The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-06-22
Bedtime Stories
Uncle wiggily and the Baby.
BY HOWARD r. GARIs


WELL" said Uncle Wiggily Long
ears. the rabbit gentleman, to himself,
as he stood in the middle of the woods
and looked around. Il don't seem to
be going to have any adventures today
at all. 1 wonder what's the matter ?"
Something was wrong, that is GER
tain.
The bunny uncle had been hopping
along all the morning, and part OF
the afternoon and not a single ad-
venture had he found. Almost always
something happened to him, but this
time was different.
He had not met Alice from Won
derland, nor any of her queer rela-
tons, and Uncle Wiggily had not seen
any of his animal boy or girl friends,
so the rabbit gentleman was begin
ming to feel a bit lonesome.
Then, all of sudden, before you
could count a million providing you
had time and wanted to), Uncle Wig
gily saw, fluttering from a tree, what
he thought was a flag.
That's queer he said to himself.
only out loud. 81 wonder if any of
my mosquito enemies have made a
flying the flag before they come to
bite me? I'll go closer and see.''
Uncle Wiggily was very brave, you
know, even if he only had his red.
white and blue striped rheumatism
crutch instead of the talcum powder
popgun that shot bean-bag bullets. So
up he went to where he thought he
saw the mosquito enemy's flag flut-
tering, and my goodness me sakes
alive and some chocolate cake ginger
snaps 1t wasn'tsthe mosquito flag at
all, which shows that we ought never
to be afraid until we are sure what a
thing is-and sometimes not then.
| 'Why, it's a iady's veil!" cried
Uncle Wiggily as he looked at the
fluttering thing. And, as he said that
someone, who was sitting on an old
log, turned around, and-there was
the Wonderland Duchess herself-the
queer, stout lady wh) loked like
barrel of flour-very rich, you know!
"Oh hello, Uncle Wiggily!" called
the Duchess, who is a sort of princess
grown up. I'm glad to see you. 1
have a friend of yours here with
mel"
DO you mean Alice?" asked the
mo, this time it's the Baby"
answered the Duchess, and then
Uncle Wiggily saw that she had live
baby in her arms upside down.
mean the baby was upside down, not
the arms of the Duchess, tho per-
haps it would have been better that
| ''BIess mel" cried Uncle Wiggily.
That's no way to hold the child"
| "Oh, indeedr' said the Duchess
sort of shifting proud like. Then if
you know so much about holding
| babies, take this one. 1 have to go
make a rice pudding" and before
Uncle Wiggily could stop her she
tossed the baby to him as if it were
ball and ran away, crying;
Rice, Rice! Who has the rice
pudding?"
! ooh, my!" Uncle Wiggily started
to say, but that was all he had time
for, as he had to catch Baby, which
he managed to do right side up. This
| was a good thing, I think.
You poor little dear!" cried the
J bunny uncle as he smoothed out the
| Baby's clothes and looked around for
| a nursing bottle on rattle box. And
as he was doing this, and while the
Baby was trying to close its lips,
which it had opened to cry with when
it found itself skedaddling thru the
air-while this was going on, some
one gave a loud laugh, and Uncle
| Wiggily, looking around in surprise.
saw Alice from Wonderland.
Well" said the bunny. I'm glad
to see you, but what is there to laugh
att"
"The-the baby!" said Alice, sort
of choking like, for she was trying to
talk and laugh at the same time.
why should you laugh at a poor
baby, whom no one seems to know
how to care for?" asked Uncle Wig
"Oh. But look what it's turning
into!' said Alice, pointing.
The bunny uncle looked at what he
held in his arm. 1t was weighing,
twisting and squirming in such a
funny way, squee-geeing its dress all
up around its face that for a moment
Uncle Wiggily could not get a good
look. but, when he did, he cried:
"My goodness me sakes alive and
some bacon gravy! It's a little pig!"
And so it was! AS he held it the
baby had turned into tiny pig, with
a funny nose and half-shut eyes.
"Bless my rheumatism crutchi"
cried Uncle wiggily. What made it
do that?"
Because it's that way in the book
where came FROM said Alice. "YoL
read and you'll see that the baby
which the Duchess gives me to hold
turns into a little pig"
But she gave it to ME to hold"
cried Uncle Wiggily.
ITS much the same thing" spoke
Alice. "As long as it's pig it doesn't
matter
But dear me hum SUI dud." cried
the bunny. Il don't want to be carry
ing around a little pig. OF course I
like pigs, and I'm very fond of my
friends Curley and Squeaky Twisty-
tail, the little srunters. But this baby
pig"
And, just as Uncle Wiggily said that,
who should come along but a bad old
skillery-scalery hump-tailed alligator,
walking on his hind legs, with his two
front claws stretched out in front Of
him.
''Ah, hal" cried the bad alligator,
who had promised to be good but
who had not kept his word. "Ah, ha D..
At last have caught you, Uncle Wig
gily, and Wonderland Alice, tool"
He was just going to grab them
when the little Baby Pig, who haG
been squirting very hard all the
while, finally squirmed out of Uncle
Wiggily's paws, fell to the ground, and
then, running right between the legs
of the alligator, as pigs always do run,
the squealing chap upset the bad un-
pleasant creature, knocking him over
in a frontward somersault and also
backward peprersault.
"Oh, my goodness" cried the skill
lery-scalery alligator. I'm killed."