"Of course he can, papa," said the boy. "Lots of rabbits can talk. Why,there's Sammie and Susie Littletail; they can talk, and maybe this rabbitknows them."
"I'm their uncle," said the old gentleman rabbit, making a bow.
"Oh, then, you must be Uncle Wiggily Longears!" cried the little boy."Oh, I've always wanted to see you, and now I can!"
"Well, it is very strange to meet you this way," said the man. "Still, Iam glad you are not hurt, Uncle Wiggily. And so you are out seeking yourfortune," for the rabbit had told them about his travels. "Perhaps youwould like to rest at our house for a few days. We can give you a niceroom, with a brass bed, and a bath-tub to yourself, and you can have yourmeals in bed, if you can't come down stairs."
"Oh, I am not used to that kind of a life," said the old gentleman rabbit."I would rather live out of doors. If you can get me some clean straw tolie on, and once in a while a carrot or a turnip, and a bit of lettuce andsome cabbage leaves now and then, I'll be all right. And as soon as myfoot is well I'll travel on."
"Oh, what good times we'll have!" cried the little boy. "Our house is neara lake, and I have a motor boat. And I'll give you a ride in it."
Well, Uncle Wiggily thought that would be nice, and he was rather glad,after all, that he had jumped into the auto. So pretty soon they came tothe place where the boy lived. Oh, it was a fine, large house, with lotsof grounds, lawns and gardens all around it. And there were several dogson the place, but the little boy spoke to them all, telling them that therabbit was his friend Uncle Wiggily, who must not be bitten or barked aton any account.
"Oh, we heard about him from Fido Flip-Flop," said big dog Rover. "Wewouldn't hurt Uncle Wiggily for two worlds, and part of another one, and abag of peanuts."
So Uncle Wiggily was given a nice bed of straw in one of the emptydog-houses, and the boy got him some cabbage and lettuce, and the rabbitmade himself a sandwich of them, with some bread and butter which he hadin his satchel.
Then the rabbit and the dogs talked together, and the rabbit told of histravels, and what had happened to him so far.
"Wonderful! Wonderful!" exclaimed the old dog Rover. "You should write abook about your fortune."
"I haven't found it yet, but perhaps I may, and then I'll write the book,"said Uncle Wiggily, combing out his whiskers.
That night the boy put a soft rag and some salve on the rabbit's sorefoot, and he also gave him some liniment for his rheumatism, and in themorning Uncle Wiggily was much better. He and the boy and the dogs hadlots of fun playing together on the smooth, green, grassy lawn. Theyplayed tag, and hide-and-go-seek, and a new game called "Don't Let theRagman Take Your Rubber Boots." And the dog Rover pretended he was theragman.
"Now, then, we'll all go out in my motor boat," said the boy, so he andUncle Wiggily and the dogs went down to the lake and, surely enough, therewas the boat, the nicest one you could wish for. There was a little cabinin it, and seats out on deck, and a little engine that went "choo-choo!"and pushed the boat through the water.
In the boat they all had a fine ride around the lake, which was almostlike the one where you go to a Sunday-school picnic, and then it was timefor dinner. And, as a special treat, when they got on shore, Uncle Wiggilywas given carrot ice cream, with chopped-up turnips in it. And oh, howgood it was to him!
Well, the days passed, and Uncle Wiggily was getting so he could walkalong pretty well, for his foot was all cured, and he began to think ofgoing on once more to seek his fortune. And then something happened. Oneday the boy went out alone in a rowboat to see if he could find any fish.And before he knew it his boat had tipped over, spilling him out into thewater, and he couldn't swim. Wasn't that dreadful?
"Oh! Help! Help!" he cried, as the water came up to his chin.
My, but it's awful to be tipped over in a boat! and I and I hope if youcan't swim you'll never go out in one alone. And there was that poor boysplashing around in the water, and almost drowned.
"Save me! Save me!" the boy cried. "Oh, save me!"
Well, as it happened, Uncle Wiggily was walking along the shore of thelake just then. He saw the little boy fall out of the boat, and he heardhim cry.
"I'll save you if I can!" exclaimed the brave old rabbit. "Come on, Rover,we'll go out in the motor boat and rescue him."
"Bow-wow! Bow-wow! Sure! Sure!" cried Cover, wagging his tail.
