Uncle Wiggily in the Woods | Page 2

traveled about seeking his fortune, he had even gone sailing in
his airship, and once he met Mother Goose and all her friends from Old
King Cole down to Little Jack Horner.
Uncle Wiggily had many friends among the animal boys and girls.
There was Sammie and Susie Littletail, the rabbits, who have a book all
to themselves; just as have Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, the puppy dog
boys, and Jollie and Jillie Longtail, the mice children.
"And I s'pose we'll meet all your friends in the woods, won't we, Uncle
Wiggily?" asked Nurse Jane, as they moved from the old hollow stump
bungalow to the new one.
"Oh, yes, I s'pose so, of course," he laughed in answer, as he pulled his
tall silk hat more tightly down on his head, fastened on his glasses and
took his red, white and blue striped barber pole rheumatism crutch that
Nurse Jane had gnawed for him out of a cornstalk.
So, once upon a time, not very many years ago, as all good stories
should begin, Uncle Wiggily and Nurse Jane found themselves in the
woods. It was lovely among the trees, and as soon as the rabbit
gentleman had helped Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy put the hollow stump
bungalow to rights he started out for a walk.
"I want to see what sort of adventures I shall have in the woods," said
Mr. Longears as he hopped along.
Now in these woods lived, among many other creatures good and bad,
two skillery-scalery alligators who were not exactly friends of the
bunny uncle. But don't let that worry you, for though the alligators, and
other unpleasant animals, may, once in a while, make trouble for Uncle
Wiggily, I'll never really let them hurt him. I'll fix that part all right!
So, one day, the skillery-scalery alligator with the humps on his tail,
and his brother, another skillery-scalery chap, whose tail was double
jointed, were taking a walk through the woods together just as Uncle

Wiggily was doing.
"Brother," began the hump-tailed 'gator (which I call him for short),
"brother, wouldn't you like a nice rabbit?"
"Indeed I would," answered the double-jointed tail 'gator, who could
wobble his flippers both ways. "And I know of no nicer rabbit than
Uncle Wiggily Longears."
"The very same one about whom I was thinking!" exclaimed the other
alligator. "Let's catch him!"
"That's what we'll do!" said the double-jointed chap. "We'll hide in the
woods until he comes along, as he does every day, and the we'll jump
out and grab him. Oh, you yum-yum!"
"Fine!" grunted his brother. "Come on!"
Off they crawled through the woods, and pretty soon they came to a
willow tree, where the branches grew so low down that they looked like
a curtain that had unwound itself off the roller, when the cat hangs on
it.
"This is the place for us to hide--by the weeping willow tree," said the
skillery-scalery alligator with bumps on his tail.
"The very place," agreed his brother.
So they hid behind the thick branches of the tree, which had leafed out
for early spring, and there the two bad creatures waited.
Just before this Uncle Wiggily himself had started out from his hollow
stump bungalow to walk in the woods and across the fields, as he did
every day.
"I wonder what sort of an adventure I shall have this time?" he said to
himself. "I hope it will be a real nice one."
Oh! If Uncle Wiggily had known what was in store for him, I think he

would have stayed in his hollow stump bungalow. But never mind, I'll
make it all come out right in the end, you see if I don't. I don't know
just how I'm going to do it, yet, but I'll find a way, never fear.
Uncle Wiggily hopped on and on, now and then swinging his
red-white-and-blue-striped rheumatism crutch like a cane, because he
felt so young and spry and spring-like. Pretty soon he came to the
willow tree. He was sort of looking up at it, wondering if a nibble of
some of the green leaves would not do him good, when, all of a sudden,
out jumped the two bad alligators and grabbed the bunny gentleman.
"Now we have you!" cried the humped-tail 'gator.
"And you can't get away from us," said the other chap--the
double-jointed tail one.
"Oh, please let me go!" begged Uncle Wiggily, but they hooked their
claws in his fur, and pulled him back under the tree, which held its
branches so low. I told you it was a weeping willow tree, and just now
it was weeping, I think, because Uncle Wiggily was in such trouble.
"Let's see now," said the double-jointed tail alligator. "I'll carry this
rabbit home, and then--"