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Chapter 3. The Three Little Foxes · Three Little Kittens Who Lost Their Mittens

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  Section three of Three Little Kittens Who Lost Their Mittens by Laura Rountree Smith.
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  This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The Three Little Foxes Old Mother
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  Catastrophe said, I will tell you once again how to arrive at the fox's
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  den. Dot and Tot said, O, Mother Catastrophe, we would rather
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  never find our mittens than to have to go to the foxes den. Trot
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  said, please tell us how to find our lost mittens. Mother Catastrophe said,
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  you go through the woods by the most crooked path you can find,
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  and turn to the right, and turn to the left to see if the
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  foxes are behind you. If all is still, you go on until you
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  come to their den. When Madame Red Fox comes out, you bow politely
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  and say good evening, good morning, and how do you do we have
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  come to pay a visit to you. At that very minute, Dot and
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  Tot began to weep and wail. They cried until little streams of tears showed
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  on the carpet. Mother Catastrophe said, will they cry a bucketful? Will
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  they cry a tubful? Still? Dot and Tot cried, boohoo, we
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  do not want to go to the foxes den. Trot went out and got
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  the wash boiler and said, cry it full, so Mother Catastrophe can perhaps
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  make use of it. But still they cried. While Tot cried loudly,
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  Dot moved the wash boiler so that none of their tears would fall inside.
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  We are afraid of the foxes. We do not want to go to their
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  den. Old Mother Catastrophe waited for them to stop crying, but they would
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  not stop. It's silly quite for you to cry. You'll lose all fear
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  by, and by must we go to the foxes den, asked both Dot
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  and Tot. We'll do whatever Mother Catastrophe says, replied Trot. Then they
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  started to cry again. Trot brought the wash boiler again. If you cry
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  hard into this, mother Catastrophe will have soft water to wash her clothes in.
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  Then Dot and Tot began to laugh instead of cry, and Mother Catastrophe
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  said, if manners you really want to know, bow politely and stand in
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  a row. The three little kittens stood up in a row and bowed politely.
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  Old Mother Catastrophe said, Dot will make a bow next, and say
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  to Madame Red Fox, how is your cousin the kit fox? Has he
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  changed his coat this season, Dot said, do foxes change their coats?
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  Do tell us about it. Of course they change their coats, said Mother
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  Catastrophe. The kit fox wears a coat of one color in the summer and
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  another color in the winter. Tot may next make a bow and say,
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  how is your cousin, the cross fox? He is not really a very
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  cross fox, but he is named from his markings. At this very minute,
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  little Trot may shout, at the top of his lungs, we are
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  the kittens who lost our mittens, Oh, Red Fox, give them to
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  us to day. Oh, we are the kittens who lost our mittens.
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  But truly, Red Fox, we've not come to stay. You must thank
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  Madame Red Fox when she hands you the mittens. Trot went out to get
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  the wheelbarrow, for they were going to wheel Mother Catastrophe to the fox's den.
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  They helped her into the wheelbarrow and went through the woods by the most
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  crooked paths they could find. Suddenly, they all stopped still, and Trot
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  said, what if Madame Red Fox should not be at home? Old Mother
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  Catastrophe answered, I'm Mother Catastrophe, old and Gray, I don't cross a
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  bridge while on the way, Dot and tot said, where is the bridge.
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  We don't see any bridge at all. Old Mother Catastrophe said, you
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  can have good manners if you choose, you had better mind your peas and
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  cues are peas and cues, repeated the three little kittens. At that very
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  minute they heard the patter patter patter of feet behind them, the foxes.
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  The foxes cried the three little kittens, Oh, where shall we hide?
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  They turned over the wheelbarrow and crept under it, and to the surprise of
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  all, old Mother KitKat came down the path, singing, where are the
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  three kittens who once lost their mittens? Here we are, Here we are.
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  They all shouted, rumbling and tumbling out from under the wheelbarrow. They
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  hugged and kissed all around, and Mother kit Kat said, come, let
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  us journey on again until we come to the fox's den. So on and
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  on they went Old Mother Catastrophe, riding in the wheelbarrow all the way,
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  and the wind whistled a merry tune. You'll not find your mittens, you
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  three little kittens. They were stolen away for a year and a day.
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  Hark, what does the wind say about our mittens? Asked the three little
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  kittens, They shouted at the top of their lungs. We cannot spare our
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  mittens for a year and a day. Perhaps the wind is only teasing.
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  The wind may be false, the wind may be true. We'll accomplish what
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  we set out to do, said Mother Catastrophe, And they drew nearer and
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  nearer the fox's den. Every step they took. Dot and Tot said,
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  by our long whiskers, we wish we were home. Trot said, we
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  are on an adventure bound. Perhaps the mittens will soon be found. At
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  that very minute, they came upon the fox's den, and they were all
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  surprised to read a sign in big letters, Oh, three little kittens,
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  we did take your mittens. We wore them as long as we could.
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  Oh, three little kittens, We gave up the mittens to three little bears
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  who live in the woods. Hurrah, Hurrah, Hurrah, cried the three
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  little kittens. We will go to the home of three little bears who live
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  in the woods. Hurrah for the three little friendly bears. Old mother KitKat
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  said, indeed, I think you will come home with me. Old Mother
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  Catastrophe said, I do not like in the woods to rome come three little
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  kittens and wiel Me home. They all took turns in wheeling Mother Catastrophe home,
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  and then they ran beside Mother KitKat until they came to their neat little
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  house at the edge of the woods. They said, tis dark within the
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  fox's den. We hope will not go there again. The wind whistled merrily.
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  O, three little kittens, O, three little kittens, three little
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  bears are wearing your mittens. The three little kittens said, oh Ma,
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  may we go to the house of the three bears tomorrow. Old Mother KitKat
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  washed their faces and said, when tomorrow comes we shall see. And of section three