Rabbit Adventure Stories With Uncle Wiggily -Book 3-Part 11

Hi,

It's Stefania,

And we've got another Uncle Wiggly story.

This one is Uncle Wiggly and the Clothes Ringer.

Clothes Ringer is like a very,

Very,

Very old-fashioned clothes-washing machine.

It has two wheels that turn around,

And they put the clothes in between these two wheels,

And that gets the water out of the clothes after they've been washed.

So anyhow,

Now you know Clothes Ringer is part of a very,

Very old-fashioned washing machine.

Uncle Wiggly and the Clothes Ringer One day,

Jackie and Petey Bow Wow,

The little puppy dog boys,

Came running over to Uncle Wiggly's hollow stump house.

It was after school,

From which they had just come,

And they rushed up to the front steps,

Barking like anything,

And calling out,

Where's Uncle Wiggly?

Where is he?

We want to see him in a hurry,

Barked Petey.

Yes,

Immediately,

Went on Jackie.

He had heard the teacher that day in school use the word immediately to tell a bad bumblebee to take his seat and stop trying to sting little Lulu Wibble Wobble.

Immediately means right off,

Quickly,

Without waiting,

You know.

Hoyty-toyty,

Cried Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy,

The muskrat housekeeper.

What is the trouble?

We must see Uncle Wiggly immediately,

Barked Petey again,

Trying to stand on one ear,

But he could not make it stiff enough,

So he fell down and bumped into Jackie,

And they both tumbled down the steps,

Making a great noise.

There,

There,

You must be more quiet,

Cautioned Nurse Jane.

Uncle Wiggly just came back from his auto ride for his health and is taking a nap.

You must not wake him up.

What do you want to see him about that is so important?

We'll wait until he wakes up,

Said Jackie as he sat down on the porch.

Who?

Who wants me?

Suddenly exclaimed a voice a little later,

And out came Uncle Wiggly himself.

We do,

Cried Jackie.

Oh,

Uncle Wiggly,

We're going to work,

Added Petey,

Unable to keep still any longer.

What?

You don't mean to say you're going to leave school and go to work,

Asked Uncle Wiggly.

No,

We're not going to leave school,

Exclaimed Petey.

We are going to work after school.

Petey is going to deliver newspapers,

And I'm going to get ten cents a week for it,

Said Jackie proudly,

But not too proud.

And I'm going to help at the clothes ringer for the circus elephant,

Exclaimed Petey.

Help at the ringer for the elephant?

Cried Uncle Wiggly.

What does that mean?

You startle and puzzle me?

Why?

You know,

The circus elephant has to dress up like a clown,

Went on Petey,

And he plays a drum and an organ,

And he fires out of a cannon into the sawdust ring,

And he does a lot of things like that.

After a while,

His white clown suit gets all dirty,

And he has to wash out his clothes.

Then he has to squeeze them in a ringer to get as much of the water out as he can.

Then he hangs them up to dry.

Well,

He can turn the ringer himself with his trunk,

But his paws are so big that he can't put the clothes through between the rubber rollers.

So he advertised for some little animal boy to help him after school.

I answered,

And I'm going to help him wash and dry his clothes.

How much are you going to get?

Asked Uncle Wiggly.

I get three puppy biscuits every day and a glass of pink lemonade,

And on Saturday afternoons,

I can go to the circus for nothing.

Fine,

Cried Uncle Wiggly.

I'm real glad you came to tell me you are good and smart little animal boys.

Then Petey and Jackie ran off to do the new work they had arranged for,

And Uncle Wiggly cleaned his auto ready for his ride the next day.

And when he had finished,

He thought he would take a walk down to the circus tent and see how Petey was helping the elephant wash his clothes.

As for Jackie,

He had to run so fast and here and there and everywhere to deliver his papers,

But Uncle Wiggly did not know where to find him.

Any more than Bo Peep did her sheep?

