STORY XVI

THE WIBBLEWOBBLE HOME ON FIRE

After the ball game, which I told you about last night, all the players, and those who had looked on, and Uncle Wiggily, the umpire, started for home.  On the way they talked of how kind Aunt Lettie was.

“She’s the kindest person I have ever known,” said Uncle Wiggily, as he limped along on his crutch that Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy had gnawed out of a cornstalk for him.  “She is very—­Oh dear!  Oh me!  Oh my!  Oh disproportionability!  Wow!  Ouch!  My rheumatism again!” and it hurt him so he had to stand still and waggle his ears as hard as ever he could.  Then he felt better, especially after he had rubbed a horse chestnut on his sore leg.

You see the rheumatism which was cured by a red fairy, as I told you about in the first book, came back because Uncle Wiggily got his feet wet going out one day without his umbrella.

Of course Papa and Mamma Wibblewobble were much surprised to hear about the ball game, and the broken window, but they didn’t scold Jimmie very much, and pretty soon, oh, in a little while after supper, you know, it was bedtime for the duck children and they went to bed.

Well, it got darker and darker, and soon it was nice and quiet around the pond where the ducks lived.  Only the frogs seemed to be awake, and they were croaking away in the water.  And pretty soon Lulu and Alice were dreaming and so was Jimmie, and the funny part of it is that they all dreamed different things.

Pretty soon it got even darker, and then up popped the silvery moon, and it wasn’t quite so dark.  But it was more quiet.  Oh my, yes!  It was so quiet that I believe if a feather had fallen off a duck’s back it would have made a noise when it struck the ground.  Oh, it was very quiet.

Then, all of a sudden Jimmie awakened.  He sniffed and he snuffed, and he smelled smoke.  So he got up and he called to Lulu and Alice in the next room: 

“Say, don’t you smell smoke?”

“Yes,” said Alice, “I do.”

“Maybe it’s Grandfather Goosey-Gander smoking his pipe,” suggested Lulu.

“No, he doesn’t smoke as late as this,” said Jimmie.

Then the smell of smoke got stronger, and, in about as long as it would take you to count one and a half, what should happen but that the whole duckhouse was suddenly lighted up.  Then there came a crackling, roaring sound, and Papa and Mamma Wibblewobble jumped up.

“Oh, dear!  It’s burglars!  I know it’s burglars!” cried Mrs. Wibblewobble.  “Quack real loud, Leander” (you see Mr. Wibblewobble’s name was Leander).  “Quack real loud, and call the police!”

So Mr. Leander Wibblewobble quacked as loudly as he could, and just then Aunt Lettie jumped out of bed.

“Oh dear!  Oh dear!  Oh dear!” she cried, three times, just like that.  “The house is on fire!  The house is burning up!  Run!  Jump, everybody!”