[Illustration: TWINKLE TOES LIKED TO GATHER HIS ANIMAL FRIENDS ABOUT HIM]




                            Twinkle Toes and
                            His Magic Mittens

                        _By_ Laura Rountree Smith
                       _Pictures by_ F. R. Morgan

                         WHITMAN PUBLISHING CO.
                            RACINE, WISCONSIN

                            COPYRIGHT 1919 BY
                         WHITMAN PUBLISHING CO.
                            RACINE, WISCONSIN




Table of Contents


    I IN THE HOLLOW TREE                                                 9

   II EARNING MONEY                                                     25

  III UNCLE MOUSER’S STORY                                              39

   IV A VISIT TO OLD SHADOW                                             49

    V NAMING THE FLAG                                                   66




List of Illustrations


  TWINKLE TOES LIKED TO GATHER HIS ANIMAL FRIENDS ABOUT HIM   FRONTISPIECE

  HE GAVE EACH OF THE THREE LITTLE KITTENS A NEW TRAVELING BAG          14

  CHIP, CHIP, CHIP, INTO OUR TREE                                       15

  THE THREE LITTLE CHAIRS IN WHICH THEY SAT TURNED ROUND                19

  TWINKLE TOES WAS DREAMING ABOUT A PAIR OF MAGIC MITTENS               27

  TWINKLE TOES WORKED THREE TIMES AS FAST CLEARING PATHS                31

  ONCE UPON A TIME THE OLD MAN OF THE FIRE SAID TO THE KING             42

  PUT THE DISHES IN NEAT PILES UPON THE TABLE                           47

  IT GREW DARKER AND DARKER IN OLD SHADOW’S BURROW                      50

  ALL THE ANIMALS WERE MARCHING, RIGHT FOOT, LEFT FOOT                  55

  THEY WERE MAKING A FLAG                                               62

  THEY DREAMED THEY WERE SAILING AWAY                                   63




Twinkle Toes and His Magic Mittens




CHAPTER I.

IN THE HOLLOW TREE


Twinkle Toes lived with Uncle Mouser in a little wee house in the woods,
and as he ran in and out in the twinkling of an eye, every one called him
Twinkle Toes.

He liked to travel about and to meet his friends, so on his second
birthday, Uncle Mouser gave him a fine new travelling bag, with his
initials upon it.

Twinkle Toes, like Uncle Mouser was quite a story-teller. He liked to run
about in the woods at twilight and gather his animal friends about him,
and tell stories.

Most of all, however, he liked to travel through the woods with his new
travelling bag.

One evening he started out through the woods and ran on until he came to
the home of the THREE LITTLE KITTENS WHO LOST THEIR MITTENS.

He rapped on the door, rap-a-tap-rap-a-tap.

The Three Little Kittens were at home, and they cried in turn, “May I go?
Ma, may I go?”

Old Mother Kit-Cat opened the door herself, and in waltzed Twinkle Toes
with his travelling bag.

They made him welcome you may be sure, and Dot and Tot and Trot cried,

    “You’re a story-teller, we suppose,
    Do tell us a story, Twinkle Toes.”

Then Twinkle Toes jumped right over the travelling bag, with the letters
“T-T” upon it, and said,

    “To have a story you are bound,
    We’ll see if any can be found!”

He opened his travelling bag, and took out another travelling bag, a
little smaller. He opened the second bag and took out another, and
another.

He gave each of the Three Little Kittens a new travelling bag.

Each bag had the Kitten’s initials upon it.

The Three Little Kittens were happy you may be sure, and marched round
and round the room with their new travelling bags.

They begged for a story again, but Twinkle Toes only said,

    “Go off to bed with a skip and a run,
    With the travelling bag, our story’s begun.”

The Three Little Kittens called, “Good night Ma, good night Twinkle
Toes,” and they went merrily off to bed.

Twinkle Toes slept in Old Uncle Mouser’s red plush-lined basket by the
fire.

Next morning the Three Little Kittens begged to go with Twinkle Toes on a
journey.

Mother Kit-Cat said,

    “Dear Little Kittens you are so funny,
    You may go—for the day is sunny.”

Twinkle Toes waltzed around trying to catch his tail and the little bell,
on the little blue ribbon, round his neck went tinkle, tinkle, tinkle!

They all started off merrily, the Three Little Kittens singing,

    “We’re Three Little Kittens,
    We’ve no need of mittens.”

“Don’t be so sure of that,” whistled the Wind, and before they got home
it nipped their ears and paws, and blew their long whiskers!

Then Dot and Tot said,

    “We were foolish Kittens
    To leave off our mittens.”

[Illustration: HE GAVE EACH OF THE THREE LITTLE KITTENS A NEW TRAVELING
BAG]

[Illustration: CHIP, CHIP, CHIP, COME INTO OUR TREE]

Brave Little Trot said,

    “Always put your best foot out,
    Don’t think of things to cry about.”

Sure enough, they soon forgot that they were cold, they soon forgot that
they had left their mittens at home.

They were wondering whom they would visit, when they heard Three Little
Curly-Tails cry, “Chip, chip, chip, come into our tree, come into our
tree.”

Dot and Tot and Trot made their best bow and said politely,

    “We are Three Little Kittens
    Who once lost our mittens.”

Twinkle Toes waltzed around and said,

    “I am a friend whom everyone knows,
    My name is Little Twinkle Toes.”

Old Mother Curly-Tail looked out from her hole in the hollow tree, and
said,

    “I give you invitation, hearty,
    To step inside and join our party.”

Even Twinkle Toes did not know how a hollow tree looked inside.

They all scrambled into the tree and Mother Curly-Tail said, “Hurry,
hurry, hurry.”

They helped for one hour and sixteen minutes to store the Squirrels’ nuts
away for the winter.

Then, a surprise awaited them for Mother Curly-Tail said,

    “Sing some verses if you’re able,
    In will roll the chairs and table.”

They sang a song, and in rolled a table and chairs for them all.

They climbed up into the chairs and Mother Curly-Tail said,

    “Dishes will come if I don’t mistake it,
    And a politeness lesson, if you’ll take it.”

In came the dishes, knives, forks, and spoons, and they all jumped to
their proper places upon the table.

In came a kettle of food, smoking hot.

The Three Little Curly-Tails said, “Oh Ma, please help our plates first,
we are so hungry.”

Mother Curly-Tail said,

    “Visitors first, if you please,
    Be polite, and do not tease.”

The Three Little Curly-Tails would not wait, they were so hungry. They
put their paws in the kettle and burned them badly.

[Illustration: THE THREE LITTLE CHAIRS IN WHICH THEY SAT TURNED ROUND]

“Oh,” and “Ah,” they wailed.

The three little chairs in which they sat turned round and remained with
their backs to the table.

Twinkle Toes and the Three Little Kittens began to eat the food put on
their plates, saying “Thank you” and “If you please,” politely.

By and by the three chairs, in which the Three Little Curly-Tails sat,
rolled back into place, and they were given some sharp nuts to crack with
their sharp little teeth, for by this time the food in the kettle was all
gone.

Dot wanted to tell the story of the lost mittens and began, “One day when
we were sliding on the ice.”

At that very moment Mother Curly-Tail jumped down from her chair, and
whispered in the ear of each little Curly-Tail.

    “Be polite to the Three Little Kittens,
    But don’t let them talk any more of their mittens.”

Tot wanted to tell about finding the mittens, so she began,

    “One day when we were sliding on the ice.”

“Oh, oh,” cried the Curly-Tails, “Did you lose your rubbers? Did you lose
your hoods? Did you lose your overshoes?”

“No,” said Trot, “We lost——”

At that very minute the Curly-Tails cried, “Come out and climb, come out
and climb.”

No sooner said than done, they all ran out of the hollow tree and jumped
from branch to branch.

One after another cried,

    “Come, follow me to the tallest tree,
    It is very exciting as you see.”

By and by Twinkle Toes said,

    “Back to mother everyone goes,
    When twilight comes, says Twinkle Toes.”

They all took up their little travelling bags and started to run home
through the woods.

All at once they stopped still.

They said, “We forgot to say good bye, we forgot our manners.”

Right about face, they all marched back to the hollow tree and shouted,

    “To be polite, we all will try,
    Dear Little Curly-Tails, good bye.”

The little Curly-Tails answered,

    “Come again to have a play,
    Call on us another day.”

Old Mother Kit-Cat stood in the doorway looking for them.

She said,

    “Dear Little Kittens,
    You should wear your mittens.”

Sure enough, their paws were cold as cold could be.

Late that night Dot, and Tot, and Trot, woke up and said, “We wonder why
the Curly-Tails did not want us to talk about our mittens?”

Twinkle Toes called out sleepily from Old Uncle Mouser’s red plush-lined
basket,

    “Little Curly-Tails once wore the mittens
    Lost long ago, by Three Little Kittens.”

I don’t know whether he knew what he was talking about or whether he was
talking in his sleep.

He lay all curled up in the red, plush-lined basket.

He was dreaming about a pair of Magic Mittens that would always fit and
never wear out.

He said, “When will I get my Magic Mittens?”




CHAPTER II.

EARNING MONEY


Twinkle Toes woke up early next morning, and skipped about with his
travelling bag, singing,

    “With travelling bag away he goes,
    So sings your little Twinkle Toes.”

“Let me go too, let me go too,” cried the Three Little Kittens in one
breath.

They all had their little travelling bags with them and they shouted,

    “To Squirrel Town away we go,
    Three Little Kittens, ha, ha, ho, ho.”

As it happened, they did not go to Squirrel Town that day, nor the next,
nor the next, for Old Mother Kit-Cat said, “Dot, Tot, Trot, you must
earn some money, so I can knit a pair of mittens for Twinkle Toes.”

[Illustration: TWINKLE TOES WAS DREAMING ABOUT A PAIR OF MAGIC MITTENS]

Old Mother Kit-Cat’s rocking chair went to and fro, to and fro, and all
this time her needles went “click, click click.”

Dot and Tot said,

    “Oh dear, oh dear, pray, what shall we do,
    Mother Kit-Cat, to earn money for you?”

Brave Little Trot said,

    “I’ll take my snow shovel, that’s what I’ll do,
    Mother Kit-Cat, to earn pennies for you.”

“Hurrah, hurrah,” cried Dot and Tot, “we will all take our snow shovels
and go to the woods and shovel paths for the animals!”

Twinkle Toes waltzed round and round, and suddenly without warning, down
came a little snow shovel, and he put it over his shoulder and marched
merrily along.

I don’t know whether it was a magic snow shovel or not, but Twinkle Toes
worked three times as fast clearing paths as the Three Little Kittens.

“My furry tail, how cold it is!” said Dot.

“My long whiskers, how the wind whistles,” said Tot.

Brave little Trot said,

    “If we will sing once in a while,
    It will shorten the longest mile.”

Twinkle Toes waltzed round and round while the Three Little Kittens
shouted at the top of their lungs in a sing-song way,

    “We are Three Little Kittens
    Who once lost our mittens,
    We are Three Little Kittens
    Who frolic and play,
    We are Three Little Kittens
    Who once found our mittens,
    We are Three Little Kittens,
    So cunning and gay.”

At this very minute, an astonishing thing happened!

[Illustration: TWINKLE TOES WORKED THREE TIMES AS FAST CLEARING PATHS]

A great deep growly voice cried,

    “Come shovel me out, you dear little Kittens,
    I’ll give you pennies to buy wool for mittens.”

They were by old Curly-Bear’s den.

They were not a bit afraid.

They all went to work with a will and shoveled a good path to the old
Bear’s den.

Then Curly-Bear reached out his paw and said,

    “When I heard Three Little Kittens sing,
    I thought it was almost time for spring.”

He handed Trot six pennies and went back into his den for another nap.

“I wish we could sleep all winter,” said Dot. Tot said, “I do miss my
nice warm mittens, why do I always forget to put them on?”

“Overshoes too, overshoes too,” laughed the wind as he whistled by.

They had all done enough shovelling of snow that day, but next day they
went to the Ground Hog’s hole and he cried sleepily,

    “Come shovel me out, you dear little Kittens,
    I’ll give you pennies to buy wool for mittens.”

They began to shovel with right good will and all the while Old Shadow,
the Ground Hog was scolding about sunshine and shadow.

He said he could never tell whether or not he would cast his shadow until
he came out of his hole.

By and by he peeped out and gave Trot the pennies, then he went back into
his hole for another nap.

Twinkle Toes waltzed round and round, and the Three Little Kittens went
on until they heard a voice cry:—

    “Come shovel me out, you dear little Kittens,
    I’ll give you pennies to buy wool for mittens.”

