THE GLARING EYES
Snowball, the China Cat, was so excited that she felt she must really
jump out of the window and go across the yard to her old friend, when
Jennie, the little girl, came back into the room. Of course the China
Cat had to be very still and quiet then.
"Oh, Joe has his Nodding Donkey in the window!" exclaimed Jennie.
"That's a sign he wants me to come over and play with him. I'll go and
ask Aunt Clara if I may go!"
Out of the room sped Jennie again, and the China Cat, who had heard what
the little girl said, mewed to herself:
"At last I shall have a chance to see the Nodding Donkey again." For it
was this old friend at whom the China Cat had looked through the window,
watching him nod his head.
"Yes, Jennie. What is it?" asked Aunt Clara, as the little girl called
to her.
"Please may I go over and see Joe?" begged Jennie. "He has set his
Nodding Donkey in his front window, and that means he wants me to come
over. He always does that when he wants me. I'll take my new China Cat
over to see him."
"Very well, dear," agreed Aunt Clara, and a little later Jennie was
crossing the yard, carrying Snowball under her arm. The China Cat was
very glad that she was going to be taken to see the Nodding Donkey, with
whom she used to live in Mr. Mugg's store.
"I'm glad you came over, Jennie," said Joe, as he opened the door for
the little girl. "What have you?"
"My new China Cat, named Snowball. I brought her over so she could play
with your Nodding Donkey."
"I guess maybe they know one another," said Joe. "They came from the
same store, you know."
"Oh, so they did!" exclaimed Jennie.
"I have a toy wagon," said Joe. "I'll hitch my Nodding Donkey up to it,
and we'll give your China Cat a ride."
"Oh, that will be fun!" cried Jennie. "Only don't upset her, for if she
falls out she may break off her tail."
"I'll be careful," promised Joe, and then he and Jennie had a lot more
fun with the Nodding Donkey and the China Cat. They were just thinking
up another game to play when Joe cried:
"Here come Dorothy with her Sawdust Doll and Mirabell with her Lamb on
Wheels."
"I should like to meet those toys," mewed the Cat to herself. And, a
little later she did, as two other little girls came in to play with
Joe. Then along came Dick, who was Dorothy's brother, and he brought his
White Rocking Horse, though it was rather a large and heavy toy to
carry. And Arnold, who was Mirabell's brother, brought along his Bold
Tin Captain Soldier and his men.
Now began a very gladsome time for Snowball. She lived in a fine house,
with a dear little girl for a mistress, and she had no more troubles.
Thus Winter passed and Spring came, with warm, sunny days when the
children could play with their toys on the porches. One day Joe took his
Nodding Donkey and went over to call on Jennie and her China Cat. But
just as Joe was going up the porch steps he heard a hand organ down the
street.
"Maybe there's a monkey with that hand organ!" said Joe to himself. So,
without stopping to ring the bell, or letting Jennie know he had come to
call, Joe set his Nodding Donkey down on the porch and ran out of the
yard.
And now I must tell you what happened. The hand organ was quite a
distance from Jennie's house, and it took Joe some little time to reach
it. While he was gone, having, as I said, left his Nodding Donkey on
Jennie's porch, along came sneaking Jeff, the colored boy.
Jeff's family had moved back into their basement tenement after the
flood, and Jeff was the same dirty, careless colored boy as before. He,
too, had heard the music of the hand organ down the street and he wanted
to see if there was a monkey.
But as he was passing Jennie's house he looked toward the porch, and
there he saw Joe's Nodding Donkey.
"Oh, golly!" whispered Jeff to himself, "dis yeah is mah chance! I kin
git dat Donkey, suah!"
Sneaking along, Jeff softly opened the gate and went into Jennie's yard.
On tiptoes he approached the porch where the Nodding Donkey was slowly
shaking his head up and down.
"Dis yeah suah is a fine toy!" muttered Jeff. "It's a heap sight better
dan de China Cat I got at de fire! I'll take dis Donkey!"
Jeff reached the porch and stretched out his black, dirty hands to take
the Nodding Donkey. But, as he did so, the negro boy happened to look up
at a side window, and there, on a table behind the glass, sat the China
Cat!
The China Cat had big, staring eyes, and now because of the way the sun
shone on them, they seemed to glare straight at Jeff. They even seemed
to open wider, and move and blink, did those glaring eyes of the China
Cat.
Jeff stood still and pulled back his hands that had been about to take
the Nodding Donkey.
"Oh, golly!" he murmured. "Oh, dey's lookin' straight at me, dey is!
Dat's de China Cat I tooked from de fire, an' she must have come to
life! Oh, I dassn't take dat Donkey while she's glarin' at me wif dem
big eyes! Oh, I's skeered, I is!"
With that Jeff turned and started on a run out of the yard. The Nodding
Donkey, who had been very much afraid he was about to be stolen, was so
thankful he did not know what to do. And the China Cat, who had feared
that her friend was about to be taken from her, kept on staring as hard
as she could.
Jeff ran faster. He gave one look back over his shoulder to see if any
one might be chasing him, and he caught sight of the Cat's eyes again.
