Twinkle Toes and His Magic Mittens

CHAPTER I. IN THE HOLLOW TREE

Twinkle Toes lived with Uncle Mouser in a little wee house in the woods, and as he ran in and out in the twinkling of an eye, every one called him Twinkle Toes.

He liked to travel about and to meet his friends, so on his second birthday, Uncle Mouser gave him a fine new travelling bag, with his initials upon it.

Twinkle Toes, like Uncle Mouser was quite a story-teller. He liked to run about in the woods at twilight and gather his animal friends about him, and tell stories.

[10]

Most of all, however, he liked to travel through the woods with his new travelling bag.

One evening he started out through the woods and ran on until he came to the home of the THREE LITTLE KITTENS WHO LOST THEIR MITTENS.

He rapped on the door, rap-a-tap-rap-a-tap.

The Three Little Kittens were at home, and they cried in turn, “May I go? Ma, may I go?”

Old Mother Kit-Cat opened the door herself, and in waltzed Twinkle Toes with his travelling bag.

They made him welcome you may be sure, and Dot and Tot and Trot cried,

[11]

Then Twinkle Toes jumped right over the travelling bag, with the letters “T-T” upon it, and said,

He opened his travelling bag, and took out another travelling bag, a little smaller. He opened the second bag and took out another, and another.

He gave each of the Three Little Kittens a new travelling bag.

Each bag had the Kitten’s initials upon it.

The Three Little Kittens were happy you may be sure, and marched round and[12] round the room with their new travelling bags.

They begged for a story again, but Twinkle Toes only said,

The Three Little Kittens called, “Good night Ma, good night Twinkle Toes,” and they went merrily off to bed.

Twinkle Toes slept in Old Uncle Mouser’s red plush-lined basket by the fire.

Next morning the Three Little Kittens begged to go with Twinkle Toes on a journey.

Mother Kit-Cat said,

[13]

Twinkle Toes waltzed around trying to catch his tail and the little bell, on the little blue ribbon, round his neck went tinkle, tinkle, tinkle!

They all started off merrily, the Three Little Kittens singing,

“Don’t be so sure of that,” whistled the Wind, and before they got home it nipped their ears and paws, and blew their long whiskers!

Then Dot and Tot said,

[14]

HE GAVE EACH OF THE THREE LITTLE KITTENS A NEW TRAVELING BAG

[15]

CHIP, CHIP, CHIP, COME INTO OUR TREE

[16]

Brave Little Trot said,

Sure enough, they soon forgot that they were cold, they soon forgot that they had left their mittens at home.

They were wondering whom they would visit, when they heard Three Little Curly-Tails cry, “Chip, chip, chip, come into our tree, come into our tree.”

Dot and Tot and Trot made their best bow and said politely,

Twinkle Toes waltzed around and said,

[17]

Old Mother Curly-Tail looked out from her hole in the hollow tree, and said,

Even Twinkle Toes did not know how a hollow tree looked inside.

They all scrambled into the tree and Mother Curly-Tail said, “Hurry, hurry, hurry.”

They helped for one hour and sixteen minutes to store the Squirrels’ nuts away for the winter.

Then, a surprise awaited them for Mother Curly-Tail said,

They sang a song, and in rolled a table and chairs for them all.

[18]

They climbed up into the chairs and Mother Curly-Tail said,

In came the dishes, knives, forks, and spoons, and they all jumped to their proper places upon the table.

In came a kettle of food, smoking hot.

The Three Little Curly-Tails said, “Oh Ma, please help our plates first, we are so hungry.”

Mother Curly-Tail said,

The Three Little Curly-Tails would not wait, they were so hungry. They put their paws in the kettle and burned them badly.

[19]

THE THREE LITTLE CHAIRS IN WHICH THEY SAT TURNED ROUND

[20]

“Oh,” and “Ah,” they wailed.

The three little chairs in which they sat turned round and remained with their backs to the table.

