mosquito off his twinkling nose. "But I didn't know you were lost,
Peetie. Why didn't you say something about it? And here you've been
away from your grandpa's house all night and he and your brother
Jackie may be very much worried. Why didn't you tell me about this
yesterday?"
"Well, I thought you had troubles enough of your own," said Peetie
politely, as he looked down in a puddle of water to see if his tail
was fastened on straight. "But I would like very much, Uncle Wiggily,
to find my way back to grandpa's house, and see Jackie," he went on.
"And I know he'll be glad to see you."
"Then we must start off at once and look for your grandpa's house,"
decided the old gentleman rabbit. "I will let my fortune go for
to-day, and we will take care of you."
So off they started, looking for the house of Peetie's grandpa. The
puppy dog helped them look, of course, but he was too small to be of
much use. Every once in a while he would find a nice juicy bone, and
he would stop to gnaw that instead of looking for the path back home.
"Oh, you mustn't do that," said Uncle Wiggily, as he leaned on his
crutch to rest himself. "There will be time enough to eat bones after
you are home. Trot along now, Peetie."
"Well, I'll just bury this bone here, where Jackie and I can get it
later," said Peetie. So he dug a hole for the bone and carefully
covered it with earth, where it would keep just as good as if it was
in a refrigerator or an ice-box.
Well, the rabbit and the grasshopper and the puppy dog looked in all
the places they could think of, and around corners and up and down the
middle and on both sides, for a sight of the house of Peetie's
grandpa, but they couldn't seem to find it.
And then, all of a sudden, and so quickly that it happened before you
could roll a popcorn ball on top of the piano, there was a growling in
the bushes, and a shaking of the leaves, and out popped a big, black
bear. My! Oh, my! But he was a big, savage bear, and as soon as he saw
Uncle Wiggily he cried out:
"Now I have you, my fine rabbit friend! And a puppy dog also, to say
nothing of a grasshopper, with which to finish off. Oh, this is a
lucky day for me!"
"You--you don't mean to say that you are going to eat us, do you?"
asked Uncle Wiggily, turning pale around the ears.
"That's exactly what I do mean," said the bear in a grillery-growlery
voice. "And how very lucky! It's just my dinner time," and he looked
at his watch to make sure, and then shut the cover with a bang.
"Well, you can't eat me!" cried the grasshopper and with that he gave
a spring and landed inside of a Jack-in-the-Pulpit growing on top of a
high rock, and he pulled the cover of the plant over him so the bear
couldn't see him.
"Well, the grasshopper got away," said the bear in a disappointed
voice, "but I have you two yet, anyhow," and with that he made a jump,
and grabbed Uncle Wiggily in one paw and Peetie Bow-Wow in the other
paw. Then he hugged them tight, just like a little girl hugs, her two
dollies, and the bear looked down at them, first at Uncle Wiggily and
then at Peetie. And that bear showed his ugly teeth, and said in his
grillery-growlery voice:
"Let me see; which one of you shall I eat first?"
Well, you can just imagine how frightened Uncle Wiggily and the puppy
dog were. They didn't know what to do.
"I think I'll eat you first, Mr. Rabbit," said the bear at length, and
he was just getting ready to eat Uncle Wiggily, as you would eat a
strawberry, when there was a rushing sound in the bushes back of that
bear, and a brave voice called out:
"No, Mr. Bear, you're not going to eat either one of them. Put Uncle
Wiggily down at once and let go of Peetie Bow-Wow. At once, I say!"
"Ha! Who are you?" cried the bear, turning around quickly in order to
see better. "Who are you, if I may ask?"
"I'm Jackie Bow-Wow," was the answer, "and if you don't at once do as
I say I'll shoot you with my gun!"
Well, you can just imagine how surprised Uncle Wiggily and Peetie were
to see Jackie standing there as brave as a lion, pointing a black gun
at the black bear.
"I'm not going to let them go!" cried the bear, savagely, and he
hugged the rabbit and the puppy dog tighter than ever.
"Then I'm going to shoot!" cried Jackie. "One--two--three!" he
counted. "Here I go! Bang!"
"Oh, don't shoot! Don't shoot!" begged the bear, and he quickly
dropped the rabbit and the doggie and then he ran away through the
bushes, taking his little stubby tail with him. Then Jackie burst out
laughing as hard as he could.
"What's the matter?" asked Uncle Wiggily, in surprise.
"Ha! Ha!" laughed Jackie. "What a joke on that bear! I didn't have a
real gun at all. It's only a wooden one, with which I was playing hunt
Indians. But he thought it was a real one, and he was so scared that
he let you go. Ha! Ha! Ho! Ho!"
"It's a good thing you came along when you did," said his brother
Peetie. "We were just looking for grandpa's house. I was lost, you
know, and couldn't find my way back."
"I know you were and I was looking for you," spoke Jackie. Then Peetie
told him about the alligator and where he had been with Uncle Wiggily,
and Jackie was very glad to see his brother and the old gentleman
rabbit again, and he was soon ready to show them the way to his
grandpa's house.
But they had forgotten about the grasshopper in the
Jack-in-the-Pulpit, and a very curious thing happened to that poor
insect. I'll tell you about it on the next page, when the Bedtime
Story will be named "Uncle Wiggily and the Red Monkey;" that is, if
the rubber ball doesn't bounce into the rice pudding and scatter it
all over the clean tablecloth.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
STORY XIX
UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE MONKEY
Uncle Wiggily, with Peetie and Jackie Bow-Wow, was walking along the
road toward the puppy dogs' grandpa's house, and they were talking how
Jackie had made the black bear run away by pointing a make-believe
wooden gun at the savage creature. All at once the old gentleman
rabbit exclaimed:
"That grasshopper!"
"What about the grasshopper?" asked Jackie. "Did one bite you, Uncle
Wiggily?"
"No, but my friend, the green grasshopper, jumped into a
Jack-in-the-Pulpit when the bear came, and here we have come away and
forgotten all about him. We must go right back."
So back they started, and on the way the rabbit told what a kind
friend the grasshopper had been to him on his travels. Well, they got
to the place where the bear had scared them, but when they looked up
on the rock no Jack-in-the-Pulpit was to be seen, and there was no
sign of the grasshopper.
Illustration: Uncle Wiggily and the Monkey
"I'm sure it was here that the grasshopper made his jump," said Uncle
Wiggily, looking carefully about.
"Yes," said Jackie, "but there is no Jack-in-the-Pulpit on this rock
at all."
"Here is a pile of dirt, though," spoke Peetie. "Perhaps there is a
bone under it. Let's dig, Jackie."
So those two puppy dogs dug in the earth while Uncle Wiggily looked
all around for the grasshopper. Then, all of a sudden, Peetie cried
out:
"Oh! Look here! The Jack-in-the-Pulpit is under this pile of earth!
The top is just sticking out. Now, we'll find the hoppergrass."
"I see how it is," said the rabbit. "When the bear ran away so fast
from Jackie's wooden gun the toenails of the savage creature scattered
up the earth, and it went in a shower all over the Jack where the
grasshopper was hidden. No wonder we couldn't find him, for he was
buried. But please dig very carefully, Peetie and Jackie, or you might
scratch him with your paws."
"We will be careful," said Jackie. So he and his brother dug and dug,
until the Jack-in-the-Pulpit was almost uncovered. Then they didn't
dig any more, but, with their tails, which were like dusting brushes,
they dashed off the earth very gently, until the plant was all clear,
and out popped the grasshopper, not a bit harmed, though he was
somewhat frightened.
"My! I thought I'd never get out!" exclaimed the jumping chap, taking
a long breath, and blowing the dust off his legs.
Then he was introduced to Jackie Bow-Wow, whom he had not met before,
and the four friends trudged along the road together. Pretty soon they
came to the house of Grandpa Bark, and the old gentleman dog was very
glad to see Peetie, who had been lost, and had stayed away all night.
"And I am very glad to see you also, Uncle Wiggily," said Grandpa
Bark, "and likewise the grasshopper. Come in and have something to
eat, and stay awhile to rest yourself."
So Uncle Wiggily did this, and after a bit he said:
"Well, now, I must be off once more to seek my fortune. When I find it
I am going back home, and I hope that soon comes to pass, for I am
tired of traveling about."
So he said good-by to Peetie and Jackie Bow-Wow, and he and the
grasshopper hopped off together. On and on they went, over the hills
and dales, through the woods and fields, and pretty soon they came to
a place in the woods where there was a big box. It was almost as large
as a small house, and it had a front door to it, but no windows. The
front door was open and over it was a card reading:
"COME IN, IF YOU WANT TO."
"Ha, hum! I wonder if that means me?" said Uncle Wiggily. "Perhaps I
may find my fortune in there. I'm going inside."
"I wouldn't if I were you," spoke the grasshopper. "It may be a trap."
"Nonsensicalness!" exclaimed the old gentleman rabbit, quick-like.
"Come along. We'll go in."
So he and the grasshopper went inside, but no sooner had they entered,
than slam-bang! down came the sliding door with a crash, catching them
fast there just like mice in a trap.
"Oh, what did I tell you!" cried the grasshopper, sadly. "This is a
trap! We're in it."
"Yes, I see we are," spoke Uncle Wiggily, much puzzled. "It was all my
fault. I should have been more careful."
"Never mind," said the grasshopper, kindly, as he wiped away his tears
on a piece of green leaf. "I see a crack between the boards that I can
crawl through. It is too small for you, but I can get out, and I'll go
for help."
So out he crawled, leaving Uncle Wiggily there. The old gentleman
rabbit was thinking of the dreadful things that might happen to him,
when, all of a sudden, he heard some one unlocking the front door that
had fallen shut.
"I must see who that is!" whispered the rabbit to himself. So he
peered out of a crack, and he saw something red and fuzzy-like at the
door. "Oh, it's a red bear!" thought the rabbit, and he was looking
for a place to hide, when all at once the door opened and there stood
a nice, kind red monkey, with a red cap on.
"Oh, I've got company, I see!" cried the red monkey in delight. "I'm
glad of that, Uncle Wiggily. I've been waiting some time to see you.
How did you get here?"
"Isn't--isn't this a trap?" asked the rabbit.
"Not a bit of it!" cried the red monkey with a jolly laugh. "This is
my house. I went out this morning and left the door open. It must have
blown shut by mistake. I'm sorry you were frightened. Wait, I'll do
some tricks to make you laugh."
So the red monkey stood on his nose, and then on one ear, and then he
made all the letters of the alphabet on his tail, all except the
letter "X," which is very hard for a monkey to make. Then the monkey
took two apple pies and made them into one, and he and Uncle Wiggily
ate it, and my! how good it was. By this time the rabbit wasn't
frightened any more, and he told the red monkey all about his travels
to find a fortune. And then the grasshopper came hopping back with Old
Dog Percival to help Uncle Wiggily get out of the trap, but there
wasn't any need, for it was no trap at all, you see.
So the red monkey and the dog and the grasshopper and the old
gentleman rabbit had a nice time at the house of the red monkey, who
told them many stories, and one was how he came to be colored red.
I'll tell you about that as soon as I can, when, in case the fishpole
doesn't go out in the rain and catch cold, the Bedtime Story will be
about Uncle Wiggily and the butterfly.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
STORY XX
UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BUTTERFLY
"You have a very nice house here," said Uncle Wiggily to the red
monkey after they had all sat down, and Old Dog Percival had been told
that there was no need to rescue his rabbit friend from a trap.
