answer. he just kept on wiggling and twisting. he twisted and wiggled, twisted and wiggled. but he could not get out of that hole. at last he pulled his head back through the hole. then he sat down and looked at bobtail. "what shall we do?" he said. "the hole has grown small since we came through it." "perhaps i can get out," said bobtail. "let me try." so bobtail put his head out and then he hopped out the rest of the way. "i'm out," he called to bunny. "you can get out, i am sure." bobtail hopped off home leaving bunny to get out the best way he could. of course bunny got out; but he scratched his poor little nose and he scratched his back. he hurt his long ears and he hurt his foot. but he did get out at last. and when he was safe on the outside of the hole he turned around and looked at it. "i'll never go in there again," he said as he rubbed his nose. "i thought it was a big hole, but i must be bigger than the hole." then bunny hopped off home. mother rabbit was standing at the door watching for him. bobtail and billy were watching, too. "how did you get out of the hole?" they asked. "this is the way i got out," said bunny, and he pointed to his poor little scratched nose. when mother rabbit saw that bunny had hurt himself she took him into the house. she gave him some hot cabbage soup. then she wrapped his nose up in flannel and made him stay in bed a whole day until he was all well again. [illustration: she wrapped his nose up in flannel.] the white rabbit i it was a warm summer day. bunny and billy were over in the meadow eating clover. mother rabbit and bobtail were in the garden eating cabbage. billy was fond of cabbage, too. but the garden was far away, across the field and over the other side of the road. so billy ate clover in the meadow. bunny had eaten cabbage the day before. so he ate clover in the meadow with billy. the two little rabbits nibbled at the tender leaves. "i have had enough to last me all day," said bunny. "now let's go and play." "oh, no!" said billy. "i am going home and take a nap." "oh, do come and play with me," said bunny. but billy only shook his head and hopped off toward home. bunny looked around to see if there was any one to play with. he could not see any of his friends. "i think i will go over to the garden and find mother and bobtail," he said to himself. now when bunny thought of anything he always did it the very next minute. so he hopped off as fast he could go. he hopped across the field and across the road. when he came to the barn he stopped to see if mr. man or jip were anywhere in sight. "cock-a-doodle-doo!" called the rooster, who was sitting on the fence. [illustration: "cock-a-doodle-doo!" called the rooster.] "where are you going so fast this bright day?" "i am going to the garden again," said bunny. "mother and bobtail are there eating cabbage." bunny hopped along past the hen-yard fence, and into the orchard. all at once he stopped. he saw something in the grass ahead of him. it was white and round and furry. and it had two long ears just like his own. bunny stood very still and looked and looked. "that must be a snow rabbit," he said to himself. "but i never saw a snow rabbit in the summer. i am sure this hot sun would melt the snow." just then the white rabbit saw bunny. "who are you?" he asked. "i never saw you before." "i never saw you," said bunny. "where did you come from?" "i live in a little house near the barn," said the white rabbit. "jack left the gate open this morning when he fed me, and so i thought i would take a walk." "do you like to live in a little house?" asked bunny. "oh, yes," answered the white rabbit. "i always have something to eat and i am never cold. "and when jack forgets to close the gate, i have a good play in the field." "i live in the woods," said bunny. "my door is never closed, and i can run out any time i wish. "but sometimes i am hungry, and sometimes i am cold." "come and live with me," said the white rabbit. "there is room enough in my house for two." now bunny knew he would not like to live in a house all the time, but he thought he might go and visit the white rabbit. so bunny and whitie, as bunny called him, hopped off toward the barn. "that is my home," said the white rabbit, and he pointed to a little house under the apple tree. there was a yard in front of the house. and there was a fence around the yard,--a fence with a gate that could be shut and locked. bunny saw the house and he hopped along after whitie. but he was frightened. he had never been so near the barn before. what if mr. man or jip should see him. ii at last they reached whitie's house and the two little rabbits hopped through the gate. "oh, see these cabbage leaves," said whitie. "jack left them here for my dinner." but bunny did not look at the cabbage leaves, for just at that moment he heard jip barking. and then he heard jack talking to the dog. poor bunny's heart began to beat very fast. "what shall i do? what shall i do?" he said. "jack and jip will not hurt you," said whitie. "i think jack is coming to close the gate." bunny hid himself in one corner of the house and held his breath for fear jack would see him. "why, whitie!" bunny heard jack say, "i left your gate open this morning. i must close it now or you will be taking a walk in the garden." jack closed the gate, and bunny was caught. when jack had gone away, whitie called to bunny to come out in the yard. "come and eat some of these good cabbage leaves," he said. but bunny could not eat. he could only sit and look at the closed gate. "i want to go home," he said to whitie. "i don't like to stay in this yard all the time." "but you will never be hungry here," said whitie. "come and eat something now." bunny was not hungry. he could not eat. all day long he sat in the house. he wondered what bobtail and billy were doing. he wondered if mother rabbit was hunting for him. just before dark he heard jack coming to see whitie again. he did not hear jip barking. "perhaps jack is alone," thou| bunny. "if he is i think i can get away." he sat very still and listened. then he peeped out and saw jack coming across the grass. he was all alone. the dog was not running along beside him. bunny turned around and looked at whitie. "good-by," he said. "i am going to hop out when jack opens the gate. "you have a very good home here. but i like my home in the woods much better. "sometime when you run away come and see me." just then jack opened the gate and out jumped bunny! jack was so frightened that he dropped whitie's supper on the ground. he looked around to see what had flashed by him so quickly. but bunny was out of sight! he did not stop or look around until he was safe in his own home. "where have you been?" asked mother rabbit. "i thought you were lost." "i thought so, too," said bunny. "i went to visit the white rabbit who lives in a little house under the apple tree. "and then jack came and shut the gate and i could not get away." "oh, bunny, bunny!" said mother rabbit. "i thought you were too wise to get caught in a trap." "i am now," bunny answered, and he ran out to have a game of tag with billy and bobtail. teddy bear i teddy bear lay on the grass in the meadow. he lay there all day and he lay there all night. baby may had dropped him there and forgotten all about him. so the little brown bear lay on the soft grass in the meadow. blacky crow flew over the meadow and called to the bear. "caw, caw!" he said. "what are you doing here?" "i thought you liked to stay in the playroom with the rest of the toys." of course teddy did like to stay in the playroom. but if may dropped him in the meadow how could he get back to the house? mrs. duck and all the little ducks waddled along the path that led to the brook. "quack, quack!" said mrs. duck. "look here, look here! where did you come from? what are you doing in this meadow?" [illustration: "quack, quack! where did _you_ come from?"] teddy stared at the duck with his little black eyes, but he did not say a word. perhaps he did not like to tell her that may had forgotten all about her little playmate. "quack, quack!" said mrs. duck. "i teach my children to speak when they are spoken to." teddy just stared and stared, but he did not say a word. "very well," said mrs. duck, "i will go to the pond and see mr. green frog. "i will ask him if he knows who you are." so off to the pond waddled mrs. duck, and all her children waddled after her. "bow-wow!" barked jip as he ran through the meadow. "i am trying to find some one to play with me. "i wish i could find bunny rabbit. i should like to have a game of chase with him." just then jip saw teddy bear. "bow-wow-wow!" he said. "what are you doing in this meadow? "i thought you lived in the playroom." teddy bear stared at jip with his little black eyes, but he did not say a word. i am sure he wished the dog would run away and not talk to him. but jip wanted to play. he thought it was fun to play with teddy. it was fun to pick him up and toss him into the air. it was fun to hide him where may could not find him. jip picked teddy up in his mouth and ran along through the meadow. he ran through the meadow and into the woods. "bow-wow, bow-wow!" he said. when jip opened his mouth to bark, teddy hopped out and fell to the ground. jip picked him up again. he tossed him up in the air and then caught him in his mouth. he shook him, and shook him, but teddy did not say a word. then jip started along the path in the woods. "i am going to hide teddy where may will never find him," he said to himself. "then i can have him to play with every day." but the next minute jip forgot all about teddy bear, because he saw bobby gray squirrel. bobby gray squirrel wag skipping over the ground hunting for nuts. jip liked to play tag with bobby, so he dropped teddy bear and ran after the little gray squirrel. but bobby saw the dog coming and skipped up into the oak tree. he sat down on the lowest branch and began to scold jip. "chatter, chatter, chatter!" he said. "why did you run after me? i had just found a nut for my breakfast." "bow-wow!" said jip. "come down out of that tree and play chase with me." but bobby would not come down and so at last jip ran away home. he forgot about teddy and left him under the tree. when jip had run away, bobby came down out of the tree. he saw teddy and ran over to speak to him. "good-morning," bobby said to the little brown bear. "what are you doing under this tree?" teddy stared at the squirrel with his little black eyes, but he did not say a word. "my mother taught me to speak when i am spoken to," said bobby. but teddy did not speak, and so at last bobby ran away and left him. ii oh, teddy was so lonely! he wished that he were back in the playroom with the other toys. he thought of jack-in-the-box, and the bright tin soldiers. he thought of the new automobile and of all the pretty dolls. then at last he fell asleep and dreamed that he was back in the playroom. all at once some one took him by the arm. "wake up and talk to me," said bunny rabbit. "i want some one to play with me." teddy stared at bunny with his little black eyes, but he did not say a word. bunny shook him and shook him. "now will you speak to me?" he said. but teddy bear would not open his mouth. "well, well," said bunny. "i don't like to talk to you. i will find some other playmate." "bow-wow, bow-wow!" said jip. "i will play with you, bunny." but when bunny heard jip coming along the path he forgot all about playing. he hopped off down the path as fast as he could go. he did not look around once to see where the dog had gone. jack came along the path with jip. when he came to the tree he saw teddy bear lying on the ground. "why, teddy," he said, "how did you get away out here all alone?" teddy stared at jack with his little black eyes, but he did not say a word. "bow-wow, bow-wow!" barked jip. he was trying to tell jack that he put teddy under the tree. but jack did not listen. he just picked teddy up in his arms and carried him back to the house. he took the little brown bear up to the playroom. may was sitting on the floor playing with her dolls. teddy was so happy to get back home that he jumped out of jack's arms. "oh, oh!" cried may. "you dropped poor teddy bear." she picked teddy up and gave him a great bear hug. "why did you run away from me?" she asked. teddy stared at may with his little black eyes, but he did not say a word. he just stared at everything in the playroom, and thought of the story he would tell his friends about his day in the woods. bobby's party. i bang, bang, bang! snap, snap, snap! all day long bobby gray squirrel hid in his nest because he did not like the noise. he poked his nose out once or twice to see what was the matter. but each time he heard a loud bang, snap! then he jumped back in his nest to hide. all day long he lay there and listened. and all day long the children played with their fire-crackers. fourth of july is fun for boys and girls. but it is not so much fun for rabbits and squirrels. at last it was quiet. bobby had not heard a sound for a long time. so he peeped out of his door once more. the sun was not shining now. the big round moon was looking down to see if all the children were in bed. he was looking to see if all the rabbits and squirrels were in bed, too. bobby saw the moon and then he skipped back into his house once more. "oh, dear me!" he said to himself. "i am hungry. but i must wait until the sun comes up again. "i am afraid i could not find anything to eat by the light of the moon." bobby went to sleep and the next time he opened his eyes it was morning. he jumped up and ran out of doors. he ran down the branch of the oak tree and off through the woods. "good-morning," bunny called to him, as he ran past the three rabbits who were eating clover for breakfast. "this is a good morning," said bobby. "it is so still and quiet." bobby ran on and on. every few minutes he stopped to hunt for some hidden nut. but he could not find many. at last he said to himself, "i am going to the orchard to get an apple. "i like to eat the seeds. i might find an apple on one of the trees." bobby skipped through the woods and across the field. he came to the stone wall that ran along one side of the road. bobby jumped up on the highest stone to look around and see if any one were in sight. he looked up the road, and he looked down the road. but no one was in sight. he jumped down from the wall, and then he stood still. right at his feet wag a paper bag. and the bag smelled so good that the little squirrel stopped to take another sniff. "that smells like peanuts," bobby said to himself. "i will make a hole in the bag and see what is inside." bobby took hold of the bag with his sharp little teeth and tore a big round hole. he tore a hole big enough to put his paw through. and then he was just like little jack horner. he put in his thumb and pulled out a plum, and said, "what a big squirrel am i." he pulled out the kind of plum he liked best of all. it was a peanut. he pulled out one peanut, and then he pulled out another. "this bag is full of peanuts," he said to himself. "there are so many here i can never eat them all." [illustration: "this bag is full of peanuts."] "i know what i can do. i can have a party." now squirrels must like to have parties just as well as little boys and girls. because when bobby thought of the party he jumped up and down and clapped his hands. then he started off to invite all the other gray squirrels. but he stopped when he reached the top of the wall. he had just thought that some one might come while he was away and find the peanuts. "i will hide them in the wall," he said to himself. "then they will be out of sight." so bobby jumped down again and began to carry the nuts to a safe place. it took so long, and bobby worked so hard that he had to go back home to take a nap when he had finished. ii bobby gray