susie littletail and jennie chipmunk were having a play party in the woods. they had their lunch in little birch-bark baskets, and they used a nice, big, flat stump for a table. they took an old napkin for a tablecloth, and they had pieces of carrots boiled in molasses and chocolate, and cabbage with pink frosting on, and nuts all covered with candy, and some sugared popcorn, and all nice things like that, to eat.

“oh, isn’t this lovely!” exclaimed susie. “please pass me the fried lolly-pops, jennie, aren’t they lovely?”

“yes, they’re perfectly grand!” spoke jennie as she passed over some bits of turnip, which they made believe were fried lolly-pops. “i’ll have some sour ginger snaps, susie.”

so susie passed the plate full of acorns, which were make-believe sour ginger snaps, you know, and the little animal girls were having a very fine time, indeed. oh, my, yes, and a bottle of horseradish also!

now, don’t worry, if you please. i know i did promise to tell about bawly and the soldier hat, and i’m going to do it. but susie’s and jennie’s play party has something to do with the hat, so i had to start off with them.

while they were playing in the woods, having a fine time, bawly no-tail, the frog boy, was at home in his house, making a big soldier hat out of paper. i suppose you children have often made them, and also have played at having a parade with wooden swords and guns. if you haven’t done so, please get your papa to make you a soldier hat.

well, finally bawly’s hat was finished, and he put a feather in it, just as yankee doodle did, only bawly didn’t look like macaroni.

“now, i’ll go out and see if i can find the boys and we’ll pretend there’s a war, and a battle, and shooting and all that,” went on the frog chap, who loved to do exciting things. so bawly hopped out, and grandpa croaker, who was asleep in the rocking chair didn’t hear him go. anyhow, i don’t believe the old gentleman frog would have cared, for bawly’s papa was at work in the wallpaper factory and his mamma had gone to the five and ten cent store to buy a new dishpan that didn’t have a hole in it. as for the other frog boy, bawly’s brother bully, he had gone after an ice cream cone, i think, or maybe a chocolate candy.

on bawly hopped, but he didn’t meet any of his friends. he had on his big, paper soldier hat, with the feather sticking out of the top, and bawly also had a wooden gun, painted black, to make it look real, and he had a sword made out of a stick, all silvered over with paint to make it look like steel.

oh, bawly was a very fine soldier boy! and as he marched along he whistled a little tune that went like this:

“soldier boy, soldier boy,

brave and true,

i’m sure every one is

frightened at you.

salute the flag and

fire the gun,

now wave your sword and

foes will run.

your feathered cap gives

lots of joy,

oh! you’re a darling

soldier boy!”

well, bawly felt finer than ever after that, and though he still didn’t meet any of his friends, with whom he might play, he was hoping he might see a savage fox or wolf, that he might do battle with the unpleasant creature. but perhaps you had better wait and see what happens.

all this while, as bawly was marching along through the woods with his soldier cap on, susie and jennie were playing party at the old stump. they had just eaten the last of the sweet-sour cookies, and drank the last thimbleful of the orange-lemonade when, all at once, what should happen but that a great big alligator crawled out of the bushes and made a jump for them! dear me! would you ever expect such a thing?

“oh, look at that!” cried susie as she saw the alligator.

“yes. let’s run home!” shouted jennie in fright.

but before either of them could stir a step the savage alligator, who had escaped from the circus again, grabbed them, one in each claw, and then, holding them so that they couldn’t get away, he sat up on the end of his big tail, and looked first at susie and then at jennie.

“oh, please let us go!” cried susie, with tears in her eyes.

“oh, yes, do; and i’ll give you this half of a cookie i have left,” spoke jennie kindly.

“i don’t want your cookie, i want you,” sang the alligator, as if he were reciting a song. “i’m going to eat you both!”

then he held them still tighter in his claws, and fairly glared at them from out of his big eyes.

“i’m going to eat you all up!” he growled, “but the trouble is i don’t know which one to eat first. i guess i’ll eat you,” and he made a motion toward susie. she screamed, and then the alligator changed his mind. “no, i guess i’ll eat you,” and he opened his mouth for jennie. then he changed his mind again, and he didn’t know what to do. but, of course, this made jennie and susie feel very nervous and also a big word called apprehensive, which is the same thing.

“oh, help! help! will no one help us?” cried susie at last.

“no, i guess no one will,” spoke the alligator, real mean and saucy like.

but he was mistaken. at that moment, hopping through the woods was bawly no-tail, wearing his paper soldier hat. he heard susie call, and up he marched, like the brave soldier frog boy that he was. through the holes in the bushes he could see the big alligator, and he saw susie and jennie held fast in his claws.

“oh, i can never fight that savage creature all alone,” thought bawly. “i must make him believe that a whole army of soldiers is coming at him.”

so bawly hid behind a tree, where the alligator couldn’t find him, and the frog boy beat on a hollow log with a stick as if it were a drum. then he blew out his cheeks, whistling, and made a noise like a fife. then he aimed his wooden gun and cried: “bang! bang! bung! bung!” just as if the wooden gun had powder in it. next bawly waved his cap with the feather in it, and the alligator heard all this, and he saw the waving soldier cap, and he, surely enough, thought a whole big army was coming after him.

“i forgot something,” the alligator suddenly cried, as he let go of susie and jennie. “i have to go to the dentist’s to get a tooth filled,” and away that alligator scrambled through the woods as fast as he could go, taking his tail with him. so that’s how bawly saved susie and jennie, and very thankful they were to him, and if they had had any cookies left they would have given him two or sixteen, i guess.

now if our gas stove doesn’t go out and dance in the middle of the back yard and scare the cook, so she can’t bake a rice-pudding pie-cake, i’ll tell you next about grandpa croaker and the umbrella.