Buddy And Brighteyes Pigg
by
Howard R. Garis
Part 2 out of 3
Percival, the old circus dog.
"I'll save Buddy!" he cried. "I'll carry a rope out to him, and he can
fasten it to the boat, and then we can pull him ashore."
Well, Percival took a rope in his mouth and started to swim out, but a
funny thing happened. The water got in his mouth and washed the rope
away, and he couldn't carry it, though he tried a number of times.
Then everybody felt sorry, and Jackie Bow Wow was just suggesting that
they build a raft and float out on it to Buddy, when who should come
along but Jimmie Wibblewobble, the boy duck. They all told him what the
trouble was, and he said, "Quack! Quack! Quack!" three times, just like
that, and exclaimed:
"I have it! I can swim out with the rope in my bill, for my head will be
above the water."
He did it too, in about two quacks and a quarter. Then he helped Buddy
fasten the rope to the side of the boat, and those on land, including
Percival, the two Bow Wows and Mamma Pigg and Brighteyes, soon pulled
the boat and Buddy in it ashore.
Buddy said he was never going sailing again, and I guess he never did,
for he was very much frightened, but he soon got over it and played with
Jimmie and Jackie and Peetie, while Mamma Pigg had to go home to take
something for her nerves.
Now, if I have rhubarb pie for supper, and the ham sandwich doesn't
squeal when they put mustard on it, I'll tell you about Brighteyes and
the peanut candy in the next story.
STORY XIV
BRIGHTEYES AND THE PEANUT CANDY
It happened, once upon a time, that Brighteyes and Buddy Pigg were
walking through the woods together, not far from their home. They had
been over to see Sammie and Susie Littletail, and they had had a very
nice time. In fact, there had been a little party at the Littletail
home.
It was Sammie's or Susie's birthday, I forget just whose, and after
games had been played, there were good things to eat; nuts of various
kinds for the squirrels who came; candy, lemonade, ice cream flavored
with turnips and carrots, and oh! lots of cake, and I don't know what
else besides. There was so much that Buddy and Brighteyes couldn't eat
all their share, and they were bringing it home to their papa and mamma.
Well, as they were walking along, thinking what a good time they had
had, the two guinea pig children heard a rustling sound in the bushes,
and two big, round, staring eyes peered out at them, and there was a
noise like a dog growling.
"Oh, quick! Hurry up, Buddy!" cried Brighteyes. "Something will catch
us sure!" and she began to run as fast as fast could be, or even faster,
maybe.
"Oh, I don't think it's anything but old Percival, the circus dog," said
Buddy. "He won't hurt us."
And he was going to stand still and look in those bushes; yes, sir,
that's what Buddy was going to do, only he happened to see a big, bushy
tail sticking out, and then he knew it was a bad fox there, and not the
good, kind dog, so Buddy ran as fast as he could run, if not faster,
right after Brighteyes.
And the fox ran, too, only he had stepped on a piece of glass and cut
his foot and couldn't run very fast. He was the same fox who lighted the
firecracker in Dr. Pigg's house, and I'm glad to say that he didn't
catch Buddy or Brighteyes, for they ran faster than the fox did.
Well, they hurried on for quite a distance further, and all at once,
just as they were getting tired, and when they knew the fox had stopped
chasing them, they happened to look down on the path, and what should
they see but a white box; yes, indeed, a white box, tied with pink
string.
"Oh, I wonder what can be in there?" asked Brighteyes.
"I don't know, but I'll go see," said Buddy.
"Oh, no, don't go too close," begged his sister. "It might be a trap, or
perhaps the bad fox is hidden inside it."
"It's too small for a fox to get in," declared the boy guinea pig. "I'll
take a smell, anyhow."
So he crept slowly, slowly, slowly up to the white box, and sniffed, and
sniffed and sniffed.
"Oh! Ah! Um! La-la! Um! Um!" exclaimed Buddy Pigg, and he laid down the
packages of candy, nuts, cakes and other things he had carried home from
the Littletails' party, so that he might smell the better.
"What is it?" asked Brighteyes Pigg. "What's in the box?"
"I don't know," replied her brother, "but whatever it is, it smells the
nicest of anything I ever smelled. It's just like when mamma bakes a
ginger cake in the oven. I'm going to open it and see."
So, with his sharp teeth, Buddy loosened the pink string around the box,
and off came the cover. Then, what do you suppose was in the box? Why, a
whole lot of peanut candy, all nice and fresh, shining, golden brown,
with just enough peanuts in, and not a bit more, really and truly!
"Oh! Oh! Oh!" cried Brighteyes in delight, as she saw it. "Peanut
candy, Buddy! If there's anything I love it's peanut candy! Some good
fairy must have left this for us. Come on, we'll take it over here,
under a bush, where the bad fox won't see us, and we'll eat some of it,
and save some to take home. Oh, how lovely!"
"I don't think I care for peanut candy very much," said Buddy. "When I
smelled it I thought it was going to be chocolate caramels."
"Don't you want any?" asked Brighteyes.
"No," answered her brother, "but I'll help you carry it into the bushes.
I'll eat some of the things we brought from the party. I'm getting
hungry again."
So he and Brighteyes carried the box of peanut candy into the bushes,
and the little girl guinea pig began to eat the sweet stuff.
Well, she had eaten almost all of it up, before she thought, because it
tasted so good, when all of a sudden, who should come along the path in
the woods, but a little girl. Yes, a little girl in a red dress, and she
was crying as hard as she could cry, that little girl was.
"Oh, dear!" she sobbed, "I have lost my box of peanut candy, that I
bought in the store, and I can't find it, and I'm so miserable! Nobody
in the world is so miserable as I am. Oh, dear! Boo! Hoo!"
Well, you should have seen how sorry Brighteyes was for eating that
little girl's candy, but Brighteyes didn't know, of course, whose it
was. She and Buddy just hid down in the bushes, and didn't know what to
do, until Buddy whispered:
"Listen! I'll fill the box full of our candy, nuts and things that we
brought from the party, and maybe that will stop the little girl
crying."
So he did that, filling the box real full, and putting the pink string
around it again. Then, when the little girl wasn't looking, Buddy
slipped out of the bushes, put the box back on the path again and
slipped under a leaf to hide. Then, pretty soon, when the little girl
stopped crying, she saw her box, and she thought a fairy had brought it
back.
Then she opened it, and she saw the peanut candy had been turned into a
different kind, and that there were nuts with it and she surely thought
it was magical, but it wasn't, it was only Buddy Pigg, who did it.
So Buddy and Brighteyes went home happy, and so did the little girl,
with her white box which she had found again after she had lost it.
Now, in the next story I'm going to tell you about Buddy and the June
bug, that is if some one sends me some peanut candy with a lot of red
postage stamps on it.
STORY XV
BUDDY AND THE JUNE BUG
One night Dr. Pigg and Mrs. Pigg and Brighteyes went to a nice
moving-picture show that Percival, the old circus dog, had gotten up,
and they left Buddy at home alone. The reason for that was this: Buddy
wasn't feeling well. He had eaten too many ice cream cones, and too much
lemonade on a hot day, and he had to have some medicine that his papa
fixed for him.
It was bitter, sour medicine, too, and Buddy didn't like it, and he
didn't like to be ill, either, but one always is when one eats too many
ice cream cones and drinks too much lemonade on a hot day; yes, indeed,
and a bottle of paregoric besides.
Well, Buddy was sick, and couldn't go to the moving-picture show, but
his mamma and papa thought it would be all right to leave him home
alone, as he was getting better by that time.
"I'll tell you all about the show when we come back," promised
Brighteyes. "There is going to be a fairy play in it."
"Oh!" cried Buddy, "how I wish I could go! I love fairy plays!"
"You will be much better in bed," said Dr. Pigg, "and if you keep quiet
you won't have to take any more medicine."
There was no help for it, and Dr. Pigg and his wife and daughter started
off. They knew Buddy would be much more comfortable in bed than at the
show, or they would never have left him, and right next door lived a
family of chickens, who would come over in case anything happened.
Buddy felt a little lonesome when his folks had gone, but after awhile
he fell asleep. He dozed off for some time, and, all of a sudden, he was
awakened by hearing something going "thumpity-thump-bump-bump-bump!
Humpity-hump-bump-bump!" on the ceiling and walls of his room. Then it
went "bangity-bung-bung," and before Buddy knew what was happening, if
something didn't go slam-bang-crack into the lamp, and put it out,
leaving the poor little guinea pig boy in the dark.
Then how frightened he was! He shivered, and crept down with his head
beneath the bed clothes, but all the while he kept hearing that
"thumpity-thump-bump-hump-lump-dump!" against the ceiling. First he
thought it was the bad fox, who had gotten in to eat him up, and then
he knew the fox couldn't fly around the room that way, or, if it could,
it would make ever so much more noise. Then he thought it might be an
owl, with big, round, staring, yellow eyes, but when he peeped out from
under the clothes the least bit, he didn't see any eyes, so he knew it
couldn't be the owl.
"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" cried Buddy, when he was so frightened he couldn't
keep still any longer, "Oh, dear! I wish my papa and mamma would come
home; and Brighteyes, too!"
"What for?" asked a voice, away high up on the ceiling.
"Because I'm--I'm lonesome--and afraid--and--and--" but Buddy was almost
crying, so he couldn't finish what he had started to say.
"What are you afraid of?" asked the voice, and this time it was on the
side wall, close to Buddy.
"I'm afraid of you!" cried the little boy guinea pig, and he got farther
under the bed clothes.
"Nonsense! Afraid of me!" exclaimed the voice, and this time, bless me;
if it wasn't on the blanket, right over Buddy's nose. "Don't be afraid,
little boy," the voice went on. "I wouldn't hurt you for the world. Why,
I'm only a harmless, old June bug, you know. I blundered in here by
mistake, somehow, because I saw your light, but now it's dark, and I
can't see to get out. But land sakes, goodness me, and some buttermilk!
