Lulu, Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble | Page 2

pond," and he put his
head down under the water to get a fine, juicy bit of weed, with some
water-cress sauce on it.
"Oh, no," exclaimed Alice Wibblewobble, "it's not nice for girl ducks
to race," and she spread out her wings to see how they looked.
"Yes it is," said Lulu. "Come on, Jimmie, I'll race with you."
So off they started, splashing the water with their yellow, webbed feet,

throwing up a little spray, which sparkled in the sunshine, just like
baby's eyes when you come close to her and she laughs at you so
cunningly.
On they went, faster and faster and faster, Lulu and Jimmie, while
Alice remained behind, to gaze in the water which was just like a
looking glass, you know. Oh, my yes, but please don't try it, unless the
water is very, very shallow. You see Alice wanted to see if all her
feathers were on straight, and they were, believe me, as straight as
straight can be.
Well, of course, Jimmie won the race, being a very good swimmer, but
Lulu was close behind him, and would have beaten, only one of her
legs got caught in a weed. Now I call that too bad, don't you? For I was
hoping, all the while, that Lulu would win. But you never can tell what
is going to happen in this world; now can you? No, indeed.
"Let's race back again," proposed Lulu, after she had rested.
"Oh, don't race any more," spoke Alice, swimming up just then. "Let's
walk out on land and see if we can't find some nice corn meal. I'm sure
it must be almost dinner time, and I just love corn meal."
"I know something better than that," suddenly said a quivery-quavery
voice, right beside the ducks, and when they looked around who should
be there but Mr. Goosey-Gander, the grandfather of all the ducks in the
pen. "I know something better than corn meal, little ones," he said, and
he splashed his wings in the water.
"What is it?" asked Lulu, as quickly as you can shoot a marble into the
ring and out again. "Is it gum drops?"
"No," answered Grandfather Goosey-Gander, "it is not gum drops. It is
better than that. It is nice, sweet roots and grasses that grow down
under water," and, with that, what do you think he did? Why, he stood
right up on his head, and reached his bill down beneath the pond, and
got some of the nicest grass that ever was. "There," said the old
gentleman duck, poking up his head, "do as I did, little ones."

So those three Wibblewobble children did, and pretty soon, Alice and
Jimmie had as much as they could eat, and raised their heads. Then
they saw that Lulu still had her bill down under the water.
"She must be getting lots more than we did," spoke Alice.
"Yes, indeed," replied Jimmie. "I wonder how she can hold her breath
so long?"
Just then, what should happen but that Lulu began to wave her feet in
the air, and she flapped her wings until the spray went up in a regular
shower, just like at Asbury Park.
"Oh, my goodness me sakes alive, and three teaspoonsfull of corn meal
with pepper in!" cried Grandfather Goosey-Gander. "Lulu is stuck in
the mud! We must pull her out. Quick!" That's just the way he said it.
And, would you believe me, Lulu was held fast in the mud by her dear
little bill! Oh, how terribly frightened Jimmie and Alice were. They
squawked and they quacked, and they tried to pull Lulu out, but she
was stuck too fast.
Then all the other ducks came swimming up to see what the trouble
was, and they tried to pull her out, but they couldn't, and, all the while
her feet were wiggling as fast as they could wiggle, almost like Sammie
Littletail's nose.
Then Grandfather Goosey-Gander called out: "What ho! Make way
there! I will save her!" And with that, what do you think he did? Why,
he dived right down under the water, yes, sir, right down in the mud,
and he pushed, and he pulled, and he hauled and he splashed, and he
yanked, and he rooted, and he twisted, and he turned, and he shoved,
and then, all alone, brave old grandfather that he was, he got Lulu up
from the mud, where she had been stuck by her little bill!
And it was almost time, too, let me tell you, for her breath was nearly
gone. But she soon got better, and she never put her head so far down
under water again.

Then all the ducks said: "Quack, Quack, Quack!" three times, they
were so glad, and they swam around in