Part 4

“But you’ll come to her party a little while, won’t you?” asked Nurse Jane. “Just look in to be polite, you know.”

“Oh, yes,” answered the rabbit gentleman. “I’ll just drop in for a cup of tea.”

Baby Bunty was delighted to have a party. She danced around the hollow stump bungalow and put on her best green yellow pink hair ribbon, making Uncle Wiggily tie it for her.

“You’re a dear, good, old Uncle Wiggily,” said Baby Bunty. “You’ll come to my party, won’t you?”

“Yes, but I just want to sit on a soft stump and watch you and the other animal children play,” spoke Mr. Longears. “I’m getting too old and stiff for parties!”

“We’ll see about that!” spoke Baby Bunty, with a funny little laugh.

Nurse Jane made the jam tarts, she frosted the cakes and she put fancy trimmings on the cookies and pies.

“Now everything is ready for your party!” said the muskrat lady to Baby Bunty. “Have you invited all your friends?”

“Yes, and Uncle Wiggily, too,” said the little rabbit girl, who was once found asleep in a hollow stump.

The little party tables were set out under the grape vine, in the shade. Pretty soon along came Sammie and Susie Littletail, the rabbits; Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, the squirrels; Lulu, Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble, the ducks, and many others.

“Now, everybody sit down!” invited Baby Bunty, when they had gathered around the tables, filled with good things. “Welcome to my party! Uncle Wiggily, will you sing a little song?”

Uncle Wiggily, who wore his newest red vest, looked surprised. But still he sang a song about once there was a carrot with a long and slender tail, and when it went out walking it swam in the water pail.

“Now, everybody begin to eat!” invited Baby Bunty. “Oh, isn’t it fun to have a party! Uncle Wiggily, please pass Jackie Bow Wow a puppy cake!”

Uncle Wiggily, who had picked out a nice shady corner, and was just closing his eyes, opened them again, and passed the little doggie boy a cake.

“I’ll just sit here quietly,” thought Uncle Wiggily to himself. “Pretty soon they’ll all be so busy eating that they won’t notice me. Then I can go to sleep and forget about my rheumatism.”

The animal children were laughing and talking, and also eating the good things. Uncle Wiggily’s eyes were closed. He was dreaming he and Grandpa Goosey Gander were playing Scotch checkers, when, all of a sudden, Baby Bunty said:

“Uncle Wiggily, please pass Nannie Wagtail some paste pudding!”

“Eh! What’s that? Oh, I guess I had my eyes shut!” said the bunny gentleman. But he passed the paste pudding to the little goat girl, and he was just going to sleep again, when Bunty said:

“Oh, Uncle Wiggily! Do try some of these turnip jam tarts! They’re wonderful!”

“Oh, yes. Jam tarts!” stammered the rabbit gentleman, awakening suddenly. However, he managed to eat a tart, and he was almost asleep again when Bunty suddenly said:

“Oh, Uncle Wiggily, will you please pass the rose leaf ice cream to Arabella Chick!”

“Why, certainly,” said Uncle Wiggily, and he wondered if he would ever get a nice, quiet nap, such as he had counted on. After he had passed Lulu Wibblewobble some corn meal puddin’, the rabbit gentleman dozed off again, but he was suddenly awakened when Baby Bunty cried:

“Oh, here they are! Here they come! Oh, look, everybody!”

“My goodness me, sakes alive and some fire engines!” cried Mr. Longears, waking up so suddenly that he spilled some carrot marmalade on his red vest. “What’s the matter, Baby Bunty? Is it the Pipsisewah and the Skuddlemagoon come to spoil your party?”

“Why, no,” answered the little rabbit girl, sweetly. “It’s just the grasshopper and the cricket musicians, who are coming to play for the dancing. May I have a one-step with you, Uncle Wiggily?”

“Oh, Baby Bunty!” laughed Mr. Longears, as the grasshoppers tuned their hind-leg fiddles. “No one could go to sleep at your party!”

“Nor grow old or stiff, either,” said Baby Bunty. Then they all had a fine time. And if the jumping Jack doesn’t fall out of the salt cellar and scare the coal man when he brings in the ice, I’ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and Bunty’s skipping rope.

STORY XV UNCLE WIGGILY AND BUNTY’S ROPE

“Uncle Wiggily, would you do me a little favor?” asked Baby Bunty one morning, as she came out on the porch of the hollow stump bungalow, where Mr. Longears, the rabbit gentleman, was reading the paper.

“Well, Baby Bunty!” said Uncle Wiggily, to the little rabbit girl, whom he had found in a hollow stump tree, “I’d do almost anything for you, but please don’t ask me to come to any more parties, or chase you or play tag, or take you out in the woods with your rubber ball. I simply can’t do that, for I am too old and stiff!”

“Oh, this isn’t anything like that. All I want is for you to come with me while I buy a skipping rope. I want to learn to jump. All the other animal girls jump salt and pepper and vinegar and mustard, and I, too, want to learn.”

“Well,” said Uncle Wiggily, slowly, “that sounds like an easy favor. I’ll come, Baby Bunty.” “She surely can’t make me jump rope,” said Mr. Longears to himself. “I’m safe this time. I’ll get a chance to sleep today.”

So, putting on his tall silk hat, and taking his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch with him, Uncle Wiggily hopped with Baby Bunty through the woods, to the ten and eleven cent store where wild grape vine jumping, or skipping, ropes were sold.

“Give Baby Bunty a nice rope,” said Uncle Wiggily to the little mousie girl clerk behind the counter, and the little rabbit girl soon had the finest one you can imagine, with puff balls on the ends so her paws wouldn’t slip off.

“Now I must learn to jump,” said Baby Bunty, as she and Uncle Wiggily started back through the woods.

Baby Bunty had watched Lulu and Alice Wibblewobble, the ducks, and some of the other animal girls skipping their wild grape vine ropes, so the little rabbit girl knew something about it. She swung the rope over her head and jumped “salt,” which is very slow jumping indeed.

“And while you are learning to skip rope, Baby Bunty,” said Uncle Wiggily, “I’ll just sit down on this soft green mossy log and go to sleep. You won’t mind, will you?”

“Oh, no,” answered Baby Bunty.

She found a nice, smooth place in the woods, where the green grass made a velvet carpet, and there Baby Bunty began to learn to jump. Uncle Wiggily’s pink nose stopped twinkling, and he fell asleep.

“Oh, dear!” said Baby Bunty, after a bit, “I never can learn all by myself. I’m going to tie one end of my grape vine rope to a tree, and ask Uncle Wiggily to turn the other end for me. Then I can learn to jump and, after a while, I’ll be able to turn for myself.”

Gently she tickled Uncle Wiggily under the chin with a soft piece of grass.

“Eh! What’s the matter? Mosquitoes?” cried the bunny gentleman, as he sat up suddenly and opened his eyes.

“Oh, no,” answered Baby Bunty. “I’m sorry to wake you up, Uncle Wiggily, but will you please turn rope for me? Just turn it salt, which is very slowly, and perhaps you can do that and sleep at the same time.”

“Perhaps!” said Uncle Wiggily, but rather doubtful like. “We’ll try.”

So he took one end of the grape vine rope, while the other end was tied to a tree, and Uncle Wiggily turned for Baby Bunty. He turned slowly, as one must for “salt,” and Uncle Wiggily’s eyes were just closing, and he was dozing off, when Baby Bunty said:

“Oh, could you please turn a little faster, Uncle Wiggily? I’m beginning to learn how. Please turn as fast as pepper.”

“All right,” said Mr. Longears, good-natured like and accommodating. So he turned faster—like pepper you know—and even at that he was soon falling asleep again, when Bunty cried:

“Oh, I’m doing fine, Uncle Wiggily! I can even jump as fast as vinegar now, if you’ll turn more quickly for me.”

“Well, I’ll turn faster,” said Mr. Longears. “But I can plainly see that I’ll get no sleep today.”

So he turned “vinegar,” and Bunty jumped it easily, for she was fast learning how. Even then Uncle Wiggily nodded, and was almost going to sleep, when Bunty cried:

“Oh, Uncle Wiggily! Please turn mustard! Turn mustard fashion as fast as you can! Wake up and turn mustard!”

“What’s this! Can you so soon jump as fast as mustard?” cried the bunny, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

“Oh, no, I can’t jump mustard yet!” cried Bunty. “But I had to say something to wake you up quickly. Look, here comes the bad Pipsisewah! We must run! Run as fast as you can! Run mustard fashion!”

“I will!” said Uncle Wiggily, and he did, and so did Bunty, and by running mustard, which is very fast, they soon got safely away from the bad Pipsisewah.

