ordinary cat to them. And
neither was our little traveler.

You see, these little boys had gone into an alley to play marbles, on
their way to school, and then the little girl had told her father how
they had missed their lessons.

"And Jimmy Jones won all the marbles, and there was a fight! And the
teacher kept them in after school!"

"Oh me! oh my!" cried Puss, Junior. "Please don't slit her tongue!"

"But why did you tell tales on your brothers?" asked her father.

"Oh, please don't slit her tongue!" cried Puss, Junior, again.

"That's what they did in _Mother Goose_."

"It must have been very long ago in the dark ages," answered Puss,
laying hold of his sword.

"Well, it's only a rhyme!" laughed her father, picking up his little
girl and hugging her. "Come on, Sir Cat, follow me. You are quite a
Knight of the Round Table. If a fair lady be in distress you are her
champion!"

Pretty soon all three came to a little house and Puss was invited to
come in and play. There was a nice swing under an old apple tree, and
soon he was swinging as high as the little girl could push him. All of a
sudden he jumped out up among the branches and hung on to a limb, just
like a trapeze performer.

"I once was with a circus," he explained, sliding down the rope and
turning a somersault on the ground.

Just then the little boys came in the gate and how they did laugh! And
Jimmy gave Puss all the marbles which he had won, and his father, who
had been sitting on the porch watching the fun, gave Puss a dollar.
After that they all went in for lunch and Puss didn't start out on his
journey until late in the afternoon.

ON THE WAY

"ON the way, on the way,
To see my father, old and gray.
Faster still, my good gray steed,
Over hill and flowering mead.

"Faster, faster, Good Gray Horse,
Hasten swiftly on your course,
Till I see the stately towers
Where my father spends his hours."

"Urge me not too much!" panted the faithful steed. "I'm doing my best,
but these hills have made me short of breath."

Dear me! I forgot to tell you that the Good Gray Horse had run away from
the famous Doctor Drake and had caught up to Puss, Junior, just as I
commenced this story.

"Forgive me," cried little Puss, Junior. "In my anxiety to see my father
I have been selfish." And he slipped a lump of sugar into the mouth of
the Good Gray Horse.

We