Chapter 2

Now Lulu had a very hard time, indeed, getting to shore, as the current was so strong, but she finally managed it. Jimmie, however, kept on swimming nearer and nearer to the falls. Then, all at once, before you could stick a pin in a cushion, what should take place but that the little boy duck felt himself being pulled along by the rushing water, just as the soap floats along when you pull the plug out of the bathtub. Oh, how fast the water swept him along! Jimmie splashed and paddled with all his might, and tried to swim ashore, where Lulu was anxiously watching him, but he couldn't seem to move. There he was, being carried along to the edge of the falls, with the cruel, sharp stones below, and the big millwheel going around and around. Then Jimmie knew he was in great danger, and he cried out: "Help! Help! Help!" three times, as loudly as he could call.

Lulu and Alice heard him, and were much frightened. They started to go to the aid of their brother, but Grandfather Goosey-Gander warned them not to.

"But who will save Jimmie?" they cried.

"I will try to," answered the old gentleman duck.

So he got a rope and threw it to Jimmie, but the rope wasn't long enough, and the poor little boy duck kept getting closer and closer to the edge of the falls, and the big millwheel. Oh, how hard he was swimming, but the water was stronger than he was.

"Get a board!" cried Bully, the frog, who came hopping along just then. So the ducks and the geese got a board and threw it to Jimmie, but it floated past him, and he couldn't get upon it. Then it surely did look as if he were going to be carried right over the falls, for he was being swept nearer and more near, and he could hear the water making a terrible roaring, splashing sound on the rocks. You have no idea how scared Jimmie was, and he wished he had never gone near the falls.

Then the other ducks got a long stick and Grandfather Goosey-Gander held it out, so the little boy duck could grasp it in his bill, but the stick broke, and every one said it was too bad! Then, just as Jimmie was almost to the edge of the falls, if Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy didn't call out: "Stand aside, everybody! I am a good swimmer and I will save him!"

Then what do you think happened? Why that good, kind muskrat jumped right into the water, and hurried to where Jimmie was. She dived down, and got hold of his yellow legs in her teeth, but she took hold very gently, so as not to hurt him. Then she was such a fine swimmer that she managed to get to shore, towing and pulling Jimmie with her, for the water could not hurt Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, no matter how hard the millwheel splashed.

So that is how Jimmie was saved from the waterfall, and when his papa and mamma came home they were very glad, of course, and why shouldn't they be? But, all the same Lulu and Jimmie had to be punished for disobeying, and going too near the falls when they had been told not to, and their punishment was that they could not go in swimming for three days. And if you ever were a duck you know that was very severe punishment indeed, very severe.

But I'm not going to say that Jimmie and Lulu didn't deserve it, no indeed I'm not; not if you were to offer me an orange and a half; and I'm very fond of oranges; very. Well, that's how things will sometimes happen in this world, won't they? do the best that you can. But now I suppose you want to know what the story will be about to-morrow night. Well, if I see a pink grasshopper, I shall tell you about a visit the Wibblewobble children paid to poor, sick, Billie Bushytail.

STORY V

A VISIT TO BILLIE BUSHTAIL

You remember how Lulu and Jimmie had to be punished for disobeying their papa and mamma, and going too near the waterfall, I suppose? They couldn't go in swimming for three days. Well, the three days were very nearly up; that is there was just one day left, so Lulu said:

"Come on, Jimmie, we will go for a walk in the woods. Don't you want to come, too, Alice?"

Now, of course, Alice could go in the water if she wanted to, for she was not punished, as she had not gone near the waterfall, but instead of going swimming alone, she stayed with her brother and sister, and I call that very kind of her. So, when Lulu asked her to take a walk in the woods, Alice answered:

"Of course, I will go with you. Who knows, perhaps we may have an adventure!" For you see Alice was very romantic. That is, she always hoped something would happen that never had happened before, and she was always hoping a fairy prince would come along and rescue her from some danger. But, up to this time, nothing like this had ever occurred, though those duck children are going to have a small adventure pretty soon, I think.

"All right," spoke Jimmie, "let's take a walk, and see what happens." So they walked on through the woods, which were very fine that day, and they felt the nice, warm, brown earth on their yellow feet, and it was almost as good as going in the water. Pretty soon, just after they had passed under a buttonball tree, the ducklings heard a noise, and who should run out from under a bush but little Sister Sallie. You remember her, I hope; 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?"

"I don't know," answered Jimmie, "for I was never sick."

"I was once," remarked Alice, "and it is not nice, I do assure you. Suppose we go call on Billie Bushytail Maybe we could cheer him up."

"I think that would be lovely," spoke Sister Sallie. "You go see him, while I hurry for the doctor."

So the three Wibblewobble children walked on through the pleasant woods, until they came to the place where the Bushytail family had moved. Their home was now in a hollow stump, close to the ground, and there was a fallen tree leading up to it, just like a plank over the brook, so the ducks could easily walk up it. They went right to the front door, and Jimmie knocked with his strong, yellow bill. Mrs. Bushytail opened the door, and when she saw the little ducklings, she said:

"Oh, my dears! Do not come too near, for we don't know what disease Billie may have. I would not want you to catch it."

"Oh, we are not afraid," spoke Jimmie. "But we will not come too near. We were out walking in the woods, and we met little Sister Sallie. We came to call on Billie, and cheer him up."

"That is very kind of you," said Mamma Bushytail. "The poor little fellow is quite miserable. I put his feet in hot mustard water, and gave him some Jamaica ginger, and he is now in bed. I fear he has the epizootic, which is a very dreadful disease."

"Oh, I hope not!" exclaimed Alice, kindly. "Perhaps he only has the pip, which is not nearly so bad."

"Perhaps," answered Mamma Bushytail. "I have sent Johnnie for some quinine, and that may help Billie."

"May we see him?" asked Lulu. "Perhaps we can cheer him up."

"To be sure, you may see him," replied Billie's mamma; so she opened the door a little wider in order that the ducklings might look in the hollow-stumphouse, for of course they could not enter, as it was too small. They saw Billie, all wrapped up in blankets, in bed, and he looked quite ill. But he seemed happy in spite of that, for the hot mustard footbath had helped him some. He smiled when he saw Jimmie and Lulu and Alice. Then Jimmie gave Mrs. Bushytail some nice acorns he had picked up in the woods and had carried under his wing.

"They are for Billie," said Jimmie. Next Lulu gave the sick squirrel-boy some nice, sweet grass she had gathered on the edge of the pond, and Alice had some lovely sugared sweet-flag root, which is very good in case of sickness. Then Billie felt much better, and after a while Jimmie said: "Let's sing a funny little song for Billie." So Jimmie, Alice and Lulu sang this little verse to cheer up poor, sick Billie, and, if you can get a good singer to sing it for you, it doesn't sound at all bad, I assure you:

Don't mind if you have to take stuff from a spoon, 'Tis better than having to climb to the moon. You might make a stumble or else have a tumble, And then you would fall pretty soon.

We came, little Billie, to make you feel better. At first we were going to write you a letter; But we had no ink, dear, so that's why we came here. We're dry now, but we'll soon be wetter.

Then Billie laughed right out loud, he felt so much better, and he ate some acorns and the sweet-flag root, nibbling at it with his sharp teeth. Then a scratching sound was heard on the stump, and who should come up it but Sister Sallie, with Dr. Possum.

The doctor said "He!" and he said "Hum!" and he said "Ahem!" Then he felt Billie's pulse and made him put out his tongue. Then Dr. Possum exclaimed: "Why, this little squirrel isn't sick at all! No, sir! Not at all. My goodness me; no, indeed! Why, the very idea! Sick? I guess not!"

But Mrs. Bushytail said her little boy had been very ill, and Dr. Possum answered:

"Well, if he was sick, these little ducks have cured him. They are just as good at doctoring as I am; yes, indeed; and a thermometer or two besides. There is no need for me."

"It was the funny little song that cured me," said Billie. Then he got out of bed and began frisking around; the doctor went home, and the little squirrel was all well. After a while Jimmie, Lulu and Alice had to leave, and they went home, feeling very happy for the good they had done to Billie Bushytail, for it always makes you feel happy to help some one. Now, if you promise not to whisper in school next week you shall hear to-morrow night how Jimmie tried to become a flying machine.

STORY VI

JIMMIE AS A FLYING MACHINE

One day, I think it must have been about three-and-a-half-quacks past cornmeal time, there was a great commotion in the yard, and around the pond where Jimmie Wibblewobble and his two sisters and his papa and mamma lived. There was a great fluttering in the air, and something, colored in beautiful tints, flew down and settled on the water with a little splash.

"My goodness, what is that?" asked Alice Wibblewobble, who was easily frightened. At first no one knew, for, though the creature was shaped just like a duck, it was not colored like any duck Jimmie had even seen. It was gold and bronze and green, with little patches of red and blue here and there, and was a most beautiful creature.

"Maybe that is a fairy," suggested Lulu, who sometimes read fairy stories.

"Oh, if it only might be one, and could tell me where the fairy prince is!" exclaimed Alice, with a sigh.

"Nonsense!" cried Jimmie, who was just going off to see his friend Bully, the frog. "Stuff and nonsense!"

"That's what I say, too," called out the strange creature. "Nonsense! I'm not a fairy at all. I'm a duck like yourselves, only I am a wild duck." Then its wings beat the air and water, and the wild duck arose and flew right over the pond and back again, as quickly as could be.

"My goodness! How do you do that?" asked Jimmie, who never could fly more than a few feet.

"Why," answered the wild duck, "I just did it, that's all."

"Snippery, snappery snails!" cried Jimmie, "you're just like a flying machine that my papa read about in the paper."

"Well, somewhat like one, perhaps," admitted the wild duck. "I can fly a long distance. Did you ever try?"

"No," answered Jimmie; "I never did."

"Perhaps you would like to try now," suggested the other. "I will stay here a little while, and show you. 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.

So the wild duck flew up on the fence, which was at one edge of the pond, and, oh, how beautiful he looked with the sun shining on his finely colored feathers. Jimmie had quite a struggle to get on the top rail of the fence, and so did Lulu, but they finally managed it, and, just as they stood beside the wild duck, who should come along but Grandfather Goosey-Gander. He asked the two Wibblewobble children what they were going to do, and when Jimmie said they were going to learn to become flying machines, the old duck said, "Humph!" just as quickly as he could.

"If you had such hard work getting to the top of the fence, how do you think you can fly across the pond?" he asked, and then he sneezed three times, for he was catching cold.

"Oh, we will do it," answered Jimmie, for, of course, you see, he really thought he could.

But something is going to happen, just as sure as you can add up two and three and make five out of them.

"Are you all ready?" asked the wild duck of Jimmie and Lulu, as they stood beside him, balanced on the fence rail.

"Yes," replied Jimmie, trying to stop his heart from beating so rapidly, "we are ready, Mr. Wild Duck. You fly and we will fly also."

"Watch me carefully," said the beautiful creature, "and do exactly as I do."

They were just about to fly, when the old rooster, who had been picking up corn down the road, come running up.

"Hold on!" he cried, "I can fly as good as that wild duck! Wait for me and we will have a race!"

So they waited until the old rooster got up on the fence rail, too. Then the wild duck counted: "One to begin with, two for a show, three to make ready and four to go!"

Then he flapped his wings, gave a loud "squawk-squawk" and sailed over that pond as nice as you please.

Well, of course, I've got to tell exactly what happened, or it wouldn't be fair. Jimmie tried to fly, but I wish you could have seen him. He only went a little way, and then, because his body was too heavy for his wings, or because his wings were too light for his body, he came flopping right down to the ground, ker-thump, and he hurt his nose considerably, let me tell you, for considerably is quite a lot.

