Chapter 6

So he twisted some of the shiny things on the steering wheel, and he tickled the thing-a-ma-bob and pushed the tittle-cum-tattle-cum and the auto went slower. But even then it was going pretty fast.

"Say, if a burglar fox chased us now, he couldn't catch us, could he?" said Jacko.

"Never in the world," answered his brother.

And just then a big, black bear stuck his nose out of the bushes and growled:

"Hold on there, I haven't had any dinner yet."

"Well, you can't eat us!" shouted Jumpo, so he turned the what-you-may-call-it around backward and away they went faster than ever and the bear couldn't catch them, not even if he had put on roller skates to slide with.

Well, after a while, not so very long, all of a sudden, as the monkey boys were riding along through the woods, all of a sudden, I say, their auto stopped. It wouldn't go a bit farther.

"What's the matter?" asked Jacko.

"I don't know," said Jumpo, looking all around.

"Maybe the squee-gee is on crooked," said the red monkey.

"No, that's all straight," answered the green monkey, as he looked at it to make sure.

"Then perhaps the busticated-what's-his-name needs oiling," suggested Jacko.

So Jumpo put some oil on the busticated-what's-his-name, but still that auto wouldn't go any more than a clock will if it isn't wound up.

"Maybe all the wheels are off," spoke Jacko.

So they got out to look, but the wheels were on all right and tight, and the big tires were full of wind like a bologna sausage. Well, these monkey boys didn't know what to do, and they were beginning to be frightened, for they were in the deep woods, where there might be wolves. They began to wish they hadn't come so far, or else that they knew more about autos.

All of a sudden they heard a rustling in the bushes, and they looked around, fearing they might see the burglar fox, perhaps, but whom do you suppose it was? Why, no one else than Grandfather Goosey Gander.

"Oh, our auto is stuck!" cried Jacko.

"Yes, it won't go," said Jumpo.

Grandfather Goosey took one look at the machine, then he sniffed the air and said:

"Why, of course, it won't go, you have no more gasoline. I know, for I once had a motor-boat and the same thing happened to me. You need gasoline, just as I did. Go buy some gasoline."

"Where can we get it; here in the woods?" asked Jacko.

Grandfather Goosey Gander sniffed the air again.

"I smell gasoline," he said, "and it's over this way. Come with me." So he led the monkey boys through the woods toward a big stump, and there, right behind it, was Aunt Lettie, the old lady goat. And what do you s'pose she was doing? Why, she was cleaning the spots off the trousers of Jimmie Wibblewobble, the duck boy, with gasoline. She had a big can full, for you know gasoline cleans spots off things very nicely.

"Oh, will you please give us some of your gasoline to make our auto go?" asked Jacko politely of the old lady goat.

"Mercy sakes alive, child! Of course I will," said Aunt Lettie.

So she gave the monkey boys some, and Grandfather Goosey Gander showed them how to pour it in the tank of their car. Then Jumpo twisted the tinkerum-tankerum and away the auto went, whizz-whazz! and the boys had a fine ride.

They went through the woods and up one hill and down another, and when they were almost home a big savage wolf chased them, but he couldn't catch up to that auto; no, sir, no matter how he tried, and he couldn't bite any holes in the tires, either.

So Jacko and Jumpo got safely home, just in time for dinner, and they had huckleberry pie and chocolate drops on it with their milk.

So that's all now, if you please, but in case the spoonholder doesn't squeeze the salt-shaker and make the pepper box sneeze, I'll tell you on the next page about Jumpo and the roast marshmallow candy.

STORY XIX

JUMPO AND THE ROAST MARSHMALLOWS

It was almost time for school to be out, and Jacko and Jumpo, the red and green monkey boys, could hardly wait, as they wanted to run home and go for another ride in their little auto. Of course, all the other animal children also wished school was over, for Jacko and Jumpo had promised to let all of them have turns riding in the gasoline car. But just when it was almost time for school to be out the owl school teacher said:

"Now, children, I am going to give you all some lessons to study at home, and I want you all to do them as nicely as you can. Now pay attention, please."

So she gave some of the pupils examples to do, and to others she gave spelling, and to still others writing, while the bigger children, like Sammie Littletail or Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, had geography to study. And the little kindergarten children had to cut things out of paper--horses and cows and houses and trees, and things like that.

