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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/15282-h.zip b/15282-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..425e53e --- /dev/null +++ b/15282-h.zip diff --git a/15282-h/15282-h.htm b/15282-h/15282-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c48fab0 --- /dev/null +++ b/15282-h/15282-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5953 @@ +<!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 Uncle Wiggily's Travels, 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, Uncle Wiggily's Travels, 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: Uncle Wiggily's Travels</p> +<p>Author: Howard R. Garis</p> +<p>Release Date: March 8, 2005 [eBook #15282]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNCLE WIGGILY'S TRAVELS***</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)</h3> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + +<h1>UNCLE WIGGILY'S</h1> +<h1>TRAVELS</h1> + + +<h3>By</h3> + +<h2>HOWARD R. GARIS</h2> + +<p class="center">Author of <i>Sammie and Susie Littletail,</i>, <i>Johnnie and Billy Bushytail,</i>, +<i>Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow,</i>, "Those Smith Boys," series, "The Island +Boys," series, etc.</p> +<p> </p> + +<h3>Illustrated by<br /> +<br /> +LOUIS WISA</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<p class="center">A.L. BURT COMPANY<br /> +PUBLISHERS NEW YORK<br /> +<br /> +1913</p> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + +<h4>THE FAMOUS</h4> + +<h2>BED TIME SERIES</h2> + +<p>Five groups of books, intended for reading aloud to the little folks each +night. Each volume contains 8 colored illustrations, 31 stories, one for +each day of the month. Handsomely bound in cloth. Size 6-1/2 x 8-1/4.</p> + +<p class="center"><b>Price cents per volume, postpaid</b></p> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + + +<h5>HOWARD R. GARIS'</h5> + + +<h4>Bed Time Animal Stories</h4> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Animal Stories"> +<tr><td align='left'>No. 1.</td> +<td align='left'>SAMMIE AND SUSIE LTTTLETAIL</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>No. 2.</td> +<td align='left'>JOHNNY AND BILLY BUSHYTAIL</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>No. 3.</td> +<td align='left'>LULU, ALICE & JIMMIE WIBBLEWOBBLE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>No. 5.</td> +<td align='left'>JACKIE AND PEETIE BOW-WOW</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>No. 7.</td> +<td align='left'>BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES PIGG</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>No. 9.</td> +<td align='left'>JOIE, TOMMIE AND KITTIE KAT</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>No. 10.</td> +<td align='left'>CHARLIE AND ARABELLA CHICK</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>No. 14.</td> +<td align='left'>NEDDIE AND BECKIE STUBTAIL</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>No. 16.</td> +<td align='left'>BULLY AND BAWLY NO-TAIL</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>No. 20.</td> +<td align='left'>NANNIE AND BILLIE WAGTAIL</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>No. 28.</td> +<td align='left'>JOLLIE AND JILLIE LONGTAIL</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<h4>Uncle Wiggily Bed Time Stories</h4> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Uncle Wiggily Stories"> +<tr><td align='left'>No. 4.</td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY'S ADVENTURES</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>No. 6.</td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY'S TRAVELS</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>No. 8.</td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY'S FORTUNE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>No. 11.</td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY'S AUTOMOBILE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>No. 19.</td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY AT THE SEASHORE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>No. 21.</td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY'S AIRSHIP</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>No. 27.</td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY IN THE COUNTRY</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p class="center">For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt +of price by the publishers.</p> + +<p class="center"><b>A.L. BURT CO., 114-120 East 23d St., New York</b></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + +<h2><i>Uncle Wiggily's Travels</i> +</h2> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + +<p>The stories herein contained appeared originally in the <i>Evening News</i>, +of Newark, N.J., where (so many children and their parents were kind enough +to say) they gave pleasure to a number of little folks and grown-ups also. +Permission to issue the stories in book form was kindly granted by the +publisher and editor of the <i>News</i>, to whom the author extends his thanks.</p> + + +<p class="figcenter"><a href="./images/1.jpg"><img src="./images/1-tb.jpg" alt="Uncle Wiggily" title="Uncle Wiggily" /></a></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> +<tr><td align='right'>STORY</td> +<td align='left'></td> +<td align='right'>PAGE</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_I"><b>I.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE RED SQUIRREL</td> +<td align='right'>9</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_II"><b>II.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BROWN WREN</td> +<td align='right'>16</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_III"><b>III.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE SUNFISH</td> +<td align='right'>22</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_IV"><b>IV.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE YELLOW BIRD</td> +<td align='right'>28</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_V"><b>V.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE SKY-CRACKER</td> +<td align='right'>34</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_VI"><b>VI.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BUTTERCUP</td> +<td align='right'>40</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_VII"><b>VII.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE JULY BUG</td> +<td align='right'>46</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_VIII"><b>VIII.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY AND JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT</td> +<td align='right'>52</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_IX"><b>IX.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE LOST CHIPMUNK</td> +<td align='right'>58</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_X"><b>X.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BLACK CRICKET</td> +<td align='right'>64</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_XI"><b>XI.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BUSY BUG</td> +<td align='right'>70</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_XII"><b>XII.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE FUNNY MONKEY</td> +<td align='right'>76</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_XIII"><b>XIII.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BIG DOG</td> +<td align='right'>82</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_XIV"><b>XIV.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE PEANUT MAN</td> +<td align='right'>88</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_XV"><b>XV.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CRAWLY SNAKE</td> +<td align='right'>94</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_XVI"><b>XVI.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE WATER-LILIES</td> +<td align='right'>100</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_XVII"><b>XVII.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE SUNFLOWER</td> +<td align='right'>106</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_XVIII"><b>XVIII.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE LIGHTNING BUGS</td> +<td align='right'>112</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_XIX"><b>XIX.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE PHOEBE BIRDS</td> +<td align='right'>118</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_XX"><b>XX.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE MILKMAN</td> +<td align='right'>124</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_XXI"><b>XXI.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY'S SWIMMING LESSON</td> +<td align='right'>131</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_XXII"><b>XXII.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY IN THE BEAR'S DEN</td> +<td align='right'>137</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_XXIII"><b>XXIII.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE TOADSTOOL</td> +<td align='right'>144</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_XXIV"><b>XXIV.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CHICKIE</td> +<td align='right'>150</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_XXV"><b>XXV.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE WASP</td> +<td align='right'>157</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_XXVI"><b>XXVI.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BLUEBELL</td> +<td align='right'>163</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_XXVII"><b>XXVII.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE WIBBLEWOBBLES</td> +<td align='right'>170</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_XXVIII"><b>XXVIII.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BERRY BUSH</td> +<td align='right'>176</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_XXIX"><b>XXIX.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CAMP FIRE</td> +<td align='right'>183</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_XXX"><b>XXX.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE COWBIRD</td> +<td align='right'>189</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#STORY_XXXI"><b>XXXI.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE TAILOR BIRD</td> +<td align='right'>195</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Uncle Wiggily's Travels</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_I" id="STORY_I" ></a>STORY I</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE RED SQUIRREL</h3> + + +<p>You know when Uncle Wiggily Longears, the old rabbit gentleman, started +out to look for his fortune, he had to travel many weary miles, and many +adventures happened to him. Some of those adventures I have told you in +the book just before this one, and now I am going to tell you about his +travels when he hoped to find a lot of money, so he would be rich.</p> + +<p>One day, as I told you in the last story in the other book, Uncle Wiggily +came to a farm, and there he had quite an adventure with a little boy. And +this little boy had on red trousers, because, I guess, his blue ones were +in the washtub. Anyhow, he and the rabbit gentleman became good friends.</p> + +<p>And now I am going to tell you what happened when Uncle Wiggily met the +red squirrel.</p> + +<p>"Where do you think you will go to look for your fortune to-day, Uncle +Wiggily?" asked the little boy with the red trousers the next morning, +after the rabbit had stayed all night at the farm house.</p> + +<p>"I do not know," said the rabbit gentleman. "Perhaps I had better do some +traveling at night. I couldn't find the pot of gold at the end of the +rainbow, but perhaps there may be a gold, or silver fortune, at the end of +a moon-beam. I think I'll try."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but don't you get sleepy at night?" asked the little boy's mother as +she fried an ice cream cone for Uncle Wiggily's breakfast.</p> + +<p>"Well, I could sleep in the day time, and then I would stay awake at +night," answered the traveling uncle, blinking his ears.</p> + +<p>"Oh, but aren't you afraid of the bogeyman at night?" inquired the boy +with the red hair—I mean trousers.</p> + +<p>"There are no such things as bogeymen," said Uncle Wiggily, "and if there +were any, they would not harm you. I am not a bit afraid in the dark, +except that I don't like mosquitoes to bite me. I think I'll travel +to-morrow night, and look for gold at the end of the moon-beam."</p> + +<p>So he started off that day, and he went only a short distance, for he +wanted to find a place to sleep in order that he would be wide awake when +it got dark.</p> + +<p>Well, he found a nice, soft place under a pile of hay, and there he +stretched out to slumber as nicely as if he were in his bed at home. He +even snored a little bit, I believe, or else it was Bully Frog croaking +one of his songs.</p> + +<p>The day passed, and the sun went down, and it got all ready to be night, +and still Uncle Wiggily slept on soundly. But all of a sudden he heard +voices whispering:</p> + +<p>"Now you go that way and I'll go this way, and we'll catch that rabbit and +put him in a cage and sell him!"</p> + +<p>Well, you can just believe that Uncle Wiggily was frightened when he +awakened suddenly and saw two bad boys softly creeping up and making ready +to catch him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, this is no place for me!" the rabbit cried, and he grabbed up his +crutch and his valise and hopped away so fast that the boys couldn't catch +him, no matter how fast they could run, even bare-footed.</p> + +<p>"Let's throw stones at him!" they cried. And they did, but I'm glad to say +that none of them hit Uncle Wiggily. Isn't it queer how mean some boys can +be? But perhaps they were never told any better, so we'll forgive them +this time.</p> + +<p>"Well, it is now night," said the rabbit gentleman as he hopped on through +the woods, "so I think I will sit under this tree and wait for the moon to +come up. And while I'm waiting I'll eat my supper."</p> + +<p>So Uncle Wiggily ate his supper, which the kind farmer lady had put up for +him, and then he sat and waited for the moon to rise, and pretty soon he +heard a funny noise, calling like this:</p> + +<p>"Who? Who? Who-tu-tu-tu."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you know who I am all right, Mr. Owl," said the rabbit. "You can see +very well at night. You can see me."</p> + +<p>"My goodness, if it isn't Uncle Wiggily!" cried the owl in surprise. "What +are you doing out so late, I'd like to know?"</p> + +<p>"Waiting for a moon-beam, so I can see if there is any gold for my fortune +at the end of it," was the answer. "Is the moon coming up over the trees, +Mr. Owl?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, here it comes," said the owl, "and now I must fly off to the dark +woods, for I don't like the light," and he fluttered away.</p> + +<p>Then the moon came up, all silver and glorious; shining over the tree tops +like a shimmering ball, and soon the moon-beams fell to the ground in +slanting rays, but they fell so softly, like feathers, that they did not +get hurt at all.</p> + +<p>"Well, I guess I'll follow that big one," said the old gentleman rabbit, +as he picked out a nice, broad, large, shiny moon-beam. "That must have +gold at the end, and, if I find it, my fortune is made." So off he started +to follow the moon-beam to where it came to an end.</p> + +<p>It seemed to go quite a distance through the dark woods, and Uncle Wiggily +traveled on for several hours, and he didn't seem to be any nearer the end +by that time than he was at first.</p> + +<p>"My land, this is a very long beam," he exclaimed. "It is almost big +enough to make a church steeple from. But I'll keep on a little longer, +for I'm not a bit sleepy yet."</p> + +<p>Well, all of a sudden, just as he was turning the corner around a big +stone, the rabbit gentleman heard a funny noise.</p> + +<p>It wasn't like any one crying, yet it sounded as if some one was in +trouble, for the voice said:</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear! I'll never get it big enough, I know I can't! I've combed it +and brushed it, and done it up in curl papers to make it fluffy, but still +it isn't like theirs. What shall I do?"</p> + +<p>"Hum, I wonder who that can be?" thought Uncle Wiggily. "Perhaps it is +some little lost child; but no children would be out in the woods at +night. I'll take a look."</p> + +<p>So he hopped softly over, and peered around the edge of the stone, and +what do you think he saw?</p> + +<p>Why, there was a nice, little, red squirrel-girl, and she had a comb and a +brush, and little looking-glass. And the glass was stuck up on a stump +where the moon-beam that Uncle Wiggily was following shone on it and +reflected back again. And by the light of the moon-beam the red squirrel +was combing and brushing out her tail as hard as she could comb and brush +it.</p> + +<p>"What are you doing?" asked Uncle Wiggily in surprise.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my! How you startled me!" exclaimed the red squirrel. "But I'm glad +it's you, Uncle Wiggily. I'm going to a surprise party soon, and I was +just trying to make my tail as big as Johnnie or Billie Bushytail's, but I +can't do it," she said sadly.</p> + +<p>"No, and you never can," said the rabbit. "Their tails are a different +kind than yours, for they are gray squirrels and you are a red one. But +yours is very nice. Be content to have yours as it is."</p> + +<p>"I guess I will," said the red squirrel. "But what are you doing out so +late, Uncle Wiggily?"</p> + +<p>"Looking for the end of the moon-beam to get my fortune."</p> + +<p>"Ha! The moon-beam ends right here," said the red squirrel-girl, pointing +to her looking-glass, and, surely enough, there the bright shaft of light +ended. "But there is no fortune here, Uncle Wiggily, I am sorry to say," +she added.</p> + +<p>"I see there isn't," answered the rabbit. "Well, I must travel on again +to-morrow, then. But now I will see that you get safely home, for it is +getting late."</p> + +<p>And, just as he said that, what should happen but that a black, savage, +ugly bear stuck his nose out of the bushes and made a grab for the rabbit. +But what do you think the red squirrel did?</p> + +<p>She just took her hair brush and with the hard back of it she whacked the +bear on the end of his tender-ender nose, and he howled, and turned around +to run away, and the squirrel girl tickled him with the comb, and he ran +faster than ever, and the bear didn't eat Uncle Wiggily that night.</p> + +<p>Then the rabbit stayed at the red squirrel's mamma's house the rest of the +evening, and the next day the squirrel went to the surprise party with her +tail the regular size it ought to be, and not as big as the Bushytail +brothers' tails, and everybody was happy.</p> + +<p>Now in case the granddaddy longlegs doesn't tickle the baby with his long +cow-pointing leg and make her laugh so she gets the hiccoughs, I'll tell +you in the next story about Uncle Wiggily and the brown wren.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_II" id="STORY_II" ></a>STORY II</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BROWN WREN</h3> + + +<p>Well, just as I expected, the granddaddy longlegs did tickle the baby, but +she only smiled in her sleep, and didn't awaken, so, as it's nice and +quiet I can tell you another story. And it's going to be about how Uncle +Wiggily, in his travels about the country, in search of his fortune, +helped a little brown wren.</p> + +<p>"Well, where are you going this morning?" asked the red squirrel's mother +as Uncle Wiggily finished his breakfast, and shook out from his long ears +the oatmeal crumbs that had fallen in them.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I suppose I will have to be traveling on," answered the rabbit. "That +fortune of mine seems to be a long distance off. I've tried rainbows and +moon-beams and I didn't find any money at their ends. I guess I'll have to +look under the water next, but I'll wait until I get back home, and then +I'll have Jimmie Wibblewobble the duck boy put his head at the bottom of +the pond and see if there is any gold down there."</p> + +<p>So off the old gentleman rabbit started, limping on his crutch, for his +rheumatism was troubling him again, and at his side swung his valise, with +some crackers and cheese and bread and butter and jam in it—plenty of +jam, too, let me tell you, for the red squirrel's mamma could make lovely +preserves, and this was carrot jam, with turnip frosting on it.</p> + +<p>Well, Uncle Wiggily traveled on and on, over the hills and through the +deep woods, and pretty soon he came to a place where he saw a lot of +little black ants trying to carry to their nest a nice big piece of meat +that some one had dropped.</p> + +<p>"My, how hard those ants are working," thought the rabbit. "But that meat +is too heavy for them. I'll have to help carry it."</p> + +<p>Now the piece of meat was only as big as a quarter of a small cocoanut, +but, of course, that's too big for an ant to carry; or even for +forty-'leven ants, so Uncle Wiggily kindly lifted it for them, and put it +in their nest.</p> + +<p>"Thank you very much," said the biggest ant. "If ever we can do you a +favor, or any of your friends, we will."</p> + +<p>The old gentleman rabbit said he was glad to hear that, and then, taking +up his crutch and valise again, on he went.</p> + +<p>Pretty soon he came to a place in the woods where the sun was shining +down through the trees, and a little brook was making pretty music over +the stones. And then, all at once, the old gentleman rabbit heard a +different kind of music, and it was that of a little bird singing. And +this is the song.</p> + +<p>Now I did not make up this song. It is much prettier than I could write, +even if I had my Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes on, and I don't know who did +write it. But it used to be in my school reader when I was a little boy, +and I liked it very much. I hope whoever did write it won't mind if you +sing it. This is it:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"There's a little brown bird sitting up in a tree,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He's singing to you—he's singing to me.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And what does he say, little girl—little boy?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, the world's running over with joy!"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>Then the bird sang about how there were five eggs laid away up in a nest, +and how, pretty soon, little birds would come out from them, and then, all +of a sudden, the bird sang like this:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"But don't meddle,—don't touch,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Little girl—little boy,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Or the world will lose some of its joy!"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"Ha! you seem quite happy this beautiful morning," said Uncle Wiggily, as +he paused under the tree where the bird was singing. "Why, I do declare," +he exclaimed. "If it isn't Mrs. Wren! Well, I never in all my born days! I +didn't know you were back from the South yet."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Uncle Wiggily," said the little brown wren, "I came up some time +ago. But I'm real glad to see you. I'm going to take my little birdies out +of the shell pretty soon. They are almost hatched."</p> + +<p>"Glad to hear it," said the rabbit, politely, and then he told about +seeking his fortune, and all of a sudden a great big ugly crow-bird flew +down out of a tall tree and made a dash for Mrs. Wren to eat her up. But +Mrs. Wren got out of the way just in time, and didn't get caught.</p> + +<p>But alack, and alas-a-day! The crow knocked down the wren's nest, and all +the sticks and feathers of which it was made were scattered all about, and +the eggs, with the little birdies inside, would have been all broken +ker-smash, only that they happened to fall down on some soft moss.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" cried Mrs. Wren, sorrowfully. "Now see what that crow has +done! My home is broken up, and my birdies will be killed."</p> + +<p>"Caw! Caw! Caw!" cried the crow as unkindly as he could, and it sounded +just as if he laughed "Haw! Haw! Haw!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, whatever shall I do?" asked Mrs. Wren. "My birdies will have no nest, +and I haven't time to make another and break up the little fine sticks +that I need and gather the feathers that are scattered all over. Oh, what +shall I do? Soon my birdies will be out of the shells."</p> + +<p>"Never fear!" said Uncle Wiggily, bravely. "I will help you. I'll gather +the sticks for you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but you haven't time; you must be off seeking your fortune," answered +the wren.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I guess my fortune can wait. It has been waiting for me a long time, +and it won't hurt to wait a bit longer. I'll get you the sticks," said the +rabbit gentleman.</p> + +<p>So while Mrs. Wren sat over the eggs to keep them warm with her fluffy +feathers, Uncle Wiggily looked for sticks with which to make a new nest. +He couldn't find any short and small enough, so what do you think he did?</p> + +<p>Why, he took some big sticks and he jumped a jiggily dance up and down on +them with his sharp paws, and broke them up as fine as toothpicks for the +nest. Then he arranged them as well as he could in a sort of hollow, like +a tea cup.</p> + +<p>"Oh, if we only had some feathers now, we would be all right," said Mrs. +Wren. "It's a very good nest for a rabbit to make."</p> + +<p>"Don't say a word!" cried some small voices on the ground. "We will +gather up the feathers for you." And there came marching up a lot of the +little ants that Uncle Wiggily had been kind to, and soon they had +gathered up all the scattered feathers. And the nest was made on a mossy +stump, and lined with the feathers, and the warm eggs were put in it by +Mrs. Wren, who then hovered over them to hatch out the birdies. And she +was very thankful to Uncle Wiggily for what he had done.</p> + +<p>Now, in case the water in the lake doesn't get inside the milk pail and +make lemonade of it, I'll tell you in the next story how the birdies were +hatched out, and also about Uncle Wiggily and the sunfish.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_III" id="STORY_III" ></a>STORY III</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE SUNFISH</h3> + + +<p>Uncle Wiggily slept that night—I mean the night after he had helped Mrs. +Wren build her nest—he slept in an old under-ground house that another +rabbit must have made some time before. It was nicely lined with leaves, +and the fortune-hunting bunny slept very nice and warm there.</p> + +<p>When the sun was up, shining very brightly, and most beautifully, Uncle +Wiggily arose, shook his ears to get the dust out of them, and threw the +dried-leaf blankets off him.</p> + +<p>"Ah, ha! I must be up and doing," he cried. "Perhaps I shall find my +fortune to-day."</p> + +<p>Well, no sooner had he crawled out of the burrow than he heard a most +beautiful song. It was one Mrs. Wren was singing, and it went "tra-la-la +tra-la-la! tum-tee-tee-tum-tum-tee-tee!" too pretty for anything. And +then, afterward, there was a sort of an echo like "cheep-cheep +cheep-cheep!"</p> + +<p>"Why, you must be very happy this morning, Mrs. Wren!" called Uncle +Wiggily to her as she sat in her new nest which the rabbit had made for +her on the mossy stump.</p> + +<p>"I am," she answered, "very happy. What do you think happened in the +night?"</p> + +<p>"I can't guess," he answered. "A burglar crow didn't come and steal your +eggs, I hope!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, nothing sad or bad like that," she answered. "But something very +nice. Just hop up here and look."</p> + +<p>So Uncle Wiggily hopped up on the stump, and Mrs. Wren got off her nest, +and there, on the bottom, in among some egg-shells, were a lot of tiny, +weeny little birdies, about as big as a spool of silk thread or even +smaller.</p> + +<p>"Why, where in the world did they come from?" asked the old gentleman +rabbit, rubbing his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Out of the eggs to be sure," answered Mrs. Wren. "And I do declare, the +last of my family is hatched now. There is little Wiggily out of the shell +at last. I think I'll name him after you, as he never could keep still +when he was being hatched. Now I must take out all the broken shells so +the birdies won't cut themselves on them." And she began to throw them out +with her bill, just as the mother hen does, and then one of the new little +birdies called out:</p> + +<p>"Cheep-cheep-chip-chip!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know you're hungry," answered their mamma, who understood their +bird talk. "Well, I'll fly away and get you something to eat just as soon +as your papa comes home to stay in the house. You know Mr. Wren went away +last night to see about getting a new position in a feather pillow +factory," said Mrs. Wren to Uncle Wiggily, "and he doesn't yet know about +the birdies. I hope he'll come back soon, as they are very hungry, and I +don't like to leave them alone to go shopping."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'll stay and take care of them for you while you go to the store," +said the old gentleman rabbit, kindly.</p> + +<p>"That will do very well," said Mrs. Wren. So she put on her bonnet and +shawl and took her market basket and off she flew to the store, while +Uncle Wiggily stayed with the new birdies, and they snuggled down under +his warm fur, and were as cozy as in their own mother's feathers.</p> + +<p>Well, Mrs. Wren was gone some time, as the store was crowded and she +couldn't get waited on right away, and Uncle Wiggily stayed with the +birdies. And they got hungrier and hungrier, and they cried real hard. +Yes, indeed, as hard as some babies.</p> + +<p>"Hum! I don't know what to do," said the old gentleman rabbit. "I can't +feed them. I guess I'll sing to them." So he sang this song:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Hush, birdies, hush,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Please don't cry;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Mamma'll be back</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">By and by.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Nestle down close</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Under my fur,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I'm not your mother, but</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">I'm helping her."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>But this didn't seem to satisfy the birdies and they cried "cheep-cheep" +harder than ever.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear! I believe I must get them something to eat," said Uncle +Wiggily. So he covered them all up warmly with the feathers that lined the +nest, and then he hopped down and went limping around on his crutch to +find them something to eat.</p> + +<p>Pretty soon he came to a little brook, and as he looked down into it he +saw something shining, all gold and red and green and blue and yellow.</p> + +<p>"Why, I do declare, if here isn't the end of the rainbow!" exclaimed the +old gentleman rabbit, as he saw all the pretty colors.</p> + +<p>He rubbed his eyes with his paw, to make sure he wasn't dreaming, but the +colors were surely enough there, down under water.</p> + +<p>"No wonder the giant couldn't find the pot of gold, it was down in the +water," spoke the rabbit. "But I'll get it, and then my fortune will be +made. Oh, how glad I am!"</p> + +<p>Well, Uncle Wiggily reached his paw down and made a grab for the red and +green and gold and yellow thing, but to his surprise, instead of lifting +up a pot of gold, he lifted up a squirming, wiggling sunfish.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my!" exclaimed the rabbit in surprise.</p> + +<p>"I should say yes! Two Oh mys and another one!" gasped the fish. "Oh, +please put me back in the water again. The air out on land is too strong +for me. I can't breathe. Please, Uncle Wiggily, put me back."</p> + +<p>"I thought you were a pot of gold," said the rabbit, sadly. "I'm always +getting fooled. But never mind. I'll put you in the water."</p> + +<p>"What are you doing here?" asked the fish, as he slid into the water again +and sneezed three times.</p> + +<p>"Just at present I am taking care of Mrs. Wren's new little birdies," said +the rabbit. "She has gone to the store for something for them to eat, but +they are so hungry they can't wait."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that is easily fixed," said the sunfish. "Since you were so kind to +me I'll tell you what to do. Get them a few little worms, and some small +flower seeds, and feed them. Then the birdies will go to sleep."</p> + +<p>So Uncle Wiggily did this, and as soon as the birds had their hungry +little mouths filled, sound to sleep they went. And in a little while Mrs. +Wren came back from the store with her basket filled, and Mr. Wren flew +home to say that he had a nice position in a feather factory, and how he +did admire his birdies! He hugged and kissed them like anything.</p> + +<p>Then the two wrens both thanked Uncle Wiggily for taking care of their +children, and the rabbit said good-by and hopped on again to seek his +fortune. And if the trolley car conductor gives me a red, white and blue +transfer, for the pin cushion to go to sleep on, I'll tell you in the +following story about Uncle Wiggily and the yellow bird.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_IV" id="STORY_IV" ></a>STORY IV</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE YELLOW BIRD</h3> + + +<p>Once upon a time, when Johnnie Bushytail was going along the road to +school, he met a fox—oh, just listen to me, would you! This story isn't +about the squirrel boy at all. It's about Uncle Wiggily Longears to be +sure, and the yellow bird, so I must begin all over again.</p> + +<p>The day after the old gentleman rabbit had helped Mrs. Wren feed her +little birdies he found himself traveling along a lonely road through a +big forest of tall trees. Oh, it was a very lonesome place, and not even +an automobile was to be seen, and there wasn't the smell of gasoline, and +no "honk-honks" to waken the baby from her sleep.</p> + +<p>"Hum, I don't believe I'll find any fortune along here," thought Uncle +Wiggily as he tramped on. "I haven't met even so much as a red ant, or +even a black one, or a grasshopper. I wonder if I can be lost?"</p> + +<p>So he looked all around to see if he might be lost in the woods. But you +know how it is, sometimes you're lost when you least expect it, and again +you think you are lost, but you're right near home all the while.</p> + +<p>That's the way it was with Uncle Wiggily, he didn't know whether or not he +was lost, so he thought he'd sit down on a flat stone and eat his lunch. +The reason he sat on a flat stone instead of a round one was because he +had some hard boiled eggs for his lunch, and you know if you put an egg on +a round stone it's bound to roll off and crack right in the middle.</p> + +<p>"And I don't like cracked eggs," said the rabbit. So he laid the eggs he +had on the flat stone, and put little sticks in front of them and behind +them, so they couldn't even roll off the flat stone if they wanted to. +Then he ate his lunch.</p> + +<p>"I guess it doesn't much matter if I am lost," said the traveling +fortune-hunting rabbit a little later. "I'll go on and perhaps I may meet +with an adventure." So on he hopped, and pretty soon he came to a place +where the leaves and the dirt were all torn up, just as if some boys had +been playing a baseball game, or leap-frog, or something like that.</p> + +<p>"My, I must look out that I don't tumble down any holes here," thought +Uncle Wiggily, "for maybe some bad men have been setting traps to catch us +rabbits."</p> + +<p>Well, he turned to one side, to get out of the way of some sharp thorns, +and, my goodness! if there weren't more sharp thorns on the ground on the +other side of the path. "I guess I'll have to keep straight ahead!" +thought our Uncle Wiggily. "I never saw so many thorns before in all my +life. I'll have to look out or I'll be stuck."</p> + +<p>So he kept straight on, and all of a sudden he felt himself going down +into a big hole.</p> + +<p>"Oh! Oh dear! Oh me! Oh my!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "I've fallen into a +trap! That's what those thorns were for—so I would have to walk toward +the trap instead of going to one side."</p> + +<p>But, very luckily for Uncle Wiggily, his crutch happened to catch across +the hole, and so he didn't go all the way down, but hung on. But his +valise fell to the bottom. However, he managed to pull himself up on the +ground, though his rheumatism hurt him, and soon he was safe once more.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my valise, with all my clothes in it!" he cried, as he looked down +into the hole, which had been covered over with loose leaves and dirt so +he couldn't see it before falling in. "I wonder how I can get my things +back again?" he went on.</p> + +<p>Then he looked up, and in a tree, not far from him, he saw something +bright and yellow, shining like gold.</p> + +<p>"Ah, ha!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "At last I have found the pot of gold, +even if the rainbow isn't here. That is yellow, and yellow is the color of +gold. Now my fortune is made. I will get that gold and go back home."</p> + +<p>So, not worrying any more about his valise down the trap-hole, Uncle +Wiggily hopped over to the tree to get what he thought was a big bunch of +yellow gold. But as he came closer, he saw that the gold was moving about +and fluttering, though not going very far away.</p> + +<p>"That is queer gold," thought the old gentleman rabbit. "I never saw +moving gold before. I wonder if it is a good kind."</p> + +<p>Then he went a little closer and he heard a voice crying.</p> + +<p>"Why, that is crying gold, too," he said. "This is very strange."</p> + +<p>Then he heard some one calling:</p> + +<p>"Oh, help! Will some one please help me?"</p> + +<p>"Why, this is most strange of all!" the rabbit cried. "It is talking gold. +Perhaps there is a fairy about."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I only wish there was one!" cried the yellow object in the tree. "If +I saw a fairy I'd ask her to set me free."</p> + +<p>"What's that? Who are you?" asked the rabbit.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm a poor little yellow bird," was the answer, "and I'm caught in a +string-trap that some boys set in this tree. There is a string around my +legs and I can't fly home to see my little ones. I got into the trap by +mistake. Oh! can't you help me? Climb up into the tree, Uncle Wiggily, and +help me!"</p> + +<p>"How did you know my name was Uncle Wiggily?" asked the rabbit.</p> + +<p>"I could tell it by your ears—your wiggling ears," was the answer. "But +please climb up and help me."</p> + +<p>"Rabbits can't climb trees," said Uncle Wiggily. "But I will tell you what +I'll do. I'll gnaw the tree down with my sharp teeth, for they are sharp, +even if I am a little old. Then, when it falls, I can reach the string, +untie it, and you will be free."</p> + +<p>So Uncle Wiggily did this, and soon the tree fell down, but the golden +yellow bird was on a top branch and didn't get hurt. Then the old +gentleman rabbit quickly untied the string and the bird was out of the +trap.</p> + +<p>"I cannot thank you enough!" she said to the rabbit. "Is there anything I +can do for you to pay you?"</p> + +<p>"Well, my valise is down a hole," said Uncle Wiggily, "but I don't see how +you can get it up. I need it, though."</p> + +<p>"I can fly down, tie the string to the satchel and you can pull it up," +said the birdie. And she did so, and the rabbit pulled up his valise as +nicely as a bucket of water is hoisted up from the well. Then some bad +boys and a man came along to see if there was anything in the hole-trap, +or the string-trap they had made; but when they saw the bird flying away +and the rabbit hopping away through the woods they were very angry. But +Uncle Wiggily and the yellow bird were safe from harm, I'm glad to say.</p> + +<p>And the rabbit had another adventure soon after that, and what it was I'll +tell you soon, when the story will be about Uncle Wiggily and the +skyrockets. It will be a Fourth of July story, if you please; that is if +the bean bag doesn't fall down the coal hole and catch a mosquito.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_V" id="STORY_V" ></a>STORY V</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE SKY-CRACKER</h3> + + +<p>Let me see, I think I promised to tell you a story about Uncle Wiggily and +the skyrocket, didn't I? Or was it to be about a firecracker, seeing that +it soon may be the Fourth of July? What's that—a firecracker—no? A +skyrocket? Oh, I'm all puzzled up about it, so I guess I'll make it a +sky-cracker, a sort of half-firecracker and half-skyrocket, and that will +do.</p> + +<p>Well, after Uncle Wiggily had gotten the little yellow bird, that looked +like gold, out from the string-trap in the tree, the old gentleman rabbit +spent two nights visiting a second cousin of Grandfather Prickly +Porcupine, who lived in the woods. Then Uncle Wiggily got up one morning, +dressed himself very carefully, combed out his whiskers, and said:</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm off again to seek my fortune."</p> + +<p>"It's too bad you can't seem able to find it," said the second cousin to +Grandfather Prickly Porcupine, "but perhaps you will have good luck +to-day. Only you want to be very careful."</p> + +<p>"Why?" asked the old gentleman rabbit.</p> + +<p>"Well, because you know it will soon be the Fourth of July, and some boys +may tie a firecracker or a skyrocket to your tail," said the porcupine.</p> + +<p>"Ha! Ha!" laughed Uncle Wiggily. "They will have a hard time doing that, +for my tail is so short that the boys would burn their fingers if they +tried to tie a firecracker to it."</p> + +<p>"Then look out that they don't fasten a skyrocket to your long ears," said +the second cousin to Grandfather Prickly Porcupine, as he wrapped up some +lettuce and carrot sandwiches for Uncle Wiggily to take with him.</p> + +<p>The old gentleman rabbit said he would watch out, and away he started, +going up hill and down hill with his barber-pole crutch as easily as if he +was being wheeled in a baby carriage.</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't seem to find any fortune," he said to himself as he walked +along, and, just as he said that he saw something sparkling in the grass +beside the path in the woods. "What's that?" he cried. "Perhaps it is a +diamond. If it is I can sell it and get rich." Then he happened to think +what the second cousin of Grandfather Prickly Porcupine had told him about +Fourth of July coming, and Uncle Wiggily said:</p> + +<p>"Ha! I had better be careful. Perhaps that sparkling thing is a spark on +a firecracker. Ah, ha!"</p> + +<p>So he looked more carefully, and the bright object sparkled more and more, +and it didn't seem to be fire, so the old gentleman rabbit went up close, +and what do you suppose it was?</p> + +<p>Why, it was a great big dewdrop, right in the middle of a purple violet, +that was growing underneath a shady fern. Oh, how beautiful it was in the +sunlight, and Uncle Wiggily was glad he had looked at it. And pretty soon, +as he was still looking, a big, buzzing bumble bee buzzed along and +stopped to take a sip of the dewdrop.</p> + +<p>"Ha! That is a regular violet ice cream soda for me!" said the bee to +Uncle Wiggily. And just as he was taking another drink a big, ugly snake +made a spring and tried to eat the bee, but Uncle Wiggily hit the snake +with his crutch and the snake crawled away very much surprised.</p> + +<p>"Thank you very much," said the bee to the rabbit. "You saved my life, and +if ever I can do you a favor I will," and with that he buzzed away.</p> + +<p>Well, pretty soon, not so very long, in a little while, Uncle Wiggily came +to a place in the woods where there were a whole lot of packages done up +in paper lying on the ground. And there was a tent near them, and it +looked as if people lived in the white tent, only no one was there just +then.</p> + +<p>"I guess I'd better keep away," thought the old gentleman rabbit, "or they +may catch me." And just then he saw something like a long, straight stick, +standing up against a tree. "Ha, that will be a good stick to take along +to chase the bears away with," he thought. "I think no one wants it, so +I'll take it."</p> + +<p>Well, he walked up and took hold of it in his paws, but, mind you, he +didn't notice that on one end of the stick was a piece of powder string, +like the string of a firecracker, sticking down, and this string was +burning. No, the poor old gentleman, rabbit never noticed that at all. He +started to take the stick away with him when, all of a sudden, something +dreadful happened.</p> + +<p>With a whizz and a rush and a roar that stick shot into the air, carrying +Uncle Wiggily with it, just like a balloon, for he hadn't time to let go +of it.</p> + +<p class="figcenter"><a href="./images/2.jpg"><img src="./images/2-tb.jpg" alt="Uncle Wiggily" title="Uncle Wiggily" /></a></p> + +<p>Up and up he went, with a roar and a swoop, and just then he saw a whole +lot of boys rushing out of the woods toward the white tent. And one boy +cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, fellows, look! A rabbit has hold of our sky-cracker and it's on fire +and has gone off and taken him with it! Oh the poor rabbit! Because when +the sky-cracker gets high enough in the air the firecracker part of it +will go off with a bang, and he'll be killed. Oh, how sorry I am. The hot +sun must have set fire to the powder string."</p> + +<p>You see those boys had come out in the woods to have their Fourth of July, +where the noise wouldn't make any one's head ache.</p> + +<p>Well, Uncle Wiggily went on, up and up, with the sky-cracker, and he felt +very much afraid for he had heard what the boys said.</p> + +<p>"Oh, this is the end of me!" he cried, as he held fast to the sky-cracker. +"I'll never live to find my fortune now. When this thing explodes, I'll be +dashed to the ground and killed."</p> + +<p>The sky-cracker was whizzing and roaring, and black smoke was pouring out +of one end, and Uncle Wiggily thought of all his friends whom he feared he +would never see again, when all of a sudden along came flying the buzzing +bumble bee, high in the air. He was much surprised to see Uncle Wiggily +skimming along on the tail of a sky-cracker.</p> + +<p>"Oh, can't you save me?" cried the rabbit.</p> + +<p>"Indeed I will, if I can," said the bee, "because you were so kind to me. +You are too heavy, or I would fly down to earth with you myself, but I'll +do the next best thing. I'll fly off and get Dickie and Nellie Chip-Chip, +the sparrow children, and they'll come with a big basket and catch you so +you won't fall."</p> + +<p>No sooner said than done. Off flew the bee. Quickly he found Dickie and +Nellie and told them the danger Uncle Wiggily was in.</p> + +<p>"Quick," called Dickie to Nellie. "We must save him."</p> + +<p>Off they flew like the wind, carrying a grocery basket between them. Right +under Uncle Wiggily they flew, and just as the sky-cracker was going to +burst with a "slam-bang!" the old gentleman rabbit let go, and into the +basket he safely fell and the sparrow children flew to earth with him. +Then the sky-cracker burst all to pieces for Fourth of July, but Uncle +Wiggily wasn't on it to be hurt, I'm glad to say.</p> + +<p>He spent the Fourth visiting the Bumble bee's family, and had ice cream +and cake and lemonade for supper, and at night he heard the band play, and +he gave Nellie and Dickie ten cents for ice cream sodas, and that's all to +this story.</p> + +<p>But on the next page, if the baker man brings me a pound of soap bubbles +with candy in the middle for Cora Janet's doll, I'll tell you about Uncle +Wiggily and the buttercup.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_VI" id="STORY_VI" ></a>STORY VI</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGILY AND BUTTERCUP</h3> + + +<p>I hope none of you were burned by a sky-cracker or a Roman candle stick +when you had your Fourth of July celebration, but if you were I hope you +will soon be better, and perhaps if I tell you a story it will make you +forget the pain. So here we go, all about Uncle Wiggily and the buttercup.</p> + +<p>The old gentleman rabbit spent a few days in an old burrow next to the +bumble bee's house, and then one morning, when the sun was shining +brightly, he started off again to seek his fortune.</p> + +<p>"I never can thank you enough," he said to the bee, "for going after the +sparrow children and saving me from the exploding sky-cracker. If ever I +find my fortune I will give you some of it."</p> + +<p>"Thank you very kindly," said the bee, as she looked in the pantry, "and +here are some sweet honey sandwiches for you to eat on your travels. This +is some honey that I made myself."</p> + +<p>"Then it must be very good," said the old gentleman rabbit politely, as +he put the sandwiches in his valise and started off down the dusty road.</p> + +<p>Well, he hopped on and on, sometimes in the woods where it was cool and +green and shady, and sometimes out in the hot sun, and every minute or so +he would stop and look around to see if he could find his fortune.</p> + +<p>"For, who knows?" he said, "perhaps I may pick up a bag of gold, or some +diamonds at almost any minute. Then I could go back home and buy an +automobile for myself to ride around in, and my travels would be over. I +have certainly been on the go a long time, but my health is much better +than it was."</p> + +<p>So he kept on, looking under all the big leaves and clumps of ferns for +his fortune. But he didn't find it, and pretty soon he came to a hole in +the ground. And in front of this hole was a little sign, printed on a +piece of paper, and it read:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"COME IN! EVERYBODY WELCOME."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"Humph! I wonder if that means me?" thought the old gentleman rabbit. +"Let's see, gold grows under ground, in mines, and perhaps this is a gold +mine. I'm going down. I'm sure there is a fortune waiting for me. Yes, +I'll go down."</p> + +<p>So he laid aside his valise and barber-pole crutch and got ready to go +down in the hole, which wasn't very big.</p> + +<p>"But I can scratch it bigger if I need to," said Uncle Wiggily.</p> + +<p>Well, he had no sooner gotten his front feet and part of his nose down the +hole, but his ears were still sticking out, when he heard a voice calling:</p> + +<p>"Here! Where are you going?"</p> + +<p>"Down this hole after gold," replied Uncle Wiggily.</p> + +<p>"You mustn't go down there," went on the voice, and pulling out his nose +and looking about him, the old gentleman rabbit saw a white pussy cat +sitting on a stump. And the pussy cat was washing his face with his paws, +taking care not to let the claws stick out for fear of scratching his +eyes.</p> + +<p>"Why can't I go down this hole, Pussy?" asked the rabbit. "Do you have +charge of it?"</p> + +<p>"No, indeed," was the answer, "but there is a bad snake who lives down +there, and he puts up that sign so the animals will come down, and then he +eats them. That's the reason he says they are welcome. No, indeed, I +wouldn't want to see you go down there!"</p> + +<p>"Ha! Hum! I wouldn't like to see myself!" spoke Uncle Wiggily, and he +crawled away from the hole just in time, for the snake stuck out his ugly +head and was about to bite the rabbit. It was the same snake that had +nearly caught the bumble bee.</p> + +<p>"Say!" cried the snake, quite angry like, to the pussy cat, "I wish you +would get away from here! You are always spoiling my plans. I thought I +was going to have a nice rabbit dinner, and now look at what you have +done," and that snake was so angry that he hissed like a boiling +teakettle.</p> + +<p>"I will never let you eat up Uncle Wiggily!" cried the pussy. "Now look +out for yourself, Mr. Snake!" and with that the pussy made his back round +like a hoop, and he swelled up his tail like a bologna sausage, and he +showed his teeth and claws to the snake, and that snake popped down the +hole again very quickly, I can tell you, taking his tail with him. Oh, my, +yes, and a bucket of sawdust soup besides.</p> + +<p>"I thank you very much for telling me about that snake, little pussy cat," +said Uncle Wiggily. "Well, I am disappointed about my fortune again. I +shall never be rich I fear. But I almost forgot that I have some fine +honey sandwiches and I will give you some, for you must be hungry. I know +I am."</p> + +<p>"I am, too," said the pussy. So Uncle Wiggily opened his valise and took +out the honey sandwiches which the bee had given him, but when he went to +eat them he found that the bee had forgotten to butter the bread.</p> + +<p>"Oh, that is too bad!" cried the pussy, when Uncle Wiggily spoke of it. +"Still they will do very well without butter."</p> + +<p>"No, we must have some," said the rabbit. "I wonder how I can get butter +in the woods?" So he looked all around and the first thing he saw was a +yellow buttercup flower. You know the kind I mean. You hold them under +your chin to see if you like butter, and the shine of the flower makes +your chin yellow.</p> + +<p>"Ha!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "Now we will have butter."</p> + +<p>"But you are not going to eat the flower, are you?" asked the pussy.</p> + +<p>"No, indeed!" cried the rabbit, "I'll show you."</p> + +<p>Now there was a cow in the field a short distance away, and Uncle Wiggily +went over and got some milk from the cow in a little tin cup. "Butter is +made from milk," said the rabbit to the pussy. "So I will just pour some +milk in the buttercup flower, and shake it just as if it was a churn, and +then we'll have butter for our honey sandwiches."</p> + +<p>So he did this. Into the buttercup he poured the milk, and it became +yellow like butter at once. But Uncle Wiggily did not have to shake the +flower, for a little wind came along just then and shook it for him.</p> + +<p>And pretty soon, in a little while, the milk in the buttercup was churned +into lovely sweet butter, and the rabbit and pussy spread it on their +honey sandwiches, and what a fine feast they had. Just as they were eating +it the bad alligator came along, and wanted to take the honey away from +them, but the pussy scratched the end of the savage beast's tail with his +claws, and the bad alligator ran away as fast as he could.</p> + +<p>Then Uncle Wiggily and the pussy traveled on together and the next day +they had quite an adventure. What it was I'll tell you in the next story +when, in case the steamboat stops at our house for a little girl wearing a +green sunbonnet, with horse chestnuts on it, I'll tell you about Uncle +Wiggily and the July bug.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_VII" id="STORY_VII" ></a>STORY VII</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE JULY BUG</h3> + + +<p>"Well, what shall we do to-day?" asked the white pussy of Uncle Wiggily, +as they traveled on together, the next day after the adventure at the +snake hole. They had slept that night in a nice hollow stump.</p> + +<p>"Hum! I hardly know what to do," replied the old gentleman rabbit. "Of +course I must be on the watch for my fortune, but, as I don't seem to be +finding it very fast, what do you say to having a picnic to-day?"</p> + +<p>"The very thing!" cried pussy. "We will get some lunch, and go off in the +woods and eat it. Only we ought to have a lot more people. Two are hardly +enough for a picnic."</p> + +<p>"I would like some of my friends to come to it," spoke Uncle Wiggily, "but +I am afraid they are too far off."</p> + +<p>"Couldn't you send them word by telephone?" inquired the pussy. "I'm sure +I would like to meet them, for I have heard so much about Sammie and +Susie Littletail, and Johnnie and Billie Bushytail."</p> + +<p>"There is no telephone in these woods," replied Uncle Wiggily, "and we +haven't time to send them postcards. I wish I could get word to them, +however, but I don't s'pose I can."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you can!" suddenly cried a voice down in the grass. "I'll tell all +your friends to come to the picnic if you like."</p> + +<p>"Indeed, I would like it," said the rabbit, "but who are you, if I may be +so bold as to ask? I can't see you."</p> + +<p>"There he is—it's a big June bug!" exclaimed the pussy.</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon," spoke the bug quickly, as he crawled out from under a +leaf and sat on a toadstool. "But I am not a June bug, if you please."</p> + +<p>"You look like one," said Uncle Wiggily politely.</p> + +<p>"I am a July bug," went on the funny little creature. "I was intended for +a June bug, but there was some mistake made, and I didn't come out of my +shell until July. So you see I'm a July bug, and at first I thought it +would be jolly fun, to hear all the firecrackers and skyrockets go off."</p> + +<p>"It isn't so much fun as you imagine," said Uncle Wiggily, as he thought +of the time he went sailing into the air on the sky-cracker. "But don't +you like being a July bug?"</p> + +<p>"Not very much. You see I'm the only one there is, and all the others are +June bugs. The June bugs won't speak to me, nor let me play with them, so +I'm very lonesome. I heard you talking about a picnic you were going to +have, and so I offered to call all your friends to it. I thought perhaps +if I did that you would let me come to it also."</p> + +<p>"To be sure!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "You may gladly come, but how are +you going to send word to all of my friends?"</p> + +<p>"I will fly through the air and tell them to come," was the answer. "I am +a very swift flyer. Watch me," and then and there the July bug buzzed +around so fast that Uncle Wiggily and the pussy couldn't see his wings go +flip-flop-flap.</p> + +<p>Well, they decided it would be a good plan to have the July bug act as a +postman, so Uncle Wiggily wrote out the invitations on little pieces of +white birch bark, and gave them to the bug. Off he flew into the air +waving one leg at Uncle Wiggily and the pussy.</p> + +<p>"Well, now we must get ready for the picnic—get the things to eat—for +that bug flies so fast that soon all my friends will be here," said the +rabbit, so he and the pussy began to get the lunch ready.</p> + +<p>Uncle Wiggily had some food in his valise, but they got more good things +from a kind old monkey who lived in the woods. He used to work on a hand +organ, but when he got old he bought him a nest in the woods with the +pennies he had saved up, and he lived in peace and quietness, and played a +mouth organ on Sundays.</p> + +<p>Well, you will hardly believe me, but it's true, no sooner had Uncle +Wiggily and the pussy put up the lunch, wrapping some for each visitor in +nice, green grape leaves, than the first ones of the picnic party began to +arrive. They were Dickie and Nellie Chip-Chip, the sparrows, for they +could fly through the air very quickly, and so they came on ahead.</p> + +<p>"We got your invitation that the July bug left us, Uncle Wiggily, and we +came at once," said Dickie.</p> + +<p>"Where are the others?" asked the old gentleman rabbit.</p> + +<p>"They are coming," answered Nellie, as she tied her tail ribbon over +again, for the bow knot had become undone as she was flying through the +air.</p> + +<p>Well, in a little while along came hopping, Sammie and Susie Littletail, +the rabbit children, and Billie and Johnnie Bushytail, the squirrel +brothers, and Bully and Bawly the frogs, and Dottie and Munchie Trot, the +ponies, and Lulu and Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble, the duck twins, and +Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg, and oh, all the boy and girl animals I have +ever told you about.</p> + +<p>And oh! how glad they were to see Uncle Wiggily. He had to tell them all +about his travels after his fortune before they would go off in the woods +to the picnic. But at last they went, each one with a little leaf-package +of lunch. The July bug came along, too, and he had a very little package +of good things, because he was so small, you see, but it was enough.</p> + +<p>They all sat down on the ground with flat stones for plates, and sticks +for knives and forks, and they ate their picnic lunch there. Oh, they had +the finest time, and it didn't matter if some ants did get in the sugar. +Uncle Wiggily said they could have all they wanted of the sweet stuff.</p> + +<p>And, when the picnic was almost over, there was a sudden noise in the +bushes, and two bad foxes sprang out. One tried to grab Uncle Wiggily, and +another made a dash for Lulu Wibblewobble.</p> + +<p>"Oh dear!" cried Dottie Trot, without looking to see if her hair ribbon +was on straight. "We shall all be eaten up!"</p> + +<p>"No, you won't!" cried the brave July bug. "I'll fix those foxes!"</p> + +<p>So that brave July bug just buzzed his wings as hard as he could, and +straight at those foxes he flew, bumping and banging them on their noses +and in the eyes, so that they gave two separate and distinct howls, and +ran away, taking their big tails with them.</p> + +<p>So that is how the July bug saved everybody from being eaten up, and then +the picnic was over and every one said it was lovely.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll start on my travels again to-morrow," said Uncle Wiggily, as +his friends told him good-by.</p> + +<p>Now what happened to him the next day I'll tell you very soon, for, in +case I see a chipmunk with a blue tail and a red nose climbing up the +clothes pole, the story will be about Uncle Wiggily and +Jack-in-the-pulpit.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_VIII" id="STORY_VIII" ></a>STORY VIII</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGILY AND JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT</h3> + + +<p>Uncle Wiggily was slowly hopping along through the woods, sometimes +leaning on his crutch, when his rheumatism pained him, and again skipping +along when he got out into the warm sunshine. It was the day after the +picnic, and the old gentleman rabbit felt a bit lonesome as all his +friends had gone back to their homes.</p> + +<p>"I do declare!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, as he walked slowly along by a +little lake, where an August rabbit was running his motor boat, "if I +don't find my fortune pretty soon I won't have any vacation this year. I +must look carefully to-day, and see if I can't find a pot full of gold."</p> + +<p>Well, he looked as carefully as he could, but my land sakes and a pair of +white gloves! he couldn't seem to find a smitch of gold and not so much as +a crumb of diamonds.</p> + +<p>"Hum!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, "at this rate I guess I'll have to keep on +traveling for several years before I find my fortune. But never mind, +I'm having a good time, anyhow. I'll keep on searching."</p> + +<p>So he kept on, and all of a sudden when he was walking past a prickly +briar bush, he heard a voice calling:</p> + +<p>"Hey, Uncle Wiggily, come on in here."</p> + +<p>"Ha! Who are you, and why do you want me to come in there?" asked the old +gentleman rabbit.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I am a friend of yours," was the answer, "and I will give you a lot +of money if you come in here."</p> + +<p>"Let me see your face," asked the rabbit, "I want to know who you are."</p> + +<p>"Oh! I have a dreadful toothache," said the creature hiding in the bushes. +"I don't want to stick my face out in the cold. But if you will take my +word for it I am a good friend of yours. I would like very much for you to +come in here."</p> + +<p>"Well, perhaps I had better," said the old gentleman rabbit, "for I +certainly need money."</p> + +<p>And he was just going to crawl in under the prickly briar bush when all of +a sudden he happened to look, and he saw the skillery-scallery tail of the +alligator accidentally sticking out. Yes, it was the alligator trying to +fool dear old Uncle Wiggily.</p> + +<p>"Oh, ho!" cried the wise old rabbit. "I guess I won't go in there after +all," so he hopped to one side and the alligator kept waiting for him to +come in so he could eat him, but when the rabbit didn't come in the savage +creature with the skillery-scallery tail cried:</p> + +<p>"Well, aren't you coming in?"</p> + +<p>"No, thank you," said the rabbit. "I have to go on to seek my fortune," +and away he hopped. Well, that alligator was so angry that he gnashed his +teeth and nearly broke them, and he crawled after Uncle Wiggily, but of +course, he couldn't catch him.</p> + +<p class="figcenter"><a href="./images/3.jpg"><img src="./images/3-tb.jpg" alt="Uncle Wiggily runs from the Alligator" title="Uncle Wiggily runs from the Alligator" /></a></p> + +<p>Uncle Wiggily was pretty careful after that, and whenever he came near a +prickly briar bush he listened with both his long ears stuck up straight +to see if he could hear any sounds like an alligator. But he didn't, and +so he kept on.</p> + +<p>Well, it was coming on toward evening, one afternoon, and the old +gentleman rabbit was tramping along the road, wondering where he would +sleep, when all of a sudden something came bursting out of the bushes +toward the rabbit, and a voice cried out:</p> + +<p>"Hide! Hide! Uncle Wiggily. Hide as quickly as you can!"</p> + +<p>"Why should I hide?" asked the old gentleman rabbit. "Is there a giant +coming after me?"</p> + +<p>"Worse than a giant," said the voice. "It is a bad wolf that jumped out of +his cage from the circus, and he is just ready to eat up anything he +sees," and the July bug, for it was he who had fluttered out of the +bushes, to tell Uncle Wiggily, made his wings go slowly to and fro like an +electric palm-leaf fan.</p> + +<p>"A wolf, eh?" cried the old gentleman rabbit. "And do you think he will +eat me?"</p> + +<p>"He surely will," said the July bug. "I happened to fly past his house, +and I heard him say to his wife that he was going out to see if he could +find a rabbit supper. So I know he's coming for you. You'd better hide."</p> + +<p>"Oh! where can I hide?" asked the rabbit, as he looked around for a hollow +stump. But there wasn't any, and there were no holes in the ground, and he +didn't know what to do.</p> + +<p>Then, all at once there was a crashing in the bushes and it sounded like +an elephant coming through, breaking all the sticks in his path.</p> + +<p>"There's the wolf! There's the wolf!" cried the July bug. "Hide, Uncle +Wiggily," and then the bug perched on the high limb of a tree where the +wolf couldn't catch him.</p> + +<p>Well, the poor old gentleman rabbit looked for a place to hide himself +away from the wolf but he couldn't seem to find any, and he was just going +to crawl under a stone and maybe hurt himself, when all at once he heard a +voice say:</p> + +<p>"Jump up here, Uncle Wiggily. I'll hide you from the wolf."</p> + +<p>So the rabbit traveler looked up, and there he saw a flower called +Jack-in-the-pulpit looking down on him. I've told you about them before, +how the frog once took his bath in one, and how, when you pick a +wood-bouquet you put them in with some ferns to make the bouquet look +pretty. They are a flower like a vase, with a top curling over, and a +thing standing up in the centre whose name is "Jack."</p> + +<p>"Jump in here," said the Jack. "I'll fold my top down over you like an +umbrella, and the wolf can't find you."</p> + +<p>"But you are so small that I can't get inside," said the rabbit.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'll make myself bigger," cried the Jack, I and he took a long +breath, and puffed himself up and swelled himself up, until he was large +enough for Uncle Wiggily to jump down inside. Then the Jack-in-the-pulpit +closed down the umbrella top over the rabbit, and he was hidden away as +nice and snug as could be wished.</p> + +<p>Pretty soon that bad savage wolf came prancing along, and he looked all +over for the rabbit. Then he sniffed and cried:</p> + +<p>"Ha! I smell him somewhere around here! I'll find him!" But he couldn't +see Uncle Wiggily because he was safely hidden in the Jack-in-the-pulpit. +So the wolf raged around some more and chased after his tail, and just as +he smelled the rabbit hidden in the flower, the July bug flew down out of +the tree, bang! right into the eyes of the wolf, and then the savage +creature felt so badly that he ran home and ate cold bread and water for +supper, and he didn't bother Uncle Wiggily any more that day.</p> + +<p>So that's how the Jack-in-the-pulpit saved the rabbit and very thankful +Uncle Wiggily was. And he stayed that night in a hollow stump, and the +next day he went on to seek his fortune.</p> + +<p>And quite a curious thing happened to him, as I shall have the pleasure of +telling you about soon, when in case our canoe boat doesn't turn upside +down and spill out the breakfast oatmeal, the next bedtime story will be +about Uncle Wiggily and the lost chipmunk.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_IX" id="STORY_IX" ></a>STORY IX</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE LOST CHIPMUNK</h3> + + +<p>Uncle Wiggily was walking along the road one morning, after he had slept +all night in the hollow stump. He didn't have any breakfast either, for +there was nothing left in his valise, and of course he couldn't eat his +barber-pole crutch. If the crutch had had a hole in it, like in the +elephant's trunk, then the old gentleman rabbit could have carried along +some sandwiches. But, as it was, he had nothing for breakfast, and he +hadn't had much supper either, the night before.</p> + +<p>"Oh, how hungry I am!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "If only I had a piece of +cherry pie now, or an ice cream cone, or a bit of bread and butter and jam +I would be all right."</p> + +<p>Well, he just happened to open his valise, and there on the very bottom, +among some papers he found a few crumbs of the honey sandwiches the bumble +bee had given him. Well, you never can imagine how good those few crumbs +tasted to the old gentleman rabbit, which shows you that it is a good +thing to be hungry once in a while, because even common things taste good.</p> + +<p>But the crumbs weren't enough for Uncle Wiggily. As he walked along he +kept getting hungrier and hungrier and he didn't know how he was going to +stand it.</p> + +<p>Then, all of a sudden, as he was passing by a hollow stump, he saw a whole +lot of little black creatures crawling around it. They were going up and +down, and they were very busy.</p> + +<p>"Why, these are ants," said the rabbit. "Well, I s'pose they have plenty +to eat. I almost wish I was an ant."</p> + +<p>"Well! Well!" exclaimed a voice all at once. "If here isn't Uncle Wiggily. +Where did you come from?" and there stood a second cousin to the ant for +whom Uncle Wiggily had once carried home a pound of beefsteak with +mushrooms on it.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I am traveling about seeking my fortune," said the rabbit. "But I +haven't been very successful. I couldn't even find my breakfast this +morning."</p> + +<p>"That's too bad!" exclaimed the ant who wore glasses. "We can give you +something, however. Come on! everybody, help get breakfast for Uncle +Wiggily."</p> + +<p>So all the ants came running up, and some of them brought pieces of +boiled eggs, and others brought oatmeal and others parts of oranges and +still others parts of cups of coffee. So take it altogether, with +seventeen million, four hundred and seventeen thousand, one hundred and +eighty-five ants and a baby ant to wait on him, Uncle Wiggily managed to +make out a pretty fair sort of a breakfast.</p> + +<p>Well, after the old gentleman rabbit had eaten all the breakfast he could, +he thanked the kind ants and said good-by to them. Then he started off +again. He hadn't gone on very far through the woods, before, all of a +sudden he saw something bright and shining under a blackberry bush.</p> + +<p>"Well, I do declare!" cried the old gentleman rabbit. "I think that looks +like gold. I hope I'm not fooled this time. I will go up very slowly and +carefully. Perhaps I shall find my fortune now."</p> + +<p>So up he walked very softly, and he stooped down and picked up the shining +thing. And what do you think it was? Why a bright new penny—as shiny as +gold.</p> + +<p>"Good luck!" cried Uncle Wiggily, "I am beginning to find money. Soon I +will be rich, and then I can stop traveling," and he put the penny in his +pocket.</p> + +<p>Well, no sooner had he done so than he heard some one crying over behind a +raspberry bush. Oh, such a sad cry as it was, and the old gentleman rabbit +knew right away that some one was in trouble.</p> + +<p>"Who is there?" he asked, as he felt in his pocket to see if his penny was +safe, for he thought that was the beginning of his fortune.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm lost!" cried the voice. "I came to the store to buy a chocolate +lollypop, and I can't find my way back," and then out from behind the +raspberry bush came a tiny, little striped chipmunk with the tears falling +down on her little paws.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you poor little dear!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "And so you are lost? +Well, don't you know what to do? As soon as you are lost you must go to a +policeman and ask him to take you home. Policemen always know where +everybody lives."</p> + +<p>"But there are no policemen here," said the chipmunk, who was something +like a squirrel, only smaller.</p> + +<p>"That's so," agreed Uncle Wiggily. "Well, pretend that I am a policeman, +and I'll take you home. Where do you live?"</p> + +<p>"If I knew," said the chipmunk, "I would go home myself. All that I know +is that I live in a hollow stump."</p> + +<p>"Hum!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "There are so many hollow stumps here, +that I can't tell which one it is. We will go to each one, and when you +find the one that is your home, just tell me."</p> + +<p>"But that is not the worst," said the chipmunk. "I have lost my bright, +new penny that my mamma gave me for a chocolate lollypop. Oh dear. Isn't +it terrible."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps this is your penny," said the old gentleman rabbit a bit sadly, +taking from his pocket the one he had found.</p> + +<p>"It is the very one!" cried the lost chipmunk, joyfully. "Oh, how good of +you to find it for me."</p> + +<p>"Well," thought Uncle Wiggily with a sorrowful sigh as he handed over the +penny, "I thought I had found the beginning of my fortune, but I've lost +it again. Never mind. I'll try to-morrow."</p> + +<p>So he gave the penny to the chipmunk, and she stopped crying right away, +and took hold of Uncle Wiggily's paw, and he led her around to all the +hollow stumps until she found the right one where she lived.</p> + +<p>And he bought her an ice cream cone because he felt sorry for her. And, +just as she was eating it, along came a big, black bear and he wanted +half of it, but very luckily the July bug flew past just then, and he bit +the bear in the eyes, so that the bad bear was glad enough to run home, +taking his little stumpy tail with him. Then the chipmunk took Uncle +Wiggily back to her home, and he stayed with her papa and mamma all night.</p> + +<p>Now, in case the rocking chair on our porch doesn't tip over in the middle +of the night, and scare the pussy cat off the railing, I'll tell you next +about Uncle Wiggily and the black cricket.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_X" id="STORY_X" ></a>STORY X</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BLACK CRICKET</h3> + + +<p>Uncle Wiggily, the nice old gentleman rabbit, was feeling quite sad one +morning as he hopped along the dusty road. It was a few days after he had +helped the lost chipmunk find her way back home, and he had given her the +lost penny which he had also picked up.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear me!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, as he thought of the penny. +"That's generally the way it is in this world. Nothing seems to go right. +I naturally thought I had found the beginning of my fortune, even if it +was only a penny, and it turned out that the money belonged to somebody +else. Oh dear!"</p> + +<p>Well, the old rabbit traveler actually felt so badly that he didn't much +care whether he found his fortune or not, and that is a very poor way to +feel in this world, for one must never give up trying, no matter what +happens.</p> + +<p>Then Uncle Wiggily looked in his satchel to see if he had anything to eat, +but my goodness sakes alive and a ham sandwich! There wasn't a thing in +the valise! You see he was thinking so much about the penny that he forgot +to put up his lunch.</p> + +<p>"Humph! This is a pretty state of affairs!" exclaimed the old rabbit +gentleman. "Worse and worse, and some more besides! I do declare! Hum! +Suz! Dud!"</p> + +<p>Well, he didn't know what to do, so he sat down on a log beside a shady +bush and thought it all over. And the more he thought the sadder he +became, until he began to believe he was the most miserable rabbit in all +the world.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "I might as well go back +home and done with it."</p> + +<p>But no sooner had he said this, than Uncle Wiggily heard the jolliest +laugh he had ever known. Oh! it was such a rippling, happy joyous laugh +that it would almost cure the toothache just to listen to it.</p> + +<p>"Ha! Ha! Ho! Ho! He! He!" laughed the voice, and Uncle Wiggily looked up, +and he looked down, and then he looked sideways and around a corner, but +he could see no one. Still the laugh kept up, more jolly than ever.</p> + +<p>"Humph! I wonder who that is?" said the rabbit. "I wish I could laugh like +that," and Uncle Wiggily actually smiled the least little bit, and he +didn't feel quite so sad.</p> + +<p>Then, all at once, there was a voice singing, and this is the song, and if +you feel sad when you sing it, just get some one to tickle you, or watch +baby's face when he smiles, and you will feel jolly enough to sing this +song, even if you have been crying because you stubbed your toe.</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Ha! Ha! Ho! Ho! I gladly sing,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I sing about most anything.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I sing about a pussy cat,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who caught a little mousie-rat.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I sing about a doggie-dog,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who saw a turtle on a log.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I sing about a little boy,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who cried because he broke his toy.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And then he laughed, 'Ha! Ha! He! He!'</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Because he couldn't help it; see?"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"Well, well!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, "I wish I knew who that was. +Perhaps it is a fairy, and if it is, I'm going to ask her for my fortune. +I'm getting tired of not finding it," and when he thought about that he +was sad again.</p> + +<p>But a moment later a little black creature hopped out from under a leaf, +and who should it be but a cricket.</p> + +<p>"Was that you laughing?" asked the old gentleman rabbit, as he again +looked in his valise to see if he had any sandwiches there. "Was it you?"</p> + +<p>"It was," said the cricket. "I was just going—Oh, kindly excuse me, while +I laugh again!" the cricket said, and then he laughed more jolly than +before.</p> + +<p>"What makes you so good-natured?" asked the rabbit.</p> + +<p>"I just can't help it," said the cricket. "Everything is so lovely. The +sun shines, and the birds sing, and the water in the brooks babble such +jolly songs, and well—Oh, excuse me again if you please, I'm going to +laugh once more," and so he did then and there. He just laughed and +laughed and laughed, that cricket did.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Uncle Wiggily, still speaking sadly, "of course it's nice to +be jolly, anybody can be that way when the sun shines, but what about the +rain? There! I guess you can't be jolly when it rains."</p> + +<p>"Oh! when it rains I laugh because I know it will soon clear off, and +then, too, I can think about the days when the sun did shine," said the +cricket.</p> + +<p>"Well," spoke Uncle Wiggily, "there is something in that, to be sure. And +as you are such a jolly chap, will you travel along with me? Perhaps with +you I could find my fortune."</p> + +<p>"Of course I'll come," said the cricket, and he laughed again, and then he +and the old gentleman rabbit hopped on together and Uncle Wiggily kept +feeling more and more happy until he had forgotten all about the +chipmunk's penny that wasn't his.</p> + +<p>Well, in a little while, not so very long, the rabbit and the cricket came +to a dark place in the woods. Oh! it was quite dismal, and, just as they +passed a big, black stump with a hole in it, all of a sudden out popped +the skillery-scalery-tailery alligator.</p> + +<p>"Ah, ha!" exclaimed the unpleasant creature. "Now I have you both. I'm +going to eat you both, first you, Mr. Cricket, and then you, Uncle +Wiggily."</p> + +<p>"Oh, please don't," begged the rabbit. "I haven't found my fortune yet."</p> + +<p>"No matter," cried the alligator, "here we go!"</p> + +<p>He made a grab for the cricket, but the little black insect hopped to one +side, and then, all of a sudden he began to laugh. Oh, how hard he +laughed.</p> + +<p>"Ha! Ha! Ho! Ho! He! He!" My, it was wonderful! At first the alligator +didn't know what to make of it. Harder and harder did the black cricket +laugh, and then Uncle Wiggily began. He just couldn't help it. Harder and +harder laughed the cricket and Uncle Wiggily together, and then, all at +once, the alligator began to laugh. He couldn't help it either.</p> + +<p>"Ha! Ha! Ho! Ho! He! He!" laughed the 'gator, and great big alligator +tears rolled down his scaly cheeks, he laughed so hard. Why, he giggled so +that he couldn't even have eaten a mosquito with mustard on.</p> + +<p>"Come on, now!" suddenly cried the cricket to Uncle Wiggily. "Now is our +chance to get away."</p> + +<p>And before the alligator had stopped laughing they both hopped away in the +woods together, and so the bad scalery-ailery-tailery creature didn't get +either of them.</p> + +<p>"My! it's a good thing you made him laugh," said the rabbit when they were +safely away.</p> + +<p>"It's a good thing to make anybody laugh," said the black cricket, and +then he and Uncle Wiggily went on to seek the old gentleman rabbit's +fortune.</p> + +<p>And in the next story, in case the sunshine doesn't make my pussy cat +sneeze and spill his milk, on the new door mat, I'll tell you all about +Uncle Wiggily and the busy bug.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XI" id="STORY_XI" ></a>STORY XI</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BUSY BUG</h3> + + +<p>Everywhere Uncle Wiggily and the black cricket went in the next few days, +every one was glad to see them. For they were both so jolly, and laughed +and joked so much along the road, that no one who heard them could be sad.</p> + +<p>They came to one place where there was a boy sick with the toothache, and +his mamma had done everything for him that she could think of, even to +putting mustard on it, but still that boy's tooth ached.</p> + +<p>Well, as soon as that boy saw the cricket and the old gentleman rabbit, +and heard them laugh, why the boy smiled, and then the pain, somehow, +seemed to be better, and he smiled some more, and then he laughed.</p> + +<p>Then Uncle Wiggily told a funny story about a monkey who made faces at +himself in a looking-glass, and got so excited about it that he jumped +around behind the glass, thinking another monkey was there, and there +wasn't, and the monkey fell into the freezer full of ice cream and caught +cold because he ate so much of it.</p> + +<p>Well, that boy opened his mouth real wide to laugh at the funny story and +his mamma all of a sudden slipped a string around the aching tooth and she +pulled it out in a moment, and it never ached again.</p> + +<p>"Oh, how glad I am!" cried the little boy. "I wish you would always stay +with me, Uncle Wiggily—you and the jolly cricket."</p> + +<p>"I'd like to, but I can't," said the old gentleman rabbit. "I must keep on +after my fortune."</p> + +<p>"I'll stay with you for a little while," said the cricket, and he did, +telling some funny stories to other boys who had the toothache, and right +away after that they allowed their bad teeth to be pulled, and their pain +was over.</p> + +<p>So Uncle Wiggily said good-by to the cricket and went on by himself. He +was feeling very good now, for he and the cricket had met a kind muskrat, +a thirty-fifth cousin to Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, and this muskrat gave +Uncle Wiggily a lot of sandwiches for his satchel, so he wouldn't be +hungry again for some time.</p> + +<p>"And I don't mind so much about the cent, either," thought the rabbit, as +he remembered the one that belonged to the chipmunk. "After all a cent is +not so much, and I need more than that for my fortune. Ha! Ha! Ho! Ho!"</p> + +<p>He just had to laugh, you see, when he thought of the jolly cricket. So he +traveled on and on, over hill and dale, until one evening, just as the sun +was going down behind the clouds, all red and golden and violet colored, +he saw a little house built of green leaves.</p> + +<p>"Ha!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "That is a very fine house. I wish I had +one like it in which to stay to-night. But it's too small for me. I guess +I'll have to keep on and look for a haystack under which to crawl."</p> + +<p>Well, just as he said that, all of a sudden there was a little rustling, +scratching noise, and a bug came to the door of the queer little green +leaf house. The bug had a broom and she began sweeping off the front porch +and then she knocked the dirt out of the doormat, and then she swept some +cobwebs off the shutters and then she hurried out and swept off the +sidewalk, all so quickly that you could scarcely see her move.</p> + +<p>"My, but she is a fast worker," said Uncle Wiggily. "She is almost as +quick as Jennie Chipmunk."</p> + +<p>"I have to be!" exclaimed the bug, for the old gentleman rabbit had spoken +out loud without thinking, and the bug had heard him. "I have to hustle +around," she said, "for I am the busy bug, and I have to keep busy. I work +from morning to night to keep my house in order. Now excuse me; I have to +go in and dust the piano," and she was just going to run in the house, +when Uncle Wiggily said:</p> + +<p>"Do you happen to know of a place where I can stay to-night?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes," said the busy bug. "Next door is a house where Mr. Groundhog +used to live. But now he is away on his vacation, and I have the keys. I'm +sure he wouldn't mind you staying in there over night. I'll get it in +order for you. Come along, hurry up, no time to lose!"</p> + +<p>And before Uncle Wiggily knew what was happening the busy bug had run in, +got the keys, opened the front door of the groundhog's house. Then she +flew in, and she began dusting it. My! what a dust she raised. Uncle +Wiggily had to sneeze, there was so much of it.</p> + +<p>And the funny part of it was that the house was already just as neat and +clean as a piece of cocoanut or custard, or maybe even apple pie.</p> + +<p>"Don't fuss any more with it," said Uncle Wiggily. "It will do very well +as it is."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it must be made cleaner," said the busy bug, and she swept and dusted +until Uncle Wiggily sneezed again. Then the bug dusted a little more, and +at last she said the house was in pretty fair shape and Uncle Wiggily +could sleep there.</p> + +<p>Then the busy bug flew back home and she kept busy up to nine o'clock, +making beds and dusting the crumbs off the mantelpiece and picking up +grains of sand off the floor. Then she went to sleep.</p> + +<p>Well, along in the middle of the night Uncle Wiggily was awakened by +hearing some one talking under his window. He looked out, and there were +two savage old owls.</p> + +<p>"Now, we'll fly right in through her window," said one owl, "and we'll eat +her all up, and then we'll tear her house down."</p> + +<p>And, would you believe it, they started right toward the house of the poor +busy lady bug, who was fast asleep.</p> + +<p>"Ha! This must never be!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "I must save her. How can I +do it?" So he looked around, and he saw a broom, which the busy bug had +left behind when she finished sweeping. "That will do!" cried the rabbit. +He took it in his paws and, leaning out of the window, he held it just as +if it was a gun, and cried:</p> + +<p>"Now, you bad owls, fly away or I'll shoot all your feathers off! Fly away +and don't you harm my friend, the busy lady bug!"</p> + +<p>Well, sir, those owls were so frightened, thinking that Uncle Wiggily was +going to shoot them with the broom-gun (only, of course, they didn't know +it was only a broom), and, would you believe it, they were terribly afraid +and they flew off into the dark woods, and so didn't eat up the busy bug +after all, and she slept in peace and quietness, never even waking up, she +was so tired after being busy all day.</p> + +<p>Then Uncle Wiggily went back to bed, and the owls didn't disturb him again +that night. And in the morning the busy bug got his breakfast and thanked +him when he told her about scaring the owls away with the make-believe +broom-gun.</p> + +<p>Uncle Wiggily traveled on, and soon he had another adventure. What it was +I'll tell you almost right away, when, in case the cake of ice doesn't +melt, and make a mud puddle for the baby to fall into, I'll tell you about +Uncle Wiggily and the funny monkey.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XII" id="STORY_XII" ></a>STORY XII</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE FUNNY MONKEY</h3> + + +<p>It was a bright and beautiful sunshiny day, and Uncle Wiggily was hopping +along the road, thinking many thoughts and about the busy bug and the +black cricket and all things like that and how hard it was to look and +look for your fortune and never find it, when all of a sudden, just as he +happened to put his crutch down on a round stone, it slipped, and down he +fell kerthump.</p> + +<p>"Oh, wow! Ouch!" cried the old gentleman rabbit as he bumped his nose on a +sharp stick. "That hurt! My, I hope I haven't broken one of my ears or +paw-nails. If I did I'll have to get in the ambulance and go to the +hospital."</p> + +<p>So he sat up very slowly and carefully and looked himself all over and he +was glad to see that he hadn't broken anything except a lettuce sandwich +that he carried in his satchel and, as it was just as good broken as it +was whole, it didn't matter much.</p> + +<p>"Oh, are you hurt?" suddenly cried a voice, as Uncle Wiggily took some +dirt out of his left ear. "If you are I can give you something to put on +your cuts," and out from under a big leaf came a beautiful butterfly.</p> + +<p>"What can you put on my cuts?" asked the rabbit.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I can get some sticky gum from a tree or a flower and spread it on a +leaf and make some court plaster," spoke the butterfly. "It will cure a +cut very quickly."</p> + +<p>"Thank you very much," said Uncle Wiggily, "but very luckily I haven't any +cuts. I'm all right, I guess, but because you are so kind to me here is +just a drop of honey that I found in the bottom of my satchel. The bee +gave it to me." So he handed to the kind butterfly a little honey he had +left. The butterfly was very glad to get it, and fluttered away, jumping +from one flower to another as easily as a boy can spin his top.</p> + +<p>Then the old gentleman rabbit traveled on, and pretty soon, when it was +just about time for dinner, he came to a beautiful place in the woods. The +trees were nice and green and shady, and there was a little brook that was +bubbling and babbling over the mossy stones and then all at once Uncle +Wiggily heard the queerest music he had ever heard. It was like +forty-'leven bands all playing in the park at once.</p> + +<p>"My, I must be near a big picnic!" cried the rabbit. "I shall have to look +out for myself, or some boys may chase me."</p> + +<p>The music kept getting louder but still the old gentleman rabbit didn't +see any people, and he went on very slowly until he came to a little house +built of shingles, and there in front of it sat a monkey. And he was the +funniest monkey you ever saw.</p> + +<p>For that monkey was playing five hand organs all at once. Yes, just as +true as I'm telling you, he was. He played one organ with his left paw and +he played another organ with his right paw, and he played still another +with his left foot and he twisted the crank of another with his right +foot. And then, to finish off with, he whirled around the crank of the +fifth organ with his long tail. Oh, he was a smart monkey, I tell you!</p> + +<p>"My! This is almost as good as a circus!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "I'm +glad I came this way."</p> + +<p>Well, that funny monkey played faster than ever, and on one organ he +played the tune "Please Bring Your Umbrella Inside When it Rains," and on +another he played "May I Have Some of Your Ice Cream Cone if I Give You a +Kiss?" And on the third hand organ the monkey was playing the tune "Come +Out Into the Hammock and See Who'll Fall Out First," and another tune was +"Please Don't Let that Big Black Bug Tickle Me," and on the organ that he +twisted with his tail the monkey ground out the song "Come On Inside the +Motorboat and Have a Nice, Cool Swim."</p> + +<p>"My, how do you do it?" asked the rabbit of the monkey. "You must be very +musical."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it comes natural to me," said the monkey, not a bit proud like.</p> + +<p>"But where did you get so many organs?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I saved up my pennies for them," said the monkey. "You see, it was +this way. I used to work for a man who had a hand organ, and he used to +take me around with him to climb up on the porches, and in the +second-story windows to get the pennies from the children. Well, I always +loved music, and I wanted the man to let me play his organ, but he never +would. So I made up my mind I would save up all my pennies and some day +buy an organ for myself.</p> + +<p>"Well, I did that, for you know often when I used to go around to collect +pennies for the man, some children would give me a few for myself. Finally +I got rich and I didn't work for the man any longer, and I had enough to +buy five hand organs, for I can play five at once. Then I came here, and +built this shingle house and every day I amuse myself by playing tunes, +and I never have to climb up the rainwater pipe to get money. Oh, it is a +happy life," and the monkey felt so funny that he hung by his tail from a +tree branch, and made faces at Uncle Wiggily—just in fun, you understand.</p> + +<p>Uncle Wiggily was very glad he had met the monkey, and he listened to the +music, and the monkey even let the rabbit play one tune for himself, and +it was called, "When You Wiggle Your Wiggily Ears Wiggle Them Good and +Hard."</p> + +<p>And then, all of a sudden, just as that tune was finished, there was a +terrible noise in the bushes.</p> + +<p>"My goodness! What's that?" cried the monkey as he hopped up on top of one +of his hand organs and curled his tail around the handle.</p> + +<p>"It sounds like a bear!" said the rabbit. "But don't worry. I'll do just +as the cricket did to the alligator and make him laugh so that he won't +hurt us."</p> + +<p>"Good!" cried the monkey. And then the noise became louder and out from +the bushes popped a big animal. But it was an elephant instead of a bear, +and as soon as he saw the monkey and Uncle Wiggily he ran up to them and +shook his trunk at them and cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm so glad to see you! I just got away from the circus, and I want +to have some fun!" and he was as kind and gentle as he could be and he and +Uncle Wiggily had quite an adventure the next day.</p> + +<p>I'll tell you about it on the next page, when, in case the little boy +across the street doesn't tickle my pussy cat and make him sneeze the +rubbers off the umbrella plant, the story will be about Uncle Wiggily and +the big dog.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XIII" id="STORY_XIII" ></a>STORY XIII</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BIG DOG</h3> + + +<p>Let's see, I left off in the last story just where the elephant came out +of the woods and shook his tail—I mean his trunk—at Uncle Wiggily and +the funny monkey, didn't I? Well, now, I'm going to tell you what happened +after that.</p> + +<p>"Why did you run away from the circus?" asked the old gentleman rabbit of +the elephant. "I should think you would like it there. I know Sammie and +Susie Littletail would love a circus."</p> + +<p>"Yes, some folks like it," spoke the elephant slow and thoughtful-like, as +he sat down on his trunk, "but I do not care for it. You see of late the +children ate all the peanuts, instead of giving me my share, and I just +couldn't stand it any longer. Why, it got so, finally, that when a man +would give his little boy five cents to buy a bag of peanuts for me the +little boy would eat all but two or three of the nuts, and those were all +he gave to me. It wasn't enough, so I ran away."</p> + +<p>"I don't in the least blame you," said the monkey, "and I'm going to let +you play some of my hand organs."</p> + +<p>Well, the elephant was delighted at that, and he played one organ with his +trunk and another one with his tail, making some very nice music.</p> + +<p>Uncle Wiggily stayed in the monkey's house that night, and the elephant +wanted to come in also, but of course he was far too big, so he had to +sleep outside under a tree. It was an apple tree, and in the middle of the +night the elephant snored so hard and heavily through his trunk that he +shook the tree and all the apples fell off, and in the morning the monkey +made an apple pie from some of them.</p> + +<p>"I think I had better start off on my travels again," said the old +gentleman rabbit after breakfast. "There must be a fortune for me +somewhere if I can only find it. So I'll trot along."</p> + +<p>"I'll go with you," said the kind elephant. "Perhaps you might see your +fortune in the top of a tall tree, and then you couldn't get it. But I +would pull the tree down for you."</p> + +<p>"That would be fine!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "I'll be glad to have you +travel with me."</p> + +<p>So they said good-by to the monkey, and off they started together, the +rabbit and the elephant. They talked of many things, about how hot it +was, and whether there would be rain soon, and about how much ice cream +cones cost, and sometimes what a little bit of ice cream the man puts in +the cones when he is in a hurry.</p> + +<p>"Speaking of ice cream cones," said the elephant, "makes me hungry for +some. I wish I had one."</p> + +<p>"I wish I had one also," spoke Uncle Wiggily. "You would have to have a +very large one, though, Mr. Elephant, but a small one would do for me."</p> + +<p>"Don't say another word," cried the elephant as he waved his trunk in the +air. "I'm going right off and get us some ice cream cones. I know where +there's a store. You hop along slowly and I'll catch up to you."</p> + +<p>So the elephant went off to the ice cream cone store, and Uncle Wiggily, +with his valise and the barber pole crutch, hopped on through the woods, +looking about to see if his fortune was up in any of the trees, but it +wasn't there yet.</p> + +<p>Well, pretty soon, in a little while, not so very long, all of a sudden +the old gentleman rabbit heard a sniffing-sniffing noise in the woods. And +then there was a rustling in the bushes.</p> + +<p>"Ha, hum!" exclaimed the rabbit. "Perhaps that may be a bear. I had better +look out for myself."</p> + +<p>He started to hop softly away, so the bear, or whatever it was, wouldn't +hear him, but he was too late. In an instant out of the bushes popped +something big and black and shaggy, and the rabbit, taking one look at it, +saw that it was a big dog.</p> + +<p>"New is the time for me to run!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "That dog will eat +me up, sure pop!"</p> + +<p>Away hopped the old gentleman rabbit, his heart going "pitter-patter-pat," +he was so frightened. On and on he ran down a path in the woods.</p> + +<p>"Here, come back here! Come back!" cried the dog.</p> + +<p>"Indeed, I will not," answered Uncle Wiggily. "I know what you want to do. +You want to eat me."</p> + +<p>"No, I don't, honestly!" cried the dog. "But come back, for if you run any +farther on that road you'll fall into a lake and be drowned."</p> + +<p>"Humph! I don't believe that!" cried the rabbit. "You are saying that to +scare me," and on he hopped faster than ever.</p> + +<p>"Come back! Come back!" cried the dog again, but Uncle Wiggily wouldn't. +My! how fast he did hop, until, all of a sudden, as he returned around the +corner of a stump, he saw a lake of water right in front of him. And +before he could stop himself he had fallen plump into it; crutch, satchel +and all, and of course he couldn't swim. And he could hear the dog coming +barking down the path after him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, this is the end of me, sure pop!" thought poor Uncle Wiggily. "I'll +never get any fortune now."</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" cried the dog. "I told you how it would be. I tried to save +you from getting in the water," and then the rabbit knew the big dog had +been telling the truth. But it was too late now. Uncle Wiggily was going +down under the deep, dark, cold water when, all of a sudden, along came +the elephant with a great big ice cream cone for himself, and a little one +for Uncle Wiggily. He saw the rabbit in the water and he also saw the big +shaggy dog.</p> + +<p>"Did you push Uncle Wiggily in the water?" asked the elephant, "because if +you did I'm going to throw you in."</p> + +<p>"No, indeed, I didn't," answered the dog. "It was an accident," and he +told the elephant how it happened. "But I'll jump in, grab him and swim +out with him," said the dog.</p> + +<p>"No, don't do that, you might accidentally bite him," spoke the elephant. +"I have a better plan." So he laid down the ice cream cones and then he +put the end of his hollow trunk in the lake, and he began to suck up and +drink the water, just as you suck lemonade up through a straw.</p> + +<p>And presto chango! in a few seconds all the water was sucked out of the +lake by the elephant, and it was dry land and the rabbit could walk safely +to shore, and so he wasn't drowned after all. And how he did thank the +elephant! Uncle Wiggily ate his ice cream cone, and the elephant gave some +of his to the dog, and they were all happy.</p> + +<p>Now, if the elephant doesn't get a sliver in his foot so he can't dance at +the hoptoads' picnic, I'll tell you in the next story about Uncle Wiggily +and the peanut man.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XIV" id="STORY_XIV" ></a>STORY XIV</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE PEANUT MAN</h3> + + +<p>After Uncle Wiggily and the elephant and the big dog had eaten up the ice +cream cones, they sat in the woods a while and looked at the place where +the watery lake had been before the elephant drank it up to save the +rabbit from drowning.</p> + +<p>"My, but you must be strong to take up all that water," said the dog.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I guess I am pretty strong," said the elephant, though he was not at +all proud-like. "I will show you how I can pull up a tree," he said. So he +wound his trunk around a big tree and he gave one great, heaving pull and +up that tree came by the roots. Then, all of a sudden a voice cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, you're upsetting all my eggs!" and a robin, who had her nest in the +tree, fluttered around feeling very sad.</p> + +<p>"Oh, excuse me, Mrs. Robin," said the elephant. "I would not have +disturbed you for the world had I known that your nest was in that tree. +I'll plant it right back again in the same place I pulled it up. Anyhow, I +intended to do it, as it is not a good thing to kill a tree. I'll plant it +again."</p> + +<p>So he put the tree back in the hole, and with his big feet he stamped down +the earth around it. Then the robin's nest and eggs were safe, and she +sang a pretty song because she was thankful to the elephant.</p> + +<p>Well, the elephant had to sleep out-of-doors again that night, because he +couldn't find a house large enough for him, but Uncle Wiggily slept in the +big dog's kennel. In the morning the rabbit said:</p> + +<p>"It is very nice here, and I like it very much, but I must travel along, I +s'pose, and see if I can't find my fortune. Are you coming, Mr. Elephant?"</p> + +<p>"Why, certainly. I will go along with you," said the big chap. "Perhaps +the dog will come also."</p> + +<p>"No, thank you," said the dog. "I am going to meet a friend of mine, named +Percival, and we are going to call on Lulu and Alice and Jimmie +Wibblewobble, the duck children."</p> + +<p>"Is that so?" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "Why, Percival and the +Wibblewobbles are friends of mine. Kindly give them my love and say that +I hope soon to get back home with my fortune."</p> + +<p>So the dog said he would, and he started off to meet Percival, who used to +work in the same circus where the elephant came from. And the rabbit and +the elephant hurried off together down the road.</p> + +<p>"Are you ever going back to the circus?" asked Uncle Wiggily of the +elephant as they went along.</p> + +<p>"Not unless they catch me and make me go," he answered. "I like this sort +of life much better, and besides, no one gave me ice cream cones in the +circus."</p> + +<p>Well, pretty soon the rabbit and the elephant came to a place where there +was a high mountain.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we'll never get up that," said Uncle Wiggily.</p> + +<p>"Yes, we will," said the elephant, "I'll make a hole through it with my +tusks, and we can walk under it instead of climbing over."</p> + +<p>So with his long, sharp tusks he made a tunnel right through the mountain, +and, though it was a bit darkish, he and the rabbit went through it as +easily as a mouse can nibble a bit of cheese.</p> + +<p class="figcenter"><a href="./images/4.jpg"><img src="./images/4-tb.jpg" alt="Uncle Wiggily and the Elephant" title="Uncle Wiggily and the Elephant" /></a></p> + + +<p>Then, a little later they came to a place where there was a big river +to cross, and there was no bridge.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we can never get over that," said Uncle Wiggily.</p> + +<p>"Yes, we can," said the elephant.</p> + +<p>"Are you going to drink it up as you did the lake?" asked the rabbit.</p> + +<p>"No," said the elephant, "but I will make a bridge to go over the river." +So he found a great big tree that the wind had blown down, and, taking +this in his strong trunk, the elephant laid it across the river, and then +he laid another tree and another, and pretty soon he had as good a bridge +as one could wish, and he and Uncle Wiggily crossed over on it.</p> + +<p>Well, they hadn't gone on very far, before, all of a sudden the elephant +fell down, and he was so heavy that he shook the ground just like when a +locomotive choo-choo engine rushes past.</p> + +<p>"Oh, whatever is the matter?" asked Uncle Wiggily. "Did you hurt +yourself?"</p> + +<p>"No," said the elephant, sad-like, "I am not hurt, but I am sick. I guess +I drank too much ice water, which is a bad thing to do in hot weather. Oh, +how ill I am! You had better go for a doctor."</p> + +<p>Well, that poor elephant was so ill that he had to lie down on the ground, +and he cried and groaned, and the big tears rolled down his trunk, and +made quite a mud puddle on the earth. For when an elephant is ill he is +very ill, indeed, as there is so much of him.</p> + +<p>"I'll cover you with leaves so you won't get sunburned," said Uncle +Wiggily, "and then I'll hop off for a doctor." Well, it takes a great +number of leaves to cover up an elephant, but finally the rabbit did it, +and then away he started.</p> + +<p>He looked everywhere for an elephant doctor, but he couldn't seem to find +any. There were dog doctors and horse doctors and cat doctors and even +doctors for boys and girls, but none for the elephant.</p> + +<p>"Oh, what shall I do?" thought the rabbit. "My poor, dear elephant may +die."</p> + +<p>Just then he heard some one singing in the woods like this:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Peanuts, they are good to eat,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Mine are most especially neat,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I am going to make them hot</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So that you will eat a lot."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"Oh, are you an elephant doctor?" cried Uncle Wiggily.</p> + +<p>"No, I am a hot-peanut-man," said the voice, and then the peanut roaster +began to whistle like a tea-kettle. "But, perhaps I can cure a sick +elephant," said the peanut man. So he and Uncle Wiggily hurried off +through the woods to where the elephant was groaning, and, would you +believe it? as soon as the big chap heard the whistle of the hot-peanut +wagon and smelled the nuts roasting he got well all of a sudden and he ate +a bushel of the nuts and Uncle Wiggily had some also. So that's how the +elephant got well, and he and the rabbit traveled on the next day.</p> + +<p>They had quite an adventure, too, as I shall have the pleasure of telling +you in the next story which will be about Uncle Wiggily and the crawly +snake—that is if the baby doesn't drop his bread and butter down the +stovepipe and make the rice pudding laugh.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XV" id="STORY_XV" ></a>STORY XV.</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CRAWLY SNAKE</h3> + + +<p>"Do you feel all right to travel to-day?" asked Uncle Wiggily of the +elephant the next morning, after the hot-peanut-man had cured the big +chap.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I feel very fine!" said the elephant. "We will travel along +together again, and perhaps we may find your fortune this time."</p> + +<p>"Hadn't we better take some extra peanuts with us, in case you become ill +again?" asked the rabbit, as he looked in the satchel to see if he had any +sandwiches, in case he got hungry.</p> + +<p>"Oh, to be sure, we must have peanuts!" exclaimed the elephant. "Take as +many as we can carry, for I just love 'em!"</p> + +<p>So they hunted up the hot-peanut-man, and bought all the rest of his +peanuts, besides paying for those the elephant had eaten to make himself +get well.</p> + +<p>"Good luck to you!" cried the peanut man, as he wheeled away his empty +wagon, "I wish I had elephants for customers every day, then I would soon +get rich," and away he went singing:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"I sell peanuts good and hot,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Five cents buys you quite a lot.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Get your money and come here,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Buy my peanuts, children dear.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"My peanuts are hot and brown,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Finest ones in all the town.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nice and juicy—good to chew,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I have some for all of you."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"Well, come on," said the elephant to Uncle Wiggily, "put some peanuts in +your valise, and I will carry the rest."</p> + +<p>"How; in your trunk?" asked the rabbit.</p> + +<p>"No, I'm going to wrap them up in a bundle, and tie them on my back. I +want my trunk to squirt water through when it gets hot, as I think the sun +is going to be very scorchy to-day."</p> + +<p>So he tied the bundle of peanuts on his back, and then the two friends +journeyed on together. Well, it did get very hot, and it kept on getting +hotter, and there wasn't much shade.</p> + +<p>"Oh my, I wish it would rain a little shower!" said Uncle Wiggily, as he +wiped his ears with his handkerchief. "I am as hot as an oven."</p> + +<p>"I can soon fix that part of it," said the elephant. And pretty soon he +came to a spring of cold water, and he sucked a lot of it up in his hollow +trunk, and then he squirted a nice cool, fine spray of it over the rabbit, +just as if it came out of a hose with which papa waters the garden or +lawn.</p> + +<p>"My! That feels fine!" said the rabbit. Then the elephant squirted some +water on himself, and they went on, feeling much better.</p> + +<p>But still they were warm again in a short time, and then the elephant +said:</p> + +<p>"I know what I am going to do. I am going to get some more ice cream +cones. They will cool us off better than anything else. I'll go for them +and bring back some big ones. You stay here in the shade, Uncle Wiggily, +but don't walk on ahead, or you may tumble into the water again."</p> + +<p>"I'll not," promised the rabbit. "I'll wait right here for you."</p> + +<p>Off the elephant started to get the ice cream cones and pretty soon he +came to the store where the man sold them.</p> + +<p>"I want two of your very coldest cones," said the elephant to the man, for +sometimes, in stories, you know, elephants can talk to people. "I want a +big strawberry cone for myself," the elephant went on, "and a smaller +one for my friend, Uncle Wiggily, the rabbit."</p> + +<p>"Very well," said the man, "but you will have to wait until I make a large +cone for you."</p> + +<p>So that man took seventeen thousand, six hundred and eighty-seven little +cones and made them into one big one for the elephant. Then he took +eighteen thousand, two hundred and ninety-one quarts of strawberry ice +cream, and an extra pint, and put it into the big cone. Then he made a +rabbit-sized ice cream cone for Uncle Wiggily and gave them both to the +elephant, who carried them in his trunk so they wouldn't melt.</p> + +<p>But I must tell you what was happening to Uncle Wiggily all this while. As +he sat there in the shade of the apple tree, thinking, about his fortune +and whether he would ever find it, all of a sudden he saw something round +and squirming sticking itself toward him through the bushes.</p> + +<p>"Ha! the elephant has come back so quietly that I didn't hear him," +thought the rabbit. "That is his trunk he is sticking out at me. I guess +he thinks I don't see him, and he is going to tickle me. I hope he has +those ice cream cones."</p> + +<p>Well, the crawly, squirming, round thing, which was like the small end of +an elephant's trunk, kept coming closer and closer to the rabbit.</p> + +<p>"Now, I'll play a trick on that elephant—I'll tickle his trunk for him, +and he'll think it's a mosquito!" said Uncle Wiggily to himself.</p> + +<p>He was just about to do this, when suddenly the crawly thing made a sort +of jump toward him, and before the rabbit could move he found himself +grasped by a big, ugly snake, who wrapped himself around the rabbit just +as ladies wrap their fur around their necks in the winter. It wasn't the +elephant's trunk at all, but a bad snake.</p> + +<p>"Now, I have you!" hissed the snake like a steam radiator in Uncle +Wiggily's left ear. "I'm going to squeeze you to death and then eat you," +and he began to squeeze that poor rabbit just like the wash-lady squeezes +clothes in the wringer.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my breath! You are crushing all the breath out of me!" cried Uncle +Wiggily. "Please let go of me!"</p> + +<p>"No!" hissed the snake, and he squeezed harder than ever.</p> + +<p>"Oh, this is the end of me!" gasped the rabbit, when all of a sudden he +heard a great crashing in the bushes. Then a voice cried:</p> + +<p>"Here, you bad snake, let go of Uncle Wiggily."</p> + +<p>And bless my hat! If the elephant didn't rush up, just in time, and he +grabbed hold of that snake's tail in his trunk, and unwound the snake from +around the rabbit, and then the elephant with a long swing of his trunk +threw the snake so high up in the air that I guess he hasn't yet come +down.</p> + +<p>"I was just in time to save you!" said the elephant to Uncle Wiggily. +"Here, eat this ice cream cone and you'll feel better."</p> + +<p>So the rabbit did this, and his breath came back and he was all right +again, but he made up his mind never to try to tickle a crawly thing again +until he was sure it wasn't a snake.</p> + +<p>So that's all for the present, if you please, but in case my fur hat +doesn't sleep out in the hammock all night, and catch cold in the head so +that it sneezes and wakes up the alarm clock, I'll tell you next about +Uncle Wiggily and the water lilies.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XVI" id="STORY_XVI" ></a>STORY XVI</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE WATER LILIES</h3> + + +<p>Uncle Wiggily was hopping along through the woods one day, and pretty +soon, as he went past a cute little house, made out of corncobs, he heard +some one calling to him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mr. Rabbit," a voice said, "have you seen anything of my little +girl?" And there stood a nice mamma cat, looking anxiously about.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," answered Uncle Wiggily, as he stopped in the shade of a +tree, and set down his valise. "Was your little girl named Sarah, Mrs. +Cat?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, indeed, my little girl is not named Sarah," said Mrs. Cat. "She is +called Snowball, and she is just as cute as she can be. She is all white, +like a ball of snow, and so we call her Snowball. But she is lost, and I'm +afraid I'll never find her again," and the kittie's mamma began to cry, +and she wiped her tears on her apron.</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't worry. Never mind. I'll find her for you," said the kind old +gentleman rabbit.</p> + +<p>"I can't find my fortune but I believe I can find Snowball. Now, tell me +which way she went away, and I'll go search for her."</p> + +<p>"I didn't see her go out of the house," said Mrs. Cat, "because I was +making a cherry pie, and I was very busy. Snowball was playing on the +floor, with a ball of soft yarn, and it rolled out of doors. She raced out +after it, and I thought she would soon be back. I put the cherry pie in +the oven and then when I went to look for her she was gone. Oh, dear! I +just know some horrid dog has hurt her."</p> + +<p>"Please don't worry," said Uncle Wiggily. "I'll find her for you. I'll +start right off, and if I can't find her I'll get a policeman, and he can, +for the police always find lost children."</p> + +<p>So Uncle Wiggily started off, leaving his valise with Mrs. Cat, but taking +his crutch with him, for he thought he might need it to beat off any bad +dogs if they chased after Snowball.</p> + +<p>First the old gentleman rabbit looked carefully all along the road, but he +couldn't see anything of the lost pussy cat.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps she may be up a tree," he said to himself. "If a dog chased her +she would climb up one, and perhaps she is afraid to come down."</p> + +<p>So he looked up into all the trees, and he even shook some of them in +order to see up them better, but he did not discover the pussy cat. Then +he called:</p> + +<p>"Snowball! Snowball! Snowball! Where are you?"</p> + +<p>But there was no answer.</p> + +<p>"Oh, if there was only some bird who could call 'Snowball' I would get +them to call for the lost pussy," thought Uncle Wiggily.</p> + +<p>Then he looked up and he saw a big black bird sitting on a tree.</p> + +<p>"Can you call 'Snowball' for me?" asked the rabbit, politely. "She is lost +and her mamma wants her very much. Just call 'Snowball' as loudly as you +can."</p> + +<p>"I can't," said the big black bird. "All I can cry is 'Caw! Caw! Caw!' I +am a crow, you see."</p> + +<p>"That is too bad," said the rabbit. "Then I will have to keep on searching +by myself," so he did, and the crow flew away to look for a cornfield that +had no scarecrow in it to frighten him.</p> + +<p>Well, Uncle Wiggily looked in all the places he could think of, but still +there was no pussy to be seen, and he was just thinking he had better go +for a policeman. But he thought he would try just one more place, so he +looked down a hollow stump, but Snowball was not there.</p> + +<p>"I'll have to get a policeman after all," said the rabbit, so he told a +policeman cat about the lost pussy, and the policeman cat searched for +Snowball, but he couldn't find her, either.</p> + +<p>"I guess she is gone," said the policeman. "You had better go back and +tell her mamma that she hasn't any little pussy girl any more."</p> + +<p>"Oh, how sad it will be to do that!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "I just can't +bear to."</p> + +<p>But he started back to the corncob house to tell Mrs. Cat that he couldn't +find her Snowball. And all the while he kept feeling more and more sad, +until he was almost ready to cry.</p> + +<p>"But I must be brave," said the old gentleman rabbit, and just then he +came to a pond where a whole lot of beautiful, white water lilies were +growing. Oh, they are a lovely flower, with such a sweet, spicy smell. As +soon as Uncle Wiggily saw them he said:</p> + +<p>"I'll pick some and take them home to Mrs. Cat. Perhaps they will make her +feel a little happy, even if her Snowball is gone forever."</p> + +<p>So with his long crutch Uncle Wiggily pulled toward shore some of the +water lilies, until he could pick them on their slender stems. Some of the +flowers were wide open, and some were closed, like rosebuds.</p> + +<p>He took both kinds home to Mrs. Cat, and when he told her he couldn't find +Snowball she was very sorrowful and she cried. But she loved the flowers +very much, and put them in a bowl of water.</p> + +<p>"I'll stay here to-night," said the rabbit, "and in the morning I'll look +for Snowball again. I'm sure I'll find her."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you are very kind," said Mrs. Cat, as she wiped away her tears.</p> + +<p>Well, the next morning Uncle Wiggily got up real early, and the first +thing he saw was the bowl of water lilies on the parlor table. They had +all closed up like buds in the night, but in the sunlight they all opened +again into beautiful flowers.</p> + +<p>And, would you believe me, right in the middle of one of the flowers +something white moved and wiggled. Then it gave a little "Mew!" and then +Uncle Wiggily cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mrs. Cat, come here quickly! Here is Snowball! She was asleep inside +of one of the water lilies!"</p> + +<p>And, surely enough, there was the little lost kittie, just awakening in +one of the flowers, and she was exactly the color of it. And, oh, how glad +she was to see her mamma again, and how her mamma did hug her!</p> + +<p>"How did you get in that flower?" asked Uncle Wiggily.</p> + +<p>"Oh, when I went after my ball a big dog chased me," said Snowball, "so I +jumped into one of the lilies and I fell asleep, and the flower went shut +and I stayed there. But now I'm home, and I'm glad of it," and she just +kissed Uncle Wiggily on the tip end of his nose, that twinkled like a star +on a frosty night.</p> + +<p>So that's how Snowball was lost and found, and I'm going to tell you about +Uncle Wiggily and the sunflower, that is if the sunfish doesn't spread the +butter too thick on the baby's bread with his tail and make her slide out +of her high chair.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XVII" id="STORY_XVII" ></a>STORY XVII</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE SUNFLOWER</h3> + + +<p>Mrs. Cat and her daughter Snowball liked Uncle Wiggily so much that they +wanted him to stay with them a long time.</p> + +<p>"You can build yourself a nice little corncob house next to ours," said +Snowball, "and live in it; and you can tell me a story every night."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but rabbits live underground, and not in corncob houses, though such +houses are very nice," said Uncle Wiggily. "I guess I'll have to be +traveling on."</p> + +<p>"If you stay, I'll bake you a cherry pie every day," said Mrs. Cat. "And +you can help find Snowball when she gets lost again."</p> + +<p>"Cherry pie is very good, and you are very kind," said the rabbit +politely, "but I have my fortune to find."</p> + +<p>"Well, if you can't stay you can't, I s'pose," said Snowball; "but I'm +never going to get lost again," and she put her little nose down deep +inside a water lily and smelled it, and oh, how sweet and spicy it +smelled!</p> + +<p>So Uncle Wiggily got ready to start off on his travels again, and in his +satchel he put a whole cherry pie that Mrs. Cat had baked for him.</p> + +<p>"It will taste good when you are hungry," she said.</p> + +<p>"Indeed it will," agreed Uncle Wiggily, and he wished he was hungry then +and there, because he just loved cherry pie.</p> + +<p>He was walking on through the woods, when, all at once, he heard some +music playing, and the name of the song was "Never Take Your Ice Cream +Cone and Drop it in the Mud."</p> + +<p>"Ha! I believe that is the funny monkey and one of his hand organs!" +exclaimed the rabbit. "I shall be glad to see him again."</p> + +<p>So he looked through the trees, and there, surely enough, was the monkey, +and he was playing the organ with his tail, and in one paw he held a +cocoanut and in the other paw an orange, and first he would take a bite of +the orange, and then a bite of the cocoanut.</p> + +<p>"I always like music when I eat," said the monkey as he threw a bit of +orange skin over his left shoulder.</p> + +<p>"How comes it that you are away off here," asked the rabbit.</p> + +<p>"Oh! I got tired of staying home," said the monkey. "I thought I would go +out and see if I could make a few pennies by playing music." Then he +played another tune called, "Don't Sit Down When You Stand Up."</p> + +<p>Well, Uncle Wiggily listened to the music, which he liked very much, and +he began to feel hungry. Then he thought of the cherry pie, that the cat +lady had put in his valise.</p> + +<p>"I guess I'll eat some of that and give the monkey a bit," he said, and he +did so.</p> + +<p>"Oh, this is most delicious and scrumptious!" cried the monkey, as he and +Uncle Wiggily sat there eating the pie, and wiping off the juice with +green leaves, so as not to soil their clothing.</p> + +<p>"Indeed, it is very delectable," said the rabbit, hungry-like. "Have +another piece."</p> + +<p>Well, he was just cutting it off, when, all of a sudden, before you could +say "Boo!" to an elephant, a terrible voice cried:</p> + +<p>"Here! Give me that pie! I must have cherry pie!" and before the monkey or +Uncle Wiggily knew what was happening, out from behind the bushes jumped +the skillery-scallery-tailery alligator, gnashing his teeth.</p> + +<p>"Give me that pie!" he cried again, opening his mouth wide enough to +swallow a cake as big as a wash-tub.</p> + +<p>"No, you cannot have it," said Uncle Wiggily, and, as quick as a wink, he +popped the pie into his valise and closed it up. "Now you can't get it!" +the rabbit said.</p> + +<p>"Then I'll get you and the monkey!" cried the alligator, as he made a dash +for both of them.</p> + +<p>"Not me! You can't catch me!" exclaimed the monkey, as he skipped up into +the top of a tall tree. Then, of course, as the alligator couldn't climb a +tree he couldn't get the monkey. The skillery-scallery creature tried to +eat the hand organ, and he tried to play it, but he could do neither. Then +he got real angry.</p> + +<p>"I'll chase after Uncle Wiggily and eat him!" he cried out, for by this +time the rabbit was hopping along down the road. After him went the +'gator, coming nearer and nearer.</p> + +<p>"Stop! Stop! I want you!" cried the alligator to the rabbit.</p> + +<p>"I know you do, but you can't have me!" replied the rabbit. "I don't want +to be eaten up!"</p> + +<p>So he ran on as fast as he could, but still the alligator came on after +him, and the savage beast was almost up to Uncle Wiggily.</p> + +<p>"Oh, if I only had some place to hide!" panted the poor rabbit. "Then +maybe the alligator would pass me by."</p> + +<p>So he looked around for a place in which to hide, but just then he found +himself in a field, and all that he could see were a whole lot of +sunflowers growing near a fence.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I can't hide behind those flowers because the stems are so small +around," thought Uncle Wiggily. "And I can't climb up them, and sit on the +big flower, because I can't climb, and besides the stems are too slender +to hold me up. Oh, what shall I do?"</p> + +<p>Well, the alligator was coming nearer and nearer, and the rabbit could +hear the gnashing of his teeth, when, all at once one of the sunflowers +called out.</p> + +<p>"Gnaw through my stem, and cut me down, Uncle Wiggily. Then you can hold +my big blossom up in front of you and the alligator can't see you."</p> + +<p>"But won't it hurt you to cut you down?" asked the rabbit.</p> + +<p>"No, for I will grow up again next year," said the big sunflower. "Hurry +and cut me down, and hide behind me, and I'll shine in the eyes of the +alligator and blind him."</p> + +<p>So Uncle Wiggily quickly gnawed through the sunflower stalk with his sharp +teeth, and down the flower came. Then the rabbit held the blossom up in +front of himself, and hid behind it, and the yellow flower, which is +round, just like the sun, shone so brightly into the alligator's face +that he couldn't look out of his eyes, and so he was partly blinded, and +he couldn't see to catch Uncle Wiggily, and he had to crawl away without +eating the rabbit.</p> + +<p>Then Uncle Wiggily thanked the sunflower, and laid it gently down, and +hopped on his way again to seek his fortune.</p> + +<p>And the story after this, in case the washbowl and pitcher don't do a +funny dance in the middle of the night and wake up my puppy dog, I'll tell +you about Uncle Wiggily and the lightning bugs.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XVIII" id="STORY_XVIII" ></a>STORY XVIII</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE LIGHTNING BUG</h3> + + +<p>It was a very warm day, and as Uncle Wiggily walked along, carrying his +satchel, and sort of leaning on his crutch, for his rheumatism hurt him a +bit, he said:</p> + +<p>"It is very hard to have to look for your fortune on a hot day, I wish it +was nice and cool, and then I would feel better."</p> + +<p>"I can tell you where there is a cool place," said a little yellow bird, +as she flew along in the air over the head of the old gentleman rabbit.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean in an icehouse?" asked the traveling rabbit as he took off +his hat to see if the sun had burned it any.</p> + +<p>"No, but of course that is a cold place," said the bird, as she sang a +funny little song about a curly-headed dog who hadn't any nose and every +time he walked along he stepped upon his toes. "But I don't mean an +icehouse," went on the bird, as she turned her head to one side. "However, +I know a nice cool place in the woods where you can lie down and have a +little sleep. By that time the hot sun will go down behind the clouds, and +then you can travel on in comfort."</p> + +<p>"I believe that will be a good plan," spoke the rabbit. "I'll do it. +Please show me the way to the cool place."</p> + +<p>So the bird flew on ahead, and Uncle Wiggily hopped on behind, and pretty +soon he came to a place in the woods where there was a little babbling +brook, flowing over mossy green stones, and telling them secrets about the +fishes that swam in the cool water. Then there were long, green ferns +leaning over, and nodding their heads as they dipped down to take a drink +out of the brook. There was also a nice little cave, made of stones, and +that was almost as cool as an icehouse.</p> + +<p>"Oh, this will be just fine for me!" exclaimed the rabbit, as he hopped +inside the stone cave. "I'll go to sleep here."</p> + +<p>So he stretched out on a pile of leaves, and the little yellow bird began +to sing a sleepy song. This is how it went, to the tune "Lum-tum-tum +tiddily-iddily-um:"</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Sleep, Uncle Wiggily, sleep.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Don't open your eyes to peep.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I'll sing you a song,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That's not very long.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It's not sad, so please do not weep."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>Well, as true as I'm telling you, before she had sung more than +forty-'leven verses the old gentleman rabbit was fast, fast asleep, and, +no matter how hot the sun shone down, Uncle Wiggily was nice and cool.</p> + +<p>Well, pretty soon, in a little while, a savage, bad hawk-bird flew down +from high in the air, where he had seen the little yellow bird sitting on +the tree, near the cave, where the rabbit was sleeping. And the hawk made +a dash for the yellow bird, and would have eaten her up only the bird flew +quickly away and hid in a hollow stump, and that hawk was so mad that he +bit a leaf off a tree and tore it into three pieces—the leaf, I mean, not +the tree.</p> + +<p>Well, after that the yellow bird didn't dare stay near the cave, for the +hawk was on the watch to catch her, and, of course, Uncle Wiggily had no +one to awaken him when it was cool enough for him to travel on and seek +his fortune.</p> + +<p>He slept and he slept, and then he slept a little more, and all of a +sudden he awakened and it was nearly night. My! how he did jump up then +and rub his eyes with his paws, and he couldn't think, for a minute or so, +just where he was.</p> + +<p>"Oh, now I remember!" he exclaimed. "I'm in the cave. Oh, dear me! but +it's coming on night. The yellow bird must have forgotten to wake me up. I +wonder what I shall do?"</p> + +<p>So he went out of the cave to look for the bird, but he couldn't find her. +The savage hawk was there, however, but when he saw Uncle Wiggily and +noted how brave he was, even if he did have the rheumatism, that hawk just +gnashed his beak and flew away.</p> + +<p>Then it got darker and darker, and poor Uncle Wiggily didn't know what to +do, for he didn't know whether or not it would be safe to stay in the +cave.</p> + +<p>"A bear might come along and eat me," he thought. "This cave might be a +bear's den. I guess I will travel ahead and look for some other place +where I can spend the night. But I don't like traveling in the dark."</p> + +<p>However, there was no help for it, so the old gentleman rabbit, after +eating a lettuce sandwich, took up his satchel, grasped his crutch firmly, +and started away.</p> + +<p>He traveled on through the woods, and it kept getting darker and darker, +until at last Uncle Wiggily couldn't see anything in front of him but just +blackness.</p> + +<p>"Oh, this will never do!" he cried. "I can't go on this way. If I only +had a lantern it would be all right."</p> + +<p>Then, all at once, he heard a sort of growling noise in the bushes, and +then he heard a sniffing-snuffling noise, and pretty soon a voice cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, ha! Oh, hum! I smell fresh rabbit. Now, I will have a good supper!"</p> + +<p>"That must be a savage bear or a fox!" cried the rabbit. "I guess this is +the last of me!"</p> + +<p>Then he saw two round circles shining in the darkness, two flashing, +bright, shining things, and he was more frightened than ever.</p> + +<p>"Oh, those are the glaring eyes of the fox or bear!" thought Uncle +Wiggily. "I'm done for, sure!"</p> + +<p>Then something made a jump for him, out of the bushes, but the rabbit +crouched down, and the beast jumped over him. Then, would you ever believe +it? those two shining things flew nearer, and instead of being the eyes of +a fox or bear they were two, good, kind, lightning bugs, who were flitting +about.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you'll be a lantern for me, won't you?" cried the rabbit, anxiously. +"Will you please light me out of these woods, and keep the savage beasts +away?"</p> + +<p>"Of course, we will!" cried the two lightning bugs. And they flew closer +to the rabbit. Then the savage fox, for he it was who had made a jump for +Uncle Wiggily, was so afraid of the sparkling lights, that he ran away and +hid in the bushes, fearing he would be burned. Then the two bugs called +for all of their friends to come and make the woods light so the old +gentleman rabbit could see.</p> + +<p>And pretty soon seventeen thousand, four hundred and eighty-three big +lightning bugs, and a little baby one besides, came flying along, and the +woods were almost as light as day, and Uncle Wiggily could see to hop on. +The bugs flew ahead, shining themselves like fairy lanterns, and pretty +soon the rabbit came to a nice hollow stump, where he remained all night. +And some of the bugs stayed with him to keep the bears and foxes away.</p> + +<p>Then, in the morning, after thanking the bugs, the rabbit traveled on +again, and he had another adventure. What it was I'll tell you on the next +page, when, in case my pussy cat goes in swimming and doesn't get her fur +wet, the story will be about Uncle Wiggily and the Phoebe birds.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XIX" id="STORY_XIX" ></a>STORY XIX</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE PHOEBE BIRDS</h3> + + +<p>"Well, I don't seem to be finding my fortune very fast," said Uncle +Wiggily to himself the next day, as he traveled on, after the lightning +bugs had shown him the way out of the woods. "Here I've been tramping +around the country for a considerable while, and all I've found was one +cent, and that belonged to the chipmunk.</p> + +<p>"I wish I could find a little money. Then I would buy some peanuts and +sell them, and make more money, and pretty soon I would be rich, and I +could go back home and see Sammie and Susie Littletail."</p> + +<p>So he walked along, looking very carefully on the ground for money. All he +found for some time were only old acorns, and, as he couldn't eat them, +they were of no use to him.</p> + +<p>"If Johnnie or Billie Bushytail were here now I would give them some," he +said. But the squirrels were far away frisking about in the tops.</p> + +<p>Now, as true as I'm telling you, a moment after that, just as Uncle +Wiggily was going past a big stone, he saw something bright and shining in +the leaves.</p> + +<p>"Oh, good luck!" he cried. "I've found ten cents, and that will buy two +bags of peanuts. Now I'll get rich!"</p> + +<p>So he picked up the shining thing, and oh! how disappointed he was, for it +was only a round piece of tin, such as they make penny whistles of.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "Fooled again! Well, all I can do is to +keep on."</p> + +<p>He went on a little farther, until he came to a place where there were a +whole lot of prickly briar bushes, with red berries growing on them.</p> + +<p>"Oh, ho!" exclaimed the rabbit. "Some of those berries will do for my +dinner, as I'm getting hungry. I'll pick a few."</p> + +<p>He was just going to pick some of the berries, when he happened to notice +a big, red thing, like a red flannel bag, standing wide open near a hole +in the bushes. And in front of the red place was a sign, which said:</p> + +<p>"Come in, one and all. Everybody welcome."</p> + +<p>"It looks very nice in there," thought the rabbit. "Perhaps it is the +opening of a circus tent. I'm going in, for I haven't seen a show in some +time. And, maybe, my friend, the elephant, will be in there."</p> + +<p>Uncle Wiggily was just going to hop into the funny red opening that had +the sign on it, when a little ant came crawling along, carrying a small +loaf of bread.</p> + +<p>"Hello, Uncle Wiggily," said the ant. "Where are you going?"</p> + +<p>"I am going inside this red circus tent," said the rabbit. "Won't you come +in with me? I'll buy you a ticket."</p> + +<p>"Oh, never go in there—don't you do it!" cried the ant, and she got so +excited that she nearly dropped her loaf of bread. "That is not a circus +tent; it is only the skillery-scalery-tailery alligator, and he has opened +his mouth wide hoping some one will come in, so he can have a meal. Don't +go in."</p> + +<p>"I won't," said Uncle Wiggily, quickly as he hopped away, and then he took +up a stone and tossed it into the red mouth of the scalery-tailery-wailery +alligator. The alligator shut his jaws very quickly, thinking he had +something good to eat, but he only bit on the stone, and he was so angry +that he lashed out with his tail and nearly knocked over a hickory-nut +tree.</p> + +<p>Then the ant crawled home, and Uncle Wiggily hopped on out of danger and +the alligator opened his mouth again, hoping some foolish animal would +walk into the trap he had all ready for them.</p> + +<p>Well, in a little while after that, as the old gentleman rabbit was going +along under the big tree, all of a sudden he heard a voice calling, rather +sadly and sweetly:</p> + +<p>"Phoebe! Phoebe!"</p> + +<p>"My goodness, that must be some little lost girl named Phoebe, and her +sister is calling for her," he thought. "I wonder if I could help find +her?" For, you know, Uncle Wiggily was just as kind as he could be, and +always wanting to help some one.</p> + +<p>Then he heard the voice again:</p> + +<p>"Phoebe! Phoebe!"</p> + +<p>"Where are you?" asked the rabbit. "I'll help you hunt for your sister +Phoebe. Where are you, little girl?"</p> + +<p>But the voice only called again:</p> + +<p>"Phoebe! Phoebe!"</p> + +<p>"I guess she can't hear me," said the rabbit. "I'll shout more loudly."</p> + +<p>So he cried out at the top of his voice:</p> + +<p>"I'll help you find Phoebe. Tell me where you are, and we'll go off +together to hunt for her."</p> + +<p>But this time the calling voice was farther off, though still the rabbit +could hear it saying:</p> + +<p>"Phoebe! Phoebe!"</p> + +<p>"My goodness me, sakes alive, and a bottle of stove polish! I can't make +this out," said Uncle Wiggily. "That little girl is so worried about her +lost sister that she doesn't pay any attention to me. But I'll help her +just the same."</p> + +<p>So he hopped on toward where he heard the voice calling, and pretty soon, +believe me, he heard two voices. One cried out:</p> + +<p>"Phoebe! Phoebe!"</p> + +<p>And the other one called just the same, only a little more slowly, like +this:</p> + +<p>"Phoe-be! Phoe-be!"</p> + +<p>"Now, there are two of her sisters calling for the lost one," said the +rabbit. "They must be very much worried about Phoebe. Perhaps a bear has +eaten her. That would be dreadful! I must help them!"</p> + +<p>So he hopped on through the woods, faster than ever, crying out:</p> + +<p>"I'm coming! I'm coming! Old Uncle Wiggily is going to help you find +Phoebe."</p> + +<p>And then, would you believe me, Uncle Wiggily heard seven voices, all +calling at once:</p> + +<p>"Phoebe! Phoebe! Phoebe! Phoebe! Phoebe! Phoebe! Phoebe!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, now the whole family is after that lost child," said the rabbit. "I +had better go for a policeman." And then he happened to look up, and he +saw a whole lot of little birds sitting on a tree, and each one was +calling:</p> + +<p>"Phoebe!" just like that. Really I'm not fooling a bit; honestly.</p> + +<p>"Oh my! How surprised I am!" cried the rabbit. "Was that you birds calling +for the little lost girl?"</p> + +<p>"It was," said the largest bird, "but there isn't any lost girl. You see +we are Phoebe birds, and that is the way we always sing. We always say +'Phoebe—Phoebe' over and over again. We didn't mean to fool you. It's +only our way of calling."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's all right," said the rabbit. "I don't mind. It was good +exercise for me to run after you."</p> + +<p>Well, those birds liked Uncle Wiggily so much that they sang their +prettiest for him, and asked him to stay to dinner, which he did. And he +had chocolate cake with candied carrots on top.</p> + +<p>And that's all to this story, if you please, but in case a red bird brings +me some green flower seeds to plant in my garden so I can grow some +lollypops, I'll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the milkman.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XX" id="STORY_XX" ></a>STORY XX</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE MILKMAN</h3> + + +<p>Well, now I guess we're all ready for the story of the chicken who tried +to roll an egg up hill, and it fell down, and was broken into forty-'leven +pieces and the monkey—Oh dear! Did you ever hear of such a thing? I guess +I must have turned over two pages in the story book instead of one, for +to-night I'm going to tell you about Uncle Wiggily and the milkman, and +not about the chicken and the egg at all. That comes in later.</p> + +<p>Let's see then, we left the old gentleman rabbit just after he had met the +Phoebe birds, didn't we? Well, a few days after that, as Uncle Wiggily was +hopping along with the elephant, who had come back to him again, now and +then, when he was tired, taking a ride on the back of the big fellow, all +of a sudden they heard a voice crying:</p> + +<p>"Ah, ha! Now I have you!"</p> + +<p>"My! What's that?" asked the old gentleman rabbit.</p> + +<p>"It must be somebody after us," answered the elephant. "But don't you be +afraid, Uncle Wiggily, I'll take care of you, and not let them hurt you. +Just get behind me."</p> + +<p>So the rabbit got behind the big elephant, and, would you believe it? you +couldn't see Uncle Wiggily at all, not even if you were to put on the +strongest kind of spectacles, such as Grandma wears. For he was hidden +behind the elephant.</p> + +<p>Then, in another moment a man with a long rope came bursting through the +bushes, and he ran straight toward the elephant.</p> + +<p>"Now I have you!" cried the man again. "You must come right back to the +circus with me."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's you they want, and not me," remarked Uncle Wiggily, and then he +wasn't afraid any more, and felt better, for he knew that he could still +travel on and seek his fortune.</p> + +<p>"Yes, they're after me," said the elephant sadly. "I guess I'll have to +leave you, Uncle Wiggily. Do you want me to go with you, Mr. Man?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, we want you back in the circus show."</p> + +<p>"Will I have all the peanuts I want?" asked the elephant.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," promised the man, "you may have a bushel and a pint every day, +besides a pailful of pink lemonade."</p> + +<p>"Then I'll come," said the elephant, "though I would like to have Uncle +Wiggily come also. But he still has his fortune to find. Come and see me +some time," he called to the rabbit.</p> + +<p>"I will," said Uncle Wiggily. Then the man tied a rope around the +elephant's trunk and led him away, and the big fellow waved and flapped +his ears at the rabbit to say good-by.</p> + +<p>"Now I must travel all alone once more," said Uncle Wiggily to himself, as +he hopped on through the woods. "And I do hope I find part of my fortune +to-day, even if it's only ten cents' worth."</p> + +<p>Well, he was passing across a nice green field a little while after that +when, all of a sudden, he heard some voices talking. He looked all around, +but he couldn't see any one, and he wondered if perhaps there were fairies +about. Then he heard a voice say:</p> + +<p>"Now, children, hop just as I do. Take a long breath and then hop, and be +very careful where you go."</p> + +<p>Then Uncle Wiggily looked down in the grass, and he saw a mamma hoptoad +and a whole lot of her little toads hopping along. The mamma toad was +giving the little ones their morning lesson. And I just wish you could +have seen how nicely those tiny toads could hop. One little chap, named +Sylvester, hopped over a big stone, and his little sister, named +Clarabella, leaped over a stick with a nail in it and didn't get hurt a +bit.</p> + +<p>"Ha! That is very good hopping! Very fine, indeed!" cried Uncle Wiggily, +waving his ears back and forth. "I could hardly do better myself."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's very kind of you to say so," said the mamma toad. "Now, +children, give a big hop for Uncle Wiggily."</p> + +<p>Well, they all took long breaths, and they were just going to hop when the +old gentleman rabbit suddenly called:</p> + +<p>"Look out! Hold on! Don't jump!"</p> + +<p>They all stopped quickly, and the mamma toad wanted to know what was the +matter.</p> + +<p>"Why, there is a big cow walking along," said the rabbit, for he could see +over the top of the grass better than could the toads, and could watch the +big cow coming. "If that cow stepped on you, why, you would never hop +again," said the rabbit, and then he led the toads out of danger.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm ever so much obliged to you," said the mamma toad to the rabbit. +"You saved our lives."</p> + +<p>Then she had all the little toads thank the old gentleman rabbit, and the +mamma toad asked him to come to her house for dinner. Uncle Wiggily went, +but the toad's house was so small that he couldn't get in, until he had +made it bigger by scratching away some of the dirt around the front door.</p> + +<p>Then he had a very good dinner, and he stayed all night at the toad +family's house and watched the little ones hop some more, and he and the +papa toad talked about the weather.</p> + +<p>Well, in the morning when Uncle Wiggily got up and washed his face and +paws, and combed out his whiskers, he suddenly heard all the little toads +crying.</p> + +<p>"Hum! Suz! Dud!" he exclaimed, "some of them must have the toothache." So +he went down stairs, and there all the toad family were sitting around the +breakfast table, but they weren't eating.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked Uncle Wiggily, sadly-like.</p> + +<p>"Why," said the papa toad, "the milkman hasn't come, and the children have +no milk for their oatmeal, and I have none for my coffee, and I'm in a +hurry to get down to the store where I work."</p> + +<p>"That's too bad," said the rabbit. "Can't you use condensed milk?"</p> + +<p>"We haven't any," spoke the mamma toad.</p> + +<p class="figcenter"><a href="./images/6.jpg"><img src="./images/6-tb.jpg" alt="Uncle Wiggily and the Cow" title="Uncle Wiggily and the Cow" /></a></p> + +<p>"Well, I'll hop out and see if I can see the milkman coming," said the +rabbit, "for I can see a long distance." So he went out and he hopped up +and down the street, and he looked up and down, but no milkman could he +see. And the little toads were getting hungrier and hungrier every minute +and they cried a lot, yes, indeed!</p> + +<p>"This is too bad!" said Uncle Wiggily. "I guess that milkman must be lost. +What can I do? Ah, I have it!" and away he hopped off toward the green +fields. Pretty soon he came to where the cow, who had nearly walked on the +toads, was eating grass, and, stepping up to her, Uncle Wiggily politely +asked:</p> + +<p>"Will you please give me some milk for the toads?"</p> + +<p>"To be sure I will," said the cow, kindly, "and I'm sorry I nearly stepped +on them yesterday." So she gave Uncle Wiggily a canful of fresh milk, for +the rabbit had brought the milk can out with him. Then Uncle Wiggily +hopped to the toadhouse as fast as he could, and the little toads had milk +for their breakfast, and didn't cry any more.</p> + +<p>Then, after a while, the milkman (who was a big puppy dog) came along and +said he was sorry he was late, but he couldn't help it, because he had +stepped on a thorn and had a lame foot and couldn't go fast, so they +forgave him.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll travel along now, I guess," said Uncle Wiggily, and once more +he started off to seek his fortune. And if you don't let your bathing suit +fall into the water and get all wet, I'll tell you next about Uncle +Wiggily's swimming lesson.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XXI" id="STORY_XXI" ></a>STORY XXI</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGILY'S SWIMMING LESSON</h3> + + +<p>Uncle Wiggily was so tired and worn out after running for milk for the +toad family that he couldn't travel very far that day to seek his fortune. +He slept that night in a doghouse, where a kind puppy named Towser lived, +and Towser covered the old gentleman rabbit up with leaves and straw and +kept watch so that no one would hurt him.</p> + +<p>"For I have heard about you from Percival, the old circus dog," said +Towser, the next morning when the rabbit awakened, "and I feel quite like +a friend to you. Will you gnaw one of my juicy bones?"</p> + +<p>"No, thank you," said Uncle Wiggily, "but if I had a bit of carrot I would +be very glad."</p> + +<p>"Don't say another word!" cried Towser. "I will have it for you in less +than two shakes of a crooked stick, or a straight one, either."</p> + +<p>So he ran out into the vegetable garden, and, very carefully he dug up a +fine yellow carrot, which Uncle Wiggily ate for his breakfast. Then the +rabbit rested all that day, and stayed another night with Towser. And +Towser invited some of his friends over to call on the rabbit, and they +had quite an evening's entertainment.</p> + +<p>Towser sang a funny song and stood on his tail, and Uncle Wiggily jumped +over two chairs and a footstool, and a dog named Rover stood up on his +hind legs and begged, and made believe he was a soldier with a broom for a +gun, and did lots of tricks like that.</p> + +<p>Well, the next day Uncle Wiggily felt well enough to go on with his +travels again and so he started off.</p> + +<p>"I will go part of the way with you," said Towser, "to see that no harm +comes to you."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, very much," said the rabbit, and so they set off together, the +puppy dog carrying Uncle Wiggily's valise for him.</p> + +<p>Pretty soon, not so very long, they came to a pond of water, and as soon +as Towser saw it, he cried out:</p> + +<p>"Oh, it is such a hot day I think I'll jump in and have a swim. Come on, +Uncle Wiggily, have a swim with me."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, I can't swim," said the old gentleman rabbit.</p> + +<p>"What! You can't swim?" cried the dog. "Well, every one ought to swim, +for when they go on their vacation if they fall in the water they won't +drown if they know how to keep themselves up. Watch me and see how easy it +is."</p> + +<p>So Towser set the satchel down on the bank and, taking off some of his +clothes, into the water he jumped with a big splashy dive. Right down +under the water he disappeared.</p> + +<p>"Oh, he'll be drowned, sure!" cried Uncle Wiggily, who was much +frightened. But, no. In a second up came Towser, shaking the water from +his hair and eyes, and then he began swimming around as easily as a +chicken can pick up corn.</p> + +<p>"Come on in, Uncle Wiggily," he called. "The water is fine."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm afraid!" said the rabbit.</p> + +<p>"Then the first thing to do is to get so you are not afraid of the water," +said the dog. "You needn't be. Just see; it will hold you up easily if you +go at it right. Just keep your nose out, and don't splutter and splash too +much and you can swim. Come in and I will give you a lesson."</p> + +<p>So Uncle Wiggily got in the water. At first it took his breath away, but +after a bit he got used to it, and he found that he could wade away far +out. Then he tried holding his breath and ducking his head away under, and +he found that he could do that and not be harmed in the least, and at +last he got so he wasn't afraid at all in the water.</p> + +<p>"Now for a lesson," said the puppy dog. "You must wade out so that the +water is up to your neck, and then you face toward shore, so you won't be +frightened. Then you just lean forward, gently and easily, and you kick +out with your legs like a frog, and you wave your hands around from in +front of you to your sides, and keep on doing that and you'll swim."</p> + +<p>"I'll try it," said the rabbit.</p> + +<p>So he tried it, but, all of a sudden, he cried out:</p> + +<p>"Ouch! Oh, my! Oh, dear me! Oh, hum, suz dud!"</p> + +<p>"What's the matter," asked the dog, looking around.</p> + +<p>"A fish bit my toe," exclaimed the rabbit.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I guess you only hit it on a stone," said Towser. "Fish are too +frightened to bite any one. Come on, strike out and swim as I do."</p> + +<p>Then Uncle Wiggily wasn't afraid, and soon he was swimming as nicely as +could be. For you know to swim you must first not be a bit afraid of the +water, for it can't hurt you. If ever you fall in, don't breathe—just +hold your breath as long as you can. Then, pretty soon you'll come up, and +if some one doesn't grab you, and you go under again, hold your breath +until you come up once more and then some one will surely grab you.</p> + +<p>"You must never breathe under water—just hold your breath," said Towser +to Uncle Wiggily, and the rabbit did it that way, and soon he could even +swim under water.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm much obliged to you," he said to Towser, "but now I must be on +my way to seek my fortune."</p> + +<p>So he said good-by to Towser and hopped on. And he hadn't gone very far +before a big bear saw him and chased after him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'll catch you!" cried the bear to the rabbit. Well, I just wish you +could have seen Uncle Wiggily run! He ran until he came to a big river, +and the bear was right after him.</p> + +<p>"Now I have you!" cried the bear. "You can't get across the river."</p> + +<p>"Oh, can't I?" asked the rabbit. "Just you watch and see!"</p> + +<p>So Uncle Wiggily threw his crutch and valise across the stream, and then +into it he jumped, and he swam just as Towser had taught him and he got +safely on the other side and so saved his life, for the bear couldn't swim +and Uncle Wiggily could. So you see it's a good thing to know how to swim, +and I hope all of you, who are big enough, know how to keep up in the +water.</p> + +<p>Well, Uncle Wiggily got across to the other shore, and he looked back and +there that bear was raging and tearing around as mad as mad could be, +because the rabbit had gotten away from him. But I'm glad of it; aren't +you?</p> + +<p>Now I have another story for you, and, in case my typewriter doesn't fall +in the lake and the fishes don't eat up the hair ribbon on it, I'll tell +you about Uncle Wiggily in the bear's den.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XXII" id="STORY_XXII" ></a>STORY XXII</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGILY IN THE BEAR'S DEN</h3> + + +<p>Well, here we are again, all ready for a story, I suppose, and I hope you +had a nice time at the surprise party. Let me see now, what shall I tell +you about? How would you like to hear about the old gentleman rabbit and +the toadstool?</p> + +<p>Oh, my! I just happened to remember that I promised to write about Uncle +Wiggily getting into the bear's den, so of course I'll have to tell about +that first, and afterward I'll write the story about the toadstool. I'll +tell you this much, however, the toadstool story is very curious, if I do +say so myself.</p> + +<p>Anyhow, Uncle Wiggily was hopping along one fine morning, following a +stormy night, and he was thinking about the swimming lesson he had had a +few days before.</p> + +<p>"I wonder if I have forgotten how to move my legs, and go skimming through +the water?" he said to himself as he set down his valise, and leaned his +crutch against a prickly briar bush. "I must practice a little."</p> + +<p>And the old gentleman rabbit did practice then and there, going through +all the motions of swimming, only he was on dry land, of course. Next he +twinkled his nose, like a star on a very hot night, when you drink iced +lemonade to keep cool, and then Uncle Wiggily hopped forward once more.</p> + +<p>He hadn't gone very far before he noticed a grasshopper moving along so +swiftly that the old gentleman rabbit could hardly see the legs go +flip-flap. My, but that grasshopper did hippity-hop!</p> + +<p>"Hold on there, if you please!" called Uncle Wiggily. "What is your hurry. +Are you late for school?"</p> + +<p>"There is no school now," said the grasshopper, as he sat on a daisy +flower, "but I am hopping along to get out of danger."</p> + +<p>"Danger? What danger is there around here?" asked the rabbit. "Do you see +a fox, or anything like that?"</p> + +<p>"No, but don't you hear that dreadful noise?" asked the grasshopper. +"Listen, and you will hear it. It scared me so that I went away as fast as +I could."</p> + +<p>So Uncle Wiggily listened, and sure enough he heard, away off in the +woods, a voice shouting:</p> + +<p>"Help! Help! Help! Oh, won't some one please help me, or I'll be killed!"</p> + +<p>"There, did you hear it?" asked the grasshopper, as he shivered and got +ready to flit away again, "he said he was going to kill us."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no! Nonsense!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "That is some poor animal +caught in a trap, and he's afraid of being killed himself. I'm going to +see who it is. Perhaps it is a friend of mine."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no! Don't you go!" begged the grasshopper. "For it may be the +alligator with the skillery-scalery-railery tail."</p> + +<p>"Oh, preposterous!" cried Uncle Wiggily, who sometimes used big words when +he was excited. "I'm not afraid. I'm going to help whoever it is, and, +perhaps, in that way I may find my fortune."</p> + +<p>So the grasshopper, who was very much frightened, flew on, and the rabbit +hopped toward where he could hear the voice still calling for help.</p> + +<p>And whom do you s'pose it was? Why, the second cousin to Grandfather +Prickly Porcupine was caught fast in a trap, and he was calling for help +as loudly as he could call.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm so glad you came along," said the porcupine to Uncle Wiggily. +"Please help me to get my leg out of this trap."</p> + +<p>"Of course I will," said the rabbit, and with his crutch he pried open the +trap, and set free the nice little second cousin to Grandfather Prickly +Porcupine.</p> + +<p>"Oh, how thankful I am to you," said the porcupine, as he limped away. "If +ever I can do you a favor I will." And, would you believe it? the time was +soon to come when that porcupine was to save Uncle Wiggily's life.</p> + +<p>Well, the old gentleman rabbit hopped on, looking all over for his +fortune, but he couldn't seem to find it anywhere until, all of a sudden, +as he was walking along by some big stones, he saw something shining, and +picking it up, he found he had a silver twenty-five-cent piece.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my goodness me, sakes alive and a piece of cherry pie!" cried the +rabbit. "I've found part of my fortune! I'll have good luck now, and +perhaps I can find more."</p> + +<p>So the rabbit looked all about in among the stones for other money. But he +didn't find any, and pretty soon he came to a place where there was a hole +down in between the big rocks.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps there is more money down there," said the rabbit. "I'll take a +look." He leaned over, and looked down, and then—Oh, how sorry I am that +I have to tell it, but I do, all of a sudden Uncle Wiggily fell right down +that black hole.</p> + +<p>Right down into it he fell, and he landed at the bottom with such a bump +that he nearly broke his spectacles. At first it was so dark that he +couldn't make out anything, but in a little while he could see something +big and black and shaggy coming toward him, and a grillery-growlery voice +called out:</p> + +<p>"Who's there? Who dares to come into my den?"</p> + +<p>"It is only I," said the rabbit. "I'm Uncle Wiggily Longears, and I came +in here by mistake. I was looking for my fortune."</p> + +<p>"Ah, ha!" cried the bear, for the shaggy creature with the +grillery-growlery voice was a bear. "Ah, ha! That is a different story. I +am very glad you dropped in to see me, Mr. Longears. I was just wondering +what I'd have for my dinner, and now I know—it is going to be rabbit +stew, and you are going to be stewed," and the bear opened the dining-room +shutters so he could see to eat the rabbit.</p> + +<p>"Oh, how can you be so cruel to me?" asked Uncle Wiggily. "I only came in +here by mistake. I found twenty-five cents, and I was looking for more."</p> + +<p>"Found twenty-five cents, did you, eh?" cried the bear, savage-like. "Give +it to me at once! I lost that, it's my money!"</p> + +<p>And he took the twenty-five-cent piece right away from Uncle Wiggily. Then +the bear was just going to eat up the nice old gentleman rabbit, and Uncle +Wiggily didn't know how to get away, and he was feeling most dreadful, +when, all of a sudden, a voice sharply cried:</p> + +<p>"Here, you let my friend Uncle Wiggily alone," and then some one scrambled +down through the top hole of the bear's den.</p> + +<p>"Who are you?" asked the shaggy creature with the grillery-growlery voice, +and the bear gnashed his teeth.</p> + +<p>"I'm the second cousin to Grandfather Prickly Porcupine," was the answer, +"and I'm going to save my rabbit friend."</p> + +<p>And with that the porcupine took out a whole handful of his +stickery-ickery quills, like toothpicks, and he stuck them right into the +soft and tender nose of that bad bear. And the stickery-ickery quills so +tickled the bear and hurt him that he nearly sneezed his head off, and +tears came into his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Now's our time! Come on, let's get away from here!" cried the porcupine +to the rabbit, and up out of the bear's den they scrambled, and got safely +away before the bear had finished his sneezing.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you saved my life," said Uncle Wiggily to the prickly porcupine, "and +I thank you very much." Then they traveled on together, and they had an +adventure the next day.</p> + +<p>What it was I'll tell you soon, when, in case the boys who go in swimming +don't duck my typewriter under water and make it catch the measles, I'll +tell you about Uncle Wiggily and the toadstool.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XXIII" id="STORY_XXIII" ></a>STORY XXIII</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE TOADSTOOL</h3> + + +<p>"Were you much frightened when you were in the bear's den?" asked the +prickly porcupine as he and Uncle Wiggily went along the road next day. +They had slept that night in a hole where an old fox used to live, but +just then he was away on his summer vacation at Asbury Park, and so he +wasn't home.</p> + +<p>"Was I frightened?" repeated the old gentleman rabbit, as he looked to see +if there was any mud on his crutch, "why I was so scared that my heart +almost stopped beating. But I'm glad you happened to come along, and that +you stuck your stickery-ickery quills into the bear's nose. It was very +lucky that you chanced to come past the den."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I did it on purpose," said the porcupine. "After you got me out of +the trap, and I scurried away, I happened to think that you might go past +the bear's house, so I hurried after you, and—well, I'm glad that I +did."</p> + + +<p>"So am I," said the rabbit. "Will you have a bit of my carrot sandwich?"</p> + +<p>"I don't mind if I do," said the porcupine, polite-like, so he and the +rabbit traveler ate the carrot sandwiches as they walked along.</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't believe I'm ever going to find my fortune," said Uncle +Wiggily sadly. "I began to have hopes, when I picked up the +twenty-five-cent piece, but now the bear has that and I have nothing. Oh, +I certainly am very unlucky."</p> + +<p>"Never mind," said the porcupine, "I'll help you look." But even with the +sharp eyes, and the sharp, stickery-ickery quills of the hedgehog, Uncle +Wiggily couldn't find his fortune.</p> + +<p>But it is a good thing the old gentleman rabbit had company, for as they +were walking along under some trees, all of a sudden a big snake hissed at +them, like a coffee-pot boiling over. And then the snake uncoiled himself +and tried to grab the rabbit by the ears.</p> + +<p>"Here! That will never do!" cried the porcupine, and then and there, +without even stopping to take off his necktie, that brave creature stuck +twenty-seven and a half stickery-stockery-stackery quills into the snake, +and then that snake was glad enough to crawl away. Oh, my, yes, and a +basketful of soap bubbles besides!</p> + +<p>Well, it wasn't long after that before it was dinner time, and the two +friends sat down in a place where there were a lot of toadstools to eat +their lunch. They sat on the low toadstools, and the higher ones they used +for tables, each one having a toadstool table for himself, just like in a +restaurant.</p> + +<p>"Now, this is what I call real jolly," said the porcupine, as he ate his +third piece of hickory-nut pie with carrot sauce on it.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is real nice," said the rabbit. "After all, it isn't so bad to go +hunting for your fortune when you have company, but it's not so much fun +all alone."</p> + +<p>Well, the two friends were just finishing their meal, and they were +getting ready to travel on, when, all at once, there was a terrible +crashing sound in the bushes, just as if some one was breaking them all to +pieces.</p> + +<p>"My! What's that?" asked the porcupine, preparing to pull out some more of +his stickery-ickery quills.</p> + +<p>"It sounds like the elephant," said the rabbit, as he looked around for a +safe place in which to hide in case it should happen to be the bear coming +after him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, if it's the elephant, we don't have to worry. He is a friend of +ours," said the porcupine.</p> + +<p>Well, the crashing in the bushes still kept up, and then before you could +tickle your pussy cat under the chin-chopper, there burst out of the +middle of a prickly briar bush a great big alligator—the same one who +once before had tried to catch Uncle Wiggily.</p> + +<p>"Oh, look!" cried the porcupine. "He's after us."</p> + +<p>"Indeed, I am!" exclaimed the 'gator. "I'll have a fine meal in about a +minute. I'll pull all your quills out, and eat you with strawberry sauce +on; prickly porcupine."</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't you let him do it!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "Stick some of your +quills in him, and make him go away, Mr. Porcupine."</p> + +<p>"It wouldn't do any good," said the porcupine. "You see, the alligator has +such a thick skin on him that even a bullet will hardly go through, so my +quills won't hurt him. I guess we had better run away."</p> + +<p>Well, they started to run away, but the 'gator, with his skillery-scalery +tail, chased after them, and he could go very quickly, too, let me tell +you. Right after Uncle Wiggily and the porcupine the alligator raced, and +he almost caught both of them. Then the porcupine saw a hole just big +enough for him to squeeze down, but not big enough for the alligator to +come after.</p> + +<p>Down into this hole jumped the prickly porcupine, and he was safe, but +there was no hole for Uncle Wiggily to hide in, and the alligator was +close after him.</p> + +<p>"Jump up on a toadstool, and maybe he can't get you!" called the +porcupine, sticking the end of his nose out of the hole.</p> + +<p>"I will!" cried the rabbit, and up on top of the biggest toadstool he +landed with a jump.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I can easily get you off there!" yelled the alligator, savage-like. +"I'll have you down in a minute."</p> + +<p>He reached up with his claws to get the rabbit, and Uncle Wiggily got +right in the middle of the toadstool, as far away as he could, but it +wasn't very far. The alligator's claws almost had him, when all of a +sudden that toadstool quickly began to grow up tall. Taller and taller it +grew, for toadstools grow very fast you know. Higher and higher it went, +like an elevator, taking Uncle Wiggily up with it.</p> + +<p class="figcenter"><a href="./images/7.jpg"><img src="./images/7-tb.jpg" alt="Uncle Wiggily on the Toadstool" title="Uncle Wiggily on the Toadstool" /></a></p> + +<p>"Oh, now I'm safe!" cried the rabbit, for he was quite high in the air by +this time.</p> + +<p>"No, you're not. I'll get you yet!" cried the alligator, as he reared up +on the end of his skillery-scalery tail. He made a grab for the rabbit, +but the kind toadstool at once grew itself up as tall as the church +steeple, with Uncle Wiggily still on top, and then, of course, the +alligator couldn't reach him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, now I'm safe, but how ever am I going to get down?" thought the +rabbit, for the alligator was still there. But, in another minute, along +came a policeman dog, and with his club he made that alligator run away +back to the swamp where he belonged. Then the toadstool began to get +smaller and smaller, and it sank down close to the ground again and +lowered the rabbit just like on an elevator in a store, and Uncle Wiggily +was safe on earth once more. And he was very thankful to the toadstool, +which grew up so quickly just in time.</p> + +<p>"Well, we'd better get along once more," said Uncle Wiggily to the prickly +porcupine, after he had thanked the dog-policeman. So the two friends set +off together through the woods, and the next day something else happened +to them.</p> + +<p>I'll tell you what it was on the next page, when, in case the iceman +brings me some hot chocolate to put on my bread and butter, the bedtime +story will be about Uncle Wiggily and the chickie.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XXIV" id="STORY_XXIV" ></a>STORY XXIV</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CHICKIE</h3> + + +<p>"Well, what shall we do to-day?" asked the second cousin to Grandfather +Prickly Porcupine, as he crawled out of his bed of dried leaves, and +looked over to where Uncle Wiggily was washing his whiskers. "Are we going +to travel some more?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," answered the old gentleman rabbit, "we must still keep on, for +I have yet to find my fortune."</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do with your fortune when you find it?" asked the +porcupine. "Will you buy a million ice cream cones with the money?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, my goodness sakes alive, and a pot of mustard, no!" replied Uncle +Wiggily. "If I ate as many cones as that I would have indigestion, as well +as rheumatism. When I find my fortune I am going back home, and I'll buy +something for Sammie and Susie Littletail, and for Johnnie and Billie +Bushytail, and for all my other animal friends, including Grandfather +Goosey Gander. That's what I'll do when I find my fortune."</p> + +<p>"Very good," said the porcupine, and then he got up and washed his face +and paws. And he wiped them on the towel after the old gentleman rabbit, +instead of before him, for you see when the porcupine soaked up the water +off his face he left some of his stickery-stockery quills sticking in the +towel, and if Uncle Wiggily had used it then he might have been scratched. +But, as it was, the rabbit didn't even get tickled, and very glad of it he +was, too. Oh, my, yes, and some pepper hash in addition.</p> + +<p>Well, Uncle Wiggily and the porcupine had their breakfast and then they +started off. They hadn't gone very far before they met a locust sitting on +the low limb of a tree. And this locust was buzzing his wings like an +electric fan, and making more noise than you could shake your handkerchief +at on a Tuesday morning.</p> + +<p>"Why do you do that?" asked the rabbit.</p> + +<p>"To keep myself cool," said the locust. "I am fanning myself with my buzzy +wings for it is going to be a very hot day."</p> + +<p>"Then we must keep in the shade as we travel along," said the porcupine, +and that is what he and the old gentleman rabbit did. And it is a good +thing they did so, for, as they walked along where it was cool and dark, +beneath clumps of ferns, and under big, tall trees, they passed by a place +where a bad snake lived.</p> + +<p>"Look out! There's the snake's hole!" cried Uncle Wiggily, and he jumped +to one side.</p> + +<p>"Ha! I'm ready for him!" called the porcupine, and he got some of his +stickery quills ready to jab into the snake. But the snake was out on a +big rock, sunning himself in the hot sun, though when he heard the rabbit +and porcupine talking he made a jump for them and tried to catch them.</p> + +<p>But you see they were in the cool shadows, and the snake's eyes were +blinded by the sun, so he could not see very well, and thus the rabbit and +his friend escaped.</p> + +<p>"I tell you it is a good thing we heard the locust sing, and that we kept +in the shade, or else we might have stepped right on that snake and he'd +have bitten and killed us," said the porcupine, and Uncle Wiggily said +that this was true.</p> + +<p>Well, they kept on and on, and pretty soon they sat down in the shade of a +mulberry tree and ate their lunch. Then they rested a bit, and in the +afternoon they traveled on farther.</p> + +<p>And, just as they were passing by a large, gray rock, that had nice, green +moss on it, all of a sudden they heard something calling like this:</p> + +<p>"Cheep! Cheep! Chip-cheep-cheep! Oh, cheep! Peep! Peep!"</p> + +<p>"What's that?" asked Uncle Wiggily in a whisper.</p> + +<p>"I don't know. Maybe a burglar fox," answered the porcupine also, in a +whisper. "But I'm all ready for him."</p> + +<p>So he got out some of his sharpest stickery quills to jab into the burglar +fox, and the noise still kept up:</p> + +<p>"Cheep! Cheep! Yip! Yip! Yap! Yap! Cheep-chap!"</p> + +<p>"That doesn't sound like a fox," said the rabbit, listening with his two +ears.</p> + +<p>"No, it doesn't," admitted the porcupine, and he stuck his quills back +again like pins in a cushion. "Perhaps it is the skillery-scalery +alligator, and my quills would be of no use against him," he went on.</p> + +<p>Then, all at once, before Uncle Wiggily could make his nose twinkle like a +star of a frosty night more than two times, there was a rustling in the +bushes, and out popped a poor, little white chickie—only she wasn't so +very white now, for her feathers were all wet and muddy.</p> + +<p>"Cheep-chap! Yip-yap!" cried the little chickie.</p> + +<p>"Why, what in the world are you doing away off here?" asked Uncle +Wiggily. "You poor little dear! Where is your mother?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, me! Oh, my!" cried the little chickie. "I only wish I knew. I'm lost! +I wandered away from my mamma, and my brothers, and sisters, and I'm lost +in these woods. Oh chip! Oh chap! Oh yip! Oh yap!" Then she cried real +hard and the tears washed some of the dirt off her white feathers.</p> + +<p>"Don't cry," said Uncle Wiggily, kindly. "We'll help you find your mamma, +won't we, Mr. Porcupine?"</p> + +<p>"Of course we will," said the stickery-stockery creature. "You go one way, +Uncle Wiggily, and I'll go the other, and the chickie can stay on this big +rock until one of us comes back with her mamma."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and here is a piece of cherry pie for you to eat while we are gone," +said the rabbit, giving the lost chickie a nice piece of the pie.</p> + +<p>So off the rabbit and the porcupine started to find the chickie's mamma. +They looked everywhere for her, but the porcupine couldn't find the old +lady hen, so he went back to the rock to wait there with the lost chickie +so she wouldn't be lonesome. But Uncle Wiggily wouldn't stop looking. +Pretty soon he heard something going "cluck-cluck" in the bushes, and he +knew that it was the mamma hen. Then he went up to her and said:</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know where your little lost chickie is."</p> + +<p>Well, at first, that mamma hen didn't know who the rabbit was, and she +ruffled up her feathers, and puffed them out, and let down her wings, and +she was going to fly right at Uncle Wiggily, but she happened to see who +he was just in time and she said:</p> + +<p>"Oh, thank you ever so much, Uncle Wiggily. I was so worried that I was +just going down to the police station to see if a policeman had found her. +Now I won't have to go. Come along, children, little lost Clarabella is +found. Uncle Wiggily found her."</p> + +<p>So she clucked to all the other children, and the rabbit led them toward +where Clarabella was sitting on the rock with the porcupine.</p> + +<p>And on the way a big, ugly fox leaped out of the bushes and tried to eat +up all the chickens, and Uncle Wiggily also. But the old mother hen just +ruffled up her feathers and puffed herself all out big again, and she flew +at that fox and picked him in the eyes, and he was glad enough to slink +away through the bushes, taking his fuzzy tail with him.</p> + +<p>Then the rabbit hopped on and took the mamma hen to her little lost +chickie on the rock, and the rabbit and the porcupine had supper that +night with the chicken family and slept in a big basket full of straw next +door to the chicken coop.</p> + +<p>Then they traveled on the next day and something else happened. What it +was I'll tell you right soon, when, in case a little boy named Willie +doesn't crawl up in my lap when I'm writing and pull my ears, as the +conductor does the trolley car bell-rope, the story will be about Uncle +Wiggily and the wasp.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XXV" id="STORY_XXV" ></a>STORY XXV</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE WASP</h3> + + +<p>"What would you like for breakfast this morning?" asked Mrs. Hen, as Uncle +Wiggily and the porcupine got up out of their bed in the clean straw by +the chickens' coop. This was the day after the rabbit found the little +white chickie.</p> + +<p>"Ha, hum! Let me see," exclaimed the rabbit, as he waved his whiskers +around in the air to get all the straw seeds out of them: "what would I +like? Why, I think some fried oranges with carrot gravy on them would be +nice, don't you, Mr. Porcupine?"</p> + +<p>"No," said the stickery-stockery creature. "I think I would like to have +some bread with banana butter on and a glass of milk with vanilla +flavoring."</p> + +<p>"You may both have what you like, because you were so kind to my little +lost Clarabella," said Mrs. Hen. Then she spoke to her children.</p> + +<p>"Scurry around now, little ones, and get Uncle Wiggily and his friend the +nice things for breakfast. Hurry now, for they will be wanting to travel +on before the sun gets too hot," the mamma hen said.</p> + +<p>So one little chickie got the oranges, and another chickie got the +bananas, and still another chickery-chicken, with a spotted tail, got the +carrots, and then Clarabella went to where Mrs. Cow lived, and got the +milk for the prickly porcupine. Then Mrs. Hen cooked the breakfast, and +very good it was, too, if I may be allowed to say so.</p> + +<p>"Well, I guess we'll be getting along now," said Uncle Wiggily. "Are you +still going to travel with me, Mr. Porcupine?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I'll come with you for a couple days more, and then if you don't +find your fortune I'll start out by myself, and perhaps I can find it for +you."</p> + +<p>So the two friends went on together. They traveled over hills and down +dales, and once they met a lame rabbit, who had the epizootic very bad. +Uncle Wiggily showed him how to make a crutch out of a cornstalk, just as +Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, the muskrat, had done, and the lame rabbit made +himself one and was much obliged.</p> + +<p>Then, a little later they met a duck with only one good leg, and the +other one was made of wood, and this duck wanted to get over a fence but +she couldn't, on account of her wooden leg.</p> + +<p>"Pray, how did you lose your leg?" asked Uncle Wiggily, as he and the +porcupine kindly helped her over the rails.</p> + +<p>"Oh, a bad rat bit it off," said the duck. "I was asleep in the pond one +morning and before I knew it a rat swam up under water, and nipped off my +leg."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm so sorry," said the rabbit. "I'll tell Alice and Lulu and Jimmie +Wibblewobble, my duck friends, to be careful of bad rats in their pond."</p> + +<p>"That's a good idea," spoke the duck with the wooden leg, and then she +said good-by and waddled away.</p> + +<p>After that Uncle Wiggily and the porcupine traveled on some more, and, as +it got to be very warm they thought they would lie down in a shady place +and take a little sleep.</p> + +<p>Well, they picked out a nice place under a clump of ferns, that leaned +over a little babbling brook, and touched the tips of their green leaves +into the cool water. And, before he knew it, dear old Uncle Wiggily was +fast, fast asleep, and he snored the least little bit, but please don't +tell any one about it.</p> + +<p>Then pretty soon the porcupine was asleep too, only he didn't snore any, +though I'm not allowed to tell you why just now. I may later, however.</p> + +<p>Well, in a little while, something is going to happen. In fact, it's now +time for it to begin. Yes, here comes the stingery wasp. Listen, and you +can hear him buzz.</p> + +<p>"Buzz! Buzz! Bizzy-buzzy-buzzy!" went the stingery wasp, as he flew over +the place where the rabbit and porcupine were sleeping. And the wasp +flitted and flapped his bluish wings and lifted up the sharp end of his +body where be carries his stingery-sting.</p> + +<p>"Ah, ha! I see something to sting!" thought the wasp. "Now, I wonder which +one I shall sting first? I think I will try the porcupine, and then I will +sting the rabbit." Oh, but he was a bad wasp, though; wasn't he, eh?</p> + +<p>Well, he was all ready to sting the porcupine, when suddenly the wasp +heard a voice calling to him from the bushes.</p> + +<p>"Don't sting the porcupine, Mr. Wasp, sting the rabbit," said the rasping +voice.</p> + +<p>"Why should I do that?" asked the wasp, as he looked to see if his sting +needed sharpening.</p> + +<p>"Oh, because if you sting the porcupine you might get stuck with his +stickery-stockery quills," said the voice. "But the rabbit can't hurt you. +Besides, if you sting him for me I will give you a popcorn ball."</p> + + +<p>"Why are you so anxious for me to sting the rabbit?" asked the wasp, as he +flittered his steely-blue wings.</p> + +<p>"Oh, if you do that it will scare him so that he won't know which way to +run, and then, when he is all puzzled up, I can jump out on him and eat +him up!" said the voice. "I have been wanting a rabbit dinner this long +time," and with that out from the bushes crawled the bad fox.</p> + +<p>"Very well," said the wasp, "I'll sting the rabbit on the end of his +twinkling nose for you, and then you must give me a popcorn ball," for you +know wasps like sweet things.</p> + +<p>So the wasp got ready to sting poor Uncle Wiggily, and all this while the +rabbit and the porcupine were peacefully sleeping there under the ferns, +and they didn't know what was going to happen.</p> + +<p>"Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!" went the wasp, as he flew closer to Uncle Wiggily. He +was all ready to sting him, when a piece of bark happened to fall off a +tree and hit the porcupine on his left ear, waking him up. He opened his +eyes very quickly, thinking that a fairy was throwing snowballs at him, +and then the porcupine heard the wasp buzzing, and he saw the wasp flying +straight toward Uncle Wiggily to sting him, and next the porcupine saw +the bad fox.</p> + +<p>"Ha! So that is how things are, eh?" cried the porcupine, as he jumped up. +"Well, I'll soon put a stop to that!"</p> + +<p>So, before you could fan yourself with a feather, the porcupine took out +one of his stickers, and he stuck the wasp with it so hard that the bad +wasp was glad enough to fly away, taking his stinger with him.</p> + +<p class="figcenter"><a href="./images/8.jpg"><img src="./images/8-tb.jpg" alt="Uncle Wiggily and the Wasp" title="Uncle Wiggily and the Wasp" /></a></p> + +<p>"Now, it's your turn!" cried the porcupine to the fox, and with that he +threw a whole lot of his sharp quills at the fox, and that bad creature +ran away howling. And then Uncle Wiggily woke up and wanted to know what +it was all about, and what made the buzzing and howling noises.</p> + +<p>"You had a narrow escape," said the porcupine as he told the rabbit about +the wasp and the fox.</p> + +<p>"I guess I did," admitted Uncle Wiggily. "I'm much obliged to you. Now +let's have supper."</p> + +<p>So they ate their supper, and that's all I can tell you for the present, +if you please. But, in case I see a little pig with a pink ribbon tied in +his curly tail, I'll make the next bedtime story, about Uncle Wiggily and +the bluebell.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XXVI" id="STORY_XXVI" ></a>STORY XXVI</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGLY AND THE BLUEBELL</h3> + + +<p>Well, I didn't see any little pig with a pink ribbon tied in his kinky, +curly tail, but I'll tell you a story just the same if you'd like to hear +it.</p> + +<p>Once upon a time, a good many years ago, when—Oh, there I go again! I'm +always making mistakes like that, of late. That's a story about a giant +that I was thinking of, whereas I meant to tell you one about Uncle +Wiggily, and what happened to him.</p> + +<p>It was the day after the wasp had nearly stung him, and the old gentleman +rabbit was traveling on alone, for the second cousin to Grandfather +Prickly Porcupine had to go home, and so he couldn't help Uncle Wiggily +hunt for his fortune any longer.</p> + +<p>"Now take care of yourself," the porcupine had said to the rabbit, as they +bade each other good-by, "and don't let any wasps sting you."</p> + +<p>"What should I do, in case I happened to be stung?" asked Uncle Wiggily.</p> + +<p>"Put some mud on the place," said the porcupine. "Mud is good for stings."</p> + +<p>"I will," said the rabbit, and then he hopped on with his valise and his +red-white-and-blue-striped-barber-pole crutch. Uncle Wiggily hoped he +would soon find his fortune, for he wanted to get back home and see Sammie +and Susie Littletail, and all the other animal friends. So he looked +around very carefully for any signs of gold. He also asked all the animals +and flowers whom he met if they could tell him where his fortune was.</p> + +<p>"No," said a warty-spotted toad, "I can't tell you, but I should think you +would dig in the ground for gold."</p> + +<p>So Uncle Wiggily dug in the dirt in many places, but no gold did he find.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you can tell me where my fortune is?" he said to a tailor-bird +who was sewing some leaves together to make a nest.</p> + +<p>"It might be up in the air," said the tailor-bird. "If I were you I should +hop up into the air and look for it."</p> + +<p>Well, Uncle Wiggily hopped up, but you know how it is with rabbits. +They're not made to fly, and he couldn't stay up in the air long enough to +do any good, so he couldn't find any gold that way.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear! I guess I'll never find my fortune," said the rabbit +sadly-like. Then he saw a little blue flower, shaped just like a bell, +hanging on a stem over a small babbling brook of water.</p> + +<p>"Ah, there is a bluebell!" said the rabbit. "Perhaps she knows where my +fortune is. I'll ask her, for flowers are very wise."</p> + +<p>"No, I can't tell you where there is any gold," said the bluebell when +Uncle Wiggily had asked her most politely. "All I do is to swing backward +and forward here all day long, and I ring my bell and I am happy. I do not +need gold."</p> + +<p>"I wish I didn't have to have it, but I do. I need it to make my fortune, +and then I can go home," said the rabbit.</p> + +<p>"Very well," spoke the blue flower, as she rang her bell, oh so sweetly! +so that it seemed to the rabbit as if she played a song about the blue +skies, and birds singing and fountains spouting upward in the sun while +pretty blossoms grew all around. "Go on, Uncle Wiggily, but if you don't +find your fortune come back here, and I will sing you to sleep," she +added.</p> + +<p>"I will," spoke the rabbit, as he hopped away.</p> + +<p>Well, pretty soon, not so very long, as he was walking on a path through +the woods, Uncle Wiggily heard a voice speaking.</p> + +<p>"I can tell you where to find your fortune," said the voice. "I know where +there is a big pile of yellow stones, and I think they are gold. Follow me +and I will show you."</p> + +<p>"But who are you?" asked the rabbit, for he could see no one. "You may be +the alligator for all I know."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm not the alligator," was the answer. "I am a friend of yours, and +I like you very much," and the unseen one smacked his lips. "But I can't +come out and let you see me, for I dare not go out in the sun as I am +afraid of getting too hot," the voice answered, "so I will just creep +along through the bushes and I will wiggle my tail, and you can see it +moving in the grass, and you can follow that without seeing me, and I will +lead you to the pile of yellow stones."</p> + +<p>"Very well," answered the rabbit, "though I would much rather see you. But +go ahead and I'll follow, for I must find my fortune."</p> + +<p>So the old gentleman rabbit saw the grass wiggling and he followed that, +and he kept thinking of how rich he would soon be, and how many nice +things he would buy for Sammie and Susie Littletail.</p> + +<p>But if the rabbit had only known who it was he was following he wouldn't +have been so happy, for it was a crawly snake, and that snake was only +fooling Uncle Wiggily, and trying to get him off to his den so he could +eat him. And that's why he didn't show himself. On and on the snake +wiggled through the grass, shaking his tail, and the poor rabbit followed +after him.</p> + +<p>"Are we nearly to the gold?" asked Uncle Wiggily after a bit.</p> + +<p>"Almost," answered the snake, making his voice soft and gentle.</p> + +<p>The snake was nearly at his den now, and he was just going to turn around +and squeeze the rabbit to death, when all at once a yellow bumblebee that +was flying overhead looked down and saw the crawly creature, and the bee +knew what the snake was going to do.</p> + +<p>"Run away, Uncle Wiggily! Run!" called the bee, "the snake is fooling +you!"</p> + +<p>Well, Uncle Wiggily didn't wait a second. He jumped right over a briar +bush and away he hopped as fast as he could hop, and the snake didn't get +him, and, oh, how mad that snake was!</p> + +<p>Uncle Wiggily hopped around and around in the woods and the first thing he +knew he couldn't find the path, he was so excited. And the more he tried +to find it the more he couldn't, until he sat down on a stump and said:</p> + +<p>"I'm lost. I know I am! Lost in the dark, deep, dismal woods, and night +coming on! Oh, what shall I do?"</p> + +<p>Well, he was feeling very badly, and was quite frightened, and he didn't +know what to do when, all at once he heard a bell ringing. Oh, such a +sweet-toned silvery bell. "Ding-dong! Ding-dong!" it went, sounding very +clearly through the woods. Then the bell seemed to say:</p> + +<p>"Come this way, Uncle Wiggily, come this way. Ding-dong!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's the bluebell flower!" cried the rabbit. "How glad I am. Now I +can follow the ringing sound and get to a nice place to stay for the +night."</p> + +<p>So he listened carefully, and the blue flower rang her tinkling bell +louder than ever, and the rabbit could tell by the sound of it just which +way to go, and pretty soon he was out of the woods and right beside the +flower that was swinging to and fro in the wind, just like a bell in a +church steeple.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm go glad I could ring and tell you the way back here," said the +bluebell. "Now lie down and sleep, and if there is any danger I will +tinkle my bell and awaken you."</p> + +<p>So Uncle Wiggily stretched out on some soft moss, and went to sleep. And +there was some danger for him, as I shall tell you very soon, when, in +case the rocking chair on the front porch doesn't go swimming in the +molasses barrel, the next story will be about Uncle Wiggily and the +Wibblewobble children.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XXVII" id="STORY_XXVII" ></a>STORY XXVII</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE WIBBLEWOBBLES</h3> + + +<p>Uncle Wiggily, the nice old gentleman rabbit, was sleeping on the soft +moss under a clump of ferns, and over his head the bluebell flower was +nodding in the night breeze, keeping watch for danger. For you remember, I +dare say, that the flower had promised to awaken Uncle Wiggily in case any +harm happened to come near him.</p> + +<p>Hour after hour crept along, like a little mouse after a bit of cheese, +and still the rabbit slumbered, and still the bluebell nodded her drowsy +head, for she would not go to sleep while she was keeping watch.</p> + +<p>"I think I will just take one little nap," said the flower to herself, +after a bit, "just shut my eyes for a little while." So she did so, and +then, all of a sudden, as quietly as a clock when it isn't ticking, there +came creeping and crawling through the woods, the bad scalery-tailery +alligator.</p> + +<p>He was looking around sniffing, and snooping, and scuffing for something +to eat, and pretty soon he sniffed and snuffed until he came to where +Uncle Wiggily was fast asleep, dreaming that he had found his fortune. And +the worst part of it was that the bluebell flower also was sleeping, and +she couldn't tell the rabbit what was going to happen.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'll have a fine meal in about a minute," said the scalery-tailery +alligator as he smacked his big jaws. Then he shuffled up closer to Uncle +Wiggily, and was about to bite him when all of a sudden the nutmeg grater +tail of the scalery alligator accidentally hit against the bluebell +flower, and she awoke quickly.</p> + +<p>"Tinkle! Tinkle! Tinkle! Ding-dong! Ding-dong!" rang out the bluebell, +just like an alarm clock in the morning. "Ding-dong-dong! Tinkle! Tinkle!"</p> + +<p>Up jumped Uncle Wiggily, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He looked +through the woods, and by the light of the silvery moon he saw the +grinning alligator, with his open mouth, close to him.</p> + +<p>"Run, Uncle Wiggily! Run!" cried the bluebell, and then she made such a +jingling-jangling noise that all the birds in the woods awakened, and by +the moonlight, they flew down at that alligator, and stuck him with their +sharp bills, so that he was glad to crawl away, and he didn't forget to +take his scalery tail with him, either.</p> + +<p>"My, that was a narrow escape!" said the rabbit. "I am glad he didn't eat +me."</p> + +<p>"So am I," said the bluebell, "and I'll not go to sleep again, either, I +promise you."</p> + +<p>So the flower stayed wide awake the rest of the night, and the rabbit +slept on the soft moss, and in the morning he awakened and ate his +breakfast out of his valise, and then, saying good-by to the flower and +thanking her, he set off once more to seek his fortune.</p> + +<p>Uncle Wiggily traveled on and on, looking in all the places he could think +of for some gold, but he couldn't seem to find any. And then, just when he +got on top of a little hill, and started down the other side he heard some +one crying—no, I'm just a bit wrong, he heard three some ones +crying—three separate and distinct cries.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear, I've got a sliver in my foot!" blubbered one voice.</p> + +<p>"And I've stepped on a stone and there's a big bruise on my foot!" +sniffled another voice.</p> + +<p>"Oh! none of you is as badly off as I am," quivered a third voice, "for +I've cut my two feet on a piece of glass! Oh, whatever shall we do?"</p> + +<p>"My, I wonder who they can be?" thought the rabbit, for he could see no +one as yet. "Maybe those are the little children of the burglar fox, and +if they are, then the burglar fox must be somewhere around here, and I had +better be careful of myself."</p> + +<p>Well, the rabbit was about to turn, and run back down the hill, up which +he had just come, when he saw something white fluttering like a piece of +paper.</p> + +<p>"A fox isn't white," Uncle Wiggily said to himself, "at least not the +foxes around here. That must be something else." So he took another +careful look, and he saw three nice little duck children—I guess you +remember their names—Lulu and Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble. And as soon +as they saw the old gentleman rabbit, those three duck children exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Oh, joy! Oh, happiness!" and they didn't think about the slivers and the +bruises and the cuts in their feet any more.</p> + +<p>"My goodness me sakes alive and a potato pancake!" cried Uncle Wiggily. +"What are you children doing so far away from home? You must be lost."</p> + +<p>"We are lost," said Jimmie Wibblewobble, "all three of us."</p> + +<p>"Yes," went on Lulu, "we are certainly lost, and it's Jimmie's fault, for +he asked us to come."</p> + +<p>"Oh! it's not all Jimmie's fault," said Alice gently, as she looked at her +brother. "You see, Uncle Wiggily, we are visiting our Aunt Lettie, the old +lady goat, who lives in the country near here. We are at her house for our +vacation, and to-day we started to go to the woods to have a good time, +but we took the wrong path and we are lost, and I have a big sliver in my +foot."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and I stepped on a stone, and have a big bruise," whimpered Jimmie.</p> + +<p>"And I've cut both feet on a piece of glass," cried Lulu Wibblewobble, +"and Oh, we are all so miserable!"</p> + +<p>"Well, well!" exclaimed the rabbit in a jolly voice, "this is too bad. I +must see what I can do for you. First we will take the sliver out of +Alice's foot," and he did so with a sharp needle. It hurt a little, but +Alice never cried.</p> + +<p>"Now for Jimmie's bruise," said the rabbit, and he took some soft green +leaves, and made a plaster of them, and with some ribbon-grass for a +string he tied the plaster on Jimmie's foot, and that was almost well. +Then Uncle Wiggily made a little salve, from some gum out of a cherry +tree, and bound up the glass cuts on Lulu's feet.</p> + +<p>"Now, I will lead you to your Aunt Lettie's house," said the rabbit, "and +you won't be lost any more." So the three Wibblewobble children felt much +better and happier, and when they were almost at their aunt's house, a big +hawk swooped down out of the sky and tried to bite Lulu. But Uncle Wiggily +hit the bad bird with his barber-pole crutch, and the hawk flew away, +flopping his wings and tail.</p> + +<p>"Oh, how good, and brave, and strong you are!" cried Lulu to Uncle +Wiggily, and then all three duck children kissed him. Soon they were at +the goat-lady's home, and Aunt Lettie was very glad to see the rabbit +gentleman, and also glad to have the children back. So she invited Uncle +Wiggily to stay to supper, and very glad he was to do so.</p> + +<p>He also stayed all night at Aunt Lettie's house, and he had quite an +adventure, too, which I shall tell you about directly, when, in case the +fire shovel doesn't slide down hill on a cake of ice and break its roller +skates the next bedtime story will be about Uncle Wiggily and the berry +bush.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XXVIII" id="STORY_XXVIII" ></a>STORY XXVIII</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BERRY BUSH</h3> + + +<p>"Well, children, I think I will soon have to be leaving you," said Uncle +Wiggily Longears one morning to the three Wibblewobbles, when he had +stayed all night at their Aunt Lettie's house. That was after the old +gentleman rabbit had found the three ducks lost in the woods, you +remember, and had taken them to where they were visiting the old lady +goat. "I must pack my valise and travel on," said Uncle Wiggily.</p> + +<p>"Oh, can't you stay a little longer?" asked Alice Wibblewobble, as she +tied her sky-blue-pink hair ribbon in a flopsy-dub kind of a bow knot.</p> + +<p>"Yes, do stay!" urged Jimmie as he tossed up his ball, which Lulu, his +sister, caught. "We'll have some fun together and you can play on my ball +team, Uncle Wiggily."</p> + +<p>"Oh! I am much too old for that," said the rabbit, "though I like to watch +you play. Besides, I have the rheumatism, and I have to keep on looking +for my fortune. So I will travel forward once more."</p> + +<p>"Well, if you must go, I suppose you must," said Aunt Lettie, the old lady +goat. "But at least let me put you up a little lunch. Let me see, what +shall it be? I think a tomato can sandwich, and some brown paper cake with +paste frosting on would be nice. And then, too, I can give you some fine +wooden pie."</p> + +<p>"Oh, excuse me!" exclaimed the rabbit, "but while it is very kind of you, +I cannot eat such things. I never could chew a tomato can, nor yet a +wooden, or even a sawdust pie."</p> + +<p>"No more you could," cried Aunt Lettie in confusion. "I was thinking of +what I liked to eat. Very well, I will give you some carrots and cabbage +and a piece of cherry pie. I know you will like those."</p> + +<p>So she made Uncle Wiggily that kind of a lunch, and he put it in his +valise, and after saying good-by to the old lady goat, and the three +Wibblewobbles, off he started to seek his fortune once more.</p> + +<p>On and on he traveled up some hills, and down others and through the +woods, and pretty soon he came to a place where there was a big hole in +the ground.</p> + +<p>"Ah, ha!" exclaimed the rabbit, "perhaps this is a gold mine. I will get +some gold dollars out of it and then I will be rich." So he went close to +the hole and looked down it, but all of a sudden out popped a great big +rat, and she gnashed her teeth at Uncle Wiggily and tried to bite him.</p> + +<p>"What are you doing at my house?" she cried, real savagely. "Get away at +once before I eat you."</p> + +<p>"Indeed I will," said the rabbit, politely. "I thought your hole was a +gold mine. Excuse me, I'll get right along," so he hopped away as fast as +he could hop, very thankful that he had not gone down the hole.</p> + +<p>Well, the next place he came to was where a great big stone was sticking +out of the side of a hill. And the stone glittered in the sunshine just +like diamonds or dewdrops.</p> + +<p>"Oh, how delightful!" cried the rabbit. "This surely is a gold stone. I +will break off some pieces of it and take them home, and then I will have +my fortune."</p> + +<p>So, taking his crutch, Uncle Wiggily tried to break off pieces of the +glittering stone. But, my goodness me, sakes alive and a chocolate ice +cream cone! that stone was very hard, and try as he did, Uncle Wiggily +couldn't break off a piece even as big as baby's tiny pink toe.</p> + +<p>"I'll just sing a little song, and then, perhaps, I can get some of the +gold," he said. So he sang this song, which goes to the tune +"Tiddily-um-tum-tum:"</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"My fortune I've found,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">On top of the ground,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I'm lucky as lucky can be.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But really this stone,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is hard as a bone,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I wish that some one would help me."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>After singing, Uncle Wiggily hammered away at the stone with his crutch +again, but the song did no good. And then, all at once, before you could +shake your finger at a pink pussy cat, out from behind the glittering +stone there jumped the savage wushky-woshky, which is a very curious beast +with two tails and three heads and only one crinkly leg, so that it has to +go hippity-hop, or else fall down ker thump!</p> + +<p>"What are you doing to my stone?" cried the wushky-woshky.</p> + +<p>"Oh, excuse me," said Uncle Wiggily politely. "I didn't know it was your +stone. I was only trying to break off a small piece for my fortune."</p> + +<p>"Wow! Oh, wow!" cried the wushky-woshky, as savage as savage could be, and +he gnashed the teeth in all three of his mouths, and he lashed his two +tails on the ground. "I'm going to catch you!" he called to the rabbit.</p> + +<p>"Not if I know it you won't catch me," said Uncle Wiggily bravely, and off +he hopped down the hill.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I will catch you!" cried the wushky-woshky, and off he hopped on his +one crinkly leg after the rabbit. Faster and faster hopped Uncle Wiggily, +but still faster and faster hopped the wushky-woshky.</p> + +<p>"Oh, he'll surely catch me!" thought the rabbit. "I wonder what I can do? +I know. I'll open my valise, and I'll scatter on the ground my nice lunch +that Aunt Lettie put up for me, and the wushky-woshky will stop to eat the +good things, and then I can get away."</p> + +<p>So the rabbit did this. Out on the ground from the valise tumbled all the +nice carrot and lettuce sandwiches. But the savage wushky-woshky gobbled +them up with three mouthfuls, and didn't stop hopping after Uncle Wiggily +on his one crinkly leg.</p> + +<p>"Oh, he'll surely catch me now!" cried the rabbit.</p> + +<p>"No, he won't! Jump up in the air, and come down inside of me!" cried a +voice, and Uncle Wiggily saw a nice blackberry bush waving its long arms +at him. "Jump down inside of me, where there are no thorns to scratch +you," said the berry bush, "but if the wushky-woshky tries to come after +you I'll scratch his six eyes out. I'll save you. Jump down inside me!"</p> + +<p>"Thank you, I will," said the rabbit, and he gave a big spring and a hop, +over the outer edge of the bush, and down he landed safely inside of it, +not scratched a bit. Up came the three-headed, two-tailed and one +crinkly-legged wushky-woshky, but when he saw the prickly briar berry bush +he stopped short, for he did not want his six eyes scratched out.</p> + +<p>"Come out of there!" cried the wushky-woshky to the rabbit.</p> + +<p>"Indeed, I will not," said Uncle Wiggily, politely.</p> + +<p>"Then I'll stay here forever and you can't ever come out," said the savage +creature. "For if you come out I'll eat you!"</p> + +<p>"Don't let him scare you," said the briar berry bush to Uncle Wiggily, +"I'll fix him," so the berry bush reached out a long arm all covered with +stickers, and she stickered and prickered the wushky-woshky on his three +heads and two tails and one leg, so that the savage creature ran away +howling, and Uncle Wiggily was safe, and not hurt a bit, I'm glad to say.</p> + +<p>So he stayed in the briar bush that night and had berries for breakfast, +and the next day he had another adventure. What it was I will tell you on +the page after this one, when the bedtime story will be about Uncle +Wiggily and the camp fire—that is, if the cat across the street doesn't +untie the pink ribbon off our pussy's neck and put it on his ice cream +cone.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XXIX" id="STORY_XXIX" ></a>STORY XXIX</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CAMP FIRE</h3> + + +<p>"Well, how do you find yourself this morning?" asked the berry bush of +Uncle Wiggily as the old gentleman rabbit peeped out to see if the bad +three-headed wushky-woshky had come back. "Are you all right?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, thank you kindly," spoke the rabbit, "but I was just wondering +how I could get out of here to go on and seek my fortune without being +scratched all to pieces."</p> + +<p>"Can't you jump out just as you jumped in?" asked the bush, waving her +prickly arms, but taking care not to so much as even tickle Uncle Wiggily.</p> + +<p>"No, there isn't room enough for me to get started to jump out," replied +the rabbit. "I'm afraid I'll have to stay here a long time, and I really +ought to be going on."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I have a plan!" suddenly cried the bush. "You are a very good digger, +so why can't you dig a tunnel right under me? Start it inside here and +curve it up so that it comes outside of my prickly branches, and then you +won't be scratched."</p> + +<p>"I'll do it!" cried Uncle Wiggily, so with his strong front feet he dug a +tunnel, just as you sometimes make in the sand, and soon he was safely +outside the berry bush.</p> + +<p>"Take some of my berries with you," said the bush, "so you won't get +hungry."</p> + +<p>"I will," answered the rabbit, and he filled his valise with nice, big +blackberries. He felt a little sad about the nice lunch the wushky-woshky +had eaten, but there was no help for it—that lunch was gone completely.</p> + +<p>So Uncle Wiggily said good-by to the kind berry bush, and traveled on once +more to seek his fortune.</p> + +<p>"Watch out for the wushky-woshky," called the bush to the rabbit, as she +waved her friendly stickery branches at him.</p> + +<p>"I will," he said, and then he passed up over the hill and out of sight.</p> + +<p>The first place he came to was an old hollow stump, where an old owl had +once lived. The rabbit looked down inside the stump, but there was no +fortune there.</p> + +<p>The second place he came to was a curious little house built of bark, +where an old dog, who was a friend to Peetie and Jackie Bow Wow, used to +live, but the old dog was away on his vacation at Ocean Grove, so he +wasn't at home.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps there is a fortune in here," thought the rabbit, but there wasn't +any and he went on.</p> + +<p>Now the third place he came to was a little house, made out of +clothespins, where a pussy cat lived, and the pussy wasn't home, for she +had just gone to the store to get some milk.</p> + +<p>But the rabbit didn't know this, so he went inside the house to see if +there was any fortune there. And the first thing he saw on the mantelpiece +was a tin bank, and when he shook it something inside of it rattled, and +when he peeped in Uncle Wiggily saw a whole lot of pennies in the tin +bank.</p> + +<p>"Oh fine!" he cried, "now I have my fortune at last. Some one has gone +away and left all this money, so I might as well take it."</p> + +<p>Well, he was just putting the bank full of pennies into his valise, when +the pussy came back with the bottle of milk.</p> + +<p>"Oh! are you going to take my bank away from me?" she cried, very sadly. +"I have been saving up my pennies for a long time, and now you have them."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I wouldn't take them for the world!" cried the rabbit. "I didn't know +they were yours, it's all a mistake," and he placed the bank right back +on the mantel. "But perhaps you could tell me where to find my fortune," +said Uncle Wiggily, and he told the pussy all about his travels.</p> + +<p>"First we will have a drink of milk," said the pussy, and she poured out +some for the rabbit. "Then I will go into the woods a little way with you +and help you look for your fortune."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps we had better take some lunch with us," said the rabbit, so he +went to the store and got a nice lunch, which he put up in his valise, and +then he and the pussy started off together to the woods.</p> + +<p>They looked here and there and everywhere and even around corners, but no +fortune could they find, and pretty soon it began to get a little dark. +And then suddenly it got all dark.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I can never find my way back home!" cried the pussy. "And I am afraid +in these lonesome woods."</p> + +<p>"Oh! don't be frightened," said Uncle Wiggily, who was very brave. "I will +build a camp fire and we can stay here all night. I will cook some supper +and in the morning I will take you home."</p> + +<p>Then the pussy wasn't afraid any more. She helped the rabbit to gather up +some dry leaves and little sticks, and also some big sticks, and soon +Uncle Wiggily had a fine fire merrily blazing away in the woods, and it +was nice and light. Then he took some leafy branches and made a little +house for himself and the pussy and then they cooked supper, making some +coffee in an old empty tomato can they found near a wrinkly-crinkly stump.</p> + +<p>"Oh, this is real jolly!" cried the pussy, as she warmed her paws and her +nose at the blaze. "It is much better than drinking milk out of a bottle."</p> + +<p>"I think so myself," said the rabbit. "Now, if I could only find my +fortune I would be happy. But, perhaps, I shall to-morrow."</p> + +<p>Well, pretty soon Uncle Wiggily and the pussy became sleepy so they +thought they would go to bed. They made their beds in the little green +bower-house on some soft, dried leaves.</p> + +<p>"And I must have plenty of wood to put on the camp fire," said the rabbit, +"for in the night some bad animal might try to eat us, but when they see +the blaze they will be afraid and run away."</p> + +<p>So he gathered a big pile of wood, and then he and the pussy went to +sleep. And in the middle of the night, as true as I'm telling you, yes, +indeed, along came sneaking the wushky-woshky with his three heads and +two tails and his one crinkly leg.</p> + +<p class="figcenter"><a href="./images/5.jpg"><img src="./images/5-tb.jpg" alt="Uncle Wiggily and the Campfire" title="Uncle Wiggily and the Campfire" /></a></p> + +<p>"Now, I'll have a fine meal," thought the wushky-woshky as he saw the +rabbit and the pussy sleeping. "Which one shall I take first?"</p> + +<p>But all of a sudden his foot slipped on a stone and he made a noise, and +Uncle Wiggily awakened in an instant and cried out:</p> + +<p>"Some one is after us!" Then the brave rabbit threw some wood on the camp +fire, and it blazed up so quickly that it burned the whiskers of the +wushky-woshky and he gave three howls, one with each of his mouths, and +away he hopped on his one leg, taking his two tails with him.</p> + +<p>"My!" cried the pussy, "it's a good thing we had the camp fire, or we +would have been eaten up."</p> + +<p>"Indeed it is," said the rabbit. "I'll keep it blazing all night." So he +did this, and no more wushky-woshkys came to bother them. And in the +morning the pussy and the rabbit traveled on together and they had quite +an adventure.</p> + +<p>What it was I'll relate to you almost immediately, when, in case a little +girl named Elizabeth learns how to swim by standing on one toe and holding +a red balloon under water, I'll tell you about Uncle Wiggily and the +cowbird.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XXX" id="STORY_XXX" ></a>STORY XXX</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE COWBIRD</h3> + + +<p>"Do you think you can help me find my way back home again?" asked the +pussy of Uncle Wiggily as they awakened the next morning, after having +spent the night in the woods by the camp fire.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm sure I can," answered the rabbit. "As soon as we have our +breakfast we'll start off to look for your clothespin house."</p> + +<p>Then Uncle Wiggily made up the camp fire again, putting on some more wood, +and he boiled the coffee, in a tomato can, and fried some pieces of bacon +he had in his valise. The way he cooked them was to take a sharp stick and +put a piece of bacon on the end of it, and then he held the bacon up in +front of the blaze, where it sizzled away, and got nice and curly and +brown, and oh! how good it did smell, and so did the coffee! Oh! it's +great to cook over a camp fire when the smoke doesn't get in your eyes and +when it doesn't rain.</p> + +<p>"Now we must put out the fire," said the rabbit, as he and the pussy were +ready to go look for the clothespin house.</p> + +<p>"Why must we do that, Uncle Wiggily?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, so that it will not set fire to the woods, and burn down the nice +trees after we are gone. Always put out your camp fire when you leave it," +said the rabbit, as he threw water on the blaze, making clouds of steam.</p> + +<p>Well, he and the pussy traveled on for some time longer together, but +somehow or other they couldn't seem to find the place where the pussy +lived, and the little cat was beginning to be sorry that she had gone +camping in the woods.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know I'll never find my home again!" she cried.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, we will," said the rabbit kindly. "Don't worry."</p> + +<p>And just then they heard some one else crying, a little, tiny, sobbing +voice.</p> + +<p>"What's that?" exclaimed the pussy. "Perhaps it is one of the +skillery-scalery alligator's children."</p> + +<p>"No, I do not think so," said the rabbit. "It sounds to me as if some one +else were lost in the woods, and I may have to find their home, too. We'll +take a look."</p> + +<p>So they looked all around, but they couldn't seem to find any one, though +the crying was still to be heard.</p> + +<p>"That's queer," said the rabbit, "I'll call to them."</p> + +<p>So he called as loudly as he could like this:</p> + +<p>"Is any one lost? Do you want me to help you find your home?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'd be very glad to have you help me," said the crying voice, "but I +am not lost."</p> + +<p>"Then who are you, and what is the matter?" asked the rabbit.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I am a robin bird," was the answer, "and I am in this bush over your +heads."</p> + +<p>"Ha, no wonder we couldn't see you," said the rabbit, as he and the pussy +looked up, and there, sure enough, was the nice mamma robin bird, and she +was crying, as she sat in the bush.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter?" asked the rabbit.</p> + +<p>"I will tell you," said the robin. "You know there is a bird called the +cowbird or cuckoo, and that bird is too lazy to build a nest for itself. +So what do you think it does?"</p> + +<p>"What?" asked the pussy.</p> + +<p>"Why it goes around, laying its eggs in the nests of other birds," said +the robin. "Then we birds have to hatch out the cowbird's eggs, and when +her children come out they are so unpleasant that they shove our little +birdies right out of the nest, and eat all the things we mamma birds +bring home to our little ones."</p> + +<p>"Ha! That is very unpleasant, to say the least," spoke the rabbit. "And +are there any cowbirds in your nest now, Mrs. Robin?"</p> + +<p>"Not yet, but there are three of the cowbird's eggs here, and they will +soon hatch out."</p> + +<p>"Why don't you toss out the cowbird's eggs?" asked the pussy. "Then you +won't have to hatch them."</p> + +<p>"I would," said the robin, "only I am not strong enough, for I have been +ill, and my husband is out of work and he is looking for some. So I don't +know what to do about it. Oh, dear!" and she cried again.</p> + +<p>"Ha! We must see what we can do," said Uncle Wiggily, who always liked to +help people who were in trouble. "I think I have a plan."</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked the robin.</p> + +<p>"Well, I can't climb up that bush, for my paws are not built for that sort +of thing, but the pussy can climb very nicely, as she has sharp claws."</p> + +<p>"Indeed I can," said the pussy, "and I will, and I'll throw out the +cowbird's eggs for you, so those bad birds won't bother your little +birds."</p> + +<p>So Uncle Wiggily gave the pussy a boost up the bush, in which the robin's +nest was built, and then the pussy, with her sharp claws climbed up the +rest of the distance all alone very nicely.</p> + +<p>"Now show me which are the eggs of the cowbird?" said the kittie-cat to +the robin when the nest was reached. So the robin mamma pointed out the +eggs with her claw, and then with her foot the pussy clawed those cowbird +eggs out on the ground where they wouldn't hatch.</p> + +<p>"Now, that will be the last of those bad birds," said the pussy as she +started to climb down to where Uncle Wiggily was waiting for her.</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed, and thank you very much," spoke the robin. "Now, my little +ones will have a chance to grow and live."</p> + +<p>And just then there was a fluttering and a rustling in the bushes, and the +bad cowbird came flying past. And when she saw what had been done, and how +her eggs had been tossed out of the robin's nest where they didn't belong, +that cowbird flew at the pussy and was going to pick her eyes out.</p> + +<p>But Uncle Wiggily took his crutch, and tickled the cowbird so that she +sneezed, and had to fly away without doing any harm. And Uncle Wiggily +called after her that she ought to be ashamed of herself not to build her +own nests. And I guess that cowbird was ashamed, but I'm not sure. Anyhow +she came back a little later and gathered up her eggs off the ground, and +flew away with them, and what she did with them I'll tell you; oh, just as +soon as you like.</p> + +<p>The bedtime story then will be about Uncle Wiggily and the tailor +bird—that is, if the needle and thread don't dance up and down on the pin +cushion, and make it full of holes so the sawdust stuffing comes out and +tickles the baby's pink toes.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="STORY_XXXI" id="STORY_XXXI" ></a>STORY XXXI</h2> + +<h3>UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE TAILOR BIRD</h3> + + +<p>After Uncle Wiggily and the pussy had helped the robin get the cowbird's +eggs out of her nest, as I told you in the story before this, the rabbit +and the kittie stayed in the woods a little while talking to the mamma +bird.</p> + +<p>"I should like to see the little robins hatch out of the eggs," said the +pussy, as she frisked her tail about and smoothed out her fur.</p> + +<p>"So should I," added Uncle Wiggily.</p> + +<p>"I will gladly let you see my little birdies hatch," spoke the robin, "but +it will take nearly a week yet, and you will have to wait."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I can't wait as long as that," went on the rabbit. "I must be off to +seek my fortune."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and I must go and find my clothespin house," said the pussy.</p> + +<p>So they said good-by to the mamma robin, and away the pussy and Uncle +Wiggily went, over the hills and down the dales through the woods and over +little brooks.</p> + +<p>Pretty soon they came to a place in the woods where there were a whole +lot of flowers nodding their heads in the wind, and it was such a pretty +place that Uncle Wiggily and the pussy stayed there a little while. And in +about a minute they heard something flying through the bushes and out flew +that same cowbird, and she laughed just as hard as she could laugh, as she +passed along.</p> + +<p>"Somebody is going to be surprised!" cried the cowbird and she fluttered +her wings at the rabbit and the kittie, and then she hid herself off in +the woods.</p> + +<p>"I wonder what she means?" asked the pussy.</p> + +<p>"I'm sure I don't know," replied the rabbit. "But did you notice that she +didn't have her eggs with her?"</p> + +<p>"Sure enough!" exclaimed the pussy. "She must have left them in some other +bird's nest."</p> + +<p>"Well, we had better keep on, for it is getting late," spoke Uncle +Wiggily, "and I want to find your clothespin house for you."</p> + +<p>On they hurried through the trees, and pretty soon—Oh, I guess about as +long as it takes you to eat a stick of peppermint candy—they suddenly +came to the pussy's clothespin house.</p> + +<p>"Oh, here's where I live!" she cried. "How glad I am to get back home!" +She hurried in through the front door and no sooner was she inside than +she cried out:</p> + +<p>"Come here! Come here, quickly, Uncle Wiggily! Did you ever see such a +sight in all your born days?"</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked the rabbit, as he hopped in, and he was half afraid +that there might be a burglar fox hiding in the pussy's house.</p> + +<p>But it wasn't anything like that. Instead the rabbit saw the pussy +pointing to her bed, and there, right in the middle of the feather +pillows, were some eggs.</p> + +<p>"The cowbird's eggs!" cried the kittie. "That's what she meant when she +said some one was going to be surprised. Indeed, I am the one who is +surprised. She brought her eggs here, thinking I would hatch them out for +her, but I'll not do it!"</p> + +<p>So the pussy threw the eggs out of the window, on some soft straw, where +they wouldn't be broken, and pretty soon that cowbird came back, as angry +as a lion without any tail. And she grabbed up her eggs, and this time she +took them to the monkey, who played five hand-organs at once. And the +monkey was a good-natured sort of a chap, so he hatched out the cowbird's +eggs for her, and soon he had a lot of little calfbirds, and when they +grew up they gave him no end of trouble.</p> + +<p>"Well, now you are safe home," said Uncle Wiggily to the pussy, "I will +travel on."</p> + +<p>"First, let me fill your valise with something to eat," said the kittie +cat, and she did so, and then the rabbit hopped on. He looked all over for +his fortune, but he couldn't find it, and pretty soon it got dark night +and he went to sleep in a hollow stump.</p> + +<p>"Surely, I will find my fortune to-day," thought Uncle Wiggily, as he +arose the next morning, and combed out his whiskers. It was a bright, +beautiful sunshiny morning, and everything was cheerful, and the birds +were singing. But, in spite of all that, something happened to the rabbit.</p> + +<p>He was just going past a berry bush, and he was reaching up to pick off +some of the red raspberries, when all at once a sharp claw was thrust out +from the bush and a grab was made for the rabbit.</p> + +<p>"Now, I've got you!" cried a savage voice.</p> + +<p>"No, you haven't!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, and he jumped back just as a +savage wolf sprang out at him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't worry, I'll get you yet!" went on the wolf and he made another +spring. But the rabbit was ready for him and ran down the hill and the +wolf ran after him, howling at the top of his grillery-growlery voice, +for he was very hungry.</p> + +<p>My! how Uncle Wiggily did run. And the wolf ran also, and he was catching +up to the rabbit, and probably would have eaten him all up, but just then +a kind bumble bee who knew Uncle Wiggily flew off a tree branch and stung +that wolf on the end of his nose.</p> + +<p>That wolf gave a howl, and made one more grab for Uncle Wiggily, but he +only managed to catch hold of his coat tails in his teeth, and there the +wolf held on.</p> + +<p>"Let go of Uncle Wiggily!" buzzed the bee.</p> + +<p>"No I won't!" cried the wolf, most impolite-like.</p> + +<p>"Then I'll sting you again!" cried the bee, and she did so, and the rabbit +gave a great pull, and he managed to pull himself away from the wolf. But, +alas! Uncle Wiggily's nice red coat was all tattered and torn.</p> + +<p>"Oh, whatever shall I do?" cried Uncle Wiggily as the wolf ran away down +the hill and the rabbit looked at the torn and ripped coat. "I never can +go on seeking my fortune with a torn coat."</p> + +<p>"I am sorry," said the bee, "but I can not help you. But if you see the +tailor bird she may mend your coat for you."</p> + +<p>So the bee buzzed away and Uncle Wiggily went on looking for the tailor +bird. This is a bird that makes a nest by sewing leaves together with +grass for thread. And would you believe me, in a little while Uncle +Wiggily saw the very bird he wanted.</p> + +<p>She was making a nest with her bill for a needle and some dried grass for +thread, and she was sewing the leaves together.</p> + +<p>"Will you kindly mend my coat for me where the wolf tore it?" asked the +rabbit politely.</p> + +<p>"Indeed I will," said the tailor bird. So she took some long, strong +pieces of grass for thread. Then she made her sharp bill go back and forth +in the cloth of Uncle Wiggily's coat and soon it was all mended again as +good as new. Then the rabbit thanked the bird and started off again to +seek his fortune and you could hardly see where his coat was torn.</p> + +<p>Then Uncle Wiggily was very thankful to the tailor bird, and he stayed at +her house for some time, helping her sweep the sidewalk mornings, and +bringing up coal, and all things like that. And the old gentleman had some +more adventures.</p> + +<p>But as I have already made this book quite long, I think I will have to +save the rest of the stories for another one. I'll get it ready as soon +as I can for you, and the name of it is going to be "Uncle Wiggily's +Fortune."</p> + +<p>Just think of that! He really does find his fortune in that book, though +he has quite some trouble, let me tell you. But bless your hearts! Trouble +is only another kind of fun!</p> + +<p>So now we will say good-by to Uncle Wiggily for a time, and soon you may +hear more about him. Good-by and good luck to all of you.</p> + + +<h2>THE END</h2> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + +<h2>Uncle Wiggily Picture Books</h2> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Uncle Wiggily Picture Books"> +<tr><td align='left'>Three stories in<br /> +each book<br /> +By<br /> +Howard R. Garis</td> +<td align='center'><a href="./images/216a.jpg"><img src="./images/216a-tb.jpg" alt="Uncle Wiggily's Snow Pudding" title="Uncle Wiggily's Snow Pudding" /></a></td> +<td align='center'>Also twenty-seven<br /> +color pictures<br /> +By<br /> +Lang Campbell</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + + +<p>In these funny little books you can see in bright colored pictures the +adventures of myself and my woodland friends. Also the pictures of some +bad fellows, whose names you know.</p> + +<p>So if the spoon holder doesn't go down cellar and take the coal shovel +away from the gas stove, you may read<br /> + +<b>No. 1. UNCLE WIGGILY'S AUTO SLED</b></p> + + +<p>If the rocking chair doesn't tickle the rag carpet and make the brass bed +fall upstairs, you may read<br /> + +<b>No. 2. UNCLE WIGGILY'S SNOW MAN</b></p> + + +<p>If the umbrella doesn't go out in the rain and splash water all over the +rubber boots on the gold fish, you may read<br /> + +<b>No. 3. UNCLE WIGGILY'S HOLIDAYS</b></p> + + +<p>If the electric light doesn't cry for some molasses, when the match leaves +it all alone in the china closet, you may read<br /> + +<b>No. 4. UNCLE WIGGILY'S APPLE ROAST</b></p> + + +<p>If the egg beater doesn't try to jump over the coffee pot and fall in the +sink when the potato is learning to swim, you may read<br /> + +<b>No. 5. UNCLE WIGGILY'S PICNIC</b></p> + + +<p>If the sugar cookie doesn't go out walking with the fountain pen, and get +all black so it looks like a chocolate cake, you may read<br /> + +<b>No. 6. UNCLE WIGGILY GOES FISHING</b></p> + + +<p>Hurry up and get these nice little books from the bookstore man, or send +direct to the publishers, 50 cents per copy, postpaid.</p> + +<p class="center"><b>CHARLES E. GRAHAM & CO.<br /> +NEW YORK</b></p> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Uncle Wiggily Picture Books"> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="./images/216b.jpg"><img src="./images/216b-tb.jpg" alt="Uncle Wiggily's Signature" title="Uncle Wiggily's Signature" /></a></td> +<td align='center'><a href="./images/216c.jpg"><img src="./images/216c-tb.jpg" alt="Uncle Wiggily's Mark" title="Uncle Wiggily's Mark" /></a></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> +<h2>Burt's Series of One Syllable Books</h2> + +<p class="center"><b>14 Titles. Handsome Illuminated Cloth Binding</b></p> + +<p>A series of Classics, selected specially for young people's reading, and +told in simple language for youngest readers. Printed from large type, +with many illustrations.</p> + + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p class="center"><b>Price 75 Cents per Volume</b></p> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + + + +<p> +<b>ÆSOP'S FABLES</b><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Retold in words of one syllable for young people. By MARY GODOLPHIN.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">With 41 illustrations.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND</b><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Retold in words of one syllable for young people. By MRS. J.C. GORHAM.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">With many illustrations.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES</b><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Selections.) Retold in words of one syllable for young people. By</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">HARRIET T. COMSTOCK. With many illustrations.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>BIBLE HEROES</b><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Told in words of one syllable for young people. By HARRIET T. COMSTOCK.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">With many illustrations.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>BLACK BEAUTY</b><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Retold in words of one syllable for young people. By MRS. J.C. GORHAM.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">With many illustrations.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES</b><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">(Selections.) Retold in words of one syllable. By JEAN S. REMY.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">With many illustrations.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>GULLIVER'S TRAVELS</b><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Into several remote regions of the world. Retold in words of one</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">syllable for young people. By J.C.G. With 32 illustrations.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>LIFE OF CHRIST</b><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Told in words of one syllable for young people. By JEAN S. REMY.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">With many illustrations.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS</b><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Told in words of one syllable for young people. By JEAN S. REMY.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">With 24 large portraits.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>PILGRIM'S PROGRESS</b><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Retold in words of one syllable for young people. By SAMUEL PHILLIPS</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">DAY. With 33 illustrations.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>REYNARD THE FOX</b><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The Crafty Courtier. Retold in words of one syllable for young people.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">By SAMUEL PHILLIPS DAY. With 23 illustrations.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>ROBINSON CRUSOE</b><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">His life and surprising adventures retold in words of one syllable for</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">young people. By MARY A. SCHWACOFER. With 32 illustrations.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>SANFORD AND MERTON</b><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Retold in words of one syllable for young people. By MARY GODOLPHIN.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">With 20 illustrations.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON</b><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Retold in words of one syllable for young people. Adapted from the</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">original. With 31 illustrations.</span><br /> +</p> + + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the +publishers, <b>A.L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23rd Street, New York</b>.</p> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> +<h2>THE MOTHER GOOSE SERIES</h2> + +<h4>24 TITLES HANDSOME CLOTH BINDING,</h4> +<h4>ILLUMINATED COVERS</h4> + +<p>A series of popular books for young people. Each book is well printed from +large type on good paper, frontispiece in colors, profusely illustrated, +and bound in cloth, with ornamental covers in three colors, making a +series of most interesting books for children at a reasonable price.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p class="center"><b>Price, 75 cents per copy</b></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp,</b> and Other Stories. Profusely +Illustrated.</p> + +<p><b>Animal Stories</b> for Little People. Profusely Illustrated.</p> + +<p><b>Beauty and the Beast,</b> and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated.</p> + +<p><b>Bird Stories</b> for Little People. Profusely Illustrated.</p> + +<p><b>Bluebeard,</b> and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated.</p> + +<p><b>Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper,</b> and Other Stories. Profusely +Illustrated.</p> + +<p><b>Foolish Fox, The,</b> and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated.</p> + +<p><b>Goody Two Shoes,</b> and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated.</p> + +<p><b>Hansel and Grethel,</b> and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated.</p> + +<p><b>House That Jack Built,</b> The, and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated.</p> + +<p><b>Jack and the Beanstalk,</b> and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated.</p> + +<p><b>Jack the Giant Killer,</b> and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated.</p> + +<p><b>Little Red Riding Hood,</b> and Other Stories. Profusely illustrated.</p> + +<p><b>Little Snow White,</b> and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated.</p> + +<p><b>Mother Goose Rhymes.</b> Profusely Illustrated.</p> + +<p><b>Mother Hubbard's Melodies.</b> Profusely Illustrated.</p> + +<p><b>Night Before Christmas,</b> and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated.</p> + +<p><b>Patty and Her Pitcher; or, Kindness of Heart,</b> and Other Stories. +Profusely Illustrated.</p> + +<p><b>Peter and His Goose; or, The Folly of Discontent,</b> and Other Stories. +Profusely Illustrated.</p> + +<p><b>Puss in Boots,</b> and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated.</p> + +<p><b>Sleeping Beauty, The,</b> and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated.</p> + +<p><b>Tom Thumb,</b> and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated.</p> + +<p><b>Ugly Duckling, The,</b> and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated.</p> + +<p><b>Who Killed Cock Robin,</b> and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the +publishers, <b>A.L. BURT CO., 114-120 East 23rd Street, New York City</b>.</p> + + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + + +<h2>Aunt Amy's Animal Stories</h2> + +<h4>By AMY PRENTICE</h4> + + +<p>A Series of Stories, told by animals, to AUNT AMY PRENTICE.</p> + +<p>Each illustrated with many pictures in black, and four illustrations in +colors, by J. WATSON DAVIS.</p> + +<p>12 titles, in handsome cloth binding.</p> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p class="center"><b>Price 75 cents. Net——</b></p> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Aunt Amy's Animal Stories"> +<tr><td align='left'>Bunny Rabbit's Story,</td><td align='left'>30 Illustrations</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Billy Goat's Story,</td><td align='left'>32 Illustrations</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Brown Owl's Story,</td><td align='left'>31 Illustrations</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Croaky Frog's Story,</td><td align='left'>28 Illustrations</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Frisky Squirrel's Story,</td><td align='left'>30 Illustrations</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Gray Goose's Story,</td><td align='left'>32 Illustrations</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Mickie Monkey's Story,</td><td align='left'>35 Illustrations</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Mouser Cat's Story,</td><td align='left'>35 Illustrations</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Plodding Turtle's Story,</td><td align='left'>30 Illustrations</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Quacky Duck's Story,</td><td align='left'>34 Illustrations</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Speckled Hen's Story,</td><td align='left'>28 Illustrations</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Towser Dog's Story,</td><td align='left'>32 Illustrations</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the +publishers, <b>A.L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23rd Street, New York.</b></p> + + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + + +<h2>Our Young Aeroplane Scout Series</h2> + +<p class="center">(Registered in the United States Patent Office)</p> + +<h4>By HORACE PORTER</h4> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p class="center"><b>Handsome Cloth Binding,</b> PRICE, 75 <b>per Volume</b></p> + +<p>A series of stories of two American boy aviators in the great European war +zone. The fascinating life in mid-air is thrillingly described. The boys +have many exciting adventures, and the narratives of their numerous +escapes make up a series of wonderfully interesting stories.</p> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + + +<p> +OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN FRANCE AND BELGIUM;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">or, Saving the Fortunes of the Trouvilles.</span><br /> +OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN GERMANY.<br /> +OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN RUSSIA;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">or, Lost on the Frozen Steppes.</span><br /> +OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN TURKEY;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">or, Bringing the Light to Yusef.</span><br /> +OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN ENGLAND;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">or, Twin Stars in the London Sky Patrol.</span><br /> +OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN ITALY;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">or, Flying with the War Eagles of the Alps.</span><br /> +OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS AT VERDUN;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"> or, Driving Armored Meteors Over Flaming Battle Fronts.</span><br /> +OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN THE BALKANS;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">or, Wearing the Red Badge of Courage.</span><br /> +OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN THE WAR ZONE;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">or, Serving Uncle Sam In the Cause of the Allies.</span><br /> +OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS FIGHTING TO THE FINISH;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">or, Striking Hard Over the Sea for the Stars and Stripes.</span><br /> +OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS AT THE MARNE;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">or, Harrying the Huns From Allied Battleplanes.</span><br /> +OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN AT THE VICTORY;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">or, Speedy High Flyers Smashing the Hindenburg Line.</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p class="center">For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the +publishers</p> + +<p class="center"><b>A.L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23rd St., New York</b></p> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + + +<h2>The Boy Scouts Series</h2> + +<h4>By HERBERT CARTER</h4> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p class="center"><b>Handsome Cloth Binding, PRICE, 75 per Volume</b></p> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p> +<b>THE BOY SCOUTS' FIRST CAMP FIRE</b>; or, Scouting with<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">the Silver Fox Patrol.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE BLUE RIDGE</b>; or, Marooned<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Among the Moonshiners.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE BOY SCOUTS ON THE TRAIL</b>; or, Scouting through<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">the Big Game Country.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE MAIN WOODS</b>; or, The New<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Test for the Silver Fox Patrol.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE BOY SCOUTS THROUGH THE BIG TIMBER</b>; or, The<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Search for the Lost Tenderfoot.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE ROCKIES</b>; or, The Secret of<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">the Hidden Silver Mine.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE BOY SCOUTS ON STURGEON ISLAND</b>; or, Marooned<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Among the Game Fish Poachers.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>BOY SCOUTS DOWN IN DIXIE</b>; or, The Strange<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Secret of Alligator Swamp.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE BOY SCOUTS AT THE BATTLE OF SARATOGA</b>; A<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">story of Burgoyne's defeat in 1777.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE BOY SCOUTS ALONG THE SUSQUEHANNA</b>; or, The<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Silver Fox Patrol Caught in a Flood.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE BOY SCOUTS ON WAR TRAILS IN BELGIUM</b>; or,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Caught Between the Hostile Armies.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE BOY SCOUTS AFOOT IN FRANCE</b>; or, With the Red<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Cross Corps at the Marne.</span><br /> +</p> + + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p class="center">For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the +publishers</p> + +<p class="center">A.L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23rd St., New York</p> + + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + +<h2>The Navy Boys Series</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Navy Boys Cover"> +<tr><td align='left'> A series of excellent stories of adventure on<br /> +sea and land, selected from the works of popular<br /> +writers; each volume designed for boys' reading.<br /> +<br />HANDSOME CLOTH BINDINGS<br /> <br /> +PRICE, 75 PER VOLUME</td> +<td align='left'><a href="./images/222.jpg"><img src="./images/222-tb.jpg" alt="The Navy Boys' Cruise with Paul Jones" title="The Navy Boys' Cruise with Paul Jones" /></a></td></tr> +</table> +</div> +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p> +<b>THE NAVY BOYS IN DEFENCE OF LIBERTY.</b><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A story of the burning of the British schooner Gasnee in 1772</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By William P. Chipman.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE NAVY BOYS ON LONG ISLAND SOUND.</b><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">A story of the Whale Boat Navy of 1776.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">By James Otis.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE NAVY BOYS AT THE SIEGE OF HAVANA.</b><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Being the experience of three boys serving under Israel Putnam in</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">1772.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">By James Otis.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE NAVY BOYS WITH GRANT AT VICKSBURG.</b><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">A boy's story of the siege of Vicksburg.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">By James Otis.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE NAVY BOYS' CRUISE WITH PAUL JONES.</b><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">A boy's story of a cruise with the Great Commodore in 1776.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">By James Otis.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE NAVY BOYS ON LAKE ONTARIO.</b><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">The story of two boys and their adventures in the War of 1812,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">By James Otis.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE NAVY BOYS' CRUISE ON THE PICKERING.</b><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">A boy's story of privateering in 1780.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">By James Otis.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE NAVY BOYS IN NEW YORK BAY.</b><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">A story of three boys who took command of the schooner "The Laughing</span><br /> +Mary," the first vessel of the American Navy,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">By James Otis.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE NAVY BOYS IN THE TRACK OF THE ENEMY.</b><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">The story of a remarkable cruise with the Sloop of War "Providence"</span><br /> +and the Frigate "Alfred."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">By William P. Chipman.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE NAVY BOYS' DARING CAPTURE.</b><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">The story of how the navy boys helped to capture the British Cutter</span><br /> +"Margaretta," in 1775.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">By William P. Chipman.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE NAVY BOYS' CRUISE TO THE BAHAMAS.</b><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">The adventures of two Yankee Middies with the first cruise of an</span><br /> +American Squadron in 1775.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">By William P. Chipman.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE NAVY BOYS' CRUISE WITH COLUMBUS.</b><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">The adventures of two boys who sailed with the great Admiral in his</span><br /> +discovery of America.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">By Frederick A. Ober.</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><b>For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the +publishers. A.L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23d Street. New York</b></p> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + +<h2>The Boy Spies Series</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="The Boy Spies Cover"> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="./images/223.jpg"><img src="./images/223-tb.jpg" alt="The Boy Spies and the Regulators" title="The Boy Spies and the Regulators" /></a></td> +<td align='left'> These stories are based on important historical<br /> +events, scenes wherein boys are prominent<br /> +characters being selected. They are the romance <br /> +of history, vigorously told, with careful fidelity<br /> +to picturing the home life, and accurate in every<br /> +particular.<br /> +<br />HANDSOME CLOTH BINDINGS<br /> <br /> +PRICE, 75 PER VOLUME</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + +<p> +<b>THE BOY SPIES AT THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS</b>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">A story of the part they took in its defence.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">By William P. Chipman.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE BOY SPIES AT THE DEFENCE OF FORT HENRY</b>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">A boy's story of Wheeling Creek in 1777.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">By James Otis.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE BOY SPIES AT THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL</b>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">A story of two boys at the siege of Boston.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">By James Otis.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE BOY SPIES AT THE SIEGE OF DETROIT</b>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">A story of two Ohio boys in the War of 1812.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">By James Otis.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE BOY SPIES WITH LAFAYETTE</b>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">The story of how two boys joined the Continental Army.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">By James Otis.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE BOY SPIES ON CHESAPEAKE BAY</b>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">The story of two young spies under Commodore Barney.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">By James Otis.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE BOY SPIES WITH THE REGULATORS</b>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">The story of how the boys assisted the Carolina Patriots to drive theBritish from that State.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">By James Otis.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE BOY SPIES WITH THE SWAMP FOX</b>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">The story of General Marion and his young spies.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">By James Otis.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE BOY SPIES AT YORKTOWN</b>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">The story of how the spies helped General Lafayette in the Siege of Yorktown.</span><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">By James Otis.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE BOY SPIES OF PHILADELPHIA</b>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">The story of how the young spies helped the Continental Army at Valley Forge.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">By James Otis.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE BOY SPIES OF FORT GRISWOLD</b>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">The story of the part they took in its brave defence.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">By William P. Chipman.</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>THE BOY SPIES OF OLD NEW YORK</b>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">The story of how the young spies prevented the capture of General Washington.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">By James Otis.</span><br /> +</p> + + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p class="center"><b>For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by +the publishers. A.L. BURT COMPANY. 114-120 East 23d Street. New York.</b> +</p> + +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNCLE WIGGILY'S TRAVELS***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 15282-h.txt or 15282-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/2/8/15282">https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/2/8/15282</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. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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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: Uncle Wiggily's Travels + +Author: Howard R. Garis + +Release Date: March 8, 2005 [eBook #15282] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNCLE WIGGILY'S TRAVELS*** + + +E-text prepared by David Newman, Emmy, and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 15282-h.htm or 15282-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/2/8/15282/15282-h/15282-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/2/8/15282/15282-h.zip) + + + + + +UNCLE WIGGILY'S TRAVELS + +by + +HOWARD R. GARIS + +Author of _Sammie and Susie Littletail_, _Johnnie and Billy Bushytail_, +_Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow_, "Those Smith Boys," series, "The Island +Boys," series, etc. + +Illustrated by LOUIS WISA + +A.L. Burt Company +Publishers New York + +1913 + + + + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +THE FAMOUS BED TIME SERIES + +Five groups of books, intended for reading aloud to the little folks each +night. Each volume contains 8 colored illustrations, 31 stories, one for +each day of the month. Handsomely bound in cloth. Size 6-1/2 x 8-1/4. + +Price cents per volume, postpaid + + * * * * * + + +HOWARD R. GARIS' + +Bed Time Animal Stories + +No. 1. SAMMIE AND SUSIE LTTTLETAIL +No. 2. JOHNNY AND BILLY BUSHYTAIL +No. 3. LULU, ALICE & JIMMIE WIBBLEWOBBLE +No. 5. JACKIE AND PEETIE BOW-WOW +No. 7. BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES PIGG +No. 9. JOIE, TOMMIE AND KITTIE KAT +No. 10. CHARLIE AND ARABELLA CHICK +No. 14. NEDDIE AND BECKIE STUBTAIL +No. 16. BULLY AND BAWLY NO-TAIL +No. 20. NANNIE AND BILLIE WAGTAIL +No. 28. JOLLIE AND JILLIE LONGTAIL + +Uncle Wiggily Bed Time Stories + +No. 4. UNCLE WIGGILY'S ADVENTURES +No. 6. UNCLE WIGGILY'S TRAVELS +No. 8. UNCLE WIGGILY'S FORTUNE +No. 11. UNCLE WIGGILY'S AUTOMOBILE +No. 19. UNCLE WIGGILY AT THE SEASHORE +No. 21. UNCLE WIGGILY'S AIRSHIP +No. 27. UNCLE WIGGILY IN THE COUNTRY + + * * * * * + +For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt +of price by the publishers. + +A.L. BURT CO., 114-120 East 23d St., New York + + * * * * * + + + + + +UNCLE WIGGILY'S TRAVELS + + + +The stories herein contained appeared originally in the _Evening News_, +of Newark, N.J., where (so many children and their parents were kind +enough to say) they gave pleasure to a number of little folks and +grown-ups also. Permission to issue the stories in book form was kindly +granted by the publisher and editor of the _News_, to whom the author +extends his thanks. + + + + +CONTENTS + + STORY PAGE + + I. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE RED SQUIRREL 9 + + II. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BROWN WREN 16 + + III. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE SUNFISH 22 + + IV. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE YELLOW BIRD 28 + + V. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE SKY-CRACKER 34 + + VI. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BUTTERCUP 40 + + VII. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE JULY BUG 46 + + VIII. UNCLE WIGGILY AND JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT 52 + + IX. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE LOST CHIPMUNK 58 + + X. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BLACK CRICKET 64 + + XI. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BUSY BUG 70 + + XII. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE FUNNY MONKEY 76 + + XIII. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BIG DOG 82 + + XIV. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE PEANUT MAN 88 + + XV. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CRAWLY SNAKE 94 + + XVI. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE WATER-LILIES 100 + + XVII. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE SUNFLOWER 106 + + XVIII. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE LIGHTNING BUGS 112 + + XIX. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE PHOEBE BIRDS 118 + + XX. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE MILKMAN 124 + + XXI. UNCLE WIGGILY'S SWIMMING LESSON 131 + + XXII. UNCLE WIGGILY IN THE BEAR'S DEN 137 + + XXIII. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE TOADSTOOL 144 + + XXIV. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CHICKIE 150 + + XXV. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE WASP 157 + + XXVI. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BLUEBELL 163 + + XXVII. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE WIBBLEWOBBLES 170 + +XXVIII. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BERRY BUSH 176 + + XXIX. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CAMP FIRE 183 + + XXX. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE COWBIRD 189 + + XXXI. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE TAILOR BIRD 195 + + + + +Uncle Wiggily's Travels + + + + +STORY I + +UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE RED SQUIRREL + + +You know when Uncle Wiggily Longears, the old rabbit gentleman, started +out to look for his fortune, he had to travel many weary miles, and many +adventures happened to him. Some of those adventures I have told you in +the book just before this one, and now I am going to tell you about his +travels when he hoped to find a lot of money, so he would be rich. + +One day, as I told you in the last story in the other book, Uncle Wiggily +came to a farm, and there he had quite an adventure with a little boy. And +this little boy had on red trousers, because, I guess, his blue ones were +in the washtub. Anyhow, he and the rabbit gentleman became good friends. + +And now I am going to tell you what happened when Uncle Wiggily met the +red squirrel. + +"Where do you think you will go to look for your fortune to-day, Uncle +Wiggily?" asked the little boy with the red trousers the next morning, +after the rabbit had stayed all night at the farm house. + +"I do not know," said the rabbit gentleman. "Perhaps I had better do some +traveling at night. I couldn't find the pot of gold at the end of the +rainbow, but perhaps there may be a gold, or silver fortune, at the end of +a moon-beam. I think I'll try." + +"Oh, but don't you get sleepy at night?" asked the little boy's mother as +she fried an ice cream cone for Uncle Wiggily's breakfast. + +"Well, I could sleep in the day time, and then I would stay awake at +night," answered the traveling uncle, blinking his ears. + +"Oh, but aren't you afraid of the bogeyman at night?" inquired the boy +with the red hair--I mean trousers. + +"There are no such things as bogeymen," said Uncle Wiggily, "and if there +were any, they would not harm you. I am not a bit afraid in the dark, +except that I don't like mosquitoes to bite me. I think I'll travel +to-morrow night, and look for gold at the end of the moon-beam." + +So he started off that day, and he went only a short distance, for he +wanted to find a place to sleep in order that he would be wide awake when +it got dark. + +Well, he found a nice, soft place under a pile of hay, and there he +stretched out to slumber as nicely as if he were in his bed at home. He +even snored a little bit, I believe, or else it was Bully Frog croaking +one of his songs. + +The day passed, and the sun went down, and it got all ready to be night, +and still Uncle Wiggily slept on soundly. But all of a sudden he heard +voices whispering: + +"Now you go that way and I'll go this way, and we'll catch that rabbit and +put him in a cage and sell him!" + +Well, you can just believe that Uncle Wiggily was frightened when he +awakened suddenly and saw two bad boys softly creeping up and making ready +to catch him. + +"Oh, this is no place for me!" the rabbit cried, and he grabbed up his +crutch and his valise and hopped away so fast that the boys couldn't catch +him, no matter how fast they could run, even bare-footed. + +"Let's throw stones at him!" they cried. And they did, but I'm glad to say +that none of them hit Uncle Wiggily. Isn't it queer how mean some boys can +be? But perhaps they were never told any better, so we'll forgive them +this time. + +"Well, it is now night," said the rabbit gentleman as he hopped on through +the woods, "so I think I will sit under this tree and wait for the moon to +come up. And while I'm waiting I'll eat my supper." + +So Uncle Wiggily ate his supper, which the kind farmer lady had put up for +him, and then he sat and waited for the moon to rise, and pretty soon he +heard a funny noise, calling like this: + +"Who? Who? Who-tu-tu-tu." + +"Oh, you know who I am all right, Mr. Owl," said the rabbit. "You can see +very well at night. You can see me." + +"My goodness, if it isn't Uncle Wiggily!" cried the owl in surprise. "What +are you doing out so late, I'd like to know?" + +"Waiting for a moon-beam, so I can see if there is any gold for my fortune +at the end of it," was the answer. "Is the moon coming up over the trees, +Mr. Owl?" + +"Yes, here it comes," said the owl, "and now I must fly off to the dark +woods, for I don't like the light," and he fluttered away. + +Then the moon came up, all silver and glorious; shining over the tree tops +like a shimmering ball, and soon the moon-beams fell to the ground in +slanting rays, but they fell so softly, like feathers, that they did not +get hurt at all. + +"Well, I guess I'll follow that big one," said the old gentleman rabbit, +as he picked out a nice, broad, large, shiny moon-beam. "That must have +gold at the end, and, if I find it, my fortune is made." So off he started +to follow the moon-beam to where it came to an end. + +It seemed to go quite a distance through the dark woods, and Uncle Wiggily +traveled on for several hours, and he didn't seem to be any nearer the end +by that time than he was at first. + +"My land, this is a very long beam," he exclaimed. "It is almost big +enough to make a church steeple from. But I'll keep on a little longer, +for I'm not a bit sleepy yet." + +Well, all of a sudden, just as he was turning the corner around a big +stone, the rabbit gentleman heard a funny noise. + +It wasn't like any one crying, yet it sounded as if some one was in +trouble, for the voice said: + +"Oh, dear! I'll never get it big enough, I know I can't! I've combed it +and brushed it, and done it up in curl papers to make it fluffy, but still +it isn't like theirs. What shall I do?" + +"Hum, I wonder who that can be?" thought Uncle Wiggily. "Perhaps it is +some little lost child; but no children would be out in the woods at +night. I'll take a look." + +So he hopped softly over, and peered around the edge of the stone, and +what do you think he saw? + +Why, there was a nice, little, red squirrel-girl, and she had a comb and a +brush, and little looking-glass. And the glass was stuck up on a stump +where the moon-beam that Uncle Wiggily was following shone on it and +reflected back again. And by the light of the moon-beam the red squirrel +was combing and brushing out her tail as hard as she could comb and brush +it. + +"What are you doing?" asked Uncle Wiggily in surprise. + +"Oh, my! How you startled me!" exclaimed the red squirrel. "But I'm glad +it's you, Uncle Wiggily. I'm going to a surprise party soon, and I was +just trying to make my tail as big as Johnnie or Billie Bushytail's, but I +can't do it," she said sadly. + +"No, and you never can," said the rabbit. "Their tails are a different +kind than yours, for they are gray squirrels and you are a red one. But +yours is very nice. Be content to have yours as it is." + +"I guess I will," said the red squirrel. "But what are you doing out so +late, Uncle Wiggily?" + +"Looking for the end of the moon-beam to get my fortune." + +"Ha! The moon-beam ends right here," said the red squirrel-girl, pointing +to her looking-glass, and, surely enough, there the bright shaft of light +ended. "But there is no fortune here, Uncle Wiggily, I am sorry to say," +she added. + +"I see there isn't," answered the rabbit. "Well, I must travel on again +to-morrow, then. But now I will see that you get safely home, for it is +getting late." + +And, just as he said that, what should happen but that a black, savage, +ugly bear stuck his nose out of the bushes and made a grab for the rabbit. +But what do you think the red squirrel did? + +She just took her hair brush and with the hard back of it she whacked the +bear on the end of his tender-ender nose, and he howled, and turned around +to run away, and the squirrel girl tickled him with the comb, and he ran +faster than ever, and the bear didn't eat Uncle Wiggily that night. + +Then the rabbit stayed at the red squirrel's mamma's house the rest of the +evening, and the next day the squirrel went to the surprise party with her +tail the regular size it ought to be, and not as big as the Bushytail +brothers' tails, and everybody was happy. + +Now in case the granddaddy longlegs doesn't tickle the baby with his long +cow-pointing leg and make her laugh so she gets the hiccoughs, I'll tell +you in the next story about Uncle Wiggily and the brown wren. + + + + +STORY II + +UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BROWN WREN + + +Well, just as I expected, the granddaddy longlegs did tickle the baby, but +she only smiled in her sleep, and didn't awaken, so, as it's nice and +quiet I can tell you another story. And it's going to be about how Uncle +Wiggily, in his travels about the country, in search of his fortune, +helped a little brown wren. + +"Well, where are you going this morning?" asked the red squirrel's mother +as Uncle Wiggily finished his breakfast, and shook out from his long ears +the oatmeal crumbs that had fallen in them. + +"Oh, I suppose I will have to be traveling on," answered the rabbit. "That +fortune of mine seems to be a long distance off. I've tried rainbows and +moon-beams and I didn't find any money at their ends. I guess I'll have to +look under the water next, but I'll wait until I get back home, and then +I'll have Jimmie Wibblewobble the duck boy put his head at the bottom of +the pond and see if there is any gold down there." + +So off the old gentleman rabbit started, limping on his crutch, for his +rheumatism was troubling him again, and at his side swung his valise, with +some crackers and cheese and bread and butter and jam in it--plenty of +jam, too, let me tell you, for the red squirrel's mamma could make lovely +preserves, and this was carrot jam, with turnip frosting on it. + +Well, Uncle Wiggily traveled on and on, over the hills and through the +deep woods, and pretty soon he came to a place where he saw a lot of +little black ants trying to carry to their nest a nice big piece of meat +that some one had dropped. + +"My, how hard those ants are working," thought the rabbit. "But that meat +is too heavy for them. I'll have to help carry it." + +Now the piece of meat was only as big as a quarter of a small cocoanut, +but, of course, that's too big for an ant to carry; or even for +forty-'leven ants, so Uncle Wiggily kindly lifted it for them, and put it +in their nest. + +"Thank you very much," said the biggest ant. "If ever we can do you a +favor, or any of your friends, we will." + +The old gentleman rabbit said he was glad to hear that, and then, taking +up his crutch and valise again, on he went. + +Pretty soon he came to a place in the woods where the sun was shining +down through the trees, and a little brook was making pretty music over +the stones. And then, all at once, the old gentleman rabbit heard a +different kind of music, and it was that of a little bird singing. And +this is the song. + +Now I did not make up this song. It is much prettier than I could write, +even if I had my Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes on, and I don't know who did +write it. But it used to be in my school reader when I was a little boy, +and I liked it very much. I hope whoever did write it won't mind if you +sing it. This is it: + + "There's a little brown bird sitting up in a tree, + He's singing to you--he's singing to me. + And what does he say, little girl--little boy? + Oh, the world's running over with joy!" + +Then the bird sang about how there were five eggs laid away up in a nest, +and how, pretty soon, little birds would come out from them, and then, all +of a sudden, the bird sang like this: + + "But don't meddle,--don't touch, + Little girl--little boy, + Or the world will lose some of its joy!" + +"Ha! you seem quite happy this beautiful morning," said Uncle Wiggily, as +he paused under the tree where the bird was singing. "Why, I do declare," +he exclaimed. "If it isn't Mrs. Wren! Well, I never in all my born days! I +didn't know you were back from the South yet." + +"Yes, Uncle Wiggily," said the little brown wren, "I came up some time +ago. But I'm real glad to see you. I'm going to take my little birdies out +of the shell pretty soon. They are almost hatched." + +"Glad to hear it," said the rabbit, politely, and then he told about +seeking his fortune, and all of a sudden a great big ugly crow-bird flew +down out of a tall tree and made a dash for Mrs. Wren to eat her up. But +Mrs. Wren got out of the way just in time, and didn't get caught. + +But alack, and alas-a-day! The crow knocked down the wren's nest, and all +the sticks and feathers of which it was made were scattered all about, and +the eggs, with the little birdies inside, would have been all broken +ker-smash, only that they happened to fall down on some soft moss. + +"Oh, dear!" cried Mrs. Wren, sorrowfully. "Now see what that crow has +done! My home is broken up, and my birdies will be killed." + +"Caw! Caw! Caw!" cried the crow as unkindly as he could, and it sounded +just as if he laughed "Haw! Haw! Haw!" + +"Oh, whatever shall I do?" asked Mrs. Wren. "My birdies will have no nest, +and I haven't time to make another and break up the little fine sticks +that I need and gather the feathers that are scattered all over. Oh, what +shall I do? Soon my birdies will be out of the shells." + +"Never fear!" said Uncle Wiggily, bravely. "I will help you. I'll gather +the sticks for you." + +"Oh, but you haven't time; you must be off seeking your fortune," answered +the wren. + +"Oh, I guess my fortune can wait. It has been waiting for me a long time, +and it won't hurt to wait a bit longer. I'll get you the sticks," said the +rabbit gentleman. + +So while Mrs. Wren sat over the eggs to keep them warm with her fluffy +feathers, Uncle Wiggily looked for sticks with which to make a new nest. +He couldn't find any short and small enough, so what do you think he did? + +Why, he took some big sticks and he jumped a jiggily dance up and down on +them with his sharp paws, and broke them up as fine as toothpicks for the +nest. Then he arranged them as well as he could in a sort of hollow, like +a tea cup. + +"Oh, if we only had some feathers now, we would be all right," said Mrs. +Wren. "It's a very good nest for a rabbit to make." + +"Don't say a word!" cried some small voices on the ground. "We will +gather up the feathers for you." And there came marching up a lot of the +little ants that Uncle Wiggily had been kind to, and soon they had +gathered up all the scattered feathers. And the nest was made on a mossy +stump, and lined with the feathers, and the warm eggs were put in it by +Mrs. Wren, who then hovered over them to hatch out the birdies. And she +was very thankful to Uncle Wiggily for what he had done. + +Now, in case the water in the lake doesn't get inside the milk pail and +make lemonade of it, I'll tell you in the next story how the birdies were +hatched out, and also about Uncle Wiggily and the sunfish. + + + + +STORY III + +UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE SUNFISH + + +Uncle Wiggily slept that night--I mean the night after he had helped Mrs. +Wren build her nest--he slept in an old under-ground house that another +rabbit must have made some time before. It was nicely lined with leaves, +and the fortune-hunting bunny slept very nice and warm there. + +When the sun was up, shining very brightly, and most beautifully, Uncle +Wiggily arose, shook his ears to get the dust out of them, and threw the +dried-leaf blankets off him. + +"Ah, ha! I must be up and doing," he cried. "Perhaps I shall find my +fortune to-day." + +Well, no sooner had he crawled out of the burrow than he heard a most +beautiful song. It was one Mrs. Wren was singing, and it went "tra-la-la +tra-la-la! tum-tee-tee-tum-tum-tee-tee!" too pretty for anything. And +then, afterward, there was a sort of an echo like "cheep-cheep +cheep-cheep!" + +"Why, you must be very happy this morning, Mrs. Wren!" called Uncle +Wiggily to her as she sat in her new nest which the rabbit had made for +her on the mossy stump. + +"I am," she answered, "very happy. What do you think happened in the +night?" + +"I can't guess," he answered. "A burglar crow didn't come and steal your +eggs, I hope!" + +"Oh, nothing sad or bad like that," she answered. "But something very +nice. Just hop up here and look." + +So Uncle Wiggily hopped up on the stump, and Mrs. Wren got off her nest, +and there, on the bottom, in among some egg-shells, were a lot of tiny, +weeny little birdies, about as big as a spool of silk thread or even +smaller. + +"Why, where in the world did they come from?" asked the old gentleman +rabbit, rubbing his eyes. + +"Out of the eggs to be sure," answered Mrs. Wren. "And I do declare, the +last of my family is hatched now. There is little Wiggily out of the shell +at last. I think I'll name him after you, as he never could keep still +when he was being hatched. Now I must take out all the broken shells so +the birdies won't cut themselves on them." And she began to throw them out +with her bill, just as the mother hen does, and then one of the new little +birdies called out: + +"Cheep-cheep-chip-chip!" + +"Yes, I know you're hungry," answered their mamma, who understood their +bird talk. "Well, I'll fly away and get you something to eat just as soon +as your papa comes home to stay in the house. You know Mr. Wren went away +last night to see about getting a new position in a feather pillow +factory," said Mrs. Wren to Uncle Wiggily, "and he doesn't yet know about +the birdies. I hope he'll come back soon, as they are very hungry, and I +don't like to leave them alone to go shopping." + +"Oh, I'll stay and take care of them for you while you go to the store," +said the old gentleman rabbit, kindly. + +"That will do very well," said Mrs. Wren. So she put on her bonnet and +shawl and took her market basket and off she flew to the store, while +Uncle Wiggily stayed with the new birdies, and they snuggled down under +his warm fur, and were as cozy as in their own mother's feathers. + +Well, Mrs. Wren was gone some time, as the store was crowded and she +couldn't get waited on right away, and Uncle Wiggily stayed with the +birdies. And they got hungrier and hungrier, and they cried real hard. +Yes, indeed, as hard as some babies. + +"Hum! I don't know what to do," said the old gentleman rabbit. "I can't +feed them. I guess I'll sing to them." So he sang this song: + + "Hush, birdies, hush, + Please don't cry; + Mamma'll be back + By and by. + + "Nestle down close + Under my fur, + I'm not your mother, but + I'm helping her." + +But this didn't seem to satisfy the birdies and they cried "cheep-cheep" +harder than ever. + +"Oh, dear! I believe I must get them something to eat," said Uncle +Wiggily. So he covered them all up warmly with the feathers that lined the +nest, and then he hopped down and went limping around on his crutch to +find them something to eat. + +Pretty soon he came to a little brook, and as he looked down into it he +saw something shining, all gold and red and green and blue and yellow. + +"Why, I do declare, if here isn't the end of the rainbow!" exclaimed the +old gentleman rabbit, as he saw all the pretty colors. + +He rubbed his eyes with his paw, to make sure he wasn't dreaming, but the +colors were surely enough there, down under water. + +"No wonder the giant couldn't find the pot of gold, it was down in the +water," spoke the rabbit. "But I'll get it, and then my fortune will be +made. Oh, how glad I am!" + +Well, Uncle Wiggily reached his paw down and made a grab for the red and +green and gold and yellow thing, but to his surprise, instead of lifting +up a pot of gold, he lifted up a squirming, wiggling sunfish. + +"Oh, my!" exclaimed the rabbit in surprise. + +"I should say yes! Two Oh mys and another one!" gasped the fish. "Oh, +please put me back in the water again. The air out on land is too strong +for me. I can't breathe. Please, Uncle Wiggily, put me back." + +"I thought you were a pot of gold," said the rabbit, sadly. "I'm always +getting fooled. But never mind. I'll put you in the water." + +"What are you doing here?" asked the fish, as he slid into the water again +and sneezed three times. + +"Just at present I am taking care of Mrs. Wren's new little birdies," said +the rabbit. "She has gone to the store for something for them to eat, but +they are so hungry they can't wait." + +"Oh, that is easily fixed," said the sunfish. "Since you were so kind to +me I'll tell you what to do. Get them a few little worms, and some small +flower seeds, and feed them. Then the birdies will go to sleep." + +So Uncle Wiggily did this, and as soon as the birds had their hungry +little mouths filled, sound to sleep they went. And in a little while Mrs. +Wren came back from the store with her basket filled, and Mr. Wren flew +home to say that he had a nice position in a feather factory, and how he +did admire his birdies! He hugged and kissed them like anything. + +Then the two wrens both thanked Uncle Wiggily for taking care of their +children, and the rabbit said good-by and hopped on again to seek his +fortune. And if the trolley car conductor gives me a red, white and blue +transfer, for the pin cushion to go to sleep on, I'll tell you in the +following story about Uncle Wiggily and the yellow bird. + + + + +STORY IV + +UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE YELLOW BIRD + + +Once upon a time, when Johnnie Bushytail was going along the road to +school, he met a fox--oh, just listen to me, would you! This story isn't +about the squirrel boy at all. It's about Uncle Wiggily Longears to be +sure, and the yellow bird, so I must begin all over again. + +The day after the old gentleman rabbit had helped Mrs. Wren feed her +little birdies he found himself traveling along a lonely road through a +big forest of tall trees. Oh, it was a very lonesome place, and not even +an automobile was to be seen, and there wasn't the smell of gasoline, and +no "honk-honks" to waken the baby from her sleep. + +"Hum, I don't believe I'll find any fortune along here," thought Uncle +Wiggily as he tramped on. "I haven't met even so much as a red ant, or +even a black one, or a grasshopper. I wonder if I can be lost?" + +So he looked all around to see if he might be lost in the woods. But you +know how it is, sometimes you're lost when you least expect it, and again +you think you are lost, but you're right near home all the while. + +That's the way it was with Uncle Wiggily, he didn't know whether or not he +was lost, so he thought he'd sit down on a flat stone and eat his lunch. +The reason he sat on a flat stone instead of a round one was because he +had some hard boiled eggs for his lunch, and you know if you put an egg on +a round stone it's bound to roll off and crack right in the middle. + +"And I don't like cracked eggs," said the rabbit. So he laid the eggs he +had on the flat stone, and put little sticks in front of them and behind +them, so they couldn't even roll off the flat stone if they wanted to. +Then he ate his lunch. + +"I guess it doesn't much matter if I am lost," said the traveling +fortune-hunting rabbit a little later. "I'll go on and perhaps I may meet +with an adventure." So on he hopped, and pretty soon he came to a place +where the leaves and the dirt were all torn up, just as if some boys had +been playing a baseball game, or leap-frog, or something like that. + +"My, I must look out that I don't tumble down any holes here," thought +Uncle Wiggily, "for maybe some bad men have been setting traps to catch us +rabbits." + +Well, he turned to one side, to get out of the way of some sharp thorns, +and, my goodness! if there weren't more sharp thorns on the ground on the +other side of the path. "I guess I'll have to keep straight ahead!" +thought our Uncle Wiggily. "I never saw so many thorns before in all my +life. I'll have to look out or I'll be stuck." + +So he kept straight on, and all of a sudden he felt himself going down +into a big hole. + +"Oh! Oh dear! Oh me! Oh my!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "I've fallen into a +trap! That's what those thorns were for--so I would have to walk toward +the trap instead of going to one side." + +But, very luckily for Uncle Wiggily, his crutch happened to catch across +the hole, and so he didn't go all the way down, but hung on. But his +valise fell to the bottom. However, he managed to pull himself up on the +ground, though his rheumatism hurt him, and soon he was safe once more. + +"Oh, my valise, with all my clothes in it!" he cried, as he looked down +into the hole, which had been covered over with loose leaves and dirt so +he couldn't see it before falling in. "I wonder how I can get my things +back again?" he went on. + +Then he looked up, and in a tree, not far from him, he saw something +bright and yellow, shining like gold. + +"Ah, ha!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "At last I have found the pot of gold, +even if the rainbow isn't here. That is yellow, and yellow is the color of +gold. Now my fortune is made. I will get that gold and go back home." + +So, not worrying any more about his valise down the trap-hole, Uncle +Wiggily hopped over to the tree to get what he thought was a big bunch of +yellow gold. But as he came closer, he saw that the gold was moving about +and fluttering, though not going very far away. + +"That is queer gold," thought the old gentleman rabbit. "I never saw +moving gold before. I wonder if it is a good kind." + +Then he went a little closer and he heard a voice crying. + +"Why, that is crying gold, too," he said. "This is very strange." + +Then he heard some one calling: + +"Oh, help! Will some one please help me?" + +"Why, this is most strange of all!" the rabbit cried. "It is talking gold. +Perhaps there is a fairy about." + +"Oh, I only wish there was one!" cried the yellow object in the tree. "If +I saw a fairy I'd ask her to set me free." + +"What's that? Who are you?" asked the rabbit. + +"Oh, I'm a poor little yellow bird," was the answer, "and I'm caught in a +string-trap that some boys set in this tree. There is a string around my +legs and I can't fly home to see my little ones. I got into the trap by +mistake. Oh! can't you help me? Climb up into the tree, Uncle Wiggily, and +help me!" + +"How did you know my name was Uncle Wiggily?" asked the rabbit. + +"I could tell it by your ears--your wiggling ears," was the answer. "But +please climb up and help me." + +"Rabbits can't climb trees," said Uncle Wiggily. "But I will tell you what +I'll do. I'll gnaw the tree down with my sharp teeth, for they are sharp, +even if I am a little old. Then, when it falls, I can reach the string, +untie it, and you will be free." + +So Uncle Wiggily did this, and soon the tree fell down, but the golden +yellow bird was on a top branch and didn't get hurt. Then the old +gentleman rabbit quickly untied the string and the bird was out of the +trap. + +"I cannot thank you enough!" she said to the rabbit. "Is there anything I +can do for you to pay you?" + +"Well, my valise is down a hole," said Uncle Wiggily, "but I don't see how +you can get it up. I need it, though." + +"I can fly down, tie the string to the satchel and you can pull it up," +said the birdie. And she did so, and the rabbit pulled up his valise as +nicely as a bucket of water is hoisted up from the well. Then some bad +boys and a man came along to see if there was anything in the hole-trap, +or the string-trap they had made; but when they saw the bird flying away +and the rabbit hopping away through the woods they were very angry. But +Uncle Wiggily and the yellow bird were safe from harm, I'm glad to say. + +And the rabbit had another adventure soon after that, and what it was I'll +tell you soon, when the story will be about Uncle Wiggily and the +skyrockets. It will be a Fourth of July story, if you please; that is if +the bean bag doesn't fall down the coal hole and catch a mosquito. + + + + +STORY V + +UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE SKY-CRACKER + + +Let me see, I think I promised to tell you a story about Uncle Wiggily and +the skyrocket, didn't I? Or was it to be about a firecracker, seeing that +it soon may be the Fourth of July? What's that--a firecracker--no? A +skyrocket? Oh, I'm all puzzled up about it, so I guess I'll make it a +sky-cracker, a sort of half-firecracker and half-skyrocket, and that will +do. + +Well, after Uncle Wiggily had gotten the little yellow bird, that looked +like gold, out from the string-trap in the tree, the old gentleman rabbit +spent two nights visiting a second cousin of Grandfather Prickly +Porcupine, who lived in the woods. Then Uncle Wiggily got up one morning, +dressed himself very carefully, combed out his whiskers, and said: + +"Well, I'm off again to seek my fortune." + +"It's too bad you can't seem able to find it," said the second cousin to +Grandfather Prickly Porcupine, "but perhaps you will have good luck +to-day. Only you want to be very careful." + +"Why?" asked the old gentleman rabbit. + +"Well, because you know it will soon be the Fourth of July, and some boys +may tie a firecracker or a skyrocket to your tail," said the porcupine. + +"Ha! Ha!" laughed Uncle Wiggily. "They will have a hard time doing that, +for my tail is so short that the boys would burn their fingers if they +tried to tie a firecracker to it." + +"Then look out that they don't fasten a skyrocket to your long ears," said +the second cousin to Grandfather Prickly Porcupine, as he wrapped up some +lettuce and carrot sandwiches for Uncle Wiggily to take with him. + +The old gentleman rabbit said he would watch out, and away he started, +going up hill and down hill with his barber-pole crutch as easily as if he +was being wheeled in a baby carriage. + +"Well, I don't seem to find any fortune," he said to himself as he walked +along, and, just as he said that he saw something sparkling in the grass +beside the path in the woods. "What's that?" he cried. "Perhaps it is a +diamond. If it is I can sell it and get rich." Then he happened to think +what the second cousin of Grandfather Prickly Porcupine had told him about +Fourth of July coming, and Uncle Wiggily said: + +"Ha! I had better be careful. Perhaps that sparkling thing is a spark on +a firecracker. Ah, ha!" + +So he looked more carefully, and the bright object sparkled more and more, +and it didn't seem to be fire, so the old gentleman rabbit went up close, +and what do you suppose it was? + +Why, it was a great big dewdrop, right in the middle of a purple violet, +that was growing underneath a shady fern. Oh, how beautiful it was in the +sunlight, and Uncle Wiggily was glad he had looked at it. And pretty soon, +as he was still looking, a big, buzzing bumble bee buzzed along and +stopped to take a sip of the dewdrop. + +"Ha! That is a regular violet ice cream soda for me!" said the bee to +Uncle Wiggily. And just as he was taking another drink a big, ugly snake +made a spring and tried to eat the bee, but Uncle Wiggily hit the snake +with his crutch and the snake crawled away very much surprised. + +"Thank you very much," said the bee to the rabbit. "You saved my life, and +if ever I can do you a favor I will," and with that he buzzed away. + +Well, pretty soon, not so very long, in a little while, Uncle Wiggily came +to a place in the woods where there were a whole lot of packages done up +in paper lying on the ground. And there was a tent near them, and it +looked as if people lived in the white tent, only no one was there just +then. + +[Illustration] + +"I guess I'd better keep away," thought the old gentleman rabbit, "or they +may catch me." And just then he saw something like a long, straight stick, +standing up against a tree. "Ha, that will be a good stick to take along +to chase the bears away with," he thought. "I think no one wants it, so +I'll take it." + +Well, he walked up and took hold of it in his paws, but, mind you, he +didn't notice that on one end of the stick was a piece of powder string, +like the string of a firecracker, sticking down, and this string was +burning. No, the poor old gentleman, rabbit never noticed that at all. He +started to take the stick away with him when, all of a sudden, something +dreadful happened. + +With a whizz and a rush and a roar that stick shot into the air, carrying +Uncle Wiggily with it, just like a balloon, for he hadn't time to let go +of it. + +Up and up he went, with a roar and a swoop, and just then he saw a whole +lot of boys rushing out of the woods toward the white tent. And one boy +cried: + +"Oh, fellows, look! A rabbit has hold of our sky-cracker and it's on fire +and has gone off and taken him with it! Oh the poor rabbit! Because when +the sky-cracker gets high enough in the air the firecracker part of it +will go off with a bang, and he'll be killed. Oh, how sorry I am. The hot +sun must have set fire to the powder string." + +You see those boys had come out in the woods to have their Fourth of July, +where the noise wouldn't make any one's head ache. + +Well, Uncle Wiggily went on, up and up, with the sky-cracker, and he felt +very much afraid for he had heard what the boys said. + +"Oh, this is the end of me!" he cried, as he held fast to the sky-cracker. +"I'll never live to find my fortune now. When this thing explodes, I'll be +dashed to the ground and killed." + +The sky-cracker was whizzing and roaring, and black smoke was pouring out +of one end, and Uncle Wiggily thought of all his friends whom he feared he +would never see again, when all of a sudden along came flying the buzzing +bumble bee, high in the air. He was much surprised to see Uncle Wiggily +skimming along on the tail of a sky-cracker. + +"Oh, can't you save me?" cried the rabbit. + +"Indeed I will, if I can," said the bee, "because you were so kind to me. +You are too heavy, or I would fly down to earth with you myself, but I'll +do the next best thing. I'll fly off and get Dickie and Nellie Chip-Chip, +the sparrow children, and they'll come with a big basket and catch you so +you won't fall." + +No sooner said than done. Off flew the bee. Quickly he found Dickie and +Nellie and told them the danger Uncle Wiggily was in. + +"Quick," called Dickie to Nellie. "We must save him." + +Off they flew like the wind, carrying a grocery basket between them. Right +under Uncle Wiggily they flew, and just as the sky-cracker was going to +burst with a "slam-bang!" the old gentleman rabbit let go, and into the +basket he safely fell and the sparrow children flew to earth with him. +Then the sky-cracker burst all to pieces for Fourth of July, but Uncle +Wiggily wasn't on it to be hurt, I'm glad to say. + +He spent the Fourth visiting the Bumble bee's family, and had ice cream +and cake and lemonade for supper, and at night he heard the band play, and +he gave Nellie and Dickie ten cents for ice cream sodas, and that's all to +this story. + +But on the next page, if the baker man brings me a pound of soap bubbles +with candy in the middle for Cora Janet's doll, I'll tell you about Uncle +Wiggily and the buttercup. + + + + +STORY VI + +UNCLE WIGGILY AND BUTTERCUP + + +I hope none of you were burned by a sky-cracker or a Roman candle stick +when you had your Fourth of July celebration, but if you were I hope you +will soon be better, and perhaps if I tell you a story it will make you +forget the pain. So here we go, all about Uncle Wiggily and the buttercup. + +The old gentleman rabbit spent a few days in an old burrow next to the +bumble bee's house, and then one morning, when the sun was shining +brightly, he started off again to seek his fortune. + +"I never can thank you enough," he said to the bee, "for going after the +sparrow children and saving me from the exploding sky-cracker. If ever I +find my fortune I will give you some of it." + +"Thank you very kindly," said the bee, as she looked in the pantry, "and +here are some sweet honey sandwiches for you to eat on your travels. This +is some honey that I made myself." + +"Then it must be very good," said the old gentleman rabbit politely, as +he put the sandwiches in his valise and started off down the dusty road. + +Well, he hopped on and on, sometimes in the woods where it was cool and +green and shady, and sometimes out in the hot sun, and every minute or so +he would stop and look around to see if he could find his fortune. + +"For, who knows?" he said, "perhaps I may pick up a bag of gold, or some +diamonds at almost any minute. Then I could go back home and buy an +automobile for myself to ride around in, and my travels would be over. I +have certainly been on the go a long time, but my health is much better +than it was." + +So he kept on, looking under all the big leaves and clumps of ferns for +his fortune. But he didn't find it, and pretty soon he came to a hole in +the ground. And in front of this hole was a little sign, printed on a +piece of paper, and it read: + + "COME IN! EVERYBODY WELCOME." + +"Humph! I wonder if that means me?" thought the old gentleman rabbit. +"Let's see, gold grows under ground, in mines, and perhaps this is a gold +mine. I'm going down. I'm sure there is a fortune waiting for me. Yes, +I'll go down." + +So he laid aside his valise and barber-pole crutch and got ready to go +down in the hole, which wasn't very big. + +"But I can scratch it bigger if I need to," said Uncle Wiggily. + +Well, he had no sooner gotten his front feet and part of his nose down the +hole, but his ears were still sticking out, when he heard a voice calling: + +"Here! Where are you going?" + +"Down this hole after gold," replied Uncle Wiggily. + +"You mustn't go down there," went on the voice, and pulling out his nose +and looking about him, the old gentleman rabbit saw a white pussy cat +sitting on a stump. And the pussy cat was washing his face with his paws, +taking care not to let the claws stick out for fear of scratching his +eyes. + +"Why can't I go down this hole, Pussy?" asked the rabbit. "Do you have +charge of it?" + +"No, indeed," was the answer, "but there is a bad snake who lives down +there, and he puts up that sign so the animals will come down, and then he +eats them. That's the reason he says they are welcome. No, indeed, I +wouldn't want to see you go down there!" + +"Ha! Hum! I wouldn't like to see myself!" spoke Uncle Wiggily, and he +crawled away from the hole just in time, for the snake stuck out his ugly +head and was about to bite the rabbit. It was the same snake that had +nearly caught the bumble bee. + +"Say!" cried the snake, quite angry like, to the pussy cat, "I wish you +would get away from here! You are always spoiling my plans. I thought I +was going to have a nice rabbit dinner, and now look at what you have +done," and that snake was so angry that he hissed like a boiling +teakettle. + +"I will never let you eat up Uncle Wiggily!" cried the pussy. "Now look +out for yourself, Mr. Snake!" and with that the pussy made his back round +like a hoop, and he swelled up his tail like a bologna sausage, and he +showed his teeth and claws to the snake, and that snake popped down the +hole again very quickly, I can tell you, taking his tail with him. Oh, my, +yes, and a bucket of sawdust soup besides. + +"I thank you very much for telling me about that snake, little pussy cat," +said Uncle Wiggily. "Well, I am disappointed about my fortune again. I +shall never be rich I fear. But I almost forgot that I have some fine +honey sandwiches and I will give you some, for you must be hungry. I know +I am." + +"I am, too," said the pussy. So Uncle Wiggily opened his valise and took +out the honey sandwiches which the bee had given him, but when he went to +eat them he found that the bee had forgotten to butter the bread. + +"Oh, that is too bad!" cried the pussy, when Uncle Wiggily spoke of it. +"Still they will do very well without butter." + +"No, we must have some," said the rabbit. "I wonder how I can get butter +in the woods?" So he looked all around and the first thing he saw was a +yellow buttercup flower. You know the kind I mean. You hold them under +your chin to see if you like butter, and the shine of the flower makes +your chin yellow. + +"Ha!