"Oh, dear me!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "Oh, sorrow! Oh, unhappiness!Now I'll have to go back to my hollow stump bungalow and put on my oldcoat that isn't torn. For I never can wear my new one to the party.That would never do! But the trouble is, if I go back home I'll belate! Oh, dear, what trouble I am in!"
Now was the time for some of Uncle Wiggily's friends to help him in histrouble, as he had often helped them. But, as he looked through thewoods, he could not see even a little mouse, or so much as agrasshopper.
"The tailor bird would be just the one I'd like to see now," said therabbit uncle. "She could mend my torn coat nicely." For tailor birds,yon know, can take a piece of grass, with their bill for a needle, andsew leaves together to make a nest, almost as well as your mother canmend a hole in your stocking.
But there was no tailor bird in the woods, and Uncle Wiggily did notknow what to do.
"I certainly do not want to be late to Grandpa Goosey's party," saidthe bunny uncle, "nor do I want to go to it in a torn coat. Oh, dear!"
Just then he heard down on the ground near him, a little voice saying:
"Perhaps we could mend your coat for you, Uncle Wiggily."
"You. Who are you, and how can you mend my torn coat?" the bunnygentleman wanted to know.
"We are some little black ants," was the answer, "and with the pineneedles lying on the ground--some of the same needles on which youslipped--we can sew up your coat, with long grass for thread."
"Oh, that will be fine, if you can do it," spoke the bunny uncle. "Canyou?"
"We'll try," the ants said. Then, about fourteen thousand six hundredand twenty-two black ants took each a long, sharp pine needle, andthreading it with grass, they began to sew up the rips and tears inUncle Wiggily's coat. And in places where they could not easily sewthey stuck the cloth together with sticky gum from the pine tree. So,though the pine tree was to blame, in a way, for Uncle Wiggily's fall,it also helped in the mending of his coat.
Soon the coat was almost as good as new and you could hardly tell whereit was torn. And Uncle Wiggily, kindly thanking the ants, went on toGrandpa Goosey's party and had a fine time and also some ice cream.
And if the egg beater doesn't take all the raisins out of the ricepudding, so it looks like a cup of custard going to the movingpictures, the next story will be about Uncle Wiggily and the sycamoretree.
STORY XXX
UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE SYCAMORE TREE
"Oh, Uncle Wiggily, I'm going to a party! I'm going to a party!" criedNannie Wagtail, the little goat girl, as she pranced up in front of thehollow stump bungalow where Mr. Longears, the rabbit gentleman, livedwith Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper.
"Going to a party? Say, that's just fine!" said the bunny gentleman."I wish I were going to one."
"Why, you can come, too!" cried Nannie. "Jillie Longtail, the littlemouse girl, is giving the party, and I know she will be glad to haveyou."
"Well, perhaps, I may stop in for a little while," said Mr. Longears,with a smile that made his pink nose twinkle like the frosting on asponge cake. "But when is the party going to take place, Nannie?"
"Right away--I'm going there now; but I just stopped at your bungalowto show you my new shoes that Uncle Butter, the circus poster goat,bought for me. Aren't they nice?" And she stuck out her feet.
"Indeed, they are!" cried Uncle Wiggily, as he looked at the shinyblack shoes which went on over Nannie's hoofs. "So the party isto-day, is it?",
"Right now," said Nannie. "Come on, Uncle Wiggily. Walk along with meand go in! They'll all be glad to see you!"
"Oh, but my dear child!" cried the bunny gentleman. "I haven't shavedmy whiskers, my ears need brushing, and I would have to do lots ofthings to make myself look nice and ready for a party!"
"Oh, dear!" bleated Nannie Wagtail. "I did so want you to come withme!"
"Well, I'll walk as far as the Longtail mouse home,"' said the bunnyuncle, "but I won't go in.
"Oh, maybe you will when you get there!" And Nannie laughed, for sheknew Uncle Wiggily always did whatever the animal children wanted himto do.
So the bunny uncle and Nannie started off through the woods together,Nannie looking down at her new shoes every now and then.
"I'm going to dance at the party, Uncle Wiggily!" she said.
"I should think you would, Nannie, with those nice new shoes," spokeMr. Longears. "What dance are you going to do?"
"Oh, the four-step and the fish hornpipe, I guess," answered Nannie,and then she suddenly cried:
"Oh, dear!"
"What's the matter now?" asked Uncle Wiggily. "Did you lose one ofyour new shoes?"
"No, but I splashed some mud on it," the little goat girl said. "Istepped in a mud puddle."
"Never mind, I'll wipe it off with a bit of soft green moss," answeredUncle Wiggily; and he did. So Nannie's shoes were all clean again.
On and on went the rabbit gentleman and the little goat girl, and theytalked of what games the animal children would play at the Longtailmouse party, and what good things they would eat, and all like that.
All of a sudden, as Nannie was jumping over another little puddle ofwater, she cried out again:
"Oh, dear!"
"What's the matter now?" asked Uncle Wiggily. "Did some more mudsplash on your new shoes, Nannie?"
"No, Uncle Wiggily, but a lot of the buttons came off. I guess theydon't fasten buttons on new shoes very tight."
"I guess they don't," Uncle Wiggily said. "But still you have enoughbuttons left to keep the shoes on your feet. I guess you will be allright."
So Nannie walked on a little farther, with Uncle Wiggily resting hisrheumatism, now and then, on the red, white and blue striped barberpole crutch that Nurse Jane had gnawed for him out of a cornstalk.
All of a sudden Nannie cried out again:
"Oh, dear! Oh, this is too bad!"
"What is?" asked Uncle Wiggily.
"Now all the buttons have come off my shoes!" said the little goatgirl, sadly. "I don't see how I can go on to the party and dance, withno buttons on my shoes. They'll be slipping off all the while."
"So they will," spoke Uncle Wiggily. "Shoes without buttons are likelollypops without sticks, you can't do anything with them."
"But what am I going to do?" asked Nannie, while tears came into hereyes and splashed up on her horns. "I do want so much to go to thatparty."
"And I want you to," said Uncle Wiggily. "Let me think a minute."
So he thought and thought, and then he looked off through the woods andhe saw a queer tree not far away. It was a sycamore tree, with broadwhite patches on the smooth bark, and hanging down from the brancheswere lots of round balls, just like shoe buttons, only they were a sortof brown instead of black. The balls were the seeds of the tree.
"Ha! The very thing!" cried the bunny uncle.
"What is?" asked Nannie.
"That sycamore, or button-ball tree," answered the rabbit gentleman."I can get you some new shoe buttons off that, Nannie, and sew them onyour shoes."
"Oh, if you can, that will be just fine!" cried the little goat girl."For when the buttons came off my new shoes they flew every whichway--I mean the buttons did--and I couldn't find a single one."
"Never mind," Uncle Wiggily kindly said. "I'll sew on some of thebuttons from the sycamore tree, and everything will be all right."
With a thorn for a needle, and some long grasses for thread, UncleWiggily soon sewed the buttons from the sycamore, or button-ball, treeon Nannie's new shoes, using the very smallest ones, of course. ThenNannie put on her shoes again, having rested her feet on a velvetcarpet of moss, while Uncle Wiggily was sewing, and together they wenton to the Longtail mouse party.
"Oh, what nice shoes you have, Nannie!" cried Susie Littletail, therabbit girl.
"And what lovely stylish buttons!" exclaimed Lulu Wibblewobble, theduck.
"Yes, Uncle Wiggily sewed them on for me," said Nannie.
"Oh
, is Uncle Wiggily outside!" cried the little mousie girl. "Hemust come in to our party!"
"Of course!" cried all the other animal children. And so UncleWiggily, who had walked on past the house after leaving Nannie, had tocome in anyhow, without his whiskers being trimmed, or his ears curled.And he was so jolly that every one had a good time and lots of icecream cheese to eat, and they all thought Nannie's shoes, and thebutton-ball buttons, were just fine.
And if the ham sandwich doesn't tickle the cream puff under the chinand make it laugh so all the chocolate drops off the cocoanut pudding,I'll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the red spots.
STORY XXXI
UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE RED SPOTS
Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit gentleman, was hopping along throughthe woods one fine day when he heard a little voice calling to him:
"Oh, Uncle Wiggily! Will you have a game of tag with me?"
At first the bunny uncle thought the voice might belong to a bad fox ora harum-scarum bear, but when he had peeked through the bushes he sawthat it was Lulu Wibblewobble, the duck girl, who had called to him.
"Have a game of tag with you? Why, of course, I will!" laughed UncleWiggily. "That is, if you will kindly excuse my rheumatism, and thered, white and blue crutch which Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, my muskratlady housekeeper, gnawed for me out of a cornstalk."
"Of course, I'll excuse it, Uncle Wiggily," said Lulu. "Only pleasedon't tag me with the end of your crutch, for it tickles me, and whenI'm tickled I have to laugh, and when I laugh I can't play tag."
"I won't tag you with my crutch," spoke Uncle Wiggily with a laugh."Now we're ready to begin."
So the little duck girl and the rabbit gentleman played tag there inthe woods, jumping and springing about on the soft mossy green carpetunder the trees.
Sometimes Lulu was "it" and sometimes Uncle Wiggily would be tagged bythe foot or wing of the duck girl, who was a sister to Alice and JimmieWibblewobble.
"Now for a last tag!" cried Uncle Wiggily when it was getting dark inthe woods. "I'll tag you this time, Lulu, and then we must go home."
"All right," agreed Lulu, and she ran and flew so fast that UncleWiggily could hardly catch her to make her "it." And finally whenUncle Wiggily almost had his paw on the duck girl she flew right over abush, and, before Uncle Wiggily could stop himself he had run into thebush until he was half way through it.
Before Uncle Wiggily could stop himself he had run intothe bush.]
But, very luckily, it was not a scratchy briar bush, so no great harmwas done, except that Uncle Wiggily's fur was a bit ruffled up, and hewas tickled.