squirrel slept and slept. but sammy red squirrel was not asleep. he had been wide awake all day. he had seen bobby hiding the peanuts in the old stone wall. he was sitting up in the maple tree watching him all the time. "i wonder what bobby is hiding all those nuts for," he said to himself. "i think i will wait here and see what he is going to do." so for a long time sammy sat still in the maple tree watching bobby work. when the last nut was hidden bobby skipped off toward home. "now is my chance," said sammy. "i am going to play a trick on bobby." sammy skipped down the tree and ran along the wall to the place where the nuts were hidden. he took the nuts out of their hiding place and carried them to a hole behind the big rock. it took a long time to do it, but sammy liked to play tricks. back and forth he ran until the very last nut was stored away in the new hiding place. then he skipped around to tell the red squirrels about the joke he had played on bobby gray squirrel. "run to the maple tree near the stone wall," said sammy. "you will see what bobby does when he finds his nuts are gone." so the red squirrels all ran to the maple tree to watch for the gray squirrels to come to the party. at last bobby waked up. and the minute he opened his eyes he thought of the peanuts. he skipped down the tree and ran to tell his friends about the party. "meet me at the old stone wall," he said. "that is where i am going to have my party." so the gray squirrels all ran along to the stone wall. the red squirrels were in the maple tree, but the gray squirrels did not see them. as soon as bobby came to the stone wall all his friends ran to meet him. "follow me," said bobby. "i will show you the biggest pile of peanuts you ever saw." so the gray squirrels skipped along after bobby. but when they came to the storehouse they all stopped and looked at the hole. not one peanut could they see. "i wonder who found my nuts," said bobby. "i thought i had put them where they could not be found." the gray squirrels sat down in a row and looked very sad. just then they heard a sound up in the maple tree. they looked up and saw all the red squirrels laughing. "ho, ho, ho!" sammy was laughing. "that was a good joke. i took your nuts and hid them in another hole." "ho, ho, ho!" all the red squirrels were laughing. they all laughed again, and then sammy said, "i will give a peanut party. follow me." sammy led the red squirrels and the gray squirrels to the place where he had hidden the nuts. and what a party they had! they ate all the nuts they wanted, and then carried some home for dinner the next day. [illustration: they ate all the nuts they wanted.] [illustration] the tale of mr. tod by beatrix potter _author of "the tale of peter rabbit," etc._ [illustration] frederick warne & co., inc. new york copyright, by frederick warne & co. _copyright renewed _ (_all rights reserved_) printed and bound in the usa rose printing co inc isbn o (c) for francis william of ulva ----someday! [illustration] the tale of mr. tod i have made many books about well-behaved people. now, for a change, i am going to make a story about two disagreeable people, called tommy brock and mr. tod. nobody could call mr. tod "nice." the rabbits could not bear him; they could smell him half a mile off. he was of a wandering habit and he had foxey whiskers; they never knew where he would be next. [illustration] one day he was living in a stick-house in the coppice, causing terror to the family of old mr. benjamin bouncer. next day he moved into a pollard willow near the lake, frightening the wild ducks and the water rats. in winter and early spring he might generally be found in an earth amongst the rocks at the top of bull banks, under oatmeal crag. he had half a dozen houses, but he was seldom at home. the houses were not always empty when mr. tod moved _out_; because sometimes tommy brock moved _in_; (without asking leave). tommy brock was a short bristly fat waddling person with a grin; he grinned all over his face. he was not nice in his habits. he ate wasp nests and frogs and worms; and he waddled about by moonlight, digging things up. [illustration] [illustration] his clothes were very dirty; and as he slept in the day-time, he always went to bed in his boots. and the bed which he went to bed in, was generally mr. tod's. now tommy brock did occasionally eat rabbit-pie; but it was only very little young ones occasionally, when other food was really scarce. he was friendly with old mr. bouncer; they agreed in disliking the wicked otters and mr. tod; they often talked over that painful subject. old mr. bouncer was stricken in years. he sat in the spring sunshine outside the burrow, in a muffler; smoking a pipe of rabbit tobacco. he lived with his son benjamin bunny and his daughter-in-law flopsy, who had a young family. old mr. bouncer was in charge of the family that afternoon, because benjamin and flopsy had gone out. [illustration] [illustration] the little rabbit-babies were just old enough to open their blue eyes and kick. they lay in a fluffy bed of rabbit wool and hay, in a shallow burrow, separate from the main rabbit hole. to tell the truth--old mr. bouncer had forgotten them. he sat in the sun, and conversed cordially with tommy brock, who was passing through the wood with a sack and a little spud which he used for digging, and some mole traps. he complained bitterly about the scarcity of pheasants' eggs, and accused mr. tod of poaching them. and the otters had cleared off all the frogs while he was asleep in winter--"i have not had a good square meal for a fortnight, i am living on pig-nuts. i shall have to turn vegetarian and eat my own tail!" said tommy brock. [illustration] it was not much of a joke, but it tickled old mr. bouncer; because tommy brock was so fat and stumpy and grinning. so old mr. bouncer laughed; and pressed tommy brock to come inside, to taste a slice of seed-cake and "a glass of my daughter flopsy's cowslip wine." tommy brock squeezed himself into the rabbit hole with alacrity. [illustration] then old mr. bouncer smoked another pipe, and gave tommy brock a cabbage leaf cigar which was so very strong that it made tommy brock grin more than ever; and the smoke filled the burrow. old mr. bouncer coughed and laughed; and tommy brock puffed and grinned. and mr. bouncer laughed and coughed, and shut his eyes because of the cabbage smoke.... when flopsy and benjamin came back--old mr. bouncer woke up. tommy brock and all the young rabbit-babies had disappeared! mr. bouncer would not confess that he had admitted anybody into the rabbit hole. but the smell of badger was undeniable; and there were round heavy footmarks in the sand. he was in disgrace; flopsy wrung her ears, and slapped him. [illustration] benjamin bunny set off at once after tommy brock. there was not much difficulty in tracking him; he had left his foot-mark and gone slowly up the winding footpath through the wood. here he had rooted up the moss and wood sorrel. there he had dug quite a deep hole for dog darnel; and had set a mole trap. a little stream crossed the way. benjamin skipped lightly over dry-foot; the badger's heavy steps showed plainly in the mud. the path led to a part of the thicket where the trees had been cleared; there were leafy oak stumps, and a sea of blue hyacinths--but the smell that made benjamin stop, was _not_ the smell of flowers! [illustration] [illustration] mr. tod's stick house was before him and, for once, mr. tod was at home. there was not only a foxey flavour in proof of it--there was smoke coming out of the broken pail that served as a chimney. benjamin bunny sat up, staring; his whiskers twitched. inside the stick house somebody dropped a plate, and said something. benjamin stamped his foot, and bolted. he never stopped till he came to the other side of the wood. apparently tommy brock had turned the same way. upon the top of the wall, there were again the marks of badger; and some ravellings of a sack had caught on a briar. benjamin climbed over the wall, into a meadow. he found another mole trap newly set; he was still upon the track of tommy brock. it was getting late in the afternoon. other rabbits were coming out to enjoy the evening air. one of them in a blue coat by himself, was busily hunting for dandelions.--"cousin peter! peter rabbit, peter rabbit!" shouted benjamin bunny. the blue coated rabbit sat up with pricked ears-- [illustration] "whatever is the matter, cousin benjamin? is it a cat? or john stoat ferret?" "no, no, no! he's bagged my family--tommy brock--in a sack--have you seen him?" "tommy brock? how many, cousin benjamin?" "seven, cousin peter, and all of them twins! did he come this way? please tell me quick!" [illustration] "yes, yes; not ten minutes since ... he said they were _caterpillars_; i did think they were kicking rather hard, for caterpillars." "which way? which way has he gone, cousin peter?" "he had a sack with something 'live in it; i watched him set a mole trap. let me use my mind, cousin benjamin; tell me from the beginning." benjamin did so. [illustration] "my uncle bouncer has displayed a lamentable want of discretion for his years;" said peter reflectively, "but there are two hopeful circumstances. your family is alive and kicking; and tommy brock has had refreshment. he will probably go to sleep, and keep them for breakfast." "which way?" "cousin benjamin, compose yourself. i know very well which way. because mr. tod was at home in the stick-house he has gone to mr. tod's other house, at the top of bull banks. i partly know, because he offered to leave any message at sister cottontail's; he said he would be passing." (cottontail had married a black rabbit, and gone to live on the hill). peter hid his dandelions, and accompanied the afflicted parent, who was all of a twitter. they crossed several fields and began to climb the hill; the tracks of tommy brock were plainly to be seen. he seemed to have put down the sack every dozen yards, to rest. "he must be very puffed; we are close behind him, by the scent. what a nasty person!" said peter. [illustration] [illustration] the sunshine was still warm and slanting on the hill pastures. half way up, cottontail was sitting in her doorway, with four or five half-grown little rabbits playing about her; one black and the others brown. cottontail had seen tommy brock passing in the distance. asked whether her husband was at home she replied that tommy brock had rested twice while she watched him. he had nodded, and pointed to the sack, and seemed doubled up with laughing.--"come away, peter; he will be cooking them; come quicker!" said benjamin bunny. they climbed up and up;--"he was at home; i saw his black ears peeping out of the hole." "they live too near the rocks to quarrel with their neighbours. come on, cousin benjamin!" when they came near the wood at the top of bull banks, they went cautiously. the trees grew amongst heaped up rocks; and there, beneath a crag--mr. tod had made one of his homes. it was at the top of a steep bank; the rocks and bushes overhung it. the rabbits crept up carefully, listening and peeping. [illustration] [illustration] this house was something between a cave, a prison, and a tumbledown pig-stye. there was a strong door, which was shut and locked. the setting sun made the window panes glow like red flame; but the kitchen fire was not alight. it was neatly laid with dry sticks, as the rabbits could see, when they peeped through the window. benjamin sighed with relief. [illustration] but there were preparations upon the kitchen table which made him shudder. there was an immense empty pie-dish of blue willow pattern, and a large carving knife and fork, and a chopper. at the other end of the table was a partly unfolded tablecloth, a plate, a tumbler, a knife and fork, salt-cellar, mustard and a chair--in short, preparations for one person's supper. [illustration] no person was to be seen, and no young rabbits. the kitchen was empty and silent; the clock had run down. peter and benjamin flattened their noses against the window, and stared into the dusk. then they scrambled round the rocks to the other side of the house. it was damp and smelly, and overgrown with thorns and briars. the rabbits shivered in their shoes. "oh my poor rabbit babies! what a dreadful place; i shall never see them again!" sighed benjamin. they crept up to the bedroom window. it was closed and bolted like the kitchen. but there were signs that this window had been recently open; the cobwebs were disturbed, and there were fresh dirty footmarks upon the window-sill. the room inside was so dark, that at first they could make out nothing; but they could hear a noise--a slow deep regular snoring grunt. and as their eyes became accustomed to the darkness, they perceived that somebody was asleep on mr. tod's bed, curled up under the blanket.--"he has gone to bed in his boots," whispered peter. [illustration] benjamin, who was all of a twitter, pulled peter off the window-sill. tommy brock's snores continued, grunty and regular from mr. tod's bed. nothing could be seen of the young family. the sun had set; an owl began to hoot in the wood. there were many unpleasant things lying about, that had much better have been buried; rabbit bones and skulls, and chickens' legs and other horrors. it was a shocking place, and very dark. they went back to the front of the house, and tried in every way to move the bolt of the kitchen window. they tried to push up a rusty nail between the window sashes; but it was of no use, especially without a light. [illustration] they sat side by side outside the window, whispering and listening. in half an hour the moon rose over the wood. it shone full and clear and cold, upon the house amongst the rocks, and in at the kitchen window. but alas, no little rabbit babies were to be seen! the moonbeams twinkled on the carving knife and the pie dish, and made a path of brightness across the dirty floor. the light showed a little door in a wall beside the kitchen fireplace--a little iron door belonging to a brick oven, of that old-fashioned sort that used to be heated with faggots of wood. and presently at the same moment peter and benjamin noticed that whenever they shook the window--the little door opposite shook in answer. the young family were alive; shut up in the oven! [illustration] benjamin was so excited that it was a mercy he did not awake tommy brock, whose snores continued solemnly in mr. tod's bed. but there really was not very much comfort in the discovery. they could not open the window; and although the young family was alive--the little rabbits were quite incapable of letting themselves out; they were not old enough to crawl. after much whispering, peter and benjamin decided to dig a tunnel. they began to burrow a yard or two lower down the bank. they hoped that they might be able to work between the large stones under the house; the kitchen floor was so dirty that it was impossible to say whether it was made of earth or flags. [illustration] they dug and dug for hours. they could not tunnel straight on account of stones; but by the end of the night they were under the kitchen floor. benjamin was on his back, scratching upwards. peter's claws were worn down; he was outside the tunnel, shuffling sand away. he called out that it was morning--sunrise; and that the jays were making a noise down below in the woods. benjamin bunny came out of the dark tunnel, shaking the sand from his ears; he cleaned his face with his paws. every minute the sun shone warmer on the top of the hill. in the valley there was a sea of white mist, with golden tops of trees showing through. again from the fields down below in the mist there came the angry cry of a jay--followed by the sharp yelping bark of a fox! then those two rabbits lost their heads completely. they did the most foolish thing that they could