Uncle Wiggilys Adventures | Page 5

I wonder how I'm to get down out of this tall tree, with my
crutch, my valise and my rheumatism?"
Well, just then the alligator got tired of standing on the end of his tail,
with his mouth open, and he began crawling around. Then he thought
of what a good supper he was going to have of Uncle Wiggily, and that
alligator said:
"I guess I'll sharpen my teeth so I can eat him better," and with that the
savage and unpleasant creature began to gnaw on a stone, to sharpen
his teeth. Then he stood up on the end of his tail once more, under the
tree, and opened his mouth as wide as he could.
"Come on now!" he called to Uncle Wiggily. "Jump down and have it
over with."
"Oh, but I don't want to," objected the rabbit.
"You'll have to, whether you want to or not," went on the alligator. "If
you don't come down, I'll take my scaly, naily tail, and I'll saw down
the tree, and then you'll fall."

"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "What shall I do?"
Then he happened to think of the bottle of toothache medicine that he
held in his hand, and, taking out the cork, he dropped the bottle,
medicine and all, right into the open mouth of the alligator, who was
again up on his tail.
And the alligator thought it was Uncle Wiggily falling into his jaws,
and he shut them quickly like a steel trap and chewed on that bottle of
hot toothache drops before he knew what it was.
Well, you can just imagine what happened. The medicine was as hot as
pepper and mustard and vinegar and cloves and horse radish all made
into one! My! how it did burn that alligator's mouth.
"Oh my! I'm shot! I'm poisoned! I'm bitten by a mosquito! I'm stabbed!
I'm all scrambled up" cried the alligator. "Water, water, quick! I must
have water!"
Then he gave a big jump, and, with his kinkery-scalery tail, he leaped
into a big puddle of water, and went away down in under, out of sight,
to cool off his mouth.
"Oh, now is my chance! If I could only get down out of the tree!"
exclaimed Uncle Wiggily. "But with my rheumatism I'm afraid I'll fall.
Oh dear! What shall I do?"
"Don't be afraid, I'll help you!" exclaimed a kind voice, and then the
voice went on: "Caw! Caw! Caw!" and Uncle Wiggily, looking up, saw
a big black crow perched on a limb over his head.
"Oh, how do you do!" spoke Uncle Wiggily, making a bow as well as
he could. "Can you really help me down?'
"Yes," said the crow, "I can. Wait until I get my market basket. I was
just going to the grocery, but I'm in no hurry. I'll save you first."
So that crow flew off, and in a moment he came back with a big basket
in its bill.
"Hop in!" the black crow called to Uncle Wiggily, "and I'll fly down to
the ground with you, and you can run off before the alligator comes out
of the water. I saw what you did to him with those toothache drops, and
it served him right. Come on, hop in the basket."
So Uncle Wiggily got in the basket, and the crow, taking the handle in
his strong beak, flew safely to the ground with him. And that's how the
old gentleman rabbit got down out of the tree, just as I told you he
would.

So he and the crow walked on some distance through the woods
together, after Uncle Wiggily had picked up his crutch and valise,
which had fallen out of the basket, and they got safely away before the
alligator came out of the water. And wasn't he the provoked old beastie,
though, when he saw that his rabbit supper was gone?
"Where are you going?" asked the crow of Uncle Wiggily, after a bit,
when they got to a nice big stone, and sat down for a rest.
"I am seeking my fortune," replied the old gentleman rabbit, "and
trying to get better of my rheumatism. Dr. Possum told me to travel,
and have adventures, and I've had quite a few already."
"Well, I hope you find your fortune and that it turns out to be a very
good one," said the kind crow. "But it is coming on night now. Have
you any place to stay?"
"No," replied the rabbit, "I haven't. I never thought about that. What
shall I do?"
"Oh, don't worry," said the crow. "I'd let you stay in my nest, but it is
up a high tree, and you would have trouble climbing in and out. But
near my nest-house is an old