Don't be afraid of me! I wouldn't hurt you for the world and the moon
too."
"Well, I--I don't exactly know if I'm afraid of you or not," went on
Buddy. "First I thought you were a fox or an owl. I--I guess I'm a
little afraid of the dark, too."
"Nonsense! The dark can't hurt anyone," said the June bug. "The dark is
good for sleeping. But if you're afraid, how would you like me to tell
you a story? And that will pass the time until your papa and mamma come
home."
"Oh, fine!" cried Buddy, and he wasn't afraid any more, for he loved to
hear stories. So the June bug perched upon the bed clothes, where they
were nice and soft, and he told lots of stories to Buddy.
He told about the cow that went to school, and about the bear who was
bitten by a big, black bug, and about two good boys, and about three bad
boys, who lived in a cave, and about an elephant, and about a horse that
had four legs and, oh, I don't know how many stories.
Then the June bug sang this little verse, only, as I have a cold in my
head you'll have to get some one else to sing it for you. Anyhow this
is how it goes:
"I love to flip and flop and flap,
And buzz around the room,
I leap up to the ceiling high,
And hit it with a boom!
I turn a double somersault.
My wings they play a tune.
It's lots of fun to be a bug,
Especially in June."
And then, land sakes, and a feather pillow; if Buddy Pigg wasn't fast
asleep. Then the kind old June bug sang his song over again, softly, and
was about to fly away, when he saw a mosquito going to bite the little
guinea pig boy.
And what did that bug do but grab the mosquito and throw him out of the
window. And the June bug stayed until he heard Dr. Pigg and his wife
coming back, and then he flew away, for he had managed to find the place
where he had come in, and crawled out again.
Buddy woke up when his mamma came in his room to see how he was, and he
told her all about the June bug, and how kind it had been, and how it
had told stories.
"You must have had a lovely dream," said Mrs. Pigg, but Buddy knew it
had actually happened, and wasn't a dream at all. Now if my typewriter
doesn't fall down and sprain its hair ribbon we'll next have a story
soon about Brighteyes and a bad boy.
[Illustration]
STORY XVI
BRIGHTEYES AND THE BAD BOY
Brighteyes Pigg was coming home from the grocery store one day. She
didn't have much to carry because, you see, her mamma had sent her for
only a yeast cake, and, as that wasn't very large, Matilda put it in her
apron pocket.
She was walking along, thinking what a good time she would have when she
got home, for Jennie Chipmunk had promised to come over as soon as she
got her dishes washed and play house with the little guinea pig girl.
"We'll have a lovely time," thought Matilda, who was called Brighteyes
for short. "We'll dress up all our dolls and have a play-party, and
maybe mamma will give us real things to eat."
Well, Brighteyes was thinking so much about the party, and about Jennie
Chipmunk, whom she had not seen in some time, that she didn't pay much
attention to anything else. She was going along, hippity-hop, just as
Sister Sallie went to the barber shop, when all of a sudden something
whizzed right past the nose of Brighteyes and almost hit her.
"My goodness me, sakes alive and a tin dishpan! What's that?" she
exclaimed. "I wonder if it could have been that June bug who told Buddy
stories so nicely?"
Then she looked all around and she didn't see anything of a bug, and she
didn't hear his wings buzzing, so she thought it couldn't have been him.
Then, bless me! if something more didn't shoot right past Brighteyes
with a whizz and a whozz, making a funny noise, you know. And this time
she saw what it was. It was an arrow, the kind that are shot from bows,
you understand.
"Oh, the Indians are after me! The Indians are after me!" cried poor
Brighteyes in fright, for you see she had read in her school reader
about the Indians shooting arrows.
Then the little guinea pig girl started to run, but before she had taken
three steps and a half, if another arrow didn't come whizzing through
the bushes at her, and this time it was so close that it just touched
her left ear.
This frightened her so that she fell down, and before she could get up
to run away, if out from behind a tree didn't leap a bad boy.
So it wasn't an Indian shooting the arrows, after all, which, perhaps,
was a good thing, as Indians can shoot very straight and might have hurt
Brighteyes. No, it was a bad boy.
I call him bad because he shot at Brighteyes, and I guess before I'm
through with this story that you'll call him bad also.
Well, that boy ran right at Brighteyes, and before she knew what was
happening he had grabbed her.
"Wow!" cried the boy. "I've got it! I shot it! I've got a rabbit!"
"Ha! That ain't a rabbit!" exclaimed another boy, coming out of the
bushes, "that's a guinea pig. Where did you hit it?"
"I don't know. It doesn't seem to be hurt anywhere. But I was sure I hit
it. But, maybe, the arrow only stunned it. Anyhow, I've got it. Now
we'll take it home, and put it in a cage, and charge five cents for all
the other boys to see it."
"Sure," said the second boy. "You're a good shot with your bow and
arrow. Come on, let me carry the guinea pig."
"No," replied the first boy, "I'm going to carry it myself. I wonder if
you carry 'em by their ears, like you do rabbits?" Then he tried to get
hold of Brighteyes' ears, and he could hardly find them, as they were so
small, and, of course, he couldn't take hold of them.
But, oh, dear! how roughly he handled that poor little guinea pig girl!
When he couldn't get hold of her ears he grabbed her by the hind legs
and actually turned her upside down, and then what should happen but
that the yeast cake fell out of her apron pocket.
"Ha! That's funny!" cried the boy who held Brighteyes. "I never knew
that guinea pigs ate yeast cakes. This must be a smart one. We'll teach
it to do tricks, and then we can charge ten cents to see it. Oh, I'm
glad I caught it."
And he held on more tightly to Brighteyes, for she was wiggling and
squirming, trying to get away.
Oh, how frightened she was, when she heard the boys say that they were
going to shut her up in a cage! She thought she would never see her
mamma, and papa, and Buddy again. Big tears came into her eyes, and she
trembled all over.
But do you s'pose that bad boy and the other one cared? Not the least
bit! First one held Brighteyes, and then the other, to see how heavy she
was, and then they took her up, first by one leg and then by the other,
and, if she had had a tail, they would have held her up by that, and
probably pulled it, too, for all I know.
You see those two boys had been playing they were Indians in the woods
with their bows and arrows, and perhaps that made them act so cruelly.
"Let's hurry home now and put it in a cage," said the bad boy, and he
and the other boy started off, carrying Brighteyes. But wait, don't be
frightened, or worried, for something is going to happen immediately,
which is very soon.
All at once there was a whizzing and a whozzing in the air, and a
buzzing, bizzing sound, and that kind old June bug came sailing along.
He saw those bad boys taking Brighteyes away, and the bug knew at once
that she was Buddy's sister.
So what did he do but wiggle his wings about a thousand times a minute,
I guess, and fly right at the boy who held the guinea pig girl!
Right at the bad boy flew the bug, and he hit him first in one eye and
then the other and scared him so that the bad chap was glad enough to
let go of poor Brighteyes in a hurry.
Then the other boy stepped on the yeast cake, and it flattened out, and
he slipped on it, and fell down, and he thought a bear was after him,
and he yelled, and the other boy yelled, and then they both ran away,
and Brighteyes was saved.
She thanked the June bug, and he said he was glad he could help her, and
he flew back to the grocery and got another yeast cake for her. Then
Brighteyes hurried home.
Now the next story is going to be about Buddy Pigg's great run--that is,
if we have peaches and cream for supper and the rag man doesn't take my
rubber boots for his goat to wear to the party.
STORY XVII
BUDDY'S GREAT RUN
Well, I didn't have peaches and cream for supper last night, but I had
strawberry shortcake, which is almost as good, so I can tell you a
story, anyhow.
Once upon a time, Oh, I guess it must have been about two weeks after
Brighteyes was caught by the bad boys, and rescued by the June bug,
Buddy Pigg was sitting on his front steps, wishing he had something to
do.
"Mother," he asked, "can I go down in the brook, paddling? Jimmie
Wibblewobble is down there."
"No," said Mrs. Pigg kindly, "you are not quite well enough to go in the
water, Buddy. But you may have five cents for an ice cream cone."
Well, Buddy walked up to the store, got a vanilla ice cream cone, and
had just finished the last of it, even down to the sharp point of the
cone, where there wasn't any ice cream, when who should come along but
Billie and Johnnie Bushytail. They had their catching gloves, and a
ball and a bat, and when the squirrel boys saw Buddy they called out:
"Come on, let's have a game of baseball."
"All right," agreed Buddy. "But who else will play?"
"Oh! we'll get Sammie Littletail, and Bully and Bawly, the frogs, and
Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, and Jimmie Wibblewobble, and we'll have a
fine game," said Billie Bushytail.
So they walked along, and pretty soon they met Sammie Littletail, and
then a little while after that they met the two Bow Wows, and then who
should come hopping along, but Bully and Bawly, the two frogs, and, if
you'll believe me, a moment after that, along came Jimmie Wibblewobble.
Then they had enough for a fine baseball game, and they went to a nice,
green meadow where they could play. Well, Johnnie Bushytail was up at
the bat first, and he knocked the ball so far that Bully, who was
playing out in the far-off part of the field, had to take about sixteen
and a half hops before he could get it. But by that time Johnnie was
back at home plate safe.
Then it came Sammie Littletail's turn, and he knocked the ball so high
that it went up in a tree and stayed there, and didn't come down.
"Oh, that's no way to play!" exclaimed Jimmie Wibblewobble. "Now we
haven't any ball. What did you do that for, Sammie?"
"Well, I couldn't help it; could I?" asked Sammie, and he threw the bat
up, trying to knock down the ball.
But it wouldn't come down, and then they all threw up stones and sticks,
but still that ball wouldn't come down, and then Billie and Johnnie
Bushytail climbed up and they had it down in about two frisks of their
big, long tails.
