“Oh, wow!” howled the wolf. “Oh, dear, I’m caught!”
Uncle Wigwag, hiding behind the stump, heard the noisy noise and, not yet having seen the wolf, he cried:
“Ah, ha! Now I have caught Neddie and Beckie. I guess this will be a lesson to them not to take honey cakes again!”
Out rushed the old gentleman bear, and when he saw the wolf caught in the glue, instead of the little bear cub children, Uncle Wigwag did not know what to say, he was so surprised.
And when the wolf saw the bear gentleman he cried:
“Oh, dear! Don’t bite me! I’ll be good! I’ll not take any of your honey cakes!”
“You’d better not,” spoke Uncle Wigwag. And then the wolf was so frightened that he managed to pull his feet loose from the sticky glue, and away he ran without a single honey cake.
And when Neddie and Beckie came along later to take some cakes, intending to ask if they could eat them, they found every one so excited at the bear cave that they didn’t take any cakes at all. Besides, Mamma Stubtail had lifted the honey cakes inside after the wolf made such a racket.
“But you were almost caught!” said Uncle Wigwag to Neddie and Beckie, as he told them what he had heard them say. Then they promised never to think of such a thing again, and their mamma gave them each some nice honey cakes for supper. But the wolf had none, and it served him right.
So Uncle Wigwag played his trick just the same, though, on a wolf instead of the bear children. Then Aunt Piffy scrubbed all the glue off the back steps and everybody was happy.