have done. they rushed into their short new tunnel, and hid themselves at the top end of it, under mr. tod's kitchen floor. [illustration] [illustration] mr. tod was coming up bull banks, and he was in the very worst of tempers. first he had been upset by breaking the plate. it was his own fault; but it was a china plate, the last of the dinner service that had belonged to his grandmother, old vixen tod. then the midges had been very bad. and he had failed to catch a hen pheasant on her nest; and it had contained only five eggs, two of them addled. mr. tod had had an unsatisfactory night. [illustration] as usual, when out of humour, he determined to move house. first he tried the pollard willow, but it was damp; and the otters had left a dead fish near it. mr. tod likes nobody's leavings but his own. he made his way up the hill; his temper was not improved by noticing unmistakable marks of badger. no one else grubs up the moss so wantonly as tommy brock. [illustration] mr. tod slapped his stick upon the earth and fumed; he guessed where tommy brock had gone to. he was further annoyed by the jay bird which followed him persistently. it flew from tree to tree and scolded, warning every rabbit within hearing that either a cat or a fox was coming up the plantation. once when it flew screaming over his head--mr. tod snapped at it, and barked. he approached his house very carefully, with a large rusty key. he sniffed and his whiskers bristled. the house was locked up, but mr. tod had his doubts whether it was empty. he turned the rusty key in the lock; the rabbits below could hear it. mr. tod opened the door cautiously and went in. [illustration] the sight that met mr. tod's eyes in mr. tod's kitchen made mr. tod furious. there was mr. tod's chair, and mr. tod's pie dish, and his knife and fork and mustard and salt cellar and his table-cloth that he had left folded up in the dresser--all set out for supper (or breakfast)--without doubt for that odious tommy brock. there was a smell of fresh earth and dirty badger, which fortunately overpowered all smell of rabbit. but what absorbed mr. tod's attention was a noise--a deep slow regular snoring grunting noise, coming from his own bed. he peeped through the hinges of the half-open bedroom door. then he turned and came out of the house in a hurry. his whiskers bristled and his coat-collar stood on end with rage. [illustration] for the next twenty minutes mr. tod kept creeping cautiously into the house, and retreating hurriedly out again. by degrees he ventured further in--right into the bedroom. when he was outside the house, he scratched up the earth with fury. but when he was inside--he did not like the look of tommy brock's teeth. he was lying on his back with his mouth open, grinning from ear to ear. he snored peacefully and regularly; but one eye was not perfectly shut. mr. tod came in and out of the bedroom. twice he brought in his walking-stick, and once he brought in the coal-scuttle. but he thought better of it, and took them away. [illustration] when he came back after removing the coal-scuttle, tommy brock was lying a little more sideways; but he seemed even sounder asleep. he was an incurably indolent person; he was not in the least afraid of mr. tod; he was simply too lazy and comfortable to move. mr. tod came back yet again into the bedroom with a clothes line. he stood a minute watching tommy brock and listening attentively to the snores. they were very loud indeed, but seemed quite natural. mr. tod turned his back towards the bed, and undid the window. it creaked; he turned round with a jump. tommy brock, who had opened one eye--shut it hastily. the snores continued. [illustration] mr. tod's proceedings were peculiar, and rather uneasy, (because the bed was between the window and the door of the bedroom). he opened the window a little way, and pushed out the greater part of the clothes line on to the window sill. the rest of the line, with a hook at the end, remained in his hand. tommy brock snored conscientiously. mr. tod stood and looked at him for a minute; then he left the room again. tommy brock opened both eyes, and looked at the rope and grinned. there was a noise outside the window. tommy brock shut his eyes in a hurry. mr. tod had gone out at the front door, and round to the back of the house. on the way, he stumbled over the rabbit burrow. if he had had any idea who was inside it, he would have pulled them out quickly. [illustration] his foot went through the tunnel nearly upon the top of peter rabbit and benjamin, but fortunately he thought that it was some more of tommy brock's work. he took up the coil of line from the sill, listened for a moment, and then tied the rope to a tree. tommy brock watched him with one eye, through the window. he was puzzled. [illustration] [illustration] mr. tod fetched a large heavy pailful of water from the spring, and staggered with it through the kitchen into his bedroom. tommy brock snored industriously, with rather a snort. mr. tod put down the pail beside the bed, took up the end of rope with the hook--hesitated, and looked at tommy brock. the snores were almost apoplectic; but the grin was not quite so big. mr. tod gingerly mounted a chair by the head of the bedstead. his legs were dangerously near to tommy brock's teeth. he reached up and put the end of rope, with the hook, over the head of the tester bed, where the curtains ought to hang. (mr. tod's curtains were folded up, and put away, owing to the house being unoccupied. so was the counterpane. tommy brock was covered with a blanket only.) mr. tod standing on the unsteady chair looked down upon him attentively; he really was a first prize sound sleeper! it seemed as though nothing would waken him--not even the flapping rope across the bed. mr. tod descended safely from the chair, and endeavoured to get up again with the pail of water. he intended to hang it from the hook, dangling over the head of tommy brock, in order to make a sort of shower-bath, worked by a string, through the window. [illustration] but naturally being a thin-legged person (though vindictive and sandy whiskered)--he was quite unable to lift the heavy weight to the level of the hook and rope. he very nearly overbalanced himself. the snores became more and more apoplectic. one of tommy brock's hind legs twitched under the blanket, but still he slept on peacefully. mr. tod and the pail descended from the chair without accident. after considerable thought, he emptied the water into a wash-basin and jug. the empty pail was not too heavy for him; he slung it up wobbling over the head of tommy brock. surely there never was such a sleeper! mr. tod got up and down, down and up on the chair. as he could not lift the whole pailful of water at once, he fetched a milk jug, and ladled quarts of water into the pail by degrees. the pail got fuller and fuller, and swung like a pendulum. occasionally a drop splashed over; but still tommy brock snored regularly and never moved,--except one eye. [illustration] [illustration] at last mr. tod's preparations were complete. the pail was full of water; the rope was tightly strained over the top of the bed, and across the window sill to the tree outside. "it will make a great mess in my bedroom; but i could never sleep in that bed again without a spring cleaning of some sort," said mr. tod. [illustration] mr. tod took a last look at the badger and softly left the room. he went out of the house, shutting the front door. the rabbits heard his footsteps over the tunnel. he ran round behind the house, intending to undo the rope in order to let fall the pailful of water upon tommy brock-- "i will wake him up with an unpleasant surprise," said mr. tod. the moment he had gone, tommy brock got up in a hurry; he rolled mr. tod's dressing-gown into a bundle, put it into the bed beneath the pail of water instead of himself, and left the room also--grinning immensely. he went into the kitchen, lighted the fire and boiled the kettle; for the moment he did not trouble himself to cook the baby rabbits. [illustration] [illustration] when mr. tod got to the tree, he found that the weight and strain had dragged the knot so tight that it was past untying. he was obliged to gnaw it with his teeth. he chewed and gnawed for more than twenty minutes. at last the rope gave way with such a sudden jerk that it nearly pulled his teeth out, and quite knocked him over backwards. [illustration] inside the house there was a great crash and splash, and the noise of a pail rolling over and over. but no screams. mr. tod was mystified; he sat quite still, and listened attentively. then he peeped in at the window. the water was dripping from the bed, the pail had rolled into a corner. in the middle of the bed under the blanket, was a wet flattened _something_--much dinged in, in the middle where the pail had caught it (as it were across the tummy). its head was covered by the wet blanket and it was _not snoring any longer_. there was nothing stirring, and no sound except the drip, drop, drop drip of water trickling from the mattress. [illustration] mr. tod watched it for half an hour; his eyes glistened. then he cut a caper, and became so bold that he even tapped at the window; but the bundle never moved. yes--there was no doubt about it--it had turned out even better than he had planned; the pail had hit poor old tommy brock, and killed him dead! "i will bury that nasty person in the hole which he has dug. i will bring my bedding out, and dry it in the sun," said mr. tod. "i will wash the tablecloth and spread it on the grass in the sun to bleach. and the blanket must be hung up in the wind; and the bed must be thoroughly disinfected, and aired with a warming-pan; and warmed with a hot-water bottle." [illustration] "i will get soft soap, and monkey soap, and all sorts of soap; and soda and scrubbing brushes; and persian powder; and carbolic to remove the smell. i must have a disinfecting. perhaps i may have to burn sulphur." he hurried round the house to get a shovel from the kitchen--"first i will arrange the hole--then i will drag out that person in the blanket...." he opened the door.... tommy brock was sitting at mr. tod's kitchen table, pouring out tea from mr. tod's tea-pot into mr. tod's tea-cup. he was quite dry himself and grinning; and he threw the cup of scalding tea all over mr. tod. [illustration] [illustration] then mr. tod rushed upon tommy brock, and tommy brock grappled with mr. tod amongst the broken crockery, and there was a terrific battle all over the kitchen. to the rabbits underneath it sounded as if the floor would give way at each crash of falling furniture. they crept out of their tunnel, and hung about amongst the rocks and bushes, listening anxiously. [illustration] inside the house the racket was fearful. the rabbit babies in the oven woke up trembling; perhaps it was fortunate they were shut up inside. everything was upset except the kitchen table. and everything was broken, except the mantelpiece and the kitchen fender. the crockery was smashed to atoms. the chairs were broken, and the window, and the clock fell with a crash, and there were handfuls of mr. tod's sandy whiskers. the vases fell off the mantelpiece, the canisters fell off the shelf; the kettle fell off the hob. tommy brock put his foot in a jar of raspberry jam. and the boiling water out of the kettle fell upon the tail of mr. tod. [illustration] [illustration] when the kettle fell, tommy brock, who was still grinning, happened to be uppermost; and he rolled mr. tod over and over like a log, out at the door. then the snarling and worrying went on outside; and they rolled over the bank, and down hill, bumping over the rocks. there will never be any love lost between tommy brock and mr. tod. [illustration] as soon as the coast was clear, peter rabbit and benjamin bunny came out of the bushes-- "now for it! run in, cousin benjamin! run in and get them! while i watch at the door." but benjamin was frightened-- "oh; oh! they are coming back!" "no they are not." "yes they are!" "what dreadful bad language! i think they have fallen down the stone quarry." still benjamin hesitated, and peter kept pushing him-- "be quick, it's all right. shut the oven door, cousin benjamin, so that he won't miss them." decidedly there were lively doings in mr. tod's kitchen! [illustration] at home in the rabbit hole, things had not been quite comfortable. after quarrelling at supper, flopsy and old mr. bouncer had passed a sleepless night, and quarrelled again at breakfast. old mr. bouncer could no longer deny that he had invited company into the rabbit hole; but he refused to reply to the questions and reproaches of flopsy. the day passed heavily. old mr. bouncer, very sulky, was huddled up in a corner, barricaded with a chair. flopsy had taken away his pipe and hidden the tobacco. she had been having a complete turn out and spring-cleaning, to relieve her feelings. she had just finished. old mr. bouncer, behind his chair, was wondering anxiously what she would do next. [illustration] in mr. tod's kitchen, amongst the wreckage, benjamin bunny picked his way to the oven nervously, through a thick cloud of dust. he opened the oven door, felt inside, and found something warm and wriggling. he lifted it out carefully, and rejoined peter rabbit. "i've got them! can we get away? shall we hide, cousin peter?" peter pricked his ears; distant sounds of fighting still echoed in the wood. five minutes afterwards two breathless rabbits came scuttering away down bull banks, half carrying half dragging a sack between them, bumpetty bump over the grass. they reached home safely and burst into the rabbit hole. [illustration] [illustration] great was old mr. bouncer's relief and flopsy's joy when peter and benjamin arrived in triumph with the young family. the rabbit-babies were rather tumbled and very hungry; they were fed and put to bed. they soon recovered. a long new pipe and a fresh supply of rabbit tobacco was presented to mr. bouncer. he was rather upon his dignity; but he accepted. [illustration] old mr. bouncer was forgiven, and they all had dinner. then peter and benjamin told their story--but they had not waited long enough to be able to tell the end of the battle between tommy brock and mr. tod. the end note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original illustrations. see -h.htm or -h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/ / -h/ -h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/ / -h.zip) little jack rabbit and chippy chipmunk by david cory author of little jack rabbit's adventures, little jack rabbit and danny fox, little jack rabbit and the squirrel brothers, little jack rabbit and the big brown bear. _little jack rabbit books_ (trademark registered) illustrated by h. s. barbour new york grosset & dunlap publishers made in the united states of america copyright, , by grosset & dunlap [illustration: chippy chipmunk shows little jack rabbit his stock of nuts.] contents lollypop syrup dr. heron the song of promise spring is here little messenger boy bunny granddaddy bullfrog rat-a-tat-tat busy people mother nature the whistling stove messenger boys a rude interruption photographer crane dr. quack by the bubbling brook happy days the house in the wood the yellow dog tramp prickly thorns bags of peanuts the musical alarm clock more adventures at the farm danny fox chippy chipmunk's store naughty featherhead little jack rabbit's store billy breeze pitter, patter list of illustrations chippy chipmunk shows little jack rabbit his stock of nuts. little jack ate so many cakes that he could not button his jacket. photographer crane got ready to take the picture. little jack and chippy chipmunk meet teddy turtle. little jack rabbit and chippy chipmunk lollypop syrup one day as little jack rabbit was hopping home to the old bramble patch, he came across