And the alligator thought it was Uncle Wiggily falling into his jaws, andhe shut them quickly like a steel trap and chewed on that bottle of hottoothache drops before he knew what it was.
Well, you can just imagine what happened. The medicine was as hot aspepper and mustard and vinegar and cloves and horse radish all made intoone! My! how it did burn that alligator's mouth.
"Oh my! I'm shot! I'm poisoned! I'm bitten by a mosquito! I'm stabbed! I'mall scrambled up" cried the alligator. "Water, water, quick! I must havewater!"
Then he gave a big jump, and, with his kinkery-scalery tail, he leapedinto a big puddle of water, and went away down in under, out of sight, tocool off his mouth.
"Oh, now is my chance! If I could only get down out of the tree!"exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "But with my rheumatism I'm afraid I'll fall. Ohdear! What shall I do?"
"Don't be afraid, I'll help you!" exclaimed a kind voice, and then thevoice went on: "Caw! Caw! Caw!" and Uncle Wiggily, looking up, saw a bigblack crow perched on a limb over his head.
"Oh, how do you do!" spoke Uncle Wiggily, making a bow as well as hecould. "Can you really help me down?'
"Yes," said the crow, "I can. Wait until I get my market basket. I wasjust going to the grocery, but I'm in no hurry. I'll save you first."
So that crow flew off, and in a moment he came back with a big basket inits bill.
"Hop in!" the black crow called to Uncle Wiggily, "and I'll fly down tothe ground with you, and you can run off before the alligator comes out ofthe water. I saw what you did to him with those toothache drops, and itserved him right. Come on, hop in the basket."
So Uncle Wiggily got in the basket, and the crow, taking the handle in hisstrong beak, flew safely to the ground with him. And that's how the oldgentleman rabbit got down out of the tree, just as I told you he would.
So he and the crow walked on some distance through the woods together,after Uncle Wiggily had picked up his crutch and valise, which had fallenout of the basket, and they got safely away before the alligator came outof the water. And wasn't he the provoked old beastie, though, when he sawthat his rabbit supper was gone?
"Where are you going?" asked the crow of Uncle Wiggily, after a bit, whenthey got to a nice big stone, and sat down for a rest.
"I am seeking my fortune," replied the old gentleman rabbit, "and tryingto get better of my rheumatism. Dr. Possum told me to travel, and haveadventures, and I've had quite a few already."
"Well, I hope you find your fortune and that it turns out to be a verygood one," said the kind crow. "But it is coming on night now. Have youany place to stay?"
"No," replied the rabbit, "I haven't. I never thought about that. Whatshall I do?"
"Oh, don't worry," said the crow. "I'd let you stay in my nest, but it isup a high tree, and you would have trouble climbing in and out. But nearmy nest-house is an old hollow stump, and you can stay in that verynicely."
"Are there any bears in it?" asked Uncle Wiggily, careful-like.
"Oh, no; not a one. It is very safe."
So the crow showed Uncle Wiggily where the hollow stump was, and he sleptthere all night, on a soft bed of leaves. And when he awakened in themorning he had breakfast with the crow and once more started off to seekhis fortune.
Well, pretty soon, in a short while, not so very long, he came to a littlehouse made of bark, standing in the middle of a deep, dark, dismal woods.And on the door of the house was a sign which read:
"If you want to be surprised, open this door and come in."
"Perhaps I can find my fortune in there, and get rid of the rheumatism,"thought Uncle Wiggily, so he hopped forward. And just as he did so heheard a voice calling to him:
"Don't go in! Don't go in there, Uncle Wiggily!"
The rabbit looked up, and saw Johnnie Bushytail, the squirrel boy, wavinghis paws at him. Well, Uncle Wiggily started to jump back away from thedoor of the little house, but it was too late. Out came ascraggily-raggily claw, which grabbed him, while a voice cried out:
"Ah, ha! Now I have you! Come right in!"
And then, before you could shake a stick at a bad dog, the door wasslammed shut and locked, and there Uncle Wiggily was inside the house, andJohnnie Bushytail was crying outside.
"That's the end of poor Uncle Wiggily!" said Johnnie. But it wasn't. ForI'll not leave the old gentleman rabbit alone in the house with that clawycreature. And in the next story, providing our wash lady doesn't put mynew straw hat in the soap suds, and take all the color out of the ribbon,I'll tell you about Uncle Wiggily and Fido Flip-Flop.
STORY IV
UNCLE WIGGILY AND FIDO FLIP-FLOP
Well, as soon as Uncle Wiggily found himself inside the bear's den--oh,just listen to me! That was in the other story, wasn't it? Yes, we lefthim in the funny little house in the woods, with the clawy creaturegrabbing him.
Now, what do you suppose that clawy creature was? Why, a great, big owl,to be sure, with round, staring, yellow eyes, and he had grabbed UncleWiggily in his claws, and pulled him inside the house.
"Now, I've got you!" cried the owl. "I was just wishing some one wouldcome along, and you did. Some of my friends are coming to tea thisafternoon, and you'll do very nicely made up into sandwiches."
Wasn't that a perfectly dreadful way to talk about our Uncle Wiggily?Well, I guess yes!
"Now you're here, make yourself at home," went on the owl, sarcastic-like,as he locked the front door and put the key in his pocket. "Did you seethe sign?"
"Yes," said Uncle Wiggily, "I did. But I don't call it fair. I thought Iwould find my fortune in here."
"The sign says you'll be surprised, and I guess you are surprised, aren'tyou?" asked the owl.
"Yes," answered the rabbit, "very much so. But I'd rather have a nicesurprise party, with peanuts and lemonade, than this."
"No matter," said the owl, snapping his beak like a pair of shears, "hereyou are and here you'll stay! My friends will soon arrive. I'll now putthe kettle on, to boil for tea."
Well, poor Uncle Wiggily didn't know what to do. He couldn't look in hisvalise to see if there was anything in it by which he might escape, for hehad dropped the satchel outside when the owl grabbed him, and he only hadhis barber-pole crutch.
"Oh, this is worse and worse!" thought the poor old rabbit.
But listen, Johnnie Bushytail is outside the owl's house, and he's goingto do a wonderful trick.
As soon as he saw the door shut on Uncle Wiggily, that brave squirrel boybegan to plan how he could save him, and the first thing he did was togather up a lot of acorns.
Then he perched himself in a tree, right in front of the owl's door, andJohnnie began throwing acorns at it. "Rat-a-tat-tat!" went the acorns onthe wooden panels.
"Ha! Those must be my friends!" exclaimed the bad owl, opening the door alittle crack so he could peek out, but taking care to stand in front ofit, so that Uncle Wiggily couldn't slip out. But, of course, the owl sawno one. "It must have been the wind," he said as he shut the door.
Then Johnnie Bushytail threw some more acorns at the door."Pitter-patter-patter-pit!" they went, like hailstones in an ice creamcan.
"Ah, there are my friends, sure, this time!" thought the owl, and oncemore he peered out, but no one was there. "It must have been a tree branchhitting against the door," said the owl, as he sharpened a big knife withwhich to make the sandwiches. Then Johnnie threw some more acorns, and theowl now thought positively his friends were there, and when he opened itand saw no one he was real mad.
"Some one is playing tricks on me!" exclaimed the savage bird. "I'll catchthem next time!"
Now this was just what Johnnie Bushytail wanted, so he threw a wholedouble handful of acorns at the door, and when the owl heard thempattering against the wood he rushed out.
"Now, I've got you!" he cried, but he hadn't, for Johnnie was up a tree.And, for the moment, the owl forgot about Uncle Wiggily, and there thedoor was wide open.
"Run out, Uncle Wiggily! Run out!" cried Johnnie, and out th
e oldgentleman rabbit hopped, catching up his valise, and away into the woodshe ran, with Johnnie scurrying along in the tree tops above him, andlaughing at the owl, who flew back to his house, but too late to catch thebunny.
"That's what you get for fooling people so they'll come into your house,"called the squirrel boy. "It serves you right, Mr. Owl. Come on, UncleWiggily, we'll get away from here."
So they went on together until it was time for Johnnie to go home, and hesaid he'd tell Uncle Wiggily's friends that he had met the old gentlemanrabbit, and that he hadn't found his fortune yet, but that he was lookingfor it every minute, and had had many adventures.
Well, Uncle Wiggily went on some more, for quite a distance, until it wasnoon time, and then he sat down in the cool, green woods, where there weresome jacks-in-the-pulpit growing near some ferns, and there Uncle Wiggilyate his lunch of lettuce sandwiches, with carrot butter on them, andgnawed on a bit of potato. Just as he was almost through, he heard arustling in the bushes, and a voice exclaimed:
"Oh, dear!"
"Why, what's the matter?" asked Uncle Wiggily, thinking perhaps anadventure was going to happen to him. "Who are you?"
"Oh, dear!" exclaimed the voice again.
Then, before the old rabbit could jump up and run away, even if he hadwanted to, out from under a big bush came a little white poodle dog, withcurly, silky hair. He walked right up to Uncle Wiggily, that dog did, andthe rabbit wasn't a bit afraid, for the dog wasn't much bigger than hewas, and looked very kind.
"What do you want, doggie?" gently asked Uncle Wiggily.
The dog didn't answer, but he gave a little short bark, and then he beganturning somersaults. Over and over he went, sometimes backward andsometimes frontward, and sometimes sideways. And when he was finished, hemade a low bow, and walked around on his two hind legs, just to show hewasn't proud or stuck up.
"There!" exclaimed the poodle doggie. "Is that worth something to eat, Mr.Rabbit?"
"Indeed it is," answered Uncle Wiggily, "but I would have given yousomething to eat without you doing all those tricks, though I enjoyed themvery much. Where did you learn to do them?"
"Oh, in the circus where I used to be, I always had to do tricks for mydinner," said the doggie.
"What is your name?" asked Uncle Wiggily.
"Fido Flip-Flop," was the answer. "You see they call me that because Iturn so many flip-flops," and then Uncle Wiggily gave him some lunch, andtold the dog about how he, himself, was traveling all over in search ofhis fortune.
"Why, that's just what I'm doing, too," exclaimed Fido Flip-Flop. "Supposewe travel together? and maybe we'll each find a fortune."
"That's just what we'll do," agreed Uncle Wiggily.
And then, all of a sudden, before you could open your eyes and shut themagain, two savage foxes jumped out from behind a big stump.
"You grab the dog and I'll grab the rabbit," called the biggest fox, andright at Uncle Wiggily and Fido they sprang, gnashing their teeth.
But don't worry. I'll find a way to save them, and if the canary birddoesn't take my lead pencil and stick it in his seed dish I'll tell you inthe following story about Uncle Wiggily doing some tricks.
STORY V
UNCLE WIGGILY DOES SOME TRICKS
When those two savage ducks--oh, I mean foxes--when those two savage foxesjumped out of the bushes at Uncle Wiggily Longears and Fido Flip-Flop, asI told you in the other story, the rabbit and the poodle doggie didn'tknow what in the world to do.
"Run this way!" called Fido, starting off to the left.
"No, hop this way!" said Uncle Wiggily, hopping to the right.
"Stand right where you are!" ordered the two foxes together. And with thatone made a grab for Uncle Wiggily. But what did that brave rabbitgentleman do but stick his red-white-and-blue crutch out in front of him,and the fox bit on that instead of on Uncle Wiggily. Right into the crutchthe fox's teeth sank, and for a moment Uncle Wiggily was safe. But not forlong.
"Ah, you fooled me that time, but now I'll get you!" cried the fox, and,letting go of the crutch, he made another grab for the rabbit.
But at that instant Fido Flip-Flop, who had been jumping about, keepingout of the way of the fox that was after him, cried out quite loudly:
"Look here, everybody but Uncle Wiggily, and, as for you, shut both youreyes tight."
Now the old gentleman rabbit couldn't imagine why he was to shut his eyestight, but he did so, and then what do you s'pose Fido Flip-Flop did? Why,he began turning somersaults so fast that he looked just like a pinwheelgoing around, or an automobile tire whizzing along. Faster and faster didFido Flip-Flop turn around, and then, all of a sudden, he began chasinghis tail, making motions just like a merry-go-round in a circus, untilthose two foxes were fairly dizzy from watching him.
"Stop! Stop!" cried one fox.
"Yes do stop! We're so dizzy that we can't stand up!" cried the other fox,staggering about. "Stop!"
