So Whoops and Putty-Nose left their wonderful new friend dozing in the hot sand and set off, hand in hand, along the path which led up among the trees. Now they understood why the island had looked so funny when they were approaching it on the turtle’s back, for all the trees grew upside-down, their roots in the air, and the figs, cocoanuts, and bananas on the ground, where they could easily be picked. They decided to gather some of the fruit on the way back to take home to their father and mother, and went on up the winding path. The air was full of Jujube and Lollypop birds, which flew ahead of them calling, “Whoops and Putty-Nose have come to visit us!”
All at once they came upon a colony of Chase-Tails, little striped animals with a very sweet tooth. Instead of regular tails they had sticks of peppermint candy, which they were forever chasing round and round, in order to satisfy their enormous appetites for candy. Each Chase-Tail was chasing his tail for dear life around a little bush, until every bush in sight had a Chase-Tail lying around it like a doughnut, holding its peppermint tail fast in its mouth, and nibbling away happily at the candy. Just as Whoops and Putty-Nose were wondering what would happen when the tails were all eaten up, the Whispering-Tell-Tale bird flew down and explained that new tails would grow by tea-time next Thursday. It was then only Monday, and the Chase-Tails had to make their peppermint candy tails last for four whole days, or go hungry.
Further on, in a cool little dell, they found the Ice Cream Soda plant in full bloom, covered with great white cup-shaped flowers, like Easter lilies. All you had to do was pick one of these flowers, wish very hard for your favorite flavor, and instantly it was full of cold, delicious ice cream soda. After sampling as many kinds as they could think of, Whoops and Putty-Nose continued their journey, and were just crossing a bridge over a tiny stream when they were brought to a standstill by a strange sound. It came from the water, and, on looking closer, the children discovered a school of Gurgling Gonces swimming in a quiet pool under the bridge. They ran down on the bank to see and get a closer look, and were amazed to find that a Gurgling Gonce is exactly like a small, red rubber hot water bottle, and makes the same noise a water bottle does when shaken. Putty-Nose waded carefully into the stream and succeeded in catching one of the funny fish. It seemed not at all afraid—and very, very warm, and it had just one big, round eye in the end where the stopper of the water bottle would be. It looked so pleadingly into his face and seemed so helpless that Putty-Nose felt sorry for it and put it back in the water right away. “Gurgle-Gurgle,” said the grateful Gurgling Gonce, very politely, and swam off to join its brothers and sisters.
At last, just as Whoops and Putty-Nose were beginning to feel very hungry, they smelled a pleasant odor of cooking, and coming out into a little clearing in the woods where a fire was burning, they found dozens of chubby little Waffle-Wimps dancing hand in hand around it. The Waffle-Wimps were square and flat, with little square holes all over their plump little bodies. They kept dancing closer and closer to the flames until they grew crisp and brown and very hot. Then they all ran off sizzling and chuckling, each one crawling under a marvelously sweet Syrup-Bush, where he lay down on his back and let the bush drip delicious maple syrup on him until he was just prime for eating. The children ate all the Waffle-Wimps they could hold, then they said, “Thank You,” to the ones they left behind, and went on.
They had a wonderful time getting acquainted with all the strange and marvelous creatures that lived on the island, but at last it began to get darker and cooler in the woods and they heard the Tick-Tock bird calling, “Five o’clock! Five o’clock!” so they ran back obediently to Old Flipperoo, who opened one eye at them sleepily and asked, “Did you see everything on the island?”
“Oh, yes! Everything! And we loved it!” cried the children. So Flipperoo promised to bring them again, and crawled lazily back into the water, preparatory to carrying them home. Whoops and Putty-Nose, who were very tired by this time, climbed on his back under their Robinson Crusoe tent and lay down. They fell fast asleep, and never woke up until they heard their mother calling to them from the shore. You can guess how surprised she was to see them come sailing home on Old Flipperoo’s back, and to hear all about the delights and wonders of their voyage to No-Such Land.
SQUEEDINKS AND
THE COD LIVER OIL
Squeedinks and the Cod Liver Oil
His real name was Ferdinand Maxwell Higginson, but his friend Mops, the hired man, always called him Squeedinks—and as we are all going to be his friends—we may as well call him Squeedinks, too. He lived with his aunt in a pretty little house ’way out in the country, set between rolling green fields and a large forest. Squeedinks used to read all sorts of books, but he liked stories about animals best of all. When he grew tired of reading he would go out into the forest and watch the squirrels frisking about among the old trees. He noticed that most of the squirrels lived in holes in the big oaks, and he was extremely anxious to get a look into the holes and see just how squirrels behaved when they were at home.
After a great many unsuccessful attempts, Squeedinks at last succeeded in climbing part way up a big oak tree. He couldn’t get quite as far up as the little round holes where he saw his furry friends darting in and out, but he was delighted to find one hole, low down on the trunk, which was just big enough for him to squeeze into. You see, he was just a small little boy. Every day, after that, Squeedinks climbed up to his lookout, which he christened the “Crow’s Nest,” and sat there with just his head peeping out, watching the antics of the squirrels.