“Oh, what long ears the fish has!” cried Curly Tail, when the moon shone on the fish.  “I never saw a fish with ears!”

“I’m not a fish,” said a voice.  “Oh, please let me go.  The hook is caught in my collar.  Please let me go!”

“Who are you?” asked Percival, in wonder.

“I’m Uncle Wiggily Longears,” was the answer.  “I dressed up like a Hallowe’en fish to fool Curly Tail and Flop Ear.  I was walking along the shore in the dark, thinking I could catch the piggie boys, when, all of a sudden, something caught in my coat collar, and I was dragged through the bushes.  I was choked so I could hardly speak, and I didn’t know what had happened to me.”

“Oh, that’s too bad,” said Percival.  “I guess I happened to catch you on my fishhook by mistake, when I was tossing it around.  But why are you all dressed up?” he asked Curly Tail and Flop Ear and Uncle Wiggily.

“Because it is Hallowe’en,” said Flop Ear; “but I guess we have had enough of it.”

“Yes,” said Uncle Wiggily, “come up into the bungalow and we will duck for apples, eat marshmallows and have fun.”

So Curly Tail took off his bread crumbs clothes, and Flop Ear his apple pie suit, and Uncle Wiggily his fish scales, and they all took off their false faces, and Percival and the lady whose name was Gertrude, had a good time.

And in the next story in case the ash can doesn’t roll off the roof and fall on the dog house to scare the puppy cake I’ll tell you about Curly Tail and the little afraid girl.

STORY XXIV

CURLY AND THE AFRAID GIRL

One day, when Uncle Wiggily, the nice old gentleman rabbit, went down to the store on Raccoon Island, in Lake Hopatcong, kept by Pop Goes the Weasel, there was a letter there for Curly Tail and also one for Flop Ear.

“I wonder who can be writing to the piggie boys,” said the rabbit gentleman.  “I’ll take the letters to them.”

So he stopped to play just one game of Scotch checkers with Pop Goes the Weasel, only they didn’t quit finish it because Mr. Pop’s cat jumped on the middle of the board to catch a mosquito and scattered the checkers all over.

“Scat!” cried Pop Goes the Weasel.  “Why did you do that?”

“Never mind,” said Uncle Wiggily.  “She didn’t mean to.”

And really the cat didn’t mean to, and the mosquito got away after all, and Pop Goes the Weasel began picking up the checkers, but the rabbit gentleman said: 

“I’m afraid I can’t stay to finish the game.  I must get back with the letters for Flop and Curly,” calling them thus for short.

“Very well,” said Pop, “and take them some sour milk chocolate candy with my best wishes, for the letters may be from home, telling them to come back to school.”

And really, that is just what the letters said.  They were from the nice owl lady school teacher, saying that the roof was back on the school now, and that in a few days all the animal children must begin reciting their lessons again.