{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_32964/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_32964","id":"gutenberg_32964","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/32964","summary":null,"tags":["Animals -- Juvenile fiction","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Novels","Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy","Cats -- Juvenile fiction","Fairy tales"],"text":"E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Emmy, and the Project Gutenberg Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)\n\n\n\nNote: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this\n      file which includes the original illustrations.\n      See 32964-h.htm or 32964-h.zip:\n      (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/32964/pg32964-images.html)\n      or\n      (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/32964/32964-h.zip)\n\n\n\n\n\nPUSS IN BOOTS, JR., AND THE GOOD GRAY HORSE\n\nby\n\nDAVID CORY\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n          _Little Tom Thumb with his tiny spear\n             Follows Puss Boots both far and near.\n           Did you ever see such a brave little cat,\n             With a shiny sword and a feathered hat?_\n\n[Illustration]\n\n          _\"Faster, faster, Good Gray Horse,\n               Hasten swiftly on your course,\n            'Till I see the stately towers\n               Where my father spends his hours.\"_\n\n[Illustration]\n\n          _\"Grandmother Goose your trusty broom\n               Makes spick and span each cottage room,\"\n            Said little Puss Boots, doffing his hat,\n               For he was a most polite little cat._\n\n[Illustration]\n\n          _This funny gnome is puzzled quite\n             Why little Puss Junior is so polite.\n           But Puss has manners very grand\n             I would have everyone understand._\n\n\nPUSS IN BOOTS, JR., AND THE GOOD GRAY HORSE\n\n[Illustration: THE GOOD GRAY HORSE RUNS AWAY WITH PUSS JUNIOR AND THE\nLITTLE OLD MAN.\n\n_Puss-in-Boots Jr. and the Good Gray Horse._ _Frontispiece._]\n\n\nPUSS IN BOOTS, JR.\n\nAND THE GOOD GRAY HORSE\n\nby\n\nDAVID CORY\n\nAuthor of\nLittle Jack Rabbit Books,\nLittle Journeys to Happyland,\nPuss in Boots Books, Etc.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nProfusely Illustrated\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGrosset & Dunlap\nPublishers      New York\nMade in the United States of America\n\nCopyright, 1921, by Harper & Brothers\nPrinted in the United States of America\nG-V\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n                                         PAGE\n          THE MAGIC WINGS                   1\n          THE HOLD-UP                       6\n          WILLOW TREE INN                   9\n          THE ROBBER FAIRIES               12\n          BICYCLE PUSS                     15\n          PUSS RECOVERS HIS STEED          18\n          GEORGY PORGY                     21\n          A JOLLY GALLOP                   23\n          THE RUNAWAY                      26\n          HUMPTY-BUMPTY                    29\n          THE HAYMOW                       32\n          CHAUFFEUR TAFFY                  35\n          THREE LITTLE KITTENS             37\n          MR. RAT                          40\n          A BIG TUMBLE                     43\n          HUNGRY KITTENS                   46\n          KITTENS WASH MITTENS             49\n          PIE FOR MRS. MOUSE               52\n          SING A SONG OF SIXPENCE          54\n          DOCTOR FOSTER                    57\n          A MISCOUNT                       60\n          PLUM PUDDING STORY               64\n          \"ONE I LOVE, TWO I LOVE\"         67\n          LITTLE JENNY WREN                69\n          THE MISCHIEVOUS RAVEN            71\n          CANDY TOWN                       73\n          THE BRAMBLE-BUSH MAN             76\n          DAFFY-DOWN-DILLY                 78\n          \"DONKEY, DONKEY, OLD AND GRAY\"   81\n          \"TICK, TACK, TOO\"                84\n          LULLABY BABY                     87\n          THE FIRE                         90\n          THE OLD WOMAN'S RIDDLE           93\n          THE COBBLER                      95\n          DOCTOR DRAKE                     98\n          \"NO BIGGER THAN MY THUMB\"       101\n          TELL-TALE-TIT                   104\n          ON THE WAY                      106\n          LITTLE BOY BLUE                 109\n          ALPHABET TOWN                   112\n          LUCY LOCKET                     114\n          TOM, THE PIPER'S SON            117\n          OLD DAME TROT                   119\n          BOBBY SHAFTO                    121\n          LITTLE ROBIN REDBREAST          124\n          THE ELF CHILD                   127\n\n\n\n\nPUSS IN BOOTS, JR., AND THE GOOD GRAY HORSE\n\n\n\n\nTHE MAGIC WINGS\n\n\nONE morning as little Puss, Junior, on his Good Gray Horse rode through\nMother Goose country he saw a spider sitting in her tiny lace house. She\nkept very still, for the early dewdrops still clung to the delicate web.\nAnd as the sun shone down they looked for all the world like diamonds on\na piece of lace. So little Puss, Junior, stretched out his paw and,\nwould you believe it, instead of a drop of water he picked off a real\ndiamond.\n\n\"Ha, ha!\" cried the little black spider. \"The witch's feather in your\nhat has changed the dewdrop into a diamond. But I have no use for\nprecious stones, so you may have it. The flies that come to my net are\nmore to my liking.\" And then she tied the strings of her little black\nbonnet and put on her black silk mitts and waited for a fly to make a\ncall.\n\nWell, after putting the diamond in his pocket, Puss rode away, and by\nand by, after a while he came to a steep hill. And, oh, dear me! it was\na dreadfully steep hill, for Puss had missed his way and there was no\npath or road for him to follow. And while he waited, not knowing what to\ndo, he heard a little voice say:\n\n          \"If I bring four wings to you\n           To fasten on your horse's shoe\n           Will you give me for my locket\n           The sparkling diamond in your pocket?\"\n\n\"How do I know my Good Gray Horse can fly with these wings?\" asked Puss.\n\n\"He may try them first,\" said the voice, and out from behind a stump\njumped a little dwarf, dressed in green, with a red turban on his head.\nQuick as a wink he fastened a wing to each foot of the Good Gray Horse.\nAnd then he clicked his tongue against his teeth and away went the Good\nGray Horse up in the air like a great bird.\n\n\"Hold on!\" shouted the dwarf. \"Don't forget to give me the diamond,\" and\nhe held out his little hat for Puss to drop it in as the Good Gray Horse\nsailed away on his winged feet over the mountain.\n\nWell, as soon as he crossed the top of the great high mountain he came\ndown to earth and, strange to say, as soon as he touched the ground the\nwings on his feet changed into long, silky hairs, and, but for these, he\nwas just the same as he was before meeting the dwarf.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"Come, little master, since I have lost my wings, to yonder inn. I am\nhungry for oats.\" So Puss rode forward and, after leaving him in the\nstable, sat down in the inn and waited for his dinner. Pretty soon a\nlittle bird settled on the window sill and sang:\n\n          \"From my snug little nest in the old apple tree,\n             All covered with blossoms so fair,\n           I never have seen, though I'm over thirteen,\n             A horse that could fly thro' the air.\"\n\nJust then the innkeeper's wife came in, and when she saw the little bird\non the window sill close to Puss, Junior, she cried, \"Time for little\nbirds to be in their nests.\" So the little bird flew away, and as soon\nas Puss had eaten his dinner he again mounted his Good Gray Horse. After\na while he met an old man and a little dog. The little dog was carrying\na basket in his mouth and the little old man a big pipe, from which the\nsmoke curled up in the shape of a bird. All of a sudden he gave a puff\nand, would you believe it, a glossy gray pigeon flew away.\n\nPretty soon the smoke again curled up from the pipe into the form of a\npigeon, and then, just as before, the little old man gave a puff, and\naway flew a pigeon, only this time it was grayish blue.\n\nI don't know how long this would have gone on if the little old man had\nnot suddenly turned around.\n\n\"You have a wonderful pipe,\" said little Puss, Junior. \"I've never seen\none like it.\"\n\n\"There are lots of strange things in Mother Goose Land,\" answered the\nlittle old man. \"If you are a traveler, as I think you are, you will\nmeet with many strange adventures.\"\n\nThen with a bow he turned in at the gate of a little pink-and-blue\ncottage, at the rear of which stood a pigeon house on top of a tall\npole. As Puss turned around for a last look, again the smoke from the\nlittle old man's pipe changed into a pigeon, which flew straight toward\nthe little pigeon house.\n\nWell, after that Puss rode along for some time, and by and by the moon\ncame out and dimly lighted the road, which now led through a forest. It\nwas very quiet, except for the tooting of an owl or the cry of a tree\ntoad.\n\nLittle Puss commenced to whistle when, all of a sudden, the Good Gray\nHorse jumped to the side of the road, and there, right in front of him,\nstood a tiny fairy, dressed in green. \"Halt, Sir Cat!\" he cried, waving\nhis silver wand.\n\n\n\n\nTHE HOLD-UP\n\n          \"OH, who is so merry, so merry, heigh ho!\n             As the light-hearted fairy, heigh ho, heigh ho!\"\n\n\nAs soon as the little fairy I mentioned in the last story finished his\nsong Puss, Junior's, Good Gray Horse stood up on his hind legs, for he\nwasn't used to these little people of the forest, you see.\n\n\"Whoa, my good steed,\" cried Puss. \"Don't you see it's only a little\nfairy?\"\n\n\"Only a little fairy!\" cried the forest fay. \"I would have you\nunderstand, Sir Cat, that I have at my command a million subjects. I\nhave but to sound a call upon my silver horn and they will surround\nyou.\"\n\n\"Bah!\" cried Puss, scornfully. \"I have no fear of such tiny things.\"\n\nBut, oh, dear me! no sooner had he said this than the fairy blew a\nshrill blast upon his silver horn, and from all directions came\nthousands of little fairies on moth millers and fireflies. And, oh, dear\nme! again, before Puss knew what was going to happen they stretched tiny\nropes about his Good Gray Horse and bound his legs fast, and after that\nthey tied Puss to the saddle.\n\n\"Ha, ha!\" laughed the little fairy. \"Now, my good Sir Cat, will you\nbelieve that fairies have power?\"\n\n\"Gid-ap!\" cried Puss, but his good gray steed could move neither head\nnor foot. \"Gid-ap!\" he cried again; but his Good Gray Horse could move\nneither ears nor tail.\n\n\"Gracious me!\" exclaimed Puss. \"I'm in a pretty mess!\" And then the\nfairies began to sing:\n\n          \"Pride must ever have a fall.\n           Ne'er despise the weak and small.\n           Only he who's brave and good\n           Shall pass safely through this wood.\"\n\n\"I don't see how that applies to me,\" cried Puss, stoutly. \"I may have\nbeen a trifle rude, but I maintain I'm brave and good.\"\n\nWell, just then, all of a sudden, a big kind-hearted owl flew down from\nhis nest in a tree and cut all the fairy ropes with a big pair of\nscissors. And then he gave a great hoot, which so frightened the fairies\nthat they flew away, helter skelter, into the depths of the forest.\n\n\"You have been very kind to me,\" said Puss. \"How shall I repay you?\"\n\n\"Forget it,\" said the owl, taking off his gold-rimmed spectacles and\nwiping his left eye with a yellow silk handkerchief. \"If you would get\nsafely out of this forest,\n\n          \"Follow the path, the moon is still bright.\n           Take the first turn--the one to the right.\n           The Willow Tree Inn you'll find in due course,\n           Where you'll find shelter for you and your horse.\"\n\n\"Thank you,\" said Puss. \"If your directions are as good as your rhyme I\nshall have no trouble in finding the place.\"\n\n\n\n\nWILLOW TREE INN\n\n\nTHE moonlight shone brightly on the sign of the Willow Tree Inn as Puss\nreached up for the big brass knocker. But he wasn't tall enough, so he\nstood on an empty flower pot and rapped twice on the door.\n\n\"Who's there?\" asked the innkeeper, poking his head out of the window.\n\n\"Puss in Boots, Junior.\"\n\n\"Very well, Master Boots,\" said the innkeeper. \"Rest on the porch till I\nput on my boots.\" And pretty soon the door opened and the sleepy\ninnkeeper appeared with a lighted candle in his hand. \"Ah, you have a\nhorse,\" he said. \"Come, I will show you the way to the stable.\"\n\n\"Bad luck,\" cried the innkeeper, as a gust of wind blew out the candle.\n\"The moon is behind a cloud. 'Tis dark. Can you make your way?\"\n\n\"Never fear,\" replied Puss. \"A cat can see in the dark.\"\n\nBut, goodness me! just as they reached the barn a bat knocked off Puss,\nJunior's, hat.\n\n          \"Bat, bat, come under my hat\n            And I'll give you a slice of bacon,\n          And when I bake I'll give you a cake,\n            If I am not mistaken,\"\n\ncried the innkeeper.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"That sounds mighty good to me,\" said Puss, Junior. \"I've had no supper\nyet, and it's nearly morning.\"\n\n\"So it is,\" answered the innkeeper. \"Well, we'll give your Good Gray\nHorse a mess of oats and some hay. After that we'll go back to the inn\nand cook a slice of bacon.\"\n\n\"And when you bake please give me a cake, or I'll be much disappointed,\"\ncried Puss.\n\n\"I'd rather give it to you than to that old bat,\" said the innkeeper,\nclosing the stable door and pushing in the bolt. \"Of course, he catches\nlots of mice, but at the same time I don't like him.\"\n\n\"So you like me better?\" said Puss.\n\n\"Well, we'll wait and see,\" said the innkeeper. \"In the meantime, come\nin.\" And he opened the door and led Puss into the kitchen.\n\n\n\n\nTHE ROBBER FAIRIES\n\n          \"COCKS crow in the morn\n             To tell us to rise,\n           And he who lies late\n             Will never be wise;\n\n          \"For early to bed\n             And early to rise\n           Is the way to be healthy\n             And wealthy and wise.\"\n\n\n\"Well, I haven't been to bed at all,\" said Puss. \"I was held up in the\nforest.\"\n\n\"What!\" exclaimed the innkeeper. \"I had no idea there were robbers\nabout.\"\n\n\"There were no robbers, my good host,\" said Puss. \"You would hardly\nbelieve me if I were to relate what actually happened.\"\n\n\"Tell me,\" said the innkeeper, \"while I fry the bacon.\"\n\nSo Puss explained how the fairies had made him captive, although he\nfeared that the good man would doubt the truth of the story. But,\ninstead, the innkeeper said:\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"'Tis not the first time, my good Sir Cat, that I have heard of\ntravelers being held up in yonder woods by the fairies. Indeed, they\ntake a mischievous pleasure in waylaying us mortals after sundown.\"\n\n\"Indeed!\" said Puss. \"Hereafter I shall take great pains to avoid the\nforest after dark. I had a narrow escape.\"\n\nWell, pretty soon the innkeeper placed the food upon the table and he\nand Puss sat down to eat. But, oh, dear me! they had hardly commenced\nwhen they heard a great commotion in the barnyard. Puss rushed to the\ndoor just in time to see his Good Gray Horse gallop out of the stable\nyard with more than a hundred fairies on his back, who drove sharp\nlittle thorns into his sides and blew tiny horns in his ears.\n\n\"Whoa!\" screamed Puss, rushing out-of-doors. The Good Gray Horse,\nterrified by the cries of the fairies as well as excited by the stings\nand blows, paid no attention to the voice of his small master, but\ndashed out upon the highway, and in a few minutes disappeared down the\nhill.\n\n\"What shall I do?\" cried Puss, in dismay.\n\n\n\n\nBICYCLE PUSS\n\n\n\"IF I had a horse in the stable I'd lend him to you,\" said the\nkind-hearted innkeeper.\n\n\"Have you an automobile?\" asked Puss.\n\n\"Not yet,\" replied the innkeeper. \"But I have a bicycle which I will\nlend you.\"\n\nIt took Puss but a moment to mount, and then off he went to catch his\nGood Gray Horse, who, you remember in the last story, had been stolen by\nthe fairies.\n\nBut, oh, dear me! although it was early morning it seemed as if\neverybody was up and out for a walk. First, an old rooster stood right\nin the middle of the road and crowed:\n\n          \"Cock-a-doodle do,\n           Your horse has lost a shoe.