sakes alive! how they did make that sand fly! Percival, the old circus
dog, helped them, and pretty soon Buddy and his friends were safely
rescued. They were pretty well scared, I can tell you, but they were
soon all right again, and then it was time to go to dinner, and after
dinner they all went in bathing and had lots of fun.
Now, I'm going to tell you next about Buddy helping Sammie Littletail,
that is if the man comes to cut our grass and lets our puppy dog hide
under the door-mat to scare the parrot next door.
STORY XXIX
BUDDY HELPS SAMMIE LITTLETAIL
When Johnnie and Billie Bushytail went home, after having paid a visit
to Buddy Pigg that time when they built the sand house that fell in on
them, they told Sammie and Susie Littletail, the two rabbits, of what a
nice time they had had.
"Oh, I am going over to see Buddy some day, and go in bathing," declared
Sammie.
"You had better be careful about bathing in salt water," said Susie, his
sister, "it might take all the color out of your eyes, or out of your
fur, or your fur might even fall out."
"Oh, I guess not," answered Sammie. "I have heard that salt water keeps
hair from falling out. Anyway, if there's any danger of such a thing,
Percival, the old circus dog, doesn't need to hold the bag of salt in
the water when we go in bathing."
"That's so," agreed Susie, and just then along came Uncle Wiggily
Longears, the old gentleman rabbit, and he was eating some
peppermint-flavored cabbage, and he gave Sammie and Susie some.
Well, it wasn't very many days after this before Sammie asked his mamma
if he couldn't go over and play with Buddy Pigg, and, as Sammie had been
a very good rabbit boy lately, his mother allowed him to go.
"I am so glad you came, Sammie," said Buddy, "what shall we do, go in
bathing, or build a sand house?"
"Let's do both," answered Sammie. So first he and Buddy went in bathing
and, for fear the salt water would make the red color fade out of
Sammie's eyes, Percival didn't hold the bag of salt in the pond when he
made the waves. Sammie and Buddy had a good time splashing around, and
then they built a sand house. But they took care to make it strong
enough so that it would not cave in. They played together for a long
time and then Buddy asked: "What shall we do next?"
"I know," replied Sammie, as he looked at the pond of water which was
sparkling in the sun, "let's play soldier, and we'll make a plank bridge
across the pond and run over it and have lots of fun."
"All right," agreed Buddy, "come on, and help me lift the plank." So
they placed a long board across one end of the pond, where it was quite
deep, and began to play soldier, while Percival went to sleep in the
shade.
Buddy got a tin can, and tied it around his neck with a string. That was
for the drum, and when he beat upon the tin can with two sticks, believe
me, it did sound just like a drum in the army, when the soldiers beat it
softly.
Then Sammie got a long stick, pretending it was a gun, and the two of
them marched around and around, and sideways, and up and down, and
through the middle, and across the plank, and back again, several times.
Then, Sammie would fire the gun, yelling, "Boom-Boom!" as loudly as he
could, and shooting maybe a dozen bad Indians or pirates or robbers, or
maybe more, for all I know, and Buddy would beat on the drum louder than
ever, and he would cry:
"Charge! Charge on the enemy! Hurrah! Hurrah! The victory is ours!" and
he would wave a flag he had made out of a piece of white cloth, red
flannel and a bit of Brighteyes' blue hair ribbon, that she had lost.
Oh, it wag great fun, I tell you! But the best of all was rushing across
the plank over the deep part of the pond, for then it sounded exactly as
if horses and cannon were coming over the bridge, and the plank
teetered and tautered up and down, and sometimes Buddy and Sammie almost
fell off. But they didn't mind this; they only thought it all the more
fun.
Then, at last, something did happen. Buddy was ahead, waving the flag
with one hand, and beating the drum with the other, and Sammie was
firing his wooden gun as fast as he could fire it, with ever so many
"Boom-Booms!" real loud ones, too, and shooting, oh, ever so many
make-believe Indians, when, all of a sudden, poor Sammie Littletail
slipped off the plank, and fell into the deep part of the pond!
"Oh, save me; save me, Buddy!" cried Sammie, splashing around.
"I'll save you!" cried Buddy, and he got so excited that he threw away
his drum, and the drumsticks and the flag, only he tossed the flag
safely on shore, where it wouldn't get wet, for he loved the flag, even
if it was only a make-believe one. "I'll save you," he cried. "Can you
swim any, Sammie?"
