Chapter III: Part 3

"Fine!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "Come on back to the sand fleas' party with me." So the fiddler crab and the drum fish went along. Then the rabbit soon made a fiddle, with seaweed for strings, and the fiddler crab played it with his long legs, making tunes like "Please Buy Me an Ice-Cream Cone and Take Me on the Merry-go-'Round."

And the drum fish puffed himself up like a balloon, and Uncle Wiggily beat him with a soft stick, and there was fine music. Then the sand fleas hopped and danced about until they could hop and dance no more.

But they didn't drop any gold or diamonds, and, when the party was over, the rabbit was as poor as when it started. But still he didn't mind. Then he went to sleep under a pile of seaweed, while the sea robin and the fiddler crab went home in the ocean.

And on the next page, in case the egg beater doesn't get stuck on the rolling-pin and make the pie crust fall through the nutmeg grater, I'll tell you about Uncle Wiggily and the watermelon.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

STORY XIV

UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE WATERMELON

"Well," asked the slow snail of Uncle Wiggily, as he met the old gentleman rabbit on the beach next day, "did you get any of your fortune at the fleas' party?"

"None at all," answered the old gentleman rabbit. "There was plenty of gold and diamonds to be seen, but the fleas didn't give me any."

"Perhaps they forgot it?" suggested the snail. "Some of the fleas are very forgetful. I once knew one whose mother sent him to the store for a pound of sugar and a quart of milk, and what do you s'pose he bought?"

"I don't know," answered the rabbit, curious-like.

"He got a pound of milk and a quart of sugar, and the milk all ran out of the paper bag in which the groceryman put it, and the sugar stuck fast to the milk pail, and they had a dreadful time getting it out. That shows you what a flea will do sometimes. Perhaps if you ask them for your fortune they will give it to you."

"I'll do it the next time I meet one," decided Uncle Wiggily. "But now I must go on and look for myself."

Illustration: Uncle Wiggily and the Watermelon

"Wait until I sing a little song for you," said the slow snail, and he hummed this song very, very slowly:

"When I am in a hurry
I slowly crawl along,
And when I finish crawling
I sing a little song.

"For if I hurried too much
I'd get there all too soon,
Though some day I am going
To climb up to the moon.

"And then when I get up there
I'll sleep the whole long day,
Or crawl upon the moonbeams,
Or jump into the hay."

"Ha! hum!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "That's a very good song, and I'm sure it will help me find my fortune. Now I must say good-by and travel along."

"If you will wait I'll come with you," spoke the snail. "But then I s'pose you are in a hurry, Uncle Wiggily, and I go too slow for you."

"That's it," said the rabbit kindly, and he gave one big hop that carried him twice as far as the snail could travel in a week of Sundays without counting Christmas.

Well, it wasn't very long after this before Uncle Wiggily got to the top of a hill. When he started to climb up from the bottom he thought perhaps there might be gold at the top, but when he did get to the summit all he found there was a big green thing, with stripes on.

"I wonder what this can be?" thought the rabbit. "It looks like a baseball, and yet it's too large for that, and besides it isn't quite round. And, once more, it's green instead of white, for all baseballs are white. Ha! I know what it is. That must be a football which the boys kick about. I guess I'll kick it. Perhaps there may be gold inside."

So he got ready to kick it, but you know how it is with old gentlemen rabbits who have the rheumatism and have to go about on a crutch. As soon as Uncle Wiggily lifted up one foot--the one that had no rheumatism in it--and when he leaned on his crutch, the crutch suddenly slipped, and down he went ker-flumux ker-flimix all in a heap.

"Well, here's a pretty kettle of fish!" he cried. "I ought never to have tried to kick that green football. I should have waited until it was ripe."

So he sat down on top of the hill, and looked at the ocean tumbling and foaming on the beach below him, and he waited for the green football to get ripe. And, every once in a while he would poke it with his crutch to see if it was getting soft, but it wasn't.

And once, right after he did this, the old gentleman rabbit heard some one cry out:

"My goodness, Uncle Wiggily! What are you doing?"

"Waiting for this green football to get ripe so that I can kick it," was the rabbit's reply.

"Oh, ho! Oh, ha!" laughed the grasshopper for it was that leaping insect who had spoken, "that is not a football, it is a watermelon, and inside it is all red and sweet and juicy. Come, if you can, cut it open, we will have a fine feast. I haven't had any watermelon in some time. Can you cut it?"

"Oh, I can cut it fast enough," declared the rabbit. "Here goes, and I hope it is better looking on the inside than it is on the outside."

So the rabbit took out his knife, with which he usually spread his bread and butter, and he cut a hole in the watermelon. Then Uncle Wiggily and the grasshopper scooped out all the nice, red, juicy part and ate it.

And, would you ever believe it? Something happened right after that. They had no sooner wiped the red watermelon juice off their faces than there was a terrible roaring sound in the bushes, and out jumped a big black bear. Oh, he was going on something frightful, yes, really he was, but don't be frightened, for I won't let him hurt anybody. I'll let him chew on my typewriter first and that will dull his teeth. On the bear came, straight for the watermelon.

"Oh, what can I do?" cried Uncle Wiggily. "That bear will get me, but he won't hurt you, Mr. Grasshopper, as you are so small."

