Part 6 (2/2)
”Don't you believe a word of that, about whacking up on the treasure!
He'll never give up so much as a single s.h.i.+rt stud, he won't.”
”I would 'a' liked them pink pajamas, I would,” sighed Prowler.
”They'd just suit my dark complexion.”
”I can't understand,” said Ann, ”what it is that has made such a change in Mittens! Why, just yesterday when we got to Aunt Jane's he was asleep before the fire with a little red bow on his collar--just as soft and nice as anything, and he let us all take turns holding him!”
”He never scratched really _deep_ all day,” said Peter mournfully, ”only when we dressed him up in the doll's clothes--he didn't seem to 'preciate that--an'--an' when I pulled his tail--he didn't _like_ that, neither.”
”He's a bad old thief, that's what he is!” exclaimed Rudolf, forgetting in his excitement to lower his voice. ”And if we ever get back to Aunt Jane's and he's there, _I'll_ fix him--”
A general warning hiss went up from the pirate cats who stood nearest to the children. ”Be quiet,” muttered Growler, ”unless you want your ears bitten off? Don't you see the Chief is going to sing?”
Mittens had stepped to the front of the platform and was fixing an angry scowl upon the three children who stood between Growler and Prowler directly beneath him. When all was so quiet in the hall you could have heard a pin drop, the Chief cleared his throat and nodded to the Maltese pirate who stood ready to accompany him upon the tambourine. In the background a semicircle of other singers clutched their music and shuffled their feet rather nervously as they waited to come in at the chorus.
Mittens sang in a high plaintive voice:
”When I was young, you know, Not very long ago, I was a mild, a happy p.u.s.s.y-cat!
My fur was soft as silk, I lived on bread and milk, And I dozed away my days upon the mat!”
_Chorus_
(”He was then a happy, happy p.u.s.s.y-cat!”)
”I really blush to say How idly I would play With my tail or silly spool upon the floor-- Till one unlucky day Three children came to stay-- After that I wasn't happy any more.”
_Chorus_
(”No, _indeed_, he wasn't happy any more!”)
”They drove me nearly wild, My temper, once so mild, They spoiled--the truth of that you'll say is plain-- So I ran away to sea-- 'Tis a pirate's life for me, And I'll never be a p.u.s.s.y-cat again!”
_Chorus_
(”No, _he'll_ never be a p.u.s.s.y-cat again!”)
You may be sure that Rudolf and Ann did not join in the burst of applause which greeted the end of Captain Mittens' song. Peter would have been glad to, for he was too young and foolish to understand how really impertinent Mittens had been, but his brother and sister quickly stopped that. As for Growler and Prowler, they merely yawned, as if they had heard this song more than once before, only faintly clapping their paws together in order not to attract the tyrant's attention to themselves. The next piece on the program, so Mittens announced, would be a duet between himself and Miss Tabitha Tortoise, ent.i.tled _Moonbeams on the Back Fence_. This selection proved so very noisy, so full of quavers, trills, and loud and piercing yowls, that the children decided it would be safe to attempt a little conversation.
”Oh, Rudolf,” whispered Ann, ”how shall we ever get away from here?”
”Don't want to get away,” grumbled Peter. ”We're going to have refreshments; Mittens said so.”
”Nonsense; you'll have to go if we do,” answered Rudolf. ”But listen, what are the mates saying?”
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