THE Hotel Ark was a comfortable sort of a place, not very up-to-date,
but with enough conveniences to make the traveler perfectly at home. He
felt even more so after meeting the proprietor's wife, Mrs. Noah, a
motherly-looking woman, with kind blue eyes and red cheeks.
"Come right in," she said as Puss, Junior, and Tom Thumb, both wet to
the skin, rapped on the door.
"You'd best dry yourselves in the kitchen," she said, leading them down
a narrow hall. "It's so warm in there you'll be dry in no time."
This was good news to our two small travelers, for their teeth were
chattering like twenty-four small white horses on a red hill.
"Here's a chair for you and here's a chair for Tom Thumb," said Mrs.
Noah. "I'm not sure about your name, but I can't mistake that of your
little friend." Puss, Junior, turned and bowed. Although he was wet, he
did not forget his manners. "My name is Puss in Boots, Junior."
"To be sure, to be sure," cried Mrs. Noah, "I might have known it."
The kitchen fire was burning merrily, bright flames shot up the chimney
and sparks from the wood flew out like stars upon the polished floor.
Puss pulled off his dripping hat and laid it down on the chair. The
feather was much bedraggled and had lost its wave. Tom Thumb undid his
coat and hung it up, and then took off his shoes and placed them close
to the hearth.
"I think my boots are half full of water," said Puss, Junior; "they are
as heavy as lead, and when I walk they make a funny noise." They
certainly were full of water, for when Puss finally got them off and
turned them over, a stream of water ran down the floor, nearly washing
Tom Thumb across the room.
By the time their clothes were dry, Noah and his three sons arrived for
supper.
"Still raining!" said the good man, as he closed the door. "I must
finish the Ark to-morrow. We may find a lake around the hotel by the
morning. Who can tell? But I shall be ready to take in all the animals
and my family by noon at the latest."