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Half A Loaf – April 6th, 1947

The Teenie Weenies were terribly disappointed and the Lady of Fashion was on the verge of tears. It was plain to all the little people that there would be no Easter party this year. Hens' eggs were very high priced and the hens were so independent they were positively nasty. They cackled right in the General's face when he offered 70 grains of corn, 8 grasshoppers (the grasshoppers to be paid in season) and 18 grains of wheat for one egg. That was all the Teenie Weenies could afford to pay, and since no hen in the neighborhood of the Teenie Weenie village would lay an egg for that price, the little folk had to give up the idea of an Easter party. The yearly Teenie Weenie Easter party was one of the big events of the whole neighborhood near the village. The little people always bought a hen's egg, boiled it whole and invited all their small animal and bird friends to help eat it. The Teenie Weenie Cook announced that he had a little dried egg left, but Easter wouldn't be Easter without a fresh egg for the feast.

The Chinaman decided he might be able to do something about getting an egg. The little chap speaks a number of fowl languages and he pleaded with the hens to sell the Teenie Weenies an egg at a reasonable price, but the haughty creatures merely shrugged their wings and walked away. The Chinaman even asked a duck who had always been friendly, but the duck was in the midst of a bilious attack and couldn't think of laying an egg. Finally, the Chinaman decided to ask the birds for an egg.

"Half a loaf is better than none," he argued to himself. "We can't have a party but a bird's egg will be enough for the Teenie Weenies."

The Chinaman speaks robinese perfectly, and he argued a robin into laying an egg for two fine fat worms. All the little folk were overjoyed with the bargain and they brought out their tiny picks and shovels and went to work digging for worms. They chose a spot back of the Teenie Weenie workshop and after considerable digging they exposed a worm. The robin caught the worm in its beak and slowly and skillfully pulled it out of the ground, thereby saving the Teenie Weenies considerable digging. It didn't take long to unearth another worm and then the robin promptly retired behind the town hall and laid an egg.

The Cook carried if to the Teenie Weenie kitchen and on Easter it was cooked and served to the little people, who all say that robin eggs are almost as good as chicken eggs.

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A Drop Or Two – April 13th, 1947

The Teenie Weenies use mighty little machine oil. A quarter of a thimbleful will last the little people nearly the whole year. The Old Soldier with a wooden leg is very particular about having all Teenie Weenie tools coated with oil when they are not in use so they will not rust, and a drop now and then is used for Teenie Weenie drills and for sharpening fine edged Teenie Weenie tools.

The Teenie Weenie cart has to be oiled quite often and that takes considerable oil, for the lead pencil, which is the cart axle, needs greasing to keep the wooden wheels from squeaking. The cart is hard to pull when the axle needs oil and the mice who are used to pull the cart complain bitterly when that happens. The cart began to squeak lately and the mice positively refused to pull it until it was oiled, but the Teenie Weenies hadn't a drop of oil in the village.

Some of the men went to the lane that passes near the village hoping to find a few drops of oil that had dropped from some parked auto, but the lane is not paved and what little oil had dripped from the cars had soaked into the ground.

One morning the Turk announced that he was going over to Uncle Jimmy's shop and search for some oil there. Uncle Jimmy's shop stands on the lane not far from the Teenie Weenie village and, as it was a nice day, most of the little folks agreed to go along for the walk. When they arrived at the shop they found that Uncle Jimmy had gone away and they quickly crawled through the crack under the door.

The only oil they found was in a big oil can which was much too heavy for the little folks to handle.

"If we had a ladder we could get oil out of the can with a broom straw," suggested the Turk. "From the top of the ladder we could push the straw down into the oil and then pull it out and scrape off the oil that stuck to it into the bucket."

The Cowboy and the Turk ran back to the village for the longest Teenie Weenie ladder while several other Teenie Weenies pulled a long straw from Uncle Jimmy's broom. The Sailor tied a bit of thread around the bottom of the straw so the oil would not all drip off when it was pulled out of the can. When the ladder arrived the Cook climbed up and soon began drawing the oil out of the can. He had to push the straw down into the can a great many times in order to get enough oil to fill the cherry seed bucket they had brought along.

It was a lot of work for so little oil, but all the Teenie Weenies had a pleasant time.

---

Spring Cleaning – April 20th, 1947

It is so small that one would think
It could be cleaned in just a wink!
But there’s a lot of work to do
When cleaning house within a shoe.
From the book of Whimsey Whims

The dreadful day was drawing near. The Teenie Weenie men watched the Lady of Fashion for signs of the annual Teenie Weenie house cleaning. They all hated the confusion that followed in the wake of soap suds and Teenie Weenie women.

They knew the worst when the women collected a thimbleful of soap and cut many pieces from a man's old handkerchief into cleaning cloths about the size of postage stamps. The old shoe in which the little people live was kept spotlessly clean at all times and the Teenie Weenie men couldn't understand the necessity of an annual Spring cleaning.

"It's just one of those funny things about women," the Turk remarked.

"We will be eating our meals on the back porch for two days," complained the Policeman, who is mighty fond of his regular meals. "There's absolutely no need of all this extra cleaning."

"Yes, the house is always clean and I suppose it really doesn't need the extra cleaning," answered the General, "but it gives the women a lot of pleasure, and so I suppose we must put up with it."

"I don't get any pleasure out of beatin' rugs," growled the Dunce, who took out his dislike of the task by generally giving the rugs a beating that easily earned him the title of Teenie Weenie rug-beating champion.

When the women really started cleaning house they kept the men so busy they hadn't even time to growl. Every last Teenie Weenie man was put to work. Even the Policeman had to help and the General took down pictures and helped carry out the heavy pieces of Teenie Weenie furniture. Curtains came down, rugs were hung out for beating, and every mattress and pillow was put out to lie in the sunshine. Skippy, the chipmunk, was hitched to the Teenie Weenie cart and nearly a teacup of water had to be hauled from the creek, for it takes a lot of water to clean a shoehouse. All the walls, the ceiling and floors were thoroughly scrubbed and considerable washing was done outside, too.

"Now," said the Lady of Fashion, as she sank into a Teenie Weenie chair after everything had been cleaned and put back in place, "isn't it lovely to be nice and clean?"

"Yes," answered the Policeman solemnly. "It will be lovely until it has to be done all over again next year."

---

Busy Days – April 27th, 1947

One thing after another has kept the Teenie Weenies so busy the little people have hardly had time to eat or sleep lately. Right after house cleaning the Teenie Weenies' garden had to be put in shape for planting. A couple of mice pulled the tiny plow, but a good deal of spading and raking had to be done by hand, and that kept the little men hard at work. Right on top of all that the village ran out of candles.

The Teenie Weenies do not have electric lights. They do have a few cherry seed oil-burning lamps, but oil is hard to get and so the village depends mostly on candles for its light. Their tiny candles are made from old pieces of large candles the big folks have thrown away.

These stubs are cut up into small pieces, melted in a big pot which was formerly the metal top of a catsup bottle, and then poured into Teenie Weenie molds. The molds are made out of hollow reeds which the Old Soldier with a wooden leg has cleverly set into a handy frame. A bit of thin string, or wick, is fixed through the center of each reed, melted candle is then poured into each reed and when the hot wax has cooled Teenie Weenie candles come out of the molds.

The little folks had several stubs of big candles on hand and some of the men began making Teenie Weenie candles. They dragged the big stub to a spot back of the Teenie Weenie kitchen, built a fire under the candle pot and melted the pieces the Cowboy cut off with a Teenie Weenie ax. The Old Soldier watched the pot while the Sailor filled the molds. Gogo held the stub steady while the Cowboy hacked off pieces which the Dunce gathered up and put into the pot for melting.

All the little men enjoyed the work but the Dunce, who had his foolish mind set on going fishing. There may have been another reason, too. That was an attack of Spring fever, which at this season seems to affect a good many people, including Teenie Weenies.

"All right," said the General. "If you won't help you'll have to go to bed in the dark. No work, no candles for you."

That set the Dunce to work, for, big as he is, he for some strange reason dislikes to go to bed in the dark.

The little men filled the mold six times and that made 84 Teenie Weenie candles. That will supply the Teenie Weenies with light for some time and the Dunce won't have to go to bed in the dark.

---

Paying A Debt – March 2nd, 1947

A certain man who lives in one of the big houses near the Teenie Weenie village has been puzzled lately by happenings around his home. First, he noticed that a piece had been sawed from a cake of soap in his bathroom. There were saw marks on the soap and there was a tiny heap of soap dust where the piece had been sawed off. The man thought that mighty peculiar, but what happened to his shoes was even more puzzling.

One morning the man carried a pair of shoes out onto the back porch, expecting to polish them. When he came home from work that night he found his shoes beautifully polished. He noticed that small spots of the polish on the porch floor had the appearance of very small footprints. He picked up one of the shoes and examined it carefully. He noticed what appeared to be tiny fingerprints. "Of course," he said to himself, "they are too small for fingerprints. No one has hands that small." However, they were finger marks - Teenie Weenie finger marks - and this is how they happened to be there on the man's shoes.

Some time ago the Teenie Weenies were entirely out of soap and so they went to the man's house while he was away and cut off a small piece with their tiny crosscut saw. The Teenie Weenies only wanted to borrow the bit of soap, but they couldn't get soap to repay the man. Then they decided to even up the matter in some other way. The little people kept a close watch on the place for a chance to repay their debt and finally the Sailor, who was watching the house from behind a bush near by, saw the man leave his shoes and polish on the porch. When he went off to work the Sailor reported the matter to the Teenie Weenies, who decided they could pay for the borrowed soap by polishing the shoes.

The little folk carried Teenie Weenie ladders, brooms and a mop to the porch. They swept off the dust from the shoes with the Teenie Weenie brooms and the mop was used for a swab to rub on the polish. The Dunce insisted on dabbing on the polish and he got almost as much of the blacking on himself as he did on the shoes. The other Teenie Weenies rubbed the shoes with tiny rags and after several hours of hard work they had polished the shoes until they shone like mirrors. Of course the little people had very dirty hands when they were through with the work and the Dunce had to have a regular bath, but two thimbles of hot water and a piece of soap not much bigger than a large grain of coffee made the entire tribe fresh and clean.

---

Ginky's Mistake – March 9th, 1947

The supper dishes had been washed and put away. The Teenie Weenie Cook dropped a soap flake into an acorn shell dish, filled it with hot water from the cook stove tank and took down several soiled Teenie Weenie dish towels from the rack against the kitchen wall.

"I have to wash out these towels," the Cook told Gogo, who was warming his hands at the stove, "and I wonder if you'll help me out by going to the smokehouse and fetching in a half ham that's hanging near the door. We haven't a bit of meat in the house for breakfast."

"Suah," answered Gogo, "Ah'll get de ham." He reached for a Teenie Weenie lantern that stood behind the kitchen door, for it was dark outside. He took off the chimney, filled the cherry seed bowl with a drop of oil and lit the wick at the stove.

The Cook took the tiny smokehouse key out of a cherry seed vase on the wall shelf and handed it to Gogo, who went out humming a Teenie Weenie song. When he reached the smokehouse, made from a tomato can, Gogo unlocked the tiny padlock, stepped into the can and removed the half ham from the smoke rack. Just as he took it down, he heard a noise outside.

"Who dat?" he said, peering through the door. There was no answer and no one was in sight. He stepped out of the can, set the lantern and the ham on the ground and was about to close the door when he heard soft footsteps. He swung around just in time to see Ginky snatch up the ham. Gogo made a flying tackle and caught the mouse as he started off.

Now Ginky is a very daring mouse but he would never try any of his tricks when a number of Teenie Weenies were together. Seeing Gogo alone, he thought he could steal the ham but he soon discovered he had made a very grave mistake, for Gogo is mighty strong and as bold as a weasel. In no time the mouse was flat on the ground, with Gogo sitting on his neck. The Teenie Weenie grabbed the mouse's long whiskers and gave them a mighty twist, which made Ginky squeal at the top of his mouse voice.

"Dat's right," grinned Gogo. "Ah don't want to waste mah voice callin' de police. A little louder next time."

He gave the whiskers another twist and Ginky let out a wild squeal that brought the Policeman and the Dunce running to the spot. Gogo explained what had happened and with Gogo and the Policeman grasping the mouse's whiskers and the Dunce holding onto Ginky's tail, they marched him off to the pint fruit jar which served the Teenie Weenies for a jail.

---

Tale Of A Tail – March 16th, 1947

Ginky was never happier than when he had been locked up in the Teenie Weenie jail. There the lazy mouse could sleep day and night, and as long as he was locked up, the Teenie Weenies had to feed him. He had been handled rather roughly when he tried to steal a frog ham out of the Teenie Weenie smokehouse. Gogo, who had caught the thieving mouse, had given him a sound thrashing. When Ginky had awakened the next morning in the fruit jar which the Teenie Weenies use for a jail, he complained of pains in his tail.

The Teenie Weenie Doctor visited the jail with his tiny medicine case and he found, on examination, that the mouse had several fractured bones in his tail. The Doctor set the bones and encased the injured tail in a cast.

"He'll have to be quiet for a couple of weeks," the Doctor said, "and he must be given better food than the regular prison ration, too."

That suited Ginky because, being fond of good food, he didn't like the regular Teenie Weenie daily prison ration of two grains of dried corn. Even though Ginky had been extremely troublesome to the Teenie Weenies, the little folk felt sorry for the injured mouse and they supplied him with a nice soft bed and three full meals every day. The Teenie Weenie Cook baked lima beans for Ginky, gave him baked raisins stuffed with butternut meats and often sent an acorn shell basket of fried doughnuts over to the jail.

Ginky was delighted with his prison life and he confided to the Policeman that he would recommend the Teenie Weenie jail to all his mouse friends. However, even with all the good food, and in spite of the easy life he was living, Ginky grew restless and asked to be let out of jail. The Doctor agreed that a little exercise might be helpful, so the mouse was let out for walks occasionally.

Walking around wasn't as pleasant as Ginky had expected, for it was rather difficult to get about with the heavy cast on his tail dragging along behind him. Finally, Gogo had a bright idea. By sawing off pieces from a lead pencil, punching out the lead and using the pieces of pencil for wheels, he built a little trailer for Ginky's tail. The cast was lashed to the trailer and Ginky was able to walk with ease.

Ginky was soon well enough to be sent away, but the mouse was quite contented with his easy life. Not until the little people threatened to call in Tompkins, the cat, were they able to rid themselves of Ginky.

---

A Gold Clock – March 23rd, 1947

Quite a while ago the Teenie Weenies found a small gold wrist watch in the lane that runs near the Teenie Weenie village. They tried to find the owner, but even with the help of Tilly Titter the English sparrow, the respectable mice and Skippy, the chipmunk, they never could find who owned the watch. The Teenie Weenies kept the watch in their workshop and there it lay waiting for its owner to claim it.

The Teenie Weenies have little use for clocks. In fact, they do not have clocks and watches, for they are able to tell the time of day or night by the sun and various other signs. The Teenie Weenie Cook says he doesn't need a clock to tell him when to cook the Teenie Weenie meals because the Dunce's appetite is as good as any clock made. However, some of the little people thought it would be nice to use the watch for a clock in the Teenie Weenie shoe house.

"A clock will just make a lot more work," argued the Old Soldier with a wooden leg. "We'll have to wind it every night."

"But if will be so nice to hear it tick," put in The Lady of Fashion. "A clock has such a cozy sound."

"Yeah," said the Old Soldier. "You'll soon get tired of the ticking. If will make such a noise no one will be able to sleep at night and everybody will be grumpy all the time."

"Well, can't we try it?" pleaded the Lady of Fashion. "I think it would be real fashionable to have a gold clock hung over the fireplace in the living room."

"Okay," answered the Old Soldier. "I'll put it up and we can give it a trial.

The Old Soldier made some special hooks to hold the watch in place on the Teenie Weenie mantel. When the hooks were ready the Cook and the Sailor carried the watch into the shoe house and it was bolted in place over the mantel just as the Lady of Fashion wanted it.

The ticking watch did make a lot of noise. It could be heard way out in the kitchen and some of the little folk had to cover up their tiny heads with their bedclothes so the ticking wouldn't keep them awake. The men soon grew tired of winding the watch, for it had to be taken down each night and wound with a Teenie Weenie stillson wrench. After a week of the watch, the Teenie Weenies decided they could get along without it and it was carried back to the workshop, where it still lies near a scrap pile of bobby pins, paper clips and broken darning needles.

---

 

Mousemanship – March 30th, 1947

There had been considerable discussion about mouseback riding among several of the Teenie Weenies. The Dunce was mainly responsible for most of the talk, for he had unexpectedly found a piece of cheese and cheese can easily be converted into mouseback rides. The Dunce had been spending his cheese on mouseback riding and he now considered himself a champion mouseback rider. He boasted a great deal and that brought on long and heated arguments among various Teenie Weenies. The Teenie Weenie Cowboy is a fine mouseman, but he never entered into the arguments, although the Dunce said some rather slighting things about his riding. The Dunce boasted so much the Cowboy finally agreed to a mouseback race. Two very fast mice, who lived in the cellar of one of the big houses near the Teenie Weenie village, were chosen for mounts by the two little mousemen and arrangements were made for the race.

The race was to be held in the cellar where the mice lived. One morning the Dunce and the Cowboy, carrying their tiny mouse saddles and followed by a number of the Teenie Weenies, went to the cellar to hold the race. On his stout little shoulders, the Turk carried a huge piece of cheese nearly as big as an acorn. This was to be given as the prize to the mouse that won the race.

A course was laid out around the cellar and over an old scrubbing brush that lay on the floor near some bottles. The mice seemed satisfied after sniffing the cheese and they allowed the Dunce and the Cowboy to put on the saddles and bridles. The riders were to race three times around the course and the first mouse to jump the scrubbing brush for the third time was to be the winner. Each mouse was confident that he would win the cheese.

When the riders were ready the Cook gave a signal and the mice leaped off around the course. The first two times around, the mice leaped the scrubbing brush almost together, but on the last jump the Dunce's mouse cleared the brush first by half a tail's length and he was declared the winner.

The Dunce boasted constantly after the race, but all that stopped in a few days when a mouse he was riding ran away with him. The Dunce was thrown off the mouse's back and considerably banged up. He has been rather meek since then and now there is no more boasting about mousemanship, because the Cowboy is too modest to go around telling everybody that he is the champion rider in the Teenie Weenie village.

---

A Crime Wave – February 2nd, 1947

After Ginky's eviction from the grocery cellar where he had been living in luxury he became terribly embittered. He joined two unscrupulous mice and began a "tricks or treat" racket among the mice of the neighborhood. The three rascals would go to a respectable mouse's home end threaten to do it damage unless they were fed. They spread terror among the respectable mice and a number of the best mouse families moved out of the district.

The Teenie Weenies had seen very little of the racketeers, for Ginky knew the little people would not stand for his bad ways. But being puffed up over his success in frightening the timid mice, he boldly began annoying the Teenie Weenies. The bandits always came around at night when the Teenie Weenies were in bed and they did nothing more than steal the garbage from the garbage thimble on the back porch of the shoe house. The little folk's didn't mind that because it saved them the trouble of burying it. Then one night Ginky and his gang brazenly broke into the Teenie Weenie town hall, and the little folk put a stop to their wickedness.

While the Policeman was making his last rounds of the Teenie Weenie village before bedtime he noticed several mouse tracks in the snow. They led to the old felt hat which the little people used for a town hall. The place was dark, but he saw that one of the windows had been broken out and the hole had been stuffed with a Teenie Weenie rug. He could plainly hear mouse snores and he went to the shoe house for help. Followed by a number of Teenie Weenies, the Policeman returned to the hall and quietly unlocked the tiny door. By the light of a Teenie Weenie lantern, they saw Ginky and his two friends asleep on the floor.

"Grab 'em!" shouted the Policeman.

Before the mice could rub their sleepy eyes, the Teenie Weenies were upon them. Ginky made a dash for the door, but the Dunce tackled him. In the fight that followed, the roof over the doorway was knocked off, the Dunce got a black eye and lost an arm of his sweater. The Dunce and the Policeman finally subdued Ginky. One mouse escaped after a good whack from a broom in the hands of the Turk. The other mouse tried to escape through a window but Gogo hung onto his tail and he was captured, too.

The two mice were locked up in the pint fruit jar which serves the Teenie Weenies for a jail, and now there is some law and order in the neighborhood of the Teenie Weenie village.

---

The Morning Newspaper – February 9th, 1947

After being arrested for breaking into the Teenie Weenie town hall Ginky and his light pawed friend were locked up in the pint glass fruit jar which the little folks use for a jail. It wasn't very pleasant there for the greedy mice received only two grains of corn a day and after a few days of being shut up they finally became very humble. They offered to lead upright lives if the Teenie Weenies would set them free and they crossed their mousy hearts to prove their good intentions. Finally the Teenie Weenies set the mice free but in no time the rascals were up to their old tricks as the Teenie Weenies learned from Tilly Titter their morning newspaper.

The English sparrow flies all about the neighborhood of the Teenie Weenie village and nothing misses her bright little eyes. Almost every morning she brings the gossip of the neighborhood to the little folks and that is most welcome for Teenie Weenies do not get about often during the cold weather when deep snow covers the ground.

One morning the Teenie Weenie Cook put on three dried peas to boil while he waited for the two pans of Teenie Weenie bread to bake in the tiny stove oven. The Lady of Fashion began washing up the hazel nut mixing bowl and the Policeman, who had smelled the baking bread, strolled into the kitchen just as some one began tapping on the window.

"That's probably Tilly," said the Cook, "open the window."

The Policeman opened one of the tiny windows and Tilly Titter popped her head through the opening. The sparrow giggled and twittered so much the Teenie Weenies could hardly understand her chirping but finally they made out that Ginky had gotten into trouble again.

"'E was mussin' around in one of the big 'ouses and 'e fell into a jar of molasses," she said. "'E's all stuck up and can't get the bloomin' stuff off 'is fur. 'E's licked himself off as far as 'e can reach 'imself but there's a lot of 'imself 'e can't reach and 'e's been rollin' in the snow tryin' to get that off."

The Cook took a pan of bread from the oven and dumped the loaves out onto the kitchen table. "Serves him right," grinned the Cook. "Ginky and his pals are lazy thieving mice."

"It's too bad it isn't summer time," giggled Tilly.

"How's that?" asked the Policeman.

"If Ginky 'ad all that molasses on 'imself in the summer time the bees would be after 'im aplenty," answered Tilly.

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A Woman's Way – February 16th, 1947

The little heating stove which the Teenie Weenie men had made for the Lady of Fashion's bedroom burned merrily during the winter. It did burn up a great deal of firewood but the Teenie Weenies never suspected that the tiny stove was causing the Lady of Fashion a lot of trouble. She did mention the matter in an offhand way but even Teenie Weenie men are as slow as big men to catch onto a woman's hint.

The two thimbles made an excellent stove but it had to be constantly stuffed with firewood. Match sticks cut into convenient lengths were generally used and match stick firewood doesn't last long even in a thimble stove. The Lady of Fashion mentioned coal as a fine fuel. She mentioned it often as the days passed but none of the little men seemed to show any interest in the subject. The little lady often put on her tiny caterpillar fur coat and took long walks. After one of these walks she reported that she had found a perfectly lovely lump of coal and she mentioned the lump of coal so often it finally occurred to the Cowboy that there was something behind her remarks. What do you want coal for?" he bluntly asked.

"I dearly love my little stove," answered the Lady of Fashion, "but it takes most of my time to keep the fire going with wood. I believe coal would burn longer and wouldn't have to be replaced so often."

"We'll get the coal for you," answered the Cowboy, "but why didn't you say you wanted coal?"

"I've been trying to do that for a long time," answered the Lady of Fashion modestly.

The Cowboy only grunted but he set off the next morning with several Teenie Weenies to fetch the coal the Lady of Fashion had found. There wasn't enough snow on the ground to use a sled and so the Cowboy hired Skippy the chipmunk to pull the Teenie Weenie cart. The lump of coal was about as large as a small orange and it took a lot of work to load it onto the cart. On the way home the Dunce insisted on riding and just as the cart passed under a bush a dog barked in the distance.

Now chipmunks are very nervous. At the first bark Skippy stood up on his hind feet and stared in the direction of the bark. That tipped the cart backward and the coal rolled off, breaking the end gate and tumbling the Dunce into the snow. After more hard work the men rolled the coal back onto the cart and hauled it to the shoe house where it was broken up into pieces suitable for a thimble stove. Now the Lady of Fashion is quite happy.

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No Soap – February 23rd, 1947

There hadn't been a single soap flake in the Teenie Weenie village for weeks. The Chinaman had washed the clothes the best he could, but the tiny garments soon began to have a gray look because it is impossible to make clothes white and clean without soap. The little folk had hunted everywhere for the bits of soap that big people usually throw away, but the big people were short of soap, too. The Teenie Weenies could have made soap if they had had grease, but grease was just as hard to find because soap is made from grease.

The Dunce didn't mind the lack of soap. He would rather have dirty hands and face than to go to the trouble of washing, but the rest of the little people, who really like to be clean, minded it a lot. Finally, the General called a meeting in the town hall to discuss the matter.

The Turk reported that he had seen a large piece of soap in a wash bowl in one of the big houses near the Teenie Weenie village and he suggested that they borrow some. The General spoke against that because he had always warned against taking things from big people's houses.

"All we need is a piece about the size of a pecan," argued the Turk. "The big people won't miss that and it will keep us clean for a long time."

After a great deal of talk, the Teenie Weenies agreed that if would be all right to borrow a small piece of the soap, which they would repay in the future. Several of the little men went to the house when the big folk were away. They climbed up a bath towel to the wash bowl and began sawing off a small piece of soap with their Teenie Weenie crosscut saw. When they had cut through the soap as far as they could with the saw, they tried to pry off the piece with a Teenie Weenie ax. Just as they broke off the piece, the cake of soap skidded off into the bowl, which was nearly full of water.

"We'll have to get that soap out of the water," said the Old Soldier. "If we leave it there it will soak up in the water and be lost."

It was decided that the best way to save the soap would be to remove the stopper and let the water run out of the bowl. The men tried to pull up the stopper by the chain that was fastened to it, but they couldn't move it. It was necessary to fetch a Teenie Weenie block and tackle, and even then it took all their Teenie Weenie strength to pull it free. It took an awful lot of work to get that tiny piece of soap, but little people have to work just as hard for little things as big people have to work for big things.

Marmalade – January 5th, 1947

One afternoon the Cook put a dried raisin on to boil. He brought out his tiny rolling pin, a cherry seed of shortening and his pastry board. He put them on the kitchen table and called up the stairs to the Lady of Fashion.

"All ready for you to make those raisin pies," the Cook shouted.

The little lady had just stepped into the kitchen when a great commotion took place outside the kitchen door. The Cook opened the door and there was an orange surrounded by excited Teenie Weenies.

"Look!" puffed the Dunce, his breath rolling out in clouds on the frosty air. "We found an orange back of the grocery and we've got to get it into the house before it freezes."

"You'll never get that orange through the doorway," said the Cook.

"Get an ax," shouted the excited Dunce, "and I'll cut the doorway bigger."

"Wouldn't it be less trouble to cut the orange in two?" asked the Cook. "Anyhow, half the orange will about fill the kitchen and it will make enough marmalade to fill every thimble and hazelnut container we have on the place."

The weather was very cold outside and in order to keep the orange from freezing, the little men worked like beavers cutting the orange in two with a Teenie Weenie crosscut saw. When it was cut the men had a hard time forcing it through the kitchen doorway. The Cook and the Lady of Fashion pushed the kitchen table against the wall to make a place for the orange.

"Boy!" exclaimed the Cowboy. "That sure will make a lot of marmalade.

"Well, we'd better forget the raisin pies and get busy cutting up this orange," the Cook told the Lady of Fashion. "We'll have to get this orange disposed of before we can have supper."

"The Cook, the Lady of Fashion and several other Teenie Weenies set to work with Teenie Weenie hatchets, axes and knives, and when they had finished cutting up the orange, every single kettle and thimble - even the last acorn shell basket - had been filled to the top.

Of course there was juice and melted snow all over the place, and the kitchen had to be mopped before supper could be cooked. The Teenie Weenies had a very late supper that night and there was no raisin pie. But during the next few days everything that could be filled was brimming with marmalade which will make the little people happy for many days to come.

A Champion – January 12th, 1947

Most of the Teenie Weenies believed that Gogo was the champion Teenie Weenie roller skater, but a few of the little people thought the Dunce was just as good. The Dunce loudly agreed with those few and he did considerable boasting about his skating.

"You can't prove your skating ability by talkin'," said the Turk after listening to the Dunce's appreciation of his own skating. "If you want to decide who is the champion skater you'll have to hold a race."

The idea of a roller skating race appealed to the little folk and they set about making arrangements. They dragged a big cardboard box cover under some bushes for a rink and Gogo and the Dunce went into training. They skated every spare minute in order to get themselves in condition for the contest. The Dunce announced that he was going on a strict diet in order to be fit for the race. He didn't eat a single doughnut in over a week, which was a great surprise to the Teenie Weenies because the Dunce almost never denies himself anything in the way of good food.

A day was set for the race, but before it could be held a great storm covered the rink with snow. It was then decided to hold the race in one of the big houses whose owners were usually away during the day. One morning the Teenie Weenies went to a house on the lane, but they found the floor was too rough for Teenie Weenie roller skating. Then they climbed up onto a dining table that stood in the room. There were a number of dishes on the table, including a big plate which the Teenie Weenies decided would make a fine track for the race.

While the Dunce and Gogo put on their tiny skates, the Sailor scraped up some dried egg yolk from the plate and made a mark on the rim. "Now you fellows get ready," said the Sailor. "The first man to cross this egg mark after skating around the rim of the plate 10 times will be the champion."

After several false starts, the race finally got under way. The little skaters fairly flew around the plate, and each time one of them passed the egg mark, the Sailor, who was sitting in the center of the plate, made a mark on a tiny piece of paper.

It was a mighty close race for a few rounds but finally Gogo pulled ahead and won by half a plate. To everyone's surprise, the Dunce seemed happy.

"Oh, boy! I'm glad this race is over," he grinned. "Now I'm through dieting and I'm gonna fill up on doughnuts." He hurried home and ate every last crumb in the doughnut thimble.

Mouse Prosperity – January 19th, 1947

One morning several of the Teenie Weenies were returning from their marketing back of the grocery store. They had found two dried prunes and a perfectly good string bean, so they were happy as they trudged through the deep snow. Just as they entered a bit of thick brush they met Ginky, whom they hadn't seen for many weeks. The mouse would have passed them by, but the General bowed and wished him good morning.

Ginky stopped and leaned against a bush and gave the Teenie Weenies a cold nod. "Collecting garbage, I see," he remarked.

"We are getting what has been thrown out of the grocery," answered the General. "We get it honestly no matter whether you call it garbage or not."

''Well, I'm sorry for folks who have to eat garbage," sneered Ginky, quite forgetting that he had often eaten out of the Teenie Weenies' garbage thimble. "I prefer better food."

"You seem to be living well these days." sad the General, glancing at the mouse's sleek hair, rounded tummy, and well-groomed whiskers. "You must have struck it rich."

"Yes, I'm rich," answered Ginky. "I'm living in the grocery basement. Everything I want right at hand and no cat on the place. Wealth is rather troublesome, though, for one has it be constantly on guard to protect one's property. I must be always on the watch for thieving mice. I'm living right beneath a huge cheese. York State cheese, and my favorite brand."

"I thought you didn't believe in property rights," smiled the General. "Have you changed your mind?"

"I don't believe in other folks' property rights - if that's what you mean," answered Ginky.

"Well, Ginky," warned the General, "I'm afraid your prosperity won't last long. Your sin will be found out in time."

"That's what you think," Ginky retorted. "I'm too smart to gnaw into a cheese where it can be seen by the grocer. I work from beneath. That's why I fight off other mice and keep this cheese for myself. They would be stupid enough to eat right off the top and that's a dead give-away."

Throwing the Teenie Weenies a superior glance, the mouse hurried away toward the grocery and his wealth. It wasn't long, though, until the Teenie Weenies heard from a sparrow, who had it straight from one of the respectable mice, that a depression had overtaken Ginky. The grocer had brought a cat to live in the grocery basement.

Hard Times – January 26th, 1947

Snow had covered the hard ground for many days and the birds could find little to eat. All sorts of birds came begging food from the Teenie Weenies. The little folk gave the hungry birds as much as they could spare, but soon their tiny hoard of supplies began getting dangerously low. The big folk threw out bread, but snow would often fall and cover the food before the birds could find it.

