and their mother said that as they had new neck-ribbons and Frisky had
stopped being too frisky, she would have a party. Then she thought it
would be a good plan to have them go to singing-school and learn
something to sing at the party. She spoke to their uncle Thomas about it
and their uncle Thomas said he would try their voices and find out which
had voices to sing. He tried their voices and found out that only one of
the Charcoals and two of the Spekkums had voices to sing. Frisky Spekkum
was not one of the two Spekkums that had voices to sing, and she did not
go to the singing-school.
“The three that had voices to sing went to singing-school, and were put
in a row by themselves where they sat very still with their tails around
their fore paws as their mother and their uncle Thomas told them to, and
had their voices tried and were taught to sing the song of The Two
Tailed Mouse, every word of which was as true as cream.
“The party was to be in a barn-room on account of a large basket of fish
and lobsters which had been placed there, and it was to be an evening
party.
“Before it was time for the party to begin, the three who were to sing
the song of The Two Tailed Mouse, were told by their mother to go to the
barn-room and sit in a proper manner and sing the song until they could
sing it well enough to sing it at the party and please all who might
hear it. They obeyed her, and as Frisky Spekkum had not been too frisky
for a very long time, she was allowed to go and hear them sing, if she
would sit still. She sat still a great while, but hearing the singing
and looking much at the lobster-feelers made her want to be too frisky
and she frisked with the lobster-feelers, and went into the basket and
frisked with lobster claws, and gnawed them, and clawed them, and gnawed
and clawed some little fishes, and ate all she could of the fishes and
the lobsters, and made herself sick, and could not stay up at the party.
She had to go to bed in the haymow, and when she was asleep she dreamed
that her name was Mab Fizz-Fuzz, and that rats dragged her off by the
tail through a place that was too small.
[Illustration]
[Illustration:
Frisky Spekkum’s Dream.
]
“She woke up sorrowful. She was sorrowful long. She would not eat, she
would not run, she would not catch, she would not play with the two
Charcoals and the other Spekkums. Their mother spoke to their uncle
Thomas about it, and their uncle Thomas said he thought that dream would
do Frisky Spekkum good.”
* * * * *
“And that is the end of the story, your majesty,” said the lovely
Pussyanita.
“End?” exclaimed the King. “It has no end. It leaves off short. Why does
it leave off short? Why does it not come to a proper end, namely, by the
way a cat’s tail does?”
“Because, your majesty, it is not a common sense story,” replied the
lovely Pussyanita. “I told your majesty at the beginning your majesty
would not like a story that’s not a common sense story.”
“I say I do like stories that are not common sense stories!” cried King
Grimalkum. “Common sense makes my head ache. Tell me another. Tell the
one you skipped; that about the Janjan’s.”
“Your majesty means The Janjibo,” said Pussyanita. “That is the silliest
story that ever was.”
“I have always wanted to hear the silliest story that ever was,” said
the King. “Tell it. And let it have an end, or you’ll be sorry.”
The lovely Pussyanita bowed and began the Story of the Janjibo, and of
the Frog and the Rat.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Illustration:
The Story of the Janjibo, and of the Frog and the Rat.
]
[Illustration:
Watching the Rat.
]
“Once upon a time, a long time ago, a family of rats made a home for
themselves in a haymow, and a good home it was. Corn, and potatoes, and
hayseed and other things were handy. With all these good things handy,
one of the young rats must needs walk into a trap. Two cats had long
been watching the family, and when they saw this young rat go towards
the trap, they sprang, and one of them caught him by the end of his tail
just as he was going in, and pulled him out, but he got away and ran
down-stairs, and the two cats after him, and at the bottom of the stairs
he ran into something with a big hole at the big end and a small hole at
the small end. He went in at the big hole, and the cats went in at the
big hole after him. He went out at the small hole. It was just big
enough for him to go through, and was not big enough for the cats to go
through, and they turned round quick, and got tangled up in each other,
and went out and went round outside and chased him, but the young rat
had jumped out of a window. He was so frightened that he ran, and ran,
and ran, across fields and hills, and got lost in a boggy swamp, and a
great snapping turtle would have snapped him up, if a young frog had not
begged the snapping turtle to let him live. The snapping turtle said he
would let him live if the young frog would take care of him. The young
frog said he would if his mother would be willing. The young frog’s
mother said he might take care of him if the young rat would promise not
to eat any tadpoles.
