to run away, if out from behind a tree didn't leap a bad boy.
So it wasn't an Indian shooting the arrows, after all, which, perhaps,
was a good thing, as Indians can shoot very straight and might have hurt
Brighteyes. No, it was a bad boy.
I call him bad because he shot at Brighteyes, and I guess before I'm
through with this story that you'll call him bad also.
Well, that boy ran right at Brighteyes, and before she knew what was
happening he had grabbed her.
"Wow!" cried the boy. "I've got it! I shot it! I've got a rabbit!"
"Ha! That ain't a rabbit!" exclaimed another boy, coming out of the
bushes, "that's a guinea pig. Where did you hit it?"
"I don't know. It doesn't seem to be hurt anywhere. But I was sure I hit
it. But, maybe, the arrow only stunned it. Anyhow, I've got it. Now
we'll take it home, and put it in a cage, and charge five cents for all
the other boys to see it."
"Sure," said the second boy. "You're a good shot with your bow and
arrow. Come on, let me carry the guinea pig."
"No," replied the first boy, "I'm going to carry it myself. I wonder if
you carry 'em by their ears, like you do rabbits?" Then he tried to get
hold of Brighteyes' ears, and he could hardly find them, as they were so
small, and, of course, he couldn't take hold of them.
But, oh, dear! how roughly he handled that poor little guinea pig girl!
When he couldn't get hold of her ears he grabbed her by the hind legs
and actually turned her upside down, and then what should happen but
that the yeast cake fell out of her apron pocket.
"Ha! That's funny!" cried the boy who held Brighteyes. "I never knew
that guinea pigs ate yeast cakes. This must be a smart one. We'll teach
it to do tricks, and then we can charge ten cents to see it. Oh, I'm
glad I caught it."
And he held on more tightly to Brighteyes, for she was wiggling and
squirming, trying to get away.
Oh, how frightened she was, when she heard the boys say that they were
going to shut her up in a cage! She thought she would never see her
mamma, and papa, and Buddy again. Big tears came into her eyes, and she
trembled all over.
But do you s'pose that bad boy and the other one cared? Not the least
bit! First one held Brighteyes, and then the other, to see how heavy she
was, and then they took her up, first by one leg and then by the other,
and, if she had had a tail, they would have held her up by that, and
probably pulled it, too, for all I know.
You see those two boys had been playing they were Indians in the woods
with their bows and arrows, and perhaps that made them act so cruelly.
"Let's hurry home now and put it in a cage," said the bad boy, and he
and the other boy started off, carrying Brighteyes. But wait, don't be
frightened, or worried, for something is going to happen immediately,
which is very soon.
All at once there was a whizzing and a whozzing in the air, and a
buzzing, bizzing sound, and that kind old June bug came sailing along.
He saw those bad boys taking Brighteyes away, and the bug knew at once
that she was Buddy's sister.
So what did he do but wiggle his wings about a thousand times a minute,
I guess, and fly right at the boy who held the guinea pig girl!
Right at the bad boy flew the bug, and he hit him first in one eye and
then the other and scared him so that the bad chap was glad enough to
let go of poor Brighteyes in a hurry.
Then the other boy stepped on the yeast cake, and it flattened out, and
he slipped on it, and fell down, and he thought a bear was after him,
and he yelled, and the other boy yelled, and then they both ran away,
and Brighteyes was saved.
She thanked the June bug, and he said he was glad he could help her, and
he flew back to the grocery and got another yeast cake for her. Then
Brighteyes hurried home.
Now the next story is going to be about Buddy Pigg's great run--that is,
if we have peaches and cream for supper and the rag man doesn't take my
rubber boots for his goat to wear to the party.
STORY XVII
BUDDY'S GREAT RUN
Well, I didn't have peaches and cream for supper last night, but I had
strawberry shortcake, which is almost as good, so I can tell you a
story, anyhow.
Once upon a time, Oh, I guess it must have been about two weeks after
Brighteyes was caught by the bad boys, and rescued by the June bug,
Buddy Pigg was sitting on his front steps, wishing he had something to
do.
"Mother," he asked, "can I go down in the brook, paddling? Jimmie
Wibblewobble is down there."
"No," said Mrs. Pigg kindly, "you are not quite well enough to go in the
water, Buddy. But you may have five cents for an ice cream cone."
Well, Buddy walked up to the store, got a vanilla ice cream cone, and
had just finished the last of it, even down to the sharp point of the
cone, where there wasn't any ice cream, when who should come along but
Billie and Johnnie Bushytail. They had their catching gloves, and a
ball and a bat, and when the squirrel boys saw Buddy they called out:
"Come on, let's have a game of baseball."