Well,

In a little while,

The rabbit gentleman came to where the elephant was washing his clothes.

Of course,

He had to have a very large tub and washboard and an extra large ringer for his clothes were very large.

He was a big elephant.

And there,

Up on a box in front of the tub that was filled with suds and water,

Stood Petey Bow Wow,

Splashing around and reaching down in for the wet clothes.

And as he fished them up and put the ends between the rubber rollers of the ringer,

The elephant would turn the handle of the squeegee machine with his trunk.

How's that?

Asked Petey.

Fine,

Cried the elephant,

Making his trunk go faster and faster and squirting the water out of the wet clothes all over the ground.

Yes.

Petey is a good little chap,

Said Uncle Wiggly.

Just then,

The elephant's brother came along and the two big animals began talking together.

And as they were both a little deaf,

Each one shouted to the other as loudly as he could.

Oh,

Such a racket they made.

Thunder was nothing to it.

And then a funny thing happened.

Petey turned around to put some more clothes in the tub,

When all of a sudden,

His tail got caught in between the ringer's rubber rollers.

Ouch,

Cried the little puppy dog.

Ouch,

Oh,

Dear me.

Stop,

Please,

Mr.

Elephant.

Don't turn the ringer anymore.

But the two elephants were talking together,

Each one as loudly as he could,

About how much hay they could eat and how some little boys at a circus would give them only one peanut instead of the whole bag full and all things like that.

So the clothes-washing elephant never noticed that Petey's tail was caught in the rollers and he didn't hear him cry.

Around and around,

The elephant turned the handle of the ringer with his trunk,

Winding Petey's tail and almost drawing the little puppy dog himself closer and closer to the tub,

Over the water and near the rollers themselves.

Okay,

You know,

Everything works out in the Uncle Wiggly story,

So don't be worried.

It'll be okay.

Oh,

Stop,

Stop,

Cried poor Petey,

Trying to get away,

But he could not.

If I could roll between the rollers,

I'll be as flat as a pancake,

He screamed.

Stop,

Uncle Wiggly,

Save me.

Yes,

I will,

Cried the rabid gentleman.

You must stop turning that ringer,

He said to the circus elephant.

You are ringing Petey instead of the clothes.

His tail is caught,

But the elephant was so deaf and his brother was calling to him so loudly about pink lemonade and he could not hear either Petey or Uncle Wiggly.

Then to make him listen,

Uncle Wiggly,

With his crutch,

Tickled the elephant's foot,

Which was as high as he could reach,

But the big creature thought it was a mosquito,

So paid no attention.

Oh,

What shall I do,

Cried Petey.

I'll save you,

Exclaimed Uncle Wiggly.

And then,

Happening to have a bag of peanuts in his pocket,

He held them close to the elephant's trunk.

The elephant could smell,

If he could not hear well,

And all at once he took the peanuts.

And as he did so,

Of course,

He moved his trunk from the ringer handle.

And as he ate the peanuts,

He saw what a terrible thing he was doing,

Ringing Petey instead of the clothes.

So,

He very kindly made the ringer go backwards.

And out came Petey's tail again,

A little flat,

But not much hurt otherwise.

I am so sorry,

Said the elephant.

I wouldn't have had it happen for the world.

Yes,

It was an accident,

Spoke Uncle Wiggly.

But I guess Petey had better find some other kind of work to do after school.

Oh,

All right,

Said the elephant.

I'll pay him off,

And then I'll get a rubbery snake to help me with my clothes.

A snake wouldn't mind being squeezed.

So he did that,

And Petey and Uncle Wiggly went home and nothing more happened that day.

Everything was wonderful.

And that's the end of our story for today.

The next time we have a story,

It's going to be the last one from this book,

Uncle Wiggly and the Trained Nerds.

It's a good one,

So I will be back soon with it.

And when we finish that one,

We'll start a new book.

And that's it for now,

So stay well.

Be good.

Take care.

And bye-bye.