TELL-TALE-TIT!
Your tongue shall be slit,
And all the dogs in the town
Shall have a little bit.
Oh, dear me! This is what was going to happen to the little girl who had
told on her brothers. And all the little dogs were standing around,
wagging their tails, as Puss, Junior, passed by.
It was a wonder that the dogs didn't rush out and bark at him, but they
were so anxious to get a piece of the little girl's tongue that they
didn't notice him at all. Perhaps a cat with boots and spurs, a hat and
plume, and a trusty sword didn't look like an ordinary cat to them. And
neither was our little traveler.
You see, these little boys had gone into an alley to play marbles, on
their way to school, and then the little girl had told her father how
they had missed their lessons.
"And Jimmy Jones won all the marbles, and there was a fight! And the
teacher kept them in after school!"
"Oh me! oh my!" cried Puss, Junior. "Please don't slit her tongue!"
"But why did you tell tales on your brothers?" asked her father.
"Oh, please don't slit her tongue!" cried Puss, Junior, again.
"That's what they did in _Mother Goose_."
"It must have been very long ago in the dark ages," answered Puss,
laying hold of his sword.
"Well, it's only a rhyme!" laughed her father, picking up his little
girl and hugging her. "Come on, Sir Cat, follow me. You are quite a
Knight of the Round Table. If a fair lady be in distress you are her
champion!"
Pretty soon all three came to a little house and Puss was invited to
come in and play. There was a nice swing under an old apple tree, and
soon he was swinging as high as the little girl could push him. All of a
sudden he jumped out up among the branches and hung on to a limb, just
like a trapeze performer.
"I once was with a circus," he explained, sliding down the rope and
turning a somersault on the ground.
Just then the little boys came in the gate and how they did laugh! And
Jimmy gave Puss all the marbles which he had won, and his father, who
had been sitting on the porch watching the fun, gave Puss a dollar.
After that they all went in for lunch and Puss didn't start out on his
journey until late in the afternoon.