STORY II
JUMPO AND THE COCOANUT
Uncle Wiggily Longears, the old gentleman rabbit, couldn't go to the owl teacher's school and tell the children about his travels on the day he had promised to do so. It was because his rheumatism was very bad, so the pupils, including Jacko and Jumpo Kinkytail, the red and green monkeys, were allowed to play a game instead of hearing a story.
"Perhaps Uncle Wiggily will come tomorrow," said the teacher. And that is what the rabbit did, and he told how he had traveled many miles, and had had dozens and dozens of adventures, of which I have told you in the stories before this one. He also told how Jacko Kinkytail had been with him part of the time.
"Oh, my, I wish I had been along," said Sammie Littletail to Jacko after school was over.
"Yes, indeed, so do I," said Billy No-Tail, the frog, as he looked at his grandfather's tall hat which he was wearing, to see if it had any holes in the top; but it hadn't.
"Oh, I had lots of fun," said Jacko, the red monkey, "but I would have had more if my brother Jumpo, or some of you boys, had been with me. Uncle Wiggily was very nice."
"Come on, let's have a game of ball," suggested Jumpo, the green monkey. So the boy animals put their books on the grass, and they had a little ball game on their way home from school.
It was a fine game, too. Once when Billie Wagtail, the goat boy, knocked the ball away up in the air with his horns, Jumpo Kinkytail climbed up a tree, and, hanging to the top branch only by his tail, he reached up and caught the ball before it got to the ground.
"Fine! Fine!" cried all the other animal players as Jumpo came down.