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "Now we will have butter." + +"But you are not going to eat the flower, are you?" asked the pussy. + +"No, indeed!" cried the rabbit, "I'll show you." + +Now there was a cow in the field a short distance away, and Uncle Wiggily +went over and got some milk from the cow in a little tin cup. "Butter is +made from milk," said the rabbit to the pussy. "So I will just pour some +milk in the buttercup flower, and shake it just as if it was a churn, and +then we'll have butter for our honey sandwiches." + +So he did this. Into the buttercup he poured the milk, and it became +yellow like butter at once. But Uncle Wiggily did not have to shake the +flower, for a little wind came along just then and shook it for him. + +And pretty soon, in a little while, the milk in the buttercup was churned +into lovely sweet butter, and the rabbit and pussy spread it on their +honey sandwiches, and what a fine feast they had. Just as they were eating +it the bad alligator came along, and wanted to take the honey away from +them, but the pussy scratched the end of the savage beast's tail with his +claws, and the bad alligator ran away as fast as he could. + +Then Uncle Wiggily and the pussy traveled on together and the next day +they had quite an adventure. What it was I'll tell you in the next story +when, in case the steamboat stops at our house for a little girl wearing a +green sunbonnet, with horse chestnuts on it, I'll tell you about Uncle +Wiggily and the July bug. + + + + +STORY VII + +UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE JULY BUG + + +"Well, what shall we do to-day?" asked the white pussy of Uncle Wiggily, +as they traveled on together, the next day after the adventure at the +snake hole. They had slept that night in a nice hollow stump. + +"Hum! I hardly know what to do," replied the old gentleman rabbit. "Of +course I must be on the watch for my fortune, but, as I don't seem to be +finding it very fast, what do you say to having a picnic to-day?" + +"The very thing!" cried pussy. "We will get some lunch, and go off in the +woods and eat it. Only we ought to have a lot more people. Two are hardly +enough for a picnic." + +"I would like some of my friends to come to it," spoke Uncle Wiggily, "but +I am afraid they are too far off." + +"Couldn't you send them word by telephone?" inquired the pussy. "I'm sure +I would like to meet them, for I have heard so much about Sammie and +Susie Littletail, and Johnnie and Billie Bushytail." + +"There is no telephone in these woods," replied Uncle Wiggily, "and we +haven't time to send them postcards. I wish I could get word to them, +however, but I don't s'pose I can." + +"Yes, you can!" suddenly cried a voice down in the grass. "I'll tell all +your friends to come to the picnic if you like." + +"Indeed, I would like it," said the rabbit, "but who are you, if I may be +so bold as to ask? I can't see you." + +"There he is--it's a big June bug!" exclaimed the pussy. + +"I beg your pardon," spoke the bug quickly, as he crawled out from under a +leaf and sat on a toadstool. "But I am not a June bug, if you please." + +"You look like one," said Uncle Wiggily politely. + +"I am a July bug," went on the funny little creature. "I was intended for +a June bug, but there was some mistake made, and I didn't come out of my +shell until July. So you see I'm a July bug, and at first I thought it +would be jolly fun, to hear all the firecrackers and skyrockets go off." + +"It isn't so much fun as you imagine," said Uncle Wiggily, as he thought +of the time he went sailing into the air on the sky-cracker. "But don't +you like being a July bug?" + +"Not very much. You see I'm the only one there is, and all the others are +June bugs. The June bugs won't speak to me, nor let me play with them, so +I'm very lonesome. I heard you talking about a picnic you were going to +have, and so I offered to call all your friends to it. I thought perhaps +if I did that you would let me come to it also." + +"To be sure!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "You may gladly come, but how are +you going to send word to all of my friends?" + +"I will fly through the air and tell them to come," was the answer. "I am +a very swift flyer. Watch me," and then and there the July bug buzzed +around so fast that Uncle Wiggily and the pussy couldn't see his wings go +flip-flop-flap. + +Well, they decided it would be a good plan to have the July bug act as a +postman, so Uncle Wiggily wrote out the invitations on little pieces of +white birch bark, and gave them to the bug. Off he flew into the air +waving one leg at Uncle Wiggily and the pussy. + +"Well, now we must get ready for the picnic--get the things to eat--for +that bug flies so fast that soon all my friends will be here," said the +rabbit, so he and the pussy began to get the lunch ready. + +Uncle Wiggily had some food in his valise, but they got more good things +from a kind old monkey who lived in the woods. He used to work on a hand +organ, but when he got old he bought him a nest in the woods with the +pennies he had saved up, and he lived in peace and quietness, and played a +mouth organ on Sundays. + +Well, you will hardly believe me, but it's true, no sooner had Uncle +Wiggily and the pussy put up the lunch, wrapping some for each visitor in +nice, green grape leaves, than the first ones of the picnic party began to +arrive. They were Dickie and Nellie Chip-Chip, the sparrows, for they +could fly through the air very quickly, and so they came on ahead. + +"We got your invitation that the July bug left us, Uncle Wiggily, and we +came at once," said Dickie. + +"Where are the others?" asked the old gentleman rabbit. + +"They are coming," answered Nellie, as she tied her tail ribbon over +again, for the bow knot had become undone as she was flying through the +air. + +Well, in a little while along came hopping, Sammie and Susie Littletail, +the rabbit children, and Billie and Johnnie Bushytail, the squirrel +brothers, and Bully and Bawly the frogs, and Dottie and Munchie Trot, the +ponies, and Lulu and Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble, the duck twins, and +Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg, and oh, all the boy and girl animals I have +ever told you about. + +And oh! how glad they were to see Uncle Wiggily. He had to tell them all +about his travels after his fortune before they would go off in the woods +to the picnic. But at last they went, each one with a little leaf-package +of lunch. The July bug came along, too, and he had a very little package +of good things, because he was so small, you see, but it was enough. + +They all sat down on the ground with flat stones for plates, and sticks +for knives and forks, and they ate their picnic lunch there. Oh, they had +the finest time, and it didn't matter if some ants did get in the sugar. +Uncle Wiggily said they could have all they wanted of the sweet stuff. + +And, when the picnic was almost over, there was a sudden noise in the +bushes, and two bad foxes sprang out. One tried to grab Uncle Wiggily, and +another made a dash for Lulu Wibblewobble. + +"Oh dear!" cried Dottie Trot, without looking to see if her hair ribbon +was on straight. "We shall all be eaten up!" + +"No, you won't!" cried the brave July bug. "I'll fix those foxes!" + +So that brave July bug just buzzed his wings as hard as he could, and +straight at those foxes he flew, bumping and banging them on their noses +and in the eyes, so that they gave two separate and distinct howls, and +ran away, taking their big tails with them. + +So that is how the July bug saved everybody from being eaten up, and then +the picnic was over and every one said it was lovely. + +"Well, I'll start on my travels again to-morrow," said Uncle Wiggily, as +his friends told him good-by. + +Now what happened to him the next day I'll tell you very soon, for, in +case I see a chipmunk with a blue tail and a red nose climbing up the +clothes pole, the story will be about Uncle Wiggily and +Jack-in-the-pulpit. + + + + +STORY VIII + +UNCLE WIGGILY AND JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT + + +Uncle Wiggily was slowly hopping along through the woods, sometimes +leaning on his crutch, when his rheumatism pained him, and again skipping +along when he got out into the warm sunshine. It was the day after the +picnic, and the old gentleman rabbit felt a bit lonesome as all his +friends had gone back to their homes. + +"I do declare!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, as he walked slowly along by a +little lake, where an August rabbit was running his motor boat, "if I +don't find my fortune pretty soon I won't have any vacation this year. I +must look carefully to-day, and see if I can't find a pot full of gold." + +Well, he looked as carefully as he could, but my land sakes and a pair of +white gloves! he couldn't seem to find a smitch of gold and not so much as +a crumb of diamonds. + +[Illustration] + +"Hum!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, "at this rate I guess I'll have to keep on +traveling for several years before I find my fortune. But never mind, +I'm having a good time, anyhow. I'll keep on searching." + +So he kept on, and all of a sudden when he was walking past a prickly +briar bush, he heard a voice calling: + +"Hey, Uncle Wiggily, come on in here." + +"Ha! Who are you, and why do you want me to come in there?" asked the old +gentleman rabbit. + +"Oh, I am a friend of yours," was the answer, "and I will give you a lot +of money if you come in here." + +"Let me see your face," asked the rabbit, "I want to know who you are." + +"Oh! I have a dreadful toothache," said the creature hiding in the bushes. +"I don't want to stick my face out in the cold. But if you will take my +word for it I am a good friend of yours. I would like very much for you to +come in here." + +"Well, perhaps I had better," said the old gentleman rabbit, "for I +certainly need money." + +And he was just going to crawl in under the prickly briar bush when all of +a sudden he happened to look, and he saw the skillery-scallery tail of the +alligator accidentally sticking out. Yes, it was the alligator trying to +fool dear old Uncle Wiggily. + +"Oh, ho!" cried the wise old rabbit. "I guess I won't go in there after +all," so he hopped to one side and the alligator kept waiting for him to +come in so he could eat him, but when the rabbit didn't come in the savage +creature with the skillery-scallery tail cried: + +"Well, aren't you coming in?" + +"No, thank you," said the rabbit. "I have to go on to seek my fortune," +and away he hopped. Well, that alligator was so angry that he gnashed his +teeth and nearly broke them, and he crawled after Uncle Wiggily, but of +course, he couldn't catch him. + +Uncle Wiggily was pretty careful after that, and whenever he came near a +prickly briar bush he listened with both his long ears stuck up straight +to see if he could hear any sounds like an alligator. But he didn't, and +so he kept on. + +Well, it was coming on toward evening, one afternoon, and the old +gentleman rabbit was tramping along the road, wondering where he would +sleep, when all of a sudden something came bursting out of the bushes +toward the rabbit, and a voice cried out: + +"Hide! Hide! Uncle Wiggily. Hide as quickly as you can!" + +"Why should I hide?" asked the old gentleman rabbit. "Is there a giant +coming after me?" + +"Worse than a giant," said the voice. "It is a bad wolf that jumped out of +his cage from the circus, and he is just ready to eat up anything he +sees," and the July bug, for it was he who had fluttered out of the +bushes, to tell Uncle Wiggily, made his wings go slowly to and fro like an +electric palm-leaf fan. + +"A wolf, eh?" cried the old gentleman rabbit. "And do you think he will +eat me?" + +"He surely will," said the July bug. "I happened to fly past his house, +and I heard him say to his wife that he was going out to see if he could +find a rabbit supper. So I know he's coming for you. You'd better hide." + +"Oh! where can I hide?" asked the rabbit, as he looked around for a hollow +stump. But there wasn't any, and there were no holes in the ground, and he +didn't know what to do. + +Then, all at once there was a crashing in the bushes and it sounded like +an elephant coming through, breaking all the sticks in his path. + +"There's the wolf! There's the wolf!" cried the July bug. "Hide, Uncle +Wiggily," and then the bug perched on the high limb of a tree where the +wolf couldn't catch him. + +Well, the poor old gentleman rabbit looked for a place to hide himself +away from the wolf but he couldn't seem to find any, and he was just going +to crawl under a stone and maybe hurt himself, when all at once he heard a +voice say: + +"Jump up here, Uncle Wiggily. I'll hide you from the wolf." + +So the rabbit traveler looked up, and there he saw a flower called +Jack-in-the-pulpit looking down on him. I've told you about them before, +how the frog once took his bath in one, and how, when you pick a +wood-bouquet you put them in with some ferns to make the bouquet look +pretty. They are a flower like a vase, with a top curling over, and a +thing standing up in the centre whose name is "Jack." + +"Jump in here," said the Jack. "I'll fold my top down over you like an +umbrella, and the wolf can't find you." + +"But you are so small that I can't get inside," said the rabbit. + +"Oh, I'll make myself bigger," cried the Jack, I and he took a long +breath, and puffed himself up and swelled himself up, until he was large +enough for Uncle Wiggily to jump down inside. Then the Jack-in-the-pulpit +closed down the umbrella top over the rabbit, and he was hidden away as +nice and snug as could be wished. + +Pretty soon that bad savage wolf came prancing along, and he looked all +over for the rabbit. Then he sniffed and cried: + +"Ha! I smell him somewhere around here! I'll find him!" But he couldn't +see Uncle Wiggily because he was safely hidden in the Jack-in-the-pulpit. +So the wolf raged around some more and chased after his tail, and just as +he smelled the rabbit hidden in the flower, the July bug flew down out of +the tree, bang! right into the eyes of the wolf, and then the savage +creature felt so badly that he ran home and ate cold bread and water for +supper, and he didn't bother Uncle Wiggily any more that day. + +So that's how the Jack-in-the-pulpit saved the rabbit and very thankful +Uncle Wiggily was. And he stayed that night in a hollow stump, and the +next day he went on to seek his fortune. + +And quite a curious thing happened to him, as I shall have the pleasure of +telling you about soon, when in case our canoe boat doesn't turn upside +down and spill out the breakfast oatmeal, the next bedtime story will be +about Uncle Wiggily and the lost chipmunk. + + + + +STORY IX + +UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE LOST CHIPMUNK + + +Uncle Wiggily was walking along the road one morning, after he had slept +all night in the hollow stump. He didn't have any breakfast either, for +there was nothing left in his valise, and of course he couldn't eat his +barber-pole crutch. If the crutch had had a hole in it, like in the +elephant's trunk, then the old gentleman rabbit could have carried along +some sandwiches. But, as it was, he had nothing for breakfast, and he +hadn't had much supper either, the night before. + +"Oh, how hungry I am!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "If only I had a piece of +cherry pie now, or an ice cream cone, or a bit of bread and butter and jam +I would be all right." + +Well, he just happened to open his valise, and there on the very bottom, +among some papers he found a few crumbs of the honey sandwiches the bumble +bee had given him. Well, you never can imagine how good those few crumbs +tasted to the old gentleman rabbit, which shows you that it is a good +thing to be hungry once in a while, because even common things taste good. + +But the crumbs weren't enough for Uncle Wiggily. As he walked along he +kept getting hungrier and hungrier and he didn't know how he was going to +stand it. + +Then, all of a sudden, as he was passing by a hollow stump, he saw a whole +lot of little black creatures crawling around it. They were going up and +down, and they were very busy. + +"Why, these are ants," said the rabbit. "Well, I s'pose they have plenty +to eat. I almost wish I was an ant." + +"Well! Well!" exclaimed a voice all at once. "If here isn't Uncle Wiggily. +Where did you come from?" and there stood a second cousin to the ant for +whom Uncle Wiggily had once carried home a pound of beefsteak with +mushrooms on it. + +"Oh, I am traveling about seeking my fortune," said the rabbit. "But I +haven't been very successful. I couldn't even find my breakfast this +morning." + +"That's too bad!" exclaimed the ant who wore glasses. "We can give you +something, however. Come on! everybody, help get breakfast for Uncle +Wiggily." + +So all the ants came running up, and some of them brought pieces of +boiled eggs, and others brought oatmeal and others parts of oranges and +still others parts of cups of coffee. So take it altogether, with +seventeen million, four hundred and seventeen thousand, one hundred and +eighty-five ants and a baby ant to wait on him, Uncle Wiggily managed to +make out a pretty fair sort of a breakfast. + +Well, after the old gentleman rabbit had eaten all the breakfast he could, +he thanked the kind ants and said good-by to them. Then he started off +again. He hadn't gone on very far through the woods, before, all of a +sudden he saw something bright and shining under a blackberry bush. + +"Well, I do declare!" cried the old gentleman rabbit. "I think that looks +like gold. I hope I'm not fooled this time. I will go up very slowly and +carefully. Perhaps I shall find my fortune now." + +So up he walked very softly, and he stooped down and picked up the shining +thing. And what do you think it was? Why a bright new penny--as shiny as +gold. + +"Good luck!" cried Uncle Wiggily, "I am beginning to find money. Soon I +will be rich, and then I can stop traveling," and he put the penny in his +pocket. + +Well, no sooner had he done so than he heard some one crying over behind a +raspberry bush. Oh, such a sad cry as it was, and the old gentleman rabbit +knew right away that some one was in trouble. + +"Who is there?" he asked, as he felt in his pocket to see if his penny was +safe, for he thought that was the beginning of his fortune. + +"Oh, I'm lost!" cried the voice. "I came to the store to buy a chocolate +lollypop, and I can't find my way back," and then out from behind the +raspberry bush came a tiny, little striped chipmunk with the tears falling +down on her little paws. + +"Oh, you poor little dear!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "And so you are lost? +Well, don't you know what to do? As soon as you are lost you must go to a +policeman and ask him to take you home. Policemen always know where +everybody lives." + +"But there are no policemen here," said the chipmunk, who was something +like a squirrel, only smaller. + +"That's so," agreed Uncle Wiggily. "Well, pretend that I am a policeman, +and I'll take you home. Where do you live?" + +"If I knew," said the chipmunk, "I would go home myself. All that I know +is that I live in a hollow stump." + +"Hum!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "There are so many hollow stumps here, +that I can't tell which one it is. We will go to each one, and when you +find the one that is your home, just tell me." + +"But that is not the worst," said the chipmunk. "I have lost my bright, +new penny that my mamma gave me for a chocolate lollypop. Oh dear. Isn't +it terrible." + +"Perhaps this is your penny," said the old gentleman rabbit a bit sadly, +taking from his pocket the one he had found. + +"It is the very one!" cried the lost chipmunk, joyfully. "Oh, how good of +you to find it for me." + +"Well," thought Uncle Wiggily with a sorrowful sigh as he handed over the +penny, "I thought I had found the beginning of my fortune, but I've lost +it again. Never mind. I'll try to-morrow." + +So he gave the penny to the chipmunk, and she stopped crying right away, +and took hold of Uncle Wiggily's paw, and he led her around to all the +hollow stumps until she found the right one where she lived. + +And he bought her an ice cream cone because he felt sorry for her. And, +just as she was eating it, along came a big, black bear and he wanted +half of it, but very luckily the July bug flew past just then, and he bit +the bear in the eyes, so that the bad bear was glad enough to run home, +taking his little stumpy tail with him. Then the chipmunk took Uncle +Wiggily back to her home, and he stayed with her papa and mamma all night. + +Now, in case the rocking chair on our porch doesn't tip over in the middle +of the night, and scare the pussy cat off the railing, I'll tell you next +about Uncle Wiggily and the black cricket. + + + + +STORY X + +UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BLACK CRICKET + + +Uncle Wiggily, the nice old gentleman rabbit, was feeling quite sad one +morning as he hopped along the dusty road. It was a few days after he had +helped the lost chipmunk find her way back home, and he had given her the +lost penny which he had also picked up. + +"Oh, dear me!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, as he thought of the penny. +"That's generally the way it is in this world. Nothing seems to go right. +I naturally thought I had found the beginning of my fortune, even if it +was only a penny, and it turned out that the money belonged to somebody +else. Oh dear!" + +Well, the old rabbit traveler actually felt so badly that he didn't much +care whether he found his fortune or not, and that is a very poor way to +feel in this world, for one must never give up trying, no matter what +happens. + +Then Uncle Wiggily looked in his satchel to see if he had anything to eat, +but my goodness sakes alive and a ham sandwich! There wasn't a thing in +the valise! You see he was thinking so much about the penny that he forgot +to put up his lunch. + +"Humph! This is a pretty state of affairs!" exclaimed the old rabbit +gentleman. "Worse and worse, and some more besides! I do declare! Hum! +Suz! Dud!" + +Well, he didn't know what to do, so he sat down on a log beside a shady +bush and thought it all over. And the more he thought the sadder he +became, until he began to believe he was the most miserable rabbit in all +the world. + +"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "I might as well go back +home and done with it." + +But no sooner had he said this, than Uncle Wiggily heard the jolliest +laugh he had ever known. Oh! it was such a rippling, happy joyous laugh +that it would almost cure the toothache just to listen to it. + +"Ha! Ha! Ho! Ho! He! He!" laughed the voice, and Uncle Wiggily looked up, +and he looked down, and then he looked sideways and around a corner, but +he could see no one. Still the laugh kept up, more jolly than ever. + +"Humph! I wonder who that is?" said the rabbit. "I wish I could laugh like +that," and Uncle Wiggily actually smiled the least little bit, and he +didn't feel quite so sad. + +Then, all at once, there was a voice singing, and this is the song, and if +you feel sad when you sing it, just get some one to tickle you, or watch +baby's face when he smiles, and you will feel jolly enough to sing this +song, even if you have been crying because you stubbed your toe. + + "Ha! Ha! Ho! Ho! I gladly sing, + I sing about most anything. + I sing about a pussy cat, + Who caught a little mousie-rat. + I sing about a doggie-dog, + Who saw a turtle on a log. + I sing about a little boy, + Who cried because he broke his toy. + And then he laughed, 'Ha! Ha! He! He!' + Because he couldn't help it; see?" + +"Well, well!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, "I wish I knew who that was. +Perhaps it is a fairy, and if it is, I'm going to ask her for my fortune. +I'm getting tired of not finding it," and when he thought about that he +was sad again. + +But a moment later a little black creature hopped out from under a leaf, +and who should it be but a cricket. + +"Was that you laughing?" asked the old gentleman rabbit, as he again +looked in his valise to see if he had any sandwiches there. "Was it you?" + +"It was," said the cricket. "I was just going--Oh, kindly excuse me, while +I laugh again!" the cricket said, and then he laughed more jolly than +before. + +"What makes you so good-natured?" asked the rabbit. + +"I just can't help it," said the cricket. "Everything is so lovely. The +sun shines, and the birds sing, and the water in the brooks babble such +jolly songs, and well--Oh, excuse me again if you please, I'm going to +laugh once more," and so he did then and there. He just laughed and +laughed and laughed, that cricket did. + +"Well," said Uncle Wiggily, still speaking sadly, "of course it's nice to +be jolly, anybody can be that way when the sun shines, but what about the +rain? There! I guess you can't be jolly when it rains." + +"Oh! when it rains I laugh because I know it will soon clear off, and +then, too, I can think about the days when the sun did shine," said the +cricket. + +"Well," spoke Uncle Wiggily, "there is something in that, to be sure. And +as you are such a jolly chap, will you travel along with me? Perhaps with +you I could find my fortune." + +"Of course I'll come," said the cricket, and he laughed again, and then he +and the old gentleman rabbit hopped on together and Uncle Wiggily kept +feeling more and more happy until he had forgotten all about the +chipmunk's penny that wasn't his. + +Well, in a little while, not so very long, the rabbit and the cricket came +to a dark place in the woods. Oh! it was quite dismal, and, just as they +passed a big, black stump with a hole in it, all of a sudden out popped +the skillery-scalery-tailery alligator. + +"Ah, ha!" exclaimed the unpleasant creature. "Now I have you both. I'm +going to eat you both, first you, Mr. Cricket, and then you, Uncle +Wiggily." + +"Oh, please don't," begged the rabbit. "I haven't found my fortune yet." + +"No matter," cried the alligator, "here we go!" + +He made a grab for the cricket, but the little black insect hopped to one +side, and then, all of a sudden he began to laugh. Oh, how hard he +laughed. + +"Ha! Ha! Ho! Ho! He! He!" My, it was wonderful! At first the alligator +didn't know what to make of it. Harder and harder did the black cricket +laugh, and then Uncle Wiggily began. He just couldn't help it. Harder and +harder laughed the cricket and Uncle Wiggily together, and then, all at +once, the alligator began to laugh. He couldn't help it either. + +"Ha! Ha! Ho! Ho! He! He!" laughed the 'gator, and great big alligator +tears rolled down his scaly cheeks, he laughed so hard. Why, he giggled so +that he couldn't even have eaten a mosquito with mustard on. + +"Come on, now!" suddenly cried the cricket to Uncle Wiggily. "Now is our +chance to get away." + +And before the alligator had stopped laughing they both hopped away in the +woods together, and so the bad scalery-ailery-tailery creature didn't get +either of them. + +"My! it's a good thing you made him laugh," said the rabbit when they were +safely away. + +"It's a good thing to make anybody laugh," said the black cricket, and +then he and Uncle Wiggily went on to seek the old gentleman rabbit's +fortune. + +And in the next story, in case the sunshine doesn't make my pussy cat +sneeze and spill his milk, on the new door mat, I'll tell you all about +Uncle Wiggily and the busy bug. + + + + +STORY XI + +UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BUSY BUG + + +Everywhere Uncle Wiggily and the black cricket went in the next few days, +every one was glad to see them. For they were both so jolly, and laughed +and joked so much along the road, that no one who heard them could be sad. + +They came to one place where there was a boy sick with the toothache, and +his mamma had done everything for him that she could think of, even to +putting mustard on it, but still that boy's tooth ached. + +Well, as soon as that boy saw the cricket and the old gentleman rabbit, +and heard them laugh, why the boy smiled, and then the pain, somehow, +seemed to be better, and he smiled some more, and then he laughed. + +Then Uncle Wiggily told a funny story about a monkey who made faces at +himself in a looking-glass, and got so excited about it that he jumped +around behind the glass, thinking another monkey was there, and there +wasn't, and the monkey fell into the freezer full of ice cream and caught +cold because he ate so much of it. + +Well, that boy opened his mouth real wide to laugh at the funny story and +his mamma all of a sudden slipped a string around the aching tooth and she +pulled it out in a moment, and it never ached again. + +"Oh, how glad I am!" cried the little boy. "I wish you would always stay +with me, Uncle Wiggily--you and the jolly cricket." + +"I'd like to, but I can't," said the old gentleman rabbit. "I must keep on +after my fortune." + +"I'll stay with you for a little while," said the cricket, and he did, +telling some funny stories to other boys who had the toothache, and right +away after that they allowed their bad teeth to be pulled, and their pain +was over. + +So Uncle Wiggily said good-by to the cricket and went on by himself. He +was feeling very good now, for he and the cricket had met a kind muskrat, +a thirty-fifth cousin to Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, and this muskrat gave +Uncle Wiggily a lot of sandwiches for his satchel, so he wouldn't be +hungry again for some time. + +"And I don't mind so much about the cent, either," thought the rabbit, as +he remembered the one that belonged to the chipmunk. "After all a cent is +not so much, and I need more than that for my fortune. Ha! Ha! Ho! Ho!" + +He just had to laugh, you see, when he thought of the jolly cricket. So he +traveled on and on, over hill and dale, until one evening, just as the sun +was going down behind the clouds, all red and golden and violet colored, +he saw a little house built of green leaves. + +"Ha!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "That is a very fine house. I wish I had +one like it in which to stay to-night. But it's too small for me. I guess +I'll have to keep on and look for a haystack under which to crawl." + +Well, just as he said that, all of a sudden there was a little rustling, +scratching noise, and a bug came to the door of the queer little green +leaf house. The bug had a broom and she began sweeping off the front porch +and then she knocked the dirt out of the doormat, and then she swept some +cobwebs off the shutters and then she hurried out and swept off the +sidewalk, all so quickly that you could scarcely see her move. + +"My, but she is a fast worker," said Uncle Wiggily. "She is almost as +quick as Jennie Chipmunk." + +"I have to be!" exclaimed the bug, for the old gentleman rabbit had spoken +out loud without thinking, and the bug had heard him. "I have to hustle +around," she said, "for I am the busy bug, and I have to keep busy. I work +from morning to night to keep my house in order. Now excuse me; I have to +go in and dust the piano," and she was just going to run in the house, +when Uncle Wiggily said: + +"Do you happen to know of a place where I can stay to-night?" + +"Why, yes," said the busy bug. "Next door is a house where Mr. Groundhog +used to live. But now he is away on his vacation, and I have the keys. I'm +sure he wouldn't mind you staying in there over night. I'll get it in +order for you. Come along, hurry up, no time to lose!" + +And before Uncle Wiggily knew what was happening the busy bug had run in, +got the keys, opened the front door of the groundhog's house. Then she +flew in, and she began dusting it. My! what a dust she raised. Uncle +Wiggily had to sneeze, there was so much of it. + +And the funny part of it was that the house was already just as neat and +clean as a piece of cocoanut or custard, or maybe even apple pie. + +"Don't fuss any more with it," said Uncle Wiggily. "It will do very well +as it is." + +"Oh, it must be made cleaner," said the busy bug, and she swept and dusted +until Uncle Wiggily sneezed again. Then the bug dusted a little more, and +at last she said the house was in pretty fair shape and Uncle Wiggily +could sleep there. + +Then the busy bug flew back home and she kept busy up to nine o'clock, +making beds and dusting the crumbs off the mantelpiece and picking up +grains of sand off the floor. Then she went to sleep. + +Well, along in the middle of the night Uncle Wiggily was awakened by +hearing some one talking under his window. He looked out, and there were +two savage old owls. + +"Now, we'll fly right in through her window," said one owl, "and we'll eat +her all up, and then we'll tear her house down." + +And, would you believe it, they started right toward the house of the poor +busy lady bug, who was fast asleep. + +"Ha! This must never be!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "I must save her. How can I +do it?" So he looked around, and he saw a broom, which the busy bug had +left behind when she finished sweeping. "That will do!" cried the rabbit. +He took it in his paws and, leaning out of the window, he held it just as +if it was a gun, and cried: + +"Now, you bad owls, fly away or I'll shoot all your feathers off! Fly away +and don't you harm my friend, the busy lady bug!" + +Well, sir, those owls were so frightened, thinking that Uncle Wiggily was +going to shoot them with the broom-gun (only, of course, they didn't know +it was only a broom), and, would you believe it, they were terribly afraid +and they flew off into the dark woods, and so didn't eat up the busy bug +after all, and she slept in peace and quietness, never even waking up, she +was so tired after being busy all day. + +Then Uncle Wiggily went back to bed, and the owls didn't disturb him again +that night. And in the morning the busy bug got his breakfast and thanked +him when he told her about scaring the owls away with the make-believe +broom-gun. + +Uncle Wiggily traveled on, and soon he had another adventure. What it was +I'll tell you almost right away, when, in case the cake of ice doesn't +melt, and make a mud puddle for the baby to fall into, I'll tell you about +Uncle Wiggily and the funny monkey. + + + + +STORY XII + +UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE FUNNY MONKEY + + +It was a bright and beautiful sunshiny day, and Uncle Wiggily was hopping +along the road, thinking many thoughts and about the busy bug and the +black cricket and all things like that and how hard it was to look and +look for your fortune and never find it, when all of a sudden, just as he +happened to put his crutch down on a round stone, it slipped, and down he +fell kerthump. + +"Oh, wow! Ouch!" cried the old gentleman rabbit as he bumped his nose on a +sharp stick. "That hurt! My, I hope I haven't broken one of my ears or +paw-nails. If I did I'll have to get in the ambulance and go to the +hospital." + +So he sat up very slowly and carefully and looked himself all over and he +was glad to see that he hadn't broken anything except a lettuce sandwich +that he carried in his satchel and, as it was just as good broken as it +was whole, it didn't matter much. + +"Oh, are you hurt?" suddenly cried a voice, as Uncle Wiggily took some +dirt out of his left ear. "If you are I can give you something to put on +your cuts," and out from under a big leaf came a beautiful butterfly. + +"What can you put on my cuts?" asked the rabbit. + +"Oh, I can get some sticky gum from a tree or a flower and spread it on a +leaf and make some court plaster," spoke the butterfly. "It will cure a +cut very quickly." + +"Thank you very much," said Uncle Wiggily, "but very luckily I haven't any +cuts. I'm all right, I guess, but because you are so kind to me here is +just a drop of honey that I found in the bottom of my satchel. The bee +gave it to me." So he handed to the kind butterfly a little honey he had +left. The butterfly was very glad to get it, and fluttered away, jumping +from one flower to another as easily as a boy can spin his top. + +Then the old gentleman rabbit traveled on, and pretty soon, when it was +just about time for dinner, he came to a beautiful place in the woods. The +trees were nice and green and shady, and there was a little brook that was +bubbling and babbling over the mossy stones and then all at once Uncle +Wiggily heard the queerest music he had ever heard. It was like +forty-'leven bands all playing in the park at once. + +"My, I must be near a big picnic!" cried the rabbit. "I shall have to look +out for myself, or some boys may chase me." + +The music kept getting louder but still the old gentleman rabbit didn't +see any people, and he went on very slowly until he came to a little house +built of shingles, and there in front of it sat a monkey. And he was the +funniest monkey you ever saw. + +For that monkey was playing five hand organs all at once. Yes, just as +true as I'm telling you, he was. He played one organ with his left paw and +he played another organ with his right paw, and he played still another +with his left foot and he twisted the crank of another with his right +foot. And then, to finish off with, he whirled around the crank of the +fifth organ with his long tail. Oh, he was a smart monkey, I tell you! + +"My! This is almost as good as a circus!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "I'm +glad I came this way." + +Well, that funny monkey played faster than ever, and on one organ he +played the tune "Please Bring Your Umbrella Inside When it Rains," and on +another he played "May I Have Some of Your Ice Cream Cone if I Give You a +Kiss?" And on the third hand organ the monkey was playing the tune "Come +Out Into the Hammock and See Who'll Fall Out First," and another tune was +"Please Don't Let that Big Black Bug Tickle Me," and on the organ that he +twisted with his tail the monkey ground out the song "Come On Inside the +Motorboat and Have a Nice, Cool Swim." + +"My, how do you do it?" asked the rabbit of the monkey. "You must be very +musical." + +"Oh, it comes natural to me," said the monkey, not a bit proud like. + +"But where did you get so many organs?" + +"Oh, I saved up my pennies for them," said the monkey. "You see, it was +this way. I used to work for a man who had a hand organ, and he used to +take me around with him to climb up on the porches, and in the +second-story windows to get the pennies from the children. Well, I always +loved music, and I wanted the man to let me play his organ, but he never +would. So I made up my mind I would save up all my pennies and some day +buy an organ for myself. + +"Well, I did that, for you know often when I used to go around to collect +pennies for the man, some children would give me a few for myself. Finally +I got rich and I didn't work for the man any longer, and I had enough to +buy five hand organs, for I can play five at once. Then I came here, and +built this shingle house and every day I amuse myself by playing tunes, +and I never have to climb up the rainwater pipe to get money. Oh, it is a +happy life," and the monkey felt so funny that he hung by his tail from a +tree branch, and made faces at Uncle Wiggily--just in fun, you understand. + +Uncle Wiggily was very glad he had met the monkey, and he listened to the +music, and the monkey even let the rabbit play one tune for himself, and +it was called, "When You Wiggle Your Wiggily Ears Wiggle Them Good and +Hard." + +And then, all of a sudden, just as that tune was finished, there was a +terrible noise in the bushes. + +"My goodness! What's that?" cried the monkey as he hopped up on top of one +of his hand organs and curled his tail around the handle. + +"It sounds like a bear!" said the rabbit. "But don't worry. I'll do just +as the cricket did to the alligator and make him laugh so that he won't +hurt us." + +"Good!" cried the monkey. And then the noise became louder and out from +the bushes popped a big animal. But it was an elephant instead of a bear, +and as soon as he saw the monkey and Uncle Wiggily he ran up to them and +shook his trunk at them and cried: + +"Oh, I'm so glad to see you! I just got away from the circus, and I want +to have some fun!" and he was as kind and gentle as he could be and he and +Uncle Wiggily had quite an adventure the next day. + +I'll tell you about it on the next page, when, in case the little boy +across the street doesn't tickle my pussy cat and make him sneeze the +rubbers off the umbrella plant, the story will be about Uncle Wiggily and +the big dog. + + + + +STORY XIII + +UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BIG DOG + + +Let's see, I left off in the last story just where the elephant came out +of the woods and shook his tail--I mean his trunk--at Uncle Wiggily and +the funny monkey, didn't I? Well, now, I'm going to tell you what happened +after that. + +"Why did you run away from the circus?" asked the old gentleman rabbit of +the elephant. "I should think you would like it there. I know Sammie and +Susie Littletail would love a circus." + +"Yes, some folks like it," spoke the elephant slow and thoughtful-like, as +he sat down on his trunk, "but I do not care for it. You see of late the +children ate all the peanuts, instead of giving me my share, and I just +couldn't stand it any longer. Why, it got so, finally, that when a man +would give his little boy five cents to buy a bag of peanuts for me the +little boy would eat all but two or three of the nuts, and those were all +he gave to me. It wasn't enough, so I ran away." + +"I don't in the least blame you," said the monkey, "and I'm going to let +you play some of my hand organs." + +Well, the elephant was delighted at that, and he played one organ with his +trunk and another one with his tail, making some very nice music. + +Uncle Wiggily stayed in the monkey's house that night, and the elephant +wanted to come in also, but of course he was far too big, so he had to +sleep outside under a tree. It was an apple tree, and in the middle of the +night the elephant snored so hard and heavily through his trunk that he +shook the tree and all the apples fell off, and in the morning the monkey +made an apple pie from some of them. + +"I think I had better start off on my travels again," said the old +gentleman rabbit after breakfast. "There must be a fortune for me +somewhere if I can only find it. So I'll trot along." + +"I'll go with you," said the kind elephant. "Perhaps you might see your +fortune in the top of a tall tree, and then you couldn't get it. But I +would pull the tree down for you." + +"That would be fine!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "I'll be glad to have you +travel with me." + +So they said good-by to the monkey, and off they started together, the +rabbit and the elephant. They talked of many things, about how hot it +was, and whether there would be rain soon, and about how much ice cream +cones cost, and sometimes what a little bit of ice cream the man puts in +the cones when he is in a hurry. + +"Speaking of ice cream cones," said the elephant, "makes me hungry for +some. I wish I had one." + +"I wish I had one also," spoke Uncle Wiggily. "You would have to have a +very large one, though, Mr. Elephant, but a small one would do for me." + +"Don't say another word," cried the elephant as he waved his trunk in the +air. "I'm going right off and get us some ice cream cones. I know where +there's a store. You hop along slowly and I'll catch up to you." + +So the elephant went off to the ice cream cone store, and Uncle Wiggily, +with his valise and the barber pole crutch, hopped on through the woods, +looking about to see if his fortune was up in any of the trees, but it +wasn't there yet. + +Well, pretty soon, in a little while, not so very long, all of a sudden +the old gentleman rabbit heard a sniffing-sniffing noise in the woods. And +then there was a rustling in the bushes. + +"Ha, hum!" exclaimed the rabbit. "Perhaps that may be a bear. I had better +look out for myself." + +He started to hop softly away, so the bear, or whatever it was, wouldn't +hear him, but he was too late. In an instant out of the bushes popped +something big and black and shaggy, and the rabbit, taking one look at it, +saw that it was a big dog. + +"New is the time for me to run!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "That dog will eat +me up, sure pop!" + +Away hopped the old gentleman rabbit, his heart going "pitter-patter-pat," +he was so frightened. On and on he ran down a path in the woods. + +"Here, come back here! Come back!" cried the dog. + +"Indeed, I will not," answered Uncle Wiggily. "I know what you want to do. +You want to eat me." + +"No, I don't, honestly!" cried the dog. "But come back, for if you run any +farther on that road you'll fall into a lake and be drowned." + +"Humph! I don't believe that!" cried the rabbit. "You are saying that to +scare me," and on he hopped faster than ever. + +"Come back! Come back!" cried the dog again, but Uncle Wiggily wouldn't. +My! how fast he did hop, until, all of a sudden, as he returned around the +corner of a stump, he saw a lake of water right in front of him. And +before he could stop himself he had fallen plump into it; crutch, satchel +and all, and of course he couldn't swim. And he could hear the dog coming +barking down the path after him. + +"Oh, this is the end of me, sure pop!" thought poor Uncle Wiggily. "I'll +never get any fortune now." + +"Oh, dear!" cried the dog. "I told you how it would be. I tried to save +you from getting in the water," and then the rabbit knew the big dog had +been telling the truth. But it was too late now. Uncle Wiggily was going +down under the deep, dark, cold water when, all of a sudden, along came +the elephant with a great big ice cream cone for himself, and a little one +for Uncle Wiggily. He saw the rabbit in the water and he also saw the big +shaggy dog. + +"Did you push Uncle Wiggily in the water?" asked the elephant, "because if +you did I'm going to throw you in." + +"No, indeed, I didn't," answered the dog. "It was an accident," and he +told the elephant how it happened. "But I'll jump in, grab him and swim +out with him," said the dog. + +"No, don't do that, you might accidentally bite him," spoke the elephant. +"I have a better plan." So he laid down the ice cream cones and then he +put the end of his hollow trunk in the lake, and he began to suck up and +drink the water, just as you suck lemonade up through a straw. + +And presto chango! in a few seconds all the water was sucked out of the +lake by the elephant, and it was dry land and the rabbit could walk safely +to shore, and so he wasn't drowned after all. And how he did thank the +elephant! Uncle Wiggily ate his ice cream cone, and the elephant gave some +of his to the dog, and they were all happy. + +Now, if the elephant doesn't get a sliver in his foot so he can't dance at +the hoptoads' picnic, I'll tell you in the next story about Uncle Wiggily +and the peanut man. + + + + +STORY XIV + +UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE PEANUT MAN + + +After Uncle Wiggily and the elephant and the big dog had eaten up the ice +cream cones, they sat in the woods a while and looked at the place where +the watery lake had been before the elephant drank it up to save the +rabbit from drowning. + +"My, but you must be strong to take up all that water," said the dog. + +"Yes, I guess I am pretty strong," said the elephant, though he was not at +all proud-like. "I will show you how I can pull up a tree," he said. So he +wound his trunk around a big tree and he gave one great, heaving pull and +up that tree came by the roots. Then, all of a sudden a voice cried: + +"Oh, you're upsetting all my eggs!" and a robin, who had her nest in the +tree, fluttered around feeling very sad. + +"Oh, excuse me, Mrs. Robin," said the elephant. "I would not have +disturbed you for the world had I known that your nest was in that tree. +I'll plant it right back again in the same place I pulled it up. Anyhow, I +intended to do it, as it is not a good thing to kill a tree. I'll plant it +again." + +So he put the tree back in the hole, and with his big feet he stamped down +the earth around it. Then the robin's nest and eggs were safe, and she +sang a pretty song because she was thankful to the elephant. + +Well, the elephant had to sleep out-of-doors again that night, because he +couldn't find a house large enough for him, but Uncle Wiggily slept in the +big dog's kennel. In the morning the rabbit said: + +"It is very nice here, and I like it very much, but I must travel along, I +s'pose, and see if I can't find my fortune. Are you coming, Mr. Elephant?" + +"Why, certainly. I will go along with you," said the big chap. "Perhaps +the dog will come also." + +"No, thank you," said the dog. "I am going to meet a friend of mine, named +Percival, and we are going to call on Lulu and Alice and Jimmie +Wibblewobble, the duck children." + +"Is that so?" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "Why, Percival and the +Wibblewobbles are friends of mine. Kindly give them my love and say that +I hope soon to get back home with my fortune." + +So the dog said he would, and he started off to meet Percival, who used to +work in the same circus where the elephant came from. And the rabbit and +the elephant hurried off together down the road. + +"Are you ever going back to the circus?" asked Uncle Wiggily of the +elephant as they went along. + +"Not unless they catch me and make me go," he answered. "I like this sort +of life much better, and besides, no one gave me ice cream cones in the +circus." + +Well, pretty soon the rabbit and the elephant came to a place where there +was a high mountain. + +"Oh, we'll never get up that," said Uncle Wiggily. + +"Yes, we will," said the elephant, "I'll make a hole through it with my +tusks, and we can walk under it instead of climbing over." + +So with his long, sharp tusks he made a tunnel right through the mountain, +and, though it was a bit darkish, he and the rabbit went through it as +easily as a mouse can nibble a bit of cheese. + +[Illustration] + +Then, a little later they came to a place where there was a big river +to cross, and there was no bridge. + +"Oh, we can never get over that," said Uncle Wiggily. + +"Yes, we can," said the elephant. + +"Are you going to drink it up as you did the lake?" asked the rabbit. + +"No," said the elephant, "but I will make a bridge to go over the river." +So he found a great big tree that the wind had blown down, and, taking +this in his strong trunk, the elephant laid it across the river, and then +he laid another tree and another, and pretty soon he had as good a bridge +as one could wish, and he and Uncle Wiggily crossed over on it. + +Well, they hadn't gone on very far, before, all of a sudden the elephant +fell down, and he was so heavy that he shook the ground just like when a +locomotive choo-choo engine rushes past. + +"Oh, whatever is the matter?" asked Uncle Wiggily. "Did you hurt +yourself?" + +"No," said the elephant, sad-like, "I am not hurt, but I am sick. I guess +I drank too much ice water, which is a bad thing to do in hot weather. Oh, +how ill I am! You had better go for a doctor." + +Well, that poor elephant was so ill that he had to lie down on the ground, +and he cried and groaned, and the big tears rolled down his trunk, and +made quite a mud puddle on the earth. For when an elephant is ill he is +very ill, indeed, as there is so much of him. + +"I'll cover you with leaves so you won't get sunburned," said Uncle +Wiggily, "and then I'll hop off for a doctor." Well, it takes a great +number of leaves to cover up an elephant, but finally the rabbit did it, +and then away he started. + +He looked everywhere for an elephant doctor, but he couldn't seem to find +any. There were dog doctors and horse doctors and cat doctors and even +doctors for boys and girls, but none for the elephant. + +"Oh, what shall I do?" thought the rabbit. "My poor, dear elephant may +die." + +Just then he heard some one singing in the woods like this: + + "Peanuts, they are good to eat, + Mine are most especially neat, + I am going to make them hot + So that you will eat a lot." + +"Oh, are you an elephant doctor?" cried Uncle Wiggily. + +"No, I am a hot-peanut-man," said the voice, and then the peanut roaster +began to whistle like a tea-kettle. "But, perhaps I can cure a sick +elephant," said the peanut man. So he and Uncle Wiggily hurried off +through the woods to where the elephant was groaning, and, would you +believe it? as soon as the big chap heard the whistle of the hot-peanut +wagon and smelled the nuts roasting he got well all of a sudden and he ate +a bushel of the nuts and Uncle Wiggily had some also. So that's how the +elephant got well, and he and the rabbit traveled on the next day. + +They had quite an adventure, too, as I shall have the pleasure of telling +you in the next story which will be about Uncle Wiggily and the crawly +snake--that is if the baby doesn't drop his bread and butter down the +stovepipe and make the rice pudding laugh. + + + + +STORY XV. + +UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CRAWLY SNAKE + + +"Do you feel all right to travel to-day?" asked Uncle Wiggily of the +elephant the next morning, after the hot-peanut-man had cured the big +chap. + +"Oh, yes, I feel very fine!" said the elephant. "We will travel along +together again, and perhaps we may find your fortune this time." + +"Hadn't we better take some extra peanuts with us, in case you become ill +again?" asked the rabbit, as he looked in the satchel to see if he had any +sandwiches, in case he got hungry. + +"Oh, to be sure, we must have peanuts!" exclaimed the elephant. "Take as +many as we can carry, for I just love 'em!" + +So they hunted up the hot-peanut-man, and bought all the rest of his +peanuts, besides paying for those the elephant had eaten to make himself +get well. + +"Good luck to you!" cried the peanut man, as he wheeled away his empty +wagon, "I wish I had elephants for customers every day, then I would soon +get rich," and away he went singing: + + "I sell peanuts good and hot, + Five cents buys you quite a lot. + Get your money and come here, + Buy my peanuts, children dear. + + "My peanuts are hot and brown, + Finest ones in all the town. + Nice and juicy--good to chew, + I have some for all of you." + +"Well, come on," said the elephant to Uncle Wiggily, "put some peanuts in +your valise, and I will carry the rest." + +"How; in your trunk?" asked the rabbit. + +"No, I'm going to wrap them up in a bundle, and tie them on my back. I +want my trunk to squirt water through when it gets hot, as I think the sun +is going to be very scorchy to-day." + +So he tied the bundle of peanuts on his back, and then the two friends +journeyed on together. Well, it did get very hot, and it kept on getting +hotter, and there wasn't much shade. + +"Oh my, I wish it would rain a little shower!" said Uncle Wiggily, as he +wiped his ears with his handkerchief. "I am as hot as an oven." + +"I can soon fix that part of it," said the elephant. And pretty soon he +came to a spring of cold water, and he sucked a lot of it up in his hollow +trunk, and then he squirted a nice cool, fine spray of it over the rabbit, +just as if it came out of a hose with which papa waters the garden or +lawn. + +"My! That feels fine!" said the rabbit. Then the elephant squirted some +water on himself, and they went on, feeling much better. + +But still they were warm again in a short time, and then the elephant +said: + +"I know what I am going to do. I am going to get some more ice cream +cones. They will cool us off better than anything else. I'll go for them +and bring back some big ones. You stay here in the shade, Uncle Wiggily, +but don't walk on ahead, or you may tumble into the water again." + +"I'll not," promised the rabbit. "I'll wait right here for you." + +Off the elephant started to get the ice cream cones and pretty soon he +came to the store where the man sold them. + +[Illustration] + +"I want two of your very coldest cones," said the elephant to the man, for +sometimes, in stories, you know, elephants can talk to people. "I want a +big strawberry cone for myself," the elephant went on, "and a smaller +one for my friend, Uncle Wiggily, the rabbit." + +"Very well," said the man, "but you will have to wait until I make a large +cone for you." + +So that man took seventeen thousand, six hundred and eighty-seven little +cones and made them into one big one for the elephant. Then he took +eighteen thousand, two hundred and ninety-one quarts of strawberry ice +cream, and an extra pint, and put it into the big cone. Then he made a +rabbit-sized ice cream cone for Uncle Wiggily and gave them both to the +elephant, who carried them in his trunk so they wouldn't melt. + +But I must tell you what was happening to Uncle Wiggily all this while. As +he sat there in the shade of the apple tree, thinking, about his fortune +and whether he would ever find it, all of a sudden he saw something round +and squirming sticking itself toward him through the bushes. + +"Ha! the elephant has come back so quietly that I didn't hear him," +thought the rabbit. "That is his trunk he is sticking out at me. I guess +he thinks I don't see him, and he is going to tickle me. I hope he has +those ice cream cones." + +Well, the crawly, squirming, round thing, which was like the small end of +an elephant's trunk, kept coming closer and closer to the rabbit. + +"Now, I'll play a trick on that elephant--I'll tickle his trunk for him, +and he'll think it's a mosquito!" said Uncle Wiggily to himself. + +He was just about to do this, when suddenly the crawly thing made a sort +of jump toward him, and before the rabbit could move he found himself +grasped by a big, ugly snake, who wrapped himself around the rabbit just +as ladies wrap their fur around their necks in the winter. It wasn't the +elephant's trunk at all, but a bad snake. + +"Now, I have you!" hissed the snake like a steam radiator in Uncle +Wiggily's left ear. "I'm going to squeeze you to death and then eat you," +and he began to squeeze that poor rabbit just like the wash-lady squeezes +clothes in the wringer. + +"Oh, my breath! You are crushing all the breath out of me!" cried Uncle +Wiggily. "Please let go of me!" + +"No!" hissed the snake, and he squeezed harder than ever. + +"Oh, this is the end of me!" gasped the rabbit, when all of a sudden he +heard a great crashing in the bushes. Then a voice cried: + +"Here, you bad snake, let go of Uncle Wiggily." + +And bless my hat! If the elephant didn't rush up, just in time, and he +grabbed hold of that snake's tail in his trunk, and unwound the snake from +around the rabbit, and then the elephant with a long swing of his trunk +threw the snake so high up in the air that I guess he hasn't yet come +down. + +"I was just in time to save you!" said the elephant to Uncle Wiggily. +"Here, eat this ice cream cone and you'll feel better." + +So the rabbit did this, and his breath came back and he was all right +again, but he made up his mind never to try to tickle a crawly thing again +until he was sure it wasn't a snake. + +So that's all for the present, if you please, but in case my fur hat +doesn't sleep out in the hammock all night, and catch cold in the head so +that it sneezes and wakes up the alarm clock, I'll tell you next about +Uncle Wiggily and the water lilies. + + + + +STORY XVI + +UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE WATER LILIES + + +Uncle Wiggily was hopping along through the woods one day, and pretty +soon, as he went past a cute little house, made out of corncobs, he heard +some one calling to him. + +"Oh, Mr. Rabbit," a voice said, "have you seen anything of my little +girl?" And there stood a nice mamma cat, looking anxiously about. + +"I don't know," answered Uncle Wiggily, as he stopped in the shade of a +tree, and set down his valise. "Was your little girl named Sarah, Mrs. +Cat?" + +"Oh, indeed, my little girl is not named Sarah," said Mrs. Cat. "She is +called Snowball, and she is just as cute as she can be. She is all white, +like a ball of snow, and so we call her Snowball. But she is lost, and I'm +afraid I'll never find her again," and the kittie's mamma began to cry, +and she wiped her tears on her apron. + +"Oh, don't worry. Never mind. I'll find her for you," said the kind old +gentleman rabbit. + +"I can't find my fortune but I believe I can find Snowball. Now, tell me +which way she went away, and I'll go search for her." + +"I didn't see her go out of the house," said Mrs. Cat, "because I was +making a cherry pie, and I was very busy. Snowball was playing on the +floor, with a ball of soft yarn, and it rolled out of doors. She raced out +after it, and I thought she would soon be back. I put the cherry pie in +the oven and then when I went to look for her she was gone. Oh, dear! I +just know some horrid dog has hurt her." + +"Please don't worry," said Uncle Wiggily. "I'll find her for you. I'll +start right off, and if I can't find her I'll get a policeman, and he can, +for the police always find lost children." + +So Uncle Wiggily started off, leaving his valise with Mrs. Cat, but taking +his crutch with him, for he thought he might need it to beat off any bad +dogs if they chased after Snowball. + +First the old gentleman rabbit looked carefully all along the road, but he +couldn't see anything of the lost pussy cat. + +"Perhaps she may be up a tree," he said to himself. "If a dog chased her +she would climb up one, and perhaps she is afraid to come down." + +So he looked up into all the trees, and he even shook some of them in +order to see up them better, but he did not discover the pussy cat. Then +he called: + +"Snowball! Snowball! Snowball! Where are you?" + +But there was no answer. + +"Oh, if there was only some bird who could call 'Snowball' I would get +them to call for the lost pussy," thought Uncle Wiggily. + +Then he looked up and he saw a big black bird sitting on a tree. + +"Can you call 'Snowball' for me?" asked the rabbit, politely. "She is lost +and her mamma wants her very much. Just call 'Snowball' as loudly as you +can." + +"I can't," said the big black bird. "All I can cry is 'Caw! Caw! Caw!' I +am a crow, you see." + +"That is too bad," said the rabbit. "Then I will have to keep on searching +by myself," so he did, and the crow flew away to look for a cornfield that +had no scarecrow in it to frighten him. + +Well, Uncle Wiggily looked in all the places he could think of, but still +there was no pussy to be seen, and he was just thinking he had better go +for a policeman. But he thought he would try just one more place, so he +looked down a hollow stump, but Snowball was not there. + +"I'll have to get a policeman after all," said the rabbit, so he told a +policeman cat about the lost pussy, and the policeman cat searched for +Snowball, but he couldn't find her, either. + +"I guess she is gone," said the policeman. "You had better go back and +tell her mamma that she hasn't any little pussy girl any more." + +"Oh, how sad it will be to do that!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "I just can't +bear to." + +But he started back to the corncob house to tell Mrs. Cat that he couldn't +find her Snowball. And all the while he kept feeling more and more sad, +until he was almost ready to cry. + +"But I must be brave," said the old gentleman rabbit, and just then he +came to a pond where a whole lot of beautiful, white water lilies were +growing. Oh, they are a lovely flower, with such a sweet, spicy smell. As +soon as Uncle Wiggily saw them he said: + +"I'll pick some and take them home to Mrs. Cat. Perhaps they will make her +feel a little happy, even if her Snowball is gone forever." + +So with his long crutch Uncle Wiggily pulled toward shore some of the +water lilies, until he could pick them on their slender stems. Some of the +flowers were wide open, and some were closed, like rosebuds. + +He took both kinds home to Mrs. Cat, and when he told her he couldn't find +Snowball she was very sorrowful and she cried. But she loved the flowers +very much, and put them in a bowl of water. + +"I'll stay here to-night," said the rabbit, "and in the morning I'll look +for Snowball again. I'm sure I'll find her." + +"Oh, you are very kind," said Mrs. Cat, as she wiped away her tears. + +Well, the next morning Uncle Wiggily got up real early, and the first +thing he saw was the bowl of water lilies on the parlor table. They had +all closed up like buds in the night, but in the sunlight they all opened +again into beautiful flowers. + +And, would you believe me, right in the middle of one of the flowers +something white moved and wiggled. Then it gave a little "Mew!" and then +Uncle Wiggily cried: + +"Oh, Mrs. Cat, come here quickly! Here is Snowball! She was asleep inside +of one of the water lilies!" + +And, surely enough, there was the little lost kittie, just awakening in +one of the flowers, and she was exactly the color of it. And, oh, how glad +she was to see her mamma again, and how her mamma did hug her! + +"How did you get in that flower?" asked Uncle Wiggily. + +"Oh, when I went after my ball a big dog chased me," said Snowball, "so I +jumped into one of the lilies and I fell asleep, and the flower went shut +and I stayed there. But now I'm home, and I'm glad of it," and she just +kissed Uncle Wiggily on the tip end of his nose, that twinkled like a star +on a frosty night. + +So that's how Snowball was lost and found, and I'm going to tell you about +Uncle Wiggily and the sunflower, that is if the sunfish doesn't spread the +butter too thick on the baby's bread with his tail and make her slide out +of her high chair. + + + + +STORY XVII + +UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE SUNFLOWER + + +Mrs. Cat and her daughter Snowball liked Uncle Wiggily so much that they +wanted him to stay with them a long time. + +"You can build yourself a nice little corncob house next to ours," said +Snowball, "and live in it; and you can tell me a story every night." + +"Oh, but rabbits live underground, and not in corncob houses, though such +houses are very nice," said Uncle Wiggily. "I guess I'll have to be +traveling on." + +"If you stay, I'll bake you a cherry pie every day," said Mrs. Cat. "And +you can help find Snowball when she gets lost again." + +"Cherry pie is very good, and you are very kind," said the rabbit +politely, "but I have my fortune to find." + +"Well, if you can't stay you can't, I s'pose," said Snowball; "but I'm +never going to get lost again," and she put her little nose down deep +inside a water lily and smelled it, and oh, how sweet and spicy it +smelled! + +So Uncle Wiggily got ready to start off on his travels again, and in his +satchel he put a whole cherry pie that Mrs. Cat had baked for him. + +"It will taste good when you are hungry," she said. + +"Indeed it will," agreed Uncle Wiggily, and he wished he was hungry then +and there, because he just loved cherry pie. + +He was walking on through the woods, when, all at once, he heard some +music playing, and the name of the song was "Never Take Your Ice Cream +Cone and Drop it in the Mud." + +"Ha! I believe that is the funny monkey and one of his hand organs!" +exclaimed the rabbit. "I shall be glad to see him again." + +So he looked through the trees, and there, surely enough, was the monkey, +and he was playing the organ with his tail, and in one paw he held a +cocoanut and in the other paw an orange, and first he would take a bite of +the orange, and then a bite of the cocoanut. + +"I always like music when I eat," said the monkey as he threw a bit of +orange skin over his left shoulder. + +"How comes it that you are away off here," asked the rabbit. + +"Oh! I got tired of staying home," said the monkey. "I thought I would go +out and see if I could make a few pennies by playing music." Then he +played another tune called, "Don't Sit Down When You Stand Up." + +Well, Uncle Wiggily listened to the music, which he liked very much, and +he began to feel hungry. Then he thought of the cherry pie, that the cat +lady had put in his valise. + +"I guess I'll eat some of that and give the monkey a bit," he said, and he +did so. + +"Oh, this is most delicious and scrumptious!" cried the monkey, as he and +Uncle Wiggily sat there eating the pie, and wiping off the juice with +green leaves, so as not to soil their clothing. + +"Indeed, it is very delectable," said the rabbit, hungry-like. "Have +another piece." + +Well, he was just cutting it off, when, all of a sudden, before you could +say "Boo!" to an elephant, a terrible voice cried: + +"Here! Give me that pie! I must have cherry pie!" and before the monkey or +Uncle Wiggily knew what was happening, out from behind the bushes jumped +the skillery-scallery-tailery alligator, gnashing his teeth. + +"Give me that pie!" he cried again, opening his mouth wide enough to +swallow a cake as big as a wash-tub. + +"No, you cannot have it," said Uncle Wiggily, and, as quick as a wink, he +popped the pie into his valise and closed it up. "Now you can't get it!" +the rabbit said. + +"Then I'll get you and the monkey!" cried the alligator, as he made a dash +for both of them. + +"Not me! You can't catch me!" exclaimed the monkey, as he skipped up into +the top of a tall tree. Then, of course, as the alligator couldn't climb a +tree he couldn't get the monkey. The skillery-scallery creature tried to +eat the hand organ, and he tried to play it, but he could do neither. Then +he got real angry. + +"I'll chase after Uncle Wiggily and eat him!" he cried out, for by this +time the rabbit was hopping along down the road. After him went the +'gator, coming nearer and nearer. + +"Stop! Stop! I want you!" cried the alligator to the rabbit. + +"I know you do, but you can't have me!" replied the rabbit. "I don't want +to be eaten up!" + +So he ran on as fast as he could, but still the alligator came on after +him, and the savage beast was almost up to Uncle Wiggily. + +"Oh, if I only had some place to hide!" panted the poor rabbit. "Then +maybe the alligator would pass me by." + +So he looked around for a place in which to hide, but just then he found +himself in a field, and all that he could see were a whole lot of +sunflowers growing near a fence. + +"Oh, I can't hide behind those flowers because the stems are so small +around," thought Uncle Wiggily. "And I can't climb up them, and sit on the +big flower, because I can't climb, and besides the stems are too slender +to hold me up. Oh, what shall I do?" + +Well, the alligator was coming nearer and nearer, and the rabbit could +hear the gnashing of his teeth, when, all at once one of the sunflowers +called out. + +"Gnaw through my stem, and cut me down, Uncle Wiggily. Then you can hold +my big blossom up in front of you and the alligator can't see you." + +"But won't it hurt you to cut you down?" asked the rabbit. + +"No, for I will grow up again next year," said the big sunflower. "Hurry +and cut me down, and hide behind me, and I'll shine in the eyes of the +alligator and blind him." + +So Uncle Wiggily quickly gnawed through the sunflower stalk with his sharp +teeth, and down the flower came. Then the rabbit held the blossom up in +front of himself, and hid behind it, and the yellow flower, which is +round, just like the sun, shone so brightly into the alligator's face +that he couldn't look out of his eyes, and so he was partly blinded, and +he couldn't see to catch Uncle Wiggily, and he had to crawl away without +eating the rabbit. + +Then Uncle Wiggily thanked the sunflower, and laid it gently down, and +hopped on his way again to seek his fortune. + +And the story after this, in case the washbowl and pitcher don't do a +funny dance in the middle of the night and wake up my puppy dog, I'll tell +you about Uncle Wiggily and the lightning bugs. + + + + +STORY XVIII + +UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE LIGHTNING BUG + + +It was a very warm day, and as Uncle Wiggily walked along, carrying his +satchel, and sort of leaning on his crutch, for his rheumatism hurt him a +bit, he said: + +"It is very hard to have to look for your fortune on a hot day, I wish it +was nice and cool, and then I would feel better." + +"I can tell you where there is a cool place," said a little yellow bird, +as she flew along in the air over the head of the old gentleman rabbit. + +"Do you mean in an icehouse?" asked the traveling rabbit as he took off +his hat to see if the sun had burned it any. + +"No, but of course that is a cold place," said the bird, as she sang a +funny little song about a curly-headed dog who hadn't any nose and every +time he walked along he stepped upon his toes. "But I don't mean an +icehouse," went on the bird, as she turned her head to one side. "However, +I know a nice cool place in the woods where you can lie down and have a +little sleep. By that time the hot sun will go down behind the clouds, and +then you can travel on in comfort." + +"I believe that will be a good plan," spoke the rabbit. "I'll do it. +Please show me the way to the cool place." + +So the bird flew on ahead, and Uncle Wiggily hopped on behind, and pretty +soon he came to a place in the woods where there was a little babbling +brook, flowing over mossy green stones, and telling them secrets about the +fishes that swam in the cool water. Then there were long, green ferns +leaning over, and nodding their heads as they dipped down to take a drink +out of the brook. There was also a nice little cave, made of stones, and +that was almost as cool as an icehouse. + +"Oh, this will be just fine for me!" exclaimed the rabbit, as he hopped +inside the stone cave. "I'll go to sleep here." + +So he stretched out on a pile of leaves, and the little yellow bird began +to sing a sleepy song. This is how it went, to the tune "Lum-tum-tum +tiddily-iddily-um:" + + "Sleep, Uncle Wiggily, sleep. + Don't open your eyes to peep. + I'll sing you a song, + That's not very long. + It's not sad, so please do not weep." + +Well, as true as I'm telling you, before she had sung more than +forty-'leven verses the old gentleman rabbit was fast, fast asleep, and, +no matter how hot the sun shone down, Uncle Wiggily was nice and cool. + +Well, pretty soon, in a little while, a savage, bad hawk-bird flew down +from high in the air, where he had seen the little yellow bird sitting on +the tree, near the cave, where the rabbit was sleeping. And the hawk made +a dash for the yellow bird, and would have eaten her up only the bird flew +quickly away and hid in a hollow stump, and that hawk was so mad that he +bit a leaf off a tree and tore it into three pieces--the leaf, I mean, not +the tree. + +Well, after that the yellow bird didn't dare stay near the cave, for the +hawk was on the watch to catch her, and, of course, Uncle Wiggily had no +one to awaken him when it was cool enough for him to travel on and seek +his fortune. + +He slept and he slept, and then he slept a little more, and all of a +sudden he awakened and it was nearly night. My! how he did jump up then +and rub his eyes with his paws, and he couldn't think, for a minute or so, +just where he was. + +"Oh, now I remember!" he exclaimed. "I'm in the cave. Oh, dear me! but +it's coming on night. The yellow bird must have forgotten to wake me up. I +wonder what I shall do?" + +So he went out of the cave to look for the bird, but he couldn't find her. +The savage hawk was there, however, but when he saw Uncle Wiggily and +noted how brave he was, even if he did have the rheumatism, that hawk just +gnashed his beak and flew away. + +Then it got darker and darker, and poor Uncle Wiggily didn't know what to +do, for he didn't know whether or not it would be safe to stay in the +cave. + +"A bear might come along and eat me," he thought. "This cave might be a +bear's den. I guess I will travel ahead and look for some other place +where I can spend the night. But I don't like traveling in the dark." + +However, there was no help for it, so the old gentleman rabbit, after +eating a lettuce sandwich, took up his satchel, grasped his crutch firmly, +and started away. + +He traveled on through the woods, and it kept getting darker and darker, +until at last Uncle Wiggily couldn't see anything in front of him but just +blackness. + +"Oh, this will never do!" he cried. "I can't go on this way. If I only +had a lantern it would be all right." + +Then, all at once, he heard a sort of growling noise in the bushes, and +then he heard a sniffing-snuffling noise, and pretty soon a voice cried: + +"Oh, ha! Oh, hum! I smell fresh rabbit. Now, I will have a good supper!" + +"That must be a savage bear or a fox!" cried the rabbit. "I guess this is +the last of me!" + +Then he saw two round circles shining in the darkness, two flashing, +bright, shining things, and he was more frightened than ever. + +"Oh, those are the glaring eyes of the fox or bear!" thought Uncle +Wiggily. "I'm done for, sure!" + +Then something made a jump for him, out of the bushes, but the rabbit +crouched down, and the beast jumped over him. Then, would you ever believe +it? those two shining things flew nearer, and instead of being the eyes of +a fox or bear they were two, good, kind, lightning bugs, who were flitting +about. + +"Oh, you'll be a lantern for me, won't you?" cried the rabbit, anxiously. +"Will you please light me out of these woods, and keep the savage beasts +away?" + +"Of course, we will!" cried the two lightning bugs. And they flew closer +to the rabbit. Then the savage fox, for he it was who had made a jump for +Uncle Wiggily, was so afraid of the sparkling lights, that he ran away and +hid in the bushes, fearing he would be burned. Then the two bugs called +for all of their friends to come and make the woods light so the old +gentleman rabbit could see. + +And pretty soon seventeen thousand, four hundred and eighty-three big +lightning bugs, and a little baby one besides, came flying along, and the +woods were almost as light as day, and Uncle Wiggily could see to hop on. +The bugs flew ahead, shining themselves like fairy lanterns, and pretty +soon the rabbit came to a nice hollow stump, where he remained all night. +And some of the bugs stayed with him to keep the bears and foxes away. + +Then, in the morning, after thanking the bugs, the rabbit traveled on +again, and he had another adventure. What it was I'll tell you on the next +page, when, in case my pussy cat goes in swimming and doesn't get her fur +wet, the story will be about Uncle Wiggily and the Phoebe birds. + + + + +STORY XIX + +UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE PHOEBE BIRDS + + +"Well, I don't seem to be finding my fortune very fast," said Uncle +Wiggily to himself the next day, as he traveled on, after the lightning +bugs had shown him the way out of the woods. "Here I've been tramping +around the country for a considerable while, and all I've found was one +cent, and that belonged to the chipmunk. + +"I wish I could find a little money. Then I would buy some peanuts and +sell them, and make more money, and pretty soon I would be rich, and I +could go back home and see Sammie and Susie Littletail." + +So he walked along, looking very carefully on the ground for money. All he +found for some time were only old acorns, and, as he couldn't eat them, +they were of no use to him. + +"If Johnnie or Billie Bushytail were here now I would give them some," he +said. But the squirrels were far away frisking about in the tops. + +Now, as true as I'm telling you, a moment after that, just as Uncle +Wiggily was going past a big stone, he saw something bright and shining in +the leaves. + +"Oh, good luck!" he cried. "I've found ten cents, and that will buy two +bags of peanuts. Now I'll get rich!" + +So he picked up the shining thing, and oh! how disappointed he was, for it +was only a round piece of tin, such as they make penny whistles of. + +"Oh, dear!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "Fooled again! Well, all I can do is to +keep on." + +He went on a little farther, until he came to a place where there were a +whole lot of prickly briar bushes, with red berries growing on them. + +"Oh, ho!" exclaimed the rabbit. "Some of those berries will do for my +dinner, as I'm getting hungry. I'll pick a few." + +He was just going to pick some of the berries, when he happened to notice +a big, red thing, like a red flannel bag, standing wide open near a hole +in the bushes. And in front of the red place was a sign, which said: + +"Come in, one and all. Everybody welcome." + +"It looks very nice in there," thought the rabbit. "Perhaps it is the +opening of a circus tent. I'm going in, for I haven't seen a show in some +time. And, maybe, my friend, the elephant, will be in there." + +Uncle Wiggily was just going to hop into the funny red opening that had +the sign on it, when a little ant came crawling along, carrying a small +loaf of bread. + +"Hello, Uncle Wiggily," said the ant. "Where are you going?" + +"I am going inside this red circus tent," said the rabbit. "Won't you come +in with me? I'll buy you a ticket." + +"Oh, never go in there--don't you do it!" cried the ant, and she got so +excited that she nearly dropped her loaf of bread. "That is not a circus +tent; it is only the skillery-scalery-tailery alligator, and he has opened +his mouth wide hoping some one will come in, so he can have a meal. Don't +go in." + +"I won't," said Uncle Wiggily, quickly as he hopped away, and then he took +up a stone and tossed it into the red mouth of the scalery-tailery-wailery +alligator. The alligator shut his jaws very quickly, thinking he had +something good to eat, but he only bit on the stone, and he was so angry +that he lashed out with his tail and nearly knocked over a hickory-nut +tree. + +Then the ant crawled home, and Uncle Wiggily hopped on out of danger and +the alligator opened his mouth again, hoping some foolish animal would +walk into the trap he had all ready for them. + +Well, in a little while after that, as the old gentleman rabbit was going +along under the big tree, all of a sudden he heard a voice calling, rather +sadly and sweetly: + +"Phoebe! Phoebe!" + +"My goodness, that must be some little lost girl named Phoebe, and her +sister is calling for her," he thought. "I wonder if I could help find +her?" For, you know, Uncle Wiggily was just as kind as he could be, and +always wanting to help some one. + +Then he heard the voice again: + +"Phoebe! Phoebe!" + +"Where are you?" asked the rabbit. "I'll help you hunt for your sister +Phoebe. Where are you, little girl?" + +But the voice only called again: + +"Phoebe! Phoebe!" + +"I guess she can't hear me," said the rabbit. "I'll shout more loudly." + +So he cried out at the top of his voice: + +"I'll help you find Phoebe. Tell me where you are, and we'll go off +together to hunt for her." + +But this time the calling voice was farther off, though still the rabbit +could hear it saying: + +"Phoebe! Phoebe!" + +"My goodness me, sakes alive, and a bottle of stove polish! I can't make +this out," said Uncle Wiggily. "That little girl is so worried about her +lost sister that she doesn't pay any attention to me. But I'll help her +just the same." + +So he hopped on toward where he heard the voice calling, and pretty soon, +believe me, he heard two voices. One cried out: + +"Phoebe! Phoebe!" + +And the other one called just the same, only a little more slowly, like +this: + +"Phoe-be! Phoe-be!" + +"Now, there are two of her sisters calling for the lost one," said the +rabbit. "They must be very much worried about Phoebe. Perhaps a bear has +eaten her. That would be dreadful! I must help them!" + +So he hopped on through the woods, faster than ever, crying out: + +"I'm coming! I'm coming! Old Uncle Wiggily is going to help you find +Phoebe." + +And then, would you believe me, Uncle Wiggily heard seven voices, all +calling at once: + +"Phoebe! Phoebe! Phoebe! Phoebe! Phoebe! Phoebe! Phoebe!" + +"Oh, now the whole family is after that lost child," said the rabbit. "I +had better go for a policeman." And then he happened to look up, and he +saw a whole lot of little birds sitting on a tree, and each one was +calling: + +"Phoebe!" just like that. Really I'm not fooling a bit; honestly. + +"Oh my! How surprised I am!" cried the rabbit. "Was that you birds calling +for the little lost girl?" + +"It was," said the largest bird, "but there isn't any lost girl. You see +we are Phoebe birds, and that is the way we always sing. We always say +'Phoebe--Phoebe' over and over again. We didn't mean to fool you. It's +only our way of calling." + +"Oh, that's all right," said the rabbit. "I don't mind. It was good +exercise for me to run after you." + +Well, those birds liked Uncle Wiggily so much that they sang their +prettiest for him, and asked him to stay to dinner, which he did. And he +had chocolate cake with candied carrots on top. + +And that's all to this story, if you please, but in case a red bird brings +me some green flower seeds to plant in my garden so I can grow some +lollypops, I'll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the milkman. + + + + +STORY XX + +UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE MILKMAN + + +Well, now I guess we're all ready for the story of the chicken who tried +to roll an egg up hill, and it fell down, and was broken into forty-'leven +pieces and the monkey--Oh dear! Did you ever hear of such a thing? I guess +I must have turned over two pages in the story book instead of one, for +to-night I'm going to tell you about Uncle Wiggily and the milkman, and +not about the chicken and the egg at all. That comes in later. + +Let's see then, we left the old gentleman rabbit just after he had met the +Phoebe birds, didn't we? Well, a few days after that, as Uncle Wiggily was +hopping along with the elephant, who had come back to him again, now and +then, when he was tired, taking a ride on the back of the big fellow, all +of a sudden they heard a voice crying: + +"Ah, ha! Now I have you!" + +"My! What's that?" asked the old gentleman rabbit. + +"It must be somebody after us," answered the elephant. "But don't you be +afraid, Uncle Wiggily, I'll take care of you, and not let them hurt you. +Just get behind me." + +So the rabbit got behind the big elephant, and, would you believe it? you +couldn't see Uncle Wiggily at all, not even if you were to put on the +strongest kind of spectacles, such as Grandma wears. For he was hidden +behind the elephant. + +Then, in another moment a man with a long rope came bursting through the +bushes, and he ran straight toward the elephant. + +"Now I have you!" cried the man again. "You must come right back to the +circus with me." + +"Oh, it's you they want, and not me," remarked Uncle Wiggily, and then he +wasn't afraid any more, and felt better, for he knew that he could still +travel on and seek his fortune. + +"Yes, they're after me," said the elephant sadly. "I guess I'll have to +leave you, Uncle Wiggily. Do you want me to go with you, Mr. Man?" + +"Yes, we want you back in the circus show." + +"Will I have all the peanuts I want?" asked the elephant. + +"Oh, yes," promised the man, "you may have a bushel and a pint every day, +besides a pailful of pink lemonade." + +"Then I'll come," said the elephant, "though I would like to have Uncle +Wiggily come also. But he still has his fortune to find. Come and see me +some time," he called to the rabbit. + +"I will," said Uncle Wiggily. Then the man tied a rope around the +elephant's trunk and led him away, and the big fellow waved and flapped +his ears at the rabbit to say good-by. + +"Now I must travel all alone once more," said Uncle Wiggily to himself, as +he hopped on through the woods. "And I do hope I find part of my fortune +to-day, even if it's only ten cents' worth." + +Well, he was passing across a nice green field a little while after that +when, all of a sudden, he heard some voices talking. He looked all around, +but he couldn't see any one, and he wondered if perhaps there were fairies +about. Then he heard a voice say: + +"Now, children, hop just as I do. Take a long breath and then hop, and be +very careful where you go." + +Then Uncle Wiggily looked down in the grass, and he saw a mamma hoptoad +and a whole lot of her little toads hopping along. The mamma toad was +giving the little ones their morning lesson. And I just wish you could +have seen how nicely those tiny toads could hop. One little chap, named +Sylvester, hopped over a big stone, and his little sister, named +Clarabella, leaped over a stick with a nail in it and didn't get hurt a +bit. + +"Ha! That is very good hopping! Very fine, indeed!" cried Uncle Wiggily, +waving his ears back and forth. "I could hardly do better myself." + +"Oh, it's very kind of you to say so," said the mamma toad. "Now, +children, give a big hop for Uncle Wiggily." + +Well, they all took long breaths, and they were just going to hop when the +old gentleman rabbit suddenly called: + +"Look out! Hold on! Don't jump!" + +They all stopped quickly, and the mamma toad wanted to know what was the +matter. + +"Why, there is a big cow walking along," said the rabbit, for he could see +over the top of the grass better than could the toads, and could watch the +big cow coming. "If that cow stepped on you, why, you would never hop +again," said the rabbit, and then he led the toads out of danger. + +"Oh, I'm ever so much obliged to you," said the mamma toad to the rabbit. +"You saved our lives." + +Then she had all the little toads thank the old gentleman rabbit, and the +mamma toad asked him to come to her house for dinner. Uncle Wiggily went, +but the toad's house was so small that he couldn't get in, until he had +made it bigger by scratching away some of the dirt around the front door. + +Then he had a very good dinner, and he stayed all night at the toad +family's house and watched the little ones hop some more, and he and the +papa toad talked about the weather. + +Well, in the morning when Uncle Wiggily got up and washed his face and +paws, and combed out his whiskers, he suddenly heard all the little toads +crying. + +"Hum! Suz! Dud!" he exclaimed, "some of them must have the toothache." So +he went down stairs, and there all the toad family were sitting around the +breakfast table, but they weren't eating. + +"What's the matter?" asked Uncle Wiggily, sadly-like. + +"Why," said the papa toad, "the milkman hasn't come, and the children have +no milk for their oatmeal, and I have none for my coffee, and I'm in a +hurry to get down to the store where I work." + +"That's too bad," said the rabbit. "Can't you use condensed milk?" + +"We haven't any," spoke the mamma toad. + +[Illustration] + +"Well, I'll hop out and see if I can see the milkman coming," said the +rabbit, "for I can see a long distance." So he went out and he hopped up +and down the street, and he looked up and down, but no milkman could he +see. And the little toads were getting hungrier and hungrier every minute +and they cried a lot, yes, indeed! + +"This is too bad!" said Uncle Wiggily. "I guess that milkman must be lost. +What can I do? Ah, I have it!" and away he hopped off toward the green +fields. Pretty soon he came to where the cow, who had nearly walked on the +toads, was eating grass, and, stepping up to her, Uncle Wiggily politely +asked: + +"Will you please give me some milk for the toads?" + +"To be sure I will," said the cow, kindly, "and I'm sorry I nearly stepped +on them yesterday." So she gave Uncle Wiggily a canful of fresh milk, for +the rabbit had brought the milk can out with him. Then Uncle Wiggily +hopped to the toadhouse as fast as he could, and the little toads had milk +for their breakfast, and didn't cry any more. + +Then, after a while, the milkman (who was a big puppy dog) came along and +said he was sorry he was late, but he couldn't help it, because he had +stepped on a thorn and had a lame foot and couldn't go fast, so they +forgave him. + +"Well, I'll travel along now, I guess," said Uncle Wiggily, and once more +he started off to seek his fortune. And if you don't let your bathing suit +fall into the water and get all wet, I'll tell you next about Uncle +Wiggily's swimming lesson. + + + + +STORY XXI + +UNCLE WIGGILY'S SWIMMING LESSON + + +Uncle Wiggily was so tired and worn out after running for milk for the +toad family that he couldn't travel very far that day to seek his fortune. +He slept that night in a doghouse, where a kind puppy named Towser lived, +and Towser covered the old gentleman rabbit up with leaves and straw and +kept watch so that no one would hurt him. + +"For I have heard about you from Percival, the old circus dog," said +Towser, the next morning when the rabbit awakened, "and I feel quite like +a friend to you. Will you gnaw one of my juicy bones?" + +"No, thank you," said Uncle Wiggily, "but if I had a bit of carrot I would +be very glad." + +"Don't say another word!" cried Towser. "I will have it for you in less +than two shakes of a crooked stick, or a straight one, either." + +So he ran out into the vegetable garden, and, very carefully he dug up a +fine yellow carrot, which Uncle Wiggily ate for his breakfast. Then the +rabbit rested all that day, and stayed another night with Towser. And +Towser invited some of his friends over to call on the rabbit, and they +had quite an evening's entertainment. + +Towser sang a funny song and stood on his tail, and Uncle Wiggily jumped +over two chairs and a footstool, and a dog named Rover stood up on his +hind legs and begged, and made believe he was a soldier with a broom for a +gun, and did lots of tricks like that. + +Well, the next day Uncle Wiggily felt well enough to go on with his +travels again and so he started off. + +"I will go part of the way with you," said Towser, "to see that no harm +comes to you." + +"Thank you, very much," said the rabbit, and so they set off together, the +puppy dog carrying Uncle Wiggily's valise for him. + +Pretty soon, not so very long, they came to a pond of water, and as soon +as Towser saw it, he cried out: + +"Oh, it is such a hot day I think I'll jump in and have a swim. Come on, +Uncle Wiggily, have a swim with me." + +"Oh, no, I can't swim," said the old gentleman rabbit. + +"What! You can't swim?" cried the dog. "Well, every one ought to swim, +for when they go on their vacation if they fall in the water they won't +drown if they know how to keep themselves up. Watch me and see how easy it +is." + +So Towser set the satchel down on the bank and, taking off some of his +clothes, into the water he jumped with a big splashy dive. Right down +under the water he disappeared. + +"Oh, he'll be drowned, sure!" cried Uncle Wiggily, who was much +frightened. But, no. In a second up came Towser, shaking the water from +his hair and eyes, and then he began swimming around as easily as a +chicken can pick up corn. + +"Come on in, Uncle Wiggily," he called. "The water is fine." + +"Oh, I'm afraid!" said the rabbit. + +"Then the first thing to do is to get so you are not afraid of the water," +said the dog. "You needn't be. Just see; it will hold you up easily if you +go at it right. Just keep your nose out, and don't splutter and splash too +much and you can swim. Come in and I will give you a lesson." + +So Uncle Wiggily got in the water. At first it took his breath away, but +after a bit he got used to it, and he found that he could wade away far +out. Then he tried holding his breath and ducking his head away under, and +he found that he could do that and not be harmed in the least, and at +last he got so he wasn't afraid at all in the water. + +"Now for a lesson," said the puppy dog. "You must wade out so that the +water is up to your neck, and then you face toward shore, so you won't be +frightened. Then you just lean forward, gently and easily, and you kick +out with your legs like a frog, and you wave your hands around from in +front of you to your sides, and keep on doing that and you'll swim." + +"I'll try it," said the rabbit. + +So he tried it, but, all of a sudden, he cried out: + +"Ouch! Oh, my! Oh, dear me! Oh, hum, suz dud!" + +"What's the matter," asked the dog, looking around. + +"A fish bit my toe," exclaimed the rabbit. + +"Oh, I guess you only hit it on a stone," said Towser. "Fish are too +frightened to bite any one. Come on, strike out and swim as I do." + +Then Uncle Wiggily wasn't afraid, and soon he was swimming as nicely as +could be. For you know to swim you must first not be a bit afraid of the +water, for it can't hurt you. If ever you fall in, don't breathe--just +hold your breath as long as you can. Then, pretty soon you'll come up, and +if some one doesn't grab you, and you go under again, hold your breath +until you come up once more and then some one will surely grab you. + +"You must never breathe under water--just hold your breath," said Towser +to Uncle Wiggily, and the rabbit did it that way, and soon he could even +swim under water. + +"Well, I'm much obliged to you," he said to Towser, "but now I must be on +my way to seek my fortune." + +So he said good-by to Towser and hopped on. And he hadn't gone very far +before a big bear saw him and chased after him. + +"Oh, I'll catch you!" cried the bear to the rabbit. Well, I just wish you +could have seen Uncle Wiggily run! He ran until he came to a big river, +and the bear was right after him. + +"Now I have you!" cried the bear. "You can't get across the river." + +"Oh, can't I?" asked the rabbit. "Just you watch and see!" + +So Uncle Wiggily threw his crutch and valise across the stream, and then +into it he jumped, and he swam just as Towser had taught him and he got +safely on the other side and so saved his life, for the bear couldn't swim +and Uncle Wiggily could. So you see it's a good thing to know how to swim, +and I hope all of you, who are big enough, know how to keep up in the +water. + +Well, Uncle Wiggily got across to the other shore, and he looked back and +there that bear was raging and tearing around as mad as mad could be, +because the rabbit had gotten away from him. But I'm glad of it; aren't +you? + +Now I have another story for you, and, in case my typewriter doesn't fall +in the lake and the fishes don't eat up the hair ribbon on it, I'll tell +you about Uncle Wiggily in the bear's den. + + + + +STORY XXII + +UNCLE WIGGILY IN THE BEAR'S DEN + + +Well, here we are again, all ready for a story, I suppose, and I hope you +had a nice time at the surprise party. Let me see now, what shall I tell +you about? How would you like to hear about the old gentleman rabbit and +the toadstool? + +Oh, my! I just happened to remember that I promised to write about Uncle +Wiggily getting into the bear's den, so of course I'll have to tell about +that first, and afterward I'll write the story about the toadstool. I'll +tell you this much, however, the toadstool story is very curious, if I do +say so myself. + +Anyhow, Uncle Wiggily was hopping along one fine morning, following a +stormy night, and he was thinking about the swimming lesson he had had a +few days before. + +"I wonder if I have forgotten how to move my legs, and go skimming through +the water?" he said to himself as he set down his valise, and leaned his +crutch against a prickly briar bush. "I must practice a little." + +And the old gentleman rabbit did practice then and there, going through +all the motions of swimming, only he was on dry land, of course. Next he +twinkled his nose, like a star on a very hot night, when you drink iced +lemonade to keep cool, and then Uncle Wiggily hopped forward once more. + +He hadn't gone very far before he noticed a grasshopper moving along so +swiftly that the old gentleman rabbit could hardly see the legs go +flip-flap. My, but that grasshopper did hippity-hop! + +"Hold on there, if you please!" called Uncle Wiggily. "What is your hurry. +Are you late for school?" + +"There is no school now," said the grasshopper, as he sat on a daisy +flower, "but I am hopping along to get out of danger." + +"Danger? What danger is there around here?" asked the rabbit. "Do you see +a fox, or anything like that?" + +"No, but don't you hear that dreadful noise?" asked the grasshopper. +"Listen, and you will hear it. It scared me so that I went away as fast as +I could." + +So Uncle Wiggily listened, and sure enough he heard, away off in the +woods, a voice shouting: + +"Help! Help! Help! Oh, won't some one please help me, or I'll be killed!" + +"There, did you hear it?" asked the grasshopper, as he shivered and got +ready to flit away again, "he said he was going to kill us." + +"Oh, no! Nonsense!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "That is some poor animal +caught in a trap, and he's afraid of being killed himself. I'm going to +see who it is. Perhaps it is a friend of mine." + +"Oh, no! Don't you go!" begged the grasshopper. "For it may be the +alligator with the skillery-scalery-railery tail." + +"Oh, preposterous!" cried Uncle Wiggily, who sometimes used big words when +he was excited. "I'm not afraid. I'm going to help whoever it is, and, +perhaps, in that way I may find my fortune." + +So the grasshopper, who was very much frightened, flew on, and the rabbit +hopped toward where he could hear the voice still calling for help. + +And whom do you s'pose it was? Why, the second cousin to Grandfather +Prickly Porcupine was caught fast in a trap, and he was calling for help +as loudly as he could call. + +"Oh, I'm so glad you came along," said the porcupine to Uncle Wiggily. +"Please help me to get my leg out of this trap." + +"Of course I will," said the rabbit, and with his crutch he pried open the +trap, and set free the nice little second cousin to Grandfather Prickly +Porcupine. + +"Oh, how thankful I am to you," said the porcupine, as he limped away. "If +ever I can do you a favor I will." And, would you believe it? the time was +soon to come when that porcupine was to save Uncle Wiggily's life. + +Well, the old gentleman rabbit hopped on, looking all over for his +fortune, but he couldn't seem to find it anywhere until, all of a sudden, +as he was walking along by some big stones, he saw something shining, and +picking it up, he found he had a silver twenty-five-cent piece. + +"Oh, my goodness me, sakes alive and a piece of cherry pie!" cried the +rabbit. "I've found part of my fortune! I'll have good luck now, and +perhaps I can find more." + +So the rabbit looked all about in among the stones for other money. But he +didn't find any, and pretty soon he came to a place where there was a hole +down in between the big rocks. + +"Perhaps there is more money down there," said the rabbit. "I'll take a +look." He leaned over, and looked down, and then--Oh, how sorry I am that +I have to tell it, but I do, all of a sudden Uncle Wiggily fell right down +that black hole. + +Right down into it he fell, and he landed at the bottom with such a bump +that he nearly broke his spectacles. At first it was so dark that he +couldn't make out anything, but in a little while he could see something +big and black and shaggy coming toward him, and a grillery-growlery voice +called out: + +"Who's there? Who dares to come into my den?" + +"It is only I," said the rabbit. "I'm Uncle Wiggily Longears, and I came +in here by mistake. I was looking for my fortune." + +"Ah, ha!" cried the bear, for the shaggy creature with the +grillery-growlery voice was a bear. "Ah, ha! That is a different story. I +am very glad you dropped in to see me, Mr. Longears. I was just wondering +what I'd have for my dinner, and now I know--it is going to be rabbit +stew, and you are going to be stewed," and the bear opened the dining-room +shutters so he could see to eat the rabbit. + +"Oh, how can you be so cruel to me?" asked Uncle Wiggily. "I only came in +here by mistake. I found twenty-five cents, and I was looking for more." + +"Found twenty-five cents, did you, eh?" cried the bear, savage-like. "Give +it to me at once! I lost that, it's my money!" + +And he took the twenty-five-cent piece right away from Uncle Wiggily. Then +the bear was just going to eat up the nice old gentleman rabbit, and Uncle +Wiggily didn't know how to get away, and he was feeling most dreadful, +when, all of a sudden, a voice sharply cried: + +"Here, you let my friend Uncle Wiggily alone," and then some one scrambled +down through the top hole of the bear's den. + +"Who are you?" asked the shaggy creature with the grillery-growlery voice, +and the bear gnashed his teeth. + +"I'm the second cousin to Grandfather Prickly Porcupine," was the answer, +"and I'm going to save my rabbit friend." + +And with that the porcupine took out a whole handful of his +stickery-ickery quills, like toothpicks, and he stuck them right into the +soft and tender nose of that bad bear. And the stickery-ickery quills so +tickled the bear and hurt him that he nearly sneezed his head off, and +tears came into his eyes. + +"Now's our time! Come on, let's get away from here!" cried the porcupine +to the rabbit, and up out of the bear's den they scrambled, and got safely +away before the bear had finished his sneezing. + +"Oh, you saved my life," said Uncle Wiggily to the prickly porcupine, "and +I thank you very much." Then they traveled on together, and they had an +adventure the next day. + +What it was I'll tell you soon, when, in case the boys who go in swimming +don't duck my typewriter under water and make it catch the measles, I'll +tell you about Uncle Wiggily and the toadstool. + + + + +STORY XXIII + +UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE TOADSTOOL + + +"Were you much frightened when you were in the bear's den?" asked the +prickly porcupine as he and Uncle Wiggily went along the road next day. +They had slept that night in a hole where an old fox used to live, but +just then he was away on his summer vacation at Asbury Park, and so he +wasn't home. + +"Was I frightened?" repeated the old gentleman rabbit, as he looked to see +if there was any mud on his crutch, "why I was so scared that my heart +almost stopped beating. But I'm glad you happened to come along, and that +you stuck your stickery-ickery quills into the bear's nose. It was very +lucky that you chanced to come past the den." + +"Oh, I did it on purpose," said the porcupine. "After you got me out of +the trap, and I scurried away, I happened to think that you might go past +the bear's house, so I hurried after you, and--well, I'm glad that I +did." + +[Illustration] + +"So am I," said the rabbit. "Will you have a bit of my carrot sandwich?" + +"I don't mind if I do," said the porcupine, polite-like, so he and the +rabbit traveler ate the carrot sandwiches as they walked along. + +"Well, I don't believe I'm ever going to find my fortune," said Uncle +Wiggily sadly. "I began to have hopes, when I picked up the +twenty-five-cent piece, but now the bear has that and I have nothing. Oh, +I certainly am very unlucky." + +"Never mind," said the porcupine, "I'll help you look." But even with the +sharp eyes, and the sharp, stickery-ickery quills of the hedgehog, Uncle +Wiggily couldn't find his fortune. + +But it is a good thing the old gentleman rabbit had company, for as they +were walking along under some trees, all of a sudden a big snake hissed at +them, like a coffee-pot boiling over. And then the snake uncoiled himself +and tried to grab the rabbit by the ears. + +"Here! That will never do!" cried the porcupine, and then and there, +without even stopping to take off his necktie, that brave creature stuck +twenty-seven and a half stickery-stockery-stackery quills into the snake, +and then that snake was glad enough to crawl away. Oh, my, yes, and a +basketful of soap bubbles besides! + +Well, it wasn't long after that before it was dinner time, and the two +friends sat down in a place where there were a lot of toadstools to eat +their lunch. They sat on the low toadstools, and the higher ones they used +for tables, each one having a toadstool table for himself, just like in a +restaurant. + +"Now, this is what I call real jolly," said the porcupine, as he ate his +third piece of hickory-nut pie with carrot sauce on it. + +"Yes, it is real nice," said the rabbit. "After all, it isn't so bad to go +hunting for your fortune when you have company, but it's not so much fun +all alone." + +Well, the two friends were just finishing their meal, and they were +getting ready to travel on, when, all at once, there was a terrible +crashing sound in the bushes, just as if some one was breaking them all to +pieces. + +"My! What's that?" asked the porcupine, preparing to pull out some more of +his stickery-ickery quills. + +"It sounds like the elephant," said the rabbit, as he looked around for a +safe place in which to hide in case it should happen to be the bear coming +after him. + +"Oh, if it's the elephant, we don't have to worry. He is a friend of +ours," said the porcupine. + +Well, the crashing in the bushes still kept up, and then before you could +tickle your pussy cat under the chin-chopper, there burst out of the +middle of a prickly briar bush a great big alligator--the same one who +once before had tried to catch Uncle Wiggily. + +"Oh, look!" cried the porcupine. "He's after us." + +"Indeed, I am!" exclaimed the 'gator. "I'll have a fine meal in about a +minute. I'll pull all your quills out, and eat you with strawberry sauce +on; prickly porcupine." + +"Oh, don't you let him do it!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "Stick some of your +quills in him, and make him go away, Mr. Porcupine." + +"It wouldn't do any good," said the porcupine. "You see, the alligator has +such a thick skin on him that even a bullet will hardly go through, so my +quills won't hurt him. I guess we had better run away." + +Well, they started to run away, but the 'gator, with his skillery-scalery +tail, chased after them, and he could go very quickly, too, let me tell +you. Right after Uncle Wiggily and the porcupine the alligator raced, and +he almost caught both of them. Then the porcupine saw a hole just big +enough for him to squeeze down, but not big enough for the alligator to +come after. + +Down into this hole jumped the prickly porcupine, and he was safe, but +there was no hole for Uncle Wiggily to hide in, and the alligator was +close after him. + +"Jump up on a toadstool, and maybe he can't get you!" called the +porcupine, sticking the end of his nose out of the hole. + +"I will!" cried the rabbit, and up on top of the biggest toadstool he +landed with a jump. + +"Oh, I can easily get you off there!" yelled the alligator, savage-like. +"I'll have you down in a minute." + +He reached up with his claws to get the rabbit, and Uncle Wiggily got +right in the middle of the toadstool, as far away as he could, but it +wasn't very far. The alligator's claws almost had him, when all of a +sudden that toadstool quickly began to grow up tall. Taller and taller it +grew, for toadstools grow very fast you know. Higher and higher it went, +like an elevator, taking Uncle Wiggily up with it. + +"Oh, now I'm safe!" cried the rabbit, for he was quite high in the air by +this time. + +"No, you're not. I'll get you yet!" cried the alligator, as he reared up +on the end of his skillery-scalery tail. He made a grab for the rabbit, +but the kind toadstool at once grew itself up as tall as the church +steeple, with Uncle Wiggily still on top, and then, of course, the +alligator couldn't reach him. + +"Oh, now I'm safe, but how ever am I going to get down?" thought the +rabbit, for the alligator was still there. But, in another minute, along +came a policeman dog, and with his club he made that alligator run away +back to the swamp where he belonged. Then the toadstool began to get +smaller and smaller, and it sank down close to the ground again and +lowered the rabbit just like on an elevator in a store, and Uncle Wiggily +was safe on earth once more. And he was very thankful to the toadstool, +which grew up so quickly just in time. + +"Well, we'd better get along once more," said Uncle Wiggily to the prickly +porcupine, after he had thanked the dog-policeman. So the two friends set +off together through the woods, and the next day something else happened +to them. + +I'll tell you what it was on the next page, when, in case the iceman +brings me some hot chocolate to put on my bread and butter, the bedtime +story will be about Uncle Wiggily and the chickie. + + + + +STORY XXIV + +UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CHICKIE + + +"Well, what shall we do to-day?" asked the second cousin to Grandfather +Prickly Porcupine, as he crawled out of his bed of dried leaves, and +looked over to where Uncle Wiggily was washing his whiskers. "Are we going +to travel some more?" + +"Oh, yes," answered the old gentleman rabbit, "we must still keep on, for +I have yet to find my fortune." + +"What are you going to do with your fortune when you find it?" asked the +porcupine. "Will you buy a million ice cream cones with the money?" + +"Oh, my goodness sakes alive, and a pot of mustard, no!" replied Uncle +Wiggily. "If I ate as many cones as that I would have indigestion, as well +as rheumatism. When I find my fortune I am going back home, and I'll buy +something for Sammie and Susie Littletail, and for Johnnie and Billie +Bushytail, and for all my other animal friends, including Grandfather +Goosey Gander. That's what I'll do when I find my fortune." + +"Very good," said the porcupine, and then he got up and washed his face +and paws. And he wiped them on the towel after the old gentleman rabbit, +instead of before him, for you see when the porcupine soaked up the water +off his face he left some of his stickery-stockery quills sticking in the +towel, and if Uncle Wiggily had used it then he might have been scratched. +But, as it was, the rabbit didn't even get tickled, and very glad of it he +was, too. Oh, my, yes, and some pepper hash in addition. + +Well, Uncle Wiggily and the porcupine had their breakfast and then they +started off. They hadn't gone very far before they met a locust sitting on +the low limb of a tree. And this locust was buzzing his wings like an +electric fan, and making more noise than you could shake your handkerchief +at on a Tuesday morning. + +"Why do you do that?" asked the rabbit. + +"To keep myself cool," said the locust. "I am fanning myself with my buzzy +wings for it is going to be a very hot day." + +"Then we must keep in the shade as we travel along," said the porcupine, +and that is what he and the old gentleman rabbit did. And it is a good +thing they did so, for, as they walked along where it was cool and dark, +beneath clumps of ferns, and under big, tall trees, they passed by a place +where a bad snake lived. + +"Look out! There's the snake's hole!" cried Uncle Wiggily, and he jumped +to one side. + +"Ha! I'm ready for him!" called the porcupine, and he got some of his +stickery quills ready to jab into the snake. But the snake was out on a +big rock, sunning himself in the hot sun, though when he heard the rabbit +and porcupine talking he made a jump for them and tried to catch them. + +But you see they were in the cool shadows, and the snake's eyes were +blinded by the sun, so he could not see very well, and thus the rabbit and +his friend escaped. + +"I tell you it is a good thing we heard the locust sing, and that we kept +in the shade, or else we might have stepped right on that snake and he'd +have bitten and killed us," said the porcupine, and Uncle Wiggily said +that this was true. + +Well, they kept on and on, and pretty soon they sat down in the shade of a +mulberry tree and ate their lunch. Then they rested a bit, and in the +afternoon they traveled on farther. + +And, just as they were passing by a large, gray rock, that had nice, green +moss on it, all of a sudden they heard something calling like this: + +"Cheep! Cheep! Chip-cheep-cheep! Oh, cheep! Peep! Peep!" + +"What's that?" asked Uncle Wiggily in a whisper. + +"I don't know. Maybe a burglar fox," answered the porcupine also, in a +whisper. "But I'm all ready for him." + +So he got out some of his sharpest stickery quills to jab into the burglar +fox, and the noise still kept up: + +"Cheep! Cheep! Yip! Yip! Yap! Yap! Cheep-chap!" + +"That doesn't sound like a fox," said the rabbit, listening with his two +ears. + +"No, it doesn't," admitted the porcupine, and he stuck his quills back +again like pins in a cushion. "Perhaps it is the skillery-scalery +alligator, and my quills would be of no use against him," he went on. + +Then, all at once, before Uncle Wiggily could make his nose twinkle like a +star of a frosty night more than two times, there was a rustling in the +bushes, and out popped a poor, little white chickie--only she wasn't so +very white now, for her feathers were all wet and muddy. + +"Cheep-chap! Yip-yap!" cried the little chickie. + +"Why, what in the world are you doing away off here?" asked Uncle +Wiggily. "You poor little dear! Where is your mother?" + +"Oh, me! Oh, my!" cried the little chickie. "I only wish I knew. I'm lost! +I wandered away from my mamma, and my brothers, and sisters, and I'm lost +in these woods. Oh chip! Oh chap! Oh yip! Oh yap!" Then she cried real +hard and the tears washed some of the dirt off her white feathers. + +"Don't cry," said Uncle Wiggily, kindly. "We'll help you find your mamma, +won't we, Mr. Porcupine?" + +"Of course we will," said the stickery-stockery creature. "You go one way, +Uncle Wiggily, and I'll go the other, and the chickie can stay on this big +rock until one of us comes back with her mamma." + +"Yes, and here is a piece of cherry pie for you to eat while we are gone," +said the rabbit, giving the lost chickie a nice piece of the pie. + +So off the rabbit and the porcupine started to find the chickie's mamma. +They looked everywhere for her, but the porcupine couldn't find the old +lady hen, so he went back to the rock to wait there with the lost chickie +so she wouldn't be lonesome. But Uncle Wiggily wouldn't stop looking. +Pretty soon he heard something going "cluck-cluck" in the bushes, and he +knew that it was the mamma hen. Then he went up to her and said: + +"Oh, I know where your little lost chickie is." + +Well, at first, that mamma hen didn't know who the rabbit was, and she +ruffled up her feathers, and puffed them out, and let down her wings, and +she was going to fly right at Uncle Wiggily, but she happened to see who +he was just in time and she said: + +"Oh, thank you ever so much, Uncle Wiggily. I was so worried that I was +just going down to the police station to see if a policeman had found her. +Now I won't have to go. Come along, children, little lost Clarabella is +found. Uncle Wiggily found her." + +So she clucked to all the other children, and the rabbit led them toward +where Clarabella was sitting on the rock with the porcupine. + +And on the way a big, ugly fox leaped out of the bushes and tried to eat +up all the chickens, and Uncle Wiggily also. But the old mother hen just +ruffled up her feathers and puffed herself all out big again, and she flew +at that fox and picked him in the eyes, and he was glad enough to slink +away through the bushes, taking his fuzzy tail with him. + +Then the rabbit hopped on and took the mamma hen to her little lost +chickie on the rock, and the rabbit and the porcupine had supper that +night with the chicken family and slept in a big basket full of straw next +door to the chicken coop. + +Then they traveled on the next day and something else happened. What it +was I'll tell you right soon, when, in case a little boy named Willie +doesn't crawl up in my lap when I'm writing and pull my ears, as the +conductor does the trolley car bell-rope, the story will be about Uncle +Wiggily and the wasp. + + + + +STORY XXV + +UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE WASP + + +"What would you like for breakfast this morning?" asked Mrs. Hen, as Uncle +Wiggily and the porcupine got up out of their bed in the clean straw by +the chickens' coop. This was the day after the rabbit found the little +white chickie. + +"Ha, hum! Let me see," exclaimed the rabbit, as he waved his whiskers +around in the air to get all the straw seeds out of them: "what would I +like? Why, I think some fried oranges with carrot gravy on them would be +nice, don't you, Mr. Porcupine?" + +"No," said the stickery-stockery creature. "I think I would like to have +some bread with banana butter on and a glass of milk with vanilla +flavoring." + +"You may both have what you like, because you were so kind to my little +lost Clarabella," said Mrs. Hen. Then she spoke to her children. + +"Scurry around now, little ones, and get Uncle Wiggily and his friend the +nice things for breakfast. Hurry now, for they will be wanting to travel +on before the sun gets too hot," the mamma hen said. + +So one little chickie got the oranges, and another chickie got the +bananas, and still another chickery-chicken, with a spotted tail, got the +carrots, and then Clarabella went to where Mrs. Cow lived, and got the +milk for the prickly porcupine. Then Mrs. Hen cooked the breakfast, and +very good it was, too, if I may be allowed to say so. + +"Well, I guess we'll be getting along now," said Uncle Wiggily. "Are you +still going to travel with me, Mr. Porcupine?" + +"Oh, yes, I'll come with you for a couple days more, and then if you don't +find your fortune I'll start out by myself, and perhaps I can find it for +you." + +So the two friends went on together. They traveled over hills and down +dales, and once