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UNCLE WIGGILY'S
ADVENTURES
By
HOWARD R. GARIS
_Author of "Sammie and Susie Littletail," "Johnnie and Billie
Bushytail." "Lulu, Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble,"
"Jackie and Peetie Bow-Wow," "Those Smith
Boys," "The Island Boys" etc._
Illustrations by
LOUIS WISA
A.L. BURT COMPANY
PUBLISHERS NEW YORK
THE FAMOUS
BED TIME SERIES
Five groups of books, intended for reading
aloud to the little folks each night. Each
volume contains 8 colored illustrations, 31
stories, one for each day of the month. Handsomely
bound in cloth. Size 6-1/2 x 8-1/4.
HOWARD R. GARIS
=Bed Time Animal Stories=
No. 1. SAMMIE AND SUSIE LITTLETAIL
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=
* * * * *
COPYRIGHT, 1912 By
R.F. FENNO & COMPANY
_Uncle Wiggily's Adventures_
=UNCLE WIGGILY'S ADVENTURES=
STORY I
UNCLE WIGGILY STARTS OFF
Uncle Wiggily Longears, the nice old gentleman rabbit, hopped out of bed
one morning and started to go to the window, to see if the sun was
shining. But, no sooner had he stepped on the floor, than he cried out:
"Oh! Ouch! Oh, dear me and a potato pancake! Oh, I believe I stepped on a
tack! Sammie Littletail must have left it there! How careless of him!"
You see this was the same Uncle Wiggily, of whom I have told you in the
Bedtime Books--the very same Uncle Wiggily. He was an Uncle to Sammie and
Susie Littletail, the rabbit children, and also to Billie and Johnnie
Bushytail, the squirrel boys, and to Alice and Lulu and Jimmie
Wibblewobble, the duck children, and I have written for you, books about
all those characters. Now I thought I would write something just about
Uncle Wiggily himself, though of course I'll tell you what all his nephews
and nieces did, too.
Well, when Uncle Wiggily felt that sharp pain, he stood still for a
moment, and wondered what could have happened.
"Yes, I'm almost sure it was a tack," he said. "I must pick it up so no
one else will step on it."
So Uncle Wiggily looked on the floor, but there was no tack there, only
some crumbs from a sugar cookie that Susie Littletail had been eating the
night before, when her uncle had told her a go-to-sleep story.
"Oh, I know what it was; it must have been my rheumatism that gave me the
pain!" said the old gentleman rabbit as he looked for his red, white and
blue crutch, striped like a barber pole. He found it under the bed, and
then he managed to limp to the window. Surely enough, the sun was shining.
"I'll certainly have to do something about this rheumatism," said Uncle
Wiggily as he carefully shaved himself by looking in the glass. "I guess
I'll see Dr. Possum."
So after breakfast, when Sammie and Susie had gone to school, Dr. Possum
was telephoned for, and he called to see Uncle Wiggily.
"Ha! Hum!" exclaimed the doctor, looking very wise. "You have the
rheumatism very bad, Mr. Longears."
"Why, I knew that before you came," said the old gentleman rabbit,
blinking his eyes. "What I want is something to cure it."
"Ha! Hum!" said Dr. Possum, again looking very wise. "I think you need a
change of air. You must travel about. Go on a journey, get out and see
strange birds, and pick the pretty flowers. You don't get exercise
enough."
"Exercise enough!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "Why, my goodness me sakes alive
and a bunch of lilacs! Don't I play checkers almost every night with
Grandfather Goosey Gander?"
"That is not enough," said the doctor, "you must travel here and there,
and see things."
"Very well," said Uncle Wiggily, "then I will travel. I'll pack my valise
at once, and I'll go off and seek my fortune, and maybe, on the way, I can
lose this rheumatism."
So the next day Uncle Wiggily started out with his crutch, and his valise
packed full of clean clothes, and something in it to eat.
"Oh, we are very sorry to have you go, dear uncle," said Susie Littletail,
"but we hope you'll come back good and strong."
"Thank you," said Uncle Wiggily, as he kissed the two rabbit children and
their mamma, and shook hands with Papa Littletail. Then off the old
gentleman bunny hopped with his crutch.
Well, he went along for quite a distance, over the hills, and down the
road, and through the woods, and, as the sun got higher and warmer, his
rheumatism felt better.
"I do believe Dr. Possum was right!" said Uncle Wiggily. "Traveling is
just the thing for me," and he felt so very jolly that he whistled a
little tune about a peanut wagon, which roasted lemonade, and boiled and
frizzled Easter eggs that Mrs. Cluk-Cluk laid.
"Ha! Where are you going?" suddenly asked a voice, as Uncle Wiggily
finished the tune.
"I'm going to seek my fortune," replied Uncle Wiggily. "Who are you,
pray?"
"Oh, I'm a friend of yours," said the voice, and Uncle Wiggily looked all
around, but he couldn't discover any one.
"But where are you?" the puzzled old gentleman rabbit wanted to know. "I
can't see you."
"No, and for a very good reason," answered the voice. "You see I have very
weak eyes, and if I came out in the sun, without my smoked glasses on, I
might get blind. So I have to hide down in this hollow stump."
"Then put on your glasses and come out where I can see you," invited the
old gentleman rabbit, and all the while he was trying to remember where he
had heard that voice before. At first he thought it might be Grandfather
Goosey Gander, or Uncle Butter, the goat, yet it didn't sound like either
of them.
"I have sent my glasses to the store to be fixed, so I can't wear them and
come out," went on the voice. "But if you are seeking your fortune I know
the very place where you can find it."
"Where?" asked Uncle Wiggily, eagerly.
"Right down in this hollow stump," was the reply. "There are all kinds of
fortunes here, and you may take any kind you like Mr. Longears."
