"Get ready now, fellows.
Aim your guns right at that wolf, but don't shoot Jumpo! Ready! Aim!
Fire! Bangity-bang-bang! Boom! Bang!"

And it sounded like forty-'leven guns going off. My! How that parrot did
yell!

"Oh, don't shoot me! Don't shoot! I'll be good! Honest I will! I'll let
the monkey go! Hurry, monkey, run along and tell them that I let you
go!" begged the wolf, letting go of Jumpo. And you can believe that
Jumpo hurried away from that stump.

Then the green parrot hopped into sight on the limb of a tree and cried:

"Ha! ha!! That's the time I fooled you, Mr. Wolf. It was I talking, and
there aren't any fellows here with guns at all. But I made you let Jumpo
go. Ha! Ha!"

Then that wolf was so angry that he almost bit his own tail, but he
couldn't catch Jumpo, and the green parrot went home with the monkey boy
to see that no one hurt him. Then the parrot, after Jumpo and his
brother and mother had thanked him, flew back to his cage, and that's
the end of this story, if you please.

The next one will be about the Kinkytails and the trained bear--that is,
if our canary bird doesn't drop his seed dish in the sewing machine and
break a needle.

STORY VIII

THE KINKYTAILS AND THE BEAR

One day when the owl school teacher had heard the lessons of all her
animal boy and girl pupils, she said:

"You have been so good today that I am going to give you a little treat.
Now, I will let Susie Littletail decide on what would be the nicest to
do, have Uncle Wiggily Longears come over and tell you a story about his
travels, or go for a walk in the woods and see if the chestnuts are
ripe? Which shall it be, Susie?"

"If you please," said the little rabbit girl. "I think it would be nice
to go in the woods. Uncle Wiggily can tell us a story any time after
dark, but we can't see to gather chestnuts at night. Let's go to the
woods."

"Very well," said the teacher. "Put away your books, pencils and papers
and we will take a walk."

So, in a little while, all the animal children were following the owl
teacher out into the woods, where the leaves were beginning to turn
brown and yellow and crimson, all ready to fall off, so the trees could
go to sleep during the long, cold winter. Johnny Bushytail felt so good
that he sang this song:

"Oh, it's fine to be in the woody woods,
When you're done with school and books.
When the brown leaves rustle overhead,
And kiss the babbling brooks.