"Yes, it is a fine little house," said the red monkey. "I built it
away off in the woods so as to be nice and quiet. You see I used to
live with the monkey who plays five hand organs at once, but finally
it got so that I couldn't stand the music any longer, so I went off by
myself and made this little house."
"But how did you happen to get splashed with that lovely red color?"
asked the grasshopper, "that is if you will excuse me asking you such
a personal question."
"Pray do not mention it, I beg of you," said the red monkey as he
tossed up a lump of coal and caught it on his nose. "I will gladly
tell you how I became colored red. It was this way: I was writing a
letter to a friend of mine and I had no more black ink left. I didn't
know what to do until I happened to think that out in the yard back of
my house on a bush were some red raspberries. I gathered some of them
and put them in a teacup.
"Then, with the potato-masher, I crushed them all up until the red
juice ran out. Then I had the loveliest red ink you ever saw. But just
then a fly lit on the end of my nose. I went to brush him off with the
potato-masher when I happened to hit the cup full of red juice by
mistake.
"Well, you can imagine what happened. The raspberry juice splashed all
over me until I looked like a strawberry ice-cream cone, and I've been
red ever since."
"It's a very fine color," said Uncle Wiggily.
"Yes," agreed the monkey with a sigh "but sometimes it's quite a
trouble. All the turkey gobblers and the bulls in the fields chase me
whenever they see me, for they don't like red. I'm thinking of taking
some dandelions and coloring myself yellow next year. But, now tell me
of your travels, Uncle Wiggily."
So the old gentleman rabbit did so, mentioning how he was searching
for his fortune, but couldn't find it. Then Percival told about when
he used to be in a circus and do tricks, and the grasshopper told how
he made his music by playing the fiddle with his left hind leg, and
then the red monkey gave them all some chocolate-cocoanut pudding and
it was time to go to bed.
Now, I have something sad to tell you, but please don't get alarmed,
for I'll make it come out right at the end. In the middle of the night
poor Uncle Wiggily was taken ill. He had a dreadful pain, and he was
as hot with a fever as a stove with a fire in it.
"I am afraid you have been traveling about too much," said the red
monkey, as he lighted a lamp and gave the rabbit a drink of cool
water. "We must have Dr. Possum see you in the morning."
"Perhaps I ate too much chocolate-cocoanut pudding," said Uncle
Wiggily. "Oh, how I suffer, and how hot I am."
Well, they did all they could for him by putting his paws in mustard
water and giving him sweet spirits of nitre, but it didn't seem to do
any good.
"Yes, he is a very sick rabbit," said Dr. Possum, who came in the
morning. "He ought to be home in bed, but we can't move him now. He'll
have to stay here."
"Oh, the grasshopper and Old Dog Percival and I will take good care of
him," said the red monkey, kindly.
"Yes, I guess you will," agreed Dr. Possum. So he left some bitter
medicine for Uncle Wiggily and the old gentleman rabbit took it
without even wrinkling up his nose--and it was very, very bitter--the
medicine I mean, and not his nose.
"Oh, how hot I am!" cried Uncle Wiggily, as the sun got higher and
higher in the sky and beat down on the house where the red monkey
lived. "I wish I had some ice." Then he fell asleep.
"We will see if we can't find some," said the grasshopper, so he and
the monkey and Old Dog Percival started off to look for an ice-house,
leaving Uncle Wiggily asleep. Pretty soon he awakened.
"Oh, I wish I had an electric fan to cool me!" cried the poor sick old
gentleman rabbit. "Oh, how hot I am! Oh, dear!"
Well, he kept getting hotter and hotter, and tossed to and fro on the
bed, and he wished for ice, and ice-cream cones and all such cool
things as those. Then, all of a sudden, when he was so warm he
couldn't seem to stand it any longer he heard a little voice singing
this song:
"Away up North in the ice and snow,
That's the place for you to go.
Where wintry winds do always blow,
And the polar bear's on a big ice floe.
"Where seals dive down in the icy sea,
Where it's far too cold for a bug like me,
Where snowflakes fall so you cannot see,
That is the place for you to be."
"Oh, I'm sure it is," cried poor Uncle Wiggily. "I wish I was up there
in the Arctic regions. But I can't go. Oh, if I only had an electric
fan to cool me off!"
"I'll be an electric fan for you," said the voice, and turning his
head, Uncle Wiggily saw, perched on the window-sill, a beautiful big
butterfly, with red and yellow wings. Then the splendid creature flew
right up on the rabbit's pillow, and began to wave his wings. Faster
and faster the butterfly's wings went until you couldn't see them
move--just like an electric fan. And a cool breeze swept over poor,
hot Uncle Wiggily, and made him feel much better.
Then the butterfly fluttered harder than ever, and he sang another
song about ice-cream freezers and blizzards and snow and hail and
icebergs and polar bears and all cool things like that, and he kept on
fanning the rabbit with his wings, and before he knew it Uncle Wiggily
went fast asleep again.
Then, in a little while, the grasshopper and the red monkey and Old
Dog Percival came back with some ice and they gave the rabbit a cool
drink, and the butterfly kept on fanning him. And soon Dr. Possum came
in, and he said:
"Well, I do declare! Uncle Wiggily is all well again. The butterfly
with his cool wings and cold songs has cured him."
Then the rabbit thanked the beautiful winged creature very kindly and
got ready to go on seeking his fortune again next day. He had quite an
adventure, too, and I'll tell it to you on the next page, when, in
case the little boy across the street doesn't lose his mittens inside
a watermelon and freeze his rubber boots, the story will be about
Uncle Wiggily and roast potatoes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
STORY XXI
UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE POTATOES
"Well, how are you feeling this beautiful morning, Uncle Wiggily?"
asked the red monkey, as he knocked on the door of a hollow stump
where the rabbit had spent the night. "Are you all better?" the red
monkey went on, as he took a cocoanut out of his pocket and looked
inside the shell to see what time it was.
"Oh, yes, I am much better, thank you kindly for asking," said the
rabbit. "But how comes it that you are here? I thought you were off in
the woods."
"So I was," answered the monkey, as he nibbled a little bit of the
cocoanut. "But I came here to keep you company and help you look for
your fortune."
"Ha! But where is my friend the grasshopper?" asked Uncle Wiggily,
sort of anxious-like.
"Oh, he had to hop away in the night to see a sick cousin of his,"
spoke the red monkey, "and on his way he jumped past my house and
asked me if I wouldn't come and stay with you while he was gone. He
said you might be lonesome. So I came."
"It is very kind of you, I'm sure," said the rabbit. "I like company.
I think I am all well and strong again, for the butterfly, who
pretended he was an electric fan, made me nice and cool and I am much
better. I am ready to start off now and look once more for my fortune.
Are you coming?"
"I am," said the red monkey, looking at his tail to see if a pink cow
had stepped on it. But no pink cow was there, so after Uncle Wiggily
had put some cherry pie in his valise he and the monkey started off
together.
And, on the way, the red monkey--who was red, you know, because some
red ink which he made from raspberry juice splashed on him--this red
monkey, as he and Uncle Wiggily walked along, tossed the cocoanut up
in the air and caught it as it came down. Sometimes the monkey would
catch the cocoanut in his left paw and sometimes in his right, and
again in his left foot, and still again in his right foot. So
altogether he had quite an exciting time, you see.
Well, Uncle Wiggily looked on all sides for his fortune, but he
couldn't seem to find it. The red monkey helped him, too, but it was
of no use. On and on they went, over the hills and through the woods
and across the fields, until finally they came to a place where there
were a whole lot of stones made into a sort of a fireplace, as if some
boys had built it to play camp, and hunt the Indians, only, of course,
you know, there aren't really any Indians to hunt any more.