something sweet. and what do you suppose it was? why, a big tin pail half full of lollypop juice, standing under a little spout that was driven into a yellow lollypop tree. "my, but it tastes good," he said, holding his mouth under the spout to let the sap drip onto his little red tongue. "i wish i had some buckwheat cakes with me." but he didn't, so he took a little glass bottle out of his knapsack and filled it with the sweet juice. but, oh dear me! just then he heard a deep growl. "oh dear and oh dear!" cried little jack rabbit, giving a hop to one side to hide behind an old stump. and then the deep growling voice said again, quick as a wink: "who's stealing my lollypop sap?" "nobody," answered the little rabbit, peeking out from behind the old stump. and then, would you believe it, he hopped out all the way, for there stood the big brown bear. "i'll excuse you this time," said that friendly old bear with a grin. "come into my cave and see all the lollypops i've made from the sap of the lollypop tree." well, there certainly were lots and lots of little lollypops piled on the shelves. "do you make buckwheat cakes?" asked the little rabbit. "every morning," answered the big brown bear, "and i just drown 'em in lollypop syrup!" the little rabbit smacked his lips. "if you'll spend the night, i'll give you buckwheat cakes for breakfast," said the big brown bear. and little jack rabbit did, and ate so many cakes the next morning that he couldn't button up his jacket until the afternoon, when he set out once more for the old bramble patch. [illustration: little jack ate so many cakes that he could not button his jacket.] well, as he was hopping along, all of a sudden, just like that, he heard some one singing: "little jack rabbit goes clippity, clop; little bill bunny goes lippity, lop; little chip chipmunk goes jumpity, jump, over the hollow, moss-covered stump." "why, hello, chippy chipmunk!" cried little jack rabbit, sitting up on his hind legs. "what are you doing out here? is it time for you to come out of your nice warm burrow?" "i guess so," answered the little chipmunk. "old mr. groundhog says so, and he ought to know." "come over," said the little rabbit, taking the bottle of syrup out of his pocket. "do you want to taste something you'd suppose was lollypop juice? open your mouth and shut your eyes and i'll give you the sweetest kind of surprise." but, oh dear me. little jack rabbit dropped the cork by mistake in the little chipmunk's mouth! (did you ever try to get a cork out of a bottle after it had slipped 'way down inside? well, then, just think what a time we'll have with this little chipmunk.) dr. heron "what was that?" asked the little chipmunk as he swallowed the cork. but, goodness me, little jack rabbit was too frightened to answer. he let the glass bottle drop to the ground, smashing it all to smithereens. "the maple syrup was fine," went on chippy chipmunk, "but what was that hard little lump i swallowed?" "oh, please don't swell up and bust!" begged the little rabbit. "mother says if you swallow a cork it will swell and swell inside you until you can't stand it any longer." "what's that?" asked the little chipmunk. "did i swallow a cork?" "yes, you did," sobbed little jack rabbit. "and it's all my fault. i let it drop into your mouth by mistake. of course, you didn't see it. how could you, with your eyes shut?" chippy chipmunk was now thoroughly frightened. "you've murdered me, that's what you've done, little jack rabbit. oh, what shall i do?" just then who should come along but dr. heron. he had very long legs and a very long bill. all doctors have very long bills, otherwise it wouldn't pay to be a doctor. "what's the trouble?" he asked, opening his little black bag. "anybody sick?" "i'm going to be," cried chippy chipmunk. "oh, dear dr. heron, don't let me die! please don't!" "stuff and nonsense! don't talk like that!" said the big bird doctor. "put out your tongue." "can you see the cork?" asked little jack rabbit. the little chipmunk was just going to ask the same question, but dr. heron had hold of his tongue, so he couldn't. "see what?" asked the doctor. "what are you talking about?" "chippy chipmunk swallowed a cork," said little jack rabbit. "and he'll swell up and bust in just a few minutes. oh, dear, oh, dear. and it's all my fault." "well, i do see something," said dr. heron, squinting down the little chipmunk's throat. "my, but it's a long way down." and dr. heron looked very serious, very serious indeed. "now sit still and don't you sneeze. open wider, if you please; maybe i can pull it out if you do not cry or pout." then he pushed down his long thin bill and pulled out the cork. "oh joy!" cried chippy chipmunk as soon as dr. heron let go of his tongue. "i usually charge ten little fishes for an operation like this, but, seeing it's you, and i didn't have to come all the way over to your house, i'll ask only five," said the kind bird doctor. when little jack rabbit heard this he winked his tail and wagged his nose at the chipmunk, and the first thing you know away they went, leaving the doctor's bill unpaid, which wasn't a very nice thing to do. no indeed. when we are well the doctor's bill is never even thought of, till old mr. malady comes by with trembling hand and tearful eye. we always should be square and true, and pay our bills when they are due. perhaps then mr. malady will never bother you and me. the song of promise wintertime, you'll soon be going, with your cold winds, blowing, blowing, and your gray clouds snowing, snowing. soon the warm south wind will sing, and the blue bells sweetly ring,-- then we'll know it's really spring! mr. merry sun was up bright and early, and from his blue sky shone down with cheerful warmth. from his little room in the old bramble patch little jack rabbit awoke with a sweet song ringing in his ear. what was it? it sounded so sweet and clear that the little rabbit opened his window to listen. there it came again, across the sunny meadow like a song of promise. somehow, it made the little rabbit happy, and jumping out of bed, he ate his breakfast in a hurry and then hopped over to the old rail fence. "tir-rell-loo, tir-rell-loo!" sounded the music of a bird. it was a beautiful whistle, clear as a silver bell, and the little rabbit took a hop, skip and jump, for somehow he felt happier than he had for a long, long time. at first he thought it might be jimmy jay who was whistling. but then, he never whistled so sweetly as this. so the little rabbit hopped along, over the dry sodden grass which all winter had been pressed down tight by the heavy snow drifts, past the big chestnut tree, where chippy chipmunk used to gather nuts, until, by and by, not so very far, he saw blue bird. yes sir. he saw the little messenger of spring. there he sat on the top rail of the old rail fence singing away as if his heart were full of sunshine. and i guess it was, for how could he have sung so sweetly if it hadn't been? "spring is here, spring is here, i'm the bearer of good cheer. listen to my tale of joy, little white furred bunny boy. soon miss south wind will be here, and the violet will appear. pussy willow by the brook you will find if you but look. tir-rell-loo! tir-rell-loo. i'm the little bird of blue!" and as the little rabbit looked over the sunny meadow it seemed as if under the warm rays of mr. merry sun that the brown grass turned a tender green and the trees began to murmur in the wind the half forgotten song of summer. "hurray, hurrah!" cried the little rabbit, and he hopped away to the old duck pond to see if granddaddy bullfrog had come out of his hiding place way down in the muddy bottom. but, no sireemam. old granddaddy bullfrog wasn't going to catch his death of cold by coming out too soon, neither was teddy turtle. they knew better, for the ice was still floating in great pieces on the surface of the water and the old mill wheel hadn't yet begun to turn around. spring is here when you first hear welcome news, you can hardly keep your shoes from running off with both your feet and telling every one you meet. this is just the way little jack rabbit felt on seeing blue bird, the sweet-voiced messenger of spring. to know that spring had come, after the long hard winter, made the little rabbit almost as happy as if it were xmas morning. "there comes professor jim crow," exclaimed the little rabbit, looking out from the old bramble patch, and then over the sunny meadow fluttered redwing and song sparrow. "all the birds will soon be here," laughed the little bunny, hopping out to the sunny meadow to look about him. pretty soon he heard the merry whistle of mr. meadow lark. "good-by, little jack rabbit!" cried snow bunting. "i'm going farther north. it will soon be too warm for me!" and then mr. meadow lark whistled, "i'm here! i'm here!" and his yellow breast shone in the sunlight as bright as a new lincoln penny! after that the little rabbit hopped over to the bubbling brook, and, would you believe it, the ice was gone and the sparkling water was flowing swiftly onward to the deep blue sea! oh, how fast the snow was melting. only along the old rail fence or in the hollows were patches of dingy whiteness. up at the old farm the feathered folk strutted about in the warm sunshine. even the weathercock seemed more lively as he turned this way and that in the gentle breeze. "spring is coming, spring is here, soon the meadow will be clear of its snowy coat of white and the grass will sparkle bright with the dandelion and all the yellow cowslip band. "i must tell all my friends that spring is here," cried the little rabbit. he just couldn't wait, you see, for them to find it out. he thought he must be a little four-footed messenger boy bunny and spread the glad tidings. so away he hopped, clippity, clip, lippity, lip, past the barnyard where cocky doodle was singing his cock-a-doodle-do song, and henny penny was cackling over her new laid egg. ducky waddles, too, was happy as could be. in a few days he would be swimming in the old duck pond and standing on his head to gobble up the little fish that came too near his great big yellow bill. "good-by, i'm off to tell the glad news," and away went the little rabbit. pretty soon, not so very far, he saw at the edge of the shady forest, on his favorite tree, professor jim crow in his glistening suit of black feathers. little messenger boy bunny the gentle south wind in the trees is turning buds to tender leaves, and down the crystal bubbling brook the pussy willows nod and look to see if o'er the meadow green the dandelions can be seen. soon all the flowers will be here and chilly winter disappear. little jack rabbit hopped up to the big hollow tree where peter possum and mrs. possum had slept all winter with their little baby possums. "come out, come out! spring is here!" "what's that?" asked peter possum, sleepily. "who's calling?" "it's me!" laughed little jack rabbit. "mr. merry sun is bright and warm, and the pussy willows are playing with the cattails by the bubbling brook." and away he hopped, for he couldn't wait another minute, he was so anxious to spread the good news. pretty soon he reached woody chuck's front door, and called through the keyhole, "spring is here! wake up, wake up!" woody chuck yawned and stretched his legs, and pretty soon he opened the door, but the little rabbit wasn't there. no siree. he was far away waking up billy badger. and after that he hopped over to stir up chippy chipmunk and billy coon. dear me. that little rabbit was busy, let me tell you. he just couldn't let anybody find out the good news for himself. he wanted to be the spring's little messenger boy. all the while the little balmy breezes had been dancing here and there, ringing the blue bells, blowing on the little horn-shaped flowers and whispering to the grasses and ferns. and mr. merry sun! how he did smile up in his big blue sky. mr. north wind, on his whistling snow horses, had gone up to the north pole to tell santa claus that everybody had forgotten all about xmas trees, and that bobbie redvest was building a nest in the old apple tree behind the big red barn. and, goodness me! i almost forgot to mention that the weathercock had a new suit of gold paint. yes, sir! the kind farmer had climbed up on a ladder with a little bottle of gold paint and a brush to make the weathercock as bright as a new gold dollar. down at the old bramble patch mrs. rabbit was housecleaning. the old red rooster had taken down the storm door and stored it away in the barn. he had unwound the straw wrappers from the rose bushes and cleared away the dry leaves from the cellar door. yes, sir. he was as busy as could be, for mrs. rabbit kept one eye on him all the time and he never even had a chance to crow except at two o'clock in the morning. granddaddy bullfrog now round and round the mill wheel turns, but all the winter through 'twas tightly bound with icy chains till mistress south wind blew. then off it started one bright morn to grind the farmer's yellow corn. granddaddy bullfrog seated himself again on the old log to catch a fly for breakfast. all through the cold weather he had slept in the soft mud at the bottom of the old duck pond, but now, that mr. merry sun was shining down so warm and bright from the big blue sky, the old gentleman frog had kicked out his long legs and swam up to sit once more in his accustomed place. but, goodness me! how thin he was. why, his white waistcoat was all wrinkled and his pantaloons bagged dreadfully. yes, sir. they were much too big for his long thin legs, and granddaddy bullfrog at once set to work to catch a million flies so as to grow nice and fat and jolly by the good old summer time. teddy turtle, too, had come up from the soft mud. he knew it was time to be about, for gentle spring has a way of telling all the little people of the shady forest and the sunny meadow just when it's time to wake up and get out in the warm sunshine. and while granddaddy bullfrog quietly caught a dozen flies and teddy turtle crawled up on the bank, the little rabbit shouted: "helloa, helloa! there isn't much snow anywhere to be seen, and the meadow is green. say, granddaddy frog, out there on your log, are you glad it is spring, ting-a-ling, ting-a-ling!" "there, you've gone and made me lose a fly," said the old gentleman frog. "but, never mind! i'm glad to see you, little rabbit," and granddaddy bullfrog went "ker-dunk, ker-chunk," and wiped his spectacles with a pink silk handkerchief. just then from a little pool close to the old duck pond came the sound of voices. "what's that?" thought the little rabbit, and he hopped over the marshy ground to look into the little pool. and what do you think he saw? why, a lot of dark spots on the water, each one singing a tune. and, oh dear me! the little bunny was so surprised that he leaned way over the water, when, all of a sudden, the little dark spots disappeared and all he could see were funny little forms swimming away under the water. "ha, ha!" laughed granddaddy bullfrog. "they are little singing toads. mr. tree toad's grandchildren!" the little rabbit was so surprised that he said nothing. neither did granddaddy bullfrog until the next story. rat-a-tat-tat "well, well, well," thought the little rabbit, as he hopped away from the old duck pond, "granddaddy bullfrog is a wise old frog." and i guess the little rabbit was right, for everybody doesn't know that those little funny singing toads i told you about in the last story are called hylas, although everybody knows that some candies are! but it isn't spelt the same way. oh dear me, no! but i don't believe granddaddy bullfrog knew that! and while the little rabbit was hopping along towards the shady forest, he heard a noise like the beating of a drum. so he stopped to listen. there it came again, rat-a-tat-tat! rat-a-tat-tat! yes, sir. those sounds certainly