Puss in Boots, Jr., and the Good Gray Horse

<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>KITTENS WASH MITTENS</h2> <div class='cap'>AFTER Mrs. Cat had powdered Puss, Junior's, toes so that they would slip easily into his boots she turned to see what the three little kittens were doing. They had just finished eating the pie. She had been so interested in hearing how Puss, Junior, had found his red-top boots that she hadn't heard them say:</div> <div class='poem'> "Oh, mother dear, we greatly fear<br/> <span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">That we have soiled our mittens."</span><br/></div> <p>"What!" exclaimed Mrs. Cat. "Soiled your mittens, you naughty kittens!"</p> <div class='poem'> Then they began to sigh,<br/> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Mi-ow, mi-ow, mi-ow."</span><br/> Then they began to sigh,<br/> <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Mi-ow, mi-ow, mi-ow."</span><br/></div> <p>"Take them off at once," cried Mrs. Cat.</p> <p>"We will, mother," said the three little kittens.</p> <p>"I can't imagine why you kept them on," said Mrs. Cat.</p> <p>"We were so hungry we didn't have time to take them off," said the little black kitten.</p> <p>"My fingers were so cold I thought I'd leave them on," cried the tabby kitten.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</SPAN></span></p> <p>"I didn't think about anything," sobbed the little gray kitten. "I just looked at the pie, and then I forgot I had on mittens."</p> <div class="figright"> <ANTIMG src="images/gs12.png" width-obs="334" height-obs="400" alt="Mrs. Cat" title="" /></div> <p>Mrs. Cat stood with her front paws on her hips, looking first from one little kitten to another.</p> <p>"Did you ever see anything like children?" she sighed, turning to Puss, Junior.</p> <p>"My dear madam, forgive them this once.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</SPAN></span> They were so excited over finding the pie that they lost their heads."</p> <p>"It's a good thing they are tied on," said Mrs. Cat, with a laugh; "they might not be found as easily as the mittens."</p> <p>The three little kittens looked very much ashamed. Then the little black kitten ran over to the washtubs and, jumping on a stool, turned the hot-water faucet. His mother handed him a big cake of soap, and in another minute the other two little kittens climbed up beside him.</p> <p>"What are you going to do?" asked Mrs. Cat, with a sly wink at Puss, Junior.</p> <p>"Never mind, mother, dear. Please don't look." And they commenced to scrub their mittens. And when they had them all covered with lather they dipped them into the water and squeezed them until the soapsuds looked like a snow drift, and after that they all reached down and pulled out the stopper, and when the soapy water was all gone they filled the tub again with nice, clean water and washed the mittens all over again. But, oh, dear me! the water was so deep that the little gray kitten wet her little pink sleeve.</p> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />