Howard Roger Garis

“ Yes, sir, it broke the window all to flinders, and out rushed Grandfather Goosey-Gander! Oh, but he was angry! He quacked, and he squawked, and he called out:
"Who broke my window?"
"I—I did, please sir," answered Jimmie. "But I didn't mean to. It was an accident."
"Ha, hum! An accident, eh? Well, you'll have to pay for it," said Grandfather Goosey-Gander. "Yes, that's what you will!"
"Oh we'll all chip in and pay for it," said Bully, quickly. "That's what we always do in a ball game when a window is broken. I'll pay my share." ”

“ Lulu! Where are you going?"
"We are going over to see Mrs. Greenie," replied Jimmie.
"Wait for Alice," called Mamma Wibblewobble. "She will go with you. She is just putting a clean apron on."
"Oh, dear!" cried Lulu. "Why does Alice always make us wait while she puts on something clean?"
"I suppose," answered Jimmie, and he scratched his bill with his left leg, "I suppose it is because she wants to look nice."
"Yes," agreed Lulu, with a sort of quacking-sigh, "I suppose I ought to want to look nice, too; but, somehow I don't—ever. I always seem to be in such a hurry." ”

“ Oh hush, please!" begged Alice. "Of course he is a fairy prince! They are always disguised like that—always appearing as something different from what they really are, you know. Sometimes they are toads, and sometimes frogs, and sometimes mud turtles, I suppose, though I never heard of any of the last kind. But of course he is a fairy prince." Then she bowed again, three times, and said: "Fairy prince, I salute thee."
"Fairy nothing!" grunted Jimmie. "He is no more a fairy than I am." ”

“ One day, after they had been out roller skating, Lulu and Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble suddenly remembered that it was time they went back to the woods to meet the fairy prince, who was to tell them why he didn't turn that fisher-boy into a lion or an elephant. So they took off their skates and hurried to the place, and by and by, after awhile, not so very long, they got there. Then they stopped and looked around.
"Hu!" exclaimed Jimmie. "He isn't here. I thought he was fooling us."
"Hush!" begged Alice. "He may be only hiding to test us, to see if we really believe in him. ”

“ The sun was sparkling on the water in the duck pond, and Alice said, as she felt the wind blowing on her feathers:
"Oh, I just wish I could go see the fairy prince again!"
"Pooh! I don't," spoke Jimmie. "But I wish we could stay home from school. Bully, the frog, and I were going to get up a baseball nine. Let's go ask papa if we can stay home."
"Can't I play on your ball team?" asked Lulu, who could throw a stone almost as well as a boy.
"No," said Jimmie. "Girls never play on ball teams." ”

“ But will you please take me home?"
"Of course we will," answered Jackie, rubbing the black spot on his brother's nose with his paw. Just then, if those two puppy dogs didn't see one of Papa Bushytail's boots, and, land sakes alive! if one didn't grab one end and one the other end, and they began to pull and growl. Puppy dogs always do such things, you know.
"Oh! Oh! You mustn't do that," cried Mamma Bushytail. "You must take Alice home."
"We will," answered Peetie, rubbing the black spot on his own nose with his little white paw. "We were only doing this for practice. Come on, Alice! ”

“ Then he looked at Lulu some more, and growled even louder, and he asked her:
"What are you, a chicken or a turkey?"
"Neither," replied Lulu, "I'm a duck, if you please."
"Ha!" exclaimed the bad dog. "A duck! The very idea! Of all things I love ducks! I just dote on 'em! I love 'em just like you love jam tarts, I expect. But why aren't you larger, Lulu? I like big ducks." ”

“ Well, as true as I'm telling you, no sooner had she made that wish about the fairy prince than a voice called out:
"Who is crying? Does any one need help?"
"Yes," replied Alice, "I do. I've cut my foot, and I've dented the butter in several places, but that doesn't matter much, and I've spilled the cornmeal."
"Oh, what a lot of troubles for one poor little duck girl!" cried the voice again. "Perhaps, I can help you," and who should come along but Uncle Wiggily Longears, the nice old gentleman rabbit. ”

“ I am a fairy prince, but I am satisfied with my shape as I am; and I do not want to change. I have always been this way, and I always want to stay so. Please be so kind as to go away. I want to eat my dinner."
So they hurried away, for the gold fish whispered that the mud turtle was always cross when he ate. Jimmie and Lulu were much disappointed, but Alice was not, for she insisted that the mud turtle was really wonderful, and was a fairy prince in disguise. ”

