"ONE I LOVE, TWO I LOVE"
ONE, I love; two, I love;
Three, I love, I say;
Four, I love with all my heart;
Five, I cast away.
Six, he loves; seven, she loves;
Eight, both love.
Nine, he comes; ten, he tarries;
Eleven, he courts, and twelve, he marries.
On a big stone by the wayside sat a little boy and girl. She held a daisy in her hand, from which she slowly picked off the petals as she counted:
"One, I love; two I love."
"Whoa!" cried Puss, Junior.
"Three, I love, I say."
Both the children looked up. "What a dandy cat," cried the little girl, "and what a beautiful horse."
"Give us a ride?" asked the little boy.
"Do you know how to ride?" asked Puss, with a grin.
"I can ride my rocking horse ever so fast," the little boy replied.
"So can I," said the little girl.
"Stand on the stone," said Puss. "I'll ride up close, and then you both can climb up behind me. Easy there!" cried Puss, guiding the Good Gray Horse up to the children, who stood close together on the big high stone. "Now climb up behind me," and in a minute the two children had scrambled on to the saddle. "Gid-ap!" and off went the Good Gray Horse on a canter.
"Isn't this great?" cried the little boy.
"Isn't it lovely?" said the little girl.
"One, I love; two, I love; three, I love, I say; four, I love with all my heart," sang Puss. "There are just four of us. You two and my Good Gray Horse and I."
"But that isn't the way," said the little girl. "You must count the petals!"
"Oh, is that so?" asked Puss. "I like my way just the same."
"So do I," said the little boy. "All four of us are pretty good chums already."
And the Good Gray Horse whinnied, as much as to say: "I'm a good friend. See what I'm doing—carrying you all so nicely on my big, broad back?"
"That settles it," said Puss. "My Good Gray Horse likes it that way."
"There's our house over there," cried the little girl. "We'd better get off here."
"All right," and Puss helped them down. "Good-by, good-by," and then the two children ran up the path to tell mother all about it.