Hi,
It's Stefania,
And here we are with part two of the book Uncle Wiggly's Fortune.
Uncle Wiggly on a Raft Well,
I think I will be traveling now,
Said Uncle Wiggly to the bird family the next morning after he had had the adventure with the rat.
I must have another try at finding my fortune.
And perhaps,
Since you sang such a nice song for me yesterday,
You little birds will sing another as I am leaving.
Of course they will,
Said their mama.
So she gave a few trills and chords to start them off,
And the birdies sang this.
Dear old Uncle Wiggly,
We wish that you could stay and live near our nest always to drive the rats away.
But if you must now leave us,
Then we will wish for you that you may have much happiness whatever you may do.
Oh,
I'm sure that's very nice,
Said the rabbit.
And now I will bid you good-bye and travel on.
But you must take some lunch with you,
Said the mama bird,
And she gave him some more cherry pie to make up for the piece he had thrown at the rat the night before.
Uncle Wiggly went on and on,
And pretty soon he came to a place in the woods where there was a tall tree.
And some distance up from the ground there was a hole in this tree trunk.
Ah-hum,
Exclaimed Uncle Wiggly,
Perhaps there may be gold in that tree hole.
Now if I could only climb up to see,
I might find my fortune.
Well,
You know how it is with rabbits.
They can't climb a tree,
And of course Uncle Wiggly had to remain on the ground.
If only Johnny or Billy Bushytail were here now,
Thought the rabbit,
Those squirrel boys could climb the tree for me.
But I know what I'll do.
I'll tie a stone to a string,
And I'll put some molasses syrup on the stone and throw it up into the hole in the tree.
Then,
If there is any gold there,
It may stick to the syrup on the stone and I can pull some down.
So,
He did this,
And he made the string tied tightly to the stone,
And was all ready to throw it up when he happened to remember that he had no molasses syrup.
Oh,
Careless of me,
What shall I do?
He exclaimed,
And a voice answered.
I'll give you some molasses syrup,
Uncle Wiggly.
The old gentleman rabbit looked around,
And there was a nice green grasshopper.
And as she had some molasses syrup with her,
She put quite a lot on the stone.
Then,
The rabbit threw it up at the hole in the tree,
But a most surprising thing happened.
For instead of being gold in the hole,
There were two unpleasant old owls there.
And when the molasses covered stone popped in on them,
It awakened them from their sleep.
For owls sleep in the daytime and fly about at night,
You know.
Who threw that stone?
Cried one owl.
I don't know,
Answered the other owl,
And she gnashed her sharp beak.
But whoever it was,
I'm going to bite him.
Oh,
Run,
Run for your life,
Uncle Wiggly,
Cried the grasshopper as the two owls stuck their head out of the hole in the tree.
Hop away.
So,
Uncle Wiggly hopped off,
And the grasshopper hopped also,
And the two birds flopped down after them.
But the birds could not see very well in the daytime,
And one went kaboomk into a tree,
And the other went kazoomk into a briar bush,
And they were all tangled up.
So Uncle Wiggly and the grasshopper got safely away.
Well,
I didn't get any fortune that time,
Said the rabbit sorrowfully as he hopped down a hill,
But perhaps I may find it soon.
The next place he came to was a big river,
And as he stood on the bank and looked across,
It seemed to Uncle Wiggly that he could see a big field of gold on the other side.
I must get over there,
He said to himself,
And I am sure I will find my fortune.
But how am I going to do it?
That river is too wide for me to jump across,
And it is too wide for me to swim.
If I only had a boat,
I would be all right.
The old gentleman rabbit looked around for a boat,
But none was at hand.
Then he happened to think of something that Sammy and Susie Littletail once did.
That's what I'll do,
Exclaimed Uncle Wiggly.
I'll make a raft.
So he got some planks and boards and sticks,
And he laid them crossways,
One upon the other,
And tied them together with strong pieces of wild grapevine.
Then he had a raft on which he could sit and push himself across the river almost as well as if he had a rowboat.
Now I'll put my suitcase on board and hop on myself,
And away we'll go,
He cried,
And he was very much pleased with the raft that he had made.
Into the water he shoved it,
And in the middle of the raft he placed a suitcase.
Then he got on and shoved off using his crutch for a pushing bowl.
Out into the middle of the river went Uncle Wiggly on the raft,
And he was having a fine sail.
Then all of a sudden he felt hungry,
So he stopped pushing the raft,
Opened his suitcase,
And took out a piece of cherry pie.
Well,
As true as I'm telling you,
Just as he was eating it,
He heard a swirling noise in the water behind him,
And a voice cried out,
"'Raaah,
Now I have you.
Give me that piece of cherry pie,
Or I'll upset the raft and you'll get all wet.
' Uncle Wiggly looked round,
And there,
Swimming right up beside him,
Was a big,
Snicky-snooky water rat,
A second cousin to the rat that got into Uncle Wiggly's tent the night before.
Take me that pie,
' cried the rat as she put her claws on the raft,
"'Give it to me.
' No,
Indeed I will not,
' replied Uncle Wiggly as politely as one can speak to a rat.
Then the bad creature tried to climb up on the raft,
But the rabbit took his crutch and put it down in the water and pushed along on the bottom of the river,
Sending the raft along very swiftly.
"'Oh,
I'll get you yet,
' cried the rat as she swam on after the rat.
Faster and faster she swam,
And faster and faster did Uncle Wiggly push until he was all tired out,
And he felt sure he would be caught and carried away by the bad rat.
And then a voice in the air overhead suddenly cried out,
"'Take your handkerchief,
Uncle Wiggly,
And make a sail out of it.
Then the wind will blow you along so fast that the rat can't catch you.
Make a sail!
' And so Uncle Wiggly did so.
He struck the crutch up for a mast on the raft,
And then he fastened his largest red handkerchief to the crutch,
And the wind caught it and blew upon that red handkerchief's sail,
And the raft skimmered over the river so fast that the bad rat was left far,
Far behind and couldn't catch the rabbit.
It was the kind mama bird who had called to the rabbit gentleman to tell him what to do.
And in a little while,
Uncle Wiggly was safe on the other shore,
And he hopped off the raft and ran toward the field that looked as if it was filled with gold.
Whether he found any or not,
Hmm,
What happened?
I'll tell you in the next story,
Which will be about Uncle Wiggly in a Boat.
Uncle Wiggly in a Boat When Uncle Wiggly got to the edge of the yellow-golden-colored field after jumping off the raft,
As I told you in the story before this one,
The old gentleman rabbit rubbed his eyes and then rubbed them again,
For he wasn't quite sure of what he saw.
Why,
He exclaimed as he put on his glasses to see better,
I have made a mistake.
This isn't a field of gold at all.
It is only a field of golden rod,
Which is a flower.
Ah,
If it is golden rod,
Perhaps if you wait long enough,
It will turn into chunks of gold,
Said a little voice down on the ground,
And glancing there Uncle Wiggly saw a little ant with a tiny loaf of bread on her back.
Why don't you wait for that to happen,
Mr.
Rabbit?
She asked.
Oh,
It would never happen,
Said Uncle Wiggly.
This golden rod is a flower,
And it will always remain a flower.
I am disappointed once more about finding my fortune.
I thought,
When I saw the shining yellow color from my raft after I got away from the rat,
That I have found the gold for which I am looking.
But never mind,
This flower is very pretty.
And he picked a bunch and smelled them.
And some of the yellow dust of the blossom got up the rabbit's twinkling nose,
And he sneezed so hard that his glasses fell off.
But the ant kindly picked them up for the old gentleman,
Though he had to reach over to take them from her,
As she was so small that she hardly came up to the rabbit's knee.
Well,
I must get home to my little ones,
Said the ant with a loaf of bread.
I hope you have a good luck,
Uncle Wiggly.
Thank you very kindly,
Spoke the rabbit.
And then he put a golden rod flower into his buttonhole and hopped on to look for his fortune.
Pretty soon,
Not so very long,
In a little while,
The rabbit came to a nice smooth rock,
Which was long and slanting,
Just like a hill down which you slide on your sleds in the wintertime.
Only,
Of course,
There was no snow or ice now,
As it was summer.
Ah!
Now,
If I was a little younger and didn't have the rheumatism,
I'd slide down that rock,
Exclaimed the rabbit.
I wish Sammy and Susie Littletail were here,
For they would enjoy this very much.
And so would Johnny and Billy Bushytail,
The squirrel brothers,
Not to mention the puppy dogs.
Then,
The rabbit looked at the nice,
Smooth,
Rocky slide,
And all of a sudden he heard a voice singing.
Lumps of pudding and pieces of pie my mama gave me when I was a boy.
And for those things I used to cry,
For lumps of pudding and pieces of pie.
Hmm.
I wonder who that can be,
Asked Uncle Wiggly.
And then he heard someone laugh and shout,
And a great big boy,
About as big as two barrels of golden syrup,
Burst out of the bushes.
