He held his balancing pole by the middle, and he went slowly and cautiously, and he was actually walking that slender rope!

But he kept looking down and wondering whether he would fall or not, and he got to thinking about the feather pillows, and wondering if they were thick enough and soft enough, so that he wouldn’t get hurt if he should fall, when all at once, quicker than you can wheel the baby carriage down hill, when he was right in the middle, Buddy’s foot slipped, and down he went, right a straddle across the tight rope, and the pole fell with a bang!

[Illustration]

And Brighteyes screamed, for she couldn’t help it, but Buddy didn’t dare call out.  No, all he could do was to cling there with his teeth and his paws to that swaying rope.

“Oh!” cried Brighteyes, “you’re going to fall, Buddy!”

“I’ve fallen already,” he panted.  “But I’m going to land on the ground in a minute, for I can’t hold on any longer!”

And he looked down, picking out a soft spot to fall on, but, oh, dear me, and a sour pickle!  If the pole, when it fell down, hadn’t knocked the pillows to one side, and there was only hard ground for Buddy to land on.  Well, maybe he wasn’t frightened, and Brighteyes was also frightened, too flabbergasted, you see, to go and fix the pillows in place again, and they didn’t either of them know what in the world to do.

I don’t know what might have happened, for Buddy couldn’t hold on much longer, but, just as he was going to let go, along came Uncle Wiggily Longears.  He saw what the trouble was at once, and up he rushed and with his crutch he piled the pillows in a soft heap right under Buddy, and then Buddy let go the tight rope and down he came, just like in a feather bed.

And he wasn’t hurt the least mite, but he was very thankful to Uncle Wiggily, the old rabbit gentleman, and Buddy never tried to walk a tight rope, nor a loose one again.

Now, in case there is no salt in the ice cream to make the rag doll sneeze, I’ll tell you in the following story about Brighteyes Pigg in a tin can.

STORY XI

BRIGHTEYES IN A TIN CAN

Of course, when Mamma Pigg came home the afternoon that Buddy tried to walk a tight rope (for she had been away visiting Mrs. Wibblewobble when it happened) she had to hear about it.  Buddy and Brighteyes would have told her, anyhow, for they always did, but, as it was, Mrs. Pigg saw a scratch on Buddy’s leg, where the rope had hurt him when he fell, and she wanted to know all about it.  Then Buddy told her of the trick he had tried to perform.

“Little guinea pigs are safer on the ground,” she said.  “Leave such things to Billie and Johnnie Bushytail, or the Bow Wows, who were once in a circus.  Now get washed for supper, for your papa will soon be here, and I think he’ll fetch a quart of carrot ice cream, as it is so hot.”