"Oh, golly!" cried Jeff.
At that moment his foot caught in a loose board of the walk, and down
fell that bad boy Jeff with a bang, bruising knees and his nose and his
chin.
"Ouch!" cried Jeff, as he got up and limped away.
"It serves him right," said the China Cat to herself, "for trying to
take my friend, the Nodding Donkey."
"I guess you won't come back here in a hurry," said the Donkey to
himself, as he saw Jeff going off down the street as fast as he could
go. And the colored boy never did.
Joe came back, after having seen the hand organ and the monkey, and Joe
carried his Nodding Donkey into Jennie's house. There the children
played with their toys.
"How can I ever thank you?" said the Nodding Donkey to the China Cat.
"With your big, glaring eyes you saved me from that colored boy."
"I am glad I did," mewed the Cat. "I didn't want you to be taken away
from me. You are the best friend I have."
"I am glad you think so," brayed the Nodding Donkey. "I had another very
good friend in the workshop of Santa Claus, at the North Pole, but I
have not seen him for a long time."
"Who was that?" asked the China Cat.
"He was a Plush Bear," answered the Nodding Donkey. "A most wonderful
Plush Bear! When he was wound up he moved his head and his paws and he
growled as natural as anything."
"Oh, tell me about him!" mewed the China Cat. "Tell me about the Plush
Bear."
The Nodding Donkey was just going to do this when Jennie and Joe came
into the room and the toys had to remain quiet, not even talking.
But I happen to know the story of the Plush Bear, and it is to be the
very next one I tell you of these Make Believe Stories.
Of course Snowball had many more good times while she lived with Jennie,
which she did for many years. She often had fun with the Nodding Donkey
and other toys.
One day Joe came over to Jennie's house, carrying his Nodding Donkey, a
toy which was seldom out of his arms.
"Oh, Jennie!" cried Joe, "let's have a picnic in the woods for our toys.
I'll take my Donkey, you can take your China Cat and I'll get Dorothy,
Dick and the others to bring their toys."
"Oh, what fun to have a Toy Picnic!" exclaimed Jennie.
And the Nodding Donkey and the China Cat looked at one another most
happily. They liked good times. The Toy Picnic was a great success, and
how the boys and girls did laugh when the China Cat fell into the brook!
"But it doesn't hurt her," said Jennie, "and I was going to give her a
bath, anyhow, 'cause I got some sticky candy on her tail."
The Cat, herself, was glad to be washed and clean, and here we must
leave her, having fun as she is with the other toys.
THE END
HAPPY HOME SERIES
By HOWARD R. GARIS
* * * * *
Individual Colored Wrappers and Colored Illustrations by
LANG CAMPBELL
* * * * *
Mr. Garis has written many stories for boys and girls, among them his
Uncle Wiggly volumes, but these books are something distinctly new,
surprising and entertaining.
ADVENTURES OF THE GALLOPING GAS STOVE
A tale of how Gassy mysteriously disappeared, and
how he came riding home on the back of an
elephant. It is also related how he broke his leg,
and fed a hungry family in a cottage near a lake.
ADVENTURES of the RUNAWAY ROCKING CHAIR
Racky creaked and groaned when fat Grandma sat on
him too hard. He felt himself ill-treated, so he
vanished. He did not intend to take Grandma's
glasses with him, but he did. And he rocked a
bunny to sleep.
ADVENTURES OF THE TRAVELING TABLE
Tippy, the table, always wanted to travel and see
the world, but he did not know how to start.
Until, all of a sudden, a diamond ring was hidden
in his leg and a balloon carried him off through
the air.
ADVENTURES OF THE SLIDING FOOT STOOL
Just because he did not want to be used as a
milking stool by the Maiden All Forlorn, Skiddy
slid away Christmas eve. With him went Jack the
Jumper, and they had a wonderful time in the toy
shop.
ADVENTURES OF THE SAILING SOFA
Skippy always wanted to be a sailor. When the high
water came in the spring, the sofa went sailing.
He had a Rooster for a crew, while Tatter, the rag
doll with one shoe button eye, was Captain.
* * * * *
GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK
THE PUSS-IN-BOOTS, Jr. SERIES
By DAVID CORY
Author of "The Little Jack Rabbit Stories" and "Little Journeys to
Happyland"
* * * * *
Handsomely Bound. Colored Wrappers. Illustrated.
Each Volume Complete in Itself.
* * * * *
To know Puss Junior once is to love him forever. That's the way all the
little people feel about this young, adventurous cat, son of a very
famous father.
THE ADVENTURES OF PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR.
FURTHER ADVENTURES OF PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR.
PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR. IN FAIRYLAND
TRAVELS OF PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR.
PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR., AND OLD MOTHER GOOSE
PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR., IN NEW MOTHER GOOSE LAND
PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR., AND THE GOOD GRAY HORSE
PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR., AND TOM THUMB
PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR., AND ROBINSON CRUSOE
PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR., AND THE MAN IN THE MOON
* * * * *
GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
Happy Home ad, "top" changed to "toy". (in the toy shop)