STORY XXIIPAPA NO-TAIL AND NANNIE GOAT
One morning, bright and early, Papa No-Tail, the frog gentleman, started for the wallpaper factory where he worked at making patterns on the paper by dipping his feet in the different colored inks and jumping up and down. And when he got there he saw, standing outside the factory, the man who made the engines go, and this man said:
“There is no work to-day for you, Mr. No-Tail.”
“Ah ha! What is the matter?” asked Bully’s papa.
“That bad Pelican bird came again in the night and chewed up all the ink,” said the engine man. “So you may have a vacation until we get some more ink.”
“This is very unexpected—very,” spoke Papa No-Tail. “But I will enjoy myself. I’ll go take a nice long hop, and perhaps I will see something I can bring home to Bully and Bawly.”So off he started, and he had no more idea what was going to happen to him than you have what you’re going to get for next Christmas.
Papa No-Tail was hopping along, thinking what a fine day it was when, all of a sudden, he came to a place in the woods where there were some nice flowers.
“Ha! I will take these home to my wife,” thought Mr. No-Tail, as he picked the pretty blossoms. Then he hopped on some more, and he came to a place where there were some nice round stones, as white as milk.
“Ah! I will take these home for Bully and Bawly to play marbles with,” said the frog papa. Then he hopped on a little farther and he came to a place in the woods where was growing a nice big stick with a crooked handle.
“Ho! I will take that home to Grandpa Croaker for a cane that he can use when he gets tired of carrying the one with the pink paint on it,” spoke Mr. No-Tail, and he pulled up the cane-stick, and went on with that and the flowers and the round white stones, as white as molasses—Oh, there I go again! I mean milk, of course.
Well, it was still quite early, and as he hopped along through the woods Papa No-Tail heard the school bell ring to call the boy and girl animals to their classes.
“I hope Bully and Bawly are not late,” thought their father. “When one goes to school one must be on time, and always try to have one’s lessons.” Still he felt pretty sure that his two little boys were on time, for they were usually very good.
On hopped Mr. No-Tail, wishing he could see the bad Pelican bird, and make him give up the wallpaper-printing ink, when all of a sudden, as quickly as you can tie your shoe lace, or your hair ribbon, Papa No-Tail heard a great crashing in the bushes, and then he heard a growling and then presto-changeo! out popped Nannie Goat, and after her came running a black, savage bear! Oh, he was a most unpleasant fellow, that bear was, with a long, red tongue, and long, sharp, white teeth, and long claws, bigger than a cat’s claws, and he had shaggy fur like an automobile coat.
“Oh! Oh! Oh! Stop! Stop! Stop! Don’t catch me! Don’t catch me! Don’t catch me!” cried Nannie, the goat girl, running on and crashing through the bushes. But the bear never minded. On he came, right after Nannie, for he wanted to catch and eat her. You see he used to be in a cage in a big animal park, but he got loose and he was now very hungry, for no one had fed him in some time.
Well, Papa No-Tail was so surprised that, for a moment, he didn’t know what to do. He just sat still under a big cabbage leaf, and looked at the bear chasing after Nannie.
“Oh, will no one save me?” cried the poor little goat girl. “Will no one save me from this savage bear?”
“No; no one will save you,” answered the shaggy creature, as he cleaned his white teeth with his red tongue for a brush. “I am going to eat you up.”
“No, you are not!” cried Papa No-Tail, boldly.
“Ha! Who says I am not going to eat her?” asked the bear, surly-like.
“I do!” went on Papa No-Tail, hopping a bit nearer. “You shall never eat her as long as I am alive!”
“And who are you, if I may be so bold as to ask,” went on the bear, stopping so he could laugh.
“I am the brave Mr. No-Tail, who works in the wallpaper factory, but I can’t work to-day as the bad Pelican bird took the ink,” replied Bully’s and Bawly’s papa.
“Oh, fiddlesticks!” cried the bear, real impolite-like. “Now, just for that I will eat you both!” He made a rush for Nannie, but with ascream she gave a big jump, and then something terrible happened. For she jumped right into a sand bank, which she didn’t notice, and there she stuck fast by her horns, which jabbed right into the hard sand and dirt. There she was held fast, and the bear, seeing her, called out:
“Now I can get you without any trouble. You can’t get away from me, so I’ll just eat this frog gentleman first.”
Oh, but that bear was savage, and hungry, and several other kinds of unpleasant things. He made a big jump for the frog, but what do you think Bully’s papa did? Why he took the bunch of flowers, and he tickled that bear so tickily-ickly under the chin, that the bear first sneezed, and then he laughed and as Papa No-Tail kept on tickling him, that bear just had to sit down and laugh and sneeze at the same time, and he couldn’t chase even a snail.
