Once upon a time Uncle Wiggily said to his muskrat lady housekeeper: “Nurse Jane, we are going to the woods.” “What shall we do in the woods?” asked Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy, twisting her tail around under her dress. “We shall visit the Squiggle Bugs, perhaps,” laughed Uncle Wiggily, twinkling his pink nose. “And we may have an adventure.” “You never know what will happen when you go to the woods,” said Nurse Jane. “And, as you might get into danger if you went alone, I will go with you.” The bunny rabbit and Nurse Jane hopped to the forest. Suddenly Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy pulled Uncle Wiggily’s coat tails and whispered: “See! There is a flat stump table, and on it are good things to eat!” “Oh, yes!” cried Mr. Longears. “And, as no one is there, we may as well sit down and eat the picnic lunch.” “What a large pitcher of lemonade!” said Nurse Jane. “Whose is it, Uncle Wiggily?” “Maybe it belongs to a giant,” answered the bunny. “Oh, dear!” cried Nurse Jane. “Don’t be afraid,” said the rabbit. Nurse Jane felt relieved.
Now, the stump table had been set in the woods by a Mother Bear and her two little cubs. Soon the three bears, who had gone looking for honey, came back. “Oh, Mother!” growled Little Cub Goopy, “someone is at our table!” “They are eating all our good things!” whined Little Cub Snoopy. Mother Bear grumbled: “My goodness!” “Let me crawl out on a branch over their heads, Mother,” whispered Goopy. “I’ll drop acorns on that muskrat lady and bunny uncle to scare them.” Mother Bear helped Goopy climb the tree while Snoopy held her tail. A branch of the tree waved over the stump table.
Goopy climbed up softly. Neither Uncle Wiggily nor Nurse Jane heard him. “This is a fine picnic,” laughed the bunny, eating a cake. Just then Goopy, out on the end of the branch, slipped and tumbled into the big pitcher of lemonade, splashing it all over Uncle Wiggily and Nurse Jane. Uncle Wiggily hopped home to his bungalow.
“Where are you going?” squeaked Nurse Jane. Uncle Wiggily answered: “I am going to get a piece of sticky fly paper to catch any more bears that may drop down.” With the sticky paper, Mr. Longears hopped back to the woods. He put the sticky paper on the stump table. Little Cub Goopy, who had scrambled out of the lemonade, ran back to Mother Bear. “Now I will climb the tree and scare away Uncle Wiggily,” Little Cub Snoopy whispered.
So he climbed out on the branch. But his paws slipped and down he fell on the sticky fly paper. “Bless my pink, twinkling nose!” cried Uncle Wiggily as he danced with the big lemonade pitcher. “Guff! Guff!” whined Snoopy. The rabbit pulled the little cub off the sticky paper and said: “I am going to tickle you to make you a better bear.” The bunny softly patted little Cub Snoopy. Then Uncle Wiggily balanced his rheumatism crutch on the end of his nose.
“Why are you doing that?” asked Nurse Jane. Uncle Wiggily danced around as he answered: “I want to make Mother Bear laugh at this funny trick so she won’t bite us.” But Mother Bear would not laugh. “Gurr! Gurr!” she growled, pretending to be angry. “I think I shall nibble your ears, Uncle Wiggily!” “What for?” asked the bunny rabbit. “For eating my little cubs’ lunch and for tickling Snoopy,” replied Mother Bear. “Yes, I shall nibble your ears!” “Oh, no, you shall not do that!” cried Nurse Jane. Then the muskrat lady took one of the empty lunch baskets and slipped it over Mother Bear’s head.
“Now you can’t nibble any ears!” said Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy. “Ha! Ha!” laughed Uncle Wiggily, waving his paw. Little Cub Goopy and Little Cub Snoopy sat up together like twins. “Wuff! Wuff!” growled Mother Bear as she sat down to get the basket off her head. Then the bunny and Nurse Jane ran safely home.
Next day Uncle Wiggily arose early.
“Ah, ha, Nurse Jane!” he greeted the muskrat lady. “Do you want to go to the woods and have another adventure with bears?” Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy said she would rather have different fun. “Then I’ll tell you what we can do,” spoke Uncle Wiggily. “We’ll take our own lunch and go visiting in the forest.” Nurse Jane asked whom they would visit. “Oh, perhaps the Squiggle Bugs,” answered the bunny. So he and the muskrat lady went to the woods. “What are you going to do with the rope, Uncle Wiggily?” asked Nurse Jane. “I am going to make you a swing,” politely replied the rabbit.
He climbed a tree, fastened the rope to a branch and made a swing for his housekeeper. “Up you go!” cried the bunny, giving Nurse Jane a push. Up and down she swung, and then she called: “I wish I had a drink!”
Uncle Wiggily hopped to the spring and filled his tall, silk hat to the brim with water.
Nurse Jane thanked the rabbit, drank the water and swung by herself, while Uncle Wiggily slept under the trees until it was time to eat lunch. All at once the bunny sneezed, and opening his eyes, he saw a Squiggle Bug tickling his nose. “Look at Nurse Jane!” buzzed the Bug. “She is swinging too high!” All of a sudden the swing rope broke and down fell the muskrat lady.
“Oh, I am so sorry!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “Are you hurt?” Nurse Jane said she wasn’t. “I think a hammock would be safer,” spoke the rabbit. He made a hammock out of grass and cobwebs. “Get in,” the bunny invited Nurse Jane, “and the Squiggle Bug will pull you.”
Suddenly, while Nurse Jane was swinging in the hammock, the grass rope broke and she began to fall. Then a Giant Squiggle Bug flew past and caught one end of the hammock. “Come here, Uncle Wiggily!” buzzed the Bug. “Don’t let Nurse Jane bump!” cried the rabbit gentleman.
Uncle Wiggily and the Bug let Nurse Jane down easily. When the muskrat lady crawled out of the hammock she said: “No more of that, if you please!” The Giant Bug flew away after Uncle Wiggily had thanked him. Then the little Squiggle Bug said: “I think you will have more adventures on the other side of the brook. I will lead you to a plank bridge.” When they reached the bridge over the brook the Squiggle Bug walked first. “I’ll go next to see if it is safe,” offered Uncle Wiggily.
After he had crossed, Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy started, but, as the muskrat lady reached the middle of the plank bridge, it broke! Into the water she splashed!
The Squiggle Bug tossed her the end of a cobweb, and he and Mr. Longears pulled Nurse Jane out of the water. Then, all of a sudden as they were going to eat the picnic lunch, a Fuzzy Fox ran away with the basket, and Uncle Wiggily ran after him waving his rheumatism crutch.
Uncle Wiggily ran after the Fuzzy Fox. “I’ll get you!” shouted the bunny. The Fox ran fast but the rabbit hopped faster and took away the lunch basket from the bad chap. “I would nibble your ears, only I’m out of breath!” panted the Fox. “Ha! Ha!” laughed Uncle Wiggily. He hopped back to Nurse Jane with the lunch. “Where can we set a table?” asked Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy. Along crawled a big mud turtle. “We’ll set our table on the turtle’s back,” said Uncle Wiggily. So they did.
But, all of a sudden, as she sat down on a toad stool to eat, Nurse Jane spilled some pepper on the turtle’s tail. Away crawled the turtle as fast as he could go, spilling the picnic lunch.
“Oh, dear! How can we get anything to eat?” sighed Nurse Jane. “We shall go visit Mr. Twistytail, a pig gentleman I know,” answered the bunny. Mr. Twistytail invited Nurse Jane and Uncle Wiggily to dinner. They had apple pudding with sour milk sauce.
When Uncle Wiggily and Nurse Jane reached home, after having dined with Mr. Twistytail, the rabbit said: “I have had enough adventures for a while.” But the next day there sounded a knock at his door. “Some one is coming to ask you to go adventuring again,” squeaked Nurse Jane. Uncle Wiggily opened the door and saw Nannie Wagtail the Goat and Susie Littletail the rabbit. “Please make us a playhouse,” begged the animal girls. The bunny made them a fine play house with a chimney, a door, a window and everything.
“And don’t let any of the animal boys come to bother us!” bleated Nannie. “No, I won’t,” promised Uncle Wiggily. But a little while after that Susie crawled from the play house, outside of which sat her doll, and Susie cried: “Oh, Uncle Wiggily! Please make Billie Wagtail and Floppy Twistytail stop teasing us.”
Suddenly the teasing animal boys ran in a circle around Uncle Wiggily, laughing and shouting with joy.
Around the play house of Susie and Nannie the animal boys ran next. “Oh, please go away!” begged Susie. “We can’t have any fun with them here!” bleated Nannie. “Ha! I know what to do!” laughed Uncle Wiggily. “I’ll take these boys to an ice cream store and let them eat as much as they please.” “Come on, boys!” he called, twinkling his pink nose. “Hurray! Hurrah! Hurroo!” shouted Billie, Floppy, Tommie and Jackie, as Uncle Wiggily led them to the ice cream store.
“I want chocolate!” barked Jackie, standing on his head. “Well, you must not tease the girls any more,” warned Uncle Wiggily, and the animal boys promised not to. But, while the bunny gentleman was gone, the Fox and Wolf crept up and frightened Susie and Nannie. “Oh, where is Uncle Wiggily?” cried Susie.
Suddenly the bunny gentleman hopped along with his bag of clubs and golf balls. “I’ll scare the bad chaps away!” shouted the rabbit.
“The Fox and Wolf will not bother you any more,” laughed Uncle Wiggily as he sent the last golf ball flying toward the bad chaps. “I banged them on their noses!” Nannie and Susie were glad, but the goat girl said: “I’m afraid they might come back after you go, Uncle Wiggily. Couldn’t you move our play house near your hollow stump bungalow?” “No,” the bunny answered. “But wait a minute! I have an idea!” Off hopped Uncle Wiggily until he met the kind circus Elephant.
“Will you please come and move a play house for me?” asked the rabbit. “Right gladly,” replied the Elephant, standing on his hind legs with his cap on his head. The big, strong elephant lifted the play house up in his trunk.
“Where do you want it?” he asked. “Can you put it on your back?” inquired the bunny. “Yes, but tell the animal girls to get inside the house,” spoke the Elephant. Susie and Nannie hopped in and played with their dolls.
Up in the air the Elephant lifted the play house with Susie and Nannie inside. “Oh, isn’t this fun!” bleated the goat girl. “The most fun we ever had!” laughed Susie. Safely on his back the Elephant set the play house. “Now the Fox and Wolf can’t get you,” said Uncle Wiggily. “No, they can’t,” answered Susie. “But how can you get up here, Uncle Wiggily” asked Nannie. “I’ll climb up on a ladder,” replied the bunny. He put the ladder against the Elephant.
But, as Uncle Wiggily was climbing up, Susie cried: “Oh, here come the Fox and Wolf back!” The Elephant laughed through his trunk. “Don’t let them frighten you!” he rumbled. And when the Fox and Wolf came near enough the Elephant picked them up, one after the other in his trunk, and tossed them far, far away.
Then the animal girls were happy. At the end of the day the bunny put roller skates under the playhouse, hitched his auto to it and hauled it away.
Off in the greenwood among the hills was a lake of blue water. One day the rabbit said to Nurse Jane: “Come! We shall take a ride on the lake in my motor boat.” Uncle Wiggily dressed himself like a sailor, and Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy, carrying her parasol, went with him to the dock. “Oh, may I come with you?” squealed Floppy Twistytail the piggie boy. “Let him come,” squeaked Nurse Jane. So Uncle Wiggily, the muskrat lady and the piggie boy sailed over the blue lake in the bunny gentleman’s motor boat.
Now on shore were two bad chaps—the Heavy Hippo and the Skillery Scallery Alligator with the double jointed tail. “Let us catch Uncle Wiggily!” grunted the Heavy Hippo. “That will be fun!” rumbled the ’Gator. “We can swim to the island where they will land, and catch them there.”
Uncle Wiggily, Nurse Jane and the piggie boy sailed to an island in the lake. On the island they played a game of baseball. Oh, what fun!
After the ball game Uncle Wiggily said: “It is time we sailed on again.” The piggie boy grunted: “When do we eat?” The bunny twinkled his pink nose and answered: “You shall soon have something to eat, Floppy.” Just then, from where he was hiding in the water near Baseball Island, up rose the Heavy Hippo. “Here is where I eat now!” grunted the Heavy Hippo. “I’m going to nibble Uncle Wiggily’s ears!” But the bunny was too quick! “Come on!” cried Mr. Longears. He caught Nurse Jane by one paw, and Floppy by the other, and, leaping from the island, jumped as far as he could.
Uncle Wiggily stepped on the Hippo’s back and from there into the motor boat with the muskrat lady and piggie boy. “Oh, what a surprise!” howled the Hippo! On puffed the motor boat until Nurse Jane saw another island.
But Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy did not know that the ’Gator and Hippo had swam there and were having lunch on this second island.
“Let us stop there,” said Nurse Jane, as Uncle Wiggily steered the boat toward the second island. “Are we going to eat soon?” the piggie boy asked. “I’m ashamed of you—wanting to eat all the while, Floppy!” spoke Nurse Jane. Floppy blushed red behind his ears and grunted: “Well, I’m hungry!” By this time the ’Gator and Hippo, eating lunch on the island, had seen the motor boat coming. “You had better let me catch Uncle Wiggily,” bellowed the ’Gator. “All right!” grunted the Hippo. The Alligator swam off under water and caught in his teeth the anchor rope on Uncle Wiggily’s boat.
“This time they shall not get away!” rumbled the Hippo. “I’ll hold my mouth wide open and the ’Gator will pull the boat and Uncle Wiggily right in where I can nibble his ears.” On swam the ’Gator pulling the boat toward the big mouth of the Heavy Hippo which opened wider and wider.
Nurse Jane gave Uncle Wiggily a hatchet, crying: “Cut the rope!”
“Where did you get this hatchet?” asked the bunny. “I brought it to cut kindling wood with if we built a camp fire,” answered Nurse Jane. “But don’t ask questions! Cut the rope!” Uncle Wiggily raised the axe and brought it down on the anchor rope, one end of which was in the ’Gator’s mouth. “Zip!” snapped the rope. “Now we are free!” cried Nurse Jane. “But the ’Gator is swimming away with Uncle Wiggily’s rope and anchor!” squealed Floppy. “Let him go!” laughed the bunny. “He doesn’t know we are loose. He thinks he is still pulling us, and he’ll swim right into the Hippo’s mouth.”
That is just what the ’Gator did! The Hippo closed his mouth and nipped the Alligator! “Wowzie Zow!” howled the ’Gator. The sharp anchor tickled the Hippo’s tongue and the Hippo sneezed. But Uncle Wiggily, Nurse Jane and Floppy were saved, and this is the end of the story.