They went to the Beaver’s house built by the pond and worked away, and
will you believe it, the Beaver said all the time, “Work like a Beaver,
work like a Beaver. Some day we may tell you how we build our homes, but
don’t come too near, for we are very shy.”

The Beaver tossed six pennies out of his window and called “Good bye” as
the Three Little Kittens trudged merrily down the road.

“My shovel gets heavier every minute,” said Dot.

“I cannot walk another step, I am most frozen,” said Tot.

Brave Little Trot said, “We will keep on a few steps more and maybe we
will meet some of our friends, or cousins, or uncles, or aunts.”

Twinkle Toes waltzed round and round.

Just then, was heard the “Jingle, jingle, jingle,” of sleighbells. Some
one was coming in a sleigh.

The Three Little Kittens stood in the road waving their snow shovels, and
they blocked the path.

The sleigh came nearer, and nearer, every minute.

When Twinkle Toes saw who was in the sleigh he set up a shout, “It is Old
Uncle Mouser, stop him, stop him.”

Uncle Mouser was pleased to see his old friends you may be sure and he
said,

    “Creep under my fur robe, as still as a mouse,
    Then home we will ride to your own little house.”

No sooner said than done, they all scrambled under the warm fur robe and
rode away, away, away, to the home of the Three Little Kittens.

When they arrived Old Mother Kit-Cat stood in the doorway looking for
them.

She was delighted to see Uncle Mouser again and he said he would stay, if
he could sleep in his red plush-lined basket.

Such a shaking of snow as there was from fur and whiskers, and Trot gave
Old Mother Kit-Cat the pennies they had earned.

When they were all ready to go to sleep Dot said, “We forgot to ask
Curly-Bear if he had ever seen our mittens.”

Tot said, “We forgot to ask Old Shadow if he had seen our mittens, that
time they were lost so long.”

Trot said, “Perhaps Billy Beaver could have told us something about them.”

Old Mother Kit-Cat said,

    “Hush, be still, ’tis time to sleep,
    Three Little Kittens, quiet keep.”

Twinkle Toes and Old Mouser were already asleep.

They lay side by side in the red plush-lined basket.

Old Mother Kit-Cat had already started a pair of mittens for Twinkle
Toes, but she needed yarn to finish them.

She said, “I will send the Three Little Kittens for yarn to-morrow.”

She was not at all sleepy, so she thought she would finish one of the
mittens she had started.

She took up her needles, and to her surprise, they went to and fro, to
and fro, in her paws and in less than a twinkling of an eye, one mitten
was finished.

“By my furry tail,” said Mother Kit-Cat, that must be a magic mitten
after all. “Perhaps this is one of the magic mittens Twinkle Toes has
been talking about.”

Then, to her surprise the finished mitten began to sing,

    “When you do good deeds for others,
    Fathers, sisters, cousins, mothers,
    Even helpful things for kittens,
    You may wear some magic mittens.”

Old Mother Kit-Cat was not sure whether she was asleep or dreaming, for
all the rest of the family had gone to dreamland.




CHAPTER III.

UNCLE MOUSER’S STORY


The next day passed very quickly, for the Three Little Kittens went to
town to buy yarn for mittens for Twinkle Toes.

When evening came, they all sat round the fire and the Three Little
Kittens danced up and down before Uncle Mouser, and Twinkle Toes danced
round and round.

They all said, “Please tell us a story.”

Uncle Mouser answered,

    “I will tell you a story in prose and rhyme,
    For I make up stories just half my time.”

The Three Little Kittens danced up and down and cried, “Tell us a true
story, tell us something that really, truly happened.”

Uncle Mouser rocked to and fro, to and fro, in the little rocking chair
and said,

    “I would not like to see you in tears,
    So I’ll think back for several years.”

“Oh Uncle Mouser, oh Uncle Mouser,” cried the Three Little Kittens, “we
cannot wait years and years for a story.”

Twinkle Toes waltzed round and round.

Old Mother Kit-Cat’s needles went “click, click, click.”

By and by Old Uncle Mouser said, “By my whiskers, I do know one true
story about a little kitten, who liked to wash dishes, and do kitchen
work.”

Old Mother Kit-Cat stopped knitting suddenly, and leaned forward and her
eyes grew as big as saucers.

She said, “Did you say, liked to wash dishes and do kitchen work?”

Old Uncle Mouser answered, “I will tell you the story as it was told me
by my old Aunt Tabby.” Then he began.

Once upon a time the Old Man of the Fire said to the King, “I wonder if
any kitten in the world likes to wash dishes and do kitchen work?”

The King said, it could not be possible that any kitten liked to do these
things, so the Little Old Man of the Fire said, “I travel everywhere over
hill and dale, and wherever a fire is, there am I. What will you give me
if I find a kitten who likes to do kitchen work?”

[Illustration: ONCE UPON A TIME THE OLD MAN OF THE FIRE SAID TO THE KING]

The King replied, “I will give you a thousand miles of sun to burn
morning and evening.”

The Little Old Man of the Fire ran over hill and dale singing,

    “I am the Little Old Man of the Fire,
    Ha, ha, I am happy, I never tire.”

My! what a long search he had.

He found plenty of kittens who hated to do kitchen work, and he was
afraid they all hated to wash dishes.

He was about to give up the search, when one night he saw a light on a
far hill, twinkle, twinkle.

He followed the light and soon came to a little wee house on the hill.

A little Kitten was singing,

    “Pile the dishes up higher, higher,
    Bring in the wood and make more fire,
    Of kitchen work I never tire,
    Pile the dishes up higher, higher.”

Dishes were piled up to the ceiling.

The Little Old Man of the Fire was so happy, he danced with glee.

The Little Old Man of the Fire rapped on the door and the kitten called,
“Come in.”

The Little Old Man stepped inside, and for the first time in four and
twenty hours, the little Kitten stopped work.

Her gingham apron changed to an apron of gold.

Her white cap changed to a gold crown.

She became a real Princess.

She had been under a spell until the Little Old Man of the Fire came in.

They joined hands and ran merrily over hill and dale singing all the way.

When the King saw the Princess he ordered a great wedding, and made her
Queen, and he gave the Little Old Man of the Fire miles and miles of sky
to burn every night.

One day, long after that, the King asked the Queen “How did you happen to
like to work?” and she answered, “I said to myself,

    “I try to like the work I do,
    Some day my wishes will come true.”

The King said,

    “If we try to like our work,
    Then I’m sure we’ll never shirk.”

The King and Queen looked out at the evening sky, and they knew the
Little Old Man of the Fire was at work, for they saw a very beautiful
sunset.

The story was ended.

Uncle Mouser rocked to and fro.

Old Mother Kit-Cat said, as her needles flew to and fro, “That does not
sound like a true story to me, it sounds to my old ears like a Fairy
Tale.”

Uncle Mouser replied, “I can only tell the story as Aunt Tabby told it to
me.”

If you guessed yesterday, and to-day, and to-morrow, you could not guess
what happened next.

The Three Little Kittens slipped out of their three little rocking-chairs
and went “pit-a-pat,” into the kitchen.

[Illustration: PUT THE DISHES IN NEAT PILES UPON THE TABLE]

Twinkle Toes followed them waltzing every step of the way.

They began to wash dishes.

Splash, splash, went the water.

Clatter, clatter went the supper dishes as Twinkle Toes put them in neat
piles on the table.

The Three Little Kittens sang as they worked,

    “We like the suds and water sweet,
    To wash the dishes is a treat.”

Once more Old Mother Kit-Cat’s eyes grew as big as saucers, and she said
in a whisper, “I guess that was a true story after all.”




CHAPTER IV.

VISIT TO OLD SHADOW


On Ground-Hog day in February, Dot cried, “Oh, Ma, may we go to visit Old
Shadow, the Ground-Hog?”

Tot cried, “Oh, Ma, may we go out with our little travelling bags?”

Trot stood first on one foot, then on the other, and said, “Ma cannot
hear herself think if we all talk at once.”

Twinkle Toes said, “I think we can all take our travelling bags.”

Mother Kit-Cat looked severely at the Three Little Kittens and said, “You
may go, if you will only remember to wear your mittens.”

[Illustration: IT GREW DARKER AND DARKER IN OLD SHADOW’S BURROW]

“Mittens, mittens, I will wear my magic mittens,” said Twinkle Toes.

By this time Mother Kit-Cat had finished the mittens for Twinkle Toes.

He put on his mittens and the Three Little Kittens all put on theirs, and
followed Twinkle Toes with a hop and a skip and a bound.

It was a cold day in February, and the wind was blowing.

Suddenly Dot, and Tot and Trot cried, “We are tired, we wish we were at
our journey’s end.”

Twinkle Toes rubbed his mittens together and said, “I wish we were at Old
Shadow’s hole.”

Then the funniest thing happened.

In the twinkling of an eye, they were at Old Shadow’s hole, and there he
was, busily digging.

He said,

    “Three Little Kittens I’m glad you came,
    But old Woodchuck is my real name,
    Now if “Old Shadow” you like better,
    Call me that to the very letter.”

Just then he caught sight of Twinkle Toes and said,

    “Here is a friend that everyone knows,
    Our dear little, queer little Twinkle Toes.”

The Three Little Kittens made a bow and said,

    “Old Shadow, answer the Three Little Kittens,
    Did you ever wear our three pairs of mittens?”

At that, the strangest thing happened, Old Shadow ran into his hole
calling,

    “You speak of mittens, you scare me so,
    I do not know which way to go.”

The Kittens all ran after him.

The hole was funnel-shaped, and the passage-way grew smaller, and
smaller, and smaller, and wound in and out.

By and by they saw Old Shadow at the far end, and he called,

    “Come inside, and take your ease,
    But don’t disturb my digging, please.”

By and by he stopped digging, and said, “Ha, ha, ha, let us measure
whiskers.”

He had very long whiskers and was proud of them.

“Come, help me dig, for we may then find some clover roots. How I do like
clover roots!”

Twinkle Toes waltzed round and round and then began to dig with a will,
to please Old Shadow.

Dot soon said, “I must stop, for my paws are tired.”

Tot said, “Oh dear, my paws were not made for digging.”

Trot said,

    “We are Three Little Kittens,
    Who once lost our mittens.”

At the mention of the word, “mittens,” the most remarkable thing
happened.

[Illustration: ALL THE ANIMALS WERE MARCHING, RIGHT FOOT, LEFT FOOT]

Old Shadow took out his watch and cried, “It is quarter to spring, it is
quarter to spring. I must hurry, hurry, hurry or I will be too late to
meet Lady Spring.”

Whisk! bound! He was out of his burrow before you could wink an eye lash!

It was dark in the strange burrow, and Twinkle Toes and the Three Little
Kittens ran this way, and that way, trying to find the way out.

The burrow had several rooms and they kept losing themselves every few
minutes.

They could always hear the tinkle, tinkle, tinkle of the little bell that
hung from Twinkle Toes’ neck.

Dot and Tot began to cry, but brave little Trot said,

    “Cheer up, kittens do not cry,
    There’s a way out, if you but try.”

It grew darker and darker in Old Shadow’s burrow, and I don’t know what
in the world they would have done, if Twinkle Toes had not thought of his
Magic Mittens.

He thought of his mittens, and rubbed them gently saying, “I wish the
Little Old Man of the Fire would appear.”

No sooner said, than done.

The Little Old Man of the Fire appeared in his green cap and jacket of
yellow.

His jacket shone with light and he sang,

    “Ha, ha, ha, I can’t help but sing,
    It is planting time, and almost spring.”

“Not in February,” said Dot.

“Not in February,” said Tot.

Brave little Trot said,

    “Don’t be alarmed Sir, we’re only kittens,
    Who once on a time lost all our mittens.”

Twinkle Toes said never a word, but his little bell went, “tinkle,
tinkle, tinkle,” every step he took.

The Little Old Man of the Fire said, “I came upon you so suddenly, you
almost scared me out of a year’s growth.

“I see Twinkle Toes, and Three Little Kittens, big as life and half as
natural. Ho, ho, so you do not think it is time for spring? Look above
you, see the roots growing.”

Dot said, “Please show us the way out.”

Tot said, “We are afraid of the dark, lead the way out.”

Brave Little Trot said, “We will do a kindness for you, kind Sir, if you
will light us home.”

Twinkle Toes waltzed round and round.

The Little Old Man of the Fire was full of mischief and he said

    “Once or twice most every year,
    I naturally just disappear,
    Your eyes as big as saucers, I see,
    They are light enough for you and me.”

Without another word the Little Old Man of the Fire disappeared.

Dot and Tot began to cry softly into their little pocket handkerchiefs
and even Trot got his little pocket handkerchief out, but Twinkle Toes
waltzed round and round.

