“My, how do you do it?” asked the rabbit of the monkey.  “You must be very musical.”

“Oh, it comes natural to me,” said the monkey, not a bit proud like.

“But where did you get so many organs?”

“Oh, I saved up my pennies for them,” said the monkey.  “You see, it was this way.  I used to work for a man who had a hand organ, and he used to take me around with him to climb up on the porches, and in the second-story windows to get the pennies from the children.  Well, I always loved music, and I wanted the man to let me play his organ, but he never would.  So I made up my mind I would save up all my pennies and some day buy an organ for myself.

“Well, I did that, for you know often when I used to go around to collect pennies for the man, some children would give me a few for myself.  Finally I got rich and I didn’t work for the man any longer, and I had enough to buy five hand organs, for I can play five at once.  Then I came here, and built this shingle house and every day I amuse myself by playing tunes, and I never have to climb up the rainwater pipe to get money.  Oh, it is a happy life,” and the monkey felt so funny that he hung by his tail from a tree branch, and made faces at Uncle Wiggily—­just in fun, you understand.

Uncle Wiggily was very glad he had met the monkey, and he listened to the music, and the monkey even let the rabbit play one tune for himself, and it was called, “When You Wiggle Your Wiggily Ears Wiggle Them Good and Hard.”

And then, all of a sudden, just as that tune was finished, there was a terrible noise in the bushes.

“My goodness!  What’s that?” cried the monkey as he hopped up on top of one of his hand organs and curled his tail around the handle.

“It sounds like a bear!” said the rabbit.  “But don’t worry.  I’ll do just as the cricket did to the alligator and make him laugh so that he won’t hurt us.”

“Good!” cried the monkey.  And then the noise became louder and out from the bushes popped a big animal.  But it was an elephant instead of a bear, and as soon as he saw the monkey and Uncle Wiggily he ran up to them and shook his trunk at them and cried: 

“Oh, I’m so glad to see you!  I just got away from the circus, and I want to have some fun!” and he was as kind and gentle as he could be and he and Uncle Wiggily had quite an adventure the next day.

I’ll tell you about it on the next page, when, in case the little boy across the street doesn’t tickle my pussy cat and make him sneeze the rubbers off the umbrella plant, the story will be about Uncle Wiggily and the big dog.

STORY XIII

UNCLE WIGGILY AND THE BIG DOG

Let’s see, I left off in the last story just where the elephant came out of the woods and shook his tail—­I mean his trunk—­at Uncle Wiggily and the funny monkey, didn’t I?  Well, now, I’m going to tell you what happened after that.