"To be sure it is," she replied, rubbing her eyes and arranging her curls beneath her old peaked hat; "to be sure, and, dearie me! I believe I have actually overslept!"
They were now close to the earth. The cocks were crowing lustily in the barn-yards, and every now and then the bark of a dog, faint but clear, would come to their ears.
"It's funny to look at a house from the outside in the early morning," said Puss. "I've always looked out from the inside."
"Of course you have, my dear little traveler," answered Mother Goose, "but now that you are on your journey to find your famous father, Puss in Boots, you will see many things very differently."
"Well," said the gander, for the first time speaking, "I'm a bit tired, so I think I will alight near this old barn."
Puss was delighted, for he wanted once more to feel himself on earth.
PUSS FINDS ADVENTURE AT THE TOP OF JACK'S FAMOUS BEAN-STALK
THE next morning as Puss, Jr., went journeying along he came in sight of a modest little cottage, in the garden of which was growing an immense bean-stalk, reaching up and up until its top was hidden in the clouds. On approaching the front gate, a motherly-looking woman appeared in the doorway and looked curiously at Puss.
"Good morning, ma'am," said he, lifting his cap politely.