Book of Cheerful Cats and Other Animated Animals Read online

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  A BOOK OF CHEERFUL CATS AND OTHER ANIMATED ANIMALS

  BY J. G. FRANCIS

  A BOOK OF CHEERFUL CATS AND OTHER ANIMATED ANIMALS

  BY J. G. FRANCIS

  THE CENTURY CO. NEW YORK

  Copyright, 1879, 1880, 1881, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1885, 1886, 1887,1890, 1892, 1903, by ELSIE W. FRANCIS

  Printed in U.S.A.

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  Some Cat-land fancies, drawn and dressed To cheer your mind when it's depressed.

  CONTENTS]

  Page SOME FUN WITH A TOY SPIDER 1 THE TEA-PARTY 2 A MUSICAL EVENING 3 THE GIRAFFE RIDE 4-5 A VERY HAPPY FAMILY 6 A DUTIFUL PARENT 7 A CASE OF HIGHWAY ROBBERY 8-9 "THEY DIDN'T HAVE A PENNY" 10 THE REFORMED LION 11 QUITS 12 THE GENIAL GRIMALKIN 13 EUCHRED! 14 THE BICYCLE RIDE 15 STUDY OF HEDGEHOG STEALING APPLE 16 THE LION IN THE BARBER-SHOP 17 THE BALD EAGLE AND THE BARBER 18 THE SPRING CURTAIN 19-21 "'T IS A PERFECT PICNIC DAY!" 22 "A TAM O' SHANTER DOG" 23 THE DONKEY AND HIS COMPANY 24-28 LATE! 29 PICTURES WITH A MORAL FOR BOYS AND DOGS 30-31 Y^E JOYFUL OWL 32 A QUEER BARBER-SHOP 33 THE CAT AND THE CREAM 34 STORY OF THE CATNIP BALL 35-36 THE PRICKLY PIG, THE PUG AND PARD 37 MATERNAL COUNSEL 38 COASTING CATS 39 THE ELEPHANT JUGGLER 40 A SEA CHANGE 41 A MEDICAL OPINION 42 A NEEDLESS APPREHENSION 43 THE CAT-O'-NINE-TAILS 44 A HAPPY NEW YEAR 45

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  A BOOK OF CHEERFUL CATS

  Some Fun with a Toy Spider.]

  A little Girl asked some Kittens to tea To meet some Dolls from France; And the Mother came, too, to enjoy a view And afterwards play for the dance. But the Kittens were rude & grabbed their food And treated the Dolls with jeers; Which caused the Mother an aching heart And seven or eight large tears.

  Sing, sing! What shall we sing? The cat's run away with the pudding-bag string.

  They were happy and did laugh When their friend, the big Giraffe, Tried his speed along the highway with the cars.

  But their joy was turned to grief When their charger bit a leaf That was growing in a region near the stars.

  STUPENDOUS AGGREGATION OF MIRACULOUS MARVELS]

  THE MUSICAL LAMB ORPHEUS

  JUMA THE JUGGLER

  LADY BLANCHE THE COLOSSAL FAT CAT

  ONLY LIVING FIVE EARED LITERARY RABBIT

  A DUTIFUL PARENT.

  Cried a cat to his wife, "See, my dear, The superlative Circus is here! With the children we'll go,--'tis our duty, you know, Their young minds to enlighten and cheer."

  A CASE OF HIGHWAY ROBBERY]

  Said a Cat to his sons, "I should deem This blithe Picture-Book Boy carried cream."

  "Let us give him a scare, So he'll leave it right there."

  This will show the success of the scheme.

  THEY DIDN'T HAVE A PENNY, AND COULDN'T BORROW ANY, AND THEY OWED EXACTLY HALF A DIME FOR COAL; SO THEY SAID, "WE'LL RUN AWAY,"-- WHEN A GOOSE CAME OUT TO SAY: "YOU MUST PAY TWO CENTS APIECE ALL 'ROUND FOR TOLL!"

  A Raging, Roaring Lion, of a Lamb-devouring kind, Reformed and led a sweet, submissive life. For with face all steeped in smiles He propelled a Lamb for miles, And he wed a woolly Spinster for a wife.

  Quits.]

  The Genial Grimalkin]

  There was an old Cat named Macduff Who could joke till you cried, "Hold, enough!" His Wife and his Child so persistently smiled That their cheeks got a permanent puff.

  Euchred!]

  "OH, dear Papa!" three children cried. "You promised don't you know? That next when you should take a ride All three of us should go." "I DID," that father said. "You know I never speak at random. So get your roller-skates. We'll go Off in a tearing tandem!"

  Study of Hedgehog Stealing Apple.]

  A Lion emerged from his lair For a short summer cut to his hair. But the Barber he wept; While his customers slept As they waited their turn in the chair.

  When the Barber at last shut his shop, From the clouds a Bald Eagle did drop, To purchase a lotion, A brush, or some "notion" To make the hair grow on his top.

  The Spring Curtain. A drama in five acts.

  1. Which?

  2. The Choice.

  3. The Rivals.

  4. "Ha, the Spring Curtain!"

  5. Revenge.

  "'T is a perfect picnic day!" the little dog did say, As he found his friends all ready for the train, "Still, I thought 't would ease your mind Not to leave this thing behind,-- For you know a bonnet suffers so from rain."

  A Tam o' Shanter Dog And a plaintive piping Frog, With a Cat whose one extravagance was clothes, Went to see a Bounding Bug Dance a jig upon a rug, While a Beetle balanced bottles on his nose.