So he and Uncle Wiggily ran down, and jumped into the motor boat. And theyknew just how to start the engine and run it, for the boy had showed them.
"Bang-bang!" went the engine. "Whizz-whizz!" went the boat through thewater.
"Faster! Faster!" cried Uncle Wiggily, who was steering the boat, whileRover ran the engine. "Go faster!"
So Rover made it go as fast as he could, and then all of a sudden that boywent down under the water, out of sight.
"Oh, he's drowned!" cried Uncle Wiggily sorrowfully.
But he wasn't, I'm glad to say. Just then along came Nurse JaneFuzzy-Wuzzy, the muskrat, swimming. And she dived away down under andhelped bring that boy up to the top of the water, and then Uncle Wiggilyand Cover grabbed him as the muskrat lifted him up, and they pulled himinto the motor boat, and so saved his life. And oh! how thankful he waswhen he was safe on shore, and he was careful never to fall in the wateragain.
Now, in case the clothes wringer doesn't squeeze all the juice out of mybreakfast orange, I'll tell you in the next story about Uncle Wiggilymaking a cherry pie.
STORY XV
UNCLE WIGGILY MAKES A PIE
Do you remember the little boy whom Uncle Wiggily helped save after hefell out of the boat? Well, that boy's papa was so glad because UncleWiggily had helped save the little chap from drowning that he couldn't doenough for the old gentleman rabbit.
"You can stay here forever, and have carrot ice cream every day if youlike," the man said.
"Oh, thank you very much, but I think I'll travel on," replied UncleWiggily. "I have still to seek my fortune."
"Why, _I_ will give you a fortune!" said the boy's papa. "I will give youa thousand million dollars, and a penny besides."
"That would be a fine fortune," spoke the rabbit, "but I would much ratherfind my own. It is no fun when you get a thing given to you. It is betterto earn it yourself, and then you think more of it."
"Yes, that is so," said the man. "Well, we will be sorry to see you go."
Uncle Wiggily started off the next day, once more to seek his fortune, andthe little boy felt so sad at seeing him go that he cried, and put hisarms around the old gentleman rabbit, and kissed him between the ears. AndUncle Wiggily felt badly, too.
Well, the old gentleman rabbit traveled on and on for several days afterthat, sleeping under hay stacks part of the time, or in empty hollowstumps, and sometimes he dug a burrow for himself in the soft ground.
And one afternoon, just as the sun was getting ready to go to bed for thenight, Uncle Wiggily came to an open place in the woods where there was acave, made of a lot of little stones piled up together.
"My! I wonder who lives there?" thought the rabbit. "It is too small for agiant to live in, but there may be a bad bear or a savage fox in there. Iguess I'd better get away from here."
Well, Uncle Wiggily was just going, when, all at once, a voice cried out:
"Here, hold on there!"
The rabbit looked back, and he saw a great big porcupine, or hedgehog--youknow, those animals like a big gray rabbit, only their fur is thestickery-prickery kind, like needles, and the quills come out and stick inanybody who bites a hedgehog. So I hope none of you ever bite one. Andthey won't bite you if you don't bother them.
So as soon as Uncle Wiggily saw that it was Mr. Hedgehog who was speakinghe wasn't a bit afraid, for he knew him.
"Oh, it's you, is it?" asked the rabbit. "I'm real glad to see you. I wasgoing to travel on, but----"
"Don't say another word!" cried the hedgehog heartily. "You can stay in mycave all night. I have two beds, and it's a good thing I have, for if youslept with me
you might get full of my stickery-stickers."
"Yes, I guess I had better sleep alone," said Uncle Wiggily, with a laugh."But it seems to me, Mr. Hedgehog, that you are not looking well."
"I'm not," answered the porcupine, as he shivered so that several of hisquills fell out on the grass. "I'm suffering for some cherry pie. Oh,cherry pie! If I only had some I know I'd feel better at once. I just loveit!"
"Why don't you make some yourself?" asked Uncle Wiggily.
"I have tried," replied the hedgehog. "I've tried and tried again, but,somehow, it never comes out right. Here, I'll show you. I made a cherrypie just before I looked out of the door and saw you. I'll show it toyou."
He went into his little stone house, and Uncle Wiggily went with him.