One day the Teenie Weenie Policeman, while on his rounds near the lane, saw many mouse tracks leading into a hole in the snow. He crawled down through the hole and discovered several slices of bread which had probably been thrown out by the big folk for the birds. The Policeman reported his find to the General, who sent Teenie Weenies with picks and shovels to investigate.

The Teenie Weenies dug down through the snow and uncovered several big slices of bread.

"This bread is frozen too hard for the birds to eat," said the Cook after he had examined the bread. "If it is broken up into small pieces, I can cook it and make it into a warm mush for the birds."

A great deal of snow had to be shoveled away before the first slice of bread could be moved. The Teenie Weenies tied a string about the bread and pushed and pulled with all their might, but it was mighty slow work getting the big slice of bread out of the hole.

Tilly Titter, The English sparrow, flew down while the Teenie Weenies were tugging at the bread. She caught the end of the string in her mouth and gave a mighty pull. The slice of bread fairly popped out of the hole and landed on top of the Dunce. The Dunce set up a great howl from beneath the bread. The Teenie Weenies quickly lifted the slice and the Dunce crawled out unhurt, but very angry.

"What do you mean by hittin' me with the slice of bread? Were you trying to kill me?" sputtered the outraged Dunce.

Poor Tilly was terribly upset, and she chirped her apology to the Chinaman, who immediately translated it to the disgruntled Dunce. The Teenie Weenies dug out 4½ slices of bread. Then they broke them into small pieces and carried them to the Teenie Weenie kitchen, where they were cooked into a warm mush for the hungry birds. The birds were very grateful to the Teenie Weenies but the mice who had discovered the bread, and Ginky was one of them, are furious at the little folks.

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The Cook's Story – December 1st, 1946

"For goodness sake!" exclaimed the Cook one morning when he swept two blackberry thorns from behind the kitchen stove. "Gogo, I wish you'd take these thorns out of the kitchen. They've been back of the stove here for more than three weeks."

"Yas, sah," answered Gogo, who was drying the breakfast dishes. "Ah reckon those thorns are dry by now. Ah is gwine fo' to make a combination grub hoe and wah club out of those thorns."

"WAR CLUB?" gasped the Cook. "What in the name of prune seeds do you want with a war club?"

"Ah is gwne fo' to make wah on caterpillars, ants and other varmints next Summah and Ah decided fo' to make a good stout garden hoe and a wah club," grinned Gogo.

"Those blackberry thorns are sure tough," said the Cook. "One of 'em saved my life once."

"How dat?" asked Gogo.

"Well," began the Cook as he sat down on the kitchen stool, "I wanted to get about seven or eight blackberries to make into jam and jelly. I tried to get the boys to bring some berries, but they were all busy digging a potato and I decided to get them myself. There are some big bushes growing right beside the lane, and I was afraid if I waited too long the birds or the big folks would get them. I climbed up to the top of one of the bushes because the berries ripen first at the top. I pulled off a big one and was reaching for another when an automobile went tearing by on the lane. The speed of the auto as if rushed by made a blast of wind like a cyclone and I was blown off the bush. I grabbed a leaf as I fell but it tore loose from the bush and I'd have been a goner if a thorn hadn't caught my sweater and kept me from falling. If was a long way down to the ground and I just hung there for a few minutes before I was calm enough to drag myself back onto the bush. I'll tell you, I was pretty well scared. I wished I had waited until some of the boys could come with me."

"Did yo' get enough berres fo' de jam?" asked Gogo, who was particularly fond of jam on his bread. "Or did you jes' light out for home when you got down on the ground once mo?"

"Oh, yes, I got my berries all right," answered the Cook. "I pulled off eight or nine and dropped them to the ground and then I climbed down and packed them home on my back. I got 41 jars of jam and 26 jars of jelly from those berries. The Lady of Fashion said it was the best blackberry jam and jelly she ever ate."

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The Boomer – December 8th, 1946

The Teenie Weenies usually bought their eggs from a queer old hen that lived near the Teenie Weenie village. She was a Plymouth Rock and like most Plymouth Rocks she was talkative. Because she was continually clucking and making a fuss, the Teenie Weenies had named her "The Boomer." It took a lot of bargaining to get an egg out of her, for she was rather sharp in a business deal. Some of the Teenie Weenies could understand a little chicken talk, but when a deal was on for an egg, it was usually the Chinaman who bargained for it because he speaks Plymouth like a hen.

The Teenie Weenies were entirely out of egg. There wasn't a doughnut or cookie in the village, and the General was most unhappy without his morning omelet. The little folk had been trying for several weeks to get an egg from the old hen, but she was very cranky and demanded black market prices. However, the weather helped the Teenie Weenies out of their trouble. It turned bitter cold and the Teenie Weenies were able to do the hen a favor which made her more reasonable in her price.

One cold morning the Sailor reported that the hen's drinking water was frozen. "She's thirsty and she wants us to break the ice," the Sailor told the General.

"Ah, shucksl" exploded the Dunce. "We're all the time breakin' ice for old hens. Don't do it until she agrees to lay us an egg."

"No," said the General, "we can't take advantage of her trouble. That would be wrong. But we can go over and help her get a drink."

The hen's drinking water had been put into an old tin cup and the water had frozen solid. The little men carried some Teenie Weenie tools and the Cook's biggest kettle, which the Teenie Weenies use for making apple butter. While some of the men chopped off pieces of ice, the Cook set up the kettle and built a fire under it. The pieces of ice were thrown into the kettle and when they were melted the water was poured into a carrying thimble and given to the thirsty hen as quickly as the little men could take it to her.

She was terribly thirsty and she drank 18 thimbles of water. She was so grateful she promptly laid a large egg and she told the General her price would be only 7½ grains of corn and 4 grasshoppers - the grasshoppers to be delivered to her next Summer. She had been asking 10 grains of corn and 6 large, plump grasshoppers or 8 small grasshoppers.

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Tilly Helps – December 15th, 1946

Joe Mando looked out of the window of his florist shop and was surprised to see a sparrow fly down and pick up a spray of holly from the pieces he had swept out of the store.

"Look, Angelo!' A sparrow just flew away with a piece of holly. What do you think it's gonna do with that? It's mighty prickly to put into a nest."

"Christmas spirit," chuckled Angelo. "That bird is gonna decorate its nest for Christmas."

Both men laughed but they would have been greatly surprised had they known the spray of holly would provide the main decorations in a town hall for a Christmas party.

The Lady of Fashion always manages the decorations for the Teenie Weenie Christmas party. Some of the little men go into the woods and bring back sprays of cedar, balsam and wintergreen leaves. These are hung about the walls of the old hat the little people use for a town hall.

One morning the Old Soldier with a wooden leg and several other Teenie Weenies set off to the woods in search of the usual decorations. On the way they met a friend, Tilly Titter, the English sparrow, who asked where they were going.

"To gather a lot of Winter greens to decorate the town hall for our Christmas party," answered the Old Soldier.

"Why don't you get some 'olly?" asked Tilly.

"That would be nice, but holly doesn't grow around here," said the Old Soldier.

"Lawsy!" exclaimed Tilly. "I can get you some. Saw a lot of it back of a florist shop not far away."

"That would be fine," answered the Old Soldier. "I always say there's nothing like holly at Christmas time."

When the little men went back to the Teenie Weenie village and reported to the Lady of Fashion, she was delighted with the idea of holly for decorations.

Presently Tilly flew into the village and landed on the little railing which runs about the brim of the hat. She dropped the spray of holly she carried and said, "I'll get some more.' Off she flew and in a short time she had piled a lot of holly in front of the tiny doorway.

Joe Mando has been telling all his friends about the bird that came to his shop and carried off holly to decorate its nest for Christmas. Joe enjoys telling the story, but he could tell a better one if he knew just how these sprigs of holly were used by the Teenie Weenies.

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A Christmas Carol – December 22nd, 1946

Several days before Christmas the Teenie Weenies were gathered about the tiny fireplace in the shoe house living room one evening after supper. The Lady of Fashion was telling a Christmas story, and most of the little folk were there except the Dunce, who had been sent to bed for peeping into Christmas packages. It was a cold, clear night and presently three mice tiptoed through the snow and took up a position near the shoe house porch. One of the mice unfolded a bit of paper and there was much quiet clearing of mousy throats.

"Now! One, two, three!" whispered one of the mice, beating time with his paw, and the three mice burst into a song that brought the Teenie Weenies tumbling out of the house. In spite of the cold, the Dunce climbed out of bed. Crawling out of a window, he walked bare-footed right out onto the snow-covered roof of the porch.

The three mice sang with all their might, especially the youngest one, who had a rather squeaky voice. The Teenie Weenies couldn't make out all of the words of the carol. It was a short song and the mice sang if over and over until the Teenie Weenies finally had to invite the mice into the house, for Teenie Weenie toes had begun to ache with the cold.

The singers were the two respectable mice and their young cousin. They told the Teenie Weenies that their aunt, who lives in a public library, and who is the author of much mousy verse, had written the song. As some of the words had been lost in the confusion of voices, the Chinaman read the words of the song to the Teenie Weenies, and this is what he read:

We come to sing our Christmas cheer
And wish you luck throughout the year.
We pray no catses catches you,
And hope the same of trapses, too.

"A pretty song," said the Lady of Fashion, "and it is nice of you to sing for us."

"The singing would have been better," confided one of the respectable mice in a whisper to the Lady of Fashion, "if we hadn't had our young cousin with us. His mother wrote the song and so we had to bring him along. He thinks he's a great singer, but he means well."

The young cousin complained of a sore throat, and after the Teenie Weenie Doctor had given him some medicine, he advised the mouse to quit singing and take a long rest. This was very gratifying to the two respectable mice.

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A Hint – December 29th, 1946

The Lady of Fashion has the largest and best room in the shoe house, where most of the Teenie Weenies live. The tiny lady is very particular and her room is furnished beautifully. Her bed is an antique, having formerly belonged to the great grandmother of the Old Soldier with a wooden leg. (She had brought it from the East in a mouse cart.) There are two wee sconces on each side of an antique mirror above her dressing table and she has a lovely bureau. All of these treasures were carted from the East, too. However, the Lady of Fashion has a modern clothes closet, which several of the Teenie Weenie men made out of a safety match box.

In spite of all these attractions the room is cold in Winter, for it has no fireplace. The Lady of Fashion has been hinting for a stove for a long time. But the Turk and the Old Soldier, who are the best Teenie Weenie mechanics, never seemed to catch the idea until the Lady of Fashion stopped knitting.

The Lady of Fashion knits most of the mittens, stockings and sweaters the Teenie Weenies wear, and when it grew so cold in her room the little lady had to stop work on a sweater for the Turk, that capable mechanic finally took the hint.

"My! My!" exclaimed the Turk, when he found that work had stopped on his sweater. "What a beast I have been! Of course you shall have a stove."

The Turk and the Old Solder set to work in the coffee can which serves the little men for a workshop. All day long for several days the ring of beaten iron came from the shop as the little men hammered out the parts on the bolt nut which they used for an anvil. Finally they fashioned a smart little stove out of two thimbles. They cut out doors and a place for the smoke pipe, put in a tiny grate and bolted the two thimbles together. Then they made a ring with legs to it and bolted that to the thimbles.

When the stove was finished they set it up in the Lady of Fashion's room. They put a piece of tin under the stove so there would be no danger of hot coals burning the polished floor, and the Lady of Fashion was delighted.

"It will be snug in here now and I won't have to wear out my best caterpillar fur coat to keep warm," she said.

"Glad to do it for you! Glad to do it for you!" said the Turk as he watched the Lady of Fashion pick up his unfinished sweater and begin knitting.

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Sitdown Strike – November 17th, 1946

It had been raining off and on for nearly a week and the Chinaman was very discouraged. It was most trying to live in a teapot along with a week's washing of wet clothes even though was a Teenie Weenie washing.

"Allie same me sorry to live all time with wet clothes everywheres," the Chinaman complained to the Turk.

"What you need is a drying house," said the Turk.

"That what me thinks," answered the Chinaman brightly. "Me all time think that belly basket you found the other days would make a velly fine house to dry clothes in."

"Shucks!" exploded the Turk. "We're going to use the boards in that berry basket to put down a new floor in the town hail. That lumber is too good to use for a drying house."

"Allie light," said the Chinaman, "no drying house no more washie. Me do no washie until me gets a place to dry clothes. Me tired living in teapot with wet washie."

The following week the Chinaman refused to do the Teenie Weenie washing. He went fishing with the Dunce and visited Skippy, the chipmunk, and birds who live near the Teenie Weenie village. When two weeks' washing piled up and there were no clean sheets for the Teenie Weenie beds, the little people began to complain. "Allie light," said the Chinaman, "make dry house out of that belly basket and I washie."

Berry baskets are the finest lumber for Teenie Weenie use. The boards are not too thick for Teenie Weenie saws and nails and the men hoard a berry basket for that reason. The Turk offered to move up a pasteboard box for a drying house, but the Chinaman refused that on the grounds that it would get wet and soon break down. Finally there wasn't a clean handkerchief or bed sheet in the village. The Cook washed out his dish towels occasionally and the Lady of Fashion washed her bedclothes and tiny undergarments in a thimble. Finally, the Turk agreed to build a drying house for the Chinaman out of the berry basket the Teenie Weenies had been saving.

The men moved the basket near the teapot, cut in windows, made a door and built on a waterproof roof. The Chinaman was delighted and he set to work washing all the soiled Teenie Weenie clothes. He washed and ironed for days before he had all the clothes clean.

"Me don't mind washie clothes," the Chinaman says, "but me don't all time like to live in teapot with a wet washie drying there."

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The Dunce's Letter – November 24th, 1946

Not long ago the Dunce became interested in a little girl who lives in one of the big houses near the Teenie Weenie village. By holding a maple leaf In front of his tiny body, he could get rather close to the little girl without being seen. The little girl had a kitten which she dressed up in her doll's clothes, and that tickled the Dunce.

One day while the family was away the Dunce thought it would be fun to visit the little girl's house. He asked several of the Teenie Weenie men to go along and they soon made their way into the house. The kitten was at home, but it was fast asleep and the little men did not disturb it. They examined everything in the house with much interest and then they climbed up onto a desk that stood in the little girl's room. There were several books. a couple of lead pencils, a bottle of ink, a box, a rule and some pieces of writing paper on the desk.

At first, the little men had lots of fun lying on the rule and measuring themselves. To the Dunce's great delight, he was the tallest Teenie Weenie, measuring 2 1/16 inches - just 1/32 of an inch taller than the Turk.

"I'm going to write a letter," announced the Dunce, picking up one of the pencils. "I know the little girl well enough to write to her."

"But she doesn't know you," the Turk objected. "Maybe she doesn't even know Teenie Weenies live here."

"She'll soon know," the Dunce promised.

The other Teenie Weenies gathered around and looked on while the Dunce struggled with the heavy pencil. The pencil was so big it was about all the Dunce could do to move it along the paper, but finally he managed to pencil out a rather scrawly note.

"I'll bet that little girl will be surprised when she finds this letter," said the Dunce, wiping his sweaty forehead with his sleeve.

When the little girl found the letter on her desk that evening, she was properly surprised. But she had a hard time reading it, for the writing was very bad and the spelling was even worse. After a great deal of puzzling, this is what she read:

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Gogo And The Sailor Win A Championship - September 24th, 1922

It was a warm day. The older Teenie Weenies sat about on the lawn under the rose bush, napping and reading, while the children played hide and seek.

"It is entirely too hot for the boys to run so hard," said Mrs. Lover. "I'm afraid they'll both have sunstroke. But how can I stop them?"

"I tell you," said the General, jumping up. "Let me take your whole family for a ride."

"0, how lovely," said Mrs. Lover. "That will be just the thing. And you've learned to drive so well now, I don't feel at all afraid."

"Thank you," said the General, stiffly. He still did not like to hear any one refer to the accident when he began to drive.

After the little car had rolled away, the other Teenie Weenies began to wish that they, too, had something special to do, and at last the Dunce jumped up and exclaimed: "Let's go swimmin'!"

"0, do let's," cried the Lady of Fashion, and she and the Guff girls rushed into the house to put on their tiny bathing suits.

Quite soon all the little ladies were on their way to a swimming hole nearby, where the Teenie Weenie men and boys were already enjoying the cool water.

"Say," said the Turk, as he came up after a dive, "I've been reading somewhere about tournaments. Let's us have a water tournament. We'll get out the pea pod canoes and have straws for lances, and instead of trying to throw each other off horses like he knights of old, we'll try to upset each other's canoes."