“ Sister Sallie, who was named after Lolly-pop-Lally, and who lived with Johnnie and Billie Bushytail.
"Why, Sister Sallie!" cried Lulu Wibblewobble, "where are you going this bright, beautiful, sunshiny day?"
"I'm going for the doctor," answered Sister Sallie.
"Are you sick?" inquired Jimmie. "You don't look so."
"No, it's Billie Bushytail," said the little girl squirrel. "He is quite ill, and I am going for Dr. Possum. Billie has a fever and headache, and he snuffles something terrible. His papa and mamma are quite worried about him. Isn't it terrible to be sick?" ”

“ Now, of course, rain couldn't hurt Alice any, for she was a duck and was used to the water, but she knew it would spoil her new bonnet. So she took it off and laid it under a big burdock plant leaf near the pond, to keep the flowers and ribbons dry.
"I wish it would stop raining," said Alice, after a while. "I want to go home," but the big drops kept on falling, and she had to remain near her bonnet for fear something would happen to it.
Then, in a little while, oh, maybe half an hour or so, all at once as quick as a wink, along came Mooleyooly, the big brown cow. ”

“ However, as it is now spring, I have come up, and I am going to play around all summer."
"That's nice," remarked Lulu. "What's your name?"
"My name is Fannie Tail," replied the fish. "You see I got that name because my tail is shaped like a fan, but most persons just call me Fan Tail. You may, if you like."
"All right," agreed Lulu. "I will. My name is Lulu, but you may call me Lu, if you wish."
"Good," answered the fish, turning a double somersault in the water and wiggling her right fin as if trying to shake hands. "Now we are well acquainted. And may I ask where you are going?" ”

“ You can play ball, can't you?"
"Of course."
So Jimmie tossed the ball to Jackie, and the puppy dog stood up on his hind legs and caught it in his front paws, and then he fell right over, ker-thump, and rolled along the ground.
"Here!" cried the boy duck. "That's no way to play ball! You must stand up and catch."
"Oh, I know that," declared Jackie. "You see I was only practising at biting the ball with my teeth. I always bite things to sharpen my teeth so I can gnaw big bones when I get to be a big dog." ”

“ So they stepped softly from under the burdock leaves, those three duck children did, and ran to grandpa's house as fast as they could, leaving the bad foxes in the woods. Well, you can imagine how surprised all the folks were, even Uncle Wiggily, when they heard the alarming news which the children told.
"Oh, whatever shall we do?" cried Weezy Wibblewobble.
"I know what I'd do, if it wasn't for my rheumatism!" said Uncle Wiggily. "I'd bite those foxes, and jump on them, too, but I can't! Oh, if Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy were only here!"
"Never mind. I will save you," spoke Jimmie. ”

“ Why two mean, wicked, sly old foxes, who were getting ready to go to grandpa's house and eat him up, and Mamma and Papa Wibblewobble up, and probably Uncle Wiggily Longears, too; who knows?
"Oh, isn't this awful?" asked Alice in a whisper. "I am going to faint! I know I am!"
"Silly!" said Jimmie to her. "Don't you dare faint! Here, smell of this," and he picked some spearmint, and held it under his sister's nose, which made her feel better.
"We must do something," said Lulu. "It will never do to have those bad foxes go to grandpa's house! How can we stop them?" ”

“ You see he turned pale green because he was so frightened.
"Oh, dear!" cried Bully. "Jimmie is held fast down there by the stone on his neck, and can't get up."
"Can't you bite the stone loose?" asked Alice. Then Bully tried, but he couldn't, and Lulu and Alice tried, but they couldn't. And there wasn't any one else around to help, and it began to look pretty bad for poor Jimmie.
And then, just as he surely thought he would never see his papa, and mamma, and sisters, and Aunt Lettie again, who should come walking along the bottom of the pond but the mud turtle fairy prince. ”

“ Doodle. "I can swim if I choose. I have never cared to, that's all."
"Try now," suggested Lulu, for she didn't believe that rooster could swim, no matter what he said.
"Oh, the water is too cold to go swimming now," said Mr. Doodle. "I never swim in cold water."
"Why, it's as warm as warm can be," declared Alice, and she splashed a few drops upon the rooster, so he could feel it.
"Well, er—ahem! The wind is blowing too much," said the rooster, when he felt the nice, warm water.
"Why, it doesn't blow at all," answered Jimmie. ”

