{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_69458/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_69458","id":"gutenberg_69458","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69458","summary":null,"tags":["Animals -- Juvenile fiction","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Nursery rhymes","Rabbits -- Juvenile fiction","Uncle Wiggily (Fictitious character) -- Juvenile fiction"],"text":"[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                     Uncle Wiggily and Mother Goose\n\n\n                         COMPLETE IN TWO PARTS\n\n\n            FIFTY-TWO STORIES\u2014ONE FOR EACH WEEK IN THE YEAR\n\n\n\n\n                                   BY\n                            HOWARD R. GARIS\n\n                               Author of\n \u201cSammie and Susie Littletail,\u201d \u201cJohnnie and Billie Bushytail,\u201d \u201cUncle\n       Wiggily Longears,\u201d \u201cUncle Wiggily at the Seashore,\u201d \u201cUncle\n           Wiggily in the Country,\u201d \u201cThe Daddy Series,\u201d etc.\n\n\n\n\n                             Illustrated by\n                           EDWARD BLOOMFIELD\n\n\n\n\n                         R. F. FENNO & COMPANY\n                      18 East 17 Street, New York\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n\n\n                            CHILDREN\u2019S BOOKS\n                           By HOWARD R. GARIS\n\n                                -------\n\n                       UNCLE WIGGILY\u2019S BIG BOOKS\n\n                          _Price, $1.50 each_\n\n    UNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS\n    UNCLE WIGGILY AND MOTHER GOOSE\n    UNCLE WIGGILY AND HIS FRIENDS\n\nLarge cloth volumes, decorated cover and eight colored illustrations\neach\n\n                                -------\n\n                            THE DADDY SERIES\n\n    DADDY TAKES US CAMPING\n    DADDY TAKES US FISHING\n    DADDY TAKES US TO THE COUNTRY\n    DADDY TAKES US COASTING\n    DADDY TAKES US SKATING\n    DADDY TAKES US HUNTING FLOWERS\n    DADDY TAKES US HUNTING BIRDS\n    DADDY TAKES US TO THE WOODS\n\n                                -------\n\n             Small boards, decorated cover and illustrated\n\n                     _Price, per volume, 40 cents_\n\n                                -------\n\nStories of Daddy and the two children who learned much of nature-lore\nand the great outdoors.\n\n                                -------\n\n                         CIRCUS ANIMAL STORIES\n\nTales of wild animals of desert and jungle, telling how they are caught\nand trained to do circus tricks.\n\n                                -------\n\n    SNARLIE, THE TIGER\n    WOO-UFF, THE LION\n    HUMPO, THE CAMEL\n    UMBOO, THE ELEPHANT\n\n                           Copyright 1916 by\n                         R. F. FENNO & COMPANY\n\n                                -------\n\n                    _UNCLE WIGGILY AND MOTHER GOOSE_\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n\n\n                           UNCLE WIGGILY AND\n                              MOTHER GOOSE\n\n                                 PART I\n\n\n\n\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                                CONTENTS\n\n                                -------\n\n                                PART I.\n\n          CHAPTER                                            PAGE\n               I. Uncle Wiggily and Mother Goose                9\n              II. Uncle Wiggily and the First Pig              19\n             III. Uncle Wiggily and the Second Pig             25\n              IV. Uncle Wiggily and the Third Pig              31\n               V. Uncle Wiggily and Little Boy Blue            38\n              VI. Uncle Wiggily and Higgledee Piggledee        45\n             VII. Uncle Wiggily and Little Bo Peep             52\n            VIII. Uncle Wiggily and Tommie Tucker              58\n              IX. Uncle Wiggily and Pussy Cat Mole             65\n               X. Uncle Wiggily and Jack and Jill              71\n              XI. Uncle Wiggily and Jack Horner                77\n             XII. Uncle Wiggily and Mr. Pop-Goes               84\n            XIII. Uncle Wiggily and Simple Simon               90\n             XIV. Uncle Wiggily and the Crumpled-Horn Cow      96\n              XV. Uncle Wiggily and Old Mother Hubbard        103\n             XVI. Uncle Wiggily and Miss Muffet               109\n            XVII. Uncle Wiggily and the First Kitten          115\n           XVIII. Uncle Wiggily and the Second Kitten         121\n             XIX. Uncle Wiggily and the Third Kitten          127\n              XX. Uncle Wiggily and the Jack Horse            133\n             XXI. Uncle Wiggily and the Clock-Mouse           140\n            XXII. Uncle Wiggily and the Late Scholar          146\n           XXIII. Uncle Wiggily and Baa-Baa Black Sheep       152\n            XXIV. Uncle Wiggily and Polly Flinders            158\n             XXV. Uncle Wiggily and the Garden Maid           164\n            XXVI. Uncle Wiggily and the King                  171\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                     Uncle Wiggily and Mother Goose\n\n\n                                -------\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER I\n\n                     UNCLE WIGGILY AND MOTHER GOOSE\n\n\nTHERE once lived in the woods an old rabbit gentleman named Uncle\nWiggily Longears, and in the hollow-stump bungalow where he had his home\nthere also lived Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, a muskrat lady housekeeper.\nNear Uncle Wiggily there were, in hollow trees, or in nests or in\nburrows under the ground, many animal friends of his\u2014rabbits, squirrels,\npuppy dogs, pussy cats, frogs, ducks, chickens and others, so that Uncle\nWiggily and Nurse Jane were never lonesome.\n\nOften Sammie or Susie Littletail, a small boy and girl rabbit, would hop\nover to the hollow-stump bungalow, and call:\n\n\u201cUncle Wiggily! Uncle Wiggily! Can\u2019t you come out and play with us?\u201d\n\nThen the old rabbit gentleman, who was as fond of fun as a kitten, would\nput on his tall silk hat, take his red, white and blue-striped\nbarber-pole rheumatism crutch, that Nurse Jane had gnawed for him out of\na corn-stalk, and he would go out to play with the rabbit children,\nabout whom I have told you in other books.\n\nOr perhaps Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, the squirrel boys, might ask\nUncle Wiggily to go after hickory nuts with them, or maybe Lulu, Alice\nor Jimmie Wibblewobble, the duck children, would want their bunny uncle\nto see them go swimming.\n\nSo, altogether, Uncle Wiggily had a good time in his hollow-stump\nbungalow which was built in the woods. When he had nothing else to do\nMr. Longears would go for a ride in his airship. This was made of a\nclothes-basket, with toy circus balloons on it to make it rise up above\nthe trees. Or Uncle Wiggily might take a trip in his automobile, which\nhad big bologna sausages on the wheels for tires. And whenever the\nrabbit gentleman wanted the automobile wheels to go around faster he\nsprinkled pepper on the sausages.\n\nOne day Uncle Wiggily said to Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy:\n\n\u201cI think I will go for a ride in my airship. Is there anything I can\nbring from the store for you?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, you might bring a loaf of bread and a pound of sugar,\u201d answered\nthe muskrat lady.\n\n\u201cVery good,\u201d answered Uncle Wiggily, and then he took some soft cushions\nout to put in the clothes-basket part of his airship, so, in case the\nair popped out of the balloons, and he fell, he would land easy like,\nand soft.\n\nSoon the rabbit gentleman was sailing off through the air, over the tree\ntops, his paws in nice, warm red mittens that Nurse Jane had knitted for\nhim. For it was winter, you see, and Uncle Wiggily\u2019s paws would have\nbeen cold steering his airship, by the baby carriage wheel which guided\nit, had it not been for the mittens.\n\nIt did not take the bunny uncle long to go to the store in his airship,\nand soon, with the loaf of bread and pound of sugar under the seat, away\nhe started for his hollow-stump bungalow again.\n\nAnd, as he sailed on and over the tree tops, Uncle Wiggily looked far\noff, and he saw some black smoke rising in the air.\n\n\u201cHa! That smoke seems to be near my hollow-stump bungalow,\u201d he said to\nhimself. \u201cI guess Nurse Jane is starting a fire in the kitchen stove to\nget dinner. I must hurry home.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily made his airship go faster, and then he saw, coming toward\nhim, a big bird, with large wings.\n\n\u201cWhy, that looks just like my old friend, Grandfather Goosey Gander,\u201d\nUncle Wiggily thought to himself. \u201cI wonder why he is flying so high? He\nhardly ever goes up so near the clouds.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd he seems to have some one on his back,\u201d spoke Uncle Wiggily out\nloud this time, sort of talking to the loaf of bread and the pound of\nsugar. \u201cA lady, too,\u201d went on the bunny uncle. \u201cA lady with a tall hat\non, something like mine, only hers comes to a point on top. And she has\na broom with her. I wonder who it can be?\u201d\n\nAnd when the big white bird came nearer to the airship Uncle Wiggily saw\nthat it was not Grandfather Goosey Gander at all, but another big\ngander, almost like his friend, whom he often went to see. And then the\nbunny uncle saw who it was on the bird\u2019s back.\n\n\u201cWhy, it\u2019s Mother Goose!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily Longears. \u201cIt\u2019s Mother\nGoose! She looks just like her pictures in the book, too.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I am Mother Goose,\u201d said the lady who was riding on the back of\nthe big, white gander, spoke Mr. Longears.\n\n\u201cI am glad to meet you, Mother Goose, I have often heard about you. I\ncan see, over the tree tops, that Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, my muskrat\nlady housekeeper, is getting dinner ready. I can tell by the smoke. Will\nyou not ride home with me? I will make my airship go slowly, so as not\nto get ahead of you and your fine gander-goose.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas, Uncle Wiggily,\u201d said Mother Goose, scratching her chin with the\nend of the broom handle, \u201cI cannot come home to dinner with you much as\nI would like it. Alas! Alas!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy not?\u201d asked the bunny uncle.\n\n\u201cBecause I have bad news for you,\u201d said Mother Goose. \u201cThat smoke, which\nyou saw over the tree tops, was not smoke from your chimney as Nurse\nJane was getting dinner.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat was it then?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily, and a cold shiver sort of ran\nup and down between his ears, even if he did have warm, red mittens on\nhis paws. \u201cWhat was that smoke?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe smoke from your burning bungalow,\u201d went on Mother Goose. \u201cIt caught\nfire, when Nurse Jane was getting dinner, and now\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! Don\u2019t tell me Nurse Jane is burned!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cDon\u2019t\nsay that!\u201d\n\n\u201cI was not going to,\u201d spoke Mother Goose, kindly. \u201cBut I must tell you\nthat your hollow-stump bungalow is burned to the ground. There is\nnothing left but some ashes,\u201d and she made the gander, on whose back she\nwas riding, fly close alongside of Uncle Wiggily\u2019s airship.\n\n\u201cMy nice bungalow burned!\u201d exclaimed the rabbit gentleman. \u201cWell, I am\nvery, very sorry for that. But still it might be worse. Nurse Jane might\nhave been hurt, and that would have been quite too bad. I dare say I can\nget another bungalow.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is what I came to tell you about,\u201d said Mother Goose. \u201cI was\nriding past when I saw your Woodland hollow-stump house on fire, and I\nwent down to see if I could help. It was too late to save the bungalow,\nbut I said I would find a place for you and Nurse Jane to stay to-night,\nor as long as you like, until you can build a new home.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is very kind of you,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI hardly know what to\ndo.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have many friends,\u201d went on Mother Goose. \u201cYou may have read about\nthem in the book which tells of me. Any of my friends would be glad to\nhave you come and live with them. There is the Old Woman Who Lives in a\nShoe, for instance.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut hasn\u2019t she so many children she doesn\u2019t know what to do?\u201d asked\nUncle Wiggily, as he remembered the story in the book.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d answered Mother Goose, \u201cshe has. I suppose you would not like it\nthere.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I like children,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cBut if there are so many\nthat the dear Old Lady doesn\u2019t know what to do, she wouldn\u2019t know what\nto do with Nurse Jane and me.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, you might go stay with my friend Old Mother Hubbard,\u201d said Mother\nGoose.\n\n\u201cBut if I went there, would not the cupboard be bare?\u201d asked Uncle\nWiggily, \u201cand what would Nurse Jane and I do for something to eat?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s so,\u201d spoke Mother Goose, as she reached up quite high and\nbrushed a cobweb off the sky with her broom. \u201cThat will not do, either.\nI must see about getting Mother Hubbard and her dog something to eat.\nYou can stay with her later. Oh, I have it!\u201d suddenly cried the lady who\nwas riding on the back of the white gander, \u201cyou can go stay with Old\nKing Cole! He\u2019s a jolly old soul!\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily shook his head.\n\n\u201cThank you very much, Mother Goose,\u201d he said, slowly. \u201cBut Old King Cole\nmight send for his fiddlers three, and I do not believe I would like to\nlisten to jolly music to-day when my nice bungalow has just burned\ndown.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, perhaps not,\u201d agreed Mother Goose. \u201cWell, if you can find no other\nplace to stay to-night come with me. I have a big house, and with me\nlive Little Bo Peep, Little Boy Blue, who is getting to be quite a big\nchap now, Little Tommie Tucker and Jack Sprat and his wife. Oh, I have\nmany other friends living with me, and surely we can find room for you.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you,\u201d answered Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI will think about it.\u201d\n\nThen he flew down in his airship to the place where the hollow-stump\nbungalow had been, but it was not there now. Mother Goose flew down with\nher gander after Uncle Wiggily. They saw a pile of blackened and smoking\nwood, and near it stood Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady, and\nmany other animals who lived in Woodland with Uncle Wiggily.\n\n\u201cOh, I am so sorry!\u201d cried Nurse Jane. \u201cIt is my fault. I was baking a\npudding in the oven, Uncle Wiggily. I left it a minute while I ran over\nto the pen of Mrs. Wibblewobble, the duck lady, to ask her about making\na new kind of carrot sauce for the pudding, and when I came home the\npudding had burned, and the bungalow was on fire.\u201d\n\n\u201cNever mind,\u201d spoke Uncle Wiggily, kindly, \u201cas long as you were not\nburned yourself, Nurse Jane.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut where will you sleep to-night?\u201d asked the muskrat lady,\nsorrowfully.\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d began Uncle Wiggily, \u201cI guess I can\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cCome stay with us!\u201d cried Sammie and Susie Littletail, the rabbit\nchildren.\n\n\u201cOr with us!\u201d invited Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, the squirrels.\n\n\u201cAnd why not with us?\u201d asked Nannie and Billie Wagtail, the goat\nchildren.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019d ask you to come with us,\u201d said Jollie and Jillie Longtail, the\nmouse children, \u201conly our house is so small.\u201d\n\nMany of Uncle Wiggily\u2019s friends, who had hurried up to see the\nhollow-stump bungalow burn, while he was at the store, now, in turn,\ninvited him to stay with them.\n\n\u201cI, myself, have asked him to come with me,\u201d said Mother Goose, \u201cor with\nany of my friends. We all would be glad to have him.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is very kind of you,\u201d said the rabbit gentleman. \u201cAnd this is what I\nwill do, until I can build me a new bungalow. I will take turns staying\nat your different hollow-tree homes, your nests or your burrows\nunderground. And I will come and visit you also, Mother Goose, and all\nof your friends; at least such of them as have room for me.\n\n\u201cYes, that is what I\u2019ll do. I\u2019ll visit around now that my hollow-stump\nhome is burned. I thank you all. Come, Nurse Jane, we will pay our first\nvisit to Sammie and Susie Littletail, the rabbits.\u201d\n\nAnd while the other animals hopped, skipped or flew away through the\nwoods, and as Mother Goose sailed off on the back of her gander, to\nsweep more cobwebs out of the sky, Uncle Wiggily and Nurse Jane went to\nthe Littletail burrow, or underground house.\n\n\u201cGood-bye, Uncle Wiggily!\u201d called Mother Goose. \u201cI\u2019ll see you again,\nsoon, sometime. And if ever you meet with any of my friends, Little Jack\nHorner, Bo Peep, or the three little pigs, about whom you may have read\nin my book, be kind to them.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will,\u201d promised Uncle Wiggily.\n\nAnd he did, as you may read in the next chapter, when, if the sugar\nspoon doesn\u2019t tickle the carving knife and make it dance on the bread\nboard, the story will be about Uncle Wiggily and the first little pig.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER II\n\n                    UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE FIRST PIG\n\n\nUNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the nice old gentleman rabbit, came out of the\nunderground burrow house of the Littletail family, where he was visiting\na while with the bunny children, Sammie and Susie, because his own\nhollow-stump bungalow had burned down.\n\n\u201cWhere are you going, Uncle Wiggily?\u201d asked Sammie Littletail, the\nrabbit boy, as he strapped his cabbage leaf books together, ready to go\nto school.\n\n\u201cOh, I am just going for a little walk,\u201d answered Uncle Wiggily. \u201cNurse\nJane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, asked me to get her some\ncourt plaster from the five and six-cent store, and on my way there I\nmay have an adventure. Who knows?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe are going to school,\u201d said Susie. \u201cWill you walk part of the way\nwith us, Uncle Wiggily?\u201d\n\n\u201cTo be sure I will!\u201d crowed the old gentleman rabbit, making believe he\nwas Mr. Cock A. Doodle, the rooster.\n\nSo Uncle Wiggily, with Sammie and Susie, started off across the\nsnow-covered fields and through the woods. Pretty soon they came to the\npath the rabbit children must take to go to the hollow-stump school,\nwhere the lady mouse teacher would hear their carrot and turnip gnawing\nlessons.\n\n\u201cGood-by, Uncle Wiggily!\u201d called Sammie and Susie. \u201cWe hope you have a\nnice adventure.\u201d\n\n\u201cGood-by. Thank you, I hope I do,\u201d he answered.\n\nThen the rabbit gentleman walked on, while Sammie and Susie hurried to\nschool, and pretty soon Mr. Longears heard a queer grunting noise behind\nsome bushes near him.\n\n\u201cUgh! Ugh! Ugh!\u201d came the sound.\n\n\u201cHello! Who is there?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily.\n\n\u201cWhy, if you please, I am here, and I am the first little pig,\u201d came the\nanswer, and out from behind the bush stepped a cute little piggie boy,\nwith a bundle of straw under his paw.\n\n\u201cSo you are the first little pig, eh?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily. \u201cHow many of\nyou are there altogether?\u201d\n\n\u201cThree, if you please,\u201d grunted the first little pig. \u201cI have two\nbrothers, and they are the second and third little pigs. Don\u2019t you\nremember reading about us in the Mother Goose book?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, of course I do!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily, twinkling his nose. \u201cAnd so\nyou are the first little pig. But what are you going to do with that\nbundle of straw?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m going to build me a house, Uncle Wiggily, of course,\u201d grunted the\npiggie boy. \u201cDon\u2019t you remember what it says in the book? \u2018Once upon a\ntime there were three little pigs, named Grunter, Squeaker and\nTwisty-Tail.\u2019 Well, I\u2019m Grunter, and I met a man with a load of straw,\nand I asked him for a bundle to make me a house. He very kindly gave it\nto me, and now, I\u2019m off to build it.\u201d\n\n\u201cMay I come?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI\u2019ll help you put up your house.\u201d\n\n\u201cOf course you may come\u2014glad to have you,\u201d answered the first little\npig. \u201cOnly you know what happens to me; don\u2019t you?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo! What?\u201d asked the rabbit gentleman. \u201cI guess I have forgotten the\nstory.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, after I build my house of straw, just as it says in the Mother\nGoose story book, along comes a bad old wolf, and he blows it down,\u201d\nsaid the first little pig.\n\n\u201cOh, how dreadful!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily, \u201cbut maybe he won\u2019t come\nto-day.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, yes, he will,\u201d said the first little pig. \u201cIt\u2019s that way in the\nbook, and the wolf has to come.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, if he does,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, \u201cmaybe I can save you from him.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I hope you can!\u201d grunted Grunter. \u201cIt is no fun to be chased by a\nwolf.\u201d\n\nSo the rabbit gentleman and the piggie boy went on and on, until they\ncame to the place where Grunter was to build his house of straw. Uncle\nWiggily helped, and soon it was finished.\n\n\u201cWhy, it is real nice and cozy in here,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, when he had\nmade a big pile of snow back of the straw house to keep off the north\nwind, and had gone in with the little piggie boy.\n\n\u201cYes, it is cozy enough,\u201d spoke Grunter, \u201cbut wait until the bad wolf\ncomes. Oh, dear!\u201d\n\n\u201cMaybe he won\u2019t come,\u201d said the rabbit, hopeful like.\n\n\u201cYes, he will!\u201d cried Grunter. \u201cHere he comes now.\u201d\n\nAnd, surely enough, looking out of the window, the piggie boy and Uncle\nWiggily saw a bad wolf running over the snow toward them. The wolf\nknocked on the door of the straw house and cried:\n\n\u201cLittle pig! Little pig! Let me come in.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo! No! By the hair of my chinny-chin-chin. I will not let you in!\u201d\nanswered Grunter, just like in the book.\n\n\u201cThen I\u2019ll puff and I\u2019ll blow, and I\u2019ll blow your house in!\u201d howled the\nwolf. Then he puffed and he blew, and, all of a sudden, over went the\nstraw house. But, just as it was falling down, Uncle Wiggily cried:\n\n\u201cQuick, Grunter, come with me! I\u2019ll dig a hole for us in the pile of\nsnow that I made back of your house and in there we\u2019ll hide where the\nwolf can\u2019t find us!\u201d Then the rabbit gentleman, with his strong paws,\njust made for digging, burrowed a hole in the snow-bank, and as the\nstraw house toppled down, into this hole he crawled with Grunter.\n\n\u201cNow I\u2019ve got you!\u201d cried the wolf, as he blew down the first little\npig\u2019s straw house. But when the wolf looked he couldn\u2019t see Grunter or\nUncle Wiggily at all, because they were hiding in the snow-bank.\n\n\u201cWell, well!\u201d howled the wolf. \u201cThis isn\u2019t like the book at all! Where\nis that little pig?\u201d\n\nBut the wolf could not find Grunter, and soon the bad creature went\naway, fearing to catch cold in his eyes. Then Uncle Wiggily and Grunter\ncame out of the snow-bank and were safe, and Uncle Wiggily took Grunter\nhome to the rabbit house to stay until Mother Goose came, some time\nafterward, to get the first little pig boy.\n\n\u201cThank you very much, Uncle Wiggily,\u201d said Mother Goose, \u201cfor being kind\nto one of my friends.\u201d\n\n\u201cPray don\u2019t mention it. I had a fine adventure, besides saving a little\npig,\u201d said the rabbit gentleman. \u201cI wonder what will happen to me\nto-morrow?\u201d\n\nAnd we shall soon see for, if the snowball doesn\u2019t wrap itself up in the\nparlor rug to hide away from the jam tart, when it comes home from the\nmoving pictures, I\u2019ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the second\nlittle pig.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER III\n\n                    UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE SECOND PIG\n\n\n\u201cTHERE! It\u2019s all done!\u201d exclaimed Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the nice\nmuskrat lady housekeeper, who, with Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit\ngentleman, was staying in the Littletail rabbit house, since the\nhollow-stump bungalow had burned down.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s all done?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily, looking over the tops of his\nspectacles.\n\n\u201cThese jam tarts I baked for Billie and Nannie Wagtail, the goat\nchildren,\u201d said Nurse Jane. \u201cWill you take them with you when you go out\nfor a walk, Uncle Wiggily, and leave them at the goat house?\u201d\n\n\u201cI most certainly will,\u201d said the rabbit gentleman, very politely. \u201cIs\nthere anything else I can do for you, Nurse Jane?\u201d\n\nBut the muskrat lady wanted nothing more, and, wrapping up the jam tarts\nin a napkin so they would not catch cold, she gave them to Mr. Longears\nto take to the two goat children.\n\nUncle Wiggily was walking along, wondering what sort of an adventure he\nwould have that day, or whether he would meet Mother Goose again, when\nall at once he heard a voice speaking from behind some bushes.\n\n\u201cYes, I think I will build my house here,\u201d the voice said. \u201cThe wolf is\nsure to find me anyhow, and I might as well have it over with. I\u2019ll make\nmy house here.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily looked over the bushes, and there he saw a funny little\nanimal boy, with some pieces of wood on his shoulder.\n\n\u201cHello!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily, making his nose twinkle in a most\njilly-jolly way. \u201cWho are you, and what are you going to do?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, I am Squeaker, the second little pig, and I am going to make a\nhouse of wood,\u201d was the answer. \u201cDon\u2019t you remember how it reads in the\nMother Goose book? \u2018Once upon a time there were three little pigs, named\nGrunter, Squeaker and\u2014\u2014\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, yes, I remember!\u201d Uncle Wiggily said. \u201cI met your brother Grunter\nyesterday, and helped him build his straw house.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat was kind of you,\u201d spoke Squeaker. \u201cI suppose the bad old wolf got\nhim, though. Too bad! Well, it can\u2019t be helped, as it is that way in the\nbook.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily didn\u2019t say anything about having saved Grunter, for he\nwanted to surprise Squeaker, so the rabbit gentleman just twinkled his\nnose again and asked:\n\n\u201cMay I have the pleasure of helping you build your house of wood?\u201d\n\n\u201cIndeed you may, thank you,\u201d said Squeaker. \u201cI suppose the old wolf will\nbe along soon, so we had better hurry to get the house finished.\u201d\n\nThen the second little pig and Uncle Wiggily built the wooden house.\nWhen it was almost finished Uncle Wiggily went out near the back door,\nand began piling up some cakes of ice to make a sort of box.\n\n\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d asked Squeaker.\n\n\u201cOh, I\u2019m just making a place where I can put these jam tarts I have for\nNannie and Billie Wagtail,\u201d the rabbit gentleman answered. \u201cI don\u2019t want\nthe wolf to get them when he blows down your house.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d sighed Squeaker. \u201cI rather wish, now, he didn\u2019t have to blow\nover my nice wooden house, and get me. But he has to, I s\u2019pose, \u2019cause\nit\u2019s in the book.\u201d\n\nStill, Uncle Wiggily didn\u2019t say anything, but he just sort of blinked\nhis eyes and twinkled his pink nose, until, all of a sudden, Squeaker\nlooked across the snowy fields, and he cried:\n\n\u201cHere comes the bad old wolf now!\u201d\n\nAnd, surely enough, along came the growling, howling creature. He ran up\nto the second little pig\u2019s wooden house, and, rapping on the door with\nhis paw, cried:\n\n\u201cLittle pig! Little pig! Let me come in!\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, no! By the hair on my chinny-chin-chin I will not let you in,\u201d said\nthe second little pig, bravely.\n\n\u201cThen I\u2019ll puff and I\u2019ll blow, and I\u2019ll puff and I\u2019ll blow, and blow\nyour house in!\u201d howled the wolf.\n\nThen he puffed out his cheeks, and he took a long breath and he blew\nwith all his might and main and suddenly:\n\n\u201cCracko!\u201d\n\nDown went the wooden house of the second little piggie, and only that\nUncle Wiggily and Squeaker jumped to one side they would have been\nsquashed as flat as a pancake, or even two pancakes.\n\n\u201cQuick!\u201d cried the rabbit gentleman in the piggie boy\u2019s ear. \u201cThis way!\nCome with me!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere are we going?\u201d asked Squeaker, as he followed the rabbit\ngentleman over the cracked and broken boards, which were all that was\nleft of the house.\n\n\u201cWe are going to the little cabin that I made out of cakes of ice,\nbehind your wooden house,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI put the jam tarts in\nit, but there is also room for us, and we can hide there until the bad\nwolf goes off.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, that isn\u2019t the way it is in the book,\u201d said the second little\npig. \u201cBut\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cNo matter!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cHurry!\u201d So he and Squeaker hid in the\nice cabin back of the blown-down house, and when the bad wolf came\npoking along among the broken boards, to get the little pig, he couldn\u2019t\nfind him. For Uncle Wiggily had closed the door of the ice place, and as\nit was partly covered with snow the wolf could not see through.\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d howled the wolf. \u201cThat\u2019s twice I\u2019ve been fooled by those\npigs! It isn\u2019t like the book at all. I wonder where he can have gone?\u201d\n\nBut he could not find Squeaker or Uncle Wiggily either, and finally the\nwolf\u2019s nose became so cold from sniffing the ice that he had to go home\nto warm it, and so Uncle Wiggily and Squeaker were safe.\n\n\u201cOh, I don\u2019t know how to thank you,\u201d said the second little piggie boy\nas the rabbit gentleman took him home to Mother Goose, after having left\nthe jam tarts at the home of the Wagtail goats.\n\n\u201cPray do not mention it,\u201d spoke Uncle Wiggily, modest like, and shy. \u201cIt\nwas just an adventure for me.\u201d\n\nHe had another adventure the following day, Uncle Wiggily did. And if\nthe dusting brush doesn\u2019t go swimming in the soap dish, and get all\nlather so that it looks like a marshmallow cocoanut cake, I\u2019ll tell you\nnext about Uncle Wiggily and the third little pig.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER IV\n\n                    UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE THIRD PIG\n\n\nUNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS sat in the burrow, or house under the ground,\nwhere he and Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady, lived with the\nLittletail family of rabbits since the hollow-stump bungalow had burned.\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d sounded a grunting, woofing sort of voice over near one\nwindow.\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d squealed another voice from under the table.\n\n\u201cWell, well! What is the matter with you two piggie boys?\u201d asked Uncle\nWiggily, as he took down from the sideboard his red, white and blue\nbarber-pole striped rheumatism crutch that Nurse Jane had gnawed for him\nout of a corn-stalk.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s the trouble, Grunter and Squeaker?\u201d asked the rabbit gentleman.\n\n\u201cWe are lonesome for our brother,\u201d said the two little piggie boys No. 1\nand No. 2. \u201cWe want to see Twisty-Tail.\u201d\n\nFor the first and second little pigs, after having been saved by Uncle\nWiggily, and taken home to Mother Goose, had come back to pay a visit to\nthe bunny gentleman.\n\n\u201cWell, perhaps I may meet Twisty-Tail when I go walking to-day,\u201d spoke\nUncle Wiggily. \u201cIf I do I\u2019ll bring him home with me.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, goodie!\u201d cried Grunter and Squeaker. For they were the first and\nsecond little pigs, you see. Uncle Wiggily had saved Grunter from the\nbad wolf when the growling creature blew down Grunter\u2019s straw house.\nAnd, in almost the same way, the bunny uncle had saved Squeaker, when\nhis wooden house was blown over by the wolf. But Twisty-Tail, the third\nlittle pig, Uncle Wiggily had not yet helped.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll look for Twisty-Tail to-day,\u201d said the rabbit gentleman as he\nstarted off for his adventure walk, which he took every afternoon and\nmorning.\n\nOn and on went Uncle Wiggily Longears over the snow-covered fields and\nthrough the wood, until just as he was turning around the corner near an\nold red stump, the rabbit gentleman heard a clinkity-clankity sort of a\nnoise, and the sound of whistling.\n\n\u201cHa! Some one is happy!\u201d thought the bunny uncle. \u201cThat\u2019s a good\nsign\u2014whistling. I wonder who it is?\u201d\n\nHe looked around the stump corner and he saw a little animal chap, with\nblue rompers on, and a fur cap stuck back of his left ear, and this\nlittle animal chap was whistling away as merrily as a butterfly eating\nbutterscotch candy.\n\n\u201cWhy, that must be the third little pig!\u201d exclaimed Uncle Wiggily.\n\u201cHello!\u201d called the rabbit gentleman. \u201cAre you Twisty-Tail?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s my name,\u201d answered the little pig, \u201cand, as you see, I am\nbuilding my house of bricks, just as it tells about in the Mother Goose\nbook.\u201d\n\nAnd, surely enough, Twisty-Tail was building a little house of red\nbricks, and it was the tap-tap-tapping of his trowel, or mortar-shovel,\nthat made the clinkity-clankity noise.\n\n\u201cDo you know me, Uncle Wiggily?\u201d asked the piggie boy. \u201cYou see I am in\na book. \u2018Once upon a time there were three little pigs, and\u2014\u2014\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cI know all about you,\u201d interrupted Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI have met Mother\nGoose, and also your two brothers.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey didn\u2019t know how to build the right kind of houses, and so the wolf\ngot them,\u201d said Twisty-Tail. \u201cI am sorry, but it had to happen that way,\njust as it is in the book.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily smiled, but said nothing.\n\n\u201cI met a man with a load of bricks, and I begged some of them to build\nmy house,\u201d said Twisty-Tail. \u201cNo wolf can get me. No, sir-ee! I\u2019ll build\nmy house very strong, not weak like my brothers\u2019. No, indeed!\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll help you build your house,\u201d offered Uncle Wiggily, kindly, and\njust as he and Twisty-Tail finished the brick house and put on the roof\nit began to rain and freeze.\n\n\u201cWe are through just in time,\u201d said Twisty-Tail, as he and the rabbit\ngentleman hurried inside. \u201cI don\u2019t believe the wolf will come out in\nsuch weather.\u201d\n\nBut just as he said that and looked from the window, the little piggie\nboy gave a cry, and said:\n\n\u201cOh, here comes the bad animal now! But he can\u2019t get in my house, or\nblow it over, \u2019cause the book says he didn\u2019t.\u201d\n\nThe wolf came up through the freezing rain and knocking on the third\npiggie boy\u2019s brick house, said:\n\n\u201cLittle pig! Little pig! Let me come in!\u201d\n\n\u201cNo! No! By the hair of my chinny-chin-chin, I will not let you in!\u201d\ngrunted Twisty-Tail.\n\n\u201cThen I\u2019ll puff and I\u2019ll blow, and I\u2019ll blow your house in!\u201d howled the\nwolf.\n\n\u201cYou can\u2019t! The book says so!\u201d laughed the little pig. \u201cMy house is a\nstrong, brick one. You can\u2019t get me!\u201d\n\n\u201cJust you wait!\u201d growled the wolf. So he puffed out his cheeks, and he\nblew and he blew, but he could not blow down the brick house, because it\nwas so strong.\n\n\u201cWell, I\u2019m in no hurry,\u201d the wolf said. \u201cI\u2019ll sit down and wait for you\nto come out.\u201d\n\nSo the wolf sat down on his tail to wait outside the brick house. After\na while Twisty-Tail began to get hungry.\n\n\u201cDid you bring anything to eat, Uncle Wiggily?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cNo, I didn\u2019t,\u201d answered the rabbit gentleman. \u201cBut if the old wolf\nwould go away I\u2019d take you where your two brothers are visiting with me\nin the Littletail family rabbit house and you could have all you want to\neat.\u201d\n\nBut the wolf would not go away, even when Uncle Wiggily asked him to,\nmost politely, making a bow and twinkling his nose.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m going to stay here all night,\u201d the wolf growled. \u201cI am not going\naway. I am going to get that third little pig!\u201d\n\n\u201cAre you? Well, we\u2019ll see about that!\u201d cried the rabbit gentleman. Then\nhe took a rib out of his umbrella, and with a piece of his shoe lace\n(that he didn\u2019t need) for a string he made a bow like the Indians used\nto have.\n\n\u201cIf I only had an arrow now I could shoot it from my umbrella-bow, hit\nthe wolf on the nose and make him go away,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. Then he\nlooked out of the window and saw where the rain, dripping from the roof,\nhad frozen into long, sharp icicles.\n\n\u201cHa!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cAn icicle will make the best kind of an\narrow! Now I\u2019ll shoot the wolf, not hard enough to hurt him, but just\nhard enough to make him run away.\u201d\n\nReaching out the window Uncle Wiggily broke off a sharp icicle. He put\nthis ice arrow in his bow and, pulling back the shoe string, \u201ctwang!\u201d he\nshot the wolf on the nose.\n\n\u201cOh, wow! Oh, double-wow! Oh, custard cake!\u201d howled the wolf. \u201cThis\nisn\u2019t in the Mother Goose book at all. Not a single pig did I get! Oh,\nmy nose! Ouch!\u201d\n\nThen he ran away, and Uncle Wiggily and Twisty-Tail could come safely\nout of the brick house, which they did, hurrying home to the bunny house\nwhere Grunter and Squeaker were, to get something to eat. So everything\ncame out right, you see, and Uncle Wiggily saved the three little pigs,\none after the other.\n\nAnd if the canary bird doesn\u2019t go swimming in the rice pudding, and eat\nout all the raisin seeds, so none is left for the parrot, I\u2019ll tell you\nnext of Uncle Wiggily and Little Boy Blue.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER V\n\n                   UNCLE WIGGILY AND LITTLE BOY BLUE\n\n\n\u201cUNCLE WIGGILY, are you very busy to-day?\u201d asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy,\nthe muskrat lady housekeeper, who, with the old rabbit gentleman, was on\na visit to the Bushytail family of squirrels in their hollow-tree home.\n\nAfter staying a while with the Littletail rabbits, when his hollow-stump\nbungalow had burned down, the bunny uncle went to visit Johnnie and\nBillie Bushytail.\n\n\u201cAre you very busy, Uncle Wiggily?\u201d asked the muskrat lady.\n\n\u201cWhy, no, Nurse Jane, not so very,\u201d answered the bunny uncle. \u201cIs there\nsomething you would like me to do for you?\u201d he asked, with a polite bow.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cWell, Mrs. Bushytail and I have just baked some pies,\u201d said the muskrat\nlady, \u201cand we thought perhaps you might like to take one to your friend,\nGrandfather Goosey Gander.\u201d \u201cFine!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily, making his nose\ntwinkle like a star on a Christmas tree in the dark. \u201cGrandpa Goosey\nwill be glad to get a pie. I\u2019ll take him one.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe have it all ready for you,\u201d said Mrs. Bushytail, the squirrel mother\nof Johnnie and Billie, as she came in the sitting-room. \u201cIt\u2019s a nice hot\npie, and it will keep your paws warm, Uncle Wiggily, as you go over the\nice and snow through the woods and across the fields.\u201d\n\n\u201cFine!\u201d cried the bunny uncle again. \u201cI\u2019ll get ready and go at once.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily put on his warm fur coat, fastened his tall silk hat on\nhis head, with his ears sticking up through holes cut in the brim, so it\nwould not blow off, and then, taking his red, white and blue-striped\nrheumatism crutch, that Nurse Jane had gnawed for him out of a\ncorn-stalk, away he started. He carried the hot apple pie in a basket\nover his paw.\n\n\u201cGrandpa Goosey will surely like this pie,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily to\nhimself, as he lifted the napkin that was over it to take a little\nsniff. \u201cIt makes me hungry myself. And how nice and warm it is,\u201d he went\non, as he put one cold paw in the basket to warm it; warm his paw I\nmean, not the basket.\n\nOver the fields and through the woods hopped the bunny uncle. It began\nto snow a little, but Uncle Wiggily did not mind that, for he was well\nwrapped up.\n\nWhen he was about halfway to Grandpa Goosey\u2019s house Uncle Wiggily heard,\nfrom behind a pile of snow, a sad sort of crying voice.\n\n\u201cHello!\u201d exclaimed the bunny uncle, \u201cthat sounds like some one in\ntrouble. I must see if I can help them.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily looked over the top of the pile of snow, and, sitting on\nthe ground, in front of a big icicle, was a boy all dressed in blue.\nEven his eyes were blue, but you could not very well see them, as they\nwere filled with tears.\n\n\u201cOh, dear! Oh, dear!\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, kindly. \u201cThis is quite too\nbad! What is the matter, little fellow; and who are you?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am Little Boy Blue, from the home of Mother Goose,\u201d was the answer,\n\u201cand the matter is that it\u2019s lost!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is lost?\u201d asked Uncle. \u201cIf it\u2019s a penny I will help you find it.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt isn\u2019t a penny,\u201d answered Boy Blue. \u201cIt\u2019s the hay stack which I have\nto sleep under. I can\u2019t find it, and I must see where it is or else\nthings won\u2019t be as they are in the Mother Goose book. Don\u2019t you know\nwhat it says?\u201d\n\nAnd he sang:\n\n          \u201cLittle Boy Blue, come blow your horn,\n           There are sheep in the meadow and cows in the corn.\n           Where\u2019s Little Boy Blue, who looks after the sheep?\n           Why he\u2019s under the hay stack, fast asleep.\n\n\u201cOnly I can\u2019t go to sleep under the hay stack, Uncle Wiggily, because I\ncan\u2019t find it. And, oh, dear! I don\u2019t know what to do!\u201d and Little Boy\nBlue cried harder than ever, so that some of his tears froze into little\nround marbles of ice, like hail stones.\n\n\u201cThere, there, now!\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, kindly. \u201cOf course you can\u2019t\nfind a hay stack in the winter. They are all covered with snow.\u201d\n\n\u201cAre they?\u201d asked Boy Blue, real surprised like.\n\n\u201cOf course, they are!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily, in his most jolly voice.\n\u201cBesides, you wouldn\u2019t want to sleep under a hay stack, even if there\nwas one here, in the winter. You would catch cold and have the\nsniffle-snuffles.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s so, I might,\u201d Boy Blue said, and he did not cry so hard now.\n\u201cBut that isn\u2019t all, Uncle Wiggily,\u201d he went on, nodding at the rabbit\ngentleman. \u201cIt isn\u2019t all my trouble.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat else is the matter?\u201d asked the bunny uncle.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s my horn,\u201d spoke the little boy who looked after the cows and\nsheep. \u201cI can\u2019t make any music tunes on my horn. And I really have to\nblow my horn, you know, for it says in the Mother Goose book that I\nmust. See, I can\u2019t blow it a bit.\u201d And Boy Blue put his horn to his\nlips, puffed out his cheeks and blew as hard as he could, but no sound\ncame out.\n\n\u201cLet me try,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. The rabbit gentleman took the horn and\nhe, also, tried to blow. He blew so hard he almost blew off his tall\nsilk hat, but no sound came from the horn.\n\n\u201cAh, I see what the trouble is!\u201d cried the bunny uncle with a jolly\nlaugh, looking down inside the \u201ctoot-tooter.\u201d \u201cIt is so cold that the\ntunes are all frozen solid in your horn. But I have a hot apple pie here\nin my basket that I was taking to Grandpa Goosey Gander. I\u2019ll hold the\ncold horn on the hot pie and the tunes will thaw out.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, have you a pie in there?\u201d asked Little Boy Blue. \u201cIs it the\nChristmas pie into which Little Jack Horner put in his thumb and pulled\nout a plum?\u201d\n\n\u201cNot quite, but nearly the same,\u201d laughed Uncle Wiggily. \u201cNow to thaw\nout the frozen horn.\u201d\n\nThe bunny uncle put Little Boy Blue\u2019s horn in the basket with the hot\napple pie. Soon the ice was melted out of the horn, and Uncle Wiggily\ncould blow on it, and play tunes, and so could Boy Blue.\nTootity-toot-toot tunes they both played.\n\n\u201cNow you are all right!\u201d cried the bunny uncle. \u201cCome along with me and\nyou may have a piece of this pie for yourself. And you may stay with\nGrandpa Goosey Gander until summer comes, and then blow your horn for\nthe sheep in the meadow and the cows in the corn. There is no need, now,\nfor you to stay out in the cold and look for a haystack under which to\nsleep.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, I guess not,\u201d said Boy Blue. \u201cI\u2019ll come with you, Uncle Wiggily.\nAnd thank you, so much, for helping me. I don\u2019t know what would have\nhappened only for you.\u201d\n\n\u201cPray do not mention it,\u201d politely said Uncle Wiggily with a laugh. Then\nhe and little Boy Blue hurried on through the snow, and soon they were\nat Grandpa Goosey\u2019s house with the warm apple pie, and oh! how good it\ntasted! Oh, yum-yum!\n\nAnd if the church steeple doesn\u2019t drop the ding-dong bell down in the\npulpit and scare the organ, I\u2019ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and\nHiggledee Piggledee.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER VI\n\n                 UNCLE WIGGILY AND HIGGLEDEE PIGGLEDEE\n\n\nONE day Uncle Wiggily Longears, the nice old gentleman rabbit, was\nsitting in an easy chair in the hollow-stump house of the Bushytail\nsquirrel family, where he was paying a visit to Johnnie and Billie\nBushytail, the two squirrel boys.\n\nThere came a knock on the door, but the bunny uncle did not pay much\nattention to it, as he was sort of taking a little sleep after his\ndinner of cabbage soup with carrot ice cream on top.\n\nNurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, went out in the\nhall, and when she came back, with her tail all tied up in a pink\nribbon, (for she was sweeping) she said:\n\n\u201cUncle Wiggily, a friend of yours has come to see you.\u201d\n\n\u201cA friend of mine!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily, awakening so suddenly that his\nnose stopped twinkling. \u201cI hope it isn\u2019t the bad old fox from the Orange\nMountains.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d answered Nurse Jane with a smile, \u201cit is a lady.\u201d\n\n\u201cA lady?\u201d exclaimed the old rabbit gentleman, getting up quickly, and\nlooking in the glass to see that his ears were not criss-crossed. \u201cWho\ncan it be?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is Mother Goose,\u201d went on Nurse Jane. \u201cShe says you were so kind as\nto help Little Boy Blue the other day, when his horn was frozen, and you\nthawed it on the warm pie, that perhaps you will now help her. She is in\ntrouble.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn trouble, eh?\u201d exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, sort of smoothing down his\nvest, fastidious like and stylish. \u201cI didn\u2019t know she blew a horn.\u201d\n\n\u201cShe doesn\u2019t,\u201d said Nurse Jane. \u201cBut I\u2019ll bring her in and she can tell\nyou, herself, what she wants.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, Uncle Wiggily!\u201d cried Mother Goose, as she set her broom down in\none corner, for she never went out unless she carried it with her. She\nsaid she never could tell when she might have to sweep the cobwebs out\nof the sky. \u201cOh, Uncle Wiggily, I am in such a lot of trouble!\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, I will be very glad to help you if I can,\u201d said the bunny uncle.\n\u201cWhat is it?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s about Higgledee Piggledee,\u201d answered Mother Goose.\n\n\u201cHiggledee Piggledee!\u201d exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, \u201cwhy that sounds like\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cShe\u2019s my black hen,\u201d went on Mother Goose. \u201cYou know how the verse goes\nin the book about me and my friends.\u201d\n\nAnd, taking off her tall peaked hat, which she wore when she rode on the\nback of the old gander, Mother Goose sang:\n\n                  \u201cHiggledee Piggledee, my black hen,\n                   She lays eggs for gentlemen.\n                   Sometimes nine and sometimes ten.\n                   Higgledee Piggledee, my black hen.\n                   Gentlemen come every day,\n                   To see what my black hen doth lay.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily, \u201cwhat is the trouble? Has Higgledee\nPiggledee stopped laying? If she has I am afraid I can\u2019t help you, for\nhens don\u2019t lay many eggs in winter, you know.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, it isn\u2019t that!\u201d said Mother Goose, quickly. \u201cHiggledee Piggledee\nlays as many eggs as ever for gentlemen\u2014sometimes nine and sometimes\nten. But the trouble is the gentlemen don\u2019t get them.\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t they come for them?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily, sort of puzzled like\nand wondering.\n\n\u201cOh, yes, they come every day,\u201d said Mother Goose, \u201cbut there are no\neggs for them. Some one else is getting the eggs Higgledee Piggledee\nlays.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you s\u2019pose she eats them herself?\u201d asked the old rabbit gentleman,\nin a whisper. \u201cHens sometimes do, you know.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot Higgledee Piggledee,\u201d quickly spoke Mother Goose. \u201cShe is too good\nto do that. She and I are both worried about the missing eggs, and as\nyou have been so kind I thought perhaps you could help us.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll try,\u201d Uncle Wiggily said.\n\n\u201cThen come right along to Higgledee Piggledee\u2019s coop,\u201d invited Mother\nGoose. \u201cMaybe you can find out where her eggs go to. She lays them in\nher nest, comes off, once in a while, to get something to eat, but when\nshe goes back to lay more eggs the first ones are gone.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily twinkled his nose, tied his ears in a hard knot, as he\nalways did when he was thinking, and then, putting on his fur coat and\ntaking his rheumatism crutch with him, he went out with Mother Goose.\n\nUncle Wiggily rode in his airship, made of a clothes-basket, with toy\ncircus balloons on top, and Mother Goose rode on the back of a big\ngander, who was a brother to Grandfather Goosey Gander. Soon they were\nat the hen coop where Higgledee Piggledee lived.\n\n\u201cOh, Uncle Wiggily, I am so glad you came!\u201d cackled the black hen. \u201cDid\nMother Goose tell you about the egg trouble?\u201d\n\n\u201cShe did, Higgledee Piggledee, and I will see if I can stop it. Now, you\ngo on the nest and lay some eggs and then we will see what happens,\u201d\nspoke Uncle Wiggily.\n\nSo Higgledee Piggledee, the black hen, laid some eggs for gentlemen, and\nthen she went out in the yard to get some corn to eat, just as she\nalways did. And, while she was gone, Uncle Wiggily hid himself in some\nstraw in the hen coop. Pretty soon the old gentleman heard a gnawing,\nrustling sound and up out of a hole in the ground popped two big rats,\nwith red eyes.\n\n\u201cDid Higgledee Piggledee lay any eggs to-day?\u201d asked one rat, in a\nwhisper.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d spoke the other, \u201cshe did.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen we will take them,\u201d said the first rat. \u201cHurray! More eggs for us!\nNo gentlemen will get these eggs because we\u2019ll take them ourselves.\nHurray!\u201d\n\nHe got down on his back, with his paws sticking up in the air. Then the\nother rat rolled one of the black hen\u2019s eggs over so the first rat could\nhold it in among his four legs. Next, the second rat took hold of the\nfirst rat\u2019s tail and began pulling him along, egg and all, just as if he\nwere a sled on a slippery hill, the rat sliding on his back over the\nsmooth straw. And the eggs rode on the rat-sled as nicely as you please.\n\n\u201cHa!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily, jumping suddenly out of his hiding-place. \u201cSo\nthis is where Higgledee Piggledee\u2019s eggs have been going, eh? You rats\nhave been taking them. Scatt! Shoo! Boo! Skedaddle! Scoot!\u201d\n\nAnd the rats were so scared that they skedaddled away and shooed\nthemselves and did everything else Mr. Longears told them to do, and\nthey took no eggs that day. Then Uncle Wiggily showed Mother Goose the\nrat hole, and it was stopped up with stones so the rats could not come\nin the coop again. And ever after that Higgledee Piggledee, the black\nhen, could lay eggs for gentlemen, sometimes nine and sometimes ten, and\nthere was no more trouble as there had been before Uncle Wiggily caught\nthe rats and made them skedaddle.\n\nSo Mother Goose and the black hen thanked Uncle Wiggily very much. And\nif the stylish lady who lives next door doesn\u2019t take our feather bed to\nwear on her hat when she goes to the moving pictures, I\u2019ll tell you next\nabout Uncle Wiggily and Little Bo Peep.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER VII\n\n                    UNCLE WIGGILY AND LITTLE BO PEEP\n\n\n\u201cWHAT are you going to do, Nurse Jane?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily Longears,\nthe rabbit gentleman, as he saw the muskrat lady housekeeper going out\nin the kitchen one morning, with an apron on, and a dab of white flour\non the end of her nose.\n\n\u201cI am going to make a chocolate cake with carrot icing on top,\u201d replied\nMiss Fuzzy Wuzzy.\n\n\u201cOh, good!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily, and almost before he knew it he started\nto clap his paws, just as Sammie and Susie Littletail, the rabbit\nchildren, might have done, and as they often did do when they were\npleased about anything. \u201cI just love chocolate cake!\u201d cried the bunny\nuncle, who was almost like a boy-bunny himself.\n\n\u201cDo you?\u201d asked Nurse Jane. \u201cThen I am glad I am going to make one,\u201d\nand, going into the kitchen of the hollow-stump bungalow, she began\nrattling away among the pots, pans and kettles.\n\nFor now Nurse Jane and Uncle Wiggily were living together once more in\ntheir own hollow-stump bungalow. It had burned down, you remember, but\nUncle Wiggily had had it built up again, and now he did not have to\nvisit around among his animal friends, though he still called on them\nevery now and then.\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d suddenly cried Nurse Jane from the kitchen. \u201cOh, dear!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is the matter, Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy?\u201d asked the bunny uncle. \u201cDid you\ndrop a pan on your paw?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, Uncle Wiggily,\u201d answered the muskrat lady. \u201cIt is worse than that.\nI can\u2019t make the chocolate cake after all, I am sorry to say.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, dear! That is too bad! Why not?\u201d asked the bunny uncle, in a sad\nand sorrowful voice.\n\n\u201cBecause there is no chocolate,\u201d went on Nurse Jane. \u201cSince we came to\nour new hollow-stump bungalow I have not made any cakes, and to-day I\nforgot to order the chocolate from the store for this one.\u201d\n\n\u201cNever mind,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, kindly. \u201cI\u2019ll go to the store and get\nthe chocolate for you. In fact, I would go to two stores and part of\nanother one for the sake of having a chocolate cake.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right,\u201d spoke Nurse Jane. \u201cIf you get me the chocolate I\u2019ll make\none.\u201d\n\nPutting on his overcoat, with his tall silk hat tied down over his ears\nso they would not blow away\u2014I mean so his hat would not blow off\u2014and\nwith his rheumatism crutch under his paw, off started the old gentleman\nrabbit, across the fields and through the woods to the chocolate store.\n\nAfter buying what he wanted for Nurse Jane\u2019s cake, the old gentleman\nrabbit started back for the hollow-stump bungalow. On the way, he passed\na toy store, and he stopped to look in the window at the pop-guns, the\nspinning-tops, the dolls, the Noah\u2019s Arks, with the animals marching out\nof them, and all things like that.\n\n\u201cIt makes me young again to look at toys,\u201d said the bunny uncle. Then he\nwent on a little farther until, all at once, as he was passing a bush,\nhe heard from behind it the sound of crying.\n\n\u201cHa! Some one in trouble again,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI wonder if it can\nbe Little Boy Blue?\u201d He looked, but, instead of seeing the sheep-boy,\nwhom he had once helped, Uncle Wiggily saw a little girl.\n\n\u201cHa! Who are you?\u201d the bunny uncle asked, \u201cand what is the matter?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am Little Bo Peep,\u201d was the answer, \u201cand I have lost my sheep, and\ndon\u2019t know where to find them.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, let them alone, and they\u2019ll come home, wagging their tails behind\nthem,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily quickly, and he laughed jolly like and happy,\nbecause he had made a rhyme to go with what Bo Peep said.\n\n\u201cYes, I know that\u2019s the way it is in the Mother Goose book,\u201d said Little\nBo Peep, \u201cbut I\u2019ve waited and waited, and let them alone ever so long,\nbut they haven\u2019t come home. And now I\u2019m afraid they\u2019ll freeze.\u201d\n\n\u201cHa! That\u2019s so. It _is_ pretty cold for sheep to be out,\u201d said Uncle\nWiggily, as he looked across the snow-covered field, and toward the\nwoods where there were icicles hanging down from the trees.\n\n\u201cLook here, Little Bo Peep,\u201d went on the bunny uncle. \u201cI think your\nsheep must have gone home long ago, wagging their tails behind them. And\nyou, too, had better run home to Mother Goose. Tell her you met me and\nthat I sent you home. And, if I find your sheep, I\u2019ll send them along,\ntoo. So don\u2019t worry.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, but I don\u2019t like to go home without my sheep,\u201d said Bo Peep, and\ntears came into her eyes. \u201cI ought to bring them with me. But to-day I\nwent skating on Crystal Lake, up in the Lemon-Orange Mountains, and I\nforgot all about my sheep. Now I am afraid to go home without them. Oh,\ndear!\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily thought for a minute, then he said:\n\n\u201cHa! I have it! I know where I can get you some sheep to take home with\nyou. Then Mother Goose will say it is all right. Come with me.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere are you going?\u201d asked Bo Peep.\n\n\u201cTo get you some sheep.\u201d And Uncle Wiggily led the little shepherdess\ngirl back to the toy store, in the window of which he had stopped to\nlook a while ago.\n\n\u201cGive Bo Peep some of your toy woolly sheep, if you please,\u201d said Uncle\nWiggily to the toy-store man. \u201cShe can take them home with her, while\nher own sheep are safe in some warm place, I\u2019m sure. But now she must\nhave some sort of sheep to take home with her in place of the lost ones,\nso it will come out all right, as it is in the book. And these toy\nwoolly sheep will do as well as any; won\u2019t they, Little Bo Peep?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, yes, they will; thank you very much, Uncle Wiggily,\u201d answered Bo\nPeep, making a pretty little bow. Then the rabbit gentleman bought her\nten little toy, woolly sheep, each one with a tail which Bo Peep could\nwag for them, and one toy lamb went: \u201cBaa! Baa! Baa!\u201d as real as\nanything, having a little phonograph talking machine inside him.\n\n\u201cNow I can go home to Mother Goose and make believe these are my lost\nsheep,\u201d said Bo Peep, \u201cand it will be all right.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd here is a piece of chocolate for you to eat,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily.\nThen Bo Peep hurried home with her fleecy toy sheep, and, later on, she\nfound her real ones, all nice and warm, in the barn where the Cow with\nthe Crumpled Horn lived. Mother Goose laughed in her jolliest way when\nshe saw the toy sheep Uncle Wiggily had bought Bo Peep.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s just like him!\u201d said Mother Goose.\n\nAnd if the goldfish doesn\u2019t climb out of his tank and hide in the\nsardine tin, where the stuffed olives can\u2019t find him, I\u2019ll tell you next\nabout Uncle Wiggily and Tommie Tucker.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER VIII\n\n                    UNCLE WIGGILY AND TOMMIE TUCKER\n\n\n\u201cOH, Uncle Wiggily!\u201d called Susie Littletail, the rabbit girl, one day,\nas she went over to see her bunny uncle in his hollow-stump bungalow.\n\u201cOh, Uncle Wiggily! Isn\u2019t it too bad?\u201d\n\n\u201cIsn\u2019t what too bad?\u201d asked the old gentleman rabbit, as he scratched\nhis nose with his left ear, and put his glasses in his pocket, for he\nwas tired of reading the paper, and felt like going out for a walk.\n\n\u201cToo bad about my talking and singing doll, that I got for Christmas,\u201d\nsaid Susie. \u201cShe won\u2019t sing any more. Something inside her is broken.\u201d\n\n\u201cBroken? That\u2019s too bad!\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, kindly. \u201cLet me see.\nWhat\u2019s her name?\u201d\n\n\u201cSallieann Peachbasket Shortcake,\u201d answered Susie.\n\n\u201cWhat a funny name,\u201d laughed the bunny uncle.\n\nUncle Wiggily took Susie\u2019s doll, which had been given her at Christmas,\nand looked at it. Inside the doll was a sort of phonograph, or talking\nmachine\u2014a very small one, you know\u2014and when you pushed on a little\nbutton in back of the doll\u2019s dress she would laugh and talk. But, best\nof all, when she was in working order, she would sing a verse, which\nwent something like this:\n\n                   \u201cI hope you\u2019ll like my little song,\n                    I will not sing it very long.\n                    I have two shoes upon my feet,\n                    And when I\u2019m hungry, then I eat.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily wound up the spring in the doll\u2019s side, and then he\npressed the button\u2014like a shoe button\u2014in her back. But this time Susie\u2019s\ndoll did not talk, she did not laugh, and, instead of singing, she only\nmade a scratchy noise like a phonograph when it doesn\u2019t want to play, or\nlike Bully No-Tail, the frog boy, when he has a cold in his head.\n\n\u201cOh, dear! This is quite too bad!\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cQuite indeed.\u201d\n\n\u201cIsn\u2019t it!\u201d exclaimed Susie. \u201cDo you think you can fix her, Uncle?\u201d\n\nMr. Longears turned the doll upside down and shook her. Things rattled\ninside her, but even then she did not sing.\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d cried Susie, her little pink nose going twinkle-inkle, just\nas did Uncle Wiggily\u2019s. \u201cWhat can we do?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou leave it to me, Susie,\u201d spoke the old rabbit gentleman. \u201cI\u2019ll take\nthe doll to the toy shop, where I bought Little Bo Peep\u2019s sheep, and\nhave her mended.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, goodie!\u201d cried Susie, clasping her paws. \u201cNow I know it will be all\nright,\u201d and she kissed Uncle Wiggily right between his ears.\n\n\u201cWell, I\u2019m sure I _hope_ it will be all right after _that_,\u201d said the\nbunny uncle, laughing, and feeling sort of tickled inside.\n\nOff hopped Uncle Wiggily to the toy shop, and there he found the same\nmonkey-doodle gentleman who had sold him the toy woolly sheep for Little\nBo Peep.\n\n\u201cHere is more trouble,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cCan you fix Susie\u2019s doll so\nshe will sing, for the doll is a little girl one, just like Susie, and\nher name is Sallieann Peachbasket Shortcake.\u201d\n\nThe monkey-doodle man in the toy store looked at the doll.\n\n\u201cI can fix her,\u201d he said. Going in his backroom workshop, where there\nwere rocking-horses that needed new legs, wooden soldiers who had lost\ntheir guns, and steamboats that had forgotten their whistles, the toy\nman soon had Susie\u2019s doll mended again as well as ever. So that she\nsaid: \u201cPapa! Mama! I love you! I am hungry!\u201d And she laughed: \u201cHa! Ha!\nHo! Ho!\u201d and she sang:\n\n                 \u201cI am a little dollie,\n                  \u2019Bout one year old.\n                  Please take me where it\u2019s warm, for I\n                  Am feeling rather cold.\n                  If you\u2019re not in a hurry,\n                  It won\u2019t take me very long,\n                  To whistle or to sing for you\n                  My pretty little song.\u201d\n\n\u201cHurray!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily when he heard this. \u201cSusie\u2019s dolly is all\nright again. Thank you, Mr. Monkey-Doodle, I\u2019ll take her to Susie.\u201d Then\nUncle Wiggily paid the toy-store keeper and hurried off with Susie\u2019s\ndoll.\n\nUncle Wiggily had not gone very far before, all at once from around the\ncorner of a snow-bank he heard a sad, little voice crying:\n\n\u201cOh, dear! Oh, dear! Oh, dear!\u201d\n\n\u201cMy goodness!\u201d said the bunny uncle. \u201cSome one else is in trouble. I\nwonder who it can be this time?\u201d\n\nHe looked, and saw a little boy standing in the snow.\n\n\u201cHello!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily, in his jolly voice. \u201cWho are you, and\nwhat\u2019s the matter?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am Little Tommie Tucker,\u201d was the answer. \u201cAnd the matter is I\u2019m\nhungry.\u201d\n\n\u201cHungry, eh?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily. \u201cWell, why don\u2019t you eat?\u201d\n\n\u201cI guess you forgot about me and the Mother Goose book,\u201d spoke the boy.\n\u201cI\u2019m in that book, and it says about me:\n\n                      \u201c\u2018Little Tommie Tucker,\n                        Must sing for his supper.\n                        What shall he eat?\n                        Jam and bread and butter.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cWell?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily. \u201cWhy don\u2019t you sing?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2014I can\u2019t!\u201d answered Tommie. \u201cThat\u2019s the trouble. I have caught such a\ncold that I can\u2019t sing. And if I don\u2019t sing Mother Goose won\u2019t know it\nis I, and she won\u2019t give me any supper. Oh, dear! Oh, dear! And I am so\nhungry!\u201d\n\n\u201cThere now, there! Don\u2019t cry,\u201d kindly said the bunny uncle, patting\nTommie Tucker on the head. \u201cI\u2019ll soon have you singing for your supper.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut how can you when I have such a cold?\u201d asked the little boy.\n\u201cListen. I am as hoarse as a crow.\u201d\n\nAnd, truly, he could no more sing than a rusty gate, or a last year\u2019s\ndoor-knob.\n\n\u201cAh, I can soon fix that!\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cSee, here I have Susie\nLittletail\u2019s talking and singing doll, which I have just had mended. Now\nyou take the doll in your pocket, go to Mother Goose, and when she asks\nyou to sing for your supper, just push the button in the doll\u2019s back.\nThen the doll will sing and Mother Goose will think it is you, and give\nyou bread and jam.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, how fine!\u201d cried Tommie Tucker. \u201cI\u2019ll do it!\u201d\n\n\u201cBut afterward,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, slowly shaking his paw at Tommie,\n\u201cafterward you must tell Mother Goose all about the little joke you\nplayed, or it would not be fair. Tell her the doll sang and not you.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will,\u201d said Tommie. He and Uncle Wiggily went to Mother Goose\u2019s\nhouse, and when Tommie had to sing for his supper the doll did it for\nhim. And when Mother Goose heard about it she said it was a fine trick,\nand that Uncle Wiggily was very good to think of it.\n\nThen the bunny uncle took Susie\u2019s mended doll to her, and the next day\nTommie\u2019s cold was all better and he could sing for his supper himself,\njust as the book tells about.\n\nAnd if the little mouse doesn\u2019t go to sleep in the cat\u2019s cradle and\nscare the milk bottle so it rolls off the back stoop, I\u2019ll tell you next\nabout Uncle Wiggily and Pussy Cat Mole.\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER IX\n\n                    UNCLE WIGGILY AND PUSSY CAT MOLE\n\n\n\u201cOH, dear! I don\u2019t believe he\u2019s ever coming!\u201d said Nurse Jane Fuzzy\nWuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, as she stood at the window of the\nhollow-stump bungalow one day, and looked down through the woods.\n\n\u201cFor whom are you looking, Nurse Jane?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily Longears,\nthe rabbit gentleman. \u201cIf it\u2019s for the letter-man, I think he went past\nsome time ago.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, I wasn\u2019t looking for the letter-man,\u201d said the muskrat lady. \u201cI am\nexpecting a messenger-boy cat to bring home my new dress from the\ndressmaker\u2019s, but I don\u2019t see him.\u201d\n\n\u201cA new dress, eh?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily. \u201cPray, what is going on?\u201d\n\n\u201cMy dress is going on me, as soon as it comes home, Uncle Wiggily,\u201d the\nmuskrat lady answered, laughingly. \u201cAnd then I am going on over to the\nhouse of Mrs. Wibblewobble, the duck lady. She and I are going to have a\nlittle tea party together, if you don\u2019t mind.\u201d\n\n\u201cMind? Certainly not! I\u2019m glad to have you go out and enjoy yourself,\u201d\nsaid Uncle Wiggily, jolly like and also laughing.\n\n\u201cBut I can\u2019t go if my new dress doesn\u2019t come,\u201d went on Nurse Jane. \u201cThat\nis, I don\u2019t want to.\u201d\n\n\u201cLook here!\u201d said the bunny uncle, \u201cI\u2019ll tell you what I\u2019ll do, Nurse\nJane, I\u2019ll go for your dress myself and bring it home. I have nothing to\ndo. I\u2019ll go get your dress at the dressmaker\u2019s.\u201d\n\n\u201cWill you, really?\u201d cried the muskrat lady. \u201cThat will be fine! Then I\ncan curl my whiskers and tie a new pink bow for my tail. You are very\ngood, Uncle Wiggily.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, not at all! Not at all!\u201d the rabbit gentleman said, modest like and\nshy. Then he hopped out of the hollow-stump bungalow and across the\nfields and through the woods to where Nurse Jane\u2019s dressmaker made\ndresses.\n\n\u201cOh, yes, Nurse Jane\u2019s dress!\u201d exclaimed Mrs. Spin-Spider, who wove silk\nfor all the dresses worn by the lady animals of Woodland. \u201cYes, I have\njust finished it. I was about to call a messenger-boy cat and send it\nhome, but now you are here you may take it. And here is some cloth I had\nleft over. Nurse Jane might want it if ever she tears a hole in her\ndress.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily put the extra pieces of cloth in his pocket, and then Mrs.\nSpin-Spider wrapped Nurse Jane\u2019s dress up nicely for him in tissue\npaper, as fine as the web which she had spun for the silk, and the\nrabbit gentleman started back to the hollow-stump bungalow.\n\nMrs. Spin-Spider lived on Second Mountain, and, as Uncle Wiggily\u2019s\nbungalow was on First Mountain, he had quite a way to go to get home.\nAnd when he was about half way there he passed a little house near a\ngray rock that looked like an eagle, and in the house he heard a voice\nsaying:\n\n\u201cOh, dear! Oh, isn\u2019t it too bad? Now I can\u2019t go!\u201d\n\n\u201cHa! I wonder who that can be?\u201d thought the rabbit gentleman. \u201cIt sounds\nlike some one in trouble. I will ask if I can do anything to help.\u201d\n\nThe rabbit gentleman knocked on the door of the little house, and a\nvoice said:\n\n\u201cCome in!\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily entered, and there in the middle of the room he saw a\npussy cat lady holding up a dress with a big hole burned in it.\n\n\u201cI beg your pardon, but who are you and what is the matter?\u201d politely\nasked the bunny uncle, making a low bow.\n\n\u201cMy name is Pussy Cat Mole,\u201d was the answer, \u201cand you can see the\ntrouble for yourself. I am Pussy Cat Mole; I jumped over a coal, and\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cIn your best petticoat burned a great hole,\u201d finished Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI\nknow you, now. You are from Mother Goose\u2019s book and I met you at a party\nin Belleville, where they have a bluebell flower on the school to call\nthe animal children to their lessons.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s it!\u201d meowed Pussy Cat Mole. \u201cI am glad you remember me, Uncle\nWiggily. It was at a party I met you, and now I am going to another. Or,\nrather, I was going until I jumped over a coal, and in my best petticoat\nburned a great hole. Now I can\u2019t go,\u201d and she held up the burned dress,\nsorrowful like and sad.\n\n\u201cHow did you happen to jump over the coal?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily.\n\n\u201cOh, it fell out of my stove,\u201d said Pussy Cat Mole, \u201cand I jumped over\nit in a hurry to get the fire shovel to take it up. That\u2019s how I burned\nmy dress. And now I can\u2019t go to the party, for it was my best petticoat,\nand Mrs. Wibblewobble, the duck lady, asked me to be there early, too;\nand now\u2014Oh, dear!\u201d and Pussy Cat Mole felt very badly, indeed.\n\n\u201cMrs. Wibblewobble\u2019s!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cWhy, Nurse Jane is going\nthere to a little tea party, too! This is her new dress I am taking\nhome.\u201d\n\n\u201cHas she burned a hole in it?\u201d asked the pussy cat lady.\n\n\u201cNo, she has not, I am glad to say,\u201d the bunny uncle replied. \u201cShe\nhasn\u2019t had it on, yet.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen she can go to the party, but I can\u2019t,\u201d said Pussy Cat Mole,\nsorrowfully. \u201cOh, dear!\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, you can go!\u201d suddenly cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cSee here! I have some\nextra pieces of cloth, left over when Mrs. Spin-Spider made Nurse Jane\u2019s\ndress. Now you can take these pieces of cloth and mend the hole burned\nby the coal in your best petticoat. Then you can go to the party.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, so I can,\u201d meowed the pussy cat. So, with a needle and thread, and\nthe cloth she mended her best petticoat.\n\nAll around the edges and over the top of the burned hole the pussy cat\nlady sewed the left-over pieces of Nurse Jane\u2019s dress which was almost\nthe same color. Then, when the mended place was pressed with a warm\nflat-iron, Uncle Wiggily cried:\n\n\u201cYou would never know there had been a burned hole!\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s fine!\u201d meowed Pussy Cat Mole. \u201cThank you so much, Uncle Wiggily,\nfor helping me!\u201d\n\n\u201cPray do not mention it,\u201d said the rabbit gentleman, bashful like and\ncasual. Then he hurried to the hollow-stump bungalow with Nurse Jane\u2019s\ndress, and the muskrat lady said he had done just right to help mend\nPussy Cat Mole\u2019s dress with the left-over pieces. So she and Nurse Jane\nboth went to Mrs. Wibblewobble\u2019s little tea party, and had a good time.\n\nAnd so, you see, it came out just as it did in the book: Pussy Cat Mole\njumped over a coal, and in her best petticoat burned a great hole. But\nthe hole it was mended, and my story is ended. Only never before was it\nknown how the hole was mended. Uncle Wiggily did it.\n\nAnd, if the apple doesn\u2019t jump out of the peach dumpling and hide in the\nlemon pie when the knife and fork try to play tag with it, I\u2019ll tell you\nnext about Uncle Wiggily and Jack and Jill, and it will be a Valentine\nstory.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER X\n\n                    UNCLE WIGGILY AND JACK AND JILL\n\n\nUNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the nice old gentleman rabbit, was asleep in an\neasy chair in his hollow-stump bungalow one morning when he heard some\none calling:\n\n\u201cHi, Jack! Ho, Jill! Where are you? Come at once, if you please!\u201d\n\n\u201cHa! What\u2019s that? Some one calling me?\u201d asked the bunny uncle, sitting\nup so suddenly that he knocked over his red, white and blue striped\nbarber-pole rheumatism crutch that Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat\nlady housekeeper, had gnawed for him out of a corn-stalk. \u201cIs any one\ncalling me?\u201d asked Mr. Longears.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d answered Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy. \u201cThat\u2019s Mother Goose calling Jack and\nJill to get a pail of water.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! is that all?\u201d asked the rabbit gentleman, rubbing his pink eyes and\nmaking his nose twinkle like the sharp end of an ice cream cone. \u201cJust\nMother Goose calling Jack and Jill; eh? Well, I\u2019ll go out and see if I\ncan find them for her.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily was always that way, you know, wanting to help some one.\nThis time it was Mother Goose. His new hollow-stump bungalow was built\nright near where Mother Goose lived, with all her big family;\nPeter-Peter Pumpkin-Eater, Little Jack Horner, Bo Peep and many others.\n\n\u201cHo, Jack! Hi, Jill! Where are you?\u201d called Mother Goose, as Uncle\nWiggily came out of his hollow stump.\n\n\u201cCan\u2019t you find those two children?\u201d asked the rabbit gentleman, making\na polite good morning bow.\n\n\u201cI am sorry to say I cannot,\u201d answered Mother Goose. \u201cThey were over to\nsee the Old Woman Who Lives in a Shoe, a while ago, but where they are\nnow I can\u2019t guess, and I need a pail of water for Simple Simon to go\nfishing in, for to catch a whale.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I\u2019ll get the water for you,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, taking the pail.\n\u201cPerhaps Jack and Jill are off playing somewhere, and they have\nforgotten all about getting the water.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd I suppose they\u2019ll forget about tumbling down hill, too,\u201d went on\nMother Goose, sort of nervous like. \u201cBut they must not. If they don\u2019t\nfall down, so Jack can break his crown, it won\u2019t be like the story in my\nbook, and everything will be upside down.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo Jack has to break his crown; eh?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily. \u201cThat\u2019s too\nbad. I hope he won\u2019t hurt himself too much.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, he\u2019s used to it by this time,\u201d Mother Goose said. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t mind\nfalling, nor does Jill mind tumbling down after.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well, then, I\u2019ll get the pail of water for you,\u201d spoke the bunny\nuncle, \u201cand Jack and Jill can do the tumbling-down-hill part.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily took the water pail and started for the hill, on top of\nwhich was the well owned by Mother Goose. As the bunny uncle was walking\nalong he suddenly heard a voice calling to him from behind a bush.\n\n\u201cOh, Uncle Wiggily, will you do me a favor?\u201d\n\n\u201cI certainly will,\u201d said Mr. Longears, \u201cbut who are you, and where are\nyou?\u201d\n\n\u201cHere I am, over here,\u201d the voice went on. \u201cI\u2019m Jack, and will you\nplease give this to Jill when you see her?\u201d\n\nOut from behind the bush stepped Jack, the little Mother Goose boy. In\nhis hand he held a piece of white birch bark, prettily colored red,\ngreen and pink, and on it was a little verse which read:\n\n                  \u201cCan you tell me, pretty maid,\n                   Tell me and not be afraid,\n                   Who\u2019s the sweetest girl, and true?\u2014\n                   I can; for she\u2019s surely you!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s this? What\u2019s this?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily, in surprise. \u201cWhat\u2019s\nthis?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s a valentine for Jill,\u201d said Jack. \u201cTo-day is Valentine\u2019s Day, you\nsee, but I don\u2019t want Jill to know I sent it, so I went off here and hid\nuntil I could see you to ask you to take it to her.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right, I\u2019ll do it,\u201d Uncle Wiggily said, laughing. \u201cI\u2019ll take your\nvalentine to Jill for you. So that\u2019s why you weren\u2019t \u2019round to get the\npail of water; is it?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d answered Jack. \u201cI wanted to finish making my valentine. As soon\nas you give it to Jill I\u2019ll get the water.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, never mind that,\u201d said the bunny uncle. \u201cI\u2019ll get the water, just\nyou do the falling-down-hill part. I\u2019m too old for that.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will,\u201d promised Jack. Then Uncle Wiggily went on up the hill, and\npretty soon he heard some one else calling him, and, all of a sudden,\nout from behind a stump stepped Jill, the little Mother Goose girl.\n\n\u201cOh, Uncle Wiggily!\u201d said Jill, bashfully holding out a pretty red leaf,\nshaped like a heart, \u201cwill you please give this to Jack. I don\u2019t want\nhim to know I sent it.\u201d\n\n\u201cOf course, I\u2019ll give it to him,\u201d promised the rabbit gentleman. \u201cIt\u2019s a\nvalentine, I suppose, and here is something for you,\u201d and while Jill was\nreading the valentine Jack had sent her, Uncle Wiggily looked at the red\nheart-shaped leaf. On it Jill had written in blue ink:\n\n                    \u201cOne day when I went to school,\n                     Teacher taught to me this rule:\n                     Eight and one add up to nine;\n                     So I\u2019ll be your valentine.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy, that\u2019s nice!\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, laughing. \u201cSo that\u2019s why you\u2019re\nhiding off here for, Jill, to make a valentine for Jack?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s it,\u201d Jill answered, blushing sort of pink, like the frosting on\na strawberry cake. \u201cBut I don\u2019t want Jack to know it.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll never tell him,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily.\n\nSo he went on up the hill to get a pail of water for Mother Goose. And\non his way back he gave Jill\u2019s valentine to Jack, who liked it very\nmuch.\n\n\u201cAnd now, since you got the water, Jill and I will go tumble down hill,\u201d\nsaid Jack, as he found the little girl, where she was reading his\nvalentine again. Up the hill they went, near the well of water, and Jack\nfell down, and broke his crown, while Jill came tumbling after, while\nUncle Wiggily looked on and laughed. So it all happened just as it did\nin the book, you see.\n\nMother Goose was very glad Uncle Wiggily had brought the water for\nSimple Simon to go fishing in, and that afternoon she gave a valentine\nparty for Sammie and Susie Littletail, the Bushytail squirrel brothers,\nNannie and Billie Wagtail, the goats, and all the other animal friends\nof Uncle Wiggily. And every one had a fine time.\n\nAnd if the cup doesn\u2019t jump out of the saucer and hide in the\nspoonholder, where the coffee cake can\u2019t find it, I\u2019ll tell you next\nabout Uncle Wiggily and little Jack Horner.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER XI\n\n                     UNCLE WIGGILY AND JACK HORNER\n\n\n\u201cWELL, I think I\u2019ll go for a walk,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily Longears, the\nrabbit gentleman, one afternoon, when he was sitting out on the front\nporch of his hollow-stump bungalow. He had just eaten a nice dinner that\nNurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, had gotten ready\nfor him.\n\n\u201cGo for a walk!\u201d exclaimed Nurse Jane. \u201cWhy, Mr. Longears, excuse me for\nsaying so, but you went walking this morning.\u201d\n\n\u201cI know I did,\u201d answered the bunny uncle, \u201cbut no adventure happened to\nme then. I don\u2019t really count it a good day unless I have had an\nadventure. So I\u2019ll go walking again, and perhaps I may find one. If I\ndo, I\u2019ll come home and tell you all about it.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right,\u201d said Nurse Jane. \u201cYou are a funny rabbit, to be sure! Going\noff in the woods, looking for adventures when you might sit quietly here\non the bungalow front porch.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s just it!\u201d laughed Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI don\u2019t like to be too quiet.\nOff I go!\u201d\n\n\u201cI hope you have a nice adventure!\u201d Nurse Jane called after him.\n\n\u201cThank you,\u201d answered Uncle Wiggily, politely.\n\nAway over the fields and through the woods went the bunny uncle, looking\non all sides for an adventure, when, all of a sudden he heard behind him\na sound that went:\n\n\u201cHonk! Honk! Honkity-honk-honk!\u201d\n\n\u201cHa! That must be a wild goose!\u201d thought the rabbit gentleman.\n\nSo he looked up in the air, over his head, where the wild geese always\nfly, but, instead of seeing any of the big birds, Uncle Wiggily felt\nsomething whizz past him, and again he heard the loud \u201cHonk-honk!\u201d\nnoise, and then he sneezed, for a lot of dust from the road flew up his\nnose.\n\n\u201cMy!\u201d he heard some one cry. \u201cWe nearly ran over a rabbit! Did you see?\u201d\n\nAnd a big automobile, with real people in it, shot past. It was the horn\nof the auto that Uncle Wiggily had heard, and not a wild goose.\n\n\u201cHa! That came pretty close to me,\u201d thought Uncle Wiggily, as the auto\nwent on down the road. \u201cI never ride my automobile as fast as that, even\nwhen I sprinkle pepper on the bologna sausage tires. I don\u2019t like to\nscare any one.\u201d\n\nPerhaps the people in the auto did not mean to so nearly run over Uncle\nWiggily. Let us hope so.\n\nThe old gentleman rabbit hopped on down the road, that was between the\nwoods and the fields, and, pretty soon, he saw something bright and\nshining in the dust, near where the auto had passed.\n\n\u201cOh, maybe that\u2019s a diamond,\u201d he said, as he stooped over to pick it up.\nBut it was only a shiny button-hook, and not a diamond at all. Some one\nin the automobile had dropped it.\n\n\u201cWell, I\u2019ll put it in my pocket,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily to himself. \u201cIt may\ncome in useful to button Nurse Jane\u2019s shoes, or mine.\u201d\n\nThe bunny gentleman went on a little farther, and, pretty soon, he came\nto a tiny house, with a red chimney sticking up out of the roof.\n\n\u201cHa! I wonder who lives there?\u201d said Uncle Wiggily.\n\nHe stood still for a moment, looking through his glasses at the house\nand then, all of a sudden, he saw a little lady, with a tall, peaked hat\non, run out and look up and down the road. Her hat was just like an ice\ncream cone turned upside down. Only don\u2019t turn your ice cream cone\nupside down if it has any cream in it, for you might spill your treat.\n\n\u201cHelp! Help! Help!\u201d cried the lady, who had come out of the house with\nthe red chimney.\n\n\u201cHa! That sounds like trouble!\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI think I had\nbetter hurry over there and see what it is all about.\u201d\n\nHe hopped over toward the little house, and, when he reached it he saw\nthat the little lady who was calling for help was Mother Goose herself.\n\n\u201cOh, Uncle Wiggily!\u201d exclaimed Mother Goose. \u201cI am so glad to see you!\nWill you please go for help for me?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, certainly I will,\u201d answered the bunny gentleman. \u201cBut what kind of\nhelp do you want; help for the kitchen, or a wash-lady help or\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cNeither of those,\u201d said Mother Goose. \u201cI want help so Little Jack\nHorner can get his thumb out of the pie.\u201d\n\n\u201cGet his thumb out of the pie!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cWhat in the world\ndo you mean?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, you see it\u2019s this way,\u201d went on Mother Goose. \u201cJack Horner lives\nhere. You must have heard about him. He is in my book. His verse goes\nlike this:\n\n                    \u201cLittle Jack Horner\n                     Sat in a corner,\n                     Eating a Christmas pie.\n                     He put in his thumb,\n                     And pulled out a plum,\n                     And said what a great boy am I.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s the boy I mean,\u201d cried Mother Goose. \u201cBut the trouble is that\nJack can\u2019t get his thumb out. He put it in the pie, to pull out the\nplum, but it won\u2019t come out\u2014neither the plum nor the thumb. They are\nstuck fast for some reason or other. I wish you\u2019d go for Dr. Possum, so\nhe can help us.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cBut is Jack Horner sitting in a corner,\nas it says in the book?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, he\u2019s doing that all right,\u201d answered Mother Goose. \u201cBut, corner or\nno corner, he can\u2019t pull out his thumb.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll get the doctor at once,\u201d promised the bunny uncle. He hurried over\nto Dr. Possum\u2019s house, but could not find him, as Dr. Possum was, just\nthen, called to see Jillie Longtail, who had the mouse-trap fever.\n\n\u201cDr. Possum not in!\u201d cried Mother Goose, when Uncle Wiggily had hopped\nback and told her. \u201cThat\u2019s too bad! Oh, we must do something for Jack.\nHe\u2019s crying and going on terribly because he can\u2019t get his thumb out.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily thought for a minute. Then, putting his paw in his pocket,\nhe felt the button-hook which had dropped from the automobile that\nnearly ran over him.\n\n\u201cHa! I know what to do!\u201d cried the bunny uncle, suddenly.\n\n\u201cWhat?\u201d asked Mother Goose.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll pull out Jack\u2019s thumb myself, with this button-hook,\u201d said Mr.\nLongears. \u201cI\u2019ll make him all right without waiting for Dr. Possum.\u201d\n\nInto the room, where, in the corner, Jack was sitting, went the bunny\ngentleman. There he saw the Christmas-pie boy, with his thumb away down\ndeep under the top crust.\n\n\u201cOh, Uncle Wiggily!\u201d cried Jack. \u201cI\u2019m in such trouble. Oh, dear! I can\u2019t\nget my thumb out. It must be caught on the edge of the pan, or\nsomething!\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t cry,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, kindly. \u201cI\u2019ll get it out for you.\u201d\n\nSo he put the button-hook through the hole in the top pie crust, close\nto Jack\u2019s thumb. Then, getting the hook on the plum, Uncle Wiggily, with\nhis strong paws, pulled and pulled and pulled, and\u2014\u2014\n\nAll of a sudden out came the plum and Jack Horner\u2019s thumb, and they\nweren\u2019t stuck fast any more.\n\n\u201cOh, thank you, so much!\u201d said Jack, as he got up out of his corner.\n\n\u201cPray don\u2019t mention it,\u201d spoke Uncle Wiggily, politely. \u201cI am glad I\ncould help you, and it also makes an adventure for me.\u201d\n\nThen Jack Horner, went back to his corner and ate the plum that stuck to\nhis thumb. And Uncle Wiggily, putting the button-hook back in his\npocket, went on to his hollow-stump bungalow. He had had his adventure.\n\nSo everything came out all right, you see, and if the snow-shovel\ndoesn\u2019t go off by itself, sliding down hill with the ash can, when it\nought to be boiling the cups and saucers for supper, I\u2019ll tell you next\nabout Uncle Wiggily and Mr. Pop-Goes.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XII\n\n                     UNCLE WIGGILY AND MR. POP-GOES\n\n\n\u201cUNCLE WIGGILY,\u201d said Mrs. Littletail, the rabbit lady, one morning, as\nshe came in the dining-room where Mr. Longears was reading the cabbage\nleaf paper after breakfast, \u201cUncle Wiggily, I don\u2019t like you to go out\nin such a storm as this, but I do need some things from the store, and I\nhave no one to send.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, I\u2019ll be only too glad to go,\u201d cried the bunny uncle, who was\nspending a few days visiting the Littletail family in their underground\nburrow-house. \u201cIt isn\u2019t snowing very hard,\u201d and he looked out through\nthe window, which was up a little way above ground to make the burrow\nlight. \u201cWhat do you want, Mrs. Littletail?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cOh, I want a loaf of bread and some sugar,\u201d said the bunny mother of\nSammie and Susie Littletail.\n\n\u201cAnd you shall certainly have what you want!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily, as he\ngot ready to go to the store. Soon he was on his way, wearing his fur\ncoat, and hopping along on his corn-stalk rheumatism crutch, while his\npink nose was twinkling in the frosty air like a red lantern on the back\nof an automobile.\n\n\u201cA loaf of home-made bread and three and a half pounds of granulated\nsugar,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily to the monkey-doodle gentleman who kept the\ngrocery store. \u201cAnd the best that you have, if you please, as it\u2019s for\nMrs. Littletail.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou shall certainly have the best!\u201d cried the monkey-doodle gentleman,\nwith a jolly laugh. And while he was wrapping up the things for Uncle\nWiggily to carry home, all at once there sounded in the store a loud:\n\n\u201cPop!\u201d\n\n\u201cMy! What\u2019s that?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily, surprised like and excited. \u201cI\nheard a bang like a gun. Are there any hunter-men, with their dogs\nabout? If there are I must be careful.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, that wasn\u2019t a gun,\u201d said the monkey-doodle gentleman. \u201cThat was\nonly one of the toy balloons in my window. I had some left over from\nlast year, so I blew them up and put them in my window to make it look\npretty. Now and then one of them bursts.\u201d And just then, surely enough,\n\u201cPop! Bang!\u201d went another toy balloon, bursting and shriveling all up.\n\nUncle Wiggily looked in the front window of the store and saw some\nblown-up balloons that had not burst.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll take two of those,\u201d he said to the monkey-doodle gentleman.\n\u201cSammie and Susie Littletail will like to play with them.\u201d\n\n\u201cBetter take two or three,\u201d said the monkey-doodle gentleman. \u201cI\u2019ll let\nyou have them cheap, as they are old balloons, and they will burst\neasily.\u201d\n\nSo he let the air out of four balloons and gave them to Uncle Wiggily to\ntake home to the bunny children.\n\nThe rabbit gentleman started off through the snow-storm toward the\nunderground house, but he had not gone very far before, just as he was\ncoming out from behind a big stump, he heard voices talking.\n\n\u201cNow, I\u2019ll tell you how we can get those rabbits,\u201d Uncle Wiggily heard\none voice say. \u201cI\u2019ll crawl down in the burrow, and as soon as they see\nme they\u2019ll be scared and run out\u2014Uncle Wiggily, Mrs. Littletail, the two\nchildren, Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy and all. Then you can grab them, Mr.\nBigtail! I am glad I happened to meet you!\u201d\n\n\u201cAh, ha!\u201d thought Uncle Wiggily. \u201cMr. Bigtail! I ought to know that\nname. It\u2019s the fox, and he and some one else seem to be after us\nrabbits. But I thought the fox promised to be good and let me alone. He\nmust have changed his mind.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily peeked cautiously around the stump, taking care to make no\nnoise, and there he saw a fox and another animal talking. And the rabbit\ngentleman saw that it was not the fox who had promised to be good, but\nanother one, of the same name, who was bad.\n\n\u201cYes, I\u2019ll go down the hole and drive out the rabbits and you can grab\nthem,\u201d said the queer animal.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s good,\u201d growled the fox, \u201cbut to whom have I the honor of\nspeaking?\u201d That was his way of asking the name of the other animal, you\nsee.\n\n\u201cOh, I\u2019m called Mr. Pop-Goes,\u201d said the other.\n\n\u201cMr. Pop-Goes! What a queer name,\u201d said the fox, and all the while Uncle\nWiggily was listening with his big ears, and wondering what it all\nmeant.\n\n\u201cOh, Pop-Goes isn\u2019t all my name,\u201d said the queer animal. \u201cDon\u2019t you know\nthe story in the book? The monkey chased the cobbler\u2019s wife all around\nthe steeple. That\u2019s the way the money goes, Pop! goes the weasel. I\u2019m\nMr. Pop-Goes, the weasel, you see. I\u2019m \u2019specially good at chasing\nrabbits.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I see!\u201d barked Mr. Bigtail, the fox. \u201cWell, I\u2019ll be glad if you can\nhelp me get those rabbits. I\u2019ve been over to that Uncle Wiggily\u2019s\nhollow-stump bungalow, but he isn\u2019t around.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, he\u2019s visiting the Littletail rabbits,\u201d said Mr. Pop-Goes, the\nweasel. \u201cBut we\u2019ll drive him out.\u201d\n\nThen Uncle Wiggily felt very badly, indeed, for he knew that a weasel is\nthe worst animal a rabbit can have after him. Weasels are very fond of\nrabbits. They love them so much they want to eat them, and Uncle Wiggily\ndid not want to be eaten, even by Mr. Pop-Goes.\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d he thought. \u201cWhat can I do to scare away the bad fox and Mr.\nPop-Goes, the weasel? Oh, dear!\u201d Then he thought of the toy balloons,\nthat made a noise like a gun when they were blown up and burst. \u201cThe\nvery thing!\u201d thought the rabbit gentleman.\n\nCarefully, as he hid behind the stump, Uncle Wiggily took out one of the\ntoy balloons. Carefully he blew it up, bigger and bigger and bigger,\nuntil, all at once:\n\n\u201cBang!\u201d exploded the toy balloon, even making Uncle Wiggily jump. And as\nfor the fox and Mr. Pop-Goes, the weasel, why they were so kerslostrated\n(if you will kindly excuse me for using such a word) that they turned a\nsomersault, jumped up in the air, came down, turned a peppersault, and\nstarted to run.\n\n\u201cDid you hear that noise?\u201d asked the weasel. \u201cThat was a pop, and\nwhenever I hear a pop I have to go! And I\u2019m going fast!\u201d\n\n\u201cSo am I!\u201d barked the fox. \u201cThat was a hunter with a gun after us, I\nguess. We\u2019ll get those rabbits some other time.\u201d\n\n\u201cMaybe you will, and maybe not!\u201d laughed Uncle Wiggily, as he hurried on\nto the burrow with the bread, sugar and the rest of the toy balloons,\nwith which Sammie and Susie had lots of fun.