Well, they said that Sammie Littletail was out for knocking the ball up
in the tree, and he didn't like it, but he gave in, and the game went
on. Then Jimmie Wibblewobble knocked a ball, oh! so far and so high that
it was almost out of sight.
"Nobody can catch that!" cried Jimmie, as he started for first base.
But just you wait and see. Buddy Pigg was out in the field, waiting for
a nice ball to come along so he could catch it, and now was his chance.
He had such bright eyes, almost like his sister's, and he could see the
ball away up in the white clouds, even though none of the other players
could.
He kept his eyes on it, and got his paws all ready to catch it when it
came down. And pretty soon it did begin to come down, for you know it
couldn't stay up there in the air, with nothing to hold it. Of course
not, and I know you understand how that is.
Well, Buddy managed to catch that ball, though it came down very
swiftly, and Jimmie Wibblewobble was out.
"Fine catch, Buddy! Fine!" cried Billie Bushytail.
"Yes, and now it's Buddy's turn to bat," said Bawly, the frog. "Get up,
Buddy. I'll pitch you a nice one."
So Buddy got up to home plate, which was a flat stone, you know, and he
held his bat ready to knock the ball out of sight, if possible.
Bawly threw him a nice, easy ball, and Buddy struck at it. He hit, too,
which is better. Oh! such a hit as he gave that ball! It's a good thing
balls don't have feelings, I think, or bats either, for that matter.
Well, as soon as he hit the ball Buddy started to run for the bases. Oh,
how fast he ran, but something happened. The ball didn't go as far as he
thought it would. No, it fell down right near Sammie Littletail, and
Sammie picked it up and ran toward Buddy with it.
He knew if he could touch Buddy with the ball before Buddy got back to
home plate, that Buddy would be out and then Sammie could bat again.
So Sammie ran after Buddy, and Buddy ran all around the bases, hoping he
could make a home run and get there safe. But it was hard work. Faster
and faster he ran, and faster and faster hopped Sammie after him.
"Run, Buddy! Run!" cried Bully the frog.
"I--am--running!" panted Buddy.
"Catch him, Sammie! Catch him!" cried Bawly, and Sammie gave three
tremendous hops to catch Buddy.
But by this time Buddy was nearly at home plate, where he would be safe.
And the worst of it was that Sammie was almost there, too.
Then, with his last breath, and giving a spring and a hop that was so
big that it took him close to Buddy, Sammie stretched out his paw with
the ball in and tried to touch Buddy. But do you s'pose he did? No, sir,
he didn't, and Buddy got home safe, and wasn't put out after all.
"Well," said Sammie, after he had gotten his breath, "if you had had a
tail sticking out behind you I would have touched that, and you'd have
been out."
"I'm glad I haven't a tail," said Buddy, as he sat down on the grass to
rest, and then, after a while the game went on, and lasted until dark,
everybody having a fine time.
Now, I'm going to tell you in the story after this one about
Brighteyes, Buddy and the turnip--that is, in case I hear a potato bug
sing a song that puts the rag doll to sleep, so she won't cry and wake
up the pussy cat.
STORY XVIII
BRIGHTEYES, BUDDY AND THE TURNIP
One day when Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg were out walking in the fields,
they saw, close beside a big stone, a fine, large turnip. Oh, it was the
nicest, ripest, juiciest turnip that ever a guinea pig boy or girl
smelled of, and it just made their mouths water, and water even came
into their eyes.
"Oh, what a lovely turnip!" exclaimed Brighteyes. "I wonder who it
belongs to?"
"Let's look and see if it has any one's name on it," suggested Buddy.
So, after peering carefully about to see that there were no traps near,
the two guinea pig children went closer, and gazed on all sides of the
turnip, and even turned it over to look on the bottom.
They couldn't see a single name, and then they came to the conclusion
that the turnip didn't belong to any one in particular.
"I wonder if it would be right for us to take it home?" asked
Brighteyes. "Mamma and papa would just love to have some of it."
"Why certainly, take it right along, children!" exclaimed a voice from
under a burdock leaf, and then out flew the kind, old June bug.
"May we really have it?" asked Buddy.
"Of course," answered the June bug. "You see I was hiding under that
leaf, thinking it was about time for me to go South, for June bugs
oughtn't really to fly in July, when I heard a rumbling noise. First I
thought it was thunder, and then I saw that it was a big farm wagon
loaded with turnips.
"Well, one of the turnips fell off, and a boy, who was riding on the
wagon, called to the man who was driving, and told him about the turnip
falling. Then the man said that didn't matter, as he had more turnips
than he knew what to do with. So that's how I know that you can have the
turnip if you wish."
"Well, we certainly do wish!" cried Brighteyes. "Isn't it grand, Buddy?
We'll take it right home."
"Yes, but how can we carry it?" asked her brother. "I don't believe we
can lift it."
He went up to the big, round turnip, and tried and tried, with all his
might, to lift it, but it wouldn't come up as high even as a pin head
from the ground.
"Perhaps I can lift it," suggested Brighteyes, so she tried, but she
couldn't.
"Maybe if you both try together you can," said the June bug.
Well, they both pulled and hauled, but it was of no use. There that
turnip was, just as if it was stuck fast in the ground.
"I'm not very strong myself," went on the June bug, "but I'll do my
best. Come on, now, all together."
So he took hold, with Buddy and Brighteyes, and he buzzed his wings as
hard as they would buzz, and he cracked his legs, and he strained and he
tugged and pulled, but, no sir, that turnip wouldn't move the least bit.
"I guess we'll have to leave it here," said Buddy sorrowful-like, "but I
did so want to take it home to mamma and papa."
And he looked at the big vegetable as if it would, somehow, move itself.
"I know a way," said the June bug, at length.
"How?" asked Brighteyes.
"Why you and your brother must eat as much of it as you can, and then it
will be lighter, and easier to lift, you see. Just gnaw a lot off the
turnip, and you can carry it, then."
"Oh, but that would spoil the turnip," objected Buddy. "We want to take
it home all in one piece, so papa and mamma can see it." Now wasn't that
good of him? Especially when he and his sister were just as hungry as
they could be, and would have loved to have had some? But they wanted to
have their folks see it first, without a bite being taken from it.
"Well," said the June bug, "maybe you can roll it along, if you can't
lift it."
"The very thing!" cried Buddy. "If we can just get it started it will
roll along easily, for it is down hill to our pen, and it will bounce
along just as the cabbage did, that I was once in. That's a good plan."
Well, by hard work the three of them did manage to get the turnip
started, and it rolled along, first slowly and then more quickly, and
then with a rush, and land sake! if all at once it didn't roll down into
a big hole.
"Oh, now we'll never get it up!" cried Buddy, much disappointed, and he
and his sister felt very sorrowful. But not for long, for in a little
while along hopped Uncle Wiggily Longears, with his crutch. It didn't
take him any time, with the aid of the June bug, and Buddy and
Brighteyes, to pry that turnip up out of the hole.
"Now I'll show you how to get the turnip home," said Uncle Wiggily.
"You need some way to steer it, so it won't run away from you and get
into a hole again."
Then he took his crutch and punched a hole through that turnip, and put
a stick through the hole, so the turnip was just like the wheel of a
wheelbarrow.
Then he fastened long pieces of strong grass to the stick that was stuck
through the turnip, and he and Buddy and Brighteyes and the June bug
took hold of the grass, and they rolled that turnip along and steered it
just as you pull your sled or wheel the baby carriage or guide a horse
with a bit in his mouth.
And pretty soon they were safely at the pen, and Dr. Pigg and his wife
were much surprised and delighted when they saw the big turnip which
their children had found. They gave Uncle Wiggily Longears some, but the
June bug said he would rather have a ginger snap, and he got it.
Now the next story will be about Buddy and the burglar fox, in case the
milkman isn't late to school, and if he brings a bottle of water for
teacher to sprinkle the blackboards with.
STORY XIX
BUDDY AND THE BURGLAR FOX
"We must lock all the windows and doors very tightly to-night," said
Mrs. Pigg to her husband, one evening, when they were getting ready for
bed.
"Yes," agreed Dr. Pigg, "we must. I'll see to it, my dear, and you put
the children to bed."
"Why do you have to lock up so carefully, mamma?" inquired Buddy.
"Because," said Mrs. Pigg, "I heard that there have been a number of
tramps and burglars around lately."
"Indeed, that's true," added Dr. Pigg. "Mr. Cock A. Doodle, the rooster
next door, was telling me that he thinks some one tried to get in his
coop last night. The door rattled and some one shook the window."
"Perhaps it was the wind," suggested Brighteyes.
"It may have been," agreed her father. "I hope it was, for I don't like
burglars at all. Now go to bed and don't be afraid, for I'll lock up
carefully, and I have a pail of water right beside my bed and I'll
throw it on a burglar if he dares to come in."
So Buddy and Brighteyes went up stairs to bed with their mother, while
Dr. Pigg put out the cat, locked the doors and windows and set the alarm
clock to wake him up at five o'clock, for he had to go downtown to
attend to some business in the morning.
"I wish the June bug would come again," said Brighteyes, as she was
falling asleep.
"Why?" asked her mother from the next room.
"Oh, so he could tell us some stories, and then I wouldn't think about
burglars."
"Nonsense!" exclaimed Mrs. Pigg. "How silly! Burglars will never hurt
you. Go to sleep now."
"If any burglars come in I'll fix 'em'!" cried Buddy, bravely, from his
room. Then Brighteyes went to sleep, and so did Dr. Pigg and his wife.
But, somehow, Buddy couldn't sleep. Why it was he didn't know, only he
couldn't. He thought of everything he could think of; ice cream cones
and turnips and baseball games, and being in the boat that time, and
going to the North Pole and then he thought of the stories the June bug
had told him, but still he couldn't go to sleep.
