“‘Whew! This is the wettest thing I ever saw!’ cried Wiggle-Waggle. ‘I guess this is the place for me!’
“So he got right under the rain pipe where the water spouted hardest. It felt good on his back, and he held up his head, and opened his beak, and swallowed the water as fast as he could. Then he was wet inside as well as out—wet enough at last.
“‘If only mother could see me now,’ he giggled to himself.
“So he swallowed, and swallowed, and SWALLOWED until after awhile he was so full of water that he burst, just like a balloon that has been blown too full of air; and that was the end of him.
“Not till the rain was over did his mother find he was not at home. Then she came out to look for him, but she could not find him. She called and called him but he did not answer and he did not come. He never came home.
“Then his mother wept for him, and his brothers and sisters wept for him, but they never saw Wiggle-Waggle-Wisk-Tail again, because he was lying under the rain pipe all burst.”
That was the sad story of Wiggle-Waggle-Wisk-Tail that always made Curly-Tail cry. Not until it was ended would she come out of the corner, but when she did come and it was her turn to choose a story she chose a very different sort of one for her mother to tell—for she chose a funny story that made all the little ducklings laugh and laugh.
But the mother liked to tell them about Wiggle-Waggle-Wisk-Tail every now and then. She thought the story was a good lesson for them.