"All right," agreed Buddy. "But who else will play?"
"Oh! we'll get Sammie Littletail, and Bully and Bawly, the frogs, and
Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, and Jimmie Wibblewobble, and we'll have a
fine game," said Billie Bushytail.
So they walked along, and pretty soon they met Sammie Littletail, and
then a little while after that they met the two Bow Wows, and then who
should come hopping along, but Bully and Bawly, the two frogs, and, if
you'll believe me, a moment after that, along came Jimmie Wibblewobble.
Then they had enough for a fine baseball game, and they went to a nice,
green meadow where they could play. Well, Johnnie Bushytail was up at
the bat first, and he knocked the ball so far that Bully, who was
playing out in the far-off part of the field, had to take about sixteen
and a half hops before he could get it. But by that time Johnnie was
back at home plate safe.
Then it came Sammie Littletail's turn, and he knocked the ball so high
that it went up in a tree and stayed there, and didn't come down.
"Oh, that's no way to play!" exclaimed Jimmie Wibblewobble. "Now we
haven't any ball. What did you do that for, Sammie?"
"Well, I couldn't help it; could I?" asked Sammie, and he threw the bat
up, trying to knock down the ball.
But it wouldn't come down, and then they all threw up stones and sticks,
but still that ball wouldn't come down, and then Billie and Johnnie
Bushytail climbed up and they had it down in about two frisks of their
big, long tails.
Well, they said that Sammie Littletail was out for knocking the ball up
in the tree, and he didn't like it, but he gave in, and the game went
on. Then Jimmie Wibblewobble knocked a ball, oh! so far and so high that
it was almost out of sight.
"Nobody can catch that!" cried Jimmie, as he started for first base.
But just you wait and see. Buddy Pigg was out in the field, waiting for
a nice ball to come along so he could catch it, and now was his chance.
He had such bright eyes, almost like his sister's, and he could see the
ball away up in the white clouds, even though none of the other players
could.
He kept his eyes on it, and got his paws all ready to catch it when it
came down. And pretty soon it did begin to come down, for you know it
couldn't stay up there in the air, with nothing to hold it. Of course
not, and I know you understand how that is.
Well, Buddy managed to catch that ball, though it came down very
swiftly, and Jimmie Wibblewobble was out.
"Fine catch, Buddy! Fine!" cried Billie Bushytail.
"Yes, and now it's Buddy's turn to bat," said Bawly, the frog. "Get up,
Buddy. I'll pitch you a nice one."
So Buddy got up to home plate, which was a flat stone, you know, and he
held his bat ready to knock the ball out of sight, if possible.
Bawly threw him a nice, easy ball, and Buddy struck at it. He hit, too,
which is better. Oh! such a hit as he gave that ball! It's a good thing
balls don't have feelings, I think, or bats either, for that matter.
Well, as soon as he hit the ball Buddy started to run for the bases. Oh,
how fast he ran, but something happened. The ball didn't go as far as he
thought it would. No, it fell down right near Sammie Littletail, and
Sammie picked it up and ran toward Buddy with it.
He knew if he could touch Buddy with the ball before Buddy got back to
home plate, that Buddy would be out and then Sammie could bat again.
So Sammie ran after Buddy, and Buddy ran all around the bases, hoping he
could make a home run and get there safe. But it was hard work. Faster
and faster he ran, and faster and faster hopped Sammie after him.
"Run, Buddy! Run!" cried Bully the frog.
"I--am--running!" panted Buddy.
"Catch him, Sammie! Catch him!" cried Bawly, and Sammie gave three
tremendous hops to catch Buddy.
But by this time Buddy was nearly at home plate, where he would be safe.
And the worst of it was that Sammie was almost there, too.
Then, with his last breath, and giving a spring and a hop that was so
big that it took him close to Buddy, Sammie stretched out his paw with
the ball in and tried to touch Buddy. But do you s'pose he did? No, sir,
he didn't, and Buddy got home safe, and wasn't put out after all.
"Well," said Sammie, after he had gotten his breath, "if you had had a
tail sticking out behind you I would have touched that, and you'd have
been out."
"I'm glad I haven't a tail," said Buddy, as he sat down on the grass to
rest, and then, after a while the game went on, and lasted until dark,
everybody having a fine time.
Now, I'm going to tell you in the story after this one about
Brighteyes, Buddy and the turnip--that is, in case I hear a potato bug
sing a song that puts the rag doll to sleep, so she won't cry and wake
up the pussy cat.
