“What are they doing?” asked Susie, moving her long ears back and forth.

“They are doing kind things to the people of the earth,” replied the fairy godmother, “and it keeps them busy, let me tell you.”  Then Susie saw fairies doing all sorts of magical tricks, such as making lemonade out of lemons, and things like that.

Then, all at once, just when one little fairy was making a hat out of some straw, the godmother said:  “It is time for us to go now,” so the burdock leaf came sailing through the air, and Susie got on.  As they came near the woods where the goldenrod grew they saw a boy throwing a stone at a robin.

“Ah, I must stop that!” cried the fairy godmother, so she waved her new magic wand that Susie had helped her get, and, honestly, if that stone didn’t turn right around in the air, and instead of hitting the bird, it flew back and hit that boy right on the end of his nose!  Oh, how he cried, and, what is better, he never threw stones at birds again.  I call that a pretty good trick, don’t you?  Well, the burdock leaf came to the ground, and Susie ran home, and she was just in time to help her mother set bread.  To-morrow night’s story is going to be about Uncle Wiggily and the fairy spectacles.  That is, I think it is, but, if you like, you may turn over the page to make sure.  But you are only allowed just one peep, only one, mind you.

XXIX

UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE FAIRY SPECTACLES

Sammie and Susie Littletail were playing out in front of their burrow. 
Their mamma had a headache, and had gone to lie down in a dark room, and Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy had put a mustard leaf on the back of Mamma Littletail’s neck, for that is sometimes good for a headache.

“What shall we do?” asked Susie.

“Oh, I don’t know,” replied her brother.  “S’pose we play stump tag?”

“All right; you’re ‘it,’ Sammie,” called Susie.

So Sammie began to hop after Susie.  You see, when you play stump tag you have to keep on a stump if you don’t want to be tagged.  It’s lots of fun.  Try it some day, if you can find a place where there are plenty of stumps.  Well, after playing this for some time, the rabbit children got tired.  Then they played other games, and they were making quite a noise, when Uncle Wiggily Longears came out.

“You children will have to make less racket,” he said, real cross like.  “Your mamma has a headache.”

Then Sammie and Susie were quieter for a time, but soon they were almost as noisy as ever.

“Now you must run right away from here!” cried Uncle Wiggily, coming to the door of the underground house again, and he spoke still more crossly.

“What do you s’pose ails Uncle Wiggily?” asked Susie, as she and Sammie hopped away.

“I don’t know,” replied Sammie, “unless it’s his rheumatism again.”

“No, it can’t be that.  Don’t you remember, the red fairy cured him?”