“Now for the next act!” bravely cried Mr. No-Tail, and with that he took the stick he intended for Grandpa Croaker’s cane, and put it under the bear’s legs, and he twisted the stick, Papa No-Tail did, and the first thing that bear knew he had been tripped up and turned over just like a pancake, and he fell on his nose and bumped it real hard.
Then, before he could get up, Papa No-Tailpelted him with the round stones as white as milk, and the bear thought it was snowing and hailing, and he was as frightened as anything, and as soon as he could get up, away he ran through the woods, crying big, salty bear tears.
“Oh, I’m so glad you drove that bear away! You are very brave, Mr. No-Tail,” said Nannie Goat. “But how am I to get loose in time to get to school without being late?” For she was still fast by her horns in the sand bank.
“Never fear, leave it to me,” said Papa No-Tail. So Nannie never feared, and Papa No-Tail tried to pull her horns out of the sand bank, but he couldn’t, because the ground was too hard. So what did he do but go to the pond, and get some water in his hat, and he threw the water on the sand, and made it soft, like mud pies, and then Nannie could pull out her own horns.
After thanking Mr. No-Tail she ran on to school, and got there just as the last bell rang, and wasn’t late. And the teacher and all the pupils were very much surprised when Nannie told them what had happened. Bully and Bawly were afraid the bear might come back and hurt their papa, but nothing like that happened I’m glad to say.
Now in case the tea kettle doesn’t sing a funnysong and waken the white rabbit with the pink eyes that’s in a cage out in our yard, I’ll tell you to-morrow night about Mamma No-Tail and Nellie Chip-Chip.
STORY XXIIIMRS. NO-TAIL AND NELLIE CHIP-CHIP
Nellie Chip-Chip, the little sparrow girl, flew along over the trees after school was out, with a box of chocolate under her wing. And under her other wing was a purse, with some money in it that rattled like sleigh bells.
“What are you going to do with that chocolate?” asked Bully No-Tail, the frog boy, as he and his brother, who were hopping to a ball game, happened to see Nellie.
“Oh, I guess she’s going to eat it,” said Bawly. “If you want us to help you, we will, won’t we, Bully?” he added.
“Sure,” said Bully, hungry like.
“Oh, indeed, that’s very kind of you boys,” replied Nellie, politely, “but you see I’m not eating this chocolate. I am selling it for our school. We want to get some nice pictures to put in the rooms, and so I’m trying to help get the money to buy them by selling cakes of chocolate.”
“Ha! That’s a good idea,” said Bully. “Say, Nellie, if you go to our house maybe our mamma will buy some chocolate.”
“I’ll fly right over there,” declared the little sparrow girl, “for I want very much to sell my chocolate, and, so far, very few persons have bought any of me.”
“I guess our mamma will,” said Bawly, and, then when Nellie had flown on with her chocolate, Bawly winked both his eyes and spoke thusly: “Say, Bully, if mamma buys the chocolate from Nellie I guess she’ll give us some.”
“I hope so,” replied his brother, and then they went on to the ball game and had a good time. Well, as I was telling you, Nellie flew over to Mrs. No-Tail’s house, and knocked at the door with her little bill.
“Don’t you want to buy some chocolate so I can make money to get pictures for our school?” the sparrow girl politely asked.
“Indeed I do,” replied Mrs. No-Tail. “I just need some chocolate for a cake I’m baking. And if you would like to come in, and help me make the cake, and put the chocolate on, I’ll give you some, and you can take a piece home to Dickie.”
“Indeed, I’ll be very glad to help,” said Nellie, so she went in the house, and Mrs. No-Tailpaid her for some of the chocolate, and then Nellie took off her hat, and put on an apron, and she helped make the cake.
Oh, it was a most delicious one! with about forty-’leven layers, and chocolate between each one, and then on top! Oh, it just makes me hungry even to typewrite about it! Why the chocolate on top of that cake was as thick as a board, and then on top of the chocolate was sprinkled cocoanut until you would have thought there had been a snow storm! Talk about a delicious cake! Oh, dear me! Well, I just don’t dare write any more about it, for it makes me so impatient.
“Now,” said Mrs. No-Tail, after the baking was over, “we’ll just set the cake on the table by the open window to cool, Nellie, and we’ll wash up the dishes.”
So they were working away, talking of different things, and Nellie was a great help to Mrs. No-Tail. Every once in a while, however, Nellie would look over to the cake, because it was so nice she just couldn’t keep her eyes away from it. She was just wishing it was time for her to have some to take home, but it wasn’t, quite yet.
