won't put a tick-tack on the window of the Little Old Lady of Mulberry
Lane. I know what tick-tacks are!"
And well Uncle Wiggily knew, for sometimes the boys and girls of
Woodland, near the Orange Ice Mountains, where the bunny had built
his hollow stump bungalow, put one of the scary things on his window.
That is, they were scary if you didn't know what they were, but Uncle
Wiggily did.
Oftentimes Sammie Littletail, the rabbit, or Johnnie and Billie
Bushytail, the squirrels, would take some string, a pin and an old
nail, or little stone, and make a tick-tack. They fastened a short
piece of string to the pin, and on the other end of the string they
tied a dangling stone. When it grew dark the animal chaps would sneak
up to Uncle Wiggily's window, and stick the pin in the wooden sash so
the stone, or nail, hung dangling down against the glass. Then they
would tie the long string, or thread, about half way down on the short
cord and hide off in the bushes, with one end of the long string in
their paws.
From their hiding place the animal boys would pull the long string. The
pebble, or stone, would rattle against Uncle Wiggily's window, making a
sound like:
"Tick! Tack!"
That's how it got its name, you see.
"So they are going to play tick-tack on the Little Old Lady of Mulberry
Lane; are they?" said Uncle Wiggily to himself, as the two boys walked
away. "Well, I must try to stop them!"
Mulberry Lane was a street near the forest where the bunny gentleman
lived in his hollow stump bungalow, and the Little Old Lady was the
only one whose house was built there. The bunny liked the Little Old
Lady, for in winter she scattered crumbs for the birds.
Uncle Wiggily hopped home to his hollow stump, and from the attic he
took down one of his old, tall silk hats.
"What in the world are you doing, Uncle Wiggily?" asked Nurse Jane. "Do
you think it is April Fool, and are you going to wear an old hat so the
animal boys won't play tricks on you?"
"Well, not exactly," the bunny answered. "I'll tell you later, Miss
Fuzzy Wuzzy--if it works."
"Hum!" said the muskrat lady housekeeper, as she saw Mr. Longears put
in his pocket some pieces of white paper and a pot of paste. "I do
believe he's going to fly a kite--and on Hallowe'en of all nights!"
For it quickly became Hallowe'en night. As soon as the dusky shadows
of evening began to fall, strange figures flitted to and fro, not only
in the woods of the animal folk, but on the other side, in the village
where the real boys and girls lived.
Real boys, with the heads of wolves, the faces of clowns and some as
black as the charcoal-man skipped here and there, ringing doorbells,
outlining in chalk on the steps something that looked like an envelope,
or else they tapped on windows with long sticks so that when the
windows were opened no one could be seen.
Uncle Wiggily, hopping off through the darkness toward the edge of the
forest, carried with him one of Nurse Jane's old brooms, an old, tall
silk hat and a coat the bunny gentleman had, long ago, tried to throw
in the rag bag. Only Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy wouldn't let him.
"I'll mend it, sew on some new buttons and it will be as good as ever,"
she said. Well, Uncle Wiggily found this coat and took it with him.
"I'll stop those boys from putting a tick-tack on the window of the
Little Old Lady of Mulberry Lane," thought the bunny as he hopped
along. "I'll tick-tack them!"
He kept in the shadows of the trees so none of the animal children saw
him. But the bunny gentleman saw them. He saw Neddie Stubtail, the boy
bear, dressed up like the Pipsisewah. And Billie Wagtail, the goat, had
on a false face just like the skinny Skeezicks.
Here and there animal girls were hurrying to Hallowe'en parties. Lulu
and Alice Wibblewobble, the ducks, were giving one, and Baby Bunty, the
little rabbit girl, had been invited to "bob" for carrots at the house
of Buddy and Brighteyes, the guinea pigs.
Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, who were dressed in clown suits, hurrying to
have fun with Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, the squirrels, caught sight
of Uncle Wiggily.
"Come and have some Hallowe'en fun with us!" barked Jackie.
"I will in a little while," promised the bunny.
On and on he hopped, and soon he came to the house of the Little Old
Lady of Mulberry Lane. The bunny could look in her window and see her
reading a book by the light of a candle.
"I'll hide under her window," thought the bunny, "and when those boys
come with the tick-tack--well, we'll see what happens!"
Uncle Wiggily did not have long to wait. Pretty soon he heard a
rustling in the bushes and some whisperings.
"Here they come!" thought Mr. Longears. He put the extra tall silk hat
on top of the broom, and fastened his old coat to the handle, on a
cross-stick he had nailed there. Then, taking the pieces of white paper
from his pocket, Uncle Wiggily pasted them on the shiny part of the
old silk hat in the shape of a grinning Jack o' Lantern face. Then the
bunny crouched down behind the bushes with the scarecrow he had made.
"You sneak up and fasten on the tick-tack," whispered one boy, "and
I'll pull the string so it will rattle and scare the Old Lady stiff!"
"I want to pull the string, too!" said the other boy.
"Yes, you can, after you fasten on the tick-tack."
"Well, give it here then," said the second boy.
They were so close to the bush, behind which Uncle Wiggily was hidden,
that the bunny could have reached out and touched them with his paw if
he had wished.
But he didn't do that. Instead, Uncle Wiggily suddenly lifted up the
broom, dressed as it was in the old coat and the tall hat with the
grinning, white paper face like a Jack o' Lantern.
"Boo-oo-oo-bunk!" groaned the bunny rabbit, scary-like.
The boys, who were just getting ready to frighten the Little Old Lady
of Mulberry Lane, jumped up in fright themselves. They saw the queer
face laughing at them.
"Oh, it's a Hallowe'en hobgoblin! A hobgoblin!" cried one boy.
"Come on! Come on!" shouted the other. "Let's get out of here!" And
dropping string, tick-tack and everything, away they ran. They never
knew that it was only a bunny rabbit gentleman who had surprised them.
"Ha! Ha!" laughed Uncle Wiggily, as he peered out from behind the
broomstick and the scary tall-hat creature he had made. "I guess they
won't bother the Old Lady now!"
The Little Old Lady of Mulberry Lane laid aside the book she had been
reading and opened her door.
"Is anybody there?" she gently asked, looking out over her dark garden.
"Seems to me I heard a noise-like. Is anybody there, trying to play
Hallowe'en tricks on a poor, lone body like me? Anybody there?"
No one answered--not even Uncle Wiggily--for he couldn't speak real
talk, you know. But he heard what the Old Lady said.
"Nobody there! I guess it must have been the wind," said the Little Old
Lady of Mulberry Lane, as she shut the door.
But we know it wasn't the wind; don't we?
Then the bunny hopped back to his own part of the forest, to have
Hallowe'en fun with the animal boys and girls. The frightened boys ran
home and jumped into bed. And if the piano key doesn't unlock the door
of the phonograph, and let all the music run down the pussy cat's tail,
you may next hear of Uncle Wiggily and the poor dog.
STORY XXI
UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE POOR DOG
Once upon a time there was a dog so poor that he had no kennel to sleep
in. He made his bed in old boxes and barrels along the street, or
behind stores. And as for things to eat--that poor dog thought himself
lucky if he found a bone without any meat on it! Oh, he was dreadfully
poor, was that dog!
He had no collar to wear, though of course he did not miss a necktie,
for dogs never wear those. But when this dog saw other dogs, with
shiny brass or nickel collars around their necks, when he saw some of
them riding in automobiles as he splashed through the mud, and when he
looked over in yards and saw some dogs gnawing juicy, meaty bones in
front of their warm kennels--this poor dog sometimes felt sad.
"I don't see what use I am in this world," thought the poor dog, as he
chased away a tickling fly who wanted to ride on his tail. "I certainly
can't help anyone, for I can hardly help myself! I think I'll go off in
the woods and get lost! Yes, that's what I'll do," barked the poor dog.
"Get lost!"
Perhaps if he had had a good breakfast that morning, with a biscuit or
two, or even a slice of puppy cake, he might have been more happy. As
it was, after crawling out of an empty rain-water barrel, where he had
slept all night, and after finding only a small bone for his breakfast,
this dog went off to the woods.
"Good-bye, everybody!" he softly barked, as he stood on the edge of
the forest, and looked back toward the village he was leaving. But
there was no one even to bark a farewell to him. All alone the poor dog
started into the woods. "Good-bye!" he whined.
Now in this same forest, on the opposite side from the trees nearest
the village, stood the hollow stump bungalow of Uncle Wiggily Longears.
And this same morning that the poor dog decided to lose himself, the
bunny rabbit gentleman started out with his tall, silk hat, his red,
white and blue striped rheumatism crutch, and his pink twinkling nose
to look for an adventure.
"Keep your eyes open for the Woozie Wolf or the Fuzzy Fox!" called
Nurse Jane, the muskrat lady housekeeper as Mr. Longears hopped away.
"I will!" promised the bunny uncle.
Uncle Wiggily hopped along and along and along, looking behind bushes
and rocks for an adventure when, all of a sudden, he saw a sort of hole
down in between two logs.
"Perhaps there is an adventure down in there for me," said the rabbit
gentleman. "I'll poke my paw down in and find out. This hole isn't
large enough to be the den of the Fox or Wolf."
Uncle Wiggily thrust one of his forepaws down into the hole, and began
feeling around between the logs. He touched something soft and fuzzy,
and he was just beginning to think that perhaps Baby Bunty was hiding
down there so he couldn't tag her when, all of a quickness, those logs
rolled together. Before Uncle Wiggily could pull out his paw it was
caught fast, and there he was, held just as if he were in a trap.
"Oh, my goodness me, sakes alive, and a basket of soap bubbles!" cried
the bunny rabbit gentleman. "I'm caught! How dreadful! I must get out!"
Well, he pulled and he pulled and he pulled, but still his paw was held
fast. He scrabbled around among the dried leaves, he tried to lift one
log off the other with his rheumatism crutch, and he tried to gnaw a
hole in the top log that held him fast. But it was all of no use.
"Oh, I'm afraid I'll have to stay here forever, unless I get help!"
thought Uncle Wiggily. "But I must call for aid! Perhaps Grandpa
Goosey, or Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, will hear me!"
[Illustration: "Who calls for help?"]
Uncle Wiggily stopped his pink nose from twinkling, so that he could
call more loudly, and then he shouted:
"Help! Help! Help!"
For a time there was no answer, only the wind blowing among the leaves
of the trees. And then, all at once, there was a rustling in the bushes
and a voice asked:
"Who calls for help?"
"I do," answered Uncle Wiggily. "Oh, even if you are the Woozie Wolf or
the Fuzzy Fox, please help me!"
"I am neither the Wolf nor the Fox," was the answer. "I am only a poor
dog who came to this forest to lose himself. I never have been able yet
to help anyone."
"Well, perhaps you can help me," said Uncle Wiggily, as cheerfully as
he could speak. "Come here and see where the logs have fallen on my
paw, holding me fast."
So the poor dog, with his ragged clothes which made him look almost
like a tramp, came through the bushes, close to Uncle Wiggily.
"My, but you're stylish!" said the dog, as he saw Uncle Wiggily's tall,
silk hat.
"That isn't anything," sadly said the bunny rabbit gentleman. "Tall
hats do not make for happiness. I'd rather have on an old, ragged cap,
like yours, and be free, than wear a diamond and gold crown like a king
and be held fast here."
"Yes, it isn't fun to be caught in a trap," barked the poor dog. "But I
think I can gnaw through one of those logs and set you free."
Then he began to gnaw. He gnawed and he gnawed and he gnawed, and, in
a little while, one of the logs was cut in two, just as if it had been
sawed, and Uncle Wiggily could pull out his paw.
"I can't tell you how thankful I am," said the bunny to the dog. "What
fine, strong white teeth you have. How did you get them?"
"From gnawing bones without any soft meat on them, I suppose," answered
the dog. "Poor dogs must have strong teeth, or they would starve. Rich
dogs, who get soft food, can afford to have soft teeth."
"Well, then I am very glad you are a poor dog!" laughed Uncle Wiggily.
"You are?" barked the other, in great surprise.
"Certainly; of course I am!" exclaimed the bunny. "Just think! Suppose
you had been one of those rich dogs, with soft, crumbly teeth! You
would not have been able to gnaw through the log and I would still be
held fast."
"Yes, that's so," agreed the dog, wagging his tail. "I never thought of
that."
"Then be thankful, as I am, that you are poor, and have strong teeth,"
went on Mr. Longears. "You have been of great help to me."
"Have I?" barked the dog. "Then I am very glad! I never before helped
anyone. I thought I was too poor!"
"Well, you aren't going to be poor any more," went on the bunny rabbit
gentleman. "Come to the woods and live near my hollow stump bungalow. I
have a friend, Old Dog Percival, who will let you stay in his kennel.
He is rich!"
"Oh, that makes me very happy!" said the dog, who used to be poor. "I
have always wanted a kennel to live in!"
Then he went home with the bunny rabbit. And, though he never became a
very rich dog, still he had a warm kennel, which Percival shared with
him, and he always had enough to eat; and he became great friends with
Mr. Longears and Nurse Jane.
So this teaches us that even if a lollypop has a stick this does
not mean it needs a whipping. And if the sunflower doesn't shine so
brightly in the eyes of the potato that it can't see to get out of the
oven, I'll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the rich cat.
STORY XXII
UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE RICH CAT
Once upon a time there was a very rich cat, but with all she had she
was not happy. She owned an automobile and kept a little mouse servant
girl to wait on her. And an old gentleman rat did all the heavy work
around the house, such as putting out the ashes and cutting the grass.
"Heigh-ho!" sighed the rich cat lady one morning, after she had lapped
up some thick, heavy cream, which was left on her doorstep each day.
"Heigh-ho! I am so tired!"
"Tired of what?" squeaked the little mouse servant, as she brought a
paper napkin for the rich cat to wipe the cream from her whiskers. Even
though she was well-off, the cat lady had whiskers, and she was very
proud of them.
"Oh, I am tired of sitting around doing nothing!" purred the rich cat.
"Then why not go for a ride in your auto?" asked the poor little mouse
servant girl.
"I am tired of that, too," spoke the rich cat. "It is the same old
thing every day! Dress and go out. Come back and dress to eat! Dress
to go out again! Come back and undress to go to bed and get up in the
morning to dress and do it all over again! I--I'd like to have an
_adventure_!" mewed the cat lady.
"Oh, mercy! An _adventure_!" squeaked the mouse. "Never!"
"Yes," went on the cat, "a real, exciting adventure. I saw a poor dog
the other day--at least he used to be poor, and he is far from rich
now. But he looked so well, and so lively, with such strong, white
teeth! I heard him telling another dog he had had a most wonderful
adventure in the woods with an old rabbit gentleman named Uncle
Wiggily. I quite envied that poor dog!"
"Oh, and you so rich!" murmured the mousie girl.
"I don't care!" mewed the wealthy cat lady. "I'd almost be willing to
be poor if I could have an adventure. Come, I'll go for a ride in the
auto. It will be better than dawdling around the house."
So the cat lady ordered out her auto, with the rat gentleman to drive
it, and the little mousie girl to sit beside her on the cushioned seat.
"Where shall I drive to, Lady Cat?" asked the old gentleman rat
chauffeur.
"Oh, anywhere--to the woods--the fields--anywhere so that I may have an
adventure--I don't care!" mewed the rich cat.
So the rat gentleman drove the auto through the village, and out into
the forest. At first the roads were very good, but at last they became
bumpy, and the cat lady and mousie girl were much shaken up and jiggled
about, not to say joggled.
"Do you want to go on?" asked the rat.
"Oh, yes," answered the cat. "It shakes up my liver, and I seem to be
feeling more hungry. Go on, perhaps I shall find an adventure."
The auto lurched and bumped on a little farther and, all of a sudden
there was a crash.
"Oh!" screamed the little mousie girl.
"What is the matter?" asked the cat lady, looking through her fancy
glasses.
"We have had an accident," answered the gentleman rat. "The auto is
broken, and I shall have to go for help."
"Let us go, also," squeaked the mousie girl. "We don't want to stay
here in the woods alone."
"_You_ may not want to," said the cat with a smile. "But _I_ am going
to. Run along with Mr. Rat, Miss Mouse, and get help. I'll stay here!"
So the rich cat lady was left alone, sitting in the auto, one wheel of
which was broken, while the rat gentleman and mousie girl went to look
for a garage where they could get help.
"Perhaps this is the start of an adventure," thought the cat.
A moment later she heard a rustling in the bushes, and out popped a
strange dog. Now the rich cat lady knew some rich dogs who wore silver
and gold collars, and were friends of hers. She was not afraid of them.
But this was a dog without any collar, though he had on a suit of
clothes. And, when the cat lady looked a second time, she saw that it
was a boy dog and not a grown man dog.
"Bow! wow!" barked the boy dog. "You're a strange cat! What are you
doing in these woods? Hi, Jackie!" howled the dog. "Come help me chase
this strange cat up a tree!"
"All right, Peetie! I'm with you!" answered a voice, and out of the
bushes came another boy dog. The two dogs rushed at the cat lady.
Now she might not have been afraid of _one_ boy dog, but when _two_ of
them leaped toward her, this was enough to frighten almost any pussy!
Don't you think so?
"Meaouw! Mew! Mee!" cried the cat, and before she knew it she was
climbing a tree. Up she scrabbled, her claws tearing off bits of bark,
until she was perched on a limb, high above her auto and the barking
dogs down below.
"My goodness me, sakes alive, and a liver cream puff!" said the excited
rich cat lady to herself, her heart beating like an alarm clock. "This
is dreadful! To think of me, a wealthy cat, being chased up a tree by
two poor dogs! What will my friends think?"
Then she looked down at the dogs and said:
"Run away if you please, little puppy boys!"
"No! No!" they barked. "Bow! Wow!"
"You run and tell him," said one puppy to the other. "Tell him there's
a strange cat in his woods. I'll stay here at the foot of the tree so
she can't get down until you come back with him!"
"I wonder whom they are going to bring back?" thought the rich cat up
the tree. And she could not help laughing a little as she thought how
strange she must look. "The mouse servant and rat chauffeur will be
surprised when they come back and see me here," thought the cat.
One little puppy dog boy ran away, while the other remained on guard at
the foot of the tree.
"May I come down?" asked the cat lady.
"No, indeed!" growled the dog, though he did not speak impolitely. "You
must stay up there!"
"Dear me!" thought the cat lady. "This is quite an unexpected
adventure!"
All of a sudden she saw the puppy at the foot of the tree jump up. At
the same time there was a rustling in the bushes, and along came the
other puppy, with an old gentleman rabbit, who wore a tall silk hat,
who had a pair of glasses on his pink, twinkling nose and who walked
with a red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch.
"There she is, Uncle Wiggily!" barked a puppy dog. "We saw her in your
woods, and chased her up a tree until you could look at her. Maybe she
is the Woozie Wolf or the Fuzzy Fox, dressed up like a cat."
"Indeed I am not," said the rich pussy lady up the tree. "I am the Rich
Mrs. Cat, and my auto has broken. When my mousie servant girl and the
rat gentleman who drives my car return, they will tell you I never harm
rabbits. But are you Uncle Wiggily Longears?" she asked.