Why,
It's the giant's little boy,
Exclaimed Uncle Wiggly in great surprise.
Yes,
That's who I am,
Cried the boy,
Who was as large as two barrels of molasses and golden syrup,
And a can of milk,
Besides.
How are you,
Uncle Wiggly?
Have you found your fortune yet?
No,
Said the rabbit a bit sadly.
I have not.
Never mind,
Spoke the giant's little boy.
Come on and have a slide.
It's lots of fun.
And with that,
The big boy threw himself down on the smooth rock,
Just as if he were on a sled,
And away he whizzed down the hill as nicely as a cake of soap slips into the bathtub.
I believe I will try it,
Exclaimed the old rabbit gentleman.
So,
Taking a firm hold on his crutch and his suitcase,
He sat down on the smooth rock,
And away he whizzed after the boy,
Who was as big as two barrels of molasses and golden syrup put together.
Faster and faster went the rabbit,
And faster and faster went the giant's little boy,
Until all of a sudden,
The boy slipped off the stone and landed in a big pile of hay and wasn't hurt at all.
Oh,
I wonder if that's what will happen to me,
Thought Uncle Wiggly,
And he was just looking to see where he would land,
And he was hoping it would be in a feather bed,
When as quickly as quickly can be,
The old gentleman slid off the rock,
And down he came plump on top of a big toadstool mushroom,
And he wasn't hurt a bit,
Only sort of bounced up and down like.
My,
That was a fine slide,
He said.
Then he looked up,
And he saw that he was right on the shore of a little lake,
And close at hand was a rowboat with oars in,
And on the boat was a sign which read,
Please take a ride in me on the lake.
Oh,
That is very polite,
Someone,
Said the rabbit,
I believe I will take a ride in the boat,
And perhaps I may find my fortune in it.
Then he looked more carefully,
And he saw there was a box in the boat,
And on the box was a sign which read,
Please do not open this box.
Hmm,
Perhaps there is gold in there,
But I won't open it to sea until someone tells me I may,
Thought the rabbit.
So he got into the boat,
And he stuck the oars through the oar locks,
Which are places made for them.
Then he dipped the wide part of the oar into the water,
And pulled on the handle part,
And my land sakes flops it a bit,
Uncle Wiggly was rowing as nicely as you please.
Well,
He rowed on and on until he was out in the middle of the lake,
And then all of a sudden he heard a funny noise inside the box.
It was a sort of scratching,
Growling noise,
And before the rabbit could do anything,
The top of the box flew open and out stepped a little black bear.
Oh,
But Uncle Wiggly was frightened.
Aha,
Now I have you,
Just where I want you,
Mr.
Rabbit,
Said the bear.
This is the last of you.
Brrr.
Well,
Uncle Wiggly was so frightened that he didn't know what to do,
For he surely thought his end had come.
Then he happened to remember that he had some cherry pie in his suitcase,
And he knew that bears are very fond of sweet stuff.
I know what I'll do,
Thought the rabbit.
I'll give the bear some pie,
And when he isn't looking,
I'll row toward shore,
And perhaps I can get away from him.
So he quickly opened his case,
Took out the pie,
And gave it to the bear most politely.
Ah,
This is very good,
Said the bear in a grillary,
Growly voice as he took the pie.
I will eat this first,
And afterward I'll attend to your case.
Then when the bear was eating the pie,
And licking the sweet red juice off his clawy paws,
Uncle Wiggly rowed toward shore.
But he wasn't yet quite near enough to jump out of the boat,
So he gave the bear another piece of pie,
And rowed a little closer to shore.
The bear was so interested in eating the cherries from the pie,
And sucking the juice off his paws that he never noticed what was going on.
But finally he glanced up,
And when he saw how near the shore the rabbit had rowed the boat,
The bear cried,
Ah,
Aha,
So that's your trick,
Eh?
Well I'll scratch you anyhow.
And with that,
He made a spring for the rabbit,
But Uncle Wiggly was too quick for him.
Wrapping up his crutch and case,
The rabbit jumped out of the boat and landed on shore.
And then the wind suddenly sprang up and blew the boat and the bear in it out into the middle of the lake.
And Uncle Wiggly was safe,
I'm glad to say,
For the bear couldn't swim to shore that day on account of having no bathing suit,
No swimming trunks.
Then hopping on,
Uncle Wiggly looked all over for his fortune,
But he did not find it right away.
And he had another adventure soon,
Which is what I will tell you next time.
The next story next time will be about Uncle Wiggly at the seashore.
That's it for now.
Until next time.
Bye bye.
