PUSS, JR., MEETS MR. ROWLEY FROG
Reading edition
THE following day Puss, Jr., was trudging along near the edge of a forest. The land was rather low and marshy, and the path was none too dry. He gingerly picked his way, avoiding as well as possible the muddy spots. Of a sudden his attention was arrested by a funny sight.
A few feet in front of him, as he rounded a curve in the path, was a frog. On his head rested a large stove-pipe hat, much worn and weather-beaten. A large cigar was in his mouth, on which he puffed away vigorously, the clouds of smoke streaming out behind him like a long gray feather.
"Hello, Mr. Rowley!" cried Puss.
The frog turned. Taking the cigar out of his mouth, he answered, "How do you know my name?"
"Just a good guess of mine, perhaps," replied Puss. "But, anyway, there's a famous Mr. Rowley in Mother Goose, so I took a chance."
"Well, I don't want you to try to stop me," said Rowley, "for I had enough fuss when I left home. You see, my people didn't want me to go at all."
"Then why did you?" asked Puss, who by this time had come up to the frog.
"Because I was tired to death of the old pond," replied Rowley. "One has got to see the world some time, and when one is young is the time and not when one is old."
"Yes, 'every dog must have his day,'" quoted Puss.
"And every frog, too," answered Rowley, pushing his high hat down on his head more securely and replacing the cigar between his lips.
"And where are you going?" asked Puss.
"A frog he would a-wooing go, Heigh-ho! says Rowley. Whether his mother would let him or no. With a rowley powley, gammon and spinach, Heigh-ho! says Anthony Rowley."
"Well, then, Anthony!" cried Puss, taking the frog by the arm, "let us be comrades. For it is lonesome business, this traveling alone, and I would have a good friend to talk to while we trudge along."
"But I already have a companion," answered Mr. Rowley. "Don't you remember the second verse in Mother Goose?"
"Not exactly," replied Puss, Jr.
"Well, this is the way it goes," answered the frog. "It's describing me, of course."
"So off he set with his opera hat, Heigh-ho! says Rowley. And on the road he met with a rat. 'Pray, Mr. Rat, will you go with me?' Heigh-ho! says Rowley, 'Kind Mrs. Mousey for to see?'"
At that moment the rat jumped out of the bushes. "Don't be afraid," said Puss, Jr.
"All right," replied the rat, "I sha'n't."
"Glad to have seen you both," said Puss, Jr. "I can't tarry long, for I must continue my journey."