declared the two groundhogs together, and when Brighteyes said she
hadn't any change, for there was no pocket in her dress, you see, to
carry any money in, what did those bad groundhogs do, but begin to
teeter-tauter up and down, with the little guinea pig girl on the middle
of the plank.
Up and down she went, faster and faster, and pretty soon the water began
to splash upon her new dress. And oh, how terrible she felt.
First she thought she would run across the plank, but she was afraid of
the groundhog at either end. Then she thought she would jump over their
heads, but she couldn't jump very well, not being a grasshopper, you
see, and she didn't know what to do, and she was crying the least bit,
when, all of a sudden, who should come along but the three Wibblewobble
children--Lulu and Alice and Jimmie--and when they saw how the two
groundhogs had made Brighteyes a prisoner in the middle of the plank
bridge, those three ducks just stretched out their long necks, and
cried, "Quack! Quack! Quack!" as loudly as they could.
That so frightened the groundhogs that they jumped into the brook and
swam away, leaving Brighteyes free. Then she went home with the
Wibblewobbles, and told Buddy her adventure, and he said it was a good
one.
Now, the next story will be about Buddy in a deep hole--that is if the
trolley car doesn't run off the track, and break all the eggs in the
grocery store window.
STORY XXI
BUDDY IN A DEEP HOLE
Once upon a time it happened that Buddy Pigg was out taking a walk over
the fields and through the woods. He often used to do this, sometimes
taking a stroll for pleasure, and again to see if he could find anything
to eat. This time he was looking for something to eat, and so he walked
very slowly, looking from side to side, and sniffing the air from time
to time.
"For," he said, "who knows but what I may find a nice cabbage or a
turnip, or a radish, or a bit of molasses cake, or a ginger snap, or
even an ice cream cone. Any of those things would be very good," thought
Buddy to himself, "especially an ice cream cone on a hot day."
But, though he looked and he looked and he looked, oh, I guess maybe
about a dozen times, he couldn't find a single thing that was good to
eat, and he was beginning to get discouraged.
"I'll go a little bit farther," he thought, "and then if I don't find
anything I'll turn around, go back home, and get some bread and butter,
for that is better than nothing; and I am getting hungry."
So he walked on a little farther, and, as he walked along, he sang this
little song which no one is allowed to sing unless they are very, very
hungry.
So in case it happens that you have just had an ice cream cone, or
something good like that, and are not hungry, you must not sing this
song until just before dinner or breakfast or supper. Anyhow here's the
song and you can put it aside until you are nearly starving. This is how
it goes:
"I wish I had some candy
Or a peanut lolly-pop.
I'd eat an ice-cream cone so quick
You could not see me stop.
If I had two big apples,
An orange or a peach.
I'd give my little sister
A great big bite from each.
"But there is nothing here to eat--
Not even cherry pie.
Though we had one at our house once,
And some got in my eye.
Oh! how I'd like a cocoanut!
And watermelon, too.
I'd eat two slices off the ice--
Now, really, wouldn't you?"
No sooner had Buddy finished singing this song, than he came to a place
in the woods, where there was a big hole going down into the ground. Oh,
it was quite a large hole, not quite so big as the one going down to
China, but pretty large and it looked just as if some animal were in the
habit of going in and out of it.
"Ha, ho!" exclaimed Buddy Pigg. "This looks like something; it surely
does," and, my dear children, the funny part of it was that the hole did
look like something.
"I guess I'll go down there and see if there's anything to eat at the
bottom," went on the little guinea pig boy, "for I certainly am hungry."
Then he stood and peeped down into the hole, and, though it looked quite
far to the bottom of it, and though it seemed pretty dark, Buddy decided
to go in. Now, that was rather foolish of him, for it's never safe to go
in a hole until you know where you're coming out, especially a hole in
the woods; but Buddy didn't stop to think. So he looked all around, to
see that there were no bad foxes in sight, and then he entered the hole.
First he crept along very slowly and carefully. Oh my, yes, and a
banana peeling in addition! and then, all of a sudden, land sakes flopsy
dub! if Buddy didn't slip and fall and stumble, and roll over and over,
sideways, and head over heels, and he kept on going down, until finally
he came to a stop in a place that was as dark as a pocket in a fur
overcoat on a winter day.
"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" cried poor Buddy Pigg. "Whatever has happened; and
where am I?"
He tried to see where he was, but, my goodness sakes alive! he might as
well have tried to look through the blackboard at school, for all he
could see was just nothing.