came from the old orchard. so the little rabbit turned and hopped along the old rail fence until he came to an old apple tree just behind the big red barn where the weathercock lived. rat-a-tat-tat! rat-a-tat-tat! "who can it be?" thought the little rabbit, and he looked all around, and then, all of a sudden, he saw red head, the woodpecker, building a new home for himself in the old apple tree. chip, chop, chip, chop, back and forth went the woodpecker's sharp bill, cutting out the chips from the old apple bough. my! but it was hard work. the miller's boy always grumbled when his father told him to chop the wood, but red head kept right along, happy as could be. you see, the little people of the wood don't grumble if they have to work, and let me tell you in the spring they have lots to do. every one is busy making his home. some are digging holes in the ground and some are making nests in the trees. but everybody is happy as the day is long. and the birds sing as they work, for a song helps the work along. helps you do your very best, whether it's a hole or nest. sing away, and never fret, worry won't keep out the wet. sing and work until the sun tells you that the day is done. oh, dear. there goes my typewriter making up poetry! well, let me see where i was before my typewriter became a poet. oh, yes. red head, the woodpecker, was chopping out a little home for himself in the old apple tree, and little jack rabbit had just discovered who it was who was making that queer chip-chop noise. "haven't got any time to talk," said the busy little woodpecker. "i must get this house ready for mrs. red head. she says she won't wait another day," and he started to chop again, so the little rabbit hopped over to the sunny meadow where mrs. cow was eating the fresh young grass. every now and then she would ring the bell on her collar, and then her little calf would run up and ask her what she wanted. and mrs. cow would rub her nose over the little calf's ear and whisper: "i only wanted to keep you from going away too far." busy people the little balmy breezes shook the pussy willows by the brook until they all began to mew, just like real pussy kittens do. and this made mrs. cow laugh, who, in the story before this, you remember, had tinkled the little bell she carried on a leather collar around her neck, to caution her little calf not to run too far away. well, just then little jack rabbit came along to tell mrs. cow what red head, the woodpecker, was doing up in the old orchard. "yes, he's making a nice little home for mrs. red head," said the little rabbit "everybody is working but me. i'm just hopping around doing nothing," and he gave a great big sigh and scratched his left ear with his right hind foot. "you're the first person i ever met who longed for work," laughed mrs. cow. "up at the farm the men are grumbling because they must get up with mr. merry sun and work all day!" just then jimmy jay flew by in his beautiful blue coat and white waistcoat. now jimmy jay is a dreadful tease. he's the biggest tease in all the shady forest. and when he saw the little bunny, he stopped to ask a question. "why don't you build a house for yourself on the sunny meadow?" "i don't need one," answered the little rabbit. "old bramble patch, u. s. a., is where i live." "but everybody is building a home," went on jimmy jay. "why don't you get to work?" and the mischievous little bird picked off a hard round bud and threw it at the little rabbit. then off he flew, singing at the top of his voice: "some folks are so lazy they never do a thing, but bother everybody who's busy in the spring." "i wonder if he means me," thought the little rabbit. "oh, dear me! i wonder if he means me!" and this time the little rabbit spoke out loud, for he felt so badly he just couldn't keep it to himself. "if he does he isn't telling the truth," said bobbie redvest. "he's a mischief maker," cried another voice, and there stood timmy meadow mouse. "don't let him worry you, little rabbit." after that the little bunny felt ever so much better, for what is nicer than to have your friends stick up for you in this world, i should like to know, and he hopped off home to help his mother, who was busy beating the carpets and putting up the curtains in camphor for the summer. and after he had polished the front doorknob and fed the canary, she gave him five carrot cents and told him he might go down to the three-in-one cent store to buy a raspberry lollypop. mother nature "oh, i shall be so glad when the leaves are on the trees and bushes and the sunny meadow is covered with grass," said little jack rabbit, one lovely morning. you see, in the dear old summer time there are thousands of hiding places, but in the winter and early spring everything is bare. i'm sure i don't know how this little bunny, all winter, would have escaped the eager eyes of hungry hawk, mr. wicked weasel and danny fox, if his fur overcoat hadn't been white--for, of course, you haven't forgotten that his coat turns white in the winter time, and that this is one way that loving mother nature looks after the welfare of her little rabbit children. for when the snow is on the ground little jack rabbit in his white fur overcoat looks like a snow ball, and at the first sign of danger he sits perfectly still, making it mighty hard for even hungry hawk's bright eyes to see him. "now, don't be wishing for something that's coming as surely as you're a foot high," said mrs. rabbit. "and if you're wishing for something you're not sure is going to happen, stop wishing and go out and get it," and then she patted the little rabbit on the cheek and went back to her ironing board. as soon as he had brought in the wood and polished the front doorknob, he set off for the shady forest. and by and by, after maybe a mile, he saw jimmy crow on a tree top. and what do you suppose that little crow was doing? why, he was building a nest for himself. yes, sir, that's what he was about. and why shouldn't he? for he wasn't such a very young crow now, when you come to think of it. he was a year old, and when a crow gets to be a year old he knows how to build a nest, let me tell you. "how long will it take you, i'd like to know, to build your nest, mr. jimmy crow? high up there in the tall pine tree, where the sun is warm and the wind is free," asked the little rabbit. "don't bother me just now," answered jimmy crow. "can't you see i'm in an awful hurry?" and he laid some more sticks crosswise, and then he flew away after more things to finish his nest with. so the little bunny hopped away, and pretty soon he came to the cave where the big brown bear lived. and as it was a bright warm morning mr. bear was sitting outside on his doorstep, sunning himself, for it had been a dreadfully cold winter and mr. bear at one time had no coal at all, and his cave got so cold that the water pipes froze and he couldn't take a bath for a week. "how do you do this beautiful spring morning," asked the little rabbit. "i'll tell you in the next story," answered the big brown bear. now i wonder how he knew there's no more room in this one! the whistling stove well, as i explained to you in the last story, the big brown bear would have answered the little bunny, only there was no more room in the story for him to say even "howdy!" so we had to wait until we turned over the page. "yes, it's a beautiful spring morning. but, do you know my fur overcoat needs pressing and i'm afraid my cap's not at all in style." "never mind," replied the little rabbit. "down at the three-in-one cent store they have some lovely caps. why don't you go buy yourself a new spring style?" "i will," said the bear. "come along with me." so off they started, and by and by, not so very far, they came to the store, and right there in the window were lots and lots of nice looking caps. pretty soon mr. bear picked out one, the one he liked best, and after he had paid for it, he and the little rabbit went outside. when, all of a sudden, who should come by but a man with a little peanut wagon. in one end was a stove that whistled the funniest kind of a song, and if i'm not mistaken the words went something like this: roasted peanuts, fresh and fine, here's a lovely way to dine, crisp and brown, and fresh and sweet, where are nicer things to eat? ting a ling, a ling, a loo, won't you come and buy a few? "don't they smell nice?" said the big brown bear and he put his right paw way down in his left coat pocket, but, oh dear me! the only thing he found was a cigar coupon. and wasn't he disappointed? well, i just guess he was. so the little rabbit opened his knapsack and took out a handful of carrot pennies and bought two bags of peanuts. pretty soon after the big brown bear had eaten his, he said: "well, i must be going back to my cave," and away he went, so the little rabbit looked around to see what he would do next. but there wasn't anything to do for all he could see, so away he hopped and by and by he came to a big billboard on which was pasted a colored poster of a may day party of little bunnies, and underneath the words: "enquire at rabbitville gazette." without waiting to read the other side of the billboard, he hopped down turnip street till he came to the newspaper office, when he hopped upstairs to see the advertising man--a little field mouse. but, oh dear me, the tickets were a dollar apiece, so little jack rabbit said: "i'll give a may day party of my own!" messenger boys the little balmy breezes were very busy. indeed they were. they were busier than messenger boys, for little jack rabbit had asked them to tell all his friends in the shady forest and the sunny meadow to come to his may party. so the little balmy breezes had plenty to do, for the little rabbit had lots and lots of friends, let me tell you. well, no sooner had the little balmy breezes started off than they came to granddaddy bullfrog on his log in the old duck pond. "you are invited to little jack rabbit's may party." "all right, ker dunk, i'll come, ker plunk!" croaked the old gentleman frog, and he swallowed a big green fly that came too near, and then he closed his left eye and waited for another, for that hungry old bullfrog could eat more than twenty flies for breakfast. and then, pretty soon the little balmy breezes came to the tall pine tree where professor jim crow had his nest. "oh, i'll come," he said, "never fear. and i'll bring my little black book with me, too, and read some verses to the guests," and then that old black crow put on his spectacles and opened his book, but the little breezes didn't wait, for they had no time just then to hear anything. "there goes squirrel nutcracker! come to little jack rabbit's may day party," they cried before the old squirrel could run up to the top of the chestnut tree. "oh, i'll be there, don't worry," he said. "and i'll bring the squirrel brothers and mrs. nutcracker with me." "thank you," said the little balmy breezes, and off they went until they came to chippy chipmunk's house. he was in, and he promised to come. then off went the little breezes again and by and by they came to the forest pond where busy beaver and mr. muskrat lived. "won't you come to little jack rabbit's may day party?" asked the little balmy breezes, and of course the beaver and the muskrat answered yes. well, the next place the little breezes came to was the old farm yard. "little jack rabbit wants you all to come to his may party," they whispered, for black cat was standing in the kitchen doorway, and they didn't want him to come, you see, for fear he might spoil the fun. "i'll come," cried henny penny, "and i'll bring my sister jenny." "i'll come," said timmy turkey, and he looked quite fierce and perky. and mrs. cow said she'd come too, and so did cocky doodle-do. and ducky waddles also said, "i'll come if i'm not sick in bed." a rude interruption now you remember in the last story how the little balmy breezes were asking everybody in the shady forest and on the sunny meadows to come to little jack rabbit's may day party. well, there were one or two, and maybe three, who weren't invited. and if you haven't guessed by this time, i'll tell you. old danny fox was one, and mr. wicked weasel was two, and, let me see, who was number three? why, yes, of course, old hungry hawk. nobody wanted these three robbers, so they weren't invited, but that isn't saying they didn't come. but you must wait and let me tell you the story, for i nearly said something i should have kept for the last. well, it was almost the middle of the day by the time the little balmy breezes had told everybody about the may day party. you see, they had to go here and there and everywhere. and the old brown horse lived a long way off, and so did the yellow dog tramp and the billy goat, who ran the ferryboat over the river. heigh ho, come to my party, let us be merry, my little jack hearty. blow on the whistle and make the bells ring, for it's spring, lovely spring. ting-a-ling, ting-a-ling. well, pretty soon mrs. cow came across the sunny meadow with her little bell tinkling at her neck, and after her came cocky doodle and henny penny side by side. then ducky waddles on his big, flat, yellow feet, and turkey tim with his big, wide-spreading tail, and right behind them came goosey lucy. i almost forgot her, for she was so long in curling her hair that the others started off without her. and then from the shady forest came the squirrel brothers and chippy chipmunk and professor jim crow, with his little black book, and the jay bird in his flying machine, and, oh, dear me. so many more i haven't room to tell. "wait for me! wait for me!" cried a voice, and over the old rail fence jumped the brown horse, and after him came the yellow dog tramp and the billy goat ferryman. and when they were all there, the photographer crane from rabbitville got ready to take a picture. he set up his camera and put his head under the black cloth, and after he had turned a little brass knob, he said in a solemn voice: "don't you move and don't you smile, hold your breath a little while. keep your eyes just where they are, twinkle, twinkle, little star." [illustration: photographer crane got ready to take the picture.] but, good gracious me! just then something dreadful happened. and it just spoiled that lovely picture, for through the fence jumped danny fox and mr. wicked weasel, and there was nobody left on the sunny meadow except the crane photographer. and maybe he won't be there on the next page. photographer crane now, wasn't it too bad that danny fox and mr. wicked weasel broke up the may party! you remember they were all having their pictures taken by the crane photographer, who had just pushed his head under the big black cloth and was telling them all to look pleasant and not to giggle, when that dreadful fox and that cruel weasel jumped through the old rail fence. well, of course, the crane photographer at first didn't know why everybody was running away, but when he pulled his head out from under the big black cloth, he knew. oh, my, yes! when he saw danny fox and mr. wicked weasel he didn't have to ask a single question. "now you can take our pictures," they said, "and if you don't we'll eat you up!" so the poor crane photographer stuck his head under the cloth, but, oh, dear me! he was so frightened that his great long legs knocked together and spoiled the picture. "look here, mr. crane," growled danny fox, "you take a good picture or you'll never take another," and that wicked old fox grinned and showed all his long white teeth. "oh, please don't bite me, danny fox. i'll make a picture with my box, and have it framed in plush and gold, so let me live till i am old." "all right," answered the two bad robbers, danny fox and mr. wicked weasel, and as soon as the poor crane had taken their pictures, he folded up his camera and started back for rabbitville. "when will those pictures be finished?" asked mr. wicked weasel, and he crept up behind that poor frightened crane and tickled his bare knee. "just as soon as i can get them done," he answered, and he tripped over a stone and almost dropped his camera box. well, after that danny fox went back to his den on the hillside and mr. wicked weasel went home, but, of course, the may party was all over. nobody wanted to come back that day. "oh, dear me," said little jack rabbit, "i wish the miller's boy would shoot danny fox and mr. wicked weasel." "don't say such things," said mrs. rabbit. "you must keep your ears and eyes open, and be ever on the lookout for these two bad robbers. but you mustn't wish that somebody will kill them," and the good lady rabbit bustled about and pretty soon she took out of the oven some nice hot cookies and gave two or three, and maybe four to the little rabbit, and after that the little canary bird in her cage began to sing: "i'm safe from every harm, in my golden house. black cat cannot catch me like a little mouse." dr. quack yes, bobbie redvest sang to me just now a little song, which, if you'll wait, i will relate for it's not very long. he told me that the apple tree is pink and white with flowers, and that the bees are buzzing there all through the sunny hours. and, do you know, i don't think there's anything so lovely as an apple tree in bloom. for when i was a little boy i loved to lie on the grass and look up into the tree where the blossoms, pink and white, made it seem just like a big nosegay of flowers. "tell me, little robin," i said, "are you never worried about anything?" and the little red-breasted bird said no. "i'm as happy as the day is long," and then he flew off to the orchard to sing to mrs. robin. so i closed the window and went outside to see what granddaddy bullfrog was doing, for i had just heard him go "honk, honk, honk!" like an auto horn. well, sure enough, there was the old gentleman frog, and who do you suppose was after him? you'd never guess, so i might as well tell you right away. why, it was dr. quack, the wise old duck doctor. he was on his way to see little jack rabbit, who had the whooping cough, and of course his mother, the dear old lady rabbit, was dreadfully worried. well, pretty soon dr. quack stopped at the old bramble patch, and with his little black bag, went inside to see the little sick bunny boy. and of course mrs. rabbit was dreadfully upset. she couldn't think of anything but her little bunny boy, and the tea kettle had burned a great hole in its bottom and she couldn't make a cup of tea for the doctor, although he was very fond of carrot coffee. "let me see your tongue," said dr. quack. so the little rabbit put out his tongue, and then the wise duck doctor took out some little pills and three little white powders and told mrs. rabbit to give them to her little bunny every other minute and even oftener if he kept on coughing. and then dr. quack said good-by and went over to the old barnyard to see henny penny, who had the chickenpox. well, after swallowing two powders and three and a half pills the little rabbit felt perfectly well. wasn't that wonderful medicine the old duck doctor gave him? well, i just guess it was, and if you ever get the whooping cough you call him up on the telephone, "oh, oh, oh. come quick, duckville!" and he'll cure you in less than five hundred short minutes. by the bubbling brook up at the old farm yard there was a great bustle. yes sireebus. and the reason was that henny penny had a brood of fluffy little chickens. cocky doodle hardly knew what to make of them. you see, he was so used to big chickens that when he came to look at these fluffy balls of yellow down he didn't know what to do. so he just stood on his tiptoes and crowed, "cock-a-doodle-do!" and the big farmer thought he was singing because he was a proud father. but that wasn't the reason at all. "come, my dears," said henny penny to her little chicks, "let us take a walk in the sunny meadow." so all the little chickens followed after her and by and by they came to the bubbling brook where swarms of flies darted over the water. and every time a fly came anywhere near henny penny she snapped him up and divided him among the brood. well, pretty soon along came little jack rabbit with his knapsack on his shoulder and his striped candy cane in his right paw. for it was a lovely day in may and the little rabbit was as happy as two sticks and maybe three or four. just then teddy turtle crawled by, with his little shell house on his back, and although it was the first of may, teddy turtle wasn't going to move out of his house. no sireebus. but his house was moving with him. but that's another matter, you see. "wherever i go my house goes, too, and i never pay any rent. my little shell house goes ever with me, no matter how far i am sent." "ha, ha," laughed the little rabbit, "you're a lucky fellow." and then henny penny clucked to her little brood and said, "look at teddy turtle with his house on his back. isn't he lucky?" after a while mrs. cow with her tinkling bell came by, singing a song: "oh, the grass is nice and green, and in the bubbling brook i see a very nice kind face most every time i look." and then she rang her little bell over and over again, just to make a noise, i guess, and after that the little rabbit hopped down to the old duck pond to talk to granddaddy bullfrog. now granddaddy bullfrog was a wise old gentleman frog. he knew lots and lots of things, but like a good many wise people he never said much. he was usually too busy catching flies. but when he saw the little rabbit he took off his yellow rimmed spectacles and said: "how are you this lovely spring day, little rabbit?" and then he swallowed a fly that came too near, and after that he blinked his eyes and then he closed them to fool some other foolish fly who might happen along. but of course he didn't close them tight shut, for then he wouldn't be able to see anything, you know. and after that the little rabbit said, "i'm very well, thank you, granddaddy bullfrog. "i manage to keep very well and hop up with the rising bell. my appetite is very keen because i never eat between "my meals; and that's the reason why i can digest green apple pie, and ice cream cones and lollypops and tootsie wootsie chocolate drops. "now, if _you're_ hungry, hurry on-- but don't make a mistake-- you'll find a bag of peanuts on page number !" happy days well, you remember in the last story little jack rabbit was making a call on granddaddy bullfrog at the old duck pond. and i guess the little rabbit might have stayed until half-past thirteen o'clock if, all of a sudden, old sic'em, the farmer's dog, hadn't come along. now, of course, old sic'em was too old to run very fast, but just the same the little bunny wasn't going to give him a chance to catch him, so off he went, clippity clip, hippity hip, and by and by he came to the shady forest, where all the little four-footed folk and the feathered people were busy making homes for the summer. old squirrel nutcracker sat outside his doorstep while mrs. nutcracker hung out the rugs and beat the sofa cushions. and chippy chipmunk chattered on the top of the old rail fence at bobbie redvest, who had flown over from the orchard to stretch his wings. "tra la la, tra la la! where's the little twinkle star? mr. merry sun's on high in the meadows of the sky, and the dandelions wink all along the river's brink." you see, bobbie redvest loved to sing all sorts of songs, and that's why all the little people of the shady forest loved him so. for we all love to hear a song if it's not too slow and long. "cock-a-doodle-doodle-do, clouds are white and skies are blue, and the little bugs and flies are a dinner that we prize," sang cocky doodle, for he wasn't going to have bobbie redvest be the only one who could sing a song, let me tell you. and just then old professor jim crow flew by with his little black book under his wing, and as soon as he saw the little bunny, he perched himself on a stump and turned to page forty-three: "when you're young it's time to learn, when you're older you must earn." and the old gentleman crow took off his spectacles and said: "do you hear that?" and then he cawed three times and a half and put his spectacles back into the case and closed his little black book. "yes, sir," answered the little rabbit. "every day i learn something. only this morning i found out that my last summer's straw hat won't do for this summer," and then he hopped away as fast as he could for he knew that professor crow would think it was very ex-trav-a-gant not to wear last year's hat, no matter how shabby it was. "clean your last year's panama, wear your last year's suit, don't replace a single thing except a worn-out boot." now who do you suppose sang that little verse? you'll never guess, so i'll tell you right away. grandmother magpie! "i'm sorry i can't wait," said the little rabbit, and off he hopped for the old bramble patch to ask his mother if she were going to clean her last year's panama bonnet. the house in the wood "i wonder where i'm going to stay to-night," said little jack rabbit to himself one late afternoon, after traveling all day with his knapsack on his back and his striped candy cane in his right paw, and just then he came in sight of a little wooden house. so he stopped and tapped on the door, rat-a-tat-tat, very softly, you know. and when the door opened a little monkey dressed in a red cap and a green coat said, "what do you want?" "i beg your pardon," answered the little rabbit, "but, you see, it's getting late and i'm looking for a place to sleep." "well, come right in," said the little monkey, and after little jack rabbit had hung his knapsack and striped candy cane on the hatrack in the hall he followed the monkey into the sitting room. well, after a little while he told the monkey all about the old bramble patch and danny fox and mr. wicked weasel, and lots of other things, too, which i haven't room in this story to mention. and when he had finished the monkey said he had once belonged to a man who owned a hand organ and went about the country playing music for pennies, and sometimes for nothing. "but that was long ago," said the little monkey, "for one day my master beat me so cruelly that i ran away to the wood, and by and by i built this little house, where i have lived ever since." just then a knock came at the door and who do you suppose was outside? why, the yellow dog tramp, the little rabbit's friend, you remember. "come in," said the monkey, for the yellow dog tramp had stopped at his house lots of times, you know. "goodness me," said the yellow dog tramp, after he had hung up his old tattered hat in the hall. "i was nearly arrested to-day by a policeman cat. they don't allow tramping any more. everybody must work, so i stopped in to see if you didn't want a handy man about the place." and this made the little monkey laugh like everything, and pretty soon the yellow dog tramp got dreadfully sulky. he dropped his ears and hung his tail, and then he began to whine, "now just because i've been a tramp through sunshine and through fog, you needn't laugh, nor joke and chaff 'cause now i want a job; for uncle sam says to each man, 'now that the war is over, each do your part with willing heart, and we shall be in clover!'" "that's the way," shouted little jack rabbit, and on the next page you shall hear what happened after that. the yellow dog tramp well, after the monkey learned that the yellow dog tramp wanted to go to work to help uncle sam and aunt columbia, as i mentioned in the story before this, he said: "you can whitewash the back fence if you want to. it may take you a week or it may take you a month, for i don't know how fast you can work." "well, i'll start right in," said the yellow dog tramp bravely, and he stood up on his hind legs and wagged his tail. "you'd better wait until to-morrow morning," said the monkey. "it's too late now, and you couldn't see in the dark." "i should think one could whitewash in the dark," said the tramp dog. "but just as you say," and he went over to the kitchen stove and lay down on the little rag rug and went sound asleep, for he was very tired, because he had tramped all day long. "let him sleep," said the little monkey in a whisper. "he looks tired out." and after that the monkey got the supper ready and when everything was nice and hot and on the table the yellow dog tramp opened his eyes and yawned and pretty soon he was wide awake enough to sit down to eat. well, by and by it was time to go to bed, so they all went to sleep, and just about midnight a big owl looked in through the window and saw by the light of the silvery moon little jack rabbit and the monkey sound asleep on the bed. "ha, ha," said the big owl to himself, "i must get that little bunny." so he perched himself on the roof and pondered how to get inside the little house. well, by and by, after he had flown around and peeked through all the windows, he looked down the chimney. and then he carefully stepped over the edge and, spreading out his wings, jumped right down to the bottom. but, goodness me. when he rolled from the hearth into the sitting room he looked just like a crow, he was so covered with soot, and it would have taken the gold dust twins twenty-three days and one night to clean him. "what's that noise?" barked the yellow dog tramp, and he ran in from the kitchen and looked all around. at first he didn't see the owl, for he was so black with soot, you know. but what that yellow dog tramp said when he did see that bad owl i'll tell you in the next story, unless, the gold dust twins with a scrubbing brush should scour that old sooty owl, all through the night until he was bright and clean as a snow-white fowl. prickly thorns "what kind of a blackbird are you?" asked the yellow dog tramp when he saw the bad owl who had flown down the chimney of the little monkey's house, as i mentioned in the last story. "i'm not any kind of a blackbird--i'm an owl," answered this dreadful old bird, and he shook himself till the soot flew all over the room, and some of it got in the yellow dog tramp's eyes and made him blink. and of course all this noise woke up the little monkey and little jack rabbit, who were sleeping upstairs, you remember. "i wonder what's going on," whispered the little monkey, and he leaned over the banisters. and just then the yellow dog tramp said, "well, you get out of here!" and he took hold of that sooty old tooty owl and threw him, tail first, out of the door. and then he threw a milk bottle after him. when the little rabbit and the little monkey heard what had happened, they were very grateful to the yellow dog tramp, and told him he could sleep all next day in the sun instead of whitewashing the back fence. well, after a while, after breakfast, you know, the little bunny set off again on his travels, and by and by, not so very far, he came to a place where so many wild roses grew that it looked like a lovely garden. "now here is a nice place to rest," he thought, and he sat down and opened his knapsack and took out a lollypop and was just going to bite off the lemon top, when somebody took it right out of his paw. "ha, ha, ho, ho," laughed a trumpety kind of a voice, and when the little bunny looked around he saw his old friend the circus elephant with a bouquet of roses in his long trunk. "here's your lollypop," said the elephant, and he dropped the bunch of roses, for he only meant to tease the little rabbit for a minute, you know. and then he came over and sat down. but, oh dear me. he jumped up in an awful hurry, for he had sat on the bunch of roses. "oh, dear and oh dear again," he cried, "why do lovely roses have thorns?" and he wiped a tear from his eye with the end of his ear, and then he sang this song: "oh, why should roses red have thorns and pears have prickly prickles, and mr. dill his glass jars fill with sour little pickles?" and after that my typewriter says you must wait a little while to hear what happened next, because the circus elephant took so long to finish this beautiful pickle song, the clock struck twelve before he was through, the old red rooster woke up and blew twice six times on his big tin horn, and nearly deafened the ears of corn. bags of peanuts well, as soon as the circus elephant had finished the song in the last story he took a silk handkerchief out of his trunk and wiped his eyes, and then he said: "do you suppose, if i kneel down you can hop up on my back?" "i'll try," answered the little rabbit. so the big circus animal squatted down on the ground, till with a hop, skip and jump the clever little bunny landed right in the middle of his back. "now hold on tight," said elly, for that was the circus elephant's name, and off he went and by and by he came to a place where there were many peanut vines. "well, this is lucky," said the elephant. "we can take them to chippy chipmunk. i'll dig the vines and you can pick out the peanuts and fill your knapsack." so the elephant started in, and in less than thirteen minutes he had plowed up the whole field of peanuts. and in less than thirteen seconds the little rabbit had his knapsack full, but then he didn't know what to do with all the rest of the peanuts. and while he was looking around to find a bag or a box, who should come by but the old dog with his stage coach and team of billy-goats. "plenty of peanuts," said the old dog driver, jumping down from his high seat and walking over to the old rail fence. then he put his old pipe back in his mouth and puffed out a cloud of smoke. "load up your stage coach," said the circus elephant, "and we'll take them to chippy chipmunk!" "all right," answered the old dog, and he went back and brought over fourteen empty mail bags, and when they were brim full he put them back in the stagecoach, and then the elephant and billy bunny got on top, and away went the billy goat team. over the hills and through the dells till the peanuts rattled inside of their shells. and by and by, pretty soon, not very long, they came to the old chestnut tree, where the little chipmunk lived. "now you keep these peanuts till the circus comes," said little jack rabbit. "then all the little people in the shady forest can have all they want. maybe by that time i can get lollypopade from the big brown bear!" the big brown bear made lollypopade from the fruit of the lollypop tree in the glade. sometimes it was yellow, and often bright pink, but never the color of purple green ink. perhaps some fine day when out walking with me we may happen to come to this lollypop tree. in that case, my dear little friends, no excuse shall keep us from tasting this lollypop juice. the musical alarm clock chippy chipmunk sat on the old rail fence, his little eyes shining like bright glass beads, looking over toward the old bramble patch. chippy chipmunk felt very fine this particular morning. mr. merry sun shone down on the little chipmunk's back with its beautiful smooth shining stripes of reddish brown and black, over which his little tail was thrown like a ruffle. "helloa, helloa!" he shouted, for i guess the little jack rabbit had overslept himself that morning. "helloa, helloa!" "here i am," answered the little bunny, hopping up to the old rail fence. "what do you want?" "oh, nothing in particular," answered chippy chipmunk. "only i was wondering why you weren't around, that's all." "i guess i'm late. you see, my alarm clock didn't wake up either," and the little rabbit laughed. and just then they heard it ring, "cling, cling, cling, cling cling!" and then it began to sing: "the dew is shining on the grass 'tis time to be awake. the morning glory on her vine, the lily on the lake, have lifted up a dewy head,-- so hurry, tumble out of bed." "come on, chippy chipmunk," said the little rabbit when the alarm clock stopped singing, "let's go for a walk up the shady forest trail." so off they started together and after a while, not so very far, they came to the tree where squirrel nutcracker lived with his family. but old squire nutcracker wasn't at home, and neither was mrs. nutcracker, and of course the two squirrel brothers were away. so the little rabbit and the little chipmunk went along until they came to the forest pond in the middle of which on a little island stood the big chestnut tree where old barney owl had his home. "he sleeps all day," laughed the little bunny, "so he's at home!" "but how are we to get over to the island?" asked chippy chipmunk. but the little rabbit didn't answer. he was too busy pushing a log into the water. "get aboard," he said to the little chipmunk, and then with a shove he hopped on and pretty soon they reached the island, when they hopped off and up to the big chestnut tree to knock on old barney owl's front door. "oh, mr. owl, pray do not scowl because we've called on you. it's just a surprise, so open your eyes. please, mr. barney, do." now of course little jack rabbit and chippy chipmunk knew that old barney owl couldn't see in the daytime, otherwise they wouldn't have called on him. for mr. barney owl loved to eat little rabbits and chipmunks. more adventures now when old barney owl heard little jack rabbit and chippy chipmunk knock on his front door, he winked and blinked. but he didn't open it, for the light hurt his eyes, you know, and all day long he kept the shades pulled down. "who are you and what do you want?" he asked in a sleepy voice. "it's me and little jack rabbit," answered the little chipmunk. "come 'round this evening," replied the wise old owl. "no, thank you," laughed little jack rabbit. "we don't make calls in the evening," and he and the little chipmunk hurried away for they thought, maybe or perhaps, old barney owl might open the front door and catch them. "he, he," said chippy chipmunk, "he asked us to call this evening, did he? not if my name is chipendale chipmunk!" well, after they had called on mrs. water rat, who lived nearby in a lovely garden of water lilies, they hopped on board the log and after a shove, away it went over the water to the other bank, where these two little four-footed sailors hopped off and then, all of a sudden, just like that, a voice said: "don't you go another inch or your noses i will pinch." "who said that?" inquired the frightened little rabbit. "who are you?" asked trembling chippy chipmunk. and then teddy turtle crawled out from behind some bulrushes and began to laugh. and the little rabbit and the little chipmunk would have been frightened if it hadn't been teddy turtle, let me tell you, for some turtles are dreadful snappers, you know. [illustration: little jack and chippy chipmunk meet teddy turtle.] "oh, it's you, is it?" and the little rabbit told teddy turtle all about the little snail at the seashore who carries his shell house around with him. "yes, he takes his little house with him just the way you do." "i'm going to take a swim, so good-by!" answered teddy turtle, crawling over to the water, and in he went with a loud splash that frightened two little minnows almost to death. oh, the little minnows swim where the water's cool and dim, 'neath the weeping willow branches making shadows here and there. where the gnats and little flies are making nice mud pies, and mrs. muskrat combs her silky hair. "come on, let's be going. there's always something to see. why, here comes the little balmy breezes across the sunny meadow," cried the little rabbit, but the little chipmunk ran off to the shady forest. at the farm across the sunny meadow grass the little breezes love to pass, they tickle all the cattails till they almost fall into the rill. and every now and then they tell old mrs. cow to ring her bell. now before i go on with this story i'll explain right away that the "rill" is the bubbling brook, and the only reason i used "rill" is because it rhymes with "till." "ha, ha," laughed little jack rabbit, as mrs. cow shook her head till the bell on her collar made so much noise that her little calf came running toward her, "i heard what the little breezes said." and then mrs. cow gave a long "moo!" which meant something i'm sure, for after that the little rabbit hopped away and by and by he came to the barnyard where cocky doodle every morning sang his cock-a-doodle-do song to wake up mr. merry sun, who goes to sleep in the west and gets up every morning in the east. i wonder how he does it, don't you? i guess you and i would feel very funny if some morning after having gone to sleep in our own bed we should wake up in another! "helloa," said henny penny, as the little rabbit hopped through the old rail fence. "where have you been all this time?" "oh, lots of places," he replied. "chippy chipmunk and i have been sight-seeing, and the old red rooster has sprained his left leg and the old brown horse has a new collar, and grandmother magpie has gone away to visit in birdville, u. s. a." just then ducky waddles came waddling by, after a swim in the old duck pond, where granddaddy bullfrog lived. "i saw teddy turtle a minute ago," said the little duck; "he's very proud because mrs. turtle has just laid some eggs in a hole in the ground and covered them with dirt. he says pretty soon they'll hatch into little turtles!" "ha, ha," laughed the little rabbit, "don't tell that to peter possum; he just loves turtle eggs." so ducky waddles promised he wouldn't, and after that the little rabbit hopped away, although the weathercock on the old red barn had asked him to stay a little longer. "no, i can't," replied the little bunny. "i'm afraid old sic'em might chase me." but even if that old dog had, the little rabbit could have slipped away, for old sic'em had the rheumatism and could hardly run. well, after a while, not so very long, the little rabbit saw professor jim crow. "wait a minute," said the good professor, "i want to read you something." so the old gentleman crow turned to page of his little black book, after putting on his spectacles, of course, for he couldn't see to read without them, and then he cleared his throat and said, "caw, caw," two or four times, and looked at the little rabbit, but what he read out of his little black book i'll tell you in the next story. danny fox well, since the old crow has opened his little black book in the story before this, i'll tell you now what he read on page : "little brown rabbits have all the same habits." "ha, ha," laughed the little bunny, "you're a very wise bird, professor crow!" and he hopped away until he came to the wooded hill where danny fox had his den. now it was a long time since the little rabbit had seen the old robber fox and he was a bit curious to learn what was the trouble, for trouble there must have been, otherwise danny fox would have been around to steal a chicken now and then from the old barnyard. so the little rabbit hopped along very carefully and by and by he came to a big tree quite close to the pile of rocks under which the fox family had their den, danny fox and mrs. fox, bushy tail and slyboots, their two little sons. "i don't see anyone around," said the little rabbit to himself, and he hopped over to another tree and peeped out. and then, oh, my! how his heart went pitter-pat, for right in front of him, not forty hops away, sat danny fox on a three legged stool smoking a corncob pipe. "oh, dear!" thought the little rabbit, "i didn't mean to get so close!" but when he saw that danny fox's left foot was bandaged up in a piece of white cloth with a big red cross stamped on it, he knew the old robber couldn't run very well, and maybe not at all. so he called out, "helloa, danny fox! what's the matter with your foot?" "don't bother me," grumbled the old robber fox, not even looking around. maybe he didn't want to see a nice fat little rabbit when he couldn't catch him for supper. just then peter possum shouted from his tree house: "old man robber, danny fox, caught his foot in a steel trap box." "keep quiet, will you," snapped danny fox, angrily. "ho, ho, ha, ha," laughed the little rabbit. "so you got caught for all your slyness?" which made the old fox so angry that he jumped up and ran at him on three legs. "who's laughing now?" cried danny fox, as the little rabbit hopped away and peter possum climbed a tree. "you're very brave when you're out of danger," and the old robber limped back to his stool and lifted up his wounded foot. and while he was doing this, grandmother magpie came by, and as she was always poking into other people's business, she asked what was the matter. "if i told you," snapped danny fox, "everybody in the shady forest and the sunny meadow would know it in a few minutes, you old tattle tale!" "gracious me!" exclaimed the mischievous old blackbird, "you're in a disagreeable mood to-day," and away she flew after little jack rabbit, but before she caught up to him, he hopped into the old bramble patch for the night. wind the clock, it's time for bed; dreams are waiting, sleepy head. through the window bright and far shines the silver twinkle star. oh, how soft the pillow lies! cuddle down, dear sleepy eyes, underneath the counterpane, till the robin in the lane sings his morning roundelay, and it's time again for play. chippy chipmunk's store chippy chipmunk stood outside his store waiting for little jack rabbit to come along. he had promised, if the little bunny would call after business hours, to help him get a little store of his own. mr. chippy chipmunk looked very nice and well-to-do in his clean striped jacket as he sat on the wooden bench just under the big sign. pretty soon he stood up to look at it again. he had done this very same thing at least ten times that day, he was so proud of it. chippy chipmunk all kinds of nuts wholesale & retail "a mighty nice sign!" he said aloud, as he sat down again on the wooden bench. all of a sudden the thumperty-thump of little feet made him look up. "good evening," said chippy chipmunk. "i was afraid i'd be late," answered little jack rabbit. "you see, i had to wait until mother got home." "come over and sit down," said chippy chipmunk. "wait till i read the sign over again," answered the little bunny. "wouldn't i be proud if i had a little store! i don't know what i'd sell, but that doesn't make so much difference--it's having your own name over the door that makes you feel like a millionaire." "come in and see the nuts," said the little chipmunk, after a while. a long hollow log, carefully split in two, made a very nice counter. indeed, it served also for a showcase, for in the hollow the nuts were arranged in separate piles. "i made all the tags myself," said chippy chipmunk proudly, pointing to small squares of cardboard on which were printed:--chestnuts--hickory nuts--walnuts--beech nuts. "are these your scales?" asked little jack rabbit admiringly. "yes, i sell by the pound. then nobody gets cheated," answered the little chipmunk, cracking a nut with his sharp teeth. "you ought to have a store at the edge of the old bramble patch, with a sign painted in red and green letters: "jack rabbit cabbages & turnips" "do you think i know enough about vegetables?" asked the little rabbit anxiously. "just as much as i do about nuts," replied chippy chipmunk. but, oh, dear me! if they had known what was going to happen i guess they never would have talked so long about the nut and vegetable business. naughty featherhead yes, sir! if little jack rabbit and chippy chipmunk had known what was going on outside the store i guess they never would have talked so long about the nut and vegetable business. for, oh, dear me! as the little rabbit shook paws good-night and looked up once more to admire the sign above the door, it wasn't there. no--nothing was there but the bare boards. with mouth and eyes wide open he stood staring