\"\n\n\"Where is it?\" asked Puss, stopping as quickly as he could, while the\ngood-natured rooster hopped into the long grass and picked it up.\n\n\"Thank you,\" said Puss, hanging the shoe over his handlebar and setting\noff once more.\n\nBut, oh, dear me! again, he had gone but a short distance when a\ncurly-tailed pig got right in his way, and of course Puss had to slow\nup.\n\n\"If you're looking for a runaway horse, you'd better take the lane to\nyour right,\" said the pig, with a grunt and a twist of his curly tail.\n\nSo Puss set off again. But, oh, dear me! for the third time, just in\nfront of him was a big, fat cow who had to walk very carefully not to\ntouch the fence rails on either side of her. Puss rang his bell, but she\npaid no attention to him whatever. She kept right on, swinging her tail\nfrom side to side to brush off the flies. And maybe Puss never would\nhave passed her if she hadn't all of a sudden, with a loud moo, trotted\ninto a meadow spread over with butter-cups.\n\nWell, after a little way, Puss almost ran into a big load of hay, and if\nthe farmer had kept on going down the road instead of turning into a\ngate, I guess Puss would have never caught up with his Good Gray Horse.\n\n\"Gracious me!\" said Puss, when the road was clear, \"I must make up for\nlost time.\" But just then a big black crow, who was sitting on a fence\npost, called out:\n\n          \"Where are you going so fast, Sir Cat?\n           Look out, or the wind will blow off your hat.\"\n\nAnd he flew off the fence and settled on the handlebar.\n\n\"Oh, don't worry! You'll get him, all right,\" said the crow when Puss\ntold him what a hard time he was having to overtake his Good Gray Horse.\n\"I saw him go by a few minutes ago. He looked pretty tired.\" And then\nthe old black bird flew away to tell Mrs. Crow that he had seen a pussy\ncat in boots riding a bicycle.\n\n\n\n\nPUSS RECOVERS HIS STEED\n\n          THE girl in the lane, that couldn't speak plain,\n            Cried, \"Gobble, gobble, gobble!\"\n          The man on the hill, that couldn't stand still,\n            Went hobble, hobble, hobble!\n\n\n\"Goodness me!\" exclaimed Puss, Junior, as he mounted the bicycle which\nthe kind owner of the Willow Tree Inn had lent him, \"I can't understand\na word the girl says. I asked her if she had seen my Good Gray Horse and\nshe answers, 'Gobble, gobble, gobble!'\" And then little Puss gave a\ngreat sigh, for it's pretty hard luck to have your horse stolen while\nasleep in a strange inn, although it's mighty lucky to have the\ninnkeeper lend you his bicycle.\n\nWell, after a while and many a mile, the road began to wind up a hill,\nso Puss got off and pushed his wheel ahead until by and by he met a\nlittle old man. He held a stick in both hands, on which he leaned as he\nhobbled along.\n\n\"Did you see a runaway horse?\" asked Puss.\n\n\"I did, indeed, my good Sir Cat,\" answered the hobble-hobble man. \"He\nwent by but a few minutes ago. There were fairies on his back. I\nthought at first I must be dreaming, till I remembered once before in my\nlife seeing a swarm of fairies, if I might use the word, from yonder\nforest in hot pursuit for a bold robber who had waylaid a traveler.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"Thank you,\" said Puss. \"I must catch up with them, for the horse\nbelongs to me, and this bicycle is a poor substitute.\"\n\n\"Yes, I should think as much,\" replied the hobble-hobble man. \"But how\nare you going to catch him? Those forest fairies are mischievous, and\nyou will need to pedal fast and furious to overtake them.\"\n\n\"Never fear,\" replied Puss, stoutly. \"I have a good pair of legs.\" And,\njumping on his bicycle, he went up the hill at a great rate. On reaching\nthe top he was delighted to see his Good Gray Horse going down the road\nto the valley.\n\n\"Here's where I overtake them,\" cried Puss, placing his feet on the\ncoasters. \"My bicycle can go downhill faster than a horse. In a few\nmoments I'll again be astride my faithful steed.\"\n\nThe dust flew out in a cloud behind him as he swiftly coasted down the\nsteep road. Ting-a-ling, ting-a-ling! went his bell as he came nearer\nand nearer. \"Gid-ap!\" cried the fairies, but the Good Gray Horse was\ntired. He had gone many miles at a gallop.\n\n\"Whoa!\" cried Puss.\n\n\"Gid-ap!\" cried the fairies.\n\nBut Puss was now close to them. Standing up on the bicycle seat, he made\na wonderful jump and landed squarely on the saddle of his Good Gray\nHorse. And then, with a scream of dismay, the fairies flew away.\n\n\n\n\nGEORGY PORGY\n\n\nNOW let me see. In the last story Puss had taken his Good Gray Horse\naway from the fairies, but didn't know what to do with the bicycle which\nhe had borrowed from the owner of the Willow Tree Inn! \"I can't very\nwell ride it and lead my horse,\" said Puss to himself, \"nor can I very\nwell ride my horse and lead the bicycle. What shall I do?\"\n\nA short distance off stood a small red schoolhouse and just then through\nthe open door came a merry crowd of children. All of a sudden a little\nboy with a piece of plum pudding in one hand and a piece of pie in the\nother ran swiftly toward Puss.\n\n          Georgy Porgy, pudding and pie,\n          Kissed the girls and made them cry.\n          When the boys came out to play\n          Georgy Porgy ran away\n\nAnd after him came a number of boys in hot pursuit. \"Please help me get\naway from these boys!\" cried Georgy Porgy.\n\n\"What have you done?\" asked Puss.\n\n\"Oh, I kissed the girls and made them cry,\" answered Georgy Porgy, \"but\nit didn't hurt them.\"\n\n\"How do you know?\" asked Puss.\n\n\"Kisses don't hurt,\" replied Georgy Porgy.\n\n\"But if these boys ever catch me\"--looking fearfully over his\nshoulder--\"they'll give me an awful beating and take away my pie.\"\n\n\"Do you know where the Willow Tree Inn is?\" asked Puss, all of a sudden.\n\n\"Yes, siree--,\" answered Georgy.\n\n\"Quick!\" cried Puss. \"Get on this bicycle and take it to the innkeeper.\nHe lent it to me.\"\n\nBut, oh, dear me! the boys were now close at hand and Georgy Porgy had\nonly time enough to give Puss the pie and pudding. \"Take 'em,\" he said,\n\"I sha'n't have time to eat 'em. I can't eat and ride at the same time!\"\n\n\"Go it!\" shouted Puss, and, goodness me! how that bicycle did go!\n\n\"Stop! Stop!\" yelled the boys.\n\n\"Go it!\" screamed Puss. \"Don't let them catch you!\"\n\nAnd Georgy Porgy didn't! No, siree! Then all of a sudden the recess bell\nrang, and of course the boys had to turn back.\n\n\"I think I'll be jogging along, too,\" said Puss to himself. \"They might\nthrow a stone at me for helping Georgy.\" And he galloped past the\nschoolhouse and was soon out of sight.\n\n\n\n\nA JOLLY GALLOP\n\n\n\"WELL, well, well!\" cried Puss, Junior, to himself, as he pulled in his\nGood Gray Horse after leaving the little red schoolhouse far behind. \"It\nwas lucky for me that Georgy Porgy happened to come my way. Otherwise,\nhow would I have been able to return the bicycle to the innkeeper?\" And\nafter that he walked his horse until he came to a stream, on the banks\nof which stood an old mill. The mill pond was rimmed with overhanging\nwillow trees, and the water trickled over the dam with a soft, gurgling\nnoise. Through the sluiceway the water ran in a swift stream, turning\nthe old wheel around and around.\n\nPuss dismounted, and after his horse had taken a drink he cropped the\nfresh green grass, while Puss lay down in the shade.\n\n          \"Margaret wrote a letter,\n             Sealed it with her finger,\n           Threw it in the dam\n             For the dusty miller.\n           Dusty was his coat,\n             Dusty was the siller,\n           Dusty was the kiss\n             From the dusty miller.\n           If I had my pockets\n             Full of gold and siller,\n           I would give it all\n             To my dusty miller.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\nGoodness me! Puss must have fallen asleep in the shade of the old willow\ntree. It was a sleepy place, and the water trickling over the dam made\none dream of silver fishes! Puss rubbed his eyes and listened:\n\n          \"If I had my pockets\n             Full of gold and siller,\n           I would give it all\n             To my dusty miller.\"\n\n\"Would you really?\" asked Puss, looking up at a pretty girl leaning\nagainst a tree close by. It was she who had sung this little song, you\nsee.\n\n\"Oh, dear me! I thought I was all alone,\" she sighed.\n\n\"So did I,\" said Puss, \"until you woke me.\"\n\n\"Were you asleep?\" asked the pretty girl.\n\n\"Asleep and dreaming,\" answered our small hero.\n\n\"So was I--I mean I was dreaming,\" said the pretty girl, in a low voice.\n\n\"Yonder stands my Good Gray Horse. Would you like to ride with me?\"\nasked Puss.\n\n\"Yes, indeed,\" replied the girl, quickly. \"Take me for a jolly gallop.\"\nAnd the next minute she and Puss, Junior, were racing down the road.\n\n\n\n\nTHE RUNAWAY\n\n          \"MERRY are the bells, and merry would they ring;\n           Merry was myself, and merry could I sing;\n           With a merry ding-dong, happy, gay, and free,\n           And a merry sing-song, happy let us be.\n\n          \"Merry have we met, and merry have we been,\n           Merry let us part, and merry meet again;\n           With our merry sing-song, happy, gay, and free,\n           And a merry ding-dong, happy let us be.\"\n\n\n\"Whoa!\" cried Puss, Junior, pulling in his Good Gray Horse.\n\n\"You've given me a lovely ride,\" said the pretty girl. \"It is more than\na mile from the mill. I live just over there,\" pointing to a cottage on\nthe hillside.\n\n\"Shall I take you up to the gate?\" asked Puss. \"No, I'll get off here,\nthank you,\" she replied, \"and I shall never forget how nice you've been.\nI was quite unhappy before you spoke to me at the old mill pond.\"\n\n          \"Merry have we met, and merry have we been,\n           Merry let us part, and merry meet again,\"\n\nsaid Puss, stretching out his paw.\n\n\"How well you remember my song!\" said the pretty girl, waving her hand\nto Puss as he rode away.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nHe had gone but a short distance when he heard the clatter of hoofs.\nLooking back, he was startled to see a horse and wagon come tearing down\nthe road.\n\n\"A runaway!\" he exclaimed, quickly drawing to one side. In a few minutes\nthe frightened horse rushed by. In the wagon was a little old man,\nclinging tightly to the reins and with great difficulty keeping his\nhorse in the middle of the road. In an instant Puss set off in pursuit.\nPretty soon his Good Gray Horse drew close to the wagon. \"Don't give\nup!\" cried Puss. \"Hold on tight!\" The little old man did his best, but\nby this time his horse had become unmanageable and, turning suddenly to\nthe right, dashed up a steep bank. With a snap, the harness broke and\naway went the frightened animal.\n\n\"Let the pesky brute go,\" exclaimed the old man. \"He'll get tired of\nrunning and come home by and by.\"\n\n\"You may have my horse,\" cried Puss. And in a few minutes the harness\nwas mended and Puss and the little old man drove off down the road.\n\n\n\n\nHUMPTY-BUMPTY\n\n\nHUMPTY-BUMPTY, bump! went the wagon, as the Good Gray Horse trotted\nalong. \"Very poor springs on this wagon,\" cried Puss, his teeth knocking\ntogether as they crossed a rough bit of road.\n\n\"You are not used to farm wagons, my good Sir Cat,\" the little old man\nreplied.\n\n\"You are right,\" said Puss.\n\n\"Did you ever hear the conundrum in rhyme about\n\n          \"'Thirty white horses upon a red hill,\n              Now they tramp, now they champ,\n            Now they all stand still'?\"\n\nasked the little old man.\n\n\"No,\" replied Puss. \"But who ever saw a red hill?\"\n\n\"Ha, ha!\" laughed the little old man, showing how very few teeth he had\nto chatter. \"Why, the thirty white horses are your teeth, and the red\nhill is your gums. Ha, ha!\"\n\n\"He, he!\" laughed Puss. \"Gid-ap, my Good Gray Horse. Let us rattle the\nthirty white horses upon a red hill, let them tramp and champ, but never\nstand still!\" And away went the wagon clattering after the Gray Horse,\nbumpty-bumpty, bump!\n\n\"Hold on!\" cried the little old man. \"If I have but few teeth, I have\nold bones! Do you wish to shake me to bits?\"\n\n\"Whoa!\" cried Puss, but the Good Gray Horse evidently thought it great\nfun, for on he went at a still faster clip. The boards in the bottom of\nthe wagon flew up and down and the wooden seat swayed back and forth. Up\nand down, bumpty-bumpty, bump! went the little old man.\n\n\"Pull him in!\" he cried. \"Pull on the lines! Don't let your horse run\naway!\"\n\nPuss tugged at the reins, but the Good Gray Horse had the bit between\nhis teeth. He stuck out his head and tail and let his feet fly. Over the\nstones bumped the wagon, up on one side and then down on the other. Poor\nPuss had all he could do to keep from falling out, and the little old\nman clung to the side boards and cried, \"Pull on the lines!\"\n\n\"I am,\" panted Puss, \"but it doesn't do any good.\"\n\n\"Pull harder!\" yelled the little old man.\n\n\"Can't,\" replied Puss, now breathless from the bumping of the wagon.\n\"Can't pull one little bit harder.\"\n\n\"Turn him in yonder lane!\" screamed the little old man. \"That's my lane!\nIt leads into the barnyard.\"\n\nWell, it was mighty lucky that Puss managed to turn up the lane, and in\nanother moment they were racing into the yard, but before Puss could\nstop him the Good Gray Horse went head first into the haymow and\nheadlong over the dashboard went Puss and the little old man.\n\n\n\n\nTHE HAYMOW\n\n\nIT was a mighty lucky thing that the Good Gray Horse in the last story\nran into the haymow instead of the corncrib. Well, as soon as Puss\npicked himself up the Good Gray Horse pulled his head out of the haymow.\nHe had gone in quite deep, for he was going at a great rate, and it's a\nwonder he didn't go right through the great mound of hay.\n\n\"Whew! Miew!\" cried Puss, pulling wisps of hay out of his hair and\ndusting off the tops of his red boots. \"That was a pretty sudden stop!\"\n\n\"Yes, but it turned out all right,\" said the little old man. \"It was\nabout the best way to stop your horse, methinks. It was lucky there was\nhay in the way, I should say.\"\n\n\"How could you be such a bad old thing?\" asked Puss, stroking the Good\nGray Horse on the nose. \"The idea of your running away with us!\"\n\nThe Good Gray Horse made no reply, however. He looked a little foolish,\nbut, beyond that, he seemed very much the same, except that his collar\nwas pushed up over his ears and his harness twisted about his neck.\n\n\"Well, put him in the stable,\" said the little old man. \"We'll give him\na good bed and some oats. My own horse may show up some time this\nevening--that is, if he ever gets tired of running.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAfter the Good Gray Horse was made comfortable the little old man led\nPuss, Junior, into the house.\n\n\"Mother,\" he called out, as he opened the door, \"here is a visitor for\nyou.\"\n\nA queer little old woman arose from her rocking chair and came forward.\n\"What! a cat!\" she exclaimed, throwing up her hands in dismay. \"John,\nyou know I don't like cats!\"\n\n\"Then, madam,\" said Puss, Junior, politely, \"I'll not trespass on your\nhospitality,\" and he turned to leave.\n\n\"Not so, not so!\" cried the little old man. \"Mother, you don't\nunderstand what has happened. This noble cat has done me a good turn. My\nold mare ran away and he kindly hitched up his Good Gray Horse to my\nwagon and brought me home.\"\n\n\"Ah,\" said the little old man's wife, \"that's another story. This cat is\nno ordinary cat. Let him make himself comfortable while I go and see\nabout supper.\"\n\nBut Puss still hesitated.\n\n\"You are indeed welcome,\" said the little old woman, peering over her\nglasses to get a good look at him; \"you shall stay and rest yourself,\nfor you have helped my good man, and whoever does my man a good turn\nshall never go unrewarded.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAUFFEUR TAFFY\n\n\n\"HIGH-HO, how the winds blow!\" exclaimed little Puss, Junior, as he rode\nalong on his Good Gray Horse toward the castle of my Lord Carabas to see\nhis dear father, Puss in Boots.\n\nBut New Mother Goose Land is a big country and Puss did not realize how\nlong a journey it was. You see, he had been seeking adventures for so\nlong and had traveled so far--sometimes on the back of his good friend,\nGoosey Goosey Gander, sometimes in the airship whose captain was a downy\ngoose and the sailors four and twenty doves, and then, again, on\nbroomsticks and umbrellas and baskets that flew in the air with their\nold women owners--that now, once more astride of his Good Gray Horse who\nhad carried him many a mile in Old Mother Goose Land he felt he would\nsoon be with his father.