The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-06-18
Bedtime Stories
Uncle wiggiIy and the Blue Caterpillar
BY HOWARD r.. Carl.


rabbit gentleman had just finished his
breakfast of carrot oatmeal witt pars-
nip sauce sprinxled over.the top.
DO yoI want to come for another
walk with me-" asked Alice as she
ran up the bungalow front steps.
Are you going to have the Gryphon
take You to the Mock Turtle again p
the bunny gentleman wanted to know.
IF you are. I'll bring my talcum pow
der gun along this time. to keep away
the mosquitoes"
No don't have to see the Gryphon
today" replied Wonderland Alice with
laugh. But the Duchess has sent
me to find the Blue Caterpillar
THE Duchess has sent you to find
| the Blue Caterpillar? questioned I'm
Gle Wiggily, wondering If he had
heard rightly. But who is the Dutch
ess %
"Oh. she's some relation to the
Queen of Hearts, Alice answered
She's in the book with me. the Ouch
ess is. In the book-picture she always
has lot of trimming ON her big hat.
and she doesn't care whether or not
| she holds the baby UPSIDE down.
oh, yes, now 1 remember" Uncle
Wiggily said. And now about the
Blue Caterpillar %
oh. he's SORT of long, fuzzy bug,
VINO sits on a toadstoool smoking a
pipe, explained Alice. The Duchess
wants him to some and smoke some
| hams for her.
Smoke hams,' cried the bunny
I've heard of men smoking TOBACCO
! but HAMS
| oh, you don't smoke hams in a
pipe, said Alice with a laugh. "They
take a ham before it is cooked, and
hang it up in smoke or blow smoke
on it, or do something to it with
smoke. so it will dry and keep longer"
What do they want to keep it for ?''
asked Uncle Wiggily. 81 thought ham
was to eat, with eggs"
Oh dear!'' laughed Alice. 81 wish
you wouldn't ask me so many ques-
tons You're like the Dormouse, or
the cheshire Cheese Cat or the Hat
| ter They were always asking the
curiousestest questions like who threw
| stones at the cherry tree?' or How
did the soft egg get inside the hard
shell without cracking it?' l can't
answer them!"
Very WELL" said Uncle wiggily,
| smiling at Alice. I'll not ask you an.S
more questions. Come on! Well go
| find the Blue Caterpillar"
| So off they started, the bunny rab
bit gentleman and Wonderland Alice
who had days vacation from the
| book with her name in it, Now and
| then she could slip out of the book
covers and go off to have a real ad-
venture with Uncle Wiggily.
| The bunny uncle and the little girl
| with the pretty flaXen hair had not
gone very far over the fields and thru
the woods before, all of a sudden, as
they were walking under some trees,
something long and twisty and rub
| berry, like a big fire hose, reached out
and, grabbed them.
"Oh, ny!" cried Alice, trying to get
loose, which she could not do, "a big
snake has us!''
NO" said Uncle Wiggily, looking
around as best he could, for he, too,
was held fast as was Alice. This isn't
a snake"
what is it?'' asked Alice.
ITS a bad circus elephant" said
| the bunny, land he has caught US in
his trunk. Oh, dear! Please let US
go," he begged the big animal.
| NO" sadly answered the circus ele-
plant, for it was indeed he. II can't
| let you go, for if I do they will all
sit on my back and bite me-"
who will?" asked Uncle Wiggily.
curious like.
1.-The mosquitoes" was the answer
| you see they have tried in so many
| ways to catch you, and haven't done it,
Uncle Wiggily, that they finally came
to me. About million billion of them
swarmed around me, and they said
they'd bite me until 1 had the shivers
| if I did not help them catch you. So
had to promise that I would, tho
I did not want to, for 1 like you, I'm
Gle Wiggily.
IF 1 hadn't promised, though, the
mosquitoes would have bitten me, and
though I seem to have a very thick
skin am very tender, not to say tick
lish, when it comes to mosquito bites.
So I hid here to catch you. and I'll
| have to hold you until the mosquitoes
| come. I'm very Sorryi' and the ele
plant wound his rubbery nose of a
trunk still more tightly around Uncle
Wiggily and Alice.
"Oh, dear!" said Alice What shall
we do?"
II don't krow, I'm sure" answered
the bunny. This is quite too bad. II
only the Blue Caterpillar"
"Hush," exclaimed a fuzzy voice
| down in the grass near the elephant s
foot. Don't say a word. I'll help
you" and along came crawling big
blue caterpillar, with a folded toad
stool umbrella and a long-stemme ed
pipe on his back.
That elephant is very tickIish. "
said the blue caterpillar. Watch me
make him squirm. And when he
squirms he'll have to uncurl his trunk
to scratch himself, and when he does
that
We'll get away" whispered Uncle
Exactly" said the Blue Caterpil-
lar. So he crawled up the elephant
leg. and tickled the big animal on its
ear.
"Oh, dear" cried the elephant and
he uncurled his trunk to scratch him
self, and then Uncle Wiggily and Alice
could run away safely, and the mos
quitoes didn't get them after all. Then
Alice told the blue caterpillar about
the Duchess wanting the hams smoked
and the crawling creature said he d
attend to it.
i; So everything came out all right
and if the starch doesn't all come out
of the collar so it has to lie down in
stead of standing up at the moving
picture show. I'll tell you next about
Uncle Wiggily and the Halter