Uncle Wiggily's Travels Read online

  UNCLE WIGGILY'S TRAVELS

  by

  HOWARD R. GARIS

  Author of _Sammie and Susie Littletail_, _Johnnie and Billy Bushytail_,_Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow_, "Those Smith Boys," series, "The IslandBoys," series, etc.

  Illustrated by LOUIS WISA

  A.L. Burt CompanyPublishers New York

  1913

  THE FAMOUS BED TIME SERIES

  Five groups of books, intended for reading aloud to the little folks eachnight. Each volume contains 8 colored illustrations, 31 stories, one foreach day of the month. Handsomely bound in cloth. Size 6-1/2 x 8-1/4.

  Price cents per volume, postpaid

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  HOWARD R. GARIS'

  Bed Time Animal Stories

  No. 1. SAMMIE AND SUSIE LTTTLETAILNo. 2. JOHNNY AND BILLY BUSHYTAILNo. 3. LULU, ALICE & JIMMIE WIBBLEWOBBLENo. 5. JACKIE AND PEETIE BOW-WOWNo. 7. BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES PIGGNo. 9. JOIE, TOMMIE AND KITTIE KATNo. 10. CHARLIE AND ARABELLA CHICKNo. 14. NEDDIE AND BECKIE STUBTAILNo. 16. BULLY AND BAWLY NO-TAILNo. 20. NANNIE AND BILLIE WAGTAILNo. 28. JOLLIE AND JILLIE LONGTAIL

  Uncle Wiggily Bed Time Stories

  No. 4. UNCLE WIGGILY'S ADVENTURESNo. 6. UNCLE WIGGILY'S TRAVELSNo. 8. UNCLE WIGGILY'S FORTUNENo. 11. UNCLE WIGGILY'S AUTOMOBILENo. 19. UNCLE WIGGILY AT THE SEASHORENo. 21. UNCLE WIGGILY'S AIRSHIPNo. 27. UNCLE WIGGILY IN THE COUNTRY

  * * * * *

  For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receiptof price by the publishers.

  A.L. BURT CO., 114-120 East 23d St., New York

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  UNCLE WIGGILY'S TRAVELS

  The stories herein contained appeared originally in the _Evening News_,of Newark, N.J., where (so many children and their parents were kindenough to say) they gave pleasure to a number of little folks andgrown-ups also. Permission to issue the stories in book form was kindlygranted by the publisher and editor of the _News_, to whom the authorextends his thanks.

  CONTENTS

  STORY PAGE

  I. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE RED SQUIRREL 9

  II. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BROWN WREN 16

  III. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE SUNFISH 22

  IV. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE YELLOW BIRD 28

  V. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE SKY-CRACKER 34

  VI. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BUTTERCUP 40

  VII. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE JULY BUG 46

  VIII. UNCLE WIGGILY AND JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT 52

  IX. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE LOST CHIPMUNK 58

  X. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BLACK CRICKET 64

  XI. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BUSY BUG 70

  XII. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE FUNNY MONKEY 76

  XIII. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BIG DOG 82

  XIV. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE PEANUT MAN 88

  XV. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CRAWLY SNAKE 94

  XVI. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE WATER-LILIES 100

  XVII. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE SUNFLOWER 106

  XVIII. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE LIGHTNING BUGS 112

  XIX. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE PHOEBE BIRDS 118

  XX. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE MILKMAN 124

  XXI. UNCLE WIGGILY'S SWIMMING LESSON 131

  XXII. UNCLE WIGGILY IN THE BEAR'S DEN 137

  XXIII. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE TOADSTOOL 144

  XXIV. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CHICKIE 150

  XXV. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE WASP 157

  XXVI. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BLUEBELL 163

  XXVII. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE WIBBLEWOBBLES 170

  XXVIII. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BERRY BUSH 176

  XXIX. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE CAMP FIRE 183

  XXX. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE COWBIRD 189

  XXXI. UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE TAILOR BIRD 195

  Uncle Wiggily's Travels

  STORY I

  UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE RED SQUIRREL

  You know when Uncle Wiggily Longears, the old rabbit gentleman, startedout to look for his fortune, he had to travel many weary miles, and manyadventures happened to him. Some of those adventures I have told you inthe book just before this one, and now I am going to tell you about histravels when he hoped to find a lot of money, so he would be rich.

