<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>TAFFY</h2>
<div class='poem2'><div class='cap'>
"TAFFY was a Welshman, Taffy was a thief,<br/>
<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Taffy came to my house and stole a piece of beef;</span><br/>
<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">I went to Taffy's house, Taffy wasn't home,</span><br/>
<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Taffy came to my house and stole a marrow-bone;</span><br/>
<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was in bed,</span><br/>
<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">I took the marrow-bone and beat about his head."</span><br/></div>
</div>
<p>"Well, I guess you did what was right,"
said Puss, Junior, as he and Tom Thumb
neared a butcher shop in a small village.</p>
<p>The butcher, who had just spoken in
rhyme, shifted from one foot to the other in
an uneasy sort of way. "But that isn't all,"
he went on to say, in rather an anxious tone
of voice.</p>
<p>"Tell us the worst, then," laughed Puss,
Junior, who didn't appear very sympathetic,
although the name Taffy appealed to him
and made him wonder what sort of a person
Taffy was.</p>
<p>"The truth of the matter is," the butcher
went on to say, "I hit him a bit too hard with
the marrow-bone. His head is in bad shape,
and the doctor says it will be some weeks yet
before Taffy gets out of bed."</p>
<p>"Gracious me!" exclaimed Tom Thumb.
"Why weren't you more careful?"<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>"That's just it," replied the butcher.
"Why wasn't I more careful?" And then he
gave a sigh and went into his shop to wait
on a customer.</p>
<p>"Let's make a call on Taffy," said Puss,
Junior. "Somehow, I can't help liking him.
I don't know whether it's on account of his
name, or not. But Taffy sounds awfully
nice to me."</p>
<p>"It tastes awfully good to me," laughed
Tom Thumb. "You must have him mixed
up with candy. That's the reason you like
him, I guess."</p>
<p>"Come on and we'll soon find out," cried
Puss, Junior. "I'm curious to see what
'Welsh Taffy' is like." So they both walked
up the street, inquiring on the way where
Taffy lived. If the house Taffy owned was
any indication that Taffy was a nice sort of
person, it certainly spoke well for him, for
it was the prettiest and most homelike little
place Puss had ever seen.</p>
<p>"I like him already," said Puss, as he
knocked on the door.</p>
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