Read Ebook: Puss Junior and Robinson Crusoe by Cory David Babcock Elizabeth Jones Illustrator

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Ebook has 683 lines and 30898 words, and 14 pages

"I am about to visit my father, the famous Puss in Boots, and if I cannot remain here for the night, I may have an accident on the river. Please let me stay."

"Very well," said the Turtle, scratching his head, "you may remain on my island," and then he crawled away to his own house on the hill, which Puss could see in the distance. I think the Turtle was a disagreeable sort of person not to have asked our little traveler to spend the night with him, but then, you know, there are some disagreeable people even in New Mother Goose Country, and the Turtle was one of them.

The next morning, bright and early, Puss, Junior, got up and cooked his breakfast, and then he jumped into his rowboat and started off and by and by, as he was gliding along, a big fish came up to the surface and said, "Helloa, there!" At first Puss was startled, for he didn't see the fish, but as soon as he did, he replied:

"Don't get in my way! I might push my oar in your eye." This made the fish laugh so hard that he cried, and after that he laughed some more, only he didn't cry that time. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"To the castle of my Lord of Carabas," replied Puss.

"A long journey, my brave little cat," said the fish, "but keep up a brave heart. You are already more than half way across New Mother Goose Country."

PUSS FINDS A SUPPER

FOR many days Puss, Junior, traveled in his boat down the river and towards evening he heard a voice on the shore singing:

"Rock-a-by baby, thy cradle is green, Dad's a policeman, the finest yet seen; And mother's a lady and goes to a ball, And Johnny's a member of Tammany Hall."

Of course this made our little traveler laugh, for he didn't know there was a Tammany Hall in New Mother Goose Country and neither did I until Puss told me.

Well, he pulled his boat up on the bank and got out, and after that he listened again for the song, but there wasn't a sound, so he thought the baby must be asleep. Then he tiptoed over to a little cottage nearby and looked in the window. There sat a pretty little woman with a baby in her arms. And when she saw Puss she lifted her finger very gently to let him know that her baby was in the Land of Nod, and after that she placed him gently in the cradle.

"Come in," she whispered to our little pussy cat traveler and when they were in the nice bright kitchen, for the fire in the stove made bright streaks of light over the clean floor, she said:

"Sir Cat, you are a traveler, I see. Tell me one of your adventures while I get the supper. My good man will soon be home, hungry and tired from his day's work."

Now Puss, Junior, was tired, too, and he didn't feel a bit like sitting down and telling a story. But he was an obliging little pussy and he knew, like Little Tommy Tucker, he must pay for his supper.

ARKVILLE

THE next morning when Puss, Junior, went down to the river, he found his boat was gone.

Puss picked him up and placing him on his shoulder, set off once more. But, goodness me! It soon began to rain, and Tom Thumb crept into a pocket to keep dry.

Towards the middle of the day they arrived on the outskirts of a small village. In the distance they could hear the strokes of a hammer, and then, now and again, the whirr of a saw cutting into hard wood.

"What's going on, I wonder?" said Tom Thumb; "sounds as if they were building a house."

"Don't know," answered Puss, "but let's hurry, for I am soaked to the skin."

On arriving in the village they saw what appeared to be an immense boat in the early stages of construction. It was being erected in the city square, the little park that stood in the midst of the stores and houses.

Drawing nearer they heard a voice singing:

"Noah of old did build an Ark Of spicy gopherwood and bark To float upon the deluge dark. Now on this Ark they had no sail, For it was made Without a mast to break the gale."

When Puss and Tom halted at the side of the Ark a kind-looking man stopped his hammering and said:

"It's going to rain for forty days and forty nights. There's going to be an awful deluge. You'd better stay in Arkville and get aboard the Ark as soon as it's finished. If you don't you'll get drowned."

"He speaks the truth, I'm thinking," answered Tom Thumb, peeping out of Puss, Junior's, pocket. "It looks to me as if the rain were never going to stop."

"My good sir," said Puss, turning to the man, "it seems to me your advice is good. We'll stay in Arkville for a few days. But where shall we stop? Is there a hotel near?"

"Over yonder is the Hotel Ark," said the man. "I'm the proprietor, and my name is Noah. Go in and make yourselves at home. My sons and I will follow you shortly. We have a few more nails to drive before we quit for the day."

HOTEL ARK

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.

"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."

ALL ABOARD

IT was still raining when Puss, Junior, and Tom Thumb awoke. They had spent a comfortable night at the Hotel Ark and felt much refreshed. After a hearty breakfast they again looked out of the window. The rain was still coming down in torrents, and water lay inches deep upon the street. The Hotel Ark was surrounded by a shallow lake which, however, was growing deeper every minute.

Puss, Junior, stepped out upon the veranda and looked over the village square. Through the rain he could make out the outlines of the Ark. Just then a voice began to sing:

"He built it high, he built it strong, He built it wide, he built it long, To hold a jolly, motley throng."

Pretty soon Noah himself came splashing through the water toward the hotel.

"There is no time to lose," he cried, "the Ark will soon be afloat. Mother, make haste. Tell the girls to come along. We've no time to lose." Mrs. Noah appeared almost immediately, followed by the wives of her three sons. Lifting up their skirts, they waded after Noah. Puss, Junior, picked up Tom Thumb and placed him on his shoulder. From far and near, from the forest and the plain, from everywhere, the animals came hurrying up.

"There were the Elephant and Bee, The Hippopotamus and Flea, The tall Giraffe and Chick-a-dee, The Cock-a-doodle and the Ass, And three young men, each with his lass, Shem, Ham and Japhet had a pass!

Noah of old, and Noah's dame, I think I never heard her name, But she went in tho' all the same."

"This reminds me of the circus," laughed Puss, Junior. "I once was with a circus; three days or so; whenever I see an elephant I think of my circus days."

"Let down the gang-plank," commanded Noah, and soon a long procession of animals began to enter the Ark. The rain kept up its heavy downpour and by noon the water was waist deep. All the smaller animals had come aboard and Captain Noah felt certain by evening he would be able to start on his voyage.

PRECIOUS MOTHER GOOSE

AS the last animal came on deck and the Noah boys hauled in the gang-plank, the ark began rolling heavily, for the wind was high and the water rough. "Are we sure every one is aboard?" asked Captain Noah,

"But best of all, my little dears, 'Twill most delight your listening ears, So give with me three mighty cheers, To hear that sheltered by that truce, Loved more than Monkey, Owl or Moose, In walked Your Precious Mother Goose!"

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