AS Puss, Junior, rode along on his Good Gray Horse he passed a pretty
cottage near the roadway. And the roses that climbed over the front
porch were so fragrant and the voice of the girl floating through the
open window was so sweet that he stopped to listen.
"Bobby Shafto roams the skies
With silver goggles on his eyes.
A lonely girl am I who sighs
For pretty Bobby Shafto.
"Bobby Shafto's bright and fair,
Very gay and debonair;
He's the king of all the air,
Bonny Bobby Shafto.
"His airship is the fastest one
That races with the golden sun,
And when his azure voyage is done,
Pretty Bobby Shafto.
"He's promised he will marry me,
And then how happy I shall be;
We two shall sail the starry sea,
I and Bobby Shafto!"
[Illustration]
Pretty soon the owner of the lovely voice looked out of the window and
when she saw Puss she asked him to come in and sit on the front porch
while she went for some cream. So Puss tied his Good Gray Horse to the
hitching post and, opening the little gate, sat down on the doorsteps.
After he had finished drinking the cream she asked him to tell her
where he was going with his lovely red-topped boots and long feather
plume. And would he take out his sword and show it to her? All this made
him very proud, and of course he thought she was a lovely little girl.
Well, after a while they spied an airship in the sky. Pretty soon it
came nearer and nearer till finally it landed in a field close by. The
little girl and Puss jumped up and ran as fast as they could across the
road and through the fence.
Throwing her arms around Bobby Shafto, she cried, "He's the king of all
the air."
Then he took off his silver goggles and shook hands with Puss, and soon
they all came back to the little cottage and had ice cream and sponge
cake, and Bobby Shafto fed the Good Gray Horse a quart of oats, and
after that Puss said good-by and rode away.