Lulu, Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble | Page 9

the yard, and around the
pond where Jimmie Wibblewobble and his two sisters and his papa and
mamma lived. There was a great fluttering in the air, and something,
colored in beautiful tints, flew down and settled on the water with a
little splash.
"My goodness, what is that?" asked Alice Wibblewobble, who was
easily frightened. At first no one knew, for, though the creature was
shaped just like a duck, it was not colored like any duck Jimmie had
even seen. It was gold and bronze and green, with little patches of red
and blue here and there, and was a most beautiful creature.
"Maybe that is a fairy," suggested Lulu, who sometimes read fairy
stories.
"Oh, if it only might be one, and could tell me where the fairy prince
is!" exclaimed Alice, with a sigh.
"Nonsense!" cried Jimmie, who was just going off to see his friend
Bully, the frog. "Stuff and nonsense!"
"That's what I say, too," called out the strange creature. "Nonsense! I'm
not a fairy at all. I'm a duck like yourselves, only I am a wild duck."
Then its wings beat the air and water, and the wild duck arose and flew

right over the pond and back again, as quickly as could be.
"My goodness! How do you do that?" asked Jimmie, who never could
fly more than a few feet.
"Why," answered the wild duck, "I just did it, that's all."
"Snippery, snappery snails!" cried Jimmie, "you're just like a flying
machine that my papa read about in the paper."
"Well, somewhat like one, perhaps," admitted the wild duck. "I can fly
a long distance. Did you ever try?"
"No," answered Jimmie; "I never did."
"Perhaps you would like to try now," suggested the other. "I will stay
here a little while, and show you. It is very easy. You can just as well
become a flying machine as not. Come, I will fly up on the fence. You
come up here, too, and when I say 'Go!' why start off, and, who knows?
perhaps you will do as well as I. Don't be afraid."
"Of course, I'll try," said Jimmie, very bravely, for he was always
wanting to try new things.
"So will I," cried Lulu. "I want to fly, too."
"Oh, you had better be careful," warned Alice, who was a very cautious
duckling, never getting into danger if she could help it.
"Oh, we'll be careful, but we are going to become flying machines just
the same," said Jimmie.
So the wild duck flew up on the fence, which was at one edge of the
pond, and, oh, how beautiful he looked with the sun shining on his
finely colored feathers. Jimmie had quite a struggle to get on the top
rail of the fence, and so did Lulu, but they finally managed it, and, just
as they stood beside the wild duck, who should come along but
Grandfather Goosey-Gander. He asked the two Wibblewobble children
what they were going to do, and when Jimmie said they were going to

learn to become flying machines, the old duck said, "Humph!" just as
quickly as he could.
"If you had such hard work getting to the top of the fence, how do you
think you can fly across the pond?" he asked, and then he sneezed three
times, for he was catching cold.
"Oh, we will do it," answered Jimmie, for, of course, you see, he really
thought he could.
But something is going to happen, just as sure as you can add up two
and three and make five out of them.
"Are you all ready?" asked the wild duck of Jimmie and Lulu, as they
stood beside him, balanced on the fence rail.
"Yes," replied Jimmie, trying to stop his heart from beating so rapidly,
"we are ready, Mr. Wild Duck. You fly and we will fly also."
"Watch me carefully," said the beautiful creature, "and do exactly as I
do."
They were just about to fly, when the old rooster, who had been
picking up corn down the road, come running up.
"Hold on!" he cried, "I can fly as good as that wild duck! Wait for me
and we will have a race!"
So they waited until the old rooster got up on the fence rail, too. Then
the wild duck counted: "One to begin with, two for a show, three to
make ready and four to go!"
Then he flapped his wings, gave a loud "squawk-squawk" and sailed
over that pond as nice as you please.
Well, of course, I've got to tell exactly what happened, or it wouldn't be
fair. Jimmie tried to fly, but I wish you could have seen him. He only
went a little way, and then, because his body was too