The Adventures of Puss in Boots, Jr.
by David Cory.
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!"
All the way home."
"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 ap.r.o.n 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.