"Don't worry," said the hoppergrass, kindly. "I'll find a way to save you. Quick! Before the bear sees you, hop inside the watermelon," for you see they had eaten up all the inside, and left the melon rind hollow, just like a yellow pumpkin Jack-o'-lantern, at Hallowe'en.

Uncle Wiggily saw that this was the best thing to do, so inside the melon he hopped, and then the grasshopper put back in place the piece they had cut out, and you never would have known but that the melon was a whole, new one, never having been cut and the inside eaten out.

On came the bear, sniffing with his black nose. Then he saw the grasshopper and asked, suspicious-like:

"Is there a rabbit around here?"

"I don't see any," spoke the grasshopper, and he really couldn't see any one but the bear because Uncle Wiggily was inside the melon, you know.

"Well, if there is no rabbit I'll have to eat this watermelon, then," said the bear, "for I am very hungry."

Now the grasshopper knew that if the bear once bit into the melon and opened it, he'd see the rabbit hiding inside. So what did the hoppergrass do but give the melon a shove with his strong hind legs, and down the hill the melon rolled, with the rabbit in it, just as Buddy Pigg, the guinea pig boy, once rolled down hill inside a cabbage.

Faster and faster down the hill rolled the melon, with Uncle Wiggily in it, and then the bear saw one of the rabbit's paws sticking out of a crack.

"Oh, ho! You have fooled me!" cried the bear to the grasshopper. "Now, I'll chase after that melon and get the rabbit, too!"

So the bear started down the hill after the melon, but his foot slipped and he slid down, oh, so fast, that he got to the bottom of the hill first. There he stood waiting for Uncle Wiggily. But a queer thing happened. The melon hit a stone, burst open and out flew the rabbit on a pile of soft sand. But the pieces of the melon hit the bear on his soft and tender nose, and he thought he was surely killed, and off he ran to the woods howling and growling. So that's how Uncle Wiggily escaped from the bear, for the old gentleman rabbit wasn't hurt a bit for all his tumble.

Then he washed the pieces of melon off his clothes, and traveled on again, with the grasshopper, to seek his fortune. And he had another advantage soon. I'll tell you about it very shortly, when, in case the ice man doesn't go skating and forget to leave us a loaf of bread, the next Bedtime story will be about Uncle Wiggily and the Katy-Did.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

STORY XV

UNCLE WIGGILY AND KATE-DID

"Well, what are we going to do to-day?" asked the grasshopper of Uncle Wiggily, as they sat down to breakfast one sunny morning, after a rain the night before.

"Oh, I suppose I must keep on searching for some gold or diamonds for my fortune," answered the old gentleman rabbit. "But I am getting quite tired of going around so much and finding nothing. I'll keep it up a week or so longer, and then, if I don't find any money, I'm going back home, anyhow. I'm quite lonesome for Sammie and Susie Littletail and all of my friends."

"When you go home I hope that I can go with you," said the grasshopper sort of sad-like. "I'll be sorry when you leave me."

"Of course you can come along," answered Uncle Wiggily, kindly, as he flopped his long ears back and forth.

Then he and the grasshopper finished their breakfast, washed the acorn cups and saucers, and shook the crumbs off the green leaf which they had used for a table cloth. And pretty soon a whole lot of little black ants crawled along and ate up all the crumbs, so that nothing was wasted.

"Well, here we go!" cried the old gentleman rabbit cheerfully as he picked up his barber-pole crutch and slung his valise over his shoulder. Then he hopped off and so did the grasshopper, singing a funny little song on the way, and also playing the fiddle with his left hind leg. The song went something like this:

"Here we go,
Fast and slow,
Hopping on our way.
In heat and cold
We look for gold,
Which we may find some day.

"Sing a song
Not too long,
Cheerful, gay and bright.
When wide awake
We eat sweet cake,
And then we sleep all night.

"Hipping, hopping,
Without stopping
We sing and do not cry.
Skip and jump
Around the pump;
Now we'll say good-by."

"Why, what in the world did you say that for?" asked Uncle Wiggily of the grasshopper as the insect finished his song. "There is no one here to whom we can say good-by, and not a sign of a pump."

"I know it, but you see I'm just making believe," replied the cheerful little fellow, turning one somersault and part of another one.

"Oh, then that's different," agreed the old gentleman rabbit, as he stooped over to take a stone out of his shoe. And, just as he did so there came bouncing down out of a tall tree a big green hickory nut, and it almost hit Uncle Wiggily on the end of his twinkling nose.

"Hum!" exclaimed the grasshopper, as he crawled under a big leaf in order to be out of danger, "some one is throwing things at us. I wonder who it can be?"

"I don't know," answered the rabbit, and then he and the grasshopper looked up in a tree, but they could see no one. So they went on a little farther, and pretty soon Uncle Wiggily got another stone in his shoe. He stooped over to take it out when slam-bang! down came a green butternut this time, and it struck him on the end of his left ear.

"This must stop!" cried the old gentleman rabbit. "If it doesn't, the first thing we know there will be cocoanuts falling down on us and then we will be hurt."

"Oh, I think there are no monkeys around here to throw cocoanuts at us," said the grasshopper, "but this is certainly very strange. Perhaps it is the alligator or the fuzzy fox up in a tree trying to hurt us by throwing the little nuts."

"Perhaps," agreed Uncle Wiggily. "Well, we will hurry on, and get out of these woods." So they hurried all they could, but as it happened the grasshopper got a big wooden splinter in his left front leg and it took him and Uncle Wiggily quite a while to get it out, and when at last they did so, it was almost night.

They were hopping along, looking for a place to sleep in the woods, when all of a sudden down came a big black walnut, and it hit Uncle Wiggily's crutch, bouncing off with a bang.

"Who did that?" cried the rabbit looking up as well as he could in the darkness. "Who threw that nut?"

"Katy did!" cried a shrill voice up in a tree. "Katy did!"

"Oh, she did; eh?" exclaimed the old gentleman rabbit. "Well I always thought Katy was a nice little girl. I can't believe she'd throw anything at me. It's not possible!"

"Katy did--she did!" cried the voice in the tree again.

"Oh, would you ever think such a thing of her?" asked the grasshopper, who was quite excited.

"No, I wouldn't," declared Uncle Wiggily sad-like. "Where does Katy live?" he went on. "Perhaps if I speak to her, and tell her how unpleasant it is to have nuts thrown at one she won't do it again. Where does she live?"

"Katy did! Katy did! Katy did!" was all the voice said.

"Of course! I know that by this time," said Uncle Wiggily. "But where does she live? Whereabouts in these woods?"

"Katy did! Katy did!" cried the voice again.

"Ah, I see!" exclaimed the grasshopper, "That means she once did live here, but that she has moved away. That must be it."

"Then I'm glad of it," spoke the rabbit. "I hope she doesn't come back to throw any more things at us. Do you think she will?" and he looked up in the tree to see who had been talking so about Katy.

"Katy did! Katy did!" was all the answer there was.

But all of a sudden there was a rustling in the bushes, and out into the moonlight, which was then shining in the forest, there came a little white pussy cat, with four legs and a long tail.

"Oh, dear!" she cried. "I'm Katy, and I heard what you all said about me. But I didn't do it at all. I didn't throw a thing at you, Uncle Wiggily, or at the grasshopper either. I wouldn't do such a thing. Oh, how can you believe it? I didn't do it at all."

"Katy did! Katy did!" cried the shrill voice up in the tree-top. "Katy did--she did!"

"Ha, hum!" cried the old gentleman rabbit. "This must be looked into. If Katy didn't do it, we mustn't have her talked about that way. Come, Mr. Grasshopper, we'll see who's calling out about Katy so much."

But just as the rabbit was helping the grasshopper to climb up the tree, to see who it was that had been calling, all of a sudden out from behind a stump there sprang a savage fox, who wanted to eat up Uncle Wiggily and the pussy and the grasshopper also. But the rabbit happened to see a hole in the ground.

"Quick! Jump down here all of you!" he cried and he helped the pussy and the grasshopper to get into the hole where they would be safe from the fox. And, as they disappeared under ground the voice up in the tree-top cried once more:

"Katy did! Katy did!"

"Oh, ho! I'll put a stop to that to-morrow!" declared Uncle Wiggily. "Don't cry, Katy, dear. I'll see that whoever is bothering you will stop." Then the little white pussy dried her tears, and the three friends slept safely in the hole all night, and the fox did not bother them a bit.

And the next day Uncle Wiggily found out who was calling to Katy, and who threw the nuts at him, and I'll tell you about it on the next page, when the story will be about Uncle Wiggily and Katy-Didn't--that is, if the trolley car doesn't run up on the front stoop and break the rocking chair's arms so I can't sing the rag doll to sleep.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

STORY XVI

UNCLE WIGGILY AND KATY-DIDN'T

Katy, the nice little white pussy, was the first one to awaken the next morning in the hole where she and Uncle Wiggily and the grasshopper had crawled to get away from the bad fox. Katy arose, washed her face and her paws with her red tongue, and then she softly tickled the grasshopper on his nose with the end of her fuzzy-wuzzy tail.

"Ha, ho! What's the matter?" cried the grasshopper, as he hopped out of the bed made of dried leaves. "Is the house on fire?"

"No, we're not in a house, but in a hole under ground so I don't very well see how it could catch on fire," spoke Katy. "I wanted you to get up and help me with the breakfast. I thought we would let Uncle Wiggily sleep late this morning, as he is tired."

"That's a good idea," declared the little jumping chap. "I'll just take a hop outside and see what I can find to eat."

Well, the grasshopper started to go out of the hole, leaving Uncle Wiggily fast asleep, but, all of a sudden the tiny jumping fellow came back, and, instead of being green, as he usually was, he had turned quite pale.

"What's the matter?" asked Katy.

"The hole is stopped up!" cried the grasshopper. "Some one has filled up the front door with dirt and we can't get out."

"Oh, that's too bad!" said the pussy, and she and the grasshopper looked at the lightning bug, who was shining brightly like a Christmas tree-candle down in the dark hole so they could see. He had shone all night for them. "How will we ever get out?" went on the pussy. "It is terrible to be shut up here."

"What's that? Is there more trouble?" suddenly asked Uncle Wiggily, as he got out of bed feet first.

"Yes," said the grasshopper, "the front door of the hole is stopped up, and we can't get out. I think the bad fox did it."

"Very likely," agreed Uncle Wiggily. "But don't worry, for I can easily dig out the dirt, and then we can go up and find out who it was that said Katy threw nuts at us when she didn't."

So Uncle Wiggily went to the front door of the hole-house and began to dig with his strong feet. And then he happened to think of something.