STORY XVIII
BRIGHTEYES, BUDDY AND THE TURNIP
One day when Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg were out walking in the fields,
they saw, close beside a big stone, a fine, large turnip. Oh, it was the
nicest, ripest, juiciest turnip that ever a guinea pig boy or girl
smelled of, and it just made their mouths water, and water even came
into their eyes.
"Oh, what a lovely turnip!" exclaimed Brighteyes. "I wonder who it
belongs to?"
"Let's look and see if it has any one's name on it," suggested Buddy.
So, after peering carefully about to see that there were no traps near,
the two guinea pig children went closer, and gazed on all sides of the
turnip, and even turned it over to look on the bottom.
They couldn't see a single name, and then they came to the conclusion
that the turnip didn't belong to any one in particular.
"I wonder if it would be right for us to take it home?" asked
Brighteyes. "Mamma and papa would just love to have some of it."
"Why certainly, take it right along, children!" exclaimed a voice from
under a burdock leaf, and then out flew the kind, old June bug.
"May we really have it?" asked Buddy.
"Of course," answered the June bug. "You see I was hiding under that
leaf, thinking it was about time for me to go South, for June bugs
oughtn't really to fly in July, when I heard a rumbling noise. First I
thought it was thunder, and then I saw that it was a big farm wagon
loaded with turnips.
"Well, one of the turnips fell off, and a boy, who was riding on the
wagon, called to the man who was driving, and told him about the turnip
falling. Then the man said that didn't matter, as he had more turnips
than he knew what to do with. So that's how I know that you can have the
turnip if you wish."
"Well, we certainly do wish!" cried Brighteyes. "Isn't it grand, Buddy?
We'll take it right home."
"Yes, but how can we carry it?" asked her brother. "I don't believe we
can lift it."
He went up to the big, round turnip, and tried and tried, with all his
might, to lift it, but it wouldn't come up as high even as a pin head
from the ground.
"Perhaps I can lift it," suggested Brighteyes, so she tried, but she
couldn't.
"Maybe if you both try together you can," said the June bug.
Well, they both pulled and hauled, but it was of no use. There that
turnip was, just as if it was stuck fast in the ground.
"I'm not very strong myself," went on the June bug, "but I'll do my
best. Come on, now, all together."
So he took hold, with Buddy and Brighteyes, and he buzzed his wings as
hard as they would buzz, and he cracked his legs, and he strained and he
tugged and pulled, but, no sir, that turnip wouldn't move the least bit.
"I guess we'll have to leave it here," said Buddy sorrowful-like, "but I
did so want to take it home to mamma and papa."
And he looked at the big vegetable as if it would, somehow, move itself.
"I know a way," said the June bug, at length.
"How?" asked Brighteyes.
"Why you and your brother must eat as much of it as you can, and then it
will be lighter, and easier to lift, you see. Just gnaw a lot off the
turnip, and you can carry it, then."
"Oh, but that would spoil the turnip," objected Buddy. "We want to take
it home all in one piece, so papa and mamma can see it." Now wasn't that
good of him? Especially when he and his sister were just as hungry as
they could be, and would have loved to have had some? But they wanted to
have their folks see it first, without a bite being taken from it.
"Well," said the June bug, "maybe you can roll it along, if you can't
lift it."
"The very thing!" cried Buddy. "If we can just get it started it will
roll along easily, for it is down hill to our pen, and it will bounce
along just as the cabbage did, that I was once in. That's a good plan."
Well, by hard work the three of them did manage to get the turnip
started, and it rolled along, first slowly and then more quickly, and
then with a rush, and land sake! if all at once it didn't roll down into
a big hole.
"Oh, now we'll never get it up!" cried Buddy, much disappointed, and he
and his sister felt very sorrowful. But not for long, for in a little
while along hopped Uncle Wiggily Longears, with his crutch. It didn't
take him any time, with the aid of the June bug, and Buddy and
Brighteyes, to pry that turnip up out of the hole.
"Now I'll show you how to get the turnip home," said Uncle Wiggily.
"You need some way to steer it, so it won't run away from you and get
into a hole again."
Then he took his crutch and punched a hole through that turnip, and put
a stick through the hole, so the turnip was just like the wheel of a
wheelbarrow.
Then he fastened long pieces of strong grass to the stick that was stuck
through the turnip, and he and Buddy and Brighteyes and the June bug
took hold of the grass, and they rolled that turnip along and steered it
just as you pull your sled or wheel the baby carriage or guide a horse
with a bit in his mouth.
And pretty soon they were safely at the pen, and Dr. Pigg and his wife
were much surprised and delighted when they saw the big turnip which
their children had found. They gave Uncle Wiggily Longears some, but the
June bug said he would rather have a ginger snap, and he got it.