\n\nSo you see Mr. Pop-Goes, the weasel, didn\u2019t get Uncle Wiggily after all,\nand if the pepper caster doesn\u2019t throw dust in the potato\u2019s eyes, and\nmake it sneeze at the rag doll, I\u2019ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily\nand Simple Simon.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XIII\n\n                     UNCLE WIGGILY AND SIMPLE SIMON\n\n\n\u201cTHERE!\u201d exclaimed Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper,\nwho, with Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit gentleman, was visiting at\nthe Littletail rabbit burrow one day. \u201cThere they are, Uncle Wiggily,\nall nicely wrapped up for you to carry.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s nicely wrapped up?\u201d asked the bunny uncle. \u201cAnd what do you want\nme to carry?\u201d And he looked over the tops of his spectacles at the\nmuskrat lady, sort of surprised and wondering.\n\n\u201cI want you to carry the jam tarts, and they are all nicely wrapped up,\u201d\nwent on Nurse Jane. \u201cDon\u2019t you remember, I said I was going to make some\nfor you to take over to Mrs. Wibblewobble, the duck lady?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, of course!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cThe jam tarts are for Lulu, Alice\nand Jimmie Wibblewobble, the duck children. I remember now. I\u2019ll take\nthem right over.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey are all nicely wrapped up in a clean napkin,\u201d went on the muskrat\nlady, \u201cso be careful not to squash them and squeeze out the jam, as they\nare very fresh.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll be careful,\u201d promised the old rabbit gentleman, as he put on his\nfur coat and took down off the parlor mantle his red, white and blue\nstriped barber-pole rheumatism crutch, made of a corn-stalk.\n\n\u201cOh, wait a minute, Uncle Wiggily! Wait a minute!\u201d cried Mrs.\nLittletail, the bunny mother of Sammie and Susie, the rabbit children,\nas Mr. Longears started out. \u201cWhere are you going?\u201d\n\n\u201cOver to Mrs. Wibblewobble, the duck lady\u2019s house, with some jam tarts\nfor Lulu, Alice and Jimmie,\u201d answered Uncle Wiggily.\n\n\u201cThen would you mind carrying, also, this little rubber plant over to\nher?\u201d asked Mrs. Littletail. \u201cI told Mrs. Wibblewobble I would send one\nto her the first chance I had.\u201d\n\n\u201cRight gladly will I take it,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. So Mrs. Littletail,\nthe rabbit lady, wrapped the pot of the little rubber plant, with its\nthick, shiny green leaves, in a piece of paper, and Uncle Wiggily,\ntucking it under one paw, while with the other he leaned on his crutch,\nstarted off over the fields and through the woods, with the jam tarts in\nhis pocket. Over toward the home of the Wibblewobble duck family he\nhopped.\n\nMr. Longears, the nice old rabbit gentleman, had not gone very far\nbefore, all at once, from behind a snow-covered stump, he heard a voice\nsaying:\n\n\u201cOh, dear! I know I\u2019ll never find him! I\u2019ve looked all over and I can\u2019t\nsee him anywhere. Oh, dear! Oh, dear! What shall I do?\u201d\n\n\u201cMy! That sounds like some one in trouble,\u201d Uncle Wiggily said to\nhimself. \u201cI wonder if that is any of my little animal friends? I must\nlook.\u201d\n\nSo the rabbit gentleman peeked over the top of the stump, and there he\nsaw a queer-looking boy, with a funny smile on his face, which was as\nround and shiny as the bottom of a new dish pan. And the boy looked so\nkind that Uncle Wiggily knew he would not hurt even a lollypop, much\nless a rabbit gentleman.\n\n\u201cOh, hello!\u201d cried the boy, as soon as he saw Uncle Wiggily. \u201cWho are\nyou?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am Mr. Longears,\u201d replied the bunny uncle. \u201cAnd who are you?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, I\u2019m Simple Simon,\u201d was the answer. \u201cI\u2019m in the Mother Goose book,\nyou know.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, yes, I remember,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cBut you seem to be _out_ of\nthe book, just now.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am,\u201d said Simple Simon. \u201cThe page with my picture on it fell out of\nthe book, and so I ran away. But I can\u2019t find him anywhere and I don\u2019t\nknow what to do.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho is it you can\u2019t find?\u201d asked the rabbit.\n\n\u201cThe pie-man,\u201d answered the funny, round-faced boy. \u201cDon\u2019t you remember,\nit says in the book, \u2018Simple Simon met a pie-man going to the fair?\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, yes, I remember,\u201d Uncle Wiggily answered. \u201cWhat\u2019s next?\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, I can\u2019t find him anywhere,\u201d said Simple Simon. \u201cI guess the\npie-man didn\u2019t fall out of the book when I did.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s too bad,\u201d spoke Uncle Wiggily, kindly.\n\n\u201cIt is,\u201d said Simple Simon. \u201cFor you know he ought to ask me for my\npenny, when I want to taste of his pies, and indeed, I haven\u2019t any\npenny\u2014not any, and I\u2019m so hungry for a piece of pie!\u201d And Simple Simon\nbegan to cry.\n\n\u201cOh, don\u2019t cry,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cSee, in my pocket I have some jam\ntarts. They are for Lulu, Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble, the ducks, but\nthere are enough to let you have one.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, you are a regular pie-man yourself; aren\u2019t you?\u201d laughed Simple\nSimon, as he ate one of Nurse Jane\u2019s nice jam tarts.\n\n\u201cWell, you might call me that,\u201d said the bunny uncle. \u201cThough I s\u2019pose a\ntart-man would be nearer right.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut there\u2019s something else,\u201d went on Simple Simon. \u201cYou know in the\nMother Goose book I have to go for water, in my mother\u2019s sieve. But soon\nit all ran through.\u201d And then, cried Simple Simon, \u201cOh, dear, what shall\nI do?\u201d And he held out a sieve, just like a coffee strainer, full of\nlittle holes. \u201cHow can I ever get water in that?\u201d he asked. \u201cI\u2019ve tried\nand tried, but I can\u2019t. No one can! It all runs through!\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily thought for a minute. Then he cried:\n\n\u201cI have it! I\u2019ll pull some leaves off the rubber plant I am taking to\nMrs. Wibblewobble. We\u2019ll put the leaves in the bottom of the sieve, and,\nbeing of rubber, water can\u2019t get through them. Then the sieve will hold\nwater, or milk either, and you can bring it to your mother.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, fine!\u201d cried Simple Simon, licking the sticky squeegee jam off his\nfingers. So Uncle Wiggily put some rubber plant leaves in the bottom of\nthe sieve, and Simple Simon, filling it full of water, carried it home\nto his mother, and not a drop ran through, which, of course, wasn\u2019t at\nall like the story in the book.\n\n\u201cBut that isn\u2019t my fault,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, as he took the rest of\nthe jam tarts to the Wibblewobble children. \u201cI just had to help Simple\nSimon.\u201d Which was very kind of Uncle Wiggily, I think; don\u2019t you? It\ndidn\u2019t matter if, just once, something happened that wasn\u2019t in the book.\n\nAnd Mrs. Wibblewobble didn\u2019t at all mind some of the leaves being off\nher rubber plant. So you see we should always be kind when we can; and\nif the canary bird doesn\u2019t go to sleep in the bowl with the goldfish,\nand forget to whistle like an alarm clock in the morning, I\u2019ll tell you\nnext about Uncle Wiggily and the crumple-horn cow.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XIV\n\n                 UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CRUMPLE-HORN COW\n\n\n\u201cWHERE are you going, Uncle Wiggily?\u201d asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the\nmuskrat lady housekeeper, as she saw the rabbit gentleman starting out\nfrom his hollow-stump bungalow one day. He was back again from his visit\nto Sammie and Susie Littletail.\n\n\u201cOh, I\u2019m just going for a walk,\u201d answered Mr. Longears. \u201cI have not had\nan exciting adventure since I carried the valentines for Jack and Jill,\nbefore they tumbled down hill, and perhaps to-day I may find something\nelse to make me lively, and happy and skippy like.\u201d\n\n\u201cToo much hopping and skipping is not good for you,\u201d the muskrat lady\nsaid.\n\n\u201cYes, I think it is, if you will excuse me for saying so,\u201d spoke Uncle\nWiggily politely. \u201cIt keeps my rheumatism from getting too painful.\u201d\n\nThen, taking his red, white and blue-striped rheumatism crutch from\ninside the talking machine horn, Uncle Wiggily started off.\n\nOver the fields and through the woods went the rabbit gentleman, until,\npretty soon, as he was walking along, wondering what would happen to him\nthat day, he heard a voice saying:\n\n\u201cMoo! Moo! Moo-o-o-o-o!\u201d\n\n\u201cAh! That sounds rather sad and unhappy like,\u201d spoke the rabbit\ngentleman to himself. \u201cI wonder if it can be any one in trouble?\u201d\n\nSo he peeked through the bushes and there he saw a nice cow, who was\nstanding with one foot in the hollow of a big stump.\n\n\u201cMoo! Moo!\u201d cried the cow. \u201cOh, dear, will no one help me?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, of course, I\u2019ll help you,\u201d kindly said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cWhat is the\nmatter, and who are you?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, I am the Mother Goose cow with the crumpled horn,\u201d was the answer,\n\u201cand my foot is caught so tightly in the hole of this stump that I\ncannot get it out.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, I\u2019ll help you, Mrs. Crumpled-horn Cow,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily,\nkindly. Then, with his rheumatism crutch, the rabbit gentleman pushed\nloose the cow\u2019s hoof from where it was caught in the stump, and she was\nall right again.\n\n\u201cOh, thank you so much, Uncle Wiggily,\u201d spoke the crumpled-horn cow. \u201cIf\never I can do you a favor I will.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you,\u201d said the rabbit gentleman, politely. \u201cI\u2019m sure you will.\nBut how did you happen to get your hoof caught in that stump?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I was standing on it, trying to see if I could jump over the moon,\u201d\nwas the answer.\n\n\u201cJump over the moon!\u201d cried the rabbit gentleman. \u201cYou surprise me! Why\nin the world\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s this way, you see,\u201d spoke the crumpled-horn lady cow. \u201cIn the\nMother Goose book it says: \u2018Hi-diddle-diddle, the cat\u2019s in the fiddle,\nthe cow jumped over the moon.\u2019 Well, if one cow did that, I don\u2019t see\nwhy another one can\u2019t. I got up on the stump, to try and jump over the\nmoon, but my foot slipped and I was caught fast.\n\n\u201cI suppose I should not have tried it, for I am the cow with the\ncrumpled horn. You have heard of me, I dare say. I\u2019m the cow with the\ncrumpled horn, that little Boy Blue drove out of the corn. I tossed the\ndog that worried that cat that caught the rat that ate the malt that lay\nin the house that Jack built.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I remember you now,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily.\n\n\u201cAnd this is my crumpled horn,\u201d went on the cow, and she showed the\nrabbit gentleman how one of her horns was all crumpled and crooked and\ntwisted, just like a corkscrew that is used to pull hard corks out of\nbottles.\n\n\u201cWell, thank you again for pulling out my foot,\u201d said the cow, as she\nturned away. \u201cNow I must go toss that dog once more, for he\u2019s always\nworrying the cat.\u201d\n\nSo the cow went away, and Uncle Wiggily hopped on through the woods and\nover the fields. He had had an adventure, you see, helping the cow, and\nlater on he had another one, for he met Jimmie Wibblewobble, the boy\nduck, who had lost his penny going to the store for a corn-meal-flavored\nlollypop. Uncle Wiggily found the penny in the snow, and Jimmie was\nhappy once more.\n\nThe next day when Uncle Wiggily awakened in his hollow-stump bungalow,\nand tried to get out of bed, he was so lame and stiff that he could\nhardly move.\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d cried the rabbit gentleman. \u201cOuch! Oh, what a pain!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is it?\u201d asked Nurse Jane. \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter?\u201d\n\n\u201cMy rheumatism,\u201d answered Uncle Wiggily. \u201cPlease send to Dr. Possum and\nget some medicine. Ouch! Oh, my!\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll go for the medicine myself,\u201d Nurse Jane said, and, tying her tail\nup in a double bow-knot, so she would not step on it, and trip, as she\nhurried along, over to Dr. Possum\u2019s she went.\n\nThe doctor was just starting out to go to see Nannie Wagtail, the little\ngoat girl, who had the hornache, but before going there Dr. Possum ran\nback into his office, got a big bottle of medicine, which he gave to\nNurse Jane, saying:\n\n\u201cWhen you get back to the hollow-stump bungalow pull out the cork and\nrub some on Uncle Wiggily\u2019s pain.\u201d\n\n\u201cRub the cork on?\u201d asked Nurse Jane, sort of surprised like.\n\n\u201cNo, rub on some of the medicine from the bottle,\u201d answered Dr. Possum,\nlaughing as he hurried off.\n\nUncle Wiggily had a bad pain when Nurse Jane got back.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll soon fix you,\u201d said the muskrat lady. \u201cWait until I get the cork\nout of this bottle.\u201d But that was more easily said than done. Nurse Jane\ntried with all her might to pull out the cork with her paws and even\nwith her teeth. Then she used a hair pin, but it only bent and twisted\nitself all up in a knot.\n\n\u201cOh, hurry with the medicine!\u201d begged Uncle Wiggily. \u201cHurry, please!\u201d\n\n\u201cI can\u2019t get the cork out,\u201d said Nurse Jane. \u201cThe cork is stuck in the\nbottle.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet me try,\u201d spoke the bunny uncle. But he could not get the cork out,\neither, and his pain was getting worse all the while.\n\nJust then came a knock on the bungalow door, and a voice said:\n\n\u201cI am the cow with the crumpled horn. I just met Dr. Possum, and he told\nme Uncle Wiggily had the rheumatism. Is there anything I can do for him?\nI\u2019d like to do him a favor as he did me one.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, you can help me,\u201d said the rabbit gentleman. \u201cCan you pull a tight\ncork out of a bottle?\u201d\n\n\u201cIndeed I can!\u201d mooed the cow. \u201cJust watch me!\u201d She put her crooked,\ncrumpled horn, which was just like a corkscrew, in the cork, and, with\none twist, out it came from the bottle as easily as anything. Then Nurse\nJane could rub some medicine on Uncle Wiggily\u2019s rheumatism, which soon\nfelt much better.\n\nSo you see Mother Goose\u2019s crumpled-horn cow can do other things besides\ntossing cat-worrying dogs. And if the fried egg doesn\u2019t go to sleep in\nthe dish pan, so the knives and forks can\u2019t play tag there, I\u2019ll tell\nyou next of Uncle Wiggily and Old Mother Hubbard.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER XV\n\n                  UNCLE WIGGILY AND OLD MOTHER HUBBARD\n\n\n\u201cUNCLE WIGGILY, have you anything special to do this morning?\u201d asked\nNurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper for the rabbit\ngentleman, as she saw him get up from the breakfast table in his\nhollow-stump bungalow.\n\n\u201cAnything special? Why, no, I guess not,\u201d answered the bunny uncle. \u201cI\nwas going out for a walk, and perhaps I may meet with an adventure on\nthe way, or I may help some friends of Mother Goose, as I sometimes do.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are always being kind to some one,\u201d said Nurse Jane, \u201cand that is\nwhat I want you to do now. I have just made an orange cake, and\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cAn orange cake?\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily, his pink nose twinkling. \u201cHow\nnice! Where did you get the oranges?\u201d\n\n\u201cUp on the Orange Mountains, to be sure,\u201d answered the muskrat lady,\nwith a laugh. \u201cI have made two orange cakes, to tell the exact truth,\nwhich I always do. There is one for us and I wanted to send one to Dr.\nPossum, who was so good to cure you of the rheumatism, when the cow with\nthe crumpled horn pulled the hard cork out of the medicine bottle for\nus.\u201d\n\n\u201cSend an orange cake to Dr. Possum? The very thing! Oh, fine!\u201d cried the\nbunny uncle. \u201cI\u2019ll take it right over to him. Put it in a basket, so it\nwill not take cold, Nurse Jane.\u201d\n\nThe muskrat lady wrapped the orange cake in a clean napkin, and then put\nit in the basket for Uncle Wiggily to carry to Dr. Possum.\n\nOff started the old rabbit gentleman, over the woods and through the\nfields\u2014oh, excuse me just a minute. He did not go over the woods this\ntime. He only did that when he had his airship, which he was not using\nto-day, for fear of spilling the oranges out of the cake. So he went\nover the fields and through the woods to Dr. Possum\u2019s office.\n\n\u201cWell, I wonder if I will have any adventure to-day?\u201d thought the old\nrabbit gentleman, as he hopped along. \u201cI hope I do, for\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\nAnd then he suddenly stopped thinking and listened, for he heard a dog\nbarking, and a voice was sadly saying:\n\n\u201cOh, dear! It\u2019s too bad, I know it is, but I can\u2019t help it. It\u2019s that\nway in the book, so you\u2019ll have to go hungry.\u201d\n\nThen the dog barked again and Uncle Wiggily said:\n\n\u201cMore trouble for some one. I hope it isn\u2019t the bad dog who used to\nbother me. I wonder if I can help any one?\u201d\n\nHe looked around, and, nearby, he saw a little wooden house on the top\nof a hill. The barking and talking was coming from that house.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll go up and see what is the matter,\u201d said the rabbit gentleman.\n\u201cPerhaps I can help.\u201d\n\nHe looked through a window of the house before going in, and he saw a\nlady, somewhat like Mother Goose, wearing a tall, peaked hat, like an\nice cream cone turned upside down. And with her was a big dog, who was\nlooking in an open cupboard and barking. And the lady was singing:\n\n                    \u201cOld Mother Hubbard\n                     Went to the cupboard\n                      To get her poor dog a bone.\n                     But, when she got there,\n                     The cupboard was bare,\n                      And so the poor dog had none.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd isn\u2019t there anything else in the house to eat, except a bone,\nMother Hubbard?\u201d the dog asked. \u201cI\u2019m so hungry!\u201d\n\n\u201cThere isn\u2019t, I\u2019m sorry to say,\u201d she answered. \u201cBut I\u2019ll go to the\nbaker\u2019s to get you some bread\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd when you come back you will think I am dead,\u201d said the dog,\nquickly. \u201cI\u2019ll look so, anyhow,\u201d he went on, \u201cfor I am so hungry. Isn\u2019t\nthere any way of getting me anything to eat without going to the\nbaker\u2019s? I don\u2019t care much for bread, anyhow.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow would you like a piece of orange cake?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily, all of\na sudden, as he walked in Mother Hubbard\u2019s house. \u201cExcuse me,\u201d said the\nbunny uncle, \u201cbut I could not help hearing what your dog said. I know\nhow hard it is to be hungry, and I have an orange cake in my basket. It\nis for Dr. Possum, but I am sure he would be glad to let your dog have\nsome.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is very kind of you,\u201d said Mother Hubbard.\n\n\u201cAnd I certainly would like orange cake,\u201d spoke the dog, making a bow\nand wagging his nose\u2014I mean his tail.\n\n\u201cThen you shall have it,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, opening the basket. He set\nthe orange cake on the table, and the dog began to eat it, and Mother\nHubbard also ate some, for she was hungry, too, and, what do you think?\nBefore Uncle Wiggily, or any one else knew it, the orange cake was all\ngone\u2014eaten up\u2014and there was none for Dr. Possum.\n\n\u201cOh, see what we have done!\u201d cried Mother Hubbard, sadly. \u201cWe have eaten\nall your cake, Uncle Wiggily. I\u2019m sure we did not mean to, but with a\nhungry dog\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cPray do not mention it,\u201d said the rabbit gentleman, politely. \u201cI know\njust how it is. I have another orange cake of my own at home. I\u2019ll go\nget that for Dr. Possum. He won\u2019t mind which one he has.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo. I can\u2019t let you do that,\u201d spoke Mother Hubbard. \u201cYou were too kind\nto be put to all that trouble. Next door to me lives Paddy Kake, the\nbaker-man. I\u2019ll have him bake you a cake as fast as he can, and you can\ntake that to Dr. Possum. How will that do?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, that will be just fine!\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, twinkling his pink\nnose at the dog, who was licking up the last of the cake crumbs with his\nred tongue.\n\nSo Mother Hubbard went next door, where lived Paddy Kake, the baker. And\nshe said to him:\n\n                \u201cPaddy Kake, Paddy Kake, baker-man,\n                 Bake me a cake as fast as you can.\n                 Into it please put a raisin and plum,\n                 And mark it with D. P. for Dr. Possum.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will,\u201d said Paddy Kake. \u201cI\u2019ll do it right away.\u201d\n\nAnd he did, and as soon as the cake was baked Uncle Wiggily put it in\nthe basket where the orange one had been, and took it to Dr. Possum, who\nwas very glad to get it. For the raisin and plum cake was as good as the\norange one Mother Hubbard and her dog had eaten.\n\nSo you see everything came out all right after all, and if the cork\ndoesn\u2019t pop out of the ink bottle and go to sleep in the middle of the\nwhite bedspread, like our black cat, I\u2019ll tell you next about Uncle\nWiggily and Little Miss Muffet.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XVI\n\n                     UNCLE WIGGILY AND MISS MUFFET\n\n\n\u201cRAT-A-TAT-TAT!\u201d came a knock on the door of the hollow-stump bungalow,\nwhere Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit gentleman, lived with Nurse\nJane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper. \u201cRat-a-tat-tat!\u201d\n\n\u201cCome in,\u201d called Nurse Jane, who was sitting by a window, mending a\npair of Uncle Wiggily\u2019s socks, which had holes in them.\n\nThe door opened, and into the bungalow stepped a little girl. Oh, she\nwas such a tiny thing that she was not much larger than a doll.\n\n\u201cHow do you do, Nurse Jane,\u201d said the little girl, making a low bow, and\nshaking her curly hair.\n\n\u201cWhy, I am very well, thank you,\u201d the muskrat lady said. \u201cHow are you?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I\u2019m very well, too, Nurse Jane.\u201d\n\n\u201cHa! You seem to know me, but I am not so sure I know you,\u201d said Uncle\nWiggily\u2019s housekeeper. \u201cAre you Little Bo Peep?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, Nurse Jane,\u201d answered the little girl, with a smile.\n\n\u201cAre you Mistress Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?\u201d\nNurse Jane wanted to know.\n\n\u201cI am not Mistress Mary,\u201d answered the little girl.\n\n\u201cThen who are you?\u201d Nurse Jane asked.\n\n\u201cI am little Miss Muffet, if you please, and I have come to sit on a\ntuffet, and eat some curds and whey. I want to see Uncle Wiggily, too,\nbefore I go away.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right,\u201d spoke Nurse Jane. \u201cI\u2019ll get you the tuffet and the curds\nand whey,\u201d and she went out to the kitchen. The muskrat lady noticed\nthat Miss Muffet said nothing about the spider frightening her away.\n\n\u201cPerhaps she doesn\u2019t like to talk about it,\u201d thought Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy,\n\u201cthough it\u2019s in the Mother Goose book. Well, I\u2019ll not say anything,\neither.\u201d\n\nSo she got the tuffet for little Miss Muffet; a tuffet being a sort of\nbaby footstool. And, indeed, the little girl had to sit on something\nquite small, for her legs were very short.\n\n\u201cAnd here are your curds and whey,\u201d went on Nurse Jane, bringing in a\nbowl. Curds and whey are very good to eat. They are made from milk,\nsweetened, and are something like a custard in a cup.\n\nSo little Miss Muffet, sat on a tuffet, eating her curds and whey, just\nas she ought to have done.\n\n\u201cAnd,\u201d said Nurse Jane to herself, \u201cI do hope no spider will come sit\nbeside her to frighten Miss Muffet away, before Uncle Wiggily sees her,\nfor she is a dear little child.\u201d\n\nPretty soon some one was heard hopping up the front steps of the\nbungalow, and Nurse Jane said:\n\n\u201cThere is Uncle Wiggily now, I think.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I\u2019m glad!\u201d exclaimed little Miss Muffet, as she handed the muskrat\nlady the empty bowl of curds and whey. \u201cI want to see him very\nspecially.\u201d\n\nIn came hopping the nice old rabbit gentleman, and he knew Little Miss\nMuffet right away, and was very glad to see her.\n\n\u201cOh, Uncle Wiggily!\u201d cried the little girl. \u201cI have been waiting to see\nyou. I want you to do me a very special extra favor; will you?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, of course, if I can,\u201d answered the bunny uncle, with a polite bow.\n\u201cI am always glad to do favors.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou can easily do this one,\u201d said Little Miss Muffet. \u201cI want you to\ncome\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\nAnd just then Uncle Wiggily saw a big spider crawling over the floor\ntoward the little girl, who was still on her tuffet, having finished her\ncurds and whey.\n\n\u201cAnd if she sees that spider, sit down beside her, it surely will\nfrighten her away,\u201d thought Uncle Wiggily, \u201cand I will not be able to\nfind out what she wants me to do for her. Let me see, she hasn\u2019t yet\nnoticed the spider. I wonder if I could get her out of the room while I\nasked the spider to kindly not to do any frightening, at least for a\nwhile?\u201d\n\nSo Uncle Wiggily, who was quite worried, sort of waved his paw sideways\nat the spider, and twinkled his pink nose and said \u201cAhem!\u201d which meant\nthat the spider was to keep on crawling, and not go near Miss Muffet.\nUncle Wiggily himself was not afraid of spiders.\n\n\u201cYes, Uncle Wiggily,\u201d went on little Miss Muffet, who had not yet seen\nthe spider. \u201cI want you to come to\u2014\u2014\u201d and then she saw the rabbit\ngentleman making funny noses behind her back, and waving his paw at\nsomething, and Miss Muffet cried:\n\n\u201cWhy, what in the world is the matter, Uncle Wiggily? Have you hurt\nyourself?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, no,\u201d the rabbit gentleman quickly exclaimed. \u201cIt\u2019s the spider.\nShe\u2019s crawling toward you, and I don\u2019t want her to sit down beside you,\nand frighten you away.\u201d\n\nLittle Miss Muffet laughed a jolly laugh.\n\n\u201cOh, Uncle Wiggily!\u201d she cried. \u201cI\u2019m not at all afraid of spiders! I\u2019d\nlet a dozen of them sit beside me if they wanted to, for I know they\nwill not harm me, if I do not harm them. And besides, I knew this spider\nwas coming all the while.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou did?\u201d cried Nurse Jane, surprised like.\n\n\u201cTo be sure I did. She is Mrs. Spin-Spider, and she has come to measure\nme for a new cobweb silk dress; haven\u2019t you, Mrs. Spin-Spider?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, child, I have,\u201d answered the lady spider. \u201cNo one need be afraid\nof me.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m not,\u201d Uncle Wiggily said, \u201conly I did not want you to frighten Miss\nMuffet away before she had her curds and whey.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I had them,\u201d the little girl said. \u201cNurse Jane gave them to me\nbefore you came in, Uncle Wiggily. But now let me tell you what I came\nfor, and then Mrs. Spin-Spider can measure me for a new dress. I came to\nask if you would do me the favor to come to my birthday party next week.\nWill you?\u201d\n\n\u201cOf course I will!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI\u2019ll be delighted.\u201d\n\n\u201cGood!\u201d laughed Little Miss Muffet. Then along came Mrs. Spin-Spider,\nand sat down beside her and did not frighten the little girl away, but,\ninstead, measured her for a new dress.\n\nSo from this we may learn that cobwebs are good for something else than\ncatching flies, and in the next chapter, if the piano doesn\u2019t come\nupstairs to lie down on the brass bed so the pillow has to go down in\nthe coal bin to sleep, I\u2019ll tell you about Uncle Wiggily and the first\nlittle kitten.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XVII\n\n                   UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE FIRST KITTEN\n\n\nUNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the nice old rabbit gentleman, was asleep in his\neasy chair by the fire which burned brightly on the hearth in his\nhollow-stump bungalow. Mr. Longears was dreaming that he had just eaten\na piece of cherry pie for lunch, and that the cherry pits were dropping\non the floor with a \u201crat-a-tat-tat!\u201d when he suddenly awakened and heard\nsome one knocking on the front door.\n\n\u201cHa! Who is there? Come in!\u201d cried the rabbit gentleman, hardly awake\nyet. Then he happened to think:\n\n\u201cI hope it isn\u2019t the bad fox, or the skillery-scalery alligator, whom I\nhave invited in. I ought not to have been so quick.\u201d\n\nBut it was none of these unpleasant creatures who had knocked on Uncle\nWiggily\u2019s door. It was Mrs. Purr, the nice cat lady, and when the rabbit\ngentleman had let her in she looked so sad and sorrowful that he said:\n\n\u201cWhat is the matter, Mrs. Purr? Has anything happened?\u201d\n\n\u201cIndeed there has, Mr. Longears,\u201d the cat lady answered. \u201cYou know my\nthree little kittens, don\u2019t you?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, yes, I know them,\u201d replied the bunny uncle. \u201cThey are Fuzzo, Muzzo\nand Wuzzo. I hope they are not ill?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, they are not ill,\u201d said the cat lady, mewing sadly, \u201cbut they have\nrun away, and I came to see if you would help me get them back.\u201d\n\n\u201cRun away! Your dear little kittens!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cYou don\u2019t\nmean it! How did it happen?\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, you know my little kittens had each a new pair of mittens,\u201d said\nMrs. Purr.\n\n\u201cYes, I read about that in the Mother Goose book,\u201d said the rabbit\ngentleman. \u201cIt must be nice to have new mittens.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy little kittens thought so,\u201d went on Mrs. Purr. \u201cTheir grandmother,\nPussy Cat Mole, knitted them.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have met Pussy Cat Mole,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cAfter she jumped over\na coal, and in her best petticoat burned a great hole, I helped her mend\nit so she could go to the party.\u201d\n\n\u201cI heard about that; it was very good of you,\u201d mewed Mrs. Purr. \u201cBut\nabout my little kittens, when they got their mittens, what do you think\nthey did?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, I suppose they went out and played in the snow,\u201d Uncle Wiggily\nsaid. \u201cI know that is what I would have done, when I was a little\nrabbit, if I had had a new pair of mittens.\u201d\n\n\u201cI only wish they had done that,\u201d Mrs. Purr said. \u201cBut, instead, they\nwent and ate some cherry pie. The red pie-juice got all over their new\nmittens, and when they saw it they became afraid I would scold them, and\nthey ran away. I was not home when they ate the pie and soiled their\nmittens, but the cat lady who lives next door told me.\n\n\u201cNow I want to know if you will try to find my three little kittens for\nme; Fuzzo, Wuzzo and Muzzo? I want them to come home so badly!\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll go look for them,\u201d promised the old rabbit gentleman. So taking\nhis red, white and blue rheumatism crutch, off he started over the\nfields and through the woods. Mrs. Purr went back home to get supper, in\ncase her kittens, with their pie-soiled mittens, should come back by\nthemselves before Uncle Wiggily found them.\n\nOn and on went the old rabbit gentleman. He looked on all sides and\nthrough the middle for any signs of the lost kittens, but he saw none\nfor quite a while. Then, all at once, he heard a mewing sound over in\nthe bushes, and he said:\n\n\u201cHa! There is the first little kitten!\u201d And there, surely enough she\nwas\u2014Fuzzo!\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d Fuzzo was saying, \u201cI don\u2019t believe I\u2019ll ever get them\nclean!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s the matter now?\u201d asked the rabbit gentleman, though he knew\nquite well what it was, and only pretended he did not. \u201cWho are you and\nwhat is the matter?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cOh, I\u2019m in such trouble,\u201d said the first little kitten. \u201cMy sisters and\nI ate some pie in our new mittens. We soiled them badly with the red\npie-juice. Weren\u2019t we naughty kittens?\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, perhaps just a little bit naughty,\u201d Uncle Wiggily said. \u201cBut you\nshould not have run away from your mamma. She feels very badly. Where\nare Muzzo and Wuzzo?\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t know!\u201d answered Fuzzo. \u201cThey ran one way and I ran another. I\u2019m\ntrying to get the pie-juice out of my mittens, but I can\u2019t seem to do\nit.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow did you try?\u201d Uncle Wiggily wanted to know.\n\n\u201cI am rubbing my mittens up and down on the rough bark of trees and on\nstones,\u201d answered Fuzzo. \u201cI thought that would take the pie stains out,\nbut it doesn\u2019t.\u201d\n\n\u201cOf course not!\u201d laughed Uncle Wiggily. \u201cNow you come with me. I am\ngoing to take you home. Your mother sent me to look for you.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, but I\u2019m afraid to go home,\u201d mewed Fuzzo. \u201cMy mother will scold me\nfor soiling my nice, new mittens. It says so in the book.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, she won\u2019t!\u201d laughed Uncle Wiggily. \u201cYou just leave it to me. But\nfirst you come to my hollow-stump bungalow.\u201d\n\nSo Fuzzo, the first little kitten, put one paw in Uncle Wiggily\u2019s, and\ncarrying her mittens in the other, along they went together.\n\n\u201cWhere are you, Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy?\u201d called the rabbit gentleman,\nwhen they reached his hollow-stump bungalow. \u201cI want you to make some\nnice, hot, soapy suds and water, and wash this first little kitten\u2019s\nmittens. Then they will be clean, and she can take them home with her.\u201d\n\nSo the muskrat lady made some nice, hot, soap-bubbily suds and in them\nshe washed the kitten\u2019s mittens. Then, when they were dry, Uncle Wiggily\ntook the mittens, and also Fuzzo to Mrs. Purr\u2019s house.\n\n\u201cOh, how glad I am to have you back!\u201d cried the cat mother. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t\nhave scolded you, Fuzzo, for soiling your mittens. You must not be\nafraid any more.\u201d\n\n\u201cI won\u2019t,\u201d promised the first little kitten, showing her nice, clean\nmittens.\n\nAnd then Uncle Wiggily said he would go find the other two lost baby\ncats. And so, if the milkman doesn\u2019t put goldfish in the ink bottle, to\nmake the puppy dog laugh when he goes to bed, I\u2019ll tell you next about\nUncle Wiggily and the second kittie.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XVIII\n\n                  UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE SECOND KITTEN\n\n\n\u201cWELL, where are you going now, Uncle Wiggily?\u201d asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy\nWuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, of the rabbit gentleman, one day as\nshe saw him starting out of his hollow-stump bungalow, after he had\nfound the first of the little kittens who had soiled their mittens.\n\n\u201cI am going to look for the second little lost kitten,\u201d replied the\nbunny uncle, \u201cthough where she may be I don\u2019t know. Her name is Muzzo.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, her name is almost like mine, isn\u2019t it?\u201d asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy\nWuzzy.\n\n\u201cA little like it,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cPoor little Muzzo! She and the\nother two kittens ran off after they had soiled their mittens, eating\ncherry pie when their mother, Mrs. Purr, was not at home.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is very good of you to go looking for them,\u201d said Nurse Jane.\n\n\u201cOh, I just love to do things like that,\u201d spoke the rabbit gentleman.\n\u201cWell, good-by. I\u2019ll see if I can\u2019t find the second kitten now.\u201d\n\nAway started the rabbit gentleman, over the fields and through the\nwoods, looking on all sides for the second lost kitten, whose name was\nMuzzo.\n\n\u201cWhere are you, kittie?\u201d called Uncle Wiggily. \u201cWhere are you, Muzzo?\nCome to me! Never mind if your mittens are soiled by cherry-pie-juice.\nI\u2019ll find a way to clean them.\u201d\n\nBut no Muzzo answered. Uncle Wiggily looked everywhere, under bushes and\nin the tree tops; for sometimes kitty cats climb trees, you know; but no\nMuzzo could he find. Then Uncle Wiggily walked a little farther, and he\nsaw Billie Wagtail, the goat boy, butting his head in a snow-bank.\n\n\u201cWhat are you doing, Billie?\u201d asked the rabbit gentleman.\n\n\u201cOh, just having some fun,\u201d answered Billie, standing up on his hind\nlegs.\n\n\u201cYou haven\u2019t seen a little lost kitten, with cherry-pie-juice on her new\nmittens, have you?\u201d asked the rabbit gentleman.\n\n\u201cNo, I am sorry to say I have not,\u201d said Billie, politely. \u201cDid you lose\none?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, she lost herself,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, and he told about Muzzo.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll help you look for her,\u201d offered the goat boy, so he and Uncle\nWiggily started off together to try to find poor little lost Muzzo, and\nbring her home to her mother, Mrs. Purr.\n\nPretty soon, as the rabbit gentleman and the goat boy were walking along\nthey heard a little mewing cry behind a pile of snow, and Uncle Wiggily\nsaid:\n\n\u201cThat sounds like Muzzo now.\u201d\n\n\u201cPerhaps it is. Let\u2019s look,\u201d said Billie Wagtail.\n\nHe and the bunny uncle looked over the pile of snow, and there, surely\nenough, they saw a little white pussy cat sitting on a stone, looking at\nher mittens, which were all covered with red pie-juice.\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d the little pussy was saying. \u201cI don\u2019t know how to get them\nclean! What shall I do? I can\u2019t go home with my mittens all soiled, or\nmy mamma will whip me.\u201d\n\nOf course, Mrs. Purr, the cat lady, would not do anything like that, but\nMuzzo thought she would.\n\n\u201cWhat are you trying to do to clean your mittens, Muzzo?\u201d asked Uncle\nWiggily.\n\n\u201cOh, how you surprised me!\u201d exclaimed the second little lost kitten. \u201cI\ndid not know you were here.\u201d\n\n\u201cBillie Wagtail and I came to look for you,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cBut\nwhat about your mittens?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I have been dipping them in snow, trying to clean them,\u201d said\nMuzzo. \u201cOnly the pie-juice will not come out.\u201d\n\n\u201cOf course not,\u201d spoke Uncle Wiggily, with a laugh. \u201cIt needs hot soap\nsuds and water to clean them. You come home to my bungalow and we will\nget some.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I am so cold and tired I can\u2019t go another step,\u201d said the second\nlittle kitten, who had run away from home after she soiled her mittens.\n\u201cI just can\u2019t.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, then, I don\u2019t know how you are going to get your mittens washed,\nout here in the cold and snow,\u201d said the rabbit gentleman.\n\n\u201cHa! I know a way!\u201d said Billie Wagtail, the goat boy.\n\n\u201cHow?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll get an empty tomato can,\u201d spoke Billie. \u201cI know where there is\none, for I was eating the paper off it, to get the paste, just before\nyou came along.\u201d\n\nGoats like to eat paper off tomato cans, you know, because the paper is\nstuck on with sweet paste, and that is as good to goat children as candy\nis to you.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll go get the tomato can,\u201d said Billie, \u201cand you can make a fire,\nUncle Wiggily.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd then what?\u201d asked the rabbit gentleman.\n\n\u201cThen we will melt some snow, and make some hot water,\u201d went on Billie.\n\u201cI have a cake of soap in my pocket, that I just bought at the store for\nmy mother.\n\n\u201cWith the hot water in the can, and the soap, we can make a suds, and\nwash Muzzo\u2019s mittens out here as well as at your bungalow.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo we can, Billie!\u201d cried the bunny uncle. \u201cYou go get the empty tomato\ntin and I\u2019ll make the fire. You needn\u2019t try to wash your soiled mittens\nin the snow any more, Muzzo,\u201d he said to the second lost kittie. \u201cWe\nwill do it for you, in soapy water, which is better.\u201d\n\nSoon Uncle Wiggily made a fire. Back came Billie Wagtail with the tomato\ncan. Some snow was put in it, and it was set over the blaze. Soon the\nsnow melted into water, and then when the water was hot Uncle Wiggily\nmade a soapy suds as Nurse Jane had done.\n\n\u201cNow I can wash my mittens!\u201d cried Muzzo, and she did. And when they\nwere nice and clean she went home with them, and oh! how glad her mother\nwas to see her!\n\n\u201cNever run away again, Muzzo,\u201d said the cat lady.\n\n\u201cI won\u2019t,\u201d promised the kitten. \u201cBut where is Wuzzo?\u201d\n\n\u201cShe is still lost,\u201d said Mrs. Purr.\n\n\u201cBut I will go find her, too,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily.\n\nAnd if the apple pie doesn\u2019t go out snowballing with the piece of\ncheese, and forget to come back to dinner, I\u2019ll tell you next about\nUncle Wiggily and the third little kitten.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XIX\n\n                   UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE THIRD KITTEN\n\n\nUNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the nice old gentleman rabbit, came walking\nslowly up the front path that led to his hollow-stump bungalow. He was\nlimping a little on his red, white and blue-striped barber-pole\nrheumatism crutch that Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady\nhousekeeper, had gnawed for him out of a corn-stalk.\n\n\u201cWell, I\u2019m glad to be home again,\u201d said the rabbit uncle, sitting down\non the front porch to rest a minute. And just then the door in the\nhollow stump opened, and Nurse Jane, looking out, said:\n\n\u201cOh, here he is now, Mrs. Purr.\u201d\n\nWith that a cat lady came to the door and she said:\n\n\u201cOh, Uncle Wiggily! I thought you never would come back. Did you find\nher?\u201d\n\n\u201cFind who?\u201d asked the rabbit gentleman. \u201cI was not looking for any one.\nI have just been down to Lincoln Park to see some squirrels who live in\na hollow tree. They are second cousins to Johnnie and Billie Bushytail,\nthe squirrels who live in our woods. I had a nice visit with them.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen you didn\u2019t find Wuzzo, my third little lost kitten, did you?\u201d\nasked Mrs. Purr, the cat mother.\n\n\u201cWhat! Is Wuzzo still lost?\u201d asked the bunny uncle, in great surprise.\n\u201cI thought she had come home.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, she hasn\u2019t,\u201d said Mrs. Purr. \u201cYou know you found my other kittens,\nFuzzo and Muzzo, for me, but Wuzzo, the third little kitten, is still\nlost. She has been away all night, and I came over here the first thing\nthis morning to see if you would not kindly go look for her. But you had\nalready left and I have been waiting here ever since for you to come\nback.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I stayed longer with the park squirrels than I meant to,\u201d said\nUncle Wiggily. \u201cBut now I am back I will start off and try to find\nWuzzo. It\u2019s too bad your three little kittens ran away.\u201d\n\nThey had, you know, as I told you in the two stories before this one.\nThe three little kittens ate cherry pie with their new mittens on. And\nthey soiled their mittens. Then they were so afraid their mother, Mrs.\nPurr, would scold them that they all ran away.\n\nBut Mrs. Purr was a kind cat, and would not have scolded at all. And\nwhen she found her little kittens were gone she asked Uncle Wiggily to\nfind them.\n\n\u201cAnd you did find the first two, Fuzzo and Muzzo,\u201d said the cat lady.\n\u201cSo I am sure you can find the third one, Wuzzo.\u201d\n\n\u201cI hope I can,\u201d Uncle Wiggily said. \u201cI remember now I started off to\nfind her, but my rheumatism hurt me so I had to come back to my\nbungalow. Then I forgot all about Wuzzo. But I\u2019m all right now, and I\u2019ll\nstart off.\u201d\n\nSo away over the fields and through the woods went Uncle Wiggily,\nlooking for the third little lost kitten. When he had found the two\nothers he had helped them wash the pie-juice off their mittens, so they\nwere nice and clean. And then the kittens were not afraid to go home.\n\nUncle Wiggily looked all over for the third little kitten, under bushes,\nup in trees (for cats climb trees, you know), and even behind big rocks\nUncle Wiggily looked. But no Wuzzo could he find.\n\nAt last, when the rabbit gentleman came to a big hollow log that was\nlying on the ground, he sat down on it to rest, and, all of a sudden, he\nheard a voice inside the log speaking. And the voice asked:\n\n\u201cPussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve been to London to see the Queen,\u201d answered another voice.\n\n\u201cPussy cat, pussy cat, what did you do there?\u201d\n\n\u201cI frightened a little mouse, under her chair,\u201d came the answer, and\nthis time it was a little pussy cat kitten speaking, Uncle Wiggily was\ncertain.\n\nThe old rabbit gentleman looked in one end of the hollow log, and there\nsurely enough, he saw Wuzzo, the third lost kitten.\n\nAnd besides Wuzzo, Uncle Wiggily saw Neddie Stubtail, the little bear\nboy, who always slept in a hollow log all Winter. But this time Neddie\nwas awake, for it was near Spring.\n\n\u201cWuzzo, Wuzzo! Is that you? What are you doing there?\u201d asked Uncle\nWiggily. \u201cDon\u2019t you know your poor mother is looking all over for you,\nand that she has sent me to find you? Why don\u2019t you come home?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2014I\u2019m afraid to,\u201d said Wuzzo, crawling out of the hollow log, and\nNeddie, the boy bear also crawled out, saying:\n\n\u201cHello, Uncle Wiggily!\u201d\n\n\u201cHow do you do, Neddie,\u201d spoke the bunny uncle. \u201cHow long has Wuzzo been\nstaying with you?\u201d\n\n\u201cShe just ran in my hollow log,\u201d said the little bear chap, \u201cand her\ntail, brushing against my nose, tickled me so that I sneezed and\nawakened from my Winter sleep.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere have you been all night, since you ran away, Wuzzo?\u201d asked Uncle\nWiggily.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d answered the third little kitten. \u201cAfter Fuzzo, Muzzo and I\nsoiled our mittens with cherry pie we all ran away.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I know that part,\u201d spoke the bunny uncle. \u201cIt was not right to do,\nbut I have found the two other lost kitties. I couldn\u2019t find you,\nthough. Why was that?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause I met Mother Goose,\u201d said Wuzzo, \u201cand she asked me to go to\nLondon to see the Queen. She took me through the air on the back of her\nbig gander, and we flew as quickly as you could have gone in your\nairship.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou went to London to see the Queen!\u201d exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, in\nsurprise. \u201cWell, well! What did you do there?\u201d\n\n\u201cI frightened a little mouse under her chair, just as Mother Goose\nwanted me to do,\u201d said Wuzzo. \u201cThen the big gander flew with me to these\nwoods and went back to get Mother Goose, who stayed to talk with the\nQueen. So here I am, but I don\u2019t know the way home.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I\u2019ll take you home all right,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cBut first we\nmust wash your mittens.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I did that for her, in the log,\u201d said Neddie Stubtail, laughing.\n\u201cWith my red tongue I licked off all the sweet cherry-pie-juice, which I\nliked very much. So, now the mittens are clean.\u201d\n\n\u201cGood!\u201d cried the bunny uncle. \u201cNow we will go to your mother, Wuzzo.\nShe will be glad to know that you frightened a little mouse under the\nQueen\u2019s chair.\u201d\n\nSo Uncle Wiggily took the third little kitten home, and thus they were\nall found. And if the cat on our roof doesn\u2019t jump down the chimney, and\nscare the lemon pie so it turns into an apple dumpling, I\u2019ll tell you\nnext about Uncle Wiggily and the Jack horse.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER XX\n\n                    UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE JACK HORSE\n\n\n\u201cWELL, where are you going to-day, Uncle Wiggily?\u201d asked Nurse Jane\nFuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, as she saw the rabbit gentleman\nputting on his tall silk hat, and taking his red, white and blue-striped\nrheumatism crutch down off the mantel.