"If I dig a new front door near the place where the fox stopped up the old one," said the old gentleman rabbit thoughtful-like, "that bad creature may be there waiting to grab us when we go out. So I'll play a trick on him. I'll dig a new door for this hole-house and we'll go out that way. I'll dig it at the back."

So Uncle Wiggily did this and soon there was a nice opening from the hole underground, and it was some distance away from the one by which the three friends had gone in. And, surely enough, they looked through the trees when they went out, and there was that bad fox near the stopped-up hole, waiting for them to come out so that he might grab them.

"I guess he'll wait there a long while for us," said Uncle Wiggily, blinking his nose, and laughing. "Come on now, very quietly and we'll go off in the woods where he can't find us." So away through the forest they went, and the fox never saw them. He stayed by the hole, which he had stopped up with dirt and stones, and he was there a week, waiting for the rabbit and his friends to come up. And the fox got so thin from having nothing to eat in all that time that when he finally did go away his tail nearly dropped off and blew away.

But Uncle Wiggily, and the grasshopper, and the pussy whose name was Katy traveled on and on. Over the hills they went, and through the fields, but they couldn't find out who it was that had said Katy had thrown the nuts when she didn't do it at all.

At last they came to another forest, and just as night was coming on, and Uncle Wiggily was passing under a tree, slam-bang! down came another butternut, and nearly hit him on the eye.

"There! You see, I didn't throw that," cried Katy, who was walking beside Uncle Wiggily.

"Yes, it couldn't have been you," agreed the old gentleman rabbit. "I wonder who did it?"

"Katy did! Katy did!" suddenly cried a voice.

"No, she didn't," said Uncle Wiggily, firmly. "Who are you to say such things?"

"Here he is--I see him!" exclaimed the grasshopper. "It isn't any one at all--it's a little green bug with wings, and he is something like me. He's been saying that 'Katy did' when she didn't do it at all."

And, sure enough, there on a tree was a little light-green bug, and, as Uncle Wiggily watched, he heard this insect call out as bold as bold could be:

"Katy did! Katy did!"

"Now look here!" said the old gentleman rabbit, and he pointed his long ears and his crutch at the green bug, "why do you say such things when you know they aren't so? Katy never threw any nuts at me--they just dropped down off the tree themselves. I'm sure of it. Katy never did it, and she feels badly to have you say so."

"Katy did! Katy did!" cried the insect again, as if he hadn't heard the rabbit speak. "I have to say it, you know," he went on, as he scraped his two long hind legs together. "I have to call out that Katy did, Uncle Wiggily."

"You do? Even when she didn't do it?" asked the rabbit, surprised-like.

"Yes," said the insect. "Katy did! Katy did! I have to call--Katy did."

"Oh, I think it's just too horrid for anything!" said poor Katy, almost ready to cry.

"I wish you wouldn't say such things about a nice pussy," spoke the grasshopper. "For Katy didn't do it. I know she didn't."

And just then, off in another tree, there came a second voice calling:

"Katy didn't! Katy didn't!"

"There, I knew some one would be kind to me!" exclaimed the pussy. "Some one knows I didn't do it. I didn't throw the nuts."

"Katy did! Katy did!" cried the first green insect.

"Katy didn't! Katy didn't!" answered the second little green chap.

"She did!" went on the first one.

"She didn't! Katy didn't!" answered his brother, positive-like.

"Katy did!" "Katy didn't!"

"Oh, my, this dispute is very unpleasant!" said Uncle Wiggily. "Please stop it." But the green insects wouldn't stop, and they kept on calling. First one would say that Katy did do it and then the other would say she didn't, and so they went on:

"Katy did!" "Katy didn't!"

"Well," said Uncle Wiggily at last, when he had tried to make them stop disputing, but couldn't do it, "at any rate, Katy, you have some friends who will stand up for you, and who will always say you didn't do it, and I know you didn't, no matter if the others say you did. Now let's find a place to sleep, and to-morrow I will once more look for my fortune."

So they found a nice hollow stump in which to sleep, and nothing happened to them all night, except that a big-eyed, feathery owl tried to bite the grasshopper. But Uncle Wiggily tickled the bad bird with his crutch and made him fly away, and then they all slept in peace and quietness until morning.

The next day the old gentleman rabbit had quite an adventure. I'll tell you what it was in the following Bedtime Story which will be about Uncle Wiggily and Peetie Bow Wow--that is, if my piece of huckleberry pie doesn't fall into the milk pitcher and turn it sky-blue-pink like the elephant's lemonade at the circus.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

STORY XVII

UNCLE WIGGILY AND PEETIE

Katy, the little white pussy, felt quite happy the next day, after she and Uncle Wiggily and the grasshopper had slept in the hollow stump, as I told you last.

"No matter if some of the green insects do say I did throw those nuts," she said, "others of them will say I didn't do it, so it will be all right." And from then on, even up to the present time, you can hear the did and the didn't insects calling to each other in the cool night:

"Katy did!" "Katy didn't!" That's how they dispute, and they never seem to settle it.

"Where are you going?" asked the old gentleman rabbit as he saw the pussy starting off by herself in the woods, when breakfast was over.

"Oh, I am going back home," she said. "I have been away too long already, and my mamma will be worried about me. But I am very glad to have met you and the grasshopper, and I hope you will soon find your fortune, Uncle Wiggily."

"I hope so too," spoke the rabbit, and then he and the grasshopper started off together through the woods, looking on all sides for any signs of gold or diamonds.