they met a lame rabbit, who had the epizootic very bad. +Uncle Wiggily showed him how to make a crutch out of a cornstalk, just as +Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, the muskrat, had done, and the lame rabbit made +himself one and was much obliged. + +Then, a little later they met a duck with only one good leg, and the +other one was made of wood, and this duck wanted to get over a fence but +she couldn't, on account of her wooden leg. + +"Pray, how did you lose your leg?" asked Uncle Wiggily, as he and the +porcupine kindly helped her over the rails. + +"Oh, a bad rat bit it off," said the duck. "I was asleep in the pond one +morning and before I knew it a rat swam up under water, and nipped off my +leg." + +"Oh, I'm so sorry," said the rabbit. "I'll tell Alice and Lulu and Jimmie +Wibblewobble, my duck friends, to be careful of bad rats in their pond." + +"That's a good idea," spoke the duck with the wooden leg, and then she +said good-by and waddled away. + +After that Uncle Wiggily and the porcupine traveled on some more, and, as +it got to be very warm they thought they would lie down in a shady place +and take a little sleep. + +Well, they picked out a nice place under a clump of ferns, that leaned +over a little babbling brook, and touched the tips of their green leaves +into the cool water. And, before he knew it, dear old Uncle Wiggily was +fast, fast asleep, and he snored the least little bit, but please don't +tell any one about it. + +Then pretty soon the porcupine was asleep too, only he didn't snore any, +though I'm not allowed to tell you why just now. I may later, however. + +Well, in a little while, something is going to happen. In fact, it's now +time for it to begin. Yes, here comes the stingery wasp. Listen, and you +can hear him buzz. + +"Buzz! Buzz! Bizzy-buzzy-buzzy!" went the stingery wasp, as he flew over +the place where the rabbit and porcupine were sleeping. And the wasp +flitted and flapped his bluish wings and lifted up the sharp end of his +body where be carries his stingery-sting. + +"Ah, ha! I see something to sting!" thought the wasp. "Now, I wonder which +one I shall sting first? I think I will try the porcupine, and then I will +sting the rabbit." Oh, but he was a bad wasp, though; wasn't he, eh? + +Well, he was all ready to sting the porcupine, when suddenly the wasp +heard a voice calling to him from the bushes. + +"Don't sting the porcupine, Mr. Wasp, sting the rabbit," said the rasping +voice. + +"Why should I do that?" asked the wasp, as he looked to see if his sting +needed sharpening. + +"Oh, because if you sting the porcupine you might get stuck with his +stickery-stockery quills," said the voice. "But the rabbit can't hurt you. +Besides, if you sting him for me I will give you a popcorn ball." + +[Illustration] + +"Why are you so anxious for me to sting the rabbit?" asked the wasp, as he +flittered his steely-blue wings. + +"Oh, if you do that it will scare him so that he won't know which way to +run, and then, when he is all puzzled up, I can jump out on him and eat +him up!" said the voice. "I have been wanting a rabbit dinner this long +time," and with that out from the bushes crawled the bad fox. + +"Very well," said the wasp, "I'll sting the rabbit on the end of his +twinkling nose for you, and then you must give me a popcorn ball," for you +know wasps like sweet things. + +So the wasp got ready to sting poor Uncle Wiggily, and all this while the +rabbit and the porcupine were peacefully sleeping there under the ferns, +and they didn't know what was going to happen. + +"Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!" went the wasp, as he flew closer to Uncle Wiggily. He +was all ready to sting him, when a piece of bark happened to fall off a +tree and hit the porcupine on his left ear, waking him up. He opened his +eyes very quickly, thinking that a fairy was throwing snowballs at him, +and then the porcupine heard the wasp buzzing, and he saw the wasp flying +straight toward Uncle Wiggily to sting him, and next the porcupine saw +the bad fox. + +"Ha! So that is how things are, eh?" cried the porcupine, as he jumped up. +"Well, I'll soon put a stop to that!" + +So, before you could fan yourself with a feather, the porcupine took out +one of his stickers, and he stuck the wasp with it so hard that the bad +wasp was glad enough to fly away, taking his stinger with him. + +"Now, it's your turn!" cried the porcupine to the fox, and with that he +threw a whole lot of his sharp quills at the fox, and that bad creature +ran away howling. And then Uncle Wiggily woke up and wanted to know what +it was all about, and what made the buzzing and howling noises. + +"You had a narrow escape," said the porcupine as he told the rabbit about +the wasp and the fox. + +"I guess I did," admitted Uncle Wiggily. "I'm much obliged to you. Now +let's have supper." + +So they ate their supper, and that's all I can tell you for the present, +if you please. But, in case I see a little pig with a pink ribbon tied in +his curly tail, I'll make the next bedtime story, about Uncle Wiggily and +the bluebell. + + + + +STORY XXVI + +UNCLE WIGGLY AND THE BLUEBELL + + +Well, I didn't see any little pig with a pink ribbon tied in his kinky, +curly tail, but I'll tell you a story just the same if you'd like to hear +it. + +Once upon a time, a good many years ago, when--Oh, there I go again! I'm +always making mistakes like that, of late. That's a story about a giant +that I was thinking of, whereas I meant to tell you one about Uncle +Wiggily, and what happened to him. + +It was the day after the wasp had nearly stung him, and the old gentleman +rabbit was traveling on alone, for the second cousin to Grandfather +Prickly Porcupine had to go home, and so he couldn't help Uncle Wiggily +hunt for his fortune any longer. + +"Now take care of yourself," the porcupine had said to the rabbit, as they +bade each other good-by, "and don't let any wasps sting you." + +"What should I do, in case I happened to be stung?" asked Uncle Wiggily. + +"Put some mud on the place," said the porcupine. "Mud is good for stings." + +"I will," said the rabbit, and then he hopped on with his valise and his +red-white-and-blue-striped-barber-pole crutch. Uncle Wiggily hoped he +would soon find his fortune, for he wanted to get back home and see Sammie +and Susie Littletail, and all the other animal friends. So he looked +around very carefully for any signs of gold. He also asked all the animals +and flowers whom he met if they could tell him where his fortune was. + +"No," said a warty-spotted toad, "I can't tell you, but I should think you +would dig in the ground for gold." + +So Uncle Wiggily dug in the dirt in many places, but no gold did he find. + +"Perhaps you can tell me where my fortune is?" he said to a tailor-bird +who was sewing some leaves together to make a nest. + +"It might be up in the air," said the tailor-bird. "If I were you I should +hop up into the air and look for it." + +Well, Uncle Wiggily hopped up, but you know how it is with rabbits. +They're not made to fly, and he couldn't stay up in the air long enough to +do any good, so he couldn't find any gold that way. + +"Oh, dear! I guess I'll never find my fortune," said the rabbit +sadly-like. Then he saw a little blue flower, shaped just like a bell, +hanging on a stem over a small babbling brook of water. + +"Ah, there is a bluebell!" said the rabbit. "Perhaps she knows where my +fortune is. I'll ask her, for flowers are very wise." + +"No, I can't tell you where there is any gold," said the bluebell when +Uncle Wiggily had asked her most politely. "All I do is to swing backward +and forward here all day long, and I ring my bell and I am happy. I do not +need gold." + +"I wish I didn't have to have it, but I do. I need it to make my fortune, +and then I can go home," said the rabbit. + +"Very well," spoke the blue flower, as she rang her bell, oh so sweetly! +so that it seemed to the rabbit as if she played a song about the blue +skies, and birds singing and fountains spouting upward in the sun while +pretty blossoms grew all around. "Go on, Uncle Wiggily, but if you don't +find your fortune come back here, and I will sing you to sleep," she +added. + +"I will," spoke the rabbit, as he hopped away. + +Well, pretty soon, not so very long, as he was walking on a path through +the woods, Uncle Wiggily heard a voice speaking. + +"I can tell you where to find your fortune," said the voice. "I know where +there is a big pile of yellow stones, and I think they are gold. Follow me +and I will show you." + +"But who are you?" asked the rabbit, for he could see no one. "You may be +the alligator for all I know." + +"Oh, I'm not the alligator," was the answer. "I am a friend of yours, and +I like you very much," and the unseen one smacked his lips. "But I can't +come out and let you see me, for I dare not go out in the sun as I am +afraid of getting too hot," the voice answered, "so I will just creep +along through the bushes and I will wiggle my tail, and you can see it +moving in the grass, and you can follow that without seeing me, and I will +lead you to the pile of yellow stones." + +"Very well," answered the rabbit, "though I would much rather see you. But +go ahead and I'll follow, for I must find my fortune." + +So the old gentleman rabbit saw the grass wiggling and he followed that, +and he kept thinking of how rich he would soon be, and how many nice +things he would buy for Sammie and Susie Littletail. + +But if the rabbit had only known who it was he was following he wouldn't +have been so happy, for it was a crawly snake, and that snake was only +fooling Uncle Wiggily, and trying to get him off to his den so he could +eat him. And that's why he didn't show himself. On and on the snake +wiggled through the grass, shaking his tail, and the poor rabbit followed +after him. + +"Are we nearly to the gold?" asked Uncle Wiggily after a bit. + +"Almost," answered the snake, making his voice soft and gentle. + +The snake was nearly at his den now, and he was just going to turn around +and squeeze the rabbit to death, when all at once a yellow bumblebee that +was flying overhead looked down and saw the crawly creature, and the bee +knew what the snake was going to do. + +"Run away, Uncle Wiggily! Run!" called the bee, "the snake is fooling +you!" + +Well, Uncle Wiggily didn't wait a second. He jumped right over a briar +bush and away he hopped as fast as he could hop, and the snake didn't get +him, and, oh, how mad that snake was! + +Uncle Wiggily hopped around and around in the woods and the first thing he +knew he couldn't find the path, he was so excited. And the more he tried +to find it the more he couldn't, until he sat down on a stump and said: + +"I'm lost. I know I am! Lost in the dark, deep, dismal woods, and night +coming on! Oh, what shall I do?" + +Well, he was feeling very badly, and was quite frightened, and he didn't +know what to do when, all at once he heard a bell ringing. Oh, such a +sweet-toned silvery bell. "Ding-dong! Ding-dong!" it went, sounding very +clearly through the woods. Then the bell seemed to say: + +"Come this way, Uncle Wiggily, come this way. Ding-dong!" + +"Oh, that's the bluebell flower!" cried the rabbit. "How glad I am. Now I +can follow the ringing sound and get to a nice place to stay for the +night." + +So he listened carefully, and the blue flower rang her tinkling bell +louder than ever, and the rabbit could tell by the sound of it just which +way to go, and pretty soon he was out of the woods and right beside the +flower that was swinging to and fro in the wind, just like a bell in a +church steeple. + +"Oh, I'm go glad I could ring and tell you the way back here," said the +bluebell. "Now lie down and sleep, and if there is any danger I will +tinkle my bell and awaken you." + +So Uncle Wiggily stretched out on some soft moss, and went to sleep. And +there was some danger for him, as I shall tell you very soon, when, in +case the rocking chair on the front porch doesn't go swimming in the +molasses barrel, the next story will be about Uncle Wiggily and the +Wibblewobble children. + + + + +STORY XXVII + +UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE WIBBLEWOBBLES + + +Uncle Wiggily, the nice old gentleman rabbit, was sleeping on the soft +moss under a clump of ferns, and over his head the bluebell flower was +nodding in the night breeze, keeping watch for danger. For you remember, I +dare say, that the flower had promised to awaken Uncle Wiggily in case any +harm happened to come near him. + +Hour after hour crept along, like a little mouse after a bit of cheese, +and still the rabbit slumbered, and still the bluebell nodded her drowsy +head, for she would not go to sleep while she was keeping watch. + +"I think I will just take one little nap," said the flower to herself, +after a bit, "just shut my eyes for a little while." So she did so, and +then, all of a sudden, as quietly as a clock when it isn't ticking, there +came creeping and crawling through the woods, the bad scalery-tailery +alligator. + +He was looking around sniffing, and snooping, and scuffing for something +to eat, and pretty soon he sniffed and snuffed until he came to where +Uncle Wiggily was fast asleep, dreaming that he had found his fortune. And +the worst part of it was that the bluebell flower also was sleeping, and +she couldn't tell the rabbit what was going to happen. + +"Oh, I'll have a fine meal in about a minute," said the scalery-tailery +alligator as he smacked his big jaws. Then he shuffled up closer to Uncle +Wiggily, and was about to bite him when all of a sudden the nutmeg grater +tail of the scalery alligator accidentally hit against the bluebell +flower, and she awoke quickly. + +"Tinkle! Tinkle! Tinkle! Ding-dong! Ding-dong!" rang out the bluebell, +just like an alarm clock in the morning. "Ding-dong-dong! Tinkle! Tinkle!" + +Up jumped Uncle Wiggily, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He looked +through the woods, and by the light of the silvery moon he saw the +grinning alligator, with his open mouth, close to him. + +"Run, Uncle Wiggily! Run!" cried the bluebell, and then she made such a +jingling-jangling noise that all the birds in the woods awakened, and by +the moonlight, they flew down at that alligator, and stuck him with their +sharp bills, so that he was glad to crawl away, and he didn't forget to +take his scalery tail with him, either. + +"My, that was a narrow escape!" said the rabbit. "I am glad he didn't eat +me." + +"So am I," said the bluebell, "and I'll not go to sleep again, either, I +promise you." + +So the flower stayed wide awake the rest of the night, and the rabbit +slept on the soft moss, and in the morning he awakened and ate his +breakfast out of his valise, and then, saying good-by to the flower and +thanking her, he set off once more to seek his fortune. + +Uncle Wiggily traveled on and on, looking in all the places he could think +of for some gold, but he couldn't seem to find any. And then, just when he +got on top of a little hill, and started down the other side he heard some +one crying--no, I'm just a bit wrong, he heard three some ones +crying--three separate and distinct cries. + +"Oh, dear, I've got a sliver in my foot!" blubbered one voice. + +"And I've stepped on a stone and there's a big bruise on my foot!" +sniffled another voice. + +"Oh! none of you is as badly off as I am," quivered a third voice, "for +I've cut my two feet on a piece of glass! Oh, whatever shall we do?" + +"My, I wonder who they can be?" thought the rabbit, for he could see no +one as yet. "Maybe those are the little children of the burglar fox, and +if they are, then the burglar fox must be somewhere around here, and I had +better be careful of myself." + +Well, the rabbit was about to turn, and run back down the hill, up which +he had just come, when he saw something white fluttering like a piece of +paper. + +"A fox isn't white," Uncle Wiggily said to himself, "at least not the +foxes around here. That must be something else." So he took another +careful look, and he saw three nice little duck children--I guess you +remember their names--Lulu and Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble. And as soon +as they saw the old gentleman rabbit, those three duck children exclaimed: + +"Oh, joy! Oh, happiness!" and they didn't think about the slivers and the +bruises and the cuts in their feet any more. + +"My goodness me sakes alive and a potato pancake!" cried Uncle Wiggily. +"What are you children doing so far away from home? You must be lost." + +"We are lost," said Jimmie Wibblewobble, "all three of us." + +"Yes," went on Lulu, "we are certainly lost, and it's Jimmie's fault, for +he asked us to come." + +"Oh! it's not all Jimmie's fault," said Alice gently, as she looked at her +brother. "You see, Uncle Wiggily, we are visiting our Aunt Lettie, the old +lady goat, who lives in the country near here. We are at her house for our +vacation, and to-day we started to go to the woods to have a good time, +but we took the wrong path and we are lost, and I have a big sliver in my +foot." + +"Yes, and I stepped on a stone, and have a big bruise," whimpered Jimmie. + +"And I've cut both feet on a piece of glass," cried Lulu Wibblewobble, +"and Oh, we are all so miserable!" + +"Well, well!" exclaimed the rabbit in a jolly voice, "this is too bad. I +must see what I can do for you. First we will take the sliver out of +Alice's foot," and he did so with a sharp needle. It hurt a little, but +Alice never cried. + +"Now for Jimmie's bruise," said the rabbit, and he took some soft green +leaves, and made a plaster of them, and with some ribbon-grass for a +string he tied the plaster on Jimmie's foot, and that was almost well. +Then Uncle Wiggily made a little salve, from some gum out of a cherry +tree, and bound up the glass cuts on Lulu's feet. + +"Now, I will lead you to your Aunt Lettie's house," said the rabbit, "and +you won't be lost any more." So the three Wibblewobble children felt much +better and happier, and when they were almost at their aunt's house, a big +hawk swooped down out of the sky and tried to bite Lulu. But Uncle Wiggily +hit the bad bird with his barber-pole crutch, and the hawk flew away, +flopping his wings and tail. + +"Oh, how good, and brave, and strong you are!" cried Lulu to Uncle +Wiggily, and then all three duck children kissed him. Soon they were at +the goat-lady's home, and Aunt Lettie was very glad to see the rabbit +gentleman, and also glad to have the children back. So she invited Uncle +Wiggily to stay to supper, and very glad he was to do so. + +He also stayed all night at Aunt Lettie's house, and he had quite an +adventure, too, which I shall tell you about directly, when, in case the +fire shovel doesn't slide down hill on a cake of ice and break its roller +skates the next bedtime story will be about Uncle Wiggily and the berry +bush. + + + + +STORY XXVIII + +UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BERRY BUSH + + +"Well, children, I think I will soon have to be leaving you," said Uncle +Wiggily Longears one morning to the three Wibblewobbles, when he had +stayed all night at their Aunt Lettie's house. That was after the old +gentleman rabbit had found the three ducks lost in the woods, you +remember, and had taken them to where they were visiting the old lady +goat. "I must pack my valise and travel on," said Uncle Wiggily. + +"Oh, can't you stay a little longer?" asked Alice Wibblewobble, as she +tied her sky-blue-pink hair ribbon in a flopsy-dub kind of a bow knot. + +"Yes, do stay!" urged Jimmie as he tossed up his ball, which Lulu, his +sister, caught. "We'll have some fun together and you can play on my ball +team, Uncle Wiggily." + +"Oh! I am much too old for that," said the rabbit, "though I like to watch +you play. Besides, I have the rheumatism, and I have to keep on looking +for my fortune. So I will travel forward once more." + +"Well, if you must go, I suppose you must," said Aunt Lettie, the old lady +goat. "But at least let me put you up a little lunch. Let me see, what +shall it be? I think a tomato can sandwich, and some brown paper cake with +paste frosting on would be nice. And then, too, I can give you some fine +wooden pie." + +"Oh, excuse me!" exclaimed the rabbit, "but while it is very kind of you, +I cannot eat such things. I never could chew a tomato can, nor yet a +wooden, or even a sawdust pie." + +"No more you could," cried Aunt Lettie in confusion. "I was thinking of +what I liked to eat. Very well, I will give you some carrots and cabbage +and a piece of cherry pie. I know you will like those." + +So she made Uncle Wiggily that kind of a lunch, and he put it in his +valise, and after saying good-by to the old lady goat, and the three +Wibblewobbles, off he started to seek his fortune once more. + +On and on he traveled up some hills, and down others and through the +woods, and pretty soon he came to a place where there was a big hole in +the ground. + +"Ah, ha!" exclaimed the rabbit, "perhaps this is a gold mine. I will get +some gold dollars out of it and then I will be rich." So he went close to +the hole and looked down it, but all of a sudden out popped a great big +rat, and she gnashed her teeth at Uncle Wiggily and tried to bite him. + +"What are you doing at my house?" she cried, real savagely. "Get away at +once before I eat you." + +"Indeed I will," said the rabbit, politely. "I thought your hole was a +gold mine. Excuse me, I'll get right along," so he hopped away as fast as +he could hop, very thankful that he had not gone down the hole. + +Well, the next place he came to was where a great big stone was sticking +out of the side of a hill. And the stone glittered in the sunshine just +like diamonds or dewdrops. + +"Oh, how delightful!" cried the rabbit. "This surely is a gold stone. I +will break off some pieces of it and take them home, and then I will have +my fortune." + +So, taking his crutch, Uncle Wiggily tried to break off pieces of the +glittering stone. But, my goodness me, sakes alive and a chocolate ice +cream cone! that stone was very hard, and try as he did, Uncle Wiggily +couldn't break off a piece even as big as baby's tiny pink toe. + +"I'll just sing a little song, and then, perhaps, I can get some of the +gold," he said. So he sang this song, which goes to the tune +"Tiddily-um-tum-tum:" + + "My fortune I've found, + On top of the ground, + I'm lucky as lucky can be. + But really this stone, + Is hard as a bone, + I wish that some one would help me." + +After singing, Uncle Wiggily hammered away at the stone with his crutch +again, but the song did no good. And then, all at once, before you could +shake your finger at a pink pussy cat, out from behind the glittering +stone there jumped the savage wushky-woshky, which is a very curious beast +with two tails and three heads and only one crinkly leg, so that it has to +go hippity-hop, or else fall down ker thump! + +"What are you doing to my stone?" cried the wushky-woshky. + +"Oh, excuse me," said Uncle Wiggily politely. "I didn't know it was your +stone. I was only trying to break off a small piece for my fortune." + +"Wow! Oh, wow!" cried the wushky-woshky, as savage as savage could be, and +he gnashed the teeth in all three of his mouths, and he lashed his two +tails on the ground. "I'm going to catch you!" he called to the rabbit. + +"Not if I know it you won't catch me," said Uncle Wiggily bravely, and off +he hopped down the hill. + +"Yes, I will catch you!" cried the wushky-woshky, and off he hopped on his +one crinkly leg after the rabbit. Faster and faster hopped Uncle Wiggily, +but still faster and faster hopped the wushky-woshky. + +"Oh, he'll surely catch me!" thought the rabbit. "I wonder what I can do? +I know. I'll open my valise, and I'll scatter on the ground my nice lunch +that Aunt Lettie put up for me, and the wushky-woshky will stop to eat the +good things, and then I can get away." + +So the rabbit did this. Out on the ground from the valise tumbled all the +nice carrot and lettuce sandwiches. But the savage wushky-woshky gobbled +them up with three mouthfuls, and didn't stop hopping after Uncle Wiggily +on his one crinkly leg. + +"Oh, he'll surely catch me now!" cried the rabbit. + +"No, he won't! Jump up in the air, and come down inside of me!" cried a +voice, and Uncle Wiggily saw a nice blackberry bush waving its long arms +at him. "Jump down inside of me, where there are no thorns to scratch +you," said the berry bush, "but if the wushky-woshky tries to come after +you I'll scratch his six eyes out. I'll save you. Jump down inside me!" + +"Thank you, I will," said the rabbit, and he gave a big spring and a hop, +over the outer edge of the bush, and down he landed safely inside of it, +not scratched a bit. Up came the three-headed, two-tailed and one +crinkly-legged wushky-woshky, but when he saw the prickly briar berry bush +he stopped short, for he did not want his six eyes scratched out. + +"Come out of there!" cried the wushky-woshky to the rabbit. + +"Indeed, I will not," said Uncle Wiggily, politely. + +"Then I'll stay here forever and you can't ever come out," said the savage +creature. "For if you come out I'll eat you!" + +"Don't let him scare you," said the briar berry bush to Uncle Wiggily, +"I'll fix him," so the berry bush reached out a long arm all covered with +stickers, and she stickered and prickered the wushky-woshky on his three +heads and two tails and one leg, so that the savage creature ran away +howling, and Uncle Wiggily was safe, and not hurt a bit, I'm glad to say. + +So he stayed in the briar bush that night and had berries for breakfast, +and the next day he had another adventure. What it was I will tell you on +the page after this one, when the bedtime story will be about Uncle +Wiggily and the camp fire--that is, if the cat across the street doesn't +untie the pink ribbon off our pussy's neck and put it on his ice cream +cone. + + + + +STORY XXIX + +UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CAMP FIRE + + +"Well, how do you find yourself this morning?" asked the berry bush of +Uncle Wiggily as the old gentleman rabbit peeped out to see if the bad +three-headed wushky-woshky had come back. "Are you all right?" + +"Oh, yes, thank you kindly," spoke the rabbit, "but I was just wondering +how I could get out of here to go on and seek my fortune without being +scratched all to pieces." + +"Can't you jump out just as you jumped in?" asked the bush, waving her +prickly arms, but taking care not to so much as even tickle Uncle Wiggily. + +"No, there isn't room enough for me to get started to jump out," replied +the rabbit. "I'm afraid I'll have to stay here a long time, and I really +ought to be going on." + +"Oh, I have a plan!" suddenly cried the bush. "You are a very good digger, +so why can't you dig a tunnel right under me? Start it inside here and +curve it up so that it comes outside of my prickly branches, and then you +won't be scratched." + +"I'll do it!" cried Uncle Wiggily, so with his strong front feet he dug a +tunnel, just as you sometimes make in the sand, and soon he was safely +outside the berry bush. + +"Take some of my berries with you," said the bush, "so you won't get +hungry." + +"I will," answered the rabbit, and he filled his valise with nice, big +blackberries. He felt a little sad about the nice lunch the wushky-woshky +had eaten, but there was no help for it--that lunch was gone completely. + +So Uncle Wiggily said good-by to the kind berry bush, and traveled on once +more to seek his fortune. + +"Watch out for the wushky-woshky," called the bush to the rabbit, as she +waved her friendly stickery branches at him. + +"I will," he said, and then he passed up over the hill and out of sight. + +The first place he came to was an old hollow stump, where an old owl had +once lived. The rabbit looked down inside the stump, but there was no +fortune there. + +The second place he came to was a curious little house built of bark, +where an old dog, who was a friend to Peetie and Jackie Bow Wow, used to +live, but the old dog was away on his vacation at Ocean Grove, so he +wasn't at home. + +"Perhaps there is a fortune in here," thought the rabbit, but there wasn't +any and he went on. + +Now the third place he came to was a little house, made out of +clothespins, where a pussy cat lived, and the pussy wasn't home, for she +had just gone to the store to get some milk. + +But the rabbit didn't know this, so he went inside the house to see if +there was any fortune there. And the first thing he saw on the mantelpiece +was a tin bank, and when he shook it something inside of it rattled, and +when he peeped in Uncle Wiggily saw a whole lot of pennies in the tin +bank. + +"Oh fine!" he cried, "now I have my fortune at last. Some one has gone +away and left all this money, so I might as well take it." + +Well, he was just putting the bank full of pennies into his valise, when +the pussy came back with the bottle of milk. + +"Oh! are you going to take my bank away from me?" she cried, very sadly. +"I have been saving up my pennies for a long time, and now you have them." + +"Oh, I wouldn't take them for the world!" cried the rabbit. "I didn't know +they were yours, it's all a mistake," and he placed the bank right back +on the mantel. "But perhaps you could tell me where to find my fortune," +said Uncle Wiggily, and he told the pussy all about his travels. + +"First we will have a drink of milk," said the pussy, and she poured out +some for the rabbit. "Then I will go into the woods a little way with you +and help you look for your fortune." + +"Perhaps we had better take some lunch with us," said the rabbit, so he +went to the store and got a nice lunch, which he put up in his valise, and +then he and the pussy started off together to the woods. + +They looked here and there and everywhere and even around corners, but no +fortune could they find, and pretty soon it began to get a little dark. +And then suddenly it got all dark. + +"Oh, I can never find my way back home!" cried the pussy. "And I am afraid +in these lonesome woods." + +"Oh! don't be frightened," said Uncle Wiggily, who was very brave. "I will +build a camp fire and we can stay here all night. I will cook some supper +and in the morning I will take you home." + +Then the pussy wasn't afraid any more. She helped the rabbit to gather up +some dry leaves and little sticks, and also some big sticks, and soon +Uncle Wiggily had a fine fire merrily blazing away in the woods, and it +was nice and light. Then he took some leafy branches and made a little +house for himself and the pussy and then they cooked supper, making some +coffee in an old empty tomato can they found near a wrinkly-crinkly stump. + +"Oh, this is real jolly!" cried the pussy, as she warmed her paws and her +nose at the blaze. "It is much better than drinking milk out of a bottle." + +"I think so myself," said the rabbit. "Now, if I could only find my +fortune I would be happy. But, perhaps, I shall to-morrow." + +Well, pretty soon Uncle Wiggily and the pussy became sleepy so they +thought they would go to bed. They made their beds in the little green +bower-house on some soft, dried leaves. + +"And I must have plenty of wood to put on the camp fire," said the rabbit, +"for in the night some bad animal might try to eat us, but when they see +the blaze they will be afraid and run away." + +So he gathered a big pile of wood, and then he and the pussy went to +sleep. And in the middle of the night, as true as I'm telling you, yes, +indeed, along came sneaking the wushky-woshky with his three heads and +two tails and his one crinkly leg. + +"Now, I'll have a fine meal," thought the wushky-woshky as he saw the +rabbit and the pussy sleeping. "Which one shall I take first?" + +But all of a sudden his foot slipped on a stone and he made a noise, and +Uncle Wiggily awakened in an instant and cried out: + +"Some one is after us!" Then the brave rabbit threw some wood on the camp +fire, and it blazed up so quickly that it burned the whiskers of the +wushky-woshky and he gave three howls, one with each of his mouths, and +away he hopped on his one leg, taking his two tails with him. + +"My!" cried the pussy, "it's a good thing we had the camp fire, or we +would have been eaten up." + +"Indeed it is," said the rabbit. "I'll keep it blazing all night." So he +did this, and no more wushky-woshkys came to bother them. And in the +morning the pussy and the rabbit traveled on together and they had quite +an adventure. + +What it was I'll relate to you almost immediately, when, in case a little +girl named Elizabeth learns how to swim by standing on one toe and holding +a red balloon under water, I'll tell you about Uncle Wiggily and the +cowbird. + + + + +STORY XXX + +UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE COWBIRD + + +"Do you think you can help me find my way back home again?" asked the +pussy of Uncle Wiggily as they awakened the next morning, after having +spent the night in the woods by the camp fire. + +"Oh, I'm sure I can," answered the rabbit. "As soon as we have our +breakfast we'll start off to look for your clothespin house." + +Then Uncle Wiggily made up the camp fire again, putting on some more wood, +and he boiled the coffee, in a tomato can, and fried some pieces of bacon +he had in his valise. The way he cooked them was to take a sharp stick and +put a piece of bacon on the end of it, and then he held the bacon up in +front of the blaze, where it sizzled away, and got nice and curly and +brown, and oh! how good it did smell, and so did the coffee! Oh! it's +great to cook over a camp fire when the smoke doesn't get in your eyes and +when it doesn't rain. + +"Now we must put out the fire," said the rabbit, as he and the pussy were +ready to go look for the clothespin house. + +"Why must we do that, Uncle Wiggily?" + +"Oh, so that it will not set fire to the woods, and burn down the nice +trees after we are gone. Always put out your camp fire when you leave it," +said the rabbit, as he threw water on the blaze, making clouds of steam. + +Well, he and the pussy traveled on for some time longer together, but +somehow or other they couldn't seem to find the place where the pussy +lived, and the little cat was beginning to be sorry that she had gone +camping in the woods. + +"Oh, I know I'll never find my home again!" she cried. + +"Oh, yes, we will," said the rabbit kindly. "Don't worry." + +And just then they heard some one else crying, a little, tiny, sobbing +voice. + +"What's that?" exclaimed the pussy. "Perhaps it is one of the +skillery-scalery alligator's children." + +"No, I do not think so," said the rabbit. "It sounds to me as if some one +else were lost in the woods, and I may have to find their home, too. We'll +take a look." + +So they looked all around, but they couldn't seem to find any one, though +the crying was still to be heard. + +"That's queer," said the rabbit, "I'll call to them." + +So he called as loudly as he could like this: + +"Is any one lost? Do you want me to help you find your home?" + +"Oh, I'd be very glad to have you help me," said the crying voice, "but I +am not lost." + +"Then who are you, and what is the matter?" asked the rabbit. + +"Oh, I am a robin bird," was the answer, "and I am in this bush over your +heads." + +"Ha, no wonder we couldn't see you," said the rabbit, as he and the pussy +looked up, and there, sure enough, was the nice mamma robin bird, and she +was crying, as she sat in the bush. + +"What is the matter?" asked the rabbit. + +"I will tell you," said the robin. "You know there is a bird called the +cowbird or cuckoo, and that bird is too lazy to build a nest for itself. +So what do you think it does?" + +"What?" asked the pussy. + +"Why it goes around, laying its eggs in the nests of other birds," said +the robin. "Then we birds have to hatch out the cowbird's eggs, and when +her children come out they are so unpleasant that they shove our little +birdies right out of the nest, and eat all the things we mamma birds +bring home to our little ones." + +"Ha! That is very unpleasant, to say the least," spoke the rabbit. "And +are there any cowbirds in your nest now, Mrs. Robin?" + +"Not yet, but there are three of the cowbird's eggs here, and they will +soon hatch out." + +"Why don't you toss out the cowbird's eggs?" asked the pussy. "Then you +won't have to hatch them." + +"I would," said the robin, "only I am not strong enough, for I have been +ill, and my husband is out of work and he is looking for some. So I don't +know what to do about it. Oh, dear!" and she cried again. + +"Ha! We must see what we can do," said Uncle Wiggily, who always liked to +help people who were in trouble. "I think I have a plan." + +"What is it?" asked the robin. + +"Well, I can't climb up that bush, for my paws are not built for that sort +of thing, but the pussy can climb very nicely, as she has sharp claws." + +"Indeed I can," said the pussy, "and I will, and I'll throw out the +cowbird's eggs for you, so those bad birds won't bother your little +birds." + +So Uncle Wiggily gave the pussy a boost up the bush, in which the robin's +nest was built, and then the pussy, with her sharp claws climbed up the +rest of the distance all alone very nicely. + +"Now show me which are the eggs of the cowbird?" said the kittie-cat to +the robin when the nest was reached. So the robin mamma pointed out the +eggs with her claw, and then with her foot the pussy clawed those cowbird +eggs out on the ground where they wouldn't hatch. + +"Now, that will be the last of those bad birds," said the pussy as she +started to climb down to where Uncle Wiggily was waiting for her. + +"Yes, indeed, and thank you very much," spoke the robin. "Now, my little +ones will have a chance to grow and live." + +And just then there was a fluttering and a rustling in the bushes, and the +bad cowbird came flying past. And when she saw what had been done, and how +her eggs had been tossed out of the robin's nest where they didn't belong, +that cowbird flew at the pussy and was going to pick her eyes out. + +But Uncle Wiggily took his crutch, and tickled the cowbird so that she +sneezed, and had to fly away without doing any harm. And Uncle Wiggily +called after her that she ought to be ashamed of herself not to build her +own nests. And I guess that cowbird was ashamed, but I'm not sure. Anyhow +she came back a little later and gathered up her eggs off the ground, and +flew away with them, and what she did with them I'll tell you; oh, just as +soon as you like. + +The bedtime story then will be about Uncle Wiggily and the tailor +bird--that is, if the needle and thread don't dance up and down on the pin +cushion, and make it full of holes so the sawdust stuffing comes out and +tickles the baby's pink toes. + + + + +STORY XXXI + +UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE TAILOR BIRD + + +After Uncle Wiggily and the pussy had helped the robin get the cowbird's +eggs out of her nest, as I told you in the story before this, the rabbit +and the kittie stayed in the woods a little while talking to the mamma +bird. + +"I should like to see the little robins hatch out of the eggs," said the +pussy, as she frisked her tail about and smoothed out her fur. + +"So should I," added Uncle Wiggily. + +"I will gladly let you see my little birdies hatch," spoke the robin, "but +it will take nearly a week yet, and you will have to wait." + +"Oh, I can't wait as long as that," went on the rabbit. "I must be off to +seek my fortune." + +"Yes, and I must go and find my clothespin house," said the pussy. + +So they said good-by to the mamma robin, and away the pussy and Uncle +Wiggily went, over the hills and down the dales through the woods and over +little brooks. + +Pretty soon they came to a place in the woods where there were a whole +lot of flowers nodding their heads in the wind, and it was such a pretty +place that Uncle Wiggily and the pussy stayed there a little while. And in +about a minute they heard something flying through the bushes and out flew +that same cowbird, and she laughed just as hard as she could laugh, as she +passed along. + +"Somebody is going to be surprised!" cried the cowbird and she fluttered +her wings at the rabbit and the kittie, and then she hid herself off in +the woods. + +"I wonder what she means?" asked the pussy. + +"I'm sure I don't know," replied the rabbit. "But did you notice that she +didn't have her eggs with her?" + +"Sure enough!" exclaimed the pussy. "She must have left them in some other +bird's nest." + +"Well, we had better keep on, for it is getting late," spoke Uncle +Wiggily, "and I want to find your clothespin house for you." + +On they hurried through the trees, and pretty soon--Oh, I guess about as +long as it takes you to eat a stick of peppermint candy--they suddenly +came to the pussy's clothespin house. + +"Oh, here's where I live!" she cried. "How glad I am to get back home!" +She hurried in through the front door and no sooner was she inside than +she cried out: + +"Come here! Come here, quickly, Uncle Wiggily! Did you ever see such a +sight in all your born days?" + +"What is it?" asked the rabbit, as he hopped in, and he was half afraid +that there might be a burglar fox hiding in the pussy's house. + +But it wasn't anything like that. Instead the rabbit saw the pussy +pointing to her bed, and there, right in the middle of the feather +pillows, were some eggs. + +"The cowbird's eggs!" cried the kittie. "That's what she meant when she +said some one was going to be surprised. Indeed, I am the one who is +surprised. She brought her eggs here, thinking I would hatch them out for +her, but I'll not do it!" + +So the pussy threw the eggs out of the window, on some soft straw, where +they wouldn't be broken, and pretty soon that cowbird came back, as angry +as a lion without any tail. And she grabbed up her eggs, and this time she +took them to the monkey, who played five hand-organs at once. And the +monkey was a good-natured sort of a chap, so he hatched out the cowbird's +eggs for her, and soon he had a lot of little calfbirds, and when they +grew up they gave him no end of trouble. + +"Well, now you are safe home," said Uncle Wiggily to the pussy, "I will +travel on." + +"First, let me fill your valise with something to eat," said the kittie +cat, and she did so, and then the rabbit hopped on. He looked all over for +his fortune, but he couldn't find it, and pretty soon it got dark night +and he went to sleep in a hollow stump. + +"Surely, I will find my fortune to-day," thought Uncle Wiggily, as he +arose the next morning, and combed out his whiskers. It was a bright, +beautiful sunshiny morning, and everything was cheerful, and the birds +were singing. But, in spite of all that, something happened to the rabbit. + +He was just going past a berry bush, and he was reaching up to pick off +some of the red raspberries, when all at once a sharp claw was thrust out +from the bush and a grab was made for the rabbit. + +"Now, I've got you!" cried a savage voice. + +"No, you haven't!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, and he jumped back just as a +savage wolf sprang out at him. + +"Oh, don't worry, I'll get you yet!" went on the wolf and he made another +spring. But the rabbit was ready for him and ran down the hill and the +wolf ran after him, howling at the top of his grillery-growlery voice, +for he was very hungry. + +My! how Uncle Wiggily did run. And the wolf ran also, and he was catching +up to the rabbit, and probably would have eaten him all up, but just then +a kind bumble bee who knew Uncle Wiggily flew off a tree branch and stung +that wolf on the end of his nose. + +That wolf gave a howl, and made one more grab for Uncle Wiggily, but he +only managed to catch hold of his coat tails in his teeth, and there the +wolf held on. + +"Let go of Uncle Wiggily!" buzzed the bee. + +"No I won't!" cried the wolf, most impolite-like. + +"Then I'll sting you again!" cried the bee, and she did so, and the rabbit +gave a great pull, and he managed to pull himself away from the wolf. But, +alas! Uncle Wiggily's nice red coat was all tattered and torn. + +"Oh, whatever shall I do?" cried Uncle Wiggily as the wolf ran away down +the hill and the rabbit looked at the torn and ripped coat. "I never can +go on seeking my fortune with a torn coat." + +"I am sorry," said the bee, "but I can not help you. But if you see the +tailor bird she may mend your coat for you." + +So the bee buzzed away and Uncle Wiggily went on looking for the tailor +bird. This is a bird that makes a nest by sewing leaves together with +grass for thread. And would you believe me, in a little while Uncle +Wiggily saw the very bird he wanted. + +She was making a nest with her bill for a needle and some dried grass for +thread, and she was sewing the leaves together. + +"Will you kindly mend my coat for me where the wolf tore it?" asked the +rabbit politely. + +"Indeed I will," said the tailor bird. So she took some long, strong +pieces of grass for thread. Then she made her sharp bill go back and forth +in the cloth of Uncle Wiggily's coat and soon it was all mended again as +good as new. Then the rabbit thanked the bird and started off again to +seek his fortune and you could hardly see where his coat was torn. + +Then Uncle Wiggily was very thankful to the tailor bird, and he stayed at +her house for some time, helping her sweep the sidewalk mornings, and +bringing up coal, and all things like that. And the old gentleman had some +more adventures. + +But as I have already made this book quite long, I think I will have to +save the rest of the stories for another one. I'll get it ready as soon +as I can for you, and the name of it is going to be "Uncle Wiggily's +Fortune." + +Just think of that! He really does find his fortune in that book, though +he has quite some trouble, let me tell you. But bless your hearts! Trouble +is only another kind of fun! + +So now we will say good-by to Uncle Wiggily for a time, and soon you may +hear more about him. Good-by and good luck to all of you. + + +THE END + + + + * * * * * + + + +Uncle Wiggily Picture Books + + +Three stories in +each book +By +Howard R. Garis + +[Illustration: +UNCLE WIGGILY'S +SNOW PUDDING] + +Also twenty-seven +color pictures +By +Lang Campbell + +In these funny little books you can see in bright colored pictures the +adventures of myself and my woodland friends. Also the pictures of some +bad fellows, whose names you know. + +So if the spoon holder doesn't go down cellar and take the coal shovel +away from the gas stove, you may read + +No. 1. UNCLE WIGGILY'S AUTO SLED + + +If the rocking chair doesn't tickle the rag carpet and make the brass bed +fall upstairs, you may read + +No. 2. UNCLE WIGGILY'S SNOW MAN + + +If the umbrella doesn't go out in the rain and splash water all over the +rubber boots on the gold fish, you may read + +No. 3. UNCLE WIGGILY'S HOLIDAYS + + +If the electric light doesn't cry for some molasses, when the match leaves +it all alone in the china closet, you may read + +No. 4. UNCLE WIGGILY'S APPLE ROAST + + +If the egg beater doesn't try to jump over the coffee pot and fall in the +sink when the potato is learning to swim, you may read + +No. 5. UNCLE WIGGILY'S PICNIC + + +If the sugar cookie doesn't go out walking with the fountain pen, and get +all black so it looks like a chocolate cake, you may read + +No. 6. UNCLE WIGGILY GOES FISHING + + +Hurry up and get these nice little books from the bookstore man, or send +direct to the publishers, 50 cents per copy, postpaid. + +CHARLES E. GRAHAM & CO. +NEW YORK + +[Illustration: Uncle Wiggily] + +Burt's Series of One Syllable Books + +14 Titles. Handsome Illuminated Cloth Binding + +A series of Classics, selected specially for young people's reading, and +told in simple language for youngest readers. Printed from large type, +with many illustrations. + + + * * * * * + +Price 75 Cents per Volume + + * * * * * + + + +AESOP'S FABLES + Retold in words of one syllable for young people. By MARY GODOLPHIN. + With 41 illustrations. + +ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND + Retold in words of one syllable for young people. By MRS. J.C. GORHAM. + With many illustrations. + +ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES + (Selections.) Retold in words of one syllable for young people. By + HARRIET T. COMSTOCK. With many illustrations. + +BIBLE HEROES + Told in words of one syllable for young people. By HARRIET T. COMSTOCK. + With many illustrations. + +BLACK BEAUTY + Retold in words of one syllable for young people. By MRS. J.C. GORHAM. + With many illustrations. + +GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES + (Selections.) Retold in words of one syllable. By JEAN S. REMY. + With many illustrations. + +GULLIVER'S TRAVELS + Into several remote regions of the world. Retold in words of one + syllable for young people. By J.C.G. With 32 illustrations. + +LIFE OF CHRIST + Told in words of one syllable for young people. By JEAN S. REMY. + With many illustrations. + +LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS + Told in words of one syllable for young people. By JEAN S. REMY. + With 24 large portraits. + +PILGRIM'S PROGRESS + Retold in words of one syllable for young people. By SAMUEL PHILLIPS + DAY. With 33 illustrations. + +REYNARD THE FOX + The Crafty Courtier. Retold in words of one syllable for young people. + By SAMUEL PHILLIPS DAY. With 23 illustrations. + +ROBINSON CRUSOE + His life and surprising adventures retold in words of one syllable for + young people. By MARY A. SCHWACOFER. With 32 illustrations. + +SANFORD AND MERTON + Retold in words of one syllable for young people. By MARY GODOLPHIN. + With 20 illustrations. + +SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON + Retold in words of one syllable for young people. Adapted from the + original. With 31 illustrations. + + + * * * * * + +For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the +publishers, A.L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23rd Street, New York. + +THE MOTHER GOOSE SERIES + +24 TITLES HANDSOME CLOTH BINDING, ILLUMINATED COVERS + +A series of popular books for young people. Each book is well printed from +large type on good paper, frontispiece in colors, profusely illustrated, +and bound in cloth, with ornamental covers in three colors, making a +series of most interesting books for children at a reasonable price. + + * * * * * + +Price, 75 cents per copy + + * * * * * + +Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, and Other Stories. Profusely +Illustrated. + +Animal Stories for Little People. Profusely Illustrated. + +Beauty and the Beast, and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated. + +Bird Stories for Little People. Profusely Illustrated. + +Bluebeard, and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated. + +Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper, and Other Stories. Profusely +Illustrated. + +Foolish Fox, The, and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated. + +Goody Two Shoes, and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated. + +Hansel and Grethel, and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated. + +House That Jack Built, The, and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated. + +Jack and the Beanstalk, and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated. + +Jack the Giant Killer, and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated. + +Little Red Riding Hood, and Other Stories. Profusely illustrated. + +Little Snow White, and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated. + +Mother Goose Rhymes. Profusely Illustrated. + +Mother Hubbard's Melodies. Profusely Illustrated. + +Night Before Christmas, and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated. + +Patty and Her Pitcher; or, Kindness of Heart, and Other Stories. +Profusely Illustrated. + +Peter and His Goose; or, The Folly of Discontent, and Other Stories. +Profusely Illustrated. + +Puss in Boots, and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated. + +Sleeping Beauty, The, and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated. + +Tom Thumb, and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated. + +Ugly Duckling, The, and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated. + +Who Killed Cock Robin, and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated. + + * * * * * + +For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the +publishers, A.L. BURT CO., 114-120 East 23rd Street, New York City. + + + * * * * * + + +Aunt Amy's Animal Stories + +By AMY PRENTICE + + +A Series of Stories, told by animals, to AUNT AMY PRENTICE. + +Each illustrated with many pictures in black, and four illustrations in +colors, by J. WATSON DAVIS. + +12 titles, in handsome cloth binding. + + * * * * * + +Price 75 cents. Net---- + + * * * * * + +Bunny Rabbit's Story, 30 Illustrations +Billy Goat's Story, 32 Illustrations +Brown Owl's Story, 31 Illustrations +Croaky Frog's Story, 28 Illustrations +Frisky Squirrel's Story, 30 Illustrations +Gray Goose's Story, 32 Illustrations +Mickie Monkey's Story, 35 Illustrations +Mouser Cat's Story, 35 Illustrations +Plodding Turtle's Story, 30 Illustrations +Quacky Duck's Story, 34 Illustrations +Speckled Hen's Story, 28 Illustrations +Towser Dog's Story, 32 Illustrations + + * * * * * + +For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the +publishers, A.L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23rd Street, New York. + + + * * * * * + + +Our Young Aeroplane Scout Series + +(Registered in the United States Patent Office) + +By HORACE PORTER + + * * * * * + +Handsome Cloth Binding, PRICE, 75 per Volume + +A series of stories of two American boy aviators in the great European war +zone. The fascinating life in mid-air is thrillingly described. The boys +have many exciting adventures, and the narratives of their numerous +escapes make up a series of wonderfully interesting stories. + + * * * * * + + +OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN FRANCE AND BELGIUM; + or, Saving the Fortunes of the Trouvilles. +OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN GERMANY. +OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN RUSSIA; + or, Lost on the Frozen Steppes. +OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN TURKEY; + or, Bringing the Light to Yusef. +OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN ENGLAND; + or, Twin Stars in the London Sky Patrol. +OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN ITALY; + or, Flying with the War Eagles of the Alps. +OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS AT VERDUN; or, Driving + Armored Meteors Over Flaming Battle Fronts. +OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN THE BALKANS; + or, Wearing the Red Badge of Courage. +OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN THE WAR ZONE; + or, Serving Uncle Sam In the Cause of the Allies. +OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS FIGHTING TO THE FINISH; + or, Striking Hard Over the Sea for the Stars and Stripes. +OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS AT THE MARNE; + or, Harrying the Huns From Allied Battleplanes. +OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN AT THE VICTORY; + or, Speedy High Flyers Smashing the Hindenburg Line. + + * * * * * + +For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the +publishers + +A.L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23rd St., New York + + * * * * * + + +The Boy Scouts Series + +By HERBERT CARTER + + * * * * * + +Handsome Cloth Binding, PRICE, 75 per Volume + + * * * * * + +THE BOY SCOUTS' FIRST CAMP FIRE; or, Scouting with + the Silver Fox Patrol. + +THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE BLUE RIDGE; or, Marooned + Among the Moonshiners. + +THE BOY SCOUTS ON THE TRAIL; or, Scouting through + the Big Game Country. + +THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE MAIN WOODS; or, The New + Test for the Silver Fox Patrol. + +THE BOY SCOUTS THROUGH THE BIG TIMBER; or, The + Search for the Lost Tenderfoot. + +THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE ROCKIES; or, The Secret of + the Hidden Silver Mine. + +THE BOY SCOUTS ON STURGEON ISLAND; or, Marooned + Among the Game Fish Poachers. + +BOY SCOUTS DOWN IN DIXIE; or, The Strange + Secret of Alligator Swamp. + +THE BOY SCOUTS AT THE BATTLE OF SARATOGA; A + story of Burgoyne's defeat in 1777. + +THE BOY SCOUTS ALONG THE SUSQUEHANNA; or, The + Silver Fox Patrol Caught in a Flood. + +THE BOY SCOUTS ON WAR TRAILS IN BELGIUM; or, + Caught Between the Hostile Armies. + +THE BOY SCOUTS AFOOT IN FRANCE; or, With the Red + Cross Corps at the Marne. + + + * * * * * + +For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the +publishers + +A.L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23rd St., New York + + + * * * * * + +The Navy Boys Series + +[Illustration] + + * * * * * + +A series of excellent stories of adventure on sea and land, selected from +the works of popular writers; each volume designed for boys' reading. + +HANDSOME CLOTH BINDINGS + + * * * * * + +PRICE, 75 PER VOLUME + + * * * * * + +THE NAVY BOYS IN DEFENCE OF LIBERTY. + A story of the burning of the British schooner Gasnee in 1772 + By William P. Chipman. + +THE NAVY BOYS ON LONG ISLAND SOUND. + A story of the Whale Boat Navy of 1776. + By James Otis. + +THE NAVY BOYS AT THE SIEGE OF HAVANA. + Being the experience of three boys serving under Israel Putnam in + 1772. + By James Otis. + +THE NAVY BOYS WITH GRANT AT VICKSBURG. + A boy's story of the siege of Vicksburg. + By James Otis. + +THE NAVY BOYS' CRUISE WITH PAUL JONES. + A boy's story of a cruise with the Great Commodore in 1776. + By James Otis. + +THE NAVY BOYS ON LAKE ONTARIO. + The story of two boys and their adventures in the War of 1812, + By James Otis. + +THE NAVY BOYS' CRUISE ON THE PICKERING. + A boy's story of privateering in 1780. + By James Otis. + +THE NAVY BOYS IN NEW YORK BAY. + A story of three boys who took command of the schooner "The Laughing +Mary," the first vessel of the American Navy, + By James Otis. + +THE NAVY BOYS IN THE TRACK OF THE ENEMY. + The story of a remarkable cruise with the Sloop of War "Providence" +and the Frigate "Alfred." + By William P. Chipman. + +THE NAVY BOYS' DARING CAPTURE. + The story of how the navy boys helped to capture the British Cutter +"Margaretta," in 1775. + By William P. Chipman. + +THE NAVY BOYS' CRUISE TO THE BAHAMAS. + The adventures of two Yankee Middies with the first cruise of a: +American Squadron in 1775. + By William P. Chipman. + +THE NAVY BOYS' CRUISE WITH COLUMBUS. + The adventures of two boys who sailed with the great Admiral in his +discovery of America. + By Frederick A. Ober. + + * * * * * + +For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the +publishers. A.L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23d Street. New York + + * * * * * + +The Boy Spies Series + + * * * * * + +[Illustration] + +These stories are based on important historical events, scenes wherein +boys are prominent characters being selected. They are the romance of +history, vigorously told, with careful fidelity to picturing the home +life, and accurate in every particular. + +HANDSOME CLOTH BINDINGS + + * * * * * + +PRICE, 75 PER VOLUME + + * * * * * + + +THE BOY SPIES AT THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS. + A story of the part they took in its defence. + By William P. Chipman. + +THE BOY SPIES AT THE DEFENCE OF FORT HENRY. + A boy's story of Wheeling Creek in 1777. + By James Otis. + +THE BOY SPIES AT THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. + A story of two boys at the siege of Boston. + By James Otis. + +THE BOY SPIES AT THE SIEGE OF DETROIT. + A story of two Ohio boys in the War of 1812. + By James Otis. + +THE BOY SPIES WITH LAFAYETTE. + The story of how two boys joined the Continental Army. + By James Otis. + +THE BOY SPIES ON CHESAPEAKE BAY. + The story of two young spies under Commodore Barney. + By James Otis. + +THE BOY SPIES WITH THE REGULATORS. + The story of how the boys assisted the Carolina Patriots to drive the +British from that State. + By James Otis. + +THE BOY SPIES WITH THE SWAMP FOX. + The story of General Marion and his young spies. + By James Otis. + +THE BOY SPIES AT YORKTOWN. + The story of how the spies helped General Lafayette in the Siege of +Yorktown. + By James Otis. + +THE BOY SPIES OF PHILADELPHIA. + The story of how the young spies helped the Continental Army at +Valley Forge. + By James Otis. + +THE BOY SPIES OF FORT GRISWOLD. + The story of the part they took in its brave defence. + By William P. Chipman. + +THE BOY SPIES OF OLD NEW YORK. + The story of how the young spies prevented the capture of General +Washington. + By James Otis. + + + * * * * * + +For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by +the publishers. A.L. BURT COMPANY. 114-120 East 23d Street. New York. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNCLE WIGGILY'S TRAVELS*** + + +******* This file should be named 15282.txt or 15282.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/2/8/15282 + + + +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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