“Hum!” said the Pip, as he was left behind in the woods. “If it hadn’t been for Baby Bunty waking up Uncle Wiggily, I surely would have had his souse!”

So it’s a good thing the little rabbit girl learned how to skip her grape vine rope, isn’t it? And the next day she could jump mustard. And if the automobile doesn’t go swimming in with the gold fish and make the poll parrot sleep in the cat’s cradle, I’ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and Bunty’s scooter.

STORY XVI UNCLE WIGGILY AND BUNTY’S SCOOTER

One day, when Uncle Wiggily Longears, the bunny rabbit gentleman, came home to his hollow stump bungalow, having been over to call on Grandpa Goosey Gander, Mr. Longears saw Baby Bunty sitting on the front steps looking very sad and sorrowful.

“What’s the matter?” asked Uncle Wiggily. “Did you lose your grape vine skipping rope, Baby Bunty?”

“Oh, no,” answered the little rabbit girl. “My rope is all right, and I can jump salt, pepper, vinegar, mustard and even rice pudding. But I want a scooter, Uncle Wiggily! I want a scooter very much!”

“A scooter!” cried the bunny rabbit gentleman, in surprise. “What is that? Something new to jump rope with?”

“Oh, no,” answered Baby Bunty with a smile. “A scooter is a little two-wheeler roller skate wagon. It has wheels on it, and a place for you to stand with your feet and a place to hold on by your paws. You get on the scooter, give yourself a little push, and away you scoot as fast as anything! I want a scooter, Uncle Wiggily. All the other animal boys and girls have ’em!”

“Then you shall have one, too!” cried Mr. Longears. “Come on, Baby Bunty, we’ll go down to the fifteen and sixteen cent store and get you a scooter!”

“Oh, joy!” said Baby Bunty, clapping her paws, and trying to make her pink nose twinkle like Uncle Wiggily’s. But she didn’t do it very well, being so small.

A little later the rabbit gentleman and the little girl, who had been found in a hollow stump, were on their way through the woods to the fifteen and sixteen cent barn where they sold scooters.

“Give me the best one you have for Baby Bunty,” ordered Uncle Wiggily, and it was given him.

“Oh, may I ride home on it?” asked Baby Bunty, when they were on the smooth woodland path once more.

“Why, yes, if you know how,” said Uncle Wiggily.

“Oh, all you have to do with a scooter,” spoke Baby Bunty, “is to get on with your hind paws, hold fast to the handle with your front paws, give yourself a push and away you scoot!”

“Let me see you try it,” said Uncle Wiggily.

“Maybe you’d better go first,” said Baby Bunty.

“Oh, no, indeed!” laughed her uncle. “I’m too old and stiff, and my rheumatism makes me feel too funny to ride on a scooter. Go ahead, Baby Bunty.”

Baby Bunty got on the foot-part of the scooter. She held tightly with her front paws, and gave herself a push with one hind paw. Along went the scooter, but alas! Likewise a-lack-a-day! Baby Bunty must have steered the wrong way, for bunk! into a tree she ran.

“Oh, did you hurt yourself?” asked Uncle Wiggily, as he ran to help her.

“Oh, no!” laughed the little rabbit girl. “It’s fun when I get so I know how to do it!”

Off she started once more, but this time she ran into a stump and bunked her nose.

“Are you hurt?” asked Uncle Wiggily.

“No—no,” said Bunty bravely. “But I must be more careful.”

The next time she steered very straight, but she sent the scooter right into a mud puddle and the mud splashed on Uncle Wiggily’s tall silk hat. But, as the hat was black, the mud spots do not show very plainly.

“Oh, dear!” sighed Baby Bunty. “I don’t believe I’ll ever learn how to ride my scooter. I should have bought roller skates. Don’t you want to ride and show me how, Uncle Wiggily?”

“Dear me!” said the rabbit gentleman, unpretentious like. “Do you think, at my age, I could?”

“Of course!” said Baby Bunty.

“I am lame and stiff and have the rheumatism,” said Uncle Wiggily, “but I’ll try anything once. Let me see that scooter, Bunty!”

Uncle Wiggily got on with his hind paws. He took hold with his front paws and he gave himself a push. And, just as it would happen, the scooter was then at the top of a hill. Down this hill went the funny little two-wheeled wagon, with Uncle Wiggily on it.

“Stop! Oh, stop!” begged Mr. Longears, as he saw what was before him. “I didn’t know this was down hill! Stop!”

But it was too late to stop! Down he went, faster and faster. And the scooter traveled so quickly that it rolled straight along and didn’t go from side to side, or bunk into anything.

“Oh, how wonderfully well Uncle Wiggily rides!” said Baby Bunty at the top of the hill, as she began to hop down.

And just then, at the bottom of the hill, the scooter, with Uncle Wiggily on it, struck a stump. Up in the air went the rabbit gentleman, and down he came with a thump. But he landed on a bed of soft moss and wasn’t hurt a bit. The scooter came down with a bump beside him. Uncle Wiggily looked around, dazed like. Baby Bunty came hopping down the hill.

“Oh, Uncle Wiggily!” she cried. “That was wonderful! But I didn’t know that was the way to get off a scooter.”

“It isn’t,” said Mr. Longears. “And don’t you try that way, either. But I enjoyed my ride. I’m not as stiff as I was, but I may be more so tomorrow. Now I’ll give you some lessons, Baby Bunty.”

The little rabbit girl soon learned to ride her scooter, but not down hill, and she had lots of fun. And if the clock doesn’t strike the dinner bell and make the gas stove think it’s time for supper before breakfast, I’ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the flowers.

STORY XVII UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE FLOWERS

Uncle Wiggily Longears, the bunny rabbit gentleman, was hopping through the woods one day, wondering what Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy would have for his dinner in the hollow stump bungalow, when, suddenly, Mr. Longears heard some one call:

“Uncle Wiggily! Uncle Wiggily! Wait for me! Oh, wait for me!”

Quickly the rabbit gentleman turned around, and lowered his long ears, so they would not stick up over the tops of the bushes.

“I am not sure, as yet, whether I want to wait for whoever this is, or not,” said Uncle Wiggily, cautious like and reserved. “If it’s the Pipsisewah, or the Skuddlemagoon, I certainly don’t want them to see me, or the see the souse on my ears.”

Again the voice cried:

“Oh, Uncle Wiggily! Wait for me! Where are you. I saw you a moment ago, but now I can’t see you! Please wait for mee!”

“Why, that’s Baby Bunty!” exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, with a joyful twinkle of his pink nose. “My dear little baby rabbit, who was found in a stump! Of course I’ll wait for her.”

Then Uncle Wiggily let his ears flop up, so they could be seen over the bushes, and the little rabbit girl cried:

“Oh, now I can see you! Wait a minute and I’ll hop to where you are.”

Uncle Wiggily sat on a stump and waited. Pretty soon Baby Bunty came hopping along the woodland path.

“My goodness me, sakes alive and some peanut butter cakes!” cried the rabbit gentleman. “What is that yellow stuff on your paws, Baby Bunty?”

“Those are yellow flowers,” said Baby Bunty. “I picked both my paws full of them, and I’m going to give them to Nurse Jane.”

“Yellow flowers, eh?” laughed Uncle Wiggily. “Oh, so they are!” he went on, as he brushed some cobwebs off his glasses. “It is very kind of you to gather them for Nurse Jane.”

“I’m glad you think so,” spoke Baby Bunty. “Have a smell, Uncle Wiggily!” and she held her bouquet of yellow blossoms under the pink, twinkling nose of Uncle Wiggily.

“Oh, Baby Bunty, don’t!” begged Uncle Wiggily, drawing back. “Oh, dear me! A-ker-choo. Ker-snitzio! Bushwah! Bur-r-r-r!” and he sneezed eleven-sixteen times.

“Oh! Are you catching cold, Uncle Wiggily?” asked Baby Bunty.

“No,” answered the old rabbit gentleman. “It’s just the flowers. They have some yellow dust on them, and the petals are so ticklish that, when they touched my nose, they made me sneeze. I like your flowers, Baby Bunty, and so will Nurse Jane, but please don’t hold them so close to my nose again.”

“I won’t,” promised the little rabbit girl. “Now we’ll have a nice game of tag! Come on, chase me!” and away she hopped through the woods.

“Hi, there! Come back!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “Don’t run so fast, Baby Bunty! You may get lost or the Pipsisewah may catch you. Come back!”

“No, you chase me! Come on, tag me!” cried Baby Bunty.

“Oh, dear, I suppose I’ll have to,” spoke Uncle Wiggily, with a sort of sighing groan. “But I’m so old and stiff-like——”

But still he felt he must hop on to see that no harm came to Baby Bunty. And that little rabbit girl certainly led the old gentleman rabbit a long chase.

On through the woods hopped Baby Bunty, carrying her yellow flowers, and after her hopped Uncle Wiggily. All of a sudden Mr. Longears, looking ahead, saw the bad old Pipsisewah jump out from behind a stump, and make a grab for Baby Bunty!

“Oh, dear me, and some fire engine rice pudding!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “I should have run faster after Baby Bunty to save her from the Pipsisewah. Yet, even if I were there, what could I do? And what can she do? Oh, this is too bad!”

Then, as he watched, he suddenly saw brave Baby Bunty thrust her bouquet of yellow flowers into the very face of the Pipsisewah. Right under his nose the little rabbit girl held the fuzzy blossoms, and then the Pip quickly turned a backward somersault and a forward peppersault and he went:

“Ker-choo! A-ker-choo-choo! Kersnooziozoozium!”

And he sneezed so hard that he sneezed himself away up over the trees, and far enough off so he couldn’t hurt Uncle Wiggily or Baby Bunty.

“Well, that’s the time the fuzzy, sneezy flowers came in useful!” said Uncle Wiggily.

Then he hopped up to Baby Bunty and found her smiling.

“Now do you like my flowers?” she asked.

“Yes,” answered Uncle Wiggily, “I do. And I’ll carry one of the bouquets for you.” But he was careful to hold it away from his pink, twinkling nose, as he didn’t want to sneeze as hard as the Pipsisewah had done.

So, everything came out all right, and if the fried egg doesn’t go to sleep on the sofa cushion and make the rocking chair think it’s a yellow rose, I’ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the white birch.

STORY XVIII UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE WHITE BIRCH

“Where is Baby Bunty this morning?” asked Uncle Wiggily Longears, the bunny rabbit gentleman, as he came downstairs to a rather late breakfast in his hollow stump bungalow.

“Do you want her to make you chase her, and play tag, or gather more yellow flowers to give the Pipsisewah a sneeze?” asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper, as she poured some carrot gravy over Uncle Wiggily’s lettuce pancakes.

“Oh, indeed, I don’t want Baby Bunty for anything like that,” spoke Mr. Longears. “I was just thinking, if she were off playing somewhere, I could rest and not have to hop about like a jumping Jack walking a tight rope.”

“Oh, Baby Bunty is good for you!” laughed Nurse Jane. “Still, you needn’t worry now. She is out of the way. She has gone over to play with Beckie Stubtail, the little girl bear, and she is going to stay to supper. Baby Bunty doesn’t want to come home until after dark, and she told me to ask you to go after her.”

“I will,” said Uncle Wiggily. “Hurray! Much as I love Baby Bunty, I like to be quiet, sometimes. Now I can eat my breakfast and have a little sleep.”

So Uncle Wiggily did. In the afternoon he took a hop through the woods and had a little adventure with a frog lady. She was Mrs. No-Tail, the mother of Bully and Bawly, and Mrs. No-Tail fell into a pile of dry dust. Being fond of water, she didn’t like being dry, but she might never have gotten out of the dust if Uncle Wiggily had not helped her.

Then, after supper, Mr. Longears said to Nurse Jane:

“Now I will go over to Beckie Stubtail’s house and get Baby Bunty. She won’t be afraid to come home through the dark woods if I am with her.”

“No,” spoke Nurse Jane, “I hardly believe she will. But be very careful coming through the dark woods, Uncle Wiggily. The Pipsisewah may be hiding there waiting for you.”

“I’ll be careful!” promised the bunny rabbit. “But is there any favor I could do for you when I go to bring home Baby Bunty?”

“Yes,” replied Nurse Jane, “there is. If you have time, after you stop at the Stubtail house for our little rabbit girl, I wish you’d step over to Mrs. Wibblewobble’s, the duck lady. She has a bag of sugar for me. It’s three pounds she is giving me back for some she borrowed of me to make cornmeal cakes.”

“I’ll stop at Mrs. Wibblewobble’s and get the sugar, and also bring Baby Bunty home,” said Uncle Wiggily.

Then he hopped off through the woods. It was getting dark, but Uncle Wiggily didn’t care about that. Baby Bunty might, but he never would.

Soon the rabbit gentleman was at the home of Beckie Stubtail, the little bear girl. As he drew near he heard merry shouts and laughter.

“The children are having a good time,” thought Uncle Wiggily, and so they were. When they knew he was there, Baby Bunty wanted him to come in and play some games. But Mr. Longears said: