Uncle Wiggily and Baby Bunty

Once upon a time Baby Bunty, the little rabbit girl, who was hidden in a hollow stump until she was found, said to Uncle Wiggily:

“Will you come with me for a walk in the woods today?”

“Why, yes, Baby Bunty, I think I will,” answered Mr. Longears. “But I am a bit stiff, and my rheumatism hurts a little, so please don’t ask me to chase you or do anything exciting like that.”

“I won’t,” promised Baby Bunty, but, as she tied her red sky-blue pink hair ribbon around her neck, the little rabbit girl smiled in a queer way.

“No,” she said to herself, as Uncle Wiggily took his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch down off the fence post, “I won’t make him chase me, but I’ll keep him from going to sleep. He’s a dear old rabbit gentleman, but he’s getting old—or he thinks he is. I must keep him lively!”

So Uncle Wiggily and Baby Bunty hopped off through the woods. Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy stood in the doorway of the hollow stump bungalow and watched them.

“My! Baby Bunty has on her best hair ribbon today,” said the muskrat lady housekeeper. “I hope nothing happens to it.”

As Baby Bunty hopped along, now running ahead of Uncle Wiggily and now lagging behind to pick a pretty flower, all of a sudden her green yellow brown hair ribbon caught on a bush and the bow was untied.

“Oh, Uncle Wiggily! Please tie my hair ribbon!” cried Baby Bunty with a laugh.

Uncle Wiggily leaned on his red white and blue striped rheumatism crutch, and, with his paws, tied Baby Bunty’s ribbon.

“There!” he said, as he patted down the big bow, which looked like the wings of a butterfly, “I hope your hair ribbon doesn’t come untied again.”

“I hope so, too,” said Baby Bunty.

On and on she hopped through the woods with Uncle Wiggily. They were looking for a nice place for the little rabbit girl to play. All of a sudden, as she was peeping down in a robin’s nest, to see how big the little birds were, her hair ribbon caught on a branch of a tree, and loose the bow came again.

“Oh, Uncle Wiggily! Will you please tie my hair ribbon?” cried Baby Bunty with a laugh.

“Dear me!” said Uncle Wiggily. “That’s a very loose ribbon, Baby Bunty! I ought to have brought some glue to make the bow stay tied fast.”

But he fixed it for the little rabbit girl, and on they hopped again. Pretty soon they came to a beautiful place in the woods. On the ground was a soft velvet carpet of green grass. Around it was a fringe of ferns. Overhead was a big umbrella of trees, which kept off the hot sun.

“Here is a good place for you to play, Baby Bunty,” said Uncle Wiggily. “You may gather flowers, hop on the grass or even turn somersaults.”

“And what are you going to do, Uncle Wiggily?” asked the little rabbit girl.

“Oh, I shall go to sleep,” said the old gentleman rabbit.

Baby Bunty wrinkled up her nose in a funny little way, but she didn’t say anything—just then. Uncle Wiggily found a soft stump for a seat, with a soft mossy covered tree for a back rest, and there he sat down. Pretty soon his eyes closed, his pink nose stopped twinkling, and he was asleep.

“Oh, dear!” said Baby Bunty. “This isn’t any fun—to have him go to sleep! Ah, I know what I’ll do!”

She played around a little, turning peppersaults and somersaults, and, all at once, she gave her hair ribbon a little pull.

“Oh, Uncle Wiggily!” she cried, running up to the rabbit gentleman. “My ribbon is untied again! Please fix it for me!”

Uncle Wiggily opened his eyes and grunted.

“It seems to me your hair ribbon is always coming untied,” he said. But he made a nice fancy bow for Baby Bunty, and then he went to sleep again, while she played about. But, pretty soon back she hopped.

“Oh, Uncle Wiggily!” she cried.

“What!” exclaimed the old rabbit gentleman. “Is your hair ribbon loose again? Am I never to get any sleep?”

“It isn’t my hair ribbon this time,” said Baby Bunty. “But I saw a big fox sneaking along in the bushes behind you, and I thought he might bite some souse off your ears, so I woke you up!”

“I’m glad you did!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “And you awakened me just in time, too. Now we can run away before the fox gets us!”

And run away they did, and the old fox didn’t get them.

“But I would have had a nice lot of souse off Uncle Wiggily’s ears, if Baby Bunty hadn’t awakened him,” said the fox, hungry like.

And, if the green grass doesn’t turn pink when the red rose leaves fall on it, I’ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and Bunty’s ball.