Part 11 (1/2)
”Oh,” promised Sammie, ”I won't, you may be sure. But, Uncle Wiggily, are squirrels all right to play with?”
”Oh, yes, squirrels are very nice,” said his Uncle. ”Why, did you see some?”
”Yes, I met two, and they said their names were Billie and Johnnie Bushytail, and they are coming over to see me some time.”
”That will be nice,” remarked Susie. ”May I play with them, too?”
”I guess so,” replied Sammie. ”But, mamma, I'm hungry. Isn't there anything to eat?”
”You can have some bread and b.u.t.ter,” said his mamma.
”With sugar on?” asked Sammie.
”We are all out of sugar,” went on Mrs. Littletail. ”You must run to the store for some.”
”I will,” promised Sammie, ”after I eat something.”
”All out of sugar,” remarked Uncle Wiggily. ”That reminds me, I must make some maple sugar soon. I will have it when Billie and Johnnie Bushytail come over to see you; or, perhaps before then, if you are good children.” So Sammie and Susie said they would be good, and in another book after this one, I'm going to tell you about Billie and Johnnie Bushytail, the little boy squirrels, and what they did. They lived near Sammie and Susie Littletail. But the story to-morrow night will be about Uncle Wiggily making maple sugar.
XIX
UNCLE WIGGILY MAKES MAPLE SUGAR
Uncle Wiggily Longears walked out of the burrow. First he stretched one leg, then he stretched another leg; then he gave a big, long stretch to his third leg, and then, would you believe it? he stretched his fourth leg. Next he wiggled both ears, one after the other, and said:
”I feel very fine indeed! Oh, yes, and a boiled carrot besides, very fine!” He looked up at the blue sky, which had some little white clouds on it, just like small s...o...b..nks, or bits of lamb's wool. ”I never knew when I felt better,” went on Uncle Wiggily Longears. ”Even my rheumatism does not hurt much.” Just then he saw Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy coming out of the burrow, and he spoke to her: ”Aren't Sammie and Susie up yet?” he asked.
”They are just was.h.i.+ng their faces and hands, ready for breakfast,”
answered the muskrat nurse. ”They will soon be out.”
Sure enough, in a little while the two bunny children came running out.
”Oh, what a lovely day!” cried Susie Littletail, and she wrinkled up her nose, and made it go very fast, almost as fast as an automobile or a motorcycle. ”Doesn't it smell fine?” she asked her brother, and she took a good, long breath.
”It smells just like spring,” answered Sammie. ”The wind is nice and warm, there are lots more birds around than there were, and the gra.s.s is getting greener and greener every minute,” and he turned a somersault, he felt so glad that summer was coming.
”Ha! Ha! Ha!” exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, three times, just like that. ”Now I know what makes me feel so fine. It is because spring is here. We must get ready to boil maple sugar.”
”What is maple sugar?” asked Susie.
”What? I am surprised at you!” exclaimed Sammie. ”Maple sugar is that brown, sweet stuff you buy in the store, and in the winter you eat it on your pancakes, or you can shave it up and put it on hot rice, or you can put it on fritters. That is what maple sugar is.”
”Exactly,” went on Uncle Wiggily, and he stretched the leg with the rheumatism in so that it hardly hurt him a bit. ”Well, children, we are going to make some maple sugar. Come with me, and I will show you how.
Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, we shall have to ask you to help us. We need your sharp teeth to gnaw a hole in the tree.”
So Uncle Wiggily, Sammie, Susie and Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy went off into the woods. Oh, it was a beautiful day, and in some places the tiny green leaves on the trees were just beginning to show through the brown buds.