ON reaching the seashore, Robinson Crusoe raised a spy glass to his eyes
and looked carefully over the water. And then all of a sudden he lowered
the glass and whispered: "The cannibals are coming! We must go back to
my fort at once."
"Do they eat cats?" asked Puss, Junior.
"I don't know," replied Mr. Crusoe. "You see, I've never met a cannibal;
in fact, I've always held aloof from them."
Crusoe's man Friday was nearly frightened to death. He was as pale as a
black ghost, which is pretty white for a negro.
Once inside the fort, Mr. Crusoe again took a look at the cannibals.
"Why, I guess I've made a mistake," he cried; "it's a tub, not a canoe!"
"Rub-a-dub-dub!
Three men in a tub;
And who do you think they be?
The butcher, the baker,
The candlestick maker,
Turn 'em out knaves all three!"
"Well, that's good news," cried Puss, Junior, while Black Man Friday
jumped about in great glee. You see, he had escaped only a short time
before from the cannibals.
Little Tom Thumb, although safe inside Puss, Junior's, pocket, was also
relieved. The only one who didn't seem overjoyed was Mr. Crusoe himself.
[Illustration]
"What's the matter now?" said Puss.
Mr. Crusoe gave a deep sigh. "If you owed the butcher, the baker and the
candlestick maker as much as I do you wouldn't be overjoyed at seeing
them, either."
"But I'd rather see them than cannibals," cried Tom Thumb. "I'd rather
they'd take my money than my life!"
"That's very true," said Mr. Crusoe, "but you don't quite get me. The
laws on this island are very strict. They will allow you to shoot a
cannibal at sight but not your grocery man."
"Then you are powerless against these three men in a tub?" said Puss,
Junior.
"Well, not exactly," replied Mr. Crusoe. "I needn't answer the bell, you
know."
By this time the three men had landed on the beach, and pretty soon the
doorbell rang.
"S-s-sh!" whispered Mr. Crusoe, "don't make a sound. They can pull the
handle off, for all I care."
They didn't do this, but they kept the bell going until every one in
Crusoe Castle was nearly crazy. First the butcher took a hand, then the
baker, and then the candlestick maker. Then they began all over again.