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

<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>LUCY LOCKET</h2> <div class='cap'>"GID-AP!" said Puss, Junior. "Gid-ap, my good steed, for we must hasten on. 'Tis yet a long ways we must journey ere I find my illustrious father, Puss in Boots."</div> <p>The Good Gray Horse quickened his pace, and soon many a mile was left behind.</p> <p>At length Puss saw a little girl in the doorway of a cottage.</p> <div class='poem'> Lucy Locket<br/> Lost her pocket;<br/> Kitty Fisher<br/> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Found it;</span><br/> Nothing in it,<br/> Nothing in it,<br/> But the binding<br/> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Round it.</span><br/></div> <p>"Whoa!" cried Puss. "Can I help you, miss?"</p> <p>"I'm so disappointed!" cried the little girl. "I thought there might be a bright penny inside."</p> <p>"Are you sure there isn't?" asked Puss, sympathetically. "Do you want a penny very much?"</p> <p>"Yes," replied the child.</p> <p>"Well, here's one," replied Puss, thrusting his paw into his pocket and bringing out a bright<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</SPAN></span> penny. Leaning down from his horse, he handed it to the little maid.</p> <p>"What are you going to buy with it?" he asked.</p> <p>"Peppermint stick," she answered. "Peppermint stick with red rings all around it."</p> <div class="figright"> <ANTIMG src="images/gs25.png" width-obs="320" height-obs="375" alt="Puss and the Little Maid" title="" /></div> <p>"That sounds pretty nice," said Puss. "Where's the candy shop?"</p> <p>"Just over there," she replied, pointing to a small shop on the opposite side of the street.</p> <p>"Let's go in," suggested Puss, dismounting<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</SPAN></span> and tying his Good Gray Horse to the hitching post.</p> <p>The candy shop smelled very nice. Molasses candy in long yellow coils lay in the glass cases. Sticks of pink-and-white peppermint candy stood in big glass bowls with shiny glass stoppers. Chocolate drops were ranged in long glass dishes. There were gumdrops and marshmallows, and goodness knows what all. Puss thrust his paw deep into his pocket, for he knew that one little penny wouldn't go very far in this candy shop.</p> <p>"What other kind do you like?" he asked.</p> <p>"Why don't you call me Kitty?" laughed the little maid. "My name is Kitty Fisher."</p> <p>Just then another little girl appeared.</p> <p>"Hello, Lucy Locket!" cried Kitty.</p> <p>"I've just lost my pocket," said Lucy. "Did you happen to find it?"</p> <p>"Yes," replied Kitty, "but there was nothing in it. Just a ribbon round it."</p> <p>"That's 'cause I took out my penny," answered Lucy, "and I'm going to spend it right here before I lose it."</p> <p>Soon both little girls had eaten their peppermint-candy sticks. And after Puss had given his Good Gray Horse a big lump of sugar he mounted and rode away.</p> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />