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

<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>"ONE I LOVE, TWO I LOVE"</h2> <div class='poem'><div class='cap'> ONE, I love; two, I love;<br/> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Three, I love, I say;</span><br/> Four, I love with all my heart;<br/> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Five, I cast away.</span><br/> Six, he loves; seven, she loves;<br/> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Eight, both love.</span><br/> Nine, he comes; ten, he tarries;<br/> Eleven, he courts, and twelve, he marries.<br/></div> </div> <p>On a big stone by the wayside sat a little boy and girl. She held a daisy in her hand, from which she slowly picked off the petals as she counted:</p> <p>"One, I love; two I love."</p> <p>"Whoa!" cried Puss, Junior.</p> <p>"Three, I love, I say."</p> <p>Both the children looked up. "What a dandy cat," cried the little girl, "and what a beautiful horse."</p> <p>"Give us a ride?" asked the little boy.</p> <p>"Do you know how to ride?" asked Puss, with a grin.</p> <p>"I can ride my rocking horse ever so fast," the little boy replied.</p> <p>"So can I," said the little girl.</p> <p>"Stand on the stone," said Puss. "I'll ride up close, and then you both can climb up behind<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</SPAN></span> me. Easy there!" cried Puss, guiding the Good Gray Horse up to the children, who stood close together on the big high stone. "Now climb up behind me," and in a minute the two children had scrambled on to the saddle. "Gid-ap!" and off went the Good Gray Horse on a canter.</p> <p>"Isn't this great?" cried the little boy.</p> <p>"Isn't it lovely?" said the little girl.</p> <p>"One, I love; two, I love; three, I love, I say; four, I love with all my heart," sang Puss. "There are just four of us. You two and my Good Gray Horse and I."</p> <p>"But that isn't the way," said the little girl. "You must count the petals!"</p> <p>"Oh, is that so?" asked Puss. "I like my way just the same."</p> <p>"So do I," said the little boy. "All four of us are pretty good chums already."</p> <p>And the Good Gray Horse whinnied, as much as to say: "I'm a good friend. See what I'm doing&mdash;carrying you all so nicely on my big, broad back?"</p> <p>"That settles it," said Puss. "My Good Gray Horse likes it that way."</p> <p>"There's our house over there," cried the little girl. "We'd better get off here."</p> <p>"All right," and Puss helped them down. "Good-by, good-by," and then the two children <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />