LITTLE SIR CAT
Reading edition
Little Sir Cat and Dame Trot
"Little fishy in the brook, Papa catch him with a hook, Mamma fry him in the pan, Johnny eat him like a man,"
sang a sweet voice, and in came Dame Trot with a big platter of fish. "Did Mr. Trot catch them?" asked Little Sir Cat politely, sitting down to the table and tucking the napkin under his chin.
"Of course," answered Dame Trot, "fish don't catch themselves, unless they're playing tag in the pool."
Well, it didn't take Little Sir Cat long to finish his meal, and when Dapple Gray was saddled, he set out again on his journey through Mother Goose Land, and by-and-by, after a while, he came to a bridge, and when he looked over the railing, he saw a pretty silver fish swimming on the top of the water.
"Helloa there, silver fish! If I had a hook and line I'd soon catch you," and Little Sir Cat grinned at his own reflection in the clear water. But if the fish had seen it I guess he would have darted away, for it looked just like a real cat in the water.
LITTLE SIR CAT AND DAME TROT
"You can drop me a line," replied the fish with a swish of his tail, "but I won't promise to bite."
"I don't care for any more fish to-day," answered Little Sir Cat, "I've just had a feast at Dame Trot's little Inn."
"If that's the case," replied the fish, Giving his tail a shimmery swish, "I'll go right home to Mrs. Trout And tell her it's safe for her to go out."
And away went that poetical old trout, and so did Little Sir Cat, and after he had ridden for maybe a mile or three, he met the Maiden All Forlorn Who Milked the Cow with the Crumpled Horn. But she wasn't miserable now at all. No, Siree. She wore a lovely smile and a pink sun-bonnet with a bit of ribbon on it. And as soon as she saw Little Sir Cat her smile broke into a laugh: "Here is my dear little puss. Where has he been this long time?"
"Oh, just traveling," he answered. "What have you been doing?"
"You remember the tramp all tattered and torn? Well, he made lots of money in cotton and corn. So he bought me an automobile and a ring, And the minister married us both in the spring,"
she answered, taking the pink ribbon off her sun-bonnet and tying it around Little Sir Cat's neck.
"There, you look like a prize winner," she laughed, and after that she ran back into the farm yard to see if the Little Black Hen had laid a white egg for breakfast.
By-and-by Little Sir Cat met the Spider who frightened Miss Muffet. She was busy spinning a big web and said to him,
"Please go 'way, don't bother me, For I'm as busy as can be."
So you must wait for the next story to hear what happened to Tommy Green, unless
That little Black Spider Puts salt in her cider.