"Humph—heap fun," said the Indian, with a broader smile than he usually wore, while the Sailor danced a hornpipe for glee, and the Dunce and the Cook and Paddy Pinn gave three cheers for the great idea.

In a little while the canoes were ready and the men had padded long straws with milkweed thistle down, so that no one should get hurt, even if hit by one of the lances.

It was decided that the Indian, the Sailor, Paddy Pin, and Zip should do the paddling, while the Turk, Gogo, the Dunce, and the Cook handled the lances, and soon the four little canoes put out upon the water, and the fun began.

Luckily, a long, low limb from a bush grew out over the pond, and a good grandstand it made for the other Teenie Weenies and for Tillie Titter, the English sparrow, who flew down for a bath and a drink, and stayed to see the fun.

The Dunce, with Paddy Pin paddling, fought with Gogo, rowed by the Sailor, and Zip managed the canoe for the Cook, who was to conquer the Turk and the Indian.

They all went at it as skillfully as they could, but Zip got so excited watching the Cook he forgot his part, and splash! the two went into the water. Then the Dunce tried to be funny as well as skillful, and during one of his pranks Gogo gave a clever shove with his straw that sent the Dunce head over heels. All the Teenie Weenies applauded and Tillie Titter shrieked herself hoarse.

"Ere, ere," she cried as the Turk and Gogo, the two victors, faced each other for the deciding battle, "Hi'm for the gentleman of color, Hi am."

"Thlee yells for the Turkie," shrieked the Chinaman.

Carefully the two canoes came up and faced each other. Skillfully Gogo and the Turk fenced with their long straws. The audience sat, now in breathless interest, now yelling with excitement. At one minute they were sure the Turk would win. But suddenly the colored boy gave a clever flip to his straw, caught the Turk under his arm, and tipped him and his boat over as neatly as you please.

The Chinaman was so excited he fell over backward and made a third splash. Tillie Titter laughed and cheered till she nearly fell off herself, and all the others cheered loudly for Gogo, who bowed modestly and would have blushed if he had been able, at the praises which were shouted by his friends.

"Best fun Hi've 'ad since my pin feathers sprouted," cackled Tillie, as she flew away. And the Teenie Weenies agreed that they had had a wonderful afternoon.

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Pea Pod Canoes - August 9th, 1942

For several days there had been much activity under the rosebush where the Teenie Weenies lived. The peas which the little people had planted in their garden were ripe. The huge pods were cut away from the vine with Teenie Weenie axes and carried under the rose bush, where they were carefully slit open along one side and the fat green peas lifted out. Most of the peas were to be dried and put away for next Winter's use. However, the Teenie Weenies always eat some of the peas fresh, and how the little folk do enjoy them!

Peas are a very important crop to the Teenie Weenies. Of course, the food they supply is most important, but the big pods also supply the little people with transportation. When the peas are removed the pods are carefully dried and then coated with a waterproof liquid which is made from the milk, or sap, of the dandelion plant. Tiny seats, ribs and floor boards are then added to make a very nice little canoe that will safely carry two Teenie Weenies. Most of the Teenie Weenies know how to build pea pod canoes and they always try to see who can make the best boat.

It takes over a week to make one of the pea pod canoes. Of course, the little folk are always anxious to put them in the water at once to try them out. But for several days before the canoes were finished there came very hard rains, and the water was so high and swift in the creek that the General considered it unsafe for such tiny craft.

"You must wait until the water goes down," the General warned. "We don't want to invite any Teenie Weenie accidents."

"Yes, that's right," agreed the Sailor, who was an expert canoeman. "There are always lots of floating things in the creek when the water is high. A floating twig or a clothespin can very easily upset a canoe!"

"Why can't we try out the canoes in a pan of water?" asked the Dunce. "I know where there is a pan of drinking water in a chicken yard. The chickens who live there wouldn't care if we used it."

"That's not a very good place," said the Turk. "There's hardly enough room to turn a canoe around in a pan of water. The creek will settle down in a day or two, and then we can have a real place to try the canoes out."

"Well," urged the Dunce, who was always impatient, "couldn't we use the swimming pool?"

"That's silly!" exclaimed the Cook. "How in the name of common sense are you going to try out a canoe in a sauce dish? I agree with the General that we'd better wait until the creek is safe."

The Teenie Weenies watched the creek carefully. In a couple of days the water began to fall. Then it rained again and the water was higher than ever. The little people were greatly disappointed, but the very next day the Chinaman brought news that filled them all with joy.

"Me find place for canoe. Allee same hose makin' big lake over there," shouted the Chinaman, pointing with his tiny finger. "Muchie water for canoe."

"Where is this lake?" asked the Turk.

"Flollow me. Me show where lake is," said the Chinaman, and he set off, followed by several of the Teenie Weenies.

The Chinaman led the little men to a spot in the garden back of a big house, where they saw a garden hose lying on the ground. The little boy and girl who lived in the house had been playing you- spray-me-and-I'll-spray-you in their bathing suits and forgot to shut the water off carefully when they went to dress. Water was running from the hose in a small stream, but there was enough coming out to make a large Teenie Weenie lake.

"This is great!" exclaimed the Turk. "Come on, fellows, and let's get our canoes."

The Turk and his friends dashed off to the shoe house. In a short time they returned with the canoes and with the rest of the Teenie Weenie family tagging on behind.

While the water was scarcely deep enough to cover the toes of a wading boy or girl, it was quite deep enough to make excellent canoeing. So the little people had a fine time skimming over the smooth water in their pea pod canoes.

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A Teenie Weenie Flood - March 21st, 1943

When the heavy snow melted and ran off into the creek near the Teenie Weenie village, that little stream was filled almost to the top of its banks. But when it rained hard for two days the water overflowed and flooded the land on either side of the creek.

The Teenie Weenies spent most of their time standing on the bank and watching the water flow by. They saw all sorts of things drifting on the current, and occasionally the Sailor would go out in his pea pod canoe, fasten a line around a lead pencil or wooden clothespin and tow it to shore. For pencils and clothespins make fine Teenie Weenie firewood when sawed and split into suitable sizes for Teenie Weenie stoves.

The Teenie Weenies worried considerably about Nick the Squirrel, because his house was in the top of a tree which was right in the middle of the flooded woods.

"When the water settles down a little and is not running so swiftly, I think we had better paddle out and see if Nick is all right," the General said.

In a couple of days the water had quieted down some and the Sailor and the General put out in a pea pod canoe. When they came to the tree in which Nick lived, there was no answer to their shouts, then they heard Nick call from a tree near by. The Sailor paddled toward the tree, while Nick ran down the trunk and settled on a small limb near the water.

"What are you doing over in this tree?" asked the General, when the Sailor had brought the canoe up to the tree.

"I thought," said Nick, in the peculiar way he had of talking with the Teenie Weenies, "I could jump from limb to limb and in that way make my way to shore, but I found that I couldn't go far on account of my rheumatism. I'm afraid I can't make the jump back into my home tree, so I think I'd better stay here until the water goes down."

"Have you had anything to eat?" asked the General.

"Nothing since yesterday except a little bark off this tree," answered Nick.

"That won't do," said the General. "We'll bring some food to you just as soon as we can."

The Sailor paddled back to shore and the General told some of the Teenie Weenie men to bring down a few nuts from the Teenie Weenie storehouse.

"We'll need a raft to carry the nuts out to Nick," said the Sailor. "A pea pod canoe is too light to carry nuts in."

"We all could make a raft out of these," put in Gogo, pointing to some clothespins, a piece of pencil and several sticks which had been towed in for firewood.

"That's fine," said the General. "Get busy and make one."

The Teenie Weenies soon made a stout raft by lashing together two clothespins, a pencil stub and a small stick with a bit of string. The Old Soldier with the wooden leg made a pair of paddles, while the other Teenie Weenies brought the nuts down to the edge of the water. Two peanuts and a hazelnut were loaded onto the raft. Then Gogo and the Dunce pushed off, while the Sailor and the General led the way in a pea pod canoe.

It was hard work to paddle the raft in the swift water, and there were many floating objects which had to be avoided. Once they ran into an empty, floating bottle and it nearly upset the raft. One of the peanuts rolled off and floated away, but fortunately that was the only damage done.

Nick was very happy to get the nuts, and he carried them up the tree where he stored them in a knothole. The Teenie Weenies made several trips that day and delivered enough nuts to keep Nick supplied with food for several days.

It was almost a week before the water went down and Nick was able to get back to his home tree. He was very grateful for what the Teenie Weenies had done. When he saw the firewood they had pulled out of the water, he set to work to help them drag it up to the Teenie Weenie wood pile near the shoe house.

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Pea-Pod Canoes - August 1st, 1943

Now that the vegetables in the Teenie Weenie garden were ready to eat, the little people were kept mighty busy. The vegetables had grown well and some of them were so big it became a problem for such little people to handle them.

The carrots were so huge it took a week to get five of them out of the ground and moved to the Teenie Weenie storehouse.

First, the great tops had to be chopped off with Teenie Weenie axes and dragged away. Then the little men had to dig around each carrot, and they had to dig down so deeply that the hole had to be timbered to keep the earth from falling in on the workers. When the carrot had been uncovered, it was then necessary to put up a derrick and slowly pull the big vegetable out of the ground with a Teenie Weenie block and tackle.

The Teenie Weenies seldom use more than two carrots, but they like to store away a few extra for their friend, the Rhyming Rabbit, who is quite old and so crippled with rheumatism that he can't always get food when he needs it during the Winter.

The little people dry most of their vegetables, although the Cook does put up a number of two and three-drop cherry seed jars of berry jam and tomato preserves. Corn, beans and peas are always dried for Winter use and some of the little men are impatient for the coming of the time when the peas are ripe. Peas are much prized by the Teenie Weenies, for they not only supply the little people with food, but with canoes. Pods in which the peas grow can be made into trim little canoes. Several of the Teenie Weenies are fine canoe makers, and these little men watch the vines grow. They study the pods and select the ones which they believe will make the best canoes.

After the pea pod is cut from the plant, it is opened with much care along the back of the pod. The peas are then removed, and work starts on the canoe. The pod is carried to the Teenie Weenie workshop. (This is really an old coffee can, but it makes a fine work place for the little men.) There the canoe is placed on Teenie Weenie work horses outside the shop, if the weather is nice, for the Teenie Weenies love to work outdoors.

First, the pod is given a coat of a certain paint which the Teenie Weenie Doctor has invented. This keeps the pod from drying too quickly. Next, the Old Soldier with the wooden leg carefully takes measurements for the wooden framework which must be built inside the canoe to make it sturdy. The Old Soldier is a fine workman, even though he is no taller than a common safety match, and he usually plans the work for the rest of the little men.

When the measurements for the pea pod have been taken, the little men set to work cutting out the various wooden parts which are needed to strengthen the canoe. Burned matches and other lumber is cut up to furnish the wood necessary for making the canoe seaworthy. As soon as the wooden parts are in place, the canoe is given several coats of waterproof paint, and when that is thoroughly dry, the boat is ready for the water.

Almost all the Teenie Weenie men build pea-pod canoes. The Sailor is very particular about his canoe, and he spends a great deal of time over the work. The Dunce is always in such a hurry to get his canoe done he never makes a very good one. So after he has used it a few times it has to go to the workshop for repairs.

The Teenie Weenies enjoy building their canoes, and the tiny workshop fairly buzzes when the season is on. While the little men work, they are so happy that they often sing an old Teenie Weenie song which runs like this:

Come take a ride in my little canoe
And we'll sail away on the morning dew.
My boat is the pod of a garden pea
And there's plenty of room for you and me.
So come along and I'll sing to you
As we paddle away in my little canoe.

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In The Kitchen - June 17th, 1945

It was a mighty lucky thing that the Cook wasn't in the kitchen when the accident happened. He had set five grains of rice on to boil and he had just stepped off the back porch on his way to the smokehouse to cut some frog ham for supper when a baseball came smashing into the rosebush over head and crashed through the kitchen roof.

Some big boys had been playing ball in the lane that runs near the Teenie Weenie village. The little people could hear the loud crack each time the ball was hit with the bat, but they didn't pay much attention to it, for they often hear people go by. They never dreamed a ball could be hit far enough to land in the village. The little folks were even more frightened when the boys began hunting for the ball because it would be a most unfortunate thing to have the Teenie Weenie village discovered. However, the dense thicket of thorny rosebushes around the tiny houses soon discouraged the boys and they went away loudly complaining over the loss of their ball.

The Cook and the Lady of Fashion were the only Teenie Weenies near the house when the ball fell, but a number of the little men who had been working in the Teenie Weenie garden near by came running when they heard the crash. One end of the kitchen roof, which was covered with waterproofed playing cards, was completely wrecked. The kitchen table had been upset, the kitchen sink had been badly damaged and all the cellophane had been broken out of the window. Although the chimney was knocked off, the stove had not been harmed, and the kettle of rice stood untouched on the tiny stove.

The Teenie Weenies were terribly upset by the accident, and the Cook was so shocked the Teenie Weenie Doctor had to give him some medicine to quiet his shattered nerves.

"Well, we were mighty lucky in spite of all this damage," the General said when he had inspected the wrecked kitchen. "That ball might have hit some of us, and if those big boys had discovered our village in their search we would have had to leave this nice spot and build a new place somewhere else."

"We can patch up the roof for tonight," said the Old Soldier.

"BUT THE BALL!" exclaimed the Cook. "How can I cook supper with that ball filling the place?"

"You'll have to cook around it tonight," laughed the Old Soldier. "Tomorrow we'll tear down the wall because the ball is too big to go through the door. When we built that doorway we never figured we'd have to push baseballs through it."

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Out Of The Kitchen - June 24th, 1945

The big boys who batted the baseball that crashed through the roof of the Teenie Weenie kitchen certainly made a lot of extra work for the little people. None of the Teenie Weenies was hurt but one corner of the kitchen roof was completely ruined. The little people were terribly frightened by the accident, especially when the big boys began hunting for their lost ball in the underbrush where the Teenie Weenie village stands. The little folks began packing up their valuables to be ready to leave the village, but the tangle of thorny rose bushes and the thick brush discouraged the boys and they went away to the great relief of the Teenie Weenies.

The baseball was so big it couldn't be pushed out through the tiny kitchen door, so the little men had to tear some of the walls away in order to get the ball out. It was a lot of work to remove the ball, and the little men had to push and pull with all their tiny might to get it out of the kitchen. The Turk strained his back while pushing and he was laid up for several days under the Doctor's care.

The kitchen sink and a few shelves had to be taken out and one corner of the room had to be removed. Some of the roof timbers and the window frame were broken when the ball crashed into the kitchen, but most of the side walls and the roof covering could be used again, for they were made out of stout playing cards. The drain pipe which carried rain water from the kitchen roof was badly bent and the chimney was damaged but fortunately the Cook was able to report that the kitchen stove wasn't hurt.

When the baseball had been rolled out, the men began to make repairs immediately. They replaced the broken timbers, put new cellophane in the tiny window and replaced the chimney in time for the Cook to get the evening meal. The drain pipe was repaired and the shelves and kitchen sink were put back in place. The next day some of the little men gave the repairs a coat of paint, and no one ever would have known that a baseball had wrecked the place.

"Those big boys will be back here looking for their ball," the General said. "I believe it would be wise to roll it out to the lane where they can easily find it, for we don't want them to find our village."

The Teenie Weenies rolled the ball along their secret trail to the lane, where they left it in plain sight. Just as the General had thought, the boys came back next day to hunt for their ball. They found it exactly where the Teenie Weenies had left it, and the General's forethought probably saved the Teenie Weenie village the tragedy of being discovered.

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The Lover Twins Join the Teenie Weenie Boy Scouts - June 25th, 1922

The Teenie Weenies have a rule in their little community which the big folks would do well to adopt. Every Teenie Weenie boy and girl is made to join the Teenie Weenie Boy and Girl Scouts. When they are old enough to understand they are taken out into the woods, where they live for several weeks each summer, and they are taught how to take care of themselves in the forest.

It was decided that the Lover twins were old enough to take up their training in woodcraft, so they were told to make ready for their entrance into the order of Teenie Weenie Boy Scouts. Mrs. Lover and the Lady of Fashion made the two little fellows each a suit of Scout clothes and the Old Soldier hammered their tiny axes out of the heads of two carpet tacks. He also made them two little hunting knives and each one a pack to carry his belongings in.