Well, all of a sudden, when Nellie looked over for about the twenty-two-thirteenth time, she saw that all the chocolate was gone from thetop of the cake. All the chocolate and the cocoanut was missing.
“Oh! Oh!” cried the little sparrow girl.
“What’s the matter?” asked Mrs. No-Tail quickly.
“Look!” exclaimed Nellie, pointing to the cake.
“Well, of all things!” cried Mrs. No-Tail. “That chocolate must have disappeared. It must have gone up like a balloon. I will have to buy some more of you, and put that on.” Then she went over and looked at the cake, and she wondered at the queer scratches in the top, just as if a cat had clawed off the chocolate. But there were no cats around.
So Mrs. No-Tail and Nellie put more chocolate and cocoanut on the cake, and they went on washing up the dishes, and pretty soon, not so very long, in a little while Nellie looked at the cake again. And, would you believe me, the chocolate was all off once more.
“This is very strange,” said Mrs. No-Tail. “That must be queer chocolate to disappear that way. Perhaps a fairy is taking it.”
“Maybe Bully and Bawly are doing it for a joke,” said Nellie. So she and Mrs. No-Tail looked from the window but they could see no one, not even a fairy, and, anyhow, Mrs. No-Tailknew the boys wouldn’t be so impolite as to do such a thing.
“It is very strange,” said the frog boys’ mamma. “But we will put the chocolate and cocoanut on once more, and then we’ll watch to see who takes it.”
So they did, making the cake even better than before. Oh, with such thick chocolate and cocoanut on! and then they hid down behind the stove, and watched the window.
Pretty soon a big, shaggy paw, with long, sharp claws on it, was put in the open window, and the paw went right on top of the cake, and scraped off some of the chocolate and cocoanut.
“Ah! Yum-yum! That is most delicious!” exclaimed a grumbling, rumbling voice, and the paw, all covered with the cake chocolate, just as a lollypop stick is covered with candy, went out of the window, and the paw was all cleaned off somehow, when it came back again. More chocolate was then scraped off the cake by those sharp claws.
“Oh, ho! This is simply scrumptious!” went on the voice, as the paw was pulled back. Then a third time it came, and scraped off what was left of the chocolate and cocoanut.
“Oh, how perfectly delightful and proper thissweet stuff is!” cried the voice. “I wish there was more!”
Then a great, big, shaggy, ugly bear, the same one that once chased Nannie Goat, stuck his head in the window.
“Oh, did you scrape the chocolate off my cake?” asked Mrs. No-Tail.
“I did,” the bear said, “have you any more?”
“No, indeed,” she answered. “But you are a bold, bad creature, and if you don’t get away from here I’ll have you arrested.”
“I am not a bit afraid,” answered the bear impolitely, “and as there is no more chocolate I’ll take the cake.”
Well, he was just reaching for it with his sharp clawy-paws, and Mrs. No-Tail and Nellie were very much frightened, fearing the beast would get them. But just then a man’s voice cried out:
“Ah, ha! You bad animal! So I’ve caught you, have I? And you are up to your tricks as usual! Now you come with me!” And who should appear but the man from the animal park where the bear once lived. And he had a whip and a rope, and he tied the rope around the bear’s neck and whipped him for being so bad, and took him back to his cage. And Mrs. No-Tail and Nellie were very glad. And I guess you’d be also. Eh?
There was some chocolate left, and some cocoanut, and soon the cake was even better than before, and Nellie had sold all her chocolate to Mrs. No-Tail, and she could buy lots of pictures for the school. And Nellie took home a big piece of the cake for Dickie, her brother, and of course some for herself. So it all came out right after all, and that bear was very sorry for what he did.
Now, in the story after this one, if the fish we’re going to have for supper doesn’t swim away with my new soft hat and get it all wet, I’ll tell you about Bully No-Tail and Alice Wibblewobble.
STORY XXIVBULLY AND ALICE WIBBLEWOBBLE
“Bully,” said the frog boy’s mamma to him one Saturday morning, when there wasn’t any school, “I wish you would go on an errand for me.”
“Of course I will, mother,” he said. “Do you want me to go to the store for some lemons, or some sugar?”
“Neither one, Bully. I wish you would go to Mrs. Wibblewobble’s house and tell the nice duck lady I can’t come over to-day to help her sew carpet rags, and piece-out the bedquilt. I have to put away the winter flannels so the moths won’t get in them, and then, too, it is so rainy and foggy that we couldn’t see to sew carpet rags very well. Tell her I’ll be over the first pleasant day.”
“Very well,” answered Bully, “and may I stay a while and play with Jimmie Wibblewobble?”
