Page 9 - The Adventures of Puss in Boots, Jr.

"Yes, where's your steed?" continued the stranger.

"Haven't got any," said Puss. "My two legs are all that I have to carry me."

"Get up behind me," said the stranger. "My name is Yankee Doodle Dandy, and a Yankee is always willing to
give a fellow-traveler a lift, whether he be on the high seas or on the road."

"Thank you, my fellow-traveler," replied Puss, and he sprang nimbly to the saddle and clung tightly to the
coat-tails of Yankee Doodle Dandy.

"Git-ap!" cried the latter, and away went the pony down the road. In a short time the towers and church
steeples of a town came into view.

Suddenly a queer-looking figure tumbled down from the sky on to the road just in front of them. Yankee
Doodle Dandy reined in his horse just in time; otherwise he would have run over the Man in the Moon.

"Why don't you fall any other place but right in front of my horse?" asked Yankee Doodle Dandy, in a stern
voice.

"Couldn't help it," answered the Man in the Moon. "You must remember it's not such an easy thing to hit the
exact spot you intend to when you jump all the way from the moon. It's almost impossible. I've even heard
that an aeroplane has some difficulty in dropping bombs so that they hit the mark."

"Well, I've heard that, too," admitted Yankee Doodle Dandy, "although up to this time Yankeeville has not
suffered from any air attacks."

"Well, don't be too sure," answered the Man in the Moon. "I've seen a few things from my moon house that
you never even dreamed of."

"Did you never hear the rhyme about the Man in the Moon?" Puss asked, politely.

"No, I never did," said the Man in the Moon.

"What!" exclaimed Puss in surprise.

"The Man in the Moon came tumbling down And asked the way to Norwich; He went by the south and burnt
his mouth With eating cold pease porridge."

"Ha, ha!" laughed the Man in the Moon, "you are joking; I'm sure you are," and he turned his footsteps toward
the south.

"'He went by the south and burnt his mouth,'" said Puss.

"We can't help it," said Yankee Doodle; "he will go that way."

PUSS SINGS A SONG AND HELPS A BEGGAR

After he had said good-by to Yankee Doodle Dandy, Puss, Jr., had a good time playing all the morning with
some little boys whom he met. One of the little boys got out his hobby-horse and he and Puss, Jr., took turns
galloping up and down the sidewalk.

"I had a little hobby-horse, And it was dapple gray; Its head was made of pea straw, Its tail was made of hay,"