JAMES O'KANE, PUBLISHER.

1867.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1863, by W. H. Kelley and Brother, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New-York.

[Pg iii]

THIS

LITTLE PET BOOK

IS DEDICATED TO

Charlotte, Mary, and Willie,

THREE DEAR LITTLE CHILDREN,

ABOUT WHOM I TOLD FUNNY STORIES IN TWO OF THE "MITTEN" BOOKS.

"Why, Hal, did you get my pie?"—P. 14.

[Pg v]

PREFACE TO MOTHERS.

Many and many a time mothers have come to the author with the piteous plaint: "O Aunt Fanny! we are perfectly worn out with your 'Nightcaps,' 'Mittens,' and 'Socks;' we have read them to our little children, who have not yet conquered the compound mysteries of the alphabet, until we know them by heart; do, do write some books in words of one syllable, which they can read for themselves."

Now, I wonder if these good mothers[Pg vi] can conceive what it is to write a story in words of one syllable, and make it interesting, sensible, and grammatical? If they can not, I entreat them to try a page or two of this utterly distracting style of composition; they will very soon have a realizing sense of the pleasing emotions of a lunatic confined in a strait-jacket. Above all, let them try a tale of joy or woe, all in words of three letters and less. Mother Goose could never have made her precious "high-diddle-diddle" nonsense in this way. I have tried frantically to spell "jolly" in three letters and "darling" in one syllable. How I have succeeded the books are submitted to show.

[Pg vii]The mothers have wanted them, and I have written them—begging pardon of Mother Goose and Mr. Murray—and entreating that all short-comings, which in this case will mean all words too long, will be set down to want of power, not want of will, to delight and amuse the dear little darlings, the writing for whom is so rare a comfort to their loving

[Pg ix]

CONTENTS.

[Pg 11]

THE

BAD OLD APE.

ne day Ned got a pie to eat. It was too hot, so he put it out in the air, on the lid of a big tin pot.

[Pg 12]And now he ran off to see his dog who had a pup, and his cat who had a kit.

The pup lay in a box. Ned had got hay to put in the box for a bed; the pup lay on the hay, and the kit lay on a bit of rug.

Ned did pat the pup on his ear, and say: "O you pet! let me hug you." By and[Pg 13] by, he did pat the kit too, and say: "Kit, kit, kit, can you eat pie—can you? Let me go and get you a bit." So he ran to his pie—but, O my! it was not on the lid of the big tin pot.

"Why, who can it be who has got my pie?" Ned did say. "Did it fly up in the air?"

[Pg 14]"Why, Hal! did you get my pie?"

"No, not I. It is a tom-tit you see—not a pie."

"O yes! so it is, a wee tom-tit. If I can get my pie, the tom-tit, and you and I can eat it."

He got up on top of the tin pot to see far off, and he did cry out: "O my! I[Pg 15] see it now! I see my pie! The sly old ape has got it, and he has eat a big bit out of it, too! Oh! oh! he will eat it all up! How can I get at him?"

And now the sly old ape, who had the pie in his paw, saw Ned, and Ned did say: "Now for a run!" So he did run, and the sly old ape did[Pg 16] run, and the dog did run, and the cat did run, and the pup did run, and the kit did run, and all did run, and it was fun.

The ape did say, "Che! che!" and ate the pie as he ran. Ned did say: "O you bad old ape! O you bad old ape!" The dog did say: "Bow wow! Bow wow!"[Pg 17] The cat did say: "Mew, mew!" The pup did say: "Yap! yap!" and the kit did cry: "Eee, eee!" Was it not a big run?

And now, was it not too bad in the sly old ape? for you see he ate the pie all up. Ned did not get one bit, and the kit did not get one bit. O my!

[Pg 18]Let me say to you, if you get a pie, and it is too hot to eat, do not put it on the top of a big tin pot, in the air, and go off to see a cat or a dog, for if you do, may be a sly old ape may get at the pie, and eat it all up.

[Pg 19]

MOP, THE PET CAT.

I.

II.

[Pg 20]III.

IV.

V.

[Pg 21]VI.

VII.

VIII.

[Pg 22]IX.

X.

XI.

[Pg 23]XII.

XIII.

XIV.

