after the trick which sammie littletail, the rabbit boy, played on the alligator, making him believe a fire engine was after him, it was some time before bully or bawly no-tail, the frogs, went near that pond again, where the savage creature with the long tail lived, after he had escaped from the circus.
“because it isn’t safe to go near that water,” said bawly.
“no, indeed,” agreed his brother. “some day we’ll get a pump and pump all the water out of the pond, and that will make the alligator go away.”
well, it was about a week after this that grandpa croaker, the old gentleman frog, put on his best dress. oh, dear me! just listen to that, would you! i mean he put on his best suit and started out, taking his gold-headed cane with him.
“where are you going?” asked mrs. no-tail.
“oh! i think i’ll go over and play a game of checkers with uncle wiggily longears,” replied the old gentleman frog. “the last game we played he won, but i think i can win this time.”
“well, whatever you do, grandpa,” spoke bully, “please don’t go past the pond where the bad alligator is.”
“no, indeed, for he might bite you,” said bawly, and their grandpa promised that he would be careful.
well, he went along through the woods, grandpa croaker did, and pretty soon, after a while, not so very long, he came to where uncle wiggily lived, with sammie and susie littletail, and their papa and mamma and miss jane fuzzy-wuzzy, the muskrat nurse. but to-day only uncle wiggily was home alone, for every one else had gone to the circus.
so the old gentleman goat—i mean frog—and the old gentleman rabbit sat down and played a game of checkers. and after they had played one game they played another, and another still, for uncle wiggily won the first game, and grandpa croaker won the second, and they wanted to see who would win the third.
well, they were playing away, moving the red and black round checkers back and forth on the red and black checker board, and they were talking about the weather, and whether there’d be any more rain, and all things like that, when, all of a sudden uncle wiggily heard a noise at the window.
“hello! what’s that?” he cried, looking up.
“it sounded like some one breaking the glass,” answered grandpa croaker. “i hope it wasn’t bawly and bully playing ball.”
then he looked up, and he saw the same thing that uncle wiggily saw, and the funny part of it was that uncle wiggily saw the same thing grandpa croaker saw. and what do you think this was?
why it was that savage skillery, scalery alligator chap who had poked his ugly nose right in through the window, breaking the glass!
“ha! what do you want here?” cried uncle wiggily, as he made his ears wave back and forth like palm leaf fans, and twinkled his nose like two stars on a frosty night.
“yes, get right away from here, if you please!” said grandpa croaker in his deepest, hoarsest, rumbling, grumbling, thunder-voice. “get away, we want to play checkers.”
but he couldn’t scare the alligator that way, and the first thing he and uncle wiggily knew, that savage creature poked his nose still farther into the room.
“oh, ho!” the alligator cried. “checkers; eh? now, do you know i am very fond of checkers?” and with that, what did he do but put out his long tongue, and with one sweep he licked up the red checkers and the black checkers and the red and black squared checker board at one swallow, and down his throat it went, like a sled going down hill.
“ah, ha!” exclaimed the alligator. “those were very fine checkers. i think i won that game!” he said, smiling a very big smile.
“yes, i guess you did,” said uncle wiggily, sadly, as he looked for his cornstalk crutch. when he had it he was just going to hop away, and grandpa croaker was going with him, for they were afraid to stay there any more, when the alligator suddenly cried:
“where are you going?”
“away,” said uncle wiggily.
“far, far away,” said grandpa croaker, for it made him sad to think of all the nice red and black checkers, and the board also, being eaten up.
“oh, no! i think you are going to stay right here,” snapped the alligator. “you’ll stay here, and as soon as i feel hungry again i’ll eat you.”
and with that the savage creature with the double-jointed tail put out his claws, and in one claw he grabbed uncle wiggily and in the other he caught grandpa croaker, and there he had them both.
now, it so happened that a little while before this, bully and bawly no-tail, the frog boys, had started out for a walk in the woods.
“dear me,” said bully, after a while, “do you know i am afraid that something has happened to grandpa croaker.”
“what makes you think so?” asked his brother.
“because i think he went past the pond where the alligator was, and that the bad creature got him.”
“oh, i hope not,” replied bawly. “but let’s walk along and see.” so they walked past the pond, and they saw that it was all calm and peaceful, and they knew the alligator wasn’t in it.
so they kept on to uncle wiggily’s house, thinking they would walk home with grandpa croaker, and when they came to where the old gentleman rabbit lived, they saw the alligator standing on his tail outside with his head in through the window.
“i knew it!” cried bully. “i knew that alligator would be up to some tricks! perhaps he has already eaten grandpa croaker and uncle wiggily.”
just then they heard both the old animal gentlemen squealing inside the house, for the alligator was squeezing them.
“they’re alive! they’re still alive!” cried bawly. “we must save them!”
“how?” asked bully.
“let’s build a fire under the alligator’s tail,” suggested bawly. “he can’t see us, for his head is inside the room.”
so what did those two brave frog boys do but make a fire of leaves under the alligator’s long tail. and he was so surprised at feeling the heat, that he turned suddenly around, dropped uncle wiggily and grandpa croaker on the table cloth, and then, pulling his head out of the window, he turned it over toward the fire, and he cried great big alligator tears on the flames and put them out. oh, what a lot of big tears he cried.
then he tried to catch bully and bawly, but the frog boys hopped away, and the alligator ran after them. just then the man from the circus came, with a long rope and caught the savage beast and put him back in the cage and madehim go to sleep, after he put some vaseline on his burns.
so that’s how bully and bawly saved uncle wiggily and grandpa croaker, by building a fire under the alligator’s long tail.
and in case some one sends me a nice ring for my finger, or thumb, with a big orange in it instead of a diamond, i’ll tell you next about mrs. no-tail and mrs. longtail.