[Illustration:
In After Him.
]
“The young rat promised not to eat any tadpoles, and the young frog took
care of him and they lived together, and played tag together, and
hide-and-seek together, and tiltered together, and did other things
together. When the frog hid he croaked for the rat to come and find him,
and when the rat hid he squealed for the frog to come and find him. When
the frog hid among the cat-o’-nine-tails, the young rat wouldn’t play;
and when they played tag, if the frog went among the cat-o’-nine-tails
the rat wouldn’t chase. When they played tilter, they had to tilt high
so that the frog’s legs need not touch the ground.
“The young rat was happy, and had no wish to return to his family. He
went to all the frog concerts, and tried to get the frog tunes, but as
he could only squeak them, or squeal them, and could not croak them, he
could not get the frog tunes.
[Illustration:
They Had to Tilt High.
]
“At last his family heard where he was, and begged his aunt to go fetch
him home, as she had no children, and could leave home as well as not.
His aunt said she would go as soon as news should come from the King of
the Cats. The King of the Cats was expected to die. He had caught a bad
cold wading for eels on a damp day, and had taken to his bed, and called
in Doctor Bowwow, and Doctor Bowwow had looked at his tongue and told
him he could not live. The young rat’s family begged his aunt to go
right off. She said she wished to wait and hear of the death of the King
of the Cats, for that would be good to hear.
[Illustration]
“As soon as word came that the King of the Cats was dead, the young
rat’s aunt set off to the far-off swamp, and found it, but by that time
the young rat had gone with the young frog to live on the edge of the
pond. She looked all through the swamp, and got her feet wet, and lost
her way, and tangled herself in the swamp-vines, and caught herself in a
swamp-vine string and could not get away, and there she stayed until the
day of the Wonderful News.
“The Wonderful News was brought by a travelling kangaroo. As the young
rat and the frog were sitting one evening by the edge of the pond, a
kangaroo came leaping past, and stopped between two of his leaps and
said, ‘Wonderful News! Peace between the cats and the rats and mice! All
friends!’ and the kangaroo leaped on.
[Illustration]
“‘Wonderful news indeed!’ said the young rat. ‘I must let the water rats
know.’
“The frog said he would attend to that, and he got upon a log and
croaked, ‘Wonderful news! Peace between the cats and the rats and mice!’
“Other frogs heard him, and sat upon logs, stones, rocks and stumps, and
croaked, ‘Wonderful news! Peace between the cats and the rats and mice!’
and other frogs heard these other frogs, and croaked the same, and the
great bull-frogs got hold of it and bellowed it, and frogs and
bull-frogs in other ponds and swamps and bogs heard it, and croaked it
and bellowed it, and before morning the Wonderful News was known to
every water rat far and near; and the water rats told the land rats as
quickly as they could.
“The young rat’s aunt heard it in the swamp, and jumped hard and broke
the swamp-vine string, and set off on a gallop, this way and that way,
and the wrong way, and lost her way, and away she went.
“The young rat said he must travel off somewhere and hear how it all
happened, and he and the frog set out together and travelled. Sometimes
the young rat let the frog ride on his back, because he could go faster
by runs than the frog could by leaps. The rat could not go frog-back,
because it was so hard to keep on. When they had travelled a long way
they met a mother rat, with her baby in her mouth, running as fast as
she could go.
[Illustration]
“The young rat asked her to stop and speak to him, and she stopped. The
young rat then asked the mother rat where she was going so fast, and the
mother rat said her baby was too sick to be left alone, and that she
could not stay away from the Janjibo, and she was carrying the baby to
stay at its grandfather’s till she should come back from the Janjibo.
The young rat asked her what there was to be a Janjibo for.
“She asked him if he had not heard the ‘Wonderful News.’ He said he had,
and that he wished to know how it all happened. The mother rat then said
that if they would come to her baby’s grandfather’s, they could then go
with her to the Janjibo, and on the way there she would tell them how it
all happened. They went with her to her baby’s grandfather’s and then to
the Janjibo, and this is what the mother rat told.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Illustration:
What the Mother Rat Told.
]
“After the King of the Cats died, and the King of the Cats’ son had been
made king, the rats and mice sent to ask if the cats and the rats and
mice could not be friends, so that there might be peace between them.
The new king said he did not think it would be a good plan at all, but
he would see what the dogs had to say about it, for dogs had the name of
knowing more than cats. He picked out three of his wisest cats, and sent
them to the dogs, and the dogs picked out two of their chief dogs, one
named Know and the other named Quick, and the two dogs and the three
cats met together. Quick asked Know what cats could live upon if they
did not eat rats, and mice. Know said that if cats should give up
catching, then people would feed them more. People kept from feeding
them so as to make them catch.
[Illustration:
The Wise Cats and Dogs.
]
“The wisest of the three wise cats said that dogs were not expected to
catch; they were fed by people.
“Know asked if it was great trouble to catch rats and mice. The next
wisest of the three cats said that if he should try it he would find
that it was much easier to eat off a plate, or even off the floor, than
to sit half the night in a cold barn, or cellar, or garret, tired and
hungry, watching rat-holes and mouse-holes. Quick asked if rat-holes and
mouse-holes could not be in rooms people lived in where it would be
pleasant for a cat to sit and watch. Know said that could not be, for
rats and mice did not like people as well as cats did.
[Illustration:
The Pledges of Good Faith.
]
“The end of it all was that the dogs thought it would be a good thing
for the cats to be friends with the rats and mice, and a little bird
that heard all the talk told the Kangaroos.
“In order to be sure that the cats and the rats and mice should do right
by each other, the dogs said that the rats must give up a baby rat to be
kept by the cats, and the cats must give up a baby cat to be kept by the
rats. This was done. The baby rat was youngest of a family of four
children, and the baby cat was the youngest of a family of four. The
dogs said this would make it even.
“The three cats walked in procession with the baby in front, and their
oldest sister walked after them all, and the three rats walked in
procession with their baby in front and their oldest sister walked after
them all. But when they came in sight of each other, the rats were
afraid of the cats and went behind their oldest sister. The oldest
sister of the rats then took the baby cat in her mouth, and the cat
procession started, and when the oldest sister of the cats came to the
baby rat she took that in her mouth and then the rat procession started,
and both processions walked away, and the baby rat is now staying with
the cats, and the baby cat stays with the rats, and all is well. We do
not have to hide in holes and under floors and behind walls, and our
children will all live to grow up, unless they get sick from eating
poison, as my baby did.
[Illustration]
“And now that we are all friends, the cats and the rats and mice are
going to meet together and have a Janjibo, and there is to be fine music
and the tables are to be spread with everything nice. The dogs said that
as the rats and mice were the ones to ask to be friends they must be the
ones to bring things to eat, and they are working with all their might
to get ready the pies, and cakes, and jellies, and ice-creams, and nuts,
and sweet corn, and cheeses, and eggs, and dishes, and knives, and
forks, and spoons. We shall soon see them, for we are near the place
where the Janjibo is to be.
“As the frog and the young rat and the mother rat came near the place
where the Janjibo was to be, they saw rats hurry skurrying as fast as
they could with cakes, pies, dishes and other things. They met gentlemen
rats in their best clothes, carrying knives, forks and spoons, and
looking everywhere for eggs.
[Illustration:
The Way the Egg Went Safely.
]
“Three of these gentlemen rats in their best clothes, found an egg and
began to roll it. ‘We shall break it doing this way,’ said one to the
others. ‘I am afraid we shall,’ said the others, and they stopped to
think. The mother rat went to them and said: ‘The shells of eggs are too
thin. Shells of eggs should be thicker.
“‘But I can tell you a way. Let one of you gentlemen lie flat on his
back and hold the egg with all four of his legs and let the other two
gentlemen draw that one by his tail; then the egg will go safe and the
gentleman will get a ride.’
[Illustration]
“They did so. The gentleman rat that had the knife gave the knife to the
gentleman rat that had the fork and lay down flat on his back, and held
the egg in all four of his legs and the other two drew him by his tail
and the egg went safe and he got a ride.
“Next came a lively young cat with a pudding-bag string. She said she
was frolicking with the rats and was running away with their pudding-bag
string. She said she did not care about the Janjibo. She did not care
about the peace. She wanted to have a good time. She did not know if she
should like to be friends with the rats and mice. Sometimes it was good
fun to catch them.
