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

<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>THE ELF CHILD</h2> <div class='poem'><div class='cap'> LITTLE Miss Pussy Cat had a house<br/> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">That was very trim and neat.</span><br/> But, oh, dear me! there wasn't a mouse<br/> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">For little Miss Pussy to eat.</span><br/></div> </div> <p>"There's a nice, soft cushion on the window seat," she said to Puss, Junior. "Why don't you take a nap?"</p> <p>And as he was very tired with his long journey, he curled up and was soon fast asleep. But, oh, dear me! all of a sudden there came a loud knocking on the door, and when Miss Pussy opened it there stood a little dog with a very loud bark. And then, of course, Puss woke up with a start.</p> <p>"Please make him go away," said Miss Pussy Cat. "I'm dreadfully afraid of dogs."</p> <p>So Puss picked up his big stick and the little dog ran away as fast as he could, never again to bother little Miss Pussy Cat. And shall I tell you why? It was because when he finally stopped running he found himself in the woods where the fairies lived.</p> <p>And when they saw him they said to one another, "This little dog has been up to mischief, for if not, why should he run so fast?" And<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</SPAN></span> then the king of the fairies said, "I will see that he makes no further mischief," and he waved his silver wand, and the little dog turned into a dogwood flower that blooms every year in the same spot under the great shady trees.</p> <p>Of course little Miss Pussy wondered for a long time why she never saw him, until, one day, Jennie Wren, who lived in the woods, told her what the fairies had done.</p> <p>Well, pretty soon Puss, Junior, set out once more to find his father, and as he went along he whistled a tune to keep up his spirits, when, all of a sudden, he heard a little low whistle. And there in the road, a few feet ahead, was a tiny little man dressed in green with a high-peaked hat on his head.</p> <div class='poem'> "I've never heard a whistling cat,<br/> <span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">So come to the wood with me,</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And whistle a tune to my elfin child</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Under the greenwood tree."</span><br/></div> <p>Then little Puss, Junior, followed the queer little dwarf and by and by, after a while, they came to a glen in the wood where, under a great oak tree, sat the prettiest little elf you ever saw. He was playing with a gray squirrel and a striped chipmunk, but when he saw Puss he gave a glad shout and away went the squirrel and the chipmunk. But he didn't care, for a cat with boots was something he had never seen.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</SPAN></span></p> <p>"Teach him to whistle, Sir Cat," said the dwarf.</p> <p>So Puss sat down by the elf child and by and by, just as the stars began to twinkle from the sky, he had taught him to whistle. And, would you believe it? it sounded like a bird, it was so sweet and clear. And after that Puss went on his way to find his father, happy to think that he had proved so good a music master.</p> <p>And some day, in another book, I will tell you how little Puss, Junior, finds his dear father.</p> <div class='center'><br/><br/><br/> THE END<br/></div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />