The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-04-10
Bedtime Stories
Uncle Wiggily and the Cake of Soap.
BY HOWARD r.. GARIs

Uncle Wiggily and the Cake of Soap.
Now don't forget to bring it, Uncle
Wiggily." called Nurse Jane Fuzzy
/ Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper,
as she watched the bunny gentleman
hopping down off the front steps OF
his hollow stump bungalow one morn
ing.
I'll bring it all right" he answered.
Let me see, now, it was box of stove
polish you wanted, was it not?
mo, indeed" laughed Nurse Jane.
1T is a cake
"Oh, now 1 remember-a chocolate
cake for supper" said Uncle Wiggily,
jolly-like and teasing.
mo. indeed Wrong again. And
Nurse Jane laughed a second time
What L asked you to bring me is
| brown cake of soap, so that l may do
the washing. Don't forget 4
II won't" promised Mr.. Longears
"A cake of soap you shall have, Nurse
janet" And away he hoped over the
fields and thru the woods to look for
an adventure, as well to get the
| cake of soap for the muskrat lady
housekeeper.
IT think I'll get the soap first,
thought the bunny uncle, land then IL
| 1 get tangled up in an adventure any
where and have to hurry back to my
| bungalow I'll not have forgotten what
| Nurse Jane wants"
i So leaning on his red, white and
blue striped rheumatism crutch that
the muskrat lady had gnawed for him
out of a cornstaIk, Uncle Wiggily went
to the grocery and bought the cake
of SOAP With that in the pocket of
| his spring oVercoat the bunny hopped
| here and there looking for an adVen-
ture. Then, after while, as 1t was
a warm, SunSh1ny April gay, ne pesdH
| to feel sleepy.
I'll Just sit down under this tree on
this soft, messy log beside this little
pond of water and take nap, SAID
! Uncle Wiggily. When 1 awaken l
NAV find an adventure; who knows?'
So the bunny settled himself for his
nap, and, just as he was doing off,
out from the hollow messy log came
more than 700 crawling ants. One of
them saw the bunny and cried:
| "Oh, here is our friend Uncle Wig
gily, Hello, Mr.. Longears!' And she
began tickling him under his pink,
twinkling nose. What are you doing
here?" she asked.
"Oh. I'm so-so-sleepy!" said I'm
Gle Wiggily, hardly opening his eyes.
What have you in your pocket?"
asked the little ant girl, who had once
visited the bunny gentleman. ANY
candy?"
"That a-oh, that's-rm so sleepy
drowsily, and the rest of what he said
was lost in sort of snore.
"Oh, he has cake!" cried the little
ant boys and girls. How nice,' and
they clapped their feet together.
who is the cake for?" asked the
little ant girl, as she saw the square
package in the bunny's pocket
ITS for oh, dear. It's for-Ooooo-
oo-oo." and Uncle Wiggily gaped and
yawned sleepy like.
"Oh, he says it's for you" cried a
little ant boy. please give us sonnet"
"Of course I WILL answered the lit
tie ant girl. Uncle Wiggily is very
good to bring me a cake. L never eX-
pected it," and she and the other ant
children-about fourteen thousand
hundred of them-lifted the cake of
soap out of the bunnys pocket. 1t
takes that many ants to lift a soap
cake, you know.
"Oh. what a lovely brown one it is!"
cried a little ant boy. 81 guess it's
chocolatei isn't it ?''
Tit doesn't exactly smell like
chocolate said the little ant girl. who
thought Uncle Wiggily had said the
cake was for her. He really hadn't
ou.' when he stretched himself and
went fast asleep. That sounded like
you"
/, Lets cut it into small pieces and
7 we can all have Bit" said a big ant
girl. I'm SO hungry for cake!"
So, with the sharp saw-edge of a
leaf for a knife the cake of soap was
cut into little pieces. each about as
large as the head of a pin, but each
one of them was, to the fourteen
thousand hundred ants, as large as a
real piece of cake would be to you.
Now we swill eat our cake!" cried
the ant girl, who had tickled Uncle
Wtggily, and not knowing that it was
soap they had. they were just about
to take some bites and chews when,
all of sudden, Uncle Wiggily woke
up, saw what had happened and off
the log he hoped.
Quick" cried the big ant girl.
seeing the bunny get up. Il guess
ne didn't want us to take his cake.
He's angry. Quick! Every one of you
jump into the pond with your pieces
and swim to the other side. Hurry"
Into the pond of water jumped the
ants, each with n piece of soap, and
as they swan across, the water all
turned into soap-bubble foam, and the
ants were so surprised they did not
know what to do. And when they
reached the other side of the pond.
rloating on bubbles like many colored
rarts not one had a bit of soap left
the water had melted it all into suds
'Oh, nor cried Uncle Wiggily,
laughing when he saw what had hap
pened. so you thought the cake of
soap was real oak did you? That's
too bad. I'll have Nurse Jane bake
you one, made from sugar and pop
corn, that you can eat"
, And he did, when he had hurried to
the store for more washing stuff. So
t everything came out all right, and it's
good thing the ants didn't eat the
, brown soap. And If the dumbwaiter
doesn't talk in his sleep and wake up
: they are playing the photograph, I'll
: tell you next about Uncle wiggily and
, Tootsie's marbles.-(Copyright 1917,
by Mcclure Newspaper Syndicate