Uncle Wiggily's Adventures
Page 12
"It's too bad," said the giant's little boy to Uncle Wiggily. "There isnothing there for you. But perhaps you will find your fortune to-morrow.Come and stay with me until morning."
So Uncle Wiggily went back to the giant's house, and the next day quite asurprising adventure occurred to him, and in case the gasoline in mymotorboat doesn't wash all the paint off my red necktie I'll tell you nextabout Uncle Wiggily and Grand-daddy Longlegs.
STORY XXXI
UNCLE WIGGILY AND DADDY LONGLEGS
Uncle Wiggily got up early the morning after the good giant had shown himthat there wasn't any gold at the end of the rainbow. The old gentlemanrabbit looked where a place had been set for him at the table, but alasand alack a-day, the table was almost as high from the floor as the churchsteeple is from the ground, and Uncle Wiggily could not reach up to it.
"Hum, let's see what we will do," spoke the papa giant. "I know, I'll geta spool of thread from the lady giant next door, and that will answer fora table for you, Uncle Wiggily, and you can use another toothpick for achair."
So while the boy giant went for the spool of thread, the papa giant servedUncle Wiggily's breakfast. First he brought in a washtub full of milk anda bushel basket full of oatmeal.
"What is that for?" asked the rabbit in surprise.
"That is for your breakfast," was the answer. "Isn't it enough? Because Ican get you more in a jiffy, if you want it."
"Oh, it is entirely too much," said Uncle Wiggily. "I can only take alittle of that oatmeal."
"Very well, then, I will take this myself, and get you a small dish full,"spoke the papa giant, and he ate all that oatmeal and milk up at onemouthful, but even then it was hardly enough to fill his hollow tooth.
Then the boy giant came back with the spool, which was as big as thedining-room table in a rabbit's house. Up at this new table the travelinguncle sat, and he ate a very good breakfast indeed.
"Now I must start off again to seek my fortune," he said, as he took hiscrutch, striped red, green and yellow, like a cow's horn. Oh, excuse me! Iwas thinking of circus balloons, I guess. Anyhow Uncle Wiggily took hiscrutch and valise, and, as he was about to start off, the boy giant said:
"I will walk along a short distance with you, and in case any bad animalstry to hurt you I'll drive them away."
"Oh, I don't believe any one will harm me," spoke the rabbit, butnevertheless something did happen to him. As he and the boy giant werewalking along, all of a sudden there was a noise from behind a big, blackstump, and out jumped a big, black bear. He rushed right at the rabbit,and called out:
"Ha! Now I have you! I've been waiting a long while for you, and I thoughtyou'd never come. But, better late than never. Now for my dinner! I've hadthe fire made for some time to cook you, and the kettle is boiling fortea." He was just going to grab our Uncle Wiggily, when the giant's littleboy called out:
"Here, you let that rabbit alone! He's a friend of mine!" But, listen tothis, the bear never thought a thing about a boy giant being with UncleWiggily, and he never even looked up at him. Only when the bear heard thegiant's boy speaking he thought it was distant thunder, and he said:
"Oh, I must hurry home with that rabbit before it rains. I don't like toget wet!"
"Yes, I guess you _will_ hurry home!" cried the giant's boy, and with thathe reached over, and he grabbed that black, ugly bear by his short, stumpytail and he flung him away over the tree tops, like a skyrocket, and itwas some time before that bear came down. And when he did, he didn't feellike bothering Uncle Wiggily any more.
"Now I guess you'll be all right for a while on your travels," said theboy giant as he called good-by to the old gentleman rabbit. "Send me asouvenir postal when you find your fortune, and if any bad animals botheryou, just telephone for me, and I'll come and serve them as I did thebear."
Then the old gentleman rabbit thanked the boy giant, and started offagain. He traveled on and on, over hills and down in little valleys, andacross brooks that flowed over green mossy stones in the meadow, andpretty soon Uncle Wiggily came to a big gray stone in the middle of afield. And, as he looked at the stone, the old gentleman rabbit sawsomething red fluttering behind it, and he heard a noise like some onecrying.
"Ha! Here is where I must be careful!" exclaimed the rabbit to himself."Perhaps that is a red fox behind the stone, and he is making believe cry,so as to bring me up close, and then he'll jump out and grab me. Noindeed, I'm going to run back."
Well, Uncle Wiggily was just going to run back, when he happened to lookagain, and there, instead of a fox behind the stone, it was a little boy,with red trousers on, and he was crying as hard as he could cry, that boywas.
"What is the matter, my little chap?" asked the rabbit kindly. "Are youcrying because you have on red trousers instead of blue? I think red is alovely color myself. I wish I had red ears, as well as red eyes."
"Oh, I am not crying for that," said the little boy, wiping away histears on a big green leaf, "but you see I am like Bo-peep, only I havelost my cows, instead of my sheep, and I don't know where to find them."
"Oh, I'll help you look," said Uncle Wiggily. "I am pretty good at findinglost cows. Come, we'll hunt farther." So off they started together, UncleWiggily holding the little boy by one of his paws--one of the rabbit'spaws, I mean.
Well, they looked and looked, but they couldn't seem to find those cows.They looked at one hill, and on top of another hill, and down in thehollows, and under the trees by the brook, but no cows were to be seen.
"Oh, dear!" cried the little boy, "if I don't find them soon there'll beno milk for dinner."
"And I am very thirsty, too," said the rabbit. "I wish I had a drink ofmilk. But where in the world can those cows be?" and he looked up into thesky, not because he thought the cows were there, but so that he mightthink better. Then he looked down at the ground, and, as he did so he sawa little red creature with eight long legs, and the creature wiggled oneleg at the rabbit friendly-like as if to shake hands.
"Why don't you ask me where the cows are?" said the long-legged insect.
"Why, can you tell?" inquired Uncle Wiggily.
"Of course I can. I'm a grand-daddy longlegs, and I can always tell wherethe cows are," was the reply. "Just you ask me."
So Uncle Wiggily and the little boy, both together, politely asked wherethey could find the cows, and the grand-daddy just pointed with one longleg off toward the woods where the rabbit and boy hadn't thought oflooking before that.
"You'll find your cows there," said grand-daddy longlegs, and then hehurried home to his dinner. And Uncle Wiggily and the boy went over to thewoods, and there in the shade by a brook--sure enough were the cows,chewing their gum--I mean their cuds. And they were just waiting to bedriven home.
So Uncle Wiggily, and the boy with the red trousers, drove the cows home,and they were milked, and the old gentleman rabbit had several glassesfull--glasses full of milk, not cows, you know. Goodness me! A cowcouldn't get into a glass could it? I guess not!
And after that Uncle Wiggily----
Well, but see here now. I think I've put enough adventures about UncleWiggily in this book, and I must save some for another one. So I think Iwill call the following book "Uncle Wiggily's Travels," for he still kepton traveling after his fortune you know. And he found it, too, which isthe best part of it. Oh, my yes! He found his fortune all right. Don'tworry about that. And in the next book, the very first thing he did, wasto have an adventure with a red squirrel-girl, who was some relation toJohnnie and Billie Bushytail.
So that's all there is to Uncle Wiggily, for a little while, if youplease, but if you want to hear anything else about him I'll try, lateron, to tell you some more stories. And now, dear children, good-bye.
THE END.
[Transcriber note:The last line of Chapter VI actually ended: "...in their rams."
Chapter XI: original reads: He thought he saw a chance to escaperuning across]
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