STORY VI

DR. PIGG AND UNCLE WIGGILY

Some one knocked on the door of the pen where Dr. Pigg and his wife and Buddy¹ and Brighteyes lived one day. "Rat-a-tat-tat," went the rapping.

"My! I wonder who that can be?" exclaimed Mrs. Pigg. "Run and see, will you, Buddy, like a good boy?"

So Buddy hurried to the door, and whom should be see standing² there but Uncle Wiggily Longears, the old gentleman rabbit; and Uncle Wiggily had rapped with his crutch³, which had made the funny sound.

"Why, how d'do!" exclaimed Dr. Pigg as soon as he saw who it was. "Come right in Uncle Wiggily! This is an unexpected pleasure. Brighteyes, get a chair for Uncle Wiggily. Buddy, you take his crutch. Mrs. Pigg, haven't we some of that new cabbage preserved in maple⁴ sugar? Bring out a bit for our friend!"

My! you should have seen what a bustling⁵ about there was in the pen, and all because Uncle Wiggily had come and because every one was fond of him. Buddy started to take the old gentleman rabbit's crutch, but Uncle Wiggily cried:

"Oh, no! Don't! Not for worlds! Oh, my, no! and an ice cream cone⁶ besides! Oh, lobster⁷ salad, no!"

"Why, whatever is the matter?" exclaimed Dr. Pigg.

"Oh, my! Ouch! Oh, shingles⁸!" cried Uncle Wiggily, as he stepped up over the doorsill. "Oh, dear me, and a baseball bat! It's my rheumatism⁹, as usual. It's something awful, these days."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," cried Brighteyes Pigg.

"And so am I," added Buddy, and they all were, for that matter.

"Rheumatism, eh?" remarked Dr. Pigg, thoughtful-like.

"Yes," went on Uncle Wiggily, as he hobbled over to a chair. "In fact, I came to see you about it, Doctor," and the old rabbit rubbed his leg very, very softly.

"Ah! ha! Ahem!" exclaimed Dr. Pigg, as he puffed¹⁰ himself up, and looked as important as possible. "Of course, I remember now. I sent word to you that I had a new cure for rheumatism. I heard the doctors mention it in the hospital, and I thought I would try it on you."

"That's very kind of you," said Uncle Wiggily, "and you can't try it any too soon, for I am in great pain," and he made such a funny face, with his nose wiggling, and his ears waving back and forth¹¹, like fans on a hot night, and his eyes—one looking up and the other down—altogether it was so funny that Buddy and his sister wanted to laugh, only they didn't, for they knew it wouldn't be polite, and might hurt Uncle Wiggily's feelings.

"I will have some medicine for you in a jiffy!" exclaimed Dr. Pigg; a jiffy, you know, being almost as quick as half a wink¹².

So the guinea pig doctor got a bottle of red medicine, and one of blue, and one of pink, and another bottle of green medicine, and he got some red pills and some black pills and some white powder and some yellow powder and then he took some molasses and maple sugar, and stirred them all up together. Oh, it was a funny-looking mixture I can tell you, all colors of the rainbow, just as when Sammie fell into the pot of Easter dye.

"Now Mrs. Pigg, you stir that up well, and we'll give Uncle Wiggily some as soon as it is cool," said Dr. Pigg, for he had cooked the medicine on the stove.

"It doesn't look very nice," observed Uncle Wiggily sort of anxious-like.

"Rheumatism medicine never does," said Dr. Pigg.

"And it doesn't smell very nice," went on Uncle Wiggily.

"Rheumatism medicines never do," cheerfully said Dr. Pigg, "and, what is more, it doesn't taste very nice, either, Uncle Wiggily; but you must take it, if you are to get well."

"I suppose I must," remarked the old rabbit with a sigh, as Mrs. Pigg kept on stirring the mixture. Well, pretty soon it was cool enough to take.

"Now, Buddy, you bring a spoon," ordered Dr. Pigg, and when the little boy guinea pig brought one, his father poured into it some of the medicine.

"Brighteyes, you get a napkin so he won't spill any of it on his clothes," went on her papa, "and Mrs. Pigg you please be ready with a glass of water, for Uncle Wiggily will want a drink right after he takes this."

Well everything was all ready, and Buddy stood there to help, and so did Brighteyes.

"One, two, three! Take it!" suddenly cried Dr. Pigg, and he poured the teaspoonful¹³ of the many-colored mixture down Uncle Wiggily's throat. Brighteyes held the napkin so none of it would get on the rabbit's coat, and Mrs. Pigg was there with the glass of water, which Uncle Wiggily took very quickly.

Well, I wish you could have seen the face Uncle Wiggily made when he swallowed the rheumatism medicine! It was just like a clown in the circus, only funnier. But Brighteyes and Buddy didn't even giggle¹⁴, which was very kind of them.

"Do you feel any better?" asked Dr. Pigg, after Uncle Wiggily had stopped making faces. "Is the pain gone?"

"No, I can't say that it is," answered the rabbit. "It seems to be worse than ever," and he rubbed his leg and tried to get up, but he couldn't leave the chair, even with his crutch, which Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy had gnawed¹⁵ for him out of a cornstalk.

"Oh, that's too bad!" exclaimed Dr. Pigg. "I must try a new kind of medicine."

"No, don't!" cried the rabbit. "I had rather have the rheumatism."

"Suppose we try some horse radish leaves, like we did for my toothache?" proposed Buddy, and Mrs. Pigg said that would be good. So they got some leaves, and put them on Uncle Wiggily's leg, but they didn't do any good, neither did mustard, nor nettles¹⁶, nor any of the other burning things that they tried.

"Oh, dear, I guess I'll have to stay in this chair forever!" cried Uncle Wiggily, as he tried to get up and couldn't. "Oh, dear me, and a piece of chewing gum! This is terrible!"

Well, every one was wondering how Uncle Wiggily was ever going to walk again, when all of a sudden, as Buddy looked from the window, he cried out:

"Oh, here comes the big, shaggy yellow dog that was going to eat up Brighteyes and Sister Sallie when they were playing with their dolls! He's coming right this way! Run everybody!"

"Wow!" cried Uncle Wiggily. "A dog! Goodness me!" and, land sakes, if he didn't jump up, seize his crutch and run home as fast as if he never had any rheumatism at all.

You see he was so frightened he forgot all about it for the time being, which was a good thing. But do you s'pose that dog dared to come in the pen and hurt the guinea pigs? No, sir, not a bit of it! The first he knew, Percival, the kind, old circus dog had him by the ear and the bad dog ran away and didn't hurt anybody.

Now, in the next story, if an auto¹⁷ horn doesn't scare me so that I lose my typewriter ribbon I'll tell you about Buddy Pigg being caught by a boy.