One day Uncle Wiggily invited Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy to come with him to the woods. “We shall gather a basket of May flowers,” said the bunny rabbit. “Yes, and I suppose I shall catch cold and have the sniffle-snuffles,” laughed the muskrat lady housekeeper. “But, come along. Perhaps we shall have some adventures.” So, in the woods, the bunny gentleman and Nurse Jane gathered flowers.
“I see some red flowers over here,” said Nurse Jane, after a time. “I’m going to pick them.” She moved away from Uncle Wiggily. But while the bunny was filling his basket, suddenly Nurse Jane came running back all out of breath. “Oh, Uncle Wiggily!” she gasped. “The Skillery Scallery Alligator is crawling after me! What shall I do?” Uncle Wiggily twinkled his pink nose and said: “Let me think!”
Surely enough, while Uncle Wiggily was thinking and twinkling his pink nose, along came the Skillery Scallery Alligator with humps on his tail. “Well, Uncle Wiggily,” cried Nurse Jane, “Have you thought of anything yet?” The bunny rabbit quickly jumped along with his basket of flowers, at the same time grasping Nurse Jane’s paw. “Yes,” he said, “I think we had better run! Come on!”
But though Uncle Wiggily and Nurse Jane ran very fast, the ’Gator still came on after them, and at last the muskrat lady said: “We shall never escape. You had better think again, Uncle Wiggily.” So the bunny rabbit did. He saw an old stump, covered with toad stools. “I’ll make myself look like a stump,” he said to Nurse Jane, “and you cover yourself with blossoms so you look like a flower bed.”
Uncle Wiggily and Nurse Jane disguised themselves, and only just in time. Along came the Alligator. “Well,” he growled, “I thought I saw Uncle Wiggily and Nurse Jane, but I must have made a mistake. All I see is an old stump or two and a bed of flowers. I can’t eat them. I want ears to nibble!” The Alligator ambled away and Uncle Wiggily and Nurse Jane stood up and thankfully shook paws. Wait a moment!
The rabbit gentleman and Nurse Jane had no more than stopped their hearts from beating wildly, than the muskrat lady said: “Hark! I think some other bad animal is coming!” And, surely enough, along stalked the Woozie Wolf. “Come on!” whispered Uncle Wiggily to Nurse Jane. “We must run again, I think!” Nurse Jane said the same thing. “We’re not getting many flowers for your May basket,” she said.
Suddenly, right in the path of Uncle Wiggily and Nurse Jane appeared a pond of water. “Oh, dear me! We’re caught!” cried the muskrat lady. “You can’t swim, Wiggy, and we haven’t time to run around the pond. What shall we do?” Uncle Wiggily twinkled his pink nose. “We’ll wade into the pond and pretend to be water lilies. We’ll come out after the Wolf passes. He’ll think we’re May blossoms.”
Uncle Wiggily and Nurse Jane waded into the pond, crouching down and hiding every bit of themselves but their faces. Their faces they held flat on the water trying to make themselves look like pond lilies. Up came the hungry Wolf. “Well, I think I had better get myself some glasses,” growled the bad chap. “I thought sure I saw Uncle Wiggily and Nurse Jane, but here are only leaves and lilies.”
When the old Wolf slunk away, Nurse Jane and Uncle Wiggily crawled out of the pond. “I suppose you’ll scold me, Nurse Jane, for making so much trouble with my May basket and getting you all wet,” spoke the bunny rabbit. “Oh, not at all! Not at all!” laughed the muskrat lady. “I had quite a jolly time! I am all wet and we haven’t any flowers in the basket. But we fooled the Wolf and ‘Gator!”
Credits
Howard R. Garis was an American author best known for creating Uncle Wiggily Longears, a beloved rabbit gentleman whose gentle adventures appeared in countless newspaper serials and children's books throughout the early twentieth century. Garis wrote Uncle Wiggily stories almost daily for over forty years, making the character one of the most prolific in American children's literature. "Uncle Wiggily Gathers Flowers" showcases his signature blend of mild peril, warm humour, and the cheerful resourcefulness that made the series a staple of childhood reading.