  One day, as I told you in the last story in the other book, Uncle Wiggilycame to a farm, and there he had quite an adventure with a little boy. Andthis little boy had on red trousers, because, I guess, his blue ones werein the washtub. Anyhow, he and the rabbit gentleman became good friends.

  And now I am going to tell you what happened when Uncle Wiggily met thered squirrel.

  "Where do you think you will go to look for your fortune to-day, UncleWiggily?" asked the little boy with the red trousers the next morning,after the rabbit had stayed all night at the farm house.

  "I do not know," said the rabbit gentleman. "Perhaps I had better do sometraveling at night. I couldn't find the pot of gold at the end of therainbow, but perhaps there may be a gold, or silver fortune, at the end ofa moon-beam. I think I'll try."

  "Oh, but don't you get sleepy at night?" asked the little boy's mother asshe fried an ice cream cone for Uncle Wiggily's breakfast.

  "Well, I could sleep in the day time, and then I would stay awake atnight," answered the traveling uncle, blinking his ears.

  "Oh, but aren't you afraid of the bogeyman at night?" inquired the boywith the red hair--I mean trousers.

  "There are no such things as bogeymen," said Uncle Wiggily, "and if therewere any, they would not harm you. I am not a bit afraid in the dark,except that I don't like mosquitoes to bite me. I think I'll travelto-morrow night, and look for gold at the end of the moon-beam."

  So he started off that day, and he went only a short distance, for hewanted to find a place to sleep in order that he would be wide awake whenit got dark.

  Well, he found a nice, soft place under a pile of hay, and there hestretched out to slumber as nicely as if he were in his bed at home. Heeven snored a little bit, I believe, or else it was Bully Frog croakingone of his songs.

  The day passed, and the sun went down, and it got all ready to be night,and still Uncle Wiggily slept on soundly. But all of a sudden he heardvoices whispering:

  "Now you go that way and I'll go this way, and we'll catch that rabbit andput him in a cage and sell him!"

  Well, you can just believe that Uncle Wiggily was frightened when heawakened suddenly and saw two bad boys softly creeping up and making readyto catch him.

  "Oh, this is no place for me!" the rabbit cried, and he grabbed up hiscrutch and his valise and hopped away so fast that the boys couldn't catchhim, no matter how fast they could run, even bare-footed.

  "Let's throw stones at him!" they cried. And they did, but I'm glad to saythat none of them hit Uncle Wiggily. Isn't it queer how mean some boys canbe? But perhaps they were never told any better, so we'll forgive themthis time.

  "Well, it is now night," said the rabbit gentleman as he hopped on throughthe woods, "so I think I will sit under this tree and wait for the moon tocome up. And while I'm waiting I'll eat my supper."

  So Uncle Wiggily ate his supper, which the kind farmer lady had put up forhim, and then he sat and waited for the moon to rise, and pretty soon heheard a funny noise, calling like this:

  "Who? Who? Who-tu-tu-tu."

  "Oh, you know who I am all right, Mr. Owl," said the rabbit. "You can seevery well at night. You can see me."

  "My goodness, if it isn't Uncle Wiggily!" cried the owl in surprise. "Whatare you doing out so late, I'd like to know?"

  "Waiting for a moon-beam, so I can see if there is any gold for my fortuneat the end of it," was the answer. "Is the moon coming up over the trees,Mr. Owl?"

  "Yes, here it comes," said the owl, "and now I must fly off to the darkwoods, for I don't like the light," and he fluttered away.

  Then the moon came up, all silver and glorious; shining over the tree topslike a shimmering ball, and soon the moon-beams fell to the ground inslanting rays, but they fell so softly, like feathers, that they did notget hurt at all.

  "Well, I guess I'll follow that big one," said the old gentleman rabbit,as he picked out a nice, broad, large, shiny moon-beam. "That must havegold at the end, and, if I find it, my fortune is made." So off he startedto follow the moon-beam to where it came to an end.

