nswered Puss, Jr. "You have such
a nice playground here in the woods I shouldn't think he would want to
run away to that dusty road again; just look at my boots." And he thrust
his foot out and showed the bright-red tops all dingy with the day's
travel.

Lunch was now over, and after politely thanking Mrs. Porker for her
goodness Puss said good-by to the three little pigs.

"Don't forget me," called out Piggie as Puss, Jr., climbed over the
fence.

"Of course I won't," he called back, and waved his paw to Piggie in the
doorway.

PUSS SEES THE COW JUMP OVER THE MOON

Puss, Jr., trudged along bravely for some time, but, finding it very
dusty, he left the road and climbed over the low stone wall that
bordered the big pasture on his right.

"It's funny to see the moon in the daytime," he remarked as he crossed
the long green meadow dotted everywhere with yellow cowslips; "I don't
understand it," and he looked curiously at the big, white moon which
hung low in the skies just overhead. As he spoke, across the grass
hopped a big silver spoon, closely followed by a dish with a blue
border, which rolled along over the ground at a great rate.

"Wow, wow! Ha, ha!" laughed a little dog from the other side of the
fence. "Keep on rolling; you'll tire him out pretty soon."

Puss, Jr., watched the funny race with much amusement until he was
startled by a voice at his side, saying, "Glad to see you," and, turning
around, he saw a small cat with a fiddle under her paw.

[Illustration: PUSS, JR., TRUDGED ALONG BRAVELY]

"Hey diddle-diddle," she sang in a high, sweet voice, and scratched away
on the strings like a player in an orchestra.

"Tell me," Puss, Jr., said to her as the music stopped for a moment,
"why is the moon out to-day? I thought it only came out at night."

"Why, don't you know?" she replied. "It is going to let the cow jump
over it to-day."

"Indeed! and when does that happen?"

"Oh, any minute now; in fact, there she comes through the gate." And,
sure enough, across the fields a beautiful black-and-white cow came
leisurely toward them.

"Good morning," she exclaimed, as she neared our two friends, and,
turning to the cat with the fiddle, she said: "Are you ready? If you
are, just strike up a lively tune so that I can get into step before I
try for my jump."

Puss, Jr., was so interested that he forgot to ask another question, but
stood still while the cow commenced to prance around, keeping pe