“You may,” said his mother, and off Bullyhopped all alone, for his brother Bawly had gone fishing.
It was a very unpleasant day for any one except ducks or frogs. For sometimes it rained, and when it wasn’t rainy it was misty, and moisty, and foggy. And it was wet all over. The water dripped down off the trees and bushes, and even the ponds and little brooks were wetter than usual, for the rain rained into them, and splished and splashed.
But Bully didn’t mind, not in the least. Away he hopped in his rubber suit, that water couldn’t hurt, and he felt very fine. Soon he was at Mrs. Wibblewobble’s house, and he delivered the message his mother had given him.
“And now I’ll go play with Jimmie,” said Bully. “Where is he, and where are Lulu and Alice, Mrs. Wibblewobble?”
“Oh! the girls went over to see Grandfather Goosey Gander,” replied their mamma. “As for Jimmie, you’ll find him out somewhere on the pond. But be careful you don’t get lost, for the fog is very thick to-day.”
“I should think it was,” replied Bully as he hopped away, “it’s almost as thick as molasses.” Well, pretty soon he came to the edge of the pond, and in he plumped, and began swimming about.
“Jimmie! Hey, Jimmie! Where are you, Jimmie?” he called.
“Over here, making a water wheel,” answered the boy duck, and though the frog chap couldn’t see him, he could tell, by Jimmie’s voice, where he was, and soon he had hopped to the right place.
Well, Bully and Jimmie had a fine time, making the water wheel, that went splash-splash around in the water. And when they became tired of playing that, they played water-tag with the water-spiders, and then they played hop-skip-and-jump, at which game Bully was very good.
“Now let’s go up to the house,” proposed Jimmie, “and I’m sure mother will give us some cornmeal sandwiches with jam and bread and butter on.”
Off they went through the fog, and it was now so thick that they couldn’t see their way, and by mistake they went to the barn instead of the house. I don’t know what they would have done, only just then along came Old Percival, the circus dog, and he could smell his way through the misty fog up to the house. Maybe he could smell the sandwiches, with jam and bread and butter on. I don’t know, but anyhow Mrs. Wibblewobble gave him one when she made some for Bully and Jimmie.
Well, now I’m coming to the Alice part of the story. As Jimmie and Bully were eating their sandwiches on the back porch, not minding the rain in the least, all at once Lulu Wibblewobble came waddling along. As soon as she got to the steps she called out:
“Oh, is Alice home yet?”
“Alice home?” exclaimed Mrs. Wibblewobble. “Why, didn’t she come from Grandfather Goosey Gander’s house with you?”
“No, she started on ahead, some time ago,” said Lulu. “She said she wanted to put on her new hair ribbon for dinner. She ought to have been here some time ago. Are you sure she isn’t here?”
“No, she isn’t,” answered Jimmie. “She must be lost in the fog!”
“Oh, dear! That’s exactly what has happened!” cried the mamma duck. “Oh, this dreadful fog! What shall I do?”
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Wibblewobble,” spoke Bully. “Jimmie and I will go and hunt her. We can find her in the fog.”
“Oh, you may get lost yourselves!” said the duck lady. “It’s bad enough as it is, but that would be dreadful. Oh, what shall I do?”
“I’ll tell you,” said Lulu. “We’ll all hunt for her, and so that we will not become lost in thefog, we’ll tie several strings to our house, and then each of us will keep hold of one string, and when we go off in the fog we can follow the string back again, and we won’t get lost.”
“That’s a good idea!” cried Bully, and they all thought it was. So they each tied a long string to the front porch rail, and, keeping hold of the other end, started off in the fog, Mrs. Wibblewobble, Jimmie, Bully and Lulu. Off into the fog they went, and the white mist was now thicker than ever; thicker than molasses, I guess.
Mrs. Wibblewobble looked one way, and Jimmie another, and Lulu another, and Bully still another. And for a long time neither one of them could find Alice.
“I’m going to call out loud, and perhaps she’ll hear me,” said Bully. “She probably wandered off on the wrong path coming from Grandfather Goosey Gander’s house.” So he cried as loudly as he could: “Alice! Alice! Where are you, Alice?”
“Oh, here I am!” the duck girl suddenly cried, though Bully couldn’t see her on account of the fog. “Oh, I’m so glad you came to find me, for I’ve been lost a long time.”
“Walk right over this way!” called Bully, “and I’ll take you home by the string. Come over here!”
“Yes, come over here!” called another voice, and Bully looked and what should he see but a savage alligator, hiding in the fog, with his mouth wide open. The alligator hoped Alice would, by mistake, walk right into his mouth so he could eat her. And he kept calling right after Bully, and poor Alice got so confused with the two of them shouting that she didn’t know what to do.