  It seemed to go quite a distance through the dark woods, and Uncle Wiggilytraveled on for several hours, and he didn't seem to be any nearer the endby that time than he was at first.

  "My land, this is a very long beam," he exclaimed. "It is almost bigenough to make a church steeple from. But I'll keep on a little longer,for I'm not a bit sleepy yet."

  Well, all of a sudden, just as he was turning the corner around a bigstone, the rabbit gentleman heard a funny noise.

  It wasn't like any one crying, yet it sounded as if some one was introuble, for the voice said:

  "Oh, dear! I'll never get it big enough, I know I can't! I've combed itand brushed it, and done it up in curl papers to make it fluffy, but stillit isn't like theirs. What shall I do?"

  "Hum, I wonder who that can be?" thought Uncle Wiggily. "Perhaps it issome little lost child; but no children would be out in the woods atnight. I'
ll take a look."

  So he hopped softly over, and peered around the edge of the stone, andwhat do you think he saw?

  Why, there was a nice, little, red squirrel-girl, and she had a comb and abrush, and little looking-glass. And the glass was stuck up on a stumpwhere the moon-beam that Uncle Wiggily was following shone on it andreflected back again. And by the light of the moon-beam the red squirrelwas combing and brushing out her tail as hard as she could comb and brushit.

  "What are you doing?" asked Uncle Wiggily in surprise.

  "Oh, my! How you startled me!" exclaimed the red squirrel. "But I'm gladit's you, Uncle Wiggily. I'm going to a surprise party soon, and I wasjust trying to make my tail as big as Johnnie or Billie Bushytail's, but Ican't do it," she said sadly.

  "No, and you never can," said the rabbit. "Their tails are a differentkind than yours, for they are gray squirrels and you are a red one. Butyours is very nice. Be content to have yours as it is."

  "I guess I will," said the red squirrel. "But what are you doing out solate, Uncle Wiggily?"

  "Looking for the end of the moon-beam to get my fortune."

  "Ha! The moon-beam ends right here," said the red squirrel-girl, pointingto her looking-glass, and, surely enough, there the bright shaft of lightended. "But there is no fortune here, Uncle Wiggily, I am sorry to say,"she added.

  "I see there isn't," answered the rabbit. "Well, I must travel on againto-morrow, then. But now I will see that you get safely home, for it isgetting late."

  And, just as he said that, what should happen but that a black, savage,ugly bear stuck his nose out of the bushes and made a grab for the rabbit.But what do you think the red squirrel did?

  She just took her hair brush and with the hard back of it she whacked thebear on the end of his tender-ender nose, and he howled, and turned aroundto run away, and the squirrel girl tickled him with the comb, and he ranfaster than ever, and the bear didn't eat Uncle Wiggily that night.

  Then the rabbit stayed at the red squirrel's mamma's house the rest of theevening, and the next day the squirrel went to the surprise party with hertail the regular size it ought to be, and not as big as the Bushytailbrothers' tails, and everybody was happy.

  Now in case the granddaddy longlegs doesn't tickle the baby with his longcow-pointing leg and make her laugh so she gets the hiccoughs, I'll tellyou in the next story about Uncle Wiggily and the brown wren.

  STORY II

  UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BROWN WREN

  Well, just as I expected, the granddaddy longlegs did tickle the baby, butshe only smiled in her sleep, and didn't awaken, so, as it's nice andquiet I can tell you another story. And it's going to be about how UncleWiggily, in his travels about the country, in search of his fortune,helped a little brown wren.

  "Well, where are you going this morning?" asked the red squirrel's motheras Uncle Wiggily finished his breakfast, and shook out from his long earsthe oatmeal crumbs that had fallen in them.

  "Oh, I suppose I will have to be traveling on," answered the rabbit. "Thatfortune of mine seems to be a long distance off. I've tried rainbows andmoon-beams and I didn't find any money at their ends. I guess I'll have tolook under the water next, but I'll wait until I get back home, and thenI'll have Jimmie Wibblewobble the duck boy put his head at the bottom ofthe pond and see if there is any gold down there."

