Puss in Boots, Jr., and the Good Gray Horse

<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>BICYCLE PUSS</h2> <div class='cap'>"IF I had a horse in the stable I'd lend him to you," said the kind-hearted innkeeper.</div> <p>"Have you an automobile?" asked Puss.</p> <p>"Not yet," replied the innkeeper. "But I have a bicycle which I will lend you."</p> <p>It took Puss but a moment to mount, and then off he went to catch his Good Gray Horse, who, you remember in the last story, had been stolen by the fairies.</p> <p>But, oh, dear me! although it was early morning it seemed as if everybody was up and out for a walk. First, an old rooster stood right in the middle of the road and crowed:</p> <div class='poem'> "Cock-a-doodle do,<br/> <span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Your horse has lost a shoe."</span><br/></div> <p>"Where is it?" asked Puss, stopping as quickly as he could, while the good-natured rooster hopped into the long grass and picked it up.</p> <p>"Thank you," said Puss, hanging the shoe over his handlebar and setting off once more.</p> <p>But, oh, dear me! again, he had gone but a short<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</SPAN></span> distance when a curly-tailed pig got right in his way, and of course Puss had to slow up.</p> <p>"If you're looking for a runaway horse, you'd better take the lane to your right," said the pig, with a grunt and a twist of his curly tail.</p> <p>So Puss set off again. But, oh, dear me! for the third time, just in front of him was a big, fat cow who had to walk very carefully not to touch the fence rails on either side of her. Puss rang his bell, but she paid no attention to him whatever. She kept right on, swinging her tail from side to side to brush off the flies. And maybe Puss never would have passed her if she hadn't all of a sudden, with a loud moo, trotted into a meadow spread over with butter-cups.</p> <p>Well, after a little way, Puss almost ran into a big load of hay, and if the farmer had kept on going down the road instead of turning into a gate, I guess Puss would have never caught up with his Good Gray Horse.</p> <p>"Gracious me!" said Puss, when the road was clear, "I must make up for lost time." But just then a big black crow, who was sitting on a fence post, called out:</p> <div class='poem'> "Where are you going so fast, Sir Cat?<br/> <span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Look out, or the wind will blow off your hat."</span><br/></div> <p>And he flew off the fence and settled on the handlebar.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</SPAN></span></p> <p>"Oh, don't worry! You'll get him, all right," said the crow when Puss told him what a hard time he was having to overtake his Good Gray Horse. "I saw him go by a few minutes ago. He looked pretty tired." And then the old black bird flew away to tell Mrs. Crow that he had seen a pussy cat in boots riding a bicycle.</p> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />