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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/15280-h.zip b/15280-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..247c0f4 --- /dev/null +++ b/15280-h.zip diff --git a/15280-h/15280-h.htm b/15280-h/15280-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a0f7e82 --- /dev/null +++ b/15280-h/15280-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5163 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Lulu, Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble, by Howard R. Garis</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;} /* page numbers */ + .sidenote {width: 20%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; margin-left: 1em; + float: right; clear: right; margin-top: 1em; + font-size: smaller; background: #eeeeee; border: dashed 1px;} + + .bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + .bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + .bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + .br {border-right: solid 2px;} + .bbox {border: solid 2px;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + img {border: 0;} + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span {display: block; margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em;} + hr.full { width: 100%; } + pre {font-size: 8pt;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Lulu, Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble, by +Howard R. Garis, Illustrated by Louis Wisa</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Lulu, Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble</p> +<p>Author: Howard R. Garis</p> +<p>Release Date: March 7, 2005 [eBook #15280]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LULU, ALICE AND JIMMIE WIBBLEWOBBLE***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3>E-text prepared by David Newman, Emmy,<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (https://www.pgdp.net).<br /> + Cover image repair by David Garcia.</h3> +<p> </p> +<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;" cellpadding="10"> + <tr> + <td valign="top"> + Transcriber's Note: + </td> + <td> + The cover shown below has had considerable work + done to it. To view its original appearance + <a href="images/cover-o.jpg"><b>click here</b></a> + </td> + </tr> +</table> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + + +<p class="figcenter"><a href="./images/cover.jpg"><img src="./images/cover-tb.jpg" alt="Cover" title="Cover" /></a></p> + + +<p class="center"><i>BEDTIME STORIES</i></p> + +<h1>Lulu, Alice and Jimmie</h1> +<h1>Wibblewobble</h1> + +<hr style='width: 15%;' /> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>HOWARD R. GARIS</h2> + +<p class="center">Author of "Sammie and Susie Littletail," "Johnnie and Billie +Bushytail," "Those Smith Boys," "Dick +Hamilton's Fortune," Etc.</p> + +<hr style='width: 15%;' /> + +<p class="center">ILLUSTRATIONS BY LOUIS WISA</p> + +<hr style='width: 15%;' /> + +<p class="center">R.F. FENNO & COMPANY<br /> +18 EAST SEVENTEENTH ST.<br /> +NEW YORK</p> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> +<h3>CHILDREN'S BOOKS</h3> + +<h4>By HOWARD R. GARIS</h4> + +<p class="center">THE BEDTIME STORIES SERIES</p> + +<p class="center">EIGHT COLORED ILLUSTRATIONS</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Price 75 cents each, postpaid</i> +</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Booklist"> +<tr><td align='left'>SAMMIE AND SUSIE LITTLETAIL</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">31 Rabbit Stories</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>JOHNNIE AND BILLIE BUSHYTAIL</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">31 Squirrel Stories</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>LULU, ALICE AND JIMMIE WIBBLEWOBBLE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">31 Duck Stories</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>JACKIE AND PEETIE BOW-WOW</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">31 Dog Stories</span></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="center"><i>Other volumes in preparation</i></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h3>THE UNCLE WIGGILY SERIES</h3> + +<p class="center">EIGHT COLORED ILLUSTRATIONS</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Price 75 cents each, postpaid</i></p> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Uncle Wiggily Books"> +<tr><td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY'S ADVENTURES</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1em;">31 of the Old Gentleman Rabbit Stories</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY'S TRAVELS</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1em;">31 More Old Gentleman Rabbit Stories</span></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> +<h3>BOY'S BOOKS</h3> + +<h4>THOSE SMITH BOYS SERIES</h4> + +<p class="center">FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Price 75 cents each, postpaid</i></p> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Smith Boys Books"> +<tr><td align='left'>THE SMITH BOYS</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Or, The Mystery of the Thumbless Man</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THOSE SMITH BOYS ON THE DIAMOND</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Or, Nip and Tuck for Victory</span></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> +<h3>THE ISLAND BOYS SERIES</h3> + +<p class="center">FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Price 75 cents each, postpaid</i></p> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Island Boys"> +<tr><td align='left'>THE ISLAND BOYS</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Or, Fun and Adventures on Lake Modoc</span></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + + +<p class="center"><i>Other volumes in preparation</i></p> + + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + +<p class="center">R.F. FENNO & COMPANY<br /> +1912</p> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> +<p class="center"><i>BEDTIME STORIES—Lulu, Alice and Jimmie</i> + +The stories herein contained appeared originally in the Evening News, of +Newark, N.J., where (so many children and their parents have been kind +enough to say) they gave pleasure to a number of little folks, and +grown-ups also.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p class="figcenter"><a href="./images/1.jpg"><img src="./images/1-tb.jpg" alt="The Wibblewobbles" title="The Wibblewobbles" /></a></p> + + +<h2>Contents</h2> +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_I"><b>STORY I</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>LULU WIBBLEWOBBLE STUCK IN THE MUD</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_II"><b>STORY II</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>JIMMIE WIBBLEWOBBLE IN AN AUTO</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_III"><b>STORY III</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>ALICE WIBBLEWOBBLE'S NEW BONNET</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_IV"><b>STORY IV</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>JIMMIE AND THE WATERFALL</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_V"><b>STORY V</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>A VISIT TO BILLIE BUSHTAIL</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_VI"><b>STORY VI</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>JIMMIE AS A FLYING MACHINE</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_VII"><b>STORY VII</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>LULU AND THE GOLD FISH</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_VIII"><b>STORY VIII</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>WHO THE FAIRY PRINCE WAS</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_IX"><b>STORY IX</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>GRANDFATHER GOOSEY-GANDER IN TROUBLE</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_X"><b>STORY X</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>THE ROOSTER TRIES TO SWIM</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_XI"><b>STORY XI</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>ALICE WIBBLEWOBBLE'S ENCHANTED CASTLE</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_XII"><b>STORY XII</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>A VISIT TO GRANDPA WIBBLEWOBBLE</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_XIII"><b>STORY XIII</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>A VISIT FROM AUNT LETTIE</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_XIV"><b>STORY XIV</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>LULU AND THE PUSSY WILLOWS</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_XV"><b>STORY XV</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>PLAYING A BALL GAME</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_XVI"><b>STORY XVI</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>THE WIBBLEWOBBLE HOME ON FIRE</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_XVII"><b>STORY XVII</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>HOW THE FAIRY PRINCE WAS CAUGHT</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_XVIII"><b>STORY XVIII</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>THE FAIRY PRINCE DOES A MAGIC TRICK</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_XIX"><b>STORY XIX</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>THE RATS WHO TOOK THE EGGS</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_XX"><b>STORY XX</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>HOW JIMMIE STOOD ON HIS HEAD</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_XXI"><b>STORY XXI</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>LULU AND AUNT LETTIE</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_XXII"><b>STORY XXII</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>HOW ALICE CUT HER FOOT</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_XXIII"><b>STORY XXIII</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>JIMMIE IN A TALL TREE</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_XXIV"><b>STORY XXIV</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>THE WIBBLEWOBBLES' PARTY</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_XXV"><b>STORY XXV</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>LULU AND THE GOLDEN FAIRY</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_XXVI"><b>STORY XXVI</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>JIMMIE AND THE BLACK COW</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_XXVII"><b>STORY XXVII</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>ALICE AND THE PUPPY DOGS</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_XXVIII"><b>STORY XXVIII</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>JIMMIE AND JACKIE BOW WOW</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_XXIX"><b>STORY XXIX</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>GRANDFATHER GOOSEY-GANDER'S TALL HAT</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_XXX"><b>STORY XXX</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>JIMMIE WIBBLEWOBBLE'S KITE</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'> <a href="#STORY_XXXI"><b>STORY XXXI</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>ALICE WIBBLEWOBBLE IN A BAG</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>LULU, ALICE AND JIMMIE WIBBLEWOBBLE</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_I" id="STORY_I" ></a>STORY I</h2> + +<h3>LULU WIBBLEWOBBLE STUCK IN THE MUD</h3> + + +<p>Once upon a time, not so very many years ago, there lived three ducks in a +duck pen. And this pen was not far from where Sammie and Susie Littletail, +the rabbit children, had their burrow, and it was close to the trees where +Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, the squirrel brothers, learned to jump from +their nest. Now I am going to tell you some stories about these ducks, and +what they did.</p> + +<p>To begin with there was the mamma duck. She was Mrs. Wibblewobble, a nice, +white duck, being a cousin to Mrs. Quack-Quack, who once rescued Billie +and Johnnie Bushytail, and Jennie Chipmunk from the desert island where +they had been shipwrecked, you remember.</p> + +<p>Then there was the papa duck, and, of course, his name was Mr. +Wibblewobble. Also there were the children ducks; Jimmie Wibblewobble and +his two sisters, Lulu and Alice.</p> + +<p>Lulu was a duckling who could throw a stone almost as well as could +Jimmie, but Alice was not so fond of doing this. She would rather dress +up, and play keep house, while Lulu wanted to be off having a good time +with her brother. But the three ducklings got along very nicely together +just the same.</p> + +<p>What's that? Why were they named Wibblewobble? Well, because, you see they +did wibblewobble from side to side when they walked, and so they had to be +named Wibblewobble, or things wouldn't have come out right. So there!</p> + +<p>Well, the Wibblewobble family lived in a nice, wooden house, called a pen, +near a pond of water, and their house had a door and two windows to it, so +you see they were quite well off. In fact they were very stylish ducks, +and once Jimmie Wibblewobble even rode in an automobile, but I can't tell +you about that now, because you see I am going to relate to you how Lulu +was caught fast in the mud. It happened one day when Jimmie and his two +sisters were swimming about on the pond, just like three white boats.</p> + +<p>"Let's see who can swim the fastest!" suddenly called the little boy duck. +"We'll race over to the other side of the pond," and he put his head down +under the water to get a fine, juicy bit of weed, with some water-cress +sauce on it.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," exclaimed Alice Wibblewobble, "it's not nice for girl ducks to +race," and she spread out her wings to see how they looked.</p> + +<p>"Yes it is," said Lulu. "Come on, Jimmie, I'll race with you."</p> + +<p>So off they started, splashing the water with their yellow, webbed feet, +throwing up a little spray, which sparkled in the sunshine, just like +baby's eyes when you come close to her and she laughs at you so cunningly.</p> + +<p>On they went, faster and faster and faster, Lulu and Jimmie, while Alice +remained behind, to gaze in the water which was just like a looking glass, +you know. Oh, my yes, but please don't try it, unless the water is very, +very shallow. You see Alice wanted to see if all her feathers were on +straight, and they were, believe me, as straight as straight can be.</p> + +<p>Well, of course, Jimmie won the race, being a very good swimmer, but Lulu +was close behind him, and would have beaten, only one of her legs got +caught in a weed. Now I call that too bad, don't you? For I was hoping, +all the while, that Lulu would win. But you never can tell what is going +to happen in this world; now can you? No, indeed.</p> + +<p>"Let's race back again," proposed Lulu, after she had rested.</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't race any more," spoke Alice, swimming up just then. "Let's walk +out on land and see if we can't find some nice corn meal. I'm sure it must +be almost dinner time, and I just love corn meal."</p> + +<p>"I know something better than that," suddenly said a quivery-quavery +voice, right beside the ducks, and when they looked around who should be +there but Mr. Goosey-Gander, the grandfather of all the ducks in the pen. +"I know something better than corn meal, little ones," he said, and he +splashed his wings in the water.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked Lulu, as quickly as you can shoot a marble into the +ring and out again. "Is it gum drops?"</p> + +<p>"No," answered Grandfather Goosey-Gander, "it is not gum drops. It is +better than that. It is nice, sweet roots and grasses that grow down under +water," and, with that, what do you think he did? Why, he stood right up +on his head, and reached his bill down beneath the pond, and got some of +the nicest grass that ever was. "There," said the old gentleman duck, +poking up his head, "do as I did, little ones."</p> + +<p>So those three Wibblewobble children did, and pretty soon, Alice and +Jimmie had as much as they could eat, and raised their heads. Then they +saw that Lulu still had her bill down under the water.</p> + +<p>"She must be getting lots more than we did," spoke Alice.</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed," replied Jimmie. "I wonder how she can hold her breath so +long?"</p> + +<p>Just then, what should happen but that Lulu began to wave her feet in the +air, and she flapped her wings until the spray went up in a regular +shower, just like at Asbury Park.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my goodness me sakes alive, and three teaspoonsfull of corn meal with +pepper in!" cried Grandfather Goosey-Gander. "Lulu is stuck in the mud! We +must pull her out. Quick!" That's just the way he said it.</p> + +<p>And, would you believe me, Lulu was held fast in the mud by her dear +little bill! Oh, how terribly frightened Jimmie and Alice were. They +squawked and they quacked, and they tried to pull Lulu out, but she was +stuck too fast.</p> + +<p>Then all the other ducks came swimming up to see what the trouble was, and +they tried to pull her out, but they couldn't, and, all the while her feet +were wiggling as fast as they could wiggle, almost like Sammie +Littletail's nose.</p> + +<p>Then Grandfather Goosey-Gander called out: "What ho! Make way there! I +will save her!" And with that, what do you think he did? Why, he dived +right down under the water, yes, sir, right down in the mud, and he +pushed, and he pulled, and he hauled and he splashed, and he yanked, and +he rooted, and he twisted, and he turned, and he shoved, and then, all +alone, brave old grandfather that he was, he got Lulu up from the mud, +where she had been stuck by her little bill!</p> + +<p>And it was almost time, too, let me tell you, for her breath was nearly +gone. But she soon got better, and she never put her head so far down +under water again.</p> + +<p>Then all the ducks said: "Quack, Quack, Quack!" three times, they were so +glad, and they swam around in a circle, and the old rooster stood on the +bank and crowed, just as if he had done it all! Oh, how glad Papa and +Mamma Wibblewobble were that Lulu was saved!</p> + +<p>Now, if you do not get your feet wet, I shall tell you, to-morrow night, +how Jimmie rode in an automobile.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_II" id="STORY_II" ></a>STORY II</h2> + +<h3>JIMMIE WIBBLEWOBBLE IN AN AUTO</h3> + + +<p>One day, well, it must have been about a week after Lulu Wibblewobble got +caught in the mud, she and Jimmie were out swimming around the pond.</p> + +<p>"Come on," said Lulu, "let's go over and see Mrs. Greenie, the frog. She +always has some candied sweet-flag root hidden away, and perhaps she will +give us some."</p> + +<p>"I don't believe there's any left," spoke Jimmie, "for Bully, the boy +frog, is so fond of it that he eats all he can get."</p> + +<p>"Well, we'll go, anyhow," went on Lulu. Just then she heard her mother +calling:</p> + +<p>"Jimmie! Lulu! Where are you going?"</p> + +<p>"We are going over to see Mrs. Greenie," replied Jimmie.</p> + +<p>"Wait for Alice," called Mamma Wibblewobble. "She will go with you. She is +just putting a clean apron on."</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" cried Lulu. "Why does Alice always make us wait while she +puts on something clean?"</p> + +<p>"I suppose," answered Jimmie, and he scratched his bill with his left leg, +"I suppose it is because she wants to look nice."</p> + +<p>"Yes," agreed Lulu, with a sort of quacking-sigh, "I suppose I ought to +want to look nice, too; but, somehow I don't—ever. I always seem to be in +such a hurry."</p> + +<p>"Maybe you'll change, some day," suggested her brother.</p> + +<p>"Maybe," spoke Lulu, and just then Alice came swimming along, looking just +as nice and pretty as do some ducks which are in a picture. They all went +over to see Mrs. Greenie, the old lady frog, who lived down on the bottom +of the pond, at the far edge, by a big willow tree.</p> + +<p>And, honestly, though I don't like to mention it, for fear you'll think +Bully a greedy little boy, there wasn't a single bit of candied sweet-flag +root in the house. No, sir, not a tiny, weeny bit. So Mrs. Greenie gave +the Wibblewobble children some nice snails, which they liked very much, +and then they went on swimming around. Jimmie was looking for Bully, but +the little boy frog had hopped off to see his cousin. Now, in a few +minutes Jimmie is going to have an adventure, and, if you please, I want +you to listen very carefully, so as not to miss it.</p> + +<p>Well, the three ducklings swam on, thinking how nice it was on the water, +with the warm sun on their backs, when they suddenly came to the end of +the pond. And who should be standing there but the man who owned the +little puddle. And, more than that, there was another man also standing +there in the road and beside him was a queer thing, with big fat wheels, +fatter than the fattest duck or goose you ever saw. It was puffing away, +and some smoke and a funny smell came from it. Of course, you've guessed +it! An automobile! Now, what do you think about that? The ducks listened +to what the men were saying, for, though the Wibblewobbles couldn't talk +as the men did, they could understand our language.</p> + +<p>"It's too bad," said the man who owned the pond. "Can't you go any +farther?"</p> + +<p>"No," said the man who had the automobile, "I can't. You see my horn, that +I blow to tell people to get out of the way, is broken. I can't sound any +warning, and if I ran my machine I might hurt some one; and I wouldn't do +that for the world; no, not for two worlds, if you were to offer them to +me."</p> + +<p>"That is very kind of you; very kind, indeed, I'm sure," went on the man +who owned the pond. "I am glad to have met you; and I wish I could help +you."</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid you can't," answered the other. "I have to walk way down to +Newark, to get a new horn for my auto, so I can blow it, to warn people +out of the way."</p> + +<p>So he started to walk off, and then what do you think happened? Why, +Jimmie Wibblewobble got so excited that he gave a loud "Quack-Quack!" Oh, +so loud and clear! As soon as the man who owned the auto heard it he cried +out, "My gracious goodness! What's that?"</p> + +<p>"That," replied the man who owned the pond, "is one of my ducks. Doesn't +he speak very loudly?"</p> + +<p>Then Jimmie, just to show what he could do, quacked again, harder than +before.</p> + +<p>"Oh, extemporaneousness!" cried the auto man. "That is very fine quacking, +indeed. I never heard better. I have the greatest idea," he added. "Would +you be so kind as to lend me that little duck? I will bring him safely +back to you and not harm him in the least."</p> + +<p>"What will you do with him?" asked the man who owned the pond.</p> + +<p>"I will take him on the seat beside me," replied the other, "and maybe he +will go 'quack-quack' whenever a person gets in the way of my auto. Then +they will not be run over. Why, this little duck will be as good as an +auto horn! Will you let me take him?"</p> + +<p>"I guess so," answered the other man. "But please do not frighten him, as +he is very little."</p> + +<p>The man who owned the auto said he would be careful, and he went over to +where Jimmie was, and picked him right up.</p> + +<p>Now I should have thought that Jimmie would have been frightened, but he +wasn't a bit, no, would you believe me, not a bit. So the man took him and +put him on the seat and started off in the auto. Jimmie knew exactly what +to do. Every time he came to a crossing he "quack-quacked" as loudly as he +could, without being told, and he did the same thing whenever he saw a +person in the way of the big machine.</p> + +<p>Oh, what a fine ride he had in the auto, and how proud he was! Not too +proud, you know, but just proud enough. Well, as true as I'm telling you, +if Jimmie wasn't as good an auto horn as one could wish. Not a single +accident happened when he was on the seat, "quack-quacking" away, and when +the man went to a store and got his regular horn, with the rubber handle +to it, why, he brought Jimmie right back to the pond.</p> + +<p>Now, wasn't that quite an adventure? All the other ducks thought so +anyhow. To-morrow night, if you do not slam the door, you shall hear about +Alice Wibblewobble's new bonnet.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_III" id="STORY_III" ></a>STORY III</h2> + +<h3>ALICE WIBBLEWOBBLE'S NEW BONNET</h3> + + +<p>When the Wibblewobble family came back to their house after a swim around +the pond one bright sunny afternoon, and when the grass on the edges of +the water was as green as it could be, Mamma Wibblewobble looked at her +children, who were walking ahead of her. Jimmie and Lulu were throwing +stones along the path, but Alice, who was as ladylike a little duck as one +could wish, would not throw pebbles even, to say nothing of stones.</p> + +<p>"I declare," exclaimed Mamma Wibblewobble, "those girls will have to have +new bonnets. I must see to it at once."</p> + +<p>"Very well," answered Papa Wibblewobble, "I will get them when I come home +to-morrow. I met Mrs. Gooseyoosy this morning and she said they had a +special sale of hats at the store by the barnyard gate."</p> + +<p>"A man duck cannot get bonnets for Alice and Lulu," declared Mrs. +Wibblewobble. "You would not know what to pick out! It is bad enough to +have you get Jimmie's hats and shoes, but you would never know how to buy +bonnets for the girls."</p> + +<p>"Very well," answered Papa Wibblewobble, "then I will let you do the +buying. I think a green colored bonnet would be nice for Alice."</p> + +<p>"Green! With her complexion!" cried his wife. "Never! It must be +blue—blue for Alice and a brown one for Lulu. Give me the money and I +will start out shopping to-morrow."</p> + +<p>So Mamma Wibblewobble started out the next day, taking Alice and Lulu with +her, while Jimmie stayed home and played cross-tag with Bully, the frog, +and Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, who had a day's vacation.</p> + +<p>They had lots of fun, and once Jimmie nearly fell down a great big—but +there, I started to tell you about Alice Wibblewobble's bonnet, and I must +not get off the track. That story about Jimmie will do for another time.</p> + +<p>Well, you should have seen the numbers and numbers of duck-bonnets that +Mrs. Wibblewobble looked at before she was satisfied with two for the +girls. Not that Alice and Lulu were hard to please. Oh, my, no! But their +mamma wanted them to look just right, and you know it is quite difficult +to fit a bonnet on a duck and make it look like anything. The milliner +said so herself, and she ought to know. But at last the two duck girls +both had very fine bonnets indeed; as fine as mustard seeds, which are +very, very fine. Alice had a nice blue one, and Lulu a brown one.</p> + +<p>Well, would you ever imagine it? Something is going to happen to Alice's +bonnet, and very soon, too. Just be patient and you shall hear.</p> + +<p>"Now children," said Mrs. Wibblewobble, when they had reached the pen +where they lived, "you may go out and swim around a bit with your new +bonnets on until your papa comes home. I want him to see how well they fit +you, for I think I have very good taste when it comes to bonnets."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't want to wear my new one," spoke Lulu. "I will put on my old +one and go and play with Jimmie and Bully, the frog."</p> + +<p>So she did, but Alice, who was very fond of nice clothes, went for a swim +on the pond. At first she paddled around, gazing down in the water, which +was just like the looking-glass some men shave by, and she thought: "Oh, +what a lovely bonnet I have! How fine I shall look when I go for a walk on +Sunday!"</p> + +<p>And just then—really I'm not exaggerating a bit—If it didn't begin to +rain! Now, of course, rain couldn't hurt Alice any, for she was a duck +and was used to the water, but she knew it would spoil her new bonnet. So +she took it off and laid it under a big burdock plant leaf near the pond, +to keep the flowers and ribbons dry.</p> + +<p>"I wish it would stop raining," said Alice, after a while. "I want to go +home," but the big drops kept on falling, and she had to remain near her +bonnet for fear something would happen to it.</p> + +<p>Then, in a little while, oh, maybe half an hour or so, all at once as +quick as a wink, along came Mooleyooly, the big brown cow. Mooleyooly +walked up to the burdock leaf, under which was the new bonnet, and +Mooleyooly saw the pretty yellow flowers on it, and she saw the blue +flowers on it and she saw the red flowers on it. Then Mooleyooly said, as +she licked her lips with her red tongue:</p> + +<p>"What have we here? It looks very nice."</p> + +<p>"It is nice," answered Alice proudly, for she was glad to have some one, +even a cow, admire her bonnet.</p> + +<p>"It looks just like the green meadow where I live," went on Mooleyooly, +"with buttercups, and daisies, and ragged sailor flowers and some red +poppies growing in it. Oh, very fine, indeed. Why, those flowers are +real!" exclaimed the cow, looking carefully at the new bonnet under the +big leaf.</p> + +<p>"Of course," cried Alice, "certainly they are real."</p> + +<p>"Better and better!" went on Mooleyooly. "Most delightful, I am sure!" +Then, oh, how sorry I feel that I have to tell it—then, if that brown cow +didn't start right in and eat up Alice's new bonnet!</p> + +<p>Yes, sir, every single bit, down to a bunch of green grass that looked so +pretty on it. She ate it all up at one mouthful, before Alice could cry +out "stop" or "halt" or "cease" or any words like that. Well, of course, +Alice cried. Wouldn't you, boys and girls—I mean, of course, you +girls—have done the same? Well, I guess so!</p> + +<p>Then, when the cow saw how sorry Alice felt, Mooleyooly felt badly, too, +and she cried great big tears until you would have thought it was raining +harder then ever. Then, being a good cow, Mooleyooly promised to get Alice +a new bonnet, which she did, made of the finest straw in the stable.</p> + +<p>So Alice had a hat for Sunday after all, even if one was eaten up by +mistake. Well, pretty soon it stopped raining and Alice went home with the +bonnet the cow gave her, and Mamma Wibblewobble said it was even better +than the one she had bought. Now, wasn't that rather odd? I thought so, +myself.</p> + +<p>To-morrow night if you do not sneeze, I hope to have the pleasure of +telling you how Jimmie Wibblewobble almost fell over the waterfall; but +don't let that alarm you the least bit, for he was saved in a most +wonderful way.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_IV" id="STORY_IV" ></a>STORY IV</h2> + +<h3>JIMMIE AND THE WATERFALL</h3> + + +<p>It was such a nice day that Mr. and Mrs. Wibblewobble decided to go +visiting, as they had an invitation to call on Mrs. Greenie, the frog lady +who lived at the end of the pond. So the two ducks, after seeing that the +pen was in order, and the windows nice and clean, in case any company +should call on them while they were out, started off, swimming very +slowly, for they had their best clothes on and did not want to splash +water on them.</p> + +<p>"Now, I hope you children will be good," called Mamma Wibblewobble to +Jimmie and Lulu and Alice. "Don't get into any mischief and we'll be back +at supper time."</p> + +<p>"We'll be good," promised Alice, but Jimmie and Lulu didn't say anything, +though, of course they meant to be good also. Only, sometimes, you know +how it is, just when you want to be good and make no trouble something is +sure to happen; that is, most always. Well, that's the way it was this +time.</p> + +<p>The papa and mamma ducks hadn't been gone more than half an hour before +Jimmie thought of something to do. Of course, he didn't know it was +mischief but it was, all the same.</p> + +<p>It happened that at one end of the pond where the ducks lived there was a +waterfall. That is, the water ran from the pond, and fell over a high wall +of stones upon some more stones down below, and made a lot of foam and a +rushing, gurgling noise that was very cool in summer, making you think of +ice cream and all nice things like that. And besides this there was, near +the waterfall, a big mill, with a wheel that went around and around, to +grind the corn and grain.</p> + +<p>Well, Jimmie's papa and mamma hadn't been gone more than half an hour +before the little boy duck called to Lulu and Alice. "Let's see how near +we can go to the waterfall," he said.</p> + +<p>Now this was a very dangerous thing to do, because there was a strong and +swift current at the fall, and any one who went too near it might be +carried over. Mr. and Mrs. Wibblewobble knew this, and many times had told +their children to keep away. But, you see, Jimmie forgot, or else didn't +want to remember, so he called to his sisters, telling them to see how +near they could go.</p> + +<p>"I'll not," spoke Alice. "And you hadn't better either, Jimmie. You know +what mamma said."</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, the water's low now," replied Jimmie. "I don't believe there's +any danger. Come on, Lulu."</p> + +<p>"All right," said Lulu. So she and Jimmie started to swim as close as they +could to the waterfall. But Alice stayed near shore, and who should come +along but Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, the muskrat nurse who was out for a +walk. She told Alice about Sammie and Susie Littletail, and said the +little rabbit children were well.</p> + +<p>Now all this while Jimmie and Lulu were swimming nearer and nearer to the +waterfall. They could hear the water splashing on the rocks below, and +they liked to listen to it.</p> + +<p>"We had better stop," called Lulu, after a while.</p> + +<p>"No, I'm going closer," declared Jimmie. "There is no danger; come on!"</p> + +<p>But just then Lulu felt something pulling her down toward where the big +wheel went around and around, and she got frightened. Then she swam just +as hard as she could toward shore, and called to her brother: "Jimmie, +don't go any closer! Come back!"</p> + +<p>But Jimmie was a boy duck, and wanted to be brave, so he answered: "I'm +going just a little bit closer."</p> + +<p>Now Lulu had a very hard time, indeed, getting to shore, as the current +was so strong, but she finally managed it. Jimmie, however, kept on +swimming nearer and nearer to the falls. Then, all at once, before you +could stick a pin in a cushion, what should take place but that the little +boy duck felt himself being pulled along by the rushing water, just as the +soap floats along when you pull the plug out of the bathtub. Oh, how fast +the water swept him along! Jimmie splashed and paddled with all his might, +and tried to swim ashore, where Lulu was anxiously watching him, but he +couldn't seem to move. There he was, being carried along to the edge of +the falls, with the cruel, sharp stones below, and the big millwheel going +around and around. Then Jimmie knew he was in great danger, and he cried +out: "Help! Help! Help!" three times, as loudly as he could call.</p> + +<p>Lulu and Alice heard him, and were much frightened. They started to go to +the aid of their brother, but Grandfather Goosey-Gander warned them not +to.</p> + +<p>"But who will save Jimmie?" they cried.</p> + +<p>"I will try to," answered the old gentleman duck.</p> + +<p>So he got a rope and threw it to Jimmie, but the rope wasn't long enough, +and the poor little boy duck kept getting closer and closer to the edge +of the falls, and the big millwheel. Oh, how hard he was swimming, but the +water was stronger than he was.</p> + +<p>"Get a board!" cried Bully, the frog, who came hopping along just then. So +the ducks and the geese got a board and threw it to Jimmie, but it floated +past him, and he couldn't get upon it. Then it surely did look as if he +were going to be carried right over the falls, for he was being swept +nearer and more near, and he could hear the water making a terrible +roaring, splashing sound on the rocks. You have no idea how scared Jimmie +was, and he wished he had never gone near the falls.</p> + +<p>Then the other ducks got a long stick and Grandfather Goosey-Gander held +it out, so the little boy duck could grasp it in his bill, but the stick +broke, and every one said it was too bad! Then, just as Jimmie was almost +to the edge of the falls, if Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy didn't call out: +"Stand aside, everybody! I am a good swimmer and I will save him!"</p> + +<p>Then what do you think happened? Why that good, kind muskrat jumped right +into the water, and hurried to where Jimmie was. She dived down, and got +hold of his yellow legs in her teeth, but she took hold very gently, so as +not to hurt him. Then she was such a fine swimmer that she managed to get +to shore, towing and pulling Jimmie with her, for the water could not hurt +Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, no matter how hard the millwheel splashed.</p> + +<p>So that is how Jimmie was saved from the waterfall, and when his papa and +mamma came home they were very glad, of course, and why shouldn't they be? +But, all the same Lulu and Jimmie had to be punished for disobeying, and +going too near the falls when they had been told not to, and their +punishment was that they could not go in swimming for three days. And if +you ever were a duck you know that was very severe punishment indeed, very +severe.</p> + +<p>But I'm not going to say that Jimmie and Lulu didn't deserve it, no indeed +I'm not; not if you were to offer me an orange and a half; and I'm very +fond of oranges; very. Well, that's how things will sometimes happen in +this world, won't they? do the best that you can. But now I suppose you +want to know what the story will be about to-morrow night. Well, if I see +a pink grasshopper, I shall tell you about a visit the Wibblewobble +children paid to poor, sick, Billie Bushytail.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_V" id="STORY_V" ></a>STORY V</h2> + +<h3>A VISIT TO BILLIE BUSHTAIL</h3> + + +<p>You remember how Lulu and Jimmie had to be punished for disobeying their +papa and mamma, and going too near the waterfall, I suppose? They couldn't +go in swimming for three days. Well, the three days were very nearly up; +that is there was just one day left, so Lulu said:</p> + +<p>"Come on, Jimmie, we will go for a walk in the woods. Don't you want to +come, too, Alice?"</p> + +<p>Now, of course, Alice could go in the water if she wanted to, for she was +not punished, as she had not gone near the waterfall, but instead of going +swimming alone, she stayed with her brother and sister, and I call that +very kind of her. So, when Lulu asked her to take a walk in the woods, +Alice answered:</p> + +<p>"Of course, I will go with you. Who knows, perhaps we may have an +adventure!" For you see Alice was very romantic. That is, she always hoped +something would happen that never had happened before, and she was always +hoping a fairy prince would come along and rescue her from some danger. +But, up to this time, nothing like this had ever occurred, though those +duck children are going to have a small adventure pretty soon, I think.</p> + +<p>"All right," spoke Jimmie, "let's take a walk, and see what happens." So +they walked on through the woods, which were very fine that day, and they +felt the nice, warm, brown earth on their yellow feet, and it was almost +as good as going in the water. Pretty soon, just after they had passed +under a buttonball tree, the ducklings heard a noise, and who should run +out from under a bush but little Sister Sallie. You remember her, I hope; +Sister Sallie, who was named after Lolly-pop-Lally, and who lived with +Johnnie and Billie Bushytail.</p> + +<p>"Why, Sister Sallie!" cried Lulu Wibblewobble, "where are you going this +bright, beautiful, sunshiny day?"</p> + +<p>"I'm going for the doctor," answered Sister Sallie.</p> + +<p>"Are you sick?" inquired Jimmie. "You don't look so."</p> + +<p>"No, it's Billie Bushytail," said the little girl squirrel. "He is quite +ill, and I am going for Dr. Possum. Billie has a fever and headache, and +he snuffles something terrible. His papa and mamma are quite worried +about him. Isn't it terrible to be sick?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," answered Jimmie, "for I was never sick."</p> + +<p>"I was once," remarked Alice, "and it is not nice, I do assure you. +Suppose we go call on Billie Bushytail Maybe we could cheer him up."</p> + +<p>"I think that would be lovely," spoke Sister Sallie. "You go see him, +while I hurry for the doctor."</p> + +<p>So the three Wibblewobble children walked on through the pleasant woods, +until they came to the place where the Bushytail family had moved. Their +home was now in a hollow stump, close to the ground, and there was a +fallen tree leading up to it, just like a plank over the brook, so the +ducks could easily walk up it. They went right to the front door, and +Jimmie knocked with his strong, yellow bill. Mrs. Bushytail opened the +door, and when she saw the little ducklings, she said:</p> + +<p>"Oh, my dears! Do not come too near, for we don't know what disease Billie +may have. I would not want you to catch it."</p> + +<p>"Oh, we are not afraid," spoke Jimmie. "But we will not come too near. We +were out walking in the woods, and we met little Sister Sallie. We came to +call on Billie, and cheer him up."</p> + +<p>"That is very kind of you," said Mamma Bushytail. "The poor little fellow +is quite miserable. I put his feet in hot mustard water, and gave him some +Jamaica ginger, and he is now in bed. I fear he has the epizootic, which +is a very dreadful disease."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I hope not!" exclaimed Alice, kindly. "Perhaps he only has the pip, +which is not nearly so bad."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," answered Mamma Bushytail. "I have sent Johnnie for some +quinine, and that may help Billie."</p> + +<p>"May we see him?" asked Lulu. "Perhaps we can cheer him up."</p> + +<p>"To be sure, you may see him," replied Billie's mamma; so she opened the +door a little wider in order that the ducklings might look in the +hollow-stumphouse, for of course they could not enter, as it was too +small. They saw Billie, all wrapped up in blankets, in bed, and he looked +quite ill. But he seemed happy in spite of that, for the hot mustard +footbath had helped him some. He smiled when he saw Jimmie and Lulu and +Alice. Then Jimmie gave Mrs. Bushytail some nice acorns he had picked up +in the woods and had carried under his wing.</p> + +<p>"They are for Billie," said Jimmie. Next Lulu gave the sick squirrel-boy +some nice, sweet grass she had gathered on the edge of the pond, and +Alice had some lovely sugared sweet-flag root, which is very good in case +of sickness. Then Billie felt much better, and after a while Jimmie said: +"Let's sing a funny little song for Billie." So Jimmie, Alice and Lulu +sang this little verse to cheer up poor, sick Billie, and, if you can get +a good singer to sing it for you, it doesn't sound at all bad, I assure +you:</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="A song to cheer Billy"> +<tr><td align='left'>Don't mind if you have to take stuff from a spoon,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>'Tis better than having to climb to the moon.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>You might make a stumble or else have a tumble,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>And then you would fall pretty soon.<br /><br /></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>We came, little Billie, to make you feel better.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>At first we were going to write you a letter;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>But we had no ink, dear, so that's why we came here.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>We're dry now, but we'll soon be wetter.</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p>Then Billie laughed right out loud, he felt so much better, and he ate +some acorns and the sweet-flag root, nibbling at it with his sharp teeth. +Then a scratching sound was heard on the stump, and who should come up it +but Sister Sallie, with Dr. Possum.</p> + +<p>The doctor said "He!" and he said "Hum!" and he said "Ahem!" Then he felt +Billie's pulse and made him put out his tongue. Then Dr. Possum exclaimed: +"Why, this little squirrel isn't sick at all! No, sir! Not at all. My +goodness me; no, indeed! Why, the very idea! Sick? I guess not!"</p> + +<p>But Mrs. Bushytail said her little boy had been very ill, and Dr. Possum +answered:</p> + +<p>"Well, if he was sick, these little ducks have cured him. They are just as +good at doctoring as I am; yes, indeed; and a thermometer or two besides. +There is no need for me."</p> + +<p>"It was the funny little song that cured me," said Billie. Then he got out +of bed and began frisking around; the doctor went home, and the little +squirrel was all well. After a while Jimmie, Lulu and Alice had to leave, +and they went home, feeling very happy for the good they had done to +Billie Bushytail, for it always makes you feel happy to help some one. +Now, if you promise not to whisper in school next week you shall hear +to-morrow night how Jimmie tried to become a flying machine.</p> + +<p class="figcenter"><a href="./images/2.jpg"><img src="./images/2-tb.jpg" alt="Bushytail is sick" title="Bushytail is sick" /></a></p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_VI" id="STORY_VI" ></a>STORY VI</h2> + +<h3>JIMMIE AS A FLYING MACHINE</h3> + + +<p>One day, I think it must have been about three-and-a-half-quacks past +cornmeal time, there was a great commotion in the yard, and around the +pond where Jimmie Wibblewobble and his two sisters and his papa and mamma +lived. There was a great fluttering in the air, and something, colored in +beautiful tints, flew down and settled on the water with a little splash.</p> + +<p>"My goodness, what is that?" asked Alice Wibblewobble, who was easily +frightened. At first no one knew, for, though the creature was shaped just +like a duck, it was not colored like any duck Jimmie had even seen. It was +gold and bronze and green, with little patches of red and blue here and +there, and was a most beautiful creature.</p> + +<p>"Maybe that is a fairy," suggested Lulu, who sometimes read fairy stories.</p> + +<p>"Oh, if it only might be one, and could tell me where the fairy prince +is!" exclaimed Alice, with a sigh.</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" cried Jimmie, who was just going off to see his friend Bully, +the frog. "Stuff and nonsense!"</p> + +<p>"That's what I say, too," called out the strange creature. "Nonsense! I'm +not a fairy at all. I'm a duck like yourselves, only I am a wild duck." +Then its wings beat the air and water, and the wild duck arose and flew +right over the pond and back again, as quickly as could be.</p> + +<p>"My goodness! How do you do that?" asked Jimmie, who never could fly more +than a few feet.</p> + +<p>"Why," answered the wild duck, "I just did it, that's all."</p> + +<p>"Snippery, snappery snails!" cried Jimmie, "you're just like a flying +machine that my papa read about in the paper."</p> + +<p>"Well, somewhat like one, perhaps," admitted the wild duck. "I can fly a +long distance. Did you ever try?"</p> + +<p>"No," answered Jimmie; "I never did."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you would like to try now," suggested the other. "I will stay +here a little while, and show you. It is very easy. You can just as well +become a flying machine as not. Come, I will fly up on the fence. You come +up here, too, and when I say 'Go!' why start off, and, who knows? perhaps +you will do as well as I. Don't be afraid."</p> + +<p>"Of course, I'll try," said Jimmie, very bravely, for he was always +wanting to try new things.</p> + +<p>"So will I," cried Lulu. "I want to fly, too."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you had better be careful," warned Alice, who was a very cautious +duckling, never getting into danger if she could help it.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we'll be careful, but we are going to become flying machines just the +same," said Jimmie.</p> + +<p>So the wild duck flew up on the fence, which was at one edge of the pond, +and, oh, how beautiful he looked with the sun shining on his finely +colored feathers. Jimmie had quite a struggle to get on the top rail of +the fence, and so did Lulu, but they finally managed it, and, just as they +stood beside the wild duck, who should come along but Grandfather +Goosey-Gander. He asked the two Wibblewobble children what they were going +to do, and when Jimmie said they were going to learn to become flying +machines, the old duck said, "Humph!" just as quickly as he could.</p> + +<p>"If you had such hard work getting to the top of the fence, how do you +think you can fly across the pond?" he asked, and then he sneezed three +times, for he was catching cold.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we will do it," answered Jimmie, for, of course, you see, he really +thought he could.</p> + +<p>But something is going to happen, just as sure as you can add up two and +three and make five out of them.</p> + +<p>"Are you all ready?" asked the wild duck of Jimmie and Lulu, as they stood +beside him, balanced on the fence rail.</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Jimmie, trying to stop his heart from beating so rapidly, +"we are ready, Mr. Wild Duck. You fly and we will fly also."</p> + +<p>"Watch me carefully," said the beautiful creature, "and do exactly as I +do."</p> + +<p>They were just about to fly, when the old rooster, who had been picking up +corn down the road, come running up.</p> + +<p>"Hold on!" he cried, "I can fly as good as that wild duck! Wait for me and +we will have a race!"</p> + +<p>So they waited until the old rooster got up on the fence rail, too. Then +the wild duck counted: "One to begin with, two for a show, three to make +ready and four to go!"</p> + +<p>Then he flapped his wings, gave a loud "squawk-squawk" and sailed over +that pond as nice as you please.</p> + +<p>Well, of course, I've got to tell exactly what happened, or it wouldn't be +fair. Jimmie tried to fly, but I wish you could have seen him. He only +went a little way, and then, because his body was too heavy for his wings, +or because his wings were too light for his body, he came flopping right +down to the ground, ker-thump, and he hurt his nose considerably, let me +tell you, for considerably is quite a lot.</p> + +<p>Well, poor Lulu, if she didn't fall, too! Yes, sir, she turned a +somersault right in the air, before all those watching ducks, and she, +too, came down ker-flimmax-ker-flump, and she hurt her left-hand wing. +Then she cried once, "Boo-hoo!" just like that. Then she stopped.</p> + +<p>Jimmie didn't cry at all, if you'll believe me, no, sir, not a mite, but +he felt badly all the same. And then that rooster! Oh, dear me, how +foolish some roosters are, anyhow, now aren't they, really? Well, he +started off all right, but just then the wind got in the wrong place, and +it turned him upside down. Now, no rooster can fly upside down, no matter +what else he can do, so that one came flippity-flop down into the water +ker-splash-ker-sposh; and one more besides! Maybe he didn't feel +mortified!</p> + +<p>But that wild duck! Oh, my, goodness me! How he did fly. Around and +around, and around that pond he went, never touching the water once. Then +he came to where Jimmie and Lulu were, and he told them how sorry he felt +for them, before he flew away to a far, far distant land, where only wild +ducks live. Then Grandfather Goosey-Gander went up to those two +Wibblewobble children, and so did Alice, to lend Lulu her handkerchief. +And Grandfather Goosey said: "It is better for tame ducks to stay on the +water, or on land. They were not made for flying." So that was the end of +Jimmie trying to become an air ship. To-morrow night you may hear about +Lulu and the gold fish, that is if the lemon squeezer doesn't pinch me.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_VII" id="STORY_VII" ></a>STORY VII</h2> + +<h3>LULU AND THE GOLD FISH</h3> + + +<p>Well, here we are again, after a rest over night, and all ready for +another story, I suppose. Let me see, it was to be about the fairy prince +and Alice Wibblewobble—no, hold on there, I'm wrong. I know it. Lulu and +the gold fish; to be sure! Well, here we go. Now, of course, I could make +this about the fairy prince—in fact, he has something to do with this +story—but as the gold fish has more, I put her name at the top.</p> + +<p>Lulu Wibblewobble, the little duck girl, who could throw stones almost as +straight as a boy, was swimming around the pond near the pen where she +lived. It was a nice, warm, sunshiny day, and Lulu wanted to do something, +but she didn't just know what. Jimmie, her brother, was off playing with +Bully, the frog, and Alice, her sister, was straightening out her feathers +in the back parlor bedroom, where a piece of tin could be used for a +looking glass.</p> + +<p>All at once Lulu's mamma called to her:</p> + +<p>"Lulu, I want you to go to the store to get some acorn meal and a yeast +cake. I am going to set bread to-night. Hurry, now, that's a good girl."</p> + +<p>"All right, mamma," answered Lulu, and she steered herself around, just +like a motorboat in the water, and started for the store, paddling as hard +as she could.</p> + +<p>She had not gone very far, with the little ripples and waves chasing each +other across the pond, before she saw something swimming close beside her. +Lulu looked down, and what do you think she saw? Well, you might guess, +but then again, you might not, so I'll tell you. It was a gold fish.</p> + +<p>Oh, it was such a beautiful gold fish, with red and silvery spots and +streaks, and a long, feathery tail that looked like lace in the water.</p> + +<p>"Hello!" exclaimed Lulu; "I didn't know you lived here."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," answered the fish. "I have lived here for some time, but, you +see, during the cold weather I stay down in the mud. However, as it is now +spring, I have come up, and I am going to play around all summer."</p> + +<p>"That's nice," remarked Lulu. "What's your name?"</p> + +<p>"My name is Fannie Tail," replied the fish. "You see I got that name +because my tail is shaped like a fan, but most persons just call me Fan +Tail. You may, if you like."</p> + +<p>"All right," agreed Lulu. "I will. My name is Lulu, but you may call me +Lu, if you wish."</p> + +<p>"Good," answered the fish, turning a double somersault in the water and +wiggling her right fin as if trying to shake hands. "Now we are well +acquainted. And may I ask where you are going?"</p> + +<p>So Lulu told the fish girl about having to go to the store, and Fan seemed +quite pleased to hear it. The two swam on together for some distance, the +fish just under the water and Lulu on top. Pretty soon Lulu asked Fan +where she was going, and the gold fish replied:</p> + +<p>"I am going to the drug store for some sweet flag root for the fairy +prince," and once more the fish girl turned a double somersault and opened +her mouth wide, for she had a cold in her head, in consequence of being so +wet. But as it is very difficult to write a story and make a gold fish +talk as if she had a cold in the head, I have decided to make Fan talk +just ordinarily. You never would have known anything about the cold if I +hadn't mentioned it, so it's just as well.</p> + +<p>"Pardon me," said Lulu, just like a telephone girl, "but did I understand +you to say you were going for some sweet flag root for the fairy prince?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Fan Tail, "that's what I said."</p> + +<p>"But!" cried Lulu. "A fairy prince! I never knew there were fairies in +this pond!"</p> + +<p>"Neither did lots of other persons," replied Fan. "It's supposed to be a +secret, but I'll tell you. And, another thing. There is something strange +about this fairy prince. Do you promise never to tell?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Lulu. "Cross my heart I'll never tell," and she lifted one +leg out of the water and crossed her heart as well as she could.</p> + +<p>"Then," said the gold fish in a whisper, "If you will come with me I will +show you the fairy prince. That is, after I go to the drug store for him. +But mind, it's a great secret."</p> + +<p>So the two swam on together, but Lulu felt sad. And the reason she felt +sad was this: Her sister Alice, who was very romantic—that is, she +continually wanted things to happen that never could happen—Alice always +had wished to see a fairy prince. Now, unless Fan would let Lulu tell the +secret, Alice would never see a prince. And to think he was right in the +same pond with her! Oh, it's dreadful to have a secret you can't tell even +to your own sister, I think.</p> + +<p>Lulu sighed so that she made quite a wave in the pond, and when the fish +saw this she knew something was the matter. So she asked Lulu what it was, +and Lulu told her how Alice was just crazy to see a fairy prince, and had +been dreaming of one for ever and ever so long.</p> + +<p>"And I've promised not to tell," ended Lulu. "Poor Alice! How disappointed +she will be not to see a real, live fairy!"</p> + +<p>"Well, perhaps it is too bad," admitted Fan Tail, and she sneezed so hard +that the water flew up in a spray, just like a fountain. "Perhaps I shall +let you off from your promise," the gold fish went on. "Yes, I think you +may bring Alice to see the fairy prince."</p> + +<p>"And Jimmie? Jimmie's my brother. I know he would love to see him, too. +May he come?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, you may bring Jimmie also. But mind, I don't want you to be +disappointed. Most fairy princes are disappointing, so don't say I didn't +warn you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that will be all right," spoke Lulu, now quite happy again. "May I +bring them this afternoon?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! I suppose so, but no one else, mind. You see the fairy prince is +rather bashful."</p> + +<p>So Lulu promised she would bring no one else, and she hurried to the store +and back again. Fan Tail, the gold fish, went to the drug store for the +sweet flag root for the fairy prince, and on the way she stubbed her nose +against a stone, which made her cold in the head worse than ever; but of +course we have nothing to do with that except to feel sorry for her.</p> + +<p>When Lulu got home she was so excited she dropped the yeast cake in the +pond, and it would have gotten all wet only it was wrapped in tin-foil. +Then she told Alice and Jimmie about the fairy prince she was going to +see, but, as this story is too long already, I must stop, and in case the +postman does not blow his whistle too loud and scary, I shall have the +pleasure, to-morrow night, of telling you about the fairy prince. And I +hope you won't be disappointed.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_VIII" id="STORY_VIII" ></a>STORY VIII</h2> + +<h3>WHO THE FAIRY PRINCE WAS</h3> + + +<p>Mamma and Papa Wibblewobble were sitting in front of the duck pen, talking +with Grandfather Goosey-Gander and the big rooster. They were so busily +engaged in conversation about the best way to serve cold corn meal mixed +with water, that when Lulu asked her parents if she and Jimmie and Alice +could go for a swim, Mrs. Wibblewobble said:</p> + +<p>"Yes, my dear, but be careful you don't get wet."</p> + +<p>Now wasn't that a funny thing for a duck mamma to say to her little duck +girl? But Mamma Wibblewobble was absent minded, so we must excuse her. You +see she thought Lulu wanted to go for a walk in the woods. Well, it didn't +much matter, but I thought I would speak about it.</p> + +<p>"Can we go?" asked Jimmie, when Lulu came back.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she answered. "Hurry now, for we are going to see the fairy prince, +as the gold fish promised."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm so excited I can hardly wait!" exclaimed Alice, who was quite +romantic, as I have explained. "Am I swimming straight, Lulu? I wouldn't +for all the world, have a fairy prince see me swimming crooked."</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't be so fussy!" called out Jimmie. "I wish Bully, the frog was +here. He and I could have some fun."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no!" cried Lulu. "We are the only ones allowed to see the fairy +prince. It's a secret, and he is quite bashful."</p> + +<p>"How are you going to find him?" asked Jimmie. "This is a large pond, and +it's going to be quite a task to locate the fairy prince, or even the gold +fish."</p> + +<p>"Oh! let's don't worry," suggested Alice. "Worrying is one of the very +worst things you can do, especially when there is anything in it about a +fairy. Don't you know that fairies are especially made not to worry? We +will find our way somehow. Either a golden ball will appear and roll on +before us to show us the right direction, or else a magical boat will +suddenly come up in the water, and we can ride right to the place."</p> + +<p>"Hu! What do we want of a boat?" asked Jimmie. "Can't we swim? I don't +believe much in this fairy business, anyhow."</p> + +<p>"Then, if you don't believe, you never will see the fairy prince," +declared Alice. "Only those who believe in fairies can see them. I know, +for I've read lots of fairy stories." You see Alice was very much in +earnest about this matter.</p> + +<p>So the three children swam on together over the pond, and the waters +sparkled in the sun, until you would have thought there were thousands of +diamonds floating on top. The breeze blew just enough to make little +ripples, and altogether it was a very fine day. They went on and on, until +pretty soon they were in a part of the pond they had never before visited. +Tall rushes grew on either side, and the long meadow grass came right down +to the edge of the water and trailed in it, making little green caves in +which to hide. It was cool and quiet there, and very lovely. The ducks +liked it, but still there was no sign of the fairy prince; and the gold +fish had not come to show them the way.</p> + +<p>"I don't believe we'll ever see any fairy prince," said Jimmie.</p> + +<p>"Oh! but the gold fish promised me," spoke Lulu.</p> + +<p>"Hush!" cried Alice. "We must keep very quiet. We may meet the magical +boat, or the golden ball, any minute."</p> + +<p>And just then, what should happen, but that they heard a voice singing. +Yes, sir, just as true as I'm telling you, a voice singing, right down +under the water. And this is what it sang, in silvery tones, just like the +little bell that tinkles on pussy's neck:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The fairy prince lies deep and dark,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Waiting for the firefly's spark;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If you wish to see him now,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Follow me, and make a bow.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>And, all at once, who should appear but Fan Tail, the gold fish. She +popped right out of the water, and when she saw the three duck children +she asked:</p> + +<p>"Did you hear me singing?"</p> + +<p>"Was that you?" asked Lulu.</p> + +<p>"It was," replied Fan. "But why don't you do as I said? If you wish to see +the fairy prince you must bow. He always wants people to do that."</p> + +<p>So Lulu and Jimmie bowed once, and Alice bowed three times, and when they +asked why she did that she said you must always do things by threes where +fairies are concerned.</p> + +<p>"Now, follow me," called the gold fish; so they swam farther and farther +up the part of the pond where they had never before been. It got smaller +and smaller, until it was like a little brook, with rushes bending over +it, while the water whispered to the green stems.</p> + +<p>"The fairy prince lives in there," suddenly said the gold fish, poking her +head up out of the water, so she could speak more plainly, and she pointed +with her fin to a hole in the bank. "He will come out presently. Bow your +prettiest." Well, you can just imagine how excited the duck children were. +Alice fairly trembled, and even Jimmie was interested, as they all bowed.</p> + +<p>"All ready now!" went on the gold fish. "Behold the fairy prince. Behold! +Behold!" and she made a booming noise under the water, just like the big +bass drum, when a man in the circus jumps over sixteen elephants and a +quarter all at once.</p> + +<p>Then, all of a sudden, oh! maybe in a second and a little more what should +come out of that hole in the side of the bank, just above the water, what, +I say, should come out of that hole—now be careful, take tight hold of +the arms of the chair, and hold your breaths, so as not to be +disappointed, what should come out of the hole but a big, brownish-black, +spotted with red and yellow, wrinkle-legged, hard-shelled, sharp-beaked +mud turtle! There, now!</p> + +<p>At first the duck children were so frightened and surprised that they did +not know what to do or say. They had expected something so different. Did +you? Well, I'm awfully sorry, but you know I'm not responsible. I merely +tell what happens.</p> + +<p>"Why, that isn't a fairy prince!" cried Jimmie, speaking first.</p> + +<p>"Of course not," added Lulu.</p> + +<p>Then the gold fish came quite close to them and whispered something.</p> + +<p>"Do you know," said Fan Tail, "I have always had my doubts about it +myself. He says he's the fairy prince—insists on it, in fact,—and he has +it engraved on his visiting cards. But I have my doubts, only I don't dare +say so, for you see I work for him, run errands and the like of that; so +far be it from me to say he is not a fairy prince. I have, however, guided +you to him. Behold, the fairy prince!" and she called the last real +loudly, for the mud turtle was looking right at her. Then she added in a +whisper: "But I have my doubts."</p> + +<p>"Hush! Oh hush, please!" begged Alice. "Of course he is a fairy prince! +They are always disguised like that—always appearing as something +different from what they really are, you know. Sometimes they are toads, +and sometimes frogs, and sometimes mud turtles, I suppose, though I never +heard of any of the last kind. But of course he is a fairy prince." Then +she bowed again, three times, and said: "Fairy prince, I salute thee."</p> + +<p>"Fairy nothing!" grunted Jimmie. "He is no more a fairy than I am."</p> + +<p>Then the mud turtle heard them talking, and he stuck his head farther out +of the shell, and he looked around with his snaky neck, and he came a +little more out of the hole, and said:</p> + +<p>"Of course I am the fairy prince. Everybody knows that. I've been a fairy +prince for ever and ever so long." And then he sneezed, just to show that, +though he was a fairy prince, he was not proud.</p> + +<p>"What shall I do, O fairy prince, to change you back into your own +rightful shape?" asked Alice. "Tell me, and I will do it at once. Dost +thou need three drops of magical water?"</p> + +<p>"No," answered the mud turtle, "not any at all, thank you, so much. I am a +fairy prince, but I am satisfied with my shape as I am; and I do not want +to change. I have always been this way, and I always want to stay so. +Please be so kind as to go away. I want to eat my dinner."</p> + +<p>So they hurried away, for the gold fish whispered that the mud turtle was +always cross when he ate. Jimmie and Lulu were much disappointed, but +Alice was not, for she insisted that the mud turtle was really wonderful, +and was a fairy prince in disguise. Now what do you think about it? I +leave it to you. But whatever you may think please don't be hasty. Take +plenty of time. Perhaps you had better wait for the story to-morrow night, +which if the cow bell doesn't ring and awaken the doll in the baby +carriage will be about how Grandfather Goosey-Gander got into trouble and +out again.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_IX" id="STORY_IX" ></a>STORY IX</h2> + +<h3>GRANDFATHER GOOSEY-GANDER IN TROUBLE</h3> + + +<p>On their way home, after having seen the mud turtle fairy prince, Jimmie, +Lulu and Alice Wibblewobble, of course, talked of nothing else. They +wished the prince had done something wonderful, instead of merely sending +them away when he ate his dinner, and they hoped he would perform a +magical feat another time. He really did, as I shall tell you about later, +if I do not forget it. The gold fish swam a little way back with the duck +children, as she said the prince always liked to be alone when he ate.</p> + +<p>"Well, how did you like him?" asked Fan Tail of the ducks.</p> + +<p>"Not very much," replied Lulu. "I never did care for mud turtles."</p> + +<p>"Nor I," added Jimmie.</p> + +<p>"I don't believe he was really a mud turtle at all," declared Alice. "He +was a real, truly, fairy prince, and he only looked like a mud turtle, +because we did not have the right kind of eyes with which to see him or +else because we had no faith in him. It is always so, in fairy stories. +You must believe, or you can't see the beautiful things."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'd rather have some snails to eat," said Jimmie. "You don't care +how they look; it's how they taste. I'm never going to bother with fairies +again."</p> + +<p>It was about three days after this that Jimmie and Lulu were walking in +the deep, green woods, under the trees, picking tender leaves and roots to +eat. They were hoping they might meet Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, the +squirrels whom they had not seen for some time. Alice stayed home to curl +her feathers.</p> + +<p>All at once, as they were walking along, the little boy and girl duck +heard a funny noise.</p> + +<p>"What's that?" cried Jimmie.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," answered Lulu. "It sounds like some one calling."</p> + +<p>And, sure enough, it was. As they stopped to listen they could hear some +one crying: "Help! Help! Oh, help!"</p> + +<p>"Let's go and see who it is," suggested Jimmie.</p> + +<p>"Maybe it's a dog, or a bad rat, or a fox," objected Lulu.</p> + +<p>"No," said her brother, "they would never call for help. Come on."</p> + +<p class="figcenter"><a href="./images/3.jpg"><img src="./images/3-tb.jpg" alt="Grandfather Goosey-Gander is stuck" title="Grandfather Goosey-Gander is stuck" /></a></p> + + +<p>So they walked on, looking this way and that, to see what they could see; +on and on through the woods, until, just as they came from behind a big +oak tree, what should they catch sight of, but poor, Grandfather +Goosey-Gander, caught fast in the middle of a pile of brush.</p> + +<p>"Oh dear me! Oh my goodness me sakes alive! Oh, floppy! floppy! floppy! +Oh, a bag of salt and some corn meal!" cried the poor old gentleman duck. +"I am in a terrible state! Help me!"</p> + +<p>Then Lulu and Jimmie ran right up to him, and asked him what was the +matter.</p> + +<p>"Oh dear," he said, "I really can't say. I've lost my glasses, and I can't +see very well. All I know is that I was walking in the woods, thinking +what a nice day it was, when, all of a sudden, in about a quack and a +half, I found myself caught fast. And the worst part of it is that I can't +get loose!"</p> + +<p>"Let me take a look," said Jimmie.</p> + +<p>So he went quite close and looked, and he saw that Grandfather +Goosey-Gander's right leg was held in between two sticks. The old +gentleman duck was in great pain.</p> + +<p>"Is my leg broken?" he asked Jimmie.</p> + +<p>"No," answered the little boy duck, "but some of the skin is scraped off."</p> + +<p>"I knew it!" cried Grandfather Goosey-Gander. "Now I won't be able to go +fishing next week. Oh, I do seem to have the worst luck; don't I?"</p> + +<p>"We will get you out," Lulu said to him, and then she and her brother went +to the aid of the poor old duck. They pushed this way and that way, and +they pulled that way and this way, and they lifted up on the pieces of +sticks, and they pushed down on them, but it was no use. Poor Grandfather +Goosey-Gander was stuck fast there, and I think it was a shame, but it +couldn't be helped. Oh my no, and a bit of peppermint candy besides!</p> + +<p>"Well, I guess I will have to stay here and die," said the discouraged old +duck, and he felt so badly that he wept. Lulu and Jimmie cried also, they +felt so sorry. The three of them cried, and their tears were so many that +if they had cried long enough there would have been quite a pond there, +and they could have gone in swimming. That is, of course, all but +Grandfather Goosey-Gander, and he couldn't swim for he was held fast. But +they didn't weep long enough.</p> + +<p>"Let's try once more," said Lulu, after a while, and then she and Jimmie +tried harder than ever to get grandfather's leg out. But they couldn't.</p> + +<p>"If I only had a saw!" cried Jimmie, "I could get him loose."</p> + +<p>"Ha! perhaps I can help you!" suddenly exclaimed a voice.</p> + +<p>Then, as quickly as you can break an egg by dropping it on the floor (only +of course you must not do it without permission), who should appear but +Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, the muskrat. She was out walking with Sammie and +Susie Littletail.</p> + +<p>"Oh, somebody do please help me!" cried Grandfather Goosey-Gander. "I've +lost my glasses, my leg is caught, and I have a pain in my back. Oh, oh, +oh!"</p> + +<p>"I'll gnaw through those sticks in a jiffy!" cried Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, for a +jiffy is very quick time indeed. Oh, yes, and a broken down couch besides!</p> + +<p>So, telling Sammie and Susie Littletail to stand back, and calling to +Jimmie and Lulu to remain with them, the muskrat nurse set to work to free +Grandfather Goosey-Gander. Her teeth were like the chisels the carpenter +uses and in a few seconds the old duck's leg was free. Oh, how glad he +was, and how thankful to Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy! Of course the duck and +rabbit children also were glad.</p> + +<p>Then Jane gnawed out a little crutch for grandfather to walk with, as he +was a trifle lame, and what do you think? Why, Susie Littletail found his +glasses for him; and Sammie and Jimmie rubbed his back so nicely that the +pain all went out of that. Now I call that doing something don't you?</p> + +<p>Well, Grandfather Goosey-Gander started for home, and Jimmie and Lulu +asked Sammie and Susie to come and play with them. Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy +said they might, and they had a fine time under the trees in the woods, +playing tag of all kinds; cross-tag, wood-tag, dirt-tag, leaf-tag, +stump-tag, and a new kind, called acorn-tag, which I will explain about +later. Then the bunny children went home with their nurse and Jimmie and +Lulu also went home and about two days after that a very funny thing +happened.</p> + +<p>What it was you shall hear to-morrow night if the trolley car doesn't get +off the track, but I'll let you know this much—it's going to be about the +rooster trying to swim.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_X" id="STORY_X" ></a>STORY X</h2> + +<h3>THE ROOSTER TRIES TO SWIM</h3> + + +<p>Grandfather Goosey-Gander was quite lame the next day from having been +caught in the brush pile, and could not go very far away from the duck +pen. He did manage to hobble around on the crutch which Nurse Jane +Fuzzy-Wuzzy made for him, and he sat in a sunny corner, reading the +newspaper with his glasses which Susie Littletail found. He was reading +away as Alice, Lulu and Jimmie Wibblewobble were playing about on the edge +of the pond, and the little duck children made so much noise that the old +grandfather could not understand what was in the papers.</p> + +<p>"Can't you children play something quiet?" he asked for Papa and Mamma +Wibblewobble had gone visiting, and Grandfather Goosey-Gander was left to +mind the house. "Play some nice, easy game," he suggested.</p> + +<p>"Let's play acorn tag," said Lulu.</p> + +<p>"All right, you're it," answered Jimmie. So they each took an acorn which +they found in the woods and put it in their bills. Then Lulu had to chase +after Jimmie and Alice, and when she touched either one of them with her +wing she had to call out: "You can't run a little bit, I've tagged you, +and now you're it." Yes, that's what she had to call, and she had to do it +without letting the acorn fall out of her bill. Now, if you think that's a +very easy thing to do, just you try it, that's all.</p> + +<p>Lulu didn't have much trouble putting her wing on Jimmie or Alice, but, +every time she tried to call out the little verse the acorn would roll out +of her bill and she'd have to start all over again, or it wouldn't have +been fair. So it was some time before she got over being "it," and then it +was Jimmie's turn.</p> + +<p>Well, they played acorn tag for quite a while, and, when they got tired of +that they all went in swimming. They swam around in circles, and +criss-crossed and went in squares, and in triangles and all sorts of queer +figures, including eight, nine, ten, which are very difficult figures, +indeed, for little ducks.</p> + +<p>While they were swimming away, having lots of fun, and far enough off so +that Grandfather Goosey-Gander could read his paper in peace, who should +come down to the edge of the pond but the rooster. His name was Mr. Cock +A. Doodle, and he was very proud. He walked right down to the edge of the +water, and looked at the ducks. Then he crowed as loud as he could, and +flapped his wings, just as if he were saying:</p> + +<p>"There! I'd like to see any of you do that! Ha! Hum! Oh my, yes, indeed!"</p> + +<p>"How do you do, Mr. Cock A. Doodle?" asked Jimmie.</p> + +<p>"Ahem! I am pretty well, my young friend," replied the rooster. "And how +may you happen to be to-day? And how are your sisters, Lulu and Alice +Wibblewobble?"</p> + +<p>"We are very well," answered Lulu and Alice, and Lulu went on: "Don't you +wish you could swim, Mr. Doodle?"</p> + +<p>"I can," said the rooster, and he strutted back and forth at the edge of +the pond. "Certainly I can swim. What put the notion into your heads that +I can't?"</p> + +<p>"We never saw you," spoke Jimmie.</p> + +<p>"Ahem! Perhaps not. You never saw me stand on one foot and jump over a +barrel, but that doesn't prove that I can't do it," replied Mr. Doodle. "I +can swim if I choose. I have never cared to, that's all."</p> + +<p>"Try now," suggested Lulu, for she didn't believe that rooster could swim, +no matter what he said.</p> + +<p>"Oh, the water is too cold to go swimming now," said Mr. Doodle. "I never +swim in cold water."</p> + +<p>"Why, it's as warm as warm can be," declared Alice, and she splashed a few +drops upon the rooster, so he could feel it.</p> + +<p>"Well, er—ahem! The wind is blowing too much," said the rooster, when he +felt the nice, warm water.</p> + +<p>"Why, it doesn't blow at all," answered Jimmie.</p> + +<p>"Well, I haven't my swimming shoes on," objected Mr. Cock A. Doodle. "I +can't swim without them. You ducks have pieces of skin between your toes, +so the water won't slip through, but I haven't my webbed feet on."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that is very easily fixed," said Lulu. "We will take some pieces of +cloth, and tie them over your claws to make them like ours. Do you think +you could swim then?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered the rooster, "I think I could." You see he had no more +excuses to make. Oh, wasn't he a tricky old rooster, though, eh?</p> + +<p>So Lulu and Jimmie got some bits of cloth, and, with long pieces of ribbon +grass, they bound the cloth on the rooster's claws so his feet looked +something like a duck's.</p> + +<p>"Now come on and we'll have a swimming race," suggested Jimmie. "Walk +right down into the water as we do. It won't hurt you the least bit, Mr. +Doodle."</p> + +<p>"Pooh! Do you think I'm afraid?" inquired Mr. Doodle, and he actually did +walk right into the water, while all the ducks and chickens and geese +looked on in wonder, for they had never seen the rooster swim, and didn't +believe he could. Oh, but Mr. Doodle was proud! He even tried to crow as +he stepped into the water, but, as he wasn't used to it, it made his +breath feel just as if it were choking him when he tried to swallow.</p> + +<p>Yes, he tried to crow, but all the noise he could make was a sort of a +gasp and a sigh and a cough and a splutter and a sneeze and choke and a +whimper.</p> + +<p>"Ha! Aha! Ahem! Ha! Ha! Ho! Ho I will now swim" cried the rooster, and +then the water got so deep that he couldn't wade any more, and he had to +float. He struck out with his feet, and tried to paddle just as he saw +Lulu and Alice and Jimmie doing, but a very funny thing happened.</p> + +<p>The rooster went right around in a circle, for he only used one leg at a +time. Then he got dizzy, and went around the other way. Then he had to +stop. Next he flapped his wings and splashed the water all over.</p> + +<p>Say, I wish you could have seen him. It was as good as a circus! He got +his tail all wet, and his back got all wet, and, as his feathers weren't +the kind that water runs off from, he was soon as soaked as your umbrella +ever was. That made him heavy and he began to sink. Oh, how he splashed +and spluttered around in that pond! He couldn't swim any more than my +typewriter can, and, all at once, what do you suppose happened?</p> + +<p>Why, he felt himself sinking more and more and more. Oh, it was terrible!</p> + +<p>"Save me! Oh, save me!" Mr. Doodle cried. "I am going down! Help me, +please! Help! Help! Help!"</p> + +<p>Then the duck children felt sorry, and swam to him as fast as they could. +Each one took hold of that poor rooster; Lulu and Alice by a wing, and +Jimmie by the rooster's tail, and they towed him to shore. Oh, but he was +a sorry looking sight! He couldn't even crow, nor flap his wings.</p> + +<p>"I thought you said you could swim," spoke Jimmie.</p> + +<p>"Hush!" begged Alice, who was very kind-hearted. "Don't be casting up! +Don't make him feel bad."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I feel bad enough without that," said Mr. Doodle, sighing. "I guess +the water wasn't right for swimming to-day," and with that he walked off, +and hid himself in some leaves, to get dry, for he hadn't any towels at +his house. But the Wibblewobble children kept on swimming, for they knew +how; and now, let me see; well, how about a story of an enchanted castle +for to-morrow night; eh? that is if the scissors don't cut up too much.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XI" id="STORY_XI" ></a>STORY XI</h2> + +<h3>ALICE WIBBLEWOBBLE'S ENCHANTED CASTLE</h3> + + +<p>Alice Wibblewobble had made up her mind to find out more about the fairy +prince. She couldn't believe he was only a mud turtle. She felt sure he +was merely in that form until some one came along, pronounced the magical +words, or sprinkled the magical water on him, or did something else, to +change him back again.</p> + +<p>"I think I will have another talk with him," she said. "Perhaps, if I go +all alone, he will tell me what to do. Oh, wouldn't it be perfectly lovely +if I could change him into a king with a golden-diamond-ruby crown. Yes, I +certainly shall go."</p> + +<p>So Alice swam off up the pond, in the direction the gold fish had once led +Lulu and Jimmie and her.</p> + +<p>Well, Alice went on and on and on, for ever so long, but she couldn't seem +to find the place where the mud turtle fairy prince lived. She saw the +green rushes hanging over the water's edge, she saw the bright ripples, +just like diamonds that might be in a king's crown, and she heard the +birds singing; but there was no mud hole where the fairy prince lived.</p> + +<p>"Oh dear!" exclaimed Alice. "I'm afraid I'm lost."</p> + +<p>"What? Lost in this beautiful place?" asked a voice just above her head, +and, looking up, Alice saw a dear little yellow bird sitting on a tree +over the water.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Alice, and a tear came into her eye, and ran down her yellow +bill. "I am lost. I can't find the fairy prince."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that is too bad," said the little yellow bird. "I don't just know +what a fairy prince is, but it must be dreadful not to be able to find one +when you want to. Do not feel badly, however. I can take you to an +enchanted castle, if that will do."</p> + +<p>"Oh, can you?" cried Alice. "That will be lovely. I had almost as soon see +an enchanted castle as a fairy prince. Is it a really, truly one?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," answered the bird. "It certainly is. It is the most beautiful +place in all the world. Come, and I will show you."</p> + +<p>Then Alice felt delighted, and she walked out of the water, and waddled +along on the land. The bird flew along, going slowly, so as not to get +ahead of Alice. On and on they went, over green fields, and through the +woods, until, pretty soon, they came to a place where the bird stopped.</p> + +<p>"We are near the enchanted castle," he said. "But you must be very +careful."</p> + +<p>"Why?" asked Alice.</p> + +<p>"Oh, because every once in a while a lot of water spouts up out of the +castle, and it might drown you, if you were not careful."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't mind water," answered Alice.</p> + +<p>Then they went on a little farther, and, in a short time, oh, perhaps +about as long as it takes you to peel an orange, and put some salt on it, +they came to a most beautiful place. I wish you could have seen it! At +first Alice thought the rainbow had fallen from the sky, there were so +many colors. There was red and green and blue and orange and violet and +yellow and pink and purple and even some of that skilligimink color, that +once turned Sammie Littletail sky-blue-pink.</p> + +<p>Then the little duck girl saw that the colors were all from different +flowers that smelled just like mamma's perfume bottles. Next, as she +walked on a little farther, she saw a great pile of stones high in the +air, and, around the bottom of the pile was a big basin of water, not +quite as large as the pond at the ducks' pen, but nearly, Green vines and +flowers were growing in and out among the stones, and birds were flying +here and there, singing.</p> + +<p>"This," said the little yellow bird, "is the enchanted castle. I live here +all summer, and so do all my friends. Sometimes we bathe in the water, and +sometimes we hide under the flowers. Then, when the water spouts up out of +the top of the castle we all fly away."</p> + +<p>And just then, what should happen but that some water began to spurt, then +and there, right out of the top of that big pile of stones. Up, up it +went, in a spray, spreading out at the tops like an umbrella in a rain +storm, and the drops fell with a splash into the basin below. Then Alice +Wibblewobble cried out!</p> + +<p>"Why, this isn't an enchanted castle at all!"</p> + +<p>"No?" asked the yellow bird, putting its head on one side, so as to see +better. "Why, we always call this our enchanted castle; always."</p> + +<p>"No," answered Alice. "It is only a fountain in a stone pile in somebody's +flower garden. I've seen one before, near our house."</p> + +<p>"Well, it looks like an enchanted castle," said the bird, "and I'm sure +it's just as pretty as one. Isn't it as good as your fairy prince?"</p> + +<p>"Well," replied the little duck girl. "I suppose it is. But it's only +water, such as I swim in."</p> + +<p>"Oh, do you swim?" asked the bird. "Do please show me how. I've always +wanted to learn."</p> + +<p>So, though Alice was disappointed about the enchanted castle, she got in +the little pond at the foot of the fountain, and swam around. The water +spurted up in the air and fell all over her, but she didn't mind that. All +the birds gathered around to watch, and even the flowers nodded their +heads, they were so delighted.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm sure we never can learn to swim," said the yellow bird, as Alice +went around again. "It is much too difficult."</p> + +<p>Then, all of a sudden, something happened. A boy and a girl came running +down the gravel walk to the fountain. The little girl had yellow hair, +just like a daffodil, and as soon as she saw Alice she cried out: "Oh, +Norman! Come quick! Here is a lovely duck! I hope we can keep it!"</p> + +<p>That frightened Alice very much, especially as the boy tried to grab her. +So she sprang out of the water and ran and hid under some bushes where the +children couldn't find her, and as soon as she could, she went back the +way she had come, into the pond, and started to swim home.</p> + +<p>And on the way a fox chased her and a big hawk tried to swoop down, and +grab her, but she managed to get away. She was all tired out when she got +home, and when Jimmie and Lulu asked her where she had been she told them +all her adventures.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Jimmie, when his sister had finished, "I think I would rather +see that enchanted castle than the fairy prince again. Will you take us +there some day, Alice?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," she said, but before they made that trip something else +happened, which you shall hear about to-morrow night if I find a green +popcorn ball with a pink ribbon on it. It's a story of a visit to Grandpa +Wibblewobble's house.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XII" id="STORY_XII" ></a>STORY XII</h2> + +<h3>A VISIT TO GRANDPA WIBBLEWOBBLE</h3> + + +<p>Jimmie Wibblewobble was playing marbles with Bully, the frog, one day. +They had just finished one game, and were beginning another when Alice +Wibblewobble came alone. "Jimmie," she said, "mamma wants you."</p> + +<p>"What does she want?" asked her brother.</p> + +<p>"She wants you to come for a walk in the woods with us. Papa is going +along. Come right away."</p> + +<p>"Aw, I'd rather play with Bully," answered Jimmie, but just then his mamma +called him, and he had to go. Bully hopped off, and Jimmie and Alice +walked home together.</p> + +<p>"Come, Lulu, are you all ready?" asked Mrs. Wibblewobble, as she saw her +other daughter throwing stones in the pond, and making a great splash.</p> + +<p>"Yes," was the reply, and then Jimmie said: "Oh, mamma, I don't want to go +walking."</p> + +<p>"I think you will want to when you know where we are going," said his +papa.</p> + +<p>"Where are we going?"</p> + +<p>"To Grandpa Wibblewobble's."</p> + +<p>"Oh, goody!" cried Lulu and Jimmie at once, for they always had a nice +time at their grandfather's. So the ducks set off through the woods and +over the fields, and every time they came to a bit of water they swam over +it as fast as a cat can wash her face.</p> + +<p>Pretty soon, after awhile, not very long, they came to the pen where +Grandpa Wibblewobble lived with his daughter, Miss Weezy Wibblewobble, who +kept house for him.</p> + +<p>"Ha, I think grandpa has company," said Papa Wibblewobble, as they came +close to the pen and heard talking. "Yes, he certainly has." And, sure +enough, the old gentleman duck had. And whom do you suppose it was? My +Uncle Wiggily Longears, the old gentleman rabbit!</p> + +<p>"How is your rheumatism?" asked Mrs. Wibblewobble of Uncle Wiggily +Longears, after they had sat down.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it doesn't seem to get any better," he answered. "I have carried a +piece of horse chestnut in one ear, and a bit of dried potato in the other +for ever so long, but nothing seems to do me any good. I am going to have +a new doctor soon if I don't get well. Oh my, yes, and some pepper hash on +bread and butter also! Ha! Hum! Oh my! Ouch! and Jack and the Bean +Stalk!" Uncle Wiggily called out that last because his rheumatism hurt so.</p> + +<p>Well, Grandpa Wibblewobble gave each of the Wibblewobble children some +nice sugared corn meal, flavored with sweet flag, peppermint and +watercress, and a few snails to eat, and maybe they didn't like them!</p> + +<p>"Now," said grandpa, "you children go out to play, while we old folks talk +about the weather and rheumatism," for you see rheumatism was about all +Uncle Wiggily cared to talk about.</p> + +<p>Well, the little duck children had a fine time playing around grandpa's +house, and now, in about a minute something is going to happen. They had +wandered off a little way, and, just as they were resting under some +burdock leaves, in the shade, they heard voices talking. And one voice +said:</p> + +<p>"Now I'll go up to the front door of Grandpa Wibblewobble's house and you +go up to the back door. We'll both knock at the same time, and the ducks +won't know which door to go to first. Then we'll jump in the windows and +eat them all up—all up—up! There are some extra fine ducks there +to-day."</p> + +<p>Oh, maybe Jimmie and his sisters weren't frightened. They trembled so that +the leaves shook as if the wind was blowing them, and when Jimmie got a +little quiet he looked out, and what do you suppose he saw? Why two mean, +wicked, sly old foxes, who were getting ready to go to grandpa's house and +eat him up, and Mamma and Papa Wibblewobble up, and probably Uncle Wiggily +Longears, too; who knows?</p> + +<p>"Oh, isn't this awful?" asked Alice in a whisper. "I am going to faint! I +know I am!"</p> + +<p>"Silly!" said Jimmie to her. "Don't you dare faint! Here, smell of this," +and he picked some spearmint, and held it under his sister's nose, which +made her feel better.</p> + +<p>"We must do something," said Lulu. "It will never do to have those bad +foxes go to grandpa's house! How can we stop them?"</p> + +<p>"Let me think," whispered Jimmie, quite bravely, and he put his head under +his wing, so he could be quiet and think better. "Ah, I have it!" he cried +out. "Come with me, girls!"</p> + +<p>So they stepped softly from under the burdock leaves, those three duck +children did, and ran to grandpa's house as fast as they could, leaving +the bad foxes in the woods. Well, you can imagine how surprised all the +folks were, even Uncle Wiggily, when they heard the alarming news which +the children told.</p> + +<p>"Oh, whatever shall we do?" cried Weezy Wibblewobble.</p> + +<p>"I know what I'd do, if it wasn't for my rheumatism!" said Uncle Wiggily. +"I'd bite those foxes, and jump on them, too, but I can't! Oh, if Nurse +Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy were only here!"</p> + +<p>"Never mind. I will save you," spoke Jimmie. "Come now, we must get a lot +of stones and some boards. Hurry, for the foxes will soon be here."</p> + +<p>So the ducks, with Uncle Wiggily helping them as much as he could, put a +board over the front door, and one over the back door, just inside the +house. Then they piled a lot of stones on the boards and fixed them with +strings, so that when the cords were pulled the boards would fall down and +the stones would also fall, with a clatter on the head of whoever was at +the door.</p> + +<p>Well, after all this was done, the ducks and Uncle Wiggily went and hid in +the house. Then, in a little while, those bad foxes came sneaking along. +And, sure enough, one went to the back door and the other to the front +door.</p> + +<p>They knocked at the same time, just as they had said they would, and Papa +Wibblewobble opened one door and Grandpa Wibblewobble the other. Then just +as soon as the doors were opened Jimmie, who had hold of the strings that +were fast to the boards, pulled them with his bill, and down clattered +the stones, rattlety-bang-go-bung-ker-plunk, right on top of the heads of +those two bad foxes! Oh, how scared they were!</p> + +<p>"The house is falling! The house is falling! Run away!" cried one fox and +they both ran as fast as they could, glad enough to escape, I tell you. +Now, wasn't that a good trick Jimmie played on those bad animals?</p> + +<p>I thought so, myself, and so did his grandpa and his papa and mamma, to +say nothing of Uncle Wiggily Longears. And that's how the foxes didn't eat +up the ducks, and to-morrow night, if the robin sings under my window as +sweetly as he did yesterday morning, you shall hear about how Aunt Lettie +came on a visit.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XIII" id="STORY_XIII" ></a>STORY XIII</h2> + +<h3>A VISIT FROM AUNT LETTIE</h3> + + +<p>One day it was so very pleasant out of doors that Lulu and Alice and +Jimmie Wibblewobble didn't want to go to school. The sun was sparkling on +the water in the duck pond, and Alice said, as she felt the wind blowing +on her feathers:</p> + +<p>"Oh, I just wish I could go see the fairy prince again!"</p> + +<p>"Pooh! I don't," spoke Jimmie. "But I wish we could stay home from school. +Bully, the frog, and I were going to get up a baseball nine. Let's go ask +papa if we can stay home."</p> + +<p>"Can't I play on your ball team?" asked Lulu, who could throw a stone +almost as well as a boy.</p> + +<p>"No," said Jimmie. "Girls never play on ball teams."</p> + +<p>"Couldn't I even umpire?" went on his sister.</p> + +<p>"No, Uncle Wiggily Longears is going to do that," replied Jimmie. "Billie +and Johnnie Bushytail and Sammie Littletail are going to play on the team. +But let's go ask papa if we can stay home. It's too nice to go to +school."</p> + +<p>So they went and asked Mr. Wibblewobble, who had remained at home from +work that day, because, you see, he happened to swallow a shoe button by +mistake for a grain of corn, and he had indigestion something awful; yes, +really.</p> + +<p>You know it was a tan shoe button, and if your eyesight isn't very good, +why it does look like a grain of corn, especially if you're very hungry +and in a hurry. So Mr. Wibblewobble wasn't feeling very well when Jimmie +and Lulu came in to ask him if they could stay home from school, and he +was the least bit cross, perhaps, because his indigestion was really very +bad at that moment. So he answered them:</p> + +<p>"No, indeed, you can't stay home. Go to school at once! Quack!"</p> + +<p>Now when a duck says one quack, instead of a double quack-quack, you may +know he is feeling very, very miserable, and you don't want to bother him +any more than you can help.</p> + +<p>Lulu and Jimmie knew this, and they hurried out of the pen to go to +school. Then their papa felt sorry for them, because, you see, he did not +really mean to be cross, only he knew it was best for them to learn all +they could. So he said "Quack-quack," which meant he was feeling better, +and he added: "When you come home, my dears, you may each have a penny. +Run along now, like good ducks."</p> + +<p>So, though Jimmie felt badly about not being able to get up a ball nine, +he waddled along with his sisters, and pretty soon they were at the owl +school, where they met Sammie and Susie Littletail and Billie and Johnnie +Bushytail, and Sister Sallie and Bully, the frog. Yes, they were all +there, and, what's more, they had their lessons, too, so they were not +kept in.</p> + +<p>They hurried home after school, Alice and Lulu and Jimmie, I mean, because +this story is about them, you see; and they got their pennies from their +papa, and each one bought some watercress snails, preserved in salted +cornmeal; very fine they were, too, for ducks.</p> + +<p>Just as the three Wibblewobble children were finishing the last of the +snails, who should come hopping along but Bully, the frog. He hopped into +the water to cool himself off and then, when he had hopped out again, he +asked:</p> + +<p>"I say, Jimmie, are your folks expecting company?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think so," answered Jimmie. "I saw mamma setting the table and +she wasn't putting the clean cloth on. No, I guess we're not going to have +company, or there'd be a clean cloth put on. Why do you ask?"</p> + +<p>"Because, as I was coming through the woods just now I met a funny looking +creature asking the way to your pen."</p> + +<p>"Who was it?" inquired Lulu.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it was a nice old lady. She had long hair and she carried a basket +and she wore such a funny bonnet! Two sharp things stuck right out of the +top of it. I offered to show her the way here, but she said I went in the +water so often that she couldn't follow me, for she didn't want to get her +feet wet. You must be going to have company."</p> + +<p>"Maybe we are!" cried Alice. "Let's go ask mamma."</p> + +<p>So they went, and asked their mother, but she said she did not know of any +company coming, but, for fear some one might come along unexpectedly she +did put the clean table cloth on, and she got out the napkins, and opened +a jar of preserved sweet flag root.</p> + +<p>"Come on," proposed Lulu, after a bit, "let's go through the woods. Bully, +you show us where you met the queer lady, and maybe we'll see her."</p> + +<p>So the four started off, Bully hopping along in front, and pretty soon, +just as they got to the place where the weeping willow tree stands, what +should they hear but a funny noise. It sounded like "Ma-a-a-a-a!" You +know, just like a sheep cries.</p> + +<p>"There she is!" exclaimed Bully. "That's just the way she talks. And there +she is! Look! The nice old lady!"</p> + +<p>The three Wibblewobble children looked, and what should they see but a big +white goat. She was an old lady goat, and she was walking along with her +basket on her arm, and the things sticking out of her bonnet were her +horns. As soon as she saw the children she called:</p> + +<p>"Oh, my dears, can you show me the way to Mrs. Wibblewobble's? I'm afraid +I'm lost!"</p> + +<p>"Why, Mrs. Wibblewobble is our mamma," answered Lulu, quickly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my dears! You don't mean it!" cried the goat. "Then you must be my +little nieces and nephew I've heard so much about. But who is this little +green boy? I've seen him before."</p> + +<p>"Oh, he's the catcher on our base ball nine," said Jimmie. "He catches the +balls in his mouth. But, who are you, if I may be so bold as to ask?"</p> + +<p>"I'm your Aunt Lettie," replied the goat. "I've come to pay you a long +visit. Oh, I'm so glad I found you, for I feared I would never get to your +house! See, I have brought you some apple turnovers, and some gooseberry +tarts. Now let's hurry home, but first kiss me."</p> + +<p>So Aunt Lettie kissed them all, even Bully, the frog, and then she and the +Wibblewobble children went to the ducks' pen, where she stayed several +days.</p> + +<p>And quite a number of things happened, too. In fact, one took place the +very next day, as you shall hear to-morrow night, when I am going to tell +you about Lulu and the pussy willows, provided a doggie with a yellow nose +and pink ears doesn't scare me.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XIV" id="STORY_XIV" ></a>STORY XIV</h2> + +<h3>LULU AND THE PUSSY WILLOWS</h3> + + +<p>"What shall we do now?" asked Lulu the next morning after Aunt Lettie +came, and the duck children had gone out to play, leaving their mamma and +the old lady goat to do the dishes.</p> + +<p>"Let's go see the fairy prince," suggested Alice.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you're always thinking of that fairy prince," objected Jimmie. "I say +let's go for a walk."</p> + +<p>"All right," agreed Lulu. "I know where there are some nice pussy willows. +We'll get some to take to our school teacher next Monday."</p> + +<p>So they started off up the pond to the place where the pussy willows grew. +They gathered quite a number, breaking off the stems in their strong +yellow bills, and then, putting the willows under their wings, they +started back home again. They didn't have to hurry because, you see, it +was Saturday, and there wasn't any school. Oh, my no! Ducks don't have to +go to school on Saturday any more than you do, even if they are only in +the kindergarten class.</p> + +<p>Now, if you please, pay close attention, for something is going to happen +very shortly, if Uncle Wiggily Longears doesn't come along and bother me, +and I don't believe he will. Well, Lulu and Alice and Jimmie got safely +home with the pussy willows, and as they were putting them in water to +keep until Monday, Aunt Lettie came into the room.</p> + +<p>"What have you there, my dears?" she asked, wiggling her horns and looking +over the tops of her glasses as easily as you can draw a picture of a +horse. "What have you there, my dears?"</p> + +<p>"They are pussy willows, Aunt Lettie," replied Lulu.</p> + +<p>"Oh dearie me! oh Sacramento!" cried Aunt Lettie, who was quite excitable +at times. "Why ever did you bring them here, little ones?"</p> + +<p>"Why, we want them for teacher," explained Alice.</p> + +<p>"I don't," declared Jimmie. "Boys never bring the teacher flowers; that is +unless they don't want to be kept in when there's a ball game. But don't +you like pussy willows, Aunt Lettie?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no indeed," she answered. "I don't like cats of any description."</p> + +<p>"But these are only pussy willows," said Alice.</p> + +<p>"Oh, they'll turn into cats quickly enough," remarked Aunt Lettie. "There +was a family who once lived next to us, and they had kittens. Why it +wasn't any time at all before those kittens had turned into cats, and land +goodness, how they did howl nights and keep me awake! And I had lumbago +that summer, too! Oh, yes, indeed, kittens are all very well, but when +they turn into old cats they're not so nice."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but Aunt Lettie, you don't understand," explained Jimmie, smiling the +least bit. "You see these are only plant pussies. They can't ever become +real cats you know."</p> + +<p>"They grow, don't they?" asked the old lady goat, shaking her horns again, +"Don't they grow?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," admitted Lulu. "They certainly grow."</p> + +<p>"Well, if they're pussies now they'll grow to be cats soon enough, you +mark my words," went on Aunt Lettie quite sorrowfully. "That is unless +they drown in that water," she added quickly.</p> + +<p>"Why, no; pussy willows can't drown in water," said Lulu. "We put them +there to keep them fresh. You don't need to worry about those pussy +willows, dear Aunt Lettie."