"Now you may all go," said the teacher, "and bring your lessons in with you to-morrow morning."

Well, the animal children marched out, but they weren't very happy. They didn't think they ought to have to study at home, but it has to be done, sometimes, you know. And really it isn't so hard if you don't think so.

"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Jacko to his brother, when they were outside the school. "We can't go for an auto ride if we have to study our examples."

"No; isn't it mean?" exclaimed his brother. "But perhaps if we run along quickly we'll have time for just a little ride before we have to do our home work."

So they hurried as fast as they could and they soon reached home. Then their mamma said they might ride around the block a couple of times in their auto before doing any study.

"And then, after your lessons are done, you may ride some more," she said; "that is if it isn't too dark."

Well, Jacko and Jumpo took their little ride, and they gave rides to as many of their friends as they could. Then they went in the house to study.

But alas and alack-a-day! You know how it happens sometimes. Jacko got his example all twisted up, and the answer wouldn't come right. And Jumpo's numbers got all snarled up, until the figure six looked like a nine and the figure eight like a brown cruller which his mamma sometimes made in the lard kettle.

"Oh, dear!" cried both the monkey boys. "We'll never get done in time to go auto riding before dark."

"Never mind," spoke their mamma, "I'll help you." And she did; but even then it was dark before they were finished, and quite too late to go out in the auto, for they might have hit a lamp post and bent the rubber tires into a figure forty-'leven.

"What can we do to have some fun?" asked Jumpo, as he untied two hard knots in his tail.

"How would you like to roast some marshmallow candies?" asked his mother, looking over the top of the piano.

"How do you do it?" inquired Jacko, who was still studying.

"You build a little fire," said his mamma, "only you must be very careful not to get too near it. Then you take a stick and sharpen the end. Then you fasten a soft marshmallow candy on the pointed stick, and hold it near the fire, but not too close, and pretty soon the marshmallow candy puffs up and gets nice and brown and you eat it--only you must wait until it is cool, or you might burn your tongue. Do you want to do that?"

"Burn my tongue? No, indeed!" cried Jumpo, making a funny face and wriggling his tail up and down like a fan.

"Oh, I didn't mean burn your tongue, you funny boy," spoke his mamma with a laugh. "I meant do you want to build a fire and roast marshmallows?"

"Surely," said Jumpo politely. "Don't you, Jacko?"

"No, I guess not," said the red monkey boy. "I think I'll read a little after my lessons are done and then go to bed. To-morrow we may not have to study at home, and we can take a longer auto ride."

So Jumpo went out alone in front of his house to roast the marshmallows. His mamma gave him some of the candies in a tin box, and he sharpened his own stick, and built a nice little fire, being careful not to make it too large. And he was also careful not to get burned.

By this time it was quite dark, and the fire looked very pretty, blazing just on the edge of the woods near where the monkey's tree-house was built. When there were some nice, glowing, hot coals in the blaze Jumpo got ready to roast the marshmallow candies. He stuck one on the sharp stick, and held it close to the fire.

But, oh, dear me, hum suz dud! Jumpo held the candy too close, and the first thing you know it caught fire and melted and fell off the stick down into the blaze and was burned up! Wasn't that too bad?

"I'll not hold the next one so close," he said, and he was careful; so the second candy turned a nice golden brown and puffed up nearly twice as big as it had been before.

"Oh, I know what I'll do!" suddenly exclaimed Jumpo. "I'll toast a lot of them and take them in the house for mamma and papa and Jacko."

So he roasted the candies as fast as he could until he had quite a pile of them in a box. As they were very hot he pushed them off the end on the pointed stick, using a piece of bark for a pusher.

Jumpo was so busy that he didn't look behind him. If he had done so he would have been very much frightened. For there, creeping out of the bushes, was the burglar fox, with his big tail and sharp teeth. And he was creeping, creeping up toward Jumpo to eat him. But Jumpo didn't know a thing about it. He was so busy roasting marshmallow candies.

All of a sudden the fox accidentally stepped on a stick, and it broke in two pieces and made a loud noise. Jumpo heard it and turned around. Then, by the light of the fire, he saw the fox coming toward him.