"I--I guess I must have fallen all the way through to China!" whispered
Buddy, as he lay there in the darkness, and then he happened to remember
that if he was in China he would see some little Chinese boys and girls,
and he could not see any, so he knew he wasn't in China.
"Oh, dear!" cried Buddy again. "Where am I, anyhow?"
Then, all of a sudden, out of the darkness, there sounded a voice, and
when Buddy heard it he trembled.
"Who are you?" cried the voice, "and what are you doing in here?"
"If you please," answered the little guinea pig boy, "I am Buddy, and I
fell down this hole. Whose is it?"
"It belongs to us," said two voices at once. "We are groundhogs, and you
must get right out of here!"
"Groundhogs!" exclaimed Buddy, and then he remembered the two who had
teeter-tautered Brighteyes up and down on the plank bridge, and wet her
dress, and he was frightened for fear they would harm him.
"Oh, please, Mr. Groundhogs!" went on Buddy, "I didn't mean to come
here! I fell in when I was looking for something to eat. Please help me
out, and I'll never come again. I was looking for something to take home
to Brighteyes, my sister."
"What! Is Brighteyes Pigg your sister?" cried the two groundhogs,
rustling around in the dark hole, and when Buddy said she was, they said
they were very sorry for having frightened her on the plank. They were
only playing a joke, they said, and they promised never to bother her
again.
"And besides," went on the larger groundhog, "we'll give you something
to eat, and help you out of this hole."
So they went and got their lantern, which was a bottle filled with
fireflies, and they showed Buddy where there was another hole leading up
out of their underground house, and he crawled out, after they had
given him some clover preserved in molasses candy, and they promised to
come and play with him and Brighteyes some day.
Then Buddy was happy again, and almost glad he had fallen down the big
hole, because he had something good to take home to eat.
Now, in case I have cherry pie for supper and the juice doesn't get on
my red necktie and turn it green, I'll tell you soon about a trick the
groundhogs played.
STORY XXII
A TRICK THE GROUNDHOGS PLAYED
One day, oh, I guess it must have been about a week after Buddy Pigg
fell down the groundhogs' hole, he and Brighteyes were out walking in
the woods. They had been over to pay a visit to Jackie and Peetie Bow
Wow, the two puppy dogs, you know, and were on their way back.
As they walked along, they both heard a queer little rustling sound in
the bushes, but at first they didn't pay any attention to it, but they
kept on, talking about what a nice time they had had, when, all of a
sudden, the noise sounded more plainly. It was just as if some big
animal had taken hold of the bushes in his teeth, and had shaken
them--shaken the bushes, I mean, of course, for he couldn't shake his
teeth unless they were false, and animals don't have false teeth, thank
goodness.
"My land sakes! What's that?" exclaimed Brighteyes.
"Maybe it's a bad fox," said Buddy, and he looked around for a stick or
a stone with which to defend his sister, for Buddy was brave, let me
tell you.
Then the noise seemed to sort of go away, just like when the teacher
rubs the figures and sentences off the blackboard in school, and Buddy
and Brighteyes weren't so frightened. So they kept on, and just as they
were coming to the path that led to their pen, what did they hear but
the rustling noise in the bushes again. This time they were very much
frightened, and Buddy picked up a stick, almost as large as himself.
Then Brighteyes said:
"Oh, Buddy, I'm afraid to go home that way. Let's take the other path."
"But that is so much longer," objected her brother.
"No matter," answered the little guinea pig girl, "it is better to take
a longer path, than to go on a short one and be eaten up by a fox or a
wolf," and I suppose Brighteyes was right. Anyhow they took the other
path, and as they went along it, they heard a noise in the bushes as if
some one was laughing, only they didn't see how a fox could laugh. So
they hurried on.
Well, it wasn't very long before they came to something. I was going to
let you guess what it was, but as it might take you some time to think,
and then, maybe, you wouldn't get it right, I have decided to tell you.
What Buddy and Brighteyes saw on the path in front of them was a small
box--the kind that soap comes out of, you know--and it was standing up
on one edge. And sort of underneath the box were two, big toadstools,
made into tables, and beside each table was a smaller toadstool for a
seat. And, would you believe me? on each toadstool-table there were a
lot of nice things to eat! Believe me, there was, really! There were
bits of cabbage, some red clover tops with marshmallow-chocolate on
them, and candied cherries, and red raspberries with strawberry sauce,
and oh, I don't know what all!
