He had traveled about seeking his fortune, he had even gone sailing in
his airship, and once he met Mother Goose and all her friends from Old
King Cole down to Little Jack Horner.

Uncle Wiggily had many friends among the animal boys and girls. There
was Sammie and Susie Littletail, the rabbits, who have a book all to
themselves; just as have Jackie and Peetie Bow Wow, the puppy dog boys,
and Jollie and Jillie Longtail, the mice children.

"And I s'pose we'll meet all your friends in the woods, won't we, Uncle
Wiggily?" asked Nurse Jane, as they moved from the old hollow stump
bungalow to the new one.

"Oh, yes, I s'pose so, of course," he laughed in answer, as he pulled
his tall silk hat more tightly down on his head, fastened on his
glasses and took his red, white and blue striped barber pole rheumatism
crutch that Nurse Jane had gnawed for him out of a cornstalk.

So, once upon a time, not very many years ago, as all good stories
should begin, Uncle Wiggily and Nurse Jane found themselves in the
woods. It was lovely among the trees, and as soon as the rabbit
gentleman had helped Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy put the hollow stump bungalow to
rights he started out for a walk.

"I want to see what sort of adventures I shall have in the woods," said
Mr. Longears as he hopped along.

Now in these woods lived, among many other creatures good and bad, two
skillery-scalery alligators who were not exactly friends of the bunny
uncle. But don't let that worry you, for though the alligators, and
other unpleasant animals, may, once in a while, make trouble for Uncle
Wiggily, I'll never really let them hurt him. I'll fix that part all
right!

So, one day, the skillery-scalery alligator with the humps on his tail,
and his brother, another skillery-scalery chap, whose tail was double
jointed, were taking a walk through the woods together just as Uncle
Wiggily was doing.

"Brother," began the hump-tailed 'gator (which I call him for short),
"brother, wouldn't you like a nice rabbit?"

"Indeed I would," answered the double-jointed tail 'gator, who could
wobble his flippers both ways. "And I know of no nicer rabbit than
Uncle Wiggily Longears."

"The very same one about whom I was thinking!" exclaimed the other
alligator. "Let's catch him!"

"That's what we'll do!" said the double-jointed chap. "We'll hide in
the woods until he comes along, as he does every day, and the we'll
jump out and grab him. Oh, you yum-yum!"

"Fine!