  So off the old gentleman rabbit started, limping on his crutch, for hisrheumatism was troubling him again, and at his side swung his valise, withsome crackers and cheese and bread and butter and jam in it--plenty ofjam, too, let me tell you, for the red squirrel's mamma could make lovelypreserves, and this was carrot jam, with turnip frosting on it.

  Well, Uncle Wiggily traveled on and on, over the hills and through thedeep woods, and pretty soon he came to a place where he saw a lot oflittle black ants trying to carry to their nest a nice big piece of meatthat some one had dropped.

  "My, how hard those ants are working," thought the rabbit. "But that meatis too heavy for them. I'll have to help carry it."

  Now the piece of meat was only as big as a quarter of a small cocoanut,but, of course, that's too big for an ant to carry; or even forforty-'leven ants, so Uncle Wiggily kindly lifted it for them, and put itin their nest.

  "Thank you very much," said the biggest ant. "If ever we can do you afavor, or any of your friends, we will."

  The old gentleman rabbit said he was glad to hear that, and then, takingup his crutch and valise again, on he went.

  Pretty soon he came to a place in the woods where the sun was shiningdown through the trees, and a little brook was making pretty music overthe stones. And then, all at once, the old gentleman rabbit heard adifferent kind of music, and it was that of a little bird singing. Andthis is the song.

  Now I did not make up this song. It is much prettier than I could write,even if I had my Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes on, and I don't know who didwrite it. But it used to be in my school reader when I was a little boy,and I liked it very much. I hope whoever did write it won't mind if yousing it. This is it:

  "There's a little brown bird sitting up in a tree, He's singing to you--he's singing to me. And what does he say, little girl--little boy? Oh, the world's running over with joy!"

  Then the bird sang about how there were five eggs laid away up in a nest,and how, pretty soon, little birds would come out from them, and then, allof a sudden, the bird sang like this:

  "But don't meddle,--don't touch, Little girl--little boy, Or the world will lose some of its joy!"

  "Ha! you seem quite happy this beautiful morning," said Uncle Wiggily, ashe paused under the tree where the bird was singing. "Why, I do declare,"he exclaimed. "If it isn't Mrs. Wren! Well, I never in all my born days! Ididn't know you were back from the South yet."

  "Yes, Uncle Wiggily," said the little brown wren, "I came up some timeago. But I'm real glad to see you. I'm going to take my little birdies outof the shell pretty soon. They are almost hatched."

  "Glad to hear it," said the rabbit, politely, and then he told aboutseeking his fortune, and all of a sudden a great big ugly crow-bird flewdown out of a tall tree and made a dash for Mrs. Wren to eat her up. ButMrs. Wren got out of the way just in time, and didn't get caught.

  But alack, and alas-a-day! The crow knocked down the wren's nest, and allthe sticks and feathers of which it was made were scattered all about, andthe eggs, with the little birdies inside, would have been all brokenker-smash, only that they happened to fall down on some soft moss.

  "Oh, dear!" cried Mrs. Wren, sorrowfully. "Now see what that crow hasdone! My home is broken up, and my birdies will be killed."

  "Caw! Caw! Caw!" cried the crow as unkindly as he could, and it soundedjust as if he laughed "Haw! Haw! Haw!"

  "Oh, whatever shall I do?" asked Mrs. Wren. "My birdies will have no nest,and I haven't time to make another and break up the little fine sticksthat I need and gather the feathers that are scattered all over. Oh, whatshall I do? Soon my birdies will be out of the shells."

  "Never fear!" said Uncle Wiggily, bravely. "I will help you. I'll gatherthe sticks for you."

  "Oh, but you haven't time; you must be off seeking your fortune," answeredthe wren.

  "Oh, I guess my fortune can wait. It has been waiting for me a long time,and it won't hurt to wait a bit longer. I'll get you the sticks," said therabbit gentleman.

  So while Mrs. Wren sat over the eggs to keep them warm with her fluffyfeathers, Uncle Wiggily looked for sticks with which to make a new nest.He couldn't find any short and small enough, so what do you think he did?

  Why, he took some big sticks and he jumped a jiggily dance up and down onthem with his sharp paws, and broke them up as fine as toothpicks for thenest. Then he arranged them as well as he could in a sort of hollow, likea tea cup.