se I know it will soon clear off, and
then, too, I can think about the days when the sun did shine," said the
cricket.

"Well," spoke Uncle Wiggily, "there is something in that, to be sure. And
as you are such a jolly chap, will you travel along with me? Perhaps with
you I could find my fortune."

"Of course I'll come," said the cricket, and he laughed again, and then he
and the old gentleman rabbit hopped on together and Uncle Wiggily kept
feeling more and more happy until he had forgotten all about the
chipmunk's penny that wasn't his.

Well, in a little while, not so very long, the rabbit and the cricket came
to a dark place in the woods. Oh! it was quite dismal, and, just as they
passed a big, black stump with a hole in it, all of a sudden out popped
the skillery-scalery-tailery alligator.

"Ah, ha!" exclaimed the unpleasant creature. "Now I have you both. I'm
going to eat you both, first you, Mr. Cricket, and then you, Uncle
Wiggily."

"Oh, please don't," begged the rabbit. "I haven't found my fortune yet."

"No matter," cried the alligator, "here we go!"

He made a grab for the cricket, but the little black insect hopped to one
side, and then, all of a sudden he began to laugh. Oh, how hard he
laughed.

"Ha! Ha! Ho! Ho! He! He!" My, it was wonderful! At first the alligator
didn't know what to make of it. Harder and harder did the black cricket
laugh, and then Uncle Wiggily began. He just couldn't help it. Harder and
harder laughed the cricket and Uncle Wiggily together, and then, all at
once, the alligator began to laugh. He couldn't help it either.

"Ha! Ha! Ho! Ho! He! He!" laughed the 'gator, and great big alligator
tears rolled down his scaly cheeks, he laughed so hard. Why, he giggled so
that he couldn't even have eaten a mosquito with mustard on.

"Come on, now!" suddenly cried the cricket to Uncle Wiggily. "Now is our
chance to get away."

And before the alligator had stopped laughing they both hopped away in the
woods together, and so the bad scalery-ailery-tailery creature didn't get
either of them.

"My! it's a good thing you made him laugh," said the rabbit when they were
safely away.

"It's a good thing to make anybody laugh," said the black cricket, and
then he and Uncle Wiggily went on to seek the old gentleman rabbit's
fortune.

And in the next story, in case the sunshine doesn't make my pussy cat
sneeze and spill his milk, on the new door mat, I'll tell you all about
Uncle Wiggil