“What will you do with him?” asked the man who owned the pond.

“I will take him on the seat beside me,” replied the other, “and maybe he will go ‘quack-quack’ whenever a person gets in the way of my auto.  Then they will not be run over.  Why, this little duck will be as good as an auto horn!  Will you let me take him?”

“I guess so,” answered the other man.  “But please do not frighten him, as he is very little.”

The man who owned the auto said he would be careful, and he went over to where Jimmie was, and picked him right up.

Now I should have thought that Jimmie would have been frightened, but he wasn’t a bit, no, would you believe me, not a bit.  So the man took him and put him on the seat and started off in the auto.  Jimmie knew exactly what to do.  Every time he came to a crossing he “quack-quacked” as loudly as he could, without being told, and he did the same thing whenever he saw a person in the way of the big machine.

Oh, what a fine ride he had in the auto, and how proud he was!  Not too proud, you know, but just proud enough.  Well, as true as I’m telling you, if Jimmie wasn’t as good an auto horn as one could wish.  Not a single accident happened when he was on the seat, “quack-quacking” away, and when the man went to a store and got his regular horn, with the rubber handle to it, why, he brought Jimmie right back to the pond.

Now, wasn’t that quite an adventure?  All the other ducks thought so anyhow.  To-morrow night, if you do not slam the door, you shall hear about Alice Wibblewobble’s new bonnet.

STORY III

ALICE WIBBLEWOBBLE’S NEW BONNET

When the Wibblewobble family came back to their house after a swim around the pond one bright sunny afternoon, and when the grass on the edges of the water was as green as it could be, Mamma Wibblewobble looked at her children, who were walking ahead of her.  Jimmie and Lulu were throwing stones along the path, but Alice, who was as ladylike a little duck as one could wish, would not throw pebbles even, to say nothing of stones.

“I declare,” exclaimed Mamma Wibblewobble, “those girls will have to have new bonnets.  I must see to it at once.”

“Very well,” answered Papa Wibblewobble, “I will get them when I come home to-morrow.  I met Mrs. Gooseyoosy this morning and she said they had a special sale of hats at the store by the barnyard gate.”

“A man duck cannot get bonnets for Alice and Lulu,” declared Mrs. Wibblewobble.  “You would not know what to pick out!  It is bad enough to have you get Jimmie’s hats and shoes, but you would never know how to buy bonnets for the girls.”

“Very well,” answered Papa Wibblewobble, “then I will let you do the buying.  I think a green colored bonnet would be nice for Alice.”

“Green!  With her complexion!” cried his wife.  “Never!  It must be blue—­blue for Alice and a brown one for Lulu.  Give me the money and I will start out shopping to-morrow.”