Now the next story will be about Buddy and the burglar fox, in case the
milkman isn't late to school, and if he brings a bottle of water for
teacher to sprinkle the blackboards with.
STORY XIX
BUDDY AND THE BURGLAR FOX
"We must lock all the windows and doors very tightly to-night," said
Mrs. Pigg to her husband, one evening, when they were getting ready for
bed.
"Yes," agreed Dr. Pigg, "we must. I'll see to it, my dear, and you put
the children to bed."
"Why do you have to lock up so carefully, mamma?" inquired Buddy.
"Because," said Mrs. Pigg, "I heard that there have been a number of
tramps and burglars around lately."
"Indeed, that's true," added Dr. Pigg. "Mr. Cock A. Doodle, the rooster
next door, was telling me that he thinks some one tried to get in his
coop last night. The door rattled and some one shook the window."
"Perhaps it was the wind," suggested Brighteyes.
"It may have been," agreed her father. "I hope it was, for I don't like
burglars at all. Now go to bed and don't be afraid, for I'll lock up
carefully, and I have a pail of water right beside my bed and I'll
throw it on a burglar if he dares to come in."
So Buddy and Brighteyes went up stairs to bed with their mother, while
Dr. Pigg put out the cat, locked the doors and windows and set the alarm
clock to wake him up at five o'clock, for he had to go downtown to
attend to some business in the morning.
"I wish the June bug would come again," said Brighteyes, as she was
falling asleep.
"Why?" asked her mother from the next room.
"Oh, so he could tell us some stories, and then I wouldn't think about
burglars."
"Nonsense!" exclaimed Mrs. Pigg. "How silly! Burglars will never hurt
you. Go to sleep now."
"If any burglars come in I'll fix 'em'!" cried Buddy, bravely, from his
room. Then Brighteyes went to sleep, and so did Dr. Pigg and his wife.
But, somehow, Buddy couldn't sleep. Why it was he didn't know, only he
couldn't. He thought of everything he could think of; ice cream cones
and turnips and baseball games, and being in the boat that time, and
going to the North Pole and then he thought of the stories the June bug
had told him, but still he couldn't go to sleep.
"I guess I'll get up and sit by the window a while," he said to
himself. "Then maybe I'll feel sleepy."
So he got up and sat down in a comfortable chair and looked out. It was
a beautiful moonlight night, and he could see things almost as well as
if it was day.
Well, Buddy hadn't sat there very long, before he saw something long and
black and shadowy creeping along, as softly and as gently as a mouse.
First he thought it was a cat, but when he looked again he saw that it
was a fox. And the fox had a bag over his shoulder, and he was sneaking
along, looking around to be sure no policeman dogs saw him.
Well, sir, as true as I'm telling you, if that fox didn't come softly up
to Dr. Pigg's house, right to the front door, as Buddy could see by
leaning out of his window, which was open, and looking down, as his
window was right over the front door.
Then that fox took a screw-driver out of his bag, and he began to work
at the door to force it open, in spite of the lock on it. Oh, how softly
and quietly he worked! But Buddy looked down and saw him, and he knew
right away that it was a burglar fox, who was coming in the house.
At first Buddy was frightened, and then he knew that he ought to do
something. He thought of awakening his papa and mamma, and then he
feared that this would scare Brighteyes, and so he decided to drive that
burglar fox away all by himself.
Then he tried to think of the best way to do it. He moved softly about
his room, looking for something with which to scare the fuzzy old fox,
and what do you think he found? Why, his baseball, to be sure!
"That will be as good as a bullet!" thought Buddy.
Then he moved softly to the window, leaned out, where he could see the
fox, who was still trying to force open the front door, and raising the
ball in his hand, Buddy threw it down with all his might, just as if he
was throwing to first base.
Well, sir, the ball hit that bad fox right on the head, and it bounced
up almost into Buddy's hands again, but not quite.
My, how surprised that fox was! In fact he was so surprised that he fell
down, and when he got up and saw Buddy looking at him from the window,
he was more amazed than ever.
"Get right away from here, you bad burglar fox you!" cried Buddy, "or
I'll throw forty-seven more big bullets at you!"
Of course he really couldn't, because he didn't have any other baseballs
to throw, but the fox didn't know that, and really thought the one
baseball was a big bullet.
Then, without even stopping to pick up his bag, the fox ran away, and so
he didn't get in at all in Dr. Pigg's house, and Buddy went to sleep.
Well, when Buddy told his papa and mamma and Brighteyes the next morning
what he had done, maybe they weren't proud of him. Yes, indeed!
I wish I could say that the fox was arrested, but he wasn't, and made
lots more trouble later. But he never broke into Dr. Pigg's house and
I'm glad of it.
Now, do you think you'd like to hear, in the next story, about a queer
adventure which Brighteyes had? Well, I'll tell it to you if the water
sprinkler man gives us a nice big piece of ice to bake in the oven for a
pudding.
[Illustration]
STORY XX
BRIGHTEYES HAS AN ADVENTURE
It was a very hot day. It was as hot, in fact, as some of the days we
have had around here lately, and when Brighteyes, the little guinea pig
girl, saw the yellow sun beaming down as she looked out of the pen in
the morning, she said to her papa:
"Now, be very careful not to get overheated to-day, daddy, dear."
"I will," replied Dr. Pigg. "It is so very warm that I shall walk on the
shady side of the street, and keep a handkerchief, wet in ice water, on
my head."
"I was cool enough the other night," remarked Buddy Pigg. "In fact, I
shivered when I saw the burglar fox trying to get in," and he actually
shivered again when he thought of it, and of how he had scared the bad
fox away, as I told you in the story just before this one.
But, after a bit, it got so warm that even the thought of the fox could
not make Buddy shiver. Neither could his mother nor Brighteyes shiver,
and when you can't shiver, you know, it's a sure sign that it's going
to be very hot.
At last Brighteyes said:
"Oh, I think I'll go for a walk in the woods. Don't you want to come
along, Buddy?" and she looked at her brother, who was whittling a stick
with his new knife.
But Buddy decided it was too hot even to go off in the woods, so
Brighteyes said she would go alone. She put on her coolest dress. I
think it was a white swiss or a blue organdie, or a challis, or a
bombazine, I can't just exactly remember. Anyway, it was nice and cool,
and freshly washed and ironed and starched, and Brighteyes looked just
as pretty in it as a picture in a gold frame.
Well, she walked along for some time, and, pretty soon, oh, I guess in
about three squeaks, or, maybe, four, she came to the woods. It was nice
and cool and shady in there, with a little breeze blowing through the
trees, and, frisking about in the branches, were several chipmunks, who
were cousins of Jennie Chipmunk, and a number of squirrels, besides,
most of them relations of Johnnie and Billie Bushytail.
So Brighteyes sat down on a mossy log, and thought how nice and cool it
was, and pretty soon, she heard water running and splashing over the
stones. That made her cooler than ever and she was feeling very happy,
and wishing Buddy was with her, when she began to feel thirsty.
And the more she heard the water running the more thirsty she became,
until she said, right out loud: "I'm going to get a drink!"
You've no idea how funny it sounded to hear Brighteyes speak out loud
that way, for it was so still and quiet in the woods, that it was just
as if she had spoken out loud in church, after the minister has stopped
praying. Then Brighteyes got up from the mossy log, and went toward the
running water. And what do you s'pose is going to happen? Why, she's
going to have an adventure in about a minute, or, maybe, less time.
Well, the little guinea pig girl found where a little brook ran through
the woods, over the stones and under green banks where the long ferns
grew, and she was more thirsty than ever, and when she got down to the
edge of the brook, there was a little plank stretched across the water
for a bridge.
Brighteyes walked out on the middle of the plank, looked down into the
brook, which was just like a looking-glass, and she saw how well her
dress fitted. Then she kneeled, dipped her paws in the water and scooped
up some to drink, taking care not to splash any on her clothes.
"Oh!" exclaimed the little guinea pig girl, "that is very fine water!"
Then she took another drink and stood up. She was just going to walk
back to shore when she happened to hear a funny noise, and, lo! and
behold, at either end of the plank bridge there was a funny brown, furry
creature, about as big as a small dog. They stood up on their hind legs,
one at one end of the plank and one at the other, and when they saw
Brighteyes looking at them the larger creature cried out:
"Ha! Ha! Now we have you! You can't get ashore unless you give us all
your money!"
"I haven't very much," said poor Brighteyes, beginning to tremble, and
wondering if the brown creatures were burglars.
"Well, we want whatever money you have," declared the creature at the
right-hand end of the plank.
"Yes, indeed!" cried the creature on the left end.
"Who--who are you?" stammered Brighteyes, thinking to make friends with
the creatures.
"We're groundhogs!" they both cried together, "and we want your money."
"What for?" asked Brighteyes, wondering what question she could ask
next.
"We're going to buy firecrackers," answered the one on the right end.
"Fourth of July is past," said Brighteyes.