The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-08-28
Bedtime Stories
Uncle Wiggily and the Tin Can.
BIZ HOWARD n. GAk1s

Slty AonSears bunny SOluier TabpiI
gentleman" said one mosquito to an
other as they buzzed about one day in
the dark, dismal swamp where they
lived
so we must" agreed the second
mosquito.
to catch him. said the first mos
quito Either he finds out the tricks
We are going to play on him, or he
shoots tooth powder in our eyes so we
can't see to bite him.
That's right" buzzed a mesquite
| with green spots on his wings. which
showed that she liked to-dance the
ne-step on the noses of baldheaded
gentlemen. Let's all get together
and think of way to catch Uncle
! Wiggilyl''
I'VE will" buzzed the rest of the
mosquitoes,and then along came flying
the head captain lady of them all.
Where have you been ?'' the others
asked her.
From laying eggs in an old tomato
can full of water, which a foolish
woman left-near her back stoop' was
| the answer. I'm that old can 1 will
| soon have Matched out lovely brood
| of young mosauitoes,and they will buzz
| into that wornan's house, and bite hen
| and her baby and all the family. Oh.
am always on the lookout for old tin
cans, tell yop!"
| "Whoop de-doodle-do,'' suddenly
cried the MOSQUITO with green spots
| on her wings. "Ho! Ho! Now / know
| how to do it!''
! DO what? Dance the elephant
| jig?" asked the lady captain mosquito.
/ No, but when you spoke of the old
tin can it gave me an idea. Why can't
| a lot of us; fly over toward Uncle Wig
| gily's soldier tent some day. There
| must be many empty tin cans lying
| around, where he has thrown them
after eating what was in them. We
can hide in the tin can, and roll it
toward the trench-ditch where he
marches ~ and down with his talcum
/ powder pop gun On his shoulder
"And then what?" asked the lady
captain mosquito.
Then. when we're hidden in the
| tin can, and it has been rolled by-us
i near enough to Uncle Wig.ily. we will
! suddenly jump out and grab him be-
: fore he can tickle US with his bean
! bag bullets
"Good." cried the lady captain mos
quito. Wen do it,
But when, a little later, a shipping
spring mosquito flew, casual-like
around Uncle Wiggilys tent and hol-
low stump bungalow. TO lo-k for a tin
can, he had to come back to the swamp
and say:
! There isn't an empty can around
| the place! Not one to hold a drop of
rain water in which mosquito eggs
must be laid. The muskrat Nurse Jane
: Fuzzy WuzZy must De good house
keeper to keep empty cans away from
! her door"
she is" said the lady captain mos
| quito But never mind. Well take a
| can with US and hide in that We
must catch Uncle Wiggily"
So. finding a can arou'G the back
| steps of a housekeeper who was not
as careful as Nurse Jane, about a mil
lion mosquitoes carried it one night
close to Uncle Wiggily's soldier tent
! near where he stayed on guard be-
cause he was at war with the enemy,
| The next evening just as 1t was get-
| ting dark, about sixteen-eleven billion
million mosquitoes flew up from their
swamp and hid in the empty tin can.
Then by twisting their legs and filter
| ing their wings they began to roll it
! toward the rabbit gentleman's tent,
and when it got near enough they
| would pop out and grab him.
| So the can full of mosquitoes began
| slowly rolling along down a little hill
toward the tent.
i Now about this time Johnnie and
1 Billie Bushytail, the two squirrel boys:
| Sammie Littletail, the rabbit chap. and
Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, the pup
/ by dogs, came along with their pop
| guns on their shoulders, having been
| off in the fields drilling and learning
| to be soldiers, lessons about which
| the bunny gentleman gave them every
day after school.
| ''Oh, Uncle Wiggiiy." cried Billie
! .'Will you let US shoot our guns Just
| once? We haven't fired them this
evening, and we needAa little target
| practice
"AII rightly said Mr.. Longears. I'VE
will all do little shooting. Let me
see. what shall we take for mark ?''
And. he got his own popgun ready.
| There's a tin can over there" said
Sammie Littletail. Cant we shoot 1t
"Ha, What's that? A tin caa?"
cried Uncle Wiggily. Il did not know
We had any on the place. / must lell
| Nurse Jane about it, for if it gets full
of water and mosquitoes lay eggs in it
| there will be g. million more to bite us
so all ready, animal soldier boysI
/ Take good aim at that tin can. and
shoot hard and straight! Ready! Take
AIM, Fire!"
With that Uncle wiggily and his
young soldiers fired their taIclirn
powder pqpguns, shooting hard bean
bag bullets at the tin can in which
bunny did not know that.
Bang! Bing! Bung!" ratified the
bean bullets on the can. Some made
holes in it and some went in the cut
open top. The bean bullets hit the
mosquitoes on their toes and their
noses and on their biting bills.
"Oh, wow.s buzzed the bad biting
bugs I'VE made another mistake"
! so we didi'' buzzed the head lady
captain mosquito. But who would
! have supposed that they would use
/ our can, in which we were hiding, for
a gun target? Oh, dear"
Then those mosquitoes who could
still fly buzzed their way back to the
swamp, SO they didn't get Uncle Wig
/ gily that time, either
And If the gold fish doesn't reach
up and bite the wax dolls nose when
she is leaning over and trying to teach
| him how to spell cat I'll tell you
next about Uncle Wiggily andNt the bat
-tCopyright, 1917, by Mcclure News
paper Syndicate.)