“Yes, and he needs help quickly!” cried Jollie.
“Then I’ll go get my uncle and Mr. Whitewash!” said Neddie. Off he rushed to find Uncle Wigwag and the polar bear gentleman. They also got Uncle Wiggily, and Gup, the kind, strong horse, and as many other animal gentlemen as they could, and back they hurried to where Mr. Stubtail was in the trap.
Together, with the help of a kind circus elephant, they pulled the trap open and the bear gentleman was free. Then they all hurried away before the hunter man, with his gun and dogs, could get them. Mr. Stubtail limped a little and was lame for some time, but that is better than staying forever in a trap.
When he got home his wife was out of the tub of water, and she and Aunt Piffy made some nice salve for Mr. Stubtail’s sore foot. Then they had a lovely supper with honey ice cream, and everybody was happy and they couldn’t do enough for Jollie Longtail. And this is the glad part of the story.
So this shows you that you should always untie a knot in a mousie’s tail if you can, for you never can tell when a mousie might help you.
And no more to-night, if you please, but very soon, if the milkman’s horse doesn’t come up on our front stoop and take our doormat to wipe his feet on, I’ll tell you about Mamma Stubtail’s honey cakes.
STORY XVIII
MAMMA STUBTAIL’S HONEY CAKES
“Oh, mamma!” cried little Neddie Stubtail, the bear cub, as he got ready to go to school one morning. “What is it that smells so good in your kitchen?”
“What smells so good?” spoke Mrs. Stubtail, the mamma bear. “Well, I don’t know. Maybe it’s the tea kettle boiling.”
“Oh, mamma, you’re joking just as Uncle Wigwag often does,” said Beckie, the little bear girl. “I, too, smell something good. Are you making candy?”