"Ah, ha! Now I have you!" cried the bad creature, and he made a spring to catch the monkey boy. Jumpo didn't wait to be caught, you may be sure of that. He jumped, too, and the green monkey happened to tip over the box of toasted marshmallow candies as he leaped to one side. He upset them all over the ground, and then what do you s'pose happened?

Why, that bad fox landed right in the midst of the hot, soft candies, and they got all over his feet, like sticky flypaper, and they burned him. Oh, how he howled! The more he tried to get the candies off, the tighter they stuck. The fox turned a somersault, and then the candies got all over his fur, until he looked like a marshmallow fox. And, of course, he couldn't catch Jumpo then, for he was so stuck up.

The monkey boy ran in the house and told his papa about the fox, and Mr. Kinkytail came out with his gun. But by that time the fox had run off to find a puddle of water so that he could wash the candy out of his fur, and he wasn't in sight for Papa Kinkytail to shoot.

"Oh, my poor marshmallows!" cried Jumpo, when he saw that they were all spoiled by the fox rolling in them. "Oh, dear!"

"Never mind, I have another boxful," said his mother, kindly.

"And this time I'll help you roast them," said Jacko. So he did, and there were enough candies for the whole family. Then they all went to bed and the fox didn't bother them for a long time after that.

Now, if the egg beater doesn't knock all the dust out of the piano cover when it dresses up like a rag doll, I'll tell you next about Jacko and the busy bee.

STORY XX

JACKO AND THE BUSY BEE

"Boys, I wish you would go to the store for me," said Mrs. Kinkytail to Jacko and Jumpo when they came home from school one afternoon.

"Of course we will," said the red monkey. "Do you want some sugar and chocolate to make candy?"

"No, but I want a yeast cake and some flour to make bread with," said the mamma monkey. "Bread is more important than candy," she went on, "though candy is very good, if you don't eat too much. And I also want some molasses, for I am going to make molasses cookies."

"Oh, goodie!" cried Jumpo. "Come on, Jacko, we'll go in our automobile and it won't take us very long. Then we can go on another ride when we come back, and have some fun with the other animal boys."

So their mamma gave them the money for the yeast cake, the flour and molasses and away they started off in the auto, blowing the horn, to kindly ask every one to look out so they wouldn't get run over.

Jacko was steering, and Jumpo was sitting beside him. They hadn't gone very far before they met Uncle Wiggily Longears, the old gentleman rabbit who had given them the auto.

"Hello, Uncle Wiggily!" called Jacko, "don't you want a ride?"

"I believe I will get in," spoke the gentleman rabbit. "As my rheumatism hurts me to-day, I can't walk very well."

"Aren't you sorry you gave away this nice auto? Don't you want it back?" asked Jumpo, though he hoped he and his brother could keep it.

"No," answered the old gentleman rabbit, shaking his head. "I never had any luck with that auto. It wouldn't go for me, and I can't understand how it goes for you. I'm afraid if I ride with you that you'll have bad luck."

But the boys didn't think so, and the rabbit gentleman got in the back seat. Away they went once more. Uncle Wiggily was just thinking what a nice ride he was having, and he was wishing he could run the auto like that, when, all of a sudden, there was a bangity-bang noise and the auto stopped.

"There!" cried the rabbit. "What did I tell you? I knew I'd give you bad luck. Let me get out and walk. Then it will go again," and before Jacko and Jumpo could stop him, Uncle Wiggily hopped out.

"Wait, we'll soon get it fixed," said Jacko. "Then you can ride some more."

"No, indeed!" answered Uncle Wiggily. "That auto will never go again. I'm going to walk, I'm in a hurry."

So away he hopped through the woods, and Jacko and Jumpo tried to see what was the matter with their car. But though they pushed and pulled and twisted and turned everything they could see or think of, the auto stood still just like a tree growing in the woods.

"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Jumpo, "we may have to stay here all night, and the grocery store will close before we can get to it, and we can't have any molasses cookies."

"I'll tell you what we'll do," spoke Jacko. "You skip off through the woods to the store, and get the things, and I'll stay here and see if I can fix the auto. By the time you get back with the yeast cake and flour and molasses, I may have it running."

Well, Jumpo thought that was good advice, so he ran on through the woods to the grocery store. And Jacko tried once more to make the auto go. He shoved and he twisted and he turned, and he even put some fresh air in the hollow tires, but the auto wouldn't move.

"I know what I'll do," he exclaimed, "I'll take out the toodle-oodle-um and put it where the diddle-daddle-um belongs and I'll put the snicky-snackum in the place of the mickie-mackie-um. That may be the trouble."

So he did that and then he climbed up on the seat and sure enough the auto went off as nicely as a piece of cherry pie, with the fizzle-fozzle going flippity-flop.

"Oh, joy!" cried Jacko, when he saw that the car was all right. "Now when Jumpo comes back with the groceries we can ride home and have some fun." So he got out of the auto, after stopping it, of course, to wait for his brother.

Jacko walked around in the woods and pretty soon he came up to a tree. Inside of it he heard a funny buzzing sound, and then he heard a voice singing this little song:

"I am a busy little bee, I'm buzzing all the day. I make so much sweet honey that I have no time to play."

Then Jacko looked and he saw a little hole in the tree. He went close up to it and said:

"Are you there in that hole, Mrs. Bee?"

"Yes," was the answer, "but please go away, little boy, as I am very busy, I have to make enough honey to last all winter."

Well, Jacko was just going away when he saw a snake sneaking along on the ground. And that bad snake took up some soft mud on the end of his tail, and he plastered it over the hole in the tree where the bee was making honey, so she couldn't get out when she wanted to.

"Now, when that bee is dead I'll come and get the honey," hissed the snake, just like a steam radiator.

"No you won't!" cried Jacko, and then he blew the big auto horn so loudly that the snake was frightened and crawled away as fast as he could. Then the red monkey took a stick, and knocked the mud away from the bee's hole so she could come out when she wanted to.

"Oh, thank you, so much!" buzzed the bee. "I'll give you some honey for being kind to me." So she gave Jacko some, and also some for his brother, and by that time Jumpo came back from the store with the groceries and he was glad to find that Jacko had fixed the auto, though he was a little frightened when he heard about the snake.

The two brothers were just going to ride home in their car, but before they could get it started all of a sudden along came the savage wolf. He was just going to grab Jumpo, and maybe Jacko also, for all I know, when the busy bee just buzzed up and stung the wolf on the tip of his soft and tender black nose so that he ran howling away to put some mud on the sting. And so he didn't eat either of the monkey boys, and the bee was glad she had helped them.

Then they hurried home in their automobile and their mamma made some molasses cookies and they had them for supper with honey on, and Oh! how delicious they were. And after supper Jacko and Jumpo played tag with Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, the squirrels, until it was time to go to bed. So now, good night, if you please.

And in the next story I'll tell you about the Kinkytails and the grape vine--that is if the basket of peaches doesn't fall down the chimney and scare the fire shovel so that it hides in the ash can.

STORY XXI

JACKO AND THE GRAPE VINE

Jacko Kinkytail had to go alone to school one day, and the reason for it was because Jumpo had the toothache and could not go with his brother.

Oh, how poor Jumpo did suffer. His mamma did everything she could for him, putting cloves on his tooth and bags of hot salt outside of his funny, little, fuzzy, hairy face, but the tooth still ached.

"Oh, I never can recite my lessons today," said Jumpo, as he tied his tail in two hard knots, thinking that would make him forget the pain.

"Then you needn't go to school," said his mother. "And pretty soon we'll go down to the dentist's and have the tooth fixed."

Well, Jacko started off alone, and he felt quite sorry that his brother wasn't with him. Pretty soon Jacko met Jimmie Wibblewobble, the boy duck. And Jimmie had a new football that his papa had given him.

"Let's see who can kick it the farthest," said the duck boy.

So he tried, and he kicked it about as far as from a stick of peppermint candy to the place where the ice cream cones grew on the cocoanut tree. Then it was Jacko's turn.

The red monkey put the football down on the ground. Then he took a little run and he pushed the ball as hard as he could with one foot and also with his tail. Away it sailed as far as from the ice cream soda fountain store down to the place where the man sells hot peanuts at five cents a bag.

"That was a fine kick!" cried Sammie Littletail, the rabbit boy, who came along just then. "A most dandy kick."

"Yes, but Jacko used his tail besides his foot to kick with, and I can't do that," said Jimmie, sort of sad-like.

"Perhaps what I did wasn't just fair," admitted Jacko. "Never mind, after school we'll have a good football game. We'll go down by our house and play, so that my brother, who is sick with the toothache, can look out of the window and watch us. Then he won't think so much of his pain."

Well, the boy animals thought this was a good plan, so when school was out they hurried with Jacko to the monkey-house. Then they began to play football. They kicked the ball all around, up one side, down the other, through the middle, and sometimes even sideways. And the ball never said a word, nor so much as winked its eyes.

"Now, for a big, long kick!" suddenly cried Jacko, when he got a chance. "I believe I can almost kick that ball to the end of the rainbow." Of course, there wasn't any rainbow there at the time, but Jacko just said that for fun.

Johnnie Bushytail, the squirrel boy, suddenly rushed at Jacko, trying to kick the ball before the monkey boy could do so, but Jacko was too quick for Johnnie, and kicked it first. Away sailed the ball, farther than ever, and then something happened. The football went right over a high, steep, straight-up-and-down hill, and fell into a big hole on the other side.

"Oh, there goes my ball!" cried Jimmie Wibblewobble, and he tried not to cry, though he felt very much like it.

"Never mind, we can get it again," said Billie Bushytail. "You oughtn't to kick so strong, Jacko."

"I s'pose I ought not to," agreed the monkey boy, sort of sad-like. "But I will go down and get the ball. Then we can play another game."

And all this while Jumpo was watching the boys from out of the window. And his tooth didn't ache quite so badly when he saw what fun they were having. He wished he was with them.

"What's the matter?" Jumpo asked, when he saw the ball bounce out of sight over the hill.

"It's fallen down in a big hole, and I'm going after it," said Jacko.

So the red monkey and his friends went to the edge of the hill and looked over. Oh! it was a very steep, dark place, and when Jacko saw how far down he'd have to go he was a bit afraid.

"I don't believe I can go down there," he said, wriggling his tail. "But I will try, because it was my fault that the ball went over. I'll climb down."

"No, don't do that," spoke Sammie Littletail. "You might fall and be hurt. See, here is a long wild grapevine. The vine is just like a rope. We can tie one end around you while we hold on the other end. Then we can lower you down into the hole, just like on an elevator, and you can get the football. Then we'll pull you up again."

Every one thought that was a good plan, so they took a long piece of grapevine and tied it around Jacko.

"Careful now!" called Jacko, as they began lowering him over the edge of the hill, down into the hole where the football was. "Don't let me fall!"

They all had tight hold of the grapevine rope, and they promised they wouldn't let go. And they lowered Jacko down, down, down; very slowly and carefully, until he could pick up the lost football in his paws. Then they began to pull him up.

But they didn't know that a savage hawk-bird had her nest in the side of that hill. And Jacko was lowered right past where she lived. When he went down the bird was asleep, but when his friends began pulling him up the bad bird awakened. She looked out, and she saw Jacko, the red monkey, swinging on the end of the grapevine near her nest of eggs.

"Now is my chance to pick his eyes out!" cried the hawk-bird. Right at Jacko she flew, beating her big wings and gnashing her beak, and wiggling her sharp claws. Jacko saw her coming, but he had the football in one paw and he had to hold on the rope with the other, so he couldn't do much except with his feet.

"Here's where I bite you!" cried the savage hawk, and really it did seem as if she would. For the boy animals couldn't pull Jacko up fast enough to get him out the way of the hawk. And there he was, dangling on the end of the grapevine rope like an apple on a string.

Then Jumpo, sitting up in the window, saw what was happening. He wanted to help his brother, so he cried:

"Some of you fellows come and get my bean shooter, and shoot the hawk until she lets Jacko alone. Hurry and get my shooter."

So Sammie Littletail ran and got the shooter, and a lot of hard beans. Then he leaned over the edge of the steep hill, and he blew beans at the hawk that was flying around trying to pick out Jacko's eyes.

The beans hit the bird all over; on her tail and on her feathers and on her claws and beak, and soon she was glad enough to fly back into her nest and let the monkey boy alone, for she couldn't see Sammie blowing the beans, as he was hidden behind a bush.