"Why!" exclaimed Brighteyes, "that is a regular little play-party,
Buddy."
"To be sure it is," he answered. "And look, there is a sign fastened to
the box. Let's go closer, and read what it says on it." So they went a
little closer, watching on all sides to make sure there was no danger,
and they read the sign. This is what it said:
"Come in and eat whate'er you wish.
Taste each dainty in the dish.
Make a bow, and wipe your feet,
Fold your napkins nice and neat."
"Come on," cried Buddy to his sister. "Let's go in and eat."
"Do you s'pose it's meant for us?" asked Brighteyes.
"Of course," was his answer. "Come on! See, there's a mat to wipe your
feet on, and there are napkins at each plate. There is a table for you,
and one for me."
So Buddy and Brighteyes, thinking no harm, went in and, after making
their very best double-jointed bows, and wiping their feet until there
was no more mud on them than on a postage stamp, they sat down to the
tables and tucked in their napkins around their necks.
Then they began to eat, and oh, how good everything tasted! Just like
when you go visiting to the country, you know, and eat, and eat, and
keep on eating. Well, that's just the way it was, believe me, if you
please.
Now, something is going to happen. I can't help it, and it's not my
fault. You see that box, with the nice things to eat on the toadstool
tables, was only a trap. No sooner had the two guinea pigs begun eating
than some one hiding in the bushes pulled on a long string, and the
string snapped out a piece of wood that was holding up the box, and the
box fell down, and Brighteyes and Buddy were caught under
it--prisoners--just like a mouse in the trap.
They stopped eating pretty quickly then, let me tell you. Buddy was just
going to have a second helping of marshmallow-chocolate clover when the
box fell over, and it was so dark inside that he couldn't find his
mouth.
"Oh, dear!" cried Brighteyes. "What has happened?"
"We're in a trap!" shouted Buddy. "The bad fox has us in a trap! Come,
we must get out!"
They jumped down from the toadstool seats and upset the toadstool
tables, and the dishes fell on the floor, but they didn't care. Then the
two guinea pig children tried to lift up the box, but they couldn't, and
they tried to dig under it, but they couldn't, and they didn't know how
in the world they were going to get out.
Then, all of a sudden they heard some one whispering outside the box.
Buddy thought it was the fox, so he cried: "You had better let us out of
here, Mr. Fox, or we'll have you arrested!"
"Why, that's Buddy Pigg!" cried the voice, and all of a sudden the box
was lifted and there stood the two groundhog boys; Woody and Waddy Chuck
were their names. "We didn't mean to catch you," said Woody. "We were
only going to play a joke on our big brother, but you got in the box by
mistake. We're very sorry."
But they couldn't help laughing, and I really think the groundhog boys
meant to play a joke on Buddy and Brighteyes and had followed them
through the woods and hid in the bushes and put the things under the box
and all that just on purpose; I really do.
But, anyhow, Buddy and Brighteyes weren't hurt a bit, and Woody and
Waddy gave them all the good things they could eat before the guinea
pigs ran home.
Now, in case it should happen that all the ice in our refrigerator isn't
melted, so we can fry some for pancakes, I'll tell you next about Buddy
in the berry bush.
STORY XXIII
BUDDY IN THE BERRY BUSH
Buddy Pigg didn't know what to do. You see he was home all alone, for
his mother and Brighteyes had gone calling on Grandpa and Grandma
Lightfoot, the squirrels and Dr. Pigg was downtown, playing checkers or
dominoes with Uncle Wiggily Longears, so Buddy didn't have any one to
keep him company.
"I wish some of the boys would come along," he said, as he sat on the
front steps and threw stones out in the dusty road. "I'd like to have a
ball game, or some sort of fun."
But, though he sat there quite a while, none of the boys came along,
and, at last, Buddy remarked:
"Oh, I'm going off and see if I can't find Billie or Johnnie Bushytail,
or Sammie Littletail, or some one, to play with." So he locked the front
door, and put the key under the mat, where his mother would find it when
she came home, and off he started, almost as fast as when Sister Sallie
went hippity-hop to the barber shop.
Pretty soon Buddy came to the woods, and he opened his mouth real wide
and began to yell, not because he was hurt, you understand, but because
he wanted to call some of the boys. He yelled, and he hollered, and he
hooted, and then, all of a sudden, he heard some one yelling back at
him, and he saw Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, the two squirrel boys,
bounding along on the low branches of the trees.
