Well, after a while, when Neddie and Beckie had been hiding behind the tree for some time, out came Uncle Wigwag.
“Now, watch!” whispered Neddie. “See him tumble when he gets on the ice!”
But, instead of going over and picking up the letter, Uncle Wigwag put a box down on the ground, near the path by which Neddie and Beckie went to school, and then the old gentleman bear himself went and hid behind a tree.
“Oh, what do you know about that!” whispered Neddie. “He is playing a joke on us, just as I said he would. There’s nothing in that box but a piece of brick, or maybe a lot of stones. Uncle Wigwag expects we’ll pick it up, thinking it’s candy, and when we open it he’ll cry ‘April fool!’ even if it isn’t the month to play those jokes.”
“I believe that’s what he is doing,” said Beckie, laughing.
“Well, we’ll just not be fooled,” went on Neddie. “We’ll leave the make-believe box of candy alone, and wait until we see Uncle Wigwag go out on the ice after his letter and fall down.”
So the two little bear children, laughing to themselves at the joke they were playing on their fun-loving uncle, waited behind the tree. Uncle Wigwag waited behind his tree, too.
Pretty soon, along came Tommie Kat, the kitten boy. He saw the white box on the path, and cried:
“Oh, joy! I guess this is something good!”
“Watch him get fooled!” whispered Neddie. But lo and behold! Tommie opened the box and there it was filled with the nicest kind of candy! There wasn’t a stone or brick in it.