Well, poor Lulu, if she didn't fall, too! Yes, sir, she turned a somersault right in the air, before all those watching ducks, and she, too, came down ker-flimmax-ker-flump, and she hurt her left-hand wing. Then she cried once, "Boo-hoo!" just like that. Then she stopped.

Jimmie didn't cry at all, if you'll believe me, no, sir, not a mite, but he felt badly all the same. And then that rooster! Oh, dear me, how foolish some roosters are, anyhow, now aren't they, really? Well, he started off all right, but just then the wind got in the wrong place, and it turned him upside down. Now, no rooster can fly upside down, no matter what else he can do, so that one came flippity-flop down into the water ker-splash-ker-sposh; and one more besides! Maybe he didn't feel mortified!

But that wild duck! Oh, my, goodness me! How he did fly. Around and around, and around that pond he went, never touching the water once. Then he came to where Jimmie and Lulu were, and he told them how sorry he felt for them, before he flew away to a far, far distant land, where only wild ducks live. Then Grandfather Goosey-Gander went up to those two Wibblewobble children, and so did Alice, to lend Lulu her handkerchief. And Grandfather Goosey said: "It is better for tame ducks to stay on the water, or on land. They were not made for flying." So that was the end of Jimmie trying to become an air ship. To-morrow night you may hear about Lulu and the gold fish, that is if the lemon squeezer doesn't pinch me.

STORY VII

LULU AND THE GOLD FISH

Well, here we are again, after a rest over night, and all ready for another story, I suppose. Let me see, it was to be about the fairy prince and Alice Wibblewobble--no, hold on there, I'm wrong. I know it. Lulu and the gold fish; to be sure! Well, here we go. Now, of course, I could make this about the fairy prince--in fact, he has something to do with this story--but as the gold fish has more, I put her name at the top.

Lulu Wibblewobble, the little duck girl, who could throw stones almost as straight as a boy, was swimming around the pond near the pen where she lived. It was a nice, warm, sunshiny day, and Lulu wanted to do something, but she didn't just know what. Jimmie, her brother, was off playing with Bully, the frog, and Alice, her sister, was straightening out her feathers in the back parlor bedroom, where a piece of tin could be used for a looking glass.

All at once Lulu's mamma called to her:

"Lulu, I want you to go to the store to get some acorn meal and a yeast cake. I am going to set bread to-night. Hurry, now, that's a good girl."

"All right, mamma," answered Lulu, and she steered herself around, just like a motorboat in the water, and started for the store, paddling as hard as she could.

She had not gone very far, with the little ripples and waves chasing each other across the pond, before she saw something swimming close beside her. Lulu looked down, and what do you think she saw? Well, you might guess, but then again, you might not, so I'll tell you. It was a gold fish.

Oh, it was such a beautiful gold fish, with red and silvery spots and streaks, and a long, feathery tail that looked like lace in the water.

"Hello!" exclaimed Lulu; "I didn't know you lived here."

"Oh, yes," answered the fish. "I have lived here for some time, but, you see, during the cold weather I stay down in the mud. 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?"

So Lulu told the fish girl about having to go to the store, and Fan seemed quite pleased to hear it. The two swam on together for some distance, the fish just under the water and Lulu on top. Pretty soon Lulu asked Fan where she was going, and the gold fish replied:

"I am going to the drug store for some sweet flag root for the fairy prince," and once more the fish girl turned a double somersault and opened her mouth wide, for she had a cold in her head, in consequence of being so wet. But as it is very difficult to write a story and make a gold fish talk as if she had a cold in the head, I have decided to make Fan talk just ordinarily. You never would have known anything about the cold if I hadn't mentioned it, so it's just as well.

"Pardon me," said Lulu, just like a telephone girl, "but did I understand you to say you were going for some sweet flag root for the fairy prince?"

"Yes," answered Fan Tail, "that's what I said."