“ Why it wasn't any time at all before those kittens had turned into cats, and land goodness, how they did howl nights and keep me awake! And I had lumbago that summer, too! Oh, yes, indeed, kittens are all very well, but when they turn into old cats they're not so nice."
"Oh, but Aunt Lettie, you don't understand," explained Jimmie, smiling the least bit. "You see these are only plant pussies. They can't ever become real cats you know."
"They grow, don't they?" asked the old lady goat, shaking her horns again, "Don't they grow?"
"Yes," admitted Lulu. "They certainly grow." ”

“ It is very easy. You can just as well become a flying machine as not. Come, I will fly up on the fence. You come up here, too, and when I say 'Go!' why start off, and, who knows? perhaps you will do as well as I. Don't be afraid."
"Of course, I'll try," said Jimmie, very bravely, for he was always wanting to try new things.
"So will I," cried Lulu. "I want to fly, too."
"Oh, you had better be careful," warned Alice, who was a very cautious duckling, never getting into danger if she could help it.
"Oh, we'll be careful, but we are going to become flying machines just the same," said Jimmie. ”

“ It is always so, in fairy stories. You must believe, or you can't see the beautiful things."
"Well, I'd rather have some snails to eat," said Jimmie. "You don't care how they look; it's how they taste. I'm never going to bother with fairies again."
It was about three days after this that Jimmie and Lulu were walking in the deep, green woods, under the trees, picking tender leaves and roots to eat. They were hoping they might meet Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, the squirrels whom they had not seen for some time. Alice stayed home to curl her feathers. ”

“ He did manage to hobble around on the crutch which Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy made for him, and he sat in a sunny corner, reading the newspaper with his glasses which Susie Littletail found. He was reading away as Alice, Lulu and Jimmie Wibblewobble were playing about on the edge of the pond, and the little duck children made so much noise that the old grandfather could not understand what was in the papers.
"Can't you children play something quiet?" he asked for Papa and Mamma Wibblewobble had gone visiting, and Grandfather Goosey-Gander was left to mind the house. ”

“ If she had been a boy, she would have shouted, or if she had been Lulu she would have whistled, for Lulu could whistle as good as could Jimmie.
But instead Alice sang, and this is the song she made up so she wouldn't be frightened. You are allowed to sing it if you are not more than seven-and-three-quarters years old. If you are any older than that you will have to have a special excuse; or some one else will have to sing it for you. Well, this is the song:
Well, as soon as Alice finished singing, land sakes! ”

“ Jimmie kept going farther and farther away.
"Oh, will no one save him?" asked Lulu, crying big tears.
"Wait a minute, I'll try it!" said Bully, the frog. "I am a good jumper, and I'll jump up. Maybe I can pull the kite down." So he jumped up as high as ever he could, but it wasn't nearly high enough, and Bully came back on the ground, ker-thump, ker-bump! and Jimmie Wibblewobble kept on going up. Poor Bully hurt his ankle, too, and he was lame for some days.
"Run and tell Grandfather Goosey-Gander," cried Lulu. "Maybe he can think up a way of getting Jimmie down." ”

“ So pretty soon, after a while, oh, not so very long, Alice started for the duck pen, with Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow tumbling over each other in their eagerness to see which would walk at her right wing, and which at her left. Well, weren't those puppy dogs brave, though, to go out in the dark night? They never thought anything about it, really; any more than you mind going to bed in the dark. ”

“ No, Sister Sallie wasn't with them this time, having stayed at home to wheel her corncob doll in the carriage her brothers had made for her.
"Hello!" cried Billie and Johnnie. "Hello, Jimmie!"
"Aw, why didn't you chaps come over to play ball?" asked the little boy duck.
"Oh! it was too wet," replied Johnnie. "But say, Jimmie, did you hear us singing?"
"Sure," answered Jimmie. "But say; cows don't crow!"
"I know it," replied Johnnie. "Billie made up that verse, and I made the first one. He said he had to have something like that in it or it wouldn't be right. But no matter. Did you like it?" ”

“ So Jimmie looked, very carefully, and he saw a white spot on the puppy dog's nose, and told him so.
"It's all right. I'm Jackie then," answered the little fellow. "I thought I was, but it's best to make sure."
"Can you play ball?" asked Jimmie. "My sister told me about you. It was very kind of you to bring her home. You haven't lived here very long, have you?"
"Not very. But I'm glad I could help your sister. She is a nice girl."
"Where's your brother, Peetie?" asked Jimmie. ”