"I guess I'll get up and sit by the window a while," he said to
himself. "Then maybe I'll feel sleepy."
So he got up and sat down in a comfortable chair and looked out. It was
a beautiful moonlight night, and he could see things almost as well as
if it was day.
Well, Buddy hadn't sat there very long, before he saw something long and
black and shadowy creeping along, as softly and as gently as a mouse.
First he thought it was a cat, but when he looked again he saw that it
was a fox. And the fox had a bag over his shoulder, and he was sneaking
along, looking around to be sure no policeman dogs saw him.
Well, sir, as true as I'm telling you, if that fox didn't come softly up
to Dr. Pigg's house, right to the front door, as Buddy could see by
leaning out of his window, which was open, and looking down, as his
window was right over the front door.
Then that fox took a screw-driver out of his bag, and he began to work
at the door to force it open, in spite of the lock on it. Oh, how softly
and quietly he worked! But Buddy looked down and saw him, and he knew
right away that it was a burglar fox, who was coming in the house.
At first Buddy was frightened, and then he knew that he ought to do
something. He thought of awakening his papa and mamma, and then he
feared that this would scare Brighteyes, and so he decided to drive that
burglar fox away all by himself.
Then he tried to think of the best way to do it. He moved softly about
his room, looking for something with which to scare the fuzzy old fox,
and what do you think he found? Why, his baseball, to be sure!
"That will be as good as a bullet!" thought Buddy.
Then he moved softly to the window, leaned out, where he could see the
fox, who was still trying to force open the front door, and raising the
ball in his hand, Buddy threw it down with all his might, just as if he
was throwing to first base.
Well, sir, the ball hit that bad fox right on the head, and it bounced
up almost into Buddy's hands again, but not quite.
My, how surprised that fox was! In fact he was so surprised that he fell
down, and when he got up and saw Buddy looking at him from the window,
he was more amazed than ever.
"Get right away from here, you bad burglar fox you!" cried Buddy, "or
I'll throw forty-seven more big bullets at you!"
Of course he really couldn't, because he didn't have any other baseballs
to throw, but the fox didn't know that, and really thought the one
baseball was a big bullet.
Then, without even stopping to pick up his bag, the fox ran away, and so
he didn't get in at all in Dr. Pigg's house, and Buddy went to sleep.
Well, when Buddy told his papa and mamma and Brighteyes the next morning
what he had done, maybe they weren't proud of him. Yes, indeed!
I wish I could say that the fox was arrested, but he wasn't, and made
lots more trouble later. But he never broke into Dr. Pigg's house and
I'm glad of it.
Now, do you think you'd like to hear, in the next story, about a queer
adventure which Brighteyes had? Well, I'll tell it to you if the water
sprinkler man gives us a nice big piece of ice to bake in the oven for a
pudding.
[Illustration]
STORY XX
BRIGHTEYES HAS AN ADVENTURE
It was a very hot day. It was as hot, in fact, as some of the days we
have had around here lately, and when Brighteyes, the little guinea pig
girl, saw the yellow sun beaming down as she looked out of the pen in
the morning, she said to her papa:
"Now, be very careful not to get overheated to-day, daddy, dear."
"I will," replied Dr. Pigg. "It is so very warm that I shall walk on the
shady side of the street, and keep a handkerchief, wet in ice water, on
my head."
"I was cool enough the other night," remarked Buddy Pigg. "In fact, I
shivered when I saw the burglar fox trying to get in," and he actually
shivered again when he thought of it, and of how he had scared the bad
fox away, as I told you in the story just before this one.
But, after a bit, it got so warm that even the thought of the fox could
not make Buddy shiver. Neither could his mother nor Brighteyes shiver,
and when you can't shiver, you know, it's a sure sign that it's going
to be very hot.
At last Brighteyes said:
"Oh, I think I'll go for a walk in the woods. Don't you want to come
along, Buddy?" and she looked at her brother, who was whittling a stick
with his new knife.
But Buddy decided it was too hot even to go off in the woods, so
Brighteyes said she would go alone. She put on her coolest dress. I
think it was a white swiss or a blue organdie, or a challis, or a
bombazine, I can't just exactly remember. Anyway, it was nice and cool,
and freshly washed and ironed and starched, and Brighteyes looked just
as pretty in it as a picture in a gold frame.
Well, she walked along for some time, and, pretty soon, oh, I guess in
about three squeaks, or, maybe, four, she came to the woods. It was nice
and cool and shady in there, with a little breeze blowing through the
trees, and, frisking about in the branches, were several chipmunks, who
were cousins of Jennie Chipmunk, and a number of squirrels, besides,
most of them relations of Johnnie and Billie Bushytail.
So Brighteyes sat down on a mossy log, and thought how nice and cool it
was, and pretty soon, she heard water running and splashing over the
stones. That made her cooler than ever and she was feeling very happy,
and wishing Buddy was with her, when she began to feel thirsty.
And the more she heard the water running the more thirsty she became,
until she said, right out loud: "I'm going to get a drink!"
You've no idea how funny it sounded to hear Brighteyes speak out loud
that way, for it was so still and quiet in the woods, that it was just
as if she had spoken out loud in church, after the minister has stopped
praying. Then Brighteyes got up from the mossy log, and went toward the
running water. And what do you s'pose is going to happen? Why, she's
going to have an adventure in about a minute, or, maybe, less time.
Well, the little guinea pig girl found where a little brook ran through
the woods, over the stones and under green banks where the long ferns
grew, and she was more thirsty than ever, and when she got down to the
edge of the brook, there was a little plank stretched across the water
for a bridge.
Brighteyes walked out on the middle of the plank, looked down into the
brook, which was just like a looking-glass, and she saw how well her
dress fitted. Then she kneeled, dipped her paws in the water and scooped
up some to drink, taking care not to splash any on her clothes.
"Oh!" exclaimed the little guinea pig girl, "that is very fine water!"
Then she took another drink and stood up. She was just going to walk
back to shore when she happened to hear a funny noise, and, lo! and
behold, at either end of the plank bridge there was a funny brown, furry
creature, about as big as a small dog. They stood up on their hind legs,
one at one end of the plank and one at the other, and when they saw
Brighteyes looking at them the larger creature cried out:
"Ha! Ha! Now we have you! You can't get ashore unless you give us all
your money!"
"I haven't very much," said poor Brighteyes, beginning to tremble, and
wondering if the brown creatures were burglars.
"Well, we want whatever money you have," declared the creature at the
right-hand end of the plank.
"Yes, indeed!" cried the creature on the left end.
"Who--who are you?" stammered Brighteyes, thinking to make friends with
the creatures.
"We're groundhogs!" they both cried together, "and we want your money."
"What for?" asked Brighteyes, wondering what question she could ask
next.
"We're going to buy firecrackers," answered the one on the right end.
"Fourth of July is past," said Brighteyes.
"No matter. Give us all your money, or we'll push you into the brook!"
declared the two groundhogs together, and when Brighteyes said she
hadn't any change, for there was no pocket in her dress, you see, to
carry any money in, what did those bad groundhogs do, but begin to
teeter-tauter up and down, with the little guinea pig girl on the middle
of the plank.
Up and down she went, faster and faster, and pretty soon the water began
to splash upon her new dress. And oh, how terrible she felt.
First she thought she would run across the plank, but she was afraid of
the groundhog at either end. Then she thought she would jump over their
heads, but she couldn't jump very well, not being a grasshopper, you
see, and she didn't know what to do, and she was crying the least bit,
when, all of a sudden, who should come along but the three Wibblewobble
children--Lulu and Alice and Jimmie--and when they saw how the two
groundhogs had made Brighteyes a prisoner in the middle of the plank
bridge, those three ducks just stretched out their long necks, and
cried, "Quack! Quack! Quack!" as loudly as they could.
That so frightened the groundhogs that they jumped into the brook and
swam away, leaving Brighteyes free. Then she went home with the
Wibblewobbles, and told Buddy her adventure, and he said it was a good
one.
Now, the next story will be about Buddy in a deep hole--that is if the
trolley car doesn't run off the track, and break all the eggs in the
grocery store window.
STORY XXI
BUDDY IN A DEEP HOLE
Once upon a time it happened that Buddy Pigg was out taking a walk over
the fields and through the woods. He often used to do this, sometimes
taking a stroll for pleasure, and again to see if he could find anything
to eat. This time he was looking for something to eat, and so he walked
very slowly, looking from side to side, and sniffing the air from time
to time.
"For," he said, "who knows but what I may find a nice cabbage or a
turnip, or a radish, or a bit of molasses cake, or a ginger snap, or
even an ice cream cone. Any of those things would be very good," thought
Buddy to himself, "especially an ice cream cone on a hot day."
But, though he looked and he looked and he looked, oh, I guess maybe
about a dozen times, he couldn't find a single thing that was good to
eat, and he was beginning to get discouraged.
"I'll go a little bit farther," he thought, "and then if I don't find
anything I'll turn around, go back home, and get some bread and butter,
for that is better than nothing; and I am getting hungry."
So he walked on a little farther, and, as he walked along, he sang this
little song which no one is allowed to sing unless they are very, very
hungry.
So in case it happens that you have just had an ice cream cone, or
something good like that, and are not hungry, you must not sing this
song until just before dinner or breakfast or supper. Anyhow here's the
song and you can put it aside until you are nearly starving. This is how
it goes:
"I wish I had some candy
Or a peanut lolly-pop.
I'd eat an ice-cream cone so quick
You could not see me stop.
If I had two big apples,
An orange or a peach.
I'd give my little sister
A great big bite from each.
"But there is nothing here to eat--
Not even cherry pie.
Though we had one at our house once,
And some got in my eye.
Oh! how I'd like a cocoanut!
And watermelon, too.
I'd eat two slices off the ice--
Now, really, wouldn't you?"
