The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-06-02
Bedtime Stories
Uncle Wiggily Up a Tree
BIZ HOWARD Il. GARIs

Uncle W1SSHy Up Irce-
DO you like the hot sun, Uncle
Wiggily?' asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy
Wuzzy, the muskrat lady housekeeper,
as she stood one day in front of the
soldier tent of the old rabbit gentle
man, near his hollow stump bunga-
low.
DO I like the hot SUM-" he re-
sponded Not exactly"
Then why do you have your tent
right out in the open? ?" asked Nurse
Jare. "Why don't you have it in the
shady woods?"
Because if 1 did" answered Uncle
Wiggily, II could not keep a good
lookout, and be on guard against the
mosquitoes. 1 have to have an open
space around me. And the sun some
times is so warm that it makes me
go to sleep, and before 1 know it the
mosquitoes are after me-"
Il thought so,' spoke Nurse Jane.
And now am going to make matters
more pleasant for you. 1 am going
over where Toodle and Noodle Flat
tail, the beaver boys, live. near Grand
pa Whacker, the oldest beaver of then:
all I'm going to ask Toodle and
Noodle to bring a tree from the woods.
and plant it in front of your tent
Then you'll have a nice shade, and
still there will be plenty Of room for
you to sec the mosquitoes. if they
|
"Fine!" cried Uncle Wigg1ly, making
| his pink nose twinkle like the end of
an ice cream cone. That will be just
lovely."
Toodle and Noodle, the beaver boys,
said they would be glad to plant a tree
got some other beaver boys to help
them, AMI uprooted big horse chest
nut that grew near the edge of the
! beaver pend.
trees. They gnaw them down with
their big teeth, orange colored, which
are almost as strong a carpenters
chisels.
And when the tree was planted in
front of Uncle Wiggily's tent it began
| it with water from the pond.
Yes, it is certainly nice to sit in
the shade of the tree instead Of in
the hot sum-" spoke the bunny uncle
talcum powder bean shooting popgun
over his shoulder. Nurse Jane was
very kinl to think of it,
| 1T would be a nice thing II you
could climb up the tree. Uncle wig
gily,' said Jo1lie Longtail, the mouse
boy, who stopped at the bunny I'M
cle's soldier camp on his way home
from school.
'Why?' asked the bunny.
Because then you could look far
OIL anu sec the mosquitoes long De-
fore they reached here" spoke Jollie
The tree would be like a light house
tower for you"
so it would." cried Uncle Wiggily.
But 1 can't climb a tree and never
could"
Il can fix it so you CAM" cried a
new voice, and there stood JACKIE
Kinkytall, the monkey boy. I'll make
a little ladder for you, from a wild
grape vine, fasten one end on the
ground and the other end up in tho
tree and you can go up and down like
on the sts:rs,' said JACKIE.
That will be great cried Uncle
Wlgg1Iy. Its fun being up a tree.
But just you wait and see what hap
pens.
II did not take JACKIE Kinkytail !one
to make the ladder out of the wild
grape vine He did not use the yer,
widest parts, for, if he hal, the vine
! might have tried to jump about oil
stand on its head, playful like, and
that would have made Uncle Wig.
gily fall
So Jacko used the tamest parts Of
: the wild grape vine, and soon Uncle
Wiggily could climb the tree.
After that, when he was marching
up and down on guard in front of his
tent, ana he happened to feel sleepy
he would just hop up into the tree in
stead of lying down to take a NAP
; And in this way he could tell when the
) bad army mosquitoes were coming
from their swamp.
Every day Uncle Wiggily drilled tho
| animal boys in how tc carry theil
broomsticl> guns and how to be sol
dicrs They came after school, an6
one afternoon when the bunny ra bbit
gentleman was waiting for them he
| felt himself getting sleepy.
: 'Hai L guess I'll climb up in this
, tree he said. That will keep ms
| awake, and I can also see if any OF
the mosquito army is coming aftei
5 me-
So Mr.. Longears climbed up the
grape vine ladder. He looked off to.
: ward the mosquito swamp, Lut he
' saw none of the bad, biting bugs
, and then, as he came to a soft place
5 on one OF the tree branches he sal
down.
There were some prickly horse
: chestnut burrs on the tree. but they
: were not yet ripe. tho the pricker.
on them were sharp and stiff. But
8 Uncle Wiggily did not sit on any OF
= them.
) Pretty soon it was so warm an6
comfortable up in the tree that the
rabbit gentleman fell asleep Fas
> asleep he fell-not falling out of the
he slept some mosquitoes saw him
/ ''Ha! Now is our chance to get thai
l Uncle Wiggily Longears rabbit
, buzzed the mosquitoes. Wen tickle
illIIl vi PINK, lWlnkllnS nose, anC
, he'll sneeze and fall down out of the
tree. And when he falls he'll be sc
; stunned and not able to move that we
) can easily pick him up in our bills
, and fly away with him"
So the mosquitoes buzzed straight
for Uncle WiTgily. asleep up in the
. tree. But the mosquitoes did not see
the sharp. prickly horse chestnut
burrs, and as they flew against then
the burrs stuck the bad biting bugs
. on their legs. wings and bills. and Il
. was the mosquitoes themselves who
sneezed and fell out of the tree
, But, of course, falling didn't hur-
them, as they had wings. but the,
made SO much noise that Uncle Wig.
gily was awakened, and, seeing the
mosquits Gas / call them for short)
he fired his talcum powder gun a.
them and trove them all away
Then the-bunny came down hi.