\n\n\u201cI am going over to see Nannie and Billy Wagtail, the goat children,\u201d\nanswered the bunny uncle. \u201cI have not seen them in a long while.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut they\u2019ll be at school,\u201d said Nurse Jane.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll wait until they come home, then,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cAnd while\nI\u2019m waiting I\u2019ll talk to Uncle Butter, the nice old gentleman goat.\u201d\n\nSo off started Uncle Wiggily over the fields and through the woods.\n\nPretty soon he came to the house where the family of Wagtail goats\nlived. They were given that name because they wagged their little short\ntails so very fast, sometimes up and down, and again sideways.\n\n\u201cWhy, how do you do, Uncle Wiggily?\u201d asked Mrs. Wagtail, as she opened\nthe door for the rabbit gentleman. \u201cCome and sit down.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you,\u201d he answered. \u201cI called to see Nannie and Billie. But I\nsuppose they are at school.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, they are studying their lessons.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, I\u2019ll come in then, and talk to Uncle Butter, for I suppose you\nare busy.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I am, but not too busy to talk to you, Mr. Longears,\u201d said the\ngoat lady. \u201cUncle Butter is away, pasting up some circus posters on the\nbillboard, and I wish he\u2019d come back, for I want him to go to the store\nfor me.\u201d\n\n\u201cCouldn\u2019t I go?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily, politely. \u201cI have nothing special\nto do, and I often go to the store for Nurse Jane. I\u2019d like to go for\nyou.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well, you may,\u201d said Mrs. Wagtail. \u201cI want for supper some papers\noff a tomato can, and a few more off a can of corn, and here is a basket\nto put them in. And you might bring a bit of brown paper, so I can make\nsoup of it.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, starting off with the basket on his paw.\nGoats, you know, like the papers that come off cans, as the papers have\nsweet paste on them. And they also like brown grocery paper itself, for\nit has straw in it, and goats like straw. Of course, goats eat other\nthings besides paper, though.\n\nUncle Wiggily was going carefully along, for there was ice and snow on\nthe ground, and it was slippery, and he did not want to fall. Soon he\nwas at the paper store, where he bought what Mrs. Wagtail wanted.\n\nAnd on the way back to the goat lady\u2019s house something happened to the\nold rabbit gentleman. As he stepped over a big icicle he put his foot\ndown on a slippery snowball some little animal chap had left on the\npath, and, all of a sudden, bango! down went Uncle Wiggily, basket of\npaper, rheumatism crutch and all.\n\n\u201cOuch!\u201d cried the rabbit gentleman, \u201cI fear something is broken,\u201d for he\nheard a cracking sound as he fell.\n\nHe looked at his paws and legs and felt of his big ears. They seemed all\nright. Then he looked at the basket of paper. That was crumpled up, but\nnot broken, and the bunny uncle\u2019s tall silk hat, while it had a few\ndents in, was not smashed.\n\n\u201cOh, dear! It\u2019s my rheumatism crutch,\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cIt\u2019s broken\nin two, and how am I ever going to walk without it this slippery day I\ndon\u2019t see. Oh, my goodness me sakes alive and some bang-bang tooth\npowder!\u201d\n\nCarefully the rabbit gentleman arose, but as he had no red, white and\nblue-striped crutch to lean on, he nearly fell again.\n\n\u201cI guess I\u2019d better stay sitting down,\u201d thought Uncle Wiggily. \u201cPerhaps\nsome one may come along, and I can ask them go get Nurse Jane to gnaw\nfor me another rheumatism crutch out of a corn-stalk. I\u2019ll wait here\nuntil help comes.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily waited quite a while, but no one passed by.\n\n\u201cIt will soon be time for Billie and Nannie Wagtail to pass by on their\nway from school,\u201d thought the bunny uncle. \u201cI could send them for\nanother crutch, I suppose.\u201d\n\nSo he waited a little longer, and then, as no one came, he tried to walk\nwith his broken crutch. But he could not. Then Uncle Wiggily cried:\n\n\u201cHelp! Help! Help!\u201d but still no one came. \u201cOh, dear!\u201d said the rabbit\ngentleman, \u201cif only Mother Goose would fly past, riding on the back of\nher gander, she might take me home.\u201d He looked up, but Mother Goose was\nnot sweeping cobwebs out of the sky that day, so he did not see her.\n\nThen, all of a sudden, as the rabbit gentleman sat there, wondering how\nhe was going to walk on the slippery ice and snow without his crutch to\nhelp him, he heard a jolly voice singing:\n\n            \u201cRide a Jack horse to Banbury Cross,\n             To see an old lady jump on a white horse.\n             With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,\n             She shall have music wherever she goes.\u201d\n\nAnd with that along through the woods came riding a nice, old lady on a\nrocking-horse. And on the side of the rocking-horse was painted in red\nink the name:\n\n                                 =JACK=\n\n\u201cWhy, hello, Uncle Wiggily!\u201d called the nice old lady, shaking her toes\nand making the bells jingle a pretty tune. \u201cWhat is the matter with\nyou?\u201d she asked.\n\n\u201cOh, I am in such trouble,\u201d replied the bunny uncle. \u201cI fell down on a\nslippery snowball, and broke my crutch. Without it I cannot walk, and I\nwant to take these papers to Mrs. Wagtail, the goat lady, to eat.\u201d\n\n\u201cHa! If that is all your trouble I can soon fix matters!\u201d cried the\njolly old lady. \u201cHere, get up beside me on my Jack horse, and I\u2019ll ride\nyou to Mrs. Wagtail\u2019s, and then take you home to your hollow-stump\nbungalow.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, will you? How kind!\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cThank you! But have you\nthe time?\u201d\n\n\u201cLots of time,\u201d laughed the old lady. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t really matter when I\nget to Banbury Cross. Come on!\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily got up on the back of the Jack horse, behind the old lady.\nShe tinkled the rings on her fingers and jingled the bells on her toes,\nand so, of course, she\u2019ll have music wherever she goes.\n\n\u201cJust as the Mother Goose books says,\u201d spoke the bunny uncle. \u201cOh, I\u2019m\nglad you came along.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo am I,\u201d said the nice old lady. Then she took Uncle Wiggily to the\nWagtail house, where he left the basket of papers, and next he rode on\nthe Jack horse to his bungalow, and, after the bunny uncle had thanked\nthe old lady, she, herself, rode on to Banbury Cross, to see another old\nlady jump on a white horse. And very nicely she did it too, let me tell\nyou.\n\nSo everything came out all right, and in the next chapter, if the apple\npie doesn\u2019t turn a somersault and crack its crust so the juice runs out,\nI\u2019ll tell you about Uncle Wiggily and the clock-mouse.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XXI\n\n                   UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CLOCK-MOUSE\n\n\nUNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the nice old rabbit gentleman, sat in an easy\nchair in his hollow-stump bungalow. He had just eaten a nice lunch,\nwhich Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, had put on\nthe table for him, and he was feeling a bit sleepy.\n\n\u201cAre you going out this afternoon?\u201d asked Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy, as she\ncleared away the dishes.\n\n\u201cHum! Ho! Well, I hardly know,\u201d Uncle Wiggily answered, in a sleepy\nvoice. \u201cI may, after I have a little nap.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour new red, white and blue-striped rheumatism crutch is ready for\nyou,\u201d went on Nurse Jane. \u201cI gnawed it for you out of a fine large\ncorn-stalk.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily had broken his other crutch, if you will kindly remember,\nwhen he slipped as he was coming back from the store, where he went for\nMrs. Wagtail, the goat lady. And it was so slippery that the rabbit\ngentleman never would have gotten home, only he rode on a Jack horse\nwith the lady, who had rings on her fingers and bells on her toes, as I\ntold you in the story before this one.\n\n\u201cThank you for making me a new crutch, Nurse Jane,\u201d spoke the bunny\nuncle. \u201cIf I go out I\u2019ll take it.\u201d\n\nThen he went to sleep in his easy chair, but he was suddenly awakened by\nhearing the bungalow clock strike one. Then, as he sat up and rubbed his\neyes with his paws, Uncle Wiggily heard a thumping noise on the hall\nfloor and a little voice squeaked out:\n\n\u201cOuch! I\u2019ve hurt my leg! Oh, dear!\u201d\n\n\u201cMy! I wonder what that can be? It seemed to come out of my clock,\u201d\nspoke Mr. Longears.\n\n\u201cI did come out of your clock,\u201d said some one.\n\n\u201cYou did? Who are you, if you please?\u201d asked the bunny uncle, looking\nall around. \u201cI can\u2019t see you.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s because I\u2019m so small,\u201d was the answer. \u201cBut here I am, right by\nthe table. I can\u2019t walk as my leg is hurt.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily looked, and saw a little mouse, who was holding his left\nhind leg in his right front paw.\n\n\u201cWho are you?\u201d asked the bunny uncle.\n\n\u201cI am Hickory Dickory Dock, the mouse,\u201d was the answer. \u201cAnd I am a\nclock-mouse.\u201d\n\n\u201cA clock-mouse!\u201d exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, in surprise. \u201cI never heard of\nsuch a thing.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, don\u2019t you remember me? I\u2019m in Mother Goose\u2019s book. This is how it\ngoes:\n\n                      \u201c\u2018Hickory Dickory Dock,\n                        The mouse ran up the clock.\n                        The clock struck one,\n                        And down he come,\n                        Hickory Dickory Dock!\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, now I remember you,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cAnd so you are a\nclock-mouse.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I ran up your clock, and then when the clock struck one, down I\nhad to come. But I ran down so fast that I tripped over the pendulum.\nThe clock reached down its hands and tried to catch me, but it had no\neyes in its face to see me, so I slipped, anyhow, and I hurt my leg.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I\u2019m sorry to hear that,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cPerhaps I can fix it\nfor you. Nurse Jane, bring me some salve for Hickory Dickory Dock, the\nclock-mouse,\u201d he called.\n\nThe muskrat lady brought some salve, and, with a rag, Uncle Wiggily\nbound up the leg of the clock-mouse so it did not hurt so much.\n\n\u201cAnd I\u2019ll lend you a piece of my old crutch, so you can hobble along on\nit,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily.\n\n\u201cThank you,\u201d spoke Hickory Dickory Dock, the clock-mouse. \u201cYou have been\nvery kind to me, and some day, I hope, I may do you a favor. If I can I\nwill.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you,\u201d Uncle Wiggily said. Then Hickory Dickory Dock limped away,\nbut in a few days he was better, and he could run up more clocks, and\nrun down when they struck one.\n\nIt was about a week after this that Uncle Wiggily went walking through\nthe woods on his way to see Grandfather Goosey Gander. And just before\nhe reached his friend\u2019s house he met Mother Goose.\n\n\u201cOh, Uncle Wiggily,\u201d she said, swinging her cobweb broom up and down, \u201cI\nwant to thank you for being so kind to Hickory Dickory Dock, the\nclock-mouse.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt was a pleasure to be kind to him,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cIs he all\nbetter now?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, he is all well again,\u201d replied Mother Goose. \u201cHe is coming to run\nup and down your clock again soon.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll be glad to see him,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. Then he went to call on\nGrandpa Goosey, and he told about Hickory Dickory Dock, falling down\nfrom out the clock.\n\nOn his way back to his hollow-stump bungalow, Uncle Wiggily took a short\ncut through the woods. And, as he was passing along, his paw slipped and\nhe became all tangled up in a wild grape vine, which was like a lot of\nropes, all twisted together into hard knots.\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI\u2019m caught!\u201d The more he tried to\nuntangle himself the tighter he was held fast, until it seemed he would\nnever get out.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d cried the rabbit gentleman. \u201cThis is terrible. Will no one come to\nget me out? Help! Help! Will some one please help me?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I will help you, Uncle Wiggily,\u201d answered a kind, little squeaking\nvoice.\n\n\u201cWho are you?\u201d asked the rabbit gentleman, moving a piece of the grape\nvine away from his nose, so he could speak plainly.\n\n\u201cI am Hickory Dickory Dock, the clock-mouse,\u201d was the answer, \u201cand with\nmy sharp teeth I will gnaw the grape vine in many pieces so you will be\nfree.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat will be very kind of you,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, who was quite tired\nout with his struggles to get loose.\n\nSo Hickory Dickory Dock, with his sharp teeth, gnawed the grape vine,\nand, in a little while, Uncle Wiggily was loose and all right again.\n\n\u201cThank you,\u201d said the bunny uncle to the clock-mouse, as he hopped off,\nand Hickory Dickory Dock went with him, for his leg was all better now.\n\u201cThank you very much, nice little clock-mouse.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou did me a favor,\u201d said Hickory Dickory Dock, \u201cand now I have done\nyou one, so we are even.\u201d And that\u2019s a good way to be in this world. So,\nif the ink bottle doesn\u2019t turn pale when it sees the fountain pen jump\nin the goldfish bowl and swim I\u2019ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and\nthe late scholar.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XXII\n\n                   UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE LATE SCHOLAR\n\n\n\u201cHEIGH-HO!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily Longears, the nice rabbit gentleman, one\nmorning, as he hopped from bed and went to the window of his\nhollow-stump bungalow to look out. \u201cHeigh-ho! It will soon be Spring, I\nhope, for I am tired of Winter.\u201d\n\nThen he went down-stairs, where Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady\nhousekeeper, had his breakfast ready on the table.\n\nUncle Wiggily ate some cabbage pancakes with carrot maple sugar\nsprinkled over them, and then as he wiped his whiskers on his red\ntongue, which he used for a napkin, and as he twinkled his pink nose to\nsee if it was all right, Nurse Jane said:\n\n\u201cYesterday, Uncle Wiggily, you told me you would like me to make some\nlettuce cakes to-day; did you not?\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cI did,\u201d answered Uncle Wiggily, sort of slow and solemn like. \u201cBut what\nis the matter, Nurse Jane? I hope you are not going to tell me that you\ncannot, or will not, make those lettuce cakes.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I\u2019ll make them, all right enough, Wiggy,\u201d the muskrat lady\nanswered, \u201conly I have no lettuce. You will have to go to the store for\nme.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd right gladly will I go!\u201d exclaimed the bunny uncle, speaking like\nsome one in an old-fashioned story book. \u201cI\u2019ll get my automobile out and\ngo at once.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily had not used his machine often that Winter, as there had\nbeen so much snow and ice. But now it was getting close to Spring and\nthe weather was very nice. There was no snow in the woods and fields,\nthough, of course, some might fall later.\n\n\u201cIt will do my auto good to have me ride in it,\u201d said the bunny uncle.\nHe blew some hot air in the bologna sausage tires, put some talcum\npowder on the steering-wheel so it would not catch cold, and then,\nhaving tickled the whizzicum-whazzicum with a goose feather, away he\nstarted for the lettuce store.\n\nIt did not take him long to get there, and, having bought a nice head of\nthe green stuff, the bunny uncle started back again for his hollow-stump\nbungalow.\n\n\u201cNurse Jane will make some fine lettuce cakes, with clover ice cream\ncones on top,\u201d he said to himself, as he hurried along in his\nautomobile.\n\nHe had not gone very far, and he was about halfway home, when from\nbehind a bush he heard the sound of crying. Now, whenever Uncle Wiggily\nheard any one crying he knew some one was in trouble, and as he always\ntried to help those in trouble, he did it this time. Stopping his\nautomobile, he called:\n\n\u201cWho are you, and what is the matter? Perhaps I can help you.\u201d\n\nOut from behind the bush came a boy, a nice sort of boy, except that he\nwas crying.\n\n\u201cOh, are you Simple Simon?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily, \u201cand are you crying\nbecause you cannot catch a whale in your mother\u2019s water pail?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo; I am not Simple Simon,\u201d was the answer of the boy.\n\n\u201cWell, you cannot be Jack Horner, because you have no pie with you, and\nyou\u2019re not Little Boy Blue, because I see you wear a red necktie,\u201d went\non the bunny uncle. \u201cDo you belong to Mother Goose at all?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d answered the boy. \u201cI do. You must have heard about me. I am\nDiller-a-Dollar, a ten o\u2019clock scholar, why do you come so soon? I used\nto come at ten o\u2019clock, but now I\u2019ll come at noon. Don\u2019t you know me?\u201d\n\n\u201cHa! Why, of course, I know you!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily, in his jolly\nvoice, as he put some lollypop oil on the doodle-oodleum of his auto.\n\u201cBut, why are you crying?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause I\u2019m going to be late at school again,\u201d said the boy. \u201cYou see\nof late I have been late a good many mornings, but this morning I got up\nearly, and was sure I would get there before noon.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd so you will, if you hurry,\u201d Uncle Wiggily said, looking at his\nwatch, that was a cousin to the clock, up which, and down which, ran\nHickory Dickory Dock, the mouse. \u201cIt isn\u2019t anywhere near noon yet,\u201d went\non the rabbit gentleman. \u201cYou can almost get to school on time this\nmorning.\u201d\n\n\u201cI suppose I could,\u201d said the boy, \u201cand I got up early on purpose to do\nthat. But now I have lost my way, and I don\u2019t know where the school is.\nOh, dear! Boo hoo! I\u2019ll never get to school this week, I fear.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, yes, you will!\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, still more kindly. \u201cI\u2019ll tell\nyou what to do. Hop up in the automobile here with me, and I\u2019ll take you\nto the school. I know just where it is. Sammie and Susie Littletail, my\nrabbit friends, and Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, the squirrels, as well\nas Nannie and Billie Wagtail, the goats, go there. Hop in!\u201d\n\nSo Diller-a-Dollar, the late scholar, hopped in the auto, and he and\nUncle Wiggily started off together.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019ll not be late this morning,\u201d said the bunny uncle. \u201cI\u2019ll get you\nthere just about nine o\u2019clock.\u201d\n\nWell, Uncle Wiggily meant to do it, and he might have, only for what\nhappened. First a hungry dog bit a piece out of one of the bologna\nsausage tires on the auto wheels, and they had to go slower. Then a\nhungry cat took another piece and they had to go still more slowly.\n\nA little farther on the tinkerum-tankerum of the automobile, which\ndrinks gasolene, grew thirsty and Uncle Wiggily had to give it a glass\nof lemonade. This took more time.\n\nAnd finally when the machine went over a bump the cork came out of the\nbox of talcum powder and it flew in the face of Uncle Wiggily and the\nlate scholar and they both sneezed so hard that the auto stopped.\n\n\u201cSee! I told you we\u2019d never get to school,\u201d sadly said the boy. \u201cOh,\ndear! And I thought this time teacher would not laugh, and ask me why I\ncame so soon, when I was really late.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s too bad!\u201d Uncle Wiggily said. \u201cI did hope I could get you there on\ntime. But wait a minute. Let me think. Ha! I have it! We are close to my\nbungalow. We\u2019ll run there and get in my airship. That goes ever so much\nfaster than my auto, and I\u2019ll have you to school in no time.\u201d\n\nNo sooner said than done! In the airship the late scholar and Uncle\nWiggily reached school just as the nine o\u2019clock bell was ringing, and so\nDiller-a-Dollar was on time this time after all. And the teacher said:\n\n\u201cOh, Diller-a-Dollar, my ten o\u2019clock scholar, you may stand up in line.\nYou used to come in very late, but now you come at nine.\u201d\n\nSo the late scholar was not late after all, thanks to Uncle Wiggily, and\nif the egg beater doesn\u2019t go to sleep in the rice pudding, where it\ncan\u2019t get out to go sleigh-riding with the potato masher, I\u2019ll tell you\nnext about Uncle Wiggily and Baa-Baa, the black sheep.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XXIII\n\n                 UNCLE WIGGILY AND BAA-BAA BLACK SHEEP\n\n\n\u201cMY goodness! But it\u2019s cold to-day!\u201d exclaimed Uncle Wiggily Longears,\nthe nice rabbit gentleman, as he came down to breakfast in his\nhollow-stump bungalow one morning. \u201cIt is very cold.\u201d\n\n\u201cIndeed it is,\u201d said Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady\nhousekeeper, as she put the hot buttered cabbage cakes on the table. \u201cIf\nyou go out you had better wear your fur coat.\u201d\n\n\u201cI shall,\u201d spoke the bunny uncle. \u201cAnd I probably shall call on Mother\nGoose. She asked me to stop in the next time I went past.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat for?\u201d Nurse Jane wanted to know.\n\n\u201cOh, Little Jack Horner hurt his thumb the last time he pulled a plum\nout of his Christmas pie, and Mother Goose wanted me to look at it, and\nsee if she had better call in Dr. Possum. So I\u2019ll stop and have a look.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, give her my love,\u201d said Nurse Jane, and Uncle Wiggily promised\nthat he would.\n\nA little later he started off across the fields and through the woods to\nthe place where Mother Goose lived, not far from his own hollow-stump\nbungalow. Uncle Wiggily had on his fur overcoat, for it was cold. It had\nbeen warm the day before, when he had taken Diller-a-Dollar, the ten\no\u2019clock scholar, to school, but now the weather had turned cold again.\n\n\u201cCome in!\u201d called Mother Goose, when Uncle Wiggily had tapped with his\npaw on her door. \u201cCome in!\u201d\n\nThe bunny uncle went in, and looked at the thumb of Little Jack Horner,\nwho was playing marbles with Little Boy Blue.\n\n\u201cDoes your thumb hurt you much, Jack?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily.\n\n\u201cYes, I am sorry to say it does. I\u2019m not going to pull any more plums\nout of Christmas pies. I\u2019m going to eat cake instead,\u201d said Jack Horner.\n\n\u201cWell, I\u2019ll go get Dr. Possum for you,\u201d offered Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI think\nthat will be best,\u201d he remarked to Mother Goose.\n\nWrapped in his warm fur overcoat, Uncle Wiggily once more started off\nover the fields and through the woods. He had not gone very far before\nhe heard a queer sort of crying noise, like:\n\n\u201cBaa! Baa! Baa!\u201d\n\n\u201cHa! That sounds like a little lost lamb,\u201d said the bunny uncle, \u201conly\nthere are no little lambs out this time of year. I\u2019ll take a look. It\nmay be some one in trouble, whom I can help.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily looked around the corner of a stone fence, and there he\nsaw a sheep shivering in the cold, for most of his warm, fleecy wool had\nbeen sheared off. Oh! how the sheep shivered in the cold.\n\n\u201cWhy, what is the matter with you?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily, kindly.\n\n\u201cI am c-c-c-c-cold,\u201d said the sheep, shiveringly.\n\n\u201cWhat makes you cold?\u201d the bunny uncle wanted to know.\n\n\u201cBecause they cut off so much of my wool. You know how it is with me,\nfor I am in the Mother Goose book. Listen!\n\n          \u201c\u2018Baa-baa, black sheep, have you any wool?\n            Yes, sir; yes, sir; three bags full.\n            One for the master, one for the man,\n            And one for the little boy who lives in the lane.\u2019\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s the way I answered when they asked me if I had any wool,\u201d said\nBaa-baa.\n\n\u201cAnd what did they do?\u201d asked the bunny uncle.\n\n\u201cWhy they sheared off my fleece, three bags of it. I didn\u2019t mind them\ntaking the first bag full, for I had plenty and it was so warm I thought\nSpring was coming. And it doesn\u2019t hurt to cut off my fleecy wool, any\nmore than it hurts to cut a boy\u2019s hair. And after they took the first\nbag full of wool for the master they took a second bag for the man. I\ndidn\u2019t mind that, either. But when they took the third\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cThen they really did take three?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily, in surprise.\n\n\u201cOh, yes, to be sure. Why it\u2019s that way in the book of Mother Goose, you\nknow, and they had to do just as the book says.\u201d\n\n\u201cI suppose so,\u201d agreed Uncle Wiggily, sadly like.\n\n\u201cWell, after they took the third bag of wool off my back the weather\ngrew colder, and I began to shiver. Oh! how cold I was; and how I\nshivered and shook. Of course if the master and the man, and the little\nboy who lives in the lane, had known I was going to shiver so, they\nwould not have taken the last bag of wool. Especially the little boy, as\nhe is very kind to me.\n\n\u201cBut now it is done, and it will be a long while before my wool grows\nout again. And as long as it is cold weather I will shiver, I suppose,\u201d\nsaid Baa-baa, the black sheep.\n\n\u201cNo, you shall not shiver!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily.\n\n\u201cHow can you stop me?\u201d asked the black sheep.\n\n\u201cBy wrapping my old fur coat around you,\u201d said the rabbit gentleman. \u201cI\nhave two fur overcoats, a new one and an old one. I am wearing the new\none. The old one is at my hollow-stump bungalow. You go there and tell\nNurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy to give it to you. Tell her I said so. Or you can\ngo there and wait for me, as I am going to get Dr. Possum to fix the\nthumb of Little Jack Horner, who sat in a corner, eating a Christmas\npie.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are very kind,\u201d said Baa-baa. \u201cI\u2019ll go to your bungalow and wait\nthere for you.\u201d\n\nSo he did, shaking and shivering all the way, but he soon became warm\nwhen he sat by Nurse Jane\u2019s fire. And when Uncle Wiggily came back from\nhaving sent Dr. Possum to Little Jack Horner, the rabbit gentleman\nwrapped his old fur coat around Baa-baa, the black sheep, who was soon\nas warm as toast.\n\nAnd Baa-baa wore Uncle Wiggily\u2019s old fur coat until warm weather came,\nwhen the sheep\u2019s wool grew out long again. So everything was all right,\nyou see.\n\nAnd now, having learned the lesson that if you cut your hair too short\nyou may have to wear a fur cap to stop yourself from getting cold, we\nwill wait for the next story, which, if the pencil box doesn\u2019t jump into\nthe ink well and get a pail of glue to make the lollypop stick fast to\nthe roller-skates, will be about Uncle Wiggily and Polly Flinders.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XXIV\n\n                    UNCLE WIGGILY AND POLLY FLINDERS\n\n\n\u201cTHERE!\u201d cried Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, who\ntook care of the hollow-stump bungalow for Uncle Wiggily Longears, the\nrabbit gentleman. \u201cThere, it is all finished at last!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s all finished?\u201d asked the bunny uncle, who was reading the paper\nin his easy chair near the fire, for the weather was still cold. \u201cI hope\nyou don\u2019t mean you have finished living with me, Nurse Jane? For I would\nbe very lonesome if you were to go away.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, don\u2019t worry, I\u2019ll not leave you, Wiggy,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat I meant\nwas that I had finished making the new dress for Susie Littletail, the\nrabbit girl.\u201d\n\n\u201cGood!\u201d cried the bunny uncle. \u201cA new dress for my little niece Susie.\nThat\u2019s fine! If you like, Nurse Jane, I\u2019ll take it to her.\u201d\n\n\u201cI wish you would,\u201d spoke the muskrat lady. \u201cI have not time myself.\nJust be careful of it. Don\u2019t let the bad fox or the skillery-scalery\nalligator with humps on his ears bite holes in it.\u201d\n\n\u201cI won\u2019t,\u201d promised Uncle Wiggily. So taking the dress, which Nurse Jane\nhad sewed for Susie, over his paw, and with his tall silk hat over his\nears, and carrying his red, white and blue-striped barber-pole\nrheumatism crutch, off Uncle Wiggily started for the Littletail home.\n\n\u201cSusie will surely like her dress,\u201d thought the rabbit gentleman. \u201cIt\nhas such pretty colors.\u201d For it had, being pink and blue and red and\nyellow and purple and lavender and strawberry and lemon and Orange\nMountain colors. There may have been other colors in it, but I can think\nof no more right away.\n\nUncle Wiggily was going along past Old Mother Hubbard\u2019s house, and past\nthe place where Mother Goose lived, when, coming to a place near a big\ntree, Uncle Wiggily saw another house. And from inside the house came a\ncrying sound.\n\n\u201cOh, dear! Oh, dear! What shall I do?\u201d sobbed a voice.\n\n\u201cAh, ha! More trouble!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI seem to be finding lots\nof people in trouble lately. Well, now to see who this is!\u201d\n\nGoing up to the house, and peering in a window, Uncle Wiggily saw a\nlittle girl sitting before a fireplace. And this little girl was crying.\n\n\u201cHello!\u201d called Uncle Wiggily, in his jolly voice, as he opened the\nwindow. \u201cWhat is the matter? Are you Little Bo Peep, and are you crying\nbecause you have lost your sheep?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, Uncle Wiggily,\u201d answered the little girl. \u201cI am crying because I\nhave spoiled my nice new dress, and when my mother comes home and finds\nit out she will whip me.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, no!\u201d cried the bunny uncle. \u201cYour mother will never do that. But\nwho are you?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, don\u2019t you know? I am little Polly Flinders, I sat among the\ncinders, warming my pretty little toes. \u2018And her mother came and caught\nher, and she whipped her little daughter, for spoiling her nice new\nclothes.\u2019\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s what it says in the Mother Goose book,\u201d said Polly Flinders,\n\u201cand, of course, that\u2019s what will happen to me. Oh, dear! I don\u2019t want\nto be whipped. And I didn\u2019t really spoil quite all my nice new clothes.\nIt\u2019s only my dress, and some hot ashes got on that.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, that isn\u2019t so bad,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cIt may be that I can\nclean it for you.\u201d But when he looked at Polly\u2019s dress he saw that it\ncould not be fixed, for, like Pussy Cat Mole\u2019s best petticoat, Polly\u2019s\ndress had been burned through with hot coals, so that it was full of\nholes.\n\n\u201cNo, that can\u2019t be fixed, I\u2019m sorry to say,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily.\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d sobbed Polly Flinders, as she sat among the cinders. \u201cWhat\nshall I do? I don\u2019t want to be whipped by my mother.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd you shall not be,\u201d said the bunny uncle. \u201cNot that I think she\nwould whip you, but we will not give her a chance. See here, I have a\nnew dress that I was taking to Susie Littletail. Nurse Jane can easily\nmake my little rabbit niece another.\n\n\u201cSo you take this one, and give me your old one. And when your mother\ncomes she will not see the holes in your dress. Only you must tell her\nwhat happened, or it would not be fair. Always tell mothers and fathers\neverything that happens to you.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will,\u201d promised Polly Flinders.\n\nShe soon took off her old dress and put on the new one intended for\nSusie, and it just fitted her.\n\n\u201cOh, how lovely!\u201d cried Polly Flinders, looking at her toes.\n\n\u201cAnd now,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, \u201cyou must sit no more among the cinders.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll not,\u201d Polly promised, and she went and sat down in front of the\nlooking-glass, where she could look proudly at the new dress\u2014not too\nproudly, you understand, but just proud enough.\n\nPolly thanked Uncle Wiggily, who took the old soiled and burned dress to\nSusie\u2019s house. When the rabbit girl saw the bunny uncle coming she ran\nto meet him, crying:\n\n\u201cOh! did Nurse Jane send you with my new dress?\u201d\n\n\u201cShe did,\u201d answered Uncle Wiggily, \u201cbut see what happened to it on the\nway,\u201d and he showed Susie the burned holes and all.\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d cried the little rabbit girl, sadly. \u201cOh, dear!\u201d\n\n\u201cNever mind,\u201d spoke Uncle Wiggily, kindly, and he told all that had\nhappened. It was a sort of adventure, you see.\n\n\u201cOh, I\u2019m glad you gave Polly my dress!\u201d said Susie, clapping her paws.\n\n\u201cNurse Jane shall make you another dress,\u201d promised Uncle Wiggily, and\nthe muskrat lady did. And when the mother of Polly Flinders came home\nshe thought the new dress was just fine, and she did not whip her little\ndaughter. In fact, she said she would not have done so anyhow. So that\npart of the Mother Goose book is wrong.\n\nAnd thus everything came out all right, and if the shaving brush doesn\u2019t\nwhitewash the blackboard, so the chalk can\u2019t dance on it with the pencil\nsharpener, I\u2019ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the garden maid.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XXV\n\n                   UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE GARDEN MAID\n\n\n\u201cHEY, ho, hum!\u201d exclaimed Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit gentleman,\nas he stretched up his twinkling, pink nose, and reached his paws around\nhis back to scratch an itchy place. \u201cHo, hum! I wonder what will happen\nto me to-day?\u201d\n\n\u201cAre you going out again?\u201d asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat\nlady housekeeper. \u201cIt seems to me that you go out a great deal, Mr.\nLongears.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, yes; perhaps I do,\u201d admitted the bunny uncle. \u201cBut more things\nhappen to me when I go out than when I stay in the house.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd do you like to have things happen to you?\u201d asked Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy.\n\n\u201cWhen they are adventures I do,\u201d answered the rabbit gentleman. \u201cSo here\nI go off for an adventure.\u201d\n\nOff started the nice, old, bunny uncle, carrying his red, white and\nblue-striped barber-pole rheumatism crutch\u2014over his shoulder this time.\nFor his pain did not hurt him much, as the sun was shining, so he did\nnot have to limp on the crutch, which Nurse Jane had gnawed for him out\nof a corn-stalk.\n\nUncle Wiggily had not gone very far toward the fields and woods before\nhe heard Nurse Jane calling to him.\n\n\u201cOh, Wiggy! Wiggy, I say! Wait a moment!\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, what is it?\u201d asked the rabbit gentleman, turning around and\nlooking over his shoulder. \u201cHave I forgotten anything?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, it was I who forgot,\u201d said the muskrat lady housekeeper. \u201cI forgot\nto tell you to bring me a bottle of perfume. Mine is all gone.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right, I\u2019ll bring you some,\u201d promised Mr. Longears. \u201cIt will give\nme something to do\u2014to go to the perfume store. Perhaps an adventure may\nhappen to me there.\u201d\n\nOnce more he was on his way, and soon he reached the perfume store, kept\nby a nice buzzing bee lady, who gathered sweet smelling perfume, as well\nas honey, from the flowers in Summer and put it carefully away for the\nWinter.\n\n\u201cSome perfume for Nurse Jane, eh?\u201d said the bee lady, as the rabbit\ngentleman knocked on her hollow-tree house. \u201cThere you are, Uncle\nWiggily,\u201d and she gave him a bottle of the nice scent made from a number\nof flowers.\n\n\u201cMy! That smells lovely!\u201d exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, as he pulled out the\ncork, and took a long sniff. \u201cNurse Jane will surely like that perfume!\u201d\n\nWith the sweet scented bottle in his paw, the rabbit gentleman started\nback toward his hollow-stump bungalow. He had not gone very far before\nhe saw a nurse maid, out in the garden, back of a big house. There was a\nbasket in front of the maid, with some clothes in it, and stretched\nacross the garden was a line, with more clothes on it, flapping in the\nwind.\n\n\u201cHa!\u201d exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI wonder if that garden maid, hanging up\nthe clothes, wouldn\u2019t like to smell Nurse Jane\u2019s perfume? Nurse Jane\nwill not mind, and perhaps it will be doing that maid a kindness to let\nher smell something sweet, after she has been smelling washing-soap-suds\nall morning.\u201d\n\nSo the bunny uncle, who was always doing kind things, hopped over to the\ngarden maid, and politely asked:\n\n\u201cWouldn\u2019t you like to smell this perfume?\u201d and he held out the bottle he\nhad bought of the bee lady.\n\nThe garden maid turned around, and said in a sad voice:\n\n\u201cThank you, Uncle Wiggily. It is very kind of you, I\u2019m sure, and I would\nlike to smell your perfume. But I can\u2019t.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy not?\u201d asked the bunny uncle. \u201cThe cork is out of the bottle. See!\u201d\n\n\u201cThat may very well be,\u201d went on the garden maid, \u201cbut the truth of the\nmatter is that I cannot smell, because a blackbird has nipped off my\nnose.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily, in great surprise, looked, and, surely enough, a\nblackbird had nipped off the nose of the garden maid.\n\n\u201cBless my whiskers!\u201d cried the bunny uncle. \u201cWhat a thing for a\nblackbird to do\u2014nip off your nose! Why did he do such an impolite thing\nas that?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, he had to do it, because it\u2019s that way in the Mother Goose book,\u201d\nsaid the maid. \u201cDon\u2019t you remember? It goes this way:\n\n                     \u201c\u2018The King was in the parlor,\n                       Counting out his money,\n                       The Queen was in the kitchen,\n                       Eating bread and honey.\n                       The maid was in the garden,\n                       Hanging out the clothes,\n                       Along came a blackbird\n                       And nipped off her nose.\u2019\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s the way it was,\u201d said the garden maid.\n\n\u201cOh, yes, I remember now,\u201d spoke Uncle Wiggily.\n\n\u201cWell, I\u2019m the maid who was in the garden, hanging out the clothes,\u201d\nsaid she, \u201cand, as you can see, along came a blackbird and nipped off my\nnose. That is, you can\u2019t see the blackbird, but you can see the place\nwhere my nose ought to be.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d answered Uncle Wiggily, \u201cI can. It\u2019s too bad. That blackbird\nought to have his feathers ruffled.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, he didn\u2019t mean to be bad,\u201d said the garden maid. \u201cHe had to do as\nit says in the book, and he had to nip off my nose. So that\u2019s why I\ncan\u2019t smell Nurse Jane\u2019s nice perfume.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily thought for a minute. Then he said:\n\n\u201cJust you wait here. I think I can fix it so you can smell as well as\never.\u201d\n\nThen the bunny uncle hurried off through the woods until he found Jimmie\nCaw-Caw, the big black crow boy.\n\n\u201cJimmie,\u201d said the bunny uncle, \u201cwill you fly off, find the blackbird,\nand ask him to give back the garden maid\u2019s nose so she can smell\nperfume?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will,\u201d said Jimmie Caw-Caw, very politely. \u201cI certainly will!\u201d\n\nAway he flew, and, after a while, in the deep, dark part of the woods he\nfound the blackbird, sitting on a tree.\n\n\u201cPlease give me back the garden maid\u2019s nose,\u201d said Jimmie, politely.\n\n\u201cCertainly,\u201d answered the blackbird, also politely. \u201cI only took it off\nin fun. Here it is back. I\u2019m sorry I bothered the garden maid, but I had\nto, as it\u2019s that way in the Mother Goose book.\u201d\n\nOff to Uncle Wiggily flew Jimmie, the crow boy, with the young lady\u2019s\nnose, and soon Dr. Possum had fastened it back on the garden maid\u2019s face\nas good as ever.\n\n\u201cNow you can smell the perfume,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, and when he held up\nthe bottle the maid said:\n\n\u201cOh, what a lovely smell!\u201d\n\nSo the bunny uncle left a little perfume in a bottle for the garden\nmaid, and then she went on hanging up the clothes, and she felt very\nhappy because she had a nose. So you see how kind Uncle Wiggily and\nJimmie were, and Nurse Jane, too, liked the perfume very much.\n\nSo if the little girl\u2019s roller-skates don\u2019t run over the pussy\u2019s tail\nand ruffle it all up so she can\u2019t go to the moving picture party, I\u2019ll\ntell you next of Uncle Wiggily and the King.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XXVI\n\n                       UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE KING\n\n\nUNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the nice old rabbit gentleman, was sitting in an\neasy chair in his hollow-stump bungalow, one day, looking out of the\nwindow at the blue sky, and he was feeling quite happy. And why should\nhe not be happy?\n\nNurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, his muskrat lady housekeeper, had just given him\na nice breakfast of cabbage pancakes, with carrot maple sugar tied in a\nbow-knot in the middle, and Uncle Wiggily had eaten nine. Nine cakes, I\nmean, not nine bows.\n\n\u201cAnd now,\u201d said the bunny uncle to himself, \u201cI think I shall go out and\ntake a walk. Perhaps I may have an adventure. Do you want any perfume,\nor anything like that from the store?\u201d asked Mr. Longears of Miss Fuzzy\nWuzzy.\n\n\u201cNo, thank you, I think not,\u201d answered the muskrat lady. \u201cJust bring\nyourself home, and that will be all.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I\u2019ll do that all right,\u201d promised the bunny gentleman. So away he\nhopped, over the fields and through the woods, humming to himself a\nlittle song which went something like this:\n\n                \u201cI\u2019m feeling happy now and gay,\n                 Why shouldn\u2019t I, this lovely day?\n                 \u2019Tis time enough to be quite sad,\n                 When wind and rain make weather bad.\n                 But, even then, one ought to try\n                 To think that soon it will be dry.\n                 So then, no matter what the weather,\n                 Smile, as though tickled by a feather.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily felt happier than ever when he had sung this song, but, as\nhe went along a little further, he came, all at once, to a very nice\nhouse indeed, out of which floated the sound of a sad voice.\n\nUncle Wiggily was surprised to hear this, for the house was such a nice\none that it seemed no one ought to be unhappy who lived there.\n\nThe house was made of gold and silver, with diamond windows, and the\nchimney was made of a red ruby stone, which, as every one knows, is very\nexpensive. But with all that the sad voice came sailing out of one of\nthe opened diamond windows, and the voice said:\n\n\u201cOh, dear! It\u2019s gone! I can\u2019t find it! I dropped it and it rolled down a\ncrack in the floor. Now I\u2019ll never get it again. Oh, dear!\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, that sounds like some one in trouble,\u201d said the bunny uncle. \u201cI\nmust see if I cannot help them,\u201d for Uncle Wiggily helped real folk, who\nlived in fine houses, as well as woodland animals, who lived in hollow\ntrees.\n\nUncle Wiggily hopped up to the open diamond window of the gold and\nsilver house, with the red ruby chimney, and, poking his nose inside,\nthe rabbit gentleman asked:\n\n\u201cIs there some one here in trouble whom I may have the pleasure of\nhelping?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d answered a voice. \u201cI\u2019m here, and I\u2019m surely in trouble.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho are you, and what is the trouble, if I may ask?\u201d politely went on\nUncle Wiggily.\n\n\u201cI am the king,\u201d was the answer. \u201cThis is my palace, but, with all that,\nI am in trouble. Come in.\u201d\n\nIn hopped Uncle Wiggily, and there, surely enough, was the king, but he\nwas in the kitchen, down on his hands and knees, looking with one eye\nthrough a crack in the floor, which is something kings hardly ever do.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s down there,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I can\u2019t get it. I\u2019m too fat to go\nthrough the crack.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s down there?\u201d Uncle Wiggily wanted to know.\n\n\u201cMy money,\u201d answered the king. \u201cYou may have heard about me,\u201d and he\nrecited this little verse:\n\n                      \u201cThe king was in the kitchen,\n                       Counting out his money;\n                       The queen was in the parlor,\n                       Eating bread and honey;\n                       The maid was in the garden,\n                       Hanging out the clothes,\n                       Along came a blackbird,\n                       Who nipped off her nose.\u201d\n\nThe fat man got up off the kitchen floor.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m the king,\u201d he said, taking up his gold and diamond crown from a\nkitchen chair, where he had put it as he kneeled down, so it would not\nfall off and be dented. \u201cFrom Mother Goose, you know; don\u2019t you?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I know,\u201d answered Uncle Wiggily.\n\n\u201cI dare say you\u2019ll find the queen in the parlor eating bread and honey,\u201d\nwent on the king. \u201cAt least I saw her start for there with a plate,\nknife and fork as I was coming here. And, no doubt, the maid is in the\ngarden, where she\u2019ll pretty soon have her nose nipped off by a\nblackbird.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat part happened yesterday,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI was there just\nafter it happened, and I got Jimmie Caw-Caw, the crow boy, to fly after\nthe blackbird and bring back the maid\u2019s nose. She is as well as ever now\nand can smell all kinds of perfume.\u201d\n\n\u201cGood!\u201d cried the fat king. \u201cYou were very kind to help her. I only wish\nyou could help me. But I don\u2019t see how you can. My money, which I was\ncounting, fell out of my hands and dropped down a crack in the floor. I\ncan see it lying down there in the dirt, but I can\u2019t get at it unless I\nmove to one side my gold and silver palace, and I don\u2019t want to do that.\nI don\u2019t suppose you can move a palace, can you?\u201d And he looked askingly\nat Uncle Wiggily.\n\n\u201cNo, I can\u2019t do that,\u201d said the bunny uncle. \u201cBut still I think I can\nget your money without moving the palace.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow?\u201d asked the king.\n\n\u201cWhy, I can go outside,\u201d said Mr. Longears, \u201cand with my strong paws,\nwhich are just made for digging, I can burrow, or dig, a place through\nthe dirt under your palace-house, crawl in and get what you dropped.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, please do!\u201d cried the king.\n\nSo Uncle Wiggily did.\n\nDown under the cellar wall of the palace, through the dirt, dug the\nbunny gentleman, with his strong paws. Pretty soon he was right under\nthe kitchen, and there, just where they had dropped through the crack,\nwere the king\u2019s gold and silver pennies and other pieces of money. Uncle\nWiggily picked them up, put them in his pocket and crawled out again.\n\n\u201cThere you are, king,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have your money back.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, thank you ever so much!\u201d cried the king. \u201cI\u2019ll have the cook give\nyou some carrots.\u201d And he did, before he went on counting his money in\nthe kitchen. And this time he stuffed a dish-rag in the crack so no more\npennies would fall through.\n\nThus we see how Uncle Wiggily helped the king, and in the next chapter,\nif the condensed milk doesn\u2019t jump out of the can and scare the\ncoffee-pot so it drinks tea, I\u2019ll tell you of Uncle Wiggily and the\nqueen.\n\nBut that story will have to go in the second part of this book, together\nwith some others, for now we are just halfway through, just as when you\ncut an orange into two parts.\n\nSo, if you are all ready, you may turn the page and get ready for what\ncomes next.\n\n\n                             END OF PART I\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                                CONTENTS\n\n                                -------\n\n                                PART II.\n\n          CHAPTER                                            PAGE\n               I. Uncle Wiggily and the Queen                   9\n              II. Uncle Wiggily and Ding-Dong Pussy            15\n             III. Uncle Wiggily and the Shoe Lady              22\n              IV. Uncle Wiggily and Jack-Be-Nimble             29\n               V. Uncle Wiggily and Tommy Tinker\u2019s Dog         35\n              VI. Uncle Wiggily and Mary\u2019s Lamb                41\n             VII. Uncle Wiggily and Peter Piper                47\n            VIII. Uncle Wiggily and the Moon-Man               53\n              IX. Uncle Wiggily and Humpty Dumpty              59\n               X. Uncle Wiggily and Old King Cole              65\n              XI. Uncle Wiggily and Peter-Peter                72\n             XII. Uncle Wiggily and the Butcher                78\n            XIII. Uncle Wiggily and the Baker                  84\n             XIV. Uncle Wiggily and the Candlestick Maker      91\n              XV. Uncle Wiggily and Tom-Tom                    97\n             XVI. Uncle Wiggily and the Crooked Man           103\n            XVII. Uncle Wiggily and the Barber                110\n           XVIII. Uncle Wiggily and the Blackbirds            116\n             XIX. Uncle Wiggily and the Fat Man               123\n              XX. Uncle Wiggily and the Tarts                 129\n             XXI. Uncle Wiggily and the Jumping Cow           136\n            XXII. Uncle Wiggily and the Pussies               143\n           XXIII. Uncle Wiggily and the Leaves                150\n            XXIV. Uncle Wiggily and the Wise Man              156\n             XXV. Uncle Wiggily and the Tailors               163\n            XXVI. Uncle Wiggily and the Bat                   169\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                     Uncle Wiggily and Mother Goose\n\n\n                                -------\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER I\n\n                      UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE QUEEN\n\n\nUNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the rabbit gentleman, was hopping along through\nthe woods one day, limping a little on his red, white and blue striped\nbarber-pole rheumatism crutch, for he had some pain, and he was\nwondering if any adventures would happen to him when, all of a sudden,\nthere came a big puff of wind, and blew off his tall silk hat.\n\n\u201cMy goodness me sakes alive, and some rice pudding!\u201d cried the bunny\nuncle, giving a hop, skip and a jump after his hat. \u201cI had forgotten\nthat this is the first of March, when the wind begins to blow Winter\naway and blow Spring in its place. No wonder my hat went off!\u201d\n\nHe raced after his hat, which was bounding along through the woods,\nrolling over and over like a boy\u2019s hoop on the sidewalk. At last Uncle\nWiggily caught his hat, but, as he was putting it down hard over his\nears, along came another puff of wind, and this time blew away his red,\nwhite and blue-striped crutch.\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d cried the bunny uncle. \u201cWhat a lot of trouble I\u2019m having\nto-day! I don\u2019t believe any one has as much trouble as I.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily hopped after his crutch, and caught it just as it was\nabout ready to be blown into a bramble briar bush.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s a good thing it didn\u2019t go in there,\u201d he said, \u201cor I\u2019d have been\nall scratched up getting it out. Oh, dear! I wonder if I am going to\nhave any more trouble! No one has as much as I.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, yes they have,\u201d said a little voice in the bramble briar bush.\n\u201cYes, they have! I\u2019m in trouble right now.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho are you and what is the trouble?\u201d asked the bunny uncle.\n\n\u201cI am the bee lady who keeps the honey and perfume store,\u201d was the\nanswer. \u201cI was on my way to take some perfume to Mrs. Wibblewobble, the\nduck lady, and when I tried to fly through this bramble briar bush my\nwings were caught, and I can\u2019t get out. Isn\u2019t that trouble enough?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt certainly is,\u201d answered Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI am sorry you are in\ntrouble, for I know what it means. But I will help you out.\u201d\n\nSo he did, very gently loosening the stickery thorns of the bramble\nbriar bushes from the bee lady\u2019s wings.\n\n\u201cOh, thank you,\u201d she said. \u201cNow, I can fly on with the perfume for Mrs.\nWibblewobble. If ever I can help you, or any friends of yours, I shall,\nUncle Wiggily.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you,\u201d answered the rabbit gentleman. Then, having given the bunny\nuncle a smell from the little bottle of perfume she carried, the bee\nlady flew on.\n\nWith his tall silk hat and crutch the rabbit gentleman now again went on\nthrough the woods, until once more he came to the gold and silver\npalace-house, with diamond windows, and a chimney made of a red ruby\nstone.\n\n\u201cHa! That\u2019s where the king lives, who was in the kitchen, counting out\nhis money,\u201d thought Mr. Longears. \u201cI helped him, and I wonder if there\nis any one else in the palace who is in need of my help?\u201d\n\nJust then, from one of the open parlor diamond windows, there came a\nvoice saying sadly:\n\n\u201cOh, dear! It\u2019s all gone! There isn\u2019t a bit left, and what I\u2019m going to\ndo, I don\u2019t know. Oh, dear!\u201d\n\n\u201cThat sounds like trouble,\u201d said the bunny uncle. \u201cI\u2019ll see what it is.\u201d\n\nHe went closer to the window, and there, in the parlor, he saw a\nbeautiful lady, all dressed in silk and satin and cloth-of-gold, with a\ndiamond crown on her head. In one hand she had a plate, and in the other\na knife and fork.\n\n\u201cWhat is the matter?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily, politely. \u201cWhat is gone\u2014the\ncook? And do you have to do the dishes yourself?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, thank you, the cook hasn\u2019t gone,\u201d said the lady. \u201cI am the queen,\nas you can see, and I ought to be in the parlor, eating bread and honey.\nI\u2019m in the parlor right enough, as you can tell by the piano being here.\nAnd I have the bread, but there is no honey! There isn\u2019t a bit of honey\nin the palace for me to eat, so I don\u2019t see how I can make things come\nout right, as they do in the Mother Goose book. Oh, dear!\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t worry,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, kindly. \u201cPerhaps I can mend matters\nfor you.\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t see how you can,\u201d said the queen. \u201cYou haven\u2019t any honey in\nyour pocket; have you?\u201d she asked.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d answered the bunny uncle. \u201cI guess I would be all stuck up, like a\npiece of fly paper, if I carried honey in my pocket.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen if you have no honey you can\u2019t help me,\u201d said the queen, sadly.\n\u201cYou see the king is in the kitchen, counting out his money. I am in\nhere, and I ought to be eating honey. And the maid is in the garden,\nhanging out the clothes\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cI know all about that, and all about her nose,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily,\nwith a smile. \u201cI helped the king get back his money, I helped the maid\nget back her nose, and now I am going to help you get your honey.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, how good of you!\u201d cried the queen, who felt like hugging Uncle\nWiggily, only queens do not do such things, you know. \u201cAnd I really need\nthe honey, for I am hungry. But how can you get it?\u201d the queen asked.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll show you,\u201d answered the rabbit gentleman. Then, going to the open\nwindow, he made a noise like a flower, and called:\n\n\u201cMrs. Bee! Mrs. Bee! Will you do me a favor now? You promised you would,\nand now is your chance. Will you do me a favor?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I will,\u201d answered a buzzing voice, and along flew the bee lady,\nwhom Uncle Wiggily had helped out of the briar bush. \u201cWhat is it you\nwish?\u201d she buzzed.\n\n\u201cSome honey for the queen to eat in the parlor,\u201d spoke the bunny uncle.\n\u201cShe hasn\u2019t any, and she must have some to be like the story in the\nMother Goose book, or things will not come out right. The queen needs\nhoney.\u201d\n\n\u201cShe shall have some at once,\u201d buzzed Mrs. Bee. Away she flew and pretty\nsoon she came back with a lot of honey.\n\n\u201cOh, thank you, and you, too, Uncle Wiggily,\u201d cried the queen, as she\nsat in the parlor and ate the sweet stuff. \u201cNow everything is all\nright.\u201d\n\nAnd so it was, Uncle Wiggily having made it so. And if the clothes line\ndoesn\u2019t twist itself in and out among the pickets of the fence like a\ncarpenter\u2019s shaving and try to play hop-scotch with the rose bush, I\u2019ll\ntell you next about the bunny gentleman and the ding-dong-bell pussy.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER II\n\n                   UNCLE WIGGILY AND DING-DONG PUSSY\n\n\nMOTHER GOOSE, the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe and Old Mother Hubbard\nhurried one day across the field and through the woods, to the\nhollow-stump bungalow of Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit gentleman.\nNurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, looking out of the\nhollow-stump window, saw them.\n\n\u201cMy goodness, Uncle Wiggily!\u201d cried Nurse Jane. \u201cOh! Look who\u2019s coming\nthis way. Company! Oh, my! And my shoes not buttoned! Oh, dear!\u201d\n\nThe bunny uncle stepped to the window beside the muskrat lady.\n\n\u201cThey\u2019re coming here,\u201d said Mr. Longears. \u201cMother Goose, Mrs. Hubbard\nand the Shoe Lady. You aren\u2019t giving a surprise party, are you, Nurse\nJane, that they are coming to?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, indeed,\u201d answered Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy. \u201cThough to see the three of\nthem coming this way is a surprise to me. Something must be the matter.\nSee how worried they look.\u201d\n\n\u201cTrouble, I suppose,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cWell, if they are in trouble\nit will give me pleasure to help them out. Open the door, Nurse Jane.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, they can\u2019t get in here,\u201d said Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy. \u201cOur little\nhollow-stump bungalow is too small for Mother Hubbard, Mother Goose and\nthe Shoe Lady, or even one of them.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo it is,\u201d agreed Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI\u2019ll have to go outside to talk to\nthem,\u201d and he did, politely hopping through the hollow-stump window.\n\n\u201cOh, Uncle Wiggily!\u201d cried Old Mother Hubbard. \u201cOh, dear!\u201d\n\n\u201cSuch trouble!\u201d exclaimed the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe, but who I\nshall call the Shoe Lady, for short, \u201cOh, such trouble!\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s Pussy!\u201d said Mother Goose. \u201cShe\u2019s gone!\u201d\n\n\u201cGone?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily. \u201cGone? Who is Pussy?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, you know,\u201d said Mother Goose. \u201cPussy is a cousin to Fuzzo, Wuzzo\nand Muzzo, the three little kittens, who lost their mittens.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, yes, to be sure,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI remember! So Pussy has\ngone; has she? What happened to her?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s what we don\u2019t know, and what we came to you to have you find\nout,\u201d said Mother Goose. \u201cYou see, Pussy\u2014that\u2019s her first name, her last\none is Mew\u2014Pussy Mew came on a little visit to Mrs. Purr, who is her\naunt, and the mother of the three little kittens who lost their\nmittens.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, yes, I remember!\u201d said Uncle Wiggily.\n\n\u201cWell, Pussy is lost,\u201d spoke the Shoe Lady. \u201cShe went out to the store\nfor Mrs. Purr while Fuzzo, Wuzzo and Muzzo were taking their\ntail-chasing lesson, and Pussy did not come back.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat did she go to the store after?\u201d Uncle Wiggily wanted to know.\n\n\u201cA yeast cake,\u201d answered Mother Hubbard. \u201cBut the yeast cake didn\u2019t come\nback, either.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot having any legs, I don\u2019t see how it could,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily.\n\u201cBut what is it you want me to do, ladies?\u201d he asked, making a polite\nbow.\n\n\u201cFind Pussy Mew,\u201d said Mother Goose. \u201cYou were so clever at helping the\nking and queen and the maid in the garden hanging out the clothes, when\nalong came a blackbird that nipped off her nose, that I\u2019m sure you can\nfind Pussy for us. We\u2019re really worried about her. Please find her.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll try,\u201d promised Uncle Wiggily. So in a little while off he started,\nlimping along on his red, white and blue tall silk hat, with his\nbarber-pole rheumatism crutch on his head. Oh, no! excuse me, if you\nplease\u2014I mean he had his crutch under his paw and his hat on his head.\n\nOver the fields and through the woods went Uncle Wiggily until, pretty\nsoon, he came to the hollow-stump school where the lady mouse taught the\nanimal children their lessons. The bell was ringing, for it was time for\nthe children to run out to play at recess.\n\n\u201cHa! I wonder if Pussy Mew could have gone to school, forgetting to come\nhome with the yeast cake,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI\u2019ll inquire.\u201d\n\nHe asked the lady mouse teacher, but she said that Pussy was not in\nschool, so Uncle Wiggily hurried on, looking all through the woods and\nover the fields. But no Pussy did he find until, all at once, as he came\nnear a well, he felt thirsty for a drink of water.\n\n\u201cOh, how I wish I had a drink!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI wonder if I\ncould get one.\u201d\n\nHe went to the edge of the well, but it was an old one, and there was no\nrope or bucket by which water could be pulled up. Then the old rabbit\ngentleman saw something shining brightly down at the bottom of the well,\nand he called out:\n\n\u201cIs any one down there who could give me a drink of water?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I am down here,\u201d was the answer, \u201cbut I cannot give you a drink of\nwater for I cannot get up myself.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho are you?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily, surprised like.\n\nJust then the school bell rang again, and a voice said:\n\n                 \u201cDing-dong bell, Pussy\u2019s in the well.\n                  Who put her in? Little Johnnie Green.\n                  Who pulled her out? Big Johnnie Stout.\n\n\u201cOnly that last part isn\u2019t right,\u201d the voice went on, \u201cfor Big Johnnie\nStout hasn\u2019t come to pull me out. But I\u2019m in the well, as you can tell\nby the ding-dong bell. Oh, dear! I don\u2019t know what to do. I want so much\nto get out.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll help you out, Pussy,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, kindly. \u201cI have been\nlooking all over for you. But if you are in the well how is it that you\ndid not sink to the bottom?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause I have with me a yeast cake that I went to the store to get,\u201d\nwas the answer. \u201cThe yeast cake makes bread light, so it will rise, and\nit made me light, so I could rise to the top of the water.\u201d\n\n\u201cGood!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cIt was the shiny tinfoil of the yeast cake\nI saw at the bottom of the well. I\u2019ll soon have you out now, Pussy.\u201d\n\nHe gave a jump over to a wild grape vine, gnawed off a piece with his\nstrong teeth, and then, using the grape vine as a rope, he lowered it\ndown into the well. Pussy took hold of it with her claws and paws,\nputting the yeast cake in one ear, and Uncle Wiggily easily pulled her\nout. She was wet, but not hurt at all.\n\n\u201cOh, thank you, Uncle Wiggily,\u201d Pussy Mew said. \u201cSo it was you, and not\nJohnnie Stout, who pulled me out?\u201d\n\n\u201cOf that there is no doubt,\u201d laughed Uncle Wiggily. \u201cBut did Johnnie\nGreen push you in?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, I stumbled and fell in,\u201d answered Pussy. \u201cEverything about me in\nthe Mother Goose story is wrong except the part like \u2018ding-dong bell,\nPussy\u2019s in the well.\u2019 I really was in.\u201d\n\nThen Pussy hurried on to her aunt\u2019s house with the yeast cake, and all\nwas well. And Mother Goose was very thankful to Uncle Wiggily for having\nhelped the little cat, who, ever after that was called the\n\u201cding-dong-bell pussy.\u201d\n\nSo in the next chapter, if the piano music doesn\u2019t go to sleep in the\nbread box, where the phonograph can\u2019t find it to play with, I\u2019ll tell\nyou about Uncle Wiggily and the Shoe Lady.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER III\n\n                    UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE SHOE LADY\n\n\n\u201cWHERE are you going, Uncle Wiggily?\u201d asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the\nmuskrat lady, who kept house for Mr. Longears, the rabbit gentleman.\n\u201cWhere are you going this fine day?\u201d\n\n\u201cTo the store,\u201d answered the bunny uncle.\n\n\u201cTo the store? Why, I don\u2019t want anything,\u201d spoke Nurse Jane. \u201cYou are\nalways so kind, going to the store whenever I need anything, but nothing\nis needed for the hollow-stump bungalow to-day.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am going to the store for myself,\u201d Uncle Wiggily said. \u201cI am going to\nbuy a new pair of shoes.\u201d\n\nSo off he hopped, leaning on his red, white and blue-striped barber-pole\nrheumatism crutch, over the fields and through the woods until he came\nto the shoe store.\n\n\u201cA pair of shoes? Certainly,\u201d said the monkey-doodle gentleman who kept\nthe store. \u201cWill you have high shoes or low shoes?\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, as it is near Spring I\u2019ll get low shoes,\u201d Uncle Wiggily said.\n\u201cThey will be cooler if I should happen to go down to the Asbury Park\nocean board walk.\u201d\n\n\u201cTies, we call them, instead of low shoes, but it is all the same,\u201d went\non the monkey-doodle. \u201cHere you are.\u201d\n\nHe brought out a pair of low shoes, or ties, but, when Uncle Wiggily\ntried to get them on, his feet would not go into them.\n\n\u201cI see\u2014too tight,\u201d said the monkey-doodle. \u201cI will put a little talcum\npowder in the shoes and your foot will then easily slip in.\u201d\n\nBut, even with the talcum powder, Uncle Wiggily\u2019s paws would not slip\nin.\n\n\u201cI must use a shoe-horn,\u201d said the monkey.\n\n\u201cIs a shoe-horn something to play on?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily.\n\n\u201cNo, it is something to make a shoe slip on easily,\u201d said the\nmonkey-doodle. He brought out a smooth, shiny piece of tin, like a big\ntablespoon without a handle. Holding this against his heel, Uncle\nWiggily could easily slip his foot into his new shoe. Soon he had them\nboth on, and they fitted him well.\n\n\u201cAre they too tight?\u201d asked the monkey-doodle, as the bunny gentleman\nstepped around the store, practicing.\n\n\u201cNo, they\u2019re just right,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cThey go on a bit hard,\nbut once I have put them on with the shoe-where the shoe-horn they are\nvery nice. I\u2019ll take them.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd you may have some talcum powder and the shoe-horn to take with you,\nto put your shoes on easily whenever you wish,\u201d said the monkey. For you\nknow Uncle Wiggily pulled the shoe-horn out of his shoe, once he had his\nfoot in. They couldn\u2019t both be there at the same time, you see.\n\nAway hopped the rabbit gentleman in his new shoes and with the shoe-horn\nand the slippery-sliding talcum powder in his pocket.\n\n\u201cWell, now I have my new shoes I wonder if I will meet with an adventure\nto-day?\u201d thought Uncle Wiggily, as he hopped on. And he did. I\u2019ll tell\nyou about it.\n\nPretty soon he came to a great, big shoe, standing in the middle of the\nwoods. The shoe had a roof over it, with a chimney sticking out of the\ntop. There was a door to the shoe, and windows. In fact, it was a house,\nmade out of a great, big shoe which a giant used to wear.\n\n\u201cHa! This is where the Old Woman lives,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cThe Shoe\nLady. I wonder if she is at home?\u201d\n\nHe was going to knock on the door and ask how all the children were,\nwhen, from inside the shoe there came the sound of crying; children\ncrying; many of them.\n\n\u201cHa! I wonder if that means trouble?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily of himself. \u201cI\nhad better see if I can do anything to help.\u201d\n\nHe knocked on the door, and the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe, or Shoe\nLady, as I call her for short, opened it.\n\n\u201cIs anything the matter?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI heard crying.\u201d\n\n\u201cOf course,\u201d spoke the Shoe Lady, \u201cthe children always cry when I whip\nthem. Don\u2019t you know how it is in the Mother Goose book:\n\n                     \u201c\u2018There was an old woman\n                       Who lived in a shoe,\n                       She had so many children\n                       She didn\u2019t know what to do.\n                       She gave them some broth,\n                       Without any bread;\n                       She whipped them all soundly\n                       And sent them to bed.\u2019\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s what happened,\u201d said the Shoe Lady.\n\n\u201cWell, er\u2014excuse me\u2014but, that is, do you think it just right to whip\nthem ALL?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily, kindly. \u201cMight not at least _one_ of\nthem have been good?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, bless your tall hat!\u201d exclaimed the Shoe Lady, with a laugh. \u201cI\ndon\u2019t _really_ whip them, you know. That part of the verse is wrong. I\nonly make believe to whip them\u2014pretend, you know, so as to make it as\nnear like the book as I can.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I heard crying,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily.\n\n\u201cYes, but it was only make-believe crying, just like the pretended\nwhipping,\u201d laughed the Shoe Lady. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t for the world hurt one of\nthe children, even though I have so many I don\u2019t know what to do.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily was glad to hear that, and he was just hopping on, when up\ncame running a little boy.\n\n\u201cOh, take me in! Take me in!\u201d he cried. \u201cI want my make-believe\nwhipping. I want to make-believe cry, have my broth, without any bread,\nand go to bed.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, Toodles!\u201d exclaimed the Shoe Lady, looking at him in surprise. \u201cI\ndid not know you were out. You stayed too late at your play. There are\nso many children here now I don\u2019t believe there is room to get you in.\nAfter the children eat their supper they swell up, and the shoe house is\nhardly large enough for them,\u201d she said to Uncle Wiggily.\n\n\u201cOh, I must get in,\u201d cried Toodles. \u201cI must!\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, I\u2019ll try,\u201d said the Shoe Lady. She and Uncle Wiggily tried, but\nthe shoe was so full of children that not another one could get in. They\npushed and pulled and shoved and hauled, but poor Toodles could not get\nin.\n\n\u201cOh, dear! I don\u2019t know what to do,\u201d said the lady, who lived in a shoe.\n\u201cI guess Toodles will have to sleep out in the woods to-night.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo! Wait! I have it!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cWhen my foot would not go\nin my new tight shoe the monkey put talcum powder in it and used a\nshoe-horn. I\u2019ll do that to Toodles.\u201d And so he did. And when the little\nboy was sprinkled with sweet smelling talcum powder, and when the shiny,\nslippery shoe-horn was slipped into the top of the crowded shoe, in on\nthat slid Toodles as nicely as you please, and everything was all right.\nThere\u2019s always room for one more, even in a shoe, you know.\n\n\u201cThank you, Uncle Wiggily,\u201d said the Shoe Lady, and then she gave\nToodles his make-believe whipping, he made believe cry, he ate his real\nbroth and went to his real bed. And that\u2019s where you must go if it\u2019s\ntime.\n\nBut if the butter doesn\u2019t slide off the slice of bread, and go coasting\ndown the cake plate hill with a bun that ought to be sitting beside the\ncustard, I\u2019ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and Jack-be-Nimble.\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER IV\n\n                    UNCLE WIGGILY AND JACK-BE-NIMBLE\n\n\n\u201cUNCLE WIGGILY! Uncle Wiggily!\u201d called Sammie Littletail, the little\nrabbit boy, one Saturday morning, as he hopped up to the hollow-stump\nbungalow, where the nice, old bunny uncle lived. \u201cCome on out and play,\nUncle Wiggily. Please do!\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, hop away, Sammie!\u201d called Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady\nhousekeeper, looking out of the kitchen window. \u201cHere, take this cabbage\njam tart and run away. Uncle Wiggily can\u2019t bother to play with you\nto-day.\u201d\n\n\u201cI haven\u2019t any one else to play with,\u201d said Sammie. \u201cJohnnie and Billie\nBushytail, the squirrels, are taking their nut-gnawing lesson, and\nPeetie and Jackie Bow Wow, the puppies, are taking their bone-gnawing\nlessons.\u201d\n\n\u201cHaven\u2019t you any lessons?\u201d asked Nurse Jane.\n\n\u201cNo. I\u2019ve done mine. I had to practice jumping a little. But there\u2019s no\nschool, as it\u2019s Saturday, and I do want some one to play with. My sister\nSusie has gone off with Lulu and Alice Wibblewobble, the ducks, and\nanyhow I don\u2019t want to play with girl animals. Won\u2019t Uncle Wiggily come\nout?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, Sammie. Here, take this carrot cookie and hop along,\u201d said Nurse\nJane.\n\n\u201cWait a minute,\u201d spoke another voice, and Uncle Wiggily himself went out\non the back stoop. \u201cWhat is it you want, Sammie?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe wants you to come out and play with him!\u201d cried Nurse Jane. \u201cThe\nidea!\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I\u2019ll come,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, kindly. \u201cI haven\u2019t much to do, and\nperhaps we may have an adventure together. Come on, Sammie, we\u2019ll go off\nin the woods, and we\u2019ll play.\u201d\n\nSo the old gentleman rabbit and his little bunny nephew hopped off in\nthe woods together, and soon were having a fine time, scurrying in among\nthe dried leaves, and hiding behind old logs and stumps.\n\n\u201cI wonder if there is any new cabbage growing around here?\u201d said Sammie,\nafter a bit. \u201cI\u2019m hungry.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is too soon for cabbage yet,\u201d answered Uncle Wiggily. \u201cIt will not\nbe Spring for several weeks. Nor are there any new carrots to be had.\nBut pretty soon we\u2019ll pass a lollypop store, and you may have a lettuce\nflavored one.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat will be nice\u2014thank you,\u201d said Sammie.\n\n\u201cDid you do your jumping lesson to-day?\u201d asked the old gentleman rabbit,\nafter a bit.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Sammie. \u201cI practiced half an hour.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet me see how well you can jump,\u201d spoke the bunny uncle. \u201cI used to be\na pretty good jumper when I was young.\u201d\n\nSo Sammie jumped from one stump, far over a log, to another.\n\n\u201cFine!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cThat\u2019s better than I can do, but I\u2019ll\ntry.\u201d\n\nHe did try, and, though he could not leap as far as Sammie had done, Mr.\nLongears did very well. If it had not been for his rheumatism he could\nhave done better.\n\nHe and Sammie jumped about for some time, and all at once they were\nsurprised to hear a voice saying:\n\n\u201cOh, dear! I wish I could jump as far as that. But I don\u2019t believe I\nshall ever be able to. Oh, dear! Oh, dear!\u201d\n\n\u201cHa! That sounds like trouble,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cWho are you and\nwhere are you?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m Jack, and I\u2019m behind this big stone,\u201d was the answer, and out\nstepped a boy.\n\n\u201cHa! I thought at first it might be Jackie Bow Wow,\u201d spoke Uncle\nWiggily.\n\n\u201cNo; I am another Jack,\u201d said the boy. \u201cI\u2019m one of Mother Goose\u2019s\nfriends.\u201d\n\n\u201cAre you Jack Sprat?\u201d Sammie wanted to know, \u201cwho could eat no fat?\u201d\n\nBut still the boy did not look like that Jack.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll tell you who I am,\u201d the boy said. \u201cI\u2019m Jack-be-Nimble,\nJack-be-Quick, Jack jump over the candlestick.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, now I remember,\u201d spoke Uncle Wiggily. \u201cHow do you do,\nJack-be-Nimble?\u201d\n\n\u201cBut the trouble is I _can\u2019t_ do it,\u201d went on Jack.\n\n\u201cCan\u2019t do what?\u201d asked Sammie Littletail.\n\n\u201cI can\u2019t be nimble and jump over the candlestick,\u201d was the answer. \u201cI\u2019ve\ntried and tried. But it seems of no use. Every time I jump I either hit\nthe candle, and put it out, or I come down ker-flunk! in it, and get my\nshoes all grease. Mother Goose says I ought to be ashamed of myself. If\nI can\u2019t jump over the candlestick, I can\u2019t be in her book, she says, and\nOh, dear! I don\u2019t want to be put out of the nice book.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s too bad,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cNow, Jack, I\u2019ll tell you what to\ndo. You watch Sammie and me jump, and perhaps that will teach you how.\nWatch us. Come on, Sammie, we must jump some more to teach Jack.\u201d\n\nSo the old rabbit gentleman and the little rabbit boy jumped about on\nthe soft, dried leaves in the wood. Jack watched them, and then he\ntried. Of course, having only two legs, he could not leap as far as\ncould the rabbits, with four. But still Jack did very well.\n\n\u201cNow, come here every day to the woods,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, \u201cand we\nwill give you a jumping lesson. Don\u2019t say anything to Mother Goose about\nit, and you will soon give her a nice surprise by jumping over the\ncandlestick easily some day. I once took dancing lessons from a waltzing\nmouse lady without saying anything to Nurse Jane about it, and my! how\nsurprised she was when I did the fox trot.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll come,\u201d promised Jack-be-Nimble. And he did. Every day for a week,\nhe took jumping lessons secretly in the woods, of Uncle Wiggily and\nSammie, until finally Jack was a very good jumper, indeed. Then one day\nOld Mother Goose said:\n\n\u201cWell, Jack, I fear it is of no use. You can\u2019t jump over the\ncandlestick, as you ought to do to be in my book, so you\u2019ll have to go\nout. I\u2019ll get the cow, who leaped over the moon, to jump for me.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, please give me one more chance!\u201d begged Jack. \u201cPlease!\u201d\n\nMother Goose kindly did so, and lo! and behold! when next he tried,\nJack-be-Nimble jumped over the candlestick as easily as anything. Away\nover it he jumped and came down on the other side.\n\n\u201cWhy, Jack! Where did you learn to jump so well?\u201d asked Mother Goose, in\ngreat surprise.\n\n\u201cUncle Wiggily and Sammie taught me,\u201d he answered. And ever after that\nnimble Jack had no trouble.\n\nAnd if the apple pie doesn\u2019t go out skating with the jam tart, and\nforget to come in to supper, I\u2019ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and\nTommie Tinker\u2019s dog.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER V\n\n                 UNCLE WIGGILY AND TOMMIE TINKER\u2019S DOG\n\n\n\u201cUNCLE WIGGILY, here\u2019s a letter for you,\u201d called Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy,\nthe muskrat lady housekeeper, to the rabbit gentleman, one morning, as\nhe sat in the easy chair in his hollow-stump bungalow. \u201cThe postman bird\njust left it as he flew past.\u201d\n\n\u201cA letter for me!\u201d exclaimed the bunny uncle, as he opened and read it.\n\u201cThat\u2019s nice. It\u2019s from Grandfather Goosey Gander. He wants me to come\nover and play checkers with him. He\u2019s so lonesome.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut you can\u2019t go!\u201d cried Nurse Jane, tying her tail up in a knot, for\nshe was going to sweep and dust, and she did not want to step on\nherself. \u201cYou can\u2019t go, because you said your rheumatism hurt you so.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I guess I can manage to get over to see Grandpa by limping on the\nnice red, white and blue-striped rheumatism crutch, which you so kindly\ngnawed for me out of a corn-stalk,\u201d spoke Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI\u2019ll try,\nanyhow, for I haven\u2019t seen Grandpa Goosey in nearly a week. I dare say I\ncan get over there all right. It\u2019s a nice day.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, I wish you wouldn\u2019t go,\u201d said Nurse Jane, slowly, making her\nwhiskers dance up and down. \u201cI\u2019m sure something will happen.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, nonsensicalness!\u201d laughed Uncle Wiggily, as he went out of the\nbungalow. Over the fields and through the woods he roamed, and he had to\nrest several times on his crutch, for the rheumatism hurt him more than\nhe thought it would.\n\n\u201cBut I\u2019ll get there all right,\u201d he said. No sooner had he spoken,\nhowever, than all at once his crutch slid on a piece of slippery-elm\nbark, and Uncle Wiggily fell down. He did not hurt himself much, for he\nsat down on a pile of soft, dried leaves. But when the bunny uncle\narose, and tried to walk on his crutch, he could not, as it was cracked\nand splintered.\n\n\u201cIf I lean my weight on it the crutch will break,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily,\nsadly, \u201cand I can\u2019t walk without leaning on it. Oh, dear! What shall I\ndo?\u201d\n\nThen, as he stood there in the woods, he heard a voice calling:\n\n          \u201cUmbrellas to mend! Umbrellas to mend,\n           If you\u2019ve pans with holes in, for me you must send.\n           I\u2019ll fix them up, quick as a wink\u2014or a winker;\n           For I am a pot, pan and umbrella tinker.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily looked off among the trees, and, surely enough, along came\na traveling tinker, with a box over his shoulder and a little fire in a\ntin pot in his hand. Beside him walked a little boy who had a little\ndog.\n\n\u201cOh, daddy! Look at the rabbit gentleman!\u201d cried the little boy.\n\n\u201cI see him,\u201d said the tinker. \u201cHe is Uncle Wiggily Longears, if I am not\nmistaken. Are you not?\u201d he asked, politely.\n\n\u201cI am,\u201d answered the bunny uncle. \u201cAnd I am in great trouble. I have\nsplintered and cracked my crutch and I can\u2019t limp along on it to get to\nGrandpa Goosey\u2019s house.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I can easily fix that for you,\u201d said the kind tinker, and he did,\nfastening a strong piece of tin around the broken part of Uncle\nWiggily\u2019s crutch so it was as good as ever.\n\nThen the rabbit gentleman thanked the nice tinker man and hopped on, and\nthe tinker and his little boy, whose name was Tommie, and the little\nboy\u2019s dog, whose name was Bow-Wow-Wow, went on their way, the tinker\nsinging his funny song.\n\nUncle Wiggily reached Grandpa Goosey\u2019s house all right, and he and the\ngoose gentleman had fun playing checkers. And when it was time for Uncle\nWiggily to hop back to his hollow-stump bungalow Grandpa Goosey gave him\na fine, large bone, with nice meat on it.\n\n\u201cGive that to Mrs. Bow Wow for her little puppy dog boys, Jackie and\nPeetie,\u201d said the goose gentleman.\n\n\u201cI will, thank you,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily.\n\nThe rabbit gentleman was hopping along through the woods on his way home\nwhen, all at once, he heard some one crying.\n\n\u201cHa! That sounds like trouble,\u201d he said. \u201cI was in trouble a little\nwhile ago about my crutch and the tinker helped me. Now, I must try to\nhelp some one in my turn. That\u2019s only fair.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily looked around the corner of a stump and saw the tinker\u2019s\nlittle boy, Tommie, sitting on a log and crying very hard.\n\n\u201cWhy, Tommie! What\u2019s the matter?\u201d asked the bunny uncle.\n\n\u201cOh, dear! Boo hoo!\u201d cried Tommie. \u201cMy nice dog is lost, and I can\u2019t\nfind him. And I must have him, you know, or else I can\u2019t be in Mother\nGoose\u2019s book. My dog and I belong there, you see.\u201d\n\n\u201cI see,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, kindly. \u201cBut how did your dog get lost?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I was helping my father mend some umbrellas for Old King Cole,\u201d\nsaid Tommie, \u201cand, when we weren\u2019t looking, my dog ran off in the woods.\nI guess he must be lost there, for he hasn\u2019t come back. My father, Mr.\nTinker, went to look for him, and so did I, but I hurt my toe and I\ncan\u2019t look any more; and\u2014Oh, dear! Oh, dear!\u201d\n\n\u201cThere, there! Don\u2019t cry any more,\u201d said the nice bunny uncle. \u201cI\u2019ll go\nlook for your pet dog for you. Just you wait here. Your father was kind\nto me, so I want to be kind to you.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily went off through the woods, looking here, there and\neverywhere and pretty soon he heard behind a tree some one saying:\n\n\u201cBow! Wow! Wow!\u201d\n\n\u201cHa! Whose dog art thou?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily, quickly.\n\n\u201cLittle Tommie Tinker\u2019s dog, Bow! Wow! Wow!\u201d came the answer, and out\nfrom under a berry bush ran the lost dog, wagging his tail.\n\n\u201cOh, Uncle Wiggily!\u201d he begged. \u201cCan you take me to Tommie? I\u2019ve been\nlooking everywhere for him, and just now I smelled the nice meat bone\nyou carry and I ran out of the bush to see who had it. Oh, I\u2019m so glad I\nfound you!\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd I\u2019m glad, too,\u201d said the bunny uncle. \u201cAnd Tommie will be glad when\nhe sees you. Come alone, doggie, I\u2019ll take you to him. It\u2019s a good thing\nI had this bone, which you smelled, or I might never have found you.\u201d\n\nThen Uncle Wiggily gave Little Tommie Tinker\u2019s dog some meat from\nGrandpa Goosey Gander\u2019s bone, and took the little dog to Tommie and Mr.\nTinker, who had come back without having found Bow-Wow-Wow. You can just\nimagine how glad every one was that everything had come out all right,\nso Tommie could stay in the Mother Goose book, and the little dog was\nglad also.\n\nThen Uncle Wiggily hopped along home, Tommie Tinker went on his way, and\nin the next chapter, if our automobile doesn\u2019t run off the sidewalk into\na candy store, chasing after a lollypop, I\u2019ll tell you about Uncle\nWiggily and Mary\u2019s little lamb.\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER VI\n\n                     UNCLE WIGGILY AND MARY\u2019S LAMB\n\n\nONE day Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady, was looking around the\nhollow-stump bungalow, behind pictures, under the piano, in corners and\neverywhere.\n\n\u201cWhat is the matter?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit\ngentleman, \u201chave you lost something, Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d Nurse Jane answered. \u201cI was just looking to see how much\nhouse-cleaning I must do. It will soon be Spring, and the bungalow must\nbe made nice and clean, ready for Summer. There is quite a lot of dust\nbehind the pictures and under the piano.\u201d\n\n\u201cBungalow-cleaning!\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, sort of sad and solemn like. \u201cI\nknow what that means. No meals on time. No place to sit down, no place\nto hang your hat\u2014nothing at all. I suppose I had better be out of the\nway when you turn my bungalow upside down to clean it.\u201d\n\n\u201cI suppose you had,\u201d agreed Nurse Jane. \u201cStill, there is no hurry. I\nwon\u2019t start cleaning until to-morrow, or next day. But if you are going\nout now you might bring me something from the store.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily.\n\n\u201cA scrubbing brush and a cake of soap,\u201d answered the muskrat lady. \u201cI\u2019ll\nneed them to clean the floors.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou shall have them,\u201d promised Uncle Wiggily. Then off he started with\nhis tall silk hat and his red, white and blue-striped barber-pole\nrheumatism crutch that Nurse Jane had gnawed for him out of a\ncorn-stalk, and which Tommie Tinker\u2019s father had mended for him, as I\ntold you in the story before this one.\n\n\u201cI wonder if I shall have any adventures to-day?\u201d thought the bunny\nuncle, as he hopped and skipped along through the woods. \u201cI haven\u2019t had\none since I found Tommie Tinker\u2019s dog.\u201d\n\nBut Mr. Longears reached the store without anything having happened to\nhim, and, buying the cake of soap and the scrubbing brush, back he\nstarted for his hollow-stump bungalow.\n\n\u201cNurse Jane said there was no hurry,\u201d spoke the rabbit gentleman to\nhimself, \u201cbut I want to get the house-cleaning over with as soon as I\ncan. So I\u2019ll hurry back with the soap and brush.\u201d\n\nAll of a sudden, and just as Mr. Longears was wondering if he would have\ntime to call on Nannie and Billie Wagtail, the goat children, he heard a\nrustling in the bushes, and a voice said:\n\n\u201cOh, dear! However did it happen? Oh, how too bad it is! You\u2019re nothing\nat all like Mother Goose\u2019s book says you should be. Oh, whatever am I to\ndo?\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily looked around the corner of a tree, and there he saw a\nlittle girl, and beside her stood a little lamb, as black as a coal, or\na barrel of tar. I don\u2019t know which is blacker.\n\n\u201cHa! This looks like trouble,\u201d whispered Uncle Wiggily. Then: \u201cThat\nsurely is Mary,\u201d he said, out loud.\n\n\u201cYes, I\u2019m Mary,\u201d spoke the little girl, \u201cand I know you. Jack Horner\ntold me about you, and how you helped him pull his thumb out of his plum\npie. I wish you could help me.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is the matter?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI\u2019ll help you if I can.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s him,\u201d said Mary, pointing to the little baby sheep. \u201cYou know how\nit goes in the book:\n\n                    \u201c\u2018Mary had a little lamb,\n                      Its fleece was white as snow.\n                      And everywhere that Mary went,\n                      The lamb was sure to go.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I know that,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cBut this can\u2019t be your lamb.\nInstead of being white as snow, he\u2019s black\u2014as black as any crow.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s just the trouble!\u201d said Mary, with tears in her eyes. \u201cOh,\nLambie! How did you get your nice white coat so black?\u201d she asked. \u201cYou\ncan\u2019t follow me to school that way; you know you can\u2019t.\u201d\n\n\u201cBa-aa! No, I suppose I can\u2019t,\u201d spoke the lamb, sort of sad and lonesome\nlike. \u201cI didn\u2019t mean to do it, but I went past a place where some men\nwere cleaning out a chimney and the black soot blew from it all over me.\nI\u2019m as sorry about it as you are.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is too bad,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cBut nothing is so bad that it\nmight not be worse.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis will be worse before it is better,\u201d said Mary. \u201cI suppose the only\nthing to do now is to take my lamb to the barber\u2019s, who shaves a pig,\nand makes a wig. The barber can cut off the top part of the lamb\u2019s\nfleecy wool and get down to the nice, white part. But if I do that I\u2019ll\nbe late for school. And the lamb must follow me there, you see, or it\nwon\u2019t be like the book. Oh, Lambkin! why did you do it?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2014I\u2019m sorry,\u201d said Mary\u2019s little lamb. \u201cBut, please, don\u2019t have my wool\ncut off. It\u2019s too cold this weather. I\u2019d shiver.\u201d\n\n\u201cI must,\u201d said Mary. \u201cTo make you white as snow, you know. I\u2019ll have to\nhave your wool cut.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo! you won\u2019t have to do that!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI know something\nbetter than that. Soot is only black dirt. It will wash off with soap\nand water. And, see here! I have some soap for Nurse Jane\u2019s\nbungalow-cleaning and a scrubbing brush. Come on, Mary. We\u2019ll find some\nwater and give the lamb\u2019s coat a good scrubbing with soap suds. We\u2019ll\nsee what that will do.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I\u2019m afraid we\u2019ll never get him clean,\u201d sadly said Mary; \u201cbut it is\nvery good of you to think of it, Uncle Wiggily.\u201d\n\nThey found a nice little brook, and leading the lamb to it, Uncle\nWiggily rolled up his sleeves and with the soap and scrubbing brush\nbegan to wash the black soot out of the fleecy wool of Mary\u2019s little\nlamb.\n\nAway and away scrubbed the bunny uncle, making a great suddsy lather. He\nrubbed it well into the fluffy wool. Then, when the soap suds were\nwashed out, why, Mary\u2019s lamb\u2019s fleece was as white as snow! just as it\nought to be.\n\n\u201cOh, Uncle Wiggily!\u201d cried Mary. \u201cHow good you are! Now my little lamb\ncan follow me to school, no matter if it is against the rule. Thank\nyou!\u201d\n\nThen away she ran, and the lamb followed after her, and Uncle Wiggily,\npleased that he had done a kindness, took the rest of the soap and the\nscrubbing brush to Nurse Jane.\n\nAnd if the man painting our house doesn\u2019t put red, green and purple\nstripes around it to make it look like a moving picture going to the\ncircus, I\u2019ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and Peter Piper.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER VII\n\n                     UNCLE WIGGILY AND PETER PIPER\n\n\nUNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the rabbit gentleman, was hopping along across a\ngreen field. The field was not very green, but was just beginning to\nshow a little green grass and clover, for, as yet, Spring had not fully\narrived.\n\n\u201cBut still I may find a few green things growing that I can eat or take\nto Sammie and Susie Littletail, the bunny children,\u201d thought Mr.\nLongears. So on and on he hopped. The sun was shining, it was not very\ncold, and Uncle Wiggily felt happy because his rheumatism did not pain\nhim.\n\n\u201cAnd when Summer comes it will not hurt me at all,\u201d he said.\n\nThe rabbit gentleman was wondering whether or not he would have an\nadventure that day, when, all at once, he saw, climbing over the fence,\na boy dressed in a green suit, wearing a red cap and with blue shoes on\nhis feet.\n\n\u201cHa! He is a funny looking chap!\u201d thought the bunny uncle. \u201cI think he\nmust be one of Mother Goose\u2019s friends. I\u2019ll ask him.\u201d And he did.\n\n\u201cOh, how do you do, Uncle Wiggily?\u201d asked the queer boy. \u201cYes, indeed,\nI\u2019m one of the many children of Mother Goose, to whom you have been so\nkind. I\u2019m Peter Piper.\u201d\n\n\u201cAre you any relation to Tom-Tom, the Piper\u2019s son?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily.\n\n\u201cYes, I\u2019m his cousin. But I had nothing to do with taking the pig.\nTom-Tom did that himself. But, if you please, I have a riddle for you to\nguess.\u201d\n\n\u201cA riddle? Come, that\u2019s good! I like riddles. Tell it to me.\u201d\n\nThen the queer boy stood up straight and recited this:\n\n       \u201cPeter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.\n        A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.\n        If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,\n        Where is the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, my!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cThat\u2019s a hard one. Let me see now. \u2018If\nPeter Pepper pipped a pick of peckled Pipers\u2014\u2014!\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, no! You have it wrong,\u201d said Peter, smiling. \u201cTry once more. Say it\nafter me: \u2018Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.\u2019\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily tried again:\n\n\u201cPickled Peter pipped a pep of Piperd pikers\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, dear, no! Wrong again!\u201d laughed Peter. \u201cNow, once more. Say the\nlast part first and perhaps it will come easier to you.\u201d\n\nSo Uncle Wiggily said:\n\n\u201cWhere is the pop of pickered Peters picker Piper pepped?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2014I\u2019m afraid you can\u2019t say it,\u201d said Peter, gently.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m afraid so myself,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI shan\u2019t try again. It\nmakes my tongue all twisted and hurts my funny bone. I give up. What\u2019s\nthe answer? Where are the peppers?\u201d\n\n\u201cHere they are!\u201d exclaimed Peter, and from behind his back he held out a\npeck of pickled peppers. \u201cThat\u2019s the only kind you can pick this time of\nyear,\u201d he went on. \u201cI\u2019m taking them to Mrs. Wibblewobble, the duck lady.\nShe mixes them with corn-meal and fries them.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll go with you,\u201d spoke Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI haven\u2019t seen Alice and Lulu\nand Jimmie Wibblewobble in some time.