"A pussy-cat poet!" cried a voice close at hand.
Puss, Jr., started and turned. At his side stood a beggar-man.
"I'm hungry," said the poor fellow, "and poets, I hear, are always generous," and he held out his hat for Puss to drop in a penny.
"Are they?" inquired Puss, with a grin; he put his hand into his pocket and took out a sixpence. "Here, my good man," he said, "take this little piece of money. It is more than I will get for the song which you seem to admire so much.
"What are you going to buy with the money?" he asked, after they had walked along for some time. They had left the city and were now in the country.
"WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO BUY WITH THE MONEY?" PUSS ASKED
"I'm going to get some pease porridge hot," answered the beggar. "I'm going to spend that sixpence in short order! I haven't had a thing to eat since yesterday morning."
"I have never gone hungry so long as that," said Puss. "I think I've been pretty lucky since I started out to find my father, Puss in Boots."