The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-03-22
Bedtime Stories
Uncle Wiggily in the Mud.
BY HOWARD r. GARIS

well, I think it is spring today
surely, or at least enough so that 1
can go out in my autom obile," said
Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit
gentleman, as he stood in the doorway
of his hollow stump bungalow one
morning.
1T is a beautiful day." agreed
Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat
lady housekeeper, and she was right
The sun was shining brightly, and tho
means summer, still there were signs
that spring was not far away.
Yes, I'll go for ride in my auto
mobile" went on the bunny uncle.
Il haven't been out in it since last
fall
So he pumped some air in the
bologna sausage tires, and took with
him a pepper caster to sprinkle the
pepper on the sausages when he want
ed his auto to sneeze and go faster.
Then he said goodbye to Nurse Jane,
gave the turnip steering wheel of his
machine a twist and away he went
"Hol For a fine adventure!" cried
the bunny uncle. jolly like.
The ground over which the auto
ran was hard, for it was still frozen
bit, so it made a good road over
which Uncle Wiggily could ride. Thru
the woods and over the fields of Wood
land he Travelled, until, all of sud
den he heard a voice right by his
"Oh, how cold and stiff 1 am! Ouch!
1 can hardly move. Oh, what shall 1
do? I came out too soon, 1 guess!"
'tHa That sounds like trouble!"
exclaimed the rabbit gentleman,
quickly stopping his machine Il must
see if 1 can help"
He looked down on the ground and
saw a big, old-fa shioned mud turtle
gentleman, barely able to crawl along
What is the matter?" asked Uncle
Wiggi1y, kindly.
Lots is the matter. oh, dear,'' an
swered the mud turtle gentleman.
You see all winter 1 have been asleep
in my warm bed of mud, at the bot
tom of the duck pond But I heard
today that it was spring, so 1 came up
to get something to eat
1T is spring. cried Uncle Wiggily
March 81, you know, the little birds
begin to sing, and all that sort of
thing
shivering IF it is spring I am very
cold. And when 1 get cold l become
so stiff I can hardly move. 1t is not
so bad later in the day, when the sun
is up, but now-oh, how cold and stiff
1 ami
.I'II soon warm you.' cried Uncle
Wiggily. So he picked up the big mud
turtle gentleman, the bunny did, and
put him under the fur robes in the
automobile, where the heat from the
RADIATOR soon thaWed MIN out
Now 1 am all right, can travel
along the road said the turtle after
a while. THE sun is high in the sky
now and l shall be warm enough until
night, and then I'll crawl back in the
mud. Please put me down, Uncle Wig
gily and thank you very much for
helping me. If ever I can do you a
favor I will
pray do not mention it, said Uncle
Wiggily, bashful like and shy. Then
he put the turtle down on the road,
for, being used to a slow walk, the
fast motion of the automobile made
the mud gentleman seasick.
Uncle Wiggily rode on and on, look
ing for an adventure, but he could not
seem to find any, and he was thinking
some of his Arabian Nights friends,
when, all at once, his automobile be-
gan to go slower and slower and
finally it stopped, tho the engine kept
on puff-puffing.
Hello. here. What's the matter?
What has nappened?" asked the
bunny uncle of himself He looked
over the side of the car and saw right
away what was the trouble
I'm stuck in the mudi" cried Uncle
Wiggily. That's what's happened
I'm stuck in the mudi"
And he was. The warm sun had
softened the frozen ground, melting
the ice that was in it, so that the road
was now wooZy-oozy mud instead of
being hard. And the wheels of Uncle