No sooner had Buddy finished singing this song, than he came to a place
in the woods, where there was a big hole going down into the ground. Oh,
it was quite a large hole, not quite so big as the one going down to
China, but pretty large and it looked just as if some animal were in the
habit of going in and out of it.
"Ha, ho!" exclaimed Buddy Pigg. "This looks like something; it surely
does," and, my dear children, the funny part of it was that the hole did
look like something.
"I guess I'll go down there and see if there's anything to eat at the
bottom," went on the little guinea pig boy, "for I certainly am hungry."
Then he stood and peeped down into the hole, and, though it looked quite
far to the bottom of it, and though it seemed pretty dark, Buddy decided
to go in. Now, that was rather foolish of him, for it's never safe to go
in a hole until you know where you're coming out, especially a hole in
the woods; but Buddy didn't stop to think. So he looked all around, to
see that there were no bad foxes in sight, and then he entered the hole.
First he crept along very slowly and carefully. Oh my, yes, and a
banana peeling in addition! and then, all of a sudden, land sakes flopsy
dub! if Buddy didn't slip and fall and stumble, and roll over and over,
sideways, and head over heels, and he kept on going down, until finally
he came to a stop in a place that was as dark as a pocket in a fur
overcoat on a winter day.
"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" cried poor Buddy Pigg. "Whatever has happened; and
where am I?"
He tried to see where he was, but, my goodness sakes alive! he might as
well have tried to look through the blackboard at school, for all he
could see was just nothing.
"I--I guess I must have fallen all the way through to China!" whispered
Buddy, as he lay there in the darkness, and then he happened to remember
that if he was in China he would see some little Chinese boys and girls,
and he could not see any, so he knew he wasn't in China.
"Oh, dear!" cried Buddy again. "Where am I, anyhow?"
Then, all of a sudden, out of the darkness, there sounded a voice, and
when Buddy heard it he trembled.
"Who are you?" cried the voice, "and what are you doing in here?"
"If you please," answered the little guinea pig boy, "I am Buddy, and I
fell down this hole. Whose is it?"
"It belongs to us," said two voices at once. "We are groundhogs, and you
must get right out of here!"
"Groundhogs!" exclaimed Buddy, and then he remembered the two who had
teeter-tautered Brighteyes up and down on the plank bridge, and wet her
dress, and he was frightened for fear they would harm him.
"Oh, please, Mr. Groundhogs!" went on Buddy, "I didn't mean to come
here! I fell in when I was looking for something to eat. Please help me
out, and I'll never come again. I was looking for something to take home
to Brighteyes, my sister."
"What! Is Brighteyes Pigg your sister?" cried the two groundhogs,
rustling around in the dark hole, and when Buddy said she was, they said
they were very sorry for having frightened her on the plank. They were
only playing a joke, they said, and they promised never to bother her
again.
"And besides," went on the larger groundhog, "we'll give you something
to eat, and help you out of this hole."
So they went and got their lantern, which was a bottle filled with
fireflies, and they showed Buddy where there was another hole leading up
out of their underground house, and he crawled out, after they had
given him some clover preserved in molasses candy, and they promised to
come and play with him and Brighteyes some day.
Then Buddy was happy again, and almost glad he had fallen down the big
hole, because he had something good to take home to eat.
Now, in case I have cherry pie for supper and the juice doesn't get on
my red necktie and turn it green, I'll tell you soon about a trick the
groundhogs played.
STORY XXII
A TRICK THE GROUNDHOGS PLAYED
One day, oh, I guess it must have been about a week after Buddy Pigg
fell down the groundhogs' hole, he and Brighteyes were out walking in
the woods. They had been over to pay a visit to Jackie and Peetie Bow
Wow, the two puppy dogs, you know, and were on their way back.
As they walked along, they both heard a queer little rustling sound in
the bushes, but at first they didn't pay any attention to it, but they
kept on, talking about what a nice time they had had, when, all of a
sudden, the noise sounded more plainly. It was just as if some big
animal had taken hold of the bushes in his teeth, and had shaken
them--shaken the bushes, I mean, of course, for he couldn't shake his
teeth unless they were false, and animals don't have false teeth, thank
goodness.
"My land sakes! What's that?" exclaimed Brighteyes.
"Maybe it's a bad fox," said Buddy, and he looked around for a stick or
a stone with which to defend his sister, for Buddy was brave, let me
tell you.
Then the noise seemed to sort of go away, just like when the teacher
rubs the figures and sentences off the blackboard in school, and Buddy
and Brighteyes weren't so frightened. So they kept on, and just as they
were coming to the path that led to their pen, what did they hear but
the rustling noise in the bushes again. This time they were very much
frightened, and Buddy picked up a stick, almost as large as himself.
Then Brighteyes said:
"Oh, Buddy, I'm afraid to go home that way. Let's take the other path."
"But that is so much longer," objected her brother.
"No matter," answered the little guinea pig girl, "it is better to take
a longer path, than to go on a short one and be eaten up by a fox or a
wolf," and I suppose Brighteyes was right. Anyhow they took the other
path, and as they went along it, they heard a noise in the bushes as if
some one was laughing, only they didn't see how a fox could laugh. So
they hurried on.
Well, it wasn't very long before they came to something. I was going to
let you guess what it was, but as it might take you some time to think,
and then, maybe, you wouldn't get it right, I have decided to tell you.
What Buddy and Brighteyes saw on the path in front of them was a small
box--the kind that soap comes out of, you know--and it was standing up
on one edge. And sort of underneath the box were two, big toadstools,
made into tables, and beside each table was a smaller toadstool for a
seat. And, would you believe me? on each toadstool-table there were a
lot of nice things to eat! Believe me, there was, really! There were
bits of cabbage, some red clover tops with marshmallow-chocolate on
them, and candied cherries, and red raspberries with strawberry sauce,
and oh, I don't know what all!
"Why!" exclaimed Brighteyes, "that is a regular little play-party,
Buddy."
"To be sure it is," he answered. "And look, there is a sign fastened to
the box. Let's go closer, and read what it says on it." So they went a
little closer, watching on all sides to make sure there was no danger,
and they read the sign. This is what it said:
"Come in and eat whate'er you wish.
Taste each dainty in the dish.
Make a bow, and wipe your feet,
Fold your napkins nice and neat."
"Come on," cried Buddy to his sister. "Let's go in and eat."
"Do you s'pose it's meant for us?" asked Brighteyes.
"Of course," was his answer. "Come on! See, there's a mat to wipe your
feet on, and there are napkins at each plate. There is a table for you,
and one for me."
So Buddy and Brighteyes, thinking no harm, went in and, after making
their very best double-jointed bows, and wiping their feet until there
was no more mud on them than on a postage stamp, they sat down to the
tables and tucked in their napkins around their necks.
Then they began to eat, and oh, how good everything tasted! Just like
when you go visiting to the country, you know, and eat, and eat, and
keep on eating. Well, that's just the way it was, believe me, if you
please.
Now, something is going to happen. I can't help it, and it's not my
fault. You see that box, with the nice things to eat on the toadstool
tables, was only a trap. No sooner had the two guinea pigs begun eating
than some one hiding in the bushes pulled on a long string, and the
string snapped out a piece of wood that was holding up the box, and the
box fell down, and Brighteyes and Buddy were caught under
it--prisoners--just like a mouse in the trap.
They stopped eating pretty quickly then, let me tell you. Buddy was just
going to have a second helping of marshmallow-chocolate clover when the
box fell over, and it was so dark inside that he couldn't find his
mouth.
"Oh, dear!" cried Brighteyes. "What has happened?"
"We're in a trap!" shouted Buddy. "The bad fox has us in a trap! Come,
we must get out!"
They jumped down from the toadstool seats and upset the toadstool
tables, and the dishes fell on the floor, but they didn't care. Then the
two guinea pig children tried to lift up the box, but they couldn't, and
they tried to dig under it, but they couldn't, and they didn't know how
in the world they were going to get out.
Then, all of a sudden they heard some one whispering outside the box.
Buddy thought it was the fox, so he cried: "You had better let us out of
here, Mr. Fox, or we'll have you arrested!"
"Why, that's Buddy Pigg!" cried the voice, and all of a sudden the box
was lifted and there stood the two groundhog boys; Woody and Waddy Chuck
were their names. "We didn't mean to catch you," said Woody. "We were
only going to play a joke on our big brother, but you got in the box by
mistake. We're very sorry."
But they couldn't help laughing, and I really think the groundhog boys
meant to play a joke on Buddy and Brighteyes and had followed them
through the woods and hid in the bushes and put the things under the box
and all that just on purpose; I really do.
But, anyhow, Buddy and Brighteyes weren't hurt a bit, and Woody and
Waddy gave them all the good things they could eat before the guinea
pigs ran home.
Now, in case it should happen that all the ice in our refrigerator isn't
melted, so we can fry some for pancakes, I'll tell you next about Buddy
in the berry bush.
STORY XXIII
BUDDY IN THE BERRY BUSH
Buddy Pigg didn't know what to do. You see he was home all alone, for
his mother and Brighteyes had gone calling on Grandpa and Grandma
Lightfoot, the squirrels and Dr. Pigg was downtown, playing checkers or
dominoes with Uncle Wiggily Longears, so Buddy didn't have any one to
keep him company.
"I wish some of the boys would come along," he said, as he sat on the
front steps and threw stones out in the dusty road. "I'd like to have a
ball game, or some sort of fun."
But, though he sat there quite a while, none of the boys came along,
and, at last, Buddy remarked:
"Oh, I'm going off and see if I can't find Billie or Johnnie Bushytail,
or Sammie Littletail, or some one, to play with." So he locked the front
door, and put the key under the mat, where his mother would find it when
she came home, and off he started, almost as fast as when Sister Sallie
went hippity-hop to the barber shop.
Pretty soon Buddy came to the woods, and he opened his mouth real wide
and began to yell, not because he was hurt, you understand, but because
he wanted to call some of the boys. He yelled, and he hollered, and he
hooted, and then, all of a sudden, he heard some one yelling back at
him, and he saw Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, the two squirrel boys,
bounding along on the low branches of the trees.
"Hello, fellows!" cried Buddy. "Glad to see you! Let's have some fun."
"What'll we do?" asked Billie.
"I know," suggested Johnnie. "Let's make a see-saw. Here is a nice
plank, and we can put it across that old stump and have a dandy time."
So they got the plank and put it across the stump. Then Buddy got on one
end and Billie and Johnnie on the other, as they were a little smaller
than Buddy, and did not weigh so much. Then they began to go up and
down, first slowly, and then faster and faster, until they were jiggling
up and down as fast as the teakettle boils when there's company coming
to supper.
"Hi, yi!" yelled Billie and Johnnie. "Isn't this fun?"
"Wow, yow! It certainly is," agreed Buddy. "Only don't jump off too
suddenly when I'm in the air, or I'll fall and be hurt."
Well, of course, Billie and Johnnie promised that they would be
careful, and they really meant to keep their word; only, just as they
were close down to the ground on the plank, and Buddy was high up, what
should happen but that a new, green, little acorn fell off an oak tree.
It was one of the first acorns of the season, and Billie and Johnnie
each wanted to get it, so, without thinking what they were doing, they
jumped off the teeter-tauter plank, when Buddy was high up, and, of
course, down he came, with a slam-bang!
My! how it did jar him up, and shake him, like pepper in the caster, but
that wasn't the worst. No, indeed, and some chocolate cake besides! When
Buddy came down he landed right on an old rubber boot that some one had
thrown away in the woods, and it was so bouncy and springy that he was
tossed high up in the air again, and he curved sideways, just like a
baseball, when he came down this time, and where on earth do you s'pose
he landed? Why, right in the middle of a big, scratchy, blackberry bush!
Yes, sir, that's where it was! Down poor Buddy went, right into the
midst of the bush, and of course he got scratched some, only not as much
as he might, for he happened to go down through a thin place, where
there were not so many briars.
Well, at first he was too surprised to speak, and, besides, the breath
was sort of knocked out of him, but, when he did gather himself
together, he saw that he was in a bad place to get out of. By this time
Johnnie and Billie had found the green acorn and had divided and eaten
it, so they came back to find Buddy.
"Why, where has he gone to?" asked Billie, looking around.
"Maybe he got mad, because we jumped off the plank so quickly and he has
run home," suggested Johnnie. "We shouldn't have done it."
"No," cried Buddy, suddenly. "I haven't gone home! I'm in the blackberry
bush over here!"
"Why, how in the world did you get there?" asked Johnnie, and Buddy told
him.
"I think it would be more polite to ask him how he's going to get out,"
suggested Billie.
"That's so," agreed Buddy. "It's going to be hard work. But I guess I
can crawl through."
So he tried to crawl through the bush, but you know how it is when you
go after berries, the briars seem to stick into you all over. That's the
way it was with Buddy. He couldn't crawl out, no matter how hard he
tried, for the stickers caught into his fur and held him fast.
"Can't you jump out through the same hole you fell in through?" asked
Billie, and Buddy tried to do so, but he was scratched more than ever.
Then Billie and Johnnie tried to open up a place through the bottom part
of the briars for Buddy to slide out, but they couldn't do it, and they
were very sorry they had jumped off the plank so quickly, for that made
all the trouble.
Well, it began to look as though Buddy would never get out, and he felt
like crying, only he was brave, and didn't shed a single tear. Then
Johnnie suggested that he and Billie go up a tall tree, and lower a
string down to Buddy in the bush, and try to pull him up that way. They
tried it, but it wouldn't work, for the stickers still caught in the
little guinea pig's fur.
So they didn't know what to do, and were just going to give up, when who
should come bounding along but Sammie Littletail. He knew what to do in
a second.
He dug a burrow, beginning outside the berry bush, and slanting it up
under the roots, so that it came out inside, right near where Buddy was
crouched down inside the clump of briars. The burrow was like a tunnel,
and was big enough for Buddy to crawl out through, which he did, never
getting scratched once. They all said Sammie was very smart to think of
that, and I agree with them. Then they all played sea-saw some more,
until it was time to go home.
Now in case there is a cool breeze, to blow the dust out of the poor
coalman's eyes, I'll tell you next about Buddy and Brighteyes bringing
home the cows.
STORY XXIV
BRINGING HOME THE COWS.
Not far from where Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg lived, there was a man who
had a farm, and on the farm were a number of cows that gave milk. Out of
the milk butter was made, and sometimes, when the butter was all
churned, the farmer's wife would take some of the buttermilk that
remained in a pail and set it down where Dr. Pigg and his family could
get it.
They thought this was very kind of the farmer's wife, and Dr. Pigg told
his children that if they could ever do her a favor, they must be sure
to do so. They promised, though for some time they had no chance to do
any kindness to the farmer or his wife either. But just you wait and see
what happens.
One day, in the middle of summer, when it was very hot every place,
except in the cool and shady woods, Buddy and Brighteyes were strolling
along under the trees near a brook, throwing pebbles in the water and
floating down bits of bark and chips, which they pretended were boats
sailing off to distant countries.
"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Buddy at last, "I wish I had something to do.
There's nothing to do here."
"Why do you always want to be doing something?" asked his sister. "Why
aren't you content to sit here in the shady woods, and sail the boats?"
"Because," answered Buddy, and that was the only reason he could give.
Then Brighteyes thought of a new game to play. She took a piece of bark
for her boat, and she found a nice, white chip for Buddy, and they made
believe their boats were having a race down stream, and Buddy's boat
won, which made him feel quite happy.
Well, pretty soon, the sun began to go down behind the hills, and the
two guinea pig children knew it was time to go home, so they started
off. But they had not gone very far before they came to a field, with a
fence around it, and the field was quite hilly and stony and very large.
Near the fence sat a man, and he had one shoe off, and he was looking at
his foot.
"Oh dear!" Buddy and Brighteyes heard him say, for they could understand
the man's language, if they couldn't talk it. "Oh dear! I've cut my foot
on a sharp stone," the man said, "and I don't see how I can walk away
over through the field and climb the hills after the cows. Oh dear; this
is bad luck, and it's almost milking time, and the cows are sure to be
away back in the far end of the pasture, and I can't go after them. I'll
call them, and maybe they'll come to me, for I surely can't walk after
them."
So the man stood up on one foot and called: "Co Boss! Co Boss! Co Boss!
Co! Co! Co!" Then he waited quite some time, but the cows didn't come,
and he called again: "Co Boss! Co Boss! Co Boss!" and he waited some
more, but still the cows didn't come. "Oh, I guess I'll have to go after
them, no matter if I have cut my foot," said the man at last, and he put
on his shoe, though it hurt him, and he began to limp over the hilly
field, very slowly and painfully.
All at once Brighteyes said to Buddy: "Oh, Bud, that man is the farmer,
and it's his wife who gives us the buttermilk! Wouldn't it be nice if we
could do him a favor, and go and drive the cows home for him?"
"How, could we?" asked Buddy. "The cows are big and we are little. We
never could drive them home."
"We can try," said Brighteyes cheerfully. "Come, we'll hurry on ahead of
the farmer and perhaps I shall think of a plan."
So the two little guinea pig children slipped under the fence and ran
up across the hilly field, and the farmer, who was limping along,
calling "Co Boss!" every once in a while, never saw them. His foot was
hurting him very much and he had to go slowly.
Well, Buddy and Brighteyes kept on, bounding over the stories and
stopping now and then to eat some blackberries or huckleberries or
raspberries or a few late, wild strawberries, and pretty soon they came
to the back part of the field, where, resting in the shade of some
trees, were all the cows.
Oh, I guess there was a dozen and a half of them--big, nice mooley cows,
with brown eyes and long tongues, and they were all chewing their cuds
like gum, you know, and wondering why the farmer didn't come to drive
them home to milk, for they hadn't heard him calling them, you see.
"How are we ever going to drive them home?" asked Buddy of his sister.
"Let me think a minute," said Brighteyes, so she thought real hard for a
minute, or, possibly a minute and a little longer, and then she
exclaimed: "We must each take a long, leafy tree branch, and go up
behind the rows, and wave the branches, and tickle the cows with the
leaves, and they'll think it's a boy driving them home, and they'll
march right along, and the poor farmer, with his sore feet, won't have
to come after them."
And that's exactly what Buddy and Brighteyes did. They got some
branches, gnawing them off a tree with their sharp teeth, and with the
leaves they tickled the cows until they almost made them sneeze.
The cows looked around, expecting to see some boys driving them, but
Buddy and Brighteyes hid behind their big branches, and the cows were
none the wiser. So they swallowed their cuds, blinked their eyes,
switched their tails, and started up and down the hills, over the field,
toward the barnyard to be milked.
Now, before the farmer-man had come very far from the fence, he met the
cows, and maybe he wasn't surprised to see them coming. But he was glad,
too, let me tell you, for he didn't have to walk any farther with his
cut foot.
Then Brighteyes and Buddy ran and hid, for they did not want to be seen,
and the man jumped upon the back of a gentle cow, and rode her all the
way home, and told his wife how the whole herd, in some strange manner,
had come all the way from the back of the field alone. You see he didn't
know Buddy and Brighteyes had driven them.
Well, in a few days the man's foot was well, so he could drive the cows
himself, and the farmer's wife gave Dr. Bigg's family lots of
buttermilk; for, somehow, she guessed that the little guinea pig boy and
girl had done the farmer a kindness, as their papa had told them to.
Now the following story will be about Buddy on horseback--that is,
providing no cats get into our coalbin to scratch the furnace and make
it go out.
[Illustration]
STORY XXV
BUDDY RIDES HORSEBACK.
