Chapter XXVI: Uncle Wiggily and the Bat

UNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the nice little boy bear—Oh, please be so kind as to excuse me, as the telephone girl says when she rings the dinner bell at supper time. I mean Uncle Wiggily Longears, the nice old rabbit gentleman, put on his red, white and blue-striped rheumatism tall silk hat and——

Eh? What’s that? Something else wrong? Oh, yes; to be sure. I meant to say he took his red, white and blue-striped rheumatism crutch, and put his tall silk hat on over his ears, and then he started out of his hollow-stump bungalow for a walk.

I don’t know what’s the matter with me in this story—making so many mistakes—unless it was that I danced the fox-trot backward the other night, and it turned out to be a goose-walk. Anyhow, I’ll try to be more careful after this.

Out stepped Uncle Wiggily, starting off toward the woods, but he had not gone very far before Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady, called to him.

“Where are you going, Uncle Wiggily? Don’t you know that it is after supper, and will soon be dark? Then why do you go to the woods?”

“I want an adventure,” answered the bunny uncle. “I haven’t had one to-day. And, as for the dark, the moon will soon be up, and give me good light. Have no fear, Nurse Jane, I will soon be back safely.”

So Nurse Jane had no fear and Uncle Wiggily hopped on and on, over the fields and through the woods. All of a sudden he passed the house where Susie Littletail, the little rabbit girl, lived.

“Oh, Uncle Wiggily,” called Mrs. Littletail, the bunny mother. “If you see Susie, will you please tell her to come home at once? Her supper is quite cold, though I will warm up the carrot gravy for her.”

“I’ll tell her,” promised the bunny uncle. “Where is she?”

“She went over to play with Lulu and Alice Wibblewobble, the two duck girls,” was the answer, “and she must be having a fine time, for she’s been there ever so long.”

“I wonder what sort of an adventure I shall have this evening,” thought the bunny uncle. “Yesterday I drove away the snail that was scaring the four-and-twenty tailors, but no tailors would be out now, after dark. However, the moon will soon be up, and then I will have light enough to see an adventure if one happens along.”

Going a little farther, Uncle Wiggily came to where Lulu and Alice Wibblewobble, the duck girls, lived in a nice pen, with their father and mother and their brother Jimmie.

“Is Susie Littletail in there?” asked Uncle Wiggily, looking over the fence. “Her mother said she came over here to play, but hasn’t come home yet. Is she there?”

“No, Uncle Wiggily,” answered Lulu, wagging her tail wobbily like. “Susie left here some time ago. She said she was going to run home to supper.”

“It’s queer I didn’t meet her,” said the bunny uncle. “But, perhaps, she might have gone home by another path. I daresay she is all right. I’ll walk along a little farther, and then if I don’t see her I’ll go back.”

Well, Uncle Wiggily was going on and on, when, all at once from behind an old stump, he heard a sad little voice crying, and saying:

“Oh, dear! Oh, dear! I’m afraid to go home, and I’m afraid to stay here. I don’t know what to do!”

“My! That sounds like trouble of the very worst kind!” spoke Uncle Wiggily, in his jolly voice. “I must see who it is, and if I can help them.”

Uncle Wiggily started for the stump, and then he happened to think:

“Ah, perhaps that might be the skillery-scalery alligator with the humps on his tail, making believe to be in trouble just to get me near enough so he can catch me. I had better be careful.”

So Uncle Wiggily carefully peeked around the corner before going any closer to the stump, and there, sitting down on a stone behind it in the moonlight, was Susie Littletail, the rabbit girl, herself.

“Why, Susie!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “What are you doing here? Your mother is looking for you, and so am I. Why don’t you go home?”

“’Cause I’m afraid, Uncle Wiggily,” and Susie cried a few tears.

“What are you afraid of?” asked the bunny uncle. “Surely not the dark. That can’t hurt you, and besides it will soon be moonlight.”

“No, I’m not afraid of the dark, Uncle Wiggily,” said Susie, “but I’m afraid of the bat.”

“The bat?” cried the bunny uncle, astonished like.

“Yes; he’s a big bird with wings, but he has ears and looks like a rat. I’m afraid he’ll get tangled in my fur, or else that he’ll bite me. Oh, there he is now!” and Susie pointed to something black, like a bird, flying to and fro in the darkness.

“Yes, that is a bat,” said Uncle Wiggily, “but it will not hurt you. It is only flying around to catch mosquitoes and other bugs that come out mostly at night. A bat, like an owl, can see in the dark. He won’t hurt you.”

“Oh, but I’m afraid,” said Susie. “I started from the Wibblewobble house a long time ago, to go home, but I saw the bat flying around and I hid. I dassen’t go home.”

“Nonsense!” laughed Uncle Wiggily. “I’ll fix it for you. I’ll play a little joke on the bat and get him out of the way until I can lead you home.”

So Uncle Wiggily recited this little verse from Mother Goose:

“Bat, bat! Come under my hat,
And I’ll give you a slice of bacon.
And when I bake,
I’ll give you a cake.
If I am not mistaken.”

Uncle Wiggily put his tall silk hat on the ground, and, surely enough, the bat crawled under it to see if there were any bacon there. And, before he could come out Uncle Wiggily hurried home with Susie, who wasn’t afraid any more, not with the bunny uncle to hold her paw.

Then Uncle Wiggily, not being mistaken, got a cake from Nurse Jane and took it back to the bat, also getting his tall silk hat. And the bat was very much obliged, for the cake, and he said he never would have tangled himself in Susie’s fur anyhow, so she need not have been afraid.

“But I’m glad she’s safely home,” said the bat.

“So am I,” said Uncle Wiggily.

And I guess Susie was also.

But if the button-hook doesn’t get tangled up in the dog’s tail, and ride out to where the shoe-horn is playing tunes for the rubber heels to dance the lame duck, I’ll tell you next——

Oh, but hold on, if you please. I’m not going to tell you any more stories in this book, for it is already quite well filled, as you can see for yourself. So if I write any more tales they will have to go in another big volume like this.

That’s what I’ll do, if you like, and the next book will be called, “Uncle Wiggily and His Friends,” and will tell of the different things that happened to the bunny uncle when he went calling on all the animal folk that live in Woodland. So, while I am getting that book ready, I will say good-bye.

THE END

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CHILDREN’S BOOKS
By HOWARD R. GARIS

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BEDTIME STORIES

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CLOTH, FINELY DECORATED COVER, EIGHT COLORED ILLUSTRATIONS
_Price, per volume 75 cents, postpaid_

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Each book contains a story for every day in the month

SAMMIE AND SUSIE LITTLETAIL
31 Rabbit Stories

JOHNNIE AND BILLIE BUSHYTAIL
31 Squirrel Stories

LULU, ALICE AND JIMMIE WIBBLEWOBBLE
31 Duck Stories

UNCLE WIGGILY’S ADVENTURES
31 Old Gentleman Rabbit Stories

JACKIE AND PEETIE BOW WOW
31 Doggie Stories

UNCLE WIGGILY’S TRAVELS
31 more Old Gentleman Rabbit Stories

BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES PIGG
31 Guinea Pig Stories

UNCLE WIGGILY’S FORTUNE
31 queer Old Gentleman Rabbit Stories

JOIE, TOMMIE AND KITTIE KAT
31 Kitten Stories

CHARLIE AND ARABELLA CHICK
31 Chicken Stories

UNCLE WIGGILY’S AUTOMOBILE
31 surprising Old Gentleman Rabbit Stories

NEDDIE AND BECKIE STUBTAIL
31 Nice Bear Stories

BULLY AND BAWLY NO-TAIL
31 Frog Stories

UNCLE WIGGILY AT THE SEASHORE
31 different Old Gentleman Rabbit Stories

NANNIE AND BILLIE WAGTAIL
31 Goat Stories

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SOMETHING NEW

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THE DADDY SERIES
Colored cover and frontispiece, and three drawings in black and white
_Price 40 cents per volume, postpaid_
Fun, adventure, amusement, with some nature and
out-door instruction for Little Folk.

