LITTLE Miss Pussy Cat had a house
That was very trim and neat.
But, oh, dear me! there wasn't a mouse
For little Miss Pussy to eat.
"There's a nice, soft cushion on the window seat," she said to Puss,
Junior. "Why don't you take a nap?"
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.
"Please make him go away," said Miss Pussy Cat. "I'm dreadfully afraid
of dogs."
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
"I've never heard a whistling cat,
So come to the wood with me,
And whistle a tune to my elfin child
Under the greenwood tree."
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.
"Teach him to whistle, Sir Cat," said the dwarf.
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.
And some day, in another book, I will tell you how little Puss, Junior,
finds his dear father.