[Illustration: TWINKLE TOES LIKED TO GATHER HIS ANIMAL FRIENDS ABOUT HIM]
Twinkle Toes and
His Magic Mittens
_By_ Laura Rountree Smith
_Pictures by_ F. R. Morgan
WHITMAN PUBLISHING CO.
RACINE, WISCONSIN
COPYRIGHT 1919 BY
WHITMAN PUBLISHING CO.
RACINE, WISCONSIN
Table of Contents
I IN THE HOLLOW TREE 9
II EARNING MONEY 25
III UNCLE MOUSER’S STORY 39
IV A VISIT TO OLD SHADOW 49
V NAMING THE FLAG 66
List of Illustrations
TWINKLE TOES LIKED TO GATHER HIS ANIMAL FRIENDS ABOUT HIM FRONTISPIECE
HE GAVE EACH OF THE THREE LITTLE KITTENS A NEW TRAVELING BAG 14
CHIP, CHIP, CHIP, INTO OUR TREE 15
THE THREE LITTLE CHAIRS IN WHICH THEY SAT TURNED ROUND 19
TWINKLE TOES WAS DREAMING ABOUT A PAIR OF MAGIC MITTENS 27
TWINKLE TOES WORKED THREE TIMES AS FAST CLEARING PATHS 31
ONCE UPON A TIME THE OLD MAN OF THE FIRE SAID TO THE KING 42
PUT THE DISHES IN NEAT PILES UPON THE TABLE 47
IT GREW DARKER AND DARKER IN OLD SHADOW’S BURROW 50
ALL THE ANIMALS WERE MARCHING, RIGHT FOOT, LEFT FOOT 55
THEY WERE MAKING A FLAG 62
THEY DREAMED THEY WERE SAILING AWAY 63
Twinkle Toes and His Magic Mittens
CHAPTER I.
IN THE HOLLOW TREE
Twinkle Toes lived with Uncle Mouser in a little wee house in the woods,
and as he ran in and out in the twinkling of an eye, every one called him
Twinkle Toes.
He liked to travel about and to meet his friends, so on his second
birthday, Uncle Mouser gave him a fine new travelling bag, with his
initials upon it.
Twinkle Toes, like Uncle Mouser was quite a story-teller. He liked to run
about in the woods at twilight and gather his animal friends about him,
and tell stories.
Most of all, however, he liked to travel through the woods with his new
travelling bag.
One evening he started out through the woods and ran on until he came to
the home of the THREE LITTLE KITTENS WHO LOST THEIR MITTENS.
He rapped on the door, rap-a-tap-rap-a-tap.
The Three Little Kittens were at home, and they cried in turn, “May I go?
Ma, may I go?”
Old Mother Kit-Cat opened the door herself, and in waltzed Twinkle Toes
with his travelling bag.
They made him welcome you may be sure, and Dot and Tot and Trot cried,
“You’re a story-teller, we suppose,
Do tell us a story, Twinkle Toes.”
Then Twinkle Toes jumped right over the travelling bag, with the letters
“T-T” upon it, and said,
“To have a story you are bound,
We’ll see if any can be found!”
He opened his travelling bag, and took out another travelling bag, a
little smaller. He opened the second bag and took out another, and
another.
He gave each of the Three Little Kittens a new travelling bag.
Each bag had the Kitten’s initials upon it.
The Three Little Kittens were happy you may be sure, and marched round
and round the room with their new travelling bags.
They begged for a story again, but Twinkle Toes only said,
“Go off to bed with a skip and a run,
With the travelling bag, our story’s begun.”
The Three Little Kittens called, “Good night Ma, good night Twinkle
Toes,” and they went merrily off to bed.
Twinkle Toes slept in Old Uncle Mouser’s red plush-lined basket by the
fire.
Next morning the Three Little Kittens begged to go with Twinkle Toes on a
journey.
Mother Kit-Cat said,
“Dear Little Kittens you are so funny,
You may go—for the day is sunny.”
Twinkle Toes waltzed around trying to catch his tail and the little bell,
on the little blue ribbon, round his neck went tinkle, tinkle, tinkle!
They all started off merrily, the Three Little Kittens singing,
“We’re Three Little Kittens,
We’ve no need of mittens.”
“Don’t be so sure of that,” whistled the Wind, and before they got home
it nipped their ears and paws, and blew their long whiskers!
Then Dot and Tot said,
“We were foolish Kittens
To leave off our mittens.”