"A--a--lit-tle--bit!" gasped the rabbit boy, as he floundered around in
the water. "But I could swim more if nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy was here to
show me," and then he couldn't talk any more, for his mouth was full of
water.
Well, Sammie was terribly frightened, as he floundered around in the
pond, with his wooden gun, and so was Buddy frightened, up on the plank
bridge. Buddy looked all around, to see if there was any one coming to
help him save Sammie, but there wasn't. Percival had gone in the house,
and Brighteyes and her mother had gone berrying. Then Buddy made up his
mind that he would have to save Sammie all by himself.
First he tried to kneel down on the plank, and reach his hand to his
little rabbit chum, but he couldn't reach far enough. Then he called to
Sammie to hold up the wooden gun, thinking maybe he could get hold of
that, and so drag the rabbit boy out, but the gun wiggled so, when
Sammie splashed around that Buddy couldn't get hold of it.
Then it began to look as if Sammie would drown, but Buddy had one more
thing to try. On shore there was a rope. Buddy ran and got it, and in
one end he made a loop, just like the cowboys do when they lasso a wild
steer, or a horse.
Buddy took good aim, tossed the loop of rope over Sammie's head, and
Sammie grabbed hold with his front paws, and then Buddy braced his feet
in the sand and gave a long, strong pull, and pulled Sammie safely out
of the water, and saved him; just in time, too, let me tell you, for his
breath was nearly gone. Well, Sammie soon got over being scared, and
when he was dried off the two friends played soldier some more, only
they kept off the plank.
Now the next story is going to be about Brighteyes and Jennie
Chipmunk--that is, if our hired girl doesn't leave and make me wash the
dishes so I can't typewrite.
STORY XXX
BRIGHTEYES AND JENNIE CHIPMUNK
It happened one day that after Brighteyes Pigg had finished combing her
hair, and had put on a nice, pink ribbon, which she tied in two, big
bows, that she heard a knock at the door. There was no one home, for her
mamma had gone down to the five and ten cent store to get a wash boiler;
Dr. Pigg was seeing some friends in the hospital, and Buddy was off
playing ball with Bully and Bawly, the two frogs, and some others of his
friends. So Brighteyes went to the door herself.
And whom do you suppose she found there?
Well, I don't believe you'd guess in sixteen minutes, so I'll tell you.
It was Jennie Chipmunk, the little girl who lived with Grandpa and
Grandma Lightfoot, the squirrel grandparents of Johnnie and Billie
Bushytail, you know.
Jennie was smiling so that she showed her pretty white teeth, and she
was humming a little song, one of those she always sang when she washed
the dishes. This is the song, and you are allowed to sing it if you
have helped your mamma dry the dishes. It goes to the tune of "Oh fie
lum diddle daddy de dum," which is a very nice tune if you can sing it.
Anyhow, Jennie Chipmunk sang:
"I love to wash the dishes,
And also dry them, too.
It makes your paws so soft and white,
I really think--don't you?
Some folks are awful fussy,
When e'er they dust or sweep.
They'd rather pile the dirt all up
In corners, in a heap.
"But I just love my housework,
For making beds I sigh.
I love to wash the tablecloth
And make a cherry pie.
I knead the bread and bake it,
I starch and iron the clothes,
I wash the windows Saturday--"
"That's enough, my goodness knows!" finished Brighteyes for Jennie, with
a laugh. "Land sakes! Jennie Chipmunk," the little guinea pig girl went
on, "I should think you'd be tired with all that work! Come on and we'll
take a walk in the woods."
So the two started, after Brighteyes had locked the door and put the
key under the mat, where her mother could find it when she came back
from the five and ten cent store, where she had gone to get a diamond
ring--no, I mean a dishpan--no, a wash boiler--there, I've got it right
at last.
Well, Jennie and Brighteyes walked on through the woods and sometimes
they found huckleberries to eat, or they found pennyroyal, which is a
nice plant to smell, and it keeps the mosquitoes away, when they want to
stay away. And the two children found some blackberries, and they found
spearmint and peppermint and then they got in a field where there was a
lovely apple tree and they were just eating a few of the apples and
putting some in their pockets, to take home, when, all of a sudden they
heard a voice calling to them from behind the tree.
"Here, what are you doing with those apples?" cried the voice, and oh,
such a harsh, ugly, cross voice as it was! It fairly made Brighteyes and
Jennie shiver.
First they thought it was the man who owned the tree, and then
Brighteyes remembered that he was the kind farmer whose cows she and
Buddy had once driven home, when he had cut his foot, and she knew he
wouldn't speak so cross to her. Then she thought it was a bad boy, but
she looked, and so did Jennie, and they couldn't see any boy. Then the
voice growled out again:
"Here, you leave those apples alone!" and goodness sakes alive, and a
can of tomato soup! from behind the apple tree, there appeared the bad,
ugly, old burglar fox! Oh, how frightened Brighteyes and Jennie Chipmunk
were! They fairly trembled and shivered, though it was a hot day!
"Ah! ha!" cried the fox, curling back his lip, to show his ugly teeth,
and blinking his eyes as fast as a moving picture goes when it skips
along very quickly. "Ah! ha! Now I have caught you! Do you know what I
am going to do to you for taking my apples?"
"We--we didn't know they were your apples," said Jennie.
"No matter about that," said the bad fox. "Do you know what I am going
to do to you?"
"No," answered Brighteyes. "What are you going to do to us, good Mr.
Fox?"
"I'm not good Mr. Fox; I'm bad Mr. Fox," he answered, "and what I'm
going to do is to eat you all up--all up--all up!" and he smacked his
lips and gnashed his teeth something terrible.
But don't be afraid. Just you wait and see what Brighteyes did to that
fox. All the while she was thinking how she could save herself and
Jennie, for she knew those apples didn't belong to the fox.
First Brighteyes thought maybe Buddy would come along and help her, or
maybe the farmer, but no one came, and the fox was creeping nearer and
nearer to Jennie, getting ready to grab her first, when what did
Brighteyes do but pull up some horseradish leaves that grew nearby and
throw them right in the eyes of that bad fox.
Now, horseradish leaves are very smarty and peppery, you know, almost
like mustard, and when they got in the fox's eyes they made him so he
couldn't see, and they hurt him, too.
Then I wish you could have heard him howl. No, on second thought, I'm
glad you couldn't hear him, for it might scare you. Anyhow, he jumped up
and down and sideways, and he whirled around, and he howled and he
yowled and he jowled, and then Brighteyes called:
"Come on, Jennie, now is our chance. We can get away before he sees us!"
So they ran away, taking all the apples they could carry, and the fox
couldn't see for ever so long, for he couldn't get his eyes open. So
that is how Brighteyes and Jennie Chipmunk were saved, and they went
home, and nothing happened to them on the way. Now, the next story will
be about Buddy and Brighteyes in the mountains--that is, providing I
catch some fish the next time I go fishing and don't lose my watch in
the water for the alligator to tell time by.
STORY XXXI
BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES IN THE MOUNTAINS
One day Dr. Pigg came home from paying a visit to Uncle Wiggily
Longears, and said:
"Well, children, get ready, we are going away for a vacation to-morrow."
"Oh goody!" cried Brighteyes, jumping up and down in the middle of the
floor, until her pink hair ribbon flopped up and down, like the wings of
a butterfly.
"Are we going to the seashore?" asked Buddy, while Brighteyes went over
and kissed her father, standing on her tiptoes to reach him.
"No," said Dr. Pigg, "we are not going to the seashore. We are going to
the mountains, where there is a nice lake. The salt air of the seashore
does not agree with me. I have asked Uncle Wiggily Longears to go with
us, and he does not like the salt air, either. It is bad for his
rheumatism, which is a little better now, and he does not want it to get
worse."
"Oh, that's fine, if Uncle Wiggily is coming!" said Buddy. "He'll take
us all over the mountains, into caves and out rowing on the lake, and
show us how to have lots of fun."
Well, the Pigg family began to pack up, and, in a few hours they were
ready to go. Uncle Wiggily came to help them, as he had all his things
packed. He brought along his crutch, in case he might happen to need it,
but he hoped he would not.
"Couldn't Sammie and Susie Littletail come, too?" asked Buddy.
"No, they have gone to Belmar, at the seashore, for the summer,"
answered Uncle Wiggily. "But now we must hurry off to the mountains."
So they hurried off, and in a little while, oh, not so very long, Dr.
Pigg and his family, and Uncle Wiggily arrived at a nice pen, right on
the side of a mountain, at the foot of which was a large lake.
There were so many things to see that Buddy and Brighteyes did not know
at which to look first, and they ran all about, now to one place, and
now to another. Then, when they had had their supper, Uncle Wiggily
said:
"Come now, we will take a walk. I think I know where there is a cave,
and we will see if a giant lives in it."
"A real giant?" asked Buddy.
[Illustration]
"No, only a make-believe one," answered Uncle Wiggily, with a laugh.
So he and the two guinea pig children started off up the side of the
mountain toward the cave. All around them were other mountains, and it
was a lovely place, with the red sun sinking down behind the hills, just
like it does in poetry.
"Ha, here we are at the cave!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, at length, as
they came to a big hole in the side of the mountain. "Now, Buddy and
Brighteyes, be very careful. Keep close to me, and don't go in very far,
or you may get lost."
Then they started to go in, but just at that moment Uncle Wiggily
stepped on a stone and twisted his ankle, the one that had some
rheumatism still left in it, and he had to sit down and rub his foot
with a bottle of liniment which he carried in his pocket.
While he was doing this Buddy and Brighteyes wandered a little way into
the cave. It looked perfectly safe, and it was so pretty, with the sun
shining in, and reflecting back from the crystals that hung down from
the roof, and those that stuck up from the floor, that, almost before
they knew what they were doing, the two children had gone some distance
inside.
And, once they were in, it was so pretty that they kept on going farther
and farther, until, land sakes, if, in about ten minutes they weren't
away inside that cave, and they had forgotten all about what Uncle
Wiggily Longears had told them about keeping close to him.
"Oh, we mustn't go any further!" cried Brighteyes at length. "It's
getting quite dark, Buddy. We'll have to go back."
"All right," agreed her brother. "Uncle Wiggily will take us farther in
I guess. We'll go and get him."
So they started back, but, would you believe it, they couldn't find
their way! No, sir, there they were lost in that big cave! the more they
tried to get out, the more lost they became.
Outside, Uncle Wiggily was in great distress. When his foot ceased
hurting he looked for the children, but he couldn't see them. Then he
knew they must have gone into the cave, and he was much frightened.
"Here it is, night coming on," he remarked, "and soon it will be very
dark in there. Then I never can find Buddy and Brighteyes, and they'll
be lost in there all night--and--oh dear--why did they go in without
me?"
But in they had gone, and now Uncle Wiggily had to get them out. But he
was a wise old rabbit, and, to make sure he would not get lost himself,
he took a string, and tied it to his crutch, and left the crutch
outside the cave. Then he took the ball of string and started in the
cave, unrolling the cord as he went along, and keeping tight hold of it,
so he could find his way back in the dark.
Then he tramped on, though it was hard work without his crutch, looking
for Brighteyes and Buddy. I don't believe he ever would have found them,
but for a kind old lightning bug, who flew on ahead, to light the way
for him.
Then, after a while, by the gleam of the firefly, Uncle Wiggily did come
upon Buddy and Brighteyes fast asleep in a corner. They had tried, and
tried to find their way out, until they were so tired that they fell
asleep.
Uncle Wiggily awakened them, and then, keeping tight hold of the string
that was fast to his crutch, he led them out of the cave. And, oh, how
thankful they were! They promised never to go in the mountain cave alone
again, and they never did.
Well, Buddy and Brighteyes stayed in the mountains for quite awhile, and
had lots of fun, which I may tell you about later, but now I think I
will start some new stories--some that you have never heard, and, what
do you think? they're going to be about some kittie cats.
I know most of you children must love cats, for I do, and it isn't so
very long ago that I was a little chap myself.
So, if you please, the next book of Bedtime Stories will be called
"Joie, Tommie and Kittie Kat." Their names are spelled with a "K" you
may notice, but they are not at all proud, or stuck-up, on that account.
I hope you will like them as well as you have Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg.
So now, for a little while we will say good-by, and it will not be long
before you can read about the funny things the Kat children did, and
about the walnut shells, and all that.
THE END
End of Project Gutenberg's Buddy And Brighteyes Pigg, by Howard R. Garis