\n\nWell, as Puss rode along he came to a bend in the road where an\nautomobile stood. It had evidently broken down, for the chauffeur was\ntinkering with the machinery.\n\nAll of a sudden a blackbird perched herself on the fence along the road\nand began to sing:\n\n          \"Taffy was a chauffeur, Taffy was a loafer,\n             Taffy broke a tire everywhere he went.\n           His master soon grew tired, Taffy he was fired;\n             Taffy he was fired without another cent.\n\n          \"Taffy came to master's house; master wasn't in.\n             Taffy made an awful row, kicked up such a din.\n           He blew on his auto horn, blew with all his might;\n             Everyone but Taffy ran away in fright.\"\n\n\"Whoa there!\" cried Puss, Junior, and the blackbird must have thought it\nwas meant for her, for she stopped her song and looked at our small\nhero. And of course the Good Gray Horse stopped, and Taffy--well, he\ncrawled out from under the automobile and scowled at the blackbird. And\nthis made Puss, Junior, laugh, and the Good Gray Horse cough and the\nblackbird snicker, all of which made Taffy very red in the face.\n\n\"Tell-tale-tit, your tongue shall be slit,\" he cried, but the blackbird\nclapped her wings and flew away. And after that Puss, Junior, said\ngid-ap to his horse and rode off, leaving Taffy to finish mending his\nautomobile. And after a little while the blackbird came back and settled\nherself on the head of the Good Gray Horse.\n\n\"Where are you going?\" she said.\n\n\"To visit my father, Puss in Boots,\" replied our little hero.\n\n\n\n\nTHREE LITTLE KITTENS\n\n          THREE little kittens lost their mittens\n            And they began to cry,\n          \"Oh, mother dear, we very much fear\n          That we have lost our mittens.\"\n\n\n\"I'll help you find them,\" cried Puss, Junior, looking in through the\ndoor of a little green house.\n\n\"Will you?\" said a little tabby cat.\n\n\"I think we lost them by the woodpile,\" said a little gray kitten.\n\n\"Perhaps we dropped them while playing hide and go seek,\" said a cute\nblack kitty.\n\n\"Come on, my little pussyfoots,\" cried Puss, Junior, with a grin. \"I'm\npretty good at finding things--except people--I can't find my dear\nfather.\"\n\n\"How did you lose him?\" asked the first little kitty, as they all ran\nout into the back yard.\n\n\"I don't know any more than you know how you lost your mittens,\" replied\nPuss, Junior, with a laugh.\n\n\"If you find our mittens we'll help you find your father,\" cried the\nthree little kittens. But, hunt as they might, no mittens were to be\nfound. Under the woodpile and back of the old well, behind the woodshed\nand under the grape arbor, they hunted, but in vain.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"You naughty kittens! Lost your mittens! Then you shall have no pie!\"\n\n\"Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow.\"\n\n\"No, you shall have no pie.\"\n\n\"Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow.\"\n\n\"Have you looked in the barn?\" asked Puss.\n\n\"No,\" cried the three little kittens.\n\n\"Well, that's a good place to look if you've been playing there,\"\nsuggested Puss. So they all ran out to the barn. But just as they\nentered the big door a little mouse scurried into a hole and a big gray\nrat ran into the corn bin.\n\n\"Look here, little mouse, if you'll tell us whether you've seen any\nmittens we won't hurt you,\" cried Puss. But the little mouse didn't\nreply.\n\n\"My dear Mr. Rat,\" said Puss, Junior, speaking into a crack of the corn\nbin, \"if you'll tell us whether you have seen any mittens we'll promise\nnot to touch you.\" But the rat didn't answer.\n\n\"They're afraid of you,\" said the little black kitty.\n\n\"Then you ask them,\" whispered Puss, Junior.\n\n\"Did you see our mittens?\" whispered the black kitty to the little\nmouse.\n\n\"Yes,\" replied a squeaky voice. \"I saw some mittens in the tool closet.\"\nThen the little black kitty ran over to the tool closet, and pretty soon\nhe came dancing out on his two hind legs. \"Here they are! Here they\nare!\" he cried, with a happy purr.\n\n\n\n\nMR. RAT\n\n           THE three little kittens found their mittens,\n             And they began to cry,\n          \"Oh, mother dear, see here, see here!\n           See, we have found our mittens.\"\n\n\n\"Thank you,\" said the black kitty, as the little mouse peeped out of her\nhouse, \"thank you very much for telling us where our mittens were.\"\n\n\"We promise never to hurt you,\" cried the three little kittens.\n\nPuss, Junior, walked over to the corn bin. \"Look here, Mr. Rat,\" he\nsaid, in a gruff voice, \"as long as you were so mean not to tell us\nwhere the mittens were, I won't promise not to catch you.\"\n\n\"You'd better wait till you get the chance,\" replied the rat, looking\ndown from the top of the bin.\n\n\"Just wait till we grow up, Mr. Rat,\" said the three little kittens,\nlooking very fierce with their whiskers standing out straight from their\nlittle fat cheeks and their tails twice their natural size. \"You had\nbetter not be too sure of yourself.\n\n          \"For many a rat who has spoken like that\n             Has been caught when he least was aware.\n           So you'd better look out what you are about,\n             For we are three kittens who dare.\"\n\n\"That's the way to talk to him,\" said Puss, Junior, admiringly. \"We'll\nscare him to death, anyway.\"\n\n\"No, you won't,\" said the rat. \"You don't know who I am. I'm the rat\n'that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.'\"\n\n\"Oh, you are, are you?\" said Puss. \"Well, what are you doing here?\"\n\n\"Making a visit,\" replied the rat.\n\n\"Look out,\" advised Puss, \"or you may not find it a pleasant one.\"\n\n\"Nonsense!\" replied the rat with a loud laugh. \"Who's afraid of three\nlittle kittens? They can't even find their mittens.\" Before he had time\nto say another word Puss, Junior, sprang on top of the corn bin. Away\nwent the rat, over the barn floor, out through the open door, down the\npath to the road. Puss, Junior, kicked off his red-topped boots and went\nafter him.\n\n\"Go it, Puss, dear!\" screamed three little kittens. \"Catch him!\"\n\nThe ground was covered with a light fall of snow, but this made no\ndifference to Puss, Junior. He was a big, strong, healthy cat, and he\ndidn't mind running barefoot in the snow. This was not the case with\nMr. Rat, however. Very soon his feet became so cold that he could hardly\nrun, and before he reached the gate Puss pounced upon him.\n\n\"Look here,\" said Puss, fiercely, holding him down on the frozen\nground--\"look here, Mr. Rat, we don't want you around here any longer.\nDo you understand?\"\n\n\"I'll promise to go back to Jack's house if you'll let me up.\"\n\n\"All right,\" said Puss. \"Now go!\" And away went the frightened rat.\n\n\n\n\nA BIG TUMBLE\n\n          \"PUT on your mittens, you silly kittens,\n              And you shall have some pie.\n            Purr-r, purr-r, purr-r.\"\n          \"Oh, let us have the pie,\n            Purr-r, purr-r, purr-r.\"\n\n\nMrs. Cat stood in the doorway of her little house and again she called\nout, \"Put on your mittens, you silly kittens.\"\n\n\"And I'll pull on my boots,\" said Puss, Junior, running back to the\nbarn. \"My toes are almost frozen.\"\n\n\"Has the horrid old rat really gone?\" asked the three little kittens.\n\n\"He has,\" replied Puss. \"Didn't you see me catch him just before he\nreached the gate?\"\n\n\"There was so much snow flying about that we couldn't see very well,\"\nsaid the gray kitten.\n\n\"Well, I caught him, all right,\" replied Puss, pulling on his boots,\n\"but he begged me so hard to let him go that I did. He promised he'd\nnever come back.\"\n\n\"If he really is the 'rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that\nJack built' I don't believe Jack will be very glad to see him,\" said\nthe little tabby cat, pulling on her mittens.\n\n\"My paws are almost frozen,\" cried the little gray kitten. \"I'm so glad\nwe have found our mittens.\"\n\n\"Good-by, mousie,\" cried the little black kitten, going up to the mouse\nhole and peeping in. \"We all thank you very much for telling us where\nour mittens were. We're going into the house now, for mother has some\npie for us. We'll bring you out a little piece of crust in a few\nminutes.\"\n\n\"Don't forget!\" she answered, peeping out of her hole. \"Bring us three\npieces, for I have two little children who are very fond of pie crust.\"\n\n\"You be sure to save a little piece of crust,\" said the black kitty to\nthe tabby kit, \"and you, too,\" he said, turning to the gray kitten;\n\"then we'll have three pieces!\"\n\n\"Let's close the barn door,\" said Puss, before they started off for the\nhouse. \"The little mouse may freeze if we leave it open.\"\n\nIt was a very big barn door that ran on little iron wheels, and it\nwasn't easy to move. \"Push!\" cried Puss, bracing his feet against the\nside of the barn.\n\n\"We can't push any harder,\" cried the three little kittens.\n\n\"Try again,\" said Puss. \"Now, all together, heave ho, heave ho!\" The big\ndoor began to move. \"Push!\" cried Puss. \"It's beginning to move.\"\n\nThe three little kittens did their best, and pretty soon the little\nwheels went round and round, faster and faster, until all of a sudden\nthe big door bumped into the other end of the doorway, sending Puss,\nJunior, and the three little kittens head over heels into the snow.\n\n\n\n\nHUNGRY KITTENS\n\n\n\"GOODNESS, what a bump!\" cried the little black kitty, wiping the snow\nfrom his eyes.\n\n\"Gracious! what a bump!\" said Puss, scrambling up from the ground. \"I\nthink I felt it more than the old barn door, for I was underneath, you\nsee, and you were piled on top of me.\"\n\nThe three little kittens felt very sorry and commenced to brush the\nsnowflakes from his fur coat. \"There's snow in your boot legs,\" said the\nlittle gray kitten, standing on tiptoe and looking down Puss, Junior's,\nboots. \"Don't you feel it? I should think it would make you shiver.\"\n\n\"I'll soon find out,\" said Puss, pulling them off and turning them\nupside down.\n\n\"Are they wet inside?\" asked the tabby kitten, anxiously.\n\n\"Not very,\" said Puss, squinting up one eye and peering in.\n\n\"If they are,\" said the little black kitten, \"mother will dry them for\nyou at the fire.\"\n\nThen:\n\n          The three little kittens put on their mittens,\n          And soon ate up the pie.\n          \"Oh, mother dear, we greatly fear\n          That we have soiled our mittens.\"\n\nWhile Puss was busy placing his boots before the kitchen stove the three\nlittle kittens seated themselves at the table.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"Why don't you take off your mittens?\" Puss asked. \"I guess you're so\nhungry you can't wait,\" he added with a laugh.\n\nIt took but a short time for his boots to dry, for there was a big,\nblazing fire in the stove.\n\n\"Don't you want something to eat?\" asked Mrs. Cat, coming over to Puss.\n\"You have very pretty boots,\" she continued, lifting up one and looking\nat it with much admiration.\n\n\"Yes, they are nice boots,\" said Puss, Junior. \"They were made for my\nfamous father, Puss in Boots. Mr. Solomon Grundy, who was born on a\nMonday, made them years ago for my father. And one day, it was only last\nweek, when I stopped at his store, I saw a notice in his window that he\nhad died on Saturday and was buried on Sunday, and that was the end of\nSolomon Grundy.\"\n\n\"Too bad,\" said Mrs. Cat.\n\n\"When I went into the store,\" continued Puss, \"Mrs. Grundy took them\ndown from a shelf and sold them to me. Then she went across the street\nto ask an old friend where my father lived, but she couldn't find\nout--her friend didn't know or couldn't remember--so here I am, still\nsearching for my daddy.\"\n\n\"Too bad,\" said Mrs. Cat again. \"I'm really very sorry. But do not give\nup hope, for you will find him I am sure.\"\n\n\n\n\nKITTENS WASH MITTENS\n\n\nAFTER Mrs. Cat had powdered Puss, Junior's, toes so that they would slip\neasily into his boots she turned to see what the three little kittens\nwere doing. They had just finished eating the pie. She had been so\ninterested in hearing how Puss, Junior, had found his red-top boots that\nshe hadn't heard them say:\n\n          \"Oh, mother dear, we greatly fear\n           That we have soiled our mittens.\"\n\n\"What!\" exclaimed Mrs. Cat. \"Soiled your mittens, you naughty kittens!\"\n\n          Then they began to sigh,\n            \"Mi-ow, mi-ow, mi-ow.\"\n          Then they began to sigh,\n            \"Mi-ow, mi-ow, mi-ow.\"\n\n\"Take them off at once,\" cried Mrs. Cat.\n\n\"We will, mother,\" said the three little kittens.\n\n\"I can't imagine why you kept them on,\" said Mrs. Cat.\n\n\"We were so hungry we didn't have time to take them off,\" said the\nlittle black kitten.\n\n\"My fingers were so cold I thought I'd leave them on,\" cried the tabby\nkitten.\n\n\"I didn't think about anything,\" sobbed the little gray kitten. \"I just\nlooked at the pie, and then I forgot I had on mittens.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\nMrs. Cat stood with her front paws on her hips, looking first from one\nlittle kitten to another.\n\n\"Did you ever see anything like children?\" she sighed, turning to Puss,\nJunior.\n\n\"My dear madam, forgive them this once. They were so excited over\nfinding the pie that they lost their heads.\"\n\n\"It's a good thing they are tied on,\" said Mrs. Cat, with a laugh; \"they\nmight not be found as easily as the mittens.\"\n\nThe three little kittens looked very much ashamed. Then the little black\nkitten ran over to the washtubs and, jumping on a stool, turned the\nhot-water faucet. His mother handed him a big cake of soap, and in\nanother minute the other two little kittens climbed up beside him.\n\n\"What are you going to do?\" asked Mrs. Cat, with a sly wink at Puss,\nJunior.\n\n\"Never mind, mother, dear. Please don't look.\" And they commenced to\nscrub their mittens. And when they had them all covered with lather they\ndipped them into the water and squeezed them until the soapsuds looked\nlike a snow drift, and after that they all reached down and pulled out\nthe stopper, and when the soapy water was all gone they filled the tub\nagain with nice, clean water and washed the mittens all over again. But,\noh, dear me! the water was so deep that the little gray kitten wet her\nlittle pink sleeve.\n\n\n\n\nPIE FOR MRS. MOUSE\n\n           THE three little kittens washed their mittens\n            And hung them up to dry.\n          \"Oh, mother dear, do you not hear\n           That we have washed our mittens?\"\n\n\nSure enough, all the mittens were washed and neatly hung on the\nclothesline. But the clothesline was so high that Puss had been forced\nto climb a stepladder. The kittens had stood below, their little paws\nfull of clothespins, and every time Puss needed a pin one of them had\nclimbed up and handed it to him.\n\n          \"Washed your mittens! Oh, you're good kittens.\n           But I smell a rat close by.\n           Hush! Hush! mee-ow, mee-ow.\n           We smell a rat close by,\n           Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow!\"\n\ncried Mrs. Cat.\n\nWhen Puss heard this he ran around the house. I guess he expected to\nfind the \"rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.\"\nBut Mrs. Cat had made a mistake, for there was no rat to be seen.\nInstead, there stood the little mouse who two or three stories ago had\ntold the black kitty where to find their mittens.\n\n\"What do you want?\" asked Puss, Junior, kindly.\n\n\"I think the three little kittens have forgotten their promise to give\nme three pieces of pie. I've been waiting in the barn all this time.\"\n\n\"Kittens!\" cried Puss.\n\nThe three little kittens came tumbling around the house. But the little\nmouse ran behind a tree.\n\n\"Did you forget to save some pie crust for the little mouse and her two\nchildren?\" asked Puss.\n\n\"Of course not!\" replied the three kittens.\n\n\"I tucked a little piece under my plate,\" said the gray kitten.\n\n\"I put a little piece in the old clock,\" said the tabby kitten.\n\n\"And I put mine behind the big shell on the mantelpiece,\" cried the\nblack kitty.\n\n\"Go and get them,\" said Puss, \"for Mrs. Mouse can't be kept waiting; her\nbabies out in the barn will be crying for her.\"\n\nThe three little kittens ran into the house, and pretty soon returned\nwith the pie crust.\n\n\"We'll carry it out to the barn for you,\" they cried.\n\nSo the little mouse ran ahead, and when she was safe in the barn she\nwaited until the kittens had placed the three little pieces of pie crust\non the floor. As soon as they had gone the little mouse came out and\ncarried the pie crust into her house.\n\n\n\n\nSING A SONG OF SIXPENCE\n\n          SING a song of sixpence,\n            A pocketful of rye,\n          Four and twenty blackbirds\n            Baked in a pie.\n\n          When the pie was opened\n            The birds began to sing.\n          Wasn't that a dainty dish\n            To set before the king?\n\n\nWell, when little Puss, Junior, heard those blackbirds singing he halted\nbefore the castle and knocked on the gate.\n\n\"You must have a thousand canaries.\"\n\n\"Canaries nothing,\" replied the old retainer. \"The King's twenty-four\nblackbirds are singing.\"\n\nBut, goodness, gracious me! all of a sudden something happened. And it\nwas even worse than when the raven cried, \"Croak!\" and the farmer's mare\nfell down and broke her knee. For just then, while\n\n          The maid was in the garden\n            Hanging out the clothes,\n          Down came a blackbird\n            And snapped off her nose.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nPerhaps he was angry because he hadn't been invited to sing for the\nKing. I'm sure I don't know, but, anyway, he was a mighty mean bird, let\nme tell you.\n\n\"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!\" cried the poor maid, and she sat down on a garden\nbench and began to weep. Just then the four and twenty blackbirds jumped\nout of the pie and flew into the garden to look for that naughty bird.\nBut they couldn't find him. Oh, dear, no! He was far away by that time,\nmaybe at the North Pole of Mother Goose Land, which they tell me is a\nfrosted stick of sugar candy.\n\n\"Oh, what shall I do?\" sobbed the maid, still holding her poor nose in\nher hands.\n\n\"You had better call in the doctor,\" suggested Puss.\n\n\"He lives a good two miles from here,\" said the old retainer, \"and our\ntelephone is out of order.\"\n\n\"I'll go fetch him,\" said Puss. \"Dry your eyes, pretty maid!\" And,\njumping on his Good Gray Horse, he galloped away. And the four and\ntwenty blackbirds flew after him so that in case the naughty blackbird\ncame back to nip little Puss, Junior's, nose they would be there to\nprotect him.\n\n\n\n\nDOCTOR FOSTER\n\n          DOCTOR FOSTER went to Glo'ster\n            In a shower of rain;\n          He stepped in a puddle up to his middle,\n            And never went there again.\n\n\nWhich was a mighty lucky thing, for, goodness knows, perhaps the poor\nmaid never would have had her nose mended if Puss hadn't found the good\ndoctor at home.\n\nWell, as soon as he learned what was the matter, he jumped up behind\nPuss, and the Good Gray Horse kicked out his heels and galloped away,\nand the four and twenty blackbirds trailed after them, and pretty soon,\nnot so very long, they came to the Blackbird-pie Castle. There sat the\npoor maid in the garden, still holding her nose in her hand.\n\n\"Let's see it,\" said the doctor, opening his little black bag and taking\nout medicine and bandages.\n\n\"I'm afraid it's half gone,\" sobbed the maid, \"I don't want to look at\nit.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"But I do,\" said the doctor. \"Otherwise, how can I mend it?\" And I guess\nhe was right, for he was the most famous doctor in all Mother Goose\nLand. Well, as soon as she took away her hand he said:\n\n\"It's not as bad as it might be. It still looks like a nose!\"\n\n\"Does it?\" she sobbed.\n\n\"Oh yes,\" said the doctor, turning to Puss and the old retainer. \"You'll\nhardly know the blackbird touched it after I get through.\"\n\n\"Maybe he only pinched it,\" said Puss.\n\n\"Or only tweaked it,\" said the old retainer.\n\n\"Perhaps he thought it was a cherry,\" laughed the doctor, putting on\nsome powder.\n\nAnd then the maid began to smile. \"It feels much better already,\" she\nsaid.\n\n\"Well it's always a good thing to call in the doctor,\" said the learned\nman. \"You never can tell what may happen,\" and, picking up his little\nblack bag, he held out his hand. \"Two shillings, please!\"\n\n\"Mercy me!\" she cried. \"I haven't had my wages for this month.\"\n\n\"What did you do with last month's?\" asked the doctor, but before she\ncould reply one of the four and twenty blackbirds dropped a gold piece\nin his hand. I guess he felt dreadfully ashamed to think that one of his\nbrothers had pinched a pretty girl's nose.\n\n\n\n\nA MISCOUNT\n\n          THE King was in his counting-house,\n            Counting out his money;\n          The Queen was in the parlor,\n            Eating bread and honey.\n\n\nAnd now let us see where little Puss, Junior, was. Oh yes, I remember\nnow. He was in the garden of the Blackbird-pie Castle, where the poor\nmaid's nose had been nipped by a naughty, bad blackbird. Well, after the\ngood Doctor had gone, the old retainer took Puss to see the King, who\nwas so busy counting his money that he didn't even look up.\n\n\"Your Worship,\" began the retainer.\n\n\"What do you want?\" asked the King, angrily. \"I've just counted up to\nthree trillion two hundred and thirty-seven billion, nine hundred and\nforty-eight million, seven hundred and fifteen thousand, four hundred\nand--and--now you've gone and made me miss, and I'll have to count all\nover again.\"\n\n\"Start off at four hundred. A few sovereigns less won't matter to a\nking,\" said little Puss, Junior.\n\n\"I'm not so sure about that,\" replied His Majesty, taking off his crown\nand scratching his head. \"One likes to be right as well as King!\"\n\n\"Nobody said, my lord!\" cried the old retainer. \"But consider your\nhealth. Let's take this wise cat's suggestion and quit for the time\nbeing.\"\n\n\"All right,\" said the King. \"Let's go find the Queen.\"\n\nShe was in the parlor eating bread and honey. \"How do you do, my dear\nPuss, Junior?\" she cried.\n\n\"I am very well, thank Your Majesty,\" he replied.\n\n\"I have just heard what valuable assistance you have rendered our\ncourt,\" continued the Queen.\n\nPuss would have blushed had not his cheeks been covered with whiskers.\n\n\"I did but do my duty, Your Majesty,\" he replied.\n\n\"What's that?\" asked the King.\n\n\"Did you not hear, my lord?\" cried the Queen. \"Our maid had her nose\nbitten by a naughty blackbird, and our little friend here quickly\nfetched the Doctor, bringing him on his Good Gray Horse in short time.\"\n\n\"Indeed!\" exclaimed His Majesty. \"I will reward him. He shall have a\ncastle and a retinue.\"\n\n\"Your Royal Highness,\" exclaimed Puss, Junior, \"I am overwhelmed with\nyour generosity, but I needs must decline your offer. For until I find\nmy father, the famous Puss in Boots, I may not rest upon my journey\nexcept for sleep and refreshment.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"Zounds!\" exclaimed the King. \"You are a gallant cat. Would that all my\nsubjects were as faithful to their duty as you are! But,\" he added,\nwith a smile, \"you shall rest here for the night, for a good dinner and\na sound sleep will make you travel the faster on the morrow.\"\n\nThe Queen by this time had finished her bread and honey.\n\n\"Come out on the terrace,\" she suggested, \"for it is cool and pleasant\nthere, and the flowers are very beautiful. I would show Sir Cat our\nflower garden.\"\n\nThe King, therefore, gave his arm to the Queen and Puss gallantly held\nup her train, the three walking slowly out upon the broad terrace. The\nsun was quite low in the sky, for it was late in the afternoon. The big\nhills to the westward seemed to hold up the sky, and Puss wondered\nwhether the jolly old sun would not bump himself as he slid down over\nthe edge of the world.\n\n\"Come, Puss dear, take my hand,\" said the Queen. She then went over and\nsat down on a marble bench. Picking up Puss, she held him in her arms\nand commenced to sing, and presently he fell fast asleep. The Queen\nlooked up at the King and said, \"Is he not a dear little cat?\" and the\nKing for answer took from his purse several gold pieces and tucked them\naway in Puss, Junior's, pocket.\n\n\n\n\nPLUM PUDDING STORY\n\n\nWHEN Puss, Junior, awoke from his nap he was surprised to find himself\nin the Queen's lap. It was growing dark and for a moment he wondered\nwhere he was. \"Don't ask where you are, my dear Puss,\" laughed the\nQueen, \"for you are safe and well.\"\n\n\"Your Majesty,\" said Puss, rubbing his eyes, \"I was also very\ncomfortable. Pardon me for dropping off to sleep in your presence.\"\n\nJust then a page appeared and announced that dinner was served. The King\narose and offered his arm to the Queen, Puss following quietly after. As\nhe stepped down the great stairway to the royal dining room he heard\nsome one singing in a deep voice:\n\n          \"When good King Arthur ruled this land,\n             He was a goodly King;\n           He stole three pecks of barley meal\n             To make a bag pudding.\n\n          \"A bag pudding the King did make\n             And stuffed it well with plums,\n           And in it put great lumps of fat\n             As big as my two thumbs.\n\n          \"The King and Queen did eat thereof,\n             And noblemen beside;\n           And what they could not eat that night\n             The Queen next morning fried.\"\n\n\"Plum pudding!\" said Puss to himself. \"That sounds pretty nice,\" and he\nfollowed the King and Queen into the great dining hall. Many noblemen\nwere present and the table was a most gorgeous affair. Silver tankards\nand wonderful gold dishes gleamed in the candlelight. Puss was very much\nimpressed and behaved beautifully. And when the plum pudding came on the\ntable the same deep voice began to sing:\n\n          \"And what they could not eat that night\n             The Queen next morning fried.\"\n\n\"Puss,\" said the Queen in a whisper, \"let's finish the pudding between\nus! I know you'd like some more, and so would I. Moreover,\" she added in\na still lower whisper, \"I don't intend getting up early to-morrow\nmorning to fry what's left over--so let us finish it to-night.\"\n\nPresently the court fool came running in, his fool's cap all ajingle\nwith bells. He capered about, swinging up and down a little stick which\nwas also covered with tiny bells. These were silver, and the ones in his\ncap were of gold, so that the sound was very sweet.\n\nThe next morning Puss mounted his Good Gray Horse and rode away, and\nafter a while he came to a great mound of earth in which was a little\nwooden door on leather hinges.\n\n\"What sort of a house is this?\" thought Puss. And then, as if in answer\nto his question, the door opened and there stood a big brown bear\ndressed in a fur overcoat. And, oh, dear me! at first Puss was startled,\nand the Good Gray Horse reared on his hind legs. But the big brown bear\ndidn't growl. Not even a little bit. He just smiled as only a brown bear\ncan, and said:\n\n          \"If you have money\n           I'll sell you some honey.\"\n\nSo Puss jumped down and followed the bear into his hill house, for Puss\nwas curious to see what kind of a home this big, smiling brown bear had,\nyou see.\n\nWell, I want you to know it was a mighty nice sort of a place. There was\na big fireplace with great immense crackling logs, and over it, on the\nmantelpiece, were two beautiful carved candlesticks made from deers'\nhorns, and a cuckoo clock. And just then out came the little cuckoo\nherself and began to sing.\n\n\n\n\n\"ONE I LOVE, TWO I LOVE\"\n\n          ONE, I love; two, I love;\n            Three, I love, I say;\n          Four, I love with all my heart;\n            Five, I cast away.\n          Six, he loves; seven, she loves;\n            Eight, both love.\n          Nine, he comes; ten, he tarries;\n          Eleven, he courts, and twelve, he marries.\n\n\nOn a big stone by the wayside sat a little boy and girl. She held a\ndaisy in her hand, from which she slowly picked off the petals as she\ncounted:\n\n\"One, I love; two I love.\"\n\n\"Whoa!\" cried Puss, Junior.\n\n\"Three, I love, I say.\"\n\nBoth the children looked up. \"What a dandy cat,\" cried the little girl,\n\"and what a beautiful horse.\"\n\n\"Give us a ride?\" asked the little boy.\n\n\"Do you know how to ride?\" asked Puss, with a grin.\n\n\"I can ride my rocking horse ever so fast,\" the little boy replied.\n\n\"So can I,\" said the little girl.\n\n\"Stand on the stone,\" said Puss. \"I'll ride up close, and then you both\ncan climb up behind me. Easy there!\" cried Puss, guiding the Good Gray\nHorse up to the children, who stood close together on the big high\nstone. \"Now climb up behind me,\" and in a minute the two children had\nscrambled on to the saddle. \"Gid-ap!\" and off went the Good Gray Horse\non a canter.\n\n\"Isn't this great?\" cried the little boy.\n\n\"Isn't it lovely?\" said the little girl.\n\n\"One, I love; two, I love; three, I love, I say; four, I love with all\nmy heart,\" sang Puss. \"There are just four of us. You two and my Good\nGray Horse and I.\"\n\n\"But that isn't the way,\" said the little girl. \"You must count the\npetals!\"\n\n\"Oh, is that so?\" asked Puss. \"I like my way just the same.\"\n\n\"So do I,\" said the little boy. \"All four of us are pretty good chums\nalready.\"\n\nAnd the Good Gray Horse whinnied, as much as to say: \"I'm a good friend.\nSee what I'm doing--carrying you all so nicely on my big, broad back?\"\n\n\"That settles it,\" said Puss. \"My Good Gray Horse likes it that way.\"\n\n\"There's our house over there,\" cried the little girl. \"We'd better get\noff here.\"\n\n\"All right,\" and Puss helped them down. \"Good-by, good-by,\" and then the\ntwo children ran up the path to tell mother all about it.\n\n\n\n\nLITTLE JENNY WREN\n\n          AS little Jenny Wren,\n            Was sitting by her shed\n          She waggled with her tail,\n            She nodded with her head.\n          She waggled with her tail\n            And nodded with her head,\n          As little Jennie Wren\n            Was sitting by her shed.\n\n\n\"May I put up my Good Gray Horse for the night?\" asked Puss, Junior.\n\n\"You may, my good Sir Cat,\" replied the little bird. \"Hay you will find\nfor his supper, and straw for his bedding.\"\n\nSo Puss, Junior, jumped down and led his steed inside the big red barn\nand, after tying him in the stall, he looked around for a pitchfork.\n\n\"What are you looking for?\" asked little Jenny Wren.\n\n\"A pitchfork, my dear,\" announced Puss. \"I must spread straw for my\nhorse so that he may rest comfortably, and bring in some hay from the\nmow for his supper. My paws will not do, so I must ask you where I may\nfind the pitchfork.\"\n\n\"Here it is, my good Sir Cat. Now let me see you use it,\" answered\nlittle Jenny Wren, flying over to the opposite side of the shed and\nlighting on the handle of a large hay fork.\n\n\"Now, my little Lady Wren,\" cried Puss, after spreading the straw about\nthe stall until he had a fine bed for the horse, \"show me, if you\nplease, the haymow, for I must give him some hay.\"\n\n\"I will show you the oats bin, also,\" said the Wren, \"and here is the\nmeasure. You must lift this little wooden slide, but see that you don't\nspill the grain on the floor.\"\n\nLifting the slide ever so little, Puss held the measure carefully under\nthe wooden trough until it was filled. Then he carried it over to his\nhorse, who neighed twice, as much as to say, \"Thank you.\"\n\n\"And now,\" said Jenny Wren, \"what about yourself, my Lord Cat?\"\n\n\"Lord Cat!\" laughed Puss. \"Do lords tend their own steeds? I fear the\nword Sir is even out of place.\"\n\n\"Never mind,\" said little Jenny Wren, \"you have the manners of a\ngentleman, and that is enough for me.\"\n\n\"Thank you,\" said Puss.\n\n\"Come, follow me,\" cried Jenny Wren, and she led Puss into a pretty\nlittle cottage close by. \"Hang up your cap and place your stick behind\nthe door, and then wash your hands in my room. By that time I shall have\nsupper ready for you.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE MISCHIEVOUS RAVEN\n\n          A FARMER went trotting upon his gray mare--\n            Bumpety, bumpety, bump!\n          With his daughter behind him so rosy and fair--\n            Lumpety, lumpety, lump!\n\n\n\"Can you direct me to the wise man who lives in yonder village?\" asked\nPuss, Junior, bowing politely to the farmer's pretty daughter.\n\n\"Whoa!\" cried the farmer to his gray mare.\n\n\"Isn't he a lovely cat?