And that's all to this story, if you please, but in case a red bird bringsme some green flower seeds to plant in my garden so I can grow somelollypops, I'll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the milkman.
STORY XX
UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE MILKMAN
Well, now I guess we're all ready for the story of the chicken who triedto roll an egg up hill, and it fell down, and was broken into forty-'levenpieces and the monkey--Oh dear! Did you ever hear of such a thing? I guessI must have turned over two pages in the story book instead of one, forto-night I'm going to tell you about Uncle Wiggily and the milkman, andnot about the chicken and the egg at all. That comes in later.
Let's see then, we left the old gentleman rabbit just after he had met thePhoebe birds, didn't we? Well, a few days after that, as Uncle Wiggily washopping along with the elephant, who had come back to him again, now andthen, when he was tired, taking a ride on the back of the big fellow, allof a sudden they heard a voice crying:
"Ah, ha! Now I have you!"
"My! What's that?" asked the old gentleman rabbit.
"It must be somebody after us," answered the elephant. "But don't you beafraid, Uncle Wiggily, I'll take care of you, and not let them hurt you.Just get behind me."
So the rabbit got behind the big elephant, and, would you believe it? youcouldn't see Uncle Wiggily at all, not even if you were to put on thestrongest kind of spectacles, such as Grandma wears. For he was hiddenbehind the elephant.
Then, in another moment a man with a long rope came bursting through thebushes, and he ran straight toward the elephant.
"Now I have you!" cried the man again. "You must come right back to thecircus with me."
"Oh, it's you they want, and not me," remarked Uncle Wiggily, and then hewasn't afraid any more, and felt better, for he knew that he could stilltravel on and seek his fortune.
"Yes, they're after me," said the elephant sadly. "I guess I'll have toleave you, Uncle Wiggily. Do you want me to go with you, Mr. Man?"
"Yes, we want you back in the circus show."
"Will I have all the peanuts I want?" asked the elephant.
"Oh, yes," promised the man, "you may have a bushel and a pint every day,besides a pailful of pink lemonade."
"Then I'll come," said the elephant, "though I would like to have UncleWiggily come also. But he still has his fortune to find. Come and see mesome time," he called to the rabbit.
"I will," said Uncle Wiggily. Then the man tied a rope around theelephant's trunk and led him away, and the big fellow waved and flappedhis ears at the rabbit to say good-by.
"Now I must travel all alone once more," said Uncle Wiggily to himself, ashe hopped on through the woods. "And I do hope I find part of my fortuneto-day, even if it's only ten cents' worth."
Well, he was passing across a nice green field a little while after thatwhen, all of a sudden, he heard some voices talking. He looked all around,but he couldn't see any one, and he wondered if perhaps there were fairiesabout. Then he heard a voice say:
"Now, children, hop just as I do. Take a long breath and then hop, and bevery careful where you go."
Then Uncle Wiggily looked down in the grass, and he saw a mamma hoptoadand a whole lot of her little toads hopping along. The mamma toad wasgiving the little ones their morning lesson. And I just wish you couldhave seen how nicely those tiny toads could hop. One little chap, namedSylvester, hopped over a big stone, and his little sister, namedClarabella, leaped over a stick with a nail in it and didn't get hurt abit.
"Ha! That is very good hopping! Very fine, indeed!" cried Uncle Wiggily,waving his ears back and forth. "I could hardly do better myself."
"Oh, it's very kind of you to say so," said the mamma toad. "Now,children, give a big hop for Uncle Wiggily."
Well, they all took long breaths, and they were just going to hop when theold gentleman rabbit suddenly called:
"Look out! Hold on! Don't jump!"
They all stopped quickly, and the mamma toad wanted to know what was thematter.
"Why, there is a big cow walking along," said the rabbit, for he could seeover the top of the grass better than could the toads, and could watch thebig cow coming. "If that cow stepped on you, why, you would never hopagain," said the rabbit, and then he led the toads out of danger.
"Oh, I'm ever so much obliged to you," said the mamma toad to the rabbit."You saved our lives."
Then she had all the little toads thank the old gentleman rabbit, and themamma toad asked him to come to her house for dinner. Uncle Wiggily went,but the toad's house was so small that he couldn't get in, until he hadmade it bigger by scratching away some of the dirt around the front door.
Then he had a very good dinner, and he stayed all night at the toadfamily's house and watched the little ones hop some more, and he and thepapa toad talked about the weather.
Well, in the morning when Uncle Wiggily got up and washed his face andpaws, and combed out his whiskers, he suddenly heard all the little toadscrying.
"Hum! Suz! Dud!" he exclaimed, "some of them must have the toothache." Sohe went down stairs, and there all the toad family were sitting around thebreakfast table, but they weren't eating.
"What's the matter?" asked Uncle Wiggily, sadly-like.
"Why," said the papa toad, "the milkman hasn't come, and the children haveno milk for their oatmeal, and I have none for my coffee, and I'm in ahurry to get down to the store where I work."
"That's too bad," said the rabbit. "Can't you use condensed milk?"
"We haven't any," spoke the mamma toad.
"Well, I'll hop out and see if I can see the milkman coming," said therabbit, "for I can see a long distance." So he went out and he hopped upand down the street, and he looked up and down, but no milkman could hesee. And the little toads were getting hungrier and hungrier every minuteand they cried a lot, yes, indeed!
"This is too bad!" said Uncle Wiggily. "I guess that milkman must be lost.What can I do? Ah, I have it!" and away he hopped off toward the greenfields. Pretty soon he came to where the cow, who had nearly walked on thetoads, was eating grass, and, stepping up to her, Uncle Wiggily politelyasked:
"Will you please give me some milk for the toads?"
"To be sure I will," said the cow, kindly, "and I'm sorry I nearly steppedon them yesterday." So she gave Uncle Wiggily a canful of fresh milk, forthe rabbit had brought the milk can out with him. Then Uncle Wiggilyhopped to the toadhouse as fast as he could, and the little toads had milkfor their breakfast, and didn't cry any more.
Then, after a while, the milkman (who was a big puppy dog) came along andsaid he was sorry he was late, but he couldn't help it, because he hadstepped on a thorn and had a lame foot and couldn't go fast, so theyforgave him.
"Well, I'll travel along now, I guess," said Uncle Wiggily, and once morehe started off to seek his fortune. And if you don't let your bathing suitfall into the water and get all wet, I'll tell you next about UncleWiggily's swimming lesson.
STORY XXI
UNCLE WIGGILY'S SWIMMING LESSON
Uncle Wiggily was so tired and worn out after running for milk for thetoad family that he couldn't travel very far that day to seek his fortune.He slept that night in a doghouse, where a kind puppy named Towser lived,and Towser covered the old gentleman rabbit up with leaves and straw andkept watch so that no one would hurt him.
"For I have heard about you from Percival, the old circus dog," saidTowser, the next morning when the rabbit awakened, "and I feel quite likea friend to you. Will you gnaw one of my juicy bones?"
"No, thank you," said Uncle Wiggily, "but if I had a bit of carrot I wouldbe very glad."
"Don't say another word!" cried Towser. "I will have it for you in lessthan two shakes of a crooked stick, or a straight one, either."
So he ran out into the vegetable garden, and, very carefully he dug up afine yellow carrot, which Uncle Wiggily ate for his breakfast. Then therabbit rested all that day, and stayed another night with Towser. AndTowser invited some of his f
riends over to call on the rabbit, and theyhad quite an evening's entertainment.
Towser sang a funny song and stood on his tail, and Uncle Wiggily jumpedover two chairs and a footstool, and a dog named Rover stood up on hishind legs and begged, and made believe he was a soldier with a broom for agun, and did lots of tricks like that.
Well, the next day Uncle Wiggily felt well enough to go on with histravels again and so he started off.
"I will go part of the way with you," said Towser, "to see that no harmcomes to you."
"Thank you, very much," said the rabbit, and so they set off together, thepuppy dog carrying Uncle Wiggily's valise for him.
Pretty soon, not so very long, they came to a pond of water, and as soonas Towser saw it, he cried out:
"Oh, it is such a hot day I think I'll jump in and have a swim. Come on,Uncle Wiggily, have a swim with me."
"Oh, no, I can't swim," said the old gentleman rabbit.
"What! You can't swim?" cried the dog. "Well, every one ought to swim,for when they go on their vacation if they fall in the water they won'tdrown if they know how to keep themselves up. Watch me and see how easy itis."
So Towser set the satchel down on the bank and, taking off some of hisclothes, into the water he jumped with a big splashy dive. Right downunder the water he disappeared.
"Oh, he'll be drowned, sure!" cried Uncle Wiggily, who was muchfrightened. But, no. In a second up came Towser, shaking the water fromhis hair and eyes, and then he began swimming around as easily as achicken can pick up corn.
"Come on in, Uncle Wiggily," he called. "The water is fine."
"Oh, I'm afraid!" said the rabbit.
"Then the first thing to do is to get so you are not afraid of the water,"said the dog. "You needn't be. Just see; it will hold you up easily if yougo at it right. Just keep your nose out, and don't splutter and splash toomuch and you can swim. Come in and I will give you a lesson."
So Uncle Wiggily got in the water. At first it took his breath away, butafter a bit he got used to it, and he found that he could wade away farout. Then he tried holding his breath and ducking his head away under, andhe found that he could do that and not be harmed in the least, and atlast he got so he wasn't afraid at all in the water.
"Now for a lesson," said the puppy dog. "You must wade out so that thewater is up to your neck, and then you face toward shore, so you won't befrightened. Then you just lean forward, gently and easily, and you kickout with your legs like a frog, and you wave your hands around from infront of you to your sides, and keep on doing that and you'll swim."
"I'll try it," said the rabbit.
So he tried it, but, all of a sudden, he cried out:
"Ouch! Oh, my! Oh, dear me! Oh, hum, suz dud!"
"What's the matter," asked the dog, looking around.
"A fish bit my toe," exclaimed the rabbit.
"Oh, I guess you only hit it on a stone," said Towser. "Fish are toofrightened to bite any one. Come on, strike out and swim as I do."
Then Uncle Wiggily wasn't afraid, and soon he was swimming as nicely ascould be. For you know to swim you must first not be a bit afraid of thewater, for it can't hurt you. If ever you fall in, don't breathe--justhold your breath as long as you can. Then, pretty soon you'll come up, andif some one doesn't grab you, and you go under again, hold your breathuntil you come up once more and then some one will surely grab you.
"You must never breathe under water--just hold your breath," said Towserto Uncle Wiggily, and the rabbit did it that way, and soon he could evenswim under water.
"Well, I'm much obliged to you," he said to Towser, "but now I must be onmy way to seek my fortune."
So he said good-by to Towser and hopped on. And he hadn't gone very farbefore a big bear saw him and chased after him.
"Oh, I'll catch you!" cried the bear to the rabbit. Well, I just wish youcould have seen Uncle Wiggily run! He ran until he came to a big river,and the bear was right after him.
"Now I have you!" cried the bear. "You can't get across the river."
"Oh, can't I?" asked the rabbit. "Just you watch and see!"
So Uncle Wiggily threw his crutch and valise across the stream, and theninto it he jumped, and he swam just as Towser had taught him and he gotsafely on the other side and so saved his life, for the bear couldn't swimand Uncle Wiggily could. So you see it's a good thing to know how to swim,and I hope all of you, who are big enough, know how to keep up in thewater.
Well, Uncle Wiggily got across to the other shore, and he looked back andthere that bear was raging and tearing around as mad as mad could be,because the rabbit had gotten away from him. But I'm glad of it; aren'tyou?
Now I have another story for you, and, in case my typewriter doesn't fallin the lake and the fishes don't eat up the hair ribbon on it, I'll tellyou about Uncle Wiggily in the bear's den.
STORY XXII
UNCLE WIGGILY IN THE BEAR'S DEN
Well, here we are again, all ready for a story, I suppose, and I hope youhad a nice time at the surprise party. Let me see now, what shall I tellyou about? How would you like to hear about the old gentleman rabbit andthe toadstool?