Twinkle Toes and the Three Little Kittens began to eat the food put on their plates, saying “Thank you” and “If you please,” politely.

By and by the three chairs, in which the Three Little Curly-Tails sat, rolled back into place, and they were given some sharp nuts to crack with their sharp little teeth, for by this time the food in the kettle was all gone.

Dot wanted to tell the story of the lost mittens and began, “One day when we were sliding on the ice.”

At that very moment Mother Curly-Tail[21] jumped down from her chair, and whispered in the ear of each little Curly-Tail.

Tot wanted to tell about finding the mittens, so she began,

“Oh, oh,” cried the Curly-Tails, “Did you lose your rubbers? Did you lose your hoods? Did you lose your overshoes?”

“No,” said Trot, “We lost——”

At that very minute the Curly-Tails cried, “Come out and climb, come out and climb.”

No sooner said than done, they all ran[22] out of the hollow tree and jumped from branch to branch.

One after another cried,

By and by Twinkle Toes said,

They all took up their little travelling bags and started to run home through the woods.

All at once they stopped still.

They said, “We forgot to say good bye, we forgot our manners.”

Right about face, they all marched back to the hollow tree and shouted,

[23]

The little Curly-Tails answered,

Old Mother Kit-Cat stood in the doorway looking for them.

She said,

Sure enough, their paws were cold as cold could be.

Late that night Dot, and Tot, and Trot, woke up and said, “We wonder why the Curly-Tails did not want us to talk about our mittens?”

[24]

Twinkle Toes called out sleepily from Old Uncle Mouser’s red plush-lined basket,

I don’t know whether he knew what he was talking about or whether he was talking in his sleep.

He lay all curled up in the red, plush-lined basket.

He was dreaming about a pair of Magic Mittens that would always fit and never wear out.

He said, “When will I get my Magic Mittens?”

[25]

CHAPTER II. EARNING MONEY

Twinkle Toes woke up early next morning, and skipped about with his travelling bag, singing,

“Let me go too, let me go too,” cried the Three Little Kittens in one breath.

They all had their little travelling bags with them and they shouted,

As it happened, they did not go to Squirrel Town that day, nor the next, nor the next, for Old Mother Kit-Cat said, “Dot, Tot, Trot, you must earn some money, so I can knit a pair of mittens for Twinkle Toes.”

[26]

TWINKLE TOES WAS DREAMING ABOUT A PAIR OF MAGIC MITTENS

[27]

Old Mother Kit-Cat’s rocking chair went to and fro, to and fro, and all this time her needles went “click, click click.”

Dot and Tot said,

Brave Little Trot said,

[28]

“Hurrah, hurrah,” cried Dot and Tot, “we will all take our snow shovels and go to the woods and shovel paths for the animals!”

Twinkle Toes waltzed round and round, and suddenly without warning, down came a little snow shovel, and he put it over his shoulder and marched merrily along.

I don’t know whether it was a magic snow shovel or not, but Twinkle Toes worked three times as fast clearing paths as the Three Little Kittens.

“My furry tail, how cold it is!” said Dot.

“My long whiskers, how the wind whistles,” said Tot.

Brave little Trot said,

[29]

Twinkle Toes waltzed round and round while the Three Little Kittens shouted at the top of their lungs in a sing-song way,

At this very minute, an astonishing thing happened!

[30]

TWINKLE TOES WORKED THREE TIMES AS FAST CLEARING PATHS

[31]

A great deep growly voice cried,

They were by old Curly-Bear’s den.

They were not a bit afraid.

They all went to work with a will and shoveled a good path to the old Bear’s den.

Then Curly-Bear reached out his paw and said,

He handed Trot six pennies and went back into his den for another nap.

[32]

“I wish we could sleep all winter,” said Dot. Tot said, “I do miss my nice warm mittens, why do I always forget to put them on?”

“Overshoes too, overshoes too,” laughed the wind as he whistled by.