"There's the pie--it's no good!" cried the porcupine, as he pointed tosomething on the table. Well, as soon as Uncle Wiggily saw it he laughedso hard that his ears waved back and forth.
"What's the matter? I don't see anything funny," asked Mr. Hedgehog,shivering so that more quills fell out.
"Why, you've gone and put the cherry pits into the pie instead of thecherries," said the rabbit. "That's no way to do. You must take out thestones from inside the cherries and put the outside part of them insidethe pie, and throw the inside or stony part of the cherries away."
"Oh, good land!" cried the hedgehog, "no wonder I couldn't eat the pie.You see, I thought cherries were like peanuts. For you know you throw awaythe outside part of the peanut, and eat the inside."
"Yes, and cherries are just the opposite," said the rabbit, laughingagain. "For you eat the outside of a cherry and throw away the pit orstone that is inside. Now, I'll make you a cherry pie."
"I wish you would," said the porcupine. "I'll go get the cherries."
So he went out in the orchard, and he shot his sharp stickery quills, likelittle arrows at the cherries on the tree, and they fell down, so hecould pick them up in a basket. I mean the cherries fell down, though ofcourse the quills did also though the hedgehog didn't pick them up.
And while he was doing that Uncle Wiggily was making the pie crust. Hetook flour and lard and water, and mixed them together, and then he put inother things--Oh, well, you just ask your mamma or the cook what theywere, for I might get it wrong--and soon the pie crust was ready. ThenUncle Wiggily built a hot fire in the stove, and he waited for Mr.Hedgehog to come in with the cherries.
And pretty soon the porcupine came back with his basket full, and he andUncle Wiggily shelled the peanuts--I mean the cherries--taking out thepits.
"Now I'll put them in the pie, and put sugar on them, bake it in the oven,and soon it will be done, and we can eat it," said the rabbit.
"Oh, joy!" cried the hedgehog. "That will be fine!"
So Uncle Wiggily put the cherries in the pie, and threw the pits away, andhe put the pie in the oven, and then he and Mr. Hedgehog sat down to waitfor it to bake. And oh, how delicious and scrumptious it did smell! if youwill excuse me for saying so.
Well, in a little while, the pie was baked, and Uncle Wiggily took it fromthe oven.
"I can hardly wait to eat it!" cried the hedgehog, and just then therecame a terribly loud knock on the door.
"Oh, maybe it's that bad fox come for some of my pie!" exclaimed thehedgehog. "If it is, I'll stick him full of stickery-stickers." But whenhe went to the door there stood old Percival, the circus dog, and he wascrying as hard as he could cry.
"Come in," invited Uncle Wiggily. "Come in, and have some cherry pie, andyou'll feel better." So Percival came in, and they all three sat down, andate the cherry pie all up, and sure enough Percival did feel better, andstopped crying.
Then the circus dog and Uncle Wiggily stayed all night with Mr. Hedgehog,and they had more cherry pie next day, and it was very fine and sweet.
Now, if our cook makes some nice watermelon sandwiches, with maple syrupon them, for supper, I'll tell you in the next story about Uncle Wiggilyand old dog Percival, and why Percival cried.
STORY XVI
UNCLE WIGGILY AND PERCIVAL
Now I'm going to tell you, before I forget it, why old dog Percival wascrying that time when he came to the little stone house where the hedgehoglived, and where Uncle Wiggily gave him some cherry pie. And the reasonPercival was crying, was because he had stepped on a sharp stone, and hurthis foot.
"But I don't in the least mind now," said Percival, after he had eatenabout sixty-'leven pieces of the pie. "My foot is all better."
"I should think that cherry pie would make almost any one better," saidthe hedgehog, laughing with joy, for he felt better, too. "I know some badboys to whom I'm going to give some cherry pie, and I hope it makes thembetter. And to think I threw away the good part of the cherries and cookedthe stones in the pie. Oh, excuse me while I laugh again!"
And the hedgehog laughed so hard that he spilled some of the red cherrypie juice on his shirt front, but he didn't care, for he had anothershirt.
Well, Uncle Wiggily and Percival, the old circus dog, stayed for some daysat the home of the hedgehog, and they had cherry pie, or fritters withmaple syrup, at almost every meal. Then, finally, Uncle Wiggily said:
"Well, I guess I must travel on. I can't find my fortune here. I muststart off to-morrow."