at the spot where the sign had hung only a few minutes before. "what's the--?" chippy chipmunk didn't finish. after he had looked up there wasn't any use in asking little jack rabbit what was the matter. the answer was right before him. poor chippy chipmunk! "who could have taken my sign?" he asked at last in a trembling voice. but, of course, the little rabbit didn't know. "who could have taken the sign?" chippy chipmunk repeated mechanically. then he looked up again as if expecting the sign to shine forth in the old familiar way: chippy chipmunk all kinds of nuts wholesale & retail they hadn't heard featherhead, the naughty son of squirrel nutcracker, take down the sign. very softly, one at a time, he had loosened the screws and then carried it off and thrown it in a deep hole. it was certainly a very mean thing to do, but then, you must remember, featherhead was not a nice sort of a squirrel. just then, who should come by but featherhead himself. "what's the matter?" he asked, just as though he didn't know. wasn't that deceitful of him? little jack rabbit didn't answer. somehow he didn't quite like the little squirrel's tone of voice--it didn't ring true. and when featherhead turned his back, showing a long streak of white paint across his shoulder, the little rabbit didn't wait a minute, but, quicker than a wink, caught the frightened squirrel and shook him till his teeth rattled. "what did you do with chippy chipmunk's sign?" "i--i threw it in a deep hole near the tall pine tree," mumbled featherhead, now thoroughly frightened. "you come with us and get it," screamed chippy chipmunk, mad as a dozen hornets; and they marched the naughty squirrel over to the tall pine tree. when the sign was once more over the door chippy chipmunk said to his little rabbit friend: "you got my sign back for me. to-morrow i'll help you build your store." little jack rabbit's store in a few days little jack rabbit's store was finished, and all the little people of the shady forest and sunny meadow were coming to the grand opening. it stood just at the edge of the old bramble patch, on the corner of the shady forest trail and the old cow path. a nicely painted post had been set in the ground, on which was fastened a sign printed in large letters: jack rabbit cabbages & turnips in the doorway, between barrels of cabbages and turnips, stood little jack rabbit, a smile on his face and a clean white apron over his little khaki trousers. his kind mother had made two of these nice aprons so that he would always have one to wear while the other was in the wash. you may be sure he felt very proud as he stood, bowing and smiling to his friends who had come to wish him success in his new business. "too young to run a store," snapped grandmother magpie. "if he's as honest with his scales as he is truthful with his words," answered granddaddy bullfrog, looking at her through his yellow-rimmed spectacles, "all his friends will buy here." mrs. rabbit was tickled to death to think that her son at such an early age had started in business all by himself. it meant to her that he would become a multi-millionaire in a few years! chippy chipmunk had left his store in charge of his brother so as to be on hand, and featherhead stood at a little distance, enviously watching the friendly greetings. everybody was there, even old parson owl, winking and blinking, from a shady spot in the forest, nodded pleasantly and wished the little rabbit good luck. suddenly a sharp bark came down the shady forest trail, and the next instant old sic'em and the farmer's boy jumped over the old rail fence. into the old bramble patch went little jack rabbit and his mother, while the forest folk either ran off or flew away. "what's this?" cried the farmer's boy, kicking over the cabbages and turnips that the poor little rabbit had so carefully placed in front of the store. down fell the sign from the nicely painted post. crack! it went under the heel of the farmer boy's shoe. "why didn't you catch 'em, sic'em?" he asked crossly. then he turned away and went whistling down the path. "i don't feel much like whistling," said little jack rabbit, "my store has all gone to smithereens!" but mrs. rabbit didn't say anything. i think she was even more disappointed than her little bunny boy. billy breeze "billy breeze, billy breeze! come and help me, if you please. if you'll only shake the tree, there'll be lots of nuts for me." this is what chippy chipmunk sang one morning when he found there were no more nuts on the ground. of course, he had a lot already stored away, but he didn't want to use them now. no, indeed; not until the cold weather came. pretty soon he commenced to sing again: "billy breeze, billy breeze! come and help me, if you please. shake the nuts from off the tree; do this favor, please, for me." now everybody in the shady forest liked chippy chipmunk. in the first place, he was such a good little worker. then, too, he minded his own business and was never cross. so as soon as billy breeze heard him call, he blew in from the sunny meadow and shook the tree. down came the nuts, pitter, patter, all over the ground, and one hit the little chipmunk right on the head. "ouch!" he cried. "whew! did it hurt?" whistled billy breeze. "well, i should say so," answered chippy chipmunk. "wait till i hide before you shake again." then billy breeze gave the big tree another shake. pitter, patter, pitter, patter! went the nuts on the dry leaves. "i guess that's enough," said billy breeze. "i must go now!" "what for?" asked the little chipmunk. "to turn the weathercock." and off went billy breeze across the sunny meadow, to the old farm yard. the weathercock on the big red barn saw him coming and whirled around on his gilded toe. and henny penny at once set to work to prune and oil her feathers. she rubbed her bill over the little oil sack hidden among the feathers on her back and said to cocky doodle: "it's going to rain, for mr. weathercock is pointing to the east." pitter, patter as soon as billy breeze had turned the weathercock on the big red barn, he hurried away to get the rain-clouds. he didn't even wait to say howdy to ducky waddles, although he knew the little duck would be glad to know where he was going. but billy breeze didn't have time. no, sir. he had to get those rain-clouds in a hurry. it hadn't rained for so long that the roads were inches deep with dust, the bubbling brook was almost dry, and the old duck pond was so low that the mill wheel couldn't turn. the miller couldn't grind his corn, and the miller's boy had so much spare time to tease granddaddy bullfrog that the poor old gentleman frog was nearly worried to death. "hurry up and get those rain-clouds," shouted granddaddy bullfrog as billy breeze hurried across the old duck pond. "i wish we'd have some rain," said the "rusty, dusty" miller, coming to the door of the old mill. it almost seemed as if he were speaking to billy breeze. "you'll get rain pretty soon," he answered, but i guess the miller didn't hear him, for he turned around and went inside. by and by the rain-clouds came tumbling across the sky, as billy breeze pushed them headlong over one another. mr. merry sun saw them coming, and hurried over to the west. but it wasn't any use. billy breeze drove them on so fast that in a little while mr. merry sun was shut in altogether. the bright blue sky grew gray and the leaves began to whisper: "it's going to rain! it's going to rain!" and the grass rippled in the sunny meadow and murmured: "it's going to rain! it's going to rain!" everybody seemed glad except, perhaps, mr. merry sun. but i don't believe he minded it. he must have known that rain is just as needful as sunshine. pitter, patter, pitter, patter! yes, the raindrops were falling. chippy chipmunk scurried into his little house and granddaddy bullfrog chuckled as he crawled under a sheltering leaf. little jack rabbit hopped swiftly over to the old bramble patch and the farmer's boy turned up his collar and ran out of the shady forest where he had been gathering nuts. "you're a good little boy to get home in time," said mrs. rabbit as her little bunny popped into the kitchen door, and the little canary bird began to sing: "pitter, patter, goes the rain, making music on the pane. draw the shades and light the lamp-- never mind the evening damp. wind the clock, make fast the latch of the dear old bramble patch." the end little jack rabbit books (trademark registered) by david cory author of little journeys to happyland a new and unique series about the furred and feathered little people of the wood and meadow. children will eagerly follow the doings of little jack rabbit, who, every morning as soon as he has polished the front door knob and fed the canary, sets out from his little house in the bramble patch to meet his friends in the shady forest and sunny meadow. and the clever way he escapes from his three enemies, danny fox, mr. wicked weasel and hungry hawk will delight the youngsters. little jack rabbit's adventures little jack rabbit and danny fox little jack rabbit and the squirrel brothers little jack rabbit and chippy chipmunk little jack rabbit and the big brown bear little jack rabbit and uncle john hare little jack rabbit and professor crow little jack rabbit and old man weasel little jack rabbit and mr. wicked wolf little jack rabbit and hungry hawk little journeys to happyland (trademark registered) by david cory printed in large type--easy to read. for children from to years. a new series of exciting adventures by the author of little jack rabbit books. the happyland is reached by various routes: if you should happen to miss the iceberg express maybe you can take the magic soap bubble, or in case that has already left, the noah's ark may be waiting for you. this series is unique in that it deals with unusual and exciting adventures on land and sea and in the air. the cruise of the noah's ark this is a good rainy day story. on just such a day mr. noah invites marjorie to go for a trip in the noah's ark. she gets aboard just in time and away it floats out into the big wide world. the magic soap bubble the king of the gnomes has a magic pipe with which he blows a wonderful bubble and taking ed with him they both have a delightful time in gnomeland. the iceberg express the mermaid's magic comb changes little mary louise into a mermaid. the polar bear porter on the iceberg express invites her to take a trip with him and away they go on a little journey to happyland. none note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original lovely illustrations. see -h.htm or -h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/ / / / / / -h/ -h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/ / / / / / -h.zip) [cover illustration] uncle wiggily and old mother hubbard [illustration] uncle wiggily and old mother hubbard adventures of the rabbit gentleman with the mother goose characters by howard r. garis author of "uncle wiggily bedtime stories," "uncle wiggily animal stories," "uncle wiggily's story book," "the daddy series," etc. illustrated by edward bloomfield & lansing campbell a. l. burt company publishers new york children's books by howard r. garis uncle wiggily bedtime stories uncle wiggily's adventures uncle wiggily's travels uncle wiggily's fortune uncle wiggily's automobile uncle wiggily at the seashore uncle wiggily's airship uncle wiggily in the country uncle wiggily in the woods uncle wiggily on the farm uncle wiggily's journey uncle wiggily's rheumatism uncle wiggily and baby bunty uncle wiggily in wonderland uncle wiggily in fairyland uncle wiggily and mother hubbard uncle wiggily and the birds uncle wiggily animal stories sammie and susie littletail johnnie and billie bushytail lulu, alice and jimmie wibblewobble jackie and peetie bow-wow buddy and brighteyes pigg joie, tommie and kittie kat charlie and arabella chick neddie and beckie stubtail bully and bawly no-tail nannie and billie wagtail jollie and jillie longtail jacko and jumpo kinkytail curly and floppy twistytail toodle and noodle flattail dottie and willie flufftail dickie anp nellie fliptail woodie and waddie chuck bobby and betty ringtail something new! uncle wiggily's story book and uncle wiggily's picture book copyright, , by r. f. fenno & company uncle wiggily and old mother hubbard contents chapter i. uncle wiggily and mother goose ii. uncle wiggily and the first pig iii. uncle wiggily and the second pig iv. uncle wiggily and the third pig v. uncle wiggily and little boy blue vi. uncle wiggily and higgledee piggledee vii. uncle wiggily and little bo-peep viii. uncle wiggily and tommie tucker ix. uncle wiggily and pussy cat mole x. uncle wiggily and jack and jill xi. uncle wiggily and jack horner xii. uncle wiggily and mr. pop-goes xiii. uncle wiggily and simple simon xiv. uncle wiggily and the crumpled-horn cow xv. uncle wiggily and old mother hubbard xvi. uncle wiggily and miss muffet xvii. uncle wiggily and the first kitten xviii. uncle wiggily and the second kitten xix. uncle wiggily and the third kitten xx. uncle wiggily and the jack horse xxi. uncle wiggily and the clock-mouse xxii. uncle wiggily and the late scholar xxiii. uncle wiggily and baa-baa black sheep xxiv. uncle wiggily and polly flinders xxv. uncle wiggily and the garden maid xxvi. uncle wiggily and the king uncle wiggily and old mother hubbard 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. "i am glad to meet you, mother goose," spoke mr. longears. "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." [illustration: "little pig! little pig! let me come in!"] 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 cornstalk. "what's the trouble, grunter and squeaker?" asked the rabbit gentleman. "we are lonesome for our brother," said the two little piggie boys no. and no. . "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." rut 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. "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." [illustration] "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 cornstalk, 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 today?" 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 today 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 shepardess 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 back-room 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 snowbank 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." [illustration: "i wish you'd go for dr. possum."] 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 homer'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 cornmeal-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. [illustration: "weren't we naughty kittens?"] "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 today; did you not?" "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?" [illustration] "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. "well, uncle wiggily, where are you going now?" asked the king, as he saw the bunny gentleman hopping away with the bunch of carrots. "i hardly know that myself," answered the rabbit. "i want to have more adventures, either with the friends of old mother hubbard and mother goose, or with some of the animal or birds that live in the woods." "i think some adventures with birds would be exciting," spoke the king. "this blackbird who nipped off the maid's nose was a lively sort of chap." "he was, indeed," agreed the bunny gentleman. "i think i should like some adventures with my feathered friends who fly in the air. when i come back i'll tell you about them, mr. king." "please do," begged the gentleman with the gold and diamond crown. and so, as long as the rabbit wishes it, and if the condensed milk doesn't jump out of the molasses jug and scare the coffee pot so that it drinks tea, i shall make the next book "uncle wiggily and the birds," and i hope you will like it. none