Uncle Wiggily and Baby Bunty

“Is she here?” whispered Uncle Wiggily to his muskrat lady housekeeper, Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, as he hopped into his hollow stump bungalow one day.

“Do you mean Mrs. Wibblewobble, the duck lady, who was just here calling on me?” asked Nurse Jane. “If you mean her, she has gone.”

“No, I mean Baby Bunty. Is she here?” asked Uncle Wiggily, still whispering and looking all around the bungalow, while he twinkled his pink nose expectant like.

“Baby Bunty isn’t here,” said Nurse Jane. “I gave her a penny a while ago and she said she was going down to the one-cent store and buy a toy balloon.”

“Ah! Then I can come in and have a rest,” said the rabbit gentleman. “Baby Bunty is good to keep an old rabbit man’s joints from getting stiff,” he said, as he stretched out in his easy chair, “but too much of it is quite enough. I’ll be glad of a little rest.”

Baby Bunty, you know, was a cute little rabbit girl, whose father and mother had been taken away by a fox. Uncle Wiggily found Baby Bunty in the woods in a hollow stump, and brought her home with him.

“She’s so lively she’ll keep you from getting old and stiff,” said Nurse Jane. And Baby Bunty was very lively like and always doing something.

“But now, since she has gone down the woodland path to buy a toy balloon, I’ll sit here and rest,” said Uncle Wiggily. “I’ll take a nap until it’s time to eat dinner.”

Uncle Wiggily stretched out in his easy chair. Soon his pink, twinkly nose was still and quiet. Mr. Longears was asleep.

The bunny rabbit gentleman was just dreaming he was chasing Baby Bunty through the woods in his automobile when, all of a sudden, in came running Billie Wagtail, the goat boy.

“Oh, Uncle Wiggily! Uncle Wiggily!” bleated Billie. “You ought to see her!”

“See whom?” asked Mr. Longears, waking up so suddenly that his nose twinkled twice as fast as it ought. “See whom?”

“Baby Bunty!” answered the goat boy. “She’s away up in the air sailing over the treetops!”

“She is?” cried the bunny gentleman. “Oh, dear! Some more of her tricks to keep me from getting old and stiff, I suppose. Did she take my airship out, as she ran away in my auto yesterday?” he asked Nurse Jane.

“I think not,” answered the muskrat lady. “Your airship is still in the stable. And are you sure you saw her up above the trees, Billie?”

“Oh, yes’m! And here comes Johnnie Bushytail, the squirrel! He saw her, too!” bleated the goat boy.

“What’s the matter with Baby Bunty?” asked Uncle Wiggily of the chattery chap.

“Oh, I don’t know,” answered Johnnie. “But she’s sailing around just like an airship—over the tops of the trees. Come out and see!”

Out rushed Uncle Wiggily and Nurse Jane and Billie, the goat, and Johnnie, the squirrel. Surely enough, up above their heads, was Baby Bunty floating along like a cloud.

“Oh, dear!” cried Uncle Wiggily; “that little rabbit girl is always doing something. But I must chase after her! I must get her down!

“Quick, Nurse Jane. Bring out my flying suit of leather! Billie, you and Johnnie run my airship out of the barn! I’ll have to sail up in my airship and bring down Baby Bunty, but I don’t see how she got up there!”

Uncle Wiggily was soon seated on the sofa cushions of his airship, which had toy circus balloons to raise it up and an electric fan that went whizzieizzie to speed it along. Soon he was sailing over the tree tops, up near where Baby Bunty was floating.

“Oh, dear! How did you ever get up here?” asked the rabbit gentleman.

“Oh, I didn’t mean to! Really I didn’t!” said Baby Bunty, half crying. “But I’m glad you came after me, for it will keep you from getting old and stiff!”

“Yes, I s’pose it will!” said Uncle Wiggily, as he sailed close to the little bunny girl and took her into the clothes basket part of his airship. “Ah! Ha! I see how you came to rise off the earth!” he said. “You blew your penny toy balloon up so big that it swelled and raised you up; didn’t you?”

“Yes,” said Baby Bunty, “I did. But I didn’t mean to. I just blew and blew into my toy balloon and it got bigger and bigger, and then I couldn’t get the air out, and the balloon began to go up and I began to go up, and—well, I’m glad you came and got me!” she finished.

“Yes,” said Uncle Wiggily, “I s’pose you are. But don’t do it again.” Then he let the air out of the toy balloon that Baby Bunty had blown too big for herself, and Mr. Longears took the little rabbit girl down to earth in his airship. And everybody said:

“Isn’t Baby Bunty cute!”

“Yes,” said Mr. Longears, “she is. No one would get stiff joints with her around.” And if the box of talcum powder doesn’t blow smoke in the eyes of the potatoes and make them blink, I’ll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and Bunty’s doll.