\u201d\n\nSo the bunny uncle and Peter Piper picked their way across the field\ntoward the duck lady\u2019s house. More than once Uncle Wiggily tried to say\nthe riddle, but his tongue grew more and more twisted until he was\nwalking sideways instead of frontwards. So he gave it up.\n\nHe and Peter Piper had not gone very far before Peter\u2019s shoe lace came\nloose and he stooped down behind a big stone to tie it\u2014tie the lace, I\nmean, not the stone. And while he was doing this along came the bad old\nfox, who had not bothered Uncle Wiggily in some time.\n\n\u201cAh, ha!\u201d cried the fox, showing his teeth. \u201cThis is the time I have\nyou, Mr. Longears! I was just wondering what I would eat for dinner, but\nnow I know. It shall be you!\u201d\n\n\u201cMe?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily, curious like and wondering.\n\n\u201cYes, you. Get ready for dinner! My dinner!\u201d snarled the fox.\n\nUncle Wiggily thought quickly. He did not want to be a dinner for the\nfox, so he said:\n\n\u201cBefore you eat would you not like to guess a riddle?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the fox, \u201cI would. What is it?\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd do you promise not to eat me until you guess it?\u201d asked Uncle\nWiggily.\n\n\u201cI do,\u201d said the fox. \u201cBut that will not save you, for I can guess any\nriddle that ever was,\u201d and he fluffed up his tail, proud like and saucy.\n\n\u201cThen guess this,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, and now he had no trouble saying\nPeter Piper picked the peck of pickled peppers. \u201cWhere is the peck of\npickled peppers Peter Piper picked?\u201d suddenly asked Uncle Wiggily of the\nfox. The bad animal thought for a second and then he said:\n\n\u201cIf Peter pickled pecked a pick of pipered pickles. A pick of Petered\nPipers\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, no!\u201d laughed Uncle Wiggily. \u201cYou\u2019re a bit twisted. Try again.\u201d The\nfox did so.\n\n\u201cIf Papper Peter pecked a pit of piddled poppers\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cWorse than ever,\u201d said the bunny uncle. \u201cI think you will not find it\nas easy as you thought. Once more, please, and try it a bit slower.\u201d\n\nThe fox growled, and said:\n\n\u201cA pick of peppered Peters did peckle pickle\u2014\u2014 Oh, I can\u2019t guess your\nold riddle!\u201d snarled the fox. \u201cI\u2019m going to eat you anyhow! What do I\ncare about the peckled pickers?\u201d and he made a jump for Uncle Wiggily to\ngrab the bunny uncle.\n\n\u201cEat him? You going to eat Uncle Wiggily? Oh, no! No, you\u2019re not!\u201d cried\nPeter Piper, jumping out from behind the rock. \u201cMother Goose doesn\u2019t\nwant Uncle Wiggily hurt. Be off with you!\u201d\n\nAnd with that Peter threw a pickled pepper at the fox. It struck him on\nthe nose, and made him sneeze and turn a somersault, and before he could\nget straightened out Uncle Wiggily and Peter Piper had run away to the\nduck house.\n\nSo Mrs. Wibblewobble got the pickled peppers; that is, all but the one\nPeter threw at the fox, and Uncle Wiggily at last learned how to say the\nhard riddle-verse without tying himself in a knot. And if you can recite\nit, fast, without wrinkling your nose, you are doing well.\n\nAnd if the candlestick doesn\u2019t try to beat the carpet, and get dust in\nthe eyes of the potatoes when they dance in the frying pan, I\u2019ll tell\nyou next about Uncle Wiggily and the moon-man.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER VIII\n\n                     UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE MOON-MAN\n\n\n\u201cDID you hear the news, Uncle Wiggily?\u201d asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy,\nthe muskrat lady housekeeper, as she sat down one evening in the\ndining-room of the hollow-stump bungalow, where the rabbit gentleman was\neating his supper of lettuce salad, with carrot sauce sprinkled on.\n\n\u201cNews! What news?\u201d asked the bunny uncle, reaching for a slice of carrot\nbread. \u201cIs some one going to have a surprise party and invite us to\ndance?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s partly it,\u201d Nurse Jane answered. \u201cNannie Wagtail, the little\ngoat girl, was going to have a party, but she is ill, and the party will\nnot be given.\u201d\n\n\u201cNannie ill? That\u2019s too bad,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, kindly. \u201cI\u2019ll go over\nto see her after I have my supper. She may need cheering up a bit. Yes,\nI\u2019ll go see her.\u201d\n\nSo after he had finished eating Uncle Wiggily put on his tall silk hat\nthat was like a piece of the stovepipe and away he went, over the fields\nand through the woods, to the house where the little goat girl lived\nwith her brother Billie and her Uncle Butter, who posted circus pictures\non barns and fences.\n\nIt was getting dark, but Uncle Wiggily was not afraid, for he knew the\nmoon would soon rise above the tree tops and make a good light.\n\nAnd on his way to Nannie\u2019s the bunny uncle passed a candy store.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll just stop in and buy Nannie an ice cream cone,\u201d said Uncle\nWiggily. \u201cWinter is nearly over and ice cream cones are in season again.\nI\u2019ll take two or three, for Billie might like one.\u201d\n\nThe bunny uncle bought a bag full of the ice cream cones, and he was\nwalking on again, hoping that Nannie would not be ill long, when, all at\nonce, there was a crash in the bushes beside the rabbit gentleman as if\nsome one had fallen down.\n\n\u201cMy goodness me sakes alive and some apple dumplings!\u201d cried Uncle\nWiggily, jumping to one side. \u201cWho it is?\u201d He hoped it would not prove\nto be the bad old fox. \u201cWho is it?\u201d he asked, for it was too dark to\nsee.\n\n\u201cIt is I\u2014the moon-man,\u201d was the answer. \u201cI hope I did not scare you?\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, you did, a little,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cBut what are you doing\ndown on the earth? You ought to be up in the sky.\u201d\n\n\u201cI know I ought,\u201d said the other, \u201cbut you know how Mother Goose has it:\n\n                \u201c\u2018The man in the moon came tumbling down,\n                  To inquire the way to Norwich.\n                  He went to the South,\n                  And burned his mouth,\n                  Eating some cold bean porridge.\u2019\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s how it was,\u201d said the moon-man. \u201cI had to come tumbling down,\nyou see, for that\u2019s the way it is in the book. But, oh, dear! I am so\nsorry I burned my mouth! How it hurts!\u201d\n\n\u201cDid you really burn your mouth, in the South, eating cold bean\nporridge?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily.\n\n\u201cI did,\u201d said the moon-man. \u201cOnly it was hot when I ate it. It\u2019s cold\nenough now, though. Oh, how I burn! I wish you could help me.\u201d\n\n\u201cI can!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cSee, I have here some cold ice cream\ncones. Eat one of them, and your mouth will stop burning.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, thank you!\u201d cried the moon-man, and, surely enough, when he had\neaten the ice cream cone, his mouth was as cool as a refrigerator, and\nhe had no more pain.\n\n\u201cYou are very kind,\u201d said the moon-man to Uncle Wiggily. \u201cIf ever I can\ndo you a favor I will. But now I must jump back to my place in the\nmoon.\u201d\n\nThe rabbit gentleman did not see how the moon-man was going to do any\none any favors, if he had to jump away up in the moon, high above the\nearth. But still Uncle Wiggily was too polite to say so.\n\n\u201cHere I go! Good-by!\u201d cried the man, and, giving a big hop, up to the\nmoon he jumped. If you look closely you can see his face there on\nmoonlight nights. He is smiling.\n\n\u201cGood-by!\u201d called Uncle Wiggily, and on he went to the Wagtail goats\u2019\nhouse to see Nannie. She was very glad to have her bunny uncle call, and\nmore pleased still when he gave her an ice cream cone, and also one to\nher brother Billie.\n\nUncle Wiggily stayed for quite some time, talking to the goats, and\nUncle Butter told a funny story about a circus picture of a dog, which\nwas so natural that a cat ran away when she saw it.\n\n\u201cWell, I\u2019ll be getting back to my bungalow,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, after a\nbit. \u201cNurse Jane will be worrying about me if I stay too late.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, how dark it is!\u201d said Billie, looking out the door. \u201cAren\u2019t you\nafraid, Uncle Wiggily?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, no,\u201d answered the rabbit uncle. But, when the door of the goats\u2019\nhouse was shut, and the pleasant lamplight no longer streamed out, it\nwas very black and dark indeed. \u201cI wish it were time for the lightning\nbugs,\u201d thought Mr. Longears. \u201cWith them brightly flashing I could easily\nsee my way.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily went on as best he could, but pretty soon he bumped into a\ntree, and hurt his pink, twinkling nose. Next he stumbled against a big\nrock, and hurt his paw.\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d he cried. \u201cThis is no fun! I wish it were light so I could\nsee where I am going.\u201d\n\nThen he tripped over a log and came down ker-plunk! hurting his\nrheumatism, and he felt very badly, indeed.\n\n\u201cOh, I wish some one would help me find my way to my bungalow!\u201d he\ncried.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll help you,\u201d said a kind voice, and then the woods were suddenly\nmade almost as bright as day, for the moon rose over the trees, and\nshone down, so Uncle Wiggily could see the path, and stumbled no more.\n\n\u201cHow is that?\u201d asked the moon-man, beaming down on Uncle Wiggily. \u201cDo I\nmake it light enough for you?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, indeed! Fine,\u201d said the bunny uncle. \u201cI can see all right now.\nThank you.\u201d\n\nSo the moon-man, whose mouth no longer burned, thanks to the ice cream\ncone, shone brightly until Uncle Wiggily safely reached his bungalow.\n\nAnd, if the trolley car doesn\u2019t go roller-skating with the apple pie and\nupset the goldfish, so they spill into the canary\u2019s cage, I\u2019ll tell you\nnext about Uncle Wiggily and Humpty Dumpty.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER IX\n\n                    UNCLE WIGGILY AND HUMPTY DUMPTY\n\n\n\u201cUNCLE WIGGILY, would you mind bringing me some glue when you come home\nfrom your walk this afternoon?\u201d asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the\nmuskrat lady housekeeper, as she saw the rabbit gentleman leaving his\nhollow-stump bungalow one day.\n\n\u201cGlue?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily, curious like. \u201cI hope you are not going to\nput it in my chair, so when I sit down I will stick fast, and not be\nable to get up again.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, no!\u201d laughed Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy, \u201cthough if you keep on going out so\noften, the way you do, I\u2019ll need a bit of sticky fly paper, or something\nlike that, to keep you at home.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! I have to go off to have adventures now and then,\u201d said the bunny\nuncle, smiling so that his nose twinkled like a moonbeam shining in the\nwater. \u201cBut I\u2019ll bring you the glue all right, Nurse Jane. What is it\nyou want to stick together?\u201d\n\n\u201cA broken teacup,\u201d answered the muskrat lady. \u201cI knocked a breakfast\nteacup off the table, and it broke. But I can stick the pieces together\nwith glue, and it will be almost as good as new.\u201d\n\n\u201cGood!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cThat\u2019s the way to do it!\u201d Then he set off\nover the fields and through the woods to get the glue.\n\nHe found some in the doll doctor\u2019s toy shop, where the monkey-doodle\ntoy-mender used it to fasten together all the playthings the animal boys\nand girls broke.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s just the glue for Nurse Jane\u2019s cup,\u201d said the doll doctor. \u201cIt\nwill mend anything.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s what we want,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily.\n\nWell, the old gentleman rabbit was going along, hoping he would meet\nwith an adventure before he reached his hollow-stump bungalow, when, all\nat once, he heard a sort of crowing noise and a clucking, and then a sad\nvoice said:\n\n\u201cOh, dear, I might have known it would happen! I should never have let\nyou sit on top of the wall, Humpty. Now look what you\u2019ve done! Oh, what\nwill my mother say?\u201d\n\n\u201cHa! That sounds like Charlie Chick, the little rooster chap,\u201d said\nUncle Wiggily. \u201cI wonder what has happened to him, and who Humpty can\nbe? I guess I\u2019ll look and see.\u201d\n\nThe bunny uncle went on a little farther and, coming to a stone wall, he\nsaw, on one side of it, Charlie Chick; and the little rooster chap\u2019s\ntail feathers were all squeezed sideways and crooked, as though he were\nin great trouble, indeed.\n\n\u201cWhy, Charlie!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter? Is Arabella,\nyour sister, lost?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, no, Uncle Wiggily!\u201d answered Charlie. \u201cBut I had Humpty Dumpty with\nme, and he sat up on the wall, just as he did when he was out with\nMother Goose. But he fell off and now he\u2019s broken, and oh, dear! I fear\nhe never will be himself again.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy! My! What\u2019s all this?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI never heard of Humpty\nDumpty, or his fall from the wall. And why can\u2019t he be himself again? If\nit\u2019s anything that is broken I can mend it, for I have some glue to mend\nNurse Jane\u2019s broken cup, and I can mend Humpty Dumpty.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, it\u2019s very kind of you, I\u2019m sure,\u201d said Charlie, politely, \u201cbut it\ncan\u2019t be done. You see Humpty Dumpty is an egg. My mother, Mrs.\nCluck-Cluck, sent me to take him to Mrs. Wibblewobble, the duck lady.\nBut on the way I stopped here to rest and I let Humpty sit upon the\nwall.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, what happened then?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily, as Charlie stopped, to\ngive a little crow, and flap his wings.\n\n\u201cIt happened just as it tells about in the Mother Goose book,\u201d went on\nCharlie. \u201cThis is the way it was:\n\n             \u201c\u2018Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall,\n               Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.\n               All the king\u2019s horses and all the king\u2019s men,\n               Cannot put Humpty together again.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy can\u2019t they put him together again?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily. \u201cWhere is\nHumpty? Let me have a look at him. If his shell is only cracked I can\nmend it with glue. Where is he?\u201d\n\n\u201cOn the other side of the stone wall,\u201d answered Charlie. \u201cHe fell over\nor rolled backward, and he must be all broken up by now.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet us hope for the best,\u201d said the rabbit gentleman. \u201cHe may be only\ncracked, Humpty Dumpty may be, and if the glue I have for Nurse Jane\nwill mend a cracked cup, it will mend a cracked egg. I must have a\nlook.\u201d\n\nUp on top of the wall jumped the rabbit gentleman. Then he hopped down\non the other side. He looked around for Humpty Dumpty.\n\nUncle Wiggily saw some broken egg shells. Then he looked some more and\nrubbed his eyes.\n\n\u201cThis is queer,\u201d he said. \u201cIf the egg broke, the white and yellow inside\nought to have run out on the ground. But I don\u2019t see any. That must have\nbeen a hollow egg.\u201d\n\nJust then the rabbit gentleman heard:\n\n\u201cPeep! Peep! Peepity-peep-cheep-cheep!\u201d\n\n\u201cMy goodness me sakes alive and some corn-meal pudding!\u201d cried the bunny\nuncle. \u201cWho is that?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is I, Humpty Dumpty,\u201d was the answer, and out from under a bush ran\na cute, little, fluffy, downy chicken.\n\n\u201cAre you Humpty Dumpty?\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily.\n\n\u201cOf course,\u201d peeped the little chicken. \u201cI was inside the eggshell all\nthe while, just waiting to come out. And when Charlie set me on the wall\nI rolled off, cracked my shell and here I am. I popped out!\n\n\u201cOf course, it isn\u2019t just like in the book,\u201d said the baby chick, \u201cbut\nit\u2019s better. For though I sat on the wall and had a great fall, I don\u2019t\nneed all the king\u2019s horses and all the king\u2019s men to put Humpty together\nagain.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, and you don\u2019t need any of my glue,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, with a\nlaugh. \u201cThere is no use mending a broken eggshell out of which has come\na chicken. Oh, I say, Charlie!\u201d cried the bunny uncle. \u201cFly over the\nwall. It\u2019s all right. Humpty is here, only he is different from what you\nthought you would find him. Here he is; a new, little chicken brother\nfor you.\u201d\n\nAnd wasn\u2019t Charlie surprised? Well, I guess yes! But he loved Humpty\nDumpty very much and Humpty loved him. So this time, once more,\neverything came out all right, just as Mother Goose would have it.\n\nAnd if the collar button doesn\u2019t go to a necktie party all by itself and\nleave the comb to play tag with the brush, I\u2019ll tell you next about\nUncle Wiggily and Old King Cole.\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER X\n\n                    UNCLE WIGGILY AND OLD KING COLE\n\n\n\u201cWELL, Uncle Wiggily Longears, you are getting very stylish, indeed, it\nseems,\u201d spoke Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper,\nafter the postman bird had paid a visit to the hollow-stump bungalow one\nday, and had left a letter. \u201cVery stylish. Look here!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, what\u2019s the matter?\u201d asked the bunny uncle. \u201cDo you call it stylish\njust to get a letter? You often get them, and so do I. This is, very\nlikely, from Grandpa Goosey Gander, asking me to come over and play\ncheckers with him.\u201d\n\n\u201cIndeed, it is nothing of the sort!\u201d exclaimed the muskrat lady. \u201cThat\nis, if you will excuse me for saying so. This is a very stylish letter,\nindeed. It comes from the king\u2019s palace, as you can see, by the royal\nstamp on it in gold and red and blue and green. I wonder what it can\nbe?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll open it and find out; then I\u2019ll tell you,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily,\npolitely. \u201cI guess it\u2019s from the gold and silver palace of the king, who\nwas in the kitchen counting out his money, while the queen was in the\nparlor eating bread and honey. The maid was in the garden hanging out\nthe clothes, when along came a blackbird and nipped off her nose.\n\n\u201cI helped the king and queen and the maid, you know, and perhaps they\nare in more trouble, and need more help.\u201d\n\nBut when the bunny uncle opened the letter he found it was not from that\nking, but another\u2014this letter was from Old King Cole.\n\n\u201cRead me the letter,\u201d said Nurse Jane.\n\nSo Uncle Wiggily read:\n\n            \u201cOld King Cole is a merry old soul,\n              A merry old soul is he.\n             He called for his pipe, he called for his bowl,\n              And he called for his fiddlers three.\n\n            \u201cEvery fiddler had a fine fiddle,\n              A very fine fiddle had he,\n             And Uncle Wiggily is asked to come\n              To list to the music with me.\u201d\n\nAt the bottom of the letter was Old King Cole\u2019s name, in big letters.\n\n\u201cWell, well!\u201d exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI don\u2019t understand. What\u2019s it\nall about, I wonder?\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t you see!\u201d cried Nurse Jane. \u201cThis is a royal invitation from Old\nKing Cole for you to come to his palace, and listen to his fiddlers\nthree making music on their fine fiddles. You must get ready to go. Put\non your best suit and look nice.\u201d\n\n\u201cMust I really go?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI had much rather stay here\nwith you. I don\u2019t know Old King Cole at all well. Must I go?\u201d\n\n\u201cOf course you must go!\u201d Nurse Jane said. \u201cWhenever a king invites you,\nwhy, you have to go, even if you must stand on your head. I\u2019ll help you\nget ready.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d Uncle Wiggily said. \u201cBut I had much rather stay home with\nmy slippers on, eating carrot sandwiches. I know it will be too fine and\ngrand for me up at the king\u2019s palace. I\u2019ll be sure to get my napkin on\nbackward, or tickle some one with the wrong fork. But if I must go, I\nmust. I wonder how he came to invite me?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I guess he heard how kind you were to the king who was in the\nkitchen, counting out his money, and how you dug it up for him when it\nrolled under the floor,\u201d said Nurse Jane.\n\nSo she helped Uncle Wiggily get ready, shaving the back of his neck for\nhim, where he couldn\u2019t himself reach with his razor. And she tied his\ntie for him, and saw that he was all scrumptious like, and proper.\n\nFinally the rabbit gentleman set off for the palace of the king. He was\nabout halfway there when he heard some little squeaking voices down\nbeside the woodland path, and there he saw Jollie and Jillie Longtail,\nthe mouse children, and their cousin, Squeaky-Eeky.\n\n\u201cWhere are you going, Uncle Wiggily?\u201d asked Jollie, the boy mouse.\n\n\u201cTo Old King Cole\u2019s to hear some fiddle music,\u201d answered Uncle Wiggily.\n\n\u201cOh, do please take us with you!\u201d begged Jillie. \u201cWe just love fiddle\nmusic and we can\u2019t ever go to hear any.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy?\u201d asked the bunny uncle.\n\n\u201cBecause,\u201d explained Squeaky-Eeky, the little cousin mouse. \u201cYou know\nwhat it says in Mother Goose.\n\n\u201c\u2018Hi-Diddle-Diddle. The cat\u2019s in the fiddle.\u2019 Now we couldn\u2019t go to hear\nmusic when a cat was in the fiddle, could we?\u201d\n\n\u201cOf course not,\u201d answered Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI never thought of that. Cats\nand mice don\u2019t go well together. But how can I take you to King Cole? He\nmay not like mice.\u201d\n\n\u201cPut us in your pockets,\u201d said Jillie. \u201cWe are not very big, and we can\neasily hide when you go in the palace. No one will see us in your\npockets.\u201d\n\nWell, Uncle Wiggily put them in\u2014Jollie, Jillie and Squeaky-Eeky\nLongtail. But the rabbit gentleman was afraid lest the king might not\nlike it. However, let us see what happened, as they say in story books.\n\n\u201cGlad to see you, Uncle Wiggily!\u201d cried Old King Cole, as the bunny\nuncle came in the grand palace. \u201cMake yourself right at home!\u201d and the\nking clapped his hands. Then some one sang:\n\n                 \u201cOld King Cole is a merry old soul,\n                  A merry old soul is he.\n                  He called for his pipe,\n                  He called for his bowl,\n                  And he called for his fiddlers three.\u201d\n\nIn came the fiddlers, playing tweedle-dweele-dee, making nice music,\nuntil, all at once:\n\n\u201cSnap! Snap! Snap!\u201d went something. \u201cSnap!\u201d\n\n\u201cMy goodness me sakes alive and some orange lemonade!\u201d cried Uncle\nWiggily. \u201cWhat was that?\u201d\n\n\u201cOur fiddle strings have broken!\u201d cried one of the fiddlers. \u201cNow we can\nmake no more music until we have new strings.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d cried King Cole. \u201cThat\u2019s too bad. I must have music from my\nfiddlers three, or from some one, or Mother Goose won\u2019t like it. How can\nI get squeaky fiddle music for Uncle Wiggily? How can I?\u201d\n\nJust then Jollie Longtail popped his head out from Uncle Wiggily\u2019s\npocket.\n\n\u201cIf you please, Old King Cole,\u201d he said, \u201cJillie, Squeaky-Eeky and I,\nwith our squeaky voices, will make music for you if you like.\u201d\n\n\u201cI do like,\u201d said the king. \u201cMake some music, if you please!\u201d\n\nSo the mice, who have very squeaky voices, sang nice music, almost like\nthe fiddles, and Old King Cole was a more merry soul than ever.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m glad you came, Uncle Wiggily,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m glad you brought\nthe nice Longtail mice children with you. Give them all some cheese!\u201d\nAnd he laughed most jolly-jilly like.\n\nSo the mice sang for the king until the fiddlers\u2019 fiddle strings were\nfixed, and every one had a good time and plenty to eat.\n\nAnd if the jam tart doesn\u2019t get inside the huckleberry pie, where the\negg beater can\u2019t find it to dance with, I\u2019ll tell you next about Uncle\nWiggily and Peter-Peter.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER XI\n\n                     UNCLE WIGGILY AND PETER-PETER\n\n\n\u201cUNCLE WIGGILY, don\u2019t you think you\u2019d better take an umbrella with you?\u201d\nasked Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, as the\nrabbit gentleman, Mr. Longears, started out from his hollow-stump\nbungalow one morning.\n\n\u201cAn umbrella, Nurse Jane? Why should I take one with me? I have my red,\nwhite and blue-striped barber-pole rheumatism crutch, that you gnawed\nfor me out of a corn-stalk.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat wouldn\u2019t be much good in a rain-storm,\u201d said the muskrat lady,\nwith a laugh. \u201cIt wouldn\u2019t keep off many of the drops.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, I s\u2019pose not,\u201d said the bunny uncle, sort of rubbing his pink,\ntwinkling nose, thoughtful like, with the brim of his tall silk hat. \u201cSo\nyou think it is going to rain, do you?\u201d\n\n\u201cOr snow,\u201d said the muskrat lady, looking to see if the hair ribbon had\ncome off the end of her tail, but it had not, I\u2019m glad to say.\n\n\u201cWell, I guess I\u2019ll be back before it storms,\u201d went on Uncle Wiggily.\n\u201cI\u2019m only going over to Grandfather Goosey Gander\u2019s pen house to see if\nhe wants to play checkers with grains of corn. I won\u2019t be very long,\u201d\nand with that Uncle Wiggily hopped away.\n\nOver the fields and through the woods hopped the bunny uncle to the\nhouse, or pen, of the old gentleman goose. Uncle Wiggily was thinking\nwhat a nice visit he would have when, all of a sudden, he heard from\nbehind a scratchy briar bush a sad voice saying:\n\n\u201cOh, dear! They\u2019re all spilled! I\u2019ll never be able to pick them up;\nnever! There are too many of them! Oh, dear!\u201d\n\n\u201cHa! That is funny talk. It sounds as though some one were in trouble,\u201d\nsaid Uncle Wiggily to himself. \u201cI wonder if I can help them? I\u2019ll just\ntake a peek first, for it might be the skillery-scalery alligator, with\nhumps on his tail, or the bad fox or wolf, and they would help\nthemselves to catch me rather than have me help them. I\u2019ll take a peek\nfirst.\u201d\n\nSo Uncle Wiggily peeked out and there, on the other side of the bush he\nsaw a little man, bending down and picking something up off the ground.\n\nNow, as a rule, the bunny uncle didn\u2019t like men, for most of them were\nhunters, with dogs and bang-bang guns, who came after the animal people.\nBut this man was so little, and so kind-looking and, withal, Uncle\nWiggily could see he had no gun, so Mr. Longears knew it would be all\nright.\n\n\u201cExcuse me,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, speaking a language that animals and\nlittle men can understand. \u201cBut can I help you?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, hello, Uncle Wiggily,\u201d exclaimed the small chap. \u201cWhy, maybe you\ncan help me. You see, I am Peter-Peter, and\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat, not Peter-Peter, the Pumpkin-Eater?\u201d asked the rabbit gentleman,\nsurprised like.\n\n\u201cThe very same,\u201d was the answer. \u201cI\u2019m that Peter-Peter.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen you must be a friend of Mother Goose,\u201d said the bunny uncle,\nsmiling down one side of his pink twinkling nose.\n\n\u201cI am,\u201d answered Peter-Peter.\n\n\u201cThen I am more than ever anxious to help you,\u201d spoke Mr. Longears. \u201cI\nalways help the friends of Mother Goose. What is the trouble?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have spilled all my pumpkin seeds,\u201d was the answer of Peter-Peter.\n\u201cYou see I was scooping out my pumpkin shell, making it hollow to keep\nmy wife in, as it says in the Mother Goose book. When I had the seeds\nall scooped out my wife said it would be a good thing to take them over\nto Mrs. Bushytail, the squirrel lady, as she and her two boys, Johnnie\nand Billie, could eat them.\u201d\n\n\u201cI guess they would be glad to get them,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cIn fact,\nI like roasted pumpkin seeds myself.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut the trouble is,\u201d said Peter-Peter, \u201cthat when I had put the seeds\nin a bag, and was on my way to the Bushytail home with them, I came\nthrough these woods. The prickly briar bush caught my bag, tore holes in\nit, and out fell the pumpkin seeds. They are scattered all over the\nground here, and, oh, dear! I\u2019ll never be able to pick them up.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, yes, you will,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, with a jolly laugh. \u201cI\u2019ll help\nyou, and I\u2019ll get my friends, Dickie and Nellie Chip-Chip, the sparrows,\nto help. They are great at picking up seeds.\u201d\n\nSo Uncle Wiggily whistled for Dickie and Nellie Chip-Chip, and when the\nsparrow boy and girl came, with their sharp bills, they soon picked up\nmost of the pumpkin seeds; Uncle Wiggily and Peter-Peter helping, of\ncourse.\n\nAnd when they were all picked up Uncle Wiggily pasted some postage\nstamps over the holes in Peter-Peter\u2019s bag, so it was as good as ever.\nThen the little man started off with it over his shoulder to the\nBushytail squirrel house.\n\n\u201cThank you, very much, Uncle Wiggily,\u201d said Peter-Peter. \u201cAnd you, too,\nDickie and Nellie. If ever I can do you a favor I will.\u201d\n\nSo he went on, and, when Dickie and Nellie had flown home, Uncle Wiggily\nhopped along to Grandpa Goosey Gander\u2019s house. There the old rabbit\ngentleman had a nice time playing checkers with grains of corn, but on\nhis way home, when he was in the middle of the woods, all of a sudden it\nbegan to rain very hard.\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d cried the bunny uncle. \u201cNurse Jane was right. It is raining,\nand I have no umbrella! I will get all wet, and my rheumatism will be\nworse than ever. Oh, dear! I wish I had some place to go in!\u201d\n\nAnd just then Uncle Wiggily heard a voice singing.\n\n                   \u201cPeter-Peter, Pumpkin-Eater,\n                    Had a wife and could not keep her.\n                    He put her in a pumpkin shell,\n                    And there he kept her very well.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily looked through the bushes, and there he saw a cute little\nhouse, made from a pumpkin, with a hollowed-out corn-cob for a chimney.\nAnd in the door of the house stood the little man, Peter-Peter himself.\n\n\u201cHello, Uncle Wiggily!\u201d called Peter-Peter. \u201cCome in out of the rain.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs there room in there with you and your wife?\u201d asked the bunny uncle.\n\n\u201cPlenty of room,\u201d answered Peter-Peter. \u201cThis is an extra big\nThanksgiving pumpkin. Come in!\u201d\n\nIn went Uncle Wiggily out of the rain, and he stayed in Peter-Peter\u2019s\npumpkin-shell house until the storm was over, and he could go home\nwithout getting wet. So you see it was a good thing Uncle Wiggily helped\nPeter-Peter pick up the pumpkin seeds.\n\nAnd if the rain-drop doesn\u2019t fall down-stairs and splash all over the\npancake turner when it goes out to shovel the snow, I\u2019ll tell you next\nabout Uncle Wiggily and the butcher.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XII\n\n                     UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BUTCHER\n\n\nIT was raining in animal land, where Uncle Wiggily Longears, the nice\nrabbit gentleman, lived. It had been raining for several days; in fact,\never since the bunny uncle had helped Peter-Peter pick up the pumpkin\nseeds.\n\nUncle Wiggily had been caught out in the rain then, and had gone in the\npumpkin shell, where Peter-Peter kept his wife very well. That rain was\nonly a shower, which was soon over, but the storm began again and had\nlasted ever since. It was very wet in animal land.\n\n\u201cMy!\u201d exclaimed Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper.\n\u201cIf it doesn\u2019t stop soon I\u2019ll never get the clothes dry.\u201d\n\n\u201cWorse than that,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cIf it doesn\u2019t stop soon there\nwill be a flood, and our hollow-stump bungalow will be full of water. In\nfact, I think there is a little water in it now.\u201d\n\nWell, it kept on raining, and there was a flood, so much so that Uncle\nWiggily\u2019s cellar was full of water, almost up to the floor, and all\nabout, outside the hollow-stump bungalow, there were little lakes and\npuddles and rivers of rain water in the woods.\n\n\u201cWill it ever stop raining?\u201d asked Nurse Jane, as she stood at the\nwindow, looking out. \u201cIf it doesn\u2019t, I don\u2019t know what we shall do. I\nneed some things from the store.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll get them for you,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, kindly.\n\n\u201cBut how can you, in all this rain?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, very easily,\u201d answered the bunny uncle, twinkling his pink nose to\nmake himself bright and cheerful like. \u201cI\u2019ll put on my rubber boots, my\nraincoat, take an umbrella and go to the store.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, I\u2019m sure it\u2019s very brave of you to go out in this storm,\u201d said\nNurse Jane, \u201cand I hope your rheumatism doesn\u2019t catch cold. But we need\nsome bread, sugar, salt and other things.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll get them,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, and off he started through the\nstorm, well wrapped up so he would get no wetter than could be helped.\n\nThe rabbit uncle finally got to the store, and the monkey-doodle\ngentleman who kept it put in a basket the things Nurse Jane wanted.\n\nHe wrapped them in heavy paper, putting some over the top of the basket\nso in case Uncle Wiggily\u2019s umbrella blew wrong side out the groceries\nwould not get wet.\n\n\u201cWell, I guess everything is going to be all right,\u201d thought Uncle\nWiggily to himself, as he hopped along through the rain on his way back\nto the hollow-stump bungalow. \u201cI don\u2019t believe I\u2019m even going to have an\nadventure (except now and then splashing into a puddle) for all my\ncoming out in the storm. And I haven\u2019t had an adventure in some time. I\nreally wish something would happen!\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily had no sooner thought this than, all of a sudden,\nsomething did happen. He slipped into a big puddle with his rubber\nboots. The water came nearly to the top of them, but that did not so\nmuch matter as did something else. For when the bunny uncle tried to\npull his feet up out of the puddle he couldn\u2019t do it. No, sir, he could\nno more pull his feet up than you could get loose from sticky fly paper\nin case you happened to sit down in it, which, I hope, you never do;\nthough our cat did once. And such a time!\n\n\u201cMy! This is quite too bad!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI wonder what could\nhave happened? My feet are caught fast!\u201d He squirmed about a bit with\nhis feet in the rubber boots. Then he said:\n\n\u201cI know what has happened. My feet are held tight in the crooked,\ntwisted old root of a tree that is down under the puddle. I\u2019m caught as\nbadly as if I were in a trap. Oh, dear! This is an adventure, all right,\nbut not the kind I like. I wonder how I can get loose?\u201d\n\nAnd well might the bunny uncle wonder. His feet were caught fast in the\nroot, away down under water and he could not reach down with his paws to\nloosen them, for he had his umbrella in one paw and the basket of\ngroceries on the other, for there was water all around him.\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI s\u2019pose I could pull my feet out of\nthe rubber boots and just leave them caught in the puddle, but if I did\nthat I\u2019d have to go home bare-pawed, and I\u2019d catch my rheumatism worse\nthan ever. Oh, dear! What shall I do?\u201d\n\nJust then, through the woods Uncle Wiggily heard the sound of a drum.\n\u201cDub-dub! Dubbity-dubbity-dub!\u201d\n\n\u201cHa! I wonder if that can be Sammie Littletail, the bunny boy, coming\nalong with his Christmas drum? If it is he can help me,\u201d said Mr.\nLongears.\n\nUncle Wiggily, still caught fast, looked through the trees, and he saw\nsome one sailing along in a washtub. And it was the butcher man, in his\nwhite apron and cap, with a big knife in his hand, who was drumming,\nwith the knife handle, on the sides of the tub. And the butcher sang\nthis song:\n\n             \u201cRub-a-dub-dub! Three men in a tub;\n              The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker;\n              They all jumped over a hard baked potato.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, that\u2019s in Mother Goose!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily, joyful like. \u201cThis\nbutcher must be a friend of hers. I wonder if he could help me.\u201d\n\nJust then the butcher saw Uncle Wiggily caught fast in the puddle, and,\nstopping his washtub ship, he asked:\n\n\u201cAre you in trouble?\u201d\n\n\u201cTrouble? I should say I was!\u201d cried the bunny uncle. \u201cMy feet are\ncaught fast in a tree root down under the water, and I can\u2019t get loose.\nCan you help me?\u201d\n\n\u201cI can and will,\u201d replied the butcher. Then, with his long, sharp knife,\nhe reached down under the puddle and cut the tree root that was holding\nUncle Wiggily\u2019s feet fast, taking care not to cut the bunny uncle\u2019s\nrubber boots.\n\n\u201cThere you are!\u201d cried the butcher. \u201cNow you\u2019re loose.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, thank you so much,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, hopping out of the puddle.\n\u201cBut, excuse me, I thought there were three of you rub-a-dub-dub men in\na tub. You are only one.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, there were three of us,\u201d said the butcher. \u201cBut since Mother\nGoose wrote that verse about us, after we jumped out of the baked\npotato, we grew so large that three of us had hard work to fit in one\ntub. So now we each have a tub to ourselves. Now I must sail on. The\nbaker and candlestick maker and I are having a tub-boat-race. I hope I\nwin. Good-by!\u201d\n\nAnd on he sailed in his tub, while Uncle Wiggily, his feet no longer\ncaught fast, went safely on to his hollow-stump bungalow through the\nrain with the groceries.\n\nSo the bunny uncle was saved by the butcher, you see, and, if the gas\nlamp doesn\u2019t go down cellar in the dark and stumble over the fire shovel\nwhen it\u2019s playing in the ashes, I\u2019ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily\nand the baker.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XIII\n\n                      UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BAKER\n\n\nIT was still raining in Woodland, where the animal folk lived. All\naround the hollow-stump bungalow, where Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the\nmuskrat lady, kept house for Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit\ngentleman, there were puddles of water; little lakes and rivers, too.\n\n\u201cI think it is getting colder,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, as he came in from\nhaving been up to the Orange Mountain, to get a dozen of lemons so Nurse\nJane could bake a cherry pie.\n\n\u201cIf it gets colder, perhaps it will stop raining,\u201d Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy\nremarked, \u201cand goodness knows we have had enough of water.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, a little snow for a change would seem nice,\u201d spoke the bunny\nuncle, looking out of the window at the rain-drops still splashing down.\n\n\u201cWas it raining on the Orange Mountain?\u201d Nurse Jane wanted to know.\n\n\u201cYes, just as hard as it is down here in the valley. But the water runs\noff the sides of the mountain, so there are not so many puddles to step\nin, as I stepped in one the other day, and got my foot caught in a tree\nroot, when the butcher, in his rub-a-dub-dub tub, cut me loose.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat was quite an adventure,\u201d said Nurse Jane. \u201cYou haven\u2019t seen the\nother friends of Mother Goose\u2014the baker and the candlestick maker\u2014have\nyou?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d Uncle Wiggily answered. \u201cBut I understand that the butcher\u2019s two\nfriends, the baker and the candlestick maker, are having a race with\nhim, each one in a tub. They may sail along any day now. I guess I\u2019ll go\nout and look for them.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat! In all this rain?\u201d cried Nurse Jane, in surprise. \u201cYou\u2019ll catch\ncold in your rheumatism, I\u2019m sure.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, no, I\u2019ll wrap up well in my rubber coat, and put on my rubber boots\nas I did before,\u201d said the bunny uncle, making his nose twinkle like a\ngold tooth in the wax doll.\n\nOff started the old rabbit gentleman, carrying a big umbrella so that\ntoo many rain-drops would not get on his tall silk hat. He walked along\nthrough the woods, down from the trees of which the rain-drops dripped.\nThere were many puddles, but Uncle Wiggily kept as much out of them as\nhe could.\n\n\u201cIt is getting quite some colder,\u201d he said to himself, as he put one paw\nin his pocket to warm it\u2014warm his paw, I mean, not his pocket, for that\nwas warm already. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be surprised to see it snow.\u201d\n\nAnd, in a little while, a few flakes of snow did begin to fall, dodging\ntheir way in between the rain-drops, and sort of playing tag with one\nanother.\n\n\u201cHow pretty the flakes look,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, coming to a stop to\nwatch them. \u201cI think I\u2019ll sit down a minute and look at them.\u201d He found\na fallen log, which, being under a Christmas tree, was not as wet as it\nmight otherwise have been, and down Uncle Wiggily sat on that.\n\nMore snowflakes fell, and they looked so pretty that Uncle Wiggily\nstayed longer than he meant to, sitting on the log. It kept on getting\ncolder and colder, and finally the bunny uncle said:\n\n\u201cWell, I mustn\u2019t sit here any longer. I\u2019ll get up and go back to my\nnice, warm, cozy hollow-stump bungalow. Yes, I\u2019ll get up and\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\nBut Uncle Wiggily did not get up. He couldn\u2019t! He had frozen fast to the\nlog, which had some water on it. The cold air had made the water freeze,\nand Uncle Wiggily was held as fast there as if he had sat down in sticky\nfly paper\u2014even more tightly, I believe.\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d he cried. \u201cThis is quite too bad! In fact, it is terrible.\nWhat shall I do!\u201d\n\nHe tried to get up, but he could not, and he did not want to take off\nhis rubber coat, and so free himself, for fear he might catch cold\nwithout his coat.\n\n\u201cOh, dear! I don\u2019t know what to do!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cHelp! Help!\nWill no one help me to get loose?\u201d\n\nThen, through the woods he suddenly heard a rub-a-dub-dub drumming\nsound.\n\n\u201cHa! I wonder if that can be my friend, the butcher?\u201d thought the bunny\nuncle. But when he looked he saw a baker coming along, dressed in a\nspotless white apron and cap. The baker had a loaf of bread in his hand,\nand with a large spoon he was pushing himself along in his tub through\nthe puddles of water, which had not yet solidly frozen over, though\nthere were chunks of ice in them. And the baker was singing:\n\n             \u201cRub-a-dub-dub, three men in a tub;\n              The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker;\n              But I am the one with the hot baked potato.\u201d\n\nThen the baker, seeing Uncle Wiggily sitting on the log, called to the\nbunny uncle as he stopped his tub boat:\n\n\u201cWould you like to buy a loaf of bread?\u201d asked the baker.\n\n\u201cWell, yes, I might, for I heard Nurse Jane say we needed some,\u201d\nanswered the bunny uncle.\n\n\u201cThen please come and get it,\u201d said the baker. \u201cFor I am riding a\nboat-tub race with the butcher and the candlestick maker, and I don\u2019t\nwant to stop. They might get in ahead of me. You see, we are doing a\nlittle different from what it says in the Mother Goose book,\u201d went on\nthe baker, shaking some rain-drops off his white cap. \u201cWe each have a\ntub to ourselves.\u201d\n\n\u201cI see,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI heard about it. In fact, I met the\nbutcher sailing along in his tub the other day.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, did you? Then I must hurry,\u201d cried the baker, \u201cor he will win the\nrace. Come and get your loaf of bread and I\u2019ll paddle along.\u201d\n\n\u201cI can\u2019t come and get it,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI am sorry, but I really\ncan\u2019t.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy not?\u201d asked the baker.\n\n\u201cBecause I am frozen fast to this log,\u201d said the bunny uncle, \u201cand I\nreally can\u2019t get up, much as I would like to. I was calling for help,\nand, when you came along, I hoped\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cHa! Say no more!\u201d cried the baker, in a jolly voice. \u201cOf course I\u2019ll\nhelp you. Never mind about the race. I\u2019ll get you loose!\u201d\n\n\u201cHow?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll show you!\u201d cried the baker. He stopped his tub, which had started\noff by itself, put on his rubbers, and stepped out into a little puddle.\nIn his hands he carried the hot loaf of bread, and the hot baked potato.\nPutting these down on the log, one on each side of Uncle Wiggily, the\nheat of them soon melted the ice, and the rabbit gentleman was unfrozen,\nand could get up and go on his way as well as ever.\n\n\u201cOh, thank you!\u201d he called to the baker. \u201cThank you!\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are welcome,\u201d was the answer, \u201cand take the hot bread and potato\nwith you,\u201d and with that the baker jumped back in his tub and went on\nsailing, hoping to catch up to the butcher.\n\nSo Uncle Wiggily went to his hollow-stump bungalow, not being frozen any\nmore, and all was well. And if the soft boiled egg doesn\u2019t go sliding on\nthe ice and fall down so it breaks all to pieces and has to be put in a\npudding, I\u2019ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the candlestick\nmaker.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XIV\n\n                UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CANDLESTICK MAKER\n\n\nAFTER supper, one night, Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit gentleman,\nput on his tall silk hat, his fur-lined overcoat, and, taking his red,\nwhite and blue-striped barber-pole rheumatism crutch down off the piano,\nhe started for the door.\n\n\u201cWhat! You are not going out to-night, are you?\u201d asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy\nWuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, in surprise.\n\n\u201cWhy, yes, for a little while,\u201d answered the bunny uncle. \u201cIt has\nstopped raining, you know, and the ground has dried up. It is cold, but\nI have my fur coat, so I shall be nice and warm.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere are you going?\u201d asked Nurse Jane.\n\n\u201cTo call on Mr. Longtail, the mouse gentleman. He likes night visits\nbetter than day ones, so that\u2019s why I go in the evening. He\u2019s like an\nowl that way.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, don\u2019t stay too late,\u201d said Nurse Jane, and Uncle Wiggily promised\nthat he would not. Out into the night he went, but it was not very dark,\nfor there was a moon shining. And as the rabbit uncle was hopping along\nthrough the woods he suddenly stepped upon something round, which rolled\nfrom under his paw and almost threw him down.\n\n\u201cHa! I wonder what that can be?\u201d Uncle Wiggily said. He looked and saw a\nbrass candlestick on the ground. \u201cThis is queer,\u201d went on the bunny\nuncle. \u201cI did not know that candlesticks grew in the woods. Some one\nmust have dropped it. I\u2019ll take it with me, and perhaps Mr. Longtail\nwill know whose it is.\u201d\n\nWith the candlestick in one paw and his rheumatism crutch in the other,\nUncle Wiggily once more hopped on. Pretty soon he saw a little light\nflickering through the trees.\n\n\u201cWhy, that looks just like a lightning bug,\u201d said the bunny uncle, \u201conly\nthey are not out this time of the year. I wonder what that can be?\u201d\n\nThen he heard a tummity-tum-tum, drumming sound, and a voice sang:\n\n             \u201cRub-a-dub-dub, three men in a tub;\n              The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker,\n              And the baker has taken the hot baked potato.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, that must be the last of the three, queer Mother Goose men, who\nwent sailing a race in washtubs, when the weather was rainy,\u201d said Uncle\nWiggily. \u201cAnd this one must be the candlestick maker, for I have met the\nother two.\n\n\u201cBut if this is the candlestick maker I don\u2019t see how he can be sailing\nin his tub when the rain has stopped, and there are no little rivers,\nlakes or even puddles in the woods,\u201d went on the rabbit gentleman.\n\u201cEverything is frozen over. I don\u2019t see how he can.\u201d\n\nThen the singing voice stopped, and Uncle Wiggily heard some one crying:\n\n\u201cOh, dear! Ouch, how it burns! Oh, where can it be? Where can it be?\u201d\n\nThe flickering light came nearer, and Uncle Wiggily, looking through the\ntrees, saw that it was not a lightning bug, or firefly, but a little\nman, with a leather apron on, and a hammer and other tools hanging from\nhis belt. The tools jingled and rattled. Behind the man, who was pulling\nit along as if it were a sled, with a rope through one the handles, was\nthe washtub. In one hand the man carried a lighted candle, and, all the\nwhile, he kept on saying:\n\n\u201cOh, dear! Ouch! How it burns me! Oh, my!\u201d\n\n\u201cExcuse me,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, politely, \u201cbut you seem to be in\ntrouble. Perhaps I can help you. What burns you?\u201d\n\n\u201cThis candle,\u201d answered the man. \u201cI ought to have a candlestick to hold\nit, but I dropped my nice brass candlestick as I ran through the woods,\nand now I have to hold the candle in my bare fingers. And it is so short\nthat it burns me. Ouch!\u201d\n\n\u201cHa! Then this is what you want,\u201d Uncle Wiggily said, and he handed over\nthe candlestick he had picked up.\n\n\u201cThe very thing!\u201d cried the little man, in delight. \u201cThank you so much.\nNow my fingers won\u2019t burn any more.\u201d\n\nHe stuck the end of the lighted candle in the stick and spoke again.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m the candlestick maker, as you can see; I make candlesticks, but\njust now I am not making any, as I am on a race with the butcher and\nbaker to see who first will get to Mother Goose\u2019s house. We started out\nin a dreadful rain-storm, when we could float in our tubs like boats,\nbut the butcher and baker seem to have gotten ahead of me.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey have,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI met them two days ago.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen there isn\u2019t much use in my keeping on,\u201d said the candlestick\nmaker. \u201cBut it has gotten colder. It may snow, and if I come to a hill I\ncan coast down it in my tub, which I made into a sled when I found the\nground frozen and all the water gone. If I can slide down hill in my\ntub-sled I may yet get ahead of the butcher and baker and win the prize\nof a hot baked potato.\u201d\n\n\u201cPerhaps you may,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, as he told how the baker had\nkindly thawed him off the frozen log with the hot baked potato and a hot\nloaf of bread.\n\n\u201cWell, I\u2019ll be getting on,\u201d said the candlestick maker, after a bit.\n\u201cThank you for being kind to me. If ever I can do you a favor I will. My\nfingers no longer burn.\u201d Then he hurried off through the woods, dragging\nhis tub-sled after him.\n\nUncle Wiggily had a nice visit with Mr. Longtail, the mouse gentleman,\nbut when the bunny uncle started home the moon had gone down and it was\nvery dark. Soon Uncle Wiggily was lost in the woods. He could not tell\nwhich way to go, and he hopped around, stubbing his paws and bunking\ninto trees, until he was all sore and lame.\n\n\u201cOh, I wish I had a light!\u201d he cried. And, no sooner had he spoken than\nhe heard a drumming sound, and along came the candlestick maker with the\nlighted candle.\n\n\u201cHere you are! Here\u2019s your light, Uncle Wiggily!\u201d the candlestick maker\ncried. \u201cI\u2019ll light you all the way to your hollow-stump bungalow.\u201d\n\n\u201cGood!\u201d cried the bunny uncle. \u201cBut I don\u2019t want to take your time and\ndelay you. I thought you were racing.\u201d\n\n\u201cI gave it up. The baker won and got there first. I just met Old Mother\nHubbard and she told me. So I\u2019m going to take you home.\u201d And he did,\nmaking the woods light with his candle, all the way to the bunny uncle\u2019s\nhollow-stump bungalow.\n\nSo the rabbit gentleman was all right again, you see, and if the piece\nof cheese doesn\u2019t run away from the slice of apple pie, and get lost in\nthe rice pudding, I\u2019ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and Tom-Tom.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER XV\n\n                       UNCLE WIGGILY AND TOM-TOM\n\n\nUNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the nice rabbit gentleman, was going along\nthrough the woods one day, wondering what sort of an adventure he would\nhave, when he met Mother Goose, who, as I have told you before, had\ncome, with her large family of funny folk, to live in the forest near\nthe hollow-stump bungalow of the bunny uncle.\n\n\u201cHow do you do, Mother Goose?\u201d asked Mr. Longears, as he made a polite\nbow, taking off his tall silk hat.\n\n\u201cI am very well, thank you,\u201d she said. \u201cYou look well yourself. I wonder\nif you have seen him anywhere, as you have been walking along?\u201d\n\n\u201cSeen whom?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily. \u201cIf you mean the butcher, the baker,\nand the candlestick maker, I have. I met them the other day\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, thank you, I don\u2019t mean them,\u201d said Mother Goose. \u201cThey have come\nsafely home again with their rub-a-dub-dub-tubs, and they are happily\nliving together once more. No, it\u2019s another of my friends who is lost.\nYou may have seen him. He is\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\nBut just then Old Mother Hubbard came to the door of her house, after\nhaving given her dog a bone, and she called across the woodland path:\n\n\u201cOh, Mother Goose! Little Tommie Tucker is crying for his supper. What\nshall I give him, white bread and butter?\u201d\n\n\u201cWait a minute. I\u2019ll be right there,\u201d answered Mother Goose. \u201cI want to\nput a little molasses on Tommie\u2019s bread. You walk on,\u201d she said to Uncle\nWiggily. \u201cI\u2019ll come back to you in a minute and tell you who is lost.\u201d\n\nBut Mother Goose must have had to give Tommie Tucker a bigger supper\nthan usual, or else some of her other friends wanted something, for\nUncle Wiggily hopped on and on, and the nice old goose lady did not come\nto speak to him.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s funny,\u201d said the bunny uncle, \u201cbut I wonder who it is that is\nlost? I can\u2019t very well look for him\u2014or her\u2014until I know. It may be\nLittle Bo Peep, or Jack Horner. Well, I\u2019ll keep on, and I may meet with\nthe lost one, whoever he or she is; or I may have an adventure. Who\nknows?\u201d\n\nWell, the bunny uncle had not gone on much farther before, all at once,\nhe heard some one running through the bushes, and the sound of loud\nsqueals.\n\n\u201cHa! Something is happening,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cPerhaps this is the\nadventure I am expecting.\u201d\n\nThen, all of a sudden, through the bushes came running a boy with a\nsquealing pig under his arm.\n\n\u201cSquee! Squee! Squee!\u201d cried the pig.\n\n\u201cHold on! Stop! Wait a minute!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cWho are you?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am Tom-Tom, the piper\u2019s son,\u201d was the answer.\n\n\u201cOh, you\u2019re from Mother Goose, aren\u2019t you?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, but I\u2019m running away from her now,\u201d answered Tom-Tom. \u201cYou know\nhow it goes in the book:\n\n                 \u201c\u2018Tom-Tom, the piper\u2019s son,\n                   Took a pig and away he run.\n                   The pig was eat, and Tom was beat,\n                   And he went roaring down the street.\u2019\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s how it is in the book,\u201d went on Tom-Tom. \u201cOnly it isn\u2019t exactly\nright. I didn\u2019t do any roaring, though I may when I get the beating.\nIt\u2019s the pig who is doing the roaring.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt sounds more like squealing,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily.\n\n\u201cYes, you could call it that,\u201d said Tom-Tom, as he looked at the pig\nunder his arm, which cried louder than before. I mean the pig squealed,\nnot Tom-Tom\u2019s arm.\n\n\u201cBut look here,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cYou should not have taken this\npig. That\u2019s quite wrong you know, Tom-Tom. Besides, Mother Goose is\nafter you. I just met her, and she started to tell me about some of her\nfriends being lost. She asked me to help look for him\u2014or her\u2014but before\nshe could tell me who it was, she was called away. It must have been you\nshe meant.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt was,\u201d said Tom-Tom. \u201cI had to run after I took the pig, but the\nfunny part of it is I can\u2019t find any street to run down, as the book\nsays I did. It\u2019s all woods around here; no streets at all. I\u2019d run with\nthe pig down the street, fast enough, if I could find one.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, no! You mustn\u2019t do that,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cYou only go down the\nstreet after the pig was eat, or eaten, to be more correct. Besides, you\nought not to take the pig at all.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat shall I do?\u201d asked Tom-Tom. \u201cI have the pig now, you see. What\nmust I do with it?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll take him with me,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI can lead him back home,\nand then you must go tell Mother Goose you\u2019re sorry, and I don\u2019t believe\nshe\u2019ll whip you or beat you.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right,\u201d said Tom-Tom, the piper\u2019s son. \u201cI\u2019ll do as you say.\u201d\n\nHe gave Uncle Wiggily the pig, which was a baby one, and the bunny\ngentleman led it along by a string, while Tom-Tom hurried off to tell\nMother Goose he was sorry that he had been a little bad. And Mother\nGoose forgave him, and did not whip him, so Tom-Tom did not have to go\nroaring down the street after all.\n\n\u201cWell, what have you there, Uncle Wiggily?\u201d asked Nurse Jane, when she\nsaw the bunny gentleman coming along leading a pig.\n\n\u201cThis is the pig Tom-Tom had,\u201d said Mr. Longears, and then, all at once,\nbefore he could say anything more, the pig began to squeal with all his\nmight and so loudly that Nurse Jane could not hear the bunny uncle\u2019s\nvoice.\n\n\u201cMercy,\u201d cried the muskrat lady. \u201cWhat a noise!\u201d and she put her paws\nover her ears. \u201cTake him away, Wiggy, do. That\u2019s a dear! Take him away!\u201d\n\n\u201cSquee! Squee! Squee!\u201d yelled the baby pig. And then along came Mother\nHubbard\u2019s dog.\n\n\u201cHa! So here\u2019s where you are, eh?\u201d asked the dog. \u201cWell, you come right\nback to your pen!\u201d\n\n\u201cI will, and right gladly,\u201d squealed the pig, \u201cand don\u2019t let Tom-Tom\ntake me again. Thank you, Uncle Wiggily, for bringing me this far.\u201d\n\nThen the dog led the pig home by the ear, piggie squealing all the way,\nbut he stopped when Mother Goose gave him something to eat. And Tom-Tom\nnever took the pig again, so the little boy did not have to run roaring\ndown the street, I\u2019m glad to say.\n\nAnd, if the sugar spoon doesn\u2019t whisper to the butter knife and have to\nstay on the table after the rest of the dishes go to the sink to be\nwashed, I\u2019ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the crooked man.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XVI\n\n                   UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CROOKED MAN\n\n\n\u201cHEIGH-HO! Away I go!\u201d sang Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit\ngentleman, one day, as he looked in the glass to see if his whiskers\nwere on straight, and his nose twinkling just right.\n\n\u201cWhat? Away again?\u201d asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady\nhousekeeper of the hollow-stump bungalow, as she finished drying the\ndinner dishes. \u201cYou seem to me to go out a great deal, Mr. Longears.\n\n\u201cFar be it from me,\u201d she went on, \u201cto say anything about it, but I\nshould think you would get tired of going around so much.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, no,\u201d Uncle Wiggily laughed. \u201cI like it. I have a new adventure\nnearly every day, and I think it is good for my rheumatism. So,\nheigh-ho! Away I go!\u201d\n\nOff through the woods went Uncle Wiggily. It would soon be Spring now,\nand already the pussy willows were just beginning to learn how to mew a\nlittle bit, like baby cats.\n\nAs the rabbit gentleman went along he saw, lying on the path in front of\nhim, a piece of money. But it was a very queer bit of money, indeed. It\nwas all bent and twisted and crooked, as though a trolley car had\nstepped on it by mistake, and on one side was a figure six.\n\n\u201cWell, maybe this will bring me good luck,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cIt\ndoesn\u2019t seem to be good for much else\u2014such crooked money. A six-cent\npiece, I guess it was once. I\u2019ll just put it in my pocket.\u201d\n\nSo he did, and he walked along a little farther, until, coming to a\nplace where a great, big tree had fallen to the ground, Uncle Wiggily\nheard some one sitting on it saying:\n\n\u201cOh, dear! I\u2019ve lost it! I can\u2019t find it anywhere, and without it I\ndon\u2019t see how I can do what it says in the Mother Goose book I must do.\nIt\u2019s lost\u2014gone!\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily looked and saw, sitting on the fallen tree, a very funny,\nbut nice, old man. And the man was very crooked. He was bent and twisted\nuntil there was not a straight place on him, not even his nose, which\nwas wobbled and bent over to one side, and his ears were folded together\nlike pieces of paper.\n\n\u201cWell, well,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, feeling sorry for so crooked a man,\n\u201cthis is too bad. I wonder what happened to him to make him so bent, and\nI wonder what he has lost?\u201d for the crooked, twisted man was turning his\npockets inside out, and even his pockets were curled around like a\ncorkscrew.\n\n\u201cOh, such trouble as I am in!\u201d cried the man. \u201cOh, dear!\u201d\n\n\u201cHa, trouble! That means here is a chance for me to help,\u201d said the\nbunny uncle. \u201cExcuse me,\u201d he said, \u201cbut who are you, and can I do\nanything to help you?\u201d\n\n\u201cHa! Uncle Wiggily Longears! I know you by your pictures!\u201d said the man.\n\u201cDon\u2019t you know me? I\u2019m in the book that Mother Goose wrote. It says\nabout me that once\n\n                    \u201c\u2018There was a crooked man,\n                       Who walked a crooked mile,\n                     And found a crooked sixpence\n                       Against a crooked stile.\n                     He bought a crooked cat,\n                       Which caught a crooked mouse,\n                     And they all lived together\n                       In a little crooked house.\u2019\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s who I am,\u201d said the man. \u201cBut now I\u2019ll never be able to buy the\ncrooked cat to catch the crooked mouse, and live with me forever in my\nlittle crooked house.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy not?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily, sort of wondering like.\n\n\u201cBecause I lost the crooked sixpence,\u201d said the crooked man. \u201cI found it\nagainst the crooked stile all right, after I\u2019d walked the crooked mile.\nThe road did twist and turn like a carpenter\u2019s shaving, so it was\ncrooked all right. And when I came to the stile, which is a pair of\nsteps to get over a fence\u2014a pair on each side\u2014they were so crooked I\ncould hardly get over them. And there was the crooked sixpence. But I\nmust have lost it out of my pocket, for I haven\u2019t it now.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs this it?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily, as he took the crooked piece of money\nout of his ear, which he sometimes used as a pocket.\n\n\u201cOh, that\u2019s just it!\u201d cried the crooked man, in delight. \u201cHow ever did\nyou find it?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt was lying on the path in the woods,\u201d said the bunny uncle, \u201cand I\npicked it up. You may have it back.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, now I am all right!\u201d laughed the crooked man. \u201cI can buy the\ncrooked cat, and it will catch a crooked mouse, and then we\u2019ll walk\nalong and find our little, crooked house.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut please don\u2019t let your crooked cat catch my little mice friends,\nJollie or Jillie Longtail, or Squeaky-Eeky, the cousin mouse?\u201d begged\nUncle Wiggily.\n\n\u201cOh, indeed not!\u201d promised the crooked man. \u201cMy crooked cat will only\ncatch a crooked candy mouse. Perhaps you would like to come with me and\nsee me buy the crooked cat.\u201d\n\n\u201cI would,\u201d spoke Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI\u2019ll come.\u201d\n\nThe crooked man started off, twisting this way and that as he walked\nalong the crooked mile, and Uncle Wiggily, who was sort of curious and\ninquisitive, asked:\n\n\u201cWhat made you get all twisted up this way?\u201d\n\n\u201cRheumatism,\u201d was the crooked man\u2019s answer. \u201cBut I don\u2019t mind now, for I\nhave no pain. In fact, I think it\u2019s quite jolly to be crooked and live\nin a crooked house. It\u2019s so different from other people.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, \u201cit is certainly different. But it is nice\nthat you are so happy about it. Some folks would be sad. I\u2019m glad you\nare jolly.\u201d\n\nPretty soon the two friends came to where crooked cats were sold for\ncrooked money. By this time Uncle Wiggily was so tired, from having to\njump back and forth to follow the crooked man walking a crooked mile,\nthat the bunny uncle thought he would go back to his hollow-stump\nbungalow and rest.\n\nBut the crooked man, after he had bought the crooked cat, still went\nalong with Uncle Wiggily, and it was a good thing he did. For, when\nUncle Wiggily was about halfway home, out from behind a stump a bad old\nfox jumped at him. Zip!\n\n\u201cAh, ha!\u201d cried the fox. \u201cNow I have you!\u201d And then he saw the crooked\nman and crooked cat, the fox did, and he rubbed his eyes with his paws,\nonce or twice, and cried out:\n\n\u201cOh! What does this mean? I must be asleep and dreaming, for never can\nthere really be such strange, crooked things in this world as that\ncrooked man and cat. I must be dreaming, and pretty soon I\u2019ll wake up in\nmy den. I\u2019ll just lie quietly and not move, or I might have a worse\ndream.\u201d\n\nAnd, thinking it was all a dream, the fox lay down in the woods to\nsleep, and so he didn\u2019t get Uncle Wiggily after all, thanks to the\ncrooked man and cat. The bunny uncle hurried away from the sleeping fox,\nand the twisted chap, with the doubled-up pussy, soon reached their own\ncrooked house, where they lived happily for many crooked years, catching\ncrooked candy mousies that cried crooked candy tears.\n\nSo no more at present, if you please. But in the next chapter, if the\nolive oil and the vinegar speak nicely to each other when they meet at\nthe party in the lettuce salad, I\u2019ll tell you about Uncle Wiggily and\nthe barber.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XVII\n\n                      UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BARBER\n\n\nUNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the nice old rabbit gentleman, walked across the\nsitting-room of his hollow-stump bungalow, to where a looking-glass hung\non the wall. He looked in the glass, and rubbed his paw, thoughtful\nlike, up and down his chin.\n\n\u201cWhat is the matter?\u201d asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady\nhousekeeper. \u201cDid something bite you?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d answered Uncle Wiggily, \u201cbut I think I need to shave off some of\nmy whiskers. They are getting too long. Also I need a hair cut.\u201d\n\n\u201cGracious goodness me sakes alive, and some corn-meal muffin lollypops!\u201d\nexclaimed Nurse Jane. \u201cWhat for? A shave! A hair cut!\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, you see,\u201d exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, \u201cSpring is nearly here now,\nand, though I let my hair and whiskers grow long in the cold weather, to\nkeep me warm, I don\u2019t need them so long now, as it is getting warmer. So\nI shall go to the barber\u2019s.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy don\u2019t you shave yourself?\u201d asked Nurse Jane.\n\n\u201cI could do that,\u201d the bunny uncle said. \u201cOnly I can\u2019t very well cut my\nown hair. So I might as well have both done by the barber.\u201d\n\nThe old gentleman rabbit, taking his red, white and blue-striped\nbarber-pole rheumatism crutch down off the bathtub, started out through\nthe woods and across the fields for the barber\u2019s.\n\nMr. Longears had not gone very far before he came to the house where\nMother Goose lived. She was up bright and early, shaking out her feather\nbeds; and, seeing the old rabbit gentleman, she asked:\n\n\u201cWhere are you going?\u201d\n\n\u201cTo the monkey-doodle barber\u2019s to get shaved,\u201d replied Uncle Wiggily.\n\n\u201cOh, would you just as soon go to my barber\u2019s?\u201d asked Mother Goose.\n\n\u201cYour barber\u2019s? I didn\u2019t know you had one,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, sort of\nlaughing. \u201cI didn\u2019t know you ladies had your hair cut.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe don\u2019t,\u201d spoke Mother Goose. \u201cBut this barber is one of the friends\nin my story book, you know, and I\u2019d like to give him something to do.\nYou must have heard of him.\n\n                  \u201c\u2018Barber, barber, shave a pig.\n                    How many hairs will make a wig?\n                    Four-and-twenty, that\u2019s enough.\n                    Give the barber a pinch of snuff.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I\u2019ve often heard of him!\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cBut I haven\u2019t a\npinch of snuff to give him, and besides I don\u2019t need a wig.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, well, you don\u2019t have to take a wig,\u201d said Mother Goose. \u201cAs for the\nsnuff, tell him I\u2019ll send little Tommie Tucker down with it later.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnother thing,\u201d spoke Uncle Wiggily. \u201cIf that barber of yours is\nshaving a pig I don\u2019t believe he\u2019ll have time to shave me.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, that will be all right,\u201d said Mother Goose, laughing. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t\nreally shave a pig. I just put \u2018pig\u2019 in to make it rhyme with \u2018wig.\u2019 Hop\nalong now, and get shaved. The barber lives down the lane, with the\nlittle boy who was given the bag of wool from Baa-Baa, the black sheep.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery good,\u201d answered Uncle Wiggily, politely. So along he hopped, to\nthe barber shop, which he soon reached. Out in front was a red, white\nand blue-striped pole, like the rabbit gentleman\u2019s rheumatism crutch,\nand inside the shop was the barber man, a little chap, not much larger\nthan the bunny uncle himself.\n\n\u201cShave? Hair cut? Shampoo? Massage? Manicure?\u201d asked the barber,\nclicking his scissors.\n\n\u201cJust a shave and hair cut,\u201d answered Uncle Wiggily, getting in the\nchair, while the barber tucked an apron under the bunny\u2019s chin.\n\n\u201cFine weather we\u2019re having,\u201d said the barber, as he began to cut Uncle\nWiggily\u2019s hairy fur.\n\n\u201cVery,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cTo-morrow is the first day of Spring, and\nthat\u2019s why I\u2019m getting a hair cut, to be ready for warmer weather.\u201d\n\n\u201cGood!\u201d said the barber. Then, when he had Uncle Wiggily\u2019s hair half\ncut, the barber stopped and began to mix up some soap suds lather in a\ncup.\n\n\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily. \u201cWhy don\u2019t you finish cutting\nmy hair before you shave me?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause my scissors are too dull. They would pull. I\u2019ll send them to\nthe scissors-to-grind man to be sharpened, and, while I\u2019m waiting for\nthem to come back I\u2019ll shave you.\u201d\n\nSo he began to shave the bunny uncle\u2019s whiskers, talking all the while\nabout the weather and what a hard Winter it had been, and how much\ncarrots cost and all of that.\n\nThen, all of a sudden, when Uncle Wiggily was half shaved, there was a\nwhistling sound out in front of the barber shop, and a voice sang:\n\n                   \u201cBarber, barber, shave a pig,\n                    How many hairs will make a wig?\n                    Four-and-twenty, that\u2019s enough.\n                    Give the barber a pinch of snuff!\u201d\n\nInto the shop came little Tommie Tucker. He had a paper package in his\nhand, and he tossed it across the room to the barber, saying:\n\n\u201cHere\u2019s your pinch of snuff. Mother Goose sent me with it. How is Uncle\nWiggily\u2019s shave and hair cut coming off?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is coming off all\u2014aker-choo! Kersnitzio!\nAker-ker-foozilum-goozilum\u2014choo-chee!\u201d sneezed the barber, wiping some\ntears out his eyes.\n\n\u201cOh, my!\u201d laughed Tommie Tucker. \u201cWhat kind of a shave and hair cut is a\nker-choo! Oh-er\u2014Snitzio! Whoo-ee-whoop-gizzium!\u201d and Tommie himself was\nsneezing, too.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s all this?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily. \u201cWhy don\u2019t you finish\nmy\u2014ker-choo! Goo-zoo! Gizzium! Whush! Oh-ker-skee-zicks!\u201d And he sneezed\nso hard that he sneezed himself right out of the barber\u2019s chair into the\nmiddle of the room. Then they were all sneezing, the barber, Uncle\nWiggily and Tommie Tucker. For you see when Tommie tossed the barber the\npaper of snuff Mother Goose had sent the paper burst open and the snuff\nscattered all about the place. All over the shop floated the sneezy\nstuff.\n\n\u201cKer-choo!\u201d sneezed the barber.\n\n\u201cA-ker-choo-choo!\u201d sneezed Tommie.\n\n\u201cA-ker-choo-choo-choo! Toot-toot! All aboard!\u201d and Uncle Wiggily sneezed\nlike a railroad train going through a tunnel.\n\n\u201cOh, I\u2019m so sorry,\u201d said Tommie Tucker. \u201cI should not have been so\ncareless.\u201d But soon all the snuff blew out of the window, the sneezes\nstopped, and the barber finished shaving and hair cutting Uncle Wiggily,\nand that\u2019s the end of this story.\n\nBut if the man beating our carpets doesn\u2019t stop to play marbles with the\nmoth balls, and make the roller-skates feel lonesome for a lollypop,\nI\u2019ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the blackbirds.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XVIII\n\n                    UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BLACKBIRDS\n\n\nUNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the rabbit gentleman, came out of his\nhollow-stump bungalow to take a walk in the woods one day.\n\n\u201cI hope I may meet with an adventure,\u201d he said to himself, as he limped\nalong on his red, white and blue crutch, that Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy,\nthe muskrat lady, had gnawed for him out of a corn-stalk.\n\nAn adventure, you know, as I have told you before, is something that\nhappens to you. If you find a stick of lollypop candy, that\u2019s a nice\nadventure. But, if you lose your penny down a crack in the board walk,\nthat\u2019s an unpleasant adventure; though it may turn out all right in the\nend.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d went on Uncle Wiggily, sort of twinkling his pink nose,\nthoughtful like, \u201cI hope I have a nice adventure, or, perhaps, even a\nfunny one, like sneezing, as, when Tommie Tucker gave the barber the\npinch of snuff.\u201d\n\nThat\u2019s the story I told you last night, if you will kindly remember.\n\nSo Uncle Wiggily hopped along, over the fields and through the woods,\nand pretty soon he came to where Mother Goose lived, not far from his\nown hollow-stump bungalow. Mother Goose was looking up at the sky.\n\n\u201cGood morning! What are you looking for?\u201d asked the bunny uncle. \u201cAre\nyou looking for signs of rain, or snow in the clouds?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, indeed,\u201d laughed Mother Goose. \u201cBut you know this is the first day\nof Spring, and the little birds should begin to sing. I am looking to\nsee if the blackbirds are flying up from down South, where they went to\nspend the Winter. They always come back in the Spring, you know.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cBut I do not see any blackbirds coming,\u201d and\nhe, too, looked up at the sky. It was blue\u2014very blue and pretty\u2014like\nbabies\u2019 eyes. And there were little white clouds in the sky, floating\nalong like fairy ships. But there were no blackbirds to be seen.\n\n\u201cI hope nothing has happened to them,\u201d said Mother Goose, sort of\nanxious like. \u201cThey should be here now.\u201d\n\n\u201cI, too, hope they are all right,\u201d Uncle Wiggily said. \u201cI am going for a\nwalk, and if I see the blackbirds, I will tell them to hurry, as you are\nlooking for them.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll be very glad if you do that,\u201d spoke Mother Goose, and then she had\nto go next door to see if Little Bo Peep had found her lost sheep.\n\nOnce more Uncle Wiggily hopped along. He looked on all sides of him, and\nup in the air, hoping he might see the blackbirds, for then, surely, it\nwould be Spring, and Winter had lasted all too long for the animal folk.\n\nBut no birds could the bunny uncle see. On and on he went, until, after\na while, he came to the palace where lived Old King Cole, the jolly old\nsoul. And, as Mr. Longears was wondering whether or not to go in, and\npay King Cole a visit, he heard some one humming a verse that went like\nthis:\n\n                      \u201cSing a song of sixpence,\n                         A pocket full of rye.\n                       Four-and-twenty blackbirds,\n                         Baked within a pie.\n                       When the pie was opened,\n                         The birds began to sing.\n                       Wasn\u2019t that a dainty dish\n                         To set before the King?\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily stood still. He thought for a moment.\n\n\u201cI wonder,\u201d he said. \u201cI wonder\u2014four-and-twenty\u2014blackbirds? Mother Goose\ndidn\u2019t say how many she was expecting, and these may be the very same\nones. I guess I\u2019ll go in and see about this.\u201d\n\nInto the palace of Old King Cole went the bunny uncle. He knew his way\nabout very well, for he had been there before. From the kitchen came all\nsorts of the most delicious smells, just like a pie baking.\n\n\u201cWhy, hello, Uncle Wiggily!\u201d cried jolly Old King Cole, as he saw the\nbunny uncle hopping along. \u201cCome in and sit down! How are you?\u201d\n\n\u201cFine!\u201d cried the bunny uncle. \u201cVery fine, indeed. And yourself?\u201d he\nasked, politely.\n\n\u201cI never felt better in my life. I am just going to have a bit of lunch.\nWon\u2019t you sit down and help me enjoy it?\u201d asked Old King Cole, also\npolitely. \u201cYou may have some carrots with lettuce sauce on, or a bit of\nboiled lollypops with ice cream cones sprinkled on the top. Anything you\nwish!\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is very good of you,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cBut don\u2019t go to any\ntrouble on my account. I\u2019ll have whatever you are going to have.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen it will be pie!\u201d cried Old King Cole. \u201cI told the cook to have pie\nto-day, and I think it is ready. I\u2019ll ring the bell for it.\u201d\n\n\u201cDing-dong!\u201d rang the bell. In came the cook with a big pie on a dish.\nAnd the cook began to hum:\n\n                      \u201cSing a song of sixpence,\n                         A pocket full of rye.\n                       Four-and-twenty blackbirds,\n                         Baked within a pie.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d cried Old King Cole. \u201cTwenty-four blackbirds baked in my\npie! Why, how did that happen?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt was this way,\u201d said the cook. \u201cYou told me to give you pie to-day.\nWell, I made all ready for it, but, at the last minute, I had nothing to\nput in the pie\u2014no apples, no cherries, no peaches\u2014nothing at all. I did\nnot know what to do, but, all of a sudden, I looked out of the window,\nand I saw two dozen blackbirds flying along. \u2018The very thing!\u2019 said I to\nmyself. \u2018They\u2019ll do for Old King Cole\u2019s pie!\u2019 I asked them if they would\nmind getting in between the upper and lower pie crusts, and they said\nno.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd did they?\u201d asked the king, putting his crown on sideways.\n\n\u201cThey did,\u201d answered the cook. \u201cLook!\u201d and he sang:\n\n                       \u201cWhen the pie was opened,\n                          The birds began to sing.\n                        Wasn\u2019t that a dainty dish\n                          To set before the king?\u201d\n\nThen, taking care not to hurt the feathered singers, the cook cut open\nthe pie. Surely enough, out flew the blackbirds, singing as sweetly as\none could wish. Around and around the palace they flew, singing, and\nUncle Wiggily cried:\n\n\u201cWhy, these must be the blackbirds Mother Goose is looking for! Did you\ncome up from the South to tell us that Spring has come?\u201d he asked them.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d answered the birds, \u201cwe did. But first we wanted to snuggle up in\nthe pie for the king.\u201d\n\n\u201cHa! Well, you did it all right!\u201d laughed Old King Cole. \u201cBut, now, I\ndon\u2019t need you in my pie any longer, so fly away to Mother Goose. Uncle\nWiggily and I will eat cake, instead of pie, to-day, since there is\nnothing between the crusts to chew on.\u201d\n\nSo they ate cake, and the blackbirds, which had only been put in the pie\njust after it came from the oven, flew all about animal land, singing:\n\u201cSpring is here! Spring is here!\u201d\n\nSo the bunny gentleman had his adventure after all, you see, and if the\ncake of soap doesn\u2019t slide over the bathroom floor, and bunk into the\nwash rag, when it is cleaning its teeth, I\u2019ll tell you next about Uncle\nWiggily and the fat man.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XIX\n\n                     UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE FAT MAN\n\n\n\u201cA LETTER for you, Uncle Wiggily,\u201d said Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the\nmuskrat lady housekeeper, as she went to the door of the hollow-stump\nbungalow, when the bird postman gave a whistle, and a tap of his bill,\nto let them know that he had some mail.\n\n\u201cA letter for me! Thats\u2019s nice!\u201d said the bunny uncle. \u201cWhy, it\u2019s an\ninvitation to a party\u2014for you and me,\u201d he went on to Nurse Jane. \u201cIt\u2019s\nfrom Jollie and Jillie Longtail, the mice children. They want us to come\nto their house,\u201d and he read the invitation.\n\n\u201cShall you go?\u201d asked Nurse Jane.\n\n\u201cI shall,\u201d answered Uncle Wiggily. \u201cAnd before I go I must practice that\nnew ice cream cone dance, where you stand on one ear and eat a lollypop.\nYou\u2019ll go, of course, Nurse Jane.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, I don\u2019t know. I need a new dress, and\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cSay no more about it!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily, with a jolly laugh. \u201cHere\nis some money. Go down to the five and ten cent store and buy the finest\ngold and diamond silk dress you can find. I want you to look nice.\u201d\n\nSo Nurse Jane bought the new dress, which had rows and rows of double\nplaited insertion with fried egg tassels down the side, and Uncle\nWiggily practiced dancing for the party the Longtail mice children were\nto have.\n\nAt last the evening for the party came. Off started Uncle Wiggily and\nNurse Jane, talking of the good times they were going to have, when, all\nat once, the bunny gentleman cried:\n\n\u201cOh, dear! I\u2019ve forgotten my dancing shoes! I\u2019ll run back to the\nbungalow after them. You keep on, Nurse Jane, and I\u2019ll soon catch up to\nyou.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily turned back, taking a shortcut to the hollow-stump\nbungalow, where he lived, and he was almost there when, all at once, he\nheard some one crying sadly:\n\n\u201cOh, dear! It\u2019s gone! Oh, what shall I do? I\u2019d go after him if I could,\nbut I can\u2019t. Oh, what trouble I\u2019m in!\u201d\n\n\u201cHa! Trouble!\u201d cried the bunny uncle. \u201cSome one is in trouble! That\u2019s\nwhat I like to hear! I mean I like to hear it because I like to help\npeople out of trouble. I must see who this is.\u201d\n\nHe looked through the bushes and there, sitting on a stump, in the\nmoonlight, Uncle Wiggily saw a very big man, with a turban\u2014a white\ncloth, like a twisted towel\u2014around his head. The man was sort of\nchocolate-colored.\n\n\u201cWell, what is your trouble?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily. \u201cPerhaps I can help\nyou. Who are you?\u201d\n\n\u201cSurely you must have heard of me,\u201d said the big man, puffing out his\nchest. \u201cI am in Mother Goose\u2019s book.\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t seem to remember you,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, sort of thoughtful\nlike, scratching his pink, twinkling nose with his ear. \u201cIf you would\nkindly tell me\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\nThen the troubled one sang:\n\n                  \u201cI am the fat man from Bombay,\n                   I was smoking my pipe one fine day.\n                   When a bird, called a snipe,\n                   Flew away with my pipe.\n                   Which vexed the fat man of Bombay.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, now I remember you,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m glad you do,\u201d spoke the fat man. \u201cSo you see how it is. I\u2019m really\nquite vexed, which means just a little angry, and I\u2019m in trouble, for\nthe snipe bird did fly away with my pipe, and I can\u2019t smoke, and I must\ndo that, or it won\u2019t be the way it is in the Mother Goose book. Do you\nthink you can help me?\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, I\u2019ll try,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cYou just wait here until I run to\nmy hollow-stump bungalow for my dancing slippers, and, when I come back\nI\u2019ll see what I can do.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily hurried on through the woods, found his dancing shoes, and\nwas hurrying back, when, all of a sudden, he slipped and fell head over\nheels with his slippers, and a big sliver was stuck in his paw.\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d cried the bunny uncle. \u201cThat sliver hurts very much! What\nshall I do? Now I am in trouble, for I can\u2019t dance and I can\u2019t help the\nfat man of Bombay. Oh, dear, what can I do?\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily couldn\u2019t hop on with that sliver in his paw, and he\ncouldn\u2019t pull it out, try as he did.\n\n\u201cHelp! Help!\u201d he called, as loudly as he could. \u201cWill no one help me,\nand the fat man of Bombay?\u201d\n\n\u201cHa! Who is that calling?\u201d asked a voice. \u201cAnd who knows about the fat\nman of Bombay?\u201d\n\n\u201cI do,\u201d answered the bunny uncle. \u201cI am calling, and I know the Bombay\nfat man. He is in trouble, too.\u201d\n\nThen through the bushes came flying a bird called a snipe, and in his\nbill he carried a pipe.\n\n\u201cOh, you have it!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cWhy don\u2019t you give it back to\nhim so he won\u2019t be sad and vexed any more? Why don\u2019t you give back the\npipe to the fat man of Bombay?\u201d\n\n\u201cI would, if I could find him,\u201d answered the snipe. \u201cYou see, I only\ntook his pipe in fun. He looked so funny sitting there smoking, that I\nthought I\u2019d play a trick on him. So I flew away with his pipe, that\u2019s\nbecause I\u2019m a snipe. But I\u2019ll give it back to him now. Is there\nsomething the matter with you?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d answered Uncle Wiggily, sadly, \u201cI have run a big wooden splinter\nin my paw, and I can\u2019t get it out, and I want to go to the Longtail\ndance and I can\u2019t\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cOf course you can!\u201d cried the snipe bird, in a jolly voice. \u201cWith my\nsharp bill I can easily pull the splinter out of your paw. Let me get\nhold of it.\u201d\n\nLaying down the fat man\u2019s pipe, the snipe soon pulled the splinter out\nof Uncle Wiggily\u2019s paw.\n\n\u201cNow I can go to the dance!\u201d cried the bunny uncle.\n\n\u201cAnd if you will show me where the fat man of Bombay is, I\u2019ll take him\nback his pipe,\u201d said the snipe.\n\n\u201cThis way!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. He showed the bird where the sad, fat\nman was sitting, and the snipe gave back the pipe.\n\n\u201cOh, how good you are!\u201d cried the fat man, striking a match, but only in\nfun, of course. \u201cNow my troubles are over.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd so are mine\u2014the sliver-trouble!\u201d said the bunny uncle. Then the fat\nman of Bombay, which is in India, smoked his pipe, the snipe flew away\nand Uncle Wiggily and Nurse Jane went on to the dance and had a fine\ntime.\n\nAnd if the top of the stairs doesn\u2019t go sit at the bottom, so the wax\ndoll can\u2019t get up to sleep in the cat\u2019s cradle, I\u2019ll tell you next about\nUncle Wiggily and the tarts.\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER XX\n\n                      UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE TARTS\n\n\n\u201cWHERE are you going, Uncle Wiggily?\u201d asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the\nmuskrat lady, as she saw the rabbit gentleman starting out of the\nhollow-stump bungalow one morning.\n\n\u201cOh, just for a walk, over the fields and through the woods,\u201d he\nanswered. \u201cThis is the Spring of the year, now, you know, since the\nfour-and-twenty blackbirds jumped out of Old King Cole\u2019s pie, and I want\nto see if the grass and flowers have begun to spring up.\u201d\n\n\u201cI think it is a little early for them,\u201d spoke Nurse Jane.\n\n\u201cWell, I\u2019ll go for a walk, anyhow,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily.\n\nSo the bunny uncle hopped on and on, sometimes leaning on his red, white\nand blue-striped barber-pole rheumatism crutch, that Nurse Jane had\ngnawed for him out of a corn-stalk, and again he would carry it under\nhis paw.\n\nPretty soon Uncle Wiggily came to the palace where Old King Cole lived.\nHe was thinking of going inside, and perhaps playing a game of checkers,\nas he used to do with Grandfather Goosey Gander, when, all at once, the\nbunny uncle saw a lady looking at him from the kitchen window.\n\nThe lady had on a silk dress, all spangled over with red hearts, like a\nvalentine. And on her head was a cap, and that had blue hearts on, so\nshe looked very pretty indeed.\n\n\u201cHow do you do?\u201d asked the lady of Uncle Wiggily.\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d he answered. \u201cAnd how are you?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, not well at all,\u201d was the answer, and the lady sighed sadly. \u201cOh,\nthere is so much trouble here!\u201d\n\n\u201cTrouble? Trouble?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily. \u201cWhy, then I came to just the\nright place.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow is that?\u201d asked the lady, sort of surprised like.\n\n\u201cBecause I always try to help trouble, or those who are in it. Let me\nsee now, I don\u2019t believe I have the pleasure of knowing you,\u201d and Uncle\nWiggily sort of made his nose twinkle inquisitive like.\n\n\u201cOh, you must have heard about me,\u201d said the lady, with a smile. \u201cI\u2019m in\nMother Goose\u2019s book, you know. Listen to this:\n\n               \u201c\u2018The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts,\n                   All on a summer\u2019s day.\n                 The Jack of Hearts, he took those tarts,\n                   And with them ran away.\u2019\n\n\u201cI am the Queen of Hearts,\u201d said the lady, bowing politely.\n\n\u201cPleased to meet you,\u201d spoke Uncle Wiggily, also with a low bow. \u201cSo\nthat is the trouble, eh? The Jack of Hearts has taken the tarts away?\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, no, not exactly,\u201d answered the Heart Queen. \u201cYou see, I haven\u2019t\nyet made the tarts. But, when I do, I suppose the Jack will take them,\nand then there\u2019ll be trouble, for Old King Cole specially wants them.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy haven\u2019t you yet made them?\u201d asked the bunny uncle. \u201cIf it says in\nthe Mother Goose book that you must make the tarts, why don\u2019t you make\nthem?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause, in the first place,\u201d answered the Queen of Hearts, sort of\nshivering like, \u201cthis isn\u2019t a Summer day. And, in the second place, I\ndon\u2019t know how to make the tarts\u2014that\u2019s the trouble.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, that is easily mended,\u201d spoke the bunny uncle. \u201cI can\u2019t make a\nSummer day out of a Spring one, but I can show you how to make tarts.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, can you\u2014and will you?\u201d asked the Queen of Hearts, clapping her\nhands in delight.\n\n\u201cI can and will,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, kindly. \u201cI have often watched\nNurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, my muskrat lady bungalow-keeper, make them, so I\nought to know how.\u201d\n\n\u201cTell me,\u201d said the Queen, \u201cand we\u2019ll do it.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou take flour and water and milk and sugar and a yeast cake and spices\nand make a pie crust,\u201d said the bunny uncle. \u201cThen you bake it in the\noven after you have cut it out in little round pieces, some with three\nholes in, and some just plain.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, how lovely that sounds!\u201d cried the Queen, clapping her hands again.\n\u201cI have all the things you need. Let\u2019s make the tarts.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd when the crust is baked in the oven,\u201d went on Mr. Longears, \u201cyou\ntake out two pieces of tarts, put jam in between them, press them\ntogether, and\u2014there you are.\u201d\n\n\u201cLovelier and more lovely!\u201d cried the Queen. \u201cOh, I am so glad you\nhappened to come along. Now we\u2019ll begin.\u201d\n\nSo she and Uncle Wiggily mixed up the sugar and spice, and other things\nnice, making the pie crust, out of which they cut round, flat pieces,\nsome with three holes in, and some plain.\n\n\u201cOh, what lovely tarts they\u2019ll be!\u201d laughed the Queen. \u201cIsn\u2019t it a shame\nthat the Jack of Hearts must take them away?\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, if it\u2019s that way in the Mother Goose book, it can\u2019t be helped,\u201d\nsaid Uncle Wiggily. \u201cBut when he takes these tarts we\u2019ll make some\nmore.\u201d\n\nSo the tarts were made and set aside to cool.\n\n\u201cNow we\u2019ll hide behind the kitchen door,\u201d said the Queen of Hearts, \u201cand\nwatch the Jack as he comes in to get them. I hope he doesn\u2019t take them\nall.\u201d\n\n\u201cMaybe he won\u2019t,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily.\n\nPretty soon, as the bunny gentleman and the Queen of Hearts were hiding,\ninto the kitchen came the Jack of Hearts. He was a funny chap, with\nlittle candy hearts all over his clothes and cap.\n\n\u201cAh, ha!\u201d said the Jack, smacking his lips. \u201cThis is tart day. Here is\nwhere I have a fine feast! I\u2019ll get the tarts of the Queen of Hearts.\u201d\n\nLaughing to himself, the Jack went up to the shelf where the tarts were\ncooling. He lifted one down, and took a big bite from it, saying:\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll taste them before I take them away.\u201d\n\nBut, no sooner had he tasted it than the Jack of Hearts he dropped that\ntart and, all excited like, he cried:\n\n\u201cOh me! Oh my! Oh ice water and lemonade! Oh, how my mouth burns! I\ndon\u2019t want any of those tarts! Oh, no,\u201d and away he ran, not taking one.\n\n\u201cWhy, that\u2019s queer,\u201d said the queen. \u201cHe should have taken those hearts.\nThat\u2019s the way it is in the book.\u201d\n\nThe bunny uncle looked at the tarts he and the Queen had made. He took a\nlittle taste of one, and then Uncle Wiggily said:\n\n\u201cNo wonder the Jack didn\u2019t want them. By mistake we have put red pepper\nin the tarts instead of red raspberry jam! They\u2019re as hot as a stove. Oh\ndear!\u201d\n\n\u201cNever mind,\u201d said the Queen, sweetly. \u201cWe\u2019ll make some more tarts, and\nthis time we\u2019ll do it right and put in the jam. Anyhow I\u2019m glad, for now\nthe Jack won\u2019t want to take the new tarts I make.\u201d And the Jack did not.\nHe had had enough.\n\nSo the tarts were made over again by Uncle Wiggily and the Queen\u2014right,\nthis time, with real jam\u2014and King Cole ate them and said they were fine.\nAnd if the paper boy doesn\u2019t turn into a bottle of ink, and make the\nfountain pen go swimming with the goldfish, I\u2019ll tell you next about\nUncle Wiggily and the jumping cow.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XXI\n\n                   UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE JUMPING COW\n\n\nUNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the nice, old gentleman rabbit, started out from\nhis hollow-stump bungalow one day, to take a walk. He hopped over the\nfields and through the woods, wondering whether or not he might meet\nwith an adventure, when, after a little while, he came to the House that\nJack Built.\n\nAnd there, nicely wrapped up in a bag, the bunny uncle saw the malt that\nlay in the House that Jack Built. Malt, you know, is a sort of flour,\nout of which they make buckwheat cakes.\n\n\u201cMy goodness!\u201d exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, as he scratched his pink,\ntwinkling nose, \u201cI did not think I had come this far.\u201d\n\nHe stood in front of the House that Jack Built, wondering whether or not\nhe ought not go in and say \u201chowdy do,\u201d when he saw coming out of the\nhouse the rat that ate the malt, and the cat that caught the rat, and\nthe dog that worried the cat that caught the rat that ate the malt that\nlay in the House that Jack Built.\n\n\u201cWell, this is very strange,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily to himself. \u201cThey all\nseem to be running away!