"No, I'll not!" answered Fido Flip-Flop, and he went around faster thatever, faster and faster and faster, until those two bad foxes got sodizzy-izzy that they fell right over on their backs, with their legssticking straight up in the air like clothes posts, and their tails werewiggling back and forth in the dirt, like dusting brushes. Oh, but theywere the dizzy foxes, though.
"Now's your chance! Run! Run! Uncle Wiggily! Run!" called Fido Flip-Flop"Open your eyes and run!"
So the old gentleman rabbit opened his eyes, took up his valise which hehad dropped, and, hopping on his crutch, he and the poodle doggie ran onthrough the woods, leaving the two surprised and disappointed foxes stilllying on their backs, wiggling their tails in the dust, and too dizzy,from having watched Fido Flip-Flop do somersaults, and chase his tail, tobe able to get up.
"Why did you want me to shut my eyes?" asked Uncle Wiggily, when they wereso far away from the foxes that there was no more danger.
"That was so _you_ wouldn't get dizzy from watching me do the flip-flops,"answered the doggie. "My, but that was a narrow escape, though. Have youhad many adventures like that since you started out to seek your fortune?"
"Yes, several," answered the rabbit. "But turning flip-flops is a verygood thing to know how to do. I wonder if you could teach me, so that whenany more foxes or alligators chase me I can make them dizzy by turningaround? Can you teach me?"
"I'm sure I can," said Fido. "Here, this is the way to begin," and he didsome flip-flops slow and easy-like. Then Uncle Wiggily tried them, and,though he couldn't do them very well at first, he practised until he wasquite good at it. Then Fido showed him how to stand on one ear, and wigglethe other, and how to blink his eyes while standing on the end of hislittle tail, and then Uncle Wiggily thought of a new trick, all byhimself.
"I'll stick my crutch in the ground, like a clothes pole," he said toFido, "and then I'll hop up on it and sing a song," which he did, singinga song that went like this:
"Did you ever see a rabbit Do a flipper-flopper-flap? If not just kindly watch me, As I wear my baseball cap.
"It's very strange, some folks may say, And also rather funny, To see a kinky poodle dog Play with a flip-flop bunny.
"But we are on our travels, Adventures for to seek, We may find one, or two, or three, 'Most any day next week."
And then Uncle Wiggily hopped down, and waved both ears backward andforward, and made a low bow to a make-believe crowd of people, only, ofcourse, there were none there.
"Fine! Fine!" cried Fido Flip-Flop. "That's better than I did when I wasin the circus. Now I'll tell you what let's do."
"What?" asked Uncle Wiggily.
"Let's go around and give little shows and entertainments, for littlefolks to see," went on the poodle doggie. "I can turn flip-flops, and youcan stand on your head on your crutch, and sing a song, and then we'lltake up a collection. I'll pass my hat, and perhaps we may make ourfortune--who knows?"
"Who, indeed?" said Uncle Wiggily. "We'll do it."
So
off they started together to give a little show, and make some money,and, as they went on through the woods, they practised doing the tricksUncle Wiggily had learned.
Well, in a little while, not so very long, they came to a nice place inthe forest--an open place where no trees grew.
"Here is a good spot for our show," said Uncle Wiggily.
"But there is no one to see us do the tricks," objected Fido.
"Oh, yes, there are some ants, and an angle worm, and a black bug and agrasshopper," said Uncle Wiggily. "They will do to start on, and afterthey see us do the tricks they'll tell other folks, and we'll have quite acrowd."
So they started in to do their tricks. Fido turned a lot of flip-flops,and Uncle Wiggily did a dance on the end of his crutch, and sang a songabout a monkey-doodle, which the angle worm said was just fine, beingquite cute, and the grasshopper made believe play a fiddle with his twohind legs, scratching one on the other, and making lovely music.
But, all of a sudden, just as Uncle Wiggily was standing on his left ear,and wiggling his feet in the air, which is a very hard trick for a rabbit,what should happen but that out of the woods sprang two boys.
"There's the dog! Grab him!" cried one boy. "Never mind about the rabbit!Get the trick dog!" And the boys rushed right up, knocking Uncle Wiggilydown, and grabbing Fido Flip-Flop. And they started off through the woodswith him, while Uncle Wiggily cried out for them to come back. But theywouldn't.