</p> + +<p>But Aunt Lettie did worry. In fact she had to worry about something, +anyhow, so I suppose it is just as well that she worried about the pussy +willows. And, when they all went to bed that night, the last thing she +said was:</p> + +<p>"Now, you mark my words! Those pussies will be cats before you know it."</p> + +<p>But Lulu and Alice and Jimmie did not think so. However you just wait and +see what happened.</p> + +<p>Along in the middle of the night, when it was all still and quiet, and +when even the frogs had stopped croaking, and it wasn't time for the +roosters to begin to crow; yes, when it was dark, and still and silent and +not a sound was heard, suddenly what should happen but that right in the +Wibblewobble house there came a loud: "Mew! Mew! Mew!"</p> + +<p>"There!" exclaimed Aunt Lettie, jumping out of bed. "What did I tell you? +Those pussy willows have turned into cats, and the house will be full of +them! Oh, dear! Why did you bring them in here? It's dreadfully bad luck!"</p> + +<p>Lulu and Jimmie and Alice jumped out of bed, too. So did Mr. and Mrs. +Wibblewobble. All the while they kept hearing that: "Mew! Mew! Mew!"</p> + +<p>"Whatever can it be?" asked Mamma Wibblewobble. "Maybe it's a burglar."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" replied Mr. Wibblewobble, "burglars don't mew. I'll go look."</p> + +<p>So he went to look, and what do you think he found? Why, right under a +vase of the pussy willows, on a cushion, was a dear, sweet, little white +kitten. Yes, sir, as true as I'm telling you! And so soon as Lulu saw it +she cried: "It's mine! One of my pussy willows has turned into a kittie! +Oh, how glad I am!"</p> + +<p>And, honestly, the kittie was right under Lulu's vase of pussy willows, +just as sure as that two and two make four.</p> + +<p class="figcenter"><a href="./images/4.jpg"><img src="./images/4-tb.jpg" alt="The kitten under the pussy willows" title="The kitten under the pussy willows" /></a></p> + +<p>"I told you so!" cried Aunt Lettie. "Now, maybe you'll believe me next +time. The pussy willows turned into a kitten."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but this kitten can't be from those willows," said Papa Wibblewobble. +"This is a real pussy. It must have come in from out of doors. I guess I +must have left a window open."</p> + +<p>And the funny part of it was that he had left a window up, and it was a +real kittie that had wandered in, straying away from its mamma. But Aunt +Lettie was sure it had come from a pussy willow. Lulu didn't care, because +she was allowed to keep the kittie for herself, and what do you think? Why +that kittie joined Jimmie's baseball nine, and to-morrow night I'll tell +you about a game of ball that was played. That is if the man in the moon +doesn't tumble down and hurt his nose.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XV" id="STORY_XV" ></a>STORY XV</h2> + +<h3>PLAYING A BALL GAME</h3> + + +<p>One day Jimmie Wibblewobble was going over to where Bully, the frog, +lived.</p> + +<p>"Come on!" cried the little boy duck, to the frog. "Let's get up a ball +game. We'll find Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, and Sammie Littletail, and +have some fun. Have you seen Uncle Wiggily Longears? He will umpire for +us, I know, and tell who's out, and when the balls go straight, and all +that. Have you seen him?"</p> + +<p>"I saw him limping along a while ago," answered Bully. "He can't have gone +very far, for his rheumatism is bad again."</p> + +<p>"Let's hurry up and catch him," suggested Jimmie. So they ran on through +the woods as fast as they could and, sure enough, they soon saw the old +gentleman rabbit.</p> + +<p>"Will you come to our ball game?" asked Jimmie.</p> + +<p>"Why, of course, to be sure," answered Uncle Wiggily. "But I can't play +very well, you know, on account of—Oh my! Ouch! Oh dear! Um Um! Present +arms! Ready! Aim! Fire! Oh! Oh! Oh!" That's the way he cried all of a +sudden.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked Jimmie.</p> + +<p>"Matter? Why my rheumatism; that's what's the matter! It does seem to +catch me at the wrong time. I'm afraid I won't be able to play ball to-day +after all, boys. I'm sorry, but—Oh dear! There it goes again!" and that +poor, old gentleman rabbit had to lean on his crutch, because his legs +hurt him so.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we only want you to look on, and tell us when the game is going all +right," said Jimmie very kindly. "You can have a seat in the shade, and +you will decide who's out, and who makes a run, and which side wins."</p> + +<p>"Well, I might manage that," replied Uncle Wiggily. "Come on, but please +walk very slowly."</p> + +<p>So they walked on very slowly, and pretty soon they met Johnnie and Billie +Bushytail with Sister Sallie. And the little girl squirrel was singing:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Hippity-hop to the barber shop</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To buy a lolly-pop-lally.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">One for me and one for thee</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And one for Sister Sallie."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"Come on, let's play ball," called Jimmie to Johnnie and Billie. The +Bushytail brothers said they would, and on they all went, through the +woods and over the fields, and pretty soon, oh, maybe in about two quacks +and a half, whom should they meet but Sammie and Susie Littletail. Sammie +said he would play ball, and Susie said she would look on. Then along came +Lulu and Alice Wibblewobble, and Lulu had her white kittie with her.</p> + +<p>"My kittie ought to play, as long as I can't play, especially as she knew +how to roll a ball," spoke Lulu. So Jimmie said the kittie could very +nicely with her paws.</p> + +<p>"But that's all the girls who are going to be on the team," said Jimmie +very decidedly.</p> + +<p>Well, they started to play, and they had an old wooden door knob for a +ball. I just wish you could have seen them, honestly I do. It was as good +as going to a show, where they charge five pins to get in. Bully, the +frog, was the catcher, for all he had to do was to open his large mouth, +and the ball would go right in. Uncle Wiggily was a sort of judge, or +umpire. That is, he sat in the shade, on a pile of soft leaves, and told +when it was right for one of the players to give up the bat, and let some +one else have a chance.</p> + +<p>Now whom do you suppose threw the ball? Why, Johnnie Bushytail. And +Billie was on first base, while Jimmie Wibblewobble had the bat, which was +a piece of hickory stick. He was to hit the ball and Sammie Littletail and +the white kittie, whose name was Sadie, were to chase it.</p> + +<p>Oh, what fun they had! Jimmie knocked the ball as hard as he could, and +then he ran, and Sadie and Sammie tried to put him out, that is to tag him +with the ball, for that's the way they played. Then it came Bully's turn +to bat, while Johnnie Bushytail caught, and then you should have seen how +cutely Sadie, the kittie, would roll the ball along to first base whenever +any one hit it.</p> + +<p>And as for Billie Bushytail, when it was his turn, he knocked a ball away +over in the field, and Lulu ran after it, even if she wasn't supposed to +play. She threw it back too, and then she went and sat down with Alice and +Susie and Sister Sallie. Uncle Wiggily did fine at umpiring, and he was as +kind and good as could be, so no one found fault with what he said, even +when he had to rub his leg that had rheumatism in it.</p> + +<p>But something dreadful happened. I've got to tell about it, or else it +wouldn't be fair, and we must always be honest and fair in this world, no +matter whether we want to or not. It was Jimmie's turn at the bat again. +He hit the ball very hard.</p> + +<p>Away it sailed, over the fence and across the field, and then, oh, don't +breathe or wiggle for a few seconds now! then, if that ball didn't smash, +bang, crash right into the window of Grandfather Goosey-Gander's house! +Yes, sir, it broke the window all to flinders, and out rushed Grandfather +Goosey-Gander! Oh, but he was angry! He quacked, and he squawked, and he +called out:</p> + +<p>"Who broke my window?"</p> + +<p>"I—I did, please sir," answered Jimmie. "But I didn't mean to. It was an +accident."</p> + +<p>"Ha, hum! An accident, eh? Well, you'll have to pay for it," said +Grandfather Goosey-Gander. "Yes, that's what you will!"</p> + +<p>"Oh we'll all chip in and pay for it," said Bully, quickly. "That's what +we always do in a ball game when a window is broken. I'll pay my share."</p> + +<p>"Ha! Hum!" cried Grandfather Goosey-Gander, and then he sneezed, for he +had run out without his cap on and he was bald headed.</p> + +<p>So they all agreed to pay for the window, and even Sister Sallie said she +would help. But they didn't have to. No, sir, as true as I'm telling you, +if Aunt Lettie didn't happen along just then, and, when she heard what +the matter was, she just took out her purse and said:</p> + +<p>"I'll pay for the window which Jimmie broke. I am rich, and I'll never +miss the money. Boys and girls must have some fun."</p> + +<p>"Fine!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "I'm the umpire and I say that's just fine."</p> + +<p>Now, wasn't that kind of Aunt Lettie? Well, I guess so! Then the game went +on, and Billie and Johnnie Bushytail won, but no more windows were broken. +Now, if we don't get an April shower to-morrow, you shall hear, in the +next story, to-morrow night, about how the duck's pen caught fire, and who +put it out.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XVI" id="STORY_XVI" ></a>STORY XVI</h2> + +<h3>THE WIBBLEWOBBLE HOME ON FIRE</h3> + + +<p>After the ball game, which I told you about last night, all the players, +and those who had looked on, and Uncle Wiggily, the umpire, started for +home. On the way they talked of how kind Aunt Lettie was.</p> + +<p>"She's the kindest person I have ever known," said Uncle Wiggily, as he +limped along on his crutch that Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy had gnawed out of a +cornstalk for him. "She is very—Oh dear! Oh me! Oh my! Oh +disproportionability! Wow! Ouch! My rheumatism again!" and it hurt him so +he had to stand still and waggle his ears as hard as ever he could. Then +he felt better, especially after he had rubbed a horse chestnut on his +sore leg.</p> + +<p>You see the rheumatism which was cured by a red fairy, as I told you about +in the first book, came back because Uncle Wiggily got his feet wet going +out one day without his umbrella.</p> + +<p>Of course Papa and Mamma Wibblewobble were much surprised to hear about +the ball game, and the broken window, but they didn't scold Jimmie very +much, and pretty soon, oh, in a little while after supper, you know, it +was bedtime for the duck children and they went to bed.</p> + +<p>Well, it got darker and darker, and soon it was nice and quiet around the +pond where the ducks lived. Only the frogs seemed to be awake, and they +were croaking away in the water. And pretty soon Lulu and Alice were +dreaming and so was Jimmie, and the funny part of it is that they all +dreamed different things.</p> + +<p>Pretty soon it got even darker, and then up popped the silvery moon, and +it wasn't quite so dark. But it was more quiet. Oh my, yes! It was so +quiet that I believe if a feather had fallen off a duck's back it would +have made a noise when it struck the ground. Oh, it was very quiet.</p> + +<p>Then, all of a sudden Jimmie awakened. He sniffed and he snuffed, and he +smelled smoke. So he got up and he called to Lulu and Alice in the next +room:</p> + +<p>"Say, don't you smell smoke?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Alice, "I do."</p> + +<p>"Maybe it's Grandfather Goosey-Gander smoking his pipe," suggested Lulu.</p> + +<p>"No, he doesn't smoke as late as this," said Jimmie.</p> + +<p>Then the smell of smoke got stronger, and, in about as long as it would +take you to count one and a half, what should happen but that the whole +duckhouse was suddenly lighted up. Then there came a crackling, roaring +sound, and Papa and Mamma Wibblewobble jumped up.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear! It's burglars! I know it's burglars!" cried Mrs. Wibblewobble. +"Quack real loud, Leander" (you see Mr. Wibblewobble's name was Leander). +"Quack real loud, and call the police!"</p> + +<p>So Mr. Leander Wibblewobble quacked as loudly as he could, and just then +Aunt Lettie jumped out of bed.</p> + +<p>"Oh dear! Oh dear! Oh dear!" she cried, three times, just like that. "The +house is on fire! The house is burning up! Run! Jump, everybody!"</p> + +<p>And, sure enough, the ducks' house was on fire, and it wasn't a burglar at +all; no sir! Whether the moon was so hot that it caused the fire, or +whether it was sparks from grandfather's pipe, I can't say, but anyhow, +the house was on fire, and it was burning fiercely.</p> + +<p>"Oh dear! Oh dear!" cried Aunt Lettie again. And Mamma Wibblewobble cried +just the same, too. Then they all ran and jumped out of the second-story +window, but it didn't hurt them, for they could fly a little bit, you +know, and they came down like balloons. That is all but Aunt Lettie, and +she was used to jumping, so she came down like a lot of dishes falling +off the table.</p> + +<p>Well, you should have seen that house burn! Oh, it was a dreadful sight. +All the other ducks and the geese and the chickens gathered around. The +rooster crowed the alarm. Box number twenty-one it was, but of course +there were no engines to come and put out the fire.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we must save the house!" shouted Papa Wibblewobble.</p> + +<p>"Everybody bring water from the pond and throw it on the fire!" cried Aunt +Lettie, and she ran down and filled her two horns, which she carried on +her head. The horns were hollow and had the tops sawed off, so she could +fill them quickly and pour out the water just as easily. She splashed some +water on the fire, but it didn't do much good. Then Lulu and Alice and +Jimmie, they filled their bills with water and threw it on the blaze, but +that didn't do much good.</p> + +<p>No, sad to tell, all the water the ducks and the geese and Aunt Lettie +could carry, to say nothing of the rooster who couldn't bring much, +because he stopped to crow every now and then—all this water didn't do a +bit of good, and the house was burning faster and faster.</p> + +<p>Then, what do you think happened? Why, all at once there came running up +old Nero, the big, shaggy, yellow dog, who was so old and kind that he +would never hurt any one. Yes, he ran right up and called out:</p> + +<p>"Make way, if you please. I will put out that fire!"</p> + +<p>So he ran down into the pond as fast as he could run and soaked himself in +the water. Then he ran up close to the fire and shook himself hard, and +the drops of water scattered from his shaggy sides all over the blaze, +just like a rain storm. And the fire was partly out.</p> + +<p>Then he ran down again and got all wet and shook himself, and scattered +some more water over the fire. And that fire was pretty nearly out.</p> + +<p>Then for the third time that dog, Nero, ran down into the water and got +all soaking wet, and scattered the drops over the blaze, like two showers +and a half. And then that fire was all completely out! Oh, wasn't he a +good dog, though?</p> + +<p>Well, the house wasn't burned so much after all, and the ducks could go +back into it. And maybe they weren't thankful to Nero, but he only said:</p> + +<p>"Ah, you should have watched me gnaw bones when I was a young dog. That +was a sight worth seeing." But I think it was great for him to put out +the fire, don't you? Now, to-morrow night's story, providing my automobile +doesn't hit a balloon, will be about how the fairy prince was caught.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XVII" id="STORY_XVII" ></a>STORY XVII</h2> + +<h3>HOW THE FAIRY PRINCE WAS CAUGHT</h3> + + +<p>Aunt Lettie, the nice old lady goat, wanted Lulu and Alice and Jimmie to +have a good time, so one day she fixed them up a basket of lunch to take +off in the woods and eat. She made some jam tarts—oh, such lovely, flaky +ones!—and there were cookies and bread and butter and I don't know what +all. I just wish I had that basket of lunch now, don't you? But, of +course, we wouldn't want to take it away from the duck children, would we?</p> + +<p>So they started off, and as they passed by Nero, he opened one eye—only +one, mind you, and looked at them. And he said: "I am feeling a little +hungry, but I don't s'pose you have anything for me."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Lulu, "you may have a jam tart because you saved our house +from burning up."</p> + +<p>So they gave Nero one tart, and he gobbled it up as quickly as you can +cross your "t" or dot your "i" when you're writing in school.</p> + +<p>Pretty soon, well, not so very long, you know, the three duck children +came to the woods. Oh, the woods were the nicest place you ever saw!</p> + +<p>There was a little brook running in and out among the trees, and it +sounded like music when it went over the stones. Well, they sat down on +the grass, near a mossy old stump, and ate their lunch, until there wasn't +even so much as a crumb of a jam tart left. They had just gotten through +when, all of a sudden, they heard a big noise. It was like some one +stamping his feet down and breaking sticks.</p> + +<p>The duck children were terribly frightened, for they thought maybe it was +an elephant or a rhinoceros coming along, but Jimmie peeked through the +bushes and whispered to his sisters:</p> + +<p>"It's a big boy!"</p> + +<p>"What's he doing?" asked Alice.</p> + +<p>"I guess he's going fishing," said Lulu, "for he has a fish pole over his +shoulder."</p> + +<p>And, sure enough, that boy was going fishing! He walked on a little +farther, stepping on sticks and breaking them, and then he sat down on the +edge of the little brook and began to fish. Then the duck children weren't +so much afraid, and they watched him.</p> + +<p>Pretty soon the boy pulled up his line with a jerk, but there wasn't +anything on it. Then he said:</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear! That was a big fish, but he got away."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad it got away," whispered Alice, "for I don't like to see the poor +fish caught."</p> + +<p>Then, in about two quacks and a waddle, the boy pulled up his pole again, +and this time he didn't have anything on the hook, either. So he said +again:</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear me, and an angle worm! That's two big fish that have gotten +loose."</p> + +<p>Then he threw in his line again, and the next time when he pulled it up +something came with it. Something wiggily, and black and yellow and +red-spotted with wrinkly legs and a long snaky neck and head.</p> + +<p>"Ker-thump!" it landed on the bank and the boy ran up to it. "Why, I've +caught a mud turtle!" he cried.</p> + +<p>"I am not!" the mud turtle called out, only he couldn't speak very +plainly, for the hook was in his mouth. "I'm a fairy prince, and you had +no right to catch me," he said.</p> + +<p>Now, of course, the boy couldn't hear this, for he didn't understand the +language used by the fairy prince. But Alice heard him, and so did Lulu +and Jimmie.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" cried Alice. "That bad boy has caught the fairy prince! Let's +run out and make him let the prince go!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no!" answered Lulu, "the boy might catch us then."</p> + +<p>"I know what let's do," whispered Jimmie. "We'll get in the bushes right +behind that boy, and quack and squawk as loud as we can: That will scare +him and make him run away. I don't believe the mud turtle is fairy prince, +but I don't want to see him hurt. Come on, girls. Now when I say: 'ready,' +quack real loud."</p> + +<p>So the three duck children went softly up to a bush right behind where +that fisherman—I mean fisherboy—was sitting.</p> + +<p>All this while the fairy prince was talking to the boy, and asking to be +let go, for the hook hurt him. The boy finally did take the hook out, not +hurting the mud-turtle any more than he could help, for he was not a bad +boy.</p> + +<p>Then, in an instant, or maybe in an instant and a half, Jimmie cried, +"Ready!" and he and his sisters quacked as loudly as possible, or even +louder. The boy was just going to put the mud turtle into the basket, but +when he heard the quacking, coming right out of the bushes behind him, he +was so frightened that he dropped the fairy prince on the ground.</p> + +<p>And the fairy prince crawled off as fast as he could, let me tell you. +Then the boy saw that it was the duck children who had frightened him, and +he laughed; but they didn't care, not a bit.</p> + +<p>Then the boy said: "Oh, I guess there is no good fishing here. I'm going +to try a new place," so he walked away.</p> + +<p>Then Alice went right up to the mud turtle and said: "O fairy prince, art +thou much hurt?"</p> + +<p>"I am hurt considerable," said the mud turtle. "I am hurt in two ways. My +mouth hurts where the hook went in, and my feelings are hurt because the +boy didn't believe I was a fairy prince."</p> + +<p>"Well, if you are a fairy prince," asked Jimmie, "why didn't you turn him +into an elephant or a lion and scare him, or why didn't you change him +into a bug or a mosquito, so he could fly away? Why didn't you do that, +eh?"</p> + +<p>"There are several reasons," replied the mud turtle.</p> + +<p>"Oh, wilt thou tell them to us?" asked Alice, romantically.</p> + +<p>"Not now," replied the fairy prince, "but I will later. Return here +to-morrow and I will tell you," and he stretched first one wrinkly leg, +and then the other, and went to sleep.</p> + +<p>"We will return," said Alice, and then the duck children hurried home, and +to-morrow night you shall hear about a magic trick and why the fairy +prince didn't turn that boy into an elephant or a lion. That is, if the +Thanksgiving turkey doesn't go to a football game.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XVIII" id="STORY_XVIII" ></a>STORY XVIII</h2> + +<h3>THE FAIRY PRINCE DOES A MAGIC TRICK</h3> + + +<p>One day, after they had been out roller skating, Lulu and Alice and Jimmie +Wibblewobble suddenly remembered that it was time they went back to the +woods to meet the fairy prince, who was to tell them why he didn't turn +that fisher-boy into a lion or an elephant. So they took off their skates +and hurried to the place, and by and by, after awhile, not so very long, +they got there. Then they stopped and looked around.</p> + +<p>"Hu!" exclaimed Jimmie. "He isn't here. I <i>thought</i> he was fooling us."</p> + +<p>"Hush!" begged Alice. "He may be only hiding to test us, to see if we +really believe in him. He may appear any moment in a big balloon or on the +back of a great bird."</p> + +<p>"Somebody's coming now," said Lulu, suddenly, for she heard a rustling in +the bushes. They all turned around, and whom do you think they saw coming +right out of the woods? Why, Uncle Wiggily Longears! The old gentleman +rabbit was limping along, making his nose go up and down and sideways at +the same time, the way you have seen all the bunnies do, you know.</p> + +<p>"Ha! Ha!" he exclaimed. "What have we here? Why, I do declare! If it isn't +Jimmie Wibblewobble and his sisters! What are you doing here, little +ones?"</p> + +<p>"We came here to meet the fairy prince," replied Jimmie. "He was going to +tell us about why he didn't change a boy into an elephant. But he isn't +here."</p> + +<p>"Who—the fairy prince, the boy or the elephant?" asked Uncle Wiggily, +gently rubbing a horse chestnut on his left hind leg, that had the worst +rheumatism in it.</p> + +<p>"Neither one," said Alice, "but the fairy prince is sure to come."</p> + +<p>"Stuff and nonsense. Nonsense and stuff, also snuff and red pepper!" cried +Uncle Wiggily. "Fairy prince indeed! There's no such thing!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, there is!" said Alice. "Pray do not speak so loudly. He might +hear you."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, my dear, for trusting in me!" exclaimed a voice suddenly, and +honestly, you may not believe me, but if there wasn't that mud turtle! +Yes, sir, as true as I'm telling you, he appeared right from behind a +bush!</p> + +<p>"Thank you, my dear, for believing me," said the fairy prince to Alice +again. "As for this—ahem!—this person!" and the mud turtle looked very +severely at Uncle Wiggily, very severely indeed, "as for this person, I +will soon show him! Oh, my, yes! and a tortoiseshell comb in addition," he +said; and then the turtle stuck out its long neck, straight at the old +rabbit, until Uncle Wiggily thought it was a snake.</p> + +<p>"Fairy prince, we salute thee!" exclaimed Alice, making a low bow.</p> + +<p>"Good, very good," remarked the mud turtle. "I believe I promised you I +would tell you why I did not change the boy, who caught me, into something +strange, say an elephant or a lion."</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Jimmie, "you did promise us. Go ahead, please."</p> + +<p>"That's not the way to talk to a fairy prince," objected Alice. "You +should speak more politely."</p> + +<p>"Never mind him, he doesn't know any better," went on the mud turtle. "I +will now give you my reasons. In the first place I did not want to scare +that boy after the way you frightened him. He had been punished enough, I +thought. Besides, if I had turned him into a lion or an elephant he would +have run through the woods, scaring every one he met, and that would not +have been right. And the reason I didn't change him into a bug or a +mosquito was because he might fly away, and then, when the magic spell +had passed off, and he was changed back into a boy again, the +transformation might have happened in the air, and he would fall right +down on somebody's head, and that would never do, never, never, not in a +year and a half. So I concluded not to do anything to him."</p> + +<p>"I don't believe you could have changed him into anything at all," said +Uncle Wiggily, quite boldly. "I don't even believe you are a fairy +prince."</p> + +<p>"There it goes again!" cried the mud turtle, and he wept big tears that +made a little puddle of water. "Very few persons do believe in me. But I +assure you I am a fairy prince," he added, "and, what's more, all I would +have had to say to that boy was 'Oskaluluhinniumhaddy,' and he would have +been turned into anything I liked. But I see you still do not believe +me—that is, all but Alice. So I will just do a magic trick for you. +Return here in an hour, and in this very spot you shall find a round +stone. Take a rock and break open the stone and you will see what +happens."</p> + +<p>So the Wibblewobble children and Uncle Wiggily went away, wondering what +was going to happen. They came back in an hour, and, sure enough, right +where the mud turtle had been standing was a large, round stone.</p> + +<p>"Wonderful!" cried Alice.</p> + +<p>"Let's see what's inside," suggested Jimmie.</p> + +<p>So he and Uncle Wiggily took up a rock, and hit that stone once, and they +hit it twice, and they hit it three times, and, at the third blow, if that +stone didn't break open, and out stepped the mud turtle fairy prince! He +was right inside that stone! Now, wasn't that a magic trick? I think so, +anyhow.</p> + +<p>"Oh, tell us how you did it!" begged Lulu.</p> + +<p>"It was very simple, very simple," said the turtle, as he flicked a bit of +mud off his nose. "You see, I just rolled myself up in some soft clay, and +then made it round like a stone. Then I stayed in the sun until it was +baked as hard as a rock, and then I rolled along here to wait for you. +Very simple, indeed. But, now, do you believe I am a fairy prince?" And +they all declared they did, even Uncle Wiggily, and Alice said three +times: "We salute thee, fairy prince." Oh, it was as good as a play!</p> + +<p>Well, now, let's see about to-morrow night. How about a story of the rat +who took the eggs? Do you think you would like that? Very well, then, you +shall hear it, providing my golden slipper doesn't fall off.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XIX" id="STORY_XIX" ></a>STORY XIX</h2> + +<h3>THE RATS WHO TOOK THE EGGS</h3> + + +<p>Nothing had happened at the Wibblewobble house in several days, and Jimmie +and Lulu and Alice were beginning to feel that it was about time they went +off on another picnic, or else tried to find the fairy prince again. But, +one day, just as Jimmie was looking for his baseball and his catching +glove, his mamma came out of the pantry, where she had gone to get some +dishes to set the table.</p> + +<p>"Did any of you children take my eggs?" she asked, and she looked very +severely at them.</p> + +<p>"What? Are the eggs gone?" asked Aunt Lettie, the old lady goat.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mamma Wibblewobble, "there were just thirteen eggs, and now +there are only ten. Three have been taken, and I hope Lulu and Alice and +Jimmie didn't touch them."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no indeed, mamma," spoke Alice very quickly, as she finished tying a +sky-blue-pink ribbon around her neck. "I never touched them."</p> + +<p>"Neither did I," added Lulu.</p> + +<p>"Nor me," said Jimmie. "I don't like eggs anyhow."</p> + +<p>"I was saving them to hatch more little ducklings out of," went on Mamma +Wibblewobble, in sorrowful tones. "Now I shall have to wait. Oh, it's such +a disappointment to me!"</p> + +<p>"Maybe they fell off the shelf," suggested Jimmie.</p> + +<p>"No," replied his mother. "If they had fallen from the shelf out of the +basket, where I had them, the eggs would have broken, and made a mark on +the floor," and, of course, you know they would, for when an egg breaks on +the floor it makes a splish and a splash and a big yellow and white spot +that you can't help but see; now, doesn't it? So Mamma Wibblewobble knew +the eggs couldn't have fallen.</p> + +<p>"Well," remarked Aunt Lettie, "it's very strange. Perhaps they have been +stolen. You should notify the police."</p> + +<p>"Or tell Mr. Cock A. Doodle, the rooster," added Jimmie. "He would crow +over it; and if we offered a reward, maybe we would get the eggs back."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm glad you children didn't take them, at all events," said their +mother. "Run along and play now. Aunt Lettie has made some molasses +cookies, with corn meal and raisins on top, and you may have some of +them."</p> + +<p>So Lulu and Alice and Jimmie went out to play, but all the while they were +thinking of the missing eggs. It was very strange. Their mamma and Aunt +Lettie hunted all over the duck pen for them, but the eggs couldn't be +found, any more than you can find a penny after you drop it down a crack +in the board walk.</p> + +<p>Well, when Papa Wibblewobble came home, he was told about the three +missing eggs. He was much surprised, but he said at once:</p> + +<p>"Why, a burglar has taken them; that's what! I remember now I heard a +suspicious noise last night. It was some one sneezing. That was the +burglar taking the eggs. I thought of getting up and going down to catch +him, but I was too sleepy, so I stayed in bed."</p> + +<p>"No, it wasn't a burglar who sneezed," said Aunt Lettie. "It was I. I left +my window open, and I caught a little cold."</p> + +<p>"Then who did sneeze and take the eggs?" asked Papa Wibblewobble.</p> + +<p>But no one could tell him, and it was more mysterious and wonderful than +ever, yes indeed. Not a trace of those eggs could be found, and Mamma +Wibblewobble felt terribly.</p> + + +<p>Well, that night Jimmie thought of a plan. He decided he would catch +the bad burglar, or whoever it was that had taken the eggs, for the little +boy duck thought if they took three eggs they would come back for more.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to hide in the pantry to-night," he said to Lulu and Alice, +"and when the burglar comes I'm going to grab him."</p> + +<p>"Won't you be afraid?" asked Alice, shivering.</p> + +<p>"Afraid? Humph! I guess not," replied her brother.</p> + +<p>So that night, after every one had gone to bed, and it was all still and +quiet in the house, and Aunt Lettie was snoring the least little bit, +Jimmie crawled softly out of bed. Oh, so softly, and went and hid in the +pantry.</p> + +<p>It was dark, so he took a candle and was all ready to light it whenever he +heard a sound. Well, he had to wait quite some time, and it was getting +pretty lonesome, and he was beginning to feel sleepy when, all of a +sudden, he heard a noise! Then he heard another noise, and then a +scratching and a squeaking. Then he lighted the candle as quickly as he +could, and what do you suppose he saw?</p> + +<p>Why, two great big rats, no relation to good, kind Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, +the muskrat, oh, not at all, but two other bad rats!</p> + +<p>Well, as true as I'm telling you, if one rat didn't climb up on the +shelf, where the duck eggs were in the basket, and take one up in his +paws; and then what do you suppose he did? Why, he went to the edge of the +shelf and dropped the egg to the rat on the floor below.</p> + +<p>Then the rat on the floor caught it and lay down on his back, and hugged +the egg in his four paws, and the rat on the shelf ran down and got hold +of the tail of the rat that had the egg and began pulling him along the +floor, just as if he were a little wagon or sled with an egg on it. All +this Jimmie saw, and he cried out:</p> + +<p>"Oh, you bad rats, you, to steal my mamma's eggs!"</p> + +<p class="figcenter"><a href="./images/5.jpg"><img src="./images/5-tb.jpg" alt="The kitten under the pussy willows" title="The kitten under the pussy willows" /></a></p> + +<p>Well, you should have seen how frightened those rats were at that! One +dropped the egg out of his paws and ran away, and the other followed. Oh, +but they were frightened, though! and wasn't Jimmie brave to hide in the +pantry and discover them? So that's how the first three eggs were taken, +but no more were, for Papa Wibblewobble stopped up the rat hole.</p> + +<p>And that's the end of this story. The one to-morrow night will be about +how Jimmie tried to stand on his head, that is, if the pussy cat doesn't +go to sleep in the milk bottle.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XX" id="STORY_XX" ></a>STORY XX</h2> + +<h3>HOW JIMMIE STOOD ON HIS HEAD</h3> + + +<p>Jimmie Wibblewobble was quite a hero after he had found out about the rats +taking the eggs, and every time he walked in the chicken yard the old +rooster would crow and say:</p> + +<p>"There goes Jimmie, the boy who scared the rats."</p> + +<p>But do you s'pose Jimmie was proud? Not a bit of it. He was just as nice +as ever, and Lulu and Alice thought a lot of him, let me tell you.</p> + +<p>Well, one day, Bully, the frog, came over to play with Jimmie. They tossed +a baseball around, Bully catching it in his mouth. All of a sudden the +frog boy cried out:</p> + +<p>"Oh, my, I'm so warm, I think I'll jump in the pond and cool off." So he +jumped into the pond just as easily as butter melts on a hot stove, and +when he came up he felt better. Then he said to Jimmie:</p> + +<p>"Why don't you dive down under the water the way I do? It's lots of fun."</p> + +<p>"I would," answered Jimmie, "only I can't stay under water as you do. I +have to float on top. I can put my head under, to dig in the mud for +snails and sweet, spicy weeds, but I can't get my whole body under."</p> + +<p>"I know how you could do it," went on Bully.</p> + +<p>"How?" asked Jimmie, and he wobbled his tail so fast you could hardly see +it move.</p> + +<p>"Tie a stone around your neck," went on Bully. That will make you sink +under water, and you can then dive as good as I can. Come on, we'll have +some fun."</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't you do it, Jimmie!" cried Lulu, who came along just then with +Alice. "Maybe you can't get the stone loose, and you'll be drowned!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I guess not," answered Jimmie. "I can stay under water a long time. I +want to see how it feels to dive in—ker plunk!—like a frog."</p> + +<p>"I'm going to tell mamma," cried Alice.</p> + +<p>"Tattle-tale! Tattle-tale!" called Jimmie. "I never tell on you!"</p> + +<p>"Well, then, I won't tell," said Alice, "but Lulu and I will stay close +by, so if you can't get the stone off we can help you."</p> + +<p>"Well, that's kind of you," spoke her brother, "but I'll be all right. You +will see me stand on my head, just like Bully does, and dive under the +water."</p> + +<p>So he got a stone and a piece of long grass for a string, and Bully tied +the stone around Jimmie's neck. Now, this was a very risky thing to do, +but, you see, Jimmie didn't know any better. Neither did Bully. But you +just wait and see what happens. I'm coming to it very shortly now.</p> + +<p>Pretty soon the stone was tied on good and tight, and then Jimmie and +Bully stood on the edge of the pond.</p> + +<p>"Are you all ready?" asked Bully.</p> + +<p>"Yep," replied Jimmie, and he stretched out his neck, for it felt funny to +have a stone tied around it. Oh, how foolish some ducks are; now, aren't +they, honestly?</p> + +<p>"All ready," went on Bully. "One for the money, two for a show, three to +make ready and FOUR to go!" and he yelled the "FOUR" real loudly.</p> + +<p>Then they jumped in, Jimmie and Bully, ker-splash, ker-splosh, ker-splish, +ker-thump! Oh what a lot of water they scattered about, wetting Lulu and +Alice, but the girl ducks didn't mind it. Of course, Bully went right to +the bottom, and so did Jimmie, too. His head went right down in the mud, +the way Lulu's did that terrible day I told you about once. And poor +Jimmie's yellow feet were right up in the air, and that's where a duck's +feet ought never to be. Oh my, no! and some shingle nails besides.</p> + +<p>Well, Jimmie tried to swim along under water, as he saw Bully doing, but +he couldn't. No, sir, not the least bit. You see the stone was too heavy, +and it held him down. Besides, his feet were out of the water, and as a +duck has to have his feet in water to swim with, of course, Jimmie +couldn't move along at all.</p> + +<p>There he was, held down under water, and all the while his breath was +getting shorter and shorter, and he kept feeling worse and worse, and he +wished he had taken Lulu's advice and not tried to stand on his head and +dive.</p> + +<p>Well, naturally, when Jimmie didn't come up in some time, Lulu and Alice +got worried. Bully popped up, after swimming across the pond under water +and out of sight, and they asked him what had become of Jimmie.</p> + +<p>"I'll go look," he said, and when he dived down, and came back, he was +pale green instead of dark green as he usually was. You see he turned pale +green because he was so frightened.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" cried Bully. "Jimmie is held fast down there by the stone on +his neck, and can't get up."</p> + +<p>"Can't you bite the stone loose?" asked Alice. Then Bully tried, but he +couldn't, and Lulu and Alice tried, but they couldn't. And there wasn't +any one else around to help, and it began to look pretty bad for poor +Jimmie.</p> + +<p>And then, just as he surely thought he would never see his papa, and +mamma, and sisters, and Aunt Lettie again, who should come walking along +the bottom of the pond but the mud turtle fairy prince. He saw right away +what the matter was, and it didn't take him a second, with his sharp jaws, +to bite through the grass that held, the stone around Jimmie's neck, and +up popped the little boy duck!</p> + +<p>His life had been saved just in time, let me tell you! And oh, how +thankful Alice and Lulu were, to say nothing of Jimmie; and how they +thanked the fairy prince.</p> + +<p>"Maybe you will believe that I am a fairy now," said the mud turtle to +Jimmie, and Jimmie said he would. He also said he would never stand on his +head again, with a stone tied around his neck, and I'm glad to say he +never did. Now, in case I should see a sky-blue-pink-green rose in blossom +to-morrow I'll tell you a story about Lulu, and how Aunt Lettie did her a +great favor.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XXI" id="STORY_XXI" ></a>STORY XXI</h2> + +<h3>LULU AND AUNT LETTIE</h3> + + +<p>Lulu Wibblewobble was walking in the deep, dark woods, and, what is more, +she was all alone. Yes, and she wasn't afraid. You see, Jimmie had gone +off with the boys in the lots back of the duck pond to play ball, and +Alice had gone shopping with her mamma. Lulu could have gone, too, only +felt she would rather go walking in the woods, so she went.</p> + +<p>At first it was very pleasant with the birds singing in the trees, and the +wind blowing through the leaves, and making music, and Lulu liked it very +much. She found some fine eel grass in a little brook, and she was eating +the green stems, and thinking how nice it was, when all at once she heard +a funny noise. It was just like when a great, big door swings on rusty +hinges.</p> + +<p>Lulu stopped eating eel grass at once, and she called right out loud:</p> + +<p>"My goodness! What's that?"</p> + +<p>Then it was all still, and quiet; as quiet, you know, as when a little +mouse walks along, and doesn't want any one to hear him, going after the +crackers and cheese, and maybe the jam tarts, too; who knows? Well, it was +just as still and quiet as it could be, when all of a sudden the noise +came again.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" cried Lulu. "I believe I'm going to be frightened. I wish +Jimmie was here!"</p> + +<p>But Jimmie, the brave boy duck, was a long way off, playing ball with +Bully, the frog, and his other friends, though he would have come at once +to help his sister if he had known what a dreadful thing was almost going +to happen to her.</p> + +<p>Well, as I said, the noise sounded again, and then, when Lulu looked right +at a tree, what should she see but something big and bushy, waving in the +wind.</p> + +<p>"Oh, maybe it's Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, and perhaps Sister Sallie is +with them!" she said, aloud, and she didn't feel quite so frightened. Then +that terrible noise came again, and the bushy thing got bigger, and Lulu +saw that it was the tail of a great, big black dog. Oh, such a big black +dog as it was! And he was growling, and that's what made the sound like a +big door creaking on big, rusty hinges.</p> + +<p>The dog came out from behind the tree, and he stared right in the face of +Lulu, as bold as bold could be.</p> + +<p>"Who are you?" growled the dog.</p> + +<p>"If—if you please, kind sir, I'm Lulu," she answered.</p> + +<p>"Bur-r-r-r!" growled the dog. "I'm not a kind Sir at all. I'm a bad dog! +Bur-r-r-r! Bur-r-r-r! What's your last name? Bur-r-r-r!"</p> + +<p>"My last name is Wibblewobble, Bad Dog," she replied.</p> + +<p>"Bur-r-r-r! What are you calling me names for?" he asked, and he showed +his teeth something frightful, yes, indeed! Now cuddle up close to me if +you want to, and you won't be a bit afraid, because, in a few minutes Lulu +is going to be saved in a wonderful way. Just you wait and see.</p> + +<p>"Why do you call me names?" asked the dog again.</p> + +<p>"I—I—If you please," said Lulu, "I thought you said your name was Bad +Dog, sir."</p> + +<p>"Bur-r-r-r!" cried the dog. "I didn't at all. No matter what my name is. I +am a bad dog, however, and I'm proud of it!" Oh, wasn't he the bold, ugly +dog, though? Then he looked at Lulu some more, and growled even louder, +and he asked her:</p> + +<p>"What are you, a chicken or a turkey?"</p> + +<p>"Neither," replied Lulu, "I'm a duck, if you please."</p> + +<p>"Ha!" exclaimed the bad dog. "A duck! The very idea! Of all things I love +ducks! I just dote on 'em! I love 'em just like you love jam tarts, I +expect. But why aren't you larger, Lulu? I like big ducks."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" cried the little duck girl, "are you going to eat me up?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied the dog, "I am."</p> + +<p>"Then," went on Lulu, very bravely, for she was trying to think of a way +to get out of the deep, dark woods, "if you will wait a year or two, I +will be larger."</p> + +<p>"No," said the dog. "I can't wait. I'm in a hurry. I must have you now."</p> + +<p>Then he growled some more, and rushed right at Lulu, and I suppose he +would have eaten her up, feathers and all, only for what happened.</p> + +<p>Now, what do you suppose prevented him? Why, just as he was about to grab +the little duck girl there was a crashing and a smashing in the bushes and +who should appear but dear Aunt Lettie, the old lady goat! As soon as she +laid eyes on that dog she knew what he was going to do, and without +speaking a word, she rushed right at him and lowered her horns.</p> + +<p>Now, it's a good thing for that dog that the sharp ends of Aunt Lettie's +horns had been sawed off. So, you see, when she stuck them in that dog's +ribs, they only tickled him and he had to laugh, instead of sticking right +through him. Oh, how hard he laughed! But he didn't want to, not a bit.</p> + +<p>Then Aunt Lettie just lowered her head, and then she raised it up, and +over her back that bad dog went, right up in the air, and he was tossed in +some briars and brambles that scratched him well.</p> + +<p>But he wasn't satisfied yet, and he rushed back at Lulu, but Aunt Lettie +tickled him in the ribs again, and he laughed: "Ha! Ho!" though he didn't +want to at all, and over into the briars and brambles he was tossed once +more.</p> + +<p>Then he had had enough, and he ran off, howling instead of laughing, and +that's the way it was that Aunt Lettie saved Lulu. You see the old lady +goat happened to be walking in the woods, when she heard the dog growl and +she ran up just in time. Then she went home with Lulu, and Jimmie said if +he ever saw that dog he would throw a stone at him, and I wouldn't blame +him, would you?</p> + +<p>Now to-morrow night I think the story is going to be about how Alice cut +her foot, and what happened after it. But I can't tell it unless I happen +to see a grasshopper standing on his head and eating jam tarts.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XXII" id="STORY_XXII" ></a>STORY XXII</h2> + +<h3>HOW ALICE CUT HER FOOT</h3> + + +<p>Did you ever go barefooted in the summer time? I suppose you have, and I +don't blame you a bit, especially on hot days, or when you are at Asbury +Park or Ocean Grove. Now, to go barefooted, you know, you have to take off +your shoes and stockings, and that's quite a bother at times.</p> + +<p>Well, Alice Wibblewobble didn't have to do this when she wanted to go +barefooted, for, you know, she never wore shoes and stockings in summer. +You see it would be too much trouble to take them off every time she went +in swimming with Lulu and Jimmie, so that's why it was arranged that she +never had to wear any.</p> + +<p>Now it happened one day, oh, I guess it must have been about a week and a +minute after Lulu had been frightened by that big dog, that Alice was +going to the store for her mother. The store was kept by Mr. Drake, who +had a little round door knob on the top of his head, so his hat wouldn't +blow off in windy weather.</p> + +<p>"Bring me a pound of butter and some cornmeal, Alice," her mother had said +to her, "and be sure the cornmeal is fresh. I am going to fry some for +your father's supper."</p> + +<p>So Alice said she would be sure about it, and she started off.</p> + +<p>"Want me to come, Alice?" asked Lulu.</p> + +<p>"No, dear," replied her sister. "I think it is too hot for you to-day. +I'll soon be back again."</p> + +<p>"Better take Jimmie," went on Lulu. "You may meet the bad dog or an ugly +fox."</p> + +<p>"No," spoke Alice again, "I think I'll go alone. Besides, Jimmie is off +with Sammie Littletail, playing leapfrog. I'll go alone."</p> + +<p>So off she went. Now I'm going to tell you why she wanted to go alone, but +don't whisper it to any one. You see, Alice thought maybe she might meet +the fairy prince, for she still hoped that some day he would change into a +king with a golden diamond crown on his head.</p> + +<p>But, as she walked on toward Mr. Drake's store she saw nothing of the +fairy prince, though she kept a sharp lookout. Well, she got the pound of +butter and the cornmeal, and to make sure it was fresh she ate a little, +for that's the surest way to tell. Then she started for home, with the +butter under one wing and the cornmeal under the other.</p> + +<p>Well, all of a sudden, just as she got past the weeping willow tree, if +she didn't step on a sharp stone and cut her foot, because, you see, she +had no shoes on, and the stone was very, very sharp, almost as sharp as an +exclamation point; yes, indeed! There, I had the printer put one in (!) so +you could see how very sharp it is. Always be careful of exclamation +points, children.</p> + +<p>"Oh! Oh! Oh!" cried Alice, as she felt the sharp stone go in her foot, and +she had to sink down to the ground, it hurt her so. Then the cornmeal fell +from under her wing and the bag burst and it spilled all over. Then the +butter fell from under the other wing, but that didn't get hurt any. It +only got some dents in it, and you know that doesn't matter, for butter.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear! Whatever shall I do?" cried Alice again. "I—I can't walk on my +sore foot, and I can't carry the cornmeal and the butter! Oh, dear! Oh, +dear! My foot's bleeding, too!" and, sure enough it was. Poor Alice! How +sorry I feel for her.</p> + +<p>"Ah, if only the fairy prince would appear now," she went on. "He would +cause a golden chariot to take me home!"</p> + +<p>You see, Alice hadn't gotten over being romantic, even if she had cut her +foot. Oh, my, no, and a diamond earring besides!</p> + +<p>Well, as true as I'm telling you, no sooner had she made that wish about +the fairy prince than a voice called out:</p> + +<p>"Who is crying? Does any one need help?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Alice, "I do. I've cut my foot, and I've dented the butter +in several places, but that doesn't matter much, and I've spilled the +cornmeal."</p> + +<p>"Oh, what a lot of troubles for one poor little duck girl!" cried the +voice again. "Perhaps, I can help you," and who should come along but +Uncle Wiggily Longears, the nice old gentleman rabbit. "Let us see what's +the trouble," he went on, and he put his strongest spectacles over his +nose and he looked at the cut in Alice's foot. Then he cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, I should say that was a cut! Oh, my, yes! No doubt about it whatever! +But there, don't cry," he added, for he saw some tears running down +Alice's yellow bill. "I'll fix it for you."</p> + +<p>So he got some nice, soft leaves, and he tied them on her sore foot with +some stout grass. Then she felt better, but she couldn't walk, and she +didn't know how she was ever going to get home. So she asked Uncle +Wiggily.</p> + +<p>"Why, the easiest thing in the world!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "All I have to +do is to say a little verse, and I'll think of a way." So he said this +little verse:</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="A little verse"> +<tr><td align='left'>"Wiggily, waggily, woggily wome,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: .5em;">How shall I get Alice home?</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: .5em;">She has hurt herself quite much</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: .5em;">And she'll have to use my crutch."</span></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + + +<p>Of course, Uncle Wiggily knew that wasn't a very good verse, but it was +the best he could do.</p> + +<p>"You shall use my cornstalk crutch, that Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy made for +me," he went on. "It will be just the thing."</p> + +<p>"Won't you need it?" asked Alice, very politely.</p> + +<p>"No," said Uncle Wiggily. "My rheumatism is much better to-day. You may +have it," and he fitted it under Alice's wing, and she could walk pretty +well, not having to use her sore foot.</p> + +<p>Then that kind old rabbit scraped up all the cornmeal, and he put some in +his big left ear and some in his big right ear, because the bag was +broken, and he carried the dented butter, which wasn't hurt the least +mite.</p> + +<p>Then they started for the duck pen and they reached it safely, Alice +limping along as well as she could. And Uncle Wiggily told Mamma +Wibblewobble about the accident, after he had emptied his left ear and +his right ear of the cornmeal and had handed over the dented butter. Dr. +Possum was called in to put some salve on Alice's foot, and she was soon +better.</p> + +<p>Now that's all to-night, but, if the moving man doesn't take my typewriter +away, I shall tell you to-morrow night about Jimmie in a tall tree.