"Ha! That is very nice," thought the rabbit. "I have not had to travel far
before finding my fortune. I wonder if there is a cure for rheumatism in
that stump, too?" So he asked about it.
"Of course, your rheumatism can be cured in here," came the quick answer.
"In fact, I guarantee to cure any disease--measles, chicken-pox, mumps and
even toothache. So if you have any friends you want cured send them to
me."
"I wish I could find out who you were," spoke the rabbit. "I seem to know
your voice, but I can't think of your name."
"Oh, you'll know me as soon as you see me," said the voice. "Just hop
down inside this hollow stump, and your fortune is as good as made, and
your rheumatism will soon be gone. Hop right down."
Well, Uncle Wiggily didn't like the looks of the black hole down inside
the stump, and he peered into it to see what he could see, but it was so
black that all he could make out was something like a lump of coal.
"Well, Dr. Possum said I needed to have a change of scene, and some
adventures," said the rabbit, "so I guess I'll chance it. I'll go down,
and perhaps I may find my fortune."
Then, carefully holding his crutch and his satchel, Uncle Wiggily hopped
down inside the stump. He felt something soft, and furry, and fuzzy,
pressing close to him, and at first he thought he had bumped into Dottie
or Willie Lambkin.
But then, all of a sudden, a harsh voice cried out:
"Ha! Now I have you! I was just wishing some one would come along with my
dinner, and you did! Get in there, and see if you can find your fortune,
Uncle Wiggily!" And with that what should happen but that big, black bear,
who had been hiding in the stump, pushed Uncle Wiggily into a dark closet,
and locked the door! And there the poor rabbit was, and the bear was
getting ready to eat him up.
But don't worry, I'll find a way to get him out, and in case we have ice
cream pancakes for supper I'll tell you, in the next story, how Uncle
Wiggily got out of the bear's den, and how he went fishing--I mean Uncle
Wiggily went fishing, not the bear.
STORY II
UNCLE WIGGILY GOES FISHING
At first, after he found himself shut up in the bear's dark closet, where
we left him in the story before this, poor Uncle Wiggily didn't know what
to think. He just sat there, on the edge of a chair, and he tried to look
around, and see something, but it was too black, so he couldn't.
"Perhaps this is only a joke," thought the old gentleman rabbit, "though I
never knew a black bear to joke before. But perhaps it is. I'll ask him."
So Uncle Wiggily called out:
"Is this a joke, Mr. Bear?"
"Not a bit of it!" was the growling answer. "You'll soon see what's going
to happen to you! I'm getting the fire ready now."
"Getting the fire ready for what; the adventure, or for my fortune?" asked
the rabbit, for he still hoped the bear was only joking with him.
"Ready to cook you!" was the reply. "That's what the fire is for!" and
the bear gnashed his teeth together something terrible, and, with his
sharp claws, he clawed big splinters off the stump, and with them he
started the fire in the stove, with the splinters, I mean, not his claws.
The blazing fire made it a little brighter in the hollow stump, which was
the black bear's den, and Uncle Wiggily could look out of a crack in the
door, and see what a savage fellow the shaggy bear was. You see, that bear
just hid in the stump, waiting for helpless animals to come along, and
then he'd trick them into jumping down inside of it, and there wasn't a
word of truth about him having sore eyes, or about him having to wear dark
spectacles, either.
"Oh, my! I guess this is the end of my adventures," thought the rabbit. "I
should have been more careful. Well, I wish I could see Sammie and Susie
before he eats me, but I'm afraid I can't. I shouldn't have jumped down
here."
But as Uncle Wiggily happened to think of Sammie Littletail, the boy
rabbit, he also thought of something else. And this was that Sammie had
put something in the old gentleman rabbit's valise that morning, before
his uncle had started off.
"If you ever get into trouble, Uncle Wiggily," Sammie had said, "this may
come in useful for you." Uncle Wiggily didn't look at the time to see
what it was that his nephew put in the valise, but he made up his mind he
would do so now. So he opened his satchel, and there, among other things,
was a long piece of thin, but strong rope. And pinned to it was a note
which read:
"Dear Uncle Wiggily. This is good to help you get out of a window, in case
of fire."
"My goodness!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, "that's fine. There the bear is
making a fire to cook me, and with this rope I can get away from it. Now
if there's only a window in this closet I'm all right."
So he looked, and sure enough there was a window. And with his crutch
Uncle Wiggily raised it. Then he threw out his satchel, and he tied the
rope to a hook on the window sill, and, being a strong old gentleman, he
crawled out of the window, and slid down the cord.
And Uncle Wiggily got out just as the bear opened the closet door to grab
him, and put him in the pot, and when the savage black creature saw his
fine rabbit dinner getting away he was as angry as anything, really he
was.
"Here! Come back here!" cried the bear, but of course Uncle Wiggily knew
better than to come back. He slid down the rope to the ground, and then he
cut off as much of the rope as he could, and put it in his pocket, for he
didn't know when he might need it again. Then, catching up his valise, he
ran on and on, before the bear could get to him.
It was still quite a dark place in which Uncle Wiggily was, for you see he
was underground, down by the roots of the stump. But he looked ahead and
he saw a little glimmer of light, and then he knew he could get out.
Limping on his crutch, and carrying his valise, he went on and on, and
pretty soon he came out of a dark cave and found himself on the bank of a
nice little brook, that was running over mossy, green stones.
"Ha! This is better than being in a bear's den!" exclaimed the old
gentleman rabbit. "My, I was so frightened that I forgot about my
rheumatism hurting me. That was an adventure all right, and Sammie was a
good boy to think of that strong cord. Now what shall I do next?"
Well, Uncle Wiggily sat down on the bank of the brook, and he looked in
the water. Then he happened to see a fish jump up to catch a bug, so he
said to himself:
"I guess I will go fishing, just for fun. But if I do happen to catch any
fish I'll put them right back in the water again. For I don't need any
fish, as I have some lettuce and cabbage sandwiches, and some
peanut-butter cakes, that Susie's mamma put up in a cracker-box for me."
Well, Uncle Wiggily looked in his valise, to make sure his lunch was safe,
and then, taking a bent pin from under his vest, he fastened it to a part
of the string Sammie had given him. Then he fastened the string to a pole,
and he was ready to fish, but he needed something to make the fishes
bite--that is, bite the pinhook, not bite him, you know.
"Oh, I guess they'll like a bit of sweet cracker," Uncle Wiggily thought;
so he put some on the end of the pin-hook, and threw it toward the water.
It fell in with a splash, and made a lot of little circles, like
ring-around the rosies, and the rabbit sat there looking at them, sort of
nodding, and half asleep and wondering what adventure would happen to him
next, and where he would stay that night. All of a sudden he felt
something tugging at the hook and line.
"Oh, I've got a fish! I've got a fish!" he cried, as he lifted up the
pole. Up out of the water with a sizzling rush flew the string and the
sweet cracker bait, and the next minute out leaped the big, savage
alligator that had escaped from a circus.
"Oh, ho! So you tried to catch me, eh?" the alligator shouted at Uncle
Wiggily.
"No--no, if you please," said the rabbit. "I was after fish."
"And I'm after you!" cried the alligator, and, scrambling up the bank, he
made a jump for Uncle Wiggily, and with one sweep of his kinky, scaly
tail he flopped and he threw the old gentleman rabbit and his crutch and
valise right up into a big tree that grew near the brook.
"There you'll stay until I get ready to eat you!" exclaimed the alligator,
as he stood up on the end of his tail under the tree, and opened his mouth
as wide as he could so that if Uncle Wiggily fell down he'd fall into it,
just like down a funnel, you know.
Well, the poor gentleman rabbit clung to the topmost tree branch,
wondering how in the world he was going to escape from the alligator. Oh,
it was a dreadful position to be in!
But please don't worry or stay awake over it, for I'll find a way to get
him down safely. And in the story after this, if the milkman doesn't leave
us sour cream for our lemonade, I'll tell you about Uncle Wiggily and the
black crow.
STORY III
UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BLACK CROW
Let me see, where did I leave off in the last story? Oh! I remember. It
was about Uncle Wiggily Longears being up in the top of the tall tree, and
the alligator keeping guard down below, ready to eat him.
Well, the old gentleman rabbit was wondering how he could ever escape, and
he felt quite badly about it.
"I guess this is the end of my adventures," he said to himself. "It would
have been much better had I stayed at home with Sammie and Susie." And as
he thought of the two rabbit children he felt still sadder, and very
lonely.
"I wonder if Susie could have put anything in my satchel with which to
scare an alligator," thought Uncle Wiggily. "I guess I'll look." So he
looked, and what should he find but a bottle of toothache drops. Yes,
there it was, and wrapped ground it was a little note Susie had written.
"Dear Uncle Wiggily," she said in the note, "if you ever get the
toothache on your travels, this will stop it."
"Ha! That is very kind of Susie, I'm sure," said the rabbit, "but I don't
see how that is going to make the alligator go away. And, even if he does
go, I wonder how I'm to get down out of this tall tree, with my crutch, my
valise and my rheumatism?"
Well, just then the alligator got tired of standing on the end of his
tail, with his mouth open, and he began crawling around. Then he thought
of what a good supper he was going to have of Uncle Wiggily, and that
alligator said:
"I guess I'll sharpen my teeth so I can eat him better," and with that the
savage and unpleasant creature began to gnaw on a stone, to sharpen his
teeth. Then he stood up on the end of his tail once more, under the tree,
and opened his mouth as wide as he could.
"Come on now!" he called to Uncle Wiggily. "Jump down and have it over
with."
"Oh, but I don't want to," objected the rabbit.
"You'll have to, whether you want to or not," went on the alligator. "If
you don't come down, I'll take my scaly, naily tail, and I'll saw down the
tree, and then you'll fall."
"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "What shall I do?"
Then he happened to think of the bottle of toothache medicine that he held
in his hand, and, taking out the cork, he dropped the bottle, medicine and
all, right into the open mouth of the alligator, who was again up on his
tail.
And the alligator thought it was Uncle Wiggily falling into his jaws, and
he shut them quickly like a steel trap and chewed on that bottle of hot
toothache drops before he knew what it was.
Well, you can just imagine what happened. The medicine was as hot as
pepper and mustard and vinegar and cloves and horse radish all made into
one! My! how it did burn that alligator's mouth.
"Oh my! I'm shot! I'm poisoned! I'm bitten by a mosquito! I'm stabbed! I'm
all scrambled up" cried the alligator. "Water, water, quick! I must have
water!"
Then he gave a big jump, and, with his kinkery-scalery tail, he leaped
into a big puddle of water, and went away down in under, out of sight, to
cool off his mouth.
"Oh, now is my chance! If I could only get down out of the tree!"
exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "But with my rheumatism I'm afraid I'll fall. Oh
dear! What shall I do?"
"Don't be afraid, I'll help you!" exclaimed a kind voice, and then the
voice went on: "Caw! Caw! Caw!" and Uncle Wiggily, looking up, saw a big
black crow perched on a limb over his head.
"Oh, how do you do!" spoke Uncle Wiggily, making a bow as well as he
could. "Can you really help me down?'
"Yes," said the crow, "I can. Wait until I get my market basket. I was
just going to the grocery, but I'm in no hurry. I'll save you first."