They had all done enough shovelling of snow that day, but next day they went to the Ground Hog’s hole and he cried sleepily,

They began to shovel with right good will and all the while Old Shadow, the Ground Hog was scolding about sunshine and shadow.

[33]

He said he could never tell whether or not he would cast his shadow until he came out of his hole.

By and by he peeped out and gave Trot the pennies, then he went back into his hole for another nap.

Twinkle Toes waltzed round and round, and the Three Little Kittens went on until they heard a voice cry:—

They went to the Beaver’s house built by the pond and worked away, and will you believe it, the Beaver said all the time, “Work like a Beaver, work like a[34] Beaver. Some day we may tell you how we build our homes, but don’t come too near, for we are very shy.”

The Beaver tossed six pennies out of his window and called “Good bye” as the Three Little Kittens trudged merrily down the road.

“My shovel gets heavier every minute,” said Dot.

“I cannot walk another step, I am most frozen,” said Tot.

Brave Little Trot said, “We will keep on a few steps more and maybe we will meet some of our friends, or cousins, or uncles, or aunts.”

Twinkle Toes waltzed round and round.

Just then, was heard the “Jingle, jingle,[35] jingle,” of sleighbells. Some one was coming in a sleigh.

The Three Little Kittens stood in the road waving their snow shovels, and they blocked the path.

The sleigh came nearer, and nearer, every minute.

When Twinkle Toes saw who was in the sleigh he set up a shout, “It is Old Uncle Mouser, stop him, stop him.”

Uncle Mouser was pleased to see his old friends you may be sure and he said,

No sooner said than done, they all[36] scrambled under the warm fur robe and rode away, away, away, to the home of the Three Little Kittens.

When they arrived Old Mother Kit-Cat stood in the doorway looking for them.

She was delighted to see Uncle Mouser again and he said he would stay, if he could sleep in his red plush-lined basket.

Such a shaking of snow as there was from fur and whiskers, and Trot gave Old Mother Kit-Cat the pennies they had earned.

When they were all ready to go to sleep Dot said, “We forgot to ask Curly-Bear if he had ever seen our mittens.”

Tot said, “We forgot to ask Old Shadow if he had seen our mittens, that time they were lost so long.”

[37]

Trot said, “Perhaps Billy Beaver could have told us something about them.”

Old Mother Kit-Cat said,

Twinkle Toes and Old Mouser were already asleep.

They lay side by side in the red plush-lined basket.

Old Mother Kit-Cat had already started a pair of mittens for Twinkle Toes, but she needed yarn to finish them.

She said, “I will send the Three Little Kittens for yarn to-morrow.”

She was not at all sleepy, so she thought she would finish one of the mittens she had started.

[38]

She took up her needles, and to her surprise, they went to and fro, to and fro, in her paws and in less than a twinkling of an eye, one mitten was finished.

“By my furry tail,” said Mother Kit-Cat, that must be a magic mitten after all. “Perhaps this is one of the magic mittens Twinkle Toes has been talking about.”

Then, to her surprise the finished mitten began to sing,

Old Mother Kit-Cat was not sure whether she was asleep or dreaming, for all the rest of the family had gone to dreamland.

[39]

CHAPTER III. UNCLE MOUSER’S STORY

The next day passed very quickly, for the Three Little Kittens went to town to buy yarn for mittens for Twinkle Toes.

When evening came, they all sat round the fire and the Three Little Kittens danced up and down before Uncle Mouser, and Twinkle Toes danced round and round.

They all said, “Please tell us a story.”

Uncle Mouser answered,

The Three Little Kittens danced up and[40] down and cried, “Tell us a true story, tell us something that really, truly happened.”

Uncle Mouser rocked to and fro, to and fro, in the little rocking chair and said,

“Oh Uncle Mouser, oh Uncle Mouser,” cried the Three Little Kittens, “we cannot wait years and years for a story.”

Twinkle Toes waltzed round and round.

Old Mother Kit-Cat’s needles went “click, click, click.”

By and by Old Uncle Mouser said, “By my whiskers, I do know one true story about a little kitten, who liked to wash dishes, and do kitchen work.”

[41]

Old Mother Kit-Cat stopped knitting suddenly, and leaned forward and her eyes grew as big as saucers.

She said, “Did you say, liked to wash dishes and do kitchen work?”

Old Uncle Mouser answered, “I will tell you the story as it was told me by my old Aunt Tabby.” Then he began.

Once upon a time the Old Man of the Fire said to the King, “I wonder if any kitten in the world likes to wash dishes and do kitchen work?”

The King said, it could not be possible that any kitten liked to do these things, so the Little Old Man of the Fire said, “I travel everywhere over hill and dale, and wherever a fire is, there am I. What will you give me if I find a kitten who likes to do kitchen work?”

[42]

ONCE UPON A TIME THE OLD MAN OF THE FIRE SAID TO THE KING

[43]

The King replied, “I will give you a thousand miles of sun to burn morning and evening.”

The Little Old Man of the Fire ran over hill and dale singing,

My! what a long search he had.

He found plenty of kittens who hated to do kitchen work, and he was afraid they all hated to wash dishes.

He was about to give up the search, when one night he saw a light on a far hill, twinkle, twinkle.

He followed the light and soon came to a little wee house on the hill.

A little Kitten was singing,

[44]

Dishes were piled up to the ceiling.

The Little Old Man of the Fire was so happy, he danced with glee.

The Little Old Man of the Fire rapped on the door and the kitten called, “Come in.”

The Little Old Man stepped inside, and for the first time in four and twenty hours, the little Kitten stopped work.

Her gingham apron changed to an apron of gold.

Her white cap changed to a gold crown.

She became a real Princess.

[45]

She had been under a spell until the Little Old Man of the Fire came in.

They joined hands and ran merrily over hill and dale singing all the way.

When the King saw the Princess he ordered a great wedding, and made her Queen, and he gave the Little Old Man of the Fire miles and miles of sky to burn every night.

One day, long after that, the King asked the Queen “How did you happen to like to work?” and she answered, “I said to myself,

The King said,

[46]

The King and Queen looked out at the evening sky, and they knew the Little Old Man of the Fire was at work, for they saw a very beautiful sunset.

The story was ended.

Uncle Mouser rocked to and fro.

Old Mother Kit-Cat said, as her needles flew to and fro, “That does not sound like a true story to me, it sounds to my old ears like a Fairy Tale.”

Uncle Mouser replied, “I can only tell the story as Aunt Tabby told it to me.”

If you guessed yesterday, and to-day, and to-morrow, you could not guess what happened next.

The Three Little Kittens slipped out of their three little rocking-chairs and went “pit-a-pat,” into the kitchen.

[47]

PUT THE DISHES IN NEAT PILES UPON THE TABLE

[48]

Twinkle Toes followed them waltzing every step of the way.

They began to wash dishes.

Splash, splash, went the water.

Clatter, clatter went the supper dishes as Twinkle Toes put them in neat piles on the table.

The Three Little Kittens sang as they worked,

Once more Old Mother Kit-Cat’s eyes grew as big as saucers, and she said in a whisper, “I guess that was a true story after all.”

[49]

CHAPTER IV. VISIT TO OLD SHADOW

On Ground-Hog day in February, Dot cried, “Oh, Ma, may we go to visit Old Shadow, the Ground-Hog?”

Tot cried, “Oh, Ma, may we go out with our little travelling bags?”

Trot stood first on one foot, then on the other, and said, “Ma cannot hear herself think if we all talk at once.”

Twinkle Toes said, “I think we can all take our travelling bags.”

Mother Kit-Cat looked severely at the Three Little Kittens and said, “You may go, if you will only remember to wear your mittens.”

[50]

IT GREW DARKER AND DARKER IN OLD SHADOW’S BURROW

[51]

“Mittens, mittens, I will wear my magic mittens,” said Twinkle Toes.

By this time Mother Kit-Cat had finished the mittens for Twinkle Toes.

He put on his mittens and the Three Little Kittens all put on theirs, and followed Twinkle Toes with a hop and a skip and a bound.

It was a cold day in February, and the wind was blowing.

Suddenly Dot, and Tot and Trot cried, “We are tired, we wish we were at our journey’s end.”

Twinkle Toes rubbed his mittens together and said, “I wish we were at Old Shadow’s hole.”

Then the funniest thing happened.

In the twinkling of an eye, they were[52] at Old Shadow’s hole, and there he was, busily digging.

He said,

Just then he caught sight of Twinkle Toes and said,

The Three Little Kittens made a bow and said,

At that, the strangest thing happened, Old Shadow ran into his hole calling,

The Kittens all ran after him.

The hole was funnel-shaped, and the passage-way grew smaller, and smaller, and smaller, and wound in and out.

By and by they saw Old Shadow at the far end, and he called,

By and by he stopped digging, and said, “Ha, ha, ha, let us measure whiskers.”

[54]

He had very long whiskers and was proud of them.

“Come, help me dig, for we may then find some clover roots. How I do like clover roots!”

Twinkle Toes waltzed round and round and then began to dig with a will, to please Old Shadow.

Dot soon said, “I must stop, for my paws are tired.”

Tot said, “Oh dear, my paws were not made for digging.”

Trot said,

At the mention of the word, “mittens,” the most remarkable thing happened.

[55]

ALL THE ANIMALS WERE MARCHING, RIGHT FOOT, LEFT FOOT

[56]

Old Shadow took out his watch and cried, “It is quarter to spring, it is quarter to spring. I must hurry, hurry, hurry or I will be too late to meet Lady Spring.”

Whisk! bound! He was out of his burrow before you could wink an eye lash!

It was dark in the strange burrow, and Twinkle Toes and the Three Little Kittens ran this way, and that way, trying to find the way out.

The burrow had several rooms and they kept losing themselves every few minutes.

They could always hear the tinkle, tinkle, tinkle of the little bell that hung from Twinkle Toes’ neck.

Dot and Tot began to cry, but brave little Trot said,

[57]

It grew darker and darker in Old Shadow’s burrow, and I don’t know what in the world they would have done, if Twinkle Toes had not thought of his Magic Mittens.

He thought of his mittens, and rubbed them gently saying, “I wish the Little Old Man of the Fire would appear.”

No sooner said, than done.

The Little Old Man of the Fire appeared in his green cap and jacket of yellow.

His jacket shone with light and he sang,

[58]

“Not in February,” said Dot.

“Not in February,” said Tot.

Brave little Trot said,

Twinkle Toes said never a word, but his little bell went, “tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,” every step he took.

The Little Old Man of the Fire said, “I came upon you so suddenly, you almost scared me out of a year’s growth.

“I see Twinkle Toes, and Three Little Kittens, big as life and half as natural. Ho, ho, so you do not think it is time for spring? Look above you, see the roots growing.”

[59]

Dot said, “Please show us the way out.”

Tot said, “We are afraid of the dark, lead the way out.”

Brave Little Trot said, “We will do a kindness for you, kind Sir, if you will light us home.”

Twinkle Toes waltzed round and round.

The Little Old Man of the Fire was full of mischief and he said

Without another word the Little Old Man of the Fire disappeared.

Dot and Tot began to cry softly into[60] their little pocket handkerchiefs and even Trot got his little pocket handkerchief out, but Twinkle Toes waltzed round and round.

Twinkle Toes said,

Then he rubbed his Magic Mittens and wished for Uncle Mouser.

They all listened.

For steps were coming nearer, and nearer every minute.

Uncle Mouser appeared at the opening of the burrow with the Little Old Man of the Fire, whom he had caught, and now carried inside a lantern!

[61]

Uncle Mouser shouted,