stumbled and blundered.
And I thought, too, when each youthful mother had conned Her
startling and touching narration, Of the dolls of which I in my
childhood was fond, How with Dora and Arabelle they'd correspond,
And how far dolls and children to-day are beyond Those we had in the
last generation!
A TALE OF MANY TAILS.
BY KATHARINE B. FOOT.
Carry stood in the door-way with her dolly on one arm and her kitten
hanging over the other. Kitty didn't look comfortable, but she bore up
bravely, only once in a while giving a plaintive mew. Carry gazed into
the bright white sunshine.
"It's melting hot," she said. "I guess, grandma, I'll take my doll and
Friskarina out to the wash-house and have a party."
"Well," said grandma, looking over her spectacles, "I've no objection;
only there's a black cloud coming up, and you may get caught out there
in a thunder storm."
"If I do, can Jake come for me with an umbrella, and can I take off my
shoes and stockings and come home barefoot?"
"Yes; I don't believe it would hurt you."
"Then I'll go;" and Carry picked up a box with a little tea-set in it, and
started off, saying: "Do you believe it'll rain cats and dogs and
pitchforks, grandma? That's what Jake says."
"No, my dear. You'd better ask him if he ever saw such a rain."
"So I will," and away went Carry through the sunshine. And she said to
herself: "Wouldn't it be funny if it did rain so? I guess grandma
wouldn't like it much if cats rained down, 'cause she says five cats are
too many now."
The tea-party on an old chair without a back wasn't much of an affair,
after all; for, although the doll--Miss Rose de Lorme--was propped up
against a starch-box more than half a dozen times, she would keep on
sliding feet first until she came down flat on her back and thumped her
head. The kitten went to sleep in the corner just as Carry put her down.
"Oh, dear!" sighed the little girl. "It's so lonely with cats and dolls and
things that can't talk!" And then she sat down in a corner by the old
wash-boiler, where she could see out of the open door, and took Kitty
into her lap.
The great fluffy clouds banked up higher and higher, and from being
white and dazzling they began to grow black at the edges; and the black
masses rolled up and up, until the sun was all hidden and the sky was
dark. Then came the rain, gently at first, in drops far apart, but soon it
fell faster and faster, and the little leaves on the currant-bushes jumped
up and down and seemed to enjoy the shower-bath. To Carry's great
delight, little streams began to creep over the path, now in separate
little trickles, and presently with sudden little darts into one another, as
they came to uneven places in the walk. She watched it all with great
wide eyes, and felt quiet and cool just to smell the damp earth.
But soon the drops grew bigger, and all at once they weren't drops of
rain at all!
"Good gracious!" cried Carry. "Kittens,--little blind kittens! It'll rain
dogs next, I suppose!"
That's exactly what did happen; for down came puppies along with the
kittens. They squirmed and mewed and hissed and yelped, and all the
time kept growing bigger and bigger. Some came head first pawing the
air as they fell; some tail first, looking scared to death; but most
miserable of all were those that came down tumbling over and over. It
made them so dizzy to come down in that whirligig fashion, that they
staggered about when they tried to stand. Carry felt truly sorry for them,
and yet she couldn't help laughing. And the cats and dogs who had
come first laughed too.
"Dear me! That's sort of funny, isn't it?" she thought; but the surprise
didn't last long, for, in the midst of a tremendous shower, down came
two most remarkable figures, and, with them, what at first sight
appeared to be several long sticks; but, on looking again, Carry saw
these were pitchforks!
"Oh!" said she, "I thought they'd come."
Then she stared for a minute at the two odd figures, and cried: "Why!
it's Mother Hubbard's dog and Puss in Boots!" And sure enough, so it
was!
Puss had a blue velvet cloak on his shoulders, large boots, and a velvet
cap with a long plume. He turned toward Carry and made her a low
bow, gracefully doffing his hat.
"You are right, Mademoiselle," said he. "I am that renowned personage,
and your humble servant. Permit me to add, Mademoiselle, that my
eyes have not beheld a
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