"But!" cried Lulu. "A fairy prince! I never knew there were fairies in this pond!"

"Neither did lots of other persons," replied Fan. "It's supposed to be a secret, but I'll tell you. And, another thing. There is something strange about this fairy prince. Do you promise never to tell?"

"Yes," answered Lulu. "Cross my heart I'll never tell," and she lifted one leg out of the water and crossed her heart as well as she could.

"Then," said the gold fish in a whisper, "If you will come with me I will show you the fairy prince. That is, after I go to the drug store for him. But mind, it's a great secret."

So the two swam on together, but Lulu felt sad. And the reason she felt sad was this: Her sister Alice, who was very romantic--that is, she continually wanted things to happen that never could happen--Alice always had wished to see a fairy prince. Now, unless Fan would let Lulu tell the secret, Alice would never see a prince. And to think he was right in the same pond with her! Oh, it's dreadful to have a secret you can't tell even to your own sister, I think.

Lulu sighed so that she made quite a wave in the pond, and when the fish saw this she knew something was the matter. So she asked Lulu what it was, and Lulu told her how Alice was just crazy to see a fairy prince, and had been dreaming of one for ever and ever so long.

"And I've promised not to tell," ended Lulu. "Poor Alice! How disappointed she will be not to see a real, live fairy!"

"Well, perhaps it is too bad," admitted Fan Tail, and she sneezed so hard that the water flew up in a spray, just like a fountain. "Perhaps I shall let you off from your promise," the gold fish went on. "Yes, I think you may bring Alice to see the fairy prince."

"And Jimmie? Jimmie's my brother. I know he would love to see him, too. May he come?"

"Yes, you may bring Jimmie also. But mind, I don't want you to be disappointed. Most fairy princes are disappointing, so don't say I didn't warn you."

"Oh, that will be all right," spoke Lulu, now quite happy again. "May I bring them this afternoon?"

"Oh! I suppose so, but no one else, mind. You see the fairy prince is rather bashful."

So Lulu promised she would bring no one else, and she hurried to the store and back again. Fan Tail, the gold fish, went to the drug store for the sweet flag root for the fairy prince, and on the way she stubbed her nose against a stone, which made her cold in the head worse than ever; but of course we have nothing to do with that except to feel sorry for her.

When Lulu got home she was so excited she dropped the yeast cake in the pond, and it would have gotten all wet only it was wrapped in tin-foil. Then she told Alice and Jimmie about the fairy prince she was going to see, but, as this story is too long already, I must stop, and in case the postman does not blow his whistle too loud and scary, I shall have the pleasure, to-morrow night, of telling you about the fairy prince. And I hope you won't be disappointed.

STORY VIII

WHO THE FAIRY PRINCE WAS

Mamma and Papa Wibblewobble were sitting in front of the duck pen, talking with Grandfather Goosey-Gander and the big rooster. They were so busily engaged in conversation about the best way to serve cold corn meal mixed with water, that when Lulu asked her parents if she and Jimmie and Alice could go for a swim, Mrs. Wibblewobble said:

"Yes, my dear, but be careful you don't get wet."

Now wasn't that a funny thing for a duck mamma to say to her little duck girl? But Mamma Wibblewobble was absent minded, so we must excuse her. You see she thought Lulu wanted to go for a walk in the woods. Well, it didn't much matter, but I thought I would speak about it.

"Can we go?" asked Jimmie, when Lulu came back.

"Yes," she answered. "Hurry now, for we are going to see the fairy prince, as the gold fish promised."

"Oh, I'm so excited I can hardly wait!" exclaimed Alice, who was quite romantic, as I have explained. "Am I swimming straight, Lulu? I wouldn't for all the world, have a fairy prince see me swimming crooked."

"Oh, don't be so fussy!" called out Jimmie. "I wish Bully, the frog was here. He and I could have some fun."

"Oh, no!" cried Lulu. "We are the only ones allowed to see the fairy prince. It's a secret, and he is quite bashful."