Oh, my! I just happened to remember that I promised to write about UncleWiggily getting into the bear's den, so of course I'll have to tell aboutthat first, and afterward I'll write the story about the toadstool. I'lltell you this much, however, the toadstool story is very curious, if I dosay so myself.
Anyhow, Uncle Wiggily was hopping along one fine morning, following astormy night, and he was thinking about the swimming lesson he had had afew days before.
"I wonder if I have forgotten how to move my legs, and go skimming throughthe water?" he said to himself as he set down his valise, and leaned hiscrutch against a prickly briar bush. "I must practice a little."
And the old gentleman rabbit did practice then and there, going throughall the motions of swimming, only he was on dry land, of course. Next hetwinkled his nose, like a star on a very hot night, when you drink icedlemonade to keep cool, and then Uncle Wiggily hopped forward once more.
He hadn't gone very far before he noticed a grasshopper moving along soswiftly that the old gentleman rabbit could hardly see the legs goflip-flap. My, but that grasshopper did hippity-hop!
"Hold on there, if you please!" called Uncle Wiggily. "What is your hurry.Are you late for school?"
"There is no school now," said the grasshopper, as he sat on a daisyflower, "but I am hopping along to get out of danger."
"Danger? What danger is there around here?" asked the rabbit. "Do you seea fox, or anything like that?"
"No, but don't you hear that dreadful noise?" asked the grasshopper."Listen, and you will hear it. It scared me so that I went away as fast asI could."
So Uncle Wiggily listened, and sure enough he heard, away off in thewoods, a voice shouting:
"Help! Help! Help! Oh, won't some one please help me, or I'll be killed!"
"There, did you hear it?" asked the grasshopper, as he shivered and gotready to flit away again, "he said he was going to kill us."
"Oh, no! Nonsense!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "That is some poor animalcaught in a trap, and he's afraid of being killed himself. I'm going tosee who it is. Perhaps it is a friend of mine."
"Oh, no! Don't you go!" begged the grasshopper. "For it may be thealligator with the skillery-scalery-railery tail."
"Oh, preposterous!" cried Uncle Wiggily, who sometimes used big words whenhe was excited. "I'm not afraid. I'm going to help whoever it is, and,perhaps, in that way I may find my fortune."
So the grasshopper, who was very much frightened, flew on, and the rabbithopped toward where he could hear the voice still calling for help.
And whom do you s'pose it was? Why, the second cousin to GrandfatherPrickly Porcupine was caught fast in a trap, and he was calling for helpas loudly as he could call.
"Oh, I'm so glad you came along," said the porcupine to Uncle Wiggily."Please help me to get my leg out of this trap."
"Of course I
will," said the rabbit, and with his crutch he pried open thetrap, and set free the nice little second cousin to Grandfather PricklyPorcupine.
"Oh, how thankful I am to you," said the porcupine, as he limped away. "Ifever I can do you a favor I will." And, would you believe it? the time wassoon to come when that porcupine was to save Uncle Wiggily's life.
Well, the old gentleman rabbit hopped on, looking all over for hisfortune, but he couldn't seem to find it anywhere until, all of a sudden,as he was walking along by some big stones, he saw something shining, andpicking it up, he found he had a silver twenty-five-cent piece.
"Oh, my goodness me, sakes alive and a piece of cherry pie!" cried therabbit. "I've found part of my fortune! I'll have good luck now, andperhaps I can find more."
So the rabbit looked all about in among the stones for other money. But hedidn't find any, and pretty soon he came to a place where there was a holedown in between the big rocks.
"Perhaps there is more money down there," said the rabbit. "I'll take alook." He leaned over, and looked down, and then--Oh, how sorry I am thatI have to tell it, but I do, all of a sudden Uncle Wiggily fell right downthat black hole.
Right down into it he fell, and he landed at the bottom with such a bumpthat he nearly broke his spectacles. At first it was so dark that hecouldn't make out anything, but in a little while he could see somethingbig and black and shaggy coming toward him, and a grillery-growlery voicecalled out: