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

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<hr style="width: 65%;" />[52] <h2>PIE FOR MRS. MOUSE</h2> <div class='poem'><div class='cap'> THE three little kittens washed their mittens And hung them up to dry. "Oh, mother dear, do you not hear That we have washed our mittens?" </div> </div> Sure enough, all the mittens were washed and neatly hung on the clothesline. But the clothesline was so high that Puss had been forced to climb a stepladder. The kittens had stood below, their little paws full of clothespins, and every time Puss needed a pin one of them had climbed up and handed it to him. <div class='poem'> "Washed your mittens! Oh, you're good kittens. But I smell a rat close by. Hush! Hush! mee-ow, mee-ow. We smell a rat close by, Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow!" </div> <div class='unindent'>cried Mrs. Cat.</div> When Puss heard this he ran around the house. I guess he expected to find the "rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built." But Mrs. Cat had made a mistake, for there was no rat to be seen. Instead, there stood the little mouse who two or three stories ago had told the black kitty where to find their mittens.[53] "What do you want?" asked Puss, Junior, kindly. "I think the three little kittens have forgotten their promise to give me three pieces of pie. I've been waiting in the barn all this time." "Kittens!" cried Puss. The three little kittens came tumbling around the house. But the little mouse ran behind a tree. "Did you forget to save some pie crust for the little mouse and her two children?" asked Puss. "Of course not!" replied the three kittens. "I tucked a little piece under my plate," said the gray kitten. "I put a little piece in the old clock," said the tabby kitten. "And I put mine behind the big shell on the mantelpiece," cried the black kitty. "Go and get them," said Puss, "for Mrs. Mouse can't be kept waiting; her babies out in the barn will be crying for her." The three little kittens ran into the house, and pretty soon returned with the pie crust. "We'll carry it out to the barn for you," they cried. So the little mouse ran ahead, and when she was safe in the barn she waited until the kittens had placed the three little pieces of pie crust on the floor. As soon as they had gone the little mouse came out and carried the pie crust into her house. <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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