One night Buddy Pigg's mamma came into his room, where he was sleeping
soundly and dreaming he was playing a ball game with Bully and Bawly,
the frogs, and Mrs. Pigg gently shook her little boy by the shoulder.
"Wake up, Buddy!" she called. "Wake up!"
"What's the matter, mother?" Buddy exclaimed, as he sat up in bed. "Is
the house on fire?"
"No," she answered, "but your papa is very sick, and I want you to go
for Dr. Possum." Then Buddy jumped up very quickly and began to dress,
for he loved his papa very much, and would do anything in the world for
him. When Buddy was ready to start he heard Dr. Pigg groaning very hard,
and saying:
"Oh, dear, what a pain I have! Oh, dear! When will Dr. Possum come?"
"Buddy is going for him at once," Mrs. Pigg said. "He will soon be here.
But have you no medicine that you can take?" For Dr. Pigg had once
worked in a hospital, and generally had some medicine in the house, but
this time he had none that would stop his pain. So Buddy had to get
ready to go for the doctor, while Mrs. Pigg and Brighteyes made mustard
plasters for Dr. Pigg.
Well, when Buddy was all dressed, he happened to look out of the window,
and he saw how dark it was, for there was no moon that night, and the
stars were all hidden behind clouds. But do you s'pose Buddy was going
to stay home on that account? No, sir-ee! He was frightened, and I guess
you'd have been, too, but he was brave, and he made up his mind he'd go
for Dr. Possum.
So Buddy put on his hat and coat and went out of the front door and into
the dark night, where, for all he knew, a bad fox might be waiting to
grab him. But Buddy took a long stick, and he filled his pockets with
stones, and he made up his mind he would throw them at the fox if he saw
him.
The little guinea pig boy went on, and on, through the woods, toward Dr.
Possum's home, and, after a while, he was not so frightened as he had
been at first. Then, all of a sudden, as he was passing a big, black
bush, he heard a funny noise. First he thought it was a wolf or a bear,
and then he heard a voice say:
"Oh, come on down into the burrow, Waddy."
Then Buddy knew it was the two groundhog boys, Woody and Waddy, who had
made the funny noises, but they didn't mean to scare him, and he wasn't
at all frightened now. Woody and Waddy had heard Buddy coming along,
and, a moment later, they saw him and asked where he was going.
"I'm going after Dr. Possum, because my papa is sick," said Buddy.
"Wait and we'll let you take our lantern," said Woody, and he hurried
down into the burrow, and came back with a large bottle, filled with
lightning bugs, which gave plenty of light. And it had a string on, to
carry it by. As Buddy took it, very thankfully, Waddy said he hoped he
would find the doctor at home.
Then Buddy started off again, but he hadn't gone much farther through
the woods before he heard another noise. This noise was a real loud one,
like some giant tramping up and down, and stamping his feet, and
suddenly there came a great snort, and the earth seemed to shake, and a
big, black thing jumped up in front of Buddy, scaring him frightfully.
He trembled so that the cork nearly came out of the bottle of lightning
bugs, and, if it had, the fireflies would have been spilled all over the
ground, worse than when you spill your ice cream cone--only it didn't
happen, I'm glad to say, but almost. Then the black shape stood still,
and a great voice called out:
"Where are you going with that lantern?"
"If you please, kind sir," answered the little boy guinea pig, "I'm
going for Dr. Possum for my papa, who has a terrible pain. The groundhog
boys lent me this lantern. But who are you, if you please, kind sir?"
"Why, I am Gup, the horse," was the answer. "So you are going for Dr.
Possum, eh? He is a friend of mine. I'm sorry if I frightened you. Yes,
I'm only Gup, the horse. You see, my name is Gup because there is a
little boy at our house, and he can't talk very plainly, and he calls me
'Gup' when he wants to say 'get up,' you see. However, it doesn't much
matter, and I don't mind.
"But, speaking of doctors, I know where Dr. Possum lives, and I'll take
you right to his house in less than no time. Besides, you and your
sister were so kind as to drive the cows home for the man who cut his
foot, and as he is a friend of mine I want to return your kindness to
him. Jump upon my back, Buddy."
"Oh, I'm afraid I'll fall," said Buddy, when he saw how high up Gup's
back was from the ground.
"Nonsense!" exclaimed the horse. "I wouldn't let you fall for the
world. Here, hold up your firefly lantern so you can see, climb upon
that low stump, and then you can jump on my back. I'll stand still, and
then I'll take you right to Dr. Possum's house."
So Buddy got up on Gup's back. It was the first time he had ever ridden
a horse or been up so high, and, of course, for a while, he was
frightened. But Gup told him just how to cling tightly to his big neck
and how to hold the lantern so the lightning bugs would shine on the
path, and then Gup started off.
Oh, how fast he went! Right through the woods, he galloped, and he never
bumped into a tree or a bush even once. He went gently, too, so that
Buddy would not fall off, and, my goodness sakes alive! in a short time
the little guinea pig boy was at Dr. Possum's house. He knocked on the
door, rat-a-tat-tat, and, luckily, the doctor was at home. He got right
out of bed, took his satchel of medicines and was just going to get into
his automobile to go to Dr. Pigg's house, when he found that his auto
was broken. Either the spark was off the plug or the plug was off the
spark, I forget which. Then Gup said:
"Get right up on my back, doctor. I can carry you and Buddy, too. It's
no great weight, I assure you. Never mind the automobile. They are
always making trouble."
So Dr. Possum, with his medicine box, climbed upon Gup's back, behind
Buddy, and he helped hold the little guinea pig on during the ride home.
Faster and faster went Gup through the dark woods his hoofs going
"tat-a-tat-too," and he didn't bump into a tree or a bush, and he did
not jar off Buddy or Dr. Possum, and pretty soon there they were safe at
Dr. Pigg's house, and Dr. Possum gave Buddy's papa some medicine that
soon made him better. Then Gup, the kind horsie, took Dr. Possum safely
back through the dark woods as straight as a string.
In the morning Dr. Pigg was all well again, and he said Buddy was very
brave to go off for a doctor in the night, and I think so, too.
Now, in case it doesn't thunder too hard and scare the chimney so that
it falls off the roof, I'll tell you next about Buddy and Brighteyes
tumbling down hill.
STORY XXVI
BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES FALL DOWN HILL
Not far from where Buddy and Brighteyes Pigg lived in the pen with their
papa and mamma, there was a big, tall hill. Oh, ever so much taller than
a house, but not quite so high as the church steeple, and it was a very
hard hill to climb, but, once you had gotten to the top, you could see
off, ever so far; farther than from here to the end of the rainbow,
which is very far indeed.
Now, though Buddy and Brighteyes, the two little guinea pig children,
had lived near the hill ever since they were mere babies, they had never
climbed to the top of it. There were two reasons for this. One was
because the hill was so high and the other was because it was so steep.
It seemed as if no one would ever be able to scramble up the sides of
this hill, or, if they did, very likely they would tumble down again,
just like a boy sliding over the ice and snow on his sled.
But one fine morning when the sun was shining and the birds were
singing Buddy said to Brighteyes:
"Let's climb up to the top of the hill to-day?"
"What for?" asked his sister, as she tied her hair ribbon in a double
bow knot, very pretty indeed to look at, let me tell you.
"Why, so we can see away off where the sky and the mountains come
together beyond the hill," said Buddy. "You can see beautiful scenery
from the tip-top, you know."
"What good will that do?" asked Brighteyes, who was very fond of asking
questions that were hard to answer. "What is the good of looking at the
scenery?" she wanted to know.
"Because," answered her brother, "every one does that where there is a
high hill. I heard some of the summer boarders at the farmhouse, near
our pen, telling each other what a beautiful view there was to be had
from the hill. We must see it for ourselves. There is no one around now,
and we can climb to the top."
"I don't care very much about it," spoke Brighteyes. "I would rather
find another box of peanut candy;" but because she loved Buddy, and did
not want him to start off alone, she consented to climb the big hill
with him. So they started off. At first it was rather easy, and they
went up quite fast. At the foot of the hill were blackberry bushes and
the guinea pig children gathered as many berries as they could eat.
But, as they went farther and farther up, the bushes grew more scarce,
until there were none. Then came a place where there was tall grass and
many stones, so that it was hard to walk. But Buddy and Brighteyes kept
on, and pretty soon they met a grasshopper.
"Where are you going?" asked the grasshopper.
"To the top of the hill, to see the view," answered Buddy.
"You will never get there, the way you are going," said the grasshopper.
"You should jump as I do," and he gave three big hops and a little one
to show how well he could do it.
"We cannot hop," remarked Brighteyes, "but we have a friend who can."
"Who?" asked the grasshopper, as he scratched his two big hind legs
together, like a man playing the fiddle.
"Sammie Littletail, the rabbit," said Buddy. "He can hop."
"Yes, Sammie is a good jumper," admitted the grasshopper, and he hid
under a stone, for just then he saw a big bird looking hungrily at him.
Well, Buddy and Brighteyes went on and on, and up and up, and pretty
soon they met an ant.
"Where are you going?" asked the ant.
"To the top of the hill, to see the fine view," replied Brighteyes, as
she paused to get her breath, which she had nearly lost.
"You will never get up the way you are going," said the ant. "You should
crawl, as I do," and she crawled over a stone to show how it should be
done. But Buddy and Brighteyes could not crawl, and they told the ant
so. Still they kept on, and pretty soon they met a bird.
"You had better fly to the top of the hill as I do," said the bird.
"It's much easier than walking," only, of course, Buddy and Brighteyes
could not fly.
But the two guinea pig children were not discouraged, and they kept on
and on, and pretty soon, really and truly honestly, they were at the
very top of the hill--a place where they had never been before.
They could look off to the mountains, and they saw a lake, and they
could see the place where the end of the rainbow was, whenever there was
a rainbow, and they felt happy, because everything was so lovely, and
Buddy said:
"I feel so glad, I must sing a little song." So he sang this one, which
can only be sung on top of a hill:
"It's very hard to climb a hill,
But when you're at the top,
You feel so very fine and good
Because it's there you stop.
If you should still keep on and on,
I wonder where you'd land?
By sliding down the other side
With sandals full of sand?"
Then Buddy tried to do a little dance, but what do you s'pose happened?
Why, he lost his balance, and toppled over, and then he grabbed hold of
Brighteyes, who was looking at the fine view, and she toppled over, and
then, wiggily-waggily, woggily-wee! they both tumbled down that steep
hill, head over heels like Jack and Jill.
And they went down faster, and faster, and faster, rolling over and
over, and they saw stars, and several different lakes, and lots of
clouds and ever so many things. They were both frightened, and they
thought surely they were going to be hurt, for they were nearing the
bottom, when all of a sudden what should come along but a big load of
hay!
Buddy and Brighteyes hit a stone, bounced up in the air, and then came
down, flippity-flop! right on top of the soft hay, and they weren't hurt
the least bit. Then they slid down off the hay, before the man who was
driving it saw them, and ran home. And they didn't climb a hill again
for ever and ever so long.
Now, if I hear a potato bug whistle a tune on a cornstalk fiddle, I'm
going to tell you next about Buddy and Brighteyes going in bathing.
STORY XXVII
BUDDY AND BRIGHTEYES GO BATHING
"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Buddy Pigg one day. "Oh, dear! Oh, dear me suz
dud!"
"Why, Buddy, dear, whatever in the world is the matter?" asked his
mamma, and Brighteyes, who was mending some stockings, looked up at her
brother in much surprise.
"Oh, dear!" cried the little guinea pig boy again, "I wish I had
something to do. It's so hot and dry and dusty here. I wish some of the
fellows would come around or--or I even wish school would begin again,
so I would have something to do."
Now when a boy wishes for school, in the middle of vacation, you may be
sure something serious is the matter. Mrs. Pigg knew this at once, so
she asked:
"What would you like to do, Buddy?"
"I don't know," he answered, rather cross and fretful-like, which wasn't
very nice, I suppose.
"All the boys have gone to Asbury Park or Ocean Grove," said Brighteyes,
"and I guess you are lonesome, Buddy. It must be lovely at the
seashore," and Brighteyes sighed the least bit, and took such a big
stitch in the stocking she was mending that she had to rip it out and do
it over again.
"Well, we can't go to the seashore this season because the salt air
doesn't agree with your father," said Mrs. Pigg. "If all goes well, we
shall soon be in the country, however. But now, what do you like best
about the seashore, Buddy?"
"Going in bathing," he answered.
"You can do that right here at home," said his mamma. "I will get out
your bathing suits, and you and Brighteyes can go swimming in the pond
back of our house."
"That will be lovely!" cried Brighteyes, and she jumped up so quickly
that she dropped the basket of stockings, and her pink hair ribbon came
off, and she was all confused-like.
"There are no waves in the pond, like down in the ocean at Asbury,"
complained Buddy. "It is no fun to go in bathing where there are no
waves."
"Ha! What's that?" cried a voice, and then Percival, the old circus dog,
who was staying with the Piggs while the Bow Wow family, with whom he
lived, was away for the summer--Percival, I say, got up from where he
had been sleeping under a mosquito net to keep off the flies. "No waves,
eh? So you want waves, do you, when you go in bathing, Buddy?" asked
Percival.
"Yes," answered Buddy Pigg, "I do, Percival."
"Then," exclaimed the old circus dog, "you and Brighteyes shall have
them. Get on your bathing suits and come down to the pond. When you get
there you'll find waves enough; I'll guarantee that! Oh, my, yes, and a
life-preserver besides!"
"How?" asked Buddy. "There are never any waves in that pond."
"Just you wait and see," said Percival.
Mrs. Pigg smiled, but she didn't say anything, and went after the
bathing suits, while Buddy and Brighteyes wondered what was going to
happen. Percival ran out, winking first one eye and then the other, and
not both together, like some dollies do when they go to sleep, and he
gave three short barks and a long one, just to show how glad he felt to
be doing something.
Well, it didn't take Buddy and Brighteyes very long to put on their
bathing suits. Then they hurried out of the back of the house and went
toward the pond.
"Do you really s'pose there'll be waves?" asked Buddy.
"I don't know," answered his sister. "Percival is a very smart dog, you
know."
Well, they ran down to the pond, and the first thing they saw when they
got there were cords fastened to sticks driven down into the ground,
just like the ropes at Asbury Park, you know--if you've ever been there.
The ropes are for the bathers to take hold of when the waves come.
"Well," remarked Buddy, "I see the ropes, but I don't see any waves."
But, no sooner had he spoken than a big wave rolled,
splish-splash-splosh, right up the shore of the pond, which was rather
sandy, and it sprayed itself over the toes of Buddy and Brighteyes--the
wave splashed, you understand--not the sand, of course.
"Whee!" cried Buddy, all excited-like. "There's a wave!"
"Yes, and here comes another!" cried his sister, and, sure enough,
another wave came sizzling and sloshing up out of the pond. And then
another, and another, and another, until there were a dozen, or, maybe a
dozen and a half of waves, one after the other.
"Oh, this is grand!" cried Buddy. "It's almost as good as Asbury Park!"
and, really it was, I'm not fooling a bit. Of course the waves weren't
as big as those at the seashore, but they were pretty good size. Well,
Buddy and Brighteyes rushed into the water, keeping hold of the ropes,
and the waves splashed all around them, and they splashed around in the
waves, and pretty soon Buddy cried:
"Oh, I got a mouthful of water, and it's salty, just like the ocean!"
"Sure enough it is!" agreed Brighteyes, taking a small mouthful to
taste. "I wonder what makes it?"
"And I wonder what makes the waves, and I wonder where Percival is?"
went on Buddy, and just then there came such a big wave that it almost
knocked him over, and he had to cling to the ropes. Then what should
happen, but that at the far end of the pond, up rose old dog Percival,
laughing as hard as he could laugh.
"I told you I would make waves!" he cried, and how do you s'pose he did
it?
Why, he had a big, empty box, and he would raise that up and down in the
water of the pond, as hard as he could, and this splashed, and made the
waves; and Percival had a bag of salt, to make the water salty. Now,
wasn't he the smart dog though?
Well, he went on, making more salty waves, and Buddy and Brighteyes
paddled around in them, and yelled and hollered, and held on to the
ropes, and ducked each other, and splashed and had as good a time as if
they had been at the seashore; and so did Percival, too, I guess. Then,
after a while they came out of the water and dried off, after thanking
Percival.
Now, if our bathtub doesn't freeze up so the canary bird can't go in
swimming I'll tell you presently about Buddy building a sand house.
STORY XXVIII
BUDDY BUILDS A SAND HOUSE
The little guinea pig children had so much fun bathing in the pond,
where Percival, the circus dog, made the salty waves for them, as I told
you about in the previous story, that they went in swimming as many
times as their mamma would let them.
Percival was only too glad to make the waves, and hold the bag of salt
in the pond, to make it salty, just like the ocean. Sometimes the old
dog would jounce a box up and down, to make the waves, and again, when
he wanted larger ones, he would use a barrel. Then the waves of the pond
would be over the heads of Buddy and Brighteyes, and they had to cling
to the ropes with all their might.
One day Buddy was sitting in the sand, on the banks of the pond, when,
all at once, he had an idea.
"I know what I'm going to do!" he exclaimed. "I'm gong to build a sand
house. I wish Brighteyes was here to help me," but his sister had gone
in the pen to help her mamma get dinner ready, for Mrs. Pigg expected
company that day; Mr. and Mrs. Bushytail were coming. So Buddy had to
start to build the house all alone. He piled a lot of sand in a heap,
together with stones, and sticks and bits of duck-weed, and then he
started in.
First he scooped out a hollow place, and that was for the cellar. Then
he stuck sticks up around the edges of the hole, and began to pile up
the sand, to make the walls of the house. Just as he was doing this,
what should he hear but footsteps running along the sand. He looked, up
and gave a shout of delight.
"Hello, Billie and Johnnie Bushytail!" he cried, as he saw the two
little squirrel boys. "You're just in time! Come on and help me build
this sand house!"
"Sure!" agreed Billie and Johnnie, as they frisked their tails, just as
the cook sometimes frisks the dusting brush when she wants to knock the
crumbs from the table to the floor. "Can you stay long?" asked Buddy.
"As long as papa and mamma do," answered Johnnie. "They are in your
house now, and so is Sister Sallie. We're going to stay to dinner, but
first we'll help you build the sand house."
So they all three got busy. They piled and scooped the sand up around
the upright sticks, and, pretty soon, believe me, if it really didn't
begin to look like a real house. It was about as big as a big box, and
nearly as high; and the cellar was quite large.
"What will we do with the house when we've finished it?" asked Billie
Bushytail.
"We'll go in it and play we're robbers," suggested Johnnie, as he patted
the sand with his paws, to make it smooth.
"No, we'll be pirates," decided Buddy. "Pirates always stay near salt
water, and this is salt water, because Percival emptied a whole bag of
salt in it."
"All right," agreed the squirrel boys, so they went on building the
house. They put little pebbles all around it for a fence, and laid a
gravel walk up from the pond to the front door, and stuck up little
sticks for trees in the front yard, and made a garden, because Buddy
said, even if they were pirates, they would have to have something to
eat, and they planted duck-weed in the garden and made believe it was
radishes and lettuce and cabbage and ever so many things; even apples
and pears and peaches.
Well, pretty soon the sand house was finished; that is, all but the top.
"What will we have for a roof?" asked Billie.
"I'll show you," said Buddy, so he laid sticks across the top of the
Back to Full Books
|