"Hum suz dud!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, as he sat down on a log, and
looked at the stone fireplace, "I wonder what this is for?"
"I don't know," said the monkey, as he made the cocoanut whiz about
like a merry-go-round, "I don't know what it is for, but I should say
it was very lucky for us."
"Why so!" asked Uncle Wiggily, and he wiped the dust off his
red-white-and-blue-barber-pole crutch on his fuzzy ears. "Why is this
lucky for us?"
"Because," answered the monkey, "here are some potatoes growing in
this field next door, and here is a place to make a fire. It is nearly
dinner time, so there is nothing to stop us from having some roast
potatoes for our lunch."
"Fine!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "I don't believe the man who owns the
potatoes will mind if we take a few. I'll dig them with my paws, and
we'll cook some."
"And I'll make the fire," said the red monkey as he looked about for a
puddle of water. You know, he wanted the water puddle to use as a
looking-glass, in order to see if any of the red had come off him yet.
But there was no water, so he didn't bother, but instead he gathered
the wood, and soon he had made a fine fire in the stone fireplace.
Then along came Uncle Wiggily with some potatoes which he had dug, and
they were put in to roast.
My! how the fire did blaze when the monkey kept putting sticks of wood
on it. And how the potatoes roasted and crackled there in the heat!
Oh, how nice they smelled, too! It makes me hungry for some, and as
soon as I finish this story I'm going out and roast some just as Uncle
Wiggily did.
But you children mustn't do it unless your papa, or mamma, or big
brother or sister is near, in case any sparks got on you and burned
you. But the red monkey and Uncle Wiggily were very careful. To be
sure some smoke got in the monkey's eyes, and he looked as if he were
crying, and some smoke got up Uncle Wiggily's twinkling nose and made
him sneeze, but they didn't mind that.
"I guess the potatoes are cooked now," said the monkey after a while,
and he took out on a sharp-pointed stick a big potato and broke it
open. "Yes, it's done," he went on, as he saw how mealy and
flaky-white the potato was, even if the outside was burned black. Then
he and Uncle Wiggily took out some more of the potatoes, and when they
were cool the two friends put salt on them, and ate them all up. Then
the monkey played ball with his cocoanut again.
And, all of a sudden, as he threw the cocoanut quite high up in the
air, it came down in the middle of a prickly briar bush. Then, all at
once, there was a terrible roaring sound and a savage voice cried out
from the middle of the bushes:
"Hi, there! Who is throwing stones at me?"
Then, before Uncle Wiggily or the red monkey could move, out sprang
the skillery-scalery alligator with his double-jointed tail. Right at
the red monkey and poor Uncle Wiggily he rushed, and he cried:
"Who threw that stone?"
"Please, Mr. Alligator," said the monkey, "it wasn't a stone. It was
my cocoanut, and I didn't mean to hurt you."
"A cocoanut, eh?" roared the alligator. "So much the worse for you!
I'm going to eat you both. Here I come! Get ready!"
And with that he opened his mouth as wide as a big paper bag, and
fairly jumped for the red monkey.
"Oh, I'm gone, sure, this time!" cried the monkey, sadly-like.
"No, you're not!" shouted brave Uncle Wiggily. "I'll save you!" And
what do you s'pose that rabbit gentleman did? Why, he just put on a
pair of gloves, as quickly as a cat can wash her face on a rainy day,
and he reached in the hot ashes, and he pulled out three hot, roast
potatoes. Then, taking careful aim, he threw one hot potato right into
the alligator's open mouth, which was as wide as two paper bags now,
ready to eat the red monkey.
"Oh, wow!" cried the alligator, as he felt the hot potato slipping
down his throat like a roast marshmallow candy.
"Wait, I'm not done yet," shouted the rabbit, and he threw hot potato
number two down the alligator's throat.
"Wow! Wow!" cried the skillery-scalery creature as he felt the
blistering heat on his forty-'leven sharp teeth.