Bully was afraid the alligator would get her, so what did he do but take up a big stone, and, hiding in the fog, he threw the rock into the alligator’s mouth.
“There! Chew on that!” called Bully, and the alligator was so angry that he crawled right away, taking his scaly, double-jointed tail with him.
Then Bully called again, and this time Alice found where he was in the fog, and she waddled up to him, and she wasn’t lost any more, and Bully took her home by following the string. Then the fog blew away and they were all happy, and had some more jam sandwiches.
Now, in case it doesn’t rain and wet my new umbrella so that the pussy cat can go to school, and learn how to make a mouse trap, I’ll tell you next about Bawly No-Tail and Lulu Wibblewobble.
STORY XXVBAWLY AND LULU WIBBLEWOBBLE
Bawly No-Tail, the frog boy, was hopping along one day whistling a little tune about a yellow-spotted doggie, who found a juicy bone, and sold it to a ragman for a penny ice cream cone. After the little frog boy had finished his song he hopped into a pond of water and swam about, standing on his head and wiggling his toes in the air, just as when the boys go in bathing.
Well, would you ever believe it? When Bawly bounced up out of the water to catch his breath, which nearly ran away from him down to the five-and-ten-cent-store—when Bawly bounced up, I say, who should he see but Lulu Wibblewobble, the duck girl, swimming around on the pond.
“Hello, Lulu!” called Bawly.
“Hello!” answered Lulu. “Come on, Bawly, let’s see who can throw a stone the farthest; you or I.”
“Oh, pooh!” cried the frog boy. “I can, of course. You’re only a girl.”
Well, would you ever believe it? When Bawly and Lulu were out on the shore of the pond and had thrown their stones, Lulu’s went ever so much farther than did Bawly’s. Oh! she was a good thrower, Lulu was!
“Well, anyhow, I can beat you jumping!” cried Bawly. “Now, let’s try that game.”
So they tried that, and, of course, Bawly won, being a very good jumper. He jumped over two stones, three sticks, a little black ant and also a big one, a hump of dirt, two flies and a grain of sand. And, as for Lulu, she only jumped over a brown leaf, a bit of straw, part of a stone and a little fuzzy bug.
“Now we’re even,” said Bawly, who felt good-natured again. “Let’s go for a walk in the woods and we’ll get some wild flowers and maybe something will happen. Who knows?”
“Who knows?” agreed Lulu. So off they started together, talking about the weather and ice cream cones and Fourth of July and all things like that. For it was Saturday, you see, and there was no school.
Well, pretty soon, in a little while, not so very long, as Bawly was hopping, and Lulu was wobbling along, they heard a noise in the bushes. Now, of course, when you’re in the woods there is always likely to be a noise in the bushes. Sometimesit’s made by a fairy, and sometimes by a giant and sometimes by a squirrel or a rabbit, or a doggie, or a kittie, and sometimes only by the wind blowing in the treetops. And you can never tell what makes the noise until you look. So Bawly and Lulu looked to see what made the noise in the bushes.
“Maybe it’s a giant!” exclaimed Lulu.
“Maybe it’s a fairy,” said Bawly, and they looked and looked and pretty soon, in a jiffy, out came a man—just a plain, ordinary man.
“Oh, me!” cried Bawly.
“Oh, my!” exclaimed Lulu.
Then they both started to run away, for they were afraid they might be hurt. But the man saw them going off, and he called after them.
“Oh, pray don’t be frightened, little ones. I wouldn’t hurt you for the world. I was just looking for a frog and a duck, and here you are.”
“Are—are you going to eat us?” asked Bawly, blinking his eyes.
“No, indeed,” replied the man, kindly.
“Are you going to carry us away in a bag?” asked Lulu, wiggling her feet.
“Oh, never, never, never!” cried the man, quickly. “I will put you in my pockets if you will let me, and I will do a funny trick with you.”
“A trick?” asked Bawly, for he was very fond of them. “What kind?”
“A good trick,” replied the man. “You see, I am a magician in a show—that is I do all sorts of funny tricks, such as making a rabbit come out of a hat, or shutting a pig up in a box and changing it to a bird, and making a boy or girl disappear.
“I also do tricks with ducks and frogs, but the other day the pet frog and duck which I have got sick, and I can’t do any more tricks with them until they are better. But if you would come with me, I could do some tricks with you in the show, and I wouldn’t hurt you a bit, and I’d give you each ten cents, and you could have a nice time. Will you come with me? I took a walk out in the woods specially to-day, hoping I could find a new duck or frog to use in my tricks.”
Well, Lulu and Bawly thought about it, and as the man looked very kind they decided to go with him. So he put Lulu in one of his big pockets and Bawly in the other, and off he started through the woods.
And pretty soon he came to the place where he did the tricks. It was a big building, and there was a whole crowd of people there waiting forthe magician—men and women and boys and girls.
“Now, don’t be afraid, Bawly and Lulu,” said the man kindly, for he could talk duck and frog language. “No one will hurt you.”
So he put Bawly and Lulu down on a soft table, where the people couldn’t see them, and then that man did the most surprising and extraordinary tricks. He made fire come out of a pail of water, and he opened a box, and there was nothing in it, and he opened it again, and there was a rabbit in it. Then he took a man’s hat, and he said:
“Now, there is nothing in his hat but in a moment I am going to make a little frog come in it. Watch me closely.”
Well, of course, the people hardly believed him, but what do you think that man did? Why, he took the hat and turned around, and when nobody was looking he slipped Bawly off from the table and put him inside it—inside the hat, I mean, and then the magician said:
“Presto-changeo! Froggie! Froggie! Come into the hat!”
Then he put his hand in, and lifted out Bawly, who made a polite little bow, and the frog wasn’t a bit afraid. And, my! How those people did clap their hands and stamp their feet!
“Now if some lady will lend me her handbag, I’ll make a duck come in it,” said the magician. So a lady in the audience gave him her handbag, and after the magician had taken out ten handkerchiefs, and a purse with no money in it, and a looking-glass, and some feathers all done up in a puff ball, and some peppermint candies, and two postage stamps and some chewing gum and five keys, why he went back on the stage. And as quick as a wink, when no one was looking, with his back to the people, he slipped Lulu Wibblewobble into the empty handbag, and she kept very quiet for she didn’t want to spoil the trick.
And then the magician turned to the audience, and he said:
“Behold! Behold!” and he lifted out the duck girl. Oh my! how those people did clap; and the lady that owned the handbag was as surprised as anything. Then the man did lots more tricks, and he called a boy, and told him to take Lulu and Bawly back home, after he had given them each ten cents. For his regular trick duck and frog were all well again, and he could do magic with them. So that’s how Lulu and Bawly were in a magical show, and they told all their friends about it and everyone was so surprised that they said: “Oh! Oh! Oh!” more than forty-’leven times.
And next, if our new kitten, whose name is Peter, doesn’t fall into a basket of soap bubbles and wet his tail so he can’t go to the moving picture show, I’ll tell you about Bully No-Tail and Kittie Kat.
STORY XXVIBULLY NO-TAIL AND KITTIE KAT
“Bully, what are you doing?” the frog boy’s mother called to him one day, as she heard him making a funny noise.
“Oh, mother, I am just counting to see how many marbles I have,” he answered.
“Well, would you mind going to the store for me?” asked Mrs. No-Tail. “I was going to make a cake, but I find I have no cocoanut to put on top.”
“Oh, indeed, I’ll go for you, mother, right away!” cried Bully, quickly, for he was very fond of cocoanut cake. But I guess he would have gone to the store anyhow, even if his mamma had only wanted vinegar, or lemons, or a yeast cake.
So off he started, whistling a little tune about a fuzzy-wuzzy pussy cat, who drank a lot of milk and had a crinkly Sunday dress, made out of yellow silk.
“Well, I feel better after that!” exclaimedBully, as he hopped along, sailing high in the air, above the clouds. Oh, there I go again! I was thinking of Dickie Chip-Chip, the sparrow. No, Bully hopped along on the ground, and pretty soon he came to the store and bought the cocoanut for the cake.
He was hopping home, hoping his mamma would give him and his brother Bawly some of the cake when it was baked, when, just as he came near a pond of water he heard some one crying. Oh, such a sad, pitiful cry as it was, and at first Bully thought it might be some bad wolf, or fox, or owl, crying because it hadn’t any dinner, and didn’t see anything to catch to eat for supper.
“I must look out that they don’t catch me,” thought Bully, and he took tight hold of the cocoanut, and peeked through the bushes. And what did he see but poor Kittie Kat—you remember her, I dare say; she was a sister to Joie and Tommie Kat—there was Kittie Kat, crying as if her heart would break, and right in front of her was a savage fox, wiggling his bushy tail to and fro, and snapping his cruel jaws and sharp teeth.
“Now I’ve caught you!” cried the fox. “I’ve been waiting a good while, but I have you now.”
“Yes, I—I guess you have,” said poor Kittie,for the fox had hold of the handle of a little basket that Kittie was carrying, and wouldn’t let go. In the basket was a nice cornmeal pie that Kittie was taking to Grandfather Goosey Gander, when the fox caught her. “Will you please let me go?” begged poor Kittie Kat.
“No,” replied the bad fox. “I’m going to eat you up—all up!”
Well, Kittie cried harder than ever at that, but she still kept hold of the basket with the cornmeal pie in it, and the fox also had hold of it. And Bully was hiding behind the bushes where neither of them could see him—hiding and waiting.
“Oh, I must save Kittie from that fox!” he thought. “How can I do it?”
So Bully thought and thought, and thought of a plan. Then he leaned forward and whispered in Kittie’s ear, so low that the fox couldn’t hear him:
“Let go of the basket, Kittie,” he told her, “and then give a big jump and run up a tree.”
Well, Kittie was quite surprised to hear Bully whispering out of the bushes to her, for she didn’t know that he was around, but she did as he told her to. She suddenly let go of the basket handle, and the fox was so surprised that he nearly fell over sideways. And before he couldstraighten himself up Kittie Kat jumped back, and up a tree she scrambled before you could shake a stick at her, even if you wanted to. You see, she never thought of going up a tree until Bully told her to.
“Here! You come back!” cried the fox, real surprised like.
“Tell him you are not going to,” whispered Bully, and that’s what Kittie called to the fox from up in the tree, for, you see, he couldn’t climb up to her, and he still had hold of her basket.
“If you don’t come down I’ll throw this basket of yours in the water!” threatened the bad fox, gnashing his teeth.
“Oh, I don’t want him to do that!” said Kittie.
“Never mind, perhaps he won’t,” suggested Bully. “Wait and see.”
“Are you coming down and let me eat you?” asked the fox of the little kitten girl, for the savage animal did not yet know that Bully was hiding there. “Are you coming down, I ask you?”
“No, indeed!” exclaimed Kittie.
“Then here goes the basket!” cried the fox, and, just to be mean he threw the nice basket, containing the cornmeal pudding—I mean pie—into the pond of water.
“Oh! Oh! Oh dear!” cried Kittie Kat.“What will Grandfather Goosey Gander do now?”
“Never mind, I’ll get it for you, as I don’t mind water in the least,” spoke Bully, bravely.
So he started to hop out, to jump into the water to save the kittie girl’s basket, for he knew the fox wouldn’t dare go in the pond after him, as the fox doesn’t like to wet his feet and catch cold.
Well, Bully was just about to hop into the pond, when he happened to think of the package of cocoanut his mamma had sent him to get at the store.
“Oh, dear! I never can get that wet in the water or it will be spoiled!” he thought. “What can I do? If I leave it on the shore here while I go after Kittie’s basket the fox will eat it, and we’ll have no cake. I guess I’m in trouble, all right, for I must get the basket.”
Well, he didn’t know what to do, and the fox was just sneaking up to eat him when Kittie Kat cried out:
“Oh, be careful, Bully. Jump! Jump into the water so the fox can’t get you!”
“What about the cocoanut?” asked Bully.
“Here, give it to me, and I’ll hold it,” said Kittie, and she reached down with her sharp claws, and hooked them into the pink stringaround the package of cocoanut and pulled it up on the tree branch where she sat, and then the fox couldn’t get it. And oh! how disappointed he was and how he did gnash his teeth.
And then, before he could grab Bully and eat him up, the frog boy leaped into the pond and swam out and got Kittie’s basket and the cornmeal pie before it sank. And then Bully swam to a floating log, and crawled out on it with the basket, which wasn’t harmed in the least, nor was the pie, either.
And the fox sat upon the shore of the pond, and first he looked at Bully, and wished he could eat him, and then he looked at Kittie, and he wished he could eat her, and then he looked at the cocoanut, which Kittie held in her claws, and he couldn’t eat that, and he couldn’t eat the cornmeal pie—in fact, he had nothing to eat.
Then, all of a sudden, along came Percival, the kind old circus dog, and he barked at that fox, and nipped his tail and the fox ran away, and Kittie and Bully were then safe. Bully came off the log, and Kittie came down out of the tree and they both went on home after thanking Percival most kindly.
Now, in case my little girl’s tricycle doesn’t roll down hill and bunk into the peanut man and make him spill his ice cream, I’ll tell you next about Bawly helping his teacher.
STORY XXVIIHOW BAWLY HELPED HIS TEACHER
It was quite warm in the schoolroom one day, and the teacher of the animal children, who was a nice young lady robin, had all the windows open. But even then it was still warm, and the pupils, including Bully and Bawly No-Tail, the frog boys, and Lulu and Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble, the ducks, weren’t doing much studying.
