As Puss finished his song he emerged from the woods and found himself upon a broad highway. "This must be the road that will lead me to my father's home," he said to himself, and joyfully proceeded on his journey.
In the distance he saw what looked like a queer little house, but as he drew nearer he saw it wasn't a house at all, but a big shoe. So many children were playing around, running in and out, that he would have found it difficult to count them, even if he had tried.
"Hello!" he called out to a little boy who was the only one who hadn't run into the shoe to tell mother that a big cat with boots on was coming up the garden walk.
"Hello!" Puss, Jr., said again, and the little fellow bashfully put out his hand.
"You have pretty boots," he said, looking down at them.
"Yes," answered their owner, "I'm rather proud of them myself; but what are your little brothers and sisters afraid of?" he added, as he noticed them peeking at him out of the window. "I won't hurt them."
Just then the Old Woman Who Lived in the Shoe came out, and, seeing one of her children talking to a strange cat who wore boots, she hurried up to them and asked:
"Are you Puss in Boots?"
