"DAFFY-DOWN-DILLY has come to town
In a yellow petticoat and a green gown,"
sang the farmer's pretty daughter beneath Puss, Junior's, window. There
she stood, bending over her flower bed, the pink strings of her bonnet
floating on the morning breeze.
Puss hurriedly pulled on his boots and ran outside. "Good morning! I see
your flowers are still in bed."
"Daffy and Down and Dilly are very lazy, I fear," laughed the farmer's
pretty daughter; "they'll never get to town to buy a new gown if they
don't hurry."
"I hope they won't meet any bad crows on their journey," replied Puss.
"And I hope they won't have any bumpety bumps!" said the farmer's pretty
daughter.
Just then the farmer came out of the barn leading Puss, Junior's, Good
Gray Horse.
"Good-by," said Puss. "I've had a pleasant visit." And off he rode. By
and by, after a while, he met an old crow walking along the top of the
fence. He wore a silk hat and carried a cane, but he couldn't lean on
it, for the fence rail was so narrow, you see.
"Hello!" said Puss, Junior. And, goodness me! that well-dressed crow
nearly lost his balance, he was so startled at Puss, Junior's voice.
Well, as soon as he had caught his breath, he said:
"I have just found a beautiful pearl necklace. Do you think it belongs
to the Queen of Hearts?"
[Illustration]
"I'm sure I don't know," answered Puss. "Suppose you come along with me
and maybe we'll find the owner."
So the silk-hatted old crow sat himself down behind Puss, and the Good
Gray Horse kicked out his heels, and away they went to the next village,
and when they reached there they stopped before the office of the Mother
Goose daily newspaper and asked the man who ran the "Lost and Found"
advertisements if he knew who had lost a beautiful pearl necklace of
twenty-three pearls and a little diamond clasp?
"Let me think," he said, scratching the top of his head, which was as
bald as a billiard ball. You see, he was a bald-headed eagle, although I
forgot to mention it before.
"You might inquire at a little green house about a mile down the road. A
little yellow hen lives there who once had a coral necklace." So Puss
said gid-ap to the Good Gray Horse and rode away, and by and by, after a
while, they came to the little green house. And when the old crow
knocked on the door it was opened by the little yellow hen herself.
"Have you lost a necklace of pearls?" he asked, politely doffing his
silk hat.
"Dearie me! Let me look," she answered, hopping back into her little
house. Pretty soon she came back with a little jewel case, which was as
empty as a Christmas stocking on the Fourth of July.
"Who could have taken it out?" she said.
So the honest old crow handed over the pearl necklace, and went inside
for a cup of tea, while Puss said good-by and rode away.
"DONKEY, DONKEY, OLD AND GRAY"
"DONKEY, donkey, old and gray,
Open your mouth and gently bray;
Lift your ears and blow your horn
To wake the world this sleepy morn,"
sang little Puss, Junior.
"I'm no rooster," replied the little donkey. But he gave a gentle bray,
just the same, and then the Good Gray Horse neighed, and after that a
little adder crawled out of a hole in the ground and said:
"Gracious me! What's all this noise?" And that only goes to show what a
dreadful din it must have been, for adders are deaf, so they tell me.
Well, anyhow, Puss didn't wait any longer, but rode away, and by and by,
after a while, he met a funny little man with a sack over his back.
"What have you in your bag?" asked Puss, for he felt sorry for the
little old man and meant to give him a lift in case he had a heavy load,
you see.
"What's that to you?" asked the little old man, with a scowl. And before
you could say "Jack Robinson!" he disappeared inside a stump.
Puss jumped off his Good Gray Horse and peeped in. But he couldn't see
anything, only a big black hole. Well, he was just going to turn away
when he heard a voice say:
"Mother, I've brought you a bag of gold
For the little pink-and-white pig I sold."
[Illustration]
So Puss peeped in again, and pretty soon he saw a tiny light way down
deep, like the flicker of a candle. And by and by, as his eyes grew used
to the darkness, he saw a flight of stairs. Then what do you think he
did? Jump into the hollow stump and climb down? That's just what he
did, and it wasn't long before he found himself in a little hall
opposite a small door with a glass knob inside of which was an electric
light, which I suppose had been put there by the little old man in case
he got home after twelve at night and his wife had blown out the candle.
All of a sudden the door opened and a little old woman, bent and
withered, asked, in a shrill voice:
"How dare you come down to our Hollow Stump hall?
I'll cut off your whiskers, tail and all."
"Please, ma'am," said little Puss, Junior, "I won't tell anybody." And I
guess he would have climbed up the stairs then and there if he hadn't
feared she might cut off his tail when he turned around.
"Let him go, mother," said the little old man. "He would have given me a
ride on his horse on my way home had we met sooner." But how he knew
that is more than I can tell. "Here, Sir Cat. Take this gold piece and
tell neither man nor beast where you got it." And he pushed Puss up the
little flight of stairs.
"TICK, TACK, TOO"
ONE day Puss, Junior's, Good Gray Horse lost a shoe.
"Gracious me! I must find a smithy," said Puss, Junior, anxiously.
Luckily there was a small village near by, and pretty soon he drew rein
in front of a blacksmith shop. But, oh, dear me! there was no one there
except a small boy.
Jack Jingle went 'prentice
To make a horseshoe;
He wasted the iron
Till it would not do.
His master came in
And began for to rail.
Said Jack, "The shoe's spoiled,
But 'twill still make a nail."
He tried at the nail,
But, chancing to miss,
Said, "If it won't make a nail,
It shall yet make a hiss."
Then into the water
Threw the hot iron, smack,
"Hiss!" quoth the iron.
"I thought so," said Jack.
"You good for nothing!" cried the blacksmith, coming into the shop,
"here's a customer at hand and you have no shoe for his horse."
"How long will it take to make one?" asked Puss, Junior.
"All day and maybe longer," said the smith--"that is, if you depend on
that clumsy lad."
[Illustration]
"Well, I don't want to depend on him," said Puss, with a grin; "neither
do I want to take chances with my good horse."
"Neither shall you, my Lord Cat," replied the smith. "I will see that
your horse is well shod, for he is indeed a fine beast."
"He has good legs, has he not?" asked Puss, running his paw down the
foreleg of the big gray horse, like a professional horseman.
"He has that," said the blacksmith, "and a fine head, too."
"He's a good roadster," added Puss, seating himself on a three-legged
stool while the smith lifted the horse's leg and held it between his
knees.
"Yes, he has good feet," said the smith, "and he shall have a fine
shoe."
Here a nail, and there a nail, tick, tack, too.
As soon as the shoe was on, Puss, Junior, mounted and rode away. But
before he left he turned to Jack and said:
"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
Tick, tack, too; learn to make a shoe!
Some day you may turn out ten
If you don't get blue."