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DADDY TAKES US CAMPING
DADDY TAKES US FISHING
DADDY TAKES US TO THE CIRCUS
DADDY TAKES US SKATING
DADDY TAKES US COASTING
(_Other books in preparation_)

All about a little boy and a little girl and their dear Daddy.

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JACKIE AND PEETIE BOW WOW

“Come on, Jackie!” called Peetie Bow Wow, the boy doggie, one morning. “Come on!”

“Where are you going?” asked Jackie of Peetie.

“Let’s run off and join the circus,” suggested Peetie, as he tried to stand up on the end of his tail and turn a somersault. “We can earn a lot of money.”

“How?” asked Jackie, scratching his nose with his ear.

“Why, we can make money by doing tricks in the circus,” went on Peetie. “We can jump over the backs of elephants, climb up to the top of the tent, and do lots of things like that. A circus is fun!”

You have read how Daddy Blake took Hal and Mab to the circus, and you will like to read about Jackie and Peetie. They are in a book called “Bedtime Stories: Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow,” by Howard R. Garis, who also wrote the Daddy books.

Send to R. F. Fenno & Company, 18 East 17th Street, New York City, and they will mail the book on receipt of price, if you can not get it in your book store. The book has colored pictures.

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UNCLE WIGGILY’S FORTUNE

“Oh, dear!” cried Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit gentleman, as he got to the top of a big hill and looked down. “Oh, dear!”

“Why, what has happened?” asked Sammie Littletail, the boy rabbit, hopping up.

“Why, I have traveled all over, just as Dr. Possum told me to,” replied Uncle Wiggily, “and I have not yet found my fortune. It is very sad!”

“Sad!” cried Sammie. “Not a bit of it! I know where your fortune is. You are the richest rabbit in the whole world!”

“My goodness me, sakes alive, and some ice cream radishes!” Uncle Wiggily exclaimed.

And then Sammie showed the rabbit gentleman his fortune. You may read all about how he found it in the book entitled “Bedtime Stories: Uncle Wiggily’s Fortune.” And you should see the colored pictures Mr. Wisa made for it!

Howard R. Garis, who wrote the Daddy books, wrote this one about Uncle Wiggily. R. F. Fenno & Company, of 18 East 17th Street, New York City, publish it. They will send it to you if your own store does not have it. Write and ask them.

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DADDY TAKES US TO THE CIRCUS

“Oh, Mab!” cried Hal Blake, as he came running into the house one morning. “Daddy is going to take us to the circus!”

“Are you, Daddy?” asked the little girl.

“Yes,” said Mr. Blake. “Here are the tickets.”

“Oh, what fun we’ll have!” shouted Hal.

“Won’t we!” added his sister.

How Daddy Blake took the children to the show in the big tent, and how Hal and Mab went to sleep in one of the red wagons, and were carried off—all that you may read in the book called “Daddy Takes Us to the Circus.” It is written by Howard R. Garis, who also wrote the Bedtime book you have just read. It contains fine pictures, and has a decorated cover. You read, and liked, the Bedtimes, so surely you will like the Daddy books.

If your dealer does not keep them, please send to the publishers, R. F. Fenno & Company, 18 East 17th Street, New York City, who will forward any volume on receipt of price.

Daddy Blake, on his trips with Hal and Mab, told them things about nature and out-door life.

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● Transcriber’s Notes:
○ Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.
○ Typographical errors were silently corrected.
○ Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only
when a predominant form was found in this book.
○ Text that:
was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_);
was in bold by is enclosed by “equal” signs (=bold=).