Uncle Wiggily and Baby Bunty

“Uncle Wiggily, would you do me a little favor?” asked Baby Bunty one morning, as she came out on the porch of the hollow stump bungalow, where Mr. Longears, the rabbit gentleman, was reading the paper.

“Well, Baby Bunty!” said Uncle Wiggily, to the little rabbit girl, whom he had found in a hollow stump tree, “I’d do almost anything for you, but please don’t ask me to come to any more parties, or chase you or play tag, or take you out in the woods with your rubber ball. I simply can’t do that, for I am too old and stiff!”

“Oh, this isn’t anything like that. All I want is for you to come with me while I buy a skipping rope. I want to learn to jump. All the other animal girls jump salt and pepper and vinegar and mustard, and I, too, want to learn.”

“Well,” said Uncle Wiggily, slowly, “that sounds like an easy favor. I’ll come, Baby Bunty.” “She surely can’t make me jump rope,” said Mr. Longears to himself. “I’m safe this time. I’ll get a chance to sleep today.”

So, putting on his tall silk hat, and taking his red, white and blue striped rheumatism crutch with him, Uncle Wiggily hopped with Baby Bunty through the woods, to the ten and eleven cent store where wild grape vine jumping, or skipping, ropes were sold.

“Give Baby Bunty a nice rope,” said Uncle Wiggily to the little mousie girl clerk behind the counter, and the little rabbit girl soon had the finest one you can imagine, with puff balls on the ends so her paws wouldn’t slip off.

“Now I must learn to jump,” said Baby Bunty, as she and Uncle Wiggily started back through the woods.

Baby Bunty had watched Lulu and Alice Wibblewobble, the ducks, and some of the other animal girls skipping their wild grape vine ropes, so the little rabbit girl knew something about it. She swung the rope over her head and jumped “salt,” which is very slow jumping indeed.

“And while you are learning to skip rope, Baby Bunty,” said Uncle Wiggily, “I’ll just sit down on this soft green mossy log and go to sleep. You won’t mind, will you?”

“Oh, no,” answered Baby Bunty.

She found a nice, smooth place in the woods, where the green grass made a velvet carpet, and there Baby Bunty began to learn to jump. Uncle Wiggily’s pink nose stopped twinkling, and he fell asleep.

“Oh, dear!” said Baby Bunty, after a bit, “I never can learn all by myself. I’m going to tie one end of my grape vine rope to a tree, and ask Uncle Wiggily to turn the other end for me. Then I can learn to jump and, after a while, I’ll be able to turn for myself.”

Gently she tickled Uncle Wiggily under the chin with a soft piece of grass.

“Eh! What’s the matter? Mosquitoes?” cried the bunny gentleman, as he sat up suddenly and opened his eyes.

“Oh, no,” answered Baby Bunty. “I’m sorry to wake you up, Uncle Wiggily, but will you please turn rope for me? Just turn it salt, which is very slowly, and perhaps you can do that and sleep at the same time.”

“Perhaps!” said Uncle Wiggily, but rather doubtful like. “We’ll try.”

So he took one end of the grape vine rope, while the other end was tied to a tree, and Uncle Wiggily turned for Baby Bunty. He turned slowly, as one must for “salt,” and Uncle Wiggily’s eyes were just closing, and he was dozing off, when Baby Bunty said:

“Oh, could you please turn a little faster, Uncle Wiggily? I’m beginning to learn how. Please turn as fast as pepper.”

“All right,” said Mr. Longears, good-natured like and accommodating. So he turned faster—like pepper you know—and even at that he was soon falling asleep again, when Bunty cried:

“Oh, I’m doing fine, Uncle Wiggily! I can even jump as fast as vinegar now, if you’ll turn more quickly for me.”

“Well, I’ll turn faster,” said Mr. Longears. “But I can plainly see that I’ll get no sleep today.”

So he turned “vinegar,” and Bunty jumped it easily, for she was fast learning how. Even then Uncle Wiggily nodded, and was almost going to sleep, when Bunty cried:

“Oh, Uncle Wiggily! Please turn mustard! Turn mustard fashion as fast as you can! Wake up and turn mustard!”

“What’s this! Can you so soon jump as fast as mustard?” cried the bunny, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

“Oh, no, I can’t jump mustard yet!” cried Bunty. “But I had to say something to wake you up quickly. Look, here comes the bad Pipsisewah! We must run! Run as fast as you can! Run mustard fashion!”

“I will!” said Uncle Wiggily, and he did, and so did Bunty, and by running mustard, which is very fast, they soon got safely away from the bad Pipsisewah.

“Hum!” said the Pip, as he was left behind in the woods. “If it hadn’t been for Baby Bunty waking up Uncle Wiggily, I surely would have had his souse!”

So it’s a good thing the little rabbit girl learned how to skip her grape vine rope, isn’t it? And the next day she could jump mustard. And if the automobile doesn’t go swimming in with the gold fish and make the poll parrot sleep in the cat’s cradle, I’ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and Bunty’s scooter.