So that crow flew off, and in a moment he came back with a big basket in
its bill.
"Hop in!" the black crow called to Uncle Wiggily, "and I'll fly down to
the ground with you, and you can run off before the alligator comes out of
the water. I saw what you did to him with those toothache drops, and it
served him right. Come on, hop in the basket."
So Uncle Wiggily got in the basket, and the crow, taking the handle in his
strong beak, flew safely to the ground with him. And that's how the old
gentleman rabbit got down out of the tree, just as I told you he would.
So he and the crow walked on some distance through the woods together,
after Uncle Wiggily had picked up his crutch and valise, which had fallen
out of the basket, and they got safely away before the alligator came out
of the water. And wasn't he the provoked old beastie, though, when he saw
that his rabbit supper was gone?
"Where are you going?" asked the crow of Uncle Wiggily, after a bit, when
they got to a nice big stone, and sat down for a rest.
"I am seeking my fortune," replied the old gentleman rabbit, "and trying
to get better of my rheumatism. Dr. Possum told me to travel, and have
adventures, and I've had quite a few already."
"Well, I hope you find your fortune and that it turns out to be a very
good one," said the kind crow. "But it is coming on night now. Have you
any place to stay?"
"No," replied the rabbit, "I haven't. I never thought about that. What
shall I do?"
"Oh, don't worry," said the crow. "I'd let you stay in my nest, but it is
up a high tree, and you would have trouble climbing in and out. But near
my nest-house is an old hollow stump, and you can stay in that very
nicely."
"Are there any bears in it?" asked Uncle Wiggily, careful-like.
"Oh, no; not a one. It is very safe."
So the crow showed Uncle Wiggily where the hollow stump was, and he slept
there all night, on a soft bed of leaves. And when he awakened in the
morning he had breakfast with the crow and once more started off to seek
his fortune.
Well, pretty soon, in a short while, not so very long, he came to a little
house made of bark, standing in the middle of a deep, dark, dismal woods.
And on the door of the house was a sign which read:
"If you want to be surprised, open this door and come in."
"Perhaps I can find my fortune in there, and get rid of the rheumatism,"
thought Uncle Wiggily, so he hopped forward. And just as he did so he
heard a voice calling to him:
"Don't go in! Don't go in there, Uncle Wiggily!"
The rabbit looked up, and saw Johnnie Bushytail, the squirrel boy, waving
his paws at him. Well, Uncle Wiggily started to jump back away from the
door of the little house, but it was too late. Out came a
scraggily-raggily claw, which grabbed him, while a voice cried out:
"Ah, ha! Now I have you! Come right in!"
And then, before you could shake a stick at a bad dog, the door was
slammed shut and locked, and there Uncle Wiggily was inside the house, and
Johnnie Bushytail was crying outside.
"That's the end of poor Uncle Wiggily!" said Johnnie. But it wasn't. For
I'll not leave the old gentleman rabbit alone in the house with that clawy
creature. And in the next story, providing our wash lady doesn't put my
new straw hat in the soap suds, and take all the color out of the ribbon,
I'll tell you about Uncle Wiggily and Fido Flip-Flop.
STORY IV
UNCLE WIGGILY AND FIDO FLIP-FLOP
Well, as soon as Uncle Wiggily found himself inside the bear's den--oh,
just listen to me! That was in the other story, wasn't it? Yes, we left
him in the funny little house in the woods, with the clawy creature
grabbing him.
Now, what do you suppose that clawy creature was? Why, a great, big owl,
to be sure, with round, staring, yellow eyes, and he had grabbed Uncle
Wiggily in his claws, and pulled him inside the house.
"Now, I've got you!" cried the owl. "I was just wishing some one would
come along, and you did. Some of my friends are coming to tea this
afternoon, and you'll do very nicely made up into sandwiches."
Wasn't that a perfectly dreadful way to talk about our Uncle Wiggily?
Well, I guess yes!
"Now you're here, make yourself at home," went on the owl, sarcastic-like,
as he locked the front door and put the key in his pocket. "Did you see
the sign?"
"Yes," said Uncle Wiggily, "I did. But I don't call it fair. I thought I
would find my fortune in here."
"The sign says you'll be surprised, and I guess you are surprised, aren't
you?" asked the owl.
"Yes," answered the rabbit, "very much so. But I'd rather have a nice
surprise party, with peanuts and lemonade, than this."
"No matter," said the owl, snapping his beak like a pair of shears, "here
you are and here you'll stay! My friends will soon arrive. I'll now put
the kettle on, to boil for tea."
Well, poor Uncle Wiggily didn't know what to do. He couldn't look in his
valise to see if there was anything in it by which he might escape, for he
had dropped the satchel outside when the owl grabbed him, and he only had
his barber-pole crutch.
"Oh, this is worse and worse!" thought the poor old rabbit.
But listen, Johnnie Bushytail is outside the owl's house, and he's going
to do a wonderful trick.
As soon as he saw the door shut on Uncle Wiggily, that brave squirrel boy
began to plan how he could save him, and the first thing he did was to
gather up a lot of acorns.
Then he perched himself in a tree, right in front of the owl's door, and
Johnnie began throwing acorns at it. "Rat-a-tat-tat!" went the acorns on
the wooden panels.
"Ha! Those must be my friends!" exclaimed the bad owl, opening the door a
little crack so he could peek out, but taking care to stand in front of
it, so that Uncle Wiggily couldn't slip out. But, of course, the owl saw
no one. "It must have been the wind," he said as he shut the door.
Then Johnnie Bushytail threw some more acorns at the door.
"Pitter-patter-patter-pit!" they went, like hailstones in an ice cream
can.
"Ah, there are my friends, sure, this time!" thought the owl, and once
more he peered out, but no one was there. "It must have been a tree branch
hitting against the door," said the owl, as he sharpened a big knife with
which to make the sandwiches. Then Johnnie threw some more acorns, and the
owl now thought positively his friends were there, and when he opened it
and saw no one he was real mad.
"Some one is playing tricks on me!" exclaimed the savage bird. "I'll catch
them next time!"
Now this was just what Johnnie Bushytail wanted, so he threw a whole
double handful of acorns at the door, and when the owl heard them
pattering against the wood he rushed out.
"Now, I've got you!" he cried, but he hadn't, for Johnnie was up a tree.
And, for the moment, the owl forgot about Uncle Wiggily, and there the
door was wide open.
"Run out, Uncle Wiggily! Run out!" cried Johnnie, and out the old
gentleman rabbit hopped, catching up his valise, and away into the woods
he ran, with Johnnie scurrying along in the tree tops above him, and
laughing at the owl, who flew back to his house, but too late to catch the
bunny.
"That's what you get for fooling people so they'll come into your house,"
called the squirrel boy. "It serves you right, Mr. Owl. Come on, Uncle
Wiggily, we'll get away from here."
So they went on together until it was time for Johnnie to go home, and he
said he'd tell Uncle Wiggily's friends that he had met the old gentleman
rabbit, and that he hadn't found his fortune yet, but that he was looking
for it every minute, and had had many adventures.
Well, Uncle Wiggily went on some more, for quite a distance, until it was
noon time, and then he sat down in the cool, green woods, where there were
some jacks-in-the-pulpit growing near some ferns, and there Uncle Wiggily
ate his lunch of lettuce sandwiches, with carrot butter on them, and
gnawed on a bit of potato. Just as he was almost through, he heard a
rustling in the bushes, and a voice exclaimed:
"Oh, dear!"
"Why, what's the matter?" asked Uncle Wiggily, thinking perhaps an
adventure was going to happen to him. "Who are you?"
"Oh, dear!" exclaimed the voice again.
Then, before the old rabbit could jump up and run away, even if he had
wanted to, out from under a big bush came a little white poodle dog, with
curly, silky hair. He walked right up to Uncle Wiggily, that dog did, and
the rabbit wasn't a bit afraid, for the dog wasn't much bigger than he
was, and looked very kind.
"What do you want, doggie?" gently asked Uncle Wiggily.
The dog didn't answer, but he gave a little short bark, and then he began
turning somersaults. Over and over he went, sometimes backward and
sometimes frontward, and sometimes sideways. And when he was finished, he
made a low bow, and walked around on his two hind legs, just to show he
wasn't proud or stuck up.
"There!" exclaimed the poodle doggie. "Is that worth something to eat, Mr.
Rabbit?"
"Indeed it is," answered Uncle Wiggily, "but I would have given you
something to eat without you doing all those tricks, though I enjoyed them
very much. Where did you learn to do them?"
"Oh, in the circus where I used to be, I always had to do tricks for my
dinner," said the doggie.
"What is your name?" asked Uncle Wiggily.
"Fido Flip-Flop," was the answer. "You see they call me that because I
turn so many flip-flops," and then Uncle Wiggily gave him some lunch, and
told the dog about how he, himself, was traveling all over in search of
his fortune.
"Why, that's just what I'm doing, too," exclaimed Fido Flip-Flop. "Suppose
we travel together? and maybe we'll each find a fortune."
"That's just what we'll do," agreed Uncle Wiggily.
And then, all of a sudden, before you could open your eyes and shut them
again, two savage foxes jumped out from behind a big stump.
"You grab the dog and I'll grab the rabbit," called the biggest fox, and
right at Uncle Wiggily and Fido they sprang, gnashing their teeth.
But don't worry. I'll find a way to save them, and if the canary bird
doesn't take my lead pencil and stick it in his seed dish I'll tell you in
the following story about Uncle Wiggily doing some tricks.
STORY V
UNCLE WIGGILY DOES SOME TRICKS
When those two savage ducks--oh, I mean foxes--when those two savage foxes
jumped out of the bushes at Uncle Wiggily Longears and Fido Flip-Flop, as
I told you in the other story, the rabbit and the poodle doggie didn't
know what in the world to do.
"Run this way!" called Fido, starting off to the left.
"No, hop this way!" said Uncle Wiggily, hopping to the right.
"Stand right where you are!" ordered the two foxes together. And with that
one made a grab for Uncle Wiggily. But what did that brave rabbit
gentleman do but stick his red-white-and-blue crutch out in front of him,
and the fox bit on that instead of on Uncle Wiggily. Right into the crutch
the fox's teeth sank, and for a moment Uncle Wiggily was safe. But not for
long.
"Ah, you fooled me that time, but now I'll get you!" cried the fox, and,
letting go of the crutch, he made another grab for the rabbit.
But at that instant Fido Flip-Flop, who had been jumping about, keeping
out of the way of the fox that was after him, cried out quite loudly:
"Look here, everybody but Uncle Wiggily, and, as for you, shut both your
eyes tight."
Now the old gentleman rabbit couldn't imagine why he was to shut his eyes
tight, but he did so, and then what do you s'pose Fido Flip-Flop did? Why,
he began turning somersaults so fast that he looked just like a pinwheel
going around, or an automobile tire whizzing along. Faster and faster did
Fido Flip-Flop turn around, and then, all of a sudden, he began chasing
his tail, making motions just like a merry-go-round in a circus, until
those two foxes were fairly dizzy from watching him.
"Stop! Stop!" cried one fox.
"Yes do stop! We're so dizzy that we can't stand up!" cried the other fox,
staggering about. "Stop!"
"No, I'll not!" answered Fido Flip-Flop, and he went around faster that
ever, faster and faster and faster, until those two bad foxes got so
dizzy-izzy that they fell right over on their backs, with their legs
sticking straight up in the air like clothes posts, and their tails were
wiggling back and forth in the dirt, like dusting brushes. Oh, but they
were the dizzy foxes, though.
"Now's your chance! Run! Run! Uncle Wiggily! Run!" called Fido Flip-Flop
"Open your eyes and run!"
So the old gentleman rabbit opened his eyes, took up his valise which he
had dropped, and, hopping on his crutch, he and the poodle doggie ran on
through the woods, leaving the two surprised and disappointed foxes still
lying on their backs, wiggling their tails in the dust, and too dizzy,
from having watched Fido Flip-Flop do somersaults, and chase his tail, to
be able to get up.
"Why did you want me to shut my eyes?" asked Uncle Wiggily, when they were
so far away from the foxes that there was no more danger.
"That was so _you_ wouldn't get dizzy from watching me do the flip-flops,"
answered the doggie. "My, but that was a narrow escape, though. Have you
had many adventures like that since you started out to seek your fortune?"
"Yes, several," answered the rabbit. "But turning flip-flops is a very
good thing to know how to do. I wonder if you could teach me, so that when
any more foxes or alligators chase me I can make them dizzy by turning
around? Can you teach me?"
"I'm sure I can," said Fido. "Here, this is the way to begin," and he did
some flip-flops slow and easy-like. Then Uncle Wiggily tried them, and,
though he couldn't do them very well at first, he practised until he was
quite good at it. Then Fido showed him how to stand on one ear, and wiggle
the other, and how to blink his eyes while standing on the end of his
little tail, and then Uncle Wiggily thought of a new trick, all by
himself.
"I'll stick my crutch in the ground, like a clothes pole," he said to
Fido, "and then I'll hop up on it and sing a song," which he did, singing
a song that went like this:
"Did you ever see a rabbit
Do a flipper-flopper-flap?
If not just kindly watch me,
As I wear my baseball cap.
"It's very strange, some folks may say,
And also rather funny,
To see a kinky poodle dog
Play with a flip-flop bunny.
"But we are on our travels,
Adventures for to seek,
We may find one, or two, or three,
'Most any day next week."
And then Uncle Wiggily hopped down, and waved both ears backward and
forward, and made a low bow to a make-believe crowd of people, only, of
course, there were none there.
"Fine! Fine!" cried Fido Flip-Flop. "That's better than I did when I was
in the circus. Now I'll tell you what let's do."
"What?" asked Uncle Wiggily.
"Let's go around and give little shows and entertainments, for little
folks to see," went on the poodle doggie. "I can turn flip-flops, and you
can stand on your head on your crutch, and sing a song, and then we'll
take up a collection. I'll pass my hat, and perhaps we may make our
fortune--who knows?"
"Who, indeed?" said Uncle Wiggily. "We'll do it."
So off they started together to give a little show, and make some money,
and, as they went on through the woods, they practised doing the tricks
Uncle Wiggily had learned.
Well, in a little while, not so very long, they came to a nice place in
the forest--an open place where no trees grew.
"Here is a good spot for our show," said Uncle Wiggily.
"But there is no one to see us do the tricks," objected Fido.
"Oh, yes, there are some ants, and an angle worm, and a black bug and a
grasshopper," said Uncle Wiggily. "They will do to start on, and after
they see us do the tricks they'll tell other folks, and we'll have quite a
crowd."
So they started in to do their tricks. Fido turned a lot of flip-flops,
and Uncle Wiggily did a dance on the end of his crutch, and sang a song
about a monkey-doodle, which the angle worm said was just fine, being
quite cute, and the grasshopper made believe play a fiddle with his two
hind legs, scratching one on the other, and making lovely music.
But, all of a sudden, just as Uncle Wiggily was standing on his left ear,
and wiggling his feet in the air, which is a very hard trick for a rabbit,
what should happen but that out of the woods sprang two boys.
"There's the dog! Grab him!" cried one boy. "Never mind about the rabbit!
Get the trick dog!" And the boys rushed right up, knocking Uncle Wiggily
down, and grabbing Fido Flip-Flop. And they started off through the woods
with him, while Uncle Wiggily cried out for them to come back. But they
wouldn't.
Now please don't feel badly, for I'm going to tell you in the next story
how Uncle Wiggily saved Fido, and also how the rabbit went to Arabella
Chick's surprise party--that is I will if our automobile doesn't turn
upside down, and break my ice cream cone.
STORY VI
UNCLE WIGGILY AT THE PARTY
Well, when Uncle Wiggily Longears found that the elephant wouldn't get off
his trunk--oh, listen to me! What I meant to say was, that when Uncle
Wiggily saw those two boys running off with Fido Flip-Flop, the little
trick dog, as I told you about in the story before this, the old gentleman
rabbit was so surprised at first that he didn't know what to do.
"Won't you please come back with that little doggie?" begged Uncle
Wiggily, but the bad boys kept right on. I guess they knew how smart Fido
was, and they wanted to get up a show with him. Anyhow, they kept on
running through the woods, holding him tightly in their arms.
"Oh, dear! This is terrible!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "I'll never get any
good fortune if Fido has such bad luck. And it was partly my fault, too,
for if we hadn't been doing tricks, we would have heard these boys coming,
and could have run away. Well, now I must save Fido."
So Uncle Wiggily sat down on a stump, and thought, and thought, and
thought of all the plans he could think of, to save the doggie from the
two boys, and at last he decided the only way to do was to scare them.
"Then they'll drop Fido, and run away," said the old gentleman rabbit.
"Let me see, how can I scare them? I know, I'll make believe I'm a tiger!"
