Adventures of Puss in Boots, Jr.

<h2><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</SPAN></span> <SPAN name="goose" id="goose"></SPAN>PUSS MEETS MOTHER GOOSE</h2> <div class="block30"> <div class="figleft2"> <ANTIMG src="images/quote.png" width-obs="8" height-obs="7" alt="open quote" title="" /></div> </div> <div class="block32"> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <p class="cap nmb">Oh, my pretty cock, oh, my handsome cock,</p> <span class="i3 nmt">I pray you do not crow before day,<br/></span> <span class="i0">And your comb shall be made of the very beaten gold,<br/></span> <span class="i2">And your wings of the silver so gray."<br/></span></div> </div></div> <p>Puss, Jr., opened his eyes sleepily to find himself in Mother Goose's arms. They were seated on a gander's back, who was flying along as if such a thing as traveling with two passengers was nothing at all. As Mother Goose finished her little verse, the gander alighted on the roof of a big red barn on which a weathercock sedately turned this way and that in the early morning breeze. The sun was just coming up, for it was early, very early. Puss rubbed his eyes and sat up. "And how's my little pussy-cat?" asked Mother Goose, stroking him kindly. "Did he have a good night's sleep?"</p> <p>"Yes, indeed, thank you," answered Puss, now thoroughly awake and remembering how he had met Mother Goose the previous day, and how fortunate it was that she had agreed to take him back to Mother Goose Land.</p> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</SPAN></span>"Cock-a-doodle-do!" said the weathercock.</p> <p>"Crow as much as you like," said Mother Goose. "Now that Puss is awake you can make all the noise you wish. At first I thought we were not going to stop on your barn, Sir Chantecler, and that was the reason I asked you to delay your early morning crow so that we could be far away before you commenced. Puss is in need of all the sleep he can get, for in a few days he will be on his feet again. He has still a long ways to go ere he finds his famous father, Puss in Boots."</p> <p>"Well," answered the weathercock, "I didn't crow before day, so kindly give me a gold comb and silver wings."</p> <p>"That I will," answered Mother Goose, "this very evening."</p> <p>"And who will bring them?" asked the weathercock, for he was very vain, and is sometimes called a weather-vane, perhaps for that reason. "Who will bring them to me, and how am I to know that a gold comb will be becoming or that silver wings will suit my complexion?"</p> <p>"Leave that to me," said Mother Goose, with a lofty air. "Weathercocks only know of the breezes that blow; they swing back and forth when the wind's from the north, the south, east or west&mdash;they are never at rest."</p> <p>"More poetry from Mother Goose," sighed the weathercock. "If people must talk, why do<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</SPAN></span> they want to rhyme it out? Let them talk in good old prose. It suits me best."</p> <p>Mother Goose evidently did not hear his remarks, for she was busily feeding the gander. Puss was stretching his legs by walking along the roof and watching some sparrows who were chirping under the eaves. Presently she called Puss. "We are off again," she cried; "get aboard the goose-ship!" When they were comfortably seated she turned to the weathercock and said: "This evening the sun will gild your comb and silver your wings just before he goes behind yonder western hill. Good-by!"</p> <p>The weathercock did not reply, and the gander did not wait, but flew away with his two passengers safely sitting on his back.</p> <hr /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />