But alas! Likewise unhappiness. The balloons were filled with holes, from the sting of the wasp, and all the air began leaking out of them. The airship began to fall, having nothing to hold it up.
“Oh, my!” cried Uncle Wiggily. “Here I go again!”
And down to the ground he came, only the sofa cushions in the clothes basket made a soft place for him on which to fall, and so he was not hurt.
“Oh, dear!” Uncle Wiggily exclaimed. “My airship is spoiled!” He tried to make it go up again, but, of course, it would not, with the balloons all burst as they were, so they could not hold air.
“What am I to do?” asked Uncle Wiggily. “I should have brought along a yeast cake, as Nurse Jane told me to do, and then I could rise. Alas, now I cannot go up like a loaf of bread.”
“Oh, yes you can, Uncle Wiggily!” exclaimed a voice near him, and there stood Arabella, the chicken girl, with her pipe, and bowl of soap suds for blowing bubbles.
“How can I go up when the balloons are burst?” asked the rabbit gentleman.
“With my soap bubbles!” cackled Arabella. “Soap bubbles are very light, and will rise in the air just like balloons. I will blow you a lot of bubbles, you can fasten them to your airship, and up you will go.” Then she blew forty-’leven bubbles, or maybe more, for all I know. Uncle Wiggily caught them, and fastened them with silk threads, and cobwebs, which a kind spider lady spun for him, to his clothes basket airship, just as the toy circus balloons had been fastened.
And the bubbles were so light, and went up in the air so nicely, that they took the airship and Uncle Wiggily up with them. The old gentleman rabbit just had time to thank Arabella for blowing the soap bubbles for him, and then he was far above the trees, sailing away.
“Arabella was certainly a smart chicken girl to think of raising my airship with soap bubbles!” cried Uncle Wiggily, and then later on he stopped in the drug store, and had a quart of strawberry ice cream sent to the hencoop for the little chicken girl, and the old rabbit gentleman took another quart home for Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy. So you see, sometimes it is a good thing to have a wasp sting toy circus balloons on an airship.