\" whispered his daughter.\n\n\"What did you say?\" asked the farmer, looking Puss, Junior, over from\nhead to toe.\n\n\"I merely inquired,\" replied Puss, haughtily, \"if you could direct me to\nthe wise man in yonder town?\"\n\n\"Whoa!\" cried the farmer as the old gray mare started off. \"Whoa, there!\nCan't you hear the gentleman cat addressing your master?\"\n\n\"Whoa, Betsy,\" coaxed the farmer's pretty daughter.\n\n\"Well, Sir Cat,\" said the farmer, as soon as the old mare became quiet,\n\"we have several men in our town who think they are wise, but some of us\nfarmers don't quite agree with them.\"\n\nAnd then, all of a sudden, something dreadful happened.\n\n          A raven cried croak! And they all tumbled down--\n            Bumpety, bumpety, bump!\n          The mare broke her knees, and the farmer his crown--\n            Lumpety, lumpety, lump!\n\nAnd, oh, dear me, the farmer's pretty daughter dropped the mirror from\nher vanity bag, and it broke all to smithereens and she felt so unhappy\nabout it that she began to cry. And then:\n\n          The mischievous raven flew laughing away--\n            Bumpety, bumpety, bump!\n          And vowed he would serve them the same the next day,\n            Lumpety, lumpety, lump!\n\n\"Botheration!\" cried the farmer, rubbing the bump on the top of his\nhead. \"That raven is angry because I set up a scarecrow in my\ncornfield.\"\n\n\"Well, father,\" said his daughter, \"our mare can't take us to town. What\nshall we do?\"\n\n\"You get up behind Sir Puss and ride to town,\" he replied. \"I'll take\nthe mare home. That's the best way, I guess.\"\n\n\n\n\nCANDY TOWN\n\n\nPUSS, JUNIOR, helped the farmer's pretty daughter into the saddle, and\nthen away went the Good Gray Horse to Candy Town. Well, after maybe a\nmile and a laugh and smile, Puss said, \"I feel just like a Knight of the\nRound Table, for I have rescued a maiden in distress.\" And this made the\nfarmer's pretty daughter laugh till her cheeks grew red as two apples.\n\n\"Well, then, I shall call you Sir Cat,\" she said, and this so pleased\nPuss that he began to purr at a great rate. It was great fun, he\nthought. And the farmer's daughter thought it great sport, too, I\nimagine, for she began to sing a little song, and this is the way it\nwent:\n\n          \"Heigh-ho, over we go,\n             Pussy and I to town,\n           What does he wish? A nice little fish,\n             And I a silken gown.\n           But where is the money to buy all that,\n           Unless I may borrow from Sir Pussy Cat?\"\n\n\"Of course you may,\" cried Puss. \"Just wait till we get to town.\"\n\nAnd then the farmer's pretty daughter blushed very red. \"I was only in\nfun,\" she said.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"But I wasn't,\" replied Puss.\n\n\"Why, have you enough money?\" she asked, giving him a hug.\n\n\"Don't squeeze so tight,\" cried Puss. \"We may have an accident, and one\nis enough for to-day. I hope your father will get the old gray mare\nhome safely.\"\n\n\"Never fear,\" she replied, \"father will attend to that, all right.\"\n\n\"Here we are,\" said Puss, looking up at a sign-post on which was\nwritten, \"Candy Town.\" \"Now, where's the shop with the silken gowns?\"\n\n\"Over there. Don't you see it right next to the baker's shop.\"\n\n\"Oh yes,\" laughed Puss, \"I see it now,\" and he drew rein in front of the\nquaint little shop and helped the farmer's daughter to alight.\n\n\"Come in with me,\" she said, \"for I'd like to buy what you like.\" And\nthis so pleased Puss that he made up his mind to buy any gown she\nfancied, even if it were trimmed with diamonds.\n\n\"Do you want that pretty blue one?\" he asked, with a smile.\n\n\"How did you guess?\" she answered. \"You are a wonderful cat.\"\n\n\"And now,\" said Puss, when the gown was wrapped up, \"let's have a cream\npuff in the baker's next door, for I'm sure you're hungry.\"\n\n\"You're a wonderful guesser, Sir Puss,\" she cried, \"indeed you are, as\nwell as a most generous little cat.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE BRAMBLE BUSH MAN\n\n          THERE was a man in our town,\n            And he was wondrous wise.\n          He jumped into a bramble bush\n            And scratched out both his eyes.\n          And when he found his eyes were out\n            He cried with grief and pain,\n          And jumped into another bush\n            And scratched them in again.\n\n\n\"That's the man I'm looking for,\" cried little Puss, Junior. \"I wonder\nwhere he lives. Maybe he can tell me where to find my father.\"\n\n\"You hold your horse while I ask the baker's wife,\" said the farmer's\npretty daughter.\n\nPretty soon she came back and said: \"He lives in a little house just\noutside the town. It's not far from our place.\"\n\nSo she and Puss rode away, and she was mighty careful, let me tell you,\nnot to drop the package containing the silk gown which Puss had given\nher.\n\nWell, by and by they came to the wise man's little house, surrounded by\na hedge of bramble bushes; but the wise man himself was nowhere to be\nseen.\n\n\"Let's go around to the barn,\" said the farmer's pretty daughter. \"It's\nmilking time, you know.\" And, sure enough, there they found him.\n\n\"Are you the man who jumped into the bramble bush?\" asked Puss.\n\n\"Yes, I am. But let me tell you something. They call me a wise man, but\nI think a man who jumps into a bramble bush is a silly goose.\"\n\nAnd then, all of a sudden, the Bramble-bush Man exclaimed: \"Goodness me!\nI once knew a cat who wore red-top boots. A good many years ago there\nlived near here a miller who had three sons. When he died he left all\nhis property to the two eldest, but to the youngest only a cat. Well,\nthis cat turned out to be a most wonderful cat. Indeed, I heard that he\nsecured a magnificent castle for his young master, as well as the hand\nof a lovely princess.\"\n\n\"Where does he live?\" cried Puss, in great excitement.\n\n\"That I cannot tell,\" replied the Bramble-bush Man, \"for I never heard\nwhere he went after leaving here.\"\n\n\"Oh, dear me!\" sighed little Puss, Junior. \"Nobody knows where my father\nlives.\" Then he and the farmer's pretty daughter rode away, and in the\nnext story you shall hear what happened at the old farmhouse.\n\n\n\n\nDAFFY-DOWN-DILLY\n\n          \"DAFFY-DOWN-DILLY has come to town\n             In a yellow petticoat and a green gown,\"\n\n\nsang the farmer's pretty daughter beneath Puss, Junior's, window. There\nshe stood, bending over her flower bed, the pink strings of her bonnet\nfloating on the morning breeze.\n\nPuss hurriedly pulled on his boots and ran outside. \"Good morning! I see\nyour flowers are still in bed.\"\n\n\"Daffy and Down and Dilly are very lazy, I fear,\" laughed the farmer's\npretty daughter; \"they'll never get to town to buy a new gown if they\ndon't hurry.\"\n\n\"I hope they won't meet any bad crows on their journey,\" replied Puss.\n\n\"And I hope they won't have any bumpety bumps!\" said the farmer's pretty\ndaughter.\n\nJust then the farmer came out of the barn leading Puss, Junior's, Good\nGray Horse.\n\n\"Good-by,\" said Puss. \"I've had a pleasant visit.\" And off he rode. By\nand by, after a while, he met an old crow walking along the top of the\nfence. He wore a silk hat and carried a cane, but he couldn't lean on\nit, for the fence rail was so narrow, you see.\n\n\"Hello!\" said Puss, Junior. And, goodness me! that well-dressed crow\nnearly lost his balance, he was so startled at Puss, Junior's voice.\n\nWell, as soon as he had caught his breath, he said:\n\n\"I have just found a beautiful pearl necklace. Do you think it belongs\nto the Queen of Hearts?\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"I'm sure I don't know,\" answered Puss. \"Suppose you come along with me\nand maybe we'll find the owner.\"\n\nSo the silk-hatted old crow sat himself down behind Puss, and the Good\nGray Horse kicked out his heels, and away they went to the next village,\nand when they reached there they stopped before the office of the Mother\nGoose daily newspaper and asked the man who ran the \"Lost and Found\"\nadvertisements if he knew who had lost a beautiful pearl necklace of\ntwenty-three pearls and a little diamond clasp?\n\n\"Let me think,\" he said, scratching the top of his head, which was as\nbald as a billiard ball. You see, he was a bald-headed eagle, although I\nforgot to mention it before.\n\n\"You might inquire at a little green house about a mile down the road. A\nlittle yellow hen lives there who once had a coral necklace.\" So Puss\nsaid gid-ap to the Good Gray Horse and rode away, and by and by, after a\nwhile, they came to the little green house. And when the old crow\nknocked on the door it was opened by the little yellow hen herself.\n\n\"Have you lost a necklace of pearls?\" he asked, politely doffing his\nsilk hat.\n\n\"Dearie me! Let me look,\" she answered, hopping back into her little\nhouse. Pretty soon she came back with a little jewel case, which was as\nempty as a Christmas stocking on the Fourth of July.\n\n\"Who could have taken it out?\" she said.\n\nSo the honest old crow handed over the pearl necklace, and went inside\nfor a cup of tea, while Puss said good-by and rode away.\n\n\n\n\n\"DONKEY, DONKEY, OLD AND GRAY\"\n\n          \"DONKEY, donkey, old and gray,\n            Open your mouth and gently bray;\n          Lift your ears and blow your horn\n          To wake the world this sleepy morn,\"\n\n\nsang little Puss, Junior.\n\n\"I'm no rooster,\" replied the little donkey. But he gave a gentle bray,\njust the same, and then the Good Gray Horse neighed, and after that a\nlittle adder crawled out of a hole in the ground and said:\n\n\"Gracious me! What's all this noise?\" And that only goes to show what a\ndreadful din it must have been, for adders are deaf, so they tell me.\n\nWell, anyhow, Puss didn't wait any longer, but rode away, and by and by,\nafter a while, he met a funny little man with a sack over his back.\n\n\"What have you in your bag?\" asked Puss, for he felt sorry for the\nlittle old man and meant to give him a lift in case he had a heavy load,\nyou see.\n\n\"What's that to you?\" asked the little old man, with a scowl. And before\nyou could say \"Jack Robinson!\" he disappeared inside a stump.\n\nPuss jumped off his Good Gray Horse and peeped in. But he couldn't see\nanything, only a big black hole. Well, he was just going to turn away\nwhen he heard a voice say:\n\n          \"Mother, I've brought you a bag of gold\n           For the little pink-and-white pig I sold.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSo Puss peeped in again, and pretty soon he saw a tiny light way down\ndeep, like the flicker of a candle. And by and by, as his eyes grew used\nto the darkness, he saw a flight of stairs. Then what do you think he\ndid? Jump into the hollow stump and climb down? That's just what he\ndid, and it wasn't long before he found himself in a little hall\nopposite a small door with a glass knob inside of which was an electric\nlight, which I suppose had been put there by the little old man in case\nhe got home after twelve at night and his wife had blown out the candle.\n\nAll of a sudden the door opened and a little old woman, bent and\nwithered, asked, in a shrill voice:\n\n      \"How dare you come down to our Hollow Stump hall?\n       I'll cut off your whiskers, tail and all.\"\n\n\"Please, ma'am,\" said little Puss, Junior, \"I won't tell anybody.\" And I\nguess he would have climbed up the stairs then and there if he hadn't\nfeared she might cut off his tail when he turned around.\n\n\"Let him go, mother,\" said the little old man. \"He would have given me a\nride on his horse on my way home had we met sooner.\" But how he knew\nthat is more than I can tell. \"Here, Sir Cat. Take this gold piece and\ntell neither man nor beast where you got it.\" And he pushed Puss up the\nlittle flight of stairs.\n\n\n\n\n\"TICK, TACK, TOO\"\n\n\nONE day Puss, Junior's, Good Gray Horse lost a shoe.\n\n\"Gracious me! I must find a smithy,\" said Puss, Junior, anxiously.\nLuckily there was a small village near by, and pretty soon he drew rein\nin front of a blacksmith shop. But, oh, dear me! there was no one there\nexcept a small boy.\n\n          Jack Jingle went 'prentice\n            To make a horseshoe;\n          He wasted the iron\n            Till it would not do.\n\n          His master came in\n            And began for to rail.\n          Said Jack, \"The shoe's spoiled,\n            But 'twill still make a nail.\"\n\n          He tried at the nail,\n            But, chancing to miss,\n          Said, \"If it won't make a nail,\n            It shall yet make a hiss.\"\n\n          Then into the water\n            Threw the hot iron, smack,\n          \"Hiss!\" quoth the iron.\n            \"I thought so,\" said Jack.\n\n\"You good for nothing!\" cried the blacksmith, coming into the shop,\n\"here's a customer at hand and you have no shoe for his horse.\"\n\n\"How long will it take to make one?\" asked Puss, Junior.\n\n\"All day and maybe longer,\" said the smith--\"that is, if you depend on\nthat clumsy lad.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"Well, I don't want to depend on him,\" said Puss, with a grin; \"neither\ndo I want to take chances with my good horse.\"\n\n\"Neither shall you, my Lord Cat,\" replied the smith. \"I will see that\nyour horse is well shod, for he is indeed a fine beast.\"\n\n\"He has good legs, has he not?\" asked Puss, running his paw down the\nforeleg of the big gray horse, like a professional horseman.\n\n\"He has that,\" said the blacksmith, \"and a fine head, too.\"\n\n\"He's a good roadster,\" added Puss, seating himself on a three-legged\nstool while the smith lifted the horse's leg and held it between his\nknees.\n\n\"Yes, he has good feet,\" said the smith, \"and he shall have a fine\nshoe.\"\n\n          Here a nail, and there a nail, tick, tack, too.\n\nAs soon as the shoe was on, Puss, Junior, mounted and rode away. But\nbefore he left he turned to Jack and said:\n\n          \"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.\n             Tick, tack, too; learn to make a shoe!\n           Some day you may turn out ten\n             If you don't get blue.\"\n\n\n\n\nLULLABY BABY\n\n          MATTHEW, Mark, Luke, and John,\n            Bless the bed I lie upon.\n          Four corners to my bed,\n          Five angels there lie spread;\n          Two at my head,\n            Two at my feet,\n          One at my heart,\n            My soul to keep.\n\n\nPuss, Junior, looked in at the window. On a little white bed lay a\npretty child.\n\n\"Now go to sleep, my little one,\" softly whispered his mother. \"Snuggle\ndown and find a little dream--a little dream about woolly lambs and\nwhite daisies.\"\n\nThen she tiptoed from the room, and no sound was heard except her\nfootsteps on the stairs. Just as she looked through the open door she\nsaw Puss slide down the post that held up the roof of the porch.\n\n\"Don't worry, madam,\" he explained, politely. \"I climbed up to see if\nanyone were at home. Nobody answered the doorbell. But when I saw your\nlittle boy I kept very, very still so as not to disturb him.\"\n\n\"You are a good cat,\" she answered, with a sigh of relief. \"I'm glad you\nwere quiet.\"\n\n\"I am very tired, madam,\" said Puss, \"for I have journeyed far to-day.\nWould it be asking too much if I might sleep on your front porch?\"\n\n\"You may sleep on a big red cushion in the hall,\" she replied, \"and I\nwill also give you a bowl of milk.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"May I put my Good Gray Horse in your barn?\"\n\n\"Of course,\" she answered. \"You will find plenty of hay and oats for his\nsupper.\"\n\nThe Good Gray Horse followed his small master to the stable and was soon\nmade comfortable for the night. Then Puss locked the stable door and\nbrought the key into the house.\n\n\"Hang it up on the nail behind the door,\" said the mother of the little\nchild. \"And take off your boots. They make so much noise on the kitchen\nfloor. I fear they will keep my little one awake.\"\n\n\"I will gladly take them off,\" said Puss, and he placed them behind the\ndoor underneath the big barn key.\n\n\"My husband will be home very soon,\" she said, \"but if you are very\ntired I will give you your supper at once.\"\n\n\"I would like it now,\" said Puss, with a weary sigh. And when he had\nfinished he jumped upon the big red cushion and was soon fast asleep.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FIRE\n\n          MY Lady Wind, my Lady Wind,\n            Went round about the house to find\n            A chink to get her foot in;\n          She tried the keyhole in the door,\n          She tried the crevice in the floor,\n            And drove the chimney soot in.