ear Father, and let us go. We will walk very, very
slowly, and if we feel tired we can rest by the wayside."

"And where are we going?" asked Geppetto.

"To look for a house or a hut, where they will be kind enough to give us
a bite of bread and a bit of straw to sleep on."

They had not taken a hundred steps when they saw two rough-looking
individuals sitting on a stone begging for alms.

It was the Fox and the Cat, but one could hardly recognize them, they
looked so miserable. The Cat, after pretending to be blind for so many
years had really lost the sight of both eyes. And the Fox, old, thin,
and almost hairless, had even lost his tail. That sly thief had fallen
into deepest poverty, and one day he had been forced to sell his
beautiful tail for a bite to eat.

"Oh, Pinocchio," he cried in a tearful voice. "Give us some alms, we beg
of you! We are old, tired, and sick."

"Sick!" repeated the Cat.

"Addio, false friends!" answered the Marionette. "You cheated me once,
but you will never catch me again."

"Believe us! Today we are truly poor and starving."

"Starving!" repeated the Cat.

"If you are poor; you deserve it! Remember the old proverb which says:
'Stolen money never bears fruit.' Addio, false friends."

"Have mercy on us!"

"On us."

"Addio, false friends. Remember the old proverb which says: 'Bad wheat
always makes poor bread!'"

"Do not abandon us."

"Abandon us," repeated the Cat.

"Addio, false friends. Remember the old proverb: 'Whoever steals his
neighbor's shirt, usually dies without his own.'"

Waving good-by to them, Pinocchio and Geppetto calmly went on their way.
After a few more steps, they saw, at the end of a long road near a clump
of trees, a tiny cottage built of straw.

"Someone must live in that little hut," said Pinocchio. "Let us see for
ourselves."

They went and knocked at the door.

"Who is it?" said a little voice from within.

"A poor father and a poorer son, without food and with no roof to cover
them," answered the Marionette.

"Turn the key and the door will open," said the same little voice.

Pinocchio turned the key and the door opened. As soon as they went in,
they looked here and there and everywhere but saw no one.

"Oh--ho, where is the owner of the hut?" cried Pinocchio, very much
surprised.

"Here I am, up here!"

Father and son looked up to the ceiling, and there on a beam sat the
Talking Cricket.

"Oh, my dear Cricket," said Pinocchio