The Indian was to take the little fellows into the woods and the twins could hardly wait for the time to start. Mrs. Lover wanted her children to have every comfort on the trip, so she prepared such a lot of things it would have taken one of the trucks to carry it all. There were four nightshirts apiece, six towels apiece, four changes of underwear for each, a bathrobe apiece, four pairs of stockings each, four shirts apiece, an extra pair of shoes each, bedroom slippers, and many more things. The poor Indian was quite excited when he saw this pile of clothes, for he would have to carry most of the baggage and they had a long ways to go.

"One towel apiece heap enough," cried the Indian. "Wash towel out when get dirty and dry in sun. Two pair socks enough. One cake soap too much."

"Yes, the Indian is right," said the General, who saw Mrs. Lover did not agree with the Indian. "They will have all their food and blankets to carry, as well as their pots and kettles."

After a great deal of argument the Indian finally had his way and only the most necessary things were chosen. When the little party was ready to start off it was plainly seen that they could not have carried another thing. The Indian carried most of the load, while each of the twins carried his sweater, ax, coat, and blanket.

After much weeping and kissing on the part of Mrs. Lover the three set off early the next morning toward the big woods. The first night the Indian made a camp beside the little creek which ran out of the woods. He made a bed of dry moss and soft dandelion down under a big mullen leaf, and after the twins had eaten their supper the tired little fellows soon rolled up in their tiny blankets and in spite of the loud cries of the crickets they quickly fell asleep.

It was just getting light the next morning when the Indian routed the twins out, and after they had washed themselves in the clean creek water they sat down to breakfast. The Indian baked delicious pancakes, which he served with wonderful sirup.

"Where did you get the good sirup?' asked Jerry, one of the twins.

"Me get head of white clover," answered the Indian as he skillfully flipped a cake in the tiny frying pan. "Next me pull out little white flowers and squeeze out honey in pan. Then me put over fire and cook down a little and me have sirup."

After breakfast the three travelers set out for the woods, where they arrived early in the afternoon. The Indian set to work at once putting up a shelter, which he built out of poles and bark. The camp was made next to a big stone, on a clean, dry, sandy beach of the creek. The twins helped to cut the poles for the shelter with their tiny axes and they gathered dry moss for the bed, while the Indian tied the frame of the shelter securely with tough grass blades.

"Me want shelter strong," said the Indian, and the little fellow certainly made it strong, for it held the weight of the ground robin, who perched on it occasionally when he visited camp.

There were plenty of wild strawberries nearby, deliciously sweet, and the little campers ate nearly a whole berry at each meal. After the twins had rested for a couple of days the Indian set to work teaching the little fellows the many wonderful things about the woods.

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The Teenie Weenie Boy Scouts In Camp - July 9th, 1922

As soon as the Teenie Weenie children are old enough they are taken out into the woods, where they are taught many useful things. They are told what berries make good food and where to find them; they are taught to swim and how to keep from being lost in the thickest jungle of tall grass.

The Lover twins had joined the Teenie Weenie Boy Scouts, and with the Indian as their guide and teacher they had gone into the big woods for their first lesson in woodcraft. The little campers had a wonderfully snug shelter, which the Indian had built out of sticks, grass, and bark, and their beds were made out of the soft down of the dry dandelion blossom.

The little fellows had spent a week in their tiny camp and the Indian had shown the twins many useful and wonderful things. He taught the two boys how to make a tiny canoe out of birch bark, how to build the frame out of slender sticks, how to bind the bark to the frame with tough grass, and how to make the seams water tight with the pitch from the pine trees. He taught them where to find the ground berry, the raspberry, blackberries, strawberries, huckleberries, and the sassafras and wintergreen, out of which he made tea. The Indian showed them how to get sirup out of the sweet clover blossom, and he explained the use of roots medicine. One day he shot a crawfish and roasted the claws, and when it was thoroughly cooked the three little men scooped the delicious meat out of the shell and ate it.

"This bad time of year to get much food," said the Indian, as the three little fellows sat around their tiny campfire one evening. "Not much berries ripe now. No nuts ripe now. Maybe we get turtle eggs some day. Me go out and look tomorrow."

"Where do you find the turtle eggs?" asked Jerry, one of the twins.

"Turtle he come up on bank of creek and lay eggs in ground," answered the Indian. "Him dig up ground and then sit down in hole and wiggle around until he cover himself all over with dirt. Then he—I mean she—lay heap many eggs, but we must get eggs while them heap fresh or them much no good. After turtle lay eggs he—I mean she—get out of ground and go back to water in creek, and eggs they hatch out into little turtles in maybe four, five, six weeks."

After breakfast the next morning the Indian took his tiny gun and with the twins following close behind he set off down the bank of the creek in search of a turtle's nest. He searched for a long time without finding a sign of a nest and finally stopped to ask a ground squirrel they met if he had seen any signs of turtles making nests along the creek.

"Clip my whiskers, if I didn't see one yesterday," answered the squirrel.

"She was a pretty good sized one, and I think she had just come off her nest. I didn't pay much attention to her, as I was busy huntin' for some nuts I buried last fall."

The squirrel kindly led the three Teenie Weenies along the bank of the creek and pointed to the place where he had seen the turtle. The Indian's keen eyes soon found the place where the nest was, and, chopping a stick with his tiny ax, he set to work digging in the sand. Presently he uncovered a white object, and in a few minutes he lifted a big white turtle egg out of the hole.

"There, that will keep us in food for a long time," said the Indian, as he rolled the egg out. "Now we fill the hole up again and the turtle she never miss it."

"Hadn't we better get some more?" asked one of the twins, for the Indian had uncovered several of the eggs and had explained that there were probably two dozen in the nest.

"No. One egg him plenty to eat for long time," cried the Indian.

The Indian made a tiny raft out of sticks which he lashed together with grapevine bark, and, pushing this into the creek, he loaded the egg on to it and poled down the stream to camp. That night the little campers dined on turtle egg, and, although they ate all they could hold, there was quite enough egg left to last for several days.

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A Blue Jay Plays A Joke On The Indian - July 16th, 1922

The two Teenie Weenie Boy Scouts, the Lover twins, had learned great deal about wood craft during their two weeks in the woods with the Indian. They learned how to make a bark canoe, how to make drinking cups out of seeds, and they learned that acorns make handy buckets. The Indian taught them where to look for the many berries that grow in the woods and where to find the crawfish and turtle eggs.

"You fellows learn much fast about woods. You pretty smart maybe, so we will start home at sunup in morning," announced the Indian while the three little people sat about their tiny campfire.

"0, we don't want to go home!" wailed the twins. "We are having such a nice time. Please, can't we stay a few days more?"

"No, can't do," answered the Indian. "Your ma, she say two weeks, no more, so we go home in morning."

Before sunup the next morning the Indian routed out the sleepy twins, and when they had eaten their breakfast each Teenie Weenie gathered up his belongings and did them up into a neat pack. The Indian had carried the canoe down to the creek, and when the campfire had been put out they were all ready for the trip.

"Where my gun?" asked the Indian, looking around the little clearing where they had camped.

"I saw it leaning against that acorn over there," answered Jerry, one of the twins. "It was there when we went out to get wood for the fire a little while ago."

The Indian and the twins hunted for almost an hour for the lost gun. They looked under every leaf all around the camp, but they could not find it. They asked their friends, the ground robin and a chipmunk, to help hunt for the gun, and even these bright eyed creatures of the woods could not find it.

"Well," said the Indian, addressing the bird and the squirrel, "we must go, and if you find the gun just hang it up on a branch of that bush over there, and I will come out maybe next week and look again."

The bird and the squirrel promised, and the three Teenie Weenies pushed off in their tidy canoe up the creek towards home.

It was a beautiful morning, and the little fellows enjoyed the trip, as the tiny canoe slipped silently along, gliding beneath the big ferns which overhung the water. The water was quite swift at times, and at several places the Indian was forced to lift the canoe over sticks and dead leaves. Presently the Teenie Weenies came to a place where the water ran too swiftly among the pebbles and sticks for the tiny boat to get through.

"We'll have to portage here," said the Indian, as he ran the nose of the canoe into the shore.

"What's portage mean?" asked one of the twins.

"It means can't get canoe through, so have to walk and carry everything," answered the Indian.

The Indian lifted the canoe out of the water, and, tossing it over his head, he let it rest on his shoulders.

"Now one of you kids go in front and the other in behind and watch that canoe, him don't get caught by trees as we go through woods," said the Indian.

The three little chaps set off through the deep woods beside the rushing water, stopping now and then while twigs and leaves were cut away in order to let the canoe through.

"Hey, there!" cried a voice as the little fellows tramped along, and, looking up, they saw their friend, the ground robin, standing on a stick of wood which lay over the water.

In his beak was the Indian's gun.

"I found it," said the bird, as he caught the gun in his foot, in order to talk plainer. "That fool Blue Jay that lives over near where you fellows were camping stole your gun, and a short time after you left he told me about it. He seemed to think it was a great joke. I gave him a piece of my mind, that's what I did, and I got the gun from him and flew after you."

The Indian was happy to get his gun, and he thanked the bird many times for his kindness. All day long the little men paddled up the creek, stopping occasionally to make a portage, and at night they stopped beside the stream where they cooked their supper and made camp for the night. The howling of the crickets and mosquitoes made a terrible noise but the three Teenie Weenies were so tired it never bothered them a bit and they slept straight through the night.

The little fellows arrived at the shoe house during the afternoon, and they were given a hearty welcome by the Teenie Weenies. Mrs. Lover hugged and kissed her boys, and laughed and cried and did so many strange things in her joy at having her children home again that the twins thought she had lost her mind, but that's a strange way mothers have. Whether they are big mothers or just Teenie Weenie mothers, they are pretty much alike.

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In A Sugar Bowl - June 7th, 1942

Ginky was a mischievous mouse. He was in the habit of getting into big people's houses, where he thought nothing of nibbling through cream bottle caps and gnawing into breakfast food packages on pantry shelves.

The Teenie Weenies were polite to the mouse, but they had little to do with him. However, the Dunce seemed to spend considerable time with Ginky, and the General warned that happy-go-lucky Teenie Weenie that he would get into trouble sooner or later if he continued to run around with the mouse.

"Ah, Ginky is all right," Dunce insisted. "He's lots of fun, and besides, I know enough to take care of myself."

"Well, time will tell," smiled the General, and time did tell very shortly.

One morning the Dunce and Ginky sat down behind the tool house to talk. The Dunce, who had a large sweet tooth for such a small person, complained about the shortage of sugar.

"Bunk!" exclaimed Ginky. "I know where there is enough sugar to fill this tool house. It's in a sugar bowl and there is no top on the bowl."

"Yeh, but it's not my sugar," said the Dunce.

"Well, you just said that you Teenie Weenies didn't have enough sugar, and here's this bowl with stacks in it. Why should those big people have all that sugar while you haven't any?" asked Ginky with a sly look. "Do you think that's fair?"

"Well, I don't know," the Dunce said doubtfully.

"Of course, it's not fair," Ginky came back "Let's go over there and get some. I'll let you down into the bowl and you can get a hatful. Those big folk would never miss a hatful."

"No, that wouldn't be right," said the Dunce. "It would be stealing."

"Aw, cat's whiskers!" exclaimed Ginky. "We could go over to that house and look at it, couldn't we?"

After much argument, Ginky finally talked the Dunce into going to see the sugar. The mouse led the way to the house, and they climbed up onto the table where the big sugar bowl stood. It was easy to climb up one of the handles, and the Dunce and Ginky were soon staring down into the bowl, which was about one-third full of sugar.

"Jinks!" exclaimed the Dunce. "I wish I had a hatful."

"Jump in and get some," suggested Ginky with a wicked grin, "and I'll pull you out with my tail."

"No, you won't get me into that bowl said the Dunce.

"Oh, yes, I will," laughed Ginky, and he gave the Dunce a push and sent him tumbling headlong into the bowl. Fortunately, the Dunce was not hurt by the fall. But he was very angry at Ginky. "Hey, you bum! You get me out of here!" he yelled.

"Get your self out," sneered Ginky. With that he disappeared, leaving the Dunce a prisoner, for it was quite impossible to climb up the hard, smooth sides of the bowl.

The poor Dunce was a prisoner for hours before the Teenie Weenies found him. The Cowboy pulled him out with his tiny lasso, while Ginky snickered from a safe place.

"I'll get even with you!" shouted the Dunce when he saw Ginky leering at him from the top of a box that stood on the table.

The mouse only thumbed his nose and disappeared.

"There will be no need of getting even with Ginky if you keep away from him," said the General.

"Yes, sir," answered the Dunce, meekly.

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Bottled Up - September 20th, 1942

Some weeks ago Ginky the mouse pushed the Dunce into a sugar bowl. The Dunce couldn't crawl up the smooth sides of the bowl, and he was there for some hours before the Teenie Weenies found him and pulled him out.

The Dunce was very angry with the mouse for that trick, and he watched for a chance to get even.

One day the Dunce and Gogo had gone to the dump, where the big folk throw away their trash, to look for anything that might be useful to the Teenie Weenies.

They discovered a pint vinegar bottle from which they removed the metal screw top, for the Chinaman was in need of a new wash tub, and bottle tops make excellent wash tubs and cooking pots.

While the two Teenie Weenies were removing the bottle top, the Dunce happened to see Ginky peering around a piece of broken dinner plate. The Dunce never let on that he had seen the mouse, but he began to think of some trick to play on Ginky. Suddenly an idea popped into his head and he whispered to Gogo.

"Y'all had bettah leave that mouse alone," Gogo whispered back. "We allers get into trouble when we're sociable with him! That mouse is a bad luck mouse if they evah was one!"

"Well, he can't go pushin' me into sugar bowls and get away with it," argued the Dunce.

The two Teenie Weenies dropped the top onto the ground and pretended to be interested in something inside the bottle.

The Dunce crawled into the neck of the bottle and, pulling a piece of peanut about the size of a garden pea from his pocket, he threw it into the empty bottle.

He then crawled out, dropped to the ground and, motioning Gogo to follow, the two little chaps pretended to wander off. But they really hid behind a tin can near by.

Presently, they heard Ginky, who is very curious, come from behind the broken plate and move toward the bottle. Then the Dunce saw the mouse climb up and crawl into the bottle.

"Come on!" he whispered to Gogo. "We'll put that top on the bottle before Ginky has a chance to get out."

The two Teenie Weenies dashed to the bottle and, before the mouse discovered them, they had the top half screwed on.

"There!" shouted the Dunce as he made a face at the frantic mouse. "Now you'll see how it feels to be a prisoner!"

The next morning, while the Teenie Weenies were at breakfast, the Dunce told how he had bottled up Ginky.

"Was the top screwed on tight?" asked the Doctor.

"Sure!" laughed the Dunce.

"Well, we'd better get there quick and remove that top," said the Doctor. "That poor mouse may be a goner!"

"Goner?" gasped the Dunce.

"Why, certainly," answered the Doctor. "Nothing can live without fresh air!" Snatching up his tiny medicine case, he started toward the dump on the run.

The mouse was unconscious, but he still breathed.

"Get him out of here!" ordered the Doctor.

Several men lifted the mouse up to the neck of the bottle, and then they pulled him out by his long tail.

The Doctor gave Ginky first aid treatment, and presently he opened his eyes.

He was quite weak, but soon he was able to walk, and he went off after giving the Dunce a nasty look.

The General saw that the Dunce was sorry for what he had thoughtlessly done. He felt, though, that the Dunce ought to have some slight punishment, so he ordered him to carry a lead pencil stub on his shoulder 15 times around the shoe house.

"Just to help you remember that it's a very unwise thing to try to get even with a foolish mouse," the General said.

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The Dunce Leaves Home - May 14th, 1922

There was no use denying the fact — the Dunce was just as bad as he could be. It might have been the spring weather which caused all his naughtiness, but it is more likely it was caused by a letter the Teenie Weenies received.

A few weeks ago a little girl wrote to them and said she felt sorry for the Dunce. "I think I could help him to be a good boy, don't you?" she wrote. "If the Dunce would come and live with me I would make a good boy out of him. Please let him come."

After this letter had been opened and read by the Teenie Weenies, the Dunce was so stuck up there was no living with him. He got into all sorts of trouble. One morning he dropped the head of a match down the spout of the old tea pot which served the Chinaman as a chimney for his laundry, and when it landed in the fire it exploded, blowing the lids off the tiny stove, and scaring the poor Chinaman nearly out of a year's growth.

The Dunce ran away several times when he should have been helping with the work all Teenie Weenies have to do, and the General sent him bed once without a bite of supper, but it did not seem to do a bit of good.

"If you'd ask me," growled Grandpa one evening after the Dunce had put salt in his malted milk, "I'd say he needs a good tannin'. If I had my way I'd take him out in the woodshed and I'd get a good stout blade of grass and I'd give him a good lickin'."

"Why, grandfather!" exclaimed the Lady of Fashion, "the Dunce isn't a bad boy. He's just full of fun and he really doesn't mean to be naughty."

"Well, if you call puttin' salt in malted milk and stealin' half a thimbleful of fried cakes fun, then I haven't got a sense of humor," growled the old gentleman, glaring over the top of his tiny spectacles.

"He really didn't take half a thimbleful of fried cakes," said the Cook. "There was only about a dozen and a half in the thimble."

"Land sakes!" gasped Grandpa, looking shocked. "A dozen and a half! That's enough to make a strong man sick. Did he have the stomachache?"

"No," laughed the Cook. "I suppose he gave most of them away."

The very next morning the Dunce caught an ant and turned it loose in Box Hall, where the Guff sisters lived, scaring the four little women half out of their wits. Miss Guff reported the matter at once to the General, and the head of the Teenie Weenies had the Policeman bring the Dunce to the shoe house.

"Now, Dunce," said the General when the Dunce stood before him, "do you think you are behaving like a gentleman?"

"N-N-No, sir," answered the Dunce.

"Well, I don't think you are either, and I want you to understand we can't stand for this foolishness a bit longer, and unless you turn over a new leaf and behave yourself you are going to get into trouble."

"Well, if you all don't like the way I behave around here I'm goin' to go and live with that little girl who wrote and asked me to come and live with her," said the Dunce.

"I believe that would be a good thing to do," answered the General. "She said that she would make a good boy out of you, and I think you had better go."

"Ah-ah-all right!" exclaimed the Dunce. "I'll go and get a few of my things and leave right away."

The Dunce stamped out of the room, and, running upstairs, he soon gathered a few of his clothes into a bundle.

The news quickly spread around under the rose bush that the Dunce was leaving, and when the foolish fellow stepped out on to the front porch a number of the Teenie Weenies were gathered about the old shoe.

"Well, good-by, Dunce," called the General as the Dunce shuffled off. "When you feel that you can behave yourself you will be welcomed back home."

The Dunce never answered a word, but walked rapidly away, and tears gathered in the eyes of some of the little people, for, in spite of his foolishness, the Dunce was much loved by the Teenie Weenies.

---

The Poor Dunce Has A Hard Day's Tramp - May 21st, 1922

"I don't care," muttered the Dunce as he shuffled out from beneath the rose bush. "I won't stand bein' scolded all the time, so I'll just leave 'em and go and live with that nice little girl."

At the end of the garden he turned around and looked longingly at the edge of the shoehouse roof, which showed over the top of a little hill. Two great tears gathered in his eyes, but brushing them away the poor Dunce set off toward the big road.

The Dunce had never thought to put food in his package, and after he had tramped all morning he discovered he was frightfully hungry.

"Jinks!" he thought to himself, "I wish I had some of the Cook's good doughnuts." Presently he found a banana skin lying beside the road, which some big person had thrown away, and from the skin he was able to eat all he could hold.

Late in the afternoon the Dunce's feet began to ache and smart. He bathed them in a tiny stream of water, but still they hurt, and he wished many times for a ride.

"I might get a bird to carry me on its back," be said to himself.

A little farther on he saw a sparrow beside the road, and he asked the bird to give him a lift.

"I'll take you' a ways for twenty-five grains of wheat," said the bird, looking the Dunce over suspiciously.

"I-I haven't got a bit of wheat," answered the Dunce.

"What!" exclaimed the bird. "Do you expect me to carry you for nothing?" And giving the poor Dunce a nasty look, it flew away.

The Dunce limped on for several miles, and finally he spied three young fuzzy chickens beside the road.

"Chickens are always kind hearted," thought the Dunce. "I'll speak to them."

"I say," cried the Dunce as he walked up to the three chickens, who stood staring at him, "is there any place around here where I could get a bite to eat and a place to sleep tonight?"

Why, you'd better come in and talk to our mother," answered one of the chickens in a high, piping voice. "My ma, she knows everything. She'll tell you." The three chickens led the Dunce into a big yard where a small coop stood, and as they walked up to the coop an old hen popped her big head out between the slats.

"Pardon me, madam," said the Dunce, taking off his hat, for in spite of his foolishness the Dunce had proper manners; "I have just been asking your children whether I could get a bite to eat and a place to sleep tonight."

"Why, yes," cackled the hen, who was quite impressed with the Dunce's polite ways. "We'll be fed pretty soon, and you're welcome to all you can eat. I only have three children, and I'd be glad to take you in for the night. You can snuggle right down under my feathers and you'll keep just as warm as a pinfeather."

The Dunce thanked her politely for her kindness, and sat down to rest his tired feet while the hen talked to him.

Presently a woman came out of the big house near by and threw several handfuls of wheat and corn to the chickens. When she had gone, the Dunce, who bad hidden behind the coop when the woman appeared, came out and ate several grains of wheat, after they had soaked for some time in a can of water which stood near.

"Now, my dear," said the hen when their supper had been eaten, "it's growing dark and you can climb right up in my nest and spend the night."

Now, the Dunce had once spent the night in a duck's nest, and he had been nearly eaten up by insects, so he politely refused the hen's invitation. He soon found an empty bottle nearby into which he dragged his tired little body, and, using his bundle of clothes for a pillow, he soon fell into a deep sleep.

The poor Dunce would not have gone to sleep so easily had he known that two small, bright eyes had watched him crawl into the bottle.

---

The Dunce Falls Among Thieves – May 28th, 1922

When the Dunce awakened the next morning he was terribly stiff after his long walk of the day before, and he ached in every muscle as he climbed out of the bottle where he had spent the night.

"Good morning, my dear," cried the old hen, who with her three chickens was busy eating breakfast, which had been spread on the ground in front of the coop. "You are just in time for breakfast."

The Dunce quickly washed his face and hands in the pan of fresh water that stood in front of the coop. Picking up two large grains of wheat for his morning meal, the little chap made a tiny cup out of a plantain leaf, into which he put the grains of wheat and covered them with a few drops of water.

"You'd better gather up a few grains to take along with you," suggested the hen. "It always best to have food along when you are traveling. You never can tell when you might need it. You can't travel well on an empty craw."

"Thank you for the suggestion," answered the Dunce. "I might want to get a bird to carry me over a river or something, and birds always want pay for what they do." The Dunce picked up ten grains of wheat and put them into the bundle with his clothes.

"Now, remember this," warned the old hen while the Dunce wrapped up the bundle. "Don't let the birds see how much wheat you've got. Never show your wealth, for once they find out how much you have they won't be satisfied until they get it."

The two grains of wheat which had been soaking were now soft, so the Dunce sat down and ate one of them for his breakfast. Picking up his bundle and stick, the Dunce thanked the old hen for her kindness. "Well, I'd better be on my way," he said.

"You'll find a lot of grackles down the road a ways, and I want to say you had better give those birds a wide berth," cried the old hen. "They're the worst thieves in the world, and you had better not have anything to do with them."

The Dunce thanked her for her advice, and set off down the big road toward the town in which the little girl lived who bad invited him to come and live with her.

After he had walked for a while his tiny feet began to ache, and he wished he had not left the shoe house. Presently he saw several grackles near the road, and the little chap wished more and more that he was safe at home under the rose bush.

At noon the little traveler stopped at a small stream of water, where he found the top of a salve box. He filled it with water and, building a fire under it, he took a grain of wheat out of his bundle and put in on to boil. When the wheat was done the little chap fished it out, and when it had cooled he peeled off the outer skin and ate it eagerly to the last crumb. The tired little fellow felt sleepy after his lunch, so he decided to take a short nap, and, making himself comfortable in the shade of a bush nearby, he lay down beside a big stone to sleep.

The poor little chap did not sleep long, for he was soon awakened by a loud, rasping voice, and, opening his eyes, he was horrified to see two big evil looking grackles staring at him.

"How do you do?" said the Dunce, jumping to his feet and bowing politely.

The grackles seemed to be pleasant fellows, so the Dunce soon became quite friendly, and told them who he was and where he was going.

"You have a long ways to go," said one of the birds. "I'd be glad to carry you part way on my back for a few grains of wheat."

"I'll give you five grains if you will carry me five miles," said the Dunce.

"It's a bargain," answered the bird.

The Dunce quickly opened his bundle and counted out five grains of wheat.

"You've got some more there, haven't you?" asked one of the birds, staring at the bundle with his big yellow eye.

"Y-y-yes, s-s-sir, b-b-but I've got to save a little to eat myself," answered the startled Dunce.

"Well," said the bird, winking at his companion, "my friend here can't be left out, so if you want us to help you, you will have to give him a share, too."

There was nothing to do but put out the other four grains of wheat, for the Dunce was now greatly frightened, particularly as they were in a lonely place.

The two big birds quickly gobbled up the wheat, and then, winking at each other, they burst into a loud laugh and flew away.

"I-I-I've been r-r-r-robbed!" cried the Dunce, and leaning against a big stone, he burst into tears.

Not far away lay a big log, and around its edge a keen pair of eyes watched the weeping Dunce.

---

The Dunce Is Kidnapped – June 4th, 1922

For a long time the poor Dunce sat and cried over the loss, his wheat. "They're just lowdown thieves and robbers!" sobbed the Dunce. "Takin' all my food and not keepin' their promise. I-I-I wish I hadn't left home. I haven't had anything but hard luck since I left and I'm goin' back again."

The Dunce wrapped up the bundle of clothes out of which he had taken the wheat and, hanging it to a stick over his shoulder, he limped off in the direction of home. The poor fellow's feet were blistered and sore and he made very slow progress, for he had to stop and rest every little while.

Presently he noticed two large birds light on a bush near the road; and when he drew near he was quite alarmed, as he recognized the two Crackles who had robbed him. He quickly hid under a mullein leaf, but the birds saw him, and presently they flew to the road and walked up to his hiding place.

"I say," said one of the birds, peering under the mullein leaf with one big yellow eye, "we've been lookin' for you and we've come back to pay you for the wheat you gave us. Just come on out and climb on my back and I'll take you the five miles we promised to carry you for the wheat."

"I-I-I have decided to go back home, so I won't trouble you to give me a lift," answered the Dunce, for something told him not to trust the birds.

The birds looked knowingly at each other and, walking off a few feet, they whispered together for a few minutes.

"Well, come on out of there," growled one of the birds, and, reaching his big head under the leaf, he caught the frightened Dunce by the sleeve with his beak and pulled the poor fellow out.

Getting a good stout grip on the Dunce's collar, the two birds flew up into the air and carried the frightened Teenie Weenie to the top of a tree fully a mile away.

"Wh-wh-what's the i-i-idea?" gasped the scared Dunce when he had been set on a swaying limb high above the ground.

"Shut up!" snapped one of the birds. "You keep quiet or you'll get your head pecked off."

The poor Dunce clung to the limb, while the two birds talked for some minutes. From the conversation of the birds the Dunce soon found that he was being held for ransom.

"I'll fly over about the rose bush where these Tiny Winnies live and see how the ground lies," said one of the birds. "We ought to get five hundred grains of wheat for this fellow, so you watch him while I'm away." And the bird flew off.

For a long time the Dunce sat astride the limb looking for some means of escape, but there was absolutely no chance to get away, for one of the birds sat on the limb next to the tree trunk and there was not a single limb within reach. The bird napped in the warm sunshine, every now and then opening his big yellow eye to watch the Dunce, but presently the bird fell into a deep sleep.

After a time the Dunce was attracted by a slight noise over his head and, looking up, he was astonished to see the Teenie Weenie Indian crawling out on a limb overhead. The Indian motioned the Dunce to be quiet, and then quickly threw the end of a thread down to him. Very cautiously the Dunce caught the thread and quickly climbed to the limb above. Being good climbers, the two Teenie Weenies soon made their way down to the ground, where they lost little time in finding a place to hide.

"We hide here till night," grunted the Indian. "When night comes we start for home. Bird no see us in night; he sleep, we safe."

While the two Teenie Weenies lay in hiding the Indian told the astonished Dunce how he had followed him. "When you go away, General he told me to follow you and see you no get into trouble. Me follow right behind and when me see bird take you off me climb tree and get you."

When night same on the two little fellows crawled out of their hiding place and set off for home. They arrived at the shoe house late the next morning, where they were given a royal welcome by the Teenie Weenies.

"I'm home for good," announced the Dunce after he had eaten two slices of frog ham, two grains of boiled rice, and almost a dozen doughnuts. "I'm goin' to behave myself, and, what's more, no one could ever get me to leave home; no, sir, not for a whole chocolate drop would I ever leave the old shoe house again."

---

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The Dunce Falls Into A Cup Of Coffee - May 18th, 1941

The Teenie Weenies are such a very small people that one of the little men could dive into a glass of water and have plenty of space to swim about. One raisin supplies a dessert for the entire tribe, and one olive would last for several days.

The Teenie Weenies live under a certain rose bush. There they have made a man’s shoe into a cozy little house. Being so small, they try to keep out of the big people’s way, but they do love to see what the big people do, so they often visit their houses when the occupants are away.

One Sunday morning several of the little folk decided to go for a walk. Presently it began to rain and that was most dangerous for such small people. One drop of rain would knock a Teenie Weenie completely off his feet, if it should hit him. So they all ran toward a big house for shelter. They crawled through the crack under a door and found themselves in a kitchen.

The little folk amused themselves for some time, wandering about the place. The Dunce, who is a very curious little fellow, climbed up onto a table. Then he shouted for the rest to come up. The Teenie Weenies are good climbers, and soon they scrambled to the top of the table.

The Dunce and the Cook climbed up onto a cup, which stood on the table. They began racing each other about the edge of the cup, which was nearly filled with coffee. Suddenly the Dunce slipped and fell, with a great splash. The Dunce is a good swimmer, even in coffee, and he quickly climbed up a spoon and dropped to the table. He was dripping with coffee, but the laughing Teenie Weenies dried him off by rolling him in a paper napkin which they found on the table.

The General, who is head of the Teenie Weenie family, ordered the Policeman to take the Dunce home. "Make him take a bath and send him to bed until supper time," said the General.

"S-s-say!" sputtered the Dunce. "I didn't hurt the coffee!"

"Do you suppose anyone wants to drink that coffee after you have been wallowing around in it?" asked the General.

The Policeman went off with the protesting Dunce while the rest of the Teenie Weenies set to work penciling, in huge letters, a note on a piece of paper napkin. When the note was done, the little folk fastened it to the handle of the spoon, and this is what it said:

"Don't drink this coffee. Someone fell into it."

---

A Hungry Rabbit - May 25th, 1941

"General!" said the Teenie Weenie Cowboy. "There's a rabbit over on the next street that's hungry. The boy who owns him has gone on a visit."

"We've got to feed him," said the General. "We can't let a neighbor starve."

"I know where there is a carrot!" cried the Dunce, "Some big folks threw it out this morning. It's a big one, too."

The Dunce led the Teenie Weenies to the spot where the carrot lay, and the little men began dragging it to the rabbit's house.

There was a board nailed to the front of the rabbit's house. So the Teenie Weenies were forced to boost the carrot over that board, which was 20 Teenie Weenie feet above the ground. That is only 5 inches in our measurement, but to the Teenie Weenies it was a great distance to lift such a heavy thing as a carrot.

The Old Soldier with the wooden leg brought along some string which he tied around the top of the carrot. With some pushing and others pulling, the little men finally managed to get the carrot into the rabbit's house.

The poor rabbit was nearly starved, and he began eating and trying to thank the Teenie Weenies at one and the same time.

"I don't think it is polite to try to talk with your mouth full of food," the Dunce said to the Turk.

"Of course it isn't polite," said the Turk; "but you've got to remember that the rabbit is terribly hungry and that excuses him in this case."

"Well, I've seen you talk with your mouth full of food," said the Cook, pointing toward the Dunce. "Only yesterday you asked me for another doughnut while you had your mouth full of the one I had given you a moment before."

"Well, I was hungry, too!" cried the Dunce.

"You're always hungry," laughed the Cook. "Especially for doughnuts. I believe you could eat a thimbleful of doughnuts and still be hungry."

The boy who owned the rabbit came home the next day, and it was not necessary for the Teenie Weenies to feed the rabbit again.

"I'm glad that boy came home," said the Teenie Weenie Sailor. "I strained my back lifting that carrot, and I don't want to lift any more until my back gets better."

---

---

The Water Was Fine, But— - 1919

Along about midnight one dark, windy night, the Teenie Weenies were all awakened by a most unusual sound. There was loud crackling and the old shoe house shook from toe to heel.

"It's an earthq-q-quake!" shouted the Dunce, sitting up in his tiny bed with eyes as big as coffee beans.

"Ah, keep quiet and let a fellow sleep," growled the Turk. "It's nothing but a newspaper that has blown against the house."

The Turk had guessed right, for the next morning the Teenie Weenies found an old newspaper jammed up against the front porch.

The General ordered the Dunce, Gogo and Zip to remove the paper, to cut it up into small pieces, and burn it. The three little chaps went to work and they labored all morning tearing the big paper away and burning it. By lunch time the work was done and the three Teenie Weenies were told that they could spend the rest of the day to suit themselves.

"Let's go over to the big brown house and see if we can find somethin' good to eat," suggested the Dunce.

""Ah, you all the time wantin' somethin' to eat," answered Gogo, who was much disgusted with the Dunce's suggestion, for the little fellows had just left the Teenie Weenie dinner table.

"It much too hot today. Me all baked dry. Let's go bathe in creek," said Zip, fanning himself with a rose petal.

"Oh, j-j-j-jimminie fish hooks," exploded the Dunce ‘We can't go in the water for an hour for we just had dinner and you're liable to get cramps if you go in swimmin' too soon after eatin'."

"Well, we all can just kind of stroll down to the creek, kinda slow like and then we can all sit down and rest a little and then it will be about time to go in the water," put in Gogo.

Zip and the Dunce considered Gogo's plan a good one, so the three Teenie Weenies slowly made their way to the creek, where they lay down under the cool shade of a great fern.

"How we all going to know when it has been an hour since we had our dinner?" asked the Dunce.

"Well, we all can count five hundred, kinda slow like, and then it will be about time for us to go in the water," answered Gogo.

"Well, we all can count five hundred, kinda slow like, and then it will be about time for us to go in the water," answered Gogo.After the three Teenie Weenies had counted five hundred, they threw off their clothes, piled them on a big stone, and jumped into the cool water. The little fellows splashed about in the water for some time and they never suspected that a very mischievous yellow eye was, watching them from the boughs of a nearby brush. The yellow eye belonged to a big purple crackle and he never lost a chance to make trouble for the Teenie Weenies.

Suddenly he flew down to the bank of the stream and before the little swimmers could get to the bank he caught up their clothes in his black bill and jumped onto an old tree branch.

"Well, goodbye, folks," laughed the bird. "A pleasant journey home," and spreading his wings he flew into the air, and disappeared over the tree tops with the Teenie Weenie's clothes.

The bird had taken all the clothes belonging to the Teenie Weenies except their shoes and stockings and hats, and Zip's shirt. The three Teenie Weenies couldn't go home without any clothes, so they were forced to wrap leaves about their bodies and in this manner they reached the shoe house. All the Teenie Weenies considered it a good bit of fun, but Zip, Gogo, and the Dunce could never see the joke.

---

The Women Lose Their Clothes While Swimming - September 14th, 1924

"Oh dear me I do wish we had our bathing suits along," said the Lady of Fashion. "I'm so hot I'm afraid my clothes will catch fire."

Three of the Teenie Weenie women had gone for a walk and they had found the day quite sultry, so they had stopped in a cool spot beside the creek to rest.

"I don't see why we can't go in without bathing suits. No one will come along here in a frog's age," suggested Tess Guff.

Both Mrs. Lover, and the Lady of Fashion looked shocked at the suggestion—but it was such a hot day, so they timidly peeled off their tiny clothes.

With many suppressed shrieks and squeals, the little women soon became accustomed to the cool water and they paddled about like tiny mermaids.

A busy Lady Bug paused a moment in her flight to view the pretty sight and a lazy frog, across the creek, dozed with one eye on the bathers.

"Suppose some one should come along and discover us," nervously suggested the Lady of Fashion.

"It's just as easy to suppose some one doesn't discover us, and that's what I am going to suppose," answered Tess, and she dived down into the blue green water.

While the little ladies were enjoying themselves in water, an old squirrel happened along. She was looking for thistledown and lacy bark with which to repair her nest, and when she spied the Teenie Weenie clothes on the shore she quickly gathered them up in her claws and scampered off. The horrified Teenie Weenies saw the squirrel run up a huge tree and disappear into a hollow limb.

"Oh dear me, what will we do?" cried the Lady of Fashion as she crawled up the bank "What will we wear home?"

"Well, there are plenty of leaves around and we won't be the first women to wear them," answered Tess.

All their clothes were gone but their shoes, so the little women tried to wrap them selves in leaves, but the leaves were so rough, and scratched their tender skin so badly, they were forced to give up the idea.

At last they discovered a small paper box and Tess had a brilliant idea. She pounded three holes in the top of the box with a sharp stone. Then the three little women lifted the box in the air, got under it, let it down and popped their heads through the holes.

"It's lucky we found this closed body instead of touring car," said Tess, when the box was in place. "Home, James."

---

Teenie Weenie Clothes Are Taken While Skinny Dipping - July 1st, 1934

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First Swim – May 10th, 1942

The Teenie Weenies had seen nothing of Ginky since his fight with the Dunce. But the little people knew that the mouse had been around the shoe house, for they found where Ginky had upset the rainwater thimble under the spout near the kitchen door. One morning they found that the Teenie, Weenie garbage pail had disappeared from the back porch and they discovered it hanging among the topmost branches of a blackberry bush. Mouse tracks under the bush plainly told that Ginky was the guilty mouse.

Tilly Titter, the sparrow, told the Teenie Weenies that she had it straight from a chipmunk, who heard it from a house wren that Ginky had told a blue jay that he would get even with the Teenie Weenies for putting him out of the dance on the night of the Teenie Weenies' big party It was reported that he was especially angry at the Dunce, and that he would give the Dunce a good thrashing if he ever caught that Teenie Weenie alone.

"That's pretty big talk," said the General, "and I don't want any more of it. There will be no fighting around here; and I want you to remember that."

Nothing more was heard about Ginky. Then one day he appeared, much to the embarrassment of four prominent Teenie Weenies. The Dunce, Gogo, the Cook and the Cowboy had gone to the creek in search of meat. The Teenie Weenie winter supply of smoked frog was almost gone and the little men hoped to get some fresh meat. Although they hunted for several hours they did not see a single frog.

"Say!" exclaimed the Dunce, mopping his round head with a Teenie Weenie handkerchief that was about as big as a postage stamp. "Let's go in for a swim."

"That's a fine idea," said the Cowboy, and he began to pull off his clothes. The rest of the Teenie Weenies quickly undressed and hung their tiny garments on the leaves of a plantain which stood on the shore of the creek. They all plunged into the cool water and paddled about with the ease of minnows. Presently the little swimmers heard a squeaking laugh from the shore. There was Ginky in the act of gathering up their clothes. They shouted at the mouse and made for the shore. But before they could climb the bank, the mouse has disappeared into some tall grass with most of their clothing.

In his haste Ginky had overlooked a few things. The Cowboy's boots had been overlooked and so had one of the Dunce's shoes. They found one of Gogo's stockings and then the Cowboy caught sight of his hat, halfway up the bank where Ginky had dropped it.

"We'll have to stay here until night and then sneak home in the dark," said the Cook.

"I'm going to get a shirt from that tree," said the Cowboy, and grasping a small leaf that hung from a low-growing bush, he pulled it off and wrapped it around his plumb little body. The other Teenie Weenies gathered leaves and when they had wrapped themselves they all set off for home.

They had only gone a short distance when a friendly chipmunk informed them that Ginky had hidden their clothes under some wintergreen leaves nearby. The chipmunk showed them the place and there they found their clothes. Everything was there except Gogo's other stocking.

"That wasn't losin' much," the little colored fellow said, "fo' it was mostly a hole in de toe."

---

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New Baby Sitter - December 3rd, 1967

One Saturday afternoon Mrs. Turk and Aunt Tess wanted to attend a meeting of the school board, but they could not get a baby-sitter. The Old Soldier with a wooden leg, who is fond of children, was busy in the Teenie Weenie workshop and Gogo was helping the Cook.

"Nipper is getting old enough to look after Zero and Judy," suggested Mrs. Turk. "We won't be gone long and, the responsibility will be good for him."

"Probably," said Aunt Tess doubtfully, "unless he gets too interested in his play to think of them."

Giving Nipper much advice on the care of the younger children, the two women left for the meeting at the school house. After a short time at the meeting, Aunt Tess decided she would go home and see how the children were getting along. When she opened the front door at the coffee pot house where the Turks live, she found the living room in disorder. "Well!" she said, "looks as though a cyclone has hit the place."

"It's her," wailed Nipper, pointing towards Judy, who was in a desperate struggle with Zero over a candlestick one of them had taken from the table. "She gets into things faster than I can stop her. She upset a thimbleful of water, and while I was looking for a mop to clean it up, she pulled the tablecloth off."

Judy let go of the candlestick and Zero gave it to Aunt Tess.

"I tried to get Judy to play ball, but she is always changing her mind and wants to do some thing else," Nipper complained. "I had an awful time trying to keep her from eating a candle. The reason the firewood is scattered all around is because I had to let her drag it out of the wood box to keep her quiet."

"Nipper, it seems to me that you have been trying to handle a stick of dynamite," said Aunt Tess. "Now I'll take the baby upstairs and put her to sleep while you boys pick up things. When I come down, we'll put the room in good shape before your mother comes home."

Mrs. Turk was delighted to find her house spick and span and her boys in good humor when she returned from the meeting.

"Now we won't have to bother getting a baby-sitter any more," she told Aunt Tess.

Aunt Tess kept quiet, but she resolved to be on watch when Nipper is the baby-sitter.

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Halloween - November 3rd, 1968

"I heard an owl last night," said Mrs. Turk anxiously, "and I don't think it's a very good idea for the children to be out playing trick or treat this year.

"We could have a nice party right here," she told Aunt Tess, "and invite the four little Respectable mice."

"That's a good plan," replied Aunt Tess. "It might even help those little mice to pick up some manners. I'm sure the Lady of Fashion will help us and I'll bake a cake."

"We could serve them grape juice and they'd have just as nice a time here as they would outdoors, especially with that owl flying around."

"The Respectable mice don't like grape juice," Mrs. Turk reminded Aunt Tess. "They like warm water with plenty of honey in it."

So after supper on Halloween night, the Teenie Weenie women pulled the table out in the center of the room on the first floor of the coffee pot.

They set it with drinking cups and cake plates and candles, and when the four little mice arrived they were seated with the three Turk children for the party.

Just as the women were about to serve the cake there was a loud knock on the door of the coffee pot. Aunt Tess called out, "Come in," and a great head appeared in the doorway and bellowed, "Trick or treat!"

The Turk children burst into tears and the four little mice crawled under the table and hid.

Then somebody realized that the uninvited guest was really Ginky, covered with a dirty rag that had holes cut in it to enable the mouse to see.

"Get out of here!" shouted the Policeman, who had dropped in hoping for a bite of Aunt Tess' cake.

"This is Halloween," said the Lady of Fashion. "Ginky has a right to celebrate too," and she handed him a piece of the cake.

Ginky thanked her politely, the Turk children stopped crying and the four little Respectable mice came out from under the table to play games until it grew quite late and the Policeman escorted them home.

When he returned to the coffee pot house a little later in the evening, the Policeman told Mrs. Turk that he had neither heard nor seen an owl who had made the Teenie Weenies move their Halloween party indoors in the first place.

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A Teenie Weenie Mermaid - August 17th, 1969

"I wish we could get rid of that swimming pool," Mrs. Turk told her husband. "Three times Judy has run away and once I found her climbing the steps up to the diving board. I'm afraid she will fall in and drown."

"She should be taught how to swim," answered Mr. Turk. "If one knows how to swim, there is less danger."

"But Judy wouldn't have a chance in that big sauce-dish pool," argued Mrs. Turk. "It fills me with horror every time I think of that pool."

"Every child should be taught to swim," put in Aunt Tess. "One never knows when one may fall into deep water and a bit of paddling might save one's life."

"I saw a jar top at the dump yesterday and I can bring it down here, fill it with water, and teach Judy to swim in it," said Mr. Turk.

"That will simply increase her desire to get into that pool," cried Mrs. Turk. "I'm against teaching the child to swim."

After much persuasive argument by Aunt Tess and the Lady of Fashion, Mrs. Turk finally agreed to let Judy be taught to swim if the jar top was not too big.

Mr. Turk and several of the Teenie Weenie men brought the mason jar top to the coffee pot and filled it with water.

"That's too much water," protested Mrs. Turk. "Judy could drown in that."

"There's only half-an-inch of water in it," argued Mr. Turk. "There must be enough water in the jar lid to float the swimmer."

Most of the Teenie Weenies gathered to see Judy's first swimming lesson, and to their surprise, the child learned very fast. In a short time Judy was swimming across the jar top without help. After a week of practice, she was swimming like a minnow.

"Now," Mr. Turk said, "if Judy falls into our big swimming pool, she can swim to the ladder hanging from the diving platform and crawl out."

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The Dunce Plays A Joke - 1918

The weather had been bitter cold for several days, and most of the Teenie Weenies were mighty glad, for the pond near the big fence was frozen solid. All the little folks who had skates spent their spare time on the ice. Those who had no skates kept the Dutchman busy night and day making them, for that fat little chap was wonderfully clever in such things.

The Dutchman made the skate runners out of pins, which he heated in his forge, and hammered them out on his tiny anvil. He fastened the runners to a block of wood which was cut out in the shape of a shoe sole. In three days the Old Soldier, who whittled out the soles for the Dutchman, cut up four matches and the Dutch man hammered ten pins into skate runners.

When their work was done for the day the little people would hurry to the pond, where they would build a huge fire, and then they would skate until some were so tired they could scarcely walk home.

"Say, Chuck," whispered the Dunce into the Chinaman's ear one afternoon as the two Teenie Weenies stood warming themselves before the bonfire, "I g-g-g-got an idea f-f-f-or a lot of fun, and if you'll help me I'll let you in on it."

"Allee same me likie flun," answered the Chinaman. "Me belly muchie much like to help."

"Well, here's the scheme," said the Dunce, looking cautiously about. "I got four grains of popcorn in my pockets, and when there's a crowd around the fire we can drop them in the hot coals and then hide over there behind that bush and wait for the fun."

"Alleite," agreed the Chinaman, and the two Teenie Weenies sat down on a log near the fire to await a good opportunity to toss the corn into the coals.

Presently a number of the Teenie Weenies gathered about the fire, and when they were busy talking the two little chaps dropped the corn into the hot coals and quickly sneaked off behind a bush near by.

In a few seconds the first grain popped with a great bang, followed immediately by two more loud reports. A huge cloud of ashes and sparks flew out of the fire, and with the loud reports of the popping corn the Teenie Weenies were scared half out of their wits.

"The Poet, who was sitting on a log, had his hat blown off and was tumbled back into the snow on his head. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but everybody gathered about the fire was badly scared.

There is nothing more to say except that that the Dunce and the Chinaman were taken home by the Policeman and sent to bed with out a bite of supper.

"Ah, j-j-j-jimminie f-f-f-fish hooks," whimpered the Dunce as he was told to climb into bed without any supper. "J-j-j-just m-m-my luck, t-t-too, when we were going to have a stuffed raisin for dessert.

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The Teenie Weenies Under the Rose-Bush – (1922)
Chapter 28 - The Dunce and the Chinaman Play a Joke

The weather had been bitter cold for several days, and most of the Teenie Weenies were mighty glad, for the pond near the big fence was frozen solid. All the little folks who had skates spent their spare time on the ice. Those who had no skates kept the Old Soldier busy night and day making them, for that little chap was wonderfully clever in such things.

The Old Soldier made the skate runners out of pins, which he heated in his forge, then hammered them out on his tiny anvil. He fastened the runners to a block of wood which was cut out in the shape of a shoe sole. In three days the Turk, who whittled out the soles for the Old Soldier, cut up four matches and the Old Soldier hammered ten pins into skate runners.

When their work was done for the day the little people would hurry to the pond, where they would build a huge fire, and then they would skate until some were so tired they could scarcely walk home.