"Hello, fellows!" cried Buddy. "Glad to see you! Let's have some fun."
"What'll we do?" asked Billie.
"I know," suggested Johnnie. "Let's make a see-saw. Here is a nice
plank, and we can put it across that old stump and have a dandy time."
So they got the plank and put it across the stump. Then Buddy got on one
end and Billie and Johnnie on the other, as they were a little smaller
than Buddy, and did not weigh so much. Then they began to go up and
down, first slowly, and then faster and faster, until they were jiggling
up and down as fast as the teakettle boils when there's company coming
to supper.
"Hi, yi!" yelled Billie and Johnnie. "Isn't this fun?"
"Wow, yow! It certainly is," agreed Buddy. "Only don't jump off too
suddenly when I'm in the air, or I'll fall and be hurt."
Well, of course, Billie and Johnnie promised that they would be
careful, and they really meant to keep their word; only, just as they
were close down to the ground on the plank, and Buddy was high up, what
should happen but that a new, green, little acorn fell off an oak tree.
It was one of the first acorns of the season, and Billie and Johnnie
each wanted to get it, so, without thinking what they were doing, they
jumped off the teeter-tauter plank, when Buddy was high up, and, of
course, down he came, with a slam-bang!
My! how it did jar him up, and shake him, like pepper in the caster, but
that wasn't the worst. No, indeed, and some chocolate cake besides! When
Buddy came down he landed right on an old rubber boot that some one had
thrown away in the woods, and it was so bouncy and springy that he was
tossed high up in the air again, and he curved sideways, just like a
baseball, when he came down this time, and where on earth do you s'pose
he landed? Why, right in the middle of a big, scratchy, blackberry bush!
Yes, sir, that's where it was! Down poor Buddy went, right into the
midst of the bush, and of course he got scratched some, only not as much
as he might, for he happened to go down through a thin place, where
there were not so many briars.
Well, at first he was too surprised to speak, and, besides, the breath
was sort of knocked out of him, but, when he did gather himself
together, he saw that he was in a bad place to get out of. By this time
Johnnie and Billie had found the green acorn and had divided and eaten
it, so they came back to find Buddy.
"Why, where has he gone to?" asked Billie, looking around.
"Maybe he got mad, because we jumped off the plank so quickly and he has
run home," suggested Johnnie. "We shouldn't have done it."
"No," cried Buddy, suddenly. "I haven't gone home! I'm in the blackberry
bush over here!"
"Why, how in the world did you get there?" asked Johnnie, and Buddy told
him.
"I think it would be more polite to ask him how he's going to get out,"
suggested Billie.
"That's so," agreed Buddy. "It's going to be hard work. But I guess I
can crawl through."
So he tried to crawl through the bush, but you know how it is when you
go after berries, the briars seem to stick into you all over. That's the
way it was with Buddy. He couldn't crawl out, no matter how hard he
tried, for the stickers caught into his fur and held him fast.
"Can't you jump out through the same hole you fell in through?" asked
Billie, and Buddy tried to do so, but he was scratched more than ever.
Then Billie and Johnnie tried to open up a place through the bottom part
of the briars for Buddy to slide out, but they couldn't do it, and they
were very sorry they had jumped off the plank so quickly, for that made
all the trouble.
Well, it began to look as though Buddy would never get out, and he felt
like crying, only he was brave, and didn't shed a single tear. Then
Johnnie suggested that he and Billie go up a tall tree, and lower a
string down to Buddy in the bush, and try to pull him up that way. They
tried it, but it wouldn't work, for the stickers still caught in the
little guinea pig's fur.
So they didn't know what to do, and were just going to give up, when who
should come bounding along but Sammie Littletail. He knew what to do in
a second.
He dug a burrow, beginning outside the berry bush, and slanting it up
under the roots, so that it came out inside, right near where Buddy was
crouched down inside the clump of briars. The burrow was like a tunnel,
and was big enough for Buddy to crawl out through, which he did, never
getting scratched once. They all said Sammie was very smart to think of
that, and I agree with them. Then they all played sea-saw some more,
until it was time to go home.
Now in case there is a cool breeze, to blow the dust out of the poor
coalman's eyes, I'll tell you next about Buddy and Brighteyes bringing
home the cows.
STORY XXIV
BRINGING HOME THE COWS.