"Yes," answered the bunny, "I am. And I know you, Mrs. Cat. I heard
about you from the poor dog. I am very sorry Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow
chased you up a tree. They meant no harm."
"I am sure they did not," mewed the cat politely.
"But they are always on the lookout so nothing will happen to me," went
on Uncle Wiggily. "I would get up and help you down, only I can't climb
a tree."
"Oh, I can easily get down," said the cat lady, and she did, though her
rich clothes were rather ruffled. But she had plenty of money to buy
more. So don't worry about that.
"Make yourself at home in these woods--the animal folk call them
mine," said Uncle Wiggily kindly. "I am sorry you had this trouble. Now
I must hop away. I hope your auto will soon be mended. Come, Jackie and
Peetie, if you want to help me."
"Where are you going?" asked the rich cat.
"To help a poor cat family," said Uncle Wiggily. "The cat gentleman
of the house has been out of work a long time, his wife is ill and he
has a number of little kittens. I was on my way to see the family when
Jackie came to tell me you were up a tree."
"Well, I'm down the tree now," laughed the rich cat lady. "And will you
please let me help this poor family? I have a lot of money--see!" and
she showed a purse full of golden leaves which the animal folk use for
money. "I can buy them food, and if Mr. Cat wants work, let him take my
auto, after it is fixed, and use it for a jitney."
"What!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "Aren't you going to use that fine car any
more? All it needs is a new wheel."
"Give it to the poor cat," was the answer. "I am never going to ride in
it again. I feel so much better since I came to the woods--and climbed
a tree--that I am going to live here for the rest of my life. I'll buy
a hollow stump bungalow near you, Uncle Wiggily. I know, now, I am
going to be very happy."
"Well, you will make the poor cat family happy, at any rate," said Mr.
Longears.
"And to make others happy is to be happy yourself," mewed the rich cat
lady.
She went with Uncle Wiggily, Jackie and Peetie to the home of the poor
cat family, and when the worried cat gentleman heard that he was to
have the auto for a jitney, with which he could make money, he was so
glad he almost stood on his head. And his wife and the kitten children
were glad also.
When the rat gentleman chauffeur and the mousie servant girl came back,
in another auto, to take the rich lady home, she said:
"I am going to stay with Uncle Wiggily. From now on I am going to live
in the woods and be happy and poor."
"Oh, my!" squeaked the mousie servant. "Just fancy!"
"I never heard of such a thing," said the rat gentleman. "You had much
better come home and live as you did before."
But the cat lady would not change her mind, and she built herself a
bungalow near Uncle Wiggily's, and lived there happily forever after.
So from this we may learn, if we will, that when a pail leaks it is
best to have it mended. And if the hand-organ monkey doesn't take the
squeak out of the rubber ball to make a tin horn for the rag doll, the
next story will be about Uncle Wiggily and the horse.
STORY XXIII
UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE HORSE
Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper for Uncle Wiggily
Longears, the bunny rabbit gentleman, once baked a cherry pie, of which
Mr. Longears was very fond. In fact, Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy baked _two_ pies.
One she put upon the shelf for Uncle Wiggily's supper. The other pie
Nurse Jane wrapped in a clean napkin, put it in a basket, and then she
said:
"Come on, Uncle Wiggily. We will take this pie to Grandfather Goosey
Gander."
"That will be fine!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. So he set off with Nurse
Jane, over the fields and through the woods. "And perhaps we may have
an adventure," said the bunny gentleman, hopeful-like.
"Well, if we do," spoke Nurse Jane, "I hope nothing happens to this
cherry pie. I baked one for you, and the other especially for Grandpa
Goosey. I shouldn't like the Fuzzy Fox, nor yet the Woozie Wolf, to get
this pie."
"Nor I," said Uncle Wiggily. "And I don't believe Grandpa Goosey would,
either."
The rabbit gentleman and Nurse Jane hopped along together, until, after
a while, Uncle Wiggily saw a horse in a field.