Through the woods, the cool woods, The green woods, sweet with balm and fir, To the music of the breeze Singing softly through the trees This the song I purr:-- Happy he who travels far, Travels far and free, Over valley, over hill, Over smiling lea; Never weary of the road, Happy that he be Just a jolly traveler Wandering, like me!
As Puss finished his song he emerged from the woods and found himselfupon a broad highway. "This must be the road that will lead me to myfather's home," he said to himself, and joyfully proceeded on hisjourney.
In the distance he saw what looked like a queer little house, but as hedrew nearer he saw it wasn't a house at all, but a big shoe. So manychildren were playing around, running in and out, that he would havefound it difficult to count them, even if he had tried.
"Hello!" he called out to a little boy who was the only one who hadn'trun into the shoe to tell mother that a big cat with boots on was comingup the garden walk.
"Hello!" Puss, Jr., said again, and the little fellow bashfully put outhis hand.
"You have pretty boots," he said, looking down at them.
"Yes," answered their owner, "I'm rather proud of them myself; but whatare your little brothers and sisters afraid of?" he added, as he noticedthem peeking at him out of the window. "I won't hurt them."
Just then the Old Woman Who Lived in the Shoe came out, and, seeing oneof her children talking to a strange cat who wore boots, she hurried upto them and asked:
"Are you Puss in Boots?"
OUT ON A LIMB, FROM WHICH HE DANGLED HIS RED-TOPPEDBOOTS]
"No, ma'am, but I'm his son," was the quick reply. "I'm Puss in Boots,Junior."
"Oh, of course," she said. "I knew your father years ago, and for amoment I forgot how time flies. Yes, we were very good friends in thoseold days. He was a very fine cat."
Puss, Jr., nodded politely.
"Won't you come in?" the Old Woman asked, turning toward her shoe house,"though you may find it difficult, as I can hardly find room for all mychildren. I suppose people think I'm very cross," she continued, as theymanaged to squeeze past the children in the hallway, "because I givethem all a whipping before putting them to bed; but if I didn't, those Iput to bed first wouldn't lie still. You see, by the time I get the lastone to bed it's time to take the first one up for breakfast."
Puss, Jr., felt very sorry for her, as she didn't seem cross a bit, andthe children clung to her skirt in a loving manner.
"Will you have a bowl of broth?" she asked. "It is about lunch-time, andI'm going to give the children some."
He thanked her, and said he would gladly, as he was hungry and tired. Hesat down with the children, who had by this time arranged themselves ina row, each one with an empty bowl in his hands. The broth tasted verygood, and Puss, Jr., felt so much better after eating it that heproposed a game of tag. They all ran outside and stood around in a ringwhile he counted "eeny, meeny, miney, mo," till all were out excepthimself.
"You're it!" the children cried, gleefully.
What a frolic followed! He finally caught the biggest boy, makingbelieve for some time to miss the little tots, who screamed with fun ashe chased them in and out among the trees.
It was a different matter, however, when it came to catch Puss, Jr. Atlast, with a jump, he ran up a tree and out on a limb, from which hedangled his red-topped boots over their heads. When every one gave up,he came down, and, after thanking the Old Woman for her kindness with aflourish and bow, he resumed his journey.
PUSS, JR., JOINS THE CIRCUS
As Puss, Jr., neared a pretty village his attention was attracted to alarge tent in a field. Gaily colored wagons were standing close by, andevery now and then a roar or a growl could be heard quite distinctly.
"A circus!" cried Puss, and he hastened forward and entered a smallopening in the fence. As he approached the great tent he heard a voicesinging; it came from a little side-tent. It was a woman's voice, quitesoft and low:
"Oh, mother, I'm to be married To Mr. Punchinello; To Mr. Pun, to Mr. Chin, to Mr. Nel, to Mr. Lo, Mr. Pun, Mr. Chin, Mr. Nel, Mr. Lo, To Mr. Punchinello."
As the last words died away a clown came from behind a circus-wagon.
"Nello, Nello!" he called.