Twinkle Toes said,

    “A misfortune is often what we make it,
    Hark! to footsteps, I don’t mistake it.”

Then he rubbed his Magic Mittens and wished for Uncle Mouser.

They all listened.

For steps were coming nearer, and nearer every minute.

Uncle Mouser appeared at the opening of the burrow with the Little Old
Man of the Fire, whom he had caught, and now carried inside a lantern!

Uncle Mouser shouted,

    “Have you seen three Kittens
    Who once lost their mittens?
    I’m looking also for Twinkle Toes,
    There’s a bell that tinkles wherever he goes.”

They all shouted, “Hurrah Uncle Mouser, here we are, here we are!”

They lost no time getting out of Old Shadow’s burrow you may be sure,
and the Little Old Man of the Fire hopped merrily about in the lantern
singing,

    “It is fun away to roam,
    But there is no place like home!”

Uncle Mouser said, “It is not safe to go into deep burrows. Let me count,
are you all here?”

[Illustration: THEY WERE MAKING A FLAG]

[Illustration: THEY DREAMED THEY WERE SAILING AWAY]

Twinkle Toes and the Three Little Kittens were so pleased to see Uncle
Mouser, they hugged and kissed him so hard, and jumped about so much, he
could not count them to save his life.

He kept saying anxiously, “I hope I have you all here, two, three, or
four.”

Old Mother Kit-Cat stood in the doorway looking for them and she said,
“Oh Uncle Mouser, your red plush-lined basket is waiting for you.”

She hugged and kissed Twinkle Toes, and the Three Little Kittens and gave
them some milk, and put them to bed.

They talked a good deal in their sleep that night and Twinkle Toes said,

    “With travelling bags now we have found,
    ’Tis safe to journey underground,
    But very happy are the kittens,
    Because I wore my Magic Mittens!”

The Magic Mittens were very busy that night, they dusted everything in
Twinkle Toes’ room. They said in a sing-song kind of way.

    “You may know some things about Three Kittens,
    But you know very little of Magic Mittens.”

I wonder what the Magic Mittens meant, don’t you?




CHAPTER V.

NAMING THE FLAG


Uncle Mouser and Twinkle Toes went home next day, and the Three Little
Kittens called “Good bye, good bye, good bye, come again soon to visit
us.”

“Clip, clip, clip,” went Old Uncle Mouser’s cane as he went down the path.

He called back, “I will come again, if I may sleep in my red plush-lined
basket.”

Twinkle Toes went off waving his Magic Mittens and he waltzed round and
round.

Old Mother Kit-Cat put on her sun-bonnet and took her market basket and
went to town.

The Three Little Kittens wanted to go out sliding on the ice, but Mother
Kit-Cat had told them they must keep house while she was gone.

It was very quiet in the house with company gone.

It was very lonesome with Mother Kit-Cat away.

They missed Twinkle Toes and said, “How we do wish Twinkle Toes would
come back.”

The Little Old Man of the Fire suggested,

    “Three Little Kittens I think you’d better
    Sit right down and compose a letter,
    Ask him to come back, wherever he goes,
    Your queer little, dear little, Twinkle Toes.”

The Three Little Kittens did not know much about letter writing, but they
thought they would write a letter to Twinkle Toes and drop it in the
first mail that went out.

They were going to ask him to come back and visit them.

The Three Little Kittens drew their three little stools up to the table,
and they got out pen, paper and ink.

Dot cried, “Oh, oh, oh, my pretty white fur.”

Tot cried, “I am drowning in ink.”

Trot cried, “Help, help.”

Now what do you suppose had happened?

They had upset the bottle of ink and it had splashed over their fur and
whiskers. The Little Old Man of the Fire cried,

    “Get a tub and rub-a-dub,
    Get one this minute and put kittens in it.”

The Three Little Kittens were not fond of a bath, but they got water and
filled the tub and jumped in.

Such a rubbing and scrubbing you never saw.

Soon they were out and drying by the fire.

They sat down to start their letter over again when the Little Old Man of
the Fire cried,

    “For shame, you left a dirty tub,
    Go clean it now, go rub and scrub.”

They got cloths and tumbled into the tub, head-first and began to rub
and scrub, until they had it clean.

They were so tired that Dot and Tot sat down then by the table, and began
to cry until they had cried a little stream of water, but Trot said,
“Will you cry a bowl full? Will you cry a tub full?”

The Little Old Man of the Fire sputtered again and said,

    “’Tis pleasanter anyway, I think,
    To write with pencil instead of ink!”

At that very minute three little pencils sailed right down into the paws
of the Three Little Kittens.

They did not write that letter that day.

They did not write that letter the next day.

They did not write that letter at all, for “rap a tap,” sounded on the
door, and Twinkle Toes and Uncle Mouser appeared, Old Mother Kit-Cat
right behind them.

They said,

    “Don’t say you feel afraid,
    Come out and join the big parade.”

Sure enough, there was a big parade, and all the animals were marching,
right foot, left foot.

The Three Little Kittens lost no time joining them, you may be sure.

Because many of the animals had flags, they cried, “Oh we wish we had a
flag too.”

Twinkle Toes did not think of his Magic Mittens that minute, they were
all so excited.

They marched a mile through the woods and back again, and went with a
hop, and a skip, and a bound, back to their little wee house at the edge
of the woods.

To their surprise they found Old Mother Kit-Cat had gotten back ahead of
them, and there she sat rocking to and fro crying, “Oh dear, oh dear.”

“Get the doctor,” shouted Uncle Mouser.

Twinkle Toes said, “Get the camphor.”

Old Mother Kit-Cat rocked to and fro, crying, “Oh me, oh my.”

Dot and Tot said, “What is the matter, Ma.”

Trot said, “I believe she wanted to march beneath her own flag of red,
white and blue.”

Old Mother Kit-Cat said,

    “We’re too poor to buy a banner ’tis true,
    We have no banner of red, white and blue.”

At that very minute Twinkle Toes thought of his Magic Mittens, and he
wished that every one of their little travelling bags might be full of
red, white, and blue bunting.

“Snip-snap,” they unclasped their little travelling bags.

Out rolled yards and yards of bunting.

The bunting was red, white and blue.

Uncle Mouser said, “Thirteen stripes and forty-eight stars.”

They begged him to tell a story about the flag, but he only said again,
adding a line to make a real verse,

    “Thirteen stripes and forty-eight stars,
    Come, make this glorious flag of ours.”

In less time than it takes to tell it, Old Uncle Mouser and Mother
Kit-Cat, and Twinkle Toes, were measuring the bunting to make a great big
flag.

The Three Little Kittens got scissors that went “snip, snip, snip.”

Now what do you suppose they were doing?

They were making a flag of red, white, and blue.

They were making a flag to wave outside the door.

The Little Old Man of the Fire was so happy he kept singing patriotic
verses over and over,

    “Hurrah for the flag and our country too,
    Hurrah for the flag red, white, and blue.”

They cut out white stars and sewed them to the field of blue.

The Little Old Man of the Fire said,

    “We’re true to the colors, the flag is ours,
    With thirteen stripes and forty-eight stars.”

When the flag was finished the Three Little Kittens begged to take it out
and Mother Kit-Cat said,

    “I must say “yes,” for you’ll beg any way,
    To carry this flag for a year and a day.”

Twinkle Toes marched ahead of the Three Little Kittens and they took
turns carrying the flag.

All the animals bowed to them as they passed, and saluted the flag.

When they got home again Old Mouser told them stories about the flag as
Twinkle Toes waved it to and fro.

They all sang a little song that you can sing to the tune of “Lightly
Row.”

    “Bring the flag, bring the flag,
    Wave it ever high above,
    Bring the flag, bring the flag,
    Flag that we all love,
    Bonnie red, and white and blue,
    To the colors we are true,
    Bring the flag, bring the flag,
    Wave it high above.”

When night came, the Three Little Kittens dreamed that they were sailing
away in a sailboat with Uncle Mouser and Twinkle Toes, and that the
sailboat had a sail like our flag red, white, and blue.

They thought that Mother Kit-Cat stood in the doorway to bid them
good bye, and that Uncle Mouser said he would come again if his red
plush-lined basket was waiting for him.

If you close your eyes you may join them too and sail away, away, away.

You may even hear the bell that Twinkle Toes wears “tinkle, tinkle,
tinkle.”

I can hear the little bell sing,

    “Who goes to the home of the Three Little Kittens?
    Twinkle Toes with his new Magic Mittens,
    Who has kind friends as everyone knows?
    Our dear little, queer little, Twinkle Toes.”