Lulu, Alice and Jimmie Wibblewobble

								


When the Wibblewobble family came back to their house after a swim around
the pond one bright sunny afternoon, and when the grass on the edges of
the water was as green as it could be, Mamma Wibblewobble looked at her
children, who were walking ahead of her. Jimmie and Lulu were throwing
stones along the path, but Alice, who was as ladylike a little duck as one
could wish, would not throw pebbles even, to say nothing of stones.
"I declare," exclaimed Mamma Wibblewobble, "those girls will have to have
new bonnets. I must see to it at once."
"Very well," answered Papa Wibblewobble, "I will get them when I come home
to-morrow. I met Mrs. Gooseyoosy this morning and she said they had a
special sale of hats at the store by the barnyard gate."
"A man duck cannot get bonnets for Alice and Lulu," declared Mrs.
Wibblewobble. "You would not know what to pick out! It is bad enough to
have you get Jimmie's hats and shoes, but you would never know how to buy
bonnets for the girls."
"Very well," answered Papa Wibblewobble, "then I will let you do the
buying. I think a green colored bonnet would be nice for Alice."
"Green! With her complexion!" cried his wife. "Never! It must be
blue--blue for Alice and a brown one for Lulu. Give me the money and I
will start out shopping to-morrow."
So Mamma Wibblewobble started out the next day, taking Alice and Lulu with
her, while Jimmie stayed home and played cross-tag with Bully, the frog,
and Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, who had a day's vacation.
They had lots of fun, and once Jimmie nearly fell down a great big--but
there, I started to tell you about Alice Wibblewobble's bonnet, and I must
not get off the track. That story about Jimmie will do for another time.
Well, you should have seen the numbers and numbers of duck-bonnets that
Mrs. Wibblewobble looked at before she was satisfied with two for the
girls. Not that Alice and Lulu were hard to please. Oh, my, no! But their
mamma wanted them to look just right, and you know it is quite difficult
to fit a bonnet on a duck and make it look like anything. The milliner
said so herself, and she ought to know. But at last the two duck girls
both had very fine bonnets indeed; as fine as mustard seeds, which are
very, very fine. Alice had a nice blue one, and Lulu a brown one.
Well, would you ever imagine it? Something is going to happen to Alice's
bonnet, and very soon, too. Just be patient and you shall hear.
"Now children," said Mrs. Wibblewobble, when they had reached the pen
where they lived, "you may go out and swim around a bit with your new
bonnets on until your papa comes home. I want him to see how well they fit
you, for I think I have very good taste when it comes to bonnets."
"Oh, I don't want to wear my new one," spoke Lulu. "I will put on my old
one and go and play with Jimmie and Bully, the frog."
So she did, but Alice, who was very fond of nice clothes, went for a swim
on the pond. At first she paddled around, gazing down in the water, which