So what did that brave Uncle Wiggily do? but go to a mud hole, and with
his crutch dipped into the mud, he made himself all striped over like a
tiger that you see in a circus. Oh, he was a most ferocious sight when he
finished decorating himself! Then he hid his satchel in the bushes, and he
started off on a short cut through the woods, to get ahead of the boys.
Faster and faster through the woods went Uncle Wiggily, and he looked so
peculiarly terrifying that all the animals who saw him were scared out of
their wits, and one old blue-jay bird was so frightened that he wiggled
his tail up and down, and hid his head in a hollow tree.
Well, by and by, after a while, Uncle Wiggily got to a place in the woods
where he knew those boys, with Fido Flip-Flop, would soon come by. Then
the rabbit hid himself in the bushes, so that his long ears wouldn't show.
For he knew that if the boys saw them, they would know right away he
wasn't a tiger, no matter if he was striped like one.
In a few minutes along came the boys, and they were talking about what
they were going to do to Fido, and how they would put him in a cage, and
make him do lots of tricks. All of a sudden there was a rustling in the
bushes, and Uncle Wiggily just stuck out his head and part of his body,
laying his ears flat back where they could not be seen. But the boys could
see the mud stripes, only they didn't know they were just mud, you
understand.
"Oh! See that!" cried one boy.
"Yes, it's a tigery-tiger!" exclaimed the other boy.
"Let's run!" shouted both the boys together. "The tiger will eat us up!"
And just then Uncle Wiggily growled as loudly as he could, a real fierce
growl, and he rattled the bushes and stuck out his striped paws, and those
boys dropped Fido Flip-Flop, and ran away, as hard as they could through
the woods, leaving Fido to join the rabbit.
"Thank you very much for saving me, Uncle Wiggily," said the dog, as soon
as he got over being frightened. "That was a good trick, to pretend you
were a tiger. But I knew you right away, only, of course, I wasn't going
to tell those boys who you were. It served them right, for squeezing me
the way they did. Now we'll go on, and see if we can find a fortune for
you."
So they went back to where Uncle Wiggily had left his valise, and there it
was safe and sound, and inside it were some nice things to eat, and the
rabbit and doggie had a dinner there in the woods, after the mud stripes
were washed off.
Then they went on and on, for ever so long, and nothing happened, except
that a mosquito bit Fido on the end of his nose, and every time he sneezed
it tickled him.
"Well, I guess we won't have any more adventures to-day, Uncle Wiggily,"
spoke the doggie, but, a moment later, they heard a rustling in the bushes
and, before they could hide themselves, out jumped Arabella Chick, the
sister of Charlie, the rooster boy.
"Oh, you dear Uncle Wiggily!" she exclaimed, "you're just in time."
"What for?" asked Uncle Wiggily; "for the train?"
"No, for my party," answered Arabella. "I'm going to have one for all my
friends, and I want you to come. Will you?"
"Oh, I guess so, Arabella. But you see, I have a friend with me, and----"
"Oh, he can come too," spoke Arabella, making a bow to Fido Flip-Flop. So
Uncle Wiggily introduced the doggie to the chickie girl, and the chickie
girl to the doggie.
Then they went on together to the party, which was held in a nice big
chicken coop.
Oh, I wish you could have been there! It was just too nice for anything!
Sammie and Susie Littletail were there, and they were so glad to see Uncle
Wiggily again. He said he hadn't been very lucky in finding his fortune so
far, but his rheumatism was not much worse, and he was going to keep on
traveling. He sent his love to all the folks, and said he'd be home some
time later.
Then, of course, all the other animal friends were at the party and they
played games--games of all kinds, including a new one called "Please don't
sit on my hat, and I won't sit on yours." It was too funny for anything,
really it was.
Then, of course, there were good things to eat. Buddy Pigg passed around
the ice cream, and just as he was handing a plate of it to Jennie Chipmunk
it slipped--I mean the ice cream slipped--and went right into Uncle
Butter's lap. But the old goat didn't care a bit. He said it reminded him
of a pail of paste, and he ate the ice cream, and Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy
got Jennie some more.
Then Flip-Flop and Uncle Wiggily did some of their tricks, and every one
said they were fine, and they thought it was the best party they had ever
been at.
But all of a sudden, just as they were playing the game called "Jump on
the piano, and play a queer tune," there came a knock at the door.
"Who's there?" asked Arabella Chick.
"I am," answered a voice, "and I want Uncle Wiggily Longears instantly! He
must come with me!" And they all looked from the window, and there stood a
big dog, dressed up like a soldier, and he had a gun with him. And he
wanted Uncle Wiggily to come out, and every one was frightened, for fear
he'd shoot the old gentleman rabbit.
But please don't you get alarmed. I wouldn't have that happen for worlds,
and in the next story, if I catch a fish in the milk bottle, and he
doesn't bite my finger, I'll tell you about Uncle Wiggily in a parade. And
it will be a Decoration Day story.
STORY VII
UNCLE WIGGILY IN A PARADE
Arabella Chick's party seemed to break up very suddenly when the guests
saw that soldier-dog with the gun waiting outside the door. Buddy Pigg
slipped out of a back window, and ran home with his tail behind him. Oh,
excuse me, guinea pigs don't have a tail, do they? Anyhow he ran home, and
so did Sammie and Susie Littletail, and Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, and
the Wibblewobble children, and Peetie and Jackie Bow Wow too.
But, of course, Arabella Chick couldn't run home because she was at home
already, so she just looked out of the window once more, and there the
dog-soldier stood, and he was looking in his gun to see if it was loaded.
"Well, is Uncle Wiggily coming out?" called the dog again.
"I guess I am--that is--are you sure you want me?" asked the poor old
gentleman rabbit, puzzled like.
"Yes, of course I want you," replied the dog.
"Then I guess I've got to go!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, as he looked for
his crutch and valise. "I guess this is the end of my fortune-hunting.
Goodbye everybody!" And he felt so badly that two big tears rolled down
his ears--I mean his eyes.
Well, he bravely walked out of the door, and as he did so the dog-soldier,
with the gun, exclaimed:
"Ah, here you are at last! Now hurry up, Uncle Wiggily, or we'll be late
for the parade!"
And, would you believe it? that dog was good, kind, old Percival, who used
to be in a circus. And of course he wouldn't hurt the rabbit gentleman for
anything. Percival just put his gun to his shoulder, and said:
"Come on, we'll get in the parade now."
"Parade? What parade?" asked Uncle Wiggily. "Oh my! how you frightened
me!"
"Why the Decoration Day parade," answered Percival. "To-day is the day
when we put flowers on the soldiers' graves, and remember them for being
so brave as to go to war. All old soldiers march in the parade, and so do
all their friends. I'm going to march, and I'm going to put flowers on a
lot of soldiers' graves. I happened to remember that you were once in the
war, so I came for you. I didn't mean to scare you. You were in the war,
weren't you?"
"Yes," said Uncle Wiggily, happy now because he knew he wasn't going to
get shot, "I once went to war, and killed a lot of mosquitoes."
"Good! I thought so!" exclaimed Percival. "Well, I met Grandfather Goosey
Gander, and he said he thought you were at this party, so I came for you.
Come on, now, the parade is almost ready to start."
"Oh, how you did frighten us!" exclaimed Arabella, whose heart was still
going pitter-patter. "We thought you were going to hurt Uncle Wiggily,
Percival."
"Oh, I'm so sorry I alarmed you," spoke the circus dog politely. "I won't
do it again."
Well, in a little while Percival and Uncle Wiggily were at the parade. The
old gentleman rabbit left his satchel at Arabella's house, and only took
his crutch. But he limped along just like a real soldier, and Percival
carried his gun as bravely as one could wish.
Oh, I wish you could have heard the bands playing, and the drums
beating--the little kind that sound like when you drop beans on the
kitchen oil-cloth, and the big drums, that go "Boom-boom!" like thunder
and lightning, and the fifes that squeak like a mouse in the cheese trap,
and then the big blaring horns, that make a sound like a circus
performance.
They were all there, and there were lots of soldiers and horses and wagons
filled with flowers to put on the graves of the soldiers, who were so
brave that they didn't mind going to war to fight for their country,
though war is a terrible thing.
Then the march began, and Uncle Wiggily and Percival stepped out as brave
as anyone in all the parade. Oh, how fine they looked! and, when they
marched past, all the animal people, and some real boys and girls, and
papas and mammas clapped their hands and cried "Hurrah!" at the sight of
the old gentleman rabbit limping along on his crutch, with the dog-soldier
marching beside him.
"Who knows," whispered Percival to Uncle Wiggily, "who knows but what you
may discover your fortune to-day?"
"Indeed I may," answer Uncle Wiggily. "Who knows?"
Well, that was a fine parade. But something happened. I was afraid it
would, but I'll tell you all about it, and you can see for yourself
whether or not I was right.
All of a sudden one man, with a big horn--a horn large enough to put a
loaf of mother's bread down inside the noisy end--all of a sudden this man
blew a terrible blast--"Umpty-umpty-Umph! Umph!" My, what a noise he made
on that horn.
Now, right in front of this man was a little boy-duck riding on a pony.
Yes, you've guessed who he was--he was Jimmy Wibblewobble. And when that
man blew the loud blast, the pony was frightened, and ran away with Jimmie
on his back.
Faster and faster ran the pony, and Jimmie Wibblewobble clung to his back,
fearing every moment he would be thrown off. In and out among the people
and animals in the parade, in and out among trolley cars and automobiles,
in and out, and from one side to another of the street ran the frightened
pony.
"Oh, poor Jimmie will be killed!" cried Percival.
"No, he will not, for I will save him!" shouted Uncle Wiggily. So that
brave rabbit ran right out to where he saw Munchie Trot, the little pony
boy.
"Let me jump on your back, Munchie," said Uncle Wiggily, "and then we'll
race after that runaway pony and grab off poor Jimmie. And run as fast as
you can, Munchie!"
"I certainly will!" cried Munchie. So Uncle Wiggily got on Munchie's back,
and away they started after the runaway pony.
Faster and faster ran Munchie, and by this time the other little horsie
was getting tired. Jimmie was still clinging to his back, and asking him
not to run so fast, but the pony was so frightened he didn't listen to the
duck-boy.
Then, just as he was going to run into a hot peanut wagon, and maybe toss
Jimmie off into the red-hot roaster, all at once Uncle Wiggily, on
Munchie's back, galloped up alongside of the runaway pony. And as quick as
you can drink a glass of lemonade, Uncle Wiggily grabbed Jimmie up on
Munchie's back beside him, and so saved the duck-boy's life. And then the
runaway pony stopped short, all of a sudden, and didn't bump into the hot
peanut wagon, after all, and he was sorry he had run away, and scared
folks.
Then the Decoration Day parade went on, and everyone said how brave Uncle
Wiggily was. But he hadn't yet found his fortune, and so in the story
after this in case our front porch doesn't run away, and take the back
steps with it, so I have to sleep on the doormat, I'll tell you about
Uncle Wiggily in the fountain.
STORY VIII
UNCLE WIGGILY IN THE FOUNTAIN
Well, after the Decoration Day parade, and the things that happened in it,
such as the pony running away with Jimmie Wibblewobble, Uncle Wiggily
Longears thought he'd like to go off to some quiet place and rest.
"Oh, can't you come with me?" asked Percival, the old circus dog. "We'll
go to the Bow-Wows house, and have something to eat."