The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-06-04
Bedtime Stories
Uncle wiggiIy and the Cannon.
BIZ HOWARD Il. GARIs

"A cannon?" cried Uncle Wiggily, |
resting the soft end of his bean-shoot- |
ing popgun on the edge of his tall silk
hat. do you mean a big gun that
shoots cannon balls?'
YES" answered Sammie, "I do.
Since you have started to be soldier,
and have this guard tent near your
hollow stump bungalow to keep away
the bad, biting mosquito army, you
ought to have a cannon in front, as
soldiers do at forts
But 1 have my bean-shooting pop
gum" said the bunny rabbit, land you
animal boys have yours, so 1 don't see
why we need a, cannon
They have them in all mosquito
wars Sammie said.
But L don't know where to get
one" spoke the bunny.
"Oh, we boys will make one" an
swered the rabbit chap. I'll get Jim
mic Wibblewobble, the duck; Jackie
and Peetie Bow-Wow, the puppy dog
boys, and the Bushytail squirrel boys,
and we'll make cannon that shoots
with a loud 'Bang-bang"
'All right" replied the bunny rab-
bit, turning away so his ears would
hide his smile. You may try
Away rushed Sammie, as happy as
clam when it jumps out of the chow
der to chase an oyster cracker around
the salt-cellar.
Were going to have a cannoni
We're going to have a cannon!" Sam
mic cried, and all the animal boys
shouted "Hurray!' like little girl I
know, who says that when she has
finished dancing the foxtrot without
stepping on the toes of Grandma
GooSey Gander.
Uncle Wiggily, a little later, was
sitting in his soldier tent, about which
1 have told you, and as he ate his
lunch of carrot sandwiches, with let
tuce ice cream sprinkled through the
middle, he smiled. Then he laughed
TIA! Hal"
Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, his musk
rat lady housekeeper, who was hang
ing up clothes in the bungalow yard,
heard the bunny.
What are you laughing at, Uncle
Wiggily?" asked Nurse Jane. Did
one of the enemy mosquitoes tickle
you under the chimp
mo, indeed" replied the bunny
uncle, as he stood up and saluted his
housekeeper in true soldier fashion
81 was just laughing at the thought of
Sammie Littletail and his little animaH
boy friends making a cannon. 1t will
be like Johnnie BuShytailS starch box
drum, 1 suppose cannon made or
paper as the kindergarten class in the
stump school, where the lady mouse
| teaches, makes baskets out of chalk
dust. But it will be fun for them,
tho their cannon can no more keep
away the mosquitoes than can my tall
silk hat
well, don't be too sure about it,"
spoke Nurse Jane, but Uncle Wiggily
only laughed again, and at the lolly-
pop pudding ice cream which the
muskrat lady brought out to him.
When Sammie Littletail told the
other animal chaps that Uncle Wig
gily would let them make cannon
to be fired in front of his war tent, to
keep away the mosquitoes, all the rab-
| bits, puppies, squirrels, ducks. guinea
pigs, goats and other friends began to
work. They spent all of one AFTER
noon when school was out and what
Well, you shall hear about that in a
| little while.
By and by it was coming on toward
night in Woodland, where Uncle Wig
that he was, marched up and down on
| guard in front of his tent.
IT think I must light my camp fire
| and see about getting supper, SAID
the bunny to himself. For he did
most of his own cooking since he had
started to be soldier, and he stayed
in the tent which he had put up near
his hollow stump bungalow.
| So Uncle Wiggily lighted his fire.
and began to cook some turnlps, but
all at once-"Bizz! Bizzi" out from
the swamp where they stayed during
the day flew lot of big, hungry and
| thirsty mosquitoes. Straight for Uncle
WiggiIy they flew and began biting
him.
ouch" he cried. "Oh, dear!" and
| he slapped himself on his neck and
ears to drive away the biting bugs.
| But more mosquitoes came-a reg
ular army of them-and the soldier
rabbit gentleman wished some of the
animal pcys, who were being trained
/ by him to be soldiers also, would come
with their bean-shooting popguns to
drive the pests away.
Uncle Wiggily himself fired his own
gun at the mosquitoes, but there
were so many of them he could not
drive them all away.
| "Ha This is the time we capture
our enemy, the rabbit bunny cap
taini" cried tho head mosquito. "Ad-
vance, comrades. Forward, march:
Capture Uncle Wiggilyi"
Well, the bad mosquitoes were just
going to do this, when, down the
woodland path sounded rumbling,
bumbling sound. At first Uncle Wig
gily thought it was thunder, and he
was glad for rain will sometimes
drive mosquitoes away. But the
sky was clear and the stars out, so it
could not be shower
The rlimbling kept up, and then,
all of sudden, brave voice cried:
Ready, nowi Take aimi FIRE."
Bang" went a big noise, and out
toward the mosquitoes in front of
| Uncle Wiggily's tent rushed a cloud of
smoke and talcum and toothpowder
And right thru the mess of mosqui-
toes shot needles, hatpins, safety pins
paper pins, buttons, hooks, eyes and
everything like that!
"Whoo-isn!" cried the mosquitoes.
| ''They are firing a cannon at us! We
can't stand thisi Come on, fly away"
! and they did
Then Uncle Wiggily saw that Sam
mic and his animal boy friends had
made a big cannon by pasting two
| round hat boxes together. They had
fastened the cannon on some old baby
| carriage wheels and they had loaded
the pasteboard gun with tooth and tai
cum powder, and all sorts of pins.
needles and other things they found
mot sic