The Adventures of Puss in Boots, Jr., page 1
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Title: The Adventures of Puss in Boots, Jr.
Author: David Cory
Release Date: April 22, 2010 [EBook #32095]
Language: English
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* * *
THE ADVENTURES OF
PUSS IN BOOTS, JR.
* * *
Little Puss Boots, hat in paw
Bowed as Miss Pussy opened the door.
"Glad to see you," she purred. "Come in!
My little house is as neat as a pin!"
"Robinson Crusoe, how do you do!"
As a strangely dressed man came into view,
Cried little Puss Junior, raising his paw,
As he stood 'neath a palm tree by the shore.
* * *
A frog among some rushes dwelt;
A bachelor was he.
No frog was ever so polite
Or such a beau as he.
"This makes a fine table I'd have you know,"
Laughed Puss to Fairy Little Tiptoe.
"We might all dine here on fairy cake,
Unless you fear the toadstool break."
* * *
THE ADVENTURES OF
PUSS IN BOOTS, JR.
* * *
THE KNAVE OF HEARTS RUNS AWAY WITH THE TARTS.
Adventures of Puss-in-Boots Jr.
Frontispiece.
* * *
THE ADVENTURES OF
PUSS IN BOOTS, JR.
BY
DAVID CORY
AUTHOR OF
LITTLE JACK RABBIT BOOKS,
LITTLE JOURNEYS TO HAPPYLAND,
PUSS IN BOOTS BOOKS, Etc.
PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED
GROSSET & DUNLAP
PUBLISHERS NEW YORK
* * *
Made in the United States of America
Adventures of Puss in Boots, Jr.
* * *
Copyright, 1917, by Harper & Brothers
Printed in the United States of America
* * *
CONTENTS
PAGE
Puss in Boots, Jr., Begins His Travels 9
A Visit to Piggie's Mamma 13
Puss Sees the Cow Jump Over the Moon 16
Puss Meets Yankee Doodle Dandy 21
Puss Sings a Song and Helps a Beggar 25
Puss Follows Wee Willie Winkie 31
Puss, Jr., Meets Three Jolly Welshmen and the Queen of Hearts 35
Puss Learns Where His Father Is and Receives a Tart from the Queen 40
Puss Crosses a Wonderful Bridge 43
Puss in Boots, Jr., Visits the Old Woman in the Shoe 45
Puss, Jr., Joins the Circus 51
Puss, Jr., Proves to Be a Wonderful Circus Performer 54
A Terrible Fight Stopped by Using Plum-cake 57
Puss, Jr., Meets Another Cat and Moralizes on Contentment 60
Puss Meets Mother Goose 63
Tripping with the Stars 66
Puss Finds Adventure at the Top of Jack's Famous Bean-stalk 69
Puss Discovers Where Jack Is Hiding 74
Puss and Jack Make a Bold Rescue 77
Puss, Jr., Meets Mr. Rowley Frog 80
Puss Is Heartily Welcomed by Jack the Jumper 83
Old King Cole's Fiddlers Are Rather Rude to Puss 86
The Miller of the Dee 88
Puss, Jr., Renders a Mother Aid 93
The Milkman's Horse, Old Naggetty Nogg 96
Who Is a Man's Most Faithful Friend? 99
Puss Buys a Pair of Boots Made for His Famous Sire 102
Puss Meets a Modest Mending Man and a Jolly Miller 105
Puss Overhears a Proposal and Is Invited to a Wedding 110
Puss and Several Acquaintances Journey to the Wedding 113
The Guests Arrive Safely at the Wedding 116
Puss Is Welcomed at the Wedding 119
The Bride Receives Some Handsome Presents 122
Puss Makes a New Friend and Gains a Steed 125
Puss Meets a Hunter and They Both Learn that the Owl Is a Useful Bird 130
Puss Goes on a Shopping Trip to Make a Little Maid Happy 133
Puss Converses with an Intelligent Gray Donkey 136
Puss Meets a Happy Farmer but Misses a Good Meal 139
Puss Helps a Stranger Catch a Runaway Pig 142
Puss Helps a Little Boy Who Is in Trouble 147
* * *
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Puss, Jr., Trudged Along Bravely 17
"What Are You Going to Buy with the Money?" Puss Asked 27
Puss Joined in the Chase to Help the Queen 37
Out on a Limb, from Which He Dangled His Red-topped Boots 47
"Good Morning, Ma'am," Said He, Lifting His Cap Politely 71
"Aren't We Great Friends?" Asked the Miller 89
"If I'd as Much Money as I Could Spend" 107
"I Guess You Are Right, My Good Sir," Said Puss 127
"To Market, to Market, to Buy a Fat Pig" 143
* * *
THE ADVENTURES OF PUSS IN BOOTS, JR.
* * *
PUSS IN BOOTS, JR., BEGINS HIS TRAVELS
PUSS had made a great discovery in the garret. It seems strange that he should have found something more important than a rat or mouse, but he had. From the moment he had seen the picture-book he was a changed cat!
"Yes," he said, holding it a little to one side, so that the light from the small attic window would show the picture more distinctly, "this is certainly a portrait of my father."
It was the story of "Puss in Boots," and on the cover was a beautiful picture of a cat wearing a magnificent pair of boots with shiny red tops. Puss sat down and opened the book. The further he read the more excited he became. When he had finished he jumped up and, proudly looking at the portrait of his handsome father, he exclaimed, with flashing eyes, "From to-day I shall call myself 'Puss in Boots, Junior'; I shall go forth in search of adventure, just as my father did, and I shall not rest until I have found him!"
He looked around to see if he could find a pair of boots like those in the picture.
To his delight he saw in a corner the very pair he wanted, and they had red tops, too. He slipped them on and looked at himself in an old cracked mirror which stood against the wall.
On a peg near by hung a cap, dusty, but not a bit shabby or worn. Placing it on his head, he hunted around until he found an old cane with a bent handle. "There's a cane in the picture—I suppose they called it a staff in those days; at any rate, I'm now complete; I'm a real Puss in Boots, Junior!" and with these words he scampered down the stairs as fast as he dared, not yet being used to his new-found boots.
"Hurray!" he cried, as he reached the front door, and he took a hop, skip, and jump across the piazza, holding his tail gracefully in his left paw. "Hurray!"
Down the steps he skipped, two at a time, down the walk to the gate, his heels clattering on the stone pavement, rat-a-tat-tat, like a cavalryman. The road was dusty, but he went along gaily, the sun shining on the bright-red tops of his boots, making him very proud indeed.
He hadn't gone very far when he heard a funny little squeak, and, looking to the side of the road from which the sound came, he saw a small pig stuck between two boards in the fence.
"Squeak, squeak! Oh, help me out!" cried Piggie.
Puss in Boots, Jr., ran up and, with the help of his cane, pried the boards apart so that the little pig could just squeeze himself through. "Squeak, squeak! Oh, thank you!" cried the little fellow. "I wish I could do something to repay you!"
"You can," replied Puss, Jr., who had by this time grown very hungry, "I would like something to eat."
"Come with me," said Piggie. "Mother always gets some milk from the dairymaid about this time. Come." And he took Puss, Jr., by the front paw and started to run across the field.
"Hold on! I mean, let go!" cried Puss in Boots, Jr. "How do you know your mother will want visitors for lunch?"
"She'll be only too delighted, especially when she knows how you pulled me out of the fence. You're not bashful, are you?"
"No-o-o!" replied Puss, Jr., "but you see I've never lunched with pigs before!"
"Oh, don't let that worry you," replied his little friend, who seemed to be pretty sure of himself for so small a pig. "Come along!"
And Puss did.
* * *
A VISIT TO PIGGIE'S MAMMA
PUSS, JR., followed his friend the little pig, whom he had so fortunately rescued from between the fence boards, across the field and into the woods. Indeed, he was so hungry by this time that he felt he would be brave enough to follow a lion. Just then he heard some one singing in a high, squeaky voice:
"This little Pig went to market,
This little Pig stayed at home,
This little Pig had roast beef,
This little Pig had none,
This little Pig cried, 'Wee, wee, wee!'
&nbs
"That's mother," replied the little pig in answer to an inquiring look from Puss, Jr. "She always sings that when any of us is naughty. You see," he added, apologetically, "I should not have tried to get through the fence and out on the road."
"Oh, I understand," replied Puss, Jr. "Is that your house?"
"Yes, and there's mother."
Puss, Jr., saw a very nice-looking lady pig standing in the doorway of a queer little cabin. She had on a blue gingham apron over a short skirt of gray, and a very tight-fitting shirt-waist, which was stretched almost to the bursting-point as she raised her right forefoot to shade her eyes.
"Well, here you are at last!" she exclaimed to Piggie. "But look at your trousers; you've torn a big hole in them!"
He looked ruefully at the rent in his little blue jeans. "I got stuck in the fence," he whimpered.
"He'd be there yet if I hadn't pulled him out," volunteered Puss, Jr., hoping to divert her attention from his little friend.
Mrs. Porker, for that was her name, turned and looked at him, as much as to say, "Where did you come from?" but she didn't; she only very politely remarked: "Thank you for helping Piggie. I'm sorry to say he does not always mind mother. But come, you both are hungry, I know." And she led the way into the cabin.
At a round table in the room two little pigs were already eating their dinner. "What is your name?" asked Mrs. Porker in a kindly tone, pushing a chair up next to hers for Puss.
"Puss in Boots, Junior, madam," he replied, with a polite bow.
"This is Wiggie and this is Tiggie," said their mother, and the two small pigs got up and shook hands with him.
They had a merry lunch, and he was surprised to see how clean and well behaved the Porker family was.
"You know," said Mrs. Porker, as if reading his thoughts, "that pigs are really the cleanest of animals, only man is so cruel to pigs—he shuts them up in small pens and makes them appear quite the opposite. Just read the books about us and you will see. Yes," she continued, "when pigs are allowed to run around they are clean as they can be; only when they are little they are often most disobedient." And she looked at Piggie, who got very red in the face.
"I don't believe he'll disobey again," answered Puss, Jr. "You have such a nice playground here in the woods I shouldn't think he would want to run away to that dusty road again; just look at my boots." And he thrust his foot out and showed the bright-red tops all dingy with the day's travel.
Lunch was now over, and after politely thanking Mrs. Porker for her goodness Puss said good-by to the three little pigs.
"Don't forget me," called out Piggie as Puss, Jr., climbed over the fence.
"Of course I won't," he called back, and waved his paw to Piggie in the doorway.
* * *
PUSS SEES THE COW JUMP OVER THE MOON
PUSS, JR., trudged along bravely for some time, but, finding it very dusty, he left the road and climbed over the low stone wall that bordered the big pasture on his right.
"It's funny to see the moon in the daytime," he remarked as he crossed the long green meadow dotted everywhere with yellow cowslips; "I don't understand it," and he looked curiously at the big, white moon which hung low in the skies just overhead. As he spoke, across the grass hopped a big silver spoon, closely followed by a dish with a blue border, which rolled along over the ground at a great rate.
"Wow, wow! Ha, ha!" laughed a little dog from the other side of the fence. "Keep on rolling; you'll tire him out pretty soon."
Puss, Jr., watched the funny race with much amusement until he was startled by a voice at his side, saying, "Glad to see you," and, turning around, he saw a small cat with a fiddle under her paw.
PUSS, JR., TRUDGED ALONG BRAVELY
"Hey diddle-diddle," she sang in a high, sweet voice, and scratched away on the strings like a player in an orchestra.
"Tell me," Puss, Jr., said to her as the music stopped for a moment, "why is the moon out to-day? I thought it only came out at night."
"Why, don't you know?" she replied. "It is going to let the cow jump over it to-day."
"Indeed! and when does that happen?"
"Oh, any minute now; in fact, there she comes through the gate." And, sure enough, across the fields a beautiful black-and-white cow came leisurely toward them.
"Good morning," she exclaimed, as she neared our two friends, and, turning to the cat with the fiddle, she said: "Are you ready? If you are, just strike up a lively tune so that I can get into step before I try for my jump."
Puss, Jr., was so interested that he forgot to ask another question, but stood still while the cow commenced to prance around, keeping perfect time to the music.
"Faster, faster!" she called, as she swung into a canter. "I'm going to get a flying start; you know, if you get a flying start the higher you will fly when you do fly."
This undoubtedly was true, for in a moment more she rose gracefully from the ground toward the moon.
"Be careful!" screamed the Man in the Moon, leaning out as she approached near enough for his voice to reach her. "Be careful and don't clip off a piece with your hoof as you go over!"
She did as he told her, and sailed over in a long, sweeping curve and landed safely in a patch of clover at the other end of the field.
"Great!" exclaimed Puss, Jr. "You did it splendidly!"
"Oh, that's nothing!" she answered, although she seemed rather proud of her feat. "Oh, that's nothing at all!"
"I don't agree with you," he replied. "I should think you'd be very proud of your feet; they're as good as wings."
The Jumping Cow paid no more attention to him, but munched away at the clover like an ordinary cow.
"She won't say another word to-day," whispered the cat behind her fiddle; "but if you're around this way to-morrow morning and it's a nice day she may try another jump."
"I'm sorry," Puss, Jr., replied, "but by that time I shall be far away upon my journey. Thank you just the same." And with these words he took off his hat to Miss Pussy and resumed his travels along the cool, shady path through the woods.
* * *
PUSS MEETS YANKEE DOODLE DANDY
THE broad highway was somewhat dusty and not nearly so pleasant as the cool, shady path through the woods. At the same time Puss felt that it was leading him on toward his journey's end, and the thought that then he would find his dear father made his heart beat fast with hope.
He began to whistle, when suddenly he heard the sound of hoofbeats. Then a voice commenced singing, loudly and clearly:
"Yankee Doodle came to town,
Riding on a pony;
He stuck a feather in his cap
And called it macaroni.
"Yankee Doodle came to town,
Yankee Doodle dandy,
He stuck a feather in his cap
And called it sugar candy."
Down the road came a pony at a mad gallop, and seated upon his back was a very queer-looking person. In his cap was a long feather and in his right hand was a big whip. The pony was galloping along at a great rate, and every now and again his rider would give a tremendous whoop, like an Indian brave. "Yankee Doodle Dandy!" he yelled, and then the pony would stand up on his hind legs and neigh.
"Look out!" yelled the rider, as he approached Puss. "Don't you see you are in the way?"
"Am I?" said Puss, drawing to one side of the road.
"Well, not now," said the rider, drawing rein and looking at Puss with a good deal of interest. "Where's your horse?"
"Where's my horse?" repeated Puss, looking about as if he expected to find one.
