Uncle Wiggilys Adventures | Page 3

bear was getting ready to eat him up.
But don't worry, I'll find a way to get him out, and in case we have ice
cream pancakes for supper I'll tell you, in the next story, how Uncle
Wiggily got out of the bear's den, and how he went fishing--I mean

Uncle Wiggily went fishing, not the bear.

STORY II
UNCLE WIGGILY GOES FISHING
At first, after he found himself shut up in the bear's dark closet, where
we left him in the story before this, poor Uncle Wiggily didn't know
what to think. He just sat there, on the edge of a chair, and he tried to
look around, and see something, but it was too black, so he couldn't.
"Perhaps this is only a joke," thought the old gentleman rabbit, "though
I never knew a black bear to joke before. But perhaps it is. I'll ask him."
So Uncle Wiggily called out:
"Is this a joke, Mr. Bear?"
"Not a bit of it!" was the growling answer. "You'll soon see what's
going to happen to you! I'm getting the fire ready now."
"Getting the fire ready for what; the adventure, or for my fortune?"
asked the rabbit, for he still hoped the bear was only joking with him.
"Ready to cook you!" was the reply. "That's what the fire is for!" and
the bear gnashed his teeth together something terrible, and, with his
sharp claws, he clawed big splinters off the stump, and with them he
started the fire in the stove, with the splinters, I mean, not his claws.
The blazing fire made it a little brighter in the hollow stump, which was
the black bear's den, and Uncle Wiggily could look out of a crack in the
door, and see what a savage fellow the shaggy bear was. You see, that
bear just hid in the stump, waiting for helpless animals to come along,
and then he'd trick them into jumping down inside of it, and there
wasn't a word of truth about him having sore eyes, or about him having
to wear dark spectacles, either.
"Oh, my! I guess this is the end of my adventures," thought the rabbit.
"I should have been more careful. Well, I wish I could see Sammie and
Susie before he eats me, but I'm afraid I can't. I shouldn't have jumped
down here."
But as Uncle Wiggily happened to think of Sammie Littletail, the boy
rabbit, he also thought of something else. And this was that Sammie
had put something in the old gentleman rabbit's valise that morning,
before his uncle had started off.
"If you ever get into trouble, Uncle Wiggily," Sammie had said, "this
may come in useful for you." Uncle Wiggily didn't look at the time to

see what it was that his nephew put in the valise, but he made up his
mind he would do so now. So he opened his satchel, and there, among
other things, was a long piece of thin, but strong rope. And pinned to it
was a note which read:
"Dear Uncle Wiggily. This is good to help you get out of a window, in
case of fire."
"My goodness!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, "that's fine. There the bear
is making a fire to cook me, and with this rope I can get away from it.
Now if there's only a window in this closet I'm all right."
So he looked, and sure enough there was a window. And with his
crutch Uncle Wiggily raised it. Then he threw out his satchel, and he
tied the rope to a hook on the window sill, and, being a strong old
gentleman, he crawled out of the window, and slid down the cord.
And Uncle Wiggily got out just as the bear opened the closet door to
grab him, and put him in the pot, and when the savage black creature
saw his fine rabbit dinner getting away he was as angry as anything,
really he was.
"Here! Come back here!" cried the bear, but of course Uncle Wiggily
knew better than to come back. He slid down the rope to the ground,
and then he cut off as much of the rope as he could, and put it in his
pocket, for he didn't know when he might need it again. Then, catching
up his valise, he ran on and on, before the bear could get to him.
It was still quite a dark place in which Uncle Wiggily was, for you see
he was underground, down by the roots of the stump. But he looked
ahead and he saw a little glimmer of light, and then he knew he could
get out.
Limping on his crutch, and carrying his valise, he went on and on, and
pretty soon he came out