Every now and then they would look out of the window toward the green fields, and the cool, pleasant woods, where the yellow and purple violets were growing, and they wished they were out there instead of in school.
“My, it’s hot!” whispered Bully to Bawly, and of course it was wrong to whisper in school, but perhaps he didn’t think.
“Yes, I wish we could go swimming,” answered Bawly, and the teacher heard the frog brothers talking together.
“Oh, Bully and Bawly,” she said, as she turned around from the blackboard, where shewas drawing a picture of a house, so the children could better learn how to spell it, “I am sorry to hear you whispering. You will both have to stay in after school.”
Well, of course Bully and Bawly didn’t like that, but when you do wrong you have to suffer for it, and when the other animal boys and girls ran out after school, to play marbles and baseball, and skip rope, and jump hop-scotch and other games, the frog boys had to stay in.
They sat in the quiet schoolroom, and the robin teacher did some writing in her books. And Bawly looked out of the window over at the baseball game. And Bully looked out of the window over toward the swimming pond. And the teacher looked out of the window at the cool woods, where those queer flowered Jack-in-the-pulpits grew, and she too, wished she was out there instead of in the schoolroom.
“Well, if you two boys are sorry you whispered, and promise that you won’t do it again, you may go,” said the teacher after a while, when she had looked out of the window once more. “You know it isn’t really wicked to whisper in school, only it makes you forget to study, and sometimes it makes other children forget to study, and that’s where the wrong part comes in.”
“I’m sorry, teacher,” said Bully.
“You may go,” said the young robin lady with a smile. “How about you, Bawly?”
“I’m not!” he exclaimed, real cross-like, “and I’ll whisper again,” for all the while Bawly had been thinking how mean the teacher was to keep him in when he wanted to go out and play ball.
The robin lady teacher looked very much surprised at the frog boy, but she only said, “Very well, Bawly. Then you can’t go.”
So Bully hurried out, and Bawly and the teacher stayed there.
Bawly kept feeling worse and worse, and he began to wish that he had said he was sorry. He looked at the teacher, and he saw that she was gazing out of the window again, toward the woods, where there were little white flowers, like stars, growing by the cool, green ferns. And Bawly noticed how tired the teacher looked, and as he watched he was sure he saw a tear in each of her bright eyes. And finally she turned to him and said:
“It is so nice out of doors, Bawly, that I can’t keep you here any longer, no matter whether you are sorry or not. But I hope you’ll be sorry to-morrow, and won’t whisper again. For it helps me when boys and girls don’t whisper. Run out now, and have a good time. I wish I could go,but I have some work to do,” and then with her wing she patted Bawly on his little green head, and opened the door for him.
Bawly felt rather queer as he hopped out, and he didn’t feel like playing ball, after all. Instead he hopped off to the woods, and sat down under a big Jack-in-the-pulpit to think. And he thought of how his teacher couldn’t live in the nice green country as he did, for she had to stay in a boarding-house in the city, to be near her school, and she couldn’t see the flowers growing in the woods as often as could Bawly, for she nearly always had to stay in after school to write in the report-books.
“I—I wish I hadn’t whispered,” Bawly said to himself. “I—I’m going to help teacher after this. I’ll tell her I’m sorry, and—and I guess I’ll bring her some flowers for her desk.”
Every one wondered what made Bawly so quiet that evening at home. He studied his lessons, and he didn’t want to go out and play ball with Bully.
“I hope he isn’t going to be sick,” said his mamma, anxious-like.
“Oh! I guess maybe he’s got a touch of water-lily fever,” said Grandpa Croaker. “A few days of swimming will make him all right again.”
Bawly got up very early the next morning, and without telling any one where he was going he hopped over to the woods, and gathered a lot of flowers.
Oh, such a quantity as he picked! There were purple violets, and yellow ones, and white ones, and some wild, purple asters, and some blue fringed gentian, and some lovely light-purple wild geraniums, and several Jacks-in-the-pulpit, and many other kinds of flowers. And he made them into a nice bouquet with some ferns on the outside.
Then, just as he was hopping to school, what should happen but that a great big alligator jumped out of the bushes at him.
“Ha! What are you doing in my woods,” asked the alligator, crossly.
“If—if you please, I’m getting some flowers for my teacher, because I whispered,” said Bawly.
“Oh, in that case it’s all right,” said the alligator, smacking his jaws. “I like school teachers. Give her my regards,” and would you believe it? the savage creature crawled off, taking his double-jointed tail with him, and didn’t hurt Bawly a bit. The flowers made the alligator feel kind and happy.
Well, Bawly got to school all right, before any of the other children did, and he put the flowerson teacher’s desk, and he wrote a little note, saying: