El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-09-05
Bedtime Story For the Little Ones
w
Uncle Wiggily and the Beech Tree.
By HOWARD B. CARTS.

LVV YIIL you go to the store for
M me. Uncle Wisgily?' asked
Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy.
the muskrat lady housekeeper. Of the
rabbit gentleman one day, as he sat
out on the porch Of his hollow stump
| bungalow in the woods.
Indeed I will. Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy,"
/ said Mr.. Longears. most politely.
What is it you WANT
a loaf Of bread and a pound of
sugar" she answered. and Uncle Wig
giIy started off.
Better take your umbrella" Nurse
Jane called after him. All the April
showers are not yet over, even il it is
So the rabbit gentleman took his
umbrella.
on his way to the store through the
woods. the bunny uncle came to big
tree. which had nice. shiny white bark
on il. and. to his surprise the rabbit
gentleman saw big, black bear
standing up on his hind legs and
scratching at the tree bark as hard a.
he could
'eHa, That is not the right thing to
do" said Uncle Wiggily to himself, IF
that bear scratches too much Of the
bark from the tree the tree will die,
for the bark of a tree is just like my
skin is to me. 1 must drive the bear
away"
The bear. scratching the bark with
his sharp claws. stood with his back to
Uncle Wiggily. and the rabbit gentle
man thought he could scare the big
creature away
So Uncle WiggiIy picked up a stone.
and throwing it at the bear. hit him on
the back where the fur was so thick it
hurt hardly at all
And as soon as he had thrown the
stone Uncle Wiggily in his loudest
voice shouted;
Bang, Bang, Bungity-bang-bung
''Oh. my goodness" cried the bear.
not turning around. The hunter man
with his gun must De after me. He has
shot me once. but the bullet did not
hurt. I had better run away before he
shoots me againi"
And the bear ran away. never once
looking around. for he thought the
stone Mr. Longears threw was bullet
from a gun, you see. and he thought
when Uncle Wiggily said Bang" that
II was a gun going off. So the bunny
gentleman scared the bear away.
Thank you, Uncle Wiggily." said the
beech tree You saved my life by not
letting the bear scratch off all my
bark"
7 am glad 7 did" spoke the rabbit,
making polite bow with his tall silk
hat. for Mr. Longears was polite. even
to a tree
THE bear would not stop scratching
my bark when I asked him TO" went
on the beech tree. so I am glad you
came along. and scared him. You did
me great favor and I will do you one
if ever can"
Thank you" spoke Uncle Wiggily.
and then he hoped on 10 the store to
get the loaf Of bread and the pound
of sugar for Nurse Jane
1t was on his way back from the
store that an adventure happened TO
Uncle Wiggily. He came to the place
where his friend the beech tree was
standing up in the woods. and a bal
sam tree. next door TO ii. was putting
some salve. or balsam, on the places
where the bear had scratched off the
bark. to make the cuts heal
'.Ah, ha"' growled the bear. as soon
as he saw Uncle Wiggily. you can't
fool me gain. making believe a stone
is a bullet and that your Bang" is d
gun, You can't fool me, I know all
about the trick YOU played on me. A
little bird. sitting up n q tree. saw it
and told me"
Well said Uncle Wiggily slowly.
I'm sorry had to fool you. but il was
all for the best. I wanted to save the
beech tree"
"Oh. I don't carer' cried the bear.