The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-06-14
Bedtime Stories
Uncle Wiggily and the Dormouse.
BY HOWARD r. GARIs


Uncle Wiggily and the Dormouse.
Tap! Tap! Tapr" came a knock on
the door of the hollow stump bunga-
low one morning. Uncle SWiggily
Longears. the rabbit gentleman who
lived in the bungalow, called out:
| Please come in"
In hoped Dickie Chip Chip. the
sparrow boy postchap, with a letter
for the bunny gentleman.
'Ha! That's NIGEL" exclaimed Uncle
Wiggily as he took the envelope Il
hope it's a valentine,'
"A valentine this time of year."
laughed Dickie. This is June, Uncle
Wiggily!"
| ''Oh, so it is However, I'll read it,
And when Dickie few on to deliver
| the rest of his letters Uncle wiggily
read his own. 1t was very short and
said:
| III you want a new hat come to the
| this
-Ha! If I want new hat.''
thought the bunny uncle. We'll. l do
need one. But who knew that 1 did?
rms is very strange and mysterious
| Ha! L have it! This must be from
Alice in Wonderland. She is giving
me little surprise
so. telling Nun Jane Fuzzy wuz-
~, his muskrat lady housekeeper. that
he was going out to get a new hal
away hopped Uncle Wiggily, over the
heIds and thru the woods until he
came to the green meadow
i In the middle was a little grove of
Trees; ana half way there Uncle Wig
| glIy heard a sad little voice saving.
oh, dear. What trouble I'm I'M,
| Irouble. cried the bunny gentle
man, twlnklfng his pink nose ..Ha,
mat sounds like old times Let me
iie Up some one But who is it?"
IL is l, the little Dormouse." was
the answer, and, looking down. Uncle
Wlgglly saw the tiny creature who
Iidu peen at the queer tea party when
/ the Mad March Hare smashed the
Hatter's O'Clock watch
ne tau OF the poor little Dormouse
was caught fast in between two stones
and she could not move, but Uncle
WlSSlly quickly loosened il for her and
she was very thankful to get out.
Twas afraid d be Late she said.
nave to hurry on to help the Queen
OF Hearts put sugared cheese on the
larts for the kings birthday. I'll see
you again, Uncle Wiggily'
nope SO, spoke the bunny uncle,
as ne hurried away to get his new
| hat, all the while wondering whether
or not he would see Alice from Won
derland
Uncle Wiggily reached the green
meadow trees, but no one else was
there. He looked up and down, and
old hat in sight, to say nothing of a
new one.
Il wonder if this letter is an April
fool joke" thought the bunny uncle,
taking from his pocket the envelope
DlcEie had given him. mo, if it's the
month of June 1t can't be April Fools
| day, any more than it can be time for
valentines" said the bunny. But I
wonder where my hat lisp"
Hardly had Uncle Wiggily said this,
ont hor oil Nf
cried.
| Here's your hat
| With that something seemed to drop
drown from the clouds. maybe it
was from one of the trees. But what
ever it was it completely covered
Uncle Wiggily out of sight. 1t was just
as if you took a large bowl and turned
it upside down over a grasshopper.
only, of course, Uncle Wiggily was not
a grasshopper, tho he did jump around
a lot.
| And, at first. in the sudden dark
ness, the rabbit gentleman thought it
was a bowl that, perhaps. the circus
elephants little boy had turned over
on him just for fun.
| Then, making his pink nose twinkle
very fast, so that it shone in the dark
like a FREELY lantern, Uncle Wiggily
was able to see that he was inside a
large hat. For when it had dropped
over him it had shut out all the sun
light,
Eyes, this is hat" said Uncle Wig
gily to himself. But what a funny
way to give it to me, And it's so
large, Instead of my new hat going
outside my head. my head is inside the
hat. This will never do, 1 must get
out and see what the trouble is. This
must be the elephants hat, it's SO
large"
But when Uncle Wiggily tried to lift
lup one edge of the hat. to crawl out,
/ he found he could not. Some one
seemed to be sitting on top of the hat,
which was shaped like the silk stove
pipe one Uncle Wiggily always wore.
And a voice cried:
Hold it tight and he can't get OUT!
'.Oh, I'm holding it Tight" was the
answer.
| Then Uncle Wiggily knew what had
ihanDened Some one had played
sad trick on him. And it was two bad
old skillery-scalery alligators. They
had borrowed the Wonderful Hatter's
hat-which was very large: Nor NAG
they told the Halter what they wanted
of it. for if they had he never would
have let them borrow it to make trou-
BILE for Uncle Wiggily.
| The alIigators had climbed up the
| tree with the big hat. and. after send
ing Uncle Wiggily the note, they had
/ waited until he came to the trees
Then they dropped the hat down over
him and sat on it
Wiggily That's the worst of it. 1
can't get out. and those bad alligators
| will reach under and grab me and"
! NO they WON'T" cried little
soueaky voice down low on the
ground, just outside the hat
why not?" asked Uncle Wiggily,
hopeful like