Not far from where Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg lived, there was a man who
had a farm, and on the farm were a number of cows that gave milk. Out of
the milk butter was made, and sometimes, when the butter was all
churned, the farmer's wife would take some of the buttermilk that
remained in a pail and set it down where Dr. Pigg and his family could
get it.
They thought this was very kind of the farmer's wife, and Dr. Pigg told
his children that if they could ever do her a favor, they must be sure
to do so. They promised, though for some time they had no chance to do
any kindness to the farmer or his wife either. But just you wait and see
what happens.
One day, in the middle of summer, when it was very hot every place,
except in the cool and shady woods, Buddy and Brighteyes were strolling
along under the trees near a brook, throwing pebbles in the water and
floating down bits of bark and chips, which they pretended were boats
sailing off to distant countries.
"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Buddy at last, "I wish I had something to do.
There's nothing to do here."
"Why do you always want to be doing something?" asked his sister. "Why
aren't you content to sit here in the shady woods, and sail the boats?"
"Because," answered Buddy, and that was the only reason he could give.
Then Brighteyes thought of a new game to play. She took a piece of bark
for her boat, and she found a nice, white chip for Buddy, and they made
believe their boats were having a race down stream, and Buddy's boat
won, which made him feel quite happy.
Well, pretty soon, the sun began to go down behind the hills, and the
two guinea pig children knew it was time to go home, so they started
off. But they had not gone very far before they came to a field, with a
fence around it, and the field was quite hilly and stony and very large.
Near the fence sat a man, and he had one shoe off, and he was looking at
his foot.
"Oh dear!" Buddy and Brighteyes heard him say, for they could understand
the man's language, if they couldn't talk it. "Oh dear! I've cut my foot
on a sharp stone," the man said, "and I don't see how I can walk away
over through the field and climb the hills after the cows. Oh dear; this
is bad luck, and it's almost milking time, and the cows are sure to be
away back in the far end of the pasture, and I can't go after them. I'll
call them, and maybe they'll come to me, for I surely can't walk after
them."
So the man stood up on one foot and called: "Co Boss! Co Boss! Co Boss!
Co! Co! Co!" Then he waited quite some time, but the cows didn't come,
and he called again: "Co Boss! Co Boss! Co Boss!" and he waited some
more, but still the cows didn't come. "Oh, I guess I'll have to go after
them, no matter if I have cut my foot," said the man at last, and he put
on his shoe, though it hurt him, and he began to limp over the hilly
field, very slowly and painfully.
All at once Brighteyes said to Buddy: "Oh, Bud, that man is the farmer,
and it's his wife who gives us the buttermilk! Wouldn't it be nice if we
could do him a favor, and go and drive the cows home for him?"
"How, could we?" asked Buddy. "The cows are big and we are little. We
never could drive them home."
"We can try," said Brighteyes cheerfully. "Come, we'll hurry on ahead of
the farmer and perhaps I shall think of a plan."
So the two little guinea pig children slipped under the fence and ran
up across the hilly field, and the farmer, who was limping along,
calling "Co Boss!" every once in a while, never saw them. His foot was
hurting him very much and he had to go slowly.
Well, Buddy and Brighteyes kept on, bounding over the stories and
stopping now and then to eat some blackberries or huckleberries or
raspberries or a few late, wild strawberries, and pretty soon they came
to the back part of the field, where, resting in the shade of some
trees, were all the cows.
Oh, I guess there was a dozen and a half of them--big, nice mooley cows,
with brown eyes and long tongues, and they were all chewing their cuds
like gum, you know, and wondering why the farmer didn't come to drive
them home to milk, for they hadn't heard him calling them, you see.
"How are we ever going to drive them home?" asked Buddy of his sister.
"Let me think a minute," said Brighteyes, so she thought real hard for a
minute, or, possibly a minute and a little longer, and then she
exclaimed: "We must each take a long, leafy tree branch, and go up
behind the rows, and wave the branches, and tickle the cows with the
leaves, and they'll think it's a boy driving them home, and they'll
march right along, and the poor farmer, with his sore feet, won't have
to come after them."
And that's exactly what Buddy and Brighteyes did. They got some
branches, gnawing them off a tree with their sharp teeth, and with the
leaves they tickled the cows until they almost made them sneeze.
The cows looked around, expecting to see some boys driving them, but
Buddy and Brighteyes hid behind their big branches, and the cows were
none the wiser. So they swallowed their cuds, blinked their eyes,
switched their tails, and started up and down the hills, over the field,
toward the barnyard to be milked.