\u201d And indeed they were. For the cat was chasing\nthe rat and the dog was chasing the cat and the rat was chasing after\nits own shadow, so as to get away from the cat, and then, all of a\nsudden, out came Mother Goose herself.\n\n\u201cOh, have you seen her, Uncle Wiggily?\u201d asked Mother Goose. \u201cI am so\nworried about her!\u201d\n\n\u201cSeen whom? About whom are you worried?\u201d asked the rabbit gentleman,\npolitely.\n\n\u201cThe jumping cow,\u201d answered Mother Goose. \u201cShe\u2019s gone!\u201d\n\n\u201cI guess you mean the cow with the crumpled horn, don\u2019t you?\u201d asked the\nbunny uncle. \u201cShe\u2019s the one, you know, that tossed the dog that worried\nthe cat that caught the rat that ate the malt that lay in the House that\nJack Built.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, I don\u2019t mean that cow,\u201d answered Mother Goose. \u201cI mean the jumping\ncow. She\u2019s the worst cow for jumping you ever saw. She jumps over all\nthe fences and stone walls and when we want her to give some milk for\nLittle Tommie Tucker\u2019s supper she isn\u2019t to be found. I\u2019ve looked\neverywhere for her, but I can\u2019t find her. Oh, dear! Such trouble! I\nthought she might be here, in the House that Jack Built, with the\nCrumpled-Horn Cow. But she isn\u2019t.\u201d\n\n\u201cHa! Just you leave it to me, if you please,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily,\nkindly. \u201cI\u2019ll find the jumping cow for you. I can start off in my\nautomobile, with the bologna sausage tires, that go faster when you\nsprinkle pepper on them or in my clothes-basket airship, with toy circus\nballoons on the handles.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou had better take your airship,\u201d said Mother Goose. \u201cA jumping cow\nwould be found up in the air, I think.\u201d\n\n\u201cI think so myself,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. So he hurried back to the\nhollow-stump bungalow and got out his airship. In that he sailed over\nthe woods and fields, looking for the jumping cow.\n\n\u201cDo, please, ask her to hurry back,\u201d said Mother Goose. \u201cFor she has all\nthe milk for supper, and Tommie Tucker and the Children of the Old Woman\nwho Lives in a Shoe, are so hungry they don\u2019t know what to do.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll get her,\u201d promised Uncle Wiggily.\n\nOn and on he sailed in his airship. But he could not see the jumping\ncow. Up high he sailed and down low, and finally, when he came close to\nthe ground, near the place where Sammie Littletail, the boy rabbit,\nlived with his sister Susie and his father and mother, Uncle Wiggily\nheard Jollie Longtail, the mouse boy, singing a song that went like\nthis:\n\n                \u201cHi-diddle-diddle!\n                  The cat\u2019s in the fiddle!\n                 The cow jumped over the moon,\n                  The little dog laughed\n                 To see so much sport,\n                  And the dish ran away with the spoon.\u201d\n\n\u201cHello, what\u2019s that!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily, bringing his airship to a\nsudden stop and sailing down to earth. \u201cWhat cow is that Jollie, that\njumped over the moon?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, Mother Goose\u2019s cow,\u201d answered the little mouse boy. \u201cYou see, Joie\nKat, the little kitten boy, crawled inside the fiddle, having a game of\ntag with Tommie, his brother. And when Jack Sprat tried to play music on\nthe fiddle it made such a funny noise that the cow, who was waiting for\nLittle Boy Blue to blow his horn, gave a big jump, and away up over the\nmoon she went. That\u2019s the way it was,\u201d said Jollie Longtail.\n\n\u201cI see,\u201d answered Uncle Wiggily. \u201cWell, in that case, I suppose I must\ngo sailing up to the moon to find the jumping cow. She is needed to\nbring home the milk for Little Tommie Tucker\u2019s supper.\u201d\n\nJust then along came Mother Goose once more.\n\n\u201cOh, look!\u201d she cried, pointing her broom up to the sky. \u201cThere\u2019s my\nnice jumping cow now. She\u2019s falling down from her jump over the moon.\nOh, she\u2019ll break her horns, surely. Oh, dear! What shall I do?\u201d\n\n\u201cDo? Do nothing,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, kindly. \u201cI will do it myself. See,\nI have my airship. I\u2019ll sail up and catch the jumping cow before she has\ntime to fall. Then everything will be all right.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, please do!\u201d begged Mother Goose.\n\nUp in his clothes-basket airship went Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit\ngentleman.\n\n                           up.\n                         and\n                       up\n                     and\n                   up\n    The cow was falling\n                   down\n                     and\n                       down\n                         and\n                           down.\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d cried Mother Goose, on the earth below. \u201cThat cow should\nhave known better than to jump over the moon!\u201d\n\n\u201cI think so myself,\u201d said the Man in the Moon. \u201cI tried to stop her, but\nI couldn\u2019t.\u201d\n\n\u201cNever mind,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cIt will be all right, I\u2019m sure.\u201d\n\nThen he steered his airship right under the falling cow, who was no\nlonger jumping. Instead, she was sailing toward the earth, with a piece\nof green cheese on one horn. She really had jumped over the moon, but\nshe slipped, and that\u2019s how the green cheese got on the tip of her horn.\n\n\u201cHere you are!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily, in his jolly voice, just like a\ntrolley car conductor. \u201cPlenty of room up in front.\u201d\n\nThen the jumping cow landed gently in the rabbit gentleman\u2019s airship,\nand he brought her down to earth as lightly as a feather, and the cow\nwas just in time with the milk for Little Tommie Tucker\u2019s supper.\n\nSo this teaches you that Uncle Wiggily can do many things besides eating\ncarrots and having the rheumatism, and if the egg beater doesn\u2019t skip\nout to whip the rag doll\u2019s carpets, to earn five cents for the moving\npictures, I\u2019ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the pussies.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XXII\n\n                     UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE PUSSIES\n\n\nUNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the kind old rabbit gentleman, was hopping along\nin the woods in front of his hollow-stump bungalow one morning, and,\nevery now and then, he would stoop over and look at the ground.\n\n\u201cWhat are you doing, Wiggy, if I may ask?\u201d inquired Nurse Jane Fuzzy\nWuzzy, the muskrat lady, who kept the bungalow nice and neat for the\nbunny uncle.\n\n\u201cYou may ask, and I will tell you,\u201d politely answered Mr. Longears. \u201cI\nam looking to see if any flowers are growing in the woods.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat! Flowers growing this time of year?\u201d cried Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy. \u201cIt\nis much too early!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, it was the first of Spring, the other day!\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI\nshould think the flowers would be waking up now, and putting their heads\nout from beneath the brown earth-blankets, under which they slept all\nwinter.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, no!\u201d laughed Nurse Jane. \u201cFirst we must have some April showers to\nbring May flowers.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, I am going to keep on looking,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI may find a\nflower in the woods, or, if I do not, I\u2019ll have an adventure. Either one\nwould be nice.\u201d\n\nSo away hopped the bunny uncle, leaning on his red, white and blue\nbarber-pole striped rheumatism crutch, which Nurse Jane had nicely\nspeckled with pink candy for him on account of Spring coming.\n\nAnd, all of a sudden, as Mr. Longears went along, he slipped in a little\npuddle of water, and\u2014presto-chango! Off flew his glasses and they were\nbroken all to pieces.\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily, picking up the bits. \u201cThat\u2019s too bad.\nNow I can hardly see to get along. I must take these glasses to the\nblacksmith shop to have them mended. I hope I don\u2019t lose my way, for,\nwithout my glasses, I am almost as blind as a bat or an owl in daylight.\nBut I will do the best I can.\u201d\n\nWith the pieces of his broken glasses in his pocket, Uncle Wiggily went\nalong through the woods. He peered this way and that, for the sun hurt\nhis eyes when he had no glasses, but still he could see a little bit.\nThen, all at once, Uncle Wiggily, looking through the trees, said:\n\n\u201cWhy, here comes Mrs. Wibblewobble, the duck lady, I do declare!\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily made his necktie tidy and smooth, and pulled down his\nvest, for he wanted to look nice. Then he made a low bow and said:\n\n\u201cHow do you do, Mrs. Wibblewobble? I am glad to meet you in the woods.\u201d\n\nBut there was no answer, and Uncle Wiggily said:\n\n\u201cWhy, I wonder if she heard me? I hope Mrs. Wibblewobble isn\u2019t getting\ndeaf! I must speak louder.\u201d\n\nHe looked again where he thought he had seen the duck lady, going a\nlittle nearer, and, lo! it was only a stump that looked like Mrs.\nWibblewobble.\n\n\u201cWell, well!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI can\u2019t see at all well without my\nglasses. What a mistake to make!\u201d\n\nHe laughed and walked on, and, pretty soon he thought he saw Mrs.\nStubtail, the lady bear, mother to Neddie and Beckie Stubtail.\n\n\u201cWhy, how do you\u2014\u2014\u201d began Uncle Wiggily, and then he saw it was only a\nbig black stone on the woodland path.\n\n\u201cHa! Another mistake!\u201d cried the bunny uncle, with a laugh. \u201cI am making\nlots of them to-day. It comes of having such poor eye-sight!\u201d\n\nSo he went on toward the blacksmith shop to have his glasses mended. A\nlittle later he thought a fallen log was Grandfather Goosey Gander, and,\nnot long after that, he saw a pile of dried leaves and thought they were\nUncle Butter, the goat gentleman. He was just going to shake paws with\nthe leaves, when he came closer he saw that he had made another mistake.\n\n\u201cWell, well!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cIt certainly is too bad not to have\nyour glasses once you start wearing them.\u201d\n\nOn he went, a little farther, and he came soon to a place where some\nbushes were growing. Up in the bushes a little way from the ground,\nUncle Wiggily saw some soft, furry, fuzzy things perched on the\nbranches.\n\n\u201cOh, the dear little pussies!\u201d cried the rabbit gentleman. \u201cSome dog\nmust have come along here and chased them up in the bushes. I\u2019ll get\nthem down. Don\u2019t be afraid, little ones,\u201d he said. \u201cI won\u2019t let anybody\nharm you. Come to your Uncle Wiggily!\u201d\n\nThe bunny uncle hopped up and held out his paw to the fuzzy things. They\ndid not speak to him.\n\n\u201cBut that\u2019s all right,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are too frightened even to mew.\nI\u2019ll take them to Mother Goose and she will give them some warm milk.\nCome along, Pussies!\u201d said the rabbit gentleman.\n\nBut, though he went close to the bush, and called very gently, the\npussies did not jump into his paws.\n\n\u201cI guess they are too frightened,\u201d said the bunny uncle. \u201cI\u2019ll just\nbreak off the branch with the pussies on,\u201d thought Mr. Longears, \u201cand\ncarry them home that way. Poor little pussies! Did a bad bow-wow dog\nscare you? Well, just come with your Uncle Wiggily, and it will be all\nright!\u201d\n\nSo the bunny gentleman broke off the branch with the soft, fuzzy pussies\non it, and away he walked through the woods.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll take them to Mother Goose,\u201d he said, \u201cand then I\u2019ll go to the\nblacksmith shop and have my glasses mended.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily soon was at the house of the lady who swept cobwebs out of\nthe sky.\n\n\u201cMother Goose! Mother Goose!\u201d he cried. \u201cI\u2019ve brought you some little\npussies on the branch of a bush. A dog chased and scared them up there,\nand they were afraid to come down. Please get them some warm milk with\ncarrot sauce in.\u201d\n\nMother Goose came running to the door. She looked at the fuzzy things\nUncle Wiggily held out. Then she laughed.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s the matter?\u201d asked the bunny uncle. \u201cWhy don\u2019t you take care of\nthe poor pussies?\u201d\n\n\u201cPussies? Pussies?\u201d laughed dear old Mother Goose, harder than before.\n\u201cThose are pussy willows.\u201d\n\n\u201cPussy willows\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, surprised like.\n\n\u201cYes, they are the soft, fuzzy blossoms of the willow bush. They are\nplants and not an animal at all.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, well!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cThat shows what it is to be without\nglasses. I certainly thought they were real pussies. I must hurry to the\nblacksmith\u2019s to have my glasses fixed.\u201d\n\nSo he did, and his glasses were soon mended; while Mother Goose put the\npussy willows in water where they would blossom out into big cat-posies.\n\nAnd if the stepladder doesn\u2019t walk off with the cake of soap and have a\nbirthday party for the broom and dust pan on the back stoop, I\u2019ll tell\nyou next about Uncle Wiggily and the leaves.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XXIII\n\n                      UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE LEAVES\n\n\nUNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the rabbit gentleman, stood out in front of his\nhollow-stump bungalow in the woods, one day, and looked carefully\naround. Then he glanced up at the blue sky.\n\n\u201cWhat is the matter?\u201d asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady\nbungalow-keeper. \u201cAre you looking for some one?\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, no, not exactly,\u201d replied the bunny uncle, slowly. \u201cI was just\nthinking that perhaps I had better begin to do some Spring cleaning\naround my bungalow.\u201d\n\n\u201cSpring cleaning! Do you mean inside or outside?\u201d asked the muskrat\nlady, as she carefully wiped a bit of flour off the end of her nose with\nher tail, for she had been baking a cake.\n\n\u201cOh, I mean outside, of course,\u201d replied Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI\u2019ll leave you\nto look after the bungalow, inside, while I clean up outside. You see\nthere are so many last year\u2019s dried leaves about, here in the woods,\nthat if they were to catch fire our bungalow might burn.\u201d\n\n\u201cMercy!\u201d cried Nurse Jane. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t want that to happen. Oh, my!\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, indeed,\u201d Uncle Wiggily said. \u201cOnce was enough. The last time we had\na fire you and I had to board around with our friends. Still, it was not\nso bad as it might have been, for I met Mother Goose, and did some\nfavors for her and her friends.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat were you thinking of doing to the leaves?\u201d asked Nurse Jane,\ncurious like and inquisitive.\n\n\u201cWhy, I thought I\u2019d rake them up in a pile and make a soft place, so if\nSammie and Susie Littletail, the rabbit children, came along on their\nway home from school, they could jump on the leaves as they sometimes do\nin the hay.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery good,\u201d Nurse Jane said. \u201cYou rake up the leaves and I\u2019ll wash the\ndishes.\u201d\n\nSo Uncle Wiggily began. For a rake he used the dried branch from a tree.\nIt had many little ends to it, almost like the teeth of a rake, that\nbranch had.\n\n\u201cI wonder if a rake ever gets the toothache?\u201d thought Uncle Wiggily, as\nhe pulled and poked the leaves into piles. \u201cIf it does, it must hurt\nvery much because there are so many teeth.\u201d\n\nBut the bunny uncle did not have a real rake, only a tree branch, which\nhe used as one, and that had no teeth to ache, I\u2019m glad to say.\n\n\u201cIt will be good to get the layers of dead, dried leaves off the\nground,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, \u201cfor soon the April showers will bring the\nMay flowers, and they find it easier to spring up if there is no blanket\nof leaves over them to hold them down.\u201d\n\nThe bunny uncle soon had many piles of soft, dried leaves, and in a\nlittle while along came Sammie and Susie Littletail, the rabbit\nchildren, and into the leaves they jumped, off a stump, bouncing up and\ndown like rubber balls.\n\nPretty soon Uncle Wiggily heard a voice saying:\n\n\u201cOh, dear, isn\u2019t it too bad? Yes, it\u2019s even three, four, five, six,\nseven bad! That\u2019s what it is!\u201d\n\n\u201cHa! Some one in trouble!\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, dropping his tree-branch\nrake and running back to the pile of leaves. \u201cI suppose either Sammie or\nSusie has fallen down, and bumped one of their noses. I must help them\nup!\u201d\n\nBut when Uncle Wiggily got there the cupboard was bare\u2014oh, no, excuse\nme, if you please. That\u2019s in another story. I mean when the bunny uncle\nreached the pile of leaves where Sammie and Susie had been playing\nneither one of the rabbit children was in sight.\n\n\u201cOh, my!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cThey must be all covered up with the\nleaves! I\u2019ll have to dig them out! No wonder it\u2019s two, six, seven bad!\nPoor rabbits under the leaves.\u201d\n\nWith his paws he began digging at the piles of leaves, scattering them\nall over, after his hard work of raking them up. But as he went deeper\nand deeper he could see no signs of the bunny children. And then, from\nsomewhere behind him, Uncle Wiggily heard the sad voice again saying:\n\n\u201cOh, dear! It\u2019s too bad! Yes, it\u2019s two, three and even sixteen-eleven\nbad. Oh, dear!\u201d\n\nTurning quickly, Uncle Wiggily saw Jimmie Wibblewobble, the boy duck,\nwith an empty bag over his wing shoulder.\n\n\u201cWhy, Jimmie! Is that you?\u201d asked the bunny uncle, in surprise. \u201cI\nthought it was Sammie and Susie Littletail. They were playing in these\ndried leaves a while ago, but now I can\u2019t find them, and I fear they may\nbe covered up so far down that I can never get them out.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, don\u2019t worry about that, Uncle Wiggily,\u201d said Jimmie, the boy duck.\n\u201cSammie and Susie are all right. I met them running down a woodland path\na little while ago, as I came along, and they were talking of what fun\nthey had had in the leaves. They got tired and ran away when you weren\u2019t\nlooking. That\u2019s why you can\u2019t find them under the leaves. But, oh, dear!\nTwo, sixteen-eleven bad!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, what\u2019s the matter with _you_?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily, kindly. \u201cAre\n_you_ in trouble, Jimmie?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am, Uncle Wiggily.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat kind of trouble, Jimmie, my duck boy?\u201d\n\n\u201cFeather-trouble,\u201d answered the Wibblewobble chap.\n\n\u201cFeather-trouble?\u201d repeated Uncle Wiggily, sort of surprised like and\nastonished. \u201cFeather-trouble?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes. You see my mother sent me with a bag of our best duck feathers for\nMother Goose to make a feather bed from. Well, all at once, some strong\nMarch wind came dancing by, turned the bag inside out and blew away\nevery feather! And, what to do I don\u2019t know, for there are no more\nfeathers at our coop. And if Mother Goose doesn\u2019t have feathers for her\nbed she will feel badly. Oh, dear! Such trouble!\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily thought for a moment. Then he said:\n\n\u201cHo, Jimmie! I see a way out of your trouble. Fill your bag with some of\nthese soft, dried leaves. They will be nearly as good as feathers for\nMother Goose, and, at the same time, you will be doing me a favor by\ntaking away the leaves, so the flowers can grow.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, fine!\u201d cried Jimmie. So he took a big bag of the leaves, which\nMother Goose said were as good to sleep on as feathers, and thus\neverything came out just right, you see, and Sammie and Susie weren\u2019t\nlost under the leaves after all, for which Uncle Wiggily was very glad.\n\nAnd if the fried egg doesn\u2019t try to hide in the apple dumpling and make\nthe peach stone jump over the shortcake, when we have company for\nsupper, I\u2019ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the wise man.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XXIV\n\n                     UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE WISE MAN\n\n\n\u201cRAT-A-TAT-TAT!\u201d came a knock on the door of the hollow-stump bungalow,\nwhere Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit gentleman, lived.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll see who it is,\u201d he called to Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy and the\nmuskrat lady housekeeper was glad of that, for her paws were in the\ndishwater up to her elbows, and you know how it is yourself; you don\u2019t\nlike to answer the bell with your hands all soap bubbles, like a pipe.\n\nSo Uncle Wiggily went to the door, and, standing there, he saw Nannie\nWagtail, the little goat girl. And there were tears in Nannie\u2019s eyes,\nand she was trying to wipe them away with the tips of her horns. But\nwhen she did this she only tickled herself and she had to laugh.\n\nBut she didn\u2019t want to laugh; she wanted to cry, for she was sad. And\nyou know how it is yourself\u2014you can\u2019t laugh and cry at the same time;\ncan you?\n\n\u201cWhy, Nannie! What is the matter?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily, kindly. \u201cCome in\nand tell me all your troubles!\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, dear! Boo hoo! Hoo boo! I have lots of troubles!\u201d said the little\ngoat girl. \u201cMy best doll, Priscilla Spicecake Orangejuice, is gone.\u201d\n\n\u201cGone!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily.\n\n\u201cTaken!\u201d exclaimed Nannie. \u201cI was out in front of our house a while ago\nplaying dolls with Beckie Stubtail, the little girl bear. Beckie had her\ndoll, Esmeralda Pancake Eggturner, with her, and we were having a lovely\ntime.\n\n\u201cBut I laid my doll down to go in the house to get some cookies, and\nwhen I came out my doll was gone, and Beckie was crying.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, what happened?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily, surprised like.\n\n\u201cBeckie said a man came running along, grabbed up my doll, and before\nshe could stop him he hurried off into the woods with my dear Priscilla\nSpicecake Orangejuice!\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, that\u2019s too bad!\u201d said the bunny uncle. \u201cNow don\u2019t you cry any more.\nYou just tell me what sort of a man he was who took your doll and I\u2019ll\ngo after him and make him give it back, even if I have to get the circus\nelephant to squirt water on him from the lemonade barrel. Tell me what\nsort of a man he was.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe was a man who wore glasses,\u201d said Nannie.\n\n\u201cSay no more!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI think I know exactly who he is!\nI\u2019ll go after him at once.\u201d\n\nSo the bunny uncle, telling Nurse Jane not to wait lunch for him,\nstarted off over the fields and through the woods to look for Nannie\u2019s\ndoll. On the way he met Mother Goose, and he asked that old lady:\n\n\u201cAre any of your friends the kind of a man who wears glasses, and would\ntake a little goat girl\u2019s doll?\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, yes,\u201d said Mother Goose, slowly, \u201cthe Wise Man might. You see he\nspoiled his eyes, reading so much to make him wise, that he has to wear\nglasses. But he is really very kind. I think he only took Nannie\u2019s doll\nfor a joke, or perhaps he wants to get her another just like it and took\nthat along for a sample.\u201d\n\n\u201cPerhaps,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily. \u201cBut, anyhow, I\u2019ll find him and ask him\nabout it.\u201d\n\nSo he walked and hopped on and on through the woods to where the Wise\nMan used to live, and pretty soon, from behind a big bush, the bunny\nuncle heard some one singing this song:\n\n                   \u201cThere was a man in our town,\n                      And he was wondrous wise.\n                    He jumped into a berry bush,\n                      And scratched out both his eyes.\n                    But when he saw his eyes were out,\n                      With all his might and main,\n                    He jumped into another bush\n                      And scratched them in again.\u201d\n\n\u201cHa!\u201d said Uncle Wiggily softly. \u201cI thought so! The wise man! I have\nfound him! Now to see if he has Nannie\u2019s doll!\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily peeked through the bush, which was a blackberry one, only\nthere were no berries on it now. On the other side, sitting on the\nground, was the Wise Man, wearing glasses, and he had Nannie\u2019s doll in\nhis hands. He was talking to the doll, something like this:\n\n\u201cNow, little doll, don\u2019t be afraid. I won\u2019t hurt you. I\u2019m just going to\ntoss you into the berry bush, and scratch out both your eyes. But that\nwon\u2019t hurt, for as soon as I see your eyes are out, with all my might\nand main, I\u2019ll toss you in another bush and scratch them in again. There\nyou go!\u201d\n\nBefore Uncle Wiggily could stop him, the Wise Man had tossed Nannie\u2019s\ndoll, Priscilla Spicecake Orangejuice, into the berry bush. Then the man\ncried:\n\n\u201cYes, your eyes are scratched out, all right, dollie! Now to scratch\nthem in again!\u201d And, before Uncle Wiggily could hop any closer to stop\nhim, the Wise Man tossed again into the bush, the poor doll. And when\nshe fell down the Wise Man carefully picked her up, and, looking at her,\nsaid:\n\n\u201cAlas! Alack a-day! Woe is me! The eyes aren\u2019t scratched in again at\nall! Oh, dear, what shall I do? I\u2019ll have to get the little goat girl\nanother doll.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily jumped out from behind the berry bush.\n\n\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d asked the bunny uncle. \u201cWhy do you treat a poor doll\nso? Look, her hair has come off, and her eyes have fallen out! Oh, my!\u201d\nand from the ground he picked up the doll\u2019s hair-wig and eyes, which\nwere of glass, fastened together with wire.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d said the Wise Man. \u201cI\u2019m very sorry this has happened. But I\nread about the Wise Man in the Mother Goose book, who jumped into a\nberry bush and got a new pair of eyes. I thought I could do the same as\nhe, for I\u2019m tired of glasses.\n\n\u201cBut I thought I\u2019d try it on a doll first, to see if it were true. So,\nnot having any doll of my own I took Nannie\u2019s, meaning no harm. But see\nwhat I have done!\u201d he said, sadly. \u201cI have scratched out her eyes and\nher wig is off, and I can\u2019t put the eyes back again, nor yet the wig.\nIt\u2019s a good thing I didn\u2019t jump into the scratchy bush myself. It is\nbetter to wear glasses than have no eyes at all.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, indeed,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, and he felt sorry for the poor Wise\nMan. \u201cBut never mind,\u201d went on the bunny uncle. \u201cI know a monkey-doodle\ngentleman, who mends broken dolls. I\u2019ll take Priscilla Spicecake\nOrangejuice to him, and he can fasten her eyes in again and glue on her\nwig.\u201d\n\n\u201cWill you? Then please do!\u201d said the Wise Man. \u201cI\u2019ll pay the\nmonkey-doodle, and here is five cents extra for little Nannie. Tell her\nI\u2019m sorry I borrowed her doll and I\u2019ll never do it again.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right,\u201d cheerfully said Uncle Wiggily, \u201cand don\u2019t you try to\nscratch your eyes out, and in again.\u201d\n\n\u201cI won\u2019t,\u201d promised the Wise Man. \u201cGlasses are good enough for me.\u201d\n\nThe monkey-doodle gentleman soon fixed Nannie\u2019s doll as good as ever, so\nthe eyes opened and shut, and the little goat girl was happy once more,\nwhen Uncle Wiggily brought back Priscilla Spicecake Orangejuice. Thus,\nyou see, everything came out all right, as I generally try to make it.\n\nAnd if the crazy quilt doesn\u2019t jump into the rag bag and get lost so the\npillow case has no place to sleep, when it comes home from the moving\npictures, I\u2019ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the tailors.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XXV\n\n                     UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE TAILORS\n\n\n\u201cWELL, where are you going this morning, Uncle Wiggily?\u201d asked Nurse\nJane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady, of the rabbit gentleman, as he\nlifted his red, white and blue-striped rheumatism crutch down off the\nhat rack, and opened the front door.\n\n\u201cOh, I\u2019m just going out for a hop through the woods,\u201d replied the bunny\nuncle. \u201cMother Goose said that Grandfather Goosey Gander was coming to\npay her a visit to-day, and, as I haven\u2019t seen him in some time, I\nthought I\u2019d go over myself and have a little talk.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d went on Nurse Jane, \u201cand on your way back I wish you would\nbring me a spool of thread.\u201d\n\n\u201cA spool of thread? Why, certainly,\u201d promised Uncle Wiggily, and off he\nhopped through the woods until he came to where Mother Goose lived. Her\nhouse was next door to the shoe, in which lived the Old Woman Who Had So\nMany Children She Didn\u2019t Know What To Do.\n\n\u201cGood morning, Mother Goose,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, politely. \u201cI hope I\nsee you well. Has Grandpa Goosey Gander come yet?\u201d\n\n\u201cNot yet. I am expecting him every minute. Sit down and make yourself at\nhome,\u201d and Mother Goose dusted a chair.\n\nUncle Wiggily sat down, and he and Mother Goose were talking about the\nbest way to give the most bread and jam to animal children, when along\ncame Grandpa Goosey.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m sorry I\u2019m late,\u201d he said, all sort of flustered like, \u201cbut I lost a\nbutton off my coat. I stopped in a tailor\u2019s to have it sewed on, but,\nwould you believe me? There isn\u2019t a tailor to be found in Woodland\u2014not\none in this whole forest!\u201d\n\n\u201cNonsense!\u201d cried Mother Goose. \u201cWhy, there are four-and-twenty tailors\nhere\u2014just as many as there were blackbirds baked in the pie that was set\nbefore the king. No tailors to be found out of all those\nfour-and-twenty? Nonsense! There must be!\u201d and she swept cobwebs down\nout of the sky just for fun.\n\n\u201cNot a tailor!\u201d said Grandpa Goosey. \u201cI looked all over for one. Their\nshops were open, but the tailors were gone, and so I had to come without\na button on my coat.\u201d\n\n\u201cNever mind,\u201d said Mother Goose. \u201cI\u2019ll sew it on for you,\u201d and she did.\n\n\u201cThat reminds me,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, after they had talked a bit.\n\u201cSpeaking of tailors, I\u2019m to bring Nurse Jane a spool of thread. I think\nI\u2019ll be hopping along. If I can\u2019t find any tailor in his shop, where I\ncan buy the thread, I\u2019ll have to go to the five and ten cent store.\u201d\n\nSo he said good-by to Mother Goose and Grandpa Gander, and away hopped\nthe bunny uncle gentleman over the fields and through the woods.\n\n\u201cI wonder if I could find those four-and-twenty tailors?\u201d thought Uncle\nWiggily. \u201cFour-and-twenty\u2014that\u2019s just two dozen\u2014quite a number. I wonder\nwhy they all left their shops? I wonder\u2014\u2014?\u201d\n\nAnd just then from behind some bushes he heard some voices saying:\n\n\u201cYou go up and jab her!\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, you do it!\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m afraid!\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, so am I. Hi there, who has a yardstick? Let whoever has a\nyardstick go up and jab her!\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd let some one tickle her with a needle.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou do it!\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, you. I\u2019m afraid.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, so am I! Boo!\u201d\n\n\u201cGoodness me gracious sakes alive and some hooks and eyes!\u201d cried Uncle\nWiggily. \u201cWhat does all this mean? Who\u2019s afraid?\u201d He peeked through the\nbushes and there he saw, on the woodland path, a lot of men with\nneedles, pins, spools of thread, tape measures, yardsticks, thimbles,\nscissors, linings, pockets, buttonholes and all things like that.\n\n\u201cWho are you?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily, in surprise.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll tell you who we are,\u201d answered one of the twenty-four, (for there\nwere just two dozen of them) as the rabbit gentleman could count. Then\nsome one sang this song:\n\n         \u201cWe four-and-twenty tailors went to catch a snail,\n          The best man among us dared not touch her tail;\n          She put out her horns like a little Kylow cow,\n          So run, tailors! Run! Or she\u2019ll bite us all just now!\u201d\n\nAnd as the tailor said that he turned and ran through the woods as fast\nas ever he could run, all the other twenty-three running after him.\n\n\u201cOh, my! Oh, me! Oh, dear! This is too funny!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily.\n\u201cFour-and-twenty tailors afraid of a snail, even if she did put out her\nhorns like a Kylow cow. I say, tailors! Come back! Come back!\u201d cried\nUncle Wiggily. \u201cMother Goose is worried about you. Come back!\u201d\n\n\u201cWe\u2019re afraid of the snail!\u201d said one, who had sung the song.\n\n\u201cNonsense!\u201d laughed Uncle Wiggily. \u201cShe wouldn\u2019t hurt a lightning bug!\nCome here, I\u2019ll show you how to make her pull in her horns!\u201d\n\nSlowly and carefully the four-and-twenty tailors came back on their\ntippy-tiptoes.\n\n\u201cWhat did you want to catch a snail for, anyhow?\u201d asked the bunny uncle.\n\n\u201cMake her put in her horns so she won\u2019t look so much like a cow and\nscare us, and we\u2019ll tell you,\u201d said the singing tailor.\n\nUncle Wiggily laughed and suddenly cried:\n\n                    \u201cSnail, snail, pull in your horn,\n                       Here\u2019s Jimmie, the duck boy,\n                     Looking for corn!\u201d\n\nThen the snail quickly pulled in her horns and crawled away and she\ndidn\u2019t hurt the tailors any, and they didn\u2019t tickle her with a needle,\nthimble or even a spool of hooks and eyes.\n\n\u201cWe just wanted to see if we could catch a snail,\u201d said the singing\ntailor. \u201cWe didn\u2019t mean to hurt her, but it says in Mother Goose\u2019s book\nthat four-and-twenty tailors went out to catch a snail, and, as we were\nnot very busy this morning, we went out. But, oh! how fierce she did\nlook with her horns! I\u2019m not going snail-hunting any more.\u201d\n\n\u201cNor I,\u201d cried the other twenty-three tailors in a chorus. Then they\nthanked Uncle Wiggily for having driven the snail away, as he did, by\nmaking believe Jimmie Wibblewobble, the duck boy, was coming after her\n(since ducks like snails very much). And the tailors each gave Uncle\nWiggily a spool of thread, so Nurse Jane had all she wanted, and Grandpa\nGoosey\u2019s button was sewed on.\n\nAnd if the basket of soap bubbles doesn\u2019t fall down-stairs and spill ink\non the white table cloth just as it is going to the dance, I\u2019ll tell you\nnext about Uncle Wiggily and the bat.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XXVI\n\n                       UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BAT\n\n\nUNCLE WIGGILY LONGEARS, the nice little boy bear\u2014Oh, please be so kind\nas to excuse me, as the telephone girl says when she rings the dinner\nbell at supper time. I mean Uncle Wiggily Longears, the nice old rabbit\ngentleman, put on his red, white and blue-striped rheumatism tall silk\nhat and\u2014\u2014\n\nEh? What\u2019s that? Something else wrong? Oh, yes; to be sure. I meant to\nsay he took his red, white and blue-striped rheumatism crutch, and put\nhis tall silk hat on over his ears, and then he started out of his\nhollow-stump bungalow for a walk.\n\nI don\u2019t know what\u2019s the matter with me in this story\u2014making so many\nmistakes\u2014unless it was that I danced the fox-trot backward the other\nnight, and it turned out to be a goose-walk. Anyhow, I\u2019ll try to be more\ncareful after this.\n\nOut stepped Uncle Wiggily, starting off toward the woods, but he had not\ngone very far before Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady, called to\nhim.\n\n\u201cWhere are you going, Uncle Wiggily? Don\u2019t you know that it is after\nsupper, and will soon be dark? Then why do you go to the woods?\u201d\n\n\u201cI want an adventure,\u201d answered the bunny uncle. \u201cI haven\u2019t had one\nto-day. And, as for the dark, the moon will soon be up, and give me good\nlight. Have no fear, Nurse Jane, I will soon be back safely.\u201d\n\nSo Nurse Jane had no fear and Uncle Wiggily hopped on and on, over the\nfields and through the woods. All of a sudden he passed the house where\nSusie Littletail, the little rabbit girl, lived.\n\n\u201cOh, Uncle Wiggily,\u201d called Mrs. Littletail, the bunny mother. \u201cIf you\nsee Susie, will you please tell her to come home at once? Her supper is\nquite cold, though I will warm up the carrot gravy for her.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll tell her,\u201d promised the bunny uncle. \u201cWhere is she?\u201d\n\n\u201cShe went over to play with Lulu and Alice Wibblewobble, the two duck\ngirls,\u201d was the answer, \u201cand she must be having a fine time, for she\u2019s\nbeen there ever so long.\u201d\n\n\u201cI wonder what sort of an adventure I shall have this evening,\u201d thought\nthe bunny uncle. \u201cYesterday I drove away the snail that was scaring the\nfour-and-twenty tailors, but no tailors would be out now, after dark.\nHowever, the moon will soon be up, and then I will have light enough to\nsee an adventure if one happens along.\u201d\n\nGoing a little farther, Uncle Wiggily came to where Lulu and Alice\nWibblewobble, the duck girls, lived in a nice pen, with their father and\nmother and their brother Jimmie.\n\n\u201cIs Susie Littletail in there?\u201d asked Uncle Wiggily, looking over the\nfence. \u201cHer mother said she came over here to play, but hasn\u2019t come home\nyet. Is she there?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, Uncle Wiggily,\u201d answered Lulu, wagging her tail wobbily like.\n\u201cSusie left here some time ago. She said she was going to run home to\nsupper.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s queer I didn\u2019t meet her,\u201d said the bunny uncle. \u201cBut, perhaps, she\nmight have gone home by another path. I daresay she is all right. I\u2019ll\nwalk along a little farther, and then if I don\u2019t see her I\u2019ll go back.\u201d\n\nWell, Uncle Wiggily was going on and on, when, all at once from behind\nan old stump, he heard a sad little voice crying, and saying:\n\n\u201cOh, dear! Oh, dear! I\u2019m afraid to go home, and I\u2019m afraid to stay here.\nI don\u2019t know what to do!\u201d\n\n\u201cMy! That sounds like trouble of the very worst kind!\u201d spoke Uncle\nWiggily, in his jolly voice. \u201cI must see who it is, and if I can help\nthem.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily started for the stump, and then he happened to think:\n\n\u201cAh, perhaps that might be the skillery-scalery alligator with the humps\non his tail, making believe to be in trouble just to get me near enough\nso he can catch me. I had better be careful.\u201d\n\nSo Uncle Wiggily carefully peeked around the corner before going any\ncloser to the stump, and there, sitting down on a stone behind it in the\nmoonlight, was Susie Littletail, the rabbit girl, herself.\n\n\u201cWhy, Susie!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily. \u201cWhat are you doing here? Your mother\nis looking for you, and so am I. Why don\u2019t you go home?\u201d\n\n\u201c\u2019Cause I\u2019m afraid, Uncle Wiggily,\u201d and Susie cried a few tears.\n\n\u201cWhat are you afraid of?\u201d asked the bunny uncle. \u201cSurely not the dark.\nThat can\u2019t hurt you, and besides it will soon be moonlight.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, I\u2019m not afraid of the dark, Uncle Wiggily,\u201d said Susie, \u201cbut I\u2019m\nafraid of the bat.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe bat?\u201d cried the bunny uncle, astonished like.\n\n\u201cYes; he\u2019s a big bird with wings, but he has ears and looks like a rat.\nI\u2019m afraid he\u2019ll get tangled in my fur, or else that he\u2019ll bite me. Oh,\nthere he is now!\u201d and Susie pointed to something black, like a bird,\nflying to and fro in the darkness.\n\n\u201cYes, that is a bat,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily, \u201cbut it will not hurt you. It\nis only flying around to catch mosquitoes and other bugs that come out\nmostly at night. A bat, like an owl, can see in the dark. He won\u2019t hurt\nyou.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, but I\u2019m afraid,\u201d said Susie. \u201cI started from the Wibblewobble house\na long time ago, to go home, but I saw the bat flying around and I hid.\nI dassen\u2019t go home.\u201d\n\n\u201cNonsense!\u201d laughed Uncle Wiggily. \u201cI\u2019ll fix it for you. I\u2019ll play a\nlittle joke on the bat and get him out of the way until I can lead you\nhome.\u201d\n\nSo Uncle Wiggily recited this little verse from Mother Goose:\n\n                 \u201cBat, bat! Come under my hat,\n                    And I\u2019ll give you a slice of bacon.\n                  And when I bake,\n                  I\u2019ll give you a cake.\n                    If I am not mistaken.\u201d\n\nUncle Wiggily put his tall silk hat on the ground, and, surely enough,\nthe bat crawled under it to see if there were any bacon there. And,\nbefore he could come out Uncle Wiggily hurried home with Susie, who\nwasn\u2019t afraid any more, not with the bunny uncle to hold her paw.\n\nThen Uncle Wiggily, not being mistaken, got a cake from Nurse Jane and\ntook it back to the bat, also getting his tall silk hat. And the bat was\nvery much obliged, for the cake, and he said he never would have tangled\nhimself in Susie\u2019s fur anyhow, so she need not have been afraid.\n\n\u201cBut I\u2019m glad she\u2019s safely home,\u201d said the bat.\n\n\u201cSo am I,\u201d said Uncle Wiggily.\n\nAnd I guess Susie was also.\n\nBut if the button-hook doesn\u2019t get tangled up in the dog\u2019s tail, and\nride out to where the shoe-horn is playing tunes for the rubber heels to\ndance the lame duck, I\u2019ll tell you next\u2014\u2014\n\nOh, but hold on, if you please. I\u2019m not going to tell you any more\nstories in this book, for it is already quite well filled, as you can\nsee for yourself. So if I write any more tales they will have to go in\nanother big volume like this.\n\nThat\u2019s what I\u2019ll do, if you like, and the next book will be called,\n\u201cUncle Wiggily and His Friends,\u201d and will tell of the different things\nthat happened to the bunny uncle when he went calling on all the animal\nfolk that live in Woodland. So, while I am getting that book ready, I\nwill say good-bye.\n\n\n                                THE END\n\n\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n                            CHILDREN\u2019S BOOKS\n                           By HOWARD R. GARIS\n\n                                -------\n\n                            BEDTIME STORIES\n\n                                -------\n\n       CLOTH, FINELY DECORATED COVER, EIGHT COLORED ILLUSTRATIONS\n                 _Price, per volume 75 cents, postpaid_\n\n                                -------\n\n         Each book contains a story for every day in the month\n\n    SAMMIE AND SUSIE LITTLETAIL\n      31 Rabbit Stories\n\n    JOHNNIE AND BILLIE BUSHYTAIL\n      31 Squirrel Stories\n\n    LULU, ALICE AND JIMMIE WIBBLEWOBBLE\n      31 Duck Stories\n\n    UNCLE WIGGILY\u2019S ADVENTURES\n      31 Old Gentleman Rabbit Stories\n\n    JACKIE AND PEETIE BOW WOW\n      31 Doggie Stories\n\n    UNCLE WIGGILY\u2019S TRAVELS\n      31 more Old Gentleman Rabbit Stories\n\n    BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES PIGG\n      31 Guinea Pig Stories\n\n    UNCLE WIGGILY\u2019S FORTUNE\n     31 queer Old Gentleman Rabbit Stories\n\n    JOIE, TOMMIE AND KITTIE KAT\n      31 Kitten Stories\n\n    CHARLIE AND ARABELLA CHICK\n      31 Chicken Stories\n\n    UNCLE WIGGILY\u2019S AUTOMOBILE\n      31 surprising Old Gentleman Rabbit Stories\n\n    NEDDIE AND BECKIE STUBTAIL\n      31 Nice Bear Stories\n\n    BULLY AND BAWLY NO-TAIL\n      31 Frog Stories\n\n    UNCLE WIGGILY AT THE SEASHORE\n      31 different Old Gentleman Rabbit Stories\n\n    NANNIE AND BILLIE WAGTAIL\n      31 Goat Stories\n\n                                -------\n\n                             SOMETHING NEW\n\n                                -------\n\n                            THE DADDY SERIES\n Colored cover and frontispiece, and three drawings in black and white\n                 _Price 40 cents per volume, postpaid_\n            Fun, adventure, amusement, with some nature and\n                 out-door instruction for Little Folk.\n\n                                -------\n\n                     DADDY TAKES US CAMPING\n                     DADDY TAKES US FISHING\n                     DADDY TAKES US TO THE CIRCUS\n                     DADDY TAKES US SKATING\n                     DADDY TAKES US COASTING\n                     (_Other books in preparation_)\n\n     All about a little boy and a little girl and their dear Daddy.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n                       JACKIE AND PEETIE BOW WOW\n\n\u201cCome on, Jackie!\u201d called Peetie Bow Wow, the boy doggie, one morning.\n\u201cCome on!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere are you going?\u201d asked Jackie of Peetie.\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s run off and join the circus,\u201d suggested Peetie, as he tried to\nstand up on the end of his tail and turn a somersault. \u201cWe can earn a\nlot of money.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow?\u201d asked Jackie, scratching his nose with his ear.\n\n\u201cWhy, we can make money by doing tricks in the circus,\u201d went on Peetie.\n\u201cWe can jump over the backs of elephants, climb up to the top of the\ntent, and do lots of things like that. A circus is fun!\u201d\n\nYou have read how Daddy Blake took Hal and Mab to the circus, and you\nwill like to read about Jackie and Peetie. They are in a book called\n\u201cBedtime Stories: Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow,\u201d by Howard R. Garis, who\nalso wrote the Daddy books.\n\nSend to R. F. Fenno & Company, 18 East 17th Street, New York City, and\nthey will mail the book on receipt of price, if you can not get it in\nyour book store. The book has colored pictures.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n                        UNCLE WIGGILY\u2019S FORTUNE\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d cried Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit gentleman, as he\ngot to the top of a big hill and looked down. \u201cOh, dear!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, what has happened?\u201d asked Sammie Littletail, the boy rabbit,\nhopping up.\n\n\u201cWhy, I have traveled all over, just as Dr. Possum told me to,\u201d replied\nUncle Wiggily, \u201cand I have not yet found my fortune. It is very sad!\u201d\n\n\u201cSad!\u201d cried Sammie. \u201cNot a bit of it! I know where your fortune is. You\nare the richest rabbit in the whole world!\u201d\n\n\u201cMy goodness me, sakes alive, and some ice cream radishes!\u201d Uncle\nWiggily exclaimed.\n\nAnd then Sammie showed the rabbit gentleman his fortune. You may read\nall about how he found it in the book entitled \u201cBedtime Stories: Uncle\nWiggily\u2019s Fortune.\u201d And you should see the colored pictures Mr. Wisa\nmade for it!\n\nHoward R. Garis, who wrote the Daddy books, wrote this one about Uncle\nWiggily. R. F. Fenno & Company, of 18 East 17th Street, New York City,\npublish it. They will send it to you if your own store does not have it.\nWrite and ask them.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n                      DADDY TAKES US TO THE CIRCUS\n\n\u201cOh, Mab!\u201d cried Hal Blake, as he came running into the house one\nmorning. \u201cDaddy is going to take us to the circus!\u201d\n\n\u201cAre you, Daddy?\u201d asked the little girl.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Mr. Blake. \u201cHere are the tickets.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, what fun we\u2019ll have!\u201d shouted Hal.\n\n\u201cWon\u2019t we!\u201d added his sister.\n\nHow Daddy Blake took the children to the show in the big tent, and how\nHal and Mab went to sleep in one of the red wagons, and were carried\noff\u2014all that you may read in the book called \u201cDaddy Takes Us to the\nCircus.\u201d It is written by Howard R. Garis, who also wrote the Bedtime\nbook you have just read. It contains fine pictures, and has a decorated\ncover. You read, and liked, the Bedtimes, so surely you will like the\nDaddy books.\n\nIf your dealer does not keep them, please send to the publishers, R. F.\nFenno & Company, 18 East 17th Street, New York City, who will forward\nany volume on receipt of price.\n\nDaddy Blake, on his trips with Hal and Mab, told them things about\nnature and out-door life.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n \u25cf Transcriber\u2019s Notes:\n    \u25cb Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.\n    \u25cb Typographical errors were silently corrected.\n    \u25cb Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only\n      when a predominant form was found in this book.\n    \u25cb Text that:\n      was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_);\n      was in bold by is enclosed by \u201cequal\u201d signs (=bold=).","title":"Uncle Wiggily and Mother Goose: Complete in two parts; fifty-two stories\u2014one for each week of the year","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":62428}