"Thank you very much," said Uncle Wiggily, "and I am very much obliged toyou for saving me from the alligator last night."
"Pray do not mention it," spoke the fish most condescendingly. "I alwayslike to help my friends." And with that he swam away, and Uncle Wiggilyate his breakfast, and then, taking his crutch and valise, he set off onhis travels again.
He hopped on for some time, and finally he came to a place where therewere some high, prickly bramble-briar bushes.
"I will rest here in their shade a bit," thought the old gentleman rabbit,"and then I will go on."
So he sat down, and, as the sun was quite warm, he fell asleep before heknew it. But he was suddenly awakened by a hissing sound, just like whensteam comes out of the parlor radiator on a frosty night. Then a voicecried:
"Now I've got you!"
Uncle Wiggily looked up, and there was a big snake, just going to grabhim. But do you s'pose the rabbit waited for that snake? Not a bit of it.Catching up his crutch and valise, he gave one tremendous andextraordinary springery-spring, and over the prickery stickery briar andbramble bushes he went, flying through the air, and the snake couldn't gethim.
But when Uncle Wiggily came down on the other side of the bushes! Oh, my!that was a different story. For where do you imagine he landed? Where,indeed, but right in the middle of a big mud pie that two little hedgehogboys were making there. Yes, sir, right into the middle of thatsquasher-squawshery mud pie fell Uncle Wiggily.
Oh! How the mud splashed up! It went all over the rabbit, and some got onthe two little hedgehog boys.
Well, they were as surprised as anything when they saw a nice oldgentleman rabbit come down in the middle of their pie, and at first theythought he had done it on purpose.
"Let's stick him full of our stickery-stockery quills," said one hedgehogboy.
"Yes, and then let's pull his ears," said the other hedgehog boy. But,mind you, they didn't really mean anything bad, only, perhaps, theythought Uncle Wiggily was a savage fox, or a little white bear.
"Oh, boys, I'm sorry!" said the old gentleman rabbit as soon as he coulddig the mud out of his mouth.
"What made you do it?" asked the biggest hedgehog boy, wiping some mud outof his eye.
"Yes, our pie is all spoiled," said his brother, "and we were just goingto bake it."
"Oh, it is too bad!" said Uncle Wiggily, sorrowfully, "but you see I hadto get away from that snake, and I didn't have time to look where I wasjumping. I'm glad, though, that I left the snake on the other side of thebushes."
"So are we," said the two hedgehog boys.
"But you didn't leave me there. I'm here!" suddenly cried a voice, and outwiggled the snake again. He started to catch the rabbit, but those twobrave hedgehog boys grabbed up a lot of mud, and plastered it in thatsnake's eyes so that he couldn't see, and he had to wiggle down to thepond to wash it out.
Then Uncle Wiggily and the boys were safe, and he helped them to makeanother mud pie, with stones in for raisins, and he gave them some of hisreal cherry pie, and oh! how they liked it! Then they were all happy, andUncle Wiggily stayed at the hedgehog's house until the next morning.
Now, in case the little girl in the next house brings me a watermelon icecream cone with a rose on top, I'll tell you on the next page about UncleWiggily and the elephant.
STORY XXIII
UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE ELEPHANT
Uncle Wiggily didn't sleep very well at the hedgehog's house that night,and the reason for it was this: You see they didn't have many beds there,and first the rabbit gentleman lay down with the smallest little porcupineboy, in his bed.
But pretty soon, along about in the middle of the night, this little boygot to dreaming that he was a rubber ball. And he rolled over in the bed,and he rolled up against Uncle Wiggily, and the stickery-stickers from thelittle hedgehog chap stuck in the old gentleman rabbit.
"Oh, dear!" cried Uncle Wiggily, "I think I'll have to go and sleep withyour brother Jimmie."
So he went over to the other hedgehog boy's bed, but land sakes flopsy-duband a basket of soap bubbles!
As soon as the rabbit got in there that other hedgehog chap began to dreamthat he was a jumping jack, and so he jumped up and down, and he jumpedon top of Uncle Wiggily, and stuck more stickery-stickers in him, until atlast the rabbit got up and said:
"Oh, dear, I guess I'll have to go to sleep on the floor."
So he did that, putting his head on his satchel for a pillow and pullinghis red-white-and-blue-striped-barber-pole crutch over him for a cover.And, in the morning, he felt a little better.
"Well, I think I will travel on once more," said Uncle Wiggily after abreakfast of strawberries, and mush and milk. "I may find my fortuneto-day."
The hedgehog boys wanted him to stay with them, and make more mud pies, oreven a cherry one, but the rabbit gentleman said he had no time. So off hewent over hills and down dales, and along through the woods.
Pretty soon, not so very long, just as Uncle Wiggily was walking behind abig rock, as large as a house, he heard some one crying. Oh, such a loudcrying voice as it was, and the old rabbit gentleman was a bit frightened.
"For it sounds like a giant crying," he said to himself. "And if it's agiant he may be a bad one, who would hurt me. I guess I'll run back theother way."
Well, he started to run, but, just as he did so, he heard the voicecrying again, and this time it said:
"Oh, dear me! Oh, if some one would only help me! Oh, I am in suchtrouble!"
"Come, I don't believe that is a giant after all," thought the rabbit. "Itmay be Sammie Littletail, who has grown to be such a big boy that I won'tknow him any more." So he took a careful look, but instead of seeing hislittle rabbit nephew, he saw a big elephant, sitting on the ground, cryingas hard as he could cry.
Now, you know, when an elephant cries it isn't like when you cry once in agreat while, or when baby cries every day. No, indeed! An elephant criesso very many tears that if you don't have a water pail near you, to catchthem, you may get your feet wet; that is, if you don't have on rubbers.
Well, that's the way it was this time. The elephant was crying big, saltytears, about the size of rubber balls, and they were rolling down from hiseyes and along his trunk, which was like a fire engine hose, until therewas quite a little stream of water flowing down the hill toward therabbit.
"Oh, please don't cry any more!" called Uncle Wiggily.
"Why not?" asked the elephant, sadly-like, and he cried harder thanbefore.
"Because if you do," replied the rabbit, "I will have to get a pair ofrubber boots, in which to wade out to see you."
"I'll try to stop," said the big animal, but, instead, he cried harderthan before, boo-hooing and hoo-booing, until you would have thought itwas raining, and Uncle Wiggily wished he had an umbrella.
"Why, whatever is the matter?" asked the rabbit.
"Oh, I stepped on a tack," answered the elephant, "and it is sticking inmy foot. I can't walk, and I can't dance and I can't get back to thecircus. Oh, dear! Oh, dear me, suz-dud and a red balloon! Oh, howmiserable I am!"
"Too bad," said Uncle Wiggily. "Was it a large tack that you stepped on?"
"Was it?" asked the elephant, sort of painful-like. "Why, it feels as bigas a dishpan in my foot. Here, you look, and perhaps you can pull it out."
He raised up one of his big feet, which were about as large as a washtubfull of clothes, on Monday morning, and he held it out to Uncle Wiggily.
"Why, I can't see anything here," said the rabbit, looking at the big footthrough his spectacles.
"Oh, dear! It's there all right!" cried the elephant. "It feels like twowash tubs now," and he began to cry some more.
"Here! Hold on, if you please!" shouted Uncle Wiggily. "I'll have to makea boat, if you keep on shedding so many tears, for there will be a lakehere. Wait, I'll look once more."
So he looked again, and this time he saw just the little, tiniest,baby-tack you can imagine--about the size of a pinhead--sticking in the
elephant's foot.
"Wait! I have it! Was this it?" suddenly asked the rabbit, as he took holdof the tack in his paw and pulled it out.
"That's it!" exclaimed the elephant, waving his trunk. "It's out! Oh, howmuch better I feel. Whoop-de-doodle-do!" and then he felt so fine that hebegan to dance. Then, all of a sudden, he began to cry once more.
"Why, what in the world is the matter now?" asked Uncle Wiggily, wishinghe had a pail, so that he might catch the elephant's salty tears.
"Oh, I feel so happy that I can't help crying, because my pain is gone!"exclaimed the big creature. Then he cried about forty-'leven bushels oftears, and a milk bottle full besides, and there was a little pond aroundhim, and Uncle Wiggily was in it up to his neck.
Then, all of a sudden, in came swimming the alligator, right toward therabbit.
"Ah, now I'll get you!" cried the skillery-scalery beast.
"No you won't!" shouted the elephant, "Uncle Wiggily is my friend!" So heput his trunk down in the water, and sucked it all up, and then hesquirted it over the trees. That left the alligator on dry land, and thenthe elephant grabbed the alligator up in his strong trunk, and tossed himinto the briar bushes, scalery-ailery tail and all, and the alligatorcrawled away after a while.
So that's how Uncle Wiggily was saved from the alligator by the cryingelephant, and the rabbit and elephant traveled on together for some days.Now, as I see the sand man coming, I must stop.
But, in case I don't fall into the washtub with my new suit on, and get itall colored sky-blue-pink, so I can't go to the picnic, I'll tell you nextabout Uncle Wiggily and the cherry tree.
STORY XXIV
UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CHERRY TREE
Uncle Wiggily Longears and the crying elephant were walking along togetherone day, talking about the weather, and wondering if it would rain, andall things like that. Only the elephant wasn't crying any more, for therabbit had pulled the tack that was hurting him, out of the big beast'sfoot, you remember.
"We'll travel on together to find our fortune, and look for adventures,"said the elephant, as he capered about, and stood on his hind legs,because he felt so jolly. "Won't we have fun, Uncle Wiggily?"
"Well, we may," spoke the old gentleman rabbit, "but I don't see how weare going to carry along on our travels enough for us to eat. Of course,_I_ don't need much, but _you_ are such a big chap that you will have tohave quite a lot, and my valise is small."
"Don't worry about that," replied the elephant. "Of course you might thinkI could carry a lot of pie and cake and bread and butter in my trunk, butreally I can't you know, for about all that my trunk will hold is water.However, I think I can pick what hay and grass I want from along theroad."
"Yes, and perhaps we may meet a man with a hot peanut wagon, once in awhile," suggested Uncle Wiggily, "and he may give you some peanuts."
"Oh, joy! I hope he does!" cried the big fellow. "I just love hotpeanuts!" Well, they went on together for some time, when, all of a suddena man jumped out from behind the bushes, and exclaimed:
"Ha, Mr. Elephant! I've been looking for you. Now you come right back withme to the circus where you belong." And he went up to the elephant andtook hold of his trunk.
"Oh, I don't want to go," whined the tremendous creature. "I want to staywith Uncle Wiggily, and have some fun."
"But you can't," said the man. "You are needed in the circus. A lot ofboys and girls are waiting in the tent, to give you peanuts and popcorn."
"Well, then, I s'pose I'd better go back," sighed the wobbly animal withthe long tusks. "I'll see you again, Uncle Wiggily." So the elephant saidgood-bye to the rabbit, and went back to the circus with the man, whilethe rabbit gentleman hopped on by himself.
He hadn't gone very far before he heard a loud "Honk-honk!" in the bushes.
"Oh, there is another one of those terrible automobiles!" thought therabbit. But it wasn't at all. No, it was Grandfather Goosey Gander, andthere he sat on a flat stone, "honk-honking" through his yellow bill ashard as he could, and, at the same time crying salty tears that ran downhis nose, making it all wet.
"Why, whatever is the matter?" asked Uncle Wiggily, as he went up to hisfriend, the duck-drake gentleman. "Have you stepped on a tack, too?"
"No, it isn't that," was the answer. "But I am so sick that I don't knowwhat to do, and I'm far from my home, and from my friends, theWibblewobble family, and, oh, dear! it's just awful."
"Let me look at your tongue," said the rabbit, and when Grandfather GooseyGander stuck it out, Uncle Wiggily said:
"Why, you have the epizootic very bad. Very bad, indeed! But perhaps I cancure you. Let me see, I think you need some bread and butter, and a cup ofcatnip tea. I'll make you some."
So Uncle Wiggily made a little fire of sticks, and then he found an emptytin tomato can, and he boiled some water in it over the fire, and made thecatnip tea. Then he gave some to Grandfather Goosey Gander, together withsome bread and butter.
"Well, I feel a little better," said the old gentleman duck-drake, when hehad eaten, "but I am not well yet. It seems to me that if I could havesome cherry pie I would feel better."
"Perhaps you would," agreed Uncle Wiggily, "but, though I know how to makenice cherry pie, and though I made some for the hedgehog, I don't see anycherry trees around here, so I can't make you one. There are no cherrytrees."
"Yes, there is one over there," said the duck-drake, and he waved one foottoward it, while he quacked real faint and sorrowful-like.
"Sure enough, that _is_ a cherry tree," said Uncle Wiggily, as he hoppedover and looked at it. "And the cherries are ripe, too. Now, if I couldonly get some of them down I could make a cherry pie, and cure GrandfatherGoosey Gander."
But it wasn't easy to get the cherries off the tree, and Uncle Wiggilycouldn't climb up after them. So he sat down and looked up at them, hopingsome would fall off the stems. But none did.
"Oh, dear, I wonder how I'm going to get them?" sighed the rabbit."Perhaps I can knock off some with a stone."
So he threw a stone, but no cherries came down. The stone did, though,and hit Uncle Wiggily on the nose, making him sneeze.
"Stones are no good!" exclaimed the rabbit. "I'll throw up my crutch." Sohe threw that into the tree, but it brought no cherries down, and thecrutch, in falling, nearly hit Grandfather Goosey Gander, and almost gavehim the measles and mumps.
"Well, I'll try and see what throwing up my valise will do," said therabbit, and he tossed up the satchel, but bless you, that stayed up in thetree, and didn't come down at all, neither did any cherries.
"Oh, I'll have to give up," said Uncle Wiggily. "I'm afraid you can't haveany cherry pie, Grandfather Goosey."
"Oh, then I'll never get well," said the old duck-drake gentlemansorrowfully.
"Yes, you will, too!" suddenly cried out a voice, and out from the bushesran the elephant. "I'll pick the cherries off the tree with my long, noseytrunk," he said, "and you can make all the pie you want to, UncleWiggily."
"Why, I thought you went back to the circus," said the rabbit.
"No, I ran away from the man," spoke the elephant. Then he reached up withhis long nose, and he picked a bushel of red, ripe, sweet deliciouscherries in less than a minute. Then he pulled down Uncle Wiggily'svalise out of the tree and then the old gentleman rabbit made three cherrypies. One for Grandfather Goosey Gander, and another, a tremendous bigone, as large as a washtub, for the elephant, and a little one forhimself. Then they ate their pies, and the old gentleman duck-drake gotwell almost at once. So all three of them traveled on together, to helpthe rabbit seek his fortune.
Now in case the ice cream man brings some nice, hot roast chestnuts forour canary bird, I'll tell you in another story about Uncle Wiggily, andGrandfather Goosey Gander.
STORY XXV
UNCLE WIGGILY AND GRANDPA GOOSEY
One day, not very long after the elephant had picked the cherries off thetree, so that Uncle Wiggily could make the cherry pies for Grandpa Goosey,the three friends were traveling al
ong together through a deep, dark,dismal woods.
"Where are we going?" asked the elephant, who had run away from the circusman to travel by himself.
"Oh, to some place where we may find our fortune," said the old gentlemanrabbit.
"I would much rather find some snails to eat," said Grandfather GooseyGander, the old gentleman duck, as I shall call him for short. "For I amvery hungry."
"What's that?" cried the rabbit. "Hungry after the nice pie I made foryou?"
"Oh, that was some time ago. I could eat another pie right now," spoke theold duck. But there wasn't any pie for him, so he had to eat a cornmealsandwich with watercress salad on, and Uncle Wiggily ate some carrots andcabbage, and the elephant ate a lot of grass from a field--oh! a terriblelot--about ten bushels, I guess.
Then, all at once, as they were walking along over a bridge, a mansuddenly jumped out from behind a tree, and cried:
"Ah, ha! Now you won't get away from me, Mr. Elephant. This time I amsurely going to take you back to the circus." And with that he threw arope around the elephant's trunk, and led him away. The elephant cried somany tears that there was a muddy puddle right near the bridge, and thebig animal begged to be allowed to stay with Uncle Wiggily and GrandpaGoosey Gander, but the man said it could not be done.
"Well, then, you and I will have to go on together," said the oldgentleman rabbit to the duck, after a bit. "Perhaps we may find ourfortune."
"I think I could make money calling out 'honk-honk!' on an automobile,"said the grandfather. "Jimmie Wibblewobble once did that for a man. Ithink I'll look for a nice automobile gentleman to work for, and if I getmoney enough we'll be rich."