"Say, Chuck," whispered the Dunce into the Chinaman's ear one afternoon as the two Teenie Weenies stood warming themselves before the bonfire, "I g-g-g-got an idea f-f-f-for a lot of fun, and if you'll help me I'll let you in on it."

"Allee same me likie flun," answered the Chinaman. "Me belly muchie much like to help."

"Well, here's the scheme," said the Dunce, looking cautiously about. "I've got four grains of popcorn in my pockets, and when there's a crowd around the fire we can drop them in the hot coals and then hide over there behind that bush and wait for the fun."

"Allee light," agreed the Chinaman. And the two Teenie Weenies sat down on a log near the fire to await a good opportunity to toss the corn into the coals.

Presently a number of the Teenie Weenies gathered about the fire, and when they were busy talking the two little chaps dropped the corn into the hot coals and quickly sneaked off behind a bush near by.

In a few seconds the first grain popped with a great bang, followed immediately by two more loud reports. A huge cloud of ashes and sparks flew out of the fire, and with the loud reports of the popping corn the Teenie Weenies were scared half out of their wits.

The Poet, who was sitting on a log, had his hat blown off and was tumbled back into the snow on his head. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but everybody gathered about the fire was badly scared.

"I think the Dunce and the Chinaman know some thing about this," cried the General, glancing at the two Teenie Weenies, who were giggling behind the trunk of the bush. "Mr. Policeman, bring them here and we'll soon find out."

The Policeman quickly brought the Dunce and the Chinaman before the General, where they soon confessed that they had thrown the corn into the fire.

"That was a most vicious thing to do," said the General severely. "Don't you know that if one of those popping grains of corn had hit some of us on the head we might have been badly hurt?"

"N-n-n-no, s-s-sir, y-y-yes, s-s-sir," answered the frightened Dunce. "We n-n-never thought it would hurt anyone. We j-j-just thought it would s-s-s-scare ‘em."

"Well, you fellows ought to have a little time to think over the matter, so you can go to bed without your supper," said the General.

The Policeman took the two little fellows by the arms and led them off to the shoe house, where the Dunce was put to bed, while the Chinaman was sent off to the old teapot, where he lived.

"J-j-jinks!" exclaimed the Dunce as he crawled into his tiny bed. "Just my luck, when we were goin' to have fried frog ham and baked stuffed raisin for supper. Oh, crickety!" and the tears came into the poor little fellow's eyes.

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Dunce Sneaks Popcorn Into The Camp Fire - February 11th, 1934

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A Bad Joke – January 21st, 1945

It had been cold during the last week and the Teenie Weenies were having fine skating. They had found a tiny pond near the Teenie Weenie village and it was covered with smooth hard ice. It was in the middle of a dense thicket of tall weeds where big people were not likely to go. The little people spent most o their time skating there for Teenie Weenies have a great deal of time on their hands during the winter.

Most of the Teenie Weenies would gather at the pond just as soon as their daily tasks were done. They would build a big fire out of weeds and twigs where they could warm their Teenie Weenie toes and fingers. They played games of all sorts and sometimes Nick the squirrel would let the little people catch onto his long tail and he would pull them around the pond. The Turk and the Old Soldier had made Teenie Weenie skates for all the little people. They had hammered runners out of pins which were then fastened to wooden soles that had been carved from burned matches and these could be securely bound onto Teen Weenie feet.

The Cook often brought an acorn basket filled with Teenie Weenie doughnuts and sandwiches to the pond and the little folks would eat their lunch there. They had lots of fun and sometimes they tumbled and bumped their Teenie Weenie heads but no one was really hurt. One day, tho, the Dunce played a thoughtless joke that might have been very serious. He stuffed two grains of popcorn into a hollow reed which had been dragged up to be used for firewood. The Policeman threw the reed onto the fire and when the grains of popcorn grew hot they exploded with a loud bang. The two grains popped at almost the same instant, scattering hot coals and bits of burning firewood all about the place. One grain of corn popped right at the Police man, hitting that plump little chap right in the tummy. It tumbled him over and completely knocked the breath out of him. The General fell off the stick on which he had been sitting and upset the basket of sandwiches and doughnuts.

The General was terribly angry. He knew the Dunce had put the corn into the fire for he had done that very thing once before, and besides, the Dunce was the only Teenie Weenie that laughed over the accident. The General sent the Dunce home to bed for the rest of the day, ordered that he should have no dessert for a week, that his skates should be taken away from him, and that he should stay away from the pond for two weeks.

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Poppy Fluffs – January 8th, 1956

The Dunce makes a lot of trouble for the Teenie Weenie Cook. He really doesn't mean to be troublesome but he just can't keep out of mischief, especially when he is hungry, and he's usually hungry. The Cook has to keep all cookies and doughnuts under lock and key, especially poppy fluffs.

Poppy fluffs are a great favorite with the Dunce and the Lady of Fashion makes them particularly good. The fluffs are made from two or three grains of popped corn. The white fluffy part of the popped corn is scraped off, mixed with grated hickory nut meat and finely chopped, dried service berries. A grain or two of salt is added along with maple sugar. The dough is rolled out and cut into cookie shapes, sprinkled lightly with powdered black walnut meat, and baked quickly in a hot oven.

The Lady of Fashion usually bakes the fluffs when the Dunce is not around to bother her, and one morning when the Dunce announced that he was ‘going down to the creek she decided to bake some fluffs. The Cook brought three grains of popcorn from cellar but the Lady of Fashion thought that two popped grains would be enough to make cookies. The Cook laid one of the grains of corn on the kitchen table and popped the other two grains. The Lady of Fashion scraped off the soft white part of the corn, mixed her dough and cut out the cookies which she put into two Teenie Weenie baking pans. While she waited for the stove to get hot she left the kitchen. The Cook had gone down to the cellar to get a piece of potato for lunch when the Dunce came along.

The Dunce went into the kitchen to warm his fingers and toes for the weather was very cold outdoors, He spied the grain of unpopped corn on the table and he promptly decided to pop it in the oven. While he was waiting for the corn to pop the Lady of Fashion came into the kitchen just as the Cook came up from the cellar. At that moment the corn popped with a loud bang. It blew off the stove oven door, knocked over one of the pans of unbaked cookies, and upset a pan of water on the stove which made a great cloud of steam and completely put out the stove fire.

Both the Cook and the Lady of Fashion gave the Dunce a good scolding, and it is quite needless to say that the Dunce never got a single taste of that batch of poppy fluff.

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The Fuskies - January 24th, 1954

It does seem odd that accidents and misfortunes come to the Teenie Weenies in bunches. For several days there had been one accident after another in the Teenie Weenie village. Working in the coffee can which the little men use for a workshop, the Dunce had his thumb smashed while he was helping the Turk rivet a handle onto a cooking kettle they were making from a metal bottle cap. This accident brought on an argument among the men who happened to be in the shop at the time. Some of them believed the trouble was caused by the Fuskies and others insisted that accidents were caused by carelessness.

"It's the Fuskies that's makin' all these mishaps," argued the Soldier with a wooden leg. "They're back of all our troubles."

"Nonsense!" answered the Doctor. "There isn't any such thing as a Fuskie. No one has ever seen one."

"Of course you can't see 'em. They're too small to be seen, said the Old Soldier. "They're so small that fifty thousand of 'em roller skate on the head of a pin without ever bumping into each other. Why, 10,490 of 'em have been known to attend a baseball game on the point of a lead pencil."

"If they are as small as that they couldn't possibly make all the trouble you claim they have made," the Doctor argued.

"It's because there are so many of 'em!" the Old Soldier retorted. ‘There are millions and millions of 'em, and when they want to cause trouble they all work together. Now take this mashed thumb the Dunce has. Some several million got together and pushed his thumb right under the hammer just as the Turk hit the rivet."

"I suppose you think that the Fuskies knocked the Lady of Fashion off the thimble she was standing on to wash the cupboard shelves," said the Doctor.

"Certainly!" argued the Old Soldier. "They saw her standing up there and about a million of them rushed at her and tumbled her off."

"Me all time thinks Fuskies steal my cookies," put in the Chinaman. "All time flind less cookies in jar."

"Pooh!" exclaimed the Doctor with a sly look at the Old Soldier. "Fuskies don't eat cookies. They live on bologna and hot air."

"That's right," the Old Soldier said with a grin.

The Doctor was chuckling as he left the workshop.

"It's the Fuskies who give him a lot of his practice, even if he won't admit he believes in 'em," the Old Soldier told the Chinaman. "Why, hardly anybody would ever get hurt but for the Fuskies."

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100,000,000 Fuskies - April 25th, 1954

There are days when things seem to go all wrong in the Teenie Weenie village, when tempers get ruffled and accidents happen. Sometimes it's the fault of the Teenie Weenies themselves but whether that is so or not some of the little people like to have someone or something to blame for their troubles and the Fuskies are often used for that purpose.

According to the Old Soldier with a wooden leg, Fuskies are so very small they can't be seen. They are so tiny that two hundred thousand of them can go skating on a frozen raindrop and there still would be plenty of room for all of them to do fancy skating. Several thousand of them have been said to hitchhike a ride on a speck of flying dust. Fuskies love to tease and several million can do a lot of mischief when they gang up on a single Teenie Weenie.

The Dunce claimed that the Fuskies pushed his arm when he upset a cherry seed of hot tea into the Policeman's lap. Shortly after this accident the Chinaman fell off a hazelnut on which he had been standing while washing a window in the teapot where he lives and does the Teenie Weenie laundry.

"The Fuskies shoved the Chinaman off that nut," argued the Sailor, who is a firm believer that Fuskies make trouble.

"That's silly," said the Lady of Fashion. "The Chinaman just slipped. Fuskies had nothing to do with his fall."

"Who knows," put in the Cook, "whether the Chinaman slipped or a few hundred thousand Fuskies gave him a push?"

It was while this argument was going on that Ginky slipped into the shoehouse kitchen and snatched up a hazel nut bowl of Teenie Weenie doughnuts. A number of the men ran after the mouse but he managed to escape altho he spilled many of the doughnuts in getting away.

That mouse shouldn't have gotten away," said the Cowboy. "Gogo should have hung onto his tail when he grabbed it."

"Lawsy !" exclaimed Gogo, "I held on as tight as I could but the Fuskies got to pushin' me and I had to let go. There must have been a hundred million of 'em pushin' me back and another hundred million pullin' that ornery mouse away from me."

"We women are starting house cleaning tomorrow," put in the Lady of Fashion, "and we could use a few million Fuskies to induce you men to help us."

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Fuskies! - February 17th, 1952

Since last Summer, when Nipper, one of the Teenie Weenie children, saw a bug climbing up the side of the shoe house, the child has spent most of his time trying to imitate the insect. He is constantly climbing up onto things and he has had several bad tumbles. But in spite of many warnings he still tries to out-crawl the bug. However, the Old Soldier with a wooden leg had a long talk with Nipper and it is to be hoped the child will be less bug-like in the future.

Although there was snow on the ground, Nipper and his little brother Zero were allowed to play out on the back porch one pleasant morning. The Old Soldier and the Turk had just set out to cut some firewood when Nipper, who had been trying to climb up onto the top of the garbage thimble, fell off and bumped his tiny head. The Old Soldier picked Nipper up and carried him into the house. He tried to comfort the bellowing child.

"I felled down!" screamed Nipper. "I felled down!"

"No, you didn't fall," said the Old Solder. "The Fuskies pushed you off that thimble."

Nipper forgot to bellow and stared at the Old Soldier.

"The Fuskies pushed you off," continued the Old Soldier. "Fuskies are so little that only a Teenie Weenie with second sight can see them. They are so small they have to use a stepladder to climb up onto a postage stamp. They go around making a lot of trouble because they love to tease folks - especially children who climb up onto things. Fuskies ride around on snowflakes during the Winter - thousands of 'em can get onto a snowflake. In the Summertime they climb onto the backs of lady bugs and butterflies and at night they ride around on fireflies. They hitchhike rides on mosquitoes and make that insect bite folks. They do a lot of mean things but they like best to knock children off when they have climbed up onto things."

"Eh?" Nipper said, wanting to hear more.

"Yes, sir," said the Old Soldier. "The Fuskies are all around everywhere, and when they see a child climbing up onto something they all rush at him - millions of 'em - and push the youngster off. That's what happened to you when you thought you fell off the garbage thimble. The Fuskies pushed you off."

"Bad Fussies!" Nipper said.

"Yes, sir," said the Old Soldier. "The Fuskies are mighty wicked little chaps. If I were you I wouldn't give 'em a chance to push me off of anything."

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Fuskie Trouble - November 9th, 1952

When things go badly in the Teenie Weenie village, the little people, no taller than matches, usually blame the Fuskies. Fuskies are so small they must use a stepladder to climb up onto a postage stamp. It would take a Fuskie more than half a day to walk around a five cent piece. They are so tiny they can only be seen by a Teenie Weenie with second sight. Thousands of them can ride on the back of a house fly without stepping on each other's toes. Even though they are so small, they can cause a great deal of trouble, because Fuskies love to tease - and there are so many of them they can do an amazing amount of mischief.

A few days ago the Teenie Weenies had a lot of trouble and blamed it all on the Fuskies, who must have been hanging around by the millions. The whole day was filled with one bad thing after another. It started when the Old Soldier with a wooden leg got out of bed in the morning. He stepped into a cherry seed bowl and broke his wooden leg. While he was mending it he cut his finger, and while the Cook was tying up the finger a pot of breakfast food on the stove boiled over and put out the fire. Nothing more happened until after breakfast, though the sassafras tea was a bit weak, and then one of the Teenie Weenie children fell into a catsup bottle cap that was half full of water. Just as the child was dragged out of the water the Dunce batted a Teenie baseball through a window in the half-gallon syrup can schoolhouse.

One unfortunate thing after another happened all day long, but the Fuskies really got busy just before supper. The wind began to blow and a small branch from a big birch tree near by fell onto the shoe house, badly wrecking the front porch. One of the lead pencils which are used for porch posts was knocked down. The water spout was badly damaged and the Teenie Weenies were scared half out of their wits. Skippy the chipmunk tried to drag off the branch, causing more damage.

"It will have to be sawed into pieces before we can get it off the roof," the Sailor told Skippy, who went off in a huff.

It began to rain and the water leaked through the damaged roof into a bedroom, and several of the men had to catch the dripping water in thimbles and dump it out a window. It was nearly midnight before the little folks could eat their supper.

"The Fuskies have caused all this trouble today," said the Old Soldier. "There's no doubt about it - only millions of Fuskies could do so much damage."

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Fuskies Again - November 30th, 1952

During the night the wind began to blow. Great gusts whined through the rosebushes under which the Teenie Weenie village stands. Dry leaves slapped against the shoe house, shaking the building from heel to toe.

"Listen to that," said the Old Soldier with a wooden leg. "All those leaves we gathered up to burn are scattered over the village."

"It's the Fuskies playing pranks again," said Gogo.

"Nonsense!" scoffed the Doctor. "You can't prove there are such things as Fuskies. No one has ever seen them."

"Course you can't see them," argued Gogo. "They're too small to be seen. They are so little that 200 of them can walk shoulder to shoulder through the eye of a needle without even touching the sides."

"If they are as small as all that, they certainly can't do much damage," said the Doctor.

"But there are millions and millions of 'em," said Gogo.

"When ten or twenty million Fuskies get their shoulders under a leaf they can send it flying through the air. They like to make trouble for folks, and when they get busy they sure can do a lot of mischief."

Next morning there was nearly two inches of snow on the ground. If had to be shoveled off the woodpile before the Cook could get breakfast. Then the paths had to be shoveled clear and the porches cleaned off. The men had just finished when the Rhyming Rabbit hopped into the village. He was hungry, so several of the men had to go down into the Teenie Weenie cellar under the shoe house and get him a carrot.

The men had to bring the carrot up through the trap door in the kitchen. The vegetable was so big that hunks had to be cut off to get it through. It delayed breakfast, but even more trouble was in store for the little people, because the rabbit knocked the snow back into the cleared paths on its way out.

"See!" said Gogo. "The Fuskies pushed that old rabbit over here and made him fill up our paths again."

The Doctor snorted as he finished his tea.

Then one of the Teenie Weenie children choked on a raspberry seed which had fallen out of the Lady of Fashion's breast pin. After a lot of excitement the Doctor recovered the seed. Then he was called to the Respectable Mice's home to look after two of the quadruplets, who had come down with a case of tail itch.

"Probably the Fuskies have been visiting the Respectable Mice," the Doctor snorted as he wallowed through the deep snow.

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