"What is it, Punch?" inquired the owner of the pretty voice, appearingin the doorway of her tent. But before he could answer she exclaimed:"Oh, look! See the cat with red-topped boots!"
The clown turned and gazed at Puss, Jr., who came forward and put outhis paw.
"Won't you join our circus?" said the clown, with an engaging smile.
Puss did not reply for a moment. He was thinking it over quiteseriously. Whether or not it would interfere with his finding his fatherwas the question. While he stood debating as to what was the thing todo, the circus-lady came out of her tent and cried:
"Oh, _do_ join our circus, Sir Puss! I am sure you would be a greatattraction. Every child in town would want to see a cat who wore boots!"
At this Puss, Jr.'s, face was all smiles. In fact, his whiskers curledup in a most laughable way, making his little face quite irresistible.
"Thank you both very much," he replied, "but before I answer I must tellyou that I am in search of my illustrious parent, the famous Puss inBoots. If I join your circus how am I to find my dear father?"
"Easy as not," answered the clown, quickly. "We are always on the move.A new town 'most every day. We never linger long in any one spot."
"No, indeed, we don't!" cried the circus-lady. "We give a performancethis afternoon and to-night, and then we pack up and are off again."
"You can have one of the circus-horses to ride," suggested the clown, byway of encouragement; "you need not travel on foot if you join us."
"That's a big inducement," admitted Puss, Jr.
"It's a merry life," added the circus-lady, "and when all the littlechildren clap their hands and cry 'Bravo!' it's very exciting."
"I'll join," said Puss; "here's my paw!"
"And here's my hand," said the clown.
"And here's mine," cried the circus-lady.
"Come with me," said the clown, "and I'll put your name on the programand you shall be a regular circus performer from now on."
And that is how Puss, Jr., joined the circus.
PUSS, JR., PROVES TO BE A WONDERFUL CIRCUS PERFORMER
It was about eight-thirty o'clock in the evening. The big tent was allaglow with lights. A long line of people reached from the dusty roadwayto the ticket-office. Flaring torches threw strange streaks of lightover the field, lighting up the circus-wagons with their gleaming redbodies and yellow wheels.
Now and then the roars of the lions and the trumpetings of the elephantscould be heard, then the music of the band, a bugle-call, a shrillvoice, a snap of whips--all the familiar sounds of a traveling circus,as the evening breeze ruffled the many flags that decked the great whitetent. Puss, Jr., stood by the side of the clown in the tan-bark ring andlooked about him. On all sides were eager faces. Hundreds of childrenscreamed and yelled as the clown came forward and motioned for silence.When the sounds had died away he spoke, loud and clear:
"Ladies and gentlemen and little children, we have with us to-night theson of the famous Puss in Boots, the well-known nursery character,dearly loved by old and young. Puss, Junior, is in search of his father,but in the meantime has consented to join our circus. I venture to saythat no other circus in the world has so wonderful a cat among itsperformers. You will all be charmed to see him act. His firstperformance will be to ride around the ring on our beautiful Arabianhorse, White Marvel!" As the clown finished Puss jumped nimbly to thehorse's back and commenced riding around the ring as if he had beenaccustomed to this sort of thing all his life.
The children clapped their hands, and the grown-ups smiled and noddedapprovingly. The white horse broke into a gallop, but Puss stood firston one leg and then on the other, bowing gracefully here and there. Notonce did he lose his balance, although he wor
e his red-topped boots, andto stand on the bare back of a horse under such conditions is not theeasiest thing in the world.
When the clown brought out a wooden ring covered with tissue-paper thecrowd held its breath. Would Puss, Jr., dare jump through it? Aroundgalloped the big white horse in a swift canter, Puss balancing himselfon one leg. As he neared the clown, who stood on a big blue barrel closeto the ringside, Puss gathered himself together for the jump. Throughthe tissue-paper he went like a bird on the wing, and landed safely onthe horse's back.
A wild round of applause greeted his daring deed. The children clappedtheir hands and screamed, forgetting in their excitement to eat theirpeanuts and candy popcorn. The man who carried the pink lemonade infunny little glasses all set in rows in a tin tray stood still to watch.He forgot to cry, "Anybody want some delicious, pink lemonade?" becausehe was so excited over the success of the new member of the circusfamily.
Then all the rest of the actor folk did their stunts; the monkeys playedbaseball, and the elephants had a boxing-match, and when all was overthe clown and the circus-lady ran up to Puss, Jr., and said, "You werethe star performer of the whole show!" which, of course, pleased Pussimmensely.
A TERRIBLE FIGHT STOPPED BY USING PLUM-CAKE
As the circus entered a town one bright, sunny morning, the lion and theunicorn escaped from their cages. Great was the excitement! All thecircus people started after them with long ropes, hoping to be able tolasso them.
At first the townsfolk were greatly frightened, but gradually, as theyfound out that the lion and the unicorn paid little attention to them,their fear gave way to interest. It seems that the lion was an enemy ofthe unicorn, and as soon as they were free they began to fight.
The Lion and the Unicorn were fighting for the crown, The Lion beat the Unicorn all around the town. Some gave them white bread, and some gave them brown, Some gave them plum-cake and sent them out of town.
If it had not been for the plum-cake I verily believe they would havebeen fighting still. But as soon as the unicorn saw the plum-cake hesaid to the lion:
"What's the use of fighting, Leon? Let's have a truce. In fact, I'mhungry."
"So am I," replied the lion. "I haven't had a sweet thing since I joinedthe circus. And you know how hard it is to see all the little boys andgirls eating candy and popcorn and not be able to get even one littlepiece."
"That's quite true," replied the unicorn. "People seem to think all Irequire is hay. And as for you, they think raw meat is enough."
With these friendly words they stopped fighting and began to eat theplum-cake. All the townsfolk stood by watching them. When the circus-menarrived on the scene they were too surprised for the moment to do athing. They just stood still and watched the two animals eat the cake,even waiting until the lion had picked up the last crumb and the unicornthe last raisin. Then they came forward very quietly and threw a ropefirst over the lion's head and then over the unicorn's, and led themback to their cages. Puss, Jr., who had by this time arrived on thescene, turned to the people and said:
"Ladies and gentlemen, it was very kind of you to give plum-cake to ouranimals. It only goes to show what kindness will do. I hope you willappreciate how much we thank you for what you have done, and also thatyou will come to our show to-night. I can assure you we will give you adouble bill to show you how much we appreciate what you have done forus."
"Hurrah!" cried the crowd. "Three cheers for Sir Cat!"
That night there was a tremendous attendance. The tent was crowded.Everybody was in a jolly frame of mind. All the circus people did theirbest. Puss, Jr., jumped through three hoops without touching the back ofthe big white horse, and the clown was funnier than he had ever been inall his life. The circus-lady never looked so pretty, nor did she everride so well before. And it took the ticket-seller all night to countthe money.
PUSS, JR., MEETS ANOTHER CAT AND MORALIZES ON CONTENTMENT
For some time Puss, Jr., traveled with the circus, but at last, findingthat he could make better time if he traveled alone, he said good-by andstarted off by himself. Perhaps he remembered the old saying, "Hetravels faster who travels alone." At any rate, he made up his mind onthis point and set bravely out by himself.
But he was not lonely, for he was continually seeing new sights and newpeople.
One morning as he trudged along a road bordered by green meadows he sawat some little distance ahead a large apple-tree. As he drew near apussy-cat ran up the trunk.
Little Robin Redbreast sat upon a tree, Up went Pussy-Cat, and down went he; Down came Pussy-Cat, away Robin ran; Said Little Robin Redbreast, "Catch me if you can!" Little Robin Redbreast jumped upon a wall, Pussy-Cat jumped after him, and almost got a fall; Little Robin chirp'd and sang, and what did Pussy say? Pussy-Cat said, "Mew," and Robin flew away.
"What are you trying to do?" asked Puss in Boots, Jr., stopping in frontof the tree and looking up at the pussy-cat, who sat upon the wall,looking after the robin, who had flown away.
"I'm not trying to do anything," replied the pussy-cat, crossly, "but Iwas wishing I had wings."
"They would be very nice," replied Puss, Jr., reflectively; "they wouldbe most convenient at times."
"Indeed they would!" answered the pussy-cat; "they'd be lots better eventhan red-topped boots."
Puss looked down at his feet. "Perhaps," he answered, "but I have foundmy boots most helpful. Do you know," he continued, "if people would be alittle more contented with what they have I think they'd get more."
The pussy-cat did not answer for a few minutes. Then she said: "What yousay is very true. I suppose I ought to be thankful that I have such nicestrong claws. It's not hard work climbing trees, and, as far as runninggoes, my legs carry me very well. Perhaps I don't need wings, afterall."
"Well, I never saw a flying cat," admitted Puss, Jr., "although I'veseen some remarkable things since I started out to find my father, Pussin Boots."
"So you are a traveler," said the pussy-cat, jumping down from the walland walking up to Puss. "How long have you been seeking your father?"
"A long, long time," replied Puss, Jr. "Do you know, sometimes I almostget discouraged, for this is a big world and at times I feel so very,very small."
"Well, you come home with me," said the pussy-cat, "and get a good rest.I think you're tired out." This was the truth, for he had traveled farthat day.
PUSS MEETS MOTHER GOOSE
"Oh, my pretty cock, oh, my handsome cock, I pray you do not crow before day, And your comb shall be made of the very beaten gold, And your wings of the silver so gray."
Puss, Jr., opened his eyes sleepily to find himself in Mother Goose'sarms. They were seated on a gander's back, who was flying along as ifsuch a thing as traveling with two passengers was nothing at all. AsMother Goose finished her little verse, the gander alighted on the roofof a big red barn on which a weathercock sedately turned this way andthat in the early morning breeze. The sun was just coming up, for it wasearly, very early. Puss rubbed his eyes and sat up. "And how's my littlepussy-cat?" asked Mother Goose, stroking him kindly. "Did he have a goodnight's sleep?"
"Yes, indeed, thank you," answered Puss, now thoroughly awake andremembering how he had met Mother Goose the previous day, and howfortunate it was that she had agreed to take him back to Mother GooseLand.
"Cock-a-doodle-do!" said the weathercock.
"Crow as much as you like," said Mother Goose. "Now that Puss is awakeyou can make all the noise you wish. At first I thought we were notgoing to stop on your barn, Sir Chantecler, and that was the reason Iasked you to delay your early morning crow so that we could be far awaybefore you commenced. Puss is in need of all the sleep he can get, forin a few days he will be on his feet again. He has still a long ways togo ere he finds his famous father, Puss in Boots."
"Well," answered the weathercock, "I didn't crow before day, so kindlygive me a gold comb and silver wings."
"That I will," answered Mother
Goose, "this very evening."
"And who will bring them?" asked the weathercock, for he was very vain,and is sometimes called a weather-vane, perhaps for that reason. "Whowill bring them to me, and how am I to know that a gold comb will bebecoming or that silver wings will suit my complexion?"
"Leave that to me," said Mother Goose, with a lofty air. "Weathercocksonly know of the breezes that blow; they swing back and forth when thewind's from the north, the south, east or west--they are never at rest."
"More poetry from Mother Goose," sighed the weathercock. "If people musttalk, why do they want to rhyme it out? Let them talk in good oldprose. It suits me best."
Mother Goose evidently did not hear his remarks, for she was busilyfeeding the gander. Puss was stretching his legs by walking along theroof and watching some sparrows who were chirping under the eaves.Presently she called Puss. "We are off again," she cried; "get aboardthe goose-ship!" When they were comfortably seated she turned to theweathercock and said: "This evening the sun will gild your comb andsilver your wings just before he goes behind yonder western hill.Good-by!"
The weathercock did not reply, and the gander did not wait, but flewaway with his two passengers safely sitting on his back.
TRIPPING WITH THE STARS
"Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are! Up above the world so high, Like a diamond in the sky."