[Illustration:
The Cat Ran Away With the Pudding-Bag String.
]
“The mother rat told her that she was very naughty, and the rats could
not do without their pudding-bag string and that she must carry it back
to them. She did not. She went dancing away with it.
“Next came a great many rats with a pie so big they could hardly lift
it. They were afraid they should drop it, and they held it up with all
their might by their heads and their backs, and their shoulders. The
Pie-cutter with his knife came close behind. The young rat went to help.
[Illustration:
The Rats, the Pie and the Pie-Cutter.
]
[Illustration:
The Mother Rat Told the Pie-Cutter How to Cut It.
]
“The frog said he should be willing to help, but he should have to go
with leaps, and going with leaps was not a good way to go with a pie.
The mother rat said to them, ‘You’d better set it down and cut it, and
then it will be all ready to be passed round. Set it down and cut it,
and you can rest while you are cutting it. Cut it first in large pieces,
and then cut the large pieces into small pieces. The pie must all be cut
in small pieces or there may not be enough to go round.’ They set it
down, and the mother rat told the Pie-cutter the right way to cut it,
and he cut it the right way. Just as the Pie-cutter had done cutting it,
the young rat looked at a light-colored rat that was among the other
ones, and said, ‘There’s my aunt.’
“It was his aunt. The one that was tangled in the swamp-vine string, and
broke it in jumping when she heard the Wonderful News, and got away, and
lost her way. She did not find the way she lost, but she found her way
to the Janjibo, and was helping.
“‘So you are my nephew!’ she said. ‘How you have grown! Do you know that
the cats and the rats and mice are friends?’
“‘Oh yes,’ said the young rat. ‘A travelling kangaroo told me.’
“‘Friends indeed!’ said his aunt. ‘Look yonder. Do you see what is doing
yonder? That is your little brother. Perhaps you never knew that your
little brother could take pictures.’
“‘Never,’ said the young rat. ‘Can he?’
“‘Yes; he can,’ said his aunt. ‘Yonder he is now, taking the picture of
a Tabby. He has plenty to do. There is another close by, waiting for her
turn.’
“‘Why!’ cried the young rat. ‘They are the very same ones that chased me
when I was a little rat and made me run away!’
“‘Yes’ his aunt said. ‘They are friendly now. What are you going to do?
Do you want to help us get ready?’
[Illustration]
“‘I do,’ said the young rat.
“‘Step in here then,’ said his aunt. ‘Step in to this Ice-cream Place,
and stir up the ice-cream. Stir it up with your fore paws.’ They two
stepped into the Ice-cream Place, and the young rat’s aunt showed him
how to stir up the ice-cream with his fore paws. While he was doing this
a cat peeped through the door at him. His aunt thought by the looks of
the cat’s eye that it was a cat that had not heard of the peace.
“She was so afraid the cat did not know of the peace and would eat the
young rat that she caught hold of his tail quick and pulled him with all
her might and they ran out of the Ice-cream Place by two rat-holes. The
mother rat and the frog were waiting for the young rat and he travelled
on with them.
[Illustration:
Afraid He Had Not Heard of the Peace.
]
“That cat would not have hurt the young rat. She did know of the peace
and she was gathering up rats for the Janjibo. The young rat and the
frog and the mother rat saw her afterwards showing a great many rats
that had come from afar, the way into the Janjibo and even taking up the
tired ones in her mouth and carrying them in.
[Illustration:
Taking Up the Tired Ones in Her Mouth.
]
“Three young kittens sat watching her while they waited for their
mother. They were dressed in their best clothes and white gloves, all
ready to dance a jig at the Janjibo.
“They were waiting for their mother to go in with them. Their mother
taught them the jig and she was coming to fiddle for them to dance. They
were in a hurry for her to come because they were afraid of a fierce
black rat who stood near by with his gun. The fierce black rat had been
ordered to stand there with his gun to keep off the rabbits. The rabbits
had been heard to say they did not like the peace between the cats and
the rats and mice, and that they meant to break it up, and meant to
break up the Janjibo.
[Illustration:
The Sentinel.
]
“As soon as the mother rat and the frog and the young rat went into the
Janjibo, the mother rat met with her oldest daughter, just from home,
and she kept with her mother and the young rat was polite to her.
“A very great number came to the Janjibo. The supper was good, and after
supper the ones who could tell stories told stories, and the ones who
could sing songs, sang songs, and the ones who could talk, talked. A
mouse with a lame hind leg said she hoped all cats would know of the
peace and told a Spinning Story.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Illustration:
A Spinning Story.
]
“She said that one day when she and her sisters sat spinning in the
barn, a cat looked in at the window. They did not run, for why should
they run when cats and mice were friends? The cat that was looking in
the window had not heard of the peace and she jumped at them. Then they
ran but she and one of her sisters did not run quick enough, and her
sister was bitten in the head and she herself was bitten in the hind
leg, and made lame for life.
“Three blind and feeble mice without any tails then told the Blind Mice
Story.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Illustration:
The Blind Mice Story.
]
[Illustration]
“They were born blind, and were obliged to find their way by their
noses. A farmer’s wife had been giving corn to the hens and some of the
corn was left in her pocket, and they smelled the corn and ran after the
farmer’s wife, and she cut off their tails with a carving knife. Now
they could not run very fast, for no rat can run fast unless he feels
his tail behind him.
“A cat of the name of Henry, said this story made him think of the
Air-Ball Story.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Illustration:
The Air-Ball Story.
]
[Illustration]
“Three kittens, Faw, Sol, and Law, were once playing in a yard when a
short boy named Chickerchecker came and tied air-balls to their tails so
that he might have the fun of seeing the air-balls take Faw, Sol, and
Law up in the air.
“When Faw, Sol, and Law began to feel the back ends of themselves going
up they did not know what to do to keep them down and they mewed and
mewed and stuck the claws of their fore paws into the ground.
Chickerchecker was much pleased.
[Illustration]
“Their mother was the other side of the wall and near enough to hear
them mew. She knew that if they mewed so, something was the matter. She
sprang to the top of the wall and looked over and when she saw what had
been done she was very angry, and jumped down, and took the air-balls
off of Faw, Sol, and Law’s tails and tied them to Chickerchecker, and
Chickerchecker went over the wall and blew into a tree.
“Faw, Sol, and Law were so much pleased that they danced up and down.
Their mother also was much pleased.
“At the end of this story the singing Tommies sang the funny song of the
Bold Young Fishbone and the Gay Young Wishbone.
“It began with
There was a bold young Fishbone,
Finnery, finnery fi!
There was a gay young Wishbone,
Winnery, winnery, wi!
and ended in the same manner.
[Illustration]
“The singing Tommies had new jackets and trousers and new gloves, as of
course any singers would have who were to sing at a Janjibo.
“After this song and others were sung the kittens who came to dance a
jig, danced it. Their mother played the fiddle well, and they danced
their steps well and gave much pleasure to all present. All present were
happy in the peace and no doubt the peace would have lasted to this day
if the rabbits and the hens had not broken it up.
“The rabbits and the hens did not like the peace. The rabbits said that
cats must eat and if they did not eat rats and mice they must eat
rabbits. The hens said that if no rats were eaten they would every one
live to grow up and would eat all the corn and the hens and other fowl
would wear themselves out scratching for worms. They said they should
like to get hold of the frogs, for if the frogs had kept still, so many
rats would not have heard the Wonderful News.
[Illustration:
They Danced Their Steps Well.
]
“The rabbits said they did not believe the Lion knew of the peace and
they meant to send him word and ask him to stop it. The cats would have
to do whatever he should say, for the Lion was the head of their family
besides being king of all the animals.
[Illustration]
“The cat that ran away with the Pudding-Bag String was known to think
not very well of the peace and she was asked to go and speak to the
Lion. She said she would go, but must first borrow her grandmother’s
boots of swiftness. Her grandmother was just taking her tea and felt
very well. She said she was not using her boots and was willing to lend
them if they could be taken good care of. The cat that ran away with the
Pudding Bag String put them on and went to speak to the Lion.
[Illustration]
“The Lion said the peace was the funniest thing he ever heard of, and
made him almost die a laughing. He told the cat that ran away with the
Pudding Bag String to tell the cats there never could be peace between
the cats and the rats and mice, and never should be so long as Lions
were Lions, and to tell the rabbits and the hens and other fowl to break
up the Janjibo.
[Illustration:
The Frog Going Ratback.
]