"I guess I can't tag you this time, Lulu!" laughed the bunny uncle."We'll give up the game now, and I'll be 'it' next time when we play."
"Ail right, Uncle Wiggily," said Lulu. "I'll meet you here in thewoods at this time tomorrow night, and I'll bring Alice and Jimmie withme, and we'll have lots of fun. We'll have a grand game of tag!"
"Fine!" cried the bunny uncle, as he squirmed his way out of the bush.
Then he went on to his hollow stump bungalow, and Lulu went on to herduck pen house to have her supper of corn meal sauce with watercresssalad sprinkled over the sides.
As Uncle Wiggily was sitting down to his supper of carrot ice creamwith lettuce sandwiches all puckered around the edges, Nurse Jane FuzzyWuzzy looked at him across the table, and exclaimed:
"Why, Wiggy! What's the matter with you?"
"Matter with me? Nothing, Janie! I feel just fine!" he said. "I'mhungry, that's all!"
"Why, you're all covered with red spots!" went on the muskrat lady."You are breaking out with the measles. I must send for Dr. Possum atonce."
"Measles? Nonsense!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "I can't have 'emagain. I've had 'em once."
"Well, maybe these are the French or German mustard measles," said themuskrat lady. "You are certainly all covered with red spots, and redspots are always measles."
"Well, what are you going to do about it?" asked Uncle Wiggily.
"You must go to bed at once," said Nurse Jane, "and when Dr. Possumcomes he'll tell you what else to do. Oh, my! Look at the red spots!"
Uncle Wiggily was certainly as red-spotted as a polka-dot shirt waist.He looked at himself in a glass to make sure.
"Well, I guess I have the measles all right," he said. "But I don'tsee how I can have them twice. This must be a different style, likethe new dances."
It was dark when Dr. Possum came, and when he saw the red spots onUncle Wiggily, he said:
"Yes, I guess they're the measles all right. Lots of the animalchildren are down with them. But don't worry. Keep nice and warm andquiet, and you'll be all right in a few days."
So Uncle Wiggily went to bed, red spots and all, and Nurse Jane madehim hot carrot and sassafras tea, with whipped cream and chocolate init. The cream was not whipped because it was bad, you know, but onlyjust in fun, to make it stand up straight.
All the next day the bunny uncle stayed in bed with his red spots,though he wanted very much to go out in the woods looking for anadventure. And when evening came and Nurse Jane was sitting out on thefront porch of the hollow stump bungalow, she suddenly heard a quackingsound, and along came Lulu, Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble, the duckchildren.
"Where is Uncle Wiggily?" asked Lulu.
"He is in bed," answered Nurse Jane.
"Why is he in bed?" asked Jimmie. "Was he bad?"
"No, indeed," laughed Nurse Jane. "But your Uncle Wiggily is in bedbecause he has the red-spotted measles. What did you want of him?"
"He promised to meet us in the woods, where the green moss grows,"answered Lulu, "and play tag with us. We waited and waited, and playedtag all by ourselves tonight, even jumping in the bush, as UncleWiggily accidentally did when he was chasing me, but he did not comealong. So we came here to see what is the matter."
The three duck children came up on the porch, where the bright lightshone on them from inside the bungalow.
"Oh, my goodness me sakes alive and some paregoric lollypops!" criedNurse Jane, as she looked at the three. "You ducks are all coveredwith red spots, too! You all have the measles! Oh, my!"
"Measles!" cried Jimmie, the boy duck.
"Measles? These aren't measles, Nurse Jane! These are sticky, redberries from the bushes we jumped in as Uncle Wiggily did. The redberries are sticky, like burdock burrs, and they stuck to us."
"Oh, my goodness!" cried Nurse Jane. "Wait a minute, children!" Thenshe ran to where Uncle Wiggily was lying in bed. She leaned over andpicked off some of the red spots from his fur.
"Why!" cried the muskrat lady. "You haven't the measles at all, Wiggy!It's just sticky, red berries in your fur, just as they are in theducks' feathers. You're all right! Get up and have a good time!"
And Uncle Wiggily did, after Nurse Jane had combed the red, stickyburr-berries out of his fur. He didn't have the measles at all, forwhich he was very glad, because he could now be up and play tag.
"My goodness! That certainly was a funny mistake for all of us," saidDr. Possum next day. "But the red spots surely did look like themeasles." Which shows us that things are not always what they seem.
And if the--Oh, excuse me, if you please. There is not going to be anext story in this book. It is already as full as it can be, so thestory after this will have to be put in the following book, which alsomeans next.
Let me see, now. Oh, I know. Next I'm going to tell you some storiesabout the old gentleman growing cabbages, lettuce and things like thatout of the ground, and the book will be called "Uncle Wiggily on TheFarm." It will be ready for you by Christmas, I think, and I hope youwill like it.
And now I will say good-bye for a little while, and if the lollypopdoesn't take its sharp stick to make the baby carriage roll down thehill and into the trolley car, I'll soon begin to make the new book.
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