Imperial Valley Press

Uncle Wiggily was very fond of playing tricks and jokes on his forty sixteen little rabbit boys and girls. More than once he had got ten up early in the morning just to change around the shoes and stockings of the bunny children so they would be all mixed up when they started to dress.

Of course Uncle Wiggily did not play a trick like that on the mornings when there was school. For he did not want the children to be late. So he only mixed the shoes and stockings on Saturday or in vacation time, when there was no school.

"Dear me!" squeaked Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy one morning after Uncle Wiggily had locked her out of the kitchen so she had to crawl in through the pantry window. "Dear me! I believe he would like to be April Fool all the while."

"He is too silly!" said Uncle Wiggily's wife.

"Oh, no!" laughed the muskrat lady housekeeper. "I don't mind a joke now and then."

So Uncle Wiggily kept on playing tricks. Once he fixed the front door bell so it wouldn't stop ringing and Nurse Jane nearly ran her legs off trotting through the hall to see who was trying to get in when there was no one at all.

Another time Uncle Wiggily hid himself under the dining room rug and suddenly jumped around so that Nurse Jane thought the rug had come to life and she was as scared as she could be.

But I started to tell you about the trick Uncle Wiggily played with the mud pies. It happened, one day, that Jingle and Jangle, two of the girl bunnies made some mud pies to have a dolls' play party.

Taking some nice, clean mud, Jingle and Jangle mixed it up and put it in empty clam shells until it was partly dry. Then they turned the mud pies out, upside down and put them in a row on a flat stump which they pretended was a table.

"Now we can have the party," said Jingle.

"And we'll help our dolls eat the chocolate pies," said Jangle.

For they pretended that the gobs of mud were chocolate pies.

Each little rabbit girl took a bite and each doll was given a bite. Of course, I don't mean to say that the rabbits and dolls really ate the mud pies. They only pretended, just as you have done, I know.

"We can go down to the brook and pick some flowers for our dolls' mud pie party table," said Jingle.

So the two little rabbit girls, leaving their dolls sitting at the stump, on which there were still a number of mud pies, ran down to the brook. Then along hopped Uncle Wiggily.

Seeing the mud pies, the rabbit gentleman thought of a trick he could play. He laughed to himself and twinkled his nose.

"I'll hop to the candy store and buy some cocoanut chocolate cakes of candy that look just like these mud pies," said the rabbit. "I'll throw away the mud pies and put the chocolate candy in their place.

Then, when Jingle and Jangle come back from the brook, I'll hop along again. I'll pretend to want a mud pie and I'll pick up one of the chocolate candy pies and eat it.

Jingle and Jangle will think I am eating mud and it will give them a great surprise."

Uncle Wiggily changed the mud pies for chocolate candy pieces and hid in the bushes until the rabbit girls came back from the brook with flowers for their stump table.

Then Uncle Wiggily hopped out, and, pretending he didn't know any better, he asked:

"Have you anything good to eat?"

"Only pie," said Jingle.

"But they're mud pies and we only pretend to eat them!" said Jangle.

"Oh, I'm so hungry! I think I could even eat a mud pie!" cried Uncle Wiggily. All of a sudden he picked up from the table a round chocolate cocoanut candy that looked exactly like a mud pie, and he popped it into his mouth.

"Oh, Daddieums! Don't do that!" cried Jingle.

"Oh! Oh! He's eating mud!" shouted Jangle.

"I like this kind of mud!" said Mr. Longears. Jingle and Jangle made a jump for him, trying to stop him from taking more bites of what they thought were gobs of mud. But when they saw the white cocoanut candy showing through the outside chocolate, then they opened their eyes wide. Uncle Wiggily laughed and said:

"This is just a little trick of mine. Have some mud pie, my dears!"

Then Jingle and Jangle tasted what they thought were mud pies and, lo and behold! They were chocolate cocoanut candy.

"Oh, what a jolly joke!" mumbled Jingle, chewing the cocoanut.

And if the egg beater will take a little time off to knock some of the spots off the polka dot dress, I'll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and Susie's sewing.