\n\n          And then one night when it was dark\n          She blew up such a tiny spark\n            That all the house was pothered;\n          From it she raised up such a flame\n          As flamed away to Belting Lane,\n            And White Cross folks were smothered.\n\n\nPuss, Junior, awoke with a start to find his room filled with smoke.\nAnd, oh, dear me! when he opened his door red flames were already\ncrawling up the woodwork.\n\nRunning up the stairs two at a time, he pounded on the nursery door and\nshouted, \"Fire! fire!\" And then, of course, the baby awoke with a cry.\n\n\"Oh, Puss, Junior, what shall I do?\" cried the mother, for the cruel\nflames were now creeping across the hall.\n\n\"Don't open the door,\" he cried. \"The hall is a mass of flames. Climb\nthrough the window to the roof of the porch. Be quick!\" and he jumped\nthrough the little hall window and ran across the roof to the nursery.\n\"Come out here!\" he shouted. \"Be quick, or the flames will be in your\nroom before you can get out.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\nJust then, all of a sudden, a ladder was placed against the porch, and a\nkind fireman with a big red helmet on his head held out his arms. \"Give\nme the baby and follow me.\" Puss held the top of the ladder to steady it\nuntil they were safe on the ground and then slid down without touching\nthe rungs.\n\n\"Our pretty house will be burned,\" sobbed the baby's mother.\n\n\"And my red-top boots,\" cried Puss.\n\n\"There goes the stable!\" shouted the fireman.\n\n\"Goodness me!\" cried Puss. \"I'd better get my Good Gray Horse!\"\n\nBy this time the hose was connected and soon the engine was pumping\nwater on the flames. But, oh, dear me! it was too late. The pretty\nlittle house quickly burned to the ground--only the big red chimney was\nleft. It was hard work to save the stable, but at last the flames were\nput out.\n\n\"We all must sleep in the hay loft,\" said Puss.\n\nSo the Good Gray Horse was led back into his stall. He was the only one\nwho was comfortable that night, I guess.\n\n\n\n\nTHE OLD WOMAN'S RIDDLE\n\n\n\"OH, dear me!\" sighed little Puss, Junior, as he thought of his lovely\nred-top boots which had been destroyed by the fire. \"Where shall I get\nanother pair?\" for he knew that no ordinary bootmaker had the skill to\nmake boots for a cat. However, when he mounted his Good Gray Horse he\nfound, to his surprise, a couple of gold sovereigns in his pocket.\n\"That's something to be thankful for,\" he laughed, as he set out upon\nhis journey through Old Mother Goose Land. \"I'll stop at the first\ncobbler shop and see what I can buy.\"\n\nAs he rode gayly along he came across a funny little old woman. On her\nhead was a red sunbonnet and over her shoulders a bright-green shawl.\nBlack-lace mits covered her thin hands, and a pair of white slippers her\ntwo little feet.\n\n\"My good woman,\" said Puss, Junior, politely raising his cap as he drew\nin his Good Gray Horse, \"can you tell me where I may find a shoemaker?\"\n\nThe old woman smiled and said:\n\n          \"What shoemaker makes shoes without leather,\n           With all the four elements put together?\n           Fire and water, earth and air,\n           And every customer wears a pair.\"\n\n\"I don't know,\" answered Puss.\n\n\"Why, a blacksmith, you goosey!\" cried the little old woman, tossing her\nhead.\n\n\"I don't want shoes for my Good Gray Horse,\" said Puss, in a disgusted\ntone of voice. \"I want a pair of shoes for myself.\"\n\n\"Ho, ho!\" laughed the little old woman. \"So my fine Sir Cat would have a\npair of shoes?\"\n\n\"No, my good woman--a pair of _boots_!\"\n\n\"Well, then,\" she replied, \"keep on your way until you reach yonder\nvillage. Then cross the bridge and you will soon come to a bootmaker. He\nwill, no doubt, be able to fit a pair of boots to Your Royal Highness's\nfeet.\" Then she turned up a lane and left Puss to continue his way\nalone.\n\n\"Ah, me!\" sighed Puss. \"I don't feel a bit like myself without my\nred-topped boots. Indeed, I feel like an imposter. How will anyone\nbelieve that I am Puss in Boots, Junior, if I have no boots?\" And, for\nthe first time in his life, he felt discouraged. He had met with many\ndisappointments on his journey through Mother Goose country, but to be\nwithout boots seemed almost too hard to bear. Still, with a brave heart,\nhe rode on toward the village. \"I have at least the money with which to\nbuy them,\" he said, \"and this is much to be thankful for.\" Which was a\nwise saying, I think, for a cat who had been out in the world for so\nshort a time as had little Puss, Junior.\n\n\n\n\nTHE COBBLER\n\n\n\"CAN you make me a pair of boots?\" asked Puss, Junior, reining in his\nGood Gray Horse.\n\nThe cobbler, who was sitting close to the open window of his little\nshop, looked up from his bench.\n\n\"Will you need two pair?\" he asked.\n\n\"One pair, my good man,\" replied Puss, Junior, haughtily. \"Do you\nimagine I wear boots on my front paws?\"\n\n\"Well, my good Sir Cat,\" answered the cobbler, \"I did not know for\ncertain. I can make two pair as well as one.\"\n\n\"And charge for two pair, I warrant, also,\" cried Puss, with a grin.\n\n\"I can give you fine work,\" said the cobbler.\n\n\"Are you sure?\" asked Puss. \"My last pair, which was unfortunately\nburned up in a fire, was made by a royal cobbler.\"\n\n\"I have not made boots for royalty,\" replied the cobbler, \"but I made\nthe shoe in which an old woman lives with so many children that it would\ntake you an hour to count them all. That was some job, let me tell you.\nOne doesn't often live in a shoe, although one may walk in one.\"\n\n\"You don't mean to tell me you made that wonderful shoe?\" cried Puss.\n\n\"Most certainly, my good Sir Cat.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"Then you shall make me a pair of boots. And, mind you, my good man,\nthey must have red tops.\"\n\n\"That they shall,\" said the cobbler. \"Dismount, and come into my humble\nshop. I would measure your feet.\"\n\n\"Perhaps you have a pair on hand that will fit me,\" said Puss, gazing\nabout the tiny shop.\n\n\"I will see,\" replied the cobbler.\n\n\"I am in haste,\" said Puss, as the cobbler looked over his stock. \"I am\nin haste, for I have yet a long journey before me, and cannot delay. I\nam in search of my illustrious father, Puss in Boots.\"\n\n\"What!\" cried the cobbler. \"I once made a pair of boots for a cat. Could\nit have been the noble Puss in Boots?\"\n\n\"Tell me where he lives,\" cried Puss, much excited.\n\n\"Ah,\" replied the cobbler, \"that I do not know, for it is many years ago\nsince I made the boots. But here is a pair I think will fit you.\"\n\n\"I would rather that you had told me where my father lives,\" said little\nPuss, Junior, \"than to have found a pair of boots.\"\n\n\"They are certainly a fine fit,\" said the cobbler, gazing with\nadmiration at Puss, Junior's, feet.\n\n\"Yes,\" answered Puss, \"and here is the money. Good-by,\" and off rode our\nlittle hero, still in search of his father, the famous Puss in Boots.\n\n\n\n\nDOCTOR DRAKE\n\n          DOCTOR DRAKE kept a shop,\n          Of dimensions not large,\n          In a hole in the haystack\n          By the side of the yard,\n          Where he dispensed certain small stones\n          And one or two gravels,\n          With sundry rare herbs\n          He had found in his travels.\n\n\n\"I hope the good doctor's at home,\" said Puss, as he reined in his Good\nGray Horse. \"I don't feel at all well to-day.\"\n\nSo he dismounted and knocked on the front door, and pretty soon the\nfamous duck doctor appeared. He wore a big pair of spectacles and a very\nhigh collar, around which was tied a green cravat which matched the\nfeathers of his tail.\n\n\"Quack, quack!\" said Doctor Drake. \"What do you want?\"\n\n\"I don't know, Doctor,\" answered Puss, Junior. \"I feel far from well; in\nfact, I think I'm going to be very ill.\"\n\n\"Don't worry,\" replied Doctor Drake; \"that's what we doctors are looking\nfor--sick people. I can cure you, never fear.\"\n\n\"Thank you,\" said Puss, Junior.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"Don't thank me yet,\" answered Doctor Drake; \"wait till you're\ncured--then pay me.\"\n\n\"That will I gladly do,\" replied Puss, Junior; \"only make me feel like\nmyself again.\"\n\n\"I think,\" said Doctor Drake, after looking at Puss, Junior's, tongue,\n\"you had better give up horseback riding; it's bad for you.\"\n\n\"Oh, dear!\" sighed poor Puss, Junior. \"What shall I do with my Good Gray\nHorse?\"\n\n\"Sell him to me,\" replied Doctor Drake. \"I'm in need of a horse. My\npractice is growing so large I find it difficult to make my calls.\"\n\n\"Yes, I suppose you do,\" said Puss. \"Your feet are not for walking, but\nfor swimming.\"\n\n\"Right you are,\" assented the doctor. \"Of course, some of my patients\nlive in the pond; but, then, again, a lot of them don't. Take these\npills.\" And the famous duck doctor handed Puss, Junior, a little round\nbox. \"One every hour; they'll soon fix you up, all right. Now, how much\ndo you want for your horse?\"\n\nPuss, Junior, scratched his head. \"What will you give?\" he asked,\ntearfully.\n\n\"Twenty-five pounds,\" replied the doctor.\n\n\"Very well,\" said Puss. \"The horse is yours. Give me my money and I will\njourney along on foot, though it goes hard with me to part with my\nfaithful steed.\" Then, tucking the box of pills in his pocket, Puss\nproceeded on his journey.\n\n\n\n\n\"NO BIGGER THAN MY THUMB\"\n\n\nHAVING traveled so long on horseback, Puss, Junior, found it hard to\nresume his journey on foot. However, he manfully set out once more. The\npills Doctor Drake had given him made him feel quite frisky, and he ran\nalong at a good rate. In fact, he felt that perhaps he might just as\nwell have kept his Good Gray Horse and taken the chance of becoming\nreally ill. But it was too late now; the bargain had been made and he\nmust make the best of it. So on he jogged, whistling a merry tune to\nhelp along his tired feet.\n\nBy and by he came to a pretty cottage and, entering the front gate,\nlooked in through the window. At a table sat a woman, singing:\n\n  \"I had a little husband, no bigger than my thumb;\n   I put him in a pint pot, and there I bid him drum.\n   I bought a little horse that galloped up and down;\n   I saddled him and bridled him and sent him out of town.\n   I gave him some garters to garter up his hose,\n   And a little pocket handkerchief to wipe his pretty nose.\"\n\n\"I wish she had given me the little horse,\" said Puss, with a sigh, \"for\nI certainly miss my good gray steed.\"\n\nJust then the woman looked up and, seeing Puss at the window, called\nout, \"Come in, little Sir Cat.\"\n\nPuss, Junior, jumped nimbly through the open window and stood beside\nher.\n\n\"What do you think of my little husband?\"\n\n\"He certainly is no bigger than your thumb, madam.\"\n\n\"He is a good little man, all the same,\" she replied, \"and when he's\nastride of his little horse he makes a fine appearance. Wait, and I will\nshow you how well he can ride.\"\n\nAll of a sudden Puss heard the pawing of hoofs, and there stood the\nprettiest little horse he had ever seen. It was no larger than a play\ntoy, but well built. A long, silky mane fell over his neck, and a curly\ntail almost reached to the ground. Then, quick as a wink, the little\nhusband jumped out of the pint pot and vaulted nimbly into the saddle.\n\n\"Gid-ap,\" he cried, and away went the little horse down the road.\n\n\"Good-by, madam,\" cried Puss, running after the tiny horseman. But it\nwas impossible to catch up with him, and pretty soon he disappeared in a\ncloud of dust. \"Well, well,\" cried Puss to himself, \"I had no idea that\nsuch a tiny steed could run so fast. Will wonders never cease until I\nhave found my dear father, Puss in Boots?\"\n\nThen, taking out his pocket handkerchief, he wiped his forehead. \"I\nshall not despair, however,\" he said, bravely, \"for I have a good pair\nof legs, and all journeys come to an end at last, so I shall keep\nmerrily on my way.\"\n\n\n\n\nTELL-TALE-TIT\n\n          TELL-TALE-TIT!\n            Your tongue shall be slit,\n          And all the dogs in the town\n            Shall have a little bit.\n\n\nOh, dear me! This is what was going to happen to the little girl who had\ntold on her brothers. And all the little dogs were standing around,\nwagging their tails, as Puss, Junior, passed by.\n\nIt was a wonder that the dogs didn't rush out and bark at him, but they\nwere so anxious to get a piece of the little girl's tongue that they\ndidn't notice him at all. Perhaps a cat with boots and spurs, a hat and\nplume, and a trusty sword didn't look like an ordinary cat to them. And\nneither was our little traveler.\n\nYou see, these little boys had gone into an alley to play marbles, on\ntheir way to school, and then the little girl had told her father how\nthey had missed their lessons.\n\n\"And Jimmy Jones won all the marbles, and there was a fight! And the\nteacher kept them in after school!\"\n\n\"Oh me! oh my!\" cried Puss, Junior. \"Please don't slit her tongue!\"\n\n\"But why did you tell tales on your brothers?\" asked her father.\n\n\"Oh, please don't slit her tongue!\" cried Puss, Junior, again.\n\n\"That's what they did in _Mother Goose_.\"\n\n\"It must have been very long ago in the dark ages,\" answered Puss,\nlaying hold of his sword.\n\n\"Well, it's only a rhyme!\" laughed her father, picking up his little\ngirl and hugging her. \"Come on, Sir Cat, follow me. You are quite a\nKnight of the Round Table. If a fair lady be in distress you are her\nchampion!\"\n\nPretty soon all three came to a little house and Puss was invited to\ncome in and play. There was a nice swing under an old apple tree, and\nsoon he was swinging as high as the little girl could push him. All of a\nsudden he jumped out up among the branches and hung on to a limb, just\nlike a trapeze performer.\n\n\"I once was with a circus,\" he explained, sliding down the rope and\nturning a somersault on the ground.\n\nJust then the little boys came in the gate and how they did laugh! And\nJimmy gave Puss all the marbles which he had won, and his father, who\nhad been sitting on the porch watching the fun, gave Puss a dollar.\nAfter that they all went in for lunch and Puss didn't start out on his\njourney until late in the afternoon.\n\n\n\n\nON THE WAY\n\n          \"ON the way, on the way,\n           To see my father, old and gray.\n           Faster still, my good gray steed,\n           Over hill and flowering mead.\n\n          \"Faster, faster, Good Gray Horse,\n           Hasten swiftly on your course,\n           Till I see the stately towers\n           Where my father spends his hours.\"\n\n\n\"Urge me not too much!\" panted the faithful steed. \"I'm doing my best,\nbut these hills have made me short of breath.\"\n\nDear me! I forgot to tell you that the Good Gray Horse had run away from\nthe famous Doctor Drake and had caught up to Puss, Junior, just as I\ncommenced this story.\n\n\"Forgive me,\" cried little Puss, Junior. \"In my anxiety to see my father\nI have been selfish.\" And he slipped a lump of sugar into the mouth of\nthe Good Gray Horse.\n\nWell, after several miles had gone by, Puss drew rein at a drinking\ntrough beside the road, where his faithful steed drank long and deep.\nAnd as they rested a while, who should fly by but a busy bumblebee,\nbuzzing from flower to flower.\n\nHe was a jolly-looking bee, and presently he said to Puss, \"Whither are\nyou bound, my good Sir Cat?\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"To the castle of my Lord of Carabas,\" replied our little traveler. \"I'm\nseeking my father, who is seneschal to my lord.\"\n\n\"Ah, is that so?\" exclaimed the bee. \"These are stirring times. I heard\nonly last week that my Lord of Carabas was going to war!\"\n\n\"What!\" exclaimed our small hero, jumping to his feet and clapping his\npaw to his sword. \"I must hurry on!\"\n\n\"Bravely spoken,\" answered the bee. \"I have seen many soldiers at the\ncastle of late. Indeed, the country is all excitement--flags flying,\ndrums beating, men drilling, women scraping lint. All is bustle and\nhustle.\"\n\n\"And what brings you so far from there?\" inquired Puss, replacing his\nsword in his scabbard.\n\n\"My two good wings,\" replied the bumblebee, and he laughed as he dove\nhead first into a flower after its dewy sweetness.\n\n\"Come, little master,\" cried the Good Gray Horse. \"I am rested. Let us\nhasten on our journey.\"\n\nPuss bade good-by to the golden bumblebee and sprang once more into the\nsaddle. And the Good Gray Horse threw out his heels and galloped off\ntoward the castle of my Lord of Carabas, but evening came upon them and\nthey were still far from their destination, so Puss dismounted for the\nnight beneath a grove of trees.\n\n\n\n\nLITTLE BOY BLUE\n\n\nYOU remember in the last story that Puss and his Good Gray Horse had\ncamped in a grove of trees for the night. Well, just as Puss was about\nto curl up and take a little trip to dreamland he heard a voice singing:\n\n          \"Little Boy Blue,\n             Come, leave your toys.\n           It's time to wash hands\n             For little boys.\n\n          \"Supper is ready,\n             You must not wait.\n           Tuck in your napkin\n             And don't tip your plate.\n\n          \"Oh, where is Boy Blue?\n             Let's all take a peep.\n           He's there on the sofa,\n             Fast asleep.\"\n\nPuss opened his eyes and saw a little light twinkling through the trees.\nSo he got up and went toward it to find that it shone from the window of\na small cottage. As he knocked on the door he thought, \"I may be asked\nto spend the night, and that will be much more comfortable than lying\nbeneath the trees.\" And it turned out just as he thought. The pretty\nwoman who opened the door asked him in, saying, softly:\n\n\"Tiptoe in, my dear Puss, Junior, for Boy Blue has just gone to sleep.\"\nAnd you know how softly a cat can tiptoe! But of course he first slipped\noff his red-topped boots with their clanking spurs.\n\nThen Boy Blue's mother gave Puss, Junior, some milk and cake, and after\nthat he put his Good Gray Horse in the stable and came back to sit down\nby the fire.\n\nOver the mantelpiece hung a silver horn, and as Puss looked up at it he\nremembered long ago in Old Mother Goose Land a little Boy Blue who blew\nhis horn to call the cows from the fields of corn.\n\n\"Does your little Boy Blue go to sleep in a haystack?\"\n\n\"No, my dear,\" laughingly replied his mother, \"but his father did. And\nthat's the horn he used to blow in the early morn to call the cows and\nthe woolly sheep when under the haystack he'd fallen asleep.\"\n\n\"I met him once, a long time ago,\" said little Puss, Junior. \"I remember\nthe place quite well. He carried me on his shoulder over to see little\nMiss Muffet who sat on a tuffet, and she gave us some curds and whey\ntill a horrid old spider sat down beside us and frightened her away.\"\n\n\"And so you were the little cat who was with him, were you?\" said little\nBoy Blue's mother.\n\nBut Puss didn't answer, for he had fallen fast asleep and was dreaming\nthat he was once more with his dear father, the famous Puss in Boots.\n\n\n\n\nALPHABET TOWN\n\n\nNOW let me see. Where did I leave off in the last story? Oh yes, I\nremember now. Little Puss, Junior, had fallen asleep in the house where\nlittle Boy Blue lived. Yes, Puss had fallen asleep in front of the\nfireplace over which hung the silver horn that called the cows from the\nfields of corn. Well, the next morning the horn began blowing all by\nitself, and this, of course, woke up everybody in the house; so Puss\nwashed his face and hands and curled his whiskers and after that he\npulled on his red-topped boots and was ready for breakfast. Then Mrs.\nBoy Blue came downstairs with little Boy Blue. He was only three years\nold, but he could blow a horn, though I don't think the cows paid much\nattention to him, for they knew he was only doing it in fun, you see.\n\nWell, after breakfast, Puss, Junior, bade them all good-by and mounted\nhis Good Gray Horse, and by and by, after he had ridden many a mile, he\ncame to a very queer place--it was called Alphabet Town. But the\nstrangest thing of all was that the alphabet was alive. Yes, from A to Z\nit was alive, and Puss was so interested that he drew rein at the gates\nof Alphabet Town because, he said to himself, \"If I expect to get\nthrough Mother Goose Land I must learn the alphabet, and the sooner I\nlearn it the sooner I shall see my dear father.\" So he went up to the\nschoolhouse and this is what he learned:\n\n          A was an Ant who worked all the day.\n          B was a Butterfly, flitting away.\n          C was a Cherry that hung on a tree.\n          D was a Daisy that grew on the lea.\n          E was an Elm that stood by the school.\n          F was a Frog that lived in a pool\n          G was a Goat with a beard on his face.\n          H was a Horse that won a fine race.\n          I was an Insect that fed on a peach.\n          J was a Jay Bird whose song was a screech.\n          K was a Kitten that played with a string.\n          L was a Lambkin that browsed in the spring.\n          M was a Magpie that stole a gold spoon.\n          N was the Nest where she slept 'neath the moon.\n          O was the Oak Tree that held safe the nest.\n          P was a Pigeon with soft purple vest.\n          Q was a Quail that was shot with a gun.\n          R was a Rooster that woke up the sun.\n          S was a Snail that was awfully slow.\n          T was a Turtle, no faster, you know.\n          U was a Unicorn; of him you have heard.\n          V was a Vulture, a rapacious bird.\n          W was a Wren that made a sweet noise.\n          X was a Xmas Tree, covered with toys.\n          Y was a Yule Log, dragged through the snow.\n          Z was a Zero when winter winds blow.\n\nAnd I think when I tell you that Puss learned this alphabet in less than\nhalf an hour you will agree with me he was a very bright cat.\n\n\n\n\nLUCY LOCKET\n\n\n\"GID-AP!\" said Puss, Junior. \"Gid-ap, my good steed, for we must hasten\non. 'Tis yet a long ways we must journey ere I find my illustrious\nfather, Puss in Boots.\"\n\nThe Good Gray Horse quickened his pace, and soon many a mile was left\nbehind.\n\nAt length Puss saw a little girl in the doorway of a cottage.\n\n          Lucy Locket\n          Lost her pocket;\n          Kitty Fisher\n            Found it;\n          Nothing in it,\n          Nothing in it,\n          But the binding\n            Round it.\n\n\"Whoa!\" cried Puss. \"Can I help you, miss?\"\n\n\"I'm so disappointed!\" cried the little girl. \"I thought there might be\na bright penny inside.\"\n\n\"Are you sure there isn't?\" asked Puss, sympathetically. \"Do you want a\npenny very much?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" replied the child.\n\n\"Well, here's one,\" replied Puss, thrusting his paw into his pocket and\nbringing out a bright penny. Leaning down from his horse, he handed it\nto the little maid.\n\n\"What are you going to buy with it?\" he asked.\n\n\"Peppermint stick,\" she answered. \"Peppermint stick with red rings all\naround it.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"That sounds pretty nice,\" said Puss. \"Where's the candy shop?\"\n\n\"Just over there,\" she replied, pointing to a small shop on the opposite\nside of the street.\n\n\"Let's go in,\" suggested Puss, dismounting and tying his Good Gray\nHorse to the hitching post.\n\nThe candy shop smelled very nice. Molasses candy in long yellow coils\nlay in the glass cases. Sticks of pink-and-white peppermint candy stood\nin big glass bowls with shiny glass stoppers. Chocolate drops were\nranged in long glass dishes. There were gumdrops and marshmallows, and\ngoodness knows what all. Puss thrust his paw deep into his pocket, for\nhe knew that one little penny wouldn't go very far in this candy shop.\n\n\"What other kind do you like?\" he asked.\n\n\"Why don't you call me Kitty?\" laughed the little maid. \"My name is\nKitty Fisher.\"\n\nJust then another little girl appeared.\n\n\"Hello, Lucy Locket!\" cried Kitty.\n\n\"I've just lost my pocket,\" said Lucy. \"Did you happen to find it?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" replied Kitty, \"but there was nothing in it. Just a ribbon round\nit.\"\n\n\"That's 'cause I took out my penny,\" answered Lucy, \"and I'm going to\nspend it right here before I lose it.\"\n\nSoon both little girls had eaten their peppermint-candy sticks. And\nafter Puss had given his Good Gray Horse a big lump of sugar he mounted\nand rode away.\n\n\n\n\nTOM, THE PIPER'S SON\n\n          \"TOM was a piper's son,\n           He learned to play when he was young;\n           But all the tune that he could play\n           Was 'Over the hills and far away.'\"\n\n\n\"Well, it's a pretty fine tune,\" said Puss, Junior, to himself, as the\nstrains from Tom's pipe came clear and sweet across the meadow. \"I wish\nI could play as well.\" Again the music came down the breeze, clear and\nsweet, and pretty soon Tom came capering toward him, followed by a crowd\nof boys and girls.\n\n\"Heigh-ho!\" laughed Puss. \"Here they come, dancing away, as if they had\nnothing to do but play all the day long.\"\n\n\"Over the hills and far away!\" piped Tom.\n\n\"Good morning!\" cried Puss.\n\n\"Come and dance,\" said the piper's son, taking the pipe from his mouth;\n\"come and have a merry dance. Make those red-topped booties prance.\"\n\n\"Then play a merry jig,\" answered Puss, catching up a small pig and\nwaltzing him around at a giddy rate.\n\n\"Hold on!\" cried the pig. \"I'm getting dizzy.\"\n\n\"I won't let you fall,\" replied Puss, with a grin.\n\n\"Let go!\" squeaked the pig. \"I tell you I'm getting dizzy!\"\n\n\"Well, why didn't you say 'let go' at first,\" laughed Puss. \"You said,\n'hold on.'\"\n\nBy this time the poor pig was so out of breath that he rolled over on\nhis side and lay quite still until a small boy said:\n\n\"Your tail is all twisted from dancing around and around.\"\n\n\"Nonsense!\" replied the pig, sitting up. \"Pigs' tails are always\ntwisted. Dancing makes your head go around, but it doesn't curl your\ntail.\"\n\nThen all of a sudden Tom commenced to play again.\n\n\"Oh, please don't!\" cried the breathless pig. \"I don't want to dance any\nmore.\"\n\n      Tom with his pipe did play with such skill\n      That those who heard him could never stand still;\n      Whenever they heard him they began to dance--\n      Even pigs on their hind legs would after him prance.\n\nAnd, goodness me! it was such wonderful music that even Puss couldn't\nkeep still, but must needs dance with a little girl in a blue dress\nuntil Tom was out of breath and too tired to play any longer.\n\n\n\n\nOLD DAME TROT\n\n\nAS soon as Tom, the piper's son, stopped playing everybody sat down to\nrest, even the little pig who had been waltzing about on his hind legs.\nHe didn't try to run away. I guess he was too tired for that. Pretty\nsoon he took out a yellow handkerchief and wiped the perspiration from\nhis pink nose, and after that the little girl in blue asked Puss,\nJunior, where he had learned to dance.\n\n\"At Mademoiselle Feline's dancing school,\" replied Puss. \"She taught\ntwenty-one little kittens twice a week.\"\n\nJust then, all of a sudden, Tom, the piper's son, jumped to his feet and\nstarted off, and before very long\n\n          He met Old Dame Trot with a basket of eggs;\n          He used his pipe and she used her legs;\n          She danced about till the eggs were all broke;\n          She began to fret, but he laughed at the joke.\n\n\"I think it very mean of you to break an old lady's eggs,\" cried Puss.\n\n\"I'm sorry your eggs are broken,\" cried Tom to Old Dame Trot. \"If you'll\ncome with me I'll show you where there's a nest full of eggs; it's in\nthe dry grass under the raspberry bushes in yonder meadow.\"\n\nBut the old lady had gone only a few steps when\n\n          Tom saw a cross fellow beating an ass\n          Heavy laden with pots, pans, dishes, and glass;\n          He took out his pipe and played them a tune,\n          And the jackass's load was lightened full soon.\n\n\"It serves that fellow right,\" cried Puss. \"His donkey had too heavy a\nload.\"\n\nAnd while the tin pans were flying about and clattering on the stones\nthe old lady climbed over the fence.\n\n\"There goes the hen to her nest now!\" shouted the children.\n\n\"I'll play her a tune and while she's dancing you pick up the eggs and\ngive them to Old Dame Trot,\" cried Tom.\n\nOf course as soon as the music commenced the little hen began to dance.\nAnd when all the eggs were in the old lady's basket he stopped playing,\nbut the little hen was so provoked that she went straight home to the\nbarnyard.\n\n\n\n\nBOBBY SHAFTO\n\n\nAS Puss, Junior, rode along on his Good Gray Horse he passed a pretty\ncottage near the roadway. And the roses that climbed over the front\nporch were so fragrant and the voice of the girl floating through the\nopen window was so sweet that he stopped to listen.\n\n          \"Bobby Shafto roams the skies\n           With silver goggles on his eyes.\n           A lonely girl am I who sighs\n             For pretty Bobby Shafto.\n\n          \"Bobby Shafto's bright and fair,\n           Very gay and debonair;\n           He's the king of all the air,\n             Bonny Bobby Shafto.\n\n          \"His airship is the fastest one\n           That races with the golden sun,\n           And when his azure voyage is done,\n             Pretty Bobby Shafto.\n\n          \"He's promised he will marry me,\n           And then how happy I shall be;\n           We two shall sail the starry sea,\n             I and Bobby Shafto!\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\nPretty soon the owner of the lovely voice looked out of the window and\nwhen she saw Puss she asked him to come in and sit on the front porch\nwhile she went for some cream. So Puss tied his Good Gray Horse to the\nhitching post and, opening the little gate, sat down on the doorsteps.\nAfter he had finished drinking the cream she asked him to tell her\nwhere he was going with his lovely red-topped boots and long feather\nplume. And would he take out his sword and show it to her? All this made\nhim very proud, and of course he thought she was a lovely little girl.\n\nWell, after a while they spied an airship in the sky. Pretty soon it\ncame nearer and nearer till finally it landed in a field close by. The\nlittle girl and Puss jumped up and ran as fast as they could across the\nroad and through the fence.\n\nThrowing her arms around Bobby Shafto, she cried, \"He's the king of all\nthe air.\"\n\nThen he took off his silver goggles and shook hands with Puss, and soon\nthey all came back to the little cottage and had ice cream and sponge\ncake, and Bobby Shafto fed the Good Gray Horse a quart of oats, and\nafter that Puss said good-by and rode away.\n\n\n\n\nLITTLE ROBIN REDBREAST\n\n\n\"WELL, well!\" said Puss to himself as he left Bobby Shafto and the\nlittle girl. \"To think I should see an airship in Mother Goose country!\"\n\nBy and by he heard a little bird singing:\n\n          \"Little Robin Redbreast sat upon a tree,\n           Up went pussy cat, and down went he;\n           Down came pussy cat, away robin ran;\n           Said Little Robin Redbreast, 'Catch me if you can!'\n           Little Robin Redbreast jumped upon a wall,\n           Pussy cat jumped after him, and almost got a fall;\n           Little Robin chirped and sang, and what did pussy say?\n           Pussy cat said, 'Mew,' and Robin flew away.\"\n\n\"What are you trying to do?\" asked Puss, Junior, stopping under the tree\nand looking up at the pussy cat.\n\n\"I'm not trying to do anything,\" replied the pussy cat, crossly. \"I was\nwishing I had wings.\"\n\n\"They'd be very convenient at times,\" said Puss, with a grin.\n\n\"Indeed they would,\" answered the pussy cat. \"I'd rather have them than\nred-topped boots.\"\n\n\"Perhaps,\" answered Puss. \"But I have found my boots most helpful. Do\nyou know,\" he continued, \"if people would be a little more contented\nwith what they have I think they'd get more.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe pussy cat looked ashamed of herself. \"What you say is very true. I\nsuppose I ought to be thankful that I have such strong claws. It's not\nhard work climbing trees, and as for running, my legs carry me very\nwell. Perhaps I don't need wings, after all.\"\n\n\"Well, I never saw a flying cat,\" admitted Puss, Junior, \"although I've\nseen some remarkable things since I started out to find my father, Puss\nin Boots.\"\n\n\"So you are a traveler,\" said the pussy cat, jumping down from the wall\nand walking up to Puss. \"How long have you been looking for your\nfather?\"\n\n\"A long, long time,\" replied Puss, Junior. \"Do you know, sometimes I\nalmost get discouraged, for this is a big world and at times I feel so\nvery, very small.\"\n\n\"Well, you come home with me,\" said the pussy cat. \"You need a good\nrest. I think you're tired out.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE ELF CHILD\n\n          LITTLE Miss Pussy Cat had a house\n            That was very trim and neat.