[Pg 24]XV.

XVI.

XVII.

[Pg 25]XVIII.

XIX.

XX.

[Pg 26]XXI.

XXII.

XXIII.

[Pg 27]XXIV.

XXV.

XXVI.

[Pg 28]

SAM, THE BAD BOY.

boy was out one day. It was Sam. He had his new hum top. He did say to his mam-ma: "Oh! see[Pg 29] my top! Can I go out and try my new hum top?"

"Sam let the big boy try his top."—P. 29.

"Yes, my son, but do not go into the old hut."

"Oh! no, mam-ma," Sam did say; and out he ran in the air.

By and by, a big boy did run up to him and say: "Sam, let me try the top? oh! do."

Sam let the big boy try,[Pg 30] and, O my! how the top did go! and did hum, hum, hum so, Sam did say it was a big bee.

But, oh! sad to say, the big boy did let the top fly off in-to the hut; and Sam did not do as he was bid, for he ran in to get it.

He saw an ax in the hut.

"Oh! see the ax," Sam did[Pg 31] say, "I can try it on the old log, out in the lot; yes, I can see if it can cut."

Was he not a bad boy to say so? for his mam-ma did say to him one day: "You are but a bit of a boy; so you can not do as a big man can do. Do not get the ax; if you do, you may cut off a leg or an arm, and you may[Pg 32] die; so do not go to the hut at all, and to-day, too, she did say: "Do not go to the hut."

But the bad boy got the ax, and ran out to the old log.

And now, oh! oh! I am sad to say the ax did not cut the log. No! it cut off Sam's big toe!

[Pg 33]How he did cry and hop! His mam-ma ran out, and saw her boy out by the log; the ax was by him, and his big toe was off.

It is no fun at all to get a big toe cut off, for Sam had to lie in bed, and cry all day; and the pig ate up his big toe.

He can not buy a new toe.[Pg 34] He has but one big toe now. So you see how bad it is not to do as you are bid.

"Can you go out to the see-saw to-day?"—P. 35.

[Pg 35]

BEN AND SUE,

AND THE SEE-SAW.

an you go out to the see-saw to-day?" Sue did say to Ben.

"O yes, yes! Let me see if mam-ma will[Pg 36] let us. Yes, we can go: so you put on a hat, and let me get my cap, and we can run all the way."

Ben got his cap off of the peg, and Sue got her hat out of a box; and the two ran off. Tip, the big dog, ran too.

On the top of the see-saw sat an old cat; she sat on it, to try to spy out a rat, who[Pg 37] had hid. The cat did not see Tip; and, I am sad to say, he was now a bad dog; for he ran at her, and bit her in the leg.

The cat put up her paw to hit Tip, and Tip bit her in her ear; and the cat had to run off with a m-e-w! O my! was not Tip a bad dog?

And now Sue and Ben got on the see-saw. Sue did go[Pg 38] up, up, up, and Ben did go up, up, up. And it was fun! Was it not?

Tip had his fun too, for he saw the rat. It had hid in a box by the see-saw, and the cat did not see it; but Tip did; and oh! how he did fly at it! He got it in his paw and bit it, so it did die. The rat did not say it was fun to[Pg 39] be out at the see-saw, as Ben and Sue did. O no! It was no fun at all to be bit, and to die. Was it?

And now the sun was hot, and Ben and Sue got off the see-saw and ran up to the old red cow, to see her eat hay, and out to the pig sty to see the old fat pig, who ate all day.

[Pg 40]"O my!" Sue did say, "see how fat the pig is! All she can do is to eat all day. I can not eat all day; can you Ben?"

"Why, no," Ben did say, "but I can eat one big pie in a day."

"Oh! so can I! Let us go in and ask mam-ma for a pie to eat now."

[Pg 41]So the two ran, and Tip ran. And mam-ma had a pie; she cut it up for Sue and Ben to eat, and they did hop for joy and eat it all up.

"Did they? No! I can not say so, for Ben gave Tip, the dog, a big bit; and Sue did too. Ben was not a pig, and Sue was not a pig. So, you see, the two did not eat[Pg 42] as the pig did; no! for Tip had his bit too.

[Pg 43]

THE HEN AND FOX.

[Pg 50]