"And I'll go with you," spoke Percival. "We'll go together, and see whatwe can find."
Well, he and Uncle Wiggily went on together for some time, and nothinghappened, except that they met a poor pussy cat without any tail, andUncle Wiggily gave her some of the pie. And the next day they met a catand seven little kittens, and they all had tails, so they had to have somepie, too.
But one night, after Percival and Uncle Wiggily had been traveling allday, they came to a deep, dark, dismal woods.
"Oh, have we got to go through that forest?" asked the old gentlemanrabbit, wrinkling up his ears--I mean his nose.
"I guess we have," replied the circus dog. "We may find our fortunes inthere."
"It is a pretty dark spot to look for money, or fortunes," said therabbit. "The best thing we can do is to look for a place to sleep, and inthe morning we will hurry out of the woods."
Well, the two animal friends started into the grove of trees, and theyhadn't gone very far before it got so dark that they couldn't see to goany farther. Oh, but it was black and lonesome and sort of scary-like! andUncle Wiggily said:
"Let's stay here, Percival. We'll make a little bed under the trees tosleep in, and we'll build a fire to keep us warm, and cook a littlesupper."
So Percival thought that would be nice, and soon he and the rabbit had acheerful little fire blazing, and then it wasn't quite so lonely. Onlythere was a big owl in a tree, and he kept hollering "Who? Who? Who?" andPercival thought it meant him, and Uncle Wiggily thought it meant him, andthey were rather frightened, so they didn't either of them answer the owl,who kept on calling "Who? Who? Who?"
They were just cooking their supper, and cutting up the cherry pie, andputting it on some oak leaves for plates, and they had picked out a nicesmooth stump for a table, when, all of a sudden, they heard a voicesaying:
"Now you make a jump and grab the rabbit and I'll take the dog. Then wecan carry them off to our dens, and that will be the last of them. Getready now!"
"Did you hear that?" asked Uncle Wiggily of the circus dog.
"Indeed I did," replied Percival. "I wonder if it can be those owls?"
"It doesn't sound like them," said Uncle Wiggily. "I think it is a badfox, or maybe two of them."
And just then they looked off through the woods, and by the light of thefire they saw two big, savage, ugly wolves. Oh, how their sharp teethgleamed in the dancing flames, and how red their tongues were!
"Come on! Grab 'em both!" cried one savage wolf. "Grab the rabbit and thedog!"
"Sure! I'm with you!" growled the other savage wolf.
"Oh, what shall we do, Uncle Wiggily?" asked Percival. "They'll eat us up!
"Let me think a minute," said the rabbit. So he thought for maybe
half aminute, and then exclaimed: "Oh! I know a good thing to do."
"What?" asked Percival. "Say it quickly, Uncle Wiggily, for those wolvesare creeping up on us, and it's so dark we can't see to run away."
And surely enough, those wolves were sneaking up, with their red tongueshanging out longer than ever, for all the world just as if they had eatencherry pie.
"We must do some funny tricks!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "You know how,Percival, for you were once in a circus, and I learned some when I waswith the monkey, and with Fido Flip-Flop. Do some tricks, and maybe thesewolves will feel so good-natured that they won't bite us."
So brave Uncle Wiggily stood up on one ear and waved his feet in the air.Then he stood on his nose and turned a somersault. Next he went around andaround as fast as a pinwheel, and he whistled a funny tune about a littlerubber ball that flew into the air, and when it landed on the ground itwould not stay down there.
But I wish you could have seen the tricks Percival did. He jumped throughbetween Uncle Wiggily's long ears, and he walked on his hind legs, and onhis front ones. Then he stood on his head, and he made believe he wasbegging for something to eat, and Uncle Wiggily fed him a carrot, and apiece of pie. Then he put a piece of bread on his nose, tossed it up intothe air--tossed the bread, I mean, not his nose--and when it came down hecaught it and ate it. Oh, it was great!
Well, those wolves were too surprised for anything. They had never seentricks like those. First they smiled a bit. Then they smiled some more.Then one laughed, then the other laughed, and finally, when Uncle Wiggilyand Percival took turns jumping over each other's backs, the wolvesthought it so funny that they had to lie down on the leaves and roll overand over because they were laughing so hard.
Uncle Wiggily's Adventures Page 6