\n          But, oh, dear me! there wasn't a mouse\n            For little Miss Pussy to eat.\n\n\n\"There's a nice, soft cushion on the window seat,\" she said to Puss,\nJunior. \"Why don't you take a nap?\"\n\nAnd as he was very tired with his long journey, he curled up and was\nsoon fast asleep. But, oh, dear me! all of a sudden there came a loud\nknocking on the door, and when Miss Pussy opened it there stood a little\ndog with a very loud bark. And then, of course, Puss woke up with a\nstart.\n\n\"Please make him go away,\" said Miss Pussy Cat. \"I'm dreadfully afraid\nof dogs.\"\n\nSo Puss picked up his big stick and the little dog ran away as fast as\nhe could, never again to bother little Miss Pussy Cat. And shall I tell\nyou why? It was because when he finally stopped running he found himself\nin the woods where the fairies lived.\n\nAnd when they saw him they said to one another, \"This little dog has\nbeen up to mischief, for if not, why should he run so fast?\" And then\nthe king of the fairies said, \"I will see that he makes no further\nmischief,\" and he waved his silver wand, and the little dog turned into\na dogwood flower that blooms every year in the same spot under the great\nshady trees.\n\nOf course little Miss Pussy wondered for a long time why she never saw\nhim, until, one day, Jennie Wren, who lived in the woods, told her what\nthe fairies had done.\n\nWell, pretty soon Puss, Junior, set out once more to find his father,\nand as he went along he whistled a tune to keep up his spirits, when,\nall of a sudden, he heard a little low whistle. And there in the road, a\nfew feet ahead, was a tiny little man dressed in green with a\nhigh-peaked hat on his head.\n\n          \"I've never heard a whistling cat,\n             So come to the wood with me,\n           And whistle a tune to my elfin child\n             Under the greenwood tree.\"\n\nThen little Puss, Junior, followed the queer little dwarf and by and by,\nafter a while, they came to a glen in the wood where, under a great oak\ntree, sat the prettiest little elf you ever saw. He was playing with a\ngray squirrel and a striped chipmunk, but when he saw Puss he gave a\nglad shout and away went the squirrel and the chipmunk. But he didn't\ncare, for a cat with boots was something he had never seen.\n\n\"Teach him to whistle, Sir Cat,\" said the dwarf.\n\nSo Puss sat down by the elf child and by and by, just as the stars began\nto twinkle from the sky, he had taught him to whistle. And, would you\nbelieve it? it sounded like a bird, it was so sweet and clear. And after\nthat Puss went on his way to find his father, happy to think that he had\nproved so good a music master.\n\nAnd some day, in another book, I will tell you how little Puss, Junior,\nfinds his dear father.\n\n          THE END\n\n\n\n\nTHE PUSS-IN-BOOTS, Jr. SERIES\n\nBy DAVID CORY\n\n          Author of \"The Little Jack Rabbit Stories\" and \"Little\n          Journeys to Happyland\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          Handsomely Bound. Colored Wrappers. Illustrated.\n          Each Volume Complete in Itself.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTo know Puss Junior once is to love him forever. That's the way all the\nlittle people feel about this young, adventurous cat, son of a very\nfamous father.\n\n          THE ADVENTURES OF PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR.\n          FURTHER ADVENTURES OF PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR.\n          PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR. IN FAIRYLAND\n          TRAVELS OF PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR.\n          PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR., AND OLD MOTHER GOOSE\n          PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR., IN NEW MOTHER GOOSE LAND\n          PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR., AND THE GOOD GRAY HORSE\n          PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR., AND TOM THUMB\n          PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR., AND ROBINSON CRUSOE\n          PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR., AND THE MAN IN THE MOON\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK\n\n\n\n\nLittle Jack Rabbit Books\n\n(Trademark Registered)\n\nBy DAVID CORY\n\n          Author of \"Little Journeys to Happyland\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          =Colored Wrappers With Text Illustrations.=\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nA new and unique series about the furred and feathered little people of\nthe wood and meadow.\n\nChildren will eagerly follow the doings of little Jack Rabbit, and the\nclever way in which he escapes from his three enemies, Danny Fox, Mr.\nWicked Wolf and Hungry Hawk will delight the youngsters.\n\n          LITTLE JACK RABBIT'S ADVENTURES\n          LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND DANNY FOX\n          LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE SQUIRREL BROTHERS\n          LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND CHIPPY CHIPMUNK\n          LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE BIG BROWN BEAR\n          LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND UNCLE JOHN HARE\n          LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND PROFESSOR CROW\n          LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND OLD MAN WEASEL\n          LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND MR. WICKED WOLF\n          LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND HUNGRY HAWK\n          LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE POLICEMAN DOG\n          LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND MISS MOUSIE\n          LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND UNCLE LUCKY\n          LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE YELLOW DOG TRAMP\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK\n\n\n\n\nLITTLE JOURNEYS TO HAPPYLAND\n\nBy DAVID CORY\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n=Profusely Illustrated. Individual Colored Wrappers.=\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          Printed in large type--easy to read.\n          For children from 6 to 8 years.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nA new series of exciting adventures by the author of the LITTLE JACK\nRABBIT books. This series is unique in that it deals with unusual and\nexciting adventures on land and sea and in the air.\n\n\nTHE CRUISE OF THE NOAH'S ARK\n\n          This is a good rainy day story. On just such a day\n          Mr. Noah invites Marjorie to go for a trip in\n          Noah's Ark. She gets aboard just in time and away\n          it floats out into the big wide world.\n\n\nTHE MAGIC SOAP BUBBLE\n\n          The king of the gnomes has a magic pipe with which\n          he blows a wonderful bubble and taking Ed. with\n          him they both have a delightful time in Gnomeland.\n\n\nTHE ICEBERG EXPRESS\n\n          The Mermaid's magic comb changes little Mary\n          Louise into a mermaid. The Polar Bear Porter on\n          the Iceberg Express invites her to take a trip\n          with him and away they go.\n\n\nTHE WIND WAGON\n\n          Little Hero stepped aboard the Wind Wagon and\n          started on a journey to many wonderful places and\n          had a delightful time.\n\n\nTHE MAGIC UMBRELLA\n\n          A little old man gave Jimmy the Magic Umbrella\n          which took him to Happyland, where he had many\n          adventures.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK\n\n\n\n\nTHE FLYAWAYS STORIES\n\nBy ALICE DALE HARDY\n\n          Author of The Riddle Club Books\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          =Individual Colored Jackets and Colored Illustrations by\n          WALTER S. ROGERS=\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nA splendid new line of interesting tales for the little ones,\nintroducing many of the well known characters of fairyland in a series\nof novel adventures. The Flyaways are a happy family and every little\ngirl and boy will want to know all about them.\n\n\nTHE FLYAWAYS AND CINDERELLA\n\n          How the Flyaways went to visit Cinderella only to\n          find that Cinderella's Prince had been carried off\n          by the Three Robbers, Rumbo, Hibo and Jobo. \"I'll\n          rescue him!\" cried Pa Flyaway and then set out for\n          the stronghold of the robbers. A splendid\n          continuation of the original story of Cinderella.\n\n\nTHE FLYAWAYS AND LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD\n\n          On their way to visit Little Red Riding Hood the\n          Flyaways fell in with Tommy Tucker and The Old\n          Woman Who Lived in a Shoe. They told Tommy about\n          the Magic Button on Red Riding Hood's cloak. How\n          the wicked Wolf stole the Magic Button and how the\n          wolves plotted to eat up Little Red Riding Hood\n          and all her family, and how the Flyaways and King\n          Cole sent the wolves flying, makes a story no\n          children will want to miss.\n\n\nTHE FLYAWAYS AND GOLDILOCKS\n\n          The Flyaways wanted to see not only Goldilocks but\n          also the Three Bears and they took a remarkable\n          journey through the air to do so. Tommy even rode\n          on a Rocket and met the monstrous Blue Frog. When\n          they arrived at Goldilocks' house they found that\n          the Three Bears had been there before them and\n          mussed everything up, much to Goldilocks' despair.\n          \"We must drive those bears out of the country!\"\n          said Pa Flyaway. Then they journeyed underground\n          to the Yellow Palace, and oh! so many things\n          happened after that!\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK\n\n\n\n\nTHE BOBBSEY TWINS BOOKS\n\nFor Little Men and Women\n\nBy LAURA LEE HOPE\n\n          Author of \"The Bunny Brown Series,\" Etc.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          =Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding.\n          Every Volume Complete in Itself.=\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThese books for boys and girls between the ages of three and ten stand\namong children and their parents of this generation where the books of\nLouisa May Alcott stood in former days. The haps and mishaps of this\ninimitable pair of twins, their many adventures and experiences are a\nsource of keen delight to imaginative children everywhere.\n\n          THE BOBBSEY TWINS\n          THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY\n          THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE\n          THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOL\n          THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE\n          THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOAT\n          THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK\n          THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME\n          THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN A GREAT CITY\n          THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON BLUEBERRY ISLAND\n          THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON THE DEEP BLUE SEA\n          THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE GREAT WEST\n          THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT CEDAR CAMP\n          THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE COUNTY FAIR\n          THE BOBBSEY TWINS CAMPING OUT\n          THE BOBBSEY TWINS AND BABY MAY\n          THE BOBBSEY TWINS KEEPING HOUSE\n          THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT CLOVERBANK\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK\n\n\n\n\nTHE LITTLE WASHINGTONS SERIES\n\nBy LILLIAN ELIZABETH ROY\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          =Handsomely Bound. Colored Wrappers. Illustrated.\n          For Children 6 to 12 Years=\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThis series presents early American history in a manner that impresses\nthe young readers. Because of George and Martha Washington Parke, two\nyoung descendants of the famous General Washington, these stories follow\nexactly the life of the great American, by means of playing they act the\nlife of the Washingtons, both in battles and in society.\n\nTHE LITTLE WASHINGTONS\n\n          Their thrilling battles and expeditions generally\n          end in \"punishment\" lessons read by Mrs. Parke\n          from the \"Life of Washington.\" The culprits listen\n          intently, for this reading generally gives them\n          new ideas for further games of Indian warfare and\n          Colonists' battles.\n\n\nTHE LITTLE WASHINGTONS RELATIVES\n\n          The Davis children visit the Parke home and join\n          zealously in the games of playing General\n          Washington. So zealously, in fact, that little Jim\n          almost loses his scalp.\n\n\nTHE LITTLE WASHINGTONS' TRAVELS\n\n          The children wage a fierce battle upon the roof of\n          a hotel in New York City. Then, visiting the Davis\n          home in Philadelphia, the patriotic Washingtons\n          vanquish the Hessians on a battle-field in the\n          empty lot back of the Davis property.\n\n\nTHE LITTLE WASHINGTONS AT SCHOOL\n\n          After the school-house battle the Washingtons\n          discover a band of gypsies camping near the back\n          road to their homes and incidentally they secure\n          the stolen horse which the gypsies had taken from\n          the \"butter and egg farmer\" of the Parkes.\n\n\nTHE LITTLE WASHINGTONS' HOLIDAYS\n\n          They spend a pleasant summer on two adjoining\n          farms in Vermont. During the voyage they try to\n          capture a \"frigate\" but little Jim is caught and\n          about to be punished by the Captain when his\n          confederates hasten in and save him.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK\n\nGROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK\n\n\n\n\nTHE HONEY BUNCH BOOKS\n\nBy HELEN LOUISE THORNDYKE\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          =Individual Colored Wrappers and Text Illustrations Drawn by\n          WALTER S. ROGERS=\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nHoney Bunch is a dainty, thoughtful little girl, and to know her is to\ntake her to your heart at once.\n\nLittle girls everywhere will want to discover what interesting\nexperiences she is having wherever she goes.\n\n          HONEY BUNCH: JUST A LITTLE GIRL\n          HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST VISIT TO THE CITY\n          HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST DAYS ON THE FARM\n          HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST VISIT TO THE SEASHORE\n          HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST LITTLE GARDEN\n          HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST DAYS IN CAMP\n          HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST AUTO TOUR\n          HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST TRIP ON THE OCEAN\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK\n\n[Illustration]\n\n          _\"Faster, faster, Good Gray Horse,\n              Hasten swiftly on your course,\n            'Till I see the stately towers\n               Where my father spends his hours.\"_\n\n[Illustration]\n\n          _Little Puss Boots, hat in paw\n             Bowed as Miss Pussy opened the door.\n           \"Glad to see you,\" she purred. \"Come in!\n             My little house is as neat as a pin!\"_\n\n[Illustration]\n\n          _\"Robinson Crusoe, how do you do!\"\n              As a strangely dressed man came into view,\n            Cried little Puss Junior, raising his paw,\n              As he stood 'neath a palm tree by the shore._\n\n[Illustration]\n\n          _\"Grandmother Goose your trusty broom\n              Makes spick and span each cottage room,\"\n            Said little Puss Boots, doffing his hat,\n              For he was a most polite little cat._\n\n\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's note:\n\nObvious punctuation errors were corrected.\n\nPage 54, \"sing\" changed to \"song\" (SING a song of sixpence)\n\nPage 71, \"humpety\" changed to \"bumpety\" to match rest of usage (Bumpety,\nbumpety, bump!)\n\nPage 134, \"stands\" changed to \"stand\" (and ten stand)","title":"Puss in Boots, Jr., and the Good Gray Horse","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":22093}