[Illustration: HE GAVE EACH OF THE THREE LITTLE KITTENS A NEW TRAVELING
BAG]
[Illustration: CHIP, CHIP, CHIP, COME INTO OUR TREE]
Brave Little Trot said,
“Always put your best foot out,
Don’t think of things to cry about.”
Sure enough, they soon forgot that they were cold, they soon forgot that
they had left their mittens at home.
They were wondering whom they would visit, when they heard Three Little
Curly-Tails cry, “Chip, chip, chip, come into our tree, come into our
tree.”
Dot and Tot and Trot made their best bow and said politely,
“We are Three Little Kittens
Who once lost our mittens.”
Twinkle Toes waltzed around and said,
“I am a friend whom everyone knows,
My name is Little Twinkle Toes.”
Old Mother Curly-Tail looked out from her hole in the hollow tree, and
said,
“I give you invitation, hearty,
To step inside and join our party.”
Even Twinkle Toes did not know how a hollow tree looked inside.
They all scrambled into the tree and Mother Curly-Tail said, “Hurry,
hurry, hurry.”
They helped for one hour and sixteen minutes to store the Squirrels’ nuts
away for the winter.
Then, a surprise awaited them for Mother Curly-Tail said,
“Sing some verses if you’re able,
In will roll the chairs and table.”
They sang a song, and in rolled a table and chairs for them all.
They climbed up into the chairs and Mother Curly-Tail said,
“Dishes will come if I don’t mistake it,
And a politeness lesson, if you’ll take it.”
In came the dishes, knives, forks, and spoons, and they all jumped to
their proper places upon the table.
In came a kettle of food, smoking hot.
The Three Little Curly-Tails said, “Oh Ma, please help our plates first,
we are so hungry.”
Mother Curly-Tail said,
“Visitors first, if you please,
Be polite, and do not tease.”
The Three Little Curly-Tails would not wait, they were so hungry. They
put their paws in the kettle and burned them badly.
[Illustration: THE THREE LITTLE CHAIRS IN WHICH THEY SAT TURNED ROUND]
“Oh,” and “Ah,” they wailed.
The three little chairs in which they sat turned round and remained with
their backs to the table.
Twinkle Toes and the Three Little Kittens began to eat the food put on
their plates, saying “Thank you” and “If you please,” politely.
By and by the three chairs, in which the Three Little Curly-Tails sat,
rolled back into place, and they were given some sharp nuts to crack with
their sharp little teeth, for by this time the food in the kettle was all
gone.
Dot wanted to tell the story of the lost mittens and began, “One day when
we were sliding on the ice.”
At that very moment Mother Curly-Tail jumped down from her chair, and
whispered in the ear of each little Curly-Tail.
“Be polite to the Three Little Kittens,
But don’t let them talk any more of their mittens.”
Tot wanted to tell about finding the mittens, so she began,
“One day when we were sliding on the ice.”
“Oh, oh,” cried the Curly-Tails, “Did you lose your rubbers? Did you lose
your hoods? Did you lose your overshoes?”
“No,” said Trot, “We lost——”
At that very minute the Curly-Tails cried, “Come out and climb, come out
and climb.”
No sooner said than done, they all ran out of the hollow tree and jumped
from branch to branch.
One after another cried,
“Come, follow me to the tallest tree,
It is very exciting as you see.”
By and by Twinkle Toes said,
“Back to mother everyone goes,
When twilight comes, says Twinkle Toes.”
They all took up their little travelling bags and started to run home
through the woods.
All at once they stopped still.
They said, “We forgot to say good bye, we forgot our manners.”
Right about face, they all marched back to the hollow tree and shouted,
“To be polite, we all will try,
Dear Little Curly-Tails, good bye.”
The little Curly-Tails answered,
“Come again to have a play,
Call on us another day.”
Old Mother Kit-Cat stood in the doorway looking for them.
She said,
“Dear Little Kittens,
You should wear your mittens.”
Sure enough, their paws were cold as cold could be.
Late that night Dot, and Tot, and Trot, woke up and said, “We wonder why
the Curly-Tails did not want us to talk about our mittens?”
Twinkle Toes called out sleepily from Old Uncle Mouser’s red plush-lined
basket,
“Little Curly-Tails once wore the mittens
Lost long ago, by Three Little Kittens.”
I don’t know whether he knew what he was talking about or whether he was
talking in his sleep.
He lay all curled up in the red, plush-lined basket.
He was dreaming about a pair of Magic Mittens that would always fit and
never wear out.
He said, “When will I get my Magic Mittens?”