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XXIII" id="STORY_XXIII" ></a>STORY XXIII</h2> + +<h3>JIMMIE IN A TALL TREE</h3> + + +<p>It had rained in the morning, and of course the grounds were too slippery +and wet to play ball. That is, they were for Sammie Littletail and Billie +and Johnnie Bushytail, but naturally Jimmie Wibblewobble, the boy duck, +and Bully, the boy frog, would not have minded the wet the least bit. But +there wasn't any ball game, and so Jimmie was playing all alone in the +woods back of his house, and wishing it hadn't rained.</p> + +<p>"Oh! I wish some of the boys would come over," he said. "We could do +something, even if it is wet. I'm lonesome."</p> + +<p>Just then he heard a voice singing in the woods, and he heard the branches +of the trees moving about, and bits of bark falling off. And this is the +song he heard: you have to sing it quite slowly to get the full effect:</p> + +<div class="center"> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="A little voice singing"> +<tr><td align='left'>"Oh! it is such fun if you see the sun</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">When the rain has gone away.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: .5em;">If you'll come with me you may climb a tree,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">And in the top we'll play.</span><br /><br /></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>"Oh! the winds may blow and the cows may crow,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">But what care we for that?</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: .5em;">As you scamper high, near the bright, blue sky,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Look out, or you'll lose your hat."</span></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p>And with that who should come scampering out of a tree but Billie and +Johnnie Bushytail, the squirrel brothers. No, Sister Sallie wasn't with +them this time, having stayed at home to wheel her corncob doll in the +carriage her brothers had made for her.</p> + +<p>"Hello!" cried Billie and Johnnie. "Hello, Jimmie!"</p> + +<p>"Aw, why didn't you chaps come over to play ball?" asked the little boy +duck.</p> + +<p>"Oh! it was too wet," replied Johnnie. "But say, Jimmie, did you hear us +singing?"</p> + +<p>"Sure," answered Jimmie. "But say; cows don't crow!"</p> + +<p>"I know it," replied Johnnie. "Billie made up that verse, and I made the +first one. He said he had to have something like that in it or it wouldn't +be right. But no matter. Did you like it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, pretty well."</p> + +<p>"Shall we sing it again?" asked Johnnie.</p> + +<p>"No, don't!" begged his brother. "He's been singing it all the morning, +and I'm getting tired of it, even if I did make up one verse," he +explained. "But say, Jimmie, don't you wish you could climb a tall tree, +like this?" and before you could say Salimagundy or maybe +incomprehensibility or even disproportionability, why Billie had run to +the top of the tree and down again. "Don't you wish you could?" he asked +again.</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Jimmie, looking up, "I wish I could climb a tree, but I +guess ducks weren't made for that. I once tried to fly, and I didn't +succeed very well. I'll stay on the ground, I think. Come on, let's have a +catch. I've got a ball."</p> + +<p>"No," spoke Johnnie, "I have an idea. Billie, why can't you and I teach +Jimmie to climb a tree? If we pick out one with branches close together +I'm sure he could get up it. We can help him, and he can take hold of some +limbs in his bill, like a parrot takes hold of the wires in his cage."</p> + +<p>"Fine!" cried Billie. "Will you do it, Jimmie?"</p> + +<p>"Sure," answered the little boy duck, but he didn't know what was going to +happen, or, maybe, he wouldn't have tried to climb up. Well, the +squirrels selected quite a tall tree, but rather an easy one, and Jimmie +managed to scramble up to the first low limbs, with Billie and Johnnie +boosting him.</p> + +<p>After that it wasn't quite so hard, and he was able to get up quite a +distance, pulling himself with his yellow bill. He was not very graceful, +and I'm sure if you ever saw a duck climb a tree you would agree with me, +but finally, after a great deal of hard work, Jimmie was right on the top +branch where the two squirrels sat blinking their eyes.</p> + +<p>"How do you like it?" asked Johnnie.</p> + +<p>"Fine!" cried Jimmie. "Quack! Quack! Quack!" Now when a duck says "quack" +three times, you may know he is very much pleased indeed. Oh, what a fine +view Jimmie had, but he didn't dare frisk around as Billie and Johnnie +did, for he was a trifle dizzy. Then, after he had been up there some +time, he thought he had better go down, for the wind was blowing the +treetop, and he wasn't used to it. So, after Billie and Johnnie had sung +their song again, Jimmie started for the ground.</p> + +<p>Well, you know how it is yourself, if you have ever climbed a tree. It's +easy to go up, but it's hard to get down. The limb for your feet is never +where you think it is. Poor Jimmie tried, and Billie and Johnnie helped +him, but he didn't dare turn around to go down, backward, and that's the +only way you can get down a tree, unless you're a squirrel.</p> + +<p>Then Jimmie began to get frightened. He knew it was time for him to go +home, but it began getting darker and darker and darker, and there he was +right in the top of the tree, as far away from the ground as ever. He +tried once more, but he didn't dare let go of one branch with his bill, +while he put his foot down on another limb below, and there he was. Oh, +what an unpleasant situation to be in, to say the least!</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'll never get down!" cried Jimmie. "I wish I'd stayed on the +ground!"</p> + +<p>Billie and Johnnie began to get frightened, too, for it was partly their +fault, and they were just going off for some kind of help, though what +kind they didn't know, when they heard a noise.</p> + +<p>It was a swishing, swooping, swoshing noise, and who should fly down out +of the sky but that good, kind fishhawk, who once carried Billie and +Johnnie on his big back to Lincoln Park. As soon as the squirrels saw him +they cried out:</p> + +<p>"Oh, please help Jimmie Wibblewobble down! He's in a tall tree and can't +reach the ground."</p> + +<p>"Why, of course, to be sure," replied the kind fishhawk, and he alighted +in the tree, and Jimmie got upon his strong, broad back, and the fishhawk +flew gently to the earth, and that's how Jimmie got down. And maybe he +wasn't glad of it! I know I am, anyhow.</p> + +<p>Now, listen: the moving man didn't get my typewriter, after all, so if we +have cocoanut-chocolate-mustard-apple-pie cake for supper, I can tell you +a story to-morrow night, and it will be about the party Alice and Lulu +had, and what happened at it. Something wonderful, too, let, me tell you.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XXIV" id="STORY_XXIV" ></a>STORY XXIV</h2> + +<h3>THE WIBBLEWOBBLES' PARTY</h3> + + +<p>There was great excitement in the duck pen. And the reason for it was that +Lulu and Alice were going to have a party. It was the first party they had +ever had, and it was on their birthday. You see, it was this way: Lulu and +Alice both had the same birthday; that is, they, were twins. Jimmie was a +day older than they were, and he wasn't a twin. There, now I've explained +it all to you, and I'll get on with the story.</p> + +<p>Well, Mamma Wibblewobble arranged for the party. She did all the baking +and got the ice cream ready and made the pies and tarts, and Alice and +Lulu sent out the invitations. They were written on nice little pieces of +white birch bark that Johnnie and Billie Bushytail gnawed off the trees +for the little duck girls.</p> + +<p>Of course, Johnnie and Billie were invited, and so was Sammie Littletail, +and Susie and Sister Sallie, and Mr. and Mrs. Bushytail, and Mr. and Mrs. +Littletail, and Uncle Wiggily Longears, and Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, and +Grandfather Goosey-Gander, and Bully, the frog, and the goldfish, and, let +me see, who else? Oh, of course, the fairy prince. Alice would not have +had him left out for anything.</p> + +<p>Alice and Lulu had their best hair ribbons on and their new dresses, and +were all dressed up for the party nearly an hour before it was time. +Jimmie got ready, too. That is, he put on a clean collar and a new, red +necktie, and he looked very nice. But he really didn't care much about the +party. He said he and the boys would go off by themselves and talk about +baseball.</p> + +<p>"No," said his mother, "you must not do that. I want you and the boys to +entertain the little girls. Be nice, now, Jimmie."</p> + +<p>So Jimmie said he would, and pretty soon the company began to come. Bully, +the frog, hopped along first, and right after him came Grandfather +Goosey-Gander, and, would you believe me, he never said a word about +Jimmie breaking his window that time.</p> + +<p>"We are very glad to see you," said Alice and Lulu, as they stood at the +front door to receive their friends. Aunt Lettie, the nice old lady goat, +was also there, and as the guests came up, she called out:</p> + +<p>"Now, girls, walk right in the bedroom and put your things on the bed. +You boys take your things in Jimmie's room." Oh, it was a real party, let +me tell you.</p> + +<p>Uncle Wiggily was the last to arrive, and you know why that was. It was +because his rheumatism hurt him so. But he finally got there, and then the +party was complete; that is, all but the fairy prince, and even the +goldfish didn't know what had become of him.</p> + +<p>First the boys all stayed on one side of the room and the girls on the +other, but when Alice said, "Let's play spin the platter," they all cried +out, "Oh, yes, let's do it." And they used one of Mamma Wibblewobble's +dishes for the platter, and didn't break it a bit. Jimmie was "it" part of +the time, and so was Johnnie Bushytail.</p> + +<p>"Now let's play going to Jerusalem," proposed Lulu, and they did, +Grandfather Goosey-Gander whistling through his bill, just like a fife, to +make the music. Then they played blind-duck-bluff, and post-office and +clap-in clap-out, and forfeits and, oh, such lots of games that I can +hardly remember them. Oh, yes, there was one more, puss in the corner, and +whom do you suppose was the puss? Why the little kittie; Lulu's little +kittie, you know, that Aunt Lettie thought had come from the +pussy-willows.</p> + +<p>"When are we going to eat?" asked Bushytail, after a while, and he spoke +out loud.</p> + +<p>"Hush!" cried Sister Sallie. "You mustn't ask that, Billie; it isn't +polite!"</p> + +<p>"Well, I wanted to know," said the little boy squirrel.</p> + +<p>"Bless your heart!" exclaimed Aunt Lettie. "Of course you do. It must be +time to serve the refreshments. I'll go ask Mrs. Wibblewobble."</p> + +<p>"I don't want refreshments," objected Billie, in a whisper to Sister +Sallie. "I'm hungry, and I want something to eat!"</p> + +<p>"Hush!" cried his little sister again. "Refreshments are good things to +eat!"</p> + +<p>"Oh," said Billie, and just then in came Mamma Wibblewobble and Aunt +Lettie and Mrs. Bushytail and Mrs. Littletail and Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, +all of whom helped serve the good things to eat.</p> + +<p>Oh, what a lot of refreshments there were, including maple sugar, +hickorynut ice cream and chocolate-covered carrots, and cornmeal made into +little balls with cocoanut marshmallow on the outside, and candied cabbage +leaves, and water-cress flavored with spearmint, and the land knows what!</p> + +<p>Well, those children at Alice's and Lulu's party ate so much it's a wonder +that they ever got home. They had a lovely time, though Alice felt +disappointed because the fairy prince didn't come, and everyone wished +Alice and Lulu many happy returns, and Bully, the frog, said:</p> + +<p>"When <i>you</i> have a party, Jimmie, I'm coming to that, too."</p> + +<p>"Sure," answered Jimmie. "I'll have one next week, if mamma will let me," +for you see he found he liked parties better than he thought he would.</p> + +<p>Well, they played some more games, including one called hide the peanut, +and then it was time to go home; and now comes the queer part of it. Just +as they were all saying good-night, and Uncle Wiggily was looking for his +crutch, there sounded out in the woods three blasts from a silver trumpet. +"Ta-ra-ta-ra-ta-ra!"</p> + +<p>You know, just like when the procession starts in a circus, and who should +come riding up to the ducks' house but a little boy, all dressed in silver +and gold, with a long white plume in his hat and he was on a white horse. +Once more the trumpet sounded, and the boy called out:</p> + +<p>"Am I too late for the party?"</p> + + +<p class="figcenter"><a href="./images/6.jpg"><img src="./images/6-tb.jpg" alt="The Prince arrives" title="The Prince arrives" /></a></p> +<p>"Yes, you are," said Uncle Wiggily, leaning on his crutch, which he found +behind the door. "But who are you?"</p> + +<p>"Me? I am the fairy prince!" cried the boy, and the trumpets blew again.</p> + +<p>"What? Not the mud turtle fairy prince?" asked Alice, fanning herself, so +she wouldn't faint.</p> + +<p>"The very same," answered the boy. "I got tired of being a mud turtle, but +I am still a fairy prince!"</p> + +<p>"I don't believe it!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "You are only a little boy +on a horse, and not a fairy prince at all!"</p> + +<p>"Wait, and you shall see!" cried the boy, waving his hand, and the silver +trumpet blew again, "Ta-ra-ta-ra-ta-ra!" and the horse reared up on his +hind legs. "I certainly am the fairy prince, and to prove it I will do +something wonderful. Come to the woods to-morrow, Uncle Wiggily Longears, +and see!"</p> + +<p>"What will I see?" asked Uncle Wiggily.</p> + +<p>"You will see a red fairy," answered the boy who used to be mud turtle, +"and the red fairy will do something wonderful for you."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" cried Uncle Wiggily, "I don't believe in fairies!"</p> + +<p>But, all the same, he had to, after what happened, for he went back to the +woods, and met a red fairy, and the red fairy stopped Uncle Wiggily's +rheumatism for a time, as you can find out by reading the first book of +this series, entitled "Sammie and Susie Littletail," which tells a lot +about two little rabbit children and their friends, as well as about Uncle +Wiggily Longears.</p> + +<p>Now I've reached the end of this story, but there's another one for +to-morrow night, in case you don't hit anybody with your bean shooter, and +it's going to be about Lulu and the Golden fairy.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XXV" id="STORY_XXV" ></a>STORY XXV</h2> + +<h3>LULU AND THE GOLDEN FAIRY</h3> + + +<p>Once upon a time it was raining very hard one morning. It was just when +Lulu and Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble were looking out of the window of +the duck pen, getting ready for school.</p> + +<p>"Jimmie, is your hair combed?" asked his mamma.</p> + +<p>"No, ma'am," he answered; "but I'm just going to comb it."</p> + +<p>"And did you brush your teeth?"</p> + +<p>"No, mamma, but I'm just going—"</p> + +<p>"Now, now, Jimmie, that's what you always say. Hurry to the bathroom and +clean your teeth at once, or else there'll be a dentist coming to the +school looking into your mouth and goodness knows what will happen then. +Hurry, now, or you'll be late."</p> + +<p>Jimmie cleaned his teeth quickly, and ran on to school so he wouldn't be +late and get a bad mark. What's that? You didn't know ducks had teeth? +Well, the next time you get a chance, when a duck opens his mouth real +wide, you look in, and maybe you'll see them. They're very small, I know, +but that doesn't count.</p> + +<p>Well, Lulu and Alice ran on ahead, and Jimmie came following after. He +wasn't late at school because he met Bully the frog, who hopped, and so +Jimmie had to run to keep up. The little boy duck was the first one in the +classroom, and the teacher said:</p> + +<p>"Why, Jimmie, this is a delightful surprise. You are not late this +morning, though you were every other day this week."</p> + +<p>"Yes, ma'am," was all Jimmie said, as he took his seat.</p> + +<p>Well, you should have seen it rain! Honestly, I don't know when it ever +rained so hard before; maybe not since the animals came out of the ark, or +the last time I wanted to go to a picnic. Some of the kindergarten +children got quite wet, because, you see, they were so little that they +couldn't hold their umbrellas up straight. And even some of the high +school girls got wet, too; but they didn't mind.</p> + +<p>Jimmie and his sisters didn't need an umbrella, for, you know, water +always runs off a duck's back, and doesn't do a bit of harm. It rained +when the duck children got home from school, and it was still raining when +Mrs. Wibblewobble said:</p> + +<p>"My dears, I don't like to ask you to go out in the storm again, but I do +wish you would run over to Grandfather Goosey-Gander's house. He is ill, +and I want to send him some hot watercress tea."</p> + +<p>Now Alice didn't want to go because her foot, that she once had cut on a +stone, pained her. And Jimmie, well, no sooner had he gotten in the house, +and taken some bread and butter, with jam on it, than he had run out in +the rain again, to play with Bully, the frog. That left only Lulu to go to +Grandfather Goosey-Gander's house, but she said she didn't mind in the +least, and afterward she was very glad she went, for she saw a most +wonderful sight. Just you wait, and I'll tell you about it.</p> + +<p>So Mrs. Wibblewobble put the hot tea in a tin pan, and covered it over +with a burdock leaf, to keep the rain out, and then she put some cold +potatoes in a dish, for she thought the old gentleman duck might like them +as well. Then Lulu started off through the woods to go to her +grandfather's house. It was still raining, but she didn't mind, and pretty +soon, oh, maybe in about ten quacks, she came to where Mr. Gander lived.</p> + +<p>Well, you would have felt sorry for him if you could have seen him. There +he was, sitting on a stool, with his feet in a pail of hot water, and +seven bottles of medicine on a table at his right wing, and six bottles of +pills on a table at his left wing, and there was a blanket up around his +neck, and he had a nightcap on, and he was groaning something terrible; +yes, really he was.</p> + +<p>"Oh, grandfather!" cried Lulu. "Are you very sick?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," he replied, "I am very sick. I think I have the pip, or maybe the +epizoodic."</p> + +<p>"Which is worse?" asked Lulu, as she set the hot tea and the cold potatoes +on the table.</p> + +<p>"They are both worse," answered the old gentleman duck. "That is, they +seem so, when you have them both at once. But I think I would feel better +if I had a hot cornmeal poultice on the back of my neck. Only I can't make +it and put it there, for I can't take my feet out of the hot water, and I +don't know where the cornmeal is, and I'm home all alone, for my wife has +gone shopping."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'll make it for you," said Lulu very kindly. "I know where the +cornmeal is." So she went to get some, and, on the way to the meal box she +began to think:</p> + +<p>"Wouldn't it be lovely if a blue fairy, or a green one or a purple one, or +even a skilligimink colored one would appear now? I would ask her to make +grandfather better. But I don't s'pose one will come, for I never have any +luck seeing fairies," and she sighed three times as she opened the +cornmeal box.</p> + +<p>Then, all of a sudden, as she lifted the cover, as true as I'm telling +you, if she didn't see something all glittering and shining down in one +corner of the box. At first she thought it was the yellow meal, but then +she saw that it was a little creature, all gold, with shimmering wings, +like those of a humming bird.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" cried Lulu, "are you a fairy?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied the little creature, "I am the golden cornmeal fairy. I +have been shut up here for ever and ever so long, and I thought I would +never get out. But, since you have let me out, I will do anything in the +world for you," and she waved her golden wings, and sang a jolly, golden +song about diamonds.</p> + +<p>"Will you?" cried Lulu. "Then please make my grandfather better, for he is +very sick and has to take thirteen kinds of medicine."</p> + +<p>"I will make him well," said the fairy, as she flew out of the box, "and +it is very kind of you to ask that, instead of something for yourself. +Now, you make a nice hot poultice of this meal, which is magical, and put +it on the back of his neck.</p> + +<p>"Then you say this fairy word: Bibbilybab-bilyboobily-bag,' and see what +happens. But don't tell your grandfather I am a fairy; in fact, say +nothing to any one about it, for we fairies are going away for a time, but +we may come back later." Then the golden fairy waved her wings and +disappeared.</p> + +<p>But Lulu did just as she had been told, even to saying that magical word, +and, my gracious! if Grandfather Goosey-Gander didn't get all well in a +second, and he thanked Lulu very much. She felt sorry about the fairy +disappearing so suddenly, but you can't always have fairies, you know. +Now, if you girls don't lose your pink hair ribbon I'll tell you to-morrow +night about Jimmie and the black cow.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XXVI" id="STORY_XXVI" ></a>STORY XXVI</h2> + +<h3>JIMMIE AND THE BLACK COW</h3> + + +<p>Lulu Wibblewobble felt quite proud of having seen the golden fairy in the +corn meal box. In fact she was the only one of her family who saw a fairy +for ever and ever so long after that, because the fairies happened to go +away from that part of the country.</p> + +<p>Of course, Lulu wondered how the tiny creature got into the meal box, and +she wondered if she might tell Alice and Jimmie about having seen her, but +she decided she had better not.</p> + +<p>Now it was about a week after Lulu had taken Grandfather Goosey-Gander the +hot tea and the cold potatoes, that something happened to Jimmie +Wibblewobble.</p> + +<p>It was one afternoon when he was on his way home from school, and he was +all alone, for he had been kept in for missing his spelling lesson, and +all the other children had gone on. You see he couldn't spell "vinegar." +Of course that's an easy word, I know, but Jimmie didn't like sour things, +and I suppose that's why he missed vinegar. He put the "x" and a "k" of +the word in the wrong places. Anyway he was kept in, and he had to write +"ketchup" on his paper fifty times.</p> + +<p>Well, after he was let out Jimmie started off through the woods and over +the fields. Pretty soon, right after he was passing along a deep, dark, +dingly dell, which is a sort of little valley, with flowers and ferns +growing in it, he heard a bell ring. "Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong!" +went the bell. At first Jimmie thought he was near a church, but just then +the bell rang differently.</p> + +<p>This time it went: "Tinkle-tankle! Tinkle-tankle! Tinkle-tank—" just like +that.</p> + +<p>"Why!" exclaimed Jimmie. "I wonder what that can be?"</p> + +<p>Then he went on a little farther, and he came out of the deep, dark +dingle-dell, and he heard the bell more plainly still. This time it rang +very rapidly, and right after it Jimmie heard a loud voice calling: "Moo! +Moo! Moo! Help me, will you; will you?"</p> + +<p>"Why!" cried Jimmie. "That's a cow!"</p> + +<p>Then, in another moment he came from behind a big tree, and what should he +see but a big, black cow, standing in a swamp. The cow was shaking her +head and shaking her horns at the same time, and ringing the bell, which +was fastened around her neck by a strap, and she was mooing as hard as she +could moo.</p> + +<p>"Why, what's the matter?" asked Jimmie, wobbling up quite close to her. +"What ever is the matter?"</p> + +<p>"Lots and lots is the matter," answered the cow. "But aren't you afraid of +me, little boy duck; afraid of me and my sharp horns?"</p> + +<p>"Why no," answered Jimmie, after he had thought it over for a minute or +two. "I don't believe I am afraid of you. Why should I be afraid?"</p> + +<p>"No reason at all; none in the world," replied the cow. "But since I'm in +trouble so many creatures seem to be afraid of me. I saw a frog hopping +past, and I asked him to help me, but I guess he was afraid I'd step on +him, so he wouldn't come near, but hopped off as far as he could."</p> + +<p>"That must have been Bully," said Jimmie. "He's afraid of lots of things. +But maybe he was in a hurry," he added, for he did not want to say that +Bully was afraid if the frog wasn't frightened, you know.</p> + +<p>"Well," agreed the cow, "maybe he was. Then a rabbit boy hopped past, and +I asked him to help me, but he was afraid, too."</p> + +<p>"That must have been Sammie Littletail," said Jimmie. "But I don't believe +he was afraid. Sammie is very brave. Maybe he was in a hurry."</p> + +<p>"Well," admitted the cow, "maybe he was. But then two little squirrel boys +came along, and I asked them to help me, but they ran away, frisking their +tails. I guess they were afraid."</p> + +<p>"No," answered Jimmie, "they weren't afraid. They were Billie and Johnnie +Bushytail, and the reason they ran was to get some one to help you, for +they are very kind. Maybe Bully and Sammie will bring some one to help +you, also. But what seems to be the matter?"</p> + +<p>"My foot is caught under a stone," said the cow, and she blinked her big +brown eyes as fast as she could. In fact, they opened and shut so rapidly +that big tears came from them, and splashed down her nose.</p> + +<p>"Oh! I am so sorry!" cried Jimmie. "Your foot caught under a stone!"</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute! Hold on!" exclaimed the cow. "That is not the worst of it! +You have not heard all! My foot is under a stone, and the stone is under +water, so I can't see to get my foot out. That's why I feel so badly about +it. You can see for yourself, Johnnie—"</p> + +<p>"My name is Jimmie," said the little boy duck quickly.</p> + +<p>"Well, Jimmie, then," went on the cow. "You can see for yourself how it +is, or, rather, you can't see, for the water is in the way," and then +Jimmie noticed that one of the cow's hoofs was down in a puddle of water, +and no matter how hard she pulled she couldn't get loose from that stone; +no, sir, any more than you can tie a string to one of your teeth and get +the tooth loose—that is, not counting a tooth that needs pulling, of +course.</p> + +<p>"Well," remarked Jimmie, after he had looked very carefully at the puddle +where the cow's foot was, "it's too bad."</p> + +<p>"It certainly is," agreed the cow. "You see if the stone wasn't under +water I could see to loosen it with my horn, but as it is I can't, and +I've tried several times," and she tried once more, just to show she was +telling the truth.</p> + +<p>"I've been here some time," the cow went on, "and no one seems able to +help me," and she mooed some more, and the bell tinkled some more, and +more of her tears fell splish-splash in the puddle of water, making it +bigger than ever.</p> + +<p>"I will help you!" cried Jimmie, suddenly. "I am a duck, and I know all +about water!"</p> + +<p>So he jumped right in that puddle, and he commenced to splash with his +wings and his yellow feet, and my goodness gracious sakes alive! if in +about two quacks he didn't have all the water splashed out of that hole +where the poor cow's foot was fast.</p> + +<p>Then the cow could see to loosen the stone with her horn, and she could +walk home. And because Jimmie was so kind she gave him a pail of milk to +take to the duck pen for Alice and Lulu. Now to-morrow night the story +will be about Alice and the puppy dogs, providing the automobile does not +turn upside down and spill me out.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XXVII" id="STORY_XXVII" ></a>STORY XXVII</h2> + +<h3>ALICE AND THE PUPPY DOGS</h3> + + +<p>Alice Wibblewobble had been over to pay a visit to Sister Sallie, the +little squirrel-sister of Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, and she had ever +so much fun; and a good time, and such a nice supper! ending up with +butternut ice cream, with maple sugar for dessert. Well, before Alice knew +it, night had come, and it was all dark.</p> + +<p>"Oh! dear!" she cried, "I didn't know it was so late."</p> + +<p>"Are you afraid to go home in the dark?" asked Mrs. Bushytail.</p> + +<p>"No, not exactly," answered Alice, "but you see it's so dark I might +tumble into a hole, or cut my foot again on a sharp stone. I'm not exactly +afraid of the dark, but—"</p> + +<p>"Oh! I understand," said Mamma Bushytail. "But I hardly know what to do," +she went on. "My husband is away this evening, or he would take you home, +and Billie and Johnnie are over at Grandpa Lightfoot's, and I'm so busy +getting through my spring housecleaning, and sewing a new dress for +Sister Sallie, that I don't believe I could spare the time to go."</p> + +<p>"Oh! I wouldn't think of asking you," spoke Alice quickly, but she looked +out into the dark, and she didn't feel very happy, even if she had just +eaten a large plate of butternut ice cream.</p> + +<p>"Couldn't you stay all night, my dear?" asked Sister Sallie's mother.</p> + +<p>"No, I'm afraid my mamma would worry," replied Alice.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps Jimmie will come for you pretty soon," suggested Sister Sallie, +and then she hummed that little verse about going hippity-hop to the +barber shop to buy a lolly-pop lally. You remember it, I dare say.</p> + +<p>"Maybe he will," agreed Alice, so she and Sister Sallie played another +game, but it got darker and darker, and no Jimmie came, and then Alice +knew she must start for home, or her papa and mamma would be worried. But +she didn't like to go out in the black night, and she was almost ready to +cry, and didn't know what to do, when, all of a sudden, Sister Sallie +called out:</p> + +<p>"Oh, mamma, I know the very thing! I'll run next door, to where Mrs. Bow +Wow lives, and ask her to send Jackie and Peetie home with Alice."</p> + +<p>"Who are Peetie and Jackie?" asked the little girl duck.</p> + +<p>"They are puppy dogs," replied Sister Sallie, "and the cutest ones you +ever saw! Oh, they are darlings! They'll go home with you through the +woods, because they are very brave. Some day they will grow to be big +dogs, and guard the house. I'll ask Mrs. Bow Wow, their mamma, to let them +take you home."</p> + +<p>"That will be a good plan," agreed Mrs. Bushytail. "Run in and ask Mrs. +Bow Wow, Sister Sallie."</p> + +<p>So Sister Sallie ran in next door, and pretty soon she came back with two +of the cutest puppy dogs Alice had ever seen.</p> + +<p>"Which one is Peetie and which one is Jackie?" Alice asked, as they +tumbled about on the floor, getting up and falling down again.</p> + +<p>"I am Peetie," answered one. "You can tell that because I am all white +with a black spot on my nose."</p> + +<p>"And I am Jackie," said his brother. "I am all black, with a white spot on +my nose. So you see it is easy to tell us apart."</p> + +<p>"Yes," agreed Alice with a laugh, "I see; that is, I would see if you kept +still long enough, only you don't, for you wiggle and tumble about so +much. But will you please take me home?"</p> + +<p>"Of course we will," answered Jackie, rubbing the black spot on his +brother's nose with his paw. Just then, if those two puppy dogs didn't see +one of Papa Bushytail's boots, and, land sakes alive! if one didn't grab +one end and one the other end, and they began to pull and growl. Puppy +dogs always do such things, you know.</p> + +<p>"Oh! Oh! You mustn't do that," cried Mamma Bushytail. "You must take Alice +home."</p> + +<p>"We will," answered Peetie, rubbing the black spot on his own nose with +his little white paw. "We were only doing this for practice. Come on, +Alice! Bow-wow! Bow-wow!"</p> + +<p>So pretty soon, after a while, oh, not so very long, Alice started for the +duck pen, with Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow tumbling over each other in their +eagerness to see which would walk at her right wing, and which at her +left. Well, weren't those puppy dogs brave, though, to go out in the dark +night? They never thought anything about it, really; any more than you +mind going to bed in the dark.</p> + +<p>Then, all of a sudden, as they were walking through a very dismal place in +the woods, Jackie began to growl.</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't do that!" cried Alice, "you frighten me! Did you see a burglar +or a wolf?"</p> + +<p>"Why, I only growled because I smelled a bone," said Jackie, and he +laughed, and fell over and over, turning a complete somersault.</p> + +<p>"I smelled the bone first!" cried Peetie, "and I'm going to have it!" Then +the two of them made a rush for the nice, juicy bone, and they each got +hold of it and began to pull, one on one end and one on the other, and +they fell down and slipped and stumbled all over in the darkness, getting +mixed up in the leaves, growling and snarling; but, of course, it was all +in fun, you know, for the puppy dogs loved each other.</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't do that, Peetie!" begged Alice, touching one of the puppy dogs +with her foot. "Don't tumble about so, Peetie!"</p> + +<p>"I'm not Peetie; I'm Jackie!" was the answer. "Can't you tell by the white +spot on my nose? Peetie has a black spot."</p> + +<p>"I can't see very well in the dark," replied Alice.</p> + +<p>Then something very funny happened, for when Jackie opened his mouth to +speak to Alice he had to let go of the bone, and of course Peetie ran off +with it and hid it. But that was a good thing, for they couldn't pull on +it any more, and when Peetie came back they both rubbed noses, and went on +through the dark woods, taking Alice home.</p> + +<p>They had only one accident. That is, they fell down a hole, but they +weren't hurt at all, I'm glad to say. Then, when Alice was safe in the +duckpen, the puppy dogs ran back home and went right to sleep.</p> + +<p>Now, if you don't spill the salt in the sugar bowl, I'm going to tell you +to-morrow night about Jimmie and Jackie.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XXVIII" id="STORY_XXVIII" ></a>STORY XXVIII</h2> + +<h3>JIMMIE AND JACKIE BOW WOW</h3> + + +<p>When Alice reached the duckpen that night, after she had gone visiting +Sister Sallie, and was brought home by the puppy dogs, she told her folks +all about it.</p> + +<p>"Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, eh?" remarked Jimmie, her brother, when she +had told their names. "I never heard of them. They must be new around +here."</p> + +<p>"They are," answered Alice. "But they are just as cute as they can be; +really they are."</p> + +<p>"Cute, eh?" asked Jimmie. "Can they play ball?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," replied his sister. "But you ought to see them pull on +that old boot and the bone! Oh, it was too funny!"</p> + +<p>"And they took good care of you, didn't they," asked Lulu.</p> + +<p>"Indeed, they did," answered Alice. "They weren't afraid of anything, even +when an owl hooted."</p> + +<p>So the next day, which was Saturday, when there wasn't any school, Jimmie +started off with his wooden bat over his shoulder, his catching glove +under one wing and his ball under the other.</p> + +<p>"Where are you going?" asked his mother.</p> + +<p>"I'm going over to Mrs. Bow Wow's house to see if I can find the puppy +dogs," he said. "I want to get acquainted with them."</p> + +<p>"All right, Jimmie, but be sure to wipe your feet if you go in Mrs. Bow +Wow's house, and don't forget to take off your cap and say 'yes, ma'am,' +and 'no, ma'am,' Jimmie."</p> + +<p>"S'posin' she doesn't ask me anything?" inquired Jimmie. "What'll I say?"</p> + +<p>"Well, then, of course, you needn't say anything; but be polite," warned +the little boy duck's mother, for sometimes he forgot, though he didn't +mean to.</p> + +<p>Well, he was walking along through the woods, and over the green fields +where the dandelions were just coming up, looking like buttons on a +policeman's coat, if the policeman's coat was green instead of blue, and I +think green would be a nice color. But no matter about that.</p> + +<p>Jimmie was walking along, when, all of a sudden, he heard a little growl. +At first he thought it was the bad fox after him again, but in a moment he +saw a little black ball of fur rolling along, and then he saw a little +white spot, and he thought that might be Sammie Littletail, only he knew +the rabbit boy never growled. Then, all at once, if that ball of fur +didn't unroll, and there stood a puppy dog!</p> + +<p>"Hello!" called Jimmie Wibblewobble, real friendly-like.</p> + +<p>"Hello!" answered the puppy dog.</p> + +<p>"Are you Peetie or Jackie Bow Wow?" asked the little boy duck, for he knew +the puppy dog must be one or the other.</p> + +<p>"I'm Jackie," was the answer. "Can't you tell? I'm all black with a white +spot on my nose, and my brother, Peetie, is all white with a black spot on +his nose. See? I'm black with a black spot—no, I mean I'm black with a +white spot, and Jackie he's black—no, hold on—he's white—no, I'm +Jackie, and he's Peetie—he's white with a white—no, a black spot—"</p> + +<p>"Oh, for mercy sakes, stop!" cried Jimmie. "I'm all tangled up with white +spots and black spots!"</p> + +<p>"So am I," admitted Jackie. "It's hard to tell who I am, sometimes."</p> + +<p>"Is it, really?" asked Jimmie.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is. In fact I'm mixed up now. Would you kindly look and tell me +if I have a white or a black spot on my nose. I could look myself, only +it makes me cross-eyed, and I don't like that."</p> + +<p>So Jimmie looked, very carefully, and he saw a white spot on the puppy +dog's nose, and told him so.</p> + +<p>"It's all right. I'm Jackie then," answered the little fellow. "I thought +I was, but it's best to make sure."</p> + +<p>"Can you play ball?" asked Jimmie. "My sister told me about you. It was +very kind of you to bring her home. You haven't lived here very long, have +you?"</p> + +<p>"Not very. But I'm glad I could help your sister. She is a nice girl."</p> + +<p>"Where's your brother, Peetie?" asked Jimmie.</p> + +<p>"Oh, he's gone to the store for mamma."</p> + +<p>"Then let's you and I have a catch until he comes back. You can play ball, +can't you?"</p> + +<p>"Of course."</p> + +<p>So Jimmie tossed the ball to Jackie, and the puppy dog stood up on his +hind legs and caught it in his front paws, and then he fell right over, +ker-thump, and rolled along the ground.</p> + +<p>"Here!" cried the boy duck. "That's no way to play ball! You must stand up +and catch."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know that," declared Jackie. "You see I was only practising at +biting the ball with my teeth. I always bite things to sharpen my teeth +so I can gnaw big bones when I get to be a big dog."</p> + +<p>"Well, you needn't sharpen your teeth on my new ball!" cried Jimmie, and +he felt a little angry; not much, you know, but a little and he took the +ball and was going home, for he didn't like Jackie, he thought.</p> + +<p>It was too bad the little creatures had had a falling-out so soon, but +please wait just a moment and see what happens. No sooner had Jimmie +started to go home—Jackie didn't know why, you see, for he didn't know it +was wrong to bite the ball—no sooner, I say, did Jimmie start home, than +out from the bushes jumped a great big water rat, with ugly, cruel, sharp +teeth and wicked eyes.</p> + +<p>Oh, how frightened Jimmie was, for he knew big water rats ate ducks. But +what do you suppose Jackie, that puppy dog, did? Why he just growled away +down in his throat, and he stuck up one ear as far as it would go, and he +let the other ear fall down as far as it would fall, and he opened his +mouth, and he showed his teeth, that he had sharpened on Jimmie's ball, +and he jumped right at that bad rat! Yes, sir, right at him, growling all +the while!</p> + +<p>At first the rat was going to fight, but when it saw how brave Jackie +was, it turned and ran away. And then that puppy dog just put his little +tail between his legs, and howled, and ran away, too; Jimmie waddling +after him. You see Jackie was frightened after it was all over, but he had +frightened the rat worse yet.</p> + +<p>"How brave you were!" cried Jimmie, when they were at Mrs. Bow Wow's +house. "You were very brave, indeed."</p> + +<p>"Do you really think so?" asked Jackie. "Then I must be."</p> + +<p>"You can bite my ball all you want to," went on Jimmie, and then Peetie +came home from the store, and they all had a fine time playing catch. Now +to-morrow night I'm going to tell you about Grandfather Goosey-Gander's +tall hat, if I don't lose a penny off the front stoop.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XXIX" id="STORY_XXIX" ></a>STORY XXIX</h2> + +<h3>GRANDFATHER GOOSEY-GANDER'S TALL HAT</h3> + + +<p>Jimmie Wibblewobble was in the back lots, playing ball with Billie and +Johnnie Bushytail, Sammie Littletail, and Bully, the frog, besides some +other friends of his. They were having a fine time, knocking the ball this +way and that, just as if the ball didn't care what happened to it. When it +came Jimmie's turn to bat, he called out:</p> + +<p>"Watch me knock it away over the tree," and land sakes, goodness me and a +pop-corn cake! if that ball didn't fly away over the tree, just like a +little bird. Well,—Jimmie was pretty proud, I can tell you, and he was +such a good hitter that Bully said:</p> + +<p>"Let Jimmie knock some more balls for us to catch."</p> + +<p>So he did, after Billie Bushytail had run to get the one that went over +the tree, and brought it back.</p> + +<p>Well, so the game went on, and pretty soon, oh, I guess it must have been +about as long as it takes to eat two pieces of bread and butter, but not +with jam on, mind you; I guess in about that time, it was Billie +Bushytail's turn to bat. And just as he stepped up to hit the ball, if all +the boy animals didn't see something black moving along by the hedge +fence. It was black and round and shiny, this moving object was, and as +soon as Sammie Littletail saw it he cried out:</p> + +<p>"Oh, there's a bad fox. Let's see who can hit him."</p> + +<p>So they all caught up stones to throw at the bad fox, to drive him away.</p> + +<p>Jimmie had the largest stone, and he could throw the straightest, so it is +no wonder he hit the tall, round, shining black thing by the hedge. But +this is the funny part of it, that black thing wasn't a fox at all. No, +siree!</p> + +<p>It was Grandfather Goosey-Gander's new tall hat, and that wasn't at all +funny, I do assure you. And the worst part of it was that Grandfather +Goosey-Gander was under that hat! For, you know, a tall hat couldn't walk +along by a hedge, all alone its own self, now, could it? Of course, I know +it could if this were a fairy story, but it isn't.</p> + + +<p>Well, something dreadful happened. The stone which Jimmie threw hit +grandfather's tall hat, went inside, just grazing the top of the old +gentleman duck's head, and then, what do you think? Well, I don't +believe you could guess if you tried a week, so I'll tell you.</p> + +<p class="figcenter"><a href="./images/7.jpg"><img src="./images/7-tb.jpg" alt="The stone hit Grandfather's big hat" title="The stone hit Grandfather's big hat" /></a></p> + +<p>That stone came out on the other side. It went right through the hat, +making a hole where it went in, and another hole where it came out. Two +holes; you could easily have counted them if you had been there.</p> + +<p>Of course, as soon as Jimmie heard the noise, made by the stone which he +threw, hitting the hat, he could tell by the plinkity-plunkity sound that +there was going to be trouble. And there was.</p> + +<p>Grandfather Goosey-Gander jumped up in the air. He uttered a loud quack, +and then he took off his tall hat. He looked at the two ragged holes in +it, and then he looked over at the boys in the field. He knew right away +they had done it, but he didn't know which one. Jimmie, however, was a +good boy, and he wasn't going to have any one else blamed for what <i>he</i> +had done. So he ran to where his grandfather stood, sorrowfully looking at +his hat, and Jimmie said:</p> + +<p>"I did it, grandpa. I cannot tell a story. I did it with my little stone."</p> + +<p>"Ha! Hum! Did you; eh?" cried Grandfather Goosey-Gander. "Well, that's a +pretty bad thing to do, Jimmie. This is my best hat. I put it on to go +down to the bank, to put money in. I mean to put money in the bank, not in +the hat, of course. I always wear it when I go to the bank, so folks will +know I am rich. Now I can't wear it any more. It's too bad!" And the old +gentleman duck looked very sorrowful.</p> + +<p>"Yes," agreed Jimmie, "it is too bad," for he couldn't think of anything +else to say.</p> + +<p>"You will have to pay for a new hat for me," went on his grandfather.</p> + +<p>"I haven't any money," said Jimmie, and tears began to run down his broad, +yellow bill, for the little boy duck felt pretty bad, I can tell you.</p> + +<p>"You will have to save up all the pennies you get," decided Grandfather +Goosey-Gander. "Boys should not be so careless."</p> + +<p>"We thought you were a fox," said Billie Bushytail.</p> + +<p>"And we all threw stones at you," added Sammie Littletail.</p> + +<p>"But I'm the only one who hit your hat, though," admitted Jimmie.</p> + +<p>"Do I look like a fox?" demanded the old duck. "That's what I want to +know. Do I look like a fox?" Well, of course, you know he didn't, and the +ball players had to admit it. "You will have to pay for my hat, Jimmie," +grandpa continued, looking again at two ragged holes. "Have you any money +now?"</p> + +<p>"No," said Jimmie, and he was crying real hard by this time. Then all the +other boys felt badly, too, and they were just looking in their pockets to +see if they had any money, but they hadn't. All they had was some marbles, +and tops, and broken knives, and chewing gum, all sticky, and some +strings.</p> + +<p>Then it began to look as if Grandfather Goosey-Gander would never have a +new hat, but, all at once, there was a buzzing sound in the air, and what +should come flying along but a darning needle. You know what I mean: one +of those funny, long bugs sometimes called a dragon fly, with beautiful +wings, and long legs and body.</p> + +<p>"What is the trouble?" asked the darning needle, and then the boys told +him about the broken hat. "Ah," said the darning needle, careless-like, +"do not distress yourself, Jimmie. I know you are a good boy. To fix that +hat is a mere trifle for me, and I'll do it."</p> + +<p>And what did that dragon-fly-darning-needle do but buzz back and forth, +all around the holes in Grandfather Goosey-Gander's tall hat, right +through the hat itself, until he had the holes all sewed up, and you could +hardly tell where they were.</p> + +<p>Then Mrs. Spider came along, and she spun some glossy silk web over the +places where the seams were, and presto-chango! if that hat wasn't as good +as ever!</p> + +<p>Well, you can just imagine how glad Jimmie was that he didn't have to pay +for it. And his grandpa was pleased, too, and so were the boys. Then the +darning needle flew away, Mrs. Spider crawled off, Grandfather +Goosey-Gander went to the bank, the boys played ball some more and +everything was lovely.</p> + +<p>Now, if the window curtain doesn't fly up lickety-split and come off the +roller, I'll tell you to-morrow night about Jimmie flying a kite.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XXX" id="STORY_XXX" ></a>STORY XXX</h2> + +<h3>JIMMIE WIBBLEWOBBLE'S KITE</h3> + + +<p>Jimmie Wibblewobble was out flying his kite. He had made it all himself, +out of sticks, and paste, and paper and strings, and it was a very fine +kite indeed. It was nearly as large as the little boy duck, and it was the +kind of a kite that doesn't need a tail. That was good, because a tail +gets all tangled up in the weeds.</p> + +<p>Well, Jimmie was flying his kite, and the wind was pretty strong, and the +kite was pulling real hard, just like a little dog pulls, when you tie a +rope to his collar, and he wants to get away. Pretty soon along came +Bully, the frog.</p> + +<p>"Does your kite pull much?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Does it?" replied Jimmie. "Well, I should say it did!"</p> + +<p>"Let me hold it a minute, will you?" asked Bully, and Jimmie very kindly +let him. Then along came Billie and Johnnie Bushytail, and Sammie +Littletail, and they all took turns holding the kite.</p> + +<p>Well now, in a few minutes, something dreadful is going to happen to +Jimmie. I tell you in advance so you won't be frightened, and, really, +there is no need to be, for I'll see to it that, after the thing happens, +Jimmie will be all right again. Now if you watch, and listen closely, you +can tell the moment the thing happens. It's almost time.</p> + +<p>The wind kept growing stronger and stronger, and it blew the dust up in a +cloud, and it blew bits of paper and sticks along with the dust, and +raised a dreadful commotion.</p> + +<p>Then long came Alice and Lulu Wibblewobble. They had been to the store for +their mamma, and had just come back. They felt the strong wind blowing on +their feathers, and Alice said to her brother:</p> + +<p>"You had better take down your kite, Jimmie. The wind may blow it away, +and you with it."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I guess I can hold it," answered the little boy duck, as he let out +some more cord. The kite was now almost out of sight, and it was pulling +harder than ever.</p> + +<p>Then, all at once, if Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, the two puppy dogs, +didn't come along. Jackie had his white spot on his nose, and Peetie had +his black spot on his nose, so that you could tell them apart. And those +two doggies felt so full of fun that they ran right up and made believe +bite Jimmie's yellow heels.</p> + +<p>Now you know it feels queer to have two puppy dogs biting your heels, even +if it is only in fun, and as soon as Jimmie felt Jackie and Peetie nipping +him, he turned around quickly and cried out:</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't do that!"</p> + +<p>But the minute he looked around, if the kite string didn't get tangled in +his legs, and then if the wind didn't blow a regular strong blast, the +kind that howls down the chimney on a cold night; and oh, dear me, +suz-dud! if Jimmie wasn't carried right up in the air by his kite! There, +I told you something would happen, and it did! Maybe you'll believe me +next time.</p> + +<p>Well, up and up and up went Jimmie, pulled by the kite, until he was quite +high in the air, hanging dingling, dangling down—O! by his yellow heels. +Oh, it was a perfectly dreadful position to be in! really it was, and I'm +not fooling a bit, honestly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, oh! Save him!" cried Lulu.</p> + +<p>"Yes, somebody get him down; please do!" added Alice, flapping her wings.</p> + +<p>Billie Bushytail tried to jump up in the air, and grab hold of poor +Jimmie, but he couldn't reach him, and then Sammie Littletail, he tried, +but he couldn't reach him, and all the while poor Jimmie was being +carried higher and higher by the kite.</p> + +<p>"Save me! Oh, save me!" he cried, but there didn't seem to be any way of +getting him down, and it began to look as if he would go right up to the +sky.</p> + +<p>On the ground Lulu and Alice were running here and there, flapping their +wings and quacking, and Billie and Johnnie Bushytail were chattering, and +as for Sammie Littletail, he made a noise just like a rabbit. Oh, there +was great excitement, I can tell you!</p> + +<p>Mr. Cock A. Doodle, the rooster, he came running out, and he crowed as +loud as ever he could crow, as if that could do any good. Then he flapped +his wings as hard as he could, and that didn't do any good, either. Jimmie +kept going farther and farther away.</p> + +<p>"Oh, will no one save him?" asked Lulu, crying big tears.</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute, I'll try it!" said Bully, the frog. "I am a good jumper, +and I'll jump up. Maybe I can pull the kite down." So he jumped up as high +as ever he could, but it wasn't nearly high enough, and Bully came back on +the ground, ker-thump, ker-bump! and Jimmie Wibblewobble kept on going +up. Poor Bully hurt his ankle, too, and he was lame for some days.</p> + +<p>"Run and tell Grandfather Goosey-Gander," cried Lulu. "Maybe he can think +up a way of getting Jimmie down."</p> + +<p>So they all ran and told the old gentleman duck, for Mr. and Mrs. +Wibblewobble were away that afternoon. Grandfather Goosey-Gander hurried +out, and he squinted up at Jimmie, who looked only about as big as a baby +chicken now, he was so far away, and then the Grandfather flapped his +wings.</p> + +<p>"Nothing can save him!" said Grandfather Goosey-Gander, very solemnly, +"Jimmie has gone to the sky!"</p> + +<p>Then, oh, how badly Lulu and Alice felt for their little brother! and all +the others felt badly, too, for they liked Jimmie. But don't get excited +now. All will be well in a very few minutes. Do not fear.</p> + +<p>Bully, the frog, made one more jump, hoping to reach the kite, and pull it +down, but he might as well have tried to jump over the moon, which only a +hey-diddle-diddle-cat-and-the-fiddle-cow can do. Well, it looked as if +Jimmie was gone for ever, when, all at once, there was a rushing of wings, +and who should appear, but a kind fish hawk, that once gave Johnnie and +Billie Bushytail a ride on his back.</p> + +<p>"I will save Jimmie!" cried the fish hawk.</p> + +<p>So he flew up in the air, right to the kite, and, with his strong beak, he +tore a hole in the paper to let the air through. Then the kite came gently +down, just like a red balloon, or maybe a blue one, that you get at the +circus, and some one sticks a pin in it. Yes, the kite came gently down, +and Jimmie came with it, and that's how he was saved!</p> + +<p>And, maybe he wasn't glad! Well, I just guess, and some cornstarch pudding +besides! Of course Peetie and Jackie were very sorry for biting Jimmie's +heels and never did it again. Now, if I don't get stung by a bee, I'll +tell you to-morrow night about Alice in a bag.</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XXXI" id="STORY_XXXI" ></a>STORY XXXI</h2> + +<h3>ALICE WIBBLEWOBBLE IN A BAG</h3> + + +<p>You remember I told you last night about Jimmie Wibblewobble being carried +up by a kite. Well, when his papa and mamma came home that evening, they +heard all about it, and how much excitement there was, and they told +Jimmie he must be more particular after this. He promised that he would be +very careful.</p> + +<p>"I'll fly smaller kites," he said, and he went out the next time with one +about the size of a postage stamp, and that couldn't take any one up in +the air, you know, except, maybe, a mosquito, and they don't count.</p> + +<p>Well, it was about two days after this that something happened to Alice. +You see she had been sent to the store for a yeast cake and some prunes, +for her mamma was going to make prune bread—that is, bread with prunes in +it, and it's very nice, I assure you, for I've eaten it.</p> + +<p>As Alice was coming home, through a lonely part of the woods, where the +trees were so thick that it was almost dark, she began to feel a little +bit frightened. So, to stop herself from feeling scared she began to sing. +If she had been a boy, she would have shouted, or if she had been Lulu +she would have whistled, for Lulu could whistle as good as could Jimmie.</p> + +<p>But instead Alice sang, and this is the song she made up so she wouldn't +be frightened. You are allowed to sing it if you are not more than +seven-and-three-quarters years old. If you are any older than that you +will have to have a special excuse; or some one else will have to sing it +for you. Well, this is the song:</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="poem"> +<tr><td align='left'>"I'm not afraid to wander</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: .5em;">In woodlands dark and drear,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: .5em;">For who is there to harm me</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: .5em;">When not a soul is near?</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: .5em;">The birds, the trees and flowers</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: .5em;">Are kind as kind can be,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: .5em;">I'm sure that not a single one</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: .5em;">Would do a thing to me.</span><br /><br /></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>"The bugs and pretty butterflies</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: .5em;">Will form a fairy band</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: .5em;">And guard me safely while I walk</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: .5em;">Throughout this dark woodland.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: .5em;">But just the same, I'll hurry,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: .5em;">And not stay here too long;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: .5em;">Because, you see, I only know</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: .5em;">Two verses of this song."</span></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + + +<p>Well, as soon as Alice finished singing, land sakes! goodness, gracious +me! if a big fox didn't pop out from behind a tree, and before Alice could +say "How do you do?" or even "Good afternoon," or anything like that, if +he didn't grab her by the legs and put her into a bag he carried over his +shoulder, and then he tied the bag tight and started to run away.</p> + +<p>"Oh! Oh!" cried Alice. "Let me out! Please let me out of this bag, Mr. +Fox, and I'll give you all the money I've got saved up in my bank! Honest, +I will; every cent in my bank!"</p> + +<p>"No," answered the fox savagely. "I don't want your money. What good would +money be to me? I can't eat money! Ha! ha! ha!" and he laughed that way +three times, just like a mooley cow.</p> + +<p>"Are you going to eat me?" asked Alice, from inside the bag, where she was +trembling so that she squashed the yeast cake all out, as flat as a +pancake on a cold winter morning, when you have brown sausage gravy and +maple syrup to pour on it.</p> + +<p>"Eat you? Of course, I'm going to eat you!" cried the fox. "That is why I +caught you. But I can't decide whether to have you boiled or roasted. It's +quite trying not to know. I must make up my mind soon, however."</p> + +<p>Then he ran on some more, over the hills, bumpity-bump, with poor Alice +jouncing around in that bag, and the little duck girl wished the fox would +be a long time making up his mind which way to cook her, for she thought +that maybe Jimmie might come and save her in the meanwhile.</p> + +<p>"It didn't do much good to sing that song," thought Alice, and I suppose +it didn't, but you know you can't always have what you want in this world. +Oh, my, no, and a bottle of cough medicine besides.</p> + +<p>Well, the old fox hurried on, with Alice in the bag and he ran fast to get +to his den, and pretty soon the little duck girl felt him coming to a +stop. Then she heard some one saying:</p> + +<p>"Ah, good day, Mr. Fox; what have you in that bag?"</p> + +<p>"I have apples in this bag," said the fox. Oh, but wasn't he the bold, bad +story-telling fox, though?</p> + +<p>"Apples, eh?" asked the voice again, and then Alice knew right away who it +was. Can you guess? No? Well, I'll tell you. It was Nurse Jane +Fuzzy-Wuzzy, the kind old muskrat lady. It was she who had asked the +question.</p> + +<p>"Oh, so you have apples in there?" Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy repeated to the fox. +"Well, now, do you know," she went on, "I am very fond of apples. I wish +you would give me one."</p> + +<p>"No," answered the bad fox, "I can't. These are very special apples, very +sour, in fact, and I'm sure you wouldn't like them."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I just love sour apples," said the muskrat, moving nearer to the fox, +and showing her sharp teeth, like the carpenter's chisel when he shaves +the door down to make it smaller. "I just love sour apples," said the +nurse.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I made a mistake, these are sweet apples," said the fox, quickly, +waggling his big tail like a dusting brush.</p> + +<p>"I made a mistake, too," went on Miss Fuzzy-Wuzzy. "I guess I love sweet +apples instead of sour ones."</p> + +<p>"You will have to excuse me," again spoke the fox quickly. "I made two +mistakes. These apples are half sweet and half sour, and not good at all."</p> + +<p>"If there is anything I am fonder of than anything else it's a half sweet +and a half sour apple," declared the muskrat, and she showed her teeth +some more, as if she were smiling, only she wasn't. She was getting ready +to bite the bad fox, I guess.</p> + +<p>Just then Alice moved around in the bag, hoping Miss Fuzzy-Wuzzy would see +her, and what's more, the kind muskrat nurse did. "Ah!" she exclaimed, +"you have moving apples, I see. I just love moving apples."</p> + +<p>Then the fox knew it was of no use to tell any more stories, so he started +to hurry off with Alice in the bag. But Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy jumped right at +him, and she bit him on the nose, and on his front legs and on his hind +legs, until he was glad enough to drop the bag containing poor Alice, and +run away, over the hills, as fast as he could go.</p> + +<p>Then the muskrat gnawed open the bag, and Alice came out, her feathers all +ruffled up, but she was not much hurt; only the yeast cake was all +squashed out of shape, like a piece of putty. Then Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy took +Alice home safely, and nothing more happened right away.</p> + +<p class="figcenter"><a href="./images/8.jpg"><img src="./images/8-tb.jpg" alt="Alice in a bag" title="Alice in a bag" /></a></p> + +<p>Well, now, to-morrow night, let's see. Ha! Hum! Oh, how careless of me! Of +course there isn't going to be any story to-morrow night, because we're at +the end of this book. You can see for yourself, if you look carefully, +that there are no more stories in it; not a single one.</p> + +<p>But, listen, as the telephone girl says; I think, in case that you liked +the stories about the ducks, that I will write something about the +adventures of Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow; you know, those two puppy dogs +who once took Alice home after she had been on a visit to Sister Sallie, +and was afraid to go out in the dark.</p> + +<p>I have quite a number of stories about those two puppy dogs; Peetie, you +know, who was all white with a black spot on his nose, and Jackie, who was +all black with a white spot on his nose. So if you want to read about them +you may do so in the next book of the Bed Time series, which will be +called "Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow," and the book will have in it some +pictures of the doggies; and tell how they had a show, and built a swing, +and got lost, and ran away to join a circus, and did ever so many things +that it was really astonishing; honestly it was!</p> + +<p>Well, I think I'll say good night now, for I must get right to work on +that other book. So go to sleep, and be good children, and maybe you'll +dream about Peetie and Jackie—who knows?</p> + + +<h2>THE END</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4>Books for Boys by Howard R. Garis</h4> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><i>Those Smith Boys Series</i></h2> +<p class="center"> 12mo, finely illustrated. Price 75c each, +postpaid</p> + +<div class="center"> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Those Smith Boys"> +<tr><td align='left'>Those Smith Boys</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1em;">OR THE MYSTERY OF THE THUMBLESS MAN</span></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>Those Smith Boys on the Diamond</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1em;">OR NIP AND TUCK FOR VICTORY</span></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="center"><i>OTHER VOLUMES IN PREPARATION</i></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><i>The Island Boys Series</i></h2> + +<p class="center">12mo, finely illustrated. Price 75c each, postpaid</p> + +<div class="center"> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="The Island Boys 2"> +<tr><td align='left'>The Island Boys</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1em;">OR FUN AND ADVENTURES ON LAKE MODOK</span></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>The Island Boys in Camp</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1em;">OR THE SECRET OF THE FALLING WATER</span></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + + +<p class="center"><i>OTHER VOLUMES IN PREPARATION</i></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4>Books for Little Folk</h4> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2><i>The Bedtime Stories Series</i></h2> + +<p class="center">Illustrated in color, with fine cover design<br /> +A story for every night in the month. Price 75c each, postpaid</p> + +<div class="center"> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Bedtime stories"> +<tr><td align='left'>Sammie and Susie Littletail</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1em;">31 RABBIT STORIES</span><br /><br /></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>Johnnie and Billie Bushytail</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1em;">31 SQUIRREL STORIES</span><br /><br /></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>Lulu, Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1em;">31 DUCK STORIES</span><br /><br /></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1em;">31 DOG STORIES</span><br /><br /></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'>Uncle Wiggily's Adventures</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1em;">31 RABBIT STORIES</span></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LULU, ALICE AND JIMMIE WIBBLEWOBBLE***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 15280-h.txt or 15280-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/2/8/15280">https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/2/8/15280</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Garis, Illustrated by Louis Wisa + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Lulu, Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble + +Author: Howard R. Garis + +Release Date: March 7, 2005 [eBook #15280] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LULU, ALICE AND JIMMIE +WIBBLEWOBBLE*** + + +E-text prepared by David Newman, Emmy, and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team(https://www.pgdp.net). Cover image repair by +David Garcia. + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original lovely illustrations. + See 15280-h.htm or 15280-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/2/8/15280/15280-h/15280-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/2/8/15280/15280-h.zip) + + + + + +Bedtime Stories + +LULU, ALICE AND JIMMIE WIBBLEWOBBLE + +by + +HOWARD R. GARIS + +Author of _Sammie and Susie Littletail_, _Johnnie and Billie Bushytail_, +_Those Smith Boys_, _Dick Hamilton's Fortune_, etc. + +Illustrations by Louis Wisa + +1912 + + + + * * * * * + + + +R.F. Fenno & Company +18 East Seventeenth St. +New York +Children's Books + +By HOWARD R. GARIS + +THE BEDTIME STORIES SERIES + +EIGHT COLORED ILLUSTRATIONS + +Price 75 cents each, postpaid + + +SAMMIE AND SUSIE LITTLETAIL + 31 Rabbit Stories +JOHNNIE AND BILLIE BUSHYTAIL + 31 Squirrel Stories +LULU, ALICE AND JIMMIE WIBBLEWOBBLE + 31 Duck Stories +JACKIE AND PEETIE BOW-WOW + 31 Dog Stories + +Other volumes in preparation + + * * * * * + +THE UNCLE WIGGILY SERIES + +EIGHT COLORED ILLUSTRATIONS + +Price 75 cents each, postpaid + +UNCLE WIGGILY'S ADVENTURES + 31 of the Old Gentleman Rabbit Stories +UNCLE WIGGILY'S TRAVELS + 31 More Old Gentleman Rabbit Stories + +BOY'S BOOKS + +THOSE SMITH BOYS SERIES + +FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS + +Price 75 cents each, postpaid + +THE SMITH BOYS + Or, The Mystery of the Thumbless Man +THOSE SMITH BOYS ON THE DIAMOND + Or, Nip and Tuck for Victory + +THE ISLAND BOYS SERIES + +FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS + +Price 75 cents each, postpaid + +THE ISLAND BOYS + Or, Fun and Adventures on Lake Modoc + + +Other volumes in preparation + + + * * * * * + + + +R.F. Fenno & Company + +BEDTIME STORIES--Lulu, Alice and Jimmie + +The stories herein contained appeared originally in the Evening News, of +Newark, N.J., where (so many children and their parents have been 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. + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +LULU, ALICE AND JIMMIE WIBBLEWOBBLE + + + + +STORY I + +LULU WIBBLEWOBBLE STUCK IN THE MUD + + +Once upon a time, not so very many years ago, there lived three ducks in a +duck pen. And this pen was not far from where Sammie and Susie Littletail, +the rabbit children, had their burrow, and it was close to the trees where +Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, the squirrel brothers, learned to jump from +their nest. Now I am going to tell you some stories about these ducks, and +what they did. + +To begin with there was the mamma duck. She was Mrs. Wibblewobble, a nice, +white duck, being a cousin to Mrs. Quack-Quack, who once rescued Billie +and Johnnie Bushytail, and Jennie Chipmunk from the desert island where +they had been shipwrecked, you remember. + +Then there was the papa duck, and, of course, his name was Mr. +Wibblewobble. Also there were the children ducks; Jimmie Wibblewobble and +his two sisters, Lulu and Alice. + +Lulu was a duckling who could throw a stone almost as well as could +Jimmie, but Alice was not so fond of doing this. She would rather dress +up, and play keep house, while Lulu wanted to be off having a good time +with her brother. But the three ducklings got along very nicely together +just the same. + +What's that? Why were they named Wibblewobble? Well, because, you see they +did wibblewobble from side to side when they walked, and so they had to be +named Wibblewobble, or things wouldn't have come out right. So there! + +Well, the Wibblewobble family lived in a nice, wooden house, called a pen, +near a pond of water, and their house had a door and two windows to it, so +you see they were quite well off. In fact they were very stylish ducks, +and once Jimmie Wibblewobble even rode in an automobile, but I can't tell +you about that now, because you see I am going to relate to you how Lulu +was caught fast in the mud. It happened one day when Jimmie and his two +sisters were swimming about on the pond, just like three white boats. + +"Let's see who can swim the fastest!" suddenly called the little boy duck. +"We'll race over to the other side of the pond," and he put his head down +under the water to get a fine, juicy bit of weed, with some water-cress +sauce on it. + +"Oh, no," exclaimed Alice Wibblewobble, "it's not nice for girl ducks to +race," and she spread out her wings to see how they looked. + +"Yes it is," said Lulu. "Come on, Jimmie, I'll race with you." + +So off they started, splashing the water with their yellow, webbed feet, +throwing up a little spray, which sparkled in the sunshine, just like +baby's eyes when you come close to her and she laughs at you so cunningly. + +On they went, faster and faster and faster, Lulu and Jimmie, while Alice +remained behind, to gaze in the water which was just like a looking glass, +you know. Oh, my yes, but please don't try it, unless the water is very, +very shallow. You see Alice wanted to see if all her feathers were on +straight, and they were, believe me, as straight as straight can be. + +Well, of course, Jimmie won the race, being a very good swimmer, but Lulu +was close behind him, and would have beaten, only one of her legs got +caught in a weed. Now I call that too bad, don't you? For I was hoping, +all the while, that Lulu would win. But you never can tell what is going +to happen in this world; now can you? No, indeed. + +"Let's race back again," proposed Lulu, after she had rested. + +"Oh, don't race any more," spoke Alice, swimming up just then. "Let's walk +out on land and see if we can't find some nice corn meal. I'm sure it must +be almost dinner time, and I just love corn meal." + +"I know something better than that," suddenly said a quivery-quavery +voice, right beside the ducks, and when they looked around who should be +there but Mr. Goosey-Gander, the grandfather of all the ducks in the pen. +"I know something better than corn meal, little ones," he said, and he +splashed his wings in the water. + +"What is it?" asked Lulu, as quickly as you can shoot a marble into the +ring and out again. "Is it gum drops?" + +"No," answered Grandfather Goosey-Gander, "it is not gum drops. It is +better than that. It is nice, sweet roots and grasses that grow down under +water," and, with that, what do you think he did? Why, he stood right up +on his head, and reached his bill down beneath the pond, and got some of +the nicest grass that ever was. "There," said the old gentleman duck, +poking up his head, "do as I did, little ones." + +So those three Wibblewobble children did, and pretty soon, Alice and +Jimmie had as much as they could eat, and raised their heads. Then they +saw that Lulu still had her bill down under the water. + +"She must be getting lots more than we did," spoke Alice. + +"Yes, indeed," replied Jimmie. "I wonder how she can hold her breath so +long?" + +Just then, what should happen but that Lulu began to wave her feet in the +air, and she flapped her wings until the spray went up in a regular +shower, just like at Asbury Park. + +"Oh, my goodness me sakes alive, and three teaspoonsfull of corn meal with +pepper in!" cried Grandfather Goosey-Gander. "Lulu is stuck in the mud! We +must pull her out. Quick!" That's just the way he said it. + +And, would you believe me, Lulu was held fast in the mud by her dear +little bill! Oh, how terribly frightened Jimmie and Alice were. They +squawked and they quacked, and they tried to pull Lulu out, but she was +stuck too fast. + +Then all the other ducks came swimming up to see what the trouble was, and +they tried to pull her out, but they couldn't, and, all the while her feet +were wiggling as fast as they could wiggle, almost like Sammie +Littletail's nose. + +Then Grandfather Goosey-Gander called out: "What ho! Make way there! I +will save her!" And with that, what do you think he did? Why, he dived +right down under the water, yes, sir, right down in the mud, and he +pushed, and he pulled, and he hauled and he splashed, and he yanked, and +he rooted, and he twisted, and he turned, and he shoved, and then, all +alone, brave old grandfather that he was, he got Lulu up from the mud, +where she had been stuck by her little bill! + +And it was almost time, too, let me tell you, for her breath was nearly +gone. But she soon got better, and she never put her head so far down +under water again. + +Then all the ducks said: "Quack, Quack, Quack!" three times, they were so +glad, and they swam around in a circle, and the old rooster stood on the +bank and crowed, just as if he had done it all! Oh, how glad Papa and +Mamma Wibblewobble were that Lulu was saved! + +Now, if you do not get your feet wet, I shall tell you, to-morrow night, +how Jimmie rode in an automobile. + + + + +STORY II + +JIMMIE WIBBLEWOBBLE IN AN AUTO + + +One day, well, it must have been about a week after Lulu Wibblewobble got +caught in the mud, she and Jimmie were out swimming around the pond. + +"Come on," said Lulu, "let's go over and see Mrs. Greenie, the frog. She +always has some candied sweet-flag root hidden away, and perhaps she will +give us some." + +"I don't believe there's any left," spoke Jimmie, "for Bully, the boy +frog, is so fond of it that he eats all he can get." + +"Well, we'll go, anyhow," went on Lulu. Just then she heard her mother +calling: + +"Jimmie! Lulu! Where are you going?" + +"We are going over to see Mrs. Greenie," replied Jimmie. + +"Wait for Alice," called Mamma Wibblewobble. "She will go with you. She is +just putting a clean apron on." + +"Oh, dear!" cried Lulu. "Why does Alice always make us wait while she +puts on something clean?" + +"I suppose," answered Jimmie, and he scratched his bill with his left leg, +"I suppose it is because she wants to look nice." + +"Yes," agreed Lulu, with a sort of quacking-sigh, "I suppose I ought to +want to look nice, too; but, somehow I don't--ever. I always seem to be in +such a hurry." + +"Maybe you'll change, some day," suggested her brother. + +"Maybe," spoke Lulu, and just then Alice came swimming along, looking just +as nice and pretty as do some ducks which are in a picture. They all went +over to see Mrs. Greenie, the old lady frog, who lived down on the bottom +of the pond, at the far edge, by a big willow tree. + +And, honestly, though I don't like to mention it, for fear you'll think +Bully a greedy little boy, there wasn't a single bit of candied sweet-flag +root in the house. No, sir, not a tiny, weeny bit. So Mrs. Greenie gave +the Wibblewobble children some nice snails, which they liked very much, +and then they went on swimming around. Jimmie was looking for Bully, but +the little boy frog had hopped off to see his cousin. Now, in a few +minutes Jimmie is going to have an adventure, and, if you please, I want +you to listen very carefully, so as not to miss it. + +Well, the three ducklings swam on, thinking how nice it was on the water, +with the warm sun on their backs, when they suddenly came to the end of +the pond. And who should be standing there but the man who owned the +little puddle. And, more than that, there was another man also standing +there in the road and beside him was a queer thing, with big fat wheels, +fatter than the fattest duck or goose you ever saw. It was puffing away, +and some smoke and a funny smell came from it. Of course, you've guessed +it! An automobile! Now, what do you think about that? The ducks listened +to what the men were saying, for, though the Wibblewobbles couldn't talk +as the men did, they could understand our language. + +"It's too bad," said the man who owned the pond. "Can't you go any +farther?" + +"No," said the man who had the automobile, "I can't. You see my horn, that +I blow to tell people to get out of the way, is broken. I can't sound any +warning, and if I ran my machine I might hurt some one; and I wouldn't do +that for the world; no, not for two worlds, if you were to offer them to +me." + +"That is very kind of you; very kind, indeed, I'm sure," went on the man +who owned the pond. "I am glad to have met you; and I wish I could help +you." + +"I'm afraid you can't," answered the other. "I have to walk way down to +Newark, to get a new horn for my auto, so I can blow it, to warn people +out of the way." + +So he started to walk off, and then what do you think happened? Why, +Jimmie Wibblewobble got so excited that he gave a loud "Quack-Quack!" Oh, +so loud and clear! As soon as the man who owned the auto heard it he cried +out, "My gracious goodness! What's that?" + +"That," replied the man who owned the pond, "is one of my ducks. Doesn't +he speak very loudly?" + +Then Jimmie, just to show what he could do, quacked again, harder than +before. + +"Oh, extemporaneousness!" cried the auto man. "That is very fine quacking, +indeed. I never heard better. I have the greatest idea," he added. "Would +you be so kind as to lend me that little duck? I will bring him safely +back to you and not harm him in the least." + +"What will you do with him?" asked the man who owned the pond. + +"I will take him on the seat beside me," replied the other, "and maybe he +will go 'quack-quack' whenever a person gets in the way of my auto. Then +they will not be run over. Why, this little duck will be as good as an +auto horn! Will you let me take him?" + +"I guess so," answered the other man. "But please do not frighten him, as +he is very little." + +The man who owned the auto said he would be careful, and he went over to +where Jimmie was, and picked him right up. + +Now I should have thought that Jimmie would have been frightened, but he +wasn't a bit, no, would you believe me, not a bit. So the man took him and +put him on the seat and started off in the auto. Jimmie knew exactly what +to do. Every time he came to a crossing he "quack-quacked" as loudly as he +could, without being told, and he did the same thing whenever he saw a +person in the way of the big machine. + +Oh, what a fine ride he had in the auto, and how proud he was! Not too +proud, you know, but just proud enough. Well, as true as I'm telling you, +if Jimmie wasn't as good an auto horn as one could wish. Not a single +accident happened when he was on the seat, "quack-quacking" away, and when +the man went to a store and got his regular horn, with the rubber handle +to it, why, he brought Jimmie right back to the pond. + +Now, wasn't that quite an adventure? All the other ducks thought so +anyhow. To-morrow night, if you do not slam the door, you shall hear about +Alice Wibblewobble's new bonnet. + + + + +STORY III + +ALICE WIBBLEWOBBLE'S NEW BONNET + + +When the Wibblewobble family came back to their house after a swim around +the pond one bright sunny afternoon, and when the grass on the edges of +the water was as green as it could be, Mamma Wibblewobble looked at her +children, who were walking ahead of her. Jimmie and Lulu were throwing +stones along the path, but Alice, who was as ladylike a little duck as one +could wish, would not throw pebbles even, to say nothing of stones. + +"I declare," exclaimed Mamma Wibblewobble, "those girls will have to have +new bonnets. I must see to it at once." + +"Very well," answered Papa Wibblewobble, "I will get them when I come home +to-morrow. I met Mrs. Gooseyoosy this morning and she said they had a +special sale of hats at the store by the barnyard gate." + +"A man duck cannot get bonnets for Alice and Lulu," declared Mrs. +Wibblewobble. "You would not know what to pick out! It is bad enough to +have you get Jimmie's hats and shoes, but you would never know how to buy +bonnets for the girls." + +"Very well," answered Papa Wibblewobble, "then I will let you do the +buying. I think a green colored bonnet would be nice for Alice." + +"Green! With her complexion!" cried his wife. "Never! It must be +blue--blue for Alice and a brown one for Lulu. Give me the money and I +will start out shopping to-morrow." + +So Mamma Wibblewobble started out the next day, taking Alice and Lulu with +her, while Jimmie stayed home and played cross-tag with Bully, the frog, +and Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, who had a day's vacation. + +They had lots of fun, and once Jimmie nearly fell down a great big--but +there, I started to tell you about Alice Wibblewobble's bonnet, and I must +not get off the track. That story about Jimmie will do for another time. + +Well, you should have seen the numbers and numbers of duck-bonnets that +Mrs. Wibblewobble looked at before she was satisfied with two for the +girls. Not that Alice and Lulu were hard to please. Oh, my, no! But their +mamma wanted them to look just right, and you know it is quite difficult +to fit a bonnet on a duck and make it look like anything. The milliner +said so herself, and she ought to know. But at last the two duck girls +both had very fine bonnets indeed; as fine as mustard seeds, which are +very, very fine. Alice had a nice blue one, and Lulu a brown one. + +Well, would you ever imagine it? Something is going to happen to Alice's +bonnet, and very soon, too. Just be patient and you shall hear. + +"Now children," said Mrs. Wibblewobble, when they had reached the pen +where they lived, "you may go out and swim around a bit with your new +bonnets on until your papa comes home. I want him to see how well they fit +you, for I think I have very good taste when it comes to bonnets." + +"Oh, I don't want to wear my new one," spoke Lulu. "I will put on my old +one and go and play with Jimmie and Bully, the frog." + +So she did, but Alice, who was very fond of nice clothes, went for a swim +on the pond. At first she paddled around, gazing down in the water, which +was just like the looking-glass some men shave by, and she thought: "Oh, +what a lovely bonnet I have! How fine I shall look when I go for a walk on +Sunday!" + +And just then--really I'm not exaggerating a bit--If it didn't begin to +rain! Now, of course, rain couldn't hurt Alice any, for she was a duck +and was used to the water, but she knew it would spoil her new bonnet. So +she took it off and laid it under a big burdock plant leaf near the pond, +to keep the flowers and ribbons dry. + +"I wish it would stop raining," said Alice, after a while. "I want to go +home," but the big drops kept on falling, and she had to remain near her +bonnet for fear something would happen to it. + +Then, in a little while, oh, maybe half an hour or so, all at once as +quick as a wink, along came Mooleyooly, the big brown cow. Mooleyooly +walked up to the burdock leaf, under which was the new bonnet, and +Mooleyooly saw the pretty yellow flowers on it, and she saw the blue +flowers on it and she saw the red flowers on it. Then Mooleyooly said, as +she licked her lips with her red tongue: + +"What have we here? It looks very nice." + +"It is nice," answered Alice proudly, for she was glad to have some one, +even a cow, admire her bonnet. + +"It looks just like the green meadow where I live," went on Mooleyooly, +"with buttercups, and daisies, and ragged sailor flowers and some red +poppies growing in it. Oh, very fine, indeed. Why, those flowers are +real!" exclaimed the cow, looking carefully at the new bonnet under the +big leaf. + +"Of course," cried Alice, "certainly they are real." + +"Better and better!" went on Mooleyooly. "Most delightful, I am sure!" +Then, oh, how sorry I feel that I have to tell it--then, if that brown cow +didn't start right in and eat up Alice's new bonnet! + +Yes, sir, every single bit, down to a bunch of green grass that looked so +pretty on it. She ate it all up at one mouthful, before Alice could cry +out "stop" or "halt" or "cease" or any words like that. Well, of course, +Alice cried. Wouldn't you, boys and girls--I mean, of course, you +girls--have done the same? Well, I guess so! + +Then, when the cow saw how sorry Alice felt, Mooleyooly felt badly, too, +and she cried great big tears until you would have thought it was raining +harder then ever. Then, being a good cow, Mooleyooly promised to get Alice +a new bonnet, which she did, made of the finest straw in the stable. + +So Alice had a hat for Sunday after all, even if one was eaten up by +mistake. Well, pretty soon it stopped raining and Alice went home with the +bonnet the cow gave her, and Mamma Wibblewobble said it was even better +than the one she had bought. Now, wasn't that rather odd? I thought so, +myself. + +To-morrow night if you do not sneeze, I hope to have the pleasure of +telling you how Jimmie Wibblewobble almost fell over the waterfall; but +don't let that alarm you the least bit, for he was saved in a most +wonderful way. + + + + +STORY IV + +JIMMIE AND THE WATERFALL + + +It was such a nice day that Mr. and Mrs. Wibblewobble decided to go +visiting, as they had an invitation to call on Mrs. Greenie, the frog lady +who lived at the end of the pond. So the two ducks, after seeing that the +pen was in order, and the windows nice and clean, in case any company +should call on them while they were out, started off, swimming very +slowly, for they had their best clothes on and did not want to splash +water on them. + +"Now, I hope you children will be good," called Mamma Wibblewobble to +Jimmie and Lulu and Alice. "Don't get into any mischief and we'll be back +at supper time." + +"We'll be good," promised Alice, but Jimmie and Lulu didn't say anything, +though, of course they meant to be good also. Only, sometimes, you know +how it is, just when you want to be good and make no trouble something is +sure to happen; that is, most always. Well, that's the way it was this +time. + +The papa and mamma ducks hadn't been gone more than half an hour before +Jimmie thought of something to do. Of course, he didn't know it was +mischief but it was, all the same. + +It happened that at one end of the pond where the ducks lived there was a +waterfall. That is, the water ran from the pond, and fell over a high wall +of stones upon some more stones down below, and made a lot of foam and a +rushing, gurgling noise that was very cool in summer, making you think of +ice cream and all nice things like that. And besides this there was, near +the waterfall, a big mill, with a wheel that went around and around, to +grind the corn and grain. + +Well, Jimmie's papa and mamma hadn't been gone more than half an hour +before the little boy duck called to Lulu and Alice. "Let's see how near +we can go to the waterfall," he said. + +Now this was a very dangerous thing to do, because there was a strong and +swift current at the fall, and any one who went too near it might be +carried over. Mr. and Mrs. Wibblewobble knew this, and many times had told +their children to keep away. But, you see, Jimmie forgot, or else didn't +want to remember, so he called to his sisters, telling them to see how +near they could go. + +"I'll not," spoke Alice. "And you hadn't better either, Jimmie. You know +what mamma said." + +"Oh, well, the water's low now," replied Jimmie. "I don't believe there's +any danger. Come on, Lulu." + +"All right," said Lulu. So she and Jimmie started to swim as close as they +could to the waterfall. But Alice stayed near shore, and who should come +along but Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, the muskrat nurse who was out for a +walk. She told Alice about Sammie and Susie Littletail, and said the +little rabbit children were well. + +Now all this while Jimmie and Lulu were swimming nearer and nearer to the +waterfall. They could hear the water splashing on the rocks below, and +they liked to listen to it. + +"We had better stop," called Lulu, after a while. + +"No, I'm going closer," declared Jimmie. "There is no danger; come on!" + +But just then Lulu felt something pulling her down toward where the big +wheel went around and around, and she got frightened. Then she swam just +as hard as she could toward shore, and called to her brother: "Jimmie, +don't go any closer! Come back!" + +But Jimmie was a boy duck, and wanted to be brave, so he answered: "I'm +going just a little bit closer." + +Now Lulu had a very hard time, indeed, getting to shore, as the current +was so strong, but she finally managed it. Jimmie, however, kept on +swimming nearer and nearer to the falls. Then, all at once, before you +could stick a pin in a cushion, what should take place but that the little +boy duck felt himself being pulled along by the rushing water, just as the +soap floats along when you pull the plug out of the bathtub. Oh, how fast +the water swept him along! Jimmie splashed and paddled with all his might, +and tried to swim ashore, where Lulu was anxiously watching him, but he +couldn't seem to move. There he was, being carried along to the edge of +the falls, with the cruel, sharp stones below, and the big millwheel going +around and around. Then Jimmie knew he was in great danger, and he cried +out: "Help! Help! Help!" three times, as loudly as he could call. + +Lulu and Alice heard him, and were much frightened. They started to go to +the aid of their brother, but Grandfather Goosey-Gander warned them not +to. + +"But who will save Jimmie?" they cried. + +"I will try to," answered the old gentleman duck. + +So he got a rope and threw it to Jimmie, but the rope wasn't long enough, +and the poor little boy duck kept getting closer and closer to the edge +of the falls, and the big millwheel. Oh, how hard he was swimming, but the +water was stronger than he was. + +"Get a board!" cried Bully, the frog, who came hopping along just then. So +the ducks and the geese got a board and threw it to Jimmie, but it floated +past him, and he couldn't get upon it. Then it surely did look as if he +were going to be carried right over the falls, for he was being swept +nearer and more near, and he could hear the water making a terrible +roaring, splashing sound on the rocks. You have no idea how scared Jimmie +was, and he wished he had never gone near the falls. + +Then the other ducks got a long stick and Grandfather Goosey-Gander held +it out, so the little boy duck could grasp it in his bill, but the stick +broke, and every one said it was too bad! Then, just as Jimmie was almost +to the edge of the falls, if Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy didn't call out: +"Stand aside, everybody! I am a good swimmer and I will save him!" + +Then what do you think happened? Why that good, kind muskrat jumped right +into the water, and hurried to where Jimmie was. She dived down, and got +hold of his yellow legs in her teeth, but she took hold very gently, so as +not to hurt him. Then she was such a fine swimmer that she managed to get +to shore, towing and pulling Jimmie with her, for the water could not hurt +Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, no matter how hard the millwheel splashed. + +So that is how Jimmie was saved from the waterfall, and when his papa and +mamma came home they were very glad, of course, and why shouldn't they be? +But, all the same Lulu and Jimmie had to be punished for disobeying, and +going too near the falls when they had been told not to, and their +punishment was that they could not go in swimming for three days. And if +you ever were a duck you know that was very severe punishment indeed, very +severe. + +But I'm not going to say that Jimmie and Lulu didn't deserve it, no indeed +I'm not; not if you were to offer me an orange and a half; and I'm very +fond of oranges; very. Well, that's how things will sometimes happen in +this world, won't they? do the best that you can. But now I suppose you +want to know what the story will be about to-morrow night. Well, if I see +a pink grasshopper, I shall tell you about a visit the Wibblewobble +children paid to poor, sick, Billie Bushytail. + + + + +STORY V + +A VISIT TO BILLIE BUSHTAIL + + +You remember how Lulu and Jimmie had to be punished for disobeying their +papa and mamma, and going too near the waterfall, I suppose? They couldn't +go in swimming for three days. Well, the three days were very nearly up; +that is there was just one day left, so Lulu said: + +"Come on, Jimmie, we will go for a walk in the woods. Don't you want to +come, too, Alice?" + +Now, of course, Alice could go in the water if she wanted to, for she was +not punished, as she had not gone near the waterfall, but instead of going +swimming alone, she stayed with her brother and sister, and I call that +very kind of her. So, when Lulu asked her to take a walk in the woods, +Alice answered: + +"Of course, I will go with you. Who knows, perhaps we may have an +adventure!" For you see Alice was very romantic. That is, she always hoped +something would happen that never had happened before, and she was always +hoping a fairy prince would come along and rescue her from some danger. +But, up to this time, nothing like this had ever occurred, though those +duck children are going to have a small adventure pretty soon, I think. + +"All right," spoke Jimmie, "let's take a walk, and see what happens." So +they walked on through the woods, which were very fine that day, and they +felt the nice, warm, brown earth on their yellow feet, and it was almost +as good as going in the water. Pretty soon, just after they had passed +under a buttonball tree, the ducklings heard a noise, and who should run +out from under a bush but little Sister Sallie. You remember her, I hope; +Sister Sallie, who was named after Lolly-pop-Lally, and who lived with +Johnnie and Billie Bushytail. + +"Why, Sister Sallie!" cried Lulu Wibblewobble, "where are you going this +bright, beautiful, sunshiny day?" + +"I'm going for the doctor," answered Sister Sallie. + +"Are you sick?" inquired Jimmie. "You don't look so." + +"No, it's Billie Bushytail," said the little girl squirrel. "He is quite +ill, and I am going for Dr. Possum. Billie has a fever and headache, and +he snuffles something terrible. His papa and mamma are quite worried +about him. Isn't it terrible to be sick?" + +"I don't know," answered Jimmie, "for I was never sick." + +"I was once," remarked Alice, "and it is not nice, I do assure you. +Suppose we go call on Billie Bushytail Maybe we could cheer him up." + +"I think that would be lovely," spoke Sister Sallie. "You go see him, +while I hurry for the doctor." + +So the three Wibblewobble children walked on through the pleasant woods, +until they came to the place where the Bushytail family had moved. Their +home was now in a hollow stump, close to the ground, and there was a +fallen tree leading up to it, just like a plank over the brook, so the +ducks could easily walk up it. They went right to the front door, and +Jimmie knocked with his strong, yellow bill. Mrs. Bushytail opened the +door, and when she saw the little ducklings, she said: + +"Oh, my dears! Do not come too near, for we don't know what disease Billie +may have. I would not want you to catch it." + +"Oh, we are not afraid," spoke Jimmie. "But we will not come too near. We +were out walking in the woods, and we met little Sister Sallie. We came to +call on Billie, and cheer him up." + +"That is very kind of you," said Mamma Bushytail. "The poor little fellow +is quite miserable. I put his feet in hot mustard water, and gave him some +Jamaica ginger, and he is now in bed. I fear he has the epizootic, which +is a very dreadful disease." + +"Oh, I hope not!" exclaimed Alice, kindly. "Perhaps he only has the pip, +which is not nearly so bad." + +"Perhaps," answered Mamma Bushytail. "I have sent Johnnie for some +quinine, and that may help Billie." + +"May we see him?" asked Lulu. "Perhaps we can cheer him up." + +"To be sure, you may see him," replied Billie's mamma; so she opened the +door a little wider in order that the ducklings might look in the +hollow-stumphouse, for of course they could not enter, as it was too +small. They saw Billie, all wrapped up in blankets, in bed, and he looked +quite ill. But he seemed happy in spite of that, for the hot mustard +footbath had helped him some. He smiled when he saw Jimmie and Lulu and +Alice. Then Jimmie gave Mrs. Bushytail some nice acorns he had picked up +in the woods and had carried under his wing. + +"They are for Billie," said Jimmie. Next Lulu gave the sick squirrel-boy +some nice, sweet grass she had gathered on the edge of the pond, and +Alice had some lovely sugared sweet-flag root, which is very good in case +of sickness. Then Billie felt much better, and after a while Jimmie said: +"Let's sing a funny little song for Billie." So Jimmie, Alice and Lulu +sang this little verse to cheer up poor, sick Billie, and, if you can get +a good singer to sing it for you, it doesn't sound at all bad, I assure +you: + + Don't mind if you have to take stuff from a spoon, + 'Tis better than having to climb to the moon. + You might make a stumble or else have a tumble, + And then you would fall pretty soon. + + We came, little Billie, to make you feel better. + At first we were going to write you a letter; + But we had no ink, dear, so that's why we came here. + We're dry now, but we'll soon be wetter. + +Then Billie laughed right out loud, he felt so much better, and he ate +some acorns and the sweet-flag root, nibbling at it with his sharp teeth. +Then a scratching sound was heard on the stump, and who should come up it +but Sister Sallie, with Dr. Possum. + +The doctor said "He!" and he said "Hum!" and he said "Ahem!" Then he felt +Billie's pulse and made him put out his tongue. Then Dr. Possum exclaimed: +"Why, this little squirrel isn't sick at all! No, sir! Not at all. My +goodness me; no, indeed! Why, the very idea! Sick? I guess not!" + +But Mrs. Bushytail said her little boy had been very ill, and Dr. Possum +answered: + +"Well, if he was sick, these little ducks have cured him. They are just as +good at doctoring as I am; yes, indeed; and a thermometer or two besides. +There is no need for me." + +"It was the funny little song that cured me," said Billie. Then he got out +of bed and began frisking around; the doctor went home, and the little +squirrel was all well. After a while Jimmie, Lulu and Alice had to leave, +and they went home, feeling very happy for the good they had done to +Billie Bushytail, for it always makes you feel happy to help some one. +Now, if you promise not to whisper in school next week you shall hear +to-morrow night how Jimmie tried to become a flying machine. + +[Illustration:] + + + + +STORY VI + +JIMMIE AS A FLYING MACHINE + + +One day, I think it must have been about three-and-a-half-quacks past +cornmeal time, there was a great commotion in the yard, and around the +pond where Jimmie Wibblewobble and his two sisters and his papa and mamma +lived. There was a great fluttering in the air, and something, colored in +beautiful tints, flew down and settled on the water with a little splash. + +"My goodness, what is that?" asked Alice Wibblewobble, who was easily +frightened. At first no one knew, for, though the creature was shaped just +like a duck, it was not colored like any duck Jimmie had even seen. It was +gold and bronze and green, with little patches of red and blue here and +there, and was a most beautiful creature. + +"Maybe that is a fairy," suggested Lulu, who sometimes read fairy stories. + +"Oh, if it only might be one, and could tell me where the fairy prince +is!" exclaimed Alice, with a sigh. + +"Nonsense!" cried Jimmie, who was just going off to see his friend Bully, +the frog. "Stuff and nonsense!" + +"That's what I say, too," called out the strange creature. "Nonsense! I'm +not a fairy at all. I'm a duck like yourselves, only I am a wild duck." +Then its wings beat the air and water, and the wild duck arose and flew +right over the pond and back again, as quickly as could be. + +"My goodness! How do you do that?" asked Jimmie, who never could fly more +than a few feet. + +"Why," answered the wild duck, "I just did it, that's all." + +"Snippery, snappery snails!" cried Jimmie, "you're just like a flying +machine that my papa read about in the paper." + +"Well, somewhat like one, perhaps," admitted the wild duck. "I can fly a +long distance. Did you ever try?" + +"No," answered Jimmie; "I never did." + +"Perhaps you would like to try now," suggested the other. "I will stay +here a little while, and show you. It is very easy. You can just as well +become a flying machine as not. Come, I will fly up on the fence. You come +up here, too, and when I say 'Go!' why start off, and, who knows? perhaps +you will do as well as I. Don't be afraid." + +"Of course, I'll try," said Jimmie, very bravely, for he was always +wanting to try new things. + +"So will I," cried Lulu. "I want to fly, too." + +"Oh, you had better be careful," warned Alice, who was a very cautious +duckling, never getting into danger if she could help it. + +"Oh, we'll be careful, but we are going to become flying machines just the +same," said Jimmie. + +So the wild duck flew up on the fence, which was at one edge of the pond, +and, oh, how beautiful he looked with the sun shining on his finely +colored feathers. Jimmie had quite a struggle to get on the top rail of +the fence, and so did Lulu, but they finally managed it, and, just as they +stood beside the wild duck, who should come along but Grandfather +Goosey-Gander. He asked the two Wibblewobble children what they were going +to do, and when Jimmie said they were going to learn to become flying +machines, the old duck said, "Humph!" just as quickly as he could. + +"If you had such hard work getting to the top of the fence, how do you +think you can fly across the pond?" he asked, and then he sneezed three +times, for he was catching cold. + +"Oh, we will do it," answered Jimmie, for, of course, you see, he really +thought he could. + +But something is going to happen, just as sure as you can add up two and +three and make five out of them. + +"Are you all ready?" asked the wild duck of Jimmie and Lulu, as they stood +beside him, balanced on the fence rail. + +"Yes," replied Jimmie, trying to stop his heart from beating so rapidly, +"we are ready, Mr. Wild Duck. You fly and we will fly also." + +"Watch me carefully," said the beautiful creature, "and do exactly as I +do." + +They were just about to fly, when the old rooster, who had been picking up +corn down the road, come running up. + +"Hold on!" he cried, "I can fly as good as that wild duck! Wait for me and +we will have a race!" + +So they waited until the old rooster got up on the fence rail, too. Then +the wild duck counted: "One to begin with, two for a show, three to make +ready and four to go!" + +Then he flapped his wings, gave a loud "squawk-squawk" and sailed over +that pond as nice as you please. + +Well, of course, I've got to tell exactly what happened, or it wouldn't be +fair. Jimmie tried to fly, but I wish you could have seen him. He only +went a little way, and then, because his body was too heavy for his wings, +or because his wings were too light for his body, he came flopping right +down to the ground, ker-thump, and he hurt his nose considerably, let me +tell you, for considerably is quite a lot. + +Well, poor Lulu, if she didn't fall, too! Yes, sir, she turned a +somersault right in the air, before all those watching ducks, and she, +too, came down ker-flimmax-ker-flump, and she hurt her left-hand wing. +Then she cried once, "Boo-hoo!" just like that. Then she stopped. + +Jimmie didn't cry at all, if you'll believe me, no, sir, not a mite, but +he felt badly all the same. And then that rooster! Oh, dear me, how +foolish some roosters are, anyhow, now aren't they, really? Well, he +started off all right, but just then the wind got in the wrong place, and +it turned him upside down. Now, no rooster can fly upside down, no matter +what else he can do, so that one came flippity-flop down into the water +ker-splash-ker-sposh; and one more besides! Maybe he didn't feel +mortified! + +But that wild duck! Oh, my, goodness me! How he did fly. Around and +around, and around that pond he went, never touching the water once. Then +he came to where Jimmie and Lulu were, and he told them how sorry he felt +for them, before he flew away to a far, far distant land, where only wild +ducks live. Then Grandfather Goosey-Gander went up to those two +Wibblewobble children, and so did Alice, to lend Lulu her handkerchief. +And Grandfather Goosey said: "It is better for tame ducks to stay on the +water, or on land. They were not made for flying." So that was the end of +Jimmie trying to become an air ship. To-morrow night you may hear about +Lulu and the gold fish, that is if the lemon squeezer doesn't pinch me. + + + + +STORY VII + +LULU AND THE GOLD FISH + + +Well, here we are again, after a rest over night, and all ready for +another story, I suppose. Let me see, it was to be about the fairy prince +and Alice Wibblewobble--no, hold on there, I'm wrong. I know it. Lulu and +the gold fish; to be sure! Well, here we go. Now, of course, I could make +this about the fairy prince--in fact, he has something to do with this +story--but as the gold fish has more, I put her name at the top. + +Lulu Wibblewobble, the little duck girl, who could throw stones almost as +straight as a boy, was swimming around the pond near the pen where she +lived. It was a nice, warm, sunshiny day, and Lulu wanted to do something, +but she didn't just know what. Jimmie, her brother, was off playing with +Bully, the frog, and Alice, her sister, was straightening out her feathers +in the back parlor bedroom, where a piece of tin could be used for a +looking glass. + +All at once Lulu's mamma called to her: + +"Lulu, I want you to go to the store to get some acorn meal and a yeast +cake. I am going to set bread to-night. Hurry, now, that's a good girl." + +"All right, mamma," answered Lulu, and she steered herself around, just +like a motorboat in the water, and started for the store, paddling as hard +as she could. + +She had not gone very far, with the little ripples and waves chasing each +other across the pond, before she saw something swimming close beside her. +Lulu looked down, and what do you think she saw? Well, you might guess, +but then again, you might not, so I'll tell you. It was a gold fish. + +Oh, it was such a beautiful gold fish, with red and silvery spots and +streaks, and a long, feathery tail that looked like lace in the water. + +"Hello!" exclaimed Lulu; "I didn't know you lived here." + +"Oh, yes," answered the fish. "I have lived here for some time, but, you +see, during the cold weather I stay down in the mud. However, as it is now +spring, I have come up, and I am going to play around all summer." + +"That's nice," remarked Lulu. "What's your name?" + +"My name is Fannie Tail," replied the fish. "You see I got that name +because my tail is shaped like a fan, but most persons just call me Fan +Tail. You may, if you like." + +"All right," agreed Lulu. "I will. My name is Lulu, but you may call me +Lu, if you wish." + +"Good," answered the fish, turning a double somersault in the water and +wiggling her right fin as if trying to shake hands. "Now we are well +acquainted. And may I ask where you are going?" + +So Lulu told the fish girl about having to go to the store, and Fan seemed +quite pleased to hear it. The two swam on together for some distance, the +fish just under the water and Lulu on top. Pretty soon Lulu asked Fan +where she was going, and the gold fish replied: + +"I am going to the drug store for some sweet flag root for the fairy +prince," and once more the fish girl turned a double somersault and opened +her mouth wide, for she had a cold in her head, in consequence of being so +wet. But as it is very difficult to write a story and make a gold fish +talk as if she had a cold in the head, I have decided to make Fan talk +just ordinarily. You never would have known anything about the cold if I +hadn't mentioned it, so it's just as well. + +"Pardon me," said Lulu, just like a telephone girl, "but did I understand +you to say you were going for some sweet flag root for the fairy prince?" + +"Yes," answered Fan Tail, "that's what I said." + +"But!" cried Lulu. "A fairy prince! I never knew there were fairies in +this pond!" + +"Neither did lots of other persons," replied Fan. "It's supposed to be a +secret, but I'll tell you. And, another thing. There is something strange +about this fairy prince. Do you promise never to tell?" + +"Yes," answered Lulu. "Cross my heart I'll never tell," and she lifted one +leg out of the water and crossed her heart as well as she could. + +"Then," said the gold fish in a whisper, "If you will come with me I will +show you the fairy prince. That is, after I go to the drug store for him. +But mind, it's a great secret." + +So the two swam on together, but Lulu felt sad. And the reason she felt +sad was this: Her sister Alice, who was very romantic--that is, she +continually wanted things to happen that never could happen--Alice always +had wished to see a fairy prince. Now, unless Fan would let Lulu tell the +secret, Alice would never see a prince. And to think he was right in the +same pond with her! Oh, it's dreadful to have a secret you can't tell even +to your own sister, I think. + +Lulu sighed so that she made quite a wave in the pond, and when the fish +saw this she knew something was the matter. So she asked Lulu what it was, +and Lulu told her how Alice was just crazy to see a fairy prince, and had +been dreaming of one for ever and ever so long. + +"And I've promised not to tell," ended Lulu. "Poor Alice! How disappointed +she will be not to see a real, live fairy!" + +"Well, perhaps it is too bad," admitted Fan Tail, and she sneezed so hard +that the water flew up in a spray, just like a fountain. "Perhaps I shall +let you off from your promise," the gold fish went on. "Yes, I think you +may bring Alice to see the fairy prince." + +"And Jimmie? Jimmie's my brother. I know he would love to see him, too. +May he come?" + +"Yes, you may bring Jimmie also. But mind, I don't want you to be +disappointed. Most fairy princes are disappointing, so don't say I didn't +warn you." + +"Oh, that will be all right," spoke Lulu, now quite happy again. "May I +bring them this afternoon?" + +"Oh! I suppose so, but no one else, mind. You see the fairy prince is +rather bashful." + +So Lulu promised she would bring no one else, and she hurried to the store +and back again. Fan Tail, the gold fish, went to the drug store for the +sweet flag root for the fairy prince, and on the way she stubbed her nose +against a stone, which made her cold in the head worse than ever; but of +course we have nothing to do with that except to feel sorry for her. + +When Lulu got home she was so excited she dropped the yeast cake in the +pond, and it would have gotten all wet only it was wrapped in tin-foil. +Then she told Alice and Jimmie about the fairy prince she was going to +see, but, as this story is too long already, I must stop, and in case the +postman does not blow his whistle too loud and scary, I shall have the +pleasure, to-morrow night, of telling you about the fairy prince. And I +hope you won't be disappointed. + + + + +STORY VIII + +WHO THE FAIRY PRINCE WAS + + +Mamma and Papa Wibblewobble were sitting in front of the duck pen, talking +with Grandfather Goosey-Gander and the big rooster. They were so busily +engaged in conversation about the best way to serve cold corn meal mixed +with water, that when Lulu asked her parents if she and Jimmie and Alice +could go for a swim, Mrs. Wibblewobble said: + +"Yes, my dear, but be careful you don't get wet." + +Now wasn't that a funny thing for a duck mamma to say to her little duck +girl? But Mamma Wibblewobble was absent minded, so we must excuse her. You +see she thought Lulu wanted to go for a walk in the woods. Well, it didn't +much matter, but I thought I would speak about it. + +"Can we go?" asked Jimmie, when Lulu came back. + +"Yes," she answered. "Hurry now, for we are going to see the fairy prince, +as the gold fish promised." + +"Oh, I'm so excited I can hardly wait!" exclaimed Alice, who was quite +romantic, as I have explained. "Am I swimming straight, Lulu? I wouldn't +for all the world, have a fairy prince see me swimming crooked." + +"Oh, don't be so fussy!" called out Jimmie. "I wish Bully, the frog was +here. He and I could have some fun." + +"Oh, no!" cried Lulu. "We are the only ones allowed to see the fairy +prince. It's a secret, and he is quite bashful." + +"How are you going to find him?" asked Jimmie. "This is a large pond, and +it's going to be quite a task to locate the fairy prince, or even the gold +fish." + +"Oh! let's don't worry," suggested Alice. "Worrying is one of the very +worst things you can do, especially when there is anything in it about a +fairy. Don't you know that fairies are especially made not to worry? We +will find our way somehow. Either a golden ball will appear and roll on +before us to show us the right direction, or else a magical boat will +suddenly come up in the water, and we can ride right to the place." + +"Hu! What do we want of a boat?" asked Jimmie. "Can't we swim? I don't +believe much in this fairy business, anyhow." + +"Then, if you don't believe, you never will see the fairy prince," +declared Alice. "Only those who believe in fairies can see them. I know, +for I've read lots of fairy stories." You see Alice was very much in +earnest about this matter. + +So the three children swam on together over the pond, and the waters +sparkled in the sun, until you would have thought there were thousands of +diamonds floating on top. The breeze blew just enough to make little +ripples, and altogether it was a very fine day. They went on and on, until +pretty soon they were in a part of the pond they had never before visited. +Tall rushes grew on either side, and the long meadow grass came right down +to the edge of the water and trailed in it, making little green caves in +which to hide. It was cool and quiet there, and very lovely. The ducks +liked it, but still there was no sign of the fairy prince; and the gold +fish had not come to show them the way. + +"I don't believe we'll ever see any fairy prince," said Jimmie. + +"Oh! but the gold fish promised me," spoke Lulu. + +"Hush!" cried Alice. "We must keep very quiet. We may meet the magical +boat, or the golden ball, any minute." + +And just then, what should happen, but that they heard a voice singing. +Yes, sir, just as true as I'm telling you, a voice singing, right down +under the water. And this is what it sang, in silvery tones, just like the +little bell that tinkles on pussy's neck: + + The fairy prince lies deep and dark, + Waiting for the firefly's spark; + If you wish to see him now, + Follow me, and make a bow. + +And, all at once, who should appear but Fan Tail, the gold fish. She +popped right out of the water, and when she saw the three duck children +she asked: + +"Did you hear me singing?" + +"Was that you?" asked Lulu. + +"It was," replied Fan. "But why don't you do as I said? If you wish to see +the fairy prince you must bow. He always wants people to do that." + +So Lulu and Jimmie bowed once, and Alice bowed three times, and when they +asked why she did that she said you must always do things by threes where +fairies are concerned. + +"Now, follow me," called the gold fish; so they swam farther and farther +up the part of the pond where they had never before been. It got smaller +and smaller, until it was like a little brook, with rushes bending over +it, while the water whispered to the green stems. + +"The fairy prince lives in there," suddenly said the gold fish, poking her +head up out of the water, so she could speak more plainly, and she pointed +with her fin to a hole in the bank. "He will come out presently. Bow your +prettiest." Well, you can just imagine how excited the duck children were. +Alice fairly trembled, and even Jimmie was interested, as they all bowed. + +"All ready now!" went on the gold fish. "Behold the fairy prince. Behold! +Behold!" and she made a booming noise under the water, just like the big +bass drum, when a man in the circus jumps over sixteen elephants and a +quarter all at once. + +Then, all of a sudden, oh! maybe in a second and a little more what should +come out of that hole in the side of the bank, just above the water, what, +I say, should come out of that hole--now be careful, take tight hold of +the arms of the chair, and hold your breaths, so as not to be +disappointed, what should come out of the hole but a big, brownish-black, +spotted with red and yellow, wrinkle-legged, hard-shelled, sharp-beaked +mud turtle! There, now! + +At first the duck children were so frightened and surprised that they did +not know what to do or say. They had expected something so different. Did +you? Well, I'm awfully sorry, but you know I'm not responsible. I merely +tell what happens. + +"Why, that isn't a fairy prince!" cried Jimmie, speaking first. + +"Of course not," added Lulu. + +Then the gold fish came quite close to them and whispered something. + +"Do you know," said Fan Tail, "I have always had my doubts about it +myself. He says he's the fairy prince--insists on it, in fact,--and he has +it engraved on his visiting cards. But I have my doubts, only I don't dare +say so, for you see I work for him, run errands and the like of that; so +far be it from me to say he is not a fairy prince. I have, however, guided +you to him. Behold, the fairy prince!" and she called the last real +loudly, for the mud turtle was looking right at her. Then she added in a +whisper: "But I have my doubts." + +"Hush! Oh hush, please!" begged Alice. "Of course he is a fairy prince! +They are always disguised like that--always appearing as something +different from what they really are, you know. Sometimes they are toads, +and sometimes frogs, and sometimes mud turtles, I suppose, though I never +heard of any of the last kind. But of course he is a fairy prince." Then +she bowed again, three times, and said: "Fairy prince, I salute thee." + +"Fairy nothing!" grunted Jimmie. "He is no more a fairy than I am." + +Then the mud turtle heard them talking, and he stuck his head farther out +of the shell, and he looked around with his snaky neck, and he came a +little more out of the hole, and said: + +"Of course I am the fairy prince. Everybody knows that. I've been a fairy +prince for ever and ever so long." And then he sneezed, just to show that, +though he was a fairy prince, he was not proud. + +"What shall I do, O fairy prince, to change you back into your own +rightful shape?" asked Alice. "Tell me, and I will do it at once. Dost +thou need three drops of magical water?" + +"No," answered the mud turtle, "not any at all, thank you, so much. I am a +fairy prince, but I am satisfied with my shape as I am; and I do not want +to change. I have always been this way, and I always want to stay so. +Please be so kind as to go away. I want to eat my dinner." + +So they hurried away, for the gold fish whispered that the mud turtle was +always cross when he ate. Jimmie and Lulu were much disappointed, but +Alice was not, for she insisted that the mud turtle was really wonderful, +and was a fairy prince in disguise. Now what do you think about it? I +leave it to you. But whatever you may think please don't be hasty. Take +plenty of time. Perhaps you had better wait for the story to-morrow night, +which if the cow bell doesn't ring and awaken the doll in the baby +carriage will be about how Grandfather Goosey-Gander got into trouble and +out again. + + + + +STORY IX + +GRANDFATHER GOOSEY-GANDER IN TROUBLE + + +On their way home, after having seen the mud turtle fairy prince, Jimmie, +Lulu and Alice Wibblewobble, of course, talked of nothing else. They +wished the prince had done something wonderful, instead of merely sending +them away when he ate his dinner, and they hoped he would perform a +magical feat another time. He really did, as I shall tell you about later, +if I do not forget it. The gold fish swam a little way back with the duck +children, as she said the prince always liked to be alone when he ate. + +"Well, how did you like him?" asked Fan Tail of the ducks. + +"Not very much," replied Lulu. "I never did care for mud turtles." + +"Nor I," added Jimmie. + +"I don't believe he was really a mud turtle at all," declared Alice. "He +was a real, truly, fairy prince, and he only looked like a mud turtle, +because we did not have the right kind of eyes with which to see him or +else because we had no faith in him. It is always so, in fairy stories. +You must believe, or you can't see the beautiful things." + +"Well, I'd rather have some snails to eat," said Jimmie. "You don't care +how they look; it's how they taste. I'm never going to bother with fairies +again." + +It was about three days after this that Jimmie and Lulu were walking in +the deep, green woods, under the trees, picking tender leaves and roots to +eat. They were hoping they might meet Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, the +squirrels whom they had not seen for some time. Alice stayed home to curl +her feathers. + +All at once, as they were walking along, the little boy and girl duck +heard a funny noise. + +"What's that?" cried Jimmie. + +"I don't know," answered Lulu. "It sounds like some one calling." + +And, sure enough, it was. As they stopped to listen they could hear some +one crying: "Help! Help! Oh, help!" + +"Let's go and see who it is," suggested Jimmie. + +"Maybe it's a dog, or a bad rat, or a fox," objected Lulu. + +"No," said her brother, "they would never call for help. Come on." + +[Illustration:] + +So they walked on, looking this way and that, to see what they could see; +on and on through the woods, until, just as they came from behind a big +oak tree, what should they catch sight of, but poor, Grandfather +Goosey-Gander, caught fast in the middle of a pile of brush. + +"Oh dear me! Oh my goodness me sakes alive! Oh, floppy! floppy! floppy! +Oh, a bag of salt and some corn meal!" cried the poor old gentleman duck. +"I am in a terrible state! Help me!" + +Then Lulu and Jimmie ran right up to him, and asked him what was the +matter. + +"Oh dear," he said, "I really can't say. I've lost my glasses, and I can't +see very well. All I know is that I was walking in the woods, thinking +what a nice day it was, when, all of a sudden, in about a quack and a +half, I found myself caught fast. And the worst part of it is that I can't +get loose!" + +"Let me take a look," said Jimmie. + +So he went quite close and looked, and he saw that Grandfather +Goosey-Gander's right leg was held in between two sticks. The old +gentleman duck was in great pain. + +"Is my leg broken?" he asked Jimmie. + +"No," answered the little boy duck, "but some of the skin is scraped off." + +"I knew it!" cried Grandfather Goosey-Gander. "Now I won't be able to go +fishing next week. Oh, I do seem to have the worst luck; don't I?" + +"We will get you out," Lulu said to him, and then she and her brother went +to the aid of the poor old duck. They pushed this way and that way, and +they pulled that way and this way, and they lifted up on the pieces of +sticks, and they pushed down on them, but it was no use. Poor Grandfather +Goosey-Gander was stuck fast there, and I think it was a shame, but it +couldn't be helped. Oh my no, and a bit of peppermint candy besides! + +"Well, I guess I will have to stay here and die," said the discouraged old +duck, and he felt so badly that he wept. Lulu and Jimmie cried also, they +felt so sorry. The three of them cried, and their tears were so many that +if they had cried long enough there would have been quite a pond there, +and they could have gone in swimming. That is, of course, all but +Grandfather Goosey-Gander, and he couldn't swim for he was held fast. But +they didn't weep long enough. + +"Let's try once more," said Lulu, after a while, and then she and Jimmie +tried harder than ever to get grandfather's leg out. But they couldn't. + +"If I only had a saw!" cried Jimmie, "I could get him loose." + +"Ha! perhaps I can help you!" suddenly exclaimed a voice. + +Then, as quickly as you can break an egg by dropping it on the floor (only +of course you must not do it without permission), who should appear but +Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, the muskrat. She was out walking with Sammie and +Susie Littletail. + +"Oh, somebody do please help me!" cried Grandfather Goosey-Gander. "I've +lost my glasses, my leg is caught, and I have a pain in my back. Oh, oh, +oh!" + +"I'll gnaw through those sticks in a jiffy!" cried Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, for a +jiffy is very quick time indeed. Oh, yes, and a broken down couch besides! + +So, telling Sammie and Susie Littletail to stand back, and calling to +Jimmie and Lulu to remain with them, the muskrat nurse set to work to free +Grandfather Goosey-Gander. Her teeth were like the chisels the carpenter +uses and in a few seconds the old duck's leg was free. Oh, how glad he +was, and how thankful to Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy! Of course the duck and +rabbit children also were glad. + +Then Jane gnawed out a little crutch for grandfather to walk with, as he +was a trifle lame, and what do you think? Why, Susie Littletail found his +glasses for him; and Sammie and Jimmie rubbed his back so nicely that the +pain all went out of that. Now I call that doing something don't you? + +Well, Grandfather Goosey-Gander started for home, and Jimmie and Lulu +asked Sammie and Susie to come and play with them. Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy +said they might, and they had a fine time under the trees in the woods, +playing tag of all kinds; cross-tag, wood-tag, dirt-tag, leaf-tag, +stump-tag, and a new kind, called acorn-tag, which I will explain about +later. Then the bunny children went home with their nurse and Jimmie and +Lulu also went home and about two days after that a very funny thing +happened. + +What it was you shall hear to-morrow night if the trolley car doesn't get +off the track, but I'll let you know this much--it's going to be about the +rooster trying to swim. + + + + +STORY X + +THE ROOSTER TRIES TO SWIM + + +Grandfather Goosey-Gander was quite lame the next day from having been +caught in the brush pile, and could not go very far away from the duck +pen. He did manage to hobble around on the crutch which Nurse Jane +Fuzzy-Wuzzy made for him, and he sat in a sunny corner, reading the +newspaper with his glasses which Susie Littletail found. He was reading +away as Alice, Lulu and Jimmie Wibblewobble were playing about on the edge +of the pond, and the little duck children made so much noise that the old +grandfather could not understand what was in the papers. + +"Can't you children play something quiet?" he asked for Papa and Mamma +Wibblewobble had gone visiting, and Grandfather Goosey-Gander was left to +mind the house. "Play some nice, easy game," he suggested. + +"Let's play acorn tag," said Lulu. + +"All right, you're it," answered Jimmie. So they each took an acorn which +they found in the woods and put it in their bills. Then Lulu had to chase +after Jimmie and Alice, and when she touched either one of them with her +wing she had to call out: "You can't run a little bit, I've tagged you, +and now you're it." Yes, that's what she had to call, and she had to do it +without letting the acorn fall out of her bill. Now, if you think that's a +very easy thing to do, just you try it, that's all. + +Lulu didn't have much trouble putting her wing on Jimmie or Alice, but, +every time she tried to call out the little verse the acorn would roll out +of her bill and she'd have to start all over again, or it wouldn't have +been fair. So it was some time before she got over being "it," and then it +was Jimmie's turn. + +Well, they played acorn tag for quite a while, and, when they got tired of +that they all went in swimming. They swam around in circles, and +criss-crossed and went in squares, and in triangles and all sorts of queer +figures, including eight, nine, ten, which are very difficult figures, +indeed, for little ducks. + +While they were swimming away, having lots of fun, and far enough off so +that Grandfather Goosey-Gander could read his paper in peace, who should +come down to the edge of the pond but the rooster. His name was Mr. Cock +A. Doodle, and he was very proud. He walked right down to the edge of the +water, and looked at the ducks. Then he crowed as loud as he could, and +flapped his wings, just as if he were saying: + +"There! I'd like to see any of you do that! Ha! Hum! Oh my, yes, indeed!" + +"How do you do, Mr. Cock A. Doodle?" asked Jimmie. + +"Ahem! I am pretty well, my young friend," replied the rooster. "And how +may you happen to be to-day? And how are your sisters, Lulu and Alice +Wibblewobble?" + +"We are very well," answered Lulu and Alice, and Lulu went on: "Don't you +wish you could swim, Mr. Doodle?" + +"I can," said the rooster, and he strutted back and forth at the edge of +the pond. "Certainly I can swim. What put the notion into your heads that +I can't?" + +"We never saw you," spoke Jimmie. + +"Ahem! Perhaps not. You never saw me stand on one foot and jump over a +barrel, but that doesn't prove that I can't do it," replied Mr. Doodle. "I +can swim if I choose. I have never cared to, that's all." + +"Try now," suggested Lulu, for she didn't believe that rooster could swim, +no matter what he said. + +"Oh, the water is too cold to go swimming now," said Mr. Doodle. "I never +swim in cold water." + +"Why, it's as warm as warm can be," declared Alice, and she splashed a few +drops upon the rooster, so he could feel it. + +"Well, er--ahem! The wind is blowing too much," said the rooster, when he +felt the nice, warm water. + +"Why, it doesn't blow at all," answered Jimmie. + +"Well, I haven't my swimming shoes on," objected Mr. Cock A. Doodle. "I +can't swim without them. You ducks have pieces of skin between your toes, +so the water won't slip through, but I haven't my webbed feet on." + +"Oh, that is very easily fixed," said Lulu. "We will take some pieces of +cloth, and tie them over your claws to make them like ours. Do you think +you could swim then?" + +"Yes," answered the rooster, "I think I could." You see he had no more +excuses to make. Oh, wasn't he a tricky old rooster, though, eh? + +So Lulu and Jimmie got some bits of cloth, and, with long pieces of ribbon +grass, they bound the cloth on the rooster's claws so his feet looked +something like a duck's. + +"Now come on and we'll have a swimming race," suggested Jimmie. "Walk +right down into the water as we do. It won't hurt you the least bit, Mr. +Doodle." + +"Pooh! Do you think I'm afraid?" inquired Mr. Doodle, and he actually did +walk right into the water, while all the ducks and chickens and geese +looked on in wonder, for they had never seen the rooster swim, and didn't +believe he could. Oh, but Mr. Doodle was proud! He even tried to crow as +he stepped into the water, but, as he wasn't used to it, it made his +breath feel just as if it were choking him when he tried to swallow. + +Yes, he tried to crow, but all the noise he could make was a sort of a +gasp and a sigh and a cough and a splutter and a sneeze and choke and a +whimper. + +"Ha! Aha! Ahem! Ha! Ha! Ho! Ho I will now swim" cried the rooster, and +then the water got so deep that he couldn't wade any more, and he had to +float. He struck out with his feet, and tried to paddle just as he saw +Lulu and Alice and Jimmie doing, but a very funny thing happened. + +The rooster went right around in a circle, for he only used one leg at a +time. Then he got dizzy, and went around the other way. Then he had to +stop. Next he flapped his wings and splashed the water all over. + +Say, I wish you could have seen him. It was as good as a circus! He got +his tail all wet, and his back got all wet, and, as his feathers weren't +the kind that water runs off from, he was soon as soaked as your umbrella +ever was. That made him heavy and he began to sink. Oh, how he splashed +and spluttered around in that pond! He couldn't swim any more than my +typewriter can, and, all at once, what do you suppose happened? + +Why, he felt himself sinking more and more and more. Oh, it was terrible! + +"Save me! Oh, save me!" Mr. Doodle cried. "I am going down! Help me, +please! Help! Help! Help!" + +Then the duck children felt sorry, and swam to him as fast as they could. +Each one took hold of that poor rooster; Lulu and Alice by a wing, and +Jimmie by the rooster's tail, and they towed him to shore. Oh, but he was +a sorry looking sight! He couldn't even crow, nor flap his wings. + +"I thought you said you could swim," spoke Jimmie. + +"Hush!" begged Alice, who was very kind-hearted. "Don't be casting up! +Don't make him feel bad." + +"Oh, I feel bad enough without that," said Mr. Doodle, sighing. "I guess +the water wasn't right for swimming to-day," and with that he walked off, +and hid himself in some leaves, to get dry, for he hadn't any towels at +his house. But the Wibblewobble children kept on swimming, for they knew +how; and now, let me see; well, how about a story of an enchanted castle +for to-morrow night; eh? that is if the scissors don't cut up too much. + + + + +STORY XI + +ALICE WIBBLEWOBBLE'S ENCHANTED CASTLE + + +Alice Wibblewobble had made up her mind to find out more about the fairy +prince. She couldn't believe he was only a mud turtle. She felt sure he +was merely in that form until some one came along, pronounced the magical +words, or sprinkled the magical water on him, or did something else, to +change him back again. + +"I think I will have another talk with him," she said. "Perhaps, if I go +all alone, he will tell me what to do. Oh, wouldn't it be perfectly lovely +if I could change him into a king with a golden-diamond-ruby crown. Yes, I +certainly shall go." + +So Alice swam off up the pond, in the direction the gold fish had once led +Lulu and Jimmie and her. + +Well, Alice went on and on and on, for ever so long, but she couldn't seem +to find the place where the mud turtle fairy prince lived. She saw the +green rushes hanging over the water's edge, she saw the bright ripples, +just like diamonds that might be in a king's crown, and she heard the +birds singing; but there was no mud hole where the fairy prince lived. + +"Oh dear!" exclaimed Alice. "I'm afraid I'm lost." + +"What? Lost in this beautiful place?" asked a voice just above her head, +and, looking up, Alice saw a dear little yellow bird sitting on a tree +over the water. + +"Yes," said Alice, and a tear came into her eye, and ran down her yellow +bill. "I am lost. I can't find the fairy prince." + +"Oh, that is too bad," said the little yellow bird. "I don't just know +what a fairy prince is, but it must be dreadful not to be able to find one +when you want to. Do not feel badly, however. I can take you to an +enchanted castle, if that will do." + +"Oh, can you?" cried Alice. "That will be lovely. I had almost as soon see +an enchanted castle as a fairy prince. Is it a really, truly one?" + +"Oh, yes," answered the bird. "It certainly is. It is the most beautiful +place in all the world. Come, and I will show you." + +Then Alice felt delighted, and she walked out of the water, and waddled +along on the land. The bird flew along, going slowly, so as not to get +ahead of Alice. On and on they went, over green fields, and through the +woods, until, pretty soon, they came to a place where the bird stopped. + +"We are near the enchanted castle," he said. "But you must be very +careful." + +"Why?" asked Alice. + +"Oh, because every once in a while a lot of water spouts up out of the +castle, and it might drown you, if you were not careful." + +"Oh, I don't mind water," answered Alice. + +Then they went on a little farther, and, in a short time, oh, perhaps +about as long as it takes you to peel an orange, and put some salt on it, +they came to a most beautiful place. I wish you could have seen it! At +first Alice thought the rainbow had fallen from the sky, there were so +many colors. There was red and green and blue and orange and violet and +yellow and pink and purple and even some of that skilligimink color, that +once turned Sammie Littletail sky-blue-pink. + +Then the little duck girl saw that the colors were all from different +flowers that smelled just like mamma's perfume bottles. Next, as she +walked on a little farther, she saw a great pile of stones high in the +air, and, around the bottom of the pile was a big basin of water, not +quite as large as the pond at the ducks' pen, but nearly, Green vines and +flowers were growing in and out among the stones, and birds were flying +here and there, singing. + +"This," said the little yellow bird, "is the enchanted castle. I live here +all summer, and so do all my friends. Sometimes we bathe in the water, and +sometimes we hide under the flowers. Then, when the water spouts up out of +the top of the castle we all fly away." + +And just then, what should happen but that some water began to spurt, then +and there, right out of the top of that big pile of stones. Up, up it +went, in a spray, spreading out at the tops like an umbrella in a rain +storm, and the drops fell with a splash into the basin below. Then Alice +Wibblewobble cried out! + +"Why, this isn't an enchanted castle at all!" + +"No?" asked the yellow bird, putting its head on one side, so as to see +better. "Why, we always call this our enchanted castle; always." + +"No," answered Alice. "It is only a fountain in a stone pile in somebody's +flower garden. I've seen one before, near our house." + +"Well, it looks like an enchanted castle," said the bird, "and I'm sure +it's just as pretty as one. Isn't it as good as your fairy prince?" + +"Well," replied the little duck girl. "I suppose it is. But it's only +water, such as I swim in." + +"Oh, do you swim?" asked the bird. "Do please show me how. I've always +wanted to learn." + +So, though Alice was disappointed about the enchanted castle, she got in +the little pond at the foot of the fountain, and swam around. The water +spurted up in the air and fell all over her, but she didn't mind that. All +the birds gathered around to watch, and even the flowers nodded their +heads, they were so delighted. + +"Oh, I'm sure we never can learn to swim," said the yellow bird, as Alice +went around again. "It is much too difficult." + +Then, all of a sudden, something happened. A boy and a girl came running +down the gravel walk to the fountain. The little girl had yellow hair, +just like a daffodil, and as soon as she saw Alice she cried out: "Oh, +Norman! Come quick! Here is a lovely duck! I hope we can keep it!" + +That frightened Alice very much, especially as the boy tried to grab her. +So she sprang out of the water and ran and hid under some bushes where the +children couldn't find her, and as soon as she could, she went back the +way she had come, into the pond, and started to swim home. + +And on the way a fox chased her and a big hawk tried to swoop down, and +grab her, but she managed to get away. She was all tired out when she got +home, and when Jimmie and Lulu asked her where she had been she told them +all her adventures. + +"Well," said Jimmie, when his sister had finished, "I think I would rather +see that enchanted castle than the fairy prince again. Will you take us +there some day, Alice?" + +"Perhaps," she said, but before they made that trip something else +happened, which you shall hear about to-morrow night if I find a green +popcorn ball with a pink ribbon on it. It's a story of a visit to Grandpa +Wibblewobble's house. + + + + +STORY XII + +A VISIT TO GRANDPA WIBBLEWOBBLE + + +Jimmie Wibblewobble was playing marbles with Bully, the frog, one day. +They had just finished one game, and were beginning another when Alice +Wibblewobble came alone. "Jimmie," she said, "mamma wants you." + +"What does she want?" asked her brother. + +"She wants you to come for a walk in the woods with us. Papa is going +along. Come right away." + +"Aw, I'd rather play with Bully," answered Jimmie, but just then his mamma +called him, and he had to go. Bully hopped off, and Jimmie and Alice +walked home together. + +"Come, Lulu, are you all ready?" asked Mrs. Wibblewobble, as she saw her +other daughter throwing stones in the pond, and making a great splash. + +"Yes," was the reply, and then Jimmie said: "Oh, mamma, I don't want to go +walking." + +"I think you will want to when you know where we are going," said his +papa. + +"Where are we going?" + +"To Grandpa Wibblewobble's." + +"Oh, goody!" cried Lulu and Jimmie at once, for they always had a nice +time at their grandfather's. So the ducks set off through the woods and +over the fields, and every time they came to a bit of water they swam over +it as fast as a cat can wash her face. + +Pretty soon, after awhile, not very long, they came to the pen where +Grandpa Wibblewobble lived with his daughter, Miss Weezy Wibblewobble, who +kept house for him. + +"Ha, I think grandpa has company," said Papa Wibblewobble, as they came +close to the pen and heard talking. "Yes, he certainly has." And, sure +enough, the old gentleman duck had. And whom do you suppose it was? My +Uncle Wiggily Longears, the old gentleman rabbit! + +"How is your rheumatism?" asked Mrs. Wibblewobble of Uncle Wiggily +Longears, after they had sat down. + +"Oh, it doesn't seem to get any better," he answered. "I have carried a +piece of horse chestnut in one ear, and a bit of dried potato in the other +for ever so long, but nothing seems to do me any good. I am going to have +a new doctor soon if I don't get well. Oh my, yes, and some pepper hash on +bread and butter also! Ha! Hum! Oh my! Ouch! and Jack and the Bean +Stalk!" Uncle Wiggily called out that last because his rheumatism hurt so. + +Well, Grandpa Wibblewobble gave each of the Wibblewobble children some +nice sugared corn meal, flavored with sweet flag, peppermint and +watercress, and a few snails to eat, and maybe they didn't like them! + +"Now," said grandpa, "you children go out to play, while we old folks talk +about the weather and rheumatism," for you see rheumatism was about all +Uncle Wiggily cared to talk about. + +Well, the little duck children had a fine time playing around grandpa's +house, and now, in about a minute something is going to happen. They had +wandered off a little way, and, just as they were resting under some +burdock leaves, in the shade, they heard voices talking. And one voice +said: + +"Now I'll go up to the front door of Grandpa Wibblewobble's house and you +go up to the back door. We'll both knock at the same time, and the ducks +won't know which door to go to first. Then we'll jump in the windows and +eat them all up--all up--up! There are some extra fine ducks there +to-day." + +Oh, maybe Jimmie and his sisters weren't frightened. They trembled so that +the leaves shook as if the wind was blowing them, and when Jimmie got a +little quiet he looked out, and what do you suppose he saw? Why two mean, +wicked, sly old foxes, who were getting ready to go to grandpa's house and +eat him up, and Mamma and Papa Wibblewobble up, and probably Uncle Wiggily +Longears, too; who knows? + +"Oh, isn't this awful?" asked Alice in a whisper. "I am going to faint! I +know I am!" + +"Silly!" said Jimmie to her. "Don't you dare faint! Here, smell of this," +and he picked some spearmint, and held it under his sister's nose, which +made her feel better. + +"We must do something," said Lulu. "It will never do to have those bad +foxes go to grandpa's house! How can we stop them?" + +"Let me think," whispered Jimmie, quite bravely, and he put his head under +his wing, so he could be quiet and think better. "Ah, I have it!" he cried +out. "Come with me, girls!" + +So they stepped softly from under the burdock leaves, those three duck +children did, and ran to grandpa's house as fast as they could, leaving +the bad foxes in the woods. Well, you can imagine how surprised all the +folks were, even Uncle Wiggily, when they heard the alarming news which +the children told. + +"Oh, whatever shall we do?" cried Weezy Wibblewobble. + +"I know what I'd do, if it wasn't for my rheumatism!" said Uncle Wiggily. +"I'd bite those foxes, and jump on them, too, but I can't! Oh, if Nurse +Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy were only here!" + +"Never mind. I will save you," spoke Jimmie. "Come now, we must get a lot +of stones and some boards. Hurry, for the foxes will soon be here." + +So the ducks, with Uncle Wiggily helping them as much as he could, put a +board over the front door, and one over the back door, just inside the +house. Then they piled a lot of stones on the boards and fixed them with +strings, so that when the cords were pulled the boards would fall down and +the stones would also fall, with a clatter on the head of whoever was at +the door. + +Well, after all this was done, the ducks and Uncle Wiggily went and hid in +the house. Then, in a little while, those bad foxes came sneaking along. +And, sure enough, one went to the back door and the other to the front +door. + +They knocked at the same time, just as they had said they would, and Papa +Wibblewobble opened one door and Grandpa Wibblewobble the other. Then just +as soon as the doors were opened Jimmie, who had hold of the strings that +were fast to the boards, pulled them with his bill, and down clattered +the stones, rattlety-bang-go-bung-ker-plunk, right on top of the heads of +those two bad foxes! Oh, how scared they were! + +"The house is falling! The house is falling! Run away!" cried one fox and +they both ran as fast as they could, glad enough to escape, I tell you. +Now, wasn't that a good trick Jimmie played on those bad animals? + +I thought so, myself, and so did his grandpa and his papa and mamma, to +say nothing of Uncle Wiggily Longears. And that's how the foxes didn't eat +up the ducks, and to-morrow night, if the robin sings under my window as +sweetly as he did yesterday morning, you shall hear about how Aunt Lettie +came on a visit. + + + + +STORY XIII + +A VISIT FROM AUNT LETTIE + + +One day it was so very pleasant out of doors that Lulu and Alice and +Jimmie Wibblewobble didn't want to go to school. The sun was sparkling on +the water in the duck pond, and Alice said, as she felt the wind blowing +on her feathers: + +"Oh, I just wish I could go see the fairy prince again!" + +"Pooh! I don't," spoke Jimmie. "But I wish we could stay home from school. +Bully, the frog, and I were going to get up a baseball nine. Let's go ask +papa if we can stay home." + +"Can't I play on your ball team?" asked Lulu, who could throw a stone +almost as well as a boy. + +"No," said Jimmie. "Girls never play on ball teams." + +"Couldn't I even umpire?" went on his sister. + +"No, Uncle Wiggily Longears is going to do that," replied Jimmie. "Billie +and Johnnie Bushytail and Sammie Littletail are going to play on the team. +But let's go ask papa if we can stay home. It's too nice to go to +school." + +So they went and asked Mr. Wibblewobble, who had remained at home from +work that day, because, you see, he happened to swallow a shoe button by +mistake for a grain of corn, and he had indigestion something awful; yes, +really. + +You know it was a tan shoe button, and if your eyesight isn't very good, +why it does look like a grain of corn, especially if you're very hungry +and in a hurry. So Mr. Wibblewobble wasn't feeling very well when Jimmie +and Lulu came in to ask him if they could stay home from school, and he +was the least bit cross, perhaps, because his indigestion was really very +bad at that moment. So he answered them: + +"No, indeed, you can't stay home. Go to school at once! Quack!" + +Now when a duck says one quack, instead of a double quack-quack, you may +know he is feeling very, very miserable, and you don't want to bother him +any more than you can help. + +Lulu and Jimmie knew this, and they hurried out of the pen to go to +school. Then their papa felt sorry for them, because, you see, he did not +really mean to be cross, only he knew it was best for them to learn all +they could. So he said "Quack-quack," which meant he was feeling better, +and he added: "When you come home, my dears, you may each have a penny. +Run along now, like good ducks." + +So, though Jimmie felt badly about not being able to get up a ball nine, +he waddled along with his sisters, and pretty soon they were at the owl +school, where they met Sammie and Susie Littletail and Billie and Johnnie +Bushytail, and Sister Sallie and Bully, the frog. Yes, they were all +there, and, what's more, they had their lessons, too, so they were not +kept in. + +They hurried home after school, Alice and Lulu and Jimmie, I mean, because +this story is about them, you see; and they got their pennies from their +papa, and each one bought some watercress snails, preserved in salted +cornmeal; very fine they were, too, for ducks. + +Just as the three Wibblewobble children were finishing the last of the +snails, who should come hopping along but Bully, the frog. He hopped into +the water to cool himself off and then, when he had hopped out again, he +asked: + +"I say, Jimmie, are your folks expecting company?" + +"I don't think so," answered Jimmie. "I saw mamma setting the table and +she wasn't putting the clean cloth on. No, I guess we're not going to have +company, or there'd be a clean cloth put on. Why do you ask?" + +"Because, as I was coming through the woods just now I met a funny looking +creature asking the way to your pen." + +"Who was it?" inquired Lulu. + +"Oh, it was a nice old lady. She had long hair and she carried a basket +and she wore such a funny bonnet! Two sharp things stuck right out of the +top of it. I offered to show her the way here, but she said I went in the +water so often that she couldn't follow me, for she didn't want to get her +feet wet. You must be going to have company." + +"Maybe we are!" cried Alice. "Let's go ask mamma." + +So they went, and asked their mother, but she said she did not know of any +company coming, but, for fear some one might come along unexpectedly she +did put the clean table cloth on, and she got out the napkins, and opened +a jar of preserved sweet flag root. + +"Come on," proposed Lulu, after a bit, "let's go through the woods. Bully, +you show us where you met the queer lady, and maybe we'll see her." + +So the four started off, Bully hopping along in front, and pretty soon, +just as they got to the place where the weeping willow tree stands, what +should they hear but a funny noise. It sounded like "Ma-a-a-a-a!" You +know, just like a sheep cries. + +"There she is!" exclaimed Bully. "That's just the way she talks. And there +she is! Look! The nice old lady!" + +The three Wibblewobble children looked, and what should they see but a big +white goat. She was an old lady goat, and she was walking along with her +basket on her arm, and the things sticking out of her bonnet were her +horns. As soon as she saw the children she called: + +"Oh, my dears, can you show me the way to Mrs. Wibblewobble's? I'm afraid +I'm lost!" + +"Why, Mrs. Wibblewobble is our mamma," answered Lulu, quickly. + +"Oh, my dears! You don't mean it!" cried the goat. "Then you must be my +little nieces and nephew I've heard so much about. But who is this little +green boy? I've seen him before." + +"Oh, he's the catcher on our base ball nine," said Jimmie. "He catches the +balls in his mouth. But, who are you, if I may be so bold as to ask?" + +"I'm your Aunt Lettie," replied the goat. "I've come to pay you a long +visit. Oh, I'm so glad I found you, for I feared I would never get to your +house! See, I have brought you some apple turnovers, and some gooseberry +tarts. Now let's hurry home, but first kiss me." + +So Aunt Lettie kissed them all, even Bully, the frog, and then she and the +Wibblewobble children went to the ducks' pen, where she stayed several +days. + +And quite a number of things happened, too. In fact, one took place the +very next day, as you shall hear to-morrow night, when I am going to tell +you about Lulu and the pussy willows, provided a doggie with a yellow nose +and pink ears doesn't scare me. + + + + +STORY XIV + +LULU AND THE PUSSY WILLOWS + + +"What shall we do now?" asked Lulu the next morning after Aunt Lettie +came, and the duck children had gone out to play, leaving their mamma and +the old lady goat to do the dishes. + +"Let's go see the fairy prince," suggested Alice. + +"Oh, you're always thinking of that fairy prince," objected Jimmie. "I say +let's go for a walk." + +"All right," agreed Lulu. "I know where there are some nice pussy willows. +We'll get some to take to our school teacher next Monday." + +So they started off up the pond to the place where the pussy willows grew. +They gathered quite a number, breaking off the stems in their strong +yellow bills, and then, putting the willows under their wings, they +started back home again. They didn't have to hurry because, you see, it +was Saturday, and there wasn't any school. Oh, my no! Ducks don't have to +go to school on Saturday any more than you do, even if they are only in +the kindergarten class. + +Now, if you please, pay close attention, for something is going to happen +very shortly, if Uncle Wiggily Longears doesn't come along and bother me, +and I don't believe he will. Well, Lulu and Alice and Jimmie got safely +home with the pussy willows, and as they were putting them in water to +keep until Monday, Aunt Lettie came into the room. + +"What have you there, my dears?" she asked, wiggling her horns and looking +over the tops of her glasses as easily as you can draw a picture of a +horse. "What have you there, my dears?" + +"They are pussy willows, Aunt Lettie," replied Lulu. + +"Oh dearie me! oh Sacramento!" cried Aunt Lettie, who was quite excitable +at times. "Why ever did you bring them here, little ones?" + +"Why, we want them for teacher," explained Alice. + +"I don't," declared Jimmie. "Boys never bring the teacher flowers; that is +unless they don't want to be kept in when there's a ball game. But don't +you like pussy willows, Aunt Lettie?" + +"Oh, no indeed," she answered. "I don't like cats of any description." + +"But these are only pussy willows," said Alice. + +"Oh, they'll turn into cats quickly enough," remarked Aunt Lettie. "There +was a family who once lived next to us, and they had kittens. Why it +wasn't any time at all before those kittens had turned into cats, and land +goodness, how they did howl nights and keep me awake! And I had lumbago +that summer, too! Oh, yes, indeed, kittens are all very well, but when +they turn into old cats they're not so nice." + +"Oh, but Aunt Lettie, you don't understand," explained Jimmie, smiling the +least bit. "You see these are only plant pussies. They can't ever become +real cats you know." + +"They grow, don't they?" asked the old lady goat, shaking her horns again, +"Don't they grow?" + +"Yes," admitted Lulu. "They certainly grow." + +"Well, if they're pussies now they'll grow to be cats soon enough, you +mark my words," went on Aunt Lettie quite sorrowfully. "That is unless +they drown in that water," she added quickly. + +"Why, no; pussy willows can't drown in water," said Lulu. "We put them +there to keep them fresh. You don't need to worry about those pussy +willows, dear Aunt Lettie." + +[Illustration] + +But Aunt Lettie did worry. In fact she had to worry about something, +anyhow, so I suppose it is just as well that she worried about the pussy +willows. And, when they all went to bed that night, the last thing she +said was: + +"Now, you mark my words! Those pussies will be cats before you know it." + +But Lulu and Alice and Jimmie did not think so. However you just wait and +see what happened. + +Along in the middle of the night, when it was all still and quiet, and +when even the frogs had stopped croaking, and it wasn't time for the +roosters to begin to crow; yes, when it was dark, and still and silent and +not a sound was heard, suddenly what should happen but that right in the +Wibblewobble house there came a loud: "Mew! Mew! Mew!" + +"There!" exclaimed Aunt Lettie, jumping out of bed. "What did I tell you? +Those pussy willows have turned into cats, and the house will be full of +them! Oh, dear! Why did you bring them in here? It's dreadfully bad luck!" + +Lulu and Jimmie and Alice jumped out of bed, too. So did Mr. and Mrs. +Wibblewobble. All the while they kept hearing that: "Mew! Mew! Mew!" + +"Whatever can it be?" asked Mamma Wibblewobble. "Maybe it's a burglar." + +"Nonsense!" replied Mr. Wibblewobble, "burglars don't mew. I'll go look." + +So he went to look, and what do you think he found? Why, right under a +vase of the pussy willows, on a cushion, was a dear, sweet, little white +kitten. Yes, sir, as true as I'm telling you! And so soon as Lulu saw it +she cried: "It's mine! One of my pussy willows has turned into a kittie! +Oh, how glad I am!" + +And, honestly, the kittie was right under Lulu's vase of pussy willows, +just as sure as that two and two make four. + +"I told you so!" cried Aunt Lettie. "Now, maybe you'll believe me next +time. The pussy willows turned into a kitten." + +"Oh, but this kitten can't be from those willows," said Papa Wibblewobble. +"This is a real pussy. It must have come in from out of doors. I guess I +must have left a window open." + +And the funny part of it was that he had left a window up, and it was a +real kittie that had wandered in, straying away from its mamma. But Aunt +Lettie was sure it had come from a pussy willow. Lulu didn't care, because +she was allowed to keep the kittie for herself, and what do you think? Why +that kittie joined Jimmie's baseball nine, and to-morrow night I'll tell +you about a game of ball that was played. That is if the man in the moon +doesn't tumble down and hurt his nose. + + + + +STORY XV + +PLAYING A BALL GAME + + +One day Jimmie Wibblewobble was going over to where Bully, the frog, +lived. + +"Come on!" cried the little boy duck, to the frog. "Let's get up a ball +game. We'll find Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, and Sammie Littletail, and +have some fun. Have you seen Uncle Wiggily Longears? He will umpire for +us, I know, and tell who's out, and when the balls go straight, and all +that. Have you seen him?" + +"I saw him limping along a while ago," answered Bully. "He can't have gone +very far, for his rheumatism is bad again." + +"Let's hurry up and catch him," suggested Jimmie. So they ran on through +the woods as fast as they could and, sure enough, they soon saw the old +gentleman rabbit. + +"Will you come to our ball game?" asked Jimmie. + +"Why, of course, to be sure," answered Uncle Wiggily. "But I can't play +very well, you know, on account of--Oh my! Ouch! Oh dear! Um Um! Present +arms! Ready! Aim! Fire! Oh! Oh! Oh!" That's the way he cried all of a +sudden. + +"What's the matter?" asked Jimmie. + +"Matter? Why my rheumatism; that's what's the matter! It does seem to +catch me at the wrong time. I'm afraid I won't be able to play ball to-day +after all, boys. I'm sorry, but--Oh dear! There it goes again!" and that +poor, old gentleman rabbit had to lean on his crutch, because his legs +hurt him so. + +"Oh, we only want you to look on, and tell us when the game is going all +right," said Jimmie very kindly. "You can have a seat in the shade, and +you will decide who's out, and who makes a run, and which side wins." + +"Well, I might manage that," replied Uncle Wiggily. "Come on, but please +walk very slowly." + +So they walked on very slowly, and pretty soon they met Johnnie and Billie +Bushytail with Sister Sallie. And the little girl squirrel was singing: + + "Hippity-hop to the barber shop + To buy a lolly-pop-lally. + One for me and one for thee + And one for Sister Sallie." + +"Come on, let's play ball," called Jimmie to Johnnie and Billie. The +Bushytail brothers said they would, and on they all went, through the +woods and over the fields, and pretty soon, oh, maybe in about two quacks +and a half, whom should they meet but Sammie and Susie Littletail. Sammie +said he would play ball, and Susie said she would look on. Then along came +Lulu and Alice Wibblewobble, and Lulu had her white kittie with her. + +"My kittie ought to play, as long as I can't play, especially as she knew +how to roll a ball," spoke Lulu. So Jimmie said the kittie could very +nicely with her paws. + +"But that's all the girls who are going to be on the team," said Jimmie +very decidedly. + +Well, they started to play, and they had an old wooden door knob for a +ball. I just wish you could have seen them, honestly I do. It was as good +as going to a show, where they charge five pins to get in. Bully, the +frog, was the catcher, for all he had to do was to open his large mouth, +and the ball would go right in. Uncle Wiggily was a sort of judge, or +umpire. That is, he sat in the shade, on a pile of soft leaves, and told +when it was right for one of the players to give up the bat, and let some +one else have a chance. + +Now whom do you suppose threw the ball? Why, Johnnie Bushytail. And +Billie was on first base, while Jimmie Wibblewobble had the bat, which was +a piece of hickory stick. He was to hit the ball and Sammie Littletail and +the white kittie, whose name was Sadie, were to chase it. + +Oh, what fun they had! Jimmie knocked the ball as hard as he could, and +then he ran, and Sadie and Sammie tried to put him out, that is to tag him +with the ball, for that's the way they played. Then it came Bully's turn +to bat, while Johnnie Bushytail caught, and then you should have seen how +cutely Sadie, the kittie, would roll the ball along to first base whenever +any one hit it. + +And as for Billie Bushytail, when it was his turn, he knocked a ball away +over in the field, and Lulu ran after it, even if she wasn't supposed to +play. She threw it back too, and then she went and sat down with Alice and +Susie and Sister Sallie. Uncle Wiggily did fine at umpiring, and he was as +kind and good as could be, so no one found fault with what he said, even +when he had to rub his leg that had rheumatism in it. + +But something dreadful happened. I've got to tell about it, or else it +wouldn't be fair, and we must always be honest and fair in this world, no +matter whether we want to or not. It was Jimmie's turn at the bat again. +He hit the ball very hard. + +Away it sailed, over the fence and across the field, and then, oh, don't +breathe or wiggle for a few seconds now! then, if that ball didn't smash, +bang, crash right into the window of Grandfather Goosey-Gander's house! +Yes, sir, it broke the window all to flinders, and out rushed Grandfather +Goosey-Gander! Oh, but he was angry! He quacked, and he squawked, and he +called out: + +"Who broke my window?" + +"I--I did, please sir," answered Jimmie. "But I didn't mean to. It was an +accident." + +"Ha, hum! An accident, eh? Well, you'll have to pay for it," said +Grandfather Goosey-Gander. "Yes, that's what you will!" + +"Oh we'll all chip in and pay for it," said Bully, quickly. "That's what +we always do in a ball game when a window is broken. I'll pay my share." + +"Ha! Hum!" cried Grandfather Goosey-Gander, and then he sneezed, for he +had run out without his cap on and he was bald headed. + +So they all agreed to pay for the window, and even Sister Sallie said she +would help. But they didn't have to. No, sir, as true as I'm telling you, +if Aunt Lettie didn't happen along just then, and, when she heard what +the matter was, she just took out her purse and said: + +"I'll pay for the window which Jimmie broke. I am rich, and I'll never +miss the money. Boys and girls must have some fun." + +"Fine!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "I'm the umpire and I say that's just fine." + +Now, wasn't that kind of Aunt Lettie? Well, I guess so! Then the game went +on, and Billie and Johnnie Bushytail won, but no more windows were broken. +Now, if we don't get an April shower to-morrow, you shall hear, in the +next story, to-morrow night, about how the duck's pen caught fire, and who +put it out. + + + + +STORY XVI + +THE WIBBLEWOBBLE HOME ON FIRE + + +After the ball game, which I told you about last night, all the players, +and those who had looked on, and Uncle Wiggily, the umpire, started for +home. On the way they talked of how kind Aunt Lettie was. + +"She's the kindest person I have ever known," said Uncle Wiggily, as he +limped along on his crutch that Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy had gnawed out of a +cornstalk for him. "She is very--Oh dear! Oh me! Oh my! Oh +disproportionability! Wow! Ouch! My rheumatism again!" and it hurt him so +he had to stand still and waggle his ears as hard as ever he could. Then +he felt better, especially after he had rubbed a horse chestnut on his +sore leg. + +You see the rheumatism which was cured by a red fairy, as I told you about +in the first book, came back because Uncle Wiggily got his feet wet going +out one day without his umbrella. + +Of course Papa and Mamma Wibblewobble were much surprised to hear about +the ball game, and the broken window, but they didn't scold Jimmie very +much, and pretty soon, oh, in a little while after supper, you know, it +was bedtime for the duck children and they went to bed. + +Well, it got darker and darker, and soon it was nice and quiet around the +pond where the ducks lived. Only the frogs seemed to be awake, and they +were croaking away in the water. And pretty soon Lulu and Alice were +dreaming and so was Jimmie, and the funny part of it is that they all +dreamed different things. + +Pretty soon it got even darker, and then up popped the silvery moon, and +it wasn't quite so dark. But it was more quiet. Oh my, yes! It was so +quiet that I believe if a feather had fallen off a duck's back it would +have made a noise when it struck the ground. Oh, it was very quiet. + +Then, all of a sudden Jimmie awakened. He sniffed and he snuffed, and he +smelled smoke. So he got up and he called to Lulu and Alice in the next +room: + +"Say, don't you smell smoke?" + +"Yes," said Alice, "I do." + +"Maybe it's Grandfather Goosey-Gander smoking his pipe," suggested Lulu. + +"No, he doesn't smoke as late as this," said Jimmie. + +Then the smell of smoke got stronger, and, in about as long as it would +take you to count one and a half, what should happen but that the whole +duckhouse was suddenly lighted up. Then there came a crackling, roaring +sound, and Papa and Mamma Wibblewobble jumped up. + +"Oh, dear! It's burglars! I know it's burglars!" cried Mrs. Wibblewobble. +"Quack real loud, Leander" (you see Mr. Wibblewobble's name was Leander). +"Quack real loud, and call the police!" + +So Mr. Leander Wibblewobble quacked as loudly as he could, and just then +Aunt Lettie jumped out of bed. + +"Oh dear! Oh dear! Oh dear!" she cried, three times, just like that. "The +house is on fire! The house is burning up! Run! Jump, everybody!" + +And, sure enough, the ducks' house was on fire, and it wasn't a burglar at +all; no sir! Whether the moon was so hot that it caused the fire, or +whether it was sparks from grandfather's pipe, I can't say, but anyhow, +the house was on fire, and it was burning fiercely. + +"Oh dear! Oh dear!" cried Aunt Lettie again. And Mamma Wibblewobble cried +just the same, too. Then they all ran and jumped out of the second-story +window, but it didn't hurt them, for they could fly a little bit, you +know, and they came down like balloons. That is all but Aunt Lettie, and +she was used to jumping, so she came down like a lot of dishes falling +off the table. + +Well, you should have seen that house burn! Oh, it was a dreadful sight. +All the other ducks and the geese and the chickens gathered around. The +rooster crowed the alarm. Box number twenty-one it was, but of course +there were no engines to come and put out the fire. + +"Oh, we must save the house!" shouted Papa Wibblewobble. + +"Everybody bring water from the pond and throw it on the fire!" cried Aunt +Lettie, and she ran down and filled her two horns, which she carried on +her head. The horns were hollow and had the tops sawed off, so she could +fill them quickly and pour out the water just as easily. She splashed some +water on the fire, but it didn't do much good. Then Lulu and Alice and +Jimmie, they filled their bills with water and threw it on the blaze, but +that didn't do much good. + +No, sad to tell, all the water the ducks and the geese and Aunt Lettie +could carry, to say nothing of the rooster who couldn't bring much, +because he stopped to crow every now and then--all this water didn't do a +bit of good, and the house was burning faster and faster. + +Then, what do you think happened? Why, all at once there came running up +old Nero, the big, shaggy, yellow dog, who was so old and kind that he +would never hurt any one. Yes, he ran right up and called out: + +"Make way, if you please. I will put out that fire!" + +So he ran down into the pond as fast as he could run and soaked himself in +the water. Then he ran up close to the fire and shook himself hard, and +the drops of water scattered from his shaggy sides all over the blaze, +just like a rain storm. And the fire was partly out. + +Then he ran down again and got all wet and shook himself, and scattered +some more water over the fire. And that fire was pretty nearly out. + +Then for the third time that dog, Nero, ran down into the water and got +all soaking wet, and scattered the drops over the blaze, like two showers +and a half. And then that fire was all completely out! Oh, wasn't he a +good dog, though? + +Well, the house wasn't burned so much after all, and the ducks could go +back into it. And maybe they weren't thankful to Nero, but he only said: + +"Ah, you should have watched me gnaw bones when I was a young dog. That +was a sight worth seeing." But I think it was great for him to put out +the fire, don't you? Now, to-morrow night's story, providing my automobile +doesn't hit a balloon, will be about how the fairy prince was caught. + + + + +STORY XVII + +HOW THE FAIRY PRINCE WAS CAUGHT + + +Aunt Lettie, the nice old lady goat, wanted Lulu and Alice and Jimmie to +have a good time, so one day she fixed them up a basket of lunch to take +off in the woods and eat. She made some jam tarts--oh, such lovely, flaky +ones!--and there were cookies and bread and butter and I don't know what +all. I just wish I had that basket of lunch now, don't you? But, of +course, we wouldn't want to take it away from the duck children, would we? + +So they started off, and as they passed by Nero, he opened one eye--only +one, mind you, and looked at them. And he said: "I am feeling a little +hungry, but I don't s'pose you have anything for me." + +"Yes," said Lulu, "you may have a jam tart because you saved our house +from burning up." + +So they gave Nero one tart, and he gobbled it up as quickly as you can +cross your "t" or dot your "i" when you're writing in school. + +Pretty soon, well, not so very long, you know, the three duck children +came to the woods. Oh, the woods were the nicest place you ever saw! + +There was a little brook running in and out among the trees, and it +sounded like music when it went over the stones. Well, they sat down on +the grass, near a mossy old stump, and ate their lunch, until there wasn't +even so much as a crumb of a jam tart left. They had just gotten through +when, all of a sudden, they heard a big noise. It was like some one +stamping his feet down and breaking sticks. + +The duck children were terribly frightened, for they thought maybe it was +an elephant or a rhinoceros coming along, but Jimmie peeked through the +bushes and whispered to his sisters: + +"It's a big boy!" + +"What's he doing?" asked Alice. + +"I guess he's going fishing," said Lulu, "for he has a fish pole over his +shoulder." + +And, sure enough, that boy was going fishing! He walked on a little +farther, stepping on sticks and breaking them, and then he sat down on the +edge of the little brook and began to fish. Then the duck children weren't +so much afraid, and they watched him. + +Pretty soon the boy pulled up his line with a jerk, but there wasn't +anything on it. Then he said: + +"Oh, dear! That was a big fish, but he got away." + +"I'm glad it got away," whispered Alice, "for I don't like to see the poor +fish caught." + +Then, in about two quacks and a waddle, the boy pulled up his pole again, +and this time he didn't have anything on the hook, either. So he said +again: + +"Oh, dear me, and an angle worm! That's two big fish that have gotten +loose." + +Then he threw in his line again, and the next time when he pulled it up +something came with it. Something wiggily, and black and yellow and +red-spotted with wrinkly legs and a long snaky neck and head. + +"Ker-thump!" it landed on the bank and the boy ran up to it. "Why, I've +caught a mud turtle!" he cried. + +"I am not!" the mud turtle called out, only he couldn't speak very +plainly, for the hook was in his mouth. "I'm a fairy prince, and you had +no right to catch me," he said. + +Now, of course, the boy couldn't hear this, for he didn't understand the +language used by the fairy prince. But Alice heard him, and so did Lulu +and Jimmie. + +"Oh, dear!" cried Alice. "That bad boy has caught the fairy prince! Let's +run out and make him let the prince go!" + +"Oh, no!" answered Lulu, "the boy might catch us then." + +"I know what let's do," whispered Jimmie. "We'll get in the bushes right +behind that boy, and quack and squawk as loud as we can: That will scare +him and make him run away. I don't believe the mud turtle is fairy prince, +but I don't want to see him hurt. Come on, girls. Now when I say: 'ready,' +quack real loud." + +So the three duck children went softly up to a bush right behind where +that fisherman--I mean fisherboy--was sitting. + +All this while the fairy prince was talking to the boy, and asking to be +let go, for the hook hurt him. The boy finally did take the hook out, not +hurting the mud-turtle any more than he could help, for he was not a bad +boy. + +Then, in an instant, or maybe in an instant and a half, Jimmie cried, +"Ready!" and he and his sisters quacked as loudly as possible, or even +louder. The boy was just going to put the mud turtle into the basket, but +when he heard the quacking, coming right out of the bushes behind him, he +was so frightened that he dropped the fairy prince on the ground. + +And the fairy prince crawled off as fast as he could, let me tell you. +Then the boy saw that it was the duck children who had frightened him, and +he laughed; but they didn't care, not a bit. + +Then the boy said: "Oh, I guess there is no good fishing here. I'm going +to try a new place," so he walked away. + +Then Alice went right up to the mud turtle and said: "O fairy prince, art +thou much hurt?" + +"I am hurt considerable," said the mud turtle. "I am hurt in two ways. My +mouth hurts where the hook went in, and my feelings are hurt because the +boy didn't believe I was a fairy prince." + +"Well, if you are a fairy prince," asked Jimmie, "why didn't you turn him +into an elephant or a lion and scare him, or why didn't you change him +into a bug or a mosquito, so he could fly away? Why didn't you do that, +eh?" + +"There are several reasons," replied the mud turtle. + +"Oh, wilt thou tell them to us?" asked Alice, romantically. + +"Not now," replied the fairy prince, "but I will later. Return here +to-morrow and I will tell you," and he stretched first one wrinkly leg, +and then the other, and went to sleep. + +"We will return," said Alice, and then the duck children hurried home, and +to-morrow night you shall hear about a magic trick and why the fairy +prince didn't turn that boy into an elephant or a lion. That is, if the +Thanksgiving turkey doesn't go to a football game. + + + + +STORY XVIII + +THE FAIRY PRINCE DOES A MAGIC TRICK + + +One day, after they had been out roller skating, Lulu and Alice and Jimmie +Wibblewobble suddenly remembered that it was time they went back to the +woods to meet the fairy prince, who was to tell them why he didn't turn +that fisher-boy into a lion or an elephant. So they took off their skates +and hurried to the place, and by and by, after awhile, not so very long, +they got there. Then they stopped and looked around. + +"Hu!" exclaimed Jimmie. "He isn't here. I _thought_ he was fooling us." + +"Hush!" begged Alice. "He may be only hiding to test us, to see if we +really believe in him. He may appear any moment in a big balloon or on the +back of a great bird." + +"Somebody's coming now," said Lulu, suddenly, for she heard a rustling in +the bushes. They all turned around, and whom do you think they saw coming +right out of the woods? Why, Uncle Wiggily Longears! The old gentleman +rabbit was limping along, making his nose go up and down and sideways at +the same time, the way you have seen all the bunnies do, you know. + +"Ha! Ha!" he exclaimed. "What have we here? Why, I do declare! If it isn't +Jimmie Wibblewobble and his sisters! What are you doing here, little +ones?" + +"We came here to meet the fairy prince," replied Jimmie. "He was going to +tell us about why he didn't change a boy into an elephant. But he isn't +here." + +"Who--the fairy prince, the boy or the elephant?" asked Uncle Wiggily, +gently rubbing a horse chestnut on his left hind leg, that had the worst +rheumatism in it. + +"Neither one," said Alice, "but the fairy prince is sure to come." + +"Stuff and nonsense. Nonsense and stuff, also snuff and red pepper!" cried +Uncle Wiggily. "Fairy prince indeed! There's no such thing!" + +"Oh, yes, there is!" said Alice. "Pray do not speak so loudly. He might +hear you." + +"Thank you, my dear, for trusting in me!" exclaimed a voice suddenly, and +honestly, you may not believe me, but if there wasn't that mud turtle! +Yes, sir, as true as I'm telling you, he appeared right from behind a +bush! + +"Thank you, my dear, for believing me," said the fairy prince to Alice +again. "As for this--ahem!--this person!" and the mud turtle looked very +severely at Uncle Wiggily, very severely indeed, "as for this person, I +will soon show him! Oh, my, yes! and a tortoiseshell comb in addition," he +said; and then the turtle stuck out its long neck, straight at the old +rabbit, until Uncle Wiggily thought it was a snake. + +"Fairy prince, we salute thee!" exclaimed Alice, making a low bow. + +"Good, very good," remarked the mud turtle. "I believe I promised you I +would tell you why I did not change the boy, who caught me, into something +strange, say an elephant or a lion." + +"Yes," replied Jimmie, "you did promise us. Go ahead, please." + +"That's not the way to talk to a fairy prince," objected Alice. "You +should speak more politely." + +"Never mind him, he doesn't know any better," went on the mud turtle. "I +will now give you my reasons. In the first place I did not want to scare +that boy after the way you frightened him. He had been punished enough, I +thought. Besides, if I had turned him into a lion or an elephant he would +have run through the woods, scaring every one he met, and that would not +have been right. And the reason I didn't change him into a bug or a +mosquito was because he might fly away, and then, when the magic spell +had passed off, and he was changed back into a boy again, the +transformation might have happened in the air, and he would fall right +down on somebody's head, and that would never do, never, never, not in a +year and a half. So I concluded not to do anything to him." + +"I don't believe you could have changed him into anything at all," said +Uncle Wiggily, quite boldly. "I don't even believe you are a fairy +prince." + +"There it goes again!" cried the mud turtle, and he wept big tears that +made a little puddle of water. "Very few persons do believe in me. But I +assure you I am a fairy prince," he added, "and, what's more, all I would +have had to say to that boy was 'Oskaluluhinniumhaddy,' and he would have +been turned into anything I liked. But I see you still do not believe +me--that is, all but Alice. So I will just do a magic trick for you. +Return here in an hour, and in this very spot you shall find a round +stone. Take a rock and break open the stone and you will see what +happens." + +So the Wibblewobble children and Uncle Wiggily went away, wondering what +was going to happen. They came back in an hour, and, sure enough, right +where the mud turtle had been standing was a large, round stone. + +"Wonderful!" cried Alice. + +"Let's see what's inside," suggested Jimmie. + +So he and Uncle Wiggily took up a rock, and hit that stone once, and they +hit it twice, and they hit it three times, and, at the third blow, if that +stone didn't break open, and out stepped the mud turtle fairy prince! He +was right inside that stone! Now, wasn't that a magic trick? I think so, +anyhow. + +"Oh, tell us how you did it!" begged Lulu. + +"It was very simple, very simple," said the turtle, as he flicked a bit of +mud off his nose. "You see, I just rolled myself up in some soft clay, and +then made it round like a stone. Then I stayed in the sun until it was +baked as hard as a rock, and then I rolled along here to wait for you. +Very simple, indeed. But, now, do you believe I am a fairy prince?" And +they all declared they did, even Uncle Wiggily, and Alice said three +times: "We salute thee, fairy prince." Oh, it was as good as a play! + +Well, now, let's see about to-morrow night. How about a story of the rat +who took the eggs? Do you think you would like that? Very well, then, you +shall hear it, providing my golden slipper doesn't fall off. + + + + +STORY XIX + +THE RATS WHO TOOK THE EGGS + + +Nothing had happened at the Wibblewobble house in several days, and Jimmie +and Lulu and Alice were beginning to feel that it was about time they went +off on another picnic, or else tried to find the fairy prince again. But, +one day, just as Jimmie was looking for his baseball and his catching +glove, his mamma came out of the pantry, where she had gone to get some +dishes to set the table. + +"Did any of you children take my eggs?" she asked, and she looked very +severely at them. + +"What? Are the eggs gone?" asked Aunt Lettie, the old lady goat. + +"Yes," said Mamma Wibblewobble, "there were just thirteen eggs, and now +there are only ten. Three have been taken, and I hope Lulu and Alice and +Jimmie didn't touch them." + +"Oh, no indeed, mamma," spoke Alice very quickly, as she finished tying a +sky-blue-pink ribbon around her neck. "I never touched them." + +"Neither did I," added Lulu. + +"Nor me," said Jimmie. "I don't like eggs anyhow." + +"I was saving them to hatch more little ducklings out of," went on Mamma +Wibblewobble, in sorrowful tones. "Now I shall have to wait. Oh, it's such +a disappointment to me!" + +"Maybe they fell off the shelf," suggested Jimmie. + +"No," replied his mother. "If they had fallen from the shelf out of the +basket, where I had them, the eggs would have broken, and made a mark on +the floor," and, of course, you know they would, for when an egg breaks on +the floor it makes a splish and a splash and a big yellow and white spot +that you can't help but see; now, doesn't it? So Mamma Wibblewobble knew +the eggs couldn't have fallen. + +"Well," remarked Aunt Lettie, "it's very strange. Perhaps they have been +stolen. You should notify the police." + +"Or tell Mr. Cock A. Doodle, the rooster," added Jimmie. "He would crow +over it; and if we offered a reward, maybe we would get the eggs back." + +"Well, I'm glad you children didn't take them, at all events," said their +mother. "Run along and play now. Aunt Lettie has made some molasses +cookies, with corn meal and raisins on top, and you may have some of +them." + +So Lulu and Alice and Jimmie went out to play, but all the while they were +thinking of the missing eggs. It was very strange. Their mamma and Aunt +Lettie hunted all over the duck pen for them, but the eggs couldn't be +found, any more than you can find a penny after you drop it down a crack +in the board walk. + +Well, when Papa Wibblewobble came home, he was told about the three +missing eggs. He was much surprised, but he said at once: + +"Why, a burglar has taken them; that's what! I remember now I heard a +suspicious noise last night. It was some one sneezing. That was the +burglar taking the eggs. I thought of getting up and going down to catch +him, but I was too sleepy, so I stayed in bed." + +"No, it wasn't a burglar who sneezed," said Aunt Lettie. "It was I. I left +my window open, and I caught a little cold." + +"Then who did sneeze and take the eggs?" asked Papa Wibblewobble. + +But no one could tell him, and it was more mysterious and wonderful than +ever, yes indeed. Not a trace of those eggs could be found, and Mamma +Wibblewobble felt terribly. + +[Illustration] + +Well, that night Jimmie thought of a plan. He decided he would catch +the bad burglar, or whoever it was that had taken the eggs, for the little +boy duck thought if they took three eggs they would come back for more. + +"I'm going to hide in the pantry to-night," he said to Lulu and Alice, +"and when the burglar comes I'm going to grab him." + +"Won't you be afraid?" asked Alice, shivering. + +"Afraid? Humph! I guess not," replied her brother. + +So that night, after every one had gone to bed, and it was all still and +quiet in the house, and Aunt Lettie was snoring the least little bit, +Jimmie crawled softly out of bed. Oh, so softly, and went and hid in the +pantry. + +It was dark, so he took a candle and was all ready to light it whenever he +heard a sound. Well, he had to wait quite some time, and it was getting +pretty lonesome, and he was beginning to feel sleepy when, all of a +sudden, he heard a noise! Then he heard another noise, and then a +scratching and a squeaking. Then he lighted the candle as quickly as he +could, and what do you suppose he saw? + +Why, two great big rats, no relation to good, kind Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, +the muskrat, oh, not at all, but two other bad rats! + +Well, as true as I'm telling you, if one rat didn't climb up on the +shelf, where the duck eggs were in the basket, and take one up in his +paws; and then what do you suppose he did? Why, he went to the edge of the +shelf and dropped the egg to the rat on the floor below. + +Then the rat on the floor caught it and lay down on his back, and hugged +the egg in his four paws, and the rat on the shelf ran down and got hold +of the tail of the rat that had the egg and began pulling him along the +floor, just as if he were a little wagon or sled with an egg on it. All +this Jimmie saw, and he cried out: + +"Oh, you bad rats, you, to steal my mamma's eggs!" + +Well, you should have seen how frightened those rats were at that! One +dropped the egg out of his paws and ran away, and the other followed. Oh, +but they were frightened, though! and wasn't Jimmie brave to hide in the +pantry and discover them? So that's how the first three eggs were taken, +but no more were, for Papa Wibblewobble stopped up the rat hole. + +And that's the end of this story. The one to-morrow night will be about +how Jimmie tried to stand on his head, that is, if the pussy cat doesn't +go to sleep in the milk bottle. + + + + +STORY XX + +HOW JIMMIE STOOD ON HIS HEAD + + +Jimmie Wibblewobble was quite a hero after he had found out about the rats +taking the eggs, and every time he walked in the chicken yard the old +rooster would crow and say: + +"There goes Jimmie, the boy who scared the rats." + +But do you s'pose Jimmie was proud? Not a bit of it. He was just as nice +as ever, and Lulu and Alice thought a lot of him, let me tell you. + +Well, one day, Bully, the frog, came over to play with Jimmie. They tossed +a baseball around, Bully catching it in his mouth. All of a sudden the +frog boy cried out: + +"Oh, my, I'm so warm, I think I'll jump in the pond and cool off." So he +jumped into the pond just as easily as butter melts on a hot stove, and +when he came up he felt better. Then he said to Jimmie: + +"Why don't you dive down under the water the way I do? It's lots of fun." + +"I would," answered Jimmie, "only I can't stay under water as you do. I +have to float on top. I can put my head under, to dig in the mud for +snails and sweet, spicy weeds, but I can't get my whole body under." + +"I know how you could do it," went on Bully. + +"How?" asked Jimmie, and he wobbled his tail so fast you could hardly see +it move. + +"Tie a stone around your neck," went on Bully. That will make you sink +under water, and you can then dive as good as I can. Come on, we'll have +some fun." + +"Oh, don't you do it, Jimmie!" cried Lulu, who came along just then with +Alice. "Maybe you can't get the stone loose, and you'll be drowned!" + +"Oh, I guess not," answered Jimmie. "I can stay under water a long time. I +want to see how it feels to dive in--ker plunk!--like a frog." + +"I'm going to tell mamma," cried Alice. + +"Tattle-tale! Tattle-tale!" called Jimmie. "I never tell on you!" + +"Well, then, I won't tell," said Alice, "but Lulu and I will stay close +by, so if you can't get the stone off we can help you." + +"Well, that's kind of you," spoke her brother, "but I'll be all right. You +will see me stand on my head, just like Bully does, and dive under the +water." + +So he got a stone and a piece of long grass for a string, and Bully tied +the stone around Jimmie's neck. Now, this was a very risky thing to do, +but, you see, Jimmie didn't know any better. Neither did Bully. But you +just wait and see what happens. I'm coming to it very shortly now. + +Pretty soon the stone was tied on good and tight, and then Jimmie and +Bully stood on the edge of the pond. + +"Are you all ready?" asked Bully. + +"Yep," replied Jimmie, and he stretched out his neck, for it felt funny to +have a stone tied around it. Oh, how foolish some ducks are; now, aren't +they, honestly? + +"All ready," went on Bully. "One for the money, two for a show, three to +make ready and FOUR to go!" and he yelled the "FOUR" real loudly. + +Then they jumped in, Jimmie and Bully, ker-splash, ker-splosh, ker-splish, +ker-thump! Oh what a lot of water they scattered about, wetting Lulu and +Alice, but the girl ducks didn't mind it. Of course, Bully went right to +the bottom, and so did Jimmie, too. His head went right down in the mud, +the way Lulu's did that terrible day I told you about once. And poor +Jimmie's yellow feet were right up in the air, and that's where a duck's +feet ought never to be. Oh my, no! and some shingle nails besides. + +Well, Jimmie tried to swim along under water, as he saw Bully doing, but +he couldn't. No, sir, not the least bit. You see the stone was too heavy, +and it held him down. Besides, his feet were out of the water, and as a +duck has to have his feet in water to swim with, of course, Jimmie +couldn't move along at all. + +There he was, held down under water, and all the while his breath was +getting shorter and shorter, and he kept feeling worse and worse, and he +wished he had taken Lulu's advice and not tried to stand on his head and +dive. + +Well, naturally, when Jimmie didn't come up in some time, Lulu and Alice +got worried. Bully popped up, after swimming across the pond under water +and out of sight, and they asked him what had become of Jimmie. + +"I'll go look," he said, and when he dived down, and came back, he was +pale green instead of dark green as he usually was. You see he turned pale +green because he was so frightened. + +"Oh, dear!" cried Bully. "Jimmie is held fast down there by the stone on +his neck, and can't get up." + +"Can't you bite the stone loose?" asked Alice. Then Bully tried, but he +couldn't, and Lulu and Alice tried, but they couldn't. And there wasn't +any one else around to help, and it began to look pretty bad for poor +Jimmie. + +And then, just as he surely thought he would never see his papa, and +mamma, and sisters, and Aunt Lettie again, who should come walking along +the bottom of the pond but the mud turtle fairy prince. He saw right away +what the matter was, and it didn't take him a second, with his sharp jaws, +to bite through the grass that held, the stone around Jimmie's neck, and +up popped the little boy duck! + +His life had been saved just in time, let me tell you! And oh, how +thankful Alice and Lulu were, to say nothing of Jimmie; and how they +thanked the fairy prince. + +"Maybe you will believe that I am a fairy now," said the mud turtle to +Jimmie, and Jimmie said he would. He also said he would never stand on his +head again, with a stone tied around his neck, and I'm glad to say he +never did. Now, in case I should see a sky-blue-pink-green rose in blossom +to-morrow I'll tell you a story about Lulu, and how Aunt Lettie did her a +great favor. + + + + +STORY XXI + +LULU AND AUNT LETTIE + + +Lulu Wibblewobble was walking in the deep, dark woods, and, what is more, +she was all alone. Yes, and she wasn't afraid. You see, Jimmie had gone +off with the boys in the lots back of the duck pond to play ball, and +Alice had gone shopping with her mamma. Lulu could have gone, too, only +felt she would rather go walking in the woods, so she went. + +At first it was very pleasant with the birds singing in the trees, and the +wind blowing through the leaves, and making music, and Lulu liked it very +much. She found some fine eel grass in a little brook, and she was eating +the green stems, and thinking how nice it was, when all at once she heard +a funny noise. It was just like when a great, big door swings on rusty +hinges. + +Lulu stopped eating eel grass at once, and she called right out loud: + +"My goodness! What's that?" + +Then it was all still, and quiet; as quiet, you know, as when a little +mouse walks along, and doesn't want any one to hear him, going after the +crackers and cheese, and maybe the jam tarts, too; who knows? Well, it was +just as still and quiet as it could be, when all of a sudden the noise +came again. + +"Oh, dear!" cried Lulu. "I believe I'm going to be frightened. I wish +Jimmie was here!" + +But Jimmie, the brave boy duck, was a long way off, playing ball with +Bully, the frog, and his other friends, though he would have come at once +to help his sister if he had known what a dreadful thing was almost going +to happen to her. + +Well, as I said, the noise sounded again, and then, when Lulu looked right +at a tree, what should she see but something big and bushy, waving in the +wind. + +"Oh, maybe it's Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, and perhaps Sister Sallie is +with them!" she said, aloud, and she didn't feel quite so frightened. Then +that terrible noise came again, and the bushy thing got bigger, and Lulu +saw that it was the tail of a great, big black dog. Oh, such a big black +dog as it was! And he was growling, and that's what made the sound like a +big door creaking on big, rusty hinges. + +The dog came out from behind the tree, and he stared right in the face of +Lulu, as bold as bold could be. + +"Who are you?" growled the dog. + +"If--if you please, kind sir, I'm Lulu," she answered. + +"Bur-r-r-r!" growled the dog. "I'm not a kind Sir at all. I'm a bad dog! +Bur-r-r-r! Bur-r-r-r! What's your last name? Bur-r-r-r!" + +"My last name is Wibblewobble, Bad Dog," she replied. + +"Bur-r-r-r! What are you calling me names for?" he asked, and he showed +his teeth something frightful, yes, indeed! Now cuddle up close to me if +you want to, and you won't be a bit afraid, because, in a few minutes Lulu +is going to be saved in a wonderful way. Just you wait and see. + +"Why do you call me names?" asked the dog again. + +"I--I--If you please," said Lulu, "I thought you said your name was Bad +Dog, sir." + +"Bur-r-r-r!" cried the dog. "I didn't at all. No matter what my name is. I +am a bad dog, however, and I'm proud of it!" Oh, wasn't he the bold, ugly +dog, though? Then he looked at Lulu some more, and growled even louder, +and he asked her: + +"What are you, a chicken or a turkey?" + +"Neither," replied Lulu, "I'm a duck, if you please." + +"Ha!" exclaimed the bad dog. "A duck! The very idea! Of all things I love +ducks! I just dote on 'em! I love 'em just like you love jam tarts, I +expect. But why aren't you larger, Lulu? I like big ducks." + +"Oh!" cried the little duck girl, "are you going to eat me up?" + +"Yes," replied the dog, "I am." + +"Then," went on Lulu, very bravely, for she was trying to think of a way +to get out of the deep, dark woods, "if you will wait a year or two, I +will be larger." + +"No," said the dog. "I can't wait. I'm in a hurry. I must have you now." + +Then he growled some more, and rushed right at Lulu, and I suppose he +would have eaten her up, feathers and all, only for what happened. + +Now, what do you suppose prevented him? Why, just as he was about to grab +the little duck girl there was a crashing and a smashing in the bushes and +who should appear but dear Aunt Lettie, the old lady goat! As soon as she +laid eyes on that dog she knew what he was going to do, and without +speaking a word, she rushed right at him and lowered her horns. + +Now, it's a good thing for that dog that the sharp ends of Aunt Lettie's +horns had been sawed off. So, you see, when she stuck them in that dog's +ribs, they only tickled him and he had to laugh, instead of sticking right +through him. Oh, how hard he laughed! But he didn't want to, not a bit. + +Then Aunt Lettie just lowered her head, and then she raised it up, and +over her back that bad dog went, right up in the air, and he was tossed in +some briars and brambles that scratched him well. + +But he wasn't satisfied yet, and he rushed back at Lulu, but Aunt Lettie +tickled him in the ribs again, and he laughed: "Ha! Ho!" though he didn't +want to at all, and over into the briars and brambles he was tossed once +more. + +Then he had had enough, and he ran off, howling instead of laughing, and +that's the way it was that Aunt Lettie saved Lulu. You see the old lady +goat happened to be walking in the woods, when she heard the dog growl and +she ran up just in time. Then she went home with Lulu, and Jimmie said if +he ever saw that dog he would throw a stone at him, and I wouldn't blame +him, would you? + +Now to-morrow night I think the story is going to be about how Alice cut +her foot, and what happened after it. But I can't tell it unless I happen +to see a grasshopper standing on his head and eating jam tarts. + + + + +STORY XXII + +HOW ALICE CUT HER FOOT + + +Did you ever go barefooted in the summer time? I suppose you have, and I +don't blame you a bit, especially on hot days, or when you are at Asbury +Park or Ocean Grove. Now, to go barefooted, you know, you have to take off +your shoes and stockings, and that's quite a bother at times. + +Well, Alice Wibblewobble didn't have to do this when she wanted to go +barefooted, for, you know, she never wore shoes and stockings in summer. +You see it would be too much trouble to take them off every time she went +in swimming with Lulu and Jimmie, so that's why it was arranged that she +never had to wear any. + +Now it happened one day, oh, I guess it must have been about a week and a +minute after Lulu had been frightened by that big dog, that Alice was +going to the store for her mother. The store was kept by Mr. Drake, who +had a little round door knob on the top of his head, so his hat wouldn't +blow off in windy weather. + +"Bring me a pound of butter and some cornmeal, Alice," her mother had said +to her, "and be sure the cornmeal is fresh. I am going to fry some for +your father's supper." + +So Alice said she would be sure about it, and she started off. + +"Want me to come, Alice?" asked Lulu. + +"No, dear," replied her sister. "I think it is too hot for you to-day. +I'll soon be back again." + +"Better take Jimmie," went on Lulu. "You may meet the bad dog or an ugly +fox." + +"No," spoke Alice again, "I think I'll go alone. Besides, Jimmie is off +with Sammie Littletail, playing leapfrog. I'll go alone." + +So off she went. Now I'm going to tell you why she wanted to go alone, but +don't whisper it to any one. You see, Alice thought maybe she might meet +the fairy prince, for she still hoped that some day he would change into a +king with a golden diamond crown on his head. + +But, as she walked on toward Mr. Drake's store she saw nothing of the +fairy prince, though she kept a sharp lookout. Well, she got the pound of +butter and the cornmeal, and to make sure it was fresh she ate a little, +for that's the surest way to tell. Then she started for home, with the +butter under one wing and the cornmeal under the other. + +Well, all of a sudden, just as she got past the weeping willow tree, if +she didn't step on a sharp stone and cut her foot, because, you see, she +had no shoes on, and the stone was very, very sharp, almost as sharp as an +exclamation point; yes, indeed! There, I had the printer put one in (!) so +you could see how very sharp it is. Always be careful of exclamation +points, children. + +"Oh! Oh! Oh!" cried Alice, as she felt the sharp stone go in her foot, and +she had to sink down to the ground, it hurt her so. Then the cornmeal fell +from under her wing and the bag burst and it spilled all over. Then the +butter fell from under the other wing, but that didn't get hurt any. It +only got some dents in it, and you know that doesn't matter, for butter. + +"Oh, dear! Whatever shall I do?" cried Alice again. "I--I can't walk on my +sore foot, and I can't carry the cornmeal and the butter! Oh, dear! Oh, +dear! My foot's bleeding, too!" and, sure enough it was. Poor Alice! How +sorry I feel for her. + +"Ah, if only the fairy prince would appear now," she went on. "He would +cause a golden chariot to take me home!" + +You see, Alice hadn't gotten over being romantic, even if she had cut her +foot. Oh, my, no, and a diamond earring besides! + +Well, as true as I'm telling you, no sooner had she made that wish about +the fairy prince than a voice called out: + +"Who is crying? Does any one need help?" + +"Yes," replied Alice, "I do. I've cut my foot, and I've dented the butter +in several places, but that doesn't matter much, and I've spilled the +cornmeal." + +"Oh, what a lot of troubles for one poor little duck girl!" cried the +voice again. "Perhaps, I can help you," and who should come along but +Uncle Wiggily Longears, the nice old gentleman rabbit. "Let us see what's +the trouble," he went on, and he put his strongest spectacles over his +nose and he looked at the cut in Alice's foot. Then he cried: + +"Oh, I should say that was a cut! Oh, my, yes! No doubt about it whatever! +But there, don't cry," he added, for he saw some tears running down +Alice's yellow bill. "I'll fix it for you." + +So he got some nice, soft leaves, and he tied them on her sore foot with +some stout grass. Then she felt better, but she couldn't walk, and she +didn't know how she was ever going to get home. So she asked Uncle +Wiggily. + +"Why, the easiest thing in the world!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "All I have to +do is to say a little verse, and I'll think of a way." So he said this +little verse: + + "Wiggily, waggily, woggily wome, + How shall I get Alice home? + She has hurt herself quite much + And she'll have to use my crutch." + +Of course, Uncle Wiggily knew that wasn't a very good verse, but it was +the best he could do. + +"You shall use my cornstalk crutch, that Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy made for +me," he went on. "It will be just the thing." + +"Won't you need it?" asked Alice, very politely. + +"No," said Uncle Wiggily. "My rheumatism is much better to-day. You may +have it," and he fitted it under Alice's wing, and she could walk pretty +well, not having to use her sore foot. + +Then that kind old rabbit scraped up all the cornmeal, and he put some in +his big left ear and some in his big right ear, because the bag was +broken, and he carried the dented butter, which wasn't hurt the least +mite. + +Then they started for the duck pen and they reached it safely, Alice +limping along as well as she could. And Uncle Wiggily told Mamma +Wibblewobble about the accident, after he had emptied his left ear and +his right ear of the cornmeal and had handed over the dented butter. Dr. +Possum was called in to put some salve on Alice's foot, and she was soon +better. + +Now that's all to-night, but, if the moving man doesn't take my typewriter +away, I shall tell you to-morrow night about Jimmie in a tall tree. + + + + +STORY XXIII + +JIMMIE IN A TALL TREE + + +It had rained in the morning, and of course the grounds were too slippery +and wet to play ball. That is, they were for Sammie Littletail and Billie +and Johnnie Bushytail, but naturally Jimmie Wibblewobble, the boy duck, +and Bully, the boy frog, would not have minded the wet the least bit. But +there wasn't any ball game, and so Jimmie was playing all alone in the +woods back of his house, and wishing it hadn't rained. + +"Oh! I wish some of the boys would come over," he said. "We could do +something, even if it is wet. I'm lonesome." + +Just then he heard a voice singing in the woods, and he heard the branches +of the trees moving about, and bits of bark falling off. And this is the +song he heard: you have to sing it quite slowly to get the full effect: + + "Oh! it is such fun if you see the sun + When the rain has gone away. + If you'll come with me you may climb a tree, + And in the top we'll play. + + "Oh! the winds may blow and the cows may crow, + But what care we for that? + As you scamper high, near the bright, blue sky, + Look out, or you'll lose your hat." + +And with that who should come scampering out of a tree but Billie and +Johnnie Bushytail, the squirrel brothers. No, Sister Sallie wasn't with +them this time, having stayed at home to wheel her corncob doll in the +carriage her brothers had made for her. + +"Hello!" cried Billie and Johnnie. "Hello, Jimmie!" + +"Aw, why didn't you chaps come over to play ball?" asked the little boy +duck. + +"Oh! it was too wet," replied Johnnie. "But say, Jimmie, did you hear us +singing?" + +"Sure," answered Jimmie. "But say; cows don't crow!" + +"I know it," replied Johnnie. "Billie made up that verse, and I made the +first one. He said he had to have something like that in it or it wouldn't +be right. But no matter. Did you like it?" + +"Yes, pretty well." + +"Shall we sing it again?" asked Johnnie. + +"No, don't!" begged his brother. "He's been singing it all the morning, +and I'm getting tired of it, even if I did make up one verse," he +explained. "But say, Jimmie, don't you wish you could climb a tall tree, +like this?" and before you could say Salimagundy or maybe +incomprehensibility or even disproportionability, why Billie had run to +the top of the tree and down again. "Don't you wish you could?" he asked +again. + +"Yes," answered Jimmie, looking up, "I wish I could climb a tree, but I +guess ducks weren't made for that. I once tried to fly, and I didn't +succeed very well. I'll stay on the ground, I think. Come on, let's have a +catch. I've got a ball." + +"No," spoke Johnnie, "I have an idea. Billie, why can't you and I teach +Jimmie to climb a tree? If we pick out one with branches close together +I'm sure he could get up it. We can help him, and he can take hold of some +limbs in his bill, like a parrot takes hold of the wires in his cage." + +"Fine!" cried Billie. "Will you do it, Jimmie?" + +"Sure," answered the little boy duck, but he didn't know what was going to +happen, or, maybe, he wouldn't have tried to climb up. Well, the +squirrels selected quite a tall tree, but rather an easy one, and Jimmie +managed to scramble up to the first low limbs, with Billie and Johnnie +boosting him. + +After that it wasn't quite so hard, and he was able to get up quite a +distance, pulling himself with his yellow bill. He was not very graceful, +and I'm sure if you ever saw a duck climb a tree you would agree with me, +but finally, after a great deal of hard work, Jimmie was right on the top +branch where the two squirrels sat blinking their eyes. + +"How do you like it?" asked Johnnie. + +"Fine!" cried Jimmie. "Quack! Quack! Quack!" Now when a duck says "quack" +three times, you may know he is very much pleased indeed. Oh, what a fine +view Jimmie had, but he didn't dare frisk around as Billie and Johnnie +did, for he was a trifle dizzy. Then, after he had been up there some +time, he thought he had better go down, for the wind was blowing the +treetop, and he wasn't used to it. So, after Billie and Johnnie had sung +their song again, Jimmie started for the ground. + +Well, you know how it is yourself, if you have ever climbed a tree. It's +easy to go up, but it's hard to get down. The limb for your feet is never +where you think it is. Poor Jimmie tried, and Billie and Johnnie helped +him, but he didn't dare turn around to go down, backward, and that's the +only way you can get down a tree, unless you're a squirrel. + +Then Jimmie began to get frightened. He knew it was time for him to go +home, but it began getting darker and darker and darker, and there he was +right in the top of the tree, as far away from the ground as ever. He +tried once more, but he didn't dare let go of one branch with his bill, +while he put his foot down on another limb below, and there he was. Oh, +what an unpleasant situation to be in, to say the least! + +"Oh, I'll never get down!" cried Jimmie. "I wish I'd stayed on the +ground!" + +Billie and Johnnie began to get frightened, too, for it was partly their +fault, and they were just going off for some kind of help, though what +kind they didn't know, when they heard a noise. + +It was a swishing, swooping, swoshing noise, and who should fly down out +of the sky but that good, kind fishhawk, who once carried Billie and +Johnnie on his big back to Lincoln Park. As soon as the squirrels saw him +they cried out: + +"Oh, please help Jimmie Wibblewobble down! He's in a tall tree and can't +reach the ground." + +"Why, of course, to be sure," replied the kind fishhawk, and he alighted +in the tree, and Jimmie got upon his strong, broad back, and the fishhawk +flew gently to the earth, and that's how Jimmie got down. And maybe he +wasn't glad of it! I know I am, anyhow. + +Now, listen: the moving man didn't get my typewriter, after all, so if we +have cocoanut-chocolate-mustard-apple-pie cake for supper, I can tell you +a story to-morrow night, and it will be about the party Alice and Lulu +had, and what happened at it. Something wonderful, too, let, me tell you. + + + + +STORY XXIV + +THE WIBBLEWOBBLES' PARTY + + +There was great excitement in the duck pen. And the reason for it was that +Lulu and Alice were going to have a party. It was the first party they had +ever had, and it was on their birthday. You see, it was this way: Lulu and +Alice both had the same birthday; that is, they, were twins. Jimmie was a +day older than they were, and he wasn't a twin. There, now I've explained +it all to you, and I'll get on with the story. + +Well, Mamma Wibblewobble arranged for the party. She did all the baking +and got the ice cream ready and made the pies and tarts, and Alice and +Lulu sent out the invitations. They were written on nice little pieces of +white birch bark that Johnnie and Billie Bushytail gnawed off the trees +for the little duck girls. + +Of course, Johnnie and Billie were invited, and so was Sammie Littletail, +and Susie and Sister Sallie, and Mr. and Mrs. Bushytail, and Mr. and Mrs. +Littletail, and Uncle Wiggily Longears, and Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, and +Grandfather Goosey-Gander, and Bully, the frog, and the goldfish, and, let +me see, who else? Oh, of course, the fairy prince. Alice would not have +had him left out for anything. + +Alice and Lulu had their best hair ribbons on and their new dresses, and +were all dressed up for the party nearly an hour before it was time. +Jimmie got ready, too. That is, he put on a clean collar and a new, red +necktie, and he looked very nice. But he really didn't care much about the +party. He said he and the boys would go off by themselves and talk about +baseball. + +"No," said his mother, "you must not do that. I want you and the boys to +entertain the little girls. Be nice, now, Jimmie." + +So Jimmie said he would, and pretty soon the company began to come. Bully, +the frog, hopped along first, and right after him came Grandfather +Goosey-Gander, and, would you believe me, he never said a word about +Jimmie breaking his window that time. + +"We are very glad to see you," said Alice and Lulu, as they stood at the +front door to receive their friends. Aunt Lettie, the nice old lady goat, +was also there, and as the guests came up, she called out: + +"Now, girls, walk right in the bedroom and put your things on the bed. +You boys take your things in Jimmie's room." Oh, it was a real party, let +me tell you. + +Uncle Wiggily was the last to arrive, and you know why that was. It was +because his rheumatism hurt him so. But he finally got there, and then the +party was complete; that is, all but the fairy prince, and even the +goldfish didn't know what had become of him. + +First the boys all stayed on one side of the room and the girls on the +other, but when Alice said, "Let's play spin the platter," they all cried +out, "Oh, yes, let's do it." And they used one of Mamma Wibblewobble's +dishes for the platter, and didn't break it a bit. Jimmie was "it" part of +the time, and so was Johnnie Bushytail. + +"Now let's play going to Jerusalem," proposed Lulu, and they did, +Grandfather Goosey-Gander whistling through his bill, just like a fife, to +make the music. Then they played blind-duck-bluff, and post-office and +clap-in clap-out, and forfeits and, oh, such lots of games that I can +hardly remember them. Oh, yes, there was one more, puss in the corner, and +whom do you suppose was the puss? Why the little kittie; Lulu's little +kittie, you know, that Aunt Lettie thought had come from the +pussy-willows. + +"When are we going to eat?" asked Bushytail, after a while, and he spoke +out loud. + +"Hush!" cried Sister Sallie. "You mustn't ask that, Billie; it isn't +polite!" + +"Well, I wanted to know," said the little boy squirrel. + +"Bless your heart!" exclaimed Aunt Lettie. "Of course you do. It must be +time to serve the refreshments. I'll go ask Mrs. Wibblewobble." + +"I don't want refreshments," objected Billie, in a whisper to Sister +Sallie. "I'm hungry, and I want something to eat!" + +"Hush!" cried his little sister again. "Refreshments are good things to +eat!" + +"Oh," said Billie, and just then in came Mamma Wibblewobble and Aunt +Lettie and Mrs. Bushytail and Mrs. Littletail and Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, +all of whom helped serve the good things to eat. + +Oh, what a lot of refreshments there were, including maple sugar, +hickorynut ice cream and chocolate-covered carrots, and cornmeal made into +little balls with cocoanut marshmallow on the outside, and candied cabbage +leaves, and water-cress flavored with spearmint, and the land knows what! + +Well, those children at Alice's and Lulu's party ate so much it's a wonder +that they ever got home. They had a lovely time, though Alice felt +disappointed because the fairy prince didn't come, and everyone wished +Alice and Lulu many happy returns, and Bully, the frog, said: + +"When _you_ have a party, Jimmie, I'm coming to that, too." + +"Sure," answered Jimmie. "I'll have one next week, if mamma will let me," +for you see he found he liked parties better than he thought he would. + +Well, they played some more games, including one called hide the peanut, +and then it was time to go home; and now comes the queer part of it. Just +as they were all saying good-night, and Uncle Wiggily was looking for his +crutch, there sounded out in the woods three blasts from a silver trumpet. +"Ta-ra-ta-ra-ta-ra!" + +You know, just like when the procession starts in a circus, and who should +come riding up to the ducks' house but a little boy, all dressed in silver +and gold, with a long white plume in his hat and he was on a white horse. +Once more the trumpet sounded, and the boy called out: + +"Am I too late for the party?" + +"Yes, you are," said Uncle Wiggily, leaning on his crutch, which he found +behind the door. "But who are you?" + +[Illustration] + +"Me? I am the fairy prince!" cried the boy, and the trumpets blew again. + +"What? Not the mud turtle fairy prince?" asked Alice, fanning herself, so +she wouldn't faint. + +"The very same," answered the boy. "I got tired of being a mud turtle, but +I am still a fairy prince!" + +"I don't believe it!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "You are only a little boy +on a horse, and not a fairy prince at all!" + +"Wait, and you shall see!" cried the boy, waving his hand, and the silver +trumpet blew again, "Ta-ra-ta-ra-ta-ra!" and the horse reared up on his +hind legs. "I certainly am the fairy prince, and to prove it I will do +something wonderful. Come to the woods to-morrow, Uncle Wiggily Longears, +and see!" + +"What will I see?" asked Uncle Wiggily. + +"You will see a red fairy," answered the boy who used to be mud turtle, +"and the red fairy will do something wonderful for you." + +"Oh!" cried Uncle Wiggily, "I don't believe in fairies!" + +But, all the same, he had to, after what happened, for he went back to the +woods, and met a red fairy, and the red fairy stopped Uncle Wiggily's +rheumatism for a time, as you can find out by reading the first book of +this series, entitled "Sammie and Susie Littletail," which tells a lot +about two little rabbit children and their friends, as well as about Uncle +Wiggily Longears. + +Now I've reached the end of this story, but there's another one for +to-morrow night, in case you don't hit anybody with your bean shooter, and +it's going to be about Lulu and the Golden fairy. + + + + +STORY XXV + +LULU AND THE GOLDEN FAIRY + + +Once upon a time it was raining very hard one morning. It was just when +Lulu and Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble were looking out of the window of +the duck pen, getting ready for school. + +"Jimmie, is your hair combed?" asked his mamma. + +"No, ma'am," he answered; "but I'm just going to comb it." + +"And did you brush your teeth?" + +"No, mamma, but I'm just going--" + +"Now, now, Jimmie, that's what you always say. Hurry to the bathroom and +clean your teeth at once, or else there'll be a dentist coming to the +school looking into your mouth and goodness knows what will happen then. +Hurry, now, or you'll be late." + +Jimmie cleaned his teeth quickly, and ran on to school so he wouldn't be +late and get a bad mark. What's that? You didn't know ducks had teeth? +Well, the next time you get a chance, when a duck opens his mouth real +wide, you look in, and maybe you'll see them. They're very small, I know, +but that doesn't count. + +Well, Lulu and Alice ran on ahead, and Jimmie came following after. He +wasn't late at school because he met Bully the frog, who hopped, and so +Jimmie had to run to keep up. The little boy duck was the first one in the +classroom, and the teacher said: + +"Why, Jimmie, this is a delightful surprise. You are not late this +morning, though you were every other day this week." + +"Yes, ma'am," was all Jimmie said, as he took his seat. + +Well, you should have seen it rain! Honestly, I don't know when it ever +rained so hard before; maybe not since the animals came out of the ark, or +the last time I wanted to go to a picnic. Some of the kindergarten +children got quite wet, because, you see, they were so little that they +couldn't hold their umbrellas up straight. And even some of the high +school girls got wet, too; but they didn't mind. + +Jimmie and his sisters didn't need an umbrella, for, you know, water +always runs off a duck's back, and doesn't do a bit of harm. It rained +when the duck children got home from school, and it was still raining when +Mrs. Wibblewobble said: + +"My dears, I don't like to ask you to go out in the storm again, but I do +wish you would run over to Grandfather Goosey-Gander's house. He is ill, +and I want to send him some hot watercress tea." + +Now Alice didn't want to go because her foot, that she once had cut on a +stone, pained her. And Jimmie, well, no sooner had he gotten in the house, +and taken some bread and butter, with jam on it, than he had run out in +the rain again, to play with Bully, the frog. That left only Lulu to go to +Grandfather Goosey-Gander's house, but she said she didn't mind in the +least, and afterward she was very glad she went, for she saw a most +wonderful sight. Just you wait, and I'll tell you about it. + +So Mrs. Wibblewobble put the hot tea in a tin pan, and covered it over +with a burdock leaf, to keep the rain out, and then she put some cold +potatoes in a dish, for she thought the old gentleman duck might like them +as well. Then Lulu started off through the woods to go to her +grandfather's house. It was still raining, but she didn't mind, and pretty +soon, oh, maybe in about ten quacks, she came to where Mr. Gander lived. + +Well, you would have felt sorry for him if you could have seen him. There +he was, sitting on a stool, with his feet in a pail of hot water, and +seven bottles of medicine on a table at his right wing, and six bottles of +pills on a table at his left wing, and there was a blanket up around his +neck, and he had a nightcap on, and he was groaning something terrible; +yes, really he was. + +"Oh, grandfather!" cried Lulu. "Are you very sick?" + +"Yes," he replied, "I am very sick. I think I have the pip, or maybe the +epizoodic." + +"Which is worse?" asked Lulu, as she set the hot tea and the cold potatoes +on the table. + +"They are both worse," answered the old gentleman duck. "That is, they +seem so, when you have them both at once. But I think I would feel better +if I had a hot cornmeal poultice on the back of my neck. Only I can't make +it and put it there, for I can't take my feet out of the hot water, and I +don't know where the cornmeal is, and I'm home all alone, for my wife has +gone shopping." + +"Oh, I'll make it for you," said Lulu very kindly. "I know where the +cornmeal is." So she went to get some, and, on the way to the meal box she +began to think: + +"Wouldn't it be lovely if a blue fairy, or a green one or a purple one, or +even a skilligimink colored one would appear now? I would ask her to make +grandfather better. But I don't s'pose one will come, for I never have any +luck seeing fairies," and she sighed three times as she opened the +cornmeal box. + +Then, all of a sudden, as she lifted the cover, as true as I'm telling +you, if she didn't see something all glittering and shining down in one +corner of the box. At first she thought it was the yellow meal, but then +she saw that it was a little creature, all gold, with shimmering wings, +like those of a humming bird. + +"Oh!" cried Lulu, "are you a fairy?" + +"Yes," replied the little creature, "I am the golden cornmeal fairy. I +have been shut up here for ever and ever so long, and I thought I would +never get out. But, since you have let me out, I will do anything in the +world for you," and she waved her golden wings, and sang a jolly, golden +song about diamonds. + +"Will you?" cried Lulu. "Then please make my grandfather better, for he is +very sick and has to take thirteen kinds of medicine." + +"I will make him well," said the fairy, as she flew out of the box, "and +it is very kind of you to ask that, instead of something for yourself. +Now, you make a nice hot poultice of this meal, which is magical, and put +it on the back of his neck. + +"Then you say this fairy word: Bibbilybab-bilyboobily-bag,' and see what +happens. But don't tell your grandfather I am a fairy; in fact, say +nothing to any one about it, for we fairies are going away for a time, but +we may come back later." Then the golden fairy waved her wings and +disappeared. + +But Lulu did just as she had been told, even to saying that magical word, +and, my gracious! if Grandfather Goosey-Gander didn't get all well in a +second, and he thanked Lulu very much. She felt sorry about the fairy +disappearing so suddenly, but you can't always have fairies, you know. +Now, if you girls don't lose your pink hair ribbon I'll tell you to-morrow +night about Jimmie and the black cow. + + + + +STORY XXVI + +JIMMIE AND THE BLACK COW + + +Lulu Wibblewobble felt quite proud of having seen the golden fairy in the +corn meal box. In fact she was the only one of her family who saw a fairy +for ever and ever so long after that, because the fairies happened to go +away from that part of the country. + +Of course, Lulu wondered how the tiny creature got into the meal box, and +she wondered if she might tell Alice and Jimmie about having seen her, but +she decided she had better not. + +Now it was about a week after Lulu had taken Grandfather Goosey-Gander the +hot tea and the cold potatoes, that something happened to Jimmie +Wibblewobble. + +It was one afternoon when he was on his way home from school, and he was +all alone, for he had been kept in for missing his spelling lesson, and +all the other children had gone on. You see he couldn't spell "vinegar." +Of course that's an easy word, I know, but Jimmie didn't like sour things, +and I suppose that's why he missed vinegar. He put the "x" and a "k" of +the word in the wrong places. Anyway he was kept in, and he had to write +"ketchup" on his paper fifty times. + +Well, after he was let out Jimmie started off through the woods and over +the fields. Pretty soon, right after he was passing along a deep, dark, +dingly dell, which is a sort of little valley, with flowers and ferns +growing in it, he heard a bell ring. "Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong!" +went the bell. At first Jimmie thought he was near a church, but just then +the bell rang differently. + +This time it went: "Tinkle-tankle! Tinkle-tankle! Tinkle-tank--" just like +that. + +"Why!" exclaimed Jimmie. "I wonder what that can be?" + +Then he went on a little farther, and he came out of the deep, dark +dingle-dell, and he heard the bell more plainly still. This time it rang +very rapidly, and right after it Jimmie heard a loud voice calling: "Moo! +Moo! Moo! Help me, will you; will you?" + +"Why!" cried Jimmie. "That's a cow!" + +Then, in another moment he came from behind a big tree, and what should he +see but a big, black cow, standing in a swamp. The cow was shaking her +head and shaking her horns at the same time, and ringing the bell, which +was fastened around her neck by a strap, and she was mooing as hard as she +could moo. + +"Why, what's the matter?" asked Jimmie, wobbling up quite close to her. +"What ever is the matter?" + +"Lots and lots is the matter," answered the cow. "But aren't you afraid of +me, little boy duck; afraid of me and my sharp horns?" + +"Why no," answered Jimmie, after he had thought it over for a minute or +two. "I don't believe I am afraid of you. Why should I be afraid?" + +"No reason at all; none in the world," replied the cow. "But since I'm in +trouble so many creatures seem to be afraid of me. I saw a frog hopping +past, and I asked him to help me, but I guess he was afraid I'd step on +him, so he wouldn't come near, but hopped off as far as he could." + +"That must have been Bully," said Jimmie. "He's afraid of lots of things. +But maybe he was in a hurry," he added, for he did not want to say that +Bully was afraid if the frog wasn't frightened, you know. + +"Well," agreed the cow, "maybe he was. Then a rabbit boy hopped past, and +I asked him to help me, but he was afraid, too." + +"That must have been Sammie Littletail," said Jimmie. "But I don't believe +he was afraid. Sammie is very brave. Maybe he was in a hurry." + +"Well," admitted the cow, "maybe he was. But then two little squirrel boys +came along, and I asked them to help me, but they ran away, frisking their +tails. I guess they were afraid." + +"No," answered Jimmie, "they weren't afraid. They were Billie and Johnnie +Bushytail, and the reason they ran was to get some one to help you, for +they are very kind. Maybe Bully and Sammie will bring some one to help +you, also. But what seems to be the matter?" + +"My foot is caught under a stone," said the cow, and she blinked her big +brown eyes as fast as she could. In fact, they opened and shut so rapidly +that big tears came from them, and splashed down her nose. + +"Oh! I am so sorry!" cried Jimmie. "Your foot caught under a stone!" + +"Wait a minute! Hold on!" exclaimed the cow. "That is not the worst of it! +You have not heard all! My foot is under a stone, and the stone is under +water, so I can't see to get my foot out. That's why I feel so badly about +it. You can see for yourself, Johnnie--" + +"My name is Jimmie," said the little boy duck quickly. + +"Well, Jimmie, then," went on the cow. "You can see for yourself how it +is, or, rather, you can't see, for the water is in the way," and then +Jimmie noticed that one of the cow's hoofs was down in a puddle of water, +and no matter how hard she pulled she couldn't get loose from that stone; +no, sir, any more than you can tie a string to one of your teeth and get +the tooth loose--that is, not counting a tooth that needs pulling, of +course. + +"Well," remarked Jimmie, after he had looked very carefully at the puddle +where the cow's foot was, "it's too bad." + +"It certainly is," agreed the cow. "You see if the stone wasn't under +water I could see to loosen it with my horn, but as it is I can't, and +I've tried several times," and she tried once more, just to show she was +telling the truth. + +"I've been here some time," the cow went on, "and no one seems able to +help me," and she mooed some more, and the bell tinkled some more, and +more of her tears fell splish-splash in the puddle of water, making it +bigger than ever. + +"I will help you!" cried Jimmie, suddenly. "I am a duck, and I know all +about water!" + +So he jumped right in that puddle, and he commenced to splash with his +wings and his yellow feet, and my goodness gracious sakes alive! if in +about two quacks he didn't have all the water splashed out of that hole +where the poor cow's foot was fast. + +Then the cow could see to loosen the stone with her horn, and she could +walk home. And because Jimmie was so kind she gave him a pail of milk to +take to the duck pen for Alice and Lulu. Now to-morrow night the story +will be about Alice and the puppy dogs, providing the automobile does not +turn upside down and spill me out. + + + + +STORY XXVII + +ALICE AND THE PUPPY DOGS + + +Alice Wibblewobble had been over to pay a visit to Sister Sallie, the +little squirrel-sister of Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, and she had ever +so much fun; and a good time, and such a nice supper! ending up with +butternut ice cream, with maple sugar for dessert. Well, before Alice knew +it, night had come, and it was all dark. + +"Oh! dear!" she cried, "I didn't know it was so late." + +"Are you afraid to go home in the dark?" asked Mrs. Bushytail. + +"No, not exactly," answered Alice, "but you see it's so dark I might +tumble into a hole, or cut my foot again on a sharp stone. I'm not exactly +afraid of the dark, but--" + +"Oh! I understand," said Mamma Bushytail. "But I hardly know what to do," +she went on. "My husband is away this evening, or he would take you home, +and Billie and Johnnie are over at Grandpa Lightfoot's, and I'm so busy +getting through my spring housecleaning, and sewing a new dress for +Sister Sallie, that I don't believe I could spare the time to go." + +"Oh! I wouldn't think of asking you," spoke Alice quickly, but she looked +out into the dark, and she didn't feel very happy, even if she had just +eaten a large plate of butternut ice cream. + +"Couldn't you stay all night, my dear?" asked Sister Sallie's mother. + +"No, I'm afraid my mamma would worry," replied Alice. + +"Perhaps Jimmie will come for you pretty soon," suggested Sister Sallie, +and then she hummed that little verse about going hippity-hop to the +barber shop to buy a lolly-pop lally. You remember it, I dare say. + +"Maybe he will," agreed Alice, so she and Sister Sallie played another +game, but it got darker and darker, and no Jimmie came, and then Alice +knew she must start for home, or her papa and mamma would be worried. But +she didn't like to go out in the black night, and she was almost ready to +cry, and didn't know what to do, when, all of a sudden, Sister Sallie +called out: + +"Oh, mamma, I know the very thing! I'll run next door, to where Mrs. Bow +Wow lives, and ask her to send Jackie and Peetie home with Alice." + +"Who are Peetie and Jackie?" asked the little girl duck. + +"They are puppy dogs," replied Sister Sallie, "and the cutest ones you +ever saw! Oh, they are darlings! They'll go home with you through the +woods, because they are very brave. Some day they will grow to be big +dogs, and guard the house. I'll ask Mrs. Bow Wow, their mamma, to let them +take you home." + +"That will be a good plan," agreed Mrs. Bushytail. "Run in and ask Mrs. +Bow Wow, Sister Sallie." + +So Sister Sallie ran in next door, and pretty soon she came back with two +of the cutest puppy dogs Alice had ever seen. + +"Which one is Peetie and which one is Jackie?" Alice asked, as they +tumbled about on the floor, getting up and falling down again. + +"I am Peetie," answered one. "You can tell that because I am all white +with a black spot on my nose." + +"And I am Jackie," said his brother. "I am all black, with a white spot on +my nose. So you see it is easy to tell us apart." + +"Yes," agreed Alice with a laugh, "I see; that is, I would see if you kept +still long enough, only you don't, for you wiggle and tumble about so +much. But will you please take me home?" + +"Of course we will," answered Jackie, rubbing the black spot on his +brother's nose with his paw. Just then, if those two puppy dogs didn't see +one of Papa Bushytail's boots, and, land sakes alive! if one didn't grab +one end and one the other end, and they began to pull and growl. Puppy +dogs always do such things, you know. + +"Oh! Oh! You mustn't do that," cried Mamma Bushytail. "You must take Alice +home." + +"We will," answered Peetie, rubbing the black spot on his own nose with +his little white paw. "We were only doing this for practice. Come on, +Alice! Bow-wow! Bow-wow!" + +So pretty soon, after a while, oh, not so very long, Alice started for the +duck pen, with Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow tumbling over each other in their +eagerness to see which would walk at her right wing, and which at her +left. Well, weren't those puppy dogs brave, though, to go out in the dark +night? They never thought anything about it, really; any more than you +mind going to bed in the dark. + +Then, all of a sudden, as they were walking through a very dismal place in +the woods, Jackie began to growl. + +"Oh, don't do that!" cried Alice, "you frighten me! Did you see a burglar +or a wolf?" + +"Why, I only growled because I smelled a bone," said Jackie, and he +laughed, and fell over and over, turning a complete somersault. + +"I smelled the bone first!" cried Peetie, "and I'm going to have it!" Then +the two of them made a rush for the nice, juicy bone, and they each got +hold of it and began to pull, one on one end and one on the other, and +they fell down and slipped and stumbled all over in the darkness, getting +mixed up in the leaves, growling and snarling; but, of course, it was all +in fun, you know, for the puppy dogs loved each other. + +"Oh, don't do that, Peetie!" begged Alice, touching one of the puppy dogs +with her foot. "Don't tumble about so, Peetie!" + +"I'm not Peetie; I'm Jackie!" was the answer. "Can't you tell by the white +spot on my nose? Peetie has a black spot." + +"I can't see very well in the dark," replied Alice. + +Then something very funny happened, for when Jackie opened his mouth to +speak to Alice he had to let go of the bone, and of course Peetie ran off +with it and hid it. But that was a good thing, for they couldn't pull on +it any more, and when Peetie came back they both rubbed noses, and went on +through the dark woods, taking Alice home. + +They had only one accident. That is, they fell down a hole, but they +weren't hurt at all, I'm glad to say. Then, when Alice was safe in the +duckpen, the puppy dogs ran back home and went right to sleep. + +Now, if you don't spill the salt in the sugar bowl, I'm going to tell you +to-morrow night about Jimmie and Jackie. + + + + +STORY XXVIII + +JIMMIE AND JACKIE BOW WOW + + +When Alice reached the duckpen that night, after she had gone visiting +Sister Sallie, and was brought home by the puppy dogs, she told her folks +all about it. + +"Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, eh?" remarked Jimmie, her brother, when she +had told their names. "I never heard of them. They must be new around +here." + +"They are," answered Alice. "But they are just as cute as they can be; +really they are." + +"Cute, eh?" asked Jimmie. "Can they play ball?" + +"I don't know," replied his sister. "But you ought to see them pull on +that old boot and the bone! Oh, it was too funny!" + +"And they took good care of you, didn't they," asked Lulu. + +"Indeed, they did," answered Alice. "They weren't afraid of anything, even +when an owl hooted." + +So the next day, which was Saturday, when there wasn't any school, Jimmie +started off with his wooden bat over his shoulder, his catching glove +under one wing and his ball under the other. + +"Where are you going?" asked his mother. + +"I'm going over to Mrs. Bow Wow's house to see if I can find the puppy +dogs," he said. "I want to get acquainted with them." + +"All right, Jimmie, but be sure to wipe your feet if you go in Mrs. Bow +Wow's house, and don't forget to take off your cap and say 'yes, ma'am,' +and 'no, ma'am,' Jimmie." + +"S'posin' she doesn't ask me anything?" inquired Jimmie. "What'll I say?" + +"Well, then, of course, you needn't say anything; but be polite," warned +the little boy duck's mother, for sometimes he forgot, though he didn't +mean to. + +Well, he was walking along through the woods, and over the green fields +where the dandelions were just coming up, looking like buttons on a +policeman's coat, if the policeman's coat was green instead of blue, and I +think green would be a nice color. But no matter about that. + +Jimmie was walking along, when, all of a sudden, he heard a little growl. +At first he thought it was the bad fox after him again, but in a moment he +saw a little black ball of fur rolling along, and then he saw a little +white spot, and he thought that might be Sammie Littletail, only he knew +the rabbit boy never growled. Then, all at once, if that ball of fur +didn't unroll, and there stood a puppy dog! + +"Hello!" called Jimmie Wibblewobble, real friendly-like. + +"Hello!" answered the puppy dog. + +"Are you Peetie or Jackie Bow Wow?" asked the little boy duck, for he knew +the puppy dog must be one or the other. + +"I'm Jackie," was the answer. "Can't you tell? I'm all black with a white +spot on my nose, and my brother, Peetie, is all white with a black spot on +his nose. See? I'm black with a black spot--no, I mean I'm black with a +white spot, and Jackie he's black--no, hold on--he's white--no, I'm +Jackie, and he's Peetie--he's white with a white--no, a black spot--" + +"Oh, for mercy sakes, stop!" cried Jimmie. "I'm all tangled up with white +spots and black spots!" + +"So am I," admitted Jackie. "It's hard to tell who I am, sometimes." + +"Is it, really?" asked Jimmie. + +"Yes, it is. In fact I'm mixed up now. Would you kindly look and tell me +if I have a white or a black spot on my nose. I could look myself, only +it makes me cross-eyed, and I don't like that." + +So Jimmie looked, very carefully, and he saw a white spot on the puppy +dog's nose, and told him so. + +"It's all right. I'm Jackie then," answered the little fellow. "I thought +I was, but it's best to make sure." + +"Can you play ball?" asked Jimmie. "My sister told me about you. It was +very kind of you to bring her home. You haven't lived here very long, have +you?" + +"Not very. But I'm glad I could help your sister. She is a nice girl." + +"Where's your brother, Peetie?" asked Jimmie. + +"Oh, he's gone to the store for mamma." + +"Then let's you and I have a catch until he comes back. You can play ball, +can't you?" + +"Of course." + +So Jimmie tossed the ball to Jackie, and the puppy dog stood up on his +hind legs and caught it in his front paws, and then he fell right over, +ker-thump, and rolled along the ground. + +"Here!" cried the boy duck. "That's no way to play ball! You must stand up +and catch." + +"Oh, I know that," declared Jackie. "You see I was only practising at +biting the ball with my teeth. I always bite things to sharpen my teeth +so I can gnaw big bones when I get to be a big dog." + +"Well, you needn't sharpen your teeth on my new ball!" cried Jimmie, and +he felt a little angry; not much, you know, but a little and he took the +ball and was going home, for he didn't like Jackie, he thought. + +It was too bad the little creatures had had a falling-out so soon, but +please wait just a moment and see what happens. No sooner had Jimmie +started to go home--Jackie didn't know why, you see, for he didn't know it +was wrong to bite the ball--no sooner, I say, did Jimmie start home, than +out from the bushes jumped a great big water rat, with ugly, cruel, sharp +teeth and wicked eyes. + +Oh, how frightened Jimmie was, for he knew big water rats ate ducks. But +what do you suppose Jackie, that puppy dog, did? Why he just growled away +down in his throat, and he stuck up one ear as far as it would go, and he +let the other ear fall down as far as it would fall, and he opened his +mouth, and he showed his teeth, that he had sharpened on Jimmie's ball, +and he jumped right at that bad rat! Yes, sir, right at him, growling all +the while! + +At first the rat was going to fight, but when it saw how brave Jackie +was, it turned and ran away. And then that puppy dog just put his little +tail between his legs, and howled, and ran away, too; Jimmie waddling +after him. You see Jackie was frightened after it was all over, but he had +frightened the rat worse yet. + +"How brave you were!" cried Jimmie, when they were at Mrs. Bow Wow's +house. "You were very brave, indeed." + +"Do you really think so?" asked Jackie. "Then I must be." + +"You can bite my ball all you want to," went on Jimmie, and then Peetie +came home from the store, and they all had a fine time playing catch. Now +to-morrow night I'm going to tell you about Grandfather Goosey-Gander's +tall hat, if I don't lose a penny off the front stoop. + + + + +STORY XXIX + +GRANDFATHER GOOSEY-GANDER'S TALL HAT + + +Jimmie Wibblewobble was in the back lots, playing ball with Billie and +Johnnie Bushytail, Sammie Littletail, and Bully, the frog, besides some +other friends of his. They were having a fine time, knocking the ball this +way and that, just as if the ball didn't care what happened to it. When it +came Jimmie's turn to bat, he called out: + +"Watch me knock it away over the tree," and land sakes, goodness me and a +pop-corn cake! if that ball didn't fly away over the tree, just like a +little bird. Well,--Jimmie was pretty proud, I can tell you, and he was +such a good hitter that Bully said: + +"Let Jimmie knock some more balls for us to catch." + +So he did, after Billie Bushytail had run to get the one that went over +the tree, and brought it back. + +Well, so the game went on, and pretty soon, oh, I guess it must have been +about as long as it takes to eat two pieces of bread and butter, but not +with jam on, mind you; I guess in about that time, it was Billie +Bushytail's turn to bat. And just as he stepped up to hit the ball, if all +the boy animals didn't see something black moving along by the hedge +fence. It was black and round and shiny, this moving object was, and as +soon as Sammie Littletail saw it he cried out: + +"Oh, there's a bad fox. Let's see who can hit him." + +So they all caught up stones to throw at the bad fox, to drive him away. + +Jimmie had the largest stone, and he could throw the straightest, so it is +no wonder he hit the tall, round, shining black thing by the hedge. But +this is the funny part of it, that black thing wasn't a fox at all. No, +siree! + +It was Grandfather Goosey-Gander's new tall hat, and that wasn't at all +funny, I do assure you. And the worst part of it was that Grandfather +Goosey-Gander was under that hat! For, you know, a tall hat couldn't walk +along by a hedge, all alone its own self, now, could it? Of course, I know +it could if this were a fairy story, but it isn't. + +[Illustration] + +Well, something dreadful happened. The stone which Jimmie threw hit +grandfather's tall hat, went inside, just grazing the top of the old +gentleman duck's head, and then, what do you think? Well, I don't +believe you could guess if you tried a week, so I'll tell you. + +That stone came out on the other side. It went right through the hat, +making a hole where it went in, and another hole where it came out. Two +holes; you could easily have counted them if you had been there. + +Of course, as soon as Jimmie heard the noise, made by the stone which he +threw, hitting the hat, he could tell by the plinkity-plunkity sound that +there was going to be trouble. And there was. + +Grandfather Goosey-Gander jumped up in the air. He uttered a loud quack, +and then he took off his tall hat. He looked at the two ragged holes in +it, and then he looked over at the boys in the field. He knew right away +they had done it, but he didn't know which one. Jimmie, however, was a +good boy, and he wasn't going to have any one else blamed for what _he_ +had done. So he ran to where his grandfather stood, sorrowfully looking at +his hat, and Jimmie said: + +"I did it, grandpa. I cannot tell a story. I did it with my little stone." + +"Ha! Hum! Did you; eh?" cried Grandfather Goosey-Gander. "Well, that's a +pretty bad thing to do, Jimmie. This is my best hat. I put it on to go +down to the bank, to put money in. I mean to put money in the bank, not in +the hat, of course. I always wear it when I go to the bank, so folks will +know I am rich. Now I can't wear it any more. It's too bad!" And the old +gentleman duck looked very sorrowful. + +"Yes," agreed Jimmie, "it is too bad," for he couldn't think of anything +else to say. + +"You will have to pay for a new hat for me," went on his grandfather. + +"I haven't any money," said Jimmie, and tears began to run down his broad, +yellow bill, for the little boy duck felt pretty bad, I can tell you. + +"You will have to save up all the pennies you get," decided Grandfather +Goosey-Gander. "Boys should not be so careless." + +"We thought you were a fox," said Billie Bushytail. + +"And we all threw stones at you," added Sammie Littletail. + +"But I'm the only one who hit your hat, though," admitted Jimmie. + +"Do I look like a fox?" demanded the old duck. "That's what I want to +know. Do I look like a fox?" Well, of course, you know he didn't, and the +ball players had to admit it. "You will have to pay for my hat, Jimmie," +grandpa continued, looking again at two ragged holes. "Have you any money +now?" + +"No," said Jimmie, and he was crying real hard by this time. Then all the +other boys felt badly, too, and they were just looking in their pockets to +see if they had any money, but they hadn't. All they had was some marbles, +and tops, and broken knives, and chewing gum, all sticky, and some +strings. + +Then it began to look as if Grandfather Goosey-Gander would never have a +new hat, but, all at once, there was a buzzing sound in the air, and what +should come flying along but a darning needle. You know what I mean: one +of those funny, long bugs sometimes called a dragon fly, with beautiful +wings, and long legs and body. + +"What is the trouble?" asked the darning needle, and then the boys told +him about the broken hat. "Ah," said the darning needle, careless-like, +"do not distress yourself, Jimmie. I know you are a good boy. To fix that +hat is a mere trifle for me, and I'll do it." + +And what did that dragon-fly-darning-needle do but buzz back and forth, +all around the holes in Grandfather Goosey-Gander's tall hat, right +through the hat itself, until he had the holes all sewed up, and you could +hardly tell where they were. + +Then Mrs. Spider came along, and she spun some glossy silk web over the +places where the seams were, and presto-chango! if that hat wasn't as good +as ever! + +Well, you can just imagine how glad Jimmie was that he didn't have to pay +for it. And his grandpa was pleased, too, and so were the boys. Then the +darning needle flew away, Mrs. Spider crawled off, Grandfather +Goosey-Gander went to the bank, the boys played ball some more and +everything was lovely. + +Now, if the window curtain doesn't fly up lickety-split and come off the +roller, I'll tell you to-morrow night about Jimmie flying a kite. + + + + +STORY XXX + +JIMMIE WIBBLEWOBBLE'S KITE + + +Jimmie Wibblewobble was out flying his kite. He had made it all himself, +out of sticks, and paste, and paper and strings, and it was a very fine +kite indeed. It was nearly as large as the little boy duck, and it was the +kind of a kite that doesn't need a tail. That was good, because a tail +gets all tangled up in the weeds. + +Well, Jimmie was flying his kite, and the wind was pretty strong, and the +kite was pulling real hard, just like a little dog pulls, when you tie a +rope to his collar, and he wants to get away. Pretty soon along came +Bully, the frog. + +"Does your kite pull much?" he asked. + +"Does it?" replied Jimmie. "Well, I should say it did!" + +"Let me hold it a minute, will you?" asked Bully, and Jimmie very kindly +let him. Then along came Billie and Johnnie Bushytail, and Sammie +Littletail, and they all took turns holding the kite. + +Well now, in a few minutes, something dreadful is going to happen to +Jimmie. I tell you in advance so you won't be frightened, and, really, +there is no need to be, for I'll see to it that, after the thing happens, +Jimmie will be all right again. Now if you watch, and listen closely, you +can tell the moment the thing happens. It's almost time. + +The wind kept growing stronger and stronger, and it blew the dust up in a +cloud, and it blew bits of paper and sticks along with the dust, and +raised a dreadful commotion. + +Then long came Alice and Lulu Wibblewobble. They had been to the store for +their mamma, and had just come back. They felt the strong wind blowing on +their feathers, and Alice said to her brother: + +"You had better take down your kite, Jimmie. The wind may blow it away, +and you with it." + +"Oh, I guess I can hold it," answered the little boy duck, as he let out +some more cord. The kite was now almost out of sight, and it was pulling +harder than ever. + +Then, all at once, if Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, the two puppy dogs, +didn't come along. Jackie had his white spot on his nose, and Peetie had +his black spot on his nose, so that you could tell them apart. And those +two doggies felt so full of fun that they ran right up and made believe +bite Jimmie's yellow heels. + +Now you know it feels queer to have two puppy dogs biting your heels, even +if it is only in fun, and as soon as Jimmie felt Jackie and Peetie nipping +him, he turned around quickly and cried out: + +"Oh, don't do that!" + +But the minute he looked around, if the kite string didn't get tangled in +his legs, and then if the wind didn't blow a regular strong blast, the +kind that howls down the chimney on a cold night; and oh, dear me, +suz-dud! if Jimmie wasn't carried right up in the air by his kite! There, +I told you something would happen, and it did! Maybe you'll believe me +next time. + +Well, up and up and up went Jimmie, pulled by the kite, until he was quite +high in the air, hanging dingling, dangling down--O! by his yellow heels. +Oh, it was a perfectly dreadful position to be in! really it was, and I'm +not fooling a bit, honestly. + +"Oh, oh! Save him!" cried Lulu. + +"Yes, somebody get him down; please do!" added Alice, flapping her wings. + +Billie Bushytail tried to jump up in the air, and grab hold of poor +Jimmie, but he couldn't reach him, and then Sammie Littletail, he tried, +but he couldn't reach him, and all the while poor Jimmie was being +carried higher and higher by the kite. + +"Save me! Oh, save me!" he cried, but there didn't seem to be any way of +getting him down, and it began to look as if he would go right up to the +sky. + +On the ground Lulu and Alice were running here and there, flapping their +wings and quacking, and Billie and Johnnie Bushytail were chattering, and +as for Sammie Littletail, he made a noise just like a rabbit. Oh, there +was great excitement, I can tell you! + +Mr. Cock A. Doodle, the rooster, he came running out, and he crowed as +loud as ever he could crow, as if that could do any good. Then he flapped +his wings as hard as he could, and that didn't do any good, either. Jimmie +kept going farther and farther away. + +"Oh, will no one save him?" asked Lulu, crying big tears. + +"Wait a minute, I'll try it!" said Bully, the frog. "I am a good jumper, +and I'll jump up. Maybe I can pull the kite down." So he jumped up as high +as ever he could, but it wasn't nearly high enough, and Bully came back on +the ground, ker-thump, ker-bump! and Jimmie Wibblewobble kept on going +up. Poor Bully hurt his ankle, too, and he was lame for some days. + +"Run and tell Grandfather Goosey-Gander," cried Lulu. "Maybe he can think +up a way of getting Jimmie down." + +So they all ran and told the old gentleman duck, for Mr. and Mrs. +Wibblewobble were away that afternoon. Grandfather Goosey-Gander hurried +out, and he squinted up at Jimmie, who looked only about as big as a baby +chicken now, he was so far away, and then the Grandfather flapped his +wings. + +"Nothing can save him!" said Grandfather Goosey-Gander, very solemnly, +"Jimmie has gone to the sky!" + +Then, oh, how badly Lulu and Alice felt for their little brother! and all +the others felt badly, too, for they liked Jimmie. But don't get excited +now. All will be well in a very few minutes. Do not fear. + +Bully, the frog, made one more jump, hoping to reach the kite, and pull it +down, but he might as well have tried to jump over the moon, which only a +hey-diddle-diddle-cat-and-the-fiddle-cow can do. Well, it looked as if +Jimmie was gone for ever, when, all at once, there was a rushing of wings, +and who should appear, but a kind fish hawk, that once gave Johnnie and +Billie Bushytail a ride on his back. + +"I will save Jimmie!" cried the fish hawk. + +So he flew up in the air, right to the kite, and, with his strong beak, he +tore a hole in the paper to let the air through. Then the kite came gently +down, just like a red balloon, or maybe a blue one, that you get at the +circus, and some one sticks a pin in it. Yes, the kite came gently down, +and Jimmie came with it, and that's how he was saved! + +And, maybe he wasn't glad! Well, I just guess, and some cornstarch pudding +besides! Of course Peetie and Jackie were very sorry for biting Jimmie's +heels and never did it again. Now, if I don't get stung by a bee, I'll +tell you to-morrow night about Alice in a bag. + +[Illustration] + + + + +STORY XXXI + +ALICE WIBBLEWOBBLE IN A BAG + + +You remember I told you last night about Jimmie Wibblewobble being carried +up by a kite. Well, when his papa and mamma came home that evening, they +heard all about it, and how much excitement there was, and they told +Jimmie he must be more particular after this. He promised that he would be +very careful. + +"I'll fly smaller kites," he said, and he went out the next time with one +about the size of a postage stamp, and that couldn't take any one up in +the air, you know, except, maybe, a mosquito, and they don't count. + +Well, it was about two days after this that something happened to Alice. +You see she had been sent to the store for a yeast cake and some prunes, +for her mamma was going to make prune bread--that is, bread with prunes in +it, and it's very nice, I assure you, for I've eaten it. + +As Alice was coming home, through a lonely part of the woods, where the +trees were so thick that it was almost dark, she began to feel a little +bit frightened. So, to stop herself from feeling scared she began to sing. +If she had been a boy, she would have shouted, or if she had been Lulu +she would have whistled, for Lulu could whistle as good as could Jimmie. + +But instead Alice sang, and this is the song she made up so she wouldn't +be frightened. You are allowed to sing it if you are not more than +seven-and-three-quarters years old. If you are any older than that you +will have to have a special excuse; or some one else will have to sing it +for you. Well, this is the song: + + "I'm not afraid to wander + In woodlands dark and drear, + For who is there to harm me + When not a soul is near? + The birds, the trees and flowers + Are kind as kind can be, + I'm sure that not a single one + Would do a thing to me. + + "The bugs and pretty butterflies + Will form a fairy band + And guard me safely while I walk + Throughout this dark woodland. + But just the same, I'll hurry, + And not stay here too long; + Because, you see, I only know + Two verses of this song." + +Well, as soon as Alice finished singing, land sakes! goodness, gracious +me! if a big fox didn't pop out from behind a tree, and before Alice could +say "How do you do?" or even "Good afternoon," or anything like that, if +he didn't grab her by the legs and put her into a bag he carried over his +shoulder, and then he tied the bag tight and started to run away. + +"Oh! Oh!" cried Alice. "Let me out! Please let me out of this bag, Mr. +Fox, and I'll give you all the money I've got saved up in my bank! Honest, +I will; every cent in my bank!" + +"No," answered the fox savagely. "I don't want your money. What good would +money be to me? I can't eat money! Ha! ha! ha!" and he laughed that way +three times, just like a mooley cow. + +"Are you going to eat me?" asked Alice, from inside the bag, where she was +trembling so that she squashed the yeast cake all out, as flat as a +pancake on a cold winter morning, when you have brown sausage gravy and +maple syrup to pour on it. + +"Eat you? Of course, I'm going to eat you!" cried the fox. "That is why I +caught you. But I can't decide whether to have you boiled or roasted. It's +quite trying not to know. I must make up my mind soon, however." + +Then he ran on some more, over the hills, bumpity-bump, with poor Alice +jouncing around in that bag, and the little duck girl wished the fox would +be a long time making up his mind which way to cook her, for she thought +that maybe Jimmie might come and save her in the meanwhile. + +"It didn't do much good to sing that song," thought Alice, and I suppose +it didn't, but you know you can't always have what you want in this world. +Oh, my, no, and a bottle of cough medicine besides. + +Well, the old fox hurried on, with Alice in the bag and he ran fast to get +to his den, and pretty soon the little duck girl felt him coming to a +stop. Then she heard some one saying: + +"Ah, good day, Mr. Fox; what have you in that bag?" + +"I have apples in this bag," said the fox. Oh, but wasn't he the bold, bad +story-telling fox, though? + +"Apples, eh?" asked the voice again, and then Alice knew right away who it +was. Can you guess? No? Well, I'll tell you. It was Nurse Jane +Fuzzy-Wuzzy, the kind old muskrat lady. It was she who had asked the +question. + +"Oh, so you have apples in there?" Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy repeated to the fox. +"Well, now, do you know," she went on, "I am very fond of apples. I wish +you would give me one." + +"No," answered the bad fox, "I can't. These are very special apples, very +sour, in fact, and I'm sure you wouldn't like them." + +"Oh, I just love sour apples," said the muskrat, moving nearer to the fox, +and showing her sharp teeth, like the carpenter's chisel when he shaves +the door down to make it smaller. "I just love sour apples," said the +nurse. + +"Oh, I made a mistake, these are sweet apples," said the fox, quickly, +waggling his big tail like a dusting brush. + +"I made a mistake, too," went on Miss Fuzzy-Wuzzy. "I guess I love sweet +apples instead of sour ones." + +"You will have to excuse me," again spoke the fox quickly. "I made two +mistakes. These apples are half sweet and half sour, and not good at all." + +"If there is anything I am fonder of than anything else it's a half sweet +and a half sour apple," declared the muskrat, and she showed her teeth +some more, as if she were smiling, only she wasn't. She was getting ready +to bite the bad fox, I guess. + +Just then Alice moved around in the bag, hoping Miss Fuzzy-Wuzzy would see +her, and what's more, the kind muskrat nurse did. "Ah!" she exclaimed, +"you have moving apples, I see. I just love moving apples." + +Then the fox knew it was of no use to tell any more stories, so he started +to hurry off with Alice in the bag. But Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy jumped right at +him, and she bit him on the nose, and on his front legs and on his hind +legs, until he was glad enough to drop the bag containing poor Alice, and +run away, over the hills, as fast as he could go. + +Then the muskrat gnawed open the bag, and Alice came out, her feathers all +ruffled up, but she was not much hurt; only the yeast cake was all +squashed out of shape, like a piece of putty. Then Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy took +Alice home safely, and nothing more happened right away. + +Well, now, to-morrow night, let's see. Ha! Hum! Oh, how careless of me! Of +course there isn't going to be any story to-morrow night, because we're at +the end of this book. You can see for yourself, if you look carefully, +that there are no more stories in it; not a single one. + +But, listen, as the telephone girl says; I think, in case that you liked +the stories about the ducks, that I will write something about the +adventures of Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow; you know, those two puppy dogs +who once took Alice home after she had been on a visit to Sister Sallie, +and was afraid to go out in the dark. + +I have quite a number of stories about those two puppy dogs; Peetie, you +know, who was all white with a black spot on his nose, and Jackie, who was +all black with a white spot on his nose. So if you want to read about them +you may do so in the next book of the Bed Time series, which will be +called "Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow," and the book will have in it some +pictures of the doggies; and tell how they had a show, and built a swing, +and got lost, and ran away to join a circus, and did ever so many things +that it was really astonishing; honestly it was! + +Well, I think I'll say good night now, for I must get right to work on +that other book. So go to sleep, and be good children, and maybe you'll +dream about Peetie and Jackie--who knows? + + +THE END + + * * * * * + +Books for Boys by Howard R. Garis + + * * * * * + +_Those Smith Boys Series_ 12mo, finely illustrated. Price 75c each, +postpaid + +Those Smith Boys + OR THE MYSTERY OF THE THUMBLESS MAN + +Those Smith Boys on the Diamond + OR NIP AND TUCK FOR VICTORY + +OTHER VOLUMES IN PREPARATION + + * * * * * + +_The Island Boys Series_ + +12mo, finely illustrated. Price 75c each, postpaid + +The Island Boys + OR FUN AND ADVENTURES ON LAKE MODOK + +The Island Boys in Camp + OR THE SECRET OF THE FALLING WATER + +OTHER VOLUMES IN PREPARATION + + * * * * * + +Books for Little Folk + + * * * * * + +_The Bedtime Stories Series_ Illustrated in color, with fine cover design +A story for every night in the month. Price 75c each, postpaid + +Sammie and Susie Littletail + 31 RABBIT STORIES + +Johnnie and Billie Bushytail + 31 SQUIRREL STORIES + +Lulu, Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble + 31 DUCK STORIES + +Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow + 31 DOG STORIES + +Uncle Wiggily's Adventures + 31 RABBIT STORIES + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LULU, ALICE AND JIMMIE +WIBBLEWOBBLE*** + + +******* This file should be named 15280.txt or 15280.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/2/8/15280 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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