They traveled on for many miles, but I'm sorry to say they didn't find any fortune at all--not even so much as a five-cent piece with a hole in it. When noon came they sat down by a little spring of water and built a fire. Then the rabbit roasted some carrots and the grasshopper ate a small piece of cherry pie, and some bread and jam, for he was very fond of sweet things.

"Well, we'll travel on again," said the rabbit, as he scattered the crumbs for the ants to eat.

"Why don't you stay here and look for your fortune?" asked the grasshopper, wiggling his ears.

"Oh, it would be of no use," said Uncle Wiggily. "Haven't we looked all over in these woods? And we didn't even find a diamond ring. No, we must travel on."

"Why don't you dig a hole here by this old stump?" asked the grasshopper. "Perhaps there is a gold mine here. It is nice and shady, and you can dig deep and keep cool. I will sit on the stump and watch you, and also sing a song now and then."

"Perhaps that will be a good plan," agreed Uncle Wiggily, after thinking it over. "I believe I will dig here. It can do no harm and it may be of some use." So, laying aside his crutch and his valise, he began to dig in the earth with his sharp feet.

"My! I'm making a regular mine!" thought Uncle Wiggily, after a while. "But there doesn't seem to be any gold here. However, I'll go down a little deeper."

And then, all of a sudden he heard the grasshopper cry:

"Look out, Uncle Wiggily! Look out! The alligator is coming!"

"Oh, me! Oh, my!" shouted the rabbit, as he tried to jump up out of the hole he had dug. But it was too deep and he only fell back to the bottom. He heard the whirr of the grasshopper's wings as that hopping chap flew away, and as the grasshopper skipped over the daisies he cried out:

"I'll go get help, Uncle Wiggily!" for he knew he couldn't fight the alligator all alone.

"Oh, whatever shall I do?" thought the rabbit. "I must get out." So he gave another jump, but it was of no use, and then before Uncle Wiggily could twinkle his nose twice, over the edge of the hole leaned the skillery-scalery alligator.

"Ah, ho! So there you are!" cried the scaly creature, smiling such a big smile that it is a wonder the top of his head didn't fly off. "So you are in a hole? Well, that suits me, for you can't get away, and I can take you whenever I please. I guess I'll wait until I am a little more hungry. Meanwhile I'll sit here and look at you."

And the alligator did this, perched on the edge of the hole, with his mouth grinning from ear to ear and his tail slowly switching to and fro, to keep off the flies from his scaly hide.

"Are you really going to bite me?" asked the rabbit, sad-like.

"I am," replied the alligator, in a nutmeg-grater voice.

"Would you let me go if I gave you my barber-pole crutch and my valise filled with cherry pie?" asked Uncle Wiggily, sorrowful-like.

"Not for worlds!" cried the alligator, smacking his jaws. "I'm going to bite you now." And with that he started to crawl down into the hole to get the rabbit.

But don't worry. Some one is on the way to save Uncle Wiggily. All of a sudden, just as the alligator was almost down to Uncle Wiggily, and only the tip of his tail was sticking out over the edge, there was a movement on the other side of the hole, and, looking up, the rabbit saw a curious sight.

There was some sort of an animal peering down at him. But such an animal! His tail was all stuck up with stickery burrs, and it had a lump of mud on the end. On one ear was stuck a big green leaf, and on the other ear was a piece of red paper from a Chinese lantern. And on his back were chestnut burrs and bits of briar bushes; and this animal grinned and showed his teeth and shook himself so that mud was scattered all over. Then this animal cried:

"Here, you bad alligator! Get away and let that rabbit alone!"

"What for; do you want to bite him yourself?" asked the skillery-scalery alligator creature, grinning from ear to ear.

"No, I don't," answered the dreadful looking animal. "But you get away from here or I'll eat you!" And, my! you should have heard that muddy creature growl. No, perhaps it's just as well you didn't hear him, or you might have bad dreams. Anyhow, that new, queer animal growled so that even the alligator was frightened, and Uncle Wiggily said to himself:

"Oh, worse and worse! If the alligator doesn't get me this terrible creature will!"

Then the terrible creature growled some more and showed his teeth and the alligator crawled out of the hole and scurried away, taking his scaly tail with him.

"Ha! Ha! That's the time I fooled you!" cried the terrible looking animal, and then he burst out laughing and took the paper and leaf from his ears, shook out the burrs from his tail, and whom do you s'pose it was? Why none other than Peetie Bow Wow, the nice puppy dog.

"Oh, you saved my life!" cried Uncle Wiggily, thankfully.

"Yes, he certainly did," said the grasshopper, perching himself on the edge of the hole. "I met Peetie in the woods and told him about you, and he rolled in the mud and water and stuck himself all up with burrs, so as to make himself look as terrible as possible and scare the alligator. It was a good trick; wasn't it?"

"It was, indeed!" cried the rabbit, as the grasshopper and the puppy dog helped him out of the hole; "even if I didn't find my fortune."

So the alligator didn't get the rabbit, and Uncle Wiggily had another adventure next day. I'll tell you what it was very soon for the following story will be about Uncle Wiggily and Jackie Bow-Wow--that is, if the picture on the wall doesn't turn upside down and scare the parlor lamp so that it goes out on the porch to sit on the door mat.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

STORY XVIII

UNCLE WIGGILY AND JACKIE

Uncle Wiggily, with the grasshopper, and Peetie Bow-Wow, the little puppy dog, were traveling along the road together, and the old gentleman rabbit was looking on both sides for his fortune. It was the day after Peetie had saved Uncle Wiggily from the bad alligator, and the three friends had spent the night in a hollow stump in the woods. Then they had breakfast, eating some cherry pie that the rabbit had left in his valise.

"Tell me, Peetie," said Uncle Wiggily, as they tramped along, "how does it happen that you are so far from home; and what were you doing in the woods just before you scared the alligator away?"

"Oh, my brother Jackie and I came to visit our grandpa, who lives somewhere around here," said the puppy dog. "Yesterday Jackie and I went for a walk in the woods, and I got lost. It was then that the grasshopper found me and asked me to come and help you."

"Which you kindly did," said the old gentleman rabbit, as he brushed a mosquito off his twinkling nose. "But I didn't know you were lost, Peetie. Why didn't you say something about it? And here you've been away from your grandpa's house all night and he and your brother Jackie may be very much worried. Why didn't you tell me about this yesterday?"

"Well, I thought you had troubles enough of your own," said Peetie politely, as he looked down in a puddle of water to see if his tail was fastened on straight. "But I would like very much, Uncle Wiggily, to find my way back to grandpa's house, and see Jackie," he went on. "And I know he'll be glad to see you."

"Then we must start off at once and look for your grandpa's house," decided the old gentleman rabbit. "I will let my fortune go for to-day, and we will take care of you."

So off they started, looking for the house of Peetie's grandpa. The puppy dog helped them look, of course, but he was too small to be of much use. Every once in a while he would find a nice juicy bone, and he would stop to gnaw that instead of looking for the path back home.

"Oh, you mustn't do that," said Uncle Wiggily, as he leaned on his crutch to rest himself. "There will be time enough to eat bones after you are home. Trot along now, Peetie."

"Well, I'll just bury this bone here, where Jackie and I can get it later," said Peetie. So he dug a hole for the bone and carefully covered it with earth, where it would keep just as good as if it was in a refrigerator or an ice-box.

Well, the rabbit and the grasshopper and the puppy dog looked in all the places they could think of, and around corners and up and down the middle and on both sides, for a sight of the house of Peetie's grandpa, but they couldn't seem to find it.

And then, all of a sudden, and so quickly that it happened before you could roll a popcorn ball on top of the piano, there was a growling in the bushes, and a shaking of the leaves, and out popped a big, black bear. My! Oh, my! But he was a big, savage bear, and as soon as he saw Uncle Wiggily he cried out:

"Now I have you, my fine rabbit friend! And a puppy dog also, to say nothing of a grasshopper, with which to finish off. Oh, this is a lucky day for me!"

"You--you don't mean to say that you are going to eat us, do you?" asked Uncle Wiggily, turning pale around the ears.

"That's exactly what I do mean," said the bear in a grillery-growlery voice. "And how very lucky! It's just my dinner time," and he looked at his watch to make sure, and then shut the cover with a bang.

"Well, you can't eat me!" cried the grasshopper and with that he gave a spring and landed inside of a Jack-in-the-Pulpit growing on top of a high rock, and he pulled the cover of the plant over him so the bear couldn't see him.

"Well, the grasshopper got away," said the bear in a disappointed voice, "but I have you two yet, anyhow," and with that he made a jump, and grabbed Uncle Wiggily in one paw and Peetie Bow-Wow in the other paw. Then he hugged them tight, just like a little girl hugs, her two dollies, and the bear looked down at them, first at Uncle Wiggily and then at Peetie. And that bear showed his ugly teeth, and said in his grillery-growlery voice:

"Let me see; which one of you shall I eat first?"

Well, you can just imagine how frightened Uncle Wiggily and the puppy dog were. They didn't know what to do.

"I think I'll eat you first, Mr. Rabbit," said the bear at length, and he was just getting ready to eat Uncle Wiggily, as you would eat a strawberry, when there was a rushing sound in the bushes back of that bear, and a brave voice called out:

"No, Mr. Bear, you're not going to eat either one of them. Put Uncle Wiggily down at once and let go of Peetie Bow-Wow. At once, I say!"

"Ha! Who are you?" cried the bear, turning around quickly in order to see better. "Who are you, if I may ask?"

"I'm Jackie Bow-Wow," was the answer, "and if you don't at once do as I say I'll shoot you with my gun!"

Well, you can just imagine how surprised Uncle Wiggily and Peetie were to see Jackie standing there as brave as a lion, pointing a black gun at the black bear.

"I'm not going to let them go!" cried the bear, savagely, and he hugged the rabbit and the puppy dog tighter than ever.

"Then I'm going to shoot!" cried Jackie. "One--two--three!" he counted. "Here I go! Bang!"

"Oh, don't shoot! Don't shoot!" begged the bear, and he quickly dropped the rabbit and the doggie and then he ran away through the bushes, taking his little stubby tail with him. Then Jackie burst out laughing as hard as he could.

"What's the matter?" asked Uncle Wiggily, in surprise.

"Ha! Ha!" laughed Jackie. "What a joke on that bear! I didn't have a real gun at all. It's only a wooden one, with which I was playing hunt Indians. But he thought it was a real one, and he was so scared that he let you go. Ha! Ha! Ho! Ho!"

"It's a good thing you came along when you did," said his brother Peetie. "We were just looking for grandpa's house. I was lost, you know, and couldn't find my way back."

"I know you were and I was looking for you," spoke Jackie. Then Peetie told him about the alligator and where he had been with Uncle Wiggily, and Jackie was very glad to see his brother and the old gentleman rabbit again, and he was soon ready to show them the way to his grandpa's house.

But they had forgotten about the grasshopper in the Jack-in-the-Pulpit, and a very curious thing happened to that poor insect. I'll tell you about it on the next page, when the Bedtime Story will be named "Uncle Wiggily and the Red Monkey;" that is, if the rubber ball doesn't bounce into the rice pudding and scatter it all over the clean tablecloth.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

STORY XIX

UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE MONKEY

Uncle Wiggily, with Peetie and Jackie Bow-Wow, was walking along the road toward the puppy dogs' grandpa's house, and they were talking how Jackie had made the black bear run away by pointing a make-believe wooden gun at the savage creature. All at once the old gentleman rabbit exclaimed:

"That grasshopper!"

"What about the grasshopper?" asked Jackie. "Did one bite you, Uncle Wiggily?"

"No, but my friend, the green grasshopper, jumped into a Jack-in-the-Pulpit when the bear came, and here we have come away and forgotten all about him. We must go right back."

So back they started, and on the way the rabbit told what a kind friend the grasshopper had been to him on his travels. Well, they got to the place where the bear had scared them, but when they looked up on the rock no Jack-in-the-Pulpit was to be seen, and there was no sign of the grasshopper.

Illustration: Uncle Wiggily and the Monkey

"I'm sure it was here that the grasshopper made his jump," said Uncle Wiggily, looking carefully about.

"Yes," said Jackie, "but there is no Jack-in-the-Pulpit on this rock at all."

"Here is a pile of dirt, though," spoke Peetie. "Perhaps there is a bone under it. Let's dig, Jackie."

So those two puppy dogs dug in the earth while Uncle Wiggily looked all around for the grasshopper. Then, all of a sudden, Peetie cried out:

"Oh! Look here! The Jack-in-the-Pulpit is under this pile of earth! The top is just sticking out. Now, we'll find the hoppergrass."

"I see how it is," said the rabbit. "When the bear ran away so fast from Jackie's wooden gun the toenails of the savage creature scattered up the earth, and it went in a shower all over the Jack where the grasshopper was hidden. No wonder we couldn't find him, for he was buried. But please dig very carefully, Peetie and Jackie, or you might scratch him with your paws."

"We will be careful," said Jackie. So he and his brother dug and dug, until the Jack-in-the-Pulpit was almost uncovered. Then they didn't dig any more, but, with their tails, which were like dusting brushes, they dashed off the earth very gently, until the plant was all clear, and out popped the grasshopper, not a bit harmed, though he was somewhat frightened.

"My! I thought I'd never get out!" exclaimed the jumping chap, taking a long breath, and blowing the dust off his legs.

Then he was introduced to Jackie Bow-Wow, whom he had not met before, and the four friends trudged along the road together. Pretty soon they came to the house of Grandpa Bark, and the old gentleman dog was very glad to see Peetie, who had been lost, and had stayed away all night.

"And I am very glad to see you also, Uncle Wiggily," said Grandpa Bark, "and likewise the grasshopper. Come in and have something to eat, and stay awhile to rest yourself."

So Uncle Wiggily did this, and after a bit he said:

"Well, now, I must be off once more to seek my fortune. When I find it I am going back home, and I hope that soon comes to pass, for I am tired of traveling about."

So he said good-by to Peetie and Jackie Bow-Wow, and he and the grasshopper hopped off together. On and on they went, over the hills and dales, through the woods and fields, and pretty soon they came to a place in the woods where there was a big box. It was almost as large as a small house, and it had a front door to it, but no windows. The front door was open and over it was a card reading:

"COME IN, IF YOU WANT TO."

"Ha, hum! I wonder if that means me?" said Uncle Wiggily. "Perhaps I may find my fortune in there. I'm going inside."

"I wouldn't if I were you," spoke the grasshopper. "It may be a trap."

"Nonsensicalness!" exclaimed the old gentleman rabbit, quick-like. "Come along. We'll go in."

So he and the grasshopper went inside, but no sooner had they entered, than slam-bang! down came the sliding door with a crash, catching them fast there just like mice in a trap.

"Oh, what did I tell you!" cried the grasshopper, sadly. "This is a trap! We're in it."

"Yes, I see we are," spoke Uncle Wiggily, much puzzled. "It was all my fault. I should have been more careful."

"Never mind," said the grasshopper, kindly, as he wiped away his tears on a piece of green leaf. "I see a crack between the boards that I can crawl through. It is too small for you, but I can get out, and I'll go for help."

So out he crawled, leaving Uncle Wiggily there. The old gentleman rabbit was thinking of the dreadful things that might happen to him, when, all of a sudden, he heard some one unlocking the front door that had fallen shut.

"I must see who that is!" whispered the rabbit to himself. So he peered out of a crack, and he saw something red and fuzzy-like at the door. "Oh, it's a red bear!" thought the rabbit, and he was looking for a place to hide, when all at once the door opened and there stood a nice, kind red monkey, with a red cap on.

"Oh, I've got company, I see!" cried the red monkey in delight. "I'm glad of that, Uncle Wiggily. I've been waiting some time to see you. How did you get here?"

"Isn't--isn't this a trap?" asked the rabbit.

"Not a bit of it!" cried the red monkey with a jolly laugh. "This is my house. I went out this morning and left the door open. It must have blown shut by mistake. I'm sorry you were frightened. Wait, I'll do some tricks to make you laugh."

So the red monkey stood on his nose, and then on one ear, and then he made all the letters of the alphabet on his tail, all except the letter "X," which is very hard for a monkey to make. Then the monkey took two apple pies and made them into one, and he and Uncle Wiggily ate it, and my! how good it was. By this time the rabbit wasn't frightened any more, and he told the red monkey all about his travels to find a fortune. And then the grasshopper came hopping back with Old Dog Percival to help Uncle Wiggily get out of the trap, but there wasn't any need, for it was no trap at all, you see.

So the red monkey and the dog and the grasshopper and the old gentleman rabbit had a nice time at the house of the red monkey, who told them many stories, and one was how he came to be colored red.

I'll tell you about that as soon as I can, when, in case the fishpole doesn't go out in the rain and catch cold, the Bedtime Story will be about Uncle Wiggily and the butterfly.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

STORY XX

UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BUTTERFLY

"You have a very nice house here," said Uncle Wiggily to the red monkey after they had all sat down, and Old Dog Percival had been told that there was no need to rescue his rabbit friend from a trap.

"Yes, it is a fine little house," said the red monkey. "I built it away off in the woods so as to be nice and quiet. You see I used to live with the monkey who plays five hand organs at once, but finally it got so that I couldn't stand the music any longer, so I went off by myself and made this little house."

"But how did you happen to get splashed with that lovely red color?" asked the grasshopper, "that is if you will excuse me asking you such a personal question."

"Pray do not mention it, I beg of you," said the red monkey as he tossed up a lump of coal and caught it on his nose. "I will gladly tell you how I became colored red. It was this way: I was writing a letter to a friend of mine and I had no more black ink left. I didn't know what to do until I happened to think that out in the yard back of my house on a bush were some red raspberries. I gathered some of them and put them in a teacup.

"Then, with the potato-masher, I crushed them all up until the red juice ran out. Then I had the loveliest red ink you ever saw. But just then a fly lit on the end of my nose. I went to brush him off with the potato-masher when I happened to hit the cup full of red juice by mistake.

"Well, you can imagine what happened. The raspberry juice splashed all over me until I looked like a strawberry ice-cream cone, and I've been red ever since."

"It's a very fine color," said Uncle Wiggily.

"Yes," agreed the monkey with a sigh "but sometimes it's quite a trouble. All the turkey gobblers and the bulls in the fields chase me whenever they see me, for they don't like red. I'm thinking of taking some dandelions and coloring myself yellow next year. But, now tell me of your travels, Uncle Wiggily."

So the old gentleman rabbit did so, mentioning how he was searching for his fortune, but couldn't find it. Then Percival told about when he used to be in a circus and do tricks, and the grasshopper told how he made his music by playing the fiddle with his left hind leg, and then the red monkey gave them all some chocolate-cocoanut pudding and it was time to go to bed.

Now, I have something sad to tell you, but please don't get alarmed, for I'll make it come out right at the end. In the middle of the night poor Uncle Wiggily was taken ill. He had a dreadful pain, and he was as hot with a fever as a stove with a fire in it.

"I am afraid you have been traveling about too much," said the red monkey, as he lighted a lamp and gave the rabbit a drink of cool water. "We must have Dr. Possum see you in the morning."

"Perhaps I ate too much chocolate-cocoanut pudding," said Uncle Wiggily. "Oh, how I suffer, and how hot I am."

Well, they did all they could for him by putting his paws in mustard water and giving him sweet spirits of nitre, but it didn't seem to do any good.

"Yes, he is a very sick rabbit," said Dr. Possum, who came in the morning. "He ought to be home in bed, but we can't move him now. He'll have to stay here."

"Oh, the grasshopper and Old Dog Percival and I will take good care of him," said the red monkey, kindly.

"Yes, I guess you will," agreed Dr. Possum. So he left some bitter medicine for Uncle Wiggily and the old gentleman rabbit took it without even wrinkling up his nose--and it was very, very bitter--the medicine I mean, and not his nose.

"Oh, how hot I am!" cried Uncle Wiggily, as the sun got higher and higher in the sky and beat down on the house where the red monkey lived. "I wish I had some ice." Then he fell asleep.

"We will see if we can't find some," said the grasshopper, so he and the monkey and Old Dog Percival started off to look for an ice-house, leaving Uncle Wiggily asleep. Pretty soon he awakened.

"Oh, I wish I had an electric fan to cool me!" cried the poor sick old gentleman rabbit. "Oh, how hot I am! Oh, dear!"

Well, he kept getting hotter and hotter, and tossed to and fro on the bed, and he wished for ice, and ice-cream cones and all such cool things as those. Then, all of a sudden, when he was so warm he couldn't seem to stand it any longer he heard a little voice singing this song:

"Away up North in the ice and snow,
That's the place for you to go.
Where wintry winds do always blow,
And the polar bear's on a big ice floe.

"Where seals dive down in the icy sea,
Where it's far too cold for a bug like me,
Where snowflakes fall so you cannot see,
That is the place for you to be."

"Oh, I'm sure it is," cried poor